Friday, October 31, 2008

#389 UCC Wrap

To conclude my coverage of Kenilworth's 7-5 win vs. Union County College, here are ...

- 3 of the games in java-replay & zipped PGN

- The board by board results with UCC's players listed first :

  1. Jorge Ruiz 1-0 Ian Mangion 1847
  2. Camilo Builes 1-0 Greg Tomkovich 1677
  3. Keon Blake 0-1 Max Sherer 1653
  4. Wiaderson 0-1 Mike Wojcio 1626
  5. Andre Vidal 0-1 Eugene Shapiro 1570
  6. Michael Jacome 1-0 Lou Sturniolo 1399
  7. Daniel Guttierrez 0-1 Joe Renna 1304
  8. Mumtaz 1-0 Robert Vinson 1179
  9. Joseph Evlo 0-1 Daniel Zhu 1246
  10. Michael Bahler 1-0 Bill Sokolosky 1128
  11. Davin Sanchez 0-1 Ted Mann 1574
  12. Joseph Mattiace 0-1 Michail Kruglyak 1301
Board 1 featured a G/60 control. The others used G/90.

#388 KCC Beats Union County College 7-5

The Kenilworth Chess Club stormed to a 7-1 lead last night and held on for a 2-point victory over visiting Union County College.

Max Sherer, Mike Wojcio, Ted Mann, Eugene Shapiro, Joe Renna, Michail Kruglyak & Daniel Zhu won for the home team.

Jorge Ruiz, Camilo Builes, Michael Jacome, M. Mumtaz & Michael Bahler took full points for UCC.

The board by board rundown & a few games will follow.

#387 Lunna, Radomskyj Westfield Co-Champs

NMs Todd Lunna & Peter Radomskyj tied for 1st at the recent, forfeit-plagued Westfield CC Championship. 3rd-placed Arthur Shen took the U2100 prize. Greg Nolan & Tim Hall tied for 4th. Bill Cohen was equal 6th-7th & the top U1850 scorer.

Monday, October 27, 2008

#386 Fish Tourney Rated

The Sy Fish Memorial has been rated. Daniel Zhu, who jumped from 1125 to 1246 (+121), had the biggest gain. Eugene Shapiro (+35), Ted Mann (+18), Ian Mangion (+15), Don Carrelli (+5) & Mark Kernighan (+4) also added points in the event.

Saturday, October 25, 2008

#385 Correction

The replay & PGN for the board 2 game from last week's W.Orange match have been corrected to Kernighan 1-0 Chieu. My apologies to the KCC Champ.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

#384 Massey Lecture This Thursday

NM Scott Massey will be giving a lecture at the Kenilworth Chess Club this Thursday night (10/23). The subject is "Exchanging Pieces" and the admission fee is $5.00.

Just wondering... Will the fatal pawn-grab + trade-down from yesterday's Kramnik-Anand game, where White played 29.Nxd4?? Qxd4 30.Rd1 Nf6 31.Rxd4 Nxg4 32.Rd7+ Kf6 33.Rxb7 Rc1+ 34.Bf1 & lost to 34...Ne3!, be used as an example?

Kramnik-Anand
5th match game

Friday, October 17, 2008

#383 W. Orange Wrap

To conclude my coverage of Kenilworth's narrow 6-4 win, I present...

The board by board results & openings. West Orange's players are listed first :

  1. Radomskyj (2222) 1/2 Stoyko (2251) A56 Czech Benoni
  2. Chieu (2115) 0-1 Kernighan (2221) E34 Nimzo-Indian
  3. Fernandez (2109) 0-1 Norowitz (2209) A45 Accelerated London
  4. Daniels (2008) 0-1 Goeller (2034) B01 Scandinavian Defense
  5. Cohen (1879) 0-1 Mangion (1832) B85? Scheveningen Sicilian
  6. West (1695) 1-0 Bliznikas (1819) D02 London System
  7. Rodriguez (1683) 1-0 McAuliffe (1736) B01 Scandinavian
  8. Fortunato (1594) 1-0 Carrelli (1710) A03 Bird's Opening
  9. Hagerty (1593) 1/2 M. Sherer (1692) B40 Sicilian 2...e6 3.c4
  10. Elsman (1469) 0-1 Demetrick (1660) B17 Caro-Kann

... and games 2, 3,4 & 8 in java-replay + zipped PGN. The Bird is annotated.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

#382 West Orange-Kenilworth Match

8:14 p.m. We are underway!

West Orange has Peter Radomskyj on board 1 followed by Ken Chieu, Jose Fernandez, Crawford Daniels, Bryan Cohen, Robert West, Guido Rodriguez, Joseph Fortunato, John Hagerty and Mark Elsman.

Playing for Kenilworth are Steve Stoyko, Mark Kernighan, Yaacov Norowitz, Michael Goeller, Ian Mangion, Ziggy Bliznikas, Geoff McAuliffe, Don Carrelli, Max Sherer & Joe Demetrick.

9:20 West Orange is the first to strike with Rodriguez defeating McAuliffe & the Center-Counter on board 7.

9:29 Kernighan & Demetrick have extra pawns for Kenilworth but Bliznikas has sacked a piece for what looks like insufficient compensation on board 6. Goeller, Norowitz & Carrelli are better in their games.

9:45 Stoyko's surprise Czech Benoni drew & Goeller won - another Scandinavian setback! The match is tied 1.5-1.5.

Goeller-Daniels : 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qa5 4.Bc4 Nf6 5.Nge2 c6 6.0–0 Bf5 7.d3 e6 8.Ng3 Bg6 9.f4 Bb4 10.f5 exf5 11.Qe2+ Kd8 12.Bf4 Nbd7 13.Qf3 h5 14.Bd2 h4 15.Nxf5 Bxf5 16.Qxf5 Qxf5 17.Rxf5 Ke8 18.d4 h3 19.Re1+ Kf8 20.g4 g6 21.Rf3 Bxc3 22.Bxc3 Rh7 23.Bb4+ Kg8 24.g5 Nd5 25.Bxd5 cxd5 26.Re7 Rd8 27.Bd6 Nf8 28.Be5 Rd7 29.Re8 a6 30.Bf6 Rh5 31.Rc3 1–0

10:07 Demetrick no longer a pawn up but he's in an ending & has a passed a-pawn. Norowitz also has a passer on the a-file but the opposite B's may be a problem in the R+B finale. Bliznikas is looking okay now but Carrelli has lost an Exchange & is down to 16 minutes - way behind on the clock. Kernighan still a chip ahead vs. Chieu. Mangion is equal & has asked what the score is. With Hagerty & Sherer drawing on board 9, it is now 2-2.

10:18 Norowitz wins with R,B & P vs. R&P to give Kenilworth a 3-2 lead.
10:22 Bliznikas falls & the match is knotted for a 3rd time.
10:23 Demetrick puts the home squad back on top, 4-3.
10:29 Carrelli capitulates and we're all-square, again but Kernighan converts to restore the lead at 5-4. Mangion is now a pawn ahead.

11:?? - The hosts clinch when Dr. Ian wins via time forfeit after sacking (?) his Rook for 2-3 additional chips.

FINAL SCORE : KENILWORTH 6 WEST ORANGE 4!

More scores, a zipped PGN file & replays will follow tomorrow.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

#381 Kramnik-Anand : Another Draw

Anand surprised with 1.d4 and Kramnik, thankfully, chose a Nimzo-Indian over a Slav. Here is the PGN with a few notes :

[Event "World Championship"]

[Site "Bonn"]
[Date "2008.10.15"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Black "Kramnik, Vladimir"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E25"]
[PlyCount "64"]
[EventDate "2008.10.14"]
[EventType "match"]
[EventRounds "12"]
[EventCountry "GER"]
[SourceDate "2008.10.15"]

{E25 Nimzo-Indian Defense Saemisch Variation} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4.
f3 d5 (4... c5 {is the main alternative.}) 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 c5 7. cxd5 Nxd5
8. dxc5 f5 9. Qc2 Nd7 10. e4 fxe4 11. fxe4 N5f6 12. c6 bxc6 13. Nf3 Qa5 {Black
may be a little better because of his more active Q & lead in K-side
development.} 14. Bd2 {Otherwise there would be a trade of light-squared Bs.}
Ba6 $146 ({This varies from the} 14... O-O 15. Bd3 Ba6 16. c4 Qc7 17. Bc3 Ng4
18. e5 Ndxe5 19. Bxh7+ Kh8 $11 {of Gilman - Lepsenyi : correspondence 1966})
15. c4 Qc5 16. Bd3 Ng4 17. Bb4 Qe3+ 18. Qe2 O-O-O 19. Qxe3 Nxe3 20. Kf2 Ng4+ ({Not} 20... Nxc4 $2 21. Bxc4 Bxc4 22. Rhc1 Nb6 23. Ne5 Bb5 24. Nxc6 $1 $16) 21.Kg3 Ndf6 (21... Nge5 $142 $11) 22. Bb1 $14 h5 23. h3 h4+ 24. Nxh4 Ne5 25. Nf3 Nh5+ 26. Kf2 Nxf3 27. Kxf3 e5 28. Rc1 Nf4 29. Ra2 Nd3 30. Rc3 Nf4 31. Bc2 Ne6 32. Kg3 Rd4 1/2-1/2

For more see The Chess Mind & ChessOk's coverage.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

#380 Kramnik-Anand - Game 1 Drawn

[Event "World Championship"]
[Site "Bonn"]
[Date "2008.10.14"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Kramnik"]
[Black "Anand"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D14"]
[PlyCount "64"]
[EventDate "2008.10.14"]

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.cxd5 cxd5 5.Bf4 Nc6 6.e3 Bf5 7.Nf3 e6 8.Qb3 Bb4 9.Bb5 0-0 10.Bxc6 Bxc3+ 11.Qxc3 Rc8 12.Ne5 Ng4 13.Nxg4 Bxg4 14.Qb4 Rxc6 15.Qxb7 Qc8 16.Qxc8 Rfxc8 17.0-0 a5 18.f3 Bf5 19.Rfe1 Bg6 20.b3 f6 21.e4 dxe4 22.fxe4 Rd8 23.Rad1 Rc2 24.e5 fxe5 25.Bxe5 Rxa2 26.Ra1 Rxa1 27.Rxa1 Rd5 28.Rc1 Rd7 29.Rc5 Ra7 30.Rc7 Rxc7 31.Bxc7 Bb3 32.Bxa5 Bxb3 1/2-1/2

PGN repaired 10/15 @ 11:22 a.m.

Friday, October 10, 2008

#379 Kernighan Wins Fish Memorial

NM Mark Kernighan (2221) won all 4 of his games and took 1st place at the Kenilworth CC’s Sy Fish Memorial. Ian Mangion (1832) was 2nd at 3.0. Eugene Shapiro (1535) & Ted Mann (1474), who both had 2.5, received the U1800 & U1500 prizes.

There were several upsets and scares in the event. Mann defeated Greg Tomkovich (1705). Daniel Zhu (1125) beat Lou Sturniolo (1443) & Pat Mazzillo (1392). Don Carrelli (1710) had a totally winning position vs. Kernighan and a tie for 1st at hand but badly blundered twice and lost a last-round heartbreaker. Shapiro & Sturniolo had clear plusses vs. the top 2 seeds/finishers before falling.


Here are 8 the 19 games played in Java-replay & zipped PGN. Hope the players who withheld scores are saving secrets for our upcoming matches against West Orange (Oct. 16th), Union County College (Oct. 30th) & Roselle (Nov. 6th) :-)

Wednesday, October 08, 2008

#378 Fish Memorial - 3rd Round Pairings

Here are the board by board pairings for round 3 of the KCC's Sy Fish Memorial Tournament, courtesy of TD Geoff McAuliffe :
  1. Mangion (2.0) - Kernighan (2.0)
  2. M. Sherer (2.0) - Carrelli (1.0)
  3. Tomkovich (1.0) - Shapiro (1.0)
  4. Mann (0.5) - D. Zhu (1.0)
  5. Sturniolo (0.0) - Mazzillo (0.0)
Games from last week and this Thursday will be uploaded Friday or Saturday.

Thursday, October 02, 2008

#377 Zilbermints Beats GM In 7 Moves!!

Earlier this year, Lev Zilbermints' used his original Grob/Scandanavian Gambit (1.g4 d5 2.e4?!) to score a micro-mini blitz-win over GM Dibyendu Barua on ICC.

The Indian GM, who is best-known for his 1982 Lloyds Bank victory over Viktor Kortschnoi, could've gone into a weird Caro-Kann with 2...d5 but he took the I'm from Missouri approach and blundered 3 turns later.

Here is the game, with light notes, in Java-replay and PGN

#376 Kernighan Wins Springfield Swiss

NM Mark Kernighan won the 2008 Checkmate Fall Swiss. Ari Minkov finished a half-point back. Ted Mann was 3rd in the field of 6. Here are 9 of the 12 games played in java-replay and zipped PGN. I was supposed to be on annotation hiatus but couldn't resist doing a few for you :)