Chess Room Newsletter #380

"I've always felt uneasy with teachers and programs presenting a line of attack to study independent of particular student needs."
~Bruce Pandolfini

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1) Mechanics' Institute Chess Club News
2) Top FIDE rated US Women
3) Frank Anderson at Munich

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Expert Dmitry Vayntrub won the 8th Annual Bob Burger Open on January 12th with a 5-0 score, defeating Class A player Naveen Jain in the last round. Jain earned his Experts rating from the event by upsetting Masters Paul Gallegos and Keith Vickers. Tying for second with four points in the 53 player event were Jain, IM Ricardo DeGuzman, NM Michael Pearson, and Experts Romulo Fuentes and James Jones.

The second round of the 78-player Winter Tuesday Night Marathon featured several upsets with Class A high school student Adam Goldberg defeating Expert Oleg Shakhnazarov and Alan Naroditsky closing in on a 2000 rating by drawing former US Champion John Grefe. It is still possible to enter the eight round event with byes for rounds 1 and 2.

Top rated Bay Area players on January 2008 FIDE rating list

1. IM Friedel 2487
2. IM Bhat 2481
3. GM Browne 2444
4. IM Pruess 2431
5. IM Donaldson 2420
6. IM Zilberstein 2411
7. IM Stein 2405
8. IM Mezentsev 2398
9. IM DeGuzman 2389
10. IM Grefe 2381

IMs David Pruess and Josh Friedel will be playing in the second section (2400-2549) of the Aeroflot Open this coming February 14-22. Good luck guys!

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The following players are top rated on the January 2008 FIDE rating list. This year, for the first time, five and not four women will play for each team in the Chess Olympiads with four regular players and one reserve.

1. Krush 2473
2. Zatonskih 2458
3. Goletiani 2387
4-5. Rohonyan and Baginskaite 2309

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The notes to the following game by Hans Kmoch come from the July 1959 (page 212) issue of Chess Review. Segundo Sin Segundo. By the above title, the Spanish speak reverently of their King Phillip the Second: "a second as no second." So the Canadians may speak of Frank Anderson who made the best score on board two in the Team Championship, emerging as King of all the seconds.The following game is one of his captivating performances. 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 a6 8.Qd2 Nbd7 9.0�0�0 b5 White's aggressive setup is difficult to meet, and there is considerable question as to Black's proper line of play. But, whatever the right answer may be, it can hardly start with the last three moves in this game. For more or less better ways of doing it, see Fischer-Larsen ( Chess Review, page 342, November, 1958). 10.g4 Ne5 Black faces great troubles in any event, but this line of play is particularly cumbersome. Better is 10...Nb6 11.g5 Nfd7 12.f4 (12.h4 Ne5; or 12.Nc6 Qc7 13.Bd4 Bxd4 14.Qxd4 Ne5) 12...Bb7. Even 10...Bb7 11.g5 Nh5 12.f4 Nb6 offers better chances than the text line. 11.g5 Nfd7 Or 11...Nh5 12.f4 with a winning advantage for White after 12...Nc4 (12...Ng4 13.Bg1 (or even 13.Be2 Nxe3 14.Qxe3) ) 13.Bxc4 Still, the text move loses by force. 12.f4 Nc4 Just as hopeless is 12...Ng4 as 13.Bg1 sets up the threat of 14.h3. 13.Bxc4 bxc4 14.Nc6! Qc7 15.Nxe7! A little executive combination of devastating consequences. Black loses only a pawn, but the very pawn which holds his position together. 15...Bb7 16.Ncd5 Bxd5 17.Nxd5 Qb7 18.Bd4 Bxd4 Or 18...0�0 19.Ne7+ Kh8 20.Bxg7+ Kxg7 21.Qxd6 Rad8 22.Nc6 and White wins. 19.Qxd4 0�0�0 20.Ne7+ Kb8 21.Qxd6+ Ka8 22.Nc6 c3 23.b3 Nb8 24.Nxd8 1�0