Westfield Quads 6/11/2017

On Sunday, I finished with a score of 1-1-1 in the quads at Westfield.

Round Two: Budapest Gambit, Fajarowicz Variation

Nico Chasin (USCF 2221) - Jim West (USCF 2204), Westfield NJ 6/11/2017

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e5 3.dxe5 Ne4 4.Nd2 Bb4 5.Ngf3 Nc6 6.a3 Bxd2+ 7.Nxd2 Nc5 8.b4 Ne6 9.Nf3 O-O 10.Bd2 f6 11.exf6 Qxf6 12.e3 a5 13.b5 Ne5 14.Be2 b6 15.O-O Bb7 16.Nxe5 Qxe5 17.Rc1 Nc5 18.f3 d6 19.Qc2 a4

20.Rce1 Nb3 21.Bd3 Nxd2 22.Qxd2 Qc5 23.Qb4 Qxb4 24.axb4 a3 25.Ra1 Rfe8 26.e4 Ra4 27.Rfb1 Rea8 28.Bc2 R4a7 29.Bb3 Kf8 30.Ra2 g5 31.Kf2 Kg7 32.Ke3 h5 33.Kd4 Kf6 34.Rf1 Re8 35.Re2 Kg7 36.Kc3 Bc8 37.Ra2 Be6 38.Rfa1 Rea8

39.c5 Bxb3 40.Kxb3 dxc5 41.bxc5 Ra5 42.cxb6 Rxb5+ 43.Kc4 Rxb6 44.Rxa3 Rxa3 45.Rxa3 Rb2 46.g3 Rxh2 47.Kd5 Rh3 48.Rc3 Rxg3 49.Rxc7+ Kg6 50.Rc6+ Kg7 51.e5 Rxf3 52.e6 Kf6 53.Ke4 Rf1

54.Kd5 Rd1+ 55.Kc5 Rc1+ 56.Kd6 Rxc6+ 57.Kxc6 Kxe6 58.Kc5 h4, White resigns.

          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

Round Three: Sicilian Defense, King's Indian Attack

Jim West (USCF 2204) - Sameer Mujumdar (USCF 2250), Westfield NJ 6/11/2017

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d3 Nc6 4.g3 d5 5.Nbd2 Nf6 6.Bg2 Be7 7.O-O O-O 8.e5 Nd7 9.Re1 Qc7 10.Qe2 f6 11.exf6 Nxf6 12.b3 Bd7 13.Bb2 Rae8

14.Ne5 Nxe5 15.Bxe5 Bd6 16.Nf3 Ng4 17.h3 Nxe5 18.Nxe5 Rf5 19.f4 g5 20.c4 Bxe5 21.fxe5 Bc6 22.g4 Rf4 23.Rf1 Ref8 24.Rxf4 Rxf4 25.Rf1 Rxf1+ 26.Kxf1 d4 27.Bxc6 Qxc6 28.Qg2, draw.

Former Student James Altucher

Approximately 30 years ago, James Altucher [pictured] was my first private chess student.  One night a week, I would get out of work and drive to his house in North Brunswick where we would have a 2-hour lesson.  

James was in his late teens at the time and rated about USCF 1900. Soon he was over USCF 2200, but by then James had stopped taking lessons from me.  

I can't take credit for all of his chess success because James told me that he had previously taken lessons from grandmaster Michael Rohde.  

As you can see from this article, James has come a long way since then!

"GQ" Article on Peter Thiel

[illustration by Giordano Poloni]

Helen Holmes gives a less than flattering description of Peter Thiel.

Pix from June FIDE Weekend 6/3/2017

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

Michael O'Connor: "Music Not Politics"

Class A player Michael O'Connor, lead singer of Mikell's Plot, wrote this letter which was printed in yesterday's edition of the Amboy Guardian.

Donald Trump: Chess Master in Chief?

In The New York Times Magazine, John Herrman asks the question: "Is Donald Trump the chess master in chief?"

Eric Yuhan Li Finishes 3rd @ "ChessKid"

Formerly of Westfield NJ before moving to California, Eric Yuhan Li [pictured] finished third in the age 9-10 section of the 2017 ChessKid Online National Invitational Championships.

Marshall June FIDE Weekend 6/3/2017

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

Round Two: Sicilian Defense, King's Indian Attack

Jim West (USCF 2206) - Robert Shibata (USCF 1985), Marshall Chess Club 6/3/2017

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d3 d5 4.Nbd2 Nc6 5.g3 Bd6 6.Bg2 Nge7 7.O-O O-O 8.Nh4 f5 9.f4 Bd7 10.a4 h6 11.Nhf3 Qe8 12.c3 Qh5

13.Nh4 Qf7 14.e5 Bc7 15.Nb3 b6 16.d4 c4 17.Nd2 g5 18.fxg5 hxg5 19.Nhf3 g4 20.Nh4 a6 21.b4 b5 22.a5 Bd8 23.Bh1 Qh7 24.Rf2 Kg7 25.Nf1 Ng6 26.Nxg6 Qxg6 27.Bf4 Rh8 28.Qd2 Be7 29.Re1 Nd8 

30.Ne3 Bc6 31.Nf1 Nf7 32.Bg2, draw.

          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

Round Three: King's Indian Defense, Fianchetto Variation

Wesley Hellner (USCF 1959) - Jim West (USCF 2206), Marshall Chess Club 6/3/2017

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.g3 O-O 5.Bg2 d6 6.Nf3 Nbd7 7.O-O e5 8.dxe5 dxe5 9.Qc2 c6 10.Rd1 Qc7 11.e4 a5 12.b3 Re8 13.Ba3 Bf8 14.Bxf8 Nxf8 15.Rd2 Bg4 16.h3 Bxf3 17.Bxf3 Ne6 18.Ne2 Rad8

19.Rad1 Rxd2 20.Rxd2 Rd8 21.Qd1 Rxd2 22.Qxd2 Qd8 23.Qxd8+ Nxd8 24.Kf1 Ne6 25.Ke1 Ng5 26.Bg2 Ngxe4 27.f3 Nc5 28.Nc3 Kf8 29.Kd2 Ke7 30.Ke3 Nh5 31.Ne2 f5 32.Bf1 Nxg3 33.Nxg3 f4+ 34.Kf2 fxg3+ 35.Kxg3 Ne6

36.Bd3 Nf4 37.Bf1 Kd6 38.Kf2 g5 39.Ke3 h6 40.Ke4 Ng6 41.Kf5 Nh4+ 42.Ke4 b6 43.Be2 c5 44.Bd1 Ke6 45.Be2 Ng2 46.Bf1 Nf4 47.Ke3 Kf5 48.a3 h5 49.Kf2 e4

50.Ke3 exf3 51.Kxf3 Nxh3 52.Ke3 Nf4 53.Kf3 h4, White resigns.

Substitute Teacher at Kushner Academy

Tomorrow afternoon, I am scheduled to be the substitute chess teacher at Joseph Kushner Hebrew Academy for AlphaBEST Exporations.

Pix from Memorial Day Action

During Monday's tournament at the Marshall Chess Club, I took these pictures.

Pix from Saturday Game/60 5/27/2017

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

My Review of "Ironman vs. Gladiator"

Over the weekend, I purchased a copy of Ironman vs. Gladiator: The Ultimate Chess Battle of Legends! [ChessLessons.com, 2016, 102 pages] from match organizer David Yomtobian at the Marshall Chess Club.

Ironman refers to international master Jay Bonin, and Gladiator to FIDE master Asa Hoffmann.  It is an honor to have losses of mine included in books (Active Pieces and Chess Gladiator) written by these legendary players.

The match consisted of thirteen games played at the Marshall Chess Club.  

You can watch the games on YouTube.  But you will be missing out on analysis of the games by FIDE titled players (eleven grandmasters, one international master, and one FIDE master) unless you buy the book.

A twelfth grandmaster, Alex Fishbein, writes an inspired prelude to the match.

Analysis from grandmasters Bryan Smith and Misa Pap has taught me how to defend against the Trompovsky Attack; and from international master Valeri Lilov, how to prevent the Grand Prix Attack.