June 9, 2008 - Fresno Chess Club

Vol. 1
No.3
A Voice for Chess
Grandmaster Susan Polgar
to Come to Fresno
Grandmaster Susan Polgar will be coming to
Fresno, October 24 and 25 to participate in
the “Delphis Software Chess Expo with Susan
Polgar” and in the “Susan Polgar Scholastic
Chess Tournament.”
The “Delphis Software Chess Expo with Susan
Polgar” will take place at the Ramada Inn on
Shaw Avenue at Freeway 41, at 7:00 p.m.
Grandmaster Susan Polgar will play chess with
64 opponents simultaneously, and will do so
within 5 hours. Despite the odds, Fresno Chess
Club officers predict she will not lose a single
game. Ms. Polgar, who is the most recognizable chess player in the world today, has
agreed to sit down across the board with each
player on the 4th move of the game, so that
each player can be photographed playing a
game with this world famous, champion grandmaster.
The following day on Saturday at 8:30 a.m. ,
Ms. Polgar will be treated to a breakfast with
(Continued on page 2)
June 9, 2008
Who is Susan Polgar?
Susan was born Zsuzsanna Polgar, a Hungarian American chess player and she is the first
woman in history to earn the title of grandmaster. She is the 4-time Women’s World
Chess Champion, but that’s not the real story.
The real story is better than any made-for-TVmovie. The real story is how she got to be the
most recognizable chess player in the world
today.
Known today simply as the Queen of Chess,
Susan won the Budapest Championship for
Girls when she was only four years old. From
Hungary to the United States, Susan Polgar
has also been a champion for women’s rights
and for children, especially young girls
Susan has stirred some controversy with some
of her statements made in her interviews. One
statement she made suggests that genius does
not always have to be innate, but rather that
genius can be taught. Probably her most controversial
(Continued on page 4)
Grandmaster Susan Polgar Comes to
Fresno (Continued from Page 1)
members of the Fresno Chess Club at Denny’s
Restaurant at First and Shaw. At the breakfast, club members will be able to meet and
talk with Susan as well as have autographs
signed and pictures taken.
After breakfast, GM Polgar will be off to the
Susan Polgar Scholastic Chess Tournament
held in Fresno. GM Polgar is the founder of the
Susan Polgar Foundation, a non-profit organization to promote chess with all of its educational, social, and competitive benefits for
young people of all ages. At the tournament,
GM Polgar will give a motivational talk to
students, answer student questions, and again
pose for pictures with students.
Later in the day, Susan Polgar will play a
second simul. For more information, or if you
would like to know how to sign up to play
chess with GM Susan Polgar, call Bob
Rasmussen at (559) 708-8100.
Successful San Joaquin
Delphis Software is sponsoring the simul that
is being held at the Ramada Inn and Sequoia
Chess for Kids is sponsoring the scholastic
tournament.
The 28th Annual San Joaquin Championship Chess
tournament is now in the record books as exciting
as it was fun. It went down to the wire in the last
game on board #1 between Roy Santos and Jason
Mueller, finally ending in a draw.
A total of 34 players competed in this year’s San
Juaquin, with players coming from Vallejo, Monterey, Bakersfield, and 3 players from Modesto.
The chess club got to sell some t-shirts and caps,
and beautiful chess equipment was also offered for
sale by Quality Chess Equipment, the official chess
equipment supplier of the Fresno Chess Club.
Here are the official results in the U.S.C.F. open:
1st Roy Santos, 4 point; 2nd Jason Muller, 4 point;
3rd F.M. Harry Daud, 4 points; 4th George Miller,
3.5 points; 5th Kenneth Poole, 3.5 points.
In the U.S.C.F. Reserve, lst Galen Balcum, 3.5
points; 2nd Rex Villarea, 2.5 points; 3rd John
Martin, 2 points; 4th David Josephine, 2 points;
Carsten Tietjen, 1.5 points.
In the California Open lst place, Jose Antero, 3
points; 2nd Dennis Wajckus, 3 points; 3rd Tommy
Reynoso, 3 points; 4th Robert Rassmussen, 2.5
points; 5th Oscar Cabantac, 2.5 points.
In the California Reserve, lst Phillip Billington, 5
points; 2nd Sedrak Sargsyan, 4 points; 3rd Jesus
Ballesteros, 3.5 points; 4th James Smiley, 3
points; 5th Andy Crouch, 2 points.
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The next tournament is the Delphis Software
Chess Open on August 30, 2008.
what a great evening it was!
A Night with the Masters
Keith Draughon, who has been a member of
the club the longest (being a member since
l954) said he had never before seen anything
like it at the Fresno Chess Club.
Oh what a night! It was late February, back in
“08.” That’s the way they will be talking about
A Night with the Masters twenty years from
now, and they will be talking about it in twenty
years from now.
Some of the superlatives being used that
night were as follows: extra-ordinary, unprecedented, historical, magnificent, gigantic,
successful, huge. This has never been done
before.
Last February 29, a leap year Friday night,
Master Dr. Tim Roth, Master Hary Daud, and
blindfold whiz Owen Overton took on all players at Carl’s Jr. at 1st & Herndon (the largest
Carl’s Jr. in Fresno) in a three-master tag team
simul (simultaneous game) that proved to be
as exciting and electrifying as all the hype
throughout the month of February said it would
be. The rules were simple. Each of the three
masters would make every third move, on
every board, in turn. The masters were not allowed to speak to each other, confer, or in any
way signal each other as to strategies on any
board.
As Carl’s Jr. closed for the evening, there
were still about 35 to 40 members standing
around in small groups and talking about
what took place that evening. No one wanted
the evening to end.
Fresno Chess Club Invited to
Mechanics Institute
The “buzz” all month was, with different masters, each with their own, and different playing
styles, and not being able to communicate with
each other, and each not knowing the other’s
plan; was it a tactical combination, or a strategically positional game, could the average club
player actually have an advantage? That Friday
night the largest Carl’s Jr. in Fresno was full,
standing room only.
The Mechanics Institute, the oldest chess
club in America, established in 1854, has
again invited the members of the Fresno
Chess Club to be their guests on Saturday,
August 23. The Fresno Chess Club will have
a great day of education, learning about
their rich history, as well as a great day of
chess, as International Master John
Donaldson will play a simul with Fresno
Chess Club members. It should be noted
that since the year l900, with the exception
of Botvinnik and Kasparov, every world
chess champion has played chess at the
Mechanics Institute. Some of the more famous are Bobby Fischer, Emmanuel Lasker,
Raul Capablanca, Max Eywe, and Alexander
Alekhine, who in l946 became the only man
to die while holding the title of world chess
champion.
Fresno Chess Club President Bob Rasmussen
called all players together. There were only 36
tables to play on, so only 36 people could play,
out of the approximately 70 FCC members
there. Then the games began.
By 10:00 p.m. only four members had resigned. Soon, the masters were complaining to
the on-lookers: “Couldn’t master so-and-so see
what I was trying to set up,” or “How did master so-and-so lose that piece? The members of
the club started looking at each other as if to
say, “Was this the night that the average club
player could score an upset?” But what no one
noticed was that while the masters were complaining about each other’s play, they did so
with a smile on their faces.
The Mechanics Institute closes at 5:00
p.m., so club members will then have the
opportunity to eat at one of San Francisco’s
finer restaurants (still being researched at
this time, as we need one to seat approximately 50 members who have expressed an
interest in making the trip).
At the end of the evening, only three club players, Gene Mora, Garry, Hoffman, and Dino
Bonaldi scored wins against the masters. But
the Fresno Chess Club members present that
night, approximately seventy, were remarking
After dinner, most members will probably
head for home, but some may wish to stay
and make a weekend of it.
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Club Officers 2008
Elected Officers:
President: Bob Rasmussen
(559) 708 8100
Vice President: Ernie Lozano
(559) 655-4475
Secretary: Keith Draughon
(559) 299-5290
Treasurer: Vaness French
(559) 292-1468
Tournament Director: Jessie Turner
n/a
Tournament Organizer: Tim Roth
n/a
Appointed Officers:
Newsletter, Keith Draughon
(559) 299-5290
Librarian: Dino Bonaldi
(559) 313-9796
Sgt. at Arms: David Josephine
Sgt. At Arms: Leon Indart
n/a
(559) 434-8023
Sgt. At Arms: Craig Grigson
n/a
Greeter: Rob Eymann
n/a
Lecturer: Hary Daud
(559) 299-9697
Lecturer: Owen Overton
(559) 324-0794
Lecturer: Dino Bonaldi
(559) 313-9796
Lecturer: Thomas Bagolajarian
(559) 250-9292
Attorney: Ed Sasaki
•
Winner of four women’s world chess championships.
•
The only world champion in history (male
or female) to win the triple crown (rapid,
blitz, and classical, world championships).
•
Five-time Olympic champion, with ten
overall medals. Never defeated in Olympic
competition.
•
Broke four world records on August 2,
2005 by playing 326 opponents simultaneously and only lost three games.
•
First woman in history to become a grandmaster.
•
Winner of the Cramer Award for Best
Chess column (2003).
•
Award winning and best selling chess author in numerous languages.
•
Three-time winner of Chess Journalists of
America award for best magazine column
(2003) and best end game analysis (2003,
2004).
•
First ever recipient of the Chess Educator
of the Year award (2003) from the University of Texas in Dallas.
•
First professional to receive the very prestigious Tree of Life award.
•
Member of the Chess for Peace initiative
with former U.S.S.R. President Mikhail
Gorbachev and seven-time world chess
champion Anatoly Karpov.
n/a
Fresno Chess Club Established in l930
Fresno Chess Club is making history now with 180
paid & active members for the year 2008.
Who is Susan Polgar?
(Continued from Page 1)
statement was in an interview for Parade
Magazine in an article entitled, “Are Men
Smarter than Women?” When asked the question, “How do you view the idea that the gender disparity in the sciences might be due to
differences in the inherent aptitudes of
women?,” her answer was controversial, blunt,
and to the point. Susan said that women are
handicapped by their up-bringing, social pressures, and discrimination from men.
To repeat, these are just a few of Susan’s
many accomplishments. For more information
on Susan Polgar, go to www.Polgarchess.com
or www.SusanPolgarBlogspot.com or
www.SusanPolgarFoundation.org.
A final quote from Grandmaster Susan Polgar,
“Chess is the most incredible game, which
brings so much pleasure, as well as benefits.”
Susan remains committed to chess. She says,
“I want to see chess in America, and chess as
a whole, change for the better. I am working
hard towards bringing more interest, enthusiasm and excitement into chess in the mainstream media/audience. I am also working to
bring chess to TV full time. I would like for
chess to become successful like the world
poker tour.
Here are a few of Susan’s accomplishments:
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Havin Fun!
Do you see yourself here?
Official screenprinting and Embroidery for Fresno Chess Club
Mind Bashing Puzzles
Answers
The Knight’s Nite
1.
Spectator’s Row
2.
3.
Channel 18
4.
Come in and browse a bit.
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Bobby Fischer
(on the Worldwide Church of God) They cleaned
my pockets out frankly. I have some money left,
but not that much. I’ve got some assets. It’s
amazing they didn’t get everything. Now my
only income is a few royalty checks from my
books. I was really very foolish, but I thought I
was doing what I had to do. When I sent those
checks off, I really didn’t have the slightest
qualms, no regrets, not the slightest. I don’t
really regret it that much, to tell you the truth,
even now.
Is the Child a Father to the Man?
So much has been written about Fischer’s
life that would be redundant but to considering the person and who he was and what
he thought would be more rewarding coming from his own words and the words of
others.
Psychology tells us that much of what we
learn as a child is what shapes personality
as adults. This seems a good way to approach Bobby Fischer’s personality. Jezdimir
Vasiljevic when asked if Fischer was crazy
and of his relationship to his mother said,
“No. Not crazy. Irrational judgment.
Trauma of the childhood. No, the father. If
you mention the father, he will not speak
the whole night. Mother, he calls every day.
And the sister. Trauma of the childhood.
Bad instruction. Poor Bobby.”
They’re all weak, all women. They’re stupid compared to men. They shouldn’t play chess, you
know. They’re like beginners. They lose every
single game against a man. There isn’t a woman
player in the world I can’t give knight-odds to
and still beat.”
The field of quotes from and about Fischer is rich
indeed. Please contact the president about your
preference as to continuing this subject in the
next newsletter.
As we delve into Fischer’s personality,
Fischer said, “I don’t believe in psychology,
I believe in good moves,” and later on he
said, ”Psychologically, you have to have
confidence in yourself and this confidence
should be based on facts.”
______________________________________________
Which one is Susan?
It does seem that one method would be to
study Fischer’s own quotes regarding many
subjects to reach one’s own conclusions.
Following are some quotes to consider.
“I give 98 percent of my mental energy to
chess. Others give only 2 percent.
Polgar Sisters—Champions All!
Your body has to be in top condition. Your
chess deteriorates as your body does. You
can’t separate body from mind.
The father of the Polgar sisters, Laslio Polgar,
was a psychologist and a very good chess
player. He had a theory that genius was
made, not born and tested this theory using
his daughters and chess as the method by
which to prove the theory. He certainly
proved it!
Chess is war over the board. The object is
to crush the opponent’s mind.
I add status to any tournament I attend.
A strong memory, concentration, imagination, and a strong will. (on what it took to
become a strong chess player)
I don’t keep any close friends. I don’t keep
any secrets. I don’t need friends. I just tell
everybody everything, that’s all.
I am not a chess genius, I am a genius who
plays chess.
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Fresno Chess Club
1425 Peach
Clovis, Ca 93612
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Upcoming Events
June 13, 2008
Night with the Masters II on Friday the 13th at 7:00 p.m. at
Carl’s Jr. on 1st and Herndon. Let’s all hope that Friday 13th is
unlucky for the masters Dr. Tim Roth, Hary Daud and Roy Santos.
August 23, 2008 Mechanics Institute has invited the Fresno Chess Club members to
be their guests at their historic chess club to play chess, to play a simul
with International Master John Donaldson and to tour their historic
building and library.
August 30, 2008 The Delphis Software Chess open at St. Agnes Medical Center
conference rooms A & B, U.S.C.F. and California Sections.
October 24, 2008 The Delphis Software Chess Expo with Susan Polgar. Susan will
play an exhibition simul with 64 opponents starting at 7:00 p.m. at the
Ramada Inn on Saturday.
October 25, 2008 Breakfast with Susan Polgar at Denny’s Restaurant on 1st and
Shaw. Get to meet and talk with her. Great opportunity for photos.
(Fresno Chess Club member only.)
October 25, 2008 Second day of a simultaneous chess exhibition with
Susan Polar.
December 4, 2008 Fresno County Chess Championship at St. Agnes Medical Center,
confer ence rooms A & B. USCF and California Sections.