Gens Una Sumus!
Mechanics’ Institute Chess Club Newsletter #781
March 31, 2017
I just made the moves I thought were best. I was just lucky.
—Bobby Fischer, responding to an interviewer’s question about
how he was able to bring off such a brilliant win in
the “Game of the Century” (Donald Byrne–Bobby Fischer 1956).
1) Mechanics’ Institute Chess Club News
International Master Elliott Winslow, National Master Tenzing Shaw and Experts Derek O’Connor, Joe Tracy, Chinguun Bayaraa, Arthur Ismakov and Isiah Kim lead the 111-player Spring Tuesday Night Marathon with 3–0 scores. It’s still possible to enter the eight-round event with half-point byes for the first three rounds.
From round 3 of the Spring Tuesday Night Marathon:
 |  |
| White to move (Winslow–Walder after 20...Bd5) | Black to move (Bayaraa–Clemens after 25 Rc3) |
 |  |
| Black to move (Bayaraa–Clemens after 31 Kg1) | White to move (Wonsever–Sevall after 19...bxa4) |
 |  |
| White to move (Eastham–Andries after 26...Ndf6) | White to move (Campers–Cheng after 17...Qa5) |
 |  |
| White to move (Enkh–Yanofsky after 36...Rxc2) | White to move (McEnroe–Boldi after 13...axb5) |
 | |
| White to move (Garfield–White after 31...Kg8) | For the solutions, see the game scores for round 3. |
Mechanics’ Institute Grandmaster-in-Residence Nick de Firmian reports that the M.I.’s 2017 San Francisco Scholastic Chess Championship, held last Saturday (March 25) in Golden Gate Park, attracted 238 participants, with the majority competing in the elementary school section.
Lowell High School of San Francisco, coached by International Master Elliott Winslow, followed up its win in the state championship two weeks earlier by taking top team honors. All players received colorful T-shirts, with the winners awarded medals and trophies.
Tuesday Night Marathon regulars Sophie Adams and Richard Hack were among the many volunteers that helped to make the 2017 San Francisco Scholastic Chess Championship run smoothly. (Photo: Mark Pinto)
Bay Area Grandmasters Sam Shankland and Daniel Naroditsky have drawn their first two games in the 2017 U.S. Chess Championship being held in St. Louis from March 28 to April 10. Follow the games live.
Come play bughouse, blitz chess, and more, with fellow tech workers from around the city each month in the oldest chess club in the United States. Sets, boards & clocks, and light refreshments will be provided. All tech workers are welcome.
First Thursday of the month from 5 pm to 8 pm:
April 6
May 4
June 1
For more information contact the Chess Room.
Ashik Uzzaman, one of the most active chess bloggers in the Bay Area, recently paid tribute to the efforts by S.H.A.F and NorCal House of Chess for San Jose flood victims. Read about it here.
Jules Jelinek, Wednesday Blitz Chess Coordinator, reports on the March 15 event:
There were 11 players, and Jacob Sevall, Romulo Silvestre Jr. and Jules Jelinek tied for first at 8–2
International Master Jeremy Silman re-examines the game between Elliott Winslow and Hovik Manvelyan played in the Tuesday Marathon in 2016. Every chess player knows about the classical bishop sacrifice (Bxh7+), but Silman makes a case that Winslow created something new. Check out his article.
March 14 the Mechanics’ Institute Chess Club was visited by Helgi Dam Ziska, the first player from the Faroe Islands to earn the Grandmaster title.
Tuesday Night Marathon regulars Erkhes “Matthew” Erdenebileg and his sister Enkhjin “Suzie” Erdenebileg enjoyed great success in the Annual North American Open, held in Las Vegas at the end of 2016. Matthew and Suzie played together as a team in the mixed doubles competition, each team pairing one male and one female, and finished first out of 70 teams, taking home $2,000. Matthew also won first in his section, Under 500. Well done.
The Berkeley Chess Club website recently posted a list of winners of its Friday Night Marathon, and many Mechanics’ Tuesday Night regulars can be found on it.
The following list is for those that got clear first or tied for first place in any BCC Marathon since the 2007 BCC Grand Re-opening until the end of 2016
1) NM Roger Poehlmann 20 wins
2) IM Elliott Winslow 7 wins
3) Farid Watson 7 wins
4) NM Todd Rumph 6 wins
5) Steven Krasnov 5 wins
6) FM Ladia Jirasek 4 wins (in a row!)
7) WFM Uyanga Byambaa 4 wins (two with perfect scores, the only perfect scores in BCC history! Also the only female winner in BCC History)
8) FM Robin Cunningham 4 wins
9) Salar Jahedi 4 wins
10) Greg Lope 3 wins
11) FM Josiah Stearman, NM Michael Lei Wang, Joshua Cao, Ethan Chamberlain, NM Robert Hatarik, David Trestor and Craig Andries 2 wins each
2) Match of the Millennials: USA vs. The World
America’s Most Talented Juniors Challenge the World to a Chess Match
Five prominent chess organizations are partnering to bring the Match of the Millennials to Saint Louis
The Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis (CCSCSL), in cooperation with the Kasparov Chess Foundation (KCF), U.S. Chess Federation, World Chess Federation (FIDE) and FIDE Trainers’ Commission are proud to announce the Match of the Millennials. Hosted at the CCSCSL from July 26th through the 29th, eight American players will face some of the best juniors from around the world.
“The Match of the Millennials will be the first event for which these five organizations have partnered,” said CCSCSL Executive Director Tony Rich. “I am excited that our collaboration will bring a new major event to the 2017 calendar.”
Teams will be selected and announced on July 15, and will consist of four players under 17, two boys under 14 and two girls under 14 years old. The four players under 17 years old will face each member of the opposing team in two game matches, while the under 14 players will similarly play 2-game matches against their two corresponding opponents.
“An extra-ordinary opportunity for the best juniors U.17 & U.14, both Americans and World, to test their skills and fighting spirit in a prestigious event,” said GM Efstratios Grivas, Secretary of the FIDE Trainers' Commission and head of the World Delegation. “The organizers are extremely experienced and I feel that this would be a great event; something that should constantly be held.”
In addition to the bragging rights, teams will be vying for top honors and the $30,000 prize fund. The winning team will receive $20,000, while the runner-up will receive $10,000. Prizes will be split evenly should the match end in a tie. The prize fund is sponsored by the Saint Louis Chess Club, whose impact over the last 10 years has transformed American chess.
3) Chess in the News
Chess has been in the news the first half of 2017.
An interview with St. Louis chess’s Rex Sinquefield can be found here.
National Master Bob Ferguson, who is better known for being Washington State’s Attorney General, is written about here.
Chess players tired of mistake-riddled chess scenes in movies and on television will enjoy reading this article.
4) Nancy McLeod early Bay Area Women’s Champion
The well-respected chess historian Batgirl has dug up interesting information about top American female players of the 1930s to 1970s. Among those covered in her articles, one of which can be found here, is the Bay Area’s Nancy McLeod.
Batgirl writes:
Nancy McLeod and her husband Dan took up chess in the early 1950s as an inexpensive recreation and learned the game playing against each other. Living in San Francisco, they both took part in the “C” section of a tournament organized by George Koltanowski and fared well. Nancy mentioned a tournament format in a group also initiated by Koltanowski called “Chess Friends of Northern California,” in which any area club could enter tournaments by supplying two each of class “A” “B” and “C” players. This format gave equal points for wins regardless of the class level, making all wins equal, effectually spotlighting the “C” players. This gave the lower classed players such as the McLeods more tournament experience.
The couple organized the San Bruno Chess Club in their small apartment. It soon moved to a local school cafeteria and continued to grow until it reached 50 members. The couple joined the Mechanics’ Institute, where Nancy became the only regular woman member. The U.S. Women's Championship was propitiously held in California at a time when Nancy was able to qualify—partially due to the lack of women available in the area, partially due to her rapid rise in USCF sponsored events. They later moved to Seattle, where they remained active in the local chess community.
The 1957 U.S. Women’s Championship was held at the Herman Steiner Chess Club of Los Angeles. Standing, back row (L-R) Lucille Kellner, Sonja Graf-Stevenson, Gisela Gresser, Olga Higgins, Mary Selensky, Mona May Karff, Eva Aronson, Kathryn Slater, Nancy McLeod, and Lenore Simon. Seated (L-R) Lina Grumette, Jacqueline Piatigorsky, Mildred Morrel, and tournament director Isaac Kashdan. (Photo: unknown)
Nancy McLeod played in two U.S. Women’s Championships finishing =5-6th (out of 12 players) with a score of 6–5 in 1957 and =6th (out of 9) with 2½–5½ in 1959.
5) The 11th Ray Schutt Memorial Blitz
The 11th Ray Schutt Memorial Blitz will be held Sunday, May 7, 2017 starting at 1 pm.
Format: 6-round Double Swiss
Time control: Game in 4 minutes with a 2-second increment per move.
Prizes: 1st $400, 2nd $250, 3rd $120, 4th $100, 5th $75, 6th $50. All participants will win a book prize.
Entry fee: $10. Free to GMs, IMs, WGMs, and WIMs.
Registration: 12:00 pm to 12:45 pm. No phone entries.
Rounds: 1:00 pm, 1:30 pm, 2:00 pm, 2:30 pm, 3:00 pm, 3:30 pm.
Prize ceremony: 4:00 pm.
6) This is the end
In this study, Black has a straightforward win. Or does he?
White to move
Show solution
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