It is often supposed that, apart from their 'extraordinary powers of memory', expert players have phenomenal powers of calculation. The beginner believes that experts can calculate dozens of moves ahead and he will lose to them only because he cannot calculate ahead so far. Yet this is utter nonsense. From my own experience I can say that grandmasters do not do an inordinate amount of calculating. Tests (notably de Groot's experiments) supports me in this claim. If anything, grandmasters often consider fewer alternatives; they tend not to look at as many possible moves as weaker players do. And so, perversely, chess skill often seems to reflect the ability to avoid calculations. It is, in truth, not clear that chess is a game of calculation. Of course there are times when intense calculation is called for, and often the master is better at dealing with these situations than the amateur. No wonder, he has had more practice than the amateur, but all the same his innate calculating ability need not be any greater. Most of the time it is something quite different that is required in chess, something more akin to 'understanding' or 'insight'.

GM David Norwood , Chess and Education

1) Mechanics' Institute Chess Club News

2) Greg Young leads US Junior

3) A Historical Look at US Players Rated in the Top Ten in the World

4) A  Poem by Dennis Fritzinger

5) Upcoming Events

San Francisco high school student Evan Sandberg is alone in first with a 4-0 score halfway through the Tuesday Night Marathon. Tied for second at 3 1/2 are IM Ricardo DeGuzman, WIM Batchimeg Tuvshintugs, Rey Salvatierra and Steve Gaffagan.

The lecture by IM Irina Krush, scheduled for next Tuesday night at the Mechanics' has been canceled. We hope to have her at the MI later this year.

NM Michael Pearson had an outstanding tournament this past weekend defeating IM Ricardo DeGuzman and NM Andy Lee and drawing WIM Batchimeg Tuvshintugs in the last round to win the 45th Arthur Stamer Memorial with a score of 5.5 from 6. IM Ricardo DeGuzman and NM Paul Gallegos shared second with 5 points. 51 players competed in this annual event held to honor the memory of the Mechanics' first chess director.

Berkeley Master Andy Lee finished just out of the money with 4.5 but had the honor of playing the most entertaining game of the tournament.

This and the next game were played at a time control of G/45.

Arthur Stamer Memorial San Francisco (4), 2008

White has also tried 15.Rb1 and 15.Nxd4 here.

15...Be8 16.h5 f6 was seen in Shirov-Shulman, from last year's World Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk. Rybka and Fritz 11 both like 5...Qb6 16.Rg3 Nd5.

16.Nxd4 was possible.

Black might have also considered interpolating 17...Rh8 18.Rh1 and only then 18...Qa4.

This is certainly natural but 19...Be8 might have been stronger.

This exchange sac shouldn't work. Instead 28...Qd4 or  28...Qa4 should have been tried.

30.Ne4! was quite strong.

 30...Rd4 31.Qh7

This puts the Queen out of play. 31.Qe3 Rxf4+ 32.Kg1 looks better.

33...Rf2 34.Qe4 Nxe5 was another way. 

White looks to be doing very well at first glance but ...

40.Nxh5 was a better try but 40...Qxe5 41.Rb4 Qf5+ 42.Kh4 e5 breaks the blockade. 

Arthur Stamer Memorial San Francisco (4), 2008

If Black tries to keep the exchange with 17...Rc5 then 18.Qd1 is strong piling up on d5 with Nf5 in reserve.

21...Nc5 looks more active.

Black's position collapses after this move. He had to try 22...Ne6 with some compensation for the exchange.

 23.Bf3 Qe6 24.Nb5 Rd8 25.Rxc5! Bxc5 26.Rxc5 Ne4 27.Rc7 Rd7 28.Bg4 f5 29.Nd4 Qf6 30.Rxd7 Nxd7 31.Bxf5 Ndc5 32.Qc2 Ba6 33.Bxe4 Nxe4 34.Qc7 h5 35.Qxa5 Bb7 36.Qb5 Qf7 37.a5 h4 38.Bxh4 Qh5 39.Nf3 Nd6 40.Qd7 Qg6 41.h3 1–0

 The following game was played at 30/90 followed by G/30.

Arthur Stamer Memorial San Francisco (5), 17.06.2008

This looks too ambitious. 17.b3 was equal.

Immediately going for the dark squares with 18...Nfd7 19.Nf1 Bg5 was probably better.

 24...b4 was necessary.

 Stronger was 28.Nxh6+ Kg7 29.g5 f6 30.Ng4 fxg5 31.hxg5 Nxg5 32.Qh1 Nf7 33.Rc1 with a strong position on both sides of the board.

 28...Nf8 29.Nd5 Ne6 30.Qe1 Rc8 31.Rc1 Nb6 32.c7 Rxc7 33.Nxc7 Nxc7 34.Qd2 Ne6 35.Qxh6 Nf4+ 36.Kf1 d5 37.Qg5?

 37.exd5 Nbxd5 38.h5 Ne3+ 39.Ke1 Qh4+ 40.Kd2 Nc4+ 41.Rxc4 bxc4 42.Bxc4 Qf2+ 43.Kc3 Qxf3+ 44.Kb2 Qxg4 45.hxg6 Nxg6 46.Qc1 had to be tried.

 37...f6 38.Qh6 dxe4 39.fxe4 Qd2 40.Re1 Nc4 0–1

The field for the 2008 US Junior in Lindsborg is:

1. FM Daniel Yeager, 2373, age 16 from Pennsylvania
2. NM Tyler Hughes, 2264, age 17 from Colorado
3. NM Edward Lu, 2227, age 16 from Virginia
4. NM Gregory Young, 2213, age 13 from California
5. Bradley Sawyer, 2192, age 19 from Texas

In issue #4, 1990 of the Polish magazine Szachy IM Andreij Filipowicz looked at the number of players rated over 2600 since the introduction of the FIDE rating system in January of 1971. Here is what he found:

January 1971 - 16 rated over 2600

January 1981 - 15 rated over 2600

January 1985 - 12 rated over 2600

January 1986 - 14 rated over 2600

January 1987 - 13 rated over 2600

January 1988 -18 rated over 2600

January 1989 - 28 rated over 2600

January 1990 - 29-rated over 2600

July 1990 - 32 rated over 2600

On the April 2008 rating list player number 100 was 2628.

The collapse of the Soviet Union, the growing popularity of chess among youngsters around the world, improved technology and simply the fact that more high rated players means more rating points floating around have all contributed to the rise in ratings but it is wise to not compare ratings from 2008 with 1978 - they don't correlate.  

chess in the vineyards

the legendary paul masson tournament
was held at the winery
at the very top of a hill
covered with grapevines.
the drive up by windy road
passed through them,
but i scarcely noticed,
thinking about the tournament.
games were played outdoors at picnic tables
with clocks and sets and boards, pencils and scoresheets.
early rounds you battled against the sun,
late rounds you fought against the darkness.
in between rounds there was wine tasting,
in case you wanted to take the sting from a loss;
after the sun set you could walk over
to the retaining wall, look down, and see stars.
wine and chess and natural beauty--
surely they were made to go together.
that was the idea, at least; but the publicist
who dreamed the whole thing up, quit or got fired,
and the new publicist didn't grasp the message.
so: one year you had a splendid tournament,
the next you had a hole where it had been,
with the grapevines asking. 'where are the chessplayers?'