 A
New Smart Chip?
 "Live
like a man. Die like a dog," is the mantra for Jorge
Sammour-Hasbun (NECF-InSchools), who proved that lightning
does indeed strike twice by winning the 2008
Dos Hermanas Internet Blitz tournament here on ICC.
The former Palestinian prodigy, who now lives in the U.S.,
battled his way through the record 2,167 players taking
part in the week-long 12 qualifiers for a place in the final
32. And despite being untitled, he again defied the odds
by unceremoniously beating-up on GMs Timur Gareev, Jobava
Baadur, Dmitry Kononenko and Ronen Har-Zvi in the KO finals
to claim the top prize of $3,400 (2,000 Euro) and online
blitz bragging rights for another year.
 Comparisons
with Jorge are now being made with the legendary Soviet
Blitz player Genrikh Chepukaitis (see the excellent NIC
book Smart
Chip from St Petersburg). The little-known Russian welder
was an untitled player and virtually unknown in the west
- but he was the most revered Blitz player in all of the
USSR, who was feared by the likes of Tal, Petrosian, Korchnoi,
Spassky and Bronstein!
Chepukaitis put his many Moscow and Leningrad Blitz titles
down to being simply “a lucky guy with a roguish hand.”
In his latter years, before he died, aged 68 in 2004, he
became extremely successful playing on the ICC (over 27,000
blitz games using the handle "SmartChip"), defeating
many ‘stronger’ titled players who were unaware
of his legendary status.
The ultimate compliment on Jorge's performance in winning
Dos Hermanas for the second successive year came from Israeli
speed ace GM Ronen Har-Zvi, who lost 3.5-0.5 in the final.
"The last player to beat me like this at blitz was
Vladimir Kramnik!"
Ronen was also magnanimous enough in
defeat to interview Jorge exclusively for Chess.FM. Recorded
live, just minutes after the final match, you can listen
(free to non-members) to the two finalists' thoughts on
the 2008 Dos Hermanas tournament (including analysis of
key games from the final) in this 36
minute video for Chess.FM by clicking here. Jorge will
also be appearing shortly as a guest on Chess Talk with
John Watson.
Download
the games of the Knockout Finals in PGN format.
U.S.
Amateur Team Championship
 ICC
plays host for another U.S. Amateur Team Championship, where
you can watch all the action live. USAT08
The first round of the playoff will take place on Saturday,
April 12th at 1PM (1300) Eastern DST. The East team champions
will play the South team champions, and the North team champions
will play the West team champions.
The final playoff match between the winners of the two
first round matches will take place on Saturday, April 12th,
at 6PM (1800) Eastern DST.
Further details: http://www.chessclub.com/groups/USAT
USAT East: Daniel Yeager (2304),
Victor Shen, Captain (2250), Scott Low (2092), Jared Defibaugh
(2090).
USAT South: Bruci Lopez (2460),
Jeffrey Haskel (2136), Javier Gonzales (2108), Gilberto
Luna, Captain, (2069).
USAT North: Alex Betaneli, Captain
(2282), Ashish Vaja (2239), Erik Santarius (2175), Trevor
Magness (2003).
USAT West: Robby Adamson, Captain
(2365), Landon Brownell (2229), Jonathan Cox (2085), Ben
Marmont (2017).
Are
You A Member of the USCF?
Well, if so, now is the ideal time to try out ICC's new
fun and friendly sister-site World Chess Live, where April
has been declared "USCF Month"!
In a new sponsorship deal with the United
States Chess Federation, ALL current members of the USCF
will qualify for a free 6-month membership! Simply enter
your USCF membership number and PIN at the bottom of the
WCL
registration page in the Group ID and Group PIN boxes.
If you're already registered with WCL, go to your
account page and use the link in the Memberships/Affiliations
section at the bottom. (Sign-up for this offer ends on September
30, 2008.
WCL is pleased to also announce the
sponsorship of USCF's 2008 Grand Prix and 2008 Junior
Grand Prix. We're providing prize funds of $20,000 and
$7,500, respectively, and will also be running Online Grand
Prix events all year, beginning in April.
WCL also gets set to host the U.S.
State Champion of Champions event, starting Saturday,
12 April at 15:00 EDT - with the winner going forward to
the 2008
Frank K. Berry U.S Championship!
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