Philidor Counter Gambit 2015

A critical position in the Philidor Counter Gambit occurs after the opening moves 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 f5 4.Nc3 fxe4 5.Nxe4 d5 6.Neg5 exd4 7.Nxd4.

 

Now Black's best continuation may be 7...Bb4+ 8.c3 Qe7+ 9.Be2 Bc5 10.O-O Bxd4.

White does not have to take the bishop immediately.  Play could continue 11.Re1 Be5 12.f4 Qc5+ 13.Kh1 Ne7 14.Be3 Qc6 15.fxe5 O-O (or perhaps 15...h6 16 Nf3 O-O) with a complicated position.

If instead White takes at once with 11.cxd4, a likely continuation is 11...Qf6 12.Bd3 (or 12.Re1 Ne7 13.Bd3 O-O 14.Bxh7+ Kh8) Ne7 13.Nxh7 Rxh7 14.Bxh7 g6 15.Re1 Nbc6 16.Qb3 Nxd4 17.Qxd5 Ne6 18.Qb5+ Kf7 with the idea of eventually capturing White's trapped bishop.

My 32 Blog Posts on "Pawn Sacrifice"

At his Chess For All Ages blog, Mark Weeks [pictured] has compiled a list of my 32 blog posts on the Bobby Fischer biopic Pawn Sacrifice.

On December 22nd, the film will be released on Blu-ray and DVD.

Magnus Carlsen Interview in "The Telegraph"

[photo by Adrea Gjestvang]

Nigel Farndale interviews Magnus Carlsen.

Photos from Rahway Swiss 11/21/2015

At the Chess Mates blog, I have posted pictures taken by me during Saturday's tournament.

FIDE President Sanctioned by Treasury Dept.

[photo by Vladimir Fedorenko]

FIDE president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov [pictured] has been sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department for "materially assisting and acting for or on behalf of the Government of Syria, Central Bank of Syria."

NM Maximillian Lu in "NY Post"

[photo by Associated Press]

NM Maximillian Lu [pictured] is featured in this New York Post article.

Westfield Quads 11/22/2015

On Sunday, I drew this game at the quads in Westfield.

Round Three: Budapest Gambit, Fajarowicz Variation

Peter Radomskyj (USCF 2200) - Jim West (USCF 2200), Westfield NJ 11/22/2015

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e5 3.dxe5 Ne4 4.a3 b6 5.Nf3 Bb7 6.Nbd2 d6 7.Nxe4 Bxe4 8.e3 Nd7 9.exd6 Bxd6 10.Be2 Qf6 11.Qd4 Qe7 12.O-O O-O-O

13.b4 Nf6 14.Qc3 Bxf3 15.Bxf3 Be5 16.Qc2 Bxa1 17.c5 Nd5 18.cxb6 axb6 19.Bd2 Bf6 20.Qc6 Qd6 21.Qc4 Kb8 22.Rc1 c6 23.a4 Rd7 24.g3 Ra7 25.Qb3 Rd8, draw.

Rahway Swiss 11/21/2015

On Saturday, NM Art Macaspac [pictured, left] won the tournament at Chess Mates.

Dylan McClain Interviews Ed Zwick

Dylan McClain [pictured], former chess columnist for The New York Times, interviews Ed Zwick.

Pix from Sunday Game/45 11/15/2015

On Sunday, I photographed the players during the tournament at the Marshall Chess Club.

Pix from Rahway Swiss 11/14/2015

Pictures taken by me during Dr. Machan's Super Swiss have been posted at the Chess Mates blog.

Tournament Results at TJS, Fall 2015

On Wednesday, the final class in the fall 2015 session of the after school enrichment program on chess, run by Enrich and Grow Academy and coached by me, took place at Torey J. Sabatini School.

The tournament was won by Jonathan Lu with a perfect score, trailed by Zachary Elden and Jackson Flores in second and third places respectively.  All three were awarded medals.

Each of the eleven students received a certificate.

Chess Program at Rutherford Public Library

Starting on Thursday, December 3rd, a six-week chess program will be conducted at the public library in Rutherford NJ.

Fischer's Bust to King's Gambit in Algebraic

Chess blogger Brooklyn 64 has converted Bobby Fischer's famous A Bust to the King's Gambit from its original descriptive notation to algebraic notation.

Marshall Sunday Game/45 11/15/2015

On Sunday, I won these games in the tournament at the Marshall Chess Club.

Round One: Philidor Counter Gambit

Nathaniel Koyfman (USCF 1799) - Jim West (USCF 2202), Marshall Chess Club 11/15/2015

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 f5 4.Bg5 Be7 5.Bxe7 Qxe7 6.dxe5 fxe4 7.exd6 cxd6 8.Bb5+ Nc6 9.Nd4 Bd7 10.O-O Nf6 11.Re1 O-O 12.Nc3 d5

13.Nde2 Qc5 14.h3 Rad8 15.Bxc6 bxc6 16.Qd4 Qxd4 17.Nxd4 Rb8 18.Na4 Rb4 19.b3 Rxd4 20.c3 Rd2 21.Kf1 Nh5 22.g4 Rfxf2+ 23.Kg1 Rg2+, White resigns.

          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

Round Three: Alekhine Defense, King's Indian Attack

Jim West (USCF 2202) - Kai Kronberg (USCF 2010), Marshall Chess Club 11/15/2015

1.e4 Nf6 2.d3 d5 3.Nd2 e5 4.Ngf3 Nc6 5.g3 Bc5 6.Bg2 O-O 7.O-O dxe4 8.dxe4 Be6 9.c3 Bb6 10.Qc2 h6 11.b4 a6 12.a4 Re8 13.Ba3 Bg4

14.Nc4 Bxf3 15.Bxf3 Ba7 16.b5 axb5 17.axb5 Nb8 18.Bc5 b6 19.Be3 Nbd7 20.Ra6 Nc5 21.Bxc5 bxc5 22.Rfa1 Qb8 23.Qa4 Qb7 24.Rxa7 Rxa7 25.Qxa7 Qxb5 26.Qa4 Qb7 27.Ne3 Kf8 28.Nd5 Nxd5 29.exd5 f5

30.Qc6 Qb2 31.Qxc5+ Kg8 32.Rf1 e4 33.Bh5 Rd8 34.Qxc7 Ra8 35.d6 e3 36.fxe3 Ra2 37.Bf7+ Kh7 38.Bxa2, Black resigns.

Rahway Swiss 11/14/2015

At the Chess Mates blog, I have posted my game against Mauricio Camejo [pictured, right] from yesterday's tournament.

Pix from November Weekend FIDE

During last weekend's tournament at the Marshall Chess Club, I photographed the players.

                                           Saturday

                                             Sunday

Irina Krush Lecture & Simul in Toms River

[photo by Christiano Marini]

From the Asbury Park Press by Jean Mikle:

TOMS RIVER -- Ever wanted to test your chess game against a grandmaster? 

You could have your chance on Saturday, Nov. 14 when Grandmaster Irina Krush -- a seven-time winner of the U.S. Women's Chess Championship -- will appear at Ocean County College for a free lecture followed by an exhibition in which she will play 35 simultaneous games. 

The event will take place at the college's Student Center, 1 College Drive. The free lecture by Krush will begin at 11 a.m., with a break for refreshments at noon. The simultaneous games will begin at 1 p.m. 

The lecture is free, but there is a $15 fee to play Krush in a game. Stephen Shoshin, president of the Toms River Chess Club, which is sponsoring Krush's appearance, said there are still a few slots left to play Krush on Saturday. A grandmaster is the highest title a chess player can achieve. 

To reserve a board, contact Shoshin at shoshin0407@yahoo.com or call (732) 598-8125. 

Krush, 31, was born in Odessa, now Ukraine, and came with her parents to Brooklyn in 1989. That was the same year she learned how to play chess, at age 5. In 1998, Krush became the youngest ever U.S. women's champion, according to her United States Chess Federation biography. 

She's won the U.S. Women's Chess Championship in 2012, 2013, 2014 and again this year. Her hobbies include photography, yoga and making rap music. 

The Toms River Chess Club meets every Thursday at town hall, 33 Washington St., from 6:30 to 11 p.m. 

Jean Mikle: jmikle@gannettnj.com

"NY Times" Article on GM Caruana and LSC

[photo by Kevin Hagen]

In The New York Times, James Barron writes an article on grandmaster Fabiano Caruana and the Liberty Science Center in Jersey City.

Knights Score TKO against NJKO

In the quarterfinals round of the U.S. Chess League, the match between the New Jersey Knockouts and the New York Knights ended in a technical knockout, with New Jersey being eliminated from the playoffs by draw odds.

With every game drawn, the players were pulling their punches on boards one, two, three, and four.

Marshall November Weekend FIDE 11/8/2015

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

Round Four: Philidor Defense

Jim West (FIDE 2062) - Boris Privman (FIDE 2169), Marshall Chess Club 11/8/2015

1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 e5 4.Nf3 Nbd7 5.Bc4 Be7 6.Ng5 O-O 7.Bxf7+ Rxf7 8.Ne6 Qe8 9.Nxc7 Qd8 10.Nxa8 b5 11.dxe5 Nxe5 12.O-O Bb7

13.Nxb5 Bxa8 14.Nc3 Nxe4 15.Nxe4 Bxe4 16.Be3 Qc8 17.f3 Bb7 18.Bxa7 Qa8 19.Bd4 Bxf3 20.gxf3 Nxf3+ 21.Rxf3 Rxf3 22.Qe2 Qd5 23.Rd1 Qf7 24.Re1 Bf8 25.c3 Rf4 26.Qe6 Rf1+ 27.Kg2 Rxe1 28.Qxe1 Qxa2

29.Qf2 Qb3 30.Qe2 h6 31.c4 Qb7+, draw.