Chess stars in action downtown

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The news has been piling up so fast lately that we'll dispense with the clever introductions and cut right to the chess.

m Local fans can see some U.S. greats in action this weekend at the third annual Richard K. Delaune Jr. Memorial, being played through tomorrow evening at the U.S. Chess Center downtown.

GMs Joel Benjamin, a two-time U.S. national champ, and John Fedorowicz, former U.S. Open winner, will be competing in the five-round Swiss event. Both were friends of Delaune, the Virginia IM who passed away much too soon in 2004. The center is at 1501 M St. NW. Round times and other information can be found at www.chessctr.org.

m After more than 12 years on ice, the reincarnated Springfield Open attracted 78 players the weekend of May 19 and 20. The top section saw a four-way tie for first: IM Larry Kaufman; his son, FM Ray Kaufman; FM Rodion Rubenchik; and NM Andrew Samuelson, all at 41/2-1/2. The senior Kaufman and Samuelson, both with perfect scores, quickly drew their final round matchup, while Rubenchik and Ray Kaufman won.

Matt Grinberg took the top expert prize at 4-1, while Josh Downey and Gil Guo shared the Class A prize at 31/2-11/2. Saf Benouameur matched that score to take the Class B prize, with his only loss to Ray Kaufman in the final round. Four players shared the Class C prize -- Tom Labue, Fiona Lam, Kun Liu and Walt Carey -- while John Spoone took the Class D prize with a fine 3-2 score, and John Russell won the under-1200 prize.

Mike Atkins organized and directed the event, which promises to be a nice addition to the local calendar.

m China's women confirmed their powerhouse status with a dominating performance at last week's inaugural World Women's Team Championship in Yekaterinburg, Russia. Aided by a 4-0 whitewash of the Russian team, the Chinese took the gold in the 10-team event, with Russia settling for silver and Ukraine taking bronze.

Among the stars for the Chinese team was 13-year-old Zhao Xue, who scored 7-2 on Board 2. China won all but one of its matches, ceding only a 2-2 draw to Georgia.

m Last and certainly not least, the eight FIDE candidates' matches finish up this weekend in Elista, Russia. The two knockout rounds of six-game matches will produce four finalists to compete in the world title tournament, set for late September in Mexico City. Reigning FIDE champ Vladimir Kramnik of Russia, compatriots Peter Svidler and Alexander Morozevich, and Indian GM Viswanathan Anand already are seeded into the Mexico finale.

U.S. GM Gata Kamsky, the only American in the title hunt, was one of the first to advance, dismissing France's Etienne Bacrot with a win in Thursday's Game 4, giving him an insurmountable 31/2-1/2 lead. Hungarian star Peter Leko is also through to the next round, beating Turkish GM Mikhail Gurevich by the same margin.