Hello SGVCC Members – We’ll start the New Year Open, a six round tournament, on January 3, 2023. There will be three sections and the last round ends on February 7th. A registration link with more details is below. The Club is closed on December 20 and 27. On behalf of your SGVCC Board, thanks to our players, parents, and volunteers for a great year. Membership is open to all chess enthusiasts and we hope to see a lot of new faces in 2023!
(via @chess_social) — Today the Los Angeles Chess Social announced the July event will be held at Griffins of Kinsale in South Pasadena! “As usual, there will be ooooodles of chess, some new live music acts, adult liquids and food!” the announcement, which was sent via email explained. “Chess games will be held on the lower floor, but we may be able to grab some tables outside as well! This may be the last meet at Griffin’s for a while as a remodel is coming, so don’t miss out!”
Please bring a mask!
The SGVCC Open drew 40 players and concluded on June 14, 2022. NM Karl Tolentino was the winner, but it took a last round win over front runner Alam LaCombe to seal the deal. The early story was the outstanding performances of Leo Wang (1849) and Manu Prasad (1590), who both upset higher-rated players and found themselves leading the field with perfect 3-0 scores. Leo Wang is the younger brother of local legend IM Annie Wang and had upset Tolentino while Prasad took down two strong 1900 players. Their Round 4 battle (Photo 1) ended in a draw, leaving them in a three-way tie with LaCombe at 3.5.
But never count out the top players! Round 5 saw LaCombe beat Wang and Tolentino stop Prasad, setting up a last round game between them. Fittingly, it was the last game of the night and hard fought (see photo).
So it was Tolentino clear first at 5, LaCombe, Wang and Craig Vierregg tied for second at 4.5. Vierreg continues to turn in good results and improve his rating, having risen to 1764 since first coming to SGVCC last October with an old 1517 rating. Other notable results were Rohan Daftuar, best U1400 with 4 and new members Neel Deshpande and Omkar Kanse winning best U1000 with 2 points each.
Our latest event, Summer Fun, is currently underway and attracted a new record 51 players. Check out the standings at https://caissachess.net/live/1625.
| LA Chess Social has announced the next chess social! At this “Summer Kickoff Party” there will be the oodles of casual chess, live music, catered food, and libations! This is for adults age 21 and over only. Organizers say the music will be especially unique and fantastic, with special guests Inflatable Planet and White Jagg! Where? Old Towne Pub (66 N Fair Oaks Ave. Pasadena 91103) When? June 24th, 2022 Time? 8:00pm-1:00pm |
Below are some after school and weekend youth chess programs in the San Gabriel Valley & adjacent areas. All information is current as of May 2022.
Arcadia Parks and Recreation – Even if you see a message about how the Summer / Spring classes are “full” still go ahead and click on the catalogue icon on upper left and filter by keyword “chess” to see the “Introduction to Chess” class offered by the Arcadia Community Center:
https://secure.rec1.com/CA/city-of-arcadia/catalog/item/4268/119413/1729541
Diamond Bar – Wings Chess Academy
La Canada/Flintridge Community Center – Click on catalogue icon on upper left and filter by keyword “chess” to find the “Chess Nuts” class led by Clint Cooper in La Cañada Flintridge:
Rowland Heights – Beyond Chess – Founded by IM Ben Deng and WIM Sarah Lu, both professional chess players and former members of China’s national team:
https://www.beyondchess.net/english
ChessKids 1-on-1 Virtual Chess Coaching
10th world chess champion Boris Spassky was on record for saying he and his first wife Larissa “were like bishops of opposite color.” Indeed, opposite bishops in chess act as if they live in parallel universes- neither one intrinsically better than the other, they follow similar movements only to never actually meet or share a common long term goal (Boris would marry three times, and unfortunately ended all three in divorce).
Ok enough of the sappy stuff.
The mark of a good chess player has always been the ability to churn out winning ideas from a level playing field-given a similar amount of resources and time. How then, does one take the imbalance of opposite bishops and turn that into a winning advantage? After all, a light squared bishop can never hope to contest the same squares as its dark squared counterpart, and vice-versa. Do they invariably cancel out?
Let’s take a look at three instances where such a situation arises, first from Aaron Nimzowitsch vs Jose Raul Capablanca:
Second, let’s look at a game from the Magician of Riga-Mikhail Tal- and Ivan Radulov, in a pure bishop of opposite color face off:
Now for the third, and what I consider the apex, example. The following game is between two absolute legends: Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov (white) and Garry Kimovich Kasparov (black) during their titanic 1985 world championship match. In a clash of opposing styles (Kasparov is known for his tactical prowess and opening preparation with flashy attacks and sacrifices. Karpov is known for his positional grinding and exploiting small wrinkles in the position with minimal risk.), what better way to end on the topic of opposite bishops? It’s one of my personal favorite games and is appropriately dubbed: The White Key Symphony.
Absolute masterclass by Karpov! Despite this brilliant game, Garry would continue on to win a thrilling 24 game match which was a nail biter till the very end (for those interested, I would recommend The World Chess Championship, Karpov-Kasparov: Moscow 85 by Y. and Mark Taimanov Averbakh).
So what can be gleamed from this? In general terms, it’s fair to assess the following:
I intend to continue this “series” with topics intended to broaden chess knowledge, cherry-picking ideas from chess lore and history. See you in the next one!
Hey everyone!
On behalf of the SGVCC I wanted to share the games that I had played in the somewhat recent Echo Mountain Open (January 2022), along with annotations denoting my thought process and post-mortem analysis. This is my first post on the site, so any criticism is more than welcome! I intend to be semi-regular about this as far as unorthodox hobbies go.
I was more than lucky to win that last one! Ryan sure gave me a run for my money. I can’t promise that all my subsequent posts will be this detailed as I was working off a backlog. I also fully intend to post my losses as well. Regardless, I hope that analysis was some combination of entertaining / instructive. Good luck to all participants in the upcoming Bunny Hop Open!
The grand return of the LA Chess Social last month was spectacular! It was great to see everyone after so long! This month’s event will be at Griffins of Kinsale in South Pasadena, where the original Chess Social was established in 2017. There will be live music on both floors throughout the night!
See you there!!!!
(courtesy @chess_social)
(via @chess_social) — Ready to show off your chess ability and make some friends?
Get ready for the grand return of Los Angeles Chess Social. An incredible live music lineup at Old Towne Pub, located at 66 N Fair Oaks Ave. in Pasadena. For those unfamiliar, Old Towne Pub is located in a courtyard within the block between Fair Oaks and Raymond Street, accessible from an ally off Holly Street. Event starts at 8pm; $10 at the door; 21+
An incredible live music lineup!
8-9pm Squid and the Elephant (IG @squidandtheelephant)
9-10pm Sugar Rum Tantrum (IG @sugarrumtantrum)
10-12am The Flamenco Souls (IG @theflamencosouls)
Additionally, there will be a Philly Cheesesteak stand with food available for purchase in the courtyard.
Please bring proof of vaccination and a mask!
For those looking for casual and a social atmosphere, come to Odyssey Games Sat. night in Pasadena — 1795 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena, CA 91106 (formerly Game Empire). All ages welcome. This is unrated, social play, no membership required. Meetups are planned for Sat. Feb. 26th, March 5th, March 12th, March 19th and March 26th. Bring your board and clock. Hosted courtesy of Odyssey Games and administered by Jimmy D via Meetup.com at: https://www.meetup.com/odyssey-games/events/283784823 I went Saturday Feb. 19th and it was pretty fun. Come meet new friends!
