"The books say that it is not so serious to lose time in a closed position; I am lucky, since these comments have not harmed me too much."

    Bent Larsen

1) Mezentsev wins 3rd Addison G/45 
2) Pruess leads in Montreal 
3) Summer Tuesday Night Marathon 
4) 2002 Bled Olympiad gold medalist Sam Collins visiting Bay Area 
5) 1939 California State Championship 
6) MI and other Bay Area Chess Camps 
7) Upcoming Events

Note this Newsletter is going out early as John Donaldson will be playing in the 5-day schedule at the World Open. Alex Yermolinsky is playing in the 7-day schedule so there will be no lectures this Tuesday and Wednesday.

1) Mezentsev wins 3rd William Addison G/45

SM Vladimir Mezentsev (2522) won the 3rd Annual William Addison G/45 held June 28 at the Mechanics' Institute. Mezentsev scored 4.5 from 5, drawing with up-and-coming Expert Nicolas Yap in round 3 and defeating NM Emmanuel Perez (2340) in the money game. Tying for second at 4-1 in the 47-player field were NMs Perez, Ron Cusi, Michael Pendergast, plus Expert John Glass and A-player George Sanguinetti. Anthony Corrales directed for the M.I.

2) Pruess leads in Montreal

Recent UC Berkeley grad David Pruess is off to a rocket start in a Category 3 (2304) round robin being held in Montreal. Pruess has 5 from 5 including wins over the top 3 rated players (number one seed IM Jean Hebert) and needs only 1 1/2 from 4 to make his first IM norm. Go David!

3) Summer Tuesday Night Marathon

The sixth round of the Summer Tuesday Night Marathon will be held this evening. Nicolas Yap leads with 5-0.

The following game was played in round eight of the last Tuesday Night Marathon.

Peter Grey - George Sanguinetti
Tarrasch D34
Spring TNM (8)2003

1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 e6 3.g3 c5 4.Bg2 Nc6 5.0-0 Nf6 6.c4 Be7 7.cxd5 exd5 8.Nc3 0-0 9.Bg5 cxd4 10.Nxd4 h6 11.Be3 Re8 12.Rc1 Bf8 13.Nxc6 bxc6 14.Na4 Qa5?

This very plausible looking move is a serious mistake yet continues to be played today, two decades after San Francisco IM David Strauss first showed its failings. 14...Bd7 is necessary.

15.Rxc6 Bd7 16.Bd2! Qb5

16...Bb4 17.Rc5 Qxa4 18.Qxa4 Bxa4 19.Bxb4; 16...Qd8 17.Rc1 Bxa4 18.Qxa4 Rxe2 19.Qd1± Ribli-Barle, Portoroz-Ljubljana 1985

17.Rxf6 gxf6 18.Nc3 Qa6

18...Qxb2 19.Nxd5 Rac8 20.Bc3 Rxc3 21.Nxf6+ Kh8 22.Qxd7 Re7 23.Qf5 and White won shortly in Strauss-King, British Championship 1985.

19.Nxd5 Rac8 20.Bc3 Bg7 21.Qd4 Bb5 22.Qf4 Bxe2 23.Re1 Bh5 24.Rxe8+ Rxe8 25.Nc7 Qe2 26.Nxe8 Qd1+ 27.Bf1 Be2 28.h4 Qxf1+ 29.Kh2 Bg4 30.Nxf6+ Bxf6 31.Qxg4+ Kf8 32.Bb4+ Be7 33.Bxe7+ Kxe7 34.Qb4+ Ke8 1-0

4) 2002 Bled Olympiad gold medalist Sam Collins visiting Bay Area

Irish FM Sam Collins, who was the top reserve player in the 2002 Bled Olympiad, is teaching at Berkeley Chess School Camps through July 15. He is available for private lessons and can be reached at sam_collins50@hotmail.com .

5) 1939 California State Championship

Rusty Miller of Chelan, Washington, recently unearthed two games from the 1939 California State Championship won by 19-year-old Philip Woliston.

Woliston,P - Koltanowski,G D90
California State Ch. Los Angeles, 1939
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.c4 Bg7 4.Nc3 d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.Qb3 Nxc3 7.bxc3 0-0 8.Ba3 Nd7 9.e3 Re8 10.Bc4 e6 11.0-0 a6 12.Rac1 c5 13.Bxc5 Nxc5 14.dxc5 Bf8 15.c6 bxc6 16.Rfd1 Qc7 17.Rb1 Bc5 18.Qa4 a5 19.Ne5! Qxe5 20.Qxc6 Bd7 21.Rxd7 Rab8 22.Rdb7² Rbc8 23.Qf3 Rf8 24.Rd1?! [24.Qg4²] 24...Qxc3? [24...Bd6 25.Qg3 Rxc4 26.Rxd6 Rxc3³] 25.Bxe6! fxe6 26.Qh3 Rf7 27.Rxf7 Kxf7 28.Rd7+ 1-0

(28) Woliston,P - Steiner,H E11
California State Ch. Los Angeles, 1939
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.c4 Bb4+ 4.Bd2 Qe7 5.a3 Bxd2+ 6.Qxd2 d5 7.Nc3 0-0 8.e3 Nbd7 9.Qc2 c6 10.cxd5 exd5 11.Bd3 Re8 12.0-0 Ne4 13.Bxe4 dxe4 14.Nd2 Nf6 15.h3 Nd5!? 16.Nxd5

16.Ndxe4? Bf5; 16.Ncxe4? Bf5

16...cxd5 17.Rac1 Qg5 18.Kh2 Bd7 19.Qc7 Bc6 20.Nb3 Rac8 21.Qg3 Qd8

21...Qxg3+ 22.Kxg3 b6 23.Nd2 Bb5=

22.Rc3 Re6 23.Rfc1 Rg6 24.Qf4 b6 25.Nd2 Qd7 26.Nf1 Re8 27.Ng3 Rf6 28.Qh4 Rh6 29.Nh5 Ree6

9...Qf5 30.Rxc6 Rxh5 31.Rc8 Rxc8 32.Qxh5]

30.Qg5± Rhg6 31.Qf5 Qd6+ 32.Kg1 Qd8?

32...Qe7±

33.Nf4+- Ref6 34.Qe5 Rh6 35.Nh5 Re6?? 1-0

On the 31st move Steiner had a full 20 minutes but then thought so long that he only had 10 seconds for the remaining 9 moves.

6) MI and other Bay Area Chess Camps

The MI is hosting a camp for intermediate players (July 14-18) this summer. All ages are welcome. For more information go to http://www.chessclub.org/Children.html . The Berkeley Chess School (http://www.berkeleychessschool.org/Pages/summer_camp/summercamp.htm) is running a series of camps in the East Bay and San Francisco this summer while Know Chess (http://www.knowchess.com/summer_camp.htm) is holding camps in the South Bay and the Peninsula.

7) Upcoming Events

Upcoming Tournaments at the MI

Full details at www.chessclub.org

Charles Bagby: July 19
Vladimir Pafnutieff: August 23

2003 Chess Camp for Intermediate Players

West Coast Events

A Heritage Event!
July 4-6 or 5-6 43rd Annual Pacific Southwest Open
30 Grand Prix Points

6-SS, Crowne Plaza LAX, 5985 W Century Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90045. $$8,000 b/240, half of each prize Gtd. Choice of 2 schedules: 3-day schedule plays all rounds at 40/2, SD/1. 2-day schedule plays first 3 rds at G/1, others at 40/2, SD/1. 2 sections: Open, $$1400-700-400-300-200, U2200 $600-300-150, U2000 $600-300-150. Amateur, open to U1800/Unr, $$600-300-150, U1600 500-250-150, U1400 400-250, U1200 150, Unr. 150. Unr. may win Unrated prize only. All, EF $50 if rec'd by 7/2, $60 at site. SCCF memb. req'd of So. Californians ($12, jrs. U18 $7.50, includes Rank and File magazine). Reg. 9-10 am (3-day), 8:45-9:30 (2-day). Rds. 10:30-4:30, 10:30-4:30, 10-4:30 (2-day plays Rds 1,2,3 at 10, noon, 2, then merges). One or two 1/2-pt. byes with advance notice. HR: $79 (310) 642-7500, mention chess. Parking $5/day. Info: Randy Hough (626) 282-7412, Email: randallhough@yahoo.com. Ent: Santa Monica Bay CC, PO Box 205, Monterey Park, CA 91754. FIDE.

US OPEN AUGUST 3-15

LAX Radisson 6225 W. Century Blvd. · Los Angeles, CA 90045 · (310) 670-9000 $89 Chess Rate - Lowest in years!

A USCF National Championship

A Heritage Event!

Tournament Format
A one-section tournament with class prizes.
12 Round Swiss System. Several Schedules Available!
Traditional Schedule: One round daily at 7:30 pm 8/43-8/8 & 8/10-8/15.
Matinee 1st half: One round daily at 11 am 8/3-8/8, then 7:30 pm 8/10-8/15. Merges with Traditional after Round 6; 8-day option: All games 40/2, SD/1. Rounds 8/8-8/11 at 11 am and 7:30 pm, 8/12-15 at 7:30 pm. 6-day option: Rounds 1-7 are G/60. Rounds 8/10 12:30-3-6-9, 8/11 10:30-1:30-4, 7:30, 8/12-8/15 7:30 pm. 8-day and 6-day both merge with others after Round 7. Busy person special: Play only rds 7-12 at 7:30 pm 8/10-15. Over 2399 starts with 4 pts, 2200-2399 3.5, Expert 3, Class A 2.5, Class B 2, Class C 1.5, Class D 1, Under 1200 0.5, Unrated 0.5. Time Control 40/2, SD/1 except 1st 7 rounds of 6-day schedule are G/60. The August rating list will be used. 1/2 point byes are available. Maximum 2 byes available rds. 1-10. Half-point byes available in round 1, and in any round if player would have been rated above opponent. Bye counts zero if player would have been rated below opponent. Round 2-9 byes must be requested at least 3 hours before round; round 10 byes must be requested before round 9 and are irrevocable. No byes last 2 rounds. Players may not receive more bye points during the first 6 rounds than the busy player score for their class.

Prizes
$55,000 unconditionally guaranteed - second largest ever prize fund ever at a U.S. Open. Top places: $8000-4000-3000-2000-1500-1200-1000-800-600-400.
Qualifier for the 2004 U.S. Invitational Championship.
2449-2300: $2000-1000. 2299-2200: $2000-1000.
Expert: $2000-1000-600-500-300.
Class A: $2000-1000-600-500-300.
Class B: $2000-1000-600-500-300.
Class C: $2000-1000-500-400-300.
Class D: $1500-1000-500-400-300.
Class E: $1000-500-400.
Under 1000: $1000-400.
Unrated: $1000-400.
Unrateds are ineligible for Expert through Under 1000 prizes.
Elegant trophy for each class winner.
Biggest upset by non-prizewinner: $100.
Best games: $200-100-100 (one reserved for non-master).

Registration

If mailed by 7/26 or paid by phone, fax or online with credit card by 7/30.
$190 Traditional
$189 Matinee 1st half
$187 8-day
$186 6-day
$185 Busy Player
On site $220.
Registration closes 2 hours before 1st round in each schedule.
USCF Membership is required and must be current. You may pay USCF membership with your entry or on site. Regular Adult Memberhip, $49/year includes CHESS LIFE (12 issues) Senior Membership Age 65 & over, $36/year includes CHESS LIFE (12 issues) Youth Membership Age 19 and under, $25/year includes CHESS LIFE (12 issues) Scholastic Membership Age 14 and under, $19/year, includes CHESS LIFE (5 issues + Yearbook) Other membership categories available. Advance entries must include player's name and all fees to be accepted. Mail Entries to
U.S. Open Championship
U.S. Chess Federation
3054 RTE 9W
New Windsor, NY 12553.
Make Checks payable to USCF.
To enter by phone call (800) 388-KING.
Secure On Line Registration will be available soon.
All entries received will be posted here.
Advance registration is strongly encouraged.