"LARB" Review Of "Deep Thinking"

Nicholas Carr reviews Deep Thinking by Garry Kasparov.

FIDE Mondays 6/26/2017

On Monday, my opponent walked into checkmate at the Marshall Chess Club.

Round One: Caro-Kann Defense, Exchange Variation

Rushaan Mahajan (USCF 1771) - Jim West (USCF 2203), Marshall Chess Club 6/26/2017

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.Bf4 Bg7 4.e3 O-O 5.h3 c5 6.c3 cxd4 7.exd4 d5 8.Bd3 Nc6 9.O-O Bf5 10.Ne5 Bxd3 11.Qxd3 Nxe5 12.Bxe5 Ne4 13.Bxg7 Kxg7 14.Nd2 Nxd2 15.Qxd2 e6 16.Rfe1 Qc7

17.Qe2 a6 18.a4 b6 19.Qe5+ Qxe5 20.Rxe5 b5 21.Re3 Rfb8 22.axb5 axb5 23.Rxa8 Rxa8 24.b4 Ra1+ 25.Kh2 Ra2 26.Kg3 h5 27.h4 Rc2 28.Kf3 Kf6 29.Kg3 Ke7 30.f4 f6

31.Kf3 Kf7 32.Kg3 Rb2 33.Kf3 Rb1 34.Kg3 Rh1 35.Rf3 Re1 36.Kh3 Ke7 37.Rg3 Rh1#.

Pix from FIDE Mondays 6/26/2017

These are pictures that I took on Monday evening at the Marshall Chess Club.

Westfield Grand Prix 6/25/2017

On Sunday, I finished with a score of 2-1-0 plus a half point bye in the tournament at Westfield.

Round One: Budapest Gambit, Fajarowicz Variation

Tejas Rama (USCF 1923) - Jim West (USCF 2204), Westfield NJ 6/25/2017

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e5 3.dxe5 Ne4 4.Nf3 Bb4+ 5.Nbd2 Nc6 6.a3 Nxd2 7.Bxd2 Bxd2+ 8.Qxd2 Qe7 9.Qc3 O-O 10.b4 Re8 11.e3 a5 12.b5 Nxe5 13.Nxe5 Qxe5 14.Qxe5 Rxe5 15.O-O-O d6 16.Be2 b6 17.Bf3 Rb8 18.Rd4 Bd7 19.a4 Rbe8

20.Rhd1 Rc5 21.Kb2 Kf8 22.Kc3 h6 23.Bd5 f6 24.Kb3 Re7 25.Kc3 Be8 26.Kb2 g5 27.h3 Kg7 28.g4 Bg6 29.Kb3 f5 30.Kb2 fxg4 31.hxg4 Bf7 32.Kc3 Bxd5 33.Rxd5 Rxd5 34.Rxd5 Rf7 35.Rd2 Kg6 36.Kd4 h5 37.gxh5+ Kxh5 38.Kd5 Rf5+ 39.Ke6 Rc5 40.Rd4 Kg6

41.f4 g4 42.f5+ Kg5 43.Rxg4+ Kxg4 44.f6 Re5+ 45.Kd7 Rf5 46.Ke7 Kf3 47.Ke6 Ke4 48.f7 Rf1 49.Ke7 Kxe3 50.f8=Q Rxf8 51.Kxf8 Kd4 52.Ke7 Kxc4 53.Kd7 d5 54.Kxc7 d4 55.Kxb6 d3 56.Ka7 d2 57.b6 d1=Q 58.b7 Qd7 59.Ka8 Qd8+ 60.b8=Q Qxb8+ 61.Kxb8 Kb4

62.Kc7 Kxa4 63.Kd6 Kb3 64.Ke5 a4 65.Ke4 a3 66.Kd3 a2 67.Ke4 a1=Q 68.Kd5 Qa4 69.Ke5 Kc3 70.Kf5 Kd3 71.Ke5 Qd4+ 72.Kf5 Qe4+ 73.Kf6 Qd5 74.Kg6 Qf3 75.Kg5 Ke4 76.Kg6 Qf5+ 77.Kg7 Ke5 78.Kh6 Qg4 79.Kh7 Kf6 80.Kh8 Qg7#.

          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

Round Two: Sicilian Defense, Dragon Variation

Jim West (USCF 2204) - Dennis Li (USCF 1741), Westfield NJ 6/25/2017

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 Bd7 8.Qd2 Nc6 9.Bc4 h5 10.h4 Rc8 11.Bb3 Ne5 12.O-O-O a6 13.Kb1 b5 14.Rhe1 O-O

15.Bg5 Nc4 16.Bxc4 Rxc4 17.Nb3 a5 18.e5 a4 19.exf6 exf6 20.Bf4 axb3 21.axb3 Rc8 22.Bxd6 Re8 23.Bg3 Bf5 24.Qxd8 Rexd8 25.Rxd8+ Rxd8 26.Rd1 Rc8 27.Bd6 Bh6

28.Be7 Kg7 29.Rd8 Rxd8 30.Bxd8 b4 31.Nd5 Bd2 32.Bxf6+, Black resigns.

Hamilton Quads 6/24/2017

On Saturday, I drew this game at the quads in Hamilton.

Round Three: Sicilian Defense, Najdorf Variation

Jim West (USCF 2204) - Joshua Hill (USCF 2134), Hamilton NJ 6/24/2017

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bc4 e6 7.Bb3 Be7 8.f4 Qc7 9.Be3 Nc6 10.O-O O-O 11.Qf3 Bd7 

12.f5 Nxd4 13.Bxd4 exf5 14.exf5 Bc6 15.Qh3 b5 16.a3 a5 17.Rfe1 b4 18.Qe3 Rfe8 19.axb4 Bf8 20.Qg3 Ne4 21.Nxe4 Bxe4 22.f6 g6 23.bxa5 Rax5 24.Rxa5 Qxa5

25.Qc3 Qa8 26.h4 Rc8 27.Qe3 d5 28.h5 Bxc2, draw.

Pix from Hamilton Quads 6/24/2017

Yesterday I snapped these photos at the quads in Hamilton.

Chess Simul by Freeholder in Bridgewater

On Wednesday, June 28th, Somerset County freeholder Brian Levine will give a chess simul at the library in Bridgewater.

Pix from Marshall June Under 2300

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

                                              Saturday

                                              Sunday

Family Chess In Jersey City

Family Chess at School 6 in Jersey City features parent versus child.

"Chess" Back on Broadway in 2018?

Chess, in a revised version, may return to Broadway in late 2018.

Chess Personality

Like Vishwanathan Anand, I have a "natural" chess personality.

How about you?

Take the quiz and find out!

Marshall June Under 2300 6/18/2017

On Sunday, this game was played in the tournament at the Marshall Chess Club.

Round Four: French Defense, Tarrasch Variation

Jim West (USCF 2206) - Jason Li (USCF 1924), Marshall Chess Club 6/18/2017

1.e4 c6 2.d3 d5 3.Nd2 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.d4 e6 6.Ngf3 c5 7.c3 Nc6 8.Bd3 Be7  9.O-O g5

10.dxc5 g4 11.Nd4 Ncxe5 12.Bb5 a6 13.Bxd7+ Bxd7 14.Qe2 Qc7 15.Re1 f6 16.N2b3 Rg8 17.Kh1 Bf8 18.Bf4 Bg7 19.Bg3 Qd8 20.Rad1 Qe7

21.f4 gxf3 22.gxf3 Kf7 23.f4 Ng6 24.f5 exf5 25.Qh5 Qd8 26.Nxf5 Bxf5 27.Qxf5 Re8 28.Rxe8 Qxe8 29.Qxd5+ Kf8 30.Bd6+ Ne7 31.Re1 Rd8 32.Rxe7, Black resigns.

Marshall June Under 2300 6/17/2017

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

Round Two: Sicilian Defense, Rossolimo Variation

Ashutosh Gajbinkar (USCF 1836) - Jim West (USCF 2206), Marshall Chess Club 6/17/2017

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Bd7 4.Bxd7+ Qxd7 5.c4 Nc6 6.d4 cxd4 7.Nxd4 Nf6 8.Nc3 g6 9.b3 Bg7 10.Bb2 O-O 11.O-O Rfc8 12.Qd2 Qd8 13.Rfd1 Qa5

14.f3 Nxd4 15.Qxd4 Ng4 16.e5 Nxe5 17.Nd5 Nxf3+ 18.gxf3 Bxd4+ 19.Rxd4 Re8 20.b4 Qd8 21.Re4 e5 22.f4 a5 23.fxe5 dxe5 24.Rae1 f6 25.Rf1 f5 26.Re2 axb4 27.Bxe5 Qg5+ 28.Kh1 Rxe5 29.Rxe5 Rxa2

30.Re8+ Kf7 31.Re7+ Qxe7 32.Nxe7 Kxe7 33.Rb1 Ra4 34.Kg2 Kd6 35.Kf3 Kc5 36.Ke3 Ra3+ 37.Kd2 Ra2+ 38.Kd3 Rxh2 39.Re1 Rh3+ 40.Kc2 Kxc4 41.Re2 b5 42.Re7 Rh2+ 43.Kb1 f4 44.Kc1 g5

45.Rg7 h6 46.Rf7 Kb3 47.Rf5 Rh1+ 48.Kd2 Kb2 49.Rf6 b3 50.Rb6 f3 51.Rf6 g4 52.Rf5 b4 53.Rf4 g3 54.Rxf3 g2 55.Rg3 g1=Q 56.Rxg1 Rxg1 57.Kd3 h5 58.Ke3 h4 59.Kf2 Rg8 60.Kf3 h3 61.Kf4 h2 62.Ke4 h1=Q+

63.Ke5 Rd8 64.Kf4 Re8 65.Kf5 Qf3+ 66.Kg6 Rg8+ 67.Kh7 Qf7+ 68.Kh6 Qg6#.