CHESS : INTERNATIONAL NEWS

A stellar field of 68 players, including 42 grandmasters, competed in the qualifying tournament for the Intel Grand Prix in New York City. The Grand Prix is a year-long series of $160,000 knockout tournaments run by the Professional Chess Assn. and sponsored by Intel, the computer chip manufacturer. Of the 16 players in the Grand Prix, eight earned their spots from the qualifying tournament, an 11-round marathon of 25-minute games.

Jonathan Speelman of England finished first in the qualifier at 8 1/2-2 1/2, a half-point ahead of Alexey Vyzhmanavin of Russia. The logjam at 7 1/2-3 1/2 included Michael Adams (England), Alexander Chernin (Hungary), Larry Christiansen (New York), Nick de Firmian (Berkeley), Jaan Ehlvest (Estonia), Johann Hjartarson (Iceland) and Yevgeny Pigusov (Russia). In a playoff of five-minute games, all but Pigusov advanced to the Grand Prix. Each qualifier will receive at least $5,000 in Grand Prix prize money.

The latest Intel rating list, which reflects results before June 5, shows a few changes at the top. Garry Kasparov of Russia remains highest-rated at 2796, up seven points from the March list. But Viswanathan Anand of India has replaced Anatoly Karpov in second place, at 2772. Next are Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukraine), 2769; Karpov (Russia), 2758; Gata Kamsky (New York), 2756; Vladimir Kramnik (Russia), 2723; Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria), 2706; Jaan Ehlvest (Estonia), 2677; Alexey Shirov (formerly Latvia, now Spain), 2664, and Nigel Short (England), 2662. Topalov, Ehlvest and Short all advanced. Short, a leading player two years ago, made the most dramatic leap, jumping from 28th place to 10th.

LOCAL NEWS

The 35th annual Pacific Southwest Open, a seven-round tournament, takes place Saturday through July 4 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, 200 S. Pine Ave., Long Beach. Please note the address; the latest issue of “Chess Life” magazine announced an incorrect site. For details, call Randy Hough at (818) 282-7412, or Steve Hughes at (310) 450-7201.

Five players qualified for the Southern California Chess Federation’s state championship by excelling at the SCCF Candidates tournament last weekend in Buena Park. Valdis Saulespurens overcame a first-round loss to top-rated Jonathan Yedidia to win the event with a 3-1 score. He defeated Mark Duckworth, who had qualified a record five straight times from the Candidates tournament, in the final round. Stephen Booth, Stephen Jones, William Longren and Yedidia each notched a win and three draws to secure places in the SCCF’s premier invitational.

The five qualifiers will join defending champion Cyrus Lakdawala and seeded players Levon Altounian and Jack Peters in the SCCF State Championship, scheduled in Buena Park on the last two weekends of July.

Matthew Ng scored 5 1/2- 1/2 to win the 57-player Southern California Amateur Championship last weekend in Buena Park. The tournament was open to all non-masters. David Bassett, Jose Gomez and Wes White shared second place at 5-1. Joseph Blitzstein, Haig Avakian, Chris Lewis and Noel Dizon earned class prizes. Darren Marks scored a perfect 4-0 to win the concurrent Beginners Open.

The Westside Scholastic League has completed its first season. Warner Avenue Elementary School in Westwood compiled a match score of 9 1/2-2 1/2 to take first prize. St. Paul the Apostle School in Westwood was second, a half-point behind, and The Mirman School in Bel-Air finished third. Organizer John Surlow invites other Westside elementary schools to join the league for the fall season. Call him at (310) 479-8377.

Chess Palace, 3255 E. South St. in Long Beach, will adopt a new schedule in July. The club will be open five days a week, Wednesday through Sunday, throughout the summer. Most club events (Action chess quads on Thursdays and Saturdays, blitz Friday evenings, and five-round Action chess on Sundays) will continue as usual, and the new four-round Wednesday Knights tournament, with one game every Wednesday at 7 p.m., will start July 5. For full details, call (310) 634-8477.