Date: Thu, 8 Feb 2007 Subject: fpawn's newsletter February 2007 Hello chess students, parents and friends! Sorry for the late newsletter--I've been busy with multiple things. I have found out that 25 students is a lot of work. While I enjoy teaching chess to so many talented juniors, I am really tired at the end of the day. Certainly there is no way that I can add even more students! The spring nationals and states are fast approaching. I hope that all of my students can play in one or more of these tournaments. You can find the dates and websites below in Section 3. Students also should get some practice before the big tournaments. For that, I recommend the People's Tournament in Berkeley in just one week from now (see Section 1). I'll be there! PLEASE NOTE THAT I AM CANCELLING ALL REGULAR CHESS LESSONS FOR ONE WEEK AROUND THE PEOPLE'S TOURNAMENT. The specific dates are THURSDAY 2/15 THROUGH WEDNESDAY 2/21. See Section 2 below. The last month has been busy with both good news and bad news. I was featured on Susan Polgar's website (http://susanpolgar.blogspot.com/2007/02/profile-of-special-chess-people-1.html) with a nice piece. But I also received bad news about the 2007 US Championship (see Section 4). Let me close with a funny picture that I found on Susan Polgar's website and blog. Can animals really play chess? Perhaps KevinG should answer this question. :-) http://bp3.blogger.com/_Q0lTtPVTG40/RcZJY7KA6ZI/AAAAAAAAAOs/JVCygzG-hoQ/s1600-h/vistachess.jpg Have a great month and I'll see many of you in Berkeley on February 17-19! Michael ------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. People's Tournament in Berkeley 2. Lesson cancellations next week 3. Major tournaments in first half of 2007 4. Bad news about US Championship 5. February USCF ratings and Top 100 lists 6. My January ICC standard tournament 7. Over-the-board tournament results 8. Player of the Month 9. Upcoming tournaments 10. Lesson schedule and website ---------------------------------- 1. People's Tournament in Berkeley ---------------------------------- 34th People's Chess Tournament February 17-19 (U1600 section is February 17-18 only) M.L. King Student Union at UC Berkeley. http://www.calchess.org/controlpanel/files/PeoplesFlyer07_rev1.pdf *** advance entry deadline is Friday, February 9 *** The People's Tournament is one of the two biggest adult tournaments that take place each year in Northern California. The venue is the magnificent Pauley ballroom on the UC Berkeley campus overlooking historic Sproul Plaza (birthplace of the Free Speech Movement in the 1960s). Some of you may never have heard about this event because, sadly, it was held at a much smaller venue at the East Bay Chess Club last year. But the tournament is back at its traditional location in 2007! I hope to see most of my students here. I will be playing in the Open section, but likely playing only four games with two byes (one for a CalChess Board meeting). The top section should attract some of the local IMs, such as DeGuzman, Pruess, Shipman, Zilberstein and maybe others. The lower sections will attract both adults and juniors from around the Bay Area, including some adults who play in few other tournaments. I expect between 120 and 150 competitors in the adult tournament. Note that the over 1600 sections play six games over three days while the under 1600 (Reserve) section plays five games over only Saturday and Sunday. The 1-day scholastic on Monday will attract another 200 or so kids. Please be aware that many younger players will play "up" a section. In other words, the A section might include A players and also many higher B players. My suggestion is that if you are within 100 points of the cutoff to the next group, you should seriously consider playing. That means 1700s would consider playing in the A section. If you've already mailed the entry, that's OK. If not, you should think about what section to play in. I will try to make myself available for game analysis between rounds. That, obviously, depends on how long my own games take and whether I have time for lunch. Don't run and hide if I come looking for your games. :-) --------------------------------- 2. Lesson cancellations next week --------------------------------- I will take a one-week break from my regular teaching schedule around the People's tournament. I regret doing this but need some time to catch my breath from up to 25 lessons each week. I probably have overloaded myself with too many students, but more on that in a future month. NO REGULAR CHESS LESSONS ON THE FOLLOWING DATES Thursday, 2/15 Friday, 2/16 Saturday, 2/17 -- People's Tournament Sunday, 2/18 -- People's Tournament Monday, 2/19 -- People's Tournament Tuesday, 2/20 Wednesday, 2/21 I may have one or two lessons anyways, but only arranged by email for people whom I've have trouble meeting in the last two weeks. I also have to take care of some errands which would have required some cancellations anyways. Thank you for your continued support and understanding. ------------------------------------------ 3. Major tournaments in first half of 2007 ------------------------------------------ I hope that most of my students can attend certain major tournaments. These include big adult tournaments plus major scholastic events. This year is a bit special because we have one of the USCF nationals in our area. Please add the following three tournaments to your calendars. I will provide more details prior to each event. I HOPE TO SEE MANY OF MY STUDENTS AT THE THREE CALIFORNIA TOURNAMENTS LISTED BELOW (with the exception that 10th graders and older can't play in the National JHS Championship). Be there! 34th People's Chess Tournament (adult tournament) February 17-19 (U1600 section is February 17-18 only) M.L. King Student Union at UC Berkeley. http://www.calchess.org/controlpanel/files/PeoplesFlyer07_rev1.pdf *** I will attend and hope to be able to go over some games between rounds. *** National Junior High School (K-9) Championship March 30 - April 1 Sacramento, CA http://www.uschess.org/tournaments/2007/jhs/ *** I will attend and expect to be available for coaching. *** National High School (K-12) Championship April 13-15 Kansas City, MO http://www.uschess.org/tournaments/2007/hs/ *** I will attend and expect to be available for coaching. *** 32nd CalChess State Scholastic Championship April 28-29 San Mateo, CA http://www.calchessscholastics.org/ *** I will attend and expect to be available for coaching. *** National Elementary (K-6) Championship May 11-13 Nashville, TN http://www.uschess.org/tournaments/2007/elem/ *** I will not attend. *** --------------------------------- 4. Bad news about US Championship --------------------------------- Last month I reported the surprisingly good news that I qualified for the 2007 US Championship by finishing tied for second place at the US Open last August. Now it turns out that I qualified for a tournament that might not ever take place. This reminds me of my mom's advice when I was younger: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Everything unraveled on January 10 when the sponsor of the US Championship withdrew its funding for 2007. The America's Foundation for Chess (AF4C) had supported the previous five US Championships with a generous prize fund (over $220,000 last year). The proposed tournament for 2007 was to be smaller (only 32 players rather than 64) and cheaper (prize fund above $100,000). Players, including me, participated in qualifiers throughout 2006 thinking that they would play on the big stage sometime in 2007. Unfortunately, the final details (dates, site) were never released. It turns out the AF4C wanted to cut its funding of the US Championship even more dramatically. They sought a big name sponsor (it was reported the Merrill Lynch corporation). This sponsor withdrew seemingly at the last minute after doing its homework on the USCF. Perhaps they found out the gory details about the ex-felon Sam Sloan who was elected last summer to serve a term on the USCF Executive Board. Now the USCF has to pick up the pieces. They were given $25,000 by the AF4C as a parting gift, but that's hardly enough to run a decent US Championship with suitable prizes and a reasonable venue. Unfortunately, the USCF's own financial situation is far from secure and there's no way they can afford to run the tournament. There are three scenarios, which I will list in order of most likely to least likely. 1. No US Championship until 2008. Unclear what that means for qualifiers like me. 2. Scaled back US Championship with only 10-12 players. I would not get to play. 3. USCF finds a title sponsor to replace AF4C. Unlikely as long as Sam Sloan is on the Board. Just as I wrote in January, stay tuned for more information. I'm not optimistic anymore. ------------------------------------------ 5. February USCF ratings and Top 100 lists ------------------------------------------ The official February rating list was released shortly after my previous newsletter. Please note that the USCF will now switch to MONTHLY OFFICIAL RATING LISTS. However, I believe the Top 100 lists will still be released every other month. There has been a change on the top of my student rankings. Danya Naroditsky has taken over the #1 ranking among all of my active students (not counting NM Daniel Schwarz) by a couple of rating points. At least Danya is used to being #1, as that's his national ranking for age 11. The top list for junior high and high school also saw the end of Saratoga High School's lock on the top 5 spots, as Danya's older brother Alan slid into the #2 spot by gaining 123 points on the February rating list. Top K-6 1. Danya 2115 2. Gregory 2060 3. Sam 1703 4. Yian 1637 5. Embert 1633 Top 7-12 1. David 2110 2. Alan 1916 3. Jeff 1910 4. Charles 1899 5. Aaron 1846 A total of 18 students are currently ranked in the top 100 of the country for their respective age groups. Wow!!! The biggest stars are Danya and Gregory, who occupy both the #1 and #2 spots for age 11. Also highly ranked are David (#12 for age 16), Yian (#17 for age 9), Arthur (#21 for age 12) and Arthur (#24 for age 9). Finally, congratulations to Andrew for breaking into the USCF top 100 for age 11! fpawn student rankings: http://www.fpawn.com/chess/rankings.htm ------------------------------------- 6. My January ICC standard tournament ------------------------------------- Only six of my students played in my ICC standard tournament on January 13 (not USCF rated). Those who showed up had a good time and got some good practice. It was nice to see many competitive games. Hopefully you all learned something. We won't mention any names, but I think someone got a well-deserved lesson in slowing down. Thanks to everyone who played! website: http://www.fpawn.com/ICCStandings.html Congratulations to Sam for winning with 3.5/4. Sam faced everyone except Tyler and only gave up half a point to Rebekah. That draw proved critical for Rebekah as she separated herself from the field and took second place with 2.5/4. Evan was third on tiebreaks at 2.0/4. Both Rebekah and Evan faced the toughest possible opposition, playing the top three rated players and playing an extra game against the houseman (me). ------------------------------------ 7. Over-the-board tournament results ------------------------------------ California Classic on January 14 http://www.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?200701148921.0-12881077 Six of my students played in Cupertino in an event organized by Salman Azhar and Jason Gurtovoy. Five students gained rating points. The big winners were Steven (+94), Evan (+58) and Jeff (+32). Steven took clear second in the U1800 section and is now somewhat less underrated. Jeff took third and top U2000 honors in the top section, defeating NM Albert Rich in the process. Jeff's only defeat came at the hands of the winner, Digesh Shanker Malla (national champion of Nepal). Burger G/45 on January 20 http://www.chessclub.org/Burger07.html Five of my current students and three former students played at the monthly G/45 series at the Mechanics' Institute. The results were mixed and only one former student (Matt) won money, defeating NM Daniel Schwarz in the final round. The main good news was my own result: clear first place at 4.5/5. One strange trend that I have observed: my students and I rarely perform really well at the same tournament--always just one or the other. Silicon Valley Challenge on January 27 http://sunchessclub.googlepages.com/FinalStandings.html My student, Charles Sun, organized this 62 (!) player tournament in Saratoga. Way to go Charles! Seven of my students played--and I had to face three of them! (I blame Charles. Argh!!!) Even worse, I got crushed by Jeff in the third round, marking just the second time ever that I've lost to a student in a slow rated game. Unfortunately, Jeff lost on top board in the last round to the winner, Carlos D'Avila, but still gained a healthy 17 rating points up to 1956. Kudos also to Steven for defeating NM Albert Rich and gaining 131 rating points! For those of you counting, Steven gained 225 points in two weeks and is now rated 1754 (still underrated). Santa Clara County High School Championship on February 3 http://sunchessclub.googlepages.com/CountyStandings.htm The nationally ranked Saratoga High School team won both top individual and team honors at the annual county championship (not USCF rated). Congratulations to David Chock for surviving an upset draw to take clear first at 4.5/5. The other four top Saratoga players all finished tied for second place at 4.0: Marvin, Aaron, Charles and Jeff took fourth through seventh on tiebreaks. The team faced a stiff challenge from Lynbrook High School but Saratoga went 3-0 in games against Lynbrook in the last round. Please check out my Achievements page (http://www.fpawn.com/chess/achievements.htm) where I list some of the biggest tournament results from all of my students. I have recently added Jeff and Steven's results from January. ---------------------- 8. Player of the Month ---------------------- I have only lost two rated slow games to my students over the past seven years that I have been teaching chess. The first loss was to Daniel Schwarz at the 2005 Labor Day Championships. The second one came at the Silicon Valley Challenge in Saratoga on January 27. I suppose if you beat you, then you probably deserve Player of the Month honors. (I better not lose to more than 12 students in a year. Note that I've also drawn against only two students--Daniel Schwarz and David Chock--but a total of 10 (!) times.) Congratulations to Jeff Young for beating up your teacher in about 25 moves with the black pieces. Jeff has really been on a tear in January and early February. Over the course of four tournaments (one was not USCF rated), Jeff scored 10 wins, 2 draws against only 3 defeats--despite facing three masters and two 2100s. I wasn't the only master to taste the agony of defeat because Jeff also beat NM Albert Rich two weeks earlier. Jeff's hot streak came on the heels of an ultimatum from me to "play some tournaments or else." He had not played since a disappointing result at Labor Day dropped his USCF rating to 1910. The first tournament in January wasn't so great either as he needed to shake off his rust. However, Jeff gained an impressive 49 points in the next two events, raising his USCF rating to 1956, and reclaiming his spot as board 2 of Saratoga High School. For those of you who don't play tournaments regularly, let this be a warning for you. Don't be surprised if your first tournament after an extended break is mediocre or worse. To really get back into chess and improve, usually you need to play more consistently. ----------------------- 9. Upcoming tournaments ----------------------- It is important to make sure that you get practice playing chess. If all you do is take lessons and learn, then you won't know how to apply what you learned! That could be embarrassing later at state or national championships. I recommend that everyone try to play at minimum one tournament every two months. Serious players can aim for one event each month. For all upcoming tournaments in northern California, check out the CalChess website at: http://www.calchess.org/modules.php?name=Information&page=01_regular_tournaments/schedule.php Mechanics G/45 Tournament February 10 Mechanics' Institute in San Francisco http://www.chessclub.org/Gross.html These monthly tournaments appeal to players and parents who like one-day events at faster time controls. Each month between 30 and 50 players come to the historic Mechanics' Institute chess club to play chess for 10 hours on a Saturday. The events are kid friendly and often half of the players are juniors. Believe it or not, I am actually planning play in the Gross G/45 on 2/10. ********** *** 34th People's Chess Tournament *** February 17-19 (U1600 section is February 17-18 only) *** M.L. King Student Union at UC Berkeley. *** http://www.calchess.org/controlpanel/files/PeoplesFlyer07_rev1.pdf The People's Tournament is one of the two great tournaments held each year in Northern California (the state championship on Labor Day is the other). After being held at EBCC last year, the event returns to its historical venue overlooking historic Sproul Plaza on the Cal campus. Play up to six rounds (byes are available) at a classical slow time control. Richard Koepcke is chief TD. I PLAN TO PLAY AND COACH AND I STRONGLY RECOMMEND THIS EVENT TO ALL OF MY STUDENTS! Be there! ********** East Bay Chess Club monthly swiss March 10-11 East Bay Chess Club near Oakland airport http://www.eastbaychess.com (no information posted as of this time) The EBCC is a very kid friendly chess club that runs adult and scholastic tournaments on the weekends. The weekend swiss format is simple: four rounds of slow chess (30/90 + SD/60) with two games each day. The events usually two sections (open and U1800) and feature medium sized money prizes. I am known to support my friends who run this club whenever I have the time and energy. ********** *** National Junior High School (K-9) Championship *** March 30 - April 1 *** Sacramento, CA *** http://www.uschess.org/tournaments/2007/jhs/ ********** Far West Open April 6-8 Reno, NV http://www.renochess.org/fwo/index.html I have a long history of supporting Reno tournaments. This event and the one in October are bigger than any Bay Area tournament, attracting players from all over the Pacific and Mountain time zones and some from the East Coast. Since you don't see many Grandmasters in the Bay Area, this is the closest you can get to meeting one. Unfortunately, the 2007 Far West Open is both Easter weekend and is sandwiched between two national scholastics, one taking place in Sacramento. I highly doubt that I will play in Reno this spring. But you can go still in my place. National High School (K-12) Championship April 13-15 Kansas City, MO http://www.uschess.org/tournaments/2007/hs/ ********** *** 32nd CalChess State Scholastic Championship *** April 28-29 *** San Mateo, CA *** http://www.calchessscholastics.org/ ********** National Elementary (K-6) Championship May 11-13 Nashville, TN http://www.uschess.org/tournaments/2007/elem/ ------------------------------- 10. Lesson schedule and website ------------------------------- My lesson schedule is on the website as usual (http://www.fpawn.com/chess/schedule.htm). I suggest that you bookmark that page for future reference. The top of the page includes a notice about lesson cancellations which I update whenever I know more information. My teaching schedule should be pretty stable for the six weeks between the People's tournament and the National JHS Championship in Sacramento on the first weekend of April. Please let me know of any cancellations on your end. As usual, check out my website for the latest news, schedule information and other cool tidbits. lesson schedule: http://www.fpawn.com/chess/schedule.htm teaching contract: http://www.fpawn.com/chess/contract.htm achievements: http://www.fpawn.com/chess/achievements.htm national rankings: http://www.fpawn.com/chess/rankings.htm latest news: http://www.fpawn.com/chess/news.htm US Open story: http://www.fpawn.com/USOpen06/USOpen06.htm Thanks once again for reading through the entire newsletter! Michael