On Sunday, November 22nd, there will be a free, non-rated tournament in Paterson, NJ.
The time control & format are not listed on the official announcement (click it for a larger view) but the organizers told me it will be a G/25, 7-round Swiss with rounds at 10 a.m., 11 a.m., 12 noon, 1 p.m., 2 p.m., 3 p.m. & 4 p.m.
Disclaimer : The Chess Coroner and KCC are not involved with this event.
Daniel Stellwagen had fought bravely for 69 grueling moves. On move 70 the Dutch GM played the only rook move that lost him a drawn position. Azeri Vugar Gashimov seized the chance and won Gold for his team. Russia was second and Ukraine third. In the women’s section it was Russia ahead of Georgia on tiebreak points. Here, too, with Ukraine took Bronze. Final report.
Costigan – ShenThe New Jersey Knockouts gained sole possession of first place in the US Chess League Wednesday night by beating the Philadelphia Inventors 3.5-.5. With a tie for Boston and loss for Seattle, the Knockouts win the Eastern division and almost clinch the top ranking going into the playoffs (see Standings). With a win or draw next week, the Knockouts will have the best record in the USCL which means they get draw odds in the quarter- and semi-final matches and choice of color in the championship match.
I have annotated the games below, and you can download the PGN file.
GM Joel Benjamin returned to match play against GM Sergey Kudrin on Board One after his absence against Boston in Week 8. Benjamin has a perfect record against Kudrin, but playing Black on Board One he was amenable to a draw, so when Kudrin proposed it in an equal position (that was similar to positions they had contested to a draw twice before in tournament play over the years) Benjamin naturally accepted.
GM Boris Gulko continued his complete dominance of opponents by taking down FM Tommy Bartell on Board Two in just over 20 moves. Bartell never really seemed in the game, playing into an inferior line of the Queen’s Gambit Exchange Variation as Black and then making a number of inferior moves to allow a speedy Gulko victory. I have seen Bartell misplay this line before as White without getting punished. But against Gulko, the slightest misstep — especially as Black — can be fatal.
The most difficult game of the night was definitely the match-up of young Victor Shen and Richard Costigan on Board Three. Costigan played a slow and rather closed variation of the Torre Attack that is not known for excitement. But Shen made the mistake of opening the a-file for White, when he came under some pressure. White definitely had the initiative and attacking chances. Costigan struggled, however, with time pressure, which probably caused him to miss a winning line: in the diagram at the top of this post, it appears that White might be in trouble because his Knight is attacked and cannot move without hanging the Rook. But Costigan could have played 41.Qd3! (41.Qg3 is also strong) forcing 41…f5 (41…fxe5? 42.Qxg6+ and Rc7 mates) when simply 42.Rxe6 leaves him with a won game. Instead, Costigan sacrificed the Knight, which gave him chances also but he was not able to capitalize in time pressure. Meanwhile, Shen defended carefully and eventually found a way to break through for a winning attack of his own. A lucky break for New Jersey, though we fortunately did not need it with the success on the other boards.
On Board Four, Sean Finn continued his excellent play against USCF Online editor and WGM Jennifer Shahade, who clearly was not well prepared for their game, managing her clock poorly and getting in time trouble. Meanwhile, Finn played an excellent attacking game. Though he used a line against Black’s O’Kelley Sicilian frowned upon by theory (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 a6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 when Black can play e5 without having to face Nb5), he managed to get a clear advantage and eventually to develop a strong attack that he carried to victory with a number of impressively strong moves. I think we will be hearing a lot from this young man in the future. He had a chance at the upset prize but was beaten out by Amanda Mateer (who overcame a 300-point deficit on bottom board in Arizona’s stunning win against Seattle).
The Knockouts play the Queens Pioneers to finish out the season next Wednesday. If they win or draw, they will go into the playoffs with the best record in the League.
Related Links
Puerto Madryn is a city on the east coast of southern Argentina, in a geographical region known as Patagonia. In this remote place, where right whales and dolphins congregate, 84 of the most talented young players – under twenty years old – are playing for a prestigeous title. The girls’s section has 45 contestants. The official web site is unfortunately comprimised, but we have results and games.
What usually happens is that extra forces help the besieging army storm fortresses. But there is also the opposite case, when the presence of extra material actually saves the defending side, as in the present situation. If he did not have his rook, Black would be totally lost in the duel between White’s remaining rook and the black bishop. But White simply cannot force the exchange of rooks:
With one round to go in the European Team Championship Russia and Azerbaijan
are leading, two match points ahead of five teams in the follow-up group. In
the women’s section Russia and Georgia are leading, three points ahead of any
other rivals (best performance: Alexandra Kosteniuk). Playchess
will broadcast the two exciting struggles for Gold. Round seven and eight reports.
In “First in Chess, Now Sudoku; ‘Eugene Varshavsky’ Focus of Cheating Allegations” at the NPR website, Mark Memmott discusses how the same man at the center of “Cheating Accusations at the World Open” in Philadelphia recently won $3,000 at a Sudoku tournament in the same city (update: prizes are frozen pending review). There have been commercial Sudoku solving computers since 2007, and there are now inexpensive models on the market, including the Illuminated Mega Sudoku Puzzle Game (see picture) which retails for just over $30. You can probably even get one for your i-Phone. So such a scandal was inevitable. The shocking thing is that the same man was involved in both cases and probably will suffer no consequences. What’s next for Varshavsky? Checkers?
NM Scott Massey will be giving his lecture on “How To Improve at Chess” tonight at the Kenilworth Chess Club starting at 8:15 or 8:30 (depending upon when people arrive). Admission is $5 and non-members are welcome (at the same price). Hope you can attend.
…can completely change the evaluation of a position in one single moment. Here 34.Nc4xe5 had just been played,, and now Black inserted 34….g3 (diagram) in an attempt to deflect White’s queen and prevent his pawn d4 from being taken. What do you say on this?
A) good idea, 35.Qxg3 fxe5 is forced, reducing any black disadvantage to a minimum;
B) White has a trick with a discovered attack in the e-file;
C) Black jumps out of the frying pan into the fire since d4 is falling anyway.
The solution is here, but first ponder over it with a larger version of the diagram.
"I am slightly jealous of those considering the purchase of Fritz chess
software for the first time," writes Louis Lima. "They will find Fritz
12 a breeze to learn and navigate. Previous Fritz owners will find themselves
eagerly exploring the readily visible and accessible features. This is without
a doubt the most pleasing aspect I found in Fritz 12." Order
Fritz 12 now or read this review
in Chess Cafe.
Queen to Play, a French film (with English subtitles) where chess is portrayed as a means to personal fulfillment, is set to be released November 24th on DVD. When it premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in April, it was described by Genna Teranova as follows:
An inquisitive French Riviera hotel maid (Sandrine Bonnaire) becomes entranced by a vacationing couple (Jennifer Beals, Dominic Gould) as they play chess on the hotel balcony. Tired of her humdrum existence, she quickly cultivates her curiosity for the game into an obsession. Her working-class husband doesn’t share her fascination with the game, so she employs the help of the American expat and retired doctor (Kevin Kline) whose house she cleans a few times a week. As her passion for the game increases, her natural talent and hard work (done mostly in secret) lead her to a chance at a championship and a new shot at life.
Bob Basalla, take note. See reviews by Rene Rodriguez and Frank Scheck. Hat tip: Chess.com.
Last month we reported on the Women’s World Team Championship in Ningbo. An exciting event in a remote place. While most players just flew in and out, one, IM Irina Krush, first board of the US team, took time to look around. Irina travelled from Shanghai to Ningbo, Hangzhou and Guilin, enjoyed the countryside, met the people, tried the food and sent us a remarkable photo documentation.
First, at 20:00h CET, IM Merijn van Delft, the author of a new book on chess training, begins with a series of lectures on recent grandmaster games. At 9 p.m. ET (02:00 a.m. CET) FM Dennis Monokroussos takes a look at “high-level chess at its worst – real lowlights of the professional chess scene, with moves and other screw-ups you expect from club players.” Free for Premium members.
The Azeris, led by Teimour Radjabov, have won five matches and drawn one to take a two-point lead in the European Team Championship. In the women’s section Russia has caught Georgia, with both teams sharing a 10.0/12 point lead. The best performance so far in this event is by a Norwegian teenage grandmaster – and no, it is not Magnus Carlsen. Report on rounds four to six.
Chess is a suitable sport for many children and adults with an Autism Spectrum Disorder. Scientific research on this subject is lacking, also on an international level, but experience indicates that chess stimulates social, emotional and cognitive development. A new book, “Developing Chess Talent”, by Karel and IM Merijn van Delft, uses case histories to illustrate this assumption. Excerpts.
It will only bother you for a couple seconds that they have the chessboard set up wrong. Hat tip ALCHEssMIST.
Here’s a new angle on our beloved game: four players, who can strategically vary their starting position, and then play independently or join forces to capture the enemy kings. “Last man standing” is the winner. Originator Johnny M. Wahl says that this game is friendlier and more easily digestible than regular chess. He has enthusiastic videos to bear this out. Illustrated report.
For twelve years now Boris Kutin has ruled over the ECU. Now he is being challenged by a new candidate, the very dynamic President of the Turkish Chess Federation Ali Nihat Yazici, who will be up for election next year during the Olympiad in Khanty Mansiysk, Russia. “ANY” outlined his goals and presidential intention at his editorial campaign launch in Novi Sad.
The Editor of Chess
Notes investigates a further batch of discrepancies arising from game-scores. Three of them involve Capablanca (against S. Coleman, F.J. Marshall and T.H. Tylor), and two concern Alekhine
(against R. Réti and F. Reinfeld). For instance, regarding the famous game Réti v Alekhine, Baden-Baden, 1925 three versions of the score have been found. Can the truth be established?
US Chess League VP Arun Sharma recaps Week 8 action in the US Chess League at the USCF website and assesses the playoff scenarios. Meanwhile, the vote is in for Game of the Week, with New Jersey having two games (Gulko – Perelshteyn and Shen – Esserman) in the top three, but first place going to Bartholomew – Becerra (with its sustained kingside attack) from the Dallas vs. Miami match. New Jersey tops the charts in Bioniclime’s Week 8 Power Rankings (see above), while the incredible Boris Gulko is second only to Seattle’s Superman (from Smallville) Hikaru Nakamura in the Week 8 Player Ratings. See NJKO’s Boston Sweep Analyzed for more links and commentary. This looks more and more like New Jersey’s year.
Approximately 95% of the java-replays, zips & other files linked from posts 1-327 will be unavailable starting tomorrow, due to Geocities’ closing.
However, the PGN archives covering that period (September 2006-May 2008) can be downloaded from my sidebar.
It may take 4 or 5 weeks to re-up everything and revise the dead links because I also have to rebuild the Checkmate CC site and will be posting quite frequently.
Items to come include :
Also on the horizon are the Westfield Championship, Scott Massey’s lecture, my 2nd simul in Scotch Plains, the November GSCL matches and the Kenilworth Quads.
Once again modern communications technology struck: in the match Bulgaria vs England GM Alexander Delchev’s cellphone went off, leading to an immediate forfeit of the game (watch it on video!). Earlier a player had lost because he was not present at the board for the start of the game. After three rounds of the European Team Championship Serbia leads. Round three report.
“The situation is warming up and I’m getting excited!” writes GM Koneru Humpy, the world’s second strongest female player. “I know that Mr. Sundar is an old hand at playing chess, especially off the board. He has made his move, which was to be expected. But to my surprise he started with a gambit!!” Humpy replies to the press release of AICF President with a public debate challenge.
Certainly an unusual four-player double round robin. In this “Crown Group” all games but one were draw, so that the winner of that game, Dutch GM Sergei Tiviakov, came in first, and the loser, Judit Polgar, last. Vassily Ivanchuk and Anish Giri scored 50%. In the Univé Open English GM Steward Haslinger was first by a full point. Final report.
Certainly an unusual four-player double round robin. In this “Crown Group” all games but one were draw, so that the winner of that game, Dutch GM Sergei Tiviakov, came in first, and the loser, Judit Polgar, last. Vassily Ivanchuk and Anish Giri scored 50%. In the Univé Open English GM Steward Haslinger was first by a full point. Final report.