Chess Room Newsletter #610 | Mechanics' Institute

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Chess Room Newsletter #610

Gens Una Sumus!

Mechanics’ Institute Chess Club Newsletter #610
December 5, 2012

The fact is that chess isn’t marketable. I just don’t see chess ever being a popular sport, especially in the United States.

—Jeremy Silman. For his reasons why go to www.chess.com/article/view/chesscom-player-profiles-jeremy-silman.

1) Mechanics’ Institute Chess Club News

National Master
Romy Fuentes and Expert Todd Rumph are tied for first in the Fall Tuesday Night Marathon with one round remaining. Half a point behind their 6.5-1.5 scores are International Master Elliott Winslow and Experts Uyanga Byambaa and James Jones.  FM Andy Lee, who was unable to play the eighth round, has 5.5 points, but could determine who wins the event. Likely last-round pairings are Fuentes–Byambaa, Rumph–Jones and Lee–Winslow.

King’s Indian, Four Pawns’ Attack E77
Elliott Winslow (2293)–Uyanga Byambaa (2093)
Mechanics’ Fall TNM (8) 2012

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f4 0–0 6.Nf3 c5 7.d5 e6 8.Be2 exd5 9.e5 dxe5 10.fxe5 Ng4


10...Ne4 is a good alternative.

11.Bg5 f6 12.exf6 Bxf6 13.Qxd5+ Qxd5 14.Nxd5 Bxg5

14...Nc6, as played in J.Whitehead–Biyiasas, Cal Chess Masters 1981, is also playable. That game was drawn after 15.Nxf6 Nxf6 16.0-0 Ne4 17.Bh6 Re8.

15.Nxg5 Nc6 16.Nc7 Rb8 17.Nge6 Bxe6 18.Nxe6 Rfe8?!


18...Rbe8 is more accurate meeting 19.Bxg4
(19.Nxf8 Nd4) 19...Nd4 20.0–0–0 Nxe6 21.Rd7 with 21...Rf7

19.Bxg4 Nd4 20.0–0–0 Nxe6 21.Rd7 Nd4 22.Rf1 h5

22...Re4 23.Bd1 Nf5 24.b3 Rd4 (24...Re7 was better
) 25.Rc7 b5 26.cxb5 Rxb5 27.Re1 Rd8 28.g4 Nd4 29.Ree7 h6 1–0 Winslow–Donaldson, Rohnert Park 1986.

23.Bd1 Rf8 24.Re1?!

24.Rxf8+ Rxf8 25.Rxb7 Rf2 26.Rxa7 Rxg2 27.a4 Rxh2 28.a5 was much more of a challenge for Black to meet.

24...Rf2 25.Ree7 Rxg2 26.Rg7+ Kh8 27.Rh7+ Kg8 28.Rdg7+ Kf8 29.Bxh5 Re8 30.Rf7+ ½–½

Congratulations to MI regular
Chinguun Bayaraa, who tied for first place in the 1st-grade division of the 2012 National K-12 Championship last weekend in Orlando. Chinguun was back on Tuesday evening playing in the Marathon and will compete this weekend in the 12th Annual Guthrie McClain Memorial G/45.


Thanks to Colin Ma for donating a copy of IM Nikolay Minev’s A Practical Guide to Rook and Pawn Endings.


Hello everyone,

The Blitz is on tonight . . .

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 - Jamieson Pryor
 
Look forward to seeing you tonight.

Jules Jelinek
Weekly Wednesday Night Blitz Coordinator


NM John Blackstone sends in the following game, which first appeared in the San Francisco Call of August 13, 1913, with the incorrect score. The correct version from the Pittsburgh Gazette Times was published on September 14th of the same year.

Guioco Piano C53
A. FinkE.Clarke
SF Mechanics Prize Winner (San Francisco) 1913

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 d6 5.d4 exd4 6.cxd4 Bb6 7.0-0 Nf6 8.Nc3 0-0 9.h3 h6 10.e5 dxe5 11.dxe5 Qxd1 12.Rxd1 Nh7 13.Ne2 Re8 14.Nf4 Nf8 15.Nd5 Be6 16.Bf4 Na5 17.Nxb6 axb6 18.Bb5 c6 19.Bd3 Nc4 20.Bc1 Bd5 21.Re1 Nd7 22.Bxc4 Bxc4 23.a3 Bd5 24.Bf4 Bxf3 25.gxf3 Ra5 26.Rad1 Nf8 27.Bg3 Rc5 28.Re3 Ng6 29.Kg2 Ne7 30.Rd7 Nd5 31.Rd3 Rc2 32.b3 Ra8 33.Rxb7 Rxa3 34.e6 fxe6 35.Be5 Raa2 36.Rxg7+ Kf8 37.Rh7 Rxf2+ 38.Kg3 Rg2+ 39.Kh4 Rg6 40.Bf4 Kg8 41.Rb7 Ra8 42.Bb8 Rg7 43.Rxg7+ Kxg7 44.Be5+ Kg6 45.Bb2 Ra2 46.Bc1 Rg2 47.Rd4 h5 48.Re4 Kf5 49.Rc4 c5 50.f4 Rg8 51.Bd2 Rg2 52.Bc1 e5 53.fxe5 Kg6 54.e6 Ne7 55.Rf4 Nf5+ 56.Rxf5 Kxf5 57.e7 Rg8 58.Bg5 b5 59.Bh6 Re8 60.Be3 c4 61.bxc4 bxc4 62.Bc5 c3 63.Kg3 c2 64.Ba3 Rxe7 0-1

Mechanics’ Institute Tuesday Marathon FIDE-rated players for 2012 (as of November)

1. IM Elliot Winslow 2348
2. Peter Zavadsky 2298
3. FM Andy Lee 2243
4. Romulo Fuentes 2175
5. FM Frank Thornally 2160
6. Todd Rumph 2134
7. Jorge Lopez 2127
8. James Jones 2117
9. Demetrius Goins 2014
10. Uyanga Byambaa 2113
11. Russell Wong 2109
12. Daniel Liu 2095
13. Igor Traub 2080
14. Steven Gaffagan 2079
15. Brendan Lacounte 2076
16. Igor Margulis 2072
17. Michael Lin 2035
18. Ethan Chamberlain 2029
19. David Klinetobe 2006
20. Payam Afkham-Ebrahimi 2004
21. Peter Grey 2004
57 rated

2) John (Jack) A. Hudson
February 8, 1930–October 9, 2012

Veteran Northern California players will remember NM John Hudson, who was stationed at Travis Air Force in the 1960s along with his good friend Ed Edmondson.

John A. “Jack” Hudson, 82, of Friday Harbor, San Juan Island, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, October 9, 2012 at Whatcom Hospice House in Bellingham, following complications from a stroke two weeks earlier.

John Alfred Hudson was born February 8, 1930 in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, the second son of Charles F. and Charlotte R. (Hamilton) Hudson. His father was a career naval officer. Many of Jack’s early years were spent growing up on the family farm in Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, where his father had retired, a special place in the lives of Jack and his brother. Jack attended South Philadelphia High School where he was an exceptionally gifted student and graduated early. While there he mastered the cello, which began a life-long love of classical music. He went on to the University of Pennsylvania, where he received a B.A. in Botany. In 1951, following the outbreak of the Korean War, Jack enlisted in the United States Air Force. He remained in the Air Force for the next 20 years, flying as a navigator in the Air Rescue Service, and later in the Strategic Air Command as a B-47 navigator-bombardier. He was also a navigation-training instructor and served as the editor of The Navigator magazine. He retired from the Air Force in 1971, with the rank of Major. Jack was stationed in many places during his Air Force career, and continued to travel extensively after he left the service, making friendships around the world; favorite places included England, Scotland and Key West, Florida, where he lived for several years.

Jack was an accomplished chess player. By his twenties he was ranked a National Master and had won state and national tournaments. In 1956, Jack won the U.S. Amateur Championship (Bobby Fischer, making an early appearance on the national stage at age 13, placed 12th). Among other victories, he was Armed Forces Champion in 1960, 1961 and 1970, and won the California State Open in 1965. He
was also a meticulous, self-taught carpenter and electrician, and visits to friends and family often produced a list of completed home repairs and improvements. An avid reader, Jack introduced his nieces and nephew to the Jungle Books, Sherlock Holmes, Agatha Christie, and many, many mysteries; he never shied away from a good book, or a good book store. After retirement, his life-long love of literature and learning led him back to school to pursue graduate coursework in English literature at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He also enjoyed the movies (Peter Sellers films were particular favorites), and he had an encyclopedic knowledge of movie trivia. Jack was known for his quick wit and his love of a good pun (he never met a bad one). His thoughtfulness, generosity, and keen sense of humor will be remembered by all of us.

Jack is survived by his brother Frank and sister-in-law Sally Hudson, also of Friday Harbor, his nephew Chip Hudson (Angela) of Portland, Oregon, niece Jean Hudson of Milwaukee, Wisconsin and niece Charlotte Hart (Chris) of Bellingham, as well as dear friends Norm and Colette Cotter of Oxford, Pennsylvania, and many other relatives and loving friends. We wish to extend our heartfelt thanks to the friends and staff at the Village in Friday Harbor, his home for the past four years; also to the staff at St. Joseph’s Hospital and at Whatcom Hospice House for the care and kindness shown to Jack.

There will be a private family service. Interment will be at Arlington National Cemetery, with full military honors. Arrangements are pending with Moles Farewell Tributes – Bellingham, WA, where remembrances may be shared in the on-line guest book at www.farewelltributes.com. In lieu of flowers, donations in Jack’s name may be made to Whatcom Hospice Foundation, 800 East Chestnut, Suite 1A, Bellingham, WA 98225.


3) Zuckertort visits the Mechanics’ Institute

The London tournament of 1883 established Johannes Zukertort as the principal rival of Wilhelm Steinitz. He not only won the event by three points over the man once dubbed the “Austrian Morphy”, he did it while still losing his last three games—a record that may never be broken.

Fresh from his great triumph, and taking advantage of the railroads of North America, Zukertort made the first transcontinental tour of the United States and Canada in 1883/84.
Here, thanks to
Eduardo Bauza-Mercere, is a list of the places that Zukertort visited. The principal references used by Mr. Bauza-Mercere were the British Chess Magazine and Chess Monthly.

New York (October/December)
Baltimore (12 December)
Washington
Louisville (December?)
Cincinnati (January ‘84)
St. Louis (January)
Chicago (10 January)
Toronto
Ottawa (28 January)
Montreal (13 February)
Quebec
Boston
New York (1 March)
Philadelphia (March)
Pittsburgh  (28 March)
Cincinatti  (6 April)
St. Louis  (10 April)
New Orleans  (13 April - ?? May)
St. Louis
Denver  (3 June)
Leadville (10/17 June)
Cheyenne (29 June?)
Salt Lake City (26 June?)
San Francisco (2-25 July)
Leadville  (28 July)
St. Louis
Toledo (12 August)
Cleveland (18-22 August)
New York (23 August- 3 September)

Readers will notice that Zukertort spent over three weeks in San Francisco. This was the first visit to The Bay Area by a famous internationally-recognized player since Saint-Amant, and we intend to cover it in depth in the first half of 2013.

4)
KCF Students Troff, Sevian win gold at World Youth, by Mike Wilmering

Sam Sevian
and Kayden Troff each won a gold medal at the World Youth Chess Championship, which concluded in Maribor, Slovenia, on November 18.

Sam finished first overall in the under-12 section and Kayden earned the top spot in the under-14 section. Earlier this year, both players were selected by the
Kasparov Chess Foundation (KCF) to participate in an intensive training program, which started in the beginning of 2012 with a special training camp conducted by World Champion and KCF Chairman Garry Kasparov in Saint Louis in June.

The KCF and the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis established a five-year grant partnership to develop several American chess prodigies from across the nation. The program, called Young Stars - Team USA, is designed to offer extraordinarily talented children the opportunity to maximize their potential and to achieve the highest level in chess.

“Our goal is to prepare the best young players in the country for the most difficult competition in the world,” Kasparov said. “Kayden and Sam prepared diligently for this event and proved they have what it takes to become the world’s elite. With continued hard work and dedication, these rising stars can help lead the next generation of chess players in the U.S.”

The Young Stars - Team USA program includes two training sessions with Kasparov each year, one in the summer in Saint Louis and one in the winter in New York City, and individual coaching for each participant. The winter Master Class session will take place December 14-16.

Kayden said hours of daily preparation and special training sessions with his coach
GM Alex Chernin and Garry Kasparov have been key to his recent success.

“When it comes down to it, a result like this is why I spend 30-plus hours a week on chess, and I am just grateful it paid off,” Kayden said.

Because of the Young Stars program, Sam also has benefitted from special training sessions with both Kasparov and Chernin. He said the fact that he entered the tournament ranked first overall in his section put some additional pressure on him to succeed.

“Plus the fact that many of my games were available in the database prior to the tournament [meant that] opponents could prepare specific lines against me,” Sam said. “In some of the games I found myself under severe time pressure, especially with black pieces. I had to spend a lot of time at the board just to equalize.”

Sam said that in addition to continuing to fine-tune his game, he hopes to attain his third IM norm in the coming year, and plans to begin competing in tournaments that offer GM norm opportunities.

Kayden, who has already achieved the three IM norms necessary for the title, said he is working on improving his FIDE rating to 2400 and trying to maintain consistency in his performances. His results and upcoming tournaments can be found at http://kaydentroff.blogspot.com.

For more information on the KCF, visit www.kasparovchessfoundation.org.

5) Here and There

The December 5th
Wall Street Journal published an article by Joe Parkinson on the popularity of chess in Armenia, where the three-time Olympiad gold medalists (2006, 2008 and 2012) are national heroes.

Here are a few of the quotes that emphasize just how important chess is to this small nation of just under 3 million people.

“In the U.S., everyone can remember where they were when President Kennedy was killed. In Armenia, everyone can remember where they were when Petrosian won that championship,” said
Aram Hajian, board member of the Chess Academy of Armenia.

“Chess here is like soccer in Brazil or football in America,” Mr. Petrosian said over coffee at the Yerevan Chess Academy ahead of a concert to honor the country’s top players. The concert featured musicians and singers performing in front of 10-foot-high chess boards while the audience clapped rapturously.

This Petrosian is none other than Grandmaster
Tigran L. Petrosian whose father named him after the World Champion.

“Some girls giggle when they see us on the streets and some even give me presents,” says 30-year-old
Levon Aronian, Armenia’s No. 1 player and the second-ranked player in the world. “Most of us are just regular nerds, so it’s quite a lot to get used to. I’ve changed the way I dress for photo shoots but that’s all.”

The article notes that the country’s president, Serzh Sargsyan, also is the president of the Armenian Chess Federation. That sort of connection to the top levels of government helps explain how legislation was passed last year making chess a compulsory subject in schools. Add to the mix that promising players get free coaching by top Armenian GMs as well as expense paid trips to events like the World Youth Championship and it is easier to understand how Armenia continually punches above its weight at the top levels of world chess.

Another key ingredient in the continued success of this geographically challenged country, with enemies on several borders, is that all Grandmasters in the country receive a salary making chess not only a socially accepted profession but an economically viable one as well.

Go to online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324020804578147393825457694.html?mod=googlenews_wsj for the entire article.


Jude Acers turned in a fine performance in the recently-concluded World Senior Championship held in Greece. The 68-year-old Acers from New Orleans scored 6 from 11 against a field that included 4 GMs and 3 IMs. His six points included a win over IM Craig Pritchett and draws with GMs Evgeny Sveshnikov and Vlastimil Jansa.


The United States finished third in the medal count in the 2012 World Youth Championships. The gold medals won by Kayden Troff and Samuel Sevian, the silver medal of Cameron Wheeler and the bronze medal taken home by Christopher Shen placed the United States only behind Russia and India, which had 8 winners apiece.


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