Gens Una Sumus!
Mechanics’ Institute Chess Club News #699
February 13, 2015
Preparing for a game with Larsen is a matter which is either too complicated, or too simple. The Dane’s repertoire contains practically all opening systems, and one’s chances of guessing the variation are no better than in a lottery. Therefore at home it was decided to begin the game with the advance of the king’s pawn. At that the preparation came to an end…
—Mikhail Tal
1) Mechanics’ Institute Chess Club News
Andy Lee moved into clear first in the Winter Tuesday Night Marathon by defeating fellow FIDE Master Paul Whitehead in round six. The victory not only left Lee a half-point ahead of the field with two rounds to go, it also unofficially put his USCF rating over 2400 USCF for the first time in his career.
Tied for second in the record-setting 120-player field, a half-point behind Lee’s 5½ from 6 score, are International Master Elliott Winslow and National Masters Tenzing Shaw and Uyanga Byambaa.
From round 6 of the Winter Tuesday Night Marathon:
 |  |
| White to move (Shaknazarov–Bekhtur after 23...Ne7) | White to move (Potharam–Bayaraa after 25...Rf7) |
 |  |
| White to move (Wang–Drane after 20...Nxf4) | Black to move (Chalissery–Casares after 39 Kd3) |
 | |
| Black to move (Morgan–Chea after 23 axb3) | For the solutions, see the game scores (when available) for round 6. |
International Master Ricardo De Guzman won the 15th annual Henry Gross Memorial held February 7 with a score of 4½ from 5. Tying for second in the 45-player field were National Masters Ian Schoch (lost to De Guzman in round 4) and Jerome Sun, plus Experts Rochelle Ballantyne (round 4 win over Sun) and Jason Childress (round five draw with De Guzman).
Erika Malykin, rated 1511 going in, had a spectacular event, scoring 3½ from 5, including wins over two Class A players and a draw with an Expert. Her only loss was to Schoch in the last round, and she ended the event at 1657.
Congratulations to Mechanics’ Institute Grandmasters Sam Shankland and Daniel Naroditsky, who will be part of the U.S. squad playing in the 2015 World Team Championship in Armenia this April.
This will be an especially busy and challenging month for the two, as they will also be competing in the U.S. Closed Chess Championship from March 31 to April 13 in St. Louis. This promises to be an especially strong event this year, with world top-ten players Hikaru Nakamura and Wesley So competing, as well as defending champion Gata Kamsky.
Jules Jelinek, M.I. Weekly Wednesday Night Blitz Coordinator writes:
Last week (February 4) the results were
1st - Jules Jelinek
2nd - David Flores
3rd – Paul Zhao
Also, remember, the Steve Brandwein Memorial Blitz Tournament (he will be attending) is only 1½ weeks away. It will be held at Mechanics’ Institute on Saturday, February 21. Prizes are $400-$250-$150-$100-$100, and every participant gets a free book prize.
Thanks to Vega Capital Management Limited for sponsoring the Mechanics’ Sunday Class for Girls and Women this February and March. The free class is held from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm each Sunday and taught by Ewelina Krubnik.
2) A Chess Poem by National Master Dennis Fritzinger
showtime
the director announces
the pairings are up
and everyone rushes
to the bulletin board
and crowds around
to see who they’re playing
and where they’ll be sitting.
peeling away,
you rush off to your board
to wait for your opponent,
either that, or find
he’s setting the clock
getting ready to start.
on your mark, get set,
"start your clocks!"
and the race begins.
3) Transfer Fees Lucrative Revenue Source for FIDE, by Stephen Dann
Editor—FIDE requires who want to switch their allegiance from one federation to another potentially have three charges they have to pay. The first fee is a modest 250 Euro to FIDE for processing the transfer. The second is potential compensation to the player’s existing federation.
This can be huge, if the player is over 2700 and doesn’t want to wait two years to be eligible to play. The old federation can demand as much as 50,000 Euro (for a + 2700 player) in compensation or ask for nothing.
The only way out of the final potential charge is to sit out two years of official FIDE competitions (Olympiads, World Cup, etc.). Failing that it is pay-to-expedite-play for the new federation.
Stephan Dann writes:
I counted 56 fees for 2013, with no fees listed for one of the players, with the following fees:
10,000 Euros=1 player (Boris Spassky)
5,000 Euros=6 players
2,000 Euros=11 players
1,000 Euros=4 players
Total of 66,000 in fees for 22 players (men & women), average of 3,000 Euros.
500 Euros=34 total, mostly lower players who never competed for their former country in an Olympiad.
Total of 83,000 Euros paid/invoiced just in 2013, and an overall average of 1,500 or so Euros per player.
4) Here and There
Andy Ansel sends in the following two games.
Queen's Gambit Accepted (by transposition) D20
Jude Acers–David Blohm
San Francisco 1968
1.e4 e6 2.c4 d5 3.exd5 exd5 4.cxd5 Qxd5 5.Nc3 Qd8 6.d4 Nf6 7.Nf3 Be7 8.Bc4 0–0 9.0–0 Nbd7 10.Qe2 Nb6 11.Bb3 Re8 12.Ne5 Nbd5 13.Nxd5 Nxd5 14.Nxf7 Kxf7 15.Qh5+ Kg8 16.Bxd5+ Kh8 17.Be4 h6 18.Bxh6 Bf6 19.Bd2+ Kg8 20.Bh7+ Kf8 21.Bb4+ 1-0
Source: Chess Scribe May 1969, page 27
Benoni E72
William Addison–Ray Schutt
San Francisco-ch, 1968
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.g3 c5 6.d5 0–0 7.Bg2 Na6 8.Nge2 Nc7 9.0–0 Rb8 10.a4 b6 11.h3 a6 12.Rb1 b5 13.b4 cxb4 14.Rxb4 Bd7 15.Nd4 bxa4 16.Ba3 Nfe8 17.Qd3 Rxb4 18.Bxb4 Qb8 19.Rb1 Qb6 20.Nce2 f5 21.Bd2 fxe4 22.Bxe4 Qc5 23.Be3 Qa5 24.Nc6 Bxc6 25.Bb6 1-0
Source: Chess Scribe May 1969, page 29.
Scottish chess journalist John Henderson, long based in Seattle but now back in his native Glasgow, has written a very interesting blog on kibitzing, that venerable pastime that has been profoundly altered by the rise of the silicon oracle. It can be found at http://jbhthescots.com/2014/11/10/the-death-of-kibitzing.
5) This is the end
This is a famous study by Fernando Saavedra, based on a position by Barbier, and published in 1895. As with all studies, you should play it out to be absolutely sure you have the solution.
White to move
What is the result from best play?
Show solution
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