Chess Room Newsletter #622

Mechanics’ Institute Chess Club Newsletter #622
April 3, 2013

“If you could keep a man playing chess, it would be easy to cure him of cigarettes, alcoholic beverages, or even his meals. No shouting, no brass bands, no speech-making, just play.”

—San Quentin prisoner Peter Claudianos on why he decided to learn to play chess in prison, in an article which was republished in the Oregonian of December 17, 1916.

1) Mechanics’ Institute Chess Club News

The third round of the Spring Tuesday Night Marathon had more upsets in it than any TNM going back almost 15 years. 18 of the 38 boards saw the lower-rated player either win or draw. This combative play has led to only four of the 86 competitors having perfect scores after three rounds.

Surprisingly none of the four are among the seven masters competing. While it is not a surprise to see Experts Oleg Shakhnazarov, Tim Kokesh and Farid Mark Watson at 3-0 it is a bit of a shocker to see B-player Carl Woebcke among the early leaders. A frequent participant in TMNs over the years, Carl has been rated as high as 1883 in recent years but only a few events ago found himself near 1700. Since then he almost won the B section in the Larry Evans Memorial in Reno and has beaten a Master and Expert in the Spring TNM. Well done, Carl.

It is still possible to enter the 8-round Spring TNM with half-point byes for the first three rounds.

Jules Jelinek, Weekly Wednesday Night Blitz Coordinator, writes:

Hello everyone,
 
Tell your friends that non-members can now play the Wednesday Night Blitz!
 
It is time for the weekly blitz tournament at Mechanics’ Institute Chess Club. As always, the last entry is accepted at 6:40 pm, with sign-up beginning at 6:20 pm. Entry is $7 with clock; $8 without clock. Non-member entry is $9 with clock; $10 without clock. Prizes are 50%, 30%, 20% of base entry fees ($7 per player) collected . Time control preferably is 3 minutes, increment 2 seconds; otherwise 5 minutes, no increment.
 
Last week we had 8 players in the Blitz. The winners were
 
1st - Carlos D’Avila
2nd - Jules Jelinek
3rd - Joe Urquhart
 
2) Daniel Naroditsky makes his second GM norm

17-year-old MI member Daniel Naroditsky turned in one of the best performances of his career by tying for first in the Philadelphia Open last weekend with Cuban GM Fidel Corrales Jimenez. The Foster City IM scored an undefeated 7 from 9, good for his second GM norm and $4658 in prize money.

Daniel’s result included wins over GM Robin Van Kampen (2592 FIDE) and Boris Kreiman as well as draws with GMs Zviad Izoria and Alex Fishbein. He needs one more norm and a few rating points to push him over 2500 for the GM title.

3) Z. Amanov wins IM norm event organized by Metropolitan Chess

Metropolitan Chess, Inc. hosted a International master norm round robin tournament from March 20th to 24th, 2013. The tournament was sponsored by California Market Center, Fashion Business, Inc, Chess.com, MonRoi, LawyerFy, the Law Offices of Steinfl & Bruno, EventForte Inc, and Betty Bottom Showroom.

This tournament was the 25th in its series and was held in Suite C855 of the California Market Center on 110 East 9th Street, Los Angeles 90079. The tournament was organized by Ankit Gupta, FA, IO. The participants included: IM Norik Kalantarian (ARM), IM Zhanibek Amanov (KAZ), IM Andranik Matikozyan (ARM), FM Harutyun Akopyan (USA), FM Mark Duckworth (USA), and Kesav Viswanadha (USA)

The tournament was a 6-player double round-robin (all play all), with rounds scheduled as follows – 20th: 1:00 PM & 7:00 PM, 21st: 11:00 AM & 5:00 PM, 22nd: 11:00 AM & 5:00 PM, 23rd: 11:00 AM & 5:00 PM, 24th: 10:00 AM & 4:00 PM

While there were no IM norms, Kesav Viswanadha had an impressive performance with norm chances until the last day. IM Zhanibek Amanov took clear first in the tournament.

Final scores: 1. IM Amanov 6.5/10; 2.IM Matikozian 6; 3. NM Viswanadha 5; 4-5. IM Kalantarian and Akopyan 4.5; 6. Duckworth 3.5

Keep updated with events by Metropolitan Chess, Inc, by visiting www.metrochessla.com.

Best regards,
NM Ankit Gupta

4)Lecture Series with GM Yasser Seirawan at the World Chess Hall of Fame

Tuesday, April 9th, 7-8p.m.
Doors open at 6:30p.m.

Please join the World Chess Hall of Fame for the first installment of its free lecture series, featuring Yasser Seirawan, Rotating Grandmaster in Residence at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis. In his first lecture, GM Seirawan will discuss chess history, from its roots in India almost 1500 years ago to the advent of modern technology and its impact on today’s players.

GM Seirawan was born in Syria to an English mother and Syrian father. As a child, he moved with his family to Seattle, where he started playing chess at age 12. He became Washington junior champion at 13, World Junior Chess Champion at 19, and won the U.S. Chess Championships four times, in 1981, 1986, 1989, and 2000. Seirawan is also a prolific chess writer, having authored or co-authored nine books and served as chief editor of Inside Chess magazine for twelve years. In 2007, he unveiled a variant known as “Seirawan Chess,” which he promotes through exhibitions and demonstrations worldwide.

 
RSVP to Lauren Stewart at (314) 367-9243 ext 106 or
[email protected]