Marshall Saturday Game/50 4/28/2018

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

Round Three: Sicilian Defense, Najdorf Variation

Jim West (USCF 2204) - Paul Kraft (USCF 1637), Marshall Chess Club 4/28/2018

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bc4 e6 7.Bb3 Be7 8.f4 b5 9.O-O O-O 10.Be3 b4 11.Na4 Nxe4 12.f5 e5 13.Ne2 Nc5

14.Nxc5 dxc5 15.Ng3 Qc7 16.Bd5 Nc6 17.Qf3 Bb7 18.f6 Bxf6 19.Nh5 Nd4 20.Nxf6+ gxf6 21.Qxf6 Bxd5 22.Bh6 Ne6 23.Rf5 Be4 24.Rxe5 Bxc2 25.Rc1 Bg6 26.Rcxc5 Qa7 27.Kh1 Rfe8 28.h4 Qe7 29.Qf2 Rad8

30.h5 f6 31.Rxe6 Qxe6 32.hxg6 Rd1+ 33.Kh2 Qd6+ 34.Bf4 Qe6 35.gxh7+ Kxh7 36.Qc2+ f5 37.Qxd1 Qg6 38.Rc7+ Kh8 39.Qd4+ Kg8 40.Qd5+, Black forfeits.

Pix from FIDE Mondays 4/23/2018

On Monday evening, I took these pictures at the Marshall Chess Club.

Pix from April Under 2400 4/22/2018

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

FIDE Mondays 4/23/2018

On Monday, I won this game at the Marshall Chess Club.

Round One: King's Indian Defense, Exchange Variation

Wesley Hellner (USCF 1871) - Jim West (USCF 2204), Marshall Chess Club 4/23/2018

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 O-O 6.Be2 e5 7.dxe5 dxe5 8.O-O Qxd1 9.Rxd1 Bg4 10.Be3 c6 11.Rd2 Nbd7 12.Rad1 Rfe8 13.h3 Bxf3 14.Bxf3 Nf8

15.g4 h6 16.h4 Ne6 17.Ne2 a6 18.b4 Bf8 19.c5 Rad8 20.Rxd8 Rxd8 21.Rxd8 Nxd8 22.Kf1 Ne6 23.Ke1 a5 24.a3 axb4 25.axb4 Bg7 26.Kd2 Kf8 27.Kd3 Ke8 28.Kc4 Kd7 29.Kb3 Ne8 30.Kc4 N8c7 31.Nc3 Nf4 32.Ne2 Nxe2 33.Bxe2 Ne6

34.Bf3 Bf6 35.h5 Bg5 36.Kd3 Bxe3 37.Kxe3 g5 38.Bd1 Nd4 39.Kd3 Kc7 40.Kc4 f6 41.Kc3 Kb8 42.Kc4 Ka7 43.Kc3 Ka6 44.Kc4 b6 45.cxb6 Kxb6 46.Ba4 Ne6 47.Bb3 Nf4 48.Bd1 Nh3 49.f3 Ng1 50.Kc3 Kb5 51.Kb3 c5 52.bxc5 Kxc5

53.Kc3 Nh3 54.Be2 Nf4 55.Bd1 Ne6 56.Be2 Nd4 57.Bd1 Nb5+ 58.Kd3 Kb4 59.Be2 Nc3 60.Bf1 Kb3 61.Kd2 Na4 62.Ke3 Kc3 63.Bb5 Nc5 64.Bf1 Kc2 65.Bb5 Kd1 66.Bc4 Ke1 67.Bf7 Na4 68.Bc4 Nc3 69.Bb3 Nb1 70.Bc4 Nd2

71.Be2 Nf1+ 72.Bxf1 Kxf1 73.Kd3 Kf2 74.Kc4 Kxf3 75.Kd5 Kxg4 76.Ke6 Kxh5 77.Kxf6 g4, White resigns.

Pix from April Under 2400 4/21/2018

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

Marshall April Under 2400 4/22/2018

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

Round Four: Philidor Counter Gambit

Ian Buchanan (USCF 1732) - Jim West (USCF 2200), Marshall Chess Club 4/22/2018

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 f5 4.Nc3 fxe4 5.Nxe4 d5 6.Bg5 Be7 7.Bxe7 Qxe7 8.Ng3 exd4+ 9.Be2 Qb4+ 10.Qd2 Qxd2+ 11.Kxd2 Nf6 12.Nxd4 O-O

13.b4 c6 14.h3 a5 15.a3 Bd7 16.Nb3 a4 17.Nc5 b6 18.Nd3 b5 19.Nc5 Na6 20.Nxa6 Rxa6 21.c3 Raa8 22.Bf3 Rae8 23.Rhf1 Re7 24.Rae1 Rfe8 25.Rxe7 Rxe7 26.Re1 Kf7 27.Re3 Ne8 28.Nf1 Nd6 29.Rxe7+ Kxe7 30.Ne3 g6

31.Kd3 Nf7 32.Kd4 Kd6 33.Bg4 Bxg4 34.Nxg4 Ng5 35.f3 h5 36.Nf2 Ne6+ 37.Ke3 c5 38.Nd3 c4 39.Nf4 Nxf4 40.Kxf4 h4 41.Ke3 Ke5 42.f4+ Kf5 43.Kf3 d4 44.cxd4 c3 45.Ke3 c2 46.Kd2 Ke4 47.Kxc2 Kxd4 48.Kd2 Ke4 49.Ke2 Kxf4 50.Kf2 Ke4

51.g3 hxg3+ 52.Kxg3 Kd3 53.Kg4 Kc3 54.Kg5 Kb3 55.Kxg6 Kxa3 56.h4 Kxb4 57.h5 a3 58.h6 a2 59.Kf7 a1=Q 60.Kg8 Kc5 61.h7 b4 62.h8=Q Qxh8+ 63.Kxh8 b3 64.Kg7 b2 65.Kf7 b1-Q 66.Kg7 Qf5 67.Kh6 Qg4 68.Kh7 Kd6 69.Kh8 Ke6 70.Kh7 Kf6 71.Kh8 Qg7#.

Marshall April Under 2400 4/21/2018

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

Round Two: Sicilian Defense, King's Indian Attack

Jim West (USCF 2200) - Michael Chu (USCF 1843), Marshall Chess Club 4/21/2018

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d3 Nc6 4.g3 d6 5.Bg2 Be7 6.O-O Nf6 7.Nbd2 Qc7 8.Re1 O-O 9.a4 Rb8 10.Nc4 d5 11.exd5 Nxd5 12.Nfe5 Nxe5 13.Nxe5 Bd6

14.Nc4 Ra8 15.a5 Bd7 16.a6 Bc6 17.axb7 Bxb7 18.Nxd6 Qxd6 19.c4 Nc3 20.bxc3 Bxg2 21.Kxg2, Black resigns.

John Michael Burke in "Washington Times"

America's newest grandmaster John Michael Burke [pictured] is featured in The Washington Times chess column.

Hrop Wins West Orange CC Championship

Steve Hrop [pictured] is the winner of the 2018 West Orange Chess Club championship.

Final Standings

Steve Hrop - 4.5
Lev Zilbermintz - 4
Mauricio Camejo - 3.5
Yuvanshu Agarwal - 3.5
Pete Radomskyj - 3
Howard Weiss - 3
Matt Boxer - 3
Doran Race - 3
Alberto Martinez - 3
Ricardo Ayuda - 3
Jason Lu - 2.5
Murray Burn - 2
Steve Reade - 2
Steve Moctezuma - 2
David Greci - 2
Ed Trieste - 2
Tyberius Asante - 2
Charlie Hart - 1
Serge Adelson - 1
Guillermo Huertas - 0.5
Augusto Gutierrez - 0

Westfield Chess Club Sweatshirts

You can order your Westfield Chess Club sweatshirts from Custom Ink.

Pix from FIDE Mondays 4/16/2018

Look at these pictures that I took during Monday's tournament at the Marshall Chess Club.

GM John Michael Burke

Congratulations to John Michael Burke of New Jersey on achieving the title of grandmaster!

Pix from Saturday Game/50 4/14/2018

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

FIDE Mondays 4/16/2018

On Monday, I finished with a score of 2-1-3 in the tournament at the Marshall Chess Club.

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

Jim West (USCF 2200) - Mubassar Uddin (USCF 2119), Marshall Chess Club 4/16/2018

1.e4 c6 2.d3 d5 3.Nd2 e5 4.Ngf3 Qc7 5.g3 Nf6 6.Bg2 Be7 7.O-O O-O 8.Re1 Bd6 9.c3 Bg4 10.Qc2 Nbd7 11.h3 Bh5 12.Nh4 dxe4 13.dxe4 Rfe8 14.Nf1 Nc5 15.Nf5 Ne6

16.Nxd6 Qxd6 17.Ne3 Rad8 18.Nf5 Qc7 19.Be3 b6 20.g4 Bg6 21.Rad1 h6 22.Rxd8 Rxd8 23.Rd1 c5 24.Rxd8+ Qxd8 25.Qd2 Qxd2 26.Bxd2 Nf4 27.Bxf4 exf4 28.Nd6 Nd7 29.Bf1 f3 30.Kh2 Kf8 31.Kg3 Ke7

32.Nf5+ Bxf5 33.exf5 Ne5 34.Kf4 f6 35.b3 Kd6 36.Ba6 Kc6 37.a4 Kc7 38.Ke4 Kc6 39.Bb5+ Kd6 40.Bc4 a5 41.Bd3 Kc6 42.c4 Kd6 43.Bc2 Nc6 44.Bd1 Nd4 45.Kf4 Ke7, draw.

"Pawn Sacrifice" on Starz Cinema in April

This month, Pawn Sacrifice will appear on Starz Cinema.

Marshall Saturday Game/50 4/14/2018

On Saturday, I finished with a score of 1-1-1 plus a half point bye in the tournament at the Marshall Chess Club.

Round Two: French Defense, King's Indian Attack

Jim West (USCF 2205) - Christian Goldammer (USCF 1905), Marshall Chess Club 4/14/2018

1.e4 e6 2.d3 d5 3.Nd2 g6 4.Ngf3 Bg7 5.g3 Ne7 6.Bg2 a5 7.O-O a4 8.a3 O-O 9.Re1 c5 10.e5 b5 11.Nf1 Nbc6 12.h4 b4 13.Bf4 bxa3 14.bxa3 Ba6

15.Rb1 Rb8 16.Qd2 Qa5 17.Qxa5 Nxa5 18.N1d2 c4 19.dxc4 Bxc4 20.Bf1 Bxf1 21.Kxf1 Rfc8 22.Nd4 Nf5 23.Nxf5 gxf5 24.Ke2 Bf8 25.Kd3 Bxa3 26.Rxb8 Rxb8 27.Ra1 Bb4 28.Rxa4 Bxd2 29.Kxd2 Nc4+ 30.Kc1 Kg7

31.h5 Rc8 32.f3 Nb6 33.Rb4 Nd7 34.g4 fxg4 35.fxg4 Nc5 36.Kb2 Ne4 37.g5 Rc7 38.Rd4 Kf8 39.Rb4 Kg7 40.Rd4 Rb7+ 41.Kc1 Ra7 42.Kb2 Rb7+ 43.Kc1 Rb5 44.Bd2 Ng3 45.Rh4 Rc5 46.Rh3 Ne4 47.Ra3 Nxd2 48.Kxd2 d4

49.Rg3 Rxe5 50.Kd3 Rd5 51.Rg4 h6 52.gxh6+ Kxh6 53.Rxd4 Rxh5 54.c4 Kg7 55.Rd8 Kf6 56.Kd4 Ke7 57.Ra8 Rh4+ 58.Kc5 Rh5+ 59.Kd4 Rh4+ 60.Kc5 Rh5+, draw.