Mechanics' Institute Chess Club Newsletter #420
 
 
 
 
 
Life is an insipid interruption of chess. 
 
Willy de Winter
 
 
1) Mechanic's Institute Chess Club News
2) World Youth in Vietnam
3) Here and There
4) Upcoming Events
 
 
 
1) Mechanic's Institute Chess Club News
 
Nine players are tied for first after two rounds of the Fall Tuesday Night Marathon headed by FM Frank Thornally and NMs Andy Lee and Nicholas Nip.It is still possible to enter the 54-player, 10 round event, with half point byes for the first two rounds.
 
The Mechanics' Institute Chess Club website (www/chessclub.org) has been down since Sunday but Verio promises they will have the problem fixed soon.
 
Last night the Mechanics' suffered a tough loss to the defending champs, the Dallas Destiny. 10-year-old NM Nicholas Nip made a promising debut and had his opponent under pressure for much of the game. Next week's match with Miami will determine the top seed for the Western Conference.
  http://www.uschessleague.com/Dallas.html Dallas Destiny (4.5-3.5) vs San Francisco Mechanics (6.5-1.5) http://www.uschessleague.com/SanFrancisco.html

All Time Series Record (San Francisco leads 5-2)

Starts at 8:30 PM ET       Time Control - Game 75 with 30 second increment

Dallas Destiny             


San Francisco Mechanics
IM Marko Zivanic: 2552 0.5
 0.5
 IM Josh Friedel: 2595
IM Davorin Kuljasevic: 2528 0.5
 0.5
 GM Vinay Bhat: 2481
FM Igor Shneider: 2396 1.0
 0.0
 IM David Pruess: 2479
WFM Bayaraa Zorigt: 2217 0.5
 0.5
 NM Nicholas Nip: 2207
Avg Rating: 2423

Avg Rating: 2441
Dallas Total -------
2.5
 1.5
 ------- San Francisco Total

Zivanic,Marko (2552) - Friedel,Josh (2595) [E15]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.Nbd2 d5 6.Bg2 Bd6 7.0-0 0-0 8.Qc2 Bb7 9.e4 Be7 10.e5 Ne4 11.Rd1 Na6 12.Nxe4 dxe4 13.Ne1 f5 14.exf6 Bxf6 15.Bxe4 Bxe4 16.Qxe4 Nc5 17.Qg4 h5 18.Qxh5 Bxd4 19.Be3 Bxe3 20.Rxd8 Bxf2+ 21.Kg2 Raxd8 22.Nf3 Bd4 23.Rd1 Bf6 24.Rxd8 Rxd8 25.b4 Nd3 26.Ng5 Bxg5 27.Qxg5 Rd6 28.a3 Kf7 29.Qe3 c5 30.Qf3+ Ke7 31.Qg4 Kf7 32.b5 Rd4 33.Qf3+ Ke7 34.Qa8 Rd7 35.Qg8 Kd6 36.h4 Ne5 37.Qf8+ Re7 38.Qf4 Rf7 39.Qe4 Rf3 40.a4 g6 41.Qa8 Rf7 42.Qe4 Rh7 43.Qe2 Rf7 44.a5 Rd7 45.axb6 axb6 46.Qa2 Ke7 47.Qa1 Rd4 48.Qa7+ Nd7 49.Qa8 Rxc4 50.Qh8 Nf8 51.Qg7+ Ke8 52.Kf3 Rb4 53.Qc7 Nd7 54.Qd6 Rxb5 55.Qxe6+ Kd8 56.Kf4 c4 57.Qxc4 Rf5+ 58.Ke3 Rf3+ 59.Ke2 Rxg3 60.Qf4 Rg1 61.Kf2 Rd1 62.Qg5+ Kc7 63.Qxg6 Rd6 64.Qg7 Kc6 65.h5 Nf6 66.h6 b5 67.h7 Nxh7 68.Qxh7 b4 69.Qe4+ Kc5 70.Ke3 Rd5 71.Qe7+ Kb5 72.Qe8+ Kc5 73.Qc8+ Kb5 74.Qb7+ Kc5 75.Ke4 Rd4+ 76.Ke5 Rd3 77.Qe4 Rd7 78.Qc2+ Kb5 79.Qc8 Rd2 80.Qe8+ Kc4 81.Qc6+ Kd3 82.Qd5+ Kc3 83.Qc5+ Kb3 84.Ke4 Rc2 85.Qd5+ Kc3 86.Ke3 Kb2 87.Qd4+ Kb3 88.Kd3 Rc3+ 89.Kd2 Rc2+ 90.Kd1 Rc3 91.Qe4 Ka3 92.Kd2 Kb3 93.Qe6+ Ka3 94.Qa6+ Kb3 95.Kd1 Rc5 96.Qa7 Rc3 97.Qa5 Rc8 98.Qf5 Rc3 99.Qb1+ Ka3 100.Kd2 Rc5 101.Kd3 Rc8 102.Qa1+ Kb3 103.Qa5 Rc3+ 104.Kd4 Rc4+ 105.Kd3 Rc3+ 106.Kd4 Rc4+ 107.Kd3 Rc3+ Draw

 
 
Bhat,Vinay (2481) - Kuljasevic,Davorin (2528) [D91]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Bg5 Ne4 6.Bh4 Nxc3 7.bxc3 dxc4 8.e3 Be6 9.Qb1 Nd7 10.Ng5 Nb6 11.Nxe6 fxe6 12.Be2 0-0 13.0-0 e5 14.Qb4 Bf6 15.Bxc4+ Kg7 16.Bg3 exd4 17.exd4 c5 18.dxc5 Nxc4 19.Qxc4 Rc8 20.Rab1 Qa5 21.Rb5 Qa6 22.Qb4 Qxa2 23.Rxb7 Qd5 24.Rxa7 Rxc5 25.h3 Kg8 26.Rc7 Rc8 27.Rxc8+ Rxc8 28.Bh4 g5 29.Bg3 Rxc3 30.Re1 Rd3 31.Qg4 Rd4 32.Qh5 Qf7 33.Qf3 Qd5 34.Qh5 Qf7 35.Qe2 Qc4 36.Qe3 Qd5 37.Kh2 Rd3 38.Qe2 Rd2 39.Qh5 Qf7 40.Qg4 h5 41.Qf5 Rd5 42.Qe4 Rd4 43.Qe3 Qd5 44.Be5 Rd3 45.Qe2 Rd2 46.Qe3 Rd3 47.Qe2 Rd2 48.Qe3 Draw

 

Schneider,Igor (2396) - Pruess,David (2479) [C96]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0-0 9.h3 Na5 10.Bc2 c5 11.d4 Nd7 12.b3 cxd4 13.cxd4 Nc6 14.Nc3 exd4 15.Nd5 Nde5 16.Nxd4 Nxd4 17.Qxd4 Bxh3 18.f4 Bh4 19.Rf1 Nc6 20.Qc3 Bg4 21.Bb2 f6 22.g3 Rc8 23.gxh4 Ne5 24.Qg3 Nf3+ 25.Rxf3 Bxf3 26.Bd3 Bh5 27.Kh2 Kh8 28.Rg1 Rg8 29.Nxf6 1-0

 
 
Nip,Nicholas (2207) - Zorigt,Bayaraa (2217) [B26]

1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 d6 3.g3 Nc6 4.Bg2 g6 5.d3 Bg7 6.Be3 Rb8 7.Qd2 b5 8.f4 b4 9.Nd1 e6 10.Ne2 Nd4 11.0-0 Ne7 12.Nc1 0-0 13.c3 bxc3 14.bxc3 Nb5 15.Ne2 Qa5 16.Rc1 Bd7 17.g4 f5 18.gxf5 exf5 19.e5 Bc6 20.c4 Qxd2 21.Bxd2 Bxg2 22.Kxg2 Nd4 23.Nxd4 cxd4 24.exd6 Nc6 25.Kf3 Rfd8 26.c5 Rdc8 27.Rc4 Kf7 28.Re1 Bf6 29.Ra4 Rb5 30.Rc4 a5 31.Rc2 Nd8 32.Nb2 Rbxc5 33.Rxc5 Rxc5 34.Nc4 Nc6 35.Rb1 Ke6 36.Rb7 h6 37.Bc1 Nd8 38.Rb1 Rc6 39.Rb5 Nf7 40.Ba3 Bd8 41.Bc5 Ra6 42.a4 g5 43.Bxd4 Nxd6 44.Re5+ Kd7 45.Bc5 Nxc4 46.dxc4 Bc7 47.Rd5+ Ke6 48.fxg5 hxg5 49.h3 Rc6 50.Ke2 g4 51.hxg4 fxg4 52.Kf1 Draw

 
 
 

2008 Standings
EASTERN DIVISION W
 L
 Game
Points
Opp Avg Rating
 Opps Record
@ - Queens 7.0 2.0 23.0/36 (64%)
2398
 32.0-36.0 (47%)
@ - Carolina 6.0 3.0 21.5/36 (60%)
2388
 32.5-35.5 (41%)
@ - Boston 5.0
 4.0
 19.5/36 (54%)
2405
 30.0-38.0 (44%)
New Jersey 4.5 4.5 18.5/36 (51%)
2416 
34.0-34.0 (47%)
New York 4.0
 5.0
 15.5/36 (43%)
2414
 33.0-35.0 (49%)
X - Philadelphia 2.0
 7.0
 13.5/36 (38%)
2433
 33.0-35.0 (49%)
X - Baltimore 1.5
 7.5 12.5/36 (35%)
2403
 33.0-35.0 (49%)


WESTERN DIVISION W
 L
 Game
Points
Opp Avg Rating
 Opps Record  
@ - San Francisco 6.5 2.5 22.0/36 (61%)
2402
 35.5-34.5 (51%)
@ - Miami 6.0
 3.0
 24.0/36 (67%)
2407                   
37.0-33.0 (53%)
@ - Dallas 5.5 3.5 18.5/36 (51%)
2420
 37.5-30.5 (55%)
Seattle 4.5
 4.5
 16.5/36 (46%)
2398
 34.0-36.0 (49%)
Chicago 4.0
 5.0
 18.0/36 (50%)
2391
 31.5-36.5 (46%)
Arizona 3.5
 5.5
 15.0/36 (42%)
2396
 41.0-29.0 (59%)
X - Tennessee 3.0 6.0 14.0/36 (39%)
2397
 36.0-32.0 (53%)
(Opponent Record Column only counts match results against other teams,
and will only be calculated once all of the week's matches have completed.)

 @ = clinched Playoff Berth
# = clinched Division Title
X = Eliminated from the Playoff Race
Whoever has the most points in the "W" (win) column, is in the lead in the standings.
Total game points are used as a tiebreaker. To see the rest of the tiebreak procedures click here


Playoff Procedures:

The top four teams in each division qualify for the postseason.
-1st place in each division players 4th place. 1st place gets draw odds and chooses colors.
-2nd place in each division plays 3rd place. 2nd place gets draw odds and 3rd place chooses colors (if the very rare case occurs that the higher seed feels colors are more valuable to choose, they can do this instead)
-In semifinals, the higher seeded team gets draw odds, and the lower seeded team chooses colors ONLY if they are just one seed lower than the higher seed. Otherwise the higher seed gets draw odds and chooses colors. So 1 vs 2 = 1 gets draw odds, 2 chooses colors, but 1 vs 3 = 1 gets draw odds AND chooses colors
-In the final match the team with the better regular season record chooses colors but neither team gets draw odds, and if the match is tied 2-2, it goes to a blitz tiebreaker
 
 
 
Leaders After Week 9, 2008
 Pts.
1. IM Alex Lenderman: QNS 21.5
2. GM Julio Becerra: MIA 20
3. SM Marc Esserman: BOS 15.5
4. GM Sergey Erenburg: BAL
 15
5. GM Jaan Ehlvest: TEN 15
6. FM Sam Shankland: SF 14.5
7. GM Alex Stripunsky: QNS 13
8. GM Hikaru Nakamura: SEA 13
9. NM Eric Rodriguez: MIA 11
10. IM Josh Friedel: SF
 11

Formula for MVP points:
a win on board 1 is worth 4 points, a loss on board 1 is worth -4 points
a win on board 2 is worth 3 points, a loss on board 2 is worth -3 points
a win on board 3 is worth 2.5 points, a loss on board 3 is worth -2.5 points
a win on board 4 is worth 2 points, a loss on board 4 is worth -2 points
if you draw or win with the black pieces you receive 1 bonus point.

Ties are broken by
1. Total games played
2. Overall Team Record
3. Avg Board Number. 1st beats 2nd and so on.
4. Avg Opponent's Rating

* - Only regular season matches count towards the MVP Award
** - A player cannot win the MVP award without playing 6 matches for their team, however they will be listed above anyway.
In future seasons there will be no minimum game requirement.
 
 
2) World Youth in Vietnam
 
Michael Aigner writes:
 
Readers of my blog may already be aware that the World Youth Chess Festival began last weekend in Vung Tau, Vietnam. The American delegation flew between 20 and 30 hours and then endured a bumpy 2-3 hour bus trip. On one hand, the venue is a beach resort on the southern tip of the country, about 100km outside of Ho Chi Minh City. On the other hand, the weather reports give temperatures in the 90s with extreme humidity, worse than Florida in the summer!

A total of 885 participants from 73 countries arrived in Vietnam for this annual tournament. Among this crowd are 28 American youths plus parents and coaches. The players compete in 12 sections: U18, U16, U14, U12, U10 and U8 for both boys (open) and girls, with age determined as of January 1, 2008. The competition is brutal and even the strongest often finish far away from the podium. The top three in each section earn medals and other prizes, including IM norms or automatic FM titles (depending on which age).

Three Northern California residents have made the trip to Vung Tau. FM Danya Naroditsky is a true veteran of these tournaments, winning the World Under 12 last year. He moved up to U14 in 2008. FM Sam Shankland also participated last year and now competes in the strong U18 section with 3 GMs and 9 IMs. Alisha Chawla is the newcomer, playing in the Girls U8 division at her first international event. I plan to follow all three players on this blog.



Here are the results from the early rounds. All ratings are FIDE. Sam is rated 2436, Danya is 2382 while Alisha is unrated.

Round 1:
Round 2:
Round 3:
 
Round 4:
  • Sam drew GM Ngoc Truong Son Nguyen (2567) of Vietnam
  • Danya lost to 2093 from Switzerland :-(
  • Alisha beat UNR from Sri Lanka
Round 5:
Standings after round 5:
 
For Sam's annotations to the following game go to http://main.uschess.org/content/view/8812/477/
 
 
White: Shankland, Sam
Black: Bao Khoa
 

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Bg5 a6 8.Na3 b5 9.Nd5 Be7 10.Bxf6 Bxf6 11.c4 b4 12.Nc2 Rb8 13.Be2 Bg5 14.O-O O-O 15.Qd3 f5 16.Bf3 Kh8 17.exf5 Bxf5 18.Be4 Bxe4 19.Qxe4 b3 20.axb3 Rxb3 21.Rxa6 Nb8 22.Ra2 Nd7 23.Na1 Nc5 24.Qc2 Rd3 25.b4 Rd2 26.Qb1 Ne4 27.Nb3 Qe8 28.Nxd2 Nxd2 29.Rxd2 Bxd2 30.Qd3 Bg5 31.f3 Qa4 32.Kh1 h6 33.b5 Rb8 34.Qc3 Qa2 35.Nb4 Qe2 36.Qd3 Qxd3 37.Nxd3 d5 38.Nxe5 dxc4 39.Nxc4 Rxb5 40.Nd6 Rd5 41.Ne4 Kh7 42.g3 Be7 43.Rb1 Rd7 44.Kg2 Rc7 45.Rb2 Ra7 46.h4 Bf6 47.Rc2 Bd4 48.Kh3 Re7 49.h5 Be5 50.Rc8 Bc7 51.Kg4 Be5 52.Nd2 Rd7 53.Ne4 Re7 54.Ra8 Bd4 55.Nd6 Rd7 56.Nf5 Bf6 57.f4 Rb7 58.Nd6 Rd7 59.Ne4 Bd4 60.Rc8 Rb7 61.Nd2 Rd7 62.Nf3 Bf6 63.Ne5 Bxe5 64.fxe5 g6 65.hxg6+ Kxg6 66.Rc6+ Kg7 67.Kf5 Rd1 68.Rc7+ Kf8 69.Ke6 Rd3 70.g4 Rf3 71.Rc8+ Kg7 72.Rc4 Ra3 73.Kd7 Ra7+ 74.Rc7 Ra8 75.Ke7 Kg6 76.e6 Kg7 77.Rb7 Kg6 78.Rd7 Kg7 79.Rd6 Kg6 80.Rd8 Ra7+ 81.Kf8 Rh7 82.Ke8 Kg5 83.Rd4 Rh8+ 84.Kd7  1-0

 

World Youth, Vung Tau, Vietnam 2008
White: Poetz, Florian
Black: Shankland, Sam

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.Bg5 e6 7.Qd2 Be7 8.O-O-O Nxd4 9.Qxd4 O-O 10.f3 a6 11.h4 b5 12.Kb1 Qa5 13.e5 dxe5 14.Qxe5 Bb7 15.Bd3 Rac8 16.Ne4 Bxe4 17.Bxe4 Nxe4 18.Bxe7 Nd2+ 19.Ka1 Rfe8 20.Qg5 Ne4 21.fxe4 h6 22.Qe5 Rxe7 23.c3 Rd8 24.Rd4 Red7 25.Rhd1 Qb6 26.b4 Rxd4 27.Rxd4 Kh7 28.h5 Rc8 29.Kb2 Qc6 30.Rd3 f6 31.Qd4 Qb7 32.Qd7 Qxe4 33.Qxc8 Qxd3 34.Qxe6 Qd2+ 35.Kb3 Qd1+ 36.Ka3 Qxh5 37.Qxa6 Qd5 38.Qc8 f5 39.Qc5 Qd3 40.Qe5 f4 41.Kb3 Qc4+ 42.Kb2 g5 43.Qf6 Qd5 44.a3 Qxg2+ 0-1

 

 
 
3) Here and There
 
GM Sergey Kudrin won the Western States Open in Reno this past weekend  at 5.0/6. Tied for 2nd at 4.5 were GMs Jaan Ehlvest and Melik Khachian and IM Enrico Sevillano.
 
 
Sevan Muradian writes that the 16th North American FIDE Invitational is about to begin!
 
The event will be held October 18 - 24, 2008
 
 
For events specifics including round times visit - http://www.nachess.org/fide
 
All games will be held at the Holiday Inn Northshore Hotel in Skokie, IL
 
Round times are 1pm and 6:30pm Chicago time on Sat & Sun; 6:30pm Chicago time Mon - Fri.
 
Participants include:
 
IM Ben Finegold (USA)
IM Valay Parikh (IND)
IM Angelo Young (PHI)
IM Emorty Tate (USA)
IM-elect (FM) Mehmed Pasalic (GER)
FM Florin Felecan (USA) - holds 1 IM norm
FM Peter Bereolos (USA)
FM Aleksander Stamnov (MKD)
FM Dale Haessel (CAN)
WIM-elect (WFM) Alisa Melekina (USA) - holds 1 WGM norm and 1 IM norm both earned at the 10th NA FIDE Invitational
 
IM Norm - 6/9; WGM norm 5.5/9
 
5) Upcoming Events
 
Mechanics' Events

Carroll Capps Memorial - November 8-9
Pierre Saint-Amant Memorial - November 22
Jim Hurt Memorial - December 6-7
Guthire McClain Memorial - December 13
 

HALLOWEEN CHESS TOURNAMENT

in BayFair Mall

15555 E. 14TH STREET

SAN LEANDRO, CA 94578 

November 1, 2008  (Saturday)  

SECTIONS:

Booster Section (UNR- U600)

UNDER 1000, UNDER 1300, OPEN SECTION 

USCF-RATED TOURNAMENT (Swiss System):

ROUNDS G/30: Boosters & U1000 – 10:00, 11:45, 1:15, 2:30, 3:45

ROUNDS G/45: U1300  – 10:00, 12:00, 1:45, 3:30

ROUNDS G/60: OPEN SECTION – 9:30 AM, 11:45, 2:00, 4:15 

AWARDS:

Trophies will be awarded to top winners and Medals will be given away as well; THERE WILL ALSO BE SPECIAL PRIZES FOR THOSE WHO WILL WEAR THEIR HALLOWEEN COSTUMES! 

REGISTRATION:

A donation of $ 25.00

Please come early. Byes can also be taken. 

SPONSORS:

BayFair Mall, Newark Chess Club,

Chessthings.com and Bayareachess.com 

CONTACT US:

TED CASTRO  415-756-1204  Email: ted0712@yahoo.com 

TOURNAMENT DIRECTORS:

Aamir Aazhar, Matthew Benson, and Ted Castro 

 

 

 

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