It's well known that men seem to outplay women, in general. The top 100 men in chess highly outrank the top 100 women in chess. But why? Is the reason biological, cultural, etc? A recent study seems to have answered this question. It's only a matter of statistics.
The bell curve for men simply includes more players, hence the long tail is longer, equals stronger players on the high end of the bell curve. It follows that the reverse is also true: meaning that the worst 100 male chess players play much worse than the worst 100 female players.
Monday, December 29, 2008
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Fischer Parody
The Onion did a funny parody on the death of Bobby Fischer. I'm posting this, hoping it's not too soon to laugh about the famous American chess player's passing.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Endgame study
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
November Swiss
Congratulations to Andrew Schilleman and John Griffin who both went 3-0 to win their sections(and $100).
Top Section
Top Section
---------------------------------------------------
Pair| Name |Total|Round|Round|Round|
Num | Rtg | Pts | 1 | 2 | 3 |
---------------------------------------------------
1 | ANDREW SCHILLEMAN |3.0 |W 8|W 3|W 4|
MI | 2015 | | | | |
---------------------------------------------------
2 | ALISHER SANETULLAEV |2.0 |W 6|L 4|W 5|
MI | 2049 | | | | |
---------------------------------------------------
3 | ANTHONY NICHOLS |2.0 |W 5|L 1|W 6|
MI | 1998 | | | | |
---------------------------------------------------
4 | MATT HASSEN |2.0 |W 7|W 2|L 1|
MI | 1909 | | | | |
---------------------------------------------------
5 | TODD MCAULIFFE |1.0 |L 3|W 8|L 2|
MI | 1872 | | | | |
---------------------------------------------------
6 | IAN EDGERLE |1.0 |L 2|W 7|L 3|
MI | 1822 | | | | |
---------------------------------------------------
7 | RICHARD WILSON |1.0 |L 4|L 6|W 8|
MI | 1685 | | | | |
---------------------------------------------------
8 | BRUCE ROTH |0.0 |L 1|L 5|L 7|
MI | 1686 | | | | |
---------------------------------------------------
Bottom Section
-----------------------------------------------
Pair| Name |Total|Round|Round|Round|
Num | Rtg | Pts | 1 | 2 | 3 |
-----------------------------------------------
1 | JOHN GRIFFIN |3.0 |W 6|W 5|W 4|
MI | 1550 | | | | |
-----------------------------------------------
2 | DAVID SUNDEEN |2.0 |L 4|W 7|W 5|
MI | 1600 | | | | |
-----------------------------------------------
3 | JERRY CRYSLER |2.0 |W 7|L 4|W 6|
MI | 1486 | | | | |
-----------------------------------------------
4 | NATHAN METCALF |2.0 |W 2|W 3|L 1|
MI | 1460 | | | | |
-----------------------------------------------
5 | SCOTT FAUST |1.0 |W 8|L 1|L 2|
MI | 1455 | | | | |
-----------------------------------------------
6 | CARRIE RANKIN |1.0 |L 1|W 8|L 3|
MI | 926P13 | | | | |
-----------------------------------------------
7 | JACK EMAUS |1.0 |L 3|L 2|W 8|
MI | 680 | | | | |
-----------------------------------------------
8 | ROD SCHAAF |0.0 |L 5|L 6|L 7|
MI | 664P20 | | | | |
-----------------------------------------------
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
October Swiss
We had a good turnout for the October Swiss. Congrats to Todd McAuliffe on winning the top section with a perfect score! Also, Bruce Roth won the bottom section with a perfect score too! No more bottom section for you Bruce.
Top Section
Bottom Section
Top Section
--------------------------------------------------
Pair | Name |Total|Round|Round|Round|
Num | Rtg | Pts | 1 | 2 | 3 |
--------------------------------------------------
1 | TODD MCAULIFFE |3.0 |W 4|W 5|W 3|
MI | 1880 | | | | |
--------------------------------------------------
2 | MATT HASSEN |2.5 |W 6|D 3|W 4|
MI | 1894 | | | | |
--------------------------------------------------
3 | ANTHONY NICHOLS |1.5 |W 5|D 2|L 1|
MI | 1997 | | | | |
--------------------------------------------------
4 | ANDREW CATLIN |1.0 |L 1|W 6|L 2|
MI | 1964 | | | | |
--------------------------------------------------
5 | DREW RAMSEY |1.0 |L 3|L 1|B 0|
MI | 1721 | | | | |
--------------------------------------------------
6 | RICHARD WILSON |0.0 |L 2|L 4|U 0|
MI | 1686 | | | | |
--------------------------------------------------
Bottom Section
----------------------------------------------------
Pair | Name |Total|Round|Round|Round|
Num | Rtg | Pts | 1 | 2 | 3 |
----------------------------------------------------
1 | BRUCE ROTH |3.0 |W 5|W 3|W 2|
MI | 1712 | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------
2 | JERRY CRYSLER |2.0 |W 6|W 4|L 1|
MI | 1504 | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------
3 | SCOTT FAUST |2.0 |W 7|L 1|W 5|
MI | 1483 | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------
4 | NATHAN METCALF |2.0 |W 8|L 2|W 6|
MI | 1388 | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------
5 | QUENTIN METZMAKER |1.0 |L 1|W 7|L 3|
MI | 1065 | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------
6 | CARRIE RANKIN |1.0 |L 2|W 8|L 4|
MI | 918P10 | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------
7 | ROD SCHAAF |1.0 |L 3|L 5|W 8|
MI | 710P17 | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------
8 | JACK EMAUS |0.0 |L 4|L 6|L 7|
MI | 628 | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
October Swiss rescheduled
We have moved the October Swiss to the 19th so we don't clash with the MI Amateur.
September Mini Swiss
We had a pretty good turnout for this month's tournament.
Congratulations to Jacob Fortunaon his perfect score in
the top section and Scott Faust for his perfect score in
the bottom section.
Top Section
----------------------------------------------------
Pair | Name |Total|Round|Round|Round|
Num | Rtg | Pts | 1 | 2 | 3 |
----------------------------------------------------
1 | JACOB FORTUNA |3.0 |W 6|W 4|W 3|
MI | 1885 | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------
2 | GARY KITTS |2.0 |L 3|W 6|W 4|
MI | 1960 | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------
3 | BRUCE ROTH |2.0 |W 2|W 5|L 1|
MI | 1686 | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------
4 | ANTHONY NICHOLS |1.0 |W 5|L 1|L 2|
MI | 2009 | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------
5 | TODD MCAULIFFE |1.0 |L 4|L 3|W 6|
MI | 1806 | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------
6 | DAVID SUNDEEN |0.0 |L 1|L 2|L 5|
MI | 1600 | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------
Bottom Section
--------------------------------------------------
Pair | Name |Total|Round|Round|Round|
Num | Rtg | Pts | 1 | 2 | 3 |
--------------------------------------------------
1 | SCOTT FAUST |3.0 |W 8|W 7|W 4|
MI | 1482 | | | | |
--------------------------------------------------
2 | JERRY CRYSLER |2.0 |W 5|L 4|W 7|
MI | 1488 | | | | |
--------------------------------------------------
3 | LARRY HODGE |2.0 |L 4|W 5|W 6|
MI | 1440 | | | | |
--------------------------------------------------
4 | NATHAN METCALF |2.0 |W 3|W 2|L 1|
MI | 1412 | | | | |
--------------------------------------------------
5 | JOHN GRIFFIN |1.0 |L 2|L 3|W 8|
MI | 1500 | | | | |
--------------------------------------------------
6 | KWAME HOOKER |1.0 |L 7|W 8|L 3|
MI | 1438 | | | | |
--------------------------------------------------
7 | DON SCHMITZ |1.0 |W 6|L 1|L 2|
MI | 1328P3 | | | | |
--------------------------------------------------
8 | ROD SCHAAF |0.0 |L 1|L 6|L 5|
MI | 685P14 | | | | |
--------------------------------------------------
Sunday, August 24, 2008
August Swiss
We had a small turnout for the august swiss. This is to be expected when the MI Open is at the end of the month. Congrats to Tony and Neal for shared 1st.
------------------------------------------------------
Pair | Name |Total|Round|Round|Round|
Num | Rtg | Pts | 1 | 2 | 3 |
------------------------------------------------------
1 | ANTHONY NICHOLS |2.5 |W 4|W 3|D 2|
MI | 2034 | | | | |
------------------------------------------------------
2 | NEAL ANDERSON |2.5 |W 8|W 5|D 1|
MI | 1777 | | | | |
------------------------------------------------------
3 | WILLIAM BUCKINGHAM |2.0 |W 7|L 1|W 6|
FL | 1692 | | | | |
------------------------------------------------------
4 | RICHARD WILSON |2.0 |L 1|W 7|W 5|
MI | 1666 | | | | |
------------------------------------------------------
5 | STANLEY JAROSZ JR |1.0 |W 6|L 2|L 4|
MI | 1903 | | | | |
------------------------------------------------------
6 | DAVID SUNDEEN |1.0 |L 5|W 8|L 3|
MI | 1600 | | | | |
------------------------------------------------------
7 | JOHN GRIFFIN |1.0 |L 3|L 4|W 8|
MI | 1514 | | | | |
------------------------------------------------------
8 | JERRY CRYSLER |0.0 |L 2|L 6|L 7|
MI | 1481 | | | | |
------------------------------------------------------
Monday, August 11, 2008
No Club Next Two Weeks
Normally the chess club meets every Friday night, but the powers that be will be at a chess tournament this week and camping the following week.
I repeat: on August 15, and 22, no club. We will resume on August 29.
I repeat: on August 15, and 22, no club. We will resume on August 29.
Can't Lose - Version 2
For those of you that missed it, version 1 is here. Basically this is me proving Tony Nichols wrong, who said, "I've never seen a position I can't lose in 1 move."
I've addressed the realism concerns to a rather absurd degree, to the point where not only does the position look realistic, but I've created a series of moves (a game?) that leads to it.
That game itself is quite ridiculous, but I tried to make it look as real as possible. There are times when one side appears to be responding to the other.
As you'll see, the very last position, after 31... c6???? (a candidate for the worst move in chess ever played), white has no choice - the only legal move is 32. Nb6, checkmate.
I've addressed the realism concerns to a rather absurd degree, to the point where not only does the position look realistic, but I've created a series of moves (a game?) that leads to it.
That game itself is quite ridiculous, but I tried to make it look as real as possible. There are times when one side appears to be responding to the other.
As you'll see, the very last position, after 31... c6???? (a candidate for the worst move in chess ever played), white has no choice - the only legal move is 32. Nb6, checkmate.
Saturday, July 12, 2008
July Swiss
Only one section this month due to the Bottom Half tourney.
-----------------------------------------------------
Pair | Player Name |Total|Round|Round|Round|
Num | USCF ID | Pts | 1 | 2 | 3 |
-----------------------------------------------------
1 | ANTHONY NICHOLS |3.0 |W 6|W 3|W 4|
MI | 2036 | | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------
2 | JEFFREY GUILFOYLE |2.0 |W 7|L 4|W 6|
MI | 1690 | | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------
3 | DAVID SUNDEEN |2.0 |W 8|L 1|W 7|
MI | 1600 | | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------
4 | TODD MCAULIFFE |1.5 |D 5|W 2|L 1|
MI | 1823 | | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------
5 | JERRY CRYSLER |1.5 |D 4|L 6|W 8|
MI | 1517 | | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------
6 | TERRY COMBS |1.0 |L 1|W 5|L 2|
MI | 1535 | | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------
7 | THIERRY LAURENS |1.0 |L 2|W 8|L 3|
MI | 1042 | | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------
8 | CARRIE RANKIN |0.0 |L 3|L 7|L 5|
MI | 902P7 | | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------
June Swiss
We had a good turnout for this month's tournament, So
we had two sections.Congratulations to Matt Hassen
and Evan Hawver.
Top Section
------------------------------------------------------
Pair | Player Name |Total|Round|Round|Round|
Num | USCF ID | Pts | 1 | 2 | 3 |
------------------------------------------------------
1 | MATT HASSEN |3.0 |W 7|W 4|W 3|
MI | 1784 | | | | |
------------------------------------------------------
2 | ANDREW CATLIN |2.0 |W 5|L 3|W 6|
MI | 2000 | | | | |
------------------------------------------------------
3 | GARY PRATT |2.0 |W 8|W 2|L 1|
MI | 1956 | | | | |
------------------------------------------------------
4 | ANTHONY NICHOLS |1.5 |W 6|L 1|D 5|
MI | 2029 | | | | |
------------------------------------------------------
5 | JEFFREY GUILFOYLE |1.5 |L 2|W 8|D 4|
MI | 1689 | | | | |
------------------------------------------------------
6 | IAN EDGERLE |1.0 |L 4|W 7|L 2|
MI | 1772 | | | | |
------------------------------------------------------
7 | BRUCE ROTH |1.0 |L 1|L 6|W 8|
MI | 1609 | | | | |
------------------------------------------------------
8 | ORLANDO CASTILLO |0.0 |L 3|L 5|L 7|
MI | 1616 | | | | |
------------------------------------------------------
Bottom Section
------------------------------------------------------
Pair | Player Name |Total|Round|Round|Round|
Num | USCF ID | Pts | 1 | 2 | 3 |
------------------------------------------------------
1 | EVAN HAWVER |3.0 |W 7|W 9|W 3|
MI | 1563 | | | | |
------------------------------------------------------
2 | WILLIAM BUCKINGHAM |2.0 |W 8|L 3|W 6|
FL | 1665 | | | | |
------------------------------------------------------
3 | JOHN GRIFFIN |2.0 |W 4|W 2|L 1|
MI | 1521 | | | | |
------------------------------------------------------
4 | SUPRADEEP MADDURI |2.0 |L 3|W 8|W 9|
MI | 1205 | | | | |
------------------------------------------------------
5 | CHRIS IRWIN |1.5 |D 10|L 6|B 0|
MI | 1550 | | | | |
------------------------------------------------------
6 | JERRY CRYSLER |1.5 |D 9|W 5|L 2|
MI | 1521 | | | | |
------------------------------------------------------
7 | RICHARD WILSON |1.0 |L 1|W 10|U 0|
MI | 1610 | | | | |
------------------------------------------------------
8 | SAFAL BORA |1.0 |L 2|L 4|W 10|
MI | 1361 | | | | |
------------------------------------------------------
9 | DAVID SUNDEEN |0.5 |D 6|L 1|L 4|
MI | 1600 | | | | |
------------------------------------------------------
10 | NATHAN BERMAN |0.5 |D 5|L 7|L 8|
MI | 922 | | | | |
------------------------------------------------------
11 | RICHARD WILSON |0.0 |U 0|U 0|U 0|
MI | 1610 | | | | |
------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
June Mini Swiss
The June Mini Swiss was not held on June 8, due to a weather-related power outage. However, the tournament was rescheduled. So please join us this Sunday, June 22, for the most famous, most anticipated, most exciting monthly chess tournament in Lansing!
Tournament is held at the normal club location: 730 W. Maple, in the gym. Entry fee is $21, by 9:45 am. Rounds are at 10, 1:30 and 4:30. $75 1st, $48 2nd each section, $100 to any 3 point winner in a section with at least 8 players.
The July Mini Swiss is still scheduled to take place on July 6.
Tournament is held at the normal club location: 730 W. Maple, in the gym. Entry fee is $21, by 9:45 am. Rounds are at 10, 1:30 and 4:30. $75 1st, $48 2nd each section, $100 to any 3 point winner in a section with at least 8 players.
The July Mini Swiss is still scheduled to take place on July 6.
Friday, June 13, 2008
New Chess Sites
Jacob Fortuna, a local Class A player whose games have appeared on this website, has started a new chess blog: Chess Coach Fortuna. Anything that promotes interest in chess is always good to hear about. I think Jacob intends the site for the beginning to novice level. He has posted several fine video lectures there, on various topics. Check it out!
I have also started a site, in which I plan to upload every rated game I play. This is to challenge myself, by revealing to my opponents my style, my opening repertoire, etc. All my games since the beginning of 2008 are at the new site: All Games.
I have also started a site, in which I plan to upload every rated game I play. This is to challenge myself, by revealing to my opponents my style, my opening repertoire, etc. All my games since the beginning of 2008 are at the new site: All Games.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Mate with 6 knights
I came across a funny game that GM Hikaru Nakamura played against a computer that simply would not resign. The computer Beast, on the ICC, is a computer that randomly uses Rybka, Shredder, or Zappa.
Monday, May 19, 2008
May Swiss
Congrats to Tony Nichols and Matt Hassen for winning the top section and to Jerry Crysler for a perfect 3/3 in the 2nd section.
Top Section
Bottom Section
Top Section
------------------------------------------------------------
Pair | Player Name |Total|Round|Round|Round|
Rtg | Pts | 1 | 2 | 3 |
------------------------------------------------------------
1 | ANTHONY NICHOLS |2.5 |W 6|W 4|D 2|
2045 | | | | |
------------------------------------------------------------
2 | MATT HASSEN |2.5 |W 3|W 6|D 1|
1801 | | | | |
------------------------------------------------------------
3 | RICHARD WILSON |2.0 |L 2|W 7|W 4|
1636 | | | | |
------------------------------------------------------------
4 | TODD MCAULIFFE |1.0 |W 7|L 1|L 3|
1830 | | | | |
------------------------------------------------------------
5 | DAVID SUNDEEN |1.0 |U 0|U 0|W 6|
1626 | | | | |
------------------------------------------------------------
6 | BRUCE ROTH |0.0 |L 1|L 2|L 5|
1607 | | | | |
------------------------------------------------------------
7 | CHRIS IRWIN |0.0 |L 4|L 3|U 0|
1584 | | | | |
------------------------------------------------------------
Bottom Section
-----------------------------------------------------------
Pair | Player Name |Total|Round|Round|Round|
Rtg | Pts | 1 | 2 | 3 |
-----------------------------------------------------------
1 | JERRY CRYSLER |3.0 |W 5|W 4|W 3|
1509 | | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------
2 | LARRY HODGE |2.0 |D 3|W 5|D 4|
1406 | | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------
3 | ANDREW ELENBOGEN |1.5 |D 2|W 6|L 1|
1522 | | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------
4 | JOHN GRIFFIN |1.0 |D 6|L 1|D 2|
1500 | | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------
5 | TROY DUNCAN |1.0 |L 1|L 2|W 6|
1205 | | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------
6 | SHANE VORVA |0.5 |D 4|L 3|L 5|
1209 | | | | |
-----------------------------------------------------------
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Lansing City Championship
Here's the crosstable for the tourney;
----------------------------------------------------------------
Pair | Player Name |Total|Round|Round|Round|Round|Round|
Num | Rtg | Pts | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
----------------------------------------------------------------
1 | ANTHONY T NICHOLS |4.0 |W 4|W 2|W 5|L 3|W 6|
MI | 2046 | | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------------
2 | SETH HOMA |3.0 |W 3|L 1|D 6|W 5|H 0|
MI | 2260 | | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------------
3 | RAYMOND GARRISON |3.0 |L 2|W 4|W 10|W 1|L 5|
MI | 1840 | | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------------
4 | DAVID SUNDEEN |3.0 |L 1|L 3|B 0|W 7|X 0|
MI | 1609 | | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------------
5 | CHRIS IRWIN |3.0 |W 6|W 10|L 1|L 2|W 3|
MI | 1606 | | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------------
6 | JACOB FORTUNA |2.5 |L 5|W 8|D 2|W 9|L 1|
MI | 1843 | | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------------
7 | DAVID CURTIS JR |2.5 |W 8|H 0|U 0|L 4|B 0|
MI | 1578 | | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------------
8 | QUENTIN METZMAKER |2.0 |L 7|L 6|H 0|B 0|H 0|
MI | 1064 | | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------------
9 | ORLANDO CASTILLO |1.5 |H 0|X 0|U 0|L 6|F 0|
MI | 1649 | | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------------
10 | FRAZIER SPARKS |0.5 |H 0|L 5|L 3|U 0|U 0|
MI | 1749 | | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------------
Upset - Round 5 - Lansing City Championship
The final round of the Lansing City Championship proved to be an exciting one. Tony Nichols ended up with four out of five points. Four players had three points, but two of us were in the reserve section. Ray Garrison ended up beating Seth Homa on tie breaks, so Ray took second place over all. David Sundeen and I finished in second and first place, respectively, in the reserve section.
Jacob Fortuna, who finished with two and a half, lost his game to Tony, giving Tony the four points needed to win. I scored against Ray Garrison, which is the upset this round.
In my preparation for this game against Ray, I was looking for something to play against his Leningrad Dutch defense. I came across some material on a very nice system in which white plays a very early pawn storm on the queen side.
I was quite pleased with my first victory in which opening preparation for a specific opponent played a role.
Jacob Fortuna, who finished with two and a half, lost his game to Tony, giving Tony the four points needed to win. I scored against Ray Garrison, which is the upset this round.
In my preparation for this game against Ray, I was looking for something to play against his Leningrad Dutch defense. I came across some material on a very nice system in which white plays a very early pawn storm on the queen side.
I was quite pleased with my first victory in which opening preparation for a specific opponent played a role.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Upset - Round 4 - Lansing City Championship
Tony Nichols reluctantly submitted his game against Ray Garrison. Before last round, he was the clear favorite, the only player with a perfect score. After his loss to Ray, he is tied for first place once again.
Ray, having lost to Seth Homa in round 1, has won all his games since then. No other players have 3 points going into round 5. However, Seth Homa and Jacob Fortuna, both with 2.5 points, are close behind.
Here is Ray's win against Tony. A nice rook sacrifice finishes the game.
Ray, having lost to Seth Homa in round 1, has won all his games since then. No other players have 3 points going into round 5. However, Seth Homa and Jacob Fortuna, both with 2.5 points, are close behind.
Here is Ray's win against Tony. A nice rook sacrifice finishes the game.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Vandenburg Cup
Here are the crosstables for the Vandenburg Cup.
Open Section--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pair | Player Name |Total|Round|Round|Round|Round|
Num | Rtg | Pts | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
----------------------------------------------------------
1 | SETH HOMA |4.0 |W 12|W 3|W 2|W 4|
MI | 2277 | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------
2 | KEVIN CZUHAI |3.0 |W 7|W 6|L 1|W 5|
MI | 2200 | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------
3 | ANDREW CATLIN |3.0 |W 10|L 1|W 7|W 6|
MI | 1982 | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------
4 | JIM MARFIA |2.0 |W 9|H 0|D 5|L 1|
MI | 2210 | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------
5 | JACOB FORTUNA |2.0 |D 11|W 12|D 4|L 2|
MI | 1852 | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------
6 | RAYMOND GARRISON |2.0 |W 8|L 2|W 11|L 3|
MI | 1840 | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------
7 | WILLIAM GREEN |2.0 |L 2|W 10|L 3|W 9|
MI | 1735P18 | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------
8 | MICHAEL DANG |2.0 |L 6|B 0|L 9|X 0|
MI | 1406 | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------
9 | HEATHER SWAN |1.5 |L 4|D 11|W 8|L 7|
MI | 1725 | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------
10 | JEFFREY GUILFOYLE |1.5 |L 3|L 7|W 12|D 11|
MI | 1661 | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------
11 | PETER CHEN |1.5 |D 5|D 9|L 6|D 10|
MI | 1558 | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------
12 | FRAZIER SPARKS |0.0 |L 1|L 5|L 10|F 0|
MI | 1778 | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------
Reserve SectionPair | Player Name |Total|Round|Round|Round|Round|
Num | Rtg | Pts | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
----------------------------------------------------------
1 | MARSHALL QUANDER |3.5 |W 14|W 4|W 13|D 5|
MI | 1752 | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------
2 | RICHARD WILSON |3.5 |D 19|W 16|W 7|W 8|
MI | 1596 | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------
3 | DAVID SUNDEEN |3.0 |W 6|L 8|W 19|W 9|
MI | 1603 | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------
4 | ANDREW ELENBOGEN |3.0 |W 23|L 1|W 20|W 15|
MI | 1540 | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------
5 | SCOTT FAUST |3.0 |D 16|W 17|W 10|D 1|
MI | 1527 | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------
6 | LARRY HODGE |3.0 |L 3|W 24|W 12|W 13|
MI | 1353 | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------
7 | ERIK ROBINSON |2.5 |W 21|H 0|L 2|W 17|
MI | 1545 | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------
8 | CHRIS IRWIN |2.5 |W 24|W 3|D 9|L 2|
MI | 1459 | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------
9 | JERRY CRYSLER |2.5 |W 22|W 12|D 8|L 3|
MI | 1442 | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------
10 | MICHAEL CHEN |2.0 |D 17|D 19|L 5|W 22|
MI | 1686 | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------
11 | JOHN GRIFFIN |2.0 |W 18|L 13|L 15|W 19|
MI | 1500 | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------
12 | MICHAEL LIUBAKKA |2.0 |W 15|L 9|L 6|W 20|
MI | 1458P20 | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------
13 | NATHAN METCALF |2.0 |W 20|W 11|L 1|L 6|
MI | 1417 | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------
14 | TOSHIO IMAI |2.0 |L 1|D 18|W 23|D 16|
MI | 1400 | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------
15 | JOEL HALLORAN |2.0 |L 12|W 22|W 11|L 4|
MI | 1130P23 | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------
16 | THIERRY LAURENS |2.0 |D 5|L 2|W 21|D 14|
MI | 1027 | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------
17 | RICHARD SPANGLER |1.5 |D 10|L 5|W 18|L 7|
MI | 1442 | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------
18 | MARCO LORENZON |1.5 |L 11|D 14|L 17|W 23|
MI | 1066 | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------
19 | ALEXANDER DEATRICK |1.0 |D 2|D 10|L 3|L 11|
MI | 1341 | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------
20 | JOSEPH TIMMER |1.0 |L 13|W 21|L 4|L 12|
MI | 1173P4 | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------
21 | KEVIN HOYT |1.0 |L 7|L 20|L 16|W 24|
MI | 1095 | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------
22 | CARRIE RANKIN |1.0 |L 9|L 15|W 24|L 10|
MI | 966P4 | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------
23 | PHILIPPE LAURENS |1.0 |L 4|B 0|L 14|L 18|
MI | 856 | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------
24 | TIMOTHY QUINLAN |0.0 |L 8|L 6|L 22|L 21|
MI | 778 | | | | | |
----------------------------------------------------------
Vandenburg Cup - Homa vs Czuhai
Seth is right back at it. Here's his impressive game against Kevin Czuhai:
Friday, April 18, 2008
Upset - Round 3 - Lansing City Championships
Jacob Fortuna, in an impressive show of courage, despite a first round loss, held a draw as black against the number five player in Michigan, Seth Homa.
Here's the game:
Here's the game:
Saturday, April 12, 2008
2 Upsets - Round 2 - Lansing City Championship
Tony Nichols, expert, defeated Seth Homa, master, in 43 moves last night. I also scored a point in my game against Frazier Sparks. See below for the games:
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Mate in 2
White to play and mate in 2 moves
I came across this puzzle recently. This is the first mate in 2 puzzle I couldn't solve in quite a long time. The solution actually made me laugh. I thought it was worth posting. Have fun solving!
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Michigan Top 100
Thanks to Tony Nichols and Jacob Fortuna, we have a new source for the top Michigan top 100 rating list. We are now using the tournament director's USCF rating list, directly from the US Chess Federation.
We filtered out all other states in the list, where the supplement year is 2008, and ordered by rating.
1 2613 Finegold,B
2 2314 Calton,B
3 2284 Kahn,A
4 2272 Wang,L
5 2261 Homa,S
6 2220 Obukhov,D
7 2214 Pereira,S
8 2200 Czuhai,K
9 2200 Finegold,M
10 2162 Levi,A
11 2153 Brooks,J
12 2130 Canty iii,J
13 2122 Fernandez,A
14 2114 Hartwig,T
15 2112 O'donnell,R
16 2109 Ghobrial,A
17 2108 Davidovich,M
18 2100 Ciaffone,R
19 2091 Brumley,E
20 2090 Ferenti,C
21 2089 Maloy,M
22 2071 Nestorovski,C
23 2032 Nichols,A
24 2018 Moroney,T
25 2014 Fuller,W
26 2009 Rojas-suarez,R
27 2007 Sudharsan,K
28 2006 Palmer,T
29 2005 Rogers,B
30 2003 Finegold,R
31 2002 Baze,L
32 2000 Endsley,B
33 2000 Everett,M
34 2000 Santiago,R
35 1974 Catlin,A
36 1957 Carter,A
37 1954 Pratt,G
38 1947 Matyszewska,M
39 1943 Shetty,A
40 1937 Schilleman,A
41 1931 Kitts,G
42 1923 Jarosz jr,S
43 1922 Wilson,V
44 1917 Hickey,W
45 1910 Brereton,J
46 1910 Lehmann,A
47 1910 West,T
48 1903 Smith,M
49 1902 Evans sr,T
50 1900 Aldrich,J
51 1891 Bale,S
52 1888 Lehotzky,A
53 1888 Rhee,W
54 1884 Vandivier,D
55 1881 Gattinger,J
56 1869 Selitsky,B
57 1866 Brandt,B
58 1859 Amarasinghe,P
59 1855 Bojanovic,R
60 1850 Brooks,R
61 1847 Werhnyak,R
62 1844 Fortuna,J
63 1844 Nikolovski,O
64 1835 Garrison,R
65 1834 Lahr,F
66 1832 Kotman,S
67 1832 Thach,S
68 1827 Drake,R
69 1827 Henke,R
70 1820 Skidmore,J
71 1815 Manion,T
72 1813 Decker,D
73 1810 Matias,I
74 1810 Richardson,W
75 1810 Semerciyan,M
76 1806 Ghiata,G
77 1804 Skidmore,M
78 1801 Finegold,C
79 1800 Brady,L
80 1800 Smith,L
81 1784 Morabito,C
82 1778 King,N
83 1778 Lewis,D
84 1777 Payne,C
85 1771 Elias,M
86 1769 Budzenski,J
87 1765 Fick,D
88 1762 Taylor,P
89 1761 Aoufa,M
90 1751 Ziemak,K
91 1746 Quander,M
92 1744 Aldrich,J
93 1744 Nguyen,V
94 1743 Swan,H
95 1740 Larson,E
96 1739 Haakonstad,O
97 1736 Edgerle,I
98 1734 Schulte,M
99 1721 Gentry,L
100 1720 Vu,T
We filtered out all other states in the list, where the supplement year is 2008, and ordered by rating.
1 2613 Finegold,B
2 2314 Calton,B
3 2284 Kahn,A
4 2272 Wang,L
5 2261 Homa,S
6 2220 Obukhov,D
7 2214 Pereira,S
8 2200 Czuhai,K
9 2200 Finegold,M
10 2162 Levi,A
11 2153 Brooks,J
12 2130 Canty iii,J
13 2122 Fernandez,A
14 2114 Hartwig,T
15 2112 O'donnell,R
16 2109 Ghobrial,A
17 2108 Davidovich,M
18 2100 Ciaffone,R
19 2091 Brumley,E
20 2090 Ferenti,C
21 2089 Maloy,M
22 2071 Nestorovski,C
23 2032 Nichols,A
24 2018 Moroney,T
25 2014 Fuller,W
26 2009 Rojas-suarez,R
27 2007 Sudharsan,K
28 2006 Palmer,T
29 2005 Rogers,B
30 2003 Finegold,R
31 2002 Baze,L
32 2000 Endsley,B
33 2000 Everett,M
34 2000 Santiago,R
35 1974 Catlin,A
36 1957 Carter,A
37 1954 Pratt,G
38 1947 Matyszewska,M
39 1943 Shetty,A
40 1937 Schilleman,A
41 1931 Kitts,G
42 1923 Jarosz jr,S
43 1922 Wilson,V
44 1917 Hickey,W
45 1910 Brereton,J
46 1910 Lehmann,A
47 1910 West,T
48 1903 Smith,M
49 1902 Evans sr,T
50 1900 Aldrich,J
51 1891 Bale,S
52 1888 Lehotzky,A
53 1888 Rhee,W
54 1884 Vandivier,D
55 1881 Gattinger,J
56 1869 Selitsky,B
57 1866 Brandt,B
58 1859 Amarasinghe,P
59 1855 Bojanovic,R
60 1850 Brooks,R
61 1847 Werhnyak,R
62 1844 Fortuna,J
63 1844 Nikolovski,O
64 1835 Garrison,R
65 1834 Lahr,F
66 1832 Kotman,S
67 1832 Thach,S
68 1827 Drake,R
69 1827 Henke,R
70 1820 Skidmore,J
71 1815 Manion,T
72 1813 Decker,D
73 1810 Matias,I
74 1810 Richardson,W
75 1810 Semerciyan,M
76 1806 Ghiata,G
77 1804 Skidmore,M
78 1801 Finegold,C
79 1800 Brady,L
80 1800 Smith,L
81 1784 Morabito,C
82 1778 King,N
83 1778 Lewis,D
84 1777 Payne,C
85 1771 Elias,M
86 1769 Budzenski,J
87 1765 Fick,D
88 1762 Taylor,P
89 1761 Aoufa,M
90 1751 Ziemak,K
91 1746 Quander,M
92 1744 Aldrich,J
93 1744 Nguyen,V
94 1743 Swan,H
95 1740 Larson,E
96 1739 Haakonstad,O
97 1736 Edgerle,I
98 1734 Schulte,M
99 1721 Gentry,L
100 1720 Vu,T
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Upset - Round 1 - Lansing City Championship
Jacob Fortuna and I played our second rated game against each other last night, in round 1 of the Lansing City Championship. I think I surprised him with my choice of the Modern Benoni, but we played a tough game, fraught with minor mistakes, and a few major ones.
White: Jacob Fortuna (1844)
Black: Chris Irwin (1443)
4.4.2008
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. a3
This move is the fourth most popular move for white from the position after 2... e6. Kasparov, Kramnik, and Anand all prefer other moves. But, in Jacob's defense, Hikaru Nakamura played 3. a3 in 2004. However after black's next move, he diverges from this game, not advancing the d-pawn.
3... c5 4. d5
Nakamura played 4. Nf3, not allowing black to enter a Benoni a tempo ahead.
4... exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. Nc3 g6 7. g3
7. e4 is slightly better
7... Bg7 8. Bg2 O-O 9. Nf3 Nbd7 10. O-O a6 11. a4
Here we reach a theoretical position, occurring almost 900 times in my database. But, in these games, white did not waste a tempo playing a2-a3-a4. So from those positions it is white to move. Unfortunately, I was inexperienced in the Modern Benoni, this being my first rated game with it, and I failed to take advantage of this extra tempo immediately. Instead I wasted time trying to decide where my queen belonged.
11... Qa5? =
11... Re8 an 12... Qc7 would have kept the slight advantage.
12. Bf4 Qb6 13. Qc2 Re8 14. a5
only wastes a tempo, forcing black to move the queen back where she belongs, on c7. 14. Nd2 with the threat of Nc4 was much stronger.
14... Qc7 15. h3
Preventing black's hopes of Ng4-e5
15... b5 16. axb6 Nxb6 17. Rad1
17. e4 was required
17... Bf5 18. Qc1 Ne4 19. Rfe1 Nxc3 20. bxc3 a5
The surprising 20... Na4!? was found in computer analysis. This is an interesting plan, and keeps black's pieces much more active than what occurred in the game.
21. Nd2 a4 22. Qa3 Be5 23. e4
23. Bxe5 Rxe5 24. e4 keeps white's pawn structure in tact.
23... Bxf4 24. gxf4
24. exf5 is not possible. White drops a piece after Rxe1+ 25. Rxe1 Bxd2
24... Bd7 25.c4 f6
to hold the e5 square as long as possible
26. Ra1
26. Qc3 Kf7 27. e5 was better
26... Kf7 27. Qc3 Rab8 28. Ra3
I thought for a long time what course of action to take. I wanted to take full control of the b file, and tie white's pieces down to defending against my passed pawn and a break-through on the queen side. Knowing the position would remain at least partially closed, I knew I could take my time, and played
28... Na8 29. Nf3 Rb4 30. e5 Bf5 31. e6+ Ke7 32. Kh2?
32. Nd4!
32... Reb8 33. Nd2
By now, I saw white's attention diverted to the queen side, and noticed his king side weaknesses: doubled pawns, isolated pawn, somewhat open king. So I played another unusual-looking move
33... Qd8 34. Rea1
I expected 34. Be4 which is actually winning: 34...Bxe4 35. Nxe4 Qf8 36. f5
34... Nb6 35. Bf3 Qf8 36. Bd1 Ra8 37. Bc2?
This drops a pawn.
37... Qh6 38. Bxf5 Qxf4+ 39. Kg1 Qxf5 40. Re1
So now black has a critical decision to make. He has a won endgame, but also a possible king side attack, if he can open some lines for a rook. Honestly, I didn't notice or consider the fact that if I traded down, I could win this end game rather easily. This is my own inexperience and rating
showing.
40... g5 41. f3
hanging another pawn. I decided not to take it rather quickly, because I noticed the b1-a7 diagonal could be dangerous if I lost control of it. I was still determined to open a file to activate my a8 rook.
41... h5 42. Kg2 g4 43. fxg4 hxg4 44. h4 Rb8
I missed 44... Nxc4 45. Nxc4 Qxd5+ 46. Kg3 Rxc4
45. Rf1 Qe5
finally seeing the won endgame
46. Qd3 Qh5 47. Rh1?
Having no way to prevent ...Rb2, white needed to be able to play Rf2 in response.
47... Rb2 48. Rc3 a3?
48... Nxc4 and white can resign
49. Rxa3 Nxc4 50. Ra7+ Ke8 51. Qxc4??
Black can mate in 6 moves
The final mistake: 51. Rb1 Qh6 (51... Qxh4?? and black is getting mated: 52. Qg6+) 52. Kg3 Rxb1 53. Rh7 Qe3+ 54. Qxe3 Nxe3 55. Nxb1 Rxb1 and now white is certainly losing, but he hasn't lost yet.
51... Rxd2+ 52. Kg3 Qe5+ 53. Kxg4 Rd4+
I missed an immediate win, which was forced from move 51. See if you can find it, from the diagram above.
54. Qxd4 Qxd4+
and white resigned.
White: Jacob Fortuna (1844)
Black: Chris Irwin (1443)
4.4.2008
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. a3
This move is the fourth most popular move for white from the position after 2... e6. Kasparov, Kramnik, and Anand all prefer other moves. But, in Jacob's defense, Hikaru Nakamura played 3. a3 in 2004. However after black's next move, he diverges from this game, not advancing the d-pawn.
3... c5 4. d5
Nakamura played 4. Nf3, not allowing black to enter a Benoni a tempo ahead.
4... exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. Nc3 g6 7. g3
7. e4 is slightly better
7... Bg7 8. Bg2 O-O 9. Nf3 Nbd7 10. O-O a6 11. a4
Here we reach a theoretical position, occurring almost 900 times in my database. But, in these games, white did not waste a tempo playing a2-a3-a4. So from those positions it is white to move. Unfortunately, I was inexperienced in the Modern Benoni, this being my first rated game with it, and I failed to take advantage of this extra tempo immediately. Instead I wasted time trying to decide where my queen belonged.
11... Qa5? =
11... Re8 an 12... Qc7 would have kept the slight advantage.
12. Bf4 Qb6 13. Qc2 Re8 14. a5
only wastes a tempo, forcing black to move the queen back where she belongs, on c7. 14. Nd2 with the threat of Nc4 was much stronger.
14... Qc7 15. h3
Preventing black's hopes of Ng4-e5
15... b5 16. axb6 Nxb6 17. Rad1
17. e4 was required
17... Bf5 18. Qc1 Ne4 19. Rfe1 Nxc3 20. bxc3 a5
The surprising 20... Na4!? was found in computer analysis. This is an interesting plan, and keeps black's pieces much more active than what occurred in the game.
21. Nd2 a4 22. Qa3 Be5 23. e4
23. Bxe5 Rxe5 24. e4 keeps white's pawn structure in tact.
23... Bxf4 24. gxf4
24. exf5 is not possible. White drops a piece after Rxe1+ 25. Rxe1 Bxd2
24... Bd7 25.c4 f6
to hold the e5 square as long as possible
26. Ra1
26. Qc3 Kf7 27. e5 was better
26... Kf7 27. Qc3 Rab8 28. Ra3
I thought for a long time what course of action to take. I wanted to take full control of the b file, and tie white's pieces down to defending against my passed pawn and a break-through on the queen side. Knowing the position would remain at least partially closed, I knew I could take my time, and played
28... Na8 29. Nf3 Rb4 30. e5 Bf5 31. e6+ Ke7 32. Kh2?
32. Nd4!
32... Reb8 33. Nd2
By now, I saw white's attention diverted to the queen side, and noticed his king side weaknesses: doubled pawns, isolated pawn, somewhat open king. So I played another unusual-looking move
33... Qd8 34. Rea1
I expected 34. Be4 which is actually winning: 34...Bxe4 35. Nxe4 Qf8 36. f5
34... Nb6 35. Bf3 Qf8 36. Bd1 Ra8 37. Bc2?
This drops a pawn.
37... Qh6 38. Bxf5 Qxf4+ 39. Kg1 Qxf5 40. Re1
So now black has a critical decision to make. He has a won endgame, but also a possible king side attack, if he can open some lines for a rook. Honestly, I didn't notice or consider the fact that if I traded down, I could win this end game rather easily. This is my own inexperience and rating
showing.
40... g5 41. f3
hanging another pawn. I decided not to take it rather quickly, because I noticed the b1-a7 diagonal could be dangerous if I lost control of it. I was still determined to open a file to activate my a8 rook.
41... h5 42. Kg2 g4 43. fxg4 hxg4 44. h4 Rb8
I missed 44... Nxc4 45. Nxc4 Qxd5+ 46. Kg3 Rxc4
45. Rf1 Qe5
finally seeing the won endgame
46. Qd3 Qh5 47. Rh1?
Having no way to prevent ...Rb2, white needed to be able to play Rf2 in response.
47... Rb2 48. Rc3 a3?
48... Nxc4 and white can resign
49. Rxa3 Nxc4 50. Ra7+ Ke8 51. Qxc4??
Black can mate in 6 moves
The final mistake: 51. Rb1 Qh6 (51... Qxh4?? and black is getting mated: 52. Qg6+) 52. Kg3 Rxb1 53. Rh7 Qe3+ 54. Qxe3 Nxe3 55. Nxb1 Rxb1 and now white is certainly losing, but he hasn't lost yet.
51... Rxd2+ 52. Kg3 Qe5+ 53. Kxg4 Rd4+
I missed an immediate win, which was forced from move 51. See if you can find it, from the diagram above.
54. Qxd4 Qxd4+
and white resigned.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
64th Annual Lansing City Championship
Heres the info on the 2008 Lansing City Championship-
Date: Every friday in April and the 1st friday in May(April 4,11,18,25 and May 2nd)
# of rounds: 5(2 byes available)
Time Control: G/90
Entry Fee: $21 before April 1st
$25 onsite
Rounds: 8:00pm
Prizes: Trophy to top two places
1st: $75
2nd: $50
1st under 1800: $25
2nd under 1800: $15
To pre-register: Send checks(make payable to David R. Sundeen) together with your name, address, phone #, email, and USCF ID# and expiration date to:
David R. Sundeen
5340 Ella's Ct.
Lansing, MI 48911
MCA membership is required
Date: Every friday in April and the 1st friday in May(April 4,11,18,25 and May 2nd)
# of rounds: 5(2 byes available)
Time Control: G/90
Entry Fee: $21 before April 1st
$25 onsite
Rounds: 8:00pm
Prizes: Trophy to top two places
1st: $75
2nd: $50
1st under 1800: $25
2nd under 1800: $15
To pre-register: Send checks(make payable to David R. Sundeen) together with your name, address, phone #, email, and USCF ID# and expiration date to:
David R. Sundeen
5340 Ella's Ct.
Lansing, MI 48911
MCA membership is required
Vandenburg Cup
Here's all the info on the 2008 Vandenburg Cup:
Number of Players: Limited to 60
Date: April 20th
# of Rounds: 4
Time Control: G/60
Entry Fee: $30 on or before April 13th
$40 onsite
Sections: 2 - Open and Reserve
Open: 1800 and up
Reserve: 1799 and below(you can request to play up)
Round Times: 9:30am, 11:30am, 2:15pm, and 4:15pm
Prizes: Based on 60
Open & Reserve: 1st $150 plus trophy, 2nd $74 plus trophy
Class: X,A,C,D/Unr: !st $50 plus trophy, 2nd @24
Women: 1st $50
To pre-register send entry fee(make checks payable to David R. Sundeen) together with name, address, phone #, email, and USCF ID# and expiration date to David Sundeen, 5340 Ella's Ct.
Lansing, MI 48911.
For more information you can contact David Sundeen at: 517-394-8080 or sundeeng@msu.edu
Or Tony Nichols at sensie48910@yahoo.com
MCA membership required
Number of Players: Limited to 60
Date: April 20th
# of Rounds: 4
Time Control: G/60
Entry Fee: $30 on or before April 13th
$40 onsite
Sections: 2 - Open and Reserve
Open: 1800 and up
Reserve: 1799 and below(you can request to play up)
Round Times: 9:30am, 11:30am, 2:15pm, and 4:15pm
Prizes: Based on 60
Open & Reserve: 1st $150 plus trophy, 2nd $74 plus trophy
Class: X,A,C,D/Unr: !st $50 plus trophy, 2nd @24
Women: 1st $50
To pre-register send entry fee(make checks payable to David R. Sundeen) together with name, address, phone #, email, and USCF ID# and expiration date to David Sundeen, 5340 Ella's Ct.
Lansing, MI 48911.
For more information you can contact David Sundeen at: 517-394-8080 or sundeeng@msu.edu
Or Tony Nichols at sensie48910@yahoo.com
MCA membership required
March Swiss
Here is the cross table for the March Swiss-
---------------------------------------------
| Player Name |Total|Round|Round|Round|
| Rating | Pts | 1 | 2 | 3 |
---------------------------------------------
| ANTHONY NICHOLS |3.0 |W 5|W 2|W 4|
| 2039 | | | | |
---------------------------------------------
| FRAZIER SPARKS |2.0 |W 8|L 1|W 6|
| 1806 | | | | |
---------------------------------------------
| WILLIAM GREEN |2.0 |W 6|L 4|W 5|
| 1680P14 | | | | |
---------------------------------------------
| RICHARD WILSON |2.0 |W 7|W 3|L 1|
| 1620 | | | | |
---------------------------------------------
| GARY MORTON |1.0 |L 1|W 7|L 3|
| 1565 | | | | |
---------------------------------------------
| JERRY CRYSLER |1.0 |L 3|W 8|L 2|
| 1429 | | | | |
---------------------------------------------
| LARRY HODGE |1.0 |L 4|L 5|W 8|
| 1261 | | | | |
---------------------------------------------
| JOHN GRIFFIN |0.0 |L 2|L 6|L 7|
| 1500 | | | | |
---------------------------------------------
Monday, January 28, 2008
USCF Membership Card
I recently renewed my United States Chess Federation membership, paying $109 for 3 years of membership. I've always paid year-to-year. I'm not sure what I expected to be different this time, if anything. Maybe I thought I'd get a larger-than-normal "thank you" or something like that, for paying so far in advance.
I opened the letter from USCF, and included was a letter thanking me for renewing my membership, and two full color advertisements for different online chess retailers. On the bottom of the letter was a perforated card, meant to be my USCF membership card. This letter was printed on something barely resembling card stock. I wouldn't print a business card on this type of paper, let alone an ID card I'm supposed to keep for three years.
Now, imagine my surprise when, as I tear the card along the perforated edges, I noticed that on the back of this letter, is yet ANOTHER full page color advertisement. Yes, including the back of the card! So, on my membership card is my name, my USCF ID number, my membership type, expiration date, and on the reverse, a picture of Hikaru Nakamura playing chess with a wooden chess set that is being advertised. There are also some chopped off letters, making the rest of the text unreadable.
I was outraged. Appalled. Angry.
My first thought was, "I'm supposed to keep this f*ing thing for three years!?" I'm not paying to be advertised to. I'm paying for the magazine, which is outrageously priced, and the "privilege"of maintaining a USCF rating through tournament play, which I have to pay extra for anyway.
So, I ripped through uschess.org until I found someone I could contact about this problem I'm having. I finally found a "contact us" page, with a basic form to fill out my question/comment. My question/comment follows.
I opened the letter from USCF, and included was a letter thanking me for renewing my membership, and two full color advertisements for different online chess retailers. On the bottom of the letter was a perforated card, meant to be my USCF membership card. This letter was printed on something barely resembling card stock. I wouldn't print a business card on this type of paper, let alone an ID card I'm supposed to keep for three years.
Now, imagine my surprise when, as I tear the card along the perforated edges, I noticed that on the back of this letter, is yet ANOTHER full page color advertisement. Yes, including the back of the card! So, on my membership card is my name, my USCF ID number, my membership type, expiration date, and on the reverse, a picture of Hikaru Nakamura playing chess with a wooden chess set that is being advertised. There are also some chopped off letters, making the rest of the text unreadable.
I was outraged. Appalled. Angry.
My first thought was, "I'm supposed to keep this f*ing thing for three years!?" I'm not paying to be advertised to. I'm paying for the magazine, which is outrageously priced, and the "privilege"of maintaining a USCF rating through tournament play, which I have to pay extra for anyway.
So, I ripped through uschess.org until I found someone I could contact about this problem I'm having. I finally found a "contact us" page, with a basic form to fill out my question/comment. My question/comment follows.
- "I send payment for three years' worth of membership, and you send me a membership card that's printed on the back of a full page color advertisement!?!?!? I am outraged. There is no way I'm keeping this thing. I'm trashing it right now, and either want a refund for my membership dues or a new card with either a blank back, or with actual relevant information."
- "Membership ID cards are printed out in batches of hundreds at a time, all on the same paper stock. There is no other way to print them.
"We will be glad to cancel your membership and refund your dues, ( $109.00 ) if you wish."
- "All I ask is that you print one copy on different paper. That must be possible."
- "I'm sorry that you are upset about your ID card. The ONLY thing I can do for you is have it printed out on a plain sheet of copier (zerox) paper. We do not have any thing that is heavier. If this would be agreeable to you, let me know."
- "Can you laminate it?"
- "No, but you can."
- "If I'm going to do anything myself, I'll do it properly on heavy card stock, and then laminate it. I can just photocopy this thing you gave. I'm shocked that you expected me to keep this thing for 3 years."
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Mate in 7
This is from a game I played on the Internet recently. I actually mated him in fewer moves, but only because I was lucky. Computer analysis showed a forced mate in 7 that I thought had a beautiful finish.
Black to play: mate in 7
Black to play: mate in 7Monday, January 14, 2008
January Swiss
This month we had 12 players so we decided to having
3 quads. Congratulations to Jacob, Jeff and Chris for
winning there sections! Also, We would like to welcome
back Krishnan Sudharsan!
Section 1
-----------------------------------------------
| Player Name |Total|Round|Round|Round|
| Rating | Pts | 1 | 2 | 3 |
-----------------------------------------------
| JACOB D FORTUNA |2.5 |D 2|W 4|B 0|
| 1841 | | | | |
-----------------------------------------------
| ANTHONY T NICHOLS |2.0 |D 1|D 3|W 4|
| 2035 | | | | |
-----------------------------------------------
| KRISHNAN SUDHARSAN |2.0 |W 4|D 2|H 0|
| 2023 | | | | |
-----------------------------------------------
| BRUCE I ROTH |0.0 |L 3|L 1|L 2|
| 1646 | | | | |
-----------------------------------------------
Section 2
-----------------------------------------------
| Player Name |Total|Round|Round|Round|
| Rating | Pts | 1 | 2 | 3 |
-----------------------------------------------
| JEFFREY P GUILFOYLE |2.5 |W 2|W 3|D 4|
| 1671 | | | | |
-----------------------------------------------
| ERIK ROBINSON |1.5 |L 1|W 4|H 0|
| 1541 | | | | |
-----------------------------------------------
| RICHARD WILSON |1.0 |D 4|L 1|H 0|
| 1595 | | | | |
-----------------------------------------------
| JOHN L GRIFFIN |1.0 |D 3|L 2|D 1|
| 1508 | | | | |
-----------------------------------------------
Section 3
-----------------------------------------------
| Player Name |Total|Round|Round|Round|
| Rating | Pts | 1 | 2 | 3 |
-----------------------------------------------
| CHRIS IRWIN |3.0 |W 4|W 2|W 3|
| 1397 | | | | |
-----------------------------------------------
| JERRY D CRYSLER |1.0 |W 3|L 1|L 4|
| 1461 | | | | |
-----------------------------------------------
| LARRY HODGE |1.0 |L 2|W 4|L 1|
| 1242 | | | | |
-----------------------------------------------
| QUENTIN METZMAKER |1.0 |L 1|L 3|W 2|
| 1018P10 | | | | |
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Sunday, January 13, 2008
Submitted Game
Jacob Fortuna was nice enough to comment on one of his recent games, from the January Mini Swiss.
Date: 2008.01.13
White: Fortuna, Jacob
Black: Roth, Bruce
ECO: E87
White USCF: 1841
Black USCF: 1659
This is an interesting game in the Samisch King's Indian.
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Be3 O-O 6. f3 Nbd7 7. Qd2 e5 8. d5 a5 9. O-O-O
Castling here was risky and gives black a slight plus, but I wanted a position with opposite side castling. In these positions the more aggressive attacking player is usually favored.
9... Nc5
Black is playing very well and with an f5 break will have a good game. I was concerned about the pressure that black had on the queen side.
10. Nge2 Bd7 11. g4 Na4
Here I got an idea to lock the position on the queenside, so that I could focus on a kingside attack.
12. Nxa4 Bxa4 13. b3 Bd7 14. a4 Qc8 15. Ng3 Rd8 16. g5 Ne8 17. h4
White is moving fast on the King's side.
17... f5 18. gxf6 Nxf6 19. h5 Rf8 20. hxg6 hxg6 21. Bh6 Bxh6 22. Rxh6 Kf7 23. Qg5 Rg8 24. Bd3
This prepares a possible knight to f5 later and allows the d1 rook to enter the attack.
24... Rg7 25. Nf5
This is a strong move that cannot be directly refuted.
25... Bxf5
The following variations are given to demonstrate this fact.
(25... Rg8 26. Rh7+ Nxh7 27. Qe7#)
(25... Ng8 26. Nxg7 Nxh6 27. Qxh6)
(25... gxf5 26. Qxf6+ Kg8 27. Rdh1)
26. exf5 Qg8 27. Rdh1 e4
This allows white to open the f-file with a rook at its base. This proves to be instrumental in the ensuing attack.
28. fxe4 Re8 29. Rf1 Re5 30. fxg6+ Rxg6 31. Rxf6+ Rxf6
(31... Ke8 32. Qxg6+ Qxg6 33. Rfxg6)
32. Rxf6+ Ke7 33. Qxg8
I missed Re6+, with mate to follow.
(33. Re6+ Kd7 34. Qxg8)
(33... Kf7 34. Qf6#)
(33... Kf8 34. Qe7#)
33... Kxf6 34. Qd8+ Re7 35. Kd2 Kf7 36. Ke3 Re8 37. Qxc7+ Re7 38. Qxd6 Ke8 39. e5 Rg7 40. Bg6+ Rxg6 41. Qxg6+
1-0
Date: 2008.01.13
White: Fortuna, Jacob
Black: Roth, Bruce
ECO: E87
White USCF: 1841
Black USCF: 1659
This is an interesting game in the Samisch King's Indian.
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Be3 O-O 6. f3 Nbd7 7. Qd2 e5 8. d5 a5 9. O-O-O
Castling here was risky and gives black a slight plus, but I wanted a position with opposite side castling. In these positions the more aggressive attacking player is usually favored.
9... Nc5
Black is playing very well and with an f5 break will have a good game. I was concerned about the pressure that black had on the queen side.
10. Nge2 Bd7 11. g4 Na4
Here I got an idea to lock the position on the queenside, so that I could focus on a kingside attack.
12. Nxa4 Bxa4 13. b3 Bd7 14. a4 Qc8 15. Ng3 Rd8 16. g5 Ne8 17. h4
White is moving fast on the King's side.
17... f5 18. gxf6 Nxf6 19. h5 Rf8 20. hxg6 hxg6 21. Bh6 Bxh6 22. Rxh6 Kf7 23. Qg5 Rg8 24. Bd3
This prepares a possible knight to f5 later and allows the d1 rook to enter the attack.
24... Rg7 25. Nf5
This is a strong move that cannot be directly refuted.
25... Bxf5
The following variations are given to demonstrate this fact.
(25... Rg8 26. Rh7+ Nxh7 27. Qe7#)
(25... Ng8 26. Nxg7 Nxh6 27. Qxh6)
(25... gxf5 26. Qxf6+ Kg8 27. Rdh1)
26. exf5 Qg8 27. Rdh1 e4
This allows white to open the f-file with a rook at its base. This proves to be instrumental in the ensuing attack.
28. fxe4 Re8 29. Rf1 Re5 30. fxg6+ Rxg6 31. Rxf6+ Rxf6
(31... Ke8 32. Qxg6+ Qxg6 33. Rfxg6)
32. Rxf6+ Ke7 33. Qxg8
I missed Re6+, with mate to follow.
(33. Re6+ Kd7 34. Qxg8)
(33... Kf7 34. Qf6#)
(33... Kf8 34. Qe7#)
33... Kxf6 34. Qd8+ Re7 35. Kd2 Kf7 36. Ke3 Re8 37. Qxc7+ Re7 38. Qxd6 Ke8 39. e5 Rg7 40. Bg6+ Rxg6 41. Qxg6+
1-0
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