Gens Una Sumus!
Mechanics’ Institute Chess Club Newsletter #786 May 5, 2017
He played a move that no other grandmaster in the world would have made, I guess he decided he didn't want a draw—that must be it.
—Stephen Brandwein, quoted in the New York Times (July 13, 1972), referring
to Bobby Fischer and game one of the 1972 World Championship match.
Don’t forget the Charles Powell Memorial G/45 this Saturday and the Ray Schutt Memorial blitz on Sunday.
Details about both events here .
1) Mechanics’ Institute Chess Club News
National Master Tenzing Shaw won the 120-player Spring Tuesday Night Marathon with a 7–1 score, pushing his USCF rating over 2300 for the first time in his career. Newly-minted Master Derrick O’Connor followed his outstanding result in the Larry Evans Memorial in Reno, sharing second at 6½-1½ with International Master Elliot Winslow. The Summer Tuesday Night Marathon starts on May 23.
The Newsletter takes its traditional break with the end of the Tuesday Night Marathon and will resume on May 26.
From round 8 of the Spring Tuesday Night Marathon:
 |  |
| White to move (Tsodikova–Bayaraa after 37...Nd3) | Black to move (Uzzaman–Andries after 37 Bxd6) |
 |  |
| White to move (Ochoa–Crofts after 22...Rxd6) | White to move (Lesquillier–Wonsever after 32...Qh5) |
 |  |
| White to move (Casares–McKellar after 36...Ka4) | White to move (Rakonitz–Capdeville after 28...Kh8) |
 |  |
| Black to move (Robertson–Melville after 23 Kf1) | Black to move (Scalise–Cowgill after 15 Qd3) |
 | |
| White to move (Badgett–Boldi after 28...h5) | For the solutions, see the game scores for round 8. |
Jules Jelinek, Wednesday Night Blitz Coordinator, provides the following information:
Wednesday Night Blitz April 26 (10 players)
1st Vladimir Mezentsev
2nd Carlos D’Avila
3rd Jacob Sevall and Frank Bannan
Wednesday Night Blitz May 3 (13 players)
1st Carlos D’Avila
2nd Jules Jelinek
3rd Jacob Sevall and Frank Bannan
Former Bay Area standard-bearer Grandmaster James Tarjan of Portland played some interesting chess in the recent Reykjavik Open. Here are two of his games.
English A36
Jim Tarjan–Jon Kristinn Thorgeirsson
Reykjavik Open (7), 2017
1.c4 Nf6 2.g3 c5 3.Bg2 g6 4.Nc3 Bg7 5.e4 Nc6 6.Nge2 0-0 7.d3 d6 8.0-0 Ne8 9.Be3 Nc7 10.d4 cxd4 11.Nxd4 Ne6 12.Nde2 Nc5 13.Rc1 Bd7 14.b3 Rc8 15.Qd2 Qa5 16.Rfd1 Rfd8 17.h3 Ne5 18.f4 Nc6 19.Kh2 h6 20.Nd5 Qxd2 21.Rxd2 Be6 22.Nec3 Bxd5 23.Nxd5 e6 24.Nc3 e5 25.Nb5 exf4 26.gxf4 Bf8 27.Re1 a6 28.Nc3 Bg7 29.Nd5 Kh8 30.e5 Ne6 31.Nb6 dxe5 32.Nxc8 Rxc8 33.Rd7 exf4 34.Bc1 Ne5 35.Rxb7 f3 36.Bf1 Nc5 37.Re7 Ncd3 38.Bxd3 Nxd3 39.Re8+ Kh7 40.Rxc8 Nxe1 41.Be3 Ng2 42.Re8 g5 43.c5 Kg6 44.c6 Bf8 45.Rxf8 Nxe3 46.Kg3 Nf5+ 47.Kf2 1-0
Helgi Dam Ziska, a recent visitor to the Mechanics’ Institute Chess Club, is the first Grandmaster from the Faeroe Islands.
Ruy Lopez C90
Helgi Dam Ziska–Jim Tarjan
Reykjavik Open (8) 2017
Notes by James Tarjan
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.d3 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.a4 Bd7 9.c3 0-0 10.Nbd2 Na5 11.Bc2 c5 12.Re1 Qc7 13.Nf1 Rab8 14.axb5 axb5 15.Bg5 Be6 16.Ne3 Ra8 17.Rc1 Rfc8 18.Bh4 h6 19.b4 Nc6 20.Bxf6 Bxf6 21.Bb3 Ra3 22.Bd5 Qd8 23.Qd2? cxb4 24.cxb4 Nd4 25.Ra1 Rxa1 26.Rxa1 Nxf3+ 27.gxf3 Bg5 28.Rc1 Bxd5 29.exd5 Ra8 30.d4 Qf6
30...Bxe3! 31.fxe3 (31.Qxe3 exd4 32.Qf4 Ra4 wins) 31...Qg5+ 32.Kh1 Qf5 33.Kg2 e4 winning.
31.dxe5 Qxe5 32.Qc3 Qf4 33.Kg2 g6 34.Qd3 Qe5 35.Qe4 Qxe4 36.fxe4 Ra4 37.Rc8+ Kg7 38.Nc2 Kf6 39.Kg3 Bd2 40.Rd8 Ke7 41.Rb8 Ra2 42.Nd4 Be1 43.Nc6+ Kf6 44.Rd8 Bxf2+ 45.Kf3 Bg1 46.Rxd6+ Kg5 47.e5 Rf2+ 48.Kg3 Rxh2 49.e6 f5 50.e7
50.Kf3 f4 transposes to the game because if 51.Ke4? Rh3! wins for Black.
50...f4+ 51.Kf3 Kf5 52.Nd4+ Bxd4 53.Rf6+ Kxf6 54.e8Q Rf2+ 55.Kg4 h5+ 56.Kh3 Rf3+ 57.Kh2 Rf2+ 58.Kh3 Rf3+ 59.Kh2 Rf2+ 1/2-1/2
2) New Books
Two Californians have new books out. Lauren Goodkind writes: Just to let you know, my chess book, 50 Poison Pieces, aimed at beginners who are learning tactics, is finally available on Amazon. You can find it here.
International Master Tim Taylor’s Fischer’s Kings Gambit is almost out of print. You can find out more about it by reading Tim’s blog.
3) Walter Romaine Lovegrove (1869–1956)
Here is Lovegrove defeating another legend one-on-one.
Petroff C42
Walter Romaine Lovegrove–Harry Nelson Pillsbury
San Francisco 1904
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.d4 d5 6.Bd3 Be7 7.0–0 Nc6 8.c4 Nf6 9.Nc3 0–0
10.Ne5
10.Re1 and 10.cxd5 are the main moves here.
10...Nxd4 11.Bxh7+ Nxh7 12.Qxd4 dxc4 13.Qxc4 Be6 14.Qe2 Bd6 15.Bf4 Re8 16.Rfe1 f6
17.Nd3 Qd7 18.Qf3 Bc4 19.Bxd6 Qxd6 20.Nf4 Ng5 21.Qh5 Bf7 22.Qg4 Qd2
23.Rec1
23.Re2 Rxe2 24.Nfxe2 Qxb2 25.Rb1 Qd2 26.h4 Ne6 27.Ne4 Qd3 28.N2c3 Kf8 29.Rxb7=
23...Qxb2 24.h4 Nh7
24...Ne6
25.Ncd5 Rad8 26.Rab1 Qd4?
26...Qe5 27.Ne3 intending Nf5 gives enough compensation for the pawn.
27.Rxc7! f5 28.Qxf5 Bxd5
29.Rbxb7! Kh8 30.Rxg7 Qxg7 31.Rxg7 Kxg7 32.Nxd5 1–0
4) Chess on 60 Minutes
The TV news program 60 Minutes aired an episode on March 26, 2017 that did an outstanding job of showing the value of chess as an educational tool that can bring people together. The show, which attracted over 15 million viewers when it aired, was on the chess program in Franklin County, Mississippi, and featured chess teacher Dr. Jeff Bulington along with his chess-playing students and their proud parents.
View the episode and see an article by former U.S. Women’s Champion Alexey Root on the program in Franklin County and the long-running Kasparov Chess School in Lindsborg, Kansas, another small community where chess has caught on in a big way.
5) George Koltanowski = George Coltan
James Tarjan, George Koltanowski and Peter Grey mid to late 1970s/early 1980s. (Photo: unknown)
Look for George and Leah Koltanowski in the Social Security Death Index and you will not find them. But search for George and Leah Colton and you will not only find them listed. but with exactly the same birth and death dates as the Koltanowskis. San Francisco Chronicle writer and chess player Steve Rubenstein, who was a close friend of the two, explains that George used the name Coltan largely when he wanted to be under the radar because of the notoriety of “Koltanowski.”
6) This is the end
Opposite-colored bishop endgames can be tricky. How should this one, from a recent game, end?
Black to move
Show solution
You can browse through our archived newsletters using the "next" and "previous buttons".
Want to save this newsletter for reading at a later time? Click here to learn how.
Want to be notified when the next newsletter is published? Join Our Email List →