"Stevenson High School finishes fifth in state"

Check out yesterday's Daily Herald article: there's a nice photo of Kent Cen.

While Stevenson is a big school (I think the enrollment is about the same as Chicago's Lane Tech HS), you wouldn't expect it to be able to compete successfully with schools like Whitney Young, which draws the best public school students from the entire city.  But it does, year after year....

From the article:

In fact, this year’s tournament was the biggest in its 37-year history, drawing teams from 132 high schools across the state. With eight players on each team, it meant 1,400 chess players and 200 coaches converged on Peoria’s civic center over the weekend.

Hmm, what does 132 x 8 equal?  And if each team brought two alternates, 132 x 10 = how many players?  (The Daily Herald may well be right, but I believe the nose count is closer to a still-phenomenal 1,100.  It may well be that 300 players were "DNP - coach's decision.")

"One Coach, Many Young Champions"

Michael Aigner (copyright New York Times)

I had the pleasure of meeting Michael Aigner at the 2010 Chicago Open.  Dylan Loeb McClain features Aigner's playing and teaching achievements in yesterday's New York Times column.

And the winner is...

Whitney Young High School wins the 2010-11 IHSA Team Championship!  In the final round Saturday at the Peoria Civic Centery, Whitney Young beat last year's champion, Niles North, 39-29.  (Scores on the higher boards in these eight-player matches are worth more: I'm guessing that board one is worth 12 points and board eight is worth 5 points.)

Congratulations to coach Paul Kash's team: Michael Auger, Sam Schmakel, Charles Swan, Kessidy Chan, Donovan Harris, Mark Waechter, Cristian Pena, and Brian Mei!

Here are the top teams, ranked in team tiebreak order:

1	7.0	161.5	Chicago (Whitney Young)
2	6.0	159.6	Skokie (Niles North)
3	6.0	155.8	Hinsdale (Central)
4	6.0	139.3	Urbana (University)
5	6.0	133.5	Lincolnshire (Stevenson)
6	6.0	133.1	Glenview (Glenbrook South)
7	6.0	132.6	Evanston (Twp.)
8	5.0	135.5	Chicago (Northside)
9	5.0	125.1	Aurora (Illinois Math and Science Academy)
10	5.0	117.8	New Lenox (Lincoln-Way Central)
11	5.0	115.9	Glen Ellyn (Glenbard West)
12	5.0	104.6	Naperville (North)
13	5.0	104.0	Naperville (Neuqua Valley)
14	5.0	100.2	Winnetka (New Trier)
15	5.0	97.1	Bloomington (H.S.)
16	5.0	93.5	Glen Ellyn (Glenbard South)
17	5.0	91.3	Darien (Hinsdale South)
18	5.0	86.2	Mt. Prospect (Prospect)
19	5.0	85.7	Naperville (Central)
20	5.0	81.1	Orland Park (Sandburg)
21	5.0	79.0	Bradley (B.-Bourbonnais)
22	5.0	78.4	Buffalo Grove
23	5.0	77.7	Oak Lawn (Richards)
24	5.0	68.0	Oak Park (O.P.-River Forest)
25	5.0	64.4	Aurora (Waubonsie Valley)
26	5.0	62.2	Hoffman Estates (H.S.)
27	5.0	54.1	Maple Park (Kaneland)

Here are the winners of the top board prizes (I've also listed all perfect scores):

Board 1
Gauri Manoj, Glenbrook South, 7-0

Board 2
Josh Dubin, Adlai Stevenson; Kaleb Schwaiger, Mahomet-Seymour, 7-0

Board 3
Ali Huseen, Andrew HS, 6½-½

Board 4
Paul Kim, New Trier; Adam Youman, Northridge Prep, 7-0

Board 5
Sean McKenzie, Lincoln-Way Central, 6½-½

Board 6
Yasheen Jadidi, New Trier, 6½-½

Board 7
Cristian Pena, Whitney Young; Shawn Beamon, Marshall, 7-0

Board 8
Brian Mei, Whitney Young; Kevin Midlash, Hinsdale Central; Jake Marshall, McHenry, 7-0

All these young players did well, but Illinois chess was the real winner. I'm not sure of the final headcount, as some teams had alternates, but there were more than 128 teams and more than 1028 players this weekend!  Proud daughter Betsy Dynako notes on her Facebook page that her father, Mike Zacate, founded this event 44 years ago.  It's been recognized by the IHSA for 37 years!

Vince Hart tells us that Zacate received a standing ovation before the final round.

Oh, and here are the final standings.

Hinsdale Central, Whitney Young, Niles North lead IHSA Championships

The Illinois High School Association team championships are going on right now in Peoria!

Standings are here: two more rounds to go today!  We should have final results by 6 p.m. or so.

Durn whippersnappers

IM Florin Felecan, the overwhelming favorite in last weekend's 1st North American Amateur Open at Skokie's North Shore Chess Center, tied with teenagers Sam Schmakel (9th grade) and Gavin McClanahan (8th grade) for first: each scored 4-1. 

What goes around comes around: not that many years ago, 2009 State Co-Champion Felecan (a veteran of the 1999 Kasparov vs. the World match) was once a young teenager destroying adults....

Schmakel (who almost beat me in the Illinois Open when he was eight years old!) upset IM Felecan and NM Jon Burgess in the final two rounds and is now on the cusp of 2100. 

Considering the blizzard and the minimum USCF rating requirement of 1600, a field of 23 was an excellent turnout!

USCF crosstable here.

The event has already been rated by FIDE: results are here.  (Note that games involving non-FIDE rated players may not always be rated.)

Living legend NM Bernard Parham, Sr.travelled to Skokie: that's an honor!

Sevan Muradian directed for the North American Chess Association.

List of top players by affiliate (do-it-yourself club ladder!)

Mike Nolan just added a cool feature to the USCF affiliates search in MSA (for the uninitiated, that's the "Member Services Area" of the United States Chess Federation).  If you go to the MSA homepage, then click on "Look up a club or affiliate," then type in your local club's name, then choose "Active Player List" from the search, you'll get a list of the top 200 players who have played at least two USCF-rated events at your affiliate in the past two years.

Very cool: please thank Mike Nolan!

Here are a few links to Chicagoland organizations and friendly carpetbaggers.  Some of the lists look a little strange because of the requirement that one must have played in TWO events before appearing on the list.  The ICA doesn't even have a listing because it bids virtually all of its events out, and the winning bidders submit under their affiliate listing:  So if you see an affiliate with only one member on the list, don't be put out: it may just be an artifact of the tight search requirements.

St. Charles Chess Club

North American Chess Association

Chess for Life 

Chess-Ed CC

Renaissance Knights Chess Foundation

Evanston Chess

Highland Park CC

Continental Chess Association (the largest US organizer; Illinois juniors Rosen and Jayakumar make the top 200!)


Midwestern Chess Adventures

Midway Chess Club

Joliet Junior College CC

Chess Education Partners

Dynamic Chess, Inc.

Touch Move Chess Center

McHenry Area Chess

Knights of the Forest CC

International Educational and Cultural Services

Downers Grove CC

Park Forest CC

South Suburban Chess Club-Oak Lawn

Village of Park Forest

Tri-County Chessmen Club

I'm happy to correct any errors & omissions.  If I left out an affiliate between 600xx through 608xx, please let me know!

180 in Greater Chicago Scholastic Championships!

Not bad for the weekend after a blizzard!

The final standings, day one photos, and day two photos are on the Renaissance Knights website.

The event was presented by the Kasparov Chess Foundation and Renaissance Knights.

IM Florin Felecan simul

Another cut-and-paste from email!

Simul by International Master Florin Felecan!

On Saturday Feb 12 at 4pm, International Master Florin Felecan will perform a simultaneous exhibition at the North Shore Chess Center

The simul is free to all members of the North Shore Chess Center.

Non-members can participate for $10 or can join as a member up to the time of the simul. If you enjoyed the simul, we will credit the non-member participation fee to your full year chess center membership. We do a simul or lecture each month that is free to members!

This is out second free event for members of the chess center. Last month IM Felecan took on over a dozen players over the course of a 4-hour simul!

These events are one of the many benefits you can enjoy by being a member of the North Shore Chess Center.

We will shortly announce our very special guest for the month of March who will provide us with an in-depth lecture on their recent international chess experience that has garnered worldwide attention.

For a list of complete events visit our website at http://www.nachess.org/events

Andi Rosen reports on the Illinois Girls Championship

K-3 winner Caitlin Hong

See the ICA website for the story!  Also check out Eric Rosen's photos of the event.

How to cheat at chess (freeware version)

• Load the open source program Stockfish on your quad core at home; you now have a beast that will beat any human.
• Install GlaurungServer on the same machine.
• Download the Stockfish for iPhone app.
• Configure your app to talk to your home computer with Stockfish's "remote engine" interface.
• At your next tournament, use the toilet strategically.

And even if the connection with your home computer were to go down, there are several native iPhone apps (tChess and Shredder are both excellent alternatives to Stockfish) that offer master-level tactical advice.

Human nature being what it is, I would wager that a handful of unethical players are already doing this.  (Something similar may have been committed by a member of the 2010 French Olympiad team and two accomplices: bravo to the French Chess Federation for commencing a painful investigation.)  This is one reason for FIDE's cell phone ban.  If you know a tournament director who has worked major national events (we are fortunate to have more than our share of these good folk in Illinois), he or she may share some horror stories with you.  And these are the bad guys who were caught, bad guys using yesterday's technology.

So could someone please explain to me the wisdom of continuing to have big entry fee, big money class events for amateur players?  Amateurs include masters, too; most of us with ratings below USCF 2450 or so play for the love of the game.  I don't think this is as big an issue at higher levels, as strong players have an idea of what other strong players are (and aren't) capable of.

I should add that Stockfish is an amazing engine and that GlaurungServer (which I haven't bothered to test-drive) looks like it could be incredibly useful for serious (and ethical!) players (amateur and pro) who want to consult it during kibitzing sessions..

Escape from Snowmaggedon, part 2 - 1st North American Amateur Open

There's a five-round event at the North Shore Chess Center, 5500 W. Touhy, Skokie, this weekend (Friday night, Saturday & Sunday afternoons). 

No prizes to speak of, but this looks like a very cool event--the time control is particularly friendly to serious amateurs.  But note the qualifications before you show up!  You must have either an established FIDE rating (you can check here if you're not sure) or a USCF rating above 1599.

Details on the Illinois Chess Association website!

Escape from Snowmaggedon, part 1 - Greater Chicago Scholastic Championships in Wheeling

Four one-day scholastic events in Wheeling this weekend presented by the Kasparov Chess Foundation and Renaissance Knights. 

Details on the Illinois Chess Association website!

"Frank Brady's masterpiece"

My Facebook friend (and former USCF Executive Director) Al Lawrence reviews Frank Brady's Endgame for Chess Life.  Also, a previously-unpublished Fischer-Euwe draw surfaces.

Order your copy today!

Kavalek on Nakamura's victory

The veteran grandmaster annotates two games in the Caro-Kann Advance Variation from Wijk aan Zee: Nakamura's win with Black against Nepomniachtchi and Carlsen's win with White against Wang Hao.

Column is here!

Shayna Provine wins Illinois Girls' Championship

Shayna Provine & Cheryl Liu each scored an undefeated 3-1 in Saturday's event; held at Niles North High School in Skokie.  I have unofficial word that Shayna won on tiebreaks.  Congratulations!

Annie Xu scored an undefeated 4-0 to take the K-8 section; Maya Malecki and Rithika Kyaw shared second with 3-1 scores.

Caitlin Hong and Samantha Moyer split the K-3 honors with 3½-½.  Nuha Mosunder, Erin Costigan, and Isabella Rhee shared third with 3-1 scores.

Crosstables here;  Betsy Dynako directed for the Illinois Chess Association.   Organizer Andi Rosen is working on a story for ICA.

Nakamura wins! Nakamura wins!

Nakamura and Wang Hao drew in 22 moves this morning in the category 20 Tata Steel tournament in Wijk aan Zee. In the final position, Wang Hao could have won an exchange with 23.Bxb4?! cxb4!, but that would have left him in a passive position and given Nakamura a very strong pair of connected passed pawns, supported by the two bishops.

World Champion Vishy Anand, who trailed by half a point going into the round, also drew, against Nepomniachtchi. Nakamura thus won the tournament outright with the impressive score of 9-4 (6 wins, 6 draws, and a loss to Carlsen). Anand was second with 8.5. Aronian can tie with Anand if he succeeds in grinding out an endgame win against Smeets. Carlsen drew against Grischuk, finishing with 8 points.

With this extremely impressive and gutsy performance, Nakamura establishes himself as a member of the world elite. The last time an American won a tournament of this caliber was Gata Kamsky's win at the 2007 World Cup. To find the last time an American other than Kamsky won a remotely comparable tournament, you'd have to go back a very long time, maybe to Yasser Seirawan's victory at Haninge 1990. Congratulations to Hikaru Nakamura on his well-deserved win of one of the strongest tournaments ever!

One round left

In the Tata Steel super-tournament, Nakamura and Kramnik drew a very dull game today. Anand, White against Giri, by his own admission played badly and was lucky to escape with a draw. Going into the final round, Nakamura leads with 8.5 points, followed by Anand (8), Aronian and Carlsen (both 7.5) (standings, cross-table). The leaders' last-round pairings are Wang Hao (5.5)-Nakamura, Nepomniachtchi (5.5)-Anand, Aronian-Smeets (4), and Grischuk (4)-Carlsen. Nakamura's performance rating thus far is about 2900.

You can follow the last-round games live tomorrow morning at the tournament website, as well as (just) Wang Hao-Nakamura live at chessgames.com. Unfortunately for us night owls, the games start at 5 a.m. Central Time. Go Naka!

"Another good day at the office...."

GMHikaru tweets:

Another good day at the office, but there are still two incredibly important rounds left!!

Today Nakamura beat another young star, Jan Nepomniachtchi of Russia.  (Jan's surname only looks unpronounceable: Alex Yermolinsky says it quite naturally on ICC.). Hikaru leads Anand by ½, Aronian (who has two Dutch GMs to play) by 1, and Carlsen and Kramnik by 1½.   This top group is in fine form, with performance ratings from Carlsen's 2795 to Nakamura's 2906.  

Details on Chess Life Online, ChessBase, and ChessVibes, among many fine sites.

Kenny Rogers warned us not to count our ELO when we're sitting at the table, but Nakamura is now #7 in the world on the live ratings list, and within one win of the #5 spot!

Here you go, Sevan

Sevan Muradian is very proud of having ground out a draw against Matt Pullin, GreenCastleBlock of YouTube fame.  Good play, but you might need some caffeine to avoid falling asleep:

"Nakamura close to a career-best triumph in Wijk aan Zee"

Read GM Ian Rogers at Chess Life Online.

And don't count your chickens....!

A trap in the Benko Gambit

A lot of players don't want to face the pressure that Black gets on the a and b files in the main lines of the Benko Gambit (1. d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5!? 4.cxb5 a6), so they decline the gambit with something like 4.Nf3, 4.Qc2, or 4.cxb5 a6 5.b6. The Bosnian-Dutch GM Ivan Sokolov essayed such a line against super-GM Vassily Ivanchuk at the Olympiad last year, but ended up on the wrong end of a miniature. Sokolov tried 4.Qc2 bxc4 5.e4 d6 6.Bxc4 g6 7.b3??, a move that had been played in previous games by several players, including Sokolov himself. Ivanchuk rudely awakened him with 7...Nxe4!, and suddenly Sokolov was the one playing a gambit, since 8.Qxe4? Bg7 would spear White's rook. After 12.Qe2, White seemed to have some compensation, since his pin on the e-file made it hard for Black to castle. However, Sokolov didn't help his cause with the caveman-like 13.h4?, allowing Black to plant his knight powerfully on e5. Ivanchuk then wrapped up the game in just 12 more moves.

"Carlsen shows his win against Nakamura"

Video at ChessVibes.

Nakamura is still co-leader: play resumes tomorrow!

Blogger in action

January 2011 Rapid
Clockwise from top left: NM Frederick Rhine,
Jiri Kabelac, Dmitri Sergatskov and Paul Gafni. 

NM Frederick Rhine emerged from retirement to win the January 2011 Evanston Chess Club Rapid this Saturday.  See his first-person report below.

OK, that's one master back in action: we look forward to seeing  NMs David Rubin and Marvin Dandridge in future Evanston events! ;-)

Hector Hernandez remembers Ricardo Szmetan

I knew how strong Ricards was, but I did not realize that he was both the 1986 Illinois champion and the winner of one of Helen Warren's Midwest Masters invitational events.  

Full article on the ICA website.

New York Times review of Frank Brady's Endgame

It's hard to imagine anyone better qualified than Frank Brady, author of Profile of a Prodigy, to tell the sad story of Bobby Fischer's life after chess.  Brady's second biography of Fischer, Endgame: Bobby Fischer's Remarkable Rise and Fall - from America's Brightest Prodigy to the Edge of Madness, just received a strongly positive review from Janet Maslin of the New York Times.

That a mentally ill person became the best in the world (and arguably the best ever) at a game which requires sober judgment is an amazing feat.  I'd prefer to focus on Fischer's achievements.  But I'll also be preordering the book!

Crouching Rhino, Hidden Dragon

Twenty-four hardy souls braved snow, ice and bitter cold to play in the Evanston Rapids (game/29) on Saturday, January 22 at the Levy Senior Center. Enterprising (read "dubious") play and a little luck gave yours truly a 5-0 sweep in my first rapid tournament ever, and my first OTB tournament of the millennium! (Yes, you read that right; my last OTB tournament was in 2000, which purists will tell you is part of the prior millennium (1001-2000).) Theodore Mercer, Jr. and Jiri Kabelac tied for second at 4-1. Kabelac missed a draw in a king and pawn ending against me in round 4, with both of us having seconds left and playing on the 3-second increment.

Other notable results include Brian Harrigan of Indiana and Chad Hirsch, who both scored 3-2 and gained a boatload of rating points. Harrigan played the top three finishers, scoring 1-2 against us, and went from 1385 to 1505. Hirsch, rated just 1292, downed two 1600s and a 1700, gaining 166 rating points. The crosstable is here. (Don't ask me why the USCF claims I had a provisional quick rating of 2201 going into the tournament - unless they took my 2201 "slow" rating and used that as a guesstimate of my quick rating.) Mariano Acosta, a Life Master at standard time controls, was one of four players who took a half-point bye in the first round. Unfortunately, his loss to Sergatskov in round 3 took him out of contention, although he won his other games.

Thanks to über-organizer Maret Thorpe for organizing and directing the event, and for inviting me to be the guest master. It was great fun.

In Round 5, I offered a draw on move 1 to Dmitri Sergatskov, figuring that if he accepted I'd win the tournament outright and if he declined, he was apt to become overconfident. He decided to play on, and equalized easily with 5...d5!, a trick I hadn't seen before. At move 10, any sane person would have played 10.Bd2, e.g. 10...Bxd2+ 11.Qxd2 Qd6= Mareco-Gil. Garcia, Buenos Aires 2005 (1/2-1/2, 21). Perhaps because Bill Smythe was in the tournament, I preferred the zany 10.Ke2?! Sergatskov promptly blundered with 11...c5?, allowing 12.Nxf5! with an unusual variant of the fork trick (12...Bxf5 13.dxe4). He tried a different line, but this led to an ending where he had no compensation for my extra pawn. After 29.Rxd6!, he resigned in light of 29...Rxd6 30.Be5 Kc7 31.Rd1, when White will trade off on d6 and reach a bishop ending with three extra pawns.

Big win for Nakamura

© Algemeen Nederlands Persbureau

After 7 of 13 rounds, Nakamura takes the sole lead in Wijk aan Zee!  Anand is in clear second, while Kramnik and Aronian are tied for third.

GMHikaru tweets:

Another exciting win today against Smeets! Tomorrow the tournament really begins as I play the big dogs in succession!

47 minutes ago via web

More at ChessBase and ChessVibes.

K-12 Girls' Championship next weekend in Skokie!

2011 Illinois State K12 Girls Chess Championship Tournament Date: Jan 29, 2011

Niles North High School
9800 Lawler Avenue
Skokie, Illinois
(East Cafeteria and Commons)

Format: 4-round G45 swiss.
USCF rated; USCF membership is required.
Sections: K-3, K-5, K-8, Championship (open to K12; anyone rated 1000 or more must play in Championship section)

Prizes: Trophies to top 5 individuals in each section; winner of championship section earns invitation to play in the 6-player round robin invitational girls tournament the weekend of March 26-28. (If the winner would otherwise qualify by rating, the player with the highest score not otherwise qualified will receive the invitation).

Check-in: 9 to 9:30
First round: 10 a.m. Other rounds ASAP.

Entry fee: $25 if received by Jan. 21; $35 by Jan. 28. No on-site entries.
Send entries to Andrea Rosen, 8214 Keystone Avenue, Skokie, IL 60076. Checks should be made payable to the ICA Warren Program.
--- or ---
Register and pay online (http://www.il-chess.net/goto.php?a=shop).

Other: Sets and clocks will be provided by North American Chess Association.

Hotel: Comfort Inn, 9333 Skokie Boulevard, Skokie, 847-679-6200.
Group rate $94.99/night, includes full hot buffet breakfast, must reserve by January 3. When making reservation, be sure to ask for Illinois Chess Association rate.

Net proceeds will benefit the Niles North High School chess club and the ICA Warren Program. For more information, contact: warrenprogram@il-chess.org

Л'Ами – Накамура 6-й тур (0-1)

I think that means that Nakamura beat the Dutch GM Erwin L'Ami in Round 6!  Viswanathan Anand and Alexander Grischuk drew, so Nakamura reclaims a share of first place.


The game is here: a nice grind from absolutely nothing.


P.S.  Nakamura tweeted:

A nice win today, but I feel horrible for l'Ami after that travesty yesterday. Anyway, Smeets tomorrow!about 2 hours ago via web

The "travesty" was L'Ami's blundering against Carlsen when defending a dead drawn rook & knight vs. rook ending (no pawns).

Fischer film at Sundance

The documentary Bobby Fischer Against the World just premiered at Sundance; it will be on HBO this summer.  More info here.

North Shore Chess Center G/45 this Sunday!

Another email cut-and-paste, especially for non-football fans:

North Shore Chess Center G/45- 4R-SS G/45 + 10/sec increment. North Shore Chess Center, 5500 West Touhy Ave Suite A, Skokie, IL 60077. 847.423.8626. EF: $20 for non-members of the chess center, $15 for members of the chess center received by 1/22. All $5 more onsite. Onsite registration - up to 15 minutes prior to round 1 or round 2. If registering prior to round 2, you will receive a half-point bye for round 1. Round times: 1pm for round one and then 15 minutes after final game from previous round completed. Half-point byes available in any round. Prizes: Book prizes for top three finishers. Biggest upset (150+ points): Free entry to following month G/45 + book prize. Parking: Free self-parking. Mail entries with registration information to: North American Chess Association (make checks payable to), 4957 Oakton Street Suite 113, Skokie, IL 60077. Online registration preferred. Additional questions email to: sevan@nachess.org USCF rated. For online registration and list of more events please visit http://www.nachess.org/events

Evanston Chess $5 Game/29 event this Saturday!

Details here!

I won't be there (tax season), so please play for me!

Nakamura blogs from Wijk aan Zee

 He was tied for first with Anand until today's draw with Ponomariov: still in great shape at +2!

The caudate nucleus is well developed in rats, mice, and chess masters

 Chess masters use different parts of the brain than the rest of us: story here (Bloomberg) and here (MSNBC)

General conclusion: "Expertise is the result of long, serious training."  If you're interested in the subject (or if you want interesting reads with many thoughts applicable to many things beyond chess), I again recommend Gladwell's Outliers and Lehrer's How We Decide.

Sideshow Bob gets engaged

Everyone's favorite chess instructor, Elizabeth Vicary, is getting married!  Details (sort of) here.

Congratuations!

A tweet from Wijk (no, that doesn't rhyme)

http://twitter.com/#!/GMHikaru/status/27106381320429568

@GMHikaru Hikaru Nakamura

 

Some of the best technique I've ever shown in an endgame under pressure! Off to a great start, but it will only get more difficult!

 

2 hours ago via web

Nakamura leads Wijk aan Zee after Round 3

After three rounds, Hikaru Nakamura, America's top-rated player, is leading the super-GM field of Tata Stell Group A in Wijk aan Zee, Holland.  Nakamura has beaten Alexander Grischuk and (today) Alexei Shirov, while drawing Levon Aronian with Black yesterday.

All the major chess sites have coverage: I went to The Week in Chess.

An unexploited blunder

This one is a doozy. In the position below, it is White's move. Judit Polgar, the strongest woman player ever, is playing former World Champion Boris Spassky. Polgar played 12.Nf1 and eventually lost. Do you see anything better?

Trying to form a team for the US Amateur Team?

I'm not able to play myself, except possibly as an alternate on Sunday (and for that I already have a standing invitation, thanks!)

If you'd like to play and you want to form a team (four players plus one optional alternate), feel free to post a request in comments here or on the Illinois Chess Association message board.

The U.S. Amateur Team returns to Chicago!

Another cut-and-paste from my email:

U.S. AMATEUR TEAM NORTH February 18-20, 2011 or February 19-20, 2011 Crowne Plaza, 2875 N. Milwaukee, Northbrook, Il 60062 $79 Room Rate + FREE BREAKFAST BUFFET! 847-298-2525 February 19 Si de Events: Scholastic Team & Illinois Blitz Championship USAT North 2 playing schedules: 3-day or 2 day Early EF $140 per team (4 player team + 1 alternate) Individual EF (we assign team), $35 early EF G/90 inc 30 On-line entry USPS entry SETS-BOARDS-CLOCKS provided by NACA Book Dealer scheduled to be t here Team rating = average of top 4 boards Team's average rating must be U2200 Top team plays for National Championship Team awards: Top Team with average rating U1900 Top Team with average rating U1600 Top Team with average rating U1300 Best Team Name Best Junior Team (HS & younger) Best individual score on each board Side Events 2/19/11 Scholastic Team (daytime) Team rating = average of top 4 boards Team average rating must be U1600 $120 Early EFIndividual EF (we assign team) G/60 Club and mixed school teams welcome! Bring Boards-Sets-Clocks Team awards Top Team Top 3 High School Teams Top 3 Middle School Teams Top 3 Elementary School Teams Best Individual Score On Each Board BLITZ  (pm) $500 b/30 $25 Early EF Bring sets-boards-clocks More USAT Info USAT on-line entry USAT USPS entry Scholastic Team Info & Entry IL Blitz Chmp Info & Entry Team Rules Team FAQ Contact

A typical Benesa game?

As long as I've got ChessBase open and we're remembering the Chicago players we lost last year....

This game gives one a hint of how strong Arnulfo Benesa was in his prime. His "quiet" positional play was backed by sharp calculation: one would expect this from a virtuoso of the Grünfeld and the Najdorf! Out of nowhere, Black's queen is trapped.

Parenthetically, the loser of this game, NM Noureddine Ziane, is alive and well. Sometime after this game was played, Noureddine transferred from Shimer College to the University of Texas at Dallas. While in Dallas he founded USA Chess with Katie Stone. Look for him in Tangiers or Las Vegas!

From the 2002 Chess Olympiad

Ricardo Szmetan represented Barbados in the 2002 Olympiad.  I don't know whether he was related to Jorge Szmetan (born 1950), who drew Bobby Fischer in 1971 and who represented Argentina in several Olympiads.

I did not have the pleasure of knowing Ricardo, but many of my friends knew him well.

Ricardo Szmetan, 1952-2010

Sad news.  Sevan Muradian writes:

For those of you that may have known him, I just learned that Dr. Ricardo Szmetan, originally from Barbados, passed away on December 31, 2010.

Ricardo had a PhD in Latin American Studies and recently completed a MS in Library Sciences at University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana. He was also a FIDE Master.

While Szmetan was indeed the 2002 national champion of Barbados, he was of Argentinian descent (not sure where he was born--were his parents part of the Central European Jewish diaspora?).  His Midwest tournament victories included the 2008 Greater Peoria Open and the 2007 David Mote Memorial, and he played in numerous master-level events in Chicago over the decades.

US Amateur Team: February 18-20, Crowne Plaza, Northbrook!

More info at the ICA website!  Tim Just and Glenn Panner are organizing, so you know it'll be a quality event.

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

(continued from previous post)
In Round 4, Tim Ailes and I reached a typical Benko Gambit position.

Bill Brock-Tim Ailes

Black to play after 21.Ne2

As usual, all Black's pieces are pressing (or, in the case of the Nd7, about to press) the a- and b-pawns.  Black has to decide how to handle the threat of Nxd4.  Doesn't 21...Rb4 look natural?

Bill Brock-Aun Thant Zin

After 27.Qe3

Doubtless encouraged by my toothless opening, Black played 27...Qb4.  How would you respond?  (And how do you think I responded?  There's more than one good move here: I saw a "hard" one and overlooked an "easy" one that my good-natured opponent pointed out to me immediately after the game.)

I'm not trying to embarrass my creative opponents (who, aside from these lapses, played extremely well) or flagellate myself for our collective blunders.  What can we do to blunder less often?

Answers later!

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....

New K-8 Invitational Announced

Andi Rosen reports on her hard work at the Illinois Chess Association website.

In the course of skimming Andi's report (I do actually work for a living), I noticed an embarrassing omission from my Tim Just's Winter Open XXV report below.  The winner of the Booster Section, David Peng, was only 7 years old in December 2010!

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!

Hou Yifan makes the New York Times op-ed page

She's featured in Nicholas Kristof's column.  It's much better than the rest of today's depressing news.

I'm playing chess this weekend; back to blogging soon!

Hedgehogs win; blogger loses

This Board 1 matchup was crucial to the Hedgehogs' 4-2 victory over the AMA Rogue Squadron in Chicago Industrial Chess League play last night.  Both of us had read (and forgotten) the relevant chapter of Mihail Marin's Beating the Open Games....

Very nice preparation and play by Michael Rauchman!

Illinois State Girls' Championship in Skokie on January 29th

Details here!

December 2010 CICL Bulletin

Still catching up....

The Chicago Industrial Chess League published the latest issue of the Chicago Chess Player in timely fashion, even if one sometime blogger blew a deadline promise.

Sam Schmakel wins second national title

Andi Rosen reports on the ICA website!

(OK, so I took most of December off...)

Tim Just Winter Open XXV!

Another cut-and-paste from my email: see you there this weekend!

Tim Just's
Winter Open/Reserve XXV
A Heritage Tournament

 

Chicagoland's longest continuously run chess torunament organized by the same organizer for the past 25 years!
January 8, 2011 - January 9, 2011
DoubleTree Hotel : 1909 Spring Road , Oakbrook, Illinois 60523, (630) 472-6020, (630) 472-6000 

             
Same $64 Early EF - 2 Sections - Book Dealer - one day Winter Scholastic ($25) - $70 Hotel Room Rates -
Sets, Boards, & Clocks provided by North American Chess Association  for Winter Open/Reserve

Winter Open/Reserve info and registration: http://chessforlife.com/chess/wint11/index.html

Winter Scholastic info and registration: http://chessforlife.com/chess/wint 11/scholastic11.html

Another silly Internet game

The loser is the hapless but long-lived N.N., who has lost 99.9% of his games over the last 500+ years.

ChessBase Christmas puzzles

Enjoy!

Daniel Parmet on Gata Kamsky

The newest expert in Illinois has nice things to say about the winner of the Atlantic City International.

Webcomic: "Explorers"

Courtesy of xkcd.com

A simple little ending

White to play

Zhu Chen-Zhao Xue, Ulanbaatar 2010

There are only four pieces on the board, but the "simple" position is still complicated enough for former Women's World Champion Zhu Chen to make a fatal blunder.  Notes based on Dejan Bojkov's comments in New in Chess 2010.7. 

How many of us would have made the same blunder as Zhu Chen?

Last-minute chess present

Free plug: I can't think of a nicer gift than New in Chess magazine.  If you follow the link, you can buy a one-year subscription (8 issues) for only $59.  (List price, which I just paid for my renewal, is $96.)  Offer is good only for folks who haven't subscribed in the past 18 months.

Eric Schiller update

Our friend in the Bay Area recently lost a leg to complicatons from diabetes.  Now he's lost an arm as well, and looking at an arduous recovery.

Please send Eric your best wishes!  You can friend him on Facebook here.