Thursday Night Action 1/17/2019

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

Round One: Philidor Counter Gambit

Jeff Schumacher (USCF 1864) - Jim West (USCF 2202), Marshall Chess Club 1/17/2019

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 f5 4.dxe5 fxe4 5.Ng5 d5 6.Nc3 Bb4 7.a3 Bxc3+ 8.bxc3 Ne7 9.c4 c6 10.e6 O-O 11.Qh5 h6 12.Nf7 Qe8 13.Qg4 Kh7

14.Bb2 Qxf7 15.Qxe4+ dxe4 16.exf7 Rxf7 17.O-O-O Rf8 18.Re1 Bf5 19.f3 Nd7 20.fxe4 Bg6 21.g3 Nc5 22.Bd4 b6 23.Bg2 Rad8 24.c3 Nd3+, White resigns.

Pix from Sunday Game/50 1/13/2019

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

"Star-Tribune" Review: "The Grandmaster"

Dennis J. McGrath reviews The Grandmaster.

"NY Times" Article on AlphaZero

Professor of mathematics Steven Strogatz wishes AlphaZero could share its insights with humans.

Marshall Sunday Game/50 1/13/2019

On Sunday, I finished with a score of 3-1-0 in the tournament at the Marshall Chess Club.

Round One: Philidor Counter Gambit

Jose De Villa (USCF 1983) - Jim West (USCF 2200), Marshall Chess Club 1/13/2019

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bc4 f5 4.d3 c6 5.O-O f4 6.d4 Qf6 7.c3 Ne7 8.Nbd2 g5 9.Be2 Nd7 10.dxe5 dxe5 11.Ne1 Ng6 12.Bh5 Be7 13.b4 Qg7 14.Nc4 O-O

15.Nd6 Bxd6 16.Qxd6 Qe7 17.Qd3 Nf6 18.Bxg6 hxg6 19.a4 Rd8 20.Qc2 g4 21.g3 g5 22.f3 Be6 23.Rf2 Kg7 24.Nd3 Bc4 25.Nb2 Bf7 26.gxf4 exf4 27.Nd3 gxf3 28.e5 Ng4 29.Rxf3 Bg6 30.Bb2 Ne3

31.Rxe3 fxe3 32.c4 Bxd3 33.e6+ Kg6 34.Qc3 Qxe6 35.Qg7+ Kh5 36.h3 Rd7 37.Qc3 Qxh3 38.Qe5 Qg4+ 39.Kh2 Qf4+ 40.Kg1 Qxe5 41.Bxe5 Re8 42.Bc3 Bxc4 43.Be1 Rf7 44.Kg2 e2 45.b5 cxb5 46.axb5 Bxb5, White resigns.

Winter 2019 Schedule at 101 Discoveries

This winter I am teaching these after school chess classes for 101 Discoveries:

Wednesdays - Hudson Montessori School:

Thursdays - Hamilton Park Montessori School.

Pix from Thursday Night Action 1/10/2019

During Thursday's tournament, I photographed the players at the Marshall Chess Club.

Thursday Night Action 1/10/2019

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

Round Four: King's Indian Attack

Jim West (USCF 2200) - Bora Yagiz (USCF 1963), Marshall Chess Club 1/10/2019

1.Nf3 d6 2.g3 g6 3.Bg2 Bg7 4.O-O f5 5.d3 Nf6 6.c3 c6 7.a4 O-O 8.Qb3+ e6 9.Nbd2 h6 10.e4 Kh7 11.exf5 exf5 12.Nc4 Na6 13.h4 Nc5 14.Qc2 Be6 15.Be3 Nd5

16.Rfe1 Nxe3 17.Rxe3 Bxc4 18.dxc4 Ne4 19.h5 g5 20.Nd4 Bxd4 21.cxd4 d5 22.g4 Qf6 23.gxf5 Rae8 24.Bxe4 dxe4 25.Rxe4 Qxf5 26.Rae1 Rf7 27.Qe2 Ref8 28.Re7 Kg8 29.Rxf7 Rxf7 30.Qe8+ Kg7 

31.Qe5+ Qxe5 32.Rxe5 Rf4 33.Re7+ Kf6 34.Rxb7 Rxd4 35.b3 Kf5 36.Rxa7 Kg4 37.Kg2 Kxh5 38.a5 Kg4 39.a6 Rd2, Black forfeits.

Marshall CC New Year 2019 News

Grandmaster Sergei Azarov won the club championship.

Pix from FIDE Mondays 1/7/2019

On Monday, I snapped these photos at the Marshall Chess Club.

FIDE Mondays 1/7/2019

On Monday, this game was played at the Marshall Chess Club.

Round One: King's Indian Defense, Fianchetto Variation

Miguel Garcia (USCF 1931) - Jim West (USCF 2200), Marshall Chess Club 1/7/2019

1.c4 g6 2.Nc3 Bg7 3.d4 Nf6 4.Nf3 O-O 5.g3 d6 6.Bg2 Nbd7 7.Bf4 Nh5 8.Bg5 h6 9.Bd2 e5 10.dxe5 dxe5 11.Qc1 Kh7 12.g4 Nf4 13.Bxf4 exf4 14.Qxf4 c6 15.h4 Qa5 16.Rc1 Ne5 17.g5 h5 18.c5 Qxc5

19.Ne4 Qe7 20.Nf6+ Bxf6 21.gxf6 Nd3+ 22.Kf1 Qxe2+ 23.Kxe2 Nxf4+ 24.Kf1 Nxg2 25.Ng5+ Kg8 26.Kxg2 Be6 27.Rhe1 Rfe8 28.Rcd1 Red8 29.Nxe6 fxe6 30.Rxd8+ Rxd8 31.Rxe6 Rd7 32.b3 Kf7 33.Re3 Kxf6

34.Kg3 a5 35.Rc3 Rd2 36.a4 Rd6 37.Re3 b5 38.f3 b4 39.Re8 Rd3 40.Ra8 Rd5 41.Re8 Rd3 42.Kf4 Rd4+ 43.Kg3 Rd3 44.Ra8 Rxb3 45.Rxa5 Rc3 46.Ra6 Ke5 47.Rb6 c5 48.a5 Ra3 49.a6 Kd4 50.Rxg6 b3 

51.Rb6 c4 52.Kf4 c3, White forfeits.

Pix from Thursday Night Action 1/3/2019

Look at these pictures taken by me during Thursday's tournament at the Marshall Chess Club.