Komodo Wins TCEC Championship

Komodo has dethroned Stockfish to become the new computer chess champion.

My Winter 2015 Teaching Schedule

In the winter 2015 session, I will teach chess at these schools for Enrich and Grow Academy:

Monday - Washington Avenue School;
Tuesday - Gottesman RTW Academy;
Thursday - Golda Och Academy;
Friday - Brooklake Elementary School;
Saturday - Holdrum Middle School.

Marshall December Grand Prix 12/28/2014

On Sunday, I won this game in the tournament at the Marshall Chess Club.

Round Four: Sicilian Defense, King's Indian Attack

Jim West (FIDE 2076) - Juan Sena (FIDE 2108), Marshall Chess Club 12/28/2014

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d3 g6 4.g3 Bg7 5.Bg2 Rb8 6.a4 a6 7.O-O b5 8.axb5 axb5 9.c3 b4 10.Re1 e5 11.Nbd2 Nge7 12.Nc4 d6 13.d4 cxd4 14.cxd4 O-O

15.d5 Nd4 16.Nxd4 exd4 17.Bf4 Rb6 18.Nxb6 Qxb6 19.Qd3 Bb7 20.Bf1 f5 21.Qb5 Qxb5 22.Bxb5 fxe4 23.Bxd6 Nxd5 24.Bxf8 Kxf8 25.Ra7 Bc8 26.Ra8 Nb6 27.Rb8 d3 28.Rxb6 Bf5 29.Rb8+ Ke7 30.Bxd3, Black resigns.

Marshall December Grand Prix 12/27/2014

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

Round Three: Pirc Defense

George Berg (FIDE 2038) - Jim West (FIDE 2076), Marshall Chess Club 12/27/2014

1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.h3 O-O 6.Be3 c6 7.a4 Qa5 8.Bd3 e5 9.dxe5 dxe5 10.O-O Nbd7

11.Qb1 Qb4 12.Ne2 Re8 13.a5 Qe7 14.b4 Nh5, draw.

GM Amon Simutowe at Marshall CC Camp

Next week, grandmaster Amon Simutowe [pictured] will teach the camp at the Marshall Chess Club.

Pix from Elberling Memorial 12/20/2014

On Saturday, I photographed the players during the tournament at Chess Mates, in honor of Thomas Elberling [pictured].

Review: "The Czech Benoni in Action"

FIDE master Asa Hoffmann and Brooklyn 64 blogger Greg Keener are co-authors of The Czech Benoni in Action [Mongoose Press, 2014, 205 pages].

In the Introduction, Asa writes: "In 1969, I began to play the Czech Benoni. To tell you the truth, I do not recall how I first discovered it.  Being a 1.e4 player in those days, no one would have had a chance to play it against me, though once I took it up I basically stopped losing!"

The opening moves to the Czech Benoni are 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e5 4.Nc3 d6 5.e4 e7.

After which, "White now has no fewer than 15 reasonable moves!"

In the 13 chapters that follow, moves such as 6.f4, 6.f3, 6.Nf3, 6.g3, 6.Nge2, and 6.h3 are analyzed with many illustrative games. 

As I know from first hand experience, Asa is a fine positional player who understands that chess is a battle for squares. 

For instance, Asa describes the above position, as follows.  "With pawns on c5 and e5, d4 is an ideal place to put a piece, as if it is captured it will be replaced with a protected passed pawn, which may serve as a valuable insurance policy in any ending."

Besides the co-authors, practioners of the Czech Benoni include Joseph Blackburne, Anatoly Lein, Yasser Seirawan, Tigran Petrosian, Tony Miles, Miguel Quinteros, William Hartston, Garry Kasparov, and Magnus Carlsen.

Asa is also an excellent tactician, winning this game with his "favorite five-piece attack."

Joe Salvatore - Sam Barsky at "Inside Jersey"

                                            final position

Joe Salvatore's victory against Sam Barsky is analyzed at Inside Jersey.

Balakrishnan - O'Connor at "Chess Mates"

At the Chess Mates blog, I have posted the game between NM Praveen Balakrishnan and Michael O'Connor, from the Thomas Elberling Memorial Swiss.

Kamsky & Paragua Win MCC Championship

 
Grandmasters Gata Kamsky and Mark Paragua are 2014 co-champions of the Marshall Chess Club.

Thomas Elberling Memorial Swiss

Yesterday I won this game in the Thomas Elberling Memorial Swiss at Chess Mates.

Round Three: Pirc Defense

Michael O'Connor (USCF 1939) - Jim West (USCF 2200), Rahway NJ 12/20/2014

1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.h3 Bg7 5.Be3 c6 6.a4 Qa5 7.Bd3 Na6 8.Nf3 O-O 9.O-O e5 10.Bxa6 Qxa6 11.dxe5 dxe5 12.Qd2 Be6 13.Bh6 Qa5 14.Bxg7 Kxg7

15.b4 Qc7 16.Qe3 a6 17.Qg5 Rfe8 18.Rfe1 h6 19.Qe3 Rad8 20.Red1 Nh5 21.a5 f6 22.Na4 Kh7 23.Nc5 Ng7 24.Nxe6 Nxe6 25.c3 Rd7 26.Rxd7+ Qxd7 27.Qd2 Qxd2 28.Nxd2 Rd8 29.Ra2 Kg7 30.c4 Nd4

31.Kf1 Kf7 32.Rb2 Ke6 33.Ke1 h5 34.h4 g5 35.hxg5 fxg5 36.f3 g4 37.fxg4 hxg4 38.Nf1 Rf8 39.Ng3 Rf4 40.Rf2 Rxf2 41.Kxf2 Nc2 42.b5 cxb5 43.cxb5 axb5 44.Ne2 Nd4 45.Nc3 b4 46.Na4 Kf6 47.Nc5 b3 48.Na4 Nc6 49.Kg3 Kg5, White forfeits.

Wyoming School Tournament, Fall 2014

On Friday, the fall 2014 session ended at Wyoming School in the after school enrichment class on chess, taught by me for Enrich and Grow Academy.

Ryan Xie won the tournament, followed by Jonathan Wong and Alexander Wong. 

The three students finished with the same score of 4.5 points; but Ryan defeated Jonathan, who had better tie-breaks than his brother Alexander, in a one game playoff. 

This trio received certificates, plus the chess medals that were given to all twelve students.

NM Majur Juac in "People"

Take a look at this People article on national master Majur Juac.

Expert Jeremy Glassman at "Inside Jersey"

[photo by Robert Glassman]

Expert Jeremy Glassman [pictured], who assisted me in coaching at Collins Elementary School, is featured at Inside Jersey.

Marshall CC Championship 12/14/2014

On Sunday, I played this game at the Marshall Chess Club championship.

Round Five: King's Indian Defense

Michael Layevskiy (FIDE 1959) - Jim West (FIDE 2076), Marshall Chess Club 12/14/2014

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.e3 Bg7 4.Be2 O-O 5.O-O d6 6.b3 Nbd7 7.Bb2 e5

8.dxe5 Ng4 9.c4 Ngxe5 10.Nxe5 Nxe5 11.Nc3 Bd7 12.Qd2 Qh4 13.Nd5 Rac8 14.f4 Nc6, draw.

Marshall CC Championship 12/13/2014

This game was played on Saturday at the Marshall Chess Club championship.

Round Two: Sicilian Defense, King's Indian Attack

Jim West (FIDE 2076) - Ed Frumkin (FIDE 1884), Marshall Chess Club 12/13/2014

1.e4 d6 2.Nf3 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 c5 5.d3 Nc6 6.O-O e6 7.a4 Nge7 8.Nbd2 O-O 9.Re1 h6 10.c3 b6 11.Nc4 Ba6 12.Qc2 d5

13.exd5 exd5 14.Nce5 Rc8 15.Bd2 Na5 16.h4 f6 17.Ng4 h5 18.Ngh2 Qd7 19.Bf4 Bb7 20.Qe2 Rfe8 21.Qe6+ Qxe6 22.Rxe6 Bc6 23.Ree1 Bd7 24.Nd2 Bf5 25.b4 Nb7 26.bxc5 Bxd3 27.c6 Nxc6 28.Rxe8+ Rxe8

29.Bxd5+ Kh7 30.Bxc6 Re7 31.Bxb7 Rxb7 32.a5 Bh6 33.axb6 axb6 34.Bxh6, Black resigns.

Pix from MCC Championship 12/14/2014

During rounds 4 and 5 of the Marshall Chess Club championship, I photographed the players.

Pix from MCC Championship 12/13/2014

These pictures were taken by me during rounds 2 and 3 of the Marshall Chess Club championship.

"NY Times" Story on Fabiano Caruana

[photo by Vincent Laforet]

Read Ben Greenman's article in The New York Times on Fabiano Caruana.

Quality Art for Chess Enthusiast

Lori Lejeune is an artist in Atlanta. 

Shown below are examples of her art prints for the chess enthusiast.

Piscataway Swiss 12/7/2014

On Sunday, I won this game in the tournament at Piscataway.

Round Three: French Defense, King's Indian Attack

Jim West (USCF 2202) - Rishi Rajendran (USCF 1900), Piscataway NJ 12/7/2014

1.e4 e6 2.d3 d5 3.Nd2 Nf6 4.g3 c5 5.Bg2 Be7 6.Ngf3 Nc6 7.O-O O-O 8.e5 Nd7 9.Re1 b5 10.Nf1 a5 11.h4 b4 12.Bf4 a4 13.a3 Nb6 14.Ne3 Ba6

15.h5 c4 16.h6 g6 17.Ng4 c3 18.bxc3 bxa3 19.Qd2 Rc8 20.Bg5 Na7 21.Bxe7 Qxe7 22.Nf6+ Kh8 23.Ng5 Nb5 24.Ngxh7 Rfd8 25.Ng5 Rxc3 26.h7 Rdc8 27.Ng8 Qf8 28.Qf4 Rxc2 29.Nxf7+ Kxh7 30.Nf6+ Kg7 31.Ng5 Nc7

32.Rxa3 Qe7 33.Rb1 Nb5 34.Raa1 a3 35.Bh3 R2c6 36.Kg2 Nc3 37.Re1 Bxd3 38.Rxa3 Rh8 39.Rxc3 Rxc3 40.Nxe6+ Kf7 41.Nxd5+ Bf5 42.Nxe7 Rc4 43.Nd4 Kxe7 44.Bxf5 gxf5 45.Nxf5+ Ke6 46.Ng7+ Ke7 47.Qf6+ Kd7 48.Qxb6, Black resigns.

Tournament at Yavneh Academy

On Tuesday, the fall 2014 session concluded at Yavneh Academy, in the after school enrichment class on chess that I coached on behalf of Enrich and Grow Academy.

These are the tournament results: Eitan Miller, first place; Dovi Jonas, second place; Zach Field, third place; Ari Moskowitz, fourth place.

The first three players received certificates, as well as chess medals that were handed out to all seven students.

Rahway Swiss 12/6/2014

On Saturday, I finished with a score of 2-1-0 plus a half point bye in the tournament at Chess Mates.

Pix from Piscataway Swiss 12/7/2014

During Sunday's tournament in Piscataway, I snapped these photos.