Chess Room Newsletter #571

Mechanics’ Chess Club Newsletter #571
February 15, 2012

“It would also be feasible to look for parallels between the growth of chess ideas and the general development of thought in human society, for despite its individual characteristics chess cannot be divorced from other aspects of culture. Our game mirrors the intellectual level and cultural trends of the times. However, such a theme would require a separate, comprehensive treatment of its own, beyond the scope of this work.”

—Ludek Pachman, Complete Chess Strategy (Doubleday, 1975, p. 10)

1) Mechanics’ Institute Chess Club News
The last round of the Winter Tuesday Night Marathon should provide plenty of excitement, as the leaders are all bunched together. International Elliott Winslow and National Master Russell Wong are tied for first with 6 from 7, with Experts Daniel Liu, Todd Rumph and Igor Traub half a point back.
Here are two games from Henry Gross G/45 won by International Master Ricardo DeGuzman.

The first is a battle between nine-year-old expert Rayan Taghizadeh and veteran International Master Elliott Winslow, in which experience triumphs over youth.

Sicilian Najdorf B92
Rayan Taghizadeh – Elliott Winslow
San Francisco - Henry Gross G/45 (2) 2012

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be2 e5 7.Nb3 Be7 8.Be3 Be6 9.0–0 0–0 10.Bf3 Nbd7 11.Re1 Rc8 12.Nd5 Nxd5 13.exd5 Bf5 14.Rc1 Bg6 15.c4 f5 16.g3 Bg5 17.Bxg5 Qxg5 18.h4 Qf6

w________w
[wdrdw4kd]
[dpdndw0p]
[pdw0w1bd]
[dwdP0pdw]
[wdPdwdw)]
[dNdwdB)w]
[P)wdw)wd]
[dw$Q$wIw]
w--------w

19.Be2?

White could have kept his disadvantage to a minimum with 19.Qd2.

19...e4 20.Nd4 Nc5 21.Bf1? Nd3

More to the point was 21...f4!

22.Bxd3 Qxd4 23.Be2 Qxb2 24.Rb1 Qe5

w________w
[wdrdw4kd]
[dpdwdw0p]
[pdw0wdbd]
[dwdP1pdw]
[wdPdpdw)]
[dwdwdw)w]
[PdwdB)wd]
[dRdQ$wIw]
w--------w

25.f4?? exf3 26.Bxf3 Qxg3+ 27.Bg2 f4 28.Qf3 Qxf3 29.Bxf3 Bxb1 30.Rxb1 Rxc4 31.Rxb7 Rc1+ 32.Kg2 Rc2+ 33.Kh3 Rc3 34.Kg2 Re8 35.Rb3 Rxb3 36.axb3 Re3 0–1

The second is a battle between two seasoned IMs, where DeGuzman wins what proves to be the decisive game of the tournament.

Sicilian Paulsen B43
Elliott Winslow – Ricardo de Guzman
San Francisco - Henry Gross G/45 (4) 2012

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Nc3 Qc7 6.Bd3 Nf6 7.Be3 b5 8.a3 Bb7 9.0–0 h5 10.h3 Nc6 11.Qe2 Be7 12.f4 d6 13.Rf2 h4 14.Rd1 Nxd4 15.Bxd4 e5 16.Be3 g6 17.f5 Rg8 18.fxg6 fxg6 19.Bg5 Qb6 20.Rdf1 Nh5 21.Qg4 Bxg5 22.Qxg5 Nf4 23.Kh2 Qd8 24.Qxd8+ Rxd8 25.Nd5 Bxd5 26.exd5 Ke7 27.a4 bxa4 28.Bxa6 Rb8 29.c4 Rb4 30.Bb5 g5 31.Ra1 Rb8

w________w
[w4wdwdwd]
[dwdwiwdw]
[wdw0wdwd]
[dBdP0w0w]
[p4Pdwhw0]
[dwdwdwdP]
[w)wdw$PI]
[$wdwdwdw]
w--------w

32.g3?

32.Ra3 was more resilient.

32...hxg3+ 33.Kxg3 Rb3+ 34.Kg4 Kf6 35.h4?? gxh4 36.Ra3 Rg8+ 37.Kxh4 Rg7!   0–1

w________w
[wdwdwdwd]
[dwdwdw4w]
[wdw0wiwd]
[dBdP0wdw]
[pdPdwhwI]
[$rdwdwdw]
[w)wdw$wd]
[dwdwdwdw]
w--------w

38.Rxb3 Kf5! puts an end to things.

All eight spots for the Thursday evening class with MI GM-in-Residence Nick deFirmian were filled in one day. The 8-week-long course, which runs concurrently with the Tuesday Night Marathons (8 weeks on, 2 weeks off), will be held only on Thursday this session. If there is sufficient demand, an extra class will be held another night. Those who are interested are strongly encouraged to register early. The cost for the eight-week session, which runs from 6:30 to 8:30 pm, is $240. Contact [email protected].

National Master Romy Fuentes won the Mechanics’ Chess Club Wednesday night blitz with a score of 9.5 from 12, followed by Expert Jules Jelinek with 9, and IM Elliott Winslow on 8.5.

MI GM-in-Residence Nick deFirmian took second place in the Marshall Chess Club Invitational, which ended last Sunday night. Georgia GM Mikheil Kekelidze won the event with the excellent score of 8 from 9, with deFirmian at 6 1/2.

2) Bunratty Masters

The 19th Bunratty Masters, to held February 17-19 at the Bunratty Castle Hotel, promises to be one of the strongest weekend tournaments in the world this year. The open section, with 40-odd players, has 11 Grandmasters and 10 International Masters competing, led by Michael Adams and Nigel Short. Defending champion Gawain Jones will have his hands full trying to match Peter Svidler, the only player to win this event back-to-back. Among the International Masters competing is Mechanics’ Institute Chess Director John Donaldson.

This 6-round event is sponsored by Blackthrone Transport. Go to http://www.bunrattychess.com for more information. The site will broadcast the first seven boards live each round.

3) Here and There

The 16th Metropolitan Chess FIDE Invitational, an IM norm round robin event will be held from February 22nd to 26th. The IMs are IM Andranik Matikozyan, IM Zhanibek Amanov, and IM Larry Remlinger. This event has a FIDE average of 2309.
A six-game match between Vladimir Kramnik and Levon Aronian will be held in Zurich, Switzerland from the 21st to the 28th of April 2012.
The Candidates’ Tournament will take place in London from the 23rd October to the 13th November 2012.

Ted Belanoff is no stranger to Mechanics’ players, but they won’t be seeing much of him this year, as he has decided to play a tournament in all 50 states. This has been done before by Jerry Dennison and the late Robert Feldstein, but Ted’s quest is different. He intends to play in all 50 states in a single year! It took Dennison and Feldstein much longer to accomplish their transcontinental barnstorm, in part because several states only have a handful of events, often on the same weekends.
So far Ted’s adventure has taken him to 9 states (Texas, Oregon, New Hampshire, New York, Kentucky, Louisiana, South Carolina, Michigan and Alabama). The latter two were particularly impressive, as he played in both of them on the same weekend in one-day events.
Mr. Belanoff will pick up state number 10 this weekend, when he plays in the 3rd Jerry Hanken Memorial in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Tournament organizer Frank Berry explains that Belanoff will not win the prize for having traveled the farthest to play. That honor will go to Oregon high school student and Expert rated player Alexandra Botez.