Chess Room Newsletter #604 | Mechanics' Institute

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Chess Room Newsletter #604

Gens Una Sumus!

Mechanics’ Institute Chess Club Newsletter #604
October 24, 2012


You feel like a sportsman every day. Sometimes you feel like a scientist, sometimes you feel like an artist and sometimes you feel like an imbecile.

—World Chess Champion Vishy Anand, when asked what it feels like to be a chess player.

1) Mechanics’ Institute Chess Club News

The Fall Tuesday Night Marathon looks to be quite competitive, with one International Master, two FIDE Masters and two National Masters competing. George Machen (1584) is the upset king so far, with a draw with Steve Gaffagan (2070) in round one and a win over Thomas Maser (1990) in round two. It’s still possible to join the 63-player field with half-point byes for rounds one and two. The nine-round event ends December 11.


Near-Master Todd Rumph (2188) sends in notes to his round-one victory.
English A29
Todd Rumph–Patrick Donnelly
Fall TNM Fall 2012 (1) 2012

1.c4 e5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Nc3 Be6 6.Nf3 Nc6

The well-known mistake 6...Nxc3 7.bxc3 e4? loses a pawn after 8.Qa4+.

7.0–0 f6 8.d4 Nxc3 9.bxc3 Be7

Here 9...e4 10.Nd2 f5 11.f3 exf3 (11...e3? 12.Nb3 is clearly in White’s favor) 12.Bxf3 Bd5? 13.e4 and Black is in trouble.

Black’s alternatives at move twelve bear examination:

a) 12...Bd6 13.Rb1 0–0 (13...Rb8? 14.Rxb7 winning) 14.Rxb7 is much better for White.

b) 12...Nxd4!? 13.Bxb7 Rb8 14.Rb1 is messy, but maybe survivable for Black.

10.Nxe5!

Setting up a potential fork at d5.

10...Nxe5

Another decent try was 10...fxe5 11.d5 Bf5 (11...Bd7?! 12.dxc6 Bxc6 13.Bxc6+ bxc6 14.Qa4 Qd6 15.Rd1 Qe6 16.Ba3 is clearly in White’s favor) 12.dxc6 Qxd1 13.Rxd1 b6 14.c4! 0–0 15.Bd5+ Kh8 16.Bb2 with a substantial advantage.

11.dxe5 0–0!

Correctly giving up either the f- or b-pawn for activity. Black is now ahead in development, so White can’t eat too much...

12.Qc2!?

Even though I missed Black’s 14th move, this is still OK. If I’d seen 14...Bc5, then I probably would have played 12.Be3 c6 13.exf6 Bxf6 14.Qc2 Qa5 15.Bd4 Rad8 16.Rfd1 and Black probably doesn’t have enough activity for his pawn.

12...fxe5 13.Bxb7 Rb8 14.Be4 Bc5!

I only looked at 14...h6 15.Be3 and White is much better. If 14...g6? then 15.Bxg6 hxg6?? 16.Qxg6+ Kh8 17.Qh6+ Kg8 18.Qxe6 is decisive.

15.e3

I was very concerned about 15.Bxh7+ Kh8 16.Be4 (anticipating ...Bh3) 16...Qf6 17.e3 Bc4 18.Rd1 because of Black’s potential K-side attack and the hard-to-develop White Q-side. Black has some decent ideas here: ...Rb6, ...Qf7 (keeping the rook tied to the a-pawn), and then ...Rf6. The computer likes White here, but I don’t defend like a computer!  I also looked at 15.Be3 Bxe3 16.fxe3 Qg5 17.Bxh7+ Kh8 18.Be4 Bh3 which is slightly in White’s favor.


15...h5 16.Qe2 Bg4??

16...Qe8 was forced, and Black has good compensation for the pawn. A sample line is 17.Rb1 (17.c4 was my original plan, but hopefully I would have noticed that 17...Qf7 wins a pawn - 17...Qf7 18.Bd3? Bh3 19.Re1 Bb4) 17...Rb6 18.Rb2 Qf7 19.Rd1 h4 20.Rdd2 Black is very active.

17.Qc4+ 1–0

17.Qc4+ Kh8 18.Qxc5 and White’s up a piece.


Hello everyone,

It is time for the weekly blitz tournament at Mechanics Institute Chess Club. As always, the last entry is accepted at 6:40 pm, with sign-up beginning at 6:20 pm. Entry is $10 with clock, or $11 without clock. Prizes are 50%, 30%, 20% of entry fees. Time control preferably is 3 minute, increment 2 seconds; otherwise 5 minutes, no increment.
 
Last week’s winners were
 
1st - Carlos D’Avila
2nd - Jules Jelinek
3rd - Merim Mesic
 
Look forward to seeing you tonight.
 
Jules Jelinek
Weekly Wednesday Night Blitz Coordinator


IM Alex Lopez and GM Alex Baburin tied for first with 5/6 in the recently concluded Galway International Chess Congress. Italian IM Denis Rombaldoni came third with 4½ points, while GM Vlad-Cristian Jianu (ROM) and IM John Donaldson (USA) were among several players who scored 4 points.


2) Here and There

Hikaru Nakamura is back in the saddle again and leads a 4-player round robin in Hoogoveen with 2½ from 3 at the midway point.
1. Nakamura - 2½/3
2. Tiviakov - 1½
3-4. Giri and Hou Yifan - 1


The top of the FIDE rating list has seen many changes since the Olympiad. Here is how things stand in mid-October.

Player/ rating/ rating change/ number of games.  
1. Carlsen 2847.6 +4.6 10
2. Aronian 2815.4 -5.6 10
3. Kramnik 2795 0 0
4. Radjabov 2792.5 +0.5 6
5. Caruana 2786.5 +14.5 13
6. Anand 2775.4 -4.6 10
7. Karjakin 2775.4 -4.6 10
8. Topalov 2769.4 +18.4 17
9. Mamedyarov 2764.2 +16.2 16
10. Grischuk 2764.1 +12.1 17
11. Ivanchuk 2763.4 -7.6 18
12. Kamsky 2762.4 +7.4 7
13. Nakamura 2754.9 -31.1 18
14. Gelfand 2750.7 +14.7 16
15. Morozevich 2748.4 -9.6 6
16. Svidler 2746.6 -0.4 6
17. Ponomariov 2741 +6 15
18. Jakovenko 2740.8 +8.8 15
19. Gashimov 2737 0 0

20. Wang Hao 2736.7 -11.3 14

Magnus Carlsen is less than 5 points from Kasparov’s record rating of 2851, while Gata Kamsky is now the top-rated American and at his all-time peak of 2762.


The favorites in the European Club Championship, the SOCAR team from Azerbaijan (Radjabov, Mamedyarov, Topalov, Grischuk, Kamsky and Sutovsky) won the tournament, thanks to a better tie-break score. They lost in round 1, but won all the remaining matches, defeating in round 6 their main rivals from St Petersburg. They were led by Alexander Grischuk and Gata Kamsky, who each scored 5 from 6.


Those who are looking for hard-to-find chess books that are out of print or in foreign languages can go to E-Bay or ABE books, but a third, more specialized option exists in Grandmaster Alex Baburin’s Grandmaster Square auctions. Held six times a year for the past decade, they are where serious collectors go.

GM Baburin writes:
Dear Chess Collector,
Please note that the dates for our next two auctions have changed—auction No 36 will take place on 1-3 November (and not this weekend as originally planned), while auction No 37 is scheduled for 6-8 December. Go to www.gmsquare.com/chessauction for more information.

Anna Zatonskih
, Tatev Abrahamyan and Irina Krush are representing the United States in the Women’s World Championship, which starts November 10th. The 64-player knockout, which ends December 2, is being held in Khanty Mansiysk, in Western Siberia.

3) Seirawan–Karch Match (part 2)

We published the first three games of this match in Newsletter #602. Here are the final three games. Pictures of the two contestants can be found at the MI Chess Club website www.chessclub.org in Newsletter 604.

Yasser Seirawan

Yasser Seirawan in 1973


Slav Defense D18
Robert Karch–Yasser Seirawan
Seattle (m/4) 1973

1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 c6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.a4 Bf5 6.e3 Bd3 7.Bxd3 cxd3 8.Qxd3 Nbd7 9.O-O e6 10.e4 Be7 11.Bg5 O-O 12.Rad1 Re8 13.e5 Nd5 14.Ne4 h6 15.Bxe7 Qxe7 16.Nd6 Rf8 17.Nd2 f5 18.Nxb7 Nxe5 19.dxe5 Qxb7 20.Rb1 f4 21.Ne4 Qe7 22.Nd6 Qg5 23.Rfe1 f3 24.g3 Nf4 25.Qc4 Qg4 26.Kh1 Nh3 27.Qc1 Ng5 28.b3 Rab8 29.h4 Nf7 30.Re4 Qg6 31.Qe1 Nxd6 32.exd6 Qf5 33.g4 Qf6 34.h5 Rfd8 35.Kh2 Qh4+ 36.Kg1 Rxd6 37.b4 Rbd8 38.Qf1 Rd5 39.b5 c5 40.Rf4 Rxh5 41.gxh5 Qxf4 42.Qh3 Qe4 43.Kh2 0-1

Guioco Piano C56
Yasser Seirawan–Robert Karch
Seattle (m/5) 1973

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d4 exd4 5.O-O Nxe4 6.Re1 d5 7.Nc3 Be6 8.Nxe4 dxc4 9.Neg5 Qd5 10.Nxf7 Kxf7 11.Ng5+ Kg8 12.Nxe6 Bd6 13.Qg4 g6 14.Bh6 Ne5 15.Qxd4 Qxe6 16.f4 b6 17.fxe5 Bc5 18.c3 Bxd4+ 19.cxd4 Rd8 20.Rf1 g5 21.Bxg5 Rxd4 22.Bf6 h5 23.Bxh8 Kxh8 24.Rae1 Rd2 25.Rf6 Qg4 26.g3 Qd4+ 27.Kf1 Rxh2 28.Rf4 Qd3+ 0-1

Robert Karch

Robert Karch, in a holiday card he sent out around 1990. He looked very similar when he played the match with Yasser.



QGD – Meran D46
Robert Karch–Yasser Seirawan
Seattle (m/6) 1973

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Bd3 Be7 7.O-O O-O 8.b3 b6 9.Bb2 Bb7 10.Qe2 Rc8 11.Rfd1 Bd6 12.Rac1 Qe7 13.Rc2 Rfd8 14.h3 h6 15.Re1 Re8 16.Qd1 Red8 17.Qb1 Re8 18.Rce2 dxc4 19.bxc4 e5 20.dxe5 Nxe5 21.Nxe5 Qxe5 22.f4 Qh5 23.Ne4 Nxe4 24.Bxe4 Bb4 25.Bf3 Qh4 26.Rd1 Bc5 27.Bg4 Rxe3 28.Bd4 Bxd4 29.Rxd4 Rxe2 30.Bxe2 Re8 31.Re4 Rd8 32.f5 Qf6 33.c5 Bc8 34.g4 Qc3 35.Qb3 Qxc5+ 36.Kg2 Qd5 37.Qxd5 cxd5 38.Rd4 Bb7 39.Kg3 Kf8 40.Kf4 Ke7 41.h4 Kd6 42.g5 hxg5+ 43.Kxg5 Re8 44.Bh5 Re7 45.f6 Re5+ 46.Kf4 g6 47.Bg4 Bc6 48.a3 Bb5 49.a4 Bc4 50.Rd2 a6 51.Rb2 Re4+ 52.Kg5 Kc5 53.Bd7 d4 54.Rh2 d3 55.Bg4 Rd4 56.Bd1 b5 57.axb5 axb5 58.Kh6 b4 59.Kg7 d2 60.h5 gxh5 61.Rxh5+ Rd5 62.Rh4 Rg5+ 63.Kf8 Rg1 64.Rxc4+ Kxc4 65.Be2+ Kc5 66.Kxf7 d1Q 67.Bxd1 Rxd1 0-1


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