Mechanics' Institute Chess Club Newsletter #503

 

 

There were several upsets in the second round of the Peter Grey Tuesday Night Marathon. The biggest saw the event's namesake, Peter Grey who has played in TNMs for forty years, defeat second seed NM Peter Zavadsky and Steven Krasnov beat high ranking Expert Jorge Lopez. Both losers showed their class by accepting their defeats like gentlemen.

 

Peter Grey, who typically opens 1.e4 does a switch and produces a nice victory. Naming the event after Peter seems to have inspired him!

 

Peter Grey - Peter Zavadsky [A70]
San Francisco 2010

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e6 4.Nc3 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.Nf3 g6 7.e4 Bg7 8.h3 0–0 9.Bd3 Re8 10.0–0 a6 11.a4 Nbd7 12.Bg5 Qc7 13.Qd2 Rb8 14.a5 c4 15.Bc2 Nc5 16.Rfe1 b5 17.axb6 Qxb6 18.e5 dxe5 19.Nxe5 Nfe4 20.Nxc4 Bxc3 21.Qxc3 Qb5 22.Bxe4 Rxe4 23.Bh6 1-0

 

IM Ricardo DeGuzman, NM Romy Fuentes and Expert Steve Gaffagan tied for first with 4.5 from 5 in the 39-player Vladimir Pafnutieff Memorial held August 7th.

 

Congratulations go to Northern Californians Elizabeth Shaughnessy (Berkeley Chess School) and Val Zemitis along with former Bay Area resident John Blackstone of Las Vegas. The three were recently honored by the US Chess Federation for their lifelong contributions to chess.

 

 

Costa Rican GM Alejandro Ramirez who is studying at the University of Texas at Dallas was the deserving winner of the recently concluded US Open in Irvine, defeating fellow top seeds Melik Khachian and Alex Shabalov enroute to a 8-1 score. Tying for second at 7.5 were Shabalov, GM Varuzhan Akobian and Mechanics' member Daniel Naroditsky. The Foster City youngster, fresh from winning the GM section of the July First Saturday Tournament, turned in another fine result beating strong IM Enrico Sevillano and drawing a difficult last round game with Akobian.

 

Many players tied for fifth at 7-2 in the 474 player event: GMs Timur Garayev, Melik Khachiyan, Mark Paragua, Dmitry Gurevich, and Larry Kaufman; IMs Andranik Matikozyan, Enrico Sevillano, Salvijus Bercys, Michael Mulyar, Max Cornejo, and Mark Ginsburg; FMs Matthew Beelby, Jouaquin Banawa, and Jim Dean; and NMs Ankit Gupta, Giovanni Carretto, and Bryan Williams Paulsen. The latter six tied for Under 2400 honors. The top Expert, Vanessa West, also scored 7.

 

 

The US Teams for the 2010 Chess Olympiad to be held September 21 to October 3 in Khanty Manisyk, Russia are:

 

Men (Captain John Donaldson and Coach Varuzhan Akobian)

 

1. Hikaru Nakamura

2. Gata Kamsky

3. Alex Onischuk

4. Yury Shulman

5. Robert Hess

 

Women (board order not yet announced) Captain Michael Khodarkovsky, Coach Melik Khachian, Players : Irina Krush, Anna Zatonskih, Tatev Abrahamian, Sabina Foisor and Camilla Baginskaite.

 

 

 

 

 

  Northern California Events  Aug. 19-22, 20-22 or 21-22   2nd Annual Central California Open   GPP: 60 Enhanced   California Northern

6SS, 40/2, SD/1 (2-day option, rds 1-3 G/60), no 2-day Open Section. Radisson Hotel, 2233 Ventura St., Fresno, CA 93710. Free parking, free airport shuttle. Co-sponsored by Fresno Chess Club. $$ 17,000 based on 160 paid entries (re-entries & $60 less EF players count half), minimum $12,000 (70.6% of each prize) guaranteed. In 6 sections: Open: $2000-1000-500-300, clear or tiebreak 1st $100, top U2200 $1200-600. FIDE. Under 2000: $1500-700-300-200. Under 1800: $1500-700-300-200. Under 1600: $1200-600-300-200. Under 1300: $1100-600-300-200. Under 1000: $700-400-200-100, trophies to top 7. Unrated may enter any section, with prize limits: U1000 $100, U1300 $200, U1600 $300, U1800 $500. Balance goes to next player(s) in line. Top 5 sections EF: 4-day $134, 3-day $133, 2-day $132 mailed by 8/11, all $135 online at chesstour.com by 8/16, $140 phoned to 406-896-2038 by 8/16 (entry only, no questions), $150 at site. EF for all in Under 1000 Section, or unrated in U1300 Section: all $60 less. Mailed EF $20 less to Fresno Chess Club members. GMs free, $120 deducted from prize. All: Unofficial uschess.org ratings based on 4 or more games usually used if otherwise unrated. Special 1 year USCF dues with Chess Life if paid with entry: Online at chesstour.com, Adult $30, Young Adult $20. Mailed, phoned or paid at site, Adult $40, Young Adult $30. Re-entry $60; not available in Open Section. No checks at site, credit cards OK. 4-day schedule: Reg. ends Thu 6 pm, rds Thu 7 pm, Fri 7 pm, Sat 11 & 6, Sun 10 & 4:15. 3-day schedule: Reg ends Fri 11 am, rds Fri 12 & 7, Sat 11 & 6, Sun 10 & 4:15. 2-day schedule: Reg ends Sat 9 am, rds Sat 10, 12:30, 3 & 6, Sun 10 & 4:15, no 2-day Open Section. Byes: OK all, limit 1 bye towards class prizes; must commit before rd 2. HR: $89-89, 800-241-0756, 559-268-1000, request chess rate, reserve by 8/12 or rate may increase. Car rental: Avis, 800-331-1600, use AWD #D657633, or reserve car online through chesstour.com. Ent: Continental Chess, Box 249, Salisbury Mills, NY 12577. Questions: 845-496-9658. Advance entries posted at chesstour.com. Chess Magnet School JGP.

 

Sept. 4-6   2010 CALCHESS LABOR DAY CHAMPIONSHIPS   GPP: 20   California Northern

A State Championship Event! 6-SS, 30/90, SD/1 (2-day option rds 1-3 G/60). Golden Geteway Holiday Inn. Van Ness at Pine, San Francisco. $$B/160 paid entries (not counting free or unrated entries). Six Sections: Master $1200-$650-$400 U2300 $250; Expert $600-$300-$150. "A" $600-$300-$150. "B" $600-$300-$150. "C" $600-300-150. "D/E" $600-$300-$150 U1200 $150. Unr: Trophy First. Trophy to top finisher (State Champion) in each section. All, EF: postmarked by 8/30, $95; $105 at site. Unrateds $20 in the D/E section or may play up to the Master section for the regular fee. $5 discount to CalChess members. USCF memb. req'd. May play up one section for add'l $10 (Jrs $5). GM/IM free entry. Reg.: Sat 9/4 8-9:30am, Sun 9/5 8:15-9:15am. RDS.: Choice of schedules: 3-day, 2-day merge at round 4, all compete for the same prizes. 3-day schedule: Sat 10:00-3:30; Sun 11:00-4:45; Mon 10:00-3:30. 2-day schedule: Sun 9:30-11:45-2:00-4:45; Mon 10:00-3:30. 1/2 pt bye(s) any round(s) if requested in advance (byes rds 5-6 must be requested before rd 1). 2010 August Ratings List, CCA minimums and Directors discretion will be used to place players as accurately as possible. Please bring clocks and equipment. HR: Golden Gateway Holiday Inn (415)-441-4000. INFO: Richard Koepcke (650)-224-4938. Ent: Richard Koepcke, P.O. Box 1432, Mountain View, CA 94042. No Phone entries. Master Section FIDE Rated. Chess Magnet School JGP.

 

Sept. 25-26   2nd Annual Exchange Bank Open   GPP: 6   California Northern

Exchange Bank, 444 Aviation Blvd., Santa Rosa, CA 95403. 4 round Swiss, G/120. In 3 Sections, Open: $$GTD: $250-175. Reserve: Open to 1899 & under. $$GTD: $200-125. Booster: Open to 1499 & under. $$GTD: $150-100. Unrated plays in Booster Section. ALL: EF: $35 advance until 9/22, $45 at site. Reg.: 09/25, 8:30am - 9:30am. Rds.: Sat 10,3; Sun 10,3. ENT: Paul Stagnoli, 4233 Kintyre Road, Santa Rosa, CA 95409. INFO: (707) 478-4385 paulgs@sonic.net. NS. NC. W. Chess Magnet School JGP.