Samuel Standidge Boden (after losing to Morphy)

1) Mechanics' Institute Chess Club News

2) Fabiano Caruana sets record as youngest American and Italian GM

3) Battsetseg leads US Womens Championship

4) GM Ian Rogers retires

5) Redding-Gossip match

6) Bu wins Canadian Open

7) Here and There

8) Upcoming Events

1) Mechanics' Institute Chess Club News

by GM Alex Baburin

For such a big country, the US offers very few opportunities for someone to
make a GM norm – maybe there are half of dozen such tournaments in the
country. One of them – and this is the only such tournament this year on the
West coast – is in progress at the Mechanics' Institute Chess Club in San
Francisco. It is called the 2nd Imre Konig Memorial and it has a
Scheveningen format, with two 'teams' facing each other.

One team (let's call it the IM-team)consists of GM-norm seekers – IMs
Vladimir Mezentsev (born in 1959, FIDE rating - 2392), Dmitry Zilberstein
(1979, 2410), Alan Stein (1975, 2412), David Pruess (1981, 2424) and Joshua
Friedel (1986, 2472).

Their opponents are: WGM Ekaterina Atalik (1982, 2400), GMs Suat Atalik
(1964, 2564), Alexander Baburin (1967, 2559), Alex Yermolinsky (1958,
2517) and John Fedorowicz (1958,2460). Since three of these players
took part in the Canadian Open, they will start this tournament later.

Results so far:
Fedorowicz – Pruess 0-1
Stein – Baburin ½-½
Friedel – Fedorowicz ½-½
Pruess – Fedorowicz 0-1
Friedel – Baburin ½-½
Fedorowicz - Stein ½-½
Baburin – Pruess 1-0
Baburin – Stein ½-½
Mezentsev – Fedorowicz 0-1
Zilberstein – Baburin ½-½
Fedorowicz - Zilberstein ½-½
Baburin – Mezentsev 1-0

The IM-Team:
Stein – 1½ out of 3;
Zilberstein and Friedel – 1 (2)
Pruess – 1 (3)
Mezentsev – 0 (2)

GM Team:
Baburin – 4 (6)
Fedorowicz – 3½ (6).

All 10 players will play together on Tuesday. After that games and
standings should appear on the website of the Mechanics' Institute
Chess Club. By the way, the name "Mechanics' Institute" is a bit confusing
– I have not seen any mechanics here! It is essentially a library, set up in
San Francisco after the Gold Rush. The Chess Club is a part of the MI and it is
the longest continuously running chess club in the United States.

Current standings as of Tuesday night with 21 of 45 games played so far .

1. Fedorowicz 5.5/9

2. Baburin 4.5/9

3. Zilberstein 3/5

4. Stein 2/4

5. Pruess 1.5/4

6. Mezentsev 1.5/5

7. S.Atalik 1/1

8. Friedel 1/3

9-10. K. Atalik and Yermolinsky .5 /1

NM Andy Lee won the Summer Tuesday Night Marathon by defeating front runner FM Frank Thornally in the last minute. Lee, the highest rated player in the event, started with two half point byes then reeled off six consecutive wins. Thornally and Brendan Purcell, who defeated Expert Victor Ossipov in the last round to finish an excellent tournament, shared second with 6 1/2 points.

The 9 round Ben Gross Memorial Tuesday Night Marathon starts August 7th.

12-year-old Expert Greg Young defeated NM Michael Pearson in the last round to win the 7th Annual Charles Bagby Memorial G/45 held July 14th with a 5-0 score. Tying for second at 4.5 in the 73 player field, second best attended in the MI's 7 year history of monthly one day G/45 events, were IM Ricardo DeGuzman and NM Paul Gallegos.

2) Fabiano Caruana sets record as youngest American and Italian GM

14-year-old Fabiano Caruana (who turns 15 on July 30th - he was born in Miami) made his final GM norm by winning the July First Saturday tournament in Budapest held July 7th-15th.

1. IM Caruana (ITA, 2549) - 7
2. GM Ilincic (SRB, 2509) - 5½
3-5. IM Smerdon (AUS, 2461), FM Fruebing (GER, 2319) and GM G.Todorovic (SRB, 2471) - 5,
6-7. GM Fogarasi (HUN, 2425) and IM Bui Vinh (VIE, 2466) - 4½
8. FM Vernay (FRA, 2381) - 3½
9. G.Kjartansson (ISL, 2306) - 3
10. FM Hammes (GER, 2390) - 2

Fogarasi,T (2425) - Caruana,F (2549) [B43]
First Saturday 2007 Budapest (1) 2007

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Nc3 Qc7 6.Bd3 Nf6 7.0-0 Bc5 8.Nb3 Ba7 9.Kh1 Nc6 10.Bg5 h5 11.Bxf6 gxf6 12.f4 d6 13.Be2 Bd7 14.Qd2 0-0-0 15.Rad1 Be8 16.Rf3 h4 17.h3 Rg8 18.Qe1 Ne7 19.f5 Bc6 20.Nd4 Bxd4 21.Rxd4 d5 22.exd5 Nxd5 23.Rc4 Rxg2 0-1

Caruana,F (2549) - Todorovic,G (2471) [B45]
First Saturday 2007 Budapest (2) 2007

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Nxc6 bxc6 7.e5 Nd5 8.Ne4 Qc7 9.f4 Qb6 10.c4 Ne3 11.Qd3 Bb4+ 12.Bd2 Ba6 13.b3 0-0 14.Rc1 f5 15.exf6 gxf6 16.Bxb4 Qxb4+ 17.Qd2 c5 18.Qxb4 cxb4 19.Kf2 Nxf1 20.Rhxf1 Bb7 21.Nc5 Bc8 22.Rcd1 Rf7 23.Rd6 Kf8 24.Rfd1 Ke8 25.h3 h5 26.R1d2 a5 27.Kg3 Rh7 28.f5 h4+ 29.Kf2 exf5 30.Rxf6 Ke7 31.Rxf5 d6 32.Re2+ Kd8 33.Ne6+ Kd7 34.Rf4 Kc6 35.Nd4+ Kc5 36.Rd2 a4 37.Nb5 Rh6 38.Rd5+ Kc6 39.Rf7 axb3 40.Nd4+ Kb6 41.Rb5+ Ka6 1-0

Fabiano improved on the American record set by Hikaru Nakamura in Februaru of 2003 when he made his final GM norm in Bermuda at the age of 15 years, 58 days, eclipsing Bobby Fischer's 1958 record of 15 years, 185 days.

Currentlly rated 2549 Fabiano expects to be close to 2580 when not-yet-calculated tournaments played the past few months are added in. This might make him the youngest member of the top 20 juniors in the world club when the October FIDE rating list comes out.

Fabiano's 1st tournament ever was at Susan Polgar's club in Queens on May 30th, 1998, and his first USCF rating was 473. Since Fabiano is now at 2556 USCF I believe he may also have broken GM Joel Benjamin's record for biggest USCF rating gain as he is up almost 2100 points!

Fabiano and his dad Lou are currently living in Budapest where the GM-elect is coached by former World Championship Candidate Alexander Chernin.

Well done Fabiano!

3) Battsetseg leads US Womens Championship

4) GM Ian Rogers retires

From Australia:

Grandmaster Ian Rogers stunned the audience at the prize-giving ceremony for the Lidums Checkmate Open by announcing his retirement from all tournament chess, effective immediately. His retirement was forced upon him by medical advice that was too positive to ignore. Ian had just won the event so at least he was able to retire on a winning note.

Australian chess players will miss Ian on the tournament scene. Fortunately, he will still be able to write and coach, two activities that helped to create his reputation as arguably the most influential chess player Australia has produced.

Ian is best known for his playing, having been Australia's strongest player for more than 25 years. He was Australian Junior Champion in 1976 and by 1980 had won the Australian Championship which he won a further 4 times. He also won the Australian Open Championship in 1993 and the Australian Grand Prix 7 times, the first in 1989 and the most recent in 2004. His "premier event" was the Doeberl Cup which he won 12 times from 1980 to 2007. Ian also was awarded the ACF Steiner Medal as Player of the Year on 5 occasions and the Purdy Medal for chess journalism, which can be won only once, in 1989.

Ian's contribution as a coach will be well-known to many young players as. in recent years, he has made a great contribution to the coaching of junior players in groups such as the ACF Ergas Junior Development Squad. Squad.

On behalf of the ACF and all Australian chess players, we wish Ian the very best for the future.

5) Redding-Gossip match

We published the following account of chess in San Francisco in 1888 in Newsletter #104 and recently uncovered new information.

By G.H. D. Gossip

Sir: On the 18th of last month I left Sydney, per steamship "Alameda," reaching this city on the 12th, where I first set foot on my native soil after an absence of over forty years, and I have played here more games of chess in a week than I contested during the last six months in Sydney. There are two leading Chess resorts here, viz: the Mercantile Library and the Mechanics' Institute (in Post Street), which have large and commodious rooms for the accommodation of chess players - twice as large as any chess club or chess room in Australia. In fact nearly everything here is on a grander, more civilized and cosmopolitan scale than in Great Britain, although the streets of Adelaide and Melbourne are wider than those of San Francisco. The last named chess resort (MI) is crowded with chessplayers every afternoon, both rooms being open daily, Sundays included. I met here M. Montgomery - a French amateur - with whom I had the pleasure of playing in days gone by at the Cafe de la Regence, more than twenty years ago. Mr. Piper, one of the Vizayanagaram Tourney prizewinners, formerly of Greenwich and Sydney, is also here.

Of five games played over the board played over the board on even terms between Messrs. Zukertort and Redding, the former won 3 and lost 2, and Mr. Redding also defeated him in his blindfold exhibition. Besides being a strong chess player and an enthusiast, Mr. Redding is also a splendid billiard player (the best, I believe, in "Frisco") and an accomplished musician. The other strong players here are Dr. Marshall, who won 2 out of 5 games of Baron Heydebrand Von Der Lasa, lately and Mr. Heinemann. Of 28 games I have played here I have won 19, drawn 2 and lost 7. I was fortunate enough to win a considerable majority of games of Dr. Marshall, and to make even games with Dr. Heinemann, but have been so far worsted by Mr. Redding, having lost five and only won three games of him. Curiously enough, although there are many more chess players in San Francisco than in Sydney or Melbourne, there is not a single chess column in any San Francisco newspaper. Formerly there was one in the "Argonaut" but it has long since been discontinued. A tournament, however, among the leading players, is to be started this week.

Source: The International Chess Magazine June 1888, page 170-171

Redding, J - Gossip, G [C47]
San Francisco, 1888

Source: The International Chess Magazine, August 1888, page 251.

Redding, J - Gossip, G [C55]
San Francisco, 1888

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.Bc4 Nxe4 5.Bxf7+ Kxf7 6.Nxe4 d5 7.Neg5+ Kg8 8.d4 h6 9.Nh3 Bxh3 10.gxh3 exd4 11.Nxd4 Qd7 12.Nxc6 Re8+ 13.Be3 bxc6 14.Qf3 Bc5 15.0-0 Bxe3 16.fxe3 Qe6 17.Rae1 Kh7 18.Qf5+ Qxf5 19.Rxf5 Re7 20.c3 Rhe8 21.Kf2 Re4 22.Rf7 R4e7 23.Rxe7 Rxe7 24.Rg1 Re4 25.Rg4 g5 26.Kf3 Re8 27.Ra4 Rf8+ 28.Ke2 Rb8 29.b3 Rb7 30.Ra6 c5 31.Rc6 c4 32.b4 a5 33.a3 axb4 34.axb4 Ra7 35.e4 dxe4 36.Rxc4 Ra2+ 37.Ke3 Rxh2 38.Rxc7+ Kg6 39.Kxe4 Rxh3 40.b5 Rh1 41.b6 Rb1 42.Rc6+ Kg7 43.c4 h5 44.c5 g4 45.Rc7+ Kg6 46.b7 g3 47.Rc6+ Kg7 48.Rc7+ Kg6 49.Kf3 Rb3+ 50.Kg2 Kg5 51.c6 h4 52.Rg7+ Kf4 53.Kh3 Rb1 54.Rf7+ 1-0

Source: The International Chess Magazine, July 1888, page 217-18.

I just found the following game and add that Gossip writes: "Played in San Francisco, May 1988, in a short match of three games with the Champion of the Pacific Coast" . I wonder if these are the three games of the match for which no score is given?

Gossip,G - Redding,J [C41]
San Francisco, 05.1888

Source: Gossip's Vest-Pocket Chess Manual, page 53.

In the final 10th round Bu Xiangzhi defeated Vadim Milov to become the sole winner of this exceptionally
strong open tournament held in Ottawa. MI Grandmaster-in-Residence Alex Yermolinsky shared 7th-21st place.

Final standings:

1. GM Bu Xiangzhi (2685) - 8 out of 10

2-6. GM Short (2683), GM Miton (2648), GM Sandipan (2563), IM Krnan (2492) and GM Sambuev (2482) - 7½

7-21. GM V.Milov (2678), GM Tiviakov (2648), GM Rychagov (2557),GM Bluvshtein (2520), GM Kunte (2519), GM Yermolinsky (2517), FM Kovalyov (2510), GM Hoang Thong Tu (2483), GM De La Paz Perdomo (2452), IM Roussel-Roozmon (2414), IM Reprintsev (2410), IM Gerzhoy (2409), FM J.Bradford (2406), FM Rensch (2400) and FM Tayar (2271).

7) Here and There

John Hillery reports:

IM Enrico Sevillano scored 6½-½ to take first place in the 2007 Southern California Invitational Championship, held in Los Angeles from July 7 through 15. Second with 4½ was Julian Landaw, a promising junior player, while IM Jack Peters finished third with 4-3. Special thanks to John Rowell, who provided the playing site at the law offices of Cheong, Denove, Rowell & Bennett. This was the 19th annual tournament and Julian Landaw (age 16) and John Daniel Bryant (age 15) made excellent debuts.

Hi Marc,

The earliest mention I can find (so far) is from the Autumn 1964 issue of Kolty's Chess in Action. "The Berkeley Y.M.C.A. announced the founding of its chess club recently. It is open to ALL chess players, from beginner to grandmaster. Membership application may be made in person at the YMCA "desk," or by mail. The Berkeley "Y" is located at 2001 Alston Way in down-town Berkeley. More information may be obtained by phoning 848-6800." A later issue lists Jerome Long as the contact. I believe that Martin Morrison of the Oakland CC took over from Jerome in 1968.

Regards,

Kerry

Last Newsletter I wrote about the Northern California Master Jim Murray. NM Erik Osbun shares the following information.

John:

I played skittles with Murray back in the early 60s. He appeared very well read and a gentleman and a scholar capable of excellent conversation. He was well known for taking a MI title from Bill Addison in either the late 50s or early 60s. See the Chess Reporter. I did not have the opportunity of playing an official game with him as did John Blackstone, but John always played more than I was able. Murray was tall and had blonde hair with a slightly cherubic face. I was impressed with his manifest intelligence.

Stephen Brandwein and Sam Sloan both ran into Murray in New York in the late 1960s where he was playing under the name of Charles Eastman. Can any Newsletter readers shed light on this?

GM Emil Anka and NMs Nate Koons and Michael Lee shared first place with 4.5 from 5 in the Clark Harmon Memorial held July 14-15 at the Portland Chess Club.

NM John Blackstone of Las Vegas sends in the following games pitting Nothern Californian's against visiting GMs in simuls.

Szabo,L - Lerman,J [E77]
San Francisco San Francisco, 1973

1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 g6 3.e4 d6 4.d4 Bg7 5.Be2 0-0 6.f4 c5
7.d5 b5 8.cxb5 a6 9.bxa6 Nxa6 10.Nf3 Qb6 11.0-0 c4+
12.Kh1 Ng4 13.Qe1 Nb4 14.Qh4 Nd3 15.Bxd3 cxd3 16.f5
Nf6 17.Bg5 Qxb2 18.Rac1 Ra3 19.Nd1 Qb7 20.Bh6 Rxa2
21.Ng5 Nh5 22.Bxg7 Kxg7 23.Ne3 Qb2 24.fxg6 hxg6
25.Rxc8 Rxc8 26.Rxf7+ Kg8 27.Qg4 Rc1+ 28.Rf1 Rxf1+
29.Nxf1 Qf6 30.Qc8+ Kg7 31.Ne6+ Kh7 32.Nf8+ Kh6
33.Qc1+ Qf4 34.Qb1 Qf2 0-1


Bisguier,A - Gross,H [D21]
Simul Bisguier San Francisco, CA, 25.08.1953

1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.Nf3 a6 4.a4 c5 5.e3 Bg4
6.Bxc4 e6 7.Nc3 Nf6 8.d5 exd5 9.Nxd5 Nc6 10.Qb3 Na5
11.Nxf6+ Qxf6 12.Bxf7+ Qxf7 13.Qxf7+ Kxf7 14.Ne5+ Ke6
15.Nxg4 h5 16.f3 hxg4 17.fxg4 Bd6 18.h3 Rhf8 19.Bd2
Nb3 20.Rb1 Bg3+ 0-1


Gross,H - Prins,L (2480) [C73]
Simul Prins clock San Francisco, CA, 11.11.1954

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 d6 5.Bxc6+ bxc6
6.d4 exd4 7.Qxd4 Be7 8.Nc3 Bf6 9.Qe3 Ne7 10.0-0 0-0
11.Rd1 Ng6 12.Qd3 Bd7 13.Be3 Qe7 14.Bd4 Bg4 15.Rd2
Bxf3 16.Qxf3 Bg5 17.Re2 Nf4 18.Ree1 Ne6 19.Ne2 Nxd4
20.Nxd4 Qd7 21.Rad1 Bf6 22.b3 Bxd4 23.Rxd4 Qe6 24.c4
½-½

8) Upcoming Events

Vladimir Pafnutieff - August 11th
Bernardo Smith Amateur - August 18th and 19th

The Miami Chess Open entry form:

Name _________________________________ Tournament_________________________________ Section_______________________ Number of days_______ USCF ID _____________ Rating ______

Entry Fee_______________Membership Dues___________ Address_______________________________________________________________________________

email address_____________________________________

Send to Miami International Chess Academy: 5880 SW 8Street, Miami Florida 33174.

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