FIDE/USCF Milwaukee

1st MCA/Southwest Chess Club FIDE Futurity

Click here for USCF results

Click here for final results

The two IMs, Angelo Young & Mesgen Amanov tied for first. Young beat FM Aleksander Stamnov, in a 138 move marathon in round 5. It looked like Young was not making any progress for many moves, but prevailed in the end. Young has made a lot of progress in diagram 2, but I wonder if Stamnov could have defended better starting from diagram 1. (It's Whites move)

Diagram 1

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Diagram 2

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There were 48 players (7 FIDE) . Kudos to Chris for organizing. He is planning a round robin event in June that will guarantee a FIDE rating norm to unrated players. Free soft drinks and customized score sheets/pens were nice touches.

Local Master, Ashish Vaja made a $100 donation to the first prize, to bring it to $400.

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I finished 3-2=0. I lost to IM Angelo Young and expert Allen Becker. I didn't get blown away by the IM , I thought that I was hanging in there till the very end. A unexpected exchange sacrifice by Angelo sent me into a tail spin. Click here for pgn.

FIDE / USCF Chess in Milwaukee -THIS W-END!

1st MCA/Southwest Chess Club FIDE Futurity
March 8-9

Confirmend FIDE titled participants
IM Angelo Young FIDE Country PHI
IM Mesgen Amanov FIDE Country TKM
FM Aleksander Stamnov FIDE Country MKD

5-SS Open Tournament G/90 + 30 Second increment.

Village Hall, 5635 S. New Berlin Rd., Hales Corners, WI. (Milwaukee Area).
FREE ENTRY TO GMs & IMs (Must commit in email or writing by 3/1/08)

EF: $45-Non-FIDE rated, $25-FIDE rated players.

$$1600 (b/40 full entries (Fide players count as half entries), if 60 non-Fide attend prize will be increased!)

1st $300.00(Guaranteed) 2nd $250.00 3rd $150.00,

U2000 1st $150.00 2nd $100.00,

U1800 1st $150.00 2nd $100.00,

U1600 1st $150.00 2nd $75.00,

U1400/Unrated 1st $75.00,

Special Prizes: Biggest Upset $50.00 & Best Game $50.00 Reg.: 9-9:30am

Rounds:
Sat: 10:00am, 3:00pm, 7:30pm,
Sun: 11:00, 3:30pm.

Ent/Info:
Christopher Baumgartner,
9985 Linda Ln., Des Plaines, IL 60016,
email: mcafide@yahoo.com or mcafidetournaments.blogspot.com,
phone (after 7pm ) 847-609-2987

Record turnout at the Waukesha Chess Club

38 players are competing in this 4 round swiss ( G/90 ). One game a week.
Place : Waukesha Chess Club
Day : Wednesdays
Time : 7pm

Cardenas wins click here for USCF results

4.0
1958 Cardenas, Davis R.

3.5
1559 Hartig, Hugo J.

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I played White against Bucher in the 3rd round. Here Black has to play Nfd7, but blundered with Ne8??, after which I win the Queen for Rook with the sequence Rh3, g5 and Rf3

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I lost to Hugo Hartig in the last round

2nd Round Loss from UW Winter Open

I finished with 2-1=1

USCF Results here

I know how important it is to not to pay much attention to a player's rating, but when paired against a low rated adult player in round 2, I let my guard down. I have to make sure I don't do that again!

Lately I have been going over some games by Tal and felt like 1800 version of Tal (with none of the talent!) when I played my last move Nd4.
White didn't find the best move (Qb7) and a few moves later we arrived at the following position with White to play: I was too busy congratulating myself on my win of the exchange, that I didn't pay enough attention to the strong passer and paid for it! I dicided to blockade the pawn with the Queen, usually not a good idea. I should have played Rfd8 and attacked the White king.

Tournament Directing

This entry is dedicated to comments on Guy Hoffman's actions at the team tournament and the upcoming FIDE/USCF tournament in Milwaukee

UW Winter Open

Round 5

1) Romich 4.0 vs Parker 3.5 DRAW
2) Santarius 3.0 vs Yusim 3.5 1-0
3) Nietman 3.0 vs Smail B. 3.0 1-0

USATE

It looks like the following team will represent the East in the play-offs. The 3 grandmaster team will not be eligible.

My last round game from the USATN

I was very happy with my 3-0=1 performance. My favorite game was the last round win against Tony Dutiel(1834) from the Kansas City CC A-team. He was 4-0 going into this round. His team had 3.0 points to our 2.5, so it was a "must win" round for us.

I was playing board 3. We had an early win on Board 4. It looked to me like boards 1 and 2 should at least draw. Board 1 drew, but we lost on board 2. So I had to win my game. This game was one of the last three to finish, and was surrounded by other players whose fortunes depended on this game. The pressure was on!

I spent too much time early in the game deciding if I should go for the double minor piece exchanges which prevents White from castling. I got myself into terrible time preassure and had to make several quick moves before the time control at move 30. I was especially happy with this position (Black to play) where I am down a pawn, but my pieces are extremely well placed, just look at those rooks! The Black rooks attack 15 squares, the White 6.

Click here for game replay

Winners of the 4 USAT events

East : Interview with a member of the winning team

1) 2714 Izoria, Zviad
2) 2592 Perelshteyn, Eugen
3) 2586 Dzindzichashvili,Roman
4) 110 Fanning, Stephen (That's right 110!)

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North

Trevor,Erik,Ashish & Alexander

1) 2282 Betaneli Alexander
2) 2239 Vaja Ashish
3) 2175 Santarius Erik
4) 2003 Magness Trevor

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West

Jonathan,Benjamin,Robby & Landon

1) 2386 Robby Adamson
2) 2246 Landon Brownell
3) 2115 Jonathan Cox
4) 2100 Benjamin Marmont

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South

Gilberto, Javier, Jeffrey & Bruci

1) 2468 Bruci Lopez
2) 2136 Jeffrey Haskel
3) 2108 Javier Gonzalez
4) 2069 Gilberto L Luna

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Phote credits :

East : http://castlingqueenside.blogspot.com/

West, South : http://www.uschess.org/

USATN

USCF results here

Click here for wallcharts

More wall charts

The following team went 5-0, and will represent the the North in the national play-offs.

Right to left

1) 2282 Betaneli Alexander
2) 2239 Vaja Ashish
3) 2175 Santarius Erik
4) 2003 Magness Trevor

IM Mesgen Amanov Checking out the last round action. (He did not play in the main event, but won the unrated blitz event)

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My team came in 3rd overall and won the U1900 prize. We also won the best team name with "Team Name Here"

1) 2000 WILLIAM M WENZ 1.5/4.0
2) 1905 STANLEY T GARVIN 0.5/4.0
3) 1851 Me 3.5/4.0
4) 1823 NEIL J GLEASON 2.0/3.0
5) 1643 NOLAN R HENDRICKSON 3.5/5.0

I drew a 1980 and beat 1601, 1709 & 1834

Rating change 1856->1886

U.S. Amateur Team Champ. Milwuakee Feb 16-17

Pre-entries

1. 2175 WI Chess Academy's Surprise
2. 1955 U Knighted We Stand
3. 1939 Nimzowitsch's Knights
4. 1895 Team Name Here
5. 1863 The Kansas City Chess Club A
6. 1862 Becker's Bishops
7. 1862 The Racine Ches Club
8. 1860 University of Chicago
9. 1859 Kistler's Team
10. 1781 Team G
11. 1734 Henderson's Creation
12. 1700 Dean's Disciples
13. 1570 The Kansas City Chess Club B
14. 1494 The Crop of WI Talent
15. 1449 The Shiny People
16. 1444 Bad Bishops
17. 1345 University School

Scholastic pre-entries

Click here for tournament information

Click here for information on the Saturday night Blitz tournament

Link to the USCF pre-view of this event

The hotel has a nice indoor pool/game room

There are currently 17 teams registered in the Open section (7 in the Scholastic):

Wisconsin : 12
Indiana : 2
Missouri : 2
Illinois : 1

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The team favored to win it all:

1) 2282 Alex Betaneli
2) 2239 Ashish Vaja
3) 2175 Erik Santarius
4) 2003 Trevor Magness

Avg. rating = 2175

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I will be part of the following team:

1) 2000 WILLIAM M WENZ (BYE ROUND 1)
2) 1905 STANLEY T GARVIN (BYE ROUND 3)
3) 1851 IVAN WIJETUNGE (BYE ROUND 2)
4) 1823 NEIL J GLEASON (BYE ROUND 4)
5) 1643 NOLAN R HENDRICKSON (BYE ROUND 5)

Av. Rating = 1895

Waukesha G/29 -4 Round Swiss Quick rated event

Since there was no play last Wednesday due to the snow the event concluded today.

I played two Blacks and scored 1.5/2.0 beating J.Becker (2018) and drawing W.Williams (2125) to finish tied for first with Bill with 3.5/4.0

Results here ; I had a quick rating gain of 62 points.

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I sacrificed my queen for mate in the 2nd round:

21.Bxf6

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Expert John Becker is back after last playing in 2000. He plans to play in the FIDE tournament in Milwaukee, March 8-9. He was a member of the winning team at the 1993 U.S. AMATEUR TEAM CHAMP - (IL) . He also won the NE Open in 1994.

Wisconsin's newest Expert

Anthony Parker finished 3-0 at the FAB SWISS (WI) to become WI latest expert with a rating of 2009.

Major National Event in Milwaukee Feb. 16-17 2008

The deadline for the $120 entry fee is Feb. 10 ($190 there after)

U.S. Amateur Team Championships North - Wisconsin
5SS, Best Western Hotel, 5105 S. Howell Avenue, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. (414)769-2100. Special chess rate of $89, reserve early. Free hot breakfast.

Two sections:

OPEN (four players plus alternate: must play in rating order, top four average rating below 2200, December supplement used.

Prizes: 4 digital clocks to top two teams, 4 clocks to top teams with average rating u1900, u1600, and u1300.Winning team qualifies for national play-offs. Prizes to top score on each board. Prizes to best team name.

EF: $120 per team if received by Feb. 10th, $190 thereafter. Cash only at site.
TC: g/90 rds 1-3, 30/90 sd/60 rds 4-5.
Late reg.: 8:30-9:30am on Saturday. Rds.: 10:30am-3pm-7pm; 10:00am-3:30pm.

SCHOLASTIC (all players must be High School age or younger; average rating u2200). Prizes: 4 digital clocks to top team overall, top High School Team, top Middle School Team, top Elementary team. 4 clocks to second best High School Team, second best Middle School team, second best Elementary school team. Prizes to top club team, top team composed of all girls, and to best name team. EF: $116 per team if received by Feb. 10th, $190 thereafter. Cash only at site. TC: G/90. Late reg.: 8:30-9:30am on Saturday. Rds.: 10:15am-3pm-7pm; 10:00am-2pm. SIDE EVENT: blitz tournament on Saturday night; details at site.

INFO/ENTRIES: make checks payable and send to: Alex Betaneli, POB 260122, Madison WI 53726. abetaneli@hotmail.com 608-334-2574. Bring boards/sets/clocks. NC. NS. W.

Learning from your losses?

In order to improve one should analyse one's losses deeply in order to identify what mistakes are being made.

The kind of losses that can help a lot are close games where one might not even know where one went wrong.

What is most frustrating to me is the way I lost/drew games. I am making basic errors against opponents 200 points below me. Although I try hard not to be overconfident against lower rated player's, I am having trouble not doing so. I don't make such errors against higher rated opponents as often. I have to learn to play chess and not pay attenting to my opponent. Like Fischer said "All that matters on the chessboard is good moves."

Round 1 - missed very basic moves at least twice. First giving up any advantage(27. Bg4?), then the game(46.Kb8???).

Round 4 - didn't look one move further in a forced sequence that threw a way my advantage.(19...Bxd3)

Round 5 - misplayed the opening, proceeded to weaken the q-side pawn structure, made no effort to activate my bad bishop. There were other psychological issues in this game as well. After losing the first round I was determined to win the next 4 games, but after drawing the 4th round you could say, "I had the wind blown from my sails". I probably should have not played the 5th round.

I should have stayed home!

To perform at a good level one needs to be able to recover well from a set backs. This is true on a move, game and tournament level. I believe that not recovering well psychologically was my downfall in the event.

In the first round I had this position as White. Instead of taking the pawn I played 27.Bg4 first, which throws away the advantage, since Black just plays Rh8 and defends the h-pawn. After the rooks come off I may still have a better position, but I some how manage to lose the game.

I think I did a fare job recovering after the first round loss and was determined to win the next 4 games. After wins in the 2nd and 3rd rounds. I had the following position as Black with the move. I was very happy with this position and was sure I could convert it to a win, but only managed to draw. I could not get my self to recover from yet another set back as now there was no way for me to go 4-1. I should have probably not played the last round. What ai missed was the after the exchanges ...Bxd3,
Nxd4 Qc7, Qxc7 Rxc7, White can play Rc1 because of White's back rank issues. It was clearly a case of stopping the analysis one move too early. There was no reason to exchange at this stage. I could have simply improved my position and then infiltrate the Q-side.

In the 5th round I was paired against fellow blogger Greg. After misplaying the opening I got an inferior position as White and to make matters worse also got myself in time trouble. Trying to make time control I repeated the position and should have just taken the draw, but I wanted to reach time control to see if there was any way out of the bad situation, but in the last move before time control I dropped my queen to a knight fork, later analysis shows that it would have been hard for me to hold this game.

It sounds odd, but I am more dissapointed about drawing the 3rd round game than losing the 1st and 5th.

I did bad a job recovering from bad moves and bad games, I just have to do a good job recovering from a bad tournament!

44th Northeastern Open

IM MESGEN AMANOV Betaneli & Satarius tied for first.

To learn more about Mesgen click here. I understand that he has relocated to Chicago.

Complete results here.

This and that

44th Northeastern Open Jan 26-27
This has been the longest wait between rated games for at least a couple of years. (more than 5 weeks). I am in a pretty confident mood and hope to break the 1900 mark for the first time.

A. Vaja and A. Betaneli are expected to play. FM Stamnov from Chicago usualy shows up.

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I completed Tal's Winning Chess Combinations , It was very enjoyable. Lots of examples and problems. I am in the process of entering most of the examples & problems in to ChessBase so that I can solve them multiple times. I was expecting to see lots of Tal's own combinations, but most examples are not his own.

I started on Sharpen Your Tactics.

I have also been avaraging 30 minutes of cardio a day. I ran in my first 5k race last Sunday.

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GM Hikaru Nakamura has a new website at : http://www.hikarunakamura.com/main/, where he is currently blogging about the Gibraltar Chess Festival. He talkes about what a day in the life of a Grandmaster is during a tournament.

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Wayne Zimmerle has the latest version of the MSA data program at:

http://www.gpcf.net/MSA/msa.htm

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The Racine Chess Clubs has a new website : http://racinechess.com/

44th Northeastern Open

The 44th edition of Wisconsin's most attended* tournament will be held in Neenah, WI Jan 26-27

Jan. 26-27 44th Northeastern Open
FORMAT: 5/SS SECTIONS: Three: OPEN and RESERVE (U/1500) and SPECIAL-NOVICE (open to all - no special fees or dues). PLAYING SITE: Holiday Inn - Neenah, 123 E. Wisconsin Ave., Neenah, WI 54956. Hotel phone: 1-800-725-6348. ROOM RATES: $79 sgl/dbl. Mention chess! REGISTRATION: 9-9:30 on 1/26/08. ROUNDS AT: 10-2:30-7 and 10-3:15. TIME CONTROL: 35/90, then SD/60. BYES: One half-point Bye any round. FULL-point Bye in Rd. 1 to 2100+ if pre-registered. ENTRY FEES: OPEN = $35, RESERVE = $17, SPECIAL-NOVICE = $12. All are $5 more after 1/21, not 1/16. Checks payable to NEWCA. PRIZE FUND: OPEN: ($1500 b/60, 5 per class) 1st - $350, 2nd - $225, best 1900 - 200, 1800 - 190, 1700 - 180, 1600 - 170, 1st U/1600 - 125, 2nd U/1600 - 75. RESERVE: 1st - $60, 2nd - $30. Trophies to: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, best 1200, 1100, 1000, 900, 800, 700, U/700, 1st Unrated, 2nd Unrated. SPECIAL-NOVICE: Trophies to: 1st place, 2nd place, best age 12/U. ADVANCE ENTRIES TO: 44th Northeastern Open, Mike Selig - Director, 2895 "B" West Fourth St., Appleton, WI 54914-4330. TD phone: 1-920-739-7550. E-mails to: MikeSeligTD@aol.com. OTHER INFO: NS/W/NC. USCF Heritage event. Bookseller at site both days. Fox River Mall with 174 stores is 4 miles from hotel! JGP.

Past results & winners:

2007 43rd NORTHEASTERN (97 players) ALEKSANDER STAMNOV

2006 42nd NORTHEASTERN OPEN (116 players) ASHISH VAJA, GARY ARANOVICH

2005 41st NORTHEASTERN OPEN (100 players) ALEKSANDER STAMNOV, ERIK F SANTARIUS

My goal is to score at least 4.0/5.0

* (non-scholastic; at least for the past 5 years )

5K in zero degree weather.

One of my new year resolutions was to average at least 30 min. of cardio a day. I have been doing that for the past 80 days. To add variety I took part in my first 5K run at the Milwaukee Zoo.

548 runners braved the zero degree temperature for the 28TH ANNUAL SAMSON STOMP.

My goal was to finish in less than 30 min. I finished in 28:46

Complete results here

Checkout this link for the amazing end to the 2007 Chicago women's marathon

Robert James "Bobby" Fischer (March 9, 1943-January 17, 2008)

Link to Fischer quotes and pictures

IM Watson on RJF

Collection of RJF videos

(Argentina, 1971)

FIDE Event in Iowa

Ashish and Erik took part in a FIDE event in Iowa over the w-end. Erik lost the first round to Matt Anzis (1769), but finished strong to tie for first place with 4.5/6.0 and a rating of 2194.

Ashish finished with 4.0/6.0 with one loss(Pete Karagianis 2210) and two draws.

Initially the tournament was only open to players with a FIDE rating or Iowa players with ratings over 2000, but since the turn out was low, the requirements were relaxed. There were only 12 players; with 6 rounds there were some interesting pairings.

15 year old Matt Anzis gained the most points, he broke into class-A with a gain of 67 points(1769 ->1836). In addition to beating Erik he also beat FM Aleksander Stamnov from IL. That should move him to around 50th place in the USCF age 15 list

Click here for USCF results

Wisconsin's newest Expert

Updated 1/10/2007 : Added these two links:Vince Hart's account of the event , 2004 interview with Alexander.

Sasha being interviewed by Roshan

Congratulations to ten year old Alexander Velikanov, Wisconsin's newest and youngest Expert. Any bets on how long it will take him to get to Master?

He achieved a rating of 2013 with a performance rating of 2396! at the TIM JUST WINTER OPEN XXII (IL)

Round by round

1) Win vs ALEKSANDER STAMNOV 2209
2) Win vs PATRICK LACEY 2121
3) Bye
4) Win vs VINCENT HART 2048
5) Loss vs IM MESGEN AMANOV 2365

Vince Hart's account of the event

He should also move to the #3 spot in the USCF age 10 list:

Top age 10

1) Yang, Darwin (12945617) TX 2129
2) Luo, Brian J (12910173) WI 2088
3) Velikanov, Alexander (12879882) WI 2013

Here is a 2004 interview with Alexander.

Racine Chess Club

Here is a link to the Racine Chess Club

Wisconsin players at major Christmas events

ERIK F SANTARIUS was the most successful. He picked up $1000 in the Under 2200 section of the Eastern Open.

In the Open section, ALEXANDER BETANELI finished with 5.5/8.0 and tied for 4th (~$250). ASHISH VAJA had 3.5/7.0 (did not play last round) . It is interesting that they were paired against each other in round 3!(Alex won). Maybe they forgot to put themselves on the same team or that was not an option.

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A last round win would have given JAYNE, RYAN D about $500 at the North American Open, but the pressure got to him.

Wisconsin's Top Players

Criteria : 1800 or higher and at least one regular rated game in 2007. Source (before removing inactive players)

1. 2343 SHELDON M GELBART
2. 2305 ROBERT JOYNT JR
3. 2282 ALEXANDER BETANELI
4. 2277 NAVIN M SAWALANI
5. 2239 ASHISH VAJA
6. 2215 WILLIAM P WILLIAMS
7. 2169 ERIK F SANTARIUS
8. 2132 TATIANA VAYSERBERG
9. 2120 JEREMY KANE
10. 2119 JON P BREIDER
    
    Click here for all

Joe Fieder Memorial

One of the great things about chess is the opportunity to meet new people and travel to new places. I did just that yesterday when I visited Random Lake, WI (Population 1551) for the 11th Joe Feider Memorial Tournament. (5 round swiss, G/30, Unrated)

This tournament is held in memory of Joe Fieder, an avid chess player who succumbed to a car accident in 1979.

It is organized by Edward Ferber ("Doc") with support from the Fieder family, the local library and other volunteers.

Keanu Davis receiving the Junior High trohy from "Doc"

"Doc" has a collection of over 200 chess sets and we had the opportunity to see and play on some of them. Kudos to "Doc" for a great event conducted in a friendly, welcoming atmosphere complete with snacks (chess cookies, fruit cake etc.) and hot beverages.

There were 34 participants. I was the 4th seed. I won the tournament on tie breaks with a score of 4.5 / 5.0 and received a nice clock trophy for my effort.

Round 4

I was paired against former master Larry Ahrens . I was happy with my play and won the end game although I missed 24...Rxd4 which would have given me a clear edge. Stephane Desmoulin(1675) upset 4 time winner Paul La Cosse (1816).

Round 5

I had White against Stephane in the last round. I thought I was doing better most of the game, but got myself into time trouble and made several bad moves. I was able to hold the opposite colored bishop with a pawn down to secure the draw.

Season's Greetings

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to all. I hope that the new year brings you lots of chess knowledge/rating points.

I finished 2007 with 2 personal bests:

Highest rating : 1890
Highest Published rating: 1890 (Feb 2008)

These are my 2008 resolutions that I hope will push me over 2000 in 2008:

1) Average 7 hrs of sleep a night
2) Average 30 min of cadio. per day and 2-3 days of strength training per week.
3) Drink more water (64 oz/day) and eat healthy.

4) Average 50 CTS problems per day
5) Repeat the ~1200 CT-ART 3.0 problems 7 times (Errant Knights)
6) Create a binder of positions in which I missed the best move, print them out, and solve them regularly. (See comments by A. Vaja in this entry)
7) Read the following books:
Tal's Winning Chess Combinations
Art of Attack in Chess by Vladmir Vukovic
The Life and games of Mikail Tal
Rook endings
8) Play 5-10 rated games a month

Training Game etc.

There are several big tournaments held during the Christmas break. Three of Wisconsin's top active players BETANELI, ALEXANDER (2287), VAJA, ASHISH (2239) and SANTARIUS, ERIK F (2177) will be heading out to the 34th Annual Eastern Open in DC.

Fellow chess traveller JAYNE, RYAN D (1697) will be heading out to the North American Open in Las Vegas. He will be one of the top seeds in the U1700 section and has a very good chance to finish on top, since I think that he is under rated by at least 150 points. This is the prize list for the U1700 section:

$10,000-5,000-3,000-2,000-1,000-800-700-600-500-400 (67% guaranteed)

May the four of them bring back lots of cash and rating points!

As part of Ryan's preparation for the NA Open, we played the following training game:

Me (1893) - Jayne,R (1679)
[E91]Training Game 60 (5 sec. increment),
19.12.2007

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.c4 Bg7 4.Nc3 0-0 5.e4 d6 6.Be2 Na6 7.0-0 e5 8.Be3 [ 8.dxe5 dxe5 9.Qc2; 8.Re1] 8...Ng4 9.Bg5 Qe8 10.h3 [ 10.dxe5 Nxe5 11.Qd2 ( 11.Nd4 Bd7 12.Qd2 f6 13.Be3 Qf7) ] 10...h6 11.Bc1 exd4 12.Nxd4 Nf6 13.f3 [ 13.Re1 Nxe4 14.Bd3; 13.Qc2] 13...Nh5 14.Be3 Ng3 15.Re1 Nxe2+ 16.Rxe2 [ 16.Ndxe2] 16...Nc5 17.Qd2 Kh7 18.Nd5 Qd8 19.b4 [ 19.Nb5 c6] 19...Ne6 20.Rc1 [ 20.Rf1] 20...c6 21.Nc3 Qh4 22.Bf2 [ 22.f4 Bxd4 23.Bxd4 Nxd4 24.Qxd4 Qxf4 25.Rf1 Qe5] 22...Bxd4 23.Bxd4 Nf4 24.Ree1 [ 24.Rf2 Bxh3 25.Be3 g5 26.gxh3 Nxh3+ 27.Kg2 Nxf2 28.Bxf2] 24...Qg3 [ 24...Bxh3-+ 25.gxh3 Qg3+ 26.Kf1 Qxf3+ 27.Kg1 Qg3+ 28.Kh1 Qxh3+ 29.Kg1 Nd3] 25.Kh1 [ 25.Be3 Nxh3+ 26.Kh1 Ng5 27.f4 Ne6 28.Ne2] 25...Bxh3 26.gxh3 Qxf3+ 27.Kg1 Qg3+ 28.Kh1 Qxh3+ 29.Kg1 Qg3+ 30.Kh1 f5 [ 30...Nd3 31.Rcd1 Nxe1 32.Rxe1 f5 33.Rg1] 31.Rg1 [ 31.Re3 Qh4+ 32.Qh2 Qxh2+ 33.Kxh2 Ne6] 31...Qh3+ 32.Qh2 Qf3+ 33.Rg2 Nxg2 34.Qxg2 Qxg2+ 35.Kxg2 f4 36.Kf3 g5 37.Rg1 Kg6 38.e5 dxe5 39.Bxe5 Rae8 40.Bd4 0-1

Some interesting moments:

Position after 15. Re1

Here Black played 16...Nxe2, I was happy to see this move as I think it is mistake to take my bad Bishop.

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Position after 23...Nf4
Here the only way for White to stay a slightly ahead is to play 24.Rf2, 24. Ree1 loses to Bxh3

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Position after 24...Qg3 Here I had to find the only move 25.Be3, but I played 25.Kh1 which loses to Bxh3

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Position after 30.f5I get one last chace to save the game with 31.Re3, but I play 31.Rg1 which loses.

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I was happy with my position after White's 21st move. I was getting behind on time and wanted to gain some time on the clock and quickly played 22.Bf2, which was my first mistake, later I had to find many only moves in time trouble and did not do so. Black didn't play the best moves either, and I still had a chace to come back with 31. Re3.

Blogger Profiles

I thought it would be a good idea if we bloggers had the opportunity
say, "hi" online or if we visit another blogger's city.

In order to facilitate that I created the following:

Blogger Profiles

Your real name is optional so you can remain anonymous if you wish.

Please forward this to anyone else that might be interested.
email your information to:

iwijetunge [at] yahoo [dot] com

Or leave it in comment form.
Thanks

Blog Name:
URL:
Real name: (optional)
Country:
City:

Handles :
FICS
ICC
CTS
FIDE Rating (estimate if you don't have one) (Optional) :

Almost 1900 (1890)

I finished with 4.5 / 5.0 in the double round quad. I won the quad with game in hand. The last game (me vs Garvin) will not be played.

1890 STANLEY T GARVIN 3.0 / 5.0
1852 Me 4.5 / 5.0
1813 ARLEN P WALKER 3.5 / 6.0
1697 JOSEPH H HETZEL 0.0 / 6.0

Rating gain 1851 - 1890

Since my next tournament won't will be till the 44th Northeastern Open , January 26-27, my February rating of 1890 will be a personal best.

I have scored 7-0=1 in my last 8 games at the Waukesha Chess Club.

Last round loss from the Wisconsin Memorial

This is my last round loss against Erik Santarius (2177) from the Wisconsin Memorial.

Comments from Alex Betaneli (2287)
"Erik and I looked at it for a long time last night and found fascinating things, many turning points. In particular I suggest to Ivan to identify moments when he went from clearly better to slightly better to even to slightly worse to much worse to hopelessly lost"

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Click here for games replay

The first few moves of a chess game is usually a dance where each player is trying to provoke the other to move the game along in a direction that is more familiar to himself.

1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nc6 I have never encountered this move. The Chigorin Defense is 1.d4 d5 2.c4 Nc6. So I could get into it by playing c4 here, but I decided to play 3.Bf4 since I figured my opponent knew the main lines better than I did.

3.Bf4 e6 4.e3 Bd6 5.Bxd6Since my remaining bishop was better than his, I decided to exchange. I also considered:

Bg3 with ideas of opening the h-file if the Bishop was taken, Or

Bg5

Or simply allowing ...Bxf4
5... cxd6

Black gets another pawn to the center, protects the e5 square and hopes to find counter-play on the c-file

6.c4 Nf6 7.Nc3 dxc4 8.Bxc4 0-0 9.0-0 a6

Black tries to expand on the q-side.

10.a4I put a stop to q-side expansion ideas by Black, but create a hole on b4, but I did not consider this a major issue since a4 is a very common move in QG games. I considered 10 d5. It was probably a better move.

10.a4 e5 11.dxe5 dxe5 12.Qxd8 Rxd8 13.Ng5

** White is Better

Better bishop, ahead in development, able to use the d-file first, the Black e-pawn is a target. The only advantage I see for Black is that he has a pawn on the 5th rank and mine is on the 3rd.

I was very happy with my position, and was sure that White could not lose. I thought that I could exchange as many pieces as possible and get an easy draw. It is never a good idea to play for a draw and in fact that is a sure way to lose.

I should have:

1.Controlled the d-file

2.Centralized my king

13...Rf8 14.Nd5
I offered a draw here

A better way to exchange the Knight was to play 14.Nge4, then Black does not get a tempo by attacking the Bishop, and if Black takes the Knight my Knight remains actively placed.

14...Nxd5 15.Bxd5 Nb4 16.Bc4

I didn't want to part with the Bishop, as it was on a good diagonal, but simply 16.Rfd1 might have been better, why lose a tempo?

16...Bd7 17.Nf3I lost way too much time with this Knight and let Black get all his pieces out while it moved aimlessly around. The idea was to put pressure on the e-pawn.

***White is slightly Better

17...Rfe8 18.Ng5 Re7

I have given Black 2 free moves

19.Ne4I thought that d3 might be good square for the Knight.

19...Bc6 20.Nc3

Decided to come back to c3 as I now saw that Black could easily double rooks on the d-file, and I had to challenge him.

***Equal 20.... Rd8 21.Rfd1 Red7 22.b3

After exchanges a4 needs to be protected, 22.a5 might have been better

***Black is slightly better

22...Kf8 23.Rxd7 Rxd7 24.Rd1 Rxd1+ 25.Nxd1 Ke7


I was afraid of 25...b5

26.Nc3 f6
27.h4.Kd6 28.e4
I didn't think that the Black King could do anything on the q-side, but I was wrong. Actually in some variations I may have been correct, if the White knight enters the Black k-side. 27.h4 was wrong, the idea was to move the pawns to black squares 28.e4 was a mistake. I was afraid of Black's king getting into the q-side after exchanging twice on d5, but I didn't have to exchange off both minors. This move obstructs my own bishop. 28.Bg8 was much better.

*** Black is better

Kc5 29.f3 Nc2 30.Na2?? (Black wins a pawn and the game 30.Bg8 is much better)

My first big mistake and it is decisive. With the Black pieces so active I t may not have made much difference. Since all three black pieces are attacking on the q-side and I am defending with 2, (With the knight running short of squares) it may have been too late to save the game.

***Black is winning

30...Bxa4 31.Bg8 Be8 32.Kf2 Kd4 33.Bd5 b6 34.Bc4 b5 35.Bd5 Kd3 36.b4 Nd4 37.Bg8 Kc2 38.Ke3 Bd7 39.Bd5 Be6 0-1

The position below is from a possible unplayed variation. What is interesting about is that White is actually better. Although the Black king is very aggressively placed it is also too far away to protect the k-side pawns and the White knight starts to munch on them. My h4 move actually makes sense in this variation!

Wisconsin Memorial

ROBERT JOYNT JR vs GEREMY SAM WEBNE-BEHRMAN (Round 1) closest to the camera.

There were nearly 80 players. Congratulations to Guy Hoffman and Mike Nietman for a well run event.

5.0 Betaneli
4.5 Santarius
4.5 Joynt

USCF Results

I finished 3-1 (+ a bye)

I won the Wisconsin Tour Class-A prize.(Thanks to Parker's oversight)

Parker was winning the last round game against the top seed ROBERT JOYNT JR(2305), but thought the first time control was 40/2 instead of 45/2. He made 42 moves and lost on time!

That cost him ~$200( $83 - Wisconsin Tour Class-A + half of (2nd overall $125 + 1st A $100) )

I was disappointed that I lost the following last round game against ERIK F SANTARIUS(2177). I am White with the move. Although I knew better I tried to play for the draw by exchanging off pieces.(Playing for a draw is a sure way to lose!) I should have controlled the open d-file instead. A better way to exchange the knight was to play Nce4 instead of Nd5.

1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bf4 e6 4.e3 Bd6 5.Bxd6 cxd6 6.c4 Nf6 7.Nc3 dxc4 8.Bxc4 0-0 9.0-0 a6 10.a4 e5 11.dxe5 dxe5 12.Qxd8 Rxd8 13.Ng5 Rf8 14.Nd5 Nxd5 15.Bxd5 Nb4 16.Bc4 Bd7 17.Nf3 Rfe8 18.Ng5 Re7 19.Ne4 Bc6 20.Nc3 Rd8 21.Rfd1 Red7 22.b3 Kf8 23.Rxd7 Rxd7 24.Rd1 Rxd1+ 25.Nxd1 Ke7 26.Nc3 f6 27.h4 [ 27.f3 Kd6 28.Kf2 Kc5 29.Bg8 h6 30.Ke2] 27...Kd6 28.e4 Kc5 29.f3 Nc2 30.Na2?? [ 30.Bg8 Kb4 31.Nd5+ Bxd5 32.exd5 Kc5 33.Bxh7 Ne3 34.Kf2 Nxd5 35.Be4] 30...Bxa4 31.Bg8 Be8 32.Kf2 Kd4 33.Bd5 b6 34.Bc4 b5 35.Bd5 Kd3 36.b4 Nd4 37.Bg8 Kc2 38.Ke3 Bd7 39.Bd5 Be6 *

Etc.

In preparation for the 2008 Chicago Open, I am thinking of joining the Errant Knights. There are 164 days before tournament, so that should give me enough time. I plan to start on Dec. 10th.

My next tournament is the Wisconsin Memorial Dec. 8-9. My goal is to score 4/5 (Same score as last year) Actually 3.5/4, since I usually take a bye on the first day since it's a bit ridiculous to play 3 games with a time control of 45/2;25/1;SD/1 in one day. Yes, that's right, up to 24 hours of chess in one day! Some of these Wisconsin tournaments are probably the only ones with adjournments. Last year I had the misfortune of having my first 2 rounds adjourned. I had taken a 3rd round bye, but had to come back after the 3rd round to complete the adjournments. Needless to say the games went on until early the next day.

On a side note there is an interesting race for the Wisconsin Tour A Class. This is the last event of the 2007 tour.

CLASS A
347.53 WIJETUNGE, IVAN
342.22 PARKER, ANTHONY
318.91 NIETMAN, MIKE