Thomas Elberling Quads Today in Westfield

JAN. 31 Thomas Elberling Memorial Quads 3-RR. G/40 d5. Westfield Y, 220 Clark St., Westfield, NJ 07090. EF: $25, $20 members. Prizes: $60 to first in each section. Register: 1:15-1:45 p.m. Rounds: 2:00, 3:45, 5:30 p.m. Information: email John Moldovan westfieldchessclub@gmail.com, Bill Cohen: 732-548-8432 or 848-219-1358, www.westfieldchessclub.com and westfieldchessclub.blogspot.com.

My Revised Winter 2016 Teaching Schedule

On Wednesdays, for Enrich and Grow Academy, I am teaching an after school chess class at South Mountain Elementary School, not at Brooklake Elementary School as previously posted.

Computer Program Defeats Go Champion

A computer program has defeated Fan Hui [pictured], the European champion of Go - a game more complex than chess.

Balakrishnan Simul Tonight at Kenilworth CC

Tonight FM Praveen Balakrishnan [pictured] will be giving a simultaneous exhibition at the Kenilworth Chess Club.

Pix from Sunday Game/45 1/24/2016

During Sunday's tournament at the Marshall Chess Club, I snapped these photos.

USATE 2016 Team Average Rating: 2199.75

At the USATE 2016, I will be playing for a team from the West Orange Chess Club with an average USCF rating of 2199.75:

board 1) IM Mikhail Zlotnikov 2310;
board 2) NM Vladimir Lipman 2218;
board 3) NM Jim West 2211;
board 4) Steve Hrop 2060.

Marshall Sunday Game/45 1/24/2016

On Sunday, I finished the tournament at the Marshall Chess Club with a score of 1-1-2.

Round One: Philidor Counter Gambit

Sakura Laporte (USCF 1563) - Jim West (USCF 2203), Marshall Chess Club 1/24/2016

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bc4 f5 4.Nc3 Nc6 5.d4 Nf6 6.exf5 e4 7.Ng5 Qe7 8.Nf7 Rg8 9.Bg5 Nb4 10.Bxf6 Qxf6 11.Nxd6+ Bxd6 12.Bxg8 Bxf5 13.Bb3 O-O-O 14.Qd2 Bc5 15.d5 c6 16.O-O-O Nxd5

17.Nxd5 cxd5 18.Bxd5 Ba3 19.c3 Rxd5 20.Qc2 Rxd1+ 21.Rxd1 Qg5+ 22.Qd2 Be7 23.Qxg5 Bxg5+ 24.Kc2 e3+ 25.Kb3 exf2 26.Rf1 Be3 27.Kc4 b5+ 28.Kb4 Bd3 29.Rd1 f1=Q 30.Rxf1 Bxf1 31.g3 Kb7 32.Ka5 a6 

33.Kb4 Kb6 34.a3 Bc4 35.h4 Bc5#.

          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

Round Four: Philidor Counter Gambit

Omar Cunningham (USCF 1969) - Jim West (USCF 2203), Marshall Chess Club 1/24/2016

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bc4 f5 4.d3 c6 5.Qe2 Nf6 6.Nc3 Be7 7.Bb3 Na6 8.d4 exd4 9.Nxd4 fxe4 10.Nxe4 Nxe4 11.Qxe4 Nc5 12.Qe2 Nxb3 13.axb3 O-O 14.Ne6 Bxe6 15.Qxe6+ Kh8 16.O-O d5 17.Be3 a6

18.Bd4 Bf6 19.Bxf6 Rxf6 20.Qe5 Qb6 21.Ra4 Raf8 22.Rg4 R6f7 23.h4 Qc7 24.Qxc7 Rxc7 25.Re1 h6 26.Rg6 Rcf7 27.f3 Kg8 28.Rge6 Rf6 29.Re7 R6f7 30.R7e6 Rf6, draw.

"Pawn Sacrifice" Screening at Marshall CC

Tournament Cancelations

Due to the winter storm, these tournaments have been canceled:

Marshall Chess Club Saturday Junior Class and Game/60;

Chess Mates Saturday Swisst;

Chess NYC all chess events for this weekend;

Hamilton Chess Club quads;

King's and Queens Academy Saturday tournament;

International Chess Academy Dr. David Ostfeld Memorial (re-scheduled for January 31st).

Pix from January Under 2300

Last weekend, I photographed the players during the tournament at the Marshall Chess Club.

                                             Saturday

                                             Sunday

Substitute at South Mountain School

Yesterday, on behalf of Enrich and Grow Academy, I was the substitute teacher at South Mountain Elementary School in the after school enrichment class on chess.

Excerpts from Reviews of "Pawn Sacrifice"

For the most part, these reviews of Pawn Sacrifice rate the Bobby Fischer biopic as above average but not great.

GM School Winter/Spring Workshops

Marshall January Under 2300 1/17/2016

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

Round Four: Sicilian Defense, Kalashnikov Variation

Jim West (USCF 2211) - Derek Chen (USCF 2033), Marshall Chess Club 1/17/2016

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 e5 5.Nb5 d6 6.N1c3 a6 7.Na3 b5 8.Nd5 Nge7 9.c3 Nxd5 10.Qxd5 Bb7 11.Qd1 Be7 12.g3 O-O 13.Bg2 Bg5 14.O-O Bxc1 15.Rxc1 Ne7

16.Qe2 Qc7 17.Rfd1 Rad8 18.Nc2 d5 19.exd5 Nxd5 20.Ne3 Nxe3 21.Qxe3 Bxg2 22.Kxg2 f5 23.Rxd8 Rxd8 24.Re1 e4 25.Qg5 Qd7 26.Re3 Rf8 27.Qf4 h6 28.h4 Qd2 29.b4 Qxa2 30.Qd6 Rf6 31.Qd4 Qe6

32.f3 Qa2+ 33.Kf1 Qh2 34.f4 Qh1+ 35.Ke2 Qg2+ 36.Ke1 Rg6 37.Qd5+ Kh8 38.Qxf5 Rxg3 39.Qf8+ Kh7 40.Qf5+ Kg8 41.Qc8+ Kf7 42.Qf5+ Kg8 43.Qc8+ Kf7 44.Qf5+ Kg8, draw.

Marshall January Under 2300 1/16/2016

On Saturday, these games were played by me in the tournament at the Marshall Chess Club.

Round Two: Larsen's Opening

Jim West (USCF 2211) - Benjamin Medina (USCF 1891), Marshall Chess Club 1/16/2016

1.b3 d5 2.Bb2 Nf6 3.e3 Bf5 4.f4 e6 5.Nf3 Nbd7 6.Be2 Bd6 7.O-O O-O 8.a4 c6 9.Na3 h6 10.Ne5 Qb6 11.Kh1 Qc7

12.Nxd7 Nxd7 13.Qe1 Rfe8 14.Bd1 e5 15.fxe5 Bxe5 16.d4 Bxh2 17.Rxf5 Re4 18.Rf3 Rae8 19.Qf2 Nf6 20.Rh3 Bf4 21.Bf3 Bxe3 22.Qf1 Rf4 23.Qd3 Bf2 24.Rf1 Ne4 25.Bxe4 dxe4 26.Qe2 e3 27.Nc4 Qe7 28.Ne5 Rh4

29.Rxf2 Rxh3+ 30.gxh3 exf2 31.Qxf2 f6 32.Nf3 Qe2 33.Kg2 Qd1 34.Ng1 Kf7, draw.

          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

Round Three: Philidor Counter Gambit

Vicki Yang (USCF 2010) - Jim West (USCF 2211), Marshall Chess Club 1/16/2016

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bc4 f5 4.d3 c6 5.Bb3 Na6 6.c3 Nc5 7.Bc2 Nf6 8.Qe2 Be7 9.b4 Na6 10.Bb3 Qc7 11.Ng5 h6 12.Bf7+ Kf8 13.Ne6+ Bxe6 14.Bxe6 f4 15.h4 d5

16.Nd2 d4 17.a3 dxc3 18.Nf3 Qd6 19.Bb3 c5 20.b5 Nc7 21.a4 a6 22.Qc2 axb5 23.Qxc3 Nd7 24.Bb2 bxa4 25.Rxa4 Rxa4 26.Bxa4 b5 27.Bb3 Bf6 28.Ke2 Ke7 29.g4 fxg3 30.fxg3 g6 31.h5 g5 32.Nh2 Ne6

33.Ng4 Nd4+ 34.Kf2 Bg7 35.Kg2 Rf8 36.Ne3 Nb6 37.Bd1 b4 38.Qd2 Qc6 39.Bxd4 exd4 40.Nc2 Nd7 41.Ne1 Ne5 42.Rf1 Rxf1 43.Kxf1 Qe6 44.Kg2 Kd6 45.Qb2 Nxd3 46.Nxd3 Qxe4+ 47.Bf3 Qxd3 48.Qa2 b3

49.Qa8 Qc2+ 50.Kg1 Qb1+ 51.Kg2 Qa2+ 52.Kf1 Qxa8 53.Bxa8 Ke5 54.Ke2 b2 55.g4 b1=Q 56.Bf3 c4 57.Kf2 d3 58.Kg2 Kd4 59.Kf2 Be5 60.Bc6 c3 61.Be8 Bf4 62.Bg6 Qb2+ 63.Kg1 Qc1+ 64.Kg2 Qd2+ 65.Kf1 Qe2+ 66.Kg1 Qxg4+ 67.Kf1 Qf3+ 68.Kg1 Be3+ 69.Kh2 Qf2+ 70.Kh3 d2

71.Bc2 Qh4+ 72.Kg2 Qe4+ 73.Bxe4 Kxe4 74.Kg3 c2 75.Kg4 c1=Q 76.Kg3 d1=Q 77.Kg2 Qg4+ 78.Kh2 Qcg1#.

"NY Times" Article on Alice Dong

[photo by Jessica Kourkounis]

Candidate master Alice Dong of New Jersey is featured in this article by Tammy La Gorge.

Perth Amboy Chess Club

Michael O'Connor is starting a new chess club.

Article on Millburn Library Tournament

Read this article about the chess tournament on January 9th at the library in Millburn NJ.

Marshall Sunday Game/45 1/10/2016

On Sunday, I finished with a score of 2-1-1 in the tournament at the Marshall Chess Club.

Round Two: Philidor Counter Gambit

Gus Huston (USCF 1927) - Jim West (USCF 2211), Marshall Chess Club 1/10/2016

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bc4 f5 4.d3 c6 5.Nc3 Nf6 6.Qe2 Be7 7.Bb3 Na6 8.Ng5 Qc7 9.exf5 Bxf5 10.Ne6 Bxe6 11.Bxe6 Nc5 12.Bb3 Nxb3 13.axb3 O-O 14.O-O d5 15.Bg5 a6 16.Rae1 Bd6

17.g3 h6 18.Bd2 Rae8 19.f3 Qd7 20.Qg2 b5 21.Nd1 a5 22.Nf2 a4 23.b4 Ra8 24.Ra1 c5 25.bxc5 Bxc5 26.Rfe1 e4 27.dxe4 dxe4 28.Re2 exf3 29.Qxf3 Ng4 30.Qg2 Nxf2 31.Be3 Bxe3 32.Rxe3 Ng4 33.Rf3 Qd4+ 34.Kh1 Rxf3 35.Qxf3 Rf8

36.Qg2 Rf2 37.Qh3 Rxh2+ 38.Qxh2 Nxh2 39.Kxh2 Qxb2 40.Re1 Qxc2+ 41.Kh3 a3 42.Re8+ Kf7 43.Ra8 a2 44.Ra7+ Kg6 45.Ra6+ Kh7 46.Ra5 b4 47.Ra7 b3 48.g4 Qc3+ 49.Kh4 a1=Q 50.Rxa1 Qxa1

51.g5 Qh1+ 52.Kg4 Qg2+ 53.Kf5 Qxg5+ 54.Ke6 Qf6+ 55.Kd5 b2 56.Kc5 b1=Q 57.Kc4 Qc2+ 58.Kd5 Qcc6#.

          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

Round Three: King's Indian Attack

Jim West (USCF 2211) - Jay Bonin (USCF 2416), Marshall Chess Club 1/10/2016

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 g6 3.Bg2 Bg7 4.O-O O-O 5.d3 Nc6 6.e4 d5 7.e5 Nd7 8.d4 Nb6 9.c3 Bg4 10.h3 Bxf3 11.Qxf3 f6 12.exf6 Bxf6 13.Qe2 e5 14.dxe5 Nxe5 15.Na3 Re8

16.Re1 Nf3+ 17.Bxf3 Rxe2 18.Rxe2 c6 19.Be3 Qf8 20.Bxb6 axb6 21.Nc2 Bxc3 22.Bxd5+ cxd5 23.bxc3 Qc8 24.Re3 Qf5 25.Nb4 Rf8 26.Rf1 Qxh3 27.Nxd5 h5 28.Ne7+ Kg7 29.g4 Rf3 30.Rxf3 Qxf3

31.gxh5 Qg4+ 32.Kh2 Qxh5+ 33.Kg3 Qg5+ 34.Kf3 Qxe7 35.Rb1 Qc5 36.Rb3 b5 37.Ke2 g5 38.f3 Kf6 39.Kf1 Qe3 40.Kg2 Ke6 41.Kg3 Qf4+ 42.Kg2 Qc4 43.Kg3 Kd6 44.Rb4 Qxc3 45.Rxb5 g4 46.Rb3 Qxb3 47.axb3 gxf3 48.Kxf3 Kc5

49.Ke4 b6 50.Kd3 Kb4 51.Kc2 Ka3 52.Kc3 b5 53.b4 Ka4 54.Kc2, draw.