Pix from New Year's Insanity

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

                                             Saturday

                                           Sunday

                                           Monday

Facebook Page: "Mikell's Plot" at USATE

Mikell's Plot will be performing live at the USATE 2018 on February 17th at 11am.

FIDE Mondays 1/1/2018

This game was played on Monday evening at the Marshall Chess Club.

Round Three: King's Indian Defense, Orthodox Variation

Stephen Hrop (USCF 2043) - Jim West (USCF 2200), Marshall Chess Club 1/1/2018

1.c4 g6 2.Nc3 Bg7 3.d4 Nf6 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 O-O 6.Be2 e5 7.d5 Nbd7 8.O-O Nc5 9.Qc2 a5 10.Bg5 h6 11.Be3 Ng4 12.Bxc5 dxc5 13.h3 Nf6 14.Nxe5 Nxd5 15.cxd5 Bxe5 16.f4 Bd4+ 17.Kh2 c6

18.dxc6 bxc6 19.Rae1 Qh4 20.Bd3 g5 21.Ne2 Bf2 22.Rc1 g4 23.f5 Kh7 24.Qd2 Rd8 25.Qf4 g3+ 26.Kh1 Qxf4 27.Nxf4 Be3 28.Rc3 Bd2 29.Ra3 Bb4 30.Ra4 Bd2 31.Bc4 Bxf4 32.Rxf4 Rd4 33.Bb3 Ba6

34.Rxd4 cxd4 35.Rg4 Rg8 36.Rf4 Be2 37.e5 Rd8 38.Re4 d3 39.e6 d2 40.Bd1 Bxd1 41.e7 Re8, White resigns.

New Year's Insanity 12/31/2017

Taking five half point byes on Monday, I finished with a score of 3-3-4 in the tournament at the Marshall Chess Club.

Round Seven: Larsen's Opening

Jim West (USCF 2200) - William Ren (USCF 1884), Marshall Chess Club 12/31/2017

1.b3 d5 2.Bb2 Nf6 3.e3 c5 4.f4 Nc6 5.Bb5 Bd7 6.Nf3 a6 7.Bxc6 Bxc6 8.Ne5 Qc7 9.O-O Nd7 10.d3 e6 11.Nd2 Nxe5 12.Bxe5 Bd6 13.Bxd6 Qxd6 14.Qe2 O-O-O

15.a4 g5 16.fxg5 h6 17.e4 dxe4 18.Nxe4 Bxe4 19.Qxe4 hxg5 20.g3 f5 21.Qf3 Rh6 22.Rae1 Rdh8 23.Rf2 Qd4 24.Qe3 Kd7 25.Qxd4+ cxd4 26.Ree2 Kd6 27.Kf1 Kd5 28.Ke1 Rf8 29.Kd2 Rc8 30.Rf1 Rch8 31.Rff2 Rc8 32.Kc1 b5 33.axb5 axb5 34.Kb2 b4

35.Rf1 Rch8 36.Rfe1 f4 37.Re5+ Kd6 38.Rxg5 fxg3 39.hxg3 Rh2 40.Rg6 Re8 41.Re4 Kd5 42.Rh4 Rg2 43.Rh5+ e5 44.Rhh6 Rc8 45.Rd6+ Kc5 46.Rd7 Kb5 47.Rd5+ Rc5 48.Rxc5+ Kxc5 49.Rg6 Kd5 50.g4 Rg1

51.g5 e4 52.dxe4+ Kxe4 53.Rb6 Rxg5 54.Rxb4 Rg2 55.Rc4 Ke3 56.Ka3 d3 57.cxd3 Kxd3 58.Kb4 Rg5 59.Rc5 Rg1 60.Kb5 Kd4 61.b4 Rg6 62.Rc1 Rg5+ 63.Ka6 Rg6+ 64.Ka5 Rg5+ 65.b5 Rg6 66.b6 Rg2

67.Ka6 Ra2+ 68.Kb7 Kd5 69.Kb8 Kd6 70.b7 Kd7 71.Rd1+ Kc6 72.Kc8 Rb2 73.b8=Q, Black resigns.

New Year's Insanity 12/30/2017

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

Round Four: Philidor Counter Gambit

Benjamin Smith (USCF 1892) - Jim West (USCF 2200), Marshall Chess Club 12/30/2017

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Nc3 f5 4.d4 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.Qb3 Bxe5 13.dxe5 Qxe5 14.Bxf6 gxf6 15.cxd5 cxd5 16.Rfd1 Be6 17.Qxb7 Nd7 18.Rd2 f5 19.Nf1 f4 20.Rc1 f3

21.Bb5 Rab8 22.Qa6 fxg2 23.Ne3 Nf6 24.Qxa7 Rxb5, White resigns.

Kasparov on AI in "Business Insider"

Jim Edwards interviews Garry Kasparov.

Pix from Thursday Night Action 12/28/2017

On Thursday night, I took these pictures during the tournament at the Marshall Chess Club.

Thursday Night Action 12/28/2017

On Thursday, I finished with a score of 2-2-0 in the tournament at the Marshall Chess Club.

Round Four: Budapest Gambit, Fajarowicz Variation

Chris Brown (USCF 1878) - Jim West (USCF 2204), Marshall Chess Club 12/28/2017

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e5 3.dxe5 Ne4 4.a3 Qh4 5.g3 Qh5 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Qc2 Nc5 8.b4 Ne6 9.Bb2 d6 10.exd6 cxd6 11.Bg2 a5 12.b5 Ne5 13.Nxe5 dxe5 14.Qe4 Bd6 15.Qd5 Bb8 16.f4 O-O

17.fxe5 Rd8 18.Qf3 Qg6 19.O-O Qc2 20.Qxf7+ Kh8 21.Qe7 Ba7+ 22.Kh1 Bc5 23.Qxd8+ Nxd8 24.Bd4 Be7 25.Nc3 Ne6 26.Rac1 Qg6 27.Nd5 Bxa3 28.Rc3 Nxd4 29.Rxa3 Be6 30.Rxa5 Rxa5 31.Rf8+ Bg8

32.Ne7 Ra1+ 33.Bf1 Rxf1+, White resigns.

Sheldon Marshall 1953-2017

Yesterday Marshall Chess Club members received the following e-mail from executive director Bryan Quick regarding Sheldon Marshall [pictured].

"We were saddened last week to learn that club member Sheldon Marshall had recently passed away.  For those of you who didn't know Sheldon, he was the president of the Royal Automobile Club (RAC) chess team in London.  In 2014, he reached out to us about setting up a match between the RAC and the Marshall.  We have held that match for each of the past four years now and it has become a staple of our calendar, thanks to Sheldon. 

"We will miss Sheldon a great deal and hope to continue our relationship with the RAC well into the future.  In September 2018, when we would normally hold our annual match, we will plan on hosting a tournament in his memory."

Pix from Saturday Game/60 12/23/2017

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

Blitz Chess Tonight at West Orange CC

West Orange Chess Club
XMAS 3 & HALF ROUNDER
8pm December 26th
EF $10 holiday discount
4 or 5 player round robin
Game 10 minutes 29 second increments each move
Expected to finish 11pm to midnight
USCF membership required
Games played as opponent becomes available
Prizes overpriced books and chess equipment
Intended for chess enthusiasts
Not suitable for profit motivated chess gurus
Pairing numbers determined by order of entry
Odd vs even earlier entrant has white

SCHOLASTIC XMAS QUAD
6pm December 26th
EF $10 holiday discount
Game 10 minutes with 10 second increments each move
Expected to finish 8pm
USCF membership required
Intended for children
Games played as opponent becomes available
Prizes overpriced books and chess equipment
Intended for chess enthusiasts
Not suitable for profit motivated chess gurus
Pairing numbers determined by order of entry.
Odd vs even earlier entrant has white

Marshall CC Champion: IM Nicolas Checa

International master Nicolas Checa [pictured] is the 2017 Marshall Chess Club champion.