"Chess is my profession. I am my own boss; I am free. I like literature and music, classical especially. I am in fact quite normal; I have a Bohemian profession without myself being a Bohemian. I am neither a conformist nor a great revolutionary."
Bent Larsen

"One of the greatest advantages of chess over other sports is that you can always resign"
Joe Gallagher

Sergey Shipov wins Second Internet Chess Tournament "Dos Hermanas"
Sergey Shipov defeated fellow Russian Grandmaster Alexander Rustemov 1 1/2 - 1/2 to win a major Internet chess tournament run in conjunction with the Dos Hermanas event in early April. This cyberspace spectacle, which attracted 4424 entries from 70 countries, was very strong. Among the participants were 48 Grandmasters and 85 International Masters! Thirty-two players qualified for the knockout finals and four Americans qualified including Bay Area stars GM Roman Dzindzihashvili of Sausalito and IM Guillermo Rey of Pacifica as well as IM Mark Ginsburg of Tucson and GM Max Dlugy of New York. All the American players lost in the first round except Dzindzhi, who lost to GM Lev Psakhis 2-1 in the Round of Sixteen. IM Rey lost his match 1/2 - 1 1/2 to the eventual winner Shipov.

1) University of Texas at Dallas Wins Final Four
Yes, Duke did win the NCAA Basketball Final Four, but in chess it was UTD! Stanford team member Michael Aigner reports on the meeting between the four top collegiate chess programs in the United States held last weekend.
"The Stanford team (FM Philip Wang, NM Jordy Mont-Reynaud, NM Etan Ilfeld, FM Ryan Porter, NM Michael Aigner, David Pecora and coach NM Eric Schiller) travelled to Dallas on April 13-15 to participate in the first
college President's Cup.  The four teams invited were the elite of college chess: Pan Am co-champions University of Texas at Dallas and University of Maryland at Baltimore County plus University of California at Berkeley, and Stanford University.
round 1: UMBC 5.0-1.0 Stanford ; UT-Dallas 3.5-2.5 Berkeley
round 2: Stanford 2.0-4.0 UT-Dallas ; Berkeley 1.0-5.0 UMBC
round 3: UMBC 1.5-4.5 UT-Dallas ; Berkeley 3.0-3.0 Stanford
final standings: UT-Dallas 12.0, UMBC 11.5, Berkeley 6.5, Stanford 6.0
We were rather depressed by the first round match versus UMBC, as we were better on all boards and winning on 3 or 4 of them.  Then we completely collapsed.  I lost a piece up position because I refused to play a logical developing move.  The list goes on and on.  Only David Pecora on board 6 managed to convert his won position into a point.
The highlights of round 2 versus top seed and eventual winner UT-Dallas were FM Philip Wang's draw versus GM Yuri Shulman (and Shulman had to find several only moves to avoid losing) and my complicated endgame win (R+2B+5P vs 2R+N+4P) over NM Andrei Dokuchayev.
In the last round, the Cal-Stanford rematch ended drawn--again!  FM Dmitry Zilberstein 1-0 FM Philip Wang, NM Jordy Mont-Reynaud 1/2 NM David Pruess, NM Andras Erdei 1/2 NM Etan Ilfeld, FM Ryan Porter 1-0 Anthony Rozenvasser, David Steel 1-0 NM Michael Aigner, David Pecora 1-0 Pierre Vachon.  Jordy tried for almost six hours to milk a full point out of a drawn rook endgame, but it was not to be.  This result gave Berkeley third place on the strength of their near upset in round 1 over UT-Dallas.  In the other last round match, top seed UT-Dallas needed to overcome a 2.5 game point deficit versus Baltimore to win the tournament, and they did exactly that with a 4.5-1.5 victory.
We all would like to thank USCF President and UT-Dallas Professor Tim Redman for organizing this event and the UT-Dallas chess club for sponsoring our trip to the Lone Star state."
David Steel of Berkeley was his team's star, scoring 2 1/2 out of 3 against masters despite being rated 2060. David is among the leaders with 2 from 2 in the current Tuesday Night Marathon at the MI.
The time control  for the round-robin was  45/2 SD/1.
Here are the players who participated and average team ratings. UTD and the
University of Maryland at Baltimore both offer full ride chess scholarships.

"Chess is a form of intellectual productiveness, therein lies its peculiar charm. Intellectual productiveness is one of the greatest joys - if not the greatest - of human existence. It is not everyone  who can write a play, or build a bridge, or even make a good joke. But in chess everyone can, indeed must, be intellectually productive and so can share in this select delight. Chess, like love, like music, has the power to make men happy".
Siegbert Tarrasch

_________________        _________________________        __________________
Anatoly Karpov                      Garry Kasparov                                Vladimir Kramnik

"Devastating moves are like dissonant sounds; they shatter the eardrums. Their appeal is to an atavistic brutality in our natures, not to our finer sensibilities. In contrast, a "quiet" move is the epitome of finesse. A soft answer turns away wrath, but its subdued quality makes it no less efficient."
Hans Kmoch

"Chess, like literature and the arts, often suffers a premature loss. The poems that Keats and Shelley might have written, the music that Mozart and Schubert might have composed, these have their counterparts in the missing games due to the early deaths of such masters as Charousek, Breyer and Reti. Fortunately for us, however, just as the poets and composers managed to pack into their brief life an abundance of poetry and music, so these chess masters produced a wealth of beautiful games!"
Harry Golombek

1.Nf3 c5 2.c3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.cxd4 d5 5.Bf4 Nf6 6.e3 Bf5 7.Bb5
Michael's plan of avoiding an early Nc3 is noteworthy. He intends to put pressure on c6 with Qa4 and doubling Rooks on the c-line. The N on b1 will go to b3 to discourage ...c5 (after Bxc6).
7...e6 8.0-0 Nd7 9.Nbd2 Rc8 10.Qa4 Qb6 11.Rfc1 Be7 12.Rc3 0-0
Black could have also tried 12...a6 but I thought that after 13.Bxc6 bxc6 14.Rb3 Qa7 15.Rc1 O-O 16.Rbc3 c5 17.dxc5 Rxc5 18.Nd4 White would have some advantage.
13.h3
This was played after a long thought. The more natural move is 13.Rac1 but then Black can initiate complications with 13..e5. The idea is to go after the Rc3. For example : 14.Nxe5 Ndxe5 15.Bxe5 Bb4. I'm not sure if 13...e5 is completely correct, but 13.Rac1 does seem to be the logical followup to White's previous play.
13...a6 14.Bxc6 Rxc6
This brings Rf8 into the game.
15.Rxc6 Qxc6
This makes it easier to realize ...c5.
16.Qxc6 bxc6 17.Rc1 Rc8
Black wants to play ...c5 and answer dxc5 with ...Rxc5. Black has no problems here and Michael soon starts to overpress.
18.Nb3 f6 19.Na5 c5 20.b3?
Black was threatening ...c5. The text doesn't stop it. Now Black's Bishops come alive.
20...c4! 21.bxc4 Ba3 22.Rd1 dxc4 23.g4 Bc2 24.Rd2 Be4 0-1

The Mechanics'  Institute will be hosting three chess camps this summer. The first, on the weekend of June 16-17, is part of the Kolti Seminar series held to honor the late George Koltanowski. This event, which is being sponsored by the US Chess Trust, is open to players under 21 who are rated over 1600 and appear in either in the April or June USCF Top 50 list for their age. The instructor for this camp is GM Yermolinsky and tuition is free.
A camp for intermediate and advanced youngsters will be held July 30-August 3 and a camp for beginners and novices from August 6-August 10. Information about these camps is available at the Chess Room website under programs for children.

"Chess is all about making decisions. Postponing a decision doesn't necessarily improve it."
John Nunn

"Bobby Fischer beat Spassky in Iceland '72.
I know a girl who's better looking but who thinks like Bobby Fischer too.
When Booby Fischer was a kid they knew he was a prodigy.
I know a girl who's somewhat older but no less of an authority."
I wish I had the smarts to understand her charts.
If I don't concentrate she'll have me in checkmate.
In Tampa Bay and Lafayette they all knew Bobby Fischer's name.
I know a girl who made her mark in smaller cities but her fame's the same.
When Bobby Fischer made his comeback in the 90s he was worse for wear.
I know a girl who made a comeback but her mind was altogether there.
She said, 'I drink chocolate milk from a cow I built.
Doot n'doot doot doot.  Doot'n doot doot doot.'
They're all saying that you'll never play again.
They're all saying that you're finished, that you're washed up as a friend.
All my life I have 'feather-dustered' but that's not how it's going to end.  Oh no.
Spies in hideouts send their secret messages.
There's a thief caught in the headlights of a car beneath a bridge.
There's no lights on in the house except the light in the fridge.  Oh yeah.
Reykjavik, no one ever says Reykjavik in a song.
Reykjavik, no one ever says Reykjavik in a song."

Despite persistent rumours that he'll play at some time a  "Fischerrandom" or Shuffle Chess match against a top GM (one rumour had it that he would play his long-time friend, the Philippines GM Eugene Torre), nothing ever materialised.  Yet, despite declaring on winning the world crown in 1972 that, "all I want to do, ever, is play chess", he never officially touched another piece for twenty years - and only then when he had reputedly run out of money."
Courtesy of John Henderson from his column in The Scotsman

"I play honestly and I play to win. If I lose, I take my medicine."
Bobby Fischer

"Ideas. I never memorize lines."
Bobby Fischer

"Genius. It's a word. What does it really mean? If I win, I'm a genius. If I don't, I'm not"
Bobby Fischer

The September 1964  issue of the California Chess Reporter ran the following article on Arthur Stamer, who served as the Chess Room's first director from 1951 to his passing.
"A.B. Stamer, one of the last of the old-timers of the Mechanics' Institute Chess Club, died in San Francisco in early 1964 after a short illness. Arthur was a veteran of the famous team which played telegraphic chess in the 1920s (and started the North vs. South, over-the-board team matches by meeting Los Angeles at Atascadero in 1926), and he was a contemporary of E.W. Gruer, Dr. W.R. Lovegrove, A.J. Fink, E.J. Clarke, Dr. G.E.K. Branch, Bernardo Smith, W.H. Smith, J.F. Smyth, L. Rosenblatt, E.O. Fawcett and many other members of the Mechanics' Institute Hall of Fame. Arthur won the premier tournament of the Mechanics' Institute in 1908.  He sometimes showed the inscribed gold medal to youngsters: One side read "Champion, Mechanics' Institute Premier Tournament." Then came his little joke when he showed the date on the reverse: Stamer was in his seventies and was a retired superintendent of city deliveries, US Post Office. He was Chess Director of the Mechanics' Institute Chess Club, and his death was a sore blow to the club. However, his brother Walter and his son Chet are still holding up the chess tradition of the family. (Chet won a special prize in the A.B. Stamer Memorial Tournament held in May, 1964). The first Stamer Memorial was held a few months after his death and according to the California Chess Reporter the event was the largest ever held by a San Francisco club with 52 participants. William Addison won with a score of 4 1/2 - 1/2, defeating Duncan Suttles in a dramatic last round game. Tying for second at 4-1 were Suttles, Earl Pruner, Roy Hoppe, John Blackstone, Robert Burger and Neil Falconer.  Falconer won the best game prize for his last round victory over Blazo Sredanovic.

Suttles annotated this game in the June 1964 issue of the Washington Chess Letter. He commented " I lost $190 by losing this game, a draw being sufficient for clear first. I seem to have a habit of messing up last round games, although my opponent in this one probably deserves some of the credit; judge for yourself."
1.g3 Nf6 2.Bg2 d5 3.d3 c6 4.Nc3 e5 5.e4 Bb4
The opening is now a reversed Ruy Lopez.
6.Bd2 d4 7.Nce2 Bxd2+ 8.Qxd2 Qe7 9.f3 c5 10.Nh3 Nc6 11.Nf2 Rb8 12.0–0 0–0 13.f4 Ng4 14.Nxg4 Bxg4 15.Rae1 b5 16.h3 Bxe2 17.Rxe2 c4 18.Kh2 Qc5 19.b3 Rfd8 20.Ref2 Rb6 21.h4 h6 22.f5 f6 23.g4 Kf7 24.g5 hxg5 25.hxg5 Rh8+ 26.Kg3 Rbb8 27.Bf3 Qb4 28.Qe2 fxg5 29.Bh5+ Kf6 30.Rg2 Rh6 31.Qg4
The California Chess Reporter suggests that White could have won with 31. Kh2, but this seems very optimistic. After 31.Kh2 Rbh8 32.Rxg5 cxd3 33.cxd3 Kxg5 34.Qg4+ Kf6 35.Qh4+ g5 36.fxg6+ Ke6 Black's King runs away.
31...Rbh8 32.Rh1 cxd3 33.Kf3 Ke7 34.Qxg5+ Kd6 35.Qxg7
Suttles in his analysis points to 35.cxd3 as the best chance. It works fine after 35...Qc3 36.Rc1 Qxd3+ 37.Kf2 Qe3+ 38.Qxe3 dxe3+ 39.Kxe3 Nd4 40.Be2 and even better after 37...Rxh5 38.Qg6+ Ke7 39.Qe6+ Kf8 40.Qd6+ Kf7 41.Rxg7+! mating. However, Black has every chance of winning after 37...Qxe4 38.Bf3 Qe3+ 39.Qxe3 dxe3+ 40.Kxe3 Nd4 41.Be4 Rh3+ 42.Kf2 Rh2.
The last word on this complicated game will likely be provided by Vancouver FM Bruce Harper's massive two volume work on Suttles which is nearing completion after more than ten years of work. Inside Chess Enterprises of Seattle will publishing what looks to be one of the most entertaining and instructive game collections ever written.
35...Kc5 36.Rg6 Qd2 37.b4+ Kb6 38.Qxe5 Qe3+ 39.Kg2 Rxg6+ 40.Bxg6 Nxe5 41.Rxh8
Qf3+ 0–1

"Chess is like life." - Boris Spassky
"Chess is life." - Bobby Fischer

"Chess is 99% tactics"
Richard Teichmann

"Chess is the art of analysis."
Mikhail Botvinnik

In the spirit of celebration of the Glorious 4th we would like to offer the following quote from a great American patriot:
"Any player, no matter how strong he is, can overlook quite simple moves in the course of a game."
GM Bobby Fischer [1963]

"In the art of chess, there are no unalterable laws governing the struggle which are appropriate to every position, otherwise chess would lose its attractiveness and eternal character."
Vassily Smyslov

Thanks to John Henderson and The Scotsman

Results of the 8 th round:
Crisan – Macieja 0:1
Volokitin – Gelfand ½:½
Kozul – Pavasovic 1:0
Sermek – Beliavsky ½:½
Mikhalchishin – Mohr ½:½

Standing after the 8th round:
1. Beliavsky – 6 points
2. Gelfand – 5½
3. Volokitin – 5
4. Kozul – 4½
5-6. Pavasovic, Mikhalchishin – 4
7-9. Mohr, Sermek, Macieja – 3½
10. Crisan – ½

Pairing for the 9 th round:
Mohr – Crisan
Beliavsky – Mikhalchishin
Pavasovic – Sermek
Gelfand – Kozul
Macieja – Volokitin

This information came from GM Alexander Baburin's daily Internet chess magazine Chess Today which is currently offering free two week trial subscriptions. Contact http://www.chesstoday.net/ if you are interested.
The Vidmar is especially of interest because of the participation of 38-year-old Alexandru Crisan. Rated 2635 by FIDE he has been accused of rating manipulation