The Mechanics' Institute Chess Club News 534

I have lots of them, too many to mention. I like looking at their games, admiring them. I really loved playing through the games of Larsen and Gligoric - very aggressive chess players, but then my taste changed a little, and I began to study the games of Petrosian. Among contemporaries there are also a lot of interesting, colorful players: Ivanchuk always impressed me, and Boris Gelfand - I've always thought we had a similar style.

Levon Aronian talking about his favorite players

(http://www.chessintranslation.com/2009/12/aronians-chess-idols/)   

1) Mechanics' Institute Chess Club News
2) 2011 US Chess Championship
3) Alex Lenderman wins 2011 Samford Fellowship by Allen Kaufman
4) 2011 USCF Award Winners

5) Here and There

1) Mechanics' Institute Chess Club News

Canadian NM Kyle Morrison defeated front runner Uyanga Byambaa last night to tighten up the field in the Spring Tuesday Night Marathon. Byambaa and Oleg Shakhnazrov lead the 57-player field with 5 from 6 but half a point behind them with two rounds to go are Morrison, NM Peter Zavadsky, NM Russell Wong, expert Ted Belanoff and Class A player Ethan Chamberlain. The latter has beaten three experts and drawn a master in this event. Byambaa defeated Shakhnazrov in round 3 and will likely face Zavadsky, who like Morrison, took half point byes the first three rounds.

IM Walter Shipman and expert Michael De Cruz tied for first with 3-1 scores in the Walter Lovegrove Senior Championship held last weekend at the Mechanics'.

Ray Robson, the youngest Grandmaster in the United States at age 16, and his father Dr. Gary Robson, who teaches at St. Petersburg College, will give a talk and book signing at the Mechanics' Institute on Tuesday, June 14^th, from 5:15 to 6:15 pm. All are welcome to attend this event.

2) 2011 US Chess Championship

The battle between youth and experience is creating a very exciting US Championship in Saint Louis. Through five of the seven rounds youth is having its way with 19-year-old Robert Hess leading Group B with 4 points from 5 games followed by favorite Alex Onischuk and Sam Shankland with 3 points. Sam, playing in his fourth US Championship at only age 18, is doing much better than previous times and was leading until a loss yesterday in a sharp game against Alex Shabalov. The other players contending for the two tickets to the final four are Larry Christiansen and Yasser Seirawan with 2.5. These two veterans will face Robert Hess in rounds six and seven.

Group A is preceding more closely to the form charts with top seeds Gata Kamsky and Yury Shulman leading with 3.5 from 5. There is big bunch on 50 percent which includes Ray Robson, Alexander Ivanov, Varuzhan Akobian and Daniel Naroditsky. The latter, the youngest participant in the event and like Sam a fixture on the Mechanics' US Chess League for many seasons, is making an excellent debut.

The four spots for the womens final matches are almost locked up by Irina Krush in first with four from five and Camilla Baginskaite, Sabina Foisor and Tatev Abrahamyan sharing second a half point back, but one and a half points ahead of the next player. 

 
3) Alex Lenderman wins 2011 Samford Fellowship by Allen Kaufman

The FRANK P. SAMFORD, JR. CHESS FELLOWSHIP, marking its twenty-sixth annual award, has selected Grandmaster Aleksandr Lenderman of Brooklyn, New York, as its 2011 fellow.  The Samford is the richest and most important chess fellowship in the United States. It identifies and assists the best young American chessmasters by providing top-level coaching, strong competition and access to study materials.  The Fellowship also supplies a monthly stipend for living expenses so that the winners may devote themselves to chess without having financial worries.  The total value of the Fellowship has been increased several times over the years and is now $42,000 annually.  The prize is awarded for one year and can be renewed for a second year.

All in all, it gives these brilliant young American chessmasters the support and resources necessary to enhance their skills and reach their full potential.   

Shortly before his tenth birthday Aleksandr was taught the game by his grandfather.  Two years later the young chessplayer began achieving surprising results in open tournaments.  He  captured first place (and the $2,700 prize) in the under-1600 section of the Foxwoods Open. That same year he tied for second in the World Open under-1800 section, collecting $2,900.

Next, Aleksandr decided to concentrate on improving his chess rather than winning big cash prizes.  For the next three years he studied with Mikahil Trosman going from 1800 to 2300 rating level.  He captured first place in the 2005World Youth Chess Championship under 16 division and two years later won the High School National Chess Championship.

More recent results include winning the Marshall Chess Club Championship and the Eastern Open. 

Aleksandr's term as Samford Fellow will begin on July 1, 2011.  He will now be able to increase his lesson time with his current coach, grandmaster Giorgi Kacheishvili and also work with other trainers.  To quote the new Samford Fellow, "I love chess more than anything else in the world aside from my family."

The winner was chosen by the Samford Fellowship Committee, consisting of Frank P. Samford III (son of Samford Fellowship founder Frank P. Samford, Jr.), former U.S. Chess Champion Grandmaster Arthur Bisguier and International Master John Donaldson.  The winner's potential was determined based on his chess talent, work ethic, dedication and accomplishments.  The Fellowship is administered by the U.S. Chess Trust with particularly valuable services provided by Barbara DeMaro.  

The Samford Chess Fellowship was created by the late Frank P. Samford, Jr. of Birmingham, Alabama.  Mr. Samford was a distinguished attorney and CEO of Liberty National Life Insurance Company (now Torchmark).  He was active in civic, business, political, educational and cultural affairs.  Mr. Samford was also an enthusiastic competitor in chess tournaments.  After providing financial support for several chess projects he decided to do something significant for American chess.  The result was the Samford Fellowship. 

Since its inception the Fellowship has proven very successful.  Several Samford Fellows have become grandmasters and a few have won the U.S. Chess Championship or played on the U.S. team in the chess olympiad.  America's two top players today, both potential world champions, are Gata Kamsky and Hikaru Nakamura.  Both are former Samford Fellows. 

Generous contributions from the late Mrs. Virginia Samford and Torchmark Corporation support the Fellowship.  The Samford Fellowship is a fitting memorial to an extraordinary man.  The dedication, creativity and achievement that marked Mr. Frank P. Samford, Jr.'s life are examples for all chessplayers to admire and emulate.

 
4) 2011 USCF Award Winners       

The annual USCF awards were voted on this weekend and the winners will be honored at the US Open awards banquet in Orlando, Florida, this August. Among those being recognized is Andy Ansel of Syosset, New York, who grew up in the Bay Area and has long been a friend of the Mechanics'.

Mr. Ansel was chosen for his efforts in preserving tens of thousands of American games, particularly US Championships from the 1930s and US Opens from the 1950s and 60s. He did this by entering them into Chess Base thus making them available to all chess players. The games came from a variety of sources including regional magazines, chess columns from old newspapers and score sheets.   

The award winners:

Meritorious Service: David Causey (SC), Cesar Lawrence (AL), Barbara Reed, (FL) 
Outstanding Career Achievement: Scott Parker (GA), Frank Berry (OK), Tom Martinak (PA), Bob Smith (FL), Mike Zacate (IL)
Special Services Award: Andy Ansel (NY), Jeff Smith (SC), Mark Herman (VA)
Grandmaster of the Year: Hikaru Nakamura (MO) and Gata Kamsky (NY)
Organizer of the Year: Ankit Gupta (CA)
Gold Koltanowski Award: Rex Sinquefeld, (MO) 
Silver Koltanowski Award: Doyle Engelen (IA) , Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc. (VA)
Frank J Marshall Award: Dean Ippolito (NJ)
Honorary Chess Mate: Ami Hall (TN) 
TD Lifetime Achievement: Myron Leiberman (AZ)
TD of the Year: Luis Salinas (TX)
Distinguished Service Award: Judy Misner and Joan Dubois (TN)
Chess Club of the Year: Metropolitan Chess Club of Los Angeles (MO) 
City of the Year: St. Louis, MO
Special Friend of the USCF: Alexandra Kosteniuk (FL)
Scholastic Service Award: Bruce Pandolfini (NY)
Organization Scholastic Award : NY Chess in the Schools

5) Here and There

The Armenian national press agency AFP recently reported that all children in the former Soviet Republic will be taught how to play chess.

Armenia is to make chess a compulsory subject in primary schools in an attempt to turn itself into a global force in the game, the education ministry said on Friday.

"Teaching chess in schools will create a solid basis for the country to become a chess superpower," an official at the ministry, Arman Aivazian, told AFP.

The authorities led by President Serzh Sarkisian, an enthusiastic supporter of the game, have committed around $1.5 million (one million euros) to the scheme -- a large sum in the impoverished but chess-mad country.

Children from the age of six will learn chess as a separate subject on the curriculum for two hours a week.

Aivazian said the lessons which start later this year would "foster schoolchildren's intellectual development" and teach them to "think flexibly and wisely".

The game is hugely popular in Armenia, where grandmasters are stars and important match results make headline news. The country of 3.2 million people has already established itself as a serious competitor in global tournaments.

The national team won gold at the biennial International Chess Olympiad in both 2006 and 2008, and the country's top player Levon Aronian is currently ranked number three in the world, according to the World Chess Federation.

The 5th Metropolitan Chess FIDE Invitational, an IM norm RR event, will be held from May 11 to 15 in Suite C998 at the California Market Center, in Los Angeles, CA. The field will be finalized in the coming week. Marking his first visit to Metropolitan Chess, Chess.com's own IM David Pruess of Berkeley has committed to the next IM norm tournament.

Expert Arthur Ismakov won the 6th Annual Frank Doyle Open held in Santa Rosa with a score of 3.5 from 4. NM Richard Kopecke was second with 3 points in the multi-section event directed by Paul Stagnoli which attracted 45 participants.