Mechanics' Institute Chess Room Newsletter # 105
"You must not allow your ambition to win to turn chess into a game of
chance." 1) Akobian wins Konig Memorial 2) Wong leads Konig Tuesday Night Marathon 3) MI Chess History Mystery 4) Upcoming Events The MI will be hosting two events that will be of interest to chessplayers in the coming week. This Saturday the Chess Room will honor the late Howard Donnelly who served as Chess Director in the 1960s with a Game in 45 minute event. On Tuesday evening at 6 PM author Gaby Wood will discuss her recent book Edison's Eve: A Magical History of the Quest for Mechanical Life which deals with Kempelen's chess playing automaton, better known to chessplayers as The Turk. Information on both events can be found below under upcoming events. 1) Akobian wins Konig MemorialThe lowest rated player in the Imre Konig Memorial, 18-year-old Varuzhan Akobian of Glendale, won the event and made a Grandmaster norm! Konig, who was a great supporter of promising players, would have been doubly pleased as the other young talent in the event, IM Hikaru Nakamura, narrowly missed his second GM norm in tying for second. For a complete report on the Konig, including annotated games and pictures, go to www.chessclub.org. Many thanks to all the donors who helped make this event happen, in particular Tibor Weinberger and Mark Pinto. The Chess Room staff would also like to thank volunteer Walter Dorne who manned the demos boards for much of the event. 2) Wong leads Konig Tuesday Night MarathonNM Russell Wong defeated Expert Peter Grey in round six of the Konig Tuesday Night Marathon to grab the lead with five points. A half point back, with two rounds to go, are FM Frank Thornally, NMs Oleg Shaknazarov, David Blohm, Igor Margulis, Experts Michael Becco and Victor Ossipov, as well as Alex Setzepfandt, Victor Todortsev and Jonathan Shockley. 72 players are competing in the event which features a first prize of $425. The Fall Marathon, which starts October 22, will be a nine rounder (instead of the usual 8) due to Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve falling on Tuesdays this year. Entry fee for the event, which ends December 17, remains a very affordable $30. 3) MI Chess History MysteryThe two giants of early Mechanics History, NMs Walter Lovegrove and A.J. Fink, must have played many times, but surprisingly enough not a single game between the two players is to be found in the comprehensive Cal Chess database (www.chessdryad.com), which has recently been edited by Sam Sloan. The following game appears in George Koltanowski's Chess Chats without a date. This book was published in 1950, but the game would appear to have been played much earlier as Lovegrove, who died in 1956 (the same year as Fink), played little the last few decades of his life. Can anybody pin down a date for this game?
Lovegrove - Fink 4) Upcoming eventsMechanics' Institute
Howard Donnelly Memorial: Sept. 21
Tuesday, September 24, 6:00 pm Information & Reservations: (415) 393-0100 or www.milibrary.org REGIONAL Coastside Chess Club Scholastic Tournaments Saturday, October 5, 2002 and November 2, 2002 The Coastside Chess Club will be holding two scholastic tournaments this fall at the Half Moon Bay Community Center at 535 Kelly Avenue in Half Moon Bay (telephone: 650 726 8297) from 1 to 5 p.m. on the first Saturday in October and in November. The tournament is open to individuals in grades K-9. USCF, CalChess or other membership is not required. For many participants, this will be their first tournament, with some "veterans" from last year. Tournament rules will be briefly explained at the start. All players will receive ratings on the Coastside rating list but the games will not count for (or against) USCF ratings. There will be five games. Writing down moves is encouraged, but not required. Each player will have 20 minutes to complete all moves. Prizes will include trophies, certificates, and chess books, for the top winners and for the best results in each grade. All players are encouraged to register in advance by emailing the following player information to njh820@cs.com Please try to get the information to us by noon on the Thursday before the tournament, to help save time at the start of the event. Name:Age:School:Grade:Rating (if any, specify USCF, ICC, Yahoo, Coastside or other source): Players who are not registered in advance must arrive at 1:00 p.m. on the day of the tournament. The registration fee is $15 per player. Chess sets and some clocks will be available, but players who have their own clocks are encouraged to bring them along. National Master Eric Schiller, Arbiter of the 2000 World Championship and author or many books on chess, including The Official Rules of Chess, will be directing the event. He will provide information to parents on how to encourage and develop chessplaying skills. The Coastside Chess Club has been formed to provide opportunities to the growing number of scholastic chess players on the Coastside. We welcome players from all over the Bay Area. We hope to offer competitions each month during the coming year, so please let us know if you can't make this one but are interested in future events. The tournament site is in downtown Half Moon Bay with its many great restaurants, shops and areas of historical interest. Drive time is approximately 30 minutes from San Francisco, SFO, or Palo Alto and about 45 minutes from Berkeley or San Jose.
Coastside Chess Club National EventsDear Chess Friends, Hope the 7th Governor's Cup Chess Tournament is on your fall calendar--October 11-13--in Sioux Falls, Sourth Dakota. The tourney will be at a new site this year--downtown at the Holiday Inn City Centre at 100 West 8th Street. Once again we will distribute $10,000 in prize money. Call (605) 339-2000 as soon as possible and ask for the $79 chess rate. ( Let me know if you have any difficulty making a reservation. I know that the state soccer tourney is in town that same weekend which may be a problem for you if you wait too long to reserve a room.) The tourney will begin at 6 p.m. on Friday night. All state chess associations are invited to nominate their current state champion or one of their best to represent their state in this event. Please spread the word to chess association presidents. At this time I do not plan to have the Governor's Office send out invitations like I have done in the past. The entry fee will be $50 in advance--entries must be postmarked by October 5 to receive this rate. After that entry fees will be $70. Free entry to all GM's, IM's, and players rated above 2400. Remember to indicate your section when you register: Open, Premier, or Rserve. (Premier is Under 2000, and Reserve is Under 1600).
2nd Annual
Lindsborg Rotary Open Chess Tournament |