5 days away to the 4th Stella Niagara

IM Sofia (center) with her older sister, GM Susan (left) and younger sister Super GM Judit (right)

It is only 5 days away to the 4th Annual Stella Niagara Scholastic and Quick Open featuring honored guests IM Sofia Polgar and her husband GM Yona Kosashvili. Join in on the fun and excitement!

For more information on the event see http://www.uschess.org/directories/tnmtsearch/tlaweb.php?tla_seq=797&tla_id=FourthStella

If you plan on participating please comment with your name, USCF ID#, and which section you wish to play in.

Patterson wins Sardinia Quick

Albert (Pat) Patterson won the April 26th quick tournament held at the Sardinia Community Center last Saturday. Pat with 7 pts, edged out Ryan Madden (6pts), reversing the results from last month. 1st grader Felix Ling won the u1200 prize with 4pts. Also competing in the adult section were the chessdoctor Mark Mieth, Morgan Beach, and Ryan Palmisano.

In the Scholastic section, newcomer Mike Hoffman was very impressive in his first tournament, winning 6 out of 8 games. I think we will be hearing a lot more from him in the future! Wes Darling, Nathan Palmisano, and Robert Becker also competed. The cross table is available at http://main.uschess.org/assets/msa_joomla/XtblMain.php?200804262671

Don't forget to sign up and play in the Stella Niagara tournament this Saturday! The chessdoctor works very hard to make this a classy event so lets support him. I'll see you there!

Saturday's Super Guest of Honor

While many of you may know about Sofia the middle sister of the famous chess playing Polgar sisters, perhaps you do not know as much about our other special guest GM Yona Kosashvili. So here is some background:

Born in the Soviet Republic of Georgia in 1970, he later emigrated to Israel and performed at a very high level and became a GM. His highest FIDE rating was 2549. This was good for 57th in the world at that time. Although not presently active in competitive chess, his current rating of 2522 still places him at 18th among all Israeli players.

There were many highlights to his chess career, including excellent play for the Israel team in the 1990 Olympiad in which he won an individual silver medal, and besting the computers in 1999 at the 12th Aegon Human vs. Computer Tournamnet. One of the most recent highlights was his tie with GM Viktor Korchoi for first place in the Curacao International Tournament of 2002. He also won the blitz tournament outright beating Sophia in the finals! Here is the ChessBase report of that event: http://www.chessbase.com/newsprint.asp?newsid=612

His replay his win over Korchoi in that tournament, click the following link: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1258060

More of his games are available at: http://www.365chess.com/players/Yona_Kosashvili or http://www.chessgames.com/player/yona_kosashvili.html

He married Sophia Polgar in 1999 and has two children Alon and Yova. The family presently resides in Toronto, Ontario, Canada where he is a practicing orthopedic surgeon. To read some abstracts regarding some his medical publications go to: http://lib.bioinfo.pl/auid:5295016

LYNN M. MARINELLI CHESS LEAGUE!

Starting Thursday, May 1, 2008 at the Kenmore Community Center, 135 Wilber Avenue, Kenmore NY 14217. Register promptly at 6pm, Game pairings start at 6:30pm. USCF RULES ENFORCED! "TOUCH MOVE"! Time Control Game/30, NO Delay. Join a 6 week chess league, sections will be for K-4, 5-8, 9-12 and Adults. Play only those in your own section. Females are strongly encouraged to participate. Kenmore Residents with Resident cards entry fee is $5.00 all others $10.00. Advance registration can be emailed with full name, age, grade, school, uscf id number, uscf rating and section to participate, send to arcangel8chess@yahoo.com. Awards and/or Trophies for Top Three Winners in each section along with your name in the weekly newspaper.

CHESS CLUB OF BUFFALO BLITZ!

SUNDAY, APRIL 27, 2008 NEW STARTING TIME 1:30PM TILL 5PM GATEWAY LONGVIEW FAMILY RESOUCE CENTER 347 EAST FERRY STREET BUFFALO, NY 14208 OFF STREET PARKING, RING THE FRONT DOOR FOR ENTRY, CHESS ON FIRST FLOOR. BLITZ GAMES WILL BE PLAYED. BLITZ GAMES ARE TIME CONTROLS THAT ARE UNDER GAME 30. USCF RATED AND UNRATED PLAYERS ARE WELCOMED. BRING CHESS SET, CHESS CLOCKS, CHESS BOARDS, SCOREPADS AND PENCILS.

Countdown to the 4th Annual Stella Niagara Scholastic and Quick Open

It is just one week away to the arrival of the second Polgar sister-Sofi, along with her husband GM Yona Kosashvili and family to our chess community as they will be the honored guests at the Fourth Annual Stella Niagara Scholastic and Quick Open on Saturday May 3rd. Don't miss out on your opportunity to meet chess royalty!

The detalis of the tournament can be found at http://www.uschess.org/directories/tnmtsearch/tlaweb.php?tla_seq=797&tla_id=FourthStella

If you plan on participating please comment with your name, USCF ID#, and which section you wish to play in.

Sardinia Quick Chess Tournament

Sat. May 24, New starting time - 1pm! At the Sardinia Community Center, 12320 Savage Rd, Sardinia, NY Must be a USCF member to play(can join at tournament) 2 sections: adults: 3SS, G/29, EF $20 RDS: 1,2,3 Prizes based on entries Scholastic- Round Robin- play as many games as possible in 3hrs! EF: $10 Games start at 1pm. Trophy for 1st place. All scholastic players will receive a prize!

Does anyone know Brian Hartman?

I have received a email from an International Master, FIDE Rated, from Canada who is considering playing in our Grand Prix Tournaments on Saturdays. He is Brian Hartman, expired USCF memberhship and is rated USCF 2450. If he does attend that means Dr Kenneth Regan International Master (2419), Lionel Davis National Master (2211), Barry Davis National Master (2141), Eddie Mark III National Master (2134), Tony Kimbrough (2075p), Rev. Marijan Procyk (2072), Doug Dubose (2028), Mark Clark (2013), Richard Kalfas (1982), David "Pawn Master" Mc Duffie (1866), Vance Williams (1838), Glenn Westcott (1775), Harish Srinivasan (1770), and Thomas Warner (1729) will have a nice friendly added competitor to the mix. So now let's see if we can get all of these chess players assembled in the same venue at one time. WOW! What a strong field, imagine what other players who might start showing up unnoticed?

I think David Taber (1800) is out there and expired uscf member, he has been attending thursday night Kenton Chess Club, thursdays from 6pm till 8:30pm at Kenmore Community Center, 135 Wilber Avenue, Kenmore NY 14217.

LYNN MARINELLI CHESS TOURNAMENT REMINDER!

As of Thursday night, Lynn Marinelli, Chairwoman of the Erie County Legislature will be at the tournament. She will be there to take pictures with chess players and their parents and to meet and greet the chess community. So lets come out and meet and greet Lynn. Remember the tournament is open to all ages, no uscf registration required. Global Concept Charter School will be bringing 9 players and they are looking to take no prisoners. Female chess players who pre register to my by tonite will have a free entry in honor of womens month. The adult section is getting some interest as well with preregistration of 4 players so far. Game 30 for the adults with 5 rounds of chess all for $10.00 cash only at the door. Players should check in no later than 1pm, games will start at 1:30pm. Please bring chess sets, chess clocks, chess boards. Those who would like pizza and beverage, please donate $5.00 at checkin.

Use of Labels for Posting

I found that the use of labels while posting any new post is very useful, in finding that information later. Here is the screen shot of where you would put in the labels. Labels are also useful in categorizing all posts of one type. For eg. here are some guidelines of how to use labels

• 1. All games posted can have label "Games"
• 2. All tournament announcements can have label "Tournament"
• 3. Tournament results can have "Results"

You can also give multiple labels for a post. eg. "Tournament, Main Place Mall". Later on, clicking on Games or Tournaments, will display all posts in that category. Also the search feature, on the top right of this blog, can be used to search the blog for these labels. For earlier posts, I shall slowly add the labels. For a current list of labels, scroll further and look on the right side bar.

Madden wins Sardinia Tourney!

By scoring 8 of 9, sixth grader Ryan Madden edged out veteran Pat Patterson (7.5/8) and won the April Round Robin tournament held last Saturday April 5 in Sardinia. 7th grader Morgan Beach took 3rd with 6.5. Also competing in the adult section was Randall Beach with 5.5 and Mike Mc Duffie with 4. In the scholastic section, Ryan Palmisano won the trophy with 4 pts. Robert Becker finished 2nd with 3.5 and Joshua Arcadi was 3rd with 3. Wesely Darling and Nathan Palmisano also participated. The crosstable is available at http://main.uschess.org/assets/msa_joomla/XtblMain.php?200804056521 The next tournament will be April 26 from 1-4pm at the Sardinia Community Center, Savage Rd, Sardinia. See you there!

A "New" WNYer makes a National Top 100 List!

Richard Kalfas of the Jamestown Chess Club has made the April 2008 Top 100 List for Seniors (Active Players 65 years or older)

1. Volovich, Anatoly 71 NJ 2391
2. Saidy, Anthony 70 CA 2331
3. Lein, Anatoly 76 OH 2330
4. Hoffmann, Asa 65 NY 2298
5. Formanek, Edward William 65 PA 2283
6. Curdo, John A 76 MA 2270
7. Dunne, Alex 66 PA 2267
8. Mc Laughlin, Clifford W 66 MA 2252
9. Shipman, Walter J 78 CA 2248
10. Golyak, Isay 76 NY 2223

86. Kalfas, Richard 65 NY 1996

2008 2ND ANNUAL MAYORS CUP CHAMPIONHIPS

SAVE THE DATES SATURDAY, JUNE 7TH AND SUNDAY JUNE 8TH 2008 FOR THE SECOND ANNUAL MAYOR'S CUP CHESS CHAMPIONSHIPS.

It will be hosted by Mayor Byron Brown and the Archangel 8 Chess Academy at Buffalo Sate College's Student Union 1300 Elmwood Avenue Buffalo, NY 14222. National Master Eddie Mark III, the 2007 Mayor's Cup Champion, has confirmed that he will return to defend his title. Also International Master Dr. Ken Regan has agreed to spice up the event by competing this year as well. We are considering lowering the entry fee and adding an unrated section to encourage greater participation this year. If you have any other ideas to help promote this event please email me with them. Also if you may be, or know of, a sponsor who can help, kindly forward that on to me as well. All responses will be given every consideration. My email is arcangel8chess@yahoo.com For those who wish to be placed on the early bird discount list, please email me with your full name, USCF ID #, rating, and phone number. More details to follow. Stay tuned!

H MC CARTHY GIPSON 1ST ANNUAL GRAND PRIX

WE NOW HAVE OFFICIAL NOTIFICATION THAT THE BUFFALO POLICE COMMISSIONER WILL BE ANNOUNCING THE GRAND PRIX TOURNAMENT NEAR THE MIDDLE OR LATE PART OF APRIL 2008. TOURNAMENT DATE IS SATURDAY, MAY 19, 2008. FIRST ROUNDS TO START AT 9:30AM. THE TOURNAMENT WILL BE 4 ROUNDS, SWISS FORMAT, TO BE HELD AT THE MAIN PLACE MALL, UPPER LEVEL, 390 MAIN STREET, BUFFALO NY 14202. FREE PARKING UNDER MALL! FOOD COURT OPEN DURING TOURNAMENT PLAY! MORE DETAILS TO FOLLOW, SAVE THE DATE! WILL FEATURE DR. KENNETH REGAN, INTERNATIONAL MASTER IN THE GRAND PRIX SECTION.

LYNN MARINELLI - KLCC CHESS TOURNAMENT REVISED!

SUNDAY, APRIL 13TH, 2008 HOSTED BY TOWN OF TONAWANDA YOUTH, PARKS AND RECREATION DEPARTMENT AND THE ARCHANGEL 8 CHESS ACADEMY AND KELLOGG LEADERSHIP FOR COMMUNITY CHANGE. KENMORE COMMUNITY CENTER, 135 WILBER AVE, KENMORE NY 14217. 5 ROUNDS, SWISS, GAME 30, CHECK IN NO LATER THAN 1PM. ROUNDS: 1:30PM, 2PM, 2:30PM, 3PM AND 3:30PM. RATED USCF SECTION FOR RATED PLAYERS AND OPEN SECTION FOR ADULT PLAYERS. ENTRY FEE: $10.00 CASH ONLY AT THE DOOR. IN HONOR OF WOMENS MONTH, FEMALES HAVE FREE ENTRY IF PRE REGISTER BEFORE APRIL 10TH, 2008 OR EMAIL ME AT ARCANGEL8CHESS@YAHOO.COM. TROPHIES FOR FIRST 3 PLACES IN ALL SECTIONS. CHECKS MADE PAYABLE TO: ARCHANGEL 8 CHESS ACADEMY, LYNN MARINELLI CHESS, 60F GUILFORD LANE, BUFFALO NY 14221. NO LATER THAN APRIL 10TH, 2008 WITH FULL NAME, USCF CHESS ID NUMBER , USCF RATING, GRADE/SECTION OF PLAY AND CONTACT NUMBER.

My games Niagara Falls 2008

For the third year, it was nice to attend the Niagara Falls, Canada Open. I did not lose any games, but 3 draws did not allow me to improve my rating. There were 5-6 titled players, but unfortunatly I did not play any of them. My turn for the worse came in 2nd round when I just forgot about my "free" knight. Somehow I managed to draw that game, but I was shaken by what happened. I put some comments below each game, but I would appreciate your comments.

1. Vanderlee(1709) vs Marijan Procyk (2163 prov.) 0-1

1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 c5 3.d3 Nc6 4.Bg2 e5 5.O-O Bd6 6.e4 d4 7.Nbd2 Nge7 8.Nc4 O-O 9.Nh4 Bc7 10.f4 b5 11.Nd2 exf4 12.gxf4 Bxf4 13.Rxf4 g5 14.Rf6 gxh4 15.e5 Kh8 16.Qh5 Rg8 17.Rxf7 Rxg2 18.Kxg2 Qg8 19.Kh1 Bg4 20.Rxh7 Qxh7 21.Qxg4 Rg8 22.Qe6 Rg6 23.Qh3 Nxe5 24.Ne4 Nf5 25.Ng5 Qb7 26.Ne4 Ng4 27.Qf3 Nfe3 28.Bxe3 dxe3 29.Rf1 Qc7 30.Qf4 Qxf4 31.Rxf4 e2 0-1

2. Marijan Procyk (2163 prov.) vs Gashgarian(1920) 1/2

1.d4 e6 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Bg5 h6 5.Bh4 c5 6.e3 cxd4 7.exd4 O-O 8.Rc1 d5 9.Nf3 Nc6 10.a3 Be7 11.c5 b6 12.Bb5 Bb7 13.b4 bxc5 14.Bxc6 Bxc6 15.Ne5 Rc8 16.bxc5 Nd7 17.Bxe7 Qxe7 18.Nxc6 Rxc6 19.O-O Nf6 20.Re1 Rfc8 21.Qf3 Qc7 22.Nb5 Qa5 23.Qc3 Qxb5 24.Rb1 Qa6 25.f3 Nd7 26.Rec1 e5 27.Qb3 exd4 28.Qxd5 Nxc5 29.Qxd4 Ne6 30.Rxc6 Qxc6 31.Qxa7 Qc5 32.Qxc5 Rxc5 33.Rb8 Kh7 34.Ra8 Rc2 35.Ra4 Nc5 36.Ra7 Ra2 37.Rxf7 Rxa3 38.h4 Kg6 39.Rf4 Ne6 40.Re4 Kf6 41.Kh2 g5 42.hxg5 hxg5 43.Re2 Rb3 44.Kg1 Rd3 45.Kf2 Nd4 46.Ra2 Rc3 47.Kg3 Nf5 48.Kf2 Ne3 49.Ra6 Ke5 50.Ra5 Nd5 51.Ra2 Kd4 52.Ra4 Rc4 53.Ra2 Kd3 54.Kg3 Ke3 55.Ra5 Rd4 56.Ra3 Ke2 57.Ra2 Kd3 58.Ra3 Nc3 59.Ra5 Ne2 60.Kf2 g4 61.Ra3 Nc3 62.fxg4 Rxg4 63.Kf3 1/2

3. Pavel Rakov(1884) vs Marijan Procyk (2163 prov.) 1/2

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.c4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6 6.Nf3 Be7 7.Bf4 O-O 8.Bd3 dxc4 9.Bxc4 a6 10.O-O b5 11.Bb3 Bb7 12.Ne5 Nc6 13.Nxc6 Bxc6 14.Qd2 Nd5 15.Nxd5 Bxd5 16.Bc2 Qb6 17.Rfd1 Rac8 18.Qd3 g6 19.a3 Qc6 20.Rac1 Bxg2 21.Bb3 Qb7 22.Rxc8 Rxc8 23.d5 Bxd5 24.Bxd5 exd5 25.Qxd5 Qxd5 26.Rxd5 f6 27.Rd7 Kf8 28.Bd6 Bxd6 29.Rxd6 a5 30.Rxf6 Kg7 31.Rb6 Rc5 32.Kg2 g5 33.Kf3 h5 34.Kg2 Rf5 35.Kg3 Kf7 36.Kg2 Ke7 37.h3 h4 38.Ra6 a4 39.Rb6 Kd7 40.Rg6 Kc7 41.Re6 Kd7 42.Rb6 Rd5 43.Rb8 Ke6 44.Re8 Kf5 45.Re2 Rd3 46.f3 Rb3 47.Kf2 b4 48.axb4 Rxb4 1/2

4. Marijan Procyk (2163 prov.) vs Hill Shidley(1963) 1/2

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Bg5 h6 5.Bh4 d5 6.e3 c5 7.dxc5 g5 8.Bg3 Nc6 9.cxd5 Nxd5 10.Rc1 Nxc3 11.Qxd8 Kxd8 12.bxc3 Bxc5 13.Bb5 Bd7 14.Rd1 Ke7 15.Nf3 Rac8 16.O-O Rhd8 17.Nd2 Na5 18.Bxd7 Rxd7 19.Nb3 Bb6 20.Rxd7 Kxd7 21.Rd1 Ke8 22.Nxa5 Bxa5 23.Be5 Rc6 24.Bf6 Rc5 25.g4 e5 26.Kg2 Bc7 27.f4 gxf4 28.exf4 exf4 29.h4 Rc6 30.g5 hxg5 31.hxg5 Re6 32.a3 Bd6 33.c4 b6 34.a4 Kd7 35.a5 Kc6 36.axb6 axb6 37.Rh1 Be7 38.Bxe7 Rxe7 39.Kf3 Kc5 40.Rh6 Rb7 41.Rh7 Kc6 42.Kxf4 Rc7 43.Kf5 Kd6 44.Rh4 Ke7 45.Re4 Kf8 46.Rd4 Kg7 47.Kf4 1/2

5. Garvin Nunes(1875) vs Marijan Procyk (2163 prov.) 0-1

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 c6 4.e3 Nf6 5.Nf3 Nbd7 6.Bd3 Bb4 7.O-O O-O 8.Qc2 Re8 9.a3 Bd6 10.b4 Nf8 11.Bb2 b6 12.cxd5 exd5 13.Rac1 Bg4 14.Ne5 Bxe5 15.dxe5 Rxe5 16.Nb5 Rg5 17.f4 Rh5 18.Qxc6 Bd7 19.Bxf6 gxf6 20.Qc7 Qe8 21.Rf3 Rc8 22.Rg3 Ng6 23.Qxc8 Bxc8 24.Nd6 Qd7 25.Rxc8 Kg7 26.Ne8 Kf8 27.Nxf6 Qxc8 28.Nxh5 Qc1 29.Bf1 Qxa3 30.b5 Qa1 31.Kf2 Ke7 32.Rh3 Qc3 33.Ng3 Qc2 34.Kf3 Nf8 35.Rh5 Qa2 36.Nf5 Kd7 37.Nd4 Ne6 38.Nxe6 Kxe6 39.Rxh7 Qb1 40.Rh6 f6 41.Be2 Qe4 42.Kf2 d4 43.Rh3 d3 44.Bf3 Qc4 45.Rh5 Qc2 46.Kg3 f5 47.Rh6 Ke7 48.Rh7 Kd6 49.Rxa7 Kc5 50.h4 Qd2 51.Re7 Kxb5 52.h5 Qe1 53.Kh2 Qh4 54.Kg1 0-1

Sardinia Quick Chess Tournament

Sat. April 5. New starting time - 1pm! at the Sardinia Community Center, 12320 Savage Rd, Sardinia,NY Must be a USCF member to play(can join at tournament) 2 Sections: Adults: 3SS G 29, EF $20 RDS: 10,11,12 Prizes based on entries Scholastic- Round Robin- play as many games as possible in 3hrs! EF: $10 Games start at 1pm. Trophy for 1st place. All Scholastic players will receive a prize! For Info call Tom Warner 716-496-5230