Rahway Swiss 4/11/2015

On Saturday, I finished with a score of 2-1-1 in the tournament at Chess Mates.

Subscription Home for "Pawn Sacrifice"

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Pix from Marshall April Grand Prix

Last weekend, I took these pictures during the tournament at the Marshall Chess Club.

                                             Saturday

                                               
                                              Sunday

"Mikell's Plot" to Perform at Stone Pony

On Sunday, April 26th, Mikell's Plot (featuring lead singer Michael O'Connor, my USATE 2015 teammate) will perform at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park to raise funds for filmmaker Jose Escamilla.

Bobby Fischer on "The Bob Hope Special"

Take a look at the video!

Marshall April Grand Prix 4/5/2015

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

Round Four: English Opening, Symmetrical Variation

Justin Chen (USCF 2115) - Jim West (USCF 2201), Marshall Chess Club 4/5/2015

1.Nf3 c5 2.c4 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 Nc6 5.O-O e6 6.d3 Nge7 7.Nc3 O-O 8.Be3 b6 9.Qc1 d5 10.cxd5 exd5 11.Bh6 d4 12.Bxg7 Kxg7 13.Ne4 f5 14.Ned2 Qc7

15.e3 dxe3 16.fxe3 Bd7 17.Qc3+ Kg8 18.Qc4+ Kg7 19.Qc3+ Kg8 20.Qc4+ Kg7 21.Qc3+, draw.

Marshall April Grand Prix 4/4/2015

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

Round One: Sicilian Defense, King's Indian Attack

Jim West (USCF 2201) - Jack Wen (USCF 1915), Marshall Chess Club 4/4/2015

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d3 Nc6 4.g3 Nf6 5.Bg2 d6 6.O-O Be7 7.Nbd2 O-O 8.Re1 Bd7 9.a4 Rc8 10.c3 Qc7 11.Qc2 Rfd8 12.Nc4 Na5

13.Nxa5 Qxa5 14.Nd2 Bc6 15.Nc4 Qc7 16.Bd2 b6 17.f4 a6 18.Qb3 b5 19.axb5 axb5 20.Na5 Ba8 21.Ra2 Rb8 22.Rea1 Qb6 23.c4 b4 24.Qd1 Nd7 25.Nb3 Bf6 26.Bc1 Bb7 27.Qe2 Ra8 28.Na5 Bd4+ 29.Kh1 Ba6

30.e5 dxe5 31.Bxa8 Rxa8 32.Qe4 Rb8 33.fxe5 Nxe5 34.Bf4 Nxd3 35.Rf1 e5 36.Qxd3 Bb7+ 37.Nxb7 Qxb7+ 38.Qf3 Qxf3+ 39.Rxf3 exf4 40.Rxf4, draw.

          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

Round Two: Sicilian Defense, Grand Prix Attack

Matt Boxer (FIDE 1806) - Jim West (FIDE 2066), Marshall Chess Club 4/4/2015

1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 d6 3.f4 Nc6 4.Nf3 g6 5.b3 Bg7 6.Bb2 Nf6 7.d3 Bg4 8.Be2 O-O 9.Qd2 Rb8 10.O-O b5 11.Nd1 b4 12.h3 Bxf3 13.Bxf3 Nd4

14.Rb1 Nd7 15.Ne3 a5 16.Kh1 Nb6 17.Qf2 e6 18.f5 exf5 19.exf5 Qg5 20.Bg4 gxf5 21.Nxf5 Nxf5 22.Bc1 Bd4 23.Bxg5 Bxf2 24.Rxf2 f6 25.Rxf5 fxg5 26.Rxg5+ Kh8 27.Re1 Rbe8 28.Re6 Rxe6 29.Bxe6 a4 30.Kg1 a3

31.Rg4 h6 32.Re4 Rf6 33.g3 Kg7 34.Kg2 Kf8 35.Rf4 Ke7 36.Rxf6 Kxf6 37.Bg8 Kg7 38.Bc4 Kf6 39.Kf3 Ke5 40.Ke3 d5 41.Ba6 d4+ 42.Kd2 Nd5 43.Bb7 Nc3 44.Bf3 Nxa2 45.h4 Nc3 46.Kc1 Nd5 47.g4 Ne3

48.g5 hxg5 49.hxg5 Kf5 50.Be2 Kxg5 51.Bf3 Kf4 52.Be2 Nd5 53.Bh5 Nc3 54.Bf7 Ke3 55.Bh5 a2 56.Kb2 Kd2 57.Bf7 a1=Q+ 58.Kxa1 Kxc2 59.Bc4 Ne2 60.Ka2 Nc1+ 61.Ka1 Nxd3 62.Ka2 Nc1+ 63.Ka1 Nxb3+ 64.Ka2 Nd2 65.Bd5 c4 66.Bxc4 Nxc4 67.Ka1 d3, White resigns.

          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

Round Three: Sicilian Defense, King's Indian Attack

Jim West (USCF 2201) - Taran Idnani (USCF 2009), Marshall Chess Club 4/4/2015

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.g3 d6 4.Bg2 Nf6 5.d3 g6 6.O-O Bg7 7.Nbd2 O-O 8.a4 Qc7 9.Nc4 Be6 10.Re1 Bxc4 11.dxc4 e5 12.c3 a5 13.Re2 Rad8 14.Ne1 Nh5 15.Nc2 Rfe8

16.Bf3 Nf6 17.Bg5 h6 18.Bxf6 Bxf6 19.Ne3 Ne7 20.Nd5 Nxd5 21.Qxd5 Qc6 22.Rd2 Qxd5 23.Rxd5 Be7 24.Ra3 b6 25.Rb3 Rb8 26.Bg4 Rb7 27.Rb5 Ra8 28.h4 Raa7 29.h5 g5 30.Kf1 Rb8 31.Ke2 Kg7 32.Ke3 f6

33.Bf5 Kf7 34.g4 Kg7 35.Be6 Kf8 36.Rd1 Kg7 37.Bd5 Kf8 38.Rb1 Bd8 39.f3 Bc7 40.Kd3 Ke7 41.Kc2 Bd8 42.Kb3 Bc7 43.Ka3 Bd8 44.b4 Bc7 45.Bc6 Ra6 46.bxc5 dxc5 47.Rd1 Rd8 48.Rbb1 Rd6 49.Rxd6 Kxd6 50.Bb5 Ra7

51.Rd1+ Ke6 52.Rd7 Bb8 53.Rd8 Bd6 54.Rh8 Rf7 55.Bc6 Rf8 56.Bd5+ Kd7 57.Rxh6 Be7 58.Rh7 Kd6 59.h6 Kd7 60.Rg7 Rh8 61.h7 Kd6 62.Bg8 Kd7 63.Kb3 Kd6 64.Kc2 Kd7 65.Rg6 Kd6 66.Rh6 Kd7 67.Rh1 Kc7

68.Be6 Bd6 69.Bf5 Be7 70.Rd1 Bd6 71.Rh1 Be7 72.Kb3 Bd6 73.Rh2 Be7 74.Kc2 Bd6 75.Kd3 Be7 76.Ke2 Bd6 77.Be6 Bf8 78.Bg8 Kd6 79.Ke3 Kc7 80.Rh1 Kc6 81.Rd1 Bd6 82.Rd2 Kc7 83.Kf2 Kc6 84.Kg2 Kc7 85.Kh3 Kc6

86.f4 exf4 87.Kg2 Be5 88.Rd8 Kc7 89.Ra8 Kd6 90.Ra6 Kc7 91.Bd5 Bxc3 92.Ra7+ Kd6 93.Rb7 Ke5 94.Kf3 Bb4 95.Bg8 Bc3 96.Rxb6 Bb4 97.Re6+ Kd4 98.Rxf6 Kd3 99.e5 Bc3 100.Rf5 Bd4 101.e6, Black resigns.

NM Majur Juac in "Washington Post"

National master Majur Juac [pictured] is featured in this Washington Post article.

Pix from Sunday Game/45 3/29/2015

On Sunday, I snapped these photos during the tournament at the Marshall Chess Club.

Pix from Saturday Game/60 3/28/2015

On Saturday, I photographed the players during the tournament at the Marshall Chess Club.

President's Cup in "NY Times"

[photo by Paul Truong]

In the sports section, Sunday's edition of The New York Times featured this article on the President's Cup.

Pond Power in Chess

Magnus: "Are you here for quick chess?"

Donald: "No, quack chess!"

Have a ducky April Fools' Day!