CHESS Thursday May. 23, 2013 at Starbucks!

Our chess club's next session is this Thursday evening, May 24th, 2013 at our usual venue, Starbucks located at 1536 Kirker Pass Rd., Clayton, Calif. at our usual time, from 6:00 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.  Come by anytime, the earlier the better for the best tables, more games, and really nice company! 

Last Saturday the club, in conjunction with Black Dragon Chess, hosted Master Ronald Cusi for a lecture and Simultaneous Exhibition at the Walnut Creek Library.  22 Players of all ages and skill levels took on Mr. Cusi and in the end he won 21 games and drew one.  Three young players also received a medal for holding out at least 30 moves against the master.  Special thanks to Mike T. and Emanuel P. for helping set it up.  HUGE Thanks goes out to Jeff McC for his help in securing the site, promoting the event, and providing chess sets for everyones use.  For pictures and games from the event, check out other posts on this website.  

Looking forward, besides discussion of another East Bay Open, please mark your calendar for Sunday, July 21st.  The Contra Costa Library System will be celebrating it's 100th anniversary by having a festival in the park.  This will take place at Pleasant Hill Park on Gregory Lane. They are providing us a free booth to promote the club.  I look at this as an opportunity to get together and play chess and let others know about chess in the area.  We have members and friends of the club that will be providing an EZup, tables and a cooler for drinks.  If someone has some folding chairs we can borrow for the event let us know (we need around 8).  Hopefully, some of our members can stop by (the event goes from 12pm-5pm) and play some chess at our booth while enjoying a day in the park.  

See you at Starbucks!

More Pics and a Game from Cusi Simul

Thank you to John S. for the pictures and Mike D. for his game from the Ronald Cusi Simultaneous Exhibition.  Enjoy!

Mike D. was playing on the board next to me.  The game was interesting and messy for a long time.  Cusi sacrificed an exchange for a strong passed pawn, but unfortunately in the end a fork won back his material and the game.

Some Games from USATW

Special thanks to Mike D. for sharing his games from the USATW tournament earlier in the year.  Michael was on the Contra Costa team "Bad Bishops Unchained".  Enjoy!

22 Players Attend Cusi Simul, Cusi Wins 21 and Draws 1

Thank you to International Master-Elect Ronald Cusi for putting on an excellent simul and lecture at the Walnut Creek Library.  Twenty-two players came and played against the master.  After about 4 hours and 15 minutes of play, Cusi had won 21 of the games and only allowed one draw.

Thank you also to the 22 players that took the time to come and play in the event.  Special thanks also go to Mike T. for making the initial approach and getting the ball rolling.  Thank you also to Emmanuel P. for helping coordinate things with Mr. Cusi and helping the event be successful.  Finally, a HUGE thank you to Jeff McC and Black Dragon Chess for helping with the location, advertising and providing sets for the event.

Here is a picture of the event (I will post more later as I get them, so feel free to send them in!):

I was fortunate enough to be the one to get the only draw.  Three of the younger players earned medals by holding out for at least 30 moves against the master.  Here is my game from the event:



Should anyone else wish to share their game or pictures from the event, please mail them in and I will post them.

Contra Costa Chess Club on Chess.com

Recently, one of our members (Pete K.) created a group on chess.com for the Contra Costa Chess Club. Even if you don't make it by the club on Mondays or Thursdays (and especially if you do), next time you are on chess.com look up our group and join!  This can give the club an opportunity to play matches with other clubs around the bay and around the world.

If you are not currently a member of chess.com, it is free to join. They offer live play and play by e-mail as well as a large amount of content to help you improve your game (my favorite is Tactics Trainer).

Should you would like to challenge some of us to a game, here are the user names of some of our members:

Mike T. - Zoomer350
John S. - mney
Pete K. - PJKchess
Scott M. - lonesage

Feel free to add your user name to the comments if you wish to share. :) Or just challenge one of us.

Special thanks to Pete K. for setting this up!!

Post Candidates Magnus Carlsen Interview

Here is an interview with Magnus Carlsen after the Candidates Tournament in London.  Magnus won the right to play in a match later this year against Vishy Anand for the World Championship.  The Candidates Tournament had the most exciting finish in memory with Vladmir Kramnik and Magnus Carlsen tied going into the last round and then they BOTH lost their final round games.  Magnus won the tournament on tiebreaks.  Enjoy!

Carlsen Game from Candidates Tournament

Here is a great video from The Chess Network of Magnus Carlsen's win over Peter Svidler at the Candidates Tournament.  At the time of the Game, Magnus was one game ahead of Peter and Peter had been having a great tournament showing excellent preparation. Enjoy the game!

Mangus Carlsen Interview on BBC

Here is a great video of an interview that Magnus gave recently in conjunction with the Candidates Tournament that is going on in London.  Great press to the general public, but see if you can catch some of the errors made by the interviewer...  either way, enjoy!

Candidates Tournament Starts Friday 3-15-13

For those that like to follow what goes on in the world of chess, starting this Friday the Candidates Tournament for this cycle of the World Championship starts.  The winner of the tournament will go on to face Vishy Anand in a match for the title.

Even though there is no American player in the running, there is still going to be some great chess with many of the top players in the world competing.

The tournament is being played in London.  It is a double Round Robin with the following players participating:

Magnus Carlsen - Norway - Highest rated person in the world/ever - Favorite to win
Vladmir Kramnik - Russia - Former World Champion
Levon Aronian - Armenia - Ranked #3 in the world
Teimour Radjabov - Azerbaijan - Ranked #4 in the world
Alex Grischuk - Russia - Ranked #10 in the world
Vassily Ivanchuk - Ukraine - Ranked #13 in the world
Peter Svidler - Russia - Ranked #14 in the world and winner of World Cup 
Boris Gelfand - Israel - Runner up in last World Championship Cycle

There will be a lot of opportunities to watch the games live with excellent commentary from leading Grandmasters.  The main site for the event is:

http://london2013.fide.com/

In addition to the main site that should have excellent coverage, other sites such as chess.com and ICC will have the games going with live commentary as well.  If you have never watched a tournament in progress, it is worth checking out.  The time difference works in our favor and the games are usually going on first thing in the morning our time.  

I will post updates occasionally during the tournament along with any excellent games played during it.

Update 3-19: After 4 rounds, the two highest rated players have pulled out ahead of the rest with two wins and two draws each (3/4 pts).  Those leaders are Magnus Carlsen and Levon Aronian.  
Update 3-23: At the half way point, Carlsen and Aronian are still tied with 3 wins and 4 draws each.
Update 3-28: Three rounds to go.  Carlsen leads with 7.5/11 followed closely by Kramnik at 7/11 who pulled ahead of Aronian by winning his game in round 11.
Final: The last three rounds were crazy!  Magnus lost in Rd. 12 allowing Kramnik to pull into the lead.  In Rd. 13, Magnus won to catch up so he and Kramnik were tied going into the last round.  In the last round BOTH Magnus Carlsen and Vladmir Kramnik lost their games remaining in a tie at 8.5/14 points each.  The result is that Magnus Carlsen won on tiebreaks and will be the next challenger for the World Championship.  That match is set to take place in November of this year against current World Champion Vishy Anand.

Luxurious Chess Set For Sale

One of our members, Steward S., has a VERY nice chess set for sale.  Here are some pictures (click on any to enlarge):

The pieces are boxwood and Ivory.  The King is 4 1/8" tall.  This set is in excellent condition. Asking price is $300.  If you have an interest in the set or would like more information, send an email to the club address (below) and it will get forwarded to Stewart.  email: contracostachess@gmail.com

Chess Puzzle

Special thanks to John S. for sending in the following position from a recent game of his:

Black to Play and Win

Comments are set so that anyone should be able to enter one.  Please enter your "solution" and comments in there.  I will post the answer there after a week.

No 2nd East Bay Open

Just a quick note to let everyone know that the club will not hold a 2nd East Bay Open.  Besides the fact that the club lost money on the event, another club in Auburn, CA took our weekend for their event (Auburn Power Open).  Part of running chess events in any area in the US is you are supposed to work through the State Affiliate Clearinghouse to avoid scheduling conflicts.  CalChess's is run on a first come first served basis regardless of previous years events so we lost the weekend and have no recourse.

We greatly appreciate everyone's support of last years event and all the kind words that have been said about how it went.  We are exploring the idea of running some smaller one day events if we can work out some decent dates on the clearinghouse.

US Amateur Team West Results

Over the long Presidents Day Weekend, Feb 16th-18th, 2013, the United States Amateur Team West (USATW) tournament was held in Pleasanton, CA.  This is a national event that is held simultaneously with three other team events in the North (New Jersey), East (Florida) and South (Texas).  Teams of 4 compete against each other and each team must have an average rating below 2200.  Besides team prizes, there are also individual prizes for each board and a prize for best team name.

In Pleasanton, 44 teams competed for a variety of place prizes.  The overall winner was the team from the Norcal House of Chess winning all 6 of their matches.  The winning team name was: "Vatican Tactics - Sac the Pope".  Individual winners were: Bd 1 - IM Ricardo De Guzman, Bd. 2 - FM Ronald Cusi, Bd. 3 - Brian Chan, and Bd. 4 - Daniel Gertmenian.

The Contra Costa Chess Club was able to field three teams:

Checkmate Unchained     Pawns Unchained    Bad Bishops Unchained

Robert H.                         Stewart S.                  Darmawan A.

Kevin K.                           Pete K.                       Ernesto M.

Jeff Mc.                            Nenad Z.                    Justin T.

Scott M.                           John S.                       Mike T.

Hossam N.                       Branislav R.                Mike D.

Performing the best compared to their rating was "Pawns Unchained".  They scored 3.5/6 to end up in 13th place (they were seeded around 20th coming into the event).  "Checkmate Unchained" scored 4/6 to end up in 9th place (they were seeded 5th at the start).  "Bad Bishops Unchained" scored 2/6 and 35th overall.

Thanks to all our club members for putting their time and energy into playing in this event!

If you have games or photos from the event, please send them to our e-mail and I will post them on the site.

Bizarre Magnus Interview

Here is a funny (bordering on goofy) and interesting recent interview of Magnus Carlsen I found on YouTube:

London Chess Classic UPDATE w/Results

One of the best tournaments for web viewing will be starting up this Saturday in England.  The London Chess Classic is in its fourth year and draws the worlds strongest players.  This year you have Magnus Carlsen (Top rated in the World), Vishy Anand (World Champion), Vladmir Kramnik (former World Champion), Levon Aronian (2nd highest rated in the world), Hikaru Nakamura (US Champion), Judith Polgar (Top rated woman in the world), Luke McShane (2nd highest rated UK Player), Gawain Jones (current UK Champion) and Michael Adams (UK highest Rated Player).

What I think makes this event great is the live video coverage.  In past years, the games are analyzed during the round by top UK GMs and IMs as well as the player that has the rest day and isn't playing.  After games are over, the players stop by and go through their games.  Usually the commentary is educational AND entertaining.

The web site is:

londonchessclassic.com

First round starts at 6am Pacific Standard Time on Saturday, December 1st.  If you happen to be awake, go to the site and click on the "Live Commentary" link to watch the games in progress and listen to the commentary.

Here is a video from IM Andrew Martin with a preview of the event:




UPDATE: The tournament finished this morning with the clear winner being Magnus Carlsen.  Not only did he win the tournament, in doing so he has broken Gary Kasparov's rating records and is now the highest rated player ever!  Former World Champion Vladmir Kramnik took clear 2nd.

Here is a final Cross-Table of the event.  Click to enlarge.