Hales Corners Challenge XVI - Final Standings

A record number of chess femmes participated in the Hales Corners Chess Challenge XVI today, hosted by my adopted chess Club, Southwest Chess Club, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 

I am working off of information provided at the Southwest Chess Club's blog. I'm not sure of the names of all of the chess femmes, only that four played in the Open and nine played in the Reserve.  The prior record was eleven chess femmes.  I am very happy with this great turnout. 

Here are the rankings of the Open and Reserve sections as reported by the USCF -- note: as Tom Fogec explained to me tonight (October 21st) the highest rated players who finish with the same score are listed from highest ELO to lower, without regard to tie breaks that determine actual finish position!  So, in the case of tie scores, the person you see listed as number 1 isn't necessarily the winner.  I didn't know this, oops!

OPEN:

No. Name St Rate Rd 1 Rd 2 Rd 3 Rd 4 Score

1. Friedel, Joshua Ed (1)........ NH 2566 W22 W30 W5 D2 3.5
2. Boor, Carl Brandon (2)........ IL 2361 W47 W11 W10 D1 3.5
3. Williams, William (4)......... WI 2223 W7 D12 W15 W14 3.5
4. Becker, Allen J (8)........... WI 2064 W32 D14 W33 W8 3.5

7. Ulrich, Rachel J (17)......... WI 1892 L3 W40 W35 W29 3.0 (clear top chess femme finisher)
16. Rajendra, Anupama (24)........ WI 1820 L12 W31 W42 D9 2.5
39. Huang, Alena (39)............. WI 1517 W26 L6 L23 L24 1.0
41. Pahl, Sandra R (43)........... WI 1450 L19 L26 L24 W46 1.0

Rachel Ulrich is the real deal!  She won three of four and wins a Goddesschess cash prize of $120.00, in addition to a modest gift bag and free entry to Hales Corners Challenge XVII, should she choose to enter.

Anupama Rajendra won two games and drew one, for a total Goddesschess cash prize of $100.00.

Alena Huang and Sandra Pahl each won a game, good for $40.00 cash each from Goddesschess. 

RESERVE:

No. Name St Rate 1 2 3 4 Score

1. Sydlewski, Dean (2)........... WI 1517 W9 W10 W17 D3 3.5
5. Saycocie, Vanisa (10)......... WI 1283 L2 W20 W19 W15 3.0 (Goddesschess prize $60)
6. Ulrich, Anne E (12)........... WI 1242 D3 W25 W24 D2 3.0 (Goddesschess prize $60)
9. Huang, Sabrina (11)........... WI 1249 L1 W21 W29 D11 2.5 (Goddesschess prize $50)
20. Pandey, Ritika (26)........... WI 877 W33 L5 W16 L7 2.0 (Goddesschess prize $40)
22. Wanek, Ellen Ann (28)......... WI 838 L13 L33 W35 W28 2.0 (Gpoddesschess prize $40)
25. Bepar, Naisha (16)............ WI 1082 -H- L6 L8 W34 1.5 (Goddesschess prize $20)
26. Vootkur, Manisha (19)......... WI 1028 L16 L7 W32 -U- 1.0 (Goddesschess prize $20)
30. Pandey, Divya (30)............ WI 746 L28 W35 L7 L18 1.0 (Goddesschess prize $20)
34. Foat, Patricia J (35)......... WI 306 L19 L31 -B- L25 1.0 (Goddesschess prize $20)

Updated October 21, 2012:

I added the names of Divya Pandey and Ritika Pandey to the Reserve chess femmes, I did not have them on the list last night.

Congratulations to all of the ladies.  On tie-breaks, Anne Ulrich, whom I met a few Challenges ago, is the recipient of a Goddesschess gift bag and receives free entry to the next Hales Corners Challenge should she choose to enter, in addition to her cash prize. 

As you can see, the ladies did very well!  ALL of them won prizes, I couldn't be more pleased.  For the first time ever, we'll have to put MORE into our prize pot!!!  Woo woo!

I hope this is the an indication that the future of chess femmes participating in the Hales Corners Challenges will just keep growing and growing and growing.

I understand photographs from Challenge XVI are on the way.  That means I've got to figure out how to publish them here.  Evidently, all of a sudden I ran up against a LIMIT on images I had no idea existed before a few days ago.  So now Google wants money from me for a supposedly FREE blog, and if I do not pay up, I cannot post any further images at this blog.

My choices are limited.  I can either start a new blog or pay the extortion to add more images to this blog and continue it forward.  Of course, the extortion could increase at any time, as extortionists tend to do.

So, I'm not sure what I'm going to do at the present time. 

2012 European Club Cup - Women

Game featured at The Week in Chess:

GM Hou, Yifan (2605) - GM Kosteniuk, Alexandra (2490)
17th European Club Cup w Eilat ISR (1.1), 2012.10.11

1.e4 c6 2.d3 d5 3.Nd2 e5 4.Ngf3 Bd6 5.d4 exd4 6.exd5 Nf6 7.dxc6 Nxc6 8.Be2 O-O 9.Nb3 Re8 10.O-O Bg4 11.h3 Bxf3 12.Bxf3 Be5 13.Nc5 Rc8 14.Nd3 Bb8 15.Bg5 h6 16.Bh4 g5 17.Bg3 Bxg3 18.fxg3 Qd6 19.Rf2 Kg7 20.Qd2 Qxg3 21.Raf1 Re7 22.c3 Ne5 23.cxd4 Nc4 24.Qb4 Rcc7 25.Rc1 Ne3 26.Rxc7 Rxc7 27.Qd2 Nf5 28.Ne5 Nd6 29.Rf1 Qh4 30.Qd3 Qg3 31.Qd2 Nf5 32.Qd3 Nd6 33.Qd2 Nf5 34.Qd3 Qf4 35.Bxb7 Qxd4+ 36.Qxd4 Nxd4 37.Ba6 Rc2 38.Rf2 Rc1+ 39.Rf1 Rc2 40.Rf2 Rc1+ 41.Kh2 h5 42.Rd2 Nf5 43.Rf2 Nd6 44.Bd3 h4 45.Rf1 Rc7 46.g3 Re7 47.Nf3 Re3 48.Ba6 hxg3+ 49.Kxg3 Nf5+ 50.Kh2 g4 51.hxg4 Nxg4+ 52.Kh3 Ne5 53.Bb7 Nd6 54.Ba8 f5 55.Kg3 Nd3 56.Kh4 Kf6 57.b3 Re8 58.Rd1 Rxa8 59.Rxd3 Ne4 0-1

Lest anyone forget, GM Alexandra Kosteniuk was the 12th Women's World Chess Champion...

From chess-results.com:

Ranking crosstable

Rk.	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	Cercle d'Echecs de Monte-Carlo	*	2½	3	2½	2½	4	3½	4	14	261.0	22.0
2	Mika	1½	*	1½	3	2½	3½	3½	3	10	225.0	18.5
3	Ugra	1	2½	*	1	2½	2	2½	3½	9	184.3	15.0
4	SHSM-Nashe Nasledie	1½	1	3	*	2	3½	2	3½	8	196.0	16.5
5	AVS	1½	1½	1½	2	*	3½	4	4	7	199.8	18.0
6	Ashdod	0	½	2	½	½	*	2½	3	5	91.0	9.0
7	Chigorin Club	½	½	1½	2	0	1½	*	3	3	101.3	9.0
8	Rishon Le-Zion	0	1	½	½	0	1	1	*	0	52.3	4.0

Annotation:
Tie Break1: Matchpoints (2 for wins, 1 for Draws, 0 for Losses)
Tie Break2: FIDE-Sonneborn-Berger-Tie-Break
Tie Break3: points (game-points)

 

de Monte-Carlo was once again a veritable powerhouse -- as one can see from the list of players:

 

Team-Composition with round-results

1. Cercle d'Echecs de Monte-Carlo (RtgAvg:2578, Captain: Almira Skripchenko / TB1: 14 / TB2: 261)
Bo.		Name	Rtg	FED	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Pts.	Games	RtgAvg
1	GM	Hou Yifan	2605	CHN	0	1	1		½	1	1	4.5	6	2409
2	GM	Koneru Humpy	2607	IND	1	½	½	1	1	1	½	5.5	7	2383
3	GM	Muzychuk Anna	2587	SLO	½	½	½	1		1	1	4.5	6	2334
4	GM	Cramling Pia	2514	SWE	1	½	½	1	1		½	4.5	6	2334
5	IM	Skripchenko Almira	2437	FRA				1	1	1		3.0	3	2022
2. Mika (RtgAvg:2472, Captain: Anahit Vardapetyan / TB1: 10 / TB2: 225)
Bo.		Name	Rtg	FED	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Pts.	Games	RtgAvg
1	GM	Danielian Elina	2476	ARM	½	1	0	½	½	½	1	4.0	7	2415
2	GM	Harika Dronavalli	2512	IND	½	0	½	½	1	1	1	4.5	7	2393
3	IM	Mkrtchian Lilit	2456	ARM	1	½	½	½	½	1	½	4.5	7	2336
4	IM	Javakhishvili Lela	2444	GEO	1	0	½	1	1	1	1	5.5	7	2244
3. Ugra (RtgAvg:2397, Captain: Pavel Lobach / TB1: 9 / TB2: 184.25)
Bo.		Name	Rtg	FED	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Pts.	Games	RtgAvg
1	WGM	Kovanova Baira	2408	RUS	0	0		½	1	0	0	1.5	6	2452
2	WGM	Girya Olga	2454	RUS	1	1	½	½	½	½	½	4.5	7	2410
3	IM	Romanko Marina	2365	RUS	½	½	½	½		½	0	2.5	6	2408
4	WGM	Shadrina Tatiana	2361	RUS	1	1	½	1	1	0	½	5.0	7	2308
5	WIM	Bezgodova Maria	2177	RUS			½		1			1.5	2	1958
4. SHSM-Nashe Nasledie (RtgAvg:2444, Captain: Elder Mukhametov / TB1: 8 / TB2: 196)
Bo.		Name	Rtg	FED	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Pts.	Games	RtgAvg
1	GM	Kosteniuk Alexandra	2490	RUS	1	½	½	1	½	1		4.5	6	2428
2	IM	Gunina Valentina	2514	RUS	0		1	1	0	½	1	3.5	6	2432
3	IM	Kovalevskaya Ekaterina	2405	RUS	½	½	½		½	½	1	3.5	6	2407
4	WGM	Kashlinskaya Alina	2368	RUS	0	0		1	0		1	2.0	5	2295
5	IM	Savina Anastasia	2303	RUS		1	0	½		1	½	3.0	5	2185
5. AVS (RtgAvg:2512, Captain: Vladmir Georgiev / TB1: 7 / TB2: 199.75)
Bo.		Name	Rtg	FED	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Pts.	Games	RtgAvg
1	GM	Stefanova Antoaneta	2493	BUL		0	½	½	½	1		2.5	5	2464
2	GM	Lahno Kateryna	2551	UKR	1	½	0		1	1	1	4.5	6	2366
3	GM	Cmilyte Viktorija	2528	LTU	0	½	½	½		1	1	3.5	6	2395
4	WGM	Pogonina Natalija	2476	RUS	½	½		½	1		1	3.5	5	2317
5	IM	Muzychuk Mariya	2474	UKR	0		1	0	1	1	1	4.0	6	2196
6. Ashdod (RtgAvg:2228, TB1: 5 / TB2: 91)
Bo.		Name	Rtg	FED	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Pts.	Games	RtgAvg
1	IM	Klinova Masha	2324	ISR	½	½	½		½	½	0	2.5	6	2421
2	IM	Borsuk Angela	2260	ISR	½		½	0	0	0	0	1.0	6	2447
3	WIM	Vasiliev Olga	2240	ISR	1	1	½	0	0	0	0	2.5	7	2380
4	WIM	Tsifanskaya Ludmila A	2087	ISR	½	1	½	0		0	½	2.5	6	2240
5	WFM	Dotan Valeria	2064	ISR		½		0	0			0.5	3	2214
7. Chigorin Club (RtgAvg:2277, Captain: Andrei Lukin / TB1: 3 / TB2: 101.25)
Bo.		Name	Rtg	FED	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Pts.	Games	RtgAvg
1	IM	Bodnaruk Anastasia	2425	RUS	½	½	½	½	½	0	0	2.5	7	2423
2	WIM	Bronnikova Elizaveta	2244	RUS	½	½	1	½	0	0	0	2.5	7	2419
3	WIM	Ivkina Olga	2266	RUS	0	1	1	½	0	0	½	3.0	7	2329
4		Ivanova-Skripova Tatiana	2173	RUS	½	0	½	0	0	0	0	1.0	7	2263
8. Rishon Le-Zion (RtgAvg:2036, TB1: 0 / TB2: 52.25)
Bo.		Name	Rtg	FED	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Pts.	Games	RtgAvg
1	WIM	Efroimski Marsel	2162	ISR	½	½	½	0	0	0	0	1.5	7	2468
2		Reprun Nadejda	2143	ISR	½	0	0	0	½	0	0	1.0	7	2443
3		Vardi Shlomit	2010	ISR	0			0	0	0	0	0.0	5	2450
4		Federovski Adi	1829	ISR		0	0	½	0	0	0	0.5	6	2291
5		Lahav Michal	1732	ISR	0	½	½					1.0	3	2227

Votive Offerings Uncovered to Goddess Juno

From Gazetta del Sud Online (English)

Tomb raiders lead to new archaeological find

19/10/2012

Votive offerings to Juno from 4th to 2nd century BC

 

ANSA) – Rome, October 19 - Investigations into the activities of four tomb raiders in the Alban hills near Rome have led to the discovery of a previously unknown site containing ancient Roman votive offerings. The ex-votos date from the fourth to the second century BC and include life-sized statues and depictions of parts of the human anatomy in terracotta offered to the ancient Roman goddess Juno. Police caught the tomb robbers in action as they were stealing the devotional objects from a natural cavity in a tufa wall near Lanuvio and Genzano that did not appear on archaeological maps of the area. The cavity appears to be linked to a nearby sanctuary dedicated to Juno the Saviour via a network of caverns and tunnels. The discovery is considered important as it testifies to the existence of a workshop once producing prestigious terracotta objects in the area. Investigators believe the stolen ex-votos were destined for the international collectors' market. Police found other ancient artefacts including sepulchral items mostly dating to the Etruscan era during their search of the tomb raiders' homes.

Donald Alexander McLean - Obituary

From The Montreal Gazette

Donald Alexander (Sandy) McLean
Published October 18, 2012

Peacefully at home, on October 12, 2012 at age 61. A fine musician, composer and dedicated youth worker, son of the late Donald McLean and Thérèse Bouthililer, Don is survived by his sister Anne, A private memorial will be held Sunday, October 21. For details, phone 514 918 1116


A fine turn-out is expected at the memorial on Sunday. 

For those of you who may not know who Don was, he was a principal in the Goddesschess Partnership from its inception.  Don also was the webmaster of the Goddesschess website for many years, until intractable technical problems and ill health (on both our parts) led to the decision to take Goddesschess offline in June, 2012.  We had intended to resurrect Goddesschess at another internet service provider.  Now, the guts of Goddesschess are locked up inside of one of Mr. Don's computers.

Goddess willing, I will get it back online, even if nothing new is ever added to it again.  I'm no techy -- I don't understand things about computers and uploads and downloads and websites and such.  Goddesschess was Don's baby for several years, including his wonderful weekly summary of interesting-news items, "Random Round-Up." 

To Don McLean's extended family members, if you should ever read this, and if are interested in receiving a Family Tree that I prepared as a gift a few years back for Mr. Don, please contact me via this blog.  If I find you on the tree or you can provide me with evidence that you are a relative (I have some names and some memories that Mr. Don passed on over the years), I'll be happy to mail you a printed copy.  It's EXTENSIVE.

If we do not know where we came from, how do we know where we're going...

Hales Corners Challenge XVI

Hello everyone.

Tomorrow the Hales Corners Chess Challenge XVI will take place in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

I wish - well, we have a record-number of chess femmes playing in this event -- 13!  Four in the Open and nine in the Reserve.  I was scheduled to play in the Reserve, but right now my heart just is not in anything, so I withdrew early last week.  So, I'm not counted in that big 13.  Before this Challenge, the highest-ever number of femmes that participated in a Challenge was 11.  So a new record has been set, thanks to you all.

I must give kudos to my friends at Southwest Chess Club.  They have been very supportive and understanding during this time.  Tonight one of their members stopped by the house and picked up the gift bags to be presented to the top female finisher in each of the Open and Reserve sections.  Thanks so much for your support.

And - there is STILL TIME TO REGISTER TO PLAY, because there is open registration tomorrow morning before play starts (SEE details below)!!!!!

The next Hales Corners Challenge XVI is scheduled for October 20, 2012.

GM Josh Friedel will be playing, and we're expecting another great turnout.

Goddesschess Prizes for Females in Addition to Above Prizes, Open: $40 per win/$20 per draw; Reserve: $20 per win/$10 per draw (and highest-scoring female in each section wins free entry into HCC XVII).
 

� Life Master Sheldon Gelbart will be on hand throughout the tournament to analyze games for tournament participants

ENTRY FEE

: $35 – Open; $25 – Reserve

(both sections $5 more after October 17, 2012)
Comp Entry Fee for USCF 2200+: Entry fee subtracted from any prizes won
SITE REGISTRATION

: 8:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.

ROUNDS

: 10 am -- 1 pm -- 3:30 pm -- 6 pm

Pairings by WinTD---No Computer Entries---No Smoking

PRIZES

 

OPEN - RESERVE

1st—$325 1st—$100

2nd—$175 2nd—$75
A—$100 D—$50
B & Below—$75 E & Below—$40

Goddesschess Prizes for Females in Addition to Above Prizes

Open: $40 per win/$20 per draw; Reserve: $20 per win/$10 per draw


Goddess willing, I will be playing in Challenge XVII, in April, 2013.

Some Memories of Don McLean

I offer this photo montage of our last time together, which was December, 2011-January, 2012 when Don and I travelled to Spain after Christmas. 

We re-visited many places in Madrid and also the beautiful ancient city of Toledo that we first visited in October, 2002, shortly after the death of our friend and mentor, IM Dr. Ricardo Calvo, who was a well-known player in Spain for many years and a noted chess historian. 

This trip, we had a deeper appreciation for the beauty we'd seen the first time, examined more things in depth, and saw new things as, feeling more comfortable in this city we'd visited before, we ventured forth further away from known territory and saw many new things.  Our only regret was that the Archaeological Museum was closed for renovations, something neither of us had foreseen and therefore hadn't thought to check ahead of time online! 

After so many years together, we communicated in shorthand and often, we didn't even have to speak.  We'd just look at each other and know what the other was feeling about what we were seeing, doing, feeling.  Often, we shared dreams.  I had no premonition, though, that Don was going to die.  Now, all is emptiness.  I did not realize that Madrid/Toledo would be the last trip I would ever take with Mr. Don.

This digital slideshow personalized with Smilebox

I may put a few more of these together.  There's a lot to review over the past 13 years.  You'll just have to bear with me.