In no other field, not even poetry, does the level of earnings drop so sharply from the top very few to the merely very good rest.
The English novelist Julian Barnes talking about chess
1) Mechanics' Institute Chess Club News
2) Sinquefields purchase Bobby Fischer library by John Henderson
3) Americans Abroad
4) Berkeley Chess Club News by Marc Newman
5) Here and There
6) Upcoming Events
1) Mechanics' Institute Chess Club News
Going into the Summer Tuesday Night Marathon 11-year-old Kyle Shin was not rated in the top 15 in the 73-player field at 1960 USCF but wins in rounds 3 and 4 over NM Russell Wong and highly rated Expert Romulo Fuentes have placed him clear first with 4-0. Heading the chasing group with 3.5 points at the halfway point is Oleg Shaknazarov who played a very nice attacking game last night sacrificing first a piece and then a Rook to win in fine style.
Shakhnazarov,Oleg - Reise,Kayven [B84]
Summer TNM (4), 2009
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nbd7 6.Be2 a6 7.0–0 e6 8.f4 Qc7 9.f5 e5 10.Ne6 fxe6 11.fxe6 Nc5 12.Rxf6 gxf6 13.Nd5 Qc6 14.b4 Nxe6?
Returning some of the booty with 14...Bxe6 is preferred by both Fritz and Rybka.
15.Bh5+
15.b5 axb5 16.Qf1 might be stronger.
15...Kd8 16.Be3 Be7?
16...Bd7 was essential now White finishes up in fine fashion.
17.Bb6+ Kd7 18.Qg4 Bd8 19.Bf7 Bxb6+ 20.Kh1 Kd8 21.Qf5 Bd7 22.Qxf6+ Kc8 23.Qxh8+ Nd8 24.Ne7+ Kc7 25.Nxc6 1–0
Yes, this Knight move is the only time White moved a piece backward in this game.
Shin,Kyle - Fuentes,Romulo [B25]
Summer TNM (4), 2009
1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 d6 5.d3 Bg7 6.Nge2 h5 7.h3 Nh6 8.0–0 Be6 9.Nf4 Qd7 10.Ncd5 0–0–0 11.c3 f5? 12.Nxg6 fxe4 13.dxe4 Bxh3 14.Bxh3 Qxh3 15.Ndf4 Qd7 16.Nxh8 Rxh8 17.Ng6 Qh3 18.Qf3 Ne5 19.Nxe5 Bxe5 20.Bxh6 Rxh6 21.Qf5+ Qxf5 22.exf5 Rf6 23.f4 1–0
GM Vinay Bhat begins play in the Quebec Invitational, a ten player round robin
in Montreal , in a few days. Top seeds are GMs Anton Kovalyov and Mark Bluvstein. Go to http://www.fqechecs.qc.ca/index.php?typ=actu&id=2487&categorie=1 to follow the action.Two other members of the El Cerritto Chess Commune, GMs Jesse Kraai and Josh Friedel, will play in the New York International being held at the Marshall Chess Club. This event also starts Friday.
IM Ricardo DeGuzman won the 46th Arthur Stamer Memorial last weekend, scoring 5.5 from 6 to top 69 other competitors. Tying for second at 5 were teenagers NM Gregory Young and Expert Evan Sandberg. The latter had a particularly fine event going undefeated despite playing up four times.
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.
9th Annual Mechanics' Institute Chess Camp for Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced Players
2) Sinquefields purchase Bobby Fischer library by John Henderson
Going, Going, Gone To Rex Sinquefield!
It was all over in seconds. Bobby Fischer’s library filled three glass cases in on the Mezzanine level of Bonham and Butterfields auction house on Madison Avenue in New York . The hundreds of chess books in various languages, issues of chess-related periodicals, proofs for Fischer’s My 60 Memorable Games, and assorted notes and other miscellanea were sold in one lot for a "hammer price" of USD $50,000, plus a $11,000 Bonhams commission...
The following comes from the St. Louis Chess Club.
SINQUEFIELDS PURCHASE BOBBY FISCHER'S CHESS COLLECTION
St. Louis , June 11 -- Rex and Jeanne Sinquefield have purchased the chess library of the legendary Bobby Fischer, including notebooks he prepared for his 1972 World Championship match with Boris Spassky. The Sinquefields acquired the collection through San Francisco-based auction house, Bonhams and Butterfields.
"I am thrilled to have this collection from arguably the greatest chess player in history," said Rex Sinquefield, founder and board president of the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis. "I have been a lifelong fan of Bobby Fischer."
The reclusive Fischer died in January 2008 at age 64. The collection purchased by the Sinquefields includes 320 books on chess; about 400 issues of chess-related periodicals; three sets of proofs for Fischer's 1969 book, "My 60 Memorable Games"; and a number of bound volumes detailing the match histories of several chess masters, including Spassky.
The Spassky-related works centers on Fischer's preparation for his historic 1972 match, won by Fischer. The victory ended 24 years of Soviet domination of the World Championship.
The collection also includes a copy of "Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess," with a note indicating that Fischer planned on suing the publishers.
Rex and Jeanne Sinquefield, who are retired investment company executives, said they weren't sure of their plans with the Fischer collection. "I am thinking right now about how to display it and to make it available to scholars," Rex said.
The Chess Club and Scholastic Center was founded in 2007 with funding from the Sinquefield Charitable Foundation. It recently hosted the 2009 U.S. Chess Championship, which was won by Hikaru Nakamura. The center also will host the 2009 U.S. Women's Chess Championship from Oct. 2 to Oct. 12.
The Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis is a not-for-profit, 501(c)3 organization. For more information, please visit
3) Americans Abroad
10th Karpov Tournament
Poikovsky , Russia
Final standings:
1. Motylev (RUS, 2677) - 7,
2. Gashimov (AZE, 2730) - 6,
3-4. Sutovsky (ISR, 2660) and Inarkiev (RUS, 2676) - 5,
5-7. Rublevsky (RUS, 2702), Bologan (MDA, 2690) and Onischuk ( USA ,2684) - 4˝,
8. Naiditsch (GER, 2700) - 3˝,
9. Efimenko (UKR, 2682) - 3,
10. Shirov (ESP, 2745) - 2.
Bazna, Romania
Standings after 4 rounds:
1-3. Shirov, Ivanchuk and Gelfand - 2˝,
4-Radjabov - 2
5. Kamsky - 1˝
6. Nisipeanu –1
4) Berkeley Chess Club News by Marc Newman
Craig Andries and David Trestor took first place in the recently concluded
six-week BCC tournament with 5.5 points. They drew in round four with each
other and split the $275 in first place money.
Our next six week tournament will begin this Friday, the 19th, and new
players are always welcome. The club page is at
GM Stuart Conquest will be teaching our Master Class for students rated 1000
and above at our Berkeley summer camp the weeks of June 22nd and June 29th.
IM Irina Krush will be returning to do a week of classes the week of August
3rd. More information is available at www.berkeleychessschool.org as well
as our full camp schedules throughout the Bay Area.
5) Here and There
Sevan Muradiann writes:
The 21st North American FIDE Invitational is set to kick off at 1pm Chicago time on Saturday June 20. The lineup this month includes:
The IM norm is 7/9. A tall order but FM Felecan pulled it off 2 months ago to secure his second IM norm.
From August 22 thru August 26, 2009, the North American Chess Association, will host the 23rd NA FIDE Invitational. We will be departing from our standard round robin (all play all) format and using the Swiss System format to allow for a larger pool of participants before the end of summer. The tournament will be held in parallel to the 2009
US G/60 and US20G/30 National Chess Championships at the Holiday Inn North Shore Hotel in Skokie , IL.There are a minimum number of spots available but this can change at the organizers discretion:
Discounts:
If you are going to take advantage of the hotel discount you must provide proof of the hotel bill. If players are sharing a room, the discount will be equally refunded to all players staying in the room.
Register for this event by following this link --------------->
10-year old Hansel Teoh from Monticello Academy ( Sunnyvale ) won the Polgar World Open Boys Under-11 Championship in Las Vegas held June 6-7 with a perfect 5-0 score and won the speed chess competition with 5.5/7. He raised his national ranking by more than 200 points in his best performance to date.
Although not seeded in the top 25 of the 79-player field, he swept away the competition at the South Point Casino/Hotel in Las Vegas without stumbling. He defeated competitors from Arizona , Texas and Louisiana . All of his opponents except one finished in the top 12, and all were ranked higher than Hansel. He won a trophy, a chess clock and a Monroi device for recording games at tournaments.
"Feels great to be #1. I love the big prizes especially the Monroi".
Hansel has played competitively for just over 3 years. He studies with chess master Eric Schiller, plays online at chess.com and trains at chessmagnetschool.com.
6) Upcoming Events
July 3-5 or 4-5
2009 Sacramento Chess Championship & nbsp; GPP: 6 California NorthernROUNDS: 6 FORMAT: Swiss RATING: Full-K. SITE: Best Western Expo Inn, 1413 Howe Avenue , Sacramento , CA. ON-SITE REGISTRATION: 7/3 - 8:30 am - 9:45 am; 7/4 - 8:00 am - 8:45 am. ROUNDS: 3-day: 7/3 - 10 & 3:30, 7/4 - 10:30 & 4, 7/5 - 10 & 3:30. 2-day: 7/4 - 9, 11:15, 1:30, & 4, 7/5 - 10 & 3:30. TIME CONTROLS: 3-day: 30/90 G/60. 2-day: Rounds 1-3, G/60, Rounds 4-6, 30/90 G/60. 5-second delay on all time controls. SECTIONS: Master/Expert (above 1999), Reserve (U2000). ENTRY FEES: 3-day $65 (Juniors $45) postmarked by 6/27. $75 (Juniors $50) after 6/27. IMs/GMs free. Entrants may play up one section for $10. $5 discount to CalChess members (excluding reentries). Reentry after round 2 of the 3-day schedule: $40. PRIZES: 1st Place in each section $320 & trophy (1st place guaranteed in the Master/Expert section). Prize fund of $2540 based on 75 full paid adult entries and 10 full paid junior entries overall (with 60 full paid adult entries and 10 full paid junior entries, the prize fund will be $1,840). HOTEL: Best Western Expo Inn, (916) 922-9833 or 1-800-643-4422. Ask for the Sacramento Chess Club rates. ADVANCE ENTRIES & INFO: John McCumiskey (TD), 6700 50 St, Sacramento , CA 95823-1306 ; e-mail:
sactochess@sbcglobal.net; phone: (916) 524-9479, checks payable to Sacramento Chess Club. Full flyer and advance entries: sacramentochessclub.org under Weekend Events. OTHER INFO: No Smoking, No Computers, Wheelchair Access. 07/09 rating list only. Please bring clocks and equipment. 1/2 point byes available in any round and must be requested before the completion of the previous round. Maximum two 1/2 point byes per entry. 1/2 point byes for rounds 5 & 6 must be requested prior to round 1 and may not be changed.WCL JGP.