Gens Una Sumus!
Mechanics’ Institute Chess Club Newsletter #631
June 4, 2013
There cannot be two champions at the same time. Lombardy had the misfortune that while his extraordinary natural chess talent was enormous, he was not a genius like Bobby. Nor was his more cautious boa-constrictor style of play able to impress the fans like Bobby’s dynamic, more aggressive style of play. Perhaps more importantly, what little (private) financial support there existed in American chess at the time went to Fischer; Bill had to do everything on his own.
—Kevin Spraggett
The Mechanics’ hosts the 50th Arthur Stamer Memorial this Saturday and Sunday.
1) Mechanics’ Institute Chess Club News
Two rounds into the Summer Tuesday Night Marathon it’s no surprise to see FIDE Master Frank Thornally and National Masters Hayk Manvelyan and Romy Fuentes among the perfect scores, but it is a shock to see Willie Campers in the leading group. The 1656-rated Campers has upset opponents averaging over 375 points above him in each of the first two rounds.
It’s still possible to enter the 86-player event with half-point byes for first two rounds.
Hi everyone,
Every Wednesday evening is the time for the weekly round-robin blitz tournament at Mechanics’ Institute Chess Club. As always, the last entry is accepted at 6:40 pm, with sign-up beginning at 6:20 pm and games starting soon after. Entry is $7 with clock; $8 without clock. Non-member entry is $9 with clock; $10 without clock. Prizes are 50%, 30%, 20% of base entry fees ($7 per player) collected. Time control preferably is 3 minute, increment 2 seconds; otherwise 5 minutes, no increment.
Last week we had 9 players in the Blitz. The winners were
1st–Jules Jelinek $31.50
2nd–Jeff Sinick $18.90
3rd–Joe Urquhart and Merim Mesic $6.30 each
See you tonight!
Jules Jelinek
Weekly Wednesday Night Blitz Coordinator
Australian Grandmaster Ian Rogers gave a very interesting lecture last night on the upcoming World Championship match between defending Viswanathan Anand and his challenger Magnus Carlsen. One interesting point Rogers made is that because of rating inflation Garry Kasparov figured he only matched Bobby Fischer’s record of 2785 when he reached his peak of 2851, and that Magnus Carlsen’s 2872 is not quite the equivalent of the two earlier figures.
The Magnus Carlsen fan site at http://www.magnuscarlsenchess.com/elo_rating_kasparov_carlsen_comparison.php has a chart by the rating statistician Jeff Sonas that equates Kasparov’s 2851 rating as being worth 2886 today based on the following formula:
1980–1990 (7 additional Elo points for each year)
1990–2000 (5 additional Elo points for each year)
2000–2010 (3 additional Elo points for each year)
2) 6-time US Champion Walter Browne Annotates
Six-time US Champion Walter Browne played in the Best of the West Class Championship over Memorial Day weekend, scoring 4 from 6 (one half-point bye) for a USCF performance rating of 2525.
He will be in Las Vegas this weekend for the National Open, where he will play the US G/10 championship, lecture and do a book signing.
Ruy Lopez C80
Walter Browne (2450) – Robert Hatarik (2140)
Santa Clara (2), 2013
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 Nxe4 6.d4 b5 7.Bb3 d5 8.dxe5 Be6 9.Nbd2 Nc5 10.c3 d4 11.Bxe6 Nxe6 12.cxd4 Ncxd4 13.Ne4
13.Nb3 was good too as 13...Nxb3 14.Qxb3 Bc5 15.Rd1 Qe7 16.a4 b4 17.h4 h6 18.Be3 Bxe3 19.Qxe3 0–0 20.Rac1 a5 21.Rd5 gives a pleasant edge.
13...Qd5?!
This was not the right way to play. Instead Black should have played 13...Be7 14.Be3 (14.a4) 14...Qd5 (14...c5 15.b4! Qd5 16.Nxc5 Nxf3+ 17.gxf3 gives White the better of it) 15.Nxd4 Qxe4 16.Nxe6 fxe6 17.Rc1, when I would have only had a slight edge.
14.Nxd4 Qxe4?! 15.Nxe6 fxe6 16.Qh5+! g6
White also stands better after 16...Qg6 17.Qf3 Rd8 18.Be3.
17.Qh3 Qf5
Or 17...Qxe5 18.Bd2 b4 19.Rfe1 Qf5 20.Rxe6+ Kf7 21.Qxf5+ gxf5 22.Re5, and White’s advantage is clear.
18.Qc3 c5 19.Rd1
Also strong was 19.Be3 Be7 (19...c4 20.a4 Qe4 21.Qa5 Bg7 22.axb5 Bxe5 23.bxa6, winning) 20.Bxc5 Rc8 21.b4 0–0 22.Rac1, but it would take a while!
19...b4?!
Black could have offered more resistance with 19...c4, but after 20.a4 Be7 21.Bh6 Kf7 22.Rd4 g5 23.g4! Qxe5 24.Rf4+ Qxf4 25.Qg7+ Ke8 26.Qxh8+ Bf8 27.Bxf8 Qxf8 28.Qxh7 White is much better.
20.Qb3! Qxe5
Or 20...Be7 21.Bh6 Qxe5 (21...g5 22.Rd3 Qg6 23.Qa4+ Kf7 24.Rf3+ Kg8 25.Qc6 Rd8 26.Qb7 wins.) 22.Rd3 Rd8 23.Qa4+ Kf7 24.Rf3+ Bf6 25.h4 Ke7 26.Qxa6, with a big advantage.
21.Qf3! Ra7 22.Bf4
Now White is clearly winning.
22…Qxb2
Or 22...Qf5 23.g4 Qf6 24.Qe3 Be7 (24...Bg7 25.Bg5 wins) 25.Be5, winning.
23.Re1! 1–0
3) Field Set for 2013 U.S. Junior Closed, by Mike Wilmering
The 10-player field has been set for the 2013 U.S. Junior Closed Championship, scheduled to be held at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis (CCSCSL) June 13-23. The top Juniors in the nation will meet in Saint Louis, with more than $10,000 and an invitation to the 2014 U.S. Championship at stake.
The Junior Closed Championship is the most prestigious tournament in the nation for the country’s top players under the age of 21. This marks the fourth consecutive year this event is being held at the CCSCSL.
Meet the field:
No. Title–Name–Rating*–Invitation–Method
1. IM Danel Naroditsky 2538 Rating
2. IM Victor Shen 2511 Rating
3. NM Robert Perez 2510 Rating
4. IM Kayden Troff 2505 Rating
5. FM Jeffrey Xiong 2483 Rating
6. FM Yian Liou 2469 Rating
7. FM Sam Sevian 2467 Rating
8. FM Atulya Shetty 2446 Wildcard
9. FM Luke Harmon-Vellotti 2434 Wildcard
10. WFM Sarah Chiang 2238 U.S. Open Invitation
*Ratings are based on the April USCF supplement
Karthik Ramachandran, the winner of the 2012 U.S. Junior Open, was ineligible to play in the 2013 U.S Junior Closed due to age restrictions, so the invitation was extended to WFM Sarah Chiang, the second-place finisher. Chiang is coming off her first-ever U.S. Women’s Championship appearance, which was held in Saint Louis in May. Kayden Troff and Sam Sevian also have recent big-tournament exposure, both having acquitted themselves nicely at the 2013 U.S. Championship, also held in Saint Louis in May.
The opening ceremony and players’ meeting will take place on June 13, and the first round of play will begin at 1 p.m. CT on June 14. Grandmasters Yasser Seirawan and Ben Finegold will provide live play-by-play commentary for each round of the event. Spectators are welcome to watch the commentary live at the Saint Louis Chess Club.
4) Three Americans in FIDE Top 10 Rating List
The unofficial live ratings produced at 2700chess.com after the Thessaloniki Grand Prix tournament shows three Americans in the top Top 10.
1. Carlsen 2864
2. Aronian 2813
3. Kramnik 2803
4. Caruana 2790.5 (US Citizen but represents Italy)
5. Anand 2786
6. Karjakin 2782
7. Grischuk 2779.6
8. Nakamura 2775.4 (USA)
9. Topalov 2767.3
10. Kamsky 2763 (USA)
Lenier Dominguez, who won the Thessaloniki Grand Prix, picked up 30 points and is now 11th at 2757.
You can browse through our archived newsletters using the "next" and "previous buttons".
Want to save this newsletter for reading at a later time? Click here to learn how.
Want to be notified when the next newsletter is published? Join Our Email List →