Chess Room Newsletter #352-363 (compilation)

"Fischer was an individual and so was I. Today, these players havecoaches, physicians, cooks, psychologists, and parapsychologists. The championshiphas become a fight between two big collective farms."
Boris Spassky

FM Frank Thornally and Expert Murray Newcomb lead theSummerTuesday Night Marathon with 5.5 from 6 with two rounds to go. Thornally,who grew up in the Bay Area and played for the US team in the 1968 and1969 Student Olympiads, is well known to MI members but Newcombis not. Murray is a recent arrival from Maryland and has been playing inevery MI event he can find in his quest to become a Master. Mr. Newcombhas been as high as 2187 in the past fifteen years, but his rating wasdown to 1998 when he showed up at the MI. Since then, It's been climbingevery event and he is now solidly in the Expert category. We wish him wellon his quest.

IM Ricardo DeGuzman, NM Peter Zavadsky, and Expert GregoryYoung tied for first at 4.5 from 5 in the 58-player seventh annualWilliamAddison Open. The result was particularly fine for twelve-year-oldGregory who defeated NM Michael Aigner and drew with DeGuzman. Thisresult puts Gregory solidly over 2100. The event marked a return to thetournament arena by the Krubnik sisters, Ewelina and Emilia, thelater upset a player rated 800 points above her! We even had a Christiansenplaying in the Addison, but it was Larry's wife, Natasha andnot the GM himself.

For those who don't know, William Addison is an IM who playedtwice for the United States Olympic team in the 1960s and had a plus scoreover 50 games played in US Championships during the same decade. Addison,who is still an MI member, served as Chess Director at the Mechanics' inthe late 1960s. The first player of International standard to live in Californiawas the late Herman Steiner who came to the Golden State in themid 1930s. He was followed some years after by Isaac Kashdan, butboth of them were already well established players when they arrived. Addison,who moved from his native Louisiana to San Francisco in the early 1950s,was a low Expert when he first stepped through the doors of the Mechanics'.The next decade, by dint of hard work with no outside support, he developedinto one of the top eight players in the country.

Below find the playing schedule for the Konig, subjectto minor modifications. The public is welcome to attend. Note that Mr.and Mrs. Atalik and GM Yermolinsky will be playing in the CanadianOpen in Ottawa until July 15th which explains the scheduling.

Konig Scheveningen Schedule

7/9 Monday 6:30 PM
Stein (1) - Baburin (1)

7/10 Tuesday 1 PM
Fedorowicz (1) - Pruess (1)

7/11 Wednesday 5 PM
Friedel (1) - Fedorowicz (2)

7/11 Wednesday 6:30 PM
Baburin (2) - Pruess (2)

7/12 Thursday 5 PM
Fedorowicz  (3) - Stein (2)

7/12 Thursday 6:30 PM
Friedel (2) - Baburin (3)

7/13 Friday 5 PM
Pruess (3) - Fedorowicz  (4)

7/13 Friday 6:30 PM
Baburin (4) - Stein (3)

7/15 Sunday 10 AM
Zilberstein (1) - Baburin (5)
Mezentsev (1) - Fedorowicz  (5)

7/15 Sunday 3 PM
Fedorowicz (6) - Zilberstein (2)
Baburin (6) - Mezentsev (2)

7/16 Monday 12 PM
Baburin (7) - Zilberstein (3)
Fedorowicz (7) - Mezentsev (3)

7/16 Monday 5 PM
Zilberstein (4) - Fedorowicz  (8)
Mezentsev (4) - Baburin (8)

7/17 Tuesday 12 PM
Fedorowicz  (9) - Friedel (3)
Pruess (4) - Baburin (9)
K.Atalik (1) - Stein (4)
S.Atalik (1) - Mezentsev (5)
Yermolinsky (1) - Zilberstein (5)

7/18 Wednesday 12 PM
Stein (5) - Fedorowicz  (10)
Baburin (10) - Friedel (4)
Pruess (5) - S.Atalik (2)
Yermolinsky (2) - Mezentsev (6)
K.Atalik (2) - Zilberstein (6)

7/18 Wednesday 5 PM
Stein (6) - Yermolinsky (3)
S.Atalik (3) - Zilberstein (7)
Mezentsev (7) - K.Atalik (3)

7/19 Thursday 12 PM
Mezentsev (8) - S.Atalik (4)
Zilberstein (8) - Yermolinsky (4)
K.Atalik (4) - Pruess (6)

7/19 Thursday 5 PM
Zilberstein (9) - S.Atalik  (5)
Mezentsev (9) - Yermolinsky (5)
Friedel (5) - K.Atalik (5)

7/20 Friday 12 PM
K.Atalik (6) - Mezentsev (10)

7/20 Friday 5 PM
Zilberstein (10) - K.Atalik (7)

7/24 Tuesday 12 PM
Yermolinsky (6) - Pruess (7)
S.Atalik (6) - Friedel (6)
Stein (7) - K.Atalik (8)

7/24 Tuesday 5 PM
Friedel (7) - Yermolinsky (7)
S.Atalik (7) - Stein (8)
Pruess (8) - K.Atalik (9)

7/25 Wednesday 12 PM
Yermolinsky (8) - Stein (9)
S.Atalik (8) - Pruess (9)
K.Atalik (10) - Friedel (8)

7/25 Wednesday 5 PM
Stein (10) - S.Atalik (9)
Yermolinsky (9) - Friedel (9)

7/26 Thursday 12 PM
Pruess (10) - Yermolinsky (10)
Friedel (10) - S.Atalik (10)

The 35th World Open, held in King of Prussia, PA, fromJune 28 to July 4 saw nine GMs tie for first at 6 1/2 from 9. They were:VaruzhanAkobian, Leonid Yudasin, Hikaru Nakamura, Chanda Sandipan, Alexander Stripunsky,Victor Mikhalevski, Julio Becerra, Evgeni Najer, and US ChampionAlex Shabolov.

Several Mechanics' members competed in the ultra tough open sectionwith 35 GMs. Our top finishers were Josh Friedel and BatchimegTuvshingtugs with 5 from 9. Josh was hoping for more, and if not fora last round loss with black against GM Alexander Ivanov, he wouldhave been among the prize winners. Batchimeg (aka Chimi), had a very eventfultournament. She started slowly but beat IMs Bonin and Simutowein the last two rounds, showing excellent endgame technique.

Bonin,J (2374) - Tuvshintugs,B (2275)
World Open 2007 King of Prussia USA (8), 04.07.2007
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.c4 d5 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bxf6 Qxf6 7.Qa4+Nc6 8.e3 0-0 9.Rc1 Bd7 10.cxd5 exd5 11.Qb3 Rfe8 12.Be2 Qg6 13.0-0 Bh3 14.Ne1Rad8 15.Kh1 Bf5 16.Bf3 Be6 17.Ne2 Bd6 18.Nd3 Na5 19.Qc3 b6 20.Nef4 Qg521.b4 Nc4 22.Nxd5 Bxd5 23.Bxd5 Qxd5 24.Qxc4 Qh5 25.h3 Re4 26.Rc2 Rde8 27.Qc6R4e6 28.Qf3 Qb5 29.Qe2 Re4 30.Qd2 Qf5 31.Ne5 Rxe3 32.Qxe3 Qxc2 33.Qb3 Qxb334.axb3 Bxe5 35.Re1 f6 36.f4 Kf7 37.dxe5 fxe5 38.fxe5 Ke6 39.Re4 Kd5 0-1

Tuvshintugs,B (2275) - Simutowe,A (2460)
World Open 2007 King of Prussia USA (9), 04.07.2007
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 Nbd7 7.f4 Qb68.Nb3 h6 9.Bxf6 Nxf6 10.Be2 Qe3 11.Qd2 Qxd2+ 12.Nxd2 g5 13.e5 dxe5 14.fxe5Nd7 15.Nd5 Ra7 16.e6 Nf6 17.exf7+ Kxf7 18.Nb6 Bf5 19.0-0-0 e6 20.Ndc4 Bc521.Rhf1 h5 22.Nd6+ Kg6 23.Nbc8 Bxd6 24.Nxd6 Rd8 25.Nxf5 Rxd1+ 26.Kxd1 exf527.Bd3 Ne4 28.Bxe4 fxe4 29.Ke2 b5 30.Ke3 Rc7 31.Rf2 Rc4 32.c3 h4 33.Rd2Kh5 34.Rd4 Rc8 35.Rxe4 Rc6 36.a4 bxa4 37.Rxa4 Rb6 38.Ra2 Re6+ 39.Kd3 Rd6+40.Ke3 Re6+ 41.Kd3 Rd6+ 42.Kc2 Rf6 43.b4 Rf1 44.c4 Rh1 45.h3 g4 46.hxg4+Kxg4 47.c5 Rf1 48.Kb3 Kf5 49.Rc2 Ke6 50.c6 Rf8 51.Ka4 Kd6 52.c7 Rc8 53.Ka51-0

One interesting feature of this years event was an under 2400 sectionwhich attracted a large number of lower rated IMs looking at a chance forglory not possible when playing with the big boys. Eleven-year-old MI stalwartDanielNaroditsky had a tremendous performance, scoring 6 out of 9. Danielsomehow won two games by forfeit (how come this never happens to me!),but in the seven games he played, he had a performance rating of 2354 topick up 30 rating points and move up to 2180. Daniel is now about 200 pointshigher than any boy his age in the US.

Frank K. Berry 2007 US Women's Chess Championship
Over the week of July 16-20, 2007, ten of the top American women chessplayers will compete in a round-robin tournament in Stillwater, Oklahoma,to determine the Frank K. Berry 2007 US Women's Chess Champion along witha $7,000 first place prize.  Also up for grabs will be three WorldChampionship qualification places. and various players have the possibilityof obtaining Woman Grandmaster and Woman International Master norms!

Competing in the Championship are:

FKB 2007 USA Women’s Ch USCF  FIDE
July
1. Krush, Irina (WGM, IM) 2497 2479
2. Zatonskih, Anna (WGM, IM) 2491 2462
3. Baginskaite, Camilla (WGM) 2361 2328
4. Rohonyan, Katerine (WGM) 2304 2316
5. Tuvshintugs, Batchimeg (WIM) 2275 2236
6. Abrahamyan, Tatev (WFM) 2258 2237
7. Battsetseg, Tsagaan (WIM) 2234 2241
8. Melekhina, Alisa (WFM) 2168 2099
9. Airapetian, Chouchanik (WFM) 2157 2162
10. Vicary, Elizabeth (WFM) 2155 2148
Average Ratings: 2290 2270

Top 20 in the World

1. Anand 2792
2. Kramnik 2769
3. Topalov 2768
4. Ivanchuk 2762
5. Morozevich 2758
6. Mamedyarov 2755
7. Leko 2751
8. Aronian 2750
9. Radjabov 2746
10-12. Jakovenko, Shirov and Svidler 2735
13. Gelfand 2733
14. Adams 2731
15. Grischuk 2726
16. Kamsky 2717
17. Carlsen 2710
18. Akopian 2708
19. Polgar 2707
20. Ponomariov 2706
 

Top US players:
1. Kamsky 2718
2. Onishuk 2650
3. Nakamura 2647
4. Shabalov 2637
5. Seirawan 2634
6. Ehlvest 2629
7. Shulman 2610
8. Ibragimov 2599
9. Kaidanov 2596
10.Stripunsky 2589

Irina Krush is the 14th highest rated woman in the world at 2479and Anna Zatonskih is number 22 at 2462.

In 2007 the USCF will hold an election to elect three (3) members tothe USCF Executive Board for terms of four (4) years beginning at the conclusionof the 2007 Delegates Meeting and one (1) member to complete the remainingtwo (2) years of Robert Tanner's term, effective with the certificationof election results.
The 10 candidates, in the order in which they will appear on the ballot,are:

Susan Polgar
Randy Bauer
Mike Goodall
Joe Lux
Sam Sloan
Stephen Jones
Paul Truong
Jim Berry
Don Schultz
Mikhail Korenman

Voting members who receive Chess Life will receive their ballots withthe June issue. (It will be a cover wrap around the magazine.) Voting memberswho do not receive Chess Life, such as additional family members who are16 or older, will receive their ballots via first-class mail in early June.Voting members who join or renew in May will also receive their ballotsvia first-class mail in early June.

All told, ballots will have been sent to 39,880 voting members, including2163 ballots in the supplemental mailing that will go out via first classmail around June 8th. Voting members who have not received a ballot byJune 25th should contact Pat Knight at the USCF office to request a replacementballot.

The ballots will be counted in July. The ballot counting will commenceat the USCF offices in Crossville TN on Wednesday, July 25th, under thesupervision of the Chief Teller, Frank Camaratta. Any USCF member is welcometo observe the ballot counting. Preliminary results will be released bythe USCF office by the 12 USCF regions as those regions are completed.

Vassily Ivanchuk had yet another brilliant tournament in winningthis super strong event held in the Crimean section of the Ukraine, butthe story for Americans was the excellent performance of Grandmaster AlexOnishuk who rebounded from a first round loss to tie for third place, despitebeing the lowest rated player in the tournament. Alex's performance ratingwas in the rating neighborhood of 2735.

This is the sort of tournament we need to have in the United Statesfor our best players. Big Swiss tournaments are very helpful in developingtalent to a certain level, but to rise much about 2600 and especially tomake it into the 2700s, there's no substitute for meeting super strongGMs round after round with a playing schedule of one game a day.

Final Standings:
1. Ivanchuk – 7½
2. Karjakin – 7
3-6. Shirov, Onischuk, Van Wely and Svidler
6 7. Dominguez – 5½
8.Rublevsky – 5
9-10. Jakovenko and Eljanov  4½
11-12. Sasikiran and Nisipeanu – 4

Norm hunters and those just looking to play a very interesting tournamentin a new local, will definitely want to check out the Miami Openscheduled for late September. IM Blas Lugo deserves major congratulationsfor putting together this event. Look for complete details below underupcoming events.

IM Mark Ginsburg of Tucson writes:

i am constructing a 'life essay' of games and personalities at the abovesite.   Some of the historical reminiscences will necessarilybe incomplete so a blog comment feature is ideal for corrections &augmentations!
 Check Mark's site out at: http://nezhmet.wordpress.com/

Mechanics' IMs will have their work cut out for them at the Konig. Twoof the GMs, in particular, are in excellent shape. Suat Atalik recentlytied for first in a very strong tournament in Serbia, finishing ahead ofKarpov. The Irish Bear, Alex Baburin, won the Liechtenstein Openand then placed highly in the European Union Championship in Aosta, Italy.Note the fine placing of Italian-American teenager Fabiano Caruana.

Final standings:
1-2. Sedlak, Godena – 8 points
3-6. Luther, Caruana, Baburin, Cebalo
– 7½
7-9. Sulskis, Sulava, Llaneza Vega – 7
etc.

GM Baburin, who gave an excellent lecture at the Mechanics' on Tuesdaynight, is the chief editor and publisher of the excellent online dailyChess Today. Each issue features four to six pages of recent annotatedgames, tournament reports, book reviews, editorials, and more. Alex isoffering a special rate to MI members of $25 for a six month subscription,(over 180 issues). This price is a discount of 30% over the normal subscriptionrate. Sign up in person at the MI any time in the next two weeks.

The following game, which makes one think of the old fashioned kinghunts of long ago, was recently published in Chess Today. I've truncatedthe notes:

Ahn,Martin (2302) - Ruck,Tamas (2334) [C45]
BEL-chT 0607 Belgium (9), 01.10.2006

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Bc5 5.Nb3 Bb6 6.Nc3 Nf6 7.Bg5h6 8.Bh4 d6  9.a4?
9.Qe2 occurred in the last tiebreak rapid game Rublevsky-Grischuk inElista (and also in Ivanchuk-Morozevuch, Morelia/Linares 2007, etc.
9...Nxe4!!N
 In 1992, GM Inkiov played 9...a6 against GM Smirin; 9...g5 wasused too. The text just refutes White's 9th.
10.Bxd8
After 10.Qh5 White hardly has any compensation for the pawn. E.g. 10...g6!?11.Bxd8 gxh5 12.Nxe4 Kxd8 13.a5 Nxa5 14.Nxa5 Re8]
10...Bxf2+ 11.Ke2 Bg4+ 12.Kd3 Ne5+!!
The main point of the combination.
13.Kxe4 f5+ 14.Kd5 Rxd8!-+
Now Black's main threat is 15...Ke7 with inevitable mate.
15.Qxg4 c6+! 16.Ke6 0-0!
Very spectacular! And also somewhat stronger than 16...fxg4 17.Kf5
17.Nd5
If 17.Qxf5, then Rfe8#
17...fxg4 18.Bd3 g6
18...Rde8+!? wins in a more forced way;
while 18...Rf7! (with the idea of 19...Re8+, 20...Rd7#) was the simplest.But, generally, everything is good for Black here
19.Rhf1 Kg7 20.Nd4 Rfe8+ 21.Ne7 Bh4 22.Bxg6 Rxe7+ 23.Kf5 Rf8+ 24.Ke4Nxg6+ 25.Kd3 Ne5+ 26.Kc3 Bf2 0-1

Three years ago, IM Igor Khmelnitsky, a three time participantin the US Championship, wrote the original and well received ChessExam and Training Guide which won the 2005 Cramer Award for thebest chess book produced in the United States. Now Igor has a new bookout, Chess Exam and Training Guide: Tactics. Find out allabout it at:
http://www.iamcoach.com/chess/Exam/additional_info_on_exam2.htm#Reviews

"Simple positions give an inexperienced player an opportunity notonly to understand, but also to feel deeply what each piece is able todo."
Vassily Smyslov

FM Frank Thornally defeated Expert Murray Newcomb lastnight and leads the Summer Tuesday Night Marathon with 6.5from 7. He will face NM Andy Lee, who has 6 points, in the lastround. Tied for third are Expert Victor Ossipov and Class A playerBrendan Purcell. The latter is having an excellent tournament and shouldbe an Expert after this event.

The 2nd Imre Konig Memorial has started. So far the resultsare Stein-Baburin draw and Fedorowicz-Pruess 0-1.

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 good use.

A total of 75 players braved the summer heat of Sacramento to play inthe annual 4th of July
weekend classic on July 6-8. Many players came from the Bay Area butsome travelled as far as
Idaho and Florida. The field was headlined by International MastersRicardoDeGuzman and Walter
Shipman plus National Masters Daniel Schwarz, Zoran Lazetichand Michael Aigner. However, a total
of 13 players in the Master/Expert section were juniors (as young as9 years old) and a few had
big impact on the final standings.

Final standings:http://sacramentochessclub.org/weekend_events/2007scc.htm

All of the top seeds got in trouble early in the event. On Friday night,Shipman lost to Larry
Martinez (1851) and never was a factor in the standings. Thisreporter fared not much better with
an endgame draw against teenage student Jeff Young (1918) and a lossto Martin Marshall (1947).
Aigner reentered to join DeGuzman and Lazetich in the 2-day scheduleand all three masters earned
2.5/3 in the G/60 games (Aigner-DeGuzman was a draw). However, it wasnot without adventure, as
DeGuzman played the wrong check in a game against Brendan Purcell (1982)and found himself in big
trouble after sacrificing a piece and a rook. Thanks to some luck intime pressure, the master
magician won yet again. In the meantime, Schwarz cruised to a 3-0 startin the 3-day schedule by
defeating fellow teenager David Chock (2099).

However, after the merge, Schwarz promptly returned to earth, losingin 20 moves to DeGuzman's
favorite Torre Attack. While Lazetich won in a time scramble, thisreporter was unable to break
down 12 year old Gregory Young's defenses in a rook endgame up a pawn.That left DeGuzman and
Lazetich tied for first at 3.5/4 with Aigner and three of his students(Schwarz, Chock and Gregory
Young) half a point behind.

On the final day, DeGuzman sacrificed a piece for three pawns againstLazetich and won the endgame
after over 50 moves, with Lazetich missing an apparent draw at onepoint. However, the real action
was on board 2 where, after a very sloppy middlegame (queen's gambitaccepted) with multiple
forced wins for both sides, Aigner ran Chock out of time in a drawnendgame of Q+P vs R+B+P. In
the final round, DeGuzman came to fight and essayed the Shabalov-Shirovattack of the semi-slav
(7.g4), but could only force a drawn opposite bishop endgame. Thatleft the winner of board 2 with
a chance to tie for first, but close friends Schwarz and Aigner swappedall of the minor pieces
without great adventure and agreed to a draw.

Master/Expert section prizes:
1st Place: IM Ricardo DeGuzman
2nd Place: NM Daniel Schwarz & NM Michael Aigner
1st & 2nd Place Under 2200: Gregory Young, David Chock, AdarshKonda and Eleuterio Alsasua

The Reserve (under 2000) section saw 47 players compete for rating pointsand a variety of cash
prizes. Douglas Legvold, who moved from Florida to California abouta year ago, took the first
place honors at 5.5/6. Junior Ted Belanoff shared second with veteranConrad Cota at 5.0. Perhaps
the biggest success story of Sacramento in the past year has been therise of 13 year old Nicholas
Karas from merely an 1170 player last October to 1740 after a 4.5 resultlast weekend! Much of the
credit for this improvement goes to his budding young teacher, NM Schwarz.Another promising
player is Brian Curtis from Colorado, who raised his rating from 1233to 1463 after an amazing
4.0/6 result that included wins over two opponents rated above 1750.

Reserve section prizes:
1st Place: Douglas Legvold
2nd Place & 1st Place 1600-1799: Ted Belanoff & Conrad Cota
2nd Place 1600-1799: Nicholas Karas
1st Place 1400-1599: Jennifer Livschitz
2nd Place 1400-1599: Christian Dypoldt, Marvin Gilbert, Alan Howe,
Vjay Jasthi & John Locke
1st Place U1400: Brian Curtis
2nd Place U1400: Michael Fischer
1st Place Junior: Anthony Blessing, Vishal Dasari, Arun Gomatam& Isaac Zhang

This weekend the Portland Chess Club will be holding amemorial tournament for Clark Harmon. Thanks to Clark's wife Sherryand Michael Morris of Portland all of Clark's games from the 1959California Junior Championship and the 1974 Stamer Memorial are available.

Clark had only been playing for a few years when he made the long roadtrip from Portland to Lancaster ( 942 miles!) with Buz Eddy. Nowmuch was expected from the 16-year-old from Oregon in a field which includedsuch strong young talents as Gilbert Ramirez, Art Wang and Stephen Sholomsonbut Clark scored 6.5 from 7, drawing only with Ramirez, to earn the title"Clark- The California Crusher"

Here are two key games from the event:

Harmon,Clark - Wang,Arthur D [E56]
California Jr. WB Patterson Memorial Lancaster (5), 26.06.1959
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 0-0 5.Bd3 d5 6.Nf3 c5 7.0-0 Nc68.a3 dxc4 9.Bxc4 Ba5 10.Ne2 cxd4 11.Nexd4 Nxd4 12.Nxd4 Qe7 13.Bd2 Bxd214.Qxd2 Bd7 15.Qe2 e5 16.Nf3 Bc6 17.Rfd1 a6 18.Rac1 h6 19.Nh4 Ne4 20.Qg4Qf6 21.f3 Nd6 22.Bd5 Bxd5 23.Rxd5 Rac8 24.Rcd1 Nc4 25.Nf5 g6 26.Nxh6+ Kg727.Rd6 Nxd6 28.Rxd6 Rc1+ 29.Kf2 Rc2+ 30.Kg3 Qxd6 31.Nf5+ Kg8 32.Nxd6 Rxb233.Qc4 Rb6 34.Nc8 Re6 35.Qc5 Rfe8 36.Nd6 R8e7 37.Nxb7 Kg7 38.Nd8 1-0

Harmon,Clark - Sholomson,Steven [E70]
California Jr. WB Patterson Memorial Lancaster (7), 26.06.1959
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Bg5 0-0 6.Qd2 Nbd7 7.f4 h68.Bh4 e5 9.fxe5 dxe5 10.d5 Nc5 11.Qe3 Qe7 12.Nf3 b6 13.h3 a5 14.Be2 a415.0-0 g5 16.Be1 g4 17.Nh4 Kh7 18.Nf5 Bxf5 19.Rxf5 gxh3 20.gxh3 Ncd7 21.Kh2Rg8 22.Bg3 Qb4 23.Rb1 Rae8 24.Nb5 Nc5 25.Be1 1-0

The 1974 Stamer Memorial set an all-time MI attendancerecord  with 119 entries (not likely to be challenged since it iswell over the current Fire Marshall limit!) and Clark won $700 for his6.5 from 7 score. Here is his last round win.

Harmon,Clark - Newbold,Robert [D87]
Arthur Stamer Memorial San Francisco (7), 04.07.1974
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Bc4c5 8.Ne2 Nc6 9.Be3 0-0 10.0-0 Qc7 11.Rc1 Rd8 12.Qa4 Bd7 13.Qa3 Bf8 14.Qb2b5 15.Bd3 Rab8 16.Bf4 e5 17.Bg3 Bg7 18.d5 Na5 19.Qd2 c4 20.Bb1 Qc5 21.Kh1b4 22.cxb4 Rxb4 23.f4 Bh6 24.Qc3 Rdb8 25.Bf2 Qc7 26.Qf3 exf4 27.Be1 Bg428.Qxg4 Rxb1 29.d6 Qd8 30.Bd2 R1b2 31.Bc3 Rxa2 32.Nxf4 Bg7 33.e5 Nb3 34.Rcd1Nc5 35.Nd5 Ne6 36.Ne7+ Kh8 37.Nc6 Qf8 38.Nxb8 Qxb8 39.Rxf7 Rc2 40.Qxe6Qa8 41.Rf3 1-0

Obituary published: April 14, 2007 in McMinnville, OR newspaper -
Mr. Harmon died of cancer on Thursday, April 12, 2007, at his home.He was 64. Born in Portland on Oct. 18, 1942, he was the son of Edwin andL. Rose (Parker) Harmon. He grew up in Portland, graduating from ClackamasHigh School. He attended Portland State University, where he earned anaccounting degree. He lived in Seattle for a short time, working for Boeing,then returned to Portland to work for Freightliner. He later establishedhis own certified public accountant practice in Olympia. In 1989, he wentinto the business of manufacturing and selling greenhouses. He marriedSherry Correla on March 30, 1991, in Vancouver, Wash. He moved to McMinnvillein 1991 and Amity in 1996.

A master chess player, he was a 10-time winner of the state chess championship.He belonged to the Portland Chess Club and U.S. Chess Federation.

He also enjoyed horses, horse camping at the beach and reading. "Hewas an easygoing, mild-mannered man who was very non-judgmental and tookeveryone at face value," his family said. In addition to his wife, Mr.Harmon is survived by two sons, Calvin of McMinnville and Charles of LosAngeles; a daughter, Christina Schwartz of Amity; a sister, Susan Protheroof Corvallis; and three grandchildren.

MI GM-in-Residence Alex Yermolinsky and his good friend GM SuatAtalik are tied for first with 4 from 5 in the 9 round, 280-player, CanadianOpen being held in Ottawa. Among those joining them at the top are GMsNigel Short and Sergei Tiviakov. Expect action to heat up in the last fourrounds as the top players slug it out.

For more information go to
http://www.islandnet.com/~jberry/cycc/5sO.htm
http://canchess.blogspot.com/

The following game from Ottawa is well worth replaying.

Mikhalevski - Sambuev: Queen's Gambit, Tarrasch
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2 c5 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.0–0 Be7 7.cxd5 exd58.Nc3 0–0 9.Bg5 cxd4 10.Nxd4 h6 11.Be3 Re8 12.Rc1 Bf8 13.Nxc6!? .bxc6 14.Bd4Bg4 15.f3 Bd7 16.Na4 g6 17.Nc5 Bf5 18.g4 Bc8 19.Qa4 Qd6 20.e3 h5!? 21.g5Nh7 22.f4 h4 23.e4 h3 24.e5 Qd8 25.Bf3 Bxc5?! 26.Rxc5 Bd727.e6!! Rxe6 28.Bc3Kf8 29.Qd4 Ke8 30.Ba5 Qb8 31.Rcc1!  Nf8 32.Bb4 Qb7 33.Bc5 Rc8 34.f5!gxf5 35.Qh8 Re7 36.g6!! fxg6 37.Rfe1 1–0.

One GM who is not doing particularly well in Ottawa is  ArkadiVul.  A player of master/IM strength for much of his life Vulsuddenly shot up over 2500 in his early 50s but just a few years lateris now close to 2300. One doesn't want to make accusations without knowingall the facts - illness or financial troubles could easily explain thesudden drop - but this does look suspicious.

Much more obvious is the case of Vladimir Afromeev. GM AlexanderBaburin wrote in Chess Today ( issue 300) on September 3rd, 2001, aboutthe Romanian fake GM Alexandru Crisan ( still rated 2588 on theJuly 2007 FIDE list) and Afromeev.

"The problem is very serious - it is quite possible soon that peoplelike Crisan will bring their ratings even higher, automatically gainingplaces in World FIDE Championships. Then they will be getting money (OK,they probably have expenses when 'earning' their ratings), depriving somedeserving players a chance to make a better living. Alas, the fact thatFIDE did not take a hard stance against such abuse, has already temptedmore people into inflating their ratings. For example, I recently received'64-Chessreview' No.7 of 2001. There I read an interesting article by IMIgor Yagupov, who described how a local businessmen in his native Tula(city about 120 km from Moscow; GM Kotov was from there) last yeardecided first to get and then to raise his Elo. That guy - Mr. VladimirAfromeev - has been so successful in his fraud, that he now has aninternational rating of 2520! I call it a fraud, because many know thatthe some of the tournaments, which he 'organized' never took place, whilein some others certain players threw points at Mr. Afromeev. Now he isan FIDE Master and I bet that soon he will become Grandmaster.

By the way, at some point Mr Afromeev decided that his personal drivershould have Elo rating too (who wants un-rated drivers nowadays?!). Nowthat guy has a rating in excess of 2440. Mr.Afromeev is even claimed tohave said that if he wanted, his cat would get a rating like that too!Now, that's something for FIDE to look at, if you ask me! Alas, as Yagupov'sarticle indicates, the Russian Chess Federation is not going to do anythingand I doubt that FIDE will do much either. Yet, this problem can be dealtwith - for example by establishing a FIDE commission, which would examineall suspicious tournaments, demand score-sheets and warn people, who tookpart in them."
Prophetic words by Baburin. Afromeev is still an FM but he is now #78in the world at 2642! There is no word on how high rated his cat is.

Top Americans players will be active this summer.
MonRoi International Women's Chess Grand-Prix
MonRoi International Women's Chess Grand-Prix will hold an 8 playerround robin July 21st-28th in Montreal, Canada.

Standings, based on rating performances in 7 qualifiers in Grand-Prixhost countries: Gibraltar, France, Croatia, Germany, Liechtenstein, Italy& USA

1. WGM Irina Krush, USA, RP- 2554 GibTelecom
2. GM Pia Cramling, Sweden, RP-2522 GibTelecom
3. WGM Iweta Rajlich, Poland, RP- 2521 Euro 2007
4. WGM Jovaka Houska, England, RP- 2512 GibTelecom
5. WGM Lela Javakhishvili, Georgia, RP- 2490 Euro 2007
6. WGM Cristina Adela Foisor, Romania, RP- 2489 Liechtenstein
7. WGM Vijayalakshmi Subbaraman, India, RP- 2482 Liechtenstein
8. Myriam Roy, Canada, Quebec Chess Federation selection

Details: http://www.monroi.com/GP/

The 40th Biel Chess Festival takes place 21st July-3rd August 2007.Alex Onischuk will represent the US in the strong top group.
Official site: http://www.bielchessfestival.ch/

Players:
Teimour Radjabov      AZE  2747
Judit Polgar         HUN  2727
Alexander Grischuk    RUS  2717
Magnus Carlsen        NOR 2693
Loek Van Wely        NED  2674
Alexander Onischuk    USA  2663
Bu Xiangzhi          CHN  2656
Boris Avrukh         ISR  2644
Alexander Motylev     RUS  2642
Yannick Pelletier     SUI  2602
---------------------------------
Average :    =  2677 (cat. XVIII)

8th Montreal International There may not be a lot of chessplayers in Canada but they do organize many nice tournaments each summer.GataKamsky will fly the US flag in this blockbusteras Vassily Ivanchuktries to win his fourth major competition in a row. The 8th Montreal Internationaltakes place 19th-28th July 2007.Players: Vassily Ivanchuk, Gata Kamsky,Nigel Short, Pavel Eljanov, Sergei Tiviakov, Emil Sutovsky, Kamil Miton,Pentala Harikrishna, Mark Bluvshtein and Pascal Charbonneau.Official site: http://www.fqechecs.qc.ca/index.php?typ=actu&id=1760&categorie

GM Leonid Yudasin leads the  New Jersey Futurity Internationalbeing held July 7-11 in Parsippany with a score of 5 from 7 with two roundsto go. Other standings in the event, which features an average FIDE ratingof 2412 are: 2-3. GMs Panchanathan and Erenburg 4.5; 4-6. GM Zaichik,IM Simutowe and NM Ju 3.5; 7. NM Molner 3; 8-10. Bartell, Ippolito andZlotnikov 2.5
Go to http://njknockouts.blogspot.comfor more information.

Starting Sunday, September 9th, Berkeley will once again have a weeklychess club.  To celebrate, the inaugural tournament will be a six-weekMarathon with just $6 entry fee and $350 in cash prizes.  Games willstart at 7:00 pm and time control is 40/90 followed by G/30.  Theclub will meet in room 17 at Hillside School 1581 LeRoy in Berkeley.
The Berkeley Chess Club is being sponsored by the BerkeleyChess School, in consultation with former BCC director Alan Glasscoe. RichardShorman will occasionally provide pre-game lectures, plus analysisin the skittles room.  We will have a web page with game transcripts,results, advance pairings, etc.
The registration form is at http://www.berkeleychessschool.org/chessclub.htmand this is a secure page.  You can sign up online or print and mailit to us.
Feel free to contact us at  510-843-0150 or [email protected]. You can speak wtih Elizabeth, Marc, or David.

Can anyone shed light on Jim Murray, a Bay Area master of the1960s? NM John Blackstone, who played on the US Student team inYbbs, Austria, in 1968 passes along the following three games.

Blackstone,J - Murray,J [B67]
M Peninsula - M.I. No. CA (1), 1962
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.Bg5
e6 7.Qd2 a6 8.0-0-0 Bd7 9.f4 h6 10.Bxf6 gxf6 11.Be2 h5
12.Rhf1 Qc7 13.Kb1 0-0-0 14.f5 Be7 15.Qe1 Rdg8 16.Qf2
Ne5 17.h3 h4 18.Nf3 Qc5 19.fxe6 fxe6 20.Qxc5+ dxc5
21.Nxe5 fxe5 22.Rf7 Kd8 23.Bg4 Ke8 24.Rf3 Rh6 25.g3
Rf8 26.Rxf8+ Bxf8 27.gxh4 Rxh4 28.Ne2 Bc6 29.Ng1 Bxe4
30.Re1 Bd5 31.Rxe5 Bd6 32.Re2 Kf7 33.b3 b5 34.Nf3 Bxf3
35.Rf2 Rh6 36.Rxf3+ Rf6 37.Rxf6+ Kxf6 38.Kc1 Bf4+
39.Kd1 Ke5 40.Be2 ½-½

Blackstone,J - Murray,J [B67]
M U.C. - MI No. CA (2), 1967
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.Bg5
e6 7.Qd2 a6 8.0-0-0 Bd7 9.f4 h6 10.Bxf6 gxf6 11.Bc4
Na5 12.Be2 h5 13.Kb1 Qc7 14.f5 0-0-0 15.Rhf1 Be7
16.Qd3 Kb8 17.Qh3 Nc4 18.fxe6 fxe6 19.Nxe6 Qc8 20.Bxc4
Qxc4 21.Nd5 Rde8 22.Nb6 Bxe6 23.Nxc4 Bxh3 24.gxh3 Rhg8
25.b3 Rg2 26.Rd2 Reg8 27.Rff2 Rxf2 28.Rxf2 Rg1+ 29.Kb2
Re1 30.Nd2 Re3 31.h4 f5 32.exf5 Bxh4 33.f6 Re8 34.f7
Rf8 35.Rf5 Kc7 36.Nf3 Be7 37.h4 Kd7 38.Ng5 b6 39.Nh7
Ke6 40.Nxf8+ Kxf5 41.Nd7 Kg4 42.f8Q Bxf8 43.Nxf8 Kxh4
44.Kc3 Kg4 45.Kd3 h4 46.Ke2 Kg3 47.Kf1 Kf3 48.Nd7 b5
49.Nb8 Ke3 50.Nxa6 Kd4 51.Nb4 1-0

Murray,J - Blackstone,J [E66]M MI - Golden Gate No. CA (2), 19681.c4g6 2.Nc3 Bg7 3.g3 c5 4.Bg2 Nc6 5.Nf3 Nf6 6.0-00-0 7.d4 d6 8.d5 Na5 9.Qd3a6 10.Rb1 b5 11.cxb5 c412.Qc2 axb5 13.Nd4 b4 14.Ncb5 Bd7 15.a4 Qb6 16.h3Rfc817.Be3 Qb7 18.Qd2 c3 19.bxc3 Nc4 20.Qd1 Nxe3 21.fxe3Bh6 22.Nc6 Bxe3+23.Kh2 Bf5 24.Rxb4 h5 25.Nxd6 Qd726.Nxc8 Rxc8 27.Qb3 Kg7 28.a5 e6 29.c4Rh8 30.Qxe3exd5 31.Ne5 Qc7 32.Rxf5 gxf5 33.Qg5+ Kf8 34.Qxf6 Rh735.Rb8+Qxb8 36.Nd7+ Ke8 37.Nxb8 h4 38.Qe5+ Kd839.Nc6+ Kd7 40.cxd5 hxg3+ 41.Qxg31-0

Today, when it is possible to watch games live over the internet, itis easy to forget what a recent development this is.

Michael Morris writes:

"Your bio of Addison mentioned his participation in the US Championshipsof the 1960's.  I remember well the excitement at the club when thereport first came in of Bill's sensational defeat of Sammy Reshevsky inthe first round (I believe) of the 1963 tournament.  In those pre-email,pre-fax days the only way to get the game score quickly was by telephoneand I recall someone on the line taking down the moves from a friend inNY."

Vinay Bhat took time off work to play three tournaments in Spainin search of his final GM norm. He writes:

Hi John,
I started out quite well in Sort (4.5/5, with wins against Grandaand a draw with Burmakin), but then I fell sick, started taking some
antibiotics and lost the next 3 games (Korneev, Mamedov, and Gupta).I have 5.5/9 right now, with one more game to go here.
Next up after Sort is Benasque, which starts July 5th.
Vinay

We note that Vinay is in the GM norm hunt in Benasque with 4.5 from6 including a win over GM Mamedov and a draw with GM Gelashvili.

John Blackstone writes:

John the following was taken from the following:http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=3934which is ChessBase web site. Do you know if this
actually occurred or is it just a joke.

1,000-game simultaneous display

From the ‘Simultaneous Display’ entry in Harry Golombek’sThe Encyclopedia of Chess (London, 1977 and Harmondsworth, 1981):
‘It is also reported that a certain Dr Backer played 1,000 gamesin San Francisco, 1938 with the result +343 –138 =519.’
Golombek’s words appeared in the section on exhibitions given on areplacement basis (i.e. with new games beginning as others are completed).

Whether such a display ever occurred was a question raised in C.N. 899by Hugh Myers (Davenport, IA, USA), who pointed out that ‘Backer’ is usuallygiven as
‘Basker’. Our correspondent quoted from page 122 of the March 1938BCM (of which Golombek was then the General Editor):

‘San Francisco. A certain Dr Basker has succeeded in performing theherculean task of playing 1,000 boards simultaneously. His results were(after four days’
play) 343 wins, 138 losses and 519 draws.’

As noted in C.N. 3230, the story was widely reported. For example, thefollowing appeared on page 100 of the Australasian Chess Review, 30 April1938:

‘A certain Dr Basker, of San Francisco, is reported to have played 1,000games simultaneously. After four days’ play, he finished up with a scoreof 343-137
[sic], and 519 draws. We assume that his opponents came along in relaysor waves, with day and night shifts.’

Finally, from page 337 of CHESS, 14 June 1938:

‘Several magazines and journals have reported that a certain Dr Basker,of San Francisco, has played 1,000 opponents simultaneously, winning (afterfour days’
play) 343, drawing 519, losing 138. We believe the whole thing is ahoax.’ Whether this ‘certain’ Dr Basker ever existed is uncertain.

Can readers shed light on this matter?
The last day to qualify for the early entry discount for the New EnglandMasters Tournament is JULY 13, 2007!  Get your entry in soon to paythe lowest possible entry fee!The New England Masters is a 9 round FIDESwiss that will be held from August 13-17, 2007, near Boston, USA.GM andIM norm opportunities exist as we have 25 entries currently averaging overFIDE 2350, including 4 Grandmasters and 10 IMs.  Remember, entriesare limited to players FIDE rated 2200 or higher to help maintain the highaverage and maximize norm opportunities!The event will take place at theHoliday Inn, Boston-Peabody, which is about 12 miles away from Logan InternationalAirport in Boston.  We have secured a low $69/night rate for all nights,so long as you book your hotel by July 23, 2007.  After this dateboth the rate and availability cannot be guaranteed!For complete informationon the New England Masters, online entry and online hotel booking system,please visit our website at www.NewEnglandMasters.com.Please do not hesitateto contact me should you have any questions regarding the tournament.Sincerely,ChrisBirdOrganizer, New England Masters Chess Tournamentwww.NewEnglandMasters.com

"The possibilities of Morphy's genius have never been half revealedbecause only a very limited exercise of its powers has been sufficientto insure victory."
Samuel Standidge Boden (after losing to Morphy)

On Sunday evening the chief editor and publisher of the well respectedonline chess daily Chess Todayreported on the Konig Memorial.

2nd Imre Konig Memorial

by GM Alex Baburin

For such a big country, the US offers very few opportunities forsomeone to
make a GM norm – maybe there are half of dozen such tournamentsin the
country. One of them – and this is the only such tournament thisyear on the
West coast – is in progress at the Mechanics' Institute Chess Clubin San
Francisco. It is called the 2nd Imre Konig Memorial and it has a
Scheveningen format, with two 'teams' facing each other.

One team (let's call it the IM-team)consists of GM-norm seekers –IMs
Vladimir Mezentsev (born in 1959, FIDE rating - 2392), DmitryZilberstein
(1979, 2410), Alan Stein (1975, 2412), David Pruess(1981, 2424) and Joshua
Friedel (1986, 2472).

Their opponents are: WGM Ekaterina Atalik (1982, 2400), GMs SuatAtalik
(1964, 2564), Alexander Baburin (1967, 2559), Alex Yermolinsky (1958,
2517) and John Fedorowicz (1958,2460). Since three of these players
took part in the Canadian Open, they will start this tournamentlater.
 

Results so far:
Fedorowicz – Pruess 0-1
Stein – Baburin ½-½
Friedel – Fedorowicz ½-½
Pruess – Fedorowicz 0-1
Friedel – Baburin ½-½
Fedorowicz - Stein ½-½
Baburin – Pruess 1-0
Baburin – Stein ½-½
Mezentsev – Fedorowicz 0-1
Zilberstein – Baburin ½-½
Fedorowicz - Zilberstein ½-½
Baburin – Mezentsev 1-0
 

The IM-Team:
Stein – 1½ out of 3;
Zilberstein and Friedel – 1 (2)
Pruess – 1 (3)
Mezentsev – 0 (2)

GM Team:
Baburin – 4 (6)
Fedorowicz – 3½ (6).
 

All 10 players will play together on Tuesday. After that games and
standings should appear on the website of the Mechanics' Institute
Chess Club. By the way, the name "Mechanics' Institute" is a bit confusing
– I have not seen any mechanics here!  It is essentially a library,set up in
San Francisco after the Gold Rush. The Chess Club is a part of theMI and it is
the longest continuously running chess club in the United States.
 

Current standings as of Tuesday night with 21 of 45 games played sofar .

1. Fedorowicz 5.5/9
2. Baburin 4.5/9
3. Zilberstein 3/5
4. Stein 2/4
5. Pruess 1.5/4
6. Mezentsev 1.5/5
7. S.Atalik 1/1
8. Friedel 1/3
9-10. K. Atalik and Yermolinsky .5 /1

Look for daily updates and games at http://www.chessclub.org/ from MIChess Club webmaster Alex Yermolinsky.

NM Andy Lee won the Summer Tuesday Night Marathonby defeating front runner FM Frank Thornally in the last minute.Lee, the highest rated player in the event, started with two half pointbyes then reeled off six consecutive wins. Thornally and Brendan Purcell,who defeated Expert Victor Ossipov in the last round to finish anexcellent tournament, shared second with 6 1/2 points.

The 9 round Ben Gross Memorial Tuesday Night Marathon startsAugust 7th.

12-year-old Expert Greg Young defeated NM Michael Pearsonin the last round to win the 7th Annual Charles Bagby Memorial G/45held July 14th with a 5-0 score. Tying for second at 4.5 in the 73 playerfield, second best attended in the MI's 7 year history of monthly one dayG/45 events, were IM Ricardo DeGuzman and NM Paul Gallegos.

14-year-old Fabiano Caruana (who turns 15 on July 30th - he was bornin Miami) made his final GM norm by winning the July First Saturday tournamentin Budapest held July 7th-15th.

1. IM Caruana (ITA, 2549) - 7
2. GM Ilincic (SRB, 2509) - 5½
3-5. IM Smerdon (AUS, 2461), FM Fruebing (GER, 2319) and GM G.Todorovic(SRB, 2471) - 5,
6-7. GM Fogarasi (HUN, 2425) and IM Bui Vinh (VIE, 2466) - 4½
8. FM Vernay (FRA, 2381) - 3½
9. G.Kjartansson (ISL, 2306) - 3
10. FM Hammes (GER, 2390) - 2
 

Fogarasi,T (2425) - Caruana,F (2549) [B43]
First Saturday 2007 Budapest (1) 2007
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Nc3 Qc7 6.Bd3 Nf6 7.0-0 Bc58.Nb3 Ba7 9.Kh1 Nc6 10.Bg5 h5 11.Bxf6 gxf6 12.f4 d6 13.Be2 Bd7 14.Qd2 0-0-015.Rad1 Be8 16.Rf3 h4 17.h3 Rg8 18.Qe1 Ne7 19.f5 Bc6 20.Nd4 Bxd4 21.Rxd4d5 22.exd5 Nxd5 23.Rc4 Rxg2 0-1

Caruana,F (2549) - Todorovic,G (2471) [B45]
First Saturday 2007 Budapest (2) 2007
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Nxc6 bxc6 7.e5Nd5 8.Ne4 Qc7 9.f4 Qb6 10.c4 Ne3 11.Qd3 Bb4+ 12.Bd2 Ba6 13.b3 0-0 14.Rc1f5 15.exf6 gxf6 16.Bxb4 Qxb4+ 17.Qd2 c5 18.Qxb4 cxb4 19.Kf2 Nxf1 20.Rhxf1Bb7 21.Nc5 Bc8 22.Rcd1 Rf7 23.Rd6 Kf8 24.Rfd1 Ke8 25.h3 h5 26.R1d2 a5 27.Kg3Rh7 28.f5 h4+ 29.Kf2 exf5 30.Rxf6 Ke7 31.Rxf5 d6 32.Re2+ Kd8 33.Ne6+ Kd734.Rf4 Kc6 35.Nd4+ Kc5 36.Rd2 a4 37.Nb5 Rh6 38.Rd5+ Kc6 39.Rf7 axb3 40.Nd4+Kb6 41.Rb5+ Ka6 1-0

Fabiano improved on the American record set by Hikaru Nakamura in Februaruof 2003 when he made his final GM norm in Bermuda at the age of 15 years,58 days, eclipsing Bobby Fischer's 1958 record of 15 years, 185days.
Currentlly rated 2549 Fabiano expects to be close to 2580 when not-yet-calculatedtournaments played the past few months are added in. This might make himthe youngest member of the top 20 juniors in the world club when the OctoberFIDE rating list comes out.
Fabiano's 1st tournament ever was at Susan Polgar's  club in Queenson May 30th, 1998, and his first USCF rating was 473. Since Fabiano isnow at 2556 USCF I believe he may also have broken GM Joel Benjamin's recordfor biggest USCF rating gain as he is up almost 2100 points!
Fabiano and his dad Lou are currently living in Budapest where theGM-elect is coached by former World Championship Candidate Alexander Chernin.
Well done Fabiano!

WIM Tsagaan Battsetseg is the early leader of the US Women'sChampionship held in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Look for more information onthe event that is being sponsored, organized and directed by Frank andJim Berry at Chris Bird's excellent website at http://www.uswcc2007.com/.

1 Tsagaan Battsetseg 3½
2-3 Anna Zatonskih 3
2-3 Katerina Rohonyan 3
4-5 Irina Krush 2½
4-5 Camilla Baginskaite 2½
6 Batchimeg Tuvshintugs 2
7-8 Elizabeth Vicary 1½
7-8 Alisa Melekhina 1½
9 Tatev Abrahamyan ½
10 Chouchanik Airapetian 0

From Australia:

Grandmaster Ian Rogers stunned the audience at the prize-givingceremony for the Lidums Checkmate Open by announcing his retirement fromall tournament chess, effective immediately. His retirement was forcedupon him by medical advice that was too positive to ignore. Ian had justwon the event so at least he was able to retire on a winning note.

Australian chess players will miss Ian on the tournament scene. Fortunately,he will still be able to write and coach, two activities that helped tocreate his reputation as arguably the most influential chess player Australiahas produced.

Ian is best known for his playing, having been Australia's strongestplayer for more than 25 years. He was Australian Junior Champion in 1976and by 1980 had won the Australian Championship which he won a further4 times. He also won the Australian Open Championship in 1993 and the AustralianGrand Prix 7 times, the first in 1989 and the most recent in 2004. His“premier event” was the Doeberl Cup which he won 12 times from 1980 to2007. Ian also was awarded the ACF Steiner Medal as Player of the Yearon 5 occasions and the Purdy Medal for chess journalism, which can be wononly once, in 1989.

Ian's contribution as a coach will be well-known to many young playersas. in recent years, he has made a great contribution to the coaching ofjunior players in groups such as the ACF Ergas Junior Development Squad.Squad.

On behalf of the ACF and all Australian chess players, we wish Ian thevery best for the future.

We published the following account of chess in San Francisco in 1888in Newsletter #104 and recently uncovered new information.
By G.H. D. Gossip

Sir: On the 18th of last month I left Sydney, per steamship "Alameda,"reaching this city on the 12th, where I first set foot on my native soilafter an absence of over forty years, and I have played here more gamesof chess in a week than I contested during the last six months in Sydney.There are two leading Chess resorts here, viz: the Mercantile Library andthe Mechanics' Institute (in Post Street), which have large and commodiousrooms for the accommodation of chess players - twice as large as any chessclub or chess room in Australia. In fact nearly everything here is on agrander, more civilized and cosmopolitan scale than in Great Britain, althoughthe streets of Adelaide and Melbourne are wider than those of San Francisco.The last named chess resort (MI) is crowded with chessplayers every afternoon,both rooms being open daily, Sundays included. I met here M. Montgomery- a French amateur - with whom I had the pleasure of playing in days goneby at the Cafe de la Regence, more than twenty years ago. Mr. Piper, oneof the Vizayanagaram Tourney prizewinners, formerly of Greenwich and Sydney,is also here.
Of five games played over the board played over the board on even termsbetween Messrs. Zukertort and Redding, the former won 3 and lost 2, andMr. Redding also defeated him in his blindfold exhibition. Besides beinga strong chess player and an enthusiast, Mr. Redding is also a splendidbilliard player (the best, I believe, in "Frisco") and an accomplishedmusician. The other strong players here are Dr. Marshall, who won 2 outof 5 games of Baron Heydebrand Von Der Lasa, lately and Mr. Heinemann.Of 28 games I have played here I have won 19, drawn 2 and lost 7. I wasfortunate enough to win a considerable majority of games of Dr. Marshall,and to make even games with Dr. Heinemann, but have been so far worstedby Mr. Redding, having lost five and only won three games of him. Curiouslyenough, although there are many more chess players in San Francisco thanin Sydney or Melbourne, there is not a single chess column in any San Francisconewspaper. Formerly there was one in the "Argonaut" but it has long sincebeen discontinued. A tournament, however, among the leading players, isto be started this week.

Source: The International Chess Magazine June 1888, page 170-171

Redding, J - Gossip, G [C47]
San Francisco, 1888
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.d4 exd4 5.Nxd4 Bb4 6.Nxc6 bxc6 7.Bd3d5 8.exd5 cxd5 9.0-0 Bxc3 10.bxc3 0-0 11.Bg5 h6 12.Bh4 Qd6 13.Re1 Bd7 14.Bg3Qc5 15.Qd2 Rfe8 16.h3 Re6 17.Be5 Rae8 18.Bd4 Qa3 19.Rxe6 Rxe6 20.Qf4 Ne821.Qf5 Nf6 22.Bxf6 gxf6 23.Qh7+ Kf8 24.Qxh6+ Ke7 25.Qd2 Qb2 26.Rd1 Qxa227.c4 a5 28.Bf5 Re5 29.Bxd7 Kxd7 30.cxd5 Kd6 31.Qf4 Ke7 32.c4 Qb3 33.Qd2Qa3 34.Qd4 Kd6 35.Ra1 Qb4 36.Kf1 a4 37.f4 1-0

Source: The International Chess Magazine, August 1888, page 251.

Redding, J - Gossip, G [C55]
San Francisco, 1888
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.Bc4 Nxe4 5.Bxf7+ Kxf7 6.Nxe4 d5 7.Neg5+Kg8 8.d4 h6 9.Nh3 Bxh3 10.gxh3 exd4 11.Nxd4 Qd7 12.Nxc6 Re8+ 13.Be3 bxc614.Qf3 Bc5 15.0-0 Bxe3 16.fxe3 Qe6 17.Rae1 Kh7 18.Qf5+ Qxf5 19.Rxf5 Re720.c3 Rhe8 21.Kf2 Re4 22.Rf7 R4e7 23.Rxe7 Rxe7 24.Rg1 Re4 25.Rg4 g5 26.Kf3Re8 27.Ra4 Rf8+ 28.Ke2 Rb8 29.b3 Rb7 30.Ra6 c5 31.Rc6 c4 32.b4 a5 33.a3axb4 34.axb4 Ra7 35.e4 dxe4 36.Rxc4 Ra2+ 37.Ke3 Rxh2 38.Rxc7+ Kg6 39.Kxe4Rxh3 40.b5 Rh1 41.b6 Rb1 42.Rc6+ Kg7 43.c4 h5 44.c5 g4 45.Rc7+ Kg6 46.b7g3 47.Rc6+ Kg7 48.Rc7+ Kg6 49.Kf3 Rb3+ 50.Kg2 Kg5 51.c6 h4 52.Rg7+ Kf453.Kh3 Rb1 54.Rf7+ 1-0

Source: The International Chess Magazine, July 1888, page 217-18.

I just found the following game and add that Gossip writes: "Playedin San Francisco, May 1988, in a short match of three games with the Championof the Pacific Coast" . I wonder if these are the three games of the matchfor which no score is given?

Gossip,G - Redding,J [C41]
San Francisco, 05.1888
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Be7 6.Bd3 0-0 7.0-0Nbd7 8.Nf5 Ne5 9.Nxe7+ Qxe7 10.Bg5 c6 11.Be2 h6 12.Bxf6 Qxf6 13.f4 Ng614.Qd2 Qe7 15.f5 Nh8 16.Rad1 d5 17.exd5 Qe5 18.Qd4 f6 19.Qxe5 fxe5 20.dxc6bxc6 21.Bc4+ Kh7 22.g4 Rb8 23.b3 g6 24.fxg6+ Nxg6 25.Rxf8 Nxf8 26.Rd8 Kg727.Ba6 Ne6 28.Rxc8  1-0

Source: Gossip's Vest-Pocket Chess Manual, page 53.

In the final 10th round Bu Xiangzhi defeated Vadim Milov to become thesole winner of this exceptionally
strong open tournament held in Ottawa. MI Grandmaster-in-ResidenceAlex Yermolinsky shared 7th-21st place.

Final standings:
1. GM Bu Xiangzhi (2685) - 8 out of 10
2-6. GM Short (2683), GM Miton (2648), GM Sandipan (2563), IM Krnan(2492) and GM Sambuev (2482) - 7½
7-21. GM V.Milov (2678), GM Tiviakov (2648), GM Rychagov (2557),GMBluvshtein (2520), GM Kunte (2519), GM Yermolinsky (2517), FM Kovalyov(2510), GM Hoang Thong Tu (2483), GM De La Paz Perdomo (2452), IM Roussel-Roozmon(2414), IM Reprintsev (2410), IM Gerzhoy (2409), FM J.Bradford (2406),FM Rensch (2400) and FM Tayar (2271).

John Hillery reports:

IM Enrico Sevillano scored 6½-½ to take firstplace in the 2007 Southern California Invitational Championship,held in Los Angeles from July 7 through 15. Second with 4½ was JulianLandaw, a promising junior player, while IM Jack Peters finished thirdwith 4-3. Special thanks to John Rowell, who provided the playing siteat the law offices of Cheong, Denove, Rowell & Bennett. This was the19th annual tournament and Julian Landaw (age 16) and John Daniel Bryant(age 15) made excellent debuts.

Standings, games and photos are available at http://www.westernchess.com/hold/champ07/champ07.html.

---------------------------------------------------------------
SCCF State Championship Los Angeles USA (USA), 7-15 vii 2007cat. I(2261)
---------------------------------------------------------------
                                    1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
---------------------------------------------------------------
1. Sevillano, Enrico     m USA 2493  * 1 11 1 = 1 1  6.5  2649
2. Landaw, Julian W        USA 2191 0 * = 1 = 1 1 =  4.5  2372
3. Peters, John A        m USA 2423 0 = * = 1 0 1 1  4.0  2287
4. Taylor, Timothy       m USA 2332 0 0 = * 1 1 0 1  3.5  2250
5. Hermansen, Ron         USA 2229  0 = 0 0 * 1 1 1  3.5  2265
6. Bryant, John Daniel     USA 2167  = 0 10 0 * 1 0  2.5  2172
7. Funderburg,John        USA ----  0 0 0 1 0 0 * 1  2.0  2140
8. Del Pilar, Reynaldo     USA 2252  0 = 00 0 1 0 *  1.5  2032
 

The 4th Continental Championship of the Americas, a qualifierfor the FIDE World Championship, is being held in
Cali, Colombia, and ends July 20. Americans Varuzhan Akobian, AlexanderIvanov and Sergey Kudrin are tied for first at 5.5 from 8 withthree rounds to go with fellow GMs Giovanni Vescovi and JulioGrand Zuniga and IMs Leon Hoyos Milan and Emilio Cordova.Go to http://www.colombiadeportiva.com/continental.htmfor more information.

 Newsletter #354 reported on the reemergence of the BerkeleyChess Club and Berkeley Chess School web manager Marc Newman wasinterested in the founding of the original BCC. Kerry Lawless, head ofthe tremendous website devoted to California chess history (http://www.chessdryad.com/),answers:

Hi Marc,

The earliest mention I can find (so far) is from the Autumn 1964 issueof Kolty's Chess in Action.  "The Berkeley Y.M.C.A. announced thefounding of its chess club recently.  It is open to ALL chess players,from beginner to grandmaster.  Membership application may be madein person at the YMCA "desk," or by mail.  The Berkeley "Y" is locatedat 2001 Alston Way in down-town Berkeley.  More information may beobtained by phoning 848-6800."  A later issue lists Jerome Long asthe contact.  I believe that Martin Morrison of the Oakland CC tookover from Jerome in 1968.

Regards,
Kerry

Last Newsletter I wrote about the Northern California Master Jim Murray.NM Erik Osbun shares the following information.

John:
I played skittles with Murray back in the early 60s.  He appearedvery well read and a gentleman and a scholar capable of excellent conversation. He was well known for taking a MI title from Bill Addison in either thelate 50s or early 60s.  See the Chess Reporter.  I did not havethe opportunity of playing an official game with him as did John Blackstone,but John always played more than I was able.  Murray was tall andhad blonde hair with a slightly cherubic face.  I was impressed withhis manifest intelligence.

Stephen Brandwein and Sam Sloan both ran into Murray in New York inthe late 1960s where he was playing under the name of Charles Eastman.Can any Newsletter readers shed light on this?

GM Emil Anka and NMs Nate Koons and Michael Lee shared first place with4.5 from 5 in the Clark Harmon Memorial held July 14-15 at the PortlandChess Club.

NM John Blackstone of Las Vegas sends in the following games pittingNothern Californian's against visiting GMs in simuls.
 

Szabo,L - Lerman,J [E77]
San Francisco San Francisco, 1973
1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 g6 3.e4 d6 4.d4 Bg7 5.Be2 0-0 6.f4 c5
7.d5 b5 8.cxb5 a6 9.bxa6 Nxa6 10.Nf3 Qb6 11.0-0 c4+
12.Kh1 Ng4 13.Qe1 Nb4 14.Qh4 Nd3 15.Bxd3 cxd3 16.f5
Nf6 17.Bg5 Qxb2 18.Rac1 Ra3 19.Nd1 Qb7 20.Bh6 Rxa2
21.Ng5 Nh5 22.Bxg7 Kxg7 23.Ne3 Qb2 24.fxg6 hxg6
25.Rxc8 Rxc8 26.Rxf7+ Kg8 27.Qg4 Rc1+ 28.Rf1 Rxf1+
29.Nxf1 Qf6 30.Qc8+ Kg7 31.Ne6+ Kh7 32.Nf8+ Kh6
33.Qc1+ Qf4 34.Qb1 Qf2 0-1
 

Bisguier,A - Gross,H [D21]
Simul Bisguier San Francisco, CA, 25.08.1953
1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.Nf3 a6 4.a4 c5 5.e3 Bg4
6.Bxc4 e6 7.Nc3 Nf6 8.d5 exd5 9.Nxd5 Nc6 10.Qb3 Na5
11.Nxf6+ Qxf6 12.Bxf7+ Qxf7 13.Qxf7+ Kxf7 14.Ne5+ Ke6
15.Nxg4 h5 16.f3 hxg4 17.fxg4 Bd6 18.h3 Rhf8 19.Bd2
Nb3 20.Rb1 Bg3+ 0-1
 

Gross,H - Prins,L (2480) [C73]
Simul Prins clock San Francisco, CA, 11.11.1954
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 d6 5.Bxc6+ bxc6
6.d4 exd4 7.Qxd4 Be7 8.Nc3 Bf6 9.Qe3 Ne7 10.0-0 0-0
11.Rd1 Ng6 12.Qd3 Bd7 13.Be3 Qe7 14.Bd4 Bg4 15.Rd2
Bxf3 16.Qxf3 Bg5 17.Re2 Nf4 18.Ree1 Ne6 19.Ne2 Nxd4
20.Nxd4 Qd7 21.Rad1 Bf6 22.b3 Bxd4 23.Rxd4 Qe6 24.c4
½-½

"Master chess grips its exponents, shaking the mind and brain sothat inner freedom and independence of even the toughest character cannotremain unaffected."
Einstein

The 2nd Imre Konig Memorialis nearing completion with the GM team leading 21 1/2 to 15 1/2

GM Team:
John Fedorowicz - 6½/10
Alex Baburin - 5/10
Suat Atalik - 4/5
Alex Yermolinsky - 3/5
Ekaterina Atalik - 3/7

IM Team:
Dmitry Zilberstein 4 ½/10
Vladimir Mezentsev 3½/10
Josh Friedel - 2½/5
David Pruess 2½/6
Alan Stein 2½/6

The following game was annotated in Chess Today( www.chesstoday.net)by its editor Alexander Baburin. Chess Today, which appears daily online,is one of the very best chess magazines in the world.

White: GM Alex Baburin (2559)
Black: IM Joshua Friedel (2472)
Konig Mem, San Francisco, 2007

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 0–0 5.Bg5
I had not seen many games where Friedel played the Nimzo (in generalmany US tournaments are not in databases, which made home preparation inthis tournament harder for Europeans), so I decided to surprise him witha rare line. Alas, surprises are almost impossible nowadays when one canfind almost all your games in a matter of seconds!
5...h6 6.Bh4 c5 7.e3 cxd4 8.exd4 Nc6 9.Nf3 g5
All of this my young opponent played very quickly, so I realized thathe has seen my previous games in this line.
9...d5 10.Rd1 Be7 11.a3 Bd7 12.c5 Nh5 13.Bxe7 Qxe7 14.Bb5 e5 15.Nxd5Qe6 16.dxe5 Rad8 17.0–0 Nxe5 18.Be2 Bc6 19.Nxe5 Bxd5 20.Bxh5 Qxe5 21.Qe2Rde8 22.Qxe5 Rxe5 23.Bg4 Bc6 24.b4 Rg5 25.h3 Re8 26.Rd6 a5 27.Rfd1 axb428.axb4 h5 29.f4 hxg4 30.fxg5 Re2 31.R1d2 Re5 32.hxg4 Rxg5 33.R6d4 Re534.Kf2 g6 35.Re2 Rg5 36.Kg3 1–0
Baburin-B.Kristensen, Isle of Man 1996;
9...Be7 10.a3 b6 11.d5 exd5 12.Bxf6 Bxf6 13.Nxd5 Re8+ 14.Be2 Bb7 15.0–0Rc8 16.Rad1 N