BCCF E-MAIL BULLETIN #39
To subscribe, send me an e-mail (swright2@telus.net) or sign up via the BCCF webpage (www.chess.bc.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 BCCF web site: www.chess.bc.ca/newsletters.html] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!!! There are a hundred and one tasks, large and small, to be completed before and during the Western Canadian Open, to ensure that this year's premiere event is a memorable one! If you are willing to help out, please contact Bruce Harper at bruce54321@shaw.ca. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VANCOUVER JUNIOR GRAND PRIX #5 Held on February 15th, the fifth Vancouver junior Grand Prix event of the season attracted forty players to the Vancouver Bridge Centre. Fanhao Meng again took home prize money, but his time he had to be content with a share, as Valentina Goutor and Ben Daswani managed to tie with Meng for first with 2.5/3. Andrey Kostin won the U1800 prize and Washington players Sterling Dietz and Dave van Weerdhuizen split the U1600 prize. Brad Wong and Vlad Gaciu tied for first in the U1500 section, with Michael Wee taking the U1200 honours. And three players achieved 4/5 scores in the Booster Section, with Alexandra Botez, Saman Fouladirad, and Omar Jessa taking home trophies. With five events complete the top Grand Prix standings are as follows: Fanhao Meng 11.5 Lucas Davies 10 Noam Davies 10 Ben Daswani 10 Ivan Petrov 8.5 Valentina Goutor 8 Luc Poitras 7 Alexander Reid 6.5 Andrey Kostin 6.5 Lane van Weerdhuizen 6 U1500: Stefan Trandafir 11 Brad Wong 10.875 Vlad Gaciu 8.125 Richard Huang 5.5 Lesley Cheng 5 Lo-Ching Chow 4.5 Kevin Au 4.125 Bryan Young 4 Contestants count their top six results from the possible eight events, so there is still plenty of time for the standings to change. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BC U18 BUGHOUSE CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFIER by Ben Daswani Eight players played in a round robin qualifier for the BC U18 Bughouse Championship. The top three finishers would earn the right to play in the Championship along with Graham Sadoway, BC's top rated junior bughouse player. Each player would partner each of the seven other players. The partnerships were determined using round robin pairings for chess tournaments, but rather than "1-8, 2-7, 3-6, 4-5" meaning "1 plays 8, 2 plays 7, etc", it means "1 partners 8, 2 partners 7, etc". While partnered with a player, they would play two games against each of the three other partnerships. Thus, six games were played with each of the seven partners, for 42 games in total. After much deliberation, rescheduling and alterations which spanned more than two months (!) the three top players have been determined. They are Ben Daswani (32/42), Fanhao (Bobby) Meng (30.5/42) and Lucas Davies (26/42). Interestingly, the teams Daswani/Meng, Meng/Davies and Davies/Daswani were the only three teams to score perfect scores. Hence, the 2004 BC U18 Bughouse Championship will consist of Graham Sadoway, Ben Daswani, Fanhao (Bobby) Meng and Lucas Davies. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- INTERNATIONAL CHESS JAM by Randy Kaech The 7th Annual International Chess Jam took place Saturday, February 14, 2004 at Ferndale High School in Ferndale, Washington. 101 students from Canada to Seattle competed, with a few visitors from Oregon also thrown in for good measure (31 players in the High School section, 70 in the Junior section). In all, 320 tournament games of chess were played and will be rated by the Washington High School Chess Association. Jason Lee, 11th grader from Seaquam Secondary School, Vancouver B.C., is the new Chess Jam Grand Champion, scoring 4 wins and 1 loss. Lo-Ching Chow, 8th grader from Seaquam, Vancouver, is the Chess Jam 2004 Junior Champion, scoring 6 wins and 1 draw in the 7-round Junior Division. Other performances by B.C. players: Richard Huang, 5th grader from Edmonds Community School in Burnaby, placed 2nd Overall in the Junior division, losing only to Lo-Ching Chow in the semi-final round. Thomas Chow, 5th grader from Cougar Canyon school, placed 6th overall in the Junior Division, scoring five wins and two losses (to Grand Champion Lo-Ching Chow and Paul Jackson of Bellevue, Washington.) David Choi, 4th grader from St George's Junior School, scored 3 wins of 7. INTERNATIONAL CHESS JAM 2004 HIGH SCHOOL SECTION CHAMPIONS: 1st: Jason Lee, Seaquam HS, Vancouver BC, 11th grade, 4.0 wins 2nd: Lane VanWeerdhuizen, Lynden HS, 9th grade, 3.5 3rd: Sterling Dietz, Evergreen Christian (Bellingham), 7th grade, 3.5 4th: Peter June, Sehome HS (Bellingham), 10th grade, 3.5 5th: Alex Kurtis, Sehome HS (Bellingham), 10th grade, 3.5 6th: Kamran Hughes, Stevenson ES (Bellevue), 5th grade, 3.5 7th: Jordan Hunting, O'Dea HS (Seattle), 9th grade, 3.0 JUNIOR SECTION CHAMPIONS: 1st: Lo-Ching Chow, Seaquam MS, Vancouver BC, 8th grade, 6.5 wins 2nd: Richard Huang, Edmonds Community School, Burnaby BC, 5th grade, 6.0 3rd: Jason Dibble, N. Whatcom Home School, 6th grade, 6.0 4th: Thomas Witecki, Assumption (Bellingham), 5th grade, 5.5 5th: Zach Blankers, Lynden Christian, 8th grade, 5.5 6th: Thomas Chow, Cougar Canyon ES, Vancouver BC, 5th grade, 5.0 7th: Conor VanAchte, Rose Hill JH (Bellevue), 7th grade, 5.0 HIGH SCHOOL TEAM CHAMPIONS: 1st: Sehome HS (Bellingham), 16.0 wins 2nd: Ferndale HS, 13.0 3rd: Newport HS (Bellevue), 8.0 MIDDLE SCHOOL TEAM CHAMPIONS: 1st: Assumption School (Bellingham), 18.5 points 2nd: N. Whatcom Home School, 17.5 3rd: Lynden MS, 16.5 points The full International Chess Jam 2004 crosstable, along with results and news of other scholastic events in Northwest Washington, can be found at the Northwest Washington Scholastic Chess website at http://ourworld.cs.com/kaech5 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TYLER JOHNSON - VALENTINA GOUTOR MATCH by Bruce Harper On Feburary 14, 2004, Tyler Johnson and Valentina Goutor drew the final game of their six-game match. Tyler won the match 4.5-1.5 - a result predicted by only two of the 40+ chessbc.com readers polled. After losing an equal position on time in the first game, Tyler pulled himself together (i.e., played faster) and won the second game by disorienting his opponent, who at one point had an edge. In the third game Tyler won a long, hard technical game with an extra pawn, and in the fourth game outplayed Valentina in a messy Rat. The fifth game was Valentina's only bad game of the match. In the final game, Valentina obtained a promising position with White, but was unable to make much of it. [All the games may be found at http://www.chessbc.com/games.html] At one point Tyler was asked what he was going to play with White in one of the games, and he relied "the same old garbage" (1.g3). Tyler avoided main line theory, and in so doing avoided one of his opponent's strengths. Tyler should be given some credit - in the positionally confused games which resulted, he outplayed Valentina several times. Valentina was never able to put serious pressure on Tyler's openings until the final game, when it was too late. Matches are a great way to improve, because they let you focus on a particular opponent and a relatively small number of openings. They can also be played in an amiable, civilized setting at a mutually convenient time. I heartily recommend them. Tyler's next match may be against Lucas Davies. Does anyone really think he'd have a chance against the guy who keeps forcing Fanhao to improve? If that match takes place, be sure to vote in the chessbc.com poll. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TD'S CORNER This column will examine the Laws of Chess, to remind and/or educate players and tournament directors alike of some of their details. The full Laws of Chess can be found in the CFC Handbook at www.chess.ca, and should be consulted for the exact wording of each Article mentioned. If anyone has a specific question they would like answered in this column, just e-mail me (swright2@telus.net). CLAIMING A DRAW A player may claim a draw under three possible circumstances - triple repetition, the 50-move rule, or a quickplay finish. Triple repetition: (Article 9.2) if a position has or is about to appear for at least the third time, the player HAVING THE MOVE may claim a draw. Positions are considered identical "if the same player has the move, pieces of the same kind and colour occupy the same squares, and the possible moves of all the pieces of both players are the same." The latter is important - "Positions are NOT the same if a pawn that could have been captured en passant can no longer be captured or if the right to castle has been changed temporarily or permanently." N.B. it is the POSITIONS that must repeat, not necessarily the MOVES between the positions. 50-move rule: (Article 9.3) if 50 consecutive moves by each player elapse or are about to elapse without a pawn move or capture, the player HAVING THE MOVE may claim a draw. Quickplay finish: this, the (notorious) Article 10.2, we will leave for the next column. THE CLAIM PROCEDURE You may only claim a draw if it is YOUR turn to move. If your opponent's last move fulfilled either of the conditions above (i.e., repeated the position for the third time or resulted in 50 moves elapsing without a pawn move or capture), stop the clocks, summon the TD, and explain under which rule you are claiming a draw. If it is your move and the move you intend to make will fufill either of the above conditions, DO NOT MAKE THE MOVE! Write your intended move on your scoresheet, stop the clocks, summon the TD, and declare you are claiming a draw based on the move you are about to make. If you actually play the move without having claimed the draw, you LOSE THE RIGHT TO CLAIM on that move (Article 9.4). In either of these cases YOU MUST CLAIM THE DRAW YOURSELF - the TD is NOT allowed to step in and do it for you. Please note that there are time awards/penalties for incorrect draw claims (your opponent will receive an extra 3 minutes and you might lose time upto a maximum of 3 minutes), so don't treat these claims frivolously. FOR TDs A draw claim under any of the above three articles (9.2, 9.3, 10.2) is also considered a draw offer (Article 9.1c). If a player claims one of these draws, you should first ask the opponent if they agree - if they do, the game is immediately drawn and you needn't do anything more. If the opponent disagrees, then you must decide if the claim is valid, using the scoresheets or whatever other evidence you have at your disposal. You should be aware that time awards/penalties exist (Article 9.5b), although personally I do not have these memorized - incorrect claims are so rare that I would simply look up the article as required. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- THIRTY YEARS AGO by Bruce Harper Thirty years ago the Vancouver Spring Open attracted 45 players, which coincidentally was the same number who attended the recent Vancouver Class Championships. Since the 1970s are remembered as "the Golden Era of B.C. Chess", I think this is a very good sign! The key to attracting players to tournaments seems simple - hold the tournaments. One difference between the two events was that the 1974 tournament was six rounds long, despite being crammed into only two days (March 16-17); somehow I managed to come in clear first with 5.5. Today's feature game is 15-year old Jeff Reeve's win over second place finisher Les Vitanyi (who tied with Ben Kruger at 5-1). Reeve had, and I think still has, a classical, but attacking style. Vitanyi,L - Reeve,J [A24] Spring op Vancouver, 03.1974 1.g3 g6 2.c4 Bg7 3.Nc3 d6 4.Bg2 Nf6 5.e3 A solid, but a bit passive, system. 5...0-0 6.Nge2 e5 7.0-0 Nc6 8.a3?! White would like to play 8.d3 Be6 9.h3 Qd7 10.Kh2, but Black could instead play 9...d5. Perhaps 8.Nd5 could be tried. 8...Be6 9.d3 Qd7 10.Re1 Ne8 Why not 10...Bh3? 11.Nd5 f5 12.Nec3 Here 12.f4 cries out to be played. 12...Rb8 This is a matter of style. After 12...Nd8, followed by ...c6, all the pieces stay on the board and Black switches to the kingside. Of course this is better with the e6-bishop on h3, so Black's idea of trading pieces on d5 has its good points. 13.Rb1 Ne7 14.Nxe7+ Qxe7 15.Qa4 a6 16.Nd5 Bxd5 17.Bxd5+ Kh8 18.b4 e4! Preventing the return of White's d5-bishop to the kingside. The fact that White has lost control of e4 is a bad sign. 19.b5 axb5 20.cxb5 Nf6 21.dxe4 I didn't comment on this 30 years ago, but once the f-file is opened, White's game goes downhill quickly. So I think the sad 21.Bb3 was preferable. 21...fxe4 22.Qd1 Nxd5 23.Qxd5 Rf5 24.Qa2 Rbf8 Jeff has always played very logically. He now gives a textbook demonstration of how to attack a weakened and abandoned king position. 25.Rf1 Qd7 26.a4 Rh5 27.Bb2 Rf3 28.Bxg7+ Kxg7 29.Rfc1 Qh3 30.Qb2+ Kh6 31.Re1 Qxh2+ 32.Kf1 Qh1+ 33.Ke2 Rxf2+! 0-1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BRITISH COLUMBIA CORRESPONDENCE CHESS CLUB In a recent issue of the Bulletin the life and chess contributions of C.F. Davie, founder of the first Canadian correspondence championship, were examined. But correspondence chess has always been particularly well suited to bridging the expansive distances and far-flung communities that make up British Columbia. In fact one provincial body, the British Columbia Correspondence Chess Club (BCCCC), operated for twenty years on a fully independent basis before finally merging with the Canadian Correspondence Chess Association in 1968. Here is its story. Fittingly enough, the BCCCC came into existence through a piece of correspondence. Dave Creemer (see Bulletin #31) began his chess column in the Vancouver Province during the summer of 1947. In November 1948 he published a letter from Steve Jackson of Ladysmith, who suggested the setting up of a provincial competition: "Correspondence chess is my reason for writing this letter, as I have often thought that this branch of the game would be a great method of chess promotion in B.C. In your columns I see names of players from all parts of the province, and I would welcome the opportunity to meeting them in correspondence play. Even clubs could play matches by correspondence. In fact I remember playing in a correspondence match, Vancouver vs. Powell River, about ten years ago. Just as a random suggestion - suppose you announce a B.C. correspondence chess championship to commence Jan. 1, 1948 (rules as per CCCA) sections of six each - winners of each section to play off. I am sure you would get many entries. The fee could be arranged to cover prizes and membership in the BCCF, etc." The competition duly commenced on February 1, 1948, with a total of 77 players in 11 sections; the sectional winners qualified for the final which determined the provincial champion and possessor of the Vancouver Daily Province Trophy for that year:
There were also other prizes, including books and at least one framed chess photograph; in subsequent years the section winners had their choice of a subscription to either Canadian Chess Chat or The British Chess Magazine. The entry fee was initially $1, which rose to $2 by 1955; participants had to join the BCCF but were given a reduced membership rate (as long as they did not take part in any OTB events). [Although for the first few years a list of players and finalists was published in the Vancouver Province, it is clear that the BCCCC soon set up its own Bulletin; unfortunately I have not had access to any copies of this publication, so the (incomplete) information I am presenting has had to be drawn from other sources.] By 1955 the competition had become so popular (and the finals so crowded) that the tournament was split into two groups: winners from Group B moved into next year's Group A, and only the Group A winners advanced to the finals. In the early years it appears the BCCCC only ran the provincial championship, but by 1959 its members were involved in a few other events: "The Director of the B.C. Correspondence Chess Club reported that apart from the yearly Correspondent [sic] Tournament a Team from his club was participating in a Canadian Inter-city Tournament with Montreal, Toronto and Victoria, (the B.C. Team was leading 9 : 0), and in an International Correspondence Tournament in which [Gerry?] Neufahrt was doing very well." [Minutes of BCCF AGM, September 25, 1959.] Unfortunately this was also the year when misunderstandings led the BCCCC to strike out on its own: "Mr. Russell read the report of the Editors of Canadian Chess Chat to the Annual Meeting of the C.F.C. A discussion ensued how to increase the number of subscribers. Mr. Schulz pointed out that the success of Chess Review (the U.S. magazine) was to his mind partly due to the Correspondence Chess Tournament, arranged by Chess Review. Mr. Bryant reported that co-operation between the Editors of Canadian Chess Chat and Mr. Tanner, the Director of the B.C. Correspondence Chess Club, looked promising in the fall of 1959, but through a series of misunderstandings came to nothing. This failure was chiefly responsible for the withdrawal of the B.C. Correspondence Chess Club [from the B.C.C.F.]." [Minutes of BCCF AGM, September 30, 1960.] Despite this administrative rift, the club continued independently until 1968, when it was merged into the CCCA by Russ Isaac. The provincial championship ran continuously for the twenty years of the BCCCC's existence; here are the champions (as listed on the trophy): 1948 J. Rist, Osoyoos 1949 Wm. Lott, Langley 1950 P. Tjebbes, Grand Forks 1951 Harold Ostrom, Saturna 1952 Erica White, Vancouver 1953 H. Christiansen, Vancouver 1954 Eric A. Cox, Victoria 1955 Eugene Butkov, Vancouver 1956 H. Christiansen and Fred Schulz, co-champions 1957 John Rist, Osoyoos 1958 Fred Schulz, Nanaimo 1959 Fred Schulz, Nanaimo 1960 Art Sproson, Vancouver 1961 H. Christiansen, Vancouver 1962 H. Christiansen, Vancouver 1963 H. Christiansen, Vancouver 1964 Fred Schulz, Nanaimo 1965 H. Christiansen, Vancouver 1966 H. Christiansen, Vancouver 1967 H. Christiansen, Vancouver 1968 Fred Schulz, Nanaimo White,E - van Norden,D [D16] BC corres ch, 1952 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.a4 Nd5 6.e4 Nxc3 7.bxc3 b5 8.Ne5 e6 9.Qf3 Qe7 10.Be2 Bb7 11.0-0 Nd7 12.Nxd7 Qxd7 13.Rd1 a6 14.Qg3 f6 15.Bf4 Qf7 16.axb5 cxb5 17.d5 Qg6 18.Qh3 Qxe4 19.d6 Kd7 20.Bf3 Qxf4 21.Bxb7 Rb8 22.Bc6+ Kxc6 23.Qxe6 Qe5 24.Rxa6+ Kc5 25.Qd7 1-0 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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 Feb 28 Elementary Finals and Secondary School Team Championship, Vancouver Mar 6 South Fraser Valley Elementary Chess Challenge, Surrey Mar 7 Grand Prix #6, Vancouver Mar 7 Victoria Regional Chess Challenge Mar 27 South Fraser Valley Secondary Chess Challenge, Surrey Mar 28 Vancouver Regional Chess Challenge Mar 28 Victoria Regional CYCC For full details see www.chess.bc.ca or http://members.shaw.ca/victoriachess/ Individual Chess Matches Players interested in participating in rated individual chess matches with other players of comparable or dissimilar ratings can contact Luis E. Azmitia at azmitia@interchange.ubc.ca Please make sure to include in the e-mail: your name, your rating, type of game preferred (i.e. active), and the rating range of possible opponents. Note that the games will be held in the Vancouver area. Vancouver Saturday Night Chess (1) Dates: Saturdays February 7, 14, 21, 29 and March 6. Place: Vancouver Bridge Centre, 2776 East Broadway (at Kaslo), Vancouver Type: 5-round Swiss Little Mountain's Regular Swiss - February Dates: February 9, 16, 23 and March 1. Place: Little Mountain Neighbourhood House, 3981 Main St., Vancouver, BC (near King Edward Ave.) Type: 4-round Swiss UBC Tuesday Night Chess February/March 2004 Dates: February 10th, 17th, 24th, March 2nd, 9th Place: UBC Student Union Building, Room 211 Type: 5-round Swiss Kelowna Winter Fest Date: February 14-15th 2004 Place: Sandman Inn, 2130 Harvey Avenue, Kelowna, B.C. Tel: 250-860-6409 Type: 5-round Swiss Kamloops Grand Prix #2 Date: Feb. 21, 2004 Place: South Kamloops Secondary School Cafeteria, 821 Munro Street, Kamloops, B.C. Format: 4-round Swiss Little Mountain's Regular Swiss - March Dates: March 8, 15, 22 and 29. Place: Little Mountain Neighbourhood House, 3981 Main St., Vancouver, BC (near King Edward Ave.) Type: 4-round Swiss Vancouver Saturday Night Chess (2) Dates: Saturdays March 13, 20, 27, and April 3, and 17 Place: Vancouver Bridge Centre, 2776 East Broadway (at Kaslo), Vancouver Type: 5-round Swiss UBC Tuesday Night Chess March/April 2004 Dates: March 16th, 23rd, 30th, April 6th, 13th Place: UBC Student Union Building, Room 211 Type: 5-round Swiss Love Me Tender Open - PLEASE NOTE THIS HAS BEEN CANCELLED Date: Saturday, March 27, 2004 Little Mountain's Regular Swiss - April Dates: April 5, 12, 19 and 26. Place: Little Mountain Neighbourhood House, 3981 Main St., Vancouver, BC (near King Edward Ave.) Type: 4-round Swiss B.C. Championship Dates: April 9-12 Place: Vancouver Bridge Centre Type: 8-player round robin Kamloops Grand Prix #3 Date: April 9,10, 2004 Eligibility: for < 2200 only Place: South Kamloops Secondary School Cafeteria, 821 Munro Street, Kamloops, B.C. Type: 6-round Swiss What a wonderful world Date: Saturday April 24 Location: Fatima Church, Coquitlam (315 Walker st.) Type: Regular 4-round Swiss 29th Paul Keres Memorial Date: May 21-24 2004 Location: Croatian Community Centre, Vancouver Type: 6 or 7-round Swiss http://www.keresmemorial.com/ Western Canadian Open Date: July 9-18 2004 Place: Vancouver Airport Conference Resort Type: 10 round single section Swiss Kamloops Grand Prix #4 Date: Sept. 18, 2004 Place: South Kamloops Secondary School Cafeteria, 821 Munro Street, Kamloops, B.C. Type: 4-round Swiss Kamloops Grand Prix #5 Date: Oct. 23, 2004 Place: South Kamloops Secondary School Cafeteria, 821 Munro Street, Kamloops, B.C. Type: 4-round Swiss Kamloops Grand Prix #6 Date: Nov. 20, 2004 Place: South Kamloops Secondary School Cafeteria, 821 Munro Street, Kamloops, B.C. Type: 4-round Swiss
