Thursday, April 30, 2009

More Caro-Kann Games @ "Diamondback Chess"

Blogger Diamondback has posted more games of mine as White, in the exchange variation of the Caro-Kann Defense.

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Kasparov's Unscheduled Speech

Last Friday, Garry Kasparov gave an unscheduled speech near Sochi in favor of a mayoral candidate.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Pix from Westfield Quads 4/26/2009

These pictures were taken by me on Sunday at the Westfield quads.

Besides a game of speed chess played before the start of the tournament, you will see Mauricio Camejo versus NM Mark Kernighan and Ernesto Labate versus Sam Chatsky.





Monday, April 27, 2009

Fischer in "Harper's Magazine"

Thanks to Mark Weeks, here is a link to Ralph Ginzburg's article on Bobby Fischer, from the January 1962 issue of Harper's Magazine.

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Westfield Quads 4/26/2009

My opponent fell into an opening trap in this game, played at today's quads in Westfield. The correct move for Black is 5...dxe5.

Round One: Philidor Defense

Jim West (USCF 2202) - Mauricio Camejo (USCF 2036), Westfield NJ 4/26/2009

1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nd7 3.Nf3 e5 4.Bc4 Be7 5.dxe5 Nxe5 6.Nxe5 dxe5 7.Qh5 g6 8.Qxe5 f6 9.Qd5 Qxd5 10.Bxd5 c6 11.Bb3 Bc5 12.O-O Ke7 13.Re1 Be6 14.Be3 Bxe3 15.Rxe3 Nh6 16.Bxe6 Kxe6 17.Nc3 Rad8


18.Rd1 Rxd1+ 19.Nxd1 Ng4 20.Re2 Rd8 21.Nc3 b5 22.a3 a5 23.f3 Ne5 24.b3 g5 25.Kf2 b4 26.axb4 axb4 27.Na4 Rd1 28.Ke3 h5 29.h3 Nd7 30.Nb2 Rb1 31.Nc4 c5 32.Kd2 Rg1 33.Ne3 Ra1 34.Re1 Ra8


35.Nc4 Rd8 36.Ke2 Ra8 37.Rd1 Ra2 38.Rd2 Ra1 39.Ne3 Ra6 40.Rd5 Rc6 41.h4 Ne5 42.hxg5 fxg5 43.Nc4 Nf7 44.Rf5 Rc7 45.Ne3 Rc8 46.Nd5 Nd6 47.Rxg5 Rh8 48.Rxh5 Rg8 49.g4 c4 50.Rh6+ Kd7 51.Nf6+, Black resigns.


Saturday, April 25, 2009

Marshall Chess Club Swiss 4/25/2009

Here are a couple of my games from today's game/60 Swiss at the Marshall Chess Club, where I ended with a score of 2-1-1.

Round Two: Sicilian Defense, Paulsen Variation

Jim West (USCF 2202) - Jeremiah Williams (USCF 1989), Marshall Chess Club 4/25/2009

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Bd3 Nc6 6.Nxc6 bxc6 7.O-O Qc7 8.c4 Nf6 9.Qe2 e5 10.Be3 d5 11.cxd5 cxd5 12.Rc1 Qd7 13,Bg5 d4 14.Nd2 Bd6 15.Nc4 Bc7 16.f4 Qe6 17.f5 Qe7 18.Rc2 O-O 19.Rac1 Bb7

20.Ne3 Bb6 21.Ng4 Kh8 22.Rc6 Bxc6 23.Rxc6 Qb7 24.Rxf6 Bd8 25.Rxa6 Bxg5 26.Nxe5 Be3+ 27.Kf1 Rac8 28.g3 Rc1+ 29.Kg2 Qb4 30.a3 Qb3 31.Bc4 Rg1+ 32.Kh3 Qb8 33.Nxf7+ Kg8 34.Qh5 Rxf7 35.Qxf7+ Kh8 36.Re6, Black resigns.



* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Round Three: Philidor Counter Gambit

Kavinayan Sivakumar (USCF 1998) - Jim West (USCF 2202), Marshall Chess Club 4/25/2009

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 f5 4.Nc3 fxe4 5.Nxe4 d5 6.Ng3 e4 7.Ne5 Nf6 8.f3 Bd6 9.Be2 O-O 10.O-O Nbd7


11.fxe4 Nxe5 12.dxe5 Bxe5 13.Bg5 Be6 14.Bxf6 Rxf6 15.Rxf6 Bxf6 16.exd5 Qxd5 17.Qxd5 Bxd5 18.c3 Re8 19.Kf2 Bh4 20.Bf3 Bxf3 21.Kxf3 Bxg3 22.Kxg3 Re2 23.Rd1 Rxb2 24.Rd8+ Kf7 25.Rd7+ Kf6 26.Rxc7 Rxa2 27.Rxb7 Ra3


28.Kg4 Kg6 29.Kf4 h5 30.Rc7 a5 31.Rc6+ Kh7 32.Ra6 Ra2 33.Kf3 g6 34.c4 Rc2 35.Rxa5 Rxc4 36.Kg3 h4+ 37.Kf3 Kh6 38.Ra6 Kh5 39.Ra5+ g5 40.h3 Rc3+ 41.Kf2 Rg3 42.Ra6 Rb3, draw.


Friday, April 24, 2009

NBA Chess Video

Here is a promo, with a chess theme, for the National Basketball Association.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Caro-Kann @ "Diamondback Chess"

Using ChessFlash, blogger Diamondback has reproduced three of my games as White in the Exchange Variation of the Caro-Kann Defense. These games originally appeared in a previous blog post of mine. My win against Noah Siegel took place on 11/8/1995 at the Marshall Chess Club.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Marshall CC Chess Classes

Tuesday night chess classes for adult players. Free to members of the Marshall Chess Club, 10 dollars to non-members. Starts April 28th at 7:00 pm.

The series will be based on The Mammoth Book of The World’s Greatest Chess Games.

A master-level-or-better player will explain two games per week from the book. Over the course of the year, you will learn all aspects of master level chess. By studying these historic games, you will develop models of play that will greatly improve your results and performance. In addition, you will become more familiar with the history of the game and its greatest players.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Pix from ICA Spring 2009 Open

On Sunday, I snapped these photos during round one of the ICA Spring 2009 Open.

Andrew Ng defeated Arjun Mayur.

NM Igor Yeliseyev bested Yakir Forman.

IM Dean Ippolito won against blogger Polly Wright.

Austin Wang lost to GM Sergey Kudrin.

Isaac Barayev was defeated by Anna Matlin.

Paul Ton lost to Eve Litvak while Alexander Katz beat Mario Russo.

Monday, April 20, 2009

Pix from Hamilton 4/18/2009

These are photos from Saturday's quads in Hamilton.

The first two pictures show players in quad one: Rahul Swaminathan versus NM Mark Kernighan, and NM Dragan Milovanovic defending against Kernighan. Next, there is a photo of quad two. Finally, there is a shot of the lower quads.




Sunday, April 19, 2009

ICA Spring 2009 Open

Earlier today, I finished with a score of 2-1-1 at the ICA Spring 2009 Open in Hackensack. Here are my two wins.

Round One: Philidor Counter Gambit

Michael Hulme (USCF 1557) - Jim West (USCF 2202), Hackensack NJ 4/19/2009

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 f5 4.dxe5 fxe4 5.Ng5 d5 6.f3 Bc5 7.fxe4 Ne7 8.exd5 O-O 9.Nf3 Nxd5 10.Bc4 c6 11.Nc3 Be6 12.Bg5 Qd7 13.Qd2 b5 14.Bxd5 cxd5 15.O-O-O Bb4


16.Qd3 Bxc3 17.Qxc3 Rc8 18.Qe3 Nc6 19.Nd4 Nxd4 20.Qxd4 Rc4 21.Qf2 Rac8 22.Rd2 Bf5 23.c3 b4 24.Rhd1 bxc3 25.Rxd5 cxb2+ 26.Kxb2 Qb7+ 27.Ka1 Rc1+ 28.Rxc1 Rxc1+ 29.Bxc1 Qb1#.



* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Round Two: Sicilian Defense, Sozin Attack

Jim West (USCF 2202) - Joshua Colas (USCF 1915), Hackensack NJ 4/19/2009

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.Bc4 Bd7 7.Bb3 Nc6 8.Be3 Be7 9.O-O O-O 10.f4 a6 11.Qf3 Nxd4 12.Bxd4 Qc7 13.f5 b5 14.a3 Rac8


15.fxe6 fxe6 16.Qh3 d5 17.exd5 exd5 18.Nxd5 Bxh3 19.Nxc7+ Kh8 20.Nxa6 Bd7 21.Nb4 Bc5 22.Bxc5 Rxc5 23.Nd5 Bc6 24.Nxf6 gxf6 25.Rad1 f5 26.Rd4 Kg7 27.c3 Re5 28.Rd2 f4 29.Bd1 Bd5 30.Bf3 Bc4 31.Ra1 Rfe8 32.Kf2 Bb3


33.Rd4 Rf5 34.Re1 Rb8 35.Ree4 Rbf8 36.Rb4 Bc4 37.a4 Bd5 38.Red4 Bxf3 39.Kxf3 bxa4 40.Rxa4 Rb8 41.Rab4 Rbf8 42.Rxf4 Rxf4+ 43.Rxf4 Rb8 44.b4 Rd8 45.Ke2, Black resigns.


Saturday, April 18, 2009

Hamilton Quads 4/18/2009

44 players showed up for today's quads in Hamilton where I drew this game.

Round One: Budapest Gambit, Fajarowicz Variation

Mark Kernighan (USCF 2200) - Jim West (USCF 2202), Hamilton NJ 4/18/2009

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e5 3.dxe5 Ne4 4.a3 Nc6 5.Nd2 Nc5 6.b4 Ne6 7.Bb2 d6 8.exd6 Qxd6 9.Ngf3 Bd7 10.g3 O-O-O 11.Bg2 h5 12.Ne4 Qe7 13.b5 Na5 14.Qa4 b6 15.Ne5 f5


16.Ng6 Qe8 17.Nxh8 fxe4 18.Qc2 Nc5 19.O-O h4 20.Rad1 Qh5 21.Bxe4 Qxh8 22.Bf5 Bd6 23.Rd4 hxg3 24.hxg3 Qf8 25.Bxd7+ Rxd7 26.Qg6 Qf7 27.Qxf7 Rxf7 28.Rg4 Bf8 29.Rd1 Nab7 30.Rdd4 Ne6 31.Rd5 Nbc5


32.f4 Nd7 33.Rg6 Nec5 34.Rgg5 Ne4 35.Rgf5 Rxf5 36.Rxf5 Nxg3 37.Rf7 Bc5+ 38.Kg2 Nxe2 39.Bxg7 Nxf4+ 40.Rxf4 Bxa3 41.Rf2 Bd6 42.Ra2 Kb7 43.Kf2 Nc5 44.Ke3 a6 45.Rd2 axb5 46.cxb5 Ne6 47.Bh6 Bc5+ 48.Ke4 Nd4


49.Rb2 c6 50.bxc6+ Kxc6 51.Be3 Ne6 52.Bd2 Nc7 53.Bf4 Nb5 54.Rg2 Nc3+ 55.Kd3 Nd5 56.Be5 Kb5 57.Ke4 Nb4 58.Bd4 Kc4 59.Bxc5, draw.


Friday, April 17, 2009

South Jersey Open on April 26th

On April 26th, the South Jersey Open will be held at the Wyndham Hotel in Mount Laurel.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

"My 60 Memorable Games"

Here is the original edition of Bobby Fischer's My 60 Memorable Games, published in 1969.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

"Analysis of the Game of Chess"

Here is Philidor's Analysis of the Game of Chess, originally published in 1749.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Photos from Marshall CC Game/30

Here are photos from Sunday's game/30 Swiss at the Marshall Chess Club.


In round two, Gabor Schnitzler lost to Andrew Ryba.


Meanwhile, Michael Bodek drew against Steadroy Lloyd, and Polly Wright was defeated by Alex Eydelman.


In the same round, Lamel McBryde won his game against Mauricio Camejo.


First place went to IM Oliver Barbosa who won all five of his games, including a third round victory against me. Here Barbosa is seen defeating Alex Eydelman in round four.

Monday, April 13, 2009

E-mail from Steve Hewlett

Yesterday I received this e-mail.

Mr. West:

At the end of your article "Alternatives to Alterman's PCG Analysis" on your web blog, you give three examples of games. However, they all say "This account has been suspended, please contact the billing/support department as soon as possible." Do you know where I could find these three games on the Internet? Thanks.

Steve Hewlett

I have reproduced the games at my Jim West Talks Chess blog.

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Marshall Chess Club Swiss 4/12/2009

In today's game/30 Swiss at the Marshall Chess Club, I finished with a score of 2-1-2. Here is my draw from the first round.

Round One: Bishop's Opening

Steadroy Lloyd (USCF 2023) - Jim West (USCF 2202), Marshall Chess Club 4/12/2009

1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nc6 3.Nc3 d6 4.d3 Na5 5.Bb3 Nxb3 6.axb3 Nf6 7.h3 Be7 8.Be3 a6 9.Nf3 O-O 10.O-O h6 11.Qd2 Be6


12.d4 exd4 13.Nxd4 Qd7 14.f4 c5 15.Nxe6 Qxe6 16.f5 Qd7 17.Rad1 Qc6 18.Nd5 Nxd5 19.Qxd5 Qxd5 20.Rxd5 Rfe8 21.Bf4 Rad8 22.Rfd1 Bf6


23.Bxd6 Rxe4 24.Bxc5 Rxd5 25.Rxd5 Re2 26.c4 Rxb2 27.Rd3 Re2 28.Rd7 Re1+ 29.Kf2 Re5 30.Rd5 g6 31.g4 gxf5 32.gxf5 Kg7


33.Kf3 Re1 34.Rd7 Re5 35.Rd5 Re1 36.Rd7 Re5 37.Rd5, draw.


Saturday, April 11, 2009

Shulman Leads at Foxwoods

After five rounds, GM Yury Shulman leads the Foxwoods Open 2009 with a perfect score.

Friday, April 10, 2009

"Chess Publisher" Suspended

For a couple of weeks, Chess Publisher has been down, stating "This Account Has Been Suspended." At least one website is optimistic that Chess Publisher will be up again soon.

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Morphy versus PCG by Transposition

In response to Tuesday's post, Alejandro Melchor of Barcelona has sent me an e-mail, mentioning three games where Paul Morphy by transposition played Bc4 against positions that resemble the Philidor Counter Gambit, namely Morphy-Rousseau, New Orleans 1849 and Morphy-Schulten, New York 1857 and Morphy-Worrall, London 1859.

But in none of these games did Morphy face the position after the move order 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 f5. Instead Black played 2...Nc6 which Morphy answered by 3.Bc4, and eventually Black played ...f5. In every case, Morphy won.

The most remarkable of these was his victory over Worrall because Morphy played the game blindfolded!

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Bobby Fischer Found

Madman Genius: Bobby Fischer Found will chronicle the life of the American chess champion. The director of the film is Liz Garbus.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

PCG: Morphy as White

In five games playing the Philidor Counter Gambit as Black, Paul Morphy never lost, winning three and drawing two. I have often wondered what line Morphy would have chosen as White against the PCG, guessing that he probably would have developed a piece by either 4.Bc4 or 4.Nc3.

Actually there is game where Morphy favored 4.Bc4 over 4.Nc3, but there was little choice because he was playing at queen knight odds! The opening moves were 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 f5 4.Bc4 fxe4 5.Nxe5, resulting in a drawn rook-and-two-pawns versus two bishops endgame.

There is an error in the score of the game. Black played 34...Bb2, not 34...Bg7.

Monday, April 6, 2009

Marshall Chess Club Swiss 4/5/2009

Playing in the one-day schedule yesterday, I finished with a score of 2-0-2 in a Swiss tournament at the Marshall Chess Club. My games follow, including a lucky win in the final round when my opponent blundered a piece after having outplayed me.

Round One: Sicilian Defense, Sozin Attack

Jim West (USCF 2202) - Etan Lankri (USCF 1669), Marshall Chess Club 4/5/2009

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bc4 e6 7.Bb3 b5 8.O-O Be7 9.Be3 Qc7 10.a3 Nc6 11.f4 O-O 12.Qf3 Nxd4 13.Bxd4 Bb7


14.f5 e5 15.Bf2 Rad8 16.Rad1 Nd7 17.Bd5 Kh8 18.Bxb7 Qxb7 19.Nd5 Nf6 20.Nc3 Nd7 21.g4 g6 22.Kh1 Nf6 23.Bh4 Rd7 24.Bxf6+ Bxf6 25.Nd5 Bg7 26.f6 Bh6 27.h4 Rc8 28.g5 Bf8 29.c3 a5


30.h5 Rc4 31.hxg6 fxg6 32.f7 h6 33.Rd2 h5 34.Rh2 Kg7 35.Qf6+ Kh7 36.Rxh5+ gxh5 37.g6+ Kh6 38.g7+ Kh7, Black resigns.



* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Round Two: Budapest Gambit, Fajarowicz Variation

Michael Hehir (USCF 2048) - Jim West (USCF 2202), Marshall Chess Club 4/5/2009

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d6 3.c4 e5 4.dxe5 Ne4 5.Qd4 Bf5 6.exd6 Nc6 7.d7+ Qxd7 8.Qxd7+ Kxd7 9.Bf4 Rd8 10.a3 Kc8 11.Nbd2 Bc5


12.Nxe4 Bxe4 13.e3 Rhe8 14.Be2 a5 15.O-O Bxf3 16.Bxf3 Ne5 17.Bxe5 Rxe5 18.Rfd1 c6 19.Rxd8+ Kxd8 20.Rd1+ Kc7 21.Kf1 Re7 22.Ke2 Rd7 23.Rxd7+, draw.



* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Round Three: Larsen's Opening

Jim West (USCF 2202) - Anna Matlin (USCF 1991), Marshall Chess Club 4/5/2009

1.b3 Nf6 2.Bb2 d5 3.f4 c5 4.e3 Nc6 5.Nf3 Bg4 6.Bb5 Rc8 7.O-O g6 8.d3 Bxf3 9.Qxf3 Bg7 10.Nd2 O-O 11.Bxc6 Rxc6


12.a4 Qd7 13.h3 b6 14.Rf2 Ne8 15.Bxg7 Kxg7 16.e4 Nc7 17.exd5 Qxd5 18.Re1 e6 19.Nc4 Qxf3 20.Rxf3 Nd5


21.g4 Rd8 22.Re2 Rb8 23.Rg2 Re8 24.h4 Rd8 25.Ne5 Rc7 26.f5 exf5 27.gxf5 Nf6 28.fxg6 fxg6 29.Rgf2 Rd6 30.Nc4, draw.



* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Round Four: Falkbeer Counter Gambit

Dan Mayers (USCF 1880) - Jim West (USCF 2202), Marshall Chess Club 4/5/2009

1.e4 e5 2.f4 d5 3.exd5 e4 4.Nc3 Nf6 5.Qe2 Qe7 6.d3 exd3 7.Qxe7+ Bxe7 8.Bxd3 Bb4 9.Bd2 O-O 10.O-O-O Bg4 11.Nf3 Nbd7


12.a3 Bxc3 13.Bxc3 Nh5 14.Bd2 Nhf6 15.c4 Rfe8 16.Rde1 Bxf3 17.gxf3 Nc5 18.Bc2 b6 19.Rhg1 a5 20.Bc3 Rxe1+ 21.Rxe1 Re8 22.Rg1 Nh5 23.Rg5 g6 24.Re5 Kf8 25.f5 Nf4 26.Kd2 Rd8 27.fxg6 hxg6 28.b4 Nb7 29.Ke3 Nh5


30.Kd4 axb4 31.axb4 c5+ 32.bxc5 bxc5+ 33.Ke3 Nd6 34.Bd3 Ra8 35.Kf2 Ra3 36.Bd4 cxd4 37.c5 Rxd3 38.cxd6 Nf6 39.Re2 Rb3 40.Rd2 Rb6 41.d7 Rd6 42.Rxd4 Rxd7 43.Kg3 Rxd5


44.Ra4 Kg7 45.Ra7 Rd7 46.Ra6 Nh5+ 47.Kg2 Rd2+ 48.Kh3 f5 49.Ra4 Kh6 50.Rb4 Kg5 51.f4+ Nxf4+ 52.Kg3 Rg2+ 53.Kf3 Rxh2 54.Kg3 Rh3+ 55.Kf2 Nd3+, White resigns.