See you at Marbles in Lincoln Square Sunday at 3 p.m. for Sam Schmakel simul!

That's 3 p.m. this Sunday, March 10th, at Marbles: the Brain Store, 4745 N. Lincoln, Chicago. Kibitzers welcome!

Sorry, but I am sending this notice a second time because we had problems with our incoming email at ICA.  If any of you signed up for this event, we did not receive your registration.  If you wish to sign up, please write a second time to Mike Cardinale ataccounting@apartmentpeople.com. Jerry Neugarten ---------------- Come support the Illinois Chess Tour by joining us for a simul and fundraiser with 2012 Tour Champion Sam Schmakel.  Here are the details: http://bit.ly/Wx2HoG Mike Cardinale, Tour Commissioner, is actively looking for players of all levels, both adult and scholastic, to challenge Sam in the simul.  Challengers are limited to 16, but you can reserve your spot with a simple email to Mike at metrovp@il-chess.org.  Come out to play, watch, or shop on the 10th, and you will be doing your part to support the Tour! Subject:  Sam Schmakel Simul March 10th! Come support the Illinois Chess Tour by joining us for a simul and fundraiser with 2012 Tour Champion Sam Schmakel.  Here are the details: http://bit.ly/Wx2HoG Mike Cardinale, Tour Commissioner, is actively looking for players of all levels, both adult and scholastic, to challenge Sam in the simul.  Challengers are limited to 16, but you can reserve your spot with a simple email to Mike at metrovp@il-chess.org.  Come out to play, watch, or shop on the 10th, and you will be doing your part to support the Tour! Some of you may have students or know of others who might want to participate. Feel free to forward this email to them. Jerry Neugarten Chair, Youth Committee

Viktorija Ni at the World Team Championships

The U.S. Women's team isn't doing very well this week at the World Team Championships in Astana, Kazakhstan, but Viktorija led the U.S. to a 2½-1½ victory over Turkey on Monday.

Do you see why White resigned?

Candidates pairings are up!

The eight-player, fourteen round Candidates tournament in London will determine the player to challenge Vishy Anand for the World Championship later this year.  Play begins March 15th: Magnus Carlsen vs. seven Russian-speakers. I don't have fears of a repeat of Curaçao 1962—the players are honorable sportsmen—but I like the chances of the former Soviet field.  Magnus is a marked man, and everyone will have a little something special for him.

+4 would be a very good score; +3 might be sufficient.

Here's my back-of-the-envelope handicapping (based on age and recent form).

Gelfand, Ivanchuk, Svidler: (each) 4% chance of winning
Radjabov & Grischuk: (each) 10% chance of winning
Aronian: 12% chance of winning
Kramnik: 20% chance of winning
Carlsen: 36% chance of winning

Spanked by Uncle Marv

Here's another Morris Giles vs. Marvin Dandridge encounter. The North Central Open was one of the Midwest's strongest tournaments in the early 1980s.

White asks more of his position than is there: not good policy against Dandridge.

Louisville vs. Chicago, 1877

John Dunlap Adair
The Hand-Book of Chicago Biography,
ed. John J. Flinn (Chicago: 1893), p.20

Thanks to our fellow blogger at A Chess Reader for pointing us to John S. Hilbert's great article on Chess Cafe.

I really don't link to Chess Cafe enough, as Chicago-themed items are relatively infrequent. But it's one of the best chess sites on the web.

60 players at Saturday's Evanston Tri-Level

Well, it is the best chess deal in the country.

On Saturday, NM Ken Wallach won the Gold section of the March 2013 Tri-Level 3½-½, ahead of NM Greg Bungo, Vytas Vitkauskas, and Eric Paniagua, all on 3-1.  Guest master NM Frederick Rhine (don't believe the rating: that's a USCF error) had a winning position against Jiri Kabelac in Round 2, but blundered in time pressure and lost. Rhine was lucky to salvage a draw in the last round against Paniagua, who had an impressive tournament, drawing both masters and beating his other two opponents.

Rahul Dhiman won the Silver section 4-0, ahead of Seth Kushinsky, Xander Nicolson, and Edward Zhang with 3 points.

Conrad Zborowski won the Bronze section 4-0; Clifford Adams, Mariel Rancel, Nicholas Johnson, and Matthew De Mario all tied for second with 3-1.

Crosstable here.

Maret Thorpe organized and directed for Evanston Chess.

The difficult opponent

Tal had a massive negative score against Korchnoi, Fischer lost several famous games to Geller, and the late Morris Giles had a miserable score against Marvin Dandridge. Marvin found three of the four games that he remembers having played against Morris, all wins; the fourth was an uneventful draw.

This game in from the final round of the 1984 edition Fred Gruenberg's Put the Fun Back into Chess, which Dandridge won ahead of GMs Bisguier and Gurevich, as well as Colias, Martinovsky, DeFotis, and several other strong masters.  You'll find the crosstable in the February 1985 Illinois Chess Bulletin. 

Although Morris lost this game, it's a nice example of his attacking style. Marvin rarely went looking for tactics, but had (and has!) an excellent sense of danger and (like Korchnoi) is a strong counterpuncher. Both players were several years away from their peak strength.

Schmakel simul at Lincoln Square Marbles on March 10th

The 2012 Illinois Chess Tour champion, NM Sam Schmakel, will play 16 players simultaneously on March 10th at Marbles: the Brain Store.  You can play for free if you pre-register!

Mike Cardinale asked me whether I was sponsoring the event. Uh, no: the simul fee is very reasonable, but it ain't free.  Here's the correct info.

Players of all ages and abilities are welcome, with slots available for a nominal fee of $10.00 for adult players, or $5.00 for scholastic players. 100% of entry fees collected will be contributed to the Tour fund.

Details here!

Don't forget: $5 Evanston tourney tomorrow!

Details here. 

Co-blogger NM Frederick Rhine puts his non-floored 2201 rating on the line.  He may be rusty, but I wouldn't bet against him.

Chicago vs. Beijing on Livestream tonight

Link here: http://new.livestream.com/accounts/530274/events/1920800?origin=New%20Event%20Published&mixpanel_id=f1e5f834e480-0e1ddcb6c-43681f0a-2ee000-f1e5f834e5c19&acc_id=2990000&medium=email

Bummer

It looks like like Adarsh Jayakumar lost his 8th-round game yesterday as White against IM Martin Zumsande (2419). The game score does not appear to be available on the tournament's website. Maybe he still has a chance for his final IM norm if he wins his last two games. Go Adarsh!

Illinois Denker, Girls, Barber results

NM Jonathan Kogen wins the Denker Qualifier (the Illinois Chess Association High School Invitational Championship) with a perfect 5-0; NM Sam Schmakel takes second with 4-1, and Nathaniel Kranjc takes third with 2½-2½.

Madeline Reiches wins the Girls' Invitational with 4½-½. Miranda Liu takes second with 4-1, and Cassie Parent is clear third with 2½-2½.

David Peng wins the Barber Qualifier (K-8 Invitational Championship) with 4½-½, Alex Bian is clear second with 4-1, and George Li and Zachary Holocek tie for third with 3-2.

Thanks to Warren Junior Program chair Pattie Zinski for organizing on behalf of the Illinois Chess Association, and to Sevan Muradian and the North Shore Chess Center for donating space and directing services.

Crosstables are here: much more later.

Chicago Chess Center: fundraising update

No one likes fundraising appeals, so I'll try to keep this brief.

Our board has decided that once the Chicago Chess Center raises $30,000, we're going to open our nonprofit in to serve the people of Chicago.

It's my personal belief that once we raise $100,000, we're going to be open for a very long time. (Nothing is forever: in a few billion years, the sun will become a red giant and engulf Earth, and let's not talk about the latest Higgs news.)


Mr. Thermometer says that we've raised about 26% of what we need for our first goal. The sooner we get the rest, the sooner we open our doors.

 Here are ways you can help:

• Write a check to Chicago Chess Center NFP, Inc., 230 W. Monroe, Suite 330, Chicago IL 60606 
We're giving a copy of Igor Khmelnitsky's You vs. Bobby Fischer to all Founders' Court members who donate $250. The next person who donates $500 will also receive our final copy of IM Khmelnitsky's Chess Exam and Training Guide and Chess Exam and Training Guide: Tactics (five generous people have already received this cool premium). 

• Or hit the darn Donate Now button administered by the fine folks at Network for Good to get the same cool premium.
  

• Have you done well in the stock market since February 2009? Don't feel like paying 20% long-term capital gains rate plus 3.8% Medicare plus 5% Illinois income tax? Transfer your appreciated stock to Chicago Chess Center and save big on taxes. You won't pay tax on the gain, and you can write off the fair market value of your contribution on your 2013 tax return.                     
• No money to spare? Consider auctioning some of your surplus "stuff" on eBay: you can earmark some or all of the proceeds to Chicago Chess Center via eBay Giving Works. This works for things as mundane as excess chess books (I'm selling some right now) to big-ticket items like used cars. Don't want to be bothered with an auction?  Please drop me a line and we'll be happy to sell for you directly.
• In the very near future, we'll need donations for the Center's library. That won't help us open our door, but it sure will help us achieve our mission. Please keep us in mind!
• No money, no securities, no stuff? We still need your support: please get on our email list and share this post with your friends. We particularly need masters who are willing to volunteer their time for events, volunteers to lend their expertise to the Board and committees, and just plain friends.

Startup nonprofits face a chicken-or-egg conundrum: it's hard to raise money unless you do good things for the public first, and it's hard to do good things without money. Look for news on this front in the very near future.

Again, thank you for your generosity to date!

Barber Invitational, Round 1

Here's yet another Najdorf nail-biter. In the position below, should Bryce McClanahan play 26...Bxe5? If not, what's Black's best move?

David Peng is becoming a problematic opponent for many of us :-)

Girls' Invitational, Round 1

Closer to home, here's some action from the North Shore Chess Center in Skokie. The Denker, Barber, and Girls' Invitationals will complete play later today.

It's a Najdorf, and White has done well out of the opening: is it OK to take on c5 and play Bxa6? 

Miranda Liu demonstrates why not....

Thanks to Vince Hart for sending game scores!

Quick draw in Reykjavik

Adarsh Jayakumar had a quick draw today as black against living legend Fridrik Olafsson (or Friðrik Ólafsson, as the tournament website has it). Olafsson, 78, played in the 1959 Bled-Zagreb-Belgrade Candidates Tournament (won by Tal ahead of Keres, Petrosian, Smyslov, Fischer, Gligoric, Olafsson, and Benko), and was President of FIDE from 1978 to 1982. (That was back in the olden days, when FIDE presidents were sane and well-respected people).

Olafsson's 3.cxd5?! is considered an inaccurate way of entering the Exchange Variation of the Queen's Gambit Declined because Black has an easy time developing his queen's bishop. The databases give Black a significant plus score after both 5...Bf5 and 5...Bd6. But Adarsh was content to allow transposition to a main line of the Exchange Variation. Olafsson's 11.Ne5 was unambitious, allowing Black to simplify with 11...Ng4. More common, and better-scoring for White, are 11.Rab1, Karpov's 11.h3, 11.Bxf6, and 11.Rae1. After seven more moves the players agreed to a draw.

A trap in the Sicilian, O'Kelly Variation

The O'Kelly Variation of the Sicilian Defense, 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 a6, is an offbeat line that sets a bit of a trap at move 2! White's natural response, and easily the most popular move in the databases, is 3.d4?! That move, however, gives Black an easy game, and a 58% score, after 3...cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5! Then, 6.Nf5?! is met by 6...d5!; 6.Nf3 and 6.Nb3 by 6...Bb4!; and 6.Nde2 by 6...Bc5, in each case with equality or better for Black.

It can get considerably worse than that, as seen in the game below. After 6.Nf3 Bb4 7.Bd3, Black played the thematic break 7...d5! White responded with 8.exd5?, presumably expecting 8...Nxd5. Instead, he was shocked by 8...e4!, winning a piece.

White's best response to the O'Kelly is 3.c3! Then Black usually plays 3...d5, transposing to an Alapin Sicilian where the move ...a6 is not very useful. In my opinion, this makes the O'Kelly not worth playing against players rated, say, 2000 and above. But some players stronger than I disagree. IM Irina Krush has played the O'Kelly many times against high-level opposition - though she's struggled when her opponents have found 3.c3! (she scored 1-2 against that move in the three games I found). Incidentally, 3.c3 d5 4.exd5 Nf6!? 5.c4 e6 is an interesting gambit that scores about 50% for Black. But White can decline the gambit with 5.d4, when Black has nothing better than 5...Qxd5, reaching the same inferior Alapin Sicilian line.

I should mention that 3.c3 e6 4.d4 d5 is also possible (and perhaps objectively best), reaching a French-type position where Black scores over 47% (as opposed to less than 42% with the more common 3...d5). But most Sicilian players aren't happy playing the French.

Denker Qualifer: First Round Games

"Cinderella overslept" (but not really)

So what happened to Adarsh Jayakumar in round 6 at Reykjavik? Ouch.

Adarsh corrects the above blog entry via Facebook and remains philosophical.

So I wasn't planning on commenting on what happened but then I saw this posted by the organizers: http://www.reykjavikopen.com/cinderella-overslept/. First of all, yes I did miss my round and forfeit to GM Stelios. However, I did not oversleep, I was busy preparing and thought the round was at 4:30 instead of 1. Fortunately, I still have enough rounds to get a norm, my performance rating is at 2430, and I "lost" to a 2560 as black. Could be worse!

Non-teenager wins chess game in Iceland

People over thirty, even people with children of their own, can play chess, too!

Another local yokel, Grandmaster and 2008 U.S. Champion Yury Shulman, also has a 4-1 score in Reykjavik. Here's the game he played today: