Mechanics Institute Chess Room Newsletter #212

"The turning point in my career came with the realization that Black should play to win instead of just steering for equality."

Bobby Fischer

1) Mechanics' Institute Chess Club News
2) October FIDE Rating List
3) New Book by Kasparov
4) East Bay Chess Club Activities
5) Val Zemitis win Merk Memorial
6)  Here and There
7) MI Book and Equipment Donations 
8) Upcoming Events

Mechanics' Institute Chess Club News

IGM Dmitry Gurevich will give a special lecture next Wednesday night, October 13, in the MI Members Lounge on the 4th. The lecture, which runs from 5:15 to 6:30, is free to all. Dmitry's talk should be a great warm-up for the Western States Open which starts Friday, October 15, in Reno. If you would like to play for the Mechanics' team please contact John Donaldson at imwjd@aol.com before October 11.

Last night Filipino IM Ricardo DeGuzman won a tough last round battle against FM Frank Thornally to take first place in the Robert Jordan Tuesday Night Marathon. Tying for second, half a point back of DeGuzman's score of 7-1, were Experts Nicolas Yap and Ariel Mazzarelli. Both players scored two upsets against masters during the event.

Prize Winners:
1st Overall: De Guzman - $435
2nd - 3rd Overall: Yap and Mazzarelli - $250 each.
Best Under 2200: Ossipov and Traub - $78.50 each.
Best Under 2000: Castro - $156
Best Under 1800: Wood, Litras and Livschitz - $51.66 each.
Best Under 1600 and Best Under 1400: McCutchen and A.Naroditsky - $153.50 each.
Best Under 1200 or Unrated: Braden, Russell, Woebcke and Chi - $38 each.

IM DeGuzman was again successful in the 4th annual J.J. Dolan Memorial held October 2 at the Mechanics' scoring 5-0 to take first. Tying for second at 4-1 were Dmitry Vayntraub and Felix German (formerly Rudyak), while Yefim Bukh and Ewelina Krubnik were equal fourth in the 29-player event directed by Anthony Corrales.

Arthur Ibragimov won the September 29th Wednesday Night Blitz followed by John Cline and Yefim Bukh.

The main Chess Room is closing until October 25 for the installation of new flooring but the club's regular activities will consider as usual in Room 407.

2) October FIDE Rating List

The new FIDE rating list is out with GMs Morozevich and Topalov creeping towards Vladimir Kramnik's number 3 position.

1. Kasparov - 2813
2. Anand - 2781
3. Kramnik - 2760
4. Morozevich - 2758
5. Topalov - 2757
6. Leko - 2743
7. Adams - 2740
8. Svidler - 2735
9. Polgar - 2728
10. Shirov - 2726
11. Bacrot - 2718
12. Bareev - 2715
13. Ponomariov - 2710
14. Ivanchuk - 2705
15. Grischuk - 2704
16. Dreev - 2698
17. Sutovsky - 2697
18. Gelfand - 2693
19. Akopian - 2692
20.Nisipeanu - 2687

US players in the top 100 are:

=43. Onischuk 2653

= 64. Seirawan 2631

=83. Nakamura and Goldin 2620

=98. Kaidanov 2611

Other US players at 2600 and above are Shabalov (2608) and Gulko (2600).

Top West Coast players are GMs Akobian (2571) and Yermolinsky (2568).

3) New Book by Kasparov

The New York Post reports that Penguin Press, the Penguin Group (USA) imprint run by ex-Random honcho Ann Godoff, bought two big ticket items at auction for a combined price of more than $750,000. In both cases, the agents held on to foreign rights, with the intention of pitching them at Frankfurt. After three days of incremental bidding, Emily Loose at Penguin agreed to pay close to $500,000 for "How Life Imitates Chess," by champion Garry Kasparov. The Azerbaijan-born Kasparov has been the No. 1 ranked chess player in the world since 1984, according to the 31-page proposal that was sent to nine publishers. "Before I knew much about life, I understood chess," it begins and then goes on to explain how advantage, initiative, opinion, threat and hope (among other ideas) influence both life and game. Farrar, Straus & Giroux, Crown and Simon & Schuster were the underbidders for the philosophical self-help tome. Kasparov's co-author, is Mark Reiter, who is also acting as agent.

4) East Bay Chess Club Activities

SM David Pruess writes:

International Master Vinay Bhat to take on Fritz chess program.

One of Berkeley's strongest chess players, International Master Vinay Bhat, will be taking a day off from his studies at Cal to take on premier chess program Fritz in a two game match, Saturday October 9th. The games will be played at the recently opened East Bay Chess Club, 1940 Virginia St (at Milvia) in Berkeley, at 11:00 A.M. and 3 P.M. Live move-by-move commentary will be provided in the next room by International Master John Donaldson and National Master Andy Lee, two of Berkeley's other leading players.

IM Bhat set a U.S. record, becoming the youngest master in the country at the age of 10 in 1995. He went on to earn his International Master title at the young age of 16. He is now a fulltime student in Political Economy at UC Berkeley, teaching and directing at the East Bay Chess Club part-time.

Fritz is a commercial version of a program, which in recent years has (under the names "Deep Fritz" and "X3D Fritz") drawn matches with the current world champion, Vladimir Kramnik, and the world's #1 rated player, Garry Kasparov. It is developed by the ChessBase team, and can be obtained at their website, www.chessbase.com.

East Bay Chess Club G/60 Tournament

Sunday, October 10th, 2004
One section, 4-round, USCF Rated Tournament
Open to all players

Location: 1940 Virginia St., Berkeley, CA
(cross street Milvia, only a short walk from Downtown and North Berkeley BART)

Registration/Check-in: 9-9:45 AM the day of the tournament.
Or save time by filling out the form below, and just pay when you get to the Club!

Rounds: 10 AM, 12:15 PM, 2:45 PM, and 5:00 PM
All games will be over by 7:00 PM.

Time control: Game in 1 hour.

Entry fee: $15 if mailed before 10/2, $20 at site.
$5 discount for East Bay Chess Club Members
Submitting your form online counts as mailing it on the day of submission

If you'd like to mail your entry, print out the form here.
Please mail completed entries to:
East Bay Chess
1940 Virginia Street, Box C
Berkeley, CA 94709
Please make checks payable to "East Bay Chess."

Prizes: (Based on 30 full entries):
Overall: $90 - $60 - $30
Under 2000: $30 Under 1800: $30
Under 1600: $30 Under 1400: $30

Directors: David Pruess, Vinay Bhat, Andy Lee

5) Val Zemitis win Merk Memorial

Val Zemitis of Davis won the Merk Memorial Correspondence Tournament organized by Northwest Chess magazine. Here is a key win in Zemitis' favorite Latvian Gambit.

Thompson,L - Zemitis,V [C40]
Merk Memorial, 2004
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f5 3.Bc4 b5 4.Bxg8 Rxg8 5.exf5 Nc6 6.Qe2 Qf6 7.d4 Qxf5 8.0-0 Ba6 9.a4 e4 10.Nbd2 0-0 11.Qxe4 Qxe4 12.Nxe4 bxa4 13.Rd1 Be2 14.Rd2 Bxf3 15.gxf3 d5 16.Ng5 Re8 17.Rd1 a3 18.b3 h6 19.Nh3 g5 20.Kf1 Bd6 21.f4 Re4 22.c3 g4 23.Ng1 Na5 24.b4 Nc4 25.Ne2 Rf8 26.Ra2 Kd7 27.Kg2 Re7 28.Rd3 a5 29.bxa5 Rfe8 30.Be3 Nxe3+ 31.fxe3 Rxe3 32.Rdd2 Ra8 0-1

6) Here and There

Crossville, Tennessee, appears to be the clear front runner in the race to become the new home of the United States Chess Federation despite a clearly superior financial offer from Lindsborg, Kansas. Both offers are good for the USCF. Crossville is offering free land, the ability to use the land as equity to secure an interest free loan to put up a building and a place to operate from rent free while construction is going on. Lindsborg is offering free land and a building (already constructed) plus $72,000 in relocation money. Also still in the mix is an offer from Liberty, New York. The Executive Board will vote on a final decision in a few weeks. The annual Isle of Man tournament was won by GMs Ehsan Ghaem Maghami of Iran and Petr Kiriakov of Russia with 7 from 9. Hikaru Nakamura, who lost his last two games to finish =16th at 5.5, could not have been happy about his result but still had a 2592 FIDE performance IM Dmitry Schneider (2454 FIDE) had a solid 5 from 9 for a 2504 result.

Frequent Mechanics' guest GM Suat Atalik of Turkey turns 40 on October 10.

The 1st Sevastopol Invitational 2004 was held September 23-26 with a time control of G/25.

Final Standings:

1. Karjakin (UKR) 3.5 out of 5
2-3. Malakhov (RUS) and Bologan (MOL) 3
4. Onischuk (USA) 2.5
5. Malaniuk (UKR) 2
6. Slobodjan (GER) 1

Sergey Kudrin, Yury Shulman and Alex Yermolinsky are the invited GMs for the 8th annual Governor's Cup in Sioux Falls, South Dakota from October 29-31. Bob Long's ChessCo will handle the book concession.

MI GM-in-Residence Alex Yermolinsky will continue his trip to the Heartland the following week. He, IMs Andrew Martin and Igor Khmelnitsky and CGM Jonathan Berry will be the featured guests at Bob Long's chess festival in Iowa. Go to http://www.chessco.com/ for more information.

The September issue of the German magazine Schach reports that Amsterdam based Yasser Seirawan took part in two events this past August in Mainz. He finished =14th with 7.5 from 11 in the 207 player 960-Open (Fischer Random Chess) in a very strong field and did even better in the Ordix-Open. This 542-player rapid chess event featured 31 of the top 100 players in the world. Alexander Grischuk was first at 9.5 from 11 with Yasser, Vaganian, Rublevsky, Zvaginsev, Morozevitch, Dautov and Greenfeld sharing second with 9 points. Retirement seems to be suiting Yasser well!

GM Alex Wojtkiewicz of Maryland and IM Stanislav Smetankin of Minnesota tied for first in the 63rd Indiana State Championship held September 25-26 in Indianapolis. The two winners score of 4.5 from 5 was good for $638 each. NM Jim Dean became Indiana State Chess Champion with his 4-1 score. NM Nick Adams scored 3.5 with a draw versus Wojtkiewicz and a win over SM Todd Andrews.

Longtime Cal Chess Journal editor and Bay Area chess teacher Frisco Del Rosario has just published his first book. A First Book of Morphy (213 pages; perfect bound) illustrates basic principles by world correspondence champion Cecil Purdy and grandmaster Reuben Fine with 65 games by the legendary American champion Paul Morphy. The author was named Teacher of the Week by the San Jose Mercury News on Aug. 19, 2004. Copies can be ordered at http://www.trafford.com/robots/04-1714.html, or by sending send $20 to Frisco at 126 15th Ave., San Mateo 94402.

7) MI Book and Equipment Donations

Book and equipment donations to the Mechanics' are always welcome. All donations to the Mechanics' are tax deductible due to the M.I.'s 501(c) (3) nonprofit status. If you have any chess books or equipment that have been lying around unused for some time consider donating to the Mechanics'. You will not only get a tax write off but also the satisfaction of seeing things put to good use.

8) Upcoming Events

Upcoming Tournaments at the MI

Carroll Capps Memorial - November 6-7
Pierre Saint-Amant - November 20
Guthrie McClain Memorial - December 5 (Sunday)
Jim Hurt Under 1800 - December 11-12

Mechanics Institute Scholastic Quads 2004 Tournaments:

October 16, November 13, December 18
Open to players age 18 and under
(Limited to first 80 players) Game/45

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.



Northern California Events

Oct. 9, 10 Burlingame Open
4SS, 30/90, SD/1 Lions Hall Bldg, 990 Burlingame Ave, Burlingame, Calif. $$B 60 entries, excluding discounted unr entries. Three sections: Open $175-90, U2200 $120-60, U2000 $120-60; Reserve (U1800) $125-70, U1600 $100-55, Booster (U1400) $125-70, U1200 $100-55, U1000 $55 + BCC Membership. Unr: Trophy. EF: $40 postmarked by 10/4, $45 at site. Unrateds $15 in the Reserve section or may play up to the Open section for the regular fee. $5 discount to Burlingame CC members. USCF memb. req'd. May play up one section for add'l $10. Maximum of 80 entries accepted. Reg: Sat 10/9 8-9:30am. Rds: Sat 10-3:30; Sun 10-3:30; One 1/2 pt bye any round (a bye for rounds 3 or 4 must be requested before round 1). 2004 October Ratings List, Directors discretion will be used to place players as accurately as possible. Please bring clocks and equipment. Info: Richard Koepcke (415)-964-2640. Ent: Richard Koepcke, P.O. Box 1432, Mountain View, CA 94042. No Phone entries.

Oct. 15-17 22nd Annual SANDS REGENCY RENO-WESTERN STATES OPEN GPP: 200 Nevada

Special guest for 5 days-former World Champion GM Boris Spassky!!! 6SS, 40/2, 20/1. Sands Regency Hotel/Casino, 345 N. Arlington Ave., Reno, NV 89501. 1-800-648-3553 or (775) 348-2200. $$52,400 b/500, $$33,550 Gtd. G-$5,000-2500-1500-1200-1000-900-800-700-600-500 in Open Section plus 1/2 of all other prizes. 7 Sections: OPEN: EF: GMs & IMs free, Masters $150, (2000-2199) $201, (1999-below) $301. $$ Prizes 1-10 listed above, (2400-2499) $1000, (2300-2399) $1000-600-400, (2299-below) $1000-600-400. If a tie for 1st overall then (G/15) playoff for $100 from prize fund. (Note: GM/IM w/free entry not eligible for class prizes 2499and below, may elect to pay entry fee and become eligible). EXPERT: (2000-2199) EF: $149 $$2,000-1000-500-400-300-200-200-200-200-100-100-100-100-100 (under 2100) $700. "A" Sec. (1800-1999) EF: $148, $$1,900-1000-500-400-300-200-200-200-200-100-100-100-100-100-100. "B" Sec. (1600-1799) EF: $147, $$1,800-1000-500-400-300-200-200-200-200-100-100-100-100-100-100. "C" Sec. (1400-1599) EF: $146, $$ 1,700-1000-500-400-300-200-200-200-100-100-100-100-100-100-100. "D" Sec. (1200-1399 including adult unrateds) EF: $145 (unrated EF: $10 + must join USCF membership for 1 additional year through this tournament ($49 adults). $$1,500-800-500-400-300-200-200-200-100-100-100-100-100-100-100 (top unrated wins 1 yr. USCF membership plus trophy). "E" Sec. (1199-below including unrated Jrs.) EF: $75 (unrated EF: $10 + must join USCF membership for 1 additional yr. through this tournament ($25 Jrs.) (Note: each entry counts as 1/2 paid player towards total prize fund). $$500-400-300-200-100-100-100-100-100-100-100-100-100-100-100; 1st unrated - 1 year USCF membership + trophy. Seniors (65/over) $$500-300-200-100 (Srs not eligible: provisionally rated, unrated, "E" & masters) - Club Championship $$1000-500-300-200 decided by total score of best 10 scores form one club or area (not eligible - masters, unrated and Sec "E") Trophies to Top 3 (A-E Sections). ALL: $11 more if postmarked after 9/27/04 and $22 more if postmarked after 10/10/04 or at site. $20 off EF to Sr 65/over and Jrs 19/under (does not apply to "E" Section or Unrateds) Players may play up. Unrated players not eligible for cash prizes except Open 1-10. Provisionally rated players may win up to 50% of 1st place money except open Section 1-10. CCA ratings may be used. Note pairings not changed for color alternation unless 3 in a row or a plus 3 and if the unlikely situation occurs 3 colors in a row may be assigned. Reg: 5-9pm (10/14), 8:30-10am (10/15) rds 12-7, 10-7, 9:30-6. Byes available any round if requested before 1st round. Side events: 10/14 6-7:30pm GM Larry Evans lecture (free), Blitz (5 min) Tourney ($20) 7:30pm. GM Boris Spassky's schedule: Wed (10/13) "An Evening with Boris" dinner, cocktails & more advanced reservations required $30, 8:30pm. Thurs (10/14 Simul (25 boards) $100 (includes commemorative pen to all players), Spectator fee $5, 7:30pm. Fri (10/15) Book Signing Session 10-11am. Sat (10/16) Clinic - $10 4:30-6pm. Sun (10/17) film "Clash of the Titans" (Boris Spassky & Bobby Fischer) followed by questions & answers with Boris Spassky & Larry Evans, $10, 4-5:30pm. NOTE: All paid players receive free non transferable admission to all Spassky events except Wed dinner. Ent: Make checks payable and send to: SANDS REGENCY (address above) HR: $39 (Sun-Thurs) & $59 (Fri-Sat) + 13.5% tax. Info: Jerry Weikel, 6578 Valley Wood Drive, Reno NV 89523, (775) 747-1405 (wackyykl@aol.com) FIDE, W.

Oct. 30-31 Blacknight October Open
4SS, 30/90, SD/1. BlacKnight Chess Club. 3800 Blackford Ave. San Jose, CA 95117 $$1200 prize fund based on 50 full entries. 3 sections, Premier 2000+, Booster 1600-1999, Reserve U1600. EF: $40 by 10/28, $50 10-11:30am 10/30. $10 more to play up 1 section. U1200 Juniors pay 1/2 EF. Rds: 12-6, 11-5. Brilliancy Prizes available. Email albertjrich@yahoo.com for entry form or questions.

Southern California

A Heritage Event!
An American Classic!
Nov. 25-28 or 26-28 40th Annual American Open GPP: 80 S. California 8SS, 40/2, SD/1. LAX Renaissance Hotel, 9620 Airport Bl, Los Angeles, CA 90045. $$30,200, 60% of each prize guaranteed. 8 sections (Unr. must play in U1000/Unr. or Open). Open: $3000-1500-700-500-300, U2450/Unr $1200-600, U2300/Unr $600. U2200: $2000-1000-500-300-200. U2000: $2000-1000-500-300-200. U1800: $2000-1000-500-300-200. U1600: $2000-1000-500-300-200. U1400: $1700-900-500-300-200. U1200: $1000-500-250-150-100. U1000/Unr: Trophies to top six. EF: Sections 1-7, $129 if rec'd by 11/23, $30 less for jrs. Under 15 if playing up, $50 more for players rated under 2000 playing in Open. Section 8, $39 if rec'd by 11/23. All: $20 more at door. SCCF memb. req'd ($12, $7.50 jrs. Under 19, includes Rank & File magazine), OSA. Elegant trophy each section winner. Best game prizes gtd: $100-50-50 (one must be from Sections 2-8). No checks at door - cash, credit card, or money order only. 4-day schedule: Reg closes noon 11/25, 12:30-7:30, 12:30-7:30, 10:30-5, 10-4:30. 3-day schedule: Reg closes 11:30am 11/26, 12-2:30-5-8 (G/1), schedules merge in Rd 5 & compete for common prizes. Byes (2 max) with advance notice. CCA minimum ratings & TD discretion will be used to protect you from improperly rated players. October Rating Supplement used. Sturdy, reliable Saitek clock provided for top boards. HR: $89, (310) 337-2800, mention chess. Info: Chief TD Randy Hough (626) 282-7412, randallhough@yahoo.com. Ent: American Open, PO Box 205, Monterey Park, CA 91754 or http://www.americanopen.org/. NS, W, FIDE Rated.

National Events

Oct. 29-31. GPP: 80 South Dakota
8th Annual Governor's Cup. 5SS, FULL-K, 40/2, All/1. EF: $55 if by 10/20, $75 at site, GMs, IMs, and over 2400 free. [18 & Under preregistering in RESERVE section pay $35.] Reg: 10/29 4-5PM. Rds: 6; 10-4:30; 9-3:30. BYES: One half-point BYE allowed in RDS 1-3 if requested in advance. Holiday Inn City Centre, 100 West 8th St., Sioux Falls, South Dakota, (605) 339-2000. Ask for chess rate $79. $$10,000 Unconditionally guaranteed. OPEN Section: FIDE Rated. Prizes: $1200-$1000-$800-$600; Master: $500-$300-100; Expert: $400-$250-$100; Under 2000: $200-$100. PREMIER Section [Under 2000]: Prizes: $700-$500-$300; Top B: $300-$200-$100; Under 1600: $175-$100. RESERVE Section [Under 1600]: Prizes: $600-$450-$300; Top D: $250-$150-$75; Under 1200: $150-$100. INFO/ADV ENT: Sioux Empire Chess Foundation, 2100 Slaten Court, Sioux Falls, SD 57103, (605) 338-9431. knudson1@sio.midco.net www.sdchess.org/govcup. Advance Entries will be posted on: www.suburban-chess.org/Tournaments/2004/Governor's%20Cup.htm.

Mark these two events down on your calendar. The PAN AM Intercollegiate will be held in Kansas right after Christmas.Email Mikhail Korenman for more information at mkorenman@yahoo.com

4th Annual Lindsborg Open December 17-22

GM & IM norms are available; $4,000 guaranteed prize fund!

Rapid Knock-out Tournament Lindsborg, Kansas December 23-25, 2004 $11,500 guaranteed prize fund! 9SS;

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