Mechanics' Institute Chess Club Newsletter #491Chess is a scientific game and its literature ought to be placed on the basis of the strictest truthfulness, which is the foundation of all scientific research. William (Wilhelm)_Steinitz 1) Mechanics' Institute Chess Club News 2) Combat : A Chess Poem by Dennis Fritzinger 3) Here and There 4) Upcoming EventsThe Mechanics' Institute Chess Club will be holding the 10th Annual Charles Powell Memorial G/45 this Saturday.
1) Mechanics' Institute Chess Club News The Mechanics' hosted two dramatic events the past few days. Sunday afternoon the 4th Ray Schutt Memorial became the largest and strongest blitz tournament ever held at the Mechanics' Institute with two GMs, 5 IMs, and 11 NMs competing in a 46 player field. The rating cutoff for round one saw top seed IM Sam Shankland meet an expert rated 2062. Despite the number of GMs and IMs competing the surprise winner was newly-minted FM Andy Lee who scored an impressive 9-1 in the five double round Swiss. Andy, who has been playing extremely well of late, split only with IM Shankland. Among those further down the prize list special mention needs to be made of Expert Arthur Ismakov, a well-known blitz specialist, who surprised many including himself by going 1-1 against IM Mezentsev and defeating six-time US Champion Walter Browne 2-0 before losing to Lee in the fight for first place in the final round. Increasingly enough, while one thinks of blitz as a game for the young, at the Ray Shutt Memorial it was more for the young �at heart as junior players represented less than a quarter of the field. Hopefully next year more kids will play and the tournament will continue to increase in size and strength. The Ray Schutt Memorial was not only about honoring Ray's memory by playing his beloved blitz. The extended Shutt clan, who sponsored the event, was out in force not only bringing all manner of food and drink to fuel the contestants but also with several competing including Ray's brother Bill. Robert Martinez, a close friend of Ray in his later years, gave an excellent speech before the start of the event, extolling Ray's generosity of spirit in helping others. Ray would have liked that so many of his old friends got together and had such a nice time. Here are two key games courtesy of the winner. Andy Lee - Jorge Lopez Ray Schutt Memorial Blitz (4) 2010 Ray Schutt Memorial Blitz (8) 2010 Final standings: 1. FM Andy Lee 9/10 2-3. GM Jesse Kraai and IM Sam Shankland 8.5 4. IM Ganbold Odondoo 7.7 5-9. IMs Elliott Winslow and Vladimir Mezentsev, NM Yian Liou, Experts Arthur Ismakov, Jules Jelinek 7 10-11. IM Michael Baturin and NM Dennis Fritzinger 6.5 12-17. GM Walter Browne, FMs Eric Schiller and Richard Koepcke, NM Greg Young, Experts Carlos D'Avila and Igor Traub 6 Ray Schutt Memorial Blitz Winners 2007 GM Walter Browne (32 players) 2008 GM Melik Khachian (32 players) 2009 IM Ricardo De Guzman (28 players) 2010 FM Andy Lee (46 players) NM Romy Fuentes continued his excellent for of late by winning the Spring Tuesday Night Marathon last night with a score of 7-1. He defeated FM Andy Lee on the black side of a Poison Pawn Najdorf in the last round. Expert Igor Traub, who was seeded outside the top ten of the 58-player event, also turned in an impressive performance in taking second with 6.5 points. FM Andy Lee and Expert Hayk Manvelyan shared third at 6-2. The Summer Tuesday Night Marathon, an eight round Swiss, starts on May 25th. The Mechanics' Institute will host a ten-player Category 3 (2306 average) IM norm round this June. The field for the Vassily Smyslov Memorial consists of IMs John Grefe, Ganbold Odondoo and Ricardo DeGuzman, FMs Andy Lee, Richard Lobo, Daniel Naroditsky and Steven Zierk, and NMs Peter Zavadsky, Yian Liou and Evan Sandberg. George Sanguinetti reports the results of the April 28 edition of the
Mechanics' Institute Wednesday Night Blitz Good luck to GMs Vinay Bhat and Jesse Kraai and IM Sam Shankland who will represent Northern California in the US Championship in Saint Louis in just over a week. 2) Combat : A Chess Poem by Dennis Fritzinger combat looking forward
3) Here and There Gata Kamsky showed he is in good form for the upcoming US Championship by tying for first in The President Cup held in Baku. 1-3. Kramnik (RUS, 2790),Mamedyarov (AZE, 2760) and Kamsky (USA, 2702) - 5
out of 7,
1. Carlsen NOR 2813
Top Women: 1. Ju.Polgar HUN 2682 US Top Ten 1. Nakamura 2733 2. Kamsky 2702 3. Onischuk 2699 4. Seirawan 2644 5. Shulman 2613 6. Akobian 2599 7. Lenderman 2598 8. Ehlvest 2591 9. Hess 2590 10. Shabalov 2585 IM Sam Shankland turned in an excellent result in tying for first in the Western Pacific Open held April 23-25 in Los Angeles. He scored 2-1 against other players tying for first beating IM Stopa and drawing with GM Ramirez and IM Matikozian in the event directed by John Hillery. Standings: 1-6. GM M. Khachiyan, GM A.Ramirez, IM A. Matikozyan, IM E.Sevillano, IM S. Shankland and IM J.Stopa 4/5. Here is Sam's round 2 win over the always dangerous Michael Casella. Michael Casella (2272) - Sam Shankland (2486) Western Pacific Open 2010 Slav D17 1.c4 Nf6 2.d4 c6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.a4 Bf5 6.Ne5 Nbd7 7.Nxc4 Qc7 8.g3 e5 9.dxe5 Nxe5 10.Bf4 Nfd7 11.Bg2 f6 12.0-0 0-0-0 13.Nxe5 Nxe5 14.Qb3 Qf7 15.Qxf7 Nxf7 16.a5 a6 17.Rfc1 Bd6 18.Be3 Rhe8 19.Na4 Be4 20.Bh3+ Kb8 21.Bb6 Bc7 22.Bxc7+ Kxc7 23.Nc5 Ng5 24.Bg4 f5 25.Nxe4 Rxe4 26.Bxf5 Rxe2 27.h4 Nf3+ 28.Kg2 Nd4 29.Bg4 Rxb2 30.Re1 c5 31.Re7+ Kc6 32.Rxg7 Rf8 33.Bd7+ Kd6 34.Rxh7 Rfxf2+ 35.Kh3 Rh2+ 36.Kg4 Rb4 37.Rd1 Ke5 38.Re7+ Kd6 39.Rf7 Ke5 40.Re7+ Kd6 41.Rf7 Ke5 42.Bc8 b6 43.axb6 Rxb6 44.Re7+ Kd5 45.Rd7+ Kc4 46.Rc1+ Kb4 47.Rd5 Nb3 48.Re1 a5 49.Bd7 c4 50.Ree5 a4 0-1 IM Ricardo DeGuzman and NM Jimmy Heiserman tied for first with 5-1 scores in the 51-player Summer Open held May 1-2 in San Jose. |