Mechanics Institute Chess Room Newsletter #329

We all blunder, and after doing so it's important to get up from the board, time permitting, and clear your head - nothing good can happen if you're still in the midst of an emotional backlash. Forget about the earlier, happier, position and treat this new situation as a challenge. Hunker down, get tough and insist on finding a way to put up a long, grueling resistance!

IM Jeremy Silman (page 222 of Reassess your Chess - Workbook)

1) Mechanics' Institute Chess Club News
2) Bay Area Top USCF rated
3) Corus - Wijk aan Zee
4) International Events
5) Vallejo Chess Club
6) Upcoming Tournaments

1) Mechanics' Institute Chess Club News

Three rounds into the Winter Tuesday Night Marathon six players remain with perfect scores: NM Batchimeg Tuvshintugs, FM Frank Thornally, Romulo Fuentes, Josh Gutman, Daniel Naroditsky and Salar Jahedi.

The following was played on board one last night. Black is the top rated eight-years-old in the US rated 1957.

Tuvshintugs, Batchimeg - Nip,Nicholas Sicilian Najdorf B98
Winter TNM San Francisco (3), 2007
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Be7 8.Qf3 Qc7 9.0-0-0 Nc6 10.Kb1 Bd7 11.Nxc6 Bxc6 12.Bd3 b5 13.Rhe1 Rc8 14.Bxf6 Bxf6 15.Nd5 Qd8 16.g4 0-0 17.Nxf6+ Qxf6 18.g5 Qe7 19.Qh5 g6 20.Qh3 Bb7 21.f5 exf5 22.exf5 Qxg5 23.Rg1 Qf6 24.Rdf1 Qg7 25.f6 Qh8 26.Qh6 Bd5 27.b3 Rfe8 28.h4 Re6 29.Qf4 Rc5 30.h5 Bb7 31.Qd4 a5 32.hxg6 hxg6 33.Rxg6+ fxg6 34.f7+ 1-0

It's easy to spot the young stars at the Mechanics', players like Nicholas Nip, Daniel Naroditsky and Gregory Young who occupy the number one spot for age eight and the top two spots for age 11 respectively, but the Institute is also the home of many honored veterans. An examination of the February 2007 USCF Top over 65 list has six Mechanics' members headed by IM Walter Shipman and includes NM Igor Margulis, Experts Viktor Ossipov and Peter Grey and high Class A players John Petrison and Viktor Todortsev.

One player who isn't listed but whose achievements are quite remarkable is Dan Litowsky who will celebrate his 90 birthday this April. Dan has only been an active tournament play since his retirement in the early 1980s and his consistency has been impressive. During the past 15 years his rating has stayed in the 1700-1850 range at a time in life when a steady rating decline is the norm. Dan's win over Expert James Jones last week in the Winter Tuesday Night Marathon puts him around 1750. I know of no other player in the country his age who is playing 60 tournament games a year.

NM Michael Aigner was the winner of the 7th Annual Bob Burger Open G/45 held this past Saturday. Aigner scored 4.5 from 5 to take home the top prize. His draw was in round four with Adarsh Konda. Michael kindly sends his round five game.

Hello John,

If you want a sample of terrible chess, here's my last round game from the G/45. It was a fun game, albeit far from perfect. With impending time pressure, both players missed 37. Qxf4 Rxf4 38. e7 d2 39. e8Q and now the promoted white queen defends the rook on e1. That means my move 35... Rxf4 deserves two question marks.

With under 2 minutes on my clock, I had calculated the variation 49. Rf3 Ke6! 50. Rxg3 hxg3+ 51.Kxg3 Ke5 52. Kg4? Kd4 53. Kg5 Kxc4 54. Kxg6 Kb5 55. h4 c4 56. h5 b3! -+ and I queen on a1 before white gets to h8. But I missed that 52. Kf3 Kd4 53. h4 Kxc4 54. g4 Kd3 == and queens appear simultaneously. Luckily for me, my opponent played the vastly inferior 49. Rf4? and quickly lost.

Fuentes,Romulo (2137) - Aigner,Michael (2300)
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Bc4 Bc5 5. Ng5 Nh6 6. Nxf7 Nxf7 7. Bxf7+ Kxf7 8. Qh5+ g6 9. Qxc5 d6 10. Qd5+ Be6 11. Qb5 a6 12. Qe2 Qf6 13. O-O Rhe8 14. f4 Kg7 15. b3 d5 16. e5 Qf5 17. Bb2 Nb4 18. Na3 c5 19. h3 h5 20. c3 Qd3 21. Qe1 dxc3 22. Bxc3 Nc6 23. Rd1 Qf5 24. Rc1 d4 25. Bd2 b6 26. Nc4 Bxc4 27.bxc4 Rab8 28. Qe2 d3 29. Qf2 Nd4 30. Rce1 Qe6 31. Bc3 Rbd8 32. Bxd4 Rxd4 33.Qf3 Rf8 34. Qe3 Qf5 35. e6 Rxf4 36. Rxf4 Qxf4 37. e7 Qxe3+ 38. Rxe3 Re8 39.Rxd3 Rxe7 40. Rd6 b5 41. Rxa6 b4 42. Rc6 Re5 43. Kf2 h4 44. Kf3 Rg5 45. Kf2Kf7 46. Rc7+ Ke6 47. Rc6+ Kd7 48. Rf6 Rg3 49. Rf4 Ra3 50. Rxh4 Rxa2+ 51. Kf3 Rc2 52. Rg4 b3 53. Rxg6 Rxc4 54. Rb6 Rb4 55. Ra6 b2 56. Ra7+ Kc6 57. h4 b1=Q 0-1

Taking for second at 4-1 in the 52-player event were NMs Batchimeg Tuvshintugs and Keith Vickers, Experts Romulo Fuentes, William Gray, Konda, and Michael Zhong plus rapidly improving Class A player Matt Zavortink. The latter earned his Experts ranking by defeating visiting German master Sebastian Schuck and NM Daniel Schwartz.

2) Bay Area Top USCF rated

Last Newsletter we ran a list of the top active FIDE rated Bay Area players. Here is the latest USCF list. Note that IM Vinay Bhat's excellent series of results in Europe last summer were not USCF rated hence the strange situation where his FIDE and USCF ratings are practically identical ( normally the USCF is about 50 points higher).

1. GM Alex Yermolinsky 2571
2. IM Josh Friedel 2544
3. GM Walter Browne 2520
4. IM John Donaldson 2466
5. IM Vinay Bhat 2465
6. IM Vladimir Mezentsev 2461
7. IM David Pruess 2461
8. IM Ricardo DeGuzman 2458
9. IM Alan Stein 2457
10. IM Dmitry Zilberstein 2451
11. FM Craig Mar 2425

3) Corus - Wijk aan Zee

This year's Corus tournament is producing lots of exciting chess and the technology is improving all the time for spectators.

NM Michael Aigner writes:

Check out the following link for videos from the ongoing Corus (Wijk aan Zee) super-GM tournament. After each round, the top GMs analyze their games for an audience. These have been recorded and posted on YouTube. Check out Topalov, Kramnik, Anand, Radjabov and others in English (with a thick Russian accent)!

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=corus&search=Search

4) International Events

Dates for the following FIDE events have just been made available. Hopefully more information will be forthcoming.

Pan American Youth Festival, Medellín, Colombia, July 2-7

Absolute Continental Championship, Cali, Colombia, July 11-24

Pan American Juniors/Girls, Ecuador, September.

Ladies Continental, Venezuela, September.

5) Vallejo Chess Club

Long-time Bay Area chess stalwart William Haines reports that a new club is Vallejo is forming. It will meet Friday's from 6:30pm to 10:30pm at 601 Sacramento Street, Vallejo, CA. Start date unclear, but probably middle of February. Call or email Mr. Haines for start updates - (707) 643-8012 and whaines@sbcglobal.net . The playing site is the just refurbished Community Room at the Marina Towers, ground floor. Mr. Haines adds for those wishing to join, annual dues first year $20. for adults and $5. for students. No need to join immediately. USCF rated play available.

6) Upcoming Events

Mechanics' Events

Henry Gross Memorial - February 10
A.J. Fink Amateur - March 3 and 4
Max Wilkerson Open - March 24

Feb 17, 18 19 President's Day FIDE Open OK GP # 1 Stillwater
*80 USCF GP Points* *$11,000 Prize Fund Guaranteed *2007 OCF GP #1 *7-SS*, G/120+10 sec, Holiday Inn 2515 W. 6th Ave (Hwy-51) Stillwater, OK 1-405-372-0800. HR: 60-60-60. EF: $40 if postmarked and PAID before Feb 14, $50 at door. Free EF for FIDE rated players, Reg: Sat 8-10AM. Rds: Sat 12-5, Sun 10-2:30-7, Mon 9-1:15. *$$G 11,000 *will not be lowered. $$G $900, $800, $700, $600, $500, $400, $100 $$G 600 each class A,B,C,D & below. Unr competes in D & below. $100 Okla under age 16. Women's Prizes**: $1,000, 900, 800, 700, 600, 500; $10 OCF required from all players, 2 byes rds 1-5; Free Parking, Ent: Frank Berry, 402 S. Willis, Stillwater, OK 74074 NC, CMV, LS, W, USCF, FIDE. Note: Women FIDE players contact FKimBerry@AOL.com for free lodging arrangements at hotel and $500 appearance fees. Transportation for all available from and to Tulsa > airport to Stillwater Friday before and Monday/Tuesday afterward.

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