I have won many games that have not made me happy and when I lose, I am also not happy. My friends ask 'so when are you happy?' That's the way chess is; you are happy only rarely; the rest is grief. GM Ljubomir Ljubojevic ( Inside Chess 1993) |
1) Mechanics' Institute Chess Club News 2) Ray Schutt: Part 3 An appreciation by Erik Osbun 3) GM Lubosh Kavalek and the Washington Post 4) US Amateur Team Playoff this weekend 5) GM norm for Fabiano Caruana 6) The Argonaut chess column 1886 by Kerry Lawless 7) Here and There 8) Fred Wilson leaves Chess.FM 9) Upcoming Events |
1) Mechanics' Institute Chess Club NewsThe Spring Tuesday Night Marathon continues an upward attendance trend at Mechanics' events with 77 entries. Heading the field in the eight round Swiss are FM Frank Thornally and NMs Sam Shankland and Russell Wong. It's still not to late to enter with a half point bye for round one. Congratulations to Mechanics' member Louiza Livschitz. The 16-year-old high school student from San Ramon defeated NMs Sam Shankland and Paul Gallegos en route to winning the March East Bay Chess Club Swiss. The victory brought her rating over 2000 for the first time and will likely place her in the top 10 Girls Under 21 in the US. Chess Life Online under the direction of Jennifer Shahade continues to get better and better and is outstanding in terms of its articles, variety and timeliness. The recent piece by Josh Friedel on Cappelle la Grande, part one of two (check it out at -http://beta.uschess.org/frontend/news_7_305.php ) is really excellent. Many thanks to John Alexander whose father John Alexander was the driving force in San Diego chess in the 1950s and 60s. As mentioned in a previous Newsletter John the Younger has donated his father's library to the Mechanics' and it has helped fill in some serious holes in the Institute's collection. The MI previously had 14 of the 17 volumes of Hoffer and Zukertort's Chess Monthly and with additions from the Alexander library will be missing only a single volume. Other important highlights were two of the three issues the MI was missing of McMahon's Chess Reporter published out of Beverly Hills in the early 1930s. The Institute now has 20 of the 21 issues. Look for the entire run to eventually appear in PDF at www.chessdryad.com . Almost all the ACF/USCF yearbooks from the 1930s and 1940s, many years of Purdy's Chess World and the Chess Correspondent from the 1940s and 1950s further strengthen the Mechanics' periodical collection and make the library the most complete publicly accessible repository of chess books West of the Mississippi. The collection, which numbers well over 1000 books and periodicals, is available for use by all Mechanics' members with most current items circulating. Older and rarer books are to be found on the 3rd floor of the library in the Archive room in the lock case which can be used on the premises with a deposit of ID. Saturday the Mechanics' will be hosting its monthly five round G/45 event with former MI Chess Director Max Wilkerson honored. April 21 and May 12 the MI will hold enhanced G/45s with $400 first and $200 second. GM Walter Browne and IMs Cyrus Lakdawala, Vladimir Mezentsev and Ricardo DeGuzman will be attending one or both of the events. We hope a large number of Masters and Experts will join them in battle. The Mechanics' is very pleased to announce that the 2nd Imre Konig Memorial will be held this July to honor the 15th year anniversary of the passing of the late IM who was the first international player to grace the Chess Room. Grandmasters competing include Alexander Baburin, Lubomir Ftacnik, Suat Atalik and MI Grandmaster-in-Residence Alex Yermolinsky. Also confirmed to participate is former European Womens Champion Ekaterina Atalik. 2) Ray Schutt: Part 3 An appreciation by Erik OsbunAt the California State Championship of 1966-1967, Raymond Schutt played a hard hitting game against the other mathematician in this event, Robion Kirby. I thought to commemorate this meeting in title as "two topologist tale," but thought better of pushing the distraction. Nevertheless, both are mathematicians, Ray in industry and Rob teaching at Cal Berkeley. Their game was typical topical for the Paulsen variation of the Sicilian Defense in those days, but Ray figured it all out for a crush at the board. The state championship schedule was very difficult in those days, with one quarter of the event in Los Angeles, one quarter in San Francisco, and one half to the finish in either city. The last half in this event gave the advantage to the San Francisco based players, who did not have to travel to L.A. Nevertheless, the schedule was still too tight for the gainfully employed, and several short draws were agreed. In fact, there was no time left for my own game with Rob, so we agreed to a draw without playing. Charles Henin came in first with 5 ½ - 2 ½ , I was second , Ray Schutt and Peter Eberlein tied for 3rd-4th , Irving Rivise and Rob Kirby were 5th - 6th with even scores, Frank Thornally 7th, Peter Grey 8th, Jerry Hanken 9th and Borel Menas dropped out after having played 4 games. So four of us from the north played one extra game, except that I did not play Kirby from the south. I want to tell you that I considered Kirby a very tough player, but this was a tough event as you can judge from the game. White: Raymond Schutt Black: Robion Kirby Sicilian Defense 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Nc3 It was to be quite some time before we learned how to play after 5.Bd3, what might here be regarded as White's most favorable line against the Paulsen Sicilian. 5...b5 In former times, we were used to seeing the moves 5...Qc7 or 5...Nc6. However, lest we forget, the prickly text first appeared in the game Bogolyubov - Rubinstein at London 1922 to my knowledge. It is premature by Keres' judgment. 6.Bd3 Bb7 7.0-0 Ne7 Rubinstein in the above mentioned game chose 7...d6, attempting to reach a Scheveningen formation. The strong reply is 8.Re1 ( Keres - Najdorf, Los Angeles, 1963 ), but Bogolyubov continued 8.Kh1 Nf6 9.a3 Nbd7 10.f4 Be7 11.Qe2 Qc7 12.Bd2 0-0 with an approximately balanced game. My game with Charles Henin in this same state championship continued 7...Qc7 8.Re1 Bd6 9.Qh5 ( Frank Thornally recommended 8.g3, and 8.Nf3 is also reasonable. ) Nf6 ( The endgame with 9...Qc5 10.Qxc5 Bxc5 11.Bb3 Bb6 12.a4 b4 13.a5! favors White according to Neishtadt. ) 10.Qh4 Nc6 11.Be3? ( see below ) Ne5 12.Rad1? ( 12.a3 is needed. ) b4 13.Nd5? Nxd5 14.exd5 Bxd5, and the loss of material cost White the game. Instead of 11.Be3?, 11.Ndxb5! axb5 12.Nxb5 Qb8 13.Nxd6+ Qxd6 14.e5! ( I had no doubt overlooked the strength of this key move. ) Nxe5 15.Qg3 Ra5 16.Bf4 gives White a great advantage ( Nikitin - Shofman, 1966 ). This result was contemporary with our game and so unknown to me, but failure to calculate this sacrificial line to the end on my own cost me the state championship. I had seen the similar sacrifice on b5 that had occurred in two games of Keres after 7...Qc7 8.Re1 Bc5 9.Be3 Ne7 ( 9...Nf6 10.Ndxb5 axb5 11.Nxb5 Qc6 12.Bxc5 Qxc5 13.e5 +-, Keres - Benko, Curacao, 1962 ) 10.Qh5 e5 11.Ndxb5! axb5 12.Nxb5 Qb6 13.Bxc5 Qxc5 14.b4 Qc6 15.Qxe5 +- ( Keres - Ojanen, Helsinki, 1960 ). 8.Qh5 The strongest reply to Black's last by comparison to a few of the alternatives: 1) 8.Re1 Nbc6 9.Nxc6 Nxc6 10.Bf4 d6 = ( Gufeld - Taimanov, USSR Champ., 1965 ), 2) 8.Be3 Nbc6 9.Nb3 Na5 10.Nxa5 Qxa5 = ( Padevsky - Taimanov, Budapest, 1965 ), 3) 8.Kh1 Nec6 9.Nxc6 Nxc6 10.Qg4 h5 11.Qe2 Ne5 12.f4 Ng4 13.Rf3 Qh4 14.h3 Bc5 15.Bd2 = ( Igor Ivanov - Karpov, Moscow, 1979, analyzed by I. Ivanov in M.I.C.C. Newsletter # 242 ), and Karpov did not take the draw with 15...Nf2+! 8...Nbc6 9.Nf3 A move worth considering according to Taimanov! It is perhaps the best line considering that the alternative 9.Nxc6 Nxc6 10.Bg5 Be7 11.Bxe7 Qxe7 12.f4 g6 13.Qe2 f5 enables Black to defend ( Ghinda - Sunye, Palma de Mallorca, 1989 ). 9...g6 ?! A logical defense apparently, but it requires a second Pawn move to be effected. Black might consider 9...b4 10.Na4 Qa5 11.Qxa5 Nxa5 for an interesting endgame. 10.Qh3 h6 Prevents 11.Bh6 as is necessary. 11.Bf4 b4 12.Na4 Qa5 13.b3 Bg7 14.Rad1 Ne5? Giving up the dark-colored squares so easily cannot be right, even in this difficult position. White's threat of 15.Bd6 ought to be met with 15...Nc8 16.Rfe1 g5 17.Be3 d6, and all is not yet lost. 15.Bxe5 Bxe5 16.Nxe5 Qxe5 17.Nb6 Rd8 18.Nc4 Qc7 19.e5 The die is cast. Black is severely constrained on the dark-colored squares and his King is stuck in the center. 19...Nc8 20.Rfe1 Kf8 21.Qg4 d5 Black takes the bull by the horns, but not with success. If 21...Kg7 22.Qf4, and White develops a decisive attack effortlessly. 22.exd6 Nxd6 23.Qd4 Ke7 24.Ne5 Qc3 25.Qg4 Threatens 26.Nxg6+, there will be no long endgame today. 25...Nf5 26.Bxf5 exf5 If 26...gxf5, 27.Qg7 or 27.Qh4+ win. 27.Nd7+ Qxe1+ Or 27...Be4 28.Rxe4+ and mates. 28.Rxe1+ Kxd7 29.Qxb4 Black resigns. 3) GM Lubosh Kavalek and the Washington PostWhen one thinks of great US daily newspapers the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Christian Science Monitor and Wall Street Journal are five names that are going to be near the top of many people's list. The Wall Street Journal has never had a chess column but for many years the other four all had excellent ones. More recently it has been just the Los Angeles Times, New York Times and Washington Post who have continued this most civilized tradition - and the New York Times column appears much less frequently than in its heyday. Now one of the two great weekly columns in the United States is under fire. Readers of GM Lubomir Kavalek's chess column in the Washington Post might have noticed that today's column (March 19, 2007) is shorter than usual. It is not an optical illusion. The Washington Post decided to reduce the award-winning chess column by almost a third to accommodate other features on the comics pages. Readers who would like to make comments about the change or about the chess column can contact the Washington Post by e-mail: comics@washpost.com; by phone calling the comics hotline 202-334-4775; or writing Comics Feedback, The Washington Post, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington D.C. 20071. You can read GM Kavalek's column at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/linkset/2005/03/30/LI2005033001223.html. Some older columns can be accessed at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/style/columns/chess. I strongly urge you to contact the Washington Post and voice your displeasure. Ricky Grijalva, better known for his poker prowess, made the trip with David and Josh and had a solid 2100 FIDE result. 4) US Amateur Team Playoff this weekendThe USCF recently released the following press release. We note that Davis Master John Langreck, whose is representing the North, will be playing from the Mechanics' Institute this Saturday. Spectators are welcome to watch. The four 2007 U.S. Amateur Team Championships concluded President's Day weekend to result in their respective championship team to qualify for the playoff which will take place March 24 in Cyberspace on the Internet Chess Club (ICC) website under the direction of International Arbiter & Chief Tournament Director Carol Jarecki and ICC Tournament Director Duncan Oxley. Those competing in the unique event are listed below in Board order. Each player's chess rating is noted by their name and the team average rating is noted by each team name. Rules governing this event are available at: http://www.uschess.org/rulesfor2007amateurteamplayoffs.pdf. This event is a U.S. Chess Federation National event. The team who wins will not only receive the title of 2007 U.S. Amateur Team Champion but each member of the team will receive an engraved watch. USAT-East BEAVIS AND BUTTVINNIK 2159
Bd. 1 FM James Critelli 2311 USAT-South FOUR FOUND FISCHERS 2191.25
Bd. 1 Daniel Ludwig (Captain) 2388 USAT-North REPEAT OFFENDERS 2199
Bd. 1 John Cole 2330 USAT-West ORANGE COUNTY CHESS CLUB 2177.75
Bd. 1 Alexander Kretchetov 2365 5) GM norm for Fabiano CaruanaFirst Saturday Festival The March edition of this popular series finished in Budapest, Hungary.15-year old Italian IM Fabiano Caruana won the GM tournament with a 2634 performance, making a GM norm in the process. Caruana, who has represented the United States in the past, lives part of the year in New York City.
Final standings: 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Bb4+ 4.Bd2 Qe7 5.g3 Nc6 6.Bg2 Bxd2+ 7.Nbxd2 d6 8.0-0 a5 9.e4 e5 10.d5 Nb8 11.Ne1 h5 12.Nc2 h4 13.Ne3 hxg3 14.hxg3 Nh5 15.Re1 Bd7 16.b3 g6 17.Qc2 Kf8 18.a3 Kg7 19.b4 Na6 20.Qc3 Rae8 21.Rac1 b6 22.Bf1 Bc8 23.Nf3 Nf6 24.Bd3 Ng4 25.Kg2 Nxe3+ 26.Rxe3 Bh3+ 27.Kg1 Nb8 28.bxa5 Nd7 29.axb6 cxb6 30.Bf1 Nf6 31.Bxh3 Rxh3 32.Kg2 Reh8 33.Ree1 Qd7 34.Ng1 Rh1 35.Qf3 Ng4 36.Re2 R8h2+ 37.Kf1 Rh5 38.Qb3 Nh2+ 39.Kg2 Qg4 40.Re3 Nf1 41.Kxf1 Rxg1+ 42.Kxg1 Qh3 0-1 6) The Argonaut chess column 1886 by Kerry LawlessNM Kerry Lawless, who through his chessdryad website - www.chessdryad.com, has done more than anyone else to preserve the history of chess in California, recently gained access to a year's worth of chess column published in the Argonaut, an early San Francisco newspaper ( not to be confused with another SF paper of the same name published in the 1950s which also had a chess column.) Unfortunately the local content was minimal. Kerry writes: Argonaut, The: (published weekly in San Francisco) Editor: J. F. Welsh The Chess-Player, 1884 (Canadian Chess Chat 1952) Editor: J. E. Tippett 12/1/1884-1886 (published on Saturdays) The Chess-Player, Volume 18, Number 1, January 2, 1886 The Chess-Player, Volume 18, Number 2, January 9, 1886 The Chess-Player, Volume 18, Number 3, January 16, 1886 The Chess-Player, Volume 18, Number 4, January 23, 1886 The Chess-Player, Volume 18, Number 5, January 30, 1886 The Chess-Player, Volume 18, Number 6, February 6, 1886 The Chess-Player, Volume 18, Number 7, February 13, 1886 The Chess-Player, Volume 18, Number 8, February 20, 1886 The Chess-Player, Volume 18, Number 9, February 27, 1886 The Chess-Player, Volume 18, Number 10, March 6, 1886 Appeared at the end of the March 6 column, "Mr. J. E. Tippett, who for a long time has so ably conducted the Chess column of the Argonaut, is about to leave San Francisco, to take up his permanent residence in Boston. This will involve his abandoning the charge of this department. Those readers of the paper who are interested in chess will regret Mr. Tippett's departure as much as we do.-Eds. Argonaut." The following two columns had no editor and consisted entirely of the last part of the Steinitz-Zukertort world championship match. The Chess-Player, Volume 18. Number 15, April 10, 1886 The Chess-Player, Volume 18, Number 16, April 17, 1886 Unless Tippett came back to SF in 1887, Chess Columns by Whyld is incorrect. (1884-1988) Unfortunately, there is no local chess news in the columns. Unless you count local problem solver mentions as such. 7) Here and ThereAccording to USCF's MSA records, as of this past Sunday the Chess Center of New York has organized over 2,000 tournaments since November 1991, joining the Atlanta Chess Center and the Chess Castle of Minnesota as the most active affiliates. Particular mention should be made of the fact that the organizer behind the CCNY, Steve Immitt, has had every single Grand Prix tournament he has run donate to the USCF Professional Players' Health and Benefits Fund. Mr. Immett has done this since the inception of the Fund in the early 1990's, raising tens of thousands of dollars for indigent professional chess players suffering from serious illness. International Masters John Watson, Igor Ivanov and John Grefe and NM Beatriz Marinello have all benefited from the Fund. We know of no similar organization that has contributed with the level of activity and consistency of the Chess Center of New York and give our thanks to Mr. Immitt. Well done! GMs Jaan Ehlvest, Alex Shabalov and Alexander Strpiunsky tied for first at 4-1 in the Millennium Chess Festival held March 2-3 in Virginia Beach. Among those on 3.5 was GM John Fedorowicz, who played the toughest field in the event. Ehlvest was top dog the following weekend easily winning the 2007 US Masters in Asheville, North Carolina. Rated over 200 points higher than the nearest competitor the former Candidate scored 7.5 from 9 to finish a point ahead of the field. Michael Bacon provides the following games. First a battle of the veterans between Washington state legend Victors Pupols and Klaus Pohl who has been one of the top players in the South for many decades.
Victors Pupols- Klaus Pohl rd 6
Bd 2 Ehlvest vs Ron Simpson Young Master Ray Robson had an excellent event and is over 2350 USCF after the US Masters. He will play in the Frank K. Berry US Championship in Stillwater in May. Unfortunately I don't have any of his wins from this event. Newcomer Faik Alekserov tied for second in Asheville and ended the event with a provisional rating over 2450.
Aleskerov,F - Robson,R [D04] Sevan Muradian , President of the North American Chess Association continues to do good things in Chicago. No norms were made in a recent IM norm event but International Master Jessie Kraai, with 2 GM norms in his pocket, moved closer to 2500 FIDE with his victory.
Final Standings For more information go to http://beta.uschess.org/frontend/news_7_300.php . The Frank K. Berry 2007 US Championship in Stillwater, Oklahoma, will feature an interesting novelty. All players will be required to keep score using a Monroi recording device. Previous events like Gibraltar, Hastings and many US Swisses have had a large number of players keeping score with the Monroi's but this appears to be the first tournament where their use will be compulsory. Use of the device allows the games to be broadcast live over the internet and produces a PGN version of the game negating the need to enter the game scores manually. The past few US Championships run by America's Foundation for Chess used sensory boards to accomplish the same task but at greater cost. GM Melik Khaciyan and IM Enrico Sevillano tied for first at 5-1 in the Igor Ivanov Memorial held in Los Angeles fon March 10th-11th. The event was sponsored by Dr. Harold Valery Cardinal Medical Group based in Long Beach. 8) Fred Wilson leaves Chess.FMI will not do any more "Chess & Books with Fred Wilson" shows on Chess.fm/ICCwebcast. I hope to return via another portal or forum soon, and will send out a timely announcement sometime before this will occur. I am really glad most of you have enjoyed my shows so far, and "That's all folks (for the time being!). Thanks for listening." Best in chess, Fred Wilson 9) Upcoming EventsMI Events - go to http://www.chessclub.org/ for more information
Max Wilkerson Open - March 24th
A Classic Event!
Apr.14 12th California Classic Championship California, Northern
A Classic Event!
Jun.16 14th California Classic Championship California, Northern
The East Bay Chess Club has two tournaments coming up in March:
March 25: March Adult Quads (open to all ages)
Apr. 6-8 Reno-Far West Open VII GPP: 150 Enhanced Nevada
May 15-23, Oklahoma
Aug. 14-19 2007 U.S. Senior Open S. California |