Inside Chess @ "Yahoo! Finance"

At Yahoo! Finance, Daniel Roberts goes inside the competitive world of professional chess.

"The New Yorker" Article on American Chess

Read this article on chess in America, by Charles Bethea, in The New Yorker.

Pix from April Under 2300 4/24/2016

On Sunday, I snapped these photos during the tournament at the Marshall Chess Club.

Pix from April Under 2300 4/23/2016

On Saturday, I took these pictures during the tournament at the Marshall Chess Club.

 

"Pawn Sacrifice" Free at Amazon Prime

Pawn Sacrifice is now available to watch for free to all Amazon Prime subscribers.

Marshall April Under 2300 4/24/2016

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

Round Four: Philidor Counter Gambit

Derek Chen (USCF 1984) - Jim West (USCF 2200), Marshall Chess Club 4/24/2016

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 f5 4.dxe5 fxe4 5.Ng5 d5 6.e6 Bc5 7.Nxe4 Be7 8.Ng5 Bxg5 9.Qh5+ g6 10.Qxg5 Qxg5 11.Bxg5 c6 12.Nc3 Bxe6 13.Kd2 Nd7 14.Re1 Kf7 15.g3 Ngf6 16.Bg2 Rhe8

17.Re2 Bf5 18.Rhe1 Rxe2+ 19.Rxe2 Re8 20.Rxe8 Kxe8 21.h3 h5 22.f3 Kf7 23.g4 Be6 24.Ne2 hxg4 25.hxg4 Ne5 26.b3 Bc8 27.Ke3 c5 28.Kf4 Nc6 29.Nc3 Be6 30.Nb5 Ne8 31.c3 a6 32.Na3 d4 33.cxd4 Nxd4

34.Ke4 Nc6 35.Nc4 b5 36.Ne5+ Nxe5 37.Kxe5 c4 38.b4 Nc7 39.Kd6 Nd5 40.a3 Nc3 41.Kc6 Na2 42.Bf1 c3 43.Bd3 Bb3 44.Kb6 c2 45.Kxa6 c1=Q 46.Bxc1 Nxc1 47.Bxb5 g5 48.Bc6 Ne2 49.b5 Nd4 50.Kb6 Ke7

51.Be4 Kd6 52.Ka5 Kc7 53.b6+ Kb8 54.Kb4 Bd1 55.a4 Bxf3 56.Bxf3 Nxf3 57.Kc5 Ne5 58.Kd5 Nxg4 59.Ke4 Nf6+ 60.Kf5 g4 61.Kf4 Kb7 62.a5 Ka6 63.Kg3, draw.

Marshall April Under 2300 4/23/2016

On Saturday, I played these games in the tournament at the Marshall Chess Club.

Round One: Pirc Defense, King's Indian Attack

Jim West (USCF 2200) - Ed Frumkin (USCF 2015), Marshall Chess Club 4/23/2016

1.e4 d6 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.d3 g6 4.g3 Bg7 5.Bg2 O-O 6.O-O e5 7.Nbd2 h6 8.a4 Be6 9.Re1 c5 10.Nc4 Nc6 11.c3 Qd7 12.Qc2 b6 13.Bd2 Rad8 14.Rad1 Ne8 15.Bc1 Bh3 16.Bh1 f5

17.Nh4 Kh7 18.exf5 gxf5 19.f4 exf4 20.Bxf4 Ne7 21.Nf3 Ng6 22.d4 Nxf4 23.gxf4 Qf7 24.Qd3 Bg4 25.dxc5 bxc5 26.Ne3 Kh8 27.Nxg4 fxg4 28.Nh4 c4 29.Qc2 Nc7 30.Re7, Black resigns.

          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

Round Two: Philidor Counter Gambit

Gus Huston (USCF 1917) - Jim West (USCF 2200), Marshall Chess Club 4/23/2016

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 f5 4.Bg5 Be7 5.Bxe7 Qxe7 6.dxe5 fxe4 7.exd6 cxd6 8.Nd4 Nc6 9.Nb5 Nf6 10.Nxd6+ Kf8 11.Be2 Be6 12.Nc4 Rd8 13.Nbd2 Bxc4 14.Bxc4 e3 15.fxe3 Qxe3+ 16.Qe2 Qxe2+ 17.Bxe2 Nb4 18.O-O-O Nxa2+ 19.Kb1 Nb4

20.Ne4 Ke7 21.Nxf6 Rxd1+ 22.Rxd1 Kxf6 23.c3 Nc6 24.Rd7 Re8 25.Bf3 Re7 26.Rxe7 Kxe7 27.Be4 h6 28.Bxc6 bxc6 29.Kc2 Kd6 30.Kd3 Kd5 31.b4 a6 32.c4+ Ke5 33.Ke3 g6 34.g3 Kd6 35.Kf4 Ke6 36.c5 Kf6 37.h4 Ke6 38.g4 g5, draw.

          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

Round Three: King's Indian Attack

Jim West (USCF 2200) - Wesley Hellner (USCF 1955), Marshall Chess Club 4/23/2016

1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 e6 4.O-O Nc6 5.d3 Be7 6.Nbd2 e5 7.e4 dxe4 8.dxe4 Be6 9.c3 O-O 10.Qc2 Qc8 11.Re1 a6 12.a4 Bc5 13.b4 Be7 14.Bb2 Nd7

15.b5 axb5 16.axb5 Na5 17.c4 f6 18.Bf1 Nc5 19.Bc3 b6 20.Ra2 Nab7 21.Rxa8 Qxa8 22.Ra1 Qc8 23.Nh4 g6 24.Ng2 Bh3 25.Ne3 Bd6 26.Nd5 Bxf1 27.Rxf1 Qg4 28.f3 Qe6 29.g4 Ra8 30.Ra1 Rf8 31.Ne3 Nd7 32.Kg2 Ndc5

33.h3 Qf7 34.Bb2 Ne6 35.Nd5 Nbc5 36.Nb3 f5 37.Nxc5 Nxc5 38.exf5 gxf5 39.Qxf5 Qxf5 40.gxf5 Rxf5 41.Ra8+ Kg7 42.Ra7 Rf7 43.Ba3 e4 44.f4 Nd3 45.Bxd6 cxd6 46.Rxf7+ Kxf7 47.Kg3 Nc5 48.Nxb6  Ke6

49.Kf2 Kf5 50.Ke3 h6 51.Nd5 Ne6 52.b6 Nc5 53.Nc3 h5 54.Nxe4 Nb7 55.Ng3+ Kg6 56.h4 Nc5 57.f5+ Kf7 58.Nxh5 Ke7 59.Kd4 Kd7 60.Kd5 Nb7 61.f6 Nd8 62.Ng3 Nf7 63.Ne4 Nd8 64.Nxd6 Ne6 65.c5 Nd8 66.f7 Ke7 67.c6 Ne6 68.c7 Nxc7+ 69.bxc7, Black resigns.

Pix from Sunday Game/45 4/17/2016

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

"NY Times" Article on P.S. 77 Chess

[photo by Nicole Bengiveno]

John Leland writes about the chess students at P.S. 77.

Pix from Saturday Game/60 4/16/2016

These pictures of the players were taken by me during Saturday's tournament at the Marshall Chess Club.

Kasparov on Trump in "NY Daily News"

Garry Kasparov takes on Donald Trump in this New York Daily News op-ed.

"Checky! Checky! Bobby! Bobby!"

[photo from The Great Chess Movie]

I once asked the late international master Mike Valvo [pictured] why Bobby Fischer, in My 60 Memorable Games, attributed a move in the Pirc defense to him, writing: "Interesting is Valvo's idea 6...Na6!?"

Valvo replied that he played the move in several speed games against Fischer.

An expert who was in attendance for those games at the old Chess and Checker Club of New York informed me that, whenever Fischer's king was in check, Valvo would say, "Checky! Checky! Bobby! Bobby!"

Or, at least until Fischer told him to stop doing it.

Marshall Sunday Game/45 4/17/2016

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

Round One: King's Indian Defense

Jonathan Kim (USCF 1861) - Jim West (USCF 2214), Marshall Chess Club 4/17/2016

1.Nf3 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 g6 4.h3 Bg7 5.Nc3 O-O 6.Bf4 Nc6 7.e3 Nh5 8.Bg5 h6 9.Bh4 Bf6 10.Bxf6 Nxf6 11.Bd3 e5 12.O-O Re8 13.Bb1 Kg7 14.a3 a5 15.Bc2 Bd7 16.Re1 h5 17.d5 Ne7

18.b4 axb4 19.axb4 Rxa1 20.Qxa1 Qa8 21.e4 b6 22.b5 Rb8 23.Qb2 Qb7 24.Ra1 Ra8 25.Na4 Be8 26.Nxe5 dxe5 27.Qxe5 Neg8 28.Ra3 Kh7 29.Rf3 Nd7 30.Qg5 f6 31.Qh4 Ne5 32.Rc3 g5 33.Qg3 h4 34.Qe3 Ne7

35.f4 gxf4 36.Qxf4 N7g6 37.Qxf6 Qc8 38.d6 cxd6 39.Nxb6 Qc5+ 40.Qf2 Ra1+, White resigns.