Saturday, February 18, 2012

Downers Grove tournament for grades 1-8 on March 10

Kristi Kattapong sends us an email: the organizer is Downers Grove FRoG (Friends of the Gifted and Talented).


Top 200 players in Illinois

Here's the February list!


1  GM YURY SHULMAN 2666
2  GM MESGEN AMANOV 2586
3  GM NIKOLA MITKOV 2586
4  GM DMITRY GUREVICH 2533
5  FM ERIC S ROSEN 2423
6  FM LEO KAUSHANSKY 2412
7  IM FLORIN FELECAN 2406
8  TANSEL TURGUT 2385
9  IM ANGELO YOUNG 2372
10  FM NIKHILESH KUMAR KUNCHE 2362
11  WIM VIKTORIJA NI 2349
12  TIMUR ALIYEV 2346
13  FM AUNG THANT ZIN 2323
14  ADARSH JAYAKUMAR 2320
15  FM IGOR TSYGANOV 2298
16  WILLIAM J ARAMIL 2275
17  FM ALEKSANDA STAMNOV 2256
18  JEREMY KANE 2253
19  FM ANDREW KARKLINS 2252
20  SAM A SCHMAKEL 2246
21  STEVEN TENNANT 2240
22  GOPAL MENON 2231
23  TREVOR S MAGNESS 2230
24  PETROS DEMETRIOS KARAGIANIS 2230
25  FM ALBERT C CHOW 2229
26  FM DAN WOLF 2218
27  TENZING W SHAW 2205
28  AUDRIUS MACENIS 2205
29  KENNETH T WALLACH 2202
30  FREDERICK S RHINE 2201
31  FM KEVIN BACHLER 2200
32  LEN J WEBER 2200
33  STEVEN J SZPISJAK 2200
34  MARIANO A ACOSTA 2200
35  JON L BURGESS 2187
36  MATTHEW E MICHAELIDES 2179
37  ALEX ZIQI DING 2178
38  MINDRAG M JEVRENOVIC 2155
39  JONATHAN S KOGEN 2151
40  STEFFEN HELMUT KLUG 2132
41  MATTHEW K WILBER 2129
42  MICHAEL W AUGER 2128
43  TIMOTHY E KRAS 2126
44  TAM NGUYEN 2115
45  WILLIAM H BROCK 2115
46  KEITH B HOLZMUELLER 2112
47  FM ANDREW D HUBBARD 2106
48  MARK ROBLEDO JR 2106
49  GLEN E GRATZ 2105
50  GEOFFREY CAVENEY 2101
51  RENE ANCHETA 2083
52  ZACH KASIURAK 2081
53  FRED SCOTT ALLSBROOK 2078
54  JAMES MICHAEL PAVESE 2077
55  GAVIN JACOB MC CLANAHAN 2077
56  SEDRICK PRUDE 2074
57  FLORENTINO V INUMERABLE 2073
58  ISAAC MAURICE BRASWELL 2067
59  KRZYSZTOF FLAGA 2065
60  D GREGORY BUNGO 2063
61  AAKAASH MEDURI 2060
62  ZHAOZHI LI 2051
63  ROBERT JAMES RASMUSSEN 2048
64  ROBERT LONCAREVIC 2045
65  THOMAS D MURPHY 2037
66  SERGE MININ 2037
67  CHRISTOPHER A MERLI 2034
68  ROBBIE S KLEINMUNTZ 2033
69  CHRISTOPHER GIRARDO 2031
70  JORDAN S COHEN 2030
71  ERIK KARKLINS 2028
72  KEVIN JOSEPH VELAZQUEZ 2028
73  DAVID LONG 2027
74  YULIY KLEBAN 2027
75  YURI FRIDMAN 2023
76  ROBERT D MORRIS 2021
77  VINCENT J HART 2020
78  ROBBY HECHT 2020
79  MIOMIR STEVANOVIC 2019
80  GENE G SCOTT 2018
81  PAUL D MECHEM 2015
82  YANJINLKHAM BAYARSAIKHAN 2011
83  KENT Y CEN 2010
84  JAMES B FAGAN 2010
85  DUSAN TUTUSH 2008
86  THOMAS WOODROW KACZYNSKI 2005
87  GADDIEL TAN TAN 2003
88  WALLACE GORDON 2002
89  WILLIAM A NAFF 2001
90  GHULAM DASTGIR-BUTT 2000
91  LAWRENCE S COHEN 2000
92  ALEX BIAN 2000
93  MARK MAROVITCH 2000
94  LEONID BONDAR 2000
95  SITARAM AUDIPUDY 1999
96  JEFF S DIXON 1990
97  MIKHAIL KORENMAN 1986
98  DANIEL MC NALLY 1974
99  ROBERT MOSKWA 1965
100  TODD A PLAGEMANN 1956
101  JOSHUA DUBIN 1955
102  CHENGLIANG LUO 1953
103  DANIEL R DUGOVIC 1951
104  JEFF K WIEWEL 1949
105  MAXIMILIAN JOSEPH ZINSKI 1948
106  CHRISTOPHER WOOD 1947
107  BRIAN THOMAS 1941
108  ETHELBERT P GAZMEN 1940
109  DR JOE CIMA 1939
110  LUIS M PERALTA 1937
111  JAMES EGERTON 1936
112  DMITRI A SERGATSKOV 1935
113  HARRY A SMITH 1932
114  RUDY NEIL ENRIQUEZ 1922
115  DUSHYANTH REDDIVARI 1921
116  MICHAEL A BARKDOLL 1921
117  VALDIS M TUMS 1921
118  DOUGLAS ALAN MIDDLETON 1920
119  DEREK H LYON 1916
120  RAJIV S DESHPANDE 1914
121  DAVID L LEE 1908
122  DANIEL EDWARD PARMET 1908
123  SCOT L HENDERSON 1907
124  NATHANIEL AUSTIN KRANJC 1905
125  ZACHARY HOLECEK 1905
126  DAVID J MASON 1903
127  STEVEN CRAIG MILLER 1901
128  DAVID TIANJIAN PENG 1901
129  JOSEPH O ALFORD 1900
130  LEON SHERNOFF 1900
131  JAMES K CONDRON 1900
132  JOE DAMOCLES 1900
133  RICHARD K KUJOTH 1900
134  DENNIS PLOTT 1899
135  ROBERT HILL 1899
136  ABE SUN 1899
137  SAM FORD 1896
138  DANIEL R MODES 1895
139  RAFEH R QAZI 1893
140  CHRISTOPHER BAUMGARTNER 1892
141  THOMAS FRISKE 1882
142  MIKE CRONIN 1881
143  MICHAEL LEALI 1880
144  SAAGAR GUPTA 1878
145  RYSZARD GRABOWSKI 1878
146  GEORGE WILLIAM STONE 1876
147  AKSHAY INDUSEKAR 1873
148  JAMES WEI 1872
149  WILLIAM LYLE HAYHURST 1872
150  JOSEPH CYGAN 1870
151  JUAN HERNANDEZ III 1870
152  CONRAD OBERHAUS 1869
153  JACK M MALLERS 1869
154  MIKE MEI 13301021 1867
155  DAVID KASSIN 1865
156  YUE XU 1864
157  DAVID C HINTERLONG 1862
158  KYLE J MILES 1862
159  BENJAMIN P STERN 1859
160  PAUL SEET 1859
161  JONATHAN BONWELL 1858
162  BRYCE MC CLANAHAN 1858
163  CHARLES SWAN 1858
164  MARK STEVEN ENGELEN 1857
165  BILL SMYTHE 1855
166  DAVID S GILCHRIST 1852
167  MATTHEW Y YANG 1851
168  ANSHUL ADVE 1849
169  FRANCISCO III CABALLERO 1849
170  WILLIAM G COX 1848
171  MICHAEL GRANATA 1847
172  HECTOR R HERNANDEZ 1842
173  NIDAL M AKER 1841
174  PETER MC CONAGHIE 1840
175  RISHI SETHI 1838
176  ADAM LEVINE-WEINBERG 1837
177  BRUCE T DAWSON 1834
178  HOWARD COHEN 1830
179  KEVIN J POTTS 1830
180  MICHAEL J BRUN 1827
181  MARTIN WILBER 1820
182  CALEB S LARSEN 1820
183  TOM TAYLOR 1819
184  JAMES M THOMSON 1819
185  DAVID W FERRIE 1819
186  TARANIKANTA MOHAPATRA 1818
187  JIRI V KABELAC 1817
188  JOHN DE MASTRI 1816
189  GEORGE RUAN 1816
190  MICHAEL A CHINITZ 1816
191  JEFFREY P BRUNELLE 1813
192  JOSEPH R GUTH JR 1813
193  DAVID ROCKWELL 1809
194  EVAN SPIEGEL 1805
195  STANISLAN KAMYS 1802
196  JOSEPH G ZEMGULYS 1801
197  ROMAN, M KUPERMAN 1801
198  PHIL JARRETTE 1800
199  VINCE SPRINGER 1799
200  MATTHEW JAMES STEVENS 1797

Thursday, February 16, 2012

The Quietest IHSA Sport?

Not to be pedantic, but to IHSA, chess is an "activity."

Article here.

Carlsen on 60 Minutes

Story on Chess Life Online.

Preview available on the 60 Minutes website.  If Carlsen is the "Mozart of Chess," then Kasparov is Beethoven?  (Yeah, I realize that "Mozart" is often shorthand for "prodigal talent," but Magnus is twenty, which is like being forty in most careers.)

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Games from IHSA State Tournament

In the first round, Prospect's Robert Moskwa had the Black pieces against Benet Academy's 1968 rated Max Zinski.  By a somewhat circuitous route, the players wound up in a Sicilian Dragon with White playing the system with Bc4, h3 and 0-0.  Max played the opening well and put Robert in a very cramped position by landing a White pawn on f6.  However, Robert defended well and as often happens in the Sicilian, if White cannot find a way to convert his space advantage into an attack on Black's king, he often finds himself over extended and vulnerable.

This win turned out to make the difference in the competition for the the top medal on first board as Max didn't lose another game and finished 5.5-1.5.  As none of Eric Rosen or Matt Wilber's opponents finished with scores that good, Robert ended up getting the edge on tie break points.

In the last round, Robert played White against Stevenson's 2043 rated senior Kent Cen.  Again Robert found himself in a tough position out of the opening, and again he defended well.  The game wound up in a king and pawn ending where Kent played an instinctive move with less than ten seconds on his clock that turned out to be the losing move.


Black to play and draw.  Kent instinctively played to get his king in front of the White pawns with the natural looking 56...Ke4?? which lost to 57.Kc4 Ke5 58.Kb5 Kd6 59. Kxb6.  He could have drawn with 56...Ke2! 57.Kc4 Kd2, when White has nothing better than 58.Kb5 Kc3 59.Kxb6 Kb4=.

U.S. Amateur Team North in Northbrook this weekend!

Details here! You still have just enough time to put a team together, or come and kibitz.

Preview on Chess Life Online. Again, the location is Crowne Plaza Hotel, 2875 N. Milwaukee Ave., Northbrook, IL 60062. But there's a very dangerous typo in the article: if you go to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and not Milwaukee Avenue, you will be disappointed....

 I'll be playing for Evanston on Friday and Sunday: see you there!

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Lotsa Latvian

If the Latvian Gambit is unsound, then why doesn't four-time U.S. Champion Alexander Shabalov refute it? OK, Shabalov may be an ethnic Russian, but he was born and raised in Latvia, and was a student of Tal.

The Grandmaster escapes with the full point.

Monday, February 13, 2012

The Latvian lives!

The Latvian Gambit, that is.  I had a pleasant Sunday afternoon analyzing with Andrew Karklins.
Here's one of the games we looked at:

"Niles North team, Prospect’s Moskwa are state’s best in chess"

Who Was that Guy at State?

Most of the top high school players in Illinois have been playing organized chess for the better part of a decade or more. It is interesting to see that the cross table for the the Primary Section of the 2003 Illinois K-8 Tournament includes the names of almost all the top players from last weekend’s IHSA State Championship: Niles North’s Eric Rosen took first in 2003 followed by Stevenson’s Kent Cen and Josh Dubin at third and fourth, Whitney Young’s Sam Schmakel at fifth, and Hinsdale Central’s Aakash Meduri at seventh. Also participating in 2003 were Buffalo Grove’s Matt Wilber and University Urbana’s George Ruan as well as Denker Tournament invitees Adarsh Jayakumar and Jonathan Kogen. One name is conspicuously absent from that cross table however, 2012 IHSA 1st Place Medalist on first board and Denker invitee, Robert Moskwa of Prospect High School. In fact, despite his 1998 rating, you won’t find Robert’s name in any USCF cross table before December 2010, a mere fourteen months ago.

I first met Robert in October 2009 at the Prospect Chess Club. Coach Don Barrett had the students playing a consultation game with two teams in adjoining computer labs. I first stopped in the lab that held the first board’s team and I saw that their position was rather dicey. Then I went into the other lab where a newcomer was talking about the other side’s weak squares as well as other positional factors. I didn’t agree with all his assessments, but his reasoning was sound and he was clearly thinking about the game at a more sophisticated level than any player we had had before.

I went outside the lab to ask Don who this kid was. He told me that his name was Robert and that he had been playing freshman soccer up until that time. Don said that he was thinking about trying him on fifth board that week. I said “Put him on first.” Don demurred however since Robert had only played chess on the internet and had never used a clock or taken notation before. Robert crushed his opponent that week and again I said “Put him on first,” but Don decided to move him up to third where he crushed his opponent again. Our next opponent was MSL powerhouse Barrington with its 2000 rated first board Zach Kasiurak. Don wasn’t sure whether to put Robert on first or second, but the choice was taken out of his hands when our first board came down with the flu.

Since Prospect was the home team, Robert would be playing White against Zach. I remembered that Zach had played the Kan variation of the Sicilian against our first board two years earlier so I played it against Robert at the Tuesday practice before the match. Unfortunately, I didn’t know much about the Kan and I didn’t feel like I gave Robert any insights. On the Thursday of the match, Robert asked me to play a quick game before Barrington arrived. I thought about playing the Kan again, but I decided that playing the Najdorf, which I knew much better, might do Robert more good.  As we played, we  discussed some of the nuances of that variation as well as the Sicilian in general.

As it happened, Zach decided to play the Najdorf against Robert and he found himself in a bind pretty quickly. Unfortunately, when it came time to go for the breakthrough, Robert couldn’t quite pull the trigger and Zach gradually untangled his position. Zach managed to win a piece, but Robert took advantage of an inaccuracy to gain a couple of advanced pawns. Robert still had chances but Zach put on one of the most amazing displays of blitz I have ever seen playing the last twenty or so moves with only one second on his clock. Zach won, but he knew that he had been in a game. (You can see it here).  After the game he expressed regret that he hadn’t played the Kan and he rolled his eyes when I told him I had been playing the Najdorf against Robert.

Robert played first board for the rest of the season and continued to improve. He lost to Palatine’s Shiny Kaur during the regular season match but got his revenge at the conference tournament. He didn’t get a shot at Buffalo Grove’s Matt Wilber because Matt missed the match with Prospect. He had a second shot at Zach at conference but again came up short. At State, he went a respectable 4-3. 

Robert continued at first board as a sophomore where he led Prospect to a best ever 7-2 finish and 1st place in the MSL Conference Tournament where he avenged a regular season loss to Matt Wilber. In February 2011, he went 4.5-2.5 at State with his only losses coming to Northside Prep’s Chengliang Luo and Glenbrook South’s Gauri Manoj. Prospect went 5-2 to finish 18th. Robert showed that he could stay in the game with anyone, but he wasn’t ready to beat the top players consistently.

Robert had entered his first USCF tournament in December of 2010 where he went 3-1 in an U1400 section for an initial provisional rating of 1518. By July of 2011, he hit 1884 after tying for first in B Class at the Chicago Class Championship and he followed that up with a tie for second in A Class at the Midwest Class Championship in October. The wins haven’t come quite as easily for Robert over the last three months as he played in the master/expert section of the Illinois Class, the U2100 section at the North American Open and the open section of Tim Just's Winter Open. Still, against sixteen opponents with an average rating of 2042, he managed eight wins against six losses with two draws.

So while Robert is relatively unknown among the high school players who have been competing against one another for years, I was not surprised when he went 7-0 at the IHSA State Tournament last weekend. His wins over Max Zinski and Kent Cen were enough to give him the edge on tie breaks for the 1st Place Medal on first board over Matt Wilber and Eric Rosen. Next up for Robert is the Denker Qualifier at the end of March where he will compete in a round robin against 2320 Adarsh Jayakumar, 2246 Sam Schmakel, 2151 Jonathan Kogen, 2060 Aakash Meduri, and 2010 Kent Cen. It is probably a bit much to expect him to come out on top of that group, but I have learned not to bet against him.