• July Swiss at EBCC produces tense struggles and sparkling play
  • The July Open Swiss at the East Bay Chess Club was a great success with a strong turnout of 34 players ranging in rating from 1370 to SM David Pruess at 2429. The chess was extremely competitive as each round produced tense struggles across many boards.
  • Pruess ended up taking a clear first, going a perfect 4/4. Playing the black-side of the Najdorf in the final round, Pruess punctuated his performance with a sparkling pawn sacrifice to gain the kingside initiative and ultimately win against expert Batsaikhan Tserendorj. The loss in the final round dropped Tserendorj (3/4) into fourth place as NM Andy Lee and rising star Phillip Perepelitsky shared 2nd and 3rd place at 3.5/4.
  • Strong play up and down the field was reflected in results for the rating class prizes. Edward Perepelitsky made it a family success by tying with local A-player Craig Andries for the best performance under 2100 with 3/4. Also scoring 3/4 was Robert Smith, who just-edged out Varun Behl (2.5/4) to claim the under 1900 prize. Sreekar Jasthi (2.5/4) demonstrated the power of connected passed pawns against a piece in an exciting last round win to sew up under 1700 honors, and Jamie Sawhill (2.5/4) went through the tournament without a loss (playing up every game) en route to a clear first under 1500. Finally, the competitiveness of the tournament is perhaps best reflected in the fact that eleven players under 1900 turned in an even score of 2/4 including the quintet of Paul Ganem, Brendan Purcell, Nelson Sowell, Carl Woebcke, and Jason Gurtovoy who tied for third under 1900. Rohan Sathe, Ted Belanoff, Marika Litras, and Albert Starr tied for 2nd under 1700, while Robert Duran and Nick Gauger tied for 2nd under 1500. Thanks to everyone who participated for making this such a terrific event.
  • The next weekend swiss will probably be the September one the 17th-18th.
• First Thursday Night Blitz Event
  • The EBCC had its first (hopefully of many!) Thursday Night blitz tournament on July 14th. The first event was won by David Pruess with 7/8. The event is free for members, so for those with a hankering for some blitz, come over to the club Thursday, July 21 or 28 for the next two events. The tournament starts at 8, and will usually have no entry fee. We will experiment on the 28th by having a small entry fee in order to generate some prizes (100% of entries will be returned). Feel free to invite non-members, who will only have to pay the usual $5 drop-in fee to attend a tournament.
• Likely August closure of the Club
  • There is a very strong chance that the club will be closed for much of August due to the move-in of our co-tenant for next year, the Archway School. Please make sure the club is open before trying to come to one of our regular events in August and finding out that nobody else is there! We will post info on our website as we get more info, and you can also always call to find out if we’re here or not. We are looking into various possibilities, including trying to get some other space for some part of that time. If the club is forced to close for any length of time, we will extend the membership of all. Thanks for bearing with this.
• Purcell joins McCandless in the lead in 8th Monday Night Tournament
  • Brendan Purcell won in the third round of the short 8th Monday Night Tournament, to reach 2.5/3 and catch Brendan Purcell for the lead. McCandless, who had been in the lead with 2/2 played to a remarkable draw with NM Andy Lee in which for many moves he had a bishop and a couple pawns versus Lee’s queen! The fourth and last round should see these two meet. Even if you have not entered the tournament from the beginning, you can play a round any week by asking to be paired by 6:45 pm (as many people have been doing). The round is preceded by a lecture, usually by David Pruess, from 6-7 PM.
• New Event: Monthly Action Championship (Rerun News Item)
  • The Wednesday Night action tournaments have been going every week steadily for a long time now. To add a little spice and maybe attract a few different players, we will experiment with holding a monthly action championship, the last Wednesday of each month, with an entry fee and prizes (100% of entries will go to the prizes). Please help spread the word of our new events!
• Contest for a discounted entry to the September Swiss
  • This newsletter, we’re also including a problem at the very end of the first annotated game (Shabalov – Bologan); the question comes up after 76…Qa2+ on page 16 and deals with whether or not White’s resignation was called for and how Black was supposed to try and win that position. We invite all readers to try their hand at this puzzle!
  • The contest winner (if more than one correct answer is submitted, the winner will be determined randomly) will get $10 off his/her entry to the September Swiss on September 17-18. Please e-mail all submissions to ebchess@eastbaychess.com, or submit an answer in writing at the club. Full analysis of that position will follow in the next newsletter, so all answers must be submitted by Friday, August 5!

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