The Day the Earth Moved

Astronaut Greg Chamitoff, aboard the International Space Station, is playing a game of chess against players on the Earth.

Yesterday Chamitoff opened with 1.d4, and Earth responded with 1...Nf6.

Inventors Thwarted by NJKO

On Wednesday night, in the U.S. Chess League, the Philadelphia Inventors were stymied by the New Jersey Knockouts, who won their match with a score of 2-0-2.

Kasparov Simul in Harlem

During the Harlem Children's Zone Chess Festival, which runs from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. today, Garry Kasparov will play in a 20-board simultaneous exhibition against student players.

Marshall Chess Club Swiss 9/27/2008

In today's game/45 Swiss tournament at the Marshall Chess Club, I finished with a score of 2-1-2. Here are my best efforts.

Round One: Sicilian Defense, Najdorf Variation

Jim West (USCF 2207) - Christopher Wu (USCF 1853), Marshall Chess Club 9/27/2008

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bc4 e6 7.Bb3 Be7 8.f4 O-O 9.Be3 Nbd7 10.Qf3 Nc5 11.f5 e5 12.Nde2 Qa5 13.O-O b5 14.Bd5 Rb8

15.a3 Bb7 16.b4 Qc7 17.bxc5 Bxd5 18.Nxd5 Nxd5 19.exd5 dxc5 20.Ng3 Rb6 21.Nh5 Kh8 22.Qe4 f6 23.Rf3 Rf7 24.Rd1 Bd6 25.Kh1 Rb8 26.Rh3 c4 27.Qh4 Qc8 28.Ng3 Qg8 29.Bc1 a5 30.Ne4 Rd7 31.g4 Be7 32.g5 fxg5 33.Bxg5 Bf8 34.f6 g6 35.d6 Rb6


36.f7 Qxf7 37.Bf6+ Kg8 38.Bxe5 Be7 39.Nf6+ Bxf6 40.Qxf6 Qxf6 41.Bxf6 Rdxd6 42.Rxd6 Rxd6 43.Bc3 Rd1+ 44.Kg2 Rc1 45.Bxa5 Rxc2+ 46.Kf1 h5 47.Ke1 Kf7 48.Kd1 Ra2 49.Bb4 Kf6 50.Rf3+ Ke5 51.h4 Rg2 52.Kc1 g5 53.hxg5 Rxg5 54.Kc2 h4


55.Rh3 Rg2+ 56.Kd1 Rg4 57.Be1 Rd4+ 58.Kc2 Rd3 59.Bc3+ Kd6 60.Rxh4 Kc6 61.Bb4 Rd5 62.Rh6+ Kb7 63.a4 bxa4 64.Kc3 Rd7 65.Kxc4 Kc8 66.Kb5 Ra7 67.Ba5 a3 68.Rh3 a2 69.Ra3 Rb7+ 70.Bb6 Rd7 71.Rxa2 Rb7 72.Kc6 Kb8 73.Rh2 Ka8 74.Bc7, Black resigns.

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Round Two: Philidor Counter Gambit

Justin Karp (USCF 2062) - Jim West (USCF 2207), Marshall Chess Club 9/27/2008

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 f5 4.Nc3 fxe4 5.Nxe4 d5 6.Neg5 exd4 7.Nxd4 Qe7+ 8.Be2 h6 9.Ngf3 c6 10.O-O Qf6 11.Re1 Bb4 12.c3 Bd6 13.c4 Ne7 14.cxd5 cxd5 15.Bb5+ Kf7 16.h3 Rd8 17.b3 Kg8 18.Bb2 Qf7 19.Bd3 Nbc6 20.Bc2 Nxd4 21.Qxd4 Bd7


22.Rad1 Rac8 23.Bb1 a6 24.Ne5 Bxe5 25.Qxe5 Re8 26.Re3 Nf5 27.Qf4 Nxe3 28.Bh7+ Kf8 29.Ba3+ Re7 30.Bxe7+ Kxe7 31.Qxe3+ Kf8 32.Rd4 g5 33.Bd3 Re8 34.Qd2 Bc6 35.Be2 Qe7 36.Bf3 Qe1+ 37.Qxe1 Rxe1+ 38.Kh2 Ra1 39.a4 Rb1 40.Rd3 Ke7


41.Kg3 Rb2 42.Kg4 Rxf2 43.Kh5 d4 44.Kxh6 Bxf3 45.gxf3 Kf6 46.Kh5 b5 47.Rxd4 Rxf3 48.Kg4 Rxb3 49.Rd6+ Kg7 50.Rxa6 bxa4 51.Rxa4 Rb5, draw.




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Round Four: Philidor Counter Gambit

Joshua Colas (USCF 1770) - Jim West (USCF 2207), Marshall Chess Club 9/27/2008

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 f5 4.Nc3 fxe4 5.Nxe4 d5 6.Nxe5 dxe4 7.Qh5+ g6 8.Nxg6 Nf6 9.Qe5+ Kf7 10.Nxh8 Kg7 11.Bh6+ Kxh8 12.Bxf8 Nc6 13.Qc5 Nd7 14.Qc3 Qxf8 15.d5+ Nce5 16.Qxc7 Qb4+ 17.Qc3 Qxc3+ 18.bxc3 Nb6 19.O-O-O Bf5 20.Be2 Rd8

21.Rd4 Rxd5 22.Rhd1 Rc5 23.Kb2 Nc6 24.g4 Bg6 25.R4d2 Na4+ 26.Kb3 Nxc3 27.Re1 Nxe2 28.Rexe2 b6 29.h4 h6 30.Rd6 Kg7 31.h5 Bf7+ 32.Kb2 Na5 33.Kc1 Rc4 34.Rd7 Ra4 35.g5 hxg5 36.h6+ Kxh6 37.Rxf7 Kg6 38.Rf8 Nc6


39.c3 Ne5 40.Re8 Kf5 41.Kb2 b5 42.Rf8+ Ke6 43.f3 exf3 44.Rxf3 Rf4 45.Rfe3 Rf5 46.Rh3 g4 47.Rh6+ Rf6 48.Rxf6+ Kxf6 49.Kb3 Kf5 50.Kb4 a6 51.Ka5 b4 52.cxb4 Nc6+ 53.Ka4 g3 54.Rg2 Kf4 55.Rxg3 Kxg3 56.b5 axb5+ 57.Kxb5 Nd4+ 58.Kb6 Kf4 59.a4 Ke5 60.a5 Kd6 61.a6 Nc6 62.Kb7 Kc5, draw.




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Round Five: Ruy Lopez, Exchange Variation

Jim West (USCF 2207) - Ed Kopiecki (USCF 1904), Marshall Chess Club 9/27/2008

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.O-O Bg4 6.h3 h5 7.d3 Qf6 8.Nbd2 Ne7 9.Re1 Ng6 10.d4 Nf4 11.dxe5 Qg6 12.Nh4 Bxd1 13.Nxg6 Nxg6 14.Rxd1 Rd8 15.Rf1 Nxe5 16.a3 Bc5 17.Nb3 Ba7


18.Na5 Bb6 19.Nb3 Nc4 20.a4 a5 21.Rb1 f6 22.Kh2 g5 23.f3 Rh7 24.e5 Nxe5 25.f4 Nf7 26.fxg5 fxg5 27.Bd2 g4 28.Rbe1+ Kd7 29.Bxa5 Bxa5 30.Nxa5 Kc8 31.Re7 Ng5 32.Rxh7 Nxh7 33.hxg4 hxg4 34.Nc4 b5 35.axb5 cxb5 36.Ne3 Rd2


37.Rf7 Ng5 38.Rf4 Nf3+ 39.Kg3 Ne1 40.Rf2 Rd4 41.Re2 Nxg2 42.Nxg2 Kd7 43.c3 Rc4 44.Ne3 Re4 45.Rd2+ Ke6 46.Nxg4 Kf5 47.Rd5+ Ke6 48.Rxb5 c6 49.Rb8 Kf5 50.Rf8+ Kg5 51.Kf3 Re1 52.Ne3 Rb1 53.b4 Rc1 54.Rf5+ Kh4 55.Ng2+, Black resigns.

Political Stalemate

In preparation for tonight's scheduled debate, Barack Obama and John McCain played a game of chess. Or did they?

Kasparov's Meeting with Bush

On Tuesday, President Bush met with political dissidents, against a backdrop of the Statue of Liberty. One such dissident was former world chess champion Garry Kasparov, who gave Bush a copy of his book How Life Imitates Chess.

Inventors vs. NJKO Tonight

Tonight, at 7 o'clock, the Philadelphia Inventors will be matched against the New Jersey Knockouts, in the U.S. Chess League. Here are the scheduled pairings:

Philadelphia Inventors vs. New Jersey Knockouts

Board One: GM Sergey Kudrin vs. GM Joel Benjamin
Board Two: IM Bryan Smith vs. GM Boris Gulko
Board Three: IM Richard Costigan vs. IM Dean Ippolito
Board Four: NM Elvin Wilson vs. Andrew Ng

Follow the live action on the Internet Chess Club.

Kasparov to Meet with Bush

Today former world champion Garry Kasparov will be in New York, where he and other dissidents will meet with President Bush.

Pix from Hamilton Quads 9/20/2008

Here are some photos from Saturday's quads in Hamilton.

You will see NM Dragan Milovanovic defeating NM Mark Kernighan in quad one, and the post mortem of the drawn game between Louis Leiggi and Anna Matlin in quad two.

Finally, there are three pix of the lower quads.

NJKO Blast Blitz

Once again, the team from New Jersey has defeated their rivals from New England.

First, it was the Giants upsetting the Patriots in the Super Bowl.

Now, the New Jersey Knockouts have blindsided the Boston Blitz by a score of 3-1 in the U.S. Chess League.

Hamilton Quads 9/20/2008

At today's quads in Hamilton, I had a couple of minor piece endings which ended in draws although one player was a pawn ahead.

Round Two: Alekhine Defense

Jim West (USCF 2207) - Boris Privman (USCF 2235), Hamilton Quads 9/20/2008

1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.c4 Nb6 5.exd6 exd6 6.Nc3 Bf5 7.Nf3 Be7 8.Be2 O-O 9.O-O Nc6 10.Be3 Bf6 11.Rc1 Ne7 12.d5 c5 13.Qd2 h6 14.h3 Ng6

15.g4 Bc8 16.Ne4 Be7 17.Ng3 Nh4 18.Nxh4 Bxh4 19.Bd3 Nd7 20.Kg2 Ne5 21.Be4 Ng6 22.Nh5 f5 23.Bb1 Qe7 24.b3 Qf7 25.f3 Bd7 26.Bg1 Bg5 27.f4 Bf6 28.Qd3 Rfe8 29.Rce1 Bh4 30.Bf2 Bxf2 31.Kxf2 Nf8 32.Qf3 Ng6


33.Rxe8+ Rxe8 34.Re1 Rxe1 35.Kxe1 fxg4 36.hxg4 Ne5 37.Qe4 Nxg4 38.Qh7+ Kf8 39.Qh8+ Qg8 40.Qxg8+ Kxg8 41.Ng3 Kf7 42.Ke2 g5 43.fxg5 hxg5 44.Ne4 Ke7 45.Nxg5 Kf6 46.Nf3 Nh6 47.Ke3 Bg4


48.Ne1 Kg5 49.Be4 Nf5+ 50.Bxf5 Bxf5 51.Nf3+ Kg4 52.Nd2 Kg5 53.Ne4+ Bxe4 54.Kxe4 Kg4 55.b4 b6 56.b5 Kg5 57.Ke3 Kg4 58.Ke4 Kg5, draw.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Round Three: Pirc Defense

Mark Kernighan (USCF 2211) - Jim West (USCF 2207), Hamilton Quads 9/20/2008

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d6 3.b3 g6 4.Bb2 Bg7 5.Nbd2 O-O 6.e4 Nc6 7.Bb5 Bd7 8.O-O e5 9.d5 Ne7 10.Bxd7 Nxd7 11.Nc4 a5 12.Ne1 Nc5 13.Qe2 f5

14.exf5 Nxf5 15.Rd1 Qd7 16.a4 b6 17.Nd3 Nd4 18.Bxd4 exd4 19.Nxc5 dxc5 20.Qe6+ Qxe6 21.dxe6 Rae8 22.Rfe1 Rf6 23.Kf1 Rfxe6 24.Rxe6 Rxe6 25.Na3 Bf8 26.Nb5 Bd6 27.Re1 Kf7 28.h3 Rxe1+ 29.Kxe1 Ke6 30.Kd2 Bf4+ 31.Kd3 c6 32.Na3 Bc7 33.Ke4 h5 34.Nc4 h4 35.Na3 g5 36.Nc4 b5 37.Na3 c4


38.Kxd4 Bb6+ 39.Ke4 cxb3 40.cxb3 bxa4 41.bxa4 Bxf2 42.Nc4 Be1 43.Kd4 Kf5 44.Ke3 g4 45.Ke2 gxh3 46.gxh3 Bb4 47.Kf3 Ke6 48.Ke4 c5 49.Ne5 Bc3 50.Nc4 Be1 51.Ne5 Bg3 52.Nc4 Bc7 53.Nd2 Kd6 54.Nc4+ Kc6 55.Ne3 c4


56.Nxc4 Kc5 57.Nxa5 Bxa5 58.Kf3 Be1 59.Kg2 Kb4 60.Kh1 Kxa4 61.Kg2 Kb3 62.Kh1 Kc2 63.Kg2 Kd3 64.Kh1 Ke4 65.Kg2 Bg3 66.Kh1 Kf3 67.Kg1 Bf4 68.Kh1 Kg3 69.Kg1 Kxh3 70.Kh1 Kg3 71.Kg1 h3 72.Kh1 Be5 73.Kg1 Bd4+ 74.Kh1 h2, stalemate.

Kasparov on Russian Economy

In The Wall Street Journal, Garry Kasparov states his opinion on the Russian economy.

Legal Moves

If you are trying to keep track of the many lawsuits in U.S. chess, here is a brief summary.

Battle of Champions

Tonight, a couple of 3-time U.S. champions square off when GM Joel Benjamin faces GM Larry Christiansen, in the United States Chess League.

You can follow the match between the New Jersey Knockouts and the Boston Blitz, on the Internet Chess Club website, starting at 7 o'clock.

Yang - Ferrero

In the under-1900 section of this year's New Jersey Open, Atlantic Chess News editor Steve Ferrero won the following game. Both players finished the tournament in a 6-way tie for first place.

The minor piece ending, in which Black's knight outplays White's bishop, is one that can arise from the Philidor Counter Gambit, which is basically the Latvian Gambit deferred.

Round Four: Latvian Gambit

Yuxing Jack Yang (USCF 1818) - Steve Ferrero (USCF 1878), NJ Open Under-1900 8/31/2008

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f5 3.Nxe5 Qf6 4.Nc4 fxe4 5.Nc3 Qg6 6.Ne3 Nf6 7.d3 Bb4 8.Bd2 Bxc3 9.Bxc3 O-O 10.Qd2 Ng4 11.Nxg4 Qxg4 12.dxe4 Qxe4+ 13.Qe2 Re8 14.Qxe4 Rxe4+ 15.Be2 d5


16.f3 Re8 17.Rd1 c6 18.Kf2 Bf5 19.Bd3 Bxd3 20.Rxd3 Nd7 21.Re1 Rxe1 22.Kxe1 Re8+ 23.Kf2 Kf7 24.Re3 Rxe3 25.Kxe3 c5 26.Kf4 d4 27.Be1 Ke6


28.Ke4 Nf6+ 29.Kd3 Kd5 30.Bg3 c4+ 31.Kd2 b5 32.Bb8 a6 33.Ke2 Nd7 34.Bf4 Nc5 35.h4 Na4 36.Bc1 h5 37.g4 g6 38.Kf2 Nc5 39.Bh6 d3 40.Ke3 dxc2 41.Kd2 Nd3 42.Kxc2 Ne1+, White resigns.

Pix from NY September Open

I took these pictures during round three of yesterday's New York September Open at the Marshall Chess Club.

On board two, IM Alex Lenderman defeated Alex Ostrovskiy, with GM Leonid Yudasin on board one.


On board four, Mitch Fitzko lost a rook-and-pawn endgame to NM Yefim Treger.

Marshall Chess Club Swiss 9/14/2008

These are my best games from today's New York September Open at the Marshall Chess Club.

In the first game, 7...Qxd6 would have avoided complications. And, in the second game, I missed a win by 22...Be5 23.Raf1 b5.

Round One: Philidor Counter Gambit

Michael Bodek (USCF 1725) - Jim West (USCF 2207), Marshall Chess Club 9/14/2008

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 f5 4.Bg5 Be7 5.Bxe7 Qxe7 6.dxe5 fxe4 7.exd6 cxd6 8.Nd4 Nc6 9.Nb5 Nf6 10.Nxd6+ Kf8 11.Nxc8 Rxc8

12.Be2 Rd8 13.Qc1 Nd4 14.c3 Nxe2 15.Kxe2 Qd7 16.Rd1 Qg4+ 17.Ke1 Kf7 18.Rd4 Rxd4 19.cxd4 Rc8 20.Qe3 Qxg2 21.Nd2 Qxh2 22.Qb3+ Kf8 23.Qxb7 Qc7 24.Qxc7 Rxc7 25.Kd1 h5 26.Rc1 Rxc1+ 27.Kxc1 Ke7


28.Kc2 Kd6 29.Kc3 Kd5 30.Nf1 Ng4 31.b4 h4 32.b5 h3 33.a4 h2 34.Nxh2 Nxh2 35.a5 Nf3 36.a6 Nxd4 37.b6 axb6 38.a7 Nb5+, White resigns.




* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Round Three: Philidor Counter Gambit

Jake Miller (USCF 1884) - Jim West (USCF 2207), Marshall Chess Club 9/14/2008

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 f5 4.dxe5 fxe4 5.Ng5 d5 6.e6 Bc5 7.Nc3 Nf6 8.Nf7 Qe7 9.Nxh8 Bxe6 10.Be2 Nc6 11.Bg5 O-O-O 12.O-O Qd7 13.Na4 Bd6 14.f3 Qe8 15.Qe1 Nd4 16.b3 Qxh8

17.Qf2 exf3 18.Bxf3 Nxf3+ 19.Qxf3 Bd7 20.Bxf6 gxf6 21.Qxf6 Qxf6 22.Rxf6 Bxa4 23.bxa4 Be5 24.Raf1 Bd4+ 25.R1f2 Re8 26.Kf1 Bxf6 27.Rxf6 Re7 28.Kf2 a5 29.Kf3 c6 30.g4 Kc7 31.h4 Kb6 32.g5 Kc5 33.h5 Kd4 34.g6 hxg6 35.hxg6 Rg7 36.Kg4 Kc3


37.Kh5 Kxc2 38.Rf7 Rg8 39.Rxb7 d4 40.Rc7 d3 41.Rxc6+ Kb2 42.Rd6 Kc2 43.Rc6+ Kd1 44.Kh6 d2 45.Kh7 Rd8 46.g7 Ke2 47.Re6+ Kf3 48.Rf6+ Ke4 49.Rf1 d1=Q 50.Rxd1 Rxd1 51.g8=Q Rh1+ 52.Kg7 Rg1+ 53.Kf7 Rxg8 54.Kxg8 Kd5

55.Kf7 Kc4 56.Ke6 Kb4 57.Kd5 Kxa4 58.Kc4 Ka3 59.Kb5 a4 60.Ka5, draw.

Slugfest Ends in Draw for NJKO

The New Jersey Knockouts and the Seattle Sluggers fought to a drawn match on Wednesday night, in the U.S. Chess League.

Sloan's Lawsuit Dismissed

Sam Sloan's lawsuit against the USCF has been dismissed by the judge, ruling that the Communications Decency Act "is a criminal statute that ... creates no private right of action."

Photo Gallery from NJ Open

Atlantic Chess News editor Steve Ferrero sent me these pix, taken at this year's New Jersey Open. How many players can you name without clicking on the photos? White's name is given first, followed by Black's.