Chess Life 2016 08

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(1)Russian GM Vladimir Belous wins Chicago Open | Glenwood Chess Club on Chicago’s South Side: Growing Chess. IM Nazi Paikidze “I will do everything I can to help more girls get into chess.” August 2016. |. uschess.org.

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(3) Few things in life are better than attacking your opponent’s king! ŌĞƌƚŚĞŝŵŵĞŶƐĞƐƵĐĐĞƐƐŽĨŚŝƐĂǁĂƌĚͲ ǁŝŶŶŝŶŐĐůĂƐƐŝĐChess Strategy for Club Players͕/D,ĞƌŵĂŶ'ƌŽŽƚĞŶŚĂƐŶŽǁǁƌŝƩĞŶ ĂŶĞƋƵĂůůǇĂĐĐĞƐƐŝďůĞĨŽůůŽǁͲƵƉƉƌŝŵĞƌŽŶ ĂƩĂĐŬŝŶŐĐŚĞƐƐ͘ zŽƵǁŝůůůĞĂƌŶŚŽǁƚŽƐƉŽƚŽƉƉŽƌƚƵŶŝƟĞƐ͕ ĞǆƉůŽŝƚǁĞĂŬŶĞƐƐĞƐ͕ďƌŝŶŐŝŶŐǇŽƵƌĨŽƌĐĞƐ ƚŽƚŚĞĨƌŽŶƚůŝŶĞĂŶĚƐƚƌŝŬŝŶŐĂƚƚŚĞƌŝŐŚƚ ŵŽŵĞŶƚ͘ 'ƌŽŽƚĞŶĐŽŶĐĞŶƚƌĂƚĞƐŽŶƚƌĂŝŶŝŶŐƚŚĞŵŽƐƚ ǀĂůƵĂďůĞŵĞŶƚĂůƐŬŝůůƐ͗ǀŝƐƵĂůŝǌŝŶŐ͕ƐƚƌƵĐƚƵƌŝŶŐ͕ ĂŶƟĐŝƉĂƟŶŐ͕ĐĂůĐƵůĂƟŶŐĂŶĚŵĞŵŽƌŝǌŝŶŐ͘ . !. NEW. from the publishers of. A Magazine. paperback | 352 pages | $ 29.95. “Well-chosen examples and clear ĞǆƉůĂŶĂƟŽŶƐĂƌĞƉƌĞƐĞŶƚƚŚƌŽƵŐŚŽƵƚƚŚĞ ďŽŽŬ͘'ƌŽŽƚĞŶƐƉƌŝŶŬůĞƐĂŶĞĐĚŽƚĞƐĂďŽƵƚ ƚŚĞĨĞĂƚƵƌĞĚĞǆĂŵƉůĞƐ͘dŚĞŵŽƐƚŝŵƉŽƌƚĂŶƚ ƚŚŝŶŐ'ƌŽŽƚĞŶŚĂƐŐŽŝŶŐĨŽƌŚŝŵĂƐĂŶ ĂƵƚŚŽƌŝƐ͗ŬŶŽǁŝŶŐǁŚŽŚĞŝƐǁƌŝƟŶŐĨŽƌ͘ DĂŶǇƐƚƌŽŶŐĞƌƉůĂǇĞƌƐŚĂǀĞĂƵƚŚŽƌĞĚďŽŽŬƐ ĂŝŵĞĚĂƚƚŚĞĐůƵďƉůĂǇĞƌ͕ďƵƚƵƐƵĂůůǇƚŚĞǇ ĚŽŶŽƚƵŶĚĞƌƐƚĂŶĚƚŚĞĐĂƉĂďŝůŝƟĞƐŽĨƚŚĞŝƌ ĂƵĚŝĞŶĐĞƐ͘͟ /ŶƚĞƌŶĂƟŽŶĂůDĂƐƚĞƌ:ŽŚŶŽŶĂůĚƐŽŶ.

(4) Main office: Crossville, TN (931) 787-1234 Advertising inquiries: (931) 787-1234, ext. 123 Tournament Life Announcements (TLAs): All TLAs should be e-mailed to [email protected] or sent to P.O. Box 3967, Crossville, TN 38557-3967 Letters to the editor: Please submit to [email protected] Receiving Chess Life: To receive Chess Life as a Premium Member, join US Chess or enter a US Chess tournament, go to uschess.org or call 1-800-903-USCF (8723) Change of address: Please send to [email protected] Other inquiries: [email protected], (931) 787-1234, fax (931) 787-1200. US CHESS EXECUTIVE BOARD President Gary Walters Walters & Wasylyna LLC Shaker Finance PO Box 20554 Cleveland, OH 44120 [email protected]. Vice-President Randy Bauer 10990 NW 115th Avenue Granger, IA 50109 [email protected]. Chess Life EDITORIAL STAFF Chess Life Editor and Director of Publications, Daniel Lucas [email protected] Senior Digital Editor, Jennifer Shahade [email protected] Chess Life Kids Editor, Glenn Petersen [email protected] Senior Art Director, Frankie Butler [email protected] Editorial Assistant/Copy Editor, Alan Kantor [email protected] Editorial Assistant, Jo Anne Fatherly [email protected] Editorial Assistant, Natasha Roberts [email protected] Technical Editor, Ron Burnett. US Chess Membership Rates: Premium (P) and Regular (R) (U.S., CANADA, MEXICO). Type Adult P Adult R Senior (65+) Young Adult P (U25)* Young Adult R (U25)* Youth P (U16)* Youth R (U16)* Scholastic P (U13)* Scholastic R (U13)*. 1 yr $49 $40 $40 $35 $26 $30 $22 $25 $17. 2 yr $95 $75 $75 $65 $48 $55 $40 $45 $30. Premium membership provides a printed copy of Chess Life (monthly) or Chess Life Kids (bimonthly) plus all other benefits of regular membership. Regular membership provides onlineonly access to Chess Life and Chess Life Kids. Youth provides bimonthly Chess Life, Scholastic bimonthly Chess Life Kids, others listed above monthly Chess Life. See www.uschess.org for other membership categories. Dues are not refundable and may be changed without notice. *Ages at expiration. VP Finance Allen Priest 220 West Main Street Suite 2200 Louisville, KY 40202 [email protected]. Secretary Mike Nietman 2 Boca Grande Way Madison, WI 53719 [email protected]. Member at Large Michael Atkins PO Box 4894 Baltimore, MD 21211 [email protected]. Member at Large Anjelina Belakovskaia 6890 E. Sunrise Dr. Ste. 120-118 Tucson, AZ 85750 [email protected]. Member at Large Ruth Haring US Chess Attn: Ruth Haring PO Box 3967 Crossville, TN 385573967 [email protected]. TLA/Advertising, Joan DuBois [email protected]. US CHESS STAFF Executive Director, Jean Hoffman ext. 189 [email protected] Director of Events, Francisco Guadalupe 713-530-7820 [email protected] Assistant Director of Events, Boyd Reed 931-787-2244 [email protected] FIDE Titles and Ratings, Tracey Vibbert [email protected] FIDE Youth Events, National Education Consultant & Special Projects, Jerry Nash ext. 137 [email protected] Scholastic Associate & Clubs, FIDE Associate and OTB Ratings, Susan Kantor ext. 136 [email protected] Computer Consultant, Mike Nolan [email protected] Director of Administration, Judy Misner ext. 126 [email protected] Affiliate Relations Associate, Joan DuBois ext. 123 [email protected] Senior Accountant, Debra Robison ext. 130 [email protected] Membership Services Supervisor, Cheryle Bruce ext. 147 [email protected] Mailing Lists/Membership Associate, Traci Lee ext. 143 [email protected] Correspondence Chess, Alex Dunne [email protected] Tournament Director Certification, Judy Misner/Jerry Nash [email protected]. 2 August 2016. | Chess Life.

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(6) PHOTO: JIM DOYLE. ChessAUGUST Life COLUMNS. 9. LOOKS AT BOOKS / YEARBOOKS. 00000000000000 0& By John Hartmann. 16. CHESS TO ENJOY / ENTERTAINMENT. %)/0--+*+*0%/', By GM Andy Soltis. 18. BACK TO BASICS / READER ANNOTATIONS. 00000000000000(/-(*+0!.(0,)/0*.'0&/#.+"0 00000000000000. / By GM Lev Alburt. 46. SOLITAIRE CHESS / INSTRUCTION. 00000000000000%)/0(/-,0

(7) )**,.(. 48. THE PRACTICAL ENDGAME / INSTRUCTION. 00000000000000+0&/-(#)0.!0/(!/#,*.+ By GM Daniel Naroditsky. DEPARTMENTS. 6. 20. By Bruce Pandolfini. COVER STORY / IM NAZI PAIKIDZE. )/''0 0-,0&$//0//-, Getting to know the new U.S. Women’s Champion IM Nazi Paikidze. AUGUST PREVIEW /. By Jim Doyle. THIS MONTH IN CHESS LIFE AND US CHESS NEWS. 8 10 13 15 53 71 71 72. COUNTERPLAY / READERS RESPOND FIRST MOVES / CHESS NEWS FROM AROUND THE U.S. FACES ACROSS THE BOARD /. 28. The dystopian environment of a large open event (and how we love it!).. BY AL LAWRENCE US CHESS AFFAIRS / NEWS FOR OUR MEMBERS TOURNAMENT LIFE / AUGUST. 34. MY BEST MOVE / PERSONALITIES THIS MONTH: IM NAZI PAIKIDZE. INSTRUCTION / ROOK ENDINGS. 0000000000000000000%)/0&,*$$-,/(0!!/#,0 0000000000000000000BY Pete Karagianis “ ... that is the unequivocal beauty of the game: it is the intersection of human understanding with application.”. CLASSIFIEDS / AUGUST SOLUTIONS / AUGUST. SWISS EVENTS / CHICAGO OPEN. 0000000000000000000%)/0 /(*#-+0&*''0/+0-+"0. 0000000000000000000BY Pete Karagianis. 40. INSTRUCTION / UPSETS. 0000000000000000000.0,.0.'/0,.0-0 0 0000000000000000000BY FM Jon Jacobs Keeping underdogs at bay—or not.. ON THE COVER We take a deeper look at the new U.S. Women’s Champion, IM Nazi Paikidze. Jim Doyle interviews her beginning on page 20 and the champ provides annotations to some of her favorite games over the years, including her “My Best Move” on page 72. PHOTO BY GREGORY BARNES. 4 August 2016. | Chess Life. 43. CHESS CLUBS / GLENWOOD CHESS CLUB. 0000000000000000000- *$0-+"0. 0000000000000000000)/''0$0 0000000000000000000BYJorge Barrera. +*,0.+0,)/0.-("0%)/0$/+.."0. Not far from Chicago’s South Side, which suffers a reputation for crime and poverty, a chess club has found a path to success..

(8) Mind. Art. Experience. 4652 Maryland Avenue, Saint Louis, MO 63108 (314) 367-WCHF (9243) | worldchesshof.org @WorldChessHOF #AVMChess b a x v r Dean Collection Images © Dean Collection 2010, Richard Beenen Photography; The CCSCSL and WCHOF admit students and visitors of any race, color, nationality, or ethnic origin.. www.uschess.org. 5.

(9) August Preview / This month in Chess Life and US Chess News. AUGUST. US CHESS NEWS PREVIEW HUNTING FOR MEDALS IN BAKU. CONTRIBUTORS. Our US Chess team travels to Baku, Azerbaijan from September 1-14th for the 42nd Olympiad. Our strongest Open team in history includes three players in the world top ten: GMs Fabiano Caruana (middle), Hikaru Nakamura (left) and Wesley So (right). GM Irina Krush and IM Nazi Paikidze headline the Women’s squad.. (Cover Story) is a photographer and writer living in Pennsylvannia. In addition to this magazine, his work has appeared in Chess Life Kids and US Chess News on uschess.org.. JIM DOYLE. PETE KARAGIANIS. THE CUP IS BACK! From August 1-16, follow the first classical event of the Grand Chess Tour, the Sinquefield Cup, featuring former champs GM Fabiano Caruana and GM Levon Aronian as well as U.S. GMs Wesley So and Hikaru Nakamura. Look for predictions on our website and for twitter takeovers on our @USChess account.. LABOR DAY CHESS MADNESS State championships and big Grand Prixs abound over Labor Day weekend. On US Chess we round-up as many stories and games as we can. Send your own photo, game or anecdote from the weekend for possible inclusion on our website or facebook/twitter @USChess.. TACTICS SCHOOL IS IN SESSION. It may be summer, but the US Chess School is in full swing. Look for updates by the kids themselves, including problems and puzzles from this summer’s camps in New York City, San Francisco and Orlando.. PHOTOS: CARUANA BY LENNART OOTES, COURTESY OF CHESS CLUB AND SCHOLASTIC CENTER OF SAINT LOUIS; NAKAMURA BY ERIC ROSEN; WESLEY SO COURTESY OF CHESS CLUB AND SCHOLASTIC CENTER OF SAINT LOUIS; LABOR DAY: WIKIMEDIA. 6 August 2016. | Chess Life. (Chicago Open, Stillwater) is a chess instructor and writer from Bloomington, Illinois. He can be contacted at [email protected] or via his blog nmpetek.blogspot.com. JORGE BARRERA. (Glenwood) has been a chess teacher as part of after-school programs for over 12 years both in California and in Chicago. Coming from a family of photographers, he has also used photography as a creative outlet for many years. JON JACOBS. (How to Lose to a 1400) is the author of the upcoming book about upsets, The Fish That Roared, a collection of high-quality games in which club-level players outplayed FIDE-titled or other highly rated opponents. A FIDE master and anti-cheating activist, Jon authored several award-winning articles for Chess Life between 2005 and 2008.. CONNECT WITH US Find @USChess on Twitter, @US_Chess on Instagram and facebook.com/uschess and look for increased activity during major events, including our national scholastics..

(10) AUGUST 1-16 August 4 August 5 August 6 August 7 August 8 August 9 August 10 August 11 August 12 August 13 August 14 "VHVTU August 16. Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday .POEBZ Tuesday. GM Fabiano CARUANA GM Anish GIRI GM Hikaru NAKAMURA GM Ding LIREN GM Viswanathan ANAND. 4:00 PM 1:00 PM 1:00 PM 1:00 PM 1:00 PM 1:00 PM — 1:00 PM 1:00 PM 1:00 PM 1:00 PM 1. 1:00 PM. Autograph Session Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 Round 5 Rest Day Round 6 Round 7 Round 8 Round 9 1MBZPô *GBQQMJDBCMF. Ultimate Moves. GM Vladimir KRAMNIK GM Maxime VACHIER-LAGRAVE GM Levon ARONIAN GM Wesley SO GM Veselin TOPALOV. WATCH LIVE ON GRANDCHESSTOUR.ORG. 4657 Maryland Avenue, Saint Louis, MO 63108 | 314.361.CHESS (2437) | @CCSCSL @GrandChessTour #4JORVFmFME$VQ#GrandChessTour b a x r. www.uschess.org. 7.

(11) Counterplay / Readers Respond.

(12). Rating Floors, Perceived Sexism, Candidates

(13) I am 67, and I have been playing tournament chess for just over seven years. My rating continues to lurch upward slowly—I hope eventually past 1600 and beyond. Time will tell. I propose an improvement to the ratings floor concept. A player might appreciate the floor, as for example I did while bumping along my floor for almost a year. But I think players would also like the option to choose an automatic 100-point downward floor adjustment if they are bumping along their floor for a while. Perhaps two years? It would have to be a long enough bumping along period to prevent manipulation of ratings for tournament dollars. A player could select this automatic process until their floor declines to a level that fits their present playing level, and then turn the option off, and settle there for a while. This would build into the ratings process a recognition of the realities of aging. I expect some players presently bump along at their floor and eventually say the heck with it. This improvement would allow people to continue to enjoy competition at a level that fits their playing ability. I have heard there is an appeals process to have one’s floor reduced, but few ever pursue that. It’s the individual being able to select and/or deselect participation in an automatic process that is the key concept here. Jerrold Richards via e-mail.

(14) What led GM Alejandro Ramirez to think Fabiano Caruana would have overstepped the 50-move rule if he had found the winning continuation in his rook and bishop versus rook ending against Peter Svidler? (June issue;. 8 August 2016. | Chess Life. Ramirez wrote: “Caruana pushed rook and bishop versus rook against Svidler. The Russian faltered in the defense, and Caruana could have set up a winning position ... but it wouldn’t have mattered. Even if the American found the correct continuation, which he didn’t, it would have overstepped the 50move rule. Draw.”) If Caruana had converted this along with his two overwhelming positions against Veselin Topalov, he would have won the Candidates. Do we really want a world championship system with time limits that force players to blunder in positions that would have been routine wins at classical time controls? Wesley Koehler via e-mail. GM Alejandro Ramirez responds: Thanks Wesley for your letter. I have little excuse on how I messed up the move count on the CaruanaSvidler game. I trusted my engine, which went down to 0.00 during the endgame (usually signifying a draw based on the 50-move rule), and it was simply a malfunction. Caruana was indeed inside the move count to win the game against Svidler. I'm glad someone called me out on it. That being said, I cannot disagree more with your second paragraph. Yes, I would like to see faster time controls at world championship levels. The Candidates was played at snail’s pace and still we saw huge blunders, so you seem to be contradicting yourself in the sense that in slow time controls people play perfectly. I would rather see games that I would like to follow, rather than games that I will check in every hour or so to see if something happened. Further, playing the “if game” is not something chess players can afford to do. At the end of the day, only the result matters. What would have happened if Svidler and Giri converted their wins against Caruana? The pressure in this tournament was very high, and people were bound to make mistakes. Caruana was not the only one with missed chances.. As I was skimming through my issue of Chess Life that came out in July 2016 I opened to pages 32 and 33. There to my dismay was the clearest example of inequality that you could exhibit. Here we have GM Fabiano Caruana winning $50,000 for taking the men’s section and on the other page you have IM Nazi Paikidze with her $25,000 for taking the women’s section. What a slam she must have felt when she was aware of that difference. As a mental health professional, I would expect more of our national chess leadership. Inequality is not mentally healthy, no matter how you may try to defend it. You folks need to get into the 21st century and start by making those winnings equal. I’m aware that the men’s section probably brings in more revenue and attention. I suspect that if you make the winnings equal, you will find the women’s section catching up. Even the revenue thoughts don’t make what you have done right. If we want to promote the game of chess, lets do it equally. I’m aware of open tournaments where males and females compete with each other for the same prizes; I admire those tournaments for allowing that option for females. But, the best women player in a women’s only tourney should get the same cash award as the best male player in a male only tourney. Bob Frisby via e-mail. Unfortunately, this has become a common misconception. It isn’t a men’s championship and women’s championship. It is the U.S. Championship and the U.S. Women’s Championship. Women who qualify can play in the U.S. Championship. We are very careful to always identify the events this way. ~ed..

(15) Regarding GM Soltis’ recent column, “The Chess Multiverse” (July 2016): When kids in school copy answers from the kids sitting next to them, they get kicked out of school. Why not chess masters, too? Charles Young via e-mail. Send your letters to [email protected] or post on the US Chess Facebook group or the uschess.org Issues Forum. Letters are subject to editing for style, length, and content..

(16) Looks at Books / Yearbooks. “YEAR” BOOKS Two unconventional books that take a yearlong view of chess are ultimately hit and miss.. Zhdanov, Peter. Yearbook of Chess Wisdom. Chess Evolution: 2016. ISBN: 978-83-937009-7-4. 376 pages. Notationless. (Available from uscfsales.com, catalog number B0009EV, $26.95). By JOHN HARTMANN. W. hat would you give to become a grandmaster? Years of travel and heartbreak? The lack of a proper social life? Perhaps your pinky toe? Whatever your answer, you may rethink it after reading Daniel Gormally’s Insanity, Passion and Addiction: A Year Inside the Chess World, one of a number of new books from the Polish publishing house Chess Evolution. Gormally is an English grandmaster rated 2494 FIDE as of June 2016. He’s not a guy who gets invites to the top events, and at age 40, there’s little hope of his suddenly ascending the Elo list. Gormally is a workingclass grandmaster, one who has to scramble to find teaching and writing gigs to supplement his tournament winnings and support himself. The problem, as Gormally describes it, is that he is too lazy for teaching, writing is hard work, and age, lack of study and increasingly solid competition make tournaments a risky source of income. Still want to be a grandmaster? A Year Inside the Chess World is, on first blush, an awfully bleak book, and Gormally pulls no punches in its telling. He berates himself for his inability to beat untitled players, for his lack of luck with women, for his being overweight. We eavesdrop on many nights spent drinking with floundering colleagues. There is more than a whiff of a sexism that is all too typical in the chess world. And there are pages where Gormally veers dangerously close to TMI (“Too Much Information” in Internet parlance) territory with personal sexual references and stories of dodgy Hamburg strip clubs. In its brutal honesty, however, there is something admirable and perhaps even triumphant about A Year Inside the Chess World. As the book progresses, we see Gormally start to reckon with his limitations. He considers leaving chess and taking up a straight job, but at the same time, we see him begin to take steps to make chess a viable profession once more. So what changes? It’s hard to say. Perhaps it was authoring a DVD on the English Attack for ChessBase that gave him confidence. Perhaps it was working seriously with modern engines or analyzing with strong grandmasters that stoked his analytical fire. Ultimately I suspect that the writing of the book itself, and the self-examination it required, played a therapeutic role. There is much more to A Year Inside the Chess World than suggested. Gormally, Daniel. A Year Inside the Chess World: Insanity, Passion and Addiction. Chess Evolution: 2016. ISBN: 978-83-934656-9-9. 244 pages. Figurine notation (FAN). (Available from uscfsales.com, catalog number B0008EV, $26.95). above. Gormally includes excellent analysis of his games and those of others, and there are many asides and essays on chess personalities and the current state of the game. Still, this is largely a book about Gormally himself, and in pulling back the curtain on his life, warts and all, he has given us something truly fascinating. Some of the inspiration for Gormally’s book came from blog posts he wrote for pogonina.com, the online home of WGM Natalia Pogonina and her husband/manager Peter Zhdanov. Zhdanov has also recently published a book with Chess Evolution called Yearbook of Chess Wisdom. Unfortunately for Zhdanov and for his publisher, it is not a particularly good one. The conceit underlying Yearbook of Chess Wisdom is fairly clear. There are 366 short essays on various themes, one for each day of the calendar year. The topics covered follow no discernible pattern or order. In truth it is nothing more than a compendium of Zhdanov’s meandering thoughts on the chess world. It’s not that there’s anything objectionable in the essays per se—well, actually, there is, and I’ll get to that shortly. The problem is that most of Zhdanov’s book is banal or uninteresting, and the few interesting ideas are usually borrowed from others. So the useful essay on studying the opening (9/7) is basically cribbed from GM Roman Ovechkin, while the numerous listicles, the musings on Zodiac signs (1/11), and the gross elitism (9/30) are all Zhdanov. There is also the issue of Zhdanov’s sexism. There are multiple essays (7/11, 7/16, 7/26, 8/25, 12/15) that are laughably sexist. There is an essay devoted to “pick-up lines for Caissa” (9/8) wherein the goddess is said to prefer guys who—surprise!—seem very similar to Zhdanov. He even offers bizarre advice about sex at tournaments based on “extensive research” (3/23)—his Chess Kamasutra book from a few years back. I have no doubt that untitled players like Zhdanov can write important chess books. This is not one of them. Zhdanov is long on platitudes, short on insight, and drops far too many names. His Yearbook of Chess Wisdom hardly lives up to its title, and you’d be wise to pass on it.. www.uschess.org. 9.

(17) First Moves / Chess news from around the U.S.. Remembering IM Danny Kopec • Bill Hall • IA Frank Berry. FIDE INTERNATIONAL MASTER DANNY KOPEC, BORN FEBRUARY friend and business partner, Hal Terrie. “On the last day of each chess 28, 1954, was a computer science professor at Brooklyn College, chess camp, he would sit the players down and explain that they should sit teacher and author of eight books. He passed away at his home in Merrick, quietly at the board with both feet on the floor and treat their opponents New York, on June 12, the result of pancreatic cancer. He is survived by and the game of chess with respect.” He was also particular about lighting, his wife, Sylvia; his son, David; his stepson, Oliver; and his sister Patinka the result of suffering detached retinas in both eyes while living in Kopec-Selman. His late mother, Magdalena Kopec, died in 2009. She Maine in the late 1980s. His biggest complaint was the timing of rounds was an accomplished artist who created oil paintings and inspirational for large Swiss tournaments, especially when they overscheduled the water colors, frequently displayed at Danny’s popular chess camps. Kopec’s father was a pharmacist who grew up in Czechoslovakia during the normal dinner hours. After a stint on the faculty of the University Holocaust, later escaped to Israel and moved his of Maine, and the passing of his father in 1990, family to Kew Gardens, New York, when Danny Danny moved to Ottawa in 1992 to lecture for was a toddler. a year at Carleton University. Following a few Danny enjoyed going to tennis matches and other stops along the way, always in academia, baseball games with his father, but he learned he returned to New York and was awarded chess from his cousin, Joe Donath, an expert tenure at Brooklyn College in 2004. His best level player from Florida. He became Greater finish in the U.S. Open chess championship NY High School Champion at age 14, and earned was a second place tie at Fort Lauderdale in his first national master rating at 17. Kopec 2004, with 7 points out of 9. He finished tied graduated from Dartmouth College in 1975, for first in his last rated tournament, finishing where he was a teammate of 1975 World Open undefeated in the seven-round Queens Chess Co-Champion Alan Trefler, and moved to Club Championship this past November. In Scotland to pursue his Ph.D. in machine addition to his writing and production of nine intelligence at the University of Edinburgh. He feature length instructional videos, Danny spent was two time Scottish champion, winning in his spare time playing tennis and rooting for 1980 and 1981. In 1982, Kopec and Dr. Ivan his beloved New York Yankees. Bratko designed the Bratko-Kopec test to assist Danny loved to tell stories, especially about in evaluating human and machine chess ability chess and artificial intelligence, so much so that based on the presence or absence of certain it is not surprising that some of the stories knowledge. This test, with some modifications, became confounded as they were passed along. was a reliable standard for more than two decades IM DANNY KOPEC His dissertation entitled: Human and Machine in computer chess circles, and is still of value in 1954-2016 Representations of Knowledge, was completed assessing overall playing strength and identifying under the guidance of Dr. Donald Michie, a specific tactical, positional and pawn structure well respected British researcher in artificial intelligence. During World knowledge deficiencies of human chess players. After receiving his doctorate in 1983, Kopec lectured at McGill War II, Michie famously worked for the Government Code School at University in Montreal for two years as a visiting professor. While Bletchley Park as a cryptographer, contributing to the effort to solve there, he finished tied for second in the Canadian Invitational Champi- "Tunny," a German teleprinter cipher. No doubt the stories concerning his mentor were confused with his onship in 1984 and was invited to compete in the 26th Chess Olympiad at Thessaloniki representing Canada. He declined because, as an American own world travels. There was an unfounded rumor circulating in the citizen, he did not want to take a spot from a deserving Canadian player. 1990s that Danny had worked for the CIA when he was in Europe and Canada. When questioned about it, he just laughed, but kept the mystery He was awarded the international master title in 1985. As a chess player, Kopec was a throwback to the old school of chess alive by quickly changing the subject. “Maybe he is not allowed to discuss etiquette. He always dressed well, usually wearing a sport jacket at the it,” some of his students whispered. After his passing, Sylvia was asked board. “Danny was particular about player behavior,” said his long time about it. “Not as far as I know,” she said. “If so, we should have been. 10 August 2016. | Chess Life. PHOTOS KOPEC COURTESY OF FAMILY. HALL BY FRANK NIRO. It has been a particularly sad time for US Chess as three key members all died within a short time period. The international chess world mourns too as GM Viktor Korchnoi also died during this same brief time. Chess Life will have a full-feature remembrance of Korchnoi by GM Yasser Seirawan in an upcoming issue. This month, we take time to remember three US Chess members who worked to advance American chess..

(18) First Moves / Chess news from around the U.S.. expecting a government pension by now!” Despite his hard-charging, get-it-done approach to his multiple chess projects, Danny possessed a warm and engaging personality and quick wit. He was nearly always willing to analyze games with opponents and students unless, of course, it overlapped with dinner. His energy seemed limitless at times. In 2001, he was invited by Dr. Tim Redman to give a presentation on the Bratko-Kopec test at the First Koltanowski Conference on Chess in Education in Dallas. Danny flew from New York to Atlanta, rented a car, then drove all night— nearly 800 miles—and gave his presentation without sleep. He stayed around to answer questions, sat in on some of the other presentations and analyzed a few chess positions with one of his students. Then, after a short nap, he made the same trip in reverse to get home. His illness drained his energy and stamina during the last months of his life, but Danny maintained his goal oriented approach until the end. “During the past year he would take periodic 30 minute rest breaks,” according to his son, David, “but no more than that. He felt that if he stayed down any longer, he might not get up.” Danny filled every minute right up to the end. He gave his last exam to his students at Brooklyn College and his last chess lesson one week before he died. “He demonstrated to his Brooklyn students what ‘work ethic’ meant. It was a life lesson for them,” David said. He also completed his final book project earlier this year, a compilation of annotated games of GM Walter Browne, who passed away last June. He had promised his long time friend that he would publish the games and he was determined to keep his promise, no matter how weak he felt. Kopec met Browne at the 1976 Canadian Open in Toronto. “I met Walter in the middle rounds of the tournament,” Danny said in a 2011 interview. “I played my system and Browne kept exchanging pieces down until we ended up in a slightly favorable (to him) knight ending. Browne displayed very fine technique and after that we went out to dinner, and we’ve been good friends ever since.” Danny was a long-time proponent of a method of playing the white pieces against the Sicilian Defense known as “The Kopec System” that began with the moves 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bd3. The system never became mainstream but neither has it been refuted. It is still seen occasionally at the highest levels, most recently in a game between. BILL HALL 1969-2016. Bill Hall with Will Clark in front of the US Chess Crossville office.. grandmasters: Vadim Zvjaginsev (FIDE 2642) and Andrey Stukopin (FIDE 2546), won by the player with the white pieces at the 67th Russia Higher League Championship in 2014. Following is one of Danny’s favorite games, one of his many victories over grandmasters. MODERN DEFENSE (BO6) Danny Kopec (2464) Alexander Ivanov (2684) Eastern Class Championships (3), Woburn, Massachusetts (3), 12.03.1994 Notes by Hal Terrie. This game is a classic example of Danny’s style—a true sacrifice of a piece for long term pressure against the enemy king. 1. d4 g6 2. e4 Bg7 3. Nc3 c6 4. Bc4 b5 5. Bb3 a5 6. a3 d6 7. Qf3 e6 8. Nge2 Ba6 9. Be3 Nd7 10. Qg3 d5 11. Bg5 Ne7 12. exd5 exd5 13. Bxd5 f6 14. Be6 fxg5 15. Ne4 Nf5 16. Bxf5 gxf5 17. Nd6+ Kf8 18. h4! g4 19. Nxf5 Nf6 20. 0-0 Qd7 21. Qf4 h5 22. Neg3 Nd5 23. Qd2 b4 24. Rfe1 Bf6 25. axb4 axb4 26. Ra5 Bb7 27. Rxa8+ Bxa8 28. c4 bxc3 e.p. 29. bxc3 Rh7 30. c4 Nc7. The computer says that 30. ... Ne7 is a better defense but after 31. Qb4! Bb7 32. Nd6 Ba6 33. Nge4 Rh6 (33. ... Bxd4 34. c5 Bh8 35. Ng5 Rh6 36. Qf4+) 34. Qd2 (34. Nc5 is not as good, though it should win: 34. ... Qxd6 35. Ne6+ Qxe6 36. Rxe6) 34. ... Rg6 35. Qf4 Qe6 36. Ra1 Bc8 37. Ra8 White is winning. 31. Rb1 Kf7 32. Rb8 Qe6 33. Rc8! Kg6. Of course the rook cannot be taken: 33. ... Qxc8 34. Nd6+. 34. Qd3. Another indirect defense of the c8-rook, also threatening devastating discoveries. 34. ... Rd7 35. Ne7+ Kf7 36. Qh7+ Bg7 37. Nef5 Qg6 38. Rf8+!. The killer finishing touch. 38. ... Kxf8 39. Qxg6, Black resigned. By Frank Niro. WILLIAM “BILL” HARVEY HALL, JR., WHO SERVED AS EXECUTIVE director of US Chess from 2005-2013, passed away following complications from diabetes on June 7, 2016, at the age of 46. He had been undergoing dialysis treatments since 2013. He is survived by two sons, Daniel and Skyler Hall; his mother, Grace Hall; a brother, Todd Hall; and his maternal grandparents, Austin & Alma Choate. Bill Hall was valedictorian of his graduating class at Cumberland County High School in 1988, graduated from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and returned to his high school alma mater to teach math in the fall of 1994. An expert chess player with a peak US Chess rating of 2153, he won 10 Cumberland County championships. He played his last rated tournament in Crossville, Tennessee, on National Chess Day, October 11, 2014, finishing tied for second place with 3 points out of 4. Bill was hired as executive director in 2005, following the relocation of the corporate offices to Crossville, Tennessee, from New Windsor, New York. Hall navigated US Chess through troubled times and worked hand-in-hand with the Executive Board, often encountering and overcoming significant obstacles as the organization maintained its financial solvency. Nevertheless, to Bill Hall it was his dream job. Most observers agree that he was the right person for the job at the right time in the organization’s history. US Chess Executive Board member Randy Bauer said, “I had the www.uschess.org. 11.

(19) First Moves / Chess news from around the U.S.. the objective of monitoring their progress over time. Bill felt that chess tournament rules should be developed or modified to facilitate involvement of these children. There is a new committee in US Chess, recently created by the Executive Board and chaired by Janelle Losoff, known as the disabilities and circumstances committee, that will take up the challenge. These efforts are, to a significant degree, a part of Bill Hall’s legacy. More than anything else, Bill Hall was a chess player. The following game was played at the 109th annual U.S. Open in Dallas in 2008 where, Bill finished at +2 for the tournament. He started the event with four points in the first five rounds. The tournament was held at a time when the Federation was in the midst of, arguably, its most stressful period for an executive director. KING’S INDIAN DEFENSE (E60) Carlos Bonnin (1823) Bill Hall (2116) 109th Annual U.S. Open (4), Dallas, Texas, 08.05.2008 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 0-0 5. 0-0 d6 6. c4 Na6 7. Nc3 Rb8 8. a3 c5 9. d5 Nc7 10. Rb1 Bf5 11. Ra1 b5 12. Nd2 Qc8 13. e4 Bh3 14. Qe2 Bxg2 15. Kxg2 a6 16. Rb1 Nd7 17. f4 bxc4 18. Qxc4 Nb6 19. Qa2 Nb5 20. Nxb5 axb5 21. b3 c4 22. bxc4 bxc4 23. Rb4 c3 24. Nf3 Qc5 25. Re1 Nd7 26. Rxb8 Rxb8 27. Re2 Qb5 28. Qc2 Nc5 29. e5 Nd3 30. Nd4 Qxd5+ 31. Nf3 dxe5 32. fxe5 Bxe5 33. Rxe5 Nxe5 34. Qxc3 Qxf3+ 35. Qxf3 Nxf3 36. Kxf3 Rb1 37. Bd2 Rb3+ 38. Kg4 Rxa3 39. h4 f5+ 40. Kh3 e5 41. Bb4 Rd3 42. Ba5 f4 43. Be1 f3 44. Kh2 e4 45. g4 e3 46. h5 Rd1 47. Kg3 Rxe1 48. Kxf3 g5 49. Kg2 Kf7 50. Kf3 Ke6 51. Ke4 h6 52. Kd4 Rg1 53. Kxe3 Rxg4 54. Kf3 Kf5, White resigned. By Frank Niro. FRANK KIM BERRY (FKB) PASSED AWAY ON JUNE 6TH OF A commercially viable in the U.S. (He scoffed at that idea as a dream.) HEART attack in his Oklahoma home. Best known nationally as sponsor Therefore it always would require grassroots organization by devoted of two recent U.S. Championships (2007-8) and as one of only a few volunteers to thrive, and among these he proved to be one of our most American FIDE international arbiters, Frank prolific examples. He played this conservationist was one of those unique chess characters who role three ways: have kept tournament chess alive in the Past memories of chess in the Oklahoma heartland, organ-izing and directing events of region he preserved by researching historical all sizes for more than 50 years. His kind is a sources for long-forgotten info. He spent much vanishing breed, but one that US Chess would time in local libraries combing through old do well to remember. newspapers to piece together the history of Frank’s life was diverse and complex. He had tournament and club chess, living memory of careers in the army (a paratrooper with the which had been lost prior to the 1950s but 101st Airborne) and in banking (a major stockwhich is more extensive than one might think. holder in Southwest Bancorp, a large regional He was able to construct a nearly complete list bank that began in his native Stillwater). Magic of state champions going back over 100 years, was one of his many occupations and he for instance. Along the way he dug up some performed regularly at the Magic Castle when interesting stories and published them in the he lived in Los Angeles. He was also an historian prolific Oklahoma Chess Quarterly, which he with a specialized interest in the Old West, and edited with admirable regularity for many years. editor for the county historical society. He carefully archived a lot of this research in But chess was his most beloved avocation, large binders for others to use. and, to try to describe it in one phrase, I would Preserving regional chess games in a FRANK KIM BERRY like to suggest he could be called a “chess conserdedicated state database was another of his 1945-2016 vationist.” I’m sure he would ridicule such a projects that I think each state would do well to pretentious term, but his actions align with the emulate. His Okie Database (a ChessBase file) literal definition—one who endeavors to preserve and protect things of contains over 16,000 games played in this state (or by Okie players out value—chess in this case—conserving its past, present, and future in the of state) dating back to 1914—including little-known games by Reshevsky, heartland of the country. He believed traditional tournament chess was Fine, Steiner, Horowitz, and even the young Bobby Fischer (who played a legitimate and worthy amateur sport, but not one that would ever be in the 1956 U.S. Open in Oklahoma City). New additions included many. 12 August 2016. | Chess Life. PHOTO CREDIT: REBECCA RUTLEDGE. privilege of working closely with Bill while on the Executive Board from 2006 to 2009. His steadfastness in the face of an existential threat to the Federation was a model of inspirational leadership. I will always remember bonding with him during a time of crisis. Bill was a good man who cared deeply and was passionate about chess and US Chess. I was glad to have known him and am sad to hear of his passing. My thoughts and prayers go out to his loved ones at this most difficult time.” Bill had a special interest in scholastic chess as a result of his own chess development as a member of county, state and national championship scholastic teams. Dewain Barber, chief organizer of the GM Denker Tournament of High School Champions, noted that “Bill’s love for all things chess is especially true of the scholastic programs that were developed and promoted. I always found him available when I needed assistance and counsel. His wisdom and honest character will be missed.” Bill’s accessibility and passion for the game were common themes among those who worked closely with him during his tenure at the helm of US Chess. Jennifer Shahade, former U.S. Women’s Champion and editor of US Chess Online, said “Bill was extremely passionate about chess, and it was never too late or early in the day for him to take a phone call or work on an issue pertaining to the growth of our game or organization. His work ethic, even when facing adversity, was inspiring.” In 2009, one of his sons was diagnosed with autism and, as a result, Bill was an advocate for working with teachers on how to teach chess to children with autism. He sought ways to cultivate further research into the benefits of chess for those with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and related behavioral challenges such as Asperger syndrome and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Today, there are programs in Kentucky, Arizona, California, Alabama, Mississippi focused on involving children on the autism spectrum in the game of chess with.

(20) First Moves / Chess news from around the U.S.. annotations by masters and even grandmasters from his Quarterly. He was fanatical about collecting all new game scores from current tournaments. If I held a tournament he would hound me unmercifully if I didn’t send him all the game scores within a few days. He would often pay young players to enter them into this database, updating it every year and making it freely available. Of course current chess activity he also conserved by organizing and directing events, of all kinds, large or small, local or national or international. He was the most active organizer in this part of the country. Some of his notable events include the original North American Open, several U.S. Women’s Championships (and the first U.S. Girls Invitational Championship in 2015), a U.S. Senior Open, a U.S. Junior Invitational Championship, two U.S. Championships, the “Dream Team Challenge” (in financial support of the successful U.S. Women’s Olympiad team in 2004), several international norm events—even an eight-game match between GMs Yury Shulman and Alex Wojtkiewicz in 2005. Getting to know Frank was a bit of a minefield for people because of his odd sense of humor. He had an army-style, trash-talking panache. He liked to prod people, sometimes literally, in order to “get a rise” out of them. “He rolled you up like a burrito!” he might blurt out to someone who had just lost a game, for example. He took some joy in deliberately saying things that were not politically correct, or that he knew would rile somebody up, even his friends. Once you understood this aspect of his personality, it was easy enough to roll with it, and he was a great friend. But some people never understood it. Generosity was another way Frank supported the future of chess. He put a lot of money into the game, in large and small ways, sometimes under-the-table to help support many talented players who were in need. On a larger scale, when US Chess suddenly lost its corporate sponsorship for the annual U.S. Invitational Championship in late 2006, Frank stepped up and helped save this tradition with money out of his own pocket for two years, to the tune of six-figure payouts each year. Frank was wealthy, but not really a rich man and this was a considerable outlay for him. I was saddened when some of the top U.S. players turned up their noses at these events, since the prize money was a step down from the previous years, and since Frank’s no-frills approach was different from the luxury venues of the corporate years that they had become used to. I understand they were mainly angry at US Chess for dropping the ball, but still it resulted in some insults hurled Frank’s way when there would have been no event at all without him. Now that the championship has a lucrative home in St. Louis, few people remember that FKB kept it alive for two years, long enough for the new patron to be found. Traditional chess in the heartland of the country has always been different than in the major metropolitan centers of New York and Chicago. The scattered chess population and long distances involved make it more difficult and expensive for players to congregate for events. And yet it still has muddled along thanks mainly to enthusiasts like Frank. He held that chess was a sport foremost, and only secondarily a social tool. He lamented what he believed was the recent takeover of US Chess by scholastic chess enthusiasts who changed the organization’s mission to primarily focus efforts on using chess to empower people—as the new mission statement now says—and the subsequent diminishing emphasis in the past three decades upon the vigor of the traditional sport itself. He had seen the sport dwindle due to the aging player base and lack of new blood. He railed against this trend. Like many of the Fischer-boom era player/organizers who are now retiring, he thought it was anathema when top national chess politicians stated outright that “traditional sport chess is dead” and that the future of chess was in scholastics, social programs, and online play. It must have seemed to him that his long efforts to conserve the sport were being undercut in the new national paradigm, and that his work might prove futile. Surely, he believed, tournament chess itself was the main thing that badly needs more empowerment. Frank Kim Berry spent his entire chess career making things happen for traditional chess. He was dedicated to its conservation. This is worth remembering. And yet all this is really only one slice of his chess life. His twin brother Jim Berry (a former US Chess president) is perhaps the only one who could tell it in proper detail and include the many funny stories they both experienced over the years. I didn’t even mention Frank ran a chess center in Los Angeles where he was personal assistant to GM Eduard Gufeld, that he was friends with many international grandmasters and had a huge collection of autographed chess books in many languages, plus what has been described as the world’s largest collection of chess posters (from chess matches and tournaments), many in Russian. He was also a fine class A player, and once beat future GM Fabiano Caruana in a U.S. Open tournament game. Of course, the kid was only about nine years old at the time, but Frank was always happy to by Tom Braunlich add, “Still, I rolled him up like a burrito!” See more about Frank Berry in “The Stillwater Effect” on page 34.. FACES. ACROSS THE BOARD. By AL LAWRENCE. WARREN PUGH FORT MYERS, FL “Next Service 106 Miles”. Warren Pugh has hit the road to bring the benefits of chess to many people Pugh’s son Ryan (photo), killed in an auto in America’s wide open accident, has inspired spaces, even well into all Pugh’s efforts. the dusty desert villages, since 1970, his first year of teaching junior high math in Lynden, Washington. His circuit cut a wide swath—from Redding, California, north to the Canadian border, east into the Dakotas and south to rural Arizona. “It wasn’t uncommon to see road signs like, ‘Next Service 106 Miles.’ I bought three hollow chess sets, filled them with plaster of Paris and set them up on red and black boards in his first classroom. The kids played chess in that room for 30 years.” He quoted Ben Franklin to school administrators: “Chess is no idle amusement.” “We gathered enough players for three teams and traveled Washington State, often getting our amateurish noses bruised.” Retired since 2000 and in his 80s, he’s still on the road for chess.. WINSTON NI PRINCETON, NJ “I want to be very good at chess before middle school is over.”. In May, Winston tied for first at the National Amateur Championship. The entering sixthgrader gained 60 rating points to move solidly into the expert category and jump even higher on the US Chess top age 11 list. “It makes me feel great to tie with Coach Jon Edwards, whose summer chess camps I’ve been to.” Ni should feel proud. Edwards is a correspondence IM and had just qualified for the Correspondence World Championship Candidates’ matches. “I just think playing chess is fun and cool. Chess has also taught me that I need to work hard to be good.” Chess can teach a kid all kinds of useful things. Winning the U-1200 section of the Manhattan Open when he was six, he was given a check. “I was disappointed and asked, ‘Where is my trophy?’ I learned a little about how taxes works later that day.”. www.uschess.org. 13.

(21) First Moves / Chess news from around the U.S.. High School Junior Robert Fetell Creates Ratings App By JAMAAL ABDUL-ALIM. WHEN IT COMES TO GETTING INFORMATION ABOUT AN opponent’s rating—or figuring out one’s own rating after a tournament— Robert Fetell believes in two things: speed and convenience. So last fall he created Chess Ratings, a new app that enables people to look up a player’s historical rating and to calculate one’s own rating after a tournament more swiftly. Since its debut on the App Store last November, Chess Ratings had been downloaded by more than 500 users in eight different countries and counting, according to Fetell. “To date, Apple’s ‘App Analytics’ feature has yet to inform me of any technical malfunctions and the app has maintained a five-star rating,” Fetell said. For his app, Fetell, a junior Germantown Friends School, was recently selected as the winner of the second annual Congressional App Challenge for Pennsylvania’s Second District.. 14 August 2016. | Chess Life. Fetell said before his app, to look up a player’s rating history—something he believes better enables a player to assess an opponent’s strength—he’d have to go on his mobile browser, visit the US Chess website, sign in, then enter his opponent’s name. The whole process would take longer than the five minutes allotted for him to take his seat and play. “I was at the Florida State Tournament when it hit me—I could take my love of programming and use it to put match-impacting information at the fingertips of all registered players,” Fetell said. “Chess Ratings is the app I wrote, designed, and launched to accomplish this same cumbersome process in a fraction of the time.” Fetell, who learned to write code during a tech ed camp as a middle schooler, said computer science and coding is a “wonderful intersection of logic and creativity and it has certainly allowed me to mature as an intellectual. “I think it should be required in all schools and we should be investing in programs for youth around the country,” Fetell said.. PHOTO COURTESY OF SUBJECT. Robert Fetell showing his app to U.S. Representative Chaka Fattah (D-Pennsylvania).

(22) US Chess Affairs / News for our Members. Empowering people through chess one move at a time.. US CHESS. MISSION. Grandmaster of the Year. 2016. GM Fabiano Caruana (MO) Honorary Chess Mate. David Grimaud (SC) Chess Club of the Year. GM CARUANA PHOTO COURTESY OF THE CHESS CLUB AND SCHOLASTIC CENTER OF SAINT LOUIS. US Chess Awards. Sacramento Chess Club College of the Year. Oberlin College (OH) Tournament Director of the Year. Tom Langland (NCA) TD Lifetime Achievement. Distinguished Service. Walter Brown (TN), Sevan Muradian (IL) (Posthumously). Bill Goichberg (NY), Dewain Barber (SCA). Outstanding Player Achievement. Outstanding Career Achievement. Carl Dolson (IL), Riley Dan Driver (OH), Sharon Driver (OH), Larry Bell (KY), Roger Gotschall (IA) (Posthumously) Special Services. David Moody (MI), John Hilbert (NY), Dennis Monokroussos (IN), Guy Hoffman (WI), David and Sheila Heiser (IL). Jeffery Xiong (TX) Outstanding Team Performance. 2015 World Team Championship (GM Sam Shankland, GM Alex Lenderman, GM Alex Onischuk, GM Daniel Naroditsky, GM Varuzhan Akobian, Coach GM Gregory Kaidanov) Woman Chessplayer of the Year. Meritorious Services. Mike Joelson (OH), Hans Multhopp (OH), Joe Riegsecker (IN), Roger Blaine (IN). Carissa Yip (MA) Francis Slay (MO). Women’s Chess Committee Louisville, KY Koltanowski Gold - i. Dr. Jeanne Sinquefield & Rex Sinquefield (MO) Koltanowski Gold - ii. Frank P. Samford III (AL) Scholastic Service (Individual). Kevin Fite (MI) Organizer of the Year. Alex Relyea (NH) Frank J. Marshall Ambassador. The 2016 Delegates Call is available for download at uschess.org in the Governance section. The Call includes annual governance information as well as the Advance Agenda that is used at the U.S. Open Delegates Meeting. Included in this book are the Executive Board Motions for the past year, a list of Delegates, US Chess Bylaws, US Chess Committee Reports, and other information useful to US Chess members.. Special Friend of US Chess. Committee of the Year Chess City of the Year. 2016 DELEGATES CALL & ANNUAL REPORT. GM FABIANO CARUANA, THE 2016 GRANDMASTER OF THE YEAR. This year US Chess introduces a new publication, our Annual Report. This will include some items previously printed in the Delegates Call, such as the President’s Report, the Executive Director’s Report, and the Vice President of Finance Report. This book will also be available for PDF download from the Governance section of uschess.org.. GM Alex Onischuk (TX), GM Irina Krush (NY). US CHESS. VISION. Our vision is to enrich the lives of all persons and communities through increasing the play, study, and appreciation of the game of chess. www.uschess.org. 15.

(23) Chess to Enjoy / Entertainment. The Paganini Test Are today’s best players superior to the best of the past? By GM ANDY SOLTIS. SEVERAL YEARS AGO AN AUSTRALIAN psychologist, Robert W. Howard, studied the rating list of the world’s best players. He came to a remarkable conclusion: Howard found that the average age of the 50 highest-rated players had plunged from 38 to 29 over the course of a generation. His conclusion? The world is simply getting smarter. The emergence of younger super-grandmasters is “preliminary real-world evidence” that “average human intelligence really is rising,” he wrote. Now, there are a number of ways to dispute this. Among them: Chess skill isn’t the same as intelligence. Even if it were, younger grandmasters aren’t necessarily smarter grandmasters. And the youth trend ended after 1973-1995, the period Howard studied. (In recent years the average age for the top 50 has risen to about 30.) But let’s consider the narrower question— Are the best players today better than the best players of the past? Of course, they are higher rated. Magnus Carlsen’s peak rating dwarfs Bobby Fischer’s by more than 100 points. But there’s been so much inflation that ratings have lost their ability to compare players of different eras. Or even to compare the same player in different eras. For example, does it make sense that Vladimir Kramnik, Anatoly Karpov, Mikhail Tal and Tigran Petrosian played better chess many years after they lost the world championship title than when they were champions? No? But that’s what ratings tell us. In other fields, we might evaluate crossgeneration performance more objectively. Take violin playing. Some of Niccolò Paganini’s concertos were considered virtually “unplayable” when he composed them two centuries ago. Today those concertos are played. The violins haven’t improved. The violinists have.. 16 August 2016. | Chess Life. Is there a Paganini test for chess? Long ago, being able to solve difficult composed problems was considered a basic measure of chess skill. Sam Loyd, the great problemist, showed off one of his creations during the New York International tournament of 1893. He offered prizes to any of the tournament entrants who could solve this. Emanuel Lasker, who became world champion a year later, solved it in 35 minutes. Future U.S. champion Harry Pillsbury was secondbest, at 44 minutes. It’s the kind of problem that a modern grandmaster might take an hour on. Since Loyd’s time some of the world’s strongest players have collected favorite positions that they’ve used to test members of the younger generation. Here’s one from a game won by Georgi Ilivitsky of Russia.. 15 minutes. Another player, a master, spent 80 minutes—then gave up. How long would it take Magnus Carlsen? How long would it take you? (Solution on page 71.) Spassky had his own favorite position. It’s a study he was shown by a veteran grandmaster, Igor Bondarevsky.. ILIVITSKY POSITION. WHITE TO PLAY AND WIN. BONDAREVSKY POSITION. At first it seems simple—1. Kf5 Ke3 2. Ke5 and 3. Kd5 must win. For example 2. ... Kd3 3. Kd5 Kc3 4. Kc5 and 5. a4 and White queens. But Black has the superior defense 2. ... c6! (so that 3. Kd6 Kd4 4. Kxc6 Kc4 5. a4 Kb4 catches the a-pawn). Spassky studied the board. After 20 minutes he looked up and said, “Queen g2.”. BLACK TO PLAY. Ilivitsky is forgotten today but at his peak, in the mid-1950s, he was among the world’s 30 best players. He had a remarkable eye for spotting hidden resources, as in this position. Ilivitsky was so proud of what he found that for years afterwards he would show this position to younger masters to see how long it took them to figure out the best line of play. Boris Spassky and Bent Larsen found it the fastest, in six minutes. It took Leonid Shamkovich. Bondarevsky knew Spassky had aced it. In the key variation, White wins with the surpris-.

(24) Chess to Enjoy / Entertainment. Blunderful Part of the fun of watching blitz tournaments online is that computer analysis points out how many blunders the players made. This year’s Ultimate Blitz Challenge had plenty of double-question-mark moves to entertain the fans. The blunders created some of the diagrams in this month’s quiz. In each position you are asked to find the fastest winning line of play. This will usually mean the forced win of a decisive amount of material, such as a rook or minor piece. Solutions on page 71.. ing Qg2!. That was enough for Bondarevsky, who agreed to become Spassky’s trainer in his quest for the world championship. Like Ilivitsky, Spassky was so proud of this that for years afterwards he would see if his colleagues could solve it. He showed it to Bobby Fischer—or “Shifer” as he liked to call him. Bobby was stumped. But the next day he phoned Spassky. He whispered, “Queen g2” and hung up. (See page 71 for the solution). That was composed by Nikolai Grigoriev. Curiously, Shamkovich had his own version of a Paganini test and it was another study composed by Grigoriev.. PROBLEM I GM Wesley So GM Fabiano Caruana. PROBLEM II GM Wesley So GM Hikaru Nakamura. PROBLEM III GM Wesley So GM Garry Kasparov. WHITE TO PLAY. BLACK TO PLAY. WHITE TO PLAY. PROBLEM IV GM Fabiano Caruana GM Hikaru Nakamura. PROBLEM V GM Fabiano Caruana GM Hikaru Nakamura. PROBLEM VI GM Wesley So GM Garry Kasparov. BLACK TO PLAY. WHITE TO PLAY. WHITE TO PLAY. away to stop the pawn from queening. So he has to rely on knight moves. But it’s hard because the knight is easily stopped. For example, 1. Nc3? h5 2. Nd5+ Kf3!. That’s a key principle in knight endgames: A king is often best placed two diagonal squares away from an enemy knight. In this case, Black promotes (3. Nc7 h4 4. Ne6 Kg4).. since he had no set handy. Kasparov hit on the right idea quickly: White’s knight has to reach key kingside squares. Those squares are f1, h2 and g4. For instance, 1. Nb4! h5 2. Nc6! so that 2. ... h4 3. Ne5! h3 4. Ng4+. It’s a draw after 4. ... Kf3 5. Nh2+ Kg3 6. Nf1+ Kg2 7. Ne3+ Kf2 8. Ng4+ etc. But, like Spassky’s favorite position, there’s a better defense at move two—2. ... Ke4!.. GRIGORIEV POSITION. WHITE TO PLAY AND DRAW. This seems either very easy or very hard. It looks easy because the white king is too far. Even former world champions were left shaking their head when Shamkovich showed this to them. Tigran Petrosian gave up quickly. Vasily Smyslov stopped trying after 10 minutes. Then one day Shamkovich set the position up for Fischer. Fischer came up with the solution in about three minutes. Shamkovich concluded he was “a genius.” But not the only one. Years later, Shamkovich gave Garry Kasparov the position—verbally,. Grandmasters can get this far—and give up. But Kasparov solved the study in two minutes. “Then I understood he was a greater genius than Fischer—by one minute,” Shamkovich said. (Solution on page 71.) Next month: “Chess to Enjoy” examines why Chess Life survived its first year as a publication. www.uschess.org. 17.

(25) Back to Basics / Reader annotations. Preparing for the Dubious Second Move From Wimpy Beginning to Violent Finale By GM LEV ALBURT. PAUL BETJEMAN PLAYS BOTH SIDES OF the King’s Gambit. Despite its long history, writes Paul, “you are liable to splay away from ‘theory’ starting at move two” (my further comments are in italics.). Yes!! (And more consistent with King’s Gambit play). 3. ... d5. Strong and initiative-grabbing. Correct.. KING’S GAMBIT DECLINED (C30). 4. d3. Paul Betjeman (1310) Alexander Mejia (1022) 104TH Nassau Grand Prix (1), Mineola, New York, 3/14/16. Another wimpy defense-oriented move which is quickly demolished by my opponent. I don’t see any equalizing defense here.. 1. e4 e5 2. f4 Nc6!?. 4. ... dxe4. 7. Be2. An inaccuracy. After 7. Nf3 (or 7. Kc2) the game is almost even. 7. ... Rd8+. I was expecting 7. … 0-0-0+, but that was his business, not mine. Yes: 7. ... 0-0-0+!, soon connecting rooks. 8. Kc2 Nf6 9. Bxg4 Nxg4. I’d prefer 4. ... Nf6, as the endgame favors Black only slightly. 5. dxe4. 5. Qc2 might have been better, but Black’s 5. ... Qh4 looms. I think 5. Qc2 simply gives up a pawn. The ending after 5. dxe4 is relatively better. 5. ... Qxd1+. So this “King’s Gambit” is not one any more, and my position is poor. More common, and a better way to reject the gambit, is 2. ... Bc5 ready to meet 3. Nf3 with 3. ... d6 (still, White is a bit better here). My candidate for a second-move surprise: the surprisingly decent 2. ... Qh4+ 3. g3 Qe7 (see Encyclopedia of Chess Openings). This move gives me trouble—I have encountered it in three recent games (not always on move two) always by opponents aged under 20. It is not in Nunn’s Chess Openings (my go-to opening-look-up book)–but simply saying “so it must be wrong” does not solve the issue of what to do about it. True–but you, Paul, finally solved the issue: Just look at your own comment after 3. c3. 3. c3. A “scaredy-cat” move. The only intention is to stop Black playing … Nd4 in the opening; not appropriate thinking at all. What is the best reply? 3. Nf3 must be better.. 18 August 2016. | Chess Life. 6. Kxd1. Exchanging is desirable for me here. 10. Nh3. I took a long think here, trying to minimize damage and get a better position. I’d prefer 10. Nf3. The knight on h3 blocks the hpawn and ties a rook to its defense. 10. ... Bc5. Black has a big advantage. 11. fxe5. 6. ... Bg4+. White’s lost the right to castle—but there are no queens on board any more, and the white king shall feel quite safe on c2. To get even a small edge, Black must play here very precisely, and creatively: e.g., 6. ... Nf6!?, keeping the g4-square accessible for a while to both bishop and knight.. I realized this enabled the further advance of his knight on c6 but I did it anyway. My fpawn was now of little use where it was and my isolated e-pawn became a key anchor in my eventual gaining of some initiative. (An old-man’s “instinct”? I certainly wasn’t “calculating” far ahead, which I have never been much good at that anyway.) 11. ... Ncxe5 12. Kb3.

(26) Back to Basics / Reader annotations 19. a4. Another long think—the black knight could no longer go to a5 with a check and avoiding knight forks was at the forefront of my attention at this stage of this game. Relatively better was the “normal” 12. Bf4 or even 12. b4!?. And note how much better would be Black’s position if his king were on c8 (see comments to 7. ... Rd8+).. price he would pay if he took it! 19. ... a6?. This lets me in. 20. axb5+ axb5 21. Ra6+ Kb7 22. Ra5. Black must play 26. ... b4, albeit White, with accurate play (27. b3!) should win anyway. (Ed. note: Even stronger is 27. cxb4+). 27. b4 mate.. I wrote “good recovery” in my score book. It is unusual I think to have a mating net like this in the center of the board with absolutely even material in the late middle game when there are no queens on the board. Both players performed well—well above their ratings! And there is a lot to learn from errors they made in placid-looking but rich in tactics positions of this game, starting with Black’s second, and White’s third, move.. 12. ... Ne3. Stronger was the developing 12. ... 0-0. 13. Nf4. Get that knight out into play and use the epawn as an anchor for it. 13. ... b5. This seemed to give me a bit of breathing space.. 26. ... Rxe4. 22 ... Kc6 23. Na3. 14. Bxe3 Bxe3 15. Nd5. The knight finally “develops” to its immediate death. 23. ... Bxa3 24. Rxa3 Nc4. US Chess members can read archival issues of Chess Life at uschess.org by clicking on the current issue’s cover then clicking on “Archives” in the left menu.. Send in your games! If you are unrated or rated 1799 or below, then GM Lev Alburt invites you to send your most instructive game with notes to: Back to Basics, c/o Chess Life PO Box 3967 Crossville, TN 38557-3967. Now things are finally starting to look more promising.. Or e-mail your material to [email protected]. 15. ... Bc5. Better would have been 15. ... Bb6, but perhaps he didn’t want more piece exchanges.. 25. Ra6+. 16. Nxc7+ Kd7 17. Nd5. 25. ... Kc5. I looked at 17. Nxb5, but the rook pin and then a6 could not be countered. Well, 17. Nxb5 Rb8 18. Ka4 indeed does look too risky for White.. For Black, 25. ... Kb7 26. Rda1, is a lesser of two evils, while 25. ... Kc5? put the black king into the most dangerous spot.. 17. ... Rhe8 18. Rd1. Finally, I am getting some traction. 18. ... Kc6. Much movement by both kings in this middlegame.. Here 25. Ra7 was even stronger.. 26. Ka2 (see diagram top of next column). A long think for that one—immunity from check by the black knight was a key factor, and letting go of my brave e-pawn was the price. Although I was aware of the check, I saw the. GM Alburt will select the “most instructive” game and Chess Life will award an autographed copy of Lev’s newest book, Platonov’s Chess Academy (by Lev Alburt and Sam Palatnik) to the person submitting the most instructive game and annotations. Make sure your game (or part of it) and your notes will be of interest to other readers. Writing skills are a plus, but instructiveness is a must! Do not send games with only a few notes, as they are of little instructive value and can’t be used. www.ChessWithLev.com. www.uschess.org. 19.

(27) Cover Story / IM Nazi Paikidze. CHESS GYM EAT SLEEP REPEAT Getting to know the new U.S. Women’s Champion IM Nazi Paikidze Text and Photos by JIM DOYLE Annotations by IM NAZI PAIKIDZE. C. HESS, GYM, EAT, SLEEP, REPEAT. This is the daily routine that IM Nazi Paikidze, the new U.S. women’s chess champion (and the first one not to be named GM Irina Krush or IM Anna Zatonskih in a decade), follows and credits with giving her the necessary energy at the end of the tournament and especially in her final, thrilling game on April 13th against Irina Krush, the seventime former U.S. women’s champion (see July Chess Life). By the end of the tournament, when other players were showing signs of fatigue, Paikidze said that she had lots of energy. Both she and her husband Greg Barnes believe in the importance of fitness and nutrition in order to achieve and maintain “healthy, sustainable living.” Paikidze believes that staying in top physical condition is paramount to top performance in chess and said that even Bobby Fischer felt the. same way. “Your body has to be in top condition. Your chess deteriorates as your body does. You can’t separate body from mind.” Fischer is quoted as saying. Helping more girls get into chess is also a special interest of Paikidze’s. “I will do everything I can ... to help more girls get into chess,” she said. “Chess was part of the curriculum in my school and I played with my classmates from when I was about six.” “How do you get more girls interested in chess?” I asked. “It would probably be a great idea if in the United States, they had more tournaments just for girls,” answers Ms. Paikidze. “It’s not easy for little girls to play with hundreds of guys. That’s how I was playing. I just didn’t have any girlfriends there and I couldn't make any friends.” Recently, I had an opportunity to put a series of questions via e-mail to Paikidze about her. background, current and future plans, the origins of her name, and preparing for and reflections upon the U.S. Women’s Championship tournament. TELL CHESS LIFE ABOUT YOUR BACKGROUND.. I was born in Siberia, Russia in 1993. My family moved to Tbilisi, Georgia when I was five years old. That’s when I went to elementary school in Tbilisi. Luckily for me, chess was a part of my curriculum. I already knew how to play chess, my dad taught me when I was four. Out of all of my classes, I enjoyed chess the most. Before long, my chess teacher noticed my talent and advised my parents to consider chess as a profession for me. At the age of six, I started working with my first professional chess coach. Within three years, I improved vastly and won my first international tourna-. On right: IM Nazi Paikidze visiting with members of the Chess Girls DC club. 20 August 2016. | Chess Life.

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(29) Cover Story / IM Nazi Paikidze. ment (the European Youth Chess Championship U10 Girls) in 2003. After that tournament, I earned the title of FIDE master and my career in chess took off at the speed of light. In the following years I won five gold medals, four silver, and three bronze at European and World Youth (different age groups: U10, U12, U14, U16) and Junior Championships. In 2006, my family moved back to Russia, this time to Moscow. I started training with amazing Russian chess coaches and I became a woman grandmaster in 2010, then an international master in 2012. I proceeded to win many tournaments, including the big Moscow Open (Women’s section), and the Russian Women’s Premier League. At the age of 16, my peak rating of 2455 was 35th in the world of the top FIDE-rated women. In 2012, I was offered several chess scholarships from different universities in the United States. I had to make a difficult decision: if I wanted to get a college education, I knew I had to put my chess career on hold. After a lot of thinking, I chose to broaden my horizons and accepted a chess scholarship from the University of Baltimore, Maryland County (UMBC). UMBC was already famous for having the nation’s best collegiate chess team. I was happy to join the team in the fall of 2012. I studied information systems and also represented the UMBC chess team during several Pan-American championships. UMBC changed my life forever, because that’s where I met my husband Gregory Barnes. Greg is a big chess enthusiast, and he helped me realize how much I had missed the professional chess world. I switched my chess federation (from GEO) and started representing the USA at the end of 2014. Luckily, I had a high enough rating to get invited to the prestigious U.S. Women’s Chess Championship in 2015. I had very little to no time for preparation, as I was still a full-time student at UMBC. But somehow, I finished second, undefeated, and won the best game prize for beating GM Irina Krush. This result motivated me to start working on chess professionally again. WHAT ARE YOUR CURRENT PLANS?. Since winning the 2016 U.S. Women’s Chess Championship my life has remarkably changed. Now I am a true ambassador of women’s chess in the U.S. and I do everything in my power to promote chess among young girls. As a girl growing up, I was a huge minority in the chess world. I was often one of the only girls competing and because of that, chess felt like a “men’s game.” I even considered leaving chess. Chess has improved since my childhood, but it is still largely a male-dominated sport. I will continue working to help encourage girls to. 22 August 2016. | Chess Life. get involved in chess and more generally, pursue their dreams. Recently, I visited Chess Girls DC, a wonderful chess club for young girls. In addition to this inspiration, my daily life has changed. The number of students whom I teach online has grown dramatically after earning the new women’s champion title. I try to balance teaching, promoting, and of course studying chess on a daily basis. I am currently preparing for the upcoming Chess Olympiad. “I will do everything I can to help more girls get into chess” which is going to be in Baku, Azerbaijan (September 1-14) and I am very excited to be representing the USA women’s chess team. My husband and I are relocating to Las Vegas, Nevada at the end of the summer. We never really liked living in Maryland and my husband’s availability to work remotely allows us to move to our favorite city. I plan to remain a professional chess player. My goals include: defending my title as the U.S. women’s champion, continuing to improve my game, and hopefully becoming a grandmaster. It is difficult in the United States, as there are not many tournaments in which grandmaster norms are possible. CAN YOU TELL ME ABOUT THE ORIGINS OF YOUR NAME?. “Nazi”—is a Georgian name and word that translates to “delicate” or “tender.” It is beautiful, and a first name seen often in Georgia. My parents only speak Georgian and Russian; they had no idea what the spelling of my name meant in some other languages. It is pronounced as “nah-zee”—the spelling could be changed to Nazie or Nazy. I have considered legally changing my name (especially after moving to the USA), but it requires a lot of documentation changes and is not a simple task. I am still a Russian citizen and would have to go back to Russia to request the name change. After all, my name is pronounced differently than the word “Nazi” and I was named after my beloved grandmother. I would like to keep my name, but due to persistent unpleasant comments, I may decide to change it one day. HOW DID YOU PREPARE FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP?. In the last year, I have been making a lot of changes in my life. Starting with diet, I became a pescetarian (a person who abstains from all. meat except fish and other kinds of seafood) and completely cut out all junk food. I have been learning a lot about nutrition and I have been very strict about healthy eating. I also started to work on my physical abilities, because I firmly believe in a mind and body connection —“Healthy body, Healthy mind.” Or as Bobby Fischer said: “You can’t separate body from mind.” I train at the gym five to seven times a week, combining cardio and weight-training exercises. I firmly believe my physical conditioning contributed to winning the Championship. It showed towards the end of the tournament. When most of the players’ play was compromised due to fatigue, I was energetic and playing with full strength. Chess-wise, my preparation wasn’t excellent. I haven’t had a coach in over five years and decided to keep it that way, work on improving my skills on my own. For the months preceding the tournament, I worked on chess an average of four hours a day, including: preparing openings, reading chess books, improving my tactical vision, and working on my endgame techniques. This combination of training mind (chess) and body (healthy nutrition plus fitness) paid off at the tournament. DO YOU HAVE ANY OTHER REFLECTIONS REGARDING THE CHAMPIONSHIP?. The Women’s Championship field this year was the strongest one in history. We had strong and experienced players mixed with the most promising junior players in the country. Every game was very challenging. Despite playing very well, it didn’t look like I was going to win the title until the end of the last round. My friend FM Tatev Abrahamyan was having a wonderful tournament, leading throughout the event. Luck also seemed to be on her side until the last round. During that decisive last round, it was difficult to contain my emotions. The stakes were high and there was tremendous pressure, but I succeeded. I am incredibly happy to say, I defeated the seven-time U.S. Women’s Champion GM Irina Krush, with the black pieces, and became the new U.S. women’s chess champion. I would like to thank the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis for everything they have done for the game and players. As always, they organize the U.S. and U.S. women’s championships on a very high level, provide great conditions and accommodations for the players, and have an amazing broadcast of the event with live commentating. They have created an amazing chess atmosphere in St. Louis—I feel like it has become my second home. I cannot wait to return in 2017. We invited Nazi Paikidze to send us her favorite games from her career. See also her “My Best Move” on page 72..

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