Archive for April, 2010

“Chess, first of all, is art.” — Mikhail Tal

“Beauty in chess is closer to beauty in poetry; the chess pieces are the block alphabet which shapes throughts, and these throughts, although making a visual design on the chessboard, express their beauty abstractly, like a poem. Actually, I believe that every chess player experiences a mixture of two aesthetic pleasures: first, the abstract image akin to the poetic idea of writing; secondly, the sensuous pleasure of the ideographic execution of that image on the chessboard. From my close contact with artists and chess players, I have come to the personal conclusion that while all artists are not chess players, all chess players are artists.” — Marcel Duchamp, August 30, 1952 address to the New York State Chess Association

 

“Chess is in its essence a game, in its form an art, and in its execution a science.” — Tassilo von Heydebrand und der Lasa

“Great chess games are breathtaking works of art.” — Stuart Rachels

“Chess resembles writing, painting and music in being an obsessional mental activity preoccupied with exploring tension and complication to resolve them to triumphant harmony.”  — Andrew Waterman, The Poetry of Chess

• Esserman – Sarkar, Miami Open 2008
• Esserman – Chandran, Eastern Class Championships 2010
• Esserman – Bartell, US Chess League 2009 (see also comments by GOTW judges and Mark Ginsburg)

Several of the other games discussed are not generally known and Esserman has asked that we keep them for our own secret use.  I will be continuing my series on the Smith-Morra (including some games from the simul) in coming weeks.

The father of long time club president and founding member Mike Wojcio passed away on Wednesday, April 14, 2010, at home, surrounded by his family. Michael Peter Wojcio, 98, of Kenilworth was predeceased by his wife of 66 years, Mrs. Helen Wojcio in August 2007. Mr. Wojcio was honored as the oldest living resident of Kenilworth and served as Grand Marshall of the Kenilworth Centennial Parade in 2007. According to his obituary, he “served in World War II as a sergeant with the Army Air Corps, as an Army photographer at Robbins Field, Georgia, and at other posts. Prior to his retirement in 1977, he was employed by Lee Fabrics in Newark for 20 years, then with United Counties Trust Company for 17 years.  Mr. Wojcio was an avid golfer at Galloping Hill Golf Course and played the Francis Coakley Memorial Tournament until he was 95. His foursome won it that year. He was a member of the Kenilworth Senior Citizens Club. Relatives and friends are kindly invited to attend his funeral on Saturday at 10 a.m. from the Opacity Funeral Home, 511 Washington Ave., Kenilworth, thence to St. Theresa’s R.C. Church for his Funeral Mass at 11 a.m. Interment is in Graceland Memorial Park. Visitation is today, Friday, from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. In lieu of flowers, contributions to the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2230, 33 S. 21st St., Kenilworth, N.J. 07033, would be appreciated.”

Continuing our series on the Smith-Morra Gambit, we consider the Finegold Defense as shown in the game Esserman – Finegold, ICC 2006.  The Finegold Defense (1.e4 c5 2.d4 cxd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Nxc3 d6 5.Nf3 e6 6.Bc4 Nf6 7.0-0 Be7 8 Qe2 a6), first described in Bob Ciaffone and Ben Finegold’s book Smith-Morra Gambit, Finegold Defense (Gameplayer 2000), presents a real challenge to the Smith-Morra player, not only because it can be reached by various move orders but because there are so few good examples of White’s play against the line — especially with what may well be White’s best plan, as recommended by Hannes Langrock: 9 e5! dxe5 10 Nxe5 0-0 11 Rd1 Nbd7 12 Bf4! (see diagram below).
 

Ciaffone himself endorses this line as likely White’s best try, though he says he has never faced it in a game.  If any readers have played games that reached this position, please send them my way!  Meanwhile, enjoy Esserman’s smashing example of one way to attack the Finegold, played against Finegold himself.

Remember: IM Marc Esserman will be giving a lecture on the Smith-Morra (that will feature some similar smashing games) at the Kenilworth Chess Club on April 15, 2010 (”Tax Day”) at 8:15 p.m.  The lecture is open to the public and admission is $10.