"WSJ" Article on Fischer Symposium

NM Christopher Chabris wrote this article in the Wall Street Journal on the Bobby Fischer symposium, held last week at the Marshall Chess Club.

Fajarowicz with 5.Qd5 Bf5

After my game with GM Timur Gareev at the Liberty Bell Open 2009, he suggested 5...Bf5 following the opening moves 1.Nf3 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 e5 4.dxe5 Ne4 5.Qd5.


Alejandro Melchor has e-mailed a couple of games where Gareev's suggestion has already been used.

In Petat-Adolfssen, NATO Championship 2005, White tried 6.Qxb7, a move that Gareev said he would have avoided. The game continued 6...Nd7 7.Qd5. Now Black should have played 7...c6 8.Qxc6 Rc8 with compensation. Instead Black blundered with 7...dxe5 8.Nxe5 Bb4+ when White missed 9.Bd2 Bxd2+ 10.Nxd2 Nd6 11.Nxf7. Actually, White played 9.Nd2 which allowed 9...Nxe5.


The game Navajas-Herms, Spain 2007 proceeded 6.exd6 Nxd6. Here the best continuation for White would have been 7.c5 Be6 8.Qd1. After 7.Nd4 Be4 8.Qe5+ Be7 9.Nc3, Fajarowicz specialist Jordi Herms won in 33 moves.

Jersey City Scholastic Champs

Here are the winners in the Jersey City Public School Elementary Chess Championship.

Meryl Streep in Kearny, New Jersey

Paul Hoffman, author of King's Gambit, has an entertaining story on Meryl Streep at the NPR website. I have my own Meryl Streep story!

As I recall, it was summertime in the late 1990's when one block of Linden Avenue [where I was living at the time for 24 years, before moving four blocks away in 2004] in Kearny NJ had wooden sawhorses blocking off traffic for three weeknights. On Monday evening, I arrived home from work and tried nosing my vehicle past the sawhorses to park my car in its usual spot. One of the men in Wes Craven's film crew ran up, knocked on the driver side window, and shouted, "Hey, man! You can't park here. They're about to start shooting any minute now!"

I must have looked startled at the mention of shooting because he quickly explained that they were filming scenes for an upcoming movie starring Meryl Streep and Cloris Leachman that was tentatively titled Fifty Violins. They later changed the name to Music of the Heart. It turns out that Roberta Guaspari, the music teacher portrayed by Streep, had grown up on Linden Avenue in Kearny although she had since moved. Wes Craven, the director, wanted the childhood scenes to be authentic. So these were filmed on location, one block from where I lived. The shots of Guaspari's childhood home can be seen during the rolling of the film's opening credits.

It was on the third night, Wednesday, that Meryl Streep made her appearance before what seemed to be half the population of Kearny, all jammed on one block of Linden Avenue which is only three blocks long. After she had left and the crowd subsided, I knocked on the front door of the house. The woman who currently resided there was kind enough to let me enter where I stood on a movie set for the only time in my life!

Melchor on Fajarowicz Variation

Alejandro Melchor [pictured above] has e-mailed this "remarkable attacking game" that was published in a recent book on the Budapest Gambit by Viktor Moskalenko who, like Melchor, resides in Barcelona. All notes, unless indicated otherwise, are by Alejandro Melchor.

Mayo,M. – Herms, J., Spain 2004

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e5 3.dxe5 Ne4 4.Nf3 d6

The typical break in the Fajarowicz: the idea is to attack the pawn on e5 and to create an exit for the c8 bishop with …Bf5.

5.exd6

Accepting the gambit is risky for White so he should look at another ten (!) possibilities; for instance, some of them:

A) 5.g3 Nc6, and

B) 5.e3 Nc6 both transpose to the line in the Fajarowicz with 4…Nc6, and they are good for Black.

C) 5.Nbd2 Nc5 (I don’t agree with West's idea of 5…Bf5 directly in his games vs. Szuper, Lustig and Privman; so 6.Nxe4 Bxe4 7.Ng5 Bg6 8.e6! fxe6 9.Nxe6 of Diedam-Scharff, GER Oberliga 1986, and now after 9…Qe7 10.Nf4! White gets the advantage), and now the best choice is 6.g3!? Nc6 transposing to a well-known main line in the Fajarowicz via 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.Nbd2 Nc6 6.g3 d6. White's idea is to occupy d5. Although Black's plan is a little slow and does nothing to show the disadvantages of the knight’s placement on d5, Black's knight controls some important squares, in particular impeding the advance e2-e4 and it turns out in a lot of variations to be well-placed on c5 in a semi-blockading position in front of the White c-pawn. On the other hand if, for instance, 6.Nb3 Ne6 (6…Ne4 7.Qd5) 7.exd6 Bxd6 8.c5 of Sanchez Criado-Herms, Barcelona 2006, then 8..Nxc5 9.Nxc5 Bxc5 10.Qxd8+ Kxd8 11.Bf4 Bb4+!.

D) 5.Qd5!? and now instead of 5…Nc5?! {After the game, Gareev suggested 5...Bf5!? (West)} 6.Bg5! of Gareev-West, Liberty Bell Open 2009, Black can try 5…f5 6.exd6 (6.Nc3 Nc6 7.Nxe4 – 7.Bf4 Nxc3 8.bxce dxe5 – 7…fxe4 8.Qxe4 dxe5 9.a3 Qf6) 6…Nc6 7.e3 Nc6 (7…c6) 8.a3 Qe7 9.Qd1 Be6 10.Be2 g5 with counterplay, Gerke-Gegner, Dortmund 2000.

E) 5.Qc2!? is recommended by Tim Harding in his book The Fighting Fajarowicz as the best move. Though 5…Bf5 is bad, analyzed so after 6.Nc3! d5 (Black has lost a tempo already, but 6…Ng3 7.e4 Nxh1 8.exf5 dxe5 9.Be3!) 7.cxd5 Bb4? when 8.Qa4+! +- of Uhle-Glasewald, corr., ICCF World Cup 8/9 1990 is a major improvement on Tseitlin & Glazkov 8.Qb3; but also 7…Nxc3 8.Qxf5 Nxd5 9.Bd2 or 9.a3 is advantageous for White. Tseilin & Glazkov give 5…Nc5 as the best reply, and it also was played in Rogers,I-Rogers,C, Gold Coast Open 1999 but their analysis is not so correct, and after 6.b4 Ne6 7.a3 dxe5 (even, I suggest, 7..a5!?) 8.Nxe5 not 8…Qd4? because of the simple 9.Bb2, but 8…a5! according to Fritz9 or Hiarcs10. Maybe White best chances are 6.Bg5!? or 6.Nc3 dxe5 7.Be3. Probably the best choice for Black is Vasconcellos's line 5…d5 6.cxd5 Qxd5 7.Nxc3 Nxc3 8.Qxc3 Nc6 (Teoria e Práctica do Gambito Budapeste, page 43).

5...Bxd6

Threatening to terminate White by 6…Nxf2! 7.Kxf2 Bxg3+ and 8…Qxd1.

6.e3

Now if 6.Qc2 Bf5 7.Nc3 Bb4 8.Bd2 Bxc3 9.Bxc3 O-O = (Vasconcellos, F.). But possible is 6.Nbd2 Bf5 and 7.e3 Nc6 8.Be2 Qf6 9.O-O O-O-O 10.Nxe4 Bxe4 with compensation Gonzalez-Carpintero, Las Palmas 1992; or 7.g3 Qe7 (7…O-O) 8.Nxe4 Bxe4 9.Bg2 Nc6 10.O-O with a slight White advantage, Martin Valentin-Herms, Spain 2007.

6…Nc6 7.a3

7.Be2 Bf5 (7…O-O; 7…Qf6: 7…Bg4!?) 8.O-O Qf6 9.Nbd2 O-O-O of Slajs-Korostenski, Ceske Budejovice Open 2000 is a previous transposition to Gonzalez-Carpintero, Las Palmas 1992 with 6.Nbd2; so 9…Nc5 10.Nb3 is a small plus to White (Rohde-Splane, San Mateo rapid 1990) by transposition too.

7...Bf5

A desirable position for any FG player. Black will soon gain the upper hand thanks to his good development. Another positional idea is 7…a5!?

8.Be2 Qe7

An even more aggressive move is 8…Qf6!?, taking control of the f6-a1 diagonal. For example 9.O-O O-O-O 10.Qb3 g5! (this might be the stem game of the strong plan …g5-g4, followed by …Bxh2+; the alternative is 10…Qg6!?) 11.Nc3 g4 12.Nxe4 Bxe4 13.Nd2 (13.Ne1 Qh6!? 14.g3 f5 -+) 13…Bxh2+ 14.Kxh2 Qh4+ 15.Kg1 Rxd2 (15…Bxg2! is the classical Lasker-Bauer continuation) 16.Bxd2 Ne5 17.Qc3 f6 18.Qd4 of Fronczek-Hoffmann,R., Baden-Alsace junior match 1996; and now the winning move is 18…Nf3+!.

9.Nbd2 O-O-O 10.Nxe4 Bxe4 11.Qa4 g5!


This powerful resource increases Black’s initiative.

12.O-O g4!

Attacking the only White piece that defends the kingside.

13.Nd2 Bxh2+!!

Some themes known since the Romantic Age keep returning. Minor pieces are sacrificed to break open the enemy fortress.

14.Kxh2 Qh4+ 15.Kg1 Bxg2!


Today, the idea behind this fabulous attack is still alive.

16.f4

If 16.Kxg2 Qh3+ 17.Kg1 g3 (or 17…Ne5!) 18.Nf3 Rhg8 19.e4 gxf2+ 20.Kxf2 Rg2+ 21.Ke3 Qh6+.

16…gxf3

16…Rxd2!? 17.Bxd2 Be4 -+.

17.Bxf3 Bxf3 18.Rxf3 Qe1+!

Cutting off the king’s road to safety is the key to victory.

19.Nf1 Rhg8+ 20.Kh1 Qh4+ 21.Nh2 Qg5, White resigns.


White gets mated.

Marshall Chess Club Swiss 3/8/2009

International masters Justin Sarkar and Jay Bonin tied for first place with scores of 3-0-1 at the Marshall CC March Grand Prix which ended yesterday at the Marshall Chess Club.

Playing in the one-day schedule, I finished at 2-0-2 which was good enough to tie for third place with NM Yefim Treger, Michael Hehir, and Miles Hinson. Here are my games.

Round One: Philidor Counter Gambit

Lenn Uchima (USCF 1626) - Jim West (USCF 2217), Marshall Chess Club 3/8/2009

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.Bg4 Bxg4 12.Nxg4 Nbd7 13.Qe2 Qe8

14.Nxf6+ Nxf6 15.Nd1 Qg6 16.Bh4 Bd6 17.Ne3 Rae8 18.c3 h6 19.Rae1 Nh5 20.Bg3 Nf4 21.Bxf4 Rxf4 22.g3 Rf3 23.Ng2 Be7 24.c4 a6 25.c5 Ref8 26.Rd1 Qg4 27.Rd2 Bg5 28.Rd1 Qh3


29.Ne1 h5 30.Ng2 h4 31.b3 R8f6 32.Kh1 Rh6 33.Nf4 Qg4 34.h3 hxg3 35.Kg2 Rxh3 36.Rh1 gxf2+ 37.Kf1 Rxh1#.




* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Round Two: Philidor Counter Gambit

Yefim Treger (USCF 2268) - Jim West (USCF 2217), Marshall Chess Club 3/8/2009

1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nc6 3.Nf3 d6 4.Nc3 f5 5.d3 Na5 6.Bd5 Nf6 7.Bg5 c6 8.Bxf6 Qxf6 9.b4 cxd5 10.Nxd5 Qd8 11.bxa5 Qxa5+ 12.Qd2 Qxd2+ 13.Kxd2 Rb8

14.Rhe1 fxe4 15.Rxe4 Bf5 16.Ra4 a6 17.Re1 g6 18.g4 Bh6+ 19.Kd1 Bd7 20.Nf6+ Ke7 21.Nxd7 Kxd7 22.d4 Rhf8 23.Ra3 exd4 24.Re4 Rf4 25.Rxf4 Bxf4 26.Nxd4 Be5 27.Nf3 Rf8 28.Ke2 Rc8 29.Kd3 Rc7 30.c4 Ke6 31.Rb3 h6 32.h3 Rf7 33.Ke2 Rf4 34.Nd2 Rf7


35.f3 Bd4 36.Kd3 Bc5 37.Rb1 b6 38.a4 a5 39.Ke2 d5 40.cxd5+ Kxd5 41.Rd1 Kc6 42.Ne4 h5 43.Rd8 hxg4 44.hxg4 Rh7 45.Rg8 Rh2+ 46.Kd3 Ra2 47.Rxg6+ Kd7 48.Nc3 Ra3 49.Kc4 Bb4 50.Nd5 Rxf3


51.Nxb4 Rf4+ 52.Kd5 Rxb4 53.Rd6+ Ke7 54.Re6+ Kf7 55.Re4 Rb1 56.Rc4 Kf6 57.Kc6 Rb4 58.Kd5 Rb1 59.Kc6 Rb4 60.Kd5, draw.




* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Round Three: Larsen's Opening

Jim West (USCF 2217) - Yevgeni Margulis (USCF 2201), Marshall Chess Club 3/8/2009

1.b3 Nf6 2.Bb2 d5 3.e3 Bf5 4.f4 e6 5.Nf3 Be7 6.c4 O-O 7.Nc3 c5 8.cxd5 exd5 9.Rc1 Nc6 10.Bb5 Nb4 11.a3 Nd3+ 12.Bxd3 Bxd3 13.Ne5 Ba6 14.d4 cxd4 15.Qxd4 Rc8 16.b4 Bc4


17.g4 a5 18.g5 axb4 19.axb4 Nh5 20.Qd1 d4 21.Qxh5 dxc3 22.Bxc3 Bd5 23.O-O Qb6 24.Bd4 Qxb4 25.Rxc8 Rxc8 26.g6 fxg6 27.Nxg6 Bf7 28.Qg4 hxg6 29.Qxc8+ Bf8 30.Rc1 Kh7


31.Qc3 Qb5 32.Qb2 Qf5 33.Qc2 Qh5 34.Qg2 b5 35.Qg5 Qf3 36.Rf1 Qe2 37.Qg2 Qc4 38.f5 gxf5 39.Qh3+ Kg8 40.Qxf5 b4 41.h4 b3 42.h5 Qd5 43.Qxd5 Bxd5 44.Rf5 Bc4 45.Bb2 Be7


46.Kf2 Bd3 47.Rd5 Bh4+ 48.Kf3 Bc2 49.e4 Bf6 50.e5 Be7 51.e6 Kf8 52.Rb5 Bd1+ 53.Ke3 Bd8 54.Rb8 Ke7 55.Ba3+, Black resigns.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Round Four: Sicilian Defense, Najdorf Variation

Jim West (USCF 2217) - George Berg (USCF 2082), Marshall Chess Club 3/8/2009

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bc4 e6 7.Bb3 b5 8.O-O Be7 9.Be3 O-O 10.f4 Bb7 11.e5 dxe5 12.fxe5 Nfd7 13.Qh5 Nc5 14.Rxf7 Rxf7 15.Nxe6 Nxe6 16.Bxe6 Qe8 17.Rf1 Bf6

18.Bxf7+ Qxf7 19.Qxf7+ Kxf7 20.exf6 gxf6 21.a3 Nd7 22.Bf4 Rc8 23.Rd1 Ke6 24.Rd6+ Ke7 25.Rd2 Ne5 26.Bxe5 fxe5 27.Re2 Ke6 28.Nd1 Rc4 29.c3 Re4 30.Rxe4 Bxe4 31.Nf2 Kf5 32.Kf1 Bd5 33.g3 Bc4+ 34.Ke1 a5 35.b4 axb4 36.axb4 Bd5

37.Kd2 Bc4 38.Ke3 Bd5 39.Nd3 Bg2 40.Nf2 Bd5 41.Ne4 Bxe4 42.g4+ Kxg4 43.Kxe4 Kh3 44.Kxe5 Kxh2 45.c4 bxc4 46.Kd4 c3 47.Kxc3 h5 48.b5 h4 49.b6 h3 50.b7 Kg2 51.b8=Q h2 52.Qb2+ Kg1 53.Qc1+ Kg2 54.Qd2+ Kg1 55.Qe1+ Kg2 56.Qe2+ Kg1, draw.

Polly on Fischer Symposium

Polly Wright recaps the International Symposium on Bobby Fischer, held Friday and Saturday at the Marshall Chess Club.

Here are days one and two.

Minor Piece Endgame Study

In the final round of the USATE 2009, I won a difficult minor piece endgame as Black against Christopher Sugino (FIDE 2022).


The first diagram shows the position after Black's 45th move. White played 46.Bxg4 to which I replied 46...Kd4. Instead 46...Nxg4 47.Kxg4 b5 48.Kxg5 b4 49.e5 b3 50.e6 b2 51.e7 b1=Q 52.e8=Q Qg1+ is a draw. But better than 46...Kd4 would have been 46...b5 47.Be6 Kd4.

Next, we look at the position following 59...Ne4+. White played 60.Kg2, avoiding the lost queen ending after 60.Bxe4 Kxe4 61.Kxg4 b5 62.h4 b4 63.h5 b3 64.h6 b2 65.h7 b1=Q 66.h8=Q Qg1+ 67.Kh5 Qh1+.


From the third diagram, play continued 64.h4 gxh3+ 65.Kxh3 Ne4. After the game, my team captain Steve Ferrero pointed out that I could have won the h-pawn by 64...Ne4 65.h5 Kg5 66.Bd5 Nf6. Rather than push the h-pawn two squares, White missed 64.h3 forcing the game continuation because now 64...g3 65.h4 Ne4 66.h5 Kg5 67.Bc2 would be drawn.

Finally, take a look at the position after 88...Nc4. Ferrero criticized White's 89.Ba2, but 89.Ke2 Na3 90.Ba2 Kc7 would transpose to the game which concluded 91.Ke3 Nb5 92.Bf7 Kc1 93.Bg6 Na3 when White resigned.

Kasparov on Survival Gambit

In his Wall Street Journal column, Garry Kasparov criticizes the Obama administration for extending olive branches to a Russian regime that is playing the survival gambit.

Fischer Bio-Picture

This month, Amadeus Pictures will begin shooting a bio-picture called Bobby Fischer Live.

French Defense, Exchange Variation with ...Bg4

Even though I won four games at the USATE 2009, my best effort was probably the one game that I drew. It featured a variation in the French Defense that has a drawish reputation. But this game was not a quiet draw.

Round Five: French Defense, Exchange Variation

Jim West (USCF 2214) - Rodion Rubenchik (USCF 2343), USATE 2/16/2009

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 exd5 4.Nf3 Bd6 5.Bd3 Bg4 6.O-O Ne7 7.Re1 Nbc6 8.c3 Qd7 9.Nbd2 O-O-O 10.b4 Rde8 11.Qa4 Kb8 12.b5 Nd8 13.Ba3 f6

14.Bxd6 Qxd6 15.Re3 Qd7 16.Rae1 Nf5 17.Rxe8 Rxe8 18.Rxe8 Qxe8 19.h3 Bxf3 20.Nxf3 Nd6 21.Qb3 Qf7 22.a4 b6 23.Nd2 N8b7 24.Qc2 h6 25.Nf1 Na5 26.Ne3 Nac4 27.Nxc4 dxc4 28.Be2 a6 29.Bf3 axb5 30.axb5 Kc8


31.Qa4 Kd8 32.Qa8+ Ke7 33.Qc6 Kf8 34.Bd5 Qe7 35.Kf1 f5 36.Bxc4 Ne4 37.Qd5 Qf6 38.Qa8+ Ke7 39.Bd3 Nd6 40.Qc6 Kd8 41.Be2 Qg5 42.g3 Qc1+ 43.Kg2 Qb2 44.Bf1 g6 45.Qa8+ Ke7 46.Qc6 Kd8 47.Qa8+ Ke7 48.Qc6, draw.

USATE 2009 Photos @ "Diamondback"

Blogger Diamondback has posted photos taken by Kevin Chen at the USATE 2009 in parts one and two, including the above picture showing Insufficient Losing Chances before the start of the second round at unlucky table 15 where both of our lost matches happened.

From left to right and in reverse board order, we were my student Ziping Liu, Atlantic Chess News editor Steve Ferrero [captain], NM Mike Shapiro, and NM Jim West, with TD Carol Jarecki adjusting the time clock. Ziping's opponent Danny Rohde has his back to the camera.

Little did I know that I was about to drop my only loss of the tournament to FM Marc Arnold, who went 6-0 on board one.