Norcal House of Chess Grandmaster Series

The Norcal House of Chess in Fremont is holding a series of lectures by Grandmasters.  Here are the details:

GRANDMASTER SERIES (Weekend classes for 1800 & above)

WHAT: Grandmaster Workhop (series of lectures, & analyses with a GM)! 

WHO:  PLAYERS (KIDS & ADULTS) WITH USCF RATING OF 1800 AND ABOVE

WHEN: JUNE 30; JULY 14 & JULY 21, 2013. 9:30- 4:00 pm 

I. Grandmaster Vadim Milov (June 30) – #1 ranked chess player from Switzerland. He used to be ranked #22 in the World! His current FIDE rating is 2643 while his USCF rating is 2715!

II. Grandmaster Varuzhan Akobian (July 21) - For years, he has been the highest rated chess player in CA. An active player who represented USA in many Olympiad events and World Team Championships. He was also a coach for the US Team in several events. His current FIDE rating is 2609 while his USCF is 2685!

III. Grandmaster Dejan Bojkov (July 14) – A very active chess coach who used to train former Women World Champion Stefanova. A FIDE Senior Trainer who authored many dvds, books and written several articles for chessbase. His current FIDE rating is 2505 while his USCF is 2597!

COST:  $ 75.00 for each event; $ 140.00 for 2 events and $ 200.00 for all the events. Lunch & drinks will be provided.

Please sign up early since we will only be accepting a maximum of 14 people (or less) for each event. Everyone will be guaranteed to have their games analyzed by the GMs.

Please email us at castro.ted@gmail.com or call us at 415-756-1204. 

Here is a link to more information: 

http://norcalhouseofchess.com/?page_id=309

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.

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.

Chess Life Article on East Bay Open

Thanks to some help from Ted Castro, our article about the East Bay Open is now on Chess Life Online. Here is the link:

http://www.uschess.org/content/view/11982/688