Tuesday, June 02, 2009

Waukesha CC 4 Round G/90

36 Players

USCF Results

Final cross table

Rnd 4
1-0 Coons(3.0) vs Krause(3.0)
1-0 Kohlenberg(2.5) vs Reese(3.0)
1-0 Williams(2.0) vs Smith(2.5)
1-0 Wijetunge(2.0) vs Zimmermann (2.0)

My last game (at least for a while) in WI was memorable since I got to play Rc8 in the following position:
Black just attacked my knight on f3, instead of doing something about it, I sacAfter Rc8
Wjetunge(1848) vs Zimmermann(1676) June 3, 2009
1.d4 d5 2.Bg5 Nf6 3.Nf3 e6 4.e3 Be7 5.Bd3 0-0 6.0-0 h6 7.Bh4 b6 8.Nbd2 Bb7 9.c3 Nbd7 10.Rc1 c5 11.Re1 Rc8 12.Bb1 Re8 13.Qc2 b5 14.Ne5 Nf8 15.Ndf3 cxd4 16.exd4 b4 17.Qb3 a5 18.a3 Ba8 19.cxb4 Qb6 20.b5 g5 21.Bg3 Nh5 [21...g4 22.Rxc8 Rxc8 23.Bh4 gxf3 24.Qxf3] 22.a4 Nxg3 23.hxg3 f6 24.Ng6 Rxc1 25.Rxc1 g4 26.Rc8 [26.Qe3 gxf3 27.Qxh6] 26...Rxc8 27.Nxe7+ Kg7 28.Nxc8 Qc7 29.Qc2 Qxc2 30.Bxc2 gxf3 31.gxf3 Nd7 32.Kf1 e5 33.Bf5 Nf8 34.Ke2 e4 35.Ke3 Kf7 36.fxe4 dxe4 37.Bxe4 Bxe4 38.Kxe4 Nd7 39.Kd5 Ke8 40.Kc6 Kd8 41.Nb6 Nf8 42.d5 Ng6 43.Nc4 f5 44.b6 Kc8 45.Nd6+ Kb8 46.Nxf5 Ne5+ 47.Kb5 Nd3 48.d6 Ne5 49.Nxh6 Kb7 50.b4 axb4 51.Kxb4 Kxb6 52.a5+ Kc6 53.f4 Nd3+ 54.Kc3 Nc5 55.Nf5 Nd7 56.Kc4 Nf6 57.Kd4 Nd7 58.g4 Nf8 59.g5 Kb5 60.Ne7 Kxa5 61.f5 Kb5 62.g6 Nd7 63.Nd5

Rnd 3

Many upsets today!
1-0 A. Krause vs W. Williams
1-0 G. Reese Jr. vs C. McCutchin
0-1 T. Zimmermann vs J. Coons
0-1 Russ Montney vs J. Kohlenberg
1-0 J. Smith vs S. Garvin
1/2 R. Hayes vs R. Lauzums
0-1 Pranav Kulkarni vs Ivan Wijetunge
Rnd 2 (Reese Jr vs Wijetunge)
I obtained a very good position, but bad time management did me in.
Here I played Bd5 and White replied Ne1. Instead the best move for Black is Bxh3

Crosstable here

Waukesha Chess Club

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

SW Chess Club Quads G/100

There are 6 Quads and a 5 person Swiss
Quad 1



1234
1John Veech2040X
-0- -1-
-1-
2Allen Becker2000-1-X
-1-
-0-
3Daniel Munoz1854 -0-
-0-
X
.5
4Ivan Wijetunge1836-0-
-1-
.5
X

Veech vs Wijetunge Rnd 2
I got a chance to play WI newest expert. (so new that he still had the "new expert smell") We played a crazy game with inaccuracies on both sides and pieces flying every where. The following position is right after Veech played Rxh5? I didn't find the winning move f5 here, but played Bc6 which should have lost if White finds the right continuation, but since he did not I still had chances to be slightly ahead or =. But in the end I lost with the clock ticking down.
Postion after Rxh5?

Wijetunge vs Becker Rnd 1
This is the position after I played Nf3xg5!!

The !! is not because it is the best move (I thought that Bg3 was the best move), it is because sometimes other factors also come in to play. Allen usually spends a long time on the first part of the game leaving him little time for the rest, and this game was no exception. One of the hardest things to do is defend with not much time on the clock. I give up a Knight for 2 pawns. In exchange I get:
  • an annoying pin of the f6 knight
  • good attacking chances with a possible rook lift with f4 and Rf3
  • force Black to play accurately in time trouble

Tuesday, May 05, 2009

Sydney Chess

*Clicking on images will enlarge them

I had some time to checkout the the local chess scene today.

I first went by Hyde Park in down town Sydney where a lunch time crowd had gathered around the giant chess board. I didn't have time to wait around for a game today, I may get another chance later this week.

There was a spot about the board in today's news paper as well.
I then got a chance to play a few blitz games aginst fellow blogger Chee Tan [tanc (happyhippo) from Lousy at Chess]
Chee took me to the North Sydney Chess club, which is one of the strongest clubs in Australia. The club plays in the auditorium of the North Sydney Leagues Club, which has a casino, gym, restaurants etc. in a beautiful facility.Today the club played a 23 board match against another club (Manly). Below are the strongest members of the team. (Most of them did not play today)I got to play blitz with Eyal Gur, a visitor from Israel, who said that although he does not play in tournaments anymore, was rated 2300 at one time. The score was 4-0 in his favor. I may have had drawing chances in one of them.

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.

Friday, March 27, 2009

This and that.

Chess is so frustrating.

I was on a 10 game unbeaten streak. My last loss coming on Jan. 25th. But I have lost 2 games in 2 days. The first, I am not too concerned about since it was against a master and I played pretty well. But yesterday's loss to Pokorski (1660) was inexcusable. It's probably one of the worst games I have played.

Click here for the game.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Supernationals April 3-5

I plan to play in the Parents and friends tournament. This year it is a 4 round G/30 event. In the past its been G/45.

I hope to go to a Kasparov book signing. I wonder how he would react if I ask him to sign this book.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2009 Wisconsin Tour

Latest standings after 2 events: here

Thursday, March 05, 2009

Jr. vs Jr. form the 2009 Waukesha Memorial

This is the 3rd round clash: Nolan Hendrickson vs Alexander Velikanov, with annotations by Nolan.Alexander Velikanov (left) [the #6 rated 11 year old in the nation] vs Nolan Hendrickson [the #86 rated 15 year old in the nation] . Nolan has increased his rating in every tournament he has played in. (Except for one where he finished even)

My round 3 win from the Waukesha Memorial

Please click here.



Below is my last game againts the same opponent (Jason vs Ivan Jan. 25th 2009)

Black to move after Whites 26th move. A few days before this game I was reading a book where it taked about how the good players can feel it when there is a winning sacrifice. I decided to sac the exchange and played Bxh4,[ instead of that Rb8 and Black is much better because he at least wins the b pawn, since the Knight on h5 is hanging]. Well, that proves that I am not a good player yet!

Flanders, Jason (1628) - Wijetunge,Ivan (1883) [B13]
NEO Neenah 25.01.2009
1.e4 c6 2.c4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.d4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Be3 e6 [6...Bg4 7.Qb3 Na5 8.Qa4+ Bd7; 6...Bf5 7.Qb3 Na5 8.Qa4+ Bd7 9.Qc2 Nxc4] 7.Rc1 Be7 8.a3 a5 [8...0–0 9.b4 dxc4 10.Bxc4 a5 11.b5 Nb8 12.a4 Nd5 13.Nxd5 exd5 14.Bd3 Bb4+ 15.Bd2 Qg5 16.Bxb4 axb4 17.Bf1 Re8+ 18.Ne2 Nd7 19.g3 Nb6 20.Bg2 Nxa4] 9.Nf3 0–0 10.Qc2 Bd7 11.cxd5 exd5 [11...Nxd5 12.Nxd5 exd5 13.Bd3 Bg4 (13...Rc8 14.Qb3 Bg4 15.Qxb7 Rc7 16.Qb6 Bxf3 17.gxf3) 14.Bxh7+ Kh8 15.Bd3 Bxf3 16.gxf3] 12.Bd3 h6 13.0–0 Rc8 14.Qb3 Bg4 15.Nd2 [15.Ne5 Nxe5 16.dxe5 d4 17.exf6 Bxf6] 15...Qd7 16.Bb5 Bf5 17.Qa4 Bd8 [17...Ng4 18.Bxc6 bxc6 19.Qxa5 Ra8] 18.Ne2 Ng4 19.Ng3 Be6 20.Nf3 g5 21.h3 Nxe3 22.fxe3 Qd6 23.Nh5 f6 24.Bxc6 bxc6 25.Qc2 Bf7 26.Qf5 Bxh5?? [26...Rb8 27.g4 Rxb2 28.Rf2 Rb6 29.Rc5 a4 30.Qc2 Re8 31.Re2 Bxh5 32.gxh5 Qg3+; 26...Rc7 27.g4 Re8 28.Rc3] 27.Qxc8 Bxf3 28.Rxf3 Bc7 29.Qf5 Kg7 30.Rcf1 Qh2+ 31.Kf2 1–0

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

27th Annual Waukesha Memorial
February 28

Open Results
3.5 J VEECH, J PRENOT, N HENDRICKSON, I WIJETUNGE, J ROMICH

*The main event has been rated, click here

*The blitz event has been rated, click here

The tournament was a huge success with a record 75 players.

Open winner ROBERT M BRUCH getting his travelling trophy from Jim Nickell

On the left is Top seed Alexander Velikanov [the #6 rated 11 year old in the nation] who was upset by Nolan Hendrickson [the #86 rated 15 year old in the nation] in 3rd round.

Last round board 2: On the right is unrated Thomas Irvin who was 3-0 before losing the "Battle of the Shaven heads" to J. Prenot . Looking on from board 1 is Wade Christensen , who lost to the tournament winner Robert Bruch.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The blitz tournament was a very successful with 20 players. Thanks to Jim Rowe for his help in running this event. The tournament has been rated. Click here.

3 finished with 3-0

A. Velikanov
N. Hendrickson
J. Romich


History
2009 75 R BRUCH
2008 52 M WALLER, J KOHLENBERG, D CARDENAS
2007 47 P FRICANO
2006 38 P FRICANO
2005 42 A VAJA
2004 38 N GLEASON

Monday, February 09, 2009

U.S. Amateur Team - North

The Indiana quartet of "Jimmy Runs Deep" takes the North.

Open results here (tiebreaks here) USCF Results here
Scholastic results here
Blitz results here

Jim analyzing his last round draw with top seed FM Dennis Monokroussos



Amateur Team Winners

North 144 Players, 34 Teams
"Jimmy Runs Deep"
2219
JIM H DEAN
2132
GARRETT L SMITH
2083
DREW D HOLLINBERGER
1942
DANIEL GATER

South 121 Players, ~29 Teams
"My girl is pissed!"
2485 Bruci Lopez
2210 Ernesto Alvarez
2069 Gilberto Luna II
2009 Makaio W Krienke

East 1201 Players, 283 Teams
"Palin Gambit: I can see checkmate"
2320 Paul Mac Intyre
2210 Brian Hulse
2189 Libardo Rueda
2052 Alan Price

West 335 Players, ~79 Teams
"ACA BEASTS!"
2412 John Daniel Bryant
2147 Michael Yee
2158 Vincent Huang
2049
Santy Wong

White to play and win

This is my round 2 game from the UW Winter Open See comments for the answer

Monday, January 26, 2009

UW-Winter Open, Madison WI,
Feb. 7, 8


Tex De Wit 2243 is an exchange student from Holland studying in Iowa City
Click here for his blog. His USCF history is here.



The "Cool Shades" section

History
2009 54 (FM Tex De Wit)
2008 53 (J ROMICH)
2007 58 (FM A BETANELI)
2006 58 (A VAJA, B LUO)
2005 57 (FM A BETANELI, E SANTARIUS , J RICHARDS)
2004 51 (IM S SMIATANKIN,  R JOYNT)

Sunday, January 18, 2009

45th Northeastern Open Chess Championships
Jan. 24, 25 Neenah, WI

This has been the most attended yearly event in Wisconsin. (non-scholastic)

History
year / players / winner(s)

2009 98 (NM E SANTARIUS, H PAN)
2008 95 (IM M AMANOV, NM A BETANELI, E SANTARIUS)
2007 97 (FM A STAMNOV)
2006 116 (A VAJA , G ARANOVICH)
2005 100 (FM A STAMNOV, E SANTARIUS)
2004 108 (IM S SMIATANKIN, NM A BETANELI, J ROWE)



I had a horrible 2nd day. I was telling someone the other day how I had not made any really bad blunders in a long time. I may have jinxed myelf. In round 4 after

1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 d5 3.e3 Ne4 4.Bf4 e6 5.Nd2 c6 6.Nxe4 dxe4 7.Bc4 Nd7 8.Ne2 g5 9.Bg3 Qa5+ 10.c3 Nb6 11.Bb3 h5 12.Be5 Rh6 13.h4 g4 14.Bf4 Rh7 15.Bc7 f5

I had the following position as White against J BECKER (2053) . Black's last move was f5. I was so eager to put a Knight on f4, that I overlooked Rxc7.

Sunday, January 11, 2009

The ritziest chess club in the world?

I got the opportunity to stop by the Saint Louis Chess Club a couple of weeks ago.

I had heard a lot about this club and had seen several pictures, but one has to be there to really appreciate it.

The club will host the 2009 US Championship

Tony Rich - Executive Director



Friday, January 09, 2009

NAO Las Vegas
So close, yet so far...

I had a great time at the 2008 NAO. It was a chance to meet old friends and make new ones. It was also a chance to see if my #3 seed status in the U1900 section was justified.

Take 1
I arrived for the first round late because of a flight delay, and also with very little sleep the two previous nights. Despite these handicaps I managed to get the following position as White.


In bad time trouble I played Rg1?! , instead the obvious f4 was much better. I managed to lose this game.

Take 2
I decided to re-enter with a bye for the first round, and scored 4.5/5.0 in rounds 2-6

My best game was in round five where I played Bg6 as White in the following position against Daniel Pecherski . After ...f6, Nf7+ Rxf7, Bxf7 Qxf7, Rd8+ Bf8, Bxb8 Black is paralyzed.
I found Re2 as Black in round four vs Roland Zhu in bad time trouble (Thanks CTS)

Round 7

Win = $2500.00
Draw=$1000.00
Loss=$75.00

My last round opponent was Michael G Da-cruz from California. He has been rated as high as 2048 in the past.

I had the opportunity to see some of his games since he was sitting next to me in several previous rounds. He was winning most of his games very easily in tactic heavy positions. In fact we became friends and he helped me analyze a couple of my games.

He was the only opponent I did not want to face in round 7. When we were paired in the last round I was already at a psychological disadvantage.

I then got the following position as White and was sure that Black had to repeat moves. I was happy with a draw, but he was not!
Instead of playing the expected ...Rb8 (3-fold repetition draw), he played ...cxd!? My best move after that is to take the rook and play Ke2 after the Bishop check, but I played Be2.

He won around $2500.00, and me $75.00! Michael did bye me dinner after the game though!

Old guy 4, young guys 0
As an adult player I am envious of the young guys, they mostly:
  • have more time to study
  • improve faster
  • have experienced coaches
  • don't have to worry about finances etc.
In this tournament I am happy to report that I won all four games against younger opponents.
My round three draw was against Daniel Mallaghan who came all the way from Ireland!

CCA Results etc. here

USCF results here

Tuesday, December 09, 2008

Wisconsin State Quick Chess Championship

Saturday Dec. 13

Erik Santarius Wins his 3rd WI title of the year!





He is now:
WI State Champion
WI State Blitz Champion
WI State Quick Champion

75! (51 in the scholastic) players showed up for the last tournament at Union South. The building will be demolished to make way for a new student union.

Friday, December 05, 2008

This and that..

It looks like I will be able to play in the North American Open, after an 11 year break. In 1997 I scored 2.5/5.0 in the U1800 section.

I started coaching my son's scholastic chess team on a volunteer basis. I am enjoying the experience especially since I have a very enthusiastic group.(7 new USCF members)

We play in our 3rd tournament tomorrow. We placed 3rd in our very first, and tied for 4th the second time around.

Click here for the coaching blog.

Monday, November 17, 2008

Dissapointed

*Updated 11/18 - Pictures can be clicked to enlarge.

King's Island Open

Click here for CCA results, Click here for USCF reults

I went 3-2=0 in the U1900 section. The losses were hard to take as they were both in great positions, complicated by time trouble. I have to work on better time management!

It's ironic but my best games were my losses. Here is a position from my 3rd round loss to Daniel, who tied for first.
I am White here and if I played Nc6 Black can resign.

Click here to replay game


This is the a position from the last round, where a win would have won $267

I played f4, which is still winning, but Nf5 is much stronger

Click here to replay game


Four of us made the trip. Derek Paitrick had a great event in the U2100 section winning $320 and becoming Wisconsin's newest expert. Paul Fricano had a sub par effort in the Open Section with 1-4=0, but had winning positions in his first two losses, including one against GM Anatoly Lein. Ryan Jayne went 3-1=1, and won $18 in the U1700 section.
Derek Paitrick during his last round draw. (He has a notebook with pencil)We went to eat around 1am on Friday and ran in to the top two seeds GM Darmen Sadvakasov 2638 (and girlfriend) and GM Alexander Shabalov 2632

Last round action.
Front: IM Bryan G Smith(Right) upset GM Darmen Sadvakasov
Back: GM Alexander Shabalov(Right) beat IM Kirill Kuderinov.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Kings Island Open 2008

Click here for Tournament Information

Click here for pre-Entries (221)

Four of us will be travelling together (The only WI participants that have pre-registered)

Open Section - 2011 Paul Fricano 1-4=0
Under 2100 - 1940 Derek Paitrick 3-0=2
Under 1900 - 1883 Ivan Wijetunge 3-2=0
Under 1700 - 1692 Ryan Jayne 3-1=1

I played in the Under 2000 section in 2006 and scored 2.5/5.0

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Elusive 1900

I was hoping to use last week's tournament as training before the Kings Island Open. I was in a confident mood, since I had a good chance of reaching 1900, but a first round draw put a dent in my confidence, and I could not recover ending with a dismal 1-1=3. If nothing else I got a good lesson in humility. The above position is from my loss. I am Black with the move.

Some observations:

My Bishop is better, therefore I should try to exchange off other pieces, I can challenge the e-pawn with either c5 or e5. If I had taken my time I would have seen that White's main idea is to put a Knight on e5, and as long as I have a Knight on d7, I can chop it off. In the game I instinctively played 15...Nf6 ?!

1. Nc3 c6 2. d4 d5 3. g3 Nf6 4. Bg2 Bf5 5. Nf3 h6 6. Nd2 e6 7. O-O Bd6 8.e4 dxe4 9. Ncxe4 O-O 10. Re1 Be7 11. c3 Nbd7 12. Qe2 Re8 13. Nc4 Nxe4 14.Bxe4 Bxe4 15. Qxe4 Nf6 16. Qc2 Rc8 17. Bf4 c5 18. dxc5 Bxc5 19. Rad1 Qe7?? 20. Bd6 +-

17...Nd5 was better
19...Nd5 =



My best performance in a chess tournament came a week after a dismal one, so I am hoping that history will repeat itself!

As training for the Kings Island Open I plan to:

  1. do 45 min./day of aerobic training
  2. get at least 7 hrs of sleep/day
  3. play a G/90 game against Master William Williams
  4. do 250 problems/day on the Chess Tactics Server

WCC Double Round Quads - G/90

Waukesha Chess Club

There are 6 quads and a 5 person section for a total of 31

Click here for results (Quads 1 & 2)

Click here for my uninspiring draw against Raymond Hayes. (I was behind on time and didn't really like my position so I took the draw that was offered)

I am White. We analyzed the game using Coon's quad-core 64bit machine running Rybka 3, and these are improvements she found:

9. d x e5
11. a3
12. B x f4
13. B x f4
15. Q d2 (e5 probably the worst move I made)
19. R e5

Monday, November 10, 2008

Wisconsin Junior Open / Veteran's Tournament

In the Junior Open HONGKAI PAN went 5-0. He will be Wisconsin's Denker representative at the US Open in 2009.

Round 5:
DEREK D SACHS(1767) vs HONGKAI PAN(1895) 0-1 and
JAMES FAN WU (2040) vs JOSHUA D MILLER (1610) 0-1 (closest to camera)

Click here for USCF results



In the Veteran's event TIMOTHY P VOIGT & CHRISTOPHER BAUMGARTNER tied for first with 4.5/5.0

Although I was the 3rd seed I played poorly to end with 1-1=3! I don't have an explanation for this poor showing. I think I let the first round draw get to me, although I tried not to let it. My record in this event now is 12-3=8

Click here for USCF results

History - Number of players and the winner(s)
2008 34 TIMOTHY P VOIGT, CHRISTOPHER BAUMGARTNER
2007 45 ALEX BETANELI, TATIANA VAYSERBERG
2006 42 DANIEL L LINDQUIST
2005 29 GUY G HOFFMAN
2004 34 WILLIAM ELGER , WILLIAM R OLK, IVAN WIJETUNGE

Saturday, November 01, 2008

Coach

I decided to volunteer as chess coach at my son's school. We've had only 2 lessons, and today the kids played in their first tournament as a team. (It was the first tournament experience for 3 out of the 4 team members)

We won third place!

Click here for the the team blog