Thursday, April 26, 2018

#1310 Book Auction At Kenilworth CC Tonight

Select items from the Kenilworth CC library will be auctioned tonight, including a collection of Chess Informants.

The club intends to sell the 60 or so Informants as 1 lot and the 4 Encyclopaedia of Chess Endings volumes will comprise another. All others items will be single-pieces.

Wednesday, April 18, 2018

#1309 Kenilworth Consultation Game

[Event "Kenilworth Consultation Game"] [Site "?"] [Date "2018.04.12"] [Round "?"] [White "The White Team"] [Black "The Black Team"] [Result "*"] [ECO "D56"] [Annotator "Moldovan,John"] [PlyCount "34"] [EventDate "2018.04.12"] [EventType "game"] [SourceDate "2018.04.12"] [SourceVersionDate "2018.04.12"] {WHITE: NM Mark Kernighan (2257), Ed Selling (1845), Paul Gottlieb (1516), Joseph Dovydaitis (---) BLACK: Gilberto Benitez (1896), John Moldovan (1817), Bob Hunt (1702), Greg Tomkovich (1600) Time Control: G/100+15 (delay) D56 Queen's Gambit Lasker's Defense Deferred} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 (3... Bb4 {& a Nimzo-Indian was considered.}) 4. Bg5 Be7 (4... Nbd7) ({&} 4... c6 { , with options that include the Manhattan & Cambridge Springs Defenses, are the main alternatives.}) 5. e3 h6 (5... Ne4 $143 6. Bxe7 Qxe7 7. Nge2 $14) 6. Bh4 O-O 7. Nf3 Ne4 {[#]} ({RR} 7... b6 {Tartakower's Defense} 8. cxd5 Nxd5 9. Bxe7 Qxe7 10. Nxd5 exd5 11. Rc1 Be6 12. Qa4 c5 13. Qa3 Rc8 14. Bb5 $2 (14. Be2 $142 $11) 14... Qb7 $1 $146 15. dxc5 bxc5 16. Rxc5 Rxc5 17. Qxc5 Na6 18. Bxa6 Qxa6 19. Qa3 Qc4 $15 {J. Timman - Geller : Hilversum 1973, 0-1 (36)}) 8. Bxe7 Qxe7 $8 ({Not} 8... Nxc3 $2 9. Bxd8 Nxd1 10. Be7 {& Black loses material:} Nxb2 $8 11. Bxf8 Kxf8) 9. Nxe4 {?! Stoyko, HIARCS Chess Explorer} ({RR} 9. Rc1 c6 10. Be2 Nxc3 11. Rxc3 dxc4 12. Bxc4 Nd7 13. O-O b6 14. Bd3 c5 15. Be4 Rb8 16. Qc2 Nf6 17. dxc5 Nxe4 18. Qxe4 bxc5 19. Qc2 Bb7 20. Nd2 Rfd8 21. f3 Ba6 22. Rf2 Rd7 23. g3 Rbd8 24. Kg2 Bd3 25. Qc1 Ba6 26. Ra3 Bb7 27. Nb3 Rc7 28. Na5 Ba8 29. Nc4 e5 30. e4 f5 $11 {Topalov - Anand : World Championship (m/12) Sofia 2010, 0-1 (56)}) 9... dxe4 10. Nd2 e5 (10... f5 $142 {! Stoyko} 11. Be2 e5 12. d5 a5 {Kartsev - Duengen : Ruhrgebiet 1999}) 11. d5 ({Not} 11. Nxe4 $2 exd4 12. Qxd4 $2 Rd8 $19 {Aguiar - Suarez : Villaguay 2016}) 11... Bf5 {?! Stoyko} (11... f5 $142 12. Qc2 Nd7 13. Be2 Nf6 14. O-O-O c6 15. dxc6 bxc6 16. c5 $2 (16. Rhg1 $142 $11) 16... Be6 17. Ba6 Rab8 18. a3 Nd5 $15 19. b4 $4 Rxb4 $3 $19 20. axb4 $2 Nxb4 {Kernighan - Stoyko : Mount Arlington 2005, 0-1 (29)}) 12. g3 (12. g4 $142 {Komodo 11, Stockfish 9}) (12. Nb1 $5 $146 {Houdini 6}) 12... Nd7 (12... Bg6 $142 {Komodo 11, Houdini 6}) (12... Bh7 {Stockfish 9}) 13. Bg2 {[#]} Nf6 $146 (13... Qb4 $143 14. Qc2 Nc5 15. O-O Qb6 16. Nxe4 Nxe4 17. Bxe4 Bxe4 18. Qxe4 Qxb2 19. Rab1 Qxa2 20. Rxb7 $16 {A. Santos - De Jesus : correspondence, Brazil 1995}) ({&} 13... Nc5 14. O-O a5 {Duval - Sauve : Montlucon 2011} 15. Qc2 $14) (13... Bg6 $142 $146 14. Bxe4 (14. Nxe4 Qb4+ {0.00/22 Stockfish 9} 15. Qd2 Qxc4) 14... Bxe4 {0.01/31 Komodo 11.01 64-bit & 0.16/24 Houdini 6.02 x64} 15. Nxe4 Qb4+ 16. Nd2 Qxb2 $11) ({&} 13... Rac8 $146) 14. Qc2 Qd6 $2 (14... Rac8 $142 {Suggested by Hunt.} 15. Nxe4 Nxe4 16. Bxe4 Bxe4 17. Qxe4 Qb4+ 18. Kf1 f5 19. Qc2 c6 $44) 15. O-O c6 16. Nxe4 Bxe4 17. Bxe4 cxd5 {[#] Game adjourned. White sealed his 18th move. Time remaining - White 22:12, Black 61: 13 The game will be resumed on April 19th.} *

Wednesday, April 11, 2018

#1308 Kenilworth Summer Tournament Starts May 3rd

The Kenilworth Summer Tournament will be starting on May 3rd, a month earlier than in previous years.


Here are the rules of the tournament:
  • The tournament will run from May 3 through July 26.
  • The event is NON-RATED.
  • Entry Fee is $5 for club members, $6 for non-members. $5 of each EF goes into the prize fund.
  • The time control is G/60.
  • G/55+5 (delay) may be used if there is mutual agreement between paired players. Increment settings are not allowed.
  • You may play anyone who is entered. The first time you play an opponent, the lower rated or unrated player has White. In subsequent games against the same opponent you alternate colors. If both players are unrated or have identical ratings, they toss for initial color.
  • You may not play the same opponent more than four times in the tournament.
  • Games may begin at 8:00 p.m. in weeks 1-7 (May 3-June 14), 7:15 p.m. in weeks 8-13 (June 21-July 26). No game may start later than 9:30 p.m.
  • You may play up to 2 games per week. You may play those games simultaneously. You can skip weeks but the more you play the more points you can accumulate.
  • You get one point for a win, a half-point for a draw and zero for a loss. No bye points are awarded.
  • The winner is the person who has the most points at the end of the tournament.
  • Prizes: 1st place: 40%. 2nd place: 20%. 3rd place: 10%. U1600: 10%, Under Age 18: 10%, Under Age 13: 10%.
  • Registration will remain open for the duration of the tournament. However, if there is an overwhelming turnout, the TD may cut-off entries as early as July 5th.
  • Bring clocks. The club has a limited number for use.
John Moldovan won last year, in 2016 and in 2008. Other past winners of this popular event include LM Scott Massey (2004), LM Mark Kernighan (2005, 2011), Greg Tomkovich (2006), Ari Minkov (2007, 2010), Ian Mangion (2009) and Bob Sherry (2012, 2013, 2014, 2015).

#1307 Kenilworth Spring Swiss - Round 4 Annotations

Here are my draw vs. Gilberto Benitez & Mark Kernighan's micro-mini win over Mauricio Camejo:
[Event "Kenilworth Spring Swiss"] [Site "Kenilworth"] [Date "2018.04.05"] [Round "4"] [White "Moldovan, John"] [Black "Benitez, Gilberto"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E91"] [WhiteElo "1784"] [BlackElo "1835"] [Annotator "Moldovan,John"] [PlyCount "55"] [EventDate "2018.03.15"] [Source "Moldovan, John"] [SourceDate "2018.04.11"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "2018.04.11"] [SourceQuality "1"] {Board 2 G/61+5 (delay) E91 King's Indian Defense} 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 {This avoids the Gruenfeld he opted for after} (4. d4 {last summer.}) 4... d6 5. d4 O-O 6. Be2 c6 7. O-O Nbd7 ({I expected} 7... e5 {, as in our 2017 Spring Swiss game - which I haven't gotten around to publishing, as yet.}) 8. Re1 ({Perhaps I should've preferred} 8. Qc2 {With the idea of transposing to my 2010 win over G. Hart. 8...} e5 {would do that.}) 8... Qc7 9. h3 (9. Bf1 {is the most common reply.}) 9... a6 {Continuing to eschew ...e5.} 10. Be3 $1 {[#] I'm not even bothering to prevent ...b5. Development alone should give me an advantage. } b6 $6 $146 {This is odd.} (10... e5 $142 11. Qd2 (11. d5 $14 c5 $6 12. a3 $16 {Longano - Nene : Durban 2014}) 11... Re8 12. d5 Nc5 13. Bd3 Nxd3 14. Qxd3 $14 {Krklec - Gorup : Zagreb 2005}) ({&} 10... b5 $146 11. a3 bxc4 12. Bxc4 d5 13. exd5 cxd5 (13... Nb6 $143 14. Bd3 Nbxd5 15. Nxd5 Nxd5 (15... cxd5 16. Rc1 $16) 16. Bg5 $16) 14. Bd3 $14) 11. Rc1 c5 12. d5 Re8 13. g4 Nf8 14. Kg2 $2 (14. Bf4 $142 $16) 14... Bb7 $6 (14... e6 $142 $11) 15. Bf4 (15. Qd2 $142 e6 16. Bh6) 15... N6d7 $6 (15... e5 $142 $14) 16. Qd2 Ne5 17. Nxe5 Bxe5 18. Bxe5 dxe5 19. Rf1 (19. Qh6 $142) 19... Qd6 {[#]} 20. f4 $2 {This gives Black the e5 square.} (20. Qe3 $16 {/\ Rh1 + h4-h5 was right.}) 20... exf4 21. Rxf4 $6 (21. Qxf4 Qxf4 $8 22. Rxf4 Nd7 23. g5 {with a slightly better ending was best.}) 21... Nd7 $11 {Now the position is equal.} 22. Rcf1 Ne5 23. R4f2 Bc8 24. Qh6 f6 25. Nd1 { /\ Ne3} Nf7 {This puts an end to my attacking ambitions.} 26. Qd2 {>= Qf4, here or next.} Qe5 27. Nc3 Bd7 28. Qf4 {[#] White offers a draw. Black accepts. Game drawn by agreement. Time left - Moldovan 13:31, Benitez 11:17 Estimated time used - 49:49, Benitez 51:58 Longest thinks: White - 5:22 for 12.d5 Black - 8:30 for 10...b6 With the draw I tied for 2nd & raised my rating to 1817, pending a re-rate on 4/10. That's the highest it's been since June 2016.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "Kenilworth Spring Swiss"] [Site "Kenilworth, NJ"] [Date "2018.04.05"] [Round "3"] [White "Kernighan, Mark"] [Black "Camejo, Mauricio"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B00"] [WhiteElo "2270"] [BlackElo "2057"] [Annotator "Moldovan,John"] [PlyCount "21"] [EventDate "2018.03.15"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventRounds "4"] [EventCountry "USA"] [SourceDate "2018.04.11"] [SourceVersionDate "2018.04.11"] [SourceQuality "1"] {Board 1 G/61+5 (delay) B00 Nimzowitsch Defense} 1. d4 Nc6 2. e4 e5 3. dxe5 Nxe5 4. Nf3 Ng6 ({Tony Miles, the most notable practitioner of this defense, preferred} 4... Bb4+ {but the engines say} 5. Bd2 $1 Bxd2+ 6. Qxd2 $1 Nxf3+ $140 7. gxf3 Qf6 8. Nc3 $1 {(Barclay - Brunner : correspondence, ICCF 2014) gives White a clear advantage.}) 5. Bc4 {[#]} Be7 $4 (5... c6 $142 6. O-O d6 $14) 6. Qd5 $18 d6 $2 (6... Bb4+ $142 7. c3 Qe7 8. cxb4 Nf6 {or resigns.}) 7. Qxf7+ Kd7 8. Be6+ Kc6 $146 {This vares from the 8...resigns of Kas - Marcinek : correspondence, Poland 1992.} 9. Nd4+ Kb6 10. Bxc8 c5 11. Qb3+ {& Black resigned by pushing his pieces to the center of the board.} 1-0

Friday, April 06, 2018

#1306 Delay In Rating Kenilworth Swiss

Rating of the Kenilworth Spring Swiss has been delayed.

We are waiting for the USCF to approve a membership exemption for life member Bob Hunt, who is listed as inactive.

Hopefully this matter will be resolved today.

#1305 Kernighan Wins Kenilworth Spring Swiss

LM Mark Kernighan defeated NM Maurico Camejo in just 11 moves last night to win the Kenilworth Spring Swiss.

Camejo, Gilberto Benitez & I tied for 2nd.

Paul Gottlieb & Wedley Pluviose tied for top U1600


Round 4 Results:

Kernighan 1-0 Camejo
Moldovan 1/2-1/2 Benitez
Hunt 1-0 Tomkovich
Pluviose 0-1 Fricker

1/2 point byes: McAuliffe, Gottlieb


Final Standings:

1. Kernighan 3.0
= 2-4. Camejo, Benitez, Moldovan 2.5
 = 5-7. Fricker, Hunt, McAuliffe 2.0
8. Tomkovich 1.5
= 9-10. Gottlieb, Pluviose 1.0

Notes to my draw & Kernighan's miniature will follow. Look for them tomorrow Saturday night.