Mechanics' Institute Chess Room Newsletter #83
"I refused to believe that Black was lost. Looking at the position,
I felt there must be a defense, and looking at the previous play, I liked
all of Black's moves! Not trying to find a defense for Black would have
meant admitting that something was wrong with my concept of chess strategy." 1) Cyrus Lakdawala wins 2nd Imre Konig Memorial 2) Spring Tuesday Night Marathon 3) Northern California State Scholastic 4) MI Chess History 5) The Turk 6) Upcoming Events 1) Cyrus Lakdawala wins 2nd Imre Konig MemorialIM-elect Cyrus Lakdawala of San Diego won the 2nd Imre Konig Memorial held April 13 at the MI with a 5-0 score. Other prize winners were: 2nd and Top A: Egle Morkunaite and Ben Haun 1st Expert: Monty Peckham. 1st B: Mariusz Krubnik, Wesley Chen and Daichi Siegrist 1st C: Joe Davis 2) Spring Tuesday Night MarathonRussell Wong defeated fellow National Master Rudy Hernandez to take over sole first in the Spring Tuesday Night Marathon with a score of 4-0. Half a point behind are NM David Blohm, Expert Larry Snyder and Steven Krasnov. Sixty-one players are competing in the eight round event. 3) Northern California State ScholasticMI Scholastic Chess Director Anthony Corrales reports on the recent State Scholastic Championship. "The 2002 St Ch. in Monterey had more than 1000 participants, a surprise to everyone, including the organizers. In the K-12 Open, IM Vinay Bhat won with 6-0, flagging MI member Michael Pearson (3rd place) with 8 seconds in the final game of the tournament. Ben Haun had 2nd place with 5.5 pts and Monty Peckham had 5pts for 4th place. Elisha Garg (1309) of the MI had 4.5 pts (16th place) to help the MI team win convincingly. The K-8 Open was won by Daniel Schwarz of Sacramento, followed closely by Nicolas Yap (MI), Ricky Yu, Ankit Gupta, and Drake Wang(MI).With only three players in this section, the MI team came in 4th place overall, only a few points behind 1st. Next year we will have 4 players... The K-6 Open was won by the MI with 21pts (of 24). There was a three way tie for first, all familiar faces at the MI (Daichi Siegrist, Anand Kesavaraju, and David Chock). Team members Ben Laufer, Shaun Tse, and Davis Xu had 5 pts to score well within the top 20. Aly Patterson, rated 858, had a performance rating of 1080 for the tournament. Three members of our Wednseday beginner's class competed in the K-3 premier section, all scoring 4-1 for a tie for 7-27th place. This was their first tournament, a great showing for Hugo Kitano, Kathryn Nunnally, and Niko Takayesu. Great job to all!!" 4) MI Chess History71-year-old National Master Eugene Levin of San Jose has been an active Bay Area player for many years, but he first developed as a chess player in the Los Angeles. An article by Jim Cross in the January 1950 issue of George Koltanowski's short-lived Chess Digest tells the story. At the age of nineteen Eugene Levin is already one of the strongest players in the Southland area. He has a swashbuckling style of play, preferring wide-open positions which provide a full range for his first-class ability with combinations. Often reviving "worn-out" opening lines, with surprising success, Eugene has terminated many a game with a sharp, well-calculated tactical onslaught. Having learned the game at the age of six from his father, Jacob Levin, he didn't start studying the game seriously until 1944. His first tournament victory came in '45 when he won first prize in the Scholastic Division of the famous Pan American Tournament. In 1946 he won the State Junior Championship and a trip to Chicago where he competed in the National Junior Championship and added another trophy to his shelf by winning first prize in the Consolation Division. Right after that he traveled to Pittsburgh along with Herman Steiner and myself to play in the US Open Tournament where he played excellent chess against some of the strongest players in the country. Eugene was a member of the victorious Metropolitan Team Champions in 1948, the Hollywood Chess Group, and still plays one of the top boards in all of their matches. At present he is President and Club Champion of the UCLA Chess Club where he has done much to further the cause of chess by promoting matches with other school and local clubs. 5) The Turk is coming to townDo you remember the Turk? No, we are not talking about Grandmaster Suat Atalik of Istanbul, but the famous chessplaying machine of the 18th century which is the subject of a recent book (THE TURK: The Life and Times of the Famous Eighteenth Century-Chess Playing Machine) by Tom Standage. He will be talking about "Thinking about Thinking Machines, 1769-2002" and signing copies of THE TURK in San Francisco on the following dates: * May 28 @ 7:00 PM: The Booksmith, 1644 Haight Street * May 29 @ 12:30 PM: Stacey's Booksellers, 581 Market Street For additional information about the book and/or Tom Standage, please visit www.theturkbook.com. 6) Upcoming EventsMechanics' Institute Event:
The Walter Lovegrove Senior Open April 27th -28th, 2002
May 10-12 GPP: 15 N. California
May 18 2nd Charles Powell Memorial G/45 at the MI June 7-9 Stamer Memorial
Jun. 14-16 GPP: 15 N. California June 22 2nd William Addison Open G/45 (same details as Powell) Regional Events: Hercules Open April 27th and 28th
$1,350 based on 50 paid entries at The Mechanics Bank (Operations Center),
725 Alfred Noble Dr., in Hercules, CA!!
One Section: 4 Round Swiss, G/2, (Limited to 50 Players)
CalChess San Mateo Swiss
Four USCF-rated games for $20! No cash prizes, an inexpensive weekend
Swiss! Support your state organization! Any profit from this event will
benefit CalChess!
Name ____________________________________________________________________ Checks payable to Frisco Del Rosario ($20 entry fee for CalChess members, $40 for non-members who may join CalChess for $15 for one year, $28 for two years, $41 for three years, scholastic memberships $13 for one year), mail to 126 Fifteenth Ave., San Mateo CA 94402.
Jun. 1-2 GPP: 6 N. California |