Mechanics Institute Chess Room Newsletter #194

"My 60 Memorable Games almost never got published. Bobby was too much of a perfectionist to omit the best lines, and too much of a competitor to publish them. "

   Larry Evans



1) Ehlvest and Shabalov win in Chicago
2) Schiller tops San Jose
3) Resume for Elizabeth Shaughnessy - Candidate for the USCF Executive Board 
4) International Events
5) Upcoming Events

1) Ehlvest and Shabalov win in Chicago

GMs Jaan Ehlvest and Alex Shabalov tied for first in the Chicago Open held May 28-31 at the Hyatt Regency in Oak Brook, Illinois. The two winners score of 6-1 was good for $7500 apiece. GMs Alexander Goldin, Alex Wojtkiewicz, Viktor Mikhalevski, Dasheveg Sharavdorj, GM-elect Varuzhan Akobian and IM Ben Finegold shared 3rd through eighth at 5 1/2.

The big surprise of the event was the performance of Chouchanik Airapetian. Rated only 2066 she scored 5 from 7, winning her last four games. Among her victims were IMs Justin Sarkar and Stephen Muhammad. Airapetian's performance was good for the Under 2300 prize of $2000 and also earned her a spot in the 2004 US Championship. Also earning trips to San Diego were GM Alex Fishbein and teenager Joshua Friedel on 5-2. The other two qualifiers are not yet clear. Among those on 4.5 were GMs Dmitry Gurevich and Anatoly Lein, IM Dmitry Schneider and FM Daniel Fernandez. Either one of two of them will qualify depending on how the rules are interpreted. This appears to be the first time that a women has scored enough points for an open qualifying spot in the AF4C US Championship format. When I left the tournament hall at 12:15 AM nobody seemed to know if another women would qualify as well as Airapetian or four men would be seeded

Here are the key last round games.

Shabalov,A - Nakamura,H [D97]
Chicago Open (7), 2004

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Qb3 dxc4 6.Qxc4 0-0 7.e4 Na6 8.Be2 c5 9.d5 e6 10.0-0 exd5 11.exd5 Bf5 12.Be3 Qb6 13.b3 Rfe8 14.Rad1 Ng4 15.Bd2 Rad8 16.Rfe1 Bd4 17.Nxd4 cxd4 18.Na4 Qc7 19.Bxg4 Qxc4 20.bxc4 Bxg4 21.f3 Bd7 22.Nb2 b5 23.Ba5 Rxe1+ 24.Bxe1 bxc4 25.Nxc4 Bb5 26.Rxd4 Bxc4 27.Rxc4 Rxd5 28.Bc3 Rd8 29.Bf6 Re8 30.Bd4 Nb8 31.Bxa7 Nd7 32.Bd4 Ra8 33.Rc7 Nf8 34.Ra7 Rd8 35.Be3 Kg7 36.a4 Ne6 37.a5 Rd3 38.Kf2 Ra3 39.Bb6 Rb3 40.Ke2 Kf8 41.Kd2 Ke8 42.Kc2 Rb4 43.Kc3 Rb1 44.Be3 Ra1 45.Kb2 Ra4 46.a6 Kd8 47.Ra8+ Kd7 48.a7 h5 49.Rb8 Nc7 50.Kb3 Ra1 51.h4 Ra6 52.Bf2 Ra1 53.Bb6 Kc6 54.Bxc7 Rxa7 55.Bf4 Kd7 56.Rb6 Ra1 57.Kc3 Rg1 58.Rb2 f6 59.Kd3 Rh1 60.g3 Ke6 61.Rb6+ Kf5 62.Bd2 Rd1 63.Ke2 1-0

Ehlvest,J - Golod,V [C91]
Chicago Open (7), 2004

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0-0 9.d4 Bg4 10.Be3 exd4 11.cxd4 Na5 12.Bc2 c5 13.h3 Bxf3 14.Qxf3 Nc4 15.Nd2 Nxd2 16.Bxd2 cxd4 17.Rad1 Nd7 18.Qd3 Ne5 19.Qxd4 Bf6 20.Qb4 Rc8 21.Bc3 Nc6 22.Qxd6 Bxc3 23.bxc3 Qa5 24.e5 Qxc3 25.Rc1 Qa5 26.Bf5 Rc7 27.Bxh7+ Kxh7 28.Qxf8 Nxe5 29.Qd8 Nc4 30.Re4 f5 31.Re6 Qa3 32.Rce1 Rf7 33.Qe8 Qf8 34.Qxf8 Rxf8 35.Rxa6 1-0

Airpateian,C - Muhammed,S [C78]
Chicago Open Chicago Open (7), 2004

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 b5 6.Bb3 Bb7 7.Re1 Bc5 8.c3 d6 9.d4 Bb6 10.Bg5 h6 11.Bh4 g5 12.Bg3 0-0 13.dxe5 Nxe5 14.Nxe5 dxe5 15.Nd2 Qe7 16.a4 Rad8 17.Qe2 Rd6 18.axb5 axb5 19.Nf3 Nxe4 20.Nxe5 Bxf2+ 21.Bxf2 Rd2 22.Qxb5 c6 23.Qc4 Nd6 24.Qc5 Qf6 25.Bd4 Nf5 26.Qxf8+ 1-0

2) Schiller tops San Jose

FM Eric Schiller reports on this week's tournament in San Jose.

I won the San Jose Memorial Day Tournament with my first perfect score (4-0) in a long, long, time. Not only did I sweep the field, I won the brilliancy prize for my third round game against the #2 seed (I was #1), a strong young player who beat me in our last encounter. The revenge was sweet! Notes are very preliminary.

Black Knight Memorial Day (3)
Yap, Nicholas - Schiller, Eric
ECO C60

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nge7

First time I've tried this, but I've taught it to some students, and have seen IM Walter Shipman use it very successfully. Knowing that my opponent likes to capture the knight on c6 made this Cozio Defense seem like a good idea.

4.O-O a6 5.Ba4 Ng6 6.c3 Be7 7.d4 b5 8.Bb3

Retreating to c2 has been played. This was new to me.

8..O-O 9.Nxe5 Ncxe5 10.dxe5 Bb7! 11.Qe2 Nxe5 12.f4

Just what I was hoping for. From this point forward I was thinking only of attacking the king.

12...Ng6 13.a4 Bc5+ 14.Kh1 Qe7 15.Nd2 bxa4!?

I plan to offer up the a-pawn as a sacrifice, just to get his queen away from the kingside.

16.Rxa4 Bc6!? 17.Rxa6 Rxa6 18.Qxa6 Be3! 19.f5 Nf4 20.Re1

The queen will return to f1, and then where will my attack be? Time to plunge in!

Nxg2! 21.Re2

21.Kxg2 Qg5+ 22.Kf1 Bxd2 23.Bxd2 Qxd2 24.Qe2 Qf4+ {Black is definitely better.}

21..Bxd2 22.Bxd2 Nh4 23.Bd5

23.Qd3 Nxf5 24.Bd5 Re8 25.Bf4 Nd6 and Black is still a pawn up.

23...Ra8! 24.Qc4?

24.Qd3! Bxd5 25.Qxd5 c6 26.Qd3 Ra1+ 27.Re1 Rxe1+ 28.Bxe1 Nxf5. Once again, Black has an extra pawn in the endgame.

24...Qg5! 25.Be1 Ra1 26.e5 Nf3! 27.Qc5 Nxe1 0-1

White resigned. It is mate in 3!

3) Resume for Elizabeth Shaughnessy- Candidate for the USCF Executive Board

Elizabeth Shaughnessy, candidate for the USCF Executive Board.

Current CalChess President.

President, Berkeley Chess School, founded 1982, teaches 7000 students in the greater S. F. Bay Area.

Director, Berkeley Chess Club

Irish by birth, American by choice, an architect by profession.

Former President, Berkeley School Board.

Played for Ireland in four Chess Olympiads.

Former Irish Women's Chess Champion.

Former Director, Kolty Chess for Youth Foundation.

Endorsed by:

GMs: Walter Brown, Larry Christiansen, Nick De Firmian, Roman Dzindzichashvili, Anatoly Lein.

IMs: Vinay Bhat, Ron Cusi, John Donaldson, David Goodman, Elliott Winslow.

Masters: Michael Aigner, David Blohm, Tom Dorsch, Leroy Dubeck, Jim Eade, Bob Hamm, Bob Hammie, Kenneth Hills, Allen Kaufman, Richard Koepcke, Andy Lee, Craig Mar, Monty Peckham, Manny Perez, Roger Poehlmann, Eric Schiller, Robert Snyder.

Experts: Mark Brown, Frisco Del Rosario, Michael Labins, Carl Pilnick, Mikhail Semionenkov, Don Shennum, Larry Snyder, Liina Vark, Walter Wood, David Wait.

TDs: NTD and International Arbiter, Mike Goodall, ANTD Alan Glasscoe, Senior TD Joan Arbil

Former USCF board members: Doris Barry, Jim Eade, John Donaldson, Tom Dorsch, Steve Doyle,Leroy Dubeck, Rachel and Myron Lieberman.

Former US Senior Champion: Neil Falconer.

USCF Scholastic Council: Dewain Barber.

Hundreds of regular members including, Francisco Anchondo, Vincente Andrade, Craig Andries, Morgan Baker, Trendell Ball, Adam Baraz, Jorge Barrera, Josh Bowman, Jay Blem, Hans Borm, Major Castleberry 111, Dave Ceponis, Jolly Chen, Wesley Chen, Alberto Cisneros, Tony Cole, Arthur Connick, Theron Dyble, Jonathan Fan, Allan Fifield, Mel Fong, Ursula Foster, David Goldfarb, Vincent Gonzalez, Jacob Green, Peter Grey, Ben Gross, Wallace Hannum, Eric Hicks, Ed Hirsch, David Huff, Riley Hughes, Kurt Jacobs, Toby Kahn, Joshua Karnad, Dwight Kearney, Mariusz Krubnik, Joe Kuchta, Tony Lama, Joe Lonsdale, Peter Logan, Jake Lopez, Michael Lum, Kris Mac Lennan, Victor Manning, Chris Mavraedis, John McCumiskey, Wilmot McCutchen, Brendan McIntyre,Andrew Milburn, Nazee Moghadam, Damon Mosk-Aoyama, Wassim Nassif, Richard Newey, Ray Orwig, Richard Peterson, Sam Petty, Jonathan Pines, Rene Plata, Bruce Radaiken, Kayven Riese,Walter Roberts, Bret Rohmer, Bleys Rose, Ben Russack, George Sanguinetti, Arina Semionenkova, 'Bud' Setzepfandt, Chris Shaikh, Doug Shaker, Stephen Shaughnessy, Mark Shelton, Daren Smith, Eric Smith, James Smith, Steve Stacy, Dave Stambuch, Dennis Steele, Keith Storey, Andy Trotter, Fatima Uribe, Richard Veres, Ravi Verma, John Wallace, Ernst Westphal, John Westphal, Max Wilkerson, Carolyn Withgitt, Charles Wolff, Al Woolum.

Dear USCF voter,

If elected, I believe I would be an asset to the Board. I have twenty-two years' experience as a successful organizer of youth chess. I am currently President of CalChess. I am an active player and have played for Ireland in four Chess Olympiads. I am involved in adult chess in Berkeley as a player and as a director. Outside of chess, my eight year tenure on the Berkeley School Board has given me experience in fiscal oversight and the ability to work effectively within a political structure. It would be a privilege to represent you at the national level. Please vote.

Sincerely,

Elizabeth Shaughnessy (elizabethshaughnessy@hotmail.com)

4) International Events

Dear Chessfriends

Please apologize the disturbance if I am disturbing you by sending this email. I hope it will prove helpful for some of you to find an attractive chess tournament this year. And that the rest of you will forgive me for what this is: Absolutely free and absolutely non-commercial information about recommendable chess tournaments coming up for the next five months. If you do not feel it useful to receive such chess tournament information in the future, please send me a short email notice to be removed from my list of chessfriends.

(And as earlier on, feel free to adress me any kind of questions related to playing rules, title rules, rating rules etc, I will be helpful to answer as far as I am able to do!)

Anyway: Best wishes for your summer of 2004 and your future chess career from Hans Olav Lahlum (International Arbiter & International Organizer from Norway) hanso.lahlum@c2i.net

12.06-20.06: Pelaro & Splintan International, Gothenburg, Sweden. 9 round IM-Swiss. Contact Mats Eriksson ssmanhem@telia.com, webpage www.ssmanhem.se.

18.06-20.06: The Open Barents Championship, Alta, Norway. 6 rounds Swiss with nice Moneyprizes (and beatiful nature including sun 24 hours a day, as Alta can be found at the North edge of Norway!). Contact Svein Harald Johnsen dryfish@online.no (!), website www.altasjakklubb.no .

19.06-27.06 (also 17.07-25.07, 21.08-29.08, 18.09-26.09 and 16.-24.10): Closed round robins IM-tournaments (if possible also ELO-groups/FM-groups) played in Kecskemet, Hungary. Contact IM Tamas Erdelyi caissa@axelero.hu.

26.06- 02.07: Rabat, Morocco Open 9 round Swiss. Contact Abdelhafid Elamri fus_echecs@yahoo.fr .

24.07-01.08: Politiken Cup, Copenhagen, Denmark. 10 round GM qualifying Swiss Open. This is the largest and strongest Swiss of the Nordic countries. Contact Lars Bech Hansen formand@ksu.dk , website www.politikencup.dk .

01.08-14.08: Smith & Williamson British Chess Championships, Scarborough, England. The main event of interest to non-British Isles players in the first World Major Championship restricted to players rated under 2350. This 11 round Swiss takes place 2-13 August with a rest day 8th. British Chess Federation, contact office@bcf.org.uk website www.bcf.org.uk

04.-10.09: Paignton, England Congress. 7 round Swiss sections, FIDE Rated. Contact Linda Crickmore pafcok@tesco.net

25.09- 03.10: Monarch Assurance Isle of Man Congress. The Masters is a 9 round Swiss and there are two 7 round events for weaker players. Contact stewartreuben@aol.com, website www.bcmchess.co.uk. (Following 04-10.10 Guernsey Chess Festival, a 7 round Swiss with sections for weaker players.)

05-12.10: First World Senior Team Championship. In the Isle of Man at the same venue, Port Erin, as the Monarch Assurance. An 8 round Swiss restricted to males over 60 and females over 50 on 1 January 2004. Contact stewartreuben@aol.com website www.bcmchess.co.uk

14.10- 01.11: Chess Olympiads, Majorca, Spain. There will be several events arranged for players not taking part in the Olympiads. www.olimpbase.org

9) Upcoming Events

Upcoming Tournaments at the MI

Arthur Stamer Memorial - June 12-13
William Addison Open - June 26
Charles Bagby Memorial - July 17

Mechanics' Institute Scholastic Quads 2004 Tournaments: April 17, May 8, June 19 and July 24 Open to players age 18 and under (Limited to first 80 players) Game/45



BlacKnight Chess Club Memorial Day Event in San Jose

Rounds : 10:30am, 12:15pm, 2:00pm Late Registration: 9:30am - 10:15am Open: to the first eighty players Note: Quads based on rating. USCF Rated. Unrated players face each other. You must be a USCF member to play in the quads. Time Control: Game in 45 minutes Entry Fee: $20 / $30 day of tournament/ $15 for MI members Checks payable to Mechanics' Chess Club Prizes: Trophies for the winners of each quad.

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