Mechanics' Institute Chess Club Newsletter #507My opponent is a 15-year-old master. Translation: He gets the driest line from me. it is only within the realm of tedium where old age and deceit overcome youth and talent! IM Cyrus Lakdawala in his annotations to Lakdawala-K.Griffith, San Diego 2010, after 1.d4 c5 2.c3 from his new book Play the London System (page 243).
1) Mechanics' Institute Chess Club News 1) Mechanics' Institute Chess Club News Top-seed FM Andy Lee took a half point bye in round 6 of the Peter Grey Tuesday Night Marathon and that was all it took for the field to catch up with him as Peter Zavadsky defeated fellow NM Romy Fuentes and in all Expert battles Jorge Lopez and Hayk Manvelyan defeated Igor Traub and Todd Rumph respectively. The leaders are now Lee, Zavadsky, Lopez and Manvelyan at 5-1 with three rounds remaining for the 64-player field. Next Tuesday night (September 14) Australian GM Ian Rogers will be the special guest lecturer. Don't miss hearing him speak from 5:15 pm to 6:15 pm. The event is free to all. The San Francisco Mechanics' face a tough test in the US Chess League this evening in the form of the Chicago Blaze who tied the St. Louis juggernaut (1. Nakamura 2. Shulman 3. Finegold) last week. IM Dmitry Zilberstein and FMs Daniel Naroditsky, Steven Ziek and Andy Lee will be playing for the Mechanics' in the match which starts at 5:30 and is shown live on the Internet Chess Club. The team is off to a good start individually as well as collectively with FM Daniel Naroditsky tied for first in the MVP standings and GM Patrick Wolff sharing top honors for the best record among first boards. You can read more about the Mechanics' at the team blog at http://blog.chess.com/view/taking-the-draw where IM David Pruess writes about the week two win over Miami. Incidentally David, who plays a key role at Chess.com, will be assisting in the Carlsen versus the World match this Friday. GM Vinay Bhat finished his summer tour in Spain by tying for 6th place in Sants with 7.5 from 10 with GM Maxim Rodshtein took clear first with 8.5/10. Vinay notes it was quite a weird tournament in terms of the opposition. he writes " Despite being reasonably strong at the top, Rodshtein only played one player above 2500 the entire way! Even though we started with 21-2500 players, with 600+ players in the top section, none of the top-20 finishers played particularly strong fields." 2) Here and There September FIDE rating list Top 20
1. Carlsen (NOR) - 2826 Other Americans in the top 100 are Gata Kamsky at number 35 (2705) and Alex Onischuk at number 49 (2688). Just outside are Yasser Seirawan at number 107 (2638) and Yury Shulman at number 113 (2636). Italian-American Fabiano Caruana is number 37 (2700). Top 10 Women:
1. Ju.Polgar (HUN) - 2682 Irina Krush is the top American women at 2490 (number 19) with Anna Zatonskih number 25 (2480). Gata Kamsky had an excellent result in winning the recently concluded 175-player Baku Open. This result was not included for the September FIDE rating list..
1. GM Kamsky (USA, 2713) - 7½/9, San Francisco Examiner chess columnist Frisco Del Rosario has a new book out. Mongoose Press ( http://mongoosepress.com/ ) is publishing his Capablanca: A Primer of Checkmate. The late Jerry Hanken wrote of an impromptu blitz tournament held during the 1963 Piatigorsky Cup in Los Angeles that was won by Icelandic GM Fridirk Olafsson but to our knowledge this is the first time the standings, found in Hanken's effects, have been published. Thanks to John Blackstone, Erik Osbun and Andy Sacks for supplying first names. Sacks adds, "Several participants in this speed get-together were junior players who were affiliated with the club and/or were “wall boys” in the First Cup. These players were Robert Bliss, Tom Lux, Andy Sacks, Stephen Rains, Michael Carr, and Martin Cooper. The event took place, I believe, at the then-new Cashio St. location of both the Herman Steiner Chess Club and the Student Club." Los Angeles, Summer 1963
1. Fridrik Olafson 9-0 IM Jack Peters provided the following account of the 2010 Southern California Championship in a recent issue of the excellent online subscription daily Chess Today ( http://chesstoday.net/ ). This 8-player round robin tournament was held August 14-22 in Los Angeles. Two newcomers to the tournament, junior star Joel Banawa and former junior star Philip Xiao Wang tied for first place with 5 points out of 7. Former champion IM Cyrus Lakdawala, the only member of the older generation to achieve a satisfactory result, finished third with 4½ points. 3) Arthur Stamer Memorial Winners
1964 William Addison 4) Upcoming Events
Howard Donnelly Memorial - September 18 Northern California Events 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. $$GTD: $150-100. Unrated plays in Booster Section. ALL: EF: $35 advance until 9/22, $45 at site. Reg.: 09/25, 8:30am - 9:30am. Rds.: Sat 10,3; Sun 10,3. ENT: Paul Stagnoli, 4233 Kintyre Road, Santa Rosa, CA 95409. INFO: (707) 478-4385 paulgs@sonic.net. NS. NC. W. Chess Magnet School JGP
A Heritage Event! 6SS, 40/2,20/1,G 1/2. Sands Regency Hotel/Casino, 345 N. Arlington Ave., Reno, NV 89501. 1-800-648-3553 or (775) 348-2200. $$37,000 b/400, Gtd. $$25,250-$3500-2500-2000-1500-1000-800-700-600-500-400 in Open Section plus 1/2 of all other prizes. 6 Sections: OPEN: EF: GMs & IMs free (enter by 10/1 or pay late fees), Masters $142, (2000-2199)-$175, (1999-below)-$201. $$ Prizes 1-10 listed above, (2399-below) $1000-500, (2299-below) $1000-500. If a tie for 1st overall then 2 (G/10) playoff for $100 from prize fund. (Note: GM/IM w/free entry not eligible for class prizes 2399 and below; may elect to pay entry fee and become eligible). EXPERT: (2000-2199) EF: $141. $$1700-800-600-500-400 (under 2100)- $700. "A" Sec.(1800-1999) EF: $140, $$1600-800- 500-400-300-200-200. "B" Sec.(1600-1799) EF: $139, $$1,400-700-500-300-300-200-200. "C" Sec.(1400-1599) EF: $138, $$1,200-600-400-300-300- 200-200."D"/under Sec. (1399/below) EF: $137, $$1,000-500-400-300-200-200-200 (under 1200) - $300. (Unrated Players) EF: Free + must join USCF or increase membership for 1 additional year thru this tournament ($49 adults, $25 juniors). Prizes: Top unrated in "D" Section wins 1 yr. USCF membership plus trophy. Note: Unrated will be put in "D" Sect. unless request to play up. Seniors (65+) additional prizes $$200; (Seniors not eligible: provisionally rated, unrated, masters); Club Championship $$800-400-300-200 decided by total score of 10 (and only 10) players from one club or area (not eligible - GMs, IMs, or unrated). Trophies to Top 3 (A-D Sections). ALL: EF $11 more if postmarked after 10/2 and $22 more if postmarked after 10/15 or at site. Do not mail after 10/15 or phone or email after 10/19. $20 off EF to Srs (65+) and Jrs 19/under. Players may play up. Unrated players not eligible for cash prizes except Open 1-10. Provisionally rated players may win up to 50% of 1st place money except open Section 1-10. CCA ratings may be used. Note pairings not changed for color alternation unless 3 in a row or a plus 3 and if the unlikely situation occurs 3 colors in a row may be assigned. Reg.: (10/21) 5-8 pm, (10/22) 9:00-10 am. Rds.: 12-7, 10-6, 9:30-4. Byes available any round, if requested before 1st round (Open Section - 2 byes max.). SIDE EVENTS: Wed. (10/20) 7pm Clock Simul, [40/2, G/1] (Including an analysis of YOUR game. GM Sergey Kudrin $30 (A great value!). Thurs (10/21) 6-7:30 pm GM Larry Evans lecture -Free, 7:30 Simul GM Melikset Khachiyan (only $15!), 7:30 Blitz (5 min) Tourney ($20-80% to prize fund). Sat 10/23 (3-4:30pm) GM Larry Evans Clinic(Game/Position Analysis) - Free. Sun. (10/24) Quick Tourney (G/25) 5 Rd. Swiss ($20) [12 (Noon)-5pm] 80% to prize fund. ENT: Make checks payable and send to: SANDS REGENCY (address above) HR: $35! (Sun-Thurs) & $59! (Fri-Sat) + 13.5% tax. (mention CHESS 1020 & reserve by 10/5/10 to guarantee room rates.) INFO: Jerry Weikel wackyykl@aol.com, (775) 747 1405, or website: www.renochess.org/wso (also go here to verify entry). FIDE. W. Chess Magnet School JGP. Nov. 26-28 or 27-28, GPP: 60 (enhanced) California Northern California Class Championship 6SS, 30/90 G/60 (2-day sched rds 1-3 G/60). Hyatt Regency SFO Airport, 1333 Bayshore Hwy., Burlingame, CA 94010. Hotel rate $89. $8,000 b/137 entries (80% guaranteed). 6 sections: Open (2200+ FIDE rated)> 1000-500-200-100-100. X (2000-2199), A (1800-1999), B (1600-1799) & C (1400-1599): 700-300-100-100-100 each. Section DE (1000-1399): 500-200-100 (u1200 200-100-100). The 5th place prize will be awarded only in the 2 largest sections. Unrated prize limit of $200 in all sections except Open. EF: $99 3-day & $98 2-day mailed by 11/23, online by 11/24, Onsite +$25, Play-up +$20. 5% off before 10/26. GMs/IMs free: EF subtr from prize. Re-entry $40. Refunds $20 EF Econ Opt: EF minus $30 & 1/2 of computed prize. Nov 2010 Supp, CCA min & TD discretion used to place players accurately. TD/Org: McCumiskey, Langland, Azhar. 3-day sched: Reg Fri10-11, Rds Fri/Sat 11:30 5:30, Sun 10 3:30. 2-day sched: Reg Sat 9-9:30, Rds Sat 10 12:30 2:45 5:30, Sun 10 3:30. Max two 1/2-pt byes & must commit bef rd 3. Ent: Bay Area Chess, 1590 Oakland Rd., Suite B213, San Jose 95131. T: 408-786-5515. E: ask@BayAreaChess.com, Info/Form/Entries: BayAreaChess.com/tg. NS, NC, W. Chess Magnet School JGP |