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If one would cancel all traffic rules and switch off all traffic lights, watching city traffic on TV would be also awfully interesting! Oleg Romanishin on FIDE's efforts to make chess a TV spectator sport, quoted by Rustam Kasimdzhanov in Chess Today |
1) Mechanics' Institute Chess Club News 2) DeGuzman wins Peoples Open 3) Our Man in Moscow Part Two 4) Shulman-Wojtkiewicz match 5) Here and There 6) Upcoming Events 1) Mechanics' Institute Chess Club NewsBatchimeg Tuvshintugs defeated fellow teenage NM Nicolas Yap to grab a point lead with 6.5 from 7 with two rounds to go in the Winter Tuesday Night Marathon tied for second at 5.5 in the 71-player field are Yap, IM Odondoo Ganbold, NM Igor Margulis and Expert Igor Traub. The Mechanics' will hold a blitz tournament on Saturday, April 9, to celebrate Val Zemitis' 80th birthday. More details shortly. Thanks to Providian Financial as part of their Providian Cares program WGM Kamile Baginskaite will begin teaching a free class for women of all ages on Sundays from 2-4 pm starting this week on February 27. 2) DeGuzman wins Peoples Open
32nd Annual People's Chess Tournament This past weekend saw the continuation of a tradition in Berkeley that dates back to the days of protests against wars of a previous era. The 32nd edition of the People's Tournament was held in the beautiful Pauley ballroom at the M.L. King student union on the campus of UC Berkeley. A total of 146 players competed in the main tournament held on Saturday through Monday while another 159 youngsters came on Monday for the annual Young People's Tournament. Both events were organized by the Berkeley student government. Richard Koepcke directed the adult tournament while Mark Shelton ran the scholastic event. The combined open and expert section featured 28 players, of which 9 were masters. Top seeded Filipino IM Richardo DeGuzman was held to a surprising draw in round 1 by teenager Drake Wang but then recovered to defeat four other opponents, including NM Michael Aigner and FM Bela Evans. His 5.0 out of 6 score was sufficient for clear first place. Aigner scored four victories in six rounds to overcome the defeat at the hands of DeGuzman and finish in second place at 4.5 points. Tied for third and under 2300 honors were NM Andras Erdei of Hungary and local superstar junior NM Nicolas Yap. Since the expert section was combined with the open, 3.5 points was sufficient to win first place expert. Four players achieved this score: veterans Victor Ossipov and Alexander Levitan plus 10th graders Drake Wang and Daniel Schwarz. The competition was just as fierce in the lower sections. Mechanics' Institute member Yefim Bukh won Class A with 5.0 out of 6. Varun Behl won his first five games in Class B before taking a last round draw that clinched first place. Daniel Moglen and Trevor Showalter shared the top honors in the Reserve (under 1600) section by drawing their game in the last round. For complete tournament results (both adult and scholastic) plus dozens of pictures, please check out the following links on the CalChess and ChessDryad websites. http://www.calchess.org/tournament_results/2005Peoples.htm http://www.calchess.org/tournament_results/2005YoungPeoples.htm http://www.chessdryad.com/photos/berkeley/people_05/index.htm http://www.chessdryad.com/photos/berkeley/people_05b/index.htm 3) Our Man in Moscow Part TwoArmenian GM Vladimir Akopian defeated tournament leader Andrei Kharlov to force a 5-way tie for first between these two players, Vassily Ivanchuk, Emil Sutovsky and Alexander Motlyev at 6.5 from 9 in the Aeroflot Open. Leading the American participants were Alexander Shabalov and Alex Yermolinsky at 5. Yermo had a fine result playing up every round against an average opposition of 2627 for a performance rating of over 2660. His only loss was to tournament co-winner Motlyev. Next Tuesday and Wednesday Alex will be talking about some of the highlights of Aeroflot Open starting at 5:15 pm in the Chess Room. Levon Aronian didn't win the Aeroflot Open but if there had been a competition for give-away chess he would have been a prime contender as evidenced by this sacrificial orgy.
Aronian,L (2684) - Popov,V (2588) [D15] 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e3 a6 5.Nf3 b5 6.c5 g6 7.Qb3 a5 8.Ne5 Bg7 9.Nxb5 cxb5 10.Bxb5+ Kf8 11.0-0 Ba6 12.a4 Ne4 13.Nd3 Bb7 14.f3 Nf6 15.Ne5 Qc7 16.Bd2 h5 17.c6 Bc8 18.e4 Qb6 19.Be3 Be6 20.Rac1 Na6 21.f4 Nc7 22.f5 Bc8 23.Rc5 Ba6 24.Bg5 Bc8 25.Kh1 Nxe4 26.Bxe7+ Kxe7 27.Rxd5 Nxd5 28.Qxd5 Ng5 29.Nxg6+ fxg6 30.Re1+ Be6 31.Rxe6+ Kf8 32.Qd6+ Kg8 33.Bc4 Kh7 34.Re7 gxf5 35.Qf6 Rhg8 36.Qxg5 1-0 4) Shulman-Wojtkiewicz matchThe six-game match between Grandmasters Yury Shulman and Alex Wojtkiewicz, held February 19-21 in Stillwater, Oklahoma, finished 3-3 in regulation before going into sudden death where Shulman won the second blitz game to win. This match was sponsored by Frank Berry and the Oklahoma Chess Foundation with Frank Berry, Fred Roper, Alex Relyea and Jim Berry serving as arbiters. This was yet another special event organized by the Berry brothers who have put Stillwater on the world chess map. Wojtkiewicz-Shulman Game 3 Catalan 1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 Nf6 3. c4 e6 4. g3 Be7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O dxc4 7. Ne5 Nc6 8. Bxc6 bxc6 9. Nxc6 Qe8 10. Nxe7+ Qxe7 11. Qa4 c5 12. Qxc4 cxd4 13. Qxd4 e5 14. Qh4 Rb8 15. b3 Qe6 16. Bg5 Nd5 17. e4 Nb4 18. Be7 Re8 19. Bxb4 Rxb4 20. Nc3 Bb7 21. Rfe1 Rd4 22. Qg5 h6 23. Qe3 Red8 24. Rad1 f5 25. f3 fxe4 26. fxe4 Qg4 27. Rxd4 exd4 28. Qd3 Qg5 29. Nd5 Bxd5 30. exd5 Qxd5 31. Qc4 Draw Shulman-Wojtkiewicz, Game 4 Slav 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4 Bf5 6. Ne5 Nbd7 7. Nxc4 Nb6 8. Ne5 a5 9. g3 e6 10. Bg2 Bb4 11. O-O O-O 12. e3 h6 13. Qe2 Bh7 14. Rd1 Nbd7 15. Nxd7 Nxd7 16. e4 Qe7 17. Be3 Rfd8 18. d5 exd5 19. exd5 Bxc3 20. bxc3 cxd5 21. Rxd5 Nf6 22. Rxd8+ Rxd8 23. Qb5 Be4 24. Qxa5 Bxg2 25. Kxg2 Ng4 26. Bd4 Qe4+ 27. Kg1 Rd5 28. Qa8+ Kh7 29. h4 Rxd4 30. cxd4 Ne3 31. fxe3 Qxe3+ 32. Kh2 Qe2+ 33. Kh3 Qe6+ 34. Kh2 Qe2+ 35. Kh3 Draw 5) Here and ThereThis Year Linares will not feature huge appearance fees, instead the money is being put into the prize fund with the players competing for a top prize of roughly $130,000. 1. 100.000 € ; 2. 75,000 €; 3. 50,000 €; 4. 25,000 €; 5. 20,000 €; 6. 15,000 € et 7. 12,500 €. SM Salvia Mikhail won the Washington State Championship with a score of 7.5 from 9. Tying for second at 6 in the 10-player event, which has been held annually for over seventy years (except a break during World War 2), were NMs Bill Schill and Viktors Pupols. The latter, who competed in his first Washington State Championship in 1954, turns 70 this summer but is still going strong. 6) Upcoming EventsUpcoming Tournaments at the MI
A.J. Fink Amateur - March 5-6
Mar. 13 2nd Annual Century West Open GPP: 6 S. California
Mar. 18-20 5th Annual RENO-FAR WEST OPEN GPP: 120 Nevada 6SS, 40/2, 20/1, G/1/2. Sands Regency Hotel/Casino, 345 N.Arlington Ave. Reno, NV 89501. 1-866-386-7829 or (775) 348-2200. $$28,500 b/300. $$18,000 Gtd. (Prizes 1-10 in Open Section Gtd. plus ½ of all other prizes). Free Lecture/Analysis Clinic by GM Larry Evans! 6 Sections. Open (2200 & above) EF: $120 (2000-2199=$175; 1999 & below=$251) (GMs & IMs free but must enter by (3/1) or pay late fee at door). $$2,000-1,000-800-700-600-500-500-500-500-400, (2300-2399) $1,000-600-400, (2299-below) $1,000-600-400 (If a tie for 1st then a playoff for $100 from prize fund). Sec."X" (2000-2199) EF: $119; $$1,000-600-400-300-200-100-100-100-100 (2099-below) 700. Sec."A" (1800-1999) EF: $118; $$1,000-600-400-300-200-200-100-100-100-100. Sec."B" (1600-1799) EF: $117; $$1,000-500-400-300-200-100-100-100-100-100. Sec."C" (1400-1599) EF: $116; $$900-500-300-200-200-100-100-100-100-100. Sec."D/" (1399-below) EF: $115; $$800-400-300-200-200-100-100-100-100-100, (1199-below) $500-300-200-100. 1st Sr.= $200-100; 1st Club=$500-300-200. All classes have trophies 1st-3rd. Unrated players are free entry but not eligible for cash prizes. Must join USCF for 1 full year thru this tournament. 1st Unrated=trophy + 1 yr. USCF Membership. $15 discount to Seniors (65+ yrs.) & Juniors (19-under). Players may play up. Provisionally rated players may only win ½ of 1st place money. CCA ratings may be used. Note: pairings not changed for color alternation unless 3 in a row or a plus 3 and if the unlikely situation occurs 3 colors in a row may be assigned. Note: a no draw rule until 30 moves will be in effect. SIDE EVENTS: Wed. (3/16) 7pm IM Igor Ivanov Clock Simul ($40-includes analysis), 7pm- Quick Quads (G/29) ($20).Thurs. (3/17) 6-7:15pm Free Lecture-GM Larry Evans; 7:30pm- GM (TBA) Simul ($20); 7:30pm- Blitz (5 Min) tourney ($20) 80% entries = Prize Fund. Sat. (3/19) (3-4:30pm) Free Game/Position Analysis- GM Larry Evans. Sun (3/20) Quick Tourney (G/29) 5 rd. Swiss ($20) Reg. 11-11:30am play begins at 12 (noon) -80% of entries = Prize fund. ALL REG: 5-9pm (3/17), 9-10am (3/18). RDS: 12-7, 10-6, 9:30-4:30. Byes available any round if requested before rd 1. ENT: make checks payable and send to: SANDS REGENCY (address listed above), postmarked by 3/1. $11 after 3/1. Do not mail after 3/11 or email after 3/16. $22 late fee at site. HR: (Sun-Thurs. $25!!) (Fri. & Sat. $54!) + tax. 1-866-386-7829 mention (Code) CHE 318. Info: Jerry Weikel 6578 Valley Wood Dr, Reno, NV 89523, (775) 747-1405, wackyykl@aol.com. Or check out our website at: www.renochess.org/fwo. To verify entry, phone Sands Regency. Heritage Event! 3rd Annual Western Pacific Open GPP: 50 S. California 5SS, 3-day 40/2, SD/1, 2-day rds. 1-2 G/75 then merges. Burbank Airport Hilton, 2500 Hollywood Way, Burbank CA (adjacent to Burbank Airport). $$10,000 b/200, 50% of each prize guaranteed. In 3 sections: Open: 1600-1000-800-400-200 plus $200(G) bonus for clear first, U2400 300, U2300 200, U2200 700-500-300. EF: $81 if received by 3-23, $95 door. Premier (U2000): $$ 700-500-300-100, U1800 400-200-150, U1600 400-200-150. EF: $81 if received by 3-23, $95 door, no unrated. Amateur (U1400): $$400+trophy-200-100, U1200 100+trophy, Unr 100+trophy, unrated may win unrated prize only. EF: $66 if received by 3-23, $75 door. On-line entry: http://www.westernchess.com/. No checks or credit card entries at door. All: $25 Best Game prize, all sections eligible. One half-point bye if requested with entry, rds 4-5 cannot be revoked. SCCF membership req. of S. Cal. res., $14 reg, $9.00 junior. Reg: 5:30-6:30 p.m. 3/25, 8:30-10 a.m. 3/26. Rds: 3-day 7 p.m., 11-5:30, 10-4:30. 2-day: 10:30-1:30 (G/75), then merges. HR: $89, (818) 843-6000 or (800) 840-6450. Be sure to mention Western Chess. Parking $7/day. Info: admin@westernchess.com. Web site: http://www.westernchess.com/. Ent: SCCF, c/o John Hillery, 835 N. Wilton Pl. #1, Los Angeles CA 90038. NS. NC. F. State Championship Qualifier. National
Oklahoma Chess Foundation presents: GPP: 80 Oklahoma |