Tuesday, November 27, 2012
CICL: a lucky escape
My Rogue Squadron teammate David Franklin doesn't get positionally rolled very often, but Mike Failor of Enova Financial inflicts some serious positional hurt. Then things get complicated, and both players miss some shots....
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Chicago Class vanity
I got outplayed by both of my opponents last Sunday. Psychologically, draws are not the most satisfying result, but drawing two games beats losing two games. And in both games, both players were trying to win...
Try to predict White's move in the position below!
At the ICA Banquet the previous day, I had the honor of presenting the 2012 Broughton Award to Jim Brotsos. While Jim and I were bantering about his lifetime of service to Illinois chess, I had my iPhone in my hand, as I was about to read some email testimonials that Jim's friends had sent. Somehow, I managed to start playing a Peter Drucker audiobook in the middle of Jim's remarks.
Not having sufficiently learned my lesson, I forgot to turn my iPhone off before round 4. In the middlegame, I somehow triggered the iPhone in my pocket, and "Five Years" (the opening track of The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars) began playing for the "benefit" of the players. For "Five Years," I was penalized ten minutes (which seems more than fair: I could have been forfeited). My apologies to all!
Don't be an inconsiderate dope like me: turn off your cell phone before play begins. (I realize that family and work concerns make it mandatory for some players to be in touch at all times: put your phone on vibrate, and let the TD know what you're doing.)
Try to predict White's move in the position below!
At the ICA Banquet the previous day, I had the honor of presenting the 2012 Broughton Award to Jim Brotsos. While Jim and I were bantering about his lifetime of service to Illinois chess, I had my iPhone in my hand, as I was about to read some email testimonials that Jim's friends had sent. Somehow, I managed to start playing a Peter Drucker audiobook in the middle of Jim's remarks.
Not having sufficiently learned my lesson, I forgot to turn my iPhone off before round 4. In the middlegame, I somehow triggered the iPhone in my pocket, and "Five Years" (the opening track of The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars) began playing for the "benefit" of the players. For "Five Years," I was penalized ten minutes (which seems more than fair: I could have been forfeited). My apologies to all!
Don't be an inconsiderate dope like me: turn off your cell phone before play begins. (I realize that family and work concerns make it mandatory for some players to be in touch at all times: put your phone on vibrate, and let the TD know what you're doing.)
Adair-Uedemann, 1879
Here's another delightful post on local chess history from A Chess Reader. Louis Uedemann and J.D. Adair were very well-matched when they played for Chicago bragging rights, and their play looks energetic and reasonably sound 133 years later.
The Chinese room as seen from the dentist's chair
On Black Friday, I had
two impacted wisdom teeth pulled. Our dentist is an artist—he puts his patients at ease, he's conscientious, he's fast, and like every good professional, he knows his limitations. The extractions were as close to painless as one could hope for.
Still, it was not completely painless. Squeamish person that I am, I didn't want to think about what was going on inside my mouth.
Instead, I began thinking about (what else) chess. One difference between human chess players and computer chess players: pull a card out of the computer's motherboard, and the computer generally doesn't say "Ouch!". One computer chess player was famously afraid, but that was in the movies, so I don't think that counts (yet).
Half an hour earlier, on the walk to the dentist's office, I'd been listening to one of John Searle's 2011 lectures on consciousness. (The whole series can be downloaded at https://itunes.apple.com/itunes-u/philosophy-132-001-spring/id438307693?mt=10.) In the seventh lecture, Searle argued that Deep Blue's victory over Kasparov proved nothing about Deep Blue's understanding of chess. Theoretically, a human with no knowledge of the rules of the chess could be thrown in a locked room, given Deep Blue's algorithm for finding the best move, some scratch paper and sharp pencils, and (after the arbiter slips Kasparov's move through the mail slot) replicate Deep Blue's decisions. (Granted, the human might need a couple millennia to make certain moves, but hey, it's a thought experiment.) Would we award this hypothetical human the title of the world's strongest chess player?
Still, it was not completely painless. Squeamish person that I am, I didn't want to think about what was going on inside my mouth.
Instead, I began thinking about (what else) chess. One difference between human chess players and computer chess players: pull a card out of the computer's motherboard, and the computer generally doesn't say "Ouch!". One computer chess player was famously afraid, but that was in the movies, so I don't think that counts (yet).
Half an hour earlier, on the walk to the dentist's office, I'd been listening to one of John Searle's 2011 lectures on consciousness. (The whole series can be downloaded at https://itunes.apple.com/itunes-u/philosophy-132-001-spring/id438307693?mt=10.) In the seventh lecture, Searle argued that Deep Blue's victory over Kasparov proved nothing about Deep Blue's understanding of chess. Theoretically, a human with no knowledge of the rules of the chess could be thrown in a locked room, given Deep Blue's algorithm for finding the best move, some scratch paper and sharp pencils, and (after the arbiter slips Kasparov's move through the mail slot) replicate Deep Blue's decisions. (Granted, the human might need a couple millennia to make certain moves, but hey, it's a thought experiment.) Would we award this hypothetical human the title of the world's strongest chess player?
Searle argues that this hypothetical human has no
understanding of chess whatsoever. As Deep Blue and Houdini 3 are doing nothing more than executing an algorithm, they too don't know what they're doing. This is a version of
Searle's famous "Chinese room" argument: as summarized by Wikipedia, "a program cannot give a
computer a 'mind', 'understanding' or 'consciousness', regardless of how
intelligently it may make it behave." Passing the Turing Test alone doesn't make a computer self-aware, wise, able to enjoy victory subjectively and suffer defeat stoically, or have the intuition of a Capablanca.
Human experts are not like computer experts. A master dentist can approach problems from both
intuitive and analytically rigorous perspectives. Suppose the patient after me also had impacted wisdom teeth: my dentist may have been able to tell from a glance at the X-rays that this patient's molars were going to be much more difficult to extract, so he referred that patient to an oral surgeon. Being a professional is not just executing an algorithm, it's also an art. (On the other hand, the most conscientious artist can make an error: Daniel Kahneman discusses the limitations of snap judgments in Thinking: Fast and Slow.)
Chess masters make snap judgments all the time: how else could grandmasters play forty players at once successfully? In some
positions, a master "knows" at a glance what the right move must be. Of course, not every snap judgment is correct—grandmasters do lose games in simultaneous exhibitions—but the quality of the grandmaster's snap judgment is much higher than the quality of our considered judgments.
(I remember consoling one well-known local master after a critical loss to Aleksander Stamnov: "The problem with playing Stamnov is that he makes good moves very quickly." He replied, "Yes, and he also makes bad moves very quickly.")
(I remember consoling one well-known local master after a critical loss to Aleksander Stamnov: "The problem with playing Stamnov is that he makes good moves very quickly." He replied, "Yes, and he also makes bad moves very quickly.")
Some recent chess books tell us to look at positions with "computer eyes," calculating all the forcing moves; others advise us to move first and think later. What's a patzer to do? Some positions demand brute-force calculation (we can never compete on an even level with chess engines in this sphere), others ask us to use our "feel" for the game. And most positions ask us to use some of each way of thinking.
These two ways of thinking—Kahneman calls the intuitive way "System 1" and the analytical way "System 2"—actually occur in different parts of the brain. Thinking in System 2 is hard work! As we're surfing through the complications of each chess game, we have to toggle back and forth between the two modes of thinking.
I'll close this rambling (hey, it's a blog) with two observations:
Narrowly: you may never be able to beat Houdini, but you already understand much more about chess than Houdini ever will. I remember a Scientific American article circa 1979 about programmers who hoped to make chess programs think in a more human fashion. That turned out to be an absolute dead end, and "brute force" alpha-beta searches won. It's true that useless branches of the analytical tree are pruned by the top engines, and it's true that evaluation functions have been improved, but still...chess engines are "merely" executing an algorithm, and executing an algorithm requires no understanding whatsoever.
Broadly: similar musings about the failure to date of the "strong AI" project and about how humans become expert at what they do are very much in the air right now.
These two ways of thinking—Kahneman calls the intuitive way "System 1" and the analytical way "System 2"—actually occur in different parts of the brain. Thinking in System 2 is hard work! As we're surfing through the complications of each chess game, we have to toggle back and forth between the two modes of thinking.
I'll close this rambling (hey, it's a blog) with two observations:
Narrowly: you may never be able to beat Houdini, but you already understand much more about chess than Houdini ever will. I remember a Scientific American article circa 1979 about programmers who hoped to make chess programs think in a more human fashion. That turned out to be an absolute dead end, and "brute force" alpha-beta searches won. It's true that useless branches of the analytical tree are pruned by the top engines, and it's true that evaluation functions have been improved, but still...chess engines are "merely" executing an algorithm, and executing an algorithm requires no understanding whatsoever.
Broadly: similar musings about the failure to date of the "strong AI" project and about how humans become expert at what they do are very much in the air right now.
Saturday, November 24, 2012
Chicago Latino Chess Championship XX: How Many Can We Fit in Here?
The 20th annual Chicago Latino Chess Championship is complete, with a record-smashing 93 participants. This year's upper section alone was larger than last year's entire tournament!
Jimi Akintonde of Whitney Young High School swept Section I (age 15 and up), followed by Justin Rajsky with 4.5/5 and Felipe Quiroz, Edward Zhang, Ricardo Román, Phillip Parker-Turner and Mark Jungo with 4.0/5. Parker-Turner and Jungo were so thoroughly tied, by every standard tiebreak measure, that their trophy order had to be decided by a blitz game (which all parties preferred to a coin flip). Parker-Turner prevailed.
In Section II (age 14 and under), Ricky Román of Nightingale School finished first with a perfect 4.0/4, followed by Teja Munagala of Center Grove School in Greenwood, Ind., and Abdel Raoul of the University of Chicago Lab School with 3.5/4. Seven young players followed with final scores of 3.0/4 to win the remaining trophies: Iggy Bielobradek (Komarek, North Riverside), Kaleb Tucker (Beasley), Joseph Buklis (Decatur Classical), Daniel Román (Nightingale), Susan Huang (U. of C. Lab), Daniel Zhang (South Loop) and Elias O'Malley (Decatur Classical).
Ten place trophies were awarded in each section. The tournament is held at the Rudy Lozano Branch Library in Pilsen, home of the Knight Moves Chess Club.
Jimi Akintonde of Whitney Young High School swept Section I (age 15 and up), followed by Justin Rajsky with 4.5/5 and Felipe Quiroz, Edward Zhang, Ricardo Román, Phillip Parker-Turner and Mark Jungo with 4.0/5. Parker-Turner and Jungo were so thoroughly tied, by every standard tiebreak measure, that their trophy order had to be decided by a blitz game (which all parties preferred to a coin flip). Parker-Turner prevailed.
In Section II (age 14 and under), Ricky Román of Nightingale School finished first with a perfect 4.0/4, followed by Teja Munagala of Center Grove School in Greenwood, Ind., and Abdel Raoul of the University of Chicago Lab School with 3.5/4. Seven young players followed with final scores of 3.0/4 to win the remaining trophies: Iggy Bielobradek (Komarek, North Riverside), Kaleb Tucker (Beasley), Joseph Buklis (Decatur Classical), Daniel Román (Nightingale), Susan Huang (U. of C. Lab), Daniel Zhang (South Loop) and Elias O'Malley (Decatur Classical).
Ten place trophies were awarded in each section. The tournament is held at the Rudy Lozano Branch Library in Pilsen, home of the Knight Moves Chess Club.
Friday, November 23, 2012
The perfect Christmas present for the chess player on your list
... is Houdini 3, the latest version of the world's strongest chess engine.
USCF Sales is running a Black Friday sale through Sunday: you can buy the Standard Edition of Houdini 3 for something like $85 dollars all in (Media Mail shipping) if you use the coupon code BLACKFRIDAY. (I am not a big fan of USCF Sales, but this is ten clams cheaper than what I paid last week.)
Or if you have Amazon Prime, you can buy Houdini 3 for $84.95 (price updated 11/25/12) and have it two days later.
My guess is that 95% of users won't have any need for Houdini 3 Pro. This souped-up version supports 32 cores and 256 GB of hash memory, as opposed to the standard version's "measly" 6 cores and 4 GB of hash. I suspect that the difference in analysis strength is not noticeable in most cases, and that most grandmasters would find the standard version more than adequate for their needs. (And Houdini can suck up all system resources if you let it: on a quad-core machine, I only use three cores for analysis.) But if you can afford the extra $20, the lucky giftee might find the pro version marginally more useful: hobbyists interested in computer vs. computer play and correspondence players might be most likely to benefit.
I really like the DeepFritz 13 user interface, and even find the contextual Microsoft Office 2010 interface somewhat less annoying that I did when using Rybka 3 Aquarium. While there's a handy "Goto Chessbase" feature for ChessBase users, I havn't been able to install the Houdini 3 engine directly in ChessBase. But that's my only complaint so far: this is truly great software! I hope to have a fuller review before Santa loads the sleigh.
For those of you on a budget: earlier versions of Houdini are available to download free of charge. See this earlier blog post for details.
USCF Sales is running a Black Friday sale through Sunday: you can buy the Standard Edition of Houdini 3 for something like $85 dollars all in (Media Mail shipping) if you use the coupon code BLACKFRIDAY. (I am not a big fan of USCF Sales, but this is ten clams cheaper than what I paid last week.)
Or if you have Amazon Prime, you can buy Houdini 3 for $84.95 (price updated 11/25/12) and have it two days later.
My guess is that 95% of users won't have any need for Houdini 3 Pro. This souped-up version supports 32 cores and 256 GB of hash memory, as opposed to the standard version's "measly" 6 cores and 4 GB of hash. I suspect that the difference in analysis strength is not noticeable in most cases, and that most grandmasters would find the standard version more than adequate for their needs. (And Houdini can suck up all system resources if you let it: on a quad-core machine, I only use three cores for analysis.) But if you can afford the extra $20, the lucky giftee might find the pro version marginally more useful: hobbyists interested in computer vs. computer play and correspondence players might be most likely to benefit.
I really like the DeepFritz 13 user interface, and even find the contextual Microsoft Office 2010 interface somewhat less annoying that I did when using Rybka 3 Aquarium. While there's a handy "Goto Chessbase" feature for ChessBase users, I havn't been able to install the Houdini 3 engine directly in ChessBase. But that's my only complaint so far: this is truly great software! I hope to have a fuller review before Santa loads the sleigh.
For those of you on a budget: earlier versions of Houdini are available to download free of charge. See this earlier blog post for details.
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
In Pilsen: Chicago Latino Chess Championship XX!
Twentieth edition: wow!
The site is the Chicago Public Library Lozano Branch on 1805 S. Loomis (Loomis is 1400 West: folks coming from the Loop may find the CTA's #60 bus - Blue Island/26th - handy). No entry fee: lots of trophies! Registration is from 9 to 9:30 a.m., Saturday, Nov. 24; play begins at 10 a.m. You'll be home in time for dinner.
See the ICA Tournament Calendar for details!
The site is the Chicago Public Library Lozano Branch on 1805 S. Loomis (Loomis is 1400 West: folks coming from the Loop may find the CTA's #60 bus - Blue Island/26th - handy). No entry fee: lots of trophies! Registration is from 9 to 9:30 a.m., Saturday, Nov. 24; play begins at 10 a.m. You'll be home in time for dinner.
See the ICA Tournament Calendar for details!
Turkey Day 2K this weekend in Skokie
Brought to you by the miracle of cut and paste. Original here.
Friday thru Sunday Nov 23 - 25, 2012. Turkey Day 2k - $2,000 prize fund guaranteed. 6R-SS Game-90 + 30/sec increment.
Location: North Shore Chess Center - 5500 W Touhy Ave Suite A, Skokie, IL 60077
Round Times: 12pm and 5pm daily
Entry Fee: $50 for everyone
Prize Fund Distribution:
This event will be USCF and FIDE rated.
Maximum capacity registration will be 64 players. The organizer reserves the right to limit lower the limit.
Friday thru Sunday Nov 23 - 25, 2012. Turkey Day 2k - $2,000 prize fund guaranteed. 6R-SS Game-90 + 30/sec increment.
Location: North Shore Chess Center - 5500 W Touhy Ave Suite A, Skokie, IL 60077
Round Times: 12pm and 5pm daily
Entry Fee: $50 for everyone
Prize Fund Distribution:
- Overall: $500-350-200 (+$50 perfect score prize)
- U2200: $150-100-50
- U1900: $150-100-50
- U1700: $150-100-50
This event will be USCF and FIDE rated.
Maximum capacity registration will be 64 players. The organizer reserves the right to limit lower the limit.
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
A beautiful queenside attack
I asked David Peng's teacher, Grandmaster Dmitry Gurevich, to take a quick look at my light notes to this game, played a week ago Saturday at Kings Island. Dmitry wrote back, "Those 9 years olds like David and Awonder [Liang] are going to beat IMs and GMs soon... that's impressive.. scary :)) "
White: David Peng (2076)
Black: NM Charles Diebert (2234)
Kings Island Open, Mason, Ohio
November 10, 2012
Philidor Defense
I had the pleasure of witnessing most of this game from the adjoining board. David Peng is 9½ years old!
1. e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nbd7 4.Bc4 e5 5.d5 Be7 6.Nge2 a5 7.O-O O-O 8.Ng3 Nc5 9.f3 Ne8 10.Be3 g6
Black isn’t satisfied with a draw against his young opponent, and is willing to take some risks to win. From that respect, the opening has been reasonably successful for Black. The knight on c5 is particularly well posted, and the pawn on a5 restrains White from playing b2-b4, evicting the knight. On the kingside, Black hopes to play ...f7-f5 at an appropriate time: perhaps Black could bring pressure to bear on White’s e4 square, then play ...f5xe4 in a way that White has to reply f3xe4, and the pressure will begin to get serious. Black has the clear idea of exchanging his bad bishop on e7 with ...Be7-g5. It’s not clear what the future holds for White’s bishop on c4: the d5 pawn secures a space advantage for White, but also blocks the a2-g8 diagonal.
11. a3 a4 12. b4 axb3 13. cxb3 Bd7
14. a4!?
Prophylaxis is the art of figuring out your opponent’s plans, then making a move (sometimes mysterious-looking!) that does something to frustrate your opponent’s schemes while advancing your own.
White wants to roll up Black’s queenside! But here’s the problem: if White plays an immediate b3-b4, the horsie hops to a4. With the support of the bishop on d7 and the rook on a8, it’s an excellent blockading piece. But if White plays a4 first, then the a4 square is denied to Black’s knight.
Objectively, Black has more than one adequate response to White’s plan, but I think 14.a4!? is an incredibly sophisticated move for such a young player to make. And for all I know, there may be three or four moves that are objectively better.
The immediate 14.b4 can be answered by the intermezzo 14…Bg5!? (the immediate 14...Na4 works, too) 15.Bxg5 Qxg5 16.Qc1 (but not 16.bxc5?! Qe3+ and Black is better) 16... xc1 17. Rfxc1 Na4 18.Bb5 Bxb5 19.Nxb5 Rc8 20.Rc4 f5 and Black has sufficient counterplay.
14... Bg5 15. Bf2 b6!?
15... Na6!? would be a creative response, as White has weakened the b4 square.
16. b4 Nb7?
And now White can continue with his plan virtually unimpeded. At the same time, it’s hard to fault Mr. Diebert for making what seems to be a very pragmatic decision: suffer for a few moves, then counterattack on the kingside. Instead, 16... Nxa4! allows Black to retain equality because of the fork trick on b5.
17. Qb3 Ng7 18. Bb5! h5
Or 18... Bxb5 19. Nxb5 with enduring pressure. (Allowing doubled pawns with 19. axb5!? also looks strong. )
19. Bc6 Rb8 20. Nb5 Qe7 21. a5 Bxc6
21... bxa5 22. bxa5 Nc5 23. Bxc5 Bxc6 24. dxc6 dxc5 is a better try for Black, which suggests that White may have played a4-a5 a bit prematurely.
22. dxc6 +-
White’s technique in the remainder of the game is excellent: no need to hurry in a position like this!
22…Nd8 23.axb6 Nxc6 24.Qc4 Qd7 25.bxc7 Rxb5 26.Qxb5 Qxc7
Diebert offers stiff resistance in a lost position: beating a master is hard work!
27.Qc4 Qd7 28.b5 Nd4 29.b6 Nge6 30.Rfb1 Rb8 31.Ne2 Nxe2+ 32.Qxe2 Nd4 33.Qc4 Nc6 34.Qa6 Rb7 35.Qa8+ Kg7 36. Rd1 Rb8 37.Qa4 Rb7 38.Ra2 Bd8 39.Rc2 Nd4 40.Qxd7 Rxd7 41.Bxd4 exd4 42.Rb2 Rb7 43.Rdb1 Kf6 44.Kf2 Ke6 45.Ke2 d5 46.Kd3 dxe4+ 47.Kxe4 Kd6 48.Rb3 Bf6 49.Ra1!
White has accurately evaluated that a couple checks and a pawn push is nothing to fear. 49…Re7+ 50.Kd3 Kc6 50... Re3+ 51. Kc2 d3+ 52. Kd2 and the rook on a1 is immune, even after Re2+ 53. Kxd3
51.Ra7 Re3+ 52.Kc4 Rc3+ 53.Rxc3 dxc3 54.Kd3 Kxb6 55.Rxf7 Be5 56.h3 Kc5 57.Rf8 Kb4 58.Kc2 g5 59.Rf5 Bf4 60.h4! 1-0
White: David Peng (2076)
Black: NM Charles Diebert (2234)
Kings Island Open, Mason, Ohio
November 10, 2012
Philidor Defense
I had the pleasure of witnessing most of this game from the adjoining board. David Peng is 9½ years old!
1. e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nbd7 4.Bc4 e5 5.d5 Be7 6.Nge2 a5 7.O-O O-O 8.Ng3 Nc5 9.f3 Ne8 10.Be3 g6
Black isn’t satisfied with a draw against his young opponent, and is willing to take some risks to win. From that respect, the opening has been reasonably successful for Black. The knight on c5 is particularly well posted, and the pawn on a5 restrains White from playing b2-b4, evicting the knight. On the kingside, Black hopes to play ...f7-f5 at an appropriate time: perhaps Black could bring pressure to bear on White’s e4 square, then play ...f5xe4 in a way that White has to reply f3xe4, and the pressure will begin to get serious. Black has the clear idea of exchanging his bad bishop on e7 with ...Be7-g5. It’s not clear what the future holds for White’s bishop on c4: the d5 pawn secures a space advantage for White, but also blocks the a2-g8 diagonal.
11. a3 a4 12. b4 axb3 13. cxb3 Bd7
 | ||
| White to play |
14. a4!?
Prophylaxis is the art of figuring out your opponent’s plans, then making a move (sometimes mysterious-looking!) that does something to frustrate your opponent’s schemes while advancing your own.
White wants to roll up Black’s queenside! But here’s the problem: if White plays an immediate b3-b4, the horsie hops to a4. With the support of the bishop on d7 and the rook on a8, it’s an excellent blockading piece. But if White plays a4 first, then the a4 square is denied to Black’s knight.
Objectively, Black has more than one adequate response to White’s plan, but I think 14.a4!? is an incredibly sophisticated move for such a young player to make. And for all I know, there may be three or four moves that are objectively better.
The immediate 14.b4 can be answered by the intermezzo 14…Bg5!? (the immediate 14...Na4 works, too) 15.Bxg5 Qxg5 16.Qc1 (but not 16.bxc5?! Qe3+ and Black is better) 16... xc1 17. Rfxc1 Na4 18.Bb5 Bxb5 19.Nxb5 Rc8 20.Rc4 f5 and Black has sufficient counterplay.
14... Bg5 15. Bf2 b6!?
15... Na6!? would be a creative response, as White has weakened the b4 square.
16. b4 Nb7?
And now White can continue with his plan virtually unimpeded. At the same time, it’s hard to fault Mr. Diebert for making what seems to be a very pragmatic decision: suffer for a few moves, then counterattack on the kingside. Instead, 16... Nxa4! allows Black to retain equality because of the fork trick on b5.
17. Qb3 Ng7 18. Bb5! h5
Or 18... Bxb5 19. Nxb5 with enduring pressure. (Allowing doubled pawns with 19. axb5!? also looks strong. )
19. Bc6 Rb8 20. Nb5 Qe7 21. a5 Bxc6
21... bxa5 22. bxa5 Nc5 23. Bxc5 Bxc6 24. dxc6 dxc5 is a better try for Black, which suggests that White may have played a4-a5 a bit prematurely.
22. dxc6 +-
White’s technique in the remainder of the game is excellent: no need to hurry in a position like this!
22…Nd8 23.axb6 Nxc6 24.Qc4 Qd7 25.bxc7 Rxb5 26.Qxb5 Qxc7
Diebert offers stiff resistance in a lost position: beating a master is hard work!
27.Qc4 Qd7 28.b5 Nd4 29.b6 Nge6 30.Rfb1 Rb8 31.Ne2 Nxe2+ 32.Qxe2 Nd4 33.Qc4 Nc6 34.Qa6 Rb7 35.Qa8+ Kg7 36. Rd1 Rb8 37.Qa4 Rb7 38.Ra2 Bd8 39.Rc2 Nd4 40.Qxd7 Rxd7 41.Bxd4 exd4 42.Rb2 Rb7 43.Rdb1 Kf6 44.Kf2 Ke6 45.Ke2 d5 46.Kd3 dxe4+ 47.Kxe4 Kd6 48.Rb3 Bf6 49.Ra1!
White has accurately evaluated that a couple checks and a pawn push is nothing to fear. 49…Re7+ 50.Kd3 Kc6 50... Re3+ 51. Kc2 d3+ 52. Kd2 and the rook on a1 is immune, even after Re2+ 53. Kxd3
51.Ra7 Re3+ 52.Kc4 Rc3+ 53.Rxc3 dxc3 54.Kd3 Kxb6 55.Rxf7 Be5 56.h3 Kc5 57.Rf8 Kb4 58.Kc2 g5 59.Rf5 Bf4 60.h4! 1-0
White to play: what's the best plan?
| ||
| White to play |
Ask your computer, and you will get a list of candidate moves with more-or-less meaningless evaluations. (There are no immediate tactics in this position, and White is somewhat better, but nothing serious.)
I am by no means certain that the player of the White pieces (to be identified later today) came up with the best plan, but it was a very impressive plan!
I am by no means certain that the player of the White pieces (to be identified later today) came up with the best plan, but it was a very impressive plan!
Illinois Class results!
Final results and prizewinners are here on the Illinois Class website, and the event was rated almost immediately.
Permit me be lazy and link to Keith Ammann's tournament report, which should be going up on the ICA website in the next day or so.
Thanks to Keith Ammann, Wayne Clark, Maret Thorpe, Gary Jannsen, and the staff at Concordia University for a very smooth event at a very nice location!
Friday, November 16, 2012
"Check ... this out: Richards boasts first all-girls chess team lineup"
| Members of Richards High School's girls chess club are from left, Kristina Huggins, Jessica Zavala, Juliet Lucente, Mady Doan, Caitlin O'Sullivan, Anne Sortino, Marial Rancel and Aminah Garcia; who are practicing at the school in Oak Lawn, IL on Wednesday November 14, 2012. | Matt Marton~Sun-Times Media |
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Rolling the Rossolimo
David Peng's parents, Jenny and Bill, were kind enough to send along David's first-round game from Kings Island. I find it difficult to believe that a nine-year-old could play such a game.
NM Kristopher Meekins of Ohio tries to outplay David strategically in the trendy Rossolimo Sicilian, but David more than holds his own. 19.g4?! is a critical decision by White: if Black doesn't capture en passant, White locks up the kingside and plays on the rest of the board (King's Indian players know this theme well). So David keeps the game open: kingside attacks are stronger because that's where His Majesty lives.
White is still coping adequately until the moment after David poses the beautiful question 25...c4! Houdini suggests that White may still be slightly better after 26.Kh2, but even a master can easily go wrong in such a position.
NM Kristopher Meekins of Ohio tries to outplay David strategically in the trendy Rossolimo Sicilian, but David more than holds his own. 19.g4?! is a critical decision by White: if Black doesn't capture en passant, White locks up the kingside and plays on the rest of the board (King's Indian players know this theme well). So David keeps the game open: kingside attacks are stronger because that's where His Majesty lives.
White is still coping adequately until the moment after David poses the beautiful question 25...c4! Houdini suggests that White may still be slightly better after 26.Kh2, but even a master can easily go wrong in such a position.
Monday, November 12, 2012
Vanity: Kings Island Road Trip
GM Nikola Mitkov headed a contingent of Chicago players at this year's Kings Island Open. The site is a creaky but charming resort adjoining the amusement park in metro Cincinnati.
This year's field was not as strong as last year's (most GMs chose to play in Detroit the week before), but still pretty darn strong. Once again, Kentucky GM Gregory Kaidanov took honors, splitting first with IM Goran Vojinovic of Ohio. Crosstables here!
In Saturday's round three, I was playing next to nine-year-old David Peng, and I looked at his game almost as much as mine. As David was rolling up his second master of the event, I found myself thinking, "Is this kid already stronger than I am?" Wonder no longer: David's post-event rating is 2108, and mine is 2106. Even before his recent ratings jump, David was second only to Awonder Liang on the nation's top nine-year-old list. (As I noted a few days ago, both David and Awonder at age nine are substantially stronger than the twelve-year old Bobby Fischer. But this is a misleading comparison on many levels. Parents, chess is more than having a large number after one's name: you want your children to enjoy playing and enjoy learning. These young players simply love to play!)
***
Here are my games, not because they're particularly good, but because it's a blog. :-) Constructive criticism is most welcome: that's how we get better!
Claire and I drove in Friday night: traffic was heavy, so I wound up taking a first-round bye (thanks to USCF Executive Director Bill Hall for conveying the message to Wayne Clark).
In round two, I was paired with fellow Chicagoan Tam Nguyen, who is on the cusp of a long-overdue National Master title. I sacked a pawn for no particularly good reason and was fortunate to escape with a draw:
In round three, I was paired against the reigning Kentucky state champion, NM Davis Whaley. Black made a Slav triangle and grabbed the Catalan gambit pawn. At one point, I thought I had excellent wining chances, but the game fizzled out into a dead draw quickly. Between Evanston and Kings Island, I had now drawn five consecutive games in eight days. (This after making a vow to myself not to offer or accept draws in unclear positions: sometimes there's nothing the players can do...)
Sunday morning, I won against NM Pappu Murthy of Ohio. 15...Nc7? is a cute idea, but the attempt to trap the bishop fails. The alert reader will probably notice several dozen faster wins that I missed (29.Qc4 with the idea of 30.a3 is one, Black's counterplay after 32.Nxd6 appears not be that fearsome, after all), but hey, I won. And yes, Black could have resigned a few moves earlier, but note that Black almost set up a kamikaze stalemate trap. (Queens and rooks are great for kamikaze missions, but monochromatic bishops are generally ineffective.)
This year's field was not as strong as last year's (most GMs chose to play in Detroit the week before), but still pretty darn strong. Once again, Kentucky GM Gregory Kaidanov took honors, splitting first with IM Goran Vojinovic of Ohio. Crosstables here!
In Saturday's round three, I was playing next to nine-year-old David Peng, and I looked at his game almost as much as mine. As David was rolling up his second master of the event, I found myself thinking, "Is this kid already stronger than I am?" Wonder no longer: David's post-event rating is 2108, and mine is 2106. Even before his recent ratings jump, David was second only to Awonder Liang on the nation's top nine-year-old list. (As I noted a few days ago, both David and Awonder at age nine are substantially stronger than the twelve-year old Bobby Fischer. But this is a misleading comparison on many levels. Parents, chess is more than having a large number after one's name: you want your children to enjoy playing and enjoy learning. These young players simply love to play!)
***
Here are my games, not because they're particularly good, but because it's a blog. :-) Constructive criticism is most welcome: that's how we get better!
Claire and I drove in Friday night: traffic was heavy, so I wound up taking a first-round bye (thanks to USCF Executive Director Bill Hall for conveying the message to Wayne Clark).
In round two, I was paired with fellow Chicagoan Tam Nguyen, who is on the cusp of a long-overdue National Master title. I sacked a pawn for no particularly good reason and was fortunate to escape with a draw:
In round three, I was paired against the reigning Kentucky state champion, NM Davis Whaley. Black made a Slav triangle and grabbed the Catalan gambit pawn. At one point, I thought I had excellent wining chances, but the game fizzled out into a dead draw quickly. Between Evanston and Kings Island, I had now drawn five consecutive games in eight days. (This after making a vow to myself not to offer or accept draws in unclear positions: sometimes there's nothing the players can do...)
Sunday morning, I won against NM Pappu Murthy of Ohio. 15...Nc7? is a cute idea, but the attempt to trap the bishop fails. The alert reader will probably notice several dozen faster wins that I missed (29.Qc4 with the idea of 30.a3 is one, Black's counterplay after 32.Nxd6 appears not be that fearsome, after all), but hey, I won. And yes, Black could have resigned a few moves earlier, but note that Black almost set up a kamikaze stalemate trap. (Queens and rooks are great for kamikaze missions, but monochromatic bishops are generally ineffective.)
Thanks to my style of boring opponents to death, I had a chance to Swiss-Gambit my way into the Under 2300 prize in the final round. NM James Mills of Indiana had other ideas. 15.Ne5!? is interesting: I think I was right to take on d4, but 16...Nf8 is too passive: better 16...Rac8. 18...Bg5!? is my attempt to deal with the coming incursion on c6. I saw White's beautiful 23rd move coming, but didn't appreciate its force until it was too late: 23...f5? is just psychological collapse. A nice win by Mr. Mills!
Now that you've seen all the weaknesses in my play, come exploit them this weekend at the Illinois Class in River Forest!
Thursday, November 8, 2012
Shulman & Amanov win Michigan Chess Festival
The field at last weekend's Michigan Chess Festival in Troy was ridiculously powerful: Grandmasters Sam Shankland, Alexander Shabalov, Yury Shulman, Victor Mikhalevski, Sergey Kudrin, Ben Finegold, and Mesgen Amanov.
The two Illinois grandmasters, Shulman and Amanov, were the only players to win their first four games. They drew each other in the final round, and nobody caught them. And our Carl Boor didn't win any cash, but he was the top finisher under 2400, losing only to GM Shabalov. Excellent road trip, gentlemen!
International Master Irina Krush used day one of the event as the warmup for the Women's World Championship, giving her the dubious distinction of having been in Detroit and Siberia in the same week. Tomorrow, Krush faces Alexandra Kosteniuk in round one.
Crosstables here!
The two Illinois grandmasters, Shulman and Amanov, were the only players to win their first four games. They drew each other in the final round, and nobody caught them. And our Carl Boor didn't win any cash, but he was the top finisher under 2400, losing only to GM Shabalov. Excellent road trip, gentlemen!
International Master Irina Krush used day one of the event as the warmup for the Women's World Championship, giving her the dubious distinction of having been in Detroit and Siberia in the same week. Tomorrow, Krush faces Alexandra Kosteniuk in round one.
Crosstables here!
Grove Avenue Game/30 in Barrington this Saturday
This Chess without Borders event has scholastic and adult sections with options for rated and unrated play. Details on ICA website.
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
USCF membership offer
Just got this U.S. Chess Federation membership offer in my mailbox: works for new members and current members! But you've got to pull the trigger this month.
Dear Fellow Chess Enthusiast,
The USCF is embarking on the most significant growth campaign in our 75 year history. But we can’t do it without you.
To help us show strength and stability to our new partners we are looking to grow and to show our members have made a long-term commitment to chess. So we are making this special Premium Membership offer.
Buy 2 Years of Premium Membership and You’ll Receive the 3rd Year Free
This Premium Membership Offer includes 36 issues of Chess Life, now in full color, mailed to you each month.
Visit www.uscfdues.org/
This Offer applies to Adult Membership categories only. 36 months can be added to current memberships.
Offer expires Friday, November 30, 2012 at 12:00 midnight Central Standard Time. You may be eligible for other membership promotions. Check the link above.
Thanks for your support. Together let's grow chess across America.
Ruth Haring, President
United States Chess Federation
Monday, November 5, 2012
Jonathan Safran Foer on Bobby Fischer
Slate published a selection from an essay on Bobby Fischer by Jonathan Safran Foer, taken from the recent collection Jewish Jocks: An Unorthodox Hall of Fame. (One of the co-editors of this book is Jonathan's brother Franklin Foer, the former editor of The New Republic).
Fischer's struggles with mental illness and his renunciation of his ethnic Jewish identity are well-known. It's an interesting and important subject, but not a very pleasant one, and not directly relevant to chess. The paradox of Fischer seems ripe for a novel, so it should be interesting to listen to a young American novelist with a personal stake in this conversation weigh in.
Foer writes:
A Jew wrote The Natural, but has there ever been a natural Jew? Free-spiritedness, joie de vivre, ease in the world—these are not what we do. We do scrappiness, resilience, hard work, self-questioning, self-consciousness, self-destruction, and unflappable will. This applies especially to our athletes, many of whom were not given the best of genetic toolboxes. Most great Jewish athletes have at least this in common: they overcome God’s gifts.
Not a jock, and not a Jew by any definition richer than heredity, Bobby Fischer was the quintessential Jewish Jock. He worked harder than any of his peers. He attempted to conceal his insecurity behind an ego built for 20, and his self-love behind self-hatred behind self-love. And perhaps more than any human who has ever lived, he kvetched [....]
Fischer the teenager is quite another story. (See Wikipedia for a quick recap of his rise in the years 1955-59.) As Kasparov has argued, a genius for hard work is a kind of genius. Fischer at age 16 (ranked by Jeff Sonas as second only to Kasparov among the sixteen-year-old players of the last century) was already an order of magnitude stronger than the 14-year-old U.S. Champion, who was in turn several classes stronger than the promising preteen. If we only knew what Bobby did in these years—Jack Collins provides some clues—and what he did prior to his next quantum leap (1968-1970), we'd know much more about the best pedagogical methods for genius.
***
Some of the things that Fischer said in the last decades of his life were unspeakably vile, and one cannot help but sympathize with the revulsion underlying Foer's curt observation, "With Jews like this, who needs Nazis?" But some of us are old enough to remember a very different Fischer.
Evanston Tri-Level results
26 players played four games in a day and were done by 5 p.m.: very nice format, Maret! The multiple sections produce quad-like pairings: nobody is overmatched, and every game is a challenge for both players.
FM Albert Chow and NM Ken Wallach tied for first in the Gold Section with 3-1 scores. Vito Vitkauskas and Bill Brock tied for third with 2½-1½.
Raul Dhiman won the Silver Section 4-0; Michael Wishner took clear second with 3-1, and Julian Bendelac, Brandon Zborowski, and Matthew Ylinen took third with 2 points.
Lorenzo Sampson swept the Bronze Section 4-0, Adam Wallach (chip off the block) took second with 3-1, and Keith Ammann and Nate Tracy-Amoroso split third.
Crosstables here!
FM Albert Chow and NM Ken Wallach tied for first in the Gold Section with 3-1 scores. Vito Vitkauskas and Bill Brock tied for third with 2½-1½.
Raul Dhiman won the Silver Section 4-0; Michael Wishner took clear second with 3-1, and Julian Bendelac, Brandon Zborowski, and Matthew Ylinen took third with 2 points.
Lorenzo Sampson swept the Bronze Section 4-0, Adam Wallach (chip off the block) took second with 3-1, and Keith Ammann and Nate Tracy-Amoroso split third.
Crosstables here!
Friday, November 2, 2012
All Grade: team results
I'll be honest: I didn't even know this was a team event, too! The top three finishers in each school determine the team results. Full recap of prizewinners on the Illinois Chess Teachers website.
The All Grade is a premier event on the elementary calendar, and a relatively minor event on the high school calendar. Still, it's impressive to see Benet Academy of Lisle finish ahead of Chicago's Whitney Young. I would not have expected this, even though Zinski and Kranjc of Benet were the top two seeds, simply because of Whitney Young's depth. Should be an interesting scholastic season!
K-1
1. McKenzie (Wilmette)
2. Indian Trail (Highland Park)
2nd Grade
1. Indian Trail (Highland Park)
2. Metcalf (Normal)
3. Wheaton Christian Grammar (Wheaton)
3. Avery Coonley (Downers Grove)
3rd Grade
1. Benjamin Elementary (Bloomington)
2. Indian Trail (Highland Park)
3. Decatur School (Chicago)
4th Grade
1. Ramona (Wilmette)
2. Dr. Howard Elementary (Champaign)
3. Avery Coonley (Downers Grove)
5th Grade
1. Dr. Howard Elementary (Champaign)
2. Indian Trail (Highland Park)
3. Alexander Graham Bell (Chicago)
6th Grade
1. Dunlap Middle School (Peoria)
2. South Loop (Chicago)
3. Prairie School (Barrington)
7th Grade
1. Dunlap Middle School (Peoria)
2. Wheaton Christian Grammar (Wheaton)
3. Thomas Middle School (Arlington Heights)
8th Grade
no team results
High School
1. Benet Academy (Lisle)
2. Whitney Young (Chicago)
3. Richwoods (Peoria)
The All Grade is a premier event on the elementary calendar, and a relatively minor event on the high school calendar. Still, it's impressive to see Benet Academy of Lisle finish ahead of Chicago's Whitney Young. I would not have expected this, even though Zinski and Kranjc of Benet were the top two seeds, simply because of Whitney Young's depth. Should be an interesting scholastic season!
K-1
1. McKenzie (Wilmette)
2. Indian Trail (Highland Park)
2nd Grade
1. Indian Trail (Highland Park)
2. Metcalf (Normal)
3. Wheaton Christian Grammar (Wheaton)
3. Avery Coonley (Downers Grove)
3rd Grade
1. Benjamin Elementary (Bloomington)
2. Indian Trail (Highland Park)
3. Decatur School (Chicago)
4th Grade
1. Ramona (Wilmette)
2. Dr. Howard Elementary (Champaign)
3. Avery Coonley (Downers Grove)
5th Grade
1. Dr. Howard Elementary (Champaign)
2. Indian Trail (Highland Park)
3. Alexander Graham Bell (Chicago)
6th Grade
1. Dunlap Middle School (Peoria)
2. South Loop (Chicago)
3. Prairie School (Barrington)
7th Grade
1. Dunlap Middle School (Peoria)
2. Wheaton Christian Grammar (Wheaton)
3. Thomas Middle School (Arlington Heights)
8th Grade
no team results
High School
1. Benet Academy (Lisle)
2. Whitney Young (Chicago)
3. Richwoods (Peoria)
All Grade - high school results
The high schoolers play in one combined section at the All Grade. There was a tie for first between Nathaniel Kranjc (1946) and Penny Xu (1906), who won their first three games and drew the final round to score 3½-½ each.
Maximilian Zinski, Jimi Akintonde, Joey Bikus, Roshan Shankar, and Philip Parker-Turner tied for third in the 26-player field, all with 3-1 scores.
Maximilian Zinski, Jimi Akintonde, Joey Bikus, Roshan Shankar, and Philip Parker-Turner tied for third in the 26-player field, all with 3-1 scores.
All Grade - 8th grade results
Anshul Adve (1886) was the class of the 10-player eighth-grade section, winning all four of his games. Alex Feygin (1637) took clear second with 3-1.
Again, MSA crosstable is here.
Again, MSA crosstable is here.
All Grade results - 7th grade
Congratulations to Nicholas Bartochowski (1594), who swept the 24-player seventh-grade section 4-0. Daniel Bronfeyn, Andrew Fei, Blair Hu, Jeff Bikus, Jack Thain, Yilang Li, and Mihir Bafna were in a massive pileup for second at 3-1.
MSA results here!
MSA results here!
Two consecutive music videos?
Via ChessBase, in an article announcing a May 2013 supertournament. Let's hope Hikaru Nakamura gets an invite.
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Eminem or Vanilla Ice?
We link; you decide. Ben Rothschild raps Morphy vs. Count and Duke.
Hat tip to Carl Boor
Hat tip to Carl Boor
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
2012 Illinois Tour standings
Here are the complete standings with one event to go, the 2012 Illinois Class.
NM Tenzing Shaw and GM Nikola Mitkov lead the Open section with 22 points. GM Dmitry Gurevich is right behind with 21½ points, and NM Jonathan Kogen and NM Sam Schmakel remain with striking distance of the title at 21 points.
Jim Froehlich seems very close to clinching the Reserve title at 28 points. Joe Delay (23) and Michael Penway (22) are most likely battling for second.
And here are the leaders in the Reserve Scholastic section:
You still have time to change your fate (or, less dramatically, move up a couple notches in the standings): enter the Illinois Class!
NM Tenzing Shaw and GM Nikola Mitkov lead the Open section with 22 points. GM Dmitry Gurevich is right behind with 21½ points, and NM Jonathan Kogen and NM Sam Schmakel remain with striking distance of the title at 21 points.
Jim Froehlich seems very close to clinching the Reserve title at 28 points. Joe Delay (23) and Michael Penway (22) are most likely battling for second.
And here are the leaders in the Reserve Scholastic section:
| Andrew Fei | 29.0 | |||||||||
| Maximilian Zinski | 23.5 | |||||||||
| David Peng | 22.0 | |||||||||
| Jason Daniels | 21.0 | |||||||||
| Akshay Indusekar | 20.0 | |||||||||
| Caeley Harihara | 20.0 | |||||||||
| Ethan Brown | 19.0 | |||||||||
| Aydin Turgut | 18.5 | |||||||||
| Aakash Meduri | 18.0 |
You still have time to change your fate (or, less dramatically, move up a couple notches in the standings): enter the Illinois Class!
Free tix for teachers in the trenches
We get email...
Dear Bill,
Robert McLellan
Dear Bill,
Great to catch up. As I mentioned, the new chess/education documentary "Brooklyn Castle” is coming to the Landmark Century beginning this Friday November 2. We have just had a generous donor agree to underwrite the cost to give Free Tickets to Brooklyn Castle to any public school teacher in greater Chicago. Can we get your help in spreading this word to teachers and administrators (public, charter, archdiocese)?
Here are the details:
Brooklyn Castle will play at the Landmark Century
2828 North Clark Street, Chicago IL 60657
From
Friday, November 2 through Thursday, November 8, Chicago area teachers
can get 1 free ticket by showing their valid Teacher Identification or
Union ID Card at the box office.
Brooklyn Castle follows
the successes and challenges of IS 318 in Brooklyn, NY, the most
successful middle school chess team in the nation. While working to
excel at the chess board, the students and teachers face another major
hurdle as cutbacks to after school programs threaten the very existence
of their program. It's an inspiring story of what it takes to be a
champion, on the chess board, and in life. The
film opened in New York City to major press support from such diverse
outlets as the the Today Show and the Hollywood Reporter, Sports
Illustrated and Teen Vogue. You might like to see the review in the New York Times. Teachers might also like this one from Salon.com.
We hope this generous gift will help us expand awareness of the importance of after school programs, and of chess in education.
I thank you for the consideration and appreciate the support,
Yours truly,
Robert McLellan
------------------------------
Robert McLellan
Director of Marketing
United States Chess Federation
Direct line: (865) 332-0382 or (818) 469-2063
The Halloween Gambit
Here's a game with that scariest of openings, the Halloween Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nxe5?!). It may be dubious if Black responds perfectly. But if not, White gets frightening attacking chances:
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
The Tomb Game
For Halloween, I present one of the most horrifying games ever - and played in the Halloween Open, no less. I refer, of course, to the dreaded Tomb Game: Harper-Zuk, Halloween Open 1971. If White's position doesn't give you nightmares, nothing will.
A trap in the London System
In the game below, 4...e5!, forking White's knight and bishop, wins a piece since Black's pawn, seemingly hanging, is indirectly guarded by ...Qa5+. My inspiration for this trap was NN-Pandolfini, a Kan Sicilian with the same motif: 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Bf4?? e5! The concept was also seen in Zaitsik-Zichulidze, Tiflis 1976 , which is the same as my game, but with colors reversed and White having the extra move g3.
Monday, October 29, 2012
"Early chess editors of the Chicago Tribune"
If you have any interest in Chicago history or chess history, go read this delightful post from the delightful blog (new to me!) A Chess Reader.
Take a bow, blogger!
Take a bow, blogger!
Louis Uedemann Photo 1904
SDN-002332, Chicago Daily News negatives collection, Chicago History Museum. Illinois Class Championships: Time running out for discounted entry
This is the last week for early entry in the Illinois Class Championships on Nov. 17 and 18! Register before Saturday to enter for $50 ($25 for the rated beginners' open on Nov. 17). Free entry for FIDE-titled players also expires Saturday, so send your requests to badbishoptmts@gmail.com. Play for $2,000 in guaranteed prizes and for 20 Grand Prix points and FIDE rating in the Master/Expert section.
Free parking on-site and a free shuttle from the nearest 'L'/Metra station. Also, register for the ICA Annual Meeting and Buffet Luncheon and celebrate the career of Jim Brotsos, winner of this year's Broughton Award for outstanding service to Illinois chess.
6th grade results - All Grade
Continuing the All Grade box scores by section (see last night for earlier posts)....
Matthew Stevens (1965) won the 32-player sixth-grade section, running the table with 4-0. Akhil Kalghatgi and Maxwell Jong tied for second with 3½-½: Maxwell gained 89 rating points despite getting Black three times in four games. Jonathan Tan, Rishi Narayanan, Miranda Liu, Jacob Zhou, Ricky Roman tied for fourth with 3-1 scores.
Here's the MSA crosstable and PlyCount report.
Matthew Stevens (1965) won the 32-player sixth-grade section, running the table with 4-0. Akhil Kalghatgi and Maxwell Jong tied for second with 3½-½: Maxwell gained 89 rating points despite getting Black three times in four games. Jonathan Tan, Rishi Narayanan, Miranda Liu, Jacob Zhou, Ricky Roman tied for fourth with 3-1 scores.
Here's the MSA crosstable and PlyCount report.
Sunday, October 28, 2012
All Grade - 5th grade results
Finally, a section without a clear winner: Nathaniel Sobery, Tej Rai, and Jeremy Margolin tied for first with 4½-½. Marissa Li, Adithya Chandramouli, Rithvik Musuku, and Daniel Leung tied for fourth with 4 points, and Zamaan Sami Qureshi and Brent Young each scored 3½-1½. Again, some pretty good players were not among the prizewinners in this 43-player section.
MSA results here and PlyCount report here.
MSA results here and PlyCount report here.
4th grade - another tough section
Alex Yasumoto (1265) won all five games in the 46-player fourth-grade section, winning his game against top seed Shreya Mangalam (1501) in the fourth round. Shreya tied with Emmett Madigan, David Wallach, Aayan Patel, Edward Zhang, Jason Li for second with 4 points. Alan Wang, Shashank Hirani, Ryan Wong each scored 3½-1½.
In several of these sections, I'm seeing some pretty good players who are not among the top finishers....
Again, here are the MSA crosstable on the USCF site and the organizers' results on PlyCount
.
In several of these sections, I'm seeing some pretty good players who are not among the top finishers....
Again, here are the MSA crosstable on the USCF site and the organizers' results on PlyCount
Shark tank (3rd grade section, All Grade)
Brian Hope Gong (1364) won the 47-player third-grade section with a perfect 5-0.
Michael Jeffrey Geohas, Advaith Prabu, William Zhu, Suraj Ramanathan, and Jack Bradley tied for second with 4 points, closely followed by Adam Pastor, Jonah Karafiol, Fredrich Yuan, and Sahil Raj Conjeevaram with 3½-1½.
MSA crosstable here, organizer report here.
Michael Jeffrey Geohas, Advaith Prabu, William Zhu, Suraj Ramanathan, and Jack Bradley tied for second with 4 points, closely followed by Adam Pastor, Jonah Karafiol, Fredrich Yuan, and Sahil Raj Conjeevaram with 3½-1½.
MSA crosstable here, organizer report here.
2012 All Grade: 2nd grade
Congratulations to Stefan Musikic (1377), who won the 2nd-grade section with a clean 5-0 score.
Jai Mahajan and Patrick Rao tied for second with 4 points; Pierce McDade and Elijah Davis shared fourth with 3½ points.
Again, here are the links to the MSA crosstable and organizer results.
Again, here are the links to the MSA crosstable and organizer results.
2012 Illinois All Grade results: K-1
280 young players made it all the way to West Chicago yesterday for the 2012 All Grade Championship.
Results for the 26-player kindergarten / first grade section:
Aaron Gan won with a perfect 5-0 score. (Aaron's post-tournament rating is a tentative 1147, about the same as my rating in 6th grade. Hmm.)
Samuel Pastor, Ashley Geohas, and Kamalesh Kumar Sureshkumar tied for second with 4-1. Nathan Lee and Zach Lichtman tied for fifth with 3½-1½.
USCF crosstable here and organizer results here.
Results for the 26-player kindergarten / first grade section:
Aaron Gan won with a perfect 5-0 score. (Aaron's post-tournament rating is a tentative 1147, about the same as my rating in 6th grade. Hmm.)
Samuel Pastor, Ashley Geohas, and Kamalesh Kumar Sureshkumar tied for second with 4-1. Nathan Lee and Zach Lichtman tied for fifth with 3½-1½.
USCF crosstable here and organizer results here.
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