Pix from CK&Q Swiss 12/20/2015

On Sunday, I snapped these photos during the tournament at Chess Kings and Queens.

"Pawn Sacrifice" on Blu-ray & DVD

Visit PawnSacrifice.com for more ways to watch.

"The Big Roundtable" on Gregory Garrett

[photo by Adnan Firoze]

At The Big Roundtable, Adnan Firoze tells the story of Gregory Garrett (pictured).

CK&Q Sunday Swiss 12/20/2015

On Sunday, I finished with a score of 1-0-2 plus a half point bye in the tournament at Chess Kings and Queens.

Round Two: King's Indian Defense

Jason Lu (USCF 1770) - Jim West (USCF 2202), Piscataway NJ 12/20/2015

1.d4 Nf6 2.e3 g6 3.Nf3 Bg7 4.Be2 O-O 5.O-O d6 6.b3 Nbd7 7.Bb2 e5 8.c4 e4 9.Nfd2 Re8 10.Nc3 Nf8 11.Qc2 Bf5 12.Rfe1 h5 13.Bf1 h4

14.b4 N8h7 15.Qb3 h3 16.g3 Ng5 17.Be2 Bg4 18.Bxg4 Nxg4 19.Ne2 Qf6 20.Nf4 Qf5 21.Qd1 Nf6 22.c5 d5 23.b5 c6 24.a4 Ne6 25.Nb3 Nxf4 26.exf4 g5 27.fxg5 Ng4 28.Rf1 Qxg5 29.Bc1 Qf5 30.Bf4 Nf6

31.b6 axb6 32.cxb6 Nd7 33.a5 c5 34.Ra2 c4 35.Nc5 Nxb6 36.Nxb7 Nc8 37.a6 Re6 38.Nc5 Rg6 39.Be3 Bf8 40.f3 Bxc5 41.dxc5 Rgxa6 42.Rxa6 Rxa6 43.f4 Ra2 44.Rf2 Rxf2 45.Kxf2 Ne7 46.g4 Qf6

47.Qd4 Qh4+ 48.Kf1 Qxg4 49.Qd2 Qf3+ 50.Qf2 Qd1+ 51.Qe1 Qxe1+ 52.Kxe1 f5 53.Kd2 Kf7 54.Kc3 Ke6 55.Bd4 Nc6 56.Bh8 Kd7 57.Bf6 Nd8 58.Bd4 Kc6 59.Be3 Ne6 60.Kb4 d4 61.Bc1 c3 62.Kc4 Nxc5

63.Kxd4 Nb3+ 64.Kxc3 Nxc1 65.Kd4 Ne2+ 66.Ke3 Nxf4, White resigns.

          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

Round Three: French Defense, King's Indian Attack

Jim West (USCF 2202) - Rishi Rajendran (USCF 2005), Piscataway NJ 12/20/2015

1.e4 e6 2.d3 d5 3.Nd2 Nf6 4.g3 Be7 5.Bg2 c5 6.Ngf3 Nc6 7.O-O O-O 8.e5 Nd7 9.Re1 b5 10.Nf1 a5 11.h4 a4 12.a3 Nb6 13.Bf4 Ba6 14.h5 b4

15.h6 g6 16.N1h2 c4 17.d4 c3 18.bxc3 bxa3 19.Ng4 Na7 20.Bf1 Bxf1 21.Kxf1 Rc8 22.Qd3 Nd7 23.Bc1 Qa5 24.Bd2 Qb5 25.Reb1 Qxd3+ 26.cxd3 Rb8 27.c4 Rb3 28.c5 Rfb8 29.Rc1 Nc6 30.Ke2 Bd8

31.Ne3 Bc7 32.Nc2 Rb2 33.Rxa3 Ra8 34.Bc3 Rb3 35.Rca1 Rxa3 36.Rxa3 f6 37.exf6 Nxf6 38.Ne5 Nxe5 39.dxe5 Ng4 40.d4 Nxh6 41.Ne3 Nf5 42.Nd1 h5 43.Nb2 g5 44.Rxa4 Rb8 45.Ra1 h4 46.gxh4 gxh4

47.Nd3 Rb3 48.Kd2 Rb8 49.Nf4 Re8 50.Nh3 Bd8 51.Ke2 Kf7 52.Ra7+ Re7 53.Rxe7+ Kxe7 54.Kd3 Kd7 55.Bd2 Be7 56.Bg5 Bf8 57.Nf4 Bg7 58.Nh3 Bf8 59.f3 Bg7 60.Nf2 Bh6 61.Bxh6 Nxh6 

62.Nh3 Nf5 63.Ng5 Kc6 64.Nh3 Kd7 65.Nf4 Kc6, draw.

          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

Round Four: Philidor Counter Gambit

Robert Forney (USCF 1967) - Jim West (USCF 2202), Piscataway NJ 12/20/2015

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 f5 4.Nc3 fxe4 5.Nxe5 Nf6 6.Nc4 d5 7.Ne5 c6 8.Be2 Bb4 9.O-O O-O 10.Bg5 Qe8 11.h3 Nbd7

12.f4 exf3 13.Nxf3 Bxc3 14.bxc3 Ne4 15.Bd2 Ndf6 16.Rb1 b6 17.Bd3 Qh5 18.Ne5 Qxd1 19.Rfxd1 Bb7 20.c4 Rad8 21.c5 Nxd2 22.Rxd2 b5 23.a4 a6 24.axb5 axb5 25.c4 dxc4 26.Bxc4+ bxc4 27.Rxb7 Ne4

28.Rc2 Rxd4 29.Rxc4 Rxc4 30.Nxc4 Nxc5 31.Rc7 Ne4, draw.

3-way Tie at Thomas Elberling Memorial

Yesterday the Thomas Elberling Memorial tournament at Chess Mates ended in a three-way tie for first place.

Muhammad, Maria, and Magnus

What do Muhammad Ali, Maria Sharapova, and Magnus Carlsen have in common?

Take a look at his video.

Pix from "Chess Mates" 12/12/2015

At the Chess Mates blog, I have posted pictures taken by me during Saturday's game/60 tournament.

Overseas Reviews of "Pawn Sacrifice"

                                             

The Bobby Fischer biopic Pawn Sacrifice is reviewed in the United Kingdom and in Luxembourg.

#AskMagnus

Magnus Carlsen answers questions from Facebook and Twitter.

Westfield CC Championship, Day 2

On Sunday, I finished the Westfield Chess Club championship with a score of 1-0-2 plus a half point bye.

Round Three: King's Indian Defense, Lesser Simagin Variation

Todd Lunna (USCF 2248) - Jim West (USCF 2203), Westfield NJ 12/13/2015

1.Nf3 d6 2.g3 g6 3.Bg2 Bg7 4.O-O Nf6 5.c4 O-O 6.Nc3 Nc6 7.d4 Bf5 8.d5 Na5 9.Nd2 c5 10.e4 Bd7 11.Rb1 a6 12.b3 Rb8 13.Bb2 b5 14.h3 e5 15.Qe2 Nh5 16.Kh2 f5

17.exf5 Bxf5 18.Nce4 Bh6 19.Bc3 b4 20.Bb2 Nb7 21.Rbd1 a5 22.Nf3 a4 23.Nh4 Nf4 24.Qc2 Nxg2 25.Kxg2 axb3 26.axb3 Bxe4+ 27.Qxe4 Ra8 28.Ra1 Qd7 

29.Qd3 Bg7 30.Rxa8 Rxa8 31.Bc1 Nd8 32.Rd1 Nf7 33.Be3 Bf6 34.Nf3, draw.

          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

Round Four: Philidor Counter Gambit

Winston Ni (USCF 1935) - Jim West (USCF 2203), Westfield NJ 12/13/2015

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 f5 4.Nc3 fxe4 5.Nxe4 d5 6.Nc3 e4 7.Ne5 Nf6 8.Bg5 Bb4 9.Be2 O-O 10.O-O c6 11.f3 Qe8 12.Qd2 Nbd7

13.Nxd7 Bxd7 14.Bxf6 Rxf6 15.fxe4 Rxf1+ 16.Rxf1 Bxc3 17.Qxc3 Qxe4 18.Qf3 Qxf3 19.Bxf3 Re8 20.c3 g6 21.g4 g5 22.h3 h6 23.Kg2 a5 24.a3 Kg7 25.Kg3 Re7 26.Kg2 Be8 27.Rf2 Bg6

28.Re2 Rxe2+ 29.Bxe2 Be4+ 30.Bf3 Bxf3+ 31.Kxf3 a4 32.Ke3 Kf6 33.Kd3 b5 34.Kd2 Ke6 35.Kd3 Kd6 36.Kd2, draw.

Rahway Swiss 12/12/2015

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

Kasparov on "The Federalist Radio Hour"

Listen to Garry Kasparov as he discusses Vladimir Putin on The Federalist Radio Hour.