Sobjerg's Review of "Budapest Fajarowicz"

As a player of the Fajarowicz variation, I find Erik Sobjerg's review of Lev Gutman's Budapest Fajarowicz to be helpful in understanding this complicated defense.

Human-Computer Paradox and Kasparov

Here is a recent article, by Ajith Vijay Kumar, on the human-computer paradox and Garry Kasparov.

Pix from Westfield QC 4/25/2010

On Sunday, I took these pictures before the start of the quick chess tournament in Westfield. In addition to tournament director William Cohen, you will see NM Todd Lunna, FM Steve Stoyko, Arthur Shen, Kavinayan Sivakumar, and NM Peter Radomskyj.

Karpov Fundraiser in SoHo on May 17th

On May 17th, a cocktail party fundraiser for the Karpov 2010 campaign is going to take place, at the Trump SoHo hotel. Grandmasters Anatoly Karpov, Garry Kasparov, and Magnus Carlsen will attend the festivities.

Westfield Game/15 Swiss 4/25/2010

In Sunday's quick chess Swiss tournament at Westfield, I broke even with a score of 2-2-1. From memory, I am reproducing my victory in the fourth round.

Round Four: Budapest Gambit, Fajarowicz Variation

Nikita Panasenko (QC 1802) - Jim West (QC 2066), Westfield NJ 4/25/2010

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e5 3.dxe5 Ne4 4.a3 Nc6 5.Nf3 a5 6.Nbd2 Nc5 7.g3 d6 8.exd6 Bxd6 9.Bg2 O-O 10.O-O Qf6 11.e4 a4 12.Qc2 Re8


13.b4 axb3 14.Qb1 Bg4 15.Bb2 Qh6 16.Rd1 Bxf3 17.Bxf3 Rad8 18.Nf1 Ne5 19.Be2 g5 20.Ne3 Qg6 21.f3 h5 22.Nf5 g4 23.Bxe5 Rxe5 24.Rd5 Rxd5 25.cxd5 Re8


26.Kg2 Be5 27.Bc4 Bxa1 28.Qxa1 gxf3+ 29.Kxf3 Nxe4 30.Qd4 Qxf5+ 31.Kg2 Qf2+ 32.Qxf2 Nxf2 33.Kxf2 b2 34.Bd3 Ra8 35.Ke2 Rxa3 36.Bb1 Ra1 37.Bc2 b1=Q 38.Bxb1 Rxb1, and 0-1 in ? moves.

GM Lombardy to Lecture at Marshall CC

The Marshall Chess Foundation proudly presents international grandmaster William Lombardy.

" My Own Personal Favorites"

Grandmaster Lombardy is one of the country’s most distinguished tournament players, authors, and coaches. Among his countless tournament successes are the World Junior Championship in 1957, team and individual gold medals at the 1960 World Student Championship, and the 1955 Marshall Chess Club Championship.

In 1972, GM Lombardy served as Bobby Fischer’s official second at his historic World Chess Championship victory against Boris Spassky in Reykjavik, Iceland.

Tuesday, April 27th, 2010

7:00 PM

Lecture Fee: Members free, non-members $10

Marshall Chess Club
23 West 10th Street
New York, NY 10011
Phone 212-477-3716
Fax 212-995-9281
http://www.marshallchessclub.org/

Kosteniuk Simul/Seminar in Cherry Hill

Two weeks from today, on May 8th, women's world champion Alexandra Kosteniuk will give a simul and seminar in Cherry Hill.

World Championship Match Tomorrow

A day late, the world championship match between Viswanathan Anand and Veselin Topalov starts tomorrow in Sofia.

Photos from Westfield Quads 4/18/2010

These pictures were taken by me on Sunday, before the start of the Westfield quads.

Kasparov's Lecture at Colgate University

[photo by Andy Daddio]

On April 9th, Garry Kasparov lectured at Colgate University on the differences between American democracy and the Putin regime in Russia. You can watch a video of the lecture by clicking on this link:
Garry Kasparov delivers lecture at Chapel

Preview of "Pawn Sacrifice" Script

Here is a post from a blogger who apparently has seen the script to Pawn Sacrifice, although Fischer's name gets spelled wrong!

Westfield Quads 4/18/2010

NM Mark Kernighan and I tied for first, with scores of 2-0-1, at yesterday's quads in Westfield where 40 players participated.

Round One: Sicilian Defense, Najdorf Variation

Jim West (USCF 2200) - Joe Lux (USCF 2057), Westfield NJ 4/18/2010

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bc4 e6 7.Bb3 Nbd7 8.f4 Nc5 9.f5 Be7 10.Qf3 Nxb3 11.axb3 O-O 12.Be3 e5 13.Nde2 Bd7 14.O-O Bc6


15.Ng3 d5 16.exd5 Bxd5 17.Nxd5 Qxd5 18.Rad1 Qxf3 19.Rxf3 Rfd8 20.Rff1 Nd5 21.Bf2 Bg5 22.Rfe1 Nb4 23.Ne4 Be7 24.c3 Nd3 25.Re2 Nxf2 26.Rxd8+ Rxd8 27.Kxf2 f6 28.b4 Kf7 29.g4 Rd3 30.Re3 Rd1 31.h3 Ke8


32.Re1 Rd5 33.Ke2 Kd7 34.Rd1 Kc6 35.Rxd5 Kxd5 36.Kd3 Kc6 37.h4 h6 38.b3 b6 39.Ng3 Kd5 40.c4+ Kc6 41.Nh5 Bf8 42.Ke3 a5 43.bxa5 bxa5 44.Kd3 Kc5 45.Kc3 e4 46.Nf4 Bd6 47.Ne6+ Kc6 48.Kd4 Bg3 49.h5 Kd6


50.Kxe4 Be5 51.Nxg7 Kc5 52.Kd3 Kb4 53.Kc2 Bf4 54.Ne8 Be5 55.Ng7 Bf4 56.Ne6 Be5 57.c5 Kb5 58.Kd3 Kc6 59.Kc4 Bb2 60.Nd8+ Kc7 61.Nf7 Bc1 62.Kb5 Bd2 63.Nd6, Black resigns.

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

Round Two: English Opening

Ken Chieu (USCF 2223) - Jim West (USCF 2200), Westfield NJ 4/18/2010

1.Nf3 d6 2.c4 c5 3.Nc3 g6 4.g3 Nc6 5.Bg2 Bg7 6.O-O Nf6 7.e3 O-O 8.d4 Bf5 9.h3 Ne4 10.Nh4 Nxc3 11.bxc3 Bd7 12.Rb1 Rb8 13.Qe2 e5 14.Ba3 b6 15.Rbd1 Qc7


16.d5 Na5 17.Rb1 Bc8 18.Nf3 Ba6 19.Nd2 Qd7 20.Rb5 Nxc4 21.Rbb1 Qa4 22.Bc1 Nxd2 23.Qxd2 Bxf1 24.Bxf1 Qd7 25.h4 b5 26.Kh2 f5 27.Bh3 e4 28.Bf1 a6 29.Rb3 c4 30.Rb1 Be5 31.Kg2 Qg7 32.Bb2 Rfc8 33.a3 a5 34.Qc2 Rc5


35.Be2 Qf7 36.Rd1 Rxd5 37.a4 Rxd1 38.Qxd1 b4 39.Qa1 d5 40.cxb4 Bxb2 41.Qxb2 Rxb4 42.Qe5 h5 43.Bd1 Kh7 44.Bc2 Qb7 45.Bd1 Rb1 46.Bxh5 gxh5 47.Qxf5+ Kg7 48.Qxh5 Qf7 49.Qg5+ Kh7, White resigns.

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

Round Three: Caro-Kann Defense, Exchange Variation

Jim West (USCF 2200) - Mark Kernighan (USCF 2203), Westfield NJ 4/18/2010

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.Bd3 Nc6 5.c3 Nf6 6.Bf4 e6 7.Nf3 Nh5 8.Be3 Qc7 9.O-O Nf4 10.Bxf4 Qxf4 11.Qd2 Qxd2 12.Nbxd2 Bd6 13.Rae1 Bd7


14.Ne5 Nxe5 15.dxe5 Bc5 16.Nb3 Bb6 17.Nd4 Ke7 18.f4 a6 19.Kh1 Bxd4 20.cxd4 Bb5 21.Bxb5 axb5 22.a3 Ra4 23.Rc1 Rc4 24.Rxc4 bxc4 25.Kg1 Rb8 26.f5 exf5 27.Rxf5 b5 28.Kf1 b4 29.axb4 Rxb4 30.Rf2 Rb3 31.Ke1 Ke6


32.Rd2 f6 33.exf6 Kxf6 34.Rf2+ Kg6 35.g4 Rd3 36.Rf4 Rb3 37.Rf2 Rd3 38.Rf4 Rb3, draw.

Photos from Hamilton Quads 4/17/2010

Here are half-a-dozen photos that I snapped at yesterday's quads in Hamilton.

Hamilton Quads 4/17/2010

At today's Hamilton quads, I drew the following game.

Round Three: Budapest Gambit, Fajarowicz Variation

Mark Kernighan (USCF 2200) - Jim West (USCF 2200), Hamilton NJ 4/17/2010

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d6 3.c4 e5 4.dxe5 Ne4 5.Nbd2 Nc5 6.g3 Nc6 7.exd6 Bxd6 8.Bg2 O-O 9.O-O Qf6 10.Nb3 Ne6 11.e4 a5 12.Rb1 a4 13.Na1 Rd8 14.Qe2 Bd7 15.Nc2 h6 16.Bd2 Ne5


17.Bc3 Nxf3+ 18.Qxf3 Qxf3 19.Bxf3 Ng5 20.Bg2 Bc6 21.e5 Bxg2 22.Kxg2 Bc5 23.Rfe1 Rd3 24.Rbd1 Rad8 25.Rxd3 Rxd3 26.Re2 a3 27.Ne1 axb2 28.Bxb2 Rd1 29.Nf3 Nxf3 30.Kxf3 Bd4 31.Ke4 c5 32.Ba3 b6


33.f4 g6 34.Rc2 h5 35.Bc1 Bg1 36.Bb2 Bd4 37.Ba3 Kf8 38.Bc1 Ke7 39.Kf3 Ke6 40.h3 Rf1+ 41.Kg2 Rg1+ 42.Kf3 Rf1+ 43.Kg2 Rg1+ 44.Kf3, draw.

Big $ Scholastic Tournament in Cherry Hill

Big Money Scholastic Tournament Comes to New Jersey
By Stephen Arnold Dick
April 15, 2010

CHERRY HILL, NJ--$12,000 is up for capture in the 1st Annual Rentschler Foundation High School Chess Championship to be held at the Holiday Inn in Cherry Hill, NJ on June 12 – 13.

This is a FREE (no entry fee) tournament in which college-bound students from any state in grades 10, 11 and 12 are eligible to compete for college scholarships: 1st $3,000, 2nd $2,000, 3rd $1,500 and 4th $1,000. In addition to the place prizes, scholarships for $2,000, $1,500 and $1,000 will be awarded to the top three players that reside in Southern New Jersey. Also, trophies for the top players U2200, U2000, U1800, U1600, U1400, U1200, U1000 and U800 will be awarded. One prize per player.

This event, with one of the largest prize funds in scholastic tournament chess, is being organized by the All the King's Men Chess Center of Pitman, NJ. Pre-registered players include 16-year-old Andrew Shvartsman, reigning Cadet Champion Andrew Ng, and Victor Shen of the U.S. Chess League’s New Jersey Knockouts. All the King’s Men owner, Stephen Arnold Dick, said “relative to scholastic chess events, this is huge. Maybe not in terms of prestige, yet, but in terms of prizes, this definitely is huge!”

Interested players are urged to register early since seating is limited to the first 100 entrants. For details, or to register for this event, please visit http://www.atkmchesssets.com/freechess. You can also contact organizer Stephen Arnold Dick at 856-582-8222.

Yours for Chess,

Stephen Arnold Dick
All the King's Men Chess Center
President/CEO/Chess Instructor
Certified USCF Tournament Director
Member NJSCF Board of Trustees
Main Office: 856-582-8222

All the King's Men
Chess Shop - Chess Academy - Chess Club
62 S. Broadway - Pitman, NJ 08071
856-582-8222

Photos from NY April Under 2300

On Sunday, I took these pictures during the New York April Under 2300 tournament, at the Marshall Chess Club.

Match versus Alexis Paredes

Two weeks ago, I played a 3-game match versus Alexis Paredes [pictured above], at the Marshall Chess Club. Portions of the games were filmed by Katie Dellamaggiore, who also interviewed me and Alexis. In attendance was Alexis's chess teacher Elizabeth Vicary.

My performance in the upcoming Chess Movie has been rated PG (poor games), as I lost all three contests. What impressed me most about Alexis were his poise and his presence at the board, especially in such a young man. He played like a grown-up!

Here is the critical position from game one, after move 30, with Alexis as White to move.

Alexis uncorked 31.Rc8!, winning in all variations.

a) Obviously 31...Qxc8 32.Qxf7 Qc1+ 33.Kh2 loses immediately.

b) Less obvious is what might have happened on a waiting move. For instance, 31...a6 32.Qxg7+! Rxg7 33.Rxf8+ Kh7 (33...Rg8 34.Rxg8+ Kxg8 35.Nf6+ followed by 36.Nxd7) 34.Nf6+ Kg6 35.Nxd7 Rxd7 36.Rf6+ followed by 37.Rxe6.

c) In the game, I played 31...Rf5 32.g4 Rf3 33.Kg2 Qf7, hoping for 34.Qxf7 Rxf7. Instead, Alexis smashed me with 34.Qxg7+! Qxg7 35.Nxg7.

USCF Endorses Karpov and Conn

The United States Chess Federation has endorsed Anatoly Karpov for FIDE president and Richard Conn for FIDE deputy president.

NY April Under 2300

Playing yesterday in the one day schedule of the New York April Under 2300, at the Marshall Chess Club, I finished with a score of 2-1-1. Here is the draw.

Round Three: Sicilian Defense, Najdorf Variation

Jim West (USCF 2200) - Jerry Monaco (USCF 1767), Marshall Chess Club 4/11/2010

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bc4 e6 7.Bb3 Nbd7 8.f4 Nc5 9.Qf3 Be7 10.f5 O-O 11.Be3 Qc7 12.O-O b5


13.fxe6 fxe6 14.Qh3 Nxb3 15.axb3 e5 16.Nf5 Bxf5 17.Qxf5 Qc8 18.Qxc8 Rfxc8 19.Bg5 b4 20.Bxf6 Bxf6 21.Nd5 Rxc2 22.Rf2 Rxf2 23.Kxf2 a5 24.Ke2 Rc8 25.Kd3 Rc5 26.Rf1 Kf7 27.Rf3 Ke6 28.g4 h6


29.Nxf6 gxf6 30.Rh3 d5 31.Rxh6 dxe4+ 32.Kxe4 Rc2 33.g5 Re2+ 34.Kd3 Rxb2 35.Rxf6+ Kd5 36.Ra6 e4+ 37.Ke3 Rxb3+ 38.Kf4 Rf3+ 39.Kg4 a4 40.Rxa4 Kc5 41.Ra5+ Kd4 42.h4 Rf1


43.Rb5 Kc3 44.h5 b3 45.h6 Rh1 46.Kf4 Rh4+ 47.Kg3 Rh1 48.Kf4 Rh4+ 49.Kg3, draw.