|
It is astonishing how much hot water a master can wade into in the first dozen moves, despite a century of opening study. William Napier (who died in 1952) |
1) Mechanics' Institute Chess Club News 2) GM Hikaru Nakamura Named 2005 Samford Chess Fellow 3) Walter Browne wins US Senior Open 4) Daniel Fernandez wins US Junior Invitational 5) US Players at the Pan American Junior 6) Here and There 7) Upcoming Events 1) Mechanics' Institute Chess Club NewsIM John Grefe, FM Frank Thornally and NM Batchimeg Tuvshintugs are the top seeds in the 75-player MI Summer Tuesday Night Marathon. It is still possible to enter the 8 round competition with half points byes for rounds one and two. This Saturday the Mechanics' will hold its fourth annual William Addison Open to honor International Master Addison. Born in Louisiana, Addison came to San Francisco in the early 1950s while still in his early 20s. He rapidly developed into one of the top players on the West Coast and competed in several US Championships with distinction. He represented the US in both Olympiad and Interzonal competitions before retiring in the early 1970s. IM Addison is still remembered by MI veterans for the excellent job he did while serving as Chess Room director in the late 1960s. 2) GM Hikaru Nakamura Named 2005 Samford Chess Fellowby Allen Kaufman Hikaru Nakamura, a seventeen year old Grandmaster from White Plains, New York, has been selected as the nineteenth FRANK P. SAMFORD, JR. CHESS FELLOW. Already ranked among the world's elite players, Hikaru is currently the highest rated player in the world at 17 years and under with a FIDE (International Chess Federation) rating of 2613 on the January 2005 rating list. The Samford Fellowship identifies and assists brilliant young American chessmasters by providing the resources and funding needed to enhance their skills and reach their full potential. The total value of the Fellowship is approximately $32,000 per year. The prize is awarded for one year, renewable for a second year. The winner was chosen by the Samford Fellowship Committee, consisting of Frank P. Samford III (son of Samford Fellowship founder Frank P. Samford, Jr.), former U.S. Chess Champion Grandmaster Arthur Bisguier and International Master John Donaldson. The winner's potential was determined based on his chess talent, work ethic, dedication and accomplishments. The young grandmaster was born in 1987, an American citizen in Japan, son of a Japanese father and an American mother. He moved to the United States at age two. His stepfather is the renowned chess teacher Sunil Weeramantry who is a FIDE master and former New York State Chess Champion. Learning chess at age seven and a half, Hikaru holds the record for being the youngest American grandmaster ever. He earned his title in February 2003 at the age of 15 years 2 months, eclipsing the earlier record set in 1958 by former World Champion, GM Bobby Fischer. Previously, Hikaru had set the mark for the youngest American master when he reached that milestone at the age of 10 years 2 months. Hikaru is the current U.S. Chess Champion, a laurel he attained at the age of sixteen. He is the second youngest player ever to win the title. Additionally, Hikaru scored several impressive victories in the 2004 FIDE World Championship held in Tripoli, Libya in June. In the 128 player knock-out format, he reached the final 16 before losing to GM Michael Adams of England. An active tournament player, Hikaru competes extensively both internationally and around the United States. Among his recent successes are: 1st place, Foxwoods Open, Ledyard, Connecticut (March 2005); 1st place, Western States Open, Reno, Nevada (October 2004); 1st place, Decameron Open, Santo Domingo (May 2004); 4th place, Corus Invitational Grandmaster B, Wijk aan Zee (January 2004); 3rd equal, Continental Championships for the Americas, Buenos Aires (August 2003), and 1st equal, National Open, Las Vegas, Nevada (June 2003). Hikaru earned the silver medal for the United States at the 2001 World Youth Championships in Oropesa, Spain. He was the 2001 U.S. Junior Champion and has won several other national championships in various age groups. The Samford Chess Fellowship was created by the late Frank P. Samford, Jr. of Birmingham, Alabama. Mr. Samford was a distinguished attorney and CEO of Liberty National Life Insurance Company (now Torchmark). Mr. Samford was active in civic, business, political, educational and cultural affairs. He was also an enthusiastic competitor in chess tournaments. The purpose of the Samford Fellowship is to identify and assist the best young American chessmasters by providing top level coaching, strong competition and access to study materials. The Fellowship also provides a monthly stipend for living expenses so that the winners may devote themselves entirely to chess without having financial worries. Over the last eighteen years the Samford Fellowship has proven very successful. Several of the Fellows have become Grandmasters and a few have won the U.S. Chess Championship. Hikaru=s term as Samford Fellow will begin on July 1, 2005. The Fellowship is administered by Barbara DeMaro of the U.S. Chess Trust. Generous contributions from Mrs. Virginia Samford and Torchmark Corporation support the Fellowship. The dedication, creativity and achievement that marked Mr. Frank P. Samford, Jr.'s life are examples for all chessplayers to admire and emulate. The Samford Fellowship is a fitting memorial to an extraordinary man. Nakamura's style is distinguished by astonishing creativity and relentless determination. His play is highly original and marked by unexpected moves and a will to win. Here are two recent games. The first game is from a match in Cuernavaca, Mexico, 2004 against another young chess genius, Sergey Karjakin of the Ukraine.
White: Hikaru Nakamura, Black: Sergey Karjakin Here is a win at the 13th Sigeman & Co. tournament in Copenhagen, Denmark in April of 2005.
White: S.B. Hansen, Black: Hikaru Nakamura 3) Walter Browne wins US Senior Open in Las VegasIM Tony Saidy writes: In the Senior Open, all hinged on my last-round game with my nemesis Walter Browne, who habitually gets White vs. me. He followed his game versus. Karpov in Queen's Indian; I found the wrong way. Browne is the new US Senior. Champ, qualifying for the US Championship. GM Anatoly Lein was second, GM Arthur Bisguier, FM Joe Bradford, IM Roman Pelts, and defending champ Fabio La Rota(who escaped my attack) played too in the strongest Senior Open ever. More News from the National Open from Michael Aigner: Two South Bay juniors managed to achieve great success. Rohan Agarwal scored 5.5 out of 6 in the under 1600 section, merely giving up a draw in the fifth round to another local player. Charles Sun also scored 5.5 out of 6, but that was sufficient only for a share of first place in the under 1400 section. Congratulations to both Rohan and Charles! Local players were also successful in the side events. NM Albert Rich defeated the three Polgar sisters (Susan, Sofia and Judit) in a simultaneous exhibition. The sisters alternated moves and faced 81 opponents. This author scored well against titled players in the blitz and G/10 championships, picking up a win against the young southern Californian GM Varuzhan Akobian.
Polgar sisters -- Rich,Albert (2207)
Akobian,Varuzhan (2646) -- Aigner,Michael (2298) There were also four US Championship qualification spots available and they went to GM Nick De Firmian, IM Eugene Perelshteyn, IM Renier Gonzalez and IM Dmitry Scheider. A big highlight of this year's event was the Polgar Sisters Triplex simul that took place on the Thursday before the National Open. The Polgar Sisters collectively took on 81 players and finished with a final score of 64 wins, 11 draws and 6 losses. Susan informed me that this was the first time they had performed such an event, and despite the fact they were exhausted after the grueling 4 hours of play, they all thoroughly enjoyed themselves. In other events that compiled the entire Las Vegas International Chess Festival, GMs Dmitry Gurevich and Varuzhan Akobian shared the National Open Blitz Championship and GM Alex Wojtkiewicz won the US G/10 Championship that was held on the following Monday. Official site: http://www.64.com 4) Daniel Fernandez wins US Junior Invitational(CROSSVILLE, TN) What happens when the top juniors get together? They got together in Kings Island, Ohio to participate in the 2005 Junior Invitational Championship. It was like a bulldozer ran through the competition as Daniel Fernandez (2399), from Florida, emerged victorious as he went undefeated scoring eight points in this 10 round event. Finishing tied for a distant second through fourth with six points were John Bartholomew (2444), from Minnesota, Robert Hess (2336), from New York, and Mackenzie Molner (2318), from New Jersey. By coming in first, Fernandez earned the right to play in the 2005 U.S. Championship and face off against some of the country's best. This event was organized by the Warren County Convention and Visitors Bureau and directed by Mike Anders. The event is open to the top juniors under 21 years old. Next year the event will be held in Dallas, Texas in July. USCF Press Release 5) US Players at the Pan American JuniorFour U.S. players claimed medals at the 2005 Pan-American Youth Chess Festival in Balneario Camboriu, Brazil. Robert Hungaski achieved the Silver in the Boys Under-18. Julia Kerr brought home the Silver in the Girls Under-16. Ray Robson won the Silver in the Boys Under-12. And Christopher Heung took the Bronze in the Boys Under-10.
U.S. Team results: USCF Press Release Here and ThereIM Andranik Matikozian won the 2005 Lina Grumette Memorial Day Classic held May 27-30 at the Hilton at LAX with a score of 5.5 from 6. Tying for second were IMs Enrico Sevillano and Vladimir Mezentsev at 5. Sharing fourth at 4.5 were GM-elect Melik Khachiyan, IM Jack Peters and Carlos Garcia.
Sevillano,E (2450) - Matikozyan,A (2515) [B22]
Khachiyan,M (2473) - Mezentsev,V (2397) [B31] The First Saturday June tournaments took place 4th-16th June 2005. Attila Czebe won the GM event with 6.5/10. American IM William Paschall tied for 4th in the Category 7 (2406) event with an undefeated 5.5 points. Fabiano Caruano scored 6.5 from 12 in the IM norm event. The 5th Annual Emory Castle Grand Prix took place June 10th-12th, 2005. GM Julio Becerra Rivero and WGM Anna Zatonskih finished on 4/5 with GMs Yury Shulman and Gregory Serper among those tied for third with 3.5. 7) Upcoming EventsUpcoming Tournaments at the MI William Addison Open - June 25 http://www.chessclub.org/Addison.html Charles Bagby Memorial - July 16 http://www.chessclub.org/Bagby.html Vladimir Pafnutieff - August 6 http://www.chessclub.org/Pafnutieff.html Bernardo Smith Amateur Under 1800 - August 20-21 http://www.chessclub.org/Smith.html Northern California
J2005 Sacramento Chess Championship. July 2-4. GPP: 6 Southern California
July 2-4 or 3-4
July 21-24, 22-24 or 23-24 10th Annual Pacific Coast Open GPP: 120 S. California
International
The list of the chess tournaments from July till December 2005 in Hungary: |