Cecil's Saturday Puzzle - September 25, 2010

from the Winnipeg Free Press

Mate in 2 (Funk)

1. Kf2

2010 September TNT has been rated by the CFC

2010 September TNT has been rated by the CFC

See the crosstable here

Congratulations to the following for achieving new peak ratings.

Gustavo Melamedoff  2055
Saul Magnusson 1803

Cecil's Saturday Puzzle - September 11, 2010

from the Winnipeg Free Press

White to mate in 3 (Loyd)

Ok, this should be easy, but I was looking a bit deep.

Hint: Don't spend all night thinking about the a-file.
1.bxa8(N) Kxg2 2.Nb6 ....

2010 ChessNuts Challenge dates and details announced

Our friend Brian Thompson has posted details of the 4th Annual ChessNuts Challenge in Fargo, ND. October 22-24, 2010 (Games on Saturday and Sunday).

Lots of my time for advance planning for this excellent event !

(repost from February !)

Bent Larsen

Les Mundwiler writes:
 
Bent Larsen has just died, I visited the Danish Chess Union's site and 
found the attached jpeg, from last Jan. 1st. Here's the caption: Bent 
Larsen fotograferet i januar 2010 af Peter Heine Nielsen.
 

 From ICC newsletter:

  En Passant: Bent Larsen, 1935-2010

One of the world's best grandmasters of his day, Danish legend Bent Larsen, has died in Buenos Aires, Argentina after a short illness. He was 75.
The six-time Danish Champion and four-time world championship candidate (in 1965, 1968, 1971, and 1977) won three Interzonal tournaments and many, many other international tournaments. His five consecutive first prizes at Havana 1967, Winnipeg 1967, Palma de Mallorca 1967, Sousse 1967 and Monte Carlo 1968 set a record for anyone who was not actually world champion. In 1967 he was also awarded the first Chess Oscar for player of the year.
Larsen was the first player in the western hemisphere to challenge the dominance of Soviet chess after the second world war. In the years leading up to Bobby Fischer's 1972 world title victory, Larsen was often considered a stronger candidate for the championship match than was Fischer.
And indeed when FIDÉ organized a match in 1970 pitting the Soviet Union's best players against the top players from the rest of the world, Larsen protested when Fischer was initially selected for board one. In a rare display of humility Fischer acquiesced, allowing Larsen the top spot and a match-up with world champion Boris Spassky.
However, in an outstanding career with many highs, his most famous low has to have been his 6-0 loss to Fischer in their 1971 Candidates match - the psychological blow from which many believe signaled the beginning of the end for Larsen's ambitions to become world champion; and indeed, it was often said he was never quite the same player after such a demolition job by Fischer.
Since the early 1970s Larsen has lived in Buenos Aires, with his Argentinian-born wife. One of his lasting legacy's to chess will be his outstanding collection of 50 games published in his book, Larsen's Selected Games of Chess 1948-69 (also known as Bent Larsen: Master of Counter-Attack) - a truly superb book and one that should be in everyone's library.
In a further tribute to Bent Larsen here on ICC, next week three Chess.FM shows - Chess Talk with John Watson, Attack with LarryC, and Game of the Week with Joel Benjamin - will be dedicated to the life and times of this truly remarkable chess giant.

Photo © Peter Heine Nielsen

Note: Why Larsen on the chessmanitoba blog ? 

Well, he played in the 1967 

Grandmaster Chess Tournament in Winnipeg.

2010 Abe Yanofsky Memorial has been rated

See the crosstables here:

Open

U1800

Congratulations to the following who achieved new peak established ratings:
Jonathon Zaczek   2246
Jim Green   1822
Steven de Groot 1831
Michael Pang 1774
Leor Wasserman 1758
Arie Wasserman  1742
Richard Ott 1728
Henry Li 1438
Sashika Kumaragamage 1414
Alex Iomdina 1296
Justin Villeneuve 1246

Cecil's Saturday Puzzle August 28, 2010

from the Saturday Winnipeg Free Press

 White to mate in 3

Shinkman
1. Qd4! cd4 2.Rf7, etc.

2010 AY Satellite Results

Eighty-one year old Aron Kaptsan warmed up for the Abe Yanofsky Memorial by defeating Manitoba Champion Trevor Vincent, and  Manitoba's newest Master, Jonathon Zaczek, enroute to winning the AY Satellite with a 4-0 score.

Aron Kaptsan, Samuel Lipnowski, Trevor Vincent, Perfecto Joven, Saul Magnusson, Arie Wasserman, Michael Pang, and Cory Letain all won entries to the Abe Yanofsky Memorial tournament. 

Cory Letain and Trevor Vincent in turn registered for the tournament; Sam Lipnowski and Arie Wasserman are likely to do as well. I am not sure about Saul or Perfecto.   Pang and Kaptsan already had entered; I know Kaptsan is looking to sell his ticket for somewhere between $ 30 and $ 40. If interested, please contact me @ chessmanitoba at gmail.com with an offer.

#	Name	Rtng	Rd 1	Rd 2	Rd 3	Rd 4	Tot	Prize
1	Aron Kaptsan	2031	W15	W14	W3	W5	4.0	ticket
2	Samuel Lipnowski	2244	W18	W11	D5	W7	3.5	ticket
3	Trevor Vincent	2329	W8	W4	L1	W11	3.0	ticket
4	Perfecto Joven	1963	W20	L3	W16	W9	3.0	ticket
5	Jonathon Zaczek	2228	W19	W13	D2	L1	2.5	chop
6	Rolando Bince	2160	W12	D16	L7	W15	2.5	chop
7	Stephen Lipic	1816	D17	W22	W6	L2	2.5	chop
8	Ryne Swift	1802	L3	D15	W17	W12	2.5	chop
9	Gustavo Melamedoff	2002	L16	W17	W20	L4	2.0
10	Jim Lauritson	1910	L14	L12	W18	W16	2.0
11	Saul Magnusson	1798	W21	L2	W13	L3	2.0	ticket
12	Arie Wasserman	1707	L6	W10	W14	L8	2.0	ticket
13	Michael Pang	1706	W22	L5	L11	W20	2.0	ticket
14	Cory Letain	1607	W10	L1	L12	W19	2.0	ticket
15	Dave Milward	1718	L1	D8	W21	L6	1.5
16	Leor Wasserman	1682	W9	D6	L4	L10	1.5
17	Henry Li	1388	D7	L9	L8	W21	1.5
18	Carl Pottinger	1766	L2	L21	L10	B---	1.0
19	Richard Ott	1694	L5	L20	B---	L14	1.0
20	Frank Milord	1662	L4	W19	L9	L13	1.0
21	Justin Villeneuve	1277	L11	W18	L15	L17	1.0
22	Joseph Van Wyk	2062	L13	L7	U---	U---	0.0