Sunday, August 31, 2014

Pix from New Jersey Open 8/30/2014

On Saturday, I took these pictures at the Headquarters Plaza Hyatt where the New Jersey Open is in progress.



Saturday, August 30, 2014

FIDE Could Strip Title from Carlsen

[photo by Alvaro Barrientos] 

By tomorrow's deadline, Magnus Carlsen must agree to play the world championship rematch in November or risk forfeiting his title.

Friday, August 29, 2014

Frost Interviews Kasparov

David Frost interviews Garry Kasparov.

Thursday, August 28, 2014

"Game of Thrones" Author & Bobby Fischer

Game of Thrones author George R. R. Martin, a native of Bayonne NJ, owes his writing career to Bobby Fischer.

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Sweet Success for Applesauce vs. NJKO

In week one of the United States Chess League, the Manhattan Applesauce found sweet success against the New Jersey Knockouts.  

Savor the games on boards one, two, three, and four.

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Westfield Quads 8/24/2014

On Sunday, I drew this game in the quads at Westfield.

Round Two: Sicilian Defense, King's Indian Attack

Jim West (USCF 2203) - Pete Radomskyj (USCF 2270), Westfield NJ 8/24/2014

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d3 Nc6 4.g3 g6 5.Bg2 Bg7 6.O-O Nge7 7.Nbd2 O-O 8.Re1 d6 9.a4 e5 10.c3 h6 11.h4 Bg4 12.Qc2 Qd7 13.Nc4 Rad8


14.a5 Bh3 15.Kh2 Bxg2 16.Kxg2 f5 17.Qb3 Kh8 18.Rh1 d5 19.exd5 Qxd5 20.Ncd2 Qxd3 21.Ng5 Qd5+ 22.Qxd5 Rxd5 23.Ne6 Rf6 24.Nxg7 Kxg7 25.Nc4 Rf8 26.Re1 Rfd8 27.Be3 Nc8 28.Ra3 Nd6 29.Nxd6 R8xd6


30.c4 Rd3 31.Bxc5 Rxa3 32.Bxd6 Rb3, draw.


Monday, August 25, 2014

Marshall August Under 2300 8/23/2014

On Saturday, I played three draws in the tournament at the Marshall Chess Club.

Round One: French Defense, King's Indian Attack

Jim West (USCF 2205) - Wesley Hellner (USCF 1880), Marshall Chess Club 8/23/2014

1.e4 e6 2.d3 d5 3.Nd2 c5 4.Ngf3 Nc6 5.g3 Bd6 6.Bg2 Nge7 7.O-O O-O 8.Nh4 Be5 9.f4 Bc7 10.e5 Nd4 11.Ndf3 Nef5 12.Nxf5 Nxf5 13.a4 Rb8 14.g4 Ne7 15.c3 Bd7 16.d4 b6 17.Be3 c4


18.h4 Qe8 19.h5 h6 20.Bh3 Kh8 21.g5 Nf5 22.Bxf5 exf5 23.Nh4 Qe6 24.Qf3 Bd8 25.Kh2 Be7 26.Qh3 b5 27.axb5 Rxb5 28.Rf2 Rfb8 29.Rxa7 Rxb2 30.Qg2 Rxf2 31.Qxf2 hxg5 32.Rxd7 Qxd7 33.fxg5, draw.



          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

Round Two: King's Indian Defense, Saemisch Variation

Dennis Moore (USCF 2005) - Jim West (USCF 2205), Marshall Chess Club 8/23/2014

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.f3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nc3 O-O 6.Be3 b6 7.Qd2 c5 8.Nge2 Nc6 9.Rd1 e5 10.dxe5 dxe5 11.Nd5 Be6 12.Nec3 Bxd5 13.cxd5 Nd4 14.Bg5 Qd7 15.a4 Ne8 16.Bb5 Nxb5 17.Nxb5 a6 18.Nc3 Nd6 19.O-O b5 20.axb5 axb5


21.b3 c4 22.bxc4 Nxc4 23.Qc2 h6 24.Bc1 Nd6 25.Qb3 Rfb8 26.Bb2 b4 27.Nb1 Qa7+ 28.Kh1 Qa2 29.Rd3 Qxb3 30.Rxb3 f5 31.Nd2 h5 32.Rd1 Rb7 33.Kg1 Rc8 34.exf5 gxf5 35.Nf1 Rc5 36.Kf2 Rbb5 37.Rd2 Bh6 38.Rd1 Rc2+ 39.Kg3 Bf4+ 40.Kh3 Nc4


41.Ba1 e4 42.fxe4 fxe4 43.g3 Bg5 44.d6 Bd8 45.Ne3 Nxe3 46.Rxe3 Rc4 47.Rde1 b3 48.Rxe4 Rxe4 49.Rxe4 Kf7 50.Bb2 Rd5 51.Re3 Rxd6 52.Rxb3 Kg6 53.g4 hxg4+ 54.Kxg4 Bf6 55.Bxf6 Rxf6 56.Rb8 Ra6


57.Rg8+ Kh7 58.Rg5 Rg6 59.h4 Rxg5 60.hxg5 Kg6 61.Kf4 Kg7 62.Kf5 Kf7 63.g6+ Kg7 64.Kg5 Kg8 65.Kh6 Kh8, draw.



          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

Round Three: French Defense, King's Indian Attack

Jim West (FIDE 2037) - William Hu (FIDE 1895), Marshall Chess Club 8/23/2014

1.e4 e6 2.d3 d5 3.Nd2 Nf6 4.g3 Nc6 5.Bg2 Bc5 6.Ngf3 dxe4 7.dxe4 e5 8.O-O O-O 9.h3 Qe7 10.c3 a5 11.a4 Rd8 12.Qc2 b6 13.Re1 Ba6 14.Bf1 Bxf1 15.Kxf1 Qd7 16.Kg2 Qd3 17.Qxd3 Rxd3


18.Nc4 Nd7 19.Be3 Bxe3 20.Rxe3 Rxe3 21.Nxe3 Nc5 22.Nd5 Nxe4 23.Nxc7 Rd8 24.Re1 Nc5 25.Nxe5 Nxe5 26.Rxe5 f6 27.Re2 Nxa4 28.Nb5 Kf7 29.Nd4, draw.


Sunday, August 24, 2014

Pix from Marshall Masters 8/19/2014

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






Saturday, August 23, 2014

FIDE Election Analyzed in "WSJ"

[photo by Agence France-Press]

In the Wall Street Journal, Peter Nicholas analyzes the recent election for the presidency of FIDE.

Friday, August 22, 2014

Pix from Sunday Game/45 8/17/2014

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








Thursday, August 21, 2014

NJ All-Girls Chess Camp in November

Dear Jim, 

This is Alice.  I am writing to you to seek your help for a free chess camp I am organizing for girls in New Jersey on November 6-7.  Chess is a great educational tool for kids as it improves their problem solving ability, trains them to be disciplined and patient, helps them concentrate and indirectly enhances their academic performance.  In addition, playing chess also helps kids gain confidence, make friends, learn team work and leadership.

One phenomenon I have observed in years is that there are very few girls in any chess tournaments.  Girls are not encouraged to play chess, though they are performing just as well as boys in other areas that require intelligence.  They are deprived of one of the privileges that should be offered to everyone.  This then gave me the idea of helping promote chess among girls in order to change this reality. 

The basic outline of the camp can be found below: 

Name: NJ All-Girls Chess Camp 
Location: Dean Of Chess, 3150 U.S. 22, Branchburg, NJ 08876 
Date and time: 2 no-school days, November 6-7, 2014 (Thursday-Friday), 9:30am-3:30pm 
Cost: Free; every girl will bring home a camp T-shirt and a chess set so she could continue playing chess at home.

More details can be found in the links below: 

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/gcnj2014 
Eventbrite for signing up: http://gcnj2014.eventbrite.com/ 

I have also attached the camp flyer

It would be great if you could help support the camp by posting the flyer or something about the camp on your blog! 

Thank you very much for your help! 

Best regards, 

Alice Dong

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Marshall Masters 8/19/2014

On Tuesday evening, I drew these games in the tournament at the Marshall Chess Club.

Round One: French Defense, Exchange Variation

Jim West (FIDE Rapid 2046) - Irina Krush (FIDE Rapid 2474), Marshall Chess Club 8/19/2014

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 exd5 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.c3 Bd6 6.Bd3 Nge7 7.O-O Bg4 8.Re1 Qd7 9.Nbd2 O-O 10.h3 Bf5 11.Nf1 Rae8 12.Qc2 Bxd3 13.Qxd3 Ng6 14.Bd2 a6


15.Rxe8 Rxe8 16.Re1 Re6 17.Rxe6 fxe6 18.N1h2 Bxh2+ 19.Kxh2 e5 20.dxe5 Ncxe5 21.Nxe5 Nxe5 22.Qe2 Qf5 23.Be3 Nd3 24.Bd4 Qe4 25.Qxe4 dxe4 26.c4 c5 27.Be3 Nxb2 28.Bxc5 Kf7 29.Kg3 g6 30.Bd4 Nxc4 31.Kf4 Ke6 32.Kxe4 Nd6+ 33.Kd3 Kd5


34.f4 b5 35.g4 b4 36.Bg7 a5 37.Bf8 Nb5 38.Bg7 Nd6 39.Bf8 Ne4 40.f5 gxf5 41.gxf5 Nf2+ 42.Ke3 Nxh3 43.Be7 Ke5 44.f6 Ng5 45.Kd3 Kd5 46.Bd8 a4 47.Be7 b3 48.axb3 axb3 49.Kc3 h5 50.Kxb3 Nf7


51.Bb4 h4 52.Be1 h3 53.Bg3 Ke6 54.Kc3 Kxf6 55.Kd3 Kf5 56.Ke3 Kg4 57.Kf2 Ng5 58.Bb8 Nf3 59.Bc7 Nd2 60.Kg1 Nf3+ 61.Kh1, and drawn in ? moves.



          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

Round Four: Larsen's Opening

Jim West (FIDE Rapid 2046) - Matan Prilleltensky (FIDE Rapid 2202), Marshall Chess Club 8/19/14

1.b3 e5 2.Bb2 Nc6 3.c4 Nf6 4.e3 Be7 5.a3 a5 6.d3 d5 7.cxd5 Nxd5 8.Nf3 Qd6 9.Nbd2 f6 10.Ne4 Qd8 11.Qc2 O-O 12.Be2 Qe8 13.O-O Qg6 14.Kh1 Kh8 15.Rac1 Qh6 16.Rg1 Bg4


17.Nc5 Nd8 18.Qc4 Bxf3 19.Bxf3 Nb6 20.Qb5 Bxc5 21.Qxc5 Ne6 22.Qb5 a4 23.b4 Rab8, draw.


Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Marshall Sunday Game/45 8/17/2014

On Sunday, I won this game in the tournament at the Marshall Chess Club.

Round One: Caro-Kann Defense, King's Indian Attack

Jim West (USCF 2200) - Benjamin Medina (USCF 1903), Marshall Chess Club 8/17/2014

1.e4 c6 2.d3 d5 3.Nd2 e5 4.Ngf3 Bg4 5.h3 Bxf3 6.Qxf3 Nf6 7.g3 Bc5 8.Bg2 O-O 9.O-O Nbd7 10.c3 Bb6 11.Re1 d4 12.Nc4 Bc7


13.cxd4 exd4 14.a4 a6 15.a5 Ne5 16.Nxe5 Bxe5 17.Bd2 Nd7 18.Qe2 Nc5 19.Bb4 Bd6 20.e5 Be7 21.Qc2 Nxd3 22.Qxd3 Bxb4 23.Re4 c5 24.Rh4 h6 25.Bxb7 Ra7 26.Bxa6 Qa8 27.Bc4 Rxa5 28.Rxa5 Qxa5


29.Rxh6 gxh6 30.Qg6+ Kh8 31.Qxh6+ Kg8 32.Bd3 f5 33.Bc4+ Rf7 34.Qg6+ Kh8 35.Bxf7 Qd8 36.Qh6#.


Monday, August 18, 2014

Rahway Swiss 8/16/2014

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

Round One: Sicilian Defense, King's Indian Attack

Jim West (USCF 2203) - Ashwin Dandamudi (USCF 1706), Rahway NJ 8/16/2014

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d3 g6 4.g3 Bg7 5.Bg2 Nf6 6.O-O O-O 7.Nbd2 d5 8.Re1 d4 9.a4 Bg4 10.h3 Bxf3 11.Nxf3 e5 12.Nd2 Ne8 13.f4 Nd6 14.Nf3 Re8 15.Bd2 a5 16.c3 Qb6


17.cxd4 Nxd4 18.Nxd4 cxd4 19.Rb1 f5 20.b4 Qa6 21.Qb3+ Kh8 22.bxa5 fxe4 23.Bxe4 Nxe4 24.dxe4 Rab8 25.Qb5 Qxb5 26.axb5 b6 27.a6 Ra8 28.fxe5 Rxe5 29.Bf4 Rc5 30.e5 Re8 31.Rec1 Bf8 32.Rxc5 Bxc5


33.Kf1 Kg7 34.Ke2 Kf7 35.Kd3 Ke6 36.h4 Kd5 37.e6 Kxe6 38.Re1+, Black resigns.


Sunday, August 17, 2014

Pix from 3rd Saturday Swiss

At the Chess Mates blog, I have posted pictures that I took at yesterday's tournament, won by FM Boris Privman [pictured, left].

Saturday, August 16, 2014

Pix from Sunday Game/45 8/10/2014

During Sunday's tournament at the Marshall Chess Club, I took these pictures.