Rahway Swiss 12/7/2013

Yesterday I finished with a score of 2-0-1 in the tournament at Chess Mates.

Round One: Philidor Counter Gambit

Michael O'Connor (USCF 1814) - Jim West (USCF 2200), Rahway NJ 12/7/2013

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 f5 4.Nc3 fxe4 5.Nxe4 d5 6.Nxe5 dxe4 7.Qh5+ g6 8.Nxg6 Nf6 9.Qe5+ Kf7 10.Bc4+ Kg7 11.Nf4 h6 12.Be6 Bb4+ 13.c3 Nc6 14.Qf5 Qe8 15.Bxc8 Nxd4

16.Ne6+ Qxe6 17.Bxe6 Nxf5 18.Bxf5 Bc5 19.Be3 Bxe3 20.fxe3 Rhe8 21.O-O-O Re5 22.Bh3 Rae8 23.Bd7 R8e7 24.Bc8 b6 25.h3 a5 26.g4 Ne8 27.b3 Nd6 28.Bf5 Nxf5 29.gxf5 Rxf5 30.Rhg1+ Rg5 31.Rxg5+ hxg5

32.c4 Kg6 33.Kc2 Rh7 34.Rh1 c5 35.Rh2 Rh4 36.a3 Kh5 37.Kd2 Kh6 38.Ke2 g4 39.Kf2 Kg5 40.Kg3 gxh3 41.Rxh3 Rg4+ 42.Kf2, draw.

          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

Round Three: Sicilian Defense, Najdorf Variation

Aaron Jacobson (USCF 2056) - Jim West (USCF 2200), Rahway NJ 12/7/2013

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Be7 8.Qf3 Qc7 9.O-O-O Nbd7 10.g4 b5 11.Bxf6 Nxf6 12.g5 Nd7 13.f5 Nc5 14.f6 gxf6 15.gxf6 Bf8 16.Rg1 h5

17.Bh3 b4 18.Nd5 exd5 19.exd5 Bxh3 20.Rde1+ Kd8 21.Qxh3 Qd7 22.Qh4 Kc7 23.Nc6 a5 24.Rg7 Re8 25.Rxe8 Qxe8 26.Nxa5 Qe3+ 27.Kd1 Bxg7 28.fxg7 Qg1+ 29.Kd2 Re8 

30.g8=Q Qe3+ 31.Kd1 Rxg8 32.c3 Rg1+ 33.Kc2 Qd3#.

2 PCG Games Analyzed by Fournier

At Contre Gambit Philidor, Frederic Fournier analyzes my games as Black against Jason Li and Nicole Zlotchevsky.

Marshall Tuesday FIDE Action 12/3/2013

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

Round Four: King's Indian Attack

Jim West (FIDE 2088) - Boris Privman (FIDE Rapid 2174), Marshall Chess Club 12/3/2013

1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 c5 3.Bg2 Nc6 4.O-O e5 5.d3 f6 6.c4 dxc4 7.dxc4 Be6 8.Qxd8+ Rxd8 9.b3 Bd6 10.Nc3 Nge7 11.Ne4 b6 12.Nxd6+ Rxd6 13.Be3 Kf7 14.Rfd1 Rhd8

15.Rxd6 Rxd6 16.Kf1 Nf5 17.Ne1 Nxe3+ 18.fxe3 g5 19.Nd3 a5 20.Bxc6 Rxc6 21.e4 h5 22.Kf2 Rc8 23.Nb2 Bd7 24.Rd1 Bc6 25.Ke3 Ke6 26.Rd3 h4 27.g4 b5 28.h3 b4 

29.Na4 Bxa4 30.bxa4 Rb8 31.Kd2 Rb6 32.Kc2 Rd6 33.Rxd6+, draw.

FIDE Mondays 12/2/2013

On Monday evening, my opponent blundered in what should have been a drawn endgame, at the Marshall Chess Club.

With 5 seconds left on his clock, he played 69...Nc8 instead of the correct 69...Nc4.

Round One: Sicilian Defense, King's Indian Attack

Jim West (USCF 2200) - Cameron Hull (USCF 1749), Marshall Chess Club 12/2/2013

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d3 d5 4.Nbd2 Nc6 5.g3 Nf6 6.Bg2 g6 7.O-O Bg7 8.Re1 O-O 9.c3 b6 10.Qc2 Bb7 11.a4 Rc8 12.Nf1 Re8

13.Bd2 Ng4 14.h3 Nge5 15.Nxe5 Nxe5 16.f4 Nc6 17.exd5 exd5 18.Rxe8+ Qxe8 19.Re1 Qd7 20.Ne3 d4 21.Nc4 Re8 22.Rxe8+ Qxe8 23.Nd6 Qd7 24.Nxb7 Qxb7 25.a5 dxc3 26.Bxc3 Nd4 27.Bxb7 Nxc2 28.axb6 axb6

29.Kf2 Nd4 30.g4 Bf6 31.Bd5 Bh4+ 32.Ke3 Bf6 33.Ke4 Bg7 34.f5 Nb5 35.Bxg7 Kxg7 36.fxg6 hxg6 37.Bc4 Nd6+ 38.Ke5 Ne8 39.g5 Kf8 40.Kd5 f5 41.gxf6 Nxf6+ 42.Kc6 Ke7 43.Kxb6 Kd6 44.h4 Nh5 45.Bf7 Nf4 46.Kb5 Ke7

47.Bxg6 Nxg6 48.Kxc5 Nxh4 49.b4 Kd7 50.Kb6 Kc8 51.d4 Nf5 52.d5 Nd6 53.Kc6 Nb7 54.b5 Nd8+ 55.Kc5 Nb7+ 56.Kb6 Kb8 57.Kc6 Kc8 58.Kb6 Kb8 59.Ka6 Kc8 60.Ka7 Nd6 61.b6 Kd7 62.Kb8 Nb5 63.Ka8 Nd6

64.Kb8 Ke7 65.Kc7 Ne8+ 66.Kc8 Nd6+ 67.Kb8 Kf6 68.Kc7 Ke5 69.Kc6 Nc8 70.b7 Ne7+ 71.Kd7, Black forfeits.

Tournament Results at Ironia School

On Tuesday, the fall 2013 session ended, in the after school enrichment program on chess at Ironia Elementary School, conducted by Enrich and Grow Academy.  The 18 advanced students were taught by me; the 8 beginners, by my assistant Myles Mislavsky.

The results of the tournament in the advanced class are, as follows. Daniel Sharkey was the clear winner, with a perfect score of 4 points. Colin Miller and Ethan Ji tied for second and third places, a half point behind.

Copies of Chess Life and Chess Life for Kids magazines were distributed to all students.

Marshall Sunday Game/45 12/1/2013

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

Round One: Ruy Lopez, Exchange Variation

Jim West (USCF 2200) - Grant Wang (USCF 1827), Marshall Chess Club 12/1/2013

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.O-O Nf6 6.d3 Bd6 7.Nbd2 O-O 8.Nc4 Bg4 9.h3 Bh5 10.g4 Nxg4 11.hxg4 Bxg4 12.Ne3 Bh5 13.Kg2 Qf6 14.Rh1 Qg6+ 15.Kf1 f5 16.Rg1 Qe6

17.exf5 Rxf5 18.Nxf5 Qxf5 19.Rg3 e4 20.dxe4 Qxe4 21.Qd4 Qxd4 22.Nxd4 Bxg3 23.fxg3 Rd8 24.Be3 c5 25.Nb3 Bg6 26.Nxc5 Bxc2 27.Rc1 Rd1+ 28.Rxd1 Bxd1 29.Nxb7 Bf3

30.Nc5 Bd5 31.b3 Bc6 32.a4 Bd5 33.a5 Kf7 34.Nxa6, Black resigns.

Marshall Saturday Game/60 11/30/2013

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

Round Four: Pirc Defense

Jim West (USCF 2210) - Ed Frumkin (USCF 2022), Marshall Chess Club 11/30/2013

1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.f4 Bg7 5.Nf3 c5 6.dxc5 Qa5 7.Bd3 Qxc5 8.Qe2 Bg4 9.Be3 Qa5 10.O-O Nc6 11.a3 O-O 12.h3 Bxf3 13.Qxf3 Nd7 14.Bd2 Qd8 15.Rab1 Rc8 16.Kh1 a6

17.Ne2 e6 18.Bc3 Bxc3 19.Nxc3 Ne7 20.Qg3 f5 21.exf5 Nxf5 22.Bxf5 exf5 23.Qd3 Nf6 24.Rbd1 Qb6 25.Nd5 Nxd5 26.Qxd5+ Kh8 27.Qxd6 Qxd6 28.Rxd6 Rxc2 29.b4 Rf7 30.Rb6 Ra2 31.Rf3 Kg7 32.Rb3 Rf2 33.Rf3 Rxf3 34.gxf3 Re7 35.Kg2 Kh6

36.a4 Kh5 37.Kg3 Kh6 38.a5 Kh5 39.b5 axb5 40.Rxb5 Kh6 41.Rb6 Rc7 42.Rb5 Re7 43.h4 Kh5 44.Rb1 Rd7 45.Rb5 Re7 46.Rb1 Rd7 47.Rb5, draw.

Contemporary Chess Art by Lori Lejeune

Contemporary chess art by Lori Lejeune [pictured] is available on paper, canvas, and metal.

Take a look at http://fineartamerica.com/featured/together-lori-lejeune.html.

Fournier Analyzes Genkin - Zilbermintz

At Contre Gambit Philidor, Frederic Fournier [pictured] analyzes Lev Zilbermintz's game as Black against Pavel Genkin: part one and part two.

World Open 1975 Co-winner is Billionaire

Alan Trefler, co-winner of the World Open 1975 with grandmaster Pal Benko, is now a billionaire.

My Review of "Lisa: A Chess Novel"

Midway through perusing Lisa: A Chess Novel [Zugzwang Press, 2013, 231 pages] by grandmaster Jesse Kraai, I suddenly realized that I wasn't reading prose. I was reading free verse poetry, interrupted now and then by dialogue. The book might just have well been titled Igor: A Chess Poem because the late grandmaster Igor Ivanov comes across as a far more interesting character than Lisa Lena Schmied.

I can't recall the exact date, but sometime around the early 1980's I played a game against Igor Ivanov at the Bar Point in New York City. Playing White, I followed Fischer-Korchnoi, Curacao 1962 for the first 28 moves and then varied with the recommended improvement 29.Ra2, which seemed to take Igor by surprise as he spent a great deal of time looking at the position before continuing.

A few moves later, Igor offered a draw which I accepted. My elation at having drawn against such a strong player was short lived. Behind Igor's back, as he exited the room, a player gestured with thumb to mouth and head tilted back that Igor was drunk. The fictional Igor Ivanov in Lisa has mostly recovered from his alcoholism, although he still has a "big drink" occasionally.

The following chess problem plays an important role in Lisa.  See if you can solve it, as the title character is required to do by her coach Igor.

                                   White to play and draw

If you want the solution, you will have to buy the book!

From Queens with Lev

Last month, at the Queens Chess Club championship, candidate master Lev Zilbermintz [pictured] lost this game as Black, playing his Newark Gambit variation 4...b5 in the Philidor Counter Gambit.

From the diagrammed position after 9.O-O, Fritz8 recommends 9...a5 as an improvement with the idea of 10.Nxe4 dxe4 11.Qh5+ g6 12.Qe5 Rg8 13.Bxh6 Bxh6 14.e7 Qxe7 15.Qxe7+ Kxe7 16.Bxg8 Kxf8 17.Bxh7 Kg7 18.Nc3 Bf5 19.Rfe1 Bd2 20.g4 Bxe1 21.Rxe1 Bc8 22.Bxg6 Kxg6 23.h3 Be6 24.f4 Bd5 25.Rd1 Na6 26.Nxd5 cxd5 27.Rxd5 Nb4 with a slight advantage for White.