Kasparov on Iran

Wall Street Journal columnist Garry Kasparov states his opinion on the revolution in Iran.

Grandmaster Challenge 6/28/2009

These photos were taken by me during yesterday's Grandmaster Challenge at the Marshall Chess Club. It was a Grand Prix event with a quick chess time control of game/25. Players were not required to record their moves. I finished with an even score of 2-2-2.

The sponsor of the Grandmaster Challenge tournaments is candidate master Yevgeni Margulis who can be seen presiding over the buffet table, which included black and red caviar as well as French Brie cheese. The tournament director was Andre Harding.

Among the participants were GM Sergey Kudrin, GM Jaan Ehlvest, WFM Iryna Zenyuk, FM Asa Hoffmann, and IM Jay Bonin, all of whom are pictured below.

From memory, I have reproduced my victory in the final round.

Round Six: French Defense, Winawer Variation

Jim West (USCF 2200) - Vladimir Gramagin (USCF 1845), Grandmaster Challenge 6/28/2009

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5 5.a3 cxd4 6.axb4 dxc3 7.bxc3 Qc7 8.Qd4 Nc6 9.Bb5 Bd7 10.Bxc6 Bxc6 11.Nf3 Ne7 12.O-O O-O 13.Re1 Nf5 14.Qd2 a5


15.g4 Ne7 16.bxa5 Rxa5 17.Ba3 Rfa8 18.Bd6 Qd8 19.Rxa5 Rxa5 20.Qg5 f6 21.exf6 Qxd6 22.Qxg7#.

Marshall Chess Club Swiss 6/27/2009

In yesterday's game/60 Swiss at the Marshall Chess Club, I finished with a score of 2-0-2. I won both games as White and drew both games as Black. Here are the draws.

Round Two: Philidor Counter Gambit

Christopher Wu (USCF 1967) - Jim West (USCF 2200), Marshall Chess Club 6/27/2009

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 f5 4.exf5 e4 5.Ng5 Nf6 6.Ne6 Bxe6 7.fxe6 d5 8.Be2 Qd6 9.O-O Qxe6 10.f3 Nbd7 11.fxe4 dxe4 12.c4 O-O-O 13.Be3 Kb8 14.Nc3 h5 15.d5 Qe5 16.Nb5 Bc5

17.Bxc5 Nxc5 18.Qd4 Qxd4+ 19.Nxd4 a5 20.a3 a4 21.Rab1 Rdf8 22.b4 axb3 23.Nxb3 Nxb3 24.Rxb3 b6 25.d6 g6 26.c5 Nd7 27.dxc7+ Kxc7 28.cxb6+ Nxb6 29.Rc1+ Kb7 30.Rcb1 Rf6 31.a4 Ra8


32.Ra3 Ra5 33.Rb5 Rxb5 34.Bxb5 Rf5 35.Be2 Ra5 36.Bb5 Kc7 37.Rc3+ Kd8 38.Rc6 Nxa4 39.Bxa4 Rxa4 40.Rxg6 Ke7 41.Rg5 h4 42.Rg4 h3 43.gxh3 Kf6 44.h4 Kf5 45.h3 Ra1+ 46.Kf2 Ra2+ 47.Kf1 Rh2 48.Rg3 Kf4 49.Ra3 e3


50.Ra8 Rxh3 51.Rf8+ Kg4 52.Rg8+ Kxh4 53.Rh8+ Kg3 54.Rxh3+ Kxh3 55.Ke2 Kg3 56.Kxe3, draw.

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

Round Four: King's Indian Defense

Eigen Wang (USCF 2112) - Jim West (USCF 2200), Marshall Chess Club 6/27/2009

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d6 3.c3 g6 4.Bf4 Bg7 5.h3 O-O 6.e3 Nbd7 7.Be2 Qe8 8.Bh2 e5 9.O-O Qe7 10.Na3 e4 11.Nd2 Re8 12.c4 a6 13.Rc1 c6 14.Nab1 h5 15.Qa4 Nf8 16.b4 Bf5 17.Nc3 N8h7


18.Qa5 Qd7 19.c5 d5 20.Qc7 Qxc7 21.Bxc7 Rec8 22.Bh2 Bf8 23.Nb3 Be7 24.Na5 Ra7 25.Na4 Re8 26.Nb6 Nd7 27.Nxd7 Bxd7 28.Bc7 Bc8 29.a4 Nf8 30.Ra1 Bd8 31.Bxd8 Rxd8 32.Rfb1 Bd7 33.b5 axb5 34.axb5 Rda8


35.bxc6 bxc6 36.Nb3 Rxa1 37.Rxa1 Rxa1+ 38.Nxa1 Ne6 39.Nb3 Kf8 40.Kf1 Ke7 41.Ke1 Kd8 42.Kd2 Kc7 43.h4 Ng7 44.g3 Nf5 45.Nc1, draw.

Results from 2009 NY International

The 2009 New York International tournament at the Marshall Chess Club ended in a five-way tie for first place.

U.S. Chess Scoop, Episode 2 from DIM mak films on Vimeo.

Summer Chess Program at Marshall CC

SUMMER CHESS PROGRAM
AT THE MARSHALL CHESS CLUB

Marshall Chess Club, 23 West 10th Street (between 5th and 6th Avenues)
New York, NY 10011
Tel 212-477-3716 Fax 212-995-9281
http://www.marshallchessclub.org/

Saturdays: 10 consecutive Saturdays starting July 4, 09, 9:30 – 11:00am.
$250 for all 10 classes, $30 per class [$200 club members or siblings, $25 per class].
Recommended for kids rated 800 +.

Sundays: same as Saturdays, starting July 5, 09 but recommended for beginners.

Workshops: 3 weeks of intensive instructions on all aspects of the game, openings, middle game and endings.
Monday to Friday, 9:00am – 12:00pm starting July 6, 09.
Recommended for players rated 1200 +.
Fee: $175 per week.
Discount: $150 for club members, siblings or more than one week, discounts can’t be combined.

Tuesday Nights: adult members’ free lectures [$10 non-members].

For more information or to reserve your spot send an email to:
marshall.cc@verizon.net

Sponsored by the Marshall Chess Foundation.

Josh Groban Interview

In this video, baritone Josh Groban is interviewed. Groban appears as the Russian champion Anatoly in the musical Chess.

OTB Rating for Perego

At his Contre Gambit Philidor website, Frederic Fournier gives an over-the-board rating of 1932 for Domingos Savio Perego who is pictured above.

Kasparov Protests at Khodorkovsky Trial

Last Wednesday, Garry Kasparov staged a protest at the trial of Mikhail Khodorkovsky.

Ziping Wins Quad in Westfield

On Sunday June 14th, Ziping Liu won quad six at Westfield with a score of 1-0-2. Here is his draw from the second round.

Round Two: King's Indian Defense

Robert Bellia (USCF 1627) - Ziping Liu (USCF 1669), Westfield NJ 6/14/2009

1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 g6 3.d4 Bg7 4.Nf3 d6 5.Bg5 Nbd7 6.g3 h6 7.Bd2 c6 8.Bg2 e5 9.e3 O-O 10.O-O Re8 11.Qb3 e4 12.Ne1 Nf8


13.f3 exf3 14.Bxf3 Qe7 15.Nc2 Bf5 16.Rae1 Be4 17.Nxe4 Nxe4 18.Bxe4 Qxe4 19.Rf4 Qe7 20.Ref1 f5 21.Bc3 Ne6 22.R4f2 Ng5 23.Rg2 Ne4


24.Re1 Nxc3 25.bxc3 Kh7 26.Rge2 b6 27.d5 c5 28.Rf1 Qe5 29.Na3, and drawn in ? moves.

Photos from Hamilton Quads 6/20/2009

These pictures were taken by me at yesterday's quads in Hamilton. The last three pix show players awaiting the start of the tournament.

National masters Dragan Milovanovic and Boris Privman drew their first round game in quad one.

Here is play from quad two.

Bloggers Diamondback and Atomic Patzer were in attendance.

Tournament director Ed Sytnik makes the pairings for round one.

Hamilton Quads 6/20/2009

Today, in quad one at Hamilton, I drew this game.

Round Two: Sicilian Defense, Sveshnikov Variation

Jim West (USCF 2200) - Dragan Milovanovic (USCF 2291), Hamilton NJ 6/20/2009

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Bg5 a6 8.Bxf6 gxf6 9.Na3 f5 10.Bc4 Ra7 11.Bd5 Nd4 12.Ne2 fxe4 13.c3 Bg4

14.Bxf7+ Kxf7 15.cxd4 Qa5+ 16.Kf1 Bg7 17.Nc4 Qb4 18.Qb3 Qxb3 19.axb3 Rd8 20.dxe5 dxe5 21.Nc3 Rd4 22.Ne3 Bd7 23.Ke2 b5 24.Rhd1 b4 25.Na4 Bb5+ 26.Ke1 Rc7 27.Rac1 Rxd1+ 28.Rxd1 Bd3


29.Nb6 Bf8 30.Nbc4 Ke6 31.Ra1 Rc6 32.Ra5 Bc5 33.Kd2 Bd4 34.Ra4 Bxc4 35.bxc4 Bxe3+ 36.Kxe3 Rxc4 37.b3 Rd4 38.g4 Rd3+ 39.Kxe4 Rd4+ 40.Kf3 Rd3+ 41.Ke4 Rd4+ 42.Kf3 Rd3+, draw.

PCG Postal Win

Domingos Savio Perego of Brazil has e-mailed the following game. which he won with the PCG as Black. It was played in a postal tournament, held at Chess.com, with a time control of 1 day per game.

Presumably Perego has given postal ratings since he is FIDE unrated, although he has scored above 50% in seven FIDE rated games.

Round One: Philidor Counter Gambit

Wanderkarm (2000) - Gbsalvio (2707), Chess.com 3/27/2009

1.d4 d6 2.e4 e5 3.Nf3 f5 4.Nc3 fxe4 5.Nxe4 d5 6.Nxe5 dxe4 7.Qh5+ g6 8.Nxg6 Nf6 9.Qe5+ Kf7 10.Bc4+ Kg7 11.Bh6+ Kxh6 12.Nxh8 Bb4+ 13.c3 Qxh8 14.h4 Kg7

15.Qxc7+ Bd7 16.cxb4 Qf8 17.O-O Qxb4 18.Qg3+ Kh8 19.Qg5 Qd6 20.h5 Be8 21.h6 Bg6 22.Bf7 Nc6 23.d5 Nd4 24.Kh1 Rf8 25.Rad1 Nf3 26.gxf3 Rxf7 27.f4 Qd7 28.Rc1 Rf8 29.Kg1 Be8 30.Qg7+ Qxg7+ 31.hxg7+ Kxg7 32.Rc7+ Rf7 33.d6 Bc6 34.Rc1 Nd7


35.b4 Kf6 36.b5 Bxb5 37.Rxb7 a6 38.a4 Bd3 39.Rcc7 Ke6 40.Kg2 Rg7+ 41.Kh3 Kxd6 42.a5 h5 43.f5 e3 44.fxe3 Bxf5+ 45.Kh2 Rg4 46.Rc1 Ra4 47.Rd1+ Kc6 48.Rb2 Rxa5 49.Rc1+ Rc5 50.Ra1 a5 51.Rba2 Kb6 52.Kg3 Be4 53.Rb2+ Rb5


54.Rxb5+ Kxb5 55.Kh4 Nf6 56.Kg5 Nd5 57.Kxh5 a4 58.Kg5 Kb4 59.Rg1 a3 60.Rg4 Nc3 61.Kf6 a2 62.Rg1 Bb1, White resigns.

"Chess" in Concert

If you missed last night's airing of the musical Chess on PBS, it will be shown again in the New York area on Channel 13, tomorrow from 1am to 3:30am.

Pix from NY June Game/50 Open

Near the start of the tournament, I took these pictures at the New York June Game/50 Open on Saturday.

Henry Sobo lost to grandmaster Giorgi Kacheishvili in round one.

Among the other winners in the first round were GM Michael Rohde and IM Jay Bonin.

FM Asa Hoffmann, with back to camera, walks toward his board.

Here is a shot of the tournament room at the New Yorker Hotel, from the rear wall.

Fischer in Philippines 1973

Here is a video of Bobby Fischer's visit to the Philippines in 1973.

2009 National Open Photo Gallery

The 2009 National Open was held at the South Point Hotel in Las Vegas, on the first weekend in June. Atlantic Chess News editor Steve Ferrero took these photos.

NY June Game/50 Open

Yesterday I played in the New York June Game/50 Open at the New Yorker Hotel, finishing with a score of 2-2-1. These are my two wins.

Round One: Center Counter Defense

Jim West (USCF 2200) - Macauley Peterson (USCF 1926), New Yorker Hotel 6/13/2009

1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Nf6 3.Bb5+ Bd7 4.Bc4 Bg4 5.f3 Bf5 6.g4 Bg6 7.Nc3 c6 8.dxc6 Nxc6 9.d3 e6 10.Be3 Bb4 11.Nge2 Nd5 12.Bxd5 exd5 13.d4 Qh4+ 14.Bf2 Qf6 15.Ng3 O-O-O 16.O-O h5


17.Nxh5 Bxh5 18.gxh5 Rxh5 19.f4 Qg6+ 20.Bg3 Rdh8 21.Qd3 Qxd3 22.cxd3 Nxd4 23.Kg2 Bxc3 24.Rac1 Ne2 25.Rc2 Nxg3 26.Rxc3+ Kd7 27.hxg3 Rh2+ 28.Kf3 Rxb2 29.Rfc1 Rhh2


30.Rc7+ Ke6 31.Re1+ Kd6 32.Rxf7 Rxa2 33.Rxb7 Ra3 34.Ke3 g5 35.fxg5 Ke5 36.Kf3+ Kf5 37.g4+ Kxg5 38.Re5+ Kf6 39.Rxd5 Rh3+ 40.Ke4 Ra4+ 41.Rd4 Ra6 42.Rdd7 Rg3 43.Kf4 Rg1 44.Rf7+ Ke6 45.Rbe7+ Kd5 46.Rd7+ Ke6 47.Rfe7+ Kf6 48.g5+ Kg6 49.Rg7+, Black resigns.

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

Round Five: Caro-Kann Defense, Exchange Variation

Jim West (USCF 2200) - Sam Chatsky (USCF 1814), New Yorker Hotel 6/13/2009

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.Bd3 Nf6 5.c3 Nbd7 6.Bf4 Qb6 7.Qc2 e6 8.Nf3 Bd6 9.Bxd6 Qxd6 10.O-O h6 11.Nbd2 O-O 12.Rae1 Nb6 13.Ne5 Bd7 14.f4 Rac8


15.g4 Nc4 16.g5 Nxd2 17.Qxd2 hxg5 18.fxg5 Ne4 19.Qf4 f5 20.Qh4 Qe7 21.Bxe4 dxe4 22.Ng6 Qd6 23.Nxf8 Qxf8 24.Rxe4 g6 25.Re3 Qg7 26.Re5 b6 27.Rfe1 Rc4 28.Qg3 Qh7 29.b3 Rc8


30.d5 f4 31.Qxf4 Rf8 32.Qg3 exd5 33.Re7 Rf7 34.Qb8+ Kg7 35.Qe5+ Kg8 36.Rxd7, Black resigns.

Pix from DOCA

Last night, I visited the Dean of Chess Academy where colors were drawn for the 1st DOCA TransNet FIDE Invitational, to be held in July. I picked number 3 from the hat. Here are the pairings.

Round 1: Saturday July 11, 11am
Chen-Feuerstein
West-Somers
Hall-Grasso
Swaminathan-Ferrero
Ippolito-Wu (rescheduled)

Round 2: Saturday July 11, 3pm
Ippolito-Chen (rescheduled)
Feuerstein-West
Somers-Hall
Grasso-Swaminathan
Wu-Ferrero (rescheduled)

Round 3: Sunday July 12, 11am
West-Ippolito
Hall-Feuerstein
Swaminathan-Somers
Ferrero-Grasso
Chen-Wu

Round 4: Sunday July 12, 3pm
Ippolito-Hall
Chen-West
Feuerstein-Swaminathan
Somers-Ferrero
Wu-Grasso

Round 5: Saturday July 18, 10am
Swaminathan-Ippolito
Hall-Chen
Ferrero-Feuerstein
Grasso-Somers
West-Wu

Round 6: Saturday July 18, 2pm
Ippolito-Ferrero
Chen-Swaminathan
West-Hall
Feuerstein-Grasso
Wu-Somers

Round 7: Saturday July 18, 6pm
Grasso-Ippolito
Ferrero-Chen
Swaminathan-West
Somers-Feuerstein
Hall-Wu

Round 8: Sunday July 19, 11am
Ippolito-Somers
Chen-Grasso
West-Ferrero
Hall-Swaminathan
Wu-Feuerstein

Round 9: Sunday July 19, 3pm
Feuerstein-Ippolito
Somers-Chen
Grasso-West
Ferrero-Hall
Swaminathan-Wu

While there, I took these photos of Dean Ippolito lecturing his chess students, as well as shots of the Friday Night League.

Fischer's Books Auctioned

On Wednesday, Bobby Fischer's chess books were sold at auction.

January-March 2009 "ACN"

My article on endgame analysis can be found on page 18, in the January-March 2009 issue of Atlantic Chess News.

USCF Lawsuits Update

Here is an article on the many lawsuits involving the United States Chess Federation.

Lincoln-Hubbard School Wins in Summit

The chess team from Lincoln-Hubbard School was the winner at the sixth annual Summit Elementary School tournament.

Double Bishop Sac @ Chess.com

At my Jim West Talks Chess blog, I have posted my double bishop sacrifice against NM Mark Kernighan, from last month's Hamilton quads.

Marshall Chess Club Swiss 6/7/2009

Playing in the one day schedule, I finished with a score of 2-1-1 today, in a Swiss tournament at the Marshall Chess Club. Here is the draw.

Round One: Philidor Counter Gambit

Frank Paciulli (USCF 1926) - Jim West (USCF 2210), Marshall Chess Club 6/7/2009

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.Bc4+ Kg7 11.Bh6+ Kxh6 12.Nxh8 Bb4+ 13.c3 Qxh8 14.cxb4 Qf8 15.O-O Nbd7

16.Qg3 Qd6 17.Qe3+ Kg7 18.f3 Kh8 19.Rad1 b6 20.fxe4 Qxh2+ 21.Kxh2 Ng4+ 22.Kg3 Nxe3 23.Bd5 Nxf1+ 24.Rxf1 Ba6 25.Rc1 Rc8 26.Be6 Bb5 27.b3 Re8 28.Bxd7 Bxd7 29.Rxc7 Bb5 30.e5 Rd8 31.a4 Bd3 32.e6 Bg6


33.e7 Rxd4 34.Rc8+ Kg7 35.e8=Q Bxe8 36.Rxe8 Rxb4 37.Re7+ Kg6 38.Rxa7 Rxb3+ 39.Kh2 h5 40.a5 bxa5 41.Rxa5, draw.

Bierkens to Lecture at Marshall CC

On June 9th, Pieter Bierkens will lecture at the Marshall Chess Club, in the club's series of free Tuesday chess classes for adult players.

Bierkens is a national master and former member of Holland's youth chess team. He has competed in USCF tournaments for more than a decade.

The series is based on The Mammoth Book of the World’s Greatest Chess Games.

The two games being analyzed are Rotlewi-Rubinstein, Lodz 1907/8 and Rubinstein-Emanuel Lasker, St. Petersburg 1909.

The lesson begins at 7:30pm.

Kasparov Protests Khodorkovsky Trial

Garry Kasparov is among the protesters at the trial of Mikhail Khodorkovsky in Moscow.

Another PCG Victory Against IM

NM Rohan Agarwal has been victorious against two international masters with the Philidor Counter Gambit. Besides winning against IM Emory Tate at the North American Open in December 2008, Agarwal also defeated IM Ricardo De Guzman at the Mechanics Masters in September 2007.

Improvement for Black in Till - West

At Contre Gambit Philidor, Frederic Fournier translates into French an article by Bruce Till on Till's game against me at the New Jersey Open in 1996. Below is the position following my opponent's 22.Bd5.

Instead of my 22...Nxd5 23.Qxd5 Ba6 24.Rfxf3 winning for White, I might have tried 22...Ba6 23.Bxa8 (23.Rfxf3 Re8) Bxf1 24.Kxf1 fxg2+ 25.Ke2 Qe8+ 26.Kd3 Nh5 27.Bxg2 Nxg3 28.hxg3 a5 with a playable game.

Pix from Westfield Quads 5/31/2009

Among the participants, captured on camera by me, in Sunday's quads at Westfield were NM Boris Privman, NM Pete Radomskyj [wallet in hand], Atlantic Chess News editor Steve Ferrero, candidate master Sam Barsky, and my chess student Ziping Liu. As a former resident of Indiana, Ziping is a fan of the Purdue Boilermakers.

Westfield Quads 5/31/2009

Yesterday I won this game at the Westfield quads.

Round Two: Pirc Defense

Jim West (USCF 2202) - Pete Radomskyj (USCF 2246), Westfield NJ 5/31/2009

1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.f4 Bg7 5.Nf3 O-O 6.Bd3 Nc6 7.e5 Nd7 8.Be3 Nb6 9.O-O Nb4 10.Be2 Bf5 11.Rc1 dxe5 12.fxe5 N6d5

13.Nxd5 Qxd5 14.a3 Qe4 15.Bf2 Nxc2 16.Nd2 Ne3 17.Nxe4 Nxd1 18.Rfxd1 Bxe4 19.Rxc7 e6 20.Bf3 Bxf3 21.gxf3 Rfd8 22.Rdc1 Bh6 23.R1c2 b6 24.Kg2 Bf4 25.R2c4 g5 26.h4 h6 27.hxg5 hxg5 28.Rb7 Rdc8 29.Rcc7 Rxc7 30.Rxc7 f6


31.Bg3 fxe5 32.dxe5 Rd8 33.Bxf4 gxf4 34.Rxa7 Rd2+ 35.Kh3 Rxb2 36.Kg4 b5 37.Kxf4 Ra2 38.Re7 Rxa3 39.Rxe6 Kf7 40.Rb6 Rb3 41.Kg4 Rb1 42.Kf5 b4 43.Rb7+ Ke8 44.Ke6 Kd8 45.f4 Kc8 46.Rb5 Kc7 47.f5 Kc6 48.Rb8 Kc7 49.Rh8 b3


50.Rh2 Ra1 51.Rb2 Ra6+ 52.Ke7 Ra5 53.Kf6 Rb5 54.e6 Kd8 55.Rd2+ Ke8 56.Rh2 Kd8 57.e7+, Black resigns.