1) ll Continental Championship of the Americas

The Pan American Continental Championships took place August 16th to 30th in Buenos Aires, Argentina.. The 7 who qualified for the next FIDE Championships were Lazaro Bruzon, Alexander Goldin, Ivan Morovic Fernandez, Hikaru Nakamura, Alexander Onischuk, Yuri Shulman and Giovanni Vescovi (Charbonneau, Gulko, Kaidanov and Shabalov were already qualified). Several young players had outstanding results including Nakamura, UMBC srudent Charbonneau and Ramirez of Costa Rica.

1. Goldin, Alexander g USA 2608   8.5
2. Vescovi, Giovanni g BRA 2618

3. Morovic Fernandez, Ivan g CHI 2573   8
4. Nakamura, Hikaru g USA 2568
5. Charbonneau, Pascal m CAN 2442
6.Bruzon, Lazaro g CUB 2614
7.Onischuk, Alexander g USA 2657
8. Shulman, Yuri g USA 2559

9. Dominguez, Lenier g CUB 2610   7.5
10. Milos, Gilberto g BRA 2592
11. Gulko, Boris F g USA 2583
12. Vasquez, Rodrigo m CHI 2514
13. Kudrin, Sergey g USA 2538
14 Shabalov, Alexander g USA 2575
15. Ivanov, Alexander g USA 2538
16. Gurevich, Dmitry g USA 2502
17. Felgaer, Ruben g ARG 2551
18. Ramirez, Alejandro m CRC 2450

2) Labor Day Tournaments

MI Chess Director John Donaldson and NM Mikhail Langer tied for first in the 22nd North American Open held August 29-September 1 in Stillwater, Oklahoma. The two winners, who were both undefeated with 8 from 10, divided $1400. Tying for third at 7.5 in the 88-player event were IM Michael Brooks and WGMs Rusa Goetiani and Anna Zatonskih. Jim and Frank Berry organized and directed for the Oklahoma Chess Foundation.

IM Tim Taylor, SM Dmitry Zilberstein and NM Tigran Iskhanov tied for first in the annual Labor Day tournament for Northen California held in San Francisco. Zilberstein took title of Northen California State Champion on tiebreak. We hope to have more details about this event next week.

NMs David Roper, Bill Schill, and Ben Lin tied for first at 5-1 in the 2003 Oregon Open- Richard Wood Memorial held August 30-September 1 in Gresham.

3) Morkunaite leads Goodall Tuesday Night Marathon

Egle Morkunaite defeated fellow NM Russell Wong to maintain her perfect score after 5 rounds of the Mike Goodall Tuesday Night Marathon. David Karapetian continued his string of upsets by beating Expert Matthew Gross and is second with 4.5. The 78 participants have 4 rounds to go.

4) Zuckertort in San Francisco

Sometime ago we reported on the great Zuckertort's visit to San Francisco in the summer of 1884 which you can find under the MI History on this website. Recently John Hilbert has unearthed several new games which he has kindly shared and which will appear in this and forthcoming Newsletters. Zuckertort was the first World Class player to visit the MI. Pierre Saint Amant served as French consul during the Gold Rush but there is no record of his playing. He left California several years before the Mechanics' was formed in 1854.

Zukertort - Franklin,S [C25]
San Francisco Blindfold Simul (1:12), 08.07.1884
The subjoined is one of twelve games, played simultaneously, blindfold, at the Irving Hall, San Francisco, on the 8th of July last. 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Bc5 3.f4 Bxg1 An unfavorable defense; but especially so if followed up as in the text by ...Qh4+. Of course, 3...d6 is the correct move. 4.Rxg1 Qh4+ Comparatively better is [4...exf4 White replies 5.d4 then 5...Qh4+ 6.g3 fxg3 7.hxg3 Qd8 but White's position is far superior.] 5.g3 Qxh2 6.Rg2 Qh6 6...Qh1 would be more dangerous if anything. 7.fxe5 Qe6 At g6 the Queen would be placed better, in view of the threatened advance of White's center pawns. 8.d4 h6 9.Be3 Na6 10.Qd2 Ne7 11.0-0 b6 12.Rh2 This is a subtle maneuver. White's intention being to play d5, but the e5-pawn must be guarded first. If he were to play Bf4, Black would reply ...g5, thus gaining a safe square for his Queen at g6 in case White should attack it with d5. The text move obviously prevents Black from dislodging the bishop with ...g5. 12...Bb7 13.Bf4 Ng6 14.d5 Qe7 15.d6 Qe6 16.Bh3 Qc4 17.Bxd7+ Considering that Dr. Zukertort played eleven games blindfold in the same time enhances the merit of the sacrifice, which is perfectly sound. Of course, 17.dxc7 would be quite sufficient, because if Black were to castle, White could probably play Bxh6 and win; but the sacrifice at one is prettier. 17...Kxd7 It is immaterial whether Black takes the bishop or plays 17...Kf8. In the latter case one of the many continuations might be: [17...Kf8 18.e6 fxe6 19.Qf2 Kg8 20.Rd4 Qc5 21.Bxe6+ Kh7 22.Bxh6 and wins.] 18.dxc7+ Kxc7 19.e6+ Nxf4 20.Qxf4+ Kc8 21.exf7 Qc5 22.Rhd2 Bc6 23.e5 Kb7 24.Ne4 Bxe4 25.Qxe4+ Qc6 26.Rd7+ Nc7 27.Qxc6+ Kxc6 28.R1d6+ Kb7 29.e6 Raf8 30.Re7 Rc8 31.Rdd7 Kc6 32.Rxc7+ If 32...Rxc7, then 33.Rxc7+ Kxc7 34.e7, etc. The Field, August 23, 1884 1-0

5) Upcoming Events

Upcoming Tournaments at the MI

Sep 13 (Sa): 4th Annual Howard Donnelly Memorial G/45
Full details at www.chessclub.org

Western States Open (Reno) October 17-19

21st ANNUAL SANDS REGENCY RENO-WESTERN STATES OPEN GPP: 150 Nevada 6SS, 40/2, 20/1. Sands Regency Hotel/Casino, 345N.Arlington Ave., Reno, NV 89501. 1-800-648-3553 or 775-348-2200. $$50,000 b/500 $$30,250 Gtd. FREE LECTURE/ANALYSIS by GM LARRY EVANS! G: $3,000-1,500-1,100-1,000-900-800-700-600-500-400 in Open Section plus 1/2 of all other prizes. 7 Sections: OPEN: EF: GMs and IMs free, Masters $135, (2000-2199) $156, (1999-below) $206. $$3,000+trophy- 1,500-1,100-1,000-900-800-700-600-500-400, (2400-2499) $1,000, (2300-2399) $1,000-600-400, (2299-below) $1,000-600-400. If a tie for 1st overall, then (G/15 min.) playoff for $100 from prize fund. (Note: GM/IM w/free entry not eligible for class prizes (2499/below) ,may elect to pay EF and become eligible). EXPERT: (2000-2199) EF: $134. $$2,000+trophy-1,000-700-500-300-200-200-200-200-100-100-100-100-100- (U2100 $700). "A" SECT. (1800-1999): EF: $133. $$1,900+trophy- 1,000+trophy-700+trophy-500-300-200-200-200-200-200-100-100-100-100-100. "B"SECT. (1600-1799): EF: $132. $$1,800+trophy- 1,000+trophy-600+trophy-500-300-200-200-200-200-200-100-100- 100-100-100. "C" SECT. (1400-1599): EF: $131 $$1,700+trophy- 1,000+trophy-600+trophy-500-300-200-200-200-200-200-100-100- 100-100-100. "D" SECT. (1200-1399 including adult unrated) EF: $130 (Unr.free entry but must join USCF for 1 full yr. thru this tournament. If already a member must join for 1 additional yr.-($49 adults,$25jrs.) $$1,500+trophy-1,000+trophy-500+trophy-400-300-200-200-200-200-200-100-100-100-100-100, 1st unrated-1yr. USCF membership+trophy. "E" SECT. (1199/below,including unrated Jrs.). EF: $65 (Unrated free but must join USCF for 1 full yr. thru this tournament, if already a member must join for 1 additional yr.-$25/Jrs.). (NOTE: Each entry in this section counts as 1/2 of entry for total prize fund). $$500+trophy- 400+trophy-300+trophy-200+trophy-100-100-100-100-100-100-100- 100-100-100-100, 1st Unr.-1 yr. USCF membership+trophy. SENIORS: (65yrs./older) $$500-300-200-100 (Srs. not eligible-provisional rated, unrated, "E" Sect., and Masters). CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP: $$1,000-500-300-200 decided by total score of best 10 scores from one club or area in main tournament (Not eligible- Masters, unrateds, or SECT."E"). ALL: $11 more if postmarked after 9/30, and $22 if postmarked after 10/12 or at site. $20 off EF to Sr. (65yrs. and +) and Jrs. (19/under) (Does not apply to SECT. "E"). Players may play up. Provisionally rated players may only win "up to" 50% of 1st place money except in Open Sec. 1-10. CCA ratings may be used. NOTE: pairings not changed for color alternation unless three in a row or a plus 3 and if the unlikely situation occurs 3 colors in a row may be assigned. REG: 5-9pm (10/16), 9-10am (10/17). RDS: 12-7, 10-6, 9:30-4:30. Byes available any round if requested before 1st round. ENT: Make checks payable and send to: SANDS REGENCY (address above).HR: $39! (Sun-Thurs) and $54! (Fri-Sat) + 13.5% tax. Info: Jerry Weikel (775) 747-1405 (Email: wackyykl@aol.com) FIDE.W.