Gens Una Sumus!
~Garry Kasparov
1) Mechanics' Institute Chess Club News
2) Serper Wins Western States Open
3) Americans Abroad
4) Berkeley Chess Club
5) Dennis Fritzinger Poem
6) Highest and Lowest Rated States
7) Tal at the 1988 Software Toolworks Open
The San Francisco Mechanics' split their matches in weeks seven and eight in the US Chess League and remain in the hunt for the playoffs in the US Chess League. Vinay Bhat won against IM Lev Milman of Carolina. This makes Vinay 5-0 this year and an undefeated 11 out of 13 over three seasons! Vinay started the season the highest rating in the USCL (2729) and he has definitely improved on it.
Local high school student Sam Shankland, who was an all-star in the US Chess League last year on board 4 has given the Mechanics' two keys wins this season and improved his lifetime record in the USCL to 7.5 from 9 for a performance in the neighborhood of 2400. His win against Craig Jones was very nice and should be a contender for the best game of the week with its interesting opening novelty and crisp tactics.
Don't miss Dmitry Zilberstein's slugfest with fellow IM Marcel Martinez from week seven. Marcel sacs the house for mate but Dima comes up with 24...Nf3+!, 28...e3! and 30...Rb3! and Marcel has to bail out with a perpetual. Nice defense!
Next Monday night the MI squares off with Seattle in a key match for the playoffs.
Carolina 1 vs San Francisco 3
2. IM David Pruess (SF) vs IM Jonathan Schroer (CAR) 1/2-1/2
3. FM Oleg Zaikov vs IM John Donaldson (SF) 1/2-1/2
4. NM Sam Shankland (SF) vs NM Craig Jones (CAR) 1-0
USCL Carolina vs San Francisco Internet Chess Club (8), 17.10.2007
USCL Carolina vs San Francisco Internet Chess Club (8), 17.10.2007
USCL Carolina vs San Francisco Internet Chess Club (8), 17.10.2007
USCL Carolina vs San Francisco Internet Chess Club (8), 17.10.2007
San Francisco Mechanics 1.5 vs Miami Sharks 2.5
2. FM Marcel Martinez (MIA) vs IM Dmitry Zilberstein (SF) 1/2-1/2
3. IM David Pruess (SF) vs NM Miguel Espino (MIA) 1-0
4. NM Eric Rodriguez (MIA) vs Daniel Naroditsky (SF) 1-0
USCL San Francisco vs Miami Internet Chess Club (7), 10.10.2007
USCL San Francisco vs Miami Internet Chess Club (7), 10.10.2007
USCL San Francisco vs Miami Internet Chess Club (7), 10.10.2007
USCL San Francisco vs Miami Internet Chess Club (7), 10.10.2007
WESTERN DIVISION | W | L | Game Points | Opp Avg Rating | Opps Record | |
Dallas @ | 6.0 | 2.0 | 19.5/32 (61%) | 2377 | 26.5-27.5 (49%) | |
Seattle | 4.5 | 3.5 | 18.0/32 (56%) | 2371 | 29.5-24.5 (55%) | |
San Francisco | 4.0 | 4.0 | 18.0/32 (56%) | 2368 | 28-26 (52%) | |
Carolina | 3.5 | 4.5 | 15.0/32 (47%) | 2377 | 24.5-29.5 (45%) | |
Miami | 3.0 | 5.0 | 14.0/32 (44%) | 2361 | 24.5-29.5 (45%) | |
Tennessee | 2.0 | 6.0 | 11.0/32 (34%) | 2369 | 24-30 (44%) |
@ = clinched Playoff Berth
# = clinched Division Title
Whoever has the most points in the "W" (win) column, is in the lead in the standings.
Total game points + win percentage are used as a tiebreaker. To see the rest of the tiebreak procedures click here.
Playoff Procedures:
* Top three teams from each division qualify for the playoffs. Results are calculated by Total MATCH points.
** The first round of the playoffs will consist of the 2nd+3rd place team from each division playing each other in the "wildcard round". The 2nd place team gets draw odds. The division winners receive a first round bye.
*** The Semi-Finals of the playoffs consists of the wildcard winners facing off against the division champions. The division champions receive draw odds.
**** The League Championship consists of both Semi-Final winners playing each other. There are no draw odds in this match and if tied there will be a tiebreaker.
2007 MVP Standings after Week 8 | Pts. |
1. GM Julio Becerra (MIA) | 22 |
2. IM Vinay Bhat (SF) | 19 |
3. GM Gregory Serper (SEA) | 16 |
4. SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun (BOS) | 14 |
5. IM Davorin Kuljasevic (DAL) | 12 |
6. NM Denys Shmelov (BOS) | 11.5 |
7. GM Larry Christiansen (BOS) | 11 |
8. IM Jacek Stopa (DAL) | 8.5 |
9. IM John Donaldson (SF) | 8.5 |
10. GM Sergey Kudrin (PHI) | 8 |
Formula for MVP points:
a win on board 1 is worth 4 points, a loss on board 1 is worth -4 points
a win on board 2 is worth 3 points, a loss on board 2 is worth -3 points
a win on board 3 is worth 2.5 points, a loss on board 3 is worth -2.5 points
a win on board 4 is worth 2 points, a loss on board 4 is worth -2 points
if you draw or win with the black pieces you receive 1 bonus point.
Alexander Baburin's excellent online daily Chess Today offers the details.
Magistral d'Escacs, Barcelona
A Category 15 closed tournament takes place from October, 18th to 26th. The players are Lenier Dominguez (last year's winner with 8 out of 9, 1½ ahead of Ivanchuk), Michal Krasenkow, Vugar Gashimov, Hikaru Nakamura, Alexander Beliavsky, Rafael Vaganian, Miguel Illescas, Marc Narciso, Jordi Fluvia and Josep Oms.
Tal Memorial, Moscow
This event will take place on November 9-19. Well-known Russian journalist, Yuri Vasiliev, wrote in Sport Express Daily that the 10 players participating in the round robin tournament with classical time control will be: Kramnik, Ivanchuk, Gelfand, Leko, Carlsen, Shirov, Kamsky, Mamedyarov, Alekseev and Jakovenko.
American representatives IM Robert Hungaski and FM Mackenzie Molnar both gained useful experience in the recently concluded World Junior in Erevan, Armenia. They each scored 6 from 13 in the event won by Egyptian GM Ahmed Adly ahead of many more highly rated players. Tatev Abrahamian finished with an even score in the Girls Under 20 World Championship.
Here are the details for the next BCC Marathon which starts this Sunday.
Start Date: 7:00 P.M. October 21, 2007
Location: Room 17 at Hillside School, 1581 LeRoy, Berkeley.Tournament Format: Six rounds, one game every Sunday
Other Rounds:October 21, 28; November 4, 11, 18, 25
Time Control: 40/90 followed by G/30.
Byes: Up to two half-point byes are available for rounds 1-5. All byes should be requested before 12pm the Friday before the next round
Entry Fee: $30.00.
http://berkeleychessschool.org/chessclub.htm
- bringing home the bacon
- i'm eating breakfast,
getting ready to play
my first game--
eggs, bacon and toast,
and a cup of coffee.
someone has dropped a quarter
in the jukebox,
and the music plays--
i can barely hear it.
wrapped in my own thoughts,
thinking
about the game ahead.
who will i play?
what color will i have?
what will i play?
one song is over,
now another song
begins.
i take another sip
of coffee,
turn to my eggs, tackle them,
have a few crunchy bites
of bacon,
and one of toast.
then i take a slug
of orange juice
for good luck.
the orange juice
will sustain me
through the opening,
the eggs and toast
through the middlegame,
and by the endgame
i'll be riding on the bacon
all the way.
This list only includes those who were USCF members as of 9/30/07, were 20 or older on 9/30 (or are in an adult membership category but without a birthdate) and who have been in at least one rated event since 1/1/2006:
Highest:
- Southern California 1657.7
- Massachussetts 1641.3
- New Jersey 1625.9
- New York 1623.2
- Connecticut 1620.1
- Northern California 1617.3
Lowest:
- Hawaii 1418.3
- Idaho 1404.9
- Mississippi 1400.4
- Kentucky 1392.4
- Maine 1370.5
Stiwich 3 games out of 3
Andreopoulas 2 games out of 3
Cross, J 3 games out of 3
Fishbein, A 4 games out of 4
Duckworth 1 games out of 3
You can browse through our archived newsletters using the "next" and "previous buttons".
Want to save this newsletter for reading at a later time? Click here to learn how.
Want to be notified when the next newsletter is published? Join Our Email List →