DOCA TransNet Round 1

Here are the games from round one of the DOCA TransNet FIDE Invitational.

Bruce Till @ Chess.com

Blogger Bruce Till of Fearless Chess has posted his victory against me, at Chess.com where he uses the handle "spassky." The game took place in 1996 at the New Jersey Open.

Chess and Baseball in NJ

Next Monday is Chess Night at the minor league baseball game of the Lakewood BlueClaws. The pre-game festivities will include a simul by WGM Jennifer Shahade.

Pix from Viking 4-County Open

On Sunday, I snapped these photos during the Viking 4-County Open in Mount Arlington.

Most of the 24 players can be seen here, as the event begins.

FM Steve Stoyko defeated James Luxich, in round one.

In round four, it was Louis Sturniolo who won against Luxich.

In the same round, Paul Joseph and William Dubinsky played to a draw.

Meanwhile Stoyko bested Atlantic Chess News editor Steve Ferrero. The tournament director was Ken Thomas.

Viking 4-County Open 2009

Yesterday I played at the Viking 4-County Open in Mount Arlington. The tournament ended in a three-way tie. I was awarded the first place trophy on tie breaks over FM Steve Stoyko and NM Mark Kernighan. All of us had identical scores of 3-0-1. Here is my drawn game.

Round Four: Philidor Defense

Mark Kernighan (USCF 2248) - Jim West (USCF 2210), Mount Arlington NJ 7/26/2009

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d6 3.Nc3 Nbd7 4.e4 e5 5.Bc4 Be7 6.O-O O-O 7.Qe2 c6 8.Bg5 b5 9.Bb3 a5 10.dxe5 dxe5 11.a3 Ba6


12.Nb1 Qc7 13.Nbd2 h6 14.Bh4 Nc5 15.Ba2 Na4 16.Rab1 b4 17.Bc4 Bxc4 18.Qxc4 Nb6 19.Qa2 Rfe8 20.Rfc1 c5 21.Bxf6 Bxf6 22.Nc4 Red8 23.Rd1 Rxd1+ 24.Rd1 Rd8 25.Rd3 Rxd3 26.cxd3 a4 27.Nxb6 b3 28.Qb1 Qxb6


29.Nd2 Qd6 30.Nc4 Qd4 31.Qd1 Bg5 32.Kf1 g6 33.g3 h5 34.Qe2 Kg7 35.Ke1 h4 36.gxh4 Bxh4 37.Qe3 Qxe3+ 38.Nxe3 Bd8 39.Nc4 Kf6 40.Ke2 Ke6 41.f3 Bc7 42.Kf2 f5 43.Kg3 Kf6 44.Kh4 Bd8 45.Ne3 Ke6+ 46.Kh3 f4 47.Nc4 Bc7


48.Kg4 Kf6 49.Kh4 Kg7 50.Kg4 Kf6 51.Kh3 Kg5 52.Nd2 Ba5 53.Nc4 Bc7 54.Kg2 Kh4 55.Nd2 Ba5 56.Nc4 Bc7 57.h3 Kg5 58.Kf2 Kh4 59.Kg2 Kg5 60.Kf2 Kh4 61.Kg2, draw.

Taghian to Lecture at Marshall CC

At 7:30pm, on Tuesday July 28th, senior life master Taghian Taghian will lecture at the Marshall Chess Club, in a series based on The Mammoth Book of the World's Greatest Chess Games. The two games being analyzed are Saemisch vs. Nimzowitsch, Copenhagen 1923 and Gruenfeld vs. Alekhine, Karlsbad 1923.

Taghian has been teaching adults and children for the last twenty years with a clear and precise style that has made him one of the most sought after teachers in New York City. His previous lecture on July 14th was a great success.

The lectures are free to adult players who are members, with a $10 fee to non-members.

Dozen Photos from DOCA TransNet

Steve Ferrero, editor of Atlantic Chess News, took these twelve photos last weekend at the DOCA TransNet FIDE Invitational.

Chen - West @ "Contre Gambit Philidor"

Frederic Fournier has entered a recent post at Contre Gambit Philidor on my game against Kevin Chen.

More Pix from DOCA TransNet

These are photos that I snapped during the final weekend of the DOCA TransNet FIDE Invitational.

In his heyday, NM Arthur Feuerstein drew three games against the legendary Bobby Fischer.

Tim Hall never seemed to recover from the winning position that he let slip away against NM David Grasso.

NM David Grasso handed IM Dean Ippolito his only defeat.

Not only did Christopher Wu beat Tim Hall, he defeated me as well.

Kevin Chen and Mike Somers played to a draw.

The tournament director was Aaron Kiedes.

At the end of the event, Dean and Dawn Ippolito applauded the prize winners.

Kraai Wins NJ Futurity International 2009

The New Jersey Futurity International 2009 was held from July 7th to July 11th, at the Dean of Chess Academy in Branchburg. The U.S. participants were grandmasters Joel Benjamin and Jesse Kraai, international master Dean Ippolito, and FIDE master Evan Ju. The field was rounded out by grandmaster Leonid Yudasin of Israel and international master Milos Scekic of Serbia.

While playing at the DOCA TransNet FIDE International, I learned that the New Jersey Futurity International 2009 was won by GM Jesse Kraai.

On July 11th, I took the above picture of organizer Michael Khodarkovsky and tournament director Glenn Petersen, outside the Dean of Chess Academy.

TransNet Photo Gallery by Kevin Chen

These excellent photos were taken by Kevin Chen during the final weekend of the DOCA TransNet FIDE Invitational. The shot of NM David Grasso playing against IM Dean Ippolito, while the sunlight streams in, is exceptional!