Sunday, December 29, 2013

Herb Healy Open House 
  
January 1
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Boylston Chess Foundation 
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Herb Healy Open House 
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Wednesday, January 1,  2014

Please come to the annual BCC open house, see some old friends, make some new ones, play some chess (rated or unrated), and enjoy a free lunch. It's a great way to start the 2014 chess year.

Registration isn't until 10:45 so you can sleep in from your celebrating the night before.
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Wednesday, January 1st:
BCF
Herb Healy Open House

  • 4SS; G/40;
  • 2 sections: Rated and Non-Rated;
  • Entry fee: $25, $20 BCF members if received by 12/29, $5 extra on site.
  • Registration: 10:45 to 11:40.
  • Rounds: 11:45, 1:35, 3:05, 4:35.
  • Free food and drink served all day long to tournament players.
  • Send advance entries to: Herb Healy Open House, 240B Elm St. Suite B9,  Somerville, MA 02144

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Herbert E. Healy was born on July 13, 1885 and died on Wednesday, January 9, 1974 in Boston.[Thanks to George Mirijanian for providing July 13 as his exact day of birth.]
He was 88 years old and one of the original Charter members of the Boylston Chess Club at its official organization in 1919. He was Secretary Emeritus at his death.
“The Club was saddened by the death of Herbert Healy, Charter Member and Secretary Emeritus, on Wednesday night, January 9, 1974. This occurred only days after the Herbert Healy Appreciation Tournament (the 30-30 New Year’s Event) and Testimony was held in his honor.    Wednesday had a 10”-12” snowfall, but Mr. Healy showed up at the Union and peeked into the Chess Quarters. [ He went to his home in the South End on Brookline Ave.] He died in his sleep. (Only Dave Hudnut, in the Providence Rhode Island area, remains as a Charter Club Member.)”
In 1980 the New Year's 30/30 was permanently dedicated to him as Herbert E. Healy Open House.   Herbert E. Healy along with Harry Lyman, Irvin Yaffee, Myer Edelstein and others customarily provided food to the participants of this event.

This information was taken from minutes of the club from January 27, 1974 and talking with Mr.Harry Lyman and William Lukowiak in past years. There are more testimonies about Mr. Healy that I am omitting.

Bemardo Iglesias
 December 2007

Monday, December 23, 2013

BCC GRAND PRIX: SATURDAY // DECEMBER 28TH EVENT // LAST TOURNAMENT OF THE 2013 CALENDAR // CHESS FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY

FIERCE COMPETITION FOR TOP PRIZES:
U2400: NM Godin, far and away 1st: 28..5 points.
U2200: Jessse Nicholas 20; Carissa Yip 18.5; 
U2000: Carissa Yip 18..5, Nithin Kavi 15; Mike Griffin 12.5. 
U1800: David Martin 19.5
U1600: Steve Stepak 14; Will Wisdom 10; Eric Feng 10
U1400: Daniel Wang 14.5; Sandeep Shankar 12;
Michael Yu 9; Lucy Cai 8
U1200: Anthony DiNosse 11.5; David Sun 8
BCC GRAND PRIX: GOOD CHESS, GOOD FUN
WEATHER FORECAST: SUNNY AND COOL
SATURDAY DECEMBER 28th 2013
G/60 with 5" delay
See you next Saturday!

9 MASTERS // 47 PLAYERS // HONOR HARRY LYMAN'S MEMORY // ESSERMAN / BRATTAIN // FRICKER / GLADDING / FENG // RAMANATHAN TOPS

THE HARRY LYMAN MEMORIAL 2013 IN 3 SECTIONS
OPEN SECTION
CRITICAL GAME: IM Marc Esserman, black v NM Chris Williams
Round 4. Esserman won the game and tied for 1-2nd place
with NM Mika Brattain, each scoring 3.5 points.
Chris scored 2.5 points and tied for 4-6th place with
Farzad Abdi, and Nithin Kavi. 
NM Mika Brattain v Mateos Sahakian, Round 1. 
Mika scored 3.5 point and tied for 1-2nd in the Open Section.
NM Eric Godin vs BCC Champion NM Charles Riordan, Round 3: draw.
(background): Mateos Sahakian black, vs NM Chris Chase;
Chase scored 3 points and took sole possession of 2nd place.
NM Lawyer Times black v Loring Lauretti; 
Nithin Kavi, black v Farzad Abdi: draw!
U1950 SECTION
Lawrence Gladding v Terrence Fricker, Round 4.
Lawrence and Terrence scored 3 points and along with
Eric Feng, shared 1-3rd place.
Walter Driscoll v Eric Feng, Round 4.  Feng won the game and
a share of 1-3rd place. Walter scored 2 points and shared
4-5th place with Yuanzhe Wang.
U1650 SECTION
9 Yr old Suraj Ramanathan scored 3.5 points to take 
clear 1st place in the U1650 section.
Suraj Ramanathan v Meyer Billmers, Round 2.
Suraj won this game though Meyer scored 3 win to
share 2-4th place with David Cutler and Ray Behenna.
(background): Richard Kahn v David Cutler.
Ray Behenna takes a deep think vs Boshen Li, 
Round 3. Ray finished the day with 3 points!
Bravo, Ray!
Soccer Star Derek Jin strikes again:
 
6 yr old Derek Jin (right) scored 1.5 out of 2 and up'd his rating
16 points to 1447. Bravo Derek!
Here he is seen playing Abhinav Govindaraju in Round 2.
SCENES AROUND THE ROOM
Registration and warmup!
Mom watches son warm up vs Brandon Wu
Pre-tournament master analysis
FULL HOUSE
The beginning of Round 1: 47 participants.
Gentlemen shake: Marthi and Abdi.
MACA President Nathan Smolensky, plays NM
Chris Williams in Round 2, Open Section.
(background): Jesse Nicholas plays
BCC Champion, NM Charles Riordan.
Last year's BCC Champion, Lawyer Times plays black
vs Loring Lauretti, Round 1. 
Alex Brown, black v David Cutler, Round 2.
(background): Abhinav Govindaraju, black v Derek Jin;
Boshen Li v Will Wisdom; Tony DiNosse v Ray Behenna.
D85 Gruenfeld
                                                                                                               Photo: Hui Huang
Steve Stepak, black v Mark Buckles, Round 3.
VETERANS AND THE YOUTH AMONG US: U1950
Brandon Wu v Alex Yu, Round 3: draw.
These boys are tops in the scholastic rankings.
(background): Professor Jerry Williams, black v David Martin.
TENSION IN TIME PRESSURE
Last game to finish: IM Esserman and NM Williams.
PHOTOS BY STEVE STEPAK
TOURNAMENT DIRECTOR:
TD Bernardo Iglesias managed the
large crowd with charm and skill.
A magnificently well-run event.
Bravo, Bernardo.

Friday, December 20, 2013

Boylston players at the World Youth Tournament

Three young players who we often see playing at the Boylston have traveled half-way around the gobe to compete in the United Arab Emirates (Dec. 18-28) in the World Youth Tournament (http://worldyouth2013.com/).

Andrew Liu 
(open under 16)


Carissa Yip



(girls under 10)

Carissa Yip is Number One U10 yr old in USA. She won the ChessKid.com 2013 National Online Invitational Championship - U10 Section
in June 2013

Eddie Wei  

(open under 8)

Good Luck to you all!!


 (Photos: Steve Stepak)

Here is the list of the 94 U.S. participants:
Check the list to see if you can spot other local players.


Thanks to Natasha for bringing this to our attention.

BCC: HARRY LYMAN MEMORIAL // SATURDAY DECEMBER 21, 2013 // WINTER SOLSTICE // $1,000 PRIZE FUND // GUARANTEED // SERIOUS CHESS FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY // 4SS // LAST PREMIER EVENT OF 2013 // KIDS / FEMALES ENCOURAGED TO PLAY

NM HARRY LYMAN
(circa 1980; photo: Steve Stepak)
HARRY LYMAN MEMORIAL
TOURNAMENT IN 3 SECTIONS
(background)
HARRY LYMAN MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT
$1,000 PRIZEFUND GUARANTEED
(prizefund guaranteed by the generosity
of Harold Dondis, Esq,)
Check out the details:
See you tomorrow!
ps
a shout out: "good luck and good chess"
to Carissa Yip and Eddie Wei
who are playing in the
World Youth Championship, 2013

Sunday, December 15, 2013

BCC $5 OPEN: THE 4 FACES OF NM FARZAD ABDI 4 - 0 STREAK TO VICTORY // GODIN 2ND // STEPAK U1650

INTIMATE GROUP OF 18 BRAVE THE SNOW/ICE
$5 OPEN IN ONE SECTION
(NOTE: TD Nathan Smolensky calls this the "BCF Super Bargain Black Friday Open"
though the event was not black (rather snow white) nor was it on Friday! in case you are 
looking up your results on the "BCC Home Page" / "Recent BCC Crosstables")
ROUND 1 AT TABLE 1
Richard Kahn plays black vs NM Farzad Abdi
ROUND 2 TABLE 1
Alex Yu advantage white vs NM Farzad Abdi
ROUND 3 TABLE 1
Mike Griffin, on the move, vs NM Farzad Abdi
Mike had 2.5 points overall, good for 3-4th place in the event.
ROUND 4 TABLE 1
NM Farzad Abdi on the move vs Nicholas Lesieur.
BOARD 2
                                                                                                               Photo: Hui Huang
Steve Stepak v NM Eric Godin, Round 3.
(I'd rather call this a master chess lesson on the E15
Queen's Indian Defense. Indeed, I learned more than
I had ever imagined.  Thank you Master Godin!)
With a full point from this game, Eric went home (having
indicated a 1/2 point bye in Round 4 earlier in the event)
with 3.5 points, good enough for clear 2nd and a prize.
                                                                                                               Photo: Hui Huang
Steve Stepak v Anil Marthi, Round 2.
(B19 Caro Kann: I won this game containing a lot
of tactical complications, giving me the U1650 prize,
and Anil, a 3-4th place overall in the event.)
Tony DiNosse, black vs Natasha Christiansen. Round 1.
(background): Alex Yu, black vs Richard Alan Chen;
Nicholas Lesieur v Daniel Zhou; 
Mike Griffin, black vs David Tianyi Zhou.
Natasha Christiansen, Alex Yu, Nathan Smolensky (TD)
Nicholas Lesieur and Steve Stepak all scored 2 points,
good for 5-9th place overall.
CRITICAL GAME
POSTMORTEM: Griffin v Christiansen (1-0), Round 2.
Analysis by NM Farzad Abdi. NM Eric Godin, Will Wisdom
and Alex Yu listen attentively.
ROUND 1: THE GROUP COALESCES
TD Nathan Smolensky, MACA President, and event TD poses
as Christopher Columbus, pointing to the new world.
PHOTOS BY STEVE STEPAK
Thank you Nathan for a well-run snowy event.
And, remember, chess players,
next week: Saturday, December 21st, the Winter Solstice 
is the last premier event of the year:
the Harry Lyman Memorial
$1,000 guaranteed
(Note of appreciation:
The prize-fund of this event is 
fully guaranteed by Harold Dondis, Esq.
veteran chess player, lawyer, and chess journalist.)
Harry Lyman portrait hanging over the
master tables at the BCC.
So, now that we are all used to the snow,
please plan to attend this 4SS event,
which not only will be full of great chess
and lots of fun, but also serve as a fund-raiser
for the Club.
So, see you next Saturday

Saturday, December 14, 2013

Annual Appeal 2013

Did you know the Boylston is one of the oldest chess organizations in the United States? You may not realize it, but when you play at the Bolyston you are surrounded by history. Our roots go back all the way to 1850, and we were formally organized in 1919. Many notable players have frequented the Boylston, including Harry Nelson Pillsbury, Harry Lyman, and three-time U.S. Champion Larry Christiansen. 
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In addition, when you support the Boylston Chess Foundation you help a non-profit organization that directly funds youth education programs and pro- motes the game we love. We are an important part of the community, and that is why our Board of Directors works so hard to ensure our mission can continue. 
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The Boylston Chess Club Charter, dated 1919 
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Unfortunately, we do not generate enough revenue from our tournaments and membership fees alone to survive. We truly depend on donations from members like you. That is why we’re asking you to make a donation today of $15, $25, $50, $100, $500, $1000 or whatever you can afford.  Because we are a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, all donations are tax-deductible. 
In particular, we are seeking donations to continue our successful Afterschool Chess Lessons. Thanks to this program, young chess enthusiasts receive instruction twice a month from seven-time club champion FM Christopher Chase. Although this program has been very successful, it may soon end unless funding becomes immediately available. 
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Finally, we hope to hold more tournaments like the recent Elaine Kahn Memorial. Richard Kahn generously donated the $1000 prize fund in honor of his late wife, and our foundation retained all proceeds.  This tournament had a great turnout of 51 players, and generated more than $1,100 for our Foundation minus expenses. If you are in a position to fund a noteworthy tournament like this, please make a similar donation. We would be happy to name a tournament in accordance with your wishes. 
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These two important programs need funding, so please send your tax-deductible gift today. By working together, we can continue our proud tradition as the foremost chess club in Greater Boston. 
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  Sincerely, 


  Carey Theil 

  and the Boylston Chess Foundation Board of Diretors




Please accept my check to support the programs and services of the     
Boylston Chess Foundation.

Contribution:

__$25   __$50  __$100   __$250   __$500  __$1,000  __ $2,000   $___other


Membership:    
(If you would like to join or rejoin the BCF,
please see appropriate amount below.)
Membership type and fee
 
c Regular adult………………….......$__________
($125 /year;   $70 /six months)

c Junior………………………..……..$__________
(Under 18; $100/year; $56/six months)

c Senior adult…………………..……$__________
(65+; $100 /year; $56 /six months)

c Family ……...................................$__________
(Parents and children in a single household; $125 /year; $70 /six months)


Total:                  $ _________________
 

Name: ___________________________________________________________________________________________

Address: __________________________ City: ______________________________State: ____________ZIP: _______

Home phone: ___________________________________Work phone: ________________________________________

E-mail address: ________________________________________________ USCF Id #: __________________________

School or college: ________________________________________________Year of birth if scholastic: _____________
 
 

Please make your check payable to
“Boylston Chess” and mail to

Boylston Chess Foundation
PO Box  440188
Somerville, MA 02144
 

Or use PayPal on the Boylston website

 

 A receipt and our federal tax ID number will be sent to you with our thank you note.
(Please note that membership dues are not tax deductible.)


Tuesday, December 10, 2013

BCC $5 OPEN // CHESS FUN FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY // CHEAP // EXCITING // EASY // SATURDAY // DECEMBER 14TH // WEATHER FORECAST: PERFECT

BCC $5 OPEN
THIS TOURNAMENT IS PREFERRED
BY CHILDREN AND BEGINNERS 
OF ALL AGES
MARK YOUR CALENDAR:
THIS SATURDAY, DECEMBER 14TH, 2013
Play Round 1 at 10:00AM
or take a 1/2 point bye and start
tournament at 12:40 PM!
See you this Saturday!
PS
Thoughts to Ponder in preparation for 
the $5 Open:
A PIECE OF CHESS HISTORY:
A Legend on the Road: Bobby Fischer's 1964 Simul
Tour by IM John Donaldson, 2nd edition, 2005.
Milford CT: Russell Enterprises, Inc.
A great book! Why?
I bought this opus to cherish the name of Harold Dondis, the oldest BCC member, and former 
Massachusetts Chess Association President as well as a veteran chess journalist. I got Harold 
to autograph the place where his win against Bobby Fischer is featured on page 42,  and 
annotated, from  a simul in Fitchburg, MA held on March 2, 1964. Reading from material 
found in this section of the book, I found some ideas of Fischer's quoted from an interview 
with the American Champion, published on page 41: "Success at chess comes from 
a good memory, imagination, ability to concentrate, psychological insight
to figure how your opponent thinks, and most of all,
the will to win." This last thought of Bobby's stuck in my mind,
from a remark I made in commenting on my game with
Seth Lieberman, in last Saturday's Quads. This issue
of wanting to win is not as easy as it seems to
understand or to put in practice.
When you play chess with a friend, it is hard
to want to win, if winning is a sort of
"killing" or "destroying" your friend's game.
Sometimes, to be sure, drawing seems much more
appropriate, more friendly. What do you think?
Secondly, check this out:
Wonderboy: How Magnus Carlsen became the Youngest Chess Grandmaster
in the World, by GM Simen Agdestein, 2004. Alkmaar, The Netherlands: 
New in Chess. Translated from the Norwegian by GM Jonathan Tisdall.
 I purchased this book, and also Fighting Chess with Magnus Carlsen,
by GM Adrian Mikhalchishin and NM Oleg Stetsko (2011) in order
to better understand the nature and playing style of the now
FIDE World Chess Champion 2013.
Fighting Chess has great annotations, and brings forth a sense
of timing which Carlsen has perfected in a masterly way.
And, an insight I gleaned from Wonderboy is found on page 14:
"[At the age of 8] Magnus began to sit by himself and shuffle the pieces.
He could sit for hours moving the pieces, in known and unknown
patterns, finding combinations and repeating games or positions
that his father had shown him. In this way, [Magnus] developed
a good feeling for the patterns of movement of the individual pieces."
To me, this is a crucial insight: to play around with the pieces,
alone, in peace-and-quiet, no noise, no pressure, just
focusing on the fun you are having discovering the
possibilities of the position, the combinations which 
might win a piece or a pawn, or lead to checkmate.
I remember reading in Frank Brady's Endgame: Bobby Fischer's
Remarkable Rise and Fall, from America's Brightest Prodigy
to the Edge of Madness (New York: Random House, 2012)
describing how a young Bobby Fischer would sit for hours
playing himself, first from white's perspective, and then from
black's, to the point where he too was learning the
patterns the pieces described to make combinations, and
to the consternation of his mother who thought this
behavior a bit odd, at the very least, and perhaps
psychologically harmful at worst. Indeed, Regina Fischer
was so concerned, she began actively searching for a situation 
which would find Bobby a real, human opponent to
play chess with.  Well, in both Carlsen's and Fischer's case,
they started out as kids, not competing in chess events,
not assuming the role of warrior, of combatant, but,
rather more like an explorer or scientist on an adventure,
in the quiet of their own rooms, playing around with
the chess pieces, discovering patterns which lead to
combinations which win material or checkmate the other side.
So let's review the key ingredients in making a successful 
chess player: 1. the ability to focus, to maintain an attention span
on chess pieces dancing over the board, creating patterns,
much like that of dancers in a ballet. A good memory, or more
precisely, using the memory power you have and fine-tuning it
to remember relevant aspects of a chess position; familiar patterns:
chess tactics, like forks, discoveries, back-rank issues; overloaded
pieces etc. and the most intriguing point of chess which we often
forget: when your king is in check, you can't play another move;
you have to take your turn to get your king out of check before you
can go forward with your own checkmating plans!
So between now and Saturday, take some time to be by yourself
and play around with the pieces on the board, going over
patterns, both familiar and newly-discovered. Fine-tune your
focus to just pay attention to the chess, not to worry about anything else.
And when you come to the tournament and are sitting opposite your
opponent, think about him or her, how they behave, their posture,
their movements, and as the game proceeds, consider the moves they make,
whether aggressive or passive, or logical, and try to formulate a plan
which takes into consideration these psychological nuances of behavior.
And above all, when you are playing your game, screen out all 
extraneous noise or potential distractions; just concentrate on what is
going on: on the board, and on the face of your opponent.
RECALL DANCING PATTERNS
FOCUS WITH A TARGET
FEEL THE PULSE OF YOUR OPPONENT
SCREEN OUT ALL EXTRANEOUS DISTRATIONS
AND ABOVE ALL: DON'T PANIC!
SEE YOU THIS SATURDAY!

Sunday, December 08, 2013

BCC DECEMBER QUADS: CHASE // KAVI // LAURETTI // LIEBERMAN // DR YARBROUGH 1ST AMONG EQUALS

QUAD 1
FM Chris Chase: perfect 3 - 0 score.
NM Eric Godin, black vs NM Farzad Abdi: 0-1, Round 1.
Godin clinched 2nd place; Farzad was 3rd.
QUAD 2
Nithin Kavi, on the move vs Ames Abbot, Round 1: white wins!
Kavi was hot with 3 out of 3. Ames and Christiansen 
scored 1.5 points good for 2-3rd.
Kavi's rating hopped +52 to 2007. Bravo, Nithin!
(background): Jason Tang v Mark Fins.
Ames Abbot plays yet another new person to the BCC:
Anil K Marthi. Welcome Anil. 
Hope to see you agains soon for more chess games
and fun at the BCC
QUAD 3
Alex Yu writes; Loring Lauretti moves. Round 1.
Loring won the game and the Quad with 2 points.
Mark Fins (red) scored 1.5 points for 2-3rd place.
Loring Lauretti vs Jason Tang, Round 3. Tang won.
Steve Frymer, chess organizer from Lexington, MA observes.
(background): Mark Fins plays Alex Yu.
TOP JUNIORS IN MASSACHUSETTS
Jason Tang plays black vs Alex Yu, Round 2: draw.
Alex scored 1.5 points, good for 2-3rd place.
QUAD 4
Seth Lieberman plays black vs Steve Stepak, Round 3.
(Thought by Stepak: chess is more than a mechanical
performance to checkmate your opponent. You have
to want to! I didn't. Won position for white
ended peaceably in a draw, putting Seth in the money.
Bravo, Seth!
3SS
Introducing a new player at the BCC:
Dr, Chase Yarbrough, MD, pediatric resident
at Children's Hospital, Boston.
Welcome Chase!
Dr. Yarbrough plays another new face at the BCC:
Achyuta Rajaram, from Michigan, parents from India.
Welcome Achyuta! 
Dr. Yarbrough (green) plays black vs Richard Kahn
in Round in Round 2.
Dr. Y was on the mark with a 3 - 0 performance.
Bravo, Chase!
                                                                                                              Photo: Hui Huang
Griffin :: Stepak
(Comment by Stepak: I love photos of 
chess hand shakes. Here I admit 
I look rather goofy, but still . . . 
My philosophy on this game: sometimes you just don't want
to checkmate your opponent. Here, it was the opposite. 
I just wanted to hide my king from getting mated!
Luckily, I always had a place to go after each check:
perpetual and a draw. Equal but not peaceful!
Well, controlled chaos! Bravo Mike for a 
great adventure!)
THE LAST WORD
Matthew Manzo, black vs Mike Griffin, Round 3.
Mike had an upper hand in this endgame and
converted the position to a full point.
Matt and Mike finished with 1.5 points for 2-3rd place.
(upper left): TD Bernardo Iglesias and Natasha Christiansen
observe the tense struggle.