CHESS : INTERNATIONAL NEWS

The 1995 season of the Intel Grand Prix opened last weekend at the Kremlin Palace in Moscow. The Grand Prix is the ultimate thrill for fans of fast chess, as top grandmasters compete in two-game minimatches of 25-minute games. Intel’s sponsorship guarantees the lucrative prize fund of $160,000 per tournament, which attracts most of the world’s best players.

The Moscow tournament followed last season’s successful format: the six highest finishers from a qualifying event join 10 seeded stars in a 16-player knockout. If any minimatch ends in a 1-1 tie, the winner is determined by a single blitz game. But the PCA did modify the rules for the blitz tiebreaker. In 1994, White got six minutes to Black’s five, but Black advanced if the game were drawn. Most players thought this favored Black. This year, Black still has draw odds, but White gets five minutes to Black’s four.

Despite the presence of 67 grandmasters in the incredibly strong qualifying event, four familiar names reached the semifinal round: PCA world champion Garry Kasparov of Russia, his official challenger in the 1995 PCA world championship, Viswanathan Anand of India, Vladimir Kramnik of Russia and Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine. Each had won one of the four 1994 Grand Prix tournaments.

The first surprise came in the Anand vs. Kasparov match. After a quiet draw, Kasparov played weakly in the second game and Anand took the match, 1 1/2- 1/2. Meanwhile, Kramnik and Ivanchuk drew two games, forcing a tiebreaker. Playing Black, Ivanchuk won the game and the match.

The final began with a draw, and the second game appeared on course for the same result. However, Ivanchuk steadily outplayed Anand in an equal endgame to win the match, 1 1/2- 1/2. Ivanchuk received $30,000 for first prize.

The next Intel Grand Prix tournament is scheduled June 15-18 in New York City.

The Aegon tournament, a 96-player Human vs. Computer event in the Netherlands, showed that computer programs continue to improve at chess. Although Dutch grandmaster John Van der Wiel finished first with 5 1/2- 1/2, seven programs tied for second at 5-1: HiArcs (which lost only to Van der Wiel), Chess Genius X, MChess Pro, HiTech, Mephisto PC-Bord A, WChess and Socrates. Gert Ligterink of the Netherlands and former U.S. champion Yasser Seirawan of Seattle also scored 5-1. Seirawan nearly won all of his games. He achieved a pawn-up endgame against HiArcs, turned down a draw offer and lost on time.

LOCAL NEWS

The 16th annual Memorial Day Classic is scheduled May 27-29 at the Long Beach Airport Marriott Hotel. The six-round main event offers at least $20,000 in prizes, and there will be a blitz tournament (on May 26) and a scholastic tournament (on May 29) at the same site. The tournament’s special guest is Zsuzsa Polgar, the official challenger in the next women’s world championship and one of the few women to earn the international grandmaster title. She will play in the tournament and give two simultaneous exhibitions (on May 24 and May 26). For all of the details, call (310) 634-8477 or (310) 471-3435.

The Arcadia Chess Club’s Spring Special attracted 49 players. Matthew Beelby notched a perfect 5-0 score to take first prize. Class prizes went to Paul Asmer, best “A”; David King, “B”; Amr Elghamry, “C”, and Michael Caine and Roger Parks, “D-E-unrated”.

The Arcadia Warmup, a five-round tournament, begins Monday. For information about the club, which meets Monday evenings in the Senior Citizens Building, 405 S. Santa Anita Ave. in Arcadia, call Mel Clark at (818) 447-9355.

Beelby will teach an eight-week course titled “Chess for Amateurs” at Pasadena City College, 1570 E. Colorado Blvd. in Pasadena. Classes will be held from 7:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. on Wednesdays, beginning May 31. To register, you should request a catalog from the Community Education Office, or call them at (818) 585-7123.