Pix from FIDE Mondays 6/4/2018

Look at these pictures that I took on Monday at the Marshall Chess Club.

"Tactical Tal, Part I" by Lyudmil Tsvetkov

The author sends this e-mail.

Dear chess friends, 

Recently I wrote a book on Tal's tactics. 

You can find an article on the book, with some of the harder puzzles, missed by Tal himself, here: https://www.expert-chess-strategies.com/chess-tactic.html.

Most of the puzzles are easier to solve, though, with all of them being fascinating. 

That is an essential Tal quality - to make chess fascinating. 

The book is available on Amazon.com: https://www.amazon.com/Tactical-Tal-Part-Lyudmil-Tsvetkov-ebook/dp/B07C16MSBW/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr= as well as other Amazons, in both paperback and ebook versions. 

For people following the story with 'The Secret of Chess', below one more review by IM Gerard Welling: https://www.chess.com/blog/Swordfish55/review-the-secret-of-chess.

I hope very much you find this information useful and not too annoying. 

That is the life of chess authors. 

Best regards, 

Lyudmil

Substitute Teacher at Russian Museum

From 6pm to 7pm, today and next Thursday, I will be the substitute chess teacher for 101 Discoveries at the Museum of Russian Art.

"Fortune" Interview of Kasparov on AI

Jonathan Vanian interviews Garry Kasparov.

FIDE Mondays 6/4/2018

Last night, I played this game at the Marshall Chess Club.

Round One: Sicilian Defense, King's Indian Attack

Jim West (USCF 2200) - Brian Shoot (USCF 1900), Marshall Chess Club 6/4/2018

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 a6 3.d3 e6 4.g3 Nc6 5.Bg2 d6 6.O-O Nf6 7.Nbd2 Be7 8.Re1 O-O 9.a4 e5 10.Nc4 a5 11.c3 Be6 12.Qc2 h6 13.Bd2 Nd7

14.Ne3 Nb6 15.Nf5 Bf6 16.h4 Ne7 17.g4 Nxf5 18.exf5 Bd5 19.h5 Bc6 20.Be3 Nd5 21.Bd2 Re8 22.c4 Nb4 23.Bxb4 axb4 24.Nd2 Bxg2 25.Kxg2 d5 26.cxd5 Qxd5+ 27.Ne4 Be7 28.b3 b6 29.f3 Rad8 30.Rad1 Qd4 31.Qc4 Kf8

32.Qxd4 Rxd4 33.Nf2 Bh4 34.Re4 Bxf2 35.Kxf2 Red8 36.Rxd4 exd4 37.Re1 Re8 38.Rxe8+ Kxe8 39.f4 f6 40.Kf3 Kd7 41.Ke4 Kc6 42.g5 Kd6 43.g6 Kc6, draw.

Westfield Quads 6/3/2018

On Sunday, I drew all my games in the quads at Westfield.

Round One: Sicilian Defense, Sozin Attack

Jim West (USCF 2200) - Liam Putnam (USCF 2110), Westfield NJ 6/3/2018

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Bc4 e6 7.Bb3 Be7 8.Be3 O-O 9.O-O a6 10.f4 Qc7 11.Qf3 Bd7 12.f5 Nxd4 13.Bxd4 e5 14.Bf2 Bc6 15.g4 Rad8

16.g5 Nxe4 17.Nxe4 Bxg5 18.Qg4 Bh6 19.f6 Qd7 20.Qxd7 Rxd7 21.fxg7 Bxg7 22.Ng3 d5 23.Nf5 Re8 24.Nxg7 Kxg7 25.Bh4 Re6 26.Rf5 Rg6+ 27.Bg3 f6 28.Raf1 Kf7 29.Rxe5 Kg7 30.Ref5 d4

31.Rxf6 Rxf6 32.Be5 Rdd6 33.Rxf6 Rxf6 34.Bxd4 Kg6 35.Bxf6 Kxf6 36.Kf2 Ke5 37.Ke3 b5 38.c3 h6 39.Bg8 a5 40.b4 axb4 41.cxb4 Bb7 42.Bh7 Ba8 43.Bd3 Bc6 44.h4 Bd7 45.a3 Bc6 46.Be2 Bd7 47.Kd3 Bc6 48.Kc3 Ke4 49.Bh5 Ke3

50.Bg6 Bd7 51.h5 Bc6 52.Bf7 Bd7 53.Bg6 Bc6 54.Bf5 Be8 55.Bd3 Bc6 56.a4 bxa4 57.b5 Bb7 58.Bc4 a3 59.Kb4 Kd4 60.Bf7 Ba8 61.Kxa3 Kc5 62.Ka4 Kb6 63.Kb4 Bf3 64.Be8 Be2 65.Kc3 Bxh5 66.Bxh5 Kxb5, draw.

   

          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

Round Two: Sicilian Defense, Najdorf Variation

Taran Idnani (USCF 2152) - Jim West (USCF 2200), Westfield NJ 6/3/2018

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Nb3 e5 7.Bg5 Be7 8.Be2 Nbd7 9.O-O O-O 10.a4 b6 11.Be3 Bb7 12.Bd3 Qc7 13.Qe2 Rfc8

14.Rac1 Nf8 15.f3 Ng6 16.Qf2 Bd8 17.Nd2 d5 18.exd5 Nxd5 19.Nxd5 Bxd5 20.Be4, draw.

          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

Round Three: Pribyl Defense

Jim West (USCF 2200) - Peter Radomskyj (USCF 2200), Westfield NJ 6/3/2018

1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 c6 4.f4 Qa5 5.Bd3 e5 6.Nf3 Bg4 7.dxe5 dxe5 8.h3 Bxf3 9.Qxf3 Nbd7 10.Bd2 Qc7 11.f5 b5 12.O-O Bc5+ 13.Kh1 h5

14.Be3 Qb6 15.Bxc5 Qxc5 16.Qf2 Qxf2 17.Rxf2 Nc5 18.b4 Nxd3 19.cxd3 Rd8 20.Rd1 h4 21.a4 a6 22.axb5 axb5 23.Ra2 O-O 24.Ra6 Rc8 25.d4 exd4 26.Rxd4 c5 27.bxc5 Rxc5 28.Nd5 Rc1+ 29.Kh2 Nxd5 30.exd5 Rc4

31.Rxc4 bxc4 32.Rc6 Rd8 33.Rxc4 Rxd5 34.Rxh4 Rxf5, draw.

IM Zlotnikov Lecture at West Orange CC

International master Mikhail Zlotnikov [pictured] will be giving a lecture at the West Orange Chess Club on Tuesday June 12, 2018 at 8pm.

We will ask for a $10 donation per attendee.

Those attending the lecture who are West Orange residents, in addition to those who are under 18 and over 65 from any town, will be asked for a $5 donation.

For more information, please contact club president and tournament director John Hagerty at buickchess@gmail.com.

Or alternatively call him at 973-736-3433 between the hours of 10am and 10pm.

Pix from Memorial Day Madness 5/28/2018

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

FM Nathan Resika at Carnegie Hall

On June 2nd, FIDE master Nathan Resika [pictured] will perform at Carnegie Hall.

Warrior of the Mind

The Warriors’ Key Chess Piece Is Also a Chess Fanatic 

NBA playoff series are chess matches. So it’s a good thing that Klay Thompson really, really loves chess.

By Ben Cohen 
Updated May 30, 2018 11:56 a.m. ET 
Oakland, Calif. 

After a recent Golden State Warriors game, Klay Thompson opened the Chess with Friends app on his phone. He wanted to show a match he was playing against teammate Andre Iguodala to someone he’d never met waiting for him outside the locker room. Thompson thought Magnus Carlsen might be able to offer some assistance. 

Magnus Carlsen is the best chess player in the world, according to the official rankings of the sport’s governing body. Klay Thompson introduced himself to Carlsen as the best chess player on the Warriors, according to the official rankings of Klay Thompson.

 “Based on loose facts,” he said, “but whatever.”

 Thompson plays chess as often as he plays basketball: almost every day. “It’s a great game,” he said. He owns multiple chess boards at home. He carries a magnetic chess set on road trips. And he juggles several chess games on his phone, which is a problem for Thompson: He’s not good at chess on his phone.

 “In person, I’m real nice,” he said. “On the phone, I’ll make a couple moves, put my phone down for a couple of days, forget my strategy and think: Why the hell did I do that?”

 He added: “You can learn a lot about someone playing chess.”

His childhood friend Seth Tarver, who now works for Thompson’s foundation, knows his chess habits better than anyone and offered this scouting report about Thompson’s game: “One thing about Klay is that he’s at his best when you back him into a corner. He’ll be playing loose, but once I show I’m a threat, he can really lock in.”

Which means Thompson plays basketball the way he plays chess.

The Warriors were down 3-2 in Game 6 of the 2016 conference finals when he scored 41 points to rescue their season. It was a once-in-a-lifetime game. Until it happened again. The Warriors were down 3-2 in Game 6 of the conference final last week when Thompson scored 35 points and sparked another epic comeback. Golden State wouldn’t be in the Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers for the fourth consecutive season without him.

Thompson is their rook. He’s the quietly crucial piece of this potential Warriors dynasty.

He doesn’t seem to mind that he’s an understated All-Star who will never get the glory of Stephen Curry or Kevin Durant. He prefers it that way. Golden State coach Steve Kerr calls Thompson “the most low-maintenance guy on earth.”

Everyone on the Warriors understands his value to their bid for a third championship in four years. His talents fit this team. They don’t need another ballhandler, and he scores the most points in the league off screens. They do need a ball-stopper, and he defends the other team’s best guard. The Warriors are perfect for Thompson, and he is perfect for the Warriors.

But there is nothing about Klay Thompson that screams chess player. This is someone who simply missed practice the day before he erupted for 60 points in 29 minutes. Why? Because he was sleeping. It was more characteristic of Thompson when the Warriors were in New York and he gave one local television station a man-on-the-street interview to discuss his thoughts about…scaffolding. He was identified by his name and occupation: “NBA player.” He might be the spaciest NBA player of his generation.

This is another classic Klay Thompson story. It was the end of the fourth quarter of a tie game in 2012, and the Warriors had the ball and could’ve held it for the last possession. Thompson was completely oblivious to the time, score and situation, though, and he launched a 3-pointer with 16 seconds left. Any chess player would’ve identified it for what it was: a blunder. The shot was inexcusable even before Thompson missed it, and Golden State’s horrified coaches attempted to explain why as he walked back to the bench.

“My bad,” Thompson said. “I’ll make it next time.”

The roots of his fascination with chess were also unexpected. It started in seventh-grade in Portland, Oregon. Riverdale Grade School’s chess teacher, Carl Haessler, a local securities broker who is also a United States Chess Federation Life Master and five-time Oregon state champion, taught his students to be cerebral. “I’m big on the Socratic method,” he said.

He wanted them to know how to think rather than what to think. “How to look down at this thing of all these pieces going every which way,” he said, “and cut out the white noise, look at what’s relevant, assess the position, come to a conclusion, make a plan based upon that conclusion and then make specific moves that fit the plan.”

This is not what Thompson was expecting from chess class.

“I took it as an elective just to waste time,” he said.

The other thing he was not expecting was that he would become obsessed with chess.

“And then I realized, wow, this is actually really fun,” Thompson said. “Just for an hour, to be with your friends, hang out and play chess. It was probably the best class I’ve ever had.”

What he appreciates most about chess are the moments when he can feel the advantage tipping. That sense is familiar to anyone who has watched the Warriors use a sliver of an opening to destroy other teams over the last four years. “I just love how there can be so many swings,” Thompson said, “and it can take one move to mess up the whole flow.”

Thompson is still with his friends, hanging out and playing chess. They abide by the rules of pickup basketball. There is no clock, and the winner of one match getting the advantage of playing white in the next match is their equivalent of make it, take it.

Tarver used to lose so often that he spent time studying why he was losing. “He knows some good tactics,” Tarver said. “I had to learn on the fly. I learned through him beating me.”

He stopped losing soon enough, and he declined to reveal too much about his current strategies against Thompson because they play nearly every day.

“I don’t know who’s better now,” he said. “He’ll probably tell you it’s him.”

Except if they’re playing on their phones. They’re evenly matched in person, when Thompson can devote his full attention to a physical chessboard even as his English bulldog, Rocco, attempts to play with him. But he gets so distracted online that Tarver has to nudge Thompson in person to make a move with his phone.

He’s not the only person who talks chess with Thompson. At one Warriors dinner this season, enough players and coaches were discussing chess that Golden State decided it would be a good idea to invite Carlsen to meet with the team. As it turned out, the reigning world champion is a maniacal NBA fan. He flew to Houston for the conference finals against the Rockets, and the Warriors arranged for Carlsen to have tickets. (Carlsen woke up Tuesday morning and watched Game 7 from Norway.)

Thompson was impressed by Carlsen. “That guy’s smart,” he said. “Understatement that he’s smart. He’s a genius.” And he took advantage of the opportunity to request advice on his openings. “He said he’d sit down and teach me some things one day,” Thompson said.

Thompson, who once compared Ping-Pong games with Roger Federer, thought better of challenging maybe the greatest chess player of all time.

“He’d play blindfolded and backward,” Thompson said, “and still beat me.”

Elite Chess Players Live Longer

A new study reveals that elite chess players live up to 14 years longer than the general population.

Memorial Day Madness 5/28/2018

On Monday, I won these games in the tournament at the Marshall Chess Club.

Round One: Sicilian Defense, Najdorf Variation

 Jim West (USCF 2200) - Kaden Pollard (USCF 1726), Marshall Chess Club 5/28/2018

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bc4 b5 7.Bb3 Bb7 8.O-O e6 9.f4 Nbd7 10.f5 e5 11.Nde2 Nc5 12.Bg5 Qb6 13.Kh1 Nfxe4

14.Nd5 Bxd5 15.Qxd5 Qb7 16.Qxb7 Nxb7 17.Bd5 Nxg5 18.Bxb7 Ra7 19.Bc6+ Kd8 20.h4 Rc7 21.Bd5 Rc5 22.Ba8 Rxc2 23.Ng3 h6 24.hxg5 hxg5+ 25.Kg1 d5 26.Rfd1 Bc5+ 27.Kf1 d4 28.Rac1 Rxc1 29.Rxc1 Be7 30.Bb7 Kd7 31.Bxa6 Rb8

32.Ne4 Rb6 33.Bc8+ Kd8 34.f6 gxf6 35.Bf5 Rb8 36.a3 Ke8 37.Ke2 Kf8 38.Rc8+ Rxc8 39.Bxc8 b4 40.axb4 Bxb4 41.Nxf6 Bd6 42.g4 Ke7 43.Ne4 f6 44.Kd3 Bb4 45.Kc4 Be1 46.b4 Kd8 47.Bf5 d3 48.Nxf6 d2 49.Bc2 Bg3 50.Ne4 Bf4 51.Kd3 Kc7 52.Nxd2 Kb6

53.Ba4 Ka6 54.Ne4 Kb6 55.Kc4 Ka6 56.Kc5 Kb7 57.b5 Kc7 58.b6+ Kb7 59.Bc6+ Kc8 60.Kd6 Be3 61.b7+ Kb8 62.Kxe5 Ba7 63.Nxg5 Kc7 64.Bd5 Kd7 65.Ne4 Ke7 66.g5 Bb8+ 67.Kf5 Kf8 68.Kf6 Ba7 69.g6 Bd4+ 70.Kf5 Ba7 71.Nf6 Bb8

72.Nd7+ Ke7 73.Nxb8 Kf8 74.Nc6 Kg7 75.b8=Q Kh6 76.Qh8#.

          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

Round Two: Philidor Counter Gambit

Bingjie Liu (USCF 1989) - Jim West (USCF 2200), Marshall Chess Club 5/28/2018

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bc4 f5 4.d3 c6 5.Bxg8 Rxg8 6.Ng5 h6 7.Qh5+ g6 8.Qh4 hxg5 9.Bxg5 Qc7 10.f4 Qf7 11.O-O Be7 12.exf5 Bxg5 13.fxg5 gxf5 14.Qh6 Qg6 15.Qxg6 Rxg6 16.h4 Na6

17.Nd2 Be6 18.Nf3 Ke7 19.h5 Rg7 20.h6 Rg6 21.Rae1 Rh8 22.Kf2 Nb4 23.Re2 Bd5 24.a3 Bxf3 25.gxf3 Nd5 26.Rg1 Nf4 27.Ree1 Nh3+ 28.Ke3 Nxg1 29.Rxg1 Rhxh6 30.f4 exf4+ 31.Kxf4 Rh2 32.Kxf5 Kf7 33.c4 Kg7

34.b4 Rf2+ 35.Kg4 Ra2 36.Rg3 b5 37.cxb5 cxb5 38.d4 d5 39.Kf5 Re2 40.Rc3 Rf2+ 41.Ke5 Rxg5+ 42.Kd6 Rf6+ 43.Kc5 a6 44.Re3 Kf7 45.Rh3 Kg7 46.Re3 Rf7 47.Re6 Rc7+ 48.Kb6 Rc3 49.Kxa6 Rxa3+ 50.Kxb5 Rd3

51.Kc5 Rc3+ 52.Kb6 Rg6 53.Rxg6+ Kxg6 54.b5 Rc4 55.Kb7 Rxd4 56.Kc6 Rb4 57.b6 Rxb6+ 58.Kxb6 d4 59.Kc5 d3 60.Kc4 d2 61.Kc3 d1=Q 62.Kc4 Kf5 63.Kc5 Ke6 64.Kc4 Ke5 65.Kc5 Qc2+ 66.Kb5 Kd6 67.Kb4 Kd5 68.Kb5 Qb3+ 69.Ka6 Kc6 70.Ka5 Qb5#.