My favorite chess app for the iPhone / iPad

As of now, it's tChess Pro version 1.7.1.  I've been using it on the iPhone for almost three years: the interface is easy and intuitive, the features are nice, and the playing engine is reasonably strong.  (I lost the first game I played against it, and many more since then.) There may be stronger engines, but tChess is snappy!

There's a dual core option on the iPad 2: not sure how many ELO this would add.  But if you're looking for raw strength, the iPhone and iPad are the wrong platforms.

Most of these screenshots are from my iPad, with the exception of one iPad screenshot grabbed from the developer's website.  But the iPhone look and feel is very similar: I don't feel all thumbs with this GUI even on a tiny screen (compare my ChessBase 1.1 hatefest, which was essentially a rant about ChessBase's GUI.)

I'm about to start a new game.

Grr...only a draw. (Trust me, I wasn't going to show you a screenshot with my usual rating of 1650.) And tChess was not set to play at full strength.

I can find out that the game was a Marshall Attack, ECO code C89.

Perhaps I should look at a Fischer game instead. Or I could look at the game that one of my Industrial League teammates just sent to me. Or I could open a database of my own games. Or I could play through the tournament game I just played on my iPhone, identify my gross tactical blunders, and email the game score to myself. (My biggest complaint: tChess Pro does not support any variations within PGN. It really should.)

You can have up to 25 PGN files on the device: before I started this review, I had twenty on my iPhone. One can copy and paste PGN into tChess, and perform some basic editing on PGN headers. Even the ChessBase of twenty years ago had far more advanced database features, but the ease of accessing the game you've forgotten is a delight.

I've never cared for 3D representations of the chess board: if I want 3D, I'll get out a set. But some folks think this is cool.

Frustrated by your ratings history? Delete and create a new player profile.

This app is well worth $7.99!

Another reason to enter the Illinois Class Championships this weekend

World under-8 champion Awonder Liang will be there!  I hope he's playing up: it's necessary to beat the prodigies while they're still young.


Join us this coming Saturday and Sunday at the Orland Park Cultural Center.  


Details here!


Enter online here!


Hat tip Brad Rosen.

London Round 4: Anand 0 - Nakamura 1 !!!

Yesterday, GMHikaru tweeted, "The single most important thing in life is to believe in yourself regardless of what everyone else says" After Nakamura's disastrous showing in the Tal Memorial in Moscow, this blogger was one of the doubters. It is good to be proven wrong!

In the first four rounds of this event, Nakamura has drawn Kramnik, beaten Aronian, lost to Carlsen, and beaten Anand. That's +1 against the top four players in the world.

In the Classical King's Indian, White's kingside attack arrives first.  Indeed, in the position after move 21, it looks like Nakamura is about to get swept off the board.

But Black is attacking White's king!  If Black breaks through, Black will bring pain.  The biggest win in Hikaru's career?

More to follow!

So maybe AAPL isn't incredibly overvalued?

I've belonged to the iPhone cult for several years. The iPad that I've owned for two days is kinda nice, too. Look for chess software reviews in coming weeks.... One problem with the iWorld is that it's not flash-friendly, and we're using ChessFlash to present games. Advice would be appreciated!

World Under-8 Champion Awonder Liang featured in New York Times

Check it out!

Fish Men

Coming next May 26 to the Goodman Theatre in Chicago: Fish Men, a play about chess hustlers in Washington Square Park in New York.

Youth Chess Foundation of Chicago event at Rickover Naval Academy

Mike Cardinale of the Youth Chess Foundation of Chicago and Michael Biela (principal of Rickover Naval Academy, a CPS school on the Senn High School campus) hosted a 5-round game/20 event today that drew about 280 players. 

I had to leave before the awards ceremony, so I don't have final standings.  Unofficially, Abdel Raoul took clear first in the top section with a perfect 5-0.  I saw him drop a Fried Liver on Abraham Cornejo in Round 4 and win with good endgame technique.

And here are a few photos of the action in the Senn/Rickover cafeteria.  (An iPhone doesn't do the space justice: one would need a wide-angle lens.)

Mark your calendars for the next YCF event on January 21st, at De La Salle Institute / St. Columbanus, 3434 S. Michigan Avenue.

London Chess Classic underway

Chicago Blaze manager Daniel Parmet is working the event, and Illinois Chess Association President Tom Sprandel is in London.  Maybe we can get some inside info....

The nine grandmasters (including the world's top four: Carlsen, Anand, Aronian, Kramnik) played a fun exhibition game against "the rest of the world" on Twitter.  The geniuses won easily, but they missed an amazing combination (checkmate or win of queen) in the position below:

Black to play and win quickly

Follow this link for the answer, the entertaining game, and the notes.

Follow Round 1 (right now!) at the official site, WhyChess, The Week in Chess, or your favorite paid provider. 

Schein-Friedman award

If you're one of the top juniors in the country in your age group, don't overlook this opportunity!

Anand on Fischer

World Champion Viswanathan Anand.  Photo: Amit Bhargava/AP

...and other topics in The Guardian.

The London Chess Classic begins tomorrow!

Chicago Latino Championships

Eliza Blancas (age 92) vs. Elizabeth Rivera (age 6)

Keith Ammann informa para la Asociación de Ajedrez de Illinois.

Author, author!

Shiva Maharaj showed me this cute study the other day.  I figured out that the theme was domination, but could not find the main line.

So whose study is it?  I'll guess Kasparyan.  (Duh: the obvious guess.)  But if someone with the van der Heijden database would clue me in, I'd appreciate it and will amend to give credit.

"Chess forges friendship, keeps it in check "

"As buddies, Loop lawyer, homeless man seem an unlikely match."   From today's Chicago Tribune.

November CICL Bulletin

It's here!

"Sucesso in Brazil"

Story at Chess Life Online!

Illinois Class in Orland Park, December 10-11!

Enough of that.  Back to constructive things.

Cribbed from the ICA Tournament Calendar:

Illinois Class Championships

12/10/2011 - 12/11/2011 

Orland Park Cultural Center - Orland Park

4SS, G90 + 30 sec. U1000/U700 Sections plays 5SS, G/75 with separate schedule. Orland Park Cultural Center, 14760 Park Lane, Orland Park, 60090 (from    I-355 take IL-171 Archer Rd Exit toward 143rd Street (7.5 mi), take West St toward 147th St and follow the curve.  From I-55 take US-12E/US-20E/US-45E/ S LaGrange Rd (10 mi); take W 144 PL and follow the curve). Free parking. Prizes $2,000 based on 80 paid entries. In 8 sections; no unrated allowed in Master/Expert section. Master/Expert (2000/up): $250-175-150-100-75. FIDE.  Class A (1800-1999/unr): $125-75-50. FIDE. Class B (1600-1799/Unr): $125-75-50. Class C (1400-1599/Unr): $125-75-50. Class D (1200-1399/Unr): $125-75-50. Class E (Under 1200/Unr): $125-75-50. Under 1000 (K-12 only): Tro­phies to top 5. Under 700 (K-12 only): Trophies to top 5. Rated players may play up one section (additional $10). Unrated prize limit $50 on each section. Top 6 sections EF: Top 6 sections EF: $50 by 11/20, $60 after 11/20; $70 at site. U1000/U700: $25 by 11/20, $30 after 11/20; $40 at site. No credit cards on site! Online reservations and payments at www.intecsus.org Official uschess.org December supplement for ratings will be used if otherwise unrated. Schedule: Reg. on Dec. 10^th at 8:30 – 9:30 am  Top 6 sections: Sat: 10:00 am & 3:00 pm; Sun: 10:00 am & 3:00 pm U1000/U700 sections: Sat: 10:00 am, 1:00 pm, 3:00 pm; Sun:  10:00 am, 1:00 pm Bye: all, must commit before rd 2 or not have plus score.  Boards, Sets, and Clocks will be provided by the North American Chess Association. Organizer supplied equipment must be used. Hotels: Comfort Inn Suites (8800 W 159TH ST Orland Park, IL 60462); HR: $85; Homewood Suites by Hilton (16245 LaGrange Road Orland Park, IL 60467); HR: $135 Both hotels are located in 10-15 minutes drive from the tournament site.
Ent: IntECS, Inc., 63 W 75^th St., Willowbrook, IL 60527 www.intecsus.org 630-789-2951
Chess Magnet School JGP.

Before the police were called....

David Heiser sent me a Facebook "friend" request some weeks ago,  I turned it down, as I generally do when I get a request from a person I believe to be of low character.  But I held my tongue at the time.

Today, I touched David on the shoulder.   (In retrospect, a big mistake, I know, as Sheila Heiser had made it clear she had no interest in talking: but I hadn't heard that from David.).  David threatened to "lay me on the ground."

As the folks at the office said, "This is all about chess?"

I sincerely believe that the ICA proposal for Chicago Public Schools is far stronger than the Renaissance Knights proposal.  But I believe in the transformational power of chess in the schools strongly enough that, for all my misgivings, I'd be willing to back the Renaissance Knights proposal.  After all, the children in Chicago Public Schools should come first.  That's all I wanted to say.

After the meeting, I'm standing outside City Hall chatting with GM Yury Shulman and Paul Kash, the Whitney Young coach, about ten yards north of the LaSalle Street entrance to City Hall.  David and Sheila walk out the door.  I motion for them to come to me, without approaching them.  They scurry back in:: Sheila yells, "I'm calling the police!"

...in appearance and fact

Two questions:

Who are the members of the board of Renaissance Knights Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization incorporated in Illinois?

Who are the paid employees and independent contractors of Renaissance Knights Foundation (and affiliated entities, if any)? Why didn't David Heiser want to talk about his economic self-interest at today's CPS summit meeting?  (OK, make that three questions.)

After all, this is Chicago. And people do have to eat: there's nothing nefarious about having an economic self-interest.

Top 200 in Illinois

Check out the December list!

Eric Rosen gets IM Norm at World Youth!

Eric Rosen drew his last-round game to finish in 9th place with 6/9 (+4 =4 -1) in the World Youth Championships (under-18 section) in Caldas Novas, Brazil. His opponents included two GMs, an IM, and four FMs. His only loss was to top-rated GM Samvel Ter-Sahakyan of Armenia, who won the tournament with an undefeated 8-1 score.

Eric started the tournament ranked 27th with a 2305 rating. This apparently gives him his first IM norm, less than 30 days after receiving his FM title! By my calculation, he had a performance rating of 2455. According to the tournament site, he gained 27 rating points, gaining rating points every round except in his one loss. Very impressive. Congratulations, Eric!

Here are his round-by-round results (link here):

1: WIN Vasconcelos, Paulo Cesar Silva (1897) BRA
2: DRAW Zhou, Yang-Fan (IM, 2436) ENG
3: DRAW Grandadam, Nicolas (FM, 2370)
4: WIN Benitez Lozano, Javier (2068) MEX
5: WIN FM Kantans, Toms (FM, 2338) LAT
6: WIN FM Rios Cristhian, Camilo (FM, 2388) COL
7: DRAW Salem, A R Saleh (GM, 2511) UAE
8: LOSS Ter-Sahakyan, Samvel (GM, 2556) ARM
9: DRAW Aghasaryan, Robert (FM, 2331) ARM

Silly Internet game #862

Round 8 of World Youth Chess Championship underway

Eric Rosen is playing on Board 1 against GM Samvel Ter-Sahakyan of Armenia.  Follow the action here!

Update 9:00 p.m. by Frederick Rhine Alas, Eric lost, leaving him with 5.5/8 (+4 =3 -1) with one round left. I haven't done the math, but according to Jon Burgess on Facebook he can still get an IM norm if he wins or draws tomorrow. Go Eric!! Update 2:05 p.m., courtesy Matt Pullin, who doesn't think it looks good. I agree.Update 12:20 p.m.  I've been unable to get moves for some time.  Here's the last I saw (obscure opening, still theory):

Here are the round 7 standings: Eric moves into a tie for first if he wins. Awonder Liang of Wisconsin leads the World Under-8 by a full point, while Aydin Turgut has a plus score in the same event!

Eric Rosen at World Youth Championship, Caldas Novas, Brazil

Round 5 pairings here!  Eric is doing very well so far, with two draws against higher-rated players and two wins.

I found the draws at The Week in Chess.  Eric defends a difficult Taimanov Sicilian with skill:

An exciting opening (the Ragozin QGD) fizzles out to a sterile draw:

Andi Rosen will be covering the event for Chess Life Online.

Samvel Ter-Sahakyan

GM Samvel Ter-Sahakyan of Armenia leads the event: he finished second in last year's event, held in Greece.

At least we got one championship yesterday!

("We"?  OK, I'm over 50 and living vicariously.)

NM Sam Schmakel of Whitney Young High School won his third national championship this weekend, the 10th grade section of the K-12 Championships in Dallas, Texas.

These events are not easy for the average 2200 teenager to win: Sam scored 6½-½, including 4½-½ against two fellow NMs and three experts.  The event drew 1,182 players from across the nation, including 48 in the 10th-grade section.

Crosstable here!  And here's the story on USCF's home page (no mention of Sam, but more on the event).

If only the young master could master the art of being in two places at one time.

"New York Knights extinguish Chicago Blaze in chess championship"

Bummer.

Listen to the podcast of WBEZ's coverage here!


 Chicago Blaze (10.0 – 2.0) vs New York Knights (7.5 – 4.5) 
                                 

Chicago Blaze			New York Knights
GM Mesgen Amanov: 2576	0.0	1.0	GM Giorgi Kacheishvili: 2653
GM Dmitry Gurevich: 2547	0.5	0.5	IM Irina Krush: 2560
IM Angelo Young: 2415	0.0	1.0	SM Matt Herman: 2426
NM Gopal Menon: 2222	1.0	0.0	John Fernandez: 2129
Avg Rating: 2440			Avg Rating: 2442
Chicago Total -------	1.5	2.5	------- New York Total

U.S. Chess League finals starting NOW!

Stolen from the USCL website.  I'll be stopping by shortly: good luck to the Blaze!

1. Chicago Blaze vs New York Knights                                   3:00 PM ET

If you are wondering why some teams have an average rating of above 2401, click here
All ratings listed below are August ratings - not always the ratings used for the league rating calculations!
Team listed first has White on Boards 1+3

---

Sunday, November 20th, 2011

Chicago Blaze (10.0 – 2.0) vs New York Knights (7.5 – 4.5)
                            
All Time Series Record:  (This is their first match)

Starts at 2:00 PM CST       Time Control - Game in 90 with 30 second increment    

Chicago Blaze			New York Knights
GM Mesgen Amanov: 2576			GM Giorgi Kacheishvili: 2653
GM Dmitry Gurevich: 2547			IM Irina Krush: 2560
IM Angelo Young: 2415			SM Matt Herman: 2426
NM Gopal Menon: 2222			John Fernandez: 2129
Avg Rating: 2440			Avg Rating: 2442
Chicago Total -------			------- New York Total

*Due to the World Youth and K-12 Nationals causing many players to be unavailable, Chicago agreed to allow New York to use John Fernandez on Board Four when generally that would not have been permitted as he had not played the requisite two games during the regular season


If the match ties 2 – 2, there will be a special tiebreaker.  Click here for the tiebreaker procedures.

Armenian Gambit

From Avet Demourian's September 15th Associated Press story in the Chicago Tribune

Tiny Armenia is a big player in world chess, and a new gambit could make it even bigger: mandatory chess in school.

The click-clack of chess pieces is being heard around the former Soviet nation's primary schools this fall, as the game becomes part of the curriculum along with such standards as math and history for children between the ages of 7 and 9 [....]

Wendi Fischer, executive director of the United States' Foundation for Chess [sic], has campaigned for the game to be taken up in U.S. classrooms and says Armenia's program has big potential.

"By incorporating chess as part of the curriculum, you are including a game, and that's how kids see it," Fischer said. "They think they're focused on fun. So I think it is a great way to cross over between a true hardcore curriculum that's mandatory and the young children being able to play and explore and have fun.":

"Local chess team Chicago Blaze looks to keep competition in check "

Prior to last night's Blaze match, Sevan Muradian was interviewed yesterday by Alison Cuddy of WBEZ's Eight Forty-Eight.  Listen here!

Chicago 2½, L.A. 1½!!!

Last night at the North Shore Chess Center, Dmitry Gurevich and Josh Friedel powered the Chicago Blaze to a 2½-1½ win over the L.A. Vibe.  On to the U.S. Chess League finals!

Must work: games here!

Shulman annotates another USCL Game of the Week

Check it out on the Blaze blog!

Road trip: Kings Island Open

I saw many Chicago players this weekend at the Kings Island Open in Mason, Ohio: the top section included GM Dmitry Gurevich, FM Andrew Karklins, and FM Aleksandar Stamnov, and Wayne Clark was one of the directors.  The top Illinois finisher, FM Igor Tsyganov, scored an undefeated 3½-1½ and drew GM Alexander Shabalov.  Kentucky lion Gregory Kaidanov took top honors in the Open Section with a perfect 5-0.

Congratulations to Illinois players Zhijin Hu, who won $1186 for clear first in the Under 1250 section, and Delondon Hawthorne, who won $678 for equal first in the Under 1000 section.

Vanity p.s.: I won the $678 "second-best fish" prize when the congenial NM Owechuku Iwu (who'd previously beaten me four games in a row) once again outplayed me as he normally does, but then went wrong in a tricky bishop vs. knight ending.  But is there any other kind?

Brock-Iwu, Kings Island Open 2011

Black to play

The problems that knights have in stopping rook pawns from queening are legendary.  But sometimes bishops have issues coping with rook pawns, too, especially when they're supported by a friendly king and knight.  (I learned this lesson the hard way from Jiri Marek at the 2002 Illinois Open.)

Normally, play on both sides of the board favors the player with the bishop, and Black is up two pawns to boot.  But it seems that White is not worse here!  Dr. Iwu went into a 45-minute think, then played 1...Kb3?  2.Kxf7 h4 3.Nd3, and White soon won.  What would you have done?  Some reasonable-looking moves appear to lose, and I suspect that two strange-looking moves draw.

Crosstables here!

"Masters of the Game and Leaders by Example"

Left to right: James Black Jr., Justus Williams and Joshua Colas

Richard Perry for The New York Times

Fewer than 2 percent of the 47,000 members of the United States Chess Federation are masters — and just 13 of them are under the age of 14. 

Among that select group of prodigies are three black players from the New York City area — Justus Williams, Joshua Colas and James Black Jr. — who each became masters before their 13th birthdays.

Check out this great story in The New York Times.

And let's work together to create some competition for the New Yorkers.

Stoking the starmaker machinery

Chicago Public School (CPS) chess master key to success of Chicago area professional chess team  

SKOKIE, IL, NOVEMBER 12, 2011:  Whitney Young Magnet High School sophomore Sam Schmakel has been the key that unlocked the success of Chicago’s professional chess team, the Chicago Blaze, which set a regular season best record of 8 wins, 1 draw, and 1 loss.

The Blaze entered its fourth season in 2011 with a roster that included wily veterans -- mostly Grandmasters and International Masters -- and energy filled youth players who have achieved much from a young age.

Schmakel, the best chess player ever in CPS and currently a student of Grandmaster Dmitry Gurevich, began playing chess during the summer between kindergarten and 1^st grade.  He is a product of the chess program his mother Eileen began at Decatur Classical, a CPS Gifted Program. In short order, Schmakel began to dominate the local and national scene, winning 2 national championships and winning a key game in the 2010-2011 school year, to secure the Illinois State High School Team Championship for Whitney Young.

Schmakel, who earned his title of National Master only a few months ago, has been the linchpin of success for the Blaze. He was tapped during the summer months to become part of the team and has proven himself by being undefeated in his games thus far (5-0).

Largely due to his performance, the Blaze has won its way into the Divisional Championships to take place on Monday night November 14^th at 8 p.m. Schmakel will play again that night as the Blaze try to win their first ever Divisional Championship.

The Chicago Blaze is a member of the United States Chess League (USCL), which oversees online matches among the nation’s top 16 teams.  Blaze team members gather each week during the season to play their matches at the North Shore Chess Center, located at 5500 W Touhy Ave Suite A in Skokie, IL. 

For more information on the Chicago Blaze visit http://www.chicagoblazechess.com or on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/chiblazechess

Last call - Akobian seminar

Greetings from Mason, Ohio.  I may not be posting much this weekend....

Here's a cut-and-paste from tonight's email.  The North Shore Chess Center is at 5500 West Touhy Ave. in Skokie: looks like a great event!

2 sessions available - Saturday Nov 12 or Sunday Nov 13

Enjoy a 6 hour training session with one of the top Grandmasters in the United States - GM Varuzhan Akobian! GM Akobian helped the US team achieve a bronze medal twice in the 2006 and 2008 Chess Olympiads, and a Silver medal in the 2009 World Team Championships. In 2010 GM Akobian was tapped to become the trainer/coach for the US Men's Olympiad Team as well.

You can join GM Akobian in a 6 hour marathon lecture covering openings, middle game, and end-game. He will review popular opening lines, the ideas behind them and how to transition to the middle game along with middle game strategy, and what to do (and not to do) in the end-game. You'll be invited to ask questions and discuss the pro's and con's of variations, along with testing your inner-GM against this battled hardened veteran with on the spot puzzles and challenges.

The session will begin at 11:30am and continue until 5:30pm. After a 30 minute break, GM Akobian will perform a simul. Feel free to bring your personal chess boards if you want GM Akobian to autograph it for you also! Snacks and beverages will be available.

This session is $75 for members of the North Shore Chess Center and $100 for non-members if registered by Friday evening 9pm on Nov 11. Add an additional $20 at the door. Onsite registrations cannot be guaranteed for space!

Seating is limited to 30 people on a first registered basis.

Register online - http://www.nachess.org/events

Board 4: Xiong 0 - Schmakel 1

FM Jeffrey Xiong of Dallas is only 10 years old! Sam Schmakel may be the first to get his GM title, but I'd put my money on Jeffrey to win the World Championship first.

This Najdorf is a wonderful theoretical battle that does credit to both young players.  All of this has been played before until Sam's novelty 23...Na4!?

Board 3: Amanov 0 - Holt 1

Another fascinating game on Board 3. Mesgen's preparation in the Exchange Slav is deep, but Holt deals with the homecooking and wins a complex ending, avenging his Chicago Open defeat at Mesgen's hands.

Board 2: Sadorra 1 - Friedel 0

Respect to GM Julio Sadorra, who managed to squeeze our GM Josh Friedel from an unpromising-looking QGD Tartakower.

Chicago Blaze ties Dallas Destiny 2-2, advances in playoffs!

The Blaze came in with the best regular season record and only needed to tie Dallas on Monday night to make it to the semi-finals. A tie was all they could manage, but that was enough to advance!

Here's the Board 1, matchup GM Yury Shulman of the Blaze vs. GM Cristian Chirila:


White eliminated Black's "good" bishop on move 10, but Black's position is still fully playable. After move 36, it's easy to see that White wants to evacuate the king from the kingside in preparation for the breakthrough. So White moved the king from h1 to d4 in the middle game!

To me, phase 1 of White's redeployment (moves 36-60) wasn't so hard to understand, but I was really impressed by Yury's second reorganization (moves 60-66). Every available unit is needed for the attack, including the lowly h-pawn!

This was the last game to finish: Yury kept the draw comfortably in hand and patiently improved his position until it became clear that he would need to win for the Blaze to advance.  And win he did: congratuations, Grandmaster!

BOBBY FISCHER AGAINST THE WORLD: Chicago premiere, this Friday at Facets!

BOBBY FISCHER AGAINST THE WORLD

"All I want to do, ever, is just play chess." -Bobby Fischer

Bobby Fischer Against the World is a fascinating documentary that charts the turbulent life – from a childhood of isolation and neglect to young chess prodigy, world champion and subsequent madness and disgrace – of one of chess's undisputed masters. The World Championship of 1972, Fischer vs. Spassky, was replete with Cold War implications as a nation pinned its hopes on Fischer as the man to end Soviet dominance. As the center of media attention, Fischer was never equipped for a life in the spotlight and veteran filmmaker Liz Garbus (The Farm: Angola USA), exposes the disturbingly high price Fischer paid to achieve his legendary success as well as the resulting toll it took on his psyche. Fischer was a recluse for decades before resurfacing for a bizarre final chapter as a fugitive and rare archival footage alongside insightful interviews with those closest to him expand this captivating story of a mastermind's tumultuous rise — and fall.

Directed by Liz Garbus, U.S.A./UK/Iceland, 2010, 93 mins. In English and Russian with English subtitles

Showtimes: Fri., Nov. 11 at 7 & 9 pm Sat.-Sun., Nov. 12-13 at 3, 5, 7 & 9 pm Mon.-Thurs., Nov. 14-17 at 7 & 9 pm

Facets Multimedia is a Chicago treasure: it's at 1517 W. Fullerton Ave. Call 800.331.6197 for more info.

Stunning decoys

(And no, we're not talking about carved wooden mallard ducks.) One final tactical example from Yakov Neistadt's Improve Your Chess Tactics (New in Chess, 2011): buy this book!

The legendary Nona Gaprindashvili missed an amazing shot in her 1979 game from the Soviet Championship with Irina Levitina. I'll quote from Neistadt's explanation, but I'll leave out the amazing move she missed.

Levitina-Gaprindashvili, Tbilisi 1979

White to play has to stop mate on g2 somehow....

Neistadt writes:

"Black has just played her queen to f3, to threaten mate.  In reply to 1.Qc6 (or 1.Qxe5+ Bf6 2.Qe4 Rfe8, Gaprindashvili's original calculations had gone 1...e4 and after 2.Qxe4 the decoy sacrifice 2...Rge8 3.Nxe8+ Rxe8.  But when the white queen appeared on c6, she realized that at the end of this variation, White in her turn can attack the queen with 4.Nd4

Levitina-Gaprindashvili, Tbilisi 1979

Analysis after 4.Nd4: Black to play

(4...Rxe4 5.Nxf3), and Gaprindashvili was forced to abandon her original intention.  Instead of 1...e4 she played 1...Qf5 and soon lost.

However, [...]"

So what did Nona miss?

Stolen from Facebook

...specifically from Blaze manager Daniel Parmet's post.

Tonight in the first round of playoffs the Chicago Blaze takes on the Dallas Destiny! Tune in to ICC at 7pm CST to watch the fiery match! Board1: GM Yury Shulman fresh off his GOTW win! vs GM Cristian Chirilia Board2: GM Julio Sadorra vs GM Josh Friedel Board3: GM Mesgen Amanov vs IM Conrad Holt Board4: FM Jeffrey Xiong vs NM Sam Schmakel Blaze advances on a draw!

Or stop by the North Shore Chess Center!

The pin must win

With the absolute pin (pins?), all things are possible, as demonstrated by this puzzle from Yakov Neistadt's Improve Your Chess Tactics (New in Chess, 2011).

Parr-Wheatcroft, London 1938

White to play and win

Of course you see the solution immediately....

...but can you imagine carelessly missing this shot (or, even worse, allowing it) in a tournament game?

White to play and win

Once again, this is from  Winning Chess Exercises For Kids, a fabulous workbook for advanced beginners!

Board 4: Young 1 - Adamson 0

Parents will make sacrifices so their little ones can get ahead in life. So too bishops. With his killer shot on move 60, Angelo Young saved the Blaze from defeat. Well done!

Board 4: Atoufi 1 - Menon 0

Trendsetter Gopal Menon plays the fashionable 4...Qb6!?  (I don't even know the name of this line: 2...Nc6 and 4...Qb6 is the Grivas Sicilian proper, and the Grivas is reached in the game by transposition.)

25...Qb3?! 26.Rda1! did not work well for Black in the game.  Instead, Black could have played 25...Bxc4! 26.Qxc4 Rxa5, the point being that the pawn fork 27.b4 can be met by 27...Ra4 with messy play.

Board 2: Altounian 1 - Felecan 0

Black gets overambitious against White's hypermodern noodling-around and doesn't get enough for the sacrificed pawns.  But Florin sets a beautiful coffeehouse trap on move 32.  Black doesn't take the poisoned queen, but doesn't find one of the several clear winning lines, either, and Felecan is back in the game.

Then 37...Rf6? allows 38.d5!  Ouch.  Chess is hard.

Blaze 2 - Arizona 2: Shulman's Board 1 win

First, belated congratulations to the Chicago Blaze for a fabulous regular season (8 wins, 1 loss, and Monday's tie against the Arizona Scorpions), and best of luck in the playoffs!  (About which more later.)

On Board 1, Mackenzie Molner played a Nimzoindian line that I've always found attractive in the abstract, but never understood well enough to risk in tournament play.  (Black's bishop appears to be trapped after 6...Ba5, but not really.)  Shulman plays for the center, eliminates the pesky Nc5, and creates weaknesses in the Black camp on e6 and c6.  But Molner defends well until a slip on move 39.

Find White's winning move in the diagram below!

Yury Shulman lecture / simul TODAY at Ida Noyes!

Details here.  Might be too late to grab a board, but it's not too late to hear Yury's lecture and kibitz!

University of Chicago

Ida Noyes - East Lounge 1212 East 59th Street

Chicago, IL 60637

Saturday, November 5, 4:30PM

Lecture is open to all. Spaces limited for simul, please RSVP to reserve space. You will be sent an email before the event telling you if you have a spot or if you are on the waiting list.

Priority given to active chess club members. Members of the public welcome.

The Pillsbury mate

Another exercise from Jeff Coakley's Winning Chess Exercises For Kids.

 White to play and mate

Be honest: did you have to calculate the solution, or did you solve it instantly because you knew the mating pattern?  (But please don't ask the author of this blog entry to be honest.)

A Larsen shot

Stealing yet again from Yakov Neistadt's Improve Your Chess Tactics (New in Chess, 2011).

Like Petrosian, Bent Larsen was best known as a positional player.  But he too was an outstanding tactician, and in his wonder year 1967, he didn't miss too many shots.

Black has some chances in the knight ending, but does he need to make the game last that long?

Westerinen-Larsen, Havana 1967

Black to play and win

Similar Sandrin slugfests

Irving Chernev, who wrote "Wonders and Curiosities of Chess," would have loved this. The following two games were both played at the U.S. Open, five years apart. The White players were brothers from Chicago named Albert and Angelo Sandrin, who both became Life Masters. In both games, White played exf7+, to which Black responded with ...Kh8. A few moves later, White captured Black's rook on f8 for free and with check, checked again with the capturing piece in order to vacate the f8 square, and then underpromoted his f-pawn to knight, checkmating Black. Commenter "Phony Benoni" (David Moody) at chessgames.com calls the games "definitely a case of sibling rivalry."

Albert's game is from the 1949 U.S. Open, which he won ahead of such luminaries as Larry Evans, Arthur Bisguier, and Anthony Santasiere.

Come join us this Sunday in Lombard...

...to honor Senior Master Andrew Karklins. We're at the same location (Buca di Beppo in Lombard, adjoining the Yorktown Shopping Center), at the same time (1 to 4 p.m.) Jim Brotsos will be our Master of Ceremonies.

Details here!

Buy your ticket here!

If you won't be able to join us this Sunday, please consider making a donation to the Illinois Chess Association's Warren Junior Program in Andrew's honor. (Details here.) Or consider a patron membership in the Illinois Chess Association in Andrew's honor! Details here.

And don't forget that ICA's annual meeting will precede the banquet, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.!

If I told you the tactical theme, the solution would be too obvious....

Here's another position from Yakov Neistadt's Improve Your Chess Tactics (New in Chess, 2011). Former World Champion Tigran Petrosian is rumored to have been a more-than-adequate tactician.

Have I mentioned that I love this book?

The book in question is Jeff Coakley's Winning Chess Exercises For Kids.

 White to play: what's White's best move?

 

In real life, successful tactics don't always give you a won game, but only a slightly superior position.

A trap in the Ruy Lopez, Alapin Defense

Semyon Alapin was a strong Russian master who originated a number of opening lines, such as the Alapin Opening (1.e4 e5 2.Ne2?!, intending to play a sort of King's Gambit Deferred with f4). The only one of much significance today is his line against the Sicilian, 1.e4 c5 2.c3, a solid line that has been played by many grandmasters and causes fits to higher-rated Black players because it's tough to beat. Among Alapin's lesser-known eponymous variations is Alapin's Defense to the Ruy Lopez. Quick, how many of you know what it is?

It's 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Bb4!?, a really stupid-looking move that does have the virtues of stopping an immediate d4 and preparing to play ...Nge7 without blocking in the bishop. Alapin did reasonably with it, including draws with Steinitz, Blackburne and Schlechter. It's only been played in 40 games in chessgames.com's 600,000-game database, only 25 of those in the last 30 years. That makes it an even rarer bird, by a factor of ten, than Bird's Defense to the Ruy Lopez (3...Nd4), seen in 502 games, 250 of them in the past 30 years.

For such an obscure line, Alapin's brainchild hasn't done badly, including a 22-move win in A. Ivanov-Lugo, U.S. Championship 2005 and a draw in Anand-Hector, Palma de Mallorca 1989.

On to the trap, which comes from IM Gary Lane at chesscafe.com this week. After the natural 4.c3 Ba5, inquiring minds will want to know why White can't just win a pawn with 5.Bxc6 dxc6 6.Nxe5, as White played in the above game. Now White could respond to 6...Qg5?! with 7.Nf3! Qxg2 8.Rg1 Qh3 9.Rxg7, since the tempting 9...Bg4 is met by 10.Ng1!, staying a pawn ahead after 10...Bxd1 11.Nxh3. Instead, Black plays 6...Qe7! 7.d4 f6! intending to regain his pawn after 8.Nf3 Qxe4+. But clever Whites will see an apparent flaw in this scheme: 8.Qh5+ g6 9.Nxg6 Qxe4+ 10.Be3 (see diagram) when 10...Qxg6 can be met by 11.Qxa5, e.g. 11...Qxg2 12.Rf1 Bh3 13.Nd2 intending 0-0-0. However, Black rudely surprises White with 10...Bg4!, reaching a winning position. 11.Qxa5 Qxg2 would be fatal, since White's king is not long for this world after 12.Nxh8 Qxh1+ 13.Kd2 Qd1# or 12.Rf1 Qf3. In the game sent in by Lane's reader, Earl Roberts of New Zealand, White tried instead 11.Qh4 Qxg2, and now Lane analyzes 12.Rf1 hxg6 13.Qxh8 Qf3 14.Qxg8+ Ke7 15.Qg7+ Ke6 and Black wins. Instead White stumbled into mate.

Roberts writes that he has lost track of how many times he has been able to reach the position after move 10 in his games, and indeed how many of his opponents have repeated the entire game! Based on this trap and other games submitted by Mr. Roberts, Lane concludes that 3...Bb4 is a good try at club level. Check out Lane's article and give it a shot!