BCCF E-MAIL BULLETIN #55
 
 
To subscribe, send me an e-mail (swright2@telus.net) or sign up via the BCCF (www.chess.bc.ca) or BCCS webpages (www.chessbc.ca); if you no longer wish to receive this Bulletin, just let me know.

Stephen Wright

[Back issues of the Bulletin are available on the above webpages.]
 

VANCOUVER GRAND PRIX #1
 
The first event of this year's Vancouver Grand Prix attracted a total of twenty-nine players to the Vancouver Bridge Centre on September 19.  In the Open Section (open to adults as well as juniors), Fanhao Meng and Valentina Goutor tied for first with 3/3, while Michael Yip came third.  The U1800 prizes were split between Louie Jiang, Andrei Botez, and Ivan Petrov, and there was a further tie for the U1500 prizes, between Alexandra Botez and Thomas Witecki.
 
Donovan Zhao won the Booster Section with 4.5/5, although he admitted he was "lucky" in a few of his games.  Omar Jessa placed second after a tiebreak game, while Neil Atkinson came third.
 

ADULT B.C. - WASHINGTON MATCH 2004

 

The second annual B.C. - Washington adult match (in the modern series - the previous series ended in 1963) will take place October 23 at Bellingham, Washington at the Pacific Meridian Building, 4164 Meridian.  The match will occur on ten boards, and Washington will be looking to avenge the narrow defeat they experienced last year.  The announced teams:

 
B.C.
 
1. Oliver Schulte 2435
2. Dan Scoones 2291
3. Bobby Meng 2264
4. Brian McLaren 2246
5. Paul Brown 2246
6. Alfred Pechisker 2192
7. Joe Oszvald 2172
8. Nigel Fullbrook 2147
9. Jim Ferguson 2125
10. Laszlo Tegzes 2051
 
Washington
 
1. Eric Tangborn 2472  IM
2. William Schill   2264
3. Elliott Neff    2263
4. Nat Koons  2230
5. David Bragg  2229
6. Bill McGeary  2219
7. Robert Ferguson  2197
8. Curt Collyer     2162
9. Bruce Kovalsky 2166
10. Chocuhian Airpetian 2149 or Nick Pavelda 2130.

 




UBC TUESDAY NIGHT EVENTS - UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT
 
After a brief hiatus the UBC Tuesday Night events have returned, and are now being run by Alfred Pechisker; there is still time to join the current event:
 
Dates: September 28, October 5, 12, 19, and 26th.
Time & Location: 6:30pm in room 215 in the SUB (6138 Student Union Blvd)
Format: 5-Round Swiss with prizes for rating sections
Entry Fees: $20, $12 for Juniors.
New Time Controls: 1:30 per game plus 30 seconds per move!
New Bonus Feature: Participants get full access to the UBC chess club chess library that includes dozens of books and a chess journal collection spanning 20 years!
 
Please bring boards, sets, and digital chess clocks if you have them.
If you have any questions contact Alfred Pechisker at apechi1@hotmail.com
 

PAIRS 4000 TOURNAMENT
Active Tournament (An Elod Macskasy Memorial Fundraising Event)
 
October 24, 2004
University of British Columbia Student Union Building - Rooms 214/216
 
Are two heads better than one?  Now's your chance to find out by joining fellow chess enthusiasts on Sunday, October 24, 2004, for a challenging day of active chess entertainment.  Here's the way it works.  Grab a partner and play.  But there are some rules:
 
1. The combined rating of each partnership may not exceed 4000.  Two 2000 players could partner, a 2200 player could team up with anyone rated 1800 or lower, and so on.
 
2. The amount of time each partnership receives in each game is related to its strength relative to its opponent.  For each game:
 
a. The combined time of both teams is one hour.
b. If the opposing teams are less than 50 rating points apart, each team receives 30 minutes.
c. For every 50 rating points difference between the teams, the lower-rated team receives one minute more and the higher-rated team receives one minute less, to a maximum of 40 minutes for the lower-rated team and a minimum of 20 minutes for the higher-rated team.
 
3. The tournament will be a six-round Swiss.
 
4. In each game, one player makes the first move for White, then the players alternate, each making two moves in a row:
 
Move White      Black
1     Player W1 Player B1
2     Player W2 Player B1
3     Player W2 Player B2
4     Player W1 Player B2
5     Player W1 Player B1
6     etc. 
 
5. Partners may not talk about the game while playing or otherwise give hints or advice to their partner.  This rule will be strictly enforced.  They may tell their partner to move ("It's your move.") and tell them to move quickly ("Hurry up, we have 20 seconds left!!").  Profanity and physical violence are not allowed except under extreme circumstances.
 
6. If a player moves out of turn, the opposing team may either accept the move, or require the player who ought to have moved to make a different move.  If this offence occurs when the opposing team has less than one minute left, the offending teams loses the game.
 
7. Clock (not touch) move is in effect for all games.  Illegal moves when the opponent has less than one minute left result in the loss of the game.
 
8. Unwritten rule: Don't play with the same partner as in the 2003 Pairs 4000 event.
 
Date: October 24, 2004 (Sunday), 9:00-9:30 am
Location: UBC SUB - rooms 214/216
Information Contact: Bruce Harper, (604) 263-8264 , bruce54321@shaw.ca
Deadline for pre-registration, October 23, 2004
Format: Active tournament.
Time Control: As above.
Rounds: Play begins at 10:00 am and concludes at 5:00 pm.
Entry fee: $20 per team.  50% discount for UBC students.
Equipment: Please bring a chess clock if you have one.
 
NOTE: This is a fundraising event, open to all. The intent is to raise money to help bring titled players to the Elod Macskasy Memorial tournament, and thereby provide an opportunity for some of our local players to make IM and GM norms.
 
Teams entered as of September 27, 2004:

Jack Yoos  2382
Laura Harper  1370
Total  3752
 
Bruce Harper  2330
Tiffany Tang  1552
Total  3882
 
 

BCBASE

 

A new version of BCBASE will be made available shortly.  Designed as a database of games either played in B.C. or played by B.C. players elsewhere, BCBASE has been added to considerably in the last year and now contains just over 10,000 games.  The new version supercedes all previous issues, and also contains all the previously available supplements.  Since ChessBase Light has a database limit of 8,000 games, BCBASE will be available in two formats:

 

As an archived ChessBase file (.cbv) containing all 10,000 games, and

 

As two PGN files (BCHIST and BCMODERN), with the division occurring at the passing of Dr. Macskasy (early 1990).

 

 


TD's CORNER
 
The following was recently posted on www.chesstalk.com - I have taken the liberty of reproducing it here (slightly edited), since it is a not uncommon situation at junior tournaments.
 
Question
 
Facts:
- tournament regular game
- player A has 10 min. remaning
- player B has 5 min. remaning
Player A make his move and announces mate, player B looks for a short time at the position and replies,
"Yeah, good game, thank you."  Player A resets the clock.  A TD helper looks at the position and in a loud voice says, "That is not mate" (he was right).  The TD is called who rules the game must continue, giving 2 extra min. to player B.

Questions
1.Was the ruling corect?
2.What is the moment (like in this case) when you can consider the game over (shaking hands, marking the result, stopping the clock, verbal acceptance of result ...)

Response

This situation is not covered by the Laws of Chess - FIDE assumes that the players are capable of determining whether a position is checkmate or not.  This being the case, a certain amount of discretion is involved on the part of the TD; the following is my own practice, others will likely differ.

We are discussing situations between young or inexperienced players, but I think it is important for them to learn and follow the Laws of Chess as early as possible.  It is common practice in some junior events to have the TD or an adult helper confirm a checkmate before the result becomes official, but to me this is the same as a player receiving advice during the game.  The players alone should make the determination about the position being checkmate; in a sense it is similiar to the players agreeing to a draw (TDs don't step into games agreed drawn and order the game to continue because one side is actually winning), except they are "agreeing" to checkmate.  If the defender thinks the position is checkmate, then the game is won by the opponent; others may then (hopefully gently) point out the error, but the game is over.

One of the first aspects of chess a developing player should master is the ability to determine whether a position is checkmate or not; conversely, TDs should be careful not to volunteer information during a game.

The second question concerns how players acknowledge that the game has ended; FIDE doesn't specify anything here either, but accepted practices include turning the king on its side, verbal agreement, or extending/shaking a hand.  Stopping the clocks is also a possibility, but unless this is accompanied by some other action, I wouldn't view this as conclusive.  It is important to know what you are agreeing to - hands have been extended and shaken, but later it has become apparent that one player thought they were agreeing to a draw, while the other player thought he was accepting a resignation!

 

B.C. - WASHINGTON MATCH 1954
 
"B.C. Players went down to defeat in both sections of the eleventh international chess match, B.C. vs. Washington State, played last Sunday [August 15] in Seven Cedars Pavilion at Mount Vernon, Wash.  The results of both groups were overwhelmingly in favour of Washington, which won the entire match by 31-14.  Forty Canadian players competed against forty-five Americans - three of the lower-rated "A" section B.C. players subsequently playing a board each in the "B" section (and two B.C. "B" players playing two games each) in order to provide 30 boards in the former group and 15 in the latter.  Washington will have possession of both trophies for the ensuing year."  [Daily Province, 21 August 1954]
 
B.C. had White on the odd-numbered boards.
B.C. 8 22 Washington
1 Miervaldis Jursevskis 1 0 Elmars Zemgalis
2 Jack Taylor 0 1 O.W. Manney
3 John G. Prentice ½ ½ Charles Joachim
4 Roderick A. Pilkington ½ ½ Ted Warner
5 Charles F. Millar 0 1 C. Rosburg
6 Frank Atnikov 0 1 Daniel E. Wade
7 W.E. Frank Fillery 1 0 John Nourse
8 L. Jonas 0 1 Dr. J. Almond
9 Byron Arden 0 1 R. Edberg
10 James H. Lacey 0 1 M. Bader
11 Richard A. Douglas 0 1 James McCormick
12 Adrian E. Russell 0 1 Ken Mulford
13 Harold Copleston ½ ½ John DeWitt
14 W.T. Money 0 1 Leslie Coubrough
15 A.T. Harrison 0 1 C. Magerkurth
16 P. Chiswell 0 1 Weissenborn
17 V. Noske 0 1 B. Brandstrom
18 Alfred Schick-Ferber 0 1 William Hoge
19 J. Garrett 0 1 Max Mage
20 M. Eagle* 0 1 R.M. Collins
21 C.S. Garrett 1 0 V. Hultman
22 Geoffrey G. Powis* 0 1 T. Nelson
23 H. Kent ½ ½ Ted Davidsen
24 R.D. Isaac 1 0 B. Bickford
25 M. Wilson 0 1 O. LaFraniere
26 Alexander Mushey 0 1 Larry Taro
27 W. Lott 1 0 J.D. Ring
28 Mrs. McLeod ½ ½ H.E. Yokum
29 H. Bischoff ½ ½ W. Gillette
30 W. Holland* 0 1 C. Abbott

*these players simultaneously played a board in the "B" section

Board B.C. 6 9 Washington
31 A.P. Paget 1 0 J. Lopacki
32 G.B. Stringer 0 1 F.A. Butler
33 S. Sheard 0 1 Norman Abrahamson
34 C. Littlewood** 0 1 Sid Nourse
35 E.A. Faulkner 0 1 E.I. Walker
36 Sir M. Bruce 0 1 M. Carter
37 J.T. Lawson** 1 0 L. Gordon
38 J.W. Lawson 1 0 F. Rice
39 John A. McCharles 1 0 H. Case
40 J.T. Lawson** 1 0 S. Miller
41 W. Holland* 0 1 E. Carlson
42 C. Littlewood** 1 0 W.H. Raleigh
43 R. Faulkner 0 1 R. Avann
44 M. Eagle* 0 1 G. Faithful
45 Geoffrey G. Powis* 0 1 H. Thornton

* played simultaneously for the A team, ** played two games in the B Section

Jursevskis,M - Zemgalis,E [B02] BC - WA m Washington, 15.08.1954

One of the few bright spots for B.C. was the victory on board one of B.C. champion Miervaldis Jursevskis over Elmars Zemgalis.  Both players were Latvian emigrés, and had competed together in several small international tournaments held in Displaced Persons camps just after the Second World War.  Zemgalis' serious chess career had largely ended when he moved to the United States, but at Oldenburg 1949 he tied for first with Bogoljubow, undefeated, ahead of the likes of Rossolimo, O'Kelly, Unzicker, and Sämisch.  He was the subject of John Donaldson's 2001 book Elmars Zemgalis: Grandmaster without the Title, a title which itself is now inaccurate since FIDE recently awarded Zemgalis the title of GM Emeritus, largely as a result of Donaldson's efforts.

1.e4 Nf6 2.Nc3 d5 3.exd5 Nxd5 4.Nxd5 Qxd5 5.Nf3 Bg4 6.Be2 e5 7.d3 Nc6 8.0-0 Be7 9.b3 Rd8 10.Bb2 e4 11.Ne1 Bxe2 12.Qxe2 exd3 13.Nxd3 0-0 14.Qg4 g6 15.Rae1 f5 16.Qh3 Bf6 17.Nf4 Qd7 18.Bxf6 Rxf6 19.c4 Nd4 20.Qh4 g5 21.Qxg5+ Kf7 22.Qh5+ Kf8 23.Nd5 Re6 24.Rxe6 Nxe6 25.Qxf5+ Qf7 26.Qe5 c6 27.Qh8+ Qg8 28.Qf6+ Qf7 29.Qh6+ Kg8 30.Nf6+ Kh8 31.Nxh7 1-0

Warner,T - Pilkington,R [D85] BC - WA m Washington, 15.08.1954

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.e4 Nxc3 7.bxc3 c5 8.Bb5+ Bd7 9.Bxd7+ Nxd7 10.0-0 cxd4 11.cxd4 0-0 12.Qb3 Qb6 13.Rb1 Qxb3 14.Rxb3 Nb6 15.Ba3 Rfe8 16.Bc5 e6 17.Bxb6 axb6 18.Rxb6 Rxa2 19.Rxb7 Re2 20.d5 Rxe4 21.d6 Bf6 22.g3 Ra4 23.Rc1 Ra1 24.Rxa1 Bxa1 25.Ng5 Rf8 26.Rb1 Be5 27.Rd1 Rd8 28.d7 Bf6 29.Ne4 Be7 30.Kg2 ½-½

 

UPCOMING EVENTS
 
To save space, from now on I will only give basic information for events - date, place, and type.  Full details for all the events listed here may be found on the BCCF site, www.chess.bc.ca.
 
Junior Events
 
Oct. 10  Island Junior Open #2
Oct. 17  Vancouver Grand Prix #2
Nov. 14  Island Junior Open #3
Nov. 14  Vancouver Grand Prix #3
Dec 12  Victoria City Championship

Vancouver League: Class Round Robins

In these Round Robins players will grouped according to their class or within a rating spread of no more than 200 or 300 points.  The games will take place at the Vancouver Bridge Centre (2776 East Broadway) during the evening on Saturdays and/or Wednesdays.  If you are interested in participating in these events please send an e-mail to the following address: azmitia@interchange.ubc.ca
For more information visit: http://www3.telus.net/chessvancouver/
 
Vancouver League Qualifier #1
 
Dates: September 18, 25 & October 2, 9, 16
Place: Vancouver Bridge Centre
Type: 5-round Swiss
 
Vancouver Grand Prix #2
 
Date: October 17
Place: Vancouver Bridge Centre
Type: 3-round Swiss
 
Vancouver Seasonal Grand Prix
 
Date: November 6, 7
Place: Vancouver Bridge Centre
Type: 4-round Swiss
 
Silver Star Challenge (Interior Qualifier)
 
Date: Nov. 13 & 14  
Place: Holiday Inn Express, 4716 34th St., Vernon 
Type: 5-round Swiss
 
Vancouver Grand Prix #3
 
Date: November 14
Place: Vancouver Bridge Centre
Type: 3-round Swiss
 
Jack Taylor Memorial
 
Date: November 20-21
Place: University of Victoria
Type: 5-round Swiss 
 
Vancouver League Qualifier #2
 
Dates: November 20, 27 & December 4, 11, 18
Place: Vancouver Bridge Centre
Type: 5-round Swiss
 
Vancouver League Qualifier #3
 
Dates: January 8, 15, 22, 28 & February 5, 2005
Place: Vancouver Bridge Centre
Type: 5-round Swiss
 
Vancouver Team Tournament
 
Dates: January 15, 16
Place: UBS SUB, rooms 214/216
Type: 5-round Swiss or round robin
 
Don McAdam Memorial
 
Date: January 22-23
Place: University of Victoria
Type: 5-round Swiss 
 
Vancouver League Qualifier #4
 
Dates: March 19, 26 & April 2, 9, 16, 2005
Place: Vancouver Bridge Centre
Type: 5-round Swiss
 
Daffodil Open
 
Date: April 23-24
Place: University of Victoria
Type: 5-round Swiss 
 
Island Open
 
Date: June 11-12
Place: University of Victoria
Type: 5-round Swiss