2011 LA Open

This weekend I am playing in the the 8th annual Los Angeles Open. This will be my first tournament in a couple years and my first cash prize tournament. I am excited because I am still rated U1000 USCF so I can still play in that division which is very good news. The payout for my section is $700-400-200-150. The way I look at it I can at least win $200.

In addition to the wonderful cash prize, which is the best thing, I will leave the tournament without my provisional designation and I will be over 1000 USCF, which isn’t all that great, but my goal is to play enough tournaments this year to reach 1300. So I consider this a great starting point.

I know a friend playing in the U1400 section. He is rated about 1250, but I am sure by the end of the tournament he will be at least 1320, which is actually what he is hoping for. In between rounds we may look over each other’s games to help improve for the next rounds.

The whole thing will last 2 days (Sat. & Sun.), but there are only 5 games in 40/2 time. So the rounds will be spread out at strange times. Saturday: 11AM, 2:30, and 6PM. Sunday: 10AM and 4:15PM. I will probably spend most of my time reading, but I will not be playing any games in between rounds. I find that when I do this I get too much into the games and if I lose in between games it effects my overall play in the rest of the rounds. Besides I have some good books I can read while I wait for my next game.

I will post my best games of the day each night with updates.

Échecs dans le Cinéma

 

   I recently discovered this exceptional film that actually revolves entirely around chess. Queen To Play, starring Kevin Kline and Sandrine Bonnaire,  focuses on a middle aged woman, Helene (Bonnaire), who worked as a hotel housekeep and a private maid to the reclusive Dr. Kroger (Kline). One morning, while cleaning up a room, Helene watches a couple playing chess on the balcony. She immediately admires this woman as she sees who she wants to be in her.

Helene knows that her family, especially her husband, won’t approve of her taking up chess while they are struggling to survive financially. So she buys an electronic chess set and learn to play book for her husband on his birthday as an excuse to bring chess into the home. As she tries to learn to play with the computer she learns that her boss, Dr. Kroger is an exceptional chess player. She makes a deal with him to begin teaching her how to play chess well. Eventually they form a close bond and Helene finds her peace within the game.

  I really did enjoy this movie. I have seen only a couple other chess movies, Searching for Bobby Fischer and Knights of the South Bronx, but I think that this is the only one that really uses chess to explain something more than just the already familiar chess analogies. One thing that grabbed my attention was that usually in chess movies the main character ends up playing in a lot of tournaments, but in this film she only plays one tournament with just a few games. I am not really sure why, but I really like this. The lack of over emphasis on the game is what made this film a keeper. I started watching because of the game and I kept watching because of the journey it takes with the game.

Kevin Kline was great in this film. I have seen him in other films that I also enjoyed, most notably The Emperor's Club, in which he plays a similar role, but only the subject matter is different. He made this film great as well with his mentor role. His character was very similar to that of Ben Kingsley in Searching for Bobby Fischer. In addition to the fantastic cast, the scenery of this film is astounding. It was filmed in the French Riviera and the ocean view scenes along with the architecture of the many different buildings seen in the film. I give this film 3.5 out of 5. I think the dialogue could have used some work, but otherwise it was a great film and I recommend it to any chess player. 

Impassable Pawn Wall

 

Okay now this is a sad post. After losing 8 straight games online, I finally got one. It is a long game, with some mistakes and some successful exploitations of blunders.

I really didn’t play well at all. This type of play is more at the 1100 level, which is not where I want to be. At the risk of seeming like a complainer, I really do not play very well online. I much prefer the familiarity of an over the board game. The only problem is that I don’t have any place to play OTB.

Well there are some places, but they are either too far away or not enough players. So for the time being I am stuck playing online, even though I do get the play some of my more advanced students at the Chinese School, which is a good game usually. I have decided to enter the Los Angeles Open.

The tournament is in October and I will be competing in the U1000 category. If I win all 5 games I will get $700!!! The top 4 players get a cash prize 700-500-250-150. So I think I can get something out of this. The best part is that my entry fee is only $53.

I will have to really practice and get ahead with my game. I’m going to have to read some of my chess literature and find someone to play OTB with. I think one of the biggest thing’s I will face will be recording my games. I haven’t had to record a game in a long time so I will have to get used to it again. I think I can do it.

I am off to a rather terrible start, but I think I can pull it out. I have been playing a lot of online chess and sooner or later I might actually win a game haha. I will post some more practice game as I get better. I can’t just keep posting losing games after all.

Legal’s legal Mate

Okay not normally I am not one to get really really excited about a short game like this, but it so happens that the pattern I used here is one that I have wanted to try for a long time to use. This is called Legal’s Mate (thank you conor_o_d for helping me find the name) and it is a fast way to neutralize an overzealous opponent.

I played this game on Chess.com it was G/15 and lasted 8 moves. The idea here is to let your opponent’s queen envy get the better of him. As you can see with 6. Nxe5 Bxd1, this worked perfectly. Now I didn’t notice right away, but within a minute I saw what I was dealing with and got very excited. All in all, the game was great and I feel bad for xNemesisx, but after I won he did message a quick insult before promptly going offline. It is too bad, I would have given him a rematch.

This was supposed to be a practice game, but unfortunately It just ended up being a quick tactics lesson. I guess this is almost as bad as being mated by the Fool’s Mate, but I don’t know. Anyway, it was a fun game I wanted to share.

Game On

After a year and a half, I have decided to return to tournament play. I am not entirely sure what brought on this desire, I only know that I am feeling as good about chess as I did when I was much younger.

It is a good feeling, but I am not the same player. I have fallen into the old adage, “Those that can, do. Those that can’t, teach.” I have been teaching chess for the last year, but I have not given myself the chance to play and grow as a player. This is going change.

I started by playing some casual games on Chess.com, which is a great website and information resource for chess players at all levels. I won a few and lost a lot against players that I would have otherwise beaten once upon a time. I wasn’t so much angry as I was disappointed. Disappointed that I had let myself fall almost all the way back down to where I was at age 12.

My USCF rating is admittedly only about 1000. Though anyone who knew me when I peaked would agree that it was much higher. Though these words are wasted since most people didn’t know me in my prime and I strongly believe that actions speak more strongly than words. With that I intend to play aggressively and work hard all the way to where I belong.

I will begin playing in some small tournaments in September 2011 in Los Angeles. I will Hopefully work my way into something a little more substantial and maybe later even get some money out of it again. I don’t make nearly what I used to playing in tournaments which is sad.

I will be recording my games of course so I will post my practice games as well as some of my first tournament games (even the ones I lost). Wish me luck as I return to the ever expanding and often bewildering world of competition chess.

The Longest Game I Have Ever Played

This is easily the longest game I have every played. It lasted 80 moves with no checkmate. It eventually ended with the resignation of my opponent. She was a very good sport about it. Here is the game:

I did not follow the opening line completely, but I mad it work for me. I am not as good against a Sicilian as I was a long time ago, but I can still hold my own as you can see.

The last move was a capture check and my opponent realized that from here the game was mine. I had two passed pawns and I was able to defend them both easily since I could keep the black king on the back rank. I was thrown off a few times in the endgame and I had to compensate by making a few extra moves.

In addition to this being one of the longest games I have ever played, this is also one of the hardest. My opponent was very good and only missed a couple  things, but overall the game was very good. I won’t go in and do an analysis of the game, but should you have questions please comment and I will respond with an answer.

Again I would like to thank Chess Publisher for their software.

Players Protest Romanian Women's Tournament



Cotroceni Palace

 The Cotroceni Women’s International chess tournament, held March 1-11 in Bucharest, Romania ended in an unusual way. The 10 participants went on strike prior to the beginning of the final round against the Tournament Director (TD). This was only the second time this event was hosted, but I would be surprised if they held it again since both events had their own own issues.

The ten female players were, in order of rating:

Anna Muzychuk

1.Muzychuk Anna 2528, Slovenia.

2.Zatonskih Anna 2499, USA.

3.Socko Monika 2495, Poland.

4.Muzychuk Mariya 2476, Ukraine.

5.Gunina Valentina 2472, Russia.

6.Ushenina Anna 2454, Ukraine.

7.Repkova Eva 2446, Slovakia.

8.Turova Irina 2428, Russia.

9.Peptan Corina-Isabela 2415, Romania.

10.Cosma Elena-Luminita 2343, 120, Romania.

Appropriately enough, the Cotroceni Palace, where the event was held, is also the home of the Romanian President Traian Băsescu. Ironic...

As part of the protest all final round games ended in quick draws. The main cause of this protest, as revealed by Evgeny Surov from ChessNews. Surov interviewed Irina Turova and Valentina Gunina which revealed that the players had been told they would receive compensation for their travel fare from the TD, but as the tournament came to an end, none of the players had been compensated.

This is not the first time this TD has failed to pay out. Last June, he was the TD of an open tournament in Romania and did not pay the winner or compensate the travel fare.

When the announcement was made that the participants would refuse to play the final round, there was no reaction from the TD or the arbiters to this.

I find this to be a bit sexist. If it were a men's tournament I am sure all complaints would be taken care of. Chess is one of the many sports in which women are still given the short end of the stick. I will honestly say that I do not care about this, but the refusal of payment to any player should not be tolerated.

In the end, all players were eventually compensated when the Romanian Federation stepped in. On a happier note I was told that last year, the TD in question was slapped across the face by a former Romanian Champion. I feel that if the Romanian Federation was better regulated their would be far less controversy surrounding Romanian Tournaments. Perhaps even this TD would have been banned and these players (male or female...in this case it doesn't matter) would have been paid.

Chess.com Live Game

Here is a great game that I played online.

Although this game is only eight ( 8 ) moves long, it is a great example of great tactical play. The opening is a Sicilian, I played a closed variation and won. A few quick notes: 6. … e5 is the first mistake made by my opponent. He disregards the threat on c6 by my knight and bishop. After I exploit this and attack his queen, he makes another mistake by trying to attack my queen. However he fails to see the discovered check by the bishop on b5. This leads to his resignation.

I would like to point out that this game is with a lower rated player online and I felt it would be good to start out with this. Lastly I would like to thank Chess Publisher for their software.

Introduction

HI Everyone! I am Dakota, a huge chess player and enthusiast from California. I am starting this blog as a way for other players and people with any interest in chess to be in the know. I will be posting chess news, famous games with annotation, and some of my own games. I don’t moderate comments, but keep it related. Some of my first posts will be just on my own stuff, but I will be mixing it up as I get more into it. Also feel free to contact me anytime.