Marshall FIDE Mondays 8/29/2016

On Monday, I finished with a score of 2-1-2 (plus a win by forfeit) in the tournament at the Marshall Chess Club.

Round Six: Larsen's Opening

Jim West (FIDE 2045) - Wesley Hellner (FIDE 1827), Marshall Chess Club 8/29/2016

1.b3 d5 2.Bb2 Nf6 3.e3 c5 4.f4 Nc6 5.Nf3 Bf5 6.Bb5 e6 7.O-O Be7 8.Ne5 Qc8 9.d3 O-O 10.Bxc6 bxc6 11.Nd2 h6 12.Qe2 Bd6 13.h3 Nd7 14.Nxd7 Qxd7 15.e4 Bh7 16.Rae1 Rae8

17.Kh1 f5 18.e5 Be7 19.Qf2 Qd8 20.a4 Bh4 21.g3 Be7 22.Rd1 Qb6 23.Ba3 Rf7 24.Nf3 Ref8 25.h4 Bg6 26.Rb1 a5 27.b4 axb4 28.Rxb4 Qa5 29.Rb7 Bh5 30.Nh2 d4 31.Qg2 Rc8 32.Ra1 Bf8 33.Rbb1 Qa7 34.Bc1 Rb7 35.Rxb7 Qxb7 36.a5 Ra8

37.g4 Bf7 38.g5 g6 39.Nf3 h5 40.Nd2 Be7 41.Nc4 Be8 42.Bd2 Bd7 43.Qf1 Rb8 44.Qc1 Qa6 45.Rb1 Rb5 46.Na3 Rb7 47.Rxb7 Qxb7 48.Nc4 Bc8 49.Qa1 Qb5 50.Qa2 Kf7 51.Kg2 Ba6 52.Kf2 Qb7 53.Qb3 Qb5 54.Ke2 Bf8 55.Na3 Qb7 56.Qxb7 Bxb7

57.Nc4 Ke8 58.Kd1 Kd7 59.Kc1 Ba6 60.Nb6+ Kc7 61.Kb2 Be7 62.Kb3 Bb5 63.Nc4 Bf8 64.Bc1 Be7 65.Bd2 Bf8 66.Be1 Be7 67.Bf2 Bf8 68.c3 dxc3 69.Kxc3 Be7 70.Be3 Bf8 71.Bc1 Be7 72.Ba3 Kd7 73.Nd2 Kc7

74.Nb3 Bxd3 75.Bxc5 Bxc5 76.Nxc5 Bb5 77.Nxe6+ Kd7 78.a6 Kc8 79.Nc5 Bf1 80.a7, Black resigns.

Marshall Sunday Game/45 8/28/2016

On Sunday, I finished with a score of 1-0-3 in the tournament at the Marshall Chess Club.

Round One: Ruy Lopez, Exchange Variation

Jim West (USCF 2200) - Daniel Ivanov (USCF 1815), Marshall Chess Club 8/28/2016

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.O-O Bd6 6.d4 exd4 7.Qxd4 f6 8.Nbd2 Ne7 9.Nc4 O-O 10.Nxd6 Qxd6 11.Qxd6 cxd6 12.Bf4 Rd8 13.Rad1 d5

14.exd5 Rxd5 15.h3 Bf5 16.c4 Rdd8 17.Nd4 Kf7 18.Bc7 Re8 19.g4 Bg6 20.f4 f5 21.Rfe1 fxg4 22.hxg4 h5 23.f5 Bh7 24.gxh5 c5 25.Ne6 Nxf5 26.Ng5+ Kg8 27.Nxh7 Kxh7 28.Rxe8 Rxe8 29.Rd5 Nd4

30.Bg3 Ne2+ 31.Kf2 Nxg3 32.Kxg3 Re2 33.Rxc5 Rxb2 34.a4 Rb4 35.a5 b6 36.axb6 Rxb6 37.Kg4 Rb4 38.Kg5 a5 39.Rxa5, draw.

          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

Round Two: Philidor Counter Gambit

Max Shvartsovskiy (USCF 1600) - Jim West (USCF 2200), Marshall Chess Club 8/28/2016

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 f5 4.exf5 e4 5.Ng5 Nf6 6.Ne6 Bxe6 7.fxe6 d5 8.c4 Bb4+ 9.Nc3 Nc6 10.a3 Bxc3+ 11.bxc3 Qd6 12.cxd5 Qxd5 13.Be2 Qxe6 14.O-O O-O-O 15.Be3 h5

16.c4 Nxd4 17.Bxd4 c5 18.Qa4 cxd4 19.Qxa7 Qa6 20.Qc5+ Qc6 21.Qa7 Qa6 22.Qc5+, draw.

          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

Round Three: French Defense, Exchange Variation

Jim West (USCF 2200) - William Yen (USCF 1895), Marshall Chess Club 8/28/2016

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 exd5 4.Nf3 Bd6 5.Bd3 Ne7 6.O-O O-O 7.Re1 Bf5 8.Bg5 Bxd3 9.Qxd3 c6 10.Nbd2 Qc7 11.Re2 Ng6 12.Nf1 Nd7 13.Rae1 Nf6 14.Ng3 Bxg3 15.hxg3 Ne4 16.Bc1 Rae8

17.Nd2 f5 18.f3 Nd6 19.Rxe8 Rxe8 20.Rxe8+ Nxe8 21.Qxf5 Qxg3 22.Qe6+ Kf8 23.Nf1 Qd6, draw.

          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

Round Four: Philidor Counter Gambit

Marcus Sutton (USCF 1946) - Jim West (USCF 2200), Marshall Chess Club 8/28/2016

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 f5 4.Nc3 fxe4 5.Nxe4 d5 6.Neg5 exd4 7.Nf7 Kxf7 8.Ne5+ Ke8 9.Qh5+ g6 10.Nxg6 Nf6 11.Qe5+ Kf7 12.Nxh8+ Kg8 13.Bg5 Bg7 14.O-O-O Nc6 15.Qg3 Kxh8 16.Bd3 Be6 17.Rhe1 Bg8

18.Qh4 Qd6 19.Bf4 Qd7 20.h3 Rf8 21.Bg5 Ne4 22.f4 Nb4 23.Bxe4 dxe4 24.Rxe4 Qc6 25.Re2 d3 26.Rde1 dxe2 27.Rxe2 Nxa2+ 28.Kd1 Bxb2 29.Ke1 Bc3+ 30.Kf2 Bd4+ 31.Kg3 Bf6 32.Qh6 Qd6 33.Rd2 Bxg5 34.Qxd6 cxd6 35.fxg5 Rd8

36.Kf4 Nc3 37.h4 b5 38.Ke3 b4 39.Rd4 a5 40.Kd3 d5 41.Kd2 Bf7 42.g4 Re8 43.Rf4 Bg6, White resigns.

Marshall Saturday Game/60 8/27/2016

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

Round Two: French Defense, Exchange Variation

Jim West (USCF 2210) - William Dubinsky (USCF 1848), Marshall Chess Club 8/27/2016

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 exd5 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.Bd3 Bd6 6.O-O O-O 7.Nc3 h6 8.Nb5 Bg4 9.Nxd6 Qxd6 10.h3 Bxf3 11.Qxf3 Nc6 12.c3 Rfe8 13.Bf4 Qd8 14.Rfe1 Ne7

15.Bxh6 Ng6 16.Bg5 Qd6 17.Bxf6 Qxf6 18.Qxf6 gxf6 19.Bxg6 fxg6 20.Kf1 Kf7 21.Rxe8 Rxe8 22.Re1 Rd8 23.f4 Rh8 24.Kf2 c6 25.a4 b6 26.b4 Rc8 27.g4 c5 28.bxc5 bxc5 29.Rb1 cxd4 30.Rb7+ Ke6 31.cxd4 Rc4 32.Rxa7 Rxd4

33.Ke3 Re4+ 34.Kf3 g5 35.Ra6+ Ke7 36.fxg5 fxg5 37.a5 Ra4 38.Rg6 Ra3+ 39.Kg2 Rxa5 40.Rxg5 Ra2+ 41.Kg3 Ke6 42.Rf5 d4 43.Rf3 Rc2 44.Kf4 Kd5 45.g5 Rc3 46.Rxc3 dxc3 47.Ke3 Kc4 48.g6 Kb3 49.g7 c2 50.g8=Q+ Kb2 51.Qb8+, Black resigns.

Martin - Radomskyj, Westfield 8/14/2016

NM Peter Radomskyj [pictured] annotates his win against Zachary Martin, from the quads in Westfield.

Pix from Marshall August Under 2300

Last weekend, I photographed the players during the tournament at the Marshall Chess Club.

                                            Saturday

                                              Sunday

Professional Rapid Online Chess League

The United States Chess League has become the PRO Chess League.

Chess Master is Oldest Man in Canada

Chess master Zoltan Sarosy [pictured] turned 110 on Tuesday.

Marshall FIDE Mondays 8/22/2016

On Monday, at the Marshall Chess Club, I claimed a draw by third occurrence of position after my intended 11.Bg5.

Round Five: Sicilian Defense, Kalashnikov Variation

Jim West (FIDE 2045) - Karan Bhatty (FIDE 2102), Marshall Chess Club 8/22/2016

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 e5 5.Nb5 d6 6.Be3 Nf6

7.Bg5 Qa5+ 8.Bd2 Qd8 9.Bg5 Qa5+ 10.Bd2 Qd8, draw.

Marshall August Under 2300 8/21/2016

On Sunday, I finished with a score of 4-1-0 in the tournament at the Marshall Chess Club.

Round Five: Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defense

Jim West (USCF 2207) - Derek Clasby (USCF 1982), Marshall Chess Club 8/21/2016

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.O-O Bc5 5.c3 O-O 6.d4 exd4 7.cxd4 Be7 8.Nc3 a6 9.Bd3 d6 10.h3 Re8 11.a3 Bf8

12.e5 Nd7 13.Bxh7+ Kxh7 14.Ng5+ Kg8 15.Qh5 Qxg5 16.Bxg5 g6 17.Qh4 Be7 18.Bxe7 Nxe7 19.exd6 Nf5 20.Qf4 Nxd6 21.Rfe1 Nf8 22.Rxe8 Nxe8 23.d5 Nd6 24.Re1 Bf5 25.g4 Bd3 26.Qd2 Bc4 27.Ne4 Bb5

28.Nf6+ Kg7 29.Qd4 Kh6 30.h4 g5 31.hxg5+ Kxg5 32.f4+ Kg6 33.Nh5, Black resigns.

Marshall August Under 2300 8/20/2016

On Saturday, I won these games in the tournament at the Marshall Chess Club.

Round One: Sicilian Defense, Najdorf Variation

Jim West (USCF 2207) - Alec Touhey (USCF 1646), Marshall Chess Club 8/20/2016

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bc4 e6 7.Bb3 b5 8.O-O Bb7 9.Re1 Nbd7 10.Bg5 Be7

11.Bxe6 Nc5 12.Bd5 Bxd5 13.exd5 O-O 14.Nc6, Black resigns.

          *          *          *          *           *          *          *          *

Round Two: King's Indian Defense, Petrosian System

Zachary Martin (USCF 2094) - Jim West (USCF 2207), Marshall Chess Club 8/21/2016

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Be2 O-O 6.Nf3 e5 7.d5 Nbd7 8.Bg5 h6 9.Bh4 g5 10.Bg3 Nh5 11.Qd2 Nf4 12.Bxf4 exf4 13.h4 Nc5 14.hxg5 hxg5 15.Nd4 Qf6 16.Nb3 Nxb3 17.axb3 Bd7 18.O-O-O a6

19.Bd3 Rfe8 20.g3 f3 21.g4 b5 22.Rh5 Re5 23.Rh3 b4 24.Na4 a5 25.Rg1 Rae8 26.Rgg3 Qf4 27.Qxf4 gxf4 28.Rg1 Rg5 29.Kb1 Be5 30.Bc2 Kg7 31.Bd1 Bd4 32.Rh2 Rh8 33.Rxh8 Kxh8 34.Bxf3 Bxf2 35.Rh1+ Kg7

36.Rh2 Bg3 37.Rh5 Rxh5 38.gxh5 f6 39.Kc2 Kh6 40.Kd3 Bf2 41.c5 Be8 42.Kc4 Bxh5 43.Bxh5 Kxh5 44.Nb6 Bxc5 45.Nd7 Kg5 46.Kd3 f3 47.Nf8 Kg4, White resigns.

          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

Round Three: Sicilian Defense, Najdorf Variation

Jim West (USCF 2207) - Jonathan Maxwell (USCF 2104), Marshall Chess Club 8/20/2016

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 O-O 11.Be3 Qc7 12.O-O b5 13.fxe6 fxe6 14.Qh3 Nxb3 15.axb3 b4 16.Na4 e5 17.Nf5 Rb8

18.Nxe7+ Qxe7 19.Qh4 Qc7 20.Bg5 Qxc2 21.Bxf6 Rxf6 22.Rxf6 gxf6 23.Qxf6 Qxe4 24.Qxd6 Qd4+ 25.Qxd4 exd4 26.Rd1 Rb5 27.Rxd4 Kf7 28.Rc4 Be6 29.Rc7+ Kf6 30.Nc5 Bd5 31.Nxa6 h5 32.Rc5 Rxc5 33.Nxc5 Ke5

34.Nd3+ Kd4 35.Nxb4 Bxb3 36.Nc6+ Kc5 37.Ne5 Kd4 38.Nf3+ Kd3 39.Kf2 Ba4 40.Kg3 Be8 41.Kh4 Kc2 42.b4 Kd3 43.b5 Bxb5 44.Kxh5 Ke4 45.Ng5+ Kf4 46.g3+ Kf5 47.g4+ Kf6 48.Nh3 Kg7 49.g5 Ba4 50.Nf4 Bb3

51.Kg4 Bd1+ 52.Kg3 Bb3 53.h4 Bd1 54.h5 Bb3 55.Kg4 Bc2 56.Kf3 Bf5 57.Ke3 Bg4 58.Ke4 Bd1 59.Ke5 Bf3 60.Kf5 Bd1 61.h6+ Kh7 62.Kf6 Bc2 63.Ne6 Kg8 64.g6 Bb3 65.Ng5, Black resigns.

Fischer Greater than Kasparov?

Personally I agree with this letter to the editor in The Washington Post.

Bobby Fischer was greater than Garry Kasparov by virtue of his peak performance in 1970 and 1971 when he defeated 20 consecutive grandmasters.

But if you measure greatness by number of years at the top, Kasparov arguably had the better career.

Radomskyj - Kernighan, Westfield 8/7/2016

From the quads in Westfield, NM Peter Radomskyj annotates his victory against NM Mark Kernighan.

Pix from Sunday Game/45 8/14/2016

These pictures were taken by me during Sunday's tournament at the Marshall Chess Club.

Pix from Saturday Game/60 8/13/2016

During Saturday's tournament at the Marshall Chess Club, I photographed the players.

Chess as Olympic Sport

Should chess be an Olympic sport?

Marshall Sunday Game/45 8/14/2016

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

I stopped keeping score around move 50 and reconstructed the remainder of the game afterwards.  

The final position is correct.

Round Three: Philidor Counter Gambit

Adi Morgescu (USCF 1969) - Jim West (USCF 2200), Marshall Chess Club 8/14/2016

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 f5 4.dxe5 fxe4 5.Ng5 d5 6.e6 Bc5 7.Nxe4 Be7 8.Qg4 g6 9.Ng5 Nf6 10.Qh3 Bc5 11.Bd3 O-O 12.O-O Nc6 13.Nc3 Qe7 14.b3 Nd8

15.Re1 Bxf2+ 16.Kxf2 Ne4+ 17.Kg1 Nxg5 18.Bxg5 Qxg5 19.Re2 Qf6 20.Bb5 Nxe6 21.Qf3 Qd4+ 22.Qe3 Qxe3+ 23.Rxe3 d4 24.Rxe6 Bxe6 25.Ne4 Bf5 26.Bd3 Bxe4 27.Bxe4 c6 28.Rd1 Rad8 29.g3 Rfe8 30.Bd3 c5

31.Kg2 b6 32.a4 Kg7 33.Rf1 Rf8 34.Re1 Rde8 35.Rd1 Re3 36.Rc1 a5 37.Rd1 Rfe8 38.Kf2 g5 39.Rc1 g4 40.Rd1 h5 41.Bb5 R8e7 42.Bd3 Kf6 43.Bb5 Kg5 44.Bd3 h4 45.Rf1 hxg3+ 46.hxg3 Rf7+ 47.Kg2 Rxf1 48.Bxf1 Kf6 49.Kf2 Rf3+ 50.Kg2 Rc3

 

51.Bd3 c4 52.Bxc4 Rxc2+ 53.Kf1 Rxc4 54.bxc4 Ke5 55.Ke2 Ke4 56.Kd2 d3 57.Kd1 Kd4 58.Kd2 Kxc4 59.Kd1 Kb4 60.Kd2 Kxa4, White resigns.