ORANGE COUNTY CHESS CLUB Securing This Years Title of 2007 U.S

R ank & File

MAY-JUNE 2007 VOLUME XXX, NO. 3 $3.00

24th Annual U.S. Amateur Team West

ALEXANDRE KRETCHETOV ILIA SERPIK

Orange County Chess

Club TAKASHI IWAMOTO KRISHNA KALIANNAN advertisementadvertisement

2 RANK & FILE MAY-JUNE 2007 Around the Nation

Amateur Team USAT-North National High School Playoff REPEAT OFFENDERS 2199 Bd. 1 John Cole 2330 Championship The four 2007 U.S. Amateur Bd. 2 John Langreck 2250 The 2007 USCF National High Team Playoff, a U.S. Chess Federa- Bd. 3 FM Jim Dean (Captain) 2234 School (K-12) Championship broke tion (USCF) National Event, con- Bd. 4 Drew Hollinberger 1982 a record with 1447 young chess com- cluded March 24, 2007 with “Four petitors in Kansas City, Missouri! Found Fischers” from the winning USAT-West The U.S. Chess Federation (USCF) ORANGE COUNTY CHESS CLUB securing this years title of 2007 U.S. held this 7 round national champi- 2177.75 Amateur Team Champion! Bd. 1 Alexander Kretchetov 2365 onship at the Hyatt Regency Crown Play took place in cyberspace, Bd. 2 Ilia Serpik 2307 Center in their new Exhibit Hall Saturday, March 24th on the Inter- Bd. 3 Takashi Iwamoto (Captain) 2269 April 13-15, 2007. Each player in the net Chess Club (ICC) web site under Bd. 4 Krishna Kaliannan 1770 five sections: K12 Championship; the direction of TD Duncan Oxley. K12 Under 1500; K12 Under 1200; International Arbiter and Chief Congratulations to all players! K12 Under 900 and K12 Unrated Tournament Director was Carol – USCF news release played under a G/120 time control. Jarecki. In addition to individual competi- In the first round, “Four Found Fischers” - South Team beat “Bea- vis and Buttvinnik” - East Team with 2½-1½. The “Repeat Offenders” - North Team beat the “Orange County Chess Club” - West Team CONTENTS with a score of 2½-1½. In the Final round, “Four Found Fischers” beat “Repeat Offenders” AROUND THE NATION ...... 3 with a final score of 2½-1½ to clinch the title. The “Four Found Fischers” 24TH ANNUAL team receive the title of 2007 U.S. U.S. Amateur Team West ...... 5 Amateur Team Champion and each member of the team will receive an TACTICS engraved watch. by TIM HANKS ...... 11 Team rosters: USAT-South HERE & THERE FOUR FOUND FISCHERS 2191.25 Bd. 1 Daniel Ludwig (Captain) 2388 Club news, local tournaments, Bd. 2 Corey B. Acor 2254 scholastic events and more ...... 14 Bd. 3 Jeffrey De Jesus 2017 (substituted for Eric Rodriguez) REVIEWS ...... 19 Bd. 4 Anthony Felicione 1914 STATE CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFIERS ...... 20 USAT-East BEAVIS AND BUTTVINNIK 2159 UPCOMING EVENTS ...... 21 Bd. 1 FM James Critelli 2311 Bd. 2 Evan Turtel 2206 CHESS QUIZ ...... 24 Bd. 3 Evan Rabin (Captain) 2076 Bd. 4 Alt. Alan Kantor 2000 (substituted for Nick Panico III 2043)

3 RANKANK & FILEILE MAYAY-J-JUNEUNE 2002007 tion, team competition was at stake with Fedor M. Titov also from Il- in each section. linois to secure the trophy. Braddy Southern California Chess All five sections for individuals and Titov tied with 6½ scores. Federation ended in a time and a variety of tie- K12 Team Unrated: Mcclintock President break systems were used to deter- High School from Tempe, Arizona Joe Hanley Vice President ElliotElliot LandawLandaw mine who would receive the trophy. won the K12 Team Unrated title Secretary ChuckChuck EEnseynsey Players that tied do share the sec- with a final score of 22.0. Treasurer John Hillery tion title of Co-Champions! MyChessPhotos.com (official Executive Board K12 Championship: Alex Len- photographer) awarded a $250.00 Randy Hough derman (NY) won the tie-break scholarship to Caleb Molitoris of Mike Nagaran against Alexander Barnett (MD) California for the biggest upset prize. Rick Aeria and Michael Zhong after a tied score Caleb rated 1073 beat his opponent Jim Bullock of 6½ points. rated 2016! Ivona Jezierska K12 Team Championship: The USCF congratulations all Ron Rezendes Essam Mohamed Catalina Foothills H.S. from Tuc- participants on their outstanding ac- Takashi Iwamoto son, AZ won the trophy after a tie- complishments. A complete list of all break with the Edward R. Murrow players can be found at: http://www. Rank & File H.S. from NY. Tied score was 22.0 uschess.org/tournaments/2007/hs/ Editor J Johnohn HHilleryillery points. Catalina has won two of the and click on “Results” for section 835 N. Wilton Pl. # past three National High School winner and standing listings. Cross- Los Angeles CA 90038 Championships! tables for each section can be found [email protected] K12 Under 1500: Nick Graves at: http://www.uschess.org/msa/Xt- (MN) took home the trophy after a blMain.php?200704156731 – USCF Publisher DavidDavid ArgallArgall tie-break with Joshua D. Miller of news release Contributing Editors WI. Tied score after seven rounds Jack Peters was 6½. Tim Hanks K12 Team Under 1500: Min- Khachiyan wins Far Al Pena neapolis Southwest secured the title West Open Contributors of Team Champion, second year in a Chuck Ensey row, with a final score of 20½! The 2007 Far West Open, held Randy Hough Chris Roberts K12 Under 1200: Dominique at Sands Regency Hotel in Reno Cyrus Lakdawala Myers and Alfonso Chie tied with April 6-8, ended in a four-way tie Tyrone Liddell 6½ scores. Myers secured the trophy for first place among GMs Melik- Jerry Yee after tie-break. set Khachiyan and Alex Yermolin- K12 Team Under 1200: Arch- sky, and IMs Enrico Sevillano and Subscriptions/Address Changes bishop McCarthy H.S. from Ft. Lau- Dmitry Zilberstein. The four win- Randy Hough, Membership Secretary derdale, FL took the title and trophy ners faced off in a blitz playoff on P.O. Box 205 with a score of 20.0. Sunday night for the trophy and Monterey Park CA 9754 K12 Under 900: Mark A. Salita an extra $100. Khachiyan played (626) 282-742 [email protected] (MD) tied with Deborah Simoes also Yermolinsky and Sevillano played from Maryland with 7.0 scores. Sali- Zilberstein in the semifinals of the Rank & File — ISSNISSN 88750-964750-964 UUSPSSPS ta took home the trophy. tiebreaker. Khachiyan and Sevilla- 738-230, published bimonthly by the K12 Team Under 900: North- Southern California Chess Federation, 300 west H.S. from Germantown, Mary- Continued on page 13 ... Ballista, La Puente CA 9744. Periodical land secured the title with a final postage paid at Industry, CA. POSTMAS- Photos: Cover: Tim Hanks. Pp. 14, 17, 18: TER: Send changes of address to SCCF, score of 25½. Chuck Ensey. P. 15: John Hillery K12 Unrated: Justin Bernard PO Box 205, Monterey Park CA 9754. Braddy of Illinois won the tie-break Subscriptions: $4 adult, $9 junior. Copyright © SCCF 2007. One-time only publication rights have been obtained from Advertising Rates: Full page $80, half page signed contributors. All other rights are $45, 1/4 page $25, 1/8 page $15, back cover (3/4 SCCF Online page) $80. (All rates are for camera-ready copy.) hereby assigned to the authors. Th e opinions Flyer insert $50 (advertiser must supply fl yers). The SCCF Web expressed are strictly those of the contribu- 50% discount for tournaments requiring SCCF tors and do not necessarily refl ect the views membership. Display ads should be sent to the page is located at: of the SCCF, its offi cers or members. Editor, fl yers to the Publisher (addresses at right). Payment should be sent with order to the Editor. www.scchess.com SCCF reserves the right to reject any advertising.

4 RANK & FILE MAY-JUNE 2007 24th Annual U.S. Amateur Team West

his year’s ATW, the 24th annual Jonathan Soo Hoo), “Wee Pawns of In view of what happens in the T(where does the time go?), saw 44 Mass Destruction,” and “The Good game, it is easy for the annotator teams and 198 players gather at the Passed Pawn Shepherds.” But when to recommend 16. Nc3 instead, but Doubletree Marina San Pedro Hotel the votes were counted, the win- after 16. … a4 the White position is February 19-21. As the tournament ners were “e2 Brute” (from a team far from attractive. began, everyone had his own favor- that specializes in winning the Best 16. … Rab8 17. Nf2 ite. Sentimental favorites No Patrick Team Name prize, Dan Gertmenian, Instead, 17. Kb1 Nfxe4! 18. fxe4 No Problem (last year’s winning Cal Aezed Raza, Stan Chow and Carey Nxe4 overloads the Queen, e.g. 19. Tech team minus first Board Patrick Fan), while second place went to Qc2 Rfc8 20. Qb3 Nc3+! 21. bxc3 Hummel, who had graduated). Jour- “CP: Anand Plays Second Board (or 21. Ka1 Qxb3 22. axb3 Nxd1 23. nalist favorites Yung Gunz (four ju- for Chess Palace” (Randy Hough, Rxd1 Rxb3, with the deadly threat nior stars, two from California, one Anand Kesavaraju, Henry Yan and of … e4) 21. … Rxc3 22. Qxb6 from Florida, and one from Hawaii, Daniel Gong). Rxb6+ 23. Ka1 e4. who had met at a chess camp and John Hillery and Elie Hsiao di- 17. … Rfc8 18. Kb1 Na4 19. formed a team). rected. Complete standings and a Nd3 And, the winners. After six hard- selection of games may be found on XIIIIIIIIY fought rounds, three teams finished line at www.scchess.com. with 5-1, and the tiebreaks yielded: 9-trr+-+k+0 1st place: Orange County The Best Game prize went to 9+-+-+pvlp0 Chess Club – Alexandre Kretch- Michael Casella for this blitz attack 9-wq-zp-snp+0 etov, Ilia Serpik, Takashi Iwamoto, against junior star Jeremy Stein. and Krishna Kaliannan White grabs Space and even some 9zp-+Pzp-vL-0 2nd place: Knights of the Re- Force (an extra pawn), but Time 9n+-+P+-zP0 public – IM Enrico Sevillano, John proves more important. 9sN-+N+P+-0 Daniel Bryant, Michael Yee, and Vincent Huang Jeremy Stein – Michael Casella 9PzP-wQ-+P+0 3rd place: Hoo’s thethe NextNext USAT West, San Pedro 2007 9+K+R+-+R0 American Idol? – Jouaquin Bana- E73 KING’S INDIAN DEFENSE, xiiiiiiiiy wa, Joel Banawa, Takashi Kuro- Averbakh Variation saki, Melinda West, and Jonathan 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 19. ... Rc3 20. Be3 Qb7 21. Qf2 Soo Hoo 4. e4 d6 5. Be2 0–0 6. Bg5 Na6 7. Rxa3 22. Ka1 Qb3 23. bxa3 The one-day Scholastic Team at- Qd2 e5 8. d5 Nc5 9. f3 a5 10. h4 On 23. Nc1, Black finishes the tracted a record 34 teams, and was c6 11. Nh3 cxd5 12. cxd5 Bd7 13. game with the spectacular 23. … won by Troy High 1 (Dingchao Lu, 0–0–0 Nc3! Alex Truong, Botaa Jiang and Eric Too optimistic, as Black’s attack 23. … Qc3+ 24. Nb2 Rxb2 25. Tung) with 4-0. on the b- and c-files will be faster Rc1 0–1 A unique feature of the USATW than anything White can do on is the awarding (by player vote) of the Kingside. Instead, Schandorff- Eric Ferguson – Joshua Freeland special prizes for best team name. Mortensen, Roskilde 1998 contin- USAT West, San Pedro 2007 This year we had some good ones ued 13. Nf2 Qe8 14. g4 b5 15. h5 b4 A57 BENKO GAMBIT (mostly even printable) – “James 16. Ncd1 Bb5, with chances for both Another strong contender for the Pawn 007 in Casella Royale,” (led sides. best-game prize was this sacrificial by master Michael Casella), “Hoo’s 13. … b5 14. Bxb5 Bxb5 15. feast by Eric Ferguson. As Morphy the Next American Idol?” (with Nxb5 Qb6 16. Na3 knew, development counts more

5 RANK & FILE MAY-JUNE 2007 1 Orange County Chess Club (2177.8) 5 than the number of pieces. Alexandre Kretchetov (2365) 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5 4. cxb5 a6 5. b6 d6 6. Ilia V Serpik (2307) Nc3 Nbd7 7. e4 Nxb6 8. a4 Rb8 9. a5 Na8 10. f4 g6 Takashi Iwamoto (2269) 11. Nf3 Bg7 12. e5 Ng8 13. Bc4 Rb4 14. Qe2 Nc7 15. Krishna Kaliannan (1770) 0–0 Bg4 16. b3 Nh6 17. Ba3 Rb8 2 Knights Of The Republic (2161.5) 5 XIIIIIIIIY IM Enrico Sevillano (2574) 9-tr-wqk+-tr0 John Daniel Bryant (2169) Michael A Yee (1992) 9+-sn-zppvlp0 Vincent Huang (1911) 9p+-zp-+psn0 Hoo’s The Next American Idol? 3 5 9zP-zpPzP-+-0 (2175.5) 9-+L+-zPl+0 Jouaquin B Banawa (2392) Joel Cholo Banawa (2383) 9vLPsN-+N+-0 Takashi Kurosaki (2184) 9-+-+Q+PzP0 Melinda M West (1743) 9tR-+-+RmK-0 Jonathan Soo Hoo (1740) xiiiiiiiiy James Pawn 007 In Casella Royale 4 4½ (2199.3) 18. exd6! Bxc3 19. Bxc5 Bxf3 20. Qxf3 Bxa1 21. dxe7 Qd7 22. Rxa1 Nf5 23. Qc3 Rg8 24. Qe5 f6? Michael Casella (2340) The only chance of survival was 24 ... Rc8 25. Rd1 Julian W Landaw (2289) Nb5, but White retains excellent chances after 26. b4! Chris Lee (2141) Nfd6 27. Bd3. Tianyi He (2027) 25. Qxf6 Nxe7 26. Re1 Ne6 27. Rxe6 Rb7 28. 5 Yung Gunz (2164.8) 4½ Rxe7+ Qxe7 29. Bxe7 Rxe7 30. d6 1–0 Elliott Liu (2301) Ray S Robson (2254) Ray Robson – Ilia Serpik Christian Tanaka (2123) USAT West, San Pedro 2007 Robert M Lau (1981) B78 SICIIAN DEFENSE, Dragon Variation 6 No Patrick No Problem (2020.0) 4½ The Dragon Bishop has a long neck. Eugene Yanayt (2303) 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Joshua Gutman (2129) g6 6. Be3 Bg7 7. f3 0–0 8. Qd2 Nc6 9. Bc4 Bd7 10. Nikita Panasenko (1856) 0–0–0 Rb8 11. h4 b5 12. Ndxb5 Ne5 13. Be2 Qa5 Michael W Kaye (1792) 14. Nd4 Rfc8 15. Rde1 Be6 16. Nxe6 fxe6 17. Bd4 We’re Searching For Bobby Fischer Nc6 18. Bc4 Nxd4 19. Qxd4 7 4½ (2022.3) XIIIIIIIIY Francis Chen (2176) 9-trr+-+k+0 Derek J Tan (2126) 9zp-+-zp-vlp0 Jared E Tan (1968) Nathaniel Lagemann (1819) 9-+-zppsnp+0 We Have Reggie On Speaker Phone 9wq-+-+-+-0 8 4½ (2044.0) 9-+LwQP+-zP0 Madhavan Vajpetyam (1624) 9+-sN-+P+-0 IM Jack Peters (2464) 9PzPP+-+P+0 Simon Nielsen (2059) Colin Field-eaton (1901) 9+-mK-tR-+R0 Reza Gholizadeh (1752) xiiiiiiiiy 9 The Arcadians (1930.0) 4 19. ... Nd5 20. Qd2 Bxc3 21. bxc3 Qa3+ 0–1 Joseph L Roth (1874) John W Hale (2074) Ron Bruno – Joshua Freeland Jeff R Schroeder (1900) USAT West, San Pedro 2007 Matthew J Hayes (1872) B01 CENTER COUNTER DEFENSE Ronald S Turner (1710) When playing in the center, don’t forget about the flanks.

6 RANK & FILE MAY-JUNE 2007 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qd6 4. d4 a6 5. Nf3 10 Awake & Unafraid (2185.8) 3½ Nf6 6. g3 b5 7. Bg2 Bb7 8. Bf4 Qb6 9. a4 Nd5 10. Garush Manukyan (2360) Nxd5 Bxd5 11. axb5 axb5 12. Rxa8 Bxa8 13. d5 Nd7 Gevorg Vardanyan (2169) 14. 0–0 c6 15. d6 e6 16. Qa1 Bb7 17. b3 c5 18. c4 f6 Maximilian Landaw (2115) 19. Re1 Kf7 20. Bh3 Mike Y Zaloznyy (2099) XIIIIIIIIY Arkadiy Onikul (2015) 9-+-+-vl-tr0 11 Ancient Spartans (2156.5) 3½ Richard L Borgen (2256) 9+l+n+kzpp0 Mark A Pinto (2217) 9-wq-zPpzp-+0 Jonathan B Goetze (2153) 9+pzp-+-+-0 Tom A Ludwinski (2000) 9-+P+-vL-+0 Jan M Ludwinski (1960) 12 Men Of Steel (1891.8) 3½ 9+P+-+NzPL0 Edward L Sanjenis (2042) 9-+-+-zP-zP0 John R Wright (2036) 9wQ-+-tR-mK-0 James Humphrey (2032) xiiiiiiiiy Michael B Ross (1457) The Good Passed Pawn Shepherds 13 3½ 20. ... e5 (2090.8) No better was 20. ... f5 21. Ne5+ Ke8 22. Bxf5 Robert Hurdle Jr (2218) 21. Bxd7 Qxd6 John R Williams (2120) Equally hopeless were: i) 21. ... exf4 22. Ng5+; ii) 21. ... Bxf3 22. Rxe5 Bxd6 (22. ... fxe5 23. Qxe5) 23. Re6; and Matthew Robertson (2065) iii) 21. ... Bxd6 22. Nxe5+ fxe5 23. Bxe5. Chris Roberts (1960) Banananut Coffeecake With No Sugar 22. Bg4 exf4 23. Qa7 Qa6 24. Qb8 h5 25. Qe8+ 14 3½ Kg8 26. Be6+ 1–0 Added (1886.3) Jonathan Maxwell (2027) Mehrdad Miralaie – Bradley Salz Jeffrey A Cohen (1932) USAT West, San Pedro 2007 Blake R Goodwin (1878) B08 PIRC-ROBATSCH DEFENSE Michael A Rocke (1708) 1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Be3 0–0 6. 15 The Best Moves Of Our Lives (1862.5) 3½ Qd2 Bg4 7. Ng5 c6 8. Bd3 h6 9. h3 Bc8 10. Nf3 Kh7 11. g4 Jeremy A Stein (2082) Ng8 12. 0–0–0 Nd7 13. Kb1 b5 14. g5 h5 15. e5 Nb6 16. Austin E Cambon (1839) Qe2 f5 17. gxf6 exf6 18. Nh4 f5 Nisha Deolalikar (1819) XIIIIIIIIY Sunil Deolalikar (1710) 9r+lwq-trn+0 16 The Pursuit Of Checkmate (1826.8) 3½ 9zp-+-+-vlk0 Michael Taylor (1782) Ike S Miller (2161) 9-snpzp-+p+0 Eric R Zhang (1760) 9+p+-zPp+p0 Ryan P Polsky (1604) 9-+-zP-+-sN0 17 Touch Me Nuts (2182.0) 3 9+-sNLvL-+P0 Hugo Villanueva (2281) Roel Yumol (2278) 9PzPP+QzP-+0 Jose Romero (2176) 9+K+R+-+R0 Aldrin J Vidal (1993) xiiiiiiiiy Danilo Jorda (1961) 18 San Diego A (Duesterwald) (2192.5) 3 19. Nxg6 Kxg6 20. Rhg1+ Kh7 21. Qxh5+ Nh6 22. Alejandrino Baluran (2006) Qg6+ 1–0 Marc Duesterwald (2344) Ronald Bruno (2244) Jonathan Maxwell – Patrick Bollig Ulric Aeria (2089) USAT West, San Pedro 2007 D07 TCHIGORIN’S DEFENSE Bradley Salz (2012) 1. d4 d5 2. c4 Nc6 3. cxd5 Qxd5 4. Nf3 e5 5. Nc3 Bb4 Ryan Richardson (2093) 6. Bd2 Bxc3 7. bxc3 e4 8. Ng1 Nf6 9. e3 Qg5 10. Ne2 Bg4

7 RANK & FILE MAY-JUNE 2007 19 Who Captured Alaa-Addin? (2155.0) 3 Orange County Scholastic Chess Club 28 2½ Shivkumar Shivaji (2290) (1548.5) Craig Allen Faber (2130) Jason Al Garﬁ eld (1789) Ralph Gholmieh (2115) Miguel R Cayetano (1580) Mehrdad Miralaie (2085) Alexander Kaliannan (1441) Essam Mohamed (1913) Grant P Yosenick (1384) 20 Beyond Chess 1 (1812.0) 3 29 LASC Chess Team (1756.0) 2½ IM Kong Liang Deng (2482) Lonnie Neal (1956) Richard Yang (1642) Alicia Y Narducci (1720) Wen Wu (1590) Stewart H Yanez (1679) Kelly Zhang (1534) Carl E Bolm (1669) Jeffrey Ding (1269) CP: Anand Plays 2nd Board For Chess 30 2½ 21 CP: The A Team (2157.0) 3 Pala (1738.5) Reynald Del Pilar (2292) Randall D Hough (2011) Nicanor Navarro (2146) Anand Kesavaraju (1803) Melandro Singson (2144) Henry Yan (1710) Anthony Ong (2046) Daniel W Gong (1430) Jaime A Gutierrez (1918) Aaron Ong (1406) 22 CP: Gotta Have Faeth (2003.0) 3 31 e2 Brute? (1583.5) 2½ David J Kerman (2200) Daniel Gertmenian (1652) R C Rice (1996) Aezed S Raza (1623) Herbert F Faeth (1926) Stanley C Chao (1559) Wayne K Grifﬁ n (1890) Carey Fan (1500) Joseph Scherzinger (1800) 32 We Are Not Marshall! (1561.8) 2½ 23 Fergusons’s Team (2032.5) 3 Jay S Stallings (2027) Eric M Ferguson (2136) Cheston Gunawan (1686) Rob Feldstein Esq (2000) Michael P Siereze (1313) Roger Dellaca (2032) Tymothy Belanger (1221) Darrell Y Yap (1962) 33 +1st M8 L8R (1834.0) 2½ Randy K Higa (1918) Jerry Maxwell (1839) 24 Hinrichsen Team (1911.5) 3 Joshua Freeland (1879) Dane E Hinrichsen (2000) Stephen A Boak (1868) Dave E Matson (1952) Al R Pena Jr (1750) L Gordon Brooks (1900) Northrop Grumman Advantage In 34 2½ John R Anderson (1794) Space (1847.5) 25 CP: Check Please (1690.5) 3 Philip S Jacobson (1970) John Rinaldo (2027) Robert L Potts (1939) Alfred Ong (1628) Sepehr A Ebrahimi (1774) Eren Karadayi (1573) David Anthopoulos (1707) Alfredo Ong (1534) Michael J Lowe (1356) Travis W Hatley (1442) 35 Zim’s Invaders (1689.5) 2 26 Rocks (1936.8) 2½ Leonel P Campoy (1709) David A Zimbeck (2268) Liz Taylor (1738) Craig Clawitter (2176) Bill Conrad (1673) Armando Martinez (1671) Jeff A Yee (1638) Bret R Strunk (1632) 36 San Diego B (Aeria) (1680.7) 2 The Wireless Deep Blue Tooth Team 27 2½ William Wijaya (1748) (1675.0) Daniel R Bagliazo (1536) Patrick Bollig (1718) Jamieson Pryor (Unr.) Mark D Witte (1701) Charles H Ensey (1758) Jerry B Yee (1697) Jabbar M Hicklin (1584)

8 RANK & FILE MAY-JUNE 2007 11. h3 Qh4 12. Qb1 Rb8 13. Ng3 Bd7 14. Be2 0–0 15. c4 Rfe8 16. a4 37 CP: Yu Will Fall To The G’s (1326.0) 2 XIIIIIIIIY William H Warren (1564) 9-tr-+r+k+0 Brett M Gonzales (1527) 9zppzpl+pzpp0 Joseph R Gonzales (1384) Jimmy Yu (829) 9-+n+-sn-+0 38 Vera Menchik Brigade (1275.3) 2 9+-+-+-+-0 Debra R Rothman (504) 9P+PzPp+-wq0 Cleofas Rojas (1391) 9+-+-zP-sNP0 Colette Mc Gruder (1827) Andrew Danielson (1379) 9-+-vLLzPP+0 39 We’ll Take A Bye (1653.8) 1½ 9tRQ+-mK-+R0 B Higinio Garcia (1509) xiiiiiiiiy Rudy M Delacruz (1300) 16. ... Nxd4 17. exd4 e3 18. Bxe3 Rxe3 19. fxe3 Qxg3+ Joseph Calderon (682) 20. Kd2 Re8 21. Qg1 Ne4+ 22. Kc2 Nf2 23. Rf1 Bxa4+ 24. Antonio C Martin (2106) Kb2 Qxe3 25. Qxf2 Qb3+ 26. Ka1 Qc3+ 27. Ka2 Bb3+ 28. Jose Gomez (1700) Ka3 Bxc4+ 29. Ka4 Qb3+ 0–1 We’re Not Snobs We’re Just Better 40 1½ Than You (1787.0) Danyul Lawrence (2043) Martin Diekhoff (1102) Prize Winners David Wiss (996) 1st: Orange County Chess Club, 5-1 Antonio Lucero (1757) 2nd: Knights of the Republic, 5-1 Riddhi Shah (1684) 3rd: Hoo’s the Next American Idol?, 5-1 Leland T Farrar (1664) Hendrik Makaliwe (1538) U2100: No Patrick No Problem 4½-1½ Mayur Gondhalekar (Unr.) U2000: The Arcadians 4-2 CP: Can The Child Ring The Old Bell? 41 1½ U1800: CP: Check Please 4-2 (1394.5) U1600: Orange County Scholastic Chess Club 2½-3½ Kurt F Oldenburg (1686) U1400: CP: Yu Will Fall to the Gs 2-4 Carmen Childress (1378) Industrial: Northrop Grumman Advantage in Space 2½- 3½ Joseph Bellinger (1316) Junior: Yung Gunz 4½-1½ Richard P Cantor (1198) Coach Kramnik Said No Bath Room College: We Have Reggie On Speaker Phone (USC) 4½- 42 1 1½ Breaks (1287.3) Brendyn Estolas (1634) Board prizes: David Karapetyan (1391) 1st: IM Enrico Sevillano Omar Wiseman (1267) 2nd: Craig Clawitter Anna Karapetyan (857) 3rd: Takashi Iwamoto 43 Matadors (1279.0) 1 4th: Sandy He Victoria Westra (Unr.) Alternate: Randy Higa Gerald R Ruiz (1475) Robert Zuchini (1388) Team Name Jesse Moya (974) 1st: e2 Brute? 2nd: CP: Anand Plays Second Board for Chess Palace Salvador Calderon (Unr.) 44 North Hills Vikings (1018.0) ½ Scholastic Julio Zuchini (1042) 1st: Troy High 1 4-0 Marcos Perez (994) 2nd: CP: C Plus 3½-½ Hugo Garcia (Unr.) 3rd: Talladega Knights: The Ballad of Rooky Bobby 3½-½ Irvin Salinas (Unr.)

9 RANK & FILE MAY-JUNE 2007 JERRY HANKEN STRONGLY SUPPORTS JIM BERRY OF OKLAHOMA FOR ELECTION TO THE EXECUTIVE BOARD OF USCF THIS JUNE! IF YOU NEVER VOTED BEFORE, THIS IS THE ELECTION TO START WITH!

Why does my opinion on this election have credibility?. Over a period of 18 years (1978 through 1994) I was on the USCF Board for ten years in four separate terms I served with 27 different Board members.. It is safe to say that I know something about what makes a good Board member. (And what makes a bad one!)

JIM BERRY MEETS ALL THE QUALIFICATIONS AND QUALITIES TO MAKE A MORE THAN GOOD BOARD MEMBER. JIM BERRY AND THREE FUTURE CHESS PLAYERS First, Jim loves the game of chess and plays frequently and well. (Watch for the May issue of Chess Life where you will see a great game of his in the Winter Classic which Jim also organized.) Jim Berry carries a FIDE rating of 2107. Second and augmenting the fi rst, Jim is a banker and quite wealthy. We have had few people on the Board who have had Jim’s’ fi nancial resources and NONE who were as willing to spend real money on chess as he is! .Jim and his brother Frank have just saved the US Championship with a huge donation. The Championship will be in the fastest growing little boom town in Oklahoma, Stillwater, where they live. (Y’all come down and meet Jim and Frank in May. The hotel is a gem and only $60 a night!) Jim is also helping to run the U.S. Women’s championship this summer as a separate high class event. But the truth is that Jim never runs any tournament which is not high class! The fact that Jim’s wealth comes from the banking industry is a pretty good indication that this man knows money, its uses and its pitfalls, and its very nature, which will help make him into a great Board Member. (I like his slogan “Keep to the Budget Berry”!) We have never had a Board member before who was a banker. We need a couple more like Jim who combine the pure love of the game with wealth and a hard nosed banking background! Jim Berry is the salt of the earth. His origins are the Southwest middle prairie where the values of home and family come fi rst. He has been married to the lovely Ann for 38 years and they have three successful sons, one of whom just presented Jim with triplet grandkids in January! And isn’t it about time we had a Board member from the Southwest? I can’t think of any except the Liebermans and that’s more than eight years ago. I can’t think of any from Oklahoma since the legendary Jerry Spann. Jim Berry is warm, generous to a fault, a great lover and supporter of sports. (His Oklahoma Cowboys of Oklahoma State University whose home is Stillwater, who alternately lift his spirits and break his heart, are his favorite sports team.) Aside from all that, Jim Berry has a great sense of humor and is a joy to hang out with. One more important thing, Jim is a strong supporter of Women chessplayers. In his recent Oklahoma Winter Futurity, he subsidized FIDE rated women. The turnout was a record for Oklahoma, and there were 20%(!!) women, which is unprecedented. There are lots of other good reasons to vote for Jim Berry but I don’t have any more space. Suffi ce to say that the Board will be enriched in many ways with Jim Berry being elected. There are two full page adds in this Rank and File for three other candidates for the Executive Board. By sheer coincidence these are the three others who will get my votes this June. I will have more to say about them as the race heats up. For now, all three are well qualifi ed to serve on the Board. Oh yes, in Jim’s campaign, I am VERY strictly a volunteer as I am in doing work for the FKB US Championship. I am extremely fond of Jim Berry and I feel he will make a genuine positive contribution on the Executive Board of our USCF. Cheers for great Chess, Jerry Hanken JERRY HANKEN

10 RANK & FILE MAY-JUNE 2007 Tactics mproving your chess aware- by NM Tim Hanks winning material since 6. … Qc5+ Iness is a key factor in improving is met by 7. Bd4 and White wins. youryour chesschess playingplaying skills.skills. BeingBeing AcceptingAccepting thethe sacrificesacrifice waswas badbad forfor aware involves staying focused at Black in this example: however, if all times. The dynamic nature of instead Black had played 1. … Qd8, chess can be looked at like the sur- then 2.Nxe7+ would allow White to vival of the fittest. Your opponent is gain the Bishop pair with mounting only interested in one thing: beat- pressure on the dark squares and ing you as quickly as possible. The the d6 Pawn. more crushing the better, too. This The most important Knight sac- is war, and most players are not in- rifices that involve Nd5 are typical- terested in taking any prisoners, so ly played with long-term compensa- you must stay alert. tion and a positional advantage in How many times have you made mind. This is especially true when a poor move or blunder owing to not the Black King has not castled sustaining your full attention dur- Position No. 1. White to move. and White has pressure along an ing the game? It happens to every- XIIIIIIIIY opened e-file that can be infiltrated. one and can change a totally win- Take a look at the next example for ning position to a lost one in just 9-+r+-trk+0 this demonstration. White’s Knight one move. To play well you must 9+lwq-vlpzpp0 is attacked on c3. How would you sustain sharply focused concentra- 9pzpnzppsn-+0 proceed? tion so that no matter what may be going on around you -- even off 9+-+-+-+-0 Position No. 2: White to move the board -- it will not impair your 9-+PsNPzP-+0 XIIIIIIIIY ability to think clearly during your 9+PsN-+-zPP0 game. 9r+l+kvl-tr0 Some of the most startling tacti- 9PvL-+-+L+0 9+-wq-+pzpp0 cal sacrifices occur when a move is 9+-tRQtR-mK-0 9p+-zpp+-+0 made that catches you off guard as xiiiiiiiiy a result of forgetting to do your safe- 9sn-sn-+-zP-0 ty check. One of the most important For the experienced player mov- 9-zp-sNP+-+0 (and often startling) sacrifices of ing 1. Nd5! in this position is what 9+LsN-vL-+P0 this type is when the Knight invades I would call thematic and may not on the 5th rank – sometimes right even require much deep calcula- 9PzPP+QzP-+0 into a pit of squares that appear to tion. Not recognizing the power of 9+-mKRtR-+-0 be adequately defended. This kind this tactical motif and strategic xiiiiiiiiy of sacrifice is always critical and principle at crucial junctures of quite popular in some Sicilian De- the middlegame could almost be 1. Nd5 Naxb3+!? (Perhaps 1. … fense lines, especially with forma- considered as a blunder. It’s like Ncxb3+ improves) 2. axb3 exd5 tions that include a Black pawn at passing up a checkmate only to say 3. exd5 Be7 4. Bf4 (For the sac- e6 and White pawns on e4 and c4. you’re still winning. The following rificed Knight White has enormous The Knight sacrifice, whether ac- line exemplifies the power of the pressure on the e-file and looks to cepted or not usually, results with Nd5 sacrifice when accepted. 1. … use the c6 square to intensify the a positional advantage and many exd5?! 2. cxd5 Qd7 (the Black attack. Black must return mate- times a material gain. Take the Queen must move out of the pin) 3. rial.) 4. … Ra7 5. Nc6 Ne6 6. Qe3 following example. How would you dxc6 (regaining the piece) Bxc6 4. Nxf4 7. Qxf4 Qb6 8. Rd4 a5 9. proceed? Nxc6 Rxc6 5. Rxc6 Qxc6 6. e5, Nxa7 Qxa7 10. Re4 Be6 11. dxe6

11 RANK & FILE MAY-JUNE 2007 0-0 12. Qg4, with a completely turns it into a crushing attack. Position No. 1. Black to move winning position for White. Notice the entire sequence begins with the XIIIIIIIIY Position No. 4. White to move forcing Nd5 move – and from there 9r+l+-trk+0 on out it’s like a nail-biting roller XIIIIIIIIY 9zpp+n+pvlp0 coaster ride, in which it is almost 9-+rtr-+k+0 always more fun to the person hav- 9+p+-+pzpp0 9-wqp+-+p+0 ing played Nd5. Pay attention and 9+-+-zp-+-0 don’t become a victim to this motif 9p+qzppvl-+0 9-+P+P+n+0 if at all possible. 9+-sn-+-+-0 9P+P+P+-+0 9+PsNP+N+-0 Another example where play 9+PsN-tR-+-0 9PvL-wQL+PzP0 against the uncastled King can 9tR-+-+R+K0 be set up with the Nd5 sacrifice is 9-vLQ+-zPPzP0 xiiiiiiiiy shown in Position No. 3. The Black 9+-+R+-mK-0 King is in the center in what ap- xiiiiiiiiy a) 1. … Nf2+ is correct and pears to be a very nicely protected Black is winning. barrier consisting of pieces and There’s no time to waste. White b) 1. … Nf2+ is incorrect. pawns. White has developed heavy wins with 1. Nd5 exd5 (If 1. … Prove your answer with analysis artillery (i.e. both Rooks) towards Bxb2? then Ne7+) 2. exd5 Qd7 3. and a variation. the center and is ready to strike. Bxf6 gxf6? (This sets up a quick Timing is important since any delay finish. Perhaps 3. … Re8 improves, will allow Black to fortify the posi- but after 4. Rg3 g6 5. Ba1! White Problem No. 2. White to move tion and mount a counter-attack. has a winning advantage.) 4. Rg3+ XIIIIIIIIY Kh8 (4. … Kf8 is still bad. In any Position No. 3: White to move event now comes a shot from the 9-tr-snr+-mk0 XIIIIIIIIY dark.) 5. Qxh7+! Kxh7 6. Rd4 (So 9zppwqlsn-vlp0 simple and yet so deadly, as mate 9-+-zp-+p+0 9-trl+k+-tr0 will follow soon.) 9+-wqnvlp+-0 9+-zp-+psN-0 9p+-zppzp-zp0 Improving your ability to cal- 9-+-+-zP-+0 culate and visualize tactical com- 9+QzPP+-zP-0 9+p+-+-+-% binations takes practice. Tactical 9-+-sNPzPP+0 problem solving will help in this 9PzP-sN-+LzP0 9+-sN-+Q+-0 development. Avoid moving the 9tR-vL-tR-+K0 pieces when solving problems so as xiiiiiiiiy 9PzPP+-+LzP0 to strengthen your over-the-board 9+-mKRtR-+-0 play. Be alert, play sharp and al- a) 1. Nf7+ is incorrect xiiiiiiiiy ways remember to do your safety b) 1. Nf7+ is correct check. Good luck and happy solv- Validate your choice with analy- White plays 1. Nd5! (You should ing! Solutions on page 20. sis. be getting the hang of this by now!) exd5 2. exd5 Kf8 3. Nf5 Bd8 4. Qe4 (White is constantly mounting pressure on Black’s position) 4. … Ne5!? (4. … Kg8 may improve, but White still mounts a strong attack starting with 5. Rd3) 5. fxe5 fxe5 6. Kb1 Bg5 7. Rd3 Bxf5 8. Qxf5 Qe7 9. Rf1 Bf4 10. Ra3 Rb6 11. Rxa6 Rxa6 12. Qc8+, with the better endgame.

In the next and final example on this theme White uses the Nd5 tactical motif to take what appears to be a very even-looking position and advertisement

12 RANK & FILE MAY-JUNE 2007 Problem No. 3. Black is in check. Problem No. 4. White to move. ... continued from page 4 What’s your assessment of the Black is threatening Bxc4. How no prevailed and met in the cham- position? would you respond? XIIIIIIIIY pionship match, which Khachiyan XIIIIIIIIY won. Jerome Weikel organized and 9-mk-+-+-+0 9rsnq+-trk+0 directed the 185-player event. 9+-+-+q+r0 9zpp+-zppvlp0 Khachiyan – Langer 9-zP-+-+-+0 9-+-zplsnp+0 Far West Open, Reno 2007 9+-+-zP-+-0 B51 SICILIAN DEFENSE, Irregular 9+-+-+-+-0 Dragon Variation 9-+-+-+-+0 9-zPP+P+-+0 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Nd7 4. 9+-+-+-+-0 9+-sN-vLN+P0 c4 Ngf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. d4 cxd4 7. Nxd4 9-+-+-+Q+0 Bg7 8. 0-0 0-0 9. Bxd7 Bxd7 10. b3 9P+-+LzPP+0 Rc8 11. Bg5 Re8 12. Qd2 a6 13. Rfe1 9+-+-+K+L0 9tR-+QmK-+R0 b5 14. cxb5 Qa5 15. Rac1 axb5 16. xiiiiiiiiy xiiiiiiiiy Ncxb5 Qxd2 17. Bxd2 e5 18. Nxd6 exd4 19. Rxc8 Rxc8 20. Nxc8 Bxc8 a) White is winning. a) 1. Nd5 is correct. 21. a4 Bd7 22. f3 Kf8 23. Rc1 Ke8 b) The game is a draw b) 1. Nd5 is incorrect. 24. a5 Bb5 25. Rc5 Bd3 26. Rc6 Kd7 c) Black is winning. Prove your answer with a varia- 27. Rb6 Ne8 28. a6 1-0 Prove your answer with a variation. tion.

2007 Lina Grumette Prize Fund $10,000 BasedBased onon 200200 players,players, 60% of Solutions to Chess each prize guaranteed Quiz Memorial Day In 5 sections (See page 24) (Unrated must play in Unrated or Mohring – Fiensch, Germa- Open) ny, 1961: White wins with a variation on the double-Bishop sacrifice: Classic Open: $$ $$T+1800- 1. Bxh7+ Kxh7 (1. ... Kh8 2. Qh5 750-400-300-200, Rfc8 3. Bf5+ Kg8 4. Qh7+ Kf8 5. U2400 400, U2200 Qh8#) 2. Bf6 gxf6 3. Qh4+ Kg8 700-300-200. (3. ... Kg7 4. Qxf6+ Kh7 5. Re4) 4. Premier (Under 2000): Qg3+ Kh7 5. Re4 1–0 $$750-300-200-100. May 26-28, 2007 Vinagre – Durao, Ribeira, Amateur (Under 1800): 1956: Black’s passed pawn proves LAX Hilton $$750-300-200-100. decsisive. What passed pawn? Why, 5711 W. Century Blvd, Los Angeles, CA Reserve (Under 1600): the one that appears after 1. ... 90045 $$750-300-200-100. Rxh2! 2. Kxh2 Rh8+ 3. Bh3 g4 4. Be1 Rxh3+ 5. Kg1 Rh1+ 6. Booster (Under 1400): Kf2 Rh2+ (In the game, Black re- T+400-200-100, 6-SS, 40/2, SD/1 $$ signed after 6. ... g3+ 7. Ke2 g2) 7. U1200 T+100, Unr (2-day schedule rds. 1-3 G/60) Kg1 g3, and mate is unavoidable. T+100. (Unrated may An American Classic! win Unrated prizes Curdo – Parker, Greater Bos- See p. 21 for full details only in this section) ton Open, 1995: Black’s pawn for- tress crumbles after 1. Rxf5! (Also Best Game Prize $25, 1. Qxh7+ Kf8 2. Qh8+ Ke7 3. Qf6+ all sections eligible. Kd7 4. Rc3 wins, but more slowly) 1. ... Nf8 2. e6 f6 3. Rxf6 Re7 4. Rxf8+ Rxf8 5. Qxg6+! 1–0

13 RANK & FILE MAY-JUNE 2007 Gordon Brooks, Gregg Fritchle and Super State Dave Matson (A), Roger Aramayo (B), Kelly Zhang (C), and Anthony Scholastics Hung and Steven Qian ( D-E-un- March 2-4 rated). Combining the SCCF High The Arcadia Chess Club meets School Junior High and Elemen- at 6:30 p.m. Mondays in the Senior tary Championships, this event at- Citizens building, 405 S. Santa Ani- tracted 262 players to Monroe High ta Ave. For information, call Fred School in North Hills. John Daniel Brock at (626) 331-1638 or Mel Bryant won the state high school Clark at (626) 447-9355. Web site: championship with 6-0, earning www.geocities.com/arcadiachess- an invitation to the Denker Tour- ter reaching a 2-2 tie, the players club. nament of High School Champions. contested pairs of games at faster Experts Francis Chen and Jeremy time limits until Miller won the fi- Stein shared second place at 5-1. nal two games with a five-minute Exposition Park In the Junior High, Austin time limit. Hughes and Kelly Zhang tied with Chess Club 5 ½ - 1 ½ . Tony Miller again took first On March 4, Marc Conde, Jose Other prize place in the 16-player “Bella Vista Quiroz and Chris Habu topped sec- winners in- Bonanza” March 25 with 3½-½. tions in the monthly free tourna- cluded Ky- Other prize winners were Alan ment at the Exposition Park Chess ron Griffith Bishop, Warren Williamson, Karl Club. Winners in the April 1 event (6-1 in K-6), Importante, Bruce Campbell and were Gem Malinao, Walter Roble- Peter Kan Dick Matthews. In the 18-player to, Marc Conde, Chris Habu, Tony V e e r m a n “Icebreaker” section for new play- Grauso and Aram Maramian-Sire- (6½-½ in ers, Michael Neymit and Joel Gold- gam. For photos of the club, see K-6 Under JOHN BRYANT enberg topped the field. Luciano chess.expoparkla.com. The club 850), Simone Liao (6½-½ in K-3), Huapaya and Eugenie Shuere also meets every Sunday afternoon in Titan Burl, Austin Chang, Alex won prizes. Jack Cashman and Jim- the public library, 3665 S. Vermont Householder, Linus Jen and David my Sweet directed for the Ventura Ave. in Los Angeles. Fourteen play- Shaw (all 5-2 in K-3 Under 550), County Chess Club. ers competed. and Aaron Householder (5-0 in K-1). The Ventura County Chess Club Non-rated sections were won by Ar- meets on the first Tuesday, the sec- mon Nejati, Rachel Plummer, David ond Monday, and the later Tues- Pasadena Chess Club Chen, Adrian Lee and Jimmy Liu. days each month in the Church of The Pasadena Club Champion- James Bullock directed for orga- the Foothills, 6279 Foothill Rd. For ship drew 35 participants, the best nizer Joe Hanley of chess4children. information, call Jimmy Sweet at turnout in several years. Eighth- com. (805) 659-0356 or Chuck Smith seeded Dave Matson took first place at (805) 654-8472. Web site: www. with 5.5 of 6, downing top-ranked vcchess.com Ike Miller and third-ranked Ron Ventura County Chess Jabali along the way. Miller was second with 5. Class winners included Club Arcadia Chess Club Gregg Fritchle (A), Johnny Carrido For the eighth consecutive year, Winners of the 51-player Arca- and Anand Kesavaraju (B), Jared Tony Miller is the Ventura County dia Chess Club Championship were Ogassian (C), Guanyang Yu (D), Chess Club champion, defeating Ike Miller and Jeremy Stein, with and Saul Maldonado (Unrated). Alan Bishop by a score of 7-5. Af- scored 5 ½ ½. Class prizes went to The April Quick tournament,

14 RANK & FILE MAY-JUNE 2007 with 16 players, was won by Ike 5-1 in the Igor Ivanov Memorial, a March 25. For the club’s schedule Miller with 9-1/2 of 10. Randy tournament of 60-minute games and more, go to diversityeducation- Hough was second, well behind held March 10 and 11. Sedric Prude alcenter.com. with 7-1/2. Class winners included finished third with 4½-½. Class Dave Matson (Under 2000), and Ro- prize winners included Show Kita- berto Zuchini and Jaime Luna (tied gami, Michael Yee and Martin Cohe. National Junior High for Under 1800 and Under 1600). In the U1800 section, Cheston Gu- The club meets Friday nights at nawan, Pirouz Hendi and Michael School Championship Throop Church, 300 S. Los Robles. Taylor tied for first, with Stephan The 2007 National Jr. High The club will be closed May 18 and Bosch, Ryan Polsky and Narayan Chess Championship was held 25. The Mount Wilson Open, a six- De Vera winning class prizes. On March 31-April 1 in Sacramento. round swiss tournament, begins April 14-15, IM Tim Taylor took The 7 round swiss event had over June 1. For details, call Randy first place in the LACC April Open 1000 players Hough, (626) 282-7412 or e-mail with 5½-½, followed by Ilia Serpik from across the [email protected]. – Ran- (5-1) and Show Kitagami (4½-1½). U.S. competing dy Hough The Los Angeles Chess Club for various titles. meets on the second floor of In the two main Dave Matson – Ike Miller 11514 Santa Monica Blvd., above events, the K-9 Pasadena Club Championship Javan restaurant. For informa- C h a mpion s h ip 2007 tion, call Mick Bighamian at (310) section and the K- B26 SICILIAN DEFENSE, Closed 795-5710 or send a message to 8 Championship, MICHAEL YEE [email protected]. Web site: there were sever- Variation AND JERRY YEE 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3 g6 4. www.lachessclub.com. al experts, 1900’s, Bg2 Bg7 5. d3 d6 6. Be3 e5 7. Qd2 and 1800’s and one player that was Nge7 8. Bh6 Bxh6 9. Qxh6 Nd4 10. over 2300. The competition was Rc1 Be6 11. Nf3 Nxf3+ 12. Bxf3 Costa Mesa Octos very strong as there were a few Qd7 13. 0–0 0–0–0 14. Nd5 Bxd5 15. Randy Hough took first prize early upsets. But in the end, there exd5 Kb8 16. Qd2 f5 17. b4 Nc8 18. in the March 17 Octos. Michael W. was a 6 way tie for 1st place in the bxc5 dxc5 19. Rb1 Nd6 20. Rb3 Rc8 Brown and Kurt Oldenburg shared K-9 Championship. Two of the co- 21. Rfb1 c4 22. dxc4 Rxc4 23. Be2 first place in the second section of champions were Southern Califor- Rd4 24. Qa5 Ra4 25. Qc3 Rd4 26. the 16-player event On April 21, nia experts, 13 year old Christian Bb5 Qc7 27. Bc6 b6 28. Qa5 Nc4 29. Ryan Yeung and Robert Khacha- Tanaka and 12 year old Michael Qa6 Rd8 30. Rb4 Qc8 tryan topped their sections in the Yee, both with a 6.0 score. Chris- XIIIIIIIIY 17-player event. For information tian’s crucial final round win over about future Octos, March 17, see New York’s Alec Getz, the section’s 9-mkqtr-+-+0 members.cox.net/octochess. only player with a perfect score 9zp-+-+-+p0 thru the first 6 rounds, led to the 6 9QzpL+-+p+0 way tie for the national title. Anoth- SPA Spring Scholastic er local young expert, 13 year old 9+-+Pzpp+-0 March 3 Tianyi He, finished in 2nd place in 9-tRntr-+-+0 The 16th SPA Spring Scholas- the K-8 Championship section with 9+-+-+-zP-0 tic, at St. Paul the Apostle School a 6.0 score. His only loss was to the in Westwood, attracted 31 play- champion, Marc Tyler Arnold, a 9P+P+-zP-zP0 ers. Adam Zucker, Erick Sun, Jack 2300 rated player who also is from 9+R+-+-mK-0 Aronzon, Cole Hronek, Connor New York. The outstanding perfor- xiiiiiiiiy Brown and William Newhart won mances of Christian, Michael, and sections. Ivona Jezierska directed. Tianyi (nicknamed Sandy) this past 31. Rxb6+ axb6 32. Rxb6+ Kc7 weekend made a strong statement 33. Rb7+ Qxb7 34. Qxb7+ Kd6 35. about chess in Southern California. Qb4+ Kc7 36. Qe7+ 1–0 Diversity Winter Here is Michael Yee’s 6th Scholastics round win against Virginia’s An- Donovan Zhao, Adrian Chang, drew Freix, an underrated 1800 Los Angeles Chess David Yang (in a playoff over Aaron player. Andrew had already de- Householder), Austin Chang and feated 2 experts earlier in the Club Nicholas Hall led their sections tournament, including 11 year old GM Melikset Khachiyan and IM in the Spring Quads at Diversity star Daniel Naroditsky (2145) from Enrico Sevillano tied for first with Educational Center in Arcadia on San Francisco. – Jerry Yee

15 RANK & FILE MAY-JUNE 2007 Alexander Bonen, and Briann Pina. Michael Yee (2042) – Andrew Tyrone Liddell TD, assisted by San Diego Chess Club Freix (1800 Seventy-two players competed in Steve Morford. – Tyrone Liddell National JHS Championship, the 2007 Club Championship and Sacramento 2007 Lasker Open, a four section event E85 KING’S INDIAN DEFENSE, with 7 rounds. The new Club Co- Sämisch Variation Chess Union Champions are John Funderburg 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 The “Chess Union Spring Open,” and Marc Duesterwald, who both 5. f3 O-O 6. Be3 Nc6 7. Nge2 e5 8. Qd2 ending on March 31st, drew 13 scored 5½ points in the top section Ne8 9. d5 Ne7 10. O-O-O c5 11. g4 a6 players. The 3-round swiss held the of 16 players. John won the coveted 12. h4 b5 13. h5 Qa5 14. Bh6 b4 15. Nb1 time controls at game in 75 and was trophy on tie breaks over Marc, who Qxa2 16. Bxg7 Nxg7 17. Qh6 a grand prix event. Tying for first recently arrived from Germany and Bd7 18. Ng3 Ba4 19. Rd2 with 2½ points were Leo Raterman, is rated about 2400; a first round Bb3 20. Rg2 Bxc4 21. Nf5! Donald Cotton, and Steven Dahl. bye probably hurt his chances. John Nexf5 22. gxf5 Bxf1 23. f6! All 3 first place prize winners were is now probably just a few points shy Ne8 24. hxg6(also effective was over 60 years old, and that’s very of obtaining a master rating of 2200. Qxh7+!) Nxf6 25. gxh7+ Kh8 26. rare these days when the under 40 People have been predicting a mas- Qxf6# 1-0 crowd seems to win most events. ter level for this solid player ever The Chess Union’s next event is since he started coming on strong Sat. May 12th. Visit www.TheChes- last year. Third Place was won by AAA Scholastic sUnion.com or call (951) 990-7990 NM Todd Smith with 4½. The top for more details. – Tyrone Liddell section had 4 Masters, 7 Experts, 4 Championship Class A and 1 B, Fausto Robles – the April 7 first Class B player ever to qualify This scholastic event, held at the La Palma Chess Club for the Championship. Fausto got First Lutheran Church in Glendale, Craig Allen Faber dominated in thanks to a great performance in had a good turnout of 115. Aram the 23-player Galactic Section of the Markowski Open, plus the fact Kavoukjian scored 5-0 in the top LPCC’s Milky Way Championships that 3 masters, David Hart, Rich- section, followed at 4-1 by Maxwell with a fine undefeated score of 5½. ard Russell and Bob Richard, who Chou and Anderson Ju. In the K-8 The six round Swiss was held at qualified in the 7 round Markowski, U1000 section, Minas Badikyan La Palma’s Central Park and end- were unable commit to the grueling topped the field with 4½-½, ahead ed April 6th. Other prize winners schedule of 7 more rounds to deter- of Hovsep Miribyan, Sipan Zograbi- were Chris Roberts, Mike Henebry, mine the Champion. Also 2005 Club an, and Gevork Ayrapetian, all at 4- and Tim Galima with scores of 4. Champion Adam Corper probably 1. First in the K-5 U650 was Benja- Eren Karakayi won the Best U1700 could have qualified but decided to min Kozmanian with 5-1, followed prize. With a score of 4.½, Dale take some time off to get married, by Mousseri Daniel (4½-½) and Malec won the 9-player Earth Sec- I guess that’s a good excuse, but I Clay Wang (4-1). Harut Keshishian tion on tiebreaks over Mike Brady. don’t know about the other masters! and Harry Akopyan directed. Earth Section winners were Ron Also missing was Expert Maksim Duff, Andre Munoz, and Joe Tishy. Gusev, who was seeded in the event, The LPCC held the Quick Fix but declined to play. So even though Riverside Gambit on April 20, an eight round Swiss the field was somewhat diluted this The Riverside Gambit was held of games where each side gets only year, there was still lots of exciting at North High School in Riverside, 10 minutes. With a score of 5 game and hard fought chess. Buddy Mor- on March 17th. The scholastic tour- points, newcomer Austin Hughes ris did well as a Class A, scoring nament hosted 44 youthful partici- won the 24-player event based on 3½ points. The Reserve Champion- pants this year. The event was con- the biggest rating gain of 119 points. ship (U1800) was won by Vincent ducted as a four round swiss, G/30, Craig Allen Faber had the highest Broman, with a very convincing 6 in three sections. In the high school game score with an undefeated 7½. ½ points, all in a 16 player section. section, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place win- Complete standings are available at Richard Jensen took Second Place ners were Austin Cambon 4-0, Eric http://www.uschess.org/msatestlm/ with 5 points, while Caley Ander- Bourgain-Chang 3-0, and Michael XtblMain.php?200704136231, and son and Marty Lower tied for Third Kokosenski 3-0. In the middle a complete schedule of LPCC up- Place with 4½. In the Lasker Open, school section, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd coming events and results of oth- Manuel Herrera scored 5½ for First place winners were, Ryan Marse, er events at http://www.lapalm- Place, while James Malowney and Abigail Schlenk, and Eric Abma. achess.741.com/. – Chris Roberts Tom Fries had to settle for a Sec- The Elementary K-5 winners were ond/Third Place tie with 4½ each. Jay Williams 4-0, Jonathan Marilao, Finally, in the Lasker Reserve, Eric

16 RANK & FILE MAY-JUNE 2007 players are always looking for 5. ... Bxd1 6. Bb5+ c6 7. dxc6 a good game. In the Reserve Qa5+ 8. Nc3 0–0–0 9. cxb7+?! 9. Section, William Wijaya won ... Kxb7 10. Nc6 Qc7 11. Nxd8+ BU1800; Pouyan Azarshahri, Qxd8 12. Nxd1 Shaun Sweitzer and Art Taylor So white has a Rook, Bishop were 2nd U1800. Tom Kuhn and pawn for the Queen and also tied with Jeffrey Ledbetter for a development lead. The position is BU1600. unclear but given a choice I would The April Super Gambito take White. was one of our special 5 round events (usually we just have XIIIIIIIIY 4 rounds of G/45), but twice a 9-+-wq-vlntr0 year we double the entry fee, add an extra game and start a 9zpk+-zppzpp0 JOHN FUNDERBURG little earlier. That way we can pay 9-+-zp-+-+0 out a nice prize fund and draw an Castro won First with 6, followed 9+L+-+-+-0 even bigger crowd than normal. closely by Robert Henderson and This time 35 players attended, a 9-+-+P+-+0 Fred Borges, with 5½ each. Fred is little short of the hoped for 40, but 9+-+-+-+-0 well over 80 years old, but still puts still enough to pay out $1,440, very up a darn good fight, besides being 9PzPP+-zPPzP0 close to the projected prize fund of a well know ping pong tournament $1,600. Cyrus Lakdawala won all 9tR-vLNmK-+R0 player. BU1400 was won by Monica 5 of his games to take clear first xiiiiiiiiy Ness with a solid 4 points, followed ($290). Dimitry Kishinevsky placed by Morgan Fox and Mark Lawless 12. ... Nf6 13. Nc3 d5?! Second and Bruce Baker “showed” with 3, while James Aranda took Breaking the principle stating: at Third. Adam Corper and Carey BU1200 with 2½. See our web site don’t open the game when behind Milton split the BU2200 prize while at http://Groups.msn.com/sandie- in development. A better try was Ed Baluran and Esteban Escobedo gochess for more details, games and 13. ... e6 14. 0–0 Be7 15. Rd1 Qc7 tied for BU2000. In the Reserve photos – Chuck Ensey 16. Bf4, with a slight advantage for Section, William Delaney won clear White. First ($190) with 4 points despite 14. exd5 Nxd5 15. 0–0! Gambito Open News being unable to play his last round Offering to open lines. The March Super Gambito Open game! I don’t think that has ever 15. ... Nxc3?! (#311) featured 29 players, includ- happened in the long history of the Also15. ... e6 16. Rd1 Bd6 17. Be2! ing 5 Masters and 5 Experts, a Gambito Open. Chuck Ensey and Kb8 favors White strong field which is very typical for Jesse Orlowski tied for 2nd/3rd 16. bxc3 Qa5 17. Rb1 Kc8 18. us lately. It ended in a tie between with 3 ½ points. Chuck and Jesse Rd1 IM Cyrus Lakdawala and Expert both won their fifth round games, The White army is out in force Leonard Sussman. Cyrus often knocking out both of the players and Black still has to deal with the wins these events with a 4-0 score, (Pejman Sagart and Daniel Cook) buried Bishop and Rook. but his time he was held to a draw who could have tied the lucky Mr. 18. ... e6? in the last round by Rick Aeria, who Delaney if they had won. Daniel 18. ... e5!, preventing Bf4, is won the BU2200 prize. Lenny won Cook still tied for BU1600 with Tom black’s best shot at survival. For all his games after his customary Kuhn. – Chuck Ensey example: 19. Be3 Be7 20. Bc4 (20. first round bye, including a third Bd7+ Kc7 21. Rb5 Qxa2 22. Rxe5 round win over NM Romeo Ignacio. Bruce Baker (2211) – Richard Bd6 23. Red5 Kxd7 24. Rxd6+ Kc8 Carey Milton and Ryan Richardson Jensen (1874) 25. Rd7 Qxc2 26. Bf4 a5 27. Rc7+ tied for 2nd U2200. Ed Baluran tied Gambito #316, San Diego 2007 Kb8 28. Ra1 a4 29. Rxf7+ Ka8 30. for BU2000 with Mark Attree, who B00 NIMZOVICH DEFENSE Rxg7 Rd8 31. h3 Rd1+ 32. Rxd1 was visiting all the way from Lon- (NotesNotes byby IMIM CyrusCyrus Lakdawala)Lakdawala) Qxd1+ 33. Kh2 a3 34. Be5 a2 35. c4 don. Mark donated his $50 prize to 1. e4 Nc6 a1Q 36. Bxa1 Qxa1 37. Rxh7 Qe5+ the club with instructions that it The slippery Nimzovitch De- 38. g3 Qf5 39. Rh8+ Kb7 40. Kg1=) be used to help benefit junior play- fense is a favorite of Rich Jensen. 20. ... Rd8 21. Rxd8+ Kxd8 22. Bxf7 ers. Thank you, Mark! It seems 2. Nf3 d6. 3. d4 Bg4 4. d5 Ne5 Qxc3 23. Rd1+ Kc7 24. Bxa7 Qxc2 the internet brings us new players 5. Nxe5! 25. Bb3, with White only slightly every week, some of them travel- White gets good compensation better. ing from far away lands, but chess for the Queen in this line. 19. Bf4 Bc5

17 RANK & FILE MAY-JUNE 2007 19. ... Kb7 doesn’t save black ei- Balares (3 1/2), Leonard Sussman ther after 20. Be2+ Kc6 21. Bf3+ (3 1/2), John Rinaldo (3 1/2 & Best Kc5 22. Be3+ Kc4 23. Be2+ Kxc3 over 60), $100 each 24. Bd4+ Kxc2 25. Bd3#. BU 2000: Ben Barquin (3 1/2) 20. Ba6+! 1–0 $150 2nd U2000: Robert Defore (3), Rick Dyberg (3) $25 each Mark Duesterwald (2427) – IM BU 1800: (tie): Morgan Fox (2 Cyrus Lakdawala (2494) 1/2) , Robert Draper (2 1/2), An- Gambito #316, San Diego 2007 thony Harbone (2 1/2 & Best over D15 SLAV DEFENSE, Tolush-Geller 70) $100 each Gambit BU 1600: Gene Arnaiz (2) $150, 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. 2nd U1600 Reno Tyrell (1) $50 Nc3 dxc4 5. e4!? b5 6. e5 Nd5 7. CARL WAGNER Ng5 Bf5!? 8. Qf3 e6 9. g4 Bg6 10. Ron Bruno Sweeps The “Junior” h4? Nb4! be fun to try. All games had a TEN Field With A Perfect 5-0 Score XIIIIIIIIY second time delay instead of the nor- Ron beat a Class B player in mal 5. We’d like to play 40/60, SD/1, round 1, then a strong A player in 9rsn-wqkvl-tr0 but these 6 hour games just aren’t round 2. Then came his biggest 9zp-+-+pzpp0 feasible if you want to squeeze in test, against Mark Duesterwald, 9-+p+p+l+0 5 rounds. The surprise this year rated 2369, nearly 100 points high- was very few people took byes in er than Ron, but he was up to the 9+p+-zP-sN-0 the third round, just Balares, Ig- challenge and prevailed in a see- 9-snpzP-+PzP0 nacio and Sussman among the top saw game. On Sunday he still had 9+-sN-+Q+-0 players. Carl played tough compe- to face the #3 and #4 rated play- tition in all 5 rounds, an 1889 in ers, Romeo Ignacio and Dimitry 9PzP-+-zP-+0 round 1, and then four Experts in Kishinevky, but he passed that test 9tR-vL-mKL+R0 a row ( #6, #7, #5 and #3 rated, in too. Ron’s rating is now 2292, just a xiiiiiiiiy that order: Milton, Crisologo, Suss- mere 8 points from 2300. man and Balares). Prizes in Junior Section (un- 11. Be2?! Nc2+ 12. Kf1 Nxd4 After two rounds, Raoul Crisolo- der 50 years old): 13. Qf4 h6–+ 14. Nge4 Nxe2 15. go was on a roll, winning his first First Place: Ron Bruno Kxe2 Qd3+ 16. Ke1 17. h5 Bh7 two games, including a big win (5) $200 Second Place: John Bad- 18. Nf6+ gxf6 19. Qxf6 bxc3! 20. over NM Bruce Baker, so he was ger (4) $100 Qxh8 Qe4+. 21. Be3 Qxh1+ 22. tied for first with Leonard Suss- Third Place: Mark Duester- Ke2 Bd3# 0–1 man and Carl. Lenny took a bye on wald (3 1/2) $50 Saturday night in round 3, while BU2200: Esteban Escobedo Raoul lost to Carl. The tough loss (3 1/2) $100, 2nd U2200: Dimitry SCCF Senior/Junior to Carl appeared to take the wind Kishinevsky (3) $50 Open out of Raoul’s sails, as he lost his BU2000 (tie): Varun Krishnan next game on Sunday morning to (3), Peter Hodges (3) $75 each Dr. Carl Wagner wins SCCF Senior Bob Defore and then drew with Bob BU1800: Jason Qu (2) $100 Title on tiebreaks Draper. 2nd U1800 tie: Jamieson Pryor Held at the San Diego Chess Club Carl opted to take a quick draw (1 1/2), Chris Wonnell (1 1/2) $25 April 21-22, the total attendance of in the last round because he wasn’t each 44 was less than the hoped for 60, feeling all that sharp, having had BU 1600: Tom Kuhn (1) $100 but still decent. The Seniors held up major heart surgery just a few The biggest gain was turned in their end of the bargain, supplying weeks ago. As it turned out, he had by Morgan Fox with +118 points 26 players, but the Juniors came up the better tiebreaks anyway, and (1356>1474). – San Diego Chess light with only 18 players. This is so he won the Title of SCCF Senior Club the first year we included a Junior Champion. Section, so possibly the news hadn’t Prizes in Senior Section sunk in yet to all the population of (over 50 years old) chess players out there. First Place/Second Place/ The first 3 games on Saturday Third Place (tie): Carl Warner were G/90, while the two longer (4), Rick Aeria (4), Carey Milton (4) games on Sunday were G/120, a $166 each new time control we thought would Best Under 2200 (tie): Jorge

18 RANK & FILE MAY-JUNE 2007 Reviews

Silman’s CompleteComplete End-End- concludes with Tests and Solutions, Contributions range from the game Course: From Begin- the diagrams appearing twice for highly theoretical (“What is Known ner to Master, by Jeremy Sil- easy reference. Two very minor about What Occurs in the Brain quibbles: a bit of the material ap- man. Los Angeles: Siles Press, When People Play Chess? An In- pears in Silman’s other work, and troduction to the Neuroscientific 2007, 530 pages. $24.95. he has a problem with homophones Basis of Chess Playing”) to the (Review by Randy Hough) (e.g., “Chicken coup,” his term for extremely practical (“Chess Cry- Los Angeles IM Jeremy Silman the situation where the stronger ing: Children’s Preparation and has added to his string of useful side’s king, the fox, rushes to the Tournament Structure”). David instructional books. Complete End- other side and feasts on the chick- MacEnulty, the model for Ted Dan- game Course includes eight rating ens while the opposing king is stuck son’s character in Knights of the class-based chapters which build on tending to an outside passed pawn). South Bronx (though this fact goes one another. Thus, the opposition is But on the whole, this is an excel- unmentioned) has useful essays on introduced in “Endgames for Class lent work and should be the first developing a successful program E,” distant opposition is covered endgame book for both players and and “Tips and Tricks for Teaching under Class D, and further finesses teachers. Highly recommended. Total Beginners: Six Big Ideas and are discussed in the C chapter. The a Lot of Little Things to Do.” latter chapter also presents the To cite at random one paper I Lucena and Philidor positions in Chess and Education: Se- found interesting, Michael Potts rook endings. Many other concepts lected Essays from the discusses “The Peripatetic Caissa: are displayed in similar building Koltanowski Conference, Chess as a Supplement to Teaching blocks. Tim Redman, ed. The Chess Aristotle’s Ethics.” With all the re- In his introduction, Silman Program at the University of cent focus on chess’s value in, e.g., points out that “Jumping from book teaching math skills, it’s refreshing to book is a fast track to nowhere,” Texas at Dallas, 2006. 230 to see a discussion of value ethics. certainly true of endgames. Queen pages. $25. Potts concludes, albeit with caveats, endings, except for fortresses and (Review by Randy Hough) that knowledge of chess can help queen vs. pawn on the seventh, are The Koltanowski Memorial Con- one “see” more in a moral situa- pretty much ignored. And Silman ference on Chess and Education, tion, appreciate that correct moral explicitly declines to present the held in 2001, was one of many wor- decisions can be uncertain without bishop and knight mate because thy tributes to its namesake. With being relativistic, and, through its of its paucity in practical play. (Ah, some additions, this compendium social component, assist in charac- but like many veterans, I went for presents the academic papers from ter development. 40 years without one – and then had that conference, for a total of 17 es- Of course, not all the essays in three within a year!) A selective rec- says. such a varied collection will be of ommended reading list of ten books In his introduction, Redman interest to everyone. But there’s invites the student to go further. points out that the focus is on chess much of value in Chess and Educa- The final chapter, “Endgames as a vehicle for the improvement of tion to parents, chess teachers and for Pure Pleasure,” is less didactic academic skills, as opposed to sim- coaches, and anyone who would like and can be profitably read by the ply developing good players. Sec- to help get chess into school curri- majority of readers, including those tion headings include Chess Pro- cula – there’s plenty of intellectual who don’t achieve the master level gram Values, Educational Practice, ammunition here when that op- in endings or other phases of the Training and Teaching, Theory, and portunity arises. A book very much game! It includes examples from Problems. Appendices include Rob- worth owning and dipping into. endgame virtuosos Lasker, Rubin- ert Ferguson’s extensive annotated stein, Capablanca, Smyslov, and bibliography on chess and learning, Fischer. and resources for teachers, com- Each chapter (through Experts) piled by Tom Brownscombe.

19 RANK & FILE MAY-JUNE 2007 2006-2007 State Championship eeded into the Championship are the 2006 co-champions Enrico Sevillano and Andranik Matikozyan, two players Sselected on the basis of rating, and four from the 2007 Candidates Tournament.

July 1-4 Pacific Southwest Open Michael Casella Dec. 10-11 Joseph Ileto Memorial Ike Miller Julian Landaw Show Kitagami July 8-16 State Championship Jack Peters Mike Zaloznyy Cyrus Lakdawala Leo Raterman Eugene Yanayt January 12-15 Western Class Christian Tanaka Championships Matthew Beelby Francis Chen Jerome Hanken July 20-23 Pacific Coast Open Tim Taylor January 27-28 SCCF January Open John Daniel Bryant Elliot Liu John Funderburg September 2-4 Southern California Leonard Sussman Open Varuzhan Akobian Dimitry Kishinevsky Joel Banawa March 3-4 SCCF HS Champ Jeremy Stein Melikset Khachiyan April 21-22 SCCF Senior Open Carl Wagner Sept. 30-Oct. 1 San Luis Obispo Cty Champ. James Humphrey Vadim Kudryavtsev Upcoming Chris Roberts April 28-29 Los Angeles Cty Open Monterey Park October 6-8 Los Angeles Open Ilya Sterin May 19-20 Chess4Children Mikhail Ginzburg May Open Huntington Beach Takashi Kurosaki Craig Clawitter May 28-30 Memorial Day Classic LAX Sargis Hakobyan Marian Nick Nita Each event qualifies two players (highest scoring South- Francisco Alonso ern California residents not previously qualified) except Bobby Hall that 1) In the event of a tie, all tied players will advance; Nov. 18-19 SCCF November Open Derek Tan 2) A score of 60% is required to qualify; 3) The SCCF Roger Dellaca Amateur, SCCF High School and any one-day event will Nov. 23-26 American Open Reynaldo del Pilar each have one qualifying spot; and 4) All one-day tourna- Ron Hermansen ments shall require a 75% score and only one player shall Ilia Serpik qualify on tiebreak.

Solutions to correct. (From the game Manukyan the check and no matter what’s chosen -- Jacobson, USATW, San Pedro, CA Black wins. I know this seems hard to Tactics by Hanks 2007) 1. Ng7+ is a mistake as proven believe so consider the following: (See page 12) by the following main line. 1. Nf7+? If 1. Kg1 Rg7 and Black wins Problem no. 1: b. 1. … Nxf2+ is (1. Ndf3 improves) Nxf7 2. Qxf7 If 1. Ke2 Rh2! (ouch) 2. Qxh2 Qa2+ incorrect. (From the game M. Lowe Nc6! (Black missed this winning line 3. Kf1 Qxh2 and Black wins -- A. Onikul, USATW, San Pedro, CA and played instead 2. … Bc6!?, losing If 1. Ke1 Qa2!! (Chess tactics at its 2007) 1. … Nf2+ is incorrect. The the game in over 70 moves) 3. Rxe8+ best) 2. Qxa2 Rxh1+ 3. K-any Rh2+ main line leads to an advantage for (White has very few choices owing to 4. K-any Rxa2 and Black will win the White as shown in the following varia- the precarious position of his Queen.) remaining White Pawns and the end- tion 1. … Nf2+? (1. … Bh6 improves) 3. … Rxe8 4. Qb3 (the threat was Re6 game. 2. Rxf2 Qxf2 3. d4! (White missed and Nd8 trapping the White Queen) 4. If 1. Qf3 Rxh1+ and Black wins. this continuation in the actual game. … Re1+ 5. Nf1 Nb4! (White’s back Problem no. 4: d. 1. Nd5 is in- The threat of Nd1 trapping the Black rank is hard to defend) 6. cxb4 Bc6 correct. The main line goes if 1. Nd5? Queen is hard to meet.) 3. … Nc5 (best 7. Bd5 (there are very few defensive This is a mistake. Better is 1. Rc1 as defense) 4. dxc5 (not 5. Nd1 Nxe4! or moves) 7. … Qe7 8. Be3 (what else?) this indirectly defends the Pawn on c4. 5. Rf1 exd4! and Black gets compensa- 8. … Qxe3 winning, as the mating For example 1. Rc1 Bxc4? 2. Nd5 Bxe2 tion) 4. … Qxc5 5. Rd1 Be6 (not 5. … threats are unstoppable. 3. Qxe2 (best) Qd8 4. Nc7 and White Bg4? 6. Nxe5) 6. Nb1, and White has a Problem no. 3: c. Black is win- will win the Exchange with a good clear advantage owing to the more ac- ning. I like this problem because it game. 1. … Nxd5! 2. exd5 Bxd5! 3. tive pieces, threats of further material teaches you the importance of com- cxd5?! Qc3+ 4. Nd2 Qxa1 and Black gain and a lasting initiative. puter mode thinking to solve complex is winning. Problem no. 2: a. 1. Nf7+ is in- positions. White has several replies to

20 RANK & FILE MAY-JUNE 2007 Upcoming Events

May 5-6 prizes per entries. Reg. 9:30-10:15 $$10,000 b/200, 60% of each prize 2007 GOLDEN GOOSE OPEN. 6-SS, a.m. Rds. 10:30-2:30-6:30. (New guaranteed. In five sections: Open: G/60. (No time delay.) LA Chess times.) Rounds may start earlier $$T+1800-750-400-300-200, U2400 Club, 11514 Santa Monica Blvd - if your opponent is present and 400, U2200 700-300-200. Premier Second Floor. (4 blocks West of 405 ready. Info/Ent: Takashi Iwamoto (under 2000): $$750-300-200-100. Fwy. Free Parking across street ([email protected]), 24275 Tama Amateur ((UnderUnder 11800):800): $$$750-300-$750-300- or in the building basement $5) Lane, Laguna Niguel, CA 92677. 200-100. Reserve (Under 1600): Sponsor: Dr. Harold Valery (Car- Home: (949) 643-2981 Cell: (949) $$750-300-200-100. Booster (Un- dinal Medical Group - Long Beach) 689-3511. Web site: http://members. der 1400/unrated): $$T+400-200- $$1000 Guaranteed. In 2 Sections cox.net/octochess/. NS, NC. 100, U1200 T+100, Unr T+100. (Un- Open: $300-200-100-Fritz 10. Re- rated may win Unrated prizes only.) serve (U1800): U1800: $100-chess Best game prize $25, all sections eli- computer-Fritz 10, U1600: $100- May 19-20 gible. All: half-point byes available, Fritz 10, U1400: $100-Fritz 10, CHESS4CHILDREN MAY OPEN. 5-SS. limit 2, rds 5-6 must be requested U1200/Unrated: Talking chess com- USCF Rated. Hebrew Academy, with entry & cannot be revoked. puter-Fritz 10. Reg: 11:00 - 11:45 14401 Willow Lane, Huntington SCCF membership req. ($14, jr. $9), a.m. Rds: 12, 2, 4 each day. EF: $40, Beach, CA. Time Controls: Satur- OSA. No checks or credit cards at $20 LACC members; Juniors/Se- day G/90; Sunday 40/2, SD/1 Prize door Reg: 3-day 9-10 a.m. 5-26, 2- niors $30, $15 LACC members. Inf: Fund: $500 Guaranteed. (Prizes day 8:30-9:30 a.m. 5-27. Rds: 3-day: www.LaChessClub.com, (310) 795- will go up with more than 20 play- 10:30-5 Sat-Sun, 10-4:30 Mon. 2- 5710. ers). Distribution: 1st-35%, 2nd-15%, day: 10-12:15-2:30 Sun., then merg- Top X/A/B, and C-10% Each, Top D es. EF: Open, Premier, Amateur, and E/UNR-5% each. April Supple- Reserve $83 if received by 5-24, $95 May 12 ment used. EF: $40 before 5/18/07. door, Booster $67 by 5-24, $80 door. CHESS UNION RIVERSIDE SWISS. 3- After: $50. IM’s play free with en- On-line entry: www.westernchess. SS, G/75. Back to the Grind Cafe try fee deducted from prize. Rds: com. Ent: SCCF, c/o John Hillery, (lower level), 3575 University Ave Saturday 10-1:30-5 p.m.; Sunday 835 N. Wilton Pl. #1, Los Angeles Riverside, CA. Top 2 $$150-$75 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Reg: Online at www. CA 90038. HR: $95 (310) 410-4000, Gtd., U1800 & U1600 prizes b/20. chess4children.com, click on Tour- mention chess. Parking $8/day. Inf: Reg: 9:00-10:10 a.m. Rds: 10:15- nament and Class Registrations [email protected]. NS, W, 1:00-4:00. EF: $24 online/mail re- 2007, and click on Chess4Children F. GP: 40. State Championship ceived by May 5, $30 at door. Ent: May Open. You can also register by Qualifier Mail checks to “Chess Union,” PO printing out the flyer and mailing Box 1313, Bloomington, CA 92316. it in. Info: SCCF membership re- May 27 Info: Call (951) 990-7990. No quired of So. Californians: $14, $9 MDC SCHOLASTICS. 5-SS, SD/45. checks or credit card entries at door. jrs. Advance entries will be listed LAX Hilton, 5711 W Century Blvd, Web site: www.TheChessUnion.com. at the same page as registration. Los Angeles, CA 90045. Open to gr. NS, NC. Questions: Joe Hanley 714-925- 12-below. In two sections: Open: 3195 NC, NS. State Champion- Trophies to top 5, top 3 U1200, top May 19 ship Qualifier. 2 Unrated. Grade 6/below U1000: COSTA MESA OCTOS. 3-SS, 30/75, Trophies to top 5, top 3 U700, top SD/30. (Digital Clocks with de- 2 Unrated. Reg: 8:30-9:15. Rds lay 30/70 SD/30). 8 player sections May 26-28 9:30-11-1:00-2:30-4. EF: $16 if re- by rating. Odd Fellows/Rebekah 2007 LINA GRUMETTE MEMORIAL ceived by 5-24, $20 door. Inf: John Hall, 2476 Newport Blvd., Costa DAY CLASSIC. 6-SS, 40/2, SD/1 (2- Hillery, [email protected]. Mesa, CA. EF: $27 advance, $32 day schedule rds 1-3 G/60, then On-line ent: www.westernchess. at site, $2 disc. to all Southern Ca- merges). LAX Hilton, 5711 W Cen- com. Ent: SCCF, c/o John Hillery, lif. Chess Federation members. $$ tury Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90045. 835 N. Wilton Pl. #1, Los Angeles

21 RANK & FILE MAY-JUNE 2007 CA 90038. Home: (949) 643-2981 Cell: (949) Hollywood Way, Burbank CA (adja- 689-3511. Web site: http://members. cent to Burbank Airport).Open to gr. May 28 cox.net/octochess/. NS, NC. 12-below. In two sections: Open: MDC HEXES, 3-SS, G/90. LAX Trophies to top 5, top 3 U1200, top Hilton, 5711 W Century Blvd, Los June 29-July 1 2 Unrated. Grade 6/below U1000: Angeles, CA 90045. Six-player sec- 47TH ANNUAL PACIFIC SOUTHWEST Trophies to top 5, top 3 U700, top tions by rating. EF: $20 if received OPEN. 5-SS, 3-day 40/2, SD/1, 2-day 2 Unrated. Reg: 8:30-9:15. Rds: by 5-24, $25 door. $$ 40-20-10 each rds. 1-2 G/75 then merges. Burbank 9:30-11-1:00-2:30-4. EF: $16 if re- section. Reg: 9:30-10:30 a.m. Rds Airport Marriott, 2500 Hollywood ceived by 6/28, $20 door. On-line 10:45-2-5. Ent: SCCF, c/o John Way, Burbank CA (adjacent to Bur- ent: www.westernchess.com. Info: Hillery, 835 N. Wilton Pl. #1, Los bank Airport). $$8,000 b/240, half [email protected]. Ent: Angeles CA 90038, online at www. of all prize guaranteed. Choice of SCCF, c/o John Hillery, 835 N. Wil- westernchess.com 2 schedules: 3 day schedule plays all ton Pl. #1, Los Angeles CA 90038. rounds at 40/2, SD/1. 2 day sched- May 28 ule plays first 2 rds at G/75, oth- July 1 MEMORIAL DAY ACTION SWISS. 5-SS, ers at 40/2, SD/1. 2 sections: Open, PSW HEXES. 3-SS, G/90 Burbank G/30. LAX Hilton, 5711 W Century $$1400-700-400-300-200, U2200 Airport Marriott, 2500 Hollywood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90045. $$500 $600-300-150, U2000 $600-300- Way, Burbank CA (adjacent to Bur- b/40, else proportional: $150-70-40, 150. Amateur, open to U1800/Unr, bank Airport). 6-player sections by U2100/Unr $80, U1800 $80, Under $$600-300-150, U1600 500-250-150, rating. $$40-20-10 each section. EF: 1500 $80. EF: $20 if received by 5- U1400 400-250, U1200 150, Unr. $20 if received by 6/28, $25 door. 24, $25 at door. Reg: 9-10 a.m. Rds 150. Unr. may win Unrated prize Reg: 9:30-10:15 a.m. Rds: 10:30- 10:15-11:30-12:45-2:30-3:45. Ent: only. All, EF $69 if rec’d by 6/28, 1:30-4:30. Ent: SCCF, c/o John Hil- SCCF, c/o John Hillery, 835 N. Wil- $79 at site. SCCF memb. req’d of So. lery, 835 N. Wilton Pl. #1, Los An- ton Pl. #1, Los Angeles CA 90038, Californians ($14, jrs. U18 $9, in- geles CA 90038. On-line ent: www. online at www.westernchess.com. cludes Rank & File magazine). Reg: westernchess.com. 5:30-6:30 p.m. 6-29, 8:30-10 a.m. June 2 6-30. Rds: 3-day 7 p.m., 11-5:30, 10- July 7 Joshua Tree Summer Open. 4:30. 2-day: 10:30-1:30 (G/75), then CHESS UNION SUMMER QUADS III. 3- 5-SS, G/45. Faith Lutheran Church, merges. HR: $119, 800-736-9712 or RR, G/75. Back to the Grind Cafe 6336 Hallee Rd., Joshua Tree, CA 800-840-6450. Reserve by June 15 (lower level), 3575 University Ave. 92252. $$1000 Gtd. Open: $250- or rates will go up. Be sure to men- Riverside, CA. 4-player sections by 150-100. U2000: $150, $100,$60, tion Western Chess. Parking $10/ rating. $$60 1st each section. Reg: $35, U1600: $75,$50, $30, UNR: day. Inf: [email protected]. 9:00-10:10 a.m. Rds: 10:15-1:00- trophy. EF: $40. Reg: 8-9:15. Rds: On-line ent: www.westernchess. 4:00. EF: $24 online/mail received 9:30-11:30-2:00-3:45-5:30. Ent: com. Ent: SCCF, c/o John Hillery, by June 30, $30 at door. Ent: Mail Mark Muller, PO Box 502, Twen- 835 N. Wilton Pl. #1, Los Angeles checks to the “Chess Union,” PO tynine Palms, CA 92277. (760) 367- CA 90038. NS. NC. F. GP: 30. State Box 1313, Bloomington, CA 92316. 2311. [email protected]. W. Championship Qualifier. Info: Call (951) 990-7990. No No time delay allowed. GP: 15. checks or credit card entries at door. July 1 NS. NC. Web site: www.TheChes- June 16 PSW SCHOLASTICS. 5-SS, SD/45. sUnion.com COSTA MESA OCTOS. 3-SS, 30/75, Burbank Airport Marriott, 2500 SD/30. (Digital Clocks with delay 30/70 SD/30). 8 player sections by rating. Odd Fellows/Rebekah Hall, 2476 Newport Blvd., Costa Mesa, CA. EF: $27 advance, $32 at site, $2 disc. to all Southern Ca- lif. Chess Federation members. $$ prizes per entries. Reg. 9:30-10:15 a.m. Rds. 10:30-2:30-6:30. (New times.) Rounds may start earlier if your opponent is present and ready. Info/Ent: Takashi Iwamoto ([email protected]), 24275 Tama Lane, Laguna Niguel, CA 92677.

22 RANK & FILE MAY-JUNE 2007 Dear USCF Voting Member: Here is what I bring to the table:

A Goal for Success: The USCF must excel in every activity it engages, listen to its members, adapt to new environments and represent the USA to the world chess community with dignity, understanding and compassion.

Experience: 40 years of volunteer experience covering the entire spectrum of USCF activities.

Openness: I was the catalyst that opened up the BINFOS (non-conﬁ dential Board correspondence) to interested members. I will insist that conﬁ dentiality is reserved for personnel, legal and in-process business negotiations.

Newsstand Sales: Will encourage initiatives of the Executive Director and editors to expand newsstand sales of Chess Life and Chess Life for Kids.

Independence: No you scratch my back, I scratch yours; no team commitments; no chess income; I have full independence to act solely in the best interests of the USCF, the organization I love.

Micro-managing: Power of the Executive Director position has been eroding. It’s time to reverse the trend and end Board micro-management.

Scholastic and Youth Chess: I’ve given simuls at schools, organized Junior tournaments, and ran a chess school for children. In 1998 I received an award from the North Broward School in recognition of my contributions to scholastic chess. Take a look at page 34 of the January 2007 issue of Chess Life; you will see a picture of our World Youth Team sporting USA jackets. The jackets were due to my initiative.

Internet: USCF is behind, short on investment capital, the way to establish leadership is non–exclusive partnerships.

Recognition: I started: the Volunteer of the Month” program, the “Gallery of Distinguished Chess Journalists” and the “Cramer Awards for Excellence in Chess Journalism.” I will continue to ﬁ nd ways to honor deserving chess volunteers and professionals.

Professional Players Health Fund: I support the new committee chair Fred Gruenberg in efforts to greatly improve everything about this little known service.

Afﬁ liates: We need to work closer with them in developing and implementing mutually beneﬁ cial projects.

Amateur Team: In 1993, I obtained sponsorship for a single-location Amateur Team playoff among regional champions. My goal is to obtain long-term single-location sponsorship for future years.

TV Serial: I am helping develop a TV show for chess. Commitments from various celebrities to participate are there. Industry interest is there. The impact of a successful weekly chess show will be huge!

Innovator: At the 1996 NY Chess-in-the-Schools Invitational, in order to discourage the “Grandmaster Draw,” I split the prize fund, 50-50 between order of ﬁ nish and games won. It worked: The number of drawn games was reduced and each game was fought to an exciting conclusion.

Motherhood: You won’t see me wasting your time and mine with statements favoring motherhood positions. I will confront the controversial, listen to both sides, decide what to do and announce to you my constituency what I will do and why?

Yes, the best is yet to come! Together, we will make it so, Don Schultz

23 RANK & FILE MAY-JUNE 2007 XIIIIIIIIY XIIIIIIIIY XIIIIIIIIY 9r+-+-trk+0 9-+ktr-+-tr0 9r+-+r+k+0 9+lwq-+pzpp0 9zp-+-+-+-0 9+l+-+p+p0 9p+p+p+-+0 9-zp-+p+-+0 9p+q+n+pwQ0 9+-vl-zP-vL-0 9+-+pzPnzp-0 9+-+pzPp+-0 9-+-zp-+Q+0 9-+pzPl+L+0 9-+-vL-+-+0 9+-+L+-+-0 9zP-zP-+-+-0 9+-+-+-+R0 9PzPP+-zPPzP0 9-tRP+-vL-zP0 9-zPP+L+PzP0 9tR-+-tR-mK-0 9+-+-+RmK-0 9+-+-+R+K0 xiiiiiiiiy xiiiiiiiiy xiiiiiiiiy MOHRING - FIENSCH VINAGRE - DURAO Curdo - Parker GERMANY, 1961 RIBEIRA, 1956 Greater Boston Open, 1995 WHITE TO MOVE BLACK TOTO MOVEMOVE WHITE TO MOVE

Solutions on page 13

SCCF PO BOX 205 MONTEREY PARK CA 9754