Rahway Swiss 7/11/2015

On Saturday, I tied for first place with Srihari Nesamani [pictured, right] in the tournament at Chess Mates.

Pix from Marshall July Grand Prix

Last weekend, I photographed the players during the tournament at the Marshall Chess Club.

                                           Saturday

                                            Sunday

Fabiano Caruana and Liberty Science Center

Liberty Science Center in Jersey City has appointed Fabiano Caruana to the position on LSC Visiting Grandmaster.

Doyle and Tamburro Say Goodbye

Chess columnists Steve Doyle and Pete Tamburro say goodbye at Inside Jersey.

Montreal and Brooklyn in "Pawn Sacrifice"

The Montreal Royals were the AAA farm team of the old Brooklyn Dodgers.

Now Montreal transforms to Brooklyn in the Bobby Fischer biopic Pawn Sacrifice.

Marshall July Grand Prix 7/5/2015

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

Round Four: Sicilian Defense, Najdorf Variation

Michael Kats (USCF 1946) - Jim West (USCF 2200), Marshall Chess Club 7/5/2015

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be2 e5 7.Nb3 Be7 8.Be3 Be6 9.O-O Nbd7 10.a4 O-O 11.a5 Rc8

12.h3 Rxc3 13.bxc3 Nxe4 14.Bd3 f5 15.Bxe4 fxe4 16.Nd2 d5 17.f3 Qc7 18.fxe4 Qxc3 19.Rxf8+ Nxf8 20.Bf2 d4 21.Nf3 Nd7 22.Rb1 Qc6 23.Qe1 Bc4 24.Kh1 Bb5 25.Bg3 Bf6 26.Rb2 Qc4 27.Rb1 Bc6 28.Bh4 Qxc2

29.Bxf6 gxf6 30.Qg3+ Kh8 31.Rf1 Qxe4 32.Nh4 Qe3 33.Qg4 Qg5 34.Qe6 Qxh4 35.Kh2 Qg5 36.Rf2 Qg6 37.g4 e4 38.Qe7 e3 39.Rf4 d3 40.Qxe3 Ne5 41.Kg3 Kg7 42.h4 d2 43.Qxd2 Qd3+ 44.Qxd3 Nxd3 45.Rc4 Ne5 46.Rc3 Kf7

47.Rc1 Ke6 48.h5 h6 49.Rc3 f5 50.gxf5+ Kxf5 51.Rc1 Bd5 52.Rc8 Bc6 53.Rg8 Nc4 54.Rg6 Nxa5 55.Rxh6 Kg5 56.Re6 Kxh5 57.Re5+ Kg6 58.Rxa5 Bb5 59.Kf4 Kf6 60.Ra2 Ke6 61.Rd2 Bc6 62.Ke3 a5 63.Rb2 a4 64.Kd2 Kd5

65.Rxb7 Bxb7 66.Kc3 Kc5 67.Kb2 Kb4 68.Ka1, draw.

Marshall July Grand Prix 7/4/2015

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

Round Three: French Defense, King's Indian Attack

Jim West (USCF 2200) - William Hu (USCF 1967), Marshall Chess Club 7/4/2015

1.e4 e6 2.d3 d5 3.Nd2 Nf6 4.g3 dxe4 5.dxe4 e5 6.Bg2 Bc5 7.Ngf3 Nc6 8.O-O O-O 9.c3 a5 10.a4 b6 11.Nh4 Bg4 12.Bf3 Bxf3 13.Qxf3 Qd7 14.Nb3 Be7 15.Nf5 Qe6

16.Nxe7+ Nxe7 17.Nd2 Rad8 18.Re1 Rd6 19.Nf1 Qg4 20.Qxg4 Nxg4 21.Ne3 Nxe3 22.Bxe3 Rfd8 23.Kf1 f6 24.Ke2 Kf7 25.Red1 Nc8 26.f3 Ke6 27.b3 Rxd1 28.Rxd1 Rxd1 29.Kxd1 Nd6 30.Kc2 Nf7 31.Kd3 Nd6

32.b4 Nb7 33.f4 h6 34.f5+ Kd7 35.g4 c5 36.bxc5 bxc5 37.h4 Kc6 38.g5 h5 39.gxf6 gxf6 40.Bh6 Nd6 41.c4 Kd7 42.Bf8 Nb7, draw.

Ernesto Labate 1923-2015

Ernesto Labate passed away on Monday at the age of 92.

What Ernie's obituary fails to mention is that, when he was in the military, Ernie once had his photograph taken with the actress Gina Lollobrigida!

Max Euwe - Edgar McCormick @ "Inside Jersey"

Edgar McCormick had a favorite exptression.

In many a post mortem analysis following one of our games, Edgar would say, "Just play chess!", whenever it became unclear as to which player had the better position.

Edgar's saying is also good advice in the game of life.

In this chess game from Inside Jersey, Edgar defeats a former world champion.

Pix from Sunday Game/45 6/28/2015

During Sunday's tournament at the Marshall Chess Club, I took these pictures.

 

 

Marshall Sunday Game/45 6/28/2015

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

Round One: Philidor Counter Gambit

Prospero Lugo (USCF 1865) - Jim West (USCF 2200), Marshall Chess Club 6/28/2015

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 f5 4.Nc3 fxe4 5.Nxe4 d5 6.Ng3 e4 7.Ne5 Nf6 8.Bg5 Bd6 9.Be2 O-O 10.O-O Qe8 11.c4 c6

12.Bxf6 gxf6 13.Bh5 Qe7 14.Ng4 f5 15.Ne5 f4 16.Bf7+ Rxf7 17.Nxf7 Qxf7 18.c5 Bc7 19.Nh1 Qg6, White resigns.

          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

Round Four: Philidor Counter Gambit

Dexin Li (USCF 1848) - Jim West (USCF 2200), Marshall Chess Club 6/28/2015

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 f5 4.Nc3 fxe4 5.Nxe4 d5 6.Nc3 e4 7.Ne5 Nf6 8.Be2 Bb4 9.O-O O-O 10.a3 Bxc3 11.bxc3 c6 12.c4 Nbd7 13.Nxd7 Bxd7 14.Bf4 Be6

15.c5 b5 16.a4 a6 17.Be5 Qd7 18.f4 Bg4 19.Bxf6 Bxe2 20.Qxe2 gxf6 21.f5 Kh8 22.Qf2 Qg7 23.Qf4 Rg8 24.Rf2 bxa4 25.Rxa4 Qg5 26.Qxg5 Rxg5 27.c4 dxc4 28.Rxc4 a5 29.Ra4 Kg7 30.Rf4 e3 31.Re4 Rxf5 32.Rxe3 Kf7

33.Rb3 Ke6 34.Rba3 Kd5 35.g3 h5 36.Kg2 Re8 37.Rxa5 Re2+ 38.Kg1 Rff2 39.h4 Rg2+ 40.Kh1 Rh2+ 41.Kg1 Reg2+ 42.Kf1 Rd2 43.Kg1 Rhe2 44.Kf1 Re4 45.Rf3 Rdxd4 46.Rxf6 Re6 47.Rf5+ Re5 48.Rxe5+ Kxe5

49.Kf2 Kd5 50.Kf3 Rc4 51.Ke3 Rg4 52.Kf3 Rb4 53.g4 Rxg4 54.Ra1 Rxh4 55.Kg3 Rg4+ 56.Kf3 Kxc5 57.Rh1 Rg5 58.Kf4 Rd5 59.Ke4 Kd6 60.Rh4 Kc5 61.Ke3 Kb5 62.Rh1 c5 63.Rh4 c4 64.Ke4 Rc5 65.Kd4 c3 66.Rh1 c2, White resigns.

Pix from Saturday Game/30 6/27/2015

During Saturday's tournament at the Marshall Chess Club, I snapped these photos.