Category: New York Chess

The Lewis Chessmen Come to New York!

November 19th, 2011 · · New York Chess, posts No comments - Tags: , , ,

The Cloisters Museum in New York City has recently opened an exhibition of chess artifacts, starring the The Lewis Chessmen. The New York Times has run two articles on the exhibtion, One articleby the Art critic Ken Johnson, and another article by their regular chess columnist, Dylan Loeb McClain.

It’s thought that the pieces were likely made by “Trondheim” craftsmen in 12th century Norway, though they were discovered in Scotland and there is some controversy concerning their rightful ownership.

The pieces themselves are as aesthetically interesting as they are historically significant.
I was planning to ride my bike uptown this week and visit the museum in person in order to bring you all a bunch of iphone photos of them, but unfortunately last week I broke my leg in a bike accident and will be stuck in either bed or the hospital for the next 6 weeks. So, until I recover, I have to settle for this video tour by the NYTimes, which I found on Jim West’s blog.


James A. Black, Jr. Featured in the New York Times

November 13th, 2011 · · Games, New York Chess, posts 5 comments - Tags: , , , , , ,

Last week, after the Marshall Chess Club’s 95th Annual Championship, I emailed Dylan Loeb McClain of the NYTimes chess column and suggested that perhaps he might include a game by the 12 year old Phenom Christopher Wu, who finished in clear second place at the MCC Championship and put up a stellar performance in order to do so. I have a feeling that this email was either ignored or unopened. However, I was pleased to see an article this morning featuring one of the games from that event, along with profiling three talented young African American masters from New York City.

Every Sunday morning before riding my bike over the williamsburg bridge to open the chess club, I hang out at Variety coffee shop in Brooklyn and read McClain’s Sunday chess column. The barista, who pulls the column out for me, often shouts out ideas over the roar of the Marzocco and Mazzer machines. Today’s column can be read in full here. In the game, Black beats Treger almost effortlessly, grabbing space and refuting his dubious opening with a mixture of king-side pressure and zen-like patience. (Treger’s defense in the game is “Tiger’s Modern.”) Black managed to finish 5th in the tournament, an impressive result for a young master at a prestigious event. I’ve known Black for about a year now in my role as Tournament Director, and I will say he is one of the nicest masters I have ever met; as genial as he is genius. He has no sense of entitlement or overbearing ego. He never makes absurd claims and is as gracious in losing as he is in winning. He is always smiling and friendly and says hello. Along with his colleagues and several other members of the Marshall, he is headed off to Brazil next week for the World Youth Championship- and we will be cheering him/them on.

Treger’s king before the game.


Treger’s king after the game.

Chess-in-the-Schools Chocolate!

November 12th, 2011 · · New York Chess, posts No comments - Tags: ,

This afternoon I was doing some shopping in Park Slope when I came across the Chocolate Room where I found an assortment of chocolate chess pieces. “100% of sales goes to support Chess-in-the-Schools” read a nearby flyer.

“What a wonderful way to raise money for a wonderful cause!” I thought to myself.

Naturally, chess does not produce much in the way of profits, and so organizations like Chess-in-the-Schools are dependent upon government funding and the support of chess loving chocolate fanatics like me to continue to exist… I suppose that’s why so many people were shocked to learn that Marley Kaplan, the organization’s executive director, earns more than a quarter million dollars a year. You can read the unfortunate financial details here. Generally speaking, I am all for high salaries for top executive talent and think that anyone who feels otherwise should just go occupy wall street about it. However, politics aside, Chess-in-the-Schools is not exactly JPMorgan. They are a lot more like NPR, I suppose. Accordingly, the gross waste of capital gained through charitable intentions and tax payer dollars is unsettling to say the least.

Having said all of the that, the Post is hardly an unbiased news source, and I would very much like to hear Marley’s side of the story, which I’m sure gives a more nuanced explanation of the finances roughly sketched out in the article. (Marley, if you’re reading this, shoot me an email and let’s set up an interview.)

In any case, the chocolate is delicious.


And for those of you interested, the last time I checked they were hiring.


A Gorgeous Queen’s Indian Game

November 4th, 2011 · · Games, Indian Defences, New York Chess, posts, Queens Indian No comments - Tags: , , , , , , ,

As many of the readers of this blog know, i spend an awful lot of time at the Marshall Chess Club, and so I was thrilled to see this video on the USCF’s website in which some of our regular players talk about the club. In the video, the manager of the club says that the Marshall Chess Club is one of the most famous chess clubs in the country. However, this is a bit of an understatement, as it is actually one of the most famous chess clubs in the world!

To wit, a tourist from Sweden who was in New York on business recently stopped by the club to check out the hallowed halls where Fischer did battle as a teenager. His name was Jan Lundin, and he has recently achieved his first GM norm and was nice enough to share the game with me which proved decisive for his norm result. I thought I would share this gem with you.

In the game, the Grandmaster playing white against Lundin was angling for a win, and played a sharp gambit to try and create complications. However, black found a way to give up his queen for a decisive amount of material and handled the technical ending that resulted with aplomb. In particular, the King march which begins with 53…Kc5 is an impressive and bold plan.

GM Kekelidze is the winner of the 95th Annual Marshall Chess Club Championship

October 30th, 2011 · · New York Chess, NYC Chess Guide, NYC related posts, posts 2 comments - Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Tonight the final round of the 95th Annual Marshall Chess Club concluded and we here at Brooklyn64 congratulate GM Kekelidze on becomming the 2011 Marshall Chess Club Champion. Here are complete crosstables for the event. In the final round, the 12 year old Wu needed only to draw to clinch the championship, but lost a tough positional battle to FM Ostrovskiy who managed to succeed with an interesting queenside plan against Wu’s Najdorf. Up until the last round, Wu had been a likely contender for clear first, and so the following game was closely watched by hundreds of spectators on ICC.

Continue reading »

An Interesting Attacking Plan in the Scandinavian

October 5th, 2011 · · Annotated Games, Games, New York Chess, Openings, posts, Scandinavian 2 comments - Tags: , , , , ,

This last weekend I played a small round robbin in Greenpoint under the auspices of Brooklyn64, and played the following game with my friend Paul Munson. He knew that I liked to play the Scandinavian with 3…Qd6, and so avoided this variaiton by delaying Nc3. I showed the game to Mitch Fitsko, who suggested an interesting attacking idea. The attacking idea is so quick and deadly it reminds me of the Finnish sniper Simo Hayha- a.k.a. “White Death,” who single handedly killed 542 Russian Soldiers during the “Winter War” with the Soviet Union. He supposedly kept snow in his moth to hide his breath from other snipers, and has to have been one of the most deadly snipers in history. In any case-this quick trigger plan in the scando is just as deadly…

The idea involves a quick queenside castle and all out assault on white after the passive Nf3, and Be2 response to the scando- an example would be after the moves- 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nf3 Bg4 4.Be3 Nc6 5.d4 0-0-0… giving us the following position:

Following is my game with Paul Munson, in which both of us played remarkably passively, yet I luckily still managed to win as paul made a mistake in time trouble. It seemed to me as though he should have played Ne5 sometime early in the middle game, and follow up with f4 clamping down on the center of the board.

Another theme in the game is the battle for control over the d5 square. Naturally, in the e6, c6 Caro-Kann pawn structure, if white can attack by simply pushing d5, then black is likely in trouble.

Coming Soon: Brooklyn64 Tournaments!

July 20th, 2011 · · New York Chess, NYC related posts, posts 4 comments - Tags: , ,

Yesterday, I mailed my affiliate application to Crossville, Tennesee, home of the USCF. My plan is to turn Brooklyn64 into an affiliated club of the USCF so that we can hold tournaments here in Brooklyn. At first, they will be small, private affairs, most likely quads- (with results and games posted here), but over time I may decide to step it up and hold a more ambitious tournament depending on what location we choose. Any interest/info- please leave a comment.

Bobby Fischer Against the World: Wednesday, June 22, 2011

June 20th, 2011 · · New York Chess, NYC related posts, posts No comments - Tags: ,


The museum of the moving image is showing a new documentary about bobby fischer that just came out and won some awards at sundance. It will be screened at 7 pm, and an hour before Frank Brady will be giving a lecture and book signing.

In 1972, Brooklyn-born chess genius Bobby Fischer captured the public imagination when he defeated Russian Boris Spassky for the World Championship. During the height of the Cold War, Fischer was a brilliant lone American who defeated the dominant Soviet chess establishment. In the following years, Fishcer renounced his title and his country, and seemingly went mad. His gripping story is the subject of Lis Garbus’s fascinating new documentary which premiered at Sundance. The screening will be followed by a discussion with Dylan McClain, chess columnist for The New York Times; and Frank Brady, author of the acclaimed new Fischer biography Endgame: Bobby Fischer’s Remarkable Rise and Fall. Prior to the screening, there will be a book signing with Brady in the Museum Store.

TICKETS: $15 public/ $10 Museum members- order online at movingimage.us or call 718 777 6800

Details about the film here.

Harikrishna Loses First Game at 4th NY International

June 18th, 2011 · · 1. e4 e5, Games, New York Chess, Openings, posts, Ruy Lopez No comments - Tags: ,

The 4th annual NY International started with a major upset on board one, with top seed Harikrishna surprisingly losing his game to Alex Ostrovsky. The game was a tense Ruy Lopez, where white maintained the tension in the center and emerged from complications with a clear winning plan of pushing his central pawns.

Left, Harikrishna ponders his position.

Shabalov on board two won his first game as expected.

4th Annual New York International!

May 29th, 2011 · · New York Chess, NYC related posts, posts 4 comments - Tags: , , , ,

There’s less than a month until the 4th Annual New York International, one of the largest chess events to take place in the New York City area in years. Sponsored by the famous Marshall Chess Club, the tournament will take place in Tribeca at the St. John’s University campus under the auspices of Dr. Frank Brady, International Arbiter and author of the best selling authoritative biography of our home town hero, Bobby Fischer. Get All the details here.

Plus, check out this cool post card promo for the event.

There will be GM and IM norms possible in the open section, as well as two class sections: an U2200 and an U1800, with $25k in prizes guaranteed and $40k projected!

Register online!

Two Knight’s Defense: Modern Attack

April 21st, 2011 · · 1. e4 e5, Games, Modern Attack, New York Chess, Openings, posts, Two Knight's Defense No comments - Tags: , ,

If you play 1.e4 and wish to avoid the Spanish, than the Italian game with 3.Bc4 is the best option. Black’s logical responses are basically the Two Knights Defense, 3…Bc5(Italian game), or the Hungarian (3…Be7.) Naturally, against 3…Bc5 the Evans gambit is a fun option, but against the two knights defense I think the modern attack 4.d4 is actually easier and more straightforward than the mainline 4.Ng5. Here are three games from a big proponent of the variation, Asa Hoffmann.

I myself have had a lot of luck with this line in blitz games as of late. Some common themes for white are using his e and f pawns as battering rams to attack black’s kingside or in the alternative threaten to create a passed pawn. Black’s queenside dark square weaknesses are a key thematic idea as well, such that after the opening, if you remove all of the pieces from the board, the simple king and pawn ending would be winning for white, so white has that as an insurance policy in the middle game should he need it. Another idea worth mentioning comes from GM Dzindzichashvili, who advocates white develop his queenside knight to c3, allowing his pawns to be doubled. This is a theme we see in the following games as well.

When I asked Asa Hoffmann why he plays this line his answer answer was pretty simple: “It gives great practical attacking chances!”

The Pribyl Defense

March 29th, 2011 · · Annotated Games, Games, New York Chess, Openings, posts, sidelines, uncommon No comments - Tags: , , , , , ,

The following game is amusing for a number of reasons. First of all, it is the only time that my fellow Marshall Chess Club compatriot Ed Frumkin has defeated FM Asa Hoffmann in tournament chess, and he did it with Hoffmann’s favorite opening, 1.Nc3. Secondly, we see the Pribyl tackled head on with a king-side pawn avalanche that effortlessly opens lines and decimates black’s position.

Having said that, I rather like the Prybil. First of all, no one has heard of it, and most people will immediately take it as an inferior Pirc, which it probably is. However, the benefit of the Prybil lies not so much in its surprise value, but in its ability to transpose into other favorable systems, often into a kind of French with the light square bishop outside the pawn-chain. The following game-annotations are by Mr. Frumkin himself. Enjoy!

My Friend’s First Tango with a GM

March 18th, 2011 · · Annotated Games, Games, Kings Indian Defense, New York Chess, posts 3 comments - Tags:

My Friend Szymon, who a lot of my readers probably know from the Tea Lounge in Park Slope or as the captain of our New York Commercial Chess League Team, recently played in the 4 rated games tournament on thursday nights at the Marshall, and had the luck of being paired with GM Kekelidze. The game is actually very interesting, and certainly instructive for any KID players out there. I’m including Szymon’s notes and his pgn below:

My First Game Ever With a Grandmaster
Yesterday I went to the Marshall Chess Club for their G30 (actually this is 25min with 5sec delay) tournament, which they always have on Thursdays and I started to play in these once a month this year. They run them in the Swiss system, which means that in the first round, being rated in provisional 1800′s, I’m always paired up, and this time was no different- I had to play grandmaster (!) Mikheil Kekelidze, rated 2460 FIDE and 2536 USCF. I expected to be wiped off the board and proceed to the next round, but anyway I just wanted to play him like I would anyone else, that’s my approach- play the board, not the man. And it turned out to be a King’s Indian, where we both didn’t play the Classical Variation in the best fashion, but entering the middlegame, he was better, having deprived me of my light-squared bishop. And that was the point where I started playing better and better and making him think (probably at that point he could already think about the game going downhill), and the resistance I put forced concessions from him, which, after the queen exchange, amazingly, brought me a position which is really good, shame that I didn’t hold it longer and started thinking what to do to REALLY draw this game, because that’s where the advantage was lost. I should have been a little bit bolder and not have played 42…fxg3 for example. With both of us very low on the clock, he saw a beautiful tactic in the end and the inevitable happened. But managing to play a 49-move game against a grandmaster is something that I would never think I’m able to pull off. Please check the game for my comments and variations.

Interesting Rook and Pawn Ending

March 15th, 2011 · · Annotated Games, Endgame, Games, New York Chess, posts, Rook Endgame No comments - Tags: , , ,

I once read that “all rook and pawn endings are draws” in some russian manual on the topic. This weekend I was working as the TD in a tournament at the Marshall, and had the pleasure of being a spectator to the conclusion of a 5 hour game- (time control was 30/90, 1SD.) This was the position with black to move:

Black had approx. 30 minutes left on his clock, while white had only 5. Black then sank into deep thought for nearly 27 minutes, before deciding on a move which should have drawn, but didn’t… Naturally in such a position there was a modicum of kibitzing in the skittles room…as TD I kept my mouth shut until the game was over, but my mind was racing to find the answer for black to hold.

As it turns out, many moves in this position should hold the draw. I recommended 1…Ra6, which IM Jay Bonin immediately dismissed, saying white’s king activity meant he should have a win in all lines, (however 1…Ra6 does hold a draw.) While the computer prefers 1…Kf3, the text move Kf4 should have held as well. The game continued…

Endgame Blunders…

March 12th, 2011 · · Endgame, Games, Knight Endings, New York Chess, posts, Sicilian Defense No comments - Tags: ,

This week I played a game for my team in the NYCCL, where my captain told me I only needed to draw for our team to walk with a positive result. I had the black pieces and had been told that my opponent likes to play 1.d4 and the trompowsky in particular- so I was a little surprised but not disappointed when he played 1.e4. I responded with a Sicilian, and the game was a bit strange for the first few moves but began to look more mainstream by move ten. I made an early middle game blunder in a position where I should have simply won a pawn, and lost the exchange- the rest is my fighting for dear life to draw- and miraculously managing to do so. However, it pains me to admit that I missed about half a dozen winning chances, one of which is quite egregious.

My teammate made me feel a little better by reminding me that it’s sometimes easier to see things when you’re not in the heat of battle, any case here is the game which I’m not terrible proud of but am posting because the last 25 moves or so is rife with instructive error.