Illinois Chess Database update coming soon

I received my update of ChessBase's Mega Database 2013 a couple weeks ago.  This gives me a good reason to stop procrastinating and update the Illinois Chess Association's Illinois Games Database in the next month or so.  I expect to have the update completed before March 1st: might take a bit longer for the goodies to appear on the site.

Folks who make substantial contributions to the database (please send me your games in PGN or CBV format) and/or who are current members of the Illinois Chess Association as of February 28, 2012 (time to renew!), can, upon request, receive the PGN file of the completed 2013 database.

Submitted games should have been played under tournament conditions by an Illinois resident or in an Illinois event.

We're particularly interested in adding missing games of the friends we've lost in the past year: Morris Giles, Jon Burgess, Tom Fineberg, Isaac Braswell, Ron Washington, and Fidel Serrano, among others.

Tactics happen

Burgess-Stamnov, Oak Brook 2004

White to play and win quickly

Truth to tell, the game's already resignable (is 1...Rxf3 really a threat? and if not, why not?)

But the finishing blow should be delivered swiftly.  Jeepers, I'm beginning to sound like Irving Chernev.

Homo Ludens

The first chess book I read was a wonderful and typically eccentric (it's not oxymoronic to say "typically eccentric" when the authors are English!) beginners' manual, The Chess Apprentice. I still remember the epigraph:

The little angels of Heaven

Each wear a long white dress,

And in the tall arcadings

Play ball and play at chess;

To be human is to be creative, and we're at our most creative when we're playing games. Here's a mental health break that you might find timely in more than one sense:



I hope to see many of you at the memorial service for Jon Burgess tomorrow!

Burgess-Shulman

Here is Jon Burgess' crushing win over GM Yury Shulman from the 2004 Chicago Open. Jon looks like the GM here, dominating the game from move 17 until the end. His notes, and advice to competitors, are here.

Memorial service for Jon Burgess on Monday, August 20th

Colleen Plummer Burgess writes: 

As many of you know my husband passed away on Sunday. The services will be held on Monday from 3-8pm at Matz Funeral Home 410 East Rand Road in Mount Prospect. I want to thank everyone for their continued support during this difficult time. Jon was a wonderful husband and father and will be missed.

"A Note from Your Captain"

It's 3:30 a.m. I can't sleep and I'm heartbroken.

This would be a good post for young readers to skip.  (Text after the jump.)

Jon Burgess, rest in peace

We are shocked to learn of the death of National Master Jon Burgess. Our deepest condolences to Colleen and the entire Burgess family. Jon was a kind soul and a very dear friend. Much more later.

The best thing about tripled pawns...

...is that there are three of them.

In the last round of Saturday's Evanston Tri-Level, Matthew Wilber never really let me in the game.  While I was worried about getting mated, White shifted attention to the queenside and won in spite of the tripleton.  Or because of it!

With this smooth performance, Matthew won the "Liberté" section of the Bastille Day Tri-Level, scoring 3½-½.  NM Jon Burgess, Matthew Stevens, Zachary Holecek, Abe Sun, and Bill Brock tied for second with 3-1 scores. 

Ansari Amir won the Egalité section with a perfect 4-0; David Sye took clear second with 3-1.

Michael Feldmann won the Fraternité section with 3½-½; Kevin Taylor, Brandon Zborowski, Jerry Neugarten, and Blake Wolf tied for second with 3-1.

Thanks to Maret Thorpe and Evanston Chess for hosting fifty players at the Levy Senior Center!

$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.

Game of the tournament

When two geniuses with a reputation for disdaining opening theory finally get around to playing an Open Sicilian, this is what happens.   Michael was effusive in his praise of Jon's play: both winner and loser had a lot of fun!

March 3: Evanston Tri-Level

Another email cut-and-paste.  ($5, such a deal.)

Levy Senior Center, 300 Dodge Ave., Evanston, IL 60202


Evanston Chess Presents:
March 3, 2012 9:00am-5:00pm
Tri-Level: 4SS G/40 d5
Three Sections, USCF Dual Rated
Guest master: 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. 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. 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.

Evanston Chess September Swiss

NM Jon Burgess and Christopher Girardo scored 3-0 in the Gold Section.

Four players were primus inter pares in the Silver Section: Abdulah Prijic, Edward Bustamante, Rahul Dhiman, and Ricky Wang all had 2-1.

Douglas Selph (first tournament!) and Aman Grover tied for first in the Bronze Section with 3-0.

Congratulations to the winners: crosstable here!

Maret Thorpe directed for Evasnton Chess.

"Taking It Up a Level"

Do you have the proper mindset when you sit down to play a higher-rated player?

Check out NM Jon Burgess's article on the ICA website, based on his recent lecture to the Evanston Chess Club.

Evanston Chess Club email cut & paste

Levy Senior Center, 300 Dodge Ave, Evanston, IL 60202

Evanston Chess Presents:

Feb 22, 2011

7:15pm - 8:15 pm

Lecture: Taking It Up a Level

Our Evanston Chess Club simuls in September and December left some of our players asking, "How can I play better chess?" By popular demand, NM Jon Burgess will give an informal lecture on a variety of ways club players can improve their games. The lecture is free and open to those who are high school age and older.

Coming Events:
--Feb 22, 2011, Lecture: Taking It Up a Level
--Mar 05, 2011, 3SS G/65 Three x Three
--May 14, 2011, 4SS G/45 Tri-Level

See http://evanstonchess.org/ for details.

North Shore Chess Center - Amateur Closed events

Jon Burgess reports on the ICA website!

Congratulations to Matt Pullin (the runaway winner of Group A), and to Aakaash Meduri, Sam Schmakel, and James Wei, the joint winners of Group B.

Evanston Chess Club Tri-Level

Thirty players turned out for Saturday's Tri-Level.  NM Ken Wallach, NM Jon Burgess, and Robby Hecht tied for first in the Gold Section with 3-1 scores.  Eduard Baev, Mark Spitzig, and Haoyang Yu tied for first in the Silver/Bronze section with 3½-½ scores.

Crosstable here!

Jon Burgess simul at the Evanston Chess Club!

 If you've never seen a simultaneous exhibition before, or you've never visited the Evanston Chess Club before, next Tuesday is your chance!

Levy Senior Center, 300 Dodge Ave, Evanston, IL 60202
Evanston Chess Presents:
Tuesday, Sep 28, 2010, 6:50 pm - 9:00 pm
Simul vs. NM Jon Burgess

Only a few seats remain for our Simul next Tuesday, 9/28. Register by email now to hold your place.

Bring your best game and challenge NM Jon Burgess in a simultaneous exhibition. Entry fee is FREE. NM Burgess will play up to 10 players. Boards are first-come-first-served. To reserve your board, send an email to enter@evanstonchess.org, including your name, rating and phone number. Like our Tuesday evening club meetings, this event is limited to players high school age and older. We will have open club play for those who don't play in the simul.

Pre-registrants: Please arrive by 6:50 p.m. At 6:55 p.m., we will fill any remaining seats with wait-listed or walk-in players who would like to participate. The simul will begin promptly at 7:00 p.m., and we need to finish by 9:00 p.m.

For those who have never played a simul: The master plays white on all boards, all challengers play black. The master will make his move at your board, then go to the next board. You will wait to make your move as black until the master returns to your board and is watching. Challengers are allowed up to three "passes" when the master comes to their board. Score sheets will be provided and we hope to publish as many of the games as we can.

Thanks to Jon Burgess for doing the simul!

Send name, USCF number, and telephone number to enter@evanstonchess.org

Illinois Open pre-entries

The three-day Open Section is topped by GM Yury Shulman (2715); IMs Angelo Young (2418), IM Florin Felecan (2415), FM Albert Chow (2280), and NM Jon Burges (2238) bring the total to five reigning or former Illinois state champions starting so far in the three-day field.  Kentucky Champion Davis Whaley (2224) and NM Mariano Acosta (2200) have also pre-registered.

The smaller two-day Open Section has two GMs so far: Nikola Mitkov (2571) and Dmitry Gurevich (2479). NM Audrius Macenis (2201) rounds out the top entrants.

These two sections merge into one section with Round 4 on Sunday evening.

Not up for battling Grandmasters? You can play alongside (but not against) them in the 3-day and 2-day reserve sections. There are also Saturday Scholastic events, and a Saturday Game/25 event.

Details here: preregistration closes tomorrow at 6 p.m. You can register onsite, but why not save time and money with preregistration?

World Open through Round 7

Earlier today, Jon Burgess updated the results of top Illinois players on the ICA Forum. 

Round 9 is already underway: Angelo Young lost to Mark Paragua, Mesgen Amanov drew.  As of now, I don't know how William Aramil or the other Illinois players did.  If you're onsite, an update in the comments would be welcome....

Jon Burgess's blog

Here it is, just in time to satisfy your needs while I'm on temporary hiatus (something about April 15).

Also, Jon wraps up his Chicago-centric take on the Philadelphia Open results here!