Mechanics' Institute Chess Club Newsletter #521

Chess is fairly unique for the precise reason that it teaches you to think. Most subjects
taught in school only weigh your memory down with information, without giving you the
skills of independent mental work. Even the solution of physical or mathematical problems

most of the time can be reduced to one standard algorithm or another.

But chess teaches you to think, and not only that, it does so in a playful form that is very

natural for children. And at the same time, it brings you face to face with a very concrete

result - either you win or you lose.

Alexander Khalifman


1) Mechanics' Institute Chess Club News
2) Van Wely wins 2011 Berkeley International
3) A Chess Poem by Dennis Fritzinger
4) Here and There
5) Upcoming Events


1) Mechanics' Institute Chess Club News

IM Walter Shipman, NM Robin Cunningham, Steven Kraznov, Byambaa Uyanga, Sergey
Khristofurov and David Klinetobe are tied for first after two rounds of the 2011 Winter
Tuesday Night Marathon with perfect scores. Right behind at 1.5 is a large group led by
NMs Peter Zavadsky and Romy Fuentes. It's still not too late to enter the 8 round event
with half point byes for the first two games.

IM Ricardo DeGuzman defeated NM Michael Pearson in the last round to win the 11th
Annual Bob Burger Open held last Saturday with a 5-0 score. IM Jacek Stopa was second

with 4.5 points.

The Mechanics' annual chess camp will be held July 25-29. Details will soon be forthcoming.

Jules Jelinek writes:


Just a reminder, tonight is the weekly Wednesday Night Tournament and I am expecting
more players to attendstarting this week (at least 3 more). So come and support the weekly
Mechanics' blitz event.

Starting this Wednesday, there will be two time controls: Game/5min (no time increment)
and Game/3min (with 2 sec.time increment; not delay time). If the clock supports this mode
and it is requested by one of the players it will be the preferred method starting this
Wednesday.

For those that are uncertain about this concept, if the game lasts more than 60 moves, you
end up having more than 5 minutes for the game AND you have that extra increment time to
win insteadof lose a won game. At the Berkeley International Blitz, I ran into a lot of players
that attend / have attended the weekly MI blitz tournament. Many players liked the
incremental time control and thought that the weekly blitz tournament should also be using
it if one of the players want it. Several indicated that they did not know that the entry fee
is now $10 andwould try to come as a result. Also several players indicated that if this
change were made, they would definitely start coming.

Last weeks winners were:

1st - Carlos D'Avila $20

2nd - Jules Jelinek $12

3rd - Merim $8

Also continue to spread the word about the special $100 guaranteed prize fund for the Feb 2 Bltiz event. Flyer attached as well as pasted below for quick reference.

Regards,

Jules Jelinek

The Weekly Wednesday Night Blitz Coordinator

************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

The Weekly Wednesday Night

Blitz Chess Tournament

$100 Guaranteed Prize Fund on Wednesday February 2, 2011

Enter at tournament between 6:20pm-6:40pm

Tournament games start at 6:40pm

  • Round-Robin in groups of up to 12 players. First and second place players
  • from each group will play off for overall prizes.
  • Mechanics' Institute 4th Floor Chess Club, 57 Post Street, San Francisco
  • Time Control: G/5min (no inc.); preferred is G/3min (w/2sec inc) if requested
  • and supported by clock.
  • Tournament will follow WBCA rules
  • Entry Fee: $10 with clock; $11 without clock; Must be Mechanics' Institute
  • member or first time visitor.
  • Prizes (All players eligible to win): 1st Place 50%; 2nd Place 30%; 3rd Place
  • 20% of all entry fees collected (guaranteed to be at least $100).
  • Top scoring player that brought a clock wins the extra $1 collected from
  • players entering without clocks.
  • Any prizes not claimed before the blitz tournament the following Wednesday
  • will then be added to that week's prize fund.
  • No byes given
  • Contact Jules Jelinek at j3ce@comcast.net for more information


2) Van Wely wins 2011 Berkeley International

GM Loek Van Wely won the 2011 Berkeley International which took place
January 2nd to 8th at the Hillside School in Berkeley. The 38-year-old Dutch Grandmaster
justified his top seeding (2676 FIDE) by leading for almost the entire event. Van Wely
was held to a round one draw by FM Keaton Kiewra but then won five consecutive games
including wins over GMs Josh Friedel, Mageesh Panchanathan and Robert Hess to grab a
lead he never relinquished.

The 58-player Berkeley International contained 11 GMs and 13 IMs and most unusually for
an American event there were 20 countries represented including Japan, Uruguay and
Uzbekistan. The conditions for title norms and the large number of strong young players
turned this event into a norm-fest with Sam Shankland, Denys Shemeliov and Keaton Kiewra
making GM norms and Daniel Naroditsky, Conrad Holt, Roman Yankovsky plus Kiewra and
Shmeliov earning IM norms and Tatev Abrahamyan a WGM norm.

This was the third and final GM norm for 19-year-old Shankland and the third and final IM
norm for 15-year-old fellow Mechanics' member Daniel Naroditsky. Shmeliov and Kiewra
also made their final IM norms.

The action didn't belong to just the youngsters. 68-year-old Dennis Fritzinger, playing in
his first tournament in 24 years started with but a single draw from his first seven games
despite obtaining some promising positions but finished strong defeating masters in his last
three games. 50-year-old Todd Rumph proved to be a formidable house player scoring 3.5
from 7 (including a win over an IM) in the rounds that had an odd number of players and
required his services. Fellow Tuesday Night Marathon veteran Steven Gaffagan, the second
lowest rated player in the field at 1995, played competitively throughout scoring 3/8 against
much higher rated opposition.

The brainchild of Arun Sharma, who performed the roles of organizer, sponsor, fundraiser,
webmaster, transportation coordinator and chief bottle washer to perfection, the 2011
Berkeley International will be long remembered. It wouldn't have happened without the efforts
of Arun who spent hundreds of hours and a serious chunk of his own money. He truly
organized a "players first" event.

The Hillside School, long-time home of the Berkeley Chess School proved to be an excellent site
site with lots of space and plenty of parking. BCS Executive Director Elizabeth Shaughnessy
and her staff helped to make this a memorable event that will hopefully become an annual
fixture.

Final standings:
1. GM Van Wely (NED, 2676) - 8 out of 10 $3000
2. GM Erenburg (ISR, 2600) - 7½,
3. GM Panchanathan (IND, 2537) - 7

4-10. GM Gareev (UZB, 2605), GM Friedel (USA, 2508), IM Shankland
(USA, 2498), FM Naroditsky (USA, 2419), FM Holt (USA, 2393), Shmeliov
(UKR, 2357) and WFM Abrahamyan (USA, 2327) - 6½, etc.


3) A Chess Poem by Dennis Fritzinger

international tournament

after ten tough games

feeling like a chessplayer

again


4) Here and There

Armenia, winner of the 2006 and 2008 Olympiads, but shut out

of the medals in the most recent European, World Team and Olympiad

Championships, is not sitting on its hands. 32-year-old Sergei Movsesian,

rated 2721 FIDE, has changed federations from Slovakia to Armenia.

The move puts Armenia into the number four spot in the world for the average

rating of its top ten players.

1. Russia - 2734
2. Ukraine - 2694
3. France - 2654
4. Armenia - 2649
5. India - 2641
6. USA - 2640
7. Israel - 2637
8. Azerbaijan - 2635
9. Hungary - 2634
10. Netherlands - 2634

The Jimmy Quon Memorial will start soon in Los Angeles.

Competing in the 10 player round robin, sponsored by Chess.com, LawyerFy, Fashion
Business, Inc, California Market Center, Rock and Roll Gourmet and the Betty Bottom
Showroom are:

GM Dejan Bojkov, GM Melikset Khachiyan, GM Mark Paragua, IM Molner Mackenzie,
IM Jacek Stopa, IM Zhanibek Amanov, IM Timothy Taylor, FM Robby Adamson, FM Daniel
Naroditsky and NM Alessandro Steinfl.

The round days are the 19th to the 23rd. The times are 19th: 7:00 PM, 20th: 11:00 AM and
5:00 PM, 21st: 11:00 AM and 5:00 PM, 22nd: 10:00 AM and 4:00 PM, and 23rd: 9:00 AM
and 3:00 PM.

The tournament hall is in Suite C998 of the California Market Center located at 110th East
9th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90079.

The North American Open took place from 26-29 December 2010.

Final standings:
1-2. GMs Stocek and Kacheishvili - 6 out of 7

3-9. GM Smirin, GM Akobian, GM Shabalov, GM Mitkov, GM Amanov,
IM Arnold and G.Young

- 5½


10-19. GM Van Wely, GM Friedel, GM Kosteniuk, GM D.Gurevich, IM

Ravichandran, FM Bryant, IM Kleiman, IM Mezentsev, D.A.Zimbeck and

A.Sharma

- 5, etc.

Players in bold are from the Bay Area.

(131 players)
Reggio Emilia

Final Standings:
1-2. Gashimov and Vallejo - 6 out of 9,
3-5. Movsesian, Navara and Ivanchuk - 5,
6-7. Caruana and Onischuk - 4½,
8. Morozevich - 4,
9. Short - 3½,
10. Godena - 1½.


Wijk aan Zee (Tata Steel) starts shortly

Top seeds

Magnus Carlsen (NOR, 2814, No 1)
Viswanathan Anand (IND, 2810, No 2)
Levon Aronian (ARM, 2805, No 3)
Vladimir Kramnik (RUS, 2784, No 4)
Alexander Grischuk (RUS, 2773 No 7)
Hikaru Nakamura (USA, 2751, No 10)


5) Upcoming Events

MECHANICS' TOURNAMENTS (go to www.chessclub.org for more information)

2011 Events

Henry Gross Memorial - February 5
A.J. Fink Amateur Championship - March 12-13
Max Wilkerson Open - March 19
Imre Konig Memorial - April 9
Walter Lovegrove Senior Open - April 16-17
Charles Powell Memorial - May 7
Arthur Stamer Memorial - June 4-5
William Addison Open - June 11

BAY AREA TOURNAMENTS

Jan. 14-17 or 15-17 2nd Annual Golden State Open GPP: 150 Enhanced California Northern 7SS, 40/2, SD/1 (3-day option, rds. 1-2 G/75). Concord Hilton Hotel, 1970 Diamond Blvd., Concord, CA 94520 (I-680 Willow Pass Rd exit). Free shuttle between hotel and Concord BART station. Free parking. Prizes $40,000 based on 320 paid entries (re-entries & U1300 Section count as half entries), minimum guarantee $30,000 (75% of each prize). In 6 sections. Open, open to all. $3000-1500-1200-800-600-500-400, clear or tiebreak winner $200, top U2400/Unr $1800-1000. FIDE. Under 2200: $2400-1200-1000-700-500-400-300. Under 2000: $2400-1200-1000-700-500-400-300. Under 1800: $2400-1200-1000-700-500-400-300. Under 1600: $2000-1000-800-600-400-300-200, top Under 1400 $800-400. Under 1300: $800-500-400-300-200- 100-100, top Under 1100 $400-200. Unrated (0-3 lifetime games rated) may enter any section, with maximum prize U1300 $300, U1600 $500, U1800 $700, U2000 $900. Top 5 sections EF: 4-day $154, 3-day $153 mailed by 1/6, all $155 online at chesstour.com by 1/11, $160 phoned to 406-896-2038 by 1/11 (entry only, no questions), $180 at site. GMs free; $130 deducted from prize. Under 1300 Section EF: $4-day $74, 3-day $73 mailed by 1/6, $75 online at chesstour.com by 1/11 (entry only, no questions), $80 phoned to 406-896-2038 by 1/11, $100 at site. All: Special 1 yr USCF dues with magazine if paid with entry. Online at chesstour.com, Adult $30, Young Adult $20, Scholastic $15. Mailed, phoned or paid at site, Adult $40, Young Adult $30, Scholastic $20. Re-entry (except Open) $60. Mailed EF $5 less to CalChess members. 4-day schedule: Late reg. ends Fri 6:15 pm, rds. Fri 7 pm, Sat 11 & 6, Sun 11 & 6, Mon 10 & 4:30. 3-day schedule: Late reg. ends Sat 10:15 am, rds Sat 11, 2:30 & 6, Sun 11 & 6, Mon 10 & 4:30. Byes: OK all, limit 3; Open must commit before rd 2, others before rd 4. Unofficial uschess.org ratings usually used if otherwise unrated. Foreign player ratings: See chesstour.com. HR: Rate of $99-99 has been reduced to about $93-93, even lower for seniors 62 or over, 925-827-2000, for details see www.chesstour.com/gso11.htm, reserve by 12/31 or rate may increase. Car rental: Avis, 800-331-1600, use AWD #D657633. Questions: chesstour.com, 845-496-9658. Ent: Continental Chess, c/o Goichberg, Box 661776, Arcadia, CA 91066. $15 service charge for withdrawals. Advance entries posted at chesstour.com. Chess Magnet School JGP.

Feb. 19-21 or 20-21 2011 37th Annual Peoples Tournament
GPP: 40 Enhanced California Northern
6SS, 30/90 G/60 (2-day sched rds 1-3 G/60). Marriott, 46100 Landing Pkwy., Fremont, CA 94538. Hotel rate $89. $8,000 b/137 entries (80% guaranteed). 6 sections: Open (2100+) $1000-500-200-100-100. XA (1900-2099), AB (1700-1899), BC (1500-1699), CD (1300-
1499), DE (under 1300): $700-300-100- 100-100 each. The 5th place prize in the 2
largest sections only. Unrated prize limit of $200 except in Open section. EF: $99
3-day & 98 2-day mailed by 2/15, online by 2/16, Onsite +$25, Play-up +$20. 5% off
before 1/18. GMs/IMs free: EF subtr from prize. Re-entry $40. EF Econ Opt: EF
minus $30 & 1/2 of computed prize. Feb 2011 Supp, CCA min & TD discretion used
to place players accurately. TD/Org: Koepcke/Azhar. 3-day sched: Reg. Sat 10-11,
Rds. Sat/Sun 11:30-5:30,
Mon 10-3:30. 2-day sched: Reg Sun 9-9:30, Rds. Sun 10-12:30-2:45-5:30, Mon
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. $20 for refunds. T: 408-786-5515. E: ask@BayAreaChess.com, Info/Form/Entries: BayAreaChess.com/ppl. NS, NC, W.
Chess Magnet School JGP.
Spring Chess Festival - Saturday, February 25th, 2011
Presented by:
Atlantis Business Insurance Solutions, LLC
AND
NorCal House of Chess
5 Round Swiss
A One Day G/45 USCF rated Event
Location: 45401 Research Avenue, Suite 141, Fremont, CA 94539
Entry Fee: Regular Entry - $60. Economy Entry - $40. 5 discount to members of NorCal House of
Chess. Economy Option pays 50% of calculated prize money. The remaining amount goes back to
the budget to offset Economy Fee Discount.
Time Control: Game in 45.
Regestration & Schedule: Registration: 9:00 am-9:30 am. Rds: 10 am, 12:00 pm, 2:00 pm, 4 pm,
6 pm.
Prizes: $1400 - total, based on 40 fully paid entries. Open Section: $400-$200, U2200: $180,
U2000: $150, U1800: $140, U1600 $130, U1400 $130, U1200 - $100.
Cash Prizes in every round! - $20 cash prize will be awarded in each round to a player scoring a
first win AND to a player scoring the biggest upset. All lower-rated players are eligible to win
higher class prizes.
Questions? - Call TD Felix German at (415) 335-0900 or email: felix@atlantisbusinessinsurance.com
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Mail advance entries to: 14 Sullivan Ave, Daly City, CA 94015. Make checks payable to: Felix
German.