Daniel Wright JHS wins National Elementary Title

Good news from Dallas this weekend makes Illinois moms proud.  Congratulations to Daniel Wright Junior High School in Lincolnshire, which just won the National Elementary Title (K-6th grade) by two full points!

             BIAN, Alex (5.0,1839)             
             WEI, James (5.0,1856)             
             YU, Haoyang (5.0,1595)            
             HOLECEK, Zachary (4.5,1907)       
             OBERHAUS, Conrad (4.5,1888)

You can find the full results here.  More to follow, I'm sure. 

Unnaturally tough resistance brings Kamsky victory

In annotating the final game of the Kamsky-Topalov match for ChessBase, Alejandro Ramirez wisely writes, "In most cases in chess, the position is as natural as it seems."  In other words, most of the time, natural moves are sufficient to win a won game.  Only the strongest players have the fighting spirit to offer maximum resistance even when the game is objectively lost. 

Acccording to the computers, Gata Kamsky was hopelessly lost.  But Kamsky drew convincingly, without an obvious blunder by Topalov.

Veselin Topalov-Gata Kamsky

2011 Candidates Match, Kazan, Round 4

After 42...Ke8: White to play

What would you play as White?  How deeply would you calculate?

Veselin Topalov-Gata Kamsky

2011 Candidates Match, Kazan, Round 4

After 49.Qd8: Black to play

Black has several reasonable tries here (and perhaps more than one way not to lose), but only one move is clearly best.  Can you find it?

Congratulations to Gata Kamsky!  Later this week, he'll be facing Boris Gelfand, who has many friends in Chicago himself.

"How best to stimulate hair growth?"

At least that's what seems to be on the mind of the player in the foreground, who looks vaguely familiar.  Citadel offers one of the nicest playing sites in the city (check out the view!).

Matthias Pfau reports on Round 1 of Citadel's summer 2011 event on the Citadel Investment Group Chess League Blog.

My AMA Rogue Squadron teammate Jim Duffy may have missed some chances after pressing in the knight ending, but he won an objectively drawn pawn ending (the PGN appears to be wrong on the Citadel site):

The final two rounds of the CICL playoffs will be held next Saturday, May 14th, at the North Shore Chess Center. Details to follow.

Worst iPhone chess app ever?

It would be rather harsh to call ChessBase Online 1.1 (ChessBase GmbH, $4.95 in the iTunes Store) a bad application, because, strictly speaking, it achieves its modest and useful goal.

I can enter a position that I reached in a recent game...

..and discover the most popular replies and their performance...

...and load individual games to learn how top players handled the line.

Select one of the above games, and it loads painlessly.  So far, so good.  (Very handy for the bathroom stall at the Chicago Open, the cynic thinks.) 

But on the iPhone 4, the chess board interface is so buggy and annoying (compare the interfaces for iPhone engines such as tChess Pro, Shredder, and Stockfish, all of which are excellent), that I really can't recommend this app.

Perhaps this works better on the iPad (I don't own one), but if I'm at home, I'm going to be looking at ChessBase on a laptop with Rybka running.  That's not yet an option on the iPad..

The concept is great, and I love ChessBase products in general. But not this one: hold out for Version 2.0.

4th North American Amateur Open begins tonight

4th North American Amateur Open - 5R-SS G/90 + 30/sec increment. North Shore Chess Center, 5500 West Touhy Ave Suite A, Skokie, IL 60077. 847.423.8626.  Open to players with any established FIDE rating or an established USCF rating of 1600+. Max 50 players. All participants compete in a single section.  EF: $40 for non-members of the chess center, $30 for members of the chess center received by 5/5. All $10 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: Friday - 7:00pm, Saturday 12pm and 6pm, Sunday 11am and 5pm. Half-point byes available in any round. Prizes: 1st - $60 Best Buy Gift Card, 2nd - $30 Barnes & Noble Gift Card, 3rd - $15 Starbucks Gift Card.  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 and FIDE rated. For online registration and list of more events please visit - http://www.nachess.org/events

Kamsky blows Topalov off board with Black

Topalov's Exchange sac on move 23 looked scary, but Kamsky counterattacked quickly and accurately.  Gata leads, 1½-½.

Candidates Matches underway

Eight players play knockout matches this month: the survivor will challenge Vishy Anand for the World Championship next year.

Follow the action live at http://kazan2011.fide.com/live-games.html

"Rosen Tops High School Nationals"

 Story (but no games as of 1:30 p.m. - coming soon?) at Chess Life Online.

Catching up with the ICA website

Lots of good stuff on the ICA website just in the past week!

• Leo Vilker on NM Ken Wallach's win in Highland Park and the amazing Awonder Liang
• Jon Burgess on Sam Schmakel (hey, Maret, please add HTML permalinks as a feature!)
• Jeff Wiewel on Yury Shulman at the US Championship
• Jon Burgess on the Scott Silverman Memorial and NM William Aramil's draw against GM Mesgen Amanov

If you go to the main ICA page and scroll down to "Chess in Philly," you'll be able to play through Aramil-Amanov in Chess Flash (sorry, no permalink available).  Mesgen showed me the game afterward: he explained that William blundered a pawn in the opening (the right idea is to play Nh4 before Qb3, as in the game continuation, 8...Bc2! just wins a button).  But after that inaccuracy, Aramil defended flawlessly (when pawns are on one side of the board, R+N are much stronger than R+B).  33.Re5! is a particularly good defensive move.  

Eric Rosen wins National High School Championship!!

Stolen from proud father Brad Rosen's Facebook post:

It's official--- Eric won the 2011 National High School Chess Championship this weekend in Nashville scoring 7.0/7.0, including a final round victory over IM Marc Arnold. Pretty amazing....thanx to Deren Getz for the photo and keeping Andi and I posted during the final.

The crosstable has already been posted: there were 1134 players in six sections, including 294 players in the Championship Section.  Eric's rating went from 2274 to 2333. Performance ratings involving perfect scores are very misleading, but I'm calculating a 2700 performance rating for Eric in this event!

Two Illinois teams finished in the top ten in the nation (click on "Team Standings:" to see details).  Led by Rosen, Niles North finished fourth.  But all four players had outstanding events: based on pre-event ratings, Rafeh Qazi's 4½ points was a phenomenal performance.

ROSEN, Eric S (7.0,2278)
QAZI, Rafeh (4.5,1621)
SPIEGEL, Evan (4.0,1767)
GUPTA, Saagar (3.5,1809)

Whitney Young finished tenth, led by Sam Schmakel and National High School Blitz champion Michael Auger, each with an excellent 5-2 score.

SCHMAKEL, Sam A (5.0,2099)
AUGER, Michael W (5.0,2111)
SWAN, Charles (3.5,1930)
WAECHTER, Mark Woodbury (3.0,1617)
MEI, Brian (3.0,1309)
CHAN, Kessidy (3.0,1617)
PENA, Cristian (3.0,1431)

Gata Kamsky repeats as U.S. Champion

Story at US Chess Online.  Congratulations to Gata Kamsky, a most worthy champion, and good luck against Veselin Topalov in next month's Candiates Match! 

And double congratulations to Chicago's Yury Shulman, who showed once again that he's at the very top of American chess.  He won the title in 2008, finished second in 2010, and second once again this year.  Yury and Viktoria's son Gabriel was born this past Sunday.

Michael Auger wins National High School Blitz Championship

The senior at Whitney Young is in my opinion the most naturally gifted player we've had since Morris Giles.  Congratulations!

Crosstable here. Michael's teammate, Sam Schmakel of Whitney Young, took second on tiebreaks; Eric Rosen of Niles North tied for seventh.  Aakassh Meduri of Hinsdale Central tied for ninth.

Standings for the main event are here.  After three rounds, Eric Rosen and Evan Spiegel of Niles North and Mark Waechter of Hinsdale Central all have perfect scores.

K-12 chess camps this summer

As always, no endorsement, express or implied! (NM William Aramil and I were playing on adjacent boards in the last few rounds of the Philadelphia Open.)

Summer Chess Camps

June 20th-24th, 2011 at Whitney Young High School, 211 S. Laflin, Chicago, Illinois

July 18th-22nd, 2011 at Grace Episcopal Church, 924 Lake Street, Oak Park, Illinois

August 1st-5th, 2011 at Creativo! School, 5407 W. Devon, Chicago, Illinois

August 8th-12th, 2011 at Grace Episcopal Church, 924 Lake Street, Oak Park, Illinois

Experienced Tournament Section (Whitney Young Camp Only)
Featuring International Grandmaster Dmitry Gurevich
--2009 US Open Champion
--2010 Illinois Open Champion
Open to all 4th-12th grade chess players. Players should be regular participants in USCF rated chess tournaments. Space is limited.
Advanced Entry Fee - $300 (until 3/31/11); Regular Entry Fee - $350
Time - 9am to 3pm

Scholastic Section
Featuring National Master William Aramil
--2003 Denker National High School Champion
--Author of Complete Idiot's Guide to Chess Openings
--Trainer of 2011 Whitney Young High School State Champions
Open to K-12 chess players of all levels
Details: Advanced Entry Fee - $200 (until 5/31/11 for WY, 7/1/11 for OP, and 7/15/11 for Creativo); Regular Entry Fee - $250
Time - 9am to 2pm (Extended time from 2pm to 3pm for an additional $25/week)

Both sections include daily lunch, t-shirt, and recreation time at the high school gym (WY) and at nearby parks.

Register Online
For more information contact Paul Kash at paulkash@dynamicchessinc.com or (773) 512-2811

Shulman beats Hess: championship finals against Kamsky begin today

Big news from Yury's interview with Maurice Ashley and Jennifer Shahade: Gabriel Shulman was born on Sunday. Congratulations to mom and dad!

Coverage at Chess Life Online and ChessBase.

The two-game finals match begins at 2 p.m.: follow it live at uschesschamps.com!

The shortest post

Hello from Philadelphia! Sometimes playing chess gets in the way of blogging about chess.

Gata Kamsky beat Sam Shankland to reach the finals of the 2011 U.S. Championship. Our own Yury Shulman faces Robert Hess in a rapid playoff to determine the other finalist tomorrow. Follow the action at uschesschamps.com: the Shulman-Hess playoff begins at 2 p.m.

The longest game

Many websites claim that the longest possible chess game is 5,949 moves. Very few of them attempt to explain this number. I'm sure that it's wrong. In the first place, there is no limit to a game's length unless you compel the players to invoke the 50-move rule. A player may claim a draw if no pawn has been moved, and no piece captured, for 50 moves, but it's not mandatory. Rule 9.3 of the Laws of Chess provides that the draw occurs only if a correct claim of such is made by the player who is on move. For an example of this in practice, see Fressinet-Kosteniuk. The last capture of the game (of the last pawn) was on move 121, leaving a rook and bishop verus rook ending. Yet the game continued until move 237, when Fressinet resigned. (In Wikipedia, I explain why Fressinet did not try to claim a draw.)

OK, we'll take care of that by stipulating that each player must invoke the 50-move rule as soon as possible. We'll also stipulate that the game will be declared an immediate draw once there is insufficient material to checkmate (e.g. king and bishop versus king, king and knight versus king, or king versus king).

There is another wrinkle. Traditionally, one thinks of 50 moves as beginning with White's move number x and ending with Black's move x + 49 (for example, moves 1-50). Suppose, however, that White captures a piece on, say, move 1,000, and the next capture or pawn move occurs on Black's move 1,050. There is a strong argument that the interval from Black's 1,000th move through White's 1,050th move constitute 50 moves by each side, thus allowing the 50-move rule to be invoked. (Black has played moves 1000 to 1049, and White, moves 1001 to 1050.) I'm sure there's some simple way to deal with this, but since it doesn't come to mind, I'm going to ignore this problem. My final number may thus be a little too high - but it will be enough above 5,949 to show that that number is wrong.

OK, let's start counting. The players start out just bouncing their knights around. 1.Nc3 Nf6 2.Nh3 Na6. The 50th move by both players is 50.Ng8 Rxg8. The 100th moves is 100.Nb8 Rxb8. For the next 100 moves, Black keeps moving his knights, while White plays Ra1-b1-a1 and Rh1-g1-h1. White captures Black's knights on moves 150 and 200. 200 moves down, knights gone, we move on to pawn moves. There are sixteen pawns, each of which can move six times. 6 x 16 x 50 = 4,800. Then you take 50 moves each to capture the sixteen promoted pawns, the four rooks, the four bishops, and the two queens. 26 x 50 = 1,300. Make sure to save a rook or a queen for last, so the game can't be declared a draw because there's no mating material. After the pieces and pawns are gone, we're left with two kings, and the game is declared a draw. How long is the game? Adding the numbers together, we get 200 + 4,800 + 1,300 = 6,300 moves. As I say, this number may be a little too high because of the wrinkle explained in the prior paragraph. But even if we reduced it by a fiftieth (which I'm sure is too high), the number would be 6,174, so 5,949 is clearly too low. Another myth bites the dust.

UPDATE: Professor John Gossage points out a small flaw in my count. The pawns will not be able to get past each other unless you give them something to capture. So a few moves will have to be subtracted from my 6,300 number to account for that.

FURTHER ADDENDUM: Phony Benoni observes as ChessGames.com, "I think the pawn captures might have more of an effect on your longest move computation than you think. For all the pawns to promote, there must be at least eight pawn captures. For example, White might play axb, cxd, exf, gxh, while Black plays bxa, dxc, fxe, hxg.

This would reduce your count by 400 moves, dropping it from 6300 to 5900. The difference might be due to the usual counters not making your assumption to immediately declare a draw with K vs. K before playing an additional 50 moves."

Hmm, I'm afraid Phony Benoni makes an excellent point. I figured that each pawn move and each piece capture would add another 50 moves to the game's length. If many of the pawn moves have to be both pawn moves and piece captures, that radically reduces the number of moves. So it seems that I am full of it and that 5,949 or something close to it may indeed be correct. Dang. As Emily Litella would say, "Never mind."

YET ANOTHER ADDENDUM: Correspondence Grandmaster Jesper Norgaard says that the correct number is 5,898 - counting king versus king as an instant draw, which is a relatively recent addition to the FIDE Laws of Chess. So, taking the rosiest view of things, you could say that I was on the right track, apart from failing to recognize that eight pawn captures are necessary and that these shave 400 moves off the maximum.

Song-Mitkov

Mitkov is joint leader after 3; he's playing round 4 now.

Amanov-Lapshun

William Penn and Mesgen Amanov

Center City Philadelphia is a wonderful place to visit: lots to see and do, many great placed to eat. Walking is a pleasure!

Chicagoland organizers, please give some thought to your out-of-town guests when planning weekend events!

Daniel Wright Jr. High (Lincolnshire) at K-8 Nationals

Congratulations to Alex Bian, Conrad Oberhaus, Zachary Holecek, and Victoria Bian, who led Daniel Wright Jr. High to 2nd place in K-8 nationals.

First place was (of course?) New York's I.S. 318 team.  Now that Elizabeth Vicary is engaged and maddeningly succesful, we do not find her quite so charming ;-)

Hat tip to David Holecek.

1 NYI318 I.S. 318, Brooklyn,NY (25)           23.5 92.5 126.5 205.0 97.0 
             BLACK, James A, Jr (6.5,2156)     
             FENG, Danny (6.0,1993)            
             KIM, David (5.5,1777)             
             WILLIAMS, Rashawn J (5.5,1778)    
  2 ILDWJH Daiel Wright JHS, Lincolnshire, (5)  19.5 70.0  98.0 139.0 77.0 
             BIAN, Alex (5.5,1839)             
             OBERHAUS, Conrad (5.0,1888)       
             HOLECEK, Zachary (4.5,1907)       
             BIAN, Victoria (4.5,1516)    

Citadel's CICL blog

Matthias Pfau reports on Citadel's CICL season and provides video commentary on several of his teammates' games.   Check it out!

25 CICL players are playing in Citadel's summer league tournament.  The conditions are ideal, and the folks at Citadel are most gracious hosts.

Hello from Philadelphia

How can anyone lose the White side of the Catalan in 24 moves?  I just did, and I've got eight rounds of torture to go!

GM Amanov and NM Aramil are both here: of course, they were paired against each other.  (They're still playing: looks drawish.)

NM Andrew Karklins lost to an IM in the first round.

Nice field for this weekend's Scott Silverman Memorial

IM Felecan, FM Chow, and NMs Jayakumar, Weber, and Burgess are among the preregistrants, not to mention the legendary Les Bale.  Register now: the field will be capped at 40.

Last-round pairings at K-8 Nationals

I believe that play is already over; no results posted online yet....Board "65" is top board in this event.

65.     Mc Clanahan, Gav (5.5,ILG009,1958)     Karamsetty, Jeev (5.5,VAH001,2158) 
66.     Li, Brian S (5.5,VAC003,2044)          Black, James A,  (5.5,NYI318,2156) 
67.     Deatrick, Alexan (5.5,MIA007,1916)     Colas, Joshua (5.0,NYW006,2181) 
68.     Wang, Tianqi (5.0,NCJMRO,1998)         Pershad, Yash (5.0,AZS011,1755) 
69.     Feng, Danny (5.0,NYI318,1993)          Wolfe, Tip (5.0,VAMOOD,1908) 
70.     Attanagoda, Isur (5.0,VALOUA,1958)     Williams, Rashaw (5.0,NYI318,1778) 
71.     Best, Ronald, Jr (5.0,MDB015,1753)     Fishbein, Matthe (5.0,MEC002,1942) 
72.     Sen, Samir (4.5,WAV007,2067)           Mittal, Rohan (4.5,AZT003,1794) 
73.     Berman, Jacob (4.5,NYN007,1821)        Ainsworth, Micha (4.5,NYW006,1993) 
74.     Holecek, Zachary (4.5,ILDWJH,1907)     Kim, David (4.5,NYI318,1777) 
75.     Zinski, Maximili (4.5,ILW006,1770)     Li, Richard Zide (4.5,VAC003,1902) 
76.     Cao, Alvin (4.5,VAF001,1735)           Bian, Alex (4.5,ILDWJH,1839) 
77.     Mhaskar, Rohan (4.5,WIB003,1825)       Daniel, Tarun (4.5,GARIVE,1585) 
78.     Kobajlo, Jakob (4.5,NYI318,1643)       Moon, Kyle (4.0,NYP126,2045) 
79.     Chen, Jackson (4.0,COSUMM,1916)        Garcia, John Pau (4.0,NYI318,1697) 
80.     Song, Edward (4.0,MIBOUL,1912)         Mathine, Thomas (4.0,AZT021,1697) 
81.     Oberhaus, Conrad (4.0,ILDWJH,1888)     Bikus, Joey (4.0,ILM004,1689) 
82.     Dommalapati, Abh (4.0,VAF001,1692)     Bagley, Taylor M (4.0,KYL010,1885) 
83.     Schein, Aaron O (4.0,NYHORA,1867)      Cai, Jesse (4.0,VALONG,1686) 
84.     Zhou, Jonathan (4.0,INCANT,1699)       Marupudi, Pranav (4.0,NJM009,1857) 
85.     Chu, Ken N (4.0,NCC017,1839)           Lu, Mandy (4.0,MIP002,1685) 
86.     Tuff, Sean Theod (4.0,MNFALC,1652)     Nguyen, Kendrick (4.0,AZS016,1821) 
87.     Li, Hans (4.0,VAC003,1646)             Chen, Derek H (4.0,AZT003,1817) 
88.     Bhatta, Rohit (4.0,TXE008,1676)        Mendez, Fernando (4.0,TXVELA,1812) 
89.     Whitehorn, Grego (4.0,PAP002,1810)     Naguleswaran, Ann (4.0,OHDCE,1644) 
90.     Santoyo, Edgar A (4.0,TXVELA,1644)     Rivera, Randy (4.0,NYI318,1800) 
91.     Mo, Jack (4.0,PAP007,1614)             Coulter, Jarod M (4.0,AZC010,1791) 
92.     Shankar, Roshan  (4.0,ILW002,1592)     Khattar, Tanmay (4.0,VAF001,1765) 
93.     Rajasekaran, Vig (4.0,VAMOOD,1725)     Chandler, Camero (4.0,NCC003,1525) 
94.     Pennock, Joshua  (4.0,AZT003,1493)     Sun, Abe (4.0,ILG011,1717) 
95.     Lorenzon, Marco (4.0,MIA006,1715)      Li, Haoxuan (4.0,NCJMRO,1476) 
96.     Mc Clanahan, Bry (3.5,ILG009,1845)     Budejen-Jerez, A (4.0,PAJRMA,1256) 

4-round Swiss at North Shore CC tomorrow

If you drop me an email for your event, I'll generally cut-and-paste the notice "as-is."  Sometimes I forget: it's OK to remind me!

Sunday April 17 

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 4/16. 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

Scott Silverman Memorial next Saturday

I made travel plans before I knew about this event.to honor the memory of our friend Scott....

Scott Silverman Memorial Tournament

Saturday April 23, 2011. The Scott Silverman Memorial. $750 guaranteed prize fund. 4R-SS G/60 + 5/sec delay. 

Prizes: 1st place - $250, 2nd place - $150, Top U2200, U2000, 1800, 1600, 1400 - $70 each, Biggest upset per round - chess prize (minimum 150 point rating difference).  The field will be limited to 6 players rated over 2200 by invitation only with the remainder to be U2200 by open registration. 

Rd Times: Rd 1 @ 10am; next rounds 15 minutes after final games complete from previous round. 

EF: $20 online (http://www.nachess.org/events) or onsite.  No postal entries. Hard limit of 40 participants. 

Other info: April supplement used. USCF rated. USCF Membership Required. All equipment provided. 

Location: North Shore Chess Center 5500 W Touhy Ave Suite A Skokie, IL 60077. Questions - sevan@nachess.org.

IS 318 in Chicago

Girls from Elizabeth Vicary's famous IS 318 team in Brooklyn came to Chicago to participate in the All Girls, and (not surprisingly) did rather well.  Read all about it!

Vicary analyzing with her student Mariah

Moya-Cogshell, Chicago 2011

White to play and win

Analyze forcing moves first!

Games from Downers Grove

Daniel Parmet presents a very nice overview of the action at ICA's Chess Blog.

The following howler makes me feel a little better about my own blunders (as it did for Daniel).  Strong masters do silly things, too...though not as often.

Monokroussos-Stamnov, Downers Grove 2011

Black answered 58.Qe5 with 58...Rf7?? 

2012 K-8 Championship scheduled for Rockford

Details on the ICA website!

Grandmaster Josh Friedel simul at North Shore Chess Center

 
19 wins; 2 draws.  Story and games at Chess Life Online!

So what do chess and tennis have in common?

Jim Egerton explains here.  (Via tennis dad Brad Rosen.)  Do check out Jim's Chess Now website!

Chess meetup in Evanston

Another cut-and-paste:

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

Apr 16, 2011
12 noon - 4 p.m.
Chess Meet-up

Evanston Chess Club will hold an open chess session on Saturday, April 16 from noon to 4 p.m. Stop by and play as many -- or as few games -- as you want. Players of all strengths, age 14 years and older are welcome.

We're sponsoring this Chess Meet-Up as part of the International chess.com meetup. We're extending a special welcome to chess.com online players in our area to come out and play over-the-board.

No registration required. For more information, please contact Maret Thorpe as noted below.
Send name, USCF number, and telephone number to Maret Thorpe enter@evanstonchess.org
Bring clocks. -- Wheelchair accessible. No Smoking.

Final results of All Girls National

...are on the Renaissance Knights website.

Congratulations to Penny Xu, who took 2nd place in Girls' Under 18, and to Adele Padgett, who tied for first (taking 2nd on the fourth tiebreak!) in Girls' Under 16.  Story to follow on Chess Life Online.

After three rounds of All Girls National Championships

Standings are on Renaissance Knights' website; play concludes tomorrow!

Dennis Monokroussos wins Downers Grove

FM Dennis Monokroussos won a powerful Swiss today organized by Daniel Parmet and the Downers Grove Chess Club.  Monokroussos beat Matthew Holloway, Gregory Bungo, Isaac Braswell, and FM Aleksandar Stamnov to score 4-0. 

IM Florin Felecan and FM Albert Chow drew on Board 1 in the final round to tie for second with 3½-½.

Alex Ziqi Ding beat NM Trevor Magness to earn a provisional USCF rating of 2286; Ding, Braswell, Stamnov, Chenliang Luo (who upset FM Aun Thant Zin in round 2), Awonder Liang, and Benjamin Stern tied for fourth with 3-1 scores.

Crosstable here!

IM Josh Manion featured in April Chess Life

Josh Manion & Julie Oberweis

...not that many years ago!

Courtesy of Chess Life, Andi Rosen's interview with Josh Manion is now available on the ICA website.  

As long as we've got the family photo album open, here's Julie on the cover of the July-August 1991 ICB.

Tireless Wikipedian Frederick Rhine

One of the co-editors of this blog gets well-deserved kudos at Dana Blogs Chess for his contributions to WikiProject: Chess.

Frederick and I rewrote large sections of Wikipedia's Bobby Fischer article a couple of years ago.  This reminds me that I need to write a review of Frank Brady's Endgame after tax season, as the article's weakness mirrors one of the biggest flaws in Brady's book (otherwise strongly recommended!): the coverage of Fischer's miracle years 1970-71 is embarrassingly thin.

223 preregistered for All Girls National Championship!

Here's the current registration list for this USCF National Event, here in Chicago this weekend!

There's still time to enter: fortunately for the out-of-towners, the All Girls is at the Doubletree Mag Mile (and not some godforsaken suburban location, far away from tourist attractions and public transportation).

Rosen-Magness, Skokie 2011

Here's one of the two decisive games from the last round of the Illinois Denker Qualifier (which, just to refresh your collective memory, is the Illinois Chess Association's High School Invitational Championship).

I'm very impressed by Magness's choicce on move three!

Rosen-Magness, Skokie 2011

Black to play

3...c5 was Karpov's choice against Korchnoi in the 1978 world championship.  The idea of swapping the c-pawn for White's d-pawn is positionally sound, and Black scores well with this variation.  But I always felt a little uncomfortable after 4.e5 Ng8.  The artificial isolation of the e5 pawn offsets White's space and time advantages, but doesn't make the opening fun to play!  And Karpov lost that game.

After 4...Ng8: White to play

Would you be comfortable with the Black pieces?

3...d5 is the most popular move here, but White just seems to have a nice position after 4.e5 d4 5.exf6 dxc3 6.bxc3 Qxf6 7.d4.

After 7.d4: Black to play

Seems pleasant for White!

Trevor's radical choice was new to me, but it's been played recently by the Filipino prodigy Wesley So:

After 3...e5!?

Beginner's move or brilliant idea?

One idea behind Black's deliberate waste of time is that White's combination of e2-e4 and c2-c4 is double-edged, as dark squares are weakened.  Another way of looking at this position: it's as if this were a Vienna Game (1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6) in which White gets the move c2-c4 "for free," but the value of the extra tempo is unclear.  Anyway, 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.d4 cxc4 6.Nxd4 seems like a critical continuation.  White would love to trick Black into an advantageous version of the Scotch Four Knights (recall that there's a line in which White plays Nc3-a4 to gain space with c2-c4), but Black doesn't have to allow such nonsense.

In the game above, Eric played more quietly against Trevor, and didn't get anything from the opening.  If I can learn a new move on move three of an opening that I defended against for twenty years, then I've got to believe that chess is still full of surprises!

After busy season, I'll have more to say about this game on the ICA website.  Perhaps in the interim, folks can explain this opening to me :-)

Photos from this weekend on the "ICA Warren Junior Chess Scholars" Facebook page

Here's the link: enjoy! 

(Fixed broken link...I hope!)

Wendi Fischer of America's Foundation for Chess featured in USA Today

Check it out!  AF4C has a substantial Chicago presence.

Tragicomedy with major pieces

Here's the 2nd round game between NM Eric Rosen and NM Adarsh Jayakumar from this weekend's Denker Qualifier.  As both players had dropped points in the first round, the loser would be eliminated from contention for first. 

Rosen-Jayakumar, Skokie 2011 
Black to move

So you're playing the Black pieces in the position above.  You've just made the "standard" rook for five pawns sacrifice, and White's king is walking.  But you're living off the thirty-second increment, which means you've got to come up with the best move quickly.  What do you do?

Look for the answer (and annotations) on the ICA website  in a few days.

Special thanks to Adarsh Jayakumar for seeing the humor in this painful loss!

Chicago connections - Tim Redman

The Filipino IM Julio Catalino Sadorra, who plays for the University of Texas at Dallas, just earned his third GM norm in a grandmasters-vs.-UTD students "Scheveningen style" event.

So what's the Chicago connection, and why am I linking to an article in a Manila business paper?  The answer: Tim Redman.

NM Trevor Magness wins his second Illinois Denker Qualifier

Wow: Trevor joins Kayin Barclay and Yelena Gorlin as a two-time winner of the Illinois High School Invitational Championship title(*).  As in 2009, Trevor will represent Illinois in the Denker Tournament of High School Champions.  After losing to freshman Sam Schmakel in round 2, Trevor reeled off consecutive wins against Michael Auger, Jonathan Kogen, and NM Eric Rosen to take clear first with a 4-1 score.

I expect Tommy Ulrich to earn his master title soon.  He was leading the tournament until losing to Rosen in round 4, and took second on tiebreaks with 3½-1½.  NM Adarsh Jayakumar was essentially eliminated from contention after being held to half a point by Kogen and Rosen in the first two rounds, but won out to tie for second with Ulrich.

Defending champion Eric Rosen, day one co-leader Sam Schmakel, and Michael Auger finished with 3-2 scores.  Jonathan Kogen had a strong 2½-2½, losing only to NMs Rosen and Magness, and drawing NM Jayakumar.

Andi Rosen organized the event for the Illinois Chess Association's Warren Junior Program.  Sevan Muradian directed, and donated the facilities of the North Shore Chess Center.


Crosstable here!

(*)  P.S.  I was reminded that NM William Aramil also won the Illinois Denker Qualifier twice, not to mention the Denker!  So there's a new goal for Trevor....

Victoria Bian wins Illinois Girls' Invitational

Cheryl Liu beat Victoria in the round three encounter of the leaders, but then Cheryl lost to Rachel Ulrich (who was ten years old the last time I asked!) in round 4.

=1st-2nd: Victoria Bian and Cheryl Liu, Victorial Bian wins on tiebreaks.

Other top finishers in this five-round round robin: Sonya Vohra (3-2) and Rachel Ulrich (2½-2½).

Crosstable here!

Andi Rosen organized for the Illinois Chess Association; Sevan Muradian directed.

A note to parents

Rumor has it that some parents (no one's given me any names) want the PGN of their young stars' games embargoed until after the national championships.  Carlsen, Anand, and Aronian don't have this luxury!

Wouldn't it be better to publish the games, warts and all?  Then the young players can discover their opening errors, correct them, and prepare their repertoire in even greater depth?  This worked for Fischer.

Zachary Holecek wins 2011 Barber Qualifier

 The Illinois Chess Association held its first "Barber Qualifier," to select the Illinois representative to the USCF's new tournament of K-8 state champions, named in honor of retiring scholastic organizer Dewain Barber.  The event, held at the North Shore Chess Center in Skokie, was organized by Andi Rosen of the Illinois Chess Association's Warren Junior Program and directed by Sevan Muradian.  Sixteen of the top K-8 players in the state were invited.

Zachary Holecek and James Wei tied for first with 4-1 scores; Zachary won on tiebreaks.  Gavin McClanahan and Max Zinski tied for third with 3½-1½ scores.  Conrad Oberhaus and Day One leader Bryce McClanahan tied for fifth with 3-2 scores; Penny Xu and Nathaniel Kranjc had even scores.

Crosstable here!

 Proud father David Holecek writes:

Zachary Holecek is a five-time Illinois State Champion [...] winning his 17th place as a preschooler in K-3 section and winning his first state title in Kindergarten.  

He loves chess and keeps busy with his other activities (basketball, soccer, scholastic bowl, and assists Dave Monatelli with the Sprague elementary chess team).

Chicago Conference Chess Championship

Lifted from the Fenwick High School website: congratulations to Ian Kowalski!

Friar Wins Chicago Conference Chess Championship

 The Fenwick Chess Team ended the season in third place in the Chicago Chess Conference.  Chess players compete both as a team and as individuals. Senior Ian Kowalski played the "first board"--the most competitive position in team chess.  He ended the regular season in first place in the conference and then won the individual championship in a tournament held at St. Patrick's High School on Saturday March 25th.  Kowalski and senior Jen Concepcion completed the five-round regular tournament in a four-way tie with two players from St. Patrick's.  In a two game blitz playoff (an overtime in chess play,) Ian took first place and Jen placed fourth. 

Also competing in the individual tournament were Jan Concepcion, Josh Orenic and Valente Herrera. 

The Chicago Chess Conference consists of the Catholic High Schools in the Chicago metropolitan area.

Cool new feature on MSA

The U.S. Chess Federation's Member Services Area keeps improving each month!

If you visit Adarsh Jayakumar's MSA page, you'll find out that as of the April 2011 rating list (already out), Adarsh is ranked #374 among all active players in the US, and #59 among juniors.

Eric Rosen is #354 in the nation, #55 among juniors.

Sadly, Yury Shulman does not make the top juniors list, but he's tied for 6th in the nation.

It works for mere bloggers, too.

Hat tip to the South Suburban Chess Club of Greater Chicago for calling this to our attention, and thanks to Mike Nolan for his hard work!

March Madness in Skokie

 Penny Yu vs. Sam Schmakel

Brad Rosen takes a look at the big weekend ahead.  ICA sponsors three different invitational youth championships this weekend!  Stop by the North Shore Chess Center for a glimpse of the action!  (But be aware that access to the tournament floor may be limited.)

Perhaps the blogger quoted in the article meant his last sentence ironically, signalling that he had run out of tired clichés.  But these young men and women are truly brilliant, hard-working, and nice people.

Korchnoi at 80

 Age is just a number: Korchnoi beat Fabiano Caruana just a couple months ago!

Coverage at ChessBase and ChessVibes.

French players suspended for cheating

The French Chess Federation has suspended GMs Sebastian Feller and Arnaud Hauchard, and IM Cyril Marzolo, concluding that they cheated during the September 2010 Olympiad held in Khanty-Mansiysk. Here is how they allegedly did so:

[A]ccording to Jean-Claude Moingt the cheat the system went as follows: Cyril Marzolo sent SMS text messages with phone numbers which functioned as code. The first two digits were always 06, the following two were the number the move, the 5th and 6th figures would refer to the starting square, the 7th and 8th to the ending square, and finally, two counts of no importance. For example: 06 01 52 54 37, 06 01 57 55 99, 06 02 71 63 84, 06 02 67 65 43 are the codes for the moves constituting the Latvian Gambit (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f5). This is actually the international notation of correspondence chess.
Arnaud Hauchard kept the two phones with him: his own and that of Sebastien Feller. He consulted and then returned to the bar at the venue. The way to indicate moves to Feller was as follows: the opponent of Vachier-Lagrave: A and 1, the opponent of Fressinet: B and 2, the opponent of Tkachiev: C and 3, the opponent of Feller: D and 4, Feller: E and 5, Tkachiev: F and 6, Fressinet: G and 7 and finally Vachier Lagrave: H and 8. For example if Arnaud Hauchard revolved around the table and stopped some time behind the opponent Tkachiev, and then behind that of Fressinet, he was signalling square c2.

ChessBase and ChessVibes (the source of the above quotation) have more. Just two months before the Olympiad, Feller (then rated 2611) had won the Paris Championship with an 8-1 score and an "amazing" 2859 performance rating. One has to wonder whether that result was legitimate.

Angelo Young, Andrew Karklins tie for first in St. Louis

Angelo even took first on tiebreaks; the field included GMs Kudrin and Finegold.

Crosstable here!

Story here!

North Shore Chess Center tourney tomorrow

Another email cut-and-paste:

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 3/19. 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. Additional questions email to: sevan@nachess.org. USCF rated. For online registration and list of more events please visit - http://www.nachess.org/events

CheckMates Chess Academy classes beginning soon in Lincolnshire

Via George Krasnopolsky and the CheckMates USA blog:

Info here!

Get your brackets ready...

...for the ICA's equivalent of March Madness:

• the 2011 Denker Qualifier (High School Invitational Championship)
• the 2011 Girls' Invitiational
• the brand-new Barber Qualifier (Invitational K-8 Championship)

The participant list is here!  These championship events will be held over the weekend of March 27-28 at the North Shore Chess Center in Skokie.

Betsy Dynako's photos featured in New in Chess 2011.1

Loek van Wely (photo Betsy Dynako)

Certainly I would have beaten GM Van Wely's lovely friend WIM Sonia Zepeda in last year's Chicago Open, had the troublemaking Betsy Dynako not urged me immediately prior to the beginning of the game to pay less attention to the board and more to the objectification of my opponent.  

Dynako: "She's very pretty."

blogger: "I only look at the women that I'm not playing."

Ms. Zepeda found a couple nice shots to turn a probable loss into a smooth win.

If you can afford the steep price, the trial subscription ($48 for five issues of New in Chess) is a very good deal!

Only a few hours left to save $20!

I paid $203 today to enter the Chicago Open online.  The price goes up $20 tomorrow!

Lufei Ruan at North Shore Chess Center

Brad Rosen reports on last Saturday's lecture.

Carlsen seems to be taking Amber seriously....

...according to the profile (teaser only online) in this week's New Yorker, available in both of Chicago's remaining bookstores.

Charlie Sheen, Bobby Fischer, and #notwinning

In the Wall Street Journal, of all places.  (Hat tip to Kevin Bachler.)

If Tigran Petrosian and Simon Webb had #tigerblood, so too must Tiger Hillarp Persson.

OK, enough of that.

Motokimi Yono

Motokimi Yono is in the Industrial Design program at UIC.  Here are two of several chess-related designs in Motokimi's portfolio:

Free live commentary of the Amber event

Sunday's Round 2 commentary begins (I think!) at 8:30 Central Daylight Time. 

In his Round 1 wrapup, Ronen Har-Zvi covered a hilarious series of double blunders by Nakamura and Carlsen (in their defense, they were playing blindfold), and features Alexander Grischuk's amazing win against Vladimir Kramnik (also blindfold!).

Most absurd Internet game yet

It turns out that my fourth move is a novelty, deviating from the more subtle 4...Bd6 of Krebs-Diemer, Germany 1974 (0-1, 13). Diemer (1908-90), a Nazi, shares billing credit for the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit and wrote the 1957 book "Playing for Mate From the First Move."

Chess: The Song!

Don't miss Chess: The Song! Amusing, though I don't think it'll be a mainstream hit like One Night in Bangkok.

20th annual Chicago Open

Another cut-and-paste from my email: make your plans for Memorial Day weekend!  Please remember that Illinois Chess Association membership is required for all rated Illinois residents.  You get a discount when you renew your ICA membership at the same time you register for the Chicago Open!

CHICAGO AREA CHESS FESTIVAL
Memorial Day Weekend

20th annual CHICAGO OPEN
Open Section: May 26-30, 9 rounds, norms possible
Other Sections: May 27-30, 28-30 or 29-30, 7 rounds

At the luxurious, AAA four diamonds Westin North Shore Hotel, Wheeling, Illinois.  Special chess rates $99 for 1-4 in room.  Reserve your room as early as possible by calling 800-937-8461 or 847-777-6500.  The reservation deadline is May 13, but the chess block may sell out earlier.

$100,000 GUARANTEED PRIZE FUND

     NEW THIS YEAR!
     1) FREE ANALYSIS OF YOUR GAMES by Grandmaster John Fedorowicz.  Begins two hours after the start of each 4-day round and continues for about three hours.  All players are welcome to submit their game scores for analysis.
     2) FREE LECTURES by Grandmaster John Fedorowicz each day May 27-30, beginning 5 pm May 27, 9 am each day May 28, 29, 30.
     3)  QUICK OR BLITZ side events twice daily May 28, 29, 30.
     4)  LARGE CLASS PRIZES in each section in addition to the place prizes. This event has had Master class prizes in the past, but this year will also have a $1000 class prize for U2000 in the U2100 Section, U1800 in the U1900, U1600 in the U1700, U1350 in the U1500, and $800 for U1000 in the U1200.          In 6 sections.  FIDE ratings used for Open Section, USCF official May list for other sections.  ENTER BY MARCH 15 FOR LOWEST FEE.
OPEN SECTION: $10000-5000-2500-1200-1000-700-600-500-400-400, clear or tiebreak 1st $200 bonus, top FIDE 2300-2499 (NOT 2449) $2500-1500-1000, top FIDE Under 2300 or unrated $2500-1500-1000.  300 Grand Prix Points (enhanced). 

UNDER 2100 SECTION: $6000-3000-1500-1000-700-500-400-300-300-300, top U2000 $1000.  Unrated may not win over $2000.

UNDER 1900 SECTION: $6000-3000-1500-1000-700-500-400-300-300-300, top U1800 $1000. Unrated may not win over $1500.
UNDER 1700 SECTION: $6000-3000-1500-1000-700-500-400-300-300-300, top U1600 $1000. Unrated may not win over $1000.

UNDER 1500 SECTION: $5000-2500-1300-1000-700-500-400-300-300-300, top Under 1350 $1000. Unrated may not win over $600, provisional (4-25 lifetime games) may not win over $2500.

UNDER 1200 SECTION: $4000-2000-1000-700-600-500-400-300-300-300, top Under 1000 $800.  Unrated may not win over $300, provisional (4-25 lifetime games) may not win over $1500.

RATING DROP PRIZE LIMIT: Players who have had official ratings more than 30 points above section maximum any month May 2010 through April 2011 may not win over $1500.

 Full details (in many garish colors) here!

 Enter here!

Natalie Broughton?

Illinois Chess Association Treasurer Carl Dolson is the managing trustee of the ICA's Broughton Fund, which periodically awards the Natalie Broughton Life Achievement Award.  Carl's been asked to write a short biography of Natalie for the ICA website, and was stumped.  He writes:

The only thing I can find on the internet is from a Time Magazine article from 1972 on “Why They Play: The Psychology of Chess” in which Natalie Brougton, “a Chicago suburban housewife” is quoted as saying “My favorite gambit against male opponents is Sitzfleish. If you sit long enough, staring and pondering, you don’t have to have a fast mind. The other person will become so annoyed and tired that he finally slips.” I thought you, or other Chicagoans you know, would be able to fill in some of the blanks on Ms. Broughton.

I also found a notice of death from the June 7, 2002 Chicago Tribune for Natalie W. Broughton of Evanston, age 85, beloved wife of the late Donald B. Broughton, burial at Memorial Park Cemetery, Skokie. No obituary.

I moved to Chicago in 1979, and I don't recall having met Mrs. Broughton.  Readers?

Schmakel-Felecan now on ICA chess blog

Black to play

What's the best move?

 Follow this link to enjoy this cool game!

Downers Grove Swiss April 9th

Cut and pasted from Daniel Parmet's email!

Downers Grove Chess Swiss #7 tournament on April 9th is now up to 4 Guaranteed Masters participating!!! IM Florin Felecan, NM Trevor Magness, FM Albert Chow and NM Mariano Acosta will be in attendance! A great warm-up for the Chicago Open!!

I'm running on April 9th [sic] in Downers Grove Chess Club. Time control will be G/60 with 5 second delay. 4 round swiss, boards, sets and clocks provided.

See the ICA Tournament Calendar for more info!

Quiz answer

Here's the answer to the quiz that I flunked in over-the-board play:

Hayhurst-Brock

Chicago Industrial Chess League, 2011

After 71...g5: White to play and win

It would have been time for me to throw in the towel after the simple but difficult 71.hxg5! hxg5 72.Nd5!   It would have been a well-deserved victory for the Bh3, which had been engaged in a domination struggle with the Ne3 for a couple dozen moves.

Both players knew that White could not afford to trade away all his pawns, so we both overlooked that in certain situations, White might want to initiate the trade.  (Hayhurst was in severe time pressure, but I had a good twenty minutes.)

"Taking It Up a Level"

Do you have the proper mindset when you sit down to play a higher-rated player?

Check out NM Jon Burgess's article on the ICA website, based on his recent lecture to the Evanston Chess Club.

Schmakel-Felecan, Skokie 2011

Today I had the pleasure of co-annotating Sam Schmakel's fascinating game with IM Florin Felecan.  Look for the article shortly on the ICA website!

Free lessons at Chicago Chess Kids, CPL Edgebrook branch

Details here!