Chess Room Newsletter #989

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Scholastic Chess Bulletin

The scholastic news is covered in a dedicated publication:
Mechanics' Institute Scholastic Chess Bulletin

Scholastic Chess Bulletin #5 is out!

In this issue:

• 2021 Fall Enrichment - Report on the Start
• 2021 Fall & Winter Holiday Camps
• Special Event: Halloween Tournament @ Mechanics' Institute on Oct 30
• Understanding Tournaments - Byes & Forfeits
• Upcoming Tournament Schedule
• ​Tournament Results & Featured games analyzed by GM Nick de Firmian

Please click the following LINK to read our latest edition.
Interested in reading the past issues? Click here to see the list of all issues.

All of us at Mechanics' Institute would like to thank you for your support of our scholastic chess programming.

FM Paul Whitehead's Column

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Through the Looking Glass, by Lewis Carroll

I was quite a voracious reader at a young age, and on my eighth birthday my parents bought me a very nice hard-backed edition of Lewis Carroll’s Through the Looking Glass.  Published in 1871, this sequel to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865) was another hallucinogenic romp through the mathematic game-mind of its creator, but rather than playing-cards the template this time was chess.

Beautifully illustrated by John Tenniel, the setting Alice finds herself in is contrary and curious: drowsily she follows her kitten through a mirror, and into a mirror-world.  All is topsy-turvy, and Alice must run with the Red Queen to simply stay in one place, while the White Queen tells Alice that “The rule is, jam to-morrow and jam yesterday - but never jam to-day.“

As Alice proceeds in her adventures to the eighth square (to become a Queen), we are introduced to some of the classic characters from English literature: Tweedledum and Tweedledee, the Walrus and the Carpenter, and Humpty Dumpty.  Jabberwocky, the masterpiece of so-called ‘nonsense-verse,’ lies in the slim pages of the book.  The author has also given all the chess pieces an alias in the Dramatis Personae that precedes the action:

Most interesting of all, Carroll also included a chess problem, along with the key to the action: White Pawn (Alice) to play, and win in eleven moves:

There is much written about this problem elsewhere, suffice to say that in a later edition Carroll advises:

“As the chess-problem, given on the previous page, has puzzled some of my readers, it may be well to explain that it is correctly worked out, so far as the moves are concerned.  The alternation of Red and White is perhaps not so strictly observed as it might be, and the ‘castling’ of the three Queens is merely a way of saying that they entered the palace; but the ‘check’ of the White King at move 6, the capture of the Red Knight at move 7, and the final ‘check-mate’ of the Red King, will be found, by anyone who will take the trouble to set up the pieces and play the moves as directed, to be strictly in accordance with the laws of the game.”

Playing a not insignificant part in my childhood development, opening up the ‘doors of perception’ with its mind-bending use of language and ‘illogical’ thought, Through the Looking Glass is the very finest fiction using chess as a theme, surpassing any film or book I have seen or read.

When Alice says “One can’t believe impossible things” and the White Queen replies “Why, sometimes I’ve believed six impossible things before breakfast” we are at the very heart of the matter: Carroll is daring us to use our imagination.

Sound advice for us all, but an absolutely essential attribute for a chess player.

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GM Nick de Firmian's Column

US Women’s Championship October 5-19

We take this week to note the start of the US Women’s Championship, as usual these days sponsored by the St. Louis Chess Club (which is sponsored by billionaire Rex Sinquefield). There is also the Men’s (overall) US Championship being played at the same time and place, but we will examine that next week and devote our space to the women’s event now.

The women’s championship should deserve great attention! The greatest boom to chess this last year has been because of a woman player (albeit a fictional one). Beth Harmon from the “Queen’s Gambit” has brought the most mainstream attention to chess since Bobby Fischer. We expect the repercussions of the “Queen’s Gambit” to bring us a promising new generation of women players. Already we hear about many young girls who have taken up the game after seeing the film. Perhaps it will inspire a real woman to win the world championship.

The Mechanics’ Institute chess program for women and girls also deserves attention. While we don’t have a champion player like Beth Harmon we do have an active weekly class taught by Sophie Adams which has a large and devoted following. The Mechanics’ Institute women’s class has been a long standing tradition for over 20 years, and we must credit the work of Ewelina Krubnik who taught it for12 years and kept the chess interest for women in the Bay Area. You will see her picture on the wall of the chess annex when you visit the club. 

The favorite to win the US women’s championship is clearly the defending champion, Irina Krush. She is our closest thing to a real Beth Harmon and she has defeated many men grandmasters and holds the “men’s” GM title. This year she started  with a sizzling win. Who will challenge her for the title this year? We will soon see.

(1) Lee,Megan - Krush,Irina [B48]
US Womens Chp., 06.10.2021

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Qc7 6.Be3 a6 7.Qf3 Nf6 8.0-0-0 h5!?

(2) Abrahamyan,Tatev - Tokhirjonova,Guirukhbegim [B10]
US Womens Chp., 06.10.2021

Who will be the greatest challenger this year to Irina Krush? It could be anyone of the others. It will take some luck. One player who is due for a run is Tatev Abrahamyan. She has played well, but lady luck wasn't on her side the first round. 1.e4 c6 2.Nf3 d5 3.d3!? Interesting. Tatev offers and endgame which is certainly playable for Black. She may have sensed she was playing against an aggressive player who would prefer to get an attacking game. Her opponent is a young player who immigrated from Uzbekistan. 3...g6 4.e5 Bg7 5.Bf4 Qb6! aggressive and good 6.Nbd2! Another pschological move. Now Tatev offers the b-pawn to be the aggressor. Her opponent declines the pawn, not wanting to be on the defensive. 6...Nh6 7.Nb3 Bg4 8.h3 Bxf3 9.Qxf3 Nd7 10.d4 e6?! A bit too routine. [10...Nf8 and ...Ne6 would make better use of the e6 square] 11.g4 Ng8 12.h4 White has the initiative from the opening. 12...f6 13.0-0-0 fxe5 14.dxe5 c5 15.h5 0-0-0 16.h6!

63...Qh7! Suddenly it is Black who has the attack. The black knights do a good job defending the king and the black queen and rook are free to focus on the white king. 64.Rf3 Qb1+ 65.Kb3 d3 66.Qf8 d2 White resigns. *

Solution to Tony's Teaser

1. Qd6!!  Ke8  2. Qe5!!  K(x)  3. e8=Q#