Chess Room Newsletter #441

Kevin Spraggett

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1) Mechanics Institute Chess Club News
2) Landon Brownell 1989-2009
3) Americans Excel Abroad
4) Here and There
5) Copper State International

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San Francisco high school student Evan Sandberg defeated Oleg Shakhnazarov last evening in the Spring Tuesday Night Marathon and is now in possession of first place with a score of 5.5 from 6. Veteran Expert Peter Grey knocked off NM Russell Wong and is tied with Shakhnazarov for second with 5 points. Two rounds remain for the 65-player field

Larry Snyder and Steven Krasnov have had a friendly rivalry going on for many years. Though they haven't played each other as much as McDonnell and Bourdonnais did, this was still game 25 for them. 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.c4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.c5 Be7 8.Bg5 0–0 9.Rc1 Re8?! The immediate 9...Ne4 was more to the point though Krasnov does emerge with a playable game. 10.Bb5 Bd7 11.0–0 Qa5 12.a3 Ne4 13.Bxc6 Bxc6 14.Bxe7 Rxe7 15.Re1 Rd8 16.Ne5 Qc7 17.f3 Nxc3 18.Rxc3 f6 19.Ng4 e5 20.Rce3 Rde8 21.Qe2 h5 22.Nf2 a6 23.b4 Bb5 24.Qd2 Bc4 25.Nd1 exd4? This doesn't look right as Black's center is his strength in the position and giving up the d4 square yields nothing positive . Instead of the text 25...Qd7 26.Nb2 Bb5 was indicated with roughly equal play. 26.Qxd4 a5 27.Rxe7 Rxe7 28.Rxe7 Qxe7 29.Ne3 axb4 30.axb4 Kf8 31.Kf2 Qe6 32.Qf4! White correctly heads for a wining good Knight versus bad Bishop ending. 32... Ba6 33.Qf5 Qxf5 34.Nxf5 Kf7 35.b5 Bxb5 36.Nd6+ Ke6 37.Nxb5 Kd7 38.Nd4 1–0 The USCF rating system is pretty accurate but every so often a result occurs that shows the form charts don't always hold true. This past Saturday at the start of the 9th Annual Imre Konig Memorial, Ramin Farzaneh-Far was not even in the top ten at 1921 but that did not prevent him from defeating two Experts and a Master on the way to a 5-0 first place finish and a newly earned Experts rating of 2003. Farzaneh-Far was helped by 11-year-old Yian Liou who knocked off IM Ricardo DeGuzman and is now rated solidly over 2100. Liou, DeGuzman, NM Paul Gallegos and Experts David Rupel, Gary Huang and Dmitry Vayntraub shared second with 4 points in the 51-player competition. MI member FM Daniel Naroditsky will play in the Somovs Memorial in Russia from May 8-21. Top seed in the 12 player event for strong young juniors, is 16-year-old Alexander Shimanov of St. Petersburg. You can follow Daniel's play at http://www.somovs-memorial.ru .

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We were saddened to read the following on NM Michael Aigner's website at http://fpawn.blogspot.com. Go to http://uschess.org to read FM Robby Adamson's tribute.

NM Landon Brownell passed away this morning after a car accident.: The crash occurred in Bakersfield, California at about midnight on Monday night. He was 19 years old, spending much of his life in Corvallis, Oregon and Tucson, Arizona. Landon's claim to fame came in 2006 when he won the National High School Championship. He was a key member of the Catalina Foothills High School (Tucson) dynasty coached by FM Robby Adamson. His final chess ratings were 2255 USCF and 2283 FIDE. He was also a 7 dan at go.

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The Pricewaterhouse Coopers Toronto Open took place last weekend and MI member GM Josh Friedel tied for first with GM Bator Sambuev in the 80 player top section.

Final Standings:
1-2. GMs Sambuev and Friedel –5/5;
3. FM Milicevic - 4½;
4-9. GM Nakamura, GM Perelshteyn,IM Samsonkin, IM Gerzhoy, IMNortisyn, and Martchenko – 4, etc.

Here is a key win by Josh that was likely influenced by time pressure. 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Bc4 Qa5 8.0–0 0–0 9.Bb3 d6 10.h3 Bd7 11.f4 Nxd4 12.Bxd4 Bc6 13.Qd3 Rad8 14.Rad1 e6 This move leads to less analyzed positions than the traditional 14...Nd7 15.f5 gxf5 16.Bxf6 Bxf6 17.exf5 d5 18.Kh1 Kh8 19.fxe6 fxe6 20.Rfe1 Rfe8 21.Ne2 e5 The position seems delicately balanced between White's piece pressure and Black's center. 22.Qf5 Bg7 23.Nc3 Qc5 24.Qh5 Rg8 25.Re2 Bf6 26.Qf3 Rgf8 27.Nxd5 Bg7 28.Qe3 Qxe3 29.Rxe3 Rf2 Perelshteyn likely also considered 29...e4 30.c3 (30.Rxe4 Bxb2) 30...Rf2 but the text is also fine. 30.Kg1 Rdf8 31.Re4 Bxd5?! This decision to simplify looks like it might have been influenced by time pressure. 32.Rxd5 Rf1+ 33.Kh2 Bh6 34.h4 Worth considering was 34.Rdxe5 Bf4+ 35.Rxf4 R8xf4 36.Re8+ (36.Re7 Rb4) 36...Rf8 37.Re7 b6 38.Rxa7 Rb1 39.Rb7 with three pawns for the exchange though after 39...Rf6 Black's position is not easy to crack. 34...Bf4+ 35.g3 Rf2+ 35...Bxg3+ 36.Kxg3 Rg8+ was a draw by perpetual. 36.Kh3 1–0 Black must have lost on time as 36...Rf3 was available.

Gata Kamsky, the only American representative in the FIDE Grand Prix, has an even score after six rounds in Nalchik, Russia.

1. Aronian – 4;
2-5. Alekseev, Grischuk, Leko andSvidler - 3½;
6-11. Akopian, Bacrot, Karjakin,Kamsky, Kasimdzhanov andMamedyarov – 3;
12. Gelfand - 2½;
13. Eljanov - 2;
14. Ivanchuk - 1½.

Amsterdam based former American Candidate Yasser Seirawan is retired from tournament play but still plays from time to time in the Dutch Team Championship for his club HSG which has again taken first place. The following victory against a young Dutch IM was important in determining the round eight winner of the match between HSG ( 5.5 ) and Hotel.nl (4.5). 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e3 g6 5.Nf3 Bg7 6.Bd3 0–0 7.0–0 Bg4 8.h3 Bxf3 9.Qxf3 e6 10.Rd1 Nbd7 11.Bf1 Re8 12.Qe2 a6 13.Qc2 Qe7 14.Bd2 b5 15.b3 Rec8 16.Rac1 e5 17.dxe5 Nxe5 18.cxd5 cxd5 19.Qb1 Nc6 20.Be1 Qe5 21.Qd3 Ne7 22.Ne2 Ne4 23.Nd4 Nc5 24.Qd2 Ne6 25.Nxe6 Qxe6 26.a4 Rxc1 27.Rxc1 d4 28.axb5 axb5 29.exd4 Qxb3 30.Qb4 Qxb4 31.Bxb4 Nf5?! 31...Nd5 looks more solid. 32.d5 Rd8? Better 32...Be5 with the idea 33.Bxb5 Rb8. Now Black suffers backrank problems. 33.Bxb5 Bb2 Now 33...Rb8 is met by 34.Re1. 34.Rb1 Rb8 35.Rxb2 Rxb5 36.Bc3 Rxb2 37.Bxb2 Kf8 38.Kf1 Ke7 39.Ba3+ Kf6? 39...Kd7 had to be tried. Now the Knight doesn't have a good square. 40.g4 Nh4 As 40...Nh6 41.g5+ forces a winning King and Pawn ending. 41.f4 Nf3 42.Bb4 g5 43.Kf2 Nh4 44.f5 1–0 GM Alexander Onischuk of Baltimore has followed up his victory in the Moscow Open with yet another important success in the Mexican Open.

Final Standings:
1-3. GMs Onischuk (USA, 2684),Cordova (PER, 2543) and Leon Hoyos(MEX, 2527) - 7½ out of 9
4-10. GM Borges Mateos (CUB, 2459),GM De La Paz (CUB, 2491), FM Sanchez Enriquez (MEX, 2282), IM Trent (ENG, 2466), GM Hernandez Guerrero (MEX, 2543), GM Perez Rodriguez (CUB, 2521) and IM Escobar Forero (COL, 2495) - 7, etc

If you go to http://main.uschess.org/content/view/9318/525/ you will fine two interesting technical endgames annotated by GN Onischuk.

Below is another nice win. 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0–0 6.Be2 e5 7.Be3 c6 8.0–0 exd4 9.Bxd4 Re8 10.Nd2 Nbd7 11.Re1 Nc5 12.Bf1 Ng4 13.Nf3 Ne5 14.Nxe5 Bxe5 15.Qd2 Qf6 16.Rad1 a5 17.g3 Bg4 18.f4 Bxd4+ 19.Qxd4 Qxd4+ 20.Rxd4 f5 21.Rxd6 fxe4 22.Kf2 Rad8 23.Rxd8 Rxd8 24.Ke3 Bf3 25.Rc1 Kf7 26.Rc2 Kf6 27.Rd2 Rxd2 28.Kxd2 g5 29.Ke3 h5 30.fxg5+ Kxg5 31.Bh3 Kf6 32.Kd4 Nd3 33.c5 Ke7 34.Bc8 Kd8 35.Bxb7 Kc7 36.Ba6 Nb4 37.Bf1 Nc2+ 38.Ke5 Ne3 39.Bh3 Nc4+ 40.Kd4 Nxb2 41.Nxe4 Nd1 42.Bf5 Kd8 43.Nc3 Nf2 44.Ke3 Bg4 45.Be4 Nxe4 46.Kxe4 Ke7 47.Ke5 Be6 48.a3 Bb3 49.Ne2 Be6 50.Nd4 Bd7 51.Nb3 a4 52.Nd4 Be8 53.Nf5+ Kd7 54.Kf6 1–0

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Chess activity in the Bay Area is definitely picking up with tournaments every weekend into mid June starting with the Frank Doyle in Santa Rosa this Saturday and Sunday. Blitz players have back to back events starting with the 1st MAAT Science Village Chess Club Tournament on May 2nd from 11am to 3pm. The 7 round event with a $5 entry fee and a guaranteed first prize of $100 will be held at the Frank Ogawa Plaza in downtown Oakland. Call ((510) 290-7907) or e-mail ([email protected]) Marvin Willis for more information. Players are requested to bring their own clocks and sets.

May 10 the Mechanics' Institute will be hosting the 3rd Annual Ray Schutt Memorial Blitz from 2-4 pm with over $600 in guaranteed prizes and a $10 EF. Refreshments will be served starting at 1pm. All participants will receive a book from Ray's library.

Salar Jahedi writes that players are showing up regularly at the University of California's International House Cafe (top of Bancroft at Piedmont) in Berkeley every evening after 5pm. Thursday to Saturday nights are the most crowded --averaging about 10-12 people per night.

GM Lubos Kavalek's online column with the Washington Post is getting better and better with more room for annotations for the featured game each week. Go to http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/20/AR2009042000931.html to see detailed comments to Nakamura-Hess from Foxwoods.

NM John Blackstone contributes the following snippet from Daily Alta California dated Feb 6, 1859. The column "Chess Gossip of the week" reports that a club took possession of it's new club rooms on the Montgomery Block. No, it was not the Mechanics' Institute but the Cosmopolitan Chess Club. Go to http://cbsrfs.ucr.edu/batches/batch_ca_20070517_seneca/sn84031933/00000000057/1859020601/0148.pdf for the entire column.

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The Copper State International Presents

WHEN & WHERE:
May 29th - June 3rd, 2009.
Abstrax, Inc. 2222 S Dobson Rd, Mesa, AZ 85202-6481.
Sky Harbor International is the recommended Airport. Transportation is available if the organizer is notified in advance.
Lodging will be at the Dobson Ranch Inn. The rate is only $69 a night. Full continental breakfast every morning isincluded in the hotel rate. Call at 800-528-1356 to reserve your room. Use the Group Name: ACE Chess or Group Number: 803964.

TOURNAMENT DETAILS:
One section: Must be 2200 FIDE rated to participate. Special exceptions may be made for youth players who meetcertain requirements, and these decisions will be left to the Tournament Organizer’s discretion. NO PLAYER lower than2000 FIDE will be permitted to play. GM and IM Norms will be possible.
The January 2009 FIDE Rating List will be used when determining Entry Fee pricing arrangements.
10 Rounds; Time Control: 90-minutes with a 30 second increment throughout.
May 29th-Rd 1: 10am and Rd 2: 4pm; May 30th-Rd 3: 4pm; May 31st-Rd 4: 10am and Rd 5: 4pm; June 1st-Rd 6: 10amand Rd 7: 4pm; June 2nd-Rd 8: 10am and Rd 9: 4pm; June 3rd-Rd 10: 1pm.
All players of foreign federation will receive $50 off the entry price listed for their rating class.
All registrations, whether online or by mail, are considered to be final. All players of foreign federation will receive $50off the entry price listed for their rating class. NO reimbursements will be given.

ENTRY FEE:
Grand Masters = FREE (See above note about incentives to first GMs to commit); International Masters rated over 2450FIDE = FREE; Rated Under 2450 FIDE = $150 by May 1st and $175 after May 1st; Rated Under 2350 FIDE = $225 byMay 1st and $250 after May 1st; Rated Under 2250 FIDE = $300 by May 1st and $325 after May 1st.

AWARDS:
1st place: $2,000.00 – 2nd place: $1,500.00 – 3rd place $1,000. Top U2500 FIDE: $500.00; Top U2400 FIDE: $500.00;Top U2300 FIDE $500.00. Best Game Prize: $200.00; Brilliancy Prize: $200.00.
All Prizes are unconditionally guaranteed!!

SPECIAL NOTES:
May 30th will be an "Open House" chess festival day. From 10am until 2pm, the doors will be open to welcome allspectators who wish to view a lecture by Grand Master Alejandro Ramirez, or watch the 20-player Simultaneous by GMTimur Gareev in action. Although registration/donation is required to reserve a spot in the Simul, the lecture is open toeveryone (or at least as many people that we can fit through the door)! May 30th will also be a chance for a "meet andgreet" between our sponsors, spectators and the International and Grand Masters. Food, fun and chess! Please stop byand then hang around to catch Round 3 at 4pm.

SIMUL EXHIBITION:
MAKE A DONATION OF $25 (all proceeds will go toward covering the expenses of this great event, with specialemphasis toward the festivities taking place on May 30th!) AND RESERVE YOUR SPOT IN THE EXCLUSIVE 20PLAYER SIMULTANEOUS EXHIBITION BY GM TIMUR GAREEV!!!
This tournament is conveniently scheduled between the Chicago Open and National Open in Las Vegas. Flights fromPhoenix to Las Vegas are hourly on a daily basis, and Phoenix is a 5-6 hour drive from Las Vegas. Players making asummer chess schedule would have a great time making an extra stop in Phoenix.

ACE CHESS TOURNAMENT NOTE:
For more information about this event or to be a sponsor and make a donation please contact Daniel Rensch at[email protected] or 602-618-2045.