Date: Thu, 3 Mar 2005 Subject: fpawn's newsletter March 2005 Hello chess students, parents and esteemed friends, 1. 32nd People's Tournament in Berkeley 2. CalChess State Scholastics on April 15-17 -- San Jose or Oakland? 3. Supernationals III on April 8-10 in Nashville 4. Upcoming tournaments 5. Lesson interruptions in March and April 6. Website information --------------------------------------- 1. 32nd People's Tournament in Berkeley --------------------------------------- A group of ten students joined me for the annual People’s Chess Tournament in Berkeley. Most students wisely chose to play up a section, seeking a challenge in an adult tournament environment instead of simply trying to win money. Five students ended up performing well enough to gain significant rating points. Of particular note is the performance of Daniel, who scored 3.5 out of 6 in the combined Open/Expert section (for a 2262 USCF and 2224 FIDE performance rating) and scalped his first International Master! Daniel is now on the brink of earning a international rating over 2200. Jeff, Tejas and Albert all gained over 60 rating points from the one tournament. And Tejas broke a long slump by gaining significant points and taking second place under 1400. Congratulations everyone! Most importantly, everyone has something to learn from the tournament whether or not they did well, and will hopefully improve as a consequence of having played tough opponents. Daniel 3.5/6 in Open/Expert --> 1st place U2200 and 2224 FIDE performance rating Jeff 3.5/6 in Class A --> +65 rating points while playing up a section Corey 4.0/6 in Class B --> +60 rating points Tejas 3.5/5 in Reserve --> 2nd place U1400 Albert 2.5/5 in Reserve --> +80 rating points Your teacher had one of the best results of his life. He defeated FM Richard Kelson, 10th grade star NM Nicolas Yap and two of the area’s stronger experts. In an exciting fifth round game on top board, Michael drew with FM Bela Evans while playing the black pieces. The only blemish was yet another loss to longtime nemisis IM Ricardo DeGuzman. Annotated game Aigner-Yap: http://www.fpawn.com/chess/YapPeoples2005.html Results: http://www.calchess.org/tournament_results/2005Peoples.htm Photos: http://www.chessdryad.com/photos/berkeley/people_05/index.htm (Shelton) http://www.chessdryad.com/photos/berkeley/people_05b/index.htm (Shorman) http://www.calnorthjuniorchess.org/YP05/index.html (Kirshner) ------------------------------------------------------------------ CalChess State Scholastics on April 15-17 -- San Jose or Oakland? ------------------------------------------------------------------ As most of you should know by now, there are two major scholastic tournaments scheduled in the Bay Area on the weekend of April 15-17. One is the official state championship in Oakland, as agreed in the settlement of the Richard Peterson versus CalChess lawsuit. The other is the regional championship in San Jose organized by Alan Kirshner and supported by most of the local chess establishment. I am very disappointed by the political maneuvering and downright dirty tactics that have occurred over the past 3/4 of a year. There is enough blame to go around, but it is my opinion that the primary culprit is Richard Peterson. He unilaterally changed the date of his tournament from March 11-13 to April 15-17 and then didn't tell anyone. He took the money from the CalChess bank account and wrote emails saying the organization didn't exist anymore. He cut corners on prizes and tournament directors at the 2004 state scholastics. And he wrote a stunning attack email on last Sunday which further strained relations in Bay Area chess, merely days after signing the lawsuit settlement with CalChess. Several parents have further pointed out his racist statement regarding the dietary habits of Asian parents. Simply said, is this guy who we want to promote as an example to the children? No way! I am philosophically in favor of a boycott of the Peterson (Oakland) tournament. You might be asking why I have any hesitation in calling for a boycott. Two reasons: <1> A boycott is only successful if other groups follow along. It would be sad to have my students play in San Jose while all their main competition goes to Oakland. After all, the idea of the state championship is to measure yourself against the best. To this end, I have been discussing the boycott with several other coaches, including David Pruess of the East Bay Chess Club and Anthony Corrales of Mechanics' Institute. Their initial responses have been encouraging. If both EBCC and MI go along with the boycott, then I am confident that there will be more than enough competition in San Jose. I expect to make a statement about the final plans next week. Stay tuned! <2> The K-12 section at the official state championship in Oakland is also the qualifier for the Denker and Polgar national tournaments. Consequently, I expect the top local players (those over 2000) and the top local girls (those over 1600) to play in Oakland no matter what. This primarily affects my student Daniel and also Elisha of Saratoga. If the boycott proceeds, then a likely scenario is that I will be coaching in San Jose on Saturday the 16th and then in Oakland on Sunday the 17th. ------------------------------------------------- 3. Supernationals III on April 8-10 in Nashville ------------------------------------------------- I am pleased to announce that I will be coaching the Saratoga H.S. and Redwood M.S. teams at Supernationals III in Nashville, TN, on April 8-10. I'm not aware of any of my students outside of Saratoga going to Nashville. It is a huge tournament and (according to second hand reports I've heard) it is quite an experience. Attendance estimates are as high as 6000 players. On the other hand, it is a significant expense to fly to Nashville and requires missing between one and three days of school. It is also one week before the two April 15-17 tournaments. The Saratoga team is going to need all the luck that they can get! The top rated player in the K-12 section so far is 11th grader FM Jouaquin Banawa of Los Angeles, rated 2447. Another likely top player is 12th grader FM John Bartholomew of Minnesota, rated 2389. On the bright side, United States champion GM Hikaru Nakamura is unlikely to play--although as an 11th grader, he would be eligible to play! Website: http://www.uschess.org/tournaments/2005/supernationalsIII/ Entries: http://www.uschess.org/tournaments/2005/supernationalsIII/05SNIII.htm ----------------------- 4. Upcoming tournaments ----------------------- March 5-6 in San Francisco A.J. Fink Amateur (Under 2000) at Mechanics' Institute http://www.chessclub.org/Fink.html Since this is limited to under 2000, I have no real reason to attend. Although this is an adult tournament, probably more than half of the players will be juniors. March 12 in San Francisco Wilkerson Game in 45 at Mechanics' Institute http://www.chessclub.org/Wilkerson.html I'm playing the following weekend, so I doubt that I'll attend. March 18-20 in Reno, Nevada Far West Open http://www.renochess.org/fwo/index.html Daniel and I will be working on our FIDE ratings here, but I don't expect too many other students because of the travel distance and the lack of a 3-day weekend. April 15-17 in San Jose California Northern Regional Scholastic Championships (Alan Kirshner) http://www.calnorthyouthchess.org/CalNorthRegionals2005/Application05.html Bughouse and blitz on Friday afternoon. IM simuls on Saturday night. April 15-17 in Oakland 30th CalChess State Scholastic Chess Championships (Richard Peterson) http://www.calchess.org/flyers_pdf/2005_CalChessFinal.pdf This is the "official" state championship as per lawsuit settlement. April 23-24 in Vallejo Vallejo Chess Tournament http://www.calchess.org/flyers_pdf/VallejoChessClub.pdf ------------------------------------------ 5. Lesson interruptions in March and April ------------------------------------------ I am unavailable for lessons due to the following tournaments that I am either playing in or coaching at. That means NO CHESS LESSONS on the following dates: Thursday March 17 through Monday March 21 due to Reno tournament Wednesday April 6 through Monday April 11 due to Supernationals III in Nashville Friday April 15 through Sunday April 18 due to state scholastic tournament(s) ---------------------- 6. Website information ---------------------- My website is still under construction, but I've been keeping certain pages up to date. In particular, check out the News section and the Lesson schedule page. http://www.fpawn.com/chess May all your pawns promote! Until next time, Michael