"Europe Echecs" Issue on Fischer

The French chess magazine Europe Echecs has devoted an entire issue to Bobby Fischer.

PCG at Chess.com

To date, my most viewed post at Jim West Talks Chess is last Saturday's entry on the Philidor Counter Gambit. It has also generated the most comments.

By a remarkable coincidence, I defeated the same opponent with the PCG one day later at the Marshall Chess Club. Surprised by a move 7.Bb5+ that I had never seen before, I did not find the best continuation. My 11...Kf8 could have led to White's advantage after 12.Nc3 which my opponent missed. Instead of 11...Kf8, Fritz9 thinks that Black is slightly better after 11...g6 12.Qxh7 Ne7 13.h4 Bd4 14.Bg5 Qg7 15.Qxg7 Bxg7 16.Bxe7 Bxh8 17.Ba3 b4 18.Bxb4 Bxb2 19.Bc3 Bxa1 20.Bxa1 Nc6.

Yesterday, in yet another coincidence, Frederic Fournier posted this game at his Contre Gambit Philidor blog.

Kasparov on U.S. Politics

In The Wall Street Journal, Garry Kasparov gives his opinion of the candidates for president of the United States.

Larry Evans on Fischer

In the March 2008 issue of Chess Life, GM Larry Evans pays tribute to Bobby Fischer.

Zilbermintz Gambit

After the opening moves in the Philidor Counter Gambit 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 f5 4.Bc4, Lev Zilbermintz likes to play 4...b5 which he has named the Newark Gambit. I think that a better name would be the Zilbermintz Gambit. Personally I prefer Morphy's move 4...Nc6 which overprotects the e5 pawn.

Marshall Chess Club Swiss 3/2/2008

Playing today in the one day schedule at the Marshall Chess Club, I finished the four round Swiss with a record of 3-1-0. The first two rounds were played at game/30, while the last two rounds had time controls of 30/90 followed by game/60. Here are my winning efforts.

Round One: Budapest Gambit, Fajarowicz Variation

Darren Lustig (USCF 1714) - Jim West (USCF 2200), Marshall Chess Club 3/2/2008

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d6 3.c4 e5 4.dxe5 Ne4 5.Nbd2 Bf5 6.Nxe4 Bxe4 7.e3 Nc6 8.Be2 dxe5 9.O-O Qxd1 10.Rxd1 Be7 11.Bd2 O-O-O 12.a3 Bc2 13.Rdc1 Bd3

14.Bxd3 Rxd3 15.Bc3 Bf6 16.Rd1 Rhd8 17.Rxd3 Rxd3 18.Kf1 e4 19.Ne1 Rd7 20.Bxf6 gxf6 21.Ke2 Na5 22.Rc1 Nb3 23.Rc2 a5 24.f3 f5 25.g3 a4 26.Ng2 exf3+ 27.Kxf3 Rd2

28.Rxd2 Nxd2+ 29.Kf4 Nxc4 30.Kxf5 Nxb2 31.Ne1 Nc4 32.Nc2 Kd7 33.Kf6 Nd6 34.g4 c5 35.Kg7 Ke6 36.h4 h5 37.gxh5 Nf5+ 38.Kh7 Nxh4 39.h6 Nf5, White forfeits.

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Round Two: Sicilian Defense, Accelerated Fianchetto

Jim West (USCF 2200) - Rahul Swaminathan (USCF 2008), Marshall Chess Club 3/2/2008

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Bg7 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Bc4 O-O 8.Bb3 a5 9.f3 d5 10.exd5 Nb4 11.Nde2 a4 12.Nxa4 Nfxd5 13.Bf2 Bf5 14.O-O b5 15.Nac3 Nxc3 16.Nxc3 Qxd1 17.Rfxd1 Bxc2 18.Bxc2 Nxc2 19.Rac1 Bxc3 20.Rxc2 Bf6

21.b3 e6 22.g4 Rfc8 23.Rdc1 Rxc2 24.Rxc2 b4 25.Be1 Bc3 26.Bxc3 bxc3 27.a4 Rc8 28.Kf2 f5 29.gxf5 gxf5 30.Ke3 e5 31.Kd3 Rb8 32.Rxc3 Rb4


33.a5 e4+ 34.fxe4 fxe4+ 35.Ke3 Rb5 36.b4 Rxb4 37.Ra3 Rb7 38.a6 Ra7 39.Kxe4 Kg7 40.Kd5 Kg6 41.Kc6 Kg5 42.Kb6 Ra8 43.a7 h5 44.Kb7 Rf8 45.a8=Q Rxa8 46.Kxa8 Kg4 47.Kb7, Black resigns.

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Round Four: Philidor Counter Gambit

George Berg (USCF 2077) - Jim West (USCF 2200), Marshall Chess Club 3/2/2008

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 f5 4.dxe5 fxe4 5.Ng5 d5 6.e6 Bc5 7.Bb5+ c6 8.Nf7 Qf6 9.O-O Bxe6 10.Nxh8 cxb5 11.Qh5+ Kf8

12.Bg5 Qf5 13.h3 Nf6 14.Qh4 Kg8 15.g4 Qe5 16.Nd2 Kxh8 17.Kg2 Nbd7 18.c3 d4 19.Rae1 dxc3 20.bxc3 Bd5 21.Be3 Bxe3 22.Rxe3 Qf4 23.a3 Ne5 24.Rb1 g5 25.Qg3 Nc4 26.Nxc4 Bxc4 27.Rd1 Nd5 28.Ree1 Rf8


29.Rc1 Qf3+ 30.Qxf3 exf3+ 31.Kg3 Be2 32.Rc2 Rc8 33.Rec1 Nf6 34.Kh2 Ne4 35.Kg1 Rc4, White resigns.

More Photos from 1990 Match

Here are five photographs that I took at the 1990 World Chess Championship as they appeared in the January 1991 issue of Chess Life. Four of them have captions.

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"The pressroom on the eighth floor was the place to be for GMs and journalists: (l. to r.) Boris Spassky, Miguel Najdorf, Elliott Winslow, Yasser Seirawan, Lubomir Ljubojevic."

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"Entertainer and star Steve Martin attended the first game ..."

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"... as an entertaining star , Yasser Seirawan, provided the pressroom analysis."

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"Mike and Mischa - GM Michael Rohde analyses with Mikhail Tal."

Photo & Article from 1990 Match

Speaking of the two K's, here is the photograph that I took of their chess board at the Hudson Theater in 1990.

It appeared in the February 1991 issue of Chess Life with this caption: "The 'Intelligent Chess Board' awaits the first move. Wire coils in each piece and sensors in the board report each move instantly to the spectators."


In the same issue, my article "On the Sidelines" was published.

Two K's in "Men's Vogue"

Garry Kasparov versus Anatoly Karpov is #7 on the list of "The Ten Best Sports Rivalries" in Men's Vogue.

Cavett on Fischer

At his blog with The New York Times, Dick Cavett thanks the many readers who commented on his tribute to Bobby Fischer.

Rank and File Amateurs

The controversy regarding the GGGg winning team at the USATE continues. Here are blog posts and articles by The New York Times chess columnists Joel Benjamin and Dylan McClain, as well as a column by David Sands in the The Washington Times.

Photos from Marshall Chess Club

Between rounds in yesterday's Swiss tournament at the Marshall Chess Club, I snapped these photographs.

Here you see tournament director Steve Immitt.

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Asa Hoffmann did not participate in the tournament but paid a visit.

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Boris Privman and Yefim Treger analyze a chess game.

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The bust of Frank Marshall keeps a watchful eye.

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This is the upstairs room at the Marshall Chess Club.

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The walls at the Marshall Chess Club are adorned with pictures of famous players.

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The next two pix show plaques on the renowned Capablanca table.

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That's Fischer with a C!

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The game on board two was one of the last to finish in round three.

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Ken Cohen, in the red shirt, battles his third round opponent.