USATW final

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

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

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

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 ...

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

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

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.