GM Mesgen Amanov unleashed some monster preparation on his L.A. namesake. White's 20th and 22nd moves are simply beautiful, and they taste like good home-cooking.
And how could I not mention 31.Be3!!
Why does anyone play the Modern Benoni? Of all the openings still played at the top levels, it's the one than can be cracked in so many delightful ways. But we all want to emulate Tal and Fischer.....
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Blaze beats L.A., 3-1
O.K., so I'm a little behind schedule today....
On Board 1, Yury Shulman used his pet Winawer to draw easily with Black. I really don't believe in Black's line: if you could get 6...Qa5 and 7...Qa4 "for free," that would be great. But such moves take time, and queens are meant for greater roles than blockading a-pawns.
Having said that, I don't think U.S. champions care very much about my opinion. And the pitiful queen has had lunch and centralized by move 13.
On Board 1, Yury Shulman used his pet Winawer to draw easily with Black. I really don't believe in Black's line: if you could get 6...Qa5 and 7...Qa4 "for free," that would be great. But such moves take time, and queens are meant for greater roles than blockading a-pawns.
Having said that, I don't think U.S. champions care very much about my opinion. And the pitiful queen has had lunch and centralized by move 13.
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Chicago leads L.A. 1½-½
Yury Shulman draws handily with a pet French sideline, and you don't want to play the Modern Benoni against Mesgen Amanov.
Jim Dean seems to have good winning chances with Black on Board 3, and Gopal Menon has what looks like dynamic equality (and perhaps a slightly easier position to play) on Board 4.
Tom Panelas is updating gamescores intermittently on this Blaze blog page.
Jim Dean seems to have good winning chances with Black on Board 3, and Gopal Menon has what looks like dynamic equality (and perhaps a slightly easier position to play) on Board 4.
Tom Panelas is updating gamescores intermittently on this Blaze blog page.
Blaze face off against LA at 8 p.m.
Follow the action live at the North Shore Chess Center in Skokie, or online at the Internet Chess Club (membership required). This is the first Blaze game for both FM Jim Dean and NM Gopal Menon.
I hope to have the PGN boxscores up by tomorrow a.m.
I hope to have the PGN boxscores up by tomorrow a.m.
Chicago Chess meetup @ Iguana Cafe: NM Bruce Kovalsky lecture!
I had the pleasure of lunch with Bruce a few months ago: nice fellow! He's giving a brief lecture, followed by a session of casual play. Details here!
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Andrew Karklins To Receive Broughton Lifetime Achievement Award
FIDE Master and three-time Illinois Champion Andrew Karklins is the 2011 recipient of the Natalie Broughton Lifetime Achievement Award. Come help us honor him at 1 p.m. on Sunday, November 6th, at Buca di Beppo in Lombard!
Learn more about the award and get your tickets for the 2011 banquet on the ICA website.
Learn more about the award and get your tickets for the 2011 banquet on the ICA website.
Blaze annotations galore!
Many masterly annotations from Tom Panelas and the Blaze blog!
- Dmitry Gurevich and Trevor Magness annotate Sam Schmakel's win against Arizona
- Albert Chow annotates the exciting Friedel-Molner draw from the same match
- Mesgen Amanov annotates his Catalan win against Arizona
Grandmaster Mesgen Amanov (photo: Eric Rosen)
Breakfast tomorrow: World Cup round 4
Peter Svidler leads Alexander Grisckuk 2-1 for the World Cup title. Svidler has White and the two Russians are friends: a quick draw is not out of the realm of possibility. Both players have already secured a slot as one of the eight candidates for the next world championship.
Vassily Ivanchuk leads Ruslan Ponomariov 2-1 in the match for third place. To me, the Ukranian matchup is more fascinating: Ivanchuk has not been a Candidate in the classical cycle for twenty (!!) years, and in 2002, he lost a match to the teenaged Ponomariov for the pre-unification "FIDE World Championship" title. The winner automatically qualifies for the 2013 Candidates, while the loser is very unlikely to earn an invitation. Ponomariov managed to apply some pressure in today's game, but never came close to converting a pawn-up endgame.
Catch up on previous rounds at The Week in Chess, and follow the pre-dawn action at the official site!
Vassily Ivanchuk leads Ruslan Ponomariov 2-1 in the match for third place. To me, the Ukranian matchup is more fascinating: Ivanchuk has not been a Candidate in the classical cycle for twenty (!!) years, and in 2002, he lost a match to the teenaged Ponomariov for the pre-unification "FIDE World Championship" title. The winner automatically qualifies for the 2013 Candidates, while the loser is very unlikely to earn an invitation. Ponomariov managed to apply some pressure in today's game, but never came close to converting a pawn-up endgame.
Catch up on previous rounds at The Week in Chess, and follow the pre-dawn action at the official site!
Friday, September 16, 2011
last-minute reminder (or start Saturday a.m.)
Another email cut-and-paste:
Remember tonight begins the 7th NA Amateur Open - a 5R-SS tournament which provides opportunities to achieve your FIDE (international) rating! Play is restricted to those rated above 1600 USCF unless special permission obtained prior.
If you are unable to play Round 1 tonight you can take a 1/2 pt bye and begin playing on Saturday afternoon in Round 2
7th North American Amateur Open - 5R-SS G/90 + 30/sec increment. North Shore Chess Center , 5500 West Touhy Ave Skokie, IL 60077. 847.423.8626. Open to players with any established FIDE rating or an established USCF rating of 1600+. 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 9/15. 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. Online registration preferred at http://www.nachess.org/events. 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
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
The bishop also moves backwards
I don't know whether it's fair to call a blunder in a blitz game one of the biggest in chess history, but this game (played just a couple hours ago) led to Vassily Ivanchuk's elimination from the World Cup.
Alexander Grischuk and Peter Svidler, both of Russia, will play for the World Cup title. Ivanchuk and Ruslan Ponomariov, both of Ukraine, will play for third place and automatic qualification to the next World Championship cycle. Follow the action here, beginning well before dawn on Friday.
A heartbreaking loss for Ivanchuk!
Alexander Grischuk and Peter Svidler, both of Russia, will play for the World Cup title. Ivanchuk and Ruslan Ponomariov, both of Ukraine, will play for third place and automatic qualification to the next World Championship cycle. Follow the action here, beginning well before dawn on Friday.
A heartbreaking loss for Ivanchuk!
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
More on the Blaze win
NM Sam Schmakel in action (photo: Eric Rosen)
Brad Rosen provides an on-the-spot report of the Blaze victory. 3-0 is not a bad way to start the season, but Stalin and Alexander Kotov warned us against "dizziness due to success." Take 'em one at a time, give 110%....
Board 4: Schmakel - Thompson 1-0
Between moves 20 and 25, Sam transforms an equalish middlegame into a battle between good knight and bad bishop. The price of winning a pawn on the queenside is submitting to an attack on the kingside. Sam consolidates, then finds a monster shot on move 40. Can you find the winning move for White in the diagram below?
I suppose this is an acceptable début for Sam in the U.S. Chess League.
I suppose this is an acceptable début for Sam in the U.S. Chess League.
Board 3: Adelberg - Amanov 0-1
Mesgen Amanov treats the Catalan as if it were a Botvinnik Semi-Slav. It's OK to be down a ton of material if you've got a phalanx of queenside pawns and a monster knight on d3.
Board 2: Friedel - Molner ½-½
Josh Friedel overpresses a bit, too, and is objectively busted after 25.Nc6. But Molner does not find 25...Rc2!, after which Friedel saves the game with 26.Ne7+! In the final position, Black can save the rook on a2 with 29...Qf7. White must then play 30.Qc8+ Qf8 31.Qc4+, repeating the position.
Blaze beat Arizona 2½ -1½
The Chicago Blaze was stung more than once in last night's match with the Arizona Scorpions, but Mesgen Amanov and Sam Schmakel were able to crush their opponents' cephalothoraces to bring home the 2½-1½ win. Cool!
Rogelio Barcenilla is the first opponent to take a full point from the Blaze. He finds a cool shot in response to Yury Shulman's 23...e5. But with best play it should only be good for equality: Yury overpressed on move 24.
Rogelio Barcenilla is the first opponent to take a full point from the Blaze. He finds a cool shot in response to Yury Shulman's 23...e5. But with best play it should only be good for equality: Yury overpressed on move 24.
Monday, September 12, 2011
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Evanston Chess September Swiss
NM Jon Burgess and Christopher Girardo scored 3-0 in the Gold Section.
Four players were primus inter pares in the Silver Section: Abdulah Prijic, Edward Bustamante, Rahul Dhiman, and Ricky Wang all had 2-1.
Douglas Selph (first tournament!) and Aman Grover tied for first in the Bronze Section with 3-0.
Congratulations to the winners: crosstable here!
Maret Thorpe directed for Evasnton Chess.
Four players were primus inter pares in the Silver Section: Abdulah Prijic, Edward Bustamante, Rahul Dhiman, and Ricky Wang all had 2-1.
Douglas Selph (first tournament!) and Aman Grover tied for first in the Bronze Section with 3-0.
Congratulations to the winners: crosstable here!
Maret Thorpe directed for Evasnton Chess.
World Cup catchup
Lubomir Kavalek explains this act of sportsmanship.
The World Cup's knockout format can lead to some rather random results, which would have been particularly unfortunate given that this event is being used to qualify three players for the World Championship. But the four quarterfinalists are all among the world's elite: Grischuk faces Ivanchuk, and Svidler faces Ponomariov. The winners automatically qualify for the 2014 World Championship cycle; the losers play a match, the winner of which also qualifies.
Someone had to lose the match between fan favorites Gata Kamsky and Peter Svidler. Kamsky had the honor of losing to the most beautiful move of the World Cup:
Svidler's point after 26...Re2!! was that 27.Qxe2 loses to 27...Qg3! (The immediate 26...Qg3 is met by 27.Nc6, stopping the mate threat.) Someone (I don't remember who) described the combination as worthy of Frank Marshall. Edit a few days later—aha, it was Mig.
Early risers are urged to check out Game 1 of the semifinals tomorrow morning at the excellent tournament website! If you hear Russian, don't panic: there is an English-language simulcast.
Kasparov-Anand at the World Trade Center
On September 11, 1995, the Kasparov-Anand World Championship match began. The venue was the Observation Deck of the South Tower of the World Trade Center. More photos from that day (and from another day six years later, one of the saddest of our lives) here.
This day of remembrance is for the victims and the heroes of FDNY, NYPD, and Flight 93. After today, let's also remember good things like the games from one of the greatest World Championship matches.
Today's movie recommendation: James Marsh's Man on Wire.
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