Monday, August 31, 2015

BCC GAME 80 (FOR THE THOUGHTFUL PLAYER): EVAN MEYER / JOE PERL 1-2ND // DAVID MARTIN / ROBERT ORESICK / RAY BEHENNA / 1-3RD U1800 // 25 PLAY ! //

BOYLSTON CHESS CLUB
CAMBRIDGE MA
GAME 80 IN 2 SECTIONS
OPEN SECTION
SHAKE RATTLE AND ROLL
NM Lawyer times, former BCC Club Champion,
offers his hand to young Evan Meyer, a serious
force emerging on the BCC chess scene.
INTENSE BATTLE::PEACEFUL CONCLUSION
 
Down to the wire, this endgame, observed by Professor Jerry
Williams, was a draw. Bravo, both! Evan scored 2.5/3
to share 1-2nd place with Joe Perl.
[Note: photo upper right: NM Anna Aksharumova former USSR
Women's Champion, and wife of GM Boris Gulko, plays World
Chess Champion, Garry Kasparov in 8 board master clock 
simul, Sanders Theatre, Harvard University, Cambridge MA 1989. 
Garry won all 8 games: 7 humans and one computer!
(photo: Steve Stepak)]
Joe Perl shakes hands with Brandon Wu in this Round 3 game
which Joe won. Joe scored 2.5/3 to share 1-2nd place with
Evan Meyer. Bravo, Joe!
REMAINING IN THE WINNING MIX
Richard Kahn, black vs David Martin.
David captured 1-3rd place with 2.5/3 points.
DESERVED SUCCESS
Raymond Xu, black vs Bob Oresick. This is Bob's first
top prize of 2015, Bravo, Bob. Keep up the good work!
Ray Behenna scored 2.5/3 to share
1-3rd place in the U1800 section.
Bravo, Ray!
KUDOS
8 yr old Derek Jin drew with Mateos
Sahakian and Professor Jerry Williams
to keep his rating over 1700. Derek
has a high rating point of 1787 and remains
Massachusetts' top 8 yr old and is 11th on the
USCF national ranking list. Bravo, Derek!
SCENES FROM AROUND THE HALL
LITTLE AND BIG
Derek Jin gets a chess lesson from NM Lawyer Times, Round 2.
GETTING INTO 
THE ENDGAME
Richard Kahn, black vs Winston Zhao, Round 3.
Brandon Wu, black vs Mateos Sahakian, 
Round 2. Brandon won this game and was
+4 to 2052 on the day. Bravo, Brandon!
STUDYING CHESS THEORY
Assistant Tournament Director Natasha Christiansen shares
some thoughts on chess theory with Professor Jerry Williams
during the break between Round 2 and Round 3.
Maxwell Zhao, black vs Bharath Heggadahalli in Round 1.
(background): Winston Zhao plays Stephen Savage; 
David Martin plays Richard Kahn; Mateos Sahakian,
black vs Derek Jin; Professor Jerry Williams thinking
vs Jason Tang.
Suraj Ramanathan, black vs Evan Meyer, Round 1.
Maxwell Zhao, black vs Jason Tang, Round 3.
Sebastian Gueler vs Pinyi Hu, Round 1.
Joe Perl defends with black vs Juan Payan, Round 1.
EVENT TD:
BERNARDO IGLESIAS
ASST TD: NATASHA CHRISTIANSEN
PHOTOS: STEVE STEPAK

BCC FRIDAY NIGHT BLITZ: AUGUST 28, 2015 // EVAN MEYER/KOSUN WAIDYARATNE SHARE 1-2ND PLACE // EUGENE SLAVIN 1ST U1800 PRIZE

BOYLSTON CHESS CLUB
CAMBRIDGE, MA
FRIDAY NIGHT BLITZ
NM Kosun Waidyaratne (2281) 8 points 1-2nd place
Evan Meyer (2200)* 8 points 1-2nd place
NM Alejandro Botta (2250)* 6
Eugene Slaven (1750)* 5 1st U1800
Nikita Roldon-Levchenko (1680)* 2.5
Steve Stepak (1740)* .5
WINNERS MEET
Evan Meyer, black vs NM Kosun Waidyaratne. Kosun won both
games in this double RR event. Kosun is a USCF master from
Cleveland Ohio, relocated to Boston for work in the business
sector.  Welcome Kosun!  Evan Meyer is an up and coming
master who would share 1-2nd with Joe Perl in the BCC Saturday 
event Game 80, the next day.  Bravo, both!
NM Alej Botta white vs Nikita Roldon-Levchenko. Nikita
split the result with Alej 1:1, in a stunning blitz rally flagging
Alej with seconds to play. Bravo, Nikita
SOLID PLAY
Eugene Slaven scored 6 points to take
1st U1800 prize. Bravo, Eugene!
TD: STEVE STEPAK
PHOTOS: STEVE STEPAK

Monday, August 24, 2015

BCC PRESENTS: CHARLES DRAFT MEMORIAL // RESULTS // MATEOS SAHAKIAN 1ST OPEN // DAVID MARTIN 1ST U1950 // STELLAR FIELD // 34 PLAY //

BOYLSTON CHESS CLUB
CAMBRIDGE
PREMIER VENUE
CHARLES DRAFT MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT
IN 2 SECTIONS: OPEN & U1950
OPEN SECTION
 Mateos Gouren Sahakian 3.5/4: clear 1st place!
Mateos was +81 to 2091 rating! Bravo, Mateos!
CRITICAL GAME
Joe Perl plays white vs Mateos Sahakian in Round 4.
Mateos held even in the opening and won the endgame
struggle. Bravo, Mateos! Joe Perl scored 3/4 for a
+11 to 2114 rating and a share of 2-4th place.
FIGHTING CHESS
Nithin Kavi held tight with black vs Eric Feng in this
Round 4 game to score the full point, share a piece of
2-4th place and a earn a +7 to 2140. Eric was even on the 
day with 2/4.  Stellar performances in a very tough field.
CRITICAL GAME
Alex Yu vs Kevin Zifeng Lu, Round 4.
Alex won a well-calculated effort to score 3 points
and share a piece of 2-4th place. Alex earned a
+52 to 1963 rating. Kevin was even
with 2 wins and 2 loses. Bravo, both!
U1950 SECTION
David Martin, a solid, consistent player, 3 time
BCC Grand Prix winner, clinches yet another
1st place performance at the Charles Draft
Memorial 2015!.  David scored 3 wins [including
one against me, in a totally drawn endgame,
misplayed. I've got a bit of studying to do in
this area!] 
CRITICAL GAME
David Martin, black vs Stephen Savage, Round 4
David won this game to claim clear 1st place.
Bravo, David!
PROPHETIC SHOT
Arthur Emanuel Williams, MIT sophomore, steadly
improves. He scored 2.5 points in this event for a
+17 to 1641 rating performance. Bravo, Arthur! 
[Standing: Mr. Feng, father of Eric Feng. Photo: upper
right: World Chess Champion and World Blitz Chess
Champion GM Mikhail Tal. Photo taken by
Steve Stepak at BCC, Boylston Street, Boston, 1988.]
Arthur is a very serious and quiet person. Keep up the
great work, Arthur. You are an inspiration to all of us!
CRITICAL ROUND 4 GAME
 
Nowell Sheinwald, black vs Arthur Williams.
Nowell won this game, scored 3 points, shared 2-4th
place and was +1 to 1916 rating. Bravo, Nowell!
Jerry Li: 3/4 shares 2-4th place!
Bravo, Jerry!
Thomas Ha recovered from his loss to me
and scored 3 wins in a row to share 2-4th
place and a +196 to 1475 rating.
Bravo, Thomas!
TOURNAMENT ADMINISTRATION
CHIEF TD: WALTER DRISCOLL
AM TD: ANDREW BOYER
PHOTOS: STEVE STEPAK
Walter Driscoll, hard at work managing all the uncertainties,
anomalies, complaints and other unforeseen nightmares that normally
occur in a chess tournament of this size, seems to be happy, 
 nonetheless. Bravo, Walter, for a performance well done!

BOYLSTON CHESS CLUB
FRIDAY NIGHT BLITZ
ELITE 4X4
Alejandro Botta (2250) 12 points: 1st place
Steve Stepak (1740) 6.5 points: 2nd place
Sergio Miranda-Elmaleh (1680) 4.5 points: 1st U1800 prize
Michael Punzak (1350) 1 point
NM Alejandro Botta (2250) 12 points: 1st place
Steve Stepak (1740) 6.5 points for 2nd place.
Sergio Miranda-Elmaleh (1680) 4.5 points: 
1st U1800 prize. Bravo, Sergio !
TD: STEVE STEPAK
PHOTOS: STEVE STEPAK

Sunday, August 23, 2015

BCC Summer G/80

 


Summer G/80

Saturday, Aug 29, 2015
 
40 Norris Street Cambridge, MA 02140 (map)
 
3SS. G/80 d10. 
 
Sections: Open & U1800. 
 
Entry fee: $35, $20 for BCF members. 
 
Prizes: $240 based on 20 paid entries: Open $100-$60, U1800 $50-$30. 
 
Rounds: 10:00am, 1:30pm, 4:30pm. 
 
Maximum One (1/2 point) bye. 
Bye for 3rd round must be declared before start of round 1. 
 
Registration: 9:15am - 9:45am.
 
 
 

Thursday, August 20, 2015

New Chess Books for Adult Beginners

Dear BCC members,

Please indulge me in a bit of shameless self-promotion.

I recently wrote two chess books for adult beginners, a topic on which I have given free classes at the club for the past 20 years. I published the books a few weeks ago. They are available at the Harvard Book Store, both online and at the brick and mortar store at 1256 Mass. Ave. in Cambridge.


'Chess For Adult Beginners' is 170 pages long, with just under 100 exercises to solve (answers in the back). Covered is specific material I believe every chessplayer in the USCF 800-1200 rating range needs to know in order to improve: visualization, notation, being aware of your opponent's threats, creating your own threats, systematically choosing the best move, tactics, the importance of the center, basic endgame checkmates, and finding your own unique style. I geared the prose towards adults, although high school students should be able to follow it too. 


 'Chess Workbook for Adult Beginners' is 230 pages long, and has 640 exercises, with answers in the back. The workbook covers the same material as 'Chess For Adult Beginners,' and can be read on its own, but has less writing and more problems to solve. The difficulty of the problems range from easy (USCF 800) to moderate (USCF 1000 to 1200) to challenging (USCF 1200-1400, with a few tougher ones thrown in).

Thanks for indulging me. Again, these books are available at the Harvard Book Store (http://www.harvard.com/book/chess_for_adult_beginners/ and  http://www.harvard.com/book/chess_workbook_for_adult_beginners/). Unfortunately, the 'Look Inside' option isn't available online. I'll bring in and leave a copy of each book for the club this weekend, so that members can flip through the pages.

Thanks,
Alex Cherniack

Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Carissa Yip on the cover of Chess Life


Yip, Yip, Hooray!

"... Carissa is the youngest female in history to earn the chess master title."

Read Carissa's story in Chess Life.