Marshall Chess Club Swiss 6/29/2008

On Sunday, I played in the one-day schedule of a Swiss tournament at the Marshall Chess Club where I ended with a score of 2-1-1. The following games were my best efforts, played at the slower time control of 30/90 followed by game/60.

Round Three: Sicilian Defense, Dragon Variation

Jim West (USCF 2213) - Randel Eng (USCF 1954), Marshall Chess Club 6/29/2008

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 O-O 8.Qd2 Nc6 9.Bc4 Bd7 10.h4 h5 11.O-O-O Ne5 12.Bb3 Rc8 13.Bg5 Rc5

14.Kb1 Qc8 15.Bxf6 Bxf6 16.Nd5 Kg7 17.Nxf6 exf6 18.g4 hxg4 19.h5 g5 20.f4 Nf3 21.Nxf3 gxf3 22.fxg5 Rxg5 23.Qxd6 Bg4 24.Rd5 Be6 25.Rxg5+ fxg5 26.Qe5+ Kh7 27.Qxg5 Rg8 28.Qf6 Qc5 29.Rd1 Bxb3 30.axb3 Qxh5


31.Rd5 Rg1+ 32.Ka2 Qg6 33.Rf5 Qxf6 34.Rxf6 Kg7 35.Rxf3 Re1 36.Rf4 f6 37.b4 Kg6 38.Rg4+ Kh5 39.Rg7 b5 40.Re7 f5 41.Re5 Kg4 42.Rxf5 a6 43.c3 Rxe4 44.Rf6 a5 45.bxa5 Ra4+ 46.Kb3 Rxa5 47.Kb4 Ra2 48.Rf2 Kg3 49.Rd2 Kf3 50.Kxb5 Ke3 51.Rh2, Black resigns.

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Round Four: English Opening

Sarkis Agaian (USCF 2108) - Jim West (2213), Marshall Chess Club 6/29/2008

1.c4 f5 2.g3 e5 3.Bg2 Nf6 4.Nc3 Nc6 5.d3 Bc5 6.e3 f4 7.exf4 O-O 8.Nge2 d6 9.O-O Qe8 10.fxe5 dxe5 11.Ne4 Nxe4 12.dxe4 Be6 13.b3 Rd8 14.Qc2 Nb4 15.Qc3 Qh5

16.Be3 Bxe3 17.fxe3 Qxe2 18.Qxb4 Qxe3+ 19.Kh1 Qb6 20.Qe7 Rxf1+ 21.Rxf1 Qd6 22.Qh4 Rf8 23.Rxf8+ Kxf8 24.Bh3 Qd1+ 25.Kg2 Qd2+ 26.Kg1 Qe3+ 27.Kg2 Qd2 28.Kg1 Bxh3 29.Qxh3 Qd4+ 30.Kf1 Qa1+ 31.Kf2 Qxa2+

32.Kf1 Qb1+ 33.Kf2 Qc2+ 34.Kf1 Qd3+ 35.Kf2 Qxe4 36.Qc8+ Kf7 37.Qxc7+ Kg6 38.Qd6+ Kh5 39.Qe7 Kh6 40.h4 Qf5+ 41.Ke3 g5 42.Qxb7 gxh4 43.gxh4 Qf4+ 44.Kd3 Qd4+ 45.Ke2 Qb2+ 46.Ke3 Qc3+ 47.Ke2 Qc2+ 48.Ke3 Qc3+ 49.Ke2, draw.

Pictures from Viking Quads

Here are some pictures from yesterday's Viking Quads in Somerset.

In the foreground is my first-round opponent Andrew Ng, with a mirror on the wall reflecting the other players in the tournament.

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These are games from quad two.

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In the third quad, Michael Kagel was defeated by Kavinayan Sivakumar while Eric Liao lost to Atlantic Chess News editor Steve Ferrero.

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Here is action from quad four.

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Section five was a seven-player Swiss, won by Louis Sturniolo who can be seen playing the black pieces.

Viking Quads 6/28/2008

The top Viking quad ended in a four-way tie at Somerset today. We all had scores of 1-1-1. Here is my victory over Andrew Ng. The other players in the quad were Boris Privman and Mauricio Camejo.

Round One: Sicilian Defense, Dragon Variation

Jim West (USCF 2213) - Andrew Ng (USCF 2141), Somerset NJ 6/28/2008

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 O-O 8.Qd2 Nc6 9.Bc4 Bd7 10.h4 h5 11.O-O-O Rc8 12.Bb3 Ne5 13.Bg5 Rc5 14.Kb1 b5 15.g4 a5

16.Bxf6 Bxf6 17.gxh5 a4 18.Bd5 e6 19.hxg6 exd5 20.h5 Bg5 21.f4 Bh6 22.Nxd5 f5 23.Nxf5 Bxf5 24.exf5 Rxf5 25.Qe2 Bxf4 26.Qe4, Black resigns.

Paragua Wins New York International

GM Mark Paragua won the New York International at the Marshall Chess Club in a blitz playoff against GM Alejandro Ramirez.

Molner Achieves IM Norm

In the New York International tournament, which ended yesterday at the Marshall Chess Club, Mackenzie Molner of New Jersey achieved an international master norm by finishing with 5 points. Here is Molner's victory in round seven against grandmaster Julio Becerra.

Fajarowicz with 8...Be6

As an improvement on 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e5 3.dxe5 Ne4 4.a3 Nc6 5.Nf3 a5 6.Qc2 d5 7.exd6 Nxd6 8.Nc3 Nxc4 9.Bg5 (Tamburro) in the Fajarowicz variation, I have looked at 8...Be6 9.b3 a4.

Black gets good play for the pawn after 10.Nxa4 Bf5 11.Qd1 Nxc4 12.Qxd8+ Nxd8 13.e4 Be6 14.Bxc4 Bxc4 15.Nb6 cxb6 16.bxc4 Ra4 17.Nd2 Bc5.


A likely continuation is 18.O-O O-O followed by 19...Ne6.

Pix from Branchburg Quads

On Sunday, I took these photos at the Dean of Chess Academy in Branchburg where the Greater Somerset County Quads were held. IM Dean Ippolito is participating in the New York International at the Marshall Chess Club which explains his absence from these pix. You will see tournament director Anand Mishra, as well as a game involving blogger Atomic Patzer. There is also a picture of two rising stars, Anna Matlin and Kavinayan Sivakumar, playing in the second round.

Greater Somerset County Quads 6/22/2008

Yesterday, at the Dean of Chess Academy in Branchburg, I participated in the Greater Somerset County Quads. I won the top quad with a score of 2-0-1. Here are my games.

Round One: Sicilian Defense, Dragon Variation

Jim West (USCF 2213) - Kavinayan Sivakumar (USCF 1834), Branchburg NJ 6/22/2008

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Bc4 O-O 8.Bb3 a5 9.f3 d6 10.Qd2 Nxd4 11.Bxd4 Bd7 12.a3 Bc6 13.O-O Nd7 14.Rad1 Bxd4+ 15.Qxd4 Qb6 16.Qxb6 Nxb6

17.Rfe1 Rfd8 18.Nd5 Bxd5 19.Bxd5 Nxd5 20.Rxd5 Rdc8 21.c3 b6 22.e5 dxe5 23.Rexe5 e6 24.Rd6 Rc5 25.Rxc5 bxc5 26.Kf2 Rb8 27.Rd2 Kf8 28.Ke2 Ke7 29.Kd1 Rb7 30.Kc2 a4 31.c4 Rb3


32.Re2 Kd6 33.Rd2+ Ke7 34.Re2 Kd6 35.h4 h6 36.Rd2+ Ke7 37.Re2 Kd6 38.Re1 f6 39.Re4 f5 40.Re1 g5 41.hxg5 hxg5 42.Rd1+ Kc7 43.Rh1 Re3 44.Kd2 Rb3 45.Kc1 Re3 46.Rh7+ Kb6 47.Rg7 Re1+ 48.Kd2 Rb1 49.Kc2 Re1 50.Rxg5 Re2+ 51.Kc3 Re3+ 52.Kd2 Rb3 53.Kc2 Re3


54.Rg6 Re2+ 55.Kc3 Re3+ 56.Kd2 Re5 57.g3 Kb7 58.Rg7+ Kb6 59.Re7 Ka6 60.Re8 Kb7 61.Rd8 Ka7 62.Rd7+ Kb6 63.Rd6+ Kb7 64.Rd3 Kb6 65.Re3 Rxe3 66.Kxe3 Kc6 67.Kf4 Kd6 68.g4 fxg4 69.fxg4 Ke7 70.Ke5 Kf7 71.g5 Kg6


72.Kxe6 Kxg5 73.Kd5 Kf5 74.Kxc5 Ke5 75.Kb5 Kd4 76.c5 Kd3 77.Kxa4 Kc4 78.c6 Kc5 79.c7 Kd5 80.c8=Q Ke5 81.b4 Kd5 82.b5 Ke5 83.b6 Kd5 84.b7 Ke4 85.b8=Q Kd4 86.Qd6+ Ke4 87.Qce6+ Kf3 88.Qf8+ Kg3 89.Qg6+ Kh4 90.Qfh6#.

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Round Two: Larsen's Opening

Steve Ferrero (USCF 1871) - Jim West (2213), Branchburg NJ 6/22/2008

1.b3 b6 2.Bb2 Bb7 3.Nf3 e6 4.g3 f5 5.Bg2 Nf6 6.d3 Be7 7.c4 O-O 8.O-O a5 9.a3 Na6 10.Nc3 Qe8 11.e3 Qh5 12.Ne5 Qxd1 13.Rfxd1 Bxg2 14.Kxg2 Nc5 15.b4 Nb3

16.b5 Nxa1 17.Rxa1 Bd6 18.Na4 Bxe5 19.Bxe5 d6 20.Bxf6 Rxf6 21.Nc3 Raf8 22.f4 h6 23.h4 g5 24.h5 gxf4 25.exf4 Kf7 26.Re1 Re8 27.d4 Kf8 28.Kf3 Rf7 29.Re3 Rg7 30.Kf2 Rg4 31.Kf3 Re7 32.Kf2 Ke8 33.Kf3 Kd7

34.Kf2 Rg8 35.Kf3 Rc8 36.Na4 Rb8 37.Nc3 c6 38.Ke2 cxb5 39.cxb5 Ree8 40.Kd2 d5 41.Kc2 Rec8 42.Kb2 Rc4 43.Rd3 Rbc8 44.Kb3 Kd6 45.Kb2 a4 46.Kc2 Ra8 47.Kb2 Ra5 48.Ka2 Rxc3 49.Rxc3 Rxb5

50.Ka1 Kd7 51.Ka2 Ra5 52.Kb2 Ra7 53.Rc2 Rc7 54.Rxc7+ Kxc7 55.Kc3 b5 56.Kb2 Kb6 57.Kc2 Ka5 58.Kc3 b4+, White resigns.




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Round Three: Philidor Counter Gambit

Anna Matlin (USCF 1824) - Jim West (USCF 2213), Branchburg NJ 6/22/2008

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bc4 f5 4.d3 c6 5.O-O f4 6.Nxe5 dxe5 7.Qh5+ Kd7 8.Qxe5 Qf6 9.Qh5 g6 10.Qf3 g5 11.Bd2 Bg7

12.Bc3 Qe7 13.e5 Kc7 14.d4 Be6 15.Nd2 Bxc4 16.Nxc4 Qe6 17.Nd6 h5 18.Bb4 Na6 19.Ba3 Ne7 20.Ne4 Rae8 21.Bd6+ Kc8 22.Nxg5 Qf5 23.Ne4 Qg4, draw.

Chess Puzzle

I finished solving today's acrostic puzzle in the Sunday magazine of The New York Times. Here is the quotation, taken from Paul Hoffman's book King's Gambit.

Fischer's adversaries knew that he derived unwholesome pleasure from ravishing them. When he was alone, psyching himself up for a game, people would hear him shout, "Slam! Bam! Zowie!" as he banged pieces down on the board.

My first inkling that the puzzle had a chess theme occurred when I saw clues such as these: "Premier when Mikhail Tal was chess champ" [Khrushchev] and "One hosting the 1972 Spassky match" [Icelander]. There were also clever answers like "pawnshop" and "archbishop" that played on the names of chess pieces.

Ferrero - Petty

In the Under 2000 section of the National Open, Atlantic Chess News editor Steve Ferrero drew this game. White's final move 24.Bc3 is slightly inaccurate. He should leave the c3 square available for his queen by 24.f4 Nh7 25.f5 Qe4 26.Qc3 Nf6 27.Rf4 Qe5 28.Qc2 Qe7 with an equal position.

Round Three: Larsen's Opening

Steve Ferrero (USCF 1871) - David Petty (USCF 1949), National Open 6/7/2008

1.b3 e5 2.Bb2 Nc6 3.e3 d5 4.Bb5 Bd6 5.Nf3 Qe7 6.c4 Nf6 7.c5 Bxc5 8.Nxe5 O-O 9.Nxc6 bxc6 10.Be2 Re8

11.Qc2 Ne4 12.O-O Bd7 13.Nc3 Nf6 14.Bd3 Bd6 15.g3 Rab8 16.Ne2 h6 17.Nd4 c5 18.Nf5 Qd8 19.Nxd6 cxd6


20.Bf5 Ne4 21.Bxd7 Qxd7 22.f3 Ng5 23.Qd3 Qe6 24.Bc3, draw.

New York International

Tomorrow the New York International tournament begins at the Marshall Chess Club.

Kamsky Interview

Here is an interview with GM Gata Kamsky, courtesy of the Internet Chess Club.

Pix from National Open

While participating in the Under 2000 section of this year's National Open, held at the Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas, Atlantic Chess News editor Steve Ferrero took these pictures.

Tamburro on Fajarowicz

Alejandro Melchor of Barcelona has sent me the following e-mail, bringing to my attention Pete Tamburro's recommendation of 9.Bg5 in the Fajarowicz variation after 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e5 3.dxe5 Ne4 4.a3 Nc6 5.Nf3 a5 6.Qc2 d5 7.exd6 Nxd6 8.Nc3 Nxc4. Tamburro's move is better than Harding's 9.Qe4+.

Jim,

Some notes and analysis on Philidor Counter Gambit, Fajarowicz and Latvian Gambit in http://njscf.proboards2.com/index.cgi?board=amate blog of N.J. Chess Federation.
Remarkable a possible refutation ( Pete Tamburro ) on Fajarowicz with your idea 3.dxe5 Ne4 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.a3 a5!?
http://njscf.proboards2.com/index.cgi?board=amate&action=display&thread=189

All the best!
Alejandro Melchor

Kudrin Simul in Belle Mead

The Greater Somerset County Chess Club is proud to announce the first ever simultaneous exhibition with grandmaster Sergey Kudrin of New Jersey on Sunday, June 29, 2008. GM Kudrin recently played in this year's U.S. Championship and finished in 3rd place amid tough competition.

There are 25 seats available on an advanced registration basis only. Preference will be given to scholastic players and club members, then on a first-come-first-serve basis. The entry fee for this event is $25. The simul will start promptly at 1:15 pm and will most likely run the duration until the club's curfew at 4:45 pm. Clocks are not necessary. To register, please send an e-mail to AMishra63@verizon.net stating your name, age, and rating if available.

The club meets from 1 to 5 pm, unless otherwise noted, at 40 Pike Run Road, Belle Mead, NJ 08502, in the rental office building of the Pike Run Community Club House. As usual, casual play is always available to those who do not want to play in the day's structured event.

Pictures from Hamilton Quads

Here are some pictures that I took yesterday at the Hamilton quads.

There was a good turnout, even though the quads were held a week earlier than usual.

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This is Sal Geraci, whose brother Ron lives on Thompson Street.

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In the third round, Tom Stanics (a.k.a. Atomic Patzer) defends his position against James Luxich.

Hamilton Quads 6/14/2008

Today, at the quads in Hamilton, I played this exciting draw.

Round Three: English Opening

Dragan Milovanovic (USCF 2236) - Jim West (USCF 2213), Hamilton NJ 6/14/2008

1.Nf3 f5 2.c4 b6 3.g3 Bb7 4.Bg2 Nf6 5.O-O e6 6.Nc3 a5 7.b3 Be7 8.Bb2 O-O 9.d3 Na6

10.Ne5 Bxg2 11.Kxg2 Qe8 12.e3 d6 13.Nf3 e5 14.d4 e4 15.Ng5 Bd8 16.f4 h6 17.Nh3 Ng4 18.Qe2 Nb4 19.Nf2 h5 20.Ncd1 Qg6 21.Nxg4 hxg4 22.Nf2 Bf6 23.a3 Nc6


24.Nd1 Ne7 25.d5 Bxb2 26.Qxb2 Qh5 27.Kg1 g5 28.b4 gxf4 29.exf4 axb4 30.axb4 Rxa1 31.Qxa1 b5 32.Ne3 bxc4 33.Rc1 Qe8 34.Rxc4 Qb5 35.Rxc7 Qd3 36.Rxe7 Qxe3+ 37.Kh1, draw.

Viva Las Vegas!

Atlantic Chess News editor Steve Ferrero has just returned from Las Vegas where he played in the Under 2000 section at the National Open. Here are some photos!