Gens Una Sumus!
Mechanics’ Institute Chess Club Newsletter #598
September 13, 2012
Yury Dokhoian is a professional of a very high class. The guys told me that the team atmosphere is great and that they like working with him. He is quite a strict person but he can only fight for the first place—it is his principle. I came up to him during one of the rounds to tell something funny and when he looked at me I just wanted to run away. He only knows one result—it is a victory. I am sure we will be winners. It’s not coming quickly but I am sure he will make a team that will dominate the chess world for many years. I am glad we have such a coach.
—Ilya Levitov, Head of the Management Board of the
Russian Chess Federation, talking about the 2012 Russian Olympiad team,
in a recent interview that appeared atchess-news.ru/node/9307.
1) Mechanics’ Institute Chess Club News
IM Elliott Winslow defeated NM Peter Zavadsky last night and is now 7 from 7 with two rounds to go. NM Romy Fuentes is second in the 75-player field with 6 points.
Craig Yamamoto was the upset winner of the Bernardo Smith Amateur, held August 18-19. Seeded 6th, at 1627, Yamamoto picked up 90 USCF rating points for his score of 5.5 from 6.
His only draw was in the last round with Joanna Liu who shared second at 4.5 points with John Ebert, Saul Priever and Kelvin Jiang. The event was restricted to players rated below 1800 but still managed to attract 38 players.
The Mechanics’ entry has drawn their first two matches in the US Chess League.
Round One - 9/5
San Francisco Mechanics’ 2 -2 Carolina Cobras
1. GM Vinay Bhat 2555 0-1 IM Jonathan Schroer 2414
2. GM Jesse Kraai 2567 1-0 FM Kassa Korley 2353
3. FM Samuel Sevian 2396 1-0 FM Ron Simpson 2288
4. NM Cameron Wheeler 2200 0-1 NM Joshua Mu 2242
Round Two - 9/10
San Francisco Mechanics’ 2-2 vs Manhattan Applesauce
1. GM Jesse Kraai 2567 1/2-1/2 GM Vladimir Romanenko 2513
2. IM Daniel Naroditsky 2549 1/2-1/2 IM Eli Vovsha 2515
3. FM Yian Liou 2390 1/2 -1/2 NM Andrew Shvartsman 2343
4. NM Kesav Viswanadha 2181 1/2-1/2 NM Alex King 2303
The Mechanics’ play the St. Louis Archbishops next Monday night starting at 5:30 pm. All are welcome to attend.
Wednesday Night Blitz Results
August 15
1st - 4th Paul Heinrick (Las Vegas) Carlos D’Avila, Elliott Winslow, and Jules Jelinek
August 22
1st - Elliott WInslow
2nd - Carlos D’Avila
3rd - Arthur Ismakov
August 29
1st - Carlos D’Avila
2nd - Arthur Ismakov
3rd - Jules Jelinek
September 5
1st - Carlos D’Avila
2nd - Arthur Ismakov
3rd - Oleg Shakhnazarov
GM Sam Shankland, who turns 21 on October 1, capped off a successful European summer by tying for second in a strong tournament in Riga this past August. Grandmaster Jan Markos of Slovakia had a fantastic result in taking first (7.5 from 9 and a performance rating of 2749). Sam shared second with fellow GMs Alexander Fier and Daniel Fridman at 7-2.
This result, coupled with strong performances in Biel and Barcelona, puts Sam’s rating over 2600 FIDE for the first time. He is featured on the cover of the September issue of Chess Life and “Just Checking” in issue 6 of 2012 of New in Chess.
2) A Chess Poem by NM Dennis Fritzinger
spy world
force majeur
doesn’t always count.
all your worldly goods
(extra material)
are useless
in the face of immediate mate.
there’s an idea
going around
that accumulation of property
is good for its own sake.
chess is a very subversive
game to those who hold
to that philosophy.
in the games i play
i lose material
right and left.
sometimes i lose,
sometimes i win,
you can never be
100% certain
of the outcome.
i am like
one of those
daring flyers
of world war one,
leather helmeted,
goggled,
a fashionable scarf
around my neck,
stepping off
into the blue sky
of infinity
and impossibility,
trusting
on his poet’s sense
to be able to carry out
his mission on time
and arrive back
for dinner
in the mess hall
or at a fashionable cafe
with a beautiful woman
who will turn out
to be a spy
for the other side.
3) Here and There
IM Raymond Kaufman and NM Dharim Bacus tied for first at 5-1 in the top section of the 2012 CalChess Labor Day Championship held in San Francisco at the Holiday Inn on Van Ness.
IM Emory Tate and FM Andy Lee shared third with 4.5, followed by NM Cameron Wheeler and Colin Chow on 4. Among those on 3.5 were IMs Vladimir Mezentsev and Ricardo DeGuzman. Richard Koepcke organized and directed the event for Cal Chess.
September FIDE rating list:
1. Carlsen NOR 2843 10
2. Aronian ARM 2816 0
3. Kramnik RUS 2797 0
4. Radjabov AZE 2788 0
5. Nakamura USA 2783 10
6. Anand IND 2780 0
7. Karjakin RUS 2778 9
8. Caruana ITA 2773 0
9. Ivanchuk UKR 2769 0
10. Morozevich RUS 2758 2
The FIDE Congress in Istanbul awarded the 2016 World Chess Olympiad to Baku, which raises the question of whether Armenia will compete in Azerbaijan.
A belated congratulations to IM John Grefe, who shared first place in the 1973 US championship, John celebrated his 65th birthday on September 6.
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