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People knew about 110 years of chess history. Nowadays, nobody is able to tell you the name of the world champion of 2000. Anatoly Karpov |
1) Mechanics' Institute Chess News 2) Ray Schutt 1945-2007 3) Akopian wins in Gibraltar 4) Yasser Seirawan is still playing 5) Silman simul and book signing in Los Angeles on February 20 6) President's Day FIDE Open in Stillwater 7) Expansion teams from Queens and New Jersey join US Chess League 8) New England Masters and Millennium Chess Festival brighten US tournament scene 9) Washington State Championship 10) New Teaching Program 11) Upcoming Events |
1) Mechanics' Institute Chess Club NewsWIM Batchimeg Tuvshintugs defeated FM Frank Thornally in round five of the Mechanics' Winter Tuesday Night Marathon to gain sole possession of first place. Tied for second, a half point back at 4 1/2 are Salar Jahedi and Demetrius Goins. The latter, rated in the mid 1900s for the past few years, is threatening to finally break into the Expert ranks with wins over 2100 plus players the past two rounds.
Tuvshintugs - Thornally Petroff C42 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.d4 d5 6.Bd3 Bd6 7.0-0 0-0 8.c4 c6 9.Nc3 Nxc3 10.bxc3 dxc4 11.Bxc4 Bg4 12.h3 Bh5 13.Rb1 b5 14.Bd3 Nd7 15.Be4 Rc8 16.Qd3 Bg6 17.Bxg6 hxg6 18.c4 This position has been tested a fair number of times with 18.Bg5 receiving preference. 18...bxc4 19.Qxc4 Nb6 20.Qa6 Rc7 21.Ba3 Re8 21...Bxa3 22.Qxa3 Re8 was played in Braga-Zsu. Polgar, Wijk aan Zee (B) 1986. 22.Rbc1 Re6 22...Bxa3 23.Qxa3 Nd5 was another option. 23.Rfe1 Bxa3 24.Qxa3 Rxe1+ 25.Rxe1 Qf8 26.Qa5 Nd5 27.Ne5 Qd6 28.Nd3 Re7 29.Rc1 f6 29...Nf4! 30.Nxf4 Qxf4 was a clear route to equality. 30.Qa6 Black holds the e-file after 30.Qa4 Rc7 31.Re1 with 31...Re7. 30...Rc7 31.Re1 Ne7?! 31...Re7 32.Rc1 Nb6 was necessary with equal chances, 32.Qc4+ Qd5?! 33.Qb4! Kf7? 33...Qd8 was forced. 34.Nf4 Qxa2? 34...Qd7 was the last chance to resist 35.Qd6! Qa5 36.Qe6+ Ke8 37.d5 1-0 This Saturday the Mechanics' is hosting the 7th Annual Henry Gross Memorial G/45. Last month's event attracted 53 players and we are expecting a similar turnout for the Gross. 2) Ray Schutt 1945-2007We report with sadness the passing of NM Ray Schutt who died in Boulder City, Nevada, in late January. A native of Hayward, whose father was one of the founding members of the Hayward Chess Club at the Green Shutter Hotel in the late 1940s, Ray started playing in the early 1960s and quickly became one of the best players in the area, representing the Bay Area in the California State Closed Championship several times in the late 1960s. Around this time Ray was a low Master and it was not until the 1980s that he reached his peak, consistently maintaining his rating in the 2300s with a personal best of 2359 ( May 1987). Among the titles he was awarded were Southwest Open Champion (with C.Bill Jones and a young Walter Browne) in 1967 and US Senior Open champion in 1995 ( he tied for first with GM Eduard Gufeld but beat him 2-0 in the blitz playoff for the title ). Ray was an accomplished correspondence player who played ICCF by mail and later switched to playing via e-mail - IECC. Here he defeats Zoltan Gyimesi, today a +2600 GM and over 2500 FIDE at the time this game was held.
Sicilian Dragon B78 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 O-O 8.Qd2 Nc6 9.O-O-O 9.Bc4 Bd7 10.h4 Rc8 11.Bb3 h5 12.O-O-O Ne5 13.Bg5 Rc5 14.g4 (14.Kb1 b5 15.g4 a5 16.Bxf6 Bxf6 17.gxh5 a4 0-1 Kure-Schutt, IEECC 1997 )14... hxg4 15.f4 Nc4 16.Qe2 Qc8 17.Bxf6 Bxf6 18.Nd5 b5 19.h5 g5 20.Bxc4 bxc4 21.Qe3 Rxd5 22.exd5 gxf4 23.Qxf4 c3 24.Rhf1 Qc4 25.bxc3 Qxa2 26.Nb3 Bxc3 27.Rd3 Bf6 28.Kd1 Rc8 29.Rf2 a5 30.Rg3 a4 31.c4 Rxc4 0-1 Mukhrjee-Schutt, IECC 1997. 9...d5 10.exd5 Nxd5 11.Nxc6 bxc6 12.Bd4 e5 13.Bc5 Re8 14.Ne4 Be6 15.h4 h6 16.g4 Qc7 17.g5 h5 18.Bc4 Red8 19.Qf2 Nf4 20.Bxe6 Nxe6 21.Bd6 Qb6 22.Rd2 Qxf2 23.Rxf2 Rd7 24.Rd1 Rad8 25.c3 f5 26.gxf6 Bf8 27.Rfd2 Bh6 28.Bxe5 Bxd2+ 29.Rxd2 Rxd2 30.Nxd2 Rd5 31.Bg3 g5 32.Kd1 gxh4 33.Bxh4 Ng5 0-1 Unfortunately there is only a small unrepresentative selection of Ray's over the board games available in Mega 2007 and at the Chessdryad website. Ray was trained as a mathematician but employed professionally in the computer science field. Among his employers were Hughes Aircraft, Lockheed Sunnyvale and TRW. Ray's work took him all over the United States from California to Texas to Connecticut and even England. He played chess wherever he went including several stints at the Marshall and Manhattan clubs. Since moving to Boulder City two years ago Ray wasn't often seen in the Bay Area but he did make it to Mike Goodall's Christmas Party this past December. If you go to http://www.chessdryad.com/photos/sanrafael/goodall_06/index.htm you will find a picture of him ( Ray is DSCN8890) A picture of Ray from the 1980s can be found at http://www.chessdryad.com/photos/paloalto/1983/pg_04.htm Ray Schutt was a private person but much loved and admired by those who knew him well. Chris Mavraedis writes, Ray was a great chess player, a great friend and an even greater person! I will miss him terribly! Raymond W. Schutt is survived by his brother Bill. 3) Akopian wins in GibraltarArmenian GM Vladimir Akopian rebounded from a first round loss to IM Irina Krush, scoring 7.5 from his last 8 games, to win the Gibralter Open. Hikaru Nakamura shared second a half point back in the event which attracted a lot of American players. Go to http://beta.uschess.org/frontend/news_7_264.php to read Irina's report on the event. Nakamura,H (2651) - Epishin,V (2561) [B42] Gibtelecom Masters Gibraltar (7), 30.01.2007 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Bd3 Bc5 6.Nb3 Be7 7.Be3 d5 8.exd5 Qxd5 9.Nc3 Qxg2 10.Be4 Qh3 11.Qd4 Nf6 12.0-0-0 Nbd7 13.Rhg1 g6 14.Rg3 Qh5 15.Bg5 h6 16.Bf3 Qxh2 17.Be3 e5 18.Qa4 e4 19.Nxe4 Nxe4 20.Bxe4 Qh4 21.Nc5 b5 22.Qd4 Bf6 23.Qd5 Nxc5 24.Bxc5 1-0
Zhu Chen (2518) - Ehlvest,J (2610) [B81] 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.g4 h6 7.h4 Nc6 8.Rg1 h5 9.gxh5 Nxh5 10.Bg5 Nf6 11.Qd2 Qb6 12.Nb3 a6 13.0-0-0 Bd7 14.Rg3 Qc7 15.Bg2 Nh5 16.Rh3 Rc8 17.Kb1 b5 18.a3 b4 19.axb4 Nxb4 20.Bf1 e5 21.Rh2 Rb8 22.Bh3 Bc6 23.Nd5 Bxd5 24.exd5 Be7 25.Qc3 Qb6 26.Be3 Qb5 27.Bf1 Qa4 28.Ba7 Ra8 29.Qc7 0-0 30.Qxe7 Rfc8 31.f3 Qa2+ 32.Kc1 Qxb3 33.Rdd2 Qa2 34.Kd1 Qb1+ 35.Ke2 Ng3+ 36.Kf2 Nxf1 37.Rh1 Rxc2 38.Rxc2 Nd3+ 39.Kg2 Nf4+ 0-1 4) Yasser Seirawan is still playingIt must be a sign of age, but I find nothing more heartening than to see players from my generation continuing to achieve good results. Yasser Seirawan formally announced his retirement from serious competition several years ago. He now keeps busy with his work as a commentator for ChessBase and coaching ( GM Daniel Stellwagen is among his pupils) but he does still play. Principally this means Rapid and Blitz events but also the Dutch Team competition which is played at a regular time control and FIDE rated. Yasser has played quite successfully for his club and paradoxically his rating is rising in "retirement". The following game, played last weekend, puts him over 2640 FIDE, not far from his peak rating of 2653 achieved in 1999 at age 39 though some might say his true peak was in the second half of the 1980s when he was twice a Candidate for the World Championship.
Seirawan,Yasser (2638) - Kritz,Leonid (2578) English A27 1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Nf3 g6 4.d4 exd4 5.Nxd4 Bg7 6.Nxc6 bxc6 7.g3 Ne7 8.Bg2 0-0 9.0-0 d6 10.Bg5 f6 11.Bf4 Rb8 12.c5 d5 13.Qa4 g5 14.Bc1 Rb7 15.e4 dxe4 16.Rd1 Qe8 17.Qxe4 f5 18.Qe2 h6 19.Re1 Bf6 20.b3 Qf7 21.Bb2 f4 White has achieved a positional advantage but how to increase it? Yasser was quite critical of his next two moves which he characterized as both "lazy and poor". 22.Rad1?! Rb4 23.h3?! Qg7 23...g4!, with good counter-play. 24.Na4 Nd5 25.Bxf6 Qxf6 26.Qe5 Qg6 27.Nc3 27.Rxd5! cxd5 (27...fxg3 28.Rd2) 28.Bxd5+ Kh7 29.Qc3 Qf6 30.Qxb4 fxg3 31.fxg3 Qf2+ 32.Kh1 was a clear and clean win. White is still much better after the text but there is work to do. 27...Nf6 28.Qxc7 fxg3 29.fxg3 Qc2 30.Rd8 Qxc3 31.Rxf8+ Kxf8 32.Qxc8+ Kg7 33.Qc7+ 33.Re7+ Kg6 34.Qf8 was quicker. 33...Kg6 34.Qe5 Qxe5 35.Rxe5 Nd7 36.Re6+ Kf5 37.Rxc6 Rd4 38.Rc7 Ne5 39.Rxa7 Rd1+ 40.Kf2 Rd2+ 41.Kf1 1-0 5) Silman simul and book signing in Los Angeles on February 20Siles Press invites you to a Simultaneous Chess Exhibition and Book signing Party at Samuel French Theatre & Film Bookshop (11963 Ventura Blvd. [1 block east of Laurel Cyn.] Studio City, CA 91604 · (818) 762-0535) to celebrate the publication of International Master Jeremy Silman's Complete Endgame Course. Tuesday Evening February 20th - 5-9pm . The simultaneous chess exhibition will begin promptly at 5pm. If you would like to play IM Jeremy Silman in this exhibition you must reserve a board prior to the event (simul will be limited to 20 players) by calling Siles Press at (323) 661-9922 or email: silmanjamespress@earthlink.net Entry Fee to play in simul = the purchase of 1 copy of Silman's Complete Endgame Course at the event. 6) President's Day FIDE Open in StillwaterThe President's Day weekend is always a big one for American chess. From the US Amateur East in New Jersey to the People's Open in Berkeley there is something for every chess player.This year taking center stage will be the President's Day FIDE Open in Stillwater, Oklahoma, organized by FIDE International Organizer Frank Berry and his twin brother Jim Berry, who is running for the USCF Executive Board. Among the GMs competing are Alex Shabalov, Magesh Panchanathan and Pascal Charbonneau. There will be plenty of IMs to give them a run for their money including Irina Krush ( fresh from a near GM norm in Gibralter), Peter Vavrak, Jacek Stopa, Stanislav Kriventsov, Davorin Kuljasevic and Marko Zivanic. What really makes the event unique is the large number of FIDE titled women playing, attracted by the excellent conditions the Berry brothers are offering. Odds are good that this will be the strongest gathering of female chess talent ever gathered in North America bar none. Flying the Mechanics' flag in Stillwater will be WGM Camille Baginskaite and WIM Batchimeg Tuvshintugs. Games from the event can be watched live from the Monroi website (www.monroi.com) and likely the ICC will be offering coverage as well. Look for a 4 1/2 page report of the event by Jerry Hanken in Chess Life this spring and coverage in IM Jack Peters' column in the Los Angeles Times. 7) Expansion teams from Queens and New Jersey join US Chess LeagueUS Chess League Czar IM Greg Shahade writes: New Jersey and Queens have been granted the two new expansion teams, as is now publicized on the USCL Website. We were hoping to add one Eastern team and one Western team to the mix this year, but these two teams simply brought too much to the table for us to ignore. Along with their high rated players and young superstars, these teams also are receiving sponsorship. In any case I just wanted to briefly explain our decision, as it may seem strange for the league to have accepted two teams that are in such close proximity to each other and to other teams in the league. In future years it will be increasingly difficult for a North Eastern team to join the league, so encourage anyone on the West Coast, in the South or in the Midwest to get ready for next year's expansion process. The league is also not guaranteed to expand again for 2008. This will depend on the amount of interest we get from around the country. If we have four serious bids, then we will probably expand once again, but if not we will likely stand pat. On the USCL website ( www.uschessleague.com) IM Shahade adds: New Jersey will be led by GM Joel Benjamin with other confirmed players being IM Dean Ippolito, the #2 15 year old in the nation NM Evan Ju, and the former New York Knight, NM Mackenzie Molner Queens, NY will be led by GM Alexander Stripunsky and GM Ildar Ibragimov while the rest of the team will be filled with promising young juniors, such as the #2 16 year old in the nation NM James Critelli, and the #2 ranked 12 year old in the nation Parker Zhao. 8) New England Masters and Millennium Chess Festival brighten US tournament sceneDear Chess Player, I would like to invite you to participate in the New England Masters, a 9 round FIDE Swiss with norm opportunities, that will take place near Boston, Massachusetts, USA from August 13-17, 2007. The tournament is being organized by me, Chris Bird, and will follow the same structure as the very successful Las Vegas Masters that I organized in June, 2006 (http://www.clarkcountychessclub.com/masters). However, I want this year's event to be even better and so have implemented a couple of improvements! This event will be at a hotel, the Holiday Inn Peabody, which is located just 12 miles from Boston's Logan Airport. This in turn means we are not just limited to 36 players and can probably handle around 60 or maybe more this year! Not only does the host hotel have an indoor pool and fitness facilities but they are also guaranteeing a $69/night room rate (based on up to four people) so long as you book by July 23, 2007! We have also changed the rounds times to 1:00 pm and 7:00 pm each day (except the first day which is just one round starting at 7:00 pm) to allow for a more relaxing time and plenty of sleep! The time control has also changed from the sudden death finishes we had last time to Game/90 with an additional 30 seconds per move added from move 1. To find out more information regarding the New England Masters, enter the tournament and book your hotel room, please visit our special website at http://www.NewEnglandMasters.com. I look forward to adding your name to the confirmed list of entries soon and please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions. Sincerely,
Chris Bird The Millennium Chess Festival has returned and will be held in early March (see details below). GMs Nick deFirmian and John Fedorowicz will play a special exhibition game in the middle of the event. 9) Washington State ChampionshipThe next two weekends the Washington State Championship will be held as a round robin tournament, a tradition that goes back over 70 years. History will be made with this event which will feature both the youngest ( recently turned 13-year-old NM Michael Lee) and oldest ( 72-year-old NM Viktors Pupols) players ever to participate. 10) New Teaching ProgramDear Chess Enthusiast: The North American Chess Association (NACA) in collaboration with some of the top chess talent across North America proudly offers Internet based group lessons. Online courses in Openings, Middle Game, End Game and Tactics are available for the beginner (rating of 1200-1600) and intermediate (1601-2000) chess enthusiast. Online courses are also available for players rated under 1000. To view our full press release please visit http://www.nachess.org/grouplessons Please feel free to pass this email along to your chess network. Good Chess to All:
Sevan A. Muradian, President 11) Upcoming Events
Henry Gross Memorial - February 10
A Heritage Event!
Feb 17, 18 19 President's Day FIDE Open OK GP # 1 Stillwater
Mar. 2-4 7th Annual Millennium Chess Festival GPP: 120 Virginia |