Schach Jock

Satellite radio shock jock Howard Stern turned schach jock for a few hours when he and Beth Ostrosky visited the prestigious Marshall Chess Club earlier today. While I and the other participants in the one-day schedule were playing game/30 in round two, Stern sat upstairs chatting with club president Frank Brady. When the schedules merged in the third round, Stern walked downstairs and watched us play chess in the tournament room.

Maybe the publicity surrounding the deaths of Bobby Fischer and Heath Ledger is giving American chess a much needed shot in the arm. Players in the two-day schedule told me that a TV camera crew was filming inside the club on Saturday while the tournament was in progress.

The following game would have been exciting enough, even without Howard Stern as a spectator.

Round Three: Philidor Counter Gambit

Alice Dong (USCF 1400) - Jim West (USCF 2200), Marshall Chess Club 1/27/2008

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bc4 f5 4.d3 c6 5.Nc3 Nf6 6.Bg5 Be7 7.Qd2 Na6 8.O-O b5 9.Bb3 Nc5 10.Rfe1 f4

11.d4 Nxb3 12.axb3 Qc7 13.Bxf6 gxf6 14.d5 b4 15.Na2 c5 16.c3 a5 17.c4 O-O 18.Nh4 f5 19.Nxf5 Bxf5 20.exf5 Rxf5 21.Qd3 Raf8


22.Qh3 Bd8 23.Rad1 Kh8 24.Rd3 Qg7 25.Re4 Qg6 26.g3 Rg8 27.Nc1 f3 28.Rde3 Rh5 29.Qf1 Qh6


30.h4 Bxh4 31.g4 Bg5 32.gxh5 Bxe3+ 33.Kh2 Qxh5+, White resigns.