Chess Room Newsletter #634

Mechanics’ Institute Chess Club Newsletter #634
June 26, 2013

As far as Carlsen is concerned, he has certain exceptional qualities, which I think are just natural. For example, a feeling for the pieces, plus absolute determination and motivation.It seems to me that we now have a generation to whom ratings are important, and not just in chess. They watch highly-rated films, and read highly-rated books.This desire to pass Kasparov’s rating record gives Carlsen motivation to play every game to the end, with maximum effort.

He has many important qualities; above all, his strength in defense is incredible. All this, together with tremendous belief in himself, makes him similar to Karpov, but raised to a computer level.

—Boris Gelfand on Magnus Carlsen

1) Mechanics’ Institute Chess Club News

NM Hayk Manvelyan stands alone in first place with a perfect score after five rounds of the Summer Tuesday Night Marathon. Tied for second in the 90-player field, a half-point back, is a group of 11 players, headed by IM Elliott Winslow, FM Frank Thornally and NM Romy Fuentes.

Long-time MI member Daniel Naroditsky of Foster City won the 2013 US Junior Closed, held June 14-22 at the St. Louis Chess Club and Scholastic Center. Daniel’s undefeated score of 6½ from 9 earned him spots in both the 2014 US Championship and the 2013 World Junior.

Tying for second with 6 points in the 10-player event was fellow Mechanics’ US Chess League teammate Samuel Sevian of Santa Clara, along with Luke Velotti-Harmon of Boise. Victor Shen of New Jersey was fourth with 5½ points, followed by another MI member, Yian Liou of Alamo, and World Under 14-Champion Kayden Troff on 4½. Yian played an important role in determining the top spots, as he beat Sevian and Velotti-Harmon.

Not only were three of the top five finishers in 2013 MI members, but three of the five winners dating back to 2009 were as well.

Recent US Junior Closed Winners

(MI members in bold)

2009 Ray Robson
2010 Sam Shankland
2011 Gregory Young
2012 Marc Arnold
2013 Daniel Naroditsky

IM Ricardo DeGuzman took first place in the William Addison Memorial G/45 last weekend, but he had company at the top, as 13-year-old Udit Iyengar of Fremont also won all his games. The latter also picked up 52 rating points and is now on the verge of receiving his Master title (2189 USCF post-tournament).

Tying for third in the 64-player, five-round event with 4 points were NM Nicholas Karas, Experts Siddarth Bannik, Jerome Sun, Kevin Kane, Tanuj Vasudeva and Heman Jangle, plus Class A player Zheyuan Fan.

Enkhmaa Nyangar and Enkhjin Gomoluudev created history as they became the first mother and daughter to win prizes in the same tournament at the Mechanics’, Ehkhmaa tying for top under-1600 honors and Enkhjin winning the under-1200 category outright.

Hans Niemann of Orinda, who just turned 10, has been on an incredible roll in 2013, the likes of which have seldom been seen at the MI. Rated 1096 in early February, he has improved his rating almost 700 points (1767) in five months. We expect Hans to be an Expert before the year has ended.

2) Ehlvest Simultaneous exhibition

Estonian Chess Grandmaster Takes on All Challengers at LEP-ESTO 2013 June 29, 2013

Jaan Ehlvest, veteren of the national chess teams of Estonia, the Soviet Union and the USA, to play 30 challengers in an exciting simultaneous exhibition at the Grand Hyat Hotel at Union Square.

Offering another stimulating activity beyond the performing arts, LEP-ESTO 2013 invites attendees to challenge a chess Olympian to an intellectual duel. On Saturday June 29, 2013, from 9:00 am to 12 noon, chess Grandmaster Jaan Ehlvest takes on up to thirty challengers in a fast-paced simultaneous exhibition at LEP-ESTO 2013, at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in San Francisco (Cypress Rooms A & B). Following the exhibition, Jaan will offer his analysis of the individual matches.

Jann Ehlvest is a two time “Sportsman of the Year” in Estonia and winner of numerous international chess tournaments over the past thirty years. He has played on national chess teams for Estonia, the Soviet Union and, since 2006, for the United States, where he today resides. Born in 1962, he is a psychology graduate of the University of Tartu.

Simultaneous exhibitions, or “simuls”, are an exciting and very popular feature of the chess world, and offer unique opportunities for amateur players to take on the masters. Matches are typically played at blazingly fast speeds and are known to frequently wow audiences by their drama and remarkable tactical displays.

Those interested in participating in the simultaneous chess exhibition against Jaan Ehlvest must pre-register and are urged to do so without delay to capture one of the remaining spots. Participation costs $45.00 and includes a round of chess with the Grandmaster, a commemorative chessboard and pieces and a game report signed by Jaan Ehlvest.

To sign up, please go to http://lep-esto2013.eventbrite.com/

This events is organized by the Estonian League of the West Coast. For more information contact:

Ingrid Echter, President, LEP-Esto 2013
[email protected]
Kristjan Lewett
[email protected]
Tel: +1 415 215 4238

Editor’s note: LEP-ESTO is an Estonian cultural festival.

3) Two discoveries from Monte Carlo 1901 and 1902

NM John Blackstone Las Vegas, a member of the 1968 US team that competed in the Student Olympiad at Ybbs, Austria, has uncovered two previously-forgotten games from the great Monte Carlo tournaments of 1901 and 1902.

Ruy Lopez C77
M. Didier,M – T. Von Scheve
Monte Carlo (7), 1901

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.d3 Bc5 6.Nc3 d6 7.Bg5 Bb4 8.0-0 Bxc3 9.bxc3 h6 10.Bh4 0-0 11.Qd2 Be6 12.Rae1 Kh7 13.Bb3 Qe7 14.d4 Bxb3 15.axb3 Rae8 16.h3 Rg8 17.g4 g5 18.Bg3 Rg6 19.d5 Nb8 20.Kg2 Reg8 21.Rh1 Kg7 22.h4 Kf8 23.h5 R6g7 24.Nh2 Rh8 25.f3 Qd8 26.Nf1 Ng8 27.Ne3 f6 28.c4 Rd7 29.b4 c5 30.bxc5 dxc5 31.Rb1 Ne7 32.c3 Nc8 33.Bf2 b6 34.Qa2 Nd6 35.Rb2 Ra7 36.Rhb1 Nd7 37.Qa4 Qc7 38.Qc6 Rh7 39.Nf5 Nxf5 40.gxf5 Rf7 41.Rxb6 Nxb6 42.Bxc5+ Kg7 43.Rxb6 a5 44.Qb5 Ra8 45.Ba3 Qc8 46.c5 Kh8 47.Kg3 g4 48.fxg4 Qg8 49.c6 Qg5 50.Qe2 Rg8 51.Rb7 Rxb7 52.cxb7 Rb8 53.Qf3 Rxb7 54.d6 a4 55.Qd3 Rg7 56.Qe2 Rg8 57.Kh3 Kh7 58.Bc5 Qc1 59.Qd3 Qh1+ 60.Kg3 Qxh5 61.Qd1 Qg5 62.d7 Qf4+ 63.Kh3 h5 64.d8Q Qxg4+ 65.Qxg4 hxg4+ 66.Kg3 Rxd8 67.Kxg4 Rd3 0-1

[New York SUN 1901, April p.08]

Queen’s Gambit Declined D53
A. Reggio – R. Teichmann
Monte Carlo (19) 1902

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Be7 5.e3 b6 6.cxd5 exd5 7.Bd3 Bb7 8.Nf3 Ne4 9.Bf4 0-0 10.0-0 c5 11.Rc1 Nd7 12.Bb1 Rc8 13.Nd2 Nxc3 14.Rxc3 Bf6 15.Nf3 Re8 16.Qd3 g6 17.Rfc1 c4 18.Qf1 b5 19.a3 a5 20.R3c2 b4 21.g4 Qb6 22.h4 Bc6 23.h5 Ba4 24.hxg6 fxg6 25.Qh3 Bxc2 26.Bxc2 b3 27.Bb1 Qe6 28.Re1 c3 29.bxc3 Rxc3 30.Qg2 b2 31.g5 Bg7 32.e4 dxe4 33.Ne5 Nxe5 34.dxe5 e3 35.Bxe3 Qxe5 36.Ba2+ Kh8 37.Qf1 Qf5 38.Qg2 Rc1 39.Rxc1 bxc1Q+ 40.Bxc1 Re1+ 0-1

[NY Sun 1902.06.29 p.05 Su]

4) Here and There

Boris Gelfand turned in one of the most impressive results of his career in winning the recently-concluded Tal Memorial in Moscow.

1. Gelfand - 6
2. Carlsen - 5½
3-5. Caruana Mamedyarov and Andreikin - 5
6. Nakamura - 4½
7. Karjakin - 4
8-9. Morozevich and Anand - 3½
10. Kramnik - 3.

FIDE Top 10

1. Carlsen - 2862.3
2. Aronian - 2813
3. Caruana - 2795.9
4. Kramnik - 2784.4
5. Grischuk - 2779.6
6. Karjakin - 2776.3
7. Anand - 2774.7
8. Nakamura - 2774.6
9. Gelfand - 2773.2
10. Topalov - 2767.3

Michael Bacon’s new blog has an interesting interview with FM William Stewart at http://xpertchesslessons.wordpress.com/2013/06/17/fm-william-stewart-interview/