Isolani's Blog

2012

01-30-12 Class Championships on March 17th and 18th

Hello all,
You may have noticed that we are taking a break from monthly tournaments in Santa Fe libraries. These will return starting in May. Meanwhile SF Rooks are hosting the NM Class Championships in March. We have a new venue for this! We will be playing in the mall at La Tienda in Eldorado, 8 miles from Santa Fe. There are 5 rounds of G/90 + 5 secs delay, players are grouped in sections based on chess rating classes. The leading scorer in each class will win $150 based on 10 entries per class. Rounds will be at 10, 1:45 and 5 on Saturday and at 10 and 1:45 on Sunday. Entry $25. Flyer and entry form are at nmchess.org. btw my email has changed....if you wish to contact me I am now at jdjohnston100@gmail.com
Jim Johnston

01-26-12 SRFO Lectures

This was from a participant from the 2011 Southern Rocky FIDE Open:

"I would like to place a plea for players to come to the GM lectures - maybe through the forum - but also, I think if there was some newspaper exposure there would be a good response from those in the public that are not tournament chess players that would be curious enough to come listen to both GM's. This happened when John Donaldson came several years ago - there were articles in the "Alibi" and ABQ newspapers that brought maybe half of the people I had never before seen in the chess scene. They are truly incredible speakers - especially Yermo - as I am quite inspired every time I listen to his "Game of the Day" and "Every Russian Schoolboy Knows" lectures on ICC. Yermo has sooo much wisdom and knowledge and easy to understand that I think if the general public could be informed that all 25 slots would be taken. And, with Levon Aronian on such a tear at Wijk aan Zee this moment it would be very good to advertise Khachian as his former coach. I just thank that a lot of players are missing out. I went to the breakfast at last years SRFO and enjoyed Kachian's talk. He was very open to questions which I thought very good. There are kids in the area that parents would pay for this. "

I really concur, GM Yermolinsky's lectures are very hot items on ICC so much that he has become their #1 viewed lecturer. The fact that we have him to speak personally to us in New Mexico is quite a treat! In addition, GM Khachiyan's former student, GM Levon Aronion, is +5 at Wijk Aan Zee which is one of the strongest fields all year. Here are the standings through 10 rounds:

1. Aronian, L. 7 1/2

2. Ivanchuk, V. 6 1/2

3. Carlsen, M.
Radjabov, T. 6

5. Caruana, F.
Nakamura, H. 5 1/2

7. Kamsky, G.
Van Wely, L. 5

9. Karjakin, S. 4 1/2

10. Gashimov, V.
Gelfand, B.
Giri, A.
Topalov, V. 4

14. Navara, D. 2 1/2

Hope to see everyone at the lectures! - Chad.

01-26-12 2011 Southern Rocky FIDE Open Article gets accolades

The story I wrote for Chess Life Online about the Southern Rocky last year was voted as the #7 story of the year for all CLO submissions! Thanks everyone for providing such great material to write about.

-Chad

Story with ranking here!
Even better is that I've been asked to do another article on the 2012 version of the Southern Rocky, especially since we're hosting it with a National Championship event!

01-23-12 Re: survived

Thanks Mark, but despite the strong finish I definitely didn't cruise to that result. It was a bumpy ride to say the least. Several games I was outright losing at some point -- particularly against Jeff, Matt, and Silas -- and in a few other games I was fortunate to get more than a draw. I'm happy Ben is carrying the torch for Las Cruces chess, he's a dangerous opponent for anyone with his creative and aggressive style of play. Our game was another one that could have easily gone his way had he not been in time trouble. It's wonderful that we have so many talented young players in New Mexico, and the phenomenal success of the UNM chess team is a testament to that as well. Good luck to everyone playing in the Southern Rocky FIDE Open 2, it promises to be an exciting event. Meier who? Yermo who? Come on, let's teach them not to underestimate New Mexican chess :)

Lior

01-20-12 Silas, Doug and Dante get national exposure

Check out the video spotlight feature at chesscafe.com for the news item on the UNM team's success at the panams tournament. Jim Johnston

01-20-12 Congrats

Congratulations to the UNM Chess Club's team for their performance at the 2011 Pan American Intercollegiate Team Championship!

Just read about this in an article (which included a nice video clip) in Chess Cafe's Newsletter... well done!
Dr J(Dr Jeffrey Neil Burch)

01-07-12 Southern Rocky Deadline Approaches

Hi all,
I just wanted to remind everyone that the first early entry deadline is approaching - January 23rd! Entry can be made online at www.SouthernRockyOpen.com

After each deadline, the entries are $10 and $20 more expensive.

In addition, the hotel deadline to receive the best rate has passed. They have extended this deadline by 10 days; meaning, there are a few days left to book your room!

If you need any assistance, feel free to contact me.

Best Regards,
Chad Schneider
wiredkingscc@gmail.com

01-07-12 Hotel Deadline SRFO

Hello chess friends who live outside of Albuquerque,

I'm not sure if you noticed, but deadline for the hotel rate for the Southern Rocky Rate has passed. They have agreed to extend the deadline for a few days. Obviously you can stay other places, but the rate for the preferred site is $71 at our rate and will go back up to $149 soon.

Here is the link to register:

http://homewoodsuites.hilton.com/en/hw/groups/personalized/A/ABQAPHW-SRO-20120222/index.jhtml

or you can find it on the website @ www.SouthernRockyOpen.com

Best Regards,
Chad Schneider

01-07-12 I survived the Albuquerque FIDE Invitational

Dominating and doominating a strong New Mexico field, Lior Lapid cruised to a 7-1 first place finish. Demonstrating strong technique and applying persistence Lior was able to consistently bring home the point. Zach Stuart was the only player able to slow Lior's march through a tough field. Zach was able to bring Lior down by a knight sac and attacking onslaught. Regardless of the tricks tried against him, whether in openings or endgames, Lior was convincingly able to outplay his opponents. A quite impressive performance. Zach Stuart starting on a high note was in turn slowed down by the ever dangerous Jeff Serna. With a gusto reminiscent of Tal, Jeff seeks to execute his opponents with strong and forceful moves. He also had a great game against Lior but stumbled in the endgame. His explosive play allowed him to finish 5-3 and tie with Ben Coraretti for second place. Ben Coraretti always plays interesting chess. His famous quote is, "I played it in an internet game...." Somewhere there must be a 20,000 game database of his. He also started strong but late losses to Lapid and Serna let the field narrow. The unfortunate players of the tournament were Silas Perry and Chad Schneider. Playing strong chess, they were hindered by the relatively fast time control and large number of games played in a short time. Many a half-point slipped through these Botnivik-like clones before the end of the tournament. Matt Grinberg played solid chess accumulating a bagful of draws. His tough play blunted Stuart's attempt to minority attack him and exhausted Stuart and many others. Typical was Young-Grinberg in the final round, an opposite colored bishop endgame literally fought to the last pawn. Steve Young fought valiantly but was unfortunate in catching his opponents at their peak. The event was quite hard but a good time was had by all, especially when the tournament ended. Again, congratulations to Lior Lapid, Jeff Serna and Ben Coraretti the cream of New Mexico chess.

Mark Schwarman

01-02-12 UNM Chess Team at 2011 Pan-American Intercollegiate

The University of New Mexico chess team of Silas Perry, Doug Thigpen, Lara Armas and Dante Archuleta, finished tied for 10th place in the 2011 Pan-American intercollegiate team championships. The tournament was held in Dallas, December 27-30. UNM captured the Class A team prize.

The tournament was remarkably strong. Four teams entered with average ratings above 2500. Congratulations to the UNM Team.

The UNM Chess Club meets in the UNM Student Union Building on Tuesday evenings during the Fall and Spring semesters. Contact Dante Archuleta at 934-3931 or dantearc@unm.edu.