Another trap in the Caro-Kann, Two Knights Variation

Bobby Fischer wrote in My 60 Memorable Games that the purpose of the Two Knights Variation against the Caro-Kann Defense (1.e4 c6 2.Nc3 d5 3.Nf3) "is to exclude the possibility of" ...Bf5. As I've showed previously, Black indeed gets in big trouble if he proceeds in stereotyped fashion with 3...dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5?! 5.Ng3 Bg6?! But the Two Knights Variation is no one-trick pony. The following game shows another, much less-known trap in the 3...Bg4 line, which is considered Black's best. As the game and notes show, after 4.d4!?, Black gets in hot water if he tries to win a pawn with the natural 4...dxe4 5.Nxe4 Bxf3 6.Qxf3 Qxd4. Better is the solid 4...e6!, which gives Black a plus score in the databases. Scott Thomson ("keypusher" on ChessGames.com) sets the stage for the game:

I don't have the score, but as our Secretary of State might say it is seared -- seared! in my memory. . . . It was when I lived in England in the early 90s, and for some reason -- perhaps a cholera epidemic -- I was playing first board for Wood Green in a team match. There was a pub next door, to which my opponent repaired after each move (which he took about five seconds on).

Deceived by his opponent's alcohol consumption and seemingly reckless play, Scott proceeded to lose a miniature in humiliating fashion. We've all been there.

Hello world 2.0 - July 2014

*Wakes up from 6½-month hibernation*

Kindly check out the Chicago Chess Center Blog: I'll be hanging out there for the foreseeable future. As with all new web spaces, it may take us a little time to get up to speed....

Jim Froelich's Chicago Area Chess usergroup on Facebook is a great place to chat and gossip, and the Illinois Chess Association's tournament calendar, maintained by the indefatigable Maret Thorpe, keeps you up-to-date on where to play. It's because of these two great resources that I didn't feel guilty about a sabbatical.

I'll certainly keep this blog up, and I may occasionally post things over here that are incompatible with the CCC's nonprofit mission. And of course, my very nice co-editors are always welcome to continute to use this space for anything of interest to the Chicago chess community or to woodpushers in general.  Thanks to Keith Ammann, Vince Hart, Matt Pullin, Tom Panelas, and especially NM Frederick Rhine for their contributions. 

And thanks to you folks for visiting this site and giving us useful feedback! Your thoughts are always welcome: my personal email is billbrock1958@gmail.com and my Chicago Chess Center email is billbrock@chichess.org.

Another trap in From's Gambit

DO NOT play 1.f4 unless you have an answer ready for From's Gambit, 1...e5!? King's Gambiteers can happily play 2.e4. The line White played in the game was fine up to a point. IM Tim Taylor in his book Bird's Opening recommends 7.d4 Ng6 8.Nxg6 hxg6 9.Qd3! Nc6 10.c3! Bf5 11.e4 Qe7 12.Bg2 0-0-0 13.Be3 Bd7 14.Bf2!, when Black doesn't have enough compensation for the gambit pawn. Another line is 5.d4 g4 6.Ne5!, heading into a slightly better ending for White after 6...Bxe5 7.dxe5 Qxd1+ 8.Kxd1. Instead of playing these reasonable lines, most of my blitz opponents have played ridiculously and gotten crushed. A case in point:

Chess for Chicago's youth

I've read a string of wonderful stories in the last week about young Chicago-area players making their mark on their chessboard:

• The Pan-American Intercollegiate Team Chess Championship is winding up today in Lubbock, Texas. Most of the young masters on the University of Illinois team are from the Chicago area. Today, the "walk-ons" play a much stronger team from Texas Tech (international players on chess scholarships!) to try to return to the Final Four of chess for a second consecutive year. Please join me in wishing Eric Rosen, Michael Auger, Xin Luo, and Akshay Indusekar the best of luck today! By the time you read this, you may be able to see whether the Illini qualified.
• David Peng of Wilmette (whose coach is Grandmaster Dmitry Gurevich of Chicago) just won a silver medal in the World Under-10 Championship in Al-‘Ain, United Arab Emirates. Who won the gold medal in the same section? Awonder Liang of Wisconsin, who often studies with Chicago grandmasters.
• And just a couple of weeks ago, Sam Schmakel of Chicago's Whitney Young High School won his fifth national scholastic title. For this accomplishment, Sam was featured in yesterday's New York Times.

I've played tournament games against six of these seven young people, and have analyzed with the seventh.  I feel honored to know them!

So chess in Chicago must be doing wonderfully, no? Not according to Dylan Loeb McClain, the author of the Schmakel feature:

Schmakel's school, Whitney Young High, is a magnet school that is part of the Chicago public school system and is where Michelle Obama graduated. It was the only representative at the K–12 Championships from the city, which is not known as a chess stronghold. More students are enrolled in scholastic chess programs and are sent to tournaments across the country from schools in New York, which sends more teams to competitions than any other city; Miami; Seattle; Portland, Ore.; and even Brownsville, Tex.

It is unusual for a city as large as Chicago, with 2.7 million people, to have only one school enter a tournament as prestigious as the K–12 Championships. By comparison, Los Alamos, N.M., population 18,000, also sent one school.

It helps to go to a great magnet school. It helps to have parents who are willing to make financial sacrifices in order to give their children the opportunity to succeed. But most of the talented young people in our city won't be admitted to Whitney Young. And many of their parents would love to give their children greater opportunities but are barely making ends meet.

In my last fundraising pitch, I also asked for financial assistance to send teams from two Chicago West Side schools to the same Florida event at which Sam Schmakel won his fifth title. In the end, the schools could not accept the money that several kind people (including a CPS administrator) pledged. The airfares jumped in price as the deadline approached, and the trip was called off.

Could these kids have succeeded at Nationals? Of course they could have: the team from Faraday Elementary, which draws its students from some of the most dangerous neighborhoods on the West Side, just finished third in a December 14 Youth Chess Foundation of Chicago event.

The Chicago Chess Center does not want to turn children away because their parents can't afford to pay us. Please help us open our doors: please help us help them.

Speaking only for myself, I don't have very much interest in turning young players into grandmasters. It matters more to me that one of my former students is a freshman at an Ivy League school than his having earned an International Master norm. Chess is a fun way to teach critical thinking skills, the skills that turn kids into high achievers.

Children don't get to choose how much money their parents have, and they don't get to choose the neighborhood they are raised in. We want to be there for all of these children, but we can't do it without your support.

We are fortunate to have GMs Dmitry Gurevich, Yury Shulman, Nikola Mitkov and Mesgen Amanov on our advisory board, which also includes leaders from Chicago's nonprofit and business community.

My friend and fellow board member Dave Ducat made a compelling pitch on Facebook the other day. I can't improve on it, so I'll steal Dave's words:

Of course you're thinking that this is Chicago and that there has to be such a place already . . . an actual "Chicago Chess Center" somewhere . . . right?

Nope.

There is no physical "Chicago Chess Center" location in the city, and there hasn't been one within the city limits for over 20 years. Cities like St. Louis and Dallas have developed premier chess clubs, have set the new standard and have seen their international exposure and tourism increased over the last three to five years. I want that for Chicago. I want Chicago to become the center for chess in the United States, and I want it to set the example for other cities to follow.

I need your help to make the Chicago Chess Center a reality. I need your financial contributions to create a physical location, centralized and within easy access of public transportation, so that chess-playing people of all ages, all walks of life, and all neighborhoods in and around the city can have a place to call their own. I need your help to shape the future of chess in Chicago and shape it with our youth in mind.

When the CCC was founded, the board put together a campaign to raise $30,000 within a year to fund the acquisition, furnishing and rent of a suitable space to call the Chicago Chess Center. To date, through tireless solicitation by the board of directors as well as through key personal and corporate investments [...], we've been able to raise over half that amount [we're now over $18,000—BB]. It's my hope that you can find a few dollars to contribute to this worthy cause and help the CCC reach its goal of opening the doors of a new location in early 2014. We need your support to make this happen.

Please take a moment to review our website and click the "Donate Now" button. Please consider a donation of $50; however, any amount will be gratefully accepted. For the price of one latte a day for one week, you can make a lasting contribution to a worthwhile cause and help us achieve our mission.

Bill again.  Without your financial support, we may not be able to fulfill our mission. And we are so close to opening our doors . 

Please make your tax-deductible year-end donation now. Thank you for caring.

Bill Brock
Treasurer
Chicago Chess Center NFP Inc.

P.S.  If you'd like to make your donation by check, here's our mailing address:

Chicago Chess Center NFP Inc.

P.O. Box 180095

Chicago, IL 60618

David Peng at World Youth Championships

David has 7 points in 9 rounds!

UPDATE: He won again! Now 8-2! Tomorrow he faces Abdrashev Arlen of Kazakhstan, who just lost to Awonder Liang.

http://www.worldyouth2013.com/playerbio/120

Cheesehead and honorary Chicagoan Awonder Liang leads the world with 9-0!

UPDATE: Make that 10-0! Tomorrow he faces Kaifeng Yu of China, who trails him by a full two points! That is the last round, so it looks like Awonder has already clinched the World Under-10 Championship outright, while David is fighting for second! We wish the best of luck (and skill) to both Awonder and David tomorrow.

http://www.worldyouth2013.com/playerbio/118

FINAL UPDATE: Yes, David won the World Under-10 silver medal and Awonder won his second gold medal!  Story here.

CICL: Big upset for Tornado Snakes

The East Division of the Chicago Industrial Chess League is going to be interesting this year!

Mark Coleman scores a convincing upset against yours truly.  (I have a backlog of recent losses to publish: it's therapeutic.)

"Freshman ranks #2 among US chessplayers"

I would have said "18-year-old US chessplayers," but what the heck. Story here.

Road trip: Kings Island Rd 1

Hey, it's a blog.

I had a casual dinner with Andrew Karklins at the Melrose a week ago Monday, and wound up playing him in Ohio on Friday. A perpetual cheapo salvages my iffy position.

The Belfast Immortal

My former graduate school / barroom colleague Paul Catterson plays the game of his life.  I have vowed revenge.

Warm up for the big event at the Illinois Class Championships!

This year's Illinois Class is an affordable one-day event in Lisle.  Have fun, warm up for the Midwest Class Championships, win Tour Points, and support the Illinois Chess Association.  See you there!

A State Championship Event
Sunday, November 24, 2013
2013 Illinois Class Championships
An Illinois Chess Tour Event

4SS: G/60, 5 sec. increment. Location: Hilton Lisle/Naperville; 3003 Corporate West Drive; Lisle, Illinois, 60532; USA TEL: 1-630-505-0900, $89 + tax room rate if reserved by 6pm Nov 15th, mention Illinois Chess Association. 

Six Sections: Master & Expert, Class A, Class B, Class C, Class D, U1200. For a fee, you may play up one section, but you must be an E player to play up into the Class D section. November rating supplement determines section eligibility. 

Prizes: Master & Expert (one section): $500-$200-$50. Classes A, B, C, D (four sections): $150-$75-$40 each section. U1200: Trophy-Medal-Medal (no cash prizes, tie breaks apply). Cash prizes based on 90 entries in MX through D sections.

EF: MX through D $40, U1200 $20, plus $5 for non-ICA members, plus $10 after Nov 17th. Play-up fee $20 cash, payable on-site. Free entry to GM, WGM, IM, WIM, FM, WFM FIDE titleholders who list Illinois as their state of residence with the USCF. Contact Tom Sprandel, secretary@il-chess.org, to register.

Registration: On-site 8:30 - 9:30am. Online http://shop.il-chess.org/ (ends 9:00pm, Nov 23rd). Or, mail check, name, USCF#, and phone number to: Class Championships; Illinois Chess Association, Inc.; 150 N Wacker Dr, Ste 3100; Chicago, IL 60606. (Must arrive by Nov 16th.) Round Times: 10:00am, 12:30pm, 3:00pm, 5:30pm. 

Other: All special rules, details, and tournament conditions are subject to change without notice and will be posted ASAP at the site or on-line.

$10,000 in prizes at Greater Midwest Class Championships in Rosemont 11/29 to 12/1!

Yes, folks, that's $10,000!

You can choose between three-day and two-day schedules, too.

Details here.

Enter here!

XX1 Chicago Latino Championships in Pilsen on November 30th

Thanks to Hector Hernandez for running the 21st edition of this labor of love!

5SS G/30. Non-rated. Chicago Public Library Lozano Branch, 1805 S. Loomis Street, Chicago, IL 60608. Schedule: Registration is from 9-9:30 am on the day of the event only. Time: 9:00 am - 4:30 pm 5. Rounds: 10:00 am, 11:15 am, 1:00 pm, 2:15 pm, 3:30 pm. Sections: Section I: Open to players 15 years of age and older. Section II: Open to players 14 years of age and younger. Prizes: 10 trophies awarded in each section. Entry fee: Free. For more information: hernande@chipublib.org or (312) 746-4329

Hmm, November 16th is a busy day....

Two nice events at Whitney Young (but a bit of a scheduling snafu), as there's a great unrated scholastic event in the city and a great USCF-rated state championship event in the Twin Cities.  Oh well: there are only so many weekends in the year, and stuff like this happens.  The trick is to minimize the calendar conflicts....

But note the Winter Camp on January 2-3, 2014.  Michael Auger is simply wonderful with children!  (He's not bad with AARP members like me, either.)

K-8 Chess Tournament:
Date:  November 16th, 2013

Place:  Whitney Young High School (2nd Floor Library)  211 S Laflin, Chicago
Schedule:  4 rounds, Game 30, Check in 9:00-9:45am, 1st round begins at 10am, last round ends around 2pm
Sections: All USCF Rated: K-2, K-8 Open, and K-8 U1000; USCF membership is required and can be purchased at the event.

Entry Fee:  $20 online registration by 11/15, $25 on site.
Awards are given to the top 5 individuals and top team (3 players) in each section.

Register at www.chesskash.com



Winter Camp Details:

All Camps run from 9am - 2pm, feature master level instruction, include lunch, both casual and tournament play, including blitz and bughouse, and recess usually in a gym or outside.

January 2-3 @ Whitney Young High School

211 S Laflin, Chicago, IL 60607

Featured instructors:  National Master Michael Auger and State Champion Chess Coach Paul Kash
Entry Fee $50 per day

All-Grade Championship this November 16th in Bloomington!

Mark Nibellin and the Bloomington-Normal crew always run a great event.  My personal opinion: if your child has USCF tournament experience at any level and is grades K-8, a road trip to the All-Grade is not to be missed!

(For high school students, it's skippable. Again IMO.)

ICA announcement here.

The  Illinois All Grade state championship is coming up on November 16th.  This is one of the two most important events for Illinois’ scholastic players in grades K-12.  

Event Details: Bone Student Center, Illinois State University, 100 N. University St., Normal, IL 61761

Schedule: Arrive by 8:30 Rd 1 begins at 9:00 am.  Subsequent rounds begin a minimum of 15 minutes from the last game completed in each section’s previous round.

Sections: 10 sections by grade, K-8, and 1 combined high school section, 2 if numbers warrant:

K-3: 5 rounds, Swiss system, G/30 

4-5: 5 rounds, Swiss system, G/45

6-12: 4 rounds, Swiss system, G/60

Players must come from the state of Illinois. Top three players count toward team score. No Club Teams. No byes last round. Byes for any single round must be requested before the end of the first round. Only one bye allowed for tournament. All other rules/regulations shall be in accordance to ICA By-laws and the USCF Rulebook.

Awards:

Each grade K-1 and 6-8 10 individual trophies and 3 team trophies.

Each grade 2-5 15 individual trophies and 5 team trophies.

Each grade 9-12 3 individual trophies and 3 team trophies.

Entry Fee and Registration: Online registration at www.bnasc.org or directly at http://www.eventbrite.com/event/8746313459/es2/?rank=1&sid=4a7b7551346311e39e5e123139057c14.  Entry fee $25 if received by Nov. 9, $40 if received after Nov. 9. No registration on site.

Contact info: marknibb@comcast.net cell: 309-532-7815

• Welcome and Overview
• ICA Youth Committee
• Youth News

Learning Chess

• Getting Kids Started
• The Value of Chess
• Progressing in Chess: 

"Anand-Carlsen duel fires up chess fervor in India"

Story in the Tribune.

I'm glad that parents support their chess-playing children, but stuff like this makes me slightly suspicious:

Tamilarasi and her husband, a government official, gave it a shot, even letting their children take time off school to concentrate on chess.

Although chess sets are cheap, travelling to other states for tournaments can cost anywhere from 10,000 to 50,000 rupees ($160 to $800).

"We don't plan leisure trips or buy the latest clothing. Instead we direct our money towards the game," said Tamilarasi. "It is a risk but we are hopeful that our plans for our children to become chess champions will click."

Parents will do anything for their children.  Yes, for a middle-class person in India or the USA, spending $800 on the kids' chess isn't crazy.  But when parents prioritize chess over school (and to be fair, I'm not sure Ms. Tamilarasi is doing that: could be an overemphasis by the reporter), then I get suspicious.

Becoming a chess champion is a longshot. Transferring the skills learned in chess (both soft skills and cerebral firepower) happens all the time.

Oh yes, the world championship: games 1 and 2 have been non-events (I got up at 5 a.m. twice this weekend, and was back in bed by 5:30 both days).  ChessBase is one of many free sites with excellent coverage.

Youth Chess Foundation of Chicago season begins at Lane Tech on Nov. 16!

Fresh from the inbox:

Please join us next Saturday, November 16th, for the first

YCFC tournament of the year, at Lane Tech College Prep.  A

location guide is attached.

All rosters are due Thursday, November 14th.  This is for

everyone - both new and returning players.  Once a player is

submitted on a roster, they are eligible to play in all six YCFC

tournaments this year.

I hope to see you next Saturday!

November 16th Tournament at Lane Tech

Albert G. Lane Technical High School.

2501 W. Addison (3600 North)

Schedule:  Registration   9:00 - 9:30

                  Tournament  10:15 - 3:00

                  Trophy Presentation  3:15 (est.)

   All players must check-in at the tournament site by 9:30!

   Late arrivals will not be paired in the first round

3 Sections:  Novice K-4, Novice 5-8, Advanced

   Unrated, no entry fee 

   Swiss-style, 5 rounds (est.), USCF standard tiebreaks

   G/20 + 3 sec. increment in Advanced section when clocks are available

   Notation required in the Advanced section

Awards:  Individual trophies to the top 10 in both novice

   sections.  Individual trophies to the top 6 in the advanced

   section.  Team trophies to the top three teams in both novice

   sections.  Team trophy to top team in the advanced section.

   Team score calculated by top four scores in novice sections,

   top three scores in advanced.

Entries:  YCFC uses a roster system for tournament entries.

  All players on submitted rosters are eligible to play in any

  YCFC tournament during the scholastic year.  Submit

  rosters, including name, grade, school and section to

  accounting@apartmentpeople.com, or by fax to 773-248-1007,

  attn: Mike Cardinale, no later than Thursday, November 14th.

  All players must check-in on site by 9:30.

Coaches:  Please let me know if you plan on attending with a

  rough estimate of the number of players by Thursday, November 14th.

Many thanks to athletic director Brian Hofman for welcoming us to

the school, and to Cindy Frapolly and to Debi Prince for suggesting

Lane Tech and for doing all of the groundwork.  A great effort!

U of I press release

The Fighting Illini's very successful chess team has more than its share of Chicagoans: story here.

Chess for Kids at Chicago Public Library - West Town

The West Town branch is at 1625 W. Chicago Ave.; the next Chess for Kids event will be November 14th at 6 p.m.

Details here.

Timur Gareev: blindfold exhibition at Cook County Jail

Most strong players can do two or three simultaneous blindfold games, but ten games is always something special.  Nice coverage in the Chicago Tribune. Video after the jump break.

Evanston Chess $5 tournament this Saturday, such a deal

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

Evanston Chess Presents:

November 2, 2013, 9:00am-5:00pm

Tri-Level, 4SS G/40 delay 5

Three Sections, USCF Dual Rated

Our guest master will be FM Kevin Bachler

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.

Please pre-register if you plan to attend.

Our space is limited and we will cap attendance at 52 players. Priority will be given to players who pre-register by email to enter@evanstonchess.org before 7 p.m. on November 1 and arrive at the tournament before 9:20 a.m. on November 2. Thanks for your understanding and support.

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. Lunch Break: We will allow time for a lunch break if the schedule at the center permits. Round times will be posted after round 1 begins. As always, we will order in pizza from Sarpinos for those who would rather not go out for lunch. $5 gets you a minimum of two slices (specify pepperoni or cheese) and one can of pop (Coke, Diet Coke, Orange, Rootbeer, Sprite, Iced Tea).

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.

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.