NorCal Top 20 Women

Some top women are just girls. Here 10 y/o Rui Yan (white) faces California newcomer
11 y/o Rochelle Wu at the 2017 People's Tournament. Credit: Bay Area Chess

USCF Rating List
July 2017

1. WIM Eswaran, Ashritha 2231
2. WFM Byambaa, Uyanga (MGL) 2232
3. NM Tsodikova, Natalya 2202
4. WFM Tsegmed Munkhchuluun (MGL) 2132
5. Saikhanchimeg Tsogtsaikhan (MGL) 2128
6. WCM Wu, Rochelle 2082
7. Yan, Rui Yang 1970
8. Liu, Kimberly 1941
9. WIM Haring, Ruth 1938
10. Li, Sophia 1881
11. Chatterjee, Trina 1860
12. WCM Garai, Antara 1854
13. Goodkind, Lauren 1849
14. Ravindran, Ashwini (IND) 1849
15. Nayberg, Simona 1840
16. Hasteer, Divija 1810
17. WCM Eswaran, Aksithi 1801
18. Show, Serafina 1796
19. Goodkind, Barbara 1795
20. Meiyappan, Annapoorni 1760

http://www.fpawn.com/NorCalTopAdults.pdf

People's Open in Berkeley

Top boards in 3-day schedule, from left to right: GM Parimarjan Negi (W),
GM Nick DeFirmian (B), FM Cameron Wheeler (W) and IM Kesav Viswanadha (B).

The 41st Annual People's Tournament returned to its traditional roots on the campus of the University of California at Berkeley.  Due to the lack of a suitable venue in Berkeley, this event was held at Santa Clara in recent years.  This year, chess came home to The Faculty Club on campus.

• Final Standings  Congratulations to GM Negi for going 5-0!

• Photo Album on Facebook 
• Photos by Shorman on ChessDryad

• Top players:
  • GM Parimarjan Negi, GM Cristian Chirila
  • IM Kesav Viswanadha, IM Ricardo DeGuzman, IM Elliott Winslow
  • FM Cameron Wheeler, SM Arun Sharma, FM Andy Lee
• 169 total participants 

40th People's Tournament

The people are playing chess!  Credit: Chessdryad

Campanile

The 40th annual People's Tournament took place at the Santa Clara Convention Center on the last weekend of July.  One of the Bay Area's oldest chess traditions, this event has survived changes in organizer and location in recent years.  My first People's dates back to 1995, when I was still a naive B player.  Every President's Day weekend, chess players young and old would meet at UC Berkeley for three days of mental gymnastics and listening to bongo drums.  The traditional venue, Pauley ballroom, offered a spectacular view of historic Sproul Plaza and the Campanile.  The tournament shares its name with People's Park, a nearby public park dating back to the protests of the 1960s.

Unfortunately, the chess community could not secure this breathtaking venue once student leaders moved on.  I won a hastily organized People's Replacement event of 2008 in Santa Clara.  The 35th edition in 2009 was the last at Pauley.  Subsequent years saw the tourney take on a nomadic existence under the auspices of Bay Area Chess, moving to Concord, Fremont, Pleasanton and finally to Santa Clara.  The dates also changed from February to July, avoiding a conflict with the popular Amateur Team West national championship.

This historical perspective brings us to the 2014 People's Tournament at the Santa Clara Convention Center. Roughly 175 chess enthusiasts and (for many) their parents participated in a weekend of mental gymnastics, minus the bongo drums.  The drummers were replaced by 30,000 fanatic 49ers season ticket holders attending the open house at brand new Levi's Stadium.  I cannot name any other chess tournaments held across the street from a major sports stadium!  The venue also lies adjacent to the Great America water park, which offers an evening fireworks show to complement the explosive tactics on the chess boards.

Top boards in final round. Credit: Chessdryad

Believe it or not, some people even played chess!  The top seeds, GM-elect Darwin Yang and IM Andrey Gorovets, travelled all the way from Texas.  Both finished in the money, but were surpassed in the final standings by a third Texan, SM Faik Aleskerov.  (Participants at master camps during July should recognize their coaches Andrey or Faik.)  A pair of California IMs, John Bryant and Vladimir Mezentsev, joined the 4-way tie for second behind Aleskerov.  The Bay Area youth attended in full force, with no fewer than ten players under 18 (mostly teenagers) and rated in the 2100s.  Amazingly, most of these talented experts gained rating points--at the cost of everyone else!  A special recognition goes to 10 year old Josiah Stearman, who shared top U2300 honors by vanguishing two tough emeritus NMs on the third day.

Major Prize Winners

• Open: 1st = F.Aleskerov ; 2nd-5th = D.Yang, A.Gorovets, J.Bryant and V.Mezentsev ; U2300 = M.Aigner, J.Stearman
• U2000: Yuan Wang
• U1800: Seaver Dahlgren
• U1600: Sunny Kahlon
• U1400: Shawn Knapp, Sudha Kowtha

USCF Rating Report

Aigner versus Sevillano in Round 6. Credit: my father

I turned in a successful result with an undefeated 4.0 out of 6 score.  This was my first performance above 2400 in more than six years, ironically since People's Replacement in 2008!  Actually, almost everything started badly, when I miscalculated a strong combination in Round 1 and could have resigned by move 25. Somehow, the high school student missed several tactics and traded into a drawn pawn endgame, which I botched three times (!) until he offered me a draw!?!?  I felt awful about my play, yet fortunate to have a half point.  I managed to recover and win two of the next three games, all against mid-expert level opponents. On the third day, I faced IM Andrey Gorovets and GM Enrico Sevillano, both rated over 2550, and earned two fighting draws.

Read full annotation of the Gorovets game on my website.

Thanks to Bay Area Chess for rescuing a tradition and to NM Richard Koepcke for capably directing over three long days, despite occasional periods of chaos.  

36th Annual People's Tournament in Concord

A change in venue. The old: Sather Tower in Berkeley at left. The new: Mount Diablo near Concord at right.





Some participants will miss the drums. More than a few others will not. For most of its 35 year existence, the People's Chess Tournament was held at Sproul Plaza on the campus of the University of California at Berkeley. Love 'em or hate 'em, the drummers were always a part of the annual President's Day weekend tournament.

A sad sign of the times, state budget cuts, rising rental fees and lack of insider support forced organizer Richard Koepcke to find another venue. He teamed up with BayAreaChess.com founder Salman Azhar to move the event to the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Concord (1/2 mile north of the Concord Hilton where last month's Golden State Open was held). The weekend simply won't be the same, although the board game being played remains unchanged.

The entry fee has increased due to the rental cost at the hotel. The days of cheap tournaments seem to be history because few organizers can find a free or cheap playing site. Big sigh!! The nonprofit Mechanics' Institute remains the biggest exception. New this year are 3-day and 2-day schedules, plus an experimental dual entry fee structure: players may pay the full entry fee to win full prizes, or pay 2/3 of the entry, but only be eligible for half of the advertised prizes. So far, about 1/3 of the entrants have chosen the "economy" fee. (If you're a junior playing up a section for the experience, then it makes sense to pay the economy fee.)

• Event: 36th People's Tournament
• Date: February 13-15
  
• Location: Crowne Plaza Hotel in Concord (map link)
  
• Format: 6 rounds in 6 sections (Open, U2100, U1900, U1700, U1500, U1300).
• 3-day schedule: Reg: Sat 10-11. Rds: Sat 11:30, 5; Sun 11:30, 5; Mon 10, 3:30.
• 2-day schedule: Reg: Sun 9-9:45, Rds: Sun 10, 12:15, 2:30, 5; Mon 10, 3:30.
  
• Time control: 30/90, G/60 (rounds 1-3 of 2-day schedule at G/60)
  
• Entry fee: Regular $99/98 or Economy $69/68. Play up for $20. Add $25 after 2/11.
  
• Prize fund: $7,001 based on 129 paid entries. $1000 (guaranteed) top prize in Open and $500 in each of the lower sections. Economy players win 1/2 prize.
• Tournament Flyer
• Online Registration
  
• Advance Entries (89 players as of 2/11)

I will be there and look forward to seeing many of my students as well! Hopefully I have some free time between rounds (or before 11:30 on Sunday morning) to go over games.

Trivia question: Who won the People's the last time it was not held at UC Berkeley?

I'm baaaaaaaack

Many of my readers have wondered what happened to this blog. Five weeks have passed since my last post. Did I give up blogging? Did I quit chess? Is something else seriously wrong?

Fortunately, I can assure everyone that rumors of my demise are greatly exaggerated. Yes, I was sick for a while with nagging cold/flu symptoms. I also felt sad and burned out and wanted a little time simply to "chill" and recharge my mental batteries.

As the recent photo by Richard Shorman of ChessDryad at left proves, my enthusiasm for chess has not waned. I maintain a busy weekly teaching schedule with only occasional interruptions. Despite heavy rain on President's Day weekend, I joined 11 students and about 90 other chess enthusiasts at the People's Tournament in Berkeley. IM David Pruess beat me and won the Open section ahead of five other masters. Kudos to National 5th Grade Champion Kyle Shin for winning the U2200 section and to Saratoga High School senior Jeff Young for finally earning the rank of Expert! During February and March, I also participate in the annual Sacramento Chess Club Team Championship; unfortunately, neither my team (Elk Grove) nor I have played terribly well so far.

In other CalChess news, Samyukta Bhat (see photo at right) scored an undefeated 4.0/5 to take clear first for K-12 at the CalChess Girl's Championship, thereby earning our state's qualifying spot in this year's Susan Polgar National Invitational for Girls in Lubbock, Texas on July 26-31. Rebekah Liu plans to attend the same invitational after winning the high school section of the Susan Polgar National Open in Glendale, AZ. Goooo girls!

I will try to catch up with some stories over the next week. Please check back soon!

16 Students Played in Santa Clara!

(Does this kid look happy? He should be! 10-year old Yian Liou just defeated FM Eric Schiller in 23 moves with black. Photo from ChessDryad.)

As a final note to the People’s Replacement, it was a pleasure to see 16 of my students at the tournament. I really wish I had more time to socialize or go over games, but I played in the longest game in both of the morning rounds. Every one of my own four contests went at least 3.5 hours and 55 moves. In past People’s Tournaments in Berkeley, I have taken one half-point bye to spend time reviewing games, but that was not so convenient in this year's event with only four rounds.

Congratulations to my students who won prize money or had other success. Danya shared 2nd place in the Master/Expert section, including a draw against IM Ricardo DeGuzman. Yian also started out well, beating FM Eric Schiller in round 1 with black. James shared 3rd place in Class A with a decent result, ahead of three other students who finished at 50%. And last but not least, mad props to Chris for sharing first place in Class B with a very impressive 3.5/4! Chris also gained the most rating points, jumping from 1659 to 1699 (+40).

FM Schiller, Eric (2200) vs Liou, Yian (1900)
1. d4 f5 2. Qd3 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. f3 Nc6 5. a3 g6 6. Bf4 a6 7. O-O-O Bg7 8. Be5 O-O 9. h4 e6 10. g4 fxg4 11. h5 Nxe5 12. dxe5 Nxh5 13. fxg4 Qg5+ 14. Kb1 Qxg4 15. Nf3 Qf5 16. Qd4 b6 17. Bh3 Qf4 18. Qd3 Ng3 19. Nd4 Nxh1 20. Nxe6 Bxe6 21. Bxe6+ Kh8 22. Rxh1 Rae8 23. Qxg6 Qf1+ 0-1

To replay this game, click on the link to Chess Publisher.

I added Danya, Yian and Chris to the Student Achievements page on my website. You can find Chris under Adult Tournament Successes while Danya and Yian are listed under Master Scalps.

People's Replacement Tournament in Santa Clara

(Photo of time scramble at the end of round 1 game Alan Naroditsky vs Michael Aigner. Thanks to Mark Shelton of ChessDryad.)

The annual People’s Chess Tournament in February is one of the oldest traditions of Northern California chess. Its history dates back to the topsy-turvy era of free speech and free love in Berkeley around the early 1970s. Normally the tournament takes place in magnificent Pauley Ballroom looking out at Sproul Plaza and the Campanile (Sather Tower) on the campus of UC Berkeley. The spirit of the counterculture remains alive today, symbolized by the incessant noise generated by the bongo drummers that spend each afternoon in the plaza.

Unfortunately, a scheduling snafu robbed us chess players of this tradition in 2008, for the second time in three years. When it appeared there would be no People’s Tournament at all, South Bay organizer Salman Azhar stepped up to the plate despite only three week’s notice. The People’s Replacement Tournament was definitely not the Real Thing, but it would have to suffice. The event was moved 50 miles south to the library of Granada School in Santa Clara. Only four rounds were played over two days, instead of the usual three-day schedule. And at least one veteran player complained about the lack of drums. On the bright side, the new venue allowed easy freeway access and plenty of free parking.

About 80 players showed up for the 1200+ sections while another 40 kids played in the one-day side event restricted to players rated under 1200. These attendance figures allowed Dr. Azhar to increase the advertised prize fund slightly to $2500, a respectable 71% of last year’s payout in Berkeley despite having 45 fewer players. Players competed in four sections: Master/Expert, Class A, Class B and Class C/D. In an era of G/30, G/45 and G/60 tournaments, the People’s time control was slow enough for classical chess: 30/90, G/60. In fact, some parents remarked how pleased they were to see their kids actually take their time to think while playing chess!

The top section featured local IM Ricardo DeGuzman as the top seed, followed by two FMs and two NMs. Upsets began rolling in as early as the first round: fifth grader Yian Liou (1900) crushed FM Eric Schiller’s anti-Dutch system within 20 moves but high school student NM Sam Shankland could only draw against extensive opening preparation by adult expert Brendan Purcell (2023). In the third round, reigning world U12 champion FM Danya Naroditsky calmly held DeGuzman to a draw. These results left this reporter as the only player with a perfect 3-0 score going into the final round, with DeGuzman, Shankland and Naroditsky tied for second at 2.5 each.

That set up my critical round 4 pairing with IM DeGuzman. We played many times before, with DeGuzman scoring a lopsided 23.5/27 = 87%. I had never won, achieving just seven draws despite several completely winning positions. Our typical game saw DeGuzman overcoming an opening disadvantage through his creative and aggressive middle and endgame play.

Aigner, Michael (2242) vs IM DeGuzman, Ricardo (2457)
1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. d3 e6 6. Be3 Nd4 7. Nce2 Ne7 8. c3 Nxe2 9. Nxe2 d6 10. d4 cxd4 11. Bxd4 e5 12. Be3 O-O 13. Qd3 Qc7 14. Rd1 Rd8 15. c4 Be6 16. b3 Qa5+ 17. Qd2 Qc7 18. O-O a6 19. Nc3 Qa5 20. Nd5 Qxd2 21. Nxe7+ Kf8 22. Nxg6+ hxg6 23. Rxd2 b5 24. c5 dxc5 25. Bxc5+ Ke8 26. Rxd8+ Rxd8 27. Be3 Bf8 28. h4 Ba3 29. Kh2 Rc8 30. Rd1 Rc2 31. Rd2 Rc8 32. Re2 Bc1 33. Bb6 Rc6 34. Ba7 f6 35. Bh3 Bf7 36. Kg2 a5 37. Bg4 a4 38. bxa4 bxa4 39. Re1 Bxa2 40. Be2 Rc3 41. Bb5+ Kf7 42. Bxa4 Be6 43. Be3 Bxe3 44. Rxe3 Rxe3 45. fxe3 Bg4 46. Bb3+ Ke7 47. Kf2 Kf8 48. Ke1 Bf3 49. Bc2 Ke7 50. Kf2 Bg4 51. Bd3 Kf8 52. Be2 Bd7 53. Ke1 Bc6 54. Bd3 Kg7 55. g4 Kh6 56. Kd2 Bb7 57. Kc3 Bc8 58. Be2 Bb7 59. Bf3 Kg7 60. Kc4 f5 61. g5 Kf7 62. Kd3 Ba6+ 63. Kd2 Bb7 64. Ke2 fxe4 65. Bg4 Bd5 66. Bc8 Ke7 67. Kf2 Bb3 68. Bb7 Bc2 69. Ke2 Ke6 70. Kd2 Bb1 71. Kc3 Bd3 72. Bc6 Ke7 73. Kb4 Bb1 74. Kc5 Ba2 75. Bxe4 Bf7 76. Bd5 Be8 77. Bg8 Ba4 78. Bc4 Bd7 79. Bd3 1-0

To replay this game, click on the link to Chess Publisher.

The game in Santa Clara was no different; I achieved a huge opening advantage from the white side of the Maroczy bind. The veteran IM meekly lost a pawn with 19… Qa5 allowing the thematic tactic 20.Nd5, but the game had just begun. Surely a clear pawn up should be enough to win. However, after two inaccuracies (I should have played 32.Bh3 instead of Re2 and 34.Ba5 instead of Ba7), history was well on its way to repeat. Was this the DeGuzman Curse?

Fortunately, history would not repeat itself. Known for impeccable play in the late middlegame and endgames, the sly magician blundered with the greedy 39… Bxa2 when the pawn push a3 would have sufficed for an advantage. The brilliant retreat 40.Be2 threatens three black targets on the a5-e8 diagonal and, from this point forth, black was in trouble. The bishop of same color endgame up a pawn that resulted from further trades on moves 44 and 45 was merely a matter of technique despite white’s doubled pawns. After nearly seven years since our first meeting, the monkey is off my back!

Approximately a quarter of the players in the tournament won a part of the prize fund. Much has been said about the rise of scholastic chess in our area, with many adults dropping out simply because they no longer can keep up with the tactical skill of underrated kids. In fact, the three players who tied for second place in the Master/Expert section were age 12, 14 and 16. But there is still a glimmer of hope for the older generation: the Class A and Class C winners were all adults! Hopefully this success by George Mandrusov, Harold Parker and Kenneth Voss can inspire players at their age not to quit but rather to keep fighting on.

List of Winners
Master: 1st NM Michael Aigner; 2nd NM Sam Shankland and FM Danya Naroditsky
Expert: Rohan Agarwal
Class A: George Mandrusov
Class B: Kartik Chillakanti and Chris Tsai
Class C: Harold Parker and Kenneth Voss
Class D: Muhammed Mohideen
U1200: Daniel Liu, Stephen Leung and Rahul Swaminathan
U900: Linus Wang and Malik Khalil
U500: Muzammil Khan

Results: http://www.bayareachess.com/results/peoplerepl08.php
1200+ rated: http://www.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?200802179421.0
U1200 rated: http://www.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?200802179361.0
Saturday photos: http://www.chessdryad.com/photos/santaclara/peoples/index.htm
Sunday photos: http://www.chessdryad.com/photos/santaclara/peoples_02/index.htm