Wednesday, February 29, 2012

IM in Residence Jay Bonin at Marshall CC

The Marshall Chess Club presents its new international master in residence Jay Bonin.

International master Jay Bonin is one of the great legends of American chess. Having played and won literally several hundred games a year for decades, he is a permanent fixture in the New York chess scene and the most active player of any level in the country.

Beginning March 1st, all Marshall Chess Club members will be able to profit from Jay's unmatched experience and top level skills as he is available to analyze games every Thursday from 4pm to 7pm. Whether you are looking to perfect your opening or trying to find the best strategic plan in the middle game, just bring the score of your recent tournament or casual game and Jay will analyze it with you.

We offer this service free of charge to Marshall Chess Club members. Non-members are welcome to attend for a $10 charge.

Every Thursday from 4pm to 7pm, beginning March 1, 2012.

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

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Photo Gallery from USATE 2012

These are photos from the USATE 2012, courtesy of Atlantic Chess News editor Steve Ferrero who was also my teammate.














Monday, February 27, 2012

Rahway Swiss 2/26/2012

On Sunday, I won this game in a game/30 Swiss at Chess Mates.

Round Three: Grob's Attack

Lev Zilbermintz (USCF 2093) - Jim West (USCF 2200), Rahway NJ 2/26/2012

1.g4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nc3 e5 4.Nxe4 Nf6 5.Nxf6+ Qxf6 6.h3 Bc5 7.Qf3 Qxf3 8.Nxf3 O-O 9.Bc4 Nc6 10.d3 Be6 11.Be3 Bxe3 12.fxe3 Bxc4 13.dxc4 Nb4 14.Rh2 f6 15.a3 Nc6 16.O-O-O Rfd8


17.Rhd2 Rxd2 18.Rxd2 Rd8 19.Rxd8+ Nxd8 20.c5 Kf7 21.c4 a5 22.b4 axb4 23.axb4 Ke6 24.Kc2 g6 25.Kd3 Nf7 26.e4 f5 27.Ke3 Kf6 28.b5 f4+ 29.Kd3 Ng5 30.Ng1 Ne6 31.c6 bxc6 32.bxc6 Nc5+ 33.Kc3 Nxe4+ 34.Kb4 Nd6 35.c5 Ne8 36.Kc4 Ke6 37.Nf3 h6


38.h4 e4 39.Nd4+ Ke5 40.Nc2 Nf6 41.g5 hxg5 42.hxg5 Nh7 43.Nb4 f3 44.Nd5 f2 45.Ne3 Kf4 46.Kd4 Nxg5 47.Nf1 Ne6+ 48.Kd5 Nxc5 49.Kxc5 e3 50.Kd4 e2 51.Ne3 f1=Q 52.Nd5+ Kg3 53.Nxc7 Qf4+ 54.Kc5 Qxc7, White resigns.


Sunday, February 26, 2012

Rahway Swiss 2/25/2012

On Saturdays, I teach a 4-hour camp from 9am to 1pm at Chess Mates in Rahway. At 1:30pm, I play in the game/45 Swiss.

Please note: now you can park your car for free in the lot across the street from the club!

These are my games from yesterday.

Round One: Center Counter Defense

Jim West (USCF 2200) - Sergio Flores (USCF 1967), Rahway NJ 2/25/2012

1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Nf6 3.Bb5+ Bd7 4.Bc4 c6 5.dxc6 Nxc6 6.Nf3 e6 7.O-O Bd6 8.d4 h6 9.Nc3 O-O 10.Bb3 Na5 11.h3 Nxb3 12.axb3 a6 13.Be3 Qc7 14.Qd2 Bc6


15.Bxh6 gxh6 16.Qxh6 Nh7 17.Ng5 Nxg5 18.Qxg5+ Kh7 19.d5 exd5 20.Ra4 Bxa4 21.Nxd5 Bf4 22.Qh4+ Bh6 23.Nxc7 Rac8 24.Qe4+ Kh8 25.bxa4, Black resigns.



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

Round Two: Philidor Counter Gambit

Anthony Norris (USCF 1951) - Jim West (USCF 2200), Rahway NJ 2/25/2012

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.fxe4 O-O 10.Bg5 Qe8 11.Be2 Nxe4 12.Nxe4 dxe4 13.Nc4 Nc6 14.Qd2 Qg6 15.Nxd6 cxd6 16.Bc4+ Kh8 17.O-O-O Bg4 18.Rde1 h6 19.Be3 Ne7 20.h3 Bd7


21.g4 b5 22.Bb3 a5 23.a3 Rf3 24.c3 a4 25.Bd1 Rff8 26.Reg1 Qe6 27.g5 hxg5 28.Rxg5 Qa2 29.Qg2 Qa1+ 30.Kc2 Nf5 31.Qxe4 Nxe3+ 32.Qxe3 Bf5+ 33.Kd2 Qxb2+ 34.Ke1 Rae8 35.Rg3 Qxc3+ 36.Kf2 Rxe3 37.Rxe3 Qxd4


38.Rhe1 Bg4+ 39.Kg3 Bxd1 40.Re4 Qd5 41.Rh4+ Kg8 42.Re3 Rf3+ 43.Rxf3 Qxf3+ 44.Kh2 Qf2+ 45.Kh1 Bf3#.



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

Round Three: Sicilian Defense, Najdorf Variation

Jim West (USCF 2200) - Art Macaspac (USCF 2133), Rahway NJ 2/25/2012

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bc4 e6 7.Bb3 Nbd7 8.f4 Nc5 9.f5 Nxb3 10.axb3 Be7 11.Qf3 O-O 12.Be3 Qc7 13.O-O e5 14.Nde2 b5


15.g4 h6 16.h4 b4 17.g5 bxc3 18.gxf6 Bxf6 19.bxc3 Bb7 20.c4 Bxh4, draw.


Saturday, February 25, 2012

Pix from USATE 2/20/2012

Look at these pictures, taken by me on Presidents' Day during the USATE.












Friday, February 24, 2012

Occupy New Jersey

The team of IM Dean Ippolito, NM Jim West, Steve Hrop, and Steve Ferrero [pictured, right to left] called ourselves Occupy Parsippany - We Ain't Leaving at the USATE 2012. But a better name might have been Occupy New Jersey - We Ain't Losing.

When we learned that our New Jersey state prize had been awarded in error to a team with a New York state resident on it, we raised Cain and got back our New Jersey state prize.

Thursday, February 23, 2012

NJ State Prize Award at USATE Revised

The awarding of the New Jersey state prize at the USATE 2012 has been revised from my team Occupy Parsippany - We Ain't Leaving to Caro-Cain Defense: 999 Plans to Mate who also finished with 5 points.

According to the story by Al Lawrence at Chess Life Online, WGM Rusudan Goletiani [pictured] was on team Caro-Cain Defense: 999 Plans to Mate. But when you check Goletiani's ratings page at the USCF website, her membership is shown as being from New York.

How can they be the top New Jersey team?

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Pix from USATE 2/19/2012

These photos were snapped by me on Sunday at the USATE.