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I am one of very few strong players who doesn't book up against a particular opponent before a game..... that is... why even get involved in an opening line that my opponent is comfortable with and plays all the time...I want to get AWAY from THAT right away.. Emory Tate |
1) Mechanics' Institute Chess Club News 2) Alexander Onischuk and Anna Zatonskih 2006 US Champions 3) Peter Manetti by Sam Sloan 4) Oakland's Lakeview Chess Club 5) FIDE Elections 6) Chess In Chicago 7) Upcoming Events |
1) Mechanics' Institute Club News16-year-old Drake Wang went 7-1 to take first and win $400 in the MI Winter Tuesday Night Marathon which finished on March 7 . The young NM lost only to Victor Ossipov who tied with NM Paul Gallegos for second at 6.5. 10-year-old Daniel Naroditsky, who scored 5.5, including wins over two NMs, raised his rating to 2030. The next TNM starts on March 28. George Sanguinetti, Yefim Bukh, Jonathan Soo Hoo and Martin Whalley tied for first at 5-1 in the A.J. Fink Amateur Open to players rated under 2000. Anthony Corrales directed the 46-player event held March 4th and 5th. We have some more news on simuls that were held at the MI. A Newsletter reader writes in: " In your list in the newsletter of simuls given at Mechanics by other than world champions, it is missing the one given by Nick DeFirmian and Vince McCambridge around 1992-93. They alternated boards though Vince showed up late." Tom Dorsch writes: "We had a clock simul with Stefan Djuric (among the participants were Jim Eade and perhaps Jen Shahade, Luis Busquets, myself, and a few others). There may have been many events of that type over the years, smaller and less publicized, but nevertheless events which meet the broad definition of simuls at MI." Newsletter reader Mike Morris of Portland, Oregon, who was a MI regular back in the 1960s, sends in the following game from a Duncan Suttles exhibition held on January 1, 1965. Suttles, who was born in San Francisco, was attending school at the University of Nevada, Reno, where his father was a professor in the mid-1960s.
Morris,M - Suttles,D A15 1.b4 g6 2.Bb2 Nf6 3.Nf3 Bg7 4.c4 0-0 5.e3 d6 6.Be2 e5 7.d4 e4 8.Nfd2 Qe7 9.Nc3 Re8 10.0-0 c6 11.a4 d5 12.b5 Nbd7 13.Ba3 Qe6 14.Qc2 a6 15.bxa6 bxa6 16.Rab1 Rd8 17.a5 Bf8 18.Bxf8 Nxf8 19.Na4 N8d7 20.Rb2 Ne8 21.cxd5 cxd5 22.Rfb1 Nd6 23.Qc6 Ra7 24.Nb6 Bb7 25.Qc7 Raa8 26.Nxa8 Rc8 27.Rxb7 Rxc7 28.Nxc7 Qf5 29.Nxd5 Qxd5 30.Rxd7 Qc6 31.Ra7 Qc2 32.Rxa6 Qxd2 33.Rxd6 Qxe2 34.Rdb6 f5 35.a6 Qa2 36.a7 Kg7 37.Rb8 1-0 IM John Grefe, who shared the US Championship title with GM Lubosh Kavalek in 1973, gave a simul at the MI on March 9, 1974. Grefe lectured before the simul on his victory over GM Walter Browne from the 1973 Championship. 2) Alexander Onischuk and Anna Zatonskih 2006 US ChampionsGM Alexander Onischuk and IM Anna Zatonskih are the 2006 US Champions, having defeated GM Yury Shulman and WGM Rusa Goletiani in the finals of the event which was held by America's Foundation for Chess in San Diego from March 2-12. This was the first title for both players. Complete coverage of the event can be found at http://www.uschesschampionship.com/ where Bay Area raised Michael (Mig) Greengard did an excellent job. You will find complete results, all games including 18 with annotations, photos, blogs and more. Here I will focus on Bay Area participants. The big story for MI Club members was 19-year-old Batchimeg (Chimi) Tuvshintugs who started the event rated near the bottom at 2208 FIDE and 2275 USCF but was paired with Gata Kamsky in round six after starting with 3 1/2 from 5 including wins over GMs Fishbein, Kreiman and Becerra and a draw with GM Gulko. Chima lost her last four but still made a WGM norm ( a performance over 2400 FIDE) while missing an IM norm by 1/2 point. Only tournament winner Anna Zatonskih played a comparable field among the women. Incidentally Fishbein and Kreiman both played very well after their losses with Fishbein finishing on 6 and Kreiman on 5, the latter after facing a very strong field the last few rounds. Top Bay Area scorer were Six-time US Champion Walter Browne and MI Grandmaster-in-Residence Alex Yermolinsky who finished with 5 from 9. Former US Women's Champion Camilla Baginskaite ended with 3 1/2 and will undoubtedly always remember her round three victory over Hikaru Nakamura. Hikaru won five in a row after this, narrowly missing 6 in a row over Alex Onischuk in the last round. He won the Bent Larsen fighting spirit award in a competition in which almost all the players were fighting very hard. Chimi won the Joyce Jillison Award for the women who scored the most upsets which was presented by IM Jeremy Silman. Players with Bay Area ties also did well. Larry Christiansen, just one of three players to go undefeated (the others were Onischuk and Kamsky) tied for first with Shulman and Kamsky, but fell short on tiebreak to advance. A glance at the crosstable doesn't always tell the story. Nick DeFirmian's final score of 4.5 doesn't look special but in round 7 he had Hikaru Nakamura under pressure and a win there would have given him 5 points with two rounds to go. Caissa was also not kind to GM Dmitry Gurevich. Dima played tremendous chess the first half of the tournament and if he had won a winning ending against GM Varuzhan Akobian in round 7 he would have had 5.5 with 2 rounds to play. Alan Stein needs no introduction to Bay Area players having grown up in Palo Alto. Alan lost in round one to GM Ildar Ibragimov but that was his sole defeat in the event. A last round win over FM Emory Tate gave him 5 from 9, a half point over the IM norm. This was Alan's third IM norm and coupled with a FIDE rating over 2400 he should receive the title this May at the Olympiad. Well done Alan! Other players making norms besides Alan and Chimi were Josh Friedel (GM norm - 5 from 9 against 2562!) and Rusa Goletiani (her first IM norm). 3) Peter Manetti 1940?-2006 by Sam SloanPeter Manetti has died Chess Master Peter Manetti died in Guerneville, Sonoma County, California on March 8, 2006 of prostate cancer. He succumbed after a long illness. Two years ago he was given six months to live. He outlived his prognosis. Manetti rarely played tournament chess but he played in the first great master's tournament at Lone Pine 1972. His performance there, where he drew grandmasters Denker and Evans, established him as a master strength player. He had a published peak USCF rating of 2183 and may have gone over 2200. His specialty was blitz chess, where he was a master and a 2300 player. He often held chess parties at his house high on a hill above the Russian River in Guerneville, to which he would invite San Francisco masters and experts and provide them with food and drink. Manetti was about 66 years old. Originally from New Jersey, he served in the US Marines. He came to California in about 1965. After living for several years in Oakland, he moved to the remote village of Guerneville, where he made his living as an agriculturist, growing and distributing agricultural products to the local communities. Manetti also worked as an artist, selling his woodcuttings, paintings and other works of art in San Francisco. He also taught chess to several promising young players in the Santa Rosa area. Late in life, Manetti revealed that his real original name was not Manetti. It was Schumbacher or something similar. In the aftermath of World War II there had been discrimination against Germans, so either he or his father had changed his name from a German name to an Italian name. He is survived by his devoted wife, Genarosa Manetti, who has made a name for herself as a philanthropist, for her free donations of feline animals, and by his three daughters, Diana, age 41, a performing artist, Barbara, 36, of Guerneville and Xhana, of Windsor, California.
Peter Manetti 1.d4 e6 2.c4 f5 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.g3 d5 5.Bg2 c6 6.O-O Bd6 7.b3 O-O 8.Ba3 Bxa3 9.Nxa3 Nbd7 10.Qc1 Qe7 11.Ne5 Qd6 12.Qb2 g5 13.e3 a5 14.Rac1 Qe7 15.Nc2 Qg7 16.Ne1 Kh8 17.N1d3 g4 18.Nf4 Nxe5 19.dxe5 Ne4 20.Bxe4 fxe4 21.Nh5 Qg6 22.Nf6 Kg7 23.Qa3 Rxf6 24.exf6+ Qxf6 25.Qd6 Qf8 26.Qxf8+ Kxf8 27.Kg2 Bd7 28.h3 gxh3+ 29.Kxh3 Be8 30.f3 exf3 31.Rxf3+ Ke7 32.Rcf1 Bg6 33.g4 a4 34.cxd5 axb3 35.axb3 exd5 36.R3f2 Kd6 37.Kg3 Ra3 38.Rb2 Kc5 39.Rf4 Be4 40.Rf7 Ra7 41.g5 Kb4 42.Kf4 Kc3 43.Rh2 Kxb3 44.Rhxh7 Bxh7 45.Rxh7 Ra1 46.Rxb7+ Kc4 47.g6 Rg1 48.g7 c5 1/2-1/2 4) Oakland's Lakeview Chess ClubWe recently received the following letter from Demetrius Goins who has been doing excellent work revitalizing chess in Oakland. Lakeview Chess Club will be holding a tournament this spring. We will supply complete information on it in the next Newsletter.
Lakeview Library
Dear Mechanics' Institute Chess Club On behalf of the: Lakeview Chess Club of Oakland, CA. I sincerely thank you for your material donation to our club. Your support has been essential and meaningful. The Lakeview Chess Club has been in existence for almost 13 months after being born under my initiative and out of pocket financial support but, I knew I couldn't operate the club alone. If, it were not for the continuous support of Ms. Mary Eileen Farrell; the branch manager at the Lakeview Library in Oakland, California who has played an important role in the club's life, providing a logistic support which consists of: a couple of tables, chairs, chess sets, financial reimbursement and space of the Lakeview Branch Library to use as the meeting place for the chess players to meet in Oakland to enjoy some good chess games. Our informal membership has been growing steadily; The club started as 1 hour-1day per week, up to what we have now; two hours on Wednesdays 3:30pm to 5:30pm with one on one personal instruction and two hours on Saturdays 3:30pm to 5:30pm per week. I'm sure that you realize that my club is free of charge given that the Lakeview Library is a non-profit organization hosting the chess club, and for this reason the club's budget is almost zero. The club's operations depend on donations. That is why any kind of material support is of a great importance for the club. So I thank you again for your donation and support. It is very appreciated. Here is a link to view pictures of Lakeview Library and Chess Club in action. http://www.lakeviewfriends.org/ I will keep you posted on the latest news. Sincerely, Demetrius Goins 5) FIDE ElectionsThe FIDE Secretariat is announcing the two Presidential Tickets which shall run for office in the FIDE elections of Turin, June 2006. The submission of the Presidential Tickets was in accordance with the electoral regulations and within the deadline of 2 March 2006. I. Presidential ticket of the current FIDE President Mr. Kirsan Ilyumzhinov:
1. President - Mr. Kirsan Ilyumzhinov (RUSSIA) II. Presidential ticket of Mr. Bessel Kok:
1. President - Mr. Bessel Kok (NETHERLANDS) The following article by IM Malcolm Pein appeared recently in the Daily Telegraph. Chess for Wednesday March 8th After years of mismanagement, incompetence and an almost total lack of commercial sponsorship there is some hope for Fide as the Fide President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov and his team face a credible challenge in an election for the first time in over ten years. Ilyumzhinov, the President of the Soviet Republic of Kalmykia took control of Fide in 1995 after Florencio Campomanes resigned and he put millions of dollars of his own money into a variety of world title events that consistently lacked the participation of Garry Kasparov and consequently any credibility. Under Ilyumzhinov professional chess has declined, there have been two competing world titles and his team have tinkered with the time limits thereby reducing the quality of the games. Contests have been held in war zones or places such as Tripoli and some players have been unable to participate. Ilyumzhinov's connections with Saddam Hussein's former regime have been well documented and he once proposed a world title match be held in Baghdad. The Fide title rules have changed continually and the latest edict, which apparently was not a joke was that anyone could challenge the current champion Veselin Topalov if they transferred one million dollars to Fide. The vote will be held at the next Fide Congress to be held alongside the Chess Olympiad which is being staged in Turin this May. The challenge comes from Belgian entrepreneur Bessel Kok a man with a fabulous record of supporting chess and organizing superb chess tournaments such as the World Cup all play alls in the 1980s. Kok supported the Grandmaster's Association or GMA and after a break from chess during which he ran European telecom companies he made an abortive attempt to bring Garry Kasparov, Vladimir Kramnik and Fide together at the Prague conference in 2002. Although an agreement was reached Fide did not stick to its side of the bargain and the turmoil in the chess world has increased. Kok has joined forces with the highly respected Turkish Federation chief Ali Nihat and their candidacy has received widespread support. With the English Chess Federation due to decide its voting intentions this weekend most of the leading players signed the following open letter. We, the undersigned English Grandmasters, would like to express our support for Bessel Kok in the forthcoming Presidential Election in Turin, May 2006. He has an exemplary record of organizing and supporting top level chess events as well as a highly distinguished business career. We believe this is a unique opportunity to restore credibility to FIDE and to reverse the decline in their capacity to attract commercial sponsorship. For these reasons we implore the English Chess Federation to join the clear majority of their European colleagues in supporting positive change after a decade of stagnation.
Keith Arkell As an ECF member I find it almost embarrassing that the ECF has to even have a debate on this matter as the choice is, in the words of Garry Kasparov: " between the ruinous status quo and someone with the experience to professionalize the sport " - tough choice eh ? Emory Tate could not maintain his heroics at the US championship after downing a 2600 GM in round one.
A Goldin - E Tate (8...Nxe4 9.Qe2 Nf6 10.Nxf6+ gxf6 11.Bh6 Bxg2 12.Bxf7+ Kxf7 13.Qh5+ Ke6 14.Qg4+ Kf7 15.Qxg2) 9.Ne2 Nxe4 10.Bf4 Bd6 (10...d6 11.Qd3 Nf6 12.Nxe7+ Qxe7 13.Bxd6) 11.0-0 Bxf4 12.Nexf4 Nd6 (12...a6!?) 13.Bd3 c4 14.Be2 Nxb5 (again a6 was the best chance) 15.Bxc4 a6 16.Qg4 (White's attack is nearly decisive already) 16...Nc6 (16...Bxd5 17.Bxd5 Nc6 18.Nh5 g6 19.Rad1) 17.Nh5 g6 18.Ndf6+ Kh8 19.Qg5 gxh5 20.Qh6 Qxf6 21.Qxf6+ Kg8 1-0 6) Chess In ChicagoHello everyone: We have two exciting announcements regarding the Super Event being held in April. (1) IM Irina Krush has joined the field of participants for the GM-A group after IM Roberto Martin del Campo was unable to make it to the event. With Irina's addition the event will host the top three active female chess players in North America: IM Irina Krush, IM-elect Anna Zatonskih, and WGM Rusa Goletiani! (2) GM-elect Pascal Charbonneau will be providing commentary starting Round 5 throughout the end of the event. As you remember Pascal captured his third and final GM norm in January during the Winter Chicago FIDE Invitational event. Good Chess to All,
Sevan A. Muradian 7) Upcoming Events
Max Wilkerson - March 18 1st San Francisco Classic March 25-26, 2006 (2-day) and March 26 only (1-day) PLACE: University of San Francisco, 2310 Fulton St. From 880, take the 9th St. exit toward CIVIC CENTER, 9TH ST becomes Hayes St, turn on Gough St, turn on Fell St, turn on Divisadero St, turn on Fulton St. Limited Parking is available. Alternate Options: Bart Station-Civic Center, take the #5 Muni toward Ocean Beach and get off at Fulton and Clayton (Drops off right in front). Buses near include (#5, #31, #38). For exact location, see map at http://www.usfca.edu/online/gen_info/map_c.html for UC & ED Buildings. EVENT & SCHEDULE: Two sections: Expert (above 1600) and Amateur (U1600) in a one or two-day schedule. USCF rated four-round Swiss. Ratings will be based only on the Feb 2006 USCF rating list. Registration: 3/25 - 10:00 am - 10:30 am. 3/26 - 8:30am - 9:00am. Rounds: 2-day: 3/25 - 11 & 4:00, 3/26 - 12:45 & 5, 1-day: 3/26 - 10:15, 11:30, 12:45, & 5. (1-day and 2-day events merge in round 3) Time controls: 2-day, 30/90 G/30 all rounds. 1-day, Rounds 1-2, G/30; Rounds 3-4, 30/90, G/30. ENTRY FEE: $39 postmarked by 3/17/2006; $44 postmarked after 3/17/2006; $49 on-site. Special entry: 1st time USCF and entry fee $74 postmarked by 3/17/2006, $79 postmarked after 3/17/2006; $84 on-site. IMs/GMs free. USCF membership required. Entrants may play up one section for $10. Reentry after round 2 of the 2-day schedule into the 1-day schedule: $20. BYES: ½ point byes available in any round and must be requested before the start of round 1. Maximum one ½ point bye per entry. PRIZES: Expert: 1st - $300 & trophy, 2nd - $150 *U2000: 1st - $100 *U1800 - $50 Amateur (U1600): 1st - $300 & trophy, 2nd - $150 *U1400: 1st - $100 *U1200 - $50 Overall prize fund based on 40 paid adult entries. Prize fund and/or number of prizes will be increased or decreased based on total entries in each section NOTES: Unrated players ineligible for asterisked (*) prizes. Prizes will be paid out upon the completion of the tournament. Trophy tie-break information on-site (based on USCF rules). OTHER: Bring chess clocks; very few provided!! Registration will close as scheduled to allow round 1 to start on time. Late entries will be given a ½ point bye or paired against another late entry at the TD's discretion. No computer entries accepted. Wheelchair access to site. USCF rated. There will be a full concession stand inside. MORE INFO: E-mail: sfchessclassic@yahoo.com 2005 SF CHESS CLASSIC ENTRY FORM Name: USCF ID # Rating: . Address: Expiration Date: . City & State: Zip: Phone: ( ) - . E-mail Address: Requested ½ point bye (if any), round . Circle the section being entered: ? Expert ? Amateur Mark all that apply: 2-day: $39 postmarked by 3/17/2006 , $44 postmarked after 3/17/2006; $49 on-site 1-day: $39 postmarked by 3/17/2006 , $44 postmarked after 3/17/2006; $49 on-site USCF Membership: $49, Adult; $36, Senior; $25, Youth (19 & under); $13, Economy Scholastic (14 & under) Special entry:1st time USCF & entry fee $74 postmarked by 3/17/2006, $79 after 3/17/2006; $84 on-site Play up one section for $15. SUBTOTAL TOTAL (Make checks payable to Jason Gurtovoy) Mail entries to: 2305 Golden Gate Avenue Hayes Healy Rm #706 San Francisco, CA 94118 |