Chess Castle of Minnesota Blog

New Blog

2010-04-30T12:53:00.000-07:00

I have decided to continue this blog under a different name - Fiore Chess Blog.

Be advised I will continue to cover Minnesota events, in addition to those in South Dakota and Iowa. As you will note, they will be covered under the Sibley Chess Club domain.

Thank you for visiting this blog...I encourage you to follow us at the new site.

2010 Minnesota Closed Games

2010-04-24T18:26:00.001-07:00

2010 Final Four of College Chess

2010-04-10T13:47:00.000-07:00

March madness is over but four teams are jousting for the prestigious President's Cup, otherwise known as the Final Four of College Chess. The teams competing are University of Maryland Baltimore County, University of Texas at Dallas, Texas Tech University and University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College (UTB/TSC).

The event is being held at UTB/TSC located at Brownsville, Texas. To learn more read History of Chess in Brownsville or download the Final Four program guide.

Games from the event can be viewed individually at Monroi.com (registration required) or on this blog by clicking 2010 Final Four. The official page is found at 2010 President's Cup.

Frank Johnson Games from 2010 MN Open

2010-04-10T13:08:00.000-07:00

I finally found the pgn code for blogs and figured it out to make it functional. There were several to choose from, but I was looking for one which allowed multiple games to be listed under one board/viewer.

Please check out the games played by Frank Johnson at the 2010 Minnesota Open. He also did some great video analysis which I also linked to this blog. Enjoy the Johnson Games by clicking the link or under the blog pages area.

Pre-registration List for Minnesota Scholastic Championships

2010-03-25T05:37:00.000-07:00

Round 1 Pairings

(for pre-registered players only, rest to be paired Saturday.)

Dan Voje, Chief TD for the MSCA Scholastic Championships, has posted a pre-registration list for the event at Scholastic Championships. He is asking players and coaches to review the list and verify the following:

name is listed and correct;
listed under the correct section; and
team, if any, is correct.

You are asked to email him at danvoje@chesscastle.com if there are any errors. First round pairings will be posted Thursday evening.

I will inquire about getting games for the top 2 or 3 boards of the high and middle school sections so I may post them here. Standings will also be posted if and when available.

Are Our Schools In Checkmate?

2010-03-19T05:39:00.000-07:00

I am a member of the School Improvement Advisory Committee (SIAC) for the Sibley-Ocheyedan Community Schools Distict (S-O CSD). It is a committee made up of community members, teachers and students. Our mission is to formulate and prioritize recommendations for our school board. They in turn, will consider these recommendations when setting goals for the 2010-2011 school year.

Jeff Herzberg, Superintendent for S-O CSD, posted the following video on his blog, Superintendent Herzberg. The video is a speech given by Scott McLeod, J.D., Ph.D., at an international schools conference in India, where 1-1 initiatives (meaning all students get laptops) are being considered and implemented. Dr. McLeod also wrote The status quo no longer suffices: An open letter to the Ames (IA) School Board, presented this topic to the National Education Association Board of Directors and the Dubuque School Board.

How does this relate to chess? It was amazingly fascinating to hear all of the presenters at our second SIAC meeting (teachers explained the Iowa Core Curriculum) use key phrases associated with chess; critical thinking, problem solving, planning ahead, deductive learning, social interaction, etc.

Of interest is, "A Word From the Wise", an op-ed piece written by New York Times columnist, Thomas L. Friedman. It is referenced in Mr. Herzberg's blog and relevant to the discussion.

I invite the members and visitors of this website to share your thoughts on Dr. McLeod's video or presentations regarding the challenges our schools face. Please consider asking educators and others in your communities to share their perspectives. You may do so on Superintendent Herzberg's blog or below.

Rochester Chess Blog Moved

2009-06-21T16:14:00.000-07:00

As you may know the Rochester Chess Blog is down as well as the MSCA site and Sibley Chess Club site are down. The reason for it because they were all hosted on the same server which experienced a major crash. The administrator for said server is working feverishly to get it back online and to set a backup in case this happens again.

The new address for the Rochester Chess Blog is:

http://rochesterchess.blogspot.com/

When my site returns I will look into forwarding rochester.fiorechess.org to the new address.

3rd Annual Okoboji Scholastic

2009-01-01T20:50:00.000-08:00

3rd Annual Okoboji Winter Games
Scholastic Tournament
Arrowwood Resort and Conference Center
1405 Highway 71 S
Okoboji, IA 51355
See Map
January 24, 2009

5 Rounds Swiss Sys; Unrated Game/25; Rds: 10:00a, 11:10a, 1:30p, Rounds 4 & 5 to 15 minutes after the previous round ends.

Entry Fee: $7 if received by January 14, 2009; $10 onsite registration fee. Registration: 9:00a-9:45a.

Trophies: 1st place trophy for each section - Primary (K-3), Elementary (4-5), Middle School (6-8) and High School (9-12). 2nd and 3rd place medals to also be awarded in each section. Top female is to be awarded a trophy and second best female to be awarded a medal. All players are to play in their own division or up; only one section trophy to be awarded per individual. Sections may be combined or grades shuffled to accommodate turnout numbers. Female players may win top female and section trophies. Other gifts and/or prizes may be awarded.

Make Checks payable and mail to Jodene Kruse at 934 6th St, Sibley, IA 51249, or email jodene77©yahoo.com.

Click Flyer for flyer/registration form (click on blue arrow to view/download).

3rd Annual Okoboji Open

2009-01-01T20:43:00.000-08:00

USCF online TLA now available for the 3rd Annual Okoboji Open.

Look for the March and April issues of Chess Life for the print TLA. Below is a copy of the proof for those issues.

Apr. 24-26 or 25-26, 3rd Annual Okoboji Open

EF:

Memb. Req'd:

$$b/50 Full Entries:

HR:

ENT:

INFO:

www.fiorechess.org

WCL JGP

To view/download flyer go to Okoboji Open Flyer.

A new site to check out

2008-11-06T13:41:00.000-08:00

A recent visitor suggested trading weblinks. Please check out his site, Chessblog for chessfuns..., which looks good.

(Also, hope all of you are doing well and have time to enjoy some chess. I haven't had as much time to play as I'd like to, but I'm doing chess league again this year.)

Thursday Chess

2008-04-25T21:09:00.000-07:00

Thursday chess had a pretty good turnout this week. This is my first post. I havent figured out how to put the games up here that you can output with fritz (like the uschess.org page does). Best I can do is upload an image. So I uploaded an image from Michael Heinisch vs me from yesterday. This wasnt the exact position, but it was something like this.

I thought I had the game won (he seemed to think so too judging by his gestures), but he capitalized on a miscalculation I made. Looking at it now with a cool head, I'm not sure I should have resigned when I did, but thats chess.

Both Jeff Chandler and I had skipped first part of the tournament and played just the last game. Jeff played Reed Russel. I didnt get to see the game. Wish I had though. I bet there was some nice fireworks.

Roger Hale played Michael Melander. Michael is somewhat new to the club. Roger somehow beat him with a R & P vs Michaels 2 Qs. I should probably have posted an image of that here.

I was watching Josh Franz play Vince Berg. For a while, Josh had quite a time advantage, but Vince Managed to even it out. The position looked even as well. I thought maybe Vince might have been slightly better, but what do I know. It didnt matter though, because Josh busted a nice piece-winning tactic.

Vince Wisniewski played Norm Myrin. Norm had the white pieces, if I recall correctly. It seemed Norm had the advantage (looking at the post mortem analysis) but made a tactical error.

The last 3 games finished between 11:30 and midnight. I left around midnight. Norm, Vince W, Jeff, and Reed were still there going over Norm and Vinces game.

Was a good night!!

World Chess Live

2008-04-23T14:51:00.000-07:00

I was informed by Larry who plays at the Chess Castle that the USCF has an online chess playing service. If you have not looked at it yet, here is a link to World Chess Live.

Is anyone in the Minnesota chess community interested in running this blog?

2008-04-09T11:38:00.001-07:00

Hello everyone!

I see that there is still some traffic to this site, but I have not had the time to update this blog.

If anyone is interested in running and updating this blog, please email me at the address listed on my profile.

Thank you and good chess to you all!

Joe

The first year at the new location is coming to a close!

2007-12-10T09:15:00.000-08:00

I thought the new location was good for the Castle. So far, we have 49 events listed as being played this year. I was happy to play in five of the Thursday Knighters, which averaged between 15-17 players most months.

I didn't achieve my goal of raising my rating into the next class. In fact, I'm ending the year 39 points lower, but I had a good time playing. Thanks to everyone who runs and plays at the Castle. You are a good bunch who I enjoy spending time with.

I hope everyone has an enjoyable Christmas and New Year!

See you in the next year!

Joe

Tension!!!

2007-11-02T10:32:00.000-07:00

At 9:45 p.m., over two hours into round one of the November Thursday Knighter, only one game was finished. Vince Wisniewski played his Alekhine's against an unrated, but strong player.

I was only at move 18 on the Black side of a Caro-Kann, in which my opponent made me work hard. I stepped out of the room for a moment, and when I walked in, found that we were all roughly at the same point...move 16, move 19, move 19, and...move 12?!!! Kevin Landman, a 1500+ player, was playing Black with a strong time advantage against 1900+ Reed Russell.

Roughly an hour later, after I finally resigned, Dennis McGrath finished an excellent game against Steve Turmo with a victory.

Reed was concentrating head down, with just over five minutes left. I was exhausted and couldn't stand any more tension, so I left.

But it was one of those nights where everyone seemed to be playing their best!

John B's team, the Dallas Destiny, won the first round

2007-08-30T09:03:00.000-07:00

John Bartholomew blogged about his team's first round win over the Tennessee Tempo in the U.S. Chess League.

Tags: US Chess League, U.S. Chess League, chess, Internet chess

Two items: How's the Thursday Knighter, and a link of interest

2007-08-27T07:41:00.000-07:00

Every Thursday night has been busy for me this month, so I have not had a chance to visit, let alone play for this month's Thursday Knighter. Does anyone have an update on this month? (Add a comment or email me.)

Second, I added a link for the US Chess League on the side. For those who haven't heard about it, it is an Internet-only league played by teams across the country. The first round of the new season will begin this evening, Monday, August 27.

Some GMs play, including Nakamura, as well as Minnesota's own IM John Bartholomew. John will be playing Board 2 as Black this coming Wednesday, August 29th.

Tags: US Chess League, U.S. Chess League, chess, Internet chess

Check out this new chess website: Gambetto

2007-08-16T06:41:00.000-07:00

I was just apprised of a new chess website this morning, called Gambetto, put together by Dan Bennett. Please take some time to visit. I am impressed with the layout, and heck, he has an area called Tal's Tactics! What's not to like?

Twenty enrolled in July Thursday Knighter

2007-07-06T11:51:00.000-07:00

Because school is out, we have a few scholastic players this month, over and above our usual crew of folks here. Matt Dahl, Robert Donahue, and Christopher Gill have joined the action.

It's not to late to join June's Thursday Knighter

2007-06-14T12:37:00.000-07:00

We have fifteen people currently enrolled in this month's event, so if you are interested in playing, please come down to the Castle tonight. The rating range is from class E to expert.

Events at the Chess Castle since January

2007-05-17T11:08:00.000-07:00

A dozen events have been played or sponsored by the Chess Castle since we've moved to our new location. Seventeen players played the April Thursday Knighter! That's a great turnout! (I'm hoping to play again during June.)

If you have an interesting game or two, please post it on this blog, or consider submitting it to the Games section of the Minnesota State Chess Association website. Thanks!

Fresh look for the Minnesota State Chess Association website

2007-04-24T07:43:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the hard work and dedication of John Flores, the MSCA website has a new look. Please visit if you had not yet had the chance!

Round Four of the Thursday Knighter III

2007-03-30T11:43:00.000-07:00

Last night was another good night at the Castle. Rich DuRocher came up to play. The other seven signed up for the month showed, so Rich was added to the mix.

The top two players for the month were Carl and Steve. They drew two weeks ago, and each had a score of 2.5. Steve played Black against Phil, while Carl had the White pieces against Norm. Rich had Black against Roger, while Vinnie had White against Dennis. (I had an unrated game against John.)

I got to watch the beginning of all the games before I started my game. All the games looked interesting, with Phil v Steve and Roger v Rich the most active and complicated games.

When I got finished playing John to a draw, I walked over to Phil and Steve's table. The position had gotten more complicated, in Phil's favor. He had a checkmate threat on its way, so Steve resigned.

Norm was running very low on time against Carl. Norm won an exchange in what was a semi-closed position (a Knight for a Rook), but Carl used his remaining Knight in such an effective way that Norm was not able to hold off all the threats, and Carl won, making him this month's winner at 3.5. Congratulations again, Carl!

Roger has been getting into chess again late last year after a long break from playing. He was lamenting the fact that it was tough, but I encouraged him that it takes just a bit of patience. He didn't have to wait too long. He had a tactical game going with Rich. Rich opened up a weakness in his own position which created a forced mate in two.

I ended up leaving before the end of Vinnie and Dennis' game, which still had up to forty minutes to go. I was tired, but satisfied to have played and witnessed numerous good games.

March Thursday Knighter at the Chess Castle

2007-03-23T12:08:00.000-07:00

I haven't had a chance to visit the Chess Castle since I played in January. I heard that last month a dozen participants played. But last night there were just three games going for the six players.

Although there was just a small number, the games were all interesting. Roger Hale, a new member to the club in January, was playing against Norm. Phil Stevenson was playing against Carl, who has been playing on Monday nights. Vinnie was playing against Steve Turmo. Carl told me that last week he and Steve drew. I did not see any of the games conclude in the hour I was there, although all three seemed to be favoring on player over the other. It was enjoyable to check the games out.

Carl encouraged me to show up for some of the Monday events, which needs some more participants.

From the Castle site:

MONDAY SPEED DEMONS
8SS, TL: G/5, Reg: 6:30-7:15pm. Clocks start 7:15pm [done by 10PM]. EF: $10.
PZ: 60% entries awarded as prizes, depending on participation.

Minnesota Scholastic report on Susan Polgar's blog

2007-03-21T08:35:00.000-07:00

This morning I sent GM Susan Polgar a short report on the Minnesota Scholastic Chess Tournament, which she posted here. In the last week she has received reports on events from Arizona (with more than 600 participants) and Oregon, also with over 600 students.

The Late Winter Think at the Castle

2007-03-12T13:12:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Mr. Bill for posting details about this past weekend's event on the Chess Castle website.

Congratulations to Michael Yang for a perfect score!

24--that's a great turnout!

2007 Mn Open Gallery

2007-03-02T19:09:00.002-08:00

The images found on the Chess Castle website are now being hosted on the Fiore Chess site. I would like to thank the good folks from the Castle for their fine work.

You may find the gallery in the Forums section under Mn Tournaments: Gallery; or you may access them directly HERE.

2007 Mn Open Results

2007-03-02T18:56:00.000-08:00

All the rated sections for the 2007 Mn Open Championships are now being hosted on the Fiore Chess website. They can be found under the forums section or you may go directly by clicking HERE. - John

IMPORTANT: Registration form for the Scholastic event!

2007-03-02T15:28:00.000-08:00

The registration form for the 2007 MSCA Scholastic Chess Championship is located here.

MSCA Board meeting this Saturday

2007-03-01T09:39:00.000-08:00

All board meetings are open to any MSCA members. This Saturday we have our first meeting with the new board at 9 o'clock a.m. at

Curran's Restaurant
4201 Nicollet Ave
Minneapolis, MN 55409-2014
(612) 822-5327

Please join us for breakfast and discussion. Mr. Bill also has this information on the MSCA link on the Chess Castle website. Thanks again, Mr. Bill.

Do any readers have any updates on play at the Chess Castle?

2007-03-01T09:29:00.000-08:00

As I have had such a busy month and have not personally had a chance to play or watch games at the Castle this month, I am writing this to ask those who are playing to provide an update on the Thursday Knighter, the Monday Quads, or any of the weekend events.

Please note that this Saturday is the Beware the Ides of March Quads. The details are:

3 RR. TL: G/60 EF: $20, PZ. $40 each Quad. Reg: 12-12:50, RDs. 1-3:30-6.

Thank you and drive safely!

The crosstable is posted at USCF

2007-02-20T11:28:00.000-08:00

I just checked, and the crosstable for the MN Open has been published.

114th Annual Minnesota Open

2007-02-19T11:39:00.000-08:00

Good afternoon! The site is very busy today, as I am sure everyone is looking for details about this weekend's tournament.

So far, the only source of published information that I am aware of is on the Chess Castle website. It provides a report on the Premier section, in which IM Victor Adler won with a score of 4.5 with his victory over Master Ed Zelkind in Round Five.

If anyone would like to add details about this section or any other sections, please email me at:

joe [dot] coffeefreak [at] gmail [dot] com

and I will add you as an author for this blog. It would be great to hear the perspective of a few players.

(I am working on my own personal report on my blog at Java Joe Chess.)

Rochester 2007 Winter Open

2007-02-12T11:16:00.000-08:00

By Todd Miller

On February 2nd and 3rd, 2007 Matthew Jensen and Dennis Mays ran another great Rochester Winter Open. The results were as follows.

Premier

1st Todd Miller, $200 + trophy
2nd - Alex Betaneli - $150
3rd - Jeremy Kane* - $50.00
3rd - Ron Dieke - $50.00
U2000/1800 - Kevin Gaustad - $75
U2000/1800 - Sam Stegmann - $75

Amateur (U1600)

1st - Michael Lust - $140 + trophy
2nd - Nathan Amundson - $100
3rd/1400 - Christopher Gill - $55
3rd/1400 - Dennis Zuo - $55
U1200 - Joshua Anthony $50

Reserve Scholastic Sections - Trophies for Top Six

Reserve One

1 Matt Painter
2 Maor Locker
3 Mark Painter
4 Mike Munson
5 Odong Ojulu
6 Christine Pulido

Reserve Two

1 Charlotte Gill
2 Emily Lekah
3 Rory Li
4 Dalton Dahle
5 Arriel Ballew
6 Andrew Hough
Other Awards

Top Upset by RD - $20 each (Can only win once)

1 - Nathan Amundson (Amateur-463)
2 - Nick Lawrence (Premier-175)
3 - Michael Lust (Amateur-271)
4 - Ben Sparks (Amateur-638)
5 - Sam Stegmann (Premier-301)

ICC Memberships

Adults: Michael Larson
Piyush Mukherjee
Students: Alex Betaneli
Stephen Ballew

I thought I would try to give you some examples from my games from Rochester that might help others who are trying to improve their chess. I retired from chess for the most part for about twenty years and have only been playing regularly now for three years. Much has changed. For one thing, the younger players are much better tactically. In fact, it seems to me that current thinking stresses tactics much more today than it did thirty years ago when I was a junior player. In my three games, with young players at Rochester, (two who won prize money), only one game was decided by tactics. Rather, my opponents committed errors in positions where there were no tactics.

As a psychologist, I often read what the newspapers say about psychology and chess. The reporter often argues that grandmasters memorize 50,000 patterns and that studying chess tactics is therefore the best way to improve your game. However, that's a misunderstanding of a theory that some psychologists do not even subscribe to. Rather, what grandmasters probably do is recognize patterns that involve plans such as where their pieces should be best placed, tactical themes (e.g., back rank mates), pawn structures (e.g., isolated pawns), critical endgame positions etc. ... They know what plans work best given a certain position The favorable position might not have anything to do with winning material or tactics. For example, they may simply know that occupation of the remote file by a rook is almost certainly winning given the pawn structure and pieces remaining on the board. It's the pattern recognition that results from understanding of many types of positions that allows grandmasters to quickly make accurate judgments about the position and to develop plans. Tactics are the means through which these ideas are carried out. And of course, part of that pattern recognition involves idenitying tactical possibilities.

QUEEN'S GAMBIT
Todd Miller - Jeremy Kane
Round 4
Rochester Winter Open 2007
1:0, 2/ 3/2007

1. c4 e6 2. Nc3 d5 3. e3 Nf6 4. Nf3 Be7 5. d4 O-O 6. a3?!= b6 7. Bd3 Bb7 8. Qc2 c5

[8... dxc4! 9. Bxc4 c5 10. O-O Nc6 11. Rd1 Qc8 12. Qe2 Na5 13. Ba2 Qc6 14. d5 exd5 15. Nxd5 Nxd5 16. Bxd5 Qc7 17. Bd2 Bxd5 18. Bxa5 Bxf3 19. Bxb6 Bxe2 20. Bxc7 Bxd1 21. Rxd1 Rac8 22. Be5 Rfd8 23. Rxd8 Rxd8 24. g3 Bf6 0-1, Westrik Erik - Luco Alain (FRA) 2161, Fouesnant (France) 2001]

9. cxd5 exd5 10. O-O

10... c4?

This move is considered best by the Computer Analysis Project (C.A.P.) database. However, no humans have played this move and I don't believe they should. In this same position, GM Larry Christiansen played

[10... Nc6! 11. b3 Re8 12. Bb2 h6 13. Rad1 cxd4 14. exd4 Bd6 15. Rfe1 Rxe1 16. Rxe1 Rc8 17. Qd1 Qf8 1/2-1/2, Bisguier Arthur B (USA) 2455 - Christiansen Larry M (USA) 2485, Greenville (USA) 1980]

11. Bf5 g6?

Black's 10th move locked the center, which makes it easier for either opponent to attack on the wing. His 11th move weakens his kingside, although this move is also suggested by C.A.P. As I see it, Black has already put himself in a very difficult position as Black has no reliable plan. In contrast, my plan is rather simple and clear. I will put my knight on e5 and push my f pawn to f5 in an effort to open lines on the kingside where my opponent has weakened his king position. Rather simple, and yet I believe that many strong players make such mistakes rather frequently. On each move, one has to ask oneself what is my long range plan and what are the plans of my opponent.

12. Bh3 a6 13. Ne5 Nc6 14. f4 Qd6

For the most part, my computer suggests playing similar moves or the same moves as my opponent, which suggests to me that the computers that suggested this strategy for Black were in error. Black is relegated to defense. He does have a queenside pawn majority but White's attack is much faster. There is little Black can do but wait for the inevitable.

15. Bd2 b5 16. Be1 Bc8 17. Bxc8 Raxc8 18. f5!?

Perhaps this is a bit premature. I could have first played Rf3 as the tactics surrounding my weakened e3 square are not as effective when the rook is protecting this square. Below, I give a sample game I generated with the help of my Rybka computer program to illustrate that White can obtain the same sort of attack after this move as I do in the game.

[18. Rf3 Nh5 19. g4 Ng7 20. f5 Bf6 21. Nxc6 Rxc6 22. Qg2 gxf5 23. gxf5 Rd8 24. Bg3 Qd7 25. Kh1 Kh8 26. Raf1 Rg8 27. Be5 Bxe5 28. dxe5 Qc7 29. f6 Ne6 30. Rg3 Rxg3 31. Qxg3 and White is winning.]

18... Nh5?

[It would have been much better to play 18... Nxe5. I will give some detailed analyses to show that White is still on top and that is only natural as I have followed a logical plan of opening lines on the kingside. I have often found that if I play a strategic idea that I believe is logical and consistent with principles of chess then even if I have overlooked something at times is has worked out for me. This is another bonus of attempting to play logical chess. Aagaard notes in his book on Excelling at Chess that Kasparov is not as good a tactician as Shirov. However, his tactics follow from his striving to place his pieces on the best possible squares and to play within a logical framework. This may explain why Kasparov had such a good record against Shirov. His attacks are based on logic and principles so even if he doesn't see everything, his attacks usually work. It is this keen sense of chess judgment that Aagaard believes put Kasparov of top. Kasparov has also argued that his gift is in knowing where to put his pieces and not in calculating. 19. Bg3 Nfg4! (or 19... Qd7 20. Bxe5 Ng4 21. Bf4 Nf6 22. Qe2 a5 23. Bh6 Rfe8 24. Bg5 b4 25. axb4 axb4 26. fxg6 hxg6 27. Bxf6 bxc3 28. bxc3± Rybka) 20. Qe2 Qd7 21. Bxe5 Nxe5 22. dxe5 d4 23. exd4 Qxd4 24. Kh1 Rc5! (24... Bc5 25. Ne4 Kh8 26. Nf6 Qe3 27. Qg4 Qxe5 28. Qh4 h5 29. Rae1 Qxb2 30. Qg5 Kg7 31. Nxh5 Kh7 32. Nf6 Kg7 33. Ng4 Kg8 34. f6 Rfe8 35. Rxe8 Rxe8 36. Qh6 Bf8 37. Qxg6 fxg6 38. f7 Kh7 39. fxe8=Q; 24... Qd3 25. Qe1 Qc2 26. Nd5 Rce8 27. Rf2 Qd3 28. Rd1 Qb3 29. Qe2± and White's attack can proceed as in the last variation.) 25. Rae1 (The idea of 25. e6 is appealing. However, Re5 26. exf7 Rxf7 27. fxg6 hxg6 28. Qc2 Qd3³) 25... Qd3 (25... Bh4 26. g3 Bg5 27. Qe4 Qd7 28. Kg2 Qd2 29. Re2 Qd3 30. Qb7± Rybka) 26. f6 (Not 26. Qg4?? Rxe5 27. Rxe5 Qxf1#) 26... Qxe2 27. Rxe2 Bd8 28. e6 fxe6 29. Rxe6 a5 30. g4 (30. Ne4 Rf5 31. Kg1 Rd5 32. h4 b4 33. axb4 axb4 34. g4 Rd3 35. Rf2 c3 36. bxc3 bxc3 37. Kg2 Re3 38. Rc2 Rf7 39. g5± In this variation, White used his space advantage on the kingside to create a highly favorable pawn structure. 39... Ba5) 30... Kf7 31. Rd6 Re5 32. Nd5 h5 33. gxh5 gxh5 +0.23d12 Rybka]

19. g4 Ng7 20. Bg3

Black has not committed any tactical errors. Nevertheless, he now has to lose material. In Jacob Aagaard's Excelling at chess, he argues that chess players excel not due to superior calculating abilities or imagination. Rather, they are able to understand positions in terms of what are viable plans and ideas. Personally, I believe many people already have sufficient positional knowledge to incorporate ideas of piece placement and positional judgment into their games. They merely need to incorporate it into their thinking process during the game. That is, many players get lost in the opening or tactical variations and do not see the big picture, which they would be fully aware of if they took the time to notice but in the heat of battle they forget about the big picture and focus on tactics.

20... Qd8 21. Qg2 Nxe5 22. Bxe5 Bd6

[Better would have been 22... f6 23. Bg3 gxf5 24. gxf5 Kh8 and Black's king position is considerably better than in the game, although Black still has to lose a pawn. ]

23. fxg6 hxg6

24. Bf6! Qd7 25. Nxd5

Now, Black will continue to lose material because his king position is too vulnerable. Was this all a result of locking the center and playing the weakening move 11. ... g6? I will let the reader decide.

25... Rc6 26. Be5

[Time trouble was now approaching for both of us. More accurate was 26. Bg5 which threatens ¤f6+ Ne8 27. Bh6 Kh7 (27... Ng7 28. Nf6 Kh8 29. Nxd7) 28. Bxf8 Bxf8 Rybka]

26... Bxe5 27. dxe5 Rd8 28. Rad1 Qe8

29. Qf3

White can win the exchange any time he wants to because the knight at f6 is too strong. For example, White will have mating threats with £h3 after ¤f6. Therefore, I decided to consolidate my position a bit before winning the exchange. [More double edged is 29. Ne7 Qxe7 30. Rxd8 Qxd8 31. Qxc6 Qd2 32. Qf3 Qxb2 33. Qxf7 Kh7 34. Qe7 Qd2 35. Qh4 Kg8 Rybka]

29... Rd7

No better was29... Rxd5 30. Rxd5 c3 31. bxc3 Rxc3 32. Qd1 Ne6 33. Rd7 Rxe3 34. Qd6 Re4 35. Rfxf7 Rxg4 36. Kf2 Rd4 37. Qe7 Rybka]

30. Nf6 Rxf6 31. Qxf6

[31. exf6! Ne6 32. Qc6 Rd8 33. Qxe8 Rxe8 34. Rd5 Rb8 35. h3 g5 36. Rd7 Rc8 37. Kg2 Nc5 Rybka±/ This is line is better because the side with the material advantage has managed to trade off more pieces. If you're ahead in material it's usually a good idea to trade off as many pieces as possible. ]

31... Ne6 32. Rd6 Nf8

33. Rfd1

[Better would have been 33. Rxa6 Rc7 34. Rd1 Nd7 35. Qh4 Rc8 36. e6 +2.32 d10 Rybka]

33... Rxd6 34. Rxd6 Qc8 35. Qf3 Ne6 and White eventually won in a time scramble. [1:0]

My conclusions are from this game and several others that I have played since I began playing chess is that players in general are much better tactically than they were when I played before. However, I believe that at times that improvement in tactics allows us to forget about the importance of incorporating long-range strategic objectives into one's thinking.

Mankato Chess Club Website

2007-02-11T19:27:00.000-08:00

Greetings Everyone;

Be advised the new website for the Mankato Chess Club has changed.

I will try to update the links for the new address as soon as possible. Be advised the Mankato site is being consolidated with the Texas website. The reason for the consolidation arose out of necessity and convenience. The consolidation will be hosted at new site.

My zhat.net domain expired on Feb. 8 2007, without my knowing the expiration was approaching. Said domain was purchased several years ago using a yahoo email which I no longer use. Consequently, I could not be reached to be informed of the impending expiration. Furthermore, I have been thinking of purchasing a more appropriate domain.

Why Italian? Flores is Spanish for flowers and fiore is Italian for flower. Hence, I decided to use the Italian language as I have mulled opening a pizzeria where patrons could enjoy great pizza and a good game of chess.

I invite you to visit our new sight and consider registering so you can be a part of our chess growth. More importantly, I respectfully request that you please help us spread the word of our new website.

Thank you for your indulgence and kind attention!

As the second full month comes to a close...

2007-01-31T13:29:00.000-08:00

...we have had nearly 1100 hits to this blog. I would like to thank everyone who comes by to read and/or comment here.

I encourage you to add to the discussion here. I have the perspective of a Class C/D player who enjoys writing about my own games and observing other games. It would be interesting to hear from others, whether they are just beginning with their chess development, or from those who are seasoned experts, masters, or beyond in the Minnesota chess community. Feel free to discuss particular games, events, books, etc. that you have found to add to your enjoyment and understanding of the game.

Drop me a line at joe [dot] coffeefreak [at] gmail [dot] com to be added as an author to this blog.

Thanks!

Joe

John Bartholomew has a blog

2007-01-29T14:13:00.000-08:00

John Bartholomew, who used to play at the Chess Castle, is now an IM going to the University of Texas at Dallas. His new blog is listed in the links section and here.

Thursday Knighter I: Femi wins!

2007-01-26T12:12:00.000-08:00

Because of conflicting schedules between Melissa and me, I have to take off the third Thursday of every month when I'm participating in a Thursday Knighter. I miss out on an opportunity to play, but it is usually exciting to come in to find out any surprise results.

Well, this month was no exception. Last week, Femi (White) played Steve (Black) in a Sicilian. Steve, our resident Expert, described that Femi had a strong advantage by move 12. Femi went on to win the game.

Dave, who I lost to in round one, played Femi to determine this month's winner. Their game got finished before my game against Norm, and Femi won with a score of 3.5 out of 4. Congratulations, Femi!

My game with Norm was interesting. To me, this was one of those games that demonstrated that winning a won game is difficult. We started out fairly evenly in a Closed Ruy Lopez. On move 16, however, I retreated my Knight without protecting a Pawn adequately, and I lost my Pawn. I repeated my error at move 33. In fact, I was three Pawns behind by move 36. However, as we were running lower on time (Norm had less than 8 minutes by move 44), I presented him with a series of difficulties with my Knight and Rook. I'm sure there were simplifications in the position, but they were not found during the game. I offered a draw at move 46 or 47, but Norm played on. He made his last seven moves with 11 seconds left, and during the intense time pressure, hung the Queen with four seconds left.

Thank you, Mr. Bill!

2007-01-26T12:08:00.000-08:00

Mr. Bill has been regularly updating the Chess Castle site. Today he listed a number of upcoming weekend events!

Thanks again, Mr. Bill!

Looking for writer's for Monday night Action Quads...

2007-01-24T08:32:00.000-08:00

I would like to extend an opportunity for those who play in the Monday night Action Quads to take a stab at writing about them. I haven't played in one yet myself, however I am interested in playing at least one next month.

Pretend I am new to the club but really enjoy chess. How would you sell this event to me?

Send me an email to the address on my profile, and I'll add you as a writer.

Thanks!

Thursday Knighter I

2007-01-12T13:52:00.000-08:00

I checked the crosstables last night before the match, and there was just one surprise from round one. Four of the five higher rated players won their game, but Vince Wisniewski (1553) beat Will Dobbs (1703). Vince and I have sparred, but it seems like it has been awhile. We had many interesting games over the last couple of years.

We have two new members to the club, Roger, who I played last night, and Femi, who played Will last night. After I finished my game, I found them analyzing their game, a win for Femi.

Note for tomorrow: There is a Speed Demons event.

Action Quads and Thursday Knighter

2007-01-11T08:09:00.000-08:00

On Monday, Ed Conway ran the first Action Quad of the year. There are three games, each of which is 30 minutes. Please come out if you are interested in playing chess on Mondays. This is a regular event.

Tonight is round two of the Thursday Knighter. People can join tonight with a half-point bye for round one. We have eleven people in the tournament currently. Our strongest player is Steve Turmo, an expert.

If anyone is interested in writing up reports for these events, please let me know.

Day One, Thursday, January 4

2007-01-08T11:47:00.000-08:00

This last Thursday was our first day in our new location. The Chess Castle is now in the basement of the Twin City Bridge Center.

I walked in the back door and saw a full room of people playing bridge. I don't know much about the game, but the people looked like they were having fun. I went downstairs where I saw Kevin and the owner of the club, Teri. The space that we are sharing with Scrabble Club 42 is spacious and inviting. Basements don't usually have that feeling, but there was a good vibe that night.

People slowly gathered before the 7:30 start of round one. Many regulars were here. Besides myself and Norm (the tournament director), in came Steve, Dave, Mike, Dennis, Vince, and a few others pictured below in the preceding posts. All told we had ten people for the first round, with an eleventh person joining for the remaining rounds.

As more people walked in, the more excited I felt. I was not sure how many would show up this first day, but eleven is a great number for a Thursday night. (My excitement didn't helped me at the board in my game against Dave. I made a very amateurish mistake about a dozen moves in which kept my dark-squared Bishop trapped behind enemy pawns for most of the game. I felt bad about playing lousy, but I didn't lose any sleep over it either.)

I want to thank everyone who came to help make this first round a good one.

Two more pictures

2007-01-05T12:25:00.000-08:00

Pictures from last night...opening night at the new location

2007-01-05T12:21:00.000-08:00

Thanks again, Sean, for sending these pictures!

Thursday Knighter I

2007-01-04T09:48:00.000-08:00

The Thursday Knighter has been capably run by TD Norm Myrin for many years, and this event allows those players who appreciate the time to look at the subtleties and nuances of a position to fully appreciate a game. The format is all moves in two hours. The event runs from the first through the last Thursday of every month.

Tonight is the first round of the January event. I will be attending, and I hope many of you join as well. Good luck!

Moving day is Saturday...

2006-12-29T13:39:00.000-08:00

I imagine most readers of this blog read the Chess Castle website. In case you haven't:

We will start at 12:30 pm. A few items are going to the Bridge Center, some tables and chairs are going into storage, and a lot of stuff is going into the dumpster. We have a commitment for one pick-up truck, and could use some more.

So, this is it. We will be at our new location next week. I will definitely be playing on Thursday. I encourage as many of you as possible to help with the move and/or play at the Castle in January!

This weekend is the 2006 Chess Castle Championship

2006-12-14T12:58:00.000-08:00

This is a reminder:

From the Chess Castle website (sidebar):

16,17 December
THE 2006 CHESS CASTLE CHAMPIONSHIP
An invitational event*
Seven games, four Saturday, three Sunday, swiss pairings. Time control is game in an hour + 15 second delay. Entry fee is $15, $20 for two members of the same family. No prize fund, we are playing only for love and glory. You can get two half point byes if they are requested upon entering. Bring your own clock, as our supply is limited. Registration is from 9-9:50 am. Round times are 10, 1, 3:30, 6:30, and Sunday at noon, 2:30, and 5:30. State and national memberships required.
There will be a meeting concerning the future of the club at 11:00 am Sunday morning.

Tags: chess, Twin Cities, chess blog

Minnesota Chess Survey

2006-12-09T01:33:00.000-08:00

Jeffrey Ballew and other members of the Rochester Area Scholastic Chess League have created two versions of a chess survey for the purpose of:

gathering data about existing chess opportunities in Minnesota, particularly for scholastic chess; and
soliciting opinions about some questions currently of importance in the Minnesota scholastic chess community

I invite everyone to please visit Minnesota Chess Survey and submit one of the two survey versions.

The challenges of the Chess Castle, MSCA and the overall chess community can be better addressed with more members, more tournaments, bigger turnouts, bigger purses, etc., etc.

In my opinion, the first step is understanding we are all interconnected. Thus, by helping build scholastic chess we are also expanding chess opportunities for adults. Accordingly, tournament directors, sponsors, hosts and chess players are asked to help promote the Minnesota Chess Survey at tournaments and elsewhere.

Time is of the essence as the Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) is scheduled to have their annual meeting in February. It is our hope we can provide data which reflects wide support for having MSHSL recognize chess as a sanctioned event. We are of the opinion, that in doing so, more high schools would be inclined to provide resources to establish scholastic chess programs and/or further support existing programs. Similarly, additional scholastic programs would surely follow at the lower levels (elementary and middle schools).

Thank you all for your kind indulgence.

This is a team blog!

2006-12-06T08:06:00.000-08:00

I see that we are getting quite a bit of traffic between the posting on the Yahoo group and the link on the Chess Castle site. For those who got here from the Yahoo group, you know that you are invited to join as a writer for this blog.

For those who didn't see that notice, I wanted to inform you that this is a team blog. So far, Kevin has joined me, and there are a couple of invites sent out to others who requested to join.

If you want to join as a writer for this blog, please send me an email to either the address in the Yahoo group or the address on my profile here.

Thanks!

Tags: chess, Twin Cities, chess blog

Some Details for the new location

2006-12-04T08:51:00.000-08:00

Information concerning the new location for the Chess Castle.
Address: 6020 Nicollet Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN
Off-Street Parking in the back lot and nearby on-street parking available.

Anticipated playing fees $3.00 per player per event-day for the building owner. Play will occur in the small half of the basement. We might be able to move some of the tables depending on player participation

Anticipated equipment to be moved: One upright locker/cabinet, Computer with printer, clocks and sets to fit into one plastic storage container with wheels. That's it. Everything else must be stored elsewhere or liquidated.

Monday Action Quads and Thursday Knighters will continue at the new location. We need tournament directors to run weekend events.

We will be playing at 6020 Nicollet Avenue South

2006-12-01T12:31:00.000-08:00

The Chess Castle will be at this new location beginning January. Please join us for Monday, Thursday, and some weekend tournaments at our new digs!

Tags: chess, Twin Cities, chess blog

Welcome to the Chess Castle of Minnesota weblog

2006-11-28T13:09:00.000-08:00

My first tournament at the Chess Castle was June 2002. Although I am far from being the best player there, I certainly enjoy my time at the club, which is one of the main places for us Twin Cities chess players to play regularly.

As I mentioned in my blog posting here about a month ago, we are going through a period of change. In January we will be at a new location in the Twin Cities.

Inspired by the blog of the Boylston Chess Club of Massachusetts, I would like to take the opportunity to bring some new energy to the club with the beginning of the new year. I want to work with others to create an interactive, online space for us to display and discuss our games and help build chess in the Twin Cities.

We will soon announce the address of our new location. If you are a past member of the Chess Castle, please come to one of the events in January!

Thank you!

Joe Erjavec

Tags: chess, Twin Cities, chess blog

Chess Castle of Minnesota Blog

New Blog

2010 Minnesota Closed Games

2010 Final Four of College Chess

Frank Johnson Games from 2010 MN Open

Pre-registration List for Minnesota Scholastic Championships

Are Our Schools In Checkmate?

Rochester Chess Blog Moved

3rd Annual Okoboji Scholastic

3rd Annual Okoboji Open

A new site to check out

Thursday Chess

World Chess Live

Is anyone in the Minnesota chess community interested in running this blog?

The first year at the new location is coming to a close!

Tension!!!

John B's team, the Dallas Destiny, won the first round

Two items: How's the Thursday Knighter, and a link of interest

Check out this new chess website: Gambetto

Twenty enrolled in July Thursday Knighter

It's not to late to join June's Thursday Knighter

Events at the Chess Castle since January

Fresh look for the Minnesota State Chess Association website

Round Four of the Thursday Knighter III

March Thursday Knighter at the Chess Castle

Minnesota Scholastic report on Susan Polgar's blog

The Late Winter Think at the Castle

2007 Mn Open Gallery

2007 Mn Open Results

IMPORTANT: Registration form for the Scholastic event!

MSCA Board meeting this Saturday

Do any readers have any updates on play at the Chess Castle?

The crosstable is posted at USCF

More results posted on Minnesota Chess

114th Annual Minnesota Open

Rochester 2007 Winter Open

Mankato Chess Club Website

As the second full month comes to a close...

John Bartholomew has a blog

Thursday Knighter I: Femi wins!

Thank you, Mr. Bill!

Looking for writer's for Monday night Action Quads...

Thursday Knighter I

Action Quads and Thursday Knighter

Day One, Thursday, January 4

Two more pictures

Pictures from last night...opening night at the new location

Thursday Knighter I

Moving day is Saturday...

This weekend is the 2006 Chess Castle Championship

Minnesota Chess Survey

This is a team blog!

Some Details for the new location

We will be playing at 6020 Nicollet Avenue South

Welcome to the Chess Castle of Minnesota weblog