Board 4: the move of the match (Byambaa 0 - Schmakel 1)

Is it correct?  I have no clue, but I do know that Black's 18th move is très cool, and shows a desire to fight for the full point.  Normally one does not wish to move pawns in front of one's castled king.  Especially not two squares.  Especially not the g-pawn. Especially not when the players have castled on opposite sides. Especially when one creates a lever that helps the enemy open lines to your king.

But rules of thumb are made to be broken: chess is a very concrete game. The idea is known from the Browne System of the Najdorf.  The e5 square is worth a lot: Black gets a horsie on c4 and a bishop on f6 soon afterwards.  So you could say that Black is attacking White's queenside with 18...g7-g5!?

And Sam Schmakel of Whitney Young must have been planning this shocker some moves earlier: otherwise, why 16...Qd8?

Board 3: Young ½ - Naroditsky ½

Board 3 was potentially a problem for Chicago: the young prodigy Naroditsky is the author of Mastering Positional Chess.  24...a5! looks strong to me, and a few moves later, White's c5 pawn fell.

But IM Angelo Young (no slacker at positional play) held on for the draw.

Board 1: Shulman ½ - Bhat ½

I really don't understand the opening on Board 1.  Usually in the Leningrad Variation of the Nimzoindian, Black will trade the Bb4 for the Nc3 to double White's c-pawns.  But Bhat played ...e6xd5 and deferred capturing on c3.  Strange to this amateur's eyes, but the proof is in the results.  It was Yury who had to force the draw with White.

Blaze 2½ - San Francisco Mechanics 1½

The Chicago Blaze are now 7-0!

On Board 2, Grandmasters Jesse Kraai and Mesgen Amanov played a sharp Catalan that fizzled out into a draw:

Point-count chess

The object of the game is checkmate, so all point-count systems are rules of thumb at best.  But the "primitive" values we teach beginners are surprisingly useful: bishops and knights are worth 3 pawns, the rook is worth 5 pawns, and the queen is worth 9 pawns.

Some years ago, IM (now GM) Larry Kaufman slightly revised these rules of thumb based on empirical data.  I just happened across the article today while looking up something else: it's still fascinating.

To summarize Kaufman's improved rules of thumb: bishops and knights are worth 3¼ pawns (but add ½ pawn for the bishop pair), rooks are still worth 5 pawns, and the queen is worth 9¾ pawns.

Blaze match begins in a few minutes

Tonight the Blaze face off against the San Francisco Mechanics: Brad Rosen previews the match here.  Mechanics first board Jesse Kraai went to Shimer College: I knew him back when he had a flowing mane of hair and I wasn't quite bald.

Carlsen wins Bilboa in blitz playoff

...and Hikaru Nakamura, bizarre round nine loss notwithstanding, takes third on tiebreaks.  A deserved win for Carlsen (who beat the red-hot Ivanchuk twice in regulation play) and a bittersweet step forward for Nakamura.

Coverage in the usual places....

ChessBase 

ChessVibes

WhyChess (all games available via drop-down box)

The Week in Chess

What tactic is more basic than pins and forks?

Dan Heisman (whose Chess Cafe column is wonderful reading for beginners and their teachers) has argued that teaching beginners to count is the indispensable first step in teaching tactics.

Blog contributor Vince Hart, who has been working with the Prospect High School chess team for the past nine years, emphasizes piece safety with his team, and points us to a wonderful Heisman column on the subject.

Bilboa Round 9: Vallejo 1 - Nakamura 0

Nakamura flagged on move 40 in a slightly superior position: he thought he had made the time control, and stepped away for a glass of juice.

As Carlsen beat Ivanchuk today, a win would have brought Nakamura into a tie for first.

Three decisive games today!

Preregister for the 2011 Midwest Class!

The event returns to the Westin Chicago North Shore in Wheeling next weekend, October 14-16! Play on Friday night, or begin play Saturday morning: your choice! Details here!

While I don't like to play for money, I do tend to cash my prize checks. So I should note that there are $16,000 in guaranteed prizes next weekend, and that the projected prize fund is $20,000....

Save money and preregister by Tuesday, October 11th!

Round 8, Bilbao Masters: Nakamura 1 - Aronian 0

A really impressive squeeze by Nakamura! The minority attack is thematic in the Queen's Gambit Declined, but White usually pushes b2-b4 in the opening. But Hikaru defers the undermining operation until the endgame.

Round 6, Bilbao Masters: Ivanchuk 1 - Nakamura 0

Ivanchuk's opening lends credence to the credible rumors that he has been working with David Franklin.

Board 1: Amanov ½ - Margvelashvili ½

GM Giorgi Margvelashvili deserves half a point for courage: he played the Modern Benoni against GM Mesgen Amanov and lived to tell the tale! Black even had a pull in the ending, but Mesgen defended easily enough to clinch the match.

Young 1 - Defibaugh 0

Just as in last week's game, Angelo Young plays rope-a-dope and exploits a weakness on the light squares. Black hung a pawn on move 11, so the execution is a bit more routine.

Schoch 0 - Menon 1

NM Gopal Menon plays this game in the style of Bent Larsen circa 1967: bait the opponent into committing to a kingside attack, extract positional concessions, and counterattack on the opposite wing.

Blaze 2½ - Baltimore Kingfishers 1½

Speaking very very selfishly, I'm glad that if Dmitry Gurevich had to lose, he lost in a variation that has been giving me trouble with the White pieces. IM Tegshsuren Enkhbat is not tempted by the long diagonal, but simply plays to recover the gambit pawn.

Industrial League: AMA Rogue Squadron 4 - Northwestern University 2

CICL veteran David Franklin made his debut for the Rogue Squadron last night. Northwestern's new Board 1, Karsten McVay, studied with FM Aviv Friedman for many years and has represented the U.S. in international play. Dave was kind enough to share his annotations:

September CICL bulletin is out!

Enjoy this month's Chicago Chess Player! (pdf link)

Avert your eyes as Steve Tennnant crushes me mercilessly.

Bilbao Masters - Nakamura clear 2nd at halfway point

Coverage at ChessBase, ChessVibes., and The Week in Chess.

The venue now shifts from Brazil to Spain.  When play resumes Thursday, Nakamura plays tournament leader Vassily Ivanchuk: a win would bring Nakamura into joint first place!

Mesgen Amanov's win in today's New York Times

Article here.

Well, the game is good enough to be mentioned in three blog posts.  See previous posts here and here.