Mechanics' Institute Chess Club Newsletter 526

Bay Area chess players have been very much in the limelight of late. First IM Steven Zierk appeared on the cover of Chess Life for winning the World Youth Under 18 Championship last fall. Then the Mechanics' Institute Tuesday Night Marathon was profiled at uschess.org at

Congratulations to Bay Area tournament director Tom Langland for recently receiving his FIDE Arbiter title.

All but two spots have been confirmed for the 2011 U.S. Championship, scheduled to be held concurrently with the U.S. Women's Championship in Saint Louis April 13-28,
and two significant surprises have helped shape a dynamic field that will
compete for more than $166,000 in prizes.

Two-time U.S. Champion GM Hikaru Nakamura, currently ranked number one in the U.S. by rating, declined his invitation to play in this year's championship, citing a desire to focus on working toward his ultimate goal of one day winning the World
Championship.

The other surprise: GM Yasser Seirawan, a four-time U.S. Champion and former World Championship contender, has accepted a wild card invitation. Seirawan, who hasn't played a major tournament since the 2003 "Kings and Queens" match in China, cited two reasons for his interest.

"First, it is a great event, and I wanted to thank the good folks at the Chess Club and
Scholastic Center of Saint Louis for all their wonderful work," he said.
"Secondly, I got bored watching the young lions at play and felt the urge to
join them."

Reigning U.S. Champion Gata Kamsky, who is scheduled to take on Bulgarian GM Veselin Topolav in a World Championship Candidate's Match in May, will defend his crown. Kamksy said he felt the strong field at this year's U.S. Championship would serve as an excellent primer for his match against Topalov the following month.

The second wild card invitation was accepted by the GM-in-residence at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis (CCSCSL), Ben Finegold. Ten players will compete for the final two invitations to the 2011 U.S. Championship at the Saint Louis Invitational, a round-robin tournament scheduled to be held at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis March 4-9.

In addition to the two invitations, the players will compete for more than $10,000 in
prizes.

The 10 players competing for the final two spots are as follows:

• GM Alejandro
  Ramirez
• GM Gregory
  Kaidanov
• GM Joel Benjamin
• GM Julio Becerra
• GM Eugene
  Perelshteyn
• GM Ray Robson
• GM Melikset
  Khachiyan
• GM Jesse Kraai
• IM Michael
  Brooks
• FM Darwin
  Yang

The Saint Louis Invitational will overlap the Bill Wright Saint Louis Open, a strong open tournament that will be held at the CCSCSL March 4-6 and will feature more than $7,300 in prizes.

The field for the 2011 US Championship is as follows:

• GM Gata Kamsky
• GM Alex Onischuk
• GM Varuzhan
  Akobian
• GM Yasser
  Seirawan
• GM Yury Shulman
• GM Jaan Ehlvest
• GM Alex
  Stripunsky
• GM Larry
  Christiansen
• GM Robert Hess
• GM Alex Shabalov
• GM Alexander
  Ivanov
• GM-elect Sam
  Shankland
• GM Ben Finegold
• IM Daniel
  Naroditsky
• TBD: Winner of Saint Louis
  Invitational
• TBD: Runner-up of
  Saint Louis Invitational

IM Irina Krush, who received an automatic invitation to the 2011 U.S. Championship for winning the 2010 U.S. Women's Championship, declined her invitation and instead elected to defend her title at the 2011 US Womens Championship. The field of eight women will be playing for a total prize fund of more than $60,000 and is as follows:

• IM Irina Krush
• IM Anna
  Zatonskih
• IM Rusadan
  Goletiani
• WGM Camilla
  Baginskaite
• WIM Tatev
  Abrahamyan
• WIM Sabina
  Foisor
• FM Alisa
  Melekhina
• WIM Iryna
  Zenyuk

In addition to the intense tournament action offered by these two prestigious events, tournament
organizers will once again host a $10,000 Blitz tournament April 25 that will feature players from both the U.S. Championship and the U.S. Women's Championship.

Access to the tournament is free for annual members of the CCSCSL, or an all-access pass can
be purchased for $100, which includes the following:

• A ticket to the Opening
  Ceremony and Closing Ceremony ($50 value)
• Access to all rounds and
  playoffs ($140 value)
• A year membership
  to the CCSCSL ($80 value)

Four candidates have been certified for the USCF executive board election coming up in July.

The BCC's highest rated tournament in decades is coming to an exciting conclusion this Friday. With one round to go, FM Robin Cunningham, NM Roger Poehlmann, and Expert Todd Rumph are all tied with 4.0. Four others are right behind at 3.5, including Expert Julian Chan.

Talking to some long-time Berkeley Chess Club players, the best guess I could get was that there may have been a few tournaments in the late 80s where two masters might've participated, but the overall ratings did not compare to the current 41-player tournament which is full of experts and high A players. If anyone has any thoughts on this or more specific info on different strength levels at the BCC over the years, we'd love to hear it. The BCC has been meeting near-continuously on Friday nights since the 1960s.

You can see the current crosstable here:

For bookmarking purposes, the main club page is always here:

The next marathon tournament will start March 4th and we'd love to see some new faces.

5) Upcoming Events

A.J. Fink Amateur Championship - March 12-13
Max Wilkerson Open - March 19
Imre Konig Memorial - April 9
Walter Lovegrove Senior Open - April 16-17
Charles Powell Memorial - May 7
Arthur Stamer Memorial - June 4-5
William Addison Open - June 11

Feb. 19-21 or 20-21 2011 37th Annual Peoples Tournament
GPP: 40 Enhanced California Northern

6SS, 30/90 G/60 (2-day sched rds 1-3 G/60). Marriott, 46100 Landing Pkwy., Fremont, CA 94538. Hotel rate $89. $8,000 b/137 entries (80% guaranteed). 6 sections: Open (2100+) $1000-500-200-100-100. XA (1900-2099), AB (1700-1899), BC (1500-1699), CD (1300-

1499), DE (under 1300): $700-300-100- 100-100 each. The 5th place prize in the 2

largest sections only. Unrated prize limit of $200 except in Open section. EF: $99

3-day & 98 2-day mailed by 2/15, online by 2/16, Onsite +$25, Play-up +$20. 5% off

before 1/18. GMs/IMs free: EF subtr from prize. Re-entry $40. EF Econ Opt: EF

minus $30 & 1/2 of computed prize. Feb 2011 Supp, CCA min & TD discretion used

to place players accurately. TD/Org: Koepcke/Azhar. 3-day sched: Reg. Sat 10-11,

Rds. Sat/Sun 11:30-5:30,

Mon 10-3:30. 2-day sched: Reg Sun 9-9:30, Rds. Sun 10-12:30-2:45-5:30, Mon

10-3:30. Max two 1/2-pt byes & must commit bef rd 3. Ent: Bay Area Chess, 1590

Chess Magnet School JGP.

Spring Chess Festival - Saturday, February 25th, 2011