National Master Anna Matlin

Anna Matlin of New Jersey earned the title of national master at the Manhattan Open.

Manhattan Open 7/27/2014

On Sunday, I finished with a score of 1-0-3 plus a half point bye at the Manhattan Open.

Round Four: Pirc Defense

Maxwell Schwartz (USCF 2095) - Jim West (USCF 2200), Manhattan Open 7/27/2014

1.d4 Nf6 2.Bf4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 O-O 6.Qd2 Nc6 7.O-O-O Bg4 8.Be2 Bxf3 9.Bxf3 e5 10.dxe5 dxe5 11.Qxd8 Rfxd8 12.Bg5 Nd4 13.Nd5 Rd6

14.Rxd4 exd4 15.Ne7+ Kf8 16.e5 Kxe7 17.exd6+ Kxd6 18.Bf4+ Kd7 19.Bxb7 Re8 20.Ba6 Nd5 21.Bd2 f5 22.Re1 Rxe1+ 23.Bxe1 Kd6 24.Bd2 Be5 25.g3 h5 26.Kd1 h4 27.Ke2 hxg3 28.hxg3 d3+ 29.Bxd3 Bxb2

30.g4 Ke5 31.gxf5 gxf5 32.Kf3 c6 33.Bh6 Kf6 34.Bd2, draw.

          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

Round Five: King's Indian Attack

Jim West (USCF 2200) - Daniel Vulis (USCF 2081), Manhattan Open 7/27/2014

1.e4 d6 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.d3 c6 4.g3 Bg4 5.Bg2 e6 6.O-O d5 7.Nbd2 Be7 8.c3 O-O 9.Qc2 Nbd7 10.e5 Ne8 11.d4 c5 12.Re1 Qb6 13.Qb3 Nc7

14.Qxb6 axb6 15.h3 Bf5 16.Nf1 Rfc8 17.Bd2 Nb5 18.a4 Nc7 19.Ne3 Be4 20.Nh2 Bd3 21.Bf1 Bg6 22.f4 c4 23.g4 Be4 24.Nxc4 Bc2 25.Ne3 Bxa4 26.Nf3 Bb3 27.Bd3 b5 28.f5 Nb6 29.g5 Nc4 30.f6 Bf8

31.Bxc4 bxc4 32.Rec1 gxf6 33.gxf6 Bh6 34.Ng4 Bxd2 35.Nxd2 Rxa1 36.Rxa1 Ra8 37.Nh6+ Kf8 38.Nxb3 cxb3 39.Rb1 Ra2 40.Kf2 Na8 41.Kf3 Nb6 42.Rg1 Ke8 43.Rg8+ Kd7 44.Nxf7 Rxb2 45.Nd6 Rb1

46.f7 Rf1+ 47.Ke2 b2 48.Kxf1 b1=Q+ 49.Kg2 Qc2+ 50.Kg1 Qd1+ 51.Kf2 Qd2+ 52.Kg1 Qe3+, draw.

Manhattan Open 7/26/2014

On Saturday, I played these games at the Manhattan Open.

Round One: French Defense, King's Indian Attack

Jim West (USCF 2200) - John MacArthur (USCF 2009), Manhattan Open 7/26/2014

1.e4 e6 2.d3 c5 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.g3 g6 5.Bg2 Bg7 6.O-O Nge7 7.Nbd2 d6 8.a4 b6 9.Re1 Qc7 10.Nc4 O-O 11.c3 e5 12.Bd2 f5 13.exf5 Bxf5 14.Qc2 Rad8

15.Ne3 Bc8 16.Qb3+ d5 17.Rad1 Kh8 18.Bc1 d4 19.Nc4 Be6 20.Ng5 Bg8 21.Qb5 Nd5 22.Ne4 Be6 23.a5 h6 24.axb6 axb6 25.Bd2 Na7 26.Qa6 Bc8 27.Qa2 Be6 28.Qa6 Bc8 29.Qa2 Be6, draw.

          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

Round Two: Sicilian Defense, Najdorf Variation

Zachary Martin (USCF 2057) - Jim West (USCF 2200), Manhattan Open 7/26/2014

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be2 e5 7.Nb3 Be7 8.Be3 Be6 9.O-O Nbd7 10.f4 Rc8 11.f5 Bc4 12.Bd3 b5 13.a3 O-O

14.g4 d5 15.Nxd5 Bxd5 16.exd5 Nxd5 17.Bf2 Nf4 18.Be4 Nf6 19.Qf3 Nxe4 20.Qxe4 Qc7 21.c3 Qc6 22.Qxc6 Rxc6 23.Rad1 h5 24.Rfe1 Nh3+ 25.Kg2 Nxf2 26.Kxf2 Bh4+, White resigns.

Pix from Manhattan Open 7/27/2014

On Sunday, these pictures were taken by me at the New Yorker Hotel.

Pix from Manhattan Open 7/26/2014

On Saturday, I took these pictures at the New Yorker Hotel.

Pix from July Grand Prix 7/20/2014

On Sunday, I snapped these photos during the tournament at the Marshall Chess Club.

Magnus Carlsen in "The New Yorker"

[photo by Platon]

You can now read The Prince's Gambit in its entirety.

"Pawn Sacrifice" at 2014 TIFF

Pawn Sacrifice, starring Liev Schreiber as Boris Spassky and Tobey Maguire as Bobby Fischer, is among the films listed for the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival in September. 

Darrian Robinson in "Chicago Tribune"

Candidate master Darrian Robinson is interviewed in the Chicago Tribune.

Marshall July Grand Prix 7/20/2014

On Sunday, I finished with a score of 1-1-3 in the tournament at the Marshall Chess Club.

Round Four: King's Indian Defense, Fianchetto Variation

Jonathan Maxwell (USCF 2030) - Jim West (USCF 2203), Marshall Chess Club 7/20/2014

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 O-O 5.c4 d6 6.Nc3 Nbd7 7.O-O e5 8.Qc2 c6 9.b3 Re8 10.dxe5 dxe5 11.e4 Qc7 12.h3 a5 13.Be3 Bf8

14.Na4 b6 15.Rfd1 Nc5 16.Nxc5 bxc5 17.Bg5 Nh5 18.Rd2 Ng7 19.Bf6 Nh5 20.Bg5 h6 21.Be3 Kh7 22.Rad1 Ng7 23.Qc3 f6 24.Ne1 Ne6 25.Nd3 Nd4 26.f4 Qe7 27.Rf2 Bg7 28.fxe5 fxe5 29.Qd2 Be6 30.Rdf1 a4

31.Nc1 axb3 32.axb3 Reb8 33.Bxd4 cxd4 34.Kh2 h5 35.Qc2 h4 36.Bf3 hxg3+ 37.Kxg3 Bh6 38.Bg4 Bf4+ 39.Rxf4 exf4+ 40.Rxf4 Rf8 41.Nd3 Rxf4 42.Nxf4 Bxg4 43.hxg4 Qe5 44.Qh2+ Kg7 45.Kf3 Rf8 46.g5 Qxg5 47.Qg3 Qxg3+ 48.Kxg3 Kf6

49.e5+ Kf5 50.e6 Rb8 51.Ne2 Rxb3+ 52.Kf2 c5 53.e7 Rb8 54.Ng3+ Ke5 55.Kf3 Re8 56.Ne4 Rxe7 57.Nxc5 Kf5 58.Kf2 Rc7 59.Nb3 Rxc4 60.Ke2 Ke5, White resigns.

Marshall July Grand Prix 7/19/2014

On Saturday, I played this game in the tournament at the Marshall Chess Club.

Round Two: King's Indian Defense, Orthodox Variation

William Hu (FIDE 1991) - Jim West (FIDE 2045), Marshall Chess Club 7/19/2014

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 O-O 6.Be2 e5 7.O-O Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 9.Ne1 Nd7 10.Be3 f5 11.f3 f4 12.Bf2 g5

13.Rc1 Ng6 14.c5 Nf6 15.cxd6 cxd6 16.Nb5 g4 17.Nc7 g3 18.hxg3 fxg3 19.Bxg3 Rb8 20.Ne6 Bxe6 21.dxe6 Bh6 22.Rc3 Kh8 23.Bf2 Nf4 24.Bc4 a6 25.Nd3 N6h5 26.Nxf4 Nxf4 27.Be3 Qe7 28.Qc2 Rg8 29.Bxf4 Bxf4

30.Rd1 Qh4 31.g4 Rg6 32.Bf1 Rbg8 33.e7 Qxe7 34.Rc8 Be3+ 35.Kg2 Bc5 36.Rxg8+ Rxg8 37.Bc4 Rf8 38.Rh1 b5, draw.

Frank Brady Interview at 2014 World Open

Frank Brady is inerviewed by David Kerans at the 2014 World Open.

Pix from Marshall Masters 7/15/2014

On Tuesday, I photographed the players during the tournament at the Marshall Chess Club.