Blitz-game dispute may help to change rule
CHESS
June 15, 2008
Position No. 6007: White to play and win. From the game Vassily Ivanchuk-Viswanathan Anand, Leon 2008.
Solution to Position No. 6006: White wins with 1 cxb7 Rb8 (not 1 . . . Re8? 2 Rxf7+ Kxf7 3 Bxe8+, promoting the b-pawn) 2 Ne5! Bxf2+ 3 Kh2 Re7 4 Bc4. Or, if 2 . . . Rxf2, then 3 Ng6+ Ke8 4 Ng7 mate. And 2 . . . Bxb5 loses material to 3 Rxf7+ Ke8 4 Ng7+ Kd8 5 Rf8+.
The 2008 U.S. Women's Championship was decided by a blitz game in which 2007 champion Irina Krush lost by one second to Anna Zatonskih. You can watch the frantic finish at youtube.com.
A few days later, Krush wrote a protest letter (now posted at uschess.org) that called her opponent's behavior "illegal" and "unfair." She criticized the tournament director for not intervening. These charges seem groundless, as Zatonskih violated no rules and the TD should wait for a complaint before acting.
However, Krush was on the money when she described the game as "a free-for-all, where the person with the worse blitz habits won." Many tournaments resort to blitz games to break ties. Frankly, I am astonished that there have not been more complaints. In the immortal words of the late Eduard Gufeld, "This is not chess."
Krush called for "real-time controls that don't degrade the participants into clock-punching monkeys." Amen.
New titles
Florida master Ray Robson has been awarded the title of International Master. Robson, only 13, made three norms toward the IM title within the past year. His current rating of 2433 places him 80th in the country and seventh among players under age 21. Quite a climb from his first rating of 120 as a kindergartner!
Josh Friedel of New Hampshire, who tied for fourth place in the U.S. Championship last month, has fulfilled the requirements to become a grandmaster. He should receive the GM title this fall.
Local news
The Los Angeles Chess Club has published a book of the 100 best games from its series of L.A. Masters tournaments, annotated by IM Tim Taylor. To reserve a copy of the book, call Mick Bighamian at (310) 795-5710. The club runs a variety of events, including the L.A. Masters tournaments on Saturday evenings, at 11514 Santa Monica Blvd. in Los Angeles.
The AAA Chess Club will conduct a scholastic tournament Saturday at First Lutheran Church, 1300 E. Colorado Blvd. in Glendale. There will be separate sections for students in grades K-5, K-7 and K-12. Call Harut Keshishian at (323) 578-0514 for details.
