INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Spanish grandmaster Alexey Shirov, who earned the right to challenge Garry Kasparov for his world championship title, showed his strength in match play by overwhelming Czech GM Zbynek Hracek, 5-1, in a match in Ostrava, Czech Republic. Shirov, ranked sixth in the world at 2720, lost the fifth game but won the rest. Hracek, rated 2615, is a formidable opponent who consistently scores well in second-level events but lacks experience against the world’s top stars.

There is still no word about the fate of the Kasparov vs. Shirov match. Kasparov formed the World Chess Council in March to determine his challenger and to sponsor a world championship match. Shirov upset Vladimir Kramnik, 5 1/2-3 1/2, in the challengers match, but the WCC lost its financial backing and disintegrated.

The fifth World Rapid Chess Championship for Kids took place Nov. 15-17 at Disneyland Paris in France. Players from 55 countries contested nine rounds of 25-minute games for world championship titles in four categories.

Mark Paragua of the Philippines, who competed in several recent California tournaments, edged Bu Xiangzhi of China on tiebreak to win the Boys Under-14 section. Each scored 7 1/2-1 1/2. The American representative, Daniel Fernandez of Florida, tied for ninth at 5 1/2-3 1/2.

Imre Hera Jr. of Hungary won his first eight games and finished 8-1 to lead the Boys Under-12 section. Asuka Nakamura of New York was fourth at 6 1/2-2 1/2.

Alexandra Kosteniuk of Russia won the Girls Under-14 section with an outstanding 8 1/2- 1/2 score. Cindy Tsai of Florida finished fifth at 6-3.

Arianne Caoili of the Philippines achieved the tournament’s best score, a perfect 9-0, in the Girls Under-12 section. Annie Weiss of New York tied for sixth at 5 1/2-3 1/2.

The tournament was sponsored by Disney and the World Chess Federation.

LOCAL NEWS

California students took first prize in every section of the 1998 All America Cup last weekend in Scottsdale, Ariz. Perennial champion Harutyun Akopyan led the High School section, Minas Nordanyan topped the Junior High (grades K-9) section, Cory Evans and Alen Melikadamyan shared top honors with Wellington Cassuto of Arizona in the Elementary (K-6) section, Elliott Liu won the Primary (K-3) section and Sean Bowe finished first in the Kindergarten section.

A record 779 players participated in the tournament, which serves as a national scholastic championship for 30-minute chess. Organizer Richard Peterson, who says he did little publicity for the event, expects to attract more than 1,000 entrants next year.

Tim Galima scored 6-1 to win the upset-filled La Palma Club Championship, which ended Nov. 20 at the La Palma Chess Club. Show Kitigami, who defeated Galima, finished second, a half-point behind. Mike Brady, Bob Engler, Ed Soloman and Dr. Harold Valery earned class prizes, and Brian Scanlon notched the greatest upset.

The club runs tournaments continuously on Friday evenings in Central Park, 7821 Walker St. in La Palma. For information, call Brian Scanlon at (714) 523-2550.

Several readers pointed out a superior solution to Position #5505, the puzzle in the Nov. 1 chess column. Shabalov won at least a Bishop for a pawn with 1 . . . g4, but the interference move 1 . . . Rd4! ends the game more quickly. After 1 . . . Rd4!, Black threatens 2 . . . Qe1+ 3 Kh2 Rxd5 4 Bxd5 Be5+ 5 g3 Qxg3+ 6 Kh1 Qh2 mate. The only defense, 1 . . . Rd4! 2 g3, loses a piece to 2 . . . Qe1+ 3 Kh2 Qd2+ 4 Kh1 Rxd5 5 Bxd5 Qxd5. Thank you to all who wrote or called about 1 . . . Rd4.