Bharath Heggadahalli, 10, of Southboro, finished tied for 5th (6-1 score) in a consolation K-5 group. Others who won trophies in major sections were from Newton, Acton, Belmont and Winchester. Steve Frymer of Lexington, state scholastic coordinator, highlights some at www.masschess.org, where you can view details of the next major state scholastic event, the Hurvitz Cup Team, April 28 in Boxboro.
You may have heard more about participants from Central Falls, R.I., since their fundraising efforts to send 12 kids was national news because of donations from two Hollywood entertainers. In Massachusetts, just one school system sent a full team yet again this year, Weston, with six members, though team prizes were calculated by individual results as in past years. This writer has in the past helped organize large tournaments, but cannot imagine one with more than 5,000 participants in one hotel. The largest “open” in Worcester in 1987 had but 300.
The next major open is next Sunday, the 23rd Mass. Game/60, in Marlboro with five sections and $1,500 minimum cash prizes. There are at least six smaller events in New England this same weekend, including the first in a while in Newtown, Conn. Details for most are at the USCF and MACA sites.
We’ve featured positions from Tim Brennan’s Tactic’s Time blog and e-book in past columns. Downloads of the 1,000-position e-book are free until only Tuesday, as an agreement has been reached with New in Chess to publish this as a paperback. It is normal to have small windows when e-books (such as this huge, but only $5 one) are offered without charge, but not everyone like e-books, even with the free software for most anyone to view them. Learn more at www.tacticstime.com.
New in Chess is also a commercial partner of www.chesscafe.com, with last week’s book review giving “The Magic Tactics of Mikhail Tal,” by Muller and Stolze, five of six stars. Positions from this book have also recently been featured here, as tactical volumes now have a huge following, especially those from www.newinchess.com.
Don’t miss the international stories on www.chessbase.com, with world chess challenger Magnus Carlsen, 22, of Norway favored in his November match with world champion Vishy Anand of India and Carlsen’s appearance in Cosmopolitan as number five of the most sexiest men of 2013. Also former world champ Garry Kasparov is to receive the Morris B. Abram Human Rights Award by UN Watch.
Answer to quiz: Larry Christiansen of Cambridge defeated Anatoly Karpov in 1993 with 1. Qd1 and both the B and N cannot be defended. From yet another recent NIC volume, “Tune Your Chess Tactics Antenna: Know When (and Where!) to Look for Winning Combinations,” by Emmanuel Neiman, a French chess instructor.
Source: http://www.telegram.com
Great column.