Garbus and Saidy on NPR

Filmmaker Liz Garbus and international master Anthony Saidy are interviewed on NPR regarding Bobby Fischer.

James Black in "Daily News" and "Times"

Recent articles in the New York Daily News and The New York Times have featured candidate master James Black [pictured, at the Marshall Chess Club].

Give Me a Chessburger

On Saturday, candidate master Lev Zilbermintz gave a simultaneous exhibition at a McDonald's restaurant in Newark NJ.

Marshall June Grand Prix, Day 2

On Sunday, I drew this game in a grand prix tournament at the Marshall Chess Club.

Round Four: Sicilian Defense, Alapin Variation

Mitch Fitzko (FIDE 2092) - Jim West (FIDE 2150), Marshall Chess Club 6/26/2011

1.e4 c5 2.c3 Nf6 3.e5 Nd5 4.Nf3 e6 5.d4 cxd4 6.cxd4 Nc6 7.a3 Be7 8.Bd3 f5 9.exf6 Bxf6 10.O-O O-O 11.Nc3 Nxc3 12.bxc3 Qa5 13.c4 Qh5 14.Bb2 b6


15.Ne5 Qxd1 16.Rfxd1 Bxe5 17.dxe5 Na5 18.Bc3 Nb3 19.Rab1 Nc5 20.Bb4 Nxd3 21.Rxd3 Rf5 22.Bd6 Bb7 23.Rc3 Bc6 24.Ra1 Rc8, draw.

Marshall June Grand Prix, Day 1

On Saturday, I won this game at the Marshall Chess Club.

Round One: Ruy Lopez, Exchange Variation

Jim West (USCF 2203) - Michael Gutierrez (USCF 1748), Marshall Chess Club 6/25/2011

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.O-O Bg4 6.h3 Bxf3 7.Qxf3 Nf6 8.d3 Bd6 9.Nd2 O-O 10.b3 Ne8 11.Bb2 Qf6 12.Qg3 Qe6 13.Nc4 f6 14.Ne3 g6 15.a4 Ng7


16.Qg4 Qxg4 17.Nxg4 Bc5 18.Rad1 Ne6 19.g3 h5 20.Nh2 g5 21.Kg2 Rad8 22.Rfe1 Kf7 23.Nf1 Rd7 24.Ne3 Rfd8 25.Nf5 Bd4 26.Bxd4 Nxd4 27.Nxd4 Rxd4 28.Re3 a5 29.Rde1 b6 30.Kf1 c5 31.Ke2 c6 32.Ra1 R8d7 33.Rf3 Kg6 34.Rf5 R4d6


35.f4 exf4 36.gxf4 gxf4 37.Rg1+ Kh6 38.Kf3 Rg7 39.Rxg7 Kxg7 40.Rxh5 Kg6 41.Rf5 Rd7 42.Kxf4 Rh7 43.Kg4 Rh8 44.h4 Rh7 45.h5+ Kg7 46.Kf4 Rh8 47.e5 fxe5+ 48.Kxe5 Rd8 49.Kf4 Rd6 50.Kg5 Re6 51.Kf4 Re2 52.Rg5+ Kh7 53.Rg6 Rxc2 54.Rxc6 b5 55.axb5 Rc3 56.Ke4 Rxb3 57.Rxc5 a4 58.Rc4 Rxb5 59.Rxa4 Rxh5 60.Ra1 Kg7 61.Rf1 Rh2


62.d4 Rd2 63.Ke5 Re2+ 64.Kd6 Rd2 65.d5 Rc2 66.Kd7 Rd2 67.d6 Ra2 68.Ke7 Re2+ 69.Kd8 Rd2 70.d7 Rd3 71.Rf4 Rd1 72.Ke7, Black resigns.

Chess and Anthropology

Robert R. Desjarlais is interviewed by Karen A. Frenkel on his book Counterplay: An Anthropologist at the Chessboard.

Hungaski Wins NY International

The New York International tournament was won by IM Robert Hungaski [pictured] who achieved his second grandmaster norm.

PCG from Rahway @ "Contre Gambit Philidor"

At Contre Gambit Philidor, Frederic Fournier gives a link to my game as Black against Praveen Balakrishnan.

On This Date in Chess History

June 22, 1837: Paul Morphy born.

June 22, 1874: Howard Staunton deceased.

The two unofficial world champions never met over the chessboard in an individual contest. But they did play a couple of consultation games against each other, one as White and the other as Black.

Both games were won by Morphy's side.

Pix from "Chess Mates" 1st Anniversary

These are pictures that I took on Sunday at Chess Mates in Rahway.

Rahway Grand Prix 6/19/2011

In Sunday's game/45 Swiss tournament at Chess Mates, I finished with a score of 3-1-0.

Round Two: Philidor Counter Gambit

Praveen Balakrishnan (USCF 1997) - Jim West (USCF 2204), Rahway NJ 6/19/2011

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 f5 4.Bc4 Nc6 5.dxe5 dxe5 6.Qxd8+ Nxd8 7.Nxe5 fxe4 8.Bg5 Nf6 9.Nc3 Bd6 10.f4 Be6 11.Bxe6 Nxe6 12.Bxf6 gxf6 13.Nc4 f5 14.Nxd6+ cxd6 15.g3 O-O-O 16.O-O-O Nc7


17.Rd4 Rhf8 18.Rhd1 Rf6 19.Nd5 Nxd5 20.Rxd5 h5 21.c4 b6 22.b4 Kb7 23.c5 bxc5 24.bxc5 Rc8 25.Rxd6 Rxc5+ 26.Kb2 Rxd6 27.Rxd6 Kc7 28.Rd2 Kc6 29.Kb1 Rd5 30.Rc2+ Kd6 31.Re2 Rd3 32.Kc2 Kd5 33.Kb2 Kd4 34.Kc2 a5 35.Re1 a4 36.Re2 a3


37.Re1 Rc3+ 38.Kd1 Kd3 39.Re2 Rc1+ 40.Kxc1 Kxe2 41.Kc2 Kf2 42.Kb3 e3 43.Kxa3 e2 44.Kb4 e1=Q+ 45.Kb5 Qe2+ 46.Kc5 Qxa2 47.Kd4 Kf3 48.Ke5 Qxh2 49.Kxf5 Qxg3 50.Kf6 Kxf4 51.Ke6 Qg5 52.Kf7 Qh6 53.Ke7 Ke5 54.Kd7 Qd6+ 55.Ke8 Qc7 56.Kf8 Kf6 57.Kg8 Qg7#.

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

Round Four: Budapest Gambit, Fajarowicz Variation

Jason Fredericks (USCF 1942) - Jim West (USCF 2204), Rahway NJ 6/19/2011

1.Nf3 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 e5 4.dxe5 Ne4 5.Nc3 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Nc6 7.Bf4 Be6 8.e3 dxe5 9.Nxe5 Qf6 10.Qa4 O-O-O 11.Nxc6 Qxc3+ 12.Ke2 Bg4+, White resigns.

4th of July Chess Improvement Carnival

I have submitted my post "Reality" TV to the 4th of July chess improvement carnival.

Garbus and Benson on Fischer

[photo by Michael Loccisano]

Filmmaker Liz Garbus and photographer Harry Benson discuss Bobby Fischer.

Kings Knight Chess Team Wins Trophy

On Monday, the Kings Knight Chess team of Jersey City won the Goldman Sachs trophy.

My Teaching Job in Springfield

Last Saturday, I taught two chess classes at Wizards of the Mind in Springfield. The topic was rapid development, i.e., tempos versus material. To illustrate this theme, I used a couple of Paul Morphy's games, one as White and the other as Black.

This Saturday, I will lecture on positional chess, i.e., how to capture squares instead of material.

Pix from Westfield Quads 6/12/2011

These photos were taken by me during Sunday's quads in Westfield.

Frank Brady Phone Interview on FATV

Here is a phone interview of author Frank Brady from Chess Chat on FATV in Fitchburg MA.