Mechanics' Institute Chess Room Newsletter # 106
"At the basis of every combination there shines an idea, and though
combinations are without number, the number of ideas is limited." 1) Eduard Gufeld 1936-2002 2) Wong leads Tuesday Night Marathon 3) DeGuzman wins Donnelly 4) MI Chess History 1937 5) Upcoming Events 1) Eduard Gufeld 1936-2002Los Angeles-based Grandmaster Eduard Gufeld passed away a few days ago. Below are personal remembrances by Sam Sloan and Georgy Orlov of one of Caissa's greatest devotees. Chess Grandmaster Eduard Gufeld has died. Grandmaster Eduard Gufeld died Monday afternoon, September 23, 2002, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. He had suffered a massive stroke two weeks earlier and had been in a coma since. He had been at Midway Hospital but then had been transferred to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center on September 22. Eduard Gufeld was born in Kiev on March 19, 1936. By the late 1950s, he had established himself as one of the strongest players in the world. He defeated Tal, Spassky, Smyslov, Korchnoi, Bronstein and just about ever other strong Soviet player. In an era where most strong players adopted a slow positional style, Gufeld went in for tactics and mixed it up with the strongest players in the world. Gufeld later became much better known as a writer, journalist and world traveler. He wrote more than 100 chess books. There is debate as to whether he wrote the most chess books of anybody, but he was certainly in the top two or three. He moved to the Republic of Georgia and lived there for more than a decade, where he became the trainer of Woman's World Chess Champion Maya Chiburdanidze. This, however, was the great mystery about Eduard Gufeld. In an era of dour, tight lipped Soviet Grandmasters, Gufeld was always available for a comment or a quote about any subject. He seemed to be able to travel the world freely. He went to Japan and many other countries where other Soviet chess players almost never went. In an era where it was almost impossible to get out of the Soviet Union and where Soviets who traveled abroad were accompanied by a KGB Agent, Gufeld seemed to be able to come and go anywhere he wanted without escort. Yet, Gufeld denied to his dying day that he was a KGB Agent. If he was, his secret died with him. Whatever connection he had, it enabled him to become the world's most flamboyant chess grandmaster. I first met him at the 1986 World Chess Olympiad in Dubai, where he was giving daily free lectures to large audiences on the most interesting games of the round. I remember telling him during a break in his lecture that Kasparov had a lost position in his game against Seirawan. The game was still going and Gufeld did not believe me, but I was right and Kasparov resigned later, after the game had been adjourned. Gufeld was such a superstar that after the breakup of the Soviet Union he went to Hollywood, where he continued to write books, travel, teach, lecture and play in chess tournaments. Even though he was no longer a world class player, he won many tournaments, including the US Senior Championship. He often asked me to co-author a book with him. His idea was that the book would be about Woman Chess Players of the East vs. Woman Chess Players of the West. He would write in his half of the book about Maya Chiburdanidze and Nona Gaprindashvili and I would write about in my half of the book about the Polgar Sisters. He would say that his were best. I would say that mine were best. Unfortunately, I never had time to work on this project and now the book will never be written. Sam Sloan
I knew Edi since 1987. At one time we worked together at the press-center of the Women Candidates Tournament in Batumi, Georgia, in 1988. It was a lot of fun watching Edi pitch his material to several newspapers at the same time. He would demand of me "Come on young man, tell me what move is good here, I have got to send the report to "Sovietsky Sport"! (Leading Soviet sports newspaper.) Edi was master of long toasts and enjoyed a good party. Edi was not a saint and he had a temper. He could not stand a loss and he lost to me twice. Ironically, we were both born in the USSR, but played only two games, both outside the old country, in 1988 in Belgrade and 1999 in Vancouver, B.C. Edi lost both in a mad time-scramble and made a scene in both cases. Funny thing, we spoke the next day like nothing happened. Edi would always lose his temper, but always apologize. He loved chess like a child and the game was everything to him. He remembered a large number of phenomenally beautiful games and compositions and was great at showing them to the crowd at chess events. Edi loved crowds and knew how to make them happy. He had a sense of humor and loved his food. The legend has it Edi once won a bet which he accomplished by eating the entire contents of the menu in a small restaurant. I remember before the start of Canadian Open in 1999 Edi and I had lunch in the Delta Hotel in Richmond, B.C. I have not seen him in a while and remember he was very upset about the sad state of Georgia, the republic he spent a great deal of time in and truly loved. He said: "How could they do this to such a beautiful country"? Tony Saidy joined us at some point and advised Edi against the order of a steak. Edi said" : Bull! In my lifetime sugar was bad, then is it was good for you, now it's bad again. Butter was good and bad and good and now it's bad again. I love steak, I enjoy it and the hell with the doctor!". Edi was a great coach. He knew how to motivate his pupils and had a tremendous confidence in their success. Maya Chiburdanidze was one of his pupils and perhaps the greatest one. Edi was a character. People loved him or hated him, but nobody ignored him and he was always there. World Championships and Olympiads, Opens and matches, all continents and many cities. Edi loved Caissa and she loved him back. She knows he was a good and loyal soldier. So long Edi. Our third game has been adjourned. I promise to buy your book from you when I see you again. Yes, I will not be a coward and will finally face your King's Indian. Georgi Orlov 2) Wong leads Tuesday Night MarathonNational Master Russell Wong held on to his lead by defeating FM Frank Thornally in round seven of the Imre Konig Tuesday Night Marathon. The final round will be played next Tuesday night. 3) DeGuzman wins DonnellyFilipino IM Ricardo DeGuzmam continued his domination of the MI's monthly Game in 45 Minutes events by winning the Howard Donnelly Memorial held this past Saturday. 4) MI Chess History 1937MI member Frank Ruys submits the following game played in a simul against Grandmaster -to-be Arthur Dake. Frank, who was a 16-year-old, just starting his chess career when this game was played, notes that Dake could have won early and that he (F.R.) had chances to win later on.
Dake - Ruys
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Bf4 a6
8.Nxd6+ Bxd6 9.Bxd6 Bd7 10.e5 Ng8 11.Qg4 g6 12.Ne4 Qa5+ 13.c3 Nxe5 14.Qg5
14...Nc6 15.Nf6+ Nxf6 16.Qxf6 Rg8 17.Be2 Qd5 18.Rd1 Qf5 19.Qxf5 gxf5 20.Bf3 0-0-0 21.0-0 e5 22.Bd5 Rg7 23.Rfe1 f6 24.f4 e4 25.Rd2 Re8 26.Re3 Nd8 27.c4 Bc6 28.Bb4 Ne6 29.Bd6 Nc7 30.Bxc7 Kxc7 31.Bxc6 bxc6 32.Rg3 Rxg3 33.hxg3 Rd8 33...e3! 34.Re2 Kd6 35.b4 (35.Kf1 Kc5 36.Re1 a5 37.b3 Kb4 38.Rc1 Ka3 39.Rc2 Rg8) 35...c5 36.a3 Re4 winning - Ruys. 34.Rxd8 Kxd8 35.Kf2 Ke7 36.Ke3 h5 37.c5 a5 38.Kd4 Ke6 39.Kc4 Ke7 40.a3 Kd7 41.Kd4 Ke6 42.a4 e3 43.Kxe3 Kd5 44.Kd3 Kxc5 45.Kc3 Kd5 46.Kd3 Kc5 1/2-1/2 5) Upcoming events at the MI
J.J. Dolan Memorial: October 12 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 |