Chess Room Newsletter #437

Frederic Friedel

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1) Mechanics Institute Chess Club News
2) GM Kavalek column in the Washington Post threatened
3) IM Robert Hess wins Spice Cup
4) Here and There
5) Far West Open

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Eleven players have perfect scores after two rounds of the 64-player Spring Tuesday Night Marathon led by former Masters Oleg Shaknazraov and Igor Margulis. Among those in the leading group are Class B players Weston Leavens and Willie Campers who both pulled off upsets.

The following two games attracted widespread interest last night.

Tuesday Night regular Homer Oca maintains a near Class A rating despite habitually employing openings that would never pass the Surgeon General's approval. Last night was no exception. 1.f4 a6 2.Nf3 h6 3.e4 e6 4.Be2 g5 5.d4 g4 6.Ne5 h5 7.Nc3 d6 8.Nd3 Nc6 9.Be3 Bg7 10.e5 dxe5 11.dxe5 Nge7 12.Qd2 Nf5 13.0-0-0 Nxe3 14.Qxe3 Qd4 15.Qxd4?!15.Qg3 Bd7 16.h3 0-0-0 17.hxg4 hxg4 18.Bxg4 was a sterner test of Black's opening.15...Nxd4 16.Rhe1 Nxe2+ 17.Rxe2 b6 18.Nf2 f5 19.Red2?19.exf6 Bxf6 20.Nfe4 was natural.19...h4 20.Rd8+?! Ke7 21.Rxh8 Bxh8 22.g3?!22.Rd2 Bb7 23.Nd3 would have offered sterner resistance as allowing Black to grab the h-file is not to be recommended.22...Bg7 23.Nd3 Bb7 24.Ne2 Bf3 25.Rd225.Kd2 Rh8 and Black is ready to take decisive action on the h-file.25...Rh8 26.Nd4 Bb7 27.Nb4Morgan correctly realizes he needs counterplay before Black is able to realize his positional trumps.27... hxg3 28.Ndc6+As the ending after 28.hxg3 Rh1+ 29.Rd1 Rxd1+ 30.Kxd1 c5 31.Nbc6+ Bxc6 (31...Kd7? 32.Nxe6!) is not pleasant to put it mildly.28...Ke8 29.Rd8+ Kf7 30.Rxh8??30.Rd7+ Kg8 31.hxg3 had to be tried with good counterplay.30...g2! 31.Nd8+ Kg6 32.Rg8 g1Q+ 33.Kd2 Qxh2+ 34.Kc3 Qxf4 35.Rxg7+ Kh6 0-1 Oleg Shaknazarov's combativeness at the board is matched equally by his friendliness away from it. Here he goes after fellow Armenian Hovik Manveleyan whose son Hayk is a rapidly junior who recently earned his Experts title. 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Nf3 Qb6 6.Bd3 cxd4 7.cxd4 Bd7 8.Nc3 Nxd4 9.Nxd4 Qxd4 10.0-0 a6 11.Re1 11.Qe2 Ne7 12.Rd1 is more common in Sir Stuart Milner-Barry's favorite gambit. 11...Ne7 12.Be3 Qxe5 13.f4 Qf6 14.f5 e5 15.Bc5 Bc6 16.Qb3 e4 17.Bc2 Nxf5 18.Bxf8 Kxf8 19.Rad1 Ne7 20.Rf1 Qg5? 20...Qg6 was the crucial test. Does White have enough compensation for three pawns (!) ? 21.Nxe4! Qe5 22.Nc5 Kg8 23.Qf3 Rf8 24.Rfe1 Qd6 25.b4? 25.Qf2 h5 26.Ne4 Qe5 27.Ng3 Qg5 28.Qc5 looks like it makes it harder for Black to consolidate. 25...h5 26.Qc3 Ng6 27.Bf5 Rh6 28.Rd4 Nf4 28...Ne5! 29.Qg3 Re8 looks even stronger though the text is not bad. 29.Qg3 Rf6?The defender falters. It was still possible to maintain an advantage with 29...b6 30.Nb3 Re6! 31.Bxe6 fxe6 with excellent compensation for the exchange in the form of two pawns and a compact well coordinated position.30.Rxf4 g6 31.Qg5 Kh7 32.Qxh5+ Kg7 33.Qg4 Kh7 34.Re3 gxf5 35.Rh3+ Rh6 36.Qxf5+ Kg7 37.Rg4+ Rg6 38.Rxg6+ fxg6 39.Ne6+ 1-0 Mechanics' members GM Josh Freidel, IM Sam Shankland and FM Daniel Naroditsky will be traveling East in a few weeks for the Foxwoods Open. They will be joined by the latest titled player addition to the Bay Area, IM Emory Tate, who is hanging his hat in Antioch.

Last night's TNM was honored by a visit from GM Alejandro Ramirez and a guest lecture by IM Sam Shankland.

GM Josh Friedel has been seeded into the 2009 US Championship to be played in St. Louis this May. Northern California will also be partially represented by IM Irina Krush who divides her time between El Cerritto and New York City. Other California representatives include Southlanders IM Enrico Sevillano and GMs Varuzhan Akobian and Melikset Khachian.

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One hundred years ago almost every major newspaper in the United States had a chess column - not so any longer. Today they are an endangered species and extinction for the columns (and the papers!) looks like it could be right around the corner. One of the very best chess columns in the United States for close to 14 years has been GM Lubosh Kavalek's in the Washington Post. The Post recently announced that beginning March 30, it will institute widespread changes. Among those sections of the paper that will be affected is Kavalek's column which will no longer be published in the print version, but will continue to appear online at http://washingtonpost.com.

Some good may potentially come from this in the form of longer columns and the added feature of being able to replay games online but make no mistake the Washington Post needs to know their decision was felt by readers of the column. A short letter objecting to both the dropping of the printed version and support for the column in general would be greatly appreciated. It should go either e-mail: [email protected], phone: 202-3344775; or letter to Comics Feedback, The Washington Post, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071.

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17-year-old Robert Hess of New York made his second GM norm in the 2009 Spice (Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence) Invitational held March 16-22 at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas. The other junior in the field, 15-year-old Ray Robson, had a horrible start with only a draw from his last four games, but showed excellent character by finishing strongly.

1. IM Hess 7.0/10
2. GM Kacheishvili 6.0
3. GM Gareev 5.5
4. IM Robson 5.0
5. GM Dashzegve 3.5
6. IM Antal 3.0

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American players helped lead Husek Wien to victory in the 2008/2009 Austrian Bundesliga Although top-rated Gata Kamsky never saw action for Husek, Hikaru Nakamura scored 5.5/11 manning the top board for much of the season and Fabiano Caruana scored 3 from 3 in a supporting role.

Chris Bird writes:

Did you see the new requirements for FIDE arbiters at http://www.fide.com/component/content/article/1-fide-news/3883-new-regulations-for-the-titles-of-arbiter?

One of the major new developments is that now all new FIDE Arbiter applications have to attend a FIDE Arbiter seminar and pass a test with a 80% pass rate.

Also, round robins must now be at least 10 players and swiss events at least 20 players to count for a FA norm.


IM Ricardo DeGuzman won the Hans Poschman Memorial held in Fremont last weekend with a score of 3.5 from 4.


US Champion Yury Shulman is one of three players with perfect scores after 2 rounds of the 2009 Reykjavik Open. MI member Vinay Bhat has one point.

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Get ready to make your travel plans if you haven't already, the 9th Annual Far West Open is only a few weeks away. This event traditionally enjoys heavy support from Northern California and seems a good fit for a tough economy with a high return on the entry fee to prize fund ratio and cheap hotel rooms (only $27! on Thursday and Sunday)

Apr. 10-12 9th Annual RENO-FAR WEST OPEN GPP: 150 Enhanced Nevada

6SS, 40/2, 20/1, G/1/2. Sands Regency Hotel/Casino, 345 N. Arlington Ave., Reno, NV 89501. 1-866-386-7829 or (775) 348-2200. $$22,500 b/250. $$15,000 Gtd. (Prizes 1-10 in Open Section Gtd. plus 1/2 of all other prizes). Free Lecture & Analysis Clinic by GM Larry Evans! 5 Sections. Open (2000 & above) EF: $137, (1999 & below = $151) (GMs & IMs free but must enter by (3/21) or pay late fee at door). $$2,000-1,200-1000-800-600-500-400-400-300-300, (2399/below) - $1,000, (2299/below) - $1,000-500, (2199/below) - $1000-500-300-200 (If a tie for 1st then a playoff for $100 out of prize fund). Sec."A" (1800-1999) EF: $136; $$1,000-500-300-200-100-100-100-100-100-100. Sec."B" (1600-1799) EF: $135; $$900-500-300-200-100-100-100-100-100-100. Sec."C" (1400-1599) EF: $134; $$800-400-300-200-100-100-100-100-100-100. Sec."D"/under (1399-below) EF: $133; $$700-400-300-200-100-100-100-100; 1199/below $$300; Top Senior (65+) -$200; Club Champ.- $400-200. ALL: Entries must be postmarked by 3/28 or pay late fee-$11 until 4/3 (do not mail after 4/3), $22 at site. All classes have trophies 1st - 3rd. Unrated players are free entry but not eligible for cash prizes- must join USCF for 1 full year thru this tournament . 1st Unrated = trophy + 1 yr. USCF Mem. $10 discount to Seniors (65+ yrs.) & Juniors (19-under). Players may play up. Provisionally rated players may only win 1/2 of 1st place money. CCA ratings may be used. Note: pairings not changed for color unless 3 in a row or a plus 3 and if the unlikely situation occurs 3 colors in a row may be assigned. SIDE EVENTS: Thurs. (4/9) 6-7:15pm Free Lecture-GM Larry Evans; 7:30pm-GM Khachiyan Simul ($15); 7:30pm-Blitz (5 Min) tourney ($20) 80% entries = Prize Fund. Sat. (4/11) (3-4:30pm) Free Game/Position Analysis - GM Larry Evans. ALL REG: 5-9pm (4/09), 9-10am (4/10). RDS: 12-7, 10-6, 9:30-4:30. Byes available any round (if requested by Rd.1). ENT: make checks payable and send to: SANDS REGENCY (address listed above), postmarked by 3/28. $11 late fee if postmarked by 4/3. Do not mail after 4/3 or email after 4/08. $22 late fee at site. HR: (Sun-Thurs. $27!) (Fri. & Sat. $54!) + tax.1-866-386-7829 mention (Code) CHESS09 (Reserve by 3/21/09). INFO: Jerry Weikel 6578 Valley Wood Dr., Reno, NV 89523, (775) 747-1405, [email protected] Or check out our website at: www.renochess.org/fwo. To verify entry check website. WCL JGP.