"In the art of chess, there are no unalterable laws governing the struggle which are appropriate to every position, otherwise chess would lose its attractiveness and eternal character."
Vassily Smyslov1) Goldin Wins World Open Playoff 2) Firecracker Open Revisited 3) Irina Krush Makes GM Norm 4) Beliavsky Leads Vidmar Memorial 5) MI Chess Camps 6) Upcoming Events
This year's event didn't approach the record attendance of 1500 set back in the mid 1980s, but the turnout of 1302 players including reentries was up from 2000 and once again makes this the largest non-scholastic event held in the United States and very likely the world. Organizer Bill Goichberg guaranteed a prize fund of $175,000 for his 29th World Open, making this by far the largest prize fund in North America in 2001.
Several Bay Area players ventured east. IM John Donaldson was in contention after seven rounds with five points, but a tough loss in round eight knocked him out of the box. Milpitas NM Shikumar Shivaji played very well for much of the tournament before fading at the end to finish with 4 1/2 - 4 1/2. His result included a draw with GM John Fedorowicz and a win over SM Andrew Karklins.
The big result for Northern California was young Steven Zierk's tying for first with two other players in the Under 1400 section with 7 1/2 from 9. Steven won $3,666.66. Congratulations!
Final Standings:
1st 4.0 GM Wojtkiewicz 2nd-3rd 3.5 SM Pruess, FM Porter 4th-5th 3.0 IM Rey, NM AignerWojtkiewicz drew Aigner in round 2, beat Pruess in round 3, beat Porter in round 4, and drew Rey in round 5. Rey and Aigner drew on board 2 in round 3. Pruess and Aigner drew on board 2 in the last round. That summarizes all of the master versus master pairings in the entire tournament. Rey, Porter, and Aigner each had one half point bye. There were merely 14 players in the open section, competing for 8 prizes! After three withdrawals, I think 9 of the 11 finishers won something.
Playing in the Mayor's Cup in New York, a new category 10 tournament organized by former women's world champion Susan Polgar, and endorsed by the city and its outgoing mayor, Rudy Giuliani, saw the popular teenager play the tournament of her life to tie for first place with the Ukrainian GM Igor Novikov - and come ahead of some very experienced players.
The popular teenager first sprang to worldwide prominence as the leading force in the Kasparov vs. The World Internet match nearly two years ago. In a country full of titled female players who have immigrated there, Krush has been the only homegrown female player to make a name for herself.
She became the first player in US chess history to ever achieve the title of International Master, and in 1998, at the age of 14, she became the youngest ever US Women's Champion.
Final standings: 1-2 GM I Novikov (Ukraine), IM I Krush (USA) 6/9; 3-4 GM Y Gruenfeld, GM L Yudasin (both Israel) 5.5; 5 GM P Blatny (Czech Rep) 5; 6-7 D Schneider, G Shahade (both USA) 4.5; 8 IM A Simutowe (Zambia) 3.5; 9 IM E Perelshteyn (USA) 2.5; 10 H Nakamura (USA) 2.
I Krush - H Nakamura
Mayor's Cup (5)
King's Indian Defense
1 Nf3 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 Nc3 Bg7 4 e4 d6 5 d4 0-0 6 Be2 e5 7 0-0 Na6 8 Be3 Ng4 9 Bg5 Qe8 10 dxe5 dxe5 11 h3 Nf6 12 a3 Nc5 13 Qc2 Ne6 14 c5 Nxg5 15 Nxg5 Qe7 16 b4 Nh5 17 Nf3 Nf4 18 Rfd1 c6 19 Rd6 Ne6 20 Bc4 Nd4 21 Qd1 b5 22 Bf1 Be6 23 Nxd4 exd4 24 Ne2 Be5 25 Nxd4! Bd7 (25 ..Bxd6 26 Nxc6 Bh2+ 27 Kxh2 Qc7+ 28 Qd6) 26 Nb3 Rad8 27 Ra2 Bxd6 28 cxd6 Qg5 29 Nc5 Bxh3 30 Qd4 Be6 31 Rd2 h5 32 e5 Bd5 33 f4 Qg4 34 Bxb5 h4 35 Bc4 h3 36 Ne4 h2+ 37 Kh1 Bxe4 38 Qxe4 Kg7 39 Qd4 c5 40 bxc5 Rb8 41 Ba2 Qg3 42 e6+ f6 43 Rd1 Qg4 44 e7 Rh8 45 d7 Rb2 46 Bd5 Rhb8 47 e8Q Rb1 48 Qe1 1-0Thanks to John Henderson and The Scotsman
Results of the 8 th round: Crisan Macieja 0:1 Volokitin Gelfand 1/2:1/2 Kozul Pavasovic 1:0 Sermek Beliavsky 1/2:1/2 Mikhalchishin Mohr 1/2:1/2
Standing after the 8 th round: 1. Beliavsky 6 points 2. Gelfand 5 1/2 3. Volokitin 5 4. Kozul 4 1/2 5-6. Pavasovic, Mikhalchishin 4 7-9. Mohr, Sermek, Macieja 3 1/2 10. Crisan 1/2
Pairing for the 9 th round: Mohr - Crisan Beliavsky - Mikhalchishin Pavasovic - Sermek Gelfand - Kozul Macieja - VolokitinThis information came from GM Alexander Baburin's daily Internet chess magazine Chess Today which is currently offering free two week trial subscriptions. Contact (http://www.chesstoday.net/) if you are interested.
The Vidmar is especially of interest because of the participation of 38-year-old Alexandru Crisan. Rated 2635 by FIDE he has been accused of rating manipulation by other Romanian chess players and others for years. They charged that he had received his high rating and GM title in fraudulent events that had been reported by corrupt officials of the Romanian chess federation. The consensus before this event was that Crisan was really 2300 strength at most, but this was difficult to judge accurately as he hadn't played for some time. His performance in this event leaves little doubt that he should be stripped of his GM title by FIDE ASAP!
A camp for intermediate and advanced youngsters will be held July 30-August 3 and a camp for beginners and novices from August 6-August 10. Information about these camps is available at the Chess Room website under programs for children. Mechanics' Chessroom
August 18
Vladimir Pafnutieff Memorial (5 rounds G/45 at 1/2 K)
September 22
Howard Donnelly Memorial (5 rounds G/45 at 1/2 K)
October 20
J.J. Dolan Memorial (5 rounds G/45 at 1/2 K)
November 9-11
Carroll Capps Memorial (5 rounds)
December 1
Pierre Saint-Amant Memorial (5 rounds G/45 at 1/2 k)