Vladimir Kramnik warms up at Sparkassen tournament
July 6, 2008
Position No. 6010: Black to play and win. From the game Craig Clawitter-John Daniel Bryant, SCCF Candidates, Garden Grove 2008.
Solution to Position No. 6009: White wins with 1 f5! Bxf5 2 Bf4, as 2 . . . Ne5 3 Nb5 Qe7 permits the decisive attack 4 Qxa7+ Kc8 5 Qa8+ Kd7 6 Qxb7+ Ke6 7 Qb6+. Also sufficient is 3 Rxd5.
The Sparkassen tournament, an eight-player round robin, ends today in Dortmund, Germany. Former world champion Vladimir Kramnik was upset by 22-year-old German grandmaster Arkadij Naiditsch in the third round.
Kramnik, the clear favorite, is using the Sparkassen tournament as preparation for his October world championship match, also in Germany, against Viswanathan Anand.
Local news
The Pacific Southwest Open concludes today at the Hilton Hotel, 5711 W. Century Blvd. in Los Angeles. Spectators may watch free.
State champion IM Enrico Sevillano won the "My Kingdom for a Horse" tournament of one-hour games last weekend at the Los Angeles Chess Club. Sevillano won his first five games, clinching first place, then drew to finish with 5 1/2 - 1/2 . Expert Joshua Gutman, who upset IM Tim Taylor, took second prize at 4-2.
Daniel Mousseri led the under-1800 section with 5-1, a half-point ahead of Max Chou. The 32-player tournament was sponsored by Cardinal Medical Group and awarded $1,400.
The HCA June Open, a 15-player tournament at Hanley's Chess Academy in Huntington Beach, ended in a surprising tie. Tim Taylor and Max Chou each scored 4 1/2 - 1/2 . In an outstanding performance by a Class B player, Chou defeated three higher-rated opponents and drew Taylor.
Gregg Fritchle scored 4 1/2 - 1/2 to win the 33-player Mount Wilson Open at the Pasadena Chess Club. Dave Matson, Willy Mapacpac, Rolando Tenoso, Jaime Luna, Dave Galfond, Jason McKeen, Yi Lin Zheng, Jim Marshall and Yan Jiang earned class prizes.The club will begin the six-round Liberty Open at 7 p.m. Friday in the Senior Center, 85 E. Holly St. in Pasadena. Call Randy Hough at (626) 282-7412 for details.
The Ventura County Chess Club will begin a four-round tournament at 7 p.m. Monday at Church of the Foothills, 6279 Foothill Road in Ventura. Call Jimmy Sweet at (805) 659-0356 for more information.
Anderson Ju and Shyam Gandhi tied for first place in the AAA Chess Club's scholastic tournament two weeks ago in Glendale. Vartan Batmazyan led the grades K-7 section, and Hovhannes Gamburian finished first in the grades K-5 section. Harut Keshishian directed the 68-player tournament.
