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"The game of Chess is not merely an idle amusement; several very valuable qualities of the mind are to be acquired and strengthened by it, so as to become habits ready on all occasions; for life is a kind of Chess." Benjamin Franklin 1) Mezentsev wins Saint Amant Open 2) Four-way tie in Fall Tuesday Night Marathon 3) David Pruess shines in New York Masters 4) Akobian, Kraai and Khachiyan fight for GM norms in Gufeld Memorial 5) Lindsborg Open 6) Here and There 7) Upcoming Events 1) Mezentsev wins Saint Amant OpenIM-elect Vladimir Mezentsev won the 48-player Pierre Saint Amant Open held November 22 at the Mechanics' Institute. Mezentsev's 5-0 score included victories over NMs Michael Aigner and Victor Baja. IM Ricardo DeGuzman, who took a first round bye, was second at 4 1/2. Complete standings and a list of prize winners can be found at http://www.chessclub.org/Saint03.html. Garry Kasparov and X3D drew the final game of their match to tie 2-2. Games two and three were excellent examples of the strengths of each player, with the computer taking game two in tactical fashion and then showing poor strategical planning in game three. 2) Four-way tie in Fall Tuesday Night MarathonIM Walter Shipman, Experts Matthew Gross and Alex Setzepfandt, plus Class A player George Sanguinetti, lead the Fall Tuesday Night Marathon at 5-1. This event has featured more upsets than any in record memory with many masters falling by the wayside. Three rounds remain for the 76-player field.
3) David Pruess shines in New York MastersBerkeley SM David Pruess, who is currently based back east, did very well in the November 18 edition of the New York Masters tying for second. GM Alex Wojtkiewicz won with 3.5 while David and GMs Pavel Blatny and Leonid Yudasin were right behind him at 3. David's result included a win over young star Fabiano Caruana, a loss to a Wojt, a win over NM Marc Esserman and a last round upset over Cuban-American GM Julio Becerra.
SM David Pruess - Fabiano Caruana 1.e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Bg5 a6 8.Na3 b5 9. Nd5 Be7 10. Bxf6 Bxf6 11. c3 Ne7 12. Nxf6+ gxf6 13. Nc2 f5 14. exf5Bxf5 15. Ne3 Be6 16. Qh5 O-O 17. Bd3 Ng6 18. O-O Qd7 19. Bf5 Bxf5 20. Qxf5 Qxf521. Nxf5 Rfd8 22. Rfd1 d5 23. Rd2 Rd7 24. a4 Rb8 25. axb5 axb5 26. Ra6 b4 27.cxb4 Rxb4 28. Ra8+ Nf8 29. Rd3 Rb6 30. Rc3 Rf6 31. Rxf8+ 1-0
GM Julio Becerra Rivero - SM David Pruess 1.e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e5 Nfd7 6. h4 c5 7. Nb5 O-O 8. Bxe7Qxe7 9. Nc7 f6 10. Nxa8 cxd4 11. Nc7 fxe5 12. Qd2 Nf6 13. f3 Qxc7 14. O-O-O Nc615. Bb5 Bd7 16. Nh3 Qb6 17. Bxc6 bxc6 18. Rhe1 Rb8 19. b3 c5 20. Rxe5 a5 21.Nf4 a4 22. Kb1 axb3 23. cxb3 Qd6 24. Rde1 c4 25. Qxd4 cxb3 26. Rg5 Qa3 27. Qd2bxa2+ 28. Ka1 Qb3 29. Qc1 Qb4 30. Ne2 Rc8 31. Nc3 Rxc3 32. Qd2 Qc5 33. Rge5 Rc2 34. Qe3 Qb4 0-1 For more on the New York Masters, which has awarded $54, 342 in prize money over 82 events, go to http://www.newyorkmasters.com/games.html 4) Akobian, Kraai and Khachiyan fight for GM norms in Gufeld MemorialArmenian GM Arsen Yegiazarian leads the Eduard Gufeld Memorial, a category 9 (2452) GM roundrobin, being held in Los Angeles with a score of 5 1/2 from 7. Tied for second at 5, and needed 1 1/2 points from their final two games, are IMs Varuzhan Akobian and Jesse Kraai. Also in the running for a GM norm is IM Melikset Khachiyan at 4 1/2, who needs to win his final two games. Other scores are: 5-6. GMs Mikhalevski and Sharavdorj 3 1/2; 7. IM Sevillano 3; 8. IM Matikozian 2 1/2; 9. FM Ortiz 1 1/2; 10. FM Kretchetov 1. Updates on the event, scheduled to end this evening, can be found at http://www.geocities.com/Colosseum/Field/8184/gufeld.html . 5) Lindsborg OpenThe second Lindsborg Rotary Open promises to be the strongest tournament ever held in the center of the United States. Ten Grandmasters have now confirmed their participation: Alex Baburin, Suat Atalik, Sergey Kudrin, Alex Yermolinsky, Nikola Mitkov, Yury Shulman, Thrace Nedev, Pavel Blatny, Evgeny Agrest, and Dashzeveg Sharavdorj. The organizer, Mikhail Korenman, has also accepted entries from over a dozen IMs. The nine round format and presence of many foreign players offers a very unusual opportunity for Experts and Masters to have a shot at norms or earn a FIDE rating. Lindsborg is drivable from most places in the middle of the country. Lodging and meals are very reasonable. Contact Mikhail Korenman for more info at: korenman@bethanylb.edu 6) Here and ThereCongratulations to Mechanics' member Alex Setzepfandt for being named to the 2004 Pressman All-America Team. This is the third consecutive year that Alex, who is also an honor student, has been a member of the Pressman Team. The award requires that players attain a specific rating by a certain age. In Alex's case, at age 13, he needed to be 2100 and is currently rated 2132. This is a slight rise from his initial rating of 296 on the August, 1996 rating list! GM Joel Benjamin is famous for having tripled his USCF rating, but Alex has already got that one covered. The latest USCF top 50 list for players age 13 has several MI members on it, including Nicolas Yap #7 at 2164, Alex Setzepfandt #8 at 2132, Drake Wang #16 at 2037, and Daichi Siegrist #27 at 1858. We believe that Nicolas will also be named to the Pressman Team, but have not been able yet to confirm this, yet. International Master Melikset Khachiyan has an interesting website at: http://www.chesschampionschool.com . There's a report on the first Najdorf FIDE Invitational, which was held in Los Angeles in the first part of November. Top-rated FM Eduardo Ortiz was first with 7 from 9, followed by fellow Filipino NMs Reynaldo Del Pilar with 6.5 and FM Hugo Villanueva at 6. The revelation of the event was 14 -year-old Vanessa West, rated 2036, who was among the leaders for most of the tournament before slowing down at the finish. Her final score of 5.5, was a master strength result. Vanessa is a student of former MI member IM Jeremy Silman. 7) Upcoming EventsUpcoming Tournaments at the MI
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. |