Photos from Rahway Swiss 5/10/2014

At the Chess Mates blog, I have posted photos of Saturday's tournament.

Collins School Tournament, Spring 2014

On Wednesday, the spring 2014 session ended at Collins Elementary School in the after school enrichment class on chess, coached by me and expert Jeremy Glassman for Enrich and Grow Academy.

The tournament results are, as follows.  Eshaan Mahajan won top honors with 6 points.  Tied for second and third places, with 5 points, were Benjamin Sun and Lucas Zhu.  Sam Israel finished fourth, a half point behind Benjamin and Lucas.

Medals were given to all fifteen students.

Marshall Sunday Game/45 5/11/2014

On Sunday, I won a couple of King's Indian Defenses in the tournament at the Marshall Chess Club.

Round Two: King's Indian Defense, Petrosian Variation

Stephen Moss (USCF 1815) - Jim West (USCF 2200), Marshall Chess Club 5/11/2014

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.c4 Bg7 4.Nc3 O-O 5.e4 d6 6.Be2 e5 7.d5 Nbd7 8.h3 Nc5 9.Qc2 a5 10.Be3 Ne8 11.g4 f5

12.gxf5 gxf5 13.Bxc5 dxc5 14.Nd2 Nd6 15.Rh2 Kh8 16.O-O-O Bh6 17.Kb1 Bxd2 18.Qxd2 fxe4 19.Rg1 Bf5 20.Ka1 Rg8 21.Rg3 Qh4 22.Qe1 b6 23.Qg1 Rg6 24.Bg4 Rag8 25.Nb5 Bxg4 26.hxg4 Qe7 27.Nxd6 cxd6

28.Qg2 Qg5 29.Qxe4 Qc1+ 30.Qb1 Qxb1+ 31.Kxb1 Rxg4 32.Rgh3 R8g7 33.b3 Kg8 34.Kc2 a4 35.Rf3 a3 36.Kd2 Rg1 37.Rf6 R7g6 38.Rh6 Kg7 39.Rhxg6+ Rxg6 40.Rf3 Rg1 41.Kc3 Rc1+ 42.Kd2 Ra1

43.Rg3+ Kh8 44.Rf3 Rxa2+ 45.Kc3 Kg7 46.Rg3+ Kf7 47.Rf3+ Kg6 48.b4 Ra1 49.bxc5 bxc5 50.Kb3 Rc1 51.Kxa3 Rxc4 52.Rg3+ Kf7 53.Rh3 Kg7 54.Rd3 Rd4, White resigns.

          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

Round Four: King's Indian Defense, Exchange Variation

Mubassar Uddin (USCF 1949) - Jim West (USCF 2200), Marshall Chess Club 5/11/2014

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 O-O 6.Be2 e5 7.dxe5 dxe5 8.Qxd8 Rxd8 9.Bg5 Re8 10.Nd5 Nxd5 11.cxd5 c6 12.Bc4 cxd5 13.Bxd5 Nd7 14.Nd2 Nc5 15.O-O-O Be6 16.Bxe6 Nxe6 17.Be3 Nd4

18.Bxd4 exd4 19.f3 Rac8+ 20.Kb1 d3 21.Rc1 Bh6 22.Rxc8 Rxc8 23.Rc1 Rd8 24.Rd1 Kf8 25.Nb3 b6 26.Nc1 Bxc1 27.Kxc1 Rc8+ 28.Kd2 Rc2+ 29.Kxd3 Rxb2 30.Rd2 Rxd2+ 31.Kxd2 Ke7 32.Kd3 Kd6 33.Kd4 f6

34.f4 a6 35.Kc4 Ke6 36.h4 h5 37.a3 Kd6 38.Kb4 Kc6 39.Kc4 b5+ 40.Kd4 a5 41.e5 fxe5 42.fxe5 b4 43.axb4 axb4 44.Kc4 b3 45.Kxb3 Kd5 46.Kc3 Kxe5 47.Kd3 Kf4 48.Ke2 Kg3 49.Kf1 Kxh4 50.Kf2 Kg4

51.g3 Kh3 52.Kf3 g5 53.g4 h4 54.Kf2 Kxg4, White resigns.

IM Akshat Chandra at Marshall CC Tonight

The Marshall Chess Club presents 

International Master Akshat Chandra: 

“My First GM Norm.” 

IM Akshat Chandra began learning chess in 2009 and, in 2010, received a FIDE rating of 1548. By January 2013, he was awarded the FM title, as his rating had already crossed the 2300 FIDE mark. The IM title was soon to follow, in September 2013, as a result of his performance at the North American Youth Championship U18. 

Most recently, in April 2014, Chandra received his first grandmaster norm at the Marshall Chess Club’s GM Norm Invitational tournament. Despite being the lowest seeded competitor at the event, Chandra won the tournament outright with 6.5 points out of 9. 

In tonight’s lecture, Chandra will discuss key games of the tournament. 

Tuesday, May 13, 2014 

7:30pm 

Free and open to all 

Refreshments will be served. 

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

Rahway Swiss 5/10/2014

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

Score for Film "Pawn Sacrifice"

James Newton Howard [pictured] will score the biographical drama Pawn Sacrifice, starring Tobey Maguire as Bobby Fischer.

Pix from May Under 2300 5/4/2014

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

Tournament Results at Hillcrest School

On Thursday, the spring 2014 session concluded at Hillcrest Elementary School in the after school enrichment class on chess, coached by me on behalf of Enrich and Grow Academy.

Calum MacBain won the tournament, followed by David Vigilante in second place.  James Galant and Jason Meza tied for third and fourth places.

The thirteen students received medals.

NOOK Book: "40 Years of Friendship"

Three players from the Westfield Chess Club have written a NOOK book titled 40 Years of Friendship:100 Games of Chess.

Pix from Rahway Swiss 5/3/2014

At the Chess Mates blog, I have posted pictures from the 1st Saturday Swiss tournament, won by NM Sameer Mujumdar [pictured, left].

Chair and Chair Alike

In their 1972 world championship match, Boris Spassky demanded a chair just like Bobby Fischer's.

Marshall May Under 2300 5/4/2014

On Sunday, I played this game in the tournament at the Marshall Chess Club.

Round Five: French Defense, King's Indian Attack

Jim West (USCF 2218) - Grey Sheer (USCF 1715), Marshall Chess Club 5/4/2014

1.e4 e6 2.d3 d5 3.Nd2 Nf6 4.g3 c5 5.Bg2 Nc6 6.Ngf3 Bd6 7.O-O O-O 8.Re1 dxe4 9.dxe4 e5 10.c3 h6 11.Qc2 Qe7 12.a4 Be6 13.Bf1 Rac8 14.Nc4 Bb8

15.Nh4 Rfd8 16.Nf5 Qc7 17.Be3 Ne7 18.Rad1 Bxf5 19.exf5 Nfd5 20.Bh3 f6 21.Qe4 Nxe3 22.Nxe3 Qc6 23.Qc4+ Kh7 24.Bg2 Qb6 25.b3 Qc7 26.Be4 b6 27.g4 Rxd1 28.Rxd1 Rd8 29.Rxd8 Qxd8 30.Qf7 Bd6

31.g5 hxg5 32.Ng4 Nc8 33.Qh5+ Kg8 34.Bd5+ Kf8 35.Qf7#.