CHESS

Garry Kasparov, the world’s best player, has formed a new organization, the World Chess Council. Kasparov and Luis Rentero, the organizer of the great series of tournaments in Linares, Spain, plan to stage a 10-game challenger’s match between the world’s third- and fourth-ranked stars, Vladimir Kramnik (Russia) and Alexey Shirov (Spain), in Spain, starting May 22. The winner will meet Kasparov in an 18-game WCC world championship match in Spain in October.

The proposal seems to write an end to Kasparov’s earlier organization, the Professional Chess Assn (PCA). The PCA conducted a number of lucrative events in 1994 and 1995 under the sponsorship of computer chip manufacturer Intel Inc. When Intel declined to renew its sponsorship in 1996, the PCA faltered, running only two more tournaments in 1996 and none since.

Viswanathan Anand, the Indian grandmaster ranked second in the world, announced last month that he would not play a challenger’s match against Kramnik. Shirov, an exciting but inconsistent grandmaster currently on a hot streak, agreed to substitute for Anand. Interestingly, Shirov said in February that Anand was stronger than Kramnik. Shortly afterward, Anand won the Linares tournament (ahead of Kramnik, Kasparov and Shirov) and moved past Kramnik in the rankings.

The rival World Chess Federation (FIDE) has not yet announced details of its next world championship. In January, FIDE president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov said that he would stage another 100-player knockout tournament in Las Vegas in December. Before that statement, FIDE had planned to wait until the end of 1999 to hold the next FIDE championship.

Kasparov has repeatedly said that the world championship should be decided by a match and that he would not participate in a knockout. He has also questioned the source of FIDE’s $5-million prize fund, saying “I’m sure that it will be dirty money.” However, he recently called his 1993 decision to leave FIDE and create the PCA “not a very wise solution.” He now claims that he should have tried to reform FIDE from within.

NATIONAL NEWS

The National Open, held last weekend in Las Vegas, attracted a crowd of 1,102 players. The 300-player Open section, which featured 26 grandmasters, ended in a five-way tie for first place among GMs Pavel Blatny (Czech Republic), Jan Ehlvest (Estonia), Vladimir Epishin (Russia), Julian Hodgson (England) and Evgeny Pigusov (Russia). Each scored 5 1/2- 1/2. Blatny and Hodgson won their first five games, then drew each other in the last round. On tiebreak, Hodgson becomes the official winner.

Light Blue, a team composed of masters Dylan McClain, Nathan Resika and Brian Hulse and expert Alan Price, won the 1998 U.S. Amateur Team Championship in a playoff in Raleigh, N.C. Light Blue, winners of the East regional, edged West representatives Evil Samaritans (Levon Altounian, Karl Yee, Andrew Krasnov and Mario de la Victoria) on game points, scoring 8-4 to Evil Samaritans’ 7-5. Both teams defeated the South and Midwest champs.

LOCAL NEWS

Grandmaster Smbat Lputian of Armenia will give a simultaneous exhibition April 8 at the Barnes & Noble bookstore, 23630 Valencia Blvd. in Santa Clarita. The cost to play the grandmaster is $12 for adults, $10 for children. The exhibition begins at 6:30 p.m. To reserve a board, call (805) 288-1705.

Donald Danlag won the 1998 Arcadia Chess Club Championship with a score of 5 1/2- 1/2. Gordon Brooks finished second at 5-1, followed by expert Ray Jones and top Class “A” players Paul Asmar, William Cooper, Robert Goldberg and Huy Lu at 4 1/2-1 1/2. Denton Anderson and Mel Clark split the “B” prize, C. T. Golovko earned “C” honors, and Mar Buendia was best “D-E-unrated.” There was an excellent turnout of 56 players, just short of the club record.

The Spring Special, a five-round tournament on Monday evenings, starts April 6 at the Arcadia Chess Club, 405 S. Santa Anita Ave. in Arcadia. For more information, call Fred Brock at (626) 331-1638.

The La Palma Chess Club, which meets Friday evenings in Central Park, 7821 Walker St. in La Palma, will begin a five-round tournament on April 10. Call Brian Scanlon at (714) 523-2550 for information.