Marshall CC March 2019 News

International master Brandon Jacobson earned his first GM norm.

"Mikell's Plot" at Starland Ballroom

The band Mikell's Plot will perform on Friday at Starland Ballroom in Sayreville NJ.

Their lead singer Michael O'Connor [pictured] played for the Nayak Knights of West Orange at the USATE 2019.

Westfield Grand Prix 3/17/2019

On Sunday, I finished with a score of 0-0-4 in the tournament at Westfield.

Round One: Caro-Kann Defense, Exchange Variation

Jim West (USCF 2200) - Gary Leschinsky (USCF 1957), Westfield NJ 3/17/2019

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.Bd3 Nc6 5.c3 Qc7 6.Ne2 Bg4 7.h3 Bh5 8.Na3 e6 9.Nb5 Qd7 10.Bf4 Rc8 11.a4 a6 12.Na3 Bd6 13.Bxd6 Qxd6 14.O-O Nf6 15.Qd2 O-O

16.Qf4 Qd7 17.Ng3 Bg6 18.Bxg6 hxg6 19.Nc2 Na5 20.Ne3 Ne8 21.Ne2 Nd6 22.Nc1 b6 23.Nd3 Rfd8 24.Ne5 Qc7 25.Qg4 Nac4 26.Qe2 Nxe5 27.dxe5 Nc4 28.Nxc4 Qxc4 29.Qxc4 Rxc4 30.Rfd1 Rdc8

31.f3 f6 32.exf6 gxf6 33.Kf2 Kf7 34.Ke3 R8c5 35.Rd4 Rxd4 36.Kxd4 e5+ 37.Kd3 Ke6 38.Re1, draw.

          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

Round Two: Budapest Gambit, Fajarowicz Variation

Gregory Nolan (USCF 2032) - Jim West (USCF 2200), Westfield NJ 3/17/2019

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e5 3.dxe5 Ne4 4.a3 b6 5.Qc2 Bb7 6.Nc3 Nxc3 7.Qxc3 a5 8.Qc2 Nc6 9.Bf4 Nd4 10.Qd3 Ne6 11.Be3 Bc5 12.Nf3 O-O

13.g3 Bxf3 14.exf3 f6 15.Bg2 fxe5 16.O-O Rb8 17.Rad1 Bxe3, draw.

          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

Round Three: Ruy Lopez, Exchange Variation

Jim West (USCF 2200) - Roman Rychkov (USCF 2039), Westfield NJ 3/17/2019

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.O-O f6 6.d4 exd4 7.Nxd4 c5 8.Nb3 Qxd1 9.Rxd1 Bd7 10.Be3 b6 11.Nc3 O-O-O 12.a4 Bc6

13.Rxd8+ Kxd8 14.a5 Bb7 15.f3 Kc8 16.axb6 cxb6 17.Na4 Kc7 18.Bf4+ Kc6 19.Rd1 Be7 20.Nc3 h5 21.Nd5 Bc8 22.h4 Kb7 23.c4 Be6 24.Be3 Kc6 25.Nc1 f5 26.e5 Bxh4 27.Nf4 Bf7 28.b4 Be7 29.bxc5 bxc5 30.e6 Be8

31.Nb3 Rh6 32.Ra1 g5 33.Nd5 Rxe6 34.Rxa6+ Kd7 35.Rxe6 Kxe6 36.Nxe7 Kxe7 37.Bxg5+ Nf6 38.Nxc5 Bf7, draw.

          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

Round Four: Sicilian Defense, Najdorf Variation

Errol Singh (USCF 1990) - Jim West (USCF 2200), Westfield NJ 3/17/2019

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be2 e5 7.Nb3 Be7 8.Bf3 O-O 9.O-O Nbd7 10.Be3 b6 11.Qe2 Bb7 12.Rfd1 Rc8 13.Rd2 b5 14.a3 Nb6

15.Bxb6 Qxb6 16.g4 h6 17.h4 Nh7 18.Rad1 Rfd8 19.h5 Ng5 20.Bg2 Ne6 21.Nd5 Bxd5 22.exd5 Nf4 23.Qe3 Qc7 24.Be4 Bg5 25.Qf3 a5 26.c3 Ra8 27.Bb1 Rdb8 28.Qe4 g6 29.Kh2 Qc4 30.hxg6 fxg6 31.Qc2 b4

32.cxb4 Qxc2 33.Rxc2 axb4 34.axb4 Rxb4 35.Nd2 Rd4 36.Rdc1 Rxd2 37.Rxd2 Nxd5 38.Rxd5 Bxc1 39.Rxd6 Rb8 40.b3 Kf8 41.Rf6+ Ke7 42.Rxg6 Rxb3 43.Bf5 Bf4+ 44.Kg2 Rc3 45.Re6+, draw.

Pix from Thursday Night Action 3/14/2019

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

Thursday Night Action 3/14/2019

On Thursday, I finished with a score of 0-0-3 plus a half point bye in the tournament at the Marshall Chess Club.

Round Two: King's Indian Defense, Saemisch Variation

Alan Stolyarov (USCF 1936) - Jim West (USCF 2200), Marshall Chess Club 3/14/2019

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nge2 O-O 6.f3 c5 7.d5 e6 8.Ng3 exd5 9.cxd5 a6 10.a4 Nbd7 11.Be2 Qc7 12.O-O h5 13.Be3 b6 14.Qd2 Bb7

15.Bh6 Kh7 16.Bxg7 Kxg7 17.Qg5 Rh8 18.f4 Rag8 19.Rae1 Kf8 20.e5 Nh7 21.Qh6+ Rg7 22.f5 Kg8 23.f6 Nhxf6 24.Qd2 dxe5 25.d6 Qd8 26.Bc4 h4 27.Nge4 Nxe4 28.Nxe4 Bxe4 29.Rxe4 Rh5 30.Bxa6 f5

31.Qd5+ Kh7 32.Re2 e4 33.Bb5 Qg8 34.Qc6 h3 35.g3 Qe6 36.Rc1 Rg5, draw.

          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

Round Three: Philidor Defense

Jim West (USCF 2200) - Jessica Hyatt (USCF 1888), Marshall Chess Club 3/14/2019

1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nbd7 4.Nf3 e5 5.Bc4 Be7 6.Bxf7+ Kxf7 7.Ng5+ Kg8 8.Ne6 Qe8 9.Nxc7 Qg6 10.Nxa8 Qxg2 11.Rf1 exd4 12.Qxd4 Ne5 13.f3 Nfg4 14.Bf4 Nxh2 15.O-O-O Nxf1

16.Bxe5 dxe5 17.Qc4+ Kf8 18.Qxc8+ Kf7 19.Qc4+ Kg6 20.Qxf1 Bg5+ 21.Kb1 Qxf1 22.Rxf1 Rxa8 23.Nd5 Rf8 24.c4 Kf7 25.Kc2 Ke6 26.Kd3 Rd8 27.Ke2 Rc8 28.Kd3 h5 29.Rg1 Bf6 30.f4 Kf7 31.Nxf6 gxf6 32.fxe5 fxe5 

33.Rg5 Rd8+ 34.Ke2 h4 35.Rxe5 Rh8 36.Rf5+ Ke6 37.Kf2 h3 38.Kg1 h2+ 39.Kh1 Rh4 40.Rb5 b6 41.b3 Rxe4 42.Kxh2 Re2+ 43.Kg3 Rxa2 44.Kf4 Rb2 45.Ke4 Kd6 46.Kd4 Kc6 47.Kc3 Rh2 48.Rd5 Rh3+ 49.Kb2 Rh6 50.Ka3 a6 51.Rg5, draw.

          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

Round Four: King's Indian Defense

Cameron Hull (USCF 1826) - Jim West (USCF 2200), Marshall Chess Club 3/14/2019

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 O-O 5.O-O d6 6.Re1 Nbd7 7.e4 e5 8.c3 Re8 9.Bg5 h6 10.Bxf6 Bxf6 11.Nbd2 Bg7 12.Rc1 Nf8 13.d5 f5

14.exf5 gxf5 15.Kh1 Ng6 16.Qc2 Qf6 17.Nd4 Bd7 18.Ne6 Bxe6 19.dxe6 Rab8 20.Nf3 Kh8 21.Bh3 Ne7 22.Nh4 Rf8 23.Qe2 Qxe6 24.Qh5 Qf7 25.Qe2 a6 26.c4 b6 27.Bg2 a5 28.Nf3 e4 29.Ng1 Nc6 30.Nh3 Nb4 31.Nf4 Nxa2

32.Rcd1 Nb4 33.f3 Nd3 34.Nxd3 exd3 35.Qxd3 Bxb2 36.f4 Bg7 37.Re2 Rbe8 38.Rde1 Rxe2 39.Rxe2 Qf6 40.Bd5 Qd4, draw.

Pix from Sunday Game/50 3/10/2019

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

Photos from "Chess Mates" 3/9/2019

At the Chess Mates blog, I have posted pictures from Saturday's tournament.

Pix from Thursday Night Action 3/7/2019

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

A Case of Identity

The Marshall Chess Club needs your help in solving a mystery.  Do you know the person in the picture below?

If you can identify this individual, please e-mail club president Noah Chasin at nchasin@marshallchessclub.org.