30 PLAYERS COMPETE IN BCC $10 OPEN

NM Chris Williams tied for first with 3 points out of 4 with IM Mark Esserman in the Open Section of the Dec. 8 $10 Open, held at the Boylston Chess Club, Somerville, MA. 

There were 30 people participating.

NM Eric Godin (3-4th Open Section) faces expert Arthur Nugent in Round 2

Luke Lung (3-4th Open Section) plays Oliver Traldi in Round 2

Nithin Kavi (left) takes on Eddie Wei in Round 2. Kavi would take clear first in U1950 section with 3.5 points.

In the background, Thomas Brinkmann has black vs Robert Holmgren

Aashish Welling (left) with Black beats Andrew Boyer to take clear 2nd in the U1950 section.

Eric Feng goes undefeated with 3.5 points to clinch 1st Place in the U1650 Section.

Matthew Duncan Manzo placed clear 2nd in the U1650 section with 3 points.

Jesse Nicholas (left) plays against NM Chris Williams (right) in Round 2.
Carissa Yip writes down her move vs Nathan Smolensky, President of the Boylston Chess Club
who took the full point.

Chess makes you smart: Eddie Wei diligently writes down his moves.

$10 Open, R3: Gary Brassard plays David Ferreira with black.

Feng vs Thomas and James Hankard vs Pooja Welling go on in the background.

The tournament was  highly competitive.  A good time was had by all.

CALLING ALL CHESS PLAYERS: BCC $10 Open tomorrow!!!

Tomorrow, Saturday, 4 Round Swiss, in 3 sections: Open, Under 1950 and Under 1650.

This tournament is especially enjoyed by children (of all ages).

Time Control: Game 60 with 5 second delay on digital clock. Better to bring your own digital clock

for the 5 second delay. Club provides limited number of digital clocks and analog clocks (without delay).

Regisration from 9:15 am to 9:55. Round 1 at 10:00 am; Round 2, 12:40 pm; Round 3, 3:00 pm and Round 4 at 5:10 pm.  Times for rounds vary somewhat depending on volume of regisration. Bring your own lunch. Drinking water provided. Write your moves down--pens provided.

Kids play chess at the BCC Saturday 4 round Swiss

Lots of fun. Test your brain. Sharpen your focus.

Lunchtime is always full of chess analysis and laughs.

Young and Old, Big and Little face off:

A game of the logic and wit.

The joy of performing a winning line.

BCC Chess Masters provide the rigor of tournament play

and, after the game is over,  friendly and instructive tips

on how you might have selected a more powerful line of play.

Girls play chess too!  Work your brain. Experience the satisfaction of a well-thought-out plan.

Chess sets and mats provided. Bring your own donuts.

BCC NOVEMBER EVENTS: Players of Note

IM David Vigorito, winner of Elaine Kahn Memorial Tournament, with a perfect 4-0 score.

Jesse Nicholas, 1st Place, in the November Thursday Night Swiss, with a perfect 4-0 score.

Jesse also won his QUAD with a 2-1 score.

NM Eric Godin wins November Grand Prix with 3.5 out of 4.

 Eric also tied for first with Oliver Traldi in the Greg Hager Memorial with a 3.5 out of 4 score.

Oliver Traldi, tied for first with NM Eric Godin

 in the Greg Hager Memorial Tournament with a 3.5 out of 4 score.

Nithin Kavi won his QUAD with a 2-1 score.

NM Lawyer Times, a gentleman and a scholar:

 wins BCC 7 Round Club Championship with 4.5 out of 7.

See Ken Ho post below for Master LawyerTimes' annotated decisive game.

Ted Cross, a man with a gentle heart and a sharp mind,

 wins BCC 7 Round Hauptturnier with 5 points.

Lawyer Times Is the New BCC Champion

Our new BCC Champion Lawyer Times agreed to share with us one of his championship games and his comments. Without further ado, here is his welcome contribution:


I'm choosing my last game of the tournament, played against Jonathan Yedidia. There are two particular reasons I am choosing this game:

1. It was the game that clinched the championship for me.
2. It has distinctive moves that separate it from any other game I've ever played.

Of course there are many other reasons I really love this game like the quality and character of my opponent on and off the chessboard but I will spare you the details. So on with the game.

NM Lawyer Times - IM Jonathan Yedidia
Dutch Defense
5 November 2012

1 d4 f5 2 Nf3 Nf6 3 g3 g6 4 Bg2 Bg7 5 0-0 0-0

6 c3 A move seen not so much, but not without its bite.

6...e6 Jonathan must have prepared this move, for we had a recent game where he responded to c3 with ...a5, but perhaps he did not like how that opening turned out even though he did win that game.

7 c4 However, now this even more peculiar move of the same pawn. I do not think he prepared for it. Now he goes into a longer think. And c4 is the best move in this position because now Black is sort of mixing Dutch systems, the Leningrad with an apparent Stonewall Dutch.

7...d6 8 Nc3 Qe7 9 Qb3 Ne4 10 Rd1 Nc6 11 Be3 Nxc3 12 bxc3

12...Kh8 An unnecessary move, and actually a more dangerous square as we shall see later, but who wouldn't move their king out of an apparent upcoming pin.

13 Qa3 This move starts a pin on Black's queen that is long term.

13...Nd8 14 Rab1 Nf7 15 Ne5!

This is the star move. It's a move I'm really proud of. My Deep Rybka 4 does not even see this move for a long while; then when I put it in, it considers it the best move. It took me a while to find it over the board. The way I arrived at it was I looked at each piece of mine and compared it to its counterpart. I realized that every piece of White's was better than Black's. Also, I noticed that I was already in the middle game, rooks connected, and he could not similarly connect his own rooks for at least a few moves without loss of material. So I knew that the season for tactics was ripe. Jonathan admitted that he did not see this move coming and he responded:

15...Bxe5 If 15...Nxe5 then 16 dxe5 Bxe5. Then 17 Bxb7 and the a-pawn will likely fall soon or an infiltration on the rear ranks of Black.

16 dxe5 Nxe5 17 Bd4 c5

Jonathan offers a draw here. A draw would win him the championship and secure me second place. He was expecting 18 Bxe5 dxe5 19. Rb5 and that is what I planned going into this. But that line is in fact a bit drawish. So I looked for better and found:

18 f4! Another blow he did not see.

18...cxd4 19 fxe5 and the pin on the Black queen continues.

19....dxc3 20 exd6 Qg7

21 Rbc1 21 d7 also wins and may be even prettier, but why risk things, the championship is on the line. 21 Rbc1 is not only safer but better.

21...e5 22 Qxc3 Be6 Finally Black has connected his rooks and reached the middle game. But not so fast:

23 Bxb7 Qxb7 24 Qxe5+ Qg7 25 Qxe6 Rae8 26 Qd5 Rxe2 27 d7 Rd8 28 c5 Qh6 29 Qd4+ Kg8 30 Qc4+ 1-0

And there you have it, my first BCC Championship. I want to say that in the post game thoughts that Jonathan Yedidia was so gracious. What a true champion he is.

So as I like to say at the beginning of all my games, Good game to you. Good games to one and all in 2013.

DENYS SHMELOV IS BCC BLITZ CHAMPION FOR 2012

Ben Ascherman, Harvard CC President, plays white vs Denys Shmelov, Dec. 4 2012

Tuesday evening, Dec 4, 2012, Denys Shmelov was part of a field of 16 players, 4 masters, and an average rating of 1979 and won the event with 13/5/16. Harvard graduate IM Marc Esserman came in 2nd with 13, having lost a key game to Harvard undergrad Jake Miller in Round 8. Miller came in 3rd with 12.5 points. Boylston Chess Club Champion Lawyer Times came in 4th with 11.5. And Harvard undergraduate Aaron Landesman, holding a difficult position with the black pieces, with 1 second on his clock (2 second delay) came in 5th.

Denys Shmelov (2499) is 2012 BCC Blitz Chess Champion

Tense encounter: Esserman holds Shmelov to draw with Black in Round 5

Boylston Chess Club Blitz Championship 2012, Round 2: Let there be Light.

The Spirit of Harry Lyman smiles down on group.

  1. Denys Shmelov (2499)    
  2. Marc Esserman (2542
  3. Jake Miller (2166)
  4. Lawyer Times (2316)
  5. Aaron Landesman (2123)
  6. Eric Godin (2221)
  7. Gregory Kaden (2185)
  8. Brian Salomon (2147)
  9. Douglas Hare (1534)
10. Carey Theil (2181)
11.Emmanuel Mevs (2063)
12.Benjamin Ascherman (1853)
13.Seth Lieberman (1671)
14.Max Wiegand (1619)
15.Anthony DiNosse (1162)
16.Alyssa Stachowski (1394)    

Results: Shmelov 13.5, Esserman 13, Miller 12.5, Times 11.5, Landesman 10,

Godin 9.5, Kaden 8.5, Salomon 7.5, Hare 7, Theil 7, Mevs, 6.5,

Ascherman 4.5 Lieberman 4, Wiegand 3, DiNosse 1, Stachowski, 1.

Prizes: 1^st Denys Shmelov $40; 2^nd Marc Esserman $20; U2190 Jake Miller $18; U2000 Douglas Hare $12

Young Max Wiegand (1619)--right-- plays BCC Champion 2012, Lawyer Times (2316) [0-1, Round 4]

Aaron Landesman holds a very difficult position to a draw

with 1 second on his clock (2 sec delay) vs Brian Salomon, Round 2

Denys Shmelov vs Gregory Kaden, 1-0, Round 6

NM Eric Godin prevails over Max Wiegand, Round 11

Doug Hare squeezed by Max Wiegand; Miller over Times.

Watching: l-r: Farzad Abdi, Greg Kaden, Ben Ascherman, Round 8

Doug Hare vs Cary Theil: draw, Round 6

Harvard Chess Club President, Ben Ascherman, plays under watchful gaze of Gary Kasparov

Boylston Chess Club, Somerville, MA USA. BCC  Blitz Chess Championship 2012

Two Very Solid Players

(Thanks to Dave Wachter for permission to use the image of his artwork)

Ulf Andersson vs Tigran V Petrosian ½-½ 1971 Wijk aan Zee
Ulf Andersson vs Tigran V Petrosian ½-½ 1972 Skopje
Tigran V Petrosian vs Ulf Andersson ½-½ 1973 Amsterdam
Ulf Andersson vs Tigran V Petrosian ½-½ 1973 Las Palmas
Ulf Andersson vs Tigran V Petrosian ½-½ 1974 Manila
Ulf Andersson vs Tigran V Petrosian ½-½ 1975 Las Palmas
Tigran V Petrosian vs Ulf Andersson ½-½ 1975 Milan
Ulf Andersson vs Tigran V Petrosian ½-½ 1976 Biel
Ulf Andersson vs Tigran V Petrosian ½-½ 1979 Banja Luka
Ulf Andersson vs Tigran V Petrosian ½-½ 1979 Buenos Aires
Tigran V Petrosian vs Ulf Andersson ½-½ 1981 Moscow
Ulf Andersson vs Tigran V Petrosian ½-½ 1981 Tilburg
Tigran V Petrosian vs Ulf Andersson ½-½ 1982 Bugojno
Tigran V Petrosian vs Ulf Andersson ½-½ 1982 Tilburg

And then, Petrosian blinked...

Ulf Andersson vs Tigran V Petrosian 1-0 1983 Niksic

Postcard from the London Chess Classic, Day 2

Hello chess friends,

Vindication and discrimination.

On day 2, I travelled again to the London Chess Classic.  This is the first time I'm able to watch the world's best players live, in person instead of online, where I've watched many top games before.  I flit between the player's auditorium, where all the top players are sitting on stage in various human thinking positions, and the commentary room, a bit overstuffed with fans listening to Danny King and others comment on the moves.  Mostly this commentary is excellent and randomly puncuated with audience queries about this or that tactic.  A kid might ask why White doesn't just take the hanging rook.  An obnoxious fan might rattle off a whole series of questions and comments, mostly vague bon mots like, "This game reminds me of some other game that Anand and I think Howell played back in 2002, with the kings and the queens all lined up on the side like that, with pawns here and there, and Howell made it really tough for Anand but he pulled through in the end."

Given that both the moves and the commentary are available live, you might wonder what difference or advantage actually being in person brings.  Focus-- my attention is devoted to chess instead of to work or chores.  And random interactions-- I meet a lot of other people who also love chess.  Today, standing around kibbitzing by the hall game monitors (setup everywhere in the venue), I was amused by our collective shock when GM Jones found the following rook sac to draw Judit Polgar.    

With 1. Ra8+!,  Black forces a perpetual on White's King and holds the game.
Magnus Carlsen impressed again, this time smoking a 2800 player.  In the FIDE live ratings, GM Carlsen has now broken Kasparov's all-time rating high, and he stands more than 50 rating points ahead of #2, a boggling distance.

****
Again, I participate in the evening Blitz tournament, which will be FIDE rated on the new blitz rating scheme.

In my first game, I am paired with a new friend, a FIDE rated 2000 player who had played me some blitz games casually on Saturday.  In typical blitz fashion, he threw his pieces at my king, and I was forced to desperately scramble my king laterally.  White to move: 

                           
Yes, I used to have a Kingside.  Yes, my king had started over there behind a pawn shield.  And yes, Nc7+ followed by Nxd5+ is good for White.  However, in the time scramble, my opponent played 1. Ra7+ and then declared MATE.  When I played Kb6, not only am I now very safe, I am winning.  He immediately played Rb7+ and let me follow up with mate, but I wish I could say the following amazing basically forced line was on my radar screen (it wasn't)--  1. Ra7+ Kb6 2. Rxd5 Ra2+ 3. Kb3 Ne3 4. c4 (4...c4++ was a threat) Rhc2 5. Rxc5 a4+ 6. Rxa4 Rab2 7. Ka3 Kxc5 8. d7 Nd1 9.d8=Q Ra2+ 10. Kb3 Rcb2 ++.    Obvious, right?!

So I started on a high note and rode that save for a final 4-1 score, beating several FIDE ~2000 players in the process and losing only a tense game to a FIDE 2200.  Redemption from my first blitz day, and I was certain that I had just won the class prize and paid for my little chess weekend.

Instead, I was told that I am considered unrated and don't qualify for the class prize-- my 20+ years of rated chess in the US don't mean anything in England, and they don't accept the conversion for the purposes of giving out prizes.  Basically, this means that the US gets discrminated against while most of the regular European players have either an English or a FIDE rating.  Since the two top IMs agreed to a draw to finish 4.5, I didn't even nudge a share of second.

So I have a quibble now with the whole arrangement.  The US chess rating system appears to be better managed, updates instantly, and usually allows foreign ratings to qualify people for various Under-sections.  But here in England, I might as well have never played chess at all.

Time to get an established FIDE rating. 

Update:  Here is the top of the crosstable from Round 2: 

All the best,
Jason

Boylston Chess Club Blitz Tournament Bring Digital Clocks

BOYLSTON CHESS CLUB BLITZ CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP
Tomorrow, Tuesday: 6:30 PM registration. Tourney begins at 7 PM

Time Control: 5 minutes with 2 second delay on digital clock; so if you want a 2 second delay bring your own digital clocks ...

Sets and boards provided . . .

Analog Clocks Provided too. So don't worry if you have no clock. Just bring your chess fingers.

Tournament open to all people, young and old, girls and boys women and men . . .
This event is always fun and jam packed with excitement and wonder.

Bring a friend to play; bring a friend to watch.  Chess at its best.

Boylston Chess Club Davis Square, Somerville: on the Red Line "Davis T Stop"

Postcard from the London Chess Classic, Round 1

Dear chess friends,

Today was the first round of the London Chess Classic, and as a Londoner now, I was able to attend the first round .  And what a round!  Every game decisive, 3 Black wins, including a Black one from the USA, Hikaru Nakamura.  GM Carlsen's win over Luke McShane was one of the most impressive wins I've seen-- check out Black's decisive King penetration into g3 with Queens on the board!  His ability to crush 2700 players in this way reminds me of all the great World Champions.

The position looked safe, even better, for White earlier, but by Move 56, Black's domination is clear.

***
I also got the fighting spirit in me, and entered one of the many side events that will be happening every day of this event.  But first, to get loose, I took on GM Emms in a charity donating blitz game.

I've played through every puzzle in his book about 10 times as part of my earlier tactical training. One of the few books I've nearly worn the cover off.

That old training had no effect on the outcome, as he spanked me 2-0.

In the evening, I entered the 5 minute blitz tournament, and in round 2 got paired with an IM.  I was very excited when I achieved the following very promising position:

Black to play, and still with reasonable blitz time remaining (+5 second increment).

In case you've missed it, I'm up a piece and a mass of pawns here.  The only problem left to be solved is that pesky passed pawn.  The correct approach is the direct, but patient one 1...Be6 with Bf6 to follow.  One White try might go 2. Ra7 Rxd1+ 3. Nxd1 Ne8. 4. Nf6 f5 (no need to give back pawns) 5. g5 h6 and it is clear that White's pawn isn't going anywhere.

Instead, chess rust took over, and I try for a deep tactical resolution that fails.  1... Ne8?  2. Bxe8  Now here Black can still come out ahead with Bf6, but I thought with Ne8 that I saw something:  2...Bxg4 3. Bc6 and now, amazingly, Black can still eek out a small plus with 3...Bxh3.  But I saw something, remember.  3...Bxd1? 4. Ra8 Rxa8 5. Bxa8 and.... whoops, my intended Ba4 is covered by the knight.  Sadness, and a good example of trying too hard with a 6 move-deep hanging pieces everywhere tactic when plain moves will do.

With a4 covered, there is no way to cover the queening square, 1-0, and an IM gets away from me.
I can't say that my other games went super great, either, and I finished the blitz with 2-3.  A rusty return, but I enjoy having a world class tournament in my own backyard.

All the best from London,
Jason