By Any Other Name

In today's issue of The New York Times, chess columnist FM Dylan McClain refers to "a rare variation of the Pirc" where Black "did not fianchetto his black-squared bishop."

I might have called it a Philidor where White did not develop his king knight to f3!

Cherry Hill Swiss 8/11/2007

A dozen players participated in today's game/30 Swiss at Cherry Hill, New Jersey. Five, including myself, were masters. My final score of 4-1-0 was good enough to win second place prize money of $75. The only game I lost was to Michael Katz (USCF 2232) who swept the field with a perfect score of 5-0-0.

It was a tournament of many upsets. So, in at least one game, I got paired against a lower rated player who had defeated a master in a previous round. Consequently, in none of my victories was the other player rated above USCF 2000!

The following game illustrates a common theme in my four wins: my opponent dropping a piece.

Round Five: Sicilian Defense

Jim West (USCF 2200) - Craig Gross (USCF 1937), Cherry Hill NJ 8/11/2007

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bc4 b5 7.Bb3 e5?! 8.Nf5 Bxf5 9.exf5 Nbd7 10.O-O Be7 11.Be3 O-O

12.a4 b4 13.Nd5 Nxd5 14.Bxd5 Rb8 15.a5 Rb5?! 16.Bc6 Rb8 17.Qe2 Qc8 18.Bxd7 Qxd7 19.Qxa6 Ra8?! 20.Qd3 d5 21.Bb6 Rfc8 22.Rad1 d4 23.c3 bxc3 24.bxc3 Rxc3?? 25.Qxc3!, Black resigns.

Quick Draw in PCG

Lev Zilbermintz recently played the following quick draw in the Philidor Counter Gambit. The position after 3.Bc4 f5 is also known as the Lopez Counter Gambit.

IM Vojislav Milanovic (ICC 2404) - Lev Zilbermintz (ICC 2106), Internet Chess Club 7/28/2007

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bc4 f5 4. d3 Nf6 5. Nc3 c6 6. Bb3 Na6 7. h3, draw.

Sidney Bernstein's Perfect Quad

Michael Goeller of The Kenilworthian posted a nice article on Sidney Bernstein and his book Combat: My Fifty Years at the Chessboard.

It was 25 years ago this month that I had the tournament of my life at the Bar Point in Manhattan.

In round one, I sacrificed a pawn as Black and beat IM Israel Zilber (a/k/a "The Sheriff" in Searching for Bobby Fischer).

My next game was as White against Bernstein, and I defeated his unusual defense in the Ruy Lopez.

Next, in round three as Black, I survived a piece sacrifice by future IM Jay Bonin and won an undeserved victory.

So, here I am, paired as White against GM Michael Rohde (a game I wound up losing), bragging to Bernstein about my above-average performance. He quickly put me back in my place by telling me of a quad that he won 3-0 as a young man. As I recall, Bernstein's three opponents were Reuben Fine, Anthony Santasiere, and Arnold Denker!

NJ Players Excel at U.S. Open

Appropriately, the United States Open chess tournament in Cherry Hill was won on tie-break by New Jersey resident GM Boris Gulko with 7 1/2 points.

Other NJ players had plus results as well, including international masters Mikhail Zlotnikov and Dean Ippolito with 7 points.

Chess blogger Atomic Patzer, who lives in New Jersey, tied for first in the Class D section.

Zilbermintz Wins with PCG

Lev Zilbermintz thinks he has found a way to defeat WGM Martha Fierro. Regarding the following game, he writes, "I dragged her into the Philidor Counter Gambit. This forced her to play against gambits, in an open position, which is Fierro's weak spot."

A year ago, Zilbermintz beat the same opponent with the PCG in a game/30 simultaneous.

Here the time control was four minutes for White and five minutes for Black.

WGM Martha Fierro (ICC 2694) - Lev Zilbermintz (ICC 2137), Internet Chess Club 7/29/2007

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 f5 4.Nc3 fxe4 5.Nxe4 d5 6.Ng3 e4 7.Ne5 Nf6 8.Bg5 Be7

Morphy preferred 8...Bd6 in his celebrated game against Bird.

9.Be2 O-O 10.O-O Nbd7 11.f3 exf3 12.Bxf3 c6 13.Qd2 Nxe5 14.dxe5 Ng4 15.Bxe7 Qxe7 16.Bxg4 Bxg4 17.Rfe1 Rae8 18.h3 Be6

White already stands worse because of the isolated e-pawn. Her next move further weakens her pawn structure.

19.b4 Qh4 20.Kh2 Rf4 21.a3 Ref8 22.Rf1 Rxf1 23.Rxf1 Rxf1 24.Nxf1 Qe4 25.Qg5 h6 26.Qd8+ Kh7 27.Qc7 Qf4+

Now, if 28.Kg1, Black wins by 28...d4 followed by 29...Bc4.

28.Ng3 h5 29.Qe7 h4 30.Qxe6 hxg3+, White resigns.

Final Standings

Here are the final standings for the United States Open chess tournament, held at Cherry Hill.

Last Day for U.S. Open

The United States Open chess tournament in Cherry Hill enters its last day with a 5-way tie for first place.

Rohde - Liu

Yesterday, in round seven of the United States Open chess tournament at Cherry Hill, grandmaster Michael Rohde of New York defeated Elliott Liu of California.

GM Michael Rohde (FIDE 2484) - FM Elliott Liu (FIDE 2332), U.S. Open 8/3/2007

1.Nf3 g6 2.e4 Bg7 3.d4 d6 4.Bc4 Nf6 5.Qe2 O-O 6.Nbd2 Nc6 7.c3 e5

The opening has transposed into the Pirc defense.

8.dxe5 Nxe5 9.Nxe5 dxe5 10.Nf3 Nh5 11.O-O h6 12.Be3 Qf6 13.Rad1 Bg4 14.Rd3 Rad8 15.Rfd1 Rxd3 16.Rxd3 Nf4

Black plays for the two bishops with an equal position. Ceding the bishop pair would yield an advantage to White after 16...Bxf3 17.Qxf3 Qxf3 18.gxf3.

17.Bxf4 Qxf4 18.h3 Bc8 19.Nh2 Qf6 20.Ng4 Qb6?!


Black should have played 20...Qh4, preventing White's next move.

21.Ne3 Be6 22.Bd5 Re8 23.Qd2 Bxd5 24.Rxd5 Qc6 25.Qd3 Bf6 26.Rd7 Re7 27.Ng4 Qe6

Now the superiority of White's knight to Black's bishop is apparent.

28.Rd8+ Kg7 29.Ra8 Rd7?? 30.Qxd7!, Black resigns.


White wins a piece after 30...Qxd7 31.Rg8+! Kxg8 32.Nxf6+ Kg7 33.Nxd7.

More from U.S. Open

The United States Open chess tournament continues in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.

Bartell - De Sa

Here former New Jersey state champion Tommy Bartell wins in round two of the United States Open chess tournament in Cherry Hill.

Tommy Bartell (FIDE 2427) - Christopher Matthew De Sa (FIDE 2200), U.S. Open 7/31/2007

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nf3 Bg7 4.g3 O-O 5.Bg2 d5 6.cxd5 Nxd5 7.O-O Nc6 8.e4 Nb6 9.d5 Nb8 10.Nc3 c6 11.Re1 h6

White's 11th move was uncommon. Usually White plays 11.Nd4. Black's last move prevents 12.Bg5.

12.Bf4 g5 13.Be5 f6 14.Bxb8 Rxb8 15.Nd4 c5 16.Nb3 Nd7 17.Bh3 b5 18.Be6+ Kh8 19.Rc1 Qb6 20.Kg2 f5

This position is slightly better for White.

21.exf5 c4 22.d6 Qxd6 23.Qxd6 exd6 24.Na5 Ne5 25.Nd5 Bxe6 26.fxe6 Nd3 27.e7 Rfe8 28.b3 c3 29.Red1 Nxc1 30.Rxc1 Kg8

Up an exchange, Black has a winning position.

31.b4 Rec8 32.Rc2 Kf7 33.Kf3 Ke6 34.Ke4 g4 35.e8=Q+ Rxe8 36.Nc7+ Kd7 37.Nxe8 Rxe8+ 38.Kd3 Rf8

A pawn ahead, Black still has a winning position.

39.Nb3 Rf5 40.Re2 Rd5+ 41.Ke4 Rd1 42.Kf5 Rb1 43.Kxg4 Rb2 44.Kf3 h5 45.Ke3 d5 46.Kd3 Rxe2 47.Kxe2 Ke6 48.Kd3 d4 49.Ke4 Kd6 50.a3 Ke7 51.f4 Kd6

Black has misplayed a won game into an inferior position. He should have swapped rooks by 41...Re5+. Even 42...h5 was still winning for Black.

52.h3 h4 53.g4 c2 54.g5 d3 55.Kxd3 Kd5 56.Kxc2 Ke4 57.Nc5+ Kf3 58.f5 Kg3 59.f6 Bh8 60.f7, Black resigns.

Atomic Master?

After three rounds of the U. S. Open chess tournament, fellow chess blogger Atomic Patzer is off to a good start.

If this pace continues, he may want to consider a name change to Atomic Master.