"Oh! this opponent, this collaborator against his will, whose notion of Beauty always differs from yours and whose means (strength, imagination, technique) are often too limited to help you effectively! What torment, to have your thinking and your fantasy tied down by another person!"

Alexander Alekhine, foreword to Mes Problèmes et ètudes d'èchecs, Fred. Lazard, 1929

1) Mechanics' Institute Chess Club News
2) Here and There
3) Edmund Nash (1909-2006)
4) James Scroeder writes
5) Upcoming Events

1) Mechanics' Institute Chess Room News

The last round of the Summer Tuesday Night Marathon looked like it would be uneventful going in. Tournament leader SM Craig Mar was a point ahead of his nearest challengers and had White against an opponent rated almost 500 points below him. Mar was much better for most of the game but when he incorrrectly won the Exchange his veteran opponent Victor Todortsev had a chance to cap a brilliant tournament but made a tragic blunder.

Mar ,C - Todortsev,V [E81]
Summer Tuesday Night Marathon San Francisco (8), 2006
[Donaldson]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f3 0-0 6.Be3 Na6 7.Qd2 c5 8.d5 Bd7 9.Bd3 Rb8 10.a3 Nc7 11.b4 cxb4 12.axb4 a6 13.Ba7 Ra8 14.Bb6 Qc8 15.Nge2 Be8 16.0-0 Nd7 17.Bd4 Ne5 18.f4 Nxd3 19.Qxd3 Bd7 20.f5 gxf5 21.Bxg7 Kxg7 22.exf5 f6 23.Nd4 Kh8 24.Rae1 Rf7 25.Ne6 Bxe6 26.fxe6 Rg7 27.Re2 Qe8 28.Ne4 Qg6 29.Rf3 Rag8 30.Ng3 Qxd3 31.Rxd3 Rg4 32.Nf5 R8g5 33.Nh6?!

White has been pushing Black around the whole game but here he starts to lose his way. 33.Nxe7! Rxc4 34.Rf3 looks much better.

33...Rxc4 34.Nf7+ Kg7 35.Nxg5 fxg5 36.g3

White cannot allow the exchange of Rooks: 36.Rf2 Rc1+ 37.Rf1 Rxf1+ 38.Kxf1 Kf6 and the pawns start dropping.The active looking 36.Rf3 leads nowhere 36...Nxd5 37.Rf7+ Kg6.

36...Ne8

36...Rxb4 37.Rf2 was White's idea.

37.Rb2 Nf6 38.Kf2 Kg6 39.Ke3 Re4+ 40.Kf2 Rc4 41.h3

On 41.Ke3 Black can test the waters by repeating or try ...Kf5.

41...h5 42.Ke1?

This does not look good.

42...g4 43.hxg4 hxg4 44.Kd1 Kf5

Now it is clear Black has more than enough compensation.

45.Rf2+ Ke5 46.Re3+ Re4 47.Rxe4+ Nxe4 48.Rf4

48.Rf7 Nc3+ 49.Kd2 Nxd5

48...Kxd5 49.Ke2 Nf6??

49...Nxg3+ 50.Kd3 Kxe6 51.Rxg4 Nf5 when White is struggling for a draw.

50.Rxf6 1-0

Mar finished on 7.5 from 8 and second place at 6.5 was taken by NM Batchimeg Tuvshintugs who defeated Berkeley Expert Larry Snyder in the last round.

Tuvshintugs,B - Snyder,L [C42]
Summer Tuesday Night Marathon San Francisco (8), 2006

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.Nc3 Nxc3 6.dxc3 Be7 7.Bf4 Nd7 8.Qd2 Nc5 9.0-0-0 Bg4 10.Qe3 Ne6 11.Kb1 Nxf4 12.Qxf4 Be6 13.h4 Qd7 14.Qe3 Qa4 15.a3 Qa5 16.Nd4 Qd5 17.Bb5+ c6 18.c4 Qc5 19.Nxc6 Qxe3 20.Nd4+ Kd8 21.fxe3 a6 22.Nxe6+ fxe6 23.Ba4 Kc7 24.c5 Rad8 25.cxd6+ Bxd6 26.Rhf1 Rhf8 27.Bb3 e5 28.Bd5 Rxf1 29.Rxf1 Rf8 30.Rxf8 Bxf8 31.Kc1 b6 32.Kd2 a5 33.Kd3 Bd6 34.Ke4 Kd7 35.Bg8 h6 36.Kd5 Bc5 37.Ke4 Bd6 38.c3 Bc7 39.Kd5 Bd8 40.g3 Be7 41.Bh7 Bd8 42.Bf5+ Ke7 43.Kc6 Ke8 44.Be4 Ke7 45.b4 axb4 46.axb4 Ke6 47.b5 g5 48.h5 g4 49.c4 Bg5 50.c5 1-0

We are very happy to hear that Mike Goodall is doing much better. Peter Stevens writes:

I spoke with Mike about 8:30 p.m.. He was in good spirits, has a fractured vertebra with no nerve damage, no facial injuries. He hopes to come home in the next 1-3 days, and will have to wear a back brace for a while.

Mike fell asleep while driving and hit a wall at 70 mph. He'll probably be back to the Mechanics' Thursday bull sessions in a few weeks.

The hospital phone # is (707) 546-3210. His home phone # is (415) 491-1269.

2) Here and There

Many American players made the trip to Curacao with GM Jaan Ehlvest taking top honors.

1 Elhvest, Jaan EST 2593 7.5
2 Ris, Robert NED 2364 7
3 Zatonskih, Anna USA 2432 6.5
Werle, Jan NED 2531 6.5
5 Shabalov, Alexander USA 2604 6
Tate, Emory USA 2380 6
Goletiani, Rusudan USA 2404 6
Bannink, Bernard NED 2248 6
Schut, Han NED 2106 6

GMs Ildar Ibragimov, Sergey Kudrin and Alexander Ivanov tied for first at 4.5 from 6 in the Continental Open held last weekend in Sturbridge, Massachusetts.

Closer to home IM Ricardo DeGuzman tied for first at 3-1 with Romulio Fuentes and Lev Psarsky in the 3rd California Classic Championship in Cupertino.

3) Edmund Nash (1909-2006)

Edmund Nash, originally Adam Edmund Nasierawski, was born Dec. 24, 1909 in Montreal, Canada and died June 4, 2006 in Chevy Chase, MD. His residence was in D.C. He became a naturalized U.S. citizen on 1936. He attended Alliance Jr. college 1927-1929, got a BA from U. of Wisconsin -Madison in 1932 and an MA there in 1938. He beat Bobby Fischer in the 1956 U.S. Amateur. His last rated event was the 2001 Eastern Open. He was a division chief at the Bureau of Labor -statistics. He is survived by his daughter Carolyn Nash of San Francisco.

4) James Scroeder writes

For 20 years I lived in Cleveland and visited the Library which has the largest chess collection in the world. There was a World Championship match held in New York City and the games were COPYRIGHTED. That sounds like something Lasker would do, so I think it was in the Lasker-Steinitz match of 1894. The games were put on the "wire" and sold. Spectators were forced to sign an agreement concerning restriction of what they could do with the game scores. I would like the exact information. The other two matches in New York were: Steinitz-Zuckertort 1886 and Lasker-Marshall 1907. Question No. 2. In one of his later books translated into English, Mikhail Botvinnik said to the Soviet Chess Federation: "The next world champion should be a Soviet, like me, and not an Estonian, like Paul Keres" and he tells more. I believe he said the same thing in another of his books. What were the books? If any Newsletter readers have the answers to either of these questions I will be happy to pass them along.

5) Upcoming Events

Mechanics' Events

Vladimir Pafnutieff - August 5
Bernardo Smith Amateur - August 19 and 20

September 2-4
28th Annual Southern California Open
6-SS, 40/2, G/1. PECHANGA CASINO/HOTEL, 45000 Pechanga Parkway Temecula, CA 92592. Directions: Take Hwy 79 South from 1-15 for 2 miles, then turn right on Pechanga Parkway and head straight to the Hotel.
$25,000 PRIZE FUND 100% GUARANTEED In 5 sections: Open: 1st $3,000, 2nd $2,000, 3rd $1,000, 4th $600, 5th $500, 6th $300; U2400 $1,000, 2nd $500; U2300 $1,000, 2nd $500;
U2200: 1st $1,200, 2nd $800, 3rd $600, 4th $300.
U2000: 1st $1,200, 2nd $800, 3rd $600, 4th $300.
U1800: 1st $1,200, 2nd $800, 3rd $600, 4th $300.
U1600: 1st $1,200, 2nd $800, 3rd $600, 4th $300.
U1400: 1st $1,000, 2nd $750, 3rd $250; U1200 $400, 2nd $100; Best Unrated $300.
Plus Best Game $100, $50, $50, one reserved for non-Open Sections.
Entry Fee: $130 if recieved by 8/30/06, or only $75 if rating is under 1400 or unrated. All: add $25 for entries after 8/30/06, $50 more for players rated U2000 playing in Open, Unrateds must play in Open or U1400. Registration: 9:00 to 10:30 AM, Round 1 will start at 11AM sharp!
Rounds: 11 AM - 6 PM Sat, 11 - 6 Sunday, 10 - 5 Monday
SCCF Membership Required For All Players ($14 Adult/$9Junior).One half Pt bye OK in Rds 1 - 4, must be requested at least 1 hr before next round. HR: Call 888-732-4264, prices vary, average rate is $199 a day to stay in the luxurious AAA 4 Diamond Pechanga Resort. Consider sharing a room with a friend so you can be close to the action and enjoy all the fine amenities such as the health club, restaurants and fabulous spa. Or you can stay just 3 miles away in the historic old downtown of Temecula at the Ramada Inn 951-676-8770 ($129, if you book 3 nights) or the Roadway Inn 909-676-4833 ($109 a night for 3 nights). Please reserve your room ASAP, as they may sell out by mid August. Ent: SCCF, c/o John Hillery, 835 N. Wilton Place #1, Los Angeles, CA 90038, on line at http://www.westernchess.com/. Inf: Call (619) 239-7166 after 4 p.m., or see our web site at http://Groups.msn.com/sandiegochess.
NS. F. GP: 150. State Championship Qualifer.

Sept 2-4 CalChess Labor Day Championships GPP: 10 California, Northern

6SS, 30/90, SD/1 (2-day option rds 1-3 G/60); Golden Gateway Holiday Inn. Van Ness at Pine, San Fransisco. $$B 160 paid entries (not counting fee for unrated entries.) Six Sections: Master $700-$350-$200; U2400, $300; Expert $400-$200-$100. "A"$350-$175-$100. "B" $350-$175-$100. "C" $350-175-100. "D/E": $350-$175-$100; U1200 $225. Unr: Trophy First. Trophy to top finisher (State Champion) in each section. All, EF: postmarked by 8/28 $65 (Jrs. $55). $75 at site (Jrs $65). Unrateds $20 in the D/E section or may play up to the Master section for the regular fee. $5 discount to CalChess members. USCF memb. req'd. May play up one section for add'l $10 (Jrs. $5). GM/IM free entry. Reg: Sat 9/2 8-9:30, Sun 9/3 8:15-9:15am. Rds: Choice of schedules- 3-day, 2-day merge at round 4, all compete for the same prizes. 3-day schedule Sat 10:00-4:00, Sun 11:00-4:45; Mon 10:00-3:30. 2-day schedule Sun 9:30-11:45-2:00-4:45; Mon 10:00-3:30. 1/2 pt bye(s) any round(s) if requested in advance (byes rds 5-6 must be requested before rd 1). 2006 August Ratings List, CCA minimums and Directors discretion will be used to place players as accurately as possible. Please bring clocks and equipment. HR: Golden Gateway Holiday Inn (415) 441-4000. Info: Richard Koepcke (650) 964-2640. Ent: CalChess, P.O. Box 1432, Mountain View, CA 94042. No phone entries. Master Section FIDE Rated.