Mechanics' Institute Chess Club Newsletter 434

1) Mechanics' Institute Chess Club News

Four Mechanics' members are playing in the 25th edition of Cappelle la Grande in France. GM Josh Friedel is the top scorer among the quartet, midway through the event, with 4 from 5, good for a 2551 performance rating. GMs Vinay Bhat and Jesse Kraai both have three points with rating performances of 2484 and 2465 respectively. IM David Pruess, who made a GM norm in this event two years ago, also has three points with a rating performance of 2316.

The Mechanics' Winter Tuesday Night Marathon was just FIDE rated. Larry Snyder had the biggest rating gain picking up 20 points followed by Oleg Shakhnazarov with pocketed 10. The Spring Tuesday Night Marathon starts March 17.

Book and equipment donations to the Mechanics' are always welcome and such donations 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) FM Costin Cozianu

The following information on the recent winner of the Washington state Championship comes from www.nwchess.com .

Costin was born in 1973 in Romania, played chess there semi-professionally but decided to call it quits around the age of 16. He was two-time junior champion of Romania and got to a FIDE rating of a little above 2400. After that he played only one tournament a year.

Costin reports, "Surprisingly since I decided I wasn't going for professional chess anymore my results got better, especially against professional players. This was thanks to my great mentor the IM Mircea Pavlov, the most reputed chess trainer of Romania who set me on a very solid foundation when I was young."

In February 2000 Costin immigrated to the US, where he had a career as a computer programmer. He lived in the Los Angeles area and was only able to play one chess tournament in seven years. In 2008, he moved to Seattle where he works for Amazon.com. In Seattle he was able to play chess just a little bit more than before.

According to Costin, "Still I do not train much and my game is a little bit rusty. I might play some more, depending on opportunities and as my time and career allows. To play chess even at my not-that-good level is very consuming in terms of time and mental energy. I should add that I was very impressed with the performance of the two juniors in the tournament, and I think they deserve more mention than me."

3) San Antonio 1972

One of the greatest tournaments in American history has to be San Antonio 1972. Among those playing were such legends as a young Anatoly Karpov, Tigran Petrosian, Paul Keres, Bent Larsen, Lajos Portisch, Vlastimil Hort, Henrique Mecking and Walter Browne and yet the tournament could have been even stronger. The brochure for the event produced several months in advance actually listed 20 and not 16 participants with Bobby Fischer, Boris Spassky, Lubos Kavalek and Daniel Yanofsky as the four additional players. One can imagine it was a bit optimistic to expect Bobby and Boris to play after their match and Yanofsky may not have been able to play because of his duties as a lawyer, but what of Kavalek, one of only a handful of US players ever to be rated in the top ten in the world?

I recently wrote to Kavalek, one of the most successful team members in US Olympiad history and who could be dubbed "Mr. Bronze" for winning the coppery-brown medal in the 1974, 1978, 1982, 1984 and 1986 Olympiads, asking why he did not play in San Antonio. Kavalek, who also won gold in 1976 and only finished out of the medals once (1972) while playing for the US, explained his absence from Texas that fall and how the US just missed out fielding a monster team at the Skopje Olympiad.

Hi John,

I was invited to the 1972 San Antonio tournament, when I was working full time for the Voice of America. They allowed me to play only in two events in a year using unpaid leave of absence. I had already played the U.S. championship and for the other one I had a choice between the Skopje olympiad and San Antonio. I explained it to Bobby in Reykjavik shortly after he won the world title, telling him that it would not make sense for me to play in Skopje, if he doesn't play. Not only we would have good chances to challenge the Soviets and the Yugoslavs for the gold, but also at that time, Coca-Cola was willing to pay Bobby $50,000 and $10,000 to other U.S. team members if Bobby played in Skopje. Bobby told me to go to Skopje. "I'll be there," he said. I told Edmondson that I want to go to Skopje and would not be able to play in San Antonio. As you know Bobby (and also Lombardy and Evans) did not go to Skopje. I played the top board, but it was the only olympiad I didn't come home with a team medal. To make the short story long, one month after the olympiad (sometimes in October) I quit my radio job and became chess professional. But it was too late to play in San Antonio.

Best,

Lubos

4) Here and There

Rusty Miller found the following information in The May 1939 issue of Chess Review. First board for the Seattle team was James Hurt who Bay Area chess players know for holding LERA four tournaments every year in Sunnyvale for several decades. Hurt was a student at the University of Washington when the match was played.

Seattle vs Vancouver Match

Held Sunday April 30, 1939, in Seattle

James Hurt 1 S.S.Jackson 0
Haruo Ishida 1 A. Hammond 0
Jas W. Tracy 0 Wm L. Fillery 1
Anton S. Walloch 1 O. A. Hawes 0
Bob Neale .5 H.C.H. Verrall .5 adjucated
Bourne Smith 1 A. G. Bourne 0
Dan Wade 1 W. C. Hebden 0
Seattle 5.5 Vancouver 1.5

Richard Reich points out that a video of Capablanca giving a simul can be found at http://www.chess-poster.com/videos/capablanca/Capablanca_1/capablanca_1.htm

5) Upcoming Events

A.J. Fink Amateur Championship - March 14-15
Max Wilkerson Open - March 28
Walter Lovegrove Senior Open - April 4-5
Imre Konig Memorial - April 18

Northern California

Mar. 6-8 or 7-8 Western Chess Congress GPP: 100 Enhanced California Northern

5SS, 40/2, SD/1 (2-day option, rds. 1-2 G/75; U1100 & U900 sections are 6SS, 3/7-8 only, G/65). Concord Hilton Hotel, 1970 Diamond Blvd, Concord CA 94520 (I-680 Willow Pass Rd exit). Free shuttle between hotel and Concord BART station. Free parking. In 8 sections. $$G 20,000. Premier, open to all over 1950 and juniors under 18 over 1800: $1600-900-500-300, clear or tiebreak winner $100, top U2300 $800-400. FIDE. Under 2100: $1400-700-400-300. Under 1900: $1400-700-400-300. Under 1700: $1400-700-400-300. Under 1500: $1200-600-300-200. Under 1300: $1200-600-300-200. Under 1100: $600-300-200-100. Under 900: $600-300-200-100. Unrated must play in U1900 or below with maximum prize U1900 $600, U1700 $500, U1500 $400, U1300 $300, U1100 $200, U900 $100; balance goes to next player(s) in line. Top 6 sections EF: 4-day $119, 3-day $119, 2-day $118 mailed by 2/26, all $120 online at chesstour.com by 3/3, $125 phoned to 406-896-2038 by 3/3 (entry only, no questions), $140 at site. U1100, U900 Sections EF: $57 mailed by 2/26, $60 online at chesstour.com by 3/3 (entry only, no questions), $65 phoned to 406-896-2038 by 3/3, $70 at site. All: FREE TO UNRATED. Unofficial uschess.org ratings based on 4 or more games usually used if otherwise unrated. Special 1 yr USCF dues with Chess Life if paid with entry: online at chesstour.com $30; mailed, phoned or paid at site $40. Re-entry (except Master) $60. Mailed EF $7 less to rated CalChess members. 3-day schedule: Reg. Fri to 6:30 pm, rds Fri 7:30, Sat 11-6, Sun 9-3:30. 2-day schedule: Reg Sat to 10 am, rds Sat 11-2:30-6, Sun 9:30-4. U1100 & U900 schedule: Reg. Sat to 11:30 am, rds. Sat. 12-3-6, Sun. 9-12:30-3:30. All schedules: Byes OK all, limit 2, must commit before rd 3 and have under 2 pts. HR: $99-99-109, 925-827-2000, reserve by 2/20 or rate may increase. Car rental: Avis, 800-331-1600, use AWD #D657633. Questions: chesstour.com, 845-496-9658. Ent: Continental Chess, c/o Goichberg, Box 661776, Arcadia CA 91066. $15 service charge for withdrawals. Advance entries posted at chesstour.com. WCL JGP.

Mar. 21-22 Hans Poschmann Memorial 4-SS, 30/90; SD/60 Fremont Adult School, 4700 Calaveras Ave., Fremont, CA 94538. $$B 80 paid entries (not counting unrated entries) Three Sections: Open: $350-225 U2200 $220-115; A/B (1999-1600): A $220-115 B $220-115; Reserve (U1600): C $220-115 U1400 $220-115 Unr: Trophy First. All, EF: postmarked by 3/16 $50, $60 at site. Unrateds $20 in the Reserve section or may play up to the Open section for the regular fee. USCF memb. req'd. May play up for add'l $10 per section. Reserve players in the A/B section compete for the B prize. Reg.: Sat 3/21 9:00-9:45am. RDS.: Sat 10:00-3:30; Sun 10:00-3:30; One 1/2 pt bye available if requested in advance (bye in rds 3 or 4 must be requested before rd 1). 2009 March Ratings List, CCA minimums and Directors discretion will be used to place players as accurately as possible. Please bring clocks and equipment. INFO: Ken Zowal (510)-623-9935 Email: kenneth.zowal@sbcglobal.net or richardkoepcke@yahoo.com Ent: Ken Zowal, P.O. Box 3211, Fremont, CA 94539. No Phone entries. WCL JGP.

Southern California

March 13-15
7th Annual Western Pacific Open
5-SS, 3-day 40/2, SD/1, 2-day rds. 1-2 G/60 then merges. LAX Hilton, 5711 W Century Blvd, Los Angeles , CA 90045.
$$6000 b/160, 50% of each prize guaranteed. In 2 sections:
Open, $$1200-700-400-200-100, U2200 $400-250.
Amateur (U2000/Unr), $$500-300-150, U1800 400-200-100, U1600 400-200-100, U1400 200, U1200 100, Unr. 100. Unr. may win Unrated prize only in this section.
Reg: 5:30-6:30 p.m. Fri., 9-10 a.m. Sat.
Rds: 3-day 7 p.m., 10:30-5, 10-4:30. 2-day: 10:30-1 (G/60), then merges.
EF: $69 if received by 3-13, $79 at site.
All: $25 Best Game prize, all sections eligible. One half-point bye if requested with entry, rds 4-5 cannot be revoked. SCCF membership req. of S. Cal. res., $18 reg, $10 jr.
HR: $109, (310) 410-4000. Ask for “7th Annual Western Pacific Open.” Parking $8/day.
En t: SCCF, c/o John Hillery, 835 N. Wilton Pl. #1, Los Angeles CA 90038, on line at www.westernchess.com.
Inf: admin@westernchess.com. NS, W, F. WCL JGP. GP: 20. State Championship Qualifier.

March 15
WPO Hexes
3-SS, G/90. LAX Hilton, 5711 W Century Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90045. Six-player sections by rating.
EF: $20 if received by 3-13, $25 door.
$$ 40-20-10 each section.
Reg.: 9:30-10:30 a.m.
Rds.: 10:45-2-5.
Ent: SCCF, c/o John Hillery, 835 N. Wilton Pl. #1, Los Angeles CA 90038, online at www.westernchess.com.

March 28-29
Kern County Open Championship
5-SS, 25/75, SD/30 (Rounds 1-3), 40/2, SD/1 (Rounds 4-5). Clarion Hotel 3540 Rosedale Hwy, Bakersfield, CA 93308 (661-326-1111 ).
$1700 prize fund b/o 40, 80% guaranteed: $500 (guaranteed!)-300-200 top U2000 $250, U1800 $200, U1600/Unr $150-$100.
EF: $45 by 3/25, $55 after. $6 discount for BCC members and SCCF members. GMs & IMs FREE ($45 from prize).
Reg.: 8:45-9:30 a.m. Saturday.
Rds.: Saturday: 10-2-6, Sunday: 10-4:30.
Special K-8 Tournament: March 28: 5-SS G/30, Rounds 10-11:30-1-2:30-4. EF: $20 by 3/25, $30 after; prizes 1st–3rd place Overall & 1st – 3rd place trophies in scholastic categories.
All: ½-pt bye available any round with entry
Info: Kenneth J. Poole 661-304-7468, kpchessman@yahoo.com or visit www.bakersfieldchessclub.com
HR: $59 special rate, mention “BakersfieldChessClub.” Reserve by 3/13 or rate may go up!
Ent: Bakersfield Chess Club, P.O. Box 176, 3501 Mall View Rd., Suite 115 Bakersfield, CA 93306.

Mechanics' Institute Chess Club Newsletter #434