CHESS : INTERNATIONAL NEWS

For the second year in a row, chess officials in Amsterdam organized a grandmaster tournament in memory of Jan Donner, the leading Dutch player of the 1950s and 1960s. This year’s tournament ended dramatically, as the local favorite, Jan Timman, defeated the leader, Julio Granda Zuniga of Peru, in the final round. Timman and Granda shared first place with scores of 7 1/2-3 1/2.

Timman, formerly the world’s third-ranked player, has had some poor results recently, and his 2590 rating placed him 10th in the 12-player field. But he lost just one game (to Jeroen Piket, the next Dutch star), while everyone else lost at least two. His comeback overshadows the best performance of Granda’s career.

Third at 7-4 was the world’s greatest female player, 19-year old Judit Polgar of Hungary. Former U.S. champion Yasser Seirawan of Seattle tied for fourth at 6-5 with Alexander Khuzman of Ukraine and Alexey Shirov of Spain. Other scores: Alexander Khalifman (Russia), Alexander Morozevich (Russia), John Nunn (England) and Valery Salov (Spain), 5-6; and Loek Van Wely (Netherlands) and Piket, 3-8.

The 1995 Women’s Interzonal has begun in Kishinev, Moldova. Angelina Belakovskaya of New York, Sharon Burtman of Orange and Ivona Jezierska of Van Nuys are representing the U.S. in the 57-player tournament. The top finishers in the Interzonal advance to the Women’s Candidates tournament, which determines the official challenger in the women’s world championship.

LOCAL NEWS

Spectators may watch one of our two state championships, the Southern California Open, today and Monday at the Holiday Inn, 7000 Beach Blvd. in Buena Park. The Booster Open will be held at the same site on Monday, beginning at 10 a.m. All newcomers to tournament play are invited to compete.

The North County Game/60, a tournament of one-hour games held last Sunday in San Diego, attracted 34 players. Both Cyrus Lakdawala and GM Rosendo Balinas achieved perfect 4-0 scores. At 3-1 were top experts Jorge F. Balares and Thomas Nelson and Class “A” winners Jorge R. Balares, Jr. and Fidel Gonzalez. Other class prizes went to Carl Batuyong, Jesus Fernandez, Michael Evans, George Fernandez and Marco Segui.

Andy Sacks scored 5-0 to sweep the 51-player August Open at the Arcadia Chess Club. Paul Asmer (best “A”); John Anderson, Mel Clark and Amr Elghamry (“B”); C.S. Golovko (“C”); and Higino Garcia (best “D-E-unrated”) led their classes.

The club’s next tournament is the five-round Istvanyi Memorial, which starts Sept. 11. The club meets 6:30 to 11:00 p.m. Mondays in the Senior Citizens building, 405 S. Santa Anita Ave. in Arcadia. For more information, call Mel Clark at (818) 447-9355.

The San Gabriel Valley Open, a six-rounder, begins Sept. 8 at the Pasadena Chess Club, 85 E. Holly St. in Pasadena. Call Neil Hultgren at (818) 243-3809 for information.

Gym for the Mind, 4907 Topanga Canyon Blvd. in Woodland Hills, plans a three-round Action chess tournament on Friday evening. Call (818) 710-8042 for details.

The Lancaster Community Chess Club will host Action chess quads on Sept. 10 at the Church of Religious Science, 1030 W. Ave. L-8 in Lancaster. Register at the site at 1:30 p.m. or call Pat Cassidy at (805) 723-9221.