Mechanics' Institute Chess Club Newsletter #562

I consider chess to be not only a sport, not only an art and not only a science. It's a model of sorts for life, a method of thinking, a perception of the world..

Vassily Ivanchuk

1) Mechanics' Institute Chess Club News

IM Elliott Winslow and NM Hayk Manvelyan both won in round 7 and continue to lead the Fall Tuesday Night Marathon at 6-1 with two rounds to go. Right behind them, in clear third place, is veteran Peter Grey with 5.5. FM Andy Lee is top-rated among those at 5 points in the 63-player field.

GM Sam Shankland of Orinda took a break from his studies at Brandeis University to tie for second place in the Thanksgiving weekend tournament at the St. Louis Chess Club. Sam's score of 5.5 from 7, included a win over Timur Gareev and draws with Gregory Kaidanov and Alex Shabalov, and brought his rating over 2650 USCF for this first time. Alex Shabalov won the event with Ray Robson sharing second.

Daniel Naroditsky scored 5.5 from 9 in a round robin in Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands, held as qualifier for the last place in Group C in the upcoming Tata Steel Festival. The 2507 FIDE performance netted Daniel 5 rating points putting the newly turned 16-year-old at a career high of 2477 FIDE.

The event was won by Indian GM Adibhan Baskaran with 6.5 points with Daniel, fellow American Alex Lenderman and young Dutch IM Benjamin Bok sharing second.

Daniel did very well against the top half of the field handing Baskaran his only loss and also beating the top-seeded Lenderman (2581). Here is their exciting game.

Modern Defense B06

Daniel Naroditsky - Alex Lenderman

Wijk aan Zee (6), November 27, 2011

1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nc3 c6 4.Be3 Qb6 5.Qd2 Qxb2 6.Rb1 Qa3 7.Nf3 b5?

Here 7...d6 is met by 8.e5 making it hard for Black to complete his kingside development. The best move here is likely 7...Nf6. The text meets with a shocking reply.

8.Bxb5! cxb5

Black might have considered declining the gift with 8...Nf6.

9.Nxb5 Qxa2 10.Nc7+!?

This leads to a very interesting position in which Black remains with a material advantage but stays signifcantly behind in development. Possibly 10.Qc3 was stronger here.

10...Kd8 11.0-0 Kxc7 12.Ra1 Qxa1

This was forced as 12...Qe6 is met by 13.d5 and 14.Qa5+.

13.Rxa1 Nc6 14.e5 Kd8 15.Qc3

White is preparing the advance d5.

15...e6

This stops the d-pawn but only at the cost of weakening Lenderman on the dark squares.

16.Ng5 Ke8 17.Ne4 f6?

The losing move. Ugly but necessary was

17...Nge7 18.Nd6+ Kf8.

18.d5! exd5 19.Nd6+

19.exf6 Nxf6 20.Nd6+ Ke7 (20...Kf8 21.Bg5 d4 22.Qc4 Nd8 23.Nxc8) 21.Re1 was another way to win.

19...Kf8 20.Bc5 Nce7 21.exf6 Nxf6 22.Bd4 Neg8 23.Nxc8 Rxc8 24.Qxc8+ Kf7 25.Rxa7 Ne7 26.Qa6 Rb8 27.g3 1-0

Australian GM Ian Rogers will lecture next Tuesday night at the Mechanics' from 5:15pm to 6:15 pm on the game Anand-Nakamura from the London Chess Classic. All are welcome.

2) London Classic Pairings

Round one: December 3^rd, starting at 14.00

Vladimir Kramnik             -Hikaru Nakamura,

Levon Aronian                 -Luke McShane,

Magnus Carlsen              -David Howell,

Michael Adams                -Viswanathan Anand.

Nigel Short                      bye, assisting the commentary

Round two: December 4^th, starting at 14.00

David Howell                   -Michael Adams,

Luke McShane                -Magnus Carlsen,

Hikaru Nakamura            -Levon Aronian,

Nigel Short                      -Vladimir Kramnik.

Viswanathan Anand        bye, assisting the commentary

Round three: December 5^th, starting at 14.00

Levon Aronian                 -Nigel Short,

Magnus Carlsen              -Hikaru Nakamura,

Michael Adams                -Luke McShane,

Viswanathan Anand        -David Howell.

Vladimir Kramnik             bye, assisting the commentary

Round four: December 6^th,starting at 16.00

Magnus Carlsen              -Vladimir Kramnik,

Michael Adams                -Nigel Short,

Viswanathan Anand        -Hikaru Nakamura,

David Howell                   -Luke McShane.

          Levon Aronian                 bye, assisting the commentary

Rest day: December 7^th

Round five: December 8^th, starting at 14.00

Hikaru Nakamura            -David Howell,

Nigel Short                      -Viswanathan Anand,

Vladimir Kramnik             -Michael Adams,

Levon Aronian                 -Magnus Carlsen.

Luke McShane                 bye, assisting the commentary

Round six: December 9^th, starting at 14.00

Michael Adams                -Levon Aronian,

Viswanathan Anand        -Vladimir Kramnik,

David Howell                   -Nigel Short,

Luke McShane                -Hikaru Nakamura.

Magnus Carlsen              bye, assisting the commentary

Round seven: December 10^th, starting at 14.00

Nigel Short                      -Luke McShane,

Vladimir Kramnik             -David Howell,

Levon Aronian                 -Viswanathan Anand,

Magnus Carlsen              -Michael Adams.

Hikaru Nakamura            bye, assisting the commentary

Round eight: December 11^th, starting at 14.00

Viswanathan Anand        -Magnus Carlsen,

David Howell                   -Levon Aronian,

Luke McShane                -Vladimir Kramnik,

Hikaru Nakamura            -Nigel Short.

Michael Adams                bye, assisting the commentary

Round nine: December 12^th, starting at 12.00

Luke McShane                -Viswanathan Anand,

Hikaru Nakamura            -Michael Adams,

Nigel Short                    -Magnus Carlsen,

Vladimir Kramnik             -Levon Aronian.

David Howell                   bye, assisting the commentary

For clarification: As the lowest rated player has pairing number 7, according to the tournament regulations, the round this player has the "bye" has been moved to be played as round 9.

Albert Vasse IA - Chief Arbiter

3) Upcoming Events

At the Mechanics' Institute Chess Club

2011

Guthrie McClain Memorial - December 3

2012

Bob Burger Open - January 7
Henry Gross Memorial - February 4
A.J. Fink Amateur Championship - March 10-11
Max Wilkerson Open - March 24
Imre Konig Memorial - April 7
Walter Lovegrove Senior Open - April 14-15
Charles Powell Memorial - May 5
Ray Schutt Memorial Blitz - May 6
William Addison Open - June 2
Arthur Stamer Memorial - June 9-10

Other Events



Dec. 31-Jan. 2 or Jan. 1-2,   GPP: 50 (enhanced)

New Year Open

6SS 30/90 sd/60 (2-day rds 1-3 G/60 merge in rd 4). Hyatt Regency, 5101 Great America Pkwy, Santa Clara, CA. Hotel $79! free parking. $6,000 b/97 (80% guar). 3 sects. Open (2000+ FIDE rated): $Gtd 1000-500-200, top u2300 200-100, top u2100 100-100. 1500-1999: 700-300-100, top u1800 400-200, top u1600 200-100. Under1500: 700-300-100, top u1300 300-200, top u1100 100. Unr max $200 except in Open. EF: $99 3-day, $98 2-day mail by 12/27, online by 12/28, Onsite +$25, Play-up +$20. Re-entry $40. EF Econ Opt: EF-20 & 2/3 of calc prize (not avail in Open). GMs/IMs free: prize-EF. Dec 2011 Supp, CCA min & TD discr to place players. Sched: 3-day Reg Sat 10-11, Rds Sa/Su 11:30-5:30, Mo 10 3:30; 2-day Reg Su 9-9:30, Rds Su 10-12:30-2:50-5:30, Mo 10-3:30. Max two 1/2-pt byes & commit bef rd 3. Ent: BayAreaChess, 1590 Oakland Rd., Ste B213, San Jose, CA 95131. Rfnd fee $20. T:408-786-5515. E: ask@BayAreaChess.com, Info/Form: BayAreaChess.com/ny12. NS, NC, W. Chess Magnet School JGP.

A Heritage Event! Feb. 18-20   29th Annual U.S. Amateur Team Championship West

(Blitz/Scholastic Feb. 20 only.) Main event: 6SS, 30/90 sd/60. Hyatt Regency, 5101 Great America Pkwy., Santa Clara, CA 95054. Free Parking! Hotel: Free Parking! $109 call             800-233-1234       for chess rate. Reserve by Feb. 4 or rates may increase. Four-player teams plus optional alternate, average rating of four highest must be under 2200, difference between ratings of board 3 & 4 must be less than 1000. January 2012 Supp, CCA min & TD discretion to place players accurately. Main Event Prizes: Exclusive commemoratively inscribed digital clocks to each player and trophy to the team for top 3 overall teams, top team u2000, u1800, u1600, u1400, and u1200; top "industry" team (all players from the same company), top "family" team (siblings, cousins, parents, uncle/aunts, grandparents), top junior team, and top school team; top scorer on each board (1-4). Gift certificates for best 3 team names. Main Event EF: $188/team or $47/player by 2/14, 2/15-17: $197/team, $56/player, Onsite: $217/team, $66/player. Main Event Sched: Registration: Sat 9:30-10:30am. Rounds: Sat 11:30 5, Sun 11:30 5, Mon 10, 3:30. Info/flyer: www.BayAreaChess.com/usatw12. Scholastic Side Event: 5SS G/30. Four-player teams plus optional alternate, may be from same or different schools. Jan 2012 Supp, CCA min & TD discretion to place players accurately. Prizes: Trophies to each player in Top 3 teams overall, Top team u900, u800, u700, u600, u500, u400, u300, u200, Top scorer on each board (1-4). EF: $156/team or $39/player by 2/14, 2/15-17: $175/team, $48/player, Onsite: $185/team, $58/player. Registration: Mon 8-9am. Rounds: 10am, 11:30am, 1pm, 2:30pm, 4pm. Info/flyer: BayAreaChess.com/usatws12. Blitz Event: Registration Mon 7-8pm, Rounds 8:30-10:30pm. EF: $12. 75% of entry fees returned as prizes. Info/flyer: www.BayAreaChess.com/usatw12. Help in forming teams: a player and see www.bayareachess.com/events/12/usatw12 or email teamhelp@BayAreaChess.com for teams seeking players & players seeking teams. Contact: For all these events, online entry atwww.BayAreaChess.com/my/usatw12 and contact Bay Area Chess, 1590 Oakland Rd., Ste B213, San Jose 95131. T:             408-786-5515      . E:ask@BayAreaChess.com. NS, NC, W, F. Chess Magnet School JGP.