Gens Una Sumus!
Mechanics’ Institute Chess Club Newsletter #706
May 29, 2015
Saidy has an aggressive, positional chess style, which together with a fine knowledge of openings and a sharp eye for combinational possibilities make him a very dangerous opponent. He generally thinks deeply in the early stages of the game and as a result often gets into time trouble. Though a fine blitz player and an expert at “time pressure swindles,” Tony often pays the penalty for trying to cheat the clock. In the recent U.S. Championship, Saidy came tantalizing close to being the first American in four years to defeat Fischer, when a blunder just before the time control cost him the game.
—Anthony Saidy (who turned 78 on May 16), profiled by Charles Henin
in the September 1961 issue of Chess Life.
1) Mechanics’ Institute Chess Club News
The Summer Tuesday Night Marathon has started with International Master Elliott Winslow and National Masters Tenzing Shaw, Russell Wong, Art Zhao and Keith Vickers the top seeds.
The form charts normally hold true in the first round, with the top half dominating the bottom, but this time around several lower-rated players rose to the occasion, with Tony Cole and Ben Joyce winning, and Andrew Handler, Jerry Simpkins, Pat Aquino and Ganesh Mathrubootham drawing. It’s still possible to join the 8-round Summer TNM with a half point bye for round one.
From round 1 of the Summer Tuesday Night Marathon:
 |  |
| White to move (Uzzaman–Stuetzel after 19...Qxb2) | White to move (Morgan–Manvelyan after 34...Kf8) |
 |  |
| White to move (Khristoforov–Simpkins after 36...Kg7) | White to move (Melville–Olson after 24...Kh7) |
| For the solutions, see the game scores for round 1. |
Grandmaster Sam Shankland gave a well-received lecture before round one of the Summer Tuesday Night Marathon. The topic was the 2015 World Team Championship, where Shankland played board one for the United States and held his own with some of the best players in the world. Next Tuesday, June 2, Grandmaster Surya Shekhar Ganguly, long-time second for former World Champion Viswanathan Anand, will give a lecture from 5:15 to 6:15 pm. This event is free and all are welcome to attend.
MI Chess Director John Donaldson gave a lecture at the World Chess Hall of Fame on Bobby Fischer’s career from 1955-1958 this past April. It can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryXC25T6U0U .
Thanks to Jean-Marc Mazzoni, Pete Neuwirth and Grandmaster Walter Browne for their recent donation of chess books and magazines. The Mechanics’ Institute is a 501(c)(3) organization, so donations are tax-deductible. Donations of books, sets, magazines and clocks are always welcome and will be put to good use.
The Wednesday Night Blitz series will take a break this summer resuming August 26th. Here are the results for May 6, provided by Jules Jelinek.
8 players competed (almost all masters)
1st – Kostya Kavutskiy
2nd – Rost Tsodikov
3rd – Arthur Ismakov, Gady Costeff and Jules Jelinek
2) Dan Litowsky (1917-2015)
Tuesday Night Marathon regulars will well remember Dan Litowsky, who was a regular in the events from the early 1990s until the Fall TNM in 2011. That year he played over 50 USCF-rated games at the age of 94, which might be a record. One of the TNMs in 2011 was named after him.
The obituary which follows has been condensed. To see it in its entirety go to http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/sfgate/obituary.aspx?pid=174640928
Daniel was born in Brooklyn, NY, and raised in the south Bronx, where he became a skillful and passionate handball player, remaining very competitive until his sixties and winning numerous tournaments. In 1939, he joined the U.S. Army, and while stationed in the Canal Zone, Panama, he re-enlisted in the Navy for the duration of the war. He also married the love of his life, Angela, on May 29, 1942, and they were together until her death on August 23, 2002. He had learned to speak Spanish fluently, along with French, Yiddish, and Hebrew. He played chess at a competitive level well into his nineties, making him one of the oldest highly-rated active members of the US Chess Federation.
Daniel followed his military experience into the United Nations in an administrative capacity, travelling to various posts throughout Central and South America. He also served as a simultaneous interpreter in the General Assembly. He worked for private US businesses in Chile, Venezuela and in the Philippines. Daniel had a long and successful career with the State of California, retiring after more than 20 years of service as a budget analyst with the PUC, and later as Comptroller for Hastings College of Law.
3) Arthur Stamer Memorial Winners (1964-2014)
The Mechanics’ Institute Chess Club’s longest-running tournament is just around the corner (June 6–7). Here is a list of previous winners, that includes many well-known names. The 1974 event, won by many-time Oregon state champion Clark Harmon, was the best-attended, with 117 entries.
1964 William Addison
1965 Earl Pruner
1966 Duncan Suttles
1967 Earl Pruner and Dennis Fritzinger
1968 John Blackstone and Jude Acers
1969 Earl Pruner
1970 Julio Kaplan, Gilbert Ramirez, Dennis Fritzinger and Jairo Gutierrez
1971 James McCormick and David Blohm
1972 Rex Wilcox
1973 Craig Barnes
1974 Clark Harmon
1975 Craig Barnes and C.Bill Jones
1976 Roy Ervin, Jeremy Silman, and Frank Thornally
1977 John Watson
1978 Peter Biyiasas and Paul Cornelius
1979 Peter Biyiasas
1980 Nick deFirmian
1981 Viktors Pupols
1982 Peter Biyiasas
1983 Nick de Firmian and Jeremy Silman
1984 Peter Biyiasas
1985 Zaki Harari
1986 Nick deFirmian
1987 Dov Gorman
1988 Alex Savetti and Sid Rubin
1989 Marc Leski and Elliott Winslow
1990 Gregory Kotlyar
1991 Igor Ivanov, Richard Koepcke, Greg Hjorth and Jim Eade
1992 Walter Browne and Renard Anderson
1993 Nick deFirmian, John Donaldson, Marc Leski and Emmanuel Perez
1994 Emanuel Perez and John Grefe
1995 Dmitry Zilberstein and Paul Enright
1996 William Orton and Romulio Fuentes
1997 Igor Margulis
1998 Walter Shipman
1999 Russell Wong
2000 Walter Shipman, Gennady Fomin and Steven Gaffagan
2001 Walter Shipman, Guenther Steinmueller, Eugene Levin, Andy Lee, Jennie Frenklakh, Rey Salvatierra, Steven Gaffagan, Larry Snyder and Monty Peckham
2002 Ricardo DeGuzman and Michael Aigner
2003 Adrian Keatinge-Clay
2004 Ricardo DeGuzman and Albert Rich
2005 Vladimir Mezentsev
2006 Ricardo DeGuzman and Michael Aigner
2007 Ricardo DeGuzman
2008 Michael Pearson
2009 Ricardo DeGuzman
2010 Ricardo DeGuzman and Gregory Young
2011 Mike Pearson and Kyle Shin
2012 Gregory Young
2013 Ricardo DeGuzman
2014 Paul Gallegos, Romy Fuentes and Jerome Sun
4) Remembering Bruce Albertston
Pete Tamburro wrote an excellent tribute to the late Bruce Albertston which appeared in the February issue of Chess Life. Here noted chess teacher, author and book dealer Fred Wilson shares an Albertston miniature.
Petroff C42
Bruce Alberston (2317)–V. Goldberg (2121)
Lehigh Valley Open 2/15/80
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 Nxe4? 4. Qe2! Qe7
The only move.
5. Qxe4 d6 6. d4 dxe5 7. dxe5 f6 8. Nc3!
Simple chess, going for a development advantage rather than trying to hang on to the pawn.
8…Qxe5 9. Bf4! Qxe4 10. Nxe4 f5 11. Nc3 c6 12. Bc4 b5?
He’s gotta get some pieces out!
13.Bb3 Be7 14. 0-0-0 a5?? 15. Rhe1!
Threatening 16.Bd6.
15…Kf8 16. Rxe7! Kxe7 17. Bg5+ 1-0
Because of 17…Ke8 (or f8) 18. Rd8 mate. Shades of Morphy!
If you are in New York check out Fred’s bookstore, which is near the Marshall Chess Club.
Fred Wilson Chess Books
80 East 11th Street, Suite 334
New York, NY 10003
PHONE: 212-533-6381 Email - fred@fredwilsonchess
The following win helped Bruce tie for first in the very strong 1974 Southern Open. Thanks to Peter Lahde for the following game.
King’s Indian E91
Bruce Albertston–Kim Commons
Nashville 1974
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.Nf3 g6 4.Nc3 Bg7 5.e4 d6 6.Be2 0–0 7.0–0 Na6 8.h3 cxd4 9.Nxd4 Nc5 10.Bf3 Bd7 11.Be3 a6 12.Rc1 Rb8 13.b4 Ne6 14.Nb3 b6 15.Qe2 Bc6 16.Rfd1 Nd7 17.g3 f5 18.Nd5 Ne5 19.exf5 gxf5 20.Bg2 Bd7 21.f4 Ng6 22.Qf2 b5 23.c5 dxc5 24.Nxc5 Nxc5 25.Bxc5 Rf7 26.Bb6 Qf8 27.Bc7 e6 28.Bxb8 Qxb8 29.Nb6 Nf8 30.Qc5 Be8 31.Nc8 Bf6 32.Qd6 Rb7 33.Qxa6 Rc7 34.Qa8 Bd4+ 35.Kh2 Qxa8 36.Bxa8 Rxc1 37.Rxc1 Nd7 38.Nd6 Bh5 39.Nxb5 Bb6 40.Kg2 Be2 41.a4 Kf7 42.Bc6 Nf6 43.a5 Bd8 44.a6 Ne4 45.a7 1–0
5) Boris Siff Memorial
For Players age 55 and over this weekend in Berkeley
When: May 29–31, 2015. 4 rounds: Friday 7 pm, Saturday 10 am & 3 pm, and Sunday 1 pm
Where: Senior Center 2939 Ellis Street, Berkeley, CA 94703
Seniors, come enjoy the first City of Berkeley Senior Chess Championship. The tournament will be in two sections, an unrated section with no entry fee and trophies awarded to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place, and a United States Chess Federation (USCF) rated section with an entry fee and cash prizes. Register no later than Friday May 29 (6:00-6:45pm).
Unrated section - free! Time limit 4 hours maximum per game.
Game will be adjudicated by tournament director after 4 hours.
Game forfeited after 30 minutes in the case of a no show.
Trophies for top three finishers.
USCF-Rated section - Entry fee: $35.00
Current USCF membership required; must be current through June 2015.
Prize fund: $1000:
1st Place $350: 2nd Place $250: 3rd Place $100
U/2000 $100: U/1800 $75: U/1600 $75: U/1400: $50
Time Control: 30/90 SD 30. Increment—adjusted time 30/70—or time-delay preferred.
Game forfeited after 30 minutes in the case of a no-show.
Two half-point byes are available. No byes for round 4.
To register for this Tournament or USCF membership please visit our website at: www.berkeleychessschool.org For more info and bye requests: [email protected] (510) 684-9907.
6) This is the end
This is from a game:
White to move
The first moves are 1 e5 Ne2 2 e6+. How should Black defend to draw?
Show solution
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