Chess Room Newsletter #432

Gert Ligterink http://www.coruschess.com/article.php?s=n187

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1) Mechanics Institute Chess Club News
2) Nigel Eddis 1936-2009
3) Kamsky-Topalov Match
4) Pruess wins Peoples Open
5) Three way tie in Stillwater

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Larry Snyder defeated tournament leader Oleg Shakhnazarov and Igor Margulis beat Christopher Bambou to jointly take the lead with 5.5 from 7 with one round remaining in the Winter Tuesday Night Marathon. The two leaders, who are half a point ahead of a large group on 5 points, will meet in the last round.

GM Vinay Bhat hasn't got his picture on the cover of Rolling Stone yet, but his mug can be found in the most recent New in Chess Yearbook (#89) where Cuban IM Jose Vilela has written a theoretical article on their battle in the Exchange Slav at Balaguer in 2008.

IM Sam Shankland, FM Daniel Naroditsy and Alan Naroditsky all scored 4 from 6 in the 2009 Amateur Team West held February 14-16 in Woodland Hills outside Los Angeles. Mark Pinto and former MI member Josh Gutman both had 3 points. John Hillery directed the 202 player event.

Clarence Lehman, who has played in many Mechanics' events over the years, writes:

John,

I happened upon this website that had a ratings predictor as it applies to aging. The study is by a top economist from Yale, and it uses chess as a cognitive example of the effects of aging, though its primary aim is to study the effects of aging on athletics - I think.

The site has a paper that explains it. All data is from the FIDE list. Anyway, it is somewhat entertaining and I thought it may have interest to the chess playing crowd as a whole.

http://fairmodel.econ.yale.edu/aging/chess.htm

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Nigel Eddis, one of the best chess photographers in the world, died on January 11, 2009, at age 72 from complications involving a heart ailment. The friendly 6' 6" Englishman's work was often featured on the covers of Chess Life magazine during the 1970s to 1990s and his subjects included practically all the top American players of this era such as Larry Christiansen, Nick DeFirmian, Max Dlugy and an intense looking Michael Rohde (April 1977 CL). The latter can be seen at IM Mark Ginsburg's website - http://nezhmet.wordpress.com/2007/09/03/the-fabulous-1970s-some-photos.

My favorite Nigel Eddis photograph was not featured on a Chess Life cover but tucked inside the September 1976 issue (page 493) where he captured Alan Benjamin offering pre game encouragement to his 12-year-old son Joel before a game in the Manhattan Chess Club International.

Eddis leaves behind his wife, Anne, a violinist with the New York Symphony Orchestra, and three children, Timothy, Christine and Tatiana.

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Veselin Topalov lead Gata Kamsky in their match 1.5 - .5.

Match Schedule

February 16 - 18.00 EET - Official opening
February 17 - 15.00 EET (8 AM EST) - Game 1
February 18 - 15.00 EET (8 AM EST) - Game 2
February 19 - Rest Day
February 20 - 15.00 EET (8 AM EST) - Game 3
February 21 - 15.00 EET (8 AM EST) - Game 4
February 22 - Rest Day
February 23 - 15.00 EET (8 AM EST) - Game 5
February 24 - 15.00 EET (8 AM EST) - Game 6
February 25 - Rest Day
February 26 - 15.00 EET (8 AM EST) - Game 7
February 27 - 15.00 EET (8 AM EST) - Game 8
February 28 - Tie breaks

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IM David Pruess won the Peoples Open in Berkeley with a score of 3.5 from 4 this past Sunday and Monday. Pruess, who drew in the first with IM Walter Shipman, defeated Michael Aigner and Julian Landaw in the final two rounds. The two NMs were joined by Arjoe Loanzon and Stephen Zierk in a four way tie for second at 2.5. Tournament organizer and director Richard Koepcke was probably hoping for more than 104 entrants before the tournament but considering it rained the entire three day holiday weekend it was probably a good turnout.

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FM Michael Langer, NM Conrad Holt and Expert Richard Ding tied for first with 5.5 from 7 in the 2009 OCF Stillwater Open held February 14-16 at the Quality Inn in Stillwater, Oklahoma to take home $435 apiece. Sharing 4th and 5th place at 5 from 7 were the husband and wife team of GM Alex Yermolinsky and WGM Camilla Baginskaite. Top-seeded Yermolinsky started with 4-0 but lost in the fifth round ( the third game of the day) to FM Langer. Yermolinsky then drew with his wife and had a half point bye while Langer was a point ahead of the field going into the last round but lost to NM Holt, a promising high school student from Kansas.

Frank Berry was the sponsor and chief tournament director, Tom Braunlich was chief organizer and Jim Berry and Dennis Glascock served as assistant tournament directors for the 51-player event which attracted participants from 7 states. Notes by Michael Langer 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Bc5 5.Be3 Qf6 6.Nb5?! Blumenfeld attack! The guy who invented it, defenestrated himself soon after. 6...Bxe3 7.fxe3 Qh4+ 8.g3 Qd8 There is a forced draw after 8...Qxe4 9.Nxc7+ Kd8 10.Nxa8 Qxh1 11.Qg4 Qg1! 12.Qxg7 Qxe3+ 13.Be2 Qg1+ 14.Bf1 Qe3+ 15.Be2. 9.Qg4 g6 I expected 9..g5 as GM Onischuk played against me in the Labor Day NAO about 5 years ago. I thought 9..g6 is a patzer move, as it weakens dark squares terribly, but Yermo clearly prepared it... Now forced sequence follows. 10.Qf4 d6 11.Bc4 Ne5 12.0–0 Bh3 ...Qe7 instead is a blunder that loses by force after N1c3. I have won dozens of tournament games like this against lower-rated players. It serves as a good test of playing strength. I would estimate that it takes about 2100 player to see that Qe7 loses. Instead 12..Qd7 was the move I expected. Bh3 came as a surprise to me and was played quickly by Yermo, clearly prepared. 13.N1c3 I looked at [13.Bxf7+ Kd7 (13...Ke7?? 14.Qh4+) 14.Rd1] line, but Black has Qe7 at the end. I felt I had to maintain the initiative at all costs, otherwise White is just busted with his bad pawn structure. Of course, I also had to calculate some lines to make sure there is no easy defense for Black, after he takes the exchange. 13...Bxf1?! Probably already a mistake. Yermo suggested 13..Qd7 after the game as an improvement. 14.Rxf1 Now it's very awkward for Black. None of the defenses seem to work. Yermo though thought he had one with: 14...Qd7? but... 15.Be6!! . and the game is over 15...Qc6 Here I thought for a while, because I couldn't decide between Nd5 and Nd4. Both moves win - 15...Qxe6 16.Nxc7+ or 15...fxe6 16.Qf8#] 16.Nd4 1-0 Also wins: 16.Nd5 fxe6 17.Qf8+ Kd7 18.Qg7+ Ne7 19.Qxe7+ Kc8.

Black resigned in lieu of: 16...Qa6 (16...Qc5 17.Bxf7+ Kd7 (17...Kd8 18.Ne6+; 17...Nxf7 18.Qxf7+ Kd8 19.Ne6+; 17...Ke7 18.Nd5+ Kd8 19.Ne6+) 18.Be6+ Ke7 19.Nd5+ Ke8 20.Qf8#) 17.Nd5 Kd8 18.Qg5+ f6 19.Rxf6 Ne7 20.Rf8+ Rxf8 21.Qxe7# 1–0