The 65th Annual NJ Open was held this Labor Day weekend. Most of the top players from the state competed for the title, in an event once won by Bobby Fischer. At the end of the weekend, international master Dean Ippolito [pictured, receiving trophy from TD Ken Thomas] was clear first with 5 points. This was Dean's 4th NJ Open title. The only player to win more times is Orest Popovych who won his first and most recent NJ Open titles 41 years apart.
I finished the tournament with a score of 3-1-2.
Round Five: Pirc Defense
Jim West (FIDE 2104) - Mikhail Zlotnikov (FIDE 2304), NJ Open 9/6/2010
1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 c6 4.Nf3 g6 5.Be2 Bg7 6.O-O O-O 7.h3 Nbd7 8.a4 e5 9.Be3 Qe7 10.d5 cxd5 11.Nxd5 Nxd5 12.Qxd5 Nf6 13.Qd3 d5
14.Bg5 dxe4 15.Qxe4 h6 16.Bxf6 Bxf6 17.c3 Bg7 18.Bc4 Kh7 19.Rfd1 f5 20.Qd5 e4 21.Nd4 Bf6 22.Ne6 Re8 23.Nf4 Kg7 24.g3 Be5 25.Ne6+ Kf6 26.Nc5 Rb8 27.a5 Bc7
28.Qd4+ Qe5 29.Qxe5+ Rxe5 30.Nd7+ Bxd7 31.Rxd7 Re7 32.Rd5 e3 33.Kg2 Rd8 34.Rxd8 Bxd8 35.fxe3 Rxe3 36.Kf2 Re5 37.b4 b6 38.Rd1 Ke7 39.axb6 Bxb6+ 40.Kf1 Re4 41.Bd5 Re3 42.Re1, draw.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Round Six: Philidor Defense
Arthur Shen (FIDE 2138) - Jim West (FIDE 2104), NJ Open 9/6/2010
1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 e5 4.Nf3 Nbd7 5.h3 Be7 6.g4 exd4 7.Nxd4 Nc5 8.Bg2 h6 9.Be3 c6 10.Qd2 a5 11.O-O-O a4 12.Rhg1 Qa5 13.f4 g5
14.fxg5 hxg5 15.e5 dxe5 16.Nxc6 bxc6 17.Bxc6+ Ncd7 18.Bxa8 Qxa8 19.Bxg5 Rxh3 20.a3 Qc6 21.Rde1 Rxc3 22.Qxc3 Qxc3 23.bxc3 Bxa3+ 24.Kd2 Bd6 25.Kc1 Bb7 26.Be3 Ne4 27.g5 Ba3+ 28.Kb1 Nxc3+ 29.Ka1 Bb4
30.Bd2 Nd5 31.Bxb4 Nxb4 32.Kb2 Bc6 33.g6 fxg6 34.Rxg6 Kd8 35.Rd1 Kc7 36.c3, draw.
