Mechanics' Institute Chess Club Newsletter #391

"Sometimes it seems that Leko doesn't really like playing chess so much as striving to analyse opening positions. Probably his ideal would be to take his analyses if not to bare
kings, then at least to positions from the Nalimov database. When Peter manages to use a novelty as Black that instantly kills all life on the board, he becomes happy like a child and calls
this kind of game 'magnificent'."

Ilya Levitov and Evgeny Bareev in From London to Elista, p. 180.

1) Mechanics' Institute Chess Club News

2) Bobby Fischer Read Here (a small excerpt) by Sara Blask

3) USCL Ratings by the Bionic Lime

4) Schein-Friedman scholarships for youth by Aviv Friedman

5) The Burning Boards in San Diego by Glenn Kaino

6) New England Masters update by Chris Bird

7) Here and There

8) Upcoming Events

1) Mechanics' Institute Chess Club News

Former US Champion IM John Grefe will be a special guest lecturer next Tuesday night from 5:15 to 6:15 at the Mechanics' Institute Chess Club. The event is free and all are welcome to attend.

Michael Aigner writes that Bay Area player Erik Kislik, who is currently based in Spain, is improving by leaps and bounds. This FIDE lists he up 62 points to 2278.

This Saturday, during the Max Wilkerson G/45, Rebeccah Liu and Samyukta Bhat will play a match for the right to play in the next Susan Polgar High School Championship for Girls. Richard Koepcke will direct this event for Cal Chess.

The Mechanics Institute will be holding two chess camps this summer. Anthony Corrales will teach the beginner/ intermediate session from July 14-18 with IM (2 GM norms) Josh Friedel in charge of the advanced camp from July 21-25. Go to www.chessclub.org for more information.

Book and equipment donations to the Mechanics' are always welcome. All donations to the Mechanics' are tax deductible due to the M.I.'s 501(c) (3) nonprofit status. If you have any chess books or equipment that have been lying around unused for some time consider donating to the Mechanics'. You will not only get a tax write off but also the satisfaction of seeing things put to good use.

2) Bobby Fischer Read Here (a small excerpt) by Sara Blask

For the complete article go to http://www.thesmartset.com/article/article01210802.aspx .Thanks to Ed Labate for pointing this out.

Bobby Fischer Read Here
At the Reykjavik bookstore where the chess great spent his final, hermit-like days.

By Sara Blask

At his essence, Bobby Fischer was the outlaw biker of the chess world, a lonely, extraordinarily eccentric, extremely volatile genius — half-man, half-beast, pure will — whose moves on a chessboard and in his everyday life were as stubborn and unpredictable as the weather just outside the Reykjavik apartment where he spent his final three years.

He was a legendary recluse, an enigma who both captivated, shocked, and offended the world. Yet for all his innumerable eccentricities, iron-fisted bull-headedness, and vitriolic assaults against Jews and his own American government, during his last years, Bobby Fischer, managed to find some well-deserved solace in a place one might not expect: sitting in a wooden chair tucked in the back corner of a quiet bookstore in downtown Reykjavik.

Bókin, or The Book, is essentially a 1950s version of New York’s Strand Bookstore. Besides the books stacked head-high, under card tables, and on plywood shelves, the first thing you notice about Bókin is its smell, decayed and airless. Walking inside the 35-year-old establishment is like entering a Parisian flea market without the noise: overwhelming, a paralysis of the senses. But it was here, between narrow aisles lined with thousands of fraying biographies and history books, sitting in an ordinary chair whose varnish had worn thin, where Bobby Fischer could be alone in his thoughts. It was here where he could contemplate his place in history by poring through books on outlaws and rebels from Russia, Britain, Libya, and the Soviet Union with whom he could relate. And it was here, beneath the quiet hum of the fluorescent lights above, where Bobby Fischer could, for at least a few hours a day, seem to live a normal life.

"Bobby said he liked this kind of bookshop because it reminded him of his younger New York years. The mess everywhere, the stacks of books, the smell," says owner Bragi Kristjónsson. "He was often sitting here so long, reading from these shelves, that he fell asleep."

3) USCL Ratings by the Bionic Lime

The following article was posted at http://bioniclime.blogspot.com/2008/03/uscl-ratings.html


I have independently created a United States Chess League rating system that takes into several elements that other rating systems do not. Most importantly, the USCL ratings take into account that players are part of a team, and their strategy about how to conclude their individual games depend on the games situations of their teammates.

Here is an overview of the USCL rating system.

1. Modified Glicko

Rating calculations are based on the Glicko system, with some minor modifications. These modifications are as follows:
(a) Maximum RD is 100 (not 350);
(b) Ratings are updated after every game;
(c) At the end of each season, each RD is modified by increasing it 1/2 its distance to 100. For example, if a player's RD is 40, then the new RD is 40+((100-40)/2) or 40+(30) or 70. This eliminates step 1b in the Glicko process.

2. Initial Ratings Based on Board

Initial ratings for each player are based on which board they played the first time they played in a USCL match. Players who were Board 1 start with an initial rating of 2550; Board 2, 2450; Board 3, 2350; Board 4, 2250. All are set with an RD (ratings deviation) of 100.

3. Expected Score Depends on Color

Expected score from each game is modified by the color each player has. An initial investigation showed that, in the USCL, the performance rating of a player with the White pieces is about 72 points higher than the performance rating of a player with the Black pieces. Therefore, when calculating expected score of a games between two players, we temporarily add 36 points to White's rating, and subtract 36 points from Black's rating.

4. All Games Rated with Equal Weight

All games, including playoff games and blitz tiebreak games, were given equal weight in the ratings.

5. Scores for Draws Depend on Team Result

In team chess, where the goal of the team is to win the match (with 2.5/4 points or more, or 2/4 in a match with draw odds), individual results can be skewed by the circumstances of the match situation. For example, if it looks like your team is about to win two games and lose one game, winning the match comes down to what happens on your board. Suppose that in your game you have a moderate advantage, but the position is dynamic and unstable. In such a case, you might decide to trade all your pieces to reach a dead drawn endgame, so that you will draw the game and clinch the match for your team. This is fundamentally a good result for your team, as your will win the match.

Therefore, the result of the team match is considered when assigning scores for individual players' draws. If the final team match is drawn, each player who drew gets 1/2 point. If a team wins, all the players on the winning team who drew their games get 2/3 point each. Conversely, all the players on a losing team who drew their games get 1/3 point each. (Wins are still 1 and losses are still 0, regardless of the team match score.) Note that these point assignments are only for rating calculations only.


Final 2007 United States Chess League Rating List




Final 2007 United States Chess League Rating List

1

2591 Sergey Kudrin

2

2589 Vinay Bhat

3

2586 Patrick Wolff

4

2581 Larry Christiansen

5

2580 Hikaru Nakamura

6

2579 Jorge Sammour-Hasbun

7

2576 Joel Benjamin

8

2571 Drasko Boskovic

9

2569 Gregory Serper

10

2566 Julio Becerra

11

2543 Davorin Kuljasevic

12

2523 Jacek Stopa

13

2522 Eli Vovsha

14

2519 John Donaldson

15

2505 Pawel Blehm

16

2495 Josh Friedel

17

2494 Alex Stripunsky

18

2491 Lev Milman

19

2487 Georgi Orlov

20

2487 Dean Ippolito

21

2484 Pascal Charbonneau

22

2481 Eugene Perelshteyn

23

2477 Irina Krush

24

2466 Jay Bonin

25

2463 Vince McCambridge

26

2460 Bryan Smith

27

2454 Tegshsuren Enkhbat

28

2453 Dmitry Schneider

29

2449 Denis Shmelov

30

2441 Eric Tangborn

31

2440 Ron Burnett

32

2433 Marcel Milat

33

2432 Slava Mikhailuk

34

2428 Sam Shankland

35

2423 Oleg Zaikov

36

2415 John Bartholomew

37

2415 Robert Hess

38

2411 Richard Costigan

39

2407 Dmitry Zilberstein

40

2406 Jonathan Schroer

41

2405 Keaton Kiewra

42

2402 Irina Zenyuk

43

2399 William Kelleher

44

2397 Blas Lugo

45

2389 David Pruess

46

2389 Francisco Guadalupe II

47

2388 John Readey

48

2387 Andrei Zaremba

49

2386 Aviv Friedman

50

2382 Mikhail Zlotnikov

51

2381 Marcel Martinez

52

2380 Todd Andrews

53

2366 Parker Zhao

54

2365 Elvin Wilson

55

2361 Bruci Lopez

56

2360 Chris Williams

57

2358 Katerina Rohonyan

58

2354 Larry Kaufman

59

2354 Vadim Martirosov

60

2353 Daniel Yeager

61

2343 John Rouleau

62

2334 Mackenzie Molner

63

2333 Eric Rodriguez

64

2327 Bayaraa Zorigt

65

2322 Victor Shen

66

2319 Miguel Espino

67

2314 James Critelli

68

2311 Marc Arnold

69

2309 Michael Thaler

70

2307 Peter Bierkens

71

2304 Luis Barredo

72

2303 Loren Schmidt

73

2301 Evan Ju

74

2301 Gregory Young

75

2300 Matthew Herman

76

2297 Alejandro Moreno Roman

77

2295 Craig Jones

78

2287 Michael Lee

79

2279 John Timmel

80

2276 Ralph Zimmer

81

2265 Daniel Naroditsky

82

2264 Udayan Bapat

83

2263 Ilya Krasik

84

2261 Tsagaan Battsetseg

85

2258 Josh Sinanan

86

2239 Matthew Bengtson

87

2228 Peter Bereolos

88

2211 Jerry Wheeler

89

2209 Gerald Larson

90

2183 James Wu

4) Schein-Friedman scholarships for youth by Aviv Friedman

Mark Schein and Aviv Friedman, in cooperation with the US Chess Trust, are happy to announce their new scholastic project.

The project is a two-tier program, designed to help some of our younger champions improve and dedicate themselves more to chess, while offsetting the financial expenses that usually come with those. Hopefully the project will reward excelling youngsters, and help them become tomorrow's best players and Grandmasters. At the same time they would be serving as role models and inspiration to the entire scholastic community.

The program is generally designed for youngsters age 7-17. Occasionally, in cases of unusual excellence (considerably exceeding the program's criterions), applications by players up to age 20 would be considered.

There are 3 annual scholarships in place:

The top recipient will get $6000; the second recipient will get $4000; and the third $2500.

Additionally, the project will run a week long chess camp for 10 or so leading juniors, with a Grandmaster instructor.

Applicants must have been US citizens or permanent legal residents for a minimum of 18 months prior to the deadline date (February 1st for 2008). They must show dedication to chess, talent and accomplishment, a will to work hard and improve, as well as good sportsmanship and a positive attitude.

The minimum ratings qualification formula is as follows:

Ages 7-14: age * 100 + 1000 for boys, and age * 100 + 800 for girls.

Ages 15-16: age * 100 + 900 for boys, and age * 100 + 700 for girls.

Age 17: 2500 for boys, 2400 for girls.

Applicants must be active tournament players. Playing in open events or sections above the lowest allowed - a bonus.

All applications should be in the form of an essay, describing the applicant's chess accomplishments, and why he or she should receive a scholarship. They should be sent via e-mail to Aviv Friedman at mailto:avivster@hotmail.comavivster@hotmail.com

5) The Burning Boards in San Diego by Glenn Kaino

I'm writing to invite you to attend an art event that I am putting together in San Diego, hosted by The Orange County Museum of Art. On April 5th, the museum will be hosting a project of mine called The Burning Boards at an art space called haudenschildGarage in La Jolla. The Burning Boards is a 32 person chess tournament played with chess sets that I have made from candles and which will be lit during play. The rules are conventional chess rules with the addition of a constant negotiation with your opponent about status of the melting pieces. Pieces that burn out are considered captured, and the dynamics of the game change constantly based upon the style of both your and your opponent's play.
This is the second installment of the performance, which was originally presented at the Whitney Museum of American Art last year at their downtown location. I have attached pictures of the first event, which included artists such as Daniel J. Martinez, Slater Bradley, and Robert A. Pruitt, curators Lauri Firstenberg, Kate Green, Larry List, and Jeffrey Uslip, writers David Levi Strauss, Barry Yourgrau, Nelly Rosario, Paul Hoffman and Neil Feineman, collector Dennis Scholl, chess professionals such as Jennifer Shahade, Irina Krush, and Pascal Charbonneau among several other interesting people.
There will again be a wide array of people playing, visual artists, writers, curators, patrons, gallerists, musicians, and other professional chess players as well, including Jennifer and Pascal. There will not be much parity in the level of play, however, The Burning Boards is primarily about the exchange of ideas in a context where winning takes second place to playing.
Coverage of last years event can be found at http://main.uschess.org/content/view/71/80

6) New England Masters update by Chris Bird

Dear Chess Player,


With the April FIDE rating list just around the corner, I thought this would be a good time to remind everyone about the New England Masters, a 9 round FIDE Swiss with norm opportunities, which will take place near Providence, Rhode Island (USA), from August 11-15, 2008.


We have now confirmed our list of sponsored Grandmasters, all of whom are non-USA players. They are (with their expected April rating) Leonid Kritz (Germany, 2609), Timur Gareev (Uzbekistan, 2570), Sergey Erenburg (Israel, 2568) and Keith Arkell (England, 2495). Local Grandmaster, Eugene Perelshteyn (USA, 2552), has also agreed to play to help on the norm front.


Two other highly rated non-USA players, Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (Palestine, 2462) and IM Jacek Stopa (Poland, 2430), have also committed to participating in the event. Obviously we are hoping to confirm more such entries as soon as possible.


Non-USA players should remember that if they are an IM they will receive a free entry plus a reduced rate on accommodation, while every non-USA player not at IM level (or above) will receive a $100 discount off their entry fee. Details are at the tournament website.


Everyone should also remember that the tournament will be limited to the first 50 players that enter. So far we have 11 entries and so just 39 more to go!


We have confirmed that the weekend event that will follow the Masters, the Blackstone Chess Open, August 16-17, will be 4 rounds, with a very decent prize fund (complete details to be announced soon). All GMs and IMs will receive a free entry into this tournament, while all other Masters participants will receive a significant discount of the regular entry fee. The hotel rate ($89/night) has also been confirmed to include the weekend if you feel inclined to extend your stay.


Once again, should you have any questions regarding the tournament, please feel free to email me at chris@chesstournamentservices.com, although most questions can usually be answered by visiting the tournament website at www.NewEnglandMasters.com.

7) Here and There

Mich Bighamian writes:

Dear chess fans,

Thanks to IM Tim Taylor and his wife, 2007 LA Masters Yearbook is almost complete.

100 of the best games of the strongest weekly tournament in the country annotated by IM Tim Taylor.

You may pre-order yours and receive it firsthand (mailed to you or pick it up at the club) once published (Price $24.95).

Go to http://cavett.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/22/bobby-and-you/?emc=eta1 to a follow up blog on Bobby Fischer by Dick Cavett and many responses by readers.

8) Upcoming Events

Events at the Mechanics'


Max Wilkerson Open - March 29
Walter Lovegrove Senior Open - April 5-6
Imre Konig Memorial - April 26

May. 24 Bay Area Chess Tournament (Adult/Regular)

4SS G/60. 3003 Scott Blvd., Santa Clara, CA 95054. EF: $39, Juniors $35. $16 more after 5/20, $1 Cal Chess Discount, Additional discount if combined with other tournament entries. $850 b/40: Open 200-100, U1800 50, highest rating increase 50. Reserve (u1600): 200-100 U1400 50, U1200 50, highest rating increase 50. Reg: Sat 9:15-9:45 AM, Rds: 10:15-12:15, lunch, 12:50-2:50 PM, 3:00-5:00 PM, 5:10-7:10 PM. Ent: Online at http://www.bayareachess.com/pay_online.php or mail to Azleena Azhar, 1551 Garvey Pl. San Jose, CA 95132. Payable to Azleena Azhar or paypal to sazhar@yahoo.com. Info: http://www.bayareachess.com/. NS NC W

May. 24-26 or 25-26 Bay Area Chess Tournament (Adult/Regular)

6SS 30/90 G/60 (2-day option first 3 rounds G/60 merges in round 4). 3003 Scott Blvd., Santa Clara, CA 95054. EF: $55, Juniors $49. $16 more after 5/20, $1 Cal Chess Discount, Additional discount if combined with other tournament entries. $1475 b/55: OPEN 300-150, u2000 100-75, u1800 100-75, highest rating increase 50. RESERVE (u1600): 200-100 u1400 100, 75, u1200 100, 75, highest rating increase 50. Reg: Sat 10-10:30 AM, Sun 8:15-8:45 AM, Rds: 3-day = 5/24 11am, 4pm; 5/25 11am, 4:30pm; 5/26 10am, 3pm. 2-day = 5/25 9:20, 11:30am, 2pm, round 4 merges with 3-day schedule. Ent: Mail to Azleena Azhar, 1551 Garvey Pl. San Jose, CA 95132. Payable to Azleena Azhar or paypal to sazhar@yahoo.com. Info: http://www.bayareachess.com/. NS NC W


March 28-30
6th Annual Western Pacific Open
5-SS, 3-day 40/2, SD/1, 2-day rds. 1-2 G/75 then merges. LAX Hilton, 5711 W Century Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90045.
$$10,000 b/200, 50% of each prize guaranteed. In 3 sections:
Open: 1600- 1000-800-400-200, U2400 300-200, U2200 700-500-300. EF: $83 if received by 3/28, $95 door.
Premier (U2000): $$ 700-500-300-100, U1800 400- 200-150, U1600 400-200-150. EF: $83 if received by 3/28, $95 door.
Amateur (U1400/Unrated): $$400-200-100, U1200 100, Unr 100, unrated may win unrated prize only. EF: $67 if received by 3/28, $80 door.
On-line entry: www.westernchess.com. No checks or credit card entries at door.
All: $25 Best Game prize, all sections eligible. One halfpoint bye if requested with entry, rds 4-5 cannot be revoked. SCCF membership req. of S. Cal. res., $18 reg, $10 junior.
Reg.: 5:30-6:30 p.m. Fri., 9-10 a.m.
Sat. Rds.: 3-day 7 p.m., 11-5:30, 10-4:30. 2-day: 10:30-1:30 (G/75), then merges.
HR: $109, (310) 410-4000. Be sure to mention Western Chess. Parking $10/day.
Info: admin@westernchess.com.
Web site: www.westernchess.com.
Ent: SCCF, c/o John Hillery, 835 N. Wilton Pl. #1, Los Angeles CA 90038.
NS. NC. F. GP: 40. State Championship Qualifier.