Pix from Marshall Masters 4/15/2014

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

Pix from Sunday Game/60 4/13/2014

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

Marshall Masters 4/15/2014

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

Round Two: Sicilian Defense, Rossolimo Variation

Eric Balck (FIDE Rapid 1999) - Jim West (FIDE Rapid 2062), Marshall Chess Club 4/15/2014

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Bd7 4.Bxd7+ Qxd7 5.O-O Nc6 6.Re1 Nf6 7.c3 e6 8.d4 cxd4 9.cxd4 d5 10.e5 Ne4 11.Nc3 Nxc3 12.bxc3 Be7 13.Rb1 O-O 14.Bg5 Rfc8 15.Qa4 b6

16.Qd1 Na5 17.Re3 Nc4 18.Rd3 Qd8 19.h4 h6 20.Bxe7 Qxe7 21.g4 g6 22.Kg2 Kg7 23.Kh3 Rc7 24.Nh2 Rac8 25.f4 Qa3 26.Rc1 Nb2, White forfeits.

          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

Round Four: Sicilian Defense, King's Indian Attack

Jim West (FIDE Rapid 2062) - Anthony Norris (FIDE Rapid 1993), Marshall Chess Club 4/15/2014

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.d3 Nc6 4.g3 Bg7 5.Bg2 d6 6.O-O e5 7.a4 Nf6 8.Nbd2 O-O 9.Nc4 Na5 10.Nxa5 Qxa5 11.Bd2 Qc7 12.Bc3 c4 13.Nd2 cxd3 14.cxd3 Rd8 15.Nc4 Be6

16.Ne3 d5 17.Rc1 dxe4 18.Qe1 exd3 19.Ba5 Qd7 20.Rc7 Qxa4 21.Rxb7 Rdb8 22.Bc7 Qe8 23.Bxb8 Rxb8 24.Qb4 Rxb7 25.Qxb7 Qd7 26.Qb8+ Bf8 27.Qxe5 Ne8 28.Rd1 Bb3 29.Rd2 Bb4 30.Rxd3 Qxd3 31.Qxe8+ Bf8

32.Qe4 Qxe4 33.Bxe4 Bg7 34.Nd5 Bxb2 35.Ne7+ Kf8 36.Nc6 a6 37.Bd3 Ba4 38.Nb4 Bb5 39.Bc2 a5 40.Nd3 Bd4 41.Kf1 Ke7 42.Ke1 Kd6 43.f4 a4 44.Kd2 Kd5 45.Nb4+ Kc4 46.Na2 Bg1 47.Bd3+ Kc5 48.Bc2 Bxh2 49.Nc3 Bxg3 50.Nxa4+ Bxa4 51.Bxa4 Bxf4+ 52.Ke2 f5

53.Kf3 Be5 54.Bb3 Kd6 55.Bg8 h6 56.Bh7 Ke6 57.Bxg6 Kf6 58.Bxf5 Kxf5 59.Kg2 Kg4 60.Kh1 Kh3 61.Kg1 Bh2+ 62.Kh1 Be5 63.Kg1 h5 64.Kh1 h4 65.Kg1 Kg3 66.Kh1 h3 67.Kg1 Kf3, draw.

Marshall Sunday Game/60 4/13/2014

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

Round Three: King's Indian Defense

Sarah Budow (USCF 1505) - Jim West (USCF 2208), Marshall Chess Club 4/13/2014

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.e3 Bg7 4.c4 O-O 5.Nc3 d6 6.Bd3 Nbd7 7.Qc2 e5 8.Bd2 Re8 9.Ne4 Nxe4 10.Bxe4 Nf6 11.d5 Nxe4 12.Qxe4 Bf5 13.Qh4 Qxh4 14.Nxh4 Bd3 15.Rc1 Bf6

16.g3 e4 17.Bc3 Bxh4 18.gxh4 Bxc4 19.Bd4 Bxa2 20.Rg1 Bxd5 21.Kd2 c5 22.Bc3 f5 23.h5 Kf7 24.hxg6+ hxg6 25.h4 Rg8 26.Rh1 b5 27.b4 a5 28.bxc5 dxc5 29.h5 b4 30.Bb2 c4 31.Bd4 c3+ 32.Bxc3 bxc3+ 33.Rxc3 Rac8

34.Ra3 Rc5 35.hxg6+ Rxg6 36.Rh7+ Rg7 37.Rh5 Be6 38.Ke2 Bc4+ 39.Kd2 Bd3 40.f3 Rg2+ 41.Kd1 Rg1+, White resigns.

Pix from "Chess Mates" 4/12/2014

On Saturday, I photographed the players in the morning game/30 tournament and the Luzviminda Machan Open tournament at Chess Mates.

Rahway Swiss 4/12/2014

On Saturday, I finished with a score of 3-1-0 in the tournament at Chess Mates.

Alexandra Van Loon as Fischer's Niece

Alexandra Van Loon has been cast as Bobby Fischer's niece in Pawn Sacrifice.

ASE Chess Class at Washington School

On behalf of Enrich and Grow Academy, today I will teach my first after school enrichment class on chess at Washington Elementary School.

Pix from Westfield Quads 4/6/2014

These pictures were taken by me during Sunday's quads in Westfield.

Panel on State of Chess in America

On April 10th at 5pm, the Marshall Chess Club will host a panel discussion on The State of Chess in America - Past, Present & Future, featuring club president Stuart Chagrin, FIDE vice-president and WIM Beatriz Marinello, celebrated chess coach and author Bruce Pandolfini, and NM Jerald Times.

The event is organized and moderated by Sean Miller.

Westfield Quads 4/6/2014

On Sunday, I drew these games at the quads in Westfield.

Round One: French Defense, King's Indian Attack

Jim West (USCF 2208) - Brandon Nydick (USCF 2197), Westfield NJ 4/6/2014

1.e4 e6 2.d3 d5 3.Nd2 Nf6 4.g3 c5 5.Bg2 Nc6 6.Ngf3 Be7 7.O-O Qc7 8.a4 b6 9.c3 Bb7 10.Re1 O-O 11.Qc2 Rac8

12.Nf1 Rfd8 13.e5 Nd7 14.Bf4 d4 15.h4 dxc3 16.bxc3 Nf8 17.h5 Ba6 18.Rad1 Qd7 19.Re3 Nd4 20.Qa2 Nxf3+ 21.Bxf3 Bb7 22.Bxb7 Qxb7 23.Nd2 Nd7 24.Nc4 Nb8 25.Qe2 Nc6 26.Qg4 Kh8 27.Bg5 Rg8

28.Nd6 Bxd6 29.exd6 h6 30.Bf4 Rce8 31.d4 cxd4 32.cxd4 Nb4 33.Re2 Nd5 34.Rc2 Qd7 35.Ra1 Rd8 36.a5 Nxf4 37.Qxf4 Qxd6 38.Qxf7 Qxd4 39.Rac1 bxa5 40.Qxe6 Qd5 41.Qxd5 Rxd5 42.Rc8 Rxh5 43.Rxg8+ Kxg8 44.Rc7 Rb5 45.Rxa7 Rb1+ 46.Kg2 Ra1

47.g4 a4 48.Kg3 a3 49.Kf4 a2 50.Kf5 Kh7 51.f4 Rb1 52.Rxa2, draw.

          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

Round Two: Philidor Counter Gambit

Alan Gu (USCF 2136) - Jim West (USCF 2208), Westfield NJ 4/6/2014

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 f5 4.Nc3 fxe4 5.Nxe4 d5 6.Ng3 e4 7.Ne5 Nf6 8.Bg5 Bd6 9.Be2 O-O 10.O-O Qe8 11.Ng4 Nxg4 12.Bxg4 Bxg4 13.Qxg4 Qg6 14.h3 Nc6 15.c3 h6 16.Be3 Qxg4 17.hxg4 Bxg3 18.fxg3 Rxf1+ 19.Rxf1 Ne7

20.g5 h5 21.Bf4 Rc8 22.Kh2 Ng6 23.Kh3 Rf8 24.Rf2 Nxf4+ 25.gxf4 g6 26.g3 Kg7 27.Re2 b5 28.Re1 Rb8 29.b3 Rb6 30.Kg2 Rc6 31.Rc1 Kf7 32.g4 hxg4 33.Kg3 Ke6 34.Kxg4 a5 35.a3 a4 36.b4, draw.