Pix from Thomas Elberling Memorial Swiss

These pictures were taken by me at the Thomas Elberling Memorial Swiss.

 

 

Happy Holidays

Chess Mates Corporation wishes its members and patrons the happiest of holidays.

We will be closed Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day (12/24-26).
Our next event will be on Saturday, December 27th.

G/30 Quads are scheduled for Sunday.
We will close-out 2014 by wrapping-up the December G/90 on Tuesday night.

Praveen Balakrishnan - Michael O'Connor

Michael O'Connor [pictured, left] sends this game from the Thomas Elberling Memorial Swiss.

Round Two: French Defense, Tarrasch Variation

Praveen Balakrishnan (USCF 2297) - Michael O'Connor (USCF 1939), Rahway NJ 12/20/2014

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.Bd3 c5 6.c3 Nc6 7.Ne2 cxd4 8.cxd4 f6 9.exf6 Qxf6 10.Nf3 Bb4+ 11.Bd2 Bd6 12.O-O h6 13.Ng3 O-O

14.Bc3 e5 15.dxe5 Ndxe5 16.Be2 Nxf3+ 17.Bxf3 d4 18.Bxc6 dxc3 19.Bd5+ Kh8 20.bxc3 Qxc3 21.Ne4 Qe5 22.Nxd6 Qxd6 23.Qb3 Rb8 24.Rad1 Qf6 25.Qa3 Bg4 26.f3 Qb6+ 27.Kh1 Bf5 28.Rfe1 Rfe8

29.h3 Qf2 30.Re7 Qg3, draw.

Lenderman Wins Elberling Memorial

On Saturday, with a perfect score, GM Alex Lenderman won the Thomas Elberling Memorial tournament.

Friday G/60 Starts Tonight

Tonight, at 8 p.m., we are beginning a 3-round Friday G/60 that will run through December 26th.

The entry fee is $30 for Chess Mates' members, $40 for non-members. 70% of EF returned in prizes.

For details, visit http://www.uschess.org/tlas/5308.tla or click on the image below.

Game from 1st Saturday Swiss 12/6/2014

This game was played in the 1st Saturday Swiss.

Round Three: English Opening

Kevin Corrigan (USCF 1725) - Jim West (USCF 2206), Rahway NJ 12/6/2014

1.c4 g6 2.g3 Bg7 3.Bg2 Nf6 4.Nc3 O-O 5.Rb1 a5 6.d3 d6 7.Nf3 e5 8.Nd2 Nbd7 9.Nde4 h6 10.Bd2 Nxe4 11.Nxe4 f5 12.Nc3 c6 13.f4 Qe7 14.O-O Nc5

15.a3 a4 16.Be3 exf4 17.Bxf4 g5 18.Bd2 Bd7 19.Qc2 Nb3 20.Rbe1 Nxd2 21.Qxd2 Rfe8 22.e3 Bxc3 23.bxc3 Rab8 24.Re2 b5 25.Qa2 Kg7 26.cxb5 Rxb5 27.Rb1 Rxb1+ 28.Qxb1 f4 29.Qb7 d5 30.e4 Bg4 31.Qxe7+ Rxe7

32.Rf2 f3 33.Bxf3 Bxf3 34.Rxf3 dxe4 35.Re3 Kf6 36.Kf2 exd3 37.Rxd3 Rb7 38.Ke3 Ke5 39.c4 Rb1 40.Rd2 Ra1 41.Rd3 g4 42.Kf2 Ra2+ 43.Kg1 Rc2 44.Re3+ Kf5 45.Rd3 Rxc4 46.Rd6 h5 47.Rd2 Rc3 48.Ra2 Ke4

49.Kf2 Kd3 50.Ke1 Rc1+ 51.Kf2 Rc2+ 52.Rxc2 Kxc2 53.Ke3 Kb3 54.Kf4 Kxa3 55.Kg5 Kb3 56.Kxh5 a3 57.Kxg4 a2 58.h4 a1=Q 59.Kh5 Qh8+ 60.Kg4 Qg7+ 61.Kh3 c5 62.h5 Qg5 63.g4 c4 64.Kg3 c3 65.Kf3 c2 66.Kg3 c1=Q 67.Kf3 Qce3+ 68.Kg2 Qxg4+ 69.Kf1 Qgg1#.

Photos from !st Saturday Swiss

During the final round of yesterday's tournament, TD John Moldovan and I took these pictures.

FM Boris Privman won his game against Ken Cohen.

David Zhurbinsky defeated Kevin Corrigan.

NM Jim West was victorious against Abhinav Chinnambeti.

Photos from Machan Open 11/29/2014

During Saturday's tournament, I took these pictures, featuring three members of the Maini family.

NM Art Macaspac defeated Sumer Maini, in round one.

Meanwhile, Tom Polese won against Dilsher Maini.

In round three, Harpal Maini bested Ken Cohen.

Macaspac & West Win Machan Open

National masters Art Macaspac and Jim West tied for first place in yesterday's Dr. Luzviminda Machan Open.

Round Two: Sicilian Defense, Najdorf Variation

Jim West (USCF 2205) - Art Macaspac (USCF 2234), Rahway NJ 11/29/2014

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bc4 e6 7.Bb3 Nbd7 8.f4 Nc5 9.f5 Be7 10.Qf3 O-O 11.Be3 Nxb3 12.axb3 d5 13.exd5 Nxd5 14.Nxd5 Qxd5 15.Qxd5 exd5 16.O-O-O Bf6

17.Rhf1 Re8 18.Bg1 Bd7 19.h3 h5 20.b4 Re4 21.c3 Rae8 22.Nf3 Bb5 23.Rf2 Ba4 24.Rdf1 d4 25.cxd4 Bxd4 26.Nxd4 Rxd4 27.f6 Red8 28.b3 Bxb3 29.fxg7 Be6 30.Rb2 Rc4+ 31.Kb1 Kxg7 32.Bc5 Rd5

33.Be7 Rf5 34.Rxf5 Bxf5+ 35.Ka2 Be6 36.Kb1 Bf5+ 37.Ka2 Re4 38.Bc5 Be6+ 39.Kb1 Bd5 40.Rd2 Bc6 41.Kb2 b6 42.Bd4+ Kg6 43.Kc3 a5 44.Bxb6 axb4+ 45.Kb3 Bb5 46.Bd4 Re2 47.Rxe2 Bxe2 48.g3 Kf5

49.h4 Ke4 50.Bc5 Kd5 51.Be3 Ke4 52.Bf4, draw.

Chess Mates Closed Tomorrow (11/26)

Chess Mates will be closed tomorrow, due to a winter weather advisory in Rahway and winter storm warnings in other locales.

We will re-open on Friday, November 28th at 7:00 p.m.

4th Round Of November G/90 Postponed To 12/3

Tomorrow's November G/90 finale has been postponed due to an impending winter storm. It will be played on December 3rd.

The start of December's G/90 will be pushed back 1 week, to Wednesday, December 10th.

Adelson Wins October G/90

Serge Adelson won the October G/90, which took place October 8-29.

There was a 4-way tie for 2nd, between John Moldovan, John Lekocevic, Robert Vinson and Gabe Moreira.

Paragua Wins Cherry Street Open #2

GM Mark Paragua (pictured above) won today's Cherry Street Open #2 with 3.5/4.

GM Bryan Smith, FM Boris Privman and Rudy Tia tied for 2nd.

Tia earned the U2300 prize.
Ryan Feng and Ken Cohen tied among the U2100s.
Feng will receive the U2100 prize. Cohen was awarded the U1900 and he also scored the biggest upset.

Shikhar Ahuja was tops among U1600s.

4th round photos:

The all-GM battle for 1st: Paragua 1-0 Smith

 Mujumdar 1/2-1/2 Privman

Polyakin 0-1 Tia

Cohen 1/2-1/2 Ravishankar

Cherry Street Open - Round 3 Photos

Photos from round 3 of today's open:

Cherry Street Open - Round 2 Photos

Here are some photos from round 2 of today's open: