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For serious players to improve at chess 80 serious games is ideal and the absolute minimum number of tournament games per year is 50.
Lembit Oll
1) Mezentsev wins 4th Annual Donnelly Memorial 2) Karapetian leads Goodall Tuesday Night Marathon 3) San Francisco Chess History -1881 4) Here and There 5) Bridge and Chess in New York 6) Upcoming Tournaments 1) Mezentsev wins 4th Annual Donnelly MemorialSM Vladimir Mezentsev defeated IM Ricardo DeGuzman in the last round of the Howard Donnelly Memorial to win with a 5-0 score. Expert Ben Haun was second at 4.5 followed by DeGuzman and Jacob Lopez in third at 4-1. Brandon Purcell, rated only 1637, had an excellent result scoring 3.5 with wins over Steven Krasnov and Yefim Bukh in the last two rounds. Anthony Corrales directed the 39-player event for the MI. 2) Karapetian leads Goodall Tuesday Night MarathonUS Berkeley student David Karapetian continued his winning ways in the Mike Goodall Tuesday Night Marathon, knocking off top-seed FM Frank Thornally. Karapetian, who started the event rated 1890, has scored 6 1/2 points from his first seven games, knocking off 1 - 2300, 2 - 2200s, scoring 2.5 from 3 against 2000s as well as winning in round 1 versus a 1300. We don't want to put the jinx on Mr. Karapetian, but with two rounds to go he has already gained 137 rating points according to the USCF rating calculator putting him firmly in Expert territory. For the statistically minded David's performance rating for the event so far is 2594 and he is up 55 bonus points. The latter is no easy feat as changes in the USCF rating formula have made it harder for players in the 1800-2200 range to move up quickly. 3) San Francisco Chess History - 1881The following nugget comes from well-known chess historian Neil Brennen of Pennsylvania.
Peipers,F - Mr.__ C44 One of four games played simultaneously, and without sight of the board, by Professor Fritz Peipers of San Francisco against four amateurs of that city. The games were all won by the blindfold player. 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Bc4 Bc5 5.Ng5 Ne5 Well-known to be inferior to 5...Nh6. 6.Nxf7 Nxf7 7.Bxf7+ Kxf7 8.Qh5+ g6 9.Qxc5 d6 If Black's remaining Knight now stood at c6 instead of g8, he could play here 9...d5 with great effect. 10.Qxd4 Nf6 11.0-0 Re8 12.Nc3 Qe7 13.Bd2 Qe5 14.Qd3 Re7 15.f4 Qc5+ In these movements of the Queen Black has consumed valuable time which he might have devoted to bringing out the Queen's Rook and Queen's Bishop. 16.Kh1 b6 17.e5 A decisive blow. 17...dxe5 If 17...Bf5 White wins by 18.Qf3 18.fxe5 Rxe5 19.Ne4 White plays the terminating moves in good style. 19...Bf5 20.Nxc5 Bxd3 21.Nxd3 1-0 Brentano's Chess Monthly, August 1881, p177 4) Here and ThereFormer US Champion Nick deFirmian, who is on the cover of the latest issue of New in Chess, will be at the Mechanics' on Wednesday, October 15. deFirmian, who has been living in Denmark for some time, has longtime ties to the Bay Area. He grew up on Santa Barbara, but after finishing high school moved north to attend UC Berkeley where he graduated with a degree in physics. Nick has been a regular in US Championships and on medal-winning Olympiad teams for two decades. He is the author of several editions of Modern Chess Openings. Immediately following his visit to the Mechanics' Nick will travel to Reno where he will give a simul on Thursday evening before playing in the Western States Open over the weekend. More details on Nick's visit will appear in the next Newsletter. Several Newsletters ago I wrote about the financial troubles of the USCF and that prizes had yet to be paid for the US Open in Los Angeles, which finished in mid-August. Grant Perks at the USCF recently announced that checks to all prize winners have been sent out which is certainly good news and hopefully a sign that things are turning around. Consider renewing your USCF dues early to help support chess in the United States. The MI-Marshall ICC junior match set for Saturday, September 27, has been moved to Sunday, September 28. The starting time of noon PST stays the same. Spectators are welcome to watch at the MI or on the Internet Chess Club. GM Gennadi Zaichik of Philadelphia won the New Jersey Open held over Labor Day weekend with a score of 5.5 from 6. Noted Benoni expert, IM Albert Kapengut was second with 5 and was the top-scoring New Jersey player. Former MI member IM Mladen Vucic, who recently moved to the Garden State was among those tied for third at 4.5. A total of 155 players competed in the 9 section event. Many contemporary players rank Garry Kasparov as the number one player of all time but don't count Srjdan Sale among them. The Croatian IM's favorite is Bobby Fischer. Among the points that Sale makes is that Bobby completely dominated his contemporaries. In 1975 he set the record for the largest rating differential between number one and two on the FIDE rating list - 120 points (1. Fischer 2780 2. Karpov 2660). The Championship of the Americas for women was held September 5-12, in San Cristobal, Venezuela. Final results are not well-publicized or given at all. There was no mention in the latest TWIC, at the FIDE website or at ChessBase.com. The Orinoco web site from Venezuela has a link to the event, which seems to be broken. The only news I have is from Paul Truong who wrote almost a week ago, "I received news just minutes ago that WGM Rusa Goletiani (personal student of GM Susan Polgar and a member of the US Women's Olympiad Program) has just won clear first at the Continental Championship in Venezuela with the score of 7.5/9 (6 wins - 3 draws). Even though the tournament is still on going, no other player can catch her." 5) Bridge and Chess in New YorkRegulars at Bill Goichberg's old Bar Point chess club in New York will remember that sometimes poker seemed to be more popular than chess and more than one titled player tried to earn money that way. MI member John Heymann passes along the following interesting reminiscence which suggests that strong chessplayers have always had to work hard to eke out a living. The entire article can be found at clubshttp://www.patphil.com/daniels.html . Here was much choice of bridge games in the Village. One might go to Frank Marshall's chess club, where the maestro played bridge more often than chess. With equal vigor he would scold his partner and slap his breast to dislodge temporarily the layer of cigar ashes that continuously settled on his blue serge vest. Here the game was easy to beat and there was the occasional thrill of playing with the Great Names of chess -- Capablanca and Doctor Lasker and even Alekhine. But the card fee was 50 cents, while at the Vag and other coffee houses it was possible to buy a cup of coffee for a quarter and nurse it through a full evening of bridge--unfortunately, in a tougher game. On payday there was no question as to where one would go: the Lafayette, with its higher stakes and higher prices but no better players. What if a dish of ice cream did cost 80 cents? Four times as much could be won from an unwise opponent in a single bridge hand. Some of the habitués lived where they played, in the Village; some did not. Milton Hanauer and Tony Santasiere took the long (45-minute) subway ride to Washington Heights after the evening session was ended; Tholfsen went to Brooklyn; Barnes walked home to Chelsea; and I lived in the Tenderloin, at Ninth Avenue and Forty-second Street.... 6) Upcoming Events
Upcoming Tournaments at the MI
J.J.Dolan - October 11 October 3-5 2003 Los Angeles Open Prize Fund $10,000 (based on 200 players, 50% of each prize guaranteed) in three sections: Championship
$$1500-1000-800-400-200 Premier (U2000)
$$750-500-300-100 Amateur (U1600)
$$400 (+trophy)-250-100 Western States Open (Reno) October 17-19 21st ANNUAL SANDS REGENCY RENO-WESTERN STATES OPEN GPP: 150 Nevada 6SS, 40/2, 20/1. Sands Regency Hotel/Casino, 345N.Arlington Ave., Reno, NV 89501. 1-800-648-3553 or 775-348-2200. $$50,000 b/500 $$30,250 Gtd. FREE LECTURE/ANALYSIS by GM LARRY EVANS! G: $3,000-1,500-1,100-1,000-900-800-700-600-500-400 in Open Section plus 1/2 of all other prizes. 7 Sections: OPEN: EF: GMs and IMs free, Masters $135, (2000-2199) $156, (1999-below) $206. $$3,000+trophy- 1,500-1,100-1,000-900-800-700-600-500-400, (2400-2499) $1,000, (2300-2399) $1,000-600-400, (2299-below) $1,000-600-400. If a tie for 1st overall, then (G/15 min.) playoff for $100 from prize fund. (Note: GM/IM w/free entry not eligible for class prizes (2499/below) ,may elect to pay EF and become eligible). EXPERT: (2000-2199) EF: $134. $$2,000+trophy-1,000-700-500-300-200-200-200-200-100-100-100-100-100- (U2100 $700). "A" SECT. (1800-1999): EF: $133. $$1,900+trophy- 1,000+trophy-700+trophy-500-300-200-200-200-200-200-100-100-100-100-100. "B"SECT. (1600-1799): EF: $132. $$1,800+trophy- 1,000+trophy-600+trophy-500-300-200-200-200-200-200-100-100- 100-100-100. "C" SECT. (1400-1599): EF: $131 $$1,700+trophy- 1,000+trophy-600+trophy-500-300-200-200-200-200-200-100-100- 100-100-100. "D" SECT. (1200-1399 including adult unrated) EF: $130 (Unr.free entry but must join USCF for 1 full yr. thru this tournament. If already a member must join for 1 additional yr.-($49 adults,$25jrs.) $$1,500+trophy-1,000+trophy-500+trophy-400-300-200-200-200-200-200-100-100-100-100-100, 1st unrated-1yr. USCF membership+trophy. "E" SECT. (1199/below,including unrated Jrs.). EF: $65 (Unrated free but must join USCF for 1 full yr. thru this tournament, if already a member must join for 1 additional yr.-$25/Jrs.). (NOTE: Each entry in this section counts as 1/2 of entry for total prize fund). $$500+trophy- 400+trophy-300+trophy-200+trophy-100-100-100-100-100-100-100- 100-100-100-100, 1st Unr.-1 yr. USCF membership+trophy. SENIORS: (65yrs./older) $$500-300-200-100 (Srs. not eligible-provisional rated, unrated, "E" Sect., and Masters). CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP: $$1,000-500-300-200 decided by total score of best 10 scores from one club or area in main tournament (Not eligible- Masters, unrateds, or SECT."E"). ALL: $11 more if postmarked after 9/30, and $22 if postmarked after 10/12 or at site. $20 off EF to Sr. (65yrs. and +) and Jrs. (19/under) (Does not apply to SECT. "E"). Players may play up. Provisionally rated players may only win "up to" 50% of 1st place money except in Open Sec. 1-10. CCA ratings may be used. NOTE: pairings not changed for color alternation unless three in a row or a plus 3 and if the unlikely situation occurs 3 colors in a row may be assigned. REG: 5-9pm (10/16), 9-10am (10/17). RDS: 12-7, 10-6, 9:30-4:30. Byes available any round if requested before 1st round. ENT: Make checks payable and send to: SANDS REGENCY (address above).HR: $39! (Sun-Thurs) and $54! (Fri-Sat) + 13.5% tax. Info: Jerry Weikel (775) 747-1405 (Email: wackyykl@aol.com) FIDE.W. |