Chess Room Newsletter #467

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1) Mechanics Institute Chess Club News
2) Americans Abroad
3) November FIDE Ratings
4) World Cup Pairings
5) The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down - a chess song?
6) CalChess Website News
7) Special Election For Two USCF Executive Board Seats

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The Mechanics' Institute finished the regular season with a draw against two-time defending USCL Champions the Dallas Destiny. Sometimes the final score doesn't give a good indicator of a match but this was fairly close all the way. Yian got the better of a theoretical Dragon battle with, Bayaraa Zorigt, one of the League's all-time great board fours, and defeated her in a nice game. Vinay was the next to finish with a solidly played draw with IM Salvijus Bercys. At this point things were looking pretty good as our rival for second in the West, Arizona, was losing to Miami. We clinched second when Daniel drew a well-played game against Keaton Kiewra. This left Patrick in the sort of odd situation of playing a game that didn't have any effect on the standings as Seattle had drawn with Chicago clinching first in the West. His opponent, IM Daniel Ludwig, finally won in an up and done struggle in which the advantage changed hands several times.

This leaves the Mechanics' facing Arizona in round one of the playoff with draw odds. The team meet in a rematch of round seven of the regular season where Arizona won 2.5-1.5 in a crazy match that could have gone either way. Arizona, which is sort of two teams in one with players drawn from Phoenix and Tucson usually playing along side those from their own city, has benefited immensely from the addition of former Dallas Destiny team member GM Alejandro Ramirez. He played a key role in leading Arizona to a second half resurgence which included wins over the two teams with the best regular season records - New Jersey and Seattle. One of the best run teams in the league with extensive sponsorship ( Chess.com from Silicon Valley among them), Arizona will be a formidable foe.

Congratulations go to the New Jersey Knockouts whose regular season record of 8-2 was the best in the league and and only half a point shy of the all-time record set by the Mechanics' 2006 team. Curiously the team with the season winner has had mixed success in the post season with New York in 2005 and Carolina, Queens and Miami in 2008 failing to make the final. San Francisco managed to get the job done in 2006 but only after defeating New York in a blitz playoff. The form charts only held in 2007 when the two teams with the best season records, Dallas and Boston met in the final with the former winning the championship in another dramatic blitz playoff.

One of the most interesting lineup decisions will be made by Seattle manager Eddie Chang who will have to decide whether to go with his 1-2 punch of GMs Nakamura and Serper with NM Howard Chen on board four or a more balanced lineup with SM Mikhailuk on board two and 2300 NM Josh Sinanan. The thought at the beginning of the season was that the two GM lineup would be rolled out as the first option, but the unavailability of Chen, who rumor has it had high school tennis matches on Wednesdays, nixed that plan. Milhailuk and Sinanan rose to the challenge for much of the season ( Slava defeating GM Shabalov) before cooling off. Sinanan, one of the USCL's premier fourth boards, lost his last two matches, but the results are a little deceiving as the loss in round 9 was in a position where he had to decline a draw because his team was losing in the match, but in doing so immediately found himself in a losing position. Against Chicago he was doing well but stumbled and lost again - but in a situation where his result was unimportant for the team as they had already clinched the top seed in the West.

It's also not entirely clear who will be board three. Going into the season SM Michael Lee was the clear choice but a combination of some difficult games and possible unavailability led to Canadian ex-pat Marcel Milat being inserted into the lineup and he has performed well. All USCL team managers would love to have to ponder the choices that manager Chang faces. One thing that no doubt help him sleep well at night is that if Seattle makes it to the championship match and it ends in 2-2 he will have Hikaru for the blitz.

Boston, having come so close two years in a row, will be hungry as will New Jersey whose 1-2 punch of GMs Joel Benjamin and Boris Gulko have been near perfect this season. The West has won the league title three seasons running but either of these teams could bring the title back East.

Those who like underdogs might consider New York and Miami. Neither team had exceptional regular season records but both have a tradition of playing well come the playoffs.All Time Series Record: (San Francisco leads 5 - 4)

Starts at 8:45 PM ET Time Control - Game in 75 with 30 second increment

Dallas Destiny			San Francisco Mechanics
IM Daniel Ludwig: 2543	1.0	0.0	GM Patrick Wolff: 2623
IM Salvijus Bercys: 2503	0.5	0.5	GM Vinay Bhat: 2504
FM Keaton Kiewra: 2365	0.5	0.5	FM Daniel Naroditsky: 2371
WFM Bayaraa Zorigt: 2270	0.0	1.0	NM Yian Liou: 2149
Avg Rating: 2421			Avg Rating: 2412
Dallas Total -------	2.0	2.0	------- San Francisco Total

1.d4 d6 2.c4 e5 3.Nf3 e4 4.Ng5 f5 5.Nc3 c6 6.f3 Be7 7.Nh3 Nf6 8.Bg5 0-0 9.Nf4 Na6 10.e3 Re8 11.Bxf6 Bxf6 12.fxe4 Bg5 13.g3 Bxf4 14.gxf4 Qh4+ 15.Kd2 fxe4 16.Qe1 Qf6 17.Qg3 c5 18.d5 Nc7 19.Qg5 Qxg5 20.fxg5 Re5 21.h4 b5 22.b3 bxc4 23.bxc4 Rb8 24.Kc2 Ba6 25.a3 Na8 26.Na4 Rf5 27.Kc3 Rf2 28.Rg1 Nc7 29.Rg4 Bc8 30.Rg2 Rf3 31.Re1 Bd7 32.Nb2 Rh3 33.Rf2 Rxh4 34.Rf4 Rh2 35.Re2 Rxe2 36.Bxe2 Re8 37.Nd1 Re5 38.Nf2 Rxg5 39.Nxe4 Re5 40.Nxd6 Rxe3+ 41.Kd2 Re7 42.Bd3 g5 43.Rf1 Ne8 44.Ne4 Rxe4 45.Bxe4 Nd6 46.Kd3 Kg7 47.Rb1 h5 48.Rb8 Bh3 49.Rd8 Bf1+ 50.Ke3 Nxc4+ 51.Kf2 Nd2 52.d6 Bb5 53.Bf5 Kf6 54.d7 Bxd7 55.Rxd7 Nc4 56.Bd3 1-01.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Be7 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.Bf4 0-0 6.e3 Nbd7 7.c5 c6 8.Bd3 b6 9.b4 a5 10.a3 Ba6 11.0-0 Qc8 12.h3 Qb7 13.Rb1 axb4 14.axb4 Bxd3 15.Qxd3 Ra3 16.Qc2 Rfa8 17.Rfc1 b5 18.Nd2 Bd8 19.Nb3 R3a6 20.f3 Nh5 21.Bh2 Bc7 22.g4 Nhf6 23.f4 g6 24.Rf1 h5 25.Qg2 hxg4 26.hxg4 Kg7 27.Qf3 Rh8 28.Bg3 Ra3 29.Kg2 Qa8 30.Bf2 1/2-1/21.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Be7 8.Qf3 Qc7 9.0-0-0 Nbd7 10.Bd3 h6 11.Bh4 g5 12.fxg5 Ne5 13.Qe2 Nfg4 14.h3 hxg5 15.Bg3 Nf6 16.Rhf1 Bd7 17.Kb1 b5 18.a3 Rb8 19.Na2 Nh5 20.Bh2 Nf4 21.Qd2 a5 22.Bxf4 gxf4 23.Qxf4 b4 24.axb4 axb4 25.Nb3 Ba4 26.Qf2 Rf8 27.Qd4 Nxd3 28.Rxd3 Bb5 29.Nxb4 Bxd3 30.Nxd3 Rc8 31.Qf2 f5 32.Qe2 fxe4 33.Rxf8+ Bxf8 34.Nf4 Qc4 35.Qxc4 Rxc4 36.Nxe6 e3 37.Ned4 Bg7 38.Ne2 Rb4 39.Ka2 Ra4+ 40.Kb1 Rb4 41.Ka2 Be5 42.c3 Rb7 43.Nbc1 Rg7 44.g4 Rh7 45.Kb3 Rxh3 46.Kc4 Rh4 47.Kd3 Rxg4 48.Kxe3 Kd7 49.Nd3 Ke6 50.Nb4 Rh4 51.Kd3 Rh3+ 52.Kc4 Rh2 53.Kd3 d5 54.Nc6 Kd6 55.Nb4 Bf6 56.Nf4 d4 57.cxd4 Rxb2 58.Nc2 Bg5 59.Ne2 Rb3+ 60.Kc4 Rb8 61.Nc3 Rc8+ 62.Kd3 Be7 63.Ne3 Kd7 64.Nc4 Rh8 65.Ke4 Bf6 66.Kd5 Ke7 67.Ne5 Rc8 68.Nb5 Rd8+ 69.Ke4 Bxe5 70.dxe5 Rb8 71.Nd4 Rb1 72.Nf5+ Kd7 73.Nd4 Re1+ 74.Kd5 Rd1 75.Ke4 Re1+ 1/2-1/21.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 0-0 8.Qd2 Nc6 9.0-0-0 d5 10.Kb1 Nxd4 11.e5 Nxf3 12.gxf3 Nh5 13.Qxd5 Qc7 14.f4 Bg4 15.Be2 Bxe2 16.Nxe2 Rfd8 17.Qc5 Qxc5 18.Bxc5 Bh6 19.Be3 Rac8 20.b3 f6 21.exf6 exf6 22.Bxa7 Rxd1+ 23.Rxd1 Re8 24.Ng3 Nxf4 25.a4 f5 26.a5 Ng2 27.b4 f4 28.Nf1 Bf8 29.c3 Bg7 30.Kc2 g5 31.b5 g4 32.Bf2 Ra8 33.Bb6 h5 34.Rd8+ Rxd8 35.Bxd8 Be5 36.b6 Ne1+ 37.Kd1 g3 38.hxg3 fxg3 39.Nxg3 Bxg3 40.Bc7 Bf2 41.Ke2 Nd3 42.Kxd3 h4 43.Ke2 Bc5 44.a6 bxa6 45.b7 Ba7 46.b8Q+ Bxb8 47.Bxb8 Kf7 48.Kf3 Ke6 49.Ke4 Kd7 50.Kd5 Kc8 51.Bh2 Kb7 52.Kc5 Ka7 53.Kc6 h3 54.Bg1+ Ka8 55.Kb6 a5 56.Kxa5 Kb7 57.Kb5 Kc7 58.Bh2+ Kb7 59.c4 Ka8 60.c5 Kb7 61.c6+ Kc8 62.Kb6 1-0

EASTERN DIVISION	W	L	Game Points	Opps Avg Rating	Opps Record
# - New Jersey	8.0	2.0	26.0/40 (65%)	2402	43.5-42.5 (51%)
@ - Boston	7.5	2.5	23.5/40 (59%)	2401	39.5-46.5 (46%)
@ - New York	5.0	5.0	22.0/40 (55%)	2405	48.5-37.5 (56%)
@ - Baltimore	4.5	5.5	18.5/40 (46%)	2400	38.5-47.5 (45%)
X - Philadelphia	4.0	6.0	17.5/40 (44%)	2398	40.5-45.5 (47%)
X - Queens	3.5	6.5	17.0/40 (43%)	2402	45.5-40.5 (53%)
X - Carolina	2.0	8.0	13.5/40 (34%)	2410	41.5-44.5 (48%)

WESTERN DIVISION	W	L	Game Points	Opps Avg Rating	Opps Record
# - Seattle	7.5	2.5	23.5/40 (59%)	2392	41.0-45.0 (48%)
@ - San Francisco	6.5	3.5	22.5/40 (56%)	2403	42.5-43.5 (49%)
@ - Arizona	6.0	4.0	22.5/40 (56%)	2399	48.5-37.5 (56%)
@ - Miami	6.0	4.0	22.0/40 (55%)	2400	43.0-43.0 (50%)
X - Chicago	4.0	6.0	18.5/40 (46%)	2405	43.5-42.5 (51%)
X - Dallas	3.5	6.5	17.0/40 (43%)	2412	44.5-41.5 (52%)
X - Tennessee	2.0	8.0	16.0/40 (40%)	2405	41.5-44.5 (48%)

Arthur Ismakov won the Mechanics' Wednesday Night Blitz last evening scoring 9 from 9! A distant second in the ten player field at 6 was Yefim Bukh with Romy Fuentes third at 5.5.

A third of the way into the nine round Winter Tuesday Night Marathon five players remain with perfect scores: NM Oleg Shakhnazarov and Experts Igor Traub (who upset top-seed NM Michael Pearson last round), Steven Gaffagan, Evan Sandberg and Igor Margulis.

This Saturday and Sunday the Mechanics' will host the 39th Carroll Capps Memorial.

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French GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave won the World Junior Championship held in Argentina on tiebreak. American GM-elect Alex Lenderman did very well tying for third. The other American in the tournament, US Junior Champion and GM-elect Ray Robson, finished in 18th, but turned a respectable 2552 performance rating that gives some indication of how tough this 84-player event was.

1-2. GMs Vachier-Lagrave (FRA 2718) and S. Zhigalko (BLR, 2646) - 10½/13,3-5. GMs Olszewski (POL, 2544) and I. Popov (RUS, 2582), IM Lenderman (USA, 2542) – 9

Jude Acers played very strongly for much of the 2009 World Senior Championship in northern Italy. Here is a nice win as Black over a Ukrainian IM.1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qd6 4. d4 Nf6 5.Nf3 a6 6. g3 b5 7. Bg2 Bb7 8. O-O e6 9. Bf4 Qb6 10. Qe2 Bd6 11. Bxd6 cxd6 12. Nd1 O-O 13. Ne3 Rc8 14. c3 Nbd7 15. a4 Be4 16. a5 Qb7 17. Nd2 Bxg2 18. Nxg2 e5 19. Ne3 g6 20. Nc2 Re8 21. Qf3 e4 22. Qf4 Re6 23. f3 Nd5 24. Qh4 e3 25. Ne4 f6 26. Rae1 Nf8 27. Nxe3 Nxe3 28. Rxe3 Kg7 29. Ree1 Qe7 30. d5 Re5 31. g4 Re8 32. Rd1 g5 33. Qf2 Ng6 34. Ng3 Nh4 35. f4 Re3 36. fxg5 fxg5 37. Nh5 Kh8 38. Qf7 Qxf7 39. Rxf7 Nf3 40. Kh1 Ne5 41. Rf5 Nxg4 42. Rdf1 Re1 43. Rf8 Rxf8 44. Rxe1 Ne5 45. Kg2 h6 46. Rf1 Rxf1 47. Kxf1 Nc4 48. b4 Ne3 49. Ke2 Nxd5 50. Kd3 Kh7 51. Kd4 Nc7 52. Nf6 Kg6 53. Nd5 Ne6 54. Ke4 h5 55. Ne3 Nc7 56. Nf5 Ne8 57. Ne7 Kf7 58. Nd5 Ke6 59. Kd4 h4 60. h3 Kd7 61. Ke4 Ke6 62. c4 bxc4 63. b5 c3 64. Nxc3 d5 65. Ke3 Ke5 66. Kf3 d4 67. b6 Nd6 68. Ne4 Nb7 69. Nxg5 Nxa5 70. Kg4 d3 71. Nf3 Ke4 72. Nd2 Ke3 73. Nb1 d2 74. Nc3 Kd3 75. Nd1 Nb7 76. Kxh4 a5 [0:1]

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1. Topalov - 2810
2. Carlsen - 2801
3. Anand - 2788
4. Aronian - 2786
5. Kramnik - 2772
6. Gashimov - 2758
7. Gelfand - 2758
8. Svidler - 2754
9. Leko - 2752
10. Morozevich - 2750
11. Radjabov - 2748
12. Ivanchuk - 2739
13. Ponomariov - 2739
14. Grischuk - 2736
15. Jakovenko - 2736
16. Wang Yue - 2734
17. Eljanov - 2729
18. Karjakin - 2723
19. Mamedyarov - 2719
20. Shirov - 2719

Top US Players

1. Nakamura 2715

2. Kamsky 2695

3. Onischuk 2672

4. Seirawan 2649

5. Akobian 2624

6. Shulman 2623

7-8. Ehlvest and Shabalov 2608

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FIDE has publishing the pairings of the 1st round of the World Cup 2009. The 10 American entrants (from a 128 player field) are highlighted below.

World Cup 2009 Round 1
Table	White			Fed		Black			Fed
1	1	GM	Gelfand, Boris	ISR	-	128	IM	Obodchuk, Andrei	RUS
2	2	GM	Gashimov, Vugar	AZE	-	127	IM	Sarwat, Walaa	EGY
3	3	GM	Svidler, Peter	RUS	-	126	IM	Hebert, Jean	CAN
4	4	GM	Morozevich, Alexander	RUS	-	125	IM	Abdel Razik, Khaled	EGY
5	5	GM	Radjabov, Teimour	AZE	-	124	IM	Ezat, Mohamed	EGY
6	6	GM	Ivanchuk, Vassily	UKR	-	123	GM	Bezgodov, Alexei	RUS
7	7	GM	Ponomariov, Ruslan	UKR	-	122	GM	El Gindy, Essam	EGY
8	8	GM	Grischuk, Alexander	RUS	-	121	IM	Sriram, Jha	IND
9	9	GM	Jakovenko, Dmitry	RUS	-	120	GM	Rizouk, Aimen	ALG
10	10	GM	Wang, Yue	CHN	-	119	GM	Kabanov, Nikolai	RUS
11	11	GM	Eljanov, Pavel	UKR	-	118	GM	Al Sayed, Mohamad N.	QAT
12	12	GM	Karjakin, Sergey	UKR	-	117	GM	Rodriguez Vila, Andres	URU
13	13	GM	Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar	AZE	-	116	GM	Kosteniuk, Alexandra	RUS
14	14	GM	Shirov, Alexei	ESP	-	115	GM	Kunte, Abhijit	IND
15	15	GM	Dominguez Perez, Leinier	CUB	-	114	GM	Smerdon, David	AUS
16	16	GM	Movsesian, Sergei	SVK	-	113	GM	Yu, Yangyi	CHN
17	17	GM	Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime	FRA	-	112	GM	Yu, Shaoteng	CHN
18	18	GM	Alekseev, Evgeny	RUS	-	111	IM	Pridorozhni, Aleksei	RUS
19	19	GM	Tomashevsky, Evgeny	RUS	-	110	GM	Ivanov, Alexander	USA
20	20	GM	Wang, Hao	CHN	-	109	GM	Friedel, Joshua E	USA
21	21	GM	Navara, David	CZE	-	108	GM	Laylo, Darwin	PHI
22	22	GM	Malakhov, Vladimir	RUS	-	107	GM	Amin, Bassem	EGY
23	23	GM	Bacrot, Etienne	FRA	-	106	GM	Nijboer, Friso	NED
24	24	GM	Rublevsky, Sergei	RUS	-	105	GM	Morovic Fernandez, Ivan	CHI
25	25	GM	Jobava, Baadur	GEO	-	104	IM	Robson, Ray	USA
26	26	GM	Motylev, Alexander	RUS	-	103	GM	Hess, Robert L	USA
27	27	GM	Kamsky, Gata	USA	-	102	GM	Antonio, Rogelio Jr	PHI
28	28	GM	Vitiugov, Nikita	RUS	-	101	GM	Gupta, Abhijeet	IND
29	29	GM	Bologan, Viktor	MDA	-	100	GM	Adly, Ahmed	EGY
30	30	GM	Naiditsch, Arkadij	GER	-	99	GM	Hou, Yifan	CHN
31	31	GM	Bu, Xiangzhi	CHN	-	98	GM	Pelletier, Yannick	SUI
32	32	GM	Polgar, Judit	HUN	-	97	GM	Pavasovic, Dusko	SLO
33	33	GM	Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter	ROU	-	96	GM	Lupulescu, Constantin	ROU
34	34	GM	Sargissian, Gabriel	ARM	-	95	GM	Li, Chao b	CHN
35	35	GM	Onischuk, Alexander	USA	-	94	GM	Flores, Diego	ARG
36	36	GM	Cheparinov, Ivan	BUL	-	93	GM	Kryvoruchko, Yuriy	UKR
37	37	GM	Efimenko, Zahar	UKR	-	92	GM	Milos, Gilberto	BRA
38	38	GM	Sutovsky, Emil	ISR	-	91	GM	Zhou, Weiqi	CHN
39	39	GM	Najer, Evgeniy	RUS	-	90	GM	Ghaem Maghami, Ehsan	IRI
40	40	GM	Tiviakov, Sergei	NED	-	89	GM	Iturrizaga, Eduardo	VEN
41	41	GM	Areshchenko, Alexander	UKR	-	88	GM	Corrales Jimenez, Fidel	CUB
42	42	GM	Sasikiran, Krishnan	IND	-	87	GM	L'Ami, Erwin	NED
43	43	GM	Smirin, Ilia	ISR	-	86	GM	Ehlvest, Jaan	USA
44	44	GM	Baklan, Vladimir	UKR	-	85	GM	Shabalov, Alexander	USA
45	45	GM	Ganguly, Surya Shekhar	IND	-	84	GM	Filippov, Anton	UZB
46	46	GM	Fier, Alexandr	BRA	-	83	GM	Khalifman, Alexander	RUS
47	47	GM	Fressinet, Laurent	FRA	-	82	GM	Sjugirov, Sanan	RUS
48	48	GM	Meier, Georg	GER	-	81	GM	Petrosian, Tigran L.	ARM
49	49	GM	Grachev, Boris	RUS	-	80	GM	Bartel, Mateusz	POL
50	50	GM	Caruana, Fabiano	ITA	-	79	GM	Bruzon Batista, Lazaro	CUB
51	51	GM	Sokolov, Ivan	NED	-	78	GM	Fedorchuk, Sergey A.	UKR
52	52	GM	Milov, Vadim	SUI	-	77	GM	Negi, Parimarjan	IND
53	53	GM	Timofeev, Artyom	RUS	-	76	GM	Leitao, Rafael	BRA
54	54	GM	Inarkiev, Ernesto	RUS	-	75	GM	Gustafsson, Jan	GER
55	55	GM	Savchenko, Boris	RUS	-	74	GM	Shulman, Yuri	USA
56	56	GM	Kobalia, Mikhail	RUS	-	73	GM	Sandipan, Chanda	IND
57	57	GM	Tkachiev, Vladislav	FRA	-	72	GM	Le, Quang Liem	VIE
58	58	GM	Tregubov, Pavel V.	RUS	-	71	GM	Akobian, Varuzhan	USA
59	59	GM	So, Wesley	PHI	-	70	GM	Guseinov, Gadir	AZE
60	60	GM	Granda Zuniga, Julio E	PER	-	69	GM	Sakaev, Konstantin	RUS
61	61	GM	Laznicka, Viktor	CZE	-	68	GM	Papaioannou, Ioannis	GRE
62	62	GM	Andreikin, Dmitry	RUS	-	67	GM	Nyback, Tomi	FIN
63	63	GM	Mamedov, Rauf	AZE	-	66	GM	Zhou, Jianchao	CHN
64	64	GM	Amonatov, Farrukh	TJK	-	65	GM	Volkov, Sergey	RUS

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IM James Rizzitano, is one of the strongest players ever to have been born in New England, and a well known chess author. He also happens to have a very good ear.

Recently, while traveling to work, he had the radio on when the song The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down by J. R.( Robbie) Robertson came on and caught his attention.

The first few lines might suggest that the song is about the Civil War and the fall of the South.

Virgil Caine is the name, and I served on the Danville train,
'Til Stoneman's cavalry came and tore up the tracks again.
In the winter of '65, We were hungry, just barely alive.
By May the tenth, Richmond had fell, it's a time I remember, oh so well,
(Chorus)

But listen longer and what do you hear but a line that could have been the mantra for many a starving chess pro.

“Now I don't mind choppin' wood, and I don't care if the money's no good."

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Tom Langland, CalChess President, writes:

As many of you have observed the CalChess website (www.calchess.org)has suffered a major malware attack. From what I can gather, the www.calchess.org web site was possibly penetrated several weeks ago, and has since been hit critically. This is not the first time the site has been attacked and penetrated, but one of several. The current location appears to provide insufficient protection against outside attacks. I also continue to receive 40-50 spam messages a day.

My attempts to remedy the situation have met with extreme resistance, and the current environment is untenable. This was a position I thought was regrettably forthcoming.

To that end, I have been working on a long-term project to improve the site, and due to the above situation, I am releasing it ahead ofmy intended schedule.

So...

I am announcing the new official Calchess website located at:

http://www.norcalchess.org

The new site is still a work in progress, and I am looking forward to feedback. I do not have any plans to maintain the "old" site.

Bay area organizer Salman Azhar writes:

I have posted the latest tournament announcements I have at http://bayareachess.com/events/norcal to serve as an unofficial reference until Tom recovers the calchess.org site. I have marked the differ