INTERNATIONAL NEWS
The first event of the new World Chess Council (WCC) has begun in Cazorle, Spain. The world’s fourth-ranked grandmaster, Alexey Shirov of Spain, leads third-ranked Vladimir Kramnik of Russia, 2 1/2-1 1/2, in a 10-game match. The first three games were drawn, then Shirov won the fourth as White.
The winner earns the right to challenge Garry Kasparov in an October match for the WCC world championship. Second-ranked Viswanathan Anand of India turned down an invitation to compete in the WCC championship cycle.
The World Chess Federation (FIDE) has announced that its next world championship tournament will be held in Las Vegas in December.
LOCAL NEWS
Only 197 players competed in the 1998 Lina Grumette Memorial Day Classic last weekend at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles. When Lina Grumette organized the first Memorial Day Classic in 1980, she amazed skeptics by attracting more than 500 entrants. Until her death in 1988, the tournament regularly exceeded 400 players. But the recent slump in adult tournament attendance and competition from other major tournaments has hurt the four traditional local events.
Jay Blem, owner of National Chess & Games, rescued the Memorial Day Classic last year when another organizer could not find a suitable site. He blamed the poor attendance (266 entrants) on his last-minute decision to run the tournament. But Blem, who expected more than 300 players for this year’s tournament, was stunned by the disastrous turnout. He will lose more than $5,000 on the tournament.
The 26-player Open section ended in a three-way tie for first place among state champion Cyrus Lakdawala, IM Michael Brooks and GM Eduard Gufeld. Each scored 4 1/2-1 1/2. Lakdawala drew against both of his rivals. He and Brooks went undefeated, while Gufeld rebounded from a first-round upset with four straight victories, the best streak of the tournament.
Next at 4-2 were James Maki (who defeated former U.S. champion Walter Browne), IM Jack Peters, IM Guillermo Rey and Charles Van Buskirk. Dale Haessel, Christopher Kus and Tibor Weinberger split the under-2350 prize with scores of 3-3.
Other sections were won by Gary Hill, 5 1/2- 1/2 in the Under-2200; Ian Zimmerman, 5 1/2- 1/2 in the Under-2000; Jose Mario Anosa, Samuel Arabyan and Jain Zhang, each 5-1 in the Under-1800; Arthur Taylor, 5 1/2- 1/2 in the Under-1600; Michael Barney, Jeff Jolley, Brian Ofalla and Mani Subramaniam, each 4 1/2-1 1/2 in the Under-1400; and Vigen Haroutunian and Charlene Ong, each 5-1 in the Under-1200.
The Jeux D’Esprit, a six-round tournament on Friday evenings, begins June 5 at the La Habra Chess Club. The club meets at 7 p.m. Fridays in Veterans Memorial Hall, Orange at Erna in La Habra. For more information, call Jerry Schain at (562) 691-2393 or Bob Goulet at (562) 947-6739.