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For me, this personality, notwithstanding his fundamentally optimistic attitude, had a tragic note. The enormous mental resilience, without which no chess player can exist, was so much taken up by chess that he could never free his mind of this game, even when he was occupied by philosophical and humanitarian questions. Albert Einstein, in his foreword to Hannak's biography of Emanuel Lasker |
1) Mechanics' Institute Chess Club News 2) Zsuzsa Polgar sets records 3) Here and There 4) Upcoming Events 1) Mechanics' Institute Club NewsEdward Perepletsky drew his last round game with NM Tony D'Aliosio to win the Summer Tuesday Night Marathon this evening with a score of 7 from 8. The 20-year-old Cal Tech student, home on break, started the event ranked around number 20 in the 86-player field but turned in a USCF performance rating of close to 2600 for his last five games, scoring 4 1/2 points against an IM, a FM, and 3 NMs. Tying for second at 6.5 were NMs Batchimeg Tuvshintugs and Victor Ossipov. The next Marathon, the David Gee Memorial, starts August 23. MI women occupy three of the top 20 positions on the USCF's top 100 list for females. WGM Camille Baginskaite is number 7 at 2342 followed by Batchimeg Tuvshintugs at number nine (2275) and Egle Morkunaite number 15 at 2188. The Bay Area can even count one more player as Stanford student Cindy Tsai is number 18 at 2169. Note there will be no lectures next Tuesday and Wednesday due to the US Open. 2) Zsuzsa Polgar sets recordsAMERICA'S #1 RANKED FEMALE CHESS PLAYER SETS FOUR NEW WORLD RECORDS AT THE GARDENS MALL Palm Beach Gardens, Florida... In a marathon 16-and-a-half hours, Grandmaster Susan Polgar set not one, but four new records, and unofficially set a Guinness World Record for the most simultaneous matches. More than 500 people from around the world, ranging in ages from 4 - 95, turned out at The Gardens Mall on Monday for a chance to compete against the first female celebrity icon of the chess world. The games began at 10:30 am and wrapped up at 3:00 am. "I am very happy that I chose The Gardens Mall in Palm Beach Gardens as the site to break the Guinness World Chess Records," said Grandmaster Susan Polgar. "The turnout was incredible, much more than I could have imagined!" New Records by Grandmaster Susan Polgar 1) 326 Simultaneous Games Played (309 wins, 14 draws, 3 losses = 96.93% in 16 hours and 30 minutes) 2) Most games won 309 3) Highest percentage 96.93% 4) 1,131 Consecutive Games Played against 554 opponents (Overall 1,112 wins, 16 draws, 3 losses) Fun Facts - The event started at 10:30am. - Players from Turkey, Australia, Sweden, Jamaica, Hungary, Argentina, Mexico, Colombia and Canada participated in the world record attempt. - Susan Polgar walked 9.1 miles from 10:30am - 3:00am. - Susan Polgar only took five 5-minute breaks throughout the 16.5 hour event. - The three losses were to the following players: Joe Salzman 12:23am; Joshua M. Downey 2:15am; Kenneth Bachman 2:55am - The last official game ended at 3:00am. Previous Records: 1st previous record: 321 games (294 wins, 26 draws, 1 loss = 95.64%) by IM Andrew Martin (England) 2nd previous record: 1102 games played consecutively by WGM Anna-Maria Botsari (Greece) 3rd previous record: 95.64% by IM Andrew Martin (England) Polgar is a pioneer in women's chess, an ambassador to the game, and a role model to millions of young women worldwide. She is the founder of the Susan Polgar Foundation, a non-profit organization that promotes chess to young people, especially girls. Polgar started playing adult men in Hungarian chess parlors when she was 4-and-a-half. At 17, she became the first woman ever to qualify for the Men's World Championship. Four years later, at age 21, she became the world's first female grandmaster, the World Chess Federations' designation for the top-ranked players. Her previous records include: - 4-time Women's World Chess Champion - The only World Champion in history (male or female) to win the Chess Triple Crown 5-time Olympic Champion with 10 overall medals, and has never been defeated in Olympiad competition - Currently holds a record 56 consecutive Olympiad game-scoring streak without a loss "Grandmaster Susan Polgar's World Record Chess Challenge" was presented by Joel Channing, Chairman of Channing Corporation, Director of the U.S. Chess Trust and Member Elect of the U.S. Chess Federation, as well as Donald Schultz, Member of the Executive Board and Past President of the U.S. Chess Federation. Supporting organizations for the World Record chess challenge include the Susan Polgar Foundation, the U.S. Chess Trust, The Gardens Mall, Northern Palm Beaches Chamber of Commerce, PGA Corridor Association, Boca Raton Chess Club, Palm Beach County Sports Commission, The Palm Beach Post, Florida Coca-Cola Bottling Co., Palm Beach Gardens Marriott and William T. Dwyer High School. For more information on the Susan Polgar Foundation, and for downloadable photos, visit http://www.susanpolgarfoundation.org/. The Gardens Mall is located one mile east of I-95 on PGA Blvd. in Palm Beach Gardens. For more information about The Gardens Mall call 561/775-7750, or visit them online at thegardensmall.com. The Gardens Mall is managed by The Forbes Company of Southfield, Michigan. 3) Here and ThereBoston GM Alexander Ivanov has been quite successful of late. He won an event in Samford, Connecticut, the weekend of July 15-17, scoring 4.5 from 5. GM Sergey Kudrin and US Women's Champion Rusa Goletiani shared second with 4 points. Two weeks later he shared top honors with fellow GMs Kamil Miton, Alex Wojtkiewicz and Ildar Ibragimov in the Continental Open held in Sturbridge, Massachusetts, with scores of 4.5 from 6. Both events were held by Bill Goichberg's Continental Chess Association. The recently concluded Arnold Denker Memorial in Boca Raton saw the form charts hold true with the top seeds taking the top spots. Miami's resident GM, Julio Becerra, scored 7.5 from 9 followed by IMs Renier Gonzalez and Blas Lugo with 7 and 6.5 points respectively. FM Marcel Martinez came closest of those seeking an IM norm in the Category 4 (2316 average) event, missing by a point with his 5.5-3.5 score. Among the other scores noteworthy was the performance of 13-year-old Jeffrey Haskell who scored a very respectable 3.5 points in his debut at this level of competition. The US will send a strong delegation to the Pan American Intercontinental in Buenos Aires this August 5-16. Among the top players are Gata Kamsky, Alexander Onischuk, Alex Goldin, Ildar Ibragimov, Yury Shulman, Alexander Ivanov, Varuzhan Akobian and Sergey Kudrin. The July/August issue of Psychology Today has an 11-page story devoted to the Polgar sisters under the title "The Grandmaster Experiment". GMs Sergey Shipov and Abhijit Kunte shared first place with IM Igor Zugic in the Guelph Pro-Am which just ended. Tying for fourth, half a point behind the winning score of 6.5, was GM Igor Ivanov of St.George, Utah. 4) Upcoming EventsUpcoming Tournaments at the MI
Vladimir Pafnutieff - August 6 http://www.chessclub.org/Pafnutieff.html Northern California
September 3-5 2005 CalChess Labor Day Championships GPP: 15 N. CAlifornia
September 3-5
27th Annual Southern California Open
2005 Reno Western States Open Chess Tournament
$52,400 PRIZE FUND!!! for this Six Round Swiss in Seven Sections (based on 500 paid players, $33,550 Guaranteed). At least 15 places paid in every section! Large prize fund made possible by the generosity of the Sands Regency Casino Hotel.
RUB ELBOWS WITH THE MASTERS: Reception with Former World Champion GM Boris Spassky on Wednesday night. FREE lecture by GM Larry Evans on Thursday evening. $100 simul with GM Boris Spassky on Thursday night. Book signing session with GM Boris Spassky on Friday morning. Clinic by GM Boris Spassky on Saturday afternoon. Favorite game analysis with GM Boris Spassky on Sunday afternoon
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