Marshall Chess Club Swiss 1/30/2010

Playing in yesterday's game/60 Swiss at the Marshall Chess Club, I finished with a score of 2-1-1. Here are my best games.

Round Two: Pribyl Defense

Jim West (USCF 2200) - Asa Hoffmann (USCF 2308), Marshall Chess Club 1/30/2010

1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 c6 4.f4 Qa5 5.Bd3 e5 6.dxe5 dxe5 7.f5 b5 8.Bd2 Qb6 9.Qe2 Bc5 10.Nh3 a5 11.Nd1 Na6 12.Nhf2 Nb4 13.Be3 Ba6 14.O-O Rd8


15.a3 Nxd3 16.cxd3 O-O 17.Rc1 Bxe3 18.Qxe3 Qb7 19.Qc5 b4 20.axb4 Qxb4 21.Qxe5 Bxd3 22.Nxd3 Rxd3 23.Nf2 Rd4 24.Rxc6 Re8 25.Qc5 Nxe4 26.Qxb4 axb4 27.Nxe4 Rdxe4 28.Rb6 h5 29.g3 Rc8 30.Rf2 Kh7 31.Kg2 h4


32.Kh3 hxg3 33.hxg3 f6 34.Rf4 Rcc4 35.Rxe4 Rxe4 36.g4 Re3+ 37.Kh4 Rb3 38.g5 fxg5+ 39.Kxg5 Rxb2 40.f6 Rg2+ 41.Kf4 Rf2+ 42.Kg3 Rxf6 43.Rxb4 Kh6 44.Rb3 Kg5 45.Ra3 Re6 46.Ra5+ Kf6 47.Ra3 Kf5 48.Rb3 Re5 49.Ra3 g5 50.Rb3 Rd5


51.Ra3 Kg6 52.Rb3 Kh5 53.Ra3 Rd1 54.Kg2 Kh4 55.Rb3 Rd2+ 56.Kg1 g4 57.Ra3 Rc2 58.Rb3 g3 59.Rb8, draw.

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

Round Three: Philidor Counter Gambit

Sriranga Dattatreya (USCF 1727) - Jim West (USCF 2200), Marshall Chess Club 1/30/2010

1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nc6 3.Nf3 d6 4.d4 f5 5.Nc3 Nf6 6.Ng5 Qe7 7.Nf7 Na5 8.Nxh8 Nxc4 9.Bg5 Be6 10.Qd3 exd4 11.Qxd4 c5 12.Qd3 O-O-O 13.O-O-O fxe4


14.Bxf6 exd3 15.Bxe7 Bxe7 16.cxd3 Ne5 17.f4 Nc6 18.Rhe1 Bg4 19.Nf7 Rf8 20.Nd5 Rxf7 21.Rd2 Kd7 22.h3 Be6 23.Nxe7 Nxe7 24.Rde2 Bxa2 25.Kc2 Bd5 26.Kc3 Bc6 27.g4 Nd5+ 28.Kb3 Nxf4 29.Rf2 g5 30.h4 h6 31.hxg5 hxg5


32.Kc2 Rh7 33.Re3 Bb5 34.b3 Bxd3+ 35.Rxd3 Nxd3 36.Kxd3 Rh3+ 37.Kc4 Kc6 38.Rf5 b5#.

"Chess Movie" by Rescued Media

In November, I received an e-mail from Katie Schulz who is directing and producing a documentary about the I.S. 318 chess team from Brooklyn NY. Katie's website is on my link list under Rescued Media. Below is a teaser from the film which has the working title Chess Movie.

CHESS MOVIE (working title) from Rescued Media on Vimeo.

The fund raising site is kickstarter.com.

Barayev - West @ "Contre Gambit Philidor"

Frederic Fournier analyzes my game as Black against Isaac Barayev, from last weekend's Swiss at the Marshall Chess Club.

It should be pointed out that the time control was game/30, which caused inaccurate play on both sides. For example, in the diagram below, White missed the win of a pawn by 21.Rb1.


Earlier, I might have improved by 13...Nbd7.

Adventures of Rabin

Candidate master Evan Rabin [pictured above, right foreground, wearing blue] has started a chess blog called Adventures of Rabin. I have added it to my link list.

Photos from Hamilton Quads 1/23/2010

At the start of round one, I took these pictures in Hamilton on Saturday.

Book Review by Garry Kasparov

In The New York Review of Books, Garry Kasparov reviews Chess Metaphors: Artificial Intelligence and the Human Mind by Diego Rasskin-Gutman. Kasparov suggests that computer programmers should turn their attention from chess to poker.

USCF Settles Lawsuits

On Friday, the United States Chess Federation settled its lawsuits with Susan Polgar and Paul Truong.

Marshall Chess Club Swiss 1/24/2010

Playing in the one day schedule, I finished with a score of 2-1-1 in today's Swiss tournament at the Marshall Chess Club. Here is the draw.

Round One: Philidor Counter Gambit

Isaac Barayev (USCF 1838) - Jim West (USCF 2200), Marshall Chess Club 1/24/2010

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 f5 4.Nc3 fxe4 5.Nxe4 d5 6.Nc3 e4 7.Ne5 Nf6 8.Be2 Bb4 9.O-O O-O 10.f3 Be6 11.fxe4 dxe4 12.Bg5 Bxc3 13.bxc3 c6 14.Bg4 Qc8 15.Bxf6 gxf6 16.Bxe6+ Qxe6 17.Qg4+ Qxg4 18.Nxg4 Kg7 19.Rae1 f5 20.Ne5 Na6


21.g4 fxg4 22.Nxg4 Rxf1+ 23.Kxf1 Rf8+ 24.Kg2 Rf3 25.Re3 Rxe3 26.Nxe3 Nc7 27.c4 Kf6 28.Kg3 b5 29.Kf4 bxc4 30.Nxc4 Nb5 31.Kxe4 Nc3+ 32.Ke3 Nxa2 33.Na5 Nb4 34.c3 Nd5+ 35.Kd3 Ne7 36.Kc4 Ke6 37.Kc5 Kd7 38.c4 h5


39.d5 cxd5 40.cxd5 h4 41.Nc4 Ng6 42.h3 a5 43.Nxa5 Nf4 44.Nc4 Nxh3 45.Ne5+ Kd8 46.Ng6 Ng5 47.Nxh4 Ne4+ 48.Kd4 Nf6 49.d6 Ne8, draw.

Hamilton Quads 1/23/2010

At today's Hamilton quads, I drew this game.

Round Three: Caro-Kann Defense, Exchange Variation

Jim West (USCF 2200) - Mark Kernighan (USCF 2200), Hamilton NJ 1/23/2010

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.Bd3 Nc6 5.c3 Nf6 6.Bf4 g6 7.Nf3 Bf5 8.Bxf5 gxf5 9.Ne5 Qb6 10.Qb3 Qa6 11.Nxc6 bxc6 12.Be5 Bg7 13.Qc2 e6 14.Nd2 Rg8 15.Nb3 Nd7


16.Bg3 Bh6 17.f3 Be3 18.f4 c5 19.dxc5 Nxc5 20.Nxc5 Bxc5 21.Qe2 Qa4 22.Rf1 Rc8 23.Rf3 Qe4 24.Kf1 Rb8 25.Re1 Qa4 26.b3 Qc6 27.Bf2 Rg4 28.h3 Rg8 29.Bxc5 Qxc5 30.Qe5 Qb5+ 31.c4 dxc4 32.Qxb5+ Rxb5 33.bxc4 Rb2 34.Rf2 Rb4 35.Rc1 Ke7


36.Rd2 Rc8 37.Rdc2 Rc5 38.Kf2 f6 39.g4 fxg4 40.hxg4 h5 41.Kg3 hxg4 42.Kxg4 Rb8 43.Rh1 f5+ 44.Kf3 Rc7 45.Rh7+ Kd6 46.c5+ Kc6 47.Rxc7+ Kxc7 48.Re2 Rb5 49.Rxe6 Rxc5 50.Kg3 Ra5 51.Re2 Ra4 52.Rf2 Kd6 53.Kh4 Kd5 54.Kg5 Ke4 55.Re2+ Kf3 56.Rb2 Ra3


57.Rb5 Rxa2 58.Kxf5 Ke3 59.Ke5 Kd3 60.f5 Kc4 61.Rb7 a5 62.Rh7 Re2+ 63.Kd6 Rf2 64.Rh4+ Kb3 65.Ke6 a4 66.f6 a3 67.Rh3+ Kb2 68.Rxa3 Kxa3 69.f7, draw.

More Games @ "Contre Gambit Philidor"

Frederic Fournier analyzes two games of mine, from the new Dean of Chess Academy, at his Contre Gambit Philidor blog.

Fournier also provides a link to a game, played at the Marshall Chess Club, in which I had Black against Alan Price.

PCG Endings @ "Contre Gambit Philidor"

At Contre Gambit Philidor, Frederic Fournier analyzes two endgames of mine from the Liberty Bell Open and shows how to checkmate with the bishop and knight.

Pix from 2010 Liberty Bell Open

During the Liberty Bell Open, held at the Sheraton City Center Hotel in Philadelphia, I found time to snap these photos. The first two show chess bloggers Atomic Patzer and Castling Queen Side respectively. Then there are various pictures of the lobby, sports bar, and tournament rooms.

Liberty Bell Open, Day 3

For me, this year's Liberty Bell Open will be remembered for my 124-move draw in the final round.

We played the game like a couple of punch drunk boxers. The errors started when my opponent lost a piece in the opening. Then, I could have sacrificed the extra piece for two pawns with an easy win. Instead, my plan of trying to retain the piece backfired. We reached an ending where one of my two remaining pieces would have to give itself up to stop double connected passed pawns, leaving me with insufficient mating material. But my opponent made a careless 63rd move which enabled me to capture both passers. Now I had the difficult bishop and knight versus king endgame.

Maybe it was fatigue that prevented me from winning before the 50-move rule took effect. Or maybe it was because, in more than 37 years of tournament chess, I never had this ending before, except one time when both flags were hanging and I had to claim a draw.

Round Seven: Philidor Counter Gambit

Kenneth Odeh (FIDE 2012) - Jim West (FIDE 2157), Liberty Bell Open 1/18/2010

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.c3 f5 4.d4 fxe4 5.Ng5 d5 6.f3 h6 7.Nf7 Kxf7 8.fxe4 Qh4+ 9.Kd2 Qf4+ 10.Kc2 Qxe4+ 11.Bd3 Qxg2+ 12.Nd2 e4 13.Qh5+ g6 14.Qxd5+ Be6 15.Qxe4 Qxe4 16.Bxe4 c6

17.Rf1+ Nf6 18.Bg2 Nbd7 19.Nf3 Bd6 20.b3 Kg7 21.c4 Rae8 22.Bb2 Bf5+ 23.Kd1 Bg4 24.h3 Bxf3+ 25.Bxf3 Rhf8 26.Kc2 Kh7 27.Rae1 Rxe1 28.Rxe1 Re8 29.Rxe8 Nxe8 30.c5 Bf8 31.b4 Nef6 32.b5 Nd5 33.a4 N7f6 34.Kb3 Be7 35.Be2 Bd8 36.Bc1 Ba5


37.bxc6 bxc6 38.Ba6 Ne7 39.Bf4 Nfd5 40.Bb8 Nc7 41.Bb7 a6 42.Kc4 g5 43.Ba7 Bd2 44.Bb6 Bf4 45.Ba5 Kg6 46.Bc3 Kf5 47.Kd3 h5 48.Ba5 g4 49.hxg4+ hxg4 50.Bxc7 Bxc7 51.Bxa6 g3 52.Ke3 Kg4 53.Bf1 Nd5+ 54.Ke2 Nc3+ 55.Ke3 Nxa4 56.Bg2 Bf4+ 57.Kd3 Nb2+ 58.Kc2 Nc4 59.Bxc6 g2 60.Bxg2 Ne3+ 61.Kd3 Nxg2 62.Ke4 Bb8


63.d5 Ba7 64.c6 Bb8 65.d6 Bxd6 66.Kd5 Bc7 67.Ke6 Nf4+ 68.Kd7 Nd5 69.Kc8 Kf5 70.Kd7 Ke5 71.Kc8 Kd6 72.Kb7 Nb6 73.Ka7 Kxc6 74.Ka6 Nd7 75.Ka7 Bb6+ 76.Ka8 Bc7


77.Ka7 Nb6 78.Ka6 Nd5 79.Ka7 Bd6 80.Ka8 Nb6+ 81.Ka7 Bc7 82.Ka6 Bb8 83.Ka5 Nd5 84.Ka4 Bc7 85.Kb3 Kc5 86.Kc2 Nf4 87.Kd2 Kd4 88.Ke1 Ke3 89.Kf1 Kf3 90.Ke1 Ba5+ 91.Kf1 Bb6 92.Ke1 Be3 93.Kd1 Nd3 94.Kc2 Ke4 95.Kc3 Ne5 96.Kb4 Kd4 97.Kb5 Kd5 98.Kb4 Bd4 99.Kb5 Bc5 100.Ka4 Kc6


101.Kb3 Kb5 102.Kc2 Kc4 103.Kd2 Kd4 104.Ke2 Ke4 105.Kd2 Kf3 106.Kc3 Ke3 107.Kb3 Kd3 108.Ka4 Kc4 109.Ka5 Nc6+ 110.Ka6 Nd8 111.Ka5 Nf7 112.Ka6 Nd6 113.Ka5 Bd4 114.Ka6 Kd5 115.Ka5 Kc5 116.Ka6 Kc6 117.Ka5 Kc5 118.Ka6 Bc3 119.Ka7 Kc6 120.Kb8 Bd4 121.Ka8 Bb6 122.Kb8 Kb5 123.Ka8 Ka6 124.Kb8 Bd8, draw.

Liberty Bell Open, Day 2

At the Liberty Bell Open on Sunday, I won an endgame where my knight was better than my opponent's bishop because his pawns were on the same colored squares.

Round Four: Philidor Counter Gambit

Dean D'Souza (USCF 1812) - Jim West (USCF 2200), Liberty Bell Open 1/17/2010

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 f5 4.Bc4 Nc6 5.dxe5 dxe5 6.Qxd8+ Nxd8 7.Nc3 fxe4 8.Nxe4 Nf6 9.Ng3 Bd6 10.Ng5 h6 11.N5e4 Nxe4 12.Nxe4 Be6 13.Bb5+ Ke7 14.Be3 a6 15.Bd3 Bd5 16.f3 Ne6


17.c4 Bxe4 18.Bxe4 c6 19.Ke2 Bc5 20.Bxc5+ Nxc5 21.Ke3 a5 22.b3 Rhd8 23.Rhd1 Rxd1 24.Rxd1 Rxd8 25.Rxd8 Kxd8 26.f4 exf4+ 27.Kf4 Ke7 28.h4 Kf6 29.Bc2 g5+ 30.hxg5+ hxg5+ 31.Ke3 Ke5 32.g4 b5


33.Bf5 b4 34.Bc2 Nd7 35.Be4 Nf6 36.Bxc6 Nxg4+ 37.Kd3 Nf2+ 38.Ke2 Nh3 39.Bd7 Nf4+ 40.Ke3 Nh5 41.Bc8 Nf6 42.Bb7 Nd7 43.Bc6 Nc5 44.Bf3 Ne6 45.Bg4 Nc5 46.Bf3 a4


47.Bd1 a3 48.Bc2 g4 49.Bb1 g3 50.Kf3 Kd4 51.Kxg3 Kc3 52.Kf4 Kb2 53.Ke5 Kxb1 54.Kd4 Kxa2, White resigns.

Liberty Bell Open, Day 1

Saturday was day one for players like me, in the three day schedule at the Liberty Bell Open. In the following game, playing too quickly because of my opponent's time trouble, I missed a chance to win a decisive pawn by 45...Rxb5.

Round One: Budapest Gambit, Fajarowicz Variation

Anna Matlin (USCF 2053) - Jim West (USCF 2200), Liberty Bell Open 1/16/2010

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e5 3.dxe5 Ne4 4.Nd2 Bb4 5.a3 Bxd2+ 6.Bxd2 Nxd2 7.Qxd2 Nc6 8.Nf3 Qe7 9.Qc3 O-O 10.e3 Re8 11.Be2 Nxe5 12.O-O d6 13.Nxe5 Qxe5 14.Qxe5 Rxe5 15.Rfd1 a5 16.b4 b6 17.Bf3 Rb8 18.Bd5 Bf5


19.Rd4 Kf8 20.b5 Rbe8 21.h3 f6 22.Rc1 R5e7 23.Kh2 h6 24.Kg3 Be4 25.h4 g6 26.Kf4 g5+ 27.hxg5 hxg5+ 28.Kg3 Bxd5 29.cxd5 Rh7 30.Rdc4 Ree7 31.R1c3 f5 32.f4 g4 33.e4 fxe4 34.Re3 Rh1 35.Rexe4 Rxe4 36.Rxe4 Rd1 37.Kxg4 Rxd5 38.a4 Rd2 39.Kf3 d5 40.Re5 Rd4 41.g4 Rxa4 42.Rxd5 Rb4 43.g5 a4 44.Kg4 a3


45.Rd7 a2 46.Rd8+ Ke7 47.Ra8 Rxb5 48.Rxa2 Rc5 49.Re2+ Kf7 50.Kh5 Rf5 51.Kg4 Rc5 52.Kh5 Rf5 53.Kg4 Rc5, draw.

Pix from Westfield Quads 1/10/2010

On Sunday, I took these pictures at the Westfield quads.

Pix from 2010 NY Winter Game/45

These pictures were taken by me on Saturday, before round two in the NY Winter Game/45 tournament, at the Marshall Chess Club.

GM-elect Alex Lenderman won the event with 4.5 point.

In the second round, FM Asa Hoffmann defeated Guy Colas, while Darrian Robinson lost to NM Raven Sturt.

Meanwhile, Khamroev Ravshan bested Michael Hehir.

NM Leif Pressman and IM Jay Bonin won their games, in round two.