The Chess Coroner

#523 Bring Your Sets To The KCC Tonight

2009-07-02T05:10:00.006-04:00

Please bring your sets to the Community Center tonight, in case I cannot get to Kenilworth by 8 p.m. 22 of our sets were used at the Scotch Plains simul &, at present, there's just 1 in the equipment cabinet.

I shall be there no later than 8:15 and will address the club for a few minutes, starting around 8:25. Thanks.

#522 Another Awful Game

2009-07-01T15:55:00.004-04:00

I played another awful game at West Orange, turning a clear plus (or better) after move 15 into a lost position by turn 25 & lowering my GSCL mark to (ugh!) 0-4-1 :

[Event "Garden State Chess League"]
[Site "West Orange, NJ"]
[Date "2009.06.30"]
[Round "5.1"]
[White "Moldovan, John"]
[Black "Hill, Joshua"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D36"]
[WhiteElo "1812"]
[BlackElo "1975"]
[Annotator "Moldovan & Rybka 2.3"]
[PlyCount "168"]
[EventDate "2009.03.03"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[Source "The Chess Coroner #522"]
[SourceDate "2009.07.01"]
[WhiteTeam "Maplewood"]
[BlackTeam "Hamilton"]

{G/75+5 D36 Queen's Gambit Exchange Variation} 1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 Nf6 3. c4 e6 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Nc3 c6 6. Bg5 Be7 7. Qc2 {Diagram #} Bg4 $5 {I can't believe this is any good but HIARCS 11 & Fritz 8 say the position is equal.} ({For} 7... Nbd7) (7... g6) ({&} 7... Be6 {see my games against Jesseph, Sherer (2008 PGN/CBV archives) & Rosas (post #482).}) 8. Ne5 (8. e3 $145 Nbd7 9. Bd3 Rc8 ( 9... Bh5 10. O-O-O Nf8 11. h3 Ne6 12. g4 Nxg5 13. Nxg5 Bg6 14. Bxg6 hxg6 15. Kb1 Bb4 16. Ne2 Qe7 $11 {Polugaevsky - Lein : Soviet Championship, Baku 1961}) 10. h3 Bh5 11. Bf4 Bg6 12. O-O Bxd3 13. Qxd3 O-O 14. Rac1 Ne8 $14 {Menchik - Euwe : Hastings 1935}) ({Rybka 2.3 recommends} 8. h3 Bh5 9. e3 $14 {+0.28}) 8... Bh5 9. e3 (9. g4 $145 $5 Bg6 10. Nxg6 {Schmidlechner - Lassahn : Vorarlberg 1996} hxg6 $11) (9. f3 $146 Nfd7 $11) 9... Nbd7 10. Bd3 (10. Nxd7 $142 {keeping the P structure intact.}) 10... Nxe5 11. dxe5 Ng4 12. Bf4 g5 $2 $146 (12... d4 {Drozd - Noga : Bytom 1995} 13. exd4 Qxd4 {was rather obvious. After that, Rybka calls for} 14. Be4 $8 Nxe5 15. O-O $44) 13. Bg3 Bg6 14. h3 Nh6 15. O-O-O Qa5 {Diagram #} 16. e6 $2 ({This opens the f6-c3 line for Black. } 16. h4 $16 {was right.}) 16... Bxd3 17. exf7+ Nxf7 18. Qxd3 Bf6 19. Qf5 $2 ( 19. e4 $14) 19... Bxc3 20. Qe6+ $6 (20. bxc3 $142 Qxc3+ 21. Kb1 Qb4+ 22. Ka1) 20... Kf8 21. bxc3 Qxc3+ 22. Kb1 Re8 23. Bd6+ Kg7 {Diagram #} 24. Qf5 $4 (24. Be7 $8 $15 {was required. Now I lose a piece.}) 24... Nxd6 $19 25. Qxg5+ Kf7 26. Rd4 Ne4 $2 ({Thus gives me some life & tactics.} 26... Nc4 $142 27. Rf4+ Ke6 {& White can soon resign.}) 27. Qf5+ Ke7 28. Rhd1 {Threat : 29.Rxe4! dxe4 30.Rd7 mate} Nf6 $2 29. e4 Rhf8 ({Played after 19 minutes. I guess he was trying to make captures on e4 work but it's easy to see they don't :} 29... Nxe4 $4 30. Rxe4+ $1 $14 dxe4 $140 $4 31. Rd7#) (29... dxe4 $143 $4 30. Rd7+ $3 Kf8 (30... Nxd7 31. Rxd7#) 31. R1d4 $18) 30. exd5 (30. e5 Ng8 31. Qxh7+ Rf7 32. Qh4+ {was a better try but I'm lost regardless.}) {We can skip the rest, which was.} 30... c5 31. Qe6+ Kd8 32. Qd6+ Nd7 33. R4d3 Qb4+ 34. Rb3 Qe4+ 35. Ka1 Rf6 36. Qg3 b6 37. Re3 Qf4 38. Rxe8+ Kxe8 39. Qg8+ Rf8 40. Qxh7 Qxf2 41. Qe4+ Kd8 42. Qe6 Qxg2 43. Qc6 Qg7+ 44. Kb1 Qh7+ 45. Ka1 Qxh3 46. Qa8+ Ke7 47. d6+ Ke6 48. Qd5+ Kf6 49. Rd3 Qf1+ 50. Kb2 Qf2+ 51. Ka3 Ne5 52. Rh3 Qf4 53. Qb3 Qb4+ 54. Qxb4 cxb4+ 55. Kxb4 Ke6 56. Rh6+ Kd7 57. Kb5 Rf7 58. Ka6 Nc6 59. Kb7 b5 60. a3 a5 61. Kb6 b4 62. axb4 axb4 63. Kc5 Rf5+ 64. Kc4 Rf4+ 65. Kb3 Na5+ 66. Kb2 Rf2+ 67. Kb1 Nc4 68. Rh4 Na3+ 69. Ka1 Kxd6 70. Rg4 b3 71. Rg6+ (71. Rd4+ Kc5 72. Rd5+ $1 Kb4 (72... Kxd5 $4 {stalemate}) 73. Rd4+ Nc4 {was no better.}) 71... Kc5 72. Rc6+ $1 Kb4 (72... Kxc6 $4 {stalemate}) 73. Rb6+ $1 Nb5 74. Kb1 Kc5 75. Rb8 Nd4 76. Rb7 Kc4 77. Rb8 Kc3 78. Rc8+ Kd3 79. Rb8 Kc3 80. Rc8+ Kb4 81. Rb8+ Nb5 82. Rb7 Ka3 83. Kc1 b2+ 84. Kd1 b1=Q# 0-1

More games & replays will follow.

#521 Kortchnois Capture GSCL Crown

2009-07-01T14:36:00.005-04:00

The Kenilworth Kortchnois defeated Sparta last night, 2.5-1.5, to collect their 5th straight win and the 2009 Garden State Chess League title. Mark Kernighan led the way with his league-high 4th victory. Dr. Richard Lewis's W over Mike Sobin was the match-clincher.

In other matches :

West Orange & Staten Island drew, 2-2.
Hamilton whitewashed Maplewood 4-0.

FINAL STANDINGS
(in tie-break order)

1. Kenilworth Kortchnois 5.0
2. West Orange 3.5
3. Kenilworth Karpovs 3.0
4. Staten Island 3.0
5. Hamilton 3.0
6. Summit 2.5
7. Sparta 0.0
8. Maplewood 0.0

Full details here.

#520 STC Championship Starts July 6th

2009-06-30T09:56:00.002-04:00

The 2009 STC World Championship, a 9-round swiss with a time control of 60+30, begins July 6th on the Internet Chess Chess, Free Internet Chess Server and World Chess Live.

The registration deadline is July 5th at 21:00 GMT (5 p.m. EDT) but you can late-join during the first 2 rounds. Full details here.

I hope to improve on last year's =4th WCL finish but might switch servers.

#519 Karpovs Beat Summit 3.5-0.5

2009-06-30T02:37:00.002-04:00

The Kenilworth Karpovs wrapped-up their 2009 Garden State Chess League campaign on a high note, with a 3.5-0.5 victory at Summit.

Mike Wojcio put the victorious visitors ahead 1-0 by defeating Raoul Bertorello....
Geoff McAuliffe made it 1.5-0.5 with a draw against unbeaten Donnally Miller...
Max Sherer clinched the match with win over Steve Jesseph, &...
Steve Stoyko put the icing on the cake by beating Simon Thomson.

The Karpovs finished the season with a 3-2 record while Summit ended at 2-2-1.

Games will follow later this week.

#518 Garden State Wraps-Up This Week

2009-06-28T18:43:00.003-04:00

The inagural Garden State Chess League season wraps up this week with the following matches :

Monday 6/29

Kenilworth Karpovs (2-2) at Summit (2-2-1), 8 p.m

Tuesday 6/30

Kenilworth Kortchnois (4-0) vs. Sparta (0-4)
Maplewood (0-4) vs. Hamilton (2-2)
Staten Island (2-1-1) at West Orange (3-1), 8 p.m.

Spectators are welcome.

#517 Kenilworth Summer Tourney - Round 3

2009-06-28T18:20:00.003-04:00

Ian Mangion extended his lead with 2 wins & is on-pace to smash Scott Massey's unofficial 2004 record of 15.5 points.

Mark Kernighan won again & has 2nd place to himself. Richard Lewis & Ted Mann joined Greg Tomkovich & Don Carrelli in a tie for 3rd. I arrived late & could not get a game.

Here's a crosstable, to let you know how all 23 players stand. Games will follow later this week but, unfortunately, the 4 I have aren't good.

#516 Chitra Goes +12 -3 = 2 In Simul

2009-06-28T17:10:00.003-04:00

Chitra Sridhar scored 12 victories, 2 draws & suffered 3 defeats in less than 3 hours against 16 simultaneous opponents (1 board was re-filled) in Scotch Plains, yesterday. She played 1.e4 in every game.

Here's the critical moment & opening moves from her loss to Bert Shiffman :

Sridhar - Shiffman

After 12...Ng4+

[Event "Chitra Simul"]

[Site "Scotch Plains, N.J., USA"]

[Date "2009.06.28"]

[Round ""]

[White "Sridhar, Chitra"]

[Black "Shiffman, Bert"]

[Result "0-1"]

[ECO "C78"]

[WhiteElo "1880"]

[BlackElo "1316"]

[Annotator "Moldovan,John"]

[PlyCount "26"]

[EventDate "2009.06.27"]

[EventType "simul"]

[EventCountry "USA"]

[SourceDate "2009.06.28"]

[Source "the Chess Coroner #516"]

{C78 Ruy Lopez, Moeller Defense} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5.

O-O Bc5 6. d3 O-O $2 (6... b5 {Archangelsk Variation} 7. Bb3 Bb7 $11 ({or} 7...

d6 $11)) ({or} 6... d6) 7. Bxc6 dxc6 8. Nxe5 Be6 9. Bg5 $2 (9. Nd2 $14) 9...

Bd4 10. c3 Bxe5 11. d4 Bxh2+ 12. Kxh2 Ng4+ 13. Kg1 $4 (13. Qxg4

Bxg4 14. Bxd8 Raxd8 $11) 13... Qxg5 $19 {White resigned after another 19 moves.} 0-1

A java-replay will follow later this week.

P.S. - The other players who drew or won are invited to email their scores or leave them as comments.

#515 Simul At Scotch Plains Library Tomorrow

2009-06-26T23:15:00.004-04:00

NJIT graduate student Chitra Sridhar will be giving a free simultaneous exhibition at the Scotch Plains-Fanwood Public Library tomorrow afternoon (Saturday 6/27), from 1 to 4 p.m.

To play, you must pre-register by calling 908-322-5007, extension 204 or sending an email to library@scotlib.org

Directions here.

Chitra Sridhar giving a simul at NJIT

The Kenilworth Chess Club will be supplying equipment for the display but bring your own sets & boards in case they are needed.

#514 Summer Tourney - Round 2

2009-06-22T22:57:00.005-04:00

Ian Mangion leads after taking 1.5/2 from me. Don Carrelli, Mark Kernighan & Greg Tomkovich won their lone games & are half-point back.

Ted Mann, Pat Mazzillo, Bert Shiffman & Jim Cole also notched victories.

Here are the week's replays, PGN, standings & tactical highlights :

Sherer-Kernghan

after 18.Nge2??

Black to win

Mangion-Moldovan

after 16...Be6??

White to win

Pawlowski-Carrelli

after 12.Qe2+

Black to win

Mazzillo-Sturniolo

after 10.Bh6?

Black to win a pawn

P.S.- Apologies for the delayed report. Needed a few days away from blogging.

#513 Summer Tourney - Round 1

2009-06-14T01:10:00.008-04:00

Top seed Mark Kernighan, Ian Mangion, Don Carrelli, David Pawlowski, Greg Tomkovich & Joe Renna lead the 2009 Kenilworth Summer Tourney after the opening round of play. Each has 1 point.

I opened with a dreadful draw against Max Sherer but have annotated it for you along with Joe's & David's wins. Here's the replay page & zipped PGN.

Hopefully a higher % of games will be submitted in the weeks to come. Last year, we got 65 of the 81 scores.

Maybe we should just be putting the cream of the crop online & publishing a weekly in-house bulletin with the complete set of games. Comments are welcome.

#512 Solution To & Game From #506

2009-06-14T01:09:00.007-04:00

The solution to the puzzle in post #512 is 1...Bxg3! &, if 2.hxg3 (Nxg6 is best.), then 2...Rxg3! idea 3.fxg3 Qxg3+ & mate next.

Here's the complete game & analysis in java-replay & PGN.

#511 Summer Tourney Starts Tonight

2009-06-11T14:56:00.006-04:00

The Kenilworth Summer Tourney begins its 13-week run tonight.

Here are the rules :

Entry Fee is $5.00 for KCC members; $6.00 for non-members.
The tournament will run from June 11th through September 3rd.
The time control is G/60.
You may play anyone in the tournament. The first time you play an opponent, the lower rated player has white, in subsequent games against the same opponent you alternate colors.
You may not play the same opponent more than four times in the tournament.
You get one point for a win, one half point for a draw, and zero for a loss.
You may play as many or as few games as you like, but no more than two in one night. The more you play the more points you can win.
All games are to be played at the Kenilworth Chess Club during normal operating hours.
The winner is the person who has the most points at the end of the tournament.
The prizes are 60% for first place, 30% for second, and 10% for third.

Among those expected to play in the event are : NM Mark Kernighan (who won in 2005), Greg Tomkovich (the 2006 victor), Ian Mangion (last year's undefeated runner-up) & yours truly (the defending champ).

As usual, Greg will direct.

Important Note - The calendar on the the club site is wrong. For future reference, use the link on my sidebar.

#510 Replays Of Thursday's Matches

2009-06-07T02:54:00.007-04:00

Java-replays for Thursday's Hamilton-Karpovs & Summit-Kortchnois matches have been uploaded along with a revised West Orange-Maplewood page.

Zipped PGN for each match can be downloaded from the above links. For a single file with all 3, click here.

#509 Kortchnois Stay Perfect, Karpovs Fall

2009-06-05T02:30:00.005-04:00

In Garden State Chess League action last night, the 1st place Kenilworth Kortchnois defeated Summit 3-1 but the Kenilworth Karpovs fell to Hamilton 2.5-1.5.

The 4-0 Kortchnois, playing without NM Yaacov Norowitz & Ari Minkov, got victories from top board Mark Kernighan, David Pawlowski & Greg Tomkovich to put themselves a full game ahead of 2nd place West Orange. They can clinch the GSCL title with a draw against 0-4 Sparta on June 30th.

The Karpovs, meanwhile, got a draw from FM Steve Stoyko & a convincing win by Ian Mangion but lost the bottom pairings. They will wrap-up a disappointing season vs. Summit.

Here are eight games from round 4 (including a revised version of my loss to Fernandez) in PGN format. Replays will follow.

#508 S. Island & W. Orange Win

2009-06-03T02:32:00.004-04:00

In Garden State Chess League action last night, Staten Island defeated Sparta 2.5-1.5 & West Orange swept Maplewood 4-0.

I had a chance to keep Maplewood in the match with the score at 2-0 but missed equality at move 23 & had to resign after just 5 more turns :

Fernandez-Moldovan
after 23.Qxa7?

Black to play

Java-replay
PGN

#507 This Week's GSCL Schedule

2009-06-01T21:33:00.005-04:00

Garden State Chess League
Round 4

Tuesday 6/2 at West Orange, 8 p.m.

Maplewood (0-3) - W. Orange (2-1)
Staten Island (1-1-1) - Sparta (0-3)

Thursday 6/4 at Kenilworth, 8:15 p.m.

Hamilton (1-2) - Kenilworth Karpovs (2-1)
Summit (2-0-1) - Kenilworth Kortchnois (3-0)

#506 Black To Win

2009-06-01T21:25:00.002-04:00

Mann-Moldovan
Springfield 05/31/2009

Black to win

#505 Knockout Wrap-Up

2009-06-01T17:31:00.003-04:00

Last night I defeated Bob Sherry in 22 moves to win the Checkmate Knockout tourney. Here's the replay & PGN.

#504 Upcoming Events

2009-05-29T18:11:00.002-04:00

Upcoming Events at the Kenilworth Chess Club :

June 4th - Garden State Chess League matches

Summit at Kenilworth Kortchnois (battle for 1st place!)
Hamilton at Kenilworth Karpovs

June 11th - Start of the Kenilworth Summer Tournament (runs thru September 3rd)

#503 Kernighan Wins Kenilworth G/15

2009-05-29T17:45:00.002-04:00

NM Mark Kernighan won the 12-player, Kenilworth G/15 last night. Glen Hart, coming off a fine, =4th result at the U.S. Amateur East, finished in 2nd place. Greg Tomkovich & Mike Wojcio tied for 3rd.

#502 Tonight At Kenilworth : G/15 Tourney

2009-05-28T01:34:00.004-04:00

Kenilworth G/15
Thursday, May 28th
8:30 p.m.

4-SS.
Non-rated.
Free entry.
No prizes.

The TD has the option of adding a 2 or 3 second delay to the time control.

#501 Checkmate Knockout - Round 3

2009-05-26T02:19:00.009-04:00

Bob Sherry eliminated Bert Shiffman on Sunday & will have the White pieces against me in round 4; as he did in round 2.

The readers are welcome to suggest a defense vs. my foe's anticipated 1.e4. I've used 8 different lines against him in my last 9 games with Black & am running out of ideas!

#500 Norowitz Ties For 1st At The Chicago Open

2009-05-26T02:01:00.003-04:00

Kenilworth Chess Club Champion NM Yaacov Norowitz tied for 1st place in the U2300 section at the Chicago Open, which was held May 22-25 in Wheeling, IL.

Fellow KCC member Mikhail Kruglyak also did very well, tying for 5th place in the U1300 section.

GM Jaan Ehlvest was the Open section winner.

#499 Kenilworth Intra-Club Match

2009-05-24T11:00:00.004-04:00

Kenilworth Intra-Club Match
May 21, 2009
G/60

Karpovs 4.5 - Kortchnois 3.5

■ Mangion 1/2 □ Kernighan 1/2
□ Moldovan 1 ■ R. Lewis 0
■ Carrelli 0 □ Tomkovich 1
□ Wojcio 0 ■ Kruglyak 1
■ Mazzillo 1 □ Renna 0
□ Sturniolo 1 ■ Sokolosky 0
■ Shiffman 1 □ M. Lewis 0
□ Bliznikas 0 ■ Mann 1 (G/25)

■ = white... □ = black

R. Lewis - Moldovan
after 33.Qb7

Black to win

Java-replay
PGN