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"Chess is not a game, but a disease." Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman 1) Yerminator tops Ralston Memorial 2) DeGuzman and Tserendorj share first in 33rd Carroll Capps 3) Seven-way tie for First in Fall TNM 4) Kasparov versus X3D Fritz 5) Lindsborg Chess Festival 6) Zemgalis receives FIDE Honorary Grandmaster title 7) USCF seeks new Executive Director 8) Capps and Ralston featured at ChessDryad 9) Here and There 10) Upcoming Events 1) Yerminator tops Ralston MemorialIt seemed only fitting that with the Terminator/Governator due to take over shortly in Sacramento that the Yerminator should run away with the H.J. Ralston Memorial held October 25-November 8 at the Mechanics' Institute. MI Grandmaster-in-Residence Alex Yermolinsky, aka the Yerminator, scored 10 from 11 to win the Category 3 (FIDE 2320) IM norm round robin. Senior Master Vladimir Mezentsev was second at 7.5, making his third and final IM norm. This was the 18th IM norm (plus two GM norms) made at the Mechanics' in 10 International events dating back to December 1998. This might make some think that the MI has become a title norm factory, but in fact what it glaringly shows is how few opportunities players have in the United States. Mezentsev made all his norms at the MI as did Vinay Bhat, while Cyrus Lakdawala and Jesse Kraai both made two norms. What did they have in common? They were all rated over 2400, in some cases for many years. Considering the IM norm performance is 2450 it is not surprising that players rated 2420-30 should be successful much of the time. In Europe players can try in events practically every week where in the United States there are only a handful of opportunities each year, with the Mechanics' providing the only annual round robin event. International Master Ricardo DeGuzman was third in the Ralston at 6.5 followed by SM Dmitry Zilberstein and 15-year-old Matthew Ho at 6. The latter, the lowest rated player in the event, more than held his own. This performance puts him firmly in the Master class. The prize for most bloodthirsty combatant was shared by Tigran Ishkanov and Adrian Keatinge-Clay who didn't draw a single game. Over 70 percent of the games (48 of 66) were decisive in this hard fought event. The oldest participants, IM Zoran Ilic and FM Richard Lobo, were both greatly handicapped by a lack of recent practice. The tournament directing staff of Stephen Brandwein, Anthony Corrales and John Donaldson would like to thank all the players for their good sportsmanship which helped make this event a pleasure to organize. The crosstable and all games for this event can be found at http://www.chessclub.org/Ralston03.html. 2) DeGuzman and Tserendorj share first in 33rd Carroll CappsFilipino IM Ricardo DeGuzman and newcomer Batsaikhan Tserendorj of Mongolia both went 4-0 to win the 50-player 33rd Carroll Capps Memorial held November 8-9 at the Mechanics' Institute. DeGuzman downed FMs Adrian Keatinge-Clay and Emmanuel Perez on the final day while Tserendorj beat IM-elect Ron Cusi and NM Victor Baja to take home $325 apiece. Kenneth Hills had a successful return to the tournament arena after a break, scoring 3.5 points by defeating NM Keith Vickers in the final round. Hills score was good for first Expert and $200. The crosstable and prize winners for the Capps can be found at http://www.chessclub.org/Capps03.html .
(1) DeGuzman,R - Keatinge-Clay,A [A43]
(2) Cusi,R - Tserendorj, B. [D30] 3) Seven-way tie for First in Fall TNMThe field is closely packed together as the Fall Tuesday Night Marathon approaches the halfway mark with seven players tied for first at 3.5 from 4. Leading the 74-player field are: IM Walter Shipman, NMs Egle Morkunaite, Win Aung Ye, Russell Wong, and Experts Victor Ossipov, Larry Snyder and Matthew Gross. 4) Kasparov versus X3D FritzThe latest computer challenge for Garry Kasparov began on Tuesday, November 11, in New York with the first game ending in a draw. The remaining three games, which start at 10am PST, will be held November 13, 16, and 18. ESPN 2 is televising the games with commentary by GMs Yasser Seirawan and Maurice Ashley and Paul Hoffman. 5) Lindsborg Chess FestivalReaders of Chess Life that are receiving their December issue and looking for tournaments may not realize just how strong the 2nd Annual Lindsborg Open will be. A first prize of $1200 doesn't sound like much of a draw but organizer Mikhail Korenman has opted for a different approach to bring in top players. He has offered conditions (air, lodging and meals) which is a rarity in all but the strongest events these days. The result is that nine GMs have already committed with several more expected to accept shortly. Importantly for norm seekers six of the GMs (Andersson, Agrest, Baburin, Blatny, Sharavdorj and Atalik) are foreign. This, coupled with the small field (27 players entered so far), means this "Lone Pine" of the Midwest should offer excellent chances to earn GM and IM norms. Information for this event can be found below under Upcoming Events. 6) Zemgalis receives FIDE Honorary Grandmaster titleUSCF Delegate Bill Kelleher of Boston reports that 80-year-old Elmars Zemgalis of Seattle, Washington, received the FIDE Honorary Grandmaster title at the recent FIDE Congress in Haldiki, Greece. The award honors players whose careers ended before the establishment of the current FIDE title system. Zemgalis, a native of Latvia, was the dominant force in German tournaments in the period 1946-49. His greatest success was Oldenburg 1949 where he scored 12 from 17, tying for first with Bogoljubow. Among the other participants were Rossolimo, Unzicker, O'Kelly and Saemisch. 7) USCF seeks new Executive DirectorLooking for a challenge? The USCF, after a string of disastrous choices for its Executive Director culminating in Frank Niro, is once again looking for the right person. US CHESS FEDERATION SEEKS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR The United States Chess Federation, (USCF), located in New Windsor, NY is accepting resumes for the position of Executive Director. The following qualifications are necessary for someone who:
* will lead our membership and expand our role in promoting chess in the United States. Please send your resume and cover letter to: Beatriz Marinello, President of USCF Executive Board, 3131 Gifford Lane, Miami, FL 33133. 8) Capps and Ralston featured at ChessDryadThe Chess Dryad troika of Kerry Lawless, Richard Shorman and Mark Shelton have outdone themselves. Go to http://www.chessdryad.com for a tremendous pictorial on the recently concluded Carroll Capps and Ralston Memorials. 9) Here and ThereCongratulations to GM Alexander Baburin's Chess Today which recently celebrated its 3rd year of publication. The online subscription based daily is one of the best values around with lots of annotated games, positions to solve, book reviews, tournament reports and editorials. Go to http://www.chesstoday for more information. FM Eric Schiller writes; "For advance planning, the Western Canadian Open http://www.chessbc.com/wcotournamentdetails.html looks great. For non-titled players, advance entry this year cuts the fee from $150 to $79." Josh Karnad is( 1623) is looking for opponents for USCF rated match play between 1500-1800. He is a regular at the Mechanics' and can be reached at antificial231@yahoo.com or (510) 258-1999. Utah IM Igor Ivanov has an interesting homepage at http://www.ivanovchess.com .
CHESS & BOOKS "Fred's next guest on Wednesday, Nov. 12th, will be his friend, and one of the most entertaining and knowledgable American chess professionals, GM John Fedorowicz. "Fed", who will be doing live commentary on all four games of the Kasparov-X3D Fritz match in NYC on Chess.FM, will give his "take" on what happened during the first game Tuesday, along with his considered opinions on what may occur during the remaining three games. He will also discuss his work on the excellent website http://www.chesspublishing.com , wherein he conducts a monthly survey on recent Sicilian theory, and his currently quite active playing and coaching career. Here is a nice win by the late Jim Hurt over the long-time Virgin Islands board one.
Hurt,J - Hook,W [C02] 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Qb6 5.Nf3 Bd7 6.Bd3 Nc6 7.0-0 cxd4 8.cxd4 Nxd4 9.Nxd4 Qxd4 10.Nc3 Qxe5 11.Re1 Qd6 12.Nb5 Qb8 13.Qf3 Bd6 14.Nxd6+ Qxd6 15.Bf4 Qe7 16.Qg3 f6 17.Rac1 Rc8 18.Rxc8+ Bxc8 19.Bd6 Qf7 20.Rc1 Bd7 21.Rc7 g5 22.Rxb7 Qh5 23.f3 Ne7 24.Bb5 Bxb5 25.Rxe7+ Kd8 26.Qe1 1-0 10) Upcoming EventsUpcoming Tournaments at the MI Saint-Amant - November 22 Guthrie McClain Memorial - Dec. 13
November 27-30 American Open in Los Angeles Dec. 19-23. GPP: 60 Kansas 2nd Annual Lindsborg Open. 9SS, 30/90, SD/1.First two rounds accelerated pairing. 3,500 guaranteed prize fund! GM & IMnorms are available! FIDE rating 1st - $1,200, 2nd - $800, 3rd - $600, 4th 400, 5th 200. U2400: $100 75; U2200: $100 75EF: GMs & IMs free. Membership at KCA is required for Kansas residents.Before 11/15/03: FIDE >2300, $80. FIDE, USCF >2200, $90. FIDE <2200, $100. non-FIDErated, USCF <2200 *, $130. Before 12/1/03: $90, $100, $110, $140, respectively. At site: $100, $110, $120, $150, respectively. * number of players in this section will be limited. Schedule: Opening Ceremony December 19, 2003 at 11:00am. Rds: 12/19 - 12:00noon & 6:00 pm; 12/20, 21, 22 - 10:00am & 5:00pm; 12/23 9:00am 1/2-pt byes OK at ALL. Limit 3. FIDE, USCF. NS, NC. Ent: INTECS,Inc. (232 N. Main St, Lindsborg, KS 67456) 785-906-0402 Dec. 19-21. GPP: Kansas 3rd Annual Lindsborg Rotary Open. 6SS, $1,500 guaranteed prize fund! Open: G/120. 1st - $300, 2nd - $200, 3rd - $100; U1800: $100 75 50; U1600: $100 75 50; U1400: $100 75 50; U1200-UNR: $100 75 50 EF: $50 (paid before 11/15); $60 (before 12/15); $70 (at site) Schedules: Reg: 12/19 by 5:30pm. Rds: 12/19 6:00pm; 12/20 9:00, 1:30, 7:00; 12/21 9:00, 1:30. 1/2-pt byes OK at ALL. Last bye must commit before round 4. USCF. NS, NC. Ent: INTECS, Inc. (232 N. Main St, Lindsborg, KS 67456) 785-906-0402, http://www.intecsus.org/. Info: intecsus@yahoo.com HR: http://www.lindsborg.org/ 1-888-227-2227. Dec. 13. Karpov Chess School Scholastic Tournament. Presents tournament guests: 12th World Champion Anatoly Karpov; 2003 World Championship Qualified Grandmasters Alexander Onischuk, Yury Shulman, and Ivan Morovic (Chile). 5SS, G/30. Sections: K-3, K-5, K-8, K-12. Trophies for each category: 1-3 (teams and individuals); medals 4-20. Schedule: Reg: Ends at 9:30am. Opening Ceremony: 9:45am. Rds: 10:00am; 12:45pm, 2:00pm, 3:15pm, 4:30pm. Closing ceremony: 5:45pm EF: $25, including tournament registration, tournament brochure, autographed photo with Grandmasters, and free tickets to the Invitational tournament (details on www.lindsborg.org). Ent: INTECS, Inc. (232 N. Main St, Lindsborg, KS 67456) 785-906-0402, http://www.intecsus.org/. Info: intecsus@yahoo.com HR: http://www.lindsborg/.org, 1-888-227-2227. |