#239 PGN Archive For 2007

For your convenience, I have compiled all the games uploaded during 2007 into 2 zip files :

• French Defense Lectures contains the 44 games from Steve Stoyko's recent 5-part series
  
• The Chess Coroner 2007 has a total of 230 contests; including 95 from the year's Kenilworth Championship

Links to both have also been added to my sidebar.

#238 Checkmate Championship To Start 1/20

This year’s Checkmate CC Championship will start on January 20th, 2008 and be a round-robin with up to 8 players. There will be no games on February 17th to accommodate those participating in the USATE.

If you want to play, please register by January 15th. There are no entry fees or prizes and the tourney will not be rated. For complete details, visit the event page.

#237 KCC Championship To Start On 1/17

18th 17th Kenilworth Chess Club Championship

• January 17th, 2008 thru March 20th, 2008 (projected end date)
• USCF-rated!!
• Open & U1800 sections
• Round-Robin format b/entries... If need be, we will split the U1800 into 2 divisions &/or run the open as a double-RR.
• EF: $25 entry fee + $20 KCC dues (KCC and USCF membership required) + $10 anti-forfeit deposit (refundable upon completion of the event) = $55
• Trophies will be awarded to the section/division winners. Ties for 1st place will be broken by a playoff game (probably G/30).
• G/90 time control
• Rounds will commence at 8:30 p.m. every Thursday night for the duration of the event.
• Players may take 2 byes. A 3rd bye will cost you half of your deposit. A 4th will cost you the rest of your deposit and result in a forfeited game or expulsion from the tournament.
• To register, seek Tournament Director Geoff McAuliffe or (if the TD is not present) another club officer (John Moldovan, Greg Tomkovich, Joe Renna) during our 12/27/2007, 1/3/2008 and 1/10/2008 meetings @ Kenilworth Community Center, 575 Boulevard, Kenilworth, N.J.

P.S. - entries will be accepted up to 8:15 p.m. on 1/17

#236 Kenilworth Ratings

Here are the current (1/1/2008 list) USCF ratings of active Kenilworth CC members and select non-members :

2245 Steve Stoyko
2217 Scott Massey
2200 Mark Kernighan
2200 Ed Allen
2027 Michael Goeller
2004 Mark Bilenky
1912 Ari Minkov
1892 Tom Polese
1856 Howard Osterman
1809 Ziggy Bliznikas
1804 John Moldovan
1754 Geoff McAuliffe
1748 Richard Lewis
1729 Greg Tomkovich
1711 Justin Roach
1710 Ed Selling
1685 Don Carrelli
1621 Mike Wojcio
1600 Pete Cavaliere
1599 Joe Demetrick
1526 Mike Stallings
1497 Max Sherer
1470 Pat Mazzillo
1428 Ted Mann
1405 Leon Hrebinka
1369 Bert Shiffman
1330 Dmitriy Yampolskiy
1315 Michail Kruglyak
1195 Laukik Gadgil
1164 Joe Renna
1150 Gordon Agress
1128 Bill Sokolosky
1127 Jim Cole
812 Jevon O'Neal
---- Harry Smith
---- Andy Wolman

Hope I haven't missed anyone.

#235 Kenilworth U1200 Team Seeking Board 1

Jim Cole, Joe Renna and Gordon Agress are looking for someone rated between 1165 and 1357 to play first board on their team in the upcoming USATE. If you fall within that range and are willing to join the Kenilworth Chess Club, contact Jim via e-mail.

#234 Business Meeting

The business meeting originally scheduled for 12/13 and re-scheduled for 12/27, ended up being held before our annual holiday party this past Thursday (12/20) because some people could not attend on the 27th & most members were sure to be at the party.

As usual, the most hotly-debated item on the agenda was the Club Championship format. Surprisingly, for the first time in some 16 years (according to KCC President-emeritus Mike Wojcio), it will be USCF-rated!

That decision, which was made by the slimmest of margins (maybe a 2/3rds majority should've been required) may discourage several prominent Kenilworth players (I hope not) but folks from some other local clubs could join us.

With the disclosure of how much was spent on last year's awards and the need to set aside money for USCF-rating, we then voted to spend 60% of entry fees on trophies. This measure along with the $5 increase in dues (which will now be $20/year) should add some $250 to the club's coffers.

A slight change in the our USATE makeup & sponsorship was also made. Each player on the squads will have to be a KCC member (2 of the 13 players from last year were not) and a $12 per board reimbursement (I proposed $10) will be given whether we have 1, 2 or 3 teams entered. The bottom line is that if we only enter 2 teams (there will likely be 3), we'd be shelling out just $96 rather than $140.

As for the officer elections, Greg Tomkovich and Geoff McAuliffe retained their Vice-President and Treasurer roles... Joe Renna was named Secretary... Mark Kernighan earned Member-at-Large status (other MAL listed here) ... Michael Goeller was officially named Webmaster... and, despite there being several others worthy of the honor (including the aforementioned group), I was tabbed to fill the President's shoes.

#233 Business Meeting Postponed

From KCC president Joe Demetrick :

Due to the weather and the importance of some of the issues to be raised at the annual business meeting (Dues, Club Championship format, Officer Elections), I am going to re-schedule the annual business meeting to Thursday, December 27th so that we can get as many people as possible to attend. The annual Holiday party will continue to be held next Thursday, December 20th. The club will provide pizza and soda. Please feel free to bring other food (chips, cookies, etc.) to the party. As a reminder, alcohol is not permitted at the Kenilworth Community Center.

Tonight is designated as an open night, the Community Center should be open for people who would like to go. No scheduled events are planned.

#232 Business Meeting Reminder

The Kenilworth Chess Club's annual business meeting will be held tomorrow night (Thursday 12/13), starting around 8:30. We'll be discussing the club's financial state, electing officers, selecting our Club Championship format & choosing events for our 2008 schedule.

Non-members can play skittles or blitz in the TV room.

#231 Tarrasch French Example

I've annotated & uploaded a Tarrasch French that I played on Playchess Sunday night. It isn't perfect or special but it's a nice game and my best-ever in that variation. Here are the pre-tested (!) links : replay PGN.

#230 Renna vs. Moldovan, by request

Joe Renna has asked me to analyze & make a java-replay of the hard-fought Caro-Kann we played at Kenilworth late last night. Each side made a double-digit number of errors but the game is interesting, nonetheless. For those who prefer to go through it with your chess engine, here's the PGN.

Yet another foul-up fixed Tue 12/11 at 12:25 p.m. Both links now lead where they should.

#229 French Lecture - Part 5

Steve Stoyko's Tarrasch French lecture, scheduled for this week, actually took place this past Thursday (11/29)!

I planned to skip the Kenilworth meeting and would have missed out if not for Bert Shiffman; who gave me a ride from the Maplewood CC and an enlightening Escarole Soup idea (His wife adds slices of pepperoni!).

Anyway for those of you who missed the Tarrasch talk, here are 4 of the illustrated games in java-replay. Steve's wins over Alvarez, Grasso (Roselle-KCC, 2005) and Minkov (KCC Ch., 2006), which were previously posted by The Kenilworthian, are in the 7-game zipped PGN file I uploaded.

#228 French Lecture - Part 4

I've uploaded the java-replay & PGN of all the games from FM Steve Stoyko's lecture on the Winawer Variation, which took place at Kenilworth on November 8th.

The Tarrasch Variation segment, which was to have taken place the same night, will be on Thursday, December 6th. (8:00 p.m.; $5.00 admission).

#227 French Lecture - Part 3

FM Steve Stoyko's 3rd lecture on the French Defense, which was given at the Kenilworth CC on November 1st, covered the Steinitz Variation, Classical Variation and Alekhine-Chatard Attack. Here are the java-replay & PGN of all the games from that lesson.

Perhaps the most interesting segment that night was Steve's good N vs. bad B ending illustration & recommendations. I have taken the liberty of modifying the diagram from his text to even out the tempi & try to match it to an actual game.

Good N vs. Bad B ending

example derived from
Minic-Sofreski : Skopje/Ohrid 1968

Black to move

• Black has no steed or dark-squared B to challenge White's Nd4 & his light-squared B can't attack anything.

• White can expand on the K-side with f4-f5 or replace the Nd4 with his K and try to provoke weaknesses that would allow his monarch to penetrate.

• Notice that ...a7-a6 by Black would help the enemy K infiltrate. Treat that little move with respect. Many Black players make it automatically but it can turn out to be fatal!

• A plan for Black is to play ...Bd7, ...f6, ...Be8 and ...Bh5/Bg6; repositioning the bad QB. Another is to play ...a6, ...b5, ...b4, ...a5 and ...Ba6.

• Although the White position is better, it is hard to play since milking the position requires him to beware of all the plans Black can try.

#226 Massey Lecture Tonight

NM Scott Massey is scheduled to give a lecture at the Kenilworth Chess Club tonight, starting at 8:00.

I'm not sure about the admission fee or topic but the lectures are usually $5.00 & the KCC calendar indicates Polish GM Akiba Rubinstein may be the subject.

#225 French Lecture - Part 2

FM Steve Stoyko's 2nd lecture on the French Defense covered lines with ...dxe4, 3.Be3 & 3.Bd3. The notes below are derived from his accompanying text.

...dxe4 Ideas & Plans

• ...dxe4 gives White has a space advantage but it lessens as pieces are exchanged. So, after White recaptures...
• Black challenges the piece on e4, to either force an exchange or time-wasting retreat.
• With development completed (at least K into safety), Black will nullify the center with either ...c5 or ...e5.

The biggest problem is getting the QB (Bc8) developed. In this system, it comes out via ...b6 & ...Bb7 or (if possible) ...a6 & ...b5.

If all of this can be accomplished, Black will have equal middlegame and endgame chances.

Patience is needed when playing this way with Black. He cannot really attack anything and has to wait for White to do something rash or over-aggressive.

How does White make progress?

• Develop super-fast
• Try to get in 0-0-0 if you want to attack
• If 0-0, try Ne5 + f4, Rf3, Rh3, and g2-g4-g5
• In general, avoid c2-c4 since this tends to weaken the d-pawn

...dxe4 Summary

All of these lines (Rubinstein, Purdy, Fort Knox, Burn) are interesting and require both sides to play well. Black often has to defend against K-side attack but, if he accurately does so, he has every prospect of winning since the White player tends to go "all-in". The attacking side is NOT easy to play. I have been on both sides of these positions and have always seen White get into severe time-trouble!

Here's are the java-replay & PGN of all the games from the lesson.

The last part of the lecture series, which will cover the Tarrasch & Winawer Variations, is tonight at 8:00 p.m. ($5.00 admission)

#224 Grand Prix Games

I have annotated my games from the Labate Grand Prix where I scored 2.0/5, upset expert Maurico Camejo (who, at 2093, is the strongest player I've ever beaten in a USCF OTB tourney) & had a 2010 performance despite...

• blowing an easy win in time-trouble against NM V. Shen
• missing an Exchange sac at move 27 vs. FM Volovich that would've given me equal chances
• overlooking a mate-in-1 swindle with 2 seconds left against expert Vladimir Polyakin

Here they are in Java-replay & zipped PGN.

Moldovan-Camejo
after 14...h5??

White to win

#223 Better Late Than Never

I've finally gotten around to annotating my Kenilworth G/30 loss to FM Steve Stoyko (it was promised in post #208!) & adding it to the tourney's replay page & zipped PGN file.

To see who gained & lost rating points in the event, check out the official USCF crosstable.

#222 Kernighan Miniature

Two Sundays ago, at the Westfield Quads, NM Mark Kernighan won a 15-move miniature against Tim Hall's Nimzo-Indian Defense. The variation? ...his favorite 4.Bd2, which some (not me!) have criticized.

Kernighan-Hall
after 12...Na6

White to win

Here's the full game, with annotations, in java-replay & PGN.

#221 GM Kudrin wins Labate Grand Prix

GM Sergey Kudrin won the Ernesto Labate Grand Prix yesterday in Westfield, with 4.5-0.5 score. Tying for 2nd (at 4.0) were FM Mikhail Belorusov, NM Evan Ju & IM Bryan Smith. There was a 5-way knot for 5th place (3.5) between FM Tom Bartell, IM Guillermo Estevez, NM Peter Radomskyj, NM Victor Shen & FM Anatoly Volovich.

Class prizes went to Andrew Ng (U2200, 3.5), Kevin Dresher (U2000, 3.0), Paul Shepel & Eve Zhurbinskiy (U1800, both 2.5), Mark Powell & Kelvin Yao (U1500, both 1.5)

Jennie Liu received the best game prize.

The event drew 12 titled players and a total of 38 entries.

Fellow blogger Jim West, who finished at 3-2, has already posted his best effort as Black. My games, which you'll laugh & shake your head at, will follow ASAP.

#220 More Players Needed For Labate Grand Prix

The Westfield Chess Club is honoring long-time member Ernesto Labate by holding a Grand Prix tournament on November 4th (details below) but I've been told that there have been just 6 entries so far.

There is a guaranteed $2000 prize fund & the event cannot be cancelled. So, the hosts are going to be in the red if 2 dozen additional players don't sign up. Please consider doing so.


Nov. 4 Ernesto Labate Grand Prix GPP: 30 New Jersey 5 Round Swiss Game/40 Westfield Y, 220 Clark Street, Westfield N.J. $2000 Gtd: $650-$350-$250-$150-$100 U2200: $200 U2000 $150 U1800: $100 Best game prize $50 (Judge Ernesto Labate) EF: $75, $60 by October 28th Reg: 9:30-11:30 a.m. Rds: 12:00,1:35,3:10,4:45,6:20 p.m. early EF: Todd Lunna, 36 Maple Drive, Colts Neck, New Jersey 07722. Make checks payable to Westfield Chess Club please bring identification to enter the building. www.westfieldchessclub.com Todd Lunna 732-946-7379.

#219 Kernighan Wins Checkmate Fall Swiss

NM Mark Kernighan beat Bob Sherry last night to win the Checkmate Fall Swiss. Bob & Don Carrelli tied for 2nd.

Kernighan-Sherry
after 18...Bb7

White to win

Here are the event's full standings, replay page & zipped PGN file.

#218 Checkmate Swiss - Round 2 annotations

I have annotated & uploaded my Sunday loss to Bob Sherry as well as Don Carrelli's win over Ted Mann. Minkov 0-1 Kernighan is also included but, as you'll see from the replay, the game wasn't up to the players' usual high standards. The updated PGN file with 6 of the 8 games played thus far is here.

In all 3 games, the winner had a lost position by move 21.

#217 French Defense Lecture - Part 1

Being a long-time French Defense practitioner (26 years) & knowing that the illustrated games would be in The Kenilworthian archives or my database, I probably took fewer notes than others who attended FM Steve Stoyko's October 4th lecture but I hope the following synopsis suffices for those who missed it.

Stoyko French Defense Lecture
Part 1 of 4

Exchange & Advance Variations

General Comments

• Steve has a slight bias for Black in the Exchange & Advance Variations... has never played them as White!
• Although recognized as an opening authority, Steve doesn’t memorize theory. Instead, he comprehends positions by playing over key Grandmaster games – going over them slowly to understand the ideas behind the pawn structures. Thus, his games often follow book for 15-20 moves.
• Anytime Black surrenders the center with ...dxe4, White gets a slight advantage because a pawn on the 4th rank (d4) is worth more than one on the 3rd (e6).

Exchange Variation (2.d4 d5 3.exd5 exd5)

• If White plays exd5, he’s usually looking for a draw.
• The onus is on Black to create winning chances though White can play c2-c4, as Kasparov did once... only once.
• We can say that White is better because he has an extra move in the symmetrical position but the person who goes 1st is possibly at a disadvantage because he commits himself.
• The Bc1 is a theoretically bad B & Black can sometimes win a Knight vs. dark-squared B ending.
• Games presented were : West-Stoyko (in part), where White made mechanical development & soon ran out of good moves; Melekhina-Stoyko : USATE 2006 (0-1, 32), where the game was basically over after 11.h3; & Kovacs-Kortschnoi : Sarajevo 1969 (0-1, 25), which the Melekhina game paralleled.
• Also mentioned was M. Gurevich-Short : Manila Interzonal 1990 where Short created a piece imbalance, rather than a pawn imbalance (...c5) & won the aforementioned N vs. B (+ rooks) ending.

Advance Variation (2.d4 d5 3.e5)

• After 3...c5 4.c3, Steve advocates the Wade Variation (4...Qb6 5.Nf3 Bd7 idea 6.Bd3 cxd4 7.cxd4 Bb5, trading off Black's bad Bishop) to avoid the Milner-Barry Gambit (4...Nc6 5.Nf3 Qb6 6.Bd3 cxd4 7.cxd4 Bd7 8.0-0 Nxd4 9.Nxd4 Qxd4 10.Nc3), which he says is tricky.
• Due to time constraints, only Grasso-Stoyko : NJ Open 2006 (0-1, 23) where Black dominated the light squares, was demonstrated.
  
• Ivanovic-Beliavsky : Igalo 1994, mentioned as a model Wade Variation game, was included in Steve’s printed handout.

The zipped PGN file for part 1 has Stoyko's annotations to the Advance games & Michael Goeller's notes to the Melekhina & Grasso games.

Part 2 of the series is tomorrow, Thursday, October 25th at 8:00 p.m., & will cover

• the King’s Indian Attack
• 3.Bd3
  
• Rubinstein’s Variation (3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7)
• the Fort Knox Variation (3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bd7).

Admission is $5.00.

#216 Checkmate Fall Swiss - Round 2

Mark Kernighan & Bob Sherry won last night & will face-off for 1st place next week. Mark defeated Ari Minkov on the Black side of an English while Bob beat me with a King's Indian, though I was ahead (according to Fritz) until erring on move 33.

Moldovan-Sherry
after 22....h6

White to win

You can view the above on the tourney's replay page or download the PGN. Notes & the Minkov-Kernighan score should follow toward the weekend.

The pairings for next Sunday's (10/28) finale are :

1. Kernighan (2.0) - Sherry (2.0)
2. Moldovan (1.0) - Minkov (1.0)
3. Shiffman (1.0) - Carrelli (1.0)
4. Mann (0.0) - Azzarello (0.0)

#215 Kenilworth G/30 Wrap-Up

I've uploaded Mark Kenighan's last-round win over Steve Stoyko & amended the event replay-page & PGN file

#214 Lunna & Jon Cohen Westfield Co-Champs

Todd Lunna & Jonathan Cohen tied for 1st place in the Westfield Championship, which finished yesterday. Each scored 3.5 from 4. Peter Radomskyj was 3rd, a half-point back. U2050-winner Lev Zilbermintz & U1850-victor Jack Yang, were = 4th-5th with 2.5. Full standings here

I've added 6 unannotated games to the event's java-replay page & zipped PGN file, including the title-deciding Jo. Cohen 1/2 Radomskyj & Rose 0-1 Lunna.

#213 Kernighan wins Kenilworth G/30

NM Mark Kernighan beat FM Steve Stoyko in the final round to win the USCF-rated Kenilworth G/30 last night. Steve, Ari Minkov & I tied for 2nd.

The only available 3rd & 4th-round games, at the moment, are my wins over Greg Tomkovich & Dmitri Yampolskiy. Here they are with notes; in java-replays & zipped PGN, along with the standings

#212 New Chess Server

There's a new chess server, Chesspark, that you may want to check out. They have free trials until the beta (testing) stage is over.

Playchess or ICC it isn't but memberships are cheap ($2.49 for 1 month, $24.00 for 1 year) & the client will save your games.

Here are two I played there last night (both losses) in java-replay & zipped PGN.

#211 Two From Kernighan

I've uploaded a pair of recent games by NM Mark Kernighan - his draw against Peter Radomskyj from the West Orange-Kenilworth match & his Kenilworth G/30 win over Max Sherer.

Here again are the links :

• WOCC-KCC replays... PGN
• G/30 replays... PGN

#210 Checkmate Fall Swiss Underway

NM Mark Kernighan, Ari Minkov, Bob Sherry & I won the opening round games of the Checkmate Fall Swiss in Springfield.

The pairings for next Sunday (10/21) are :

1. Minkov (1.0) - Kernighan (1.0)
2. Moldovan (1.0) - Sherry (1.0)
3. Carrelli (0.0) - Mann (0.0)
4. Shiffman (0.0) - Azzarello (0.0)

Here are 3 of the 4 games from last night in java-replay & zipped PGN.

Kernighan - Carrelli
after 12...Be4

White to win

#209 Upcoming Posts

Notes on part 1 of Steve Stoyko's French Defense lecture series will be posted before Steve gives part 2 (October 25th) & the Westfield Championship wrap-up should appear October 22nd or 23rd.

I apologize for the delay in getting to the former & regret not being able to cover round 3 (today) of the latter.

#208 G/30 Update

I have annotated my 1st round win over Bert Shiffman & updated the G/30 replay page & zipped PGN file. Notes to my loss vs. Steve Stoyko are still to come.

Moldovan - Shiffman
after 8...Nge7

White to play

#207 Fall Swiss - 1st Round Pairings

Here are the pairings for the opening round of the Springfield Fall Tournament (the player having White is listed first) :

1. Kernighan 2208 - Carrelli 1723
   
2. Mann 1450 - Minkov 1947
   
3. Sherry 1812 - Shiffman 1434
   
4. Azzarello 0000 - Moldovan 1774

Remember, the games start at 9 p.m. & Black has his choice of time control... G/40 + :02 delay or G/50+ :02 delay.

#206 Westfield Ch. - Round 2 Update

I have uploaded a java-replay page & zipped PGN file of the games in post #204.

#205 Stoyko, Minkov, Demetrick lead Kenilworth G/30

FIDE-Master Steve Stoyko, 2-time defending champ Ari Minkov & KCC President Joe Demetrick are tied for first after 2 rounds of this year's USCF-rated Kenilworth G/30. NM Mark Kernighan & Greg Tomkovich are a half-point back.

Despite the rainy weather & no Tournament Life/blog announcement, 14 players entered the event! The 4-round swiss concludes next Thursday night.

Here is a selection of games in java-replay & zipped PGN (annotations to follow in the future) ... the full standings

... the official 3rd-round pairings for boards 1-3, courtesy of director Geoff McAuliffe :

1. Minkov 2.0 - Stoyko 2.0
2. Kernighan 1.5 - Demetrick 2.o
3. Moldovan 1.0 - Tomkovich 1.5

& my guesses for boards 4-7, barring withdrawals :

• Cavaliere 1.0 - Yampolskiy 1.0
• Renna 1.0 - Mann 1.0
• Sherer 0.0 - Mazzillo 0.0
• Shiffman 0.0 - Agress 0.0

#204 Westfield Championship - Round 2

Peter Radomskyj, Todd Lunna & Jonathan Cohen lead at the halfway point of the Westfield CC Championship. They have perfect 2-0 scores. Pat Mazzillo is next with 1.5. Six players are tied at 1.0

Three early-ending, lightly annotated games from yesterday are given in PGN format below. Java-replays & a zipped file will follow when I make room on the server.

[Event "Westfield CC Championship"]
[Site "Westfield, NJ"]
[Date "2007.10.07"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Cohen, Jonathan"]
[Black "Zilbermintz, Lev"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C23"]
[WhiteElo "2046"]
[BlackElo "1932"]
[Annotator "Fritz 8 + color by Moldovan"]
[PlyCount "59"]
[EventDate "2007.09.30"]
[SourceDate "2007.10.08"]

{Bishop's Opening : Calabrese Counter-Gambit} 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 f5 $2 (2... Nf6)
3. Bxg8 $2 (3. exf5 $16) 3... Rxg8 4. exf5 Qg5 5. g4 d5 $2 (5... g6 $44) 6. d4
Qf6 7. dxe5 Qxe5+ 8. Qe2 Bd6 $2 (8... Qxe2+ 9. Nxe2 g6 $14) 9. Bf4 $1 Bb4+ 10. c3 Qxe2+ 11. Nxe2 Ba5 (11... Bc5 $142 $16) 12. Na3 $18 Bd7 13. Nd4 (13. O-O-O $142) 13... Kf7 (13... Na6 $142) 14. O-O-O c6 15. Rhe1 Na6 $2 16. Nac2 $2 (16. Nf3 Moldovan) 16... Bb6 $2 17. Nf3 Rge8 18. Ne5+ Rxe5 19. Bxe5 Bxf2 20. Re2 Bh4 21. Bd4 Nc7 $2 22. Ne1 Bg5+ 23. Kc2 Ne8 24. Nf3 Be7 $2 25. Rde1 Bd6 26. Ne5+ Bxe5 27. Rxe5 Nf6 $2 28. Re7+ Kf8 29. Bxf6 gxf6 30. Rxd7 {& Zilbermintz, ridiculously, played on for another 19 moves. At the end, White had an extra Rook & 5 pawns!} 1-0

[Event "Westfield CC Championship"]
[Site "Westfield, NJ"]
[Date "2007.10.07"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Yang, Yuxing (Jack)"]
[Black "Cohen, Bill"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C54"]
[WhiteElo "1723"]
[BlackElo "1657"]
[Annotator "Fritz 8 + color by Moldovan"]
[PlyCount "41"]
[EventDate "2007.09.30"]
[SourceDate "2007.10.08"]

{Italian Game : Giuoco Piano (by transposition)} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4
4. Bc4 Bc5 5. c3 Nf6 6. cxd4 Bb4+ 7. Bd2 Bxd2+ 8. Nbxd2 d5 9. exd5 Nxd5 10. Qb3 Na5 ({My old books recommend} 10... Nce7) 11. Qa4+ c6 $2 (11... Nc6 $14) 12. Bxd5 Qxd5 13. O-O O-O 14. Rac1 b6 15. b4 Nb7 16. Qxc6 Qxa2 $2 (16... Be6 $16 {was right. Now Black is lost.}) 17. d5 Rd8 $2 (17... Rb8 $2 18. Ra1 Qb2 19.
Rfb1 Qf6 {Weber - Xander 21st Seniors Open, Bad Woerishofen 2005}) (17... Qb2 $142) 18. Rfe1 h6 $2 19. Re8+ Rxe8 20. Qxe8+ Kh7 21. Rxc8 {& despite being a piece down, Cohen played on for another 24 moves.} 1-0

[Event "Westfield CC Championship"]
[Site "Westfield, NJ"]
[Date "2007.10.07"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Radomskyj, Peter"]
[Black "Rose, Bob"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B42"]
[WhiteElo "2232"]
[BlackElo "2057"]
[Annotator "Moldovan, Fritz 8 & Radomskyj"]
[PlyCount "50"]
[EventDate "2007.09.30"]
[SourceDate "2007.10.08"]

{Sicilian Defense : Kan Variation} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 5.
Bd3 Nf6 6. c4 Qc7 (6... Nc6 $142 {Moldovan = M}) 7. Nc3 Bc5 8. Nb3 Be7 9. Qe2
d6 10. O-O Nbd7 $6 (10... Nc6 $142 11. f4 O-O $11 {leaving d7 open for the f-Knight. - M}) 11. f4 O-O 12. Be3 b6 13. g4 $2 (13.Bd4 $14 {Fritz 8 = F}) 13... g6 (13... h6 $142 14. h4 {Radomskyj = R} h5 $11 {F}) 14. Rac1 Bb7 15. g5 Nh5 16. Nd4 Rfe8 17. Qf2 $146 (17. b4 Bf8 18. a4 e5 19.fxe5 dxe5 20. Nd5 Qd8 21. Nf3 a5 22. b5 Bc5 23. Kh1 Bxe3 24. Qxe3 Nc5 25. Bc2 $14 {Lamastus - Midoux : MTO Open, Biel 2005}) 17... Bf8 18. b4 Rac8 19. Be2 Ng7 20. a3 e5 $4 (20... f5 $16 {R - Now Black is lost.}) 21. fxe5 Nxe5 22. Nd5 Bxd5 23. cxd5 Qb7 24. Nc6 b5 25. Bd4 Qe7 {& White won in another 5 moves or so.} 1-0

#203 Springfield Fall Swiss

A 3-round Swiss will be held at the Checkmate Chess Club in Springfield, starting Sunday, October 14th & running thru 10/28. The time limit will be G/40 + :02 delay or G/50 + :02 delay, with Black making the choice in each pairing. Full details here.

Register by 10/13 by contacting TD Bob Sherry

#202 Westfield Championship Underway

NM Peter Radomskyj, NM Todd Lunna, expert Jonathan Cohen & Lev Zilbermintz were among the 1st-round winners in the Westfield CC Championship, which started Sunday 9/30.

Pat Mazzillo, Tim Hall & Bill Cohen are also among the 14 playing in the 4-week swiss, which will run thru October 21st.

Pat & Tim were in the midst of an unbalanced Rook ending when I left. If any one knows what happened in their game or has results of the 2 other contests, please leave a comment.

#201 West Orange & Kenilworth tie 3-3

The September 27th match between the West Orange CC & Kenilworth CC ended in a 3-3 tie.

Bill Sokolosky's upset win (over 1503-rated Joseph Fortunato) staked Kenilworth to a 1-0 lead. Visiting West Orange went up 2-1 on victories by Charles Hart & Bryan Cohen (vs. Ari Minkov & Greg Tomkovich) & was on the verge of clinching.

However, John Hagerty couldn't convert a winning advantage (against Max Sherer), Paul Corcoran blundered in a slightly worse position (to Mike Wojcio, see diagram) & the score was all-square again, 2.5-2.5.

Wojcio-Corcoran
after 34.e6

Black to play

In the final game, the home side's Mark Kernighan had 2 extra pawns against fellow NM Peter Radomskyj but missed a win in time-pressure.

In the 6 matches between the two clubs from 2005-2007, Kenilworth holds a +3-2=1 edge.

Annotations will follow at some point. For now here the replay & PGN of Sokolosky & Wojcio wins.

#200 Going on Hiatus... Need Help Moving!

This will be my last post for the foreseeable future (at least 1 month). I'm moving to Garwood in 9 or 10 days & need help transporting my belongings.

If any friends & acquaintances in the local chess community can assist please e-mail or call me.

#199 Blog Stats

About 3 and a half months ago, I put a stat counter in my sidebar. Here are the laughable findings :

• Most page views, one day - 53 June 12th
  
• Fewest views, one day - 5 June 23rd
  

• Most page views, one week - 207 August 13th-19th
  
• Fewest views, one week - 132 July 16th-22nd
  

• Most page views, one month - 795 August
• Fewest views, one month - 701 July

... &, for what its' worth, according to the Checkmate CC site, where this blog's content is hosted, the most viewed games of the past year were from the 2007 KCCC :

1. Bliznikas 0-1 Moldovan (205) huh?
   
2. Moldovan 0-1 Stoyko (179)
   
3. Kernighan 1/2 Stoyko (143)

The top-3 viewed games from the recently concluded KST were :

• Kernighan 1-0 Minkov (88) from round 7, even w/o notes
• Demetrick 1-0 Tomkovich (88)
• Sherer 1-0 Moldovan (82)

Anyway, thanks to everyone everywhere for taking the time to visit my blog. I hope it's helped & entertained you.

#198 Loose Ends

I've annotated my Hoffman Memorial win over Ari Minkov, Tomkovich-Renna from the Kenilworth Summer Tournament (couldn't help myself) & put them into a replay page & PGN file along with the score of last Thursday's Renna-Sherer skittles game.

I've also uploaded a zip with all 51 KST games.

P.S. - The Hoffman & 10th round KST links have also been updated

#197 W. Orange-KCC Rematch Set For 9/27

Kenilworth's return match with West Orange will be at home on September 27th. The match will feature 6 boards with a 1800 USCF average rating. KCC members wishing to play should contact Joe Demetrick.

Matches vs. Holmdel (home?), Roselle (home) & Westfield are also in the works.

#196 KST Wrap-Up

Full notes to last week's Moldovan-Demetrick have been uploaded &, with them, my coverage of the 2007 Kenilworth Summer Tournament is complete.

Thanks to TD Greg Tomkovich for running the event & everyone for submitting their games.

Here again are the 13th-round java-replay page & zipped PGN file.

#195 KST Stats

Most Points Scored

• total - Ari Minkov 13.0 (+12-3=2)
• with White - Minkov 6.5 (+6-1=1)
  
• with Black - John Moldovan 8.0 (+7-1=2)
  

Highest scoring of possible points (minimum 5 games)

• total - .808 NM Mark Kernighan (+10-2=1)
• with White - .812 Minkov
  
• with Black - .833 Kernighan (+7-1=1)

Highest Plus Score (wins vs. losses)

• total - Minkov +9
  
• with White - Minkov +5
• with Black - Kernighan & Moldovan +6

Longest Winning & Unbeaten Streaks

• winning, overall - Moldovan 5 (rounds 3-7) & Kernighan 5 (rounds 5-9)
  
• unbeaten, overall - Moldovan 11 (+7-0=4 in rounds 1-10)
  
• winning, w/White - Minkov 4 (rounds 1-8)
  
• unbeaten, w/White - Minkov 7 (+6-0=1 in rounds 1-12)
  
• winning, w/Black - Moldovan 5 (rounds 3-7)
• unbeaten w/Black - Moldovan 8 (+6-0=2 in rounds 3-10)
  

Most Games Played

• total - Greg Tomkovich 18
  
• with White - Joe Renna 10
  
• with Black - Moldovan & Tomkovich 10
  

Most Wins

• total - Minkov 12
• with White - Minkov 6
• with Black - Kernighan & Moldovan 7
  

Most Losses

• total- Renna 10
  
• with White - Renna 6
  
• with Black - Renna, Max Sherer, Tomkovich & Mike Wojcio 4
  

Most Draws

• total - Pat Mazzillo & Moldovan 4
• with White - Mazzillo, Moldovan , Ed Selling & Harry Smith 2
  
• with Black - Mazzillo, Moldovan 2

Biggest Upsets

• with White : Jim Cole -613 over Tomkovich in round 9
  
• with Black : Sherer -360 over Tomkovich in round 13

honorable mention :

• Sherer (-394) 1-0 Moldovan in round 11
• Selling (-490) 1/2 Kernighan in round 12
  

Game Length

• fastest win by White : Sherer... 11 moves vs. Renna in round 12
  
• fastest win by Black : Moldovan... 15 moves vs. Dmitry Yanpolsky in round 5
  
• shortest draw : Selling-Moldovan... a 23-mover in round 8
• longest game : Minkov 1-0 Kernighan... 65+ moves in round 4
  

Results Breakdown

• total number of games - 81
• White wins - 30 (37.0%)
  
• Black wins - 41 (50.6%)
  
• Draws - 10 (12.3%)

• pct. of points scored by White - .432
  
• pct. of points scored by Black - .568
  

• decisive games - 71 (87.7%)
  

• scores collected - 51 (63.0%)

miscellaneous (minimum 5 games)

• highest pct. of games won - Kernighan .769
• highest pct. of games won or drawn - Kernighan .846
• highest pct. of decisive games - Tomkovich, Wojcio, Mark Bilenky & Joe Demetrick 1.000
• highest pct. of draws - Smith .333

• most popular opening : Queen's Gambit (12 games of the 51 collected)
• most popular e4 defenses : French & Sicilian (6 each)

• worst White score by a blogger - The Chess Coroner +1-2=2 .400

#194 Minkov Wins Summer Tournament

Ari Minkov (13.0) won the Kenilworth Summer Tournament last night; ahead of Greg Tomkovich (11.0) & Mark Kernighan (10.5).

While Mark was beating Ari & Greg was losing to Max Sherer, I tried to catch-up by playing a 2-board simul. Unfortunately, after winning against Jim Cole, I made a time-pressured, touch-move blunder in an equal position, lost to Joe Demetrick & finished 4th, at 10.0.

Max also upset Ed Selling to move past idle Pat Mazzillo & grab 5th place.


Here are 3 of the 5 last-round games in PGN; plus the final standings. I'll upload a replay page tonight.

broken standings link repaired 8/31 at 11:00 a.m.

java-replay uploaded 9/1 at 12:45 a.m.

fully annotated version of Cole-Moldovan uploaded 9/4 at 4:20 a.m.

#193 Broken PGN Links Fixed

I just realized that the PGN links given for rounds 10-12 of the Kenilworth Summer Tournament were broken!

Apparently, when writing post #184, I typed kst_r10.zip, instead of the proper KST_r10.zip, & subsequently copied the mistake into #188, #190, #191 & #192.

All the aforementioned have been corrected & I sincerely apologize for errors. :-(

#192 More On KST Round 12

I've padded my notes to Thursday's Moldovan-Minkov (see links below) & re-constructed the game's crucial endgame position. Here it is :

Moldovan-Minkov
after 55...Ne4?

56.Bxg7 Bxf2+?? (56...Nxf2 += was right.) 57.Ke2 Bd4 58.Bxh6 Nc5 59.Bc8?? (59.h4 would've won.) c3 60.Bc1 = but 2 moves later White hung his dark-squared B.

Max Sherer's thematic win over Joe Renna's French is also worth looking at :

Sherer-Renna
after 8...0-0??

White to win

Updated 12th-round replay & PGN.

#191 Summer Tourney - Round 12

With 1 week to go in the Kenilworth Summer Tournament, Ari Minkov (13.0) needs just a half-point to wrap up 1st place and Greg Tomkovich (11.0) is 1 point away from sealing 2nd.

Last night, Ari won a hard-fought game against me... Greg beat Pat Mazzillo... NM Mark Kernighan (9.5) moved into sole possession of 3rd by drawing Ed Selling... and Joe Renna split a pair of games with Max Sherer.

Here are all five 12th-round games (!), including my fully annotated loss, in Java-replay & PGN; plus the updated standings.

#190 More From KST Round 11

Notes to Cole-Selling are now online... in Java-replay & PGN ... along with a revised version of my loss to Sherer.

#189 Kernighan wins Hoffman Memorial

There were a couple of surprises in the final round of the John Hoffman Memorial Swiss last night but not in the battle for 1st place where, as expected, top seed NM Mark Kernighan defeated Bob Sherry to finish at 3-0, 1 point ahead of Bob, Joe Renna & this reporter.

Mark used his pet line against the Nimzo-Indian (4.Bd2), caught his opponent in an opening trap (8...Nbd7?! - see 1st diagram) & stole a pawn with 9.Nxd5! Black had partial compensation for the loss & tried to whip up an attack against White's drafty King but 13...Qg5+?! (N; 13...c5 +=) gave his prey a free step toward safety & 14...Rf6? allowed consolidation.

Kernighan-Sherry
after 8...Nbd7?!

White to play

As for the upsets... Joe won when Ted Mann allowed his Royal couple to get forked (23...Rxc4??) & I convincingly beat CCC Champ/KST leader Ari Minkov (next diagram); who, I'm sorry to say, gracelessly refused to offer a cursory "gg" afterwards.

Moldovan-Minkov
after 21...Ba6

White to win

Anyway, before my Sicilian blood comes to a full boil, I'd better give the links for the final standings, java-replay & zipped PGN. Notes to my game (& perhaps more) will follow at some point.

#188 Summer Tourney - Round 11

Ari Minkov (12.0) extended his Kenilworth Summer Tournament lead with a victory over 2nd-placed Greg Tomkovich (10.0) &, with 2 weeks to go, now has a 2-point lead.

In other games, Mark Kernighan (9.0) overcame a lost position & time-trouble to beat Joe Demetrick, I was axed by young Max Sherer (my first loss in the event) & Ed Selling defeated Jim Cole.

Notes to Max's win will appear in the late Friday/early Sunday time-frame & those to Ed's should be ready for posting late Tuesday to early Thursday.

For now, here are the raw scores in Java-replay & PGN; plus the updated standings.

Sherer-Moldovan notes uploaded Sat. 8/18 at 12:05 a.m.

#187 2007 STC Gauntlet

The STC Bunch, an organization for internet chess players preferring Slow Time Controls (G/45 or longer), resumes running major events with the 2007 STC Gauntlet, a free 4-round knock-out tournament which starts August 27th.

To play, all you have to do is :

1. join ICC ($) or join FICS (free) ...if you aren't already a member
2. register with the STC community
3. login at the STC home page (use full-screen view)
4. sign-up for The Gauntlet by August 25th.

The time control will be G/60 + a 15 second per move increment. Full rules here.

#186 Kernighan & Sherry lead Hoffman Swiss

NM Mark Kernighan & Bob Sherry lead the Hoffman Memorial with one week to go.

Mark had an easy time against Ted Mann last night but Bob was outplayed by Joe Renna much of the way & should've lost.

You can replay those games & the rest from round 2 now or download the PGN for later viewing.

The pairings for next Sunday's final round should be :

1. Kernighan 2.0 - Sherry 2.0
   
2. Moldovan 1.0 - Minkov 1.0
3. Renna 1.0 - Mann 1.0
   
4. Shiffman 0.0 - Azzarello 0.0

Hope you will join us.

#185 One More From KST Round 10

Kernighan-Bilenky has been added to the 10th round files. Please refer to post #184 for links.

post corrected 8/14 @ 7:10 a.m.

#184 Summer Tourney - Round 10

Ari Minkov & Greg Tomkovich each won 2 games Thursday while I struggled to beat Harry Smith & NM Mark Kernighan lost to Mark Bilenky.

Smith-Moldovan
after 33.Qd6?

Black to win

So, with 3 weeks to go in the Kenilworth Summer Tournament, Ari leads with 11.0 and Greg is 2nd with 10.0.

Here are the full standings plus a selection of the week's games in Java-replay & zipped PGN.

Factoid : Minkov has already surpassed the 10.5 scored by last year's winner (Tomkovich) & this event's top 4 point-getters have collected 57% of the points (38/67) compared to 2006's contenders' 43% (37/86).

#183 KST Updates

I have annotated last week's Cole-Tomkovich & round 7's Cole-Sherer.

Updated files :
7th round replay & PGN
9th round replay & PGN

Cole-Sherer
after 24...Kh8

White to win

#182 Hoffman Memorial Underway

NM Mark Kernighan, Bob Sherry, Ted Mann & Joe Renna lead after 1 round of the Hoffman Memorial Tournament in Springfield. Ari Minkov, Bert Shiffman, Joe Azzarello & I are also involved.

My loss to Kernighan is the only game I have at this time. Here it is in Java-replay & PGN.

The pairings for next Sunday (round 2) are :

1. Mann-Kernighan
2. Renna-Sherry
3. Minkov-Shiffman
4. Moldovan-Azzarello

#181 Turnpike Simul

Yesterday, on the long trip to the U.S. Open in Cherry Hill, I passed time & kept my mind busy by playing a simul vs. Don Varneckas & Rooney Simonaitis. My game with the latter (a loss) was a blindfold affair!

Simonaitis-Moldovan
after 19...g6??

White to win

Here are both parties in Java-replay & PGN.

Thanks to Ziggy Bliznikas for allowing me to tag along & apologies to Ari Minkov & Don for making their ride crowded & uncomfortable.

BTW, Maraj Daftani, David Grasso (Roselle CC), Jonathan Cohen, Bill Cohen (Westfield CC), Don Carrelli (Checkmate CC) Mike Wojcio (Kenilworth CC) & Glen Hart are among the locals playing in the Open.

#180 Summer Tourney - Round 9

The Kenilworth Summer Tournament standings got a little tighter last night as Ari Minkov & I played to a draw while NM Mark Kernighan & Greg Tomkovich notched full points.

Ari, who has led for all but 1 week, now has 9.0. Greg (who missed a share of 1st with a loss to Jim Cole), Mark & this reporter are a point back, at 8.0. We had the same configuration (Minkov clear first/3-way tie for 2nd) after round 6!

In the evening's only other game, Joe Demetrick's Caro-Kann dealt the Caveman Attack another setback.

Here's my lousy yet half-successful effort (with notes), + the Kernighan, Tomkovich & Cole wins in Java-replay & PGN.

I'll annotate & upload Jim's big upset before next Thursday & try to get Joe's victory for you, too.

BTW, 37 of 61 games (61%) have been collected from this event compared to last year's 33 of 86 (38%). Keep those scores coming!!

#179 Selling-Moldovan Again

Oh Heck! I couldn't help myself. Prompted by Ed Selling's respectful disagreement, I've revised the notes to our 8th round draw. replay ... PGN

Why am I obsessing over that game when I should be preparing for tonight's???

#178 Another Correction

In addition to the mistakes noted yesterday, I had a wrong move in Demetrick-Tomkovich. Joe played 11.g4 not 11.a4; which means Greg did not have a lateral defense or miss a win.

Here's what I hope is the final round 8 replay/PGN (with new notes for the aforementioned) & 3 puzzles.

Demetrick-Tomkovich
after 21..Kh8

White to win

Renna - Minkov
after 20.Re4??

Black to win

Kernighan-Wojcio
after 10...g5??

White to win

#177 Corrections & More Annotations

I did some shoddy work on the round 8 games & need to correct several mistakes :

- The Dragon Sicilian was not a hot topic in the Playchess Freestyle Final. In fact, it wasn't played there at all!!! The Poisoned Pawn Sicilian & French Defense were in vogue.

- 3...Nd7 & 4.Bf4 in Minkov-Renna were fine. I didn't allow Fritz enough time. The program needed 2:26 to give the okay on ...Nd7.

- 19...Rbc8 in Moldovan-Wojcio was equally as good as the suggested ...Rfc8 & 21...a5? was a mistake.

To make amends, I have added a 6th game (Kernighan-Wojcio) to the 8th round replay/PGN & annotated Renna-Minkov for you.

#176 More from KST Round 8

While finishing my annotations to Thursday's games, I made a couple of discoveries :

1. Greg Tomkovich missed a win in his loss to Joe Demetrick.

Demetrick-Tomkovich
after 18.Ndb5??

Black to win

2. My short draw versus Ed Selling was a surprisingly good game. There were just two mistakes; both at move 19, when Fritz's evaluation went from +.10 to -.40 & back.

I originally thought I had played poorly but, as it turns out, laboring through an unfamiliar opening (Ruy Lopez) & ending in a really funky position (see below) gave a false-impression.

Selling-Moldovan
after 23...Qf6
1/2-1/2

Here, once again the 8th-round Java-replay page & zipped PGN file.

#175 Summer Tourney - Round 8

Ari Minkov (8.5) is back atop the Kenilworth Summer Tournament standings after notching a pair of victories over Joe Renna. I played indifferently but scored 1.5/2 & now stand 2nd. Last week's leader Greg Tomkovich & NM Mark Kernighan are =3rd/4th at 7.0. Greg lost to Joe Demetrick last night while Mark beat Mike Wojcio.

5th-placed Pat Mazzillo (5.0) & Michail Kruglyak (3.0) were the evening's other winners.

Here are 5 games (1 fully annotated) in Java-replay & PGN. Complete notes to Joe D.'s Dragon-slay & my short, quirky draw vs. Ed Selling will follow in a few days, perhaps sooner.

#174 Hoffman Memorial Tournament

The Checkmate Chess Club in Springfield will honor the late John Hoffman by hosting a free, 3-round swiss from August 5th-19th. The time control will be G/50. Bob Sherry will direct & you can register by sending him an e-mail. Full details here

#173 Renna-Moldovan Revision

I have added several notes to last week's KST game vs. Joe Renna. Here's the amended Java-replay page & zipped-PGN file, in case you want to review or download the new version.

#172 Summer Tourney - Round 7

Defending champion Greg Tomkovich (7.0), took over 1st place in the Kenilworth Summer Tournament last night, with a pair of wins.

Ari Minkov (6.5), who led through the first 6 rounds, misplayed an opening advantage, lost to NM Mark Kernighan (see diagram) & dropped to 2nd.

Kernighan-Minkov
after 13..Qg6?

White to win

I won, to keep pace with Mark (at 6.0) & move to within 1 point of the top, but did so only because my opponent missed a draw in time-pressure :

Renna-Moldovan
after 42...b5??

White to draw

In the other action, Max Sherer, who was recently profiled in Atlantic Chess News's Scholastic Spotlight column, Michail Kruglyak & Dmitry Yanpolsky each scored their first victories.

We're now past the halfway point in the event. There are 6 weeks remaining.

Here are the standings, & a few games in Java-replay & PGN. Annotations will follow in a day or 2.

Notes to my game uploaded Saturday 7/21 at 12:30 a.m.