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!