DOCA Quads 11/29/2009

Pictured above is the new Dean of Chess Academy where I played yesterday in a game/90 quad, finishing with 1 win by forfeit, 1 loss, and 1 draw. Here is the draw.

Round Three: English Opening

Boris Privman (USCF 2205) - Jim West (USCF 2200), Branchburg NJ 11/29/2009

1.Nf3 c5 2.c4 g6 3.g3 Nc6 4.Nc3 Bg7 5.Bg2 e6 6.O-O Nge7 7.e3 O-O 8.d4 cxd4 9.Nxd4 Nxd4 10.exd4 d6 11.d5 e5 12.Be3 b6 13.Rc1 Nf5


14.Qd3 Nxe3 15.fxe3 f5 16.e4 Bh6 17.Rc2 Bd7 18.Rcf2 Qg5 19.Kh1 Qe3 20.Rf3 Qxd3 21.Rxd3 f4 22.Bf3 Rac8 23.b3 a6 24.a4 fxg3 25.hxg3 g5 26.Kg2 g4 27.Be2 Rxf1 28.Bxf1 Bg5 29.Be2 h5 30.Rd1 Rf8 31.Rh1 Be8 32.Rf1 Be3


33.c5 Rxf1 34.Bxf1 Bxc5 35.Bxa6 Bg6 36.Bd3 Be8 37.Nb5 Bxb5 38.Bxb5 Kf7 39.Bd7 Kf6 40.Bf5 Kg5 41.Be6 h4 42.gxh4+ Kxh4 43.Bf5 Kg5 44.Be6 Kf4 45.Bf5 Bb4 46.Bg6 Be1 47.Bf5 Ke3 48.Bg6 Kd4 49.Bf5 g3 50.Bg6 Kc3 51.Bf5 Kxb3 52.Bd7 Bf2 53.Be8 Kc3 54.Bd7, draw.

Marshall Chess Club Swiss 11/28/2009

In yesterday's game/60 Swiss at the Marshall Chess Club, my final score was 3-1-0. White's queen looks threatening on a7, in the following game, but is actually out of play.

Round Two: King's Indian Defense

Stephen Welt (USCF 1908) - Jim West (USCF 2200), Marshall Chess Club 11/28/2009

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bf4 g6 4.e3 Bg7 5.c3 O-O 6.Be2 Nbd7 7.h3 Qe8 8.Bh2 e5 9.O-O Qe7 10.Re1 c6 11.Nfd2 Re8 12.Nf1 e4 13.Nbd2 d5


14.c4 Nf8 15.c5 Be6 16.b4 Qd7 17.a4 a6 18.Qb3 Ra7 19.b5 axb5 20.axb5 Rea8 21.Rxa7 Rxa7 22.b6 Ra8 23.Qb2 Ne8 24.Ra1 Rxa1 25.Qxa1 h5 26.Nb3 Qd8 27.Qa7 Bc8 28.Na5 Qd7 29.Nd2 Ne6 30.Ndb3 Nd8


31.Nc1 f5 32.Na2 Bh6 33.Qb8 Ne6 34.g3 Ng5 35.h4 Nf3+ 36.Kg2 f4 37.Bxf3 Qh3+, White resigns.

Premiere of "Bobby Fischer Live"

Earlier this month, Damian Chapa's movie Bobby Fischer Live had its premiere.

Performa 09 at Marshall Chess Club

A couple of weeks ago, Guido van der Werve gave two presentations of Performa 09 at the Marshall Chess Club. I have heard that both were sellouts, with 100 spectators at each.

Here is an article describing the event.

Berg - West @ "Contre Gambit Philidor"

At Contre Gambit Philidor, Frederic Fournier provides a link to my game as Black against George Berg.

The name of the tournament "What a Turkey Open" may have affected us because we both played endgame moves that were turkeys!


The above diagram shows the position after 29.Nb3. I should have maintained equality by 29...Ke5, prepared to answer 30.Na5 by 30...Nd8. My 29...b6 led to a favorable endgame for White after 30.Nd4+ Nxd4 31.cxd4, which became losing for Black when I played 31...h4.

Eventually we arrived at this position, following 39...Kxc5.


White played 40.Ke3, throwing away the win by 40.g5 Kd6 41.Kf5.

Photos from Hamilton Quads 11/21/2009

During Saturday's quads in Hamilton, I took these pictures.

July-September 2009 "ACN"

My article "Both Sides of the Board" can be found on pages 17-18, in the July-September 2009 issue of Atlantic Chess News.

Marshall Chess Club Swiss 11/22/2009

Playing in the one day schedule of a FIDE rated tournament, yesterday at the Marshall Chess Club, I finished at 2-1-1. These are my games as Black.

Round Two: Philidor Counter Gambit

Alan Zhang (USCF 1834) - Jim West (USCF 2200), Marshall Chess Club 11/22/2009

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bc4 f5 4.d3 c6 5.O-O f4 6.d4 Qf6 7.Nxe5 dxe5 8.Qh5+ g6 9.Qxe5+ Qxe5 10.dxe5 Bg7 11.Bxf4 Nd7


12.c3 Nxe5 13.Bxe5 Bxe5 14.f4 Bc7 15.Nd2 Nf6 16.h3 Nh5 17.e5 Rf8 18.Ne4 Bf5 19.g4 Bxe4 20.gxh5 O-O-O 21.Rae1 Bb6+ 22.Kh2 Rd2+ 23.Re2 Rxe2+ 24.Bxe2 Be3 25.Kg3 g5 26.Bg4+ Kc7 27.f5 Bf4+ 28.Kf2 Bxe5 29.Re1 Bxf5 30.Rxe5 Bxg4+ 31.Kg3 Bxh5 32.Rxg5 Bg6


33.h4 Bb1 34.a3 Rf7 35.Re5 Rd7 36.Re2 a5 37.Kf4 a4 38.Rg2 b5 39.Rg1 Bg6 40.Rg2 Rd5 41.Re2 Kb6 42.Rg2 Kc5 43.Ke3 Kc4 44.Rg4+ Kb3 45.Rb4+ Ka2 46.c4 Rd3+ 47.Kf4 Rb3 48.cxb5 Rxb4+ 49.axb4 cxb5, White resigns.

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

Round Four: Philidor Counter Gambit

George Berg (FIDE 2045) - Jim West (FIDE 2159), Marshall Chess Club 11/22/2009

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 f5 4.dxe5 fxe4 5.Ng5 d5 6.e6 Bc5 7.Nxe4 Be7 8.Ng5 Bxg5 9.Qh5+ g6 10.Qxg5 Qxg5 11.Bxg5 c6 12.Bd3 Bxe6 13.O-O Nd7 14.Re1 Kf7 15.c3 Ngf6 16.Nd2 Rhe8


17.Bxf6 Kxf6 18.Re3 Kg7 19.Rae1 Bf7 20.f3 Nc5 21.Rxe8 Rxe8 22.Rxe8 Bxe8 23.Bc2 g5 24.Kf2 Bg6 25.Bxg6 Kxg6 26.b3 h5 27.Ke3 Kf5 28.b4 Ne6 29.Nb3 b6


30.Nd4+ Nxd4 31.cxd4 h4 32.g4+ hxg3 33.hxg3 a5 34.bxa5 bxa5 35.a4 Ke6 36.g4 Kd6 37.f4 gxf4+ 38.Kxf4 c5 39.dxc5+ Kxc5 40.Ke3 d4+ 41.Kd3 Kd5 42.g5 Ke5 43.g6 Kf6 44.Kxd4 Kxg6 45.Kc5 Kf7 46.Kb6 Ke8 47.Kxa5 Kd7 48.Kb6 Kc8 49.a5 Kb8, draw.

Hamilton Quads 11/21/2009

Yesterday's top quad in Hamilton ended today at 1am! I finished with a score of 1-1-1 against three masters. Here is my win.

Round One: Caro-Kann Defense, Exchange Variation

Boris Privman (USCF 2205) - Jim West (USCF 2200), Hamilton NJ 11/21/2009

1.d4 Nf6 2.Bf4 g6 3.e3 Bg7 4.Nf3 O-O 5.h3 c5 6.c3 Nc6 7.Nbd2 cxd4 8.exd4 d5 9.Bd3 Bf5 10.Qe2 Bxd3 11.Qxd3 Qd7 12.g4 h5 13.g5 Ne8 14.O-O-O Rc8 15.Kb1 Nd6


16.Nh4 a5 17.Rde1 a4 18.a3 Na5 19.Bxd6 Qxd6 20.Qb5 Nc4 21.Nxc4 Rxc4 22.Ng2 e6 23.Ne3 Qc6 24.Qxc6 Rxc6 25.f4 Rd8 26.Nc2 Bf8 27.Re2 Bd6 28.Rf1 Kg7 29.Ne1 b5 30.Nd3 Rc4 31.Ne5 Bxe5 32.fxe5 Rd7


33.Kc2 Rb7 34.Kd3 Ra7 35.Ref2 Rb7 36.h4 Ra7 37.Rb1 Rc6 38.b3 Rac7 39.Rc2 Rc8 40.Kd2 Kf8 41.bxa4 bxa4 42.Rb4 Rc4 43.Rxc4 Rxc4 44.Rb2 Rc7 45.Rb8+ Ke7 46.Ra8 Rc4 47.Kd3 Kd7 48.Ra7+ Ke8 49.Rb7 Rc6 50.Rb4 Ra6 51.c4 dxc4+ 52.Kxc4 Rc6+ 53.Kb5 Rc3


54.Rxa4 Rh3 55.d5 exd5 56.Kc5 d4 57.Kd6 Kf8 58.e6 fxe6 59.Kxe6 Rxh4 60.Kf6 Rf4+ 61.Kxg6 h4 62.Kh7 h3 63.Ra8+ Ke7 64.Ra7+ Kd8, White resigns.

NJKO Beaten to Punch by Knights

The New Jersey Knockouts were beaten to the punch by the New York Knights, in the eastern semifinal of the U.S. Chess League.

Bryant - West @ "Contre Gambit Philidor"

Frederic Fournier gives a link, at Contre Gambit Philidor, to my game against Nigel Bryant.

Millburn Library Chess Tournament

On Saturday, December 12th, the Millburn Library chess tournament will be held, for youngsters aged 4 to 14.

Jennifer Shahade Book Signing

On Tuesday, November 24th, WGM Jennifer Shahade and Francis M. Naumann will host a presentation and book signing of Marcel Duchamp: The Art of Chess, at the Marshall Chess Club.

Jennifer Shahade is editor of Chess Life Online and winner of the Women’s U.S. Championships in 2002 and 2004. Francis M. Naumann is a renowned art scholar and curator, specializing in the Dada and Surrealist periods.

The event begins at 7pm. It is presented free to club members ($10 non-members) by the Marshall Chess Foundation. Refreshments will be served.

Marshall Chess Club
23 West 10th Street
New York, NY 10011
Phone 212-477-3716 Fax 212-995-9281
http://www.marshallchessclub.org/

Pix from Book Fair

While the Marshall Chess Club November Open was being played downstairs on Sunday, the book fair was taking place upstairs.

At the top of the stairs, the bulletin board has advertisements and the list of club members.

This is the advertisement for the book fair.

Here is blogger Ed Gaillard of Der Alter Goniff.

FM Asa Hoffmann browsed through the thousands of chess books.

So did many others.

Marshall Chess Club Swiss 11/15/2009

Yesterday I played in the one day schedule of a Swiss tournament at the Marshall Chess Club, where I finished with a score of 2-0-2. Here are my games.

Round One: Philidor Counter Gambit

Nigel Bryant (USCF 1807) - Jim West (USCF 2200), Marshall Chess Club 11/15/2009

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 f5 4.Nc3 fxe4 5.Nxe4 d5 6.Ng3 e4 7.Ne5 Nf6 8.Bg5 Bd6 9.Be2 O-O 10.Ng4 Bxg4 11.Bxg4 Qe8 12.O-O Nxg4 13.Qxg4 Qg6 14.Qh4 Nc6 15.c3 h6 16.Be3 Ne7


17.Qh3 Nf5 18.Nxf5 Qxf5 19.Qxf5 Rxf5 20.f4 exf3 21.Rxf3 Rxf3 22.gxf3 Re8 23.Re1 Bf4 24.Kf2 Bxh2 25.f4 Rf8 26.Kg2 Bxf4 27.Bxf4 Rxf4 28.Re5 c6 29.Re8+ Rf8 30.Re7 Rf7 31.Re8+ Kh7


32.b3 g5 33.c4 dxc4 34.bxc4 Rd7 35.Re4 Kg6 36.Kf3 Kf6 37.Kg4 Re7 38.Rxe7 Kxe7 39.Kf5 b5 40.c5 a5 41.Ke5 g4 42.d5 cxd5 43.c6 g3 44.a4 bxa4 45.Kxd5 g2 46.c7 Kd7 47.c8=Q+ Kxc8 48.Kc6 g1=Q 49.Kb5 a3 50.Kc4 a2 51.Kb3 a1=Q 52.Kc2 Qgd1#.

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

Round Two: French Defense, Exchange Variation

Jim West (USCF 2200) - Isaac Barayev (USCF 1803), Marshall Chess Club 11/15/2009

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 exd5 4.Nf3 c5 5.c3 Nc6 6.Be3 Qb6 7.Qb3 c4 8.Qxb6 axb6 9.Nbd2 Bd6 10.g3 Nge7 11.Bg2 Be6 12.O-O Nf5 13.Rfe1 O-O


14.Ng5 Rfe8 15.Nxe6 fxe6 16.a3 h6 17.Re2 Nxe3 18.Rxe3 Re7 19.Rae1 Rae8 20.f4 g6 21.h4 Nd8 22.Nf3 Kg7 23.Bh3 Kf6 24.Nh2 Kg7 25.Ng4 Bc7 26.R3e2 Bd6 27.Ne3 b5 28.Kg2 Kf6 29.Kf3 Kg7


30.f5 exf5 31.h5 Nf7 32.hxg6 Ng5+ 33.Kg2 Kxg6 34.Bxf5+ Kg7 35.Bg4 Kg6 36.Nxd5 Rxe2+ 37.Rxe2 Rxe2+ 38.Bxe2 Ne4 39.g4 Ng5 40.Bf3 Nxf3 41.Kxf3 Kg5 42.Nb6 Bc7 43.Nd7 Bf4 44.Nc5 Bc1 45.Nxb7 Bxb2 46.Nd6 Bxc3 47.Nxb5 Bb2 48.d5 c3 49.Nd4 Bxa3 50.Nc2 Bd6 51.Ne3 Be5, draw.

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

Round Three: Budapest Gambit, Fajarowicz Variation

Jason Margiotta (USCF 1942) - Jim West (USCF 2200), Marshall Chess Club 11/15/2009

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d6 3.c4 e5 4.dxe5 Ne4 5.g3 Nc6 6.Bg2 dxe5 7.Qxd8+ Kxd8 8.Nxe5 Nxe5 9.Bxe4 Nxc4 10.Bd5 Bb4+ 11.Nc3 Nd6 12.O-O Re8 13.Bf3 Be6 14.Rd1 Ke7


15.Nd5+ Bxd5 16.Rxd5 c6 17.Re5+ Kf8 18.Rxe8+ Rxe8 19.Bf4 Nc4 20.b3 Ne5 21.Bg2 Bc5 22.Rc1 Bb6 23.Rd1 h6 24.h4 Ng4 25.e3 Nf6 26.Bd6+ Kg8 27.Ba3, draw.

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

Round Four: Sicilian Defense, Accelerated Fianchetto

Jim West (USCF 2200) - Miguel Garcia (USCF 1917), Marshall Chess Club 11/15/2009

1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nc3 c5 4.Nf3 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Nc6 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Bc4 O-O 8.Bb3 a6 9.f3 e6 10.Qd2 d5 11.exd5 Nxd5 12.Nxd5 exd5 13.O-O-O Re8 14.Rhe1 Qf6 15.c3 Bd7


16.Bxd5 Rac8 17.Bg5 Qxd4 18.Rxe8+ Bxe8 19.cxd4 Nb4+ 20.Kb1 Nxd5 21.Qa5 Bb5 22.Qa3 h6 23.Qd6 Bc6 24.Be7 Ne3 25.d5 Bb5 26.a4 Bxa4 27.Rc1 Nc4 28.Qb4 Bb5 29.d6 Bf8 30.Bxf8 Rxf8 31.Rxc4 Bxc4 32.Qxc4 Kg7 33.Qc7, Black resigns.

IM Bryan Smith to Lecture at ATKM

On Monday evening, November 23rd, international master Bryan Smith will lecture at All the King's Men in Pitman NJ.

Kingfishers Clipped by NJKO

In round one of the USCL playoffs, the Baltimore Kingfishers had their wings clipped by the New Jersey Knockouts.

500th Event at Westfield Chess Club

On Sunday, November 22nd, the Westfield Chess Club will celebrate its 500th event at the Westfield YMCA, where the club has been located since autumn 1990.

Before the start of the Grand Prix tournament, a luncheon will be held from 12 noon to 2pm. According to the invitation that I received in the mail, the purpose of the luncheon is:

1) to honor those who have served in the club for the last 20 years;
2) to show appreciation for the Westfield Y where we have met for the last 20 years;
3) to honor the accomplishments of the players for the last 20 years who have played at the Westfield Chess Club;
4) to show that we make a difference in people's lives.

Executive director of the Westfield Y, Mark Elsasser, will be in attendance. The cost of the luncheon is $15. To attend the luncheon and play in the Grand Prix tournament, the cost is $38 for club members and $48 for non-members. The tournament begins at 2:30pm and already has guaranteed prize money of $615, which may be increased. A skittles room will be available for those who want to play casual chess.

The luncheon will consist of chicken Francaise, London broil, salad, vegetable platter, red potatoes, coffee, and tea. The caterer is Five Star by Thomas.

Tournament director Todd Lunna can be reached at his e-mail address lunnaco@aol.com or by phone at 732-526-7163, by November 15th to let the caterer know the number of people who will attend.

"NY Times" Article on Marley Kaplan

[photo by Tom White]

Here is an article in The New York Times on Marley Kaplan, of Paterson NJ, who is president of Chess-in-the-Schools.

From Newark with Lev

At Contre Gambit Philidor, Frederic Fournier provides a link to analysis by Craig Evans on the Newark Gambit, a variation in the Philidor Counter Gambit that is favored by Lev Zilbermintz [pictured above].

Guido van der Werve at Marshall CC Friday

The Marshall Chess Foundation presents “The King's Gambit”, a musical/chess performance by Guido van der Werve, accompanied by a 9-piece string orchestra.

Mr. van der Werve will perform his piece, using a specifically built chess table, which functions as a mechanical piano. When the chess pieces are moved, the piano will sound the crucial notes throughout the performance.

Mr. van der Werve’s works have been performed in such places as the Tate Modern in London, MoMa in New York, and the National Centre for Contemporary Art in Moscow.

Friday, November 13, 2009
1st performance: 7pm
2nd performance: 9pm
Refreshments will be served.
Event fee: members $8, non-members $10
Tickets can be purchased online at performa-arts.org.

Marshall Chess Club
23 West 10th Street
New York, NY 10011
Phone 212-477-3716, fax 212-995-9281
http://www.marshallchessclub.org/

Marshall CC Amateur Team Championship, Day 2

On the final day of the Marshall Chess Club Amateur Team Championship, I won this game.

Round Three: French Defense, Exchange Variation

Jim West (USCF 2200) - Max Schwartz (USCF 2034), Marshall Chess Club 11/8/2009

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 exd5 4.Nf3 Bd6 5.Bd3 Bg4 6.O-O Ne7 7.Re1 Nbc6 8.c3 Qd7 9.Nbd2 O-O 10.h3 Bf5 11.Nf1 Bxd3 12.Qxd3 Ng6


13.Ne3 Nce7 14.Ng4 f6 15.Bd2 Rae8 16.Re2 Nf4 17.Bxf4 Bxf4 18.Rae1 Ng6 19.Kf1 Bd6 20.Rxe8 Rxe8 21.Rxe8+ Qxe8 22.g3 Qe6 23.Kg2 c6 24.Ne3 Bc7 25.a4 Ne7 26.h4 Nc8 27.b3 Nd6 28.c4 a6


29.cxd5 cxd5 30.Qc3 Bb6 31.Qb4 Ne4 32.a5 Bc7 33.Qxb7 Bxa5 34.b4 Bd8 35.Nxd5 Qd6 36.Nf4 Nc3 37.Qc8 Qc7 38.Qxa6 h6 39.Ne6 Qd7 40.Nxd8 Qxd8 41.b5, Black resigns.