"NY Times" Article on Magnus Carlsen

Magnus Carlsen is featured in an article by Sarah Lyall.

Roger Ebert on "Brooklyn Castle"

The late Roger Ebert gave a favorable review of the film Brooklyn Castle.

In an open letter to Barack Obama, he wrote, "I was much cheered by the new documentary Brooklyn Castle, about how a team from an inner-city junior high school won the national high school chess championship, and didn’t need a stadium at all. They were coached by a couple of great teachers."

Westfield Quads 4/7/2013

On Sunday afternoon, I played at the quads in Westfield.

Round Two: King's Indian Defense, Orthodox Variation

Alexander Crump (USCF 2071) - Jim West (USCF 2200), Westfield NJ 4/7/2013

1.Nf3 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 g6 4.Nc3 Bg7 5.e4 O-O 6.Be2 e5 7.O-O Nc6 8,Bg5 h6 9.Bxf6 Bxf6 10.dxe5 Nxe5 11.Nd4 Nc6 12.Nc2 Bxc3 13.bxc3 Qf6 14.Qd2 Kg7 15.Ne3 Re8

16.Bd3 Ne5 17.f4 Nxd3 18.Qxd3 c6 19.Rae1 Qe7 20.Nc2 f6 21.Nd4 Bd7 22.Qg3 Kh7 23.Qh4 Qg7 24.Qg3 Rad8 25.Qd3 a6

26.a4 c5 27.Nc2 Bxa4 28.Ne3 Bc6 29.Nd5 Bxd5 30.cxd5 Re7 31.Re2 Rde8 32.Rfe1 h5, draw.

Lecture by Alex King Tonight at Marshall CC

Please join us tonight for life master Alex King's lecture, titled "Learning From Your Losses."

In addition to being our head instructor at the Marshall Chess Academy's Saturday junior classes, Alex is an accomplished trainer and player who continues to improve his game with intense endgame study and, among other things, learning from his losses. Most recently, he drew grandmaster Alex Stripunsky at the Long Island Open and achieved a 4.5/9 score at the Philadelphia Open.

The lecture begins at 7pm and is free to members. We look forward to seeing you there.

Marshall Chess Club
23 West 10th Street
New York, NY 10011
Phone 212-477-3716
Fax 212-995-9281
www.marshallchessclub.org/

Rahway Quad 4/7/2013

On Sunday morning, I played in the game/30 quad at Chess Mates.

Round Two: Sicilian Defense, Najdorf Variation

Thomas Elberling (USCF 2045) - Jim West (USCF 2200), Rahway NJ 4/7/2013

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.g3 e5 7.Nde2 Be7 8.Bg2 O-O 9.O-O Nbd7 10.a4 b6 11.h3 Bb7 12.Be3 Nc5

13.Bxc5 dxc5 14.Qxd8 Rfxd8 15.Rfd1 Kf8 16.g4 h6 17.Ng3 g6 18.Kf1 Ke8 19.Ke2 Bc6 20.Nf1 h5 21.Ne3 hxg4 22.hxg4 Rd4 23.Rd2 Rad8 24.Rad1 b5 25.axb5 axb5 26.Ncd5 Bxd5 27.exd5 Bd6 28.c3 Rxd2+ 29.Rxd2 Ke7 30.Rd1 Ra8 31.f3 Ra2 32.Rd2 c4

33.Nd1 e4 34.Ne3 Bf4 35.Rc2 exf3+ 36.Bxf3 Kd6 37.Rd2 Bxe3 38.Kxe3 Nd7 39.Kf4 Ne5 40.Be2 f6 41.Ke4 Ra1 42.Ke3 Rg1 43.Kf2 Rb1 44.Ke3 f5 45.gxf5 gxf5 46.Kf4 Nd3+ 47.Bxd3 cxd3 48.Rxd3 Rxb2 49.Kxf5 Rf2+ 50.Ke4 Re2+ 51.Kd4 Rh2 

52.Re3 Rd2+ 53.Rd3 Rh2 54.Ke4 Rh4+ 55.Kf5 Rh5+ 56.Ke4 Re5+ 57.Kf3 Rxd5 58.Rxd5+ Kxd5 59.Ke2 Kc4 60.Kd2 b4 61.cxb4 Kxb4 62.Kd3, draw.

Rahway Swiss 4/6/2013

On Saturday, I played this PCG in the game/45 Swiss tournament at Chess Mates.

Round One: Philidor Counter Gambit

Taran Idnani (USCF 1651) - Jim West (USCF 2200), Rahway NJ 4/6/2013

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 f5 4.Nc3 fxe4 5.Nxe4 d5 6.Nxe5 dxe4 7.Qh5+ g6 8.Nxg6 Nf6 9.Qe5+ Kf7 10.Nxh8+ Kg7 11.Nf7 Kxf7 12.Bc4+ Kg7 13.Qg3+ Kh8 14.Bg5 Bg7 15.O-O Bf5 16.Qf4 Bg6 17.c3 Qd6 18.Qxd6 cxd6 19.f3 Nbd7

20.fxe4 Nxe4 21.Bf4 Nb6 22.Bd3 d5 23.Bxe4 Bxe4 24.Rae1 Rc8 25.Bg5 Kg8 26.Bf6 Rf8 27.Bxg7 Kxg7 28.Rxf8 Kxf8 29.b3 Bg6 30.Re6 Kf7 31.Re2 a5 32.Kf2 a4 33.Rb2 a3 34.Re2 Bd3 35.Re3 Bb1 36.Re2 Nd7 37.Kf3 Nf6

38.Re1 Bxa2 39.Ra1 Bxb3 40.Rxa3 Bc4 41.Kf4 Kg6 42.g4 Ne4 43.h4 h6 44.h5+ Kf6 45.Ra7 Nd6 46.Ra8 Ba6 47.Rg8 Nf7 48.Rg6+ Ke7 49.Rb6 Nd6 50.g5 hxg5+ 51.Kxg5 Bd3 52.Kh6 Nf5+ 53.Kg5 Nd6 54.Kh6 Nf5+ 55.Kh7 Nd6+ 56.Kh6 Nf5+ 57.Kh7 Nd6+ 58.Kh6, draw.

Pix from Marshall Game/60 3/31/2013

These pictures were taken by me on Sunday at the Marshall Chess Club.

Lev Zilbermintz Analyzes Soller Gambit

Candidate master Lev Zilbermintz [pictured] sends this annotated game from Saturday's game/45 tournament at Chess Mates.

Round Four: Soller Gambit

Juan Tica (USCF 2141) - Lev Zilbermintz (USCF 2094), Rahway NJ 3/30/2013

1.d4 e5 2.dxe5 Nc6 3.Nf3 f6! 

The Soller Gambit, introduced by Karl Soller of Germany circa 1950. It is like a Blackmar-Diemer Gambit in reverse.

4.e4

Surprisingly, Tica declines accepting the pawn.

4...fxe5 5.Bc4 Nf6 6.O-O d6 7.Ng5 Qe7 8.Bf7+ Kd8 9.Bb3 Ke8 10.Nc3 h6 11.Nd5 Qd8!

After the game, Tica told me that I played the same line against him last year. The game Tica-Zilbermintz, New Jersey 2012 continued 11...Nxd5?! 12.Qh5+!, and White soon won. The text move is an improvement.

12.Nxf6+ Qxf6 13.Nf7? 

Tica tries to attack but overextends himself. Safer was 13.Qh5+ g6 14.Qf3 Qxf3 15.Nxf3 Be7! =.

13...Rh7 14.f4 exf4! 15.e5 dxe5 16.Bxf4 exf4 17.Qh5 g6! 18.Rae1+ Be7 19.Rxf4 gxh5 20.Rxf6 Nd4 21.Rxh6 Rxh6 22.Nxh6 Nxb3 23.Ng8 Nc5 24.Nxe7 Be6 25.b4 Ke7 26.bxc5 Rd8

27.Re5 Rd5 28.Re2 Rxc5 29.Kf2 Kf6 30.a3 Rc3 31.Ke1 Rxa3 32.Kd2 Ra2 33.Kc3 Bf5 34.Rf2 Rxc2+! 35.Rxc2 Bxc2 36.Kxc2 c5 37.Kc3 b5 , White resigns.

My Spring Teaching Schedule

This is my spring teaching schedule, in the after school enrichment program on chess, conducted by Enrich and Grow Academy.

Monday: Fernbrook Elementary School in Randolph;

Wednesday: Collins Elementary School in Livingston;

Thursday: Center Grove Elementary School in Randolph;

Friday: Hilldale Elementary School in Montville. 

Chess Game of Shadows

Pictured are Jared Harris (Professor James Moriarty), director Guy Ritchie, and Robert Downey Jr. (Sherlock Holmes) from Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.

As shown above, the game starts with Professor Moriarty playing White.  Midway through, Sherlock Holmes takes charge of the white pieces, symbolizing the shift in power from Moriarty to Holmes in their chess game of shadows, based upon Larsen-Petrosian, Santa Monica 1966.

Sicilian Defense, Accelerated Fianchetto

Sherlock Holmes - James Moriarty, Switzerland 1891

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6 5.Be3 Bg7 6.c4 Nf6 7.Nc3 Ng4 8.Qxg4 Nxd4 9.Qd1 Ne6 10.Qd2 d6 11.Be2 Bd7 12.O-O O-O 13.Rad1 Bc6 14.Nd5 Re8 

15.f4 Nc7 16.f5 Na6 17.Bg4 Nc5 18.fxg6 hxg6 19.Qf2 Rf8 20.e5 Bxe5 21.Qh4 Bxd5 22.Rxd5 Ne6 23.Rf3 Bf6 24.Qh6 Bg7

25.Qxg6 fxg6 26.Bxe6+ Kh7 27.Rh3+ Bh6 28.Bxh6 Rf5 29.Rxf5 gxf5 30.Bf7 Qb6+ 31.Kh1 Qxb2 32.Bf8#.

Marshall Sunday Game/60 3/31/2013

On Sunday, I finished with a score of 2-1-1 in the game/60 tournament at the Marshall Chess Club.

Round Two: Philidor Counter Gambit

Brad Davis (USCF 1764) - Jim West (USCF 2204), Marshall Chess Club 3/31/2013

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 f5 4.dxe5 fxe4 5.Ng5 d5 6.c4 Bb4+ 7.Bd2 Qxg5 8.Bxb4 d4 9.Qxd4 Nc6 10.Qd2 e3 

11.fxe3 Nxb4 12.Qxb4 Qxe3+ 13.Be2 Qc1+ 14.Bd1 Qe3+ 15.Be2 Qc1+ 16.Bd1 Qe3+ 17.Be2, draw.

Secret Weapon

Revealed for the first time, this is Black's secret weapon in the Philidor Counter Gambit.

Don't forget what today's date is!