Sunday, April 26, 2009

Moving to Corpus Christi,Texas etc.

World Youth Championship Qualifiers There are 2 WI juniors : A. Velikanov & B. Luo in the Boys Under 12 category

WI Tour, J.Veech will be in the sole lead after the HCC IX totals have been calculated.

FM A. Betaneli is now the highest rated active WI player at 2325, With Eric Santarius closing in on 2301. Sheldon still holds on to the # 2 spot despite going from 2342 to 2316.

I will be in Sydney Australia April 26-May 12. I plan to stop by the North Sydney Chess Club, and play a game with fellow blogger Lousy at Chess.

I will be re-locating to Corpus Christi, TX in June. The Corpus Christ Chess Club is just starting up.

I also plan to start a chess club and coach Roshan's school team at SMA.

I plan to play in 2 more events in the Midwest: The Chicago Open and the G/90 Spring Swiss at the Waukesha Chess Club.

Monday, April 20, 2009

Hales Corners Challenge IX
April 25th, Milwaukee

Rnd. 3 David Jin(1920) vs meI had a bad tournament. This is the position with Black to play. I was very happy with this position. I have a clear plan: minority attack. But in mutual time trouble I lost a drawn rook and pawn ending.

History: number of players (open+reserve) and the winner(s):

HCC IX...04/2009 (56+51=107)AMANOV,YOUNG,SANTARIUS,KOHLENBERG
HCC VIII.10/2008 (33+32=65) TATE,YOUNG,TENNANT,BECKER
HCC VII..04/2008 (22+30=52) BURGESS,TENNANT,PARKER
HCC VI...10/2007 (30+32=62) TENNANT, BREIDER,SANTARIUS
HCC V....04/2007 (40+22=62) TATE,STAMNOV
HCC IV...11/2006 (23+26=49) STAMNOV
HCC III..04/2006 (28+17=45) TENNANT
HCC II...10/2005 (20+18=38) BURGESS,BECKER
HCC I....04/2005 (34+36=70) BETANELI

Most wins:
4 TENNANT
2 TATE,YOUNG,SANTARIUS,BURGESS,STAMNOV,BECKER

Friday, April 17, 2009

Marshall Chess Club - NYC

We spent spring break in NYC and I got a chance to play at the Marshall Chess Club yesterday. It was 4 round G/30 event. It was a very strong event with 45 players. There was a GM, 3 IMs and a FM! along with several other masters and experts.

I was paired against NM Oliver Chernin in the first round. He played the English and we reached the following position with Black to play, but I could not hold in mutual time trouble.
In round 2 I beat 1658 rated 5th grader Lilia Poteat who should be around #30 in the May Top Girls Under 16 list. She became the 2009 KCF All-Girls Nationals Under-12 Champion

I drew 1939 rated Marcus Fenner in round 3.

My 4th round opponent didn't show up! Giving me 2.5/4.0 and a share of the U2000 prize. (Which was a little less than the entry fee since it was a 4-way tie)

I have now played in 20 states.

USCF Cross table here.

Official Marshall Chess Club website here.

Thursday, April 09, 2009

Concentrate! Concentrate? Concentrate.

The above is chapter 5 in "Chess for Zebras". I am convinced that lack of concentration has a lot to do with why I lose games.

After a couple of mediocre performances, I had a chance to go 3-1 last night in the Waukesha Chess Club Championship. A win would have given me a nice rating gain. But I lost and it cost me over 30 rating points.

I am Black with the move, and was very happy with my position. I was sure that I could put pressure on the White pawn center, plus I had an overwhelming time advantage.

White's last move was Qg4. My first thought was to play Kh8 to side step any tactical ideas based on Bh6, but since I had ...Bf8, I decided not to take a time out for defence and played ...c5.

But ...c5 is a blunder here as after Bb5! Black must lose the exchange!

Monday, April 06, 2009

Supernationals 2009

Like they say, "you really had to be there". There is nothing quite like being in the midst of over 5000 chess players.

Click here for all the results.






Women's World Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk



I got to meet Polly from Castling Queen Side


I played in the 4 rounds G/30 Parents & Friends event on Saturday.

USCF results here.

I don't usually play with rated games faster than G/60, but I had to make an exception. There were 75 players and I was the 9th seed. After winning the first 2 I had the following position in round 3. I am up a pawn, but could not come up with a plan and drew the game. After looking at the position later I came up with ...Nd3 with the idea of doubling rooks.

I was paired against expert Alan Kantor from TN in the last round. I had a great middle game position but we got to the following ending, where the queen-side pawn majority should give me the edge, but with less than 1 minute left on both clocks I managed to lose.
I added Tennessee to the list of States I have played in, to bring the count up to 19.

Wednesday, April 01, 2009

Waukesha Chess Club Championship

4 Round Swiss, G/90. The Open Section has 20 players, the U-1600 18.
The last round is scheduled for April 8.
CLARK O MCCUTCHIN Wins clear first
USCF results here

Rnd 2
(March 25) William Williams (2200) vs. me
The obvious move is N g4 when I think that Black has a small edge. For some reason that I can't understand I played f4?? , losing a pawn for nothing.

Rnd 1 (March 18) S.Dill (1533) vs. me
I had this very unbalanced & interesting position. I have an extra pawn, but my king is stuck in the middle, he has a bishop & I have a knight. It looks like I can make use of the open/half open files first. I was looking forward to a intriguing battle when he blundered with Rxd5.



Last year's tournament was held as 8 person round robins. Alexander Velikanov & William Williams tied for first with 6-1=0. That was also the section in which I lost all 7 games! Click here for the cross table.