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We don't hate FIDE, we hate the people who are out of chess but in FIDE. Suat Atalik |
1) Mechanics' Institute Chess Club News 2) Atalik and Yermolinsky tie for first in Far West Open 3) Fischer Icelandic Citizen 4) Frank Brady Resigns from Executive Board 5) US Open 1955 6) Fischer in Lawrence, Kansas 7) Chess Poems by Dennis Fritzinger 8) Here and There 9) Upcoming Events 1) Mechanics' Institute Chess Club NewsSeveral events are coming up at the MI. Tuesday, March 29, the Spring Tuesday Night Marathon begins. April 2 and 3 the MI will host its annual Senior Open. Players 50 and over are eligible to compete. The following weekend a blitz tournament will be held to honor longtime Bay Area stalwart Val Zemitis.
Val Zemitis 80th Birthday Blitz This year's Imre Konig Memorial G/45 on April 16 will be something special. The normal first and second prizes ($200 and $100) will be doubled and are guaranteed. GMs Suat Atalik and Alex Yermolinsky have confirmed their participation. 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. 2) Atalik and Yermolinsky tie for first in Far West OpenSuat Atalik and Alex Yermolinsky tied for first in the Far West Open held March 18-20 in Reno with scores of 5-1. The two GMs drew with each other in the middle of the tournament in a tough battle and drew in the last round with GM Gregory Serper and IM Igor Ivanov respectively. IM-elect Vladimir Mezentsev was alone in third with a score of 4.5. This excellent result included a win over GM Serper and a draw with GM Sergey Kudrin. Mezentsev's only loss was to Atalik. Tying for fourth at 4 in the multi-section event which attracted 192 players five GMs and five IMs were Kudrin Ivanov and Serper. The Mechanics' had over 30 players competing in Reno. GM-in-Residence Yermolinsky lead the way but there were several other stars helped lead the M.I. to first in the team competition. Nine-year-old Daniel Naroditsky of Foster City scored 5.5 from 6 in the B section. This result, an excellent performance in the last Marathon and a perfect score in the People's scholastic section should put Daniel's rating around 1900 and in the top two for his age in the country. Expert Igor Traub continues to push towards 2200. His score of 4.5 from 6 gained him section in the Expert section. Victor Ossipov was right behind him with 4. MI veteran Dan Litowsky tied for fourth in the B section with 4 points and Chris Cortese was equal sixth in the C section with the same score. John Jaffray of Santa Rosa won the A section with 5 points. NTD Jerry Weikel, his wife Fran and Barbara Woodward of the Sands Regency Hotel and Casino organized the event which attracted 192 players. The Western States Open will be held this October in the same venue. For complete standings go to the Reno Chess Club website ( http://www.renochess.org/ ) where webmaster Ernie Hong does an excellent job. Contact Jerry Weikel wackyykl@aol.com for a mailed copy of the Games Bulletin for $6 including 116 games from the Open section. Here are a few of the most important encounters.
DeGuzman,R - Atalik,S [A46]
Atalik,S - Yermolinsky,A [A40]
Serper,G - Mezentsev,V [D53]
Yermolinsky,A - Kudrin,S [A40] 3) Fischer Icelandic CitizenIceland's parliament granted citizenship to fugitive U.S. chess star Bobby Fischer on Monday. Whether this will succeed in freeing Fischer from his detention cell is unclear. What follows is a condensed version of reports from several sources. Trouble began for Fischer in 1992 when, ignoring a U.S. Executive Order, he participated in a rematch tournament against Boris Spassky in the former Yugoslavia, which at the time was levied with international sanctions. Fischer defeated Spassky and won $3.3 million. But later that same year, he was issued with an arrest warrant carrying a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison for violating the economic embargo. Fischer has since declared his retirement from professional chess and kept a very private life, with the occasional exception of making controversial appearances on obscure radio programs to tongue-lash at the United States, or spew off his anti-Semitic views. One of his most notorious outbursts was in 2001, on the day of the Sept. 11 attacks, when he called into a radio station in Baguio, Philippines. "This is all wonderful news," he exclaimed. "It's time to finish off the U.S. once and for all." But, as Fischer continued to travel between Asia and Europe, no effort seemed to have been made by the U.S. government to apprehend him. In 1997, he walked into the U.S. Embassy in Switzerland and had his passport renewed and even had new pages added to his travel document five years later. Nevertheless, 13 years after the warrant was issued, Fischer was finally captured by Japanese immigration officials at Tokyo's Narita Airport, acting on a tip from the U.S consular office. Several lawsuits were immediately filed by his lawyers to prevent his deportation to the United States. Fischer even unilaterally renounced his American citizenship from his detention cell, declaring "enough is enough." "He put our country on the world map when he beat Boris Spassky in 1972," said Einar Einarsson, the former head of the Icelandic Chess Association. "Iceland is the only country in the world to step forward and help Bobby Fischer." But so far, the Japanese authorities have refused to release him. It is unclear how the Japanese government will react to the Icelandic parliament granting Fischer citizenship on Monday. "In principle, one must be deported to the country of origin," maintains Masaharu Miura, head of Japanese Immigration Bureau. "This is no exception." The insistence by Japanese officials that Fischer be deported to the United States has some even suggesting that Tokyo is under pressure from Washington. When Kazuya Shinba, a member of the major opposition party Minshuto raised these allegations during a recent parliamentary hearing, Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura replied, "I don't recall being asked by the United States to do anything about Mr. Fischer." But opposition lawmakers are still charging that there is a bias in the way Fischer's case has been handled by Japanese authorities. "This is absolutely incomprehensible," said Mizuho Fukushima, a former human rights lawyer and the leader of the Social Democratic Party who is also fighting for his release. "Had this been anyone else, he would have been freed already." Meanwhile, Fischer, who turned 62 this month, is said to be the oldest person held at the detention center and supporters are urging for a quick resolution. The United States demanded Tuesday that Japan hand over Bobby Fischer despite Iceland's move to accept the chess legend currently detained by Japanese immigration authorities since last July. "That's what we've asked for," Adam Ereli, deputy spokesman for the U.S. State Department, told reporters, when asked if the United States wants Japan to hand him over to the United States. Ereli expressed "disappointment" about the Icelandic parliament's decision Monday to grant citizenship to Fischer, 62. "It's an arrangement that we're disappointed by. Mr Fischer is a fugitive from justice. There is a federal warrant for his arrest. He's being detained in Japan, awaiting deportation and that's the step that we're looking forward to," he said. Following Iceland's decision, the Japanese Justice Ministry began considering whether to allow Fischer to leave for Iceland, ministry officials said Tuesday. 4) Frank Brady Resigns from Executive BoardMarch 21, 2005
Ms. Beatriz Marinello, President Dear Ms. Marinello: On the weekend of April 1, I am required to meet with the Deans of St. John's University to discuss a number of crucial actions that I am planning for my Communications majors: a new television studio, a radio station, and a computer animations and special effects lab. Additionally, I am attempting to move certain offerings in my programs to our Manhattan campus. All of this takes a great amount of time, let alone the bureaucratic hurdles that must be confronted. I already have had a feasibility study done by a team of architects and interior designers, but I must now discuss with the University administration the details of the expenditure of millions. Therefore, I will not be able to participate in the upcoming USCF Executive Board meeting in Berkeley this April. That being said, because of my increasing and demanding commitments outside of chess, I think it is time, after close to four years of service, that I offer my resignation as a member of the USCF Executive Board, effective immediately. Please remove my name from the masthead of Chess Life. As you know, over the past seven months, I am on record voting for the minority in a number of policy and practical issues that have come before the Board. However, despite my critical stance, I wish the Board the best of luck in all its future endeavors, and I sincerely hope that the move to Crossville and the other radical changes that have been, and are continuing so exponentially to be made, prove to be prudent and successful, all for the good of chess and our distinguished organization. Sincerely, Dr. Frank Brady 5) US Open 1955Last Newsletter the controversial last round of the 1955 US Open in Long Beach was revisited. Several readers wrote in with more information: Hi John, I note you were asking about the 1955 U.S. Open in Long Beach, California. I played in that one, my first U.S. Open. I have two sources for the crosstable for that tournament: Chess Life, Tuesday, September 20, 1955 The crosstable itself doesn't show any tie-break, just the 10-2 score that Rossolimo and Reshevsky scored. But on a separate page it shows the tie-break breakdown for both players. It show each of their opponents and their scores, adjusted scores, median points (62.0 for each), Solkoff points (92.5 each), and S-B points (Rossolimo 76.25 and Reshevsky 76.0). I can make a photocopy of that and send it to you if you like. Spence Limited Editions Vol. XVII American Tournament Series, A Selection of Games from the 56th United States Open Chess Championship, Long Beach, California, 1955. The book (spiral bound) of 61 pages and 310 games doesn't go into the tie-breaking. The James E. Warren Chess Book Collection of 4,491 Volumes is up for sale if you or anyone you know in your area is interested. Let me know I can send detailed information on it. It is completely computerized.
Regards, (Interested parties can contact Jim at apct@aol.com) Dear John, The prize was initially given to Rossolimo on the basis of incorrectly scored tiebreaks. This was contested [apparently there were some earlier forfeit wins by other players that were incorrectly accounted for]. When the tiebreaks were redone, they still favored Rossolimo on the tertiary [not 2d, as in Chess Review] tiebreak by only 0.5 point . I don't remember which systems were used [I'm at work on another 15 hour day], but can look it up if anyone is really interested. There was cross-table in Chess Life, but a nice picture of the Buick with R- and the car dealer who donated it! CL didn't give the tiebreaks of the other players.
Regards, 6) Fischer in Lawrence, KansasA new edition of Legend on the Road, a comprehensive look at Bobby Fischer's 1964 transcontinental simul tour, will be coming out in the next few weeks. This revised and enlarged edition is written by Mechanics' Institute Chess Director John Donaldson and will be published by Russell Enterprises, owners of the popular ChessCafe website. Despite efforts to be as thorough as possible one forgotten stop on the tour is not featured in the book. Expert Alan Anderson of Arizona found the following material on Bobby's stop in Lawrence, Kansas, just last week. Alan writes: Hello John, I talked with Fred Huff yesterday about the Bobby Fischer exhibition at the University of Kansas at Lawrence on April 30, 1964. Fred confirmed Professor Horak's information as to the date, April 30, 1964, and the location, although Fred refers to it as the University of Kansas Student Union building. Fred remembers the exhibition as taking place on the second floor. He also thought Horak's name "sounded familiar." Fred has a very clear memory of the exhibition as being a 45-board exhibition; the fee for playing was $5.00 a board. Fred says Fischer won 44 games and gave up one draw, "because it was past Fischer's bedtime." Fred remembers Fischer moving instantly during the exhibition, in some cases having his hand on his piece (or pawn) ready to make his move while his opponent was in the process of completing their own move. The person who wrote the following information about the Fischer exhibition and played in it is Henry G.Horak, a former professor at University of Kansas. His website is dated Christmas, 1998 and he was 79 at the time of writing. The URL to his website is: http://www.physics.ku.edu/astronomy/history/horak.html This next few paragraphs may seem out of place, but they do pertain to the visit of an interesting personality to K.U. My interest in the game of Chess developed when I was a teen-ager in the 1930's, and had the opportunity to learn the game and play against some strong players in Kansas City. We chessplayers met regularly at the Y.M.C.A. every Saturday afternoon, and in a few years I became rather proficient at the game, eventually winning a few tournaments there. My rating was about that of an "Expert" (just below a "Master"). From time to time a touring Grandmaster would visit us to give a simultaneous exhibition, and we would each invest a few dollars to play against him. Israel Horowitz, the one-time U.S. champion, visited us at least three times; I managed to draw the first two times, but the third time the exhibition wasn't completed because half-way through the simultaneous event (I suppose about thirty of us were there) one of the participants, Mr. Arthur Harris, a good friend of mine in his fifties, had a sudden heart attack and died (January 20, 1941). It was quite shocking to see the dark shadow move across his face, and his life disappear in just a minute. Indeed, it is not generally realized that Chess can be a very exciting game, so I took a quick look at his position. I didn't see anything there that would have particularly evoked stress, for his position seemed safe enough. Now at K.U., at least as far as I could discover, there has never been much serious interest in Chess; this is understandable, since competing in it is hard sedentary work, akin to academic studying for a final, and students would rather participate in physical sports for their recreation. However, early in the year 1964 some of the students got together and were able to entice the International Grandmaster Robert (Bobby) Fisher to give a simultaneous exhibition on April 30 at the K.U. Union Building. Bobby was only twenty-one years old, and the strongest player ever produced in the United States; he was destined to become the World's Chess Champion in 1972, when he would decisively defeat the then World's Champion from the Soviet Union, Boris Spassky. Fischer had learned Chess in the New York environment of strong master players, and he had succeeded in besting all of them. His style was geared more to attacking than to defending, and he played all phases of the game (opening, middle and end games) equally well. His attitude towards the game was entirely practical, and he had studied very hard to attain his goals. He also possessed a rather low opinion of so-called intellectuals (I sometimes think he was right). When he played against us at K.U., he had about 50 or 60 opponents (I would guess), and he completed his exhibition very quickly in only a few hours; I was one of the last to go down in what to me was a difficult end game. I don't remember Fischer's total score against us; if he had lost a game, we would undoubtedly have heard about it. Nevertheless it was an interesting experience. I wonder how he would fare against the "Big Blue" computer that recently (1997) defeated the present (human) World's Champion, Kasparov? Unfortunately we'll probably never know, because Fischer retired from active competition immediately after gaining the World's Championship 7) Chess Poems by Dennis Fritzingerbilly the kid
it's been a long time victory dance
the best thing 8) Here and ThereThe USCF is having its Executive Board meeting at the Berkeley City Club on April 2 and 3, 2005 and the meetings will be open to the public from 3pm to 6pm on both days. The Berkeley City Club, once home to the Berkeley Chess Club, is at 2315 Durant Street not far from Telegraph Avenue and the UC Berkeley campus. It's about a 10 minute walk from the downtown Berkeley BART station. Bill Townsend reports: The US Amateur Team East 2005 took place February 19th-21st 2005 in Parsippany, at Parsippany, in central New Jersey. There were three other Amateur Team events run the same weekend in different parts of the U.S.A. (West, Midwest and South) but the East is where the Amateur Teams started thirty-five years ago, and traditionally it is much larger than the other three put together. In keeping with the trend of recent years Team East broke its own attendance record yet again with 1,205 players competing in 286 teams. This has to be the largest team tournament ever held in North America, and perhaps even the Western Hemisphere. Just like the last two years, the tournament ended in a four-way tie at 5.5-0.5 with the final places determined by tiebreaks. In first place was "My 60 Memorable Anti-Semitic Rants," originally seeded eighth with an average team rating of 2193. The team members were: Eli Vovsha, Samson Benen, Evan Rosenberg, and Joshua Bromberg. Second through fourth were: "UTD Orange" from the University of Texas at Dallas, "Fock Lenderman," and "Cambridge Ringers." I should explain that the term "Amateur" is something of a misnomer: players of any rating can compete so long as the average team rating is below 2,200 USCF. There were a number of world-class grandmasters playing such as former U.S. Champions Larry Christiansen and Arthur Bisguier and even a former world champion, GM Susan Polgar. One team even featured both reigning U.S. Champions: GM Hikaru Nanmura and WGM Rusudan Goletiani played boards one and two for "San Diego Two-Step" which finished a half point out of first place with 5-1. Further info: http://www.uschess.org/tla/yState.php?st=Natl Alex Yermolinsky passes on a few more name changes for those of you who like to update your ChessBase game files
Booth to Muhammad Eric Schiller writes: I set up an instant runoff poll at http://www.demochoice.org/dcballot.php?poll=chswks01 to determine the three greatest chess players of all time. The poll uses a method similar to that of the SF elections, where every vote counts. Please tell people about it, it is fun and is a great example of how the voting system works.
Eric Schiller
Please join http://www.GeekCruises.com/chess Greetings, As a leader in the Chess Community I wanted you to be aware of a new chess event on the horizon: "Chess Moves", a "Geek Cruise" to the Caribbean January 14-21, 2006. So far GMs Joel Benjamin, Larry Christiansen, and Susan Polgar have signed up to deliver classes. Other GMs will be added to our faculty as well.
Here's a sampling of SOME of the 1.5-hour classes the GMs will give: There will be two concurrent tracks -- delivered by the Grandmaster faculty -- while the ship is sailing between ports. When the ship is docked in port, everyone is on vacation. For this particular sailing, http://www.geekcruises.com/itinerary/cm01_itinerary.htm, there are two and one-half "sea days". That means there will be 20 hours of daytime lectures! In addition to classes, Chess Moves will host an informal Blitz competition and everyone will have a chance, with either a Master or Grandmaster, to either play chess or get some private/lesson time. If you're involved in a chess club or group of players, consider promoting the event within your club or organization to save money: Not only can everyone in your group enjoy a sizeable group discount, but you could earn a free laptop AND free passage on "Chess Moves": http://www.geekcruises.com/standard_interface/free_stuff.htm All of the details are available here: http://www.GeekCruises.com/chess. If you would like some printed literature, please contact me, Neil Bauman, Geek Cruises "Captain", directly: mailto: neil@geekcruises.com or just reply to this email. Here's an online version of our full-color flyer: http://www.GeekCruises.com/pdf/ChessMoves_Flyer.pdf Geek Cruises is a unique company that hosts educational cruise- conferences, on all sorts of topics, all over the world. "Chess Moves" will be Geek Cruises' 30th event at sea. Past cruises have covered topics from Linux to the Apple Macintosh ... and the cruise destinations have included Hawaii, the Eastern Mediterranean, Mexican Riviera, the Caribbean, the Baltic Sea, and Alaska.
Geek Cruises' high-tech cruise-conferences offer advantages to attendees
that land-based events just can't: I look forward to meeting you in Ft. Lauderdale for "Chess Moves"! --
Neil R. Bauman, Captain & CEO 9) Upcoming EventsUpcoming Tournaments at the MI
Lovegrove Senior Open - April 2-3
East Bay Chess Club Open Quads
Entry fee: $15 if mailed before 3/19/05, $20 at site.
Registration/Check-in: 10-10:45 AM the day of the tournament. 3rd Annual Western Pacific Open GPP: 50 S. California 5SS, 3-day 40/2, SD/1, 2-day rds. 1-2 G/75 then merges. Burbank Airport Hilton, 2500 Hollywood Way, Burbank CA (adjacent to Burbank Airport). $$10,000 b/200, 50% of each prize guaranteed. In 3 sections: Open: 1600-1000-800-400-200 plus $200(G) bonus for clear first, U2400 300, U2300 200, U2200 700-500-300. EF: $81 if received by 3-23, $95 door. Premier (U2000): $$ 700-500-300-100, U1800 400-200-150, U1600 400-200-150. EF: $81 if received by 3-23, $95 door, no unrated. Amateur (U1400): $$400+trophy-200-100, U1200 100+trophy, Unr 100+trophy, unrated may win unrated prize only. EF: $66 if received by 3-23, $75 door. On-line entry: http://www.westernchess.com/. No checks or credit card entries at door. All: $25 Best Game prize, all sections eligible. One half-point bye if requested with entry, rds 4-5 cannot be revoked. SCCF membership req. of S. Cal. res., $14 reg, $9.00 junior. Reg: 5:30-6:30 p.m. 3/25, 8:30-10 a.m. 3/26. Rds: 3-day 7 p.m., 11-5:30, 10-4:30. 2-day: 10:30-1:30 (G/75), then merges. HR: $89, (818) 843-6000 or (800) 840-6450. Be sure to mention Western Chess. Parking $7/day. Info: admin@westernchess.com. Web site: http://www.westernchess.com/. Ent: SCCF, c/o John Hillery, 835 N. Wilton Pl. #1, Los Angeles CA 90038. NS. NC. F. State Championship Qualifier. National
Oklahoma Chess Foundation presents: GPP: 80 Oklahoma Las Vegas International Chess Festival The Las Vegas International Chess Festival comprises of the following events: June 9th, Polgar Sisters Tandem Simul! For the first time in over 10 years the Polgar sisters, Susan, Judit and Sofia will give a tandem simul. June 9th, National Open Blitz Championship 7 double rounds, seeded Swiss format tournament. June 10th, Breakfast with the Polgar Sisters June 10th-12th, National Open Tournament $55,000 guaranteed prize fund! First place, $5000. 6 round, seeded Swiss format. 8 different sections. US Championship Qualifier. June 13th, US Game/10 Championship $5,000 guaranteed prize fund. 7 round, seeded Swiss format. June 13th-18th, US Senior Championship Open to US residents/citizens born before 6/13/1955. 6 round, seeded Swiss format, one round a day and this is also a US Championship Qualifier. June 13th-18th, US "Under 50" Championship Open to US residents/citizens born on or after 6/13/1955. 6 round, seeded Swiss format, one round a day. You can find out more information about all the above events, along with online entry at http://www.64.com |