Friday, July 13, 2012

Don't ask me what's going on....

As someone who gave up on the King's Indian more than twenty years ago, I always root for the queenside attack. So FM Eric Rosen (who usually doesn't throw pieces to the wind) makes me happy in the following game.  A piece gets sacked on 28, then an Exchange a few moves later...so I guess that's a deferred rook sacrifice.

Black sacs back to reach a not-quite-tenable rook ending, and Eric gets to display his typical outstanding technique.

The talented loser of this game, IM Daniel Naroditsky, is the author of the second third book I've ever read that was written by a teenager (I'm not sure that I finished Une Saison en Enfer, post pedantically amended to include Radiguet's Le Diable au Corps: oh you Frenchies). Naroditsky's Mastering Positional Chess is strongly recommended.

Ed. Lasker-Thomas redux

The king hunt and conclusion of the game below are a bit reminiscent of the famous game Ed. Lasker-Thomas, London 1912. Had my opponent and I played 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.h5 d6, we might have repeated Mora-Suttles, Tel Aviv (ol) 1964, another spectacular game that ended with a queen sacrifice and a draw by perpetual check.

Thursday, July 12, 2012

New chess club in River North Wednesday nights

Bienvenido to UNAM Chess Club!  Keith Ammann reports on the ICA website.

6:00 to 8:30 Wednesday nights at 350 W. Erie (hmm: a leisurely stroll from my office).

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Two more Yury Shulman chess camps this summer!

The 2008 U.S. champion (and third-place finisher in the just-finished World Open) is offering two more camps this summer.  One is next week in Barrington, the other is July 30 to August 3 in Palatine.

Both camps feature a four-grandmaster lineup: Yury Shulman, Mesgen Amanov, Alexander Onischuk, and Gregory Kaidanov: very impressive.  More info here!

Monday, July 9, 2012

Chess camps with IM Florin Felecan

Hot off the email.  As always, no warranty, express or implied...but Florin is a really nice person and a wonderful teacher :-)


Chess Camps with International Master Florin Felecan
July 16th - July 20th
August 13th - 17th
Location: North Shore Chess Center
Address: 5500 West Touhy Ave Suite A Skokie, IL 60077
Hours: 9:00am - 12pm for beginners (unrated - 899) | 1:00pm - 4pm for intermediate (900 - 1600)
Max # of Attendees: 16 per group
Fee: $225 per week
Cash / Checks ok - due the first day of camp. Snacks provided.
Send registration information to ffelecan2000@gmail.com and contain name, age, & rating of camper.

Tournament at North Shore Chess Center this weekend!

Another email cut-and-paste.  (I really like the Plus-Score format!)


12th North American Amateur Open
Saturday and Sunday July 14th & 15
Plus Score Event!

 
Saturday and Sunday July 14th and 15th - North Shore Chess Center (Skokie, IL) 12th NA Amateur Open - 4R-SS G/90 + 30/sec increment. North Shore Chess Center, 5500 West Touhy Ave., Suite A, Skokie, IL 60077.847.423.8626EF: $40 for non-members of the chess center, $30 for members of the chess center received by 7/11.All $5 more onsite. Onsite registration - up to 15 minutes prior to round 1 or round 2. If registering prior to round 2, you will receive a half-point bye for round 1. Round times: 11am and 4pm each day. Half-point byes available in any round except final round. Prizes: 4.0 = $100, 3.5 = $75, 3.0 = $50, 2.5 = $25; Top U1800 & U1600 - DGT 960 clock or DGT NA Clock. Comparble prizes provided if you have previously won these prizes. Biggest Upset (150+ points): Free entry to following month Amateur Open tournament + book prize. Parking: Free self-parking. Online registration only. Additional questions email to: sevan@nachess.org. USCF & FIDE rated. For online registration and list of more events please visit -www.nachess.org/events. More info and registration seehttp://www.nachess.org/events. Max 40 participants.

$5 chess in Evanston this Saturday!

Another email cut-and-paste:


Levy Senior Center, 300 Dodge Ave., Evanston, IL 60202
Evanston Chess Presents:

July 14, 2012, 9:00am-5:00pm
Tri-Level, 4SS G/40 delay 5
Three Sections, USCF Dual Rated
Our guest master will be NM Jon Burgess
Section Gold: 1700 and over
Section Silver: 1200 - 1699
Section Bronze: Under 1200 and Unrated

1600 - 1699 may play up to Gold. 
1100 - 1199 may play up to Silver. 
Published USCF Regular Rating determines eligibility. 
Unrated players may be placed up at TD discretion.
From time to time Evanston Chess pays one or more titled players to play in our events. We usually do not pair them against each other. Even if they should lose (it does happen) we may pair them with the highest score groups.

Four rounds. Digital clocks are required and will be set to G/40 plus 5 seconds delay. Accelerated or decelerated pairings at TD discretion. Sections may be combined at TD discretion.
Registration from 9:00 to 9:30 AM. Players must check in by 9:30 am; players who arrive late will receive a half-point bye for the first round. First Round 9:45 am, last round over roughly 5:00 pm. No Lunch Break: We need to be finished by 5:00 PM, so there will be no extra time between rounds for lunch.

You may take one half-point bye in any round but the last.
Entry fee is $5, please pay cash (no checks) at the door. Masters and Experts play free.
Pre-registration is encouraged: Help us start on time. Send name, USCF number, and telephone number to enter@evanstonchess.org

Junior players (under fourteen years) rated 900+ are welcome. Sorry, but we do not accept junior players rated under 900. Must be accompanied by a parent throughout the event.
Bring clocks. -- Wheelchair accessible. No Smoking.

Welcome to FM Carl Boor

...who, I learn from the World Open crosstables and the magic of Googling, is now teaching in Chicagoland!

Check out Carl's website.  I can't recall having met the gentleman, but he seems to be doing OK in the World Open (click on standings of the Under 2400 section, not yet final as of 2 a.m. Chicago time).

P.S. Monday a.m. - Carl tied for first.  NM William Aramil won his last two games to finish in the money in the same section.

Sunday, July 8, 2012

Chess is hard, installment #17,421

Here's a position from a game that GM Yury Shulman played on Friday at the World Open:

Shulman-Ludwig, World Open 2012
Black to play

Try to find Black's best move in the above position: not easy!


From the World Open

GM Nikola Mitkov finds some weaknesses to exploit: