Analysis of Ng - West

At his Contre Gambit Philidor blog, Frederic Fournier suggests that fear of the PCG explains why Andrew Ng was content to play for a draw against me on Sunday. Fournier gives 16.Qg3 Nh5 17.Qh2 Nxf4 18.Qxf4 Qe7 with compensation for Black. Now 19.Qxc7 Rc8 looks too risky for White. Play would likely have continued 19.O-O-O Rf8, with a roughly equal position.

An interesting queen sacrifice might have occurred after 16.O-O-O when it is too dangerous for Black to play 16...hxg5 17.hxg5+ Nh7 18.g6 Bh6 19.Rxh6 Kg7 20.Rxh7+ Kxg6 21.Rdh1 winning for White. Instead Black should play 16...Bg4 when both White's queen and rook are threatened simultaneously.

Game Over

At 7 o'clock this evening, the Marshall Chess Club will feature a special screening of the film Game Over: Kasparov and the Machine, in which Garry claims that his match against the IBM computer Deep Blue was "fixed" in favor of the machine.

Brooklyn Master Wins $3.75 Million at Poker

Brooklyn chess master Ylon Schwartz (USCF 2304) has finished in fourth place at the World Series of Poker, earning more than $3.75 million.

This calls to mind "The Professor" Howie Lederer, who used to play chess at the Bar Point in the 1980's.

Westfield Quads 11/9/2008

At today's quads in Westfield, I drew the following game.

Round Three: Philidor Counter Gambit

Andrew Ng (USCF 2190) - Jim West (USCF 2200), Westfield NJ 11/9/2008

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.Nxh8 Nc6 12.Qg5+ Kxh8


13.c3 Bg7 14.h4 Bd7 15.Bf4 h6 16.Qg6 Be8 17.Qf5 Bd7 18.Qg6 Be8 19.Qf5 Bd7 20.Qg6, draw.

Fajarowicz Gambit

Here is a recent post at Chess.com on the Fajarowicz Gambit, giving a brief history of this line in the Budapest Defense.

QC in NJ

Tournament director Ken Thomas has been running a series of Grand Prix quick chess tournaments, at the Dean of Chess Academy in Branchburg. Here is Atlantic Chess News editor Steve Ferrero's account of the first one, held on October 19th.

Last Sunday's QC tournament was won by IM Dean Ippolito, with a perfect score of 7-0-0.

The Game 10's Galore #3 event is scheduled for November 30th.

Meet the Mets of the USCL

GM Joel Benjamin tries his best to explain the late-season collapse of the New Jersey Knockouts, in the U.S. Chess League.

Like the Mets of baseball, the NJKO have been eliminated from the playoffs on the final day of the regular season, two years in a row!

Kasparov on Obama

Here are Garry Kasparov's views on President-elect Barack Obama.

Marshall CC Photo Gallery

On Sunday, I arrived early at the Marshall Chess Club for the game/30 event because I had anticipated heavier traffic, due to the New York City marathon, than actually happened.

Consequently, I found the club virtually empty when I arrived. This afforded me the opportunity to snap these photos of the club's interior, as well as a shot of the rear courtyard seen through a window.

There are also a couple of later pix, showing the players in the tournament.

Marshall Chess Club Swiss 11/2/2008

With identical scores of 3-0-2, I finished in a three-way tie for first place with IM Jay Bonin and candidate master Raven Sturt yesterday, at the Marshall Chess Club Sunday Game/30 Swiss tournament. In round two, I should have played 10...Ne6 with an equal position. Here are my games.

Round One: French Defense, Exchange Variation

Jim West (USCF 2200) - Michael Bodek (USCF 1808), Marshall Chess Club 11/2/2008

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 exd5 4.Nf3 Bd6 5.Bd3 Ne7 6.O-O O-O 7.Re1 Bf5 8.Bg5 f6 9.Bh4 Qd7 10.Bg3 Nbc6 11.Bxd6 Qxd6 12.c3 Bxd3 13.Qxd3 Ng6 14.g3 Rae8 15.Nbd2 Kf7

16.Qf5 Nce7 17.Ng5+ Kg8 18.Qe6+ Qxe6 19.Nxe6 Rf7 20.Nxc7 Rc8 21.Nb5 Rc6 22.Na3 Nf5 23.Nc2 a5 24.Ne3 Nxe3 25.Rxe3 Re7 26.Rxe7 Nxe7 27.Re1 Kf7 28.Re2 a4 29.a3 Rb6 30.Nf1 Nc6 31.Ne3 Rb5 32.Nf5 Rb6


33.h4 g6 34.Ne3 Rb5 35.Kf1 Na5 36.Ke1 Nc4 37.Nxc4 dxc4 38.Kd1 Rb6 39.d5 Rb5 40.Rd2 Ke7 41.d6+ Kd7 42.Kc2 Rb6 43.Rd4 Rc6 44.g4 h6 45.Rf4 Ke6 46.Rd4 Kd7 47.f4 b6 48.Kc1 Rxd6


49.Rxc4 Re6 50.Rxa4 Re1+ 51.Kc2 Rh1 52.Ra7+ Ke6 53.Rg7 Rxh4 54.Rxg6 Rh2+ 55.Kb3 Kf7 56.f5 h5 57.Rh6 Rg2 58.gxh5 Rg5 59.Rh7+ Kg8 60.Rb7 Rxh5 61.Rxb6 Rxf5 62.a4 Kf7


63.Kb4 Rd5 64.a5 f5 65.Rb5 Rd2 66.b3 Ke6 67.a6 Rd7 68.Rb7 Rd8 69.a7 Ra8 70.Ka5 f4 71.Ka6 f3 72.Rh7 f2 73.Rh1 Rf8 74.Rf1 Kd5 75.Rxf2 Rxf2 76.a8=Q+, Black resigns.




* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Round Two: Philidor Counter Gambit

Ed Kopiecki (USCF 1900) - Jim West (USCF 2200), Marshall Chess Club 11/2/2008

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 f5 4.Bc4 Nc6 5.dxe5 dxe5 6.Qxd8+ Nxd8 7.Nxe5 fxe4 8.Nc3 Nf6 9.Bg5 Bd6 10.f4 Be6 11.O-O-O O-O

12.Rhe1 Bxe5 13.fxe5 Bxc4 14.exf6 Nf7 15.fxg7 Kxg7 16.Rd7 Kg6 17.Bf4 Be6 18.Rxc7 Nd8 19.Rxe4 Bf5 20.Ree7 Ne6 21.Be5 Nxc7 22.Rxc7 Rf7 23.h3 Rxc7 24.Bxc7 Rc8 25.Be5 h5 26.Bd4 a6


27.a4 b5 28.axb5 axb5 29.Nxb5 Rxc2+ 30.Kd1 Rxg2 31.h4 Rg4 32.Bf2 Rb4 33.Nd6 Rxb2 34.Ke1 Bg4 35.Bd4 Rh2, White resigns.




* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Round Three: Nimzovich Defense

Jim West (USCF 2200) - Jay Bonin (USCF 2409), Marshall Chess Club 11/2/2008

1.e4 Nc6 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bg4 5.Be3 d5 6.exd5 Nxd5 7.Nxd5 Qxd5 8.Be2 e6 9.O-O O-O-O 10.c3 Be7

11.Qa4 Qa5 12.Qxa5 Nxa5 13.h3 Bxf3 14.Bxf3 Nc4 15.Rfe1 Nxe3, draw.




* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Round Four: Philidor Counter Gambit

Aaron Landesman (USCF 1982) - Jim West (USCF 2200), Marshall Chess Club 11/2/2008

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 f5 4.Bd3 fxe4 5.Bxe4 d5 6.Nxe5 dxe4 7.Qh5+ g6 8.Nxg6 Nf6 9.Qe5+ Kf7 10.Nxh8+ Kg7 11.Bg5 Nc6 12.Bxf6+ Qxf6 13.Qxf6+ Kxf6 14.c3 Bh6 15.Nd2 Bf5 16.Nc4 Rxh8

17.Ne3 Bxe3 18.fxe3 Rg8 19.Rg1 Ne7 20.Kd2 Nd5 21.Raf1 Ke6 22.Rf2 b5 23.a3 a5 24.Rgf1 Bg6 25.b3 Rb8 26.Rf8 Rxf8 27.Rxf8 Nb6 28.Ke2 a4 29.bxa4 Nxa4 30.Kd2 Nb6 31.Rb8 Nc4+ 32.Kc1 c6


33.Ra8 Nxe3 34.a4 bxa4 35.Rxa4 Nxg2 36.Rc4 Kd6 37.Rc5 Nf4 38.Kd2 Nd5 39.c4 e3+ 40.Ke2 Bh5+ 41.Ke1 Nf4 42.Rf5 Nd3+ 43.Kf1 e2+ 44.Kg2 e1=Q 45.c5+ Ke6 46.Rf1 Qe2+ 47.Kg1 Bf3 48.Rxf3 Qxf3 49.d5+ Kxd5 50.h3 Qg3+ 51.Kh1 Nf2#.




* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Round Five: Sicilian Defense, Sveshnikov Variation

Jim West (USCF 2200) - Raven Sturt (USCF 2125), Marshall Chess Club 11/2/2008

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5, draw.

NJKO's Season Ends with Whimper

For the second year in a row, the USCL season ended with a whimper for the New Jersey Knockouts, who lost their final match to the New York Knights.

Ziping 3-0 at Viking Quads

At last week's Viking quads in Somerset, Ziping Liu increased his USCF rating to 1688 by winning quad three with a perfect 3-0 score. In round one, Ziping as White was lucky to defeat Maryia Oreshko [pictured above] from a lost position.

After the game, Atlantic Chess News editor Steve Ferrero asked me, "Did you teach him that?"

I replied, "I taught him not to give up!"

Fortunately, Ziping played better in his next two games. Here he wins with the Pirc Defense, borrowing an idea from the double fianchetto defense against the Saemisch attack in the King's Indian.

Round Two: Pirc Defense

Michael McCaffery (USCF 1462) - Ziping Liu (USCF 1594), Somerset NJ 10/25/2008

1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.f3 Bg7 5.Be3 b6 6.Bc4 Bb7 7.Bb3 c5 8.Ba4+ Nbd7 9.Bxd7+ Qxd7 10.Nge2 O-O 11.g4 h5 12.gxh5 Nxh5 13.dxc5 bxc5


14.Bxc5 Qh3 15.Bd4 Qxf3 16.Rf1 Qg4 17.Bxg7 Kxg7 18.Qd4+ Kh7 19.O-O-O Ba6 20.Rg1 Qe6 21.Qd5 Bc4 22.Qxe6 Bxe6 23.Nd5 Bxd5 24.exd5 Nf6 25.c4 Rfc8 26.b3 a5


27.Nd4 Nxd5 28.Nf5 Nb4 29.Nxe7 Re8 30.Rge1 Ra7 31.a3 Raxe7 32.Rxe7 Rxe7 33.axb4 axb4 34.Rxd6 Re3 35.Kc2 Rc3 36.Kb2 f5 37.Rd4 Kh6 38.c5 Rxc5 39.Rxb4 Re5 40.Rc4 Kh5 41.b4 g5 42.Rc5 Re2+ 43.Rc2 Re4


44.Kb3 f4 45.b5 f3 46.b6 Re6 47.b7 Rb6+ 48.Kc3 Rxb7 49.Kd2 Re7 50.Rc3 g4 51.h3 f2 52.Rc5+ Kg6 53.Rc6+ Kg7 54.Rc1 g3 55.Rf1 Kh6, White resigns.