Newsletter #251, 07/06/2005

"Having calculated a long variation, go for it, even if you are not completely sure. Out of two sins - overestimation and underestimation of your own capacities, the latter is more dangerous. "
Svetlana Matveeva

Ballots will be in the June issue of Chess Life.  Some ballots in the June Chess Life are missing the pre-printed voter info, so all voters will soon receive new ballots.  It was first announced that if you wrote your info in this would not count, but this has now been changed and it will count if coming from a voter who received a defective ballot.  You can also vote using your second ballot.  If you vote twice, only the ballot in the June Chess Life will count.

NMs Batchimeg Tuvshintugs ( an upset over IM John Grefe in rd. 4)  and Tony D'Aloisio are tied for first with perfect scores after four rounds of the Summer Tuesday Night Marathon. Four rounds remain for the 85-player field.

The Mechanics' Institute was recently named Chess Club of the year by the US Chess Federation and will receive an award at the US Open this August in Scottsdale, Arizona.

MI member 9-year-old Daniel Naroditsky will compete in a national scholastic competition this weekend at the Harrahs Casino in Las Vegas. The World Chess Network is sponsoring the event which will be televised live on the ICC. Good luck Daniel!

GM Kamil Miton and IM Magesh Panchanathan tied for first with 7.5 points with Miton winning the tiebreak blitz event..

Final standings:
1-2. Miton, Panchanathan  7.5 points out of 9
3-6. Nakamura, Ibragimov, Akobian, Chanda  7
7-12. Onischuk, Shabalov, Kudrin, Ganguly, Fishbein and Cordova  6.5

Qualifiers for the US Championship were: GMs Varuzhan Akobian,  Sergey Kudrin, Alex Fishbein and Joel Benjamin (on tiebreak at 6) with Laura Ross and Natasha Christiansen taking the womens spots.

Two Bay Area players played in the Open section. FM Jon Frankle had 4.5 and NM Paul Gallegos had 4.

The 2005 Sacramento Chess Championship attracted 90 players to the state capital on a hot 4th of July weekend. Although the event was advertised as an "adult" chess tournament, half of the players were juniors. The family friendly atmosphere at the Best Western Expo Inn provided the adults a chance to relax and also gave the kids room to run around and play. Participants could choose between a 2-day schedule with three faster games on Sunday or a less hectic 3-day schedule on Saturday through Monday.
What might come as a surprise to some people is that two of the three sections were won not by kids but rather by seasoned veterans. IM Ricardo DeGuzman demonstrated a lot of skill and some luck to score 5.5/6 in the Master/Expert section. He defeated three masters and merely gave up a draw to NM Richard Koepcke. Second place went to NM Michael Pearson, a blast from the past who recently returned to the local chess scene after a 2.5 year layoff to finish high school. Pearson won five games, only losing a time scramble to DeGuzman. Sharing top under 2200 honors with 4.0/6 were Drake Wang, Larry Snyder and 1769 rated junior Ramon Qiu.
The one section truly dominated by juniors was the Reserve (under 2000) division. Three incoming 10th graders shared first place at 5.0/6: Daichi Siegrist, Matt Zavortink and Arnav Shah. Siegrist, who reentered in the 2-day schedule after two difficult rounds on Saturday, took the first place trophy on computer tiebreaks. Juniors Jeff Young and Kevin Gafni shared the under 1800 prizes with Sacramento old timer Bob Baker.
Eight of the nine prize winners in the Amateur (under 1600) section were under the age of 20, but the lone adult won the whole enchilada. Christian Dypoldt dominated his younger foes en route to a 5.5/6 result, merely surrendering a draw in the final round. Second place and top under 1400 went to incoming 6th graders Mukund Chillakanti and Arthur Liou, each scoring 5.0/6. Second under 1400 and the junior prize were split six ways by Albert Gu, Charles Sun, Avinash Kumar, Kartik Chillakanti, Daniel Linger and Caleb Toy.
Like every year, none of this would have been possible without the tireless effort of Sacramento organizer John McCumiskey and his assistant TD Steve Bickford. At the risk of sounding redundant, the author can report that the tournament ran very smoothly with no significant delays or disputes. The next Sacramento area weekend adult tournament will be a 2-day weekend swiss in December.
Tournament results and photos: http://sacramentochessclub.org/weekend_events/2005scc.htm

The following game, which appeared in John Nunn's Chess Puzzle Book, #20, page 13 and Chess Informant #29. page 244, #42 in the combinations section is pretty amazing. Set up the following position: White - R's b4 and a1, Nf1, Kg1 and pawns a7, b7, d5 and e4 - Black - Kg8, R's e2 and f8, Bg7, pawns d6, f3, g6, g3 and h4.

Kudriashov - Ivanov, USSR, 1979

1...Re1! 2.a8Q
2.b8Q h3! 3.Qxf8+ (3.Rb2 Bd4+ 4.Kh1 g2+ 5.Kh2 Be5+ 6.Kxh3 gxf1Q+) 3...Bxf8 4.Ra2 g2 5.Rf2 Rxf1+ 6.Rxf1 h2+ 7.Kxh2 gxf1Q
2...h3 0-1
3.Ra2 g2! 4.Rf2 Rxf1+ 5.Rxf1 h2+ 6.Kxh2 gxf1(Q) and White loses all of his remaining pieces.

Last week I wrote about the USCF's  endorsement of  a chess drug at the National Open, an endorsement that the organization has now backed away from.
It was not clear to me exactly what the product was but a series of letters in Ale Baburin's online chess daily Chess Today (http://www.chesstoday.net) cleared things up.

Alexander Baburin writes:

I thought the USCF endorsing Natrol would provoke a few replies and I was right.
One came from GM Tony Kosten:

Hi Alex,

I just read your bit about this brainSpeed' product and went over to their web site to take a look. In fact there seems to be 3 different 'brainSpeed' products, and none of them are drugs as such, simply different combinations of nutrients (like vitamins), which are known to help the brain function well. There doesn't seem to be anything new here, similar things have been available in Health Food shops for many years, and are quite harmless. If there was really a drug that improved your chess I guess we would all be using it pretty soon!

Best wishes, Tony

Another GM reader Ian Rogers kindly allowed me to publish a few extracts from his article for the Italian website http://www.messagerie.it/
Rogers Report #47

Within days of making the announcement, the USCF were forced to cancel the match, stung by complaints that they were promoting drug use. In addition, critics noted that Nartol, the manufacturer of 'brainSpeed', had recently been fined $250,000 for making unsupportable claims for another of their products. With the match cancelled, 'brainSpeed representatives were reduced to promoting 'brainSpeed' at the National Open, without gaining any publicity outside the chess tournament. The affair has probably caused both the USCF and Natrol to rethink their respective marketing strategies, yet it may be that 'brainSpeed' (which has yet to be publicly released, even in the US) is not totally useless as a modest aide to a desperate chess player. The new drug - or more accurately herbal supplement - works by targeting the cholinergic system and thereby, according to Natrol, helps "accelerate reaction time, improve decision making velocity and promote mental acuity". (The same could be said for nicotine, another drug whichtargets the cholinergic system.) In truth, Natrol was probably not attempting to convert the chess community to its product but is looking to the student market. Some students appear happy to weather the side-effects associated with heavy use of caffeine drinks or the anti-Attention Deficit Disorder drug Ritolin to improve their study performance, so a 'safer' herbal drug, even if less immediately effective, could be attractive to many students. Apart from the ethical questions involved, one of many problems in finding a drug for chess is the varied demands of the game. At different stages in the game a player will need to remember precedents and then find new and creative ideas; remain calm when under fire and then have enough adrenalin to make six good moves in a minute as the time control approaches. Now that Kasparov has retired, there is speculation that the Russian, will provide details of a wonder drug which helped him dominate the chess world for two decades. However it is most likely that when Kasparov's secrets are revealed they will show nothing more than many hours at the gym and even more hours of chess study. Good health and a large knowledge base - it's a recipe that might even work for students.

This coming Tuesday, July 12, noted book collector Andy Ansel will be featured on Chess.FM and will discuss scarce chess literature, Ebay prices, current trends in chess publishing, etc. soon! Andy recently moved from Walnut Creek to New York and the moving truck(s!) will be carrying well over 250 big boxes! Go to http://chess.fm for more information.

Garry Kasparov may have retired but he still tops the rating list. Among active players there is a tie between Anand and Topalov. Since Gata shows no rating change it would appear the HB Global Challenge, held in mid-May, was not rated.

1. Kasparov, Garry 2812 0
2. Anand, Viswanathan 2788 18
3. Topalov, Veselin 2788 10
4. Leko, Peter 2763 0
5. Ivanchuk, Vassily 2752 25
6. Kramnik, Vladimir 2744 12
7. Svidler, Peter 2738 26
8. Polgar, Judit 2735 10
9. Bacrot, Etienne 2729 13
10. Aronian, Levon 2724 30
11. Gelfand, Boris 2724 12
12. Grischuk, Alexander 2720 17
13. Adams, Michael 2719 25
14. Morozevich, Alexander 2707 11
15. Shirov, Alexei 2705 29
16. Akopian, Vladimir 2705 9
17. Ponomariov, Ruslan 2704 10
18. Bologan, Viktor 2700 30
19. Kamsky, Gata 2700 0
20. Dreev, Alexey 2698 20

Hi John,

I am hoping that you can help me locate someone who would be willing to travel to Pacifica to play a few matches against an avid chessplayer who
has not played in awhile.
Here is the notice that I placed on Craig's list:

"Seeking an expert chess player for Saturday 7-9-05 between the hours of 11am - 3pm.  Would like to present your game playing expertise as a surprise gift to an avid chessplayer who has not played in awhile.  You  will play matches until time runs out or, if you like, keep playing!  Lunch will be provided, as well as an $100 stipend.  You must be Elo rated, Class A or higher.  Location is in Pacifica.  Please contact Michelle at 650-346-5559. "

I thought this was a nice idea for a birthday present and I am hoping that you know of a player that would be interested.  Could you pass this along
or give me a call if you have any other suggestions of where I can find someone.

Thanks very much.

Michelle L. Wells
Clinical Information Systems/EMR

"Everyone can define chess in their own way. But in the first place chess is sport, because what we are really interested in is the name of the winner. However, I think that one’s desire to win is not productive, unless it is grounded by one’s striving to fight and to create something beautiful. But on the other hand, one can't be constantly winning when occupied with creating masterpieces. With me, however, as long as I have a desire to seek something new and to play beautiful games, I continue to win.
Garry Kasparov

Ballots will be in the June issue of Chess Life.  Some ballots in the June Chess Life are missing the pre-printed voter info, so all voters will soon receive new ballots.  It was first announced that if you wrote your info in this would not count, but this has now been changed and it will count if coming from a voter who received a defective ballot.  You can also vote using your second ballot.  If you vote twice, only the ballot in the June Chess Life will count.

Ballots need to be in by July 19

NMs Batchimeg Tuvshintugs and Tony D'Aloisio are tied for first in the Mechanics' Institute Summer Tuesday Night Marathon with 4 points after four rounds.Tying for third at 3.5 are NM Oleg Shaknazrov, Expert Victor Ossipov and rapidly-improving Class A player Edward Perepelitsky. Four rounds remain in the event which has set a Marathon attendance records with 86 players.

Congratulations to MI member Daniel Naroditsky who won the First Internet Scholastic Chess Championship this past weekend at Harrahs in Last Vegas. Organized by the World Chess Network, the event was held in two stages. In the first hundreds of kids from there United States and Canada played in qualifying sections over the Internet with the finals held face to face in Las Vegas. Daniel defeated Nicholas Orlov in the final. More information on this event, which was held to honor the memory of the son of Dato Tan, can be found at www.worldchessnetwork.com.

The Bay Areas's newest IM, Vladimir Mezentsev, won the Stamer Memorial this past June with a dominating performance, scoring 6-0 while defeating IMs Walter Shipman and Ricardo DeGuzman and SM Craig Mar. Here are three of his games from the event.

Mezentsev,V (2516) - Salles,A (1724) C50
Stamer Memorial (1), 2005
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.0–0 Nf6 5.d3 h6 6.c3 d6 7.d4 exd4 8.cxd4 Bb4 9.d5 Ne5 10.Nxe5 dxe5 11.Qa4+ Bd7 12.Qxb4 Rb8 13.Nc3 Qe7 14.Qxe7+ Kxe7 15.f4 b5 16.Bb3 b4 17.fxe5 bxc3 18.exf6+ gxf6 19.bxc3 h5 20.Ba3+ Ke8 21.Rxf6 Rh7 22.e5 Rb6 23.e6 fxe6 24.Rf8 1–0

Mezentsev,V (2516) - D'Aloiso (2219) C53
Stamer Memorial (3), 2005
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Qe7 5.0–0 d6 6.d4 Bb6 7.a4 a6 8.d5 Nb8 9.Nbd2 Nf6 10.Bd3 0–0 11.b4 Nh5 12.Nc4 Ba7 13.Nfxe5 dxe5 14.Qxh5 f6 15.Kh1 g6 16.Qh6 Nd7 17.f4 f5 18.fxe5 Nxe5 19.Bg5 Qe8 20.Nxe5 Qxe5 21.Rac1 Bd7 22.Bf4 Qe7 23.exf5 Bxf5 24.Rce1 Qd7 25.Bc4 Rfe8 26.d6+ Be6 27.Rxe6 Rxe6 28.Be5 Rae8 29.Bxe6+ 1–0

Mar,C (2428) - Mezentsev,V (2516) B38
Stamer Memorial (4), 2005
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6 5.c4 Bg7 6.Be3 d6 7.Nc3 Nh6 8.Be2 0–0 9.0–0 f5 10.exf5 Bxd4 11.Bxh6 Rxf5 12.Qd2 Qb6 13.Bd3 Rf7 14.Rab1 Ne5 15.Nd5 Bxf2+ 16.Rxf2 Qxf2+ 17.Qxf2 Rxf2 18.Kxf2 Nxd3+ 19.Kg1 Bf5 20.Nxe7+ Kf7 21.Nxf5 gxf5 22.b3 Nc5 23.Bf4 Ne4 24.Rd1 Ke6 25.Rd3 h5 26.a4 Rg8 27.h4 Rg4 28.g3 Nxg3 29.Bxg3 f4 30.Kf2 fxg3+ 31.Rxg3 Rxg3 0–1

The MI's advanced Chess Camp, with GM Alex Yermolinsky as lead instructor, will be back for the fifth consecutive year this summer. The all day camp will run from August 1-5.  Complete information is available
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.

Former World Champion Anatoly Karpov recently gave a very outspoken interview which appeared at both the ChessBase website (www.chessbase.com) and in Alexander Baburin' online daily (http://www.chesstoday.net). Some excerpts appear below.

With Karpov by Hartmut Metz  (Translation Eric van Reem)

Anatoly Karpov is still able to fill headlines.

The UNICEF ambassador is engaged in a project involving children who are suffering from iodine deficiency. He has more than 50 chess schools worldwide and
he is also working for his own cause: Anatoly Karpov is one of the candidates to follow in the footsteps of the unpopular president of the world chess federation FIDE, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov. The European Chess Union (ECU) is positioning the chess legend against the president of the Republic of Kalmykia. Although we hardly see the 54-year bold ex-world champion at the board nowadays, Karpov still loves the game. On August 9 and 10 (starting at 16.00) Karpov will play in the Unzicker Gala, celebrating the 80th birthday of Wolfgang Unzicker in the Rheingoldhalle in Mainz. Not only will the grandmaster from Munich participate, Boris Spassky and Viktor Korchnoi will complete the field.

- What do you think about Kasparov's sudden decision to stop playing tournament chess?

- I guess, that his own political stratagems with Kirsan Ilyumzhinov exhausted him. He changed his point of view at least three times. At a certain point he was a good friend of the FIDE president, a short time later he was his fiercest enemy, but a month later they were on good terms again. Kasparov even traveled to Kalmykia to negotiate about his last chance to play in the world championship cycle, but Ilyumzhinov cheated on him once more and after that they were enemies again. In the
end he knocked himself out and became a victim of his own pitiful diplomacy. After that, Kasparov stepped back from chess which is, and I want this to be clear, not good for chess in general at all. As a whole, the current situation in the chess world leaves a lot to be desired.

- To change this situation, you are supposed to take over the FIDE presidency. The European Chess Union wants you to become a
candidate for the job.

- Of course, even somebody acting like an idiot would do a better job than Ilyumzhinov. The situation cannot become worse anymore, so it would be rather easy to
improve in the beginning. The chaos in the chess world is caused by these "leaders" who are unable to do their job properly. The priority must be the unification of the world titles to straighten things out. But we should not wait that long anymore to change the situation, because we are running
out of time.

- If the ECU were to speak with one voice, you would have 53 votes and federations behind you. That would be a powerful alliance that should be enough to get rid of Ilyumzhinov, don't you think?

- No, no, it is obvious that the ECU should act as a close alliance for the benefit of chess. At the moment it is more than clear for everybody that Ilyumzhinov must go as soon as possible. But not only he should pack his bags, also the rest of his gang, who are plundering FIDE. The problem is that you never can tell if these FIDE officials are telling the truth or are lying in your face again. Of course, the latter is mostly the case. It is far more difficult to catch them telling the truth (smiles).

- In case of a victory you would follow in the footsteps of the Dutchman Max Euwe. He was world chess champion and FIDE president.

- Let us not discuss this. One thing, however, is very clear: we need a new FIDE president and a new FIDE team. It is absurd to have people like Zurab
Azmaiparashvili in the team, who is attacking policemen like a madman, or the convicted Indian Ummer Koya. And what about the arrested Romanian Crisan? A nice bunch of people, don't you think? It is no surprise that chess has a bad image nowadays. We have to change it and we should not forget that chess also has something positive to offer. I am thinking about chess in schools in particular. In the USA more than 3200 children competed in an event. In Kansas I have a chess school. Children can take lessons in that school via the Internet and can score extra points like e.g. in Geography or History. That sounds very promising and is a fantastic basis for future steps.

- How many Karpov chess schools can we find worldwide nowadays?

- That is not an easy question to answer. I have to admit that I do not know exactly how many schools I run. Last year I opened a few new schools. In Lithuania alone I opened no less than three schools. I have 25 schools in Russia at the moment. I think that you can find schools in more than 20 countries worldwide. More than 50
schools, I would say.

- The Karpov Chess Center here in Baden-Baden was one of your first projects in that field.

- Yes, next year we will celebrate its 10th anniversary. Only in Russia I started earlier with my schools. Baden-Baden meant a breakthrough in the globalization of the project. At first nobody could imagine that it would make sense to make chess an integral part of the education, but fortunately that point of view has changed.

- You do also support UNICEF as an ambassador.

- In particular, I am busy fighting iodine deficiency with children. As a result they stay behind in their development, which often occurs in many of the 29 Eastern European countries I am working for as UNICEF ambassador. Meanwhile, more than two-thirds of the countries constituted a law to improve the situation for these children. According to the latest statistics these countries do not only slowly gain up on the standards in Western Europe, but have overtaken them. Bulgaria is the first state that has been awarded for its excellent fight against iodine deficiency by UNICEF. Next year we should have reached all our goals, so than I have to find another challenge. I like to do projects in which you can see statistical results. I am very happy for all these small children, who have been the biggest group of victims of iodine deficiency.

- So, for you as FIDE president, a unification of the world title would be the first point on your agenda?

- Exactly. I am convinced that Kasimdzhanov would never have become world champion if he had played more than eight or more games per round. In Tripoli he showed some good nerves, but that is not enough to deserve the title. First of all, we have to go back to the classical time control. It is not a good thing however to play marathon matches like the ones I played against Kortchnoi  or Kasparov. Besides, classical chess should not be mixed with rapid chess or even blitz. If we had played like this in the past, Mikhail Botvinnik or Boris Spassky would have never become world champions.

- In the past, people knew the name of the world champion. Nowadays, everybody is exchangeable.

- You are right. People knew about 110 years of chess history. Nowadays, nobody is able to tell you the name of the world champion of 2000.

The Mechanics' Institute Chess Club lost a key supporter when Andy Ansel of Walnut Creek moved back East but you can hear him live tomorrow evening. Those who have an interest in chess books and chess book collecting will not to miss it.

One of the late Ken Whyld's last projects was Chess Columns A list published by Moravian Chess (Olomouc 2002). Whyld says straight off that the 587 page hardback may be one of the most error filled books ever written. Possibly, but it will undoubtedly be one of the most useful. Building on the work of earlier researchers like Murray and Buschke this book attempts to provide as comprehensive a list as possible of chess columns published in newspapers around the world. Here is what Whyld has for Northern California. Can Newsletter readers add to this list which provide a first step for doing research, especially in the days before the California Chess Reporter?

SF Chess Columns

Argonaut Started by J.E. Tippett in 1st run, H. Ralston, weekly 1952 - 211 problems and 108 games in 1st series  and an earlier column ran in an newspaper of the same name in 1884

California Spirit of the Times 1859

Golden Era 1859 2/20/1859

San Francisco Chronicle June 1921 -1930 E.J. Clarke; Kolti 1948-2000, Lyman 2000 to present

San Francisco Journal 1903

San Francisco News 1956, Ralston

Other Northern California Columns

Berkeley Barb 1974 Jude Acers

Santa Rosa Press Kolti 1956

Davis Enterprise Tom Dorsch 1974

Sacramento Bee R. Fauber and Frank Garosi 1974-187

Sacramento Union - Gee 1947-1953

SM David Pruess won the East Bay Chess Club July Swiss in Berkeley this past weekend defeating Batshaikhan Tsrendorj in the final round to go 4-0. The monthly event attracted 35 players.

CHESS4LESS DENKER MEMORIAL
(CROSSVILLE, TN)The Chess4Less Denker Memorial* is an IM Norm Round Robin that will be hosted by the Florida Atlantic University Chess Club in Boca Raton, Florida. The first round will start July 9 at 1 p.m. This will be the first norm round robin ever held in the State of Florida. As many of the games as possible will be broadcast around the world on ICC. Jon Haskel is the organizer and tournament director.

The list of participants is as follows:
GM Julio Becerra-US
IM Renier Gonzalez-US
FM Marcel Martinez-US
IM Blas Lugo-US
IM Emilio Pupo-Colombia
Nicholas Thomas-England
Eric Moskow-US
Jeffrey Haskel-US
Mario Marshall-Jamaica
Francois Buchs-Switzerland

*GM Arnold Denker passed away January 2, 2005. Denker was known for his lifelong dedication to chess and was named Dean of American Chess. The USCF press release on GM Denker can be found on the US Chess website

"If chess is a science, it's a most inexact one. If chess is an art, it's too exacting to be seen as one. If chess is a sport, it's too esoteric. If chess is a game, it's too demanding to be "just" a game. If chess is a mistress, she's a demanding one. If chess is a passion, it's a rewarding one. If chess is life, it's a sad one".
Source Unknown

IM Vladimir Mezentsev and NM Nicolas Yap tied for first in the 5th Annual Charles Bagby Memorial held July 16th at the Mechanics' Institute with scores of 4.5 from 5. The two winners dropped their half points early, to Edward Perepelitsky and  Dmitry Vayntraub respectively, but came through in the last few rounds., Mezentsev beating NM Paul Gallegos and IM Ricardo DeGuzman while Yap defeated rapidly improving Phillip Perepelitsky (up 100 rating points in the last two months and heading toward 2200) and NM Batchimeg Tuvshintugs. Tying for third at 4-1 in the 44 player field were IM DeGuzman, NMs Michael Pearson, Alex Bessonov and Phillip Perepletsky. The Bagby was directed by Anthony Corrales with assistance from  Alex Yermolinsky. The next MI G/45 is August 6th and honors the memory of the late Vladimir Pafnutieff.

Good luck to MI members Daniel Naroditsky (Under 10)  and Nicolas Yap (Under 16) who will represent the United States in the World Youth Championships in Belfort. The event runs from July 19 to 28 and you can follow our young Turks at www.belfort-echecs.com .

NM Batchimeg Tuvshintugs leads the Tuesday Night Marathon after five rounds with a perfect score. Edward Perepelitsky is right behind with 4.5 after having defeated former US Champion IM John Grefe in the fifth round. The two leaders meet tomorrow night.

Garry Kasparov announced his retirement from tournament play after this year's Linares tournament and made it clear he would focus on his political activities. How is he faring? The following excepts from a story by Alex Rodriguez in the Chicago Tribune suggest not to well.

Chicago Tribune
July 5, 2005

Checkmating Putin is chess king's gambit

By Alex Rodriguez

Tribune foreign correspondent

KOSTROMA, Russia --

Garry Kasparov had nothing left to conquer. For two decades he reigned over international chess with the swagger of a Cossack and a memory that took on supercomputers. His peers vanquished and his patience worn thin by the politics of his game, the fiery, unpredictable chess legend yearned for a new arena. This year he found one. Announcing his retirement from professional chess in March, Kasparov threw himself headlong into Russian politics, undaunted by its tripwires or its steely overseer, President Vladimir Putin. In fact, Kasparov has made clear he sees Putin as his new arch rival. Kasparov is virtually alone in Russian politics in calling for the dismantling of Putin's regime, and in the use of large-scale street rallies to try to get the job done.  Russian political analysts view Kasparov's endeavor as quixotic and ultimately doomed. Polls suggest most Russians are unaware of Kasparov's career move. Nearly two-thirds say they never would elect him president. Kasparov is not accustomed to being the underdog, but it doesn't appear to faze him either. State-controlled television has ignored him since he announced his switch from chess to politics, so he has begun seeding grass-roots backing in Russia's provinces. In mid-June he took his message of democracy and regime change to Kostroma, a small provincial capital along the banks of the Volga River. Last week he appeared in the volatile North Caucasus republic of Dagestan, recently besieged by a wave of bombings and violence spilling over from the 10-year separatist conflict in neighboring Chechnya.

"I'm not so stupid as to evaluate our chances with great enthusiasm," Kasparov said at his downtown Moscow office. "But at same time, I can feel that the monolith of [Kremlin] power is no longer that solid. Every action, every move by Putin and his associates to strengthen their grip on power . . . inevitably reduces their power base, because it always hurts someone else's interests." Kasparov's colleagues and friends worry that it may be Kasparov who gets hurt. The first rule Russian politicians learn is that in Russian politics, there are no rules. Nine members of parliament have been killed since 1994. Most observers believe former Russian oil magnate Mikhail Khodorkovsky was sentenced recently to 9 years in prison because he dared to fund campaigns of Kremlin opponents.

"We're all terrified for him," said Frederic Friedel, a close friend of Kasparov's and an editor at ChessBase.com. "I tried to give him sound advice: I told him, `Be careful--for God's sake, be careful!'"  Kasparov, 42, no longer is world champion--he lost that title in his 2000 match with countryman Vladimir Kramnik in London. Nevertheless, he is widely regarded as the greatest chess player ever and has been ranked No. 1 in the world by the World Chess Federation since 1984.His style of play was legendary. He rarely settled for draws, instead aggressively pursuing his opponents with daring attacks. Most players strive to betray as little emotion as possible, but Kasparov grinned, chuckled, huffed and winced through matches."A lot of players lost to him because they felt his intensity," Friedel said. "[Russian chess professional] Vladislav Tkachev once said to me, `Kasparov was shorter than me, but when I played him, he towered over me.'"

Viktor Korchnoi, a longtime rival of Kasparov's who defected from the Soviet Union in 1976 and lives in Switzerland, defeated Kasparov only once, losing 11 times."He has tremendous knowledge, more than any other modern grandmaster," Korchnoi said. "And he invests into any given chess game a huge amount of energy, more than anyone else can."

With his energy focused exclusively on Russian politics, Kasparov is applying the same all-out, no-holds-barred philosophy he used on the chessboard. He routinely labels Putin's regime "a dictatorship." In January he called the president a "fascist," and in a recent Wall Street Journal commentary he likened Putin to the Roman emperor Caligula. Kasparov is convinced Putin will either try to change Russia's constitution to allow for a third successive term or install a surrogate whom he can direct from behind the scenes. He won't rule out running for the presidency in 2008, but he said his current focus is Putin's ouster from power. Kasparov has discussed alliances with other Russian liberal democrats, but those talks have stalled because, as Kasparov said, other liberal politicians are unwilling to go as far in denouncing Putin as he is. "The big roadblock with Kasparov is that he considers Putin's regime to not be legitimate," said Boris Nadezhdin, a leading Russian liberal and member of the Union of Right Forces party. "That gives us too little room for negotiations. We still think that we should negotiate with the regime."

For now, Kasparov is content with grass-roots support for the kind of street protests that led to bloodless revolutions in Georgia and Ukraine. His whistle-stop tour across Russia has taken him from St. Petersburg to the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, from Kostroma, 186 miles northeast of Moscow, to the Caspian Sea port of Makhachkala.

2700 GMs Viktor Bologan, Alexey Shirov and Vassily Ivanchuk were joined in the winner's circle in Edmonton this past weekend by IMs SR Chowdhury and Mark Bluvshtein with 8 from 10. The young Canadian beat Alexey Shirov in a minature.

Shirov,A (2705) - Bluvshtein,M (2525) [C42]
Canadian Open Edmonton CAN (9), 17.07.2005

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.Qc2 Na6 10.a3 Bg4 11.Ne5 Bf5 12.b4 f6 13.Nf3 Qe8 14.b5 Qh5 15.bxa6 Bg4 16.Re1 Bxf3 17.gxf3 Qxh2+
Bluvshtein is after more than the draw offered by 17...Qh3 18.f4 Qg4+ 19.Kf1 Qh3+ 20.Ke2 Qg4+ 21.f3 Qg2+ 22.Kd1 Nf2+ 23.Kd2 Ne4+.
18.Kf1 f5 19.cxd5 cxd5 20.fxe4 fxe4 21.Bxe4 dxe4 22.Be3 Bg3 23.Ra2 Rf3 0-1

Hi folks:

       My internet radio show, Chess & Books with Fred Wilson, returned Tuesday evening, March 15th, at 8:00 PM (EST).  You can access it easily by simply going to the excellent website: http://www.chess.fm .  It will run every Tuesday night from 8:00 to 10:00 PM (EST), with a replay of the live show following almost immediately afterwards, for chess enthusiasts on the West Coast.  There will also be a couple of replays the following afternoon.   My sixteenth guest,Tuesday evening July 19th, 2005, will be:

        Fred's guest Tuesday evening July 19th, 2005 will the well-known chess teacher, and author of the best-selling, superb instructional masterpiece "Chess Exam and Training Guide", IM IGOR KHMELNITSKY.  Igor has won many national and international tournaments in Ukraine, Russia, Germany, Yugoslavia, Croatia, Bulgaria, and the United States. At various points during his playing career, he has defeated many of the game's best players - including Lev Alburt, Boris Alterman, Viorel Bologan, Roman Dzindzikhashvili, Vasily Ivanchuk, Alexander Ivanov, Oleg Romanishin, Alexander Shabalov, Evgeniy Sveshnikov, Patrick Wolfe, and Alex Yermolinsky. In total, Igor has beaten over 30 different Grandmasters. Igor was also a participant in the Ukrainian National Championship and in the US National Championship (three times).  After moving to the US in 1991, Igor began coaching in the Philadelphia area where he now instructs players of all levels, from novice through master.  He has created two excellent websites: http://www.IamCoach.com and http://www.ChessExam.com . Please send questions for IM Igor Khmelnitsky to fred@fredwilsonchess.com or Tony Rook".

        In future weeks I hope to have Maurice Carter (correspondence chess expert), GM Larry Christiansen, GM Alexander Baburin, GM Joel Benjamin, IM Jack Peters, GM Arthur Bisguier, IM Eugene Perelshteyn. IM Jennifer Shadade and many, many more important members of our chess community on my show. Please feel free to email me interesting questions for these chess professionals.

       I am very happy to be back and hope you will all listen in!  Also, I welcome and encourage suggestions re possible future guests on my show.

       Best in chess, Fred Wilson

Last week's list of chess columns in Northern California papers caused several readers to write.

Rusty Miller points out that Jude Acers column in the Berkeley Barb also ran in 1972 and 1973 and that you can find some examples of the column online at http://www.chessdryad.com/articles/#13 .
Frisco Del Rosario wrote a column for the Redwood City Weekly News from 1989-1991.

Bob Burger writes : regarding  the Sacramento Union column by J.B. Gee: I learned chess by reading this column in 1942. Gee published it weekly in the Sunday Union, as the Bee didn't have a Sunday paper then (I know -- I delivered the Bee for three years). Jay was a good friend of mine for the rest of his life, cut short by lung cancer in about 1959. . The other great names from that era were M.O. Meyer, Alex Janushkowsky, and Neil Austin, guys I will always remember fondly.

Despite being one of the largest cities Oakland has been an under served chess community. MI member Demetrius Goins is trying to change that. The Lakeview Branch library in Oakland (550 El Embarcadero) is offering free lessons by expert Demetrius Goins every Wednesday from 3:30pm to 5:15pm. Contact Mr. Goins or Mary Farrell at (510) 238-7344 for more information.

USCF President Beatriz Marinello recently wrote that the USCF will be sending an entry to the World Team Championship scheduled for Israel this fall.

Under the possible title of caveat emptor Newsletter reader and ICC maven Duncan Oxley of  Marina writes about a tournament scheduled for this September 14-17 ( this might be a typo and it will be held September 15-18) in Las Vegas - http://www.chessinvegas.com/worldwide-challenge.htm
John, not saying it is a scam but could possibly be someone in over their head. They want us to send 400 bucks to the UK? What if you can't get your money back say if it flops?
I think Duncan is definitely right to wave a red flag. The organizers are advertising $110,000 in prizes with plans to add more. Do any readers have more details?

Newsletter reader Frank Berry sends in the following game between two 2006 US Championship qualifiers from last weekend's Kansas Open.

IM Kriventsov (2460) - GM Shulman  (2600) [C19]
Kansas Op Wichita (2005

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 Ne7 7.Nf3 Bd7 8.h4 Nbc6 9.h5 Qa5 10.Bd2 0–0–0 11.h6 gxh6 12.Rxh6 Ng8 13.Rh4 f6 14.Bd3 fxe5 15.Nxe5 Nxe5 16.dxe5 Ne7 17.Rh3 Rdg8 18.Kf1 Qa4 19.Bxh7 Rg7 20.Bd3 Rxh3 21.gxh3 Bb5 22.Rb1 a6 23.Be3 Nf5 24.Bxc5 Qe4 25.Bxb5 axb5 26.Rb4 Qh1+ 27.Ke2 Rg1 28.Qd2 Qxh3 29.Be3 Qf1+ 30.Kf3 Rg3+ 31.Kf4 Qh3 0–1

Former Seattle Chess Club President Phillip McCready has been gathering IM Nikolay Minev's games the past few years and made a couple of trips to Cleveland to visit the John G. White Collection to assist him in his quest.  Unfortunately even that famous library failed to fill in some gaps. Phillip asks if Newsletter readers might be able to help him with the following tournaments:

Subotica 1965
Monte Carlo 1968 (must include games from B event)
Constanta 1969
Kecskemet 1970
Balkaniad 1973 (Poiana Brasov)
Albena 1973
Bulgarian Team Championship 1973
Pula 1975 (European Team championship qualifier)
Balkaniad 1975 (Istanbul)
Uljma 1976
Belgrade 1977
Pernik 1977
Albena 1977
Athens 1978

If you can help out email me at imwjd@aol.com and I will forward it to Phillip.

Mick Bighamian writes that the July 11 LA Masters saw him tie for first with fellow NMs Greg Small and Joel Banawa at 3-1.

The USA-Russia Chess match held on July 10 (www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=2484 ) will be broadcast on July 24.

July 24, 2005 at 12 PM NY time

The list of stations will be released soon and will be listed in your local TV Guide.
The program will also be televised over the Internet.

"For me 1.e4 is more natural. It is more aggressive, and requires more work. It’s more concrete, double-edged, and more dangerous for black. Opening choice is a matter of nature. The further you go, the closer you get to your true chess style. I’m not saying that I will always play 1.e4, however, as 1.d4 is also a good move. My match with Kramnik proved it!"
Garry Kasparov

Rapidly improving Edward Perepelitsky continued his upsetting ways in the Summer Tuesday Night Marathon by defeating 2300 plus rated Batchimeg Tuvshintugs in round 6. Perepelitsky now leads the event with 5.5 points just ahead of Tuvshintugs, Oleg Shakhnazorov, Victor Ossipov and Victor Todortsev who all have scores of 5-1. Tonight Perepelitsky faces off with Shakhnazorov.

MI Juniors are turning in excellent performances in the World Youth Championships in Belfort, France. Daniel Naroditsky, playing in the Boys Under 10, is ranked 4th with 6 from 8 while Nicolas Yap is tied for 28th at 5 from 8 in the Boys Under 16. Both sections have approximately 150 players competing. Three rounds remain in the competition.

French Grandmaster Jean Luc Chabanon, who played at the Mechanic's several years ago as well as the Western States Open in Reno, has a very interesting record in words and pictures of his visit at http://chabanon.blogspot.com/   The ChessDryad site has a tremendous pictorial on the Charles Bagby Memorial at the MI. Go to http://www.chessdryad.com/photos/sanfran/bagby_05/index.htm to view it.

The MI's advanced Chess Camp, with GM Alex Yermolinsky as lead instructor, will be back for the fifth consecutive year this summer. The all day camp will run from August 1-5. This is a unique opportunity to work with the top-rated player in Northern California. All ages are welcome. Go here for more information.

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. Ifyou 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.

The results of the USCF election for four of the seven Executive Board seats were recently announced and the result was a huge defeat for the "Success Team" of incumbents Elizabeth Shaughnessy, Steve Shutt, and Randy Bauer plus George John. Though strongly supported by USCF President Beatriz Marinello and EB Member Timothy Hanke not a single member of the team was elected in what has to be taken as a repudiation of the  Executive Board's actions the past year.

Bill Goichberg 3941 - ELECTED
Greg Shahade 3694 - ELECTED
Joel Channing 3358 - ELECTED
Robert Tanner 3179 - ELECTED
Elizabeth Shaughnessy 1638
Randy Bauer 1591
Steve Shutt 1194
Sam Sloan 1064
George John 1059

The vote in Region 11 ( CA, AZ, NV, HI) was Goichberg (560), Shahade (563), Channing (493), Tanner (504), Shaughnessy (313), Bauer (230), Shutt (180), Sloan (147) and John (157). This election saw the number of  voters jump from not much over a 1000 to over 5000 which was a very positive side. Still, with probably 40,000 eligible, there is a lot of room for improvement.

The new Executive Board (Goichberg, Shahade, Channing and Tanner plus incumbents Marinello, Hanke and Schultz takes office immediately after the Delegate's Meeting at the US Open in Phoenix in the middle of August. Considering Schultz campaigned heavily for the four new EB members  it seems almost certain that the USCF will  almost  new President shortly (the EB vote among themselves to decide who leads).

Andranik Matikozian, Melik Khachian and Cyrus Lakdawala tied for first at 5-2 in the Southern California Championship which ended two weeks ago. Other scores:   4. IM Peters 4 5. Bruno 3.5 6. IM Sevillano 3 7. NM Moussa 2 8. Clawitter .5

Peters,J - Sevillano,E
So Calif State Champ 2005

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 Ne7 7.Qg4 Qc7 8.Qxg7 Rg8 9.Qxh7 cxd4 10.Ne2 Nbc6 11.f4 Bd7 12.Qd3 dxc3 13.Qxc3 0–0–0 14.Rb1 Nf5 15.Bd2 Rg6 16.h4 Rh8 17.h5 Rg7 18.Rh3 Kb8 19.g3 Bc8 20.Bg2 Rhg8 21.Bf3 Nxg3 22.Nxg3 Rxg3 23.Rxg3 Rxg3 24.Kf2 Rg8 25.Qc5 Rd8 26.h6 b6 27.Qc3 Bb7 28.Rh1 Rh8 29.Qd3 Qc8 30.h7 Ne7 31.Rh3 Ng6 32.Be2 Ka8 33.Ke1 Qc5 34.Qg3 Qf8 35.Bd3 Qg7 36.Qg5 Bc8 37.Qh6 Qxh6 38.Rxh6 Kb7 39.Bxg6 fxg6 40.Bb4 1–0

Khachiyan,M - Sevillano,E
So Calif State Champ 2005

1.e4 d6 2.d4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.f4 Nf6 5.Nf3 c5 6.Bb5+ Bd7 7.e5 Ng4 8.e6 fxe6 9.Ng5 Bxb5 10.Nxb5 Qa5+ 11.c3 Qxb5 12.Qxg4 Qc4 13.Nxe6 Bf6 14.Nc7+ Kd8 15.Nxa8 cxd4 16.Qe2 Qxe2+ 17.Kxe2 Nc6 18.cxd4 Nxd4+ 19.Kd3 Kd7 20.Be3 Ne6 21.Raf1 Rxa8 22.f5 gxf5 23.Rxf5 b6 24.b3 Rg8 25.Rg1 Be5 26.g3 Ng7 27.Rf7 h5 28.Rgf1 Ke6 29.Rf8 Rxf8 30.Rxf8 Nf5 31.Ra8 d5 32.Rxa7 d4 33.Bg5 Bd6 34.Rb7 Kd5 35.Rxb6 e5 36.Rb5+ Kc6 37.a4 Bc7 38.Bf4 1–0

A recent issue of Chess Today  shows why it continues to be required reading. Chief Editor GM Alex Baburin is always on the lookout for interesting material from around the world. Here he writes:
"Boris Spassky recently gave an interview to the Soviet Sport newsletter. As usual, the former world champion was very frank. I translated a few fragments from the interview:

- Nowadays it would  be reasonable to have an annual world championship.

- Kramnik is not the world champion, though he thinks otherwise. As they say, "he rules, but not commands".

- In the absence of Kasparov, there are 2-3 roughly equal players. I sympathize to Anand. But Leko is also
good. Ivanchuk is a crazy, but good player too. Recently Topalov had  some good results. But there cannot
be a distinctive leader now – because there is no system, no pyramid to climb, which we had.

- I try to help developing junior chess. When I lived in USSR, I got a lot of free help from very good coaches –  now I am trying to repay that debt.

- I visited Fischer in Iceland recently.He wants to play against me again! He knows he will win, so he looks at me hungrily."

Boris Spassky will be back again for the Western States Open in Reno this October.

The late Player's Chess News, whose heyday was from around 1981 to 1986, published a lot of information that is nowhere else to be found. IM Mark Ginsburg and NM Jeremy Barth did a real service by sitting in on some of Igor Ivanov's post-mortems in 1981 and 1982 when the soon-to-be perennial Grand Prix Champion was at the apex of his powers. Check out the following game which serves as an excellent illustration of Igor's artistry.

Ivanov-Kudrin, New York 1982
Heraldica Promotional Open New York, 13.12.1982
[Jeremy Barth]

1.d4
PCN writes: pre-tournament favorite Igor Ivanov was never in serious trouble as he melted down al five opponents 9o win going away with 5?0. Following with 4?1 were Tony Renna, Sergei Kudrin and Konstantin Dolgitser.
1...Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Bg5 h6 5.Bh4 c5 6.d5 d6 7.e3 g5 8.Bg3 Ne4 9.Qc2 Qf6
The variation beginning with 7...g5 was first seen in Timman-G.Garcia, Orense 1976, but it has rarely come up since then. Kudrin was theoretically well prepared, but Ivanov was moving quite slowly and appeared not to know the position well.
10.Rc1
After his victory in the super tournament Leningrad 1977, Oleg Romanishin explained the pawn sacrifices that had cropped up in a number of his games. Their point, he said, was not so much to wrest an advantage as it was to create tense positions where there was, in some objective reality, a balance of play - but to maintain that parity would make severe demands on the logical and intuitive faculties of both players. It was from such intense competitive circumstances. Romanishin went on, that he drew his creatice inspiration. Very much in this spirit is Kavalek's dynamic suggestion  [10.Qxe4 Bxc3+ 11.Kd1 Bxb2 12.Rb1 with a torturous, unclear situation.; 10.Nge2 exd5 11.0-0-0 Bxc3 12.Nxc3 Nxc3 13.Qxc3 Qxc3+ 14.bxc3? is the recommended line for White in Nunn's Chess Openings (1999). Perhaps this is why the line isn't seen much anymore or covered in ECO, Volume E (3rd edition,1998) or Chris Ward's recent Offbeat Nimzo-Indian (JD).
10...exd5 11.cxd5 Bf5 12.Bd3 Qg6 13.Ke2 Bxc3
White has an edge after  13...Nxg3+ 14.hxg3 Bxd3+ 15.Qxd3 Qxd3+ 16.Kxd3 Bxc3 17.bxc3 followed by doubling Rooks on the h-file.
14.Bxe4
After prolonged thought, White innovates. Hitherto known was 14.bxc3 c4! (14...Nd7 15.c4 b5 16.cxb5 a6 17.b6 Nxb6 18.Nf3 Nxg3+ 19.hxg3 Bxd3+ 20.Qxd3 Qxd3+ 21.Kxd3 Nxd5 22.Nxg5 Ke7 23.Ne4 Nb4+ 24.Ke2 Nxa2 25.Rc2 Nb4 26.Rd2 c4 27.Rxd6 f5 28.Rb6 Nd5 29.Rb7+ Ke6 30.Nc5+ Kd6 31.Na4 Kc6 32.Rf7 Rab8 33.Rxf5 Rb4 34.e4 Rxa4 35.Rxd5 Ra2+ 36.Ke3 Ra3+ 37.Kd4 Ra2 38.Ke3 Ra3+ 39.Kd4 Ra2 40.Rc5+ Kd6 41.Rf5 Ke7 0-1 Cooper,J-Commons,K/Haifa 1976/EXT 2000 (41)) 15.Qa4+ Nd7 16.Qxc4 when Black has excellent compensation for the pawn. An initiative-oriented player, Ivanov avoids the pawn grab and, later apparently, is willing to cough up a couple of his own on the rebound.
14...Bxe4 15.Qxc3 0-0
 Ivanov labeled this strategic error "suicidal". Necessary was  15...Rg8 when the position is not without resources for Black, e.g. 16.Nf3 (16.f3 Bxd5 17.Rd1 (Probably best is 17.e4! Bxa2 18.b4! with dangerous threats for the two pawns, but Black holds the balance through 18...b5! 19.bxc5 Bc4+ 20.Kf2 Nc6 intending ...0?0?0 when both sides have attacking chances.) 17...Qe6! 18.e4 (18.Kf2 Nc6 19.e4 Bxa2 20.Rxd6 Qc4 21.Ne2 Qxc3 22.Nxc3 Be6 23.h4 Rd8 24.hxg5 hxg5 25.Rxd8+ Kxd8 26.Rd1+ Ke7 27.Bd6+ Kf6 28.Bxc5 b5 29.Be3 Rd8 30.Rxd8 Nxd8 31.Bd4+ ??? Hort,V-De Firmian,N/Wijk aan Zee 1986/TD (31)) 18...Bxa2 19.Rxd6 Qc4+ is good for Black) 16...Na6 17.Rhd1 Ke7 with ideas such as ...Nb4 and ...f5-f4.
16.h4!
Now Black is massacred.
16...g4 17.h5 Qf5 18.f3 Bxd5 19.Rh4 gxf3+ 20.gxf3 Kh7 21.Rf4 Qxh5 22.Rh4 Qf5 23.Bf4 h5 24.Kf2 Be6 25.Ne2 f6 26.Ng3 Qg6 27.Nxh5  1-0

PCN, Volume 3, page 292

"To study opening variations without reference to the strategy that applies to the middlegame is,in effect, to separate the head from the body.
Tigran Petrosian

Edward Perepelitsky continued his amazing run in the Summer Tuesday Night Marathon by defeating NM Oleg Shaknazrov in round 7 to bring his score to 6.5,  insuring himself a tie for first with a round to go. Perepelitsky, who took a bye in round 4, has defeated FM Frank Thornally, IM John Grefe, NM Batchimeg Tuvshintugs and now Shakhnazrov. Rated only 1920 at the beginning of the Summer TNM, Edward is now at 2056 and the TNM may bring him his Master title. Twin brother Philip, is 2130, and should soon also be over 2200.

Congratulations to MI Daniel Naroditsky who finished fifth in the World Championship for Boys Under 10 in Belfort, France, scoring 8 from 11. Another MI member, Nicolas Yap, also did well, coring 6 from 11 in the Boys Under 16 competition.

The Mechanics' Institute will have a presence at the upcoming US Open in Phoenix. MI Grandmaster-in-Residence Alex Yermolinsky will join FM Frank Thornally and IA Mike Goodall in the 9-day schedule. This means there will be no lectures next Tuesday and Wednesday (August 9 and 10). MI Chess Director John Donaldson will play the six-day schedule and accept the Mechanics' award for the USCF's Best Chess Club (shared with the East Bay CC). He will also be standing in for MI Trustee Neil Falconer who received the USCF's prestigious Special Service Award.

Note the MI will be running a concurrent two day, four round event, for players 1800 on up during the Bernardo Smith Amateur , August 20-21. Check the MI website shortly for more details.

The following interview by VIJAY PARTHASARATHY appeared in The Hindu, India's national newspaper.

Moves that are out of square?

WHEN tennis superstar Bjorn Borg abruptly announced his retirement in 1982, at age 26, the decision seemed premature and, frankly, shocking; considering he was still practically at the peak of his game. John McEnroe, who had, a few months earlier, stolen the Swede's top ranking, was to later comment in his autobiography, Serious, that Borg's retirement upset him; that, for a while, his motivation levels dipped. Borg's leaving tennis was, he wrote, a huge blow for the sport, and for him personally: "It was unbelievable: the matches between us had become real exciting and even though Jimmy (Connors) had slipped a bit — or so I thought — he was still certainly a major threat." And then, suddenly, Borg was gone. It supposedly took the wind out of McEnroe's sails and he is said to have had a very tough time motivating himself and getting back on track: it took the American a couple of years to start improving again.

In the rapidly diminishing rays of twilight, Viswanathan Anand smiles brightly, patiently, for the benefit of the photographer, and otherwise satisfies his every whim — "look here", "put your finger on your temple like you are thinking, please" (as Rodin rolls in his grave), and that classic one: "act natural" — and he listens passively, but attentively, as I narrate the story. The glint in those intelligent eyes suggests he has already summoned a powerful argument to counter my rather inexpert (and entirely obvious) line of questioning; when I ask Anand if Garry Kasparov's retirement earlier this year similarly left him struggling for motivation he looks at me shrewdly. "It's possible McEnroe could have grasped that in hindsight, when he was writing his book," he says. "While he was still playing I'm not sure how affected he was directly because Borg had decided to quit. After all, there were others like Connors to constantly push him.

On rivals and competition

"When you talk of rivals in the direct sense, the differences are usually small. Without Kasparov things don't get any easier. Just now, the rivalry between me and Topalov is getting intense. So I don't really miss Kasparov in a competitive sense because I simply haven't had the time to reflect on his decision."

But playing Kasparov had to be something else, didn't it, I persist. "Of course; he was one of the greatest ever," Anand says. "By the time I became a Grandmaster, Kasparov had already been world champion for two years. I began to see him as a colleague — on equal terms, so to speak — only around 1991, when I began to move up the rankings after some very good results. Until then he was more of a distant figure, although, if you bumped into him at a tournament he would still nod at you.

"I remember he didn't mingle much though. During, say, the Linares tournament I could always casually call (Vladimir) Kramnik for dinner and he would come along gladly, but it's a measure of how distant Kasparov could be, that I didn't really try that too often with him — maybe three or four times in all."

Psychological warfare is a big part of a chess player's strategy; when Anand improved to the point of challenging Kasparov, the latter systematically began to target the Indian Grandmaster, but those barbs were mostly subtle and all aimed through the press. "I hadn't yet reached my peak when I played him that one time for the World title in 1995," Anand reflects. "I should have played more aggressively." Over the years, Anand says, their relations have remained cordial and, in general, excellent — which is to say, "they never got contentious" — but by nature Kasparov is abrasive, and was always likely to rile some players. "This was a guy who could only see the world through his own eyes, he has no perspective," explains Anand. "He is that kind of guy; snipes at people, has strong opinions. He once said something to the effect `If you want to be the best, you'll always make enemies.' People were put off by his aggression; but he had a special position in chess."

Kasparov's real personality

Kasparov's real personality, as Anand explains, lay somewhere between two extremes — as the most innovative player in generations, he was bound to be enormously popular among followers of the game; on the other hand, jealous rivals branded him as self-centred and conceited. "He wasn't necessarily the most popular, but surprisingly, there was a time in the mid-1980s when he was actually liked," Anand says. "This was after he'd beaten Karpov, he was young and could play brilliantly. But around the time his book, Child of Change, was published towards the end of 1987, he was beginning to tread on a few toes."

Starting in early 2002, something in Kasparov began to give. The Prague Agreement, conceived as a means to draw the Russian champion back into mainstream chess, was not going anywhere, and Kasparov seemed to withdraw into a shell. He reduced his chess commitments progressively until, in January, he announced that he would retire from classical chess.

Political aspirations

The 42-year-old Kasparov has long admitted to having political aspirations, an idea that Anand finds inconceivable, because, as he suggests, the Russian might not possess the requisite inter-personal skills. "Kasparov was always very active politically, it probably started because during the Soviet era you needed political influence to even contest a World Championship," Anand surmises. "His is a curious case: he is a Jewish Armenian, and belongs to a minority community in Russia. He was always trying to cultivate this rebel image, which in the early 1990s, was a complex posture to adopt — the concept of right and left were inverted just then, so basically, if you subscribed to leftist views you were pro-democracy, while communists were ironically seen as the radical right. In a sense he was like any Republican in America around that time.

"He could end up as another Imran Khan — great sportsman but mediocre politician," Anand says. "Kasparov right now is the figure the Western media would turn to if they wanted an opinion from inside Russia, but my guess is he isn't taken so seriously in his own country.

"I guess it's a kind of compliment, but Kasparov's never going to do as well as he did in chess. With his mind he might make a fantastic political commentator, but nothing more."

Nevertheless, even if his foray into politics fails, Anand does not foresee Kasparov's return to active chess, except under special circumstances — "like maybe if he was offered a lot of money, or if he was given a shot at the World title without having to qualify for it."

I ask curiously if it sometimes bothers him that he never got another shot at the Russian; whether Anand's own claims to greatness could somehow be denied legitimacy simply because he never beat the man considered the greatest of them all, in a World championship contest. "Sometimes, I think about it, yes sometimes it bothers me," Anand admits. "Then I think it wasn't only me that was affected by his retirement, there were a lot of others, who never got to have a shot at Kasparov.

"So, it's alright."

Torneo Internacional de Alajuela, the strongest tournament of the year in Central America, took place in Costa Rica recently. The event had 177 players playing a 9 rounds Swiss. Among those competing were 5 GMs : Victor Mikhailevsky, Varouzhan Akobian, Neuris Delgado, Alonso Zapata  and Alejandro Ramirez. Southern California's top rated player, Varouzhan Akobian,  took first place in impressive fashion.

Final standings:
1. Akobian – 8
2. Murillo – 7½
3-7. Ramirez, Leyva, Juarez, Perez, Chavez – 7, etc.

Former Bulgarian GM Vladimir Georgiev, who now calls Chicago home, won the 2005 Kansas Open held July 16 and 17 In Lindsborg, Kansas,  with 4.5 from 5. Tying for second with 4 points in the 36-player  Swiss were  GMs Yury  Shulman and Nikola Mitkov, IM Stanislav Kriventsov and NM Sergey Galant. The event was organized by the irrepressible Mikhail Korenman.

Los Angeles GM Boris Kreiman defended his home turf in the Pacific Coast Open held July 21-24 in Agoura Hills, winning the top section with a score of 5 from 6. Tying for second at 4.5 were perennial Grand Prix Champion Alex Wojtkiewicz and IM Vladimir Mezentsev of Mountain View. Sharing fourth through eighth were a couple of other Bay Area players, IM Ricardo DeGuzman and NM Shikumar Shivaji as well as IMs Greg Hjorth, David Vigorito and Andranik Matikozian. The Continental Chess Association tournament, usually the strongest event of the year in California, was missing some big guns from the East Coast, possibly because of the upcoming Intercontinental Championship in Argentina.

International Master Eugene Meyer had his picture in the front section (A12) of the New York Times today. Meyer is the President of the Federalist Society, a group that numbers among its members Supreme Court nominee John Roberts.

Last week Thursday the San Francisco Chronicle ran a lengthy piece on chess at 5th street and Market in downtown San Francisco. The reporter interviewed several regulars including a Maximus King. The accompanying photograph of Mr. King seemed to be bear an uncanny resemblance to NM Jorge Lopez. Who said chess players don't have a sense of humor?

"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

Edward 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.

Boston 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.

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.

"Chess is a foolish expedient for making idle people believe they are doing something very clever when they are only wasting their time".
 George Bernard  Shaw

IM Ricardo DeGuzman scored 4.5 from 5 to win the annual Vladimir Pafnutieff Memorial held August 6 at the MI. Tying for second at 4-1, in the 40 player Swiss directed by Anthony Corrales, were NM Michael Aigner, Experts Batsaikan Tserendorj, Dmitry Vayntrub and Philip Pereplitsky and Class A players Varun Behl and Michael Zhong.

This weekend the Mechanics' will hold the Bernardo Smith Open with sections for players above and below 1800. Next Tuesday evening is the start of the David Gee Tuesday Night Marathon.

Vadim Milov and Joel Benjamin tied for first at 8-1 in the US Open in Phoenix which ended last Sunday. The two winners each received $4,500. Half a point back were Larry Christiansen, Alek Wojtkiewicz, Greg Shahade, Dave Vigorito and Amon Simutowe ($ 860 apiece), followed by a large group another half point back.

US Championship qualifiers were: Christiansen, Shahade, Vigorito and Serper (top tiebreak on 7 points) with Elizabeth Vicary and Hana Itkis (6 points) taking the women's spots.

Larry Christiansen played a great tournament and beat many good players before running out of gas in the last round.

Milov,V (2705) - Christiansen,L (2622) [D34]
US Open Phoenix (9), 14.08.2005

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 c5 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.g3 Nf6 7.Bg5 Be7 8.Bg2 0–0 9.dxc5 Bxc5 10.Bxf6 Qxf6 11.0–0 d4 12.Nd5 Qd8 13.Nd2 Be6 14.Nf4 Bf5 15.Rc1 Bb6 16.Nc4 Re8 17.a3 Be4 18.Bxe4 Rxe4 19.Qd3 Re8 20.Qf3 Rc8 21.Nd3 Qe7 22.Rc2 Na5 23.Rfc1 Nxc4 24.Rxc4 Rxc4 25.Rxc4 Qd7 26.b4 g6 27.Rc2 Kg7 28.h4 h5 29.Nf4 a6 30.Rc4 Re5 31.Rc2 Re7 32.Nd3 a5 33.bxa5 Bxa5 34.Rc5 Bb6 35.Rg5 f6 36.Rd5 Qc6 37.Nb4 Qc3 38.Kg2 Ba7 39.Rd8 Qxf3+ 40.Kxf3 Bc5 41.Nd5 Re5 42.Rd7+ Kh6 43.Nf4 b6 44.a4 g5 45.hxg5+ fxg5 46.Nd3 g4+ 47.Kf4 Rxe2 48.a5 bxa5 49.Nxc5 Rxf2+ 50.Ke5 h4 51.Rd6+ Kh5 52.Ne4 Rf8 53.Nf6+ Rxf6 54.Kxf6 1–0

The second annual Susan Polgar National Invitational for Girls (under 19) was held alongside with the US Open in Phoenix, Arizona this year. Approximately 3,000 girls participated in regional and state qualifying events in the last 12 months to earn the right to represent their states. A record 48 girls (as young as 11) represented their respective states in this year’s tournament.

At the conclusion of the tournament last night, three players tied for first with the score of 5-1 (4 wins and 2 draws). WFM Alisa Melekhina(PA), Abby Marshall (OH) and WGM Anya Cork (CA) were declared co-champions. They were also the top three seeds of the tournament. Each champion was awarded a full tuition and fees scholarship to the University of Texas in Dallas.

MI member Louiza Livschitz (CA), Amanda Mateer (AZ), Emily Lau (HI) and Anjali Datta (TX) were tied for 4th place with the score of 4.5 - 1.5.

A record $155,000 in cash, prizes and scholarships were awarded to the 48 young ladies. The third annual Susan Polgar National Invitational for Girls will be held in Chicago, IL next August.

GM Lazaro Bruzon of Cuban scored 8.5 from 11 to win the Championship of the Americas in Buenos Aires. Tying for second at 8 in the qualifier for the FIDE World Cup were Julio Granda Zuniga, Alex Onischuk, Gilberto Milos, Gata Kamsky, Ruben Felgaer, Gaston Needleman and Giovanni Vescovi.

Computer History Museum Presents The History of Computer Chess: An AI Perspective In Conjunction with New Exhibit,

Mastering The Game: A History of Computer Chess

Evening presentation to highlight origin and development of computer chess and what it tells us about society and the machines humans build

(AUGUST 14, 2005) MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIF.-The Computer History Museum, the world's largest museum dedicated to preserving and presenting the artifacts and stories of the information age, will host Computer History Museum Presents: The History of Computer Chess: An AI Perspective, 7 p.m., September 8, at the Computer History Museum, 1401 N. Shoreline Blvd., Mountain View, Calif.

This special presentation, produced in conjunction with the opening of the Museum's newest exhibit, Mastering The Game: A History of Computer Chess, will feature Murray Campbell, Deep Blue project member, International Business Machines (IBM); Edward Feigenbaum, a Stanford artificial intelligence researcher; David Levy, International Computer Games Association, and John McCarthy, professor, Stanford University.  The evening presentation will be moderated by Monty Newborn, professor, McGill University and organizer, ACM Computer Chess Championships (1970-1991).  This panel, made up of AI's leading pioneers will discuss for the first time in the same room the origin and development of computer chess and what it tells us about ourselves and the machines we build.

According to Dag Spicer, senior curator at the Computer History Museum, this panel will look at the source and expansion of computer chess and what it tells us about ourselves and the technology we develop.  Does playing chess require thinking, or can thinking be approximated by that of a computer?  "As a human activity, chess is believed to require 'thinking,' yet in 1997 a massively-parallel supercomputer, drawing on over four decades of continual advances in both hardware and software, defeated the best human player in the world," Spicer said.

The event is presented in conjunction with the debut of Mastering The Game: A History of Computer Chess.  This 1,000 square foot exhibit will follow a chronological plan, from the theoretical foundations developed by such computing pioneers as Alan Turing and Claude Shannon, to the development of PC chess software and the drama of IBM's chess-playing supercomputer, Deep Blue.  Using chess as an entree, visitors can explore important software and other traditionally challenging topics to explain.  The physical exhibit is supplemented with an online version of Mastering the Game: A History of Computer Chess that provides access to information made available in the physical exhibit as well as other content, such as original source materials, links to complementary organizations and computer chess stories shared by online visitors. Sponsors of the exhibit include Target and Ropes & Gray LLP.

Reservations are required to attend Computer History Museum Presents: The History of Computer Chess: An AI Perspective. The presentation is free, with a suggested donation of $10 for non-members. The lecture starts promptly at 7:00 p.m. A reception will be held at 6:00 p.m. for invited guests and Computer History Museum members. For more information, please visit http://www.computerhistory.org/events <http://www.computerhistory.org/events>

For more information, contact Steven Brewster, (650) 810-1036, or brewster@computerhistory.org.

The following story first appeared in the Russian newspaper Kommersant on  August 9.

Russian Chess Doesn’t Make Any Moves by  Alexey Dospekhov

The European Team Championship in Goteborg, Sweden, has ended up in the most crushing defeat for Russians in their chess history. The women’s team at least made it to the top three, while the men landed only at the 14th place.

The results of the European Championships can’t but cause surprise with those who keep up with the chess news and know that Soviet and Russian teams have rarely lost team competitions and if they did they at least won medals. The last year’s Chess Olympics in Spain was perhaps the worst performance of the team ever: none of the two teams won, the men’s finished second, the women’s – third. However, the Russian team outdid all other countries on aggregate and the topic of the Russian chess crisis never came up. It can be voiced now, though, since the failure of the men’s team is too apparent.

Chief executive of the Russian Chess Federation Alexander Bakh said in an interview with Kommersant yesterday he could not make it out for himself what had happened in Sweden. “We need to look into it thoroughly because even the third place of the women’s team, even considering their young age, can by no means be called a success… I can only say that it is hardy a matter of coach’s miscounts or blunders in training. Miscounts occur only when the first place slips through your fingers because of some circumstances. But when the team ends up 14th – that’s another thing,” he said.

Alexander Bakh added that the Russians would have a chance to make up for the Swedish failure this fall. The World Team Championship starts in Israel October 31, and the team composition promises to be stronger that in Goeteborg, according to preliminary reports. Famous Grand Masters Alexander Grishchyuk and Alexander Morozevich, who missed the Goeteborg championship, gave their consent to play for Russia. However, even without them, the two Russian teams (men: Pyotr Svidler, Alexey Dreev, Alexander Motylev, Evgeny Bareev and Artem Timofeev; women: Alexanra Kostnyuk, Nadezhda and Tatyana Kosintsevs, Ekaterina Kovalevskaya and Alisa Gallyamova) surpassed their rivals, and quite noticeably.

Leading chess experts have already concluded that causes of the defeat are far deeply rooted than in the team’s composition. International Grand Master Yury Razuvaev, who coached the Soviet and Russian national team for many years and won with them many international competitions, including World Chess Olympics, gave a number of examples from his own work. “At the 1980 European Championship, Garry Kasparov made his debut at my team where then World Champion Anatoly Karpov played the fist chess-board. It was a debut of a 16-year-old. At the 1992 Olympics, great Kasparov played the first board for the team with a very young Vladimir Kramnik who had just made a debut… It was our tradition that the national team was made up of outstanding champions and young up-and-comers, who soon became great Grand Masters themselves as gleaned experience and got more self-confident. The link between the generations is now broken. It is other teams that put now into practice our ideas with seemingly better resources, for example Ukraine. Young Sergey Karyakin and Yury Kuzubov played for the team at the Championship in Sweden alongside famous Vasily Ivanchyuk. The team ranked only 5th but it is not a flop anyway, especially if you consider the fact that they mainly aimed at preparing the team for future events.”

Legendary Boris Spassky, 10th World Champion, is of the same view. “I think the ranks our teams occupied at the European Championship do reflect the real state of the Russian chess,” he said. “I mean the situation with children chess, which I tried and paid much attention as the editor-in-chief of Shakhmatnaya Nedelya [Chess Week]. It is really true that we have fewer talented chess players now, especially boys: the case with girls is a bit better. What’s the reason? We can certainly say that we are short of money. But anyway, I am convinced that one should not lose heart. We have only one way out: the older generation should pass on its experience to the youth. For example, I have a chess school in Urals, I also run a project in Orel… We need that everyone interested boost the chess together, not on their own.”

"I spent the first half of my career learning the principles for playing strong chess and the second half learning when to violate them."
 GM Kevin Spraggett

The Bernardo Smith Memorial, held to honor the organizer of  many of the Mechanics' telegraphic matches with Los Angeles, had a fine turnout. SM David Pruess was the winner of the Over 1800 section with a score of 3.5 from 4,  yielding only a draw to NM Andy Lee who shared second at 3-1 with Dmitry Vayntraub.
The Under 1800 section saw a four way tie for first at  5-1 with Edward Wu, Josh Karnad, Tab Salvo and Partha Vora sharing top honors. The two day event, directed by Anthony Corrales, attracted 65 players. Go to http://www.chessclub.org/Smith05.html for crosstables of both sections.

This evening marks the start of the David Gee Tuesday Night Marathon. The tournament will run eight consecutive Tuesday nights.

The United States Chess League will start on August 31 but a preseason match will kick things off tomorrow (Wednesday) as the San Francisco Mechanics' battle the Philadelphia Masterminds. The USCL, which is starting it's first year of operation pits four board teams (rating average must be under 2400 USCF) against each over the Internet. Spectators can follow the action live in Philadelphia or San Francisco on site or at the Internet Chess Club (www.chessclub.com). The SF-Philadelphia match will start at PM with the 10 regular season matches beginning at 5:30.

The Mechanics' team is:

1. IM Vince McCambridge - 2502
2. IM John Donaldson - 2442
3. IM Mladen Vucic - 2436
4. FM Dmitry Zilberstein - 2435
5. FM David Pruess - 2432
6. NM Andy Lee - 2231
7. NM Nicolas Yap - 2209
8. NM Mark Pinto - 2200

Season schedule:

1. Aug 31st  - Black vs Carolina Cobras                 8:30 PM EST
2. Sep 7th    - White vs Dallas Destiny                    8:30 PM EST
3. Sep 14th  - Black vs New York Knights             8:30 PM EST
4. Sep 21st  - White vs Miami Sharks                     8:30 PM EST
5. Sep 28th  - Black vs Boston Blitz                        8:30 PM EST
6. Oct 5th    - White vs Baltimore Kingfishers          8:30 PM EST
7. Oct 12th  - White vs Carolina Cobras                 8:30 PM EST
8. Oct 19th  - White vs Philadelphia Masterminds    8:30 PM EST
9. Oct 26th  - Black vs Dallas Destiny                     8:30 PM EST
10.Nov 2nd - Black vs Miami Sharks                     8:30 PM EST

* Games that begin before 8 PM are played at a time control of Game in 90 minutes with a 30 second Increment
** Games that begin at 8 PM or later are played at a time control of Game in 60 minutes with a 30 second increment

Mechanics' matches will be held in the main room of the chess club on the three in house computers and a laptop. While games are in progress there will be no other activities in the room. GM Alex Yermolinsky will be providing live commentary down the hall in room 407 which will take the place of his regular Wednesday lectures.

Go to http://www.uschessleague.com/index.html to learn more about the league which is the brainchild of multi-talented IM Gregory Shahade.

The recently concluded US Open attracted an excellent turnout of 455 entries. You can find complete standings at http://www.suburban-chess.org/2005USOpen/Merged/standings.htm. GM Larry Christiansen, who played some of the toughest if not the toughest opposition throughout the event ,saw one bad move against GM Vadim Milov cost him close to $4000. As is typical of the US Open, which is more of a vacation tournament than a serious event, only the two tournament winners showed a profit. Tying for third at 7.5 from 9 didn't cover the hotel bill, much less air and food, for those who played the traditional schedule. Credit the qualifying spots for the US Championship as the reason for the recent increase in strong players attending.

The new Executive Board elected its officers.
President: Bill Goichberg
Vice President: Don Schultz
VP-Finance: Joel Channing
Secretary: Robert Tanner
Members-at-Large: Beatriz Marinello and Greg Shahade

Tim Hanke resigned from the Board before the Delegates' Meeting, citing military duties as his reason.

4) Ray Doyle Satterlee (1936-2005) by Bill Brock

 (this tribute originally appeared in the Chicago Tribune)

Ray Doyle Satterlee, 68, of Wheaton and formerly of Lombard, Elmhurst and Chicago, died Friday, August 12, 2005, in Alexian Hospice, Elk Grove Village. Mr. Satterlee was born December 4, 1936, in Slayton, TX, the son of the late Russell Otis and the late Zena Alta, nee Hudson, Satterlee.

The family moved to Chicago from the southwest in the late 1940s and to Elmhurst in the early 1950s. He graduated from York Community High School in 1955. In 1959, he earned an undergraduate degree in Business Administration from Elmhurst College; worked for the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad from 1959 through 1961; and in 1964 earned a Masters Degree in American History and completed his education certification at Northwestern University. He taught in Queen Bee School District 16 for almost 30 years retiring about 10 years ago.

While at District 16, he developed and coached scholastic chess (fourth and fifth grade) from 1976 through 2000; with his 1984-85 team winning the Illinois State Championship in the fifth grade and below division, his 1988-89 team finishing second in state and his 1989-90 team finishing third in state and winning two local scholastic events.

Mr. Satterlee's personal chess accomplishments include: he began playing in 1946 and played tournament chess for 53 years, including 25 U.S Open Tournaments, his highest rating was 2,180 (in the top 2 percent of rated players in the U.S) in his first U.S Chess Federation Tournament in 1953, he won the U.S Junior Open Championship; he was the Correspondence (postal) Chess League of America U.S Junior Chess Champion in 1953 and 1956. He tied for first in three U.S Senior Opens (1987, 1991, and 1994); won the Illinois Senior Open in 1998 and 1999; in 1998 he was awarded the Natalie Broughton Life Achievement Award for accomplishments in Illinois chess. He defeated the present U.S Champion Hikaru Nakamuru in 1998 and defeated six Grandmasters in simultaneous exhibitions in 1999.

In addition, Mr. Satterlee was a member of MENSA, a world traveler and fan of the Indianapolis 500. Survivors include the students, parents and staff of Queen Bee District 16, particularly those of Americana School and his many fellow chess players from throughout the Chicago area, Illinois and U.S.

"If anything, grandmasters often consider fewer alternatives; they tend not to look at as many possible moves as weaker players do. And so, perversely, chess skill often seems to reflect the ability to avoid calculations."
GM David Norwood

The MI Chess Club is looking better and better. The replacement of the carpet with the retro tile and linoleum look  was a major step for the better and now Frank Camaratta of the House of Staunton has very generously donated 44 of his Marshall style plastic chess sets. Go to http://houseofstaunton.com/Plastic_Collector.html and scroll to the middle of the page and you will see that these handsome, weighted sets are a huge improvement over the mishmash of plastic pieces that formerly were in use. Thank you Frank! By the way if you have never been to the House of Staunton website (http://houseofstaunton.com) it is well worth a visit. Not only does it carry the largest collection of high quality chess sets and boards in the world but the museum of antique sets shouldn't be missed. You might not be satisfied with a cheap plastic set and roll up board after a visit!

Tonight at 5:30 PM West Coast time the US Chess League starts!

Carolina Cobras vs San Francisco Mechanics
Team listed first has white on board 1+3, and black on board 2+4.
TC is G/60 with a 30 second increment. Games are been shown live on the Internet Chess Club (www.chessclub.com). GM Alex Yermolinsky will provide live commentary at the MI.

Carolina Cobras                                                                       San Francisco Mechanics

GM Marcin Kaminski - 2473                                                IM Vince McCambridge - 2502
FM Lev Milman - 2474                                                          IM Mladen Vucic - 2436
FM Matt Hoekstra - 2407                                                     FM Dmitry Zilberstein - 2435
John Timmel - 2093                                                              NM Nicholas Yap - 2209

Avg Rating - 2361                                                                        Avg Rating - 2395

Carolina Total -------0.0                                                        0.0 ----- San Francisco Total

Last Wednesday the MI drew it's pre-season match with Philadelphia 2-2.

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.Bf4 Bg7 4.e3 d6
This move-order hints that Black may have an interest in hunting down White's dark-squared Bishop. On 4...0–0 Black can meet  5.c4 by 5...d5 with a Grunfeld or 5...c5 6.Nc3 cxd4 7.exd4 d5 transposing into a reversed Tarrasch. Playing 4...d6 rules out these transpositions.
5.c4
The big question is when should White take time out to play h3? 5.h3 seems very sensible here.
5...0–0
5...Nh5 6.Bg5 h6 7.Bh4 g5 8.Nfd2 gxh4 9.Qxh5 c5 playing on the dark squares was another possibility.
6.Be2 c5 7.0–0 Nh5 8.Bg5 h6 9.Bh4 g5 10.Ne1 Nf6
Black has three alternatives here which deserve a close look:
A) 10...cxd4 11.exd4 (11.Bxh5  dxe3) 11... Nf4 12.Bg3 Bxd4 13.Nc3 Nxe2+ 14.Qxe2 f5 15.Nb5 Bxb2 16.Qxb2 f4.
B) 10...Nf4 11.exf4 gxh4;
C) 10...gxh4 11.Bxh5 cxd4 12.exd4 Qb6
11.Bg3 Ne4
11...Qb6 might well have been better
12.Nc3 Nxg3
12...Nxc3 13.bxc3 f5 as suggested by IM David Vigorito is an interesting suggestion. Black's plays a sort of Dzindzhi-Indian (1.d4 g6 2.c4 Bg7 3.Nc3 c5 4.d5 Bc3+ 5.bxc3 f5) without having to part with his dark-squared Bishop.
13.hxg3 e6
13...cxd4 14.exd4 Nc6 15.Nc2 seems fine for White
14.dxc5
This isn't the only plan, but it is fine if correctly followed up.
14...dxc5 15.Qxd8 Rxd8 16.Nd3 Na6
16...Nc6 17.Nxc5 Rd2 might be better.
17.Rac1?!
17.f4 intending Ne5 and if Black ever captures on e5 White's remaining Knight comes to e4. White can't be worse here.
17...b6 18.Bf3
18.f4 was still necessary.
18...Rb8 19.Rfd1 Bb7 20.Ne1 Bxf3 21.gxf3 Nb4
Black improves his one poorly placed piece and White faces an unpleasant defensive task. Note the White kingside pawn structure now allows Black the chance to make a passed h-pawn.
22.a3 Nc6 23.Nd3 Na5 24.Na4 Nb3 25.Rc2?
25.Rb1 was necessary and expected when  25...Rd7 26.Kf1 Rbd8 27.Ke2 f5 gives Black a substantial advantage.
25...Rd7
Natural and best. I spent a long time, too long, trying to make plans based on ...b5 work.They don't. 25...b5 26.cxb5 Rxb5 27.Kf1 Ra5 28.Rc4 or  25...Rbc8 26.Kf1 (26.Nc3) 26...b5 27.cxb5 c4 28.b6.
26.Kf1 Rbd8 27.Ke2 f5??
27...h5 wins on the spot. White's pieces are so tangled that the passed h-pawn can't be stopped.
28.Nc3 h5
Back on the right track but now the Knight is on c3.
29.Nc1
Rick makes the most of his chances.
29...Nxc1+
If Black wants to try for something here it makes sense to trade both pairs of Rooks to increase the strength of the passed h-pawn. Maybe something like 29...Rxd1 30.Nxd1 Na1 31.Rd2 Rxd2+ 32.Kxd2 h4 33.gxh4 gxh4 34.Ke2 Kf7 Now the game fizzles out.
30.Rcxc1 Kf7 31.Rxd7+ Rxd7 32.f4! g4 33.b3 Bf6 34.Rc2 h4 35.gxh4 Bxh4 36.Na2 Ke7 37.Nc1 Bf6 38.Nd3 a5 39.Rc1 Rd8 40.Rh1 Rh8 41.Rxh8 Bxh8 42.f3 gxf3+ 43.Kxf3 Kd6 44.e4 Bd4 45.Ne1 Bb2 46.Nc2 Bc1 47.a4 Bd2 48.Na3 Kd7 ½–½
 

(2) Vucic,M (2436) - Shahade,M (2242) [E13]
USCL Philly vs San Fran (Exhibition),
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.c4 b6 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bh4 Bb7 7.e3 g5 8.Bg3 Ne4 9.Nd2 Nxc3 10.bxc3 Bxc3 11.Rc1 Ba5 12.h4 d6 13.Qh5 g4 14.Qxg4 Qf6 15.h5 Qg5 16.Qxg5 hxg5 17.c5 bxc5 18.dxc5 Ke7 19.Kd1 Bxd2 20.Kxd2 Rd8 21.cxd6+ cxd6 22.f4 gxf4 23.exf4 Nc6 24.Bh4+ f6 25.Ba6 Bxa6 26.Rxc6 Bb5 27.Rc7+ Rd7 28.Rxd7+ Bxd7 29.g4 Bc6 30.Rc1 Rc8 31.g5 Kf7 32.gxf6 Bb7 33.Rg1 Rg8 34.Rg5 Be4 35.Ra5 Ra8 36.Ke3 Bb7 37.Rg5 Rg8 38.h6 Rxg5 39.fxg5 Kg6 40.f7 Kxf7 41.h7 1-0

(3) Wilson,E (2239) - Lee,A (2231) [B36]
USCL Philly vs San Fran (Exhibition),
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.d4 g6 3.c4 c5 4.Nc3 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Nc6 6.e4 d6 7.Be2 Nxd4 8.Qxd4 Bg7 9.0-0 0-0 10.Bg5 Bd7 11.Qe3 Qb6 12.Qxb6 axb6 13.Rac1 Rfc8 14.Rc2 b5 15.a3 Kf8 16.Bxf6 Bxf6 17.Nd5 Rc6 18.Nxf6 exf6 19.Rfc1 bxc4 20.Bxc4 Rac8 21.Bd3 Ke7 22.f3 f5 23.exf5 Bxf5 24.Bxf5 gxf5 25.Rxc6 bxc6 26.Kf2 c5 27.b4 c4 28.Ke3 d5 29.Kd4 Kd6 30.a4 Re8 31.b5 Re2 32.a5 Rd2+ 33.Kc3 Rxg2 34.b6 Kc5 35.Rd1 Kc6 36.Rb1 Kc5 37.Rd1 Kc6 38.Rb1 Kc5 39.Rd1 1/2-1/2

(4) Young,G (1900) - Baczynskyj,B (2236) [B06]
USCL Philly vs San Fran (Exhibition),
1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nc3 d6 4.f4 a6 5.Nf3 b5 6.Bd3 Bb7 7.a3 Nd7 8.Be3 c5 9.h3 c4 10.Be2 Ngf6 11.Nd2 e5 12.0-0 Qb6 13.Bf2 exd4 14.Nf3 Nxe4 15.Nxe4 Bxe4 16.Nxd4 Qb7 17.Bf3 Bxf3 18.Nxf3 0-0 19.c3 Rad8 20.Bd4 Ne5 21.f5 Qd5 22.Nh2 h5 23.Qc2 Kh7 24.f6 Bh6 25.Rae1 Rfe8 26.Kh1 Nd3 27.Re2 Rxe2 28.Qxe2 Nf4 29.Qf3 Re8 30.a4 Re2 31.Qxd5 Nxd5 32.axb5 axb5 33.Nf3 Nf4 34.Rf2 Rxf2 35.Bxf2 Nd3 36.Bg3 d5 37.Nd4 b4 38.cxb4 Nxb4 39.Nb5 Bc1 40.Bd6 Nc6 41.Nc7 d4 42.Kg1 Bxb2 43.Ne6 Bc1 44.Bf4 fxe6 45.Bxc1 Kg8 46.Kf1 Kf7 47.Bg5 e5 48.Ke2 e4 49.Kd2 Nd8 50.h4 Nb7 51.g3 Nc5 52.Bf4 Kxf6 53.Bg5+ Kf5 54.Be7 Ne6 55.Bd6 e3+ 56.Ke2 Ke4 57.Bb8 d3+ 58.Ke1 c3 59.Kd1 Nd4 0-1

For more on the US Chess League go to   http://www.uschessleague.com.

If I asked "Who is the highest USCF rated American born player in the country?" I doubt that most chess enthusiasts would give the right response. However the correct answer to that question is America's newest soon-to-be Grandmaster, 35-year-old Michiganite Ben Finegold.Ben earned his final GM norm at the 2005 Martinovsky Memorial, which was a 6 player double round robin held in Bolingbrook, Illinois, and ended on Tuesday August 23. He scored a 9 round GM norm by winning 3 of his first 9 games and drawing the remainder. His wins were over IM Angelo Young (twice) and IM Smetankin, while his draws were against GM Nikola Mitkov (twice), Yuri Shulman (twice), GM Vladimir Georgiev and IM Stanislav Smetankin. Ben is the strongest member of a chess playing family. Both his brother Mark and his father Ron were USCF masters, with his brother still holding that title today. Ben felt he didn't have enough chess players in the family, so he married another player, Kelly Cottrell, facilitating an all-family entry into the US Amateur Team events. However his wife immediately set out to thwart these plans and made sure the team doesn't fall under the 2200 maximum, as she jumped from 900 to 1700 in the last 4 years and has qualified for this year's US Championship (along with Ben of course!).Ben has been a colorful part of the American chess scene for well over a decade. I still remember how I went to the 1994 US Open in Illinois and saw some random guy offering people rook odds in 2 minute chess to all comers. At the time I was a young master and was prepared to embarrass the poor sap, however I was blissfully unaware of Ben's blitz prowess and actually had quite a difficult time (and it pains me to admit I may have lost more games than I won.)Ben has been working towards his GM title for a long time and despite almost always being the highest rated IM in the country he always had trouble getting over the hump. Just this year, though, he has been on a tear and jacked his USCF rating up about 80 points to 2649 while tying for first in the 2005 National Open. With only 12 active American GMs rated higher than him (out of about 40), it was hard to imagine the GM title wouldn't be coming soon.On a more personal level, Ben is also proud to be achieving results not only in chess, but in other areas as well. He's lost 80 pounds since the beginning of 2005. His goal is to lose 100 more by July 2006. Since he gained 80 USCF points while losing 80 pounds, one can hope that he can keep up the pace. It's possible we will soon be seeing a 2800 USCF rated Ben Finegold tipping the scales at 75 pounds .Congratulations to Ben Finegold for making America proud! Who will be the next American IM to be mixed in with all the GMs in the top of the rating lists for years? Only time will tell...

CHESS FOR PEACE
Former Kansas Senator Nancy Kassebaum Heads Chess for Peace Initiative
October 29, 2005 - Lindsborg, KS.
 

Chess is often used as a metaphor for politics. On October 29, 2005, the two will come together in the small town of Lindsborg, Kansas, population 3,200. None other than President Mikhail Gorbachev, former leader of the Soviet Union, along with a host of other political and chess dignitaries, will kick off the yearlong Chess for Peace initiative. The day’s events will feature a chess parade, a scholastic chess tournament, a match between former World Chess Champions Susan Polgar and Anatoly Karpov, a formal dinner, and a keynote address that evening by President Gorbachev at Presser Hall on the Bethany College campus.
Former Kansas Senator Nancy Kassebaum, as chairperson, is overseeing the National Advisory Committee for the Chess for Peace initiative. The committee also includes former government officials Kansas Governor John Carlin , Kansas Senator Sheila Frahm, and Kansas Congressman Dick Nichols. Also on the Advisory Committee, are former World Chess Champions Anatoly Karpov and Susan Polgar and U.S. Chess Federation Vice President Don Schultz.
Gorbachev, a friend of World Chess Champion Anatoly Karpov, agreed to come to Lindsborg after receiving a call from Karpov. Gorbachev had only two conditions: (1) Karpov would accompany him to Lindsborg and (2) Karpov would play a game of chess with him.
“I think it’s wonderful that Gorbachev is coming to Lindsborg, because he is a humanitarian and is committed to peace,” said Dr. Mikhail Korenman, Director of the Karpov International School of Chess.
The yearlong Chess for Peace initiative will commence on October 29, and will be followed by a series of Internet matches between students from countries throughout the world. The winners of these matches will be invited to participate in the week long Chess for Peace Festival, which will be held in Lindsborg in June 2006. Students will play chess and share their respective cultures with other participants.
Prime seats for the Gorbachev address are $53.50 and general admission is $27. Tickets for the Karpov Polgar match are $10.50 for adults and $5.50 for students. All ticket prices include tax. Additional information and tickets can be obtained from the Karpov International School of Chess, 106 S. Main, Lindsborg, KS 67456, phone 785-227-2224, Web site http://www.chessforpeace.org/ or e-mail Korenman@chessforpeace.org. You can also contact Wes Fisk at (785) 227-4121.

Just in case you might not have been informed, the Computer History Museum will have a panel discussion  (featuring David Levy, Murray Campbell, John McCarthy, Monty Newborn, and Edward Feigenbaum) on September 8th at 7 pm, and there also will be an open house with a new exhibit on chess on September 10th from 1-5 p.m. For the panel discussion one needs to make reservations at www.computerhistory.org/computerchess_09082005.
 I am going to try to make it to both events.
 Regards,
 Henry Vinerts

Movses Movsisyan of Norman, Oklahoma Wins Master Section of
2005 U.S. Class Chess Championships

(CROSSVILLE, TN)
The 24th Annual U.S. Chess Championships held at the Doubletree Hotel & Conference Center in Chesterfield, MO, August 26-28 drew 151 players. 22 states were represented and one player came from Japan to participate!The 2005 U.S. Class is a United States Chess Federation National Event which offered 30 Grand Prix points. The guaranteed prize fund is $10,000.00. The event offered 8 sections: Master (2200/up) $1000-500-300, Expert (2000-2199) $800-400-200, Class A (1800-1999) $800-400-200, Class B (1600-1799) $800-400-200, Class C (1400-1599) $800-400-200, Class D (1200-1399) $800-400-200, Class E (Under 1200) $300-200-100, and Unrated $300-200-100. A complete listing of all players and scores can be found on the US Chess Federation website at: http://www.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?200508282411.Section champions:
Master: Movses Movsisyan from Norman, Oklahoma scored 4.0 points.
Expert: Sylvester Smarty of Broadview Hgts., Ohio and Jeremy M. Volkmann of St. Charles, Missouri tied with 4.0 points.
Class A: Joshua Dubin of Buffalo Grove, Illinois finished with 4.5 points.
Class B: Daniel M. Mc Nally from Niles, Illinois took first with 4.5 points.
Class C: Brad A. Schlosser of Chesterfield, Missouri scored 4.5 points.
Class D: John R. Boyer of Arnold, Missouri and Taylor Bailey of Portland, Oregon tied with 4.5 points.
Class E: Michael W. Nelson from Glen Carbon, Illinois finished with 4.5 points.
Unrated: Carlos Ortiz of O’Fallon, Missouri and Vairam Arunachalam of Columbia, Missouri tied with 4.0 points.USCF offers a huge thank you to all players and to Chief Tournament Director Walter M. Brown, Jr. and Assistant Tournament Director Grant Perks for running this event.

The top section of the US Class, with a very small field, had a spoiler. Winner Mosisyan drew with top seeds GM Alex Wojtkiewicz and IM Michael Brooks (who also drew with each other). The difference between the score of 4 and 3.5 was that Movses beat former Bay Area NM Loal Davis while Wojt and Brooks drew.

St. George was the scene of the strongest open tournament in Utah history last Saturday as IMs Enrico Sevillano and David Vigorito tied with Emory Tate at 4-1 in the Igor Ivanov Open. Among those on 3.5 were St. George's resident GM Igor Ivanov and IM John Donaldson.

Robert Tanner reports that the Turin Olympiad next spring will use the old format MEN: 4+2 Alternates;  WOMEN: 3+1 Alternate, while Dresden in 2008 goes to the new format of 4+Alternate for both.

"To be creative, to be adventurous, to exhibit flair, is no excuse for not studying hard. The truth is exactly the opposite. You have to work constantly at your game, at your openings and endings. A deep analysis is necessary. Chess is not a fixed or static body of knowledge. It's dynamic. Even the books I've written on chess and the annotations I've made on my own matches are not set in stone. I keep updating them. There must be a constant questioning of old ideas, even one's own".
Garry Kasparov

The first week of the season saw the MI go 2-2 with SM Dmitry Zilberstein saving the day.

Week One

Carolina Cobras                                   San Francisco Mechanics

GM Marcin Kaminski - 2473    1-0    IM Vince McCambridge - 2502
FM Lev Milman - 2474              1-0        IM Mladen Vucic - 2436
FM Matt Hoekstra - 2407          0-1       FM Dmitry Zilberstein - 2435
John Timmel - 2093                   0-1            NM Nicolas Yap - 2209

Avg Rating - 2361                                            Avg Rating - 2395

Carolina Total -------2                                2  ----- San Francisco Total
 

Hoekstra-Zilberstein

1.d4 d5 2.Bg5 c6 3.Nf3 h6 4.Bh4 Qb6 5.b3 Bf5 6.e3 e6 7.Bd3 Bxd3 8.Qxd3 Nd7 9.0-0 Be7 10.Bxe7 Nxe7 11.e4 dxe4 12.Qxe4 Nf6 13.Qe5 Rd8 14.Nbd2 Nf5 15.Nc4 Qb4 16.a3 Qc3 17.Qc5 Nxd4 18.Nd6+ Kf8 19.Qxc3 Ne2+ 20.Kh1 Nxc3 21.Nxb7 Rd5 22.Rae1 Nfe4 23.Re3 g5 24.Rd3 Kg7 25.b4 g4 26.Nd4 Rb8 27.Na5 c5 28.Ndc6 Rb6 29.f3 Rxd3 30.cxd3 Nd2 31.Rc1 cxb4 32.Nxb4 gxf3 33.gxf3 Nb5 34.Nc4 Nxc4 35.dxc4 Nxa3 36.Nd3 Rb1 37.Rxb1 Nxb1 38.Kg2 a5 39.c5 Kf8 40.Kf2 a4 41.Ke3 a3 42.Nb4 Nc3 43.Kd3 a2 44.Nc2 Nb5 45.Na1 Ke7 46.Kc4 Nc7 47.Kb3 Kd7 48.Kxa2 Kc6 49.Kb3 Kxc5 50.Kc2 Kd4 51.Kd2 Ke5 52.Nc2 Nd5 53.Ke2 Kf4 54.Ne1 Kf5 55.Kf2 Nf4 56.Nc2 h5 57.Kg3 Ng6 58.Ne3+ Ke5 59.Nc2 Kd5 60.Kf2 f6 61.Ke3 e5 62.Nb4+ Ke6 63.Nd3 Kf5 64.Nf2 Ne7 65.Ne4 Nd5+ 66.Kf2 Kf4 67.h4 Kf5 68.Nd6+ Kg6 69.Nc4 Ne7 70.Kg3 Nf5+ 71.Kh3 Kf7 72.Nd2 Nd4 73.Kg2 f5 74.Nf1 Kg6 75.Ng3 Ne6 76.Kg1 Nc5 77.Kg2 f4 78.Ne2 Kf5 79.Nc3 e4 80.fxe4+ Nxe4 81.Ne2 Kg4 82.Nd4 Nd6 83.Kf2 Nf5 84.Nf3 Nxh4 85.Ne5+ Kf5 86.Nc4 Ng6 87.Nd6+ Kg4 0-1

Dmitry showed excellent technique to win this game. Normally 4 vs. 3 in Knight vs. Knight endings is winning and 3 vs. 2 is a draw. For example of the latter Fine-Najdorf, NY (3) 1949, is given as the classic draw (though White lost). However that was f, g and h versus f and h. Dmitry's structure of e, f and h looks more promising. If the position is drawable I suspect that 67.h4 (like Fine's h3?) was the culprit as Black gets access to g4 and the h-pawn is ripe for the picking.

This week the MI faces the Dallas Destiny on Wednesday starting at 5:30 pm.

San Francisco vs Dallas

John Donaldson (W) vs Alejandro Ramirez (B)
Dmitry Zilberstein (B) vs Amon Simutowe (W)
David Pruess (W) vs Peter Vavrak (B)
Andy Lee (B) vs Andres Suarez (W)

Come watch and listen to live commentary by MI GM-in-Residence Alex Yermolinsky.

Two rounds into the David Gee Memorial Tuesday Night Marathon there are 8 players tied for first: NMs Batchimeg Tuvshintugs, Albert Rich and Tony D'Aloiso, Expert William Gray and Class A players George Sanguinetti, Edward Pereplitsky Chad Salinas and Demitrious Goins.

MI GM-in-Residence Alex Yermolinsky showed who was boss as he dominated the 2005 CalChess Labor Day Championships  held September 3-5 at the Holiday Inn on Van Ness. Yermo's score of 5.5 from 6, a point ahead of the field, earned him $700. Among his victims were IMs Ricardo DeGuzman and Walter Shipman, SM David Pruess and NMs Andy Lee and Michael Pearson. His only draw was with SM Dmitry Zilberstein who tied for second with DeGuzman at 4.5. NM Shivkumar Shivaji was alone in  fourth at 4  while many strong players could be found at 3.5 including SM Pruess and IM Vladimir Mezentsev. This was the strongest open tournament held in Northern California the past few years with 1 GM, 4 IMs and two others over 2400 USCF. The total attendance of 185 players makes this the largest open tournament in Northern California in 2005. Crosstables for all sections can be found at http://www.calchess.org/controlpanel/files/CalChessLaborDay05.htm. Thanks to Richard Koepcke for organizing and directing this event and Michael Aigner for posting the information so quickly.

IM Enrico Sevillano of Tehachapi won the 27th Annual Southern California Open held September 3-5 at the Hilton at LAX in Los Angeles. The former member of the Philippines national team scored 5.5 from 6. He had wins over IMs Andranik Matikozian and Kong  Deng and yielded a draw to LA Times chess columnist Jack Peters. Peters and WGM Regina Pokorna of the Czech Republic had a chance to tie with Sevillano, but drew each other in the last round. They were joined in a second place tie at 5-1 by Matikozian and Deng. John Hillery organized and directed the event for the Southern California Chess Association. Crosstables for all sections can be found at http://admin@westernchess.com/sco05/standings.html.

The website for ChessDryad recently posted the following on a Bay Area player from the late 1960s and 1970s.

JUDE ACERS Missing in New Orleans

UPDATE: the Katrina Survivor-Connector List, http://wx.gulfcoastnews.com/katrina/status.aspx, is listing Jude's status as "Alive."

JUDE ACERS WATCH: A week after the fury of Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, the unabated horror of the human tragedy continues. Reuters.com wrote, "Emergency teams searched flooded homes and streets for bodies as authorities said Louisiana's official death toll of 59 could rise into the thousands. City officials said rescuers in boats and helicopters were still pulling hundreds of people from rooftops, homes and buildings and police said they were getting 1,000 or more emergency calls for help each day, many from people still trapped in their homes and attics by floodwaters."

Chess Master Jude Acers, who for decades has sat in front of the old Gazebo restaurant at the French Market playing all comers for $5 a game, appears to be among the missing. If anyone hears from him, please let Max Burkett (mburkett@montana.com) know.

Jude came to California around 1967 and stayed ‘till around 1974. Besides writing one of the most interesting chess columns ever (Berkeley Barbs and "On the Road"), he performed dozens of simultaneous exhibitions and lectures at chess clubs and prisons. As soon as he arrived at the playing venue, the whole atmosphere was energized. The one-two punch of supercharged lecture and fast paced simul generally left the participants and spectators gasping in delight. Except for Kolty and Bobby, California had never seen such a chess personality or showman.

GM Larry  Evans writes:  Chess Life (September 2005 page 42) has an item submitted by Jude LOST MIRACLE where he describes how he is still kicking himself for missing a miracle draw against A. Sheriff on January 24 at the Gazebo in New Orleans.

Jude's friend Michael Ciamarra asks anyone with information on Jude to call him at (205) 914-3248.

NM  Jim Hollingsworth of  Ft Worth   writes; "I'm wondering if looters got Paul Morphy's chess set.  It is stored on the second floor of a City Government building located next to the Police Station in the French Quarter.  I had to wear white gloves and was guarded when they let me examine it.  The face of one of the knights is missing and a ball at the top of one of the bishops is missing.  The board is history ... no one knows where it is."

Dear Mr. Donaldson:

First I wanted to say I enjoyed listening to the interview you had with Fred Wilson some months back.  I found it very interesting, and it told me a lot about the Mechanics Chess Club. It sounds like a truly first rate operation.

This brings me to the main point of my email.  I am doing some research on Peter P. Lapiken, who was a member of the Mechanics Chess Club for many years.  Dr. Lapiken, now dead almost 20 years, was an important player in the Montana chess community for many years, often he was the state champion.  As I understand his life, he never married.  During the school year he was a professor of Russian and the University of Montana and he spent his summers and retirement in San Francisco.

I'm hoping you might help me locate someone at your club who may have known Dr. Lapiken.  There are two interesting stories I would like to verify/ get more details on:
1.  During WW2, Lapiken  lived in Paris an shared an apartment with another chess playing Russian émigré -- A. Alekhine.
2.  Dr. Lapiken had an notebook of ~100 games he played against Alekhine.  (Lapiken did not win even one.)

I don't know if you ever knew Dr. Lapiken or not, but he was at one time ~ master strength.  In one US Open, he had draws against Reshevsky and Rossilimo -- he even missed a mate in two against Reshevsky.

Any help you can give me with this would be greatly appreciated.  It also happens than I am going to be in the SF area next weekend am I'm hoping to visit your club -- probably on Sunday, Sept 11.  If it happened that I contact someone who knew Dr. Lapiken, that would be great. But I look forward to visiting you club regardless.

Thank you for your help.

Tom Kalaris
tkalaris@msn.com
NM Lapiken was born in Riga in 1907. He came to the United States in the 1939. Lapiken served in the United States military during the Second World War and later worked as a language instructor for the US Armed Force. He received a PHD from Cal in Philosophy in the early 1950s and took a position at the University of Montana in the mid 1950s, a job he held until his retirement. He passed away in San Francisco in 1983 at the age of 76. Can any of our readers help Mr. Kalaris?

Grandmasters Hikaru Nakamura, Alex Onischuk, Gregory Kaidanov, Alexander Goldin, Ildar Ibragimov and Igor Novikov will represent the United States in the World Team Championship to held November 1-10 in Israel. The format is a ten team round robin on four boards. This event marks the international team tournament debut of US Champion Hikaru Nakamura. Despite the absence of Gata Kamsky, who declined his invitation, the US will be sending of the strongest teams it has ever fielded.

Boston IM William Paschall is leaging the September First Saturday tournament in Budapest with a score of 2.5 from 3. IM Sam Collins, who taught at the Berkeley Chess School earlier this summer, has one point.

Several new chess clubs are opening in the West. Go to www.valleychess.org for informatiojn about NM Joel Johnson's chess club in Phoenix. Chad Gauvin's Schoolhouse Chess Center (304 Rigel Avenue - (702) 877-6231 opens its dors on October 7 with a big blitz tournament in Las Vegas.

When you are up North don't miss a visit to the Arcata Chess Club where James Baumann keeps things running and NM Bob Burger has been known to pay a visit.
Arcata Chess Club
Casual, Tournament and Blitz chess. Something for everyone! All ages and levels are welcome to attend. For more information call James Bauman, Coordinator, at (707)  825-9055.
Location: Arcata Community Center
Ages: Adult
Dates : Ongoing
Days: Tuesdays
Times: 6:30-10pm

"This game is great because it teaches you responsibility. You only have yourself to blame if you lose the game. The same is true in life. If you want to win, you have to throw your blame book out the window and take responsibility for yourself."
Orrin Hudson

The Mechanics' lost their second round to the Dallas Destiny in a match that could have gone either way.
A full report on the action, with all of the games, is available at the US Chess League web site at http://www.uschessleague.com/Feature34.html

San Francisco Mechanics                            Dallas Destiny

IM John Donaldson - 2442        1/2         1/2 GM Alejandro Ramirez - 2565
FM Dmitry Zilberstein - 2435      0             1     IM Amon Simutowe - 2471
FM David Pruess - 2432             0             1     IM Peter Vavrak - 2476
NM Andy Lee - 2231                    1             0        Andres Suarez - 2087

Avg Rating - 2385                                                Avg Rating - 2399

San Francisco Total -------        1.5            2.5        ----- Dallas Total

The following encounter game was chosen as the game of the week by USCL czar IM Gregory Shahade. Both GM Ramirez and I annotated the game independently and you can find both of our complete annotations at http://www.uschessleague.com/Feature35.html where their are diagrams every moves and a link to view the game with a board at the ICC. Below you will find my notes and some of Alejandro's which I couldn't resist including as hey point out some things I missed!  I encourage you to go to the league website to see GM Ramirez's excellent notes in totality.

IM John Donaldson  - GM Alejandro Ramirez

1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 Nf6 3. c4 c6 4. Nc3 a6
The Chebanenko variation (4...a6) is a tough nut to crack. Alejandro has used it successfully in the past including a draw with Kasimdzhanov in the FIDE World Championship Knockout in Tripoli in 2004.
5. c5 Nbd7
JD - Black has other choices here but this is currently considered best.
6. Bf4 Nh5 7. Bd2
JD - 7.Bg5 h6 8.Bd2 Nhf6 9. Qc2 Qc7 10. e4 dxe4 11.Nxe4 Nxe4 12.Qxe4 Nf6 13. Qc2 Be6 14. Bd3 Nd7 15. 00 Bd5 16.Rfe1 e6 17. Ne5 Nxe5 18. dxe7 Be7 =  Topalov - Kasparov, Linares 2004
7...Nhf6
JD - 7...g6 8.e4 led to a nice victory in Gelfand-De la Riva Aguado, Pamplona 2004.
 8.Qc2 Qc7
AR - and prepares his own break on e5.
JD - Normally 8....g6 is played here and I am not sure White has shown a way to an advantage. One amusing possibility is 9.e4 dxe4 10.Ng5 Bg7 11.Bc4 00 12.Bxf7 Rxf7 13.Ne6 Qe8 14. Nc7 Qd8 15.Ne6 with a draw as 15...Qa5?? drops the queen to 16.Nxe4 Qb5 17.a4.
Alejandro's move 8...Qc7 caught me by surprise. It has been played a couple of times in this exact position, and Kasparov has used it in similar positions, albeit with the inclusion of ....h6 (Bf4-g5-d2, instead of simply Bf4-d2).
9.e4 Nxe4
JD - 9....dxe4 gives white the extra option of 10.Ng5, which Lautier used to beat Jakovenko in a blitz game.
10. Nxe4 dxe4 11. Qxe4 Nf6 12. Qc2
JD - The Mechanics' Chess Club's GM-in-Residence, Alex Yermolinsky, told me after the game that retreat was not best, that 12.Qe5 looked more testing.
12....Be6 13. Bd3 Bd5
JD - 13...Nd7, in comparison with the Topalov-Kasparov game (but with no ....h6), might be considered. Alejandro's move certainly looks very natural.
14.O-O-O
JD - Maybe 14. O-O along the lines of Topalov's play might be right.  14....Bxf3 15.gxf3 e6 leaves White with some ratty looking pawns but he does have space and two bishops. If Black doesn't take on f3 then Ne5 might come with effect.
14...g6 15. Ne5 Bg7
JD - 15...Bxg2 16.Rhe1 Bg7 17.f4 Bd5 would transpose to the game but White would get the choice of other moves besides f4 on move 17.
16. f4 (?! JD)
JD - 16.f3 is more prudent but I thought the text would stop Black castling either side. This is probably true but Alejandro shows that it's not so important.
16...Bxg2 17. Rhe1 Bd5 18. f5
JD - 18.Kb1 was an offhand suggestion made by Yermo after the game. His thought is that f4-f5 weaken White's grip on the position and he's probably right.
18...Nd7!
AR - A fine tactical mess issues, where I think John misplayed. White strongest option here is to exchange knights, and pressure the e pawn.
JD - 18....0-0-0 19.Qa4; 18...0-0 19. Rg1 both look a little scary for Black with Ba5 burying Black's Queen in one line and sacks on g6 looking tempting in the other, but Alejandro's decision to trade off White's pieces stops the attack in its tracks.
19. Nc4 (!? AR)
AR - Very risky, white sacrifices yet another pawn. I was planning 19.Nxd7 Kxd7! 20.Bc4 Rae8 and blacks pawn is not free, but its a pawn.
JD - I pretty much have to do this to keep it complicated but now another pawn goes.
19...Bxd4
AR - And black simply takes it! I was aware of the Nd6+ followed by Ba5 line which occured in the game, but saw that white was really gaining nothing out of it.
20. Nc4-d6+
AR - 20.Ba5 Qf4 21.Bd2 was an interesting option. Surely you don't sacrifice 2 pawns to force a perpetual, but white had to start thinking if his attack would really crash through.
20...Kd8
JD - 20...Kf8? 21.Bh6 Kg8 22. Rxe7 would be very nice for white.
21. Ba5 (! AR)
AR - A simple move to see, the bishop is indirectly protected. Black must have foreseen this possibility when playing 18...Nd7, otherwise a question mark should be attached to that move!
21...b6 22. cxb6 Bxb6
AR - 22...Nxb6?? 23.Nxf7 Bxf7 24.Be4! and white wins. It was also important to notice this when playing 18...Nd7.
23. Bxb6 Nd7xb6
AR - Now black is two pawns up, and wants to consolidate by playing e6. His king is pretty happy in the centre of the board. White still has some pressure, and should create all sort of threats to keep black from consolidating.
24. Nc4
JD - White's intention here is to trade some minor pieces here to get at Black's King but 24.Ne4 gxf5 25.Nc5 might have been a better try.
24.... gxf5!
JD - I think this is the right idea, ensuring that Black has a strong pawn center to hide his king behind.
25. Qc3
JD - During the game I thought this interpolation was a good idea but the straightforward 25.Nxb6 Qxb6 26.Bxf5 was not without it's points as my move activates Black's Rook.
25....Rg8 26.Nxb6 Qxb6 27. Bxf5 Rb8 28. Bxh7 Rg2
AR - Black is now active and has an extra pawn. The position should be winning, and whites only hope is to create murky water in the time trou