Chicago Open Round 1: All in the family

GM Yury Shulman wins comfortably against WIM Viktorija Ni:

I am prepared to give Gabriel knight odds until age six. At age ten, he will probably be giving me knight odds:

Both photos and the cool video swiped from the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of St. Louis.

Michael Adams in Downers Grove

I played in the English grandmaster's clock simultaneous exhibition in Downers Grove last night: Adams scored a very clean 10-0 against players with median ELO comfortably above 2000. (Well, Adams did get overambitious against Jeff Dixon and was probably losing for a couple moves.)

The gracious Michael Adams signs a book for some bald guy

  Here's my game: not too embarrassing, but I lost the handle somewhere around move 32.

Thanks to Grandmaster Michael Adams, Steffen Klug, Daniel Parmet, and the Downers Grove Chess Club for a fun evening!

Braswell Memorial reminder

Worth repeating! From the Evanston Chess website:

Blitz tournament will fund Braswell Memorial High School chess prize

The Evanston Chess Club and the Illinois Chess Coaches Association (ICCA) are very pleased to announce the Isaac Braswell Memorial Prize. This new prize will recognize achievement in IHSA (Illinois) high school chess competition by an African American high school senior, and will be awarded in 2013.

Evanston Chess Club will hold a USCF-rated blitz tournament on Saturday, June 9, 2012, to raise funds for the Braswell Memorial Prize. All entry fees ($5 at the door) and free-will donations beyond the entry fee will go to the prize fund.  Registration for the tournament is from 9:00-9:30 a.m. and it will be held at the Levy Activity Center, 300 Dodge Ave., Evanston. For more information, click here. Those who cannot attend the tournament but would like to make a donation should contact Maret Thorpe.

The Braswell prize will be awarded to the African American high school senior with the highest IHSA chess rating following the IHSA State Chess Team Championship in February 2013. The winner will receive a cash prize, a plaque and recognition on the ICCA and Evanston Chess Club web sites.

Evanston Chess hopes to hold the tournament annually and continue funding the prize.

Isaac M. Braswell (1979-2012) was one of the strongest active African American chess players in the Chicago area. He reached a peak USCF rating of 2104 (expert level), in spite of poverty, disability and health challenges. Everyone who knew Isaac remembers what a friendly, funny, enthusiastic and kind person he was, even as he was a fierce competitor over-the-board. Isaac’s friendships crossed all lines of race, age, class and profession, and chess was one of many ways he connected with others. Isaac probably played chess everywhere in Chicago; he was a regular at Evanston Chess Club, and in February 2012 played for an Evanston Chess Team at the US Amateur Team-North championships. He also played in the Chicago Industrial Chess League.

Chess in Hutchinson Commons

Check it out.

The Reynolds Club is at 5706 S. University.

Not bad for a sixth-grader (or a supergrandmaster)

GM Michael Adams (photo: Chicago Tribune)

Grandmaster Michael Adams (perhaps a few years past his peak, but still #18 in the world on the live ratings list and still Britain's top player) is in town for the Chicago Open (you have two days to preregister!).

This past Saturday, Adams lectured for six (!) hours at the North Shore Chess Center, then gave a simultaneous exhibition against nineteen twenty-one brave souls.  (GM Adams only lost one game: to a sixth-grader!  (To be fair, just as GM Adams is no ordinary grandmaster, National Elementary Co-Champion Alex Bian is no ordinary sixth-grader.)  The grandmaster makes a "typical" simul oversight: Alex finishes his task with steady and crisp technique.

Final score per Sevan Muradian: 16 wins, 4 draws, and the above loss.

One or two people may still be able to squeeze into the Adams simul in Downers Grove on May 23rd.

Wow

Anand wins in 17 moves.: reminds me of games 9 and 10 of the Kasparov-Anand match.

Nice coverage on ChessBase: take their suggestion and check out the end of the game on the official video (beginning at 16:41:00 Moscow time).  A whole bunch of 2700 players were shocked, not just Gelfand.

Gelfand draws first blood

After six consecutive draws in the World Championship match between world champion Viswanathan Anand and challenger Boris Gelfand, Gelfand finally broke through to win game 7. In the final position, Anand has no reasonable defense against 39.Ng6+ Kg8 40.Rg7#. After 38...Rh1+ 39.Kxh1 e1(Q)+ 40.Kh2, Black would have to sac his queen with 40...Qxe5 41.dxe5, leaving White a rook up. WGM Natalia Pogonina, commentating at chessgames.com, observed, "Anand lost this game after provocative/weak play. Nothing special by Boris. Ok, 4-3 in Gelfand's favor, and now we are looking forward to fighting chess in the remaining 5 rounds."

As Pogonina indicates, there are only five games left in "regulation play." If the match is tied at that time, the tie will be broken by a series of rapid games, then blitz games if necessary, and finally if necessary an "Armageddon" game.

Nakamura wins U.S. Championship

Nakamura, after winning (as Black) against Kamsky, had a half-point lead over Kamsky going into the last round. Naka had White against Seirawan, who was having a horrible tournament, while Kamsky was Black against Robert Hess. The safe, "professional" thing to do would be to play solidly against Seirawan and keep an eye on Kamsky's game. If it looked like Kamsky was going to draw or lose, Naka could draw and clinch the win; if it looked like Kamsky would win, Naka could press for the win against Seirawan. Instead, Naka trotted out a "Brand X" line against Seirawan's French (1.e4 e6 2.f4?!), which is almost never seen (less than a third of a percent of the games with the French Defense) and gives Black a plus score! The critics (including me) would have said "What was he thinking!" if Naka had lost. But no, it worked like a charm - Naka crushed Seirawan, while Kamsky drew. This gave Naka the championship by a full point, undefeated, 8.5/11 (6 wins, 5 draws). This is comparable to Fischer's typical score in U.S. Championships. Congratulations to Hikaru Nakamura on his gutsy play and incredible performance!

Vanity Catalan (or, "Kids, don't do this at home")

Granted, I missed stronger continuations, and my opponent was fully equal after the Exchange sac. But if Petrosian had been a coffeehouse player, he'd have approved.

Oh yes, the U.S. Championship

It's Kamsky-Nakamura in the penultimate round: Kamsky leads by ½ point.  A Nadjorf Sicilian (6.a4 variation) is on the board.

Link to live coverage here.

Nakamura (with Black) just won a clean pawn.  The average rating of Nakamura and Kamsky is roughly equal to the average rating of Anand and Gelfand: just sayin'.

Update #2: Nakamura just won a great game. After today, he should unofficially be at least #5 in the world, and possibly #4 (ahead of World Champion Anand).     Oops, still one win short of the #4 spot.
 

Oh yes, the World Championship

Game 6 in progress: right now, Kasparov and Svidler are discussing Gelfand's and Anand's chances on the live site.

U.S. Championship Round 9

Kamsky takes the lead with a brilliancy:

Kamsky-Seirawan
2012 U.S. Championship, St. Louis
White to play and win

So why didn't Black play 23...Nd7, one asks?  The answer is not hard to find, but it's very beautiful.

Kamsky-Seirawan (variation after 23...Nxd7?)
White to play and win

"IM Felecan Appointed Coach at Northside College Prep"

Story on the ICA website: Michael Bologna reports.  Florin is a good person, a great player, and a great coach.

I'm not sure that Northside can produce a state champion in the near future (selective enrollment has its disadvantages, and I believe that Northside has the smallest student body of CPS's selective enrollment schools).  But if anyone can do it....

Interview with Cándido Tirado

From (where else) Washington Square Park Blog.

Cook County Criminal Courts Building renamed in honor of Judge George N. Leighton

The Honorable George N. Leighton Criminal Court Building

This happened a couple months ago, but I missed the story.

Sun-Times story here.  October 22nd will be Judge Leighton's 100th birthday: when he's in town on June 29th, perhaps we can get him to play an exhibition match with Erik Karklins.

Nakamura-Shulman going on right now

Follow the game at http://www.uschesschamps.com/live

Silly Internet game #671

Beware the "free pawn" that isn't free! The tactical motif seen in this game (12.Nxf7! with the idea of 12...Kxf7 13.Bg6+, winning the queen) also occurs in some traps in the Caro-Kann, for example 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7 5.Ng5 Ndf6 6.Bd3 Qxd4? 7.Nxf7! and wins.

More from CICL Playoffs

My teammate David Franklin annotates his loss to a formidable opponent, NM Tenzing Shaw of St. Charles CC:

Shipov on Anand-Gelfand

Hard to keep up with the World Championship in Moscow (let alone the U.S. Championship in St. Louis) with so much going on in Chicago!

English translation here (completed games) and here (live game).

The score after three games is 1½-1½: Gelfand has White in Game 4 (Tuesday, 6 a.m. Chicago time).

Fundraiser blitz event for Braswell Memorial prize

From the Evanston Chess website:

Blitz tournament will fund Braswell Memorial High School chess prize

The Evanston Chess Club and the Illinois Chess Coaches Association (ICCA) are very pleased to announce the Isaac Braswell Memorial Prize. This new prize will recognize achievement in IHSA (Illinois) high school chess competition by an African American high school senior, and will be awarded in 2013.

Evanston Chess Club will hold a USCF-rated blitz tournament on Saturday, June 9, 2012, to raise funds for the Braswell Memorial Prize. All entry fees ($5 at the door) and free-will donations beyond the entry fee will go to the prize fund.  Registration for the tournament is from 9:00-9:30 a.m. and it will be held at the Levy Activity Center, 300 Dodge Ave., Evanston. For more information, click here. Those who cannot attend the tournament but would like to make a donation should contact Maret Thorpe.

The Braswell prize will be awarded to the African American high school senior with the highest IHSA chess rating following the IHSA State Chess Team Championship in February 2013. The winner will receive a cash prize, a plaque and recognition on the ICCA and Evanston Chess Club web sites.

Evanston Chess hopes to hold the tournament annually and continue funding the prize.

Isaac M. Braswell (1979-2012) was one of the strongest active African American chess players in the Chicago area. He reached a peak USCF rating of 2104 (expert level), in spite of poverty, disability and health challenges. Everyone who knew Isaac remembers what a friendly, funny, enthusiastic and kind person he was, even as he was a fierce competitor over-the-board. Isaac’s friendships crossed all lines of race, age, class and profession, and chess was one of many ways he connected with others. Isaac probably played chess everywhere in Chicago; he was a regular at Evanston Chess Club, and in February 2012 played for an Evanston Chess Team at the US Amateur Team-North championships. He also played in the Chicago Industrial Chess League.

Use your fingers and toes

Nik Goncharoff of the Motorola Kings has played 612 (!!) games in the Industrial League.  So it's not surprising that he knows how to count reserve tempi.  Create zugzwang in a pawn ending, and the player who has more pawn moves in reserve will usually win:

Downers Grove CC wins 2012 CICL Title

Every team's goal: to add its name to the trophy underneath First National Bank, Western Electric, the Argonne Knights....

The trophy has a stylish traveling case:

The players had a panoramic view of Chicagoland from the 16th floor of Concord Place in Northlake (the Loop's skyline is barely visible in the picture below).

Yes, that's the Chicago skyline barely visible on the horizon

Round 2: Motorola Kings vs. DRW Trading Group

Round 2: Wombats vs. Motorola Knights

Final playoff standings per chicagochess.league.org:

Left: 2012 CICL Champions, Downers Grove CC

Downers Grove Chess Club 3-0 League Champions
Rogue Squadron 2.5-.5 2nd place
South Suburban Chess Club Wombats 2-1 3rd place
DRW Trading Group 1.5-1.5
St. Charles Chess Club 1-2
Motorola Knights 1-2
Motorola Kings 1-2
Citadel / U of Chicago 0-1 (dropped out) 

Members of 2nd place Rogue Squadron in action against St. Charles CC

Alex Bian ties for K-6 title in Nashville

Congratulations to sixth-grader Alex Bian (2052), who finished in a four-way tie for first in the 190-player K-6 section of National Elementary Championship, held this past weekend in Nashville.  Alex was paired up twice in the event and finished at 6-1.  Anshul Adve (1853)  was in contention for the national title until the final round: he finished with an undefeated 5½-1½.

Fourth-grader David Peng (1966) was the top Illinois finisher in the 284-player K-5 section, finishing with an undefeated 5½ -1½.

May CICL Bulletin

The May CICL Bulletin is out! 

Tom Friske has retired as the Industrial League's webmaster and games editor: thanks to Tom for his years of service from someone who knows what it's like....

CICL Playoffs - Round 1

Motorola Knights and the Rogue Squadron tied 3-3.

Downers Grove Chess Club beat the Motorola Kings 4½-1½.

The Wombats upset Citadel / University of Chicago 3-2 in games played.  (CITUC forfeited Board 4, so the official match score was 4½-2, with ½ point awarded to the Wombats for the upper board forfeit.)

Rounds two and three tomorrow, and the Chicago Industrial Chess League will have a new champion tomorrow night!

Round two pairings:

Downers Grove CC (1-0) - St. Charles CC (1-0)
Wombats (1-0) @ Motorola Knights (½-½)
Rogue Squadron (½-½) @ CitUC (0-1)
DRW Trading Group (0-1) @ Motorola Kings (0-1)

Irwin Gaines writes:

There may be a little confusion about the location of the playoffs.  Both the team and individual events take place at Concord Place, 16th floor, 401 W Lake St, Northlake, IL 60164.  Some early mailings used the same address but referred to Midwest Conference Center, which is a different building with the same address.  Please make sure all teams and lndividuals know that they should go to Concord Place.

Anand-Gelfand: Game 1 drawn

Small surprises, but no bombshell: Anand plays 1.d4, Gelfand plays the Grünfeld, Anand plays an obscure sideline, and Gelfand finds the critical equalizing move 14...Ra7!  If anyone had slight winning chances in the final moves, it was Black.

Nigel Short's running video commentary to Game 1 is archived on the official site

 Other free sites with coverage:

The Week in Chess
ChessBase
ChessPro (via Google Translate)

Game 2 begins at 6 a.m. local time Saturday.

How cool is this?

Above is the front cover of Archie Comics #112, dated August 1960 (the month I was born). It shows Archie studying a chess position! I just bought what appears to be the only copy available for sale on the Internet for the princely sum of $8.35, including shipping. Thank you, Bill and Jerry Wall, the publishers of White Knight Review! I learned of the comic from an article in the May/June issue of White Knight Review, a chess magazine that is available for free on the Internet here. It's a good read - check it out!

UPDATE: Here's an interesting article by Kerry Lawless (with a surname like that, let's hope he's never a criminal defendant), "Chess In Comic Books." There's no shortage of chess-themed comic book covers, it seems.

2012 CICL Individual Tournament

This tourney is open to all CICL members, and also open to all potential, future CICL members. You must be 16 years of age or older to play in this tournament. USCF membership is not required!

Email cut and paste follows:

2012 CICL Individual Tournament Announcement

To be played Saturday May12 starting at 9:00 am at

Midwest Conference Center, 16^th floor, 401 W Lake St, Northlake, IL 60164 

Please Pre-register for the 2012 CICL Individual Tournament by sending an email to:

Art Olsen
Email Address:  aolsen14@comcast.net
Cell phone: 224 829-7214 (Voice or Text)

with "Chess Tournament" in the subject line.  If unrated, please provide an estimate of rating. 

2012 CICL Individual Tournament

• Format: 3 round Swiss tournament, with multiple sections as needed
• Time Control: G/60
• Time & Date: Arrive by 9:00am sharp on Saturday May 14. Rounds expected to be at 09:15 am, 01:00 pm and 3:30pm.
• Location:

• Entry Fee: none
• Prizes: $30 for 1^st place and $20 for 2^nd place of each section. (But only for 1st place if the section has less than 7 players). All prizes are only in gift certificates or trophy (your choice).. If the value of a prize is less than $10 due to ties, cash only may be issued. Only members of the CICL are eligible for prizes..
• Registration: Please pre-register by sending email to TD Art Olsen (Email: aolsen14@comcast.net)  with Chess Tournament in the subject line. If unrated, please provide an estimate of rating.  
• Eligibility: This tourney is open to all CICL members, and also open to all potential, future CICL members. You must be 16 years of age or older to play in this tournament. USCF membership is not required.
• Ratings: Games are rated by the CICL for CICL members. Games add to CICL members' Centurion game count. Games are not rated by the USCF. Where reasonable, paring of unrated players will be avoided to help them get ratings quicker.
  
  
• Chess equipment: Please bring a chess set chess clock. and game scoresheets.
  
  

Directions to the 2012 CICL Individual Tournament  

• Midwest Conference Center is located on Lake St just off of I 290
• If you are running late on the day of the event, the tournament TD, Art Olsen, can be contacted via voice or text at 224 829-7214.

Chicago Industrial Chess League playoffs

Round 1 of the playoffs is underway: DRW (led by FM Igor Tsyganov) lost to St Charles (led by NM Tenzing Shaw) 5-1  Result here  (Any team that can put NM Mariano Acosta on Board 3 is kinda strong!)

Tonight, the Rogue Squadron plays the  Motorola Knights, and the Motorola Kings face the Downers Grove Chess Club.  Also this week, the Wombats face off against the Citadel/University of Chicago superteam.

Rounds 2 and 3 will be held this weekend at the 16th floor of Concord Place, 401 W Lake St, Northlake.

"A Couch Potato's Guide to the 2012 World Championship"

GM Ian Rogers previews the World Championship match between Viswanathan Anand of India and Boris Gelfand of Israel.  Play begins this Friday, May 11th, at 6 a.m. Chicago time.

 

Anand and Gelfand earlier today: photo credit: H-W Schmitt for ChessBase

The players checked out the site this morning: see more photos at ChessBase.  Both players have known each other for decades: it's an interesting display of mutual respect that they agreed that no anti-cheating security measures would be needed.

Anand is a 5-1 favorite over Gelfand.  (And George Foreman was a 4-1 favorite over Muhammad Ali in the Rumble in the Jungle.)  Kids, don't disrespect the player who won the last two Interzonals.  (Here's a good trivia question: name all the players who won or tied for first in more than one Interzonal.)

Local angle: our own Tamara Golovey was the first teacher of young Boris. On a couple occasions (World Cup and Candidates Matches), I've called Tamara to congratulate her on her student's win.  It pains me to confess to her that I always root for Vishy in World Championship matches.

May 23rd in Downers Grove: GM Michael Adams clock simul!

Grandmasters blunder, too

Here's a position from today's play.

It's White to move in Stripunsky-Onischuk.  Find White's worst move: White made it, then immediately realized his hallucination and resigned.

White to play: What's the worst move?

 The worst move is also a very natural move to make....

Round 1, US Championship: Shulman and Kaidanov draw

Both players were going for the full point today.  Yury Shulman opens the h-file against the castled king, and Gregory Kaidanov strikes back in the center.

"Skokie honors Niles North’s champion chess team"

Article here!

Steve Jobs rules from the grave

I am extremely fond of Chess Flash: it's a great way to publish PGN on the Web.

But I've been putting off the completion of certain chess projects for the web because the iPad and iPhone don't naturally support Adobe Flash.  (Jobs explained why here; reality undistortion here.)

And, let's face it, it's becoming Apple's world. Suggestions?

U.S. Chess Championships begin shortly

Follow the play in St. Louis here.  Round one begins at 1 p.m. Central Time.

It's a very interesting field, and the championship format is much improved, with a traditional 12-player round robin.  Here are today's pairings:

1	GM Akobian, Varuzhan		2625	GM Seirawan, Yasser		2643
2	GM Shulman, Yuri		2571	GM Kaidanov, Gregory S		2594
3	GM Stripunsky, Alexander		2562	GM Onischuk, Alexander		2660
4	GM Lenderman, Aleksandr		2587	GM Robson, Ray		2614
5	GM Kamsky, Gata		2741	GM Ramirez, Alejandro		2593
6	GM Nakamura, Hikaru		2775	GM Hess, Robert L		2635

Both Kamsky and Nakamura would like to make a statement with White today, but both are facing strong opponents with exceptional opening preparation.

The Women's Championship is a ten-round event. As in the men's event, pre-tournament favorites Irina Krush and Anna Zatonskih have the White pieces in round one:

1	WIM Ni, Viktorija		2228	WGM Abrahamyan, Tatev		2329
2	WIM Zenyuk, Iryna		2224	FM Melekhina, Alisa		2242
3	IM Krush, Irina		2457	WGM Foisor, Sabina-Francesca		2364
4	IM Goletiani, Rusudan		2333	WGM Baginskaite, Camilla		2358
5	IM Zatonskih, Anna		2510	WFM Kats, Alena		2137

Recalling a chess miracle

I happened upon the game below on chessgames.com, to which I had submitted it some time ago. It was played in 1978, at a tournament I directed at Jules Stein's Chicago Chess Center, then at 2666 N. Halsted in Chicago. It was, and remains, the biggest upset I have ever seen or even heard of - over 1,000 rating points! White was Mario Spinosa, a junior with a published rating of 1272. Black was Ove Kroll of Denmark, a strong master who was a graduate student in mathematics at the University of Chicago, rated 2315. Ove was one of the strongest players in Chicago, and became a Senior Master a few months later.

The USCF had a big problem with its ratings program at the time, and ratings were lagging several months behind reality. Mario was improving rapidly, and his actual rating was more like 1600. He was particularly strong tactically, as this game well illustrates. He became a master about five years later.

The game features a sharp line of the Nimzowitsch Defense (1.e4 Nc6) that was supposed to be good for Black, namely 2.d4 d5 (2...e5!, favored by Miles and Bisguier, actually gives Black a plus score in the databases, which is why 2.Nf3! is White's most popular move) 3.exd5 Qxd5 4.Nf3 Bg4 5.Nc3!? (5.Be2 is probably stronger, and scores well for White) Bxf3 6.Nxd5 Bxd1 7.Nxc7+. White will be up the exchange, but can he save the beast on a8? The late Hugh Myers in his book The Nimzovich Defense (1973), p. 15, wrote "I believe that 5...BxN! refutes 6.N-B3?. But it is not the simplest thing in the world; some memorizing is required." (For you young whippersnappers who don't know what these strange letters mean, those were the olden days of descriptive notation.) Theory consisted mainly of two amusing miniatures won by Black. Kiss-Barcza, Debrecen 1934 went 7...Kd7?! 8.Nxa8 Bxc2 9.Bf4? (9.d5! Nb4 10.Bb5+ or 9...Nd4 10.Be3! is correct) e5 10.dxe5 Bb4+ 11.Ke2? Nge7 12.e6+ fxe6 13.Nc7 Nd4+ 14. Ke3 Nef5#. Black mated even more quickly in Bildhauer-Janny, Sopron 1927: 7...Kd8! (avoiding a later Bb5+ by White) 8.Nxa8 Bxc2 9.Bf4 Nxd4 10.Nc7 e5! 11.Bxe5 Bb4#!

After Mario played 9.Bf4 (à la Bildhauer, though he had just stumbled into this line and unlike Kroll knew nothing of the theory), Kroll thought a long time and finally rejected 9...Nxd4, perhaps because of 10.Be5 Nc6 11.Bc7+, a line not given by Myers, nor by T. Kapitaniak in Nimzovich Defence (1982), p. 33, but which the engines say is winning for White. Instead, he tried 9...e5!?, trying to gain time to develop his pieces and trap the knight. Myers says that move "is playable," while Kapitaniak simply gives "9...e5!-+" without further elaboration. But as the further course of the game showed, things are much more complicated than that. Kroll's pieces became extremely active, and he could have given perpetual check with 22...Ne2+. But who settles for a draw against a player rated 1,000 points lower? Instead he played 22...Nxh1?!, ironically trapping his own knight in the corner. Mario finally extricated his knight with 26.Nc7 and 27.Ne6!, and wound up the game with a pretty mate of Kroll's king, marooned on a1. It's odd how important the a8, h1, and a1 corners were in this game.

Karpov in Chicago: Jim Egerton interviews

Great interview by Jim on the ICA website!

Niles North Chess Team Day: May 7th in Skokie

Niles North High School won the  Illinois High School State Chess Championship this past February. This was their second state championship  in three years. Next week, the High School and the Village of Skokie will be honoring the coaches and team.


On Monday May 7, 2012, Niles North High School will celebrate the chess team's accomplishments and unveil a prominent banner facing the  Edens expressway. Later on May 7th ( 8:00 p.m), at the Skokie Village Board Meeting, the Mayor George Van Dusen will be reading a proclamation honoring the coaching staff and team.  


Chicago Chess Blog has scooped its competition by obtaining an exclusive advance copy of this proclamation:

WHEREAS, the Niles North High School Chess Team won all seven of its matches and captured the Illinois High School Association (IHSA) 2012 State Chess Championship crown at the state tournament held February 10th and 11th, 2012 in Peoria, Illinois; and

WHEREAS, Junior, David Paykin, demonstrated exemplary skill, tenacity, and fighting spirit by winning his crucial sixth round match in a momentous come from behind victory which kept the Team's title hopes alive, and ultimately lead to the Team securing the championship title; and

WHEREAS, the Niles North Chess Team finished in 5'h place at the United StatesFederation (USCF) National K-12 Championship Tournament held April 12 through 15, 2012, held in Minneapolis, Minnesota; and

WHEREAS, Senior, Eric Rosen, finished in second place, individually, at the National K-12 Championship and forther, along with his partner, Matthew Dahl of Edina, Minnesota, captured the National Bughouse Championship in a sanctioned side event competition; and

WHEREAS, Chess Team Coach, Harry Kyriazes, is recognized as one of the premier high school coaches in the United States and the State of Illinois having coached the Chess Team since 1999, and guided the Niles North Chess Team to state championship titles in 2006, 2010, and 2012, as well as four second place finishes, and two third place finishes at state championship tournaments during his tenure as coach; and

WHEREAS, Coach Kyriazes, and fellow coaches Heather Ingraham, and Mases Hagopian, are recognized for their unique and innovative approaches in providing a nurturing training environment where the qualities of teamwork, mutual respect, camaraderie, and leadership development are held in the highest regard; and

WHEREAS, Niles Township High School District 219 has supported the chess program over the years, and in so doing has furthered its mission to improve the academic achievement of every student by offering programs such that every student may achieve his or her optimal potential; and

WHEREAS, Niles North High School has unveiled a prominent banner on today's date recognizing the accomplishments and congratulating the 2012 Niles North State Champion Chess Team, and that said banner will be displayed on the west side of the Niles North building and visible to all motorists who travel the 1-94 Interstate.

NOW, THEREFORE, L GEORGE VAN DUSEN, Mayor of the Village of Skokie, do hereby proclaim May 7, 2012 as

"NILES NORTH CHESS TEAM DAY"

in the Village of Skokie and congratulate the members and coaching staff of the Niles North Chess Team on their many accomplishments, and wish each team member the very best in his future endeavors.

Congratulations to Niles North! 

"Open Letter on Ilyumzhinov's Visit to Chicago"

USCF Executive Director Bill Hall speaks on behalf of USCF.

That's enough inside baseball for now.

Another game for the ages

OK, not really. My opponent, the celebrated NN, played the "Clarendon Court Defense," 1.d4 c5 2.d5 f5!?, so named by its originator, the British GM Jonathan Levitt, who lived in a building by that name. I responded with the Staunton Gambit-like 3.e4!? fxe4 4.Nc3 Nf6 5.g4, vaguely recalling the game Seirawan-Mamedyarov, World Team Championship 2011. Here, IM Gary Lane recommends 5...g6!?, when Matros-Ehlvest, Stockholm 1998 continued 6.g5 Nh5 7.Nxe4 d6 8.Ng3 Nxg3 9.hxg3 Nd7 10.Nh3 Qb6 11.f4 Qb4+ 12.Kf2 (12.c3?? 12...Qe4+) 12...Qd4+ 13.Be3? Qxb2 14.a4 Bg7 15.Rb1 Qa2 16.Ng1 Nb6 and Black won shortly. Much weaker is 5...d6?, when Feingold-R. Benjamin, Missouri Invitational 2011 concluded 6.g5 Bg4 7.Bb5+! Kf7 (7...Nbd7? 8.Be2! Bxe2 9.Qxe2 and Black cannot move his hanging knight on account of Qh5+ and mate next) 8.Be2! Bxe2 9.Qxe2 Ne8 10.g6+ hxg6 11.Nxe4 Nc7 12.Ng5+ Kg8 13.Ne6 Nxe6 14.Qxe6+ Kh7 15.Qh3+ Kg8 16.Qe6+ Kh7 17.Nf3 Qd7 18.Ng5+ Kh6 19.Qe4 Kh5 20.Ne6 1-0.

NN, like Mamedyarov, played the natural 5...h6. Here, Seirawan played 6.h3 and won in just 29 moves; in Asensio Linan (2276)-Hernandez Funes (2144), Barbera del Valles 2007, White played the amazing 6.Nxe4?! Nxe4 7.Bd3 and won after 7...Qb6 8.Nf3 Ng5 9.Ne5 d6 10.Nc4 Qc7 11.h4 Nf7 12.Bg6 e6 13.Qe2 Qc7 14.Rh3 b5 15.Rf3 Kd8 16.Rxf7, but surely 7...Qa5+ improves? Instead, I responded 6.Bg2, and now 6...Qb6 was played in Conquest (2540)-Becerra Rivero (2530) Cienfuegos 1996, which continued 7. Nge2 d6 8.h3 g5 9.Nxe4 Nxe4 10.Bxe4 Qb4+ 11.Nc3 Bg7 12.Bd2 Qxb2 13.Rb1 Qa3 14.Rb3 Qa6 15.Nb5 Kd8 16.Qe2 b6 17.O-O Nd7 18.a4 Ne5 19.a5 bxa5 20.Ra3 a4 21.c4 Rb8 22.Rb1 Bd7 23.Bc2 Qc8 24.Ba5+ Ke8 25.Rf1 Rf8 26.Bg6+! and White won. Our game continued instead 6...d6 7.Nxe4 Nbd7 (7...Nxg4) 8.Qe2 (threatening 9.Nxd6#) Nxe4 9.Bxe4 Ne5 10.Nf3, and now my opponent fell for 10...Bxg4? My 11.Nxe5! won material in light of 11...Bxe2? 12.Bg6#, a cousin of Légal's Mate. Black struggled on with 11...Qa5+, but resigned after six more moves.

Soundness never tasted so good

In this blitz game, I blundered a pawn with 8.Nf3?, but mated my opponent off the board after he thoughtfully gave up his fianchettoed bishop with 16...Bxe5? In the final position, Black resigned in light of 24...fxg6 (24...Kh8 25.Bb1#) 25.Qh4+ Kg8 26.Qh8+ Kf7 27.Qg7+ Ke8 28.Qe7#.

Noted without comment

I used to wonder why GM Larry Evans stopped writing about chess and became obsessed with chess politics.

President of the World Chess Federation (FIDE) Kirsan Ilyumzhinov (left) 
and President of Syria Bachar Assad

From FIDE's website:

The 1st President of Kalmykia, President of the World Chess Federation (FIDE) Kirsan Ilyumzhinov visited Syria on 28-29 April 2012. As Mr. Ilyumzhinov noted, on the 29th April he had a three-hour talk with the President of Syria Bachar Assad in Damascus. Mr. Assad underlined during the discussion, that he tasked the Syrian Ministry of Education to sign an Agreement to join the "Chess in Schools" project with the World Chess Federation. Mr. Ilyumzhinov informed the "Nezavisimaya Gazeta" that "in early June, as a dedication to the International Day of Children, we are planning to organize the first international youth chess tournament, where young players of Arab countries, will participate, in Damascus". The FIDE President did not exclude the possibility that Mr. Assad might participate in the opening of the youth chess event. According to Mr. Ilyumzhinov, "The Syrian President plays chess very well - since his studies in London".

[....] During the discussion the Syrian President informed Mr. Ilyumzhinov of his intention to invite H.H. the Dalai Lama to Syria on an official visit. Ilyumzhinov said: "President Assad said that on the Syrian territory there is one of the most ancient Buddhist temples erected about two thousand years ago. He would like to invite H.H. Dalai Lama to sanctify this temple".

With Qaddafi, June 2011

With Saddam Hussein, 1998

With Max von Sydow, 1957

 Back to chess shortly!