Gens Una Sumus!
Mechanics’ Institute Chess Club Newsletter #663
April 4, 2014
Enjoy playing chess, enjoy studying chess and don’t spend too much time with chess engines.
—Boris Gelfand, offering his advice for the club player,
as given in Chess, May 2013, page 7
1) Mechanics’ Institute Chess Club News
Top-seeded Hayk Manvelyan dodged a bullet in the second round of the Spring Tuesday Night Marathon.
Hayk Manvelyan (2354)–Michael Askin (1903)
Mechanics' Spring TNM, San Francisco (2) 2014
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.h4 h5 5.Ne2 e6 6.Ng3 Bg6 7.Be2 c5 8.c3 Nc6 9.dxc5 Bxc5 10.b4 Bf8 11.Bf4 Nge7 12.b5 Na5 13.Nxh5 Qc7 14.Rh3 Bf5! 15.Rg3
15.g4 Rxh5 16.gxf5 Rxf5 and Black is winning.
15...Ng6 16.Be3 Nc4 17.Bd4 Ncxe5 18.Nd2 f6 19.c4 Rd8 20.cxd5 Rxd5 21.Rc3 Qd6
21...Qd7 with ...Bb4 was winning.
22.Be3 Nxh4 23.Nf4 Nxg2+!
Inspired play by Michael, who smells blood.
24.Nxg2 Rh1+ 25.Bf1
25.Nf1 Rxd1+ 26.Rxd1 Qb4 winning.
25...Nd3+ 26.Ke2 Bg4+?!
26...Qe5 27.Rc8+ Kf7 with ...Bc5 to follow would have been decisive. Ditto for; 26...Qd7 27.Rb1 Bd6 intending...Be5. All Black needs to do to finish things off is involve his king bishop in the attack.
27.f3 Bh5
27...Bh3! 28.Qb3 Qh2 29.Rxd3 Bxg2 30.Bf2 Bc5 31.Bxg2 Re5+ 32.Re3 Rxa1 33.Rxe5 Qxe5+ 34.Ne4 Bxf2 35.f4 Qxf4 36.Qxe6+ Kf8 37.Nxf2 Rc1 intending ...Rc5 is a Stockfish line that favors Black.
28.Qa4 Qg3??
28...Kf7 29.Qc4 Nc5 30.Bxc5 Qe5+ was still good for Black.
29.b6+ Kf7 30.Rxd3 Rxd3 31.Kxd3 axb6 32.Qf4 Qh3 33.Re1 e5 34.Qc4+ Kg6 35.Nf4+ 1–0
Twelve of the 84 players remain with perfect scores after two rounds, led by IM Elliott Winslow, FMs Andy Lee and Frank Thornally, and NMs Hayk Manvelyan and Natalya Tsodikova. It’s still possible to join the 8-round event with half-point byes for the early rounds.
From round 3 of the Spring Tuesday Night Marathon:
 |  |
| Black to move (Doyle–Manvelyan after 21 g4) | White to move (Tsodikova–Manvelyan after 11...Ne8) |
 |  |
| White to move (Tsodikova–Manvelyan after 15...Bxe5) | Black to move (Todortsev–Gaffagan after 26 h4) |
 |  |
| Black to move (Todortsev–Gaffagan after 34 Qe5) | Black to move (Drane–Louie after 31 Ke1) |
 |  |
| Black to move (Paquette–Chalissey after 28 Rxc4) | Black to move (Macintire–Gomboluudev after 29 Ne1) |
 |  |
| White to move (Kadri–Simpkins after 13...O-O-O) | White to move (Furukawa–Gandhi after 20...Rad8) |
| For the solutions, see the game scores for round 3. |
The field is set for the 2014 US Championship, to be held May 7–20 in St. Louis.
The players who have accepted invitations include two Mechanics’ members: GMs Sam Shankland and Daniel Naroditsky.
GM Gata Kamsky, 39, New York
GM Timur Gareev, 26, Las Vegas
GM Varuzhan Akobian, 30, Topeka
GM Alexander Onischuk, 38, Lubbock
GM Sergey Erenburg, 31, Richmond, VA
GM Ray Robson, 19, St. Louis
GM Sam Shankland, 22, Orinda
GM Daniel Naroditsky, 18, Foster City
GM Josh Friedel, 27, Milwaukee
GM Alex Lenderman, 24, New York
GM Alejandro Ramirez, 25, Garland, Texas
GM Mackenzie Molnar, 25, Tucson
Nearly three hundred school kids descended on the Hall of Flowers in Golden Gate Park on March 22 to contest the 2014 San Francisco Scholastic Chess Championship organized by the Mechanics’ Institute and sponsored by Robert W. Baird & Co., a wealth management and investment banking firm with $117 billion in assets under management and over 2900 employees on three continents. Baird not only provided financial support, but also manpower, as many of its employees volunteered their time to make this a successful event.
There were five sections. Below is a list of the top finishers.
First section - Championship - U.S. Chess Federation rated, open to all K–12
First place - Cameron Wheeler
Second place - Hans Niemann
Third place - Jaysen Shi
41 Players
Section 2 - unrated high school (grades 9–12)
First place - Brandon Moren
Second place - Jacky Kwang
Third place - Pierro Vo
16 players
Section three - grades 6–8
First place - Zachary Agenbroad
Second place - Noah Heller
Third place -Jade Greer
32 players
Section 4- Grades 4–5
First place - Steven Hwang
Second - Silas Grout
Third- Ling Feng Ren
42 Players
Section 5 - kindergarten–third grade
First - Sophia Yang
Second - Philip Bluer
Third- Aria Saluja
111 participants
Wednesday Night Blitz results for March 19, as reported by Wednesday Night Blitz Coordinator Jules Jelinek:
12 players
1st – IM Ray Kaufman 11 pts
2nd – NM Arthur Ismakov 9 pts
3rd - NM Gady Costeff, David Flores, Jules Jelinek and Hans Niemann
The 8th Annual Ray Schutt Memorial Blitz Tournament
A chance to remember and pay tribute to an old friend
Sunday May 4, 2014
1 pm to 5 pm.
Tournament: 2 pm to 4 pm.
There will be a chance to reminisce about Ray over light refreshments, both before and after the event.
5 Double round Swiss
Time control is 4 minutes + 2 second increment from move one
PRIZES: 1st $300, 2nd $200, 3rd $100, 4th $75, 5th $50, 6th $25
ENTRY FEE: $10. Free to GMs and IMs.
Enter at tournament from 1:00 pm to 1:45 pm. No phone entries.
Come honor Ray’s memory and make this a great tournament!
2) Donaldson–Bulakh, Spokane 2014
MI Chess Director John Donaldson shared top honors in the David Collyer Memorial held in late February. Here is a game from the event.
A35 Symmetrical English
John Donaldson–Nikolay Bulakh
22nd David Collyer Memorial Spokane (3), 2014
1.Nf3 c5 2.c4 Nf6
2...Nc6 3.Nc3 g6 4.e3 Nf6 5.d4 cxd4 6.exd4 d5 is another way to reach the game continuation
3.Nc3 Nc6 4.e3 g6 5.d4 cxd4 6.exd4 d5 7.cxd5
This is the only real try for advantage. Instead 7.Be2 Bg7 8.0–0 0–0 is a Tarrasch Defense with colors reversed. White has tried 9.Re1 and 9.h3 here but neither promises much hope for an edge. More dynamic is 9.Bf4 meeting 9...dxc4 in gambit fashion with 10.d5 Na5 11.Be5 and Qd4 to follow. Black isn’t obliged to capture on c4.
7...Nxd5 8.Qb3
8.Bc4 Nxc3 9.Qb3 transposes, but gives Black the extra option of of 8...Nb6.
8...Nxc3
Forced, as 8...Nb6 is strongly met by 9.d5 Nb8 10.Bb5+ Bd7 11.0–0 Bg7 12.d6!
9.Bc4
This is an important zwischenzug. The routine 9.bxc3 would allow 9...Bg7, meeting 10.Bc4 with 10...0–0.
9...Nd5
The alternative is 9...e6, which after 10.bxc3 Bg7 11.Ba3 Bf8 12.Bxf8 Kxf8 13.0–0 Kg7, leads to a critical position. Black is now threatening ...Na5, so White normally plays 14.Qb2, intending Be2, Rfd1, Rac1, c4 and eventually d5.
A recent refinement, tried by Aronian, is 14.Qb5, when 14...a6 15.Qb2 favors White. More testing is 14...Qc7 (preparing to develop his bishop, which was prevented by White’s last move), when 15.Be2 b6 (15...Rd8 is safer) 16.c4 Bb7 17.Rac1 Rhd8 18.d5! Na5 19.Qb2+ Kg8 20.Ne5, with the threat of Ng4, leaves White with a strong initiative.
10.Bxd5 e6 11.Bxc6+ bxc6 12.0–0 Qd5
On 12...Bg7 White has two strong choices in 13.Bf4 0–0 14.Qe3 and 13.Qa3 13…Qe7 14.b3.
13.Qc3
White prefers to avoid the queenless middlegame that arises after 13.Be3 or 13.Bg5.
13...Bg7 14.Bf4 0–0 15.Qe3
15.Rfc1 is more commonly seen here, but the text appears to be more precise. White refrains from committing his rooks and prepares to play Be5 or Bh6. The trade of bishops would set up a very promising good knight/bad bishop situation for White.
15...c5?
15...Qb5 16.b3 c5 17.dxc5 gives White good compensation for the exchange. 15...Rd8 looks like the most solid approach. The text is just a little too ambitious.
16.dxc5 Bxb2 17.Rab1 Bg7 18.Rfd1 Qxa2
19.Be5
White aims to exchange off Black’s most active piece and weaken him on the dark squares. The alternative 19.Bh6 ensures the trade of dark-squared bishops, but after 19...Bxh6 20.Qxh6 f6 White’s queen is out of play.
19...f6
Forced as 19...Ba6 20.Bxg7 Kxg7 21.Ra1 Qe2 22.Qa3 Bc4 (22...Bc8 23.c6) 23.Rd2 Qe4 24.Qc3+ Kg8 25.Rd4 wins a piece.
20.Bd6 Re8
20...Rf7?? 21.Qe4.
20...Rd8 21.Nd4 Bd7 22.Ra1 Qc4 23.c6 e5 (23...Bc8 24.Rac1 Qa2 25.Nb5) 24.cxd7 exd4 25.Qf3 Qb5 26.Bc7 wins the exchange.
21.Nd4 Ba6 22.Nc6 e5
22...f5 23.Re1 Bf6 24.Nb8 with Qf3 is a very difficult threat to meet.
23.Nb4?!
23.Ne7+! Kh8 24.Nd5 was more precise.
23...Qe2 24.Nd5 Qxe3
24...Red8 25.Qh3 Bc8 26.Ne7+ Kf7 27.Nxc8 Raxc8 28.Qb3+ mates.
25.fxe3 Bc4
Black’s last chance to resist was 25...Be2, though after 26.Rd2 Bg4 27.Rb7 White has a large advantage.
26.Nc7 a5 27.c6 Be6 28.Nxa8 Rxa8 29.c7 Re8 30.Rb8 Kf7 31.Bc5 1–0
3) A Chess Poem from Dennis Fritzinger
freedom
stepping into a time machine,
i travel back
to when chess was the whole world
for me.
i lived, breathed, and ate it.
the 64 squares
were an infinite kingdom
and i was a contender for the crown.
if you think it’s hard to believe
i took the game so seriously,
you weren’t there.
i still remember, vividly,
floors i slept on,
diners i went to with my chess pals,
blitz sessions stretching into the night,
epic travels to tournaments.
and i can remember
falling asleep in cars,
junk food,
and sleeping by the side of the road.
freedom goes by many names,
and in the california
of surfing, rock climbing
and rock n roll,
one of its names was chess.
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