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Having calculated a long variation, go for it, even if you are not completely sure. Out of two sins - overestimation and underestimation of your own capacities, the latter is more dangerous. Svetlana Matveeva |
1) Mechanics' Institute Chess Club News 2) Miton wins World Open 3) DeGuzman first in Sacramento by Michael Aigner 4) GM Igor Ivanov - Part Two: Battle versus two pawns on the seventh 5) Chess drug BrainSpeed 6) Andy Ansel on Chess.FM next Tuesday 7) July FIDE Rating List 8) Opponent wanted in Pacifica 9) Upcoming Events IMPORTANT! USCF EXECUTIVE BOARD ELECTION- all USCF members age 16 or over may vote. Ballots will be in the June issue of Chess Life. Some ballots in the June Chess Life are missing the pre-printed voter info, so all voters will soon receive new ballots. It was first announced that if you wrote your info in this would not count, but this has now been changed and it will count if coming from a voter who received a defective ballot. You can also vote using your second ballot. If you vote twice, only the ballot in the June Chess Life will count. 1) Mechanics' Institute Chess Club NewsNMs Batchimeg Tuvshintugs ( an upset over IM John Grefe in rd. 4) and Tony D'Aloisio are tied for first with perfect scores after four rounds of the Summer Tuesday Night Marathon. Four rounds remain for the 85-player field. The Mechanics' Institute was recently named Chess Club of the year by the US Chess Federation and will receive an award at the US Open this August in Scottsdale, Arizona. MI member 9-year-old Daniel Naroditsky will compete in a national scholastic competition this weekend at the Harrahs Casino in Las Vegas. The World Chess Network is sponsoring the event which will be televised live on the ICC. Good luck Daniel! 2) Miton wins World OpenGM Kamil Miton and IM Magesh Panchanathan tied for first with 7.5 points with Miton winning the tiebreak blitz event.. Final standings:
1-2. Miton, Panchanathan 7.5 points out of 9 Qualifiers for the US Championship were: GMs Varuzhan Akobian, Sergey Kudrin, Alex Fishbein and Joel Benjamin (on tiebreak at 6) with Laura Ross and Natasha Christiansen taking the womens spots. Two Bay Area players played in the Open section. FM Jon Frankle had 4.5 and NM Paul Gallegos had 4. 3) DeGuzman first in Sacramento by Michael AignerThe 2005 Sacramento Chess Championship attracted 90 players to the state capital on a hot 4th of July weekend. Although the event was advertised as an "adult" chess tournament, half of the players were juniors. The family friendly atmosphere at the Best Western Expo Inn provided the adults a chance to relax and also gave the kids room to run around and play. Participants could choose between a 2-day schedule with three faster games on Sunday or a less hectic 3-day schedule on Saturday through Monday. What might come as a surprise to some people is that two of the three sections were won not by kids but rather by seasoned veterans. IM Ricardo DeGuzman demonstrated a lot of skill and some luck to score 5.5/6 in the Master/Expert section. He defeated three masters and merely gave up a draw to NM Richard Koepcke. Second place went to NM Michael Pearson, a blast from the past who recently returned to the local chess scene after a 2.5 year layoff to finish high school. Pearson won five games, only losing a time scramble to DeGuzman. Sharing top under 2200 honors with 4.0/6 were Drake Wang, Larry Snyder and 1769 rated junior Ramon Qiu. The one section truly dominated by juniors was the Reserve (under 2000) division. Three incoming 10th graders shared first place at 5.0/6: Daichi Siegrist, Matt Zavortink and Arnav Shah. Siegrist, who reentered in the 2-day schedule after two difficult rounds on Saturday, took the first place trophy on computer tiebreaks. Juniors Jeff Young and Kevin Gafni shared the under 1800 prizes with Sacramento old timer Bob Baker. Eight of the nine prize winners in the Amateur (under 1600) section were under the age of 20, but the lone adult won the whole enchilada. Christian Dypoldt dominated his younger foes en route to a 5.5/6 result, merely surrendering a draw in the final round. Second place and top under 1400 went to incoming 6th graders Mukund Chillakanti and Arthur Liou, each scoring 5.0/6. Second under 1400 and the junior prize were split six ways by Albert Gu, Charles Sun, Avinash Kumar, Kartik Chillakanti, Daniel Linger and Caleb Toy. Like every year, none of this would have been possible without the tireless effort of Sacramento organizer John McCumiskey and his assistant TD Steve Bickford. At the risk of sounding redundant, the author can report that the tournament ran very smoothly with no significant delays or disputes. The next Sacramento area weekend adult tournament will be a 2-day weekend swiss in December. Tournament results and photos: http://sacramentochessclub.org/weekend_events/2005scc.htm 4) GM Igor Ivanov - Part Two: Battle versus two pawns on the seventhThe following game, which appeared in John Nunn's Chess Puzzle Book, #20, page 13 and Chess Informant #29. page 244, #42 in the combinations section is pretty amazing. Set up the following position: White - R's b4 and a1, Nf1, Kg1 and pawns a7, pawns a7, b7, d5 and e4 - Black - Kg8, R's e2 and f8, Bg7, pawns d6, f3, g6, g3 and h4. Kudriashov - Ivanov, USSR, 1979 1...Re1! 2.a8Q 2.b8Q h3! 3.Qxf8+ (3.Rb2 Bd4+ 4.Kh1 g2+ 5.Kh2 Be5+ 6.Kxh3 gxf1Q+) 3...Bxf8 4.Ra2 g2 5.Rf2 Rxf1+ 6.Rxf1 h2+ 7.Kxh2 gxf1Q 2...h3 0-1 3.Ra2 g2! 4.Rf2 Rxf1+ 5.Rxf1 h2+ 6.Kxh2 gxf1(Q) and White loses all of his remaining pieces. 5) Chess drug BrainSpeedLast week I wrote about the USCF's endorsement of a chess drug at the National Open, an endorsement that the organization has now backed away from. It was not clear to me exactly what the product was but a series of letters in Ale Baburin's online chess daily Chess Today (http://www.chesstoday.net) cleared things up. Alexander Baburin writes: I thought the USCF endorsing Natrol would provoke a few replies and I was right. One came from GM Tony Kosten: Hi Alex, I just read your bit about this brainSpeed' product and went over to their web site to take a look. In fact there seems to be 3 different 'brainSpeed' products, and none of them are drugs as such, simply different combinations of nutrients (like vitamins), which are known to help the brain function well. There doesn't seem to be anything new here, similar things have been available in Health Food shops for many years, and are quite harmless. If there was really a drug that improved your chess I guess we would all be using it pretty soon! Best wishes, Tony Another GM reader Ian Rogers kindly allowed me to publish a few extracts from his article for the Italian website http://www.messagerie.it/ Rogers Report #47 Within days of making the announcement, the USCF were forced to cancel the match, stung by complaints that they were promoting drug use. In addition, critics noted that Nartol, the manufacturer of 'brainSpeed', had recently been fined $250,000 for making unsupportable claims for another of their products. With the match cancelled, 'brainSpeed representatives were reduced to promoting 'brainSpeed' at the National Open, without gaining any publicity outside the chess tournament. The affair has probably caused both the USCF and Natrol to rethink their respective marketing strategies, yet it may be that 'brainSpeed' (which has yet to be publicly released, even in the US) is not totally useless as a modest aide to a desperate chess player. The new drug - or more accurately herbal supplement - works by targeting the cholinergic system and thereby, according to Natrol, helps "accelerate reaction time, improve decision making velocity and promote mental acuity". (The same could be said for nicotine, another drug whichtargets the cholinergic system.) In truth, Natrol was probably not attempting to convert the chess community to its product but is looking to the student market. Some students appear happy to weather the side-effects associated with heavy use of caffeine drinks or the anti-Attention Deficit Disorder drug Ritolin to improve their study performance, so a 'safer' herbal drug, even if less immediately effective, could be attractive to many students. Apart from the ethical questions involved, one of many problems in finding a drug for chess is the varied demands of the game. At different stages in the game a player will need to remember precedents and then find new and creative ideas; remain calm when under fire and then have enough adrenalin to make six good moves in a minute as the time control approaches. Now that Kasparov has retired, there is speculation that the Russian, will provide details of a wonder drug which helped him dominate the chess world for two decades. However it is most likely that when Kasparov's secrets are revealed they will show nothing more than many hours at the gym and even more hours of chess study. Good health and a large knowledge base - it's a recipe that might even work for students. 6) Andy Ansel on Chess.FM next TuesdayThis coming Tuesday, July 12, noted book collector Andy Ansel will be featured on Chess.FM and will discuss scarce chess literature, Ebay prices, current trends in chess publishing, etc. soon! Andy recently moved from Walnut Creek to New York and the moving truck(s!) will be carrying well over 250 big boxes! Go to http://chess.fm for more information. 7) July FIDE Rating ListGarry Kasparov may have retired but he still tops the rating list. Among active players there is a tie between Anand and Topalov. Since Gata shows no rating change it would appear the HB Global Challenge, held in mid-May, was not rated.
1. Kasparov, Garry 2812 0 8) Opponent wanted in PacificaHi John, I am hoping that you can help me locate someone who would be willing to travel to Pacifica to play a few matches against an avid chessplayer who has not played in awhile. Here is the notice that I placed on Craig's list: Seeking an expert chess player for Saturday 7-9-05 between the hours of 11am - 3pm. Would like to present your game playing expertise as a surprise gift to an avid chessplayer who has not played in awhile. You will play matches until time runs out or, if you like, keep playing! Lunch will be provided, as well as an $100 stipend. You must be Elo rated, Class A or higher. Location is in Pacifica. Please contact Michelle at 650-346-5559. I thought this was a nice idea for a birthday present and I am hoping that you know of a player that would be interested. Could you pass this along or give me a call if you have any other suggestions of where I can find someone. Thanks very much.
Michelle L. Wells
9) Upcoming EventsUpcoming Tournaments at the MI
Charles Bagby Memorial - July 16 http://www.chessclub.org/Bagby.html Northern California
J2005 Sacramento Chess Championship. July 2-4. GPP: 6
EAST BAY CHESS CLUB Location: 1940 Virginia St., Berkeley, CA (cross street is Milvia; a short walk from Downtown and North Berkeley BART; free weekend parking) Event and Schedule: A USCF-rated, 4-round swiss in one open section.
Registration: 9 - 9:45 AM on Saturday
Entry Fee: $30 mailed before 7/2/05, $35 at site
Prizes: (based on 35 full entries, but top 4 prizes guaranteed) Info: www.eastbaychess.com http://www.eastbaychess.com, (510) 845-1041 (no phone entries)
2005 Reno Western States Open Chess Tournament $52,400 PRIZE FUND!!! for this Six Round Swiss in Seven Sections (based on 500 paid players, $33,550 Guaranteed). At least 15 places paid in every section! Large prize fund made possible by the generosity of the Sands Regency Casino Hotel. RUB ELBOWS WITH THE MASTERS: Reception with Former World Champion GM Boris Spassky on Wednesday night. FREE lecture by GM Larry Evans on Thursday evening. $100 simul with GM Boris Spassky on Thursday night. Book signing session with GM Boris Spassky on Friday morning. Clinic by GM Boris Spassky on Saturday afternoon. Favorite game analysis with GM Boris Spassky on Sunday afternoon Chief TD (NTD) Jerry Weikel wackyykl@aol.com mailto:wackyykl@aol.com http://www.uschess.org/tournaments/InvitationfromArgentinaFederation.pdf Southern California
July 21-24, 22-24 or 23-24 10th Annual Pacific Coast Open GPP: 120 S. California
International I plan to organize in Teheran /Iran/ a GM and IM closed tournament with the title of: FRIENDSHIP and PEACE. GM group: 6 IRI players + 6 players from various NATO countries. - 12 players altogether, 11 rounds round robin, the IM event is the same. I would do it from 7th until 17th of January 2006. I have sent my info to the Iranian government across their diplomatic bodies in Budapest. If you like, you can publish that in the USA. Who wish to come there amongst the USA players around 2400 and 2300 ELO? Friendly regards:
Nagy Laszlo
The list of the chess tournaments from July till December 2005 in Hungary: |