Gens Una Sumus!
Mechanics’ Institute Chess Club Newsletter #676
July 18, 2014
You cannot compare chess with anything. A lot of things can be compared with chess, but chess is just chess.
—Jan Hein Donner (1959)
The Newsletter will take its customary break between Tuesday Night Marathons, resuming on August 8 with a special report from the Tromso Olympiad.
1) Mechanics’ Institute Chess Club News
FIDE Master Andy Lee repeated as the winner of the Tuesday Night Marathon, taking the 91-player summer edition last night with a score of 7–1. The Berkeley resident’s big wins were over IM Elliott Winslow and FM Frank Thornally. His only draw was with top-seed Hayk Manvelyan in round 7, the other lost half point coming from a round-two bye.
National Master Romy Fuentes upset Manvelyan in the last round to join Winslow, who defeated NM Keith Vickers, in a tie for second at 6½-1½.
The TNM takes a break for several weeks resuming on August 5, when the Jay Whitehead Tuesday Night Marathon begins. This event will be a nine-rounder, and offers good value, with an entry fee of $50 for a tournament which is both FIDE- and USCF-rated.
From round 8 of the SummerTNM Tuesday Night Marathon:
 |  |
| Black to move (Klinetobe–Niemann after 27 b3) | White to move (Matz–Nagle after 21...Re8) |
 |  |
| White to move (Reyes–Afkham-Ebrahimi after 22...bxa4) | White to move (Reyes–Afkham-Ebrahimi after 33...Rb8) |
| For the solutions, see the game scores for round 8. |
The 14th Charles Bagby Memorial G/45, held on July 12, was particularly strong, with one Grandmaster, one International Master and several National Masters competing. There were no surprises as the two top seeds, Grandmaster Enrico Sevillano and International Ricardo DeGuzman, topped the 40-player field, drawing in the last round to score 4½ from 5.
Sicilian Alapin B22
Enrico Sevillano–Jerome Sun
14th Charles Bagby Memorial (4) 2014
1.e4 c5 2.c3
This has been Sevillano’s faithful weapon against the Sicilian for over thirty years.
2…d5 3.exd5 Qxd5 4.d4 cxd4
4...Nf6 5.Nf3 Bg4 6.Be2 e6 7.h3 Bh5 8.0–0 Nc6 9.Be3 cxd4 10.Nxd4 Bxe2 11.Qxe2 Nxd4 12.Bxd4 Be7 13.Rd1 Qf5 14.Nd2 0–0 15.Nf3 Qh5 16.Bxf6 Bxf6 17.Rd7 gave White a small but enduring advantage, which he duly converted into a full point in Sevillano–Fan, played two rounds earlier.
5.cxd4 Nc6 6.Nf3
6.Nc3 Qxd4 7.Be3 Qxd1+ 8.Rxd1 gives White an improved version of the Hennig-Schara Gambit: 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 c5 4.cxd5 cxd4.
6...Bg4 7.Be2
7.Nc3 Bxf3 8.gxf3 Qxd4 9.Qxd4 Nxd4 10.Nb5 e5 is a sharp and critical line last tested in Stevic–Topalov, Khanty Mansisyk (ol) 2010.
7...e6 8.Nc3 Bb4
8...Qa5 and 8…Qd6 are two popular alternatives.
9.0–0 Bxc3?!
9...Qa5, intending ...Nge7, has been played many times by GM Vladimir Georgiev. The text, strengthening White’s center and giving him the two bishops, does not have a good reputation.
10.bxc3 Nf6?
10...Nge7 was necessary.
11.Ba3
Black is already in big trouble, if not lost already.
11...Qa5 12.Qb3 Qb6 13.Qa4 Nd5 14.Rfc1 Nde7 15.Rab1 Qc7 16.d5! Bxf3 17.d6 Qa5 18.Qxa5 Nxa5 19.Bxf3 Nf5 20.g4 Nh6 21.Bxb7 Rd8 22.Bf3 f6 23.c4 Nf7 24.Bb4 1–0
Daniel Naroditsky finished his recent tour of Europe last week, tying for eighth in a strong Swiss (32 GMs among 150 players competing) held in Benasque, Spain, with a score of 7–2. The 18-year-old Grandmaster picked up 3 FIDE rating points, which, coupled with his 7-point gain in a previous event in Montcada, will raise him to 2587 FIDE, an impressive gain of over 100 points the past year. Daniel’s next event will be the Riga University Open in August, in which Sam Shankland will also be competing.
Sam is currently playing in the Biel Open, where he is off to a good start with 2½ from 3. This will be his last event before the Tromso Olympiad, which starts August 2. Sam will be playing for the U.S. team alongside Hikaru Nakamura and Gata Kamsky.
The third Mechanics’ member who is making the European tour this summer is 16-year-old Yian Liou of Alamo. Yian picked up his last International Master norm and brought his FIDE rating over 2400 in previous events, reported in recent Newsletters, but shows no signs of resting on his laurels. He tied for second in a strong blitz tournament in northern Serbia last week with noted Grandmaster Suat Atalik. He is currently competing in the Championship of Vojvodina where he has 3½ from 5 with four rounds remaining.
2) Games of Neil Falconer 1954 League Matches (Part Two)
Ruy Lopez C78
Neil Falconer–Robert Burger
Castle-U.C. Berkeley February 27, 1954
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 b5 6.Bb3 d6 7.Ng5 d5 8.exd5 Nd4 9.Qe1 Nxb3 10.Qxe5+ Be7 11.axb3 0–0 12.Nf3 Nxd5 13.d4 Bb7 14.c3 Re8 15.Re1 Qd7 16.Be3 Nb4 17.cxb4 Bxb4 18.Qg3 Bxf3 19.Rc1 Bc6 20.Nc3 Bd6 21.Bf4 Bxf4 22.Qxf4 b4 23.d5 Bb7 24.Qxb4 Bxd5 25.Nxd5 Qxd5 26.Rxc7 Re4 27.Qc3 ½–½
Ruy Lopez C63
Neil Falconer–Dmitry Poliakoff
Castle vs. Russians Chess Club, March 13, 1954
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 f5 4.d3 d6 5.Nc3 Nf6 6.0–0 Be7 7.Re1 a6 8.Bxc6+ bxc6 9.d4 fxe4 10.dxe5 dxe5 11.Qxd8+ Bxd8 12.Nxe5 0–0 13.Nxc6 Bf5 14.Bf4 Nh5 15.Be5 Bf6 16.Bxf6 Nxf6 17.Ne7+ 1–0
The match between the East Bay and San Francisco was an annual event for many years. Here Neil faces a young William Addison on board three (Val Zemitis drew on board one for the East Bay, against James Schmitt).
Sicilian Dragon B70
Neil Falconer–William Addison
East Bay-San Francisco, May 15, 1954
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be2 Bg7 7.0–0 Nc6 8.Bf3 Bd7 9.Nb3 0–0 10.Nd5 Ne5 11.Re1 Re8 12.a4 Rc8 13.c3 Rc4 14.Nxf6+ Bxf6 15.Nd2 Nxf3+ 16.gxf3 Rc5 17.Nf1 Bc6 18.Be3 Rh5 19.Ng3 Rh4 20.Qd2 Qd7 21.Bg5 Bxg5 22.Qxg5 Qh3 23.Nf1 d5 24.Qg3 dxe4 25.Qxh3 Rxh3 26.fxe4 Rd3 27.Rac1 a6 28.b3 b5 29.axb5 axb5 30.e5 Ra8 31.Re3 Rxe3 32.Nxe3 Ra3 33.b4 Rb3 34.f4 Be4 35.Nd1 Bf3 36.Ne3 Be4 37.Nd1 Ra3 38.Kf2 Ra2+ 39.Ke3 Bd5 40.Kd4 Bf3 41.Kc5 Rxh2 42.Ne3 Rh4 43.Kxb5 Rxf4 44.c4 Re4 45.Rc3 Rxe5+ 46.c5 h5 47.Kb6 Re6+ 48.Kc7 h4 49.b5 h3 50.Nf1 Bg2 51.Nh2 Re2 52.c6 Bxc6 53.Kxc6 Rxh2 54.b6 Kg7 55.b7 Rb2 56.Rxh3 f5 57.Rc3 Kf6 58.Rc5 Rxb7 59.Kxb7 g5
The Nalimov tablebase assesses this position (rook versus three connected passed pawns) as drawn with best play.
60.Kc6 e6 61.Kb5 g4 62.Kc4 g3 63.Kd3 e5 64.Ke3 f4+ 65.Ke4 Kg5??
65...Kg6 was the only move to draw.
66.Rxe5+ Kg4 67.Re8 Kh3 68.Kf3 Kh2 69.Re1 1–0
3) Here and There
National Master Iryna Zenyuk, who recently moved to El Cerrito, was recently interviewed at ChipChick.com, the women’s lifestyle and technology site. Go to http://www.chipchick.com/2014/05/iryna-zenyuk.html.
John Blackstone sends in the following games from over one hundred years ago. E. B. Adams was a prominent figure in early San Diego chess. Here he is playing blindfold.
Kings Gambit C36
E. B. Adams–Dr. Peters
San Diego (blindfold simul) 1914
Played at the Cabrillo Club
1.e4 e5 2.f4 d5 3.Nf3 exf4 4.e5 Bg4 5.d4 Nc6 6.c3 Be7 7.Bxf4 Nh6 8.Bb5 Nf5 9.Bxc6+ bxc6 10.0-0 Qd7 11.Nbd2 c5 12.Kh1 c4 13.Qe1 0-0 14.Bg3 Nxg3+ 15.Qxg3 c5 16.h3 Be6 17.Nh4 cxd4 18.cxd4 Rab8 19.Rab1 Qa4 20.Nf5 Bxf5 21.Rxf5 Qxa2 22.Rbf1 Qxb2 23.Nf3 h6 24.Rf6 Bxf6 25.exf6 g6 26.Qh4 h5 27.Qg5 Kh7 28.Nh4 Qe2 29.Rf3 Rb1+ 30.Kh2 Qe1 31.Nf5 Qc1 32.Rf4 Qg1+ 33.Kg3 Rb3+ 34.Kh4 Qe1+ 35.g3 1-0
Source: Schenectady Gazette January 15, 1915 (page 12)
Andy Ansel rediscovered the following gem, played by Dr. Anthony Saidy.
King’s Indian Fianchetto E66
A. Saidy–J. Grefe
Los Angeles (Continental op) 1970
1.d4 d6 2.Nf3 g6 3.c4 Bg7 4.Nc3 Nf6 5.g3 0–0 6.Bg2 c5 7.0–0 Nc6 8.d5 Na5 9.Nd2 e5 10.a3 b6 11.b4 Nb7 12.Bb2 Ng4 13.h3 Nh6 14.e3 f5 15.f4 Nf7 16.Qb3 h6 17.Rae1 g5 18.Kh2 Nh8 19.Ne2 Ng6 20.e4 gxf4 21.gxf4 Nh4 22.Rg1 Rf7 23.Ng3 Nxg2 24.Rxg2 Qh4 25.Nf3 Qxf4 26.Bc1 fxe4 27.Bxf4 exf3 28.Qxf3 Rxf4 29.Qxf4. 1–0
Source: Chess Life & Review Jan 1971, page 59
4) Blazo Sredanovic
Last fall the Mechanics’ Institute Chess Club had the honor of a visit from Blazo Sredanovic. The champion of Montenegro in 1957, Sredanovic came to the Bay Area in the mid-1960s and immediately made a big impact. He won the Monterey Open in 1964 with a perfect score, with future GM Duncan Suttles immediately behind him on 4½–½. Nine players finished on 4 points, including the well-known Southern California Master Tibor Weinberger. Among the class prize winners of this, held fifty years ago, were such familiar names as Frank Thornally (first class A), Alan Benson (first class C) and David Blohm (top unrated)
Sredanovic had an even more impressive result in the 1965 National Open in Las Vegas, where he tied for third through sixth with Larry Evans, Tibor Weinberger and Jack Moskowitz at 6½ from 8. The 138-player event was won by Grandmasters Sammy Reshevsky and Robert Byrne at 7–1.
You can find interesting articles and photos on Mr. Sredanovic’s chess career at http://montenegro.org/slideshow/chess/index.html.
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