Chess Room Newsletter #300-325 (compilation)

"Chess is an incredibly emotional game. If everything around youis harmonious, when you are feeling good, you are in a creative mood. Ifsomething is disturbing you and you are in a bad mood, then it is difficultto be creative. So you have to create the right atmosphere."
Vladimir Kramnik

IM Ricardo DeGuzman won the 6thAnnual Charles Bagby G/45 on July 1st with a 5-0 score. Tying forsecond at 4-1 in the 38-player field were Romulio Fuentes, Sam Shanklandand Dmitry Vayntraub.

Several Bay Area players made the trip to Philadelphia for the WorldOpen this past weekend, led by six-time US Champion Walter Browne.Walter played well throughout and had a chance to tie for first, but alast round loss to Jaan Ehlvest left him at 6-3.  As a consolationWalter received  a share of the top under 2500 money.
Teenager Nicolas Yap and 20-year-old Batchimeg Tuvshintugsboth had excellent results and might have made IM norms. Nicolas beat GMRohde and IM Burnett and drew with GM Ivanov , IMs Mulyarand Zlotnikov, and SMs Lopez and Enkhbat , losingonly to IM Lapshun enroute to a 5 ½ - 3 ½ score. Batchimeg scored 5-4 numbering among her victims IMs Milman, Burnett and Bonin.
Drake Wang and Shikumar Shivaji had 4 ½ pointsand Kenan Zildzic finished with 4.

Gata Kamsky, Ildar Ibragimov, Joel Benjamin, Leonid Yudasin, AlexWojtkiewicz, George Kachieshvili, Jaan Ehlvest, Vadim Milov and AlexanderIvanov tied for first in the World Open held in Philadelphiafrom June 28-July 4 with scores of 7-2, Kamsky won the title and a littleextra prize money by winning the blitz tiebreaker over Milov. My roughnumbers have over 1460 entries (including reentries) and 45 GMs and 25IMs in the 237 player Open section.

Here is one game that caught my eye and many others.

Benjamin - Stripunsky [B22]
34th Annual WORLD OPEN Philadelphia, 2006

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.c3 Nf6 4.e5 Nd5 5.Bc4 d6 6.d4 cxd4 7.cxd4 Be78.0-0 0-0 9.Re1 dxe5 10.dxe5 Nb6 11.Bd3 Na6 12.Qe2 Nc5 13.Bc2 Nd5 14.Rd1Bd7 15.Nbd2 Nb4 16.Bb1 Qa5 17.Ne4 Qa6 18.Qe3 Qc6 19.Nd4 Qc7 20.Nf6+ Bxf621.exf6 Nd5 22.Bxh7+ Kxh7 23.Qh3+ Kg6 24.fxg7 Kxg7 25.Qg4+ Kh8 26.Qh4+Kg8 27.Qg4+ Kh8 28.Qh4+ Kg8 29.Qg5+ Kh8 30.Qh5+ Kg8 31.Qg5+ Kh8 32.Qh6+Kg8 33.Nf3 Ne4 34.Ng5 Nef6 35.Rxd5 exd5 36.Qxf6 Qc2 37.Be3 Qg6 38.Qd4 Rfe839.h3 Bc6 40.Rc1 f6 41.Nf3 Re4 42.Qd3 d4 43.Bf4 Rae8 44.Kh2 Qf5 45.Bg3Kg7 46.Qa3 Rf4 47.Nh4 Rxh4 48.Bxh4 d3 49.Qd6 d2 50.Qxd2 Qe4 51.f4 Qe2 52.Rc2Qe4 53.Rc3 Kf7 54.Qf2 Rh8 55.Bg3 Qf5 56.Re3 a5 57.a3 a4 58.Qe2 Rd8 59.Re7+Kf8 60.Rc7 Re8 61.Qd2 Kg8 62.Bh4 Bd5 63.Qf2 Qg6 64.f5 Qh6 65.Qd4 Re5 66.Rd7Bf7 67.Rd8+ Kh7 68.Rd7 Kg8 69.Qg4+ Kf8 70.Rxb7 Bd5 71.Rb8+ Ke7 72.Qb4+Kf7 73.Qg4 Ke7 74.Bf2 Re4 75.Qg3 Qf4 76.Bc5+ Kd7 77.Qxf4 Rxf4 78.g4 Rc479.Be3 Kd6 80.Kg3 Rc2 81.Rd8+ Kc6 82.Rc8+ 1-0

GM Varuzhan Akobian (2575) – GM Eugenio Torre (2543) [A41]
2nd San Marino Open (7), 09.06.2006

1.d4 d6 2.Nf3 Bg4 3.c4 Bxf3 4.exf3 c6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be2 Bg7 7.Be3 Nf68.g4 Na6 9.f4
Better was 9.Qb3 or 9.a3.
9...Qa5 10.Qd2 d5 11.g5 Nd7 12.cxd5 cxd5 13.Nb5
13.Bb5 Nc7 14.Bxd7+ Kxd7 15.Rc1 e6 16.f5 gxf5 17.Bf4 Rhc8 was unclear.
13...Qb6
Trading Queens would have given White a slight but persistent advantage13...Qxd2+ 14.Kxd2 0-0 15.Rhc1.
14.Rc1 0-0 15.0-0 Ndb8 16.b4 Nc6 17.a3 e6 18.Nc3! Ne7
The best decision as 18...Nxd4 19.Bd1 Nb3 (19...Rac8 20.Na4 winning)20.Bxb3 d4 21.Na4 dxe3 22.fxe3 Qb5 23.Rfd1 was slightly better for Whiteand 18...Bxd4 19.Na4 Bxe3 20.fxe3 Qd8 (20...Qc7 21.b5) 21.Bxa6 bxa6 22.Rxc6was winning for me.
19.Na4 Qd6 20.Rc2 Rac8 21.Nc5 Nxc5 22.bxc5 Qc7 23.Rb1 Nc6
Possibly better was 23...Nf5 24.Bg4 Rb8 25.Bxf5 gxf5 26.Rcb2= withequal chances.
24.Bb5 Kh8 25.h4 h5 26.Bxc6 bxc6
26...Qxc6 27.Rcb2 Rc7 28.Qa5 Ra8 29.Qb5 b6! 30.Qxc6 Rxc6 31.cxb6 axb632.Rxb6 Rxb6 33.Rxb6 Rxa3 would offer equal chances.
27.Rcb2 Rb8 28.Rb4 Rxb4
28...f6!? was interesting.
29.Qxb4 e5?
He had to sit still with 29...Kg8 when 30.Kg2 would be slightly betterfor White as the space advantage counts for more than the slightly weakenedstructure.
30.fxe5 Qd7 31.Bf4! a5 32.Qd2 Ra8 33.a4 Bf8 34.Bg3 Be7 35.Rb3 Bd836.Qf4 Kg8 37.Kh2 Qc8 38.e6!
The decisive break.
38...Qxe6
Or 38...fxe6 39.Rf3 winning.
39.Re3 Qd7 40.Qd6 Qxd6
No better was 40...Ra7 when White is winning after  41.Qxd7 Rxd742.Re8+ Kg7 (or 42...Kh7 43.Be5 f6 44.gxf6 g5 45.hxg5 Kg6 46.Rg8+ Kh7 47.f7Rxf7 48.Rxd8) 43.Be5+ f6 44.Rxd8 Rxd8 45.Bxf6+ Kf7 46.Bxd8.
41.Bxd6
Slightly more accurate was  41.cxd6 Kf8 42.d7 Be7 43.Bc7 f5 44.gxf6Bxf6 45.Rf3 Kg7 46.Be5 Bxe5+ 47.dxe5 Rd8 48.e6 winning.
41...f5
Or 41...f6 42.Re8+ Kf7 43.Rf8+ Ke6 44.gxf6+- and White wins.
42.Re8+ Kf7 43.Rh8 Rc8 44.Kg2 Ke6 45.Kf3 Ra8 46.Be5 Kd7 47.Rg8 Rc848.Rxg6 Be7 49.Rh6 Re8 50.Kf4 1-0

The new FIDE rating list is out with young players like ShakhriyarMamedyarov ( +23 rating points to rise to 12) , David Navarra(+ 61 to 14), 16-year-old Sergey Karjakin from place 45 to 27, and15-year-old Magnus Carlsen from 63 to 34.
GM Gata Kamsky, regaining his past strength game by game, gained26 points at the Olympiad and MTel and now occupies place 20. He tops listthe list of American’s rated over 2600
Which also includes: #38 Alex Onischuk 2668, =69 Yasser Seirawan( semi-retired but playing well in the Dutch league) 2638, #78 HikaruNakamura 2632 and #90 Ildar Ibragimov 2624. Rounding out theUS top ten are Alex Shabalov 2604, Yury Shulman 2602, GregoryKaidanov 2596, Jaan Ehlvest 2593 and Alexander Ivanovand Alexander Stripunsky at 2589.

FIDE Top 20

1. Topalov (1975, BUL) 2813 14
2. Anand (1969, IND) 2779 26
3. Aronian (1982, ARM) 2761 21
4. Kramnik (1975, RUS) 2743 9
5. Svidler (1976, RUS) 2742 28
6. Leko (1979, HUN) 2738 0
7. Ivanchuk (1969, UKR) 2734 39
8. Adams (1971, ENG) 2732 25
9. Morozevich (1977, RUS) 2731 18
10. Gelfand (1968, ISR) 2729 20
11. Radjabov (1987, AZE) 2728 20
12. Mamedyarov (1985 AZE)2722 27
13. Ponomariov (1983, UKR) 2721 29
14. Navara (1985, CZE) 2719 36
15. Shirov (1972, ESP) 2716 43
16. Akopian (1971, ARM) 2713 21
17. J. Polgar (1976, HUN) 2710 1
18. Grischuk (1983, RUS) 2709 28
19. Bacrot (1983, FRA) 2707 32
20. Kamsky (1974, USA) 2697 29

Thanks to Las Vegas Expert Charles McVoy for the following articlewhich was published in the Las Vegas Review-Journal on Wednesday, April15, 1964.
The exhibition, which was sandwiched in between simuls in Santa Monica(April 19) and Denver (April 26) saw Bobby score  + 34, =1,-0. According to the late Ken Smith, who made he only draw, thingswere over quick as Bobby needed only lasted 1 1/2 hours to finish thingsoff.

Boy Wonder of Chess will compete
As local golf fans anticipate the forthcoming tournament of Champions,Las Vegas will be visited by a champion of the world's most cerebral competition.

 Bobby Fischer, current US Chess Champion, will takeon all comers in a simultaneous exhibition chess match sponsored by theLas Vegas Chess Club at the Dessert Inn, April 22 at 7 pm.

Chess, originally contrived by Indian Buddhists, as a substitutefor war, is more like the real thing to Fischer, six time US Champion.

Edward Lasker, unofficial dean of the American chess community,in his book entitled "Chess for Fun and Blood" describes Fischer as belongingto the latter category.  "He always wants to kill his opponent" Laskersaid.

Reported to have a disposition much like that of Attila the Hun,Fischer has electrified the chess world, not only for his daring, slashingplay, but also for his occasional disregard for the social amenities compatiblewith formal chess competition.

The 20-year-old boy wonder is a maverick among the chess elite. Unlikeother International Grand Masters - almost all highly educated scholarsor mathematicians - he never bothered to finish high school.

Winning his first US title at the precocious age of 14, the "enfantterrible" of the American chess community is to many authorities a strongerplayer than the current World Champion, Tigran Petrosian.

At the US Championships last December in New York the boy from Brooklynperformed an unparalleled feat by winning 11 straight matches - everyonehe played.

In Las Vegas, Fischer will probably be playing more than 11 players- simultaneously.  Tickets are available through chess club membersJerryCole, Herman Estrada, Stan Zajac, Art Gamlin, and G. M. Farnham.

Newsletter readers on the West Coast, if you have not yet received yourballot, you need to contact Pat Knight (pknight @uschess.org) atthe USCF very quickly to request a replacement ballot, as they have tobe received in Crossville by Wednesday, July 19th.

Andranik Matikozian defeated fellow IM Jack Peters inthe last round of the 46th Annual Pacific Southwest Open in LosAngeles over July 4th weekend to take first place with 6 from 7. Tyingfor second at 5 ½ were FM Michael Casella, NM Julian Landaw(who upset Matikozian in round 2) and Expert Christopher De Sa.Only 92 players competed in the Open and Amateur section, which must haveunquestionably been a disappointment to he organizers. Unquestionably theWorld Open and the upcoming Pacfic Coast Open cut into the attendance ofthis Grand Dame of West Coast chess.

Jeff Siebrandt scored 3.5-.5 to secure his fifth U. S. Blindtitle June 23-24, 2006, in Buckhannon, WV, at the Hampton Inn, The fieldof nine players consisted of 4 former champions.

"Rublevsky is not a sexy player. There are younger and more giftedindividuals around and he knows it. Yet he has canniness, which the greenhornsdon't. He does not engage the teenagers on the sharp end of opening theory,testing his ailing memory against the freshness of their computer-assistedanalysis. Instead he heads a little off the beaten track - not exactlyto the jungle, but to lesser-traveled byways where his experience counts."
Nigel Short
The Guardian June 29, 2006

SM Craig Mar defeated WIM Batchimeg Tuvshintugs in a tense battlelast night to take the lead with Expert William Gray with 4 1/2from 5 in the 8-round MI Summer Tuesday Night Marathon. Gray, whois from Scotland, turned in his second upset in two rounds beating NMRussell Wong after defeating Viktor Ossipov in round four..

Tuvshintugs,B - Mar,C
Ruy Lopez C64
Mechanics' Summer TNM (5)

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Bc5 4.0-0 Nge7 5.c3 Bb6 6.d4 exd4 7.cxd4d5 8.exd5 Nxd5 9.Re1+ Be6 10.Ne5
10.Bg5 Qd6 11.Nbd2 0-0 12.Nc4 is the main line which is consideredbetter for White.
10...Nde7 11.Bg5?! Qxd4 12.Bxe7
12.Qxd4 Bxd4 13.Bxe7 Bxe5 14.Rxe5 Kxe7 15.Bxc6 bxc6 16.Nc3 Norcia-Canal,Reggio Emilia 1951, was very comfortable for Black.
12...Kxe7!?
(a) 12...Qxf2+ 13.Kh1 Qxb2 14.Bxc6+ bxc6 15.Ba3 Qxa1 16.Qa4 0-0-0 17.Qa6+Kb8 18.Nxc6+ Ka8 19.Nxa7 Bc4;
(b) 12...Qxd1 looks safest 13.Rxd1 Kxe7 14.Nxc6+ (14.Bxc6 bxc6 15.Nxc6+Kf6 16.Nc3 Rhe8 17.Rd2 is a better try and might be equal. Black has thetwo Bishops but the Knight on c6 creates a bind.) 14...bxc6 15.Bxc6 Rad8and Black was doing well in Arribas-Perez, Cuba 1999.
13.Bxc6 Qxf2+ 14.Kh1 Rad8?
14...bxc6 had to be played. Critical is  15.Nxc6+ Kf8 16.Nd2 Bd517.Ne4 when Black has extra material but may have trouble consolidatinghis position.
15.Qc1 f6
15...bxc6 16.Nxc6+ Kd7 17.Rd1+ Kc8 18.Nxd8 Rxd8 19.Rxd8+ Kxd8 20.Na3and White is better.
16.Ng4 Qh4 17.Bf3 Kf7 18.Rxe6!?
18.Re4! Qg5 19.Ne5+ Kf8 20.Qxg5 fxg5 21.Nc3 is easily winning.
18...Kxe6 19.Qc4+ Ke7 20.Nc3 c6 21.Qe4+ Kf8 22.Qb4+ Kg8
22...c5 is a huge concession giving up d5 but objectively had to beplayed if Black wanted to continue but White would win easily. Mar's moveshould lose quickly but offers better practical chances.
23.Qc4+
23.Qe7! with threats of Ne4 and Ne5 would have ended resistance quickly.Around here White was in extreme time pressure.
23...Kf8 24.g3
24.Qb4+ was  the way to get on the right track.
24...Qg5 25.Re1
25.Ne4 Qf5 26.Rf1 h5 27.Be2 Qd5 and Black's Rook and two pawns lookvery good against White's Knights in the ending.
25...h5!
The Knight is trapped.
26.Ne4 Qf5 27.Qe2 hxg4 28.Bxg4 Qe5 29.Qf1 Qd4 30.Re2
White's flag fell before she could punch her clock.
0-1

Congratulations to Nicholas Yap and Batchimeg Tuvshintugswho both made norms ( IM and WGM respectively) at the World Open. Thiswas Batchimeg's second WGM (2400 FIDE performance) this year and she needsone more result and a 2300 FIDE rating to be awarded the Women's Grandmastertitle.

The Continental Chess Association website reports the following normswere made at the World Open.

IM Norms - Igor Schneider, Salvijus Bercys, Emory Tate, Bryan Smith,James Critelli, Jake Kleiman, Nicholas Yap, Moulthun Ly (AUS) and YoshiharuHabu (JPN). WGM Norm Batchimeg Tuvshintugs .

This event took place in Drezden, July 7th-8th. Susan Polgarwon the trophy defeating Elizabeth Paehtz in the final match.

Knockout stage results:
Quarterfinals
Lujan – Socko 2–0
Ushenina – Polgar 0–2
Sebag – Chang 2–0
Kachiani – Paehtz 0–2

Semifinals
Lujan – Polgar ½–1½
Paehtz – Sebag 1½–½
For the 3rd place
Sebag – Lujan 1–1 (1–0)

Final
Polgar – Paehtz 1½–½

Filipino IM Ricardo DeGuzman took home $325 for winning the 28-playerOpen section of the Sacramento Chess Championship held July 7-9.DeGuzman scored 4 1/2 - 1/2 giving up a draw only in the last round tofellow IM Walter Shipman. Teenage Expert  David Chockhad an excellent result in finishing second with 4, beating NM Zildzicand drawing NMs Aigner and Fuentes. Alonzo McCalleywon the 48-player Reserve section.

The latest edition of the World Open was arguably the strongestand definitely awarded the most prize money of any of the series. Interestinglythe biggest winner did not come from the Open section ( a 9-waytie that yielded Gata Kamsky $7,485 and the others $7,127) but theUnder2200 section where Rhode Island Expert Michael Clark won a whopping$17, 917 for his 8 from 9 score not to mention a tidy gain of 110 ratingpoints. Alongside a well-run event that featured excellent attendance andmany well-known GMs, there were also a few strange incidents. This Newsletteris published under the aegis of the Mechanics' Institute. The US beingan extremely litigious, we will confine ourselves to well established facts.

Eugene Varshavsky , an Expert from New Jersey rated 2169 goinginto the World Open, scored 5 from 9 against the field in round order (bye, + 2366, =2387, +2343, +2471, -2630, +2800, -2697, -2544. Expert, nowNM, Varshavsky went from 2169 to 2234 in this event. The USCF MSA has Varshavskyplaying his first USCF event in 1992. In 1997 he was rated 1671 . He wonthe Eastern Class Ch. in 2003 which got him a floor of 2000. The next threeyears he went up about 150 points. Nothing prior to the World Open indicatedsuch a breakthrough ( performance for rounds 2-7 that of a strong GM) wasin the offing. Was such a breakthrough the result of some Maslowian selfactualization on steroids or is there another explanation? We note thatminus his magic hat Varshavsky lost his last two rounds, but also thatthey were against GMs. I leave it to the reader to decide.

IM John Bartholmew wrote about his game with Varshavsky on MigGreengard's Chess Ninja website ( www.chessninja.com)

"In our game, Varshavsky came to the board some 20 minutes late. Healso took a lot of time in the opening  even on 4. ....dxc6. The onlystrange thing I noticed about his attire was the blue bucket hat he worethat drooped low around his ears. He wore the same hat against Adamsonin round 4, Kacheishvili in round 6, and Smirin in round 7 before the TDsmade him take it off. Varshavsky sat at the board the entire time, onlygetting up briefly after time control was reached. I never saw his eyesleave the board.

"The game itself was one of the strangest I have ever played. Varshavskygave up a pawn on move 14 in a very standard theoretical position (14...b5is almost universally played). After I played 15.Nxc4, I expected to consolidatethe extra pawn, trade pieces, and win in the endgame. However, Varshavskysuddenly put up surprisingly strong resistance. He began playing fast andI had a difficult time finding good squares for my pieces. I was particularlystruck by the unpredictability of Varshavsky's moves after move 14. I rememberthinking to myself several times that it felt as though I was playing againsta computer. I did not even consider moves like 26 ... Ne7, 33 ... Rg8,41. ... Bxe8, and 49 .... b6 during the game. It was very frustrating."

Bartholomew (2471) - Varshavsky (2169)
Ruy Lopez Exchange Variation
World Open (5) 2006
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.O-O f6 6.d4 exd4 7.Nxd4c5 8.Nb3 Qxd1 9.Rxd1 Bg4 10.f3 Bd7 11.Bf4 O-O-O 12.Nc3 c4 13.Na5 Bc5+ 14.Kf1Ne7 15.Nxc4 Be6 16.Nd2 h5 17.Nb3 Bc4+ 18.Ke1 Bg1 19.Ne2 Bb6 20.Nd2 Bf721.Bg3 Be3 22.Nf1 Bc5 23.Bf2 Bd6 24.h4 f5 25.exf5 Nxf5 26.Ne3 Ne7 27.Ng3Rde8 28.Kf1 Rhf8 29.Kg1 Bg6 30.c3 c6 31.Nc4 Be7 32.Nf1 Bf7 33.Nce3 Rg834.Nd5 Bd8 35.Nf4 g5 36.hxg5 Bxg5 37.Nh3 Bh6 38.Ng3 Bg6 39.Re1 Ne5 40.Bd4Nd3 41.Rxe8+ Bxe8 42.Nf5 Bf8 43.Nf2 Nxb2 44.Re1 Bg6 45.Ne7+ Bxe7 46.Rxe7Re8 47.Rg7 Bb1 48.f4 Re1+ 49.Kh2 b6 50.Be5 c5 51.g4 Nc4 52.gxh5 Nxe5 53.fxe5Rxe5 54.Rg8+ Kb7 55.Rh8 Bxa2 56.h6 Kc6 57.Nd3 Re7 58.h7 Rc7 59.Ne5+ Kb560.Kg3 Bb1 61.c4+ Ka5 0-1

Smirin (2800) -Varshavsky (2169)
Ruy Lopez Open Variation
World Open (7) 2006

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Nxe4 6.d4 b5 7.Bb3 d58.dxe5 Be6 9.Be3 Be7 10.c3 Nc5 11.h3 Nxb3 12.axb3 O-O 13.Re1 Qd7 14.Nbd2a5 15.Nf1 Bf5 16.Ng3 Bg6 17.Qd2 h6 18.Rad1 Rad8 19.Qe2 b4 20.Rd2 Rfe8 21.Qd1Qe6 22.Nd4 Nxd4 23.cxd4 f6 24.Bf4 fxe5 25.Bxe5 Qd7 26.Rde2 c5 27.Re3 Bg528.f4 Bh4 29.Rf1 Rf8 30.Kh2 Rf7 31.Qd2 cxd4 32.Qxd4 Qa7 33.Ne2 Qxd4 34.Nxd4Be4 35.g3 Re8 36.Rc1 g5 37.f5 Rxe5 38.gxh4 gxh4 39.Re2 Ree7 40.Rf2 Rc741.Rcf1 Rf6 42.Rf4 Rg7 43.R1f2 Kf7 44.Rxh4 Ke7 45.Rg4 Rgf7 46.Kg3 Bxf547.Rgf4 Bd7 48.Re2+ Kd6 49.Rh4 Rg7+ 50.Kh2 Rg5 51.Rd2 h5 52.Re2 Rf1 53.Rd2Be8 54.Rg2 Rxg2+ 55.Kxg2 Rd1 56.Kf2 Rd3 57.Ke2 Bg6 0-1

Such peculiarities were not confined to the Open section. If you lookfor the name of Steve Rosenberg in the crosstable of the Under2000 section of the World Open you will not find him. This might seemstrange to spectators who attended the World Open for all but the lastday. Rosenberg was leading the Under 2000 section with a score of 7.5 in8 rounds and was in excellent position to win close to $20,000. Insteadhe was thrown out of the tournament during the last round. Tournament directorsdiscovered that the supposed hearing aid he was wearing beneath his headphoneswas actually an audio reception device and threw him out of the tournament.Rosenberg's results were stricken entirely from the tournament scores.All seven of the opponents he defeated were given half-point byes. Theone player he drew plus his last round opponent were given forfeit wins.Those two players ended up tied for first place and each won $13,258.50.

We also note that Steve Rosenberg won his three previous events, allwith perfect scores. He scored 19-0 combined in these three tournaments,thereby raising his rating from 1731 to 1974. The USCF has not taken actionon these events, but don't be surprised if they do for Rosenberg is a certifiedUSCF tournament director who directed the events . He has directed 200plus USCF Rated tournaments. His  results in many of these tournamentsare to put it politely, at odds with statistical probability.

Some cheating at chess has always been around though it was and stillis small potatoes compared to almost every other sport. One reason is that until recently for most players there was little money involved. Thereare always a few individuals around who try to raise their ratings by artificialmeans but what really brings the cheaters out of the woodwork is big classprizes. The rise of  technology in the form of chess playing programsand audio devices makes the chance of a big score more tempting than everto a certain type. Technology of this sort is here to stay and large classprizes will always be a necessity in lieu of sponsorship but clearly somethingmust be done.

Right now the penalties appear to be minimal - Rosenberg is still listedas a member of the USCF and as a TD. His 19-0 streak is still on the record- but not his  World Open performance. Clearly action needs to betaken to circumvent similar incidents.. One step might be more active policingon the tournament floor, but this usually means more TDs which adds tothe cost of holding events which are often run on very small margins. Itis also not 100 percent clear all cheaters would be caught but I suspectit would definitely cut down on funny business. Another key factor as pointedout by Mig Greengard, is the lack of a credible deterrent. At present thepenalties for cheating are not that serious except for the shame factor.To put it another way the risk reward ratio is favorable for cheaters rightnow. Maybe they risk $1000 for entry fee, hotel and travel for a shot atclose to $20,000. A serious ban from tournament play might make some wouldbe schemers give matters a second thought. Not to be left out of the equation,and undoubtedly a reason for caution on the part of the USCF, isthe fear of misjudging an innocent party or being sued by the alleged cheater.Throughout the years the USCF has been sued by enough chessic wing nutsthat it usually goes out of its way to avoid litigation so much so thatit almost always caves in if pushed. One example being the incident inthe American Open last fall where a spot was up for grabs in the US Championshipand one player was charged with having sold a game to enable another toqualify for San Diego this year. There were plenty of witnesses in theform of TDs and other players but no "smoking gun" . The alleged "buyer"was allowed to play in San Diego but such action was potentially not withoutcost as all indications were that the US Championship sponsor, America'sFoundation for Chess, was not at all pleased.

GM Yasser Seirawan was inducted into the US Chess Hall ofFame in a special ceremony held during the Chess Olympiad inTurin. Among those attending the induction, which was held during an InternetChess Club reception, were the 2006 US Olympiad team, GM Joel Benjamin- many-time teammate of Yasser's, Executive Board members Don SchultzandRobertTanner. Tim Redman represented the US Hall of Fame and performed theinduction.

GM Seirawan may have officially retired from serious competitions buthe still maintains his 2630 + FIDE rating in the Dutch Team competitions.He has also worked closely for several years with one of Holland's topyoung prospects Daniel Stellwagen, who is zeroing in on 2600 FIDE.Yasser is very active with ChessBase doing commentary work. You can listento some of his recent efforts for free at http://www.chessbase.com/shop/product.asp?pid=286&user=&coin= or just going to www.chessbase.com .

Last call to vote in the USCF Election for two Executive BoardMembers and your Northern California Delegates. There have been some problemsin getting ballots out. I had to personally request a replacement ballotand  would be interested to hear from other USCF members in NorthernCalifornia who did not receive ballots. Remember your vote must be receivedin Crossville by July 19. Among those running for the Executive Board areCalifornia native sons Randy Hough and Mike Goodall.

The July issue of Chess is just out, the second featuring the "new look".It appears that there are supporters for both the new look and long-timecolumnists like Andy Soltis and Larry Evans who were axedin the makeover. We note that the photos are more plentiful, better chosenand crisper than in the past but to this old dog the blue and white diagramswithout borders are just too funky and hard on the eye. We would be interestedin hearing from other Newsletter readers on this matter, pro or con.

For up to date information on what is going on in the chess world thereare few better sources than the online daily Chess Today ( http://www.chesstoday.net- 15 euros for three months)  by Irish GM Alex Baburin. Theissue this past Tuesday ran the following interview ( translated from Russian)entitled Rublevsky Speaks Out
"Our colleague, IM Vladimir Barsky, conducted an interview forthe website e3e5.com with the winner of the Foros tournament, GM SergeiRublevsky. In particular, problems of the Russian team were discussed.Rublevsky stated that in his opinion "a pessimist" [i.e. GM Dolmatov]should not rule the national team, and that the team needs another coach,whoever would play for it in the future. He also added that this opinionis shared by four other members of the Russian team: Svidler, Morozevich,Grischuk and Bareev. Rublevsky also opined that players shouldbe given the possibility to propose candidates for the coaches' position.

Earlier, Bareev revealed the team's long-term dissatisfactionwith the work of the coach Dolmatov in the interview for "ShakhmatnayaNedelya" - after which Dolmatov called Bareev's interview "treasonous"in "64 - Chess Review". In one more interview, given to "Sport-Express"newspaper, Dolmatov, who had health problems before and during the Olympiad,said that he should not go to Turin from a medical point of view, but hewanted to make the feat. Dolmatov's professional future most probably willbe decided at the Russian chess federation meeting on the 21st July.

We note that since 1986 the USCF has wisely chosen a system inwhich the players directly choose their Captain.

Johan Hellsten is performing sensationally in the Swedish Championshipcurrently being held in Gothenburg. He leads with 8 from 10 but has notyet clinched first as fellow GM Emmanuel Berg is close behind him. Heris a an exciting Hellsten victory from round ten.

Eriksson,J - Hellsten,J
Nimzo-Indian E39
Swedish ch 2006

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 c5 5.dxc5 0-0 6.a3 Bxc5 7.Nf3 b68.Bf4 Bb7 9.0-0-0 Nc6 10.e3 Rc8 11.Bd3 Be7 12.e4 Na5 13.e5 Nh5 14.Bxh7+Kh8 15.Be3 g6 16.Bxg6 fxg6 17.Qxg6 Qe8 18.Qh6+ Kg8 19.Bg5 Rf5 20.Bxe7 Qxe721.g4 Rxf3 22.gxh5 Rxc3+ 23.Kb1 Be4+ 24.Ka2 Qxa3+! 25.bxa3 Rc2+ 26.Kb1Rd2+ 27.Ka1 Nb3 mate!
 

The 7th Marseille open tournament took place from 30 June – 7July.
Final standings:1-2. Fridman (2562) and Prie (2475) –7½ 3.Kosten (2504) – 7 4. Jedynak (2444) – 6½, etc.
There was also organised an IM title  tournament, won by the UkrainianGMStanislav Savchenko and the women's GM title tournament, whereWGMAnna Zatonskih (USA) shared first place with the Romanian WGMs CristinaFoisor and Elena-Luminita Cosma.

IM Vinay Bhat, recently graduated from UC Berkeley, is enjoyinga summer in Europe before joining the working world. He is currently playingin the Andorra Open where he has 3 from 5.

GM Nick deFirmian, another UC Berkeley grad, divides his timebetween New York and Copenhagen. Nick captained the Bermuda team in Turinand his update of Capablanca's classic Chess Fundamentals was recentlypublished by McKay.

The Association of Chess Professionals recently released publishedthe final rankings for the season 2005/2006. A quote from the detailedfinal report: "The top 7 finishers of the Tour were determined even beforethe end of the World Open in Philadelphia. There was some uncertainty aboutthe 8th spot: Viorel Bologan had 799 points, but Hikaru Nakamura(720, 10th place) could surpass him in case of showing a favourable resultin the World Open. After 7 rounds Nakamura was half a point behind theleading group, but in the end he failed to catch up with them, collectingjust 18 Tour points. So, Bologan took the 8th spot in the yearly rankings."

Top 20:
1. Aronian (5 events) - 2128 points
2. Anand (7) - 1752
3. Rublevsky (4) - 1425
4. Harikrishna (8) - 1225
5. Naiditsch (7) - 1055
6. Shirov (8) - 926
7. Bareev (4) - 818
8. Bologan (6) - 799
9. Nakamura (6) - 755
10. Radjabov (3) - 747
11. Volokitin (4) - 719
12. Svidler (3) - 703
13. Van Wely (6) - 690
14. Sasikiran (4) - 657
15. Grischuk (4) - 628
16. Bacrot (5) - 576
17. Motylev (3) - 566
18. Gelfand (3) - 556
19. I.Sokolov (7) - 520
20. Eljanov (2) - 464

(Note that some of the world's top
players: Topalov, Ivanchuk,
Ponomariov, Karpov are not ACP
members as of yet.)

GM Mikhail Golubev writes in Chess Today: While analyzing theFIDE rating list, the editor of TWIC, Mark Crowther, writes:
"Another surprise was FM Vladimir Afromeev's entry into thelist with a rating of 2620, initially his April rating was given as 2558but this must have been corrected at some point to 2612, he gained a further8 points from a tournament in Tula to become the only non-GM in the list,especially surprising as he was born in 1954."

In the Russian-speaking chess world, Afromeev is more known as an organizerthan as a player. His latest achievements have provoked ironical commentsby the editor of the e3e5.com website. Some background information (alsoin Russian) can be found at http://blackchess.narod.ru/.

When observing the West's conciliatory dealings with Russia, I'mreminded of a quotation often attributed to Winston Churchill: "Howeverbeautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results."
For five years, President Bush has been talking about maintainingan open dialogue with Russia's president, Vladimir Putin, and about howhard he has worked to convince the Russian leader that "it's in his interestto adopt Western-style values and universal values." This sounds reasonable,but we don't have to go on theory. There's a track record — one that clearlyshows that persuasion and appeasement toward Russia have failed.

It is long past time for Western leaders to take a tougher standif they want their rhetoric about democracy to be credible. A perfect opportunityawaits at this week's meeting of the Group of 7 leaders in St. Petersburg.I say "Group of 7" rather than "Group of 8" because I continue to hopethat the West will find its collective backbone and make Russia's participationcontingent on its actually being a democracy.

The St. Petersburg meeting offers the visiting heads of state a chanceto see for themselves how bad things here have become. The right of Russiansto elect their governors and parliamentary representatives is steadilyeroding, with more and more influence accruing to the executive. Even AleksandrVeshnyakov, the chairman of the Central Electoral Commission who has rubber-stampedthe results of every election under President Putin, recently said thatif all the new legislation proposed by Mr. Putin's United Russia Partywere passed, elections here "would be a farce." Opposition activists andjournalists are routinely arrested and interrogated. The Kremlin, in completecontrol of the judiciary, loots private businesses and then uses state-controlledcompanies to launder the money abroad.

Mr. Bush and Europe's leaders apparently believe it is best to disregardsuch unpleasantness for the sake of receiving Russia's cooperation on securityand energy. This cynical and morally repugnant stance has also proven ineffective.Just as in the old days, Moscow has become an ally for troublemakers andanti-democratic rulers around the world. Nuclear aid to Iran, missile technologyto North Korea, military aircraft to Sudan, Myanmar and Venezuela, anda budding friendship with Hamas: these are the West's rewards for keepingits mouth shut about human rights in Russia.

It's time to stop pretending that the Kremlin shares the free world'sinterests. The high energy prices the Putin administration requires tokeep its hold on power are driven by the tensions that come with everyNorth Korean missile launching and Iranian nuclear threat. It's no surprisethat Russia continues to block United Nations sanctions against these roguestates. The mystery is why the West continues to treat Russia like an ally.

Tomorrow and Wednesday, State Department representatives are scheduledto attend the Other Russia conference in Moscow. Organized by the oppositionumbrella group of which I am a founder, the conference will bring togetherpoliticians and nongovernmental organizations from all over Russia andfrom every part of its political spectrum.

The primary aim of the conference is to document our national crisisfor the Russian government, the Russian people and the widest possibleinternational audience. It is equally important to discuss what is to bedone and to make it clear that it is not too late. Our citizens must refuseto be bought off with a fleeting oil windfall and the false impressionof a return to superpower status. Western leaders must live up to theirrhetoric about human rights by stating in no uncertain terms that Russia'sstatus as a trading partner, security ally and G-8 member are all at riskif the country continues its slide into dictatorship.

Just days ago, dozens of activists en route to Moscow to attend theconference were arrested, some beaten. Possession of opposition literatureis being defined as an attempt to "overthrow constitutional order." Willthe Western delegations sit silently? Will the American president say nothing?

Perhaps silence is the best option if the most Mr. Bush has to offerare weak expressions of concern and remarks about his personal relationshipwith Mr. Putin. President Ronald Reagan's hard public line on the SovietUnion let us know that someone out there was aware of our predicament andwas fighting for us. Now this American president seems to be saying thatIraqis and Afghans are deserving of democracy, but Russians are not.

The darkest days of Communist rule are now a generation behind us.Between the end of the Communist dictatorship and the crackdown under PresidentPutin, there was a period of freedom. It was brief and it was flawed, butit could have served as a foundation for a democratic Russia. Since 2000,however, Mr. Putin has done everything possible to dismantle that fragileedifice. In dealing with Russia, please don't confuse what's good for thePutin regime with what's best for the Russian people.

Garry Kasparov is the co-chairman of the All-Russia Civil Congressand the chairman of the United Civil Front of Russia

This article appeared on the Op-Ed page of the New York Times on July10, 2006.

Hello CalChess team,

The Australia match is going ahead as planned on Saturday at 5pm. I hope all of you can make it!
*** IF YOU CANNOT PLAY FOR ANY REASON, PLEASE LET ME KNOW AS SOON ASPOSSIBLE. ***

Date: Saturday, July 15 at 5:00 PDT
Location: Internet Chess Club (ICC) at www.chessclub.com
Teams: 12 players U12 and 12 players U18, at least two in each categorymust be girls
Format: Play two games 45 5 (note change!!!) against same opponenton opposing team.  After the
first game, take a break of up to 10 minutes and then play the secondgame (colors reversed).
Younger players who move faster will probably finish in 1.5 hours whilethe most competitive
matches can take up to 3 hours.

I currently have 11 players committed for both U18 and U12 and I'm currentlyasking a couple more
people about their availability.  If you know anyone else whomight be interested, please tell
them to contact me ASAP.  I would like to have one or two alternatesif possible.  I will find a
way for the alternates to play someone as well.

Just so that everyone understands:  On Saturday, please log intoICC before 5pm from your home (or
anywhere else).  You do not have to go to Mechanics or any otherspecific physical location.  When
you log in, you should say hello to me "tell fpawn hi!" so that I knowyou are online.  I will
send more detailed instructions, including who your opponents are,later this week.

More later!  See the list of players below, updated using the latestUSCF ratings as of yesterday
evening.

Michael Aigner
"fpawn" on ICC

U18
1. Drake Wang (2256)
2. Daniel Schwarz (2217) -- maybe
3. Sam Shankland (2162)
4. Mike Zhong (2006)
5. Matt Zavortink (1950)
6. Charles Sun (1926)
7. Ted Belanoff (1835)
8. Jonathan Soo Hoo (1799)
9. Steven Liu (1768)
10. Alan Naroditsky (1742)
11. Rebekah Liu (1277) (w)
12. Jessica Connor (671) (w)

U12
1. Daniel Naroditsky (2055)
2. Gregory Young (1988)
3. Sam Bekker (1660)
4. Kyle Shin (1616)
5. Yian Liou (1512)
6. Jennifer Livschitz (1474) (w)
7. Alex Grossman (1357) -- might play for Australia
8. Andrew Chen (1355)
9. Jackie Connor (1092) (w)
10. Aditya Kumar (1075)
11. Caleb Morin (979)

"It will be cheering to know that many people are skillful chessplayers, though in many instances their brains, in a general way, compareunfavorably with the cognitive faculties of a rabbit."
James Mortimer

Former World Champion Boris Spassky and his wife Marinawill be guests of the Mechanics' Institute from September 28 toOctober 3.  During this time Spassky will give a clock simul, lectures,answer questions, work with junior players and sign books. He will givea clock simul on Saturday, September 30 on 25 boards. Cost for thesimul will be $100 (The same as the past two years in Reno). The simulstarts at 2:00 PM. There are only 25 spots which will be allocated on afirst-come first-serve basis, but to sign up before September 1, you mustbe a Mechanics' member.

More details on Spassky's activities will soon be forthcoming. Thisvisit by the tenth World Champion will continue a Mechanics' traditionfirst started in 1903 by Emanuel Lasker and continued by Capablanca,Alekhine, Euwe, Smyslov, Tal, Petrosian, Fischer and Karpov.Such visits are not inexpensive and contrary to some assumptions, the MIChess Club is not blessed with an unlimited budget. Contributions to coverthis visit will be greatly appreciated and are tax deductible. Checks madepayable to the MI can be sent to: Mechanics' Institute, 57 Post Street#408, San Francisco, CA 94104.

SM Craig Mar and Expert William Gray share first in theTuesdayNight Marathon with 4 1/2 from 5. Tied for third at 4 areNM BatchimegTuvshintugs, Chad Salinas, George Sanguinetti, and DaichiSiegrist. Three rounds remain for the 59 players.

GM Alexander Wojtkiewicz (VOIT-kay-vich) died around6pm on July 14th in Baltimore, ten days after he tied for first in theWorld Open.

I don't know the official cause of death,  but Wojt suffered frominternal bleeding for three days before seeking treatment and this mayhave contributed to his demise. All indications are that Alex was not feelingwell in the weeks before his death but had no idea how precarious his situationhad become.  He leaves behind his son Joseph, Joseph's motherLaimaand his mother Tamara.

Alexander Wojtkiewicz was born on January, 15th,  1963 in Riga,Latvia to a Polish father and Russian mother. His talent for chess wasrecognized at an early
age and he received the Soviet Master title at 15. The following yearhe was a member of Mikhail Tal's team at the Riga Interzonal,which the former World Champion won with the monster score of 14 from 17.It was at this event that World Junior Champion Yasser Seirawan(secondingTarjan and Mednis) first met Wojt. The two spentmany happy hours playing blitz during the tournament.

The next phase of Wojt's life was not a happy one and I quote from therecollections of Alexey Shirov, who also grew up in Riga  andplayed there frequently until 1988. Wojtkiewicz's father (Pavel Voitkevich)died in Riga in the beginning of the 1980i due to severe health problems- more or less a similar age and  cause of death as Alexander himself.He also drank heavily and had a strong character not accepting the Soviet'sway of life. Maybe he was also jailed once, I am not sure now. He was alsoa gifted chess player and I think somewhere in the 60s or 70s he was refusedthe Soviet master title (after completing the norm) after which he practicallystopped playing chess but he nevertheless passed the love of the game tohis son.

Alexander was hiding from the Soviet army since 1982 and he was sentencedin the summer of 1986 for two years. In the summer of 1987 he was amnestiedand started playing in Riga again despite the ugly behavior of chess authorities(for example they refused to award him when he was second in the Latvianblitz championship in 1987, I was lucky to be first then) but when he gotthe opportunity to move to Poland in 1988 he obviously did so immediately.

Refusing to serve in the army was not exactly the 'Latvian human rights'movement, in fact the danger of being a Soviet soldier was known all aroundthe big country and I remember my own dilemma in 1989-1990. In any caseAlexander had very clear negative ideas of the Soviet regime that probablymade it absolutely impossible for him to go to the army unlike the mostof players from his generation. He also told me once that he had good relationswith the well-known scientist and dissident Andrei Sakharov.

Wojtkiewicz immigrated to Poland in 1988 and quickly establishedhimself as the top player in the country. During this time in his ancestralhomeland, Wojt represented Poland on first board on several occasions inOlympiads and European teams championships. He won the Polish Championshipseveral times. At some point  Wojtkiewicz and the Polish Chess Federationbegan to have their differences and he began spending more and more timein the United States. Wojt came from a generation in the SovietUnion that looked West, so this move to the US was probably a natural one.A gifted linguist that spoke many languages fluently (Russian, Latvian,Polish, German and English with some French and Spanish thrown in), Wojtwas a natural traveler and loved to visit new places. He made up for hislack of opportunity in the Soviet Union with gusto when he was released.One account has him having visited six continents and 48 states in hislifetime and it is easy to believe. Certainly he was among Delta's topcustomers in the late 1990s when he played frequently in Asia, often accompaniedby his good friend Jaan Ehlvest.

Life in the United States was a mixed bag for Wojt. No other player,save the late Igor Ivanov, played so often and traveled so frequentlyaround the United States in search of Grand Prix points. This life withouta anchor, traveling weeks on end, certainly took its toll on Alex as itdid on Igor. One online writer suggested naming the USCF Grand Prix afterAlex and Igor, and it seems like the perfect tribute to these iron men.Alex was always busy in the US whether it was playing or teaching. Wojtseemed to feel financially  insecure and it is a pity he had no healthinsurance.

Wojtkiewicz was a very talented player who loved the game dearly. Suchwords are often written about GMs when they die but here they are accurate.A product of his time (the Soviet Union in the late 1970s and early 1980s)Wojt adopted the recommended repertoire - safe and solid with White playingfor the enduring small edge and razor sharp with Black to avoid the thedeath of a thousand small cuts. This translated into 1.Nf3, 2.c4 and 3.g3as White and the Najdorf Sicilian and Kings Indian as Black.  Laterthe Slav would creep into his repertoire, but for the most part Alex remainedtrue to his school. Though a positional routine based on strong techniquewas his bread and butter in weekend swisses,  Wojt was a brillianttactician in the Latvian school tradition ( Tal, Shirov, Shabalov).By today's professional standards Wojtkiewicz lacked the disciplined dailyroutine and systematic study habits necessary to reach the world's elitenonetheless he truly loved the game and was always analyzing interestingpositions. He contributed much to the theory of his beloved Catalan andhis games in this opening were always worthy of close scrutiny. Alex nevershowed any sense of  regret for the path he chose and was happy toplay in swisses in which opening preparation counts for less and middlegameand endgame strength for more.

A full-portrait of Wojt cannot fail to mention that he could be veryhard to deal with at times and gave tournament organizers grief on manyoccasions. If he was in a certain mood you definitely wanted to stay away.Not just once was he dubbed Grandmaster Vodkavich, and yet that was justone side of him. Most of the time Alex was one of the most friendly andcharming people you could meet. Cultured and curious, with a sharp witand self deprecating sense of humor, you couldn't help but enjoying beingaround him. Many were the tournament organizer who welcomed him back tothe fold after some incident, unable to resist despite the hidden suspicionthat future troubles were lurking.

Alex will be missed by many.

Though  Alex was known to habitually open 1.Nf3 in the US he couldoften play a mean 1.e4 when he wanted to. Here are two examples from earlydays.
 

Wojtkiewicz,A (2495) - Gdanski,J (2435) [B49
POL-ch 49th Czestochowa (14), 1992

1.Nf3 c5 2.e4 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Qc7 6.Be2 a6 7.0-0 Nf68.Be3 Bb4 9.Na4 0-0 10.Nxc6 bxc6 11.f4 Rb8 12.Bd3 Be7 13.c4 d6 14.c5 dxc515.Rc1 e5 16.f5 Rd8 17.Qe2 Ng4 18.Bxc5 Bg5 19.Rcd1 h5 20.h3 Nf6 21.Bc4Rd7 22.Rxd7 Nxd7 23.Bxf7+! Kxf7 24.Qc4+ 1-0

Wojtkiewicz,A - Asanov,B [B78]
Sochi YM Sochi, 1980

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 0-08.Qd2 Nc6 9.Bc4 Bd7 10.Bb3 Rc8 11.h4 Ne5 12.0-0-0 Nc4 13.Bxc4 Rxc4 14.h5Nxh5 15.g4 Nf6 16.e5 Nxg4 17.fxg4 Bxe5 18.Nd5 Bxg4 19.Rdg1 h5 20.Rxg4!hxg4 21.Bf4 Qh2 at all costs! 21...Rxd4 22.Bxe5 dxe5 23.Qh6 Rd1+ 24.Rxd11-0

Most chess competitions occur over the board, face to face.  Yetthere is no reason to limit
ourselves to physical interactions when it is possible to play chessin cyberspace.  Of course,
the internet offers the opportunity to meet and match wits againstpeople from other countries and
continents.  The match against Australia was the first of hopefullymore such events on the
Internet Chess Club (www.chessclub.com).

The genesis for the Australia match came when local junior Alex Grossmanand his parents visited
Australia and competed in scholastic championships Down Under. Alex's father Mike thought it
would be a great experience to meet again in cyberspace.  MikeGrossman arranged for the contact
between Alan Goldsmith from Ausnetchess and me.  Afterironing out the match details and
recruiting players, the match was set to go on July 15 at 5:00pm SanFrancisco time.

Amazingly, almost everyone who signed up on both teams actually showedup as planned.  Typically
someone would forget or perhaps their internet was unavailable. Out of 28 Californians and 26
Australians (24 boards each plus alternates), all but three showedup--some over a half hour
early--all eager to play.  Only one player developed internettrouble during the three hour match.
And despite some confusion at the start, most players found their correctopponent and started
playing within 10 minutes of the scheduled time.  That was a minormiracle in itself!

The match itself progressed smoothly.  Local players played twogames at a 45 5 time control (game
in 45 minutes with 5 seconds added per move) against the same boardnumber from Australia.  The
chess server automatically switched the colors between the first andsecond game.  In fact, once
all boards were underway, there was little for the two organizers todo but watch and tally
results.  Maybe the only disappointment was that some games finishedway too fast; two U18 matches
finished 2-0 within 30 minutes with each team having one goat.

The U12 year old match was quite lopsided in favor of CalChess. The local squad was led by Daniel
Naroditsky (#1 in USA for age 10 and under) and Gregory Young(#6 in USA for age 11).  Although
the opponents put up a valiant fight, they were outclassed and eventuallylost.  The final score
was 20.0-4.0.  The following Northern Californians won both oftheir games: Daniel Naroditsky,
Gregory Young, Kyle Shin, Yian Liou, Jennifer Livschitz, Isaac Zhang,Alex Grossman, Andrew Chen
and Ted Xiao,

In contrast, the U18 year old match was much closer.  Australia'slineup featured Moulthon Ly, who
had just obtained an IM norm at the recent World Open.  CalChesscountered with national masters
Matthew Ho, Drake Wang and Daniel Schwarz.  TheU18 result was in doubt down to the end of the
final two games.  With CalChess clinging to a narrow 1.0 pointlead, Drake Wang and Steven Liu
both converted their endgames to provide for a more substantial marginof victory (13.5-10.5).
Kudos to the perfect scores: Drake Wang, Daniel Schwarz, Mike Zhong,Matt Zavortink and Steven
Liu.

The overall score ended up at 33.5 to 14.5 in favor of Northern California. Please visit the
following website for complete results.

http://www.fpawn.com/CalChessvsAustralia.txt

I would like to thank my counterpart for Australia, Alan Goldsmith,for organizing the match from
his end.  Due to some logistical difficulties, he had to put togetherhis team entire within two
weeks.  I also want to thank Mike Grossman for the inspirationand for getting the ball rolling.

The following translation of  an interview from the Russian websitee3e5 was translated for Alex Baburin's excellent online daily ChessToday ( http://www.chesstoday.net - 15 euros for three months)

"In November 2005 I had a long phone conversation with A.G.Bakh[Executive Director of the Russian Chess Federation],which Alexander Grigorjevichin his interview for the 64-Chess Review limited to just one sentence.I told him that it would be better for the team if someone else would performthe coach's duties, and I provided concrete reasons. But, indeed, I wasagreed that if Sergei himself considers everything to be OK and does notwant to go - then, after our victory in the important competition [TheWorld Team Championship 2005] for some people the replacement of the coachwould look illogical. And only this was mentioned by Bakh"

"All players, I underline this, have high opinions about him [Dolmatov]. He is one of the most decent persons in the chess world. But if all thosewho share the view that our team needs another coach would be excludedfrom the team, then the team will be changed radically"

"The main problem of Sergei, probably, is that there are such people(and he is definitely one of them) who, when everything is good, are waitingfor everything to change for the worse. Such expectations are transferredto those who are around, in our case - to the team"

IMs Enrico Sevillano and Andranik Matikozyan tied forfirst in the 2006 Southern California Championship, a 7-player round-robinheld at the Los Angeles law offices of Cheong, Denove, Rowell and Bennett.from July 9 through 16. Next at 4-2 was IM Jack Peters. Other scores:IMCyrus Lakdawala and Eugene Yanayt, 2.5-3.5; Christian Tanaka,2-4; Francis Chen, 1-5. John Hillery directed.

Officialsite: http://www.westernchess.com/hold/champ06/champ06.html

        This week's guest on theinternet radio show "Chess and Books with Fred Wilson" will be
        Ireland's strongest grandmaster,and creator & publisher of the terrific daily
        internet chess newsletter,CHESS TODAY, GM ALEXANDER BABURIN.

        The show runs from 8:00 to10:00 PM (EST) every Tuesday evening.  As always, there will be
        replays of the show almostimmediately afterwards for our chess enthusiasts on the West
        Coast & elsewhere, andoften there will be several replays the following day.

        You can access it at thefollowing website:
        http://www.chess.fm, ONLYIF YOU ARE AN ICC MEMBER (a decision with which I disagree).
  However, if you visit chessclub.com you can sign up for a oneweek FREE trial membership,
        listen to my show that week,and access the other good stuff on Chess.fm while you're at it!

We wish a speedy recovery to FM Eric Schiller who recently suffereda stroke.

The San Francisco Chronicle (Section B, page 1 and 8) on July 14, rana picture of John Cutler who wants to bring a large chess boardto the Mill Valley Plaza. The story received over half a page of coverage.The Mill Valley Plaza is one of the de facto chess clubs for Marin Countychess players, with five inlaid tables getting constant use.

It might not have been Tinkers to Evers to Chance but Koltanowskito Grey to Donaldson produced a tournament report on the1966US Open in the latest issue of ChessBase magazine. The late Koltanowskidirected the event forty years ago and later passed the game scores onto Grey for the event which had no book or bulletin on it. Earlier thisyear Grey loaned the scores to Donaldson who entered over 200 of them includingPeter Cleghorn's upset win over Pal Benko.

US Champion Alex Onischuk has started his own website. Checkit out at www.onischuk.com .

IM Vinay Bhat scored 5.5 from 9 to tie for 16th in the 89-playerAndorraOpen won by GM Igor Khenkin with 7 points.

US Womens champion Anna Zatonskih is continuing to play in Europeafter the Olympiad. She scored 5 1/2 from 9 ( 2479 performance) in theParisOpen won by GM Kazhgaleyev with 7 points.

Zatonskih,A (2432) - Paredes Galan,A (2361) [C02]
Paris Open Championship Paris FRA (7), 14.07.2006

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.Bd3 Bd7 6.0-0 Rc8 7.a3 Nxd4 8.Nxd4cxd4 9.Nd2 Ne7 10.Nf3 Nc6 11.b4 a6 12.Bb2 Qb6 13.Qe2 g6 14.h4 Bg7 15.h5gxh5 16.Rad1 Ke7 17.Rfe1 Rcg8 18.Qd2 h6 19.Qf4 f6 20.Qh4 Qc7 21.Nxd4 Kf722.Qxh5+ Kf8 23.Nxc6 Bxc6 24.exf6 d4 25.Rxe6 Bd7 26.Re7 1-0

The 2nd Annual Alajuela Open in Costa Rica was won by GM VladimirGeorgiev of Chicago with 7 1/2  from 9. Among those tied for secondat 7 were Chicago GM Nikola Mitkov and New York GM Gennady Sagalchik.Defending champion GM Varuzhan Akobian and LA NM David Bennettwere among those on 6.5.

George Koltanowski's record of over 50 years as columnist forthe SF Chronicle  is well documented and the incredible record of around 75 years for the LA Times (Steiner, Kashdan and Peters)is public record but David Cohen writes that are northern neighbors alsohave some long streaks. One is Malcolm Sim who  wrote the chesscolumn for the Toronto Telegram for 34 years, from 1922 until hisdeath in 1956. For comparison, IM Lawrence Day will complete his30th year at the Toronto Star in December.

"In a memorial speech in Curacao, Jaan Ehlvest called Wojt the JamesBond of chess. I don't know if I would go that far; maybe Don Quixote isa better comparison. Either way, he was of a generation that is slowlydying out: the devil-may-care, living-for-the-moment professional chessbum. He traveled from tournament to tournament, thinking little about moneyor a conventional lifestyle, only about playing chess and enjoying himself.He really lived his life as if there was no tomorrow."
Alex Shabalov writing about his friend the late Alex Wojtkiewicz

SM Craig Mar has clinched at least a tie for first in the SummerTuesday Night Marathon after his round seven win over George Sanguinetti.Mar has 6 1/2  points , a point ahead of NM Batchimeg Tuvshintugsand veteran Victor Todortsev. The latter upset Expert WilliamGray of Scotland and will likely play Mar in the final round next Tuesday.The next Tuesday Marathon, named after the late Paul Vayssie, startsAugust 22.

George Sanguinetti - Craig Mar
Kings Indian E60
Summer Tuesday Night Marathon (7)
(Donaldson)

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.f3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Ne2 0-0 6.Na3?!
Typical Sanguinetti homebrew and not to be found in the Mega2006 database. The text follows the current trend ( 1.e4 c5 2.Na3) of movingthe Knight to the rim but looks to be less motivated here.
6...c5
Also quite reasonable and more ambitious was 6...e5 .
7.Nc2 cxd4
7...Nc6 8.d5 Ne5 9.Nc3 allows White to make sense of his Knights.
8.Nexd4 Nc6 9.Be3 Nxd4 10.Bxd4
10.Nxd4 looks more natural. If Black continues as in the game Whitegets a pleasant ending: 10...Qa5+ 11.Qd2 Qxd2+ 12.Kxd2.
10...Be6 11.Be2 Qa5+ 12.Qd2
This is probably the right choice. White walks a tightrope after 12.Bc3 Qg5 13.0-0 Rfc8 14.Bd2 (14.b3? Bh3 15.Rf2 Nxe4!) 14...Qh4 15.b3Nh5 16.Qe1 (16.Rc1? Be5!) 16...Qxe1 17.Raxe1 b5 18.Na3 but if he findshis way he should be okay.
12...Qxd2+ 13.Kxd2 Rfc8 14.b3 a5
14...a6 aiming for ...b5 is also natural but the text is to the pointas ...a4 is in the cards.
15.g4
Advancing this pawn Whites plans g4-g5  grabbing more space onthe kingside. 15.Rac1, trying to preserve the Bishop with Be3, is counteredby  15...Nd7 16.Be3 a4 or 15...a4.
15...Nd7 16.Bxg7 Kxg7 17.Nd4 Nc5 18.Nxe6+?
White trades away his good minor piece. A better idea was 18.h4 tryingto generate some play on the kingside.
18...fxe6 19.Ke3 e5
Black is better with the good Knight versus bad Bishop but still mustfind a way to win the position. Breaks with ...a4 and ...d5 and pressureon the f-file are all options at his disposal.
20.Rhc1 Ne6 21.a3 Rc6 22.h4 Nd4 23.Bd1 Rac8 24.a4?
This move, trying to achieve a draw by blocking the position, is notan easy one to make as it condemns White to a passive defense. Better wasthe more active 24.f4 with the point that  24...a4 can be met by theugly but concrete  25.bxa4 Rxc4 26.Rxc4 Rxc4 27.Rb1 and the counterplay against b7 gives White the necessary breathing room. For example:27...Rc3+ (27...Rc7 28.g5) 28.Kd2 Rxa3 29.fxe5 dxe5 30.Rxb7.
24...Ne6
Now a long period of cat and mouse ensues as Mar looks for the breakthrough.
25.Be2 Rb6 26.Rc3 h6 27.Rac1 g5 28.h5 Kf6 29.Bd1 Rb4 30.R1c2 Nd431.Rd2 Rb6 32.Rdd3 Rbc6 33.Kd2 e6 34.Re3 Ke7 35.Kc1 Kf6 36.Kb2 Rc5 37.Red3Ke7 38.Re3 Nc6 39.Bc2 Nb4 40.Bb1 Kf6 41.Rc1 R5c7 42.Rce1 Ke7 43.Bc2 Kd744.Rd1 Kc6 45.Bd3 Kc5 46.Rd2?
This blunder, allowing Black's King into the position, loses straightout. It was likely caused by time pressure, Sanguinetti's bête noire.46.Kc3 had to be played when Black is considerably better but the win muststill be shown. Note the direct attack on f3 doesn't seem to pay dividends:46...Rf8 47.Be2 Rcf7 48.Rh1 Nc6 49.Bd1 Nd4 50.Rh3 and it is hard to seehow Black goes forward. Note also how the Rook on e3 is deterring the ...d5break. which needs to be managed with some subtlety to be effective. Forexample: 50...Re8 51.Rh1 d5 52.exd5 exd5 53.Rhe1 Rfe7 54.cxd5 Kxd5 55.Be2and Black has gained nothing from the pawn trades.
46...Kd4 47.Re1 Nxd3+ 48.Kc2 Rxc4+
This decides things.
49.bxc4 Rxc4+ 50.Kb3 Rb4+ 51.Ka3 Kc3 52.Rxd3+ Kxd3 53.Rd1+ Ke3 54.Rxd6Kxf3 55.Rxe6 Rxe4 56.Rxh6 Rxg4 57.Rf6+ Ke2 58.h6 e4 59.Kb3 e3 60.Rf5 Rh461.Rxg5 Rxh6 62.Rxa5 Rc6 63.Re5 Kd2 64.Re7 b6 65.Rd7+ Ke1 66.Rh7 e2 67.Rf7Rc5 68.Rf6 Kd2 69.Rd6+ Ke3 70.Rxb6 Re5 71.a5 e1Q 72.Kc4 Qc1+ 73.Kb3 Qb1+74.Kc4 Qa2+ 75.Rb3+ Ke4 76.Kc3 Rc5+ 0-1

Former World Champion Boris Spassky and his wife Marinawill be guests of the Mechanics' Institute from September 28 to October3.  During this time Spassky will give a clock simul, lectures, answerquestions, work with junior players and sign books. He will give a clocksimul on Saturday, September 30 on 25 boards. Cost for the simul will be$100 (The same as the past two years in Reno). The simul starts at 2:00PM. There are only 25 spots which will be allocated on a first-come first-servebasis, but to sign up before September 1, you must be a Mechanics' member.
Five of the twenty five boards are gone after the first week so ifyou want to play don't delay.

Book and equipment donations to the Mechanics' are always welcome. Alldonations to the Mechanics' are tax deductible due to the M.I.'s 501(c)(3) nonprofit status. If you have any chess books or equipment that havebeen lying around unused for some time consider donating to the Mechanics'.You will not only get a tax write off but also the satisfaction of seeingthings put to g