Mechanics' Institute Chess Room Newsletter #50

"Do you realize, Fischer almost never had any bad pieces. He exchanges them, and the bad pieces remain with his opponents."
   Yury Balashov

ALEX YERMOLINSKY WILL GIVE A FREE TALK ABOUT HIS VICTORY IN CALI THIS EVENING (WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22) FROM 5:15-6:15 PM AT THE MI.

1) Yermo wins in Cali 
2) deGuzman, Chumachenko and Morkunaite win Pafnutieff 
3) Vinay ties for third in First Saturday 
4) Bay Area Masters 
5) The Under 2000 Tournament 
6) Upcoming Events 

1) Yermo wins in Cali

VENI, VIDI, VICI !!!

MI GM-in-Residence Alex Yermolinsky won the American Continental Championship held August 10-20, in Cali, Colombia. Seeded number nine, Alex was always among the leaders. His result qualifies him for the FIDE World Championship to be held later this year.

American GMs did particularly well in this event as Alexander Goldin, Boris Gulko and Alexander Ivanov also qualified.

Final standings: 1. Alex Yermolinsky (USA) 8.5 2. Alex Goldin (USA) 8.0 3. Leinier Dominguez (CUB) 8.0 4. Boris Gulko (USA) 8.0 5. Alonso Zapata (COL) 8.0 6. Daniel Campora (ARG) 8.0 7. Alejandro Hoffman (ARG) 8.0 8. Alexis Cabrera (CUB) 8.0 9. Alex Ivanov (USA) 7.5

There were seven qualifying spots for the World Championships. Yermo, Goldin, Gulko, Campora, Hoffman, Cabrera and Ivanov made it. Dominguez and Zapata had already qualified from previous events.

Here are Alex's games, round by round.

Yermolinsky,A (2571) - Ugalde,R (2167) [D36]
I American Continental Cali COL (1), 10.08.2001
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bg5 Be7 6.e3 c6 7.Qc2 Be6 8.Bd3 h6 9.Bf4 Nbd7 10.h3 Qa5 11.Nge2 0-0 12.0-0 Rfe8 13.a3 Qd8 14.Bh2 Nf8 15.b4 b5 16.a4 a6 17.Rab1 Qd7 18.Be5 Qc8 19.Ng3 N8d7 20.f4 Nb6 21.a5 Nc4 22.Bxc4 bxc4 23.f5 Bd7 24.Na4 Qb7 25.Nc5 Qa7 26.Qe2 Rad8 27.Qf3 Bc8 28.h4 Kh8 29.Qf4 Rg8 30.Nh1 Kh7 31.Nf2 Ne8 32.Nh3 f6 33.Bb8 Qa8 34.g4 Bb7 35.Bc7 Nxc7 36.Qxc7 Qb8 37.Qxb8 Rxb8 38.Nf4 Bc8 39.Kf2 Re8 40.h5 Bxc5 41.dxc5 Re4 42.Kf3 Bd7 43.Rfc1 Kg8 44.Ne2 Rbe8 45.Rc3 R4e5 46.Nd4 Kf7 47.Rd1 Rb8 48.Rb1 Re7 49.Ra3 Be8 50.Ra2 Bd7 51.Re2 Re4 52.Nc2 Rbe8 53.Rd1 Kf8 54.Rd4 R4e7 55.e4 Bc8 56.Re3 Bb7 57.exd5 cxd5 58.Rxe7 Rxe7 59.Kf2 Ke8 60.Rd2 Kd7 61.Re2 Re5 62.Nd4 Bc8 63.Re3 Ke7 64.Nc6+ Kd7 65.Nxe5+ fxe5 66.Rxe5 Kc6 67.Ke3 Kb5 68.Kd4 Kxb4 69.c6 c3 70.Kd3 1-0

Mendoza,R (2357) - Yermolinsky,A (2571) [B67]
I American Continental Cali COL (2), 11.08.2001
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Bg5 e6 7.Qd2 a6 8.0-0-0 Bd7 9.f4 b5 10.Bxf6 gxf6 11.Nxc6 Bxc6 12.Qe1 Be7 13.Bd3 b4 14.Ne2 Qb6 15.f5 Qe3+ 16.Kb1 Bxe4 17.fxe6 fxe6 18.Bxe4 Qxe4 19.Rd4 Qe5 20.Rxb4 Kf7 21.Qd2 Rab8 22.Rb3 f5 23.Nc3 d5 24.g3 d4 25.Ne2 Rxb3 26.axb3 Rd8 27.Nf4 Qd6 28.Qd3 Bg5 29.Re1 Bxf4 30.gxf4 Qxf4 31.Qxa6 Qd6 32.Qe2 d3 33.Qh5+ Kg7 34.Qg5+ 1/2-1/2

Yermolinsky,A (2571) - Acosta,A (2300) [D44]
I American Continental Cali COL (3), 12.08.2001
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.Bg5 dxc4 6.e4 b5 7.e5 h6 8.Bh4 g5 9.Nxg5 hxg5 10.Bxg5 Nbd7 11.g3 Qa5 12.exf6 b4 13.Ne4 Ba6 14.Qf3 0-0-0 15.Be2 Nb6 16.Nc5 Bb5 17.Be3 Bxc5 18.dxc5 b3+ 19.Kf1 Nd5 20.Kg2 bxa2 21.Rhc1 Qa6 22.Bf4 Nb4 23.Bd6 Nd3 24.Rc3 Qb7 25.Ra3 Nb4 26.Qc3 Nd5 27.Qd4 Nb4 28.Qd2 Nd5 29.R1xa2 a6 30.Rf3 e5 31.Qg5 c3 32.Qf5+ Rd7 33.bxc3 Bxe2 34.Rxe2 Qb5 1-0

Cuartas,J (2362) - Yermolinsky,A (2571) [B51]
I American Continental Cali COL (4), 13.08.2001
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Nd7 4.d4 Ngf6 5.Nc3 cxd4 6.Qxd4 e5 7.Qd3 h6 8.0-0 Be7 9.Nd2 0-0 10.Bxd7 Bxd7 11.Nc4 Be6 12.Rd1 Qc7 13.Ne3 Rac8 14.Bd2 a6 15.Rac1 b5 16.Ncd5 Nxd5 17.Nxd5 Bxd5 18.Qxd5 Qc4 19.Be3 Qxd5 20.Rxd5 Rc4 21.f3 f5 22.b3 Rc3 23.Bd2 Rc6 24.exf5 Rxf5 25.c4 Kf7 26.f4 h5 27.fxe5 dxe5 28.cxb5 Rxc1+ 29.Bxc1 Ke6 30.Rd3 axb5 31.Rf3 b4 32.Rxf5 Kxf5 33.Kf2 Bc5+ 34.Ke2 Kg4 35.Bd2 e4 36.Be1 g6 37.h3+ Kf4 38.g3+ Kf5 39.Bd2 g5 40.Bc1 g4 41.h4 Bd6 42.Kf2 Ke5 43.Bb2+ Kd5 44.Bf6 Be5 45.Be7 Kd4 46.Ke2 Bxg3 47.Bxb4 Bxh4 48.a4 g3 49.Kf1 Bd8 50.Kg2 h4 51.a5 e3 52.Kf3 Kd3 53.Bc5 e2 54.Bb4 Bc7 55.a6 Bb6 56.Be1 Ba7 57.Ba5 Kc2 0-1

Yermolinsky,A (2571) - Estrada Nieto,J (2348) [D21]
I American Continental Cali COL (5), 14.08.2001
1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.Nf3 c5 4.d5 e6 5.Nc3 exd5 6.Qxd5 Qxd5 7.Nxd5 Na6 8.e4 Nf6 9.Bf4 Be6 10.Bxc4 0-0-0 11.Bg5 h6 12.Bxf6 gxf6 13.Bxa6 bxa6 14.Ne3 h5 15.0-0 Kb7 16.Rfd1 Bh6 17.a3 Bxe3 18.fxe3 Rhe8 19.Kf2 Bb3 20.Rxd8 Rxd8 21.Rc1 Kb6 22.Rc3 Ba4 23.e5 fxe5 24.Nxe5 Rd2+ 25.Kf3 Bd1+ 26.Kg3 Be2 27.b3 Bf1 28.Rc1 Rxg2+ 29.Kf3 Rg5 30.Kf4 Rg1 31.h3 Rh1 32.Nd7+ Kb7 33.Nxc5+ Kb6 34.Nd7+ Kb7 35.Ne5 f6 36.Nd7 f5 37.Nf6 h4 38.Ne8 a5 39.Nd6+ Kb6 40.Nxf5 Bg2 41.Rxh1 Bxh1 42.Nxh4 Bd5 43.Nf5 Bxb3 44.h4 Bf7 45.Kg5 Kc5 46.h5 Bxh5 47.Kxh5 Kd5 48.a4 Ke5 49.Ng3 1-0

Gurevich,D (2550) - Yermolinsky,A (2571) [E46]
I American Continental Cali COL (6), 15.08.2001
1.c4 e6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 0-0 5.Nge2 d5 6.a3 Be7 7.cxd5 Nxd5 8.Qc2 Nd7 9.Ng3 c5 10.Nxd5 exd5 11.Bd3 g6 12.dxc5 Nxc5 13.0-0 Bd7 14.b4 Ba4 15.Qe2 Nxd3 16.Qxd3 Bf6 17.Ra2 Qd7 18.e4 Bb5 19.Qf3 Bg7 20.Rd1 dxe4 21.Rxd7 exf3 22.Rxb7 a6 23.Be3 Rfd8 24.gxf3 Bc6 25.Rc7 Bxf3 26.Rc1 h5 27.h4 Bf6 28.Bg5 Bxg5 29.hxg5 h4 30.Rc3 Bb7 31.Nf1 Rd1 32.Rd2 Ra1 33.Rd7 Be4 34.Rd4 Re8 35.f4 Bf5 36.Kf2 h3 37.Rd2 Re4 38.Ng3 Rxf4+ 39.Ke3 Rg4 40.Nxf5 gxf5 41.Kf3 Rf1+ 42.Rf2 h2 0-1

Yermolinsky,A (2571) - Goldin,A (2594) [D37]
I American Continental Cali COL (7), 16.08.2001
1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bf4 0-0 6.e3 Nbd7 7.Rc1 c5 8.cxd5 Nxd5 9.Nxd5 exd5 10.dxc5 Qa5+ 11.Qd2 Qxa2 12.Bd6 Bxd6 13.cxd6 Nf6 14.Nd4 Ne4 15.Qb4 b6 16.Be2 Bd7 17.0-0 Qa4 18.Qxa4 Bxa4 19.Rc7 Rfd8 20.Ra1 Be8 21.Raxa7 Rxa7 22.Rxa7 Nxd6 23.Bf3 Nc4 24.b3 Ne5 25.Rb7 Nxf3+ 26.gxf3 Rd6 27.f4 Kf8 28.Kg2 Bd7 29.Kf3 Ke8 30.f5 Rh6 31.Kg3 Rh5 32.f6 gxf6 33.Rxb6 Rg5+ 34.Kf4 Ke7 35.h4 Rg1 36.Rb8 Rh1 1/2-1/2

Dominguez,L (2585) - Yermolinsky,A (2571) [B04]
I American Continental Cali COL (8), 17.08.2001
1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.Nf3 g6 5.Bc4 Nb6 6.Bb3 Bg7 7.a4 dxe5 8.a5 N6d7 9.Bxf7+ Kxf7 10.Ng5+ Kg8 11.Ne6 Qe8 12.Nxc7 Qd8 13.Ne6 Qe8 14.Nc7 Qd8 15.Ne6 Qe8 16.Nc7 1/2-1/2

Yermolinsky,A (2571) - Shabalov,A (2574) [E10]
I American Continental Cali COL (9), 18.08.2001
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 c5 4.e3 a6 5.dxc5 Bxc5 6.a3 0-0 7.b4 Be7 8.Bb2 d5 9.Nbd2 a5 10.b5 b6 11.cxd5 Qxd5 12.Bc4 Qh5 13.Ne5 Qxd1+ 14.Rxd1 Bb7 15.Ndf3 Ne4 16.0-0 Nc5 17.Rd4 Rc8 18.Rfd1 h6 19.h4 Bf6 20.Ba2 Nbd7 21.Rxd7 Nxd7 22.Rxd7 Bxf3 23.gxf3 Rc2 24.Nxf7 Rxb2 25.Bxe6 Bxh4 26.Nxh6+ Kh7 27.Nf5 Bf6 28.Rd5 g6 29.Rd7+ Kh8 30.Nd6 Rf8 31.Nf7+ Rxf7 32.Bxf7 Bh4 33.Rd3 Kg7 34.Be8 a4 35.f4 g5 36.fxg5 Bxf2+ 37.Kf1 Bh4 38.g6 Bf6 39.Rd7+ Kg8 40.Bf7+ Kg7 41.Be8+ Kg8 42.Rf7 Bg7 43.Rb7 1-0

Gulko,B (2602) - Yermolinsky,A (2571) [E54]
I American Continental Cali COL (10), 19.08.2001
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 0-0 5.Bd3 d5 6.a3 Bxc3+ 7.bxc3 dxc4 8.Bxc4 c5 9.Nf3 Qc7 10.Ba2 b6 11.0-0 Bb7 12.c4 Rd8 13.Bb2 cxd4 14.exd4 Qf4 15.Ne5 1/2-1/2

Yermolinski,A (2571) - Zapata,A (2530) [E94]
Continental Cali (11), 20.08.2001
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 e5 7.0-0 Na6 8.Re1 c6 9.Rb1 Ng4 10.Bg5 f6 11.Bh4 g5 12.Bg3 f5 13.exf5 1/2-1/2

2) deGuzman, Chumachenko and Morkunaite win Pafnutieff

Filipino IM Ricardo deGuzman split top honor in the Vladimir Pafnutieff Memorial held August 19 with SM Andrey Chumachenko of Sacramento and Egle Morkunaite of Lithuania. The three players, who scored of 4 1/2 from 5, each won $130 in the one day G/45 event. This was the second success for Morkunaite, one of Lithuania's top young women players, at the MI. She also just won a FIDE rating tournament going away. More details on this event in the next Newsletter.

The Pafnutieff, held to honor the memory of the late San Francisco Master who was one of the Bay Area's top players for several decades, attracted a very positive turnout of 47 players including six masters. There were several family combinations including Ilya Pereplitsky and his two nephews, Edward and Phillip (both teammates of Vinay Bhat at Lynbrook High School in San Jose), as well as Mariusz Krubnik and his daughters Ewelina and Emilia.

Class Prize Winners:

First Class A: Milo Nelson 
First Class B: Mariusz Krubnik, Kris MacLennan, Kevan Gross, Salar 
First Class C: Michael O'Brien, Ilya Perepelitsky and Royce Reece 
First Class D: Edward Perepelitsky 
First Class E and Unrated: Arivoli 

3) Vinay ties for third in First Saturday

Falconer Award winner Vinay Bhat turned in an excellent performance in tying for third in the recently concluded August First Saturday GM Round Robin held in Budapest. VInay scored 7 1/2 from 14 in the Category 7 (2413) event for a performance of 2470. The event was won by IM Zoltan Medvegy of Hungary with 10 points (GM norm). IM Dennis Breder of Germany was second at 9 1/2.

4) Bay Area Masters

IM Guillermo Rey is offering something new for Bay Area Masters next month. If you are rated over 2200 and want to face strong opposition without having to take time off work check out his event being held September 28-30 and October 5-7. This event should be just the right start for an active fall schedule that includes the Western States Open in Reno and the American Open (US Championship Qualifier) in Los Angeles in November.

5) The Under 2000 Tournament

Rico Adkins is running a tournament in late September in an area where few events have been held recently. The location, near the intersection of Interstate 80 and State Highway 4 should make for a very easy drive for players from many parts of Alameda, Contra Costa, Solano and Napa counties. Good luck Rico!

The Under 2000 Tournament on Sat. Sept. 29th and 30th for players under 2000. $300-200-100, best B, C, D, $100 35/90 SD/1 based on 40 paid entries, 1 section (Limited to 50 players). 5 round Swiss tournament at the Mechanics Bank Office in the North Shore Business Park at San Pablo Ave. in Hercules, CA at the HWY 4 and HWY 80 connector. Take John Muir parkway from San Pablo into the business Park and make a right turn (The only turn) . Go up hill to 725 Alfred Nobel, The Mechanics Bank. Reg. ends Sat. at 9:00 am Sept. 29th rounds:Sat. 10:00am, 2:00 pm, 6:00 pm, Sun. 10:00 am 2:00 pm. Pre-entries: $35.00 to be sent by 09/22/01 to: Rico B. Adkins, 15684 Crestwood Dr.# 137, San Pablo, CA 94806. Include your USCF I.D.# and current rating with entry. $40. at site/ No checks at site. Must be a USCF member to participate. If not, renewal available at tournament registration. Questions call (510) 262- 9061.

6) Upcoming Tournaments

August 28 - STARTS NEXT TUESDAY
Fall Tuesday Night Marathon (Round One, 8 rounds, 30/90 followed by G/30)

September 22
Howard Donnelly Memorial (5 rounds G/45 at 1/2 K)

September 23
Taxi Cab Drivers Tournament (open only to Taxi Cab drivers)

September 28-30 and October 5-7
Bay Area Masters (6 rounds, open to all over 2200, USCF + FIDE rated, $1000-$500-$200 based on 22 paid entries) For more information contact IM Guillermo Rey (650) 355-0305 or reyg@ix.netcom.com. Full details at www.milibrary.org

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)

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