New Year's Scholastic

January 4, 2003

This Glendale event, sponsored by the AAA Chess Club, attracted 143 players. Tying for first in the Grades 8-12 section were Alen Melikadamian and Aleksan Meymaryan with 4½-½. Close behind at 4-1 were David Ayvazyan, Grigor Karaoglanyan, Harut Keshishian and Minas Nordanyan. In the Grades 4-7 section, Michael Ambartsoumian scored 5-0, ahead of Melinda West with 4½-½. The Grades K-3 section also saw a perfect score, as Jackson Stallings topped the field with 5-0, half a point ahead of Michael Cosley. Jay Stallings directed.


Arcadia Chess Club

The "Richard Morris Memorial," ending in January, saw 39 players compete. First with 5-1 was Tim McCarron. Class prizes went to Gordon Brooks, James Boren and Denton Anderson (A), Gerry Harrison and Greg Hall (B), Sebouh Kouladjian (C), and Daniel Kerpen (D/E/Y).

In January and February, the New Year Tournament drew 40. Robert Bolias took first with 5½-½, followed at 5-1 by Tim McCarron and Gary Hall. Class prize winners included Denton Anderson, James Boren, Gordon Brooks and Dave Matson (A), Tony Grauso and Andras Mohai (C), and Carmelo Go (D/E/U).

The Arcadia Chess Club meets 6:30 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. Mondays in the Senior Citizens building, 405 S. Santa Anita Ave. For information, call Fred Brock at (626) 331-1638 or Mel Clark at (626) 447-9355


Glendale Open

January 12, 2003

This one-day event in Glendale saw 80 players compete in two sections. Winning the Open section with 4½-½ was IM Andranik Matikozyan, followed at 4-1 by IM Cyrus Lakdawala, Tatev Abrahamyan, Lernik Manukian and Roger Norman. In the Amateur (Under 1800) section, David Ayvazyan and Grigor Karaoglanyan tied for first with 4½-½. Next at 4-1 were Hovnan Arabyan, David Arabyan, Anand Kesavaraju, Rasmik Gevorgyan and Armen Isayan. Randy Hough directed for the AAA Chess Club.


Costa Mesa Octo

January 11, 2003

Thirty-four players showed up for the January 11th Costa Mesa Octos. Originally I had 32 players which was perfect for four sections of eight. But "Murphy's Law" always rules. Just as I had made the pairings for the first round and had the players start their clocks, David Bassett showed up. I had not wanted to play, but had too. I wasn't going to redo the pairings in the top section so I played my old nemesis Bassett. In seven or eight previous encounters I had won only once. But today was my day. I won against David, beat my good friend Neil Bershad in the second game and conceded a draw (a pawn up) to Takashi Iwamoto in the last round, when he made an oversight in a good position. Takashi was upset since if he won he would probably have gotten the 10 points he needed to get his Masters rating. Takashi Iwamoto and I shared first and second place with 2 1/2-1/2 in the top section, with David Basset and John W. Williams taking third with 2-1 scores.

In the second section Wael Shreiba took clear first at 2½-½. Second place was split between Pirouz Hendi, Dave Heller, and Chad Salinas all at 2-1. The third section was won by James Hamilton with a perfect 3-0 score. Second place was shared between Pedram Bashi, Ron Meier, and Thurlo Mishler all at 2-1. The bottom section saw another perfect 3-0 score turned in by Matthew Hernandez. Second place was again a three way tie between Joseph Komrosky, Kevin Johnson, and Chor Kwan all at 2-1.

The next Costa Mesa Octo will be March 15th. -- Mike Carr


Southern California Scholastic Chess League

January 25, 2003

The first day of the Southern California Scholastic Chess League, held at Garfield Elementary in Long Beach, saw 106 players from 19 schools compete. Special thanks to Mrs. Jill Baker, the principal, for all her hard work helping us to organize this event. Here are the current standings after 3 of 9 rounds. The top 5 scores make up the team total.

Junior High Division: 1st Place Burke Middle School 24½; 2nd Place Oakview Jr. Hi. 22½; 3rd Place Newcomb Jr. Academy 22. Elementary Division: 1st Place Oakview 21; 2nd/3rd Place Westerly, Lowell 17. Individual: Kindergarten Jeffrey Nazuka 1; 1st Grade Phillip Allevato 5; Ryan Halper, Kendrick Frankel 3 Anjel Brown 2½; 2nd Grade Benjamin Quincey, Justin Bartleson 4 points Nathan Kernik, Kevin Litman-Navarro 3½; 3rd Grade Harrison Foster,  Charles Escalante, Austin Horton 3; Stacey Chou 2½; 4th Grade Kevin Hsu, John Paul Case 5; Adam Escobar, Jose Negrete, Zachary Sutter, Abel Ponce 4; 5th Grade Adam Allevato 5½ Julian Laffiche, Ian Castisimo, Jeremy Hardin, Emeli Iturrios, Morgane Lafffiche 4; 6th Grade Joshua Buckowski 6;Steve Mediavilla 5; Brett Carlyle, Jon Levin 4; 7th Grade Ramiro Murillo, Tirso Rodriguez, Sam Ponce 6; Katherine Truong, Keith Williams 5;  8th Grade Jose Soto 6; Vicente Tovar 5½; Abel Delgado 5. -- Joe Hanley


Fighting Knights Chess Club

An inaugural tournament on January 26 saw a good turnout of 34 players. Organizer Rusty Myers took first place with 4-0, followed Tyler Ross at 3½-½ and Josh Copenhaver with 3-1. The Fighting Knights Chess Club meets 6:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Thursdays (call the club for exact dates) in the Aliso Viejo Library at the corner of Pacific Park and Journey Ave. For information, call Rusty Myers at (949) 425-1667 or grnnat@juno.com.


Ninth Annual Warner Winter Scholastic

February 1, 2003


This traditional event, held at the Warner School in Westwood, attracted 75 participants. John Surlow directed.

Advanced Section (24 participants) : Kasey Perkins 4; Armen Samuelian 3½; Roman Sandler, Maxwell Chou, Bryan Pine, 3. Intermediate Section (32 Participants) Alexandre Maldague 4½ Lillie Schachter, Alexander Thal, Graham Nethercot, Cyrus Allahyar, 4. Booster Section (19 participants): Ben Kolodny 5; Zachariah Irwin, 4; William Normand, Michael Drucker, 3½. 


Southern California Elementary Championships

February 8, 2003

     

This state title event in Westwood attracted 140. Melinda West took the Championship title with a 5-0 score in the top section. Other prize winners:

K-6 Championship Section (30 Participants) Melinda West, 5; Michael Ambartsoumian, Jean-Michel Maldague, Vartan Shamirian, 4. K-6 Under 800 Section (35 Participants): Michael Weiss, 5; Norik Ordoyan, Daniel Lipson, Lillie Schachter, Allen Goldfarb, Grikor Kavoukjian, Alistair Dobke, 4. K-3 Championship Section (19 Participants) Alan Tsoi, 5; Kevin Casey, Michael Cosely III, 4. K-3 Under 650 Section (56 Participants) Garen Ordoyan, Matvey Gurevich, Volodia Muradyan, Brendyn Estolas, Michael Yee, Michael Meigs, Robert Rutti, Christopher Childers, Zachariah Irwin, 4. School Team Awards: Championship Section John K-6 Under 800 Westwood Charter K-6 K-3 Championship Section Meadows 6.0 K-3 Under 650 Section La Jolla Country Day .

John Surlow and Richard Rico directed.


AAA Chess Club

For the last decade, the AAA chess club has represented Southern California and has had numerous scholastic champions and championships under its belt. They have brought up the level of scholastic chess to new heights and continue to raise new talent in the chess field.

Now more than ever, the AAA Chess club is in top shape. This time, they had the opportunity to show their skills at the National School Grade Championships held at Atlanta over the weekend of December 13-15. With a record breaking of over 2100 students competing for the championship, AAA had 1 Champion, 2 co-champions, and a second place to show for. They competed in the first, third, ninth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth grade sections.

In the first grade were three of the toughest little people in the competition. Mark Goffman, Kali Navea-Huff, and Boris Kitapszyan. Mark had 4½ out of 6 possible points to clinch the 11th place trophy. Kali and Boris were right behind him with 4 to tie for 13th place. Not bad for the whole nation. In the third grade section was Kali's older sister, Marie Navea-Huff. Like her sister, she also scored a very strong 4 points. We are looking forward to seeing these youngsters emerge into strong chess players.

In the ninth grade section, two AAA players competed for the 1st prize. Chris Teringalian did not play like we have seen him play in the past. He had a disappointing 3 points out of 6. However, we know how strong Chris can play and we hope to see that in the future. The other player, Tatev Abrahamyan was this years ninth grade champion. She scored a perfect 6 points to win her second back-to-back title in the School Grade Championships. She is the first woman to win a consecutive title in this tournament. Look out for this young girl in the future. At 15, she already has a whopping 2350 rating and it's only rising.

The Tenth grade section was one of the toughest sections to play in. There were some hard and long fought games and many draws to finally decide a seven-way tie for 1st place. We saw two of AAA's strongest players tie for the title with the other 5 players. Harut Keshishian and Alen Melikadamian were both undefeated with 5 out of 6 points. David Ayvazyan tied for 8th place right behind these two with only half a point behind. Alen and David also won the trophy for tying for 5th place in the High School team competition. They are both studying at Hoover High School in Glendale. Valentine Asatryan did not do so well in the tournament. He scored 2½.

The eleventh grade section also witnessed many draws and Edgar Zardaryan of the AAA tied for eighth place with 4 points. This was a good result considering the champion scored 5½ and only one player scored 5 to win second.

Finally, in the 12th grade section, Minas Nordanyan drew his last two games to tie for second place with only half a point behind the 1st place winner. Alexan Meymaryan had 4 points to tie for 9th and Grigor Karaoglanian had 3½.

We are very proud of these kids who traveled so far and still managed to do so well. For all those who have never played in the Nationals, it is something one should not miss. The experience could be very overwhelming with so many children competing for the title. Picture a room full of 2000 children and parents and chess. To play well, one needs to be emotionally and physically prepared. AAA has shown that Southern California is always in the ball game so to speak. And for that we are proud of them and wish them many more successful championships in the future. -- Harutyun Akopyan

San Diego Gambito Open

The December Super Gambito Open (Gambito #103) on December 7th, 2002 drew 33 players, 15 in the Open Section (and one house player) plus 18 in the Reserve Section (under 1800). It was Pearl Harbor Day and Master Bruce Baker torpedoed the competition with a perfect 4-0 score, winning $125, plus a Best Game Prize. Art Taylor also outgunned his opponents 4-0 in the reserves, winning $75. Other prize winners included Master Romeo Ignacio, 2nd Place, with 3½ ($75); Carey Milton, Best Under 2000 with 3 ($75); Alfredo DeLeon and Ron Rezendes, 2 ½ each, splitting the Best Under 2000 prize ($37.50 each); and James Mitchell, 2½, Best Under 1600 ($75). In the Reserve Section Best Game, Ryan Tester showed why he is dangerous and probably quite underrated by launching a surprising attack with a knight sac even after already dropping several pawns in the opening.


Stefan Pronivk (2073) - Bruce Baker (2328)

Gambito Open #103, Rd 3

A26 ENGLISH  OPENING

1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.d3 d6 6.Nf3 f5 7.Bg5 Nf6 8.0-0 h6 9.Bxf6 Qxf6 10.Nd5 Qf7 11.Rb1 0-0 12.b4 Be6 13.Nd2 Nd8 14.b5 c6 15.Nb4 d5 16.cxd5 cxd5 17.Nb3 Rc8 18.Rc1 Rxc1 19.Qxc1 b6 20.f4 e4 21.Qe3 Qd7! 22.Nc2 Qxb5 23.Ncd4 Qa4 24.Ra1 Bf7 25.g4 Ne6 26.Nxe6 Bxe6 27.gxf5 gxf5 28.d4 Rc8 29.Qd2 Rc4 30.e3 Qc6 31.Bf1 Rc2 32.Rc1 Rxc1 33.Nxc1 Kh7 34.Ne2 Bf7 35.Bh3 Bg6 36.Ng3 Qc8 37.Qb2 h5 38.Kf2 Bf6 39.Kg2 h4 40.Ne2 Bh5 41.Nc3 Kh6 42.Kf2 Bf7 43.Qb3 Be6 44.Ke2 Qa6+ 45.Kf2 Qd3 46.Bf1 Qd2+ 47.Be2? (Ne2 was better) h3! 48.Nd1 Bh4+ 0-1


Ryan Tester (1430) - William Delaney (1638)

Gambito Open #103, Rd 3

C35 KING'S GAMBIT

1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 Be7 4.d4 d5 5.Bxf4 dxe4 6.Ne5 Nf6 7.Bc4 0-0 8.0-0 Nbd7 9.Qe2 Nb6 10.Bb3? Qxd4+ 11.Kh1 Qxb2 12.Nd2 Nbd7? (Nbd5 was better) 13.Nxf7! Rxf7 14.Qc4 Ne5 15.Bxe5 Qxe5 16.Qxf7+ Kh8 17.Rxf6! Qxa1+? 18.Rf1 Qxf1+ 19.Nxf1 Bf5 20.Qxe7 h6 21.Ng3 Bh7 22.Nh5 Rg8 23.Bxg8 1-0


The New Year got off to a great start with the January Super Gambito (#107) on 1/4/03, which attracted 33 woodpushers. This time Master Alan Sebeckis came out on top with a perfect 4-0 score ($125) while 4 other players scored 3 points: Bruce Baker, Romeo Ignacio, Paul Choate and Thomas Nelson ($40 each). Fidel Gonzalez won clear 1st in the Under 2000 category with 2 ½ ($75). In the Reserve Section, Chuck Ensey won $75 with a 4-0 score, while Pejman Sagart won $75 for Best Under 1600 with 3 points. Best Game prize winners were Tom Nelson and Chuck Ensey.


Thomas Nelson (2111) - Eduardo Peinado (2064)

Gambito Open #107, Rd 3

E11 BOGO-INDIAN DEFENSE

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Bb4+ 4.Nbd2 0-0 5.a3 Bxd2+ 6.Bxd2 h6 7.Qc2 d6 8.e3 b6 9.Bd3 Bb7 10.0-0 Nbd7 11.e4 e5 12.d5 a5 13.b4 axb4 14.axb4 Qe7 15.Nh4 Rxa1 16.Rxa1 Ra8 17.Rxa8+ Bxa8 18.Nf5 Qf8 19.Qc1 Bb7 20.Nxh6! Kh8 21.Nf5 Qa8? 22.Bh6! g6 23.Bg7+ Kg8 24.Qh6 1-0


Keith Bresee (1664) - Chuck Ensey (1726)

Gambito Open #107, Rd 4 B02 ALEKHINE'S DEFENSE

1.e4 Nf6 2.Nc3 d5 3.e5 Ne4 4.Nf3 Bf5 5.d4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 e6 7.Bd3 Bg6 8.0-0 Be7 9.Bf4 Nd7 10.c4 dxc4 11.Bxc4 Nb6 12.Bb3 0-0 13.Bg3 Qc8 14.a4 c5 15.Qe2 c4 16.Ba2 a5 17.Bb1 c3 18.Qb5 Nd5 19.Ne1 Qc7 20.Ba2 Rfd8 21.Qe2 Bb4 22.f4 Qc6 23.Bb3 Rab8 24.Nd3 b5 25.Qf3 bxa4 26.Bxa4 Qc4 27.Bf2 Nb6 28.Bb3 Qb5 29.Nxb4 axb4 30.g4 Bxc2?! 31.Bxc2 b3 32.Bd3 Qb4 33.f5 exf5 34.gxf5 c2 35.Ra7 Ra8? 36.Rfa1? Rxa7 37.Rxa7 Qd2 38.Qb7 c1=Q+ 39.Kg2 Qg5+ 40.Bg3 Qcd2+ 41.Kh1 Qd1+ 42.Kg2 Qgd2+ 43.Kh3 Qh5+ 0-1


The February Super Gambito (#111) drew 32 players to Balboa Park on 2/01/03 to see Cyrus Lakdawala reassert his flawless play after a few stumbles late last year. His 4-0 score earned $125, while four other players scored 3 points: Bruce Baker, Adam Corper, Tony Davis and Jess Macaspac ($44 each). Felipe Camacho also scored 3 points, but won $75 as Best Under 2000. In the reserves, Shaun Sweitzer scored 3½ ($75) and Pejman Sagart, 2 for Best Under 1600 ($75). Pejman is not likely to stay under 1600 for very long, so he is making as much as he can while rated 1596. However, William Delaney got the better of him for the Best Game Prize in the reserves this month, while Romeo Ignacio won a thriller against the wild tactics of Dimitry Kishinevsky in the Open.

Starting with this Super Gambito (the Sixth), second place prizes of $25 were added for the Under 2200, 2000, 1800, and 1600 categories, bringing the guaranteed prize fund to $640. This should encourage players to fight on and not withdraw just because the big prize is out of reach. Regular Gambito tournaments are held every Saturday at 10 AM at the San Diego Chess Club at Sixth & Ivy in Balboa Park and have a variable prize fund based on the entry fees ($15) - the more players, the bigger the prize fund, so spread the word and bring your friends. Only the Super Gambito on the 1st Saturday of every month has the GUARANTEED PRIZE FUND OF $640, so come meet some really great players and see what all the excitement is about! -- Chuck Ensey


Romeo Ignacio (2254) - Dimitry Kishinevsky (2103)

Gambito Open #111, Rd 2

B33 SICILIAN DEFENCE, Sveshnikov Variation

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Bg5 a6 8.Bxf6 gxf6 9.Na3 b5 10.Nd5 Bg7 11.c3 0-0 12.Qh5 Bb7 13.Nc2 f5 14.exf5 Nd4 15.Nce3 Bxd5 16.Nxd5 Nc2+ 17.Kd1 Nxa1 18.f6 Bxf6 19.Bd3 Re8 20.Qg4+ Bg7 21.h4 b4 22.Rh3 Re6 23.h5 h6 24.Qe4 Qg5? (better was 24…Ra7 and Black still looks good) 25.Nf6+ Bxf6 26.Qxa8+ Kg7 27.Rg3 Qxg3 28.fxg3 bxc3 29.bxc3 1-0


William Delaney (1701) - Pejman Sagart (1596)

Gambito Open #111, Rd 4

E12 QUEEN'S INDIAN

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.Bg5 Bb7 5.Nbd2 Be7 6.e3 0-0 7.Bd3 d6 8.Qc2 h6 9.Bxf6 Bxf6 10.0-0 Nd7 11.e4 Re8 12.Rae1 e5 13.d5 Rc8 14.b3 Nf8 15.h3 Ng6 16.g3 Qd7 17.Kg2 Bd8 18.Nh2 Ne7 19.f4 exf4 20.gxf4 Rf8 21.f5 f6 22.Be2 c6 23.Qd3 cxd5 24.exd5 Ra8 25.Bh5 b5 26.Re6 bxc4 27.bxc4 Rc8 28.Ne4 Bc7 29.Ng4 Bb8? 30.Ngxf6+! Rxf6 31.Rxf6 Rf8 32.Rxf8+ Kxf8 33. f6 Nc8 34.fxg7+ Kxg7 35.Qg3+ Kh7 36.Nf6+ Kh8 37.Nxd7 1-0


San Diego Chess Club

Forty-eight players competed in the SDCC Winter Swiss Open in November and December of last year, and when it was all over Tony Davis emerged as the clear winner with a perfect 5-0 score. Thomas Hanak had the best score Under 2000 with 4 points, which was matched by Ronald Soto with 4 points for Best Under 1900. Other winners were: Robert Draper (<1800), Robert Henderson (<1700), Dayne Freitag (<1600), Ryan Tester (<1500) and James Mitchell (<1400). Meanwhile, Bruce Baker won the Master Round Robin, with 3 ½ points, squeaking past 4 other masters and one expert.

The club is feeling all spruced up now after a remodel job was finished on the restroom facilities. This ended a long struggle with the city to provide matching funds that had dragged on for what seemed like years. It is rumored that other improvements are now in the works too. Currently the club is in the midst of the annual Qualifier to determine who will compete for the Club Championship with current Champion Cyrus Lakdawala. This year the Qualifier has been permanently named "The Markowski" to honor our most famous member, Alina Markowski, our retired former Secretary, who is still going strong at 92 years young. I know she won her game last Wednesday. This year the Markowski is very large, with over 90 entrants, of which only 11 will go on to face each other and Cyrus for the crown of Club Champion. The Club Championship will begin February 26th and continue for 11 weeks, culminating on May 7th. Non-qualifiers will compete in a 6 round Reserve Championship, followed by a 5 round Spring Swiss. See our Website at Groups.msn.com/sandiegochess for more information. Another interesting tidbit from the club is that a $5 fine is now being enforced for cellphone owners who allow their phones to annoy others by ringing during rated play!! This club is really serious about providing good playing conditions. The club is located at 2225 6th Ave (at Ivy) in Balboa Park and meets Wednesday nights at 7 PM. It is also open for casual play everyday from 2 PM to 10 PM. On Thursdays at 7 PM Master Bruce Baker gives group lessons for only $5 and on Fridays from 6:30 PM to 10 PM the Jedi Knights Chess Club for children meets with instruction, informal competition, rated tournaments, analysis, simultaneous exhibitions, and much more. On Saturdays the 4 round, Game/45 Gambito Open goes from 10 AM to 6 PM, often followed by blitz tournaments at 7 PM. Call (619) 239-7166 for more information. -- Chuck Ensey


West Valley Chess Club

The Club Championship, ending in February, saw Fereidon Geula top the field with 6-1. Dan Wond finished second with 5½-1½. Class prizes went to Rusty Kreutik, Imanuel Singuillo, Duane Cooper, James Grey and Sam Ilagan.

The West Valley Chess Club meets Thursdays at 6:30 PM at the West Valley Jewish Community Center at 22622 Vanowen Street in West Hills. For information, call John Price (818-363-1379) or Duane Cooper (818-999-0837).


Exposition Park Chess Club

The monthly free tournament on October 6 sections won by Frank Cipriani, Shafiq Al-Baqir, Edward Schuck, Robert Lauson, Hector Contreras and Clyde Hill. The Exposition Park Chess Club meets 1:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Sundays in the Exposition Park branch of the public library, 3665 S. Vermont Ave. When not hosting tournaments the club engages in a wide variety of chess-related activities. These include, but are not limited to, mutual games for pleasure, simultaneous matches against a rated Expert or Master, analysis of games, and general chess instruction. For information, call the library at (323) 732-0169.


Foothills Open

February 2, 2003

This one-day event, held at the Sheraton Pasadena Hotel, attracted 83 players in three sections. IM Melikset Khachiyan topped the Open section with 4½-½, defeating IMs Tim Taylor and Anthony Saidy en route. Tied for second with 4-1 were Taylor, Saidy, Ilia Serpik and Lernik Manukian. The Under-1800 section went to Jerry Maxwell with 4½-½, half a point ahead of Richard Somawang. In the Under-1400 section, scored 5-0. Bill and Brenda Goichberg directed for the Continental Chess Association.



VJames Hilliard, 1943 - 2003

A popular Los Angeles player, James Hilliard, died on January 27. James was on his mail route. Less than three months from retirement, he had been eagerly anticipating the chance to play more chess.  James was born in Tennessee, grew up in Chicago, served in the Navy for four years (without being able to swim!), and then spent many years in Los Angeles.  A true chess  lover, he was a fixture at the Pasadena Club, many weekend tournaments, and various informal playing venues. He is survived by his wife of 21 years, Jacky, and children Akilah, Khafre, and David.

At James's memorial service, several chessplayers joined other friends and work colleagues in speaking of how much his selflessness and cheerfulness had meant to them. We'll miss you, James.


Hilliard (1900) - Conrad (1630)

Crown City Open, Pasadena  2000

A45 TROMPOWSKY ATTACK

1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5 Ne4 3. Bf4 c5 4. Nd2 Qa5 5. c3 Nxd2 6. Bxd2 cxd4 7. cxd4 Qb6 8. Bc3 d5  9. h3 Bf5 I'10. Nf3 h6 11. e3 Nc6 12. Qa4 e6 13. Bb5 a6 14. Bxc6+ bxc6 15. 0-0 Qb5 16. Qxb5 cxb5 17. Ba5 Bd6 18. Rfc1 Ke7?!19. Rc6 Rhc8 20. Rac1 Rxc6 21. Rxc6 Ra7? 22. Bb6! Rb7 23. Bc5 Bxc5 24. dxc5 f6?25. Rxa6 Rc7 26. b4 e5 27. Rd6 Rd7 28. Rb6 Bd3 29. Ra6 Rb7  30. Nd2 Bc4 31. f4 exf4 32. exf4 f5? 33. Nf3 Bd3 34. Ne5 Be4 35. Kf2 d4 36. g4 fxg4 37. hxg4 Rc7 38. a3 Rb7 39. Rd6 1-0



VIvars Dahlberg 1934-2002

We are saddened to report that Ivars Dahlberg passed away last year on February 28 in Los Angeles.  Though he had not played regularly since the late 1980's Dahlberg was one of the strongest players in Southern California for many years. Born in Latvia, he came to the United States in the early 1950s, settling in Oregon where he won several state championship titles. He moved to Southern California around 1970, working as a financial planner. Dahlberg had several excellent results in Futurity tournaments at the Chess Set in Los Angeles in the 1970s and 1980s. Perhaps his best result was Lone Pine 1981, where finished with 4-5 against a filed inclding Korchnoi, Gligorich and Sosonko.

Anyone with more information about Ivars, particularly information on how to contact his relatives, is urged to contact Val Zemitis (chess@davis.com), who is working on an encyclopedia of Latvian chess players.