Contents:
1. On developing chess events online
2. Recent success of local expert Negash Bezaleel
3. Upcoming events in Georgia, U.S.A.
4. Upcoming events on the Internet
5. Your Chess Literature—know your history.

1) Peace and good health to you, chessfans. I have been quite busy with the chess fellowship at www.brainking.com. The participants are very passionate about their games, and many of them have high USCF and FIDE ratings in the game. Both the standard games and also the chess variants are strongly contested, and the results are exciting. The site is turn-based, but many people choose to play “live”, agreeing on meeting times and taking minutes-per-move instead of days. The games are easily adjourned, and the conversation can be more involved. Tournaments are heavily discussed, and the Chess Ladder, as well as the Gothic Chess Ladder, are quite active. In particular the Gothic Chess Ladder has an Archive of completed games and I have designed a “Skittles Room” whereby players may look into the positions of other players on the Ladder. The analysis of the games is also building up well. Much of the site is free; the Fellowships are “members only”. It is highly valuable to me as a tournament director and organizer to participate at this level. In the Variants tournament, prizes are offered; in one instance, a six-month membership is offered to the winner of the tourney of new members, “Pawns”, for their participation in the games. One chessfriend from the Transcendent Chess website followed me to brainking.com and said he enjoyed immensely the possibilities in the game. Another player, who is a local chessplayer, enjoyed the game so much he designed a chessboard coffeetable with an 8x10 design so that we could play over-the-board live, and we spent an afternoon enjoying the space of the board, and the interesting play that arose after that game. In whatever manner you enjoy your chess, know that there is a niche for you, and it is my hope that it brings you great joy.
2) Local expert Negash Daquan Bezaleel (Georgia Rating 2259/05 as of Feb 1 2004,# 9 in the state according to performance, USCF rating 2104, not updated since February 2004), did well at the Georgia State Championships in May 2003, placing second. He is a wellspring of talent, and we wish him much success. We look forward to his review of his favorite games in the next issue.

3) Upcoming events in Georgia:

Martha Fierro Simultaneous Exhibition (Peachtree City)
· Date : 5 June 2004
· Category : Open Tournaments
· Event description
We are organizing a Simultaneous exhibition with Woman Grandmaster Martha Fierro at the Peachtree City Books-a-Million.

Martha Fierro is ranked #8 on the USCF women's list. She is a multiple time Ecuador National Woman's Champion and a former Silver medallist at the Chess Olympiad playing top board for Ecuador. She has 2 IM norms.

Entry Fee is $20. First 30 paid entries will get a chance to play Martha. Make checks payable to Shanker Raman.

Call Shanker Raman at 770-632-0136 or email peachtreecitychessclub@yahoo.com
Mail checks to 1000 Stevens Entry # E113 Peachtree City GA-30269

Directions from Downtown Atlanta Take I-85 South (40 minutes drive south of the airport) Exit 61 , Turn left on Highway 74 South towards Peachtree City. Turn into The Avenue Shopping Center at the intersection of Highway 54 and Highway 74.


Atlanta JUNE G/45 Championship (ACC - Decatur)
· Date : 6 June 2004
· Category : Open Tournaments
· Event description
4-SS, G/45. In 2 sections: Open: EF: $22. $500 b/34. $150-90-60; U1900, U1700, U1500, U1300 each $50. U1100: EF: $13. Trophies to top 7 (not part of based on). Reg.: ends 10:30 a.m. Rounds: 11-1-3-5. Info: (404)-377-4400. Enter: Atlanta Chess Center, 3155A East Ponce de Leon Ave., Scottdale, Ga. 30079. NS. NC.

4th Annual Emory Castle Grand Prix (Emory University--Atlanta)
· Date : 11 June 2004
· Category : Open Tournaments
· Event description
The Event: 5-round SS, Game/2 hours, 80 Grand Prix points. This first-class tournament is the finale for the week-long Castle Chess Camp at Emory. Many of the instructors at the camp will be playing, in the past including GMs Arthur Bisguier, Yury Shulman, Julio Becerra, Boris Kreiman, WGM Martha Fierro, IMs Stephen Muhammad, Carlos Perdomo, Pascal Charbaneau and Irina Krush. (NOTE: ALL CASTLE CAMP PARTICIPANTS ARE AUTOMATICALLY REGISTERED FOR THIS EVENT. NO NEED TO RE-REGISTER.)

Rounds: 3-day schedule: Friday--8:00; Saturday-1:30, 6:30; Sunday-9:00, 1:30
2-day schedule: Saturday-10:00 (G/90), then merges with 3-day schedule
Byes (maximum 2) available in any round-must commit before the first round.

For complete info go to Emory Chess website referenced below.


· More info : www.emorychess.org

Kid Chess Summer Camp (Alpharetta)
· Date : 21 June 2004
· Category : Scholastic Tournaments
· Event description
2004 Kid Chess Summer Camps!

June 21st-25th, at Holy Redeemer, Alpharetta

July 12th-16th, Tritt Elementary, E. Cobb/Roswell
(E.Cobb Morning only session sold out)
July 26th-30th, Nicholson Elementary, N.E. Cobb


Kid Chess Summer Camps represent our best and most popular programs. Camps features a variety of activities which include:

Regular Chess Tournament,

Blindfolded Chess Tournament,

Bughouse Chess Tournament,

Speed Chess Tournament,

Obstacle courses,

Several chances to play top instructors,

lots of play, lots of instruction, and lots of fun! Each camper will receive at least one trophy with the opportunity to win more. Each camper will also receive a t-shirt, and scorepad. A minimum of 5 instructors will be present at all times (usually more) including experienced chess instructors Justin Morrison, Alexis Fairweather, Irah Chandler, Lee Miller, Charles Curry, Fred Judson, Bill Noyes, Gale Elfer, Jared Radin, Phyllis Abbott, and others.

Fees:
Full day (9 am-5 pm), with lunch: $259
Full day (9 am-5 pm), without lunch: $240
Morning Session (9 am-1pm) **, with lunch: $159
Morning Session (9 am-1pm), without lunch: $140
Afternoon Session (1 pm-5 pm):* $140
* -Lunch is not served during the afternoon session
** - Morning Session E.Cobb/Roswell is sold out.

Summer Camp space is reserved on a first come first served basis. If you have any questions, or wish to register, please call Gale Elfer at 404-875-7137 or email gale@kidchess.com. For more information please visit us at www.kidchess.com.


· More info : www.kidchess.com


June Columbus Open (Columbus)
· Date : 26 June 2004
· Category : Open Tournaments
· Event description
Columbus Open

4 SS - 2 Sections
Individual USCF Rated and Scholastic USCF Rated
Guaranteed Prizefund: $215- In two sections:

Open Section: 1st $80 2nd $50 3rd $35
TopUnder 1600: 1st $30 2nd $20
Scholastic USCF Rated: Trophies to top 3 players

EF: $15 adult / $7 for scholastic section

Free 1/2 point Bye any round, must request in advance of previous round
USCF membership required

Time Control: G/60 minutes
Registration: 9:30 til 10:30 am Eastern Time
Rounds: 11:00, 1:30, 4:00, 6:30

CV Chess and Games
5870 Veterans Parkway M2
Columbus, Georgia 31909

Questions: LamarCausey@ (706) 507-3461
E-mail: Lam33@aol.com or 24 hr. voice mail @ (706) 566-9207
· More info : cvchess.org

4) Upcoming events on the Internet

at Brainking.com—
1.BK World Chess Championship, Candidates Open, contains several FIDE experts and Master-class players from all over the world, June 30, 2004, last day to sign up.

2. Final games of the Pawn’s Gothic Chess Open, begun on April 26th, 2004. See who wins the prize.

5. Dortmund Sparkassen Chess-Meeting 2004

The Dortmund Sparkassen Chess-Meeting 2004 takes place in the Dortmund Theatre from 22nd July - 1st August 2004. This year the event is a mini all-play-all followed by a knockout.

Group 1 1 Viswanathan Anand (India) 2 Peter Svidler (Russia) 3 Sergei Rublevsky (Russia) 4 Arkadij Naiditsch (Germany)

Group 2 1 Vladimir Kramnik (Russia) 2 Peter Leko (Hungary) 3 Viorel Bologan (Moldavia) 4 Sergey Karjakin (Ukraine)

Pairings now available.

Official site: http://www.chessgate.de



5. Know your Chess History

For those whose interests lie in the deep reservoir of chess history, you can give thanks to Daaim Shabazz, Ph.D., editor of the Chess Drum (www.chessdrum.net) on the chess problemist, correspondence player and Master Emeritus Theophilus Thompson from Frederick, Maryland. He is the first person mentioned in the wonderful book Correspondence Chess in America by Bryce D. Avery, McFarland and Company, Publishers. Thompson is considered the first Black chess player of note in America in the modern era, with several published articles on the game and problems composed around his most active times around the 1870s. His book of endgame positions in 1873 titled Chess Problems: Either to Play or Mate “was highly regarded among his chess-peers.” Learn more about this chess ambassador either from Avery’s book or from the Chess Drum website. Thompson is important to me for his promotion of the game at such an early time in America’s history and also the respect he commanded from his peers—for me that is something to aim for, whether in chess publishing or in my play. I want as many people as possible to take something from the game, which has given so much to me; also I want to give something in return to this game which has helped me to discipline my mind, to meet interesting people and exchange ideas with humans from all over the world. I even learned a morsel of Japanese, which I shared with a customer of mine from Japan, who said she admired my pronunciation, and thanked me for my kind words in her native tongue. If you can get that kind of human interaction from your hobbies, I encourage you to do so. From chess I certainly get that depth of human interplay. So go and do well, and PLAY THE GAME!

- posted by nasmichael @ 4:09:00 PM