Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Club Update: Late Fall Swiss, Round Four Results and Round Five Pairings

Rd Bd Scr White Scr Black
05 1. ___ Resika, Nathan (3.0) ___ Kernighan, Mark D (4.0)
05 2. ___ Mangion, Ian (2.5) ___ Zilbermintz, Lev (3.0)--Ian's 2.5 consists of bye.nsists of bye.
05 3. ___ Pedersen, Roger E (3.0) ___ Boxer, Matthew (2.5)
05 4. ___ Arias , Fermin (2.5) ___ Hart, Charles M (2.5)--Charlie's 2.5 consists of byes.
05 5. ___ Race, Doran (2.0) ___ Pepe, Michael A (2.0)
05 6. ___ Cohen, Bryan Paul (2.0) ___ Norris, Anthony (2.0)
05 7. ___ Senyatkin, Aleksey (2.0) ___ Martinez, Alberto (2.0)

05 8. ___ Nayak, Mohan Rao (2.0) ___ Korn, David Allan (1.5)
05 9. ___ Fortunato, Joseph (1.5) ___ Garrett, Damon T (1.5)

Katz 1 point bye

If Norris takes a 1/2 point bye:
05 6. ___ Cohen, Bryan Paul (2.0) ___ Senyatkin, Aleksey (2.0)
05 7. ___ Katz, Harry (1.0) ___ Martinez, Alberto (2.0)

Race has a 1/2 bye in round 6

Our good friend Anthony Norris has very kindly submitted the following video. His is not linking to content alone, but providing his own video. Thank you Anthony.



West Orange CC Late Fall Swiss -- West Orange CC Late Fall Swiss 2011 Wall Chart

Name/State ID Group/Team Rate Rnd 1 Rnd 2 Rnd 3 Rnd 4 Rnd 5
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Kernighan, Mark D 2260 W 11 --- B 5 W 4 B 2
NJ 12147190 1.0 X2.0 3.0 4.0
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. Resika, Nathan 2201 HALF HALF B 21 B 15 W 1
NY 12444347 0.5 1.0 2.0 3.0
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3. Zilbermintz, Lev 2083 HALF W 19 B 6 W 5 B 4
NJ 12476202 0.5 1.5 2.0 3.0
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4. Mangion, Ian 2016 B 12 W 23 HALF B 1 W 3
NJ 13497907 1.0 2.0 2.5 2.5
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5. Race, Doran 1959 W 14 B 20 W 1 B 3 W 12
NY 12183660 1.0 2.0 2.0 2.0
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6. Pedersen, Roger E 1940 B 15 --- W 3 B 12 W 7
NJ 10092990 0.5 X1.5 2.0 3.0
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
7. Boxer, Matthew 1921 W 16 B 28 W 15 W 23 B 6
NJ 12510577 0.5 1.5 1.5 2.5
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
8. Hart, Charles M 1919 B 17 --- HALF W 28 B 15
NJ 10004071 1.0 F1.0 1.5 2.5
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
9. Cohen, Bryan Paul 1900 W 20 B 14 W 16 B 11 W 10
NJ 20020149 0.0 0.5 1.5 2.0
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
10. Norris, Anthony 1897 B 23 W 12 --- B 14 B 9
NJ 12758884 0.0 0.0 X1.0 2.0
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11. Martinez, Alberto 1890 B 1 W 17 B 23 W 9 B 28
NJ 12490535 0.0 1.0 1.5 2.0
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
12. Pepe, Michael A 1837 W 4 B 10 --- W 6 B 5
NJ 12565700 0.0 1.0 X2.0 2.0
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
14. Garrett, Damon T 1824 B 5 W 9 B 17 W 10 B 23
NJ 12545276 0.0 0.5 1.5 1.5
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
15. Arias , Fermin 1739 W 6 B 16 B 7 W 2 W 8
NJ 12670179 0.5 1.5 2.5 2.5
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
16. Katz, Harry S 1718 B 7 W 15 B 9 B 20 ---
NJ 12052860 0.5 0.5 0.5 1.0 1.0
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
17. Nayak, Mohan Rao 1696 W 8 B 11 W 14 BYE W 20
NJ 12237580 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
19. Kwok, Man-Chit 1607 HALF B 3 --- ZERO ---
NJ 14201547 0.5 0.5 F0.5 0.5 0.5
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
20. Korn, David Allan 1604 B 9 W 5 B 28 W 16 B 17
NJ 14564164 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.5
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
21. Hagerty, John Mich 1574 HALF HALF W 2 ZERO ZERO
NJ 10043816 0.5 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
23. Fortunato, Joseph 1553 W 10 B 4 W 11 B 7 W 14
NJ 12932570 1.0 1.0 1.5 1.5
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
28. Senyatkin, Aleksey unrated BYE W 7 W 20 B 8 W 11
NJ 14717317 1.0 1.0 2.0 2.0
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Another video of Anothony's. Love this guy's spirit. Double click screenk to enlarge:



How Sweet?



Effort! Passion!



Who Can Not Like This Guy?

Thursday, November 24, 2011

REVISON: Club Update: Late Fall Swiss, Round Three Results and Round Four Pairings

Editor recieved the revised tables and results belew at 11:33 am, published 11:38 am. Revised 6:53 pm.

The WOCC is especially pleased to see new faces Mark Kernighan and Ian Mangion both from the esteemed Kenilworth Chess Club, Aleksey Senyatkin of East Orange, and now last night, Nathan Resika of NY.

We are blessed to have such strong players participating in a tournament with an already high average rating, further elevating the event. This does not go unnoticed or unappreciated. Thank you.

As many of you already know but bears repeating, Mark is a Life Master, 25th out of 1,914 active players in the State of New Jersey. He is exactly in the top 1.01% in the Nation. Thank you Mark.

Ian also has significant chess accomplishments, 103rd in the state, and 4.2% nationally. Thank you Ian.

Aleksey came in as an unrated but needless to say is making a mark, recent 1648 from his five provisional games at the recent 4th SY Fish Memorial also from the Kenilworth Chess Club. Thank you Aleksey.

Last but not least, guess who drove from New York, NY last night? Can you imagine? Nathan is also a Life Master, 82nd out of 4,593 in the State of NY, hardly a laughing matter! If Moscow existed in the United States, it would be NY. Thank you Nathan. He ranks in the top 1.2% nationally.

Thank you to TD Roger Pedersen for his suggestion as to bumping the WOCC Late Fall Swiss into Grand Prix status, and thank you to long time club president John Hagerty for his leadership in guiding us overall to continued improvement collectively, and evolving as a club overall. Thank you John and Roger. Good luck to all in round four, all hard fought.

























04 1. xxx Kernighan, Mark D (3.0) xxx Mangion, Ian (2.5)
04 2. xxx Arias, Fermin (2.5) xxx Resika, Nathan (2.0)

04 3. xxx Zilbermintz, Lev (2.0) xxx Race, Doran (2.0)
04 4. xxx Pepe, Michael A (2.0) xxx Pedersen, Roger E (2.0)
04 5. xxx Hart, Charles M (1.5) xxx Senyatkin, Aleksey (2.0)
04 6. xxx Boxer, Matthew (1.5) xxx Fortunato, Joseph (1.5)
04 7. xxx Martinez, Alberto (1.5) xxx Cohen, Bryan Paul (1.5)

04 8. xxx Garrett, Damon T (1.5) xxx Norris, Anthony (1.0)
04 9. xxx Korn, David Allan (1.0) xxx Katz, Harry S (0.5)
04 1.0 Nayak, Mohan Rao (1.0) BYE
[revised back to 1.0, from 0.5, Wed 30 Nov, 2011, per instruction Roger P.]


West Orange CC Late Fall Swiss -- West Orange CC Late Fall Swiss 2011Cross Table, Page 1

No. Gr Name(Team) St Rate 1 2 3 Score

1. Kernighan, Mark D (1)......... NJ 2260 W11 FW8 W5 3.0
2. Resika, Nathan (2)............ NY 2201 -H- -H- W21 2.0
3. Zilbermintz, Lev (3).......... NJ 2083 -H- W19 D6 2.0
4. Mangion, Ian (4).............. NJ 2016 W12 W23 -H- 2.5
5. Race, Doran (5)............... NY 1959 W14 W20 L1 2.0
6. Pedersen, Roger E (6)......... NJ 1940 D15 FW27 D3 2.0
7. Boxer, Matthew (7)............ NJ 1921 D16 W28 L15 1.5
8. Hart, Charles M (8)........... NJ 1919 W17 FL1 -H- 1.5
9. Cohen, Bryan Paul (9)......... NJ 1900 L20 D14 W16 1.5
10. Norris, Anthony (10).......... NJ 1897 L23 L12 FW19 1.0
11. Martinez, Alberto (11)........ NJ 1890 L1 W17 D23 1.5
12. Pepe, Michael A (12).......... NJ 1837 L4 W10 FW25 2.0
14. Garrett, Damon T (14)......... NJ 1824 L5 D9 W17 1.5
15. Arias , Fermin (15)........... NJ 1739 D6 W16 W7 2.5
16. Katz, Harry S (16)............ NJ 1718 D7 L15 L9 0.5
17. Nayak, Mohan Rao (17)......... NJ 1696 L8 L11 L14 0.5
19. Kwok, Man-Chit (19)........... NJ 1607 -H- L3 FL10 0.5
20. Korn, David Allan (20)........ NJ 1604 W9 L5 L28 1.0
21. Hagerty, John Mich (21)....... NJ 1574 -H- -H- L2 1.0
23. Fortunato, Joseph (23)........ NJ 1553 W10 L4 D11 1.5
25. Nikitopoulos, Nich (25)....... NJ 1325 -H- -H- FL12 1.0
27. Rue, John D. (27)............. NJ 1200 -H- FL6 -N- 0.5
28. Senyatkin, Aleksey (28)....... NJ nnnn -B- L7 W20 2.0

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Club Update: Late Fall Swiss, Round Three Results and Round Four Pairings

The WOCC is especially pleased to see new faces Mark Kernighan and Ian Mangion both from the esteemed Kenilworth Chess Club, Aleksey Senyatkin of East Orange, and now last night, Nathan Resika of NY.

We are blessed to have such strong players participating in a tournament with an already high average rating, further elevating the event. This does not go unnoticed or unappreciated. Thank you.

As many of you already know but bears repeating, Mark is a Life Master, 25th out of 1,914 active players in the State of New Jersey. He is exactly in the top 1.01% in the Nation. Thank you Mark.

Ian also has significant chess accomplishments, 103rd in the state, and 4.2% nationally. Thank you Ian.


Aleksey came in as an unrated but needless to say is making a mark, recent 1648 from his five provisional games at the recent 4th SY Fish Memorial also from the Kenilworth Chess Club. Thank you Aleksey.

Last but not least, guess who drove from New York, NY last night? Can you imagine? Nathan is also a Life Master, 82nd out of 4,593 in the State of NY, hardly a laughing matter! If Moscow existed in the United States, it would be NY. Thank you Nathan. He ranks in the top 1.2% nationally.


Thank you to TD Roger Pedersen for his suggestion as to bumping the WOCC Late Fall Swiss into Grand Prix status, and thank you to long time club president John Hagerty for his leadership in guiding us overall to continued improvement collectively, and evolving as a club overall. Thank you John and Roger. Good luck to all in round four, all hard fought.


Rd Bd Scr White Scr Black
04 1. xxx Kernighan, Mark D (3.0) xxx Mangion, Ian (2.5)
04 2. xxx Arias , Fermin (2.5)
xxx Resika, Nathan (2.0)
04 3. xxx Zilbermintz, Lev (2.0) xxx Race, Doran (2.0)
04 4. xxx Pepe, Michael A (2.0) xxx Pedersen, Roger E (2.0)
04 5. xxx Boxer, Matthew (1.5) xxx Senyatkin, Aleksey (2.0)
04 6. xxx Hart, Charles M (1.5) xxx Fortunato, Joseph (1.5)
04 7. xxx Martinez, Alberto (1.5) xxx Cohen, Bryan Paul (1.5)
04 8. xxx Garrett, Damon T (1.5)
xxx Norris, Anthony (1.0)
04 9. xxx Korn, David Allan (1.0) xxx Katz, Harry S (0.5)
04 1.0 Nayak, Mohan Rao (1.0) BYE


West Orange CC Late Fall Swiss -- West Orange CC Late Fall Swiss 2011
Cross Table, Page 1

No. Gr Name(Team) St Rate 1 2 3 Score

1. Kernighan, Mark D (1)......... NJ 2260 W11 FW8 W5 3.0
2. Resika, Nathan (2)............ NY 2201 -H- -H- W21 2.0
3. Zilbermintz, Lev (3).......... NJ 2083 -H- W19 D6 2.0
4. Mangion, Ian (4).............. NJ 2016 W12 W23 -H- 2.5
5. Race, Doran (5)............... NY 1959 W14 W20 L1 2.0
6. Pedersen, Roger E (6)......... NJ 1940 D15 FW27 D3 2.0
7. Boxer, Matthew (7)............ NJ 1921 D16 W28 L15 1.5
8. Hart, Charles M (8)........... NJ 1919 W17 FL1 -H- 1.5
9. Cohen, Bryan Paul (9)......... NJ 1900 L20 D14 W16 1.5
10. Norris, Anthony (10).......... NJ 1897 L23 L12 FW19 1.0
11. Martinez, Alberto (11)........ NJ 1890 L1 W17 D23 1.5
12. Pepe, Michael A (12).......... NJ 1837 L4 W10 FW25 2.0
14. Garrett, Damon T (14)......... NJ 1824 L5 D9 W17 1.5
15. Arias , Fermin (15)........... NJ 1739 D6 W16 W7 2.5
16. Katz, Harry S (16)............ NJ 1718 D7 L15 L9 0.5
17. Nayak, Mohan Rao (17)......... NJ 1696 L8 L11 L14 1.0
19. Kwok, Man-Chit (19)........... NJ 1607 -H- L3 FL10 0.5
20. Korn, David Allan (20)........ NJ 1604 W9 L5 L28 1.0
21. Hagerty, John Mich (21)....... NJ 1574 -H- -H- L2 1.0

23. Fortunato, Joseph (23)........ NJ 1553 W10 L4 D11 1.5
25. Nikitopoulos, Nich (25)....... NJ 1325 -H- -H- FL12 1.0
27. Rue, John D. (27)............. NJ 1200 -H- FL6 -N- 0.5

28. Senyatkin, Aleksey (28)....... NJ nnnn -B- L7 W20 2.0

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

New round 3 pairings placing Nick as 1 point (2 1/2 point byes)



... Video is from a few years back, but still not without interest.

[Editor, I just recieved this from Roger five minutes ago, published thus, dk:]

Rd Bd Scr White Scr Black
03 1. ___ Race, Doran (2.0) ___ Kernighan, Mark D (2.0)
03 2. ___ Pedersen, Roger E (1.5) ___ Zilbermintz, Lev (1.5)
03 3. ___ Boxer, Matthew (1.5) ___ Arias , Fermin (1.5)
03 4. ___ Fortunato, Joseph (1.0) ___ Martinez, Alberto (1.0)
03 5. ___ Pepe, Michael A (1.0) ___ Nikitopoulos, Nich (1.0)
03 6. ___ Senyatkin, Aleksey (1.0) ___ Korn, David Allan (1.0)
03 7. ___ Cohen, Bryan Paul (0.5) ___ Katz, Harry S (0.5)
03 8. ___ Nayak, Mohan Rao (0.0) ___ Garrett, Damon T (0.5)
03 9. ___ Kwok, Man-Chit (0.0) ___ Norris, Anthony (0.0)

Community: Documentary Brooklyn Castle, ex-Chess Movie

Dear WOCC, The editor recieved this note to his personal chess blog, once very active and well followed, but now inactive. He asked the Director below if she wanted this posted to his blog or the Club, and she gave him the choice. As follows. thank you. WOCC jh, dk

Hi [substitute for blog editor:] West Orange Chess Club

My name is Kali Holloway and I’m the Outreach Director for the documentary Brooklyn Castle (ex-Chess Movie). It’s a great film about an underserved junior high school in Brooklyn, New York (65% of students are from homes living under the poverty level), that has the highest rated chess team in the whole country (the trailer is here -- I hope you'll watch: www.brooklyncastle.com --click red at L for link). To cut to the chase, we’re very near finishing the film (in fact, we’ve just started to submit to film festivals) and rolling out our outreach campaign (which will focus on getting more chess programs in schools throughout the country). To pay for these things, we’re using Kickstarter. And I’m reaching out in the very humble hope that your – via [edit:] West Orange Chess Club Blog. [This] will help us let people know about our project, and spread the word.

Our project page is here: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/rescuedmedia/finishing-brooklyn-castle-formerly-chess-movie (click red at L). I’m sure you’re immensely busy and there’s a lot of other chess news to cover, but if you might even give us and our project a mention, and we can get more eyes on it, I really think we can meet our goal. And, of course, we’d be immensely thankful.

Thanks so much for your time, David, and best to you.

Kali Holloway
Outreach Director

contact: kaliholloway at gee mail dot com

Editor, additional link: IS 318 CHESS TEAM

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Club Update: Late Fall Swiss, Round Two Results and Round Three Pairings

Rd Bd Scr White Scr Black

2.0
03 1. ___ Race, Doran (2.0) ___ Kernighan, Mark D (2.0)
03 2. ___ Pedersen, Roger E (1.5) ___ Zilbermintz, Lev (1.5)
03 3. ___ Boxer, Matthew (1.5) ___ Arias , Fermin (1.5)

1.0
03 4. ___ Fortunato, Joseph (1.0) ___ Martinez, Alberto (1.0)
03 5. ___ Pepe, Michael A (1.0) ___ Korn, David Allan (1.0)
03 6. ___ Cohen, Bryan Paul (0.5) ___ Senyatkin, Aleksey (1.0)

0.5
03 7. ___ Katz, Harry S (0.5) ___ Garrett, Damon T (0.5)

0.0
03 8. ___ Kwok, Man-Chit (0.0) ___ Norris, Anthony (0.0)
03 9. ___ Nayak, Mohan Rao (0.0) ___ Nikitopoulos, Nich (0.0)
03 0.5 Mangion, Ian (2.0) BYE REQUESTED



Very nice interview of WCC Anand after brief, usual requisite advertisement for popular videos.

West Orange CC Late Fall Swiss -- West Orange CC Late Fall Swiss 2011 Wall Chart, Page 1

Name/State ID Group/Team Rate Rnd 1 Rnd 2 Rnd 3
----------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Kernighan, Mark D 2260 W 10 --- B 4
NJ 12147190 1.0 X2.0
----------------------------------------------------------------------
2. Zilbermintz, Lev 2083 HALF W 18 B 5
NJ 12476202 0.5 1.5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
3. Mangion, Ian 2016 B 11 W 20 HALF
NJ 13497907 1.0 2.0 2.5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
4. Race, Doran 1959 W 13 B 19 W 1
NY 12183660 1.0 2.0
----------------------------------------------------------------------
5. Pedersen, Roger E 1940 B 14 W 24 W 2
NJ 10092990 0.5 1.5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
6. Boxer, Matthew 1921 W 15 B 25 W 14 (six out of six in top seeds, currently ahead. Editor)
NJ 12510577 0.5 1.5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
7. Hart, Charles M 1919 B 16 --- ZERO
NJ 10004071 1.0 F1.0 1.0 (Withdrew. Editor)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
8. Cohen, Bryan Paul 1900 W 19 B 13 W 25
NJ 20020149 0.0 0.5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
9. Norris, Anthony 1897 B 20 W 11 B 18
NJ 12758884 0.0 0.0
----------------------------------------------------------------------
10. Martinez, Alberto 1890 B 1 W 16 B 20 (Ten 1890 and over. Editor)
NJ 12490535 0.0 1.0
----------------------------------------------------------------------
11. Pepe, Michael A 1837 W 3 B 9 W 19
NJ 12565700 0.0 1.0
----------------------------------------------------------------------
13. Garrett, Damon T 1824 B 4 W 8 B 15
NJ 12545276 0.0 0.5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
14. Arias , Fermin 1739 W 5 B 15 B 6
NJ 12670179 0.5 1.5 (Top result, 1940 =< Congratulations Fermin. Editor)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
15. Katz, Harry S 1718 B 6 W 14 W 13
NJ 12052860 0.5 0.5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
16. Nayak, Mohan Rao 1696 W 7 B 10 W 22
NJ 12237580 0.0 0.0
----------------------------------------------------------------------
18. Kwok, Man-Chit 1607 --- B 2 W 9
NJ 14201547 0.0 0.0
----------------------------------------------------------------------
19. Korn, David Allan 1604 B 8 W 4 B 11
NJ 14564164 1.0 1.0
----------------------------------------------------------------------
20. Fortunato, Joseph 1553 W 9 B 3 W 10
NJ 12932570 1.0 1.0
----------------------------------------------------------------------
22. Nikitopoulos, Nich 1325 --- --- B 16
NJ 14140077 0.0 0.0
----------------------------------------------------------------------
24. Rue, John D. 1200 HALF B 5 ZERO
NJ 14761813 0.5 0.5 0.5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
25. Senyatkin, Aleksey 1200 BYE W 6 B 8
NJ 14717317 1.0 1.0
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Wednesday, November 09, 2011

Club Update: Late Fall Swiss, Round One Results and Round Two Pairings

Before comments or exegesis, a note from TD [1] Roger E. Pedersen:

"It's not too late to join the West Orange Chess Club Grand Prix aka Late Fall Swiss
Get a half point bye and play next week".

Prizes: 1st $150, 2nd $100, 3rd $75 guaranteed; Best under 1900, $60, 1700, $50, 1500, $35

Players Under 1900 are 11 players for $60
Players Under 1700 are 5 players for $50
Players Under 1500 are 2 players for $35


Round 1 Results

Rd Bd Scr White Scr Black
01 1. 1.0 Kernighan, Mark D (1.0) 0.0 Martinez, Alberto (0.0)
01 2. 0.0 Pepe, Michael A (0.0) 1.0 Mangion, Ian (1.0)
01 3. 1.0 Race, Doran (1.0) 0.0 Garrett, Damon T (0.0)
01 4. 0.5 Arias , Fermin (0.5) 0.5 Pedersen, Roger E (0.5)
01 5. 0.5 Boxer, Matthew (0.5) 0.5 Katz, Harry S (0.5)
01 6. 0.0 Nayak, Mohan Rao (0.0) 1.0 Hart, Charles M (1.0)
01 7. 0.0 Cohen, Bryan Paul (0.0) 1.0 Korn, David Allan (1.0)
01 8. 1.0 Fortunato, Joseph (1.0) 0.0 Norris, Anthony (0.0)
01 1.0 Senyatkin, Aleksey (1.0) BYE
01 0.5 Rue, John D. (0.5) BYE REQUESTED * John, Unrated

Round 2 Pairings

Rd Bd White Black * new faces:
02 1. Hart, Charles M (1.0) Kernighan, Mark D (1.0) * Mark: 2250 ELO, Westfield
02 2. Mangion, Ian (1.0) Fortunato, Joseph (1.0) * Ian: 1997 ELO, Westfield
02 3. Korn, David Allan (1.0) Race, Doran (1.0)
02 4. Pedersen, Roger E (0.5) Rue, John D. (0.5) * John, unrated
02 5. Senyatkin, Aleksey (1.0) Boxer, Matthew (0.5) * Aleksey, unrated
02 6. Katz, Harry S (0.5) Arias , Fermin (0.5)
02 7. Garrett, Damon T (0.0) Cohen, Bryan Paul (0.0)
02 8. Norris, Anthony (0.0) Pepe, Michael A (0.0)
02 9. Martinez, Alberto (0.0) Nayak, Mohan Rao (0.0)



Adele, Rolling In the Deep [2]

While several members were either unavailable, or dealing with personal or medical issues, it must be noted that this is still strong tournament. So much so that, with twenty participants, over a total of six rounds each person will have opportunity to play 32% of all of his ENTIRE competitors (twenty less one--you cannot play yourself--is nineteen, divided by six).

Unless you are near the top of the bottom of the seeding, you can pretty much rest assured that you will be playing six games with opposition averaging about 1780 ELO [3]

[1] WOCC President John Hagerty is the Tournament Director (TD) for this tournament, but Roger is, as always, a resource for the club with this same qualification. John officiates and stands by the quality of fair play, and Roger helps submit the results to the USCF electronically. Thank you Roger. Thank you John.

[2] The editor wishes to uphold his self-appointed adoption of Race's Third Theorem of Video Relevance. It states that across N occasions across a span of a1: b2 social-psychological variability, that if a blog editor were to post one video out of four (at least so it seems) apparently totally irrelevant to Tournament Chess at Standard time Controls, that the odds decrease linearly that Doran might seek to undertake a total and vehement coups d'état, if and only if such editor makes certain to thereafter post other videos pertinent to chess, to proactively protect against such an outcome. This video is one of those one in four, and as indicated members can now expect more chess videos, with the proviso that such editor, as a perk of his effort, can be expected to share one in four videos to entertain others, and in so doing, entertain himself.

[3] The editor wishes to vett these numbers, estimated for illustration purposes only. He will do that once he sees the seeding chart.

Saturday, November 05, 2011

Remarkable Interview III: Kramnik on chess, Anand, Topalov and his future

Here is a remarkable interview with former World Chess Champion Vladimir Kramnik. Despite the apparent length of what is reproduced below, the editor actually took quite a big of time to edit it down. It goes much longer, and is linked here (click red).

There are even discussions as to his preferences in food, opionions about politics, social life, and of course assessments as to--if you can believe it--hard to find weaknesses in Anand's chess playing style.

This is intended as an obvious continuation of the interviews we had published before, for example with Lev Aronian here, and here (click red at L). In the future, we have an equally wonderful long interview with Anand to share in turn, but that must wait another day. Enjoy.



The above video is from another interview, and is intended just to give a sense about his personality.

Kramnik on chess, Anand, Topalov and his future
(full version)

Vlad Tkachiev: This is an interview I’ve long dreamt about. As far back as the end of the 90s it seemed to me that Vladimir and I held positions that seldom coincided, and now finally I had the chance to clarify all the contradictions. Right from the outset the plan “sprung a leak” – firstly, because in the run-up to our conversation Kramnik had given a series of exhaustive interviews, and secondly… It’s not so easy to wear someone down with tricky, controversial questions when they’re so pleasant to talk to. Even during the process of agreeing a time and place for our conversation Vladimir turned out to be impeccably polite and at times even aristocratic in his manners. My fighting spirit slipped away, and I simply had the urge to talk about topics that interested me with a great chess player. Here’s what became of that …

V.T.: Have you ever tried to determine you biorhythms when establishing your tournament schedule? For example, I always play badly in January.

V.K.: For me winter is a difficult period. For example, I always play in Wijk-aan-Zee and it always goes badly, while correspondingly I play well in Dortmund. In winter I simply don’t get enough daylight. I go to sleep and get up very late, and at Wijk-aan-Zee I have the impression I don’t see daylight at all. So there are perfectly rational reasons to explain it.

V.T.: For an outside observer there’s been the impression in recent years that you’ve tried to sharpen your style. Is that true?

V.K.: No, I haven’t tried. My play always depends on how I’m feeling, and that simply changed when I lost the title. Perhaps I became more indifferent or liberated. Before a tournament I never decide what style I’m going to adopt, and although some changes do take place, they’re out of my control.

V.T.: Do you agree with the widespread view that while preparing for the match against Kasparov you changed your style so much that it later began to hold you back? Perhaps the seeds of your loss in the match against Anand were sown in your victory over Kasparov?

V.K.: Perhaps, but you always need to choose, as after all I don’t consider myself capable of playing brilliantly in any style. Yes, in order to beat Kasparov I had to make real changes, though that had already started to happen to my style before then. And afterwards I again tried to somehow transform myself by starting to play 1.e4, but for various reasons that didn’t work out. Above all, I was lacking a certain inner harmony. There was a lot of squabbling and political problems that I’d never enjoyed dealing with, but I considered myself obliged to do something as the situation was so difficult. Perhaps I was wrong and should have… Either way, those attempts to play sharply no longer corresponded to my inner state. My style is in any case more positional, and sharp play isn’t my thing. Of course, you’re partly right, but I don’t regret it. After all, I achieved a lot, becoming World Champion 3 times. I lost to Anand, but I could also have lost to him in my very best form.

V.T.: It seems to me that you’d already won the match against Kasparov before it started, as he wasn’t expecting to see such a Kramnik. And then Anand managed to do the same thing against you, undertaking a colossal amount of work to drag you into a concrete struggle from the first moves.

V.K.: In the match against Anand everything went wrong from the very beginning, just as it did for Kasparov in his match against me. I’m actually a fatalist to a degree, and feel that if that’s how something goes then that’s how it was fated to happen. Of course, Kasparov’s preparation couldn’t be compared to Anand’s – there’s no question Anand managed to do things much better, more intelligently and cunningly. Yes, he completely outthought me.

V.T.: Everything he did came as a surprise for you?

V.K.: Yes, my preparation period didn’t go well and I had practically nothing for White, although I’d worked a great deal, more than before the match against Kasparov. The things I’d put my emphasis on in preparation simply didn’t pay off. I had absolutely nothing against the Meran, although I’d spent months working on it, and I realized that I simply needed to make draws up until around the 10th game, but I couldn’t reconcile myself to such cynicism – after all, it was a World Championship match. So I was in two minds to a degree, although I realized that was my only chance.

V.T.: I’m not talking about that just now, but about the way you placed great restrictions on yourself: the Petroff, the Berlin, which, by the way, have started to unravel. After all, we can still remember the old Kramnik – the Sicilian Defense against anyone, trading blow for blow. Perhaps you made a mistake?

V.K.: Yes, but as the years pass, unfortunately, you don’t have any particular choice. Firstly, everyone limits themselves. Even Kasparov would always play the same thing. Moreover, your memory is no longer what it was at 20 years old, and you can’t do the same amount of work as before: family, a child. Of course, if you’re a fanatic and work 24 hours a day you can play all the openings, but that’s very hard to do if you want to spend time with your family and not forget about the pleasures of life.

V.T.: Especially if you live in Paris?

V.K. Perhaps. Over the years a new circle of acquaintances has emerged, certain social obligations, and so on. I’m no longer ready to sacrifice everything in order to get half a point more in each tournament. Therefore I make a choice and work with what I’ve got, and it turns out the way it turns out. Of course I understand such an approach has its drawbacks, but what can you do? Name me another option and I’ll think about it. I don’t see one.

V.T.: I consider you to be one of the most productive chess players in terms of openings in the whole of history. Moreover, I think your positional understanding is also among the purest I’ve come across. Do you agree with that?

V.K.: I always worked a great deal and really did dig up a lot, more than others. I’m not sure it was more than Kasparov, but it was at a comparable level. But in any event, a very large part of that nevertheless goes to waste. Little gets used; in percentage terms perhaps it’s 5-10%. That’s a problem for chess players in general, which is why you also get people who are lazy. In football things are much simpler: you go to training and know that if you run around and work on shooting it’ll benefit you later. But in chess it might very well work out the opposite: it often happened that I did a great deal of work on some line or other, and then someone refuted it a move earlier, meaning it all gets thrown in the rubbish bin. That’s the real reason, in my view, why chess players work relatively little in comparison to other sportsmen.

As for the positional style, I don’t know how pure it is. That’s something for others to assess, although I do agree it’s my specialty. Positional play is a very complex matter. I’ve often noticed that it’s strung together from short-range calculation. When Karpov began to weaken it wasn’t that he’d stopped understanding, but simply that he’d begun to miscalculate short variations. When he’d make one move in one direction and then go off course on the next you might get the wrong impression. When I’m in bad form I also understand chess badly, while in good form everything seems to be fine. But overall, positional play is my strong point, as are playable endgames.

V.T.: I had the impression that you’ve deteriorated a little in that regard in recent years. I can recall a few won positions that you couldn’t…

V.K.: No, I’ve always played won endgames poorly and couldn’t even tell you why myself. Perhaps I relax too soon. It’s when the evaluation isn’t yet clear, += or =+, that I play well and turn those endings into won ones, which I then sometimes make a mess of, just as I did in my younger years. To be honest, I’ve never particularly stopped to think about the features of my own style, while I could give you a full breakdown on Anand.

V.T.: Let’s try that.

V.K.: I always considered him to be a colossal talent, one of the greatest in the whole history of chess. Each champion has had some sort of specialty, and his is creating counter-play in any position out of absolutely nowhere. He’s got an amazing ability to constantly stretch himself so that even in some kind of Exchange Slav he nevertheless manages to attack something and create something. He also plays absolutely brilliantly with knights, even better than Morozevich – if his knights start to jump around, particularly towards the king, then that’s that, it’s impossible to play against and they’ll just sweep away everything in their path. I noticed it’s better to get rid of them when you’re playing against him.

In general, he’s improved a great deal in recent years, at some point after 2002. He’s a chess player of genius, but previously he didn’t work enough, by and large.

V.T.: But how has he managed to improve? Did marriage help?

V.K.: Perhaps. He’s matured, while previously he lacked the character to become World Champion. I remember in 1995 against Kasparov it was enough just to poke him a little and he simply fell apart. In the match against me things were completely different. Plus, he’s started to work a great deal and now his opening preparation is among the best, if not the best. At the given moment I don’t see who can compete with him when he’s on form. Perhaps only Carlsen in his very best condition, though probably not. I think he’ll only leave the stage when he weakens himself and ceases to maintain that extremely high level.

V.T.: His weaknesses?

V.K.: The trouble is there almost aren’t any…


V.T.: So nowadays it’s impossible to play the psychological card against him?

V.K.: Yes, though in any case I never wanted to do something on the level of slamming doors (it seems this is hinting at the well-known case of game 10 of the Anand-Kasparov match in 1995, when Kasparov, or so many people claimed, slammed the door noisily on purpose in order to affect his opponent – V.T.) and so on. That’s something that in any case probably wouldn’t work now. His main weakness is that he’s no longer so young, and now he’s also got a child. I can’t imagine he’s still going to work his socks off as before. But at the given moment I think he’s the best in the world in terms of play, namely in terms of play.

V.T.: And the defense of passive positions?

V.K.: He’s doesn’t get passive positions, as they immediately become active.

V.T.: It seems to me he’s got a very big weakness, only it’s difficult to get at it – his play in blockaded positions. I could list half a dozen examples.

V.K.: He does have weaknesses. For example, he doesn’t sense some nuances or move orders very well. But the thing is that in modern chess you can arrange the whole play to suit your style – that’s the problem. So with a computer you can create your own little chess world and live in it. Ok, blockaded positions, but then he probably knows about that too. If you can tell me how to block everything in the Meran and still get an edge I’d be very grateful.

I think that namely in terms of play Anand is in no way weaker than Kasparov, but he’s simply a little lazy, relaxed and only focuses on matches. In the last 5-6 years he’s made a qualitative leap that’s made it possible to consider him one of the great chess players. Perhaps it doesn’t look like that to observers, but when you play against him you sense what a great range he has.

V.T.: Are you for or against introducing rapid and blitz ratings from 1 January?

V.K.: I’m not against it. Definitely for rapid, while I’m not sure about blitz, though that’s also an option. Another possibility would be to include rapid ratings in the calculations for the classical rating, but with a lower ratio, although separate ratings would still be better. Let’s have different forms, like beach, mini and normal football, and a separate championship can be run for each of them. The important thing is simply to standardize the 3 different time controls, after which the market can decide. I don’t agree with Sasha (Grischuk), as it seems to me that’s wishful thinking. Let the market decide, which is actually what’s happening at the moment as no-one’s forcing anyone to organize Wijk-aan-Zee or Linares using the classical time control.

V.T.: What are your political convictions?

V.K.: Ah, now that’s a very complex question.


V.T.: Well, for example, Grischuk’s got a wild aversion to what’s going on in Russia. What about you?

V.K.: No, I don’t have any aversion. I’ve noticed that it’s very hard to explain any of my political leanings, because I look at all of this from a completely different angle. I don’t really understand the point of view of other people, and perhaps they don’t understand mine. I look at all of this from a rational point of view, in terms of common sense and real possibilities, of what actually exists or could exist. People mostly dream. When it comes to Russia they say that everything’s bad, but you need to understand that at the given moment we don’t have the potential to become a Germany or Switzerland. If I started playing tennis now I wouldn’t expect to take part in next year’s Wimbledon. It strikes me that we’ve still got some inflated expectations left over from Soviet times.

V.T.: And in terms of corruption Russia has the right to be 135th in the world? … then you’ve got a clear aversion to the communist project in Russia?

V.K.: Yes, of course, an absolute aversion. Of course, there were some positives, but it’s all a question of the cost. Stalin was a multifaceted man, even a talented one, but how clever do you need to be to imprison millions of people and then get them to do hard labor for nothing to rebuild a country. That absolute villain laid waste to a whole generation of people. … I was really inspired by the example of China. They were all busy somewhere and had gone completely quiet on the international stage. That lasted for around 20 years and then, all of a sudden, they’re a world superpower. Now they’re beginning to seize control of the financial markets and increase their influence, and rightly so. What we need to do now is pull ourselves together and improve human welfare.

V.T.: It seems despite the fact you live in Paris and you’re married to a French woman you still consider yourself Russian?

V.K.: Yes, of course, and my passport’s also Russian. I love Europe. I like the way people relate to each other, which is something we don’t do quite so well. But I grew up here and even if I ever receive a French passport I’ll still remain Russian.

V.K.: It’s just that my circle of acquaintances changed a little. There’s a time for everything. When you’re 17 years old that’s all fascinating, cool: parties, company, girls, alcohol, but then you grow tired of it, and want something else.

V.T.: And how do things look nowadays?

V.K.: Well, everything’s more moderate, as after all I’ve got a family, a child. But my house is still open for many people who often turn up without calling first or stay the night.

V.T.: Have you got more friends who are French or Russian?

V.K.: It’s probably something like 50: 50. I’m still quite free and open with people, but my circle of acquaintances has changed, which is natural. I’ve got some nostalgia for those times and I’m very glad that was part of my life, but the chapter’s closed and I’ve got no desire to repeat it. After all, my career’s gone well and I was also able to party a bit, while not doing any harm to my health. Many people who start their professional career at an early age never had that period, and then they try to catch up when they get to around 50. A big change in my relations with people was brought about by my World Champion status. For some I became unapproachable, it seemed. It wasn’t even a matter of envy or jealousy but, perhaps, some unachieved ambitions got in the way. In any case, the relations changed and perhaps became more cautious. I didn’t change greatly myself and I’m still quite down-to-earth with people. That’s a chapter I’ve closed.

V.T.: What are you preferences in terms of drinks and food?

V.K.: I’ve now become a bourgeois Frenchman. I drink a little wine but, in general, I don’t remember the last time I got drunk. When I was younger the goal was – to sit down and drink in order to get drunk, because why else would you? Now it’s no longer like that. I also like good cognac, and it’s always standing there at home. In the evening I like to have a glass or two.

V.T.: French affairs.

V.K.: Yes. I’m quite omnivorous when it comes to food. I love lots of things but I have to restrict myself because of my tendency to put on weight. For example, I like Indian cuisine, but that’s immediately a kilogram of extra weight the next day. I do in fact consider French cuisine to be the world’s unrivalled no.1.

Tuesday, November 01, 2011

WOCC Late Fall Swiss, Link to USCF

One postscript: Link to the USCF posting, tournament report here. Click red.

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Two, Item of note: Nakamura versus Rabajbov at ICC. Naka appears to add time to the latter's clock at the end, as if to taunt him. These feature is allowed at ICC as an aspect of mercy. Rabajbov is now rated 2781 in the recent FIDE report. His chess play is not a joke.

The rumor is over. It was confirmed today that Nakamura is working privately with chess great Garry Kasparov, as Magnus Carlsen had also done earlier this year. News came out today, linked here. Click red at L.

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Final Resolution of Difficulty in Posting Results

The WOCC could say as little as possible about this, but what is lost in lack of silence might be made up for in learning, or is it the word, 'education' for all of us.

John supported the draft of a report taking all club members, rank sorted by USCF expiration date, which has now been completed and elaborated. This was done yesterday not to address the recent delay, but to prepare for the next event.

As such, we now have a map as it were of all memberships looking forward, so that, for example, in the most unlikely event Fred at the end of December, or David at the end of January wished to compete in the next month AND did not renew, this would have to be firmly committed by the individual as well as tracked by the club before allowing an entry to a new event.


Decisive Hand Moves! No Fear.

This can be said in fewer words, but A. it is late Tuesday, and B. we all have now waited two weeks. Please forgive editor if this is not perfectly written...

Here is a note from Roger to us, received forty minutes ago. He was very persevering in trying to contact the member who failed to solve the problem. No one is angry. Its really just a disappointment. We were all young once. The editor did twenty times worse in 1983, and lived to make sure he didn't do what he did again. Matter done, moving onward. We hope N_. joins us in the future for new events.

Surprisingly, BTW, many, many WOCC members have memberships paid to the USCF not only looking forward to the spring or half year, but well nigh the year and next year after that. Again, we all learned, and as best as we can will insure against this to start and launch our Late Fall Swiss, next week, with of course the imprimateur of Grand Prix Status. Not crisis but opportunity. And now Rogers note and the TD resolve:

"I submitted the WOCC Fall Swiss 2011.

"The games against N_ N_. will be sent the next tournament as his USCF membership had expired and that was holding up the entire tournament. Hence, he could not be removed from the tournament submission so I substituted J_H_ to accept his 5 forfeits (no rated games).

"I spoke to J_. about this and he agreed to have me submit the tournament this way with N_'s 3 loses to be rated at a later date.

Roger E Pedersen"

WOCC thanks Roger and thanks J_H_ for his willingness to make a major contribution to this problem now being solved expeditiously.

Corrections and improvement gladly accepted, pls write WOCC.