The Tactics of Tony Miles

In anticipation of this coming weekend's Tony Miles Memorial, an exciting tournament honoring one of the most imaginative and entertaining players ever to grace the sport of chess, we present some of the best tactics from the grandmaster's illustrious history:

All puzzles courtesy of GM Larry Christiansen!

From Miles - NN, London Simul 1978. White to play and win.

Miles - Schneider, World Open 1980. White to play and win.

Miles - Sorin, Cienfuegos, 1995. White to play. What is the proper counter to Black's dangerous looking kingside initi

Bouziz - Miles, Leningrad 1979. Black to play. Find the best move.

Miles - Peters, Dortmund 1979. In the actual game, Black played ...Rh8 and lost. Can you spot his winning continuation?

Join us for the exciting Tony Miles Memorial, Saturday, April 5th, to honor this great player! $1,000 Guaranteed prizes!!! Sections: Premier, U1950, U1650. Registration begins 9:15 A.M.

BCC LEGENDS // MORPHY // GRUELING // UPSETS // INTENSE // 18 PLAY // LAWYER TIMES 1ST //

BCC LEGENDS OF CHESS: PAUL MORPHY 4SS, 1 SECTION

NM Lawyer Times, former BCC

Club Champion, goes 3-0 (+1/2 pt bye)=3.5

for the title of BCC Legends/Morphy Champion.

SAD STORY

Suraj Ramanathan takes on NM Farzad Abdi, on Board 1

in the first round of the event. The postmortem chatter by

Farzad himself, suggests that Suraj had a win in this game.

Only after Round 2 did we learn that Suraj was suffering

from a severe soar throat and fever, which totally shut

down his normally sharp analytical skills. He quit the event

after his round 2 loss. We wish you speedy recovery and

a full return to your chess prowess for next Saturday's

Tony Miles Memorial $1000 4SS here at the BCC.

Farzad went on to score 3 points to share 2-4th place with

Timothy O'Malley and Imran Hendley.

Evan Welsh (Northeastern University) plays Imran Hendley

in Round 1. Hendley scored 3 points to share 2-4th place.

Welsh went 2 for 4 in the event.

(background): Boshen Li, black vs Patrick Haley: draw. 

Soren Sandmann Pedersen from Denmark, with an Elo of 1692

plays Suraj Ramanathan in Round 2. Sadly, Suraj was

not available for chess calculation, suffering from a serious virus.

He would quit the tournament after this round.

Nithin Kavi plays an ever improving Phu Si Vo in Round 1.

Vo won this game and up'd his rating +13 to 1717.

Nithin withdrew from the event after this loss, no word as

to his health being a factor, maybe just a blunder.

IRONIC MATCH

David Martin vs Tim O'Malley, Round 1. David won this game

but no doubt "inspired" Tim to his subsequent 3 wins in a row

to share 2-4th place in the event. (background): Natasha Christiansen,

Evan Welch vs Imran Hendley; Boshen Li vs Patrick Haley.

SHARING 5th - 7th PLACE

Bernardo Iglesias, event TD plays black in his game with

Boshen Li, Round 2. Bernardo scored 2.5 points to share

5-7th place with Patrick Haley and Maxwell Zhao.

Patrick Haley scored 2.5 points to share 5-7th place with Iglesias

and Max Zhao. Here Patrick plays black vs Derek Jin in Round 2.

NM Lawyer Times plays junior scholastic star Maxwell Zhao

in Round 3. The game was close, but Times prevailed.

Max shared 5-7th place in the event with a rating hike of +24,

pushing his rating over 1700 to 1723.

3rd LIFETIME MEETING

                                                                                                                Photo: Yi Zhao

6 year old Winston Zhao plays the white pieces vs Steve Stepak.

This was billed as an "extra, non-rated" game in the 4SS

Legends of Chess: Morphy, Round 1, where Winston got the

full-point bye for being the lowest rated player in an odd-number field.

(I won the game and personally analyzed the text with Houdini, which

scolded me for making 3 major blunders. I mis-played the game

right out of the opening, but somehow crawled back to equality.

Yet, I underestimated Winston's plan to promote the a/b pawns,

coming down the pike, unopposed. A few moves before I

actually checkmated Winston, he had a forced win, the concept of

which he missed. Instead of allowing me a queen-rook-knight

trio which forced the mate, he would have won easily had he

thought of trading off my major pieces first, and then pushing the

pawns down the files to promotion and the full point.

A good lesson for next time!)sps

NEW FACES AT THE BCC

Soren Sandmann Pedersen came all the

way over from Denmark to play in this event.

First time player in USCF rated events,

Soren knotched a 1484 provisional rating.

Welcome Soren!

Patrick Connor Haley, Harvard senior from Texas

played his first rated event at the BCC.

Welcome, Connor!

PARTING SHOT

Mark Buckles vs Derek Jin, Round 3: draw!

Mark was +13 (1635) [2 for 4] and Derek was +4 (1437) [1 for 3]

(background): Boshen Li, black vs Evan Welsh.

HEADS UP!!

MARK YOUR CHESS CALENDAR

TONY MILES MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT

$1,000 PRIZE FUND 

FULLY GUARANTEED

SATURDAY APRIL 5, 2014

BOYLSTON CHESS CLUB

SOMERVILLE MA

BE THERE!

BCC LEGENDS OF CHESS: NEW ORLEANS FAVORITE SON: PAUL MORPHY // THE PRIDE AND THE SORROW OF CHESS // 4SS // 60SD // CASH PRIZES //

SATURDAY, MARCH 29, 2014

PAUL MORPHY

June 22, 1837 - July 10, 1884

From New Orleans to New York City to

Europe, Paul Morphy was hailed as an American

Chess Champion and World Chess Champion of his era.

A lawyer by training, Morphy's chess was not only

thoughtful, but also inventive and exciting!

Henry Edward Bird vs Paul Morphy London, 1858

"Philidor Defense, C41

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 f5 4.Nc3 fxe4 5.Nxe4 d5 6.Ng3 e4 7.Ne5
Nf6 8.Bg5 Bd6 9.Nh5 O-O 10.Qd2 Qe8 11.g4 Nxg4 12.Nxg4 Qxh5
13.Ne5 Nc6 14.Be2 Qh3 15.Nxc6 bxc6 16.Be3 Rb8 17.O-O-O Rxf2
18.Bxf2 Qa3 19.c3 Qxa2 20.b4 Qa1+ 21.Kc2 Qa4+ 22.Kb2 Bxb4
23.cxb4 Rxb4+ 24.Qxb4 Qxb4+ 25.Kc2 e3 26.Bxe3 Bf5+ 27.Rd3 Qc4+
28.Kd2 Qa2+ 29.Kd1 Qb1+ 0-1

TOURNAMENT DETAILS

Springtime temperatures in the 50's (F)

Paul Morphy. Had he been alive today,

he surely would have been a Harvard Law School Professor

and a frequent player at the Au Bon Pain Chess Cafe.

In his memory, come  on over to the Boylston Chess Club

and play some of your own inventive chess!

See you this coming Saturday!

BCC GRAND PRIX MARCH ROCKS SOMERVILLE MA // 43 PLAYERS // TOP JUNIORS EXCEL // NEW FACES ABOUND // SPRING IS IN THE AIR //

BCC MARCH GRAND PRIX IN 2 SECTIONS

OPEN SECTION

11 yr old Jason Tang ( + 22, to 1996) hits the mark with black vs

Brandon Wu, 0-1 taking 3.5 points out of 4 and clear 1st place.

10 yr old Brandon had 2.5 points for 3-6th place and +2 to 1861 rating.

Alex Yu plays Nithin Kavi in Round 1. Nithin won the game

and clear 2nd place with 3 points, holding his expert rating

at 2002. Alex was +8 for a 1729 rating.

Luis A Baez-Rosario is dressed for battle.

Luis scored 2.5 points to share 3-6th place,

and a +12 to rating to 2053.

Robert Holmgren figures out this endgame for

win over Conway Xu in Round 1, and +45 rating

hike to 1850. Conway was 1.5 out of 3.

Will Ravn plays Ryan Sowa in Round 2 for full point,

and a total of 2.5 points, sharing 3-6th place, a rating hike of

+20 to 1798.  Ryan broke even with 2 points out of 4 rounds.

(background): Alex Yu, black vs Robert Holmgren;

Eric Feng vs Professor Jerry Williams.

PHOTO PICK OF THE EVENT

11 yr old Carissa Yip and 91 yr old Harold Dondis.

Carissa was +7 for 2041 rating; Harold was +18 to 1686.

ADULTS PLAY CHESS TOO!

Professor Jerry Williams plays Natasha Christiansen, Esq.

Round 1. The game was drawn. (background): Nicholas Lesieur.

Nithin Kavi vs Lawrence Gladding, Round 4.
Nithin prevailed in this pivotal game, clinching 2nd place,
though Lawrence went 50 percent in the event with 2 for 4
and a +7 rating to 1823.

MOST EXCITING GAME OF THE EVENT

Mike Griffin plays Aidan Sowa in Round 3.

The game came down to 2 seconds on the clock. 

Nerve-wracking! Mike prevailed with checkmate 

before either flag fell.

U1800 SECTION

Down to the Wire

Phu Si Vo (3 points) vs Nicholas Lesieur (3 points), Round 4.

Hardly out of the middle-game, there ensued a time-scramble.

Vo lost his way and was checkmated with hardly a minute

on Lesieur's clock. [Interesting outcome. The result of this

game might have been very different with no 5 second delay!]

Nicholas was happy with 4 points for clear 1st place. Vo shared

2-4th place with Gabriel Birzu and Evan Welsh at 3 points each.

For Lesieur it was a +63 to 1799 rating; for Vo +11 to 1694.

Birzu rating went +1 to 1640, from provisional to permanent.

Evan Welsh's provisional rating was +63 to 1478.

Gabriel Birzu vs Sammi Pan, Round 4. Sammi had 2 points

on the day and a rating +49 to 1074.

NEW FACES AT THE BCC

Michael Trudell

Derek Chubo Zhao vs Julian Morris, Round 2.

Evan Welsh scored 3 points to share 2-4th place with

Phu Si Vo and Gabriel Birzu. Here he is playing black

vs Richard Alan Chen in Round 4.

(background): Tom Shneer, black vs Lucy Cai: draw

                                                                                                               Photo: Hui Huang

Steve Stepak vs Rishi Jun-Kai Basu, Round 1.

Rishi's dad (glasses, cap) is watching the opening moves.

The Basu family is recently relocated from New York State.

Steve won this game and was happy to share a postmortem with

Rishi on the complexities of the D30 Queen's Gambit Declined.

Stepak scored 2 points out of 2 for +7 to 1607; 

Rishi was 1 for 3 and a +16 to 1286 rating.

FULL HOUSE

43 PLAYERS SITTING AND THINKING!

PHOTO PORTRAIT PICK OF THE EVENT

Sammi Pan thinking hard in Round 4. She had 

black against one of the strongest players in the

U1800 field. With a good position right through

the middle game, she got stuck towards the end.

Yet! Sammi Pan is a diligent student of chess and

little by little, she is learning good technique

which will bring her to chess mastery soon enough.

After all, she is only 9!

PHOTOS BY STEVE STEPAK

Nathan Smolensky, event TD, had his hands full with 43 players,

keeping track of the ins and outs in 2 sections and extra games.

Bravo, Nathan!

BCC GRAND PRIX // SPRING HAS ARRIVED // MARCH 22 // 60 SD // BRING THE WHOLE FAMILY //

BCC GRAND PRIX

SATURDAY

MARCH 22, 2014

DETAILS:

BCC GRAND PRIX

REGISTER EARLY FOR DISCOUNT!

WEATHER FORECAST: 60 DEGREES F

CHECK OUT THE LEADERS 

THROUGH FEBRUARY

U2400: Hal Terrie, Almir Dzhumaev: 2;

Eric Godin 1.

U2200: Nithin Kavi: 4; Sebastian Gueler 2.5; 

Carissa Yip 1.

U2000: Aashish Welling: 7.

Robert Neale: 4.5; Alex Yu 3.5; Jason Tang 3;

Yongjoo Kim, Mike Griffin, Richard Chen, 

Anil Marthi, Ames Abbot: 2.5.

U1800: Steve Stepak: 5.5; Harold Dondis: 4.5;

Phu Vo: 4; David Martin: 2.

U1600: Jacob Gillis, Mark O'Brien: 3.5;

Suraj Ramanathan, Michael Yu, Julian Morris: 3.

Daniel Wang: 2.5; Ray Behenna: 1.5.

U1400: Mark Buckles: 3. David Sun, Ed Chiu: 2.5.

U1200: Tom Shneer: 3.5; Daniel Zhou, Boshen Li: 2.5.

It's not too late to join the group!

A fun event, especially for the kids!

See you this Saturday!

BCC WINTER CHAMPIONSHIP: FM CHRIS CHASE CLEAR 1ST // TERRIE, SAHAKIAN, HANKE 2-4TH // SAVAGE CLEAR 1st U1800 PRIZE // STELLAR CHESS // TENSE STRUGGLES //

BOYLSTON CHESS CLUB

WINTER CHAMPIONSHIP

18 PLAYERS, ONE SECTION

GOLD MEDAL

TO:

FM Chris Chase 3.5 points: clear 1st place

 

Mateos Sahakian, black vs David Martin, Round 1.

Mateos scored 3 points, sharing 2-4th place.

Stephen Savage vs NM Hal Terrie, Round 2.

Hal scored 3 points to share 2-4th place.

Stephen scored 2.5 points to win the U1800 prize.

David Tianyi Zhou plays Tim Hanke, Round 1.

David broke even with 2 points. Hanke scored 3,

to share 2-4th place in the event.

(background): Ed Chiu, black vs Ames Abbot;

Gabriel Birzu vs Daniel Zhou.

Gabriel Birzu plays Daniel Zhou, Round 1.

Gabriel went 2 for 4 in the event.

CLASH OF THE ORANGE AND RED

MIT neuroscientist Elia Harmatz writes down his move with

black vs Ed Chiu. Elia scored 2 for 4 and up'd his rating

by +54 points to 1489. Bravo, Elia!

8 yr old David Tianyi Zhou plays black vs his brother

Daniel, in Round 1. David scored 2 points and up'd 

his rating +41 to 1395. Bravo, David!

Tom Shneer plays David Martin. Round 1.

Both Tom and David scored 1.5 points.

Tom up'd his rating +15 to 1228. Bravo, Tom!

WINTER CHAMPIONSHIP

 U1800 PRIZE

Stephen Savage 1st U1800 prize.

MAN OF THE HOUR

Joel Wald plays FM Chris Chase,

Round 4: draw. Bravo, Joel!

(a rating +35 to 1884)

Nathan Smolensky was the TD.

He logged in another smooth running event.

Bravo, Nathan!

Nathan is also the new editor

of Chess Horizons.