Western Chess

Delegates' Meeting, day 2

2010-08-08T09:04:00.000-07:00

9:05: Attempting to call the meeting to order, but no one can find Bill Hall, the Secretary.

9:06: Called to order, but I'm not sure who is keeping the minutes. Remaining Alarie motion, requiring appointed Delegates to "opt-in" -- confirm to the USCF that they know they've been appointed. Personally, I think it's a solution with no known problem, but since she saved us the trouble of voting down all her other motions, I suppose we can live with this. More debate than this really deserves. Passed.

9:20: Motion by Mike Atkins to suspend the rules to delay implementation of abolishing the 5-minute deduction. Steve Immitt in New York has apparently been haranguing everybody who will take his IMs, and we get to waste a lot of time on this to placate him. Lots of smoke and mirrors. Since I've spoken against this, it would be unfair for me to summarize everyone's argument. We're up to 9:45 now, no real progress. Several claims that the Delegates "didn't understand" what they voted on. I certainly did. Motion to delay passed implementation for a year. Idiots.

9:50: Back to regular order. Motion from the Governance Task Force to require "voter registration." Delegates are automatically registered. Registration to be limited otherwise to Life Members, continuous members for five years, and people who voted in 2009 and 2010. The point seems to be to reduce election costs. And, well, to discourage people who know nothing and vote at random (e.g. for Sloan or Sloan clone), from polluting the voting pool. Amendment to except 16-18-year-olds from the 5-year requirement. Lots of confusion as to what we're supposed to be debating. Failed. Amendment: for 2011 only, just Delegates who were present at the 2010 Annual Meeting would automatically get to vote. Withdrawn. We're up to 10:30 now, not a lot of progress. Amendment: Require registration but allow anyone over 16 to register. Lowest common denominator, but it wouldn't help all that much in trimming the fat. Lots of bafflegab about "disenfranchising." I'm getting a headache. 10:40: Tim Just calls the question, but since it hasn't been typed yet ... OK, it's up now. Question called. Amendment passed. Silly amendment by Larry Cohen to require Delegates and EB to register. Straw poll negative, withdrawn. Question called. Motion passed as amended.

10:50: Change requirements for nominations to require signatures of 50 voting members including 15 Delegates from 5 states. Filing fee not changed. Some technical changes about dates. Amendment: Allow petitions to be gathered starting July 1. Accepted as friendly. 11:05: Some confusion about what we're voting on, but question called and motion passed.

11:10: Changes in recall provisions. Fighting the last war. Probably harder on EB members. My nose bleeds for them. Passed,

11:13: Report but no motion on making the EB the BOD. This may come up again later, but I suspect it will get referred for another year.

11:15: Alarie sponsors Joe Lux's "No Confidence In EB" Motion. She's now repeating the same stuff as yesterday about the CAS arbitration and her "everything must be public" motion. Postponed indefinitely.

11:18: Recognize 25 years of the Denker tournament. Passed by acclamation.

11:23: Don't sell or outsource (most) National Scholastics. I don't like it, but I suppose the scholastic crowd (which doesn't include any, you know, scholastic players) will get their way. I suspect this will come back to bite them, but it's not my problem. Some tinkering with wording, then passed.

11:30: Motion to add "no 14H claims" to 14H with no requirements for advance notice. Motion to delete the new variation. (Rest of the motion is to revert to the version of 14H from last year.) Amendment failed. Main motion passed. Idiots (squared).

11:45: Add to the Denker, tournament for state junior high and elementary champions. (To be named "Barber Tournaments.") To committee(s) with the EB having authority to act. Some quibbling about junior high/middle school etc. Passed.

11:50: Goichberg -- FMs added to PPHBF eligibility. Passed.

11:55: Kuhns -- Adopt the FIDE rules on Chess960/Fischerrandom and add to the rules-change page. Refer to Rules Committee with authority to implement. Passed. Kuhns -- delete FIDE rules from the web page and just link to the FIDE web site. Passed.

12:02: Votes of thanks. Passed.

12:05: Adjournment.

Delegates' Meeting, day 1

2010-08-07T08:43:00.001-07:00

We'll again be liveblogging the USCF Annual Circus ... er, Delegates' Meeting in a few minutes. In theory it starts at 9, but in practice they are unlikely to finish calling the roll before 9:30. The agenda may be modified to discuss the FIDE election/CAS arbitration first (which will probably be protracted as everybody and his brother tries to speak), but we'll see in about 45 minutes.

9:10: After a sincere but slightly macabre ceremony in which each state was asked to name someone who died in the last year for a moment of silence, we are now going through the call of the roll. 9:20: We are told that a quorum is present, but they couldn't be bothered to give the number. (Later: subsequent votes show at least 69.)

9:23: Boilerplate motions. Mike Nolan appointed parliamentarian. 9:25: Now we're bickering about the exact order of motions on the advance agenda. Since the motions in question are losers, kinda pointless.

9:30: Rectifying motion from Winston, that what the Bylaws in the Delegates Cal say is really what the Delegates adopted last year. Or at least we all agree to say so. 9:32: Acceptance of election results. (Walters and Nietman elected, Sloan to the glue factory.) Some Polgar/Truong badinage from the chair, seems well received. Moving along well so far.

9:35: Ratification of EB actions. Should be pro forma. Donna Alarie is arguing against it, displaying her vast legal expertise. Passed, though not unanimously.

9:40: ED's report. He's starting with a hagiography of Jerry Hanken. I'll bite my tongue. 9:45: Still going on. Verbose and lachrymose. I wish Hall would get back to business. 9:50: Finally done with Hanken. Now Hall is telling anecdotes which seem to amount to "Things are better than last year." Unexeptionable but not very informative. OK, finally some specifics -- spending some money on hardware upgrades, getting new people will need better salaries and bennies (what s shock). Bill could spend his time better learning to be terse rather than listening to motivational speakers. Promise of "improved" web services, few specifics. Mention of making the web page "more like Facebook" (pardon me while I cringe). Importance of supporting local clubs, trite but true. Now he's talking about "standardizing training." Sounds like a move to central planning economy. Because, you know,that worked so well the last time it was tried. "Spare a moment to think about our staff. You have no idea what they have to put up with." Oh, I think we do.

10:05: Financial report, Bauer. "Last two years have been very difficult." Well, duh. We've learned to live within a budget, can't spend whatever we want. 10:15: Randy make the mistake of asking for questions from the floor, resulting in some time-wasting irrelevancies. ("Why wasn't there more publicity for the U.S. Open?" A fair question, but it has nothing to do with the budget.)

10:20: Budget. Let's hope we don't end up trying to rewrite it on the floor, as was often done in the past. Last year expenses came in under budget. We ended up with a small loss because of $111,000 in bad debt write-off. Budget for next year shows a surplus of $100,000 (~3%). Some technical stuff about handling scholarship prizes in future.

10:25: Motion to adopt the budget. Question on FIDE event income -- higher because of KCF donation for the Olympiad, washes out under expenses. Budget adopted.

10:30: Publications. After a brief mention of cows, Dan Lucas is using his time to praise his staff. I don't agree with everything he's saying, but his heart is in the right place. Loyalty to subordinates hasn't always been the USCF's strongest suit.

10:36: Phone call from Richard Conn to pitch the Karpov ticket and the CAS arbitration business. I'm sure he's a fine fellow, but I think the EB is making a mistake in pushing this. Hole, stop digging, etc.

10:50: Conn seems quite impressive, certainly an asset to the Karpov campaign. Interesting to note that Conn started as a Kasparov associate, but then K&K are now good buddies. Mutatis mutandis. The thing is, I doubt there's any significant support here for Ilyumzhinov, so it seems like preaching to the choir. I'd consider this a preemptive strike by the EB against the "revoke the POA" movement, but I doubt they could time Conn's call versus the agenda that closely.

10:55: Finally getting to the point, the CAS arbitration. He makes a decent case, but much of it amounts to "Kirsan is lawless, so we can and must use any weapon available." Plausible, but not a slam dunk. I'll reserve comment until the other side gets to speak.

11:10: I don't really disagree with much of what Conn has to say, but he's going on too long and is probably losing his audience. Don Schultz is prolonging things with some softball questions. Now Tim Redman is complaining about the length. Beatriz Marinello is demanding a chance to reply. This could get ugly.

11:15: Marinello is now speaking. I don't really want to summarize or comment, since my personal opinions of her are quite negative. In a general way, I suppose I blame the chairman for letting this get out of control. Beatriz now seems to be arguing that a) Kirsan is going to win so there's no point in opposing him (resistance is futile?), and b) the incumbent faction has a track record (won't that always be the case?)

11:20: Motion to limit "reports" to 10 minutes

11:21: Chess Trust. Hall of Fame will soon reopen in St. Louis. Assorted CT actions. Request for donations, can be earmarked for the Olympiad.

11:25: FIDE Delegate/International Affairs, Khodarkovsky. 80 people will be going to the World Youth, including coaches and parents. I hope the USCF isn't paying for them all. Olympiad: Conditions in Siberia will not be good. The three hotels the locals promised to build aren't there. Suggestion that the players bring their own food from home. FIDE Presidential Board meeting -- agenda wasn't published, no minutes. Candidates match Topalov-Kamsky moved to Russia, Topalov may refuse to play, be replaced by a Russian. Kamsky might then appeal to CAS. Round and round we go. Another mistake, asking for questions. Couple of dumb and pointless ones from the usual suspects.

11:38: Election of Delegate-appointed committees. Should be routine. Bylaws: Alarie out, replaced by Ken Ballou. Elections: Mike Nolan stepping down as chair, committee to choose its own. Audit: Perks out, Mike Carr added. Ethics: add Harold Stenzel, Roger Gottschall. LMA: Perks out. Add Allan Priest, Steve Doyle.

11:47: Hall of Fame Committee: DelCall left out two of the HOF inductees, Herman Steiner and Jackson Showalter. Now Don Schultz is complaining about, well, everything. Since there's an awards luncheon at noon, we'll presumably shut this off soon.

11:53: Recess until 2 p.m.

2:05: People finally straggling in from the protracted awards luncheon. No telling when we'll get started again.

2:15: Still no sign of the President or most of the officers.

2:25: The Board members have surfaced, and we're about to get started.

2:29: Rules Committee, Kuhns. Naturally, not in writing. This will take a while. I hope we can figure out what we're supposed to be voting on. 1) Confusing formula for redistributing prize money when a player is limited in how much he can win. Passed. 2) Allow G/25 with delay to be regular-rated, and eliminate deduction for time delay. Motion to divide the question, Passed. a) Eliminate 5-minute deduction option for time delay. Passed. (Effective 1 Jan.) b) Allow G/25 w/delay to be regular-rated. Failed. 3) Late arrival -- reduce time for forfeit from one hour to 30 minutes. Failed, 32-37. 4) Abolish 28T, which allows tinkering with pairings to get players norms or FIDE ratings. Passed. 5) No Quick rating with less than G/5. Already the rule, just a reminder.

3:13: Old Business. Winston, continue promotional membership. No one's going to object to this, can't we just pass it? Passed.

3:15: Bylaws, Winston. 10-09. Replacement of absent Delegates. Delegates not present at 9:30 may be replaced by the State Chapter; the replacement serves the rest of the term. If the absent Del sends notice that he/she will be late, he/she can have until 2 p.m. Winston presented a written opinion from our Illinois attorney that this will be fine. Passed.

3:20 10-10, 501c3 status. This has been kicking around for years. Looks like we'll finally get a vote. Quibbles about legal language. Passed. Of course, that doesn't mean that the IRS will approve it.

3:38: 10-11, Camaratta, abolish OMOV. I sympathize, though I don't care for all his details. The workshop split down the middle on everything except postponing the motion for a year. Postponed.

3:36: 10-12 (determine sites for 2011 & 2012 US Opens early), tabled. 10-13, suspend requirement for one game a day in a 12-round U.S. Open. Extensive debate despite the fact that 12-rounders probably died with Hanken. Failed. 10-14, require continuous USCF membership of EB members. Well, duh. Passed.

3:50: 10-15, Committee chairs get special status. Bylaws workshop hated it. Rationale by someone I won't name sounds like sheer paranoia (have outsiders at closed sessions "to make sure they're not doing anything illegal.") Camaratta, one of the sponsors, says he just wanted the Board to tell the Delegates why they overrule a Committee. Withdrawn after debate.

3:57: Technical change of term limit from 8 years to 9 years. Passed.

4:01: New business. Motion by Don Schultz from the Membership meeting to endorse the Power of Attorney and participation in the CAS arbitration. Motion to amend by Ken Ballou to exactly the opposite. It's going to be a long afternoon.

4:15: I'm not going to summarize every speaker. No one has had anything at all original to say. (Con: USCF participation was not essential, Karpov isn't all that much better than Kirsan, Litigation is a dirty word, Pro: Kirsan is Bad, we need to support Karpov, backing out now -- even if the initial action was a mistake -- would hurt Karpov and help Ilyumzhinov.) Stay tuned.

4:28: Some of the Delegates started complaining that they didn't know what the case is about, so the lawyer from Case and White is explaining it in very general terms. People keep threatening to demand a closed session so we can get more details. We'll be here forever if that happens.

4:38: Substitution defeated. Schultz motion passed.

4:40: Bunch of motions to clean up the DACIs by deleting obsolete ones. Wonder if anyone will insist on debating them? Passed, after only a little time-wasting.

4:50: Cohen, detailed micromanagement of state chapters. Referred to States Committee.

4:59: 10-22, raise dues for 2- and 3-year memberships. Passed.

5:00: Bunch of Donna Alarie motions, all withdrawn.

5:00: Recess until 9 a.m. Sunday.

USCF Election: Doomsday postponed

2010-07-21T17:32:00.000-07:00

On July 21, ballots were counted in Crossville for the USCF special election to fill two one-year terms on the Executive Board. Results were: Mike Nietman 1517, Gary Walters 1472, and the unspeakable Sam Sloan 693. So Nietman and Walters are elected, and Sloan goes back under his rock.

Beauty is truth ...

2010-07-18T01:54:00.000-07:00

The competitive side of chess is not the only one there is. Players who have never pushed a pawn in anger can still enjoy the art of chess, through the realm of composition.

There are two basic types of composed positions. In problems, the player must mate in a specifed number of moves. The positions are often rather unlikely from a practical point of view, but the "themes" -- blocking, interference, attraction -- can be quite impressive.

Studies, on the other hand, set a task, to win or draw, and are usually more "gamelike." Endgame studies have only a few pieces on the board, and feature subtle maneuvering. More complicated studies often resemble middlegames, and illustrate such tactical ideas as diversion and overloading.

The study above, first published in Deutsche Schachzeitung in 1914, was composed by the great A. A. Troitzky, one of the giants of the field. It illustrates the theme of domination --
though it seems Black has the whole board to roam, his King and Queen will be forced into a fork.

The solution begins with the improbable 1. Rb7!. Now if 1. ... Qxb7, 2. Nd6+ picks up the Queen, as is also the case on 1. ... Qc8 or 1. ... Qe8. The try 1. ... Qf8 fails to 2. Ne5+ Kc5 3. Nd7+, and 1. ... Qa8 2. Ne5+ is similar -- 2. ... Kc5 3. Rb8! Qxb8 4. Nd7+. So only 1. ... Qg8 remains, and after 2. Ne5+ Kc5 3. Rb8, the Queen seems to escape with 3. ... Qh7. Then comes the final point: 4. b4+ Kd6 5. Rh8!, and Black is brought to bay -- 5. ... Qxh8 6. Nf7+, and White wins. It would never have occurred in a game, but the game is richer for it.

PSW final

2010-07-07T04:22:00.000-07:00

Prize Winners

Open
1st: GM Melikset Khachiyan, 5½-½; 2nd: IM Tim Taylor, 5-1; 3rd-4th: IM Jack Peters, Christian Tanaka, 4½-1½; 5th: Yian Liou, Konstantin Kavutskiy, Takashi Kurosaki, 4-2; U2200: Joshua Gutman, 4½-1½; 2-3 U2200: Vincent Huang, Eric Zhang, 4-2, U2000: Dennis Saccuzzo, 3½-2½; 2nd-3rd U2000: Cheston Gunawan, Alicia Bolm, Numan Abdul-Majeeb, 3-3

Amateur
1st: Alfred Ong, 5½-½; 2-3: Michael Chaney, Robert Barker, 4½-1½; U1600: Chantelle Field, 4-2; 2-3 U1600: Cijo Paul, Annie Wang, Jerry Qu, 3-3; U1400: Leo Creger, 4-2; 2-3 U1400: Aman Madhav, James Holder, 3-3; U1200: Young Hong, Gia Peterson, 2-4; Unrated: Bhanu Narayana, 5-1.

Scholastic Open: Karl Tolentino, 5-0. Scholastic Reserve: Brian Santoso, 4½-½.

Hex 1: Alexander Pearson, 3-0; Hex 2: Stephanie Shao, 3-0.

Pacific Southwest Open, day 3

2010-07-05T17:05:00.000-07:00

As we enter the final stretch, GM Melikset Khachiyan remains in the lead with 4.5/5, after drawing with young master Yian Liou (see photo). In the final round Khachiyan will face High School star Vincent Huang, while Liou will meet IM Tim Taylor on board 2. In the U1800 section, Alfred Ong stands alone in first with 5-0, though three players have a chance to cath up. Click here for complete standings.

Pacific Southwest Open, day 2

2010-07-04T23:53:00.000-07:00

With all schedules merged, GM Melikset Khachiyan leads the field with 4-0. A surprising 2nd is young master Yian Liou with 3.5, who will face Khachiyan in round 5. In the Amateur section, Alfred Ong leads with 4-0, followed by Brian Glover and Michael Chaney (who took byes in the last two rounds) on 3.5. In the one-day Scholastics, Karl Tolentino scored 5-0 in the Open, and Brian Santoso topped the Reserve with 4.5. Click here for standings, or here for round 5 pairings,

Pacific Southwest Open, day 1

2010-07-03T20:50:00.000-07:00

The 3-day schedule of the 50th Annual Pacific Southwest Open is under way with 56 players. Another 30 or so are expected to join the 2-schedule tomorrow, including (probably) top-rated GM Melikset Khachiyan, Standings will be posted here, and pairings (as time permits) here.

Cheston Gunawan - IM Tim Taylor

[C58] Two Knights Defense

Pacific Southwest Open, round 1

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5 Na5 6.Bb5+ c6 7.dxc6 bxc6 8.Bd3 Bc5 9.0–0 0–0 10.Nc3 Bb6 11.Be2 Nd5 12.d3 Nb7 13.Bf3 h6 14.Nge4 f5 15.Ng3 Be6 16.Re1 Bc7 17.Nf1 Qf6 18.Qe2 Rae8 19.g3 Nc5 20.Bg2 e4 21.Nxd5 cxd5 22.d4 Nd7 23.c3 f4 24.Bxf4 Bxf4 25.gxf4 Qh4 26.Ne3 Rxf4 27.f3 Nf6 28.Rf1 Qg5 29.Kh1 Rh4 30.f4 Qg3 31.Kg1 Qxh2+ 32.Kf2 Ng4+ 33.Nxg4 Rxg4 34.Rg1 Qg3+ 35.Kf1 Rxf4+ 0–1

USCF Election: Vote we must if vote we can

2010-06-05T23:26:00.000-07:00

By this time most members should have received ballots for the USCF special election, wrapped around the June Chess Life. The election is to choose two Board members to fil out the remaining year of ousted EB members Susan Polgar and Paul Truong. Three people are running. Two of them are worth voting for.

Mike Nietman is a long-time organizer from Wisconsin. I don't know him well, but those who do speak highly of him. He is best know as a scholastic person, which is not a plus in my book, but not disqualifying either. He impressed me last year in Indianapolis by trying to wrest control of the U.S. Open from the iron grip of the USCF office and return it to the local organizers where it belongs. Recommended.

Gary Walters is a successful attorney, a strong and active postal player, and a fairly active OTB player (Class A) when his schedule permits. He has an excellent chess blog, which to his credit has only rarely mentioned the campaign. During the Polgar upleasantness, his comments on the USCF Forums were unusual in displaying both understanding of the issues and common sense. Recommended.

The Other Candidate -- whose name I won't mention, but it rhymes with "groan" -- has run for the Board at every opportunity for the last two or three decades. Before OMOV -- when the voters actually knew who and what he was -- he generally had trouble breaking into two figures. (And I have a nasty suspicion that most of those were because the USCF refused to count votes for Donald and Mickey.) But every nut has a hard kernel, and in 2006, an off-year election when few were paying attention and three other candidates split the sane-people vote, he earned a one-year term. He accomplished a lot in a year -- drove away sponsors, provoked lawsuits, and made the USCF a source of innocent merriment to the world. A few of his supporters who are again allowed to hold pointed objects have written that he'd tell us what's happening in the USCF. No doubt he would. Whether it actually happened or not. When pigs fly.

Please vote. Every ballot not cast increases the chance that Other Candidate and his cadre of crackpots might slip through. That would be Very Bad for the USCF.

Memorial Day Classic, day 2

2010-05-23T17:41:00.000-07:00

As the final round begins, John Daniel Bryant and IM Jack Peters face off on Board 1 with 3.5/4. On Board 2, IM Tim Taylor, also with 3.5, seeks to hold off IM Enrico Sevillano with 3. Julian Landaw and Alex Kretchetov round out the list of contenders with 3-1. Top-ranked IM Andranik Matikozyan withdrew after losses to Bryant and Gregg Small. Standings are posted here, and will be updated as sections finish.

IM Enrico Sevillano (2542) – Julian Landaw (2322) [C54]

Lina Grumette Memorial Day Classic (2), 22.05.2010

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d4 exd4 6.cxd4 Bb4+ 7.Nc3 Nxe4 8.0–0 Bxc3 9.d5 Bf6 10.Re1 Ne7 11.Rxe4 d6 12.Bg5 Bxg5 13.Nxg5 0–0 14.Nxh7 Kxh7 15.Qh5+ Kg8 16.Rh4 f5 17.Be2 Bd7 18.Qh7+ Kf7 19.Rh6 Rg8 20.Bh5+ Kf8 21.Rf6+ 1–0

Lina Grumette Memorial Day Classic

2010-05-22T18:18:00.000-07:00

After the merge, four players share the lead with 2-0: IMs Enrico Sevillano, Andranik Matikozyan and Jack Peters, and Senior Master John Bryant. In round 3, Peters faces Sevillano and Matikozyan battles Bryant. Standings will be posted throughout the tournament, and pairings will be posted here as time permits.

John Daniel Bryant (2444) – IM Andranik Matikozyan (2564) [B24]

Lina Grumette Memorial Day Classic (3), 22.05.2010

1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.d3 Rb8 6.f4 b5 7.e5 Bb7 8.Be3 d6 9.Qe2 dxe5 10.fxe5 Nd4 11.Bxd4 Bxg2 12.Qxg2 cxd4 13.Qc6+ Kf8 14.Ne4 Bxe5 15.Nf3 Bg7 16.0–0 Qb6 17.Qd5 e6 18.Qd7 Rd8 19.Ne5 Rxd7 20.Nxd7+ Ke7 21.Nxb6 axb6 22.a4 1–0

Western Pacific Open, day 2

2010-04-24T18:43:00.000-07:00

With all sections merged, the total is 86 players, including 2 GMs and six IMs. Four p[erfct scores remain after two rounds: Ramirez and Sevillano battle on board 1, while Shankland and Stopa face of on board 2. We will post standings and pairings throughout the weekend as available.

IM Jack Peters (2413) – Luke Harmon-Vellotti (2092) [C04]
Western Pacific Open Los Angeles (3), 24.04.2010
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 Nc6 4.Ngf3 Nf6 5.e5 Nd7 6.Be2 f6 7.exf6 Qxf6 8.Nf1 Bd6 9.Ne3 0–0 10.0–0 Qg6 11.c4 Nf6 12.c5 Be7 13.b3 Nd7 14.Bb2 Nd8 15.Bd3 Qe8 16.Re1 c6 17.Ng4 Qh5 18.h3 b6 19.Nfe5 Nxe5 20.Rxe5 Qe8 21.Qc2 g6 22.Rae1 Bf6 23.Bc1 Bg7 24.Bh6 Nf7 25.Bxg6 hxg6 26.Nf6+ Kh8 27.Qxg6 1–0

Garush Manukyan (2359) - GM Melikset Khachiyan(2619) [E05]
Western Pacific Open Los Angeles (3), 24.04.2010
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2 Be7 5.0–0 0–0 6.c4 dxc4 7.Nc3 Nc6 8.e3 Rb8 9.Nd2 Na5 10.Qa4 b6 11.Nxc4 Bd7 0–1

Indra Lahiri (1966) – Leo Kamgar (1713)]
Western Pacific Open Los Angeles (3), 24.04.2010
1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 c6 4.0–0 Bf5 5.d4 e6 6.c3 Bd6 7.Nbd2 h6 8.Re1 Ne4 9.Nh4 Bh7 10.Nxe4 dxe4 11.Bh1 Qc7 12.Ng2 Nd7 13.c4 g5 14.d5 e5 15.Bd2 c5 16.a3 0–0–0 17.b4 f5 18.bxc5 Nxc5 19.Bb4 Rhg8 20.Bxc5 Bxc5 21.e3 Rdf8 22.Re2 f4 23.Rd2 Qd6 24.Rb1 f3 25.Ne1 h5 26.Qb3 Rf7 27.Rdb2 h4 28.Qc3 b6 29.a4 a5 30.Nc2 Bf5 31.Na1 hxg3 32.hxg3 Rh7 33.Rxb6 Bxb6 34.c5 Rgh8 35.cxd6+ Kd8 36.Bg2 Rh2 37.Kf1 Rh1+ 0–1

Western Pacific Open, day 1

2010-04-23T20:02:00.000-07:00

Though attendance is a bit low, especially in the bottom section, the 10th Annual Western Pacific Open can boast of two GMs (Melikset Khachiyan and Alejandro Ramirez, pictured) and six IMs (Enrico Sevillano, Sam Shankland, Jack Peters and Tim Taylor, currently playing, and Jacek Stopa and Andranik Matikozyan, who will join the 2-day schedule tomorrow). Standings and games will be posted throughout the weekend, possibly pairings as well if time permits.

At odds

2010-03-18T06:26:00.000-07:00

The practice of playing games "at odds" has more or less died out. A pity, really; removing a Knight or Rook from the board before the first move can allow a competitive contest between players of vastly different strength. Of course, this was one of the reasons for its popularity a century ago, for the range of playing ability between master and amateur was usually enormous.

Several kinds of odds were popular then. First, odds of pawn (remove White's f-pawn), followed by pawn and move (remove Black's f-pawn) and pawn and two (the same, but give White two initial moves). Some argued that this was a greater advantage than odds of Knight (remove White's Knight from b1), though there was not much doubt about Rook or Queen odds, which could only be given by the very strong -- or to the very weak. A few other odds were occasionally conceded, but the only one much remembered is that of capped piece -- the master would give odds of naming the piece with which he must give mate, leaving him with, in effect, two Kings. In one extreme example, James Mortimer gave odds of capped f-pawn; the game, unfortunately, is long and rather dull.

Here is an example of the sort of play seen in odds games: Morphy-Maurian, New Orleans 1857

(Remove White's Queen Knight)

1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4

With the King's Gambit, White offers a pawn for rapid development and an open file.

3. Nf3 g5 4. Bc4 g4 5. d4 gxf3 6. Qxf3 d5 7. Bxd5 c6 8. Bxf7+ Kxf7 9. Qh5+ Kg7 10. Bxf4 Be7

At last Black develops something, but the White Rook is ready to join the battle.

11. O-O Qxd4+ 12. Na3 a6 13. Kh1 Qxe4 14. Rae1

The advantage of giving odds! If White's Knight were still at b1, Black might be able to defend.

14. ... Qg6

(diagram)

15. Rxe7+ Kf8

Black cannot play 15. ... Nxe7, for then 16. Bh6+ leads to mate -- 16. ... Qxh6 17. Qf7 mate, or 16. ... Kg8 17. Rf8 mate.

16. Bd6+, Black resigns

For Black is mated after 16. ... Nf6 17. Rxf6+ Qxf6 18. Qe8.

War of words

2010-03-04T03:13:00.000-08:00

"I tried to fianchetto, but his zwischenzug put me in zugzwang until he made a fingerfehler leaving his Queen en prise."

Conversation overheard at a chess club. It's not exactly in English, but then it's not quite in any other language either. If you want to blend in with the crowd, you'll have to learn to talk Chess.

En prise is an easy one; this French phrase means "in take," that is, undefended and subject to capture. If you leave a piece en prise, you have probably made a fingerfehler, or "slip of the finger"; the implication of this German word is that your hand acted without orders from the brain, and must take full responsibility.

Also from the German, come zwischenzug and zugzwang. The former means "in-between move": you capture one of your opponent's pawns, but rather than recapture at once, he takes your Queen "in between." Zugzwang is a bit more complicated. It translates as "move-compulsion," and refers to a situation in which a player loses only because he must make a move -- all the threats are defended, but a player may not "pass."

Fianchetto crept in from Italian, meaning "on the flank." This refers to a Bishop developed at g2 or b2 (or g7 or b7). Other Italian loan-words are Giuoco Piano ("quiet game"), an old opening, and (surprisingly) gambit, from a wrestling term meaning to trip up one's opponent.

And then there is Amaurosis schachistica, coined by Dr. Tarrasch. This pseudo-Latin term refers to a disease many suffer but few can cure: chess blindness.

Solution: Black's active Knights carry the day after 1. ... Qf3!. In view of the threat of mate on g2, White must capture, but after 2. gxf3 Nexf3+ 3. Kh1 Bh3, there is no defense to 4. ... Bg2 mate. Andruet-Spassky, Coblentz 1988.

USATW final

2010-02-18T00:50:00.000-08:00

The 27th Annual UI.S. Amateur Team West, held at the Warner Center Marriott in Woodland Hills February 13-15, had a good turnout of 48 teams, with 40 more in the one-day Scholastic Section. First place, and a trip to the playoff with the other three regional winners, went to Team OC, with Alexandre Kretchetov, Takashi Iwamoto, Ilia Serpik and Leo Kamgar. Matching their score of 5.5 but losing out on tiebreak, were ACA: 64 Square Modern Warfare (Vadim Kudryavtsev, Christian Tanaka, Jared Tan and Eric Zhang). The Scholastic section went to We are BEYOND just beating you, on tiebrak over … well, another team from IM Kongliang Deng's "Beyond Chess," BEYOND Chess kids.

Complete standings are posted at www.westernchess.com/atw10/standings.html. John Hillery directed, with assistance from Tom Langland, Anthony Ong, and Kenneth Poole.

1st: Team OC (Alexandre Kretchetov, Takashi Iwamoto, Ilia Serpik, Leo Kamgar), 5.5 (TB)
2nd: ACA: 64 Square Modern Warfare (Vadim Kudryavtsev, Christian Tanaka, Jared Tan, Eric Zhang), 5.5
3rd: Fourclosers (Ron Hermansen, Alessandro Steinfl, Tim Hanks, Jeffrey Cohen) 5-1
U2100: Look BEYOND what you see (rated 1880!)
U2000: Three Knights and a Queen
U1800: Temple City High School
U1600: Cloudy With a Chance of Meaterial
U1400: Chess Palace
College: Trojans Drink Jack Danyuls
Industrial: Northrop Grumman Advantage in Space
Senior: (over age 50): Tea Party for Five
Junior: Two and a Half Asians
High School: University High School

Board Prizes
1) Enrico Sevillano, 5
2) Andranik Matikozyan, 5.5
3) Michael Brown, 5.5
4) Eric Zhang, 6
Alternate: Ezekiel Liu, 4

(Photo courtesy of Takashi Iwamoto.)

Amateur Team West, day 2

2010-02-14T20:39:00.000-08:00

After three rounds, four teams have perfect scores: Team OC, 64 Square Modern Warfare, Pawns on the Ground, and Please Wait (they hope to have a new name soon). No games have been submitted yet, but hear are some photos. We will continue to post standings and pairings as available. Tomorrow will be a bit hectic, as the scholastic tournament (at least 38 more teams) will join the action

U.S. Amateur Team West, day 1

2010-02-13T22:32:00.000-08:00

The 27th Annual U.S. Amateur Team West off to a good start at the Warner Center Marriott. Forty-eight teams (up 4 from last year) and more than 200 players are competing. Advance entries for Monday's Scholastic Amateur team are also promising (8, close to the record of 40). Standings will be posted throughout the weekend, and perhaps some games and photos as well.

Westwood Winter Open

2010-01-31T12:30:00.000-08:00

The Westwood Winter Open, ninth in the series of one-day events at the LA Chess Club, had a good turnout of 46, led by GM Melikset Khachiyan and IM Tim Taylor. Standings will be posted throughout the day, and possibly a few games and photos if time permits.

Robert Akopian – IM Tim Taylor [C75]

Westwood Winter Open, 31.01.2010

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 d6 5.0–0 Bd7 6.c3 Nge7 7.d4 Ng6 8.d5 Nb8 9.Bxd7+ Nxd7 10.c4 Be7 11.Nc3 h6 12.Bd2 Bg5 13.Nxg5 hxg5 14.g3 Nf6 15.Bxg5 Qd7 16.f3 0–0–0 17.Rf2 Rh5 18.Be3 Rdh8 19.b4 Qh3 20.Ne2 Ne8 21.c5 f5 22.Qf1 fxe4 23.fxe4 Nf6 24.cxd6 Qxf1+ 25.Raxf1 Nxe4 26.Rf7 Nxd6 27.Rxg7 Rxh2 28.Rc1 Rh1+ 29.Kg2 R8h2+ 30.Kf3 e4+ 31.Kg4 Ne5+ 32.Kg5 Rh5+ 33.Kf6 Ne8+ 0–1

Say not the struggle naught availeth ...

2010-01-22T15:54:00.000-08:00

Good news for a change: the tangle of lawsuits between and among Susan Polgar, the USCF, assorted EB members and others is over. A settlement has been reached and a "Stipulation of Dismissal with Prejudice" has been submitted to the court. Regardless of who is to blame, the lawsuits have been a disaster for all parties, and ending them should be met with rejoicing by all except a few revanchists anxious to pursue a crusade with other peoples' money.

For the full text of the court filing, click here.

The Write Stuff

2010-01-20T16:59:00.000-08:00

Want to start a chess library? You have a lot to choose from. It has been estimated that more books have been written about chess than about all other games combined.

A good place to start is Lasker's Manual of Chess, by Emanuel Lasker. Written by the philosopher-champion who held the title for 27 years, this old favorite gives a good basic introduction, chapters on combinations and planning, and some common-sense opening analysis. If the philosophizing gets too thick, skip to the games.

For opening study, multi-volume tomes can wait until you're a master. Ideas Behind the Chess Openings, by Reuben Fine, emphasizes understanding rather than memorization. Modern ideas about the middlegame are best learned from the source, My System by Aron Nimzovich. And the endgame need not be a mystery: try Chess Endings -- Essential Knowledge, by Yuri Averbakh.

Game collections should be the heart of any player's library. The best players are not always the best writers, but four world champions stand out -- My Best Games of Chess by Alexander Alekhine, 100 Selected Games by Mikhail Botvinnik, My 60 Memorable Games by Bobby Fischer, and, if you have the time and money, the multi-volume My Great Predecessors series by Gary Kasparov. (Some have suggested it be called My Predecessors Who Were Almost As Great As I Am, but that's another story.) Anthologies are legion, but two of the best are 500 Master Games by the witty and erudite Savielly Tartakover, and Masters of the Chessboard, from the great theoretician Richard Reti.

And for fun? Look up The Even More Complete Chess Addict by Mike Fox and Richard James. This collection of games and anecdotes, lists and lore, belongs on every true addict's bookshelf.

Diagram: White combines the motifs of discovered attack and the intermediate move to win a piece: 1. e6! Nxd4 (Much the same comes of 1. ... Bxd4, while 1. ... fxe6 or 1. ... Qxe6 2. Qxg7 wins easily) 2. exd7+! Kxd7 3. Nexd4. Zeller-van Parreren, Hastings 1979.

Dividing Line

2010-01-17T15:48:00.000-08:00

Instructional books will tell you that an advanced pawn may become weak in an endgame. But in the middlegame, it is a different story. A strong advanced pawn can cut the enemy position in two, and defending pieces are of little use if they cannot reach the
threatened sector.

An example is Richter-Engels, Bad Saarow 1937:

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Be2 Nc6 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 Nf6 6. Nc3 g6 7. 0-0 Bg7 8. Be3 0-0 9. Qd2

White commits himself to giving up one of his Bishops for a Knight, but he will gain time to begin his attack.

9. ... Ng4 10. Bxg4 Bxg4 11. f4

White threatened 12. f5, followed by 13. h3 and 14. g4, trapping the Bishop.

11. ... Bd7 12. Rad1 Rc8 13. Qf2 Na5 14. f5 Nc4 15. Nd5 Nxe3

Two Knights against two Bishops, and in an open position -- but the Knights have taken up strong posts in the center, and they will not be easy to dislodge.

16. Qxe3 Re8

Black cannot afford to go pawn-hunting with 16. ... Bxd4 17. Rxd4 Rxc2, since 18. Qh6! sets up the dual threats of 19. Nxe7+ Qxe7 20. f6, and 19. e5 followed by 20. Rh4. A bit better than the game would be 16. ... e6, but White has a big edge after 17. f6 exd5 18.
fxg7 Kxg7 19. exd5.

17. Qf2 e6 18. Ne3 Kh8 19. f6 Bf8 20. e5!

White wants to bring his Knight from d4 to g5 via f3, without losing the f6-pawn. With the opening of the d-file, the White Rook joins the battle, and the Black Queenside pieces will be spectators for the rest of the game.

20. ... dxe5 21. Nf3 Qc7 22. Ng5 Kg8 (diagram) 23. Nxh7!

White begins an elegant mating combination, based on the thorn at f6.

23. ... Kxh7 24. Qh4+ Kg8 25. Rf3!

Black is defenseless against the threat of 26. Rh3 and 27. Qh8 mate.

25. ... Bg7 26. Rh3 Kf8 27. Qh8+ Bxh8 28. Rxh8+ mate.

Century West Open final

2010-01-11T20:32:00.000-08:00

Four players tied for first in the powerful Open section of the CWO. GM Melikset Khachiyan and IMs Andranik Matikozyan, Enrico Sevillano, and Panchen Wang all scored 4-1 to split the top money. Both of the other sections had clear winners, as Michael Taylor scored 4½ in the Premier (U1900), and James Holder 4-1 in the Amateur (U1500). David Meliksetyan also had 4-1, but could win only the Unrated prize. Below is a list of prize winners, or click here for complete standings af all section.

Prize winners

Open

1st-4th: GM Melikset Khachiyan, IM Andranik Matikozyan, IM Enrico Sevillano, IM Panchen Yang, 4-1; 5th: IM Jack Peters, Alexander Kretchetov, 3½-1½; U2400: IM Emory Tate, 3½-1½;U2300: Ron Hermansen, 3½-1½; U2200: 1st-2nd: Konstantin Kavutkskiy, Ankit Gupta, 3-2; 3rd U2200: Takashi Kurosaki, Samuel Sevian, 2½-2½; U2100/U2000: Bobby Hall, Austin Cambon, Benjamin de Vera, 2-3.

Premier

1st: Michael Taylor, 4½-½; 2nd: Daniel Mopusseri, Numan Abdul-Mujeeb, 4-1; 4th: David Minasyan, 3½-1½; U1700: 1st: Richard Martin, 3-2; 2nd: Alexander Garber, 2½-2½; 3rd: Jonathan Gunn, Joshua Sheng, 2-3.

Amateur

1st: James Holder, 4-1; 2nd: Beverley Woolsey, 3½-1½; 3rd: Mehul Prakash Oswal, 3-2; U1300: Robert Bryan Martin, 2-3; Unrated: David Meliksetyan, 4-1.

Scholastic Open: Karl Tolentino, 5-0

Scholastic Reserve: Matthew Poh, Bryan Goldenberg, 4-1

Hexes: Albert Lu, Tony Kukavica, 2½-½

Century West Open

2010-01-09T18:00:00.000-08:00

This new event (I've used the name before, but not for quite the same thing) had a somewhat anemic turnout of 60, though things could still pick up with tomorrow's scholastic. The top section is very strong, however -- already in round 2, Khachiyan battled Joel Banawa, Sevillano faced Kretchetov, and Peters squared off with Tim Taylor. Photos are from round 3, as IM Puchen Wang faces Khachiyan, and Sevillano, Peters. Complete standings (and pairings when time permits) will be posted here.

Vadim Kudryavtsev (2275) – IM Puchen Wang (2531) [D16]

Century West Open (2), 09.01.2010

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 c6 3.d4 d5 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.a4 Na6 6.e4 Bg4 7.Bxc4 Bxf3 8.gxf3 e6 9.Rg1 Nb4 10.Be3 g6 11.Qb3 Qc7 12.0–0–0 Be7 13.Kb1 0–0 14.Bh6 Qxh2 15.Bxf8 Rxf8 16.Rgf1 a6 17.a5 Qc7 18.Qa4 Qf4 19.Be2 Rd8 20.Qb3 Qc7 21.Qa4 Qf4 22.Qb3 Qc7 23.Qa4 b5 24.axb6 Qxb6 25.e5 Nh5 26.Rd2 Rxd4 27.Qd1 c5 28.Rg1 Ng7 29.Rg4 Nf5 30.Bc4 Kg7 31.Ne2 Rxd2 32.Qxd2 Qc6 33.Re4 h5 34.Ng3 Nd4 35.Qd1 a5 36.Re3 Bg5 37.Ra3 Qc7 38.Re3 Bxe3 39.fxe3 Qxe5 40.exd4 Qxg3 41.dxc5 Qe5 42.Qg1 h4 0–1

Ryan Porter (2318) – John Daniel Bryant (2453) [A43]

Century West Open (3), 09.01.2010

1.d4 c5 2.d5 e6 3.e4 d6 4.Nc3 exd5 5.Nxd5 Nf6 6.Bg5 Be7 7.Nxe7 Qxe7 8.f3 Nc6 9.Qd2 Be6 10.c4 h6 11.Bh4 Nxe4 12.Bxe7 Nxd2 13.Bxd6 Nxf1 14.Bxc5 Bxc4 15.Ne2 0–0–0 16.Rxf1 Rhe8 17.Rf2 Ne5 0–1

The Eternal Election

2010-01-08T23:30:00.000-08:00

It's been confirmed that Gary Walters and Mike Nietman will be running for the Executive Board. Both are perfectly decent candidates, though I want to see some position statements before saying anything more. Reports are that Sam Sloan also wants to run (again) but has so far been unable to find thirty signatures. We can only hope.

End of the tunnel?

2010-01-02T15:41:00.000-08:00

It appears that a settlement may be near in the Polgar v USCF money pit. Wick Deer has some sensible things to say about it at his USCF Poltics Blog.

Blunders

2010-01-01T19:01:00.000-08:00

Left your Queen en prise, did you? Overlooked that mate in one? No need to be depressed; it happens to the best of us. A game of chess is a struggle, not a mathematical exercise. Under pressure of the opponent and the clock, errors are inevitable.

Some blunders are due to overconfidence. A notorious example is the first game of the Spassky-Fischer match in 1972. In a quite equal position, Fischer captured a pawn, allowing his Bishop to be trapped. He had seen a way out, but stopped his analysis one move too soon. (That Fischer’s confidence not misplaced can be seen from the final score – despite this gift he won the match 12½-8½.)

Others result from relaxing too soon. In 11th game of their 1986 match, Anatoly Karpov had just about equalized against Garry Kasparov. One careless move allowed a flashy, but not very difficult, Queen sacrifice to end the game. (As a sidelight, Karpov devoted several pages in one of his books to proving that his blunders were better than the blunders of other world champions.)
And still others result from the character of the player himself. In his 1951 match with Mikhail Botvinnik, challenger David Bronstein sought to prove that Botvinnik’s scientific approach to the game was not the only one – for Bronstein was a creative artist more than a competitor. In the sixth game, after a fierce struggle, White at the 56th move had only to return his Knight to play, with a check, to eliminate Black’s last pawns and make a draw. But then Bronstein began to think about the position back at move eight. He thought for 45 minutes and ... touched the wrong piece. He soon had to resign. The final score of the match: 12-12 ...

Diagram: From a game von Popiel-Marco. Monte Carlo 1902. Black, seeing that he could no longer defend his pinned Bishop at d4, resigned. But after 1. ... Bg1!, the doomed Bishop makes a powerful discovered attack – threatened with 2. ... Qxh2 mate, White would have to lose his Queen.

Capablanca-Marshall, New York 1918

2009-12-30T20:25:00.000-08:00

Marshall launches a fierce counterattack by means of a subtle opening novelty (now known as the Marshall Gambit), but Capa’s chess instinct enables him to thread his way through the pitfalls.

Capablanca - Marshall
New York, 1918
C89 RUY LOPEZ, Marshall Gambit

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. 0-0 Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 0-0 8. c3 d5

Marshall’s innovation, sacrificing a pawn for development and a strong attack.

9. exd5 Nxd5 10. Nxe5 Nxe5 11. Rxe5 Nf6 12. Re1 Bd6 13. h3 Ng4 14. Qf3 Qh4 15. d4 Nxf2

(Diagram)

16. Re2

An example of the dangers in the position — for both sides — may be seen in the variation 16. Qxf2? Bh2+ (but not 16. … Bg3? 17. Qxf7+! Rxf7 18. Re8+) 17. Kf1 Bg3 18. Qe2 (now 18. Qxf7+ Rxf7 is a check) Bxh3 19. gxh3 Rae8 with a decisive advantage.

16. Bd2 (Euwe) is also not bad, but if you’re interested in the theory of this line, consult a book on the subject. In many lines, the analysis now extends past move 30!

16. … Bg4 17. hxg4 Bh2+ 18. Kf1 Bg3 19. Rxf2 Qh1+ 20. Ke2 Bxf2 21. Bd2 Bh4 22. Qh3 Rae8+ 23. Kd3 Qf1+ 24. Kc2 Bf2 25. Qf3 Qg1 26. Bd5 c5 27. dxc5 Bxc5 28. b4 Bd6

Or 28. … Be3 29. Bxe3 Rxe3 30. Nd2 Qxa1 31. Qxe3, and White is winning on material.

29. a4 a5 30. axb5 axb4 31. Ra6 bxc3 32. Nxc3 Bb4 33. b6 Bxc3 34. b7 Re3 35. Bxf7+, Black resigns

Spielmann-Flamberg, Mannheim 1914

2009-12-26T18:16:00.000-08:00

Rudolph Spielmann was in many ways a man out of his proper time. Dubbed “the last Knight of the King’s Gambit,” he sought a return to the swashbuckling style on Anderssen and Morphy.

Spielmann - Flamberg
Mannheim, 1914
C29 VIENNA GAME
1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. f4 d5 4. fxe5 Nxe4 5. Nf3 Bg4 6. Qe2 Nc5 7. d4 Bxf3 8. Qxf3 Qh4+ 9. g3 Qxd4 10. Be3 Qxe5 11. 0-0-0 c6 (diagram) 12. Nxd5 cxd5 13. Rxd5 Qe6

No better was 13. … Qe4 14. Bb5+ Nc6 15. Bxc5 Qf3 16. Re1+.

14. Bc4 Qe4 15. Bxc5, Black resigns

Nimzovich-Tarrasch, St. Petersburg 1914

2009-12-22T01:53:00.000-08:00

Perhaps the long and bitter rivalry between Nimzovich and Tarrasch -- the former never missed an opportunity to vilify what he called "the Pseudo-Classical School" -- stemmed from this early game, in which Tarrasch gioves another example of the double-Bishop sacrifice. (See also Lasker-Bauer.)

Nimzovich - Tarrasch
St. Petersburg, 1914
QUEEN'S GAMBIT DECLINED

1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 c5 3. c4 e6 4. e3 Nf6 5. Bd3 Nc6 6. 0-0 Bd6 7. b3 0-0 8. Bb2 b6 9. Nbd2 Bb7 10. Rc1 Qe7 11. cxd5 exd5 12. Nh4

Provoking a weakness in the Black King's field, but the cost -- loss of time, opening of thje e-file -- is too high.

12. … g6 13. Nhf3 Rad8 14. dxc5

Opening the a1-h8 diagonal and hoping to exploit the static weakness of the "hanging pawns," but Tarrasch demonstrates their dynamic strength first.

14. … bxc5 15. Bb5 Ne4 16. Bxc6 Bxc6 17. Qc2 Nxd2 18. Nxd2

(Diagram)

18. ... d4 19. exd4 Bxh2+ 20. Kxh2 Qh4+ 21. Kg1 Bxg2 22. f3

If 22. Kxg2 Qg4+ 23. Kh2 Rd5 and 24. … Rh5+.

22. … Rfe8 23. Ne4 Qh1+ 24. Kf2 Bxf1 25. d5

The White Queen is lost on 25. Rxf1 Qh2+, and 25. Nf6+ Kf8 26. Nxe8 Qg2+ 27. Ke3 Rxe8+ 28. Kf4 g5+ 29. Kf5 Qc2+ 30. Rxc2 Bd3+ leaves Black with an extra Rook.

25. … f5 26. Qc3 Qg2+ 27. Ke3 Rxe4+ 28. fxe4 f4+ 29. Kxf4 Rf8+ 30. Ke5 Qh2+ 31. Ke6 Re8+ 32. Kd7 Bb5# 0-1

Cleaning the streets

2009-12-05T17:26:00.000-08:00

Fugitive criminal chess master Robert Snyder, recently featured on America's Most Wanted, has been apprehended in Belize.

http://www.7newsbelize.com/index.php#story1

One prominent chess figure who shall not be named reacted to this with "Good for the children of Belize, but we (the USCF) will be getting some more negative publicity." I'm afraid I have to rank the interests of society as a whole above those of the USCF.

Neverending Story

2009-12-03T16:23:00.000-08:00

The USCF has issued a call for nominations for a special EB election to fill the positions formerly held by Susan Polgar and Paul Truong. Personally I think five is already too many Board members, but perhaps the EB wanted to close off any chance of P&T making a comeback (dig a hole, fill it up). So far the only announced candidate is Gary Walters of Ohio. He's an active Class A player (well, he took off from 1994 to 2007, but never mind) and correspondence player. He's also a lawyer, whose USCF Forum posts on the Polgar litigation were unusual in that venue for showing good sense. Whether I will vote for him depends on who else is running. Very likely Sam Sloan will slither from under his rock and run again; whether I will vote for him will not depend on who else is running.

The announcement from the USCF web page:

Special Election For Two USCF Executive Board Seats

Due to the revocation of the memberships of Susan Polgar and Paul Truong which took place at the USCF delegates’ meeting this past August, there will be a special election in June to elect two board members to one-year terms. Deadline for receipt of nominating petitions is midnight, January 11, 2010 and they should be sent to Cheryle Bruce at the USCF office, P.O. Box 3967, Crossville, TN 38557. Petitions must include 30 USCF-voting-member signatures, and the filing fee is $250.

Any current USCF member who is not a current USCF employee or designated contractor (see the USCF bylaws for these definitions) can be nominated as a candidate for election to the USCF executive board.

The nomination petitions must contain the dated signatures, printed names and USCF IDs of each voting member, and should contain the following text: We, the undersigned, being voting members of the U.S. Chess Federation, nominate __(candidate name goes here)__ as a candidate for election to the USCF executive board in the 2010 election. We also consent to having our names and USCF IDs published as having signed this petition. A sample nomination form will be made available on the USCF website.

Candidates must consent to be on the ballot, either by signing their own nominating petition or by a separate notice to the USCF.

Any USCF Member who is 16 years old by June 30th of an election year is a Voting Member, providing that person was a current member on May 5th for the entire day, Central Time.

Later:
1) Gary Walters has a blog at http://graysonebc.blogspot.com/. Looks like good stuff, check it out.

2) While I haven't seen this confirmed, I'm told that Mike Nietman of Wisconsin plans to run again. I rated him as acceptable last time, and see no reason to change that now, though he was a somewhat torpid campaigner.

Capablanca-Molina, Buenos Aires 1911

2009-11-25T03:08:00.000-08:00

Capablanca’s opponent was not of the world elite, but he was one of the strongest players at the Buenos Aires Chess Club. This exhibition game is a good example of what happens when a competent master meets a future World Champion.

Capablanca - Molina
Buenos Aires, 1911
D52 QUEEN’S GAMBIT DECLINED

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Nbd7 5. e3 c6 6. Nf3 Be7 7. cxd5 Nxd5

More usual (and probably better) is 7. ... exd5, but it’s really a matter of taste.

8. Bxe7 Nxe7 9. Bd3 c5 10. 0–0 0–0 11. dxc5 Nxc5

As Capa points out (In “My Chess Career”), it is surprising for such a combination to arise without some error from the opponent. It works here because of Black’s backward development; his Queenside is hard to untangle, and White can quickly swing two more pieces over to the Kingside.

12. Bxh7+ Kxh7 13. Ng5+ Kg6

Forced, as 13. ... Kh6 14. Nxf7+ and 13. ... Kg8 14. Qh5 lose immediately.

14. Qg4 f5

Capablanca saw that the plausible 14. ... e5? Loses horribly to 15. Ne6+! Kf6 16. f4 e4 (16. ... Bxe6 17. Qg5#; 16. ... Nxe6 17. Ne4#) 17. Qg5+ Kxe6 18. Qe5+ Kd7 19. Rfd1+ Nd3 20. Nxe4 Kc6 21. Rxd3 Qxd3 22. Rc1+ Kb6 23. Qc7+.

15. Qg3 Kh6 16. Qh4+ Kg6 17. Qh7+

Now the seemingly undefended Knight leads a charmed life.

(Diagram)

17. ... Kf6

Mate soon follows after 17. ... Kxg5 18. Qxg7+ Kh5 19. f4 Ng8 20. Rf3.

18. e4 Ng6 19. exf5

Capa later preferred 19. f4, with the idea of 19. … fxe4 20. Rad1 Qb6 21. Rd6.

19. ... exf5 20. Rad1 Nd3

Black still can’t get his pieces out, as 20. ... Bd7 fails to 21. Nd5+ Ke5 (21. ... Kxg5 22. f4+ Nxf4 23. h4+) 22. Qxg6.

21. Qh3 Ndf4 22. Qg3 Qc7 23. Rfe1 Ne2+

Loses quickly, but thre isn’t a good alternative -- 23. ... Be6 24. Rxe6+ Nxe6 25. Nd5# or 23. ... Bd7 24. Nd5+ Nxd5 25. Nh7+ Kf7 26. Qxc7 Nxc7 27. Rxd7+ Kg8 28. Nxf8.

24. Rxe2 Qxg3 25. Nh7+ Kf7 26. hxg3 Rh8 27. Ng5+ Kf6 28. f4 1–0

There is nothing to be done about the threat of Rd6.

Westwood Fall Open final

2009-11-08T22:34:00.000-08:00

Top-rated GM Melikset Khachiyan swept the field with 5-0 at the Westwoed Fall Open, held at the Los Angeles Chess Club November 8. Next at 3.5 were Alexandre Kretchetov, Garush Manukyan, Garnik Baghdasaryan (all Khachiyan's victims) and Ryan Porter. In the Reserve (U1800) section, three players tied for first with 4-1: Al Pena, Mitchell Jayson, and top U1600 Karl Tolentino. Click here for complete standings.

Prize Winners
Open
1st: GM Melikset Khachiyan, 5-0; 2nd-3rd: Alexandre Kretchetov, Garush Manukyan, Ryan Porter, Garnik Baghdasaryan, 3½-1½; U2200: Robert Akopian, 3½-1½; U2000: Jeff Cohen, 2½-2½.

Reserve
1st-2nd: Al Pena Jr, Michell Jayson, 4-1; U1600: Karl Tolentino, 4-1; U1400/Unrated: Andrew Wang, Andy Caen; 3-2; U1200: Blake Isara, 2-3.

Alexandre Kretchetov (2439) – GM Melikset Khachiyan (2607)

Westwood Fall Open, Los Angeles 2009

D87 GRUENFELD DEFENSE

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Bc4 c5 8.Ne2 Nc6 9.Be3 0–0 10.0–0 Qc7 11.dxc5 Ne5 12.Bb3 Ng4 13.Bf4 Qxc5 14.Qc2 Be5 15.Rad1 Bxf4 16.Nxf4 Qe5 17.g3 Nf6 18.Rfe1 Bg4 19.Rc1 Bf3 20.Re3 Bxe4 21.Qe2 Qf5 22.f3 Bc6 23.Rxe7 Rae8 24.Kg2 Rxe7 25.Qxe7 g5 26.Bc2 Qg4 27.Bd1 gxf4 28.Qxf6 fxg3 29.hxg3 Qh5 30.Be2 Re8 31.Bc4 Qg6 32.Qd4 Qf5 33.Rf1 Qe5 34.Qxa7 Qxc3 35.Bb3 Re2+ 36.Kg1 Qe5 0–1

Westwood Fall Open

2009-11-08T12:15:00.000-08:00

This 1-day event at the LA Chess Club drew 44, not quite a record but still a good turnout. Early favorites are top-rated GM Melikset Khachiyan, Alexandre Kretchetov, and IM Tim Taylor. Standings are posted, and will be updated throughout the day.

GM Melikset Khachiyan (2607) – Show Kitagami (2146)

Westwood Fall Open, Los Angeles 2009

[C13] French Defense, Alekhine-Chatard Attack

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Be7 5.e5 Nfd7 6.h4 a6 7.Qg4 Kf8 8.0–0–0 c5 9.dxc5 Nxc5 10.Bxe7+ Qxe7 11.Nxd5 Qd8 12.Qb4 Nbd7 13.Nb6 Qe7 14.Rd6 Nxb6 15.Qxc5 Nd7 16.Qc7 h5 17.Nf3 Rh6 18.Be2 Kg8 19.Rhd1 Qe8 20.Ng5 b5 21.Bf3 1–0

Los Angeles Open final

2009-10-14T01:28:00.000-07:00

IM Andranik Matikozyan took clear first in the 2009 LAO with 4.5. out of 5, defeating IMs Tim Taylor and Enrico Sevillano, and drawing in the final round with GM Melikset Khachiyan. Tied for 2nd a half-point behind were Khachiyan, IM Jack Peters, and master Alexandre Kretchetov. Both of the lower sections also saw clear winners, as Gautam Nipanakar score 5-0 in the Premier, and Ishan Bose-Pyne notched 4.5 in the Amateur. In the Hexes, Henry Castro, Ray Wong, and Vincent Nguyen tied for first with 2.5.

Complete standings for all sections are posted here. Also available are games in PGN format or in Java viewer.

Prize Winners

Open

1st: IM Andranik Matikozyan, 4½-½; 2nd-4th: GM Melikset Khachiyan, IM Jack Peters, Alexandre Kretechtov, 4-1; 5th/1st U2400: Tim Taylor, Garnik Baghdasaryan, 3-1; 2nd U2400: Gregg Small, Ryan Porter, Eugene Yanayt, Christian Tanaka, 3-2; 1st U2200: Vadim Kudryavtsev, 3-1; 2nd-3rd U2200: David Adelberg, Robert Akopian, John Funderburg, Konstantin Kavutskiy, 3-2.

Premier

1st: Gautam Nipanikar, 5-0; 2nd-3rd: Willis Kim, Yusheng Xia, 4-1; 1st U1800: Nathan Ogata, 4-1; 2nd-3rd U2400: Bill Conrad, Babken Krbashian, Richard Varela, 3½-1½; 1st U1600: Annie Wang, 3½-1½; 2nd-3rd U1600: Numan Abdul-Majeeb, Joshua Sheng, Scott Xue, 2½-2½.

Amateur

1st: Ishan Bose-Pyne, 4½-½; 2nd: John Gardner, 3½-1½; 3rd: Chantelle Field, Beverley Woolsey, 3-2; U1200: Jouaquin Perkins, Michael Tornabane, 2½-2½; Unrated: Joshua Miler, 3-2.

Scholastic Open: Stephanie Shao, 5-0. Scholastic Reserve: Alice Salvaryan, 5-0. Hexes: Henry Castro. Ray Wong, Vincent Nguyen, 2½-½.

Los Angeles Open, day 2

2009-10-11T17:53:00.000-07:00

As the last round began, IM Andranik Matikozyan held the lead with 4-1, and faced GM Melikset Khachiyan with 3.5. The two drew after a brief struggle, leaving Vadim Kudryavtsev the only one with a chance to catch Matikozyan. That won't be easy, as he faces Alexandre Kretchetov with Black.

The one-day LAO Scholastics proved a good day for the ladies, as Stephanie Shao scored 5-0 in the Open, and Alice Salvaryan swept the Reserve. Forty-four competed. Full standings are posted here, and will be updated as sections finish.

Los Angeles Open, day 1

2009-10-10T18:49:00.000-07:00

After the merge, five players are tied for he lead with 2-0: GM Melikset Khachiyan, IMs Andranik Matikozyan, Jack Peters and Tim Taylor, and Senior Master Alexandre Kretchetov. IM Enrico Sevillano is half a point behind after a draw with young star Eric Zhang. Standings are posted here and will be updated throughout the weekend. Pairings will be posted as time permits. (Photos: Kretchetov faces Khachiyan, while Taylor battles Matikzyan.)

Michael Brown – IM Tim Taylor
Los Angeles Open, Los Angeles 2009
[A85] DUTCH DEFENSE
1.d4 e6 2.c4 f5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bf4 Bb4 5.e3 b6 6.Bd3 Bb7 7.f3 Nh5 8.Nge2 Nxf4 9.Nxf4 Bxc3+ 10.bxc3 0–0 11.0–0 Qg5 12.Qb3 Nc6 13.c5 Kh8 14.Rae1 Rfb8 15.d5 Na5 16.Qa4 e5 17.Nh3 Qe7 18.cxb6 axb6 19.Bxf5 Bxd5 20.Qxd7 Qxd7 21.Bxd7 Rd8 22.Bf5 Bxa2 23.Rf2 Bg8 24.f4 Nc4 25.Rf3 Ra3 26.Rc1 g6 27.Bb1 Nd2 28.fxe5 Ra1 29.Ng5 Nxf3+ 30.gxf3 h6 31.Ne4 Ba2 32.Nf6 Kg7 33.Kg2 Rxb1 34.Rxb1 Bxb1 35.f4 c5 0–1

Elena Popova – GM Melikset Khachiyan
Los Angeles Open, Los Angeles 2009
[B73] SICILIAN DEFENSE, Dragon Variation
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.Be2 0–0 8.0–0 Nc6 9.Kh1 d5 10.exd5 Nb4 11.d6 Qxd6 12.Ncb5 Qb8 13.c4 Bd7 14.f4 Rd8 15.Qe1 Nc6 16.Rd1 Ng4 17.Bg1 Nxd4 18.Nxd4 e5 19.h3 exd4 20.hxg4 Re8 21.Qf2 Bc6 22.Bd3 b6 23.f5 Re3 24.Qh4 Qg3 25.Qxg3 Rxg3 26.Rfe1 Rxg4 27.Re2 Bh6 28.Bh2 Be3 29.Rf1 Re8 30.fxg6 hxg6 31.Rf6 Re6 32.Rf1 Kg7 33.b4 Re8 34.b5 Bb7 35.c5 bxc5 0–1

Los Angeles Open, day 0

2009-10-09T21:59:00.000-07:00

AS the 3-day schedule begins, we have 82 players, including one GM and four IMs. More are expected tomorrow for the 2-day schedule. Standings will be posted here throughout the weekend, and pairings will be posted as time permits.

Kotrc-Weigl, Vidni 1912

2009-09-21T18:50:00.000-07:00

Not every great game has a great name. This little gem deserves to be better known.

Kotrc - Weigl
Vidni, 1912
C55 MAX LANGE ATTACK

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d4 exd4 5. 0–0 Bc5 6. e5 d5

The Max Lange Attack leads to exciting play, but it has two drawbacks -- it's been analyzed to death, and it can't arise unless both players agree to it.

7. exf6 dxc4 8. Re1+ Kf8

A rare sideline, seeking to avoid the long variations arising after 8. ... Be6.

9. Bg5 gxf6 10. Bh6+ Kg8 11. Nc3

The back-rank weakness allows the Knight to enter play quickly. If 11. ... dxc3 12. Qxd8+ Nxd8+ 13. Re8+ Bf8 14. Rxf8 mate.

11. ... Bg4 12. h3 Bh5 13. Ne4 Bb6

(Diagram)

14. Nxd4!

The fun begins. White initially gets only one minor piece for his Queen, but his superior development, plus the useless Rook at h8, put him on top.

14. ... Bxd1

The alternative 14. ... Nxd4 15. Qxh5 f5 16. Bg5 would avoid the brilliancy but wouldn't save the game.

15. Nxc6 bxc6 16. Raxd1 Qe7 17. Ng3 Qc5 18. Re3 f5

Hoping to weasel out with 19. Rde1 f6, but ...

19. Ne4 1–0

Too many threats! If 19. ... fxe4 20 Rg3+ and mate next, or 19. ... Qe5 20. Rg3+ Qxg3 21. Nf3 mate.

Mote, beam

2009-09-18T19:58:00.000-07:00

Today on her blog, Susan Polgar wrote:

"I first learned about the world of blogging on May 23, 2005 from my friend Amy. Today, the 19,000th post was made.

How things started and my vision:

Chess news used to be monopolized by a few major chess media sources. It was appalling for me to see news about chess tournaments and events published sometimes weeks and months later or not at all. To make matters worse, some tournaments, organizers, and players were blackballed because of dirty chess politics or other petty reasons.

This is why I decided to take on the “establishments” and started this blog over 4 years ago. I want to give the “little guys” a voice. If organizers want to promote his / her events, just send me the announcements, updates, or reports, and I will publish them.

I am happy to see countless chess blogs and websites popping up in the last few years. If players unite and do the right things for chess, we will succeed in making our wonderful game a lot more visible globally.

The “typical” approach to chess in the past few decades is not working. It is time to “rock the boat” and push through new and refreshing ideas to make our game more appealing for the media, the public, and young people, especially girls.

People often tell me that chess is not attractive or exciting enough for the media or the general public. Wrong! Just come to Lubbock, Texas and you can see how chess has exploded in this city in just 2 years. Look at St. Louis, MO, Fresno, CA, and Bellevue, WA. Look at what the AF4C or Chess in the Schools have done. Those are just a few of many chess success stories.

Many of the long time and stagnant chess establishments are now “irrelevant”. We can succeed if we move ahead in the right direction instead of just sitting still and procrastinate. It is time for action. A special thank you to all of you for your continued support!"

Sigh. Susan has done a terrific job with her blog, and I highly recommend it. She’s also done a lot of good things with SPICE and Texas Tech. Why can’t she be content with highlighting her very real achievements, rather than searching for enemies? This sort of paranoid approach – “There are those who …”, conveniently unnamed but tagged with plenty of negative adjectives – only makes her look small. “It is not enough to succeed; all others must be seen to fail.” Polgar and Truong are not the only ones in the chess world with that attitude, but they are among the minority who could have succeeded on their own merits. It’s a shame.

Lewitzky - Marshall, Breslau 1912

2009-09-12T02:14:00.000-07:00

Though not quite the equal of Lasker or Capablanca, Frank Marshall was for many years one of the top half-dozen players in the world, and a formidable tournament competitor. His aggressive attitude, combinational flair, and imagination produced a great number of brilliant games like this one. It is said that after the spectacular conclusion, the spectators showered the board with gold coins. Another version, though, is that wealthy Russian emigres had bet on their compatriot Lewitzky, and were paying off their losses ...

Lewitzky - Marshall
Breslau, 1912
FRENCH DEFENSE, Marshall Variation
1. d4 e6 2. e4 d5 3. Nc3 c5
A double-edged system which Marshall played with success, for he did not hesitate to accept a positional weakness in exchange for tactical chances.
4. Nf3 Nc6 5. exd5 exd5 6. Be2 Nf6 7. 0-0 Be7 8. Bg5 0-0 9. dxc5 Be6 10. Nd4 Bxc5 11. Nxe6
A dubious idea; Black obtains strong central pawns and an open f-file, and White will never have time to exploit the potentially weak pawn at e6.
11. ... fxe6 12. Bg4 Qd6 13. Bh3 Rae8 14. Qd2?!
Now Black obtains a clear advantage. The defensive 14. a3 was correct.
14. ... Bb4 15. Bxf6 Rxf6 16. Rad1
White had to meet the threats of both ... Nf6-e4 and ... d5-d4, but now Black’s Rooks become very active.
16. ... Qc5 17. Qe2
Embarking on what he believes to be an exchanging combination, but Marshall has calculated more deeply. Better was 17. a3 Bxc3 18. Qxc3 Qxc3 19. bxc3, though Black stands clearly better in the endgame.
17. ... Bxc3 18. bxc3 Qxc3 19. Rxd5 Nd4 20. Qh5
White had seen this far -- on 20. Qe5? Nf3+! 21. gxf3 Rg6+ wins. Correct, however, was 20. Qe4, and if 20. … Rf4 21. Qe5 the position remains unclear. Now if 20. ... g6 21. Qe5 is playable, but ...
20. ... Ref8 21. Re5
Perhaps White had planned 21. Rc5, overlooking 21. ... Rxf2! (22. Rxf2 Qe1+, or 22. g3 Ne2+ 23. Kh1 Rxf1+).
21. ... Rh6 22. Qg5
On 22. Qg4, 22. ... Nf3+, discovering on the undefended Rook at e5, would win routinely.
22. ... Rxh3 23. Rc5

(Diagram)

Not 23. gxh3? Nf3+. Now White hopes for something like 23. ... Qb4 24. Rc7 g6 25. Qe5, but Black has other plans.
23. ... Qg3!, White resigns
The Queen is en prise three ways but cannot be captured -- 24. fxg3 Ne2+ 25. Kh1 Rxf1 mate, 24. hxg3 Ne2 mate, or 24. Qxg3 Ne2+ 25. Kh1 Nxg3+ 26. Kg1 Nxf1, with an extra piece.

Southern Cal Open final

2009-09-08T03:17:00.000-07:00

GMs Melikset Khachiyan and Alejandro Ramirez shared first place with master Evgeny Shver, all on 5-1. Khachiyan takes the state championship title on tiebreak. They reached the winner's circle by different routes: Ramirez, in clear first, had committed to a last-round bye. Shver upset GM Jesse Kraai, in a game that went the full six hours. And Khachiyan, on board 1, defeated 11-year-old sensation Kayden Troff, who had previously upset an IM and two masters.

Other section winners included Esteban Escobedo (Premier), Reneray Valdez (Amateur), Sven Myrin (Reserve), and Leonard De Leon (Booster).

Full standings are posted here.

Prize Winners

Open

1st-3rd: GM Melikset Khachiyan, GM Alejandro Ramirez, Evgeny Shver, 5-1; 4th-7th: IM Enrico Sevillano, IM Dionisio Aldama, Joel Banawa, Alexandre Kretchetov, 4½-1½; U2300: 1st: Vadim Kudryavtsev, 4½-1½; 2nd: Ryan Porter, Avram Zaydenberg, 4-2; U2200: 1st-2nd: John Funderburg, Kayden Troff, 4-2; 3rd-4th: Robert Akopian, Konstantin Kavutskiy, Show Kitagami, Michael Brown, Raoul Crisologo, Leo Raterman, Jared Tan, 3½-2½.

Premier

1st: Esteban Escobedo, 5-1; 2nd: Jesse Orlowski, 4½-1½; 3rd-4th: John Badger, Luke Neyndorf, Madhaven Vajepeyam, Christian Glawe, 4-2.

Amateur

1st: Reneray Valdez, 5-1; 2nd: Mike Bynum, 4½-1½; 3rd-4th: Marcos Ferrer, Ronaldo Salenga, 4-2.

Reserve

1st: Sven Myrin, 5-1; 2nd: Craig Hilby, 4½-1½; 3rd-4th: Timothy Jao, Steven Dahl, Thomas Glazier, 4-2.

Booster

1st: Leonard De Leon, 5-1; 2nd: Willie Roy, 4½-1½; 3rd-4th: Ramon Umadhay, Jennifer Lu, 4-2; U1200: 1st: Claire Negus, 4-2; 2nd: Kenneth Xu, Shelley Anthopoulos, 3½-1½.

Southern California Open, day 3

2009-09-07T16:28:00.000-07:00

As we begin the final round, no fewer than eight players remain in contention for first place. GM Alejandro Ramirez, who led with 4.5 out of five, was committed to a last-round bye and finishes with 5-1. Battling it out with 4-1 are GMs Melikset Khachiyan and Jesse Kraai, masters Joel Banawa, Alexandre Kretchetov and Evgeny Shver, and youthful Expert Kayden Troff from Salt Lake City. Troff, rated only 2100, faces Khachiyan on Board 1 after upsetting IM Ed Formanek and masters Gregg Small and Giovanni Caretto. Complete standings are posted here, and will be updated as sections finish.

Alexandre Kretchetov (2403) – GM Jesse Kraai (2584) [D00]

Southern California Open, San Diego 2009

1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 d5 3.Bxf6 exf6 4.e3 Bd6 5.Bd3 Nd7 6.Qf3 Nb6 7.Nd2 Be6 8.Ne2 Qd7 9.h3 0–0 10.c3 c5 11.dxc5 Bxc5 12.Nb3 Bd6 13.Nbd4 Rad8 14.Nf4 g6 15.Nh5 gxh5 16.Qxh5 Rfe8 17.Qh6 Qc7 18.Bxh7+ Kh8 19.Bg6+ Kg8 20.Bh7+ Kh8 ½–½

GM Melikset Khachiyan (2610) – IM Dionisio Aldama (2489) [B85]

Southern California Open, San Diego 2009

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Nc3 Qc7 6.Be2 Nf6 7.0–0 Nc6 8.Be3 d6 9.a4 Be7 10.Nb3 b6 11.f4 0–0 12.Bf3 Bb7 13.Qe2 Rfe8 14.Rad1 Bf8 15.Bf2 Rab8 16.Bg3 Ne7 17.e5 dxe5 18.fxe5 Nd7 19.Ne4 Nf5 20.Nd6 Nxg3 21.hxg3 Bxf3 22.Rxf3 Bxd6 23.exd6 Qc6 24.Rd4 b5 25.Rc3 Qb6 26.a5 Qa7 27.Qf2 Rbc8 28.Rdd3 Qxf2+ 29.Kxf2 e5 30.Rc7 Rcd8 31.Nc5 Nxc5 32.Rxc5 Kf8 33.Rc6 e4 34.Rd5 e3+ 35.Ke2 Re6 36.Rxa6 Rg6 37.Kxe3 Re8+ 38.Kf4 Rf6+ 39.Rf5 Rfe6 40.Ra7 Re4+ 41.Kf3 Re3+ 42.Kg4 f6 43.Rxb5 Re1 44.Re7 R8xe7 45.dxe7+ Kxe7 46.b4 Rf1 47.Rb7+ Ke6 48.Rxg7 h6 49.a6 1–0

(Photos: GM Jesse Kraai in a blue mood; Kayden Troff faces GM Melikset Khachiyan on Board 1.)

Southern California Open, day 2

2009-09-06T17:15:00.000-07:00

After three rounds, three players are tied for the lead: GM Jesse Kraai, IM Enrico Sevillano, and Alexandre Kretchetov with 3-0. Half a point behind is a large group on 2.5, including GMs Melikset Khachiyan and Alejandro Ramirez and IM Dionisio Aldama. Click here for updated standings of all sections.

In the election for the SCCF Executive Board, winners were: John Hillery and Randy Hough (27), Elliot Landaw (21), Jerry Yee (20), and Chuck Ensey and Mick Bighamian (19). Steve Morford was subsequently elecetd to full the unexpired term of Ulric Aeria, who is relocating to Guam.

GM Melikset Khachiyan (2610) – Avram Zaydenberg (2204) [C68]

Southern California Open, San Diego 2009

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.0–0 Bg4 6.h3 Bxf3 7.Qxf3 Nf6 8.d3 h6 9.Nd2 Bd6 10.Nc4 Nd7 11.Qg3 g5 12.b4 Nf8 13.a4 Ng6 14.Qg4 0–0 15.Ne3 Nf4 16.Nf5 Qf6 17.g3 h5 18.Qd1 Nxh3+ 19.Kg2 g4 20.f3 Qg6 21.fxg4 hxg4 22.Nh6+ Kg7 23.Qxg4 Nf4+ 24.gxf4 exf4 25.Nf5+ Kg8 26.Kf3 Qxg4+ 27.Kxg4 f6 28.Rh1 Kf7 29.Rh7+ Ke8 30.Nxd6+ cxd6 31.Bxf4 1–0

GM Jesse Kraai (2584) – Konstantin Kavutskiy (2157) [E01]

Southern California Open, San Diego 2009

1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 e6 3.g3 c5 4.Bg2 Nc6 5.0–0 Nf6 6.c4 Be7 7.dxc5 Bxc5 8.a3 0–0 9.b4 Be7 10.Nbd2 b6 11.Bb2 Bb7 12.Rc1 Rc8 13.Qa4 a5 14.cxd5 Nxd5 15.b5 Nb8 16.Rxc8 Qxc8 17.Rc1 Qd8 18.Ne5 Ne3 19.Bxb7 Qxd2 20.Qd4 Qxe2 21.Nc6 Bf6 22.Ne7+ Kh8 23.Qxf6 Qxb2 24.Qxb2 1–0

Kayden Troff (2100) – IM Ed Formanek (2266) [A80]

Southern California Open, San Diego 2009

1.d4 f5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bf4 d6 4.e3 Nh5 5.Bg5 g6 6.Bc4 Bg7 7.0–0 Nd7 8.Nbd2 Ndf6 9.Re1 h6 10.Bxf6 Nxf6 11.Nh4 d5 12.Bb3 g5 13.Ng6 Rh7 14.c4 e6 15.cxd5 exd5 16.Bc2 Be6 17.Nb3 b6 18.Bd3 Qd6 19.Qc2 Ng4 20.g3 Qd7 21.f3 Nf6 22.Ne5 Qc8 23.Qc6+ Kf8 24.Ba6 Qe8 25.Qxc7 h5 26.Qd6+ Kg8 27.Bb5 Nd7 28.Bxd7 1–0

(Photos: 1) Short & the long of it? Kayden Troff faces master Gregg Small. 2) Alexandre Kretchetov vs. GM Melikset Khachiyan. 3) GM Jesse Kraai vs. IM Enrico Sevillano.)

Southern California Open, day 1

2009-09-05T11:44:00.000-07:00

The 2009 Southern Cal Open, held at the luxurious (though somewhat spread-out) Crowne Plaza Hotel in San Diego, has begun with a field of 130. The top section included three GMs (Khachiyan, Ramirez and Kraai) and three IMs (Sevillano, Aldama and Formanek). Standings will be posted throughout the weekend at this link.

John Gurczak (2098) – GM Melikset Khachiyan (2610)
Southern California Open San Diego 2009
[D86] GRUENFELD DEFENSE, Exchange Variation
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Bc4 0–0 8.Be3 Nc6 9.Ne2 e5 10.0–0 Qe7 11.Qd2 exd4 12.Nxd4 Qxe4 13.f3 Qe8 14.Nb5 Ne5 15.Be2 Qe7 16.Nxa7 Rd8 17.Nxc8 Raxc8 18.Qc2 Ng4 19.fxg4 Qxe3+ 20.Kh1 Rd2 0–1

IM Ed Formanek (2266) – Jamison Pryor (2027)
Southern California Open San Diego 2009
[E26] NIMZO-INDIAN DEFENSE
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 d5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 c5 7.Bd3 Qa5 8.Bd2 dxc4 9.Bxc4 cxd4 10.cxd4 Qg5 11.Nf3 Qxg2 12.Rg1 Qh3 13.Rxg7 Nc6 14.Rb1 Ne4 15.Ke2 Bd7 16.Rxb7 Nd6 17.Rxd7 Kxd7 18.Qa4 Nxc4 19.Rxf7+ Ke8 20.Rc7 1–0

Pairings for Round 3 are now available. Note that all pairings are subject to change until ten minutes before round time.

U.S. Open final: Six is the point

2009-08-09T18:17:00.000-07:00

Six players tied for first in the 110th Annual U.S. Open, held at the Indianapolis Marriott East August 1-9. Scoring 7.5 out of 9 were GMs Alex Yermolinsky, Sergey Kudrin, Dmitry Gurevich and Jesse Kraai, and IMs Alex Lenderman and Jacek Stopa. Since Stopa is from Poland, the other five players take all five U.S. Championship qualification spots. Congratulations to the winners!

U.S. Open 3

2009-08-09T12:29:00.000-07:00

Going into the final round, GM Sergey Kudrin and IM Alex Lenderman are tied for the lead with 7-1. Next at 6.5 are no les than 14 players. Three of them (GM Alexandra Kosteniuk, IM Ben Finegold, and IM Daniel Fernandez) are taking byes in the last round, and so will finish with 7. For the rest, the last-round pairings are:

GM Sergey Kudrin - IM Alex Lenderman
GM Gergely Antal - GM Julio Becerra
GM Alex Yermolinsky - IM Salvijus Bercys
IM Jacek Stopa - Daniel Rensch
GM Jesse Kraai - IM Justin Sarkar
GM Dmitry Gurevich - IM Ron Burnett
IM Blas Lugo - GM Alexander Shabalov (6)

USCF Delegates Meeting, day 2

2009-08-09T06:04:00.001-07:00

9 a.m.: Call to order. The chair announced that committee reports would be deferred to the end (which probably means never) unless they have motions included.

9:05: Budget adopted, no debate. CL editor Dan Lucas is now speaking. Printing contract stuff, important but not glamorous. (E.g., unit cost of CL reduced from ~$.46 to $.37.) No US Open program book this year because they were too busy. Lucas seems to think it's unimportant. I disagree, but that's just me.

9:15: Harold Winston reporting on the Chess Trust. Give till it hurts -- there's a $4900 matching grant. The Hall of Fame is probably going to have to move because of Excalibur's financial troubles, possibly to St. Louis.

9:20: Don Schultz presents a FIDE report. Nothing significant.

9:22: Reappointment of Delegate-selected committees. No controversies. Donna Alarie and John Hillery added to Bylaws. Heh.

9:25: Committee reports: PPHBF proposes guidelines for those seeking support. The text is shown on a big screen, but some of the Dels can't see it and John McCrary has to read it. Passed without debate. Rules has several proposals, confusingly worded and poorly presented. I suspect we'll find we've voted something we didn't mean. Motion to adopt the FIDE rule that anyone whose cell phone rings loses the game. Failed. A confusing motion which looks to me like it's pretty much the same as the current rule is next. An amendment to make penalties harsher fails. Main motion passed. Next, a motion which would make it illegal to speak to anyone on a telephone during the game, even outside the playing hall. I think it's impractical and grossly punitive. Oh, and David Kuhns just mentioned in passing that the Workshop opposed this 1-20. The Delegates agreed. Failed. Lastly, a redundant motion saying that you can't get advice from an electronic device. Failed 26-28. We're up to 9:50 now.

9:55: Old business. Motion requiring voter registration. Starting to drag, as everybody wants to debate minutiae. Kicked back to committee.

10:00: Post minutes on the web site, charge for hard copy. Common sense. Passed. Transfer "secretary" function to someone other than the Secretary. Passed.

10:05: Arcane motions about recognition of income. Referred back to committee. Boilerplate authorizing promotional memberships. Passed.

10:10: Recall motions against Truong and Polgar. Argument about whether it's moot. My opinion: always go with suspenders and belt. Tabled until the lawyer is present.

10:25: Motion to make it possible to go after 501(c)(3) status. Lots of "Whereases." Everyone wants to speak to this, God knows why. Referred to Bylaws.

10:37: Raise non-magazine Adult membership from $29 to $34. Some really dumb arguments about what the new number should be. The floor of the Delegates Meeting is not the place to argue about this, no matter how smart the debater thinks he is. Passed.

10:45: Decrease the number of Delegates. Alarie's original proposal was dropping from 125 to 100, now changed to 120. This isn't going anywhere. (Will the proposers of such motions volunteer to be downsized?) Failed.

10:55: Anti-nepotism amendment. (Anti-Polgar amendment?) Some pointless nit-picking about whether you could have three siblings but not two. Now they're arguing about whether a "legal relationship" is required rather than simple cohabitation. (Is the USCF encouraging living in sin?) Bill is being a little too tolerant of people who want to keep talking. Postponed for language cleanup.

11:02: Another major Bylaws revision, changing EB terms to three years. Passed. Because, you know, making major changes without much thought has worked so well in the past.

11:05: ... And reconsidered, to add a change in the term limit from eight years to nine. Now we're debating this thing again. Randy Bauer is complaining that he might not be able to run for a third term. What a waste of time. Passed, again.

11:15: Anti-nepotism redux. Passed.

11:20: Motion by Frank Camaratta to have the Bylaws Committee prepare proposal for getting rid of OMOV. At least they didn't try to do it on the floor.

11:30: Proposal to reduce affiliate commissions from $3 to $2. Failed.

11:35: Request for indemnification of Polgar and Alexander for being sued by USCF. Answer: no.

11:58: Motion to create a Blitz rating system. Failed. Instead we passed a motion saying that Blitz can be rated under the Quick rating system, which everyone except David Kuhns thinks we were doing already.

12:14: Motion to abolish 14H. Heated debate. Failed. A small change was adopted, making the insertion of a delay clock the preferred option. Probably a good idea, as it helps to get TDs out of the business of adjudication.

12:40: A lot of time-wasting and posturing. We're now arguing whether P&L reports for individual tournaments should be supplied to the Dels. Referred.

1:02: Presentation of certificates to outgoing EB members. Installation of new EB members.

1:05: Adjournment. Finally. Oh, yeah, we never got around to the Polgar/Truong recall motions. Either because they couldn't find the attorney or because everyone forgot about it.

We cam na here to view your warks,
In hopes to be mair wise,
But only, lest we gang to hell,
It may be nae surprise.

U.S. Open 2

2009-08-08T16:44:00.000-07:00

With two rounds remaining, seven players are tied for the lead with 6-1: GMs Sergey Kudrin, Alex Yermolinsky and Alexndra Kosteniuk, IMs Alex Lenderman, Michael Mulyar and Ron Burnett, and Jonathan Hilton (rated 2298!). With Kosteniuk taking a bye, pairings for round 8 are Lenderman-Hilton, Mulyar-Kudrin, and Burnett-Yermolinsky

USCF Delegates Meeting

2009-08-08T06:28:00.000-07:00

9:35: Initial call of the roll. 72 present (well above a quorum), later increased to 75. After some trivialities like approval of the minutes, the first item of business is a motion from the Bylaws committee to suspend the rules for a number of amendments. And the chair announced that we'd go into closed session at 2 p.m. to consider the appeal by Polgar and Truong to their membership suspension. This is taking longer than it should. I'm afraid Bill G does not run a very taut meeting.

9:45: Finally we get to the Bylaws amendments. Boiled down, we have: 1) Prohibition against an EB member suing the USCF, with compulsory arbitration; 2) Get rid of SOMOV. Delegates to be appointed to 1-year terms by the State Chapters. 3) Ratification of every vote since 1998, just in case. Harold Winston is now speaking.

9:55: Ratification passed. Litigation ban approved. Also, anyone suing the USCF must disclose it in CL when running. (This seems pretty unlikely to arise.)

10:15: Currently debating a sleeper clause, which would allow states to appoint Delegates from other states. I think it's a lousy idea, but it proved popular and was passed easily. It turns out that the Bylaws Committee proposal will continue to allow door appointments (with 1-year terms, the absent Delegates can simply be declared to have resigned). This, of course, would continue to allow a small group to pack the meeting. Here comes the new boss ...

10:35: To the heart of the matter: Go back to having State Chapters select Delegates for 1 (calendar) year terms. This would start in 2011, after the current Delegate terms expire. Much of the debate seems to be from people who don't like whoever is running their State Chapter. My nose bleeds for them. Passed.

10:45: Last Bylaws items: 1) A "severability" boilerplate clause. Passed. 2) Allowing the membership meeting to appoint up to five "extra" Delegates for that meeting. The backstory is that a few states have active feuds which froze out the losing side. Also, there are a few old-timers who always come to the Delegates Meeting but are not real popular in their own states. (The closer they are ...) Some trivial debate, but everybody knows they're going to pass this. Can't we just do it?

10:50: OK, passed. Done with Bylaws. Now we get to listen to committee reports for a while.

11:20: Reports from the President and ED. Heartwarming stuff, but it's kinda dragging. I doubt we'll get to anything substantive before lunch, and then we'll only have an hour until we have to deal with the Polgar/Truong mess.

11:45: An annoying person not familiar to me moved to reconsider the ratification motion, on the grounds that not everyone has read the entire info package. Looks like it will pass, and we'll have to do all this again in a couple of hours. Seems idiotic to me, since the info package is about the size of Crime and Punishment. No one is going to read it in the next two hours. Of course, most of it is a waste of paper -- complete copies of all legal filings, complete transcripts (not minutes) of EB meetings, and such piffle. If the Delegates haven't made up their minds yet, they're not going to change now.

11:58: Reconsideration passed. Idiots. (Oh, did I say that out loud?) Now we get to vote on it again at 2. Probably no blogging for a while after that, since we'll be in executive session for the Polgar/Truong appeal.

2:10: Still waiting for the President to show up so we can start. When we finally do, we'll have to deal with the "ratification" business again, followed by the Polgar/Truong appeal in executive session.

2:15: Back in session. Ratification passed again, near-unanimous with one abstention.

5:25: After an extended debate, which I'm not allowed to talk about (Question from the floor: "How long does confidentiality last?" Answer from the chair: "In microseconds?"), the revocation of Paul Truong's membership was upheld by a vote of 58-16, and Susan Polgar's by 55-21.

(Click here for day 2.)

U.S. Open 1

2009-08-07T17:26:00.000-07:00

* After the merge, total attendance is 455. Not impressive by the standards of the 70s and 80s, but pretty good for the current decade. The dog-and-pony show of 9-, 6-, and 4-day schedules has produced some oddities, like young master Jonathan Hilton facing GM Alex Yermolinsky on Board 2, but at least there will be three rounds for everyone to compete together. The Indianapolis Marriott East is a very nice playing site, but it's easy to see why it sold out early -- aside from the function space, it's a pretty small hotel. Complete standings may be found through the USCF web page, but they apparently cannot be linked to because of some some very annoying web design choices.

* Abby Marshall of Virginia took first place in the Denker Touranment of High School Champions with 5.5 out of 6. I think this is a first, though I haven't had a chance to check. Tied for second with 5-1 were Jeffrey Haskel of Florida and Michael Yang of Minnesota.

* Rumor is that the Bylaws Committee wants to deal with whinng complaints about the legality of the Delegate selection process by repealing the changes made by the "Blue Ribbon Commission" back in 1998 -- returning to appointment of Delegates by the State Chapters to one-year terms. We won't know for sure until the Delegates Meeting tomorrow. Which will also have the inestimable pleasure of ruling on whether it's OK to revoke the memberships of Polgar and Truong. It's going to be a long weekend.

Capablanca-Bernstein, San Sebastian 1911

2009-07-31T00:03:00.000-07:00

The young Capablanca gained entry to this event, intended for those who had taken at least two third prizes in international tournaments, only at the insistence of Frank Marshall, who had lost to Capa in a match two years before. The Cuban won the event convincingly, losing only one game (to Rubinstein). Ossip Bernstein had been one of the most vocal opponents of Capablanca’s admission, and it befell that they met in the first round.

Capablanca - Bernstein
San Sebastian, 1911
C65 RUY LOPEZ, Steinitz Defense

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. 0-0 Be7 5. Nc3 d6 6. Bxc6+ bxc6 7. d4 exd4 8. Nxd4 Bd7

Black has adopted the Steinitz Deense to the Ruy Lopez, in which he obtains a cramped but solid position. The doubled c-pawns deny White the use of the d5 square, and Black may hope for counterplay on the b-file. Overall, White stands slightly better.

9. Bg5 0-0 10. Re1 h6 11. Bh4 Nh7 12. Bxe7 Qxe7

In a cramped position, it is usually wise to exchange a few pieces for greater freedom of movement.

13. Qd3 Rab8 14. b3 Ng5

In the days when this defense was popular, it was more common for Black to regroup with ... Rfe8 and Nh7-f8-g6.

15. Rad1 Qe5 16. Qe3 Ne6 17. Nce2 Qa5 18. Nf5 Nc5

The threat against the a2-pawn proves illusory, for after 18. ... Qxa2 19. Qc3 (threatening to trap the Queen with 20. Ra1) Qa6, White would obtain a strong attack with 20. Nf4 f6 21. Qg3 g5 22. Ng6 Rf7 23. Nxh6+ Kg7 24. Nxf7 Kxg6 25. Nxd6 cxd6 26. Rxd6 Rb7 27. e5.

19. Ned4 Kh7

To meet the threat of 20. Nxc6 Bxc6 21. Ne7+ and 22. Nxc8. The a2 pawn still cannot be captured, in view of 19. ... Qxa2 20. Ra1 Qb7 21. Reb1.

20. g4 Rbe8 21. f3 Ne6 22. Ne2 Qxa2

Seeing no direct threat, Black thinks that it is time to capture the a-pawn, but 22. ... Qb6 would have minimized White’s advantage.
23. Neg3 Qxc2?

(Diagram)

The only chance of defense was 23. ... f6, to defend the g7 pawn with ... Rf7.

24. Rc1 Qb2 25. Nh5 Rh8

Other moves are no better. Two variations given by Capablanca are 25. ... g5 26. e5 f6 27. Qd3, and 25. ... g6 26. Qxh6+ Kg8 27. e5 gxh5 28. gxh5, and there is no answer to the threat of Re1-e2-g2+.

26. Re2 Qe5 27. f4 Qb5 28. Nfxg7 Nc5

Losing quickly. Capablanca expected 28. ... Nxh7, though White is still winning after 29. Nf6+ Kg6 30. Nxd7 f6 31. e5 Kf7 32. Nxf6 Re7 33. Ne4.

29. Nxe8 Bxe8 30. Qc3 f6 31. Nxf6+ Kg6 32. Nh5 Rg8 33. f5+ Kg5 34. Qe3+ Kh4 35. Qg3+ Kg5 36. h4 mate

Westwood final

2009-07-27T01:04:00.000-07:00

Top-rated GM Melikset Khachiyan dominated the Westwood Summer Open, winning four straight before making a quick last-round draw with master Joel Banawa. Tied for second wre Banawa and another of Khachiyan's victims, master Ryan Porter. In the Reserve (U1800) section, unrated Michael Jaglom scored 4.5 to prove that you can start playing tournament chess at any age. (Hint: He's not a little kid.) John Hillery directed for Western Chess. Complete standings are psoted here.

Open:
1st: GM Melikset Khachiyan, 4.5-.5; 2nd-3rd: Joel Banawa, Ryan Porter, 4-1; U2200: Jeremy Stein, 3.5-1.5; U2000: Willis Kim, Zoran Djoric, Matthew Hernandez, Cheston Gunawan, 3-2.
Reserve:
1st: Michael Jaglom, 4.5-.5 (technically 1st U1400/unrated, however); 2nd-3rd: Saul Priever, Numan Abdul-Mujeeb, 4-1; U1600: David Steinhart, Sanjay Siddhanti, Bryan Shapiro, 3-2; U1200: Yechiel Goldberger, 3-1.

GM Melikset Khachiyan (2596) – Ryan Porter (2293)

Westwood Summer Open, Los Angeles 2009

B06 PIRC-ROBATSCH DEFENSE

1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nc3 d6 4.Nf3 a6 5.a4 b6 6.Bc4 e6 7.0–0 Ne7 8.Re1 0–0 9.Bf4 h6 10.h4 Bb7 11.Qd2 Kh7 12.Rad1 Nd7 13.Bg3 Qb8 14.Qe2 Qa7 15.h5 g5 16.e5 Bxf3 17.gxf3 d5 18.Bd3+ Kh8 19.f4 gxf4 20.Bxf4 c5 21.Qd2 cxd4 22.Ne2 Nc6 23.Bxh6 Rg8 24.Bxg7+ Rxg7+ 25.Kh1 Ndxe5 26.Qh6+ Kg8 27.Rg1 f5 28.Qxe6+ Qf7 29.Rxg7+ Kxg7 30.Rg1+ Kf8 31.Qh6+ Ke8 32.f4 1–0

Westwood Summer Open

2009-07-26T12:33:00.000-07:00

A rush of door entries resutled in a good turnout of 43, one of the best for these one-day events at the L.A. Chess Club. Leaidng the field are GM Melikset Kahchiyan, IM Tim Tatylor, and U.S. Junior participant Joel Banawa. Standings are posted here, and will be updated throughout the day.

Nelson Farber (2012) – GM Melikset Khachiyan (2596)

Westwood Summer Open, Los Angeles 2009

B24 SICILIAN DEFENSE, Closed Variation

1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.d3 Rb8 6.Be3 b5 7.Rb1 b4 8.Nce2 Qa5 9.b3 d6 10.Nf3 Qxa2 11.d4 cxd4 12.Ra1 Qb2 13.Rb1 dxe3 14.Rxb2 exf2+ 15.Kxf2 Bxb2 16.e5 Nxe5 17.Nxe5 Bxe5 18.Nd4 Bd7 19.Nc6 Bxc6 20.Bxc6+ Kf8 21.g4 Kg7 22.g5 e6 23.Be4 Ne7 24.h4 h6 25.gxh6+ Rxh6 26.h5 f5 27.Bf3 g5 28.Re1 Kf6 29.Rxe5 dxe5 30.Qd6 Rhh8 31.Be2 Rhd8 32.Qa6 Rd2 33.Qxa7 Rc8 34.h6 Rcxc2 35.Qa8 Rxe2+ 36.Kf1 Rc8 37.Qb7 Rh2 0–1

USCF election final

2009-07-23T15:52:00.000-07:00

Final totals for the USCF Executive Board election:

Jim Berry: 3030
Bill Goichberg: 3014
Ruth Haring: 2952
Michael Atkins: 2672
Michael Korenman: 822
Mike Nietman: 732
Eric Hecht: 717
Blas Lugo: 657
Sam Sloan: 588
Brian Lafferty: 576
Brian Mottershead: 435

There were also 123 Write-in ballots. A total of 4379 ballots were received.

No significant changes from yesterday. A breakdown of votes by USCF Region may be found here.

Comments: Brian Lafferty did surprisingly well for someone who dropped out in May. Perhaps he was seen as a "safe" choice for a protest vote. Brian Mottershead was unable to make traction out of inciting the USCF's current legal problems with the eponymous "Mottershead Report." Sam Sloan's support continues ot decline, but, well, every nut has a hard kernel. Numbers for the "Goichberg group" are comparable to the vote totals he and his endorsees received in 2005 (a bit lower, but not by a lot), but the "Polgar group" got clobbered. Seems like the voters looked at the facts rather than the spin.

USCF election, day 1

2009-07-22T16:02:00.000-07:00

Mike Nolan has posted the results of the first day's counting on the USCF Forum. He writes:

They're a bit over half way through the states after the first day of counting.

So far the states that have been counted are:

CT, ME, NY, PA, DE, DC , SC, GA, IN, OH, MI, MN, IL, MO, AL, AR, TN, LA, KS, CO, OK, AZ, CA, AK, WA, MT and foreign.

The vote tallies so far are:

Jim Berry 1829
Bill Goichberg 1826
Ruth Haring 1802
Mike Atkins 1569
Mikhael Korenman 483
Eric Hecht 420
Mike Nietman 400
Sam Sloan 360
Blas Lugo 358
Brian Lafferty 348
Brian Mottershead 252

Various Write-ins 75

I think they'll be complete some time Thursday afternoon, at which time detailed totals by region will be released.

A total of 4379 ballots were received.

Could be better, could be a lot worse.

Pacific Southwest Open final

2009-07-05T23:53:00.000-07:00

IM Enrico Sevillano took first place in the 49th Annual Pacific Southwest Open defeating Senior Master John Daniel Bryant in the last round to finish with 5.5-.5. Next at 5-1 were GM Melikset Khachiyan and Joel Banawa. In the Amateur (U1800) section, Brian Glover topped the field with 5.5-.5, a half point ahead of Carla Naylor and John Ballow. See below for a complete list of prize winners, or click here for complete standings.

Prize Winners

Open

1st: IM Enrico Sevillano, 5.5-.5; 2nd-3rd: GM Melikset Khachiyan, Joel Banawa, 5-1; 4th-5th: IM Jack Peters, Tatev Abrahamyan, Julian Landaw, 4.5-1.5; U2200: 1st: Konstantin Kavutskiy, 4.5-1.5; 2nd-3rd: Takashi Kurosaki, Show Kitagami, Larry Stevens, Michael Brown, Randy Hough, Bobby Hall, 4-2; U2000: 1st-3rd: Darren Wu, Larry Young, Hubert Jung, 3.5-2.5.

Amateur

1st: Brian Glover, 5.5-.5; 2nd/1st U1600: Carla Naylor, John Ballow, 5-1; 3rd: Winston Zeng, Gerson Miro, 4.5-1.5; 2nd U1600: Alexander Xie, 4.5-1.5; 3rd U1600: Jonathan Homidan, 4-2; U1400: 1st: Agata Bykovtsev, 3.5-2.5; 2nd: Annie Wang, Ezekiel Liu, 3-3; U1200: Michael Rose, 2.5-3.5.

Pacific Southwest Open, day 3

2009-07-05T16:49:00.000-07:00

Going into the final round, IM Enrico Sevillano holds the lead with 4.5, but no fewer than eight players are only half a point behind. In the Amateur, top-rated Brian Glover and number 22 Alexandr Xie are tied with 4.5, and both are playing down. Complete standings are posted, and will be updated as the sections are completed.

(Photo: John Daniel Bryant and IM Enrico Sevillano face off in the last round.)

Pacific Southwest Open, day 2.5

2009-07-04T23:16:00.000-07:00

After four rounds, IM Enrico Sevillano is alone in first place with 4-0. In round 5, he will face GM Melikset Khachiyan, who trails by half a point. In the Amateur section, four players share the lead with 3.5 -- Brian Glover, David Minasyan, Gerson Miro, and Alexander Xie. Click here for standings.

Pacific Southwest Open, day 2

2009-07-04T19:52:00.000-07:00

After the merge, we have a total of 121 players, the best turnout since 2004. Tied for the lead with 3-0 are IMs Enrico Sevillano, Jack Peters, and John Donaldson, followed at 2.5 by a large group including GM Melikset Khachiyan.

The 1-day Scholastic saw a decent turnout of 38. In the Open, Sean Manross with 4-1 took first on tiebreak over Hovanes Salvaryan. The Reserve saw a clear winner, as Joaquin Perkins scored a perfect 5-0. Complete standings of all sections are posted at westernchess.com.

IM Jack Peters – Konatantin Kavutskiy [C05]

Pacific Southwest Open, Los Angeles 2009

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.Ndf3 Nc6 7.c3 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Nc5 9.Ngf3 f5 10.exf6 Qxf6 11.g3 Bd6 12.Be3 a6 13.Bg2 0–0 14.0–0 Bd7 15.c4 Ne7 16.Ne5 Rfd8 17.b4 Ne4 18.Nxd7 Rxd7 19.Bh3 Nf5 20.Nxf5 exf5 21.Qxd5+ Kh8 22.Qxf5 Re7 23.Qxf6 Nxf6 24.c5 Bc7 25.Bd4 Rd8 26.Rad1 Nd5 27.Rfe1 Kg8 28.Be6+ Kf8 29.Bxd5 Rxe1+ 30.Rxe1 Rxd5 31.Bxg7+ 1–0

Bobby Hall – Robert Akopian [B07]

Pacific Southwest Open G/60, Los Angeles 2009

1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.Be3 a6 5.Qd2 b5 6.f3 Nbd7 7.Nge2 Bg7 8.Bh6 0–0 9.Ng3 b4 10.Nce2 c5 11.h4 Bxh6 12.Qxh6 cxd4 13.Nxd4 Ne5 14.h5 Qb6 15.hxg6 fxg6 16.0–0–0 Rf7 17.Qd2 Kf8 18.Be2 a5 19.Nf1 a4 20.Kb1 b3 21.cxb3 axb3 22.a3 Ba6 23.Bxa6 Rxa6 24.Rc1 Ra8 25.Ne3 Kg8 26.Rc3 Rff8 27.Rhc1 Qb7 28.Rc7 Nxe4 29.fxe4 Qxe4+ 30.Ka1 Nd3 31.R1c3 Nc5 32.Nxb3 Na4 33.R3c4 Qe6 34.Nd4 Qf7 35.Nc6 Nc5 36.Rxc5 dxc5 37.Nxe7+ Kh8 38.N7d5 Qf2 39.Qc3+ 1–0

IM John Donaldson - Chapa,E [A34]

Pacific Southwest Open, Los Angeles 2009

1.c4 c5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.g3 Nc6 6.Bg2 Nc7 7.Qa4 Qd7 8.0–0 e5 9.a3 f6 10.e3 Be7 11.Rd1 Qd3 12.b4 cxb4 13.axb4 Bd7 14.b5 Nd8 15.Ba3 Nxb5 16.Bxe7 Kxe7 17.Nxb5 Qxb5 18.Qa3+ Ke8 19.d4 e4 20.Nd2 f5 21.Rdc1 Nf7 22.Bf1 Qd5 23.Bc4 1–0

Pacific Southwest Open, day 1

2009-07-03T17:21:00.000-07:00

The 49th Annual Pacific Southwest Open is off to a good start. With 110 entries already, plus a few more expected tomorrow for the 2-day schedule, this should be the most successful PSW in several years. Maybe chess really is contrarian ...

Most of the higher-rated players won in the first round, including IMs Jack Peters and John Donaldson, but top-ranked GM Melikset Khachiyan was nicked for a draw (by one of his students!). Standings will be posted throughout the weekend, and possibly pairings as well if time allows.

Carl Bolm – GM Melikset Khachiyan [B07]
Pacific Southwest Open, Los Angeles 2009
1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 e5 4.dxe5 dxe5 5.Qxd8+ Kxd8 6.Nf3 Bd6 7.Bg5 Be6 8.0–0–0 Nbd7 9.Nb5 Ke7 10.Nxd6 cxd6 11.Bb5 Nc5 12.Rhe1 a6 13.Bd3 Rac8 14.Kb1 Rc6 15.Nd2 Rhc8 16.f3 b5 17.Nf1 h6 18.Bxf6+ Kxf6 19.Ne3 Nd7 20.Rd2 Nb6 21.Bf1 Ke7 22.g3 f6 23.f4 Rc5 24.Red1 Rd8 25.b3 a5 26.Kb2 b4 27.a3 bxa3+ 28.Kxa3 a4 29.c4 axb3 30.Kxb3 Rb8 31.Kc3 Ra5 32.Rc2 Na4+ 33.Kd2 Nc5 34.Bg2 Ra3 35.Nf5+ Bxf5 36.exf5 Nb3+ 37.Ke1 Nd4 38.Rxd4 exd4 39.Rd2 d3 40.Be4 d5 41.cxd5 Kd6 42.Bxd3 Kxd5 43.Kf2 Kd4 44.Be2+ Ke4 45.Bg4 Rab3 46.Bd1 Kxf5 47.Bxb3 Rxb3 48.Kg2 Ke4 49.Kh3 Kf3 50.Kh4 g6 51.Ra2 Rd3 52.Ra6 Rd2 53.Kh3 Rd5 54.Ra3+ Ke4 55.Ra4+ Rd4 56.Ra6 Kf5 57.g4+ Kxf4 58.Rxf6+ Kg5 59.Rb6 Rc4 60.Ra6 Re4 ½–½

Randy Higa – IM Jack Peters [E80]
Pacific Southwest Open, Los Angeles 2009
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f3 c6 6.Be3 a6 7.a4 a5 8.Qd2 0–0 9.Rd1 Na6 10.Bd3 e5 11.Nge2 Nd7 12.0–0 f5 13.exf5 gxf5 14.Kh1 Nf6 15.c5 exd4 16.Nxd4 f4 17.Bf2 Nxc5 18.Bc4+ d5 19.Nxc6 bxc6 20.Bxc5 Rf7 21.Rfe1 Rb8 22.Re2 Bf8 23.Bxf8 Qxf8 24.Qxf4 Nd7 25.Qg5+ Rg7 26.Bxd5+ cxd5 27.Qxd5+ Kh8 28.Ne4 Bb7 29.Qd6 Qg8 0-1

Burn - Blackburne, New York 1889

2009-06-03T02:31:00.000-07:00

Amos Burn was a strong player in his day, but he was most at home with slow maneuvering in closed positions. Blackburne was very much the opposite. Here Burn plays the first combination, but he is swiftly felled by a flurry of counterpunches.

Burn - Blackburne
New York, 1889
C66 RUY LOPEZ, Steinitz Defense

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. 0–0 d6 5. d4 exd4 6. Nxd4 Bd7 7. Nc3 Be7 8. Be3

Plausible, but the Bishop is not well-placed here. Better is 8. Nde2 (avoiding exchanges), or Tarrasch’s 8. b3.

8. ... 0-0 9. Be2 Re8 10. Bf3 Bf8 11. Bg5 h6 12. Bc1

White’s maneuvers might make sense if Black were committed to remaining passive. Instead, he correctly prepares to open the center.

12. ... g5 13. g3 Nxd4 14. Qxd4 Bg7 15. Qd1 Bc6 16. Re1 Qd7 17. Bg2 Re7 18. Qd3 Rae8 19. Bd2 Ng4 20. f3 Ne5 21. Qf1 d5 22. Rad1 dxe4

Perhaps White thought he had prevented this because of the discovered attack.

23. Bxg5

(Diagram)

23. ... exf3!

If so, he was wrong.

24. Bh1

If 24. Rxd7 fxg2 25. Rxe7 (25. Qf4 Nf3+ 26. Kf2 Nxg5 27. Rexe7 Nh3+ 28. Ke2 Rxe7+ 29. Rxe7 Nxf4+ is crushing) 25. ... gxf1Q+ 26. Rxf1 hxg5 leaves Black with two Bishops for a Rook.

24. ... Nd3 25. Rxe7 Bd4+ 26. Be3 Rxe7 27. Qxd3 Rxe3 28. Qxd4 Re1+ 29. Kf2 Qxd4+ 30. Rxd4 Rxh1

Black is only a pawn ahead, but the protected passer on f3 towers over the board.

31. h4 Rc1 32. Ne4 Rxc2+ 33. Kxf3

White could play on for a while three pawns down with 33. Nd2 Rxb2 34. a3 Ra2 35. Rd3 Bb5 36. Rd5 c5, but he chooses a quick death.

33. ... f5 0–1

Anderssen - Kieseritzky, London, 1851

2009-05-30T17:42:00.000-07:00

One of Anderssen’s masterpieces, known as the “Immortal Game.” Black neglects his development, and Anderssen offers both Rooks to show that two active pieces are worth more than a dozen sleeping at home.

Anderssen - Kieseritzky
London, 1851
C33 KING’S BISHOP’S GAMBIT

1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Bc4 Qh4+ 4. Kf1 b5 5. Bxb5 Nf6 6. Nf3 Qh6 7. d3 Nh5 8. Nh4 Qg5 9. Nf5 c6 10. g4 Nf6 11. Rg1 cxb5 12. h4 Qg6 13. h5 Qg5 14. Qf3

Now threatening to trap the Black Queen with 15. Bxf4.

14. ... Ng8 15. Bxf4 Qf6 16. Nc3 Bc5 17. Nd5 Qxb2 18. Bd6!?

Robert Huebner wrote a very long article anbout this game, in which he claimed that this move was inferior, preferring the rather prosaic 18. d4. The main point of Andersson’s move is to divert the Black Queen from the a1-h8 diagonal. Now Black cannot play 18. ... Bxd6? 19. Nxd6+ Kd8 20. Nxf7+ Ke8 21. Nd6+ Kd8 22. Qf8 mate.

(Diagram)

18. ... Qxa1+

According to Huebner, Black can put up a fight with 18. ... Qxa1+ 19. Ke2 Qb2! 20. Kd2 Bxg1, gaining a useful tempo.

19. Ke2 Bxg1

And not 19. .. Qxg1 20. Nxg7+ Kd8 21. Bc7 mate.

20. e5! Na6

More resistance could have been offered by 20. ... Ba6, but White should still win after 21. Nc7+ Kd8 22. Nxa6 Bb6 23. Qxa8.

21. Nxg7+ Kd8 22. Qf6+! Nxf6 23. Be7 mate

Four on top

2009-05-25T18:54:00.000-07:00

The four top-rated players have tied for first in the 2009 Memorial Day Classic. GM Melikset Khachiyan, IMs Enrico Sevillano and Andranik Matikozyan, and Senior Master John Bryant played a round-robin on the final day, and with all games drawn the four tied for first with 4.5-1.5. Khachiyan had the best tiebreaks, and will have his name engraved on the permanent rotating trophy. In other action, Bobby Hall and Chris McKay tied for first in the Premier, Bret Strunk, David Minasyan, Don Bolt and Christian Garcia topped the Amateur, and Virgil Sezonov, Alexander Xie and Jonathan Homidan took top honors in the Reserve. Craig Faber, William Pennucci and Henry Castro tied for first in the Action, while Robert Oesterlein and W. Gary Good split one of the Hex sections, while Willis Kim and Robert Hatfield tied in the other. Click here for standings of all sections, and a selection of games in Java viewer or PGN.

(Photos: Andranik Matikozyan faces off against Enrico Sevillano, while John Bryant (in the red shirt) battles Khachiyan.)

Memorial Day Classic, day 2

2009-05-24T19:22:00.001-07:00

After the merge, GM Melikset Khachiyan and IM Andranik Matikozyan led the field with 3-0, but their first-board draw allowed IM Enrico Sevillano and John Daniel Bryant to join them in the lead. Click here for standings, or click here for Round 5 pairings (subject to change).

In the one-day Scholastic, both sections saw perfect 5-0 scores, with Sean Manross taking the Open and Hovanes Salvaryan the Reserve.

Michael Brown – Michael Casella [E92]
Memorial Day Classic, Los Angeles 2009
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Be2 0–0 6.Nf3 e5 7.Be3 h6 8.0–0 Ng4 9.Bc1 Nc6 10.d5 Ne7 11.Nd2 f5 12.exf5 gxf5 13.Bxg4 fxg4 14.Nde4 Bd7 15.Be3 Nf5 16.Qd2 a6 17.b4 Qe8 18.Rae1 Qg6 19.Ng3 h5 20.c5 Nd4 21.Nge4 h4 22.Ng5 h3 23.gxh3 Nf3+ 24.Nxf3 gxf3+ 25.Bg5 Rf4 26.h4 Rxh4 27.Kh1 Rxh2+ 0–1

Memorial Day Classic update

2009-05-23T23:09:00.000-07:00

After two rounds, four players are tied for the lead with 2-0 -- GM Melikset Khachiyan, IMs Enrico Sevillano and Jack Peters, and Senior Master John Daniel Bryant. Standings and round-3 pairings are posted. Note that the pairings are subject to change until 10:20 a.m.

IM Enrico Sevillano – Craig Faber [B01]
Memorial Day Classic, Los Angeles 2009
1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qa5 4.d4 c6 5.Bd3 Nf6 6.Nge2 Bg4 7.f3 Bh5 8.0–0 e6 9.Qe1 Bg6 10.Be4 Nbd7 11.Bf4 Nxe4 12.fxe4 Bb4 13.a3 Bxc3 14.Nxc3 0–0 15.Kh1 Rfe8 16.e5 Bxc2 17.Qe2 Bg6 18.h4 h5 19.Ne4 Bxe4 20.Qxe4 Qd5 21.Qe2 g6 22.Qf2 f5 23.exf6 Kf7 24.Rae1 a5 25.Qe3 Rh8 26.Rf3 Nb6 27.Qb3 Ra6 28.Bc7 Qxb3 29.Rxb3 Nd5 30.Rxb7 1–0

Ernesto Soto – Renae Robles [B01]
Memorial Day Classic, Los Angeles 2009

1.e4 d5 2.d4 dxe4 3.Nc3 Bf5 4.f3 exf3 5.Nxf3 Nf6 6.Bd3 Bg4 7.0–0 c6 8.Bc4 e6 9.h3 Bxf3 10.Rxf3 Be7 11.Rg3 g6 12.Bh6 Bf8 13.Bxf8 Kxf8 14.Qd2 h5 15.Rf1 Kg7 16.Rgf3 Nbd7 17.Ne4 Nxe4 18.Rxf7+ Kg8 19.Bxe6 Ndf6 20.R7xf6+ 1–0

Lina Grumette Memorial Day Classic, day 1

2009-05-23T18:42:00.000-07:00

The 2009 Lina Grumette Memorial Day Classic is off to a good start, with 71 players in the 3-day schedule (led by GM Melikset Khachiyan and IMs Enrico Sevillano and Jack Peters), and at least 40 more joining in tomorrow. Standings are posted here, and will be updated throughout the weekend.

GM Melikset Khachiyan – Carlos Garcia [C41]

Memorial Day Classic, Los Angeles 2009

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 g6 5.Nc3 Bg7 6.g3 Nc6 7.Nxc6 bxc6 8.Bg2 Ba6 9.Ne2 Ne7 10.0–0 0–0 11.Re1 Qd7 12.Nf4 Rae8 13.c3 Nc8 14.Be3 Nb6 15.Bd4 Be5 16.Bxe5 dxe5 17.Ne2 Rd8 18.Qxd7 Rxd7 19.b3 Rfd8 20.c4 Rd2 21.Nc3 Rc2 22.Rec1 Rxc1+ 23.Rxc1 Rd2 24.Bh3 Kg7 25.Kg2 Kf6 26.Kf3 Ke7 27.Ke3 Rb2 28.Bf1 Nd7 29.Bd3 Nc5 30.Bb1 Bc8 31.Nd1 Rxb1 32.Rxb1 Ne6 33.Nb2 Nd4 34.Nd3 f6 35.f4 1–0

Carl Pilnick – IM Jack Peters [E63]

Memorial Day Classic, Los Angeles 2009

1.c4 g6 2.Nc3 Bg7 3.g3 d6 4.d4 Nc6 5.Nf3 Nf6 6.Bg2 0–0 7.0–0 a6 8.b3 Rb8 9.Bb2 b5 10.cxb5 axb5 11.d5 Na5 12.e3 b4 13.Ne2 e6 14.dxe6 fxe6 15.Rc1 Qe7 16.Qc2 Ba6 17.Rfe1 c5 18.Bxf6 Qxf6 19.Nf4 Bb7 20.e4 Bh6 21.Nh3 Bxc1 0–1

USCF Election: Dark is the day

2009-05-06T17:27:00.000-07:00

It is the logic of our times
No subject for immortal verse
That we who lived by honest dreams
Defend the bad against the worse.

We’re two months closer to the USCF election. The candidates have had two chances to present their cases in Chess Life, but from where I’m sitting little has changed. I gave more detail in my earlier post, but here’s the Cliffs Notes version.

Reasonable
Michael Atkins – Active TD in the MD-VA area. He’s shown a certain lack of restraint with regard to the USCF’s legal problems, but he’s qualified for the job.
Jim Berry – Coming off a two-year term. I am generally unenthusiastic about people running for re-election, but he’s done well enough.
Ruth Haring – Experienced player (she competed in the U.S. Women’s Championship a few times), excellent real-world credentials. A shot in the dark, but worth a try.

Marginal
Mike Nietman – I don’t know him well. Personally pleasant. Mainly a scholastic person, which is not a plus in my book but not disqualifying either.
Bill Goichberg – I wish I could rank him higher. I have enormous respect for Bill’s accomplishments, but he’s a lightning rod for controversy and he’s been on the Board too long. He’s served with honor; now he should step aside with honor.
Mikhail Korenman – He did a good job a few years ago with the “Karpov Chess School” in Lindsborg, Kansas, but his performance since then has been unimpressive. Seems to lack follow-through.
Eric Hecht – He was one of Blas Lugo’s backers for the Miami Open (see below). Unless he dissociates himself from that fiasco (which he hasn’t even tried to do yet), I have to rate him as unacceptable.

Awful
Blas Lugo – IM and tournament organizer from Florida. Only one problem, but it’s a big one – at last year’s Miami Open, he reneged on a guaranteed prize fund, shorting the players by several thousand dollars. If you’ve ever played in a tournament and expected to receive your prize, don’t vote for him.
Brian Mottershead & Brian Lafferty – A pair of nasty, backbiting trolls with zero knowledge or experience in chess, who think they should be able to start at the top. In a better year, their candidacies would be a joke. Let’s make it so.
Sam Sloan – Perpetual candidate. Serial and vexatious litigant. Ratbag of note. If you want to cast a protest vote, write in Mickey Mouse. He’d do a better job.

Verlinski-Alekhine, St. Petersburg 1909

2009-04-26T23:14:00.000-07:00

An early example of Alekhine’s mastery of active piece play, as his two Bishops prove far more impressive than White’s pawn majority.

Verlinski - Alekhine
St. Petersburg 1909
C68 RUY LOPEZ, Exchange Variation

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. d4 exd4 6. Qxd4 Qxd4 7. Nxd4 c5 8. Ne2 Bd7 9. b3 c4 10. bxc4 Ba4 11. c3 0-0-0 12. Nd2 Bc2 13. f3 Bc5 14. a4 Nf6 15. Ba3 Be3 16. Nf1 Ba7 17. a5 Rd3 18. c5 Rhd8 19. Kf2 Nd7 20. Ne3 Nxc5 21. Nd4

Alekhine points out that 21. Nxc2 leads to mate after 21. ... Nxe4+, e.g. 22. Ke1 Rd1+ 23. Rxd1 Bf2+ 24. Kf1 Rxd1+ 25. Ne1 Rxe1 mate.

21. ... Bb3 22. Ke2

The c3-pawn cannot be defended, for both 22. Rhc1 and 22. Bb2 run into 22. ... R3xd4 and 23. ... Nd3+.

22. ... Rxc3 23. Bb2

(Diagram)

23. ... Rxe3+! 24. Kxe3 Ne6 25. Ra3

Defending the piece with 25. Rhd1 leads to a lost King and pawn ending: 25. ... Bxd1 26. Rxd1 Nxd4 27. Bxd4 Bxd4+ 28. Rxd4 Rxd4 29. Kxd4 Kd7 30. Kd5 b6.

25. ... Nxd4 26. Kf4 Bc5 27. Rha1 Ne2+ 28. Kg4 Be6+, White resigns

Westwood Spring Open

2009-04-19T14:40:00.000-07:00

The Westwood Spring Open, held at the Los Angeles Chess Club, had a fair turnout of 37, led by IM Enrico Sevillano. Sevillano, however, was upset in the first round by expert Robert Akopian. After three rounds, the leaders are masters John Daniel Bryant and Garush Manukuyan, with 3-0. Click here for standings, which will be updated throughout the day.

Prize Winners
Open
1st-3rd: IM Enrico Sevillano, John Daniel Bryant, Garush Manukyan, 4-1; U2200: Joshua Gutman, Robert Akopian, 3-2; U2000: Remigio Pampliega, 3-2.

Reserve
1st-2nd & U1600: Wendell Salveron, Minas Badikyan, Leo Castro, 4-1; U1400: Ezekiel Liu, 2.5-2.5; U1200: John Yu, 2-3.

Tarrasch - Lasker, 2nd match game 1908

2009-04-06T21:37:00.000-07:00

Emanuel Lasker’s style is not an easy one to grasp. Did he deliberately make inferior moves to “provoke” his opponents? Could his many victories form difficult positions be the result of luck? Perhaps – but the strong make their own luck, as this game demonstrates. With his position under pressure, Lasker invites a combination, from which White may obtain either an extra pawn or a strong attack. Tarrasch chooses the former, and is subsequently outplayed. Would a player like Marshall have done better with the White position at move 15? Probably, but Lasker would not have played this way against Marshall …

Tarrasch - Lasker
2nd Match Game, Dusseldorf 1908
C66 RUY LOPEZ, Steinitz Defense

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. 0-0 d6 5. d4 Bd7 6. Nc3 Be7 7. Re1 exd4

Black would like to maintain a pawn on e5, but 7. ... 0-0 was rudely handled in Tarrasch – Marco, Dresden, 1892: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. 0-0 d6 5. d4 Bd7 6. Nc3 Be7 7. Re1 0-0 8. Bxc6 Bxc6 9. dxe5 dxe5 10. Qxd8 Raxd8 11. Nxe5 Bxe4 12. Nxe4 Nxe4 13. Nd3 f5 14. f3 Bc5+ 15. Nxc5 Nxc5 16. Bg5 Rd5 17. Be7, Black resigns. Any move by the Rook at f8 is met by 18. c5, winning material. This little trap has recurred in master play on at least two occasions, and among lesser folk many more. (I’ve won the same game at least twice.)

8. Nxd4 0-0 9. Nxc6 Bxc6 10. Bxc6 bxc6 11. Ne2

White plans to transfer his Knight to f5 via g3. The move is tactically justified by 11. … Nxe4? 12. Nd4, threatening Nxc6 as well as Rxe4.

11. … Qd7 12. Ng3 Rfe8?!

A more logical deployment of the Rooks would be at d8 and b8.
13. b3 Rad8 14. Bb2 Ng4 15. Bxg7 Nxf2 16. Kxf2 Kxg7 17. Nf5+ Kh8 18. Qd4+ f6 19. Qxa7 Bf8

Black's Kingside has been shattered, and now he loses a pawn. But cashing in on material now proves to be the wrong idea, as it takes the White Queen out of play just long enough for Black to seize the initiative. Note how he uses the dark squares in general and e5 in particular.

20. Qd4 Re5 21. Rad1 Rde8 22. Qc3 Qf7 23. Ng3 Bh6 24. Qf3 d5 25. exd5 Be3+ 26. Kf1 cxd5 27. Rd3 Qe6 28. Re2 f5 29. Rd1 f4

(Diagram)

30. Nh1 d4 31. Nf2 Qa6 32. Nd3 Rg5 33. Ra1 Qh6 34. Ke1 Qxh2 35. Kd1 Qg1+ 36. Ne1 Rge5 37. Qc6 R5e6 38. Qxc7 R8e7 39. Qd8+ Kg7 40. a4 f3 41. gxf3 Bg5, White resigns

Speaking sense

2009-04-05T18:47:00.000-07:00

Wick Deer has started a USCF politics blog, which so far has had a lot of sensible things to say. I especially liked this one.

Rotlewi - Rubinstein, Lodz 1907

2009-03-22T01:16:00.000-07:00

In contrast to his great rival, Lasker, Akiba Rubinstein was a player of calmness and simplicity; his victories seem as inevitable as the rising tide. Here he demonstrates the value of time in a symmetrical position. White’s first loss of tempo permits Black equality; the second invites a brilliant, devastating – and logical – mating attack.

Rotlewi – Rubinstein
Lodz, 1907
D40 QUEEN’S GAMBIT DECLINED

1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 e6 3. e3 c5 4. c4 Nc6 5. Nc3 Nf6 6. dxc5

Not exactly a mistake, but by making this capture before Black’s Bishop has moved from f8, White risks a loss of tempo if a later Bf1-d3 is answered by ... d5xc4.

6. ... Bxc5 7. a3 a6 8. b4 Bd6 9. Bb2 0-0 10. Qd2

Another inaccuracy; it is clear that Black will soon open the d-file and place a Rook on d8, forcing the White Queen to move again.

10. ... Qe7 11. Bd3 dxc4 12. Bxc4 b5 13. Bd3 Rd8 14. Qe2 Bb7 15. 0-0

Time to take stock. The pieces of both sides are posted symmetrically, but Black has the useful extra move ... Rf8-d8, and it is still his move. Rubinstein begins by exchanging off one of the Kingside defenders.

15. ... Ne5 16. Nxe5 Bxe5 17. f4 Bc7 18. e4

White’s undeveloped position can’t stand this; he had to try Rfd1, though Black still stands better with his active Bishops.

18. ... Rac8 19. e5 Bb6+ 20. Kh1 Ng4 21. Be4

Black is well on top after 21. Qxg4 Rxd3, and 21. Ne4 runs into 21. ... Rxd3 22. Qxd3 Bxe4 23. Qxe4 Qh4 24. h3 Qg3 25. hxg4 Qh4 mate.

21. ... Qh4 22. g3

Also insufficient was 22. h3 Rxc3, e.g. 23. Qxg4 Rxh3+ 24. Qxh3 Qxh3+ 25. gxh3 Bxe4+ 26. Kh2 Rd2+ 27. Kg3 Rg2+ followed by mate, or 23. Bxc3 Bxe4 24. Qxg4 Qxg4 25. hxg4 Rd3, and White must lose the Bishop on c3 in view of the threat of 26. ... Rxh3 mate.

(Diagram)

22. ... Rxc3!

A wonderful combination, which includes the motifs of overloading and removing the guard.

23. gxh4

Other moves are no better: 23. Bxc3 Bxe4+ 24. Qxe4 Qxh2 mate, or 23. Bxb7 Rxg3 24. Rf3 (Black threatened ... Nxh2 and ... Rh3) 24. ... Rxf3 25. Bxf3 Nf2+ 26. Kg1 Ne4+ 27. Kf1 Nd2+ 28. Kg2 Nxf3 29. Qxf3 Rd2+ and wins.

23. ... Rd2!

The final point. Hopeless now are a) 24. Qxg4 Bxe4+ 25. Rf3 Rxf3, b) 24. Bxc3 Rxe2 threatening both ... Rxh2+ and ... Bxe4+, and c) 24 Bxb7 Rxe2 25. Bg2 Rh3!

24. Qxd2 Bxe4+ 25. Qg2 Rh3!, White resigns

For White must soon be mated.

Western Pacific Open final

2009-03-16T15:02:00.000-07:00

IM Enrico Sevillano took first place in the 7th Annual Western Pacific Open, held at the LAX Hilton March 13-15, with 4.5 out of 5. Next at 4-1 were IM Jack Peters (who drew with Sevillano in the final round), Garush Manukuyan, and Gregg Small. In the Amateur (U2000) section, 10th-ranked Ryan Polsky had a tremendous tournament, scoring 4.5 and gaining over 60 rating points. Complete standings are posted on the Western Chess web page.

Prize Winners

Open
1st: IM Enrico Sevillano, 4½-½; 2nd-4th: IM Jack Peters, Garush Manukyan, Gregg Small, 4-1; 5th: John Daniel Bryant, Ryan Porter, 3½-1½; U2200: Ryan Richardson, Varun Krishnan, 3-2.

Amateur
1st: Ryan Polsky, 4½-½; 2nd-3rd: Gautam Nipanikar, Kenneth Poole, Steven Morford, 4-1; 1st-2nd U1800: Jason Kammerdiner, Michael Bynum, 3½-1½; 3rd U1800: Ernesto Soto, Ronald Morriss, 3½-1½; 1st-2nd U1600: Michael Phalen, David Connors, 3-2; 3rd U1600: Babken Krbashian, Crescen Tolentino, 2½-2½; U1400: Joseph Reynolds, 2½-2½; U1200: Jospeh Calderon, 2-3; Unrated: Hovhanes Melkonyan, 1½-3½

Hexes
Section 1: Ray Wong, 2½-½
Section 2: Bryan Shapiro, Zaven Khachiyan, Antonio Malapira, Elijah Ullman, 2-1

SCCF State Scholastic Championships final

2009-03-15T19:10:00.001-07:00

All four sections of the 2009 SCCF State Scholastic Championships produced clear winners. First place in the High School section, and an invitation to the Denker Tournament of High School Champions, went to Vincent Huang with 4.5 out of 5. Tied for second and third a half point behind were Jared Tan and Michael Yee. Top team was University High of Irvine, with Vincent Huang, Aaron Ong, Aldrich Ong, Robert Khachatryan, David Shin, and Paul Raymond Duncan.

Jeffrey Ding topped the Junior High with 6-1. David Minasyan scored 6.5 in the Elementary (Grade 6-below), with Coalinga taking Top Team. Coalinga also took the team prize in the Primary (Grade 3-below) while Leo Kamgar scored 6.5 to take individual honors. And "Beyond Chess" took home the non-school club trophy in every section!

Randy Hough directed, with assistance from Anthony Ong and Ivona Jezierska. Click here for complete standings of all sections.

Pictured above: High School Champion Vincent Huang; Junior High winner Jeffrey Ding with trophy; the winning team from University High of Irvine (Vincent Huang, Aaron Ong, Aldich Ong, Robert Khachatryan, David Shin, and Paul Raymond Duncan).

Western Pacific Open & SCCF Scholastic Championships

2009-03-14T21:04:00.000-07:00

These combined events at the LAX Hilton saw good turnouts in both. The WPO attracted 79, including three IMs, despite man "regulars playing for the state scholastic titles instead. The Scholastic Championships saw 151 compete in fur sections. Click here for standings of the WPO after three rounds, or here for standings of the Scholastics.

IM Jack Peters – Craig Faber

7th Western Pacific Open, Los Angeles 2009

B01 CENTER COUNTER DEFNSE

1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qa5 4.d4 Nf6 5.Nf3 c6 6.Bc4 Bf5 7.0–0 e6 8.Nh4 Bg6 9.Nxg6 hxg6 10.Bf4 Nbd7 11.a3 Nh5 12.b4 Qd8 13.Be3 a6 14.Re1 Be7 15.Ne4 Nb6 16.Bb3 Nf6 17.Nc5 Qc7 18.g3 Nfd5 19.Bd2 0–0–0 20.Qf3 Nf6 21.Bf4 Bd6 22.Be5 Rh5 23.Nd3 Rdh8 24.h4 g5 25.Bxd6 Qxd6 26.Ne5 g4 27.Nxf7 gxf3 28.Nxd6+ Kc7 29.Nf7 1–0

Jeremy Treadwell – Gautam Nipanikar

7th Western Pacific Open U2000, Los Angeles 2009

B23 SICILIAN DEFENSE, Rossolimo Variation

1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 d6 3.f4 e6 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.Bb5+ Nc6 6.0–0 Bd7 7.Bxc6 Bxc6 8.d3 Be7 9.Qe1 0–0 10.Bd2 b5 11.Nd1 a5 12.Nf2 Qc7 13.g4 Nd7 14.Nh3 Rae8 15.Nhg5 b4 16.h4 Qb7 17.c4 Bd8 18.Qg3 f6 19.Rf2 fxg5 20.hxg5 g6 21.Rh2 Rf7 22.Qh3 d5 23.f5 Bc7 24.Rh1 exf5 25.gxf5 gxf5 26.g6 Rg7 27.Ng5 Nf6 28.cxd5 Bd7 29.gxh7+ Kh8 30.Kf2 fxe4 31.Ne6 Bg3+ 0–1

Nathaniel Lagemann – IM Jack Peters

7th Western Pacific Open, Los Angeles 2009

B33 SICILIAN DEFENSE, Scheveningen Variation

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Qb6 5.Nb3 Nf6 6.Bd3 e6 7.Nc3 a6 8.0–0 d6 9.Be3 Qc7 10.f4 Be7 11.Kh1 b5 12.Qe2 Bb7 13.Bg1 0–0 14.Rf3 Rfe8 15.Rh3 g6 16.Nb1 e5 17.Qf2 d5 18.exd5 Nxd5 19.fxe5 Nxe5 20.Be4 Ng4 21.Qg3 Bd6 22.Qxg4 Rxe4 23.Qg5 Nf4 24.Rf3 Re2 0–1

Lasker-Napier, Cambridge Springs 1904

2009-02-23T15:42:00.001-08:00

It is not often that a player will name one of his losses as the best game he ever played, but such was the case with William Napier’s celebrated game against Emanuel Lasker. In many ways this game is archetypical of Lasker’s play; it mattered little to him whether he stood better or worse, as long as he could maintain the tension.

Lasker - Napier
Cambridge Springs, 1904
B34 SICILIAN DEFENSE, Dragon Variation

1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Nf3 g6 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 Bg7 6. Be3 d6 7. h3

The usual plans for White in thsi “Dragon” variation are Be2 followed by f2-f4, or f2-f3 along with 0-0-0 and a pawn attack on the Kingside. White chooses instead to advance his Kingside pawns before castling, and Black correctly responds by opening the center.

7. ... Nf6 8. g4 0-0 9. g5 Ne8 10. h4 Nc7 11. f4 e5 12. Nde2 d5

Logical, but safer was the preparatory 12. ... Bg4. The text leads to unfathomable complications, which at first glance—and even second or third—seem to favor Black.

13. exd5 Nd4 14. Nxd4 Nxd5

A strong intermediate move; after 15. Nxd5 exd4 Black recovers all of his material with advantage.

15. Nf5 Nxc3 16. Qxd8 Rxd8 17. Ne7+ Kh8

Note how long the Black Knight remains untouched at c3. Now neither 18. Nxc8 Nd5 nor 18. bxc3 exf4 19. Bd4 Bxd4 20. cxd4 Re8 are satisfactory for White.

18. h5

With the sudden threat of 19. hxg6 fxg6 20. Nxg6+ Kg8 21. Bc4+ Nd5 22. Bxd5+ Rxd5 23. Ne7+.

18. ... Re8 19. Bc5 gxh5

Preventing the threat described above. White still does not wish to take the Nc3, for after 20. bxc3 Bf8 21. Bb5 Rxe7 22. Bxe7 Bxe7 Black would have more than enough for the Exchange.

20. Bc4 exf4 21. Bxf7 Ne4

A very fine conception, which might well have succeeded against a lesser opponent.

22. Bxe8 Bxb2 23. Rb1 Bc3+ 24. Kf1 Bg4

Despite his extra Rook, White’s position is none too happy – Black threatens ... Rxe8, ... Nxc5, ... Nd2+ and ... Ng3+. But now Lasker returns all the material to retake the initiative, and soon proves that the Black King is less safe than the White.

(Diagram)

25. Bxh5! Bxh5 26. Rxh5 Ng3+ 27. Kg2 Nxh5 28. Rxb7 a5 29. Rb3 Bg7 30. Rh3 Ng3 31. Kf3

The once exposed White King becomes a strong attacking pieces, and the Black pawn on f4 cannot be held, as 31. ... Be5 is met by 32. Ng6+.

31. ... Ra6 32. Kxf4 Ne2+ 33. Kf5 Nc3 34. a3 Na4 35. Be3 1-0

For there is no good defense to the threat of g5-g6.

Amateur Team West final

2009-02-17T02:16:00.000-08:00

Four teams tied with 5-1 in the 26th Annual U.S. Amateur Team West. First on tiebreak were the "ACA Beasts!," with John Daniel Bryant, Michael Yee, Vincent Huang and Santy Wong. Second went to "Yellow is Mellow" (Joel Banawa, Cau Duong Le, Takashi Kurosaki, Jonathan Soo Hoo and Stewart Yanez), and third to "OC Chess Club" (Alexandre Kretchetov, Takashi Iwamoto, Krishna Kaliannan and Michael Brown). "ACA Chess Club" (Enrico Sevillano, Andranik Matikozyan, Robert Feldstein and Michael Ambartsoumian) had to be content with the honor, though both Sevillano and Matikozyan (6-0!) took home board prizes. American Chess Academy deserves special mention, as in addition to first their teams won top Junior ("ACA -- The Dark Knights") and top U1800 ("ACA Youth"). Class prize winners are listed below, and you can click here for final standings.

U2100: Temple City High Rams (Tianye He, Roberet Xue, Terence Subn, Jim Chen Lee)
U2000: The Thompson Guide (Lawrence Stevens, Francisco Alonso, Tim Thompson, Ron Morris)
U1800: ACA Youth (Samuel Sevian, Paul Richter, David Minasyn, Daniel Mousseri)
U1600: Knights of Barook Opawma (Jay Stallings, Cheston Gunawan, Jackson Stallings, Thomas Emery Hart)
U1400: Voyage to the Bottom of the Pairings (Alan Karman, Daniel Giordani, Patrick Dailey, Debra Rothman)
College: Unrated Trojan Horse Surprise/USC (Riddhi Shah, Martin Diekhoff, Mohul Oswal, Junda Chen, Morgan Jones)
Junior: ACA -- The Dark Knights (Daniel Naroditsky, Christian Tanaka, Jared Tan, Eric Zhang)
Industrial: Northrop Grumman Advantage in Space (Phillip Jacobson, Robert Potts, Larry Miller, Sepehr Ebrahimi, David Anthopoulos)

Board Prizes
Board 1: IM Enrico Sevillano
Board 2: IM Andranik Matikozyan
Board 3: John Williams
Board 4: Jonathan Soo Hoo
Alternate: John Anderson

Team Name
1st: Voyage to the Bottom of the Pairings
2nd: Houston, We Have a Mate in Two Problem

Two and a half Beasts: Above, non-playing captain Jerry Yee receives the first-place trophy along with Michael Yee and Santy Wong, as John Daniel Bryant and Vincent Huang had already left for home.

Scholastic Team final

2009-02-15T20:22:00.000-08:00

First place in the 12th Annual Scholastic Amateur Team went to "BEYOND challenge" with 4-0. on tiebreak over "Troy High." Click here for complete standings. Photo: Harrison Chen, Justin Tay, Adrian Chang, "BEYOND chess" coach IM Ben Deng, and Albert Lu.

U.S. Amateur Team West, day 2

2009-02-15T14:00:00.000-08:00

Sunday at the Amateur Team means the Scholastic tournament. This year saw a good turnout of 33 teams and 133 players. First round results are now posted, along with the first two rounds of the main event. Above: The Scholastic at the start of round 2; the Warner Center Marriott; and two of the cuter hotel guests. (We're sharing the Ballroom with a dog show, and today seems to be cocker spaniel day).

26th Annual U.S. Amateur Team West

2009-02-14T19:21:00.000-08:00

The 2009 edition of Southern California's premier team event moved to a fine new site at the Warner Center Marriott in Woodland Hills. The main event saw a good turnout of 46 teams and 202 players, with the one-day Scholastic still to come. Round-by-round standings will be available throughout the weekend. Here are a couple of photos, of the main playing room and the round two top-board encounter between IM Jack Peters and Joel Banawa.

Pillsbury - Marco, Paris 1900

2009-02-06T22:12:00.000-08:00

Harry Nelson Pillsbury’s career is less well known than it ought to be. His lifetime score against Lasker was +4=4-4, and his failure to secure a match before his premature death in 1906 was a great loss to the game. Here he scores another fine victory with the Queen’s Gambit, as Marco thinks to improve on Tarrasch’s play at Hastings.

I hope it doesn't look like I'm being too hard on poor Georg Marco. He was a strong player and a fine writer, who had the misfortune to lose a number of memorable games to the world's best.

Pillsbury - Marco
Paris, 1900
D55 QUEEN’S GAMBIT DECLINED

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e3 0-0 6. Nf3 b6 7. Bd3 Bb7 8. cxd5 exd5 9. Ne5 Nbd7 10. f4 c5 11. 0-0 c4

A faulty strategy, though this was not yet obvious in 1900. Pillsbury was instrumental in demonstarting that White’s attack is just too strong.

12. Bc2 a6 13. Qf3

Threatening 15. Nxd7 Qxd7 16. Bf5 and 17. Bxf6.

13. ... b5 14. Qh3 g6 15. f5 b4 16. fxg6 hxg6

(Diagram)

Not 16. ... bxc3? 17. Bxf6 Nxf6 18. Rxf6 fxg6 119. Bxg6 hxg6 20. Rxg6 mate.

17. Qh4 bxc3 18. Nxd7 Qxd7 19. Rxf6 a5 20. Raf1 Ra6 21. Bxg6 fxg6 22. Rxf8+, Black resigns

For Black will soon be mated after 22. ... Bxf8 23. Rxf8+ Kxf8 24. Qh8+ Kf7 25. Qh7+ Kf8 26. Qxd7.

Marshall - Burn, Paris, 1900

2009-01-28T16:10:00.000-08:00

In his autobiography, Marshall, perhaps tongue in cheek, attributes his victory in this game to the fact that it didn’t last long enough for Burn to light his beloved pipe.

Marshall - Burn
Paris, 1900
D55 QUEEN’S GAMBIT DECLINED

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e3 0-0 6. Nf3 b6 7. Bd3 Bb7 8. cxd5 exd5 9. Bxf6 Bxf6 10. h4

White now threatens the well-known sacrifice 11. Bxh7+ Kxh7 12. Ng5+, and if 12. ... Bxg5 13. hxg5+ and the Rook joins the fray.

10. ... g6 11. h5 Re8 12. hxg6 hxg6 13. Qc2 Bg7

(Diagram)

14. Bxg6! fxg6 15. Qxg6 Nd7 16. Ng5 Qf6 17. Rh8+, Black resigns

For 17. ... Kxh8 18. Qh7 is mate.

Westwood Winter Open final

2009-01-25T20:49:00.000-08:00

GM Melikset Khachiyan swept the field to take clear first with 5-0. In the last three rounds, he defeated John Daniel Bryant, IM Enrico Sevillano, and Garush Manukyan.

GM Melikset Khachiyan - Garush Manukyan
Westwood Winter Open, Los Angeles 2009
C13 FRENCH DEFENSE, Alekhine-Chatard Attack

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e6 3. e4 d5 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e5 Nfd7 6. h4 Bxg5 7. hxg5 Qxg5 8. Nh3 Qe7 9. Nf4 Nc6 10. Qg4 g6 11. 0–0–0 b6 12. Bb5 Bb7 13. Ncxd5 exd5 14. Nxd5 Qd8 15. e6 fxe6 16. Bxc6 Bxc6 17. Qxe6+ Kf8 18. Qxc6 1–0

Taking clear second with 5-1 was Expert Takashi Kurosaki. Sevillano, Manukyan, and master Robert Akopian tied for third with 3.5-1.5. In the Reserve (U1800) section, top-rated Ernesto Soto took first place with 4.5-.5, followed at 3.5-1.5 by Richard Varela and Babken Krbashian. Click here for complete standings.

Prize winners

Open: 1st: GM Melikset Khachiyan, 5-0; 2nd: Takashi Kurosaki, 4-1; 3rd: IM Enrico Sevillano, Garush Manukyan, 3.5-1.5; U2200: Robert Akopian, 3.5-1.5; U2000: Remigio Pampliega, 2.5-2.5; Gautam Nipanikar, Carl Bolm, Alicia Narducci, 2-3.

Reserve (U1800): 1st: Ernesto Soto, 4.5-.5; 2nd & U1600: Richard Varela, Babken Krbashian, 3.5-1.5; U1400 & U1200: David Yang, Hongyu Chen, 3-2.

Westwood Winter Open

2009-01-25T16:33:00.000-08:00

This G/40 tournament at the Los Angeles Chess Club saw a decent turnout of 37. After three rounds, GM Melikset Khachiyan leads the Open sectiopn with 3-0, followed at 2.5 by IM Enrico Sevillano, master Garush Manukyan, and Expert Joshua Gutman. In the Reserve (U1800) section, the only player with 3-0 is Hongyu Chen, at 922 the lowest rted player in the tournament! Click here for standings.

William Pennucci (2104) – GM Melikset Khachiyan (2593)

Westwood Winter Open, Los Angeles 2009

D97 GRUENFELD DEFENSE

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. c4 Bg7 4. Nc3 d5 5. Qb3 dxc4 6. Qxc4 0–0 7. e4 Nc6 8. e5 Nd7 9. Bg5 Nb6 10. Qd3 f6 11. exf6 exf6 12. Be3 Nb4 13. Qd2 Bf5 14. Rc1 c6 15. Be2 Re8 16. 0–0 N4d5 17. Nxd5 Nxd5 18. Bc4 Bg4 19. Ne1 Be6 20. Bxd5 Bxd5 21. b3 Qd7 22. Nd3 Rad8 23. Nf4 Bf7 24. Rfe1 Bf8 25. Qc3 g5 26. Ne2 Bd5 27. Ng3 Qf7 28. Re2 h5 29. Rce1 h4 30. Nf1 h3 31. g3 Qh5 32. Nd2 Bf3 33. Qc4+ Kg7 34. Kf1 a5 35. Qd3 Bb4 36. Rd1 Bxe2+ 37. Qxe2 Qxe2+ 38. Kxe2 Rxd4 0–1

Joel Banawa (2409) – Joshua Gutman

Westwood Winter Open, Los Angeles 2009

D04 QUEEN’S PAWN GAME (2172)

1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 Nf6 3. e3 g6 4. b4 Bg7 5. Bb2 0–0 6. Be2 Bg4 7. Nbd2 a5 8. b5 Nbd7 9. c4 c6 10. bxc6 bxc6 11. 0–0 Re8 12. h3 Bxf3 13. Bxf3 e5 14. cxd5 cxd5 15. dxe5 Nxe5 16. Be2 Rb8 17. Bd4 Nc6 18. Nf3 Nxd4 19. Nxd4 Ne4 20. Nc6 Qd6 21. Nxb8 Nc3 22. Qd3 Nxe2+ 23. Qxe2 Bxa1 24. Rxa1 Qxb8 25. Qd2 Qb5 26. Rd1 Rd8 27. Qd4 Qb4 28. e4 Qxd4 29. Rxd4 Kf8 30. exd5 Ke7 31. Kf1 Kd6 32. Rh4 h5 33. Rf4 f5 34. Ra4 Ra8 35. Rd4 Kc5 36. Rd2 Rd8 37. Ke2 Rxd5 38. Rxd5+ Kxd5 39. Kd3 g5 40. g3 a4 41. a3 g4 42. h4 Ke5 43. Ke3 f4+ 44. Kd3 0–1

A weasel slinks by

2009-01-21T17:07:00.000-08:00

In a followup to this post, FIDE has decided not to penalize Ivanchuk for his refusal to be drug-tested after his last-round loss at the Olympiad.

Decision of the FIDE Doping Hearing Panel (English)

January 21 2009 - FIDE
Drug testing is still relatively rare in chess. However, it does occur in various official events and was carried out during the course of the Dresden Olympiad. Unfortunely, a high proportion of the tests were scheduled during the last round and there was a lack of personnel, which lead to a procedural error: there was not a designated Doping Control Officer present at this match (USA v Ukraine).
After losing a crucial game for his country, Mr Ivanchuk was distraught. The Hearing Panel concludes that although the arbiter attempted to inform Mr Ivanchuk in English that he should accompany him for a doping test, Mr Ivanchuk apparently failed to understand the instructions, especially since English is not Mr Ivanchuk’s first language. If there had been a Doping Control Officer present, he would have immediately gone to Mr Ivanchuk’s board and there would have been communication between him and Mr Ivanchuk. In that case the outcome might have been different. Because there was no notification by the Doping Control officer, there was no refusal in the sense of the regulations.

The Conclusion:

The procedural error allied with Mr Ivanchuk’s state of mind led him unintentionally to miss the test. The Hearing Panel therefore concludes unanimously that there should be no penalty. (Link is here.)

I suppose it's hardly fair to volunteer someone else for martyrdom, but it's unfortunate that this decision will probably return the top players to their usual state of supine acceptance. A ruling against Ivanchuk might have woken the players up to the fact that the problem is not abuse of the policy. It's the existence of the policy.

The lost art of compromise

2009-01-20T17:27:00.000-08:00

Recently Brian Lafferty, of all people, made a sensible comment on the USCF Forums. He wrote, "The best negotiated settlement leaves each side feeling that they did not get what they wanted, but got what they could live with." He continued, "I haven't seen anything other than posturing from Polgar and Truong." That's quite true. Of course, he neglected to add that same was true of the other side. What was that business about motes and beams?

Is a negotiated settlement possible? Yes. Is it likely? Not unless some very narrow minds get changed. Here's a modest proposal.

1) Everyone agrees to drop all lawsuits against the USCF or any sitting Board members. If the various parties want to sue anyone else, they won't get much respect from me, but it won't be the USCF's problem. Frivolous litigation is one of the hazards of modern city life, along with muggers, crack dealers and bureaucrats.

2) The "Ins" accept that Polgar and Truong are going to serve out their terms. They were duly elected, and there is no special clause in OMOV requiring that one side always gets to win.

3) The "Ins" agree to remove the logjam on the USCF Forum which has shielded Sam Sloan and Brian Lafferty from the one-year suspensions they long ago earned. It's time to stop coddling useful idiots.

4) The "Outs" (Polgar and Truong) accept that the USCF is not going to stop people from criticizing them. If you can't take it, stay out of politics. They also accept that the majority rules. If they want to win votes, they'll have to persuade people to vote with them or elect people who agree with them.

5) Polgar apologizes to to Kronenberger Burgoyne. Of course this will be galling, but suing the attorney was an incredibly stupid move for which Polgar must pay the price. And without this, Kronenberger, whose interests are not identical to those of the USCF, has no incentive not to litigate her into the ground.

5) Polgar and Gregory Alexander accept that they must take their chances with the criminal investigation of their alleged e-mail hacking. If they're innocent, they have nothing to worry about.

6) Both sides accept that their opponents do not have a monopoly on arrogance or self-righteousness.

Tarrasch - Marco, Vienna, 1898

2009-01-16T01:24:00.000-08:00

Siegbert Tarrasch was the great explicator of Steinitz’s theories, but the dogmatic certainty with which he expounded them provoked the Hypermodern reaction of the 1920’s. Tarrasch rejected those elements of Steinitz uncongenial to his style (e.g. defense of cramped but sound positions), but in the exploitation of a space advantage and the use of active pieces he had few peers.

Tarrasch - Marco
Vienna, 1898
C42 PETROFF DEFENSE

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 Be7 6. Bd3 Nf6

Usual is 6. ... d5, maintaining the Knight at e4. The move selected by Black leads to a solid but passive position, not happy choice against Tarrasch.

7. 0-0 0-0 8. h3

A player with a space advantage should avoid exchanges (contrariwise, a player with a cramped position should seek to free himself by exchanging pieces), and so White prevents the exchange of the Bc8.

8. ... Be6 9. c4 c6 10. Ng5 Na6 11. Nc3 Nc7 12. f4 h6 13. Nf3

There would be no point in capturing the Be6, as White will soon play f4-f5 and g2-g4, leaving the Bishop with little scope.

13. ... Qc8 14. Qc2 Rb8

Instead, 14. ... d5 15. c5 b6 16. b4 a5 17. Na4 leads to a different but not much better pawn structure.

15. f5 Bd7 16. Bf4 b5 17. b3 c5 18. d5 b4 19. Ne2 a5 20. g4

White has the initiative, and so his pawn advances support an attack, while Black’s pawn on h6 only invites the opening of file by a later g4-g5.

20. ... Nh7 21. h4 Qd8 22. Bg3 a4

At last Black succeeds in opening a line for counterplay, but his pieces lack sufficient mobility to support the Rook.

23. Kh1 Ra8 24. Rae1 Ne8 25. Nf4 Bf6

(Diagram)

26. Ne6!

The decisive breakthrough. The Knight cannot very well be captured, e.g. i) 26. ... fxe6 27. fxe6 Bc8 28. Bxh7+ Kh8 29. g5 Be7 30. Qg6 wins; ii) 26. ... Bxe6 27. fxe6 g6 28. exf7+ Rxf7 29. Bxg6 Re7 30. Rxe7 Qxe7 31. Re1, with great advantage to White.

26. ... axb3 27. axb3 Qb6 28. Nxf8 Kxf8 29. g5 hxg5 30. hxg5 Nxg5

Or 30. ... Bxg5 31. f6 g6 32. Bxg6 fxg6 33. Qxg6 and Black must lose a piece.

31. Qh2 Kg8 32. Nxg5 Bxg5 33. f6 g6 34. Bxg6, Black resigns

Just when you thought it was safe ...

2009-01-12T21:09:00.000-08:00

... Another USCF election crawls out of the ooze. This year, there are eleven candidates for four slots. Things could change later, but here are my views at the starting gate.

Mostly Harmless

Mike Atkins: Class A player, very active TD in the Maryland-Virginia area. He looks like the best bet this year. There's an interview with him by Elizabeth Vicary here.

Jim Berry: Incumbent EB member. Organizer and TD from Oklahoma. Not to be confused with Frank Berry, though since they’re twin brothers this is sometimes easy to do. It’s true he’s running for re-election, but he’s only been on the Board for a year and a half, and seems to have done a satisfactory job. He probably deserves the chance at a full term.

Ruth Haring: Depending on how long you’ve been around, you may know her as Ruth Orton or Ruth Biyiasas. WIM, active player, very impressive resume. Not much experience in chess organization, but she’s a new face with no obvious ties to the mutually hostile factions which have been making so much trouble. A throw of the dice, but I’ll probably end up voting for her.

If you must vote for someone

Mike Nietman: Scholastic organizer, active in the “Scholastic Council." Not exactly a plus for me, but he’s also been a real player and tournament director in the past. Comes across well in person, and has had the good sense not to get into on-line spitting matches. Worth considering.

Bill Goichberg: I wish I could rank Bill higher, but I can’t. He’s running for re-election, always a negative in my book (the desire disqualifies one). He’s a controversial figure, and his continued presence on the Board will do nothing to reduce the internecine quarrels that have wasted so much time and money. And, by the time the election rolls around, he will have been USCF President or ED for 5 1/2 of the last six years. That’s plenty of time to accomplish what he set out to do. (I don’t buy the “indispensable man” argument.) Bill has done as good a job with the thankless position of USCF President as anyone could have under the circumstances. He has served honorably. Now it’s time for him to step aside honorably.

Mikhail Korenman did an excellent job with the “Karpov Chess School” in Lindsborg, Kansas (featured in National Geographic), but he abandoned the project when he moved to Chicago shortly afterward. His subsequent activities have been less impressive, including an abortive project to raise grant money for the USCF. He ran in 2007, and didn’t really seem to care whether he won. I’m puzzled as to why he’s doing it again.

Eric Hecht: A rich guy, who divides his time between New York and Florida. Not entirely without experience (he’s currently treasurer of the Marshall Chess Club), but his main claim to fame is being one of Blas Lugo’s sponsors for the Miami Open (see below). As such, he shares at least some of the blame. Vote for him if you like, but I suspect you’ll regret it.

Glue Factory

Brian Mottershead: Probably the best of this group, but that’s not saying much. He does have some playing experience back in the 80s, but he spent the next couple of decades working in Europe. Upon his return in 2007, he was recruited to assist with the redesign of the USCF Forums, which he did fairly well. He soon made it clear, however, that he considered himself qualified to make pronouncements on law (though he is not a lawyer), publishing (though he is not a publisher), and tournament directing (though he has never directed a tournament). He reminds me of some people I knew in college, but they generally grew out of it by their sophomore year. In my opinion, he’s a pompous, conceited twit, who would make a very bad Board member.

Blas Lugo is an IM living in Florida. A couple of years ago, he decided to jump-start big-money chess in the area with the Miami Open. So far, so good. However, his reach exceeded his grasp, and in September 2008 he reneged on the prize fund he had guaranteed. They had advertised “$100,000 based on 650, 70% guaranteed,” but then decided to pay out only 50% “because of the hurricane.” Not because there was a hurricane in progress, mind you, but because the possibility of a hurricane might have scared people away. One would assume that the organizers knew of the hurricane season before they scheduled the tournament. That the organizer did this is disgraceful. That the ED allowed it is worse, but that’s a subject for another day. If you’ve ever played in a tournament and expected to receive your prize, don’t vote for this guy.

Sam Sloan: Perpetual candidate. Serial litigant. Ratbag of note. Sloan has been a sleazy but colorful figure on the tournament scene for decades. He’s run for the Board many times. In the days before OMOV, when the voters actually knew who he was, he generally had trouble breaking two figures. In 2006, an off-year election in which several candidates split the sane-people vote, he got elected to a one-year term, and proceeded to make a fool of himself and a laughingstock of the USCF with his weekly paranoid fantasies. After being tossed out in 2007, he filed a lawsuit demanding a re-run of the election. Anyone who votes for him this time should be ashamed of himself. If you want to cast a protest vote, write in Mickey Mouse. He’d do a better job.

Brian Lafferty joined the USCF for the first time less than two years ago. He has played fewer than 20 rated games in his life (Class E with a sinker). He has never organized or directed a tournament. Nevertheless, he considers himself qualified to sit on the USCF’s Executive Board. He’s a former lawyer (oh yes he is, he misses no opportunity to boast of it), a former Administrative Law Judge (something most people would be reluctant to admit), and an all-around officious busybody. He’s violently hostile to Susan Polgar and Paul Truong, but there’s no particular reason to think this is based on conviction, since he’s violently hostile to almost everyone. It takes a lot to rank below Sam Sloan, especially since Sam has had decades to prove himself a dolt; Brian did it in mere months. If you want to cast another protest vote, try Donald Duck. He and Lafferty have much in common.

Morphy – Allies, Paris 1858

2009-01-06T15:52:00.000-08:00

The story goes that the Duke of Brunswick and Count Isouard invited Morphy to the opera one night and then asked him to play a game of chess, which the courteous Morphy could hardly refuse. Then they seated him with his back to the stage. Morphy, who wanted to watch the show, demolished them in record time.

Morphy – Allies
Paris, 1858 C41
PHILIDOR’S DEFENSE

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6

A defense recommended by Philidor, but the point of it is to retain a pawn on e5 at all costs. If Black plans to exchange pawns, he's cramping himself and gaining nothing in return.

3. d4 Bg4?! 4. dxe5 Bxf3

The pin was not a true defense of the e5 pawn, for if 4. ... dxe5 5. Qxd8+ Kxd8 6. Nxe5.

5. Qxf3 dxe5 6. Bc4 Nf6 7. Qb3 Qe7

White’s seventh move attacked both f7 and b7; now Black would answer 8. Qxb7 with 8. ... Qb4+, saving the Rook on a8. Morphy wants more than an extra pawn in an endgame ...
8. Nc3 c6 9. Bg5 b5 10. Nxb5 cxb5 11. Bxb5+ Nbd7 12. 0-0-0 Rd8

Now the Black Kingside is hopelessly tied up, and White needs only the bring his last piece (the Rook at h1) into play.

13. Rxd7 Rxd7 14. Rd1 Qe6

Defending the Rook on d7 again by breaking the pin on the Knight at f6. Now White would win eventually by trading Queens and recapturing his piece on d7, but he has a better idea ...

(Diagram)

15. Bxd7+ Nxd7 16. Qb8+! Nxb8 17. Rd8 mate

While many of Black's moves may look naive to modern eyes, it is amusing to note that Edward Lasker mentioned that he won the same game at least twice in simuls.

Chess Blog Carnival

2009-01-04T14:59:00.000-08:00

Jack Le Moine is hosting one. Check it out!

When you're in over your head, keep digging

2008-12-29T20:09:00.000-08:00

Since my earlier post on USCF lawsuits has fallen off the page, I have reluctantly decided to add a new one. The latest in the series is a suit filed by the USCF in Illinois (the state in which the USCF is incorporated) seeking to remove Susan Polgar and Paul Truong from the Executive Board.

If you don't want to plow through the whole thing (for which I wouldn't blame you), the key paragraphs are 18-21 (alleging that Truong authored the so-called "Fake Sam Sloan" posts, and 50-53 (asserting that Polgar obtained illegal access to Randy Hough's e-mail account and published illegally obtained material). The first argument seems the weaker of the two, as it simply assumes that childish scribbling on the Internet justifies removal of an elected Board member. (We've had several oafs and buffoons on the Board in the past, and no one suggested removing them.) The second is more serious, as the charges, if proved, could carry jail time. While holding office from jail is an honored tradition in Boston, Chicago and New Jersey, it's one the USCF can probably do without.

What all this demonstrates is that neither side has any interest in compromise. Rather than seeking to reduce the tension, the majority faction on the Board has chosen to ramp it up. Of course, Polgar is equally at fault here (see the frivolous lawsuit she filed in Texas, not to mention the incredibly stupid move of naming attorney Karl Kronenberger as one of the defendants). But the majority faction, being in the stronger position, really ought to be the ones trying to make peace.

Update 1/4/08: There's an account of the latest lawsuit in the January 3 New York Times. Despite the source, it seems fair and balanced.

Steinitz - von Bardeleben, Hastings 1895

2008-12-13T20:14:00.000-08:00

Steinitz was past his best in 1895, but as he himself put it, “I may be an old lion, but I can still bite someone’s hand off if he puts it in my mouth.” The choleric von Bardeleben left the room after move 25 and permitted his time to expire, whereupon Steinitz demonstrated to the onlookers a brilliant 10-move mating combination.

Steinitz - von Bardeleben
Hastings 1895
C54 GIUOCO PIANO

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. cxd4 Bb4+ 7. Nc3 d5

A rare alternative to 7. ... Nxe4 8. 0-0, when Black may choose between 8. ... Nxc3 9. bxc3 d5 (9. ... Bxc3 10. Qbb3 has been known to favor White ince the time of Greco), and the speculative Moeller Attack, 8. ... Bxc3 9. d5, which remains unresolved after a century of analysis.

8. exd5 Nxd5 9. 0-0 Be6 10. Bg5 Be7 11. Bxd5 Bxd5 12. Nxd5 Qxd5 13. Bxe7 Nxe7

Black still hopes to connect his Rooks by castling, but he will be unable to shake off the pressure on the central files. A slightly better try was 13. ... Kxe7 14. Re1+ Kf8.

14. Re1 f6 15. Qe2 Qd7 16. Rac1 c6

Allowing a powerful pawn sacrifice. Better was 16. ... Kf7; if 17. Qxe7+ Qxe7 18. Rxe7+ Kxe7 19. Rxc7+, the outcome remains uncertain, though White surely has enough pawns for the Exchange.

17. d5!

A fine move -- the d5 square, which Black has been using for his pieces, will be occupied by a Black pawn, the d4 square made accessible to White, and the c-file opened.

17. ... cxd5 18. Nd4 Kf7 19. Ne6 Rhc8 20. Qg4 g6 21. Ng5+ Ke8

(Diagram)

22. Rxe7+!

Of course the Rook cannot be captured by the Queen (22. ... Qxe7 23. Rxc8+), and 22. ... Kxe7 leads to 23. Re1+ Kd6 24. Qb4+ Kc7 25. Ne6+ Kb8 26. Qf4+. But after Black’s next move, every White piece is en prise, and mate is threatened on c1 ...

22. ... Kf8 23. Rf7+ Kg8 24. Rg7+ Kh8

No better is 24. ... Kf8 25. Nxh7+.

25. Rxh7+ 1-0

For as Steinitz immediately demonstrated, White wins after 25. ... Kg8 with 26. Rg7+ Kh8 27. Qh4+ Kxg7 28. Qh7+ Kf8 29. Qh8+ Ke7 30. Qg7+ Ke8 31. Qg8+ Ke7 32. Qf7+ Kd8 33. Qf8+ Qe8 34. Nf7+ Kd7 35. Qd6 mate.

... a plague a' both your houses

2008-12-06T17:26:00.000-08:00

On November 30, Susan Polgar distributed the following via the USCF BINFO system, in response to suggestions by Jim Eade and Harold Dondis that she ramp down the litigiousness.

Dear Jim and Mr. Dondis,

As I have said before, I pleaded with this board for MORE THAN 1 YEAR to leave me, my family, and my job alone. They refused. The USCF and each board member received a Cease and Desist letter from my attorney dated May 14, 2008 (which is many months before I filed the lawsuit). They ignored it. I even offered to end it prior to filing the lawsuit shortly before the Dallas Delegates Meeting. They ignored it again. Now the USCF is trying to go after me criminally.

What would you like me to do? What do you suggest? Do you think I enjoy being accused of being a child abuser, child molester, and a criminal? Do you think I enjoy having people calling the media and my employers to spread baseless and defamatory accusations? Do you think I enjoy having my kids, my friends, my family, and my employer read about all of these things on the Internet? Do you think I enjoy spending over $75,000 in legal fees from my own pocket to defend against absolute nonsense? Do you think I enjoy losing one business / sponsorship deal after another because of all the garbage on the Internet? And these are just some of the major damages I suffered so far.

It is not me who started this. I spent 35 years building my excellent reputation in chess and it took 1 year for the USCF to destroy it. If anyone can think of a way to resolve this amicably and to have my reputation fully restored then please feel free to suggest it. It is NOT me who want to prolong this. But as long as the USCF and its board members continue to go down this road, I have no choice but to defend myself and my family.

Instead of allowing me to bring U.S. chess and the USCF up another level, I had to waste more than a year with this nonsense. They left me with no choice. I will do everything possible to defend and protect myself, my family, and my job.

I offered the USCF and this board various ways to end this in each board meeting only to have my offers laughed at and ignored each time for more than one year. Unless the USCF backs off completely and leave me and my family alone, this cannot stop.

My offer to withdraw the lawsuit against the USCF still stands. All parties are welcome to contact my attorneys if they wish to settle and end this.

Best wishes,

Susan Polgar

The problem with all this is that the portions of her lawsuit which concern the USCF are utterly baseless. The USCF did not accuse her of being a child abuser or interfere with her sponsorship efforts. If Polgar objects to the USCF allowing others to criticize her, she should either lobby Congress to change the law, or move to a country that doesn’t have freedom of speech.

Conceivably Polgar might have a claim against some of the other named defendants. Brian Lafferty, Sam Sloan, and Jerry Hanken have certainly made defamatory statements about her, though whether she could win a libel case is another matter. But the inclusion of the USCF in her laundry list has no basis in fact – and even if it did, for her to sue the USCF while remaining on the Executive Board is simply unethical.

It is true that four of the EB members (and the ED) have harshly criticized Polgar’s husband Paul Truong, and sought (unsuccessfully) to mount a recall against him. I suspect that this is the real reason behind Polgar’s naming the USCF as a defendant. But, whether you agree with it or not, this was legitimate political discourse, and if you can’t take it, you have no business running for office.

This is not to say that I have much sympathy for the other side. They brought this on themselves, which is fine – and on us, which is not. The “Board majority,” led by Bill Goichberg, decided that they could use the “Fake Sam Sloan” controversy to lever Truong off the Board. At least some of them may have been acting out of sincere conviction that Truong’s actions (well, the actions of which he was accused) were unconscionable. Sincerity is overrated. They had an obligation as stewards of the USCF to consider what would happen if they failed. They did fail. Now we have live with it.

La Bourdonnais - McDonnell, 21st Match Game, 1834

2008-12-06T16:30:00.000-08:00

Though La Bourdonnais led by a wide margin in their match -- really a series of six matches -- Alexander McDonnell was by no means an easy mark. Here is one of their many wild attacking games, with an amusing final position.

La Bourdonnais - McDonnell
21st Match Game, 1834
C23 BISHOP’S OPENING

1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Bc5 3. Qe2 Nf6 4. d3 Nc6 5. c3 Ne7 6. f4 exf4

Ignoring the center; a modern player would have answered 6. ... d6.

7. d4 Bb6 8. Bxf4 d6 9. Bd3 Ng6 10. Be3 0-0 11. h3 Re8 12. Nd2 Qe7 13. 0-0-0 c5

Correctly striking back in the center, though in 1834 Black’s plan was probably limited to opening a file near the White King.

14. Kb1 cxd4 15. cxd4 a5 16. Ngf3 Bd7 17. g4 h6 18. Rdg1

More logical seems 18. Rdf1 followed by 19. Rhg1. As the game goes, the Rh1 never does very much.

18. ... a4 19. g5 hxg5 20. Bxg5 a3 21. b3 Bc6 22. Rg4 Ba5 23. h4 Bxd2 24. Nxd2 Ra5 25. h5 (Diagram)

25. ... Rxg5!

With this Exchange sacrifice Black takes control of the dark squares and obtains a strong initiative.

26. Rxg5 Nf4 27. Qf3 Nxd3 28. d5

White must lose material, for 28. Qxd3 Nxe4 25. Nxe4? Bxe4 wins the White Queen, and 29. Rgg1 Nf2 is not much better.

28. ... Nxd5 29. Rhg1 Nc3+ 30. Ka1 Bxe4 31. Rxg7+ Kh8 32. Qg3

Threatening mate with 33. Rxh7+, but Black’s attack is quicker.

32. ... Bg6 33. hxg6 Qe1+ 34. Rxe1?

The final blunder. After 34. Nb1 White retains drawing chances.

34. ... Rxe1+ 35. Qxe1 Nxe1 36. Rh7+ Kg8 37. gxf7+ Kxh7 38. f8=Q Nc2 mate.

The Sadim Touch ...

2008-12-02T23:48:00.000-08:00

... is the talent for turning gold into, ah, dross. FIDE has it in spades.

As you have no doubt read elsewhere, Armenia took first place in the recent Dresden Olympiad. The U.S., after a rocky start, took the bronze medal with a last-round upset of Ukraine. Unfortunately, that wasn't the end of it.

Immediately after his last-round loss to Gata Kamsky, Ukraine top board Vassily Ivanchuk was ordered to take a "random drug test." He was understandably not in the best of moods, and he refused and stormed off.

This brought into play the idiotic rules FIDE has adopted in the course of its long and pointless attempt to suck up to the IOC. Ivanchuk may face a two-year suspension (though he'll certainly be welcome in my tournaments). Even worse (though Ivanchuk might not agree) is that his team may be disqualified. If so, the teams that faced them would lose tiebreak points, and the U.S. would be knocked out of third place in favor of Hungary.

One can only hope that this absurdity will lead to the top players telling FIDE what to do with its Olympic pipedream. (Nothing printable.) There is some evidence that this may be happening. Will the players stand up for themselves this time? Or will another infusion of Ilyumzhinov's money buy their acquiescence? Only time will tell.

Lasker - Chigorin, Hastings 1895

2008-11-29T00:41:00.000-08:00

Many of Mikhail Chigorin’s ideas were well ohead of his time, and were not fully appreciated for another half-century. It was his misfortune to be surpassed in his own era first by Steinitz and, later, Lasker. Here he shows the superiority of Knights over Bishops in a closed position.

Lasker – Chigorin
Hastings 1895
D07 QUEEN’S GAMBIT DECLINED, Chigorin’s Defense

1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Bg4 3. c4 Bxf3 4. gxf3 Nc6 5. Nc3 e6 6. e3 Bb4

By transposition, we have reached one of the main lines of Chigorin’s Defense (the usual move order is 1. d4 d5 2. c4 Nc6 3. Nf3 Bg4). Foreshadowing the ideas of Reti and Gruenfeld a generation later, Black pits rapid development and active piece play against White’s pawn center and two Bishops.

7. cxd5 Qxd5 8. Bd2 Bxc3 9. bxc3 Nge7 10. Rg1 Qh5 11. Qb3

Of course not 11. Rxg7? Ng6, trapping the Rook.

11. ... Nd8 12. Qb5+

Exchanging Queens reduces the danger to the uncastled White King, but the Black Knights will be very active.

12. ... Qxb5 13. Bxb5+ c6 14. Bd3 Ng6 15. f4 0-0 16. Ke2 Rc8 17. Rg3 c5 18. Rag1 c4

A surprising and strong idea. Black foregoes prressure on the center pawns to obtain a pawn majority on the Queenside and use of the light squares for his Knights.

19. Bc2 f5 20. Bc1 Rf7 21. Ba3 Rc6 22. Bc5 Ra6 23. a4 Nc6 24. Rb1 Rd7 25. Rgg1 Nge7 26. Rb2 Nd5 27. Kd2 Ra5

Threatening 28. ... Nxf4 followed by 29. ... Rxc5, which White meets by a counterattack on the b7 pawn.

28. Rgb1 b6 29. Ba3 g6 30. Rb5 Ra6 31. Bc1 Nd8 32. Ra1 Nf7 33. Rbb1 Nd6 34. f3 Nf7 35. Ra3 g5 36. Ke2 gxf4 37. e4 Nf6 38. Bxf4 Nh5 39. Be3 f4

(Diagram)

An echo of the maneuver at move 18 — now Black will use his Knights on the dark squares (d6 or e5).

40. Bf2 Ra5 41. Rg1+ Kf8 42. Raa1 e5 43. Rab1 Ng7 44. Rb4 Rc7 45. Bb1

Apparently hoping to win the c4 pawn, but this fails tactically. White should maintain the position and await developments.

45. ... Ne6 46. Rd1 Ned8 47. Rd2 Nc6 48. Rb5

Not 48. Rxc4? Nd6, winning the Exchange. Perhaps White thought he could undermine the Black Knights, but Black strikes first.

48. ... Rxa4 49. dxe5 Nfxe5 50. Bh4 Rg7 51. Kf2 Rg6 52. Rdd5 Ra1 53. Bd8 Nd3+ 54. Bxd3

Neither 54. Ke2 (... Rg2+ 55. Kf1 Rb7) nor 54. Kf1 (... Ncb4 55. cxb4 Rxb1+ 56. Ke2 Rg2 mate) was any better.

54. ... cxd3 55. Rxd3 Rag1 56. Rf5+ Ke8 57. Bg5

Or 57. Rxf4 R6g2+ 58. Ke3 Re1 mate.

57. ... R6xg5, White resigns

Timing

2008-11-21T02:28:00.000-08:00

There are some rules in which when you say it matters as much as what.

Touch-move: A claim that your opponent touched one piece but moved another must be made before you make another move (10J). In fact, it must be made “before deliberately touching a pieces” (i.e., touching a piece with the evident intention of moving it). Claiming after the game that your opponent violated the touch-move rule is a waste of time. The most you’re going to get, even if the TD believes you, is a warning to your opponent on the order of “You didn’t do anything wrong and I’ll be watching to make sure you don’t do it again.” Which won’t do you much good.

Winning on time: A surprising number of players do not understand this, perhaps because of the ~~cancer~~ growth of sudden death. In order to claim a win on time in a non-sudden death time control, a player must have a “reasonably complete” scoresheet, defined as one that has “no more than three missing or incomplete move pairs,” at the time the flag is called (13C7). Moves filled in after the flag fall do not count (13C3). It’s worth noting that you can’t get around this by waiting to call the flag until after you’ve filled in your scoresheet, since the opponent may “call his own flag” by pointing out to a TD (or spectator) that his flag is down and your scoresheet is incomplete.

Possibly a clearer way to explain the “reasonably complete” rule is this: the TD must be able to play through the game – without you standing there telling him what you scribble means – and reach a position that’s within three moves of what’s on the board, without any illegible or impossible moves earlier in the game.

The "FIDE time forfeit procedure" is another matter. If this is announced, a TD will watch all games in time pressure, count the moves, and forfeit a player who exceeds the time limit. This is used in many round-robin events, but USCF rules require that if it is used for any games, it must be used for all games without exception. For obvious reasons, very few people try to use it in large Swisses.

Draw? The “correct” way to offer a draw is to make your move, offer the draw, and press your clock. What happens if you don’t do it that way?

1) If you offer a draw while your opponent is thinking, he may accept the draw, decline the draw, make a move (which amounts to declining), or complain to the TD that you are distracting him. This is just bad manners.

2) If you offer a draw before making your move, your opponent may a) accept, b) decline, or c) ask to see your move before deciding. The offer cannot be withdrawn, period (14B3). Making an offer this way is unlikely to annoy the opponent, but it’s, well, dumb. If only because he could also say nothing and wait for you to either make a move or lose on time.

Rosenthal – Steinitz, Vienna 1873

2008-11-19T03:07:00.000-08:00

Steinitz began the era of scientific play, as his games and writings demonstrated that games were won or lost for objective reasons. Here he provides a (then startling) example of the proper use two Bishops against a Bishop and Knight.

Rosenthal – Steinitz
Vienna, 1873
C46 THREE KNIGHTS GAME

1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Nf3 g6 4. d4 exd4 5. Nxd4 Bg7 6. Be3 Nge7 7. Bc4 d6 8. 0-0 0-0 9. f4 Na5 10. Bd3 d5 11. exd5 Nxd5 12. Nxd5 Qxd5 13. c3 Rd8 14. Qc2 Nc4 15. Bxc4 Qxc4 16. Qf2 c5 17. Nf3 b6

Black deprives the Knight of support squares in the center, and the Be3 “bites on granite.” Black has a clear advantage.

18. Ne5 Qe6 19. Qf3 Ba6 20. Rfe1 f6

(Diagram)

If the Knight had a secure central square ... but it hasn’t, and it’s not going to get one.

21. Ng4 h5 22. Nf2 Qf7 23. f5 g5 24. Rad1 Bb7 25. Qg3 Rd5 26. Rxd5 Qxd5 27. Rd1

White can’t defend the f5 pawn with 27. Qh3 because of 27. ... g4.

27. ... Qxf5 28. Qc7 Bd5 29. b3 Re8 30. c4 Bf7 31. Bc1 Re2 32. Rf1 Qc2 33. Qg3 Qxa2, White resigns