My Summer 2017 Teaching Schedule

                                                                                                                                                                                                    

This summer, I am scheduled to teach at two chess camps:

1) Joseph Kushner Hebrew Academy (July 10th through July 13th) for AlphaBEST Explorations;

2) Hudson Montessori School (July 24th, July 31st, August 7th) for 101 Discoveries.

Pix from FIDE Mondays 6/12/2017

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

Unrated Tourney in Montclair June 18th

The Montclair Cooperative School is hosting an unrated Swiss tournament on Sunday, June 18th.

FIDE Mondays 6/12/2017

On Monday evening, this game was played at the Marshall Chess Club.

Round Five: Sicilian Defense, Rossolimo Variation

Elias Stern-Rodriguez (USCF 2036) - Jim West (USCF 2206), Marshall Chess Club 6/12/2017

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Bd7 4.Bxd7+ Qxd7 5.c4 Nc6 6.d4 cxd4 7.Nxd4 Nf6 8.f3 g6 9.Be3 Bg7 10.O-O O-O 11.Nc3 Rfc8 12.b3 Qd8 13.Qd2 Qa5 14.Rfd1 a6

15.a4 Nxd4 16.Bxd4 Qb4 17.Rab1 e6 18.Kf1 Ne8 19.Ne2 Qxd2 20.Rxd2 Bxd4 21.Rxd4 Rab8 22.Nc3 Rc6 23.Rbd1 Rb6 24.Rb1 Rc6 25.Rbd1 Rb6 26.Rb1, draw.

West Orange CC Champion Jason Lu

Congratulations to 11-year-old Jason Lu [pictured, left], the 2017 West Orange Chess Club champion!

He is the youngest champion by far in the 40 year history of the WOCC championship.  First prize was split between Jason, Peter Radomskyj, and Lev Zilbermintz.  But there can be only one club champion.

After a champion wasn't determined in the first stage of the tiebreak playoff at game/100 with 5 second delay, Jason won the next stage at game/30 with 5 second delay against his two much more highly experienced opponents.

And this came the day after finishing second (tied for first, but finished second on tiebreaks) at the three day U.S. Amateur East tournament, including his sixth and final round game on Monday which he won in 6 hours and 13 minutes!

Once again congrats to 2017 WOCC champion Jason Lu on a phenomenal display of chess!

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.