Thursday, February 27, 2014

BCC QUADS: CHESS FOR THE ADVENTUROUS AND THE BRAVE: 3 ROUND ALL PLAY ALL // 60 SD //

MARCH 1st, 2014
(yes, it's already March!)
QUADS: 3RR
Time to review your endgame patterns!
QUADS
[60/SD + 5"delay]
See you this Saturday!
Mikhail Botvinnik, Garry Kasparov's teacher wrote in the preface of Kasparov's book,
The Test of Time (1986): "Kasparov is on the right path [to chess mastery]. Analyses of games should be published by a player not only to afford pleasure to the reader, but also, by putting forward the results of his work to their strict judgement, to be able to use the readers' criticisms to check the objectivity of his searchings [creative ideas essayed in the game]. This is an essential step for anyone who wishes to become a researcher in chess. In this way, creative and competitive successes can be raised and the very maximum possible squeezed out of his [the player's] talent."
In the spirit of Botvinnik and Kasparov, Carey Theil, president of the BCC, has instructed his tournament staff to request chess scoresheets of games played at the Club which illustrate a particularly interesting chess issue or a personal accomplishment, on the part of the player, to be collected. In the spirit of this request, the Club will provide a box into which BCC players can drop off their games which will be prepared for analysis and possible publication on the BCC WebLog and/or Chess Horizons (The Massachusetts Chess Association chess publication, both paper version and on-line presentation.)

BCC STATISTICS: AN ANALYSIS OF THE NUMBERS // TOURNAMENTS // PLAYERS //

YR:  2011   2012   2013
STATISTICAL ANALYSIS
By Steve Stepak
Plotting an encouraging trend: up!
My goal was to create a "virtual community" on the
Boylston WebLog to attract chess players to play tournaments
at the BCC. I try to portray the Club as a friendly, safe
place to venture out into the unknown of chess theory:
openings, middlegame combinations, and the complexities
of endgame play.  Chess is tough, requiring not only
accurate and creative cognitive energy but also
nerves of steel (aluminum?) to arrive at the "right"
answer in the face of the dreaded: time-pressure.
[It may be noted on the grandmaster level, that in
the strongest tournament in chess history: Zurich 2014, 
in the match between Nakamura and Carlsen, 
that Nakamura had a totally won position, yet
he was in severe time pressure and ended up
losing this game!]
Let's focus on the nervous system.
Lots of connections and networks, in
the brain and throughout the body!
DENDRITES
CARRYING THE SIGNAL
Neuroscientists tell us that playing chess induces dendritic growth.
Dendrites carry the signals of "thought" inside the brain:
the more dendrites, the better and faster we think.
That's why parents encourage their kids to play
chess, especially tournament chess.  
Why tournament chess? Because tournament
chess forces the child (adult) to think critically,
and to be disciplined (a piece touched, is a piece moved)!
We write down our chess games. This act of writing also
aids our brains to remember salient points of
openings, middle games and endings (piece movements)
patterns
enhancing hand-eye coordination; we create a copy
of our tournament game so that after the game 
we can go over the moves and critically analyze
them to make improvements. This is a process
of "doing" and afterwards, "observing/criticizing"
our decisions, the same procedure as used in
scientific research. So the more we master
this process, the greater is the power of our skill
to critically re-work everything we do, 
including all kinds of academic and
professional activities: good for chess and good for establishing a career.
So we have "community" at the BCC, a place
where we meet: parents, kids, friends, colleagues,
to socialize, to share life-stories and chess.
To laugh!
It was my hope that in creating a happy, interesting
visual environment on BCC blog posts, I could
increase the number of players in BCC tournament events.
I chose the years 2011, 2012 and 2013 for the following reasons:
In 2011, I had not yet started posting my photo essays of BCC events.
In 2012 I began to post promotional blogs for tournaments, 
and by 2013, I had perfected a creative
platform for featuring photos of key chess events during
tournaments as well as pictures of new players (and their
friends and relatives) who were brave enough to play their
first chess tournament in their lives! Not an easy thing to do!
Below, I will note key totals of chess activity.
I only counted games rated by USCF, and not, for example,
events like the Boylston Blitz Chess Championship,
which is not rated.
Let's look at the numbers:
Total number of players in all rated events, for: 
2011 = 1536;   2012 = 1707;   2013 = 1828
This, as you can see, is a favorable trend (may God let it continue to rise)!
Now let's look at my favorite statistic: Saturday events:
2011 = 1309;  2012 = 1277; 2013 = 1316
The numbers here show a dip on the attendance graph, for 2012,
due to a number of other chess events
scheduled at the same time as BCC Saturday events (bad luck)!
Thursday Night Swiss: 2011 = 189; 2012 = 240; 2013 = 252
TNS: for the serious (mostly adult) chess player.
An encouraging 3 year trend upward. I am happy about this.
A visual average for QUADS = +/- 20
Highest QUADS attendance = 32 (8 quads); 2nd highest 28
QUADS is a difficult event if only for one reason:
it is a 3 round all-play-all;  no byes, no withdrawals!
Top attendance: 2012 March $10 Open =  52
2013 = Elaine Kahn Memorial = 51
Grand Prix events average around 35 - 40 players.
$10 Opens // $5 Opens also 35 - 40.
Average 3 yr totals for all rated events: 1690 (+/1) 1
Average 3 yr totals for Saturday events: 1300 (+/1) 1
And the most significant statistic of all:
On average, say 51 percent +/-
of the total number of players in BCC rated games 
for Saturday events are juniors!
The kids are the backbone of chess and hear of chess
at the BCC!
May they thrive and succeed,
and play lots of chess at the Club throughout their lives!

BCC FEBRUARY GRAND PRIX: WELLING TOP EXPERT // PHU SI VO 4 - 0 U1800 // 36 PLAY // 18 JUNIORS

BCC GRAND PRIX: GRAND EVENT
OPEN SECTION
Milestone
Aashish Welling, 3.5 points, clear 1st.
+20 rating to 2017
CRITICAL GAME
Aashish Welling v Ames Abbot, Round 3: draw.
The setting: Welling up the exchange and promoting a 
passed pawn; Abbot has the bishop pair and pawns.
The time remaining: Welling 1minute 58 sec;  
Abbot: 7 minutes 25 seconds . . .
Critical time check: Welling: 0 minutes 2 seconds (with 5 "delay)
Abbot: 0 minutes 12 seconds (with 5"delay)
Welling is queening and pinning Abbot's bishop 
guarding the queening square. One, two three . . . won game
(on the board)  yet!
Welling forgot to look at the clock, Abbot flagged first, but
Welling did not call the flag (with TD watching) . . .
then Welling flagged, so . . . draw!
Abbot scored 3 points to share 2-3rd place with Jason Tang.
By the same token, Aashish Welling is a chess expert now.
Keep your eye on this lad. He's going to the top!
Nithin Kavi, black vs Jason Tang, Round 3.
Jason scored 3 points, sharing 2-3rd place with Ames Abbot.
Nithin scored 2.5 points securing 4-6th place
with Anil Marthi and Ed Foye.
Mark Neale vs Anil Marthi, Round 3.
Marthi shared 4-6th place with +7 rating hike.
Neale scored 1.5 to hold close to threshold: 1799 rating.
Ed Foye vs David Tianyi Zhou, Round 3.
Ed scored 2.5 points to share 4-6th place.
David broke even with 2 for 4.
(background): Mike Griffin vs Almir Dzhumaev: draw;
Mark Neale v Anil Marthi; Alex Yu v Derek Jin.
Almir Dzhumaev, black vs Anil Marthi, Round 4: draw.
Almir is a new face at the BCC: Welcome Almir!
Almir, with a FIDE rating of 2203, is from the region 
of Bishkek Kyrgyzstan, (formerly Frunze, where Kasparov 
tied with Psakhis 12.5/17 to win the USSR Ch in 1981). 
KIDS PLAY UP
10 yr old Alex Yu vs 7 yr old Derek Jin, Round 3.
Derek scored 1 point and up'd his rating +45!
AN OOPS MOMENT IN THE OPEN SECTION
10 yr old Brandon Wu, black vs 7 yr old Derek Jin: 1-0!
(This warrants my effort to produce a score of this game!)
SERIOUS CHESS:
 
Ames Abbot (1907) vs Carissa Yip (2036), Round 2.
U1800
Julian Morris v Phu Si Vo, Round 3.
Vo was smashing with 4 wins, taking clear 1st place.
Morris scored 3 points and shared 2-3rd place
with Harold Dondis!
Julian Morris begins his chess career at the BCC:
Welcome Julian. He went from "unrated" to 1500!
Bravo Julian.
(background): Daniel Wang, black vs Tom Shneer: draw!
Achyuta Rajaram black, vs Dongping Zhou.
                                                                                                              Photo: Hui Huang
Steve Stepak, black vs Harold Dondis: D85 Gruenfeld: draw.
[Harold and I go back 30 years, and so too, the Gruenfeld
I play against him. This day, I was ready to rumble. I
got a good position out of the opening and then asked
for a draw. In typical tenacious fashion, Harold said
"no" . . ! Then Harold made a boo boo! and I struck
in the center, got up and went for a drink of water.
When I returned, Harold asked me for a draw,
which I gladly took. I considered the "victory" the
fact that he offered me a draw. I analyzed the position
{which I was convinced was a win} and indeed
it was a win. I gave HD the line from Houdini.
He smiled, as he waited for his ride home!]
Stepak went 2.5/3; Dondis, 3/4.
Harold shared 2-3rd place with Julian Morris
Stepak shared 4-5th place with Dongping Zhou
who is David and Daniel Zhou's dad.
From Dondis-Stepak, GP R3: White to move, black to win.
Can you, dear chess player, find the plan?
MY FAVORITE PHOTO:
Julian Morris // Daniel Wang // Dongping Zhou // Tom Shneer
Mark O'Brien vs Boshen Li, Round 3.
(background): Pooja Welling vs Daniel Zhou.
Mark and Pooja were 50% (2/4) on the day.
Alexander Shi Jin (Derek's older brother) scored a
significant victory over Mark O'Brien in Round 1 to go 2/4
in the U1800 section. Bravo, Alex!
TICKLED PINK
Sammi Pan, black vs Boshen Li, Round 4.
Sammi Pan plays blitz chess between rounds.
Aaron Huang, black vs Ed Chiu, Round  3: draw!
PHOTOS BY STEVE STEPAK
Bernardo Iglesias, TD.
Splendid job, as usual!

Snack of choice at the BCC
See you all next Saturday 
for QUADS

Tuesday, February 18, 2014

BCC HOSTS FEBRUARY GRAND PRIX: SATURDAY / FEBRUARY 22 // 60/SD // COMPETITIVE FIELD //\\ FUN FOR EVERYONE // WEATHER FORECAST: SUNSHINE AND WARMTH // REGISTER EARLY FOR DISCOUNT

THIS COMING SATURDAY
MARK YOUR CALENDAR
THE FACTS:
INTENSE AND COMPETITIVE
EXCITING AND DEMANDING
ENJOYABLE AND EDUCATIONAL
BCC GRAND PRIX STANDINGS AS OF
JANUARY 2014: Leaders in Prize Categories
U2400: NM Hal Terrie 2; NM Eric Godin 1.
U2200: Sebastian Gueler 2.5; Nithin Kavi 1.5
U2000: Aashish Wellling 3.5; Robert Neale 3; Yongjoo Kim 2.5;
Alex Yu 2; Fridrik Karlsson 2; Mike Griffin 1; Loring Lauretti 1;
Maxwell Zhao 1, Richard Chen 1.
U1800: Steve Stepak 3; Harold Dondis 2, David Martin 2.
U1600: Jacob Gillis 3.5; Suraj Ramanathan 3; Michael Yu 3;
Mark O'Brien 2; Ray Behenna 1.5; Daniel Wang 1.
U1400: Mark Buckles 3; David Zhu Sun 2.5; Edward Chiu 1
Jeremy Seiferth 1.
U1200:Daniel Zhou 2; Tom Shneer 2; Boshen Li 1.5;
Joy Cao 1; David Zhou 1; Aaron Huang 1; Winston Zhao 1.
That's the story. So come on down to the BCC
to defend your lead or speed ahead of the field.
There are 2 parts to winning the Grand Prix:
1. showing up, and
2. winning often!
See you next Saturday!

Sunday, February 16, 2014

BCC HOSTS $5 OPEN: ARTHUR TANG GOES 4 - 0 IN OPEN SECTION // HAUBRICH / BANAKUS 1st U1650 // 37 PARTICIPATE DESPITE SNOW / OTHER CHESS EVENTS // WELCOME NEW FACES / 3 NU STUDENTS SHINE // WINTER WONDERLAND CHESS / FEBRUARY THAW // TEMPS IN 40's FOR NEXT SAT GP//

OPEN SECTION
Arthur Tang: a force to be reckoned with: 
4 wins to 1st place.
Anil Marthi, black vs Arthur Tang, Round 2.
Anil scored 2.5 points to finish 4-5th.
Arthur Tang plays black vs Nathan Smolensky, Round 3.
Nathan scored 2 points, up'd his rating +1 and took over
the TD job from an ailing Bernardo Iglesias 
(speedy recovery, Bernardo!) to keep things tight!
Bravo Nathan!
Yongjoo Kim, black vs Arthur Tang, Round 4.
Kim finished with 3 points to share 2-3rd with Aashish Welling.
Aashish Welling stays hot from 1st place victory
at the BCC January Grand Prix event, going
undefeated with 2 wins and 2 draws to share
2-3rd place with Yongjoo Kim.
4th ROUND WIN FOR 10 YR OLD!
Brandon Wu (don't call me Bobby Fischer, I'm better) (right)
plays new-comer to BCC Nayudamma Yalavarthi from Bangalore, 
India, now studying technology in the Boston Area, Round 4.
Northeastern University student
Timothy Sniffin wears the NU CHESS
shirt. Tim scored 2 for 4 in the Open Section.
U1650 SECTION
Northeastern University Student Shares 1-2nd Place
NU student Nicholas Haubrich plays black vs
David Zhu Sun, Round 2.
Nick scored 3 points to share 1-2nd place
with Adam Banakus. David broke even with 2 points.
David Zhu Sun vs Nick Haubrich, Round 2.
(background): Adam Banakus plays black vs Seyhmus 
Yuksekkaya; Tony DiNosse vs Dongping Zhou.
Adam won his game and a share of 2-3rd place.
NU CHESS Adam Banakus
puts his nose into focus 
as he plays in both the OPEN and U1650 sections.
We welcome these talented Northeastern University
students and hope they will return to the BCC
with more of their chess colleagues
for future tournaments. (Note: Master/Expert
Professor Timothy Sage, NU Professor of
Physics, is the NU Chess Club advisor.)
CHESS DAD EXCELS AT CHESS
Maxwell Zhao plays black vs David Tianyi Zhou in Round 2.
David's brother, Daniel observes.
THE DAD:
Pooja Welling plays white vs Dongping Zhou, father
of David and Daniel (photo above).
Dongping scored 2.5 points to capture clear 3rd place
in the U1650 Section. Pooja scored 2 points.  
Dongping only recently began
to play tournament chess. Bravo, Dongping! 
May you be a motivating example for the other
dads who bring their kids to play chess at the BCC,
to encourage them to play in the tournaments too.
This way they will learn better what their kids
are going through!
FAMILIAR FACES AT THE BCC
Chess expert J. Lawrence Bezviner plays
black vs Yongjoo Kim in Round 2.
J.L. was 1 for 2 in the Open Section.
BCC veterans Ed Foye plays black vs Joe Kelly, Round 2: draw.
Brandon Wu, black vs BCC veteran Expert Arthur Nugent.
Arthur was impressed with his 10 yr old opponent's
chess prowess and had to cede the draw.
Nayudamma Yalavarthi and Aashish Welling, look on, amused.
Richard Alan Chen, black vs Mike Griffin, R 2.
MACA officer, Steve Frymer (hand on face), and Mr. Welling,
watch Arthur Nugent vs Brandon Wu and Aashish Welling vs
Nayudamma Yalavarthi, in Round 2 action. 
[Daniel Zhou, in blue, above, exits stage right.]
BEGINNERS KEEP LEARNING
Alex Brown plays Tom Shneer, Round 2.
(background): Winston Zhao, black vs Daniel Zhou;
Pooja Welling, black vs Ed Chiu.
BRAIN SCIENTIST CONTINUES TO THINK POSITIVE
Elia Samuel Harmatz MIT graduate in Neuroscience
plays white vs last year's GP winner David Martin: draw!
Elia scored 1.5 points in the Open Section and up'd
his rating +36. David scored 1/3 to take the last round off,
to go home to make a snowman in his front yard.
 
BCC FULL HOUSE: $5 OPEN
(Photos: Steve Stepak)
LOOKING FORWARD TO RECORD
ATTENDANCE FOR FEBRUARY GP 
NEXT SATURDAY
SEE DETAILS: