#986 USATE Notes

I have annotated my games from this weekend's U.S. Amateur Team East tourney and uploaded them in java-replay and PGN.

As it turns out, my opponents scored 21.5/30 (71.7%) in their other games (24.5/36 overall). So, +1-1=4 against them while battling a cold wasn't bad at all.

#985 USATE - Day 3

On the final day of the USATE, The Kenilworth CC Niners edged U.S #4, lost to Steve Stoyko's Knightmare II and finished at 3-3.

I played poorly but managed another pair of GM draws:

Louis Saber 1801 - Moldovan

C06 French Defense
Tarrasch Variation

Moldovan - Praveen Balakrishnan 1964

D35 Queen's Gambit
Exchange Variation

The Niners' individual scores, by board:

1. LM Mark Kernighan 4.0 (+3-1=2, LWWDWD)
2. your ailing blogger 3.0 (+1-1=4, LWDDDD)
3. Geoff McAuliffe 2.0 (+1-3=2, LDWLDL)
4. Greg Tomkovich 3.0 (+2-2=2, LWWDDL)

#984 USATE - Day 2

Yesterday, on Day 2 of the USATE, The Kenilworth CC Niners defeated Father Knows Best 3.5-0.5 and lost a close match to much higher-rated Rochester Chess Club #6.

I was nicked for a draw by a 1355 in round 3 but held a 2119 in round 4.

Max Izmaylov - Moldovan

C02 French Defense

Advance Variation

Moldovan - Steve Dygert

A04 Reti Opening

Dutch Defense

#983 USATE - Day 1

On Day 1 of the 2012 USATE, The Kenilworth Chess Club Niners lost to May the Odds Be Ever In Our Favor 4-0 and defeated Kings By Day, Queens By Night 3.5-0.5.

I lost to a young master in the opener and got a match-clinching win in the nightcap. The latter was my longest game-ever: 4 hours and 8 minutes!

Stuart Finney 2229 - John Moldovan 1817

C06 French Defense
Tarrasch Variation

Moldovan - Mariah McGreen 1533

D17 Queen's Gambit

Slav Defense

#982 KCC Ch. - Round 5 Games & Wrap-Up

My short but interesting 5th round draw versus Michael Goeller has been posted in java-replay and PGN.

I played a model opening in the 2 Knights French that left my opponent with "nothing" but didn't find the best continuation, completely lost the thread at move 21 and stood worse at the end. 

Finally, to put a bow on the 21st KCCC... a few stats:

Players: 22 (most since 2009's 26)
Games played: 49
Decisive games: 41 (.837)
Games drawn: 8 (.163)White scored: +26-15=8 .612
Higher-rated players scored: +35-6=8 .796
Biggest rating gain: Pat Mazzillo +76!!

#981 KCC Ch. - Prize Winners

2012 Kenilworth CC Championship Prize Winners

1st place: Arthur Macaspac 4.5

2nd place: Michael Goeller 3.5 (on 4th tie-break!)

3rd place: John Moldovan 3.5 (2nd tie-break)

U2050: Dr. Ian Mangion 3.5

U1800: Greg Tomkovich 3.0 (2nd tie-break)

U1600: Pat Mazzillo 2.5

U1400: Chris Constantino 2.0 (2nd tie-break)

Biggest Upset: Constantino over Komunicky in round 4 (-286).

Moldovan had the best score by an U1800 and will be listed as such on the KCC Ch. plaque.

Standings, in tie-break order.

Congratulations to the winners and a big thank you to those who are donating trophies.

#980 Macaspac Wins Kenilworth Ch.

NM Arthur Macaspac defeated Max Sherer last night to win the 21st Kenilworth CC Championship by a full point.

Michael Goeller, Dr. Ian Mangion, LM Mark Kernighan and I tied for 2nd.

Final Standings

A list of trophy-winners, notes to my last-round draw with Mike and a wrap-up will follow.

If anyone has games to submit please email them to kenilworthchessclub@gmail.com.

Thanks to all for playing.

5th round pairings and results:

1. Macaspac 1-0 Sherer
2. Goeller 1/2-1/2 Moldovan
3. Kernighan 1-0 Hart
4. Mangion 1-0 Palakollu
5. Mazzillo 1/2-1/2 Sturniolo
6. Demetrick 1-0 Agress
7. Constantino 0-1 Tomkovich
8. Komunicky 1-0 McAuliffe
9. Mann 0-1 Renna
10. Mendonca 1-0 Ruales

Carrelli and Chen withdrew.

#979 KCC Ch. - More 4th Round Games

4 games have been added to the 4th round java-replay and PGN.

Thanks to Geoff McAuliffe and Glen Hart for sending them.

#978 Kenilworth Ch. - Final Round Pairings

2012 Kenilworth Championship
 Final Round Pairings

Thursday, February 9th

8:20 p.m.

Board	White	Black
1	Macaspac, Arthur M (3.5)	Sherer, Maximillian (3.0)
2	Goeller, Michael (3.0)	Moldovan, John (3.0)
3	Kernighan, Mark D (2.5)	Hart, Glen B (2.5)
4	Mangion, Ian (2.5)	Palakollu, Samritha (2.0)
5	Mazzillo, Patrick (2.0)	Sturniolo, Louis (2.0)
6	Demetrick, Joseph (2.0)	Agress, Gordon (2.0)
7	Constantino, Chris (2.0)	Tomkovich, Greg (2.0)
8	Komunicky, Daniel (1.0)	Mc Auliffe, Geoff (1.5)
9	Mann, Theodore (1.0)	Renna, Joe (1.0)
10	Mendonca, S. (1.0)	Ruales, Luis (0.0)

Carrelli and Chen withdrew.

Good luck and good chess to all.

#977 Czechs Lead U.S. 22-21

IM Michael Brooks won one his games against Tomáš Sedláček but the Czech held the other and cut his team's magic number to 3.5.

We now trail 22-21.

To download all 50 CZE-USA games, including the 7 that are still in progress, right-click here.

#976 Germany Defeats U.S.

Germany has taken an insurmountable 51.5-28.5 lead in its correspondence match with the United States.

#975 KCC Ch. - 4th Round Games & Table

My hard-fought win vs. Lou Sturniolo and Tomkovich-Mendonca have been uploaded in java-replay and PGN. Additional games are expected.

An expanded crosstable, with tie-break info, color needs and performance ratings has also been posted.

#974 Kenilworth Ch. - Prize Leaders

Here is a list of prize leaders entering the Kenilworth Championship's final round:

1st: Macaspac 3.5

2nd: Goeller, Moldovan, Sherer 3.0

3rd: Goeller, Moldovan, Sherer 3.0

U2050: Goeller, Moldovan, Sherer 3.0

U1800: Hart 2.5

U1600: Agress, Constantino, Mazzillo 2.0

U1400: Constantino, Mazzillo 2.0

Biggest Upset: Constantino (-286) over Komunicky in round 4.

#973 Kenilworth Championship - Round 4

Arthur Macaspac drew Michael Goeller to maintain his slim lead.

Max Sherer & I moved to within a half-point of first with victories.

Mark Kernighan, Greg Tomkovich, Chris Constantino, Gordon Agress and Joe Renna also won.

Glen Hart drew Ian Mangion.

4th round pairings and results:

1. Macaspac 1/2-1/2 Goeller
2. Hart 1/2-1/2 Mangion
3. Sherer 1-0 Demetrick
4. Sturniolo 0-1 Moldovan
5. Kernighan 1-0 Palakollu
6. Mazzillo vs. McAuliffe *
7. Tomkovich 1-0 Mendonca
8. Komunicky 0-1 Constantino
9. Agress 1-0 Mann
10. Ruales 0-1 Renna

Carrelli and Chen received 0 point byes.

* Ruled as un-played draw for pairing purposes. The players have the option of playing their game.

Current standings:

1. Macaspac 3.5

= 2-4. Goeller, Sherer, Moldovan 3.0
= 5-8. Kernighan, Mangion, Carrelli, Hart 2.5
= 9-15. Palakollu, Sturniolo, Demetrick, Tomkovich, Agress, Mazzillo, Constantino 2.0
= 16-17. Chen, McAuliffe 1.5
= 18-21. Komunicky, Mann, Renna, Mendonca 1.0

= 22. Ruales 0.0

Games and updated crosstable will eventually follow.

The 5th round pairings will likely be delayed 3-4 days.

#972 KCC Ch. - Pairing Changes

Kevin is skipping round 4 due to illness.

Boards 1-5 are the same as before. So is Dan vs. Chris.

Pat, Geoff, Greg, Ted, Gordon, Schnaider, Joe R. and Luis have new opponents.

The re-pairing is:

1. Macaspac-Goeller
2. Hart-Mangion
3. Sherer-Demetrick
4. Sturniolo-Moldovan
5. Kernighan-Palakollu
6. Mazzillo-McAuliffe
7. Tomkovich-Mendonca
8. Komunicky-Constantino
9. Agress-Mann
10. Ruales-Renna

Carrelli & Chen 0 point byes

#971 KCC Ch. - 4th Round Pairings Update

The pairings for tomorrow's 4th round of the Kenilworth Championship are set. They are, by board number: 

1. Macaspac-Goeller
2. Hart-Mangion
3. Sherer-Demetrick
4. Sturniolo-Moldovan
5. Kernighan-Palakollu
6. Mazzillo-Chen
7. Agress-McAuliffe
8. Tomkovich-Mann
9. Komunicky-Constantino
10. Mendonca-Renna

Ruales 1 point bye
Carrelli 0 point bye

#970 KCC Ch. - Preliminary R4 Pairings

2 sets of pairings for round 4 of the Kenilworth Championship have been prepared.

Version #1 - With all 22 players:

1. Macaspac-Goeller
2. Carrelli-Mangion
3. Sherer-Palakollu
4. Sturniolo-Moldovan
5. Hart-Demetrick
6. Kernighan-Chen
7. Mazzillo-McAuliffe
8. Tomkovich-Mendonca
9. Komunicky-Constantino
10. Agress-Mann
11. Ruales-Renna

Version #2 - If Don Carrelli can't play:

1. Macaspac-Goeller
2. Hart-Mangion
3. Sherer-Demetrick
4. Sturniolo-Moldovan
5. Kernighan-Palakollu
6. Mazzillo-Chen
7. Agress-McAuliffe
8. Tomkovich-Mann
9. Komunicky-Constantino
10. Mendonca-Renna

Ruales 1 point bye 

Carrelli 0 point bye

#969 Kenilworth Ch. - 3rd Round Games

5 games from round 3 of the Kenilworth Championship, have been uploaded in java-replay and PGN.

Thanks to Geoff McAuliffe for annotating his draw vs. Greg Tomkovich and his 2nd round loss to Joe Demetrick.

#968 Kenilworth Championship - Round 3

NM Arthur Macaspac took a clear lead by beating Ian Mangion. Mike Goeller defeated Kevin Chen and is tied for 2nd, with Don Carrelli.

I missed an obvious win at move 12 but was able to grind-out a full point against Dan Komunicky..

Samritha Palakollu, Lou Sturniolo Joe Demetrick, Pat Mazzillo and Chris Constantino also had victories.

Max Sherer drew LM Mark Kernighan.

3rd round pairings and results:

1. Mangion 0-1 Macaspac
2. Goeller 1-0 Chen
3. Sherer 1/2-1/2 Kernighan
4. Moldovan 1-0 Komunicky
5. Palakollu 1-0 Agress
6. Mann 0-1 Sturniolo
7. Demetrick 1-0 Mendonca
8. McAuliffe 1/2-1/2 Tomkovich
9. Renna 0-1 Mazzillo
10. Constantino 1-0 Ruales

Carrelli and Hart received 1/2-point byes.

Current standings:

1. Macaspac 3.0

= 2-3. Goeller, Carrelli 2.5
= 4-10. Mangion, Sherer, Moldovan, Hart, Palakollu, Sturniolo, Demetrick 2.0
= 11-13. Kernighan, Chen, Mazzillo 1.5
= 14-20 McAuliffe, Tomkovich, Komunicky, Mann, Agress, Constantino, Mendonca 1.0

= 21-22.  Renna, Ruales 0.0 

Games, an updated crosstable and preliminary 4th round pairings will follow.

#967 PGN For 2012 Updated

My running PGN Archive for 2012 has been updated.

#966 Kenilworth Ch. - 2nd Round Games

Eight games from round 2 of the Kenilworth Championship have been posted in java-replay and PGN.

An updated crosstable has been uploaded, as well.

#965 More Pairing Changes

Here are the revised pairings for Round 3 of the Kenilworth Championship on January 26th:

Board	White	Black
1.	Mangion, Ian (2.0)	Macaspac, Arthur M (2.0)
2.	Goeller, Michael (1.5)	Chen, Kevin E (1.5)
3.	Sherer, Maximillian (1.5)	Kernighan, Mark D (1.0)
4.	Moldovan, John (1.0)	Komunicky, Daniel (1.0)
5.	Palakollu, Samritha (1.0)	Agress, Gordon (1.0)
6.	Mann, Theodore (1.0)	Sturniolo, Louis (1.0)
7.	Demetrick, Joseph (1.0)	Mendonca, Schnaider (1.0)
8.	McAuliffe, Geoff (0.5)	Tomkovich, Gregory (0.5)
9.	Renna, Joe (0.0)	Mazzillo, Patrick (0.5)
10.	Constantino, Chris (0.0)	Ruales, Luis (0.0)
	Hart, Glen B (1.5)	Bye Requested
	Carrelli, Donald A (2.0)	Bye Requested

Hopefully there will be no further changes.

#964 Kernighan Wins West Orange G.P.

LM Mark Kernighan won the West Orange Late Fall Swiss/Grand Prix, which concluded Tuesday night. Roger Pedersen finished 2nd.

Due to repairs at the site, the event ran longer than expected. It also had a number of forfeits and extra games that should have been placed in another section, to make the crosstable less confusing.

#963 Dehmelt, Stoyko Tie In DOCA Championship

NM Karl Dehmelt and FM Steve Stoyko tied for 1st in the DOCA Championship, which wrapped-up Tuesday night, in Branchburg. Both players scored 5.5/7.

In the final round, Stoyko beat IM Dean Ippolito but Dehmelt drew to take the title on tiebreaks.

#962 Kenilworth Ch. - Pairing Changes

Glen Hart has requested a bye for next week.

Pairings on boards 1, 2, 3, 6, 7 remain as posted.
Boards 4, 5, 8 are to be determined.
Board 9: McAuliffe vs. Mazzillo
Board 10: Renna vs. Constantino

Luis Ruales will get a full-point bye.

#961 Kenilworth Ch. - 3rd Round Pairings

2012 Kenilworth Championship
 Round 3

Thursday, January 26th
8:20 p.m.

 

Board	White	Black
1.	Mangion, Ian (2.0)	Macaspac, Arthur M (2.0)
2.	Carrelli, Donald A (2.0)	Goeller, Michael (1.5)
3.	Sherer, Maximillian (1.5)	Chen, Kevin E. (1.5)
4.	Kernighan, Mark D (1.0)	Hart, Glen B (1.5)
5.	Moldovan, John (1.0)	Komunicky, Daniel (1.0)
6.	Palakollu, Samritha (1.0)	Agress, Gordon (1.0)
7.	Mann, Theodore (1.0)	Sturniolo, Louis (1.0)
8.	Demetrick, Joseph (1.0)	Mendonca, Schnaider (1.0)
9.	Mc Auliffe, Geoff (0.5)	Tomkovich, Gregory (0.5)
10.	Renna, Joe (0.0)	Mazzillo, Patrick (0.5)
11.	Constantino, Chris (0.0)	Ruales, Luis (0.0)

The pairings are subject to change. If you need to take a bye, please contact the TD or Assistant TD ASAP.

If you wait until Thursday afternoon, we may not receive/notice your request in time or we may reject it.

#960 Kenilworth Championship - Round 2

Ian Mangion beat top-rated Mark Kernighan. Glen Hart nicked #3 seed Mike Goeller for a draw and Pat Mazzillo did likewise to Greg Tomkovich.

I lost a long game to Arthur Macaspac and (including 11 blitz games) am now 0-14 against the Chess Mates owner.

Other winners included Kevin Chen, Don Carrelli, Joe Demetrick, Dan Komunicky, Ted Mann and Gordon Agress.

White scored 7/10 (+6-2=2) on the night.

 2nd round pairings and results:

1. Mangion 1-0 Kernighan
2. Macaspac 1-0 Moldovan
3. Hart 1/2-1/2 Goeller
4. Sturniolo 0-1 Carrelli
5. Chen 1-0 Palakollu
6. Demetrick 1-0 McAuliffe
7. Mazzillo 1/2-1/2 Tomkovich
8. Komunicky 1-0 Renna
9. Ruales 0-1 Mann
10. Agress 1-0 Constantino

Mendonca received a full-point bye.

Current standings:

= 1-3. Macaspac, Mangion, Carrelli 2.0

= 4-7. Goeller, K. Chen, Sherer, Hart 1.5
= 8-16. Kernighan, Moldovan, Palakollu, Sturniolo, Demetrick, Komunicky, Mann, Agress, Mendonca 1.0
= 17-19. McAuliffe, Tomkovich, Mazzillo 0.5

= 20-22.  Renna, Constantino, Ruales 0.0 

Games and an updated crosstable will follow.

#959 Corr Update: I Win! USA Trails by 2

This morning my opponent played 52...Ke8 and resigned after 53.g6.

John Moldovan 1-0 Radek Svítil

D38 Queen's Gambit

Ragozin Defense

Notes to this game and our previous draw will follow.

We (the U.S.) now trail the Czech Republic, 21.5-19.5. You can download all the games here.

My next correspondence event will probably be a Master Class or Master Norm tournament. Although my rating is too low for automatic qualification into the latter it may be high-enough (43 points shy of 2350) for acceptance.

I'd also like to enter the U.S. Championship Preliminaries again but can only guess when they would be. (In the fall?)

#958 KCC Ch. - 1 More From Round 1

Tomkovich-Macaspac has been added to the Kenilworth Championship's opening round Java-replay and PGN. Thanks to Greg for sending the game and annotating it.

#957 Kenilworth Ch. - 2nd Round Pairings

Kenilworth Championship

Round 2

Thursday, January 19th at 8:20 p.m.

	White		Black
1.	Sherer, Maximillian (1.0)		Kernighan, Mark D (1.0)
2.	Macaspac, Arthur M (1.0)		Moldovan, John (1.0)
3.	Hart, Glen B (1.0)		Goeller, Michael (1.0)
4.	Mangion, Ian (1.0)		Palakollu, Samritha (1.0)
5.	Sturniolo, Louis (1.0)		Carrelli, Donald A (1.0)
6.	Chen, Kevin E (0.5)		McAuliffe, Geoff (0.5)
7.	Demetrick, Joseph (0.0)		Renna, Joe (0.0)
8.	Mazzillo, Patrick (0.0)		Tomkovich, Gregory (0.0)
9.	Komunicky, Daniel (0.0)		Constantino, Chris (0.0)
10.	Ruales, Luis (0.0)		Mann, Theodore (0.0)
11.	Agress, Gordon (0.0)		Mendonca, Schnaider (0.0)

The pairings are subject to change.

Good luck and good chess to all. :-)

#956 Stoyko-Panchanathan Notes

Notes to last Tuesday's Stoyko-Panchanathan have been added to the recent games replay page and PGN.

#955 Kenilworth Championship - Round 1

The 21st Kenilworth CC Championship began Thursday night with 2008 Champion LM Mark Kernighan and 2010 Champion NM Arthur Macaspac heading a 22-player field that also features experts Michael Goeller and Kevin Chen.

Last year's titleist, NM Ken Chieu could not play because he has moved out of state. 3-time winner FM Steve Stoyko, who is battling for 1st place in the DOCA Championship, is also sitting-out.

1st round pairings and results:

1. Kernighan 1-0 Joe Demetrick
2. Greg Tomkovich 0-1 Macaspac
3. Goeller 1-0 Dan Komunicky
4. Ted Mann 0-1 Ian Mangion
5. Don Carrelli 1-0 Gordon Agress
6. Joe Renna 0-1 Max Sherer
7. John Moldovan 1-0 Pat Mazzillo
8. Chris Constantino 0-1 Glen Hart
9. Samritha Palakollu 1-0 Luis Ruales
10. Schnaider Mendonca 0-1 Lou Sturniolo

Kevin Chen and Geoff McAuliffe received a 1/2-point byes.

Just 2 of the 10 games were submitted for posting: My win over Pat Mazzillo and Goeller-Komunicky (annotated at the The Kenilworthian).

However, with Greg Tomkovich finding a sizeable stash of old yet fully useable copy scoresheets in our equipment cabinet, there should be more next week!

Java-replay

PGN

Current standings:

= 1-10. Kernighan (2233), Macaspac (2137), Goeller (2043), Mangion (1986), Carrelli (1870), Sherer (1824), Moldovan (1797), Hart (1721), Palakollu (1666), Sturniolo (1665) 1.0

= 11-12. K. Chen (2003), McAuliffe (1644) 0.5

= 13-22. Demetrick (1661), Tomkovich (1611), Komunicky (1520), Mann 1476, Agress (1429), Renna (1425), Mazzillo (1353), Constantino (1234), Ruales (608), Mendonca (unrated) 0.0 

Crosstable

Late-joins will be accepted in multiples of 2. Please see post #940 for details and contact TD Geoff McAuliffe or email the club before next Thursday, if you'd like to enter.

#954 Recent Games

I have uploaded the following in java-replay and PGN:

• Steve Stoyko's January 10th, DOCA Championship win over GM Magesh Panchanathan
• My January 5th Garden State League draw against Ian Mangion (w/notes)
• Anthony Norris's games from Chess Mates' New Year's Day Quad (gathered from Anthony's excellent YouTube videos)
• Frank Bloise's Sept. 2010 upset win over NM Arthur Macaspac, which was recently recovered

Steve comments, as best I can remember them, will be added on Monday or Tuesday.

#953 Slav Exchange With 5...Bf5 6.Qb3 b6

As a supplement to my New Year's Eve win over Ted Mann, I have uploaded a java-replay page and zipped PGN file with 4 more Slav Exchange games that featured 5...Bf5?! 6.Qb3 b6?? 7.e4!! +-.

#952 More Corr Moves

This morning, my Czech opponent, Radek Svítil, played 51...Kf7 but, instead of taking his Knight with check, I made a 3rd connector with 52.hxg5, and proposed "If 52...Ke8 then 53.g6."

Moldovan-Svítil

D38 Queen's Gambit
Ragozin Defense

1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Nc3 Bb4 6.Bg5 O-O 7.Qb3 Bxc3+ 8.bxc3 c6 9.e3 b6 10.Bd3 Ba6 11.Bxa6 Nxa6 12.Ne5 c5 13.Ng4 Nc7 14.dxc5 bxc5 15.O-O Qd7 16.Nxf6+ gxf6 17.Bxf6 Rfb8 18.Qc2 Qe6 19.Bh4 Qe4 20.Qxe4 dxe4 21.Bg3 Rb7 22.Rab1 Rxb1 23.Rxb1 Nd5 24.c4 Nb6 25.Bc7! Nxc4 26.Rb5 Rc8 27.Rxc5 Nb2 28.g4 Nd3 29.Rg5+ Kf8 30.Bd6+ Ke8 31.Ra5 Rc6 32.Bg3 a6 33.Ra4 Re6 34.Rc4 Kf8 35.Kf1 Kg7 36.Ke2 h5 37.g5 Kg6 38.h4 Nb2 39.Rd4 Nd3 40.f3 Nc1+ 41.Kd2 Rc6 42.Rxe4 Nxa2 43.Be5 Nc1 44.Rb4 a5 45.Rb5 a4 46.e4 Nb3+ 47.Ke3 Nc5 48.f4 Nd7 49.Bd4 f6 50.Rb7 fxg5 51.f5+ Kf7 52.hxg5

PGN of all the CZE-USA games

#951 Kenilworth Ch. Starts Tonight

The 21st Kenilworth Chess Club Championship will begin on tonight and run through February 9th, 2012. For details see post #940.

#950 Further Corr Update

After 11 days of deliberation, my opponent played 50...fxg5. I replied 51.f5+.

Moldovan-Svítil

D38 Queen's Gambit
Ragozin Defense

1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Nc3 Bb4 6.Bg5 O-O 7.Qb3 Bxc3+ 8.bxc3 c6 9.e3 b6 10.Bd3 Ba6 11.Bxa6 Nxa6 12.Ne5 c5 13.Ng4 Nc7 14.dxc5 bxc5 15.O-O Qd7 16.Nxf6+ gxf6 17.Bxf6 Rfb8 18.Qc2 Qe6 19.Bh4 Qe4 20.Qxe4 dxe4 21.Bg3 Rb7 22.Rab1 Rxb1 23.Rxb1 Nd5 24.c4 Nb6 25.Bc7! Nxc4 26.Rb5 Rc8 27.Rxc5 Nb2 28.g4 Nd3 29.Rg5+ Kf8 30.Bd6+ Ke8 31.Ra5 Rc6 32.Bg3 a6 33.Ra4 Re6 34.Rc4 Kf8 35.Kf1 Kg7 36.Ke2 h5 37.g5 Kg6 38.h4 Nb2 39.Rd4 Nd3 40.f3 Nc1+ 41.Kd2 Rc6 42.Rxe4 Nxa2 43.Be5 Nc1 44.Rb4 a5 45.Rb5 a4 46.e4 Nb3+ 47.Ke3 Nc5 48.f4 Nd7 49.Bd4 f6 50.Rb7 fxg5 51.f5+

PGN of all the CZE-USA games

#949 CZE-USA Update

Since my last update, the Czech Republic has upped their its lead over the U.S. to 3 points, 21.5-18.5, and reduced their its magic number to 4.

We (Team USA) stand to lose on board 7 but are equal or better in all the other games, where +4-0=5 would tie the match. Ethan Civan is winning with White and I am beating Svítil, who hasn't moved since 12/30. IM Michael Brooks has 2 advantages (see here and here) and Wilbur Tseng has 2 edges.

PGN of all the CZE-USA games

#948 IM Turzo To Play 1000 Board Correspondence Simul

IM Attila Turzo is going to play a 1000 board correspondence simul at chess.com.

The event's website says there are 167 spots left but the last update was January 3rd.

If you want to give signing-up a shot, anyway... hurry! The deadline is 5 a.m. today New York time (EST).

Update 6:45 a.m. - As expected, I was too late.

#947 New Year's Eve Quad

Ari Minkov, Bob Sherry and I tied for 1st in a non-rated, 30+15 New Year's Eve Quad.

New Year's Eve Quad

Mountainside, NJ

12/31/2011

	Player	USCF	1	2	3	4	Points
1	Ari Minkov	1955		½	½	1	2.0
2	Bob Sherry	1812	½		½	1	2.0
3	John Moldovan	1797	½	½		1	2.0
4	Ted Mann	1476	0	0	0		0.0

5 of the 6 games, with notes, in java-replay and PGN.