Preview of "Pushing Wood"

Watch a preview of the chess documentary Pushing Wood.

Pix from January Grand Prix 1/17/2015

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

e-mail from Jamal Munshi

After the opening moves 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6, Jamal Munshi [pictured] asks: "Do you think 6.a4 is a drawish game?  This is what I am finding with engine analysis.  By the way, is there something wrong with 6...e5?" 

          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          * 

When I play the Najdorf variation, after 6.a4 I avoid 6...e5 because White can play an eventual h3 followed by g4, saving a tempo on the 6.g3 line.  Bobby Fischer answered 6.a4 with 6...Qc7.

"Boston Globe" Chess Column Redux

The Boston Globe has reconsidered and brought back the chess column written by Harold Dondis and Chris Chase.  

As in the past, it will be run two days a week.

2 PCG Wins at Liberty Bell Open

Sandy Breon won both of the Philidor Counter Gambits that he played, in the under 1900 section of this year's Liberty Bell Open.

Round One: Philidor Counter Gambit

Vanita Young (USCF 1809) - Sandy Breon (USCF 1720), Liberty Bell Open 1/16/2015

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 f5 4.exf5 e4 5.Ng5 Bxf5 6.g4 h6 7.Nc3 hxg5 8.gxf5 d5 9.Be2 Nf6 10.Bxg5 Qd7 11.Bxf6 gxf6 12.Bh5+ Kd8 13.Qg4 Nc6 14.Qg6 Kc8 15.Qxf6 Bg7 16.Qf7 Qxf7 17.Bxf7 Nxd4 18.O-O-O c6

19.Rhg1 Be5 20.h4 Kc7 21.h5 Nxf5 22.Kb1 Nd6 23.Bg6 Raf8 24.Rgf1 Rf6 25.Na4 b6 26.b3 Rhf8 27.Nb2 Rxf2 28.Rxf2 Rxf2 29.Rh1 Nb5 30.a4 Na3+ 31.Ka2 Nxc2 32.Nd1 Nb4+ 33.Ka3 Ra2+ 34.Kxb4 a5#.

          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

Round Three: Philidor Counter Gambit

L. Dillon Holder (USCF 1809) - Sandy Breon (USCF 1720), Liberty Bell Open 1/17/2015

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 f5 4.Nc3 fxe4 5.Nxe4 d5 6.Nc3 e4 7.Ne5 Nf6 8.Bg5 Bb4 9.a3 Bxc3+ 10.bxc3 O-O 11.c4 c6 12.c3 Qa5 13.Qb3 Nbd7 14.Nxd7 Bxd7 15.Rc1 Kh8

16.h3 dxc4 17.Bxc4 Qxg5 18.Ke2 b5 19.Be6 Rae8 20.Bxd7 Nxd7 21.g4 Nb6 22.Rcg1 Nc4 23.Qa2 Qf4 24.Kd1 e3 25.fxe3 Nxe3+ 26.Kc1 Nf1+ 27.Kb1 Re1+ 28.Kb2 Re2+, White resigns.

Dungeon Crawling with Chess Pieces

Chesslike: Adventures in Chess is coming to iOS and Android on January 31st.

Queen's Indian Defense at "Inside Jersey"

The game between grandmasters Joel Benjamin [pictured, left] and Holden Hernandez [pictured, right] is analyzed at Inside Jersey.

Marshall January Grand Prix 1/17/2015

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

Round Three: Sicilian Defense, Closed Variation

Victor Chen (USCF 1800) - Jim West (USCF 2200), Marshall Chess Club 1/17/2015

1.Nf3 c5 2.g3 Nc6 3.Bg2 g6 4.d3 Bg7 5.O-O d6 6.e4 Nf6 7.Nc3 O-O 8.Nh4 e5 9.f4 exf4 10.Bxf4 Ng4

11.h3 Bd4+ 12.Kh1 Nf2+ 13.Rxf2 Bxf2 14.Bh6 Bxg3 15.Nf3 Be5 16.Nxe5 Nxe5 17.Qd2 Be6 18.Rf1 Qh4 19.Bg5 Qh5 20.h4 f6 21.Rxf6 Rxf6 22.Bxf6 Rf8 23.Qg5 Qxg5 24.hxg5 Rxf6 25.gxf6 a6 26.Kg1 Kf7 27.a3 Kxf6

28.Kf2 g5 29.Ne2 b5 30.Ke3 h5 31.Kf2 h4 32.Kg1 Bg4 33.Nc3 Be6 34.Kh2 g4 35.Nd5+ Bxd5 36.exd5 Kg5 37.Kg1 Kf4 38.Kf2 h3 39.Bh1 g3+ 40.Kg1 Nf3+ 41.Kf1 g2+ 42.Bxg2 hxg2+ 43.Kxg2 Ne1+, White resigns.

Marshall CC Seeks Executive Director

Executive Director -- Marshall Chess Club and Marshall Chess Foundation 

About the Marshall 
The Marshall Chess Club, founded in 1915 and incorporated as a not-for-profit in 1922, is the premier chess institution in New York City and is one of the oldest chess clubs in the United States.  It has made its home in a Greenwich Village brownstone since 1931 and is open seven days a week for tournaments, classes, lectures, and casual play.

The Marshall Chess Foundation is a nonprofit educational corporation formed to promote, stimulate, and encourage the study, play, and appreciation of the game of chess as a means of intellectual development and runs a variety of camps, classes, and a lecture series within the Club.

Job Responsibilities
This is a full-time opportunity to manage the daily operations of the Club and Foundation, and reports directly to the Presidents of the Marshall Chess Club and Foundation.

Key responsibilities include:
       ● Managing the club staff and tournament directors
       ● Organizing the scheduling and advertising of tournaments, lectures, events, films, and social events
       ● Promoting club membership, tournaments, camps, classes, and activities
       ● Managing the finances of the Club and Foundation
       ● Overseeing the building superintendent, cleaning personnel, and the maintenance and the infrastructure of the Club including interaction with other tenants.

Qualifications
       ● Experience with not-for-profit management
       ● Experience with bookkeeping software and the maintenance of records for auditing and reporting purposes
       ● Proficiency with office productivity software (e.g. Excel, Access)
       ● Desire to serve as the face of the organization and welcome visitors and members.

The following, in addition, would be desirable:
       ● Experience as a chess tournament player, director, or arbiter
       ● Interest in coordinating with local, national, and international chess organizations
       ● Interest in fundraising to help fulfill the mission of the Marshall Foundation.

Application
Please apply with a cover letter and resume via DirectorMCC2015@gmail.com and see our posting at idealist.org (http://www.idealist.org/view/org/fJZPxmBZn5sP/).

2199

That is the average rating of Ferrero Forever for the USATE 2015.

                                      IM Dean Ippolito

                                      NM Jim West

                                       Steve Hrop

                                      Michael O'Connor

Pix from "Chess Mates" 1/10/2015

At the Chess Mates blog, I have posted pictures that I took during Saturday's tournament.

Grand Prix Attack at "Inside Jersey"

A Grand Prix Attack that ends with a queen sacrifice is analyzed at Inside Jersey.

The players are Novak Cabarkapa [pictured, left] and Mario Muskardin [pictured, right].