Gens Una Sumus!
Gideon Stahlberg in Chess and Chessmasters
1) Mechanics Institute Chess Club News
2) US Championship
3) Here and There
4) Places to Play in the East Bay
Mechanics' member Payam Afkham-Ebrahimi has complied some interesting tournament activity statistics for the Mechanics' Chess Club over the past 14 months. Heading the most active list is John Chan who has played in 24 events followed by IM Ricardo DeGuzman and Kyle Tom with 20. This is an impressive record by Chan who played in almost every single event he was eligible to compete in. The MICC annually holds twelve one day G/45 events, five Tuesday Night Marathons, two to three amateur tournaments with rating restrictions, a senior open for players over 50, the Stamer and Capps - two large two day events with long traditions, the MI Scholastic Championship sponsored in memory of Martin Wiskemann and eleven one day scholastic quads.
MI member Daniel Naroditsky is tied for first with Vladimir Belous of Russia in Somov's Memorial, better known as the Young Stars of the World tournament, with 2.5 points from 3. This Category 5 offers IM norm possibilities. The 12-player round-robin has a time control of G/90 plus 30 second increment.
Here is the field of future stars Daniel is competing against.
- GM Shimanov, Aleksandr (Russia 1992) ELO 2519 -- Defending Champion
- IM Ipatov, Alexander (Spain 1993) ELO 2486 -- 2nd place at 2008 LeMans Open
- Belous, Vladimir (Russia 1993) ELO 2414 -- 2009 Russian U16 Champ
- IM Narayanan, Srinath, (India 1994) ELO 2381 -- 2005 World U12 Champ
- FM Stukopin, Andrey (Russia 1994) ELO 2380
- FM Chan, Yi-Ren Daniel (Singapore 1994) ELO 2375 -- played in 2008 Olympiad
- FM Dubov, Daniil (Russia 1996) ELO 2372
- FM Bukavshin, Ivan (Russia 1995) ELO 2365 -- 2006 European U12 Champ
- FM Naroditsky, Daniel (USA 1995) ELO 2335 -- 2006 World U12 Champ
- FM Kovalev, Vladislav (Belarus 1994) ELO 2320
- FM Fedoseev, Vladimir (Russia 1995) ELO 2318
- Ganichev, Alexander (Russia 1994) ELO 2154
Junior players are really shining at the Championship. Besides Friedel who always seems to play well in this event three young talents are showing massive improvement over the 2008 Championship in Stillwater. Robert Hess and Sam Shankland each have two and a half points against stellar fields while Ray Robson has knocked off two GMs and has an even score. So does 48-year-old Kansas City IM Michael Brooks who has come out of semi-retirement to hold his own so far against the best players in the United States.
Go to http://www.saintlouischessclub.org/ to follow the tournament.
Yasser says that he was lucky to score 5-0 in the Dutch league this season, that three of the games could have been draws, but look how he takes apart the experienced Belgian GM Luc Winants who is strategically lost out of the opening.
Rotterdam-HSG, May 10, 2009
Stefan Zweig's famous Schachnovelle ( The Royal Game or Chess Story ) is one of the best attempts to explain what makes chess so compelling .
'The more I now sought to form an impression of such a temperament, the more unimaginable appeared to me : a mind absorbed for a lifetime in a domain of sixty-four black and white squares.... But is it not already an insult to call chess anything so narrow as a game? Is it not also a science, an art, hovering between these categories like Muhammed's coffin between heaven and earth, a unique yoking of opposites, ancient and yet eternally new, mechanically constituted and yet an activity of the imagination alone, limited to a fixed geometric area but unlimited in its permutations, constantly evolving and yet sterile, a cogitation producing nothing, a mathematics calculating nothing, an art without an artwork, an architecture without substance and yet demonstrably more durable in its essence and actual form than all books and works, the only game that belongs to all peoples and all eras, while no one knows what god put it on earth to deaden boredom, sharpen the mind, and fortify the spirit? Where does it begin, where does it end? Any child can learn its basic rules, any amateur can try his hand at it; and yet, within the inalterable confines of a chessboard, masters unlike any others evolve, people with a talent for chess and chess alone, special geniuses whose gifts of imagination, patience and skill are just as precisely apportioned as those of mathematicians, poets, and musicians, but differently arranged and combined..."
Pages 14-15 (Chess Story, New York Review Book 2006)
- Thursday evenings, 7:30-10:30pm (formerly 7:00-10:30pm).
- Casual play.
- "We meet in a private home in the Adams Point neighborhood of Oakland, CA, near Lake Merritt. We average 8-10 players, and have been meeting since July 2002. Beginners welcome. No sore losers, no trash talkers and no whiners."
- Contact Richard 'S' Lee at <tripkit AT aol DOT com>.
- Updated 2009.01.04 (RSLee/EDeMund).
- Sunday, Monday, and Friday afternoons and evenings, 2:00-8:00pm (formerly only Sunday afternoons and evenings).
- Casual play.
- Starbucks Coffee; 1364 Park Street (between Alameda and Central Avenues); Alameda, CA 94501.
- Starbucks Coffee may be reached for directions at (510) 521-5815.
- Updated 2009.01.06 (SLingor/EDeMund).
- Friday evenings, 7:00-11:00pm.
- Rated tournament play. Time control: 30/90 followed by G/30.
- Hillside School, Room 17; 1581 Le Roy Avenue; Berkeley, CA 94708.
- Visit http://berkeleychessschool.org/pages/show/20, email Elizabeth Shaughnessy at <bcschool AT pacbell DOT net>, or telephone (510) 843-0150.
- Reconfirmed 2009.01.05 (MZebra/EDeMund).
- Thursday evenings, 7:30-10:30pm.
- Casual play; USCF rated quads coming soon.
- Starbucks Coffee; Clayton Station Shopping Center; 1536 Kirker Pass Road; Clayton, CA 94517.
- Contact John Treshler at <JTresBienXXX AT aol DOT com>.
- USCF Affiliate Club ID#A6024746. All skill levels welcome!
- Reconfirmed 2009.02.03 (JTreshler/EDeMund).
- Friday evenings, 8:00pm-12:00am (formerly 8:00-11:00pm).
- Casual play.
- Fremont Community Activity Center; 3375 Country Drive; Fremont CA 94536.
- Club web site is http://www.fremontchessclub.org/. Also, the club director Ken Zowal may be contacted at <kenneth DOT zowal AT sbcglobal DOT net> or (510) 623-9935.
- Updated 2009.01.03 (KZowal/EDeMund).
- "Just about every day", starting any time from 5:00-7:00pm, and staying until closing time. [2009.01.03] Closing times for this Starbucks Coffee location are now Sunday-Thursday: 10:00pm, Friday-Saturday: 11:00pm.
- Casual play.
- Starbucks Coffee; 5034 Mowry Avenue; Fremont, CA 94538.
- No contact person known yet, though this seems to be a group of half a dozen players. Contact Starbucks Coffee at (510) 818-9026 for directions.
- Updated 2009.01.03 (EDeMund).
- Tuesday afternoons, 3:30-5:00pm (formerly until 5:30pm).
- Casual play.
- Lakeview Library; 550 El Embarcadero; Oakland, CA 94610.
- Contact Mary Farrell at <mfarrell AT oaklandlibrary DOT org> or phone (510) 238-7344; or visit http://www.oaklandlibrary.org/Branches/lak.html and http://www.lakeviewfriends.org/ for more information.
- "We've been having 4-12 people, children and adults, on Tuesdays. Rod Sanza is the facilitator." --Mary Farrell, 2007.09.15
- Reconfirmed 2009.01.07 (MFarrell/EDeMund).
- Friday evenings, 8:00-11:00pm, excluding holiday Fridays and Fridays preceding holiday weekends.
- Casual play.
- Taqueria Hidalgo; 905 Bluebell Drive; Livermore, CA 94551. This shop is in the Springtown Chevron Service Station.
- Contact Philip Sterne at <sterne1 AT llnl DOT gov> or Keith Mehl at <kmehl AT chabotcollege DOT edu>. Also, Taqueria Hidalgo may be telephoned for directions at (925) 294-8560.
- Reconfirmed 2009.01.06 (PSterne/KMehl/EDeMund).
- Saturday afternoons, 1:00-6:00pm.
- Casual play, unrated tournament play, lessons, training, and lectures.
- Museum of African American Technology (MAAT) Science Village; 408 14th Street; Oakland, CA 94612.
- Contact Gerl Jenkins at <gerljenkins AT gmail DOT com> or telephone the Museum of African American Technology (MAAT) Science Village at (510) 893-6426.
- Reconfirmed 2009.01.05 (GJenkins/KStancil/EDeMund).
- Saturday and Sunday mornings, 11:00am-1:00pm.
- Casual play.
- Starbucks Coffee; Rheem Valley Shopping Center; 500 Moraga Road; Moraga, CA 94556.
- Contact John Harris at <piledriver UNDERSCORE 4 AT yahoo DOT com>, (925) 383-0222, or phone Starbucks Coffee for directions at (925) 377-0523.
- "We have been meeting for the last two years or so and have about 4-6 regulars and we occasionally have as many as 8." --John Harris, 2008.11.12
- Reconfirmed 2009.01.10 (JHarris/EDeMund).
- Friday evenings, 7:00-10:00pm.
- Rated tournament play, casual play.
- Newark Public Library; 6300 Civic Terrace Avenue; Newark, CA 94560.
- Contact Ted Castro at <ted0712 AT yahoo DOT com>, or telephone him at (415) 756-1204. Also, the Newark Public Library may be telephoned for directions at (510) 795-2627.
- Club is informal but very enthusiastic, averaging 30-35 persons per meeting, with numbers occasionally surging to 50.
- Reconfirmed 2009.01.05 (TCastro/EDeMund).
- Saturday afternoons, 1:00-7:00pm (formerly 1:00-6:00pm).
- Casual play.
- Cafe Sorriso; 1501 Washington Avenue; San Leandro, CA 94577.
- Contact Cafe Sorriso for directions at (510) 351-3605.
- Updated 2009.01.06 (SLingor/EDeMund).
- Friday afternoons, 1:00-4:00pm.
- Casual play.
- Dollar Clubhouse at Rossmoor Walnut Creek; 1001 Golden Rain Road; Walnut Creek, CA 94595.
- Contact Bob Nace at (925) 939-7937; also, the Dollar Clubhouse telephone number is (925) 988-7881.
- Updated 2009.01.06 (BNace/EDeMund).
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