"Whitney Young chess team celebrates state title"

Story in the Chicago Tribune.

Sam Schmakel, left, a junior and four-time national chess champion, and Phuc Hoang, also a junior, hold the trophy as the chess team at Whitney Young Magnet High School is honored as state champions this year. (Nancy Stone, Chicago Tribune)

Wrapup - 2012 Illinois Class Championships

Jim Froehlich (left) plays  Mario Bartocci

Keith Ammann reports on the ICA website!

There are more photos at illinoisclass.com.

Speaking of which, didn't Ruy López de Segura advise his readers to place the chess board in such a way that their opponents would be blinded by the light of sun?  Two veteran Illinois tournament players  discovered that artificial light works equally well:

Giving a new meaning to "reflection":
neither player has been identified at the time of this post

Critical moments, or, Why do smart players make foolish choices? (Part I)

The words "criticism" and "crisis" share an etymology.  Sometimes we recognize a critical moment in our games.  Having watched reruns of House, we may be able to make a differential diagnosis.  Being human, our reasonable guess may not be right, as we discover in the post-mortem.

I haven't really begun to analyze my games from this weekend's Tim Just's Winter Open XXV, but I think this may be an example:

Charles Swan-Bill Brock

After 16.Qxf3: Black to move

I have to choose how to give my extra piece back.  I played 16...Bxh3, but I now suspect (despite my engine's initial enthusiasm) that it's a mistake to cede the f5 square to the White Nf1.  My guess (which may well be wrong!) is that 16...Qe7 17.dxe6 fxe6, covering my light square weaknesses and creating a second semi-open file for my rooks, would've been stronger.  But either choice is reasonable: even Dr. House's initial diagnosis is usually wrong.

But sometimes the crisis is self-inflicted.  I found it humbling to try to explain my mental lapse a few moves later (my second senseless blunder of the week!)

Charles Swan-Bill Brock

After 18.Kh2: Black to move

I analyzed the piece sacrifice 18...O-O-O 19.Qxf6 Bxf2, hitting both the hanging Re1 and the g1 square.  If one peers deep into the position ;-) , one might notice a refutation.  (I did manage to generate some cheapo potential in the game continuation, but Swan put me away very calmly and efficiently.  His other games, including his loss to Aliyev, were even more impressive.)  

It was a consolation that other strong players could make equally strange oversights.

Bill Brock-Christopher Girardo

After 17.c5: Black to move

Black's choice, 17...Rc8, certainly looks natural.  However....

Dmitry Sergatskov-Bill Brock

White to move after 14...f7-f5

Dmitry's 15.e4 seeks to take advantage of the loose knight on d7.  However....

Eric Rosen wins Tim Just's Winter Open XXV(?)

The consensus this weekend is that this was not the 25th annual TJWO.  Wayne Clark thought it was the 27th; Chief TD Daniel Parmet said that it had been run as early as 1983, which (assuming no skips) would make it the 29th.  I remember when it was held at Illinois Beach State Park: great location if you don't get a blizzard!

Eric Rosen won comfortably with 4½-½.  Timur Aliyev, Under 2000 winner Charles Swan of Whitney Young, and Under 2200 winner Bill Brock tied for second with 4-1 each.  Swan picked up 120 rating points in one weekend: not bad!  Congratulations to Fredric Cohen for making Class A!

David Peng won the booster with 4½-½.  Roger Wang, Saagar Gupta, Avinash Rajendra, and Ryan Toepfer (who went from 1481 to 1647!) tied for second with 4-1.

Thanks to Tim Just, Wayne Clark, and Daniel Parmet for another very nice event.  The clocks provided by the North American Chess Association allowed the event to use the thirty-second increment setting.  Even with only 90 minutes each for the game, one can approximate Real Chess.  Very pleasant for us old folks!

Crosstable here!