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"Chess is so interesting in itself, that those who have leisure for such diversions cannot find one that is more innocent, but advantageous, to the vanquished as well as the victor." Benjamin Franklin 1) Mechanic's Institute Chess Room News 2) US Championship 3) Arthur Stamer 4) Here and There 5) Upcoming Events 1) Mechanics' Institute Chess Club NewsIM Ganbold Odondoo and NM Batchimeg Tuvshintugs lead the Fall Tuesday Night Marathon with perfect scores after four of the nine rounds. Half a point behind the Mongolians are Victor Ossipov, Peter Grey and Vincent Mo. Yefim Bukh won the Wednesday Night Blitz on November 10 with a score of 11.5 from 12. Joe Urquhart was second at 9.5. The MI weekend tournament schedule for next January-August has just been made available: January 8th - 5th Annual Bob Burger Open (G/45) 29th - MI Scholastic February 5th - 5th Annual Henry Gross Memorial (G/45) 26th - MI Scholastic March 5th -6h - A.J. Fink Amateur (Below 2000) 12th - 5th annual Max Wilkerson Open (G/45) 26th - MI Scholastic April 2-3 Walter Lovegrove Senior Open 16th - 5th Annual Imre Konig Memorial (G/45) 30th - MI Scholastic May 14th - 5th Annual Charles Powell Memorial (G/45) 21 - MI Scholastic June 4th - 5th 42nd Arthur Stamer Memorial 18 - MI Scholastic 25th - 5th Annual William Addison Open (G/45) July 16th - 5th Annual Charles Bagby Memorial (G/45) 30-31 MI Providian Junior Championship (Under 21) August 6th - 5th Annual Vladimir Pafnutieff Memorial (G/45) 13th MI Scholastic 20th-21st Bernardo Smith Amateur (Under 1800) 2) US ChampionshipHere is the revised player list for the US Championship which is scheduled for November 24-December 5 in La Jolla (San Diego), California. Note the addition of 6-time US Champion Walter Browne and San Diego IM Cyrus Lakdawala. Complete details can be found at the America's Foundation for Chess website at http://www.af4c.org/events.asp. Those who like to combine activities will want to consider pairing a visit to the US Championship with playing in the American Open in Los Angeles. Information for the latter can be found below under upcoming events. USCF 10/02 rating
1 Gata Kamsky 2777 "The Bent Larsen US Championship Prize" Dear US Championship Participants, A hearty welcome to each and every one of you! The organizers of the US Championship proudly announce an exciting additional prize for this year's event. We want to give special recognition to players who consistently bring fighting spirit to the tournament, who decline the easy and perhaps convenient draw, and find ways to carry their games to exciting and successful conclusions. Hence, Professor Jim Roberts, Co-Founder of America's Foundation For Chess, his wife Pam and their children, Jacob and Emma, have generously agreed to donate a $5,000 cash prize to reward the player who "brings it to the table" when it matters. They consider that the legendary and always gracious Bent Larsen of Denmark is the player who has best captured this ideal of over-the-board courage. The $5,000 prize, as well as recognition as the "Bent Larsen Prize Winner," will go to the most combative player at this year's event; the participant whose performance stands out for eschewing early draws and for fighting hard throughout the event. To be eligible a player will have to finish with an even or plus score, and particular attention will be paid to fighting spirit shown in the final two rounds. The $5,000 will be shared if it is considered that two or three players jointly deserve this special award. The winner or winners will be chosen by Jim Roberts in association with the organizers of the US Championship. Their decision will be final. Wishing you all a successful and combative tournament! The Organizers, on behalf of Pam, Emma, Jacob and Jim Roberts One of the best free weekly chess news updates on the web is produced by IM Malcolm Pein whose London Chess Center sponsors the very popular The Week in Chess (TWIC). His Chess Express (www.chesscenter.com) recently published an interesting little snippet on the top seed in this year's US Championship. By IM Malcom Pein The top seed in the upcoming US championship is the former Fide championship finalist Gata Kamsky, who emerged from retirement to play at a few of the Tuesday night Rapid tournaments at the Marshall Chess Club earlier this year and will now face his first real test after a five year break which he spent studying law. Kamsky has been far from convincing so far in his comeback and came to grief in the following game after eschewing the critical lines with 8...Nc6. Recent analysis confirms that 8...Bd7 does not yield sufficient counterplay against the white centre. 19.e6! frees the e5 square for the white knight with disastrous consequences for Black. If 19...Nxe6 20.Ne5 forks queen and rook and if 20...Kxf7 21.Ne5+ with another fork. 23...Kxf7 24.Qd5+ wins the Rc4; after 23...Qxf7 24.Ne5 Qe6 defends but 24.Ng5! which intends Rxe7+ if the queen moves is decisive. In fact White's position was so good he could also have won with 21.Qxd6 exd6 22.Nd2! (22.Re8? Rc1+) and if 22...Rc3 23.Re8 Rc1+ 24.Nf1. Bonin,J (2342) - Kamsky,G (2717) 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Nf3 c5 8.Bb5+ Bd7 9.Bxd7+ Qxd7 10.0-0 0-0 11.Rb1! cxd4 12.cxd4 Rc8 13.Bb2 Na6 14.Re1 Rc4 15.d5 Bxb2 16.Rxb2 Qc7 17.e5! Nc5 18.d6 Qd7 19.e6! Qxd6 20.exf7+ Kg7 21.Rd2 Qf6 22.Rd8! Rxd8 23.Qxd8 Qxf7 24.Ng5! Ne6 25.Nxf7 Nxd8 26.Nxd8 b5 27.g3 Kf8 28.Ne6+ Ke8 29.Re5 a6 30.Nc5 Rc2 31.Nxa6 Rxa2 32.Nc7+ Kd7 33.Nxb5 Ra5 34.Kg2 e6 35.f4 Ra2+ 36.Kh3 Rd2 37.Nc3 1-0 3) Arthur StamerThe Mechanics' Institute will celebrate its 150th annivevsary on December 4th, but it has only had a chess director since 1951. Arthur Stamer was the first, from 1951 until 1963. Here, in a letter to longtime Stamer Memorial Director Mike Goodall, Stamer's daughter Marion Stamer Simmons recalls her much-loved father. March 19, 1996 Dear Mr. Goodall; Here goes. Will try to give you a glimpse of Arthur B. Stamer. He was born in Berkeley, California in 1884. The family moved in his early years to San Francisco where his father opened the Bee Hive Restaurant. It was there one of the waiters introduced him to the game of chess. He married Edith Aitken in 1914. Chester Arthur Stamer (Chet) was born in 1916 and I was born eight years later. Chet joined the Chess Club and won top prize in the first Stamer Memorial Tournament. Chet died in 1981. To me, chess was a game my father and brother were forever playing and I didn't pay attention to victories, loses, or tournaments. The medals and papers enclosed were in my brother's effects. I hope you will find then interesting and will return them to me. The mimeographed papers are yours if you'd like them. For years we lived on 28th Avenue between Irving Street and Lincoln Way. On the long street car ride downtown, dad would move tiny ivory pieces into the pockets of a chess wallet he always carried. I remember old men sitting on benches playing chess under the trees in Golden Gate Park. I'm sure my dad was often one of them. Many chess friends turned into poker, bridge, and anagram pals. There was always some game going on at home. Next to chess building radios was a consuming hobby. Every radio in our home he built. I remember being called to his basement workshop to hear Big Ben brought in all the way from London on a short-wave radio. Being the youngest in the family, I always felt young. But this story is getting to me! Was all this really that long ago?!! His formal education was not remarkable but he was. Perhaps it really was remarkable because although it ended with graduation from the eighth grade, his love of learning never stopped. My picture of him walking home from the streetcar is with a cigarette in one hand, a book under the other arm, and a chocolate bar in his pocket for me. He must have checked out every nonfiction book in the library. I believe that he and my mother could point out every star in the sky, know the name of every flower and tree, as well as the name of every poet or author whose work they read. An exaggeration perhaps but even today I would like to see them on Jeopardy. When he was Superintendent of Delivery for the Post Office in the 1920s you could see the Ferry Building from his office in the Ferry Annex. When working an Rincon Annex, He retired in 1951 as First Assistant General Superintendent of Mails, San Francisco. His retirement picture with and signed by then San Francisco Postmaster John Fixa thanks him for 41 years of devoted service. Walking along the street with him, it wouldn't be unusual for a mail truck to come to a fast stop and for a mail carrier to jump out, shake his hand, and say hello. As a husband, he would say he wasn't the best - too much chess, too much radio. But my mother said he was "God's Gentleman." As a father, you would have probably guessed, he earned undying love. I don't know if Mr. McCain was the one who wrote the tribute for the first Stamer Memorial, but I am grateful. Whoever wrote it knew him well and said it all. Mike, I'm afraid you have here more than you need for a few short remarks, but I got carried away! My dad loved that Chess Club, and being its Director must have been icing on the cake. He'd have been down there every day anyway.
Wishing you all the best tournament ever - 4) Here and ThereSara Nelson writes in the November 11 edition of the New York Post Josh Waitzkin - the chess prodigy at the heart of the acclaimed book, "Searching for Bobby Fischer" - has just signed his first deal for a book that's not about chess. The tentatively titled "The Art of Learning," an inspirational memoir-and-advice book, has just been sold to Simon & Schuster's Free Press for nearly $300,000. Waitzkin was a champion chess player from childhood, and his story was chronicled by his father Fred Waitzkin in "Bobby Fischer" - and later made into a movie. Now in his late 20s, Waitzkin is no longer a professional chess player, and is an expert at a form of tai chi known as tai chi push hands. The new book - represented by Waitzkin Sr.'s longtime agent, Amanda "Binky" Urban - discusses the skills Waitzkin believes are essential to chess, to tai chi, and to most endeavors. His 40-page proposal was full of anecdotes from Waitzkin's life and discussed such concepts as "having a beginner's mind" and how to build mental stamina. The underbidders included Doubleday and Riverhead Rusty Miller writes: A&E Cable TV channel is carrying what appears to be a 60 minute Bobby Fischer bio program at 4 AM Thursday Nov 18. Set your VCRs. Hopefully they will run it in the future at a more reasonable time. Thanks to Don Schultz former USCF Pres & GM Yasser Seirawan for the tip on this event. Richard Koepcke has won the 2004 Goodwin Memorial held at the Burlingame Chess Club with a round to spare. The Mountain View NM's score of 6-0 puts him a point and ahalf ahead of the field. The November First Saturday tournament Grandmaster section was won by Serbian GM Zlatko Ilincic with 8 from 11. William Paschall of Boston tied for fifth with 6 points in the Category 7 (2412) event. Fellow American IM Rashis Ziatdinov finished with 3.5 points. American youngsters turn in solid performances in the World Youth Championships in Crete. Here are a few highlights.The top US scorer was Daniel Ludwig who finished 4th on tiebreak in the Boys Under 14 with 8 from 11. Alisa Melikhina tied for fourth in the Girls Under 12 with 7.5 points while Josh Friedel was =11th in the very strong Boys Under Eighteen with seven points. California scores: Matthew Ho of San Jose had 5.5 and Elliot Liu of Los Angeles 5 in the Boys Under 16 while Tatev Abrahamiyan of Glendale had 6.5 in the Girls Under 16. GM Alex Wojtkiewicz won the annual event at King's Island, just north of Cincinnati, last weekend. His score of 4.5 from 5 was good for $2,142. Tying for second at 4-1 were GMs Kamil Miton, Dmitry Gurevich and IM Jan Van De Mortel. A total of 334 players competed in the Continental Chess Association event. 5) Upcoming EventsUpcoming Tournaments at the MI
Pierre Saint-Amant - November 20 Mechanics Institute Scholastic Quads 2004 Tournaments:
December 18 Rounds : 10:30am, 12:15pm, 2:00pm Late Registration: 9:30am - 10:15am Open: to the first eighty players Note: Quads based on rating. USCF Rated. Unrated players face each other. You must be a USCF member to play in the quads. Time Control: Game in 45 minutes Entry Fee: $20 / $30 day of tournament/ $15 for MI members Checks payable to Mechanics' Chess Club Prizes: Trophies for the winners of each quad. Northern California Events Nov. 26 - Nov. 28 East Bay Chess Club Thanksgiving Swiss. 5SS, 40/2, SD/1. EBCC 1940 Virginia St., Berkeley CA 94709. EF: $35, $40 after 11/16. $5 EBCC discount. $$1200b/50, 2 sections. Open: 200-150-100, u2100 100, u1900 100. Reserve Section: 150-100-50, u1500 75, u1300 75. Reg: 5-5:45 Fri, with 1st rd bye, 9-9:45 Sat. Rds: Fri 6 pm, Sat 10-4:30, Sun 10-4:30. Info: eastbaychess.com; tournaments@eastbaychess.com; 510 845-1041. Southern California
A Heritage Event! National Events Mark these two events down on your calendar. The PAN AM Intercollegiate will be held in Kansas right after Christmas.Email Mikhail Korenman for more information at mkorenman@yahoo.com 4th Annual Lindsborg Open December 17-22 GM & IM norms are available; $4,000 guaranteed prize fund! Rapid Knock-out Tournament Lindsborg, Kansas December 23-25, 2004 $11,500 guaranteed prize fund! 9SS; |