Ippolito Simul at "Chess Marks the Spot"

At his Chess Marks the Spot blog, Mark [pictured above with Donna] from Chess.com describes the sights and sounds of IM Dean Ippolito's simul in parts one and two.

Here are more photos that I took at the world record event in Raritan.

Westfield Quads 4/10/2011

Yesterday I drew this game at the quads in Westfield.

Round Two: Philidor Counter Gambit

Richard Blank (USCF 2101) - Jim West (USCF 2200), Westfield NJ 4/10/2011

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 f5 4.Bc4 Nc6 5.Ng5 Nh6 6.dxe5 dxe5 7.Qxd8+ Nxd8 8.Nc3 Bd6 9.Nb5 Ke7 10.Nxd6 cxd6 11.c3 Nhf7 12.exf5 Bxf5 13.O-O Rc8 14.Bb3 h6 15.Nxf7 Nxf7


16.f4 Be6 17.fxe5 dxe5 18.Bc2 Rhd8 19.Be3 b6 20.Rad1 Rxd1 21.Rxd1 Rd8 22.Rxd8 Nxd8 23.a4 Nb7 24.Kf2 Nd6 25.a5 Nc4 26.axb6 axb6 27.Bc1 b5 28.Bd3 Nd6 29.Be3 Bd7 30.Bc5 Ke6 31.Bxd6 Kxd6


32.Ke3 Kc5 33.b4+ Kd5 34.g3 Be8 35.h4 g5 36.Kd2 gxh4 37.gxh4 Bd7 38.Ke3 Be8 39.Be2 Bd7 40.Bd3 Be8 41.Bf1 Bd7 42.Bd3, draw.

Ippolito Sets World Record Association Mark

On Saturday, IM Dean Ippolito played a simul in Raritan against 91 rated players, short of the Guinness world record of 135 but good enough to establish a new record with the World Record Association.

Dutch Defense

Dean Ippolito (USCF 2555) - Jim West (USCF 2200), World Record Event 4/9/2011

1.Nf3 f5 2.c4 Nf6 3.g3 b6 4.Bg2 Bb7 5.d4 e6 6.O-O a5 7.Nc3 Bb4 8.Bd2 O-O


9.Rc1 Bxc3 10.Bxc3 Ne4 11.d5 Na6 12.Bd4 Nac5 13.Nd2 Nxd2 14.Qxd2 Qe7 15.Rfd1 d6 16.Bxc5 bxc5 17.dxe6 Bxg2 18.Kxg2 Qxe6, draw.

Ippolito World Record Attempt Today

Today is the day for the world record attempt by IM Dean Ippolito [pictured right, with candidate master Christopher Wu].

See you in Raritan!

Pix from Marshall April Grand Prix

Last weekend, I snapped these photos during the Marshall April Grand Prix at the Marshall Chess Club.

Reviews of "Queen to Play"

The 2009 film Queen to Play is currently being shown in the United States.

Here are reviews from The New York Times, New York Post, and Los Angeles Times.

"Atomic Patzer" - Zilbermintz, USATE 2011

Blogger Atomic Patzer defeated candidate master Lev Zilbermintz, at the U.S. Amateur Team East tournament in February.

Round Three: Latvian Gambit

Atomic Patzer (USCF 1611) - Lev Zilbermintz (USCF 2148), USATE 2/20/2011

1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 f5 3.Nf3 b5 4.Bxb5 fxe4 5.Nxe5 Qg5 6.d4 Qxg2 7.Rf1 Nf6 8.Bf4 c6 9.Ba4 Ba6 10.Nd2 Bxf1 11.Nxf1 e3 12.Nxe3 Qh1+ 13.Nf1 Qe4+ 14.Be3 d6 15.Nf3 Be7 16.Ng3 Qg4 17.Bb3 Nbd7 18.Qe2 d5 19.O-O-O O-O

20.Rg1 Nh5 21.Bh6 Rae8 22.Nxh5 Qxg1+ 23.Nxg1 Bxg5+ 24.Bxg5 Rxe2 25.Nxe2 Rf5 26.f4 h6 27.Nhg3 Rf8 28.Be7 Re8 29.Bb4 Nf6 30.c4 h5 31.Kd1 Ng4 32.cxd5 Ne3+ 33.Kd2 cxd5 34.Nc3 h4 35.Nge2 Nf1+ 36.Kd3 Nxh2 37.Bxd5+ Kh8 38.Bg2 Ng4 39.Ne4 Nh6


40.Bh3 Nf7 41.Be1 Rb8 42.b3 Rb6 43.Ng1 Ra6 44.a4 Rb6 45.b4 Nd8 46.b5 a6 47.Ba5 Rb8 48.Bxd8 Rxd8 49.bxa6 Ra8 50.Nc5 Kg8 51.Bg2 Ra7 52.Kc4 Kf8 53.Kb5 Re7 54.Kb6 h3 55.Nxh3 g5 56.a7 Rxa7 57.Kxa7 gxf4 58.Nxf4 Ke7 59.Kb7 Kd6 60.a5 Ke7


61.a6 Kf6 62.a7 Kf5 63.a8=Q Kxf4 64.Qf8+ Ke3 65.Qf3+ Kxd4 66.Qd5+ Ke3 67.Qe4+ Kf2 68.Qf3+ Kg1 69.Bh3, Black resigns.

Article on Fischer in "Life" Magazine

Here is an article, written by Brad Darrach, from Life magazine in 1972.

Marshall April Grand Prix, Day 2

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

Round Three: Sicilian Defense, Sveshnikov Variation

Jim West (FIDE 2135) - WIM Alisa Melekhina (FIDE 2304), Marshall Chess Club 4/3/2011

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Bg5 a6 8.Bxf6 gxf6 9.Na3 b5 10.Nd5 Bg7 11.c3 Ne7 12.Nxe7 Qxe7 13.Nc2 f5 14.exf5 Bb7 15.Qh5 e4 16.Be2 Be5 17.O-O Rg8 18.f4 Bf6 19.a4 O-O-O


20.axb5 e3 21.Rf3 axb5 22.Qh3 Kb8 23.Ne1 Bxf3 24.Qxf3 Qb7 25.Qxb7+ Kxb7 26.Bxb5 Ra8 27.Rxa8 Rxa8 28.Nc2 Bd8 29.Nxe3 Bb6 30.Kf2 Ra2 31.Kf3 Rxb2 32.Bc4 Bxe3 33.Kxe3 f6 34.h4 Kc6 35.g4 Rh2


36.g5 Rxh4 37.g6 d5 38.Bd3 Rh3+ 39.Kf2 hxg6 40.fxg6 Rh8 41.Kg3 Kd6 42.Kg4 Ke7 43.c4 dxc4 44.Bxc4 Kf8 45.Be6 Rh1 46.f5 Rg1+ 47.Kf4 Kg7 48.Ke4 Re1+ 49.Kf4 Rg1, draw.

Marshall April Grand Prix, Day 1

On Saturday, I won the following game at the Marshall Chess Club.

Round Two: Nimzovich-Larsen Attack

Darren Lustig (USCF 1881) - Jim West (USCF 2200), Marshall Chess Club 4/2/2011

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d6 3.Nbd2 Nbd7 4.b3 g6 5.Bb2 Bg7 6.g3 O-O 7.Bg2 e5 8.dxe5 Ng4 9.O-O Ngxe5 10.Qc1 Nxf3+ 11.Nxf3 Re8 12.Bxg7 Kxg7 13.Qb2+ Qf6 14.Qxf6+ Nxf6 15.e3 d5 16.Rad1 Bg4


17.Rd2 Bxf3 18.Bxf3 c6 19.Rfd1 Ne4 20.Bxe4 Rxe4 21.Kg2 Rae8 22.Kf3 h5 23.Rd4 g5 24.h3 g4+ 25.hxg4 hxg4+ 26.Ke2 f5 27.R1d3 Kf6 28.c4 dxc4 29.bxc4 c5 30.Rd6+ R8e6 31.Rd7 Rxc4 32.Rxb7 Ra6 33.Rd2 Rca4 34.Rbb2 c4 35.Rbc2 Ke5


36.f3 Rh6 37.fxg4 fxg4 38.Kf1 Rh1+ 39.Kg2 Ra1 40.Kf2 a5 41.Ke2 Rh1 42.Kf2 Rh2+ 43.Ke1 Rxd2 44.Kxd2 Ke4 45.Ke2 c3 46.Kf2 Kd3, White resigns.

Calling All USCF 1200 and Above

International master Dean Ippolito is still short players for his world record attempt on April 9th. Dean has decided to open the event up to anyone rated over USCF 1200. Unfortunately your rating may not be provisional, according to Guinness rules.

This is a free event and Dean and Dawn Ippolito will be giving away thousands of dollars worth of prizes all day. If you are interested, please register at http://chessworldrecord.com/. You can also find more information about the event and its history there.

Help Dean make history on April 9th in Raritan NJ!

Fischer Backs Steinitz: No Time for Games

Take a look here.

Enjoy your April Fools' Day!