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Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Final Ratings


Name 23-Apr
Thomas 1275
Frank 807
Magnus 776
Anton 768
Josh 748
Thomas 560
Lendale 433
Carter 369
Joe 344
Evan 246
Keighvin 245
Annikka 236
Angela 220
Aidan 124
          Pts        Tbk
1 Thomas W7 W5 W6 3 4.5
6 Magnus W19 W3 L1 2 6
5 Josh W13 L1 W8 2 5
3 Frank W11 L6 W4 2 4.5
4 Anton W10 W8 L3 2 3
13 Annikka L5 D19 B 1.5 3
19 Aidan L6 D13 H 1 3.5
8 Lendale H L4 L5 0.5 4
7 Tom McD L1 H F 0.5 3
10 Joe L4 H F 0.5 2
11 Evan L3 H F 0.5 2

Thursday, April 17, 2014

Instructive position

Here's a position Magnus (playing Black) found himself in after his opponent tried the wild Danish Gambit sacrificing 2 pawns to gain  development. Magnus was feeling pretty smug after fending off the attack and getting a rook for a knight, gaining an extra pawn and having eliminated the Queens and thus imminent danger. He probably realized that he was behind in development, but astonishingly he didn't realize his opponent was ahead in development. What do I mean? I mean his opponent is still dangerous - like a wounded lion! What is Magnus's best move? a) Bb4  b) b6  c) c6  d) d6  e) g6


The real danger here is the double attack with Nb5 or Nd5, so if you said Bb4, you'll lose a rook after Nb4 Ba5 Bxg7. Best is the simple c6 which prevents aggression by that knight and keeps g7 guarded. Yes, he need to develop, but right now he needs to defend!

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

In-school Tournament

Usually tournaments continue until there is a clear winner. We have a clear winner after three rounds. I was considering holding a fourth round to decide second place, but since there are four people tied, it would take two more rounds. And since several people cannot make it next week, I am declaring the tournament officially over.
Show up next week for awards. Top 5 places, top U600, top U300.

We will have chess club until the end of April. 

RATINGS
Anton was briefly ahead of Frank until he lost to Frank in Round 3 of the tournament
Magnus has passed up Josh

Name 16-Apr
Thomas 1275
Frank 807
Anton 780
Magnus 752
Josh 748
Thomas 560
Lendale 433
Carter 369
Joe 344
Evan 246
Keighvin 245
Annikka 236
Angela 220
Aidan 121

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Ratings 4-9


Thomas 1273
Frank 809
Anton 791
Josh 745
Magnus 735
Thomas 560
Lendale 432
Carter 369
Joe 344
Evan 246
Keighvin 245
Annikka 231
Angela 220
Aidan 121

Thursday, April 3, 2014

Problem from Dayton's Catalog

Yesterday I told you the story of finding a picture in a catalog which had a grandpa playing chess agains his grandson. The grandpa had only one pawn left while the youngster still had all his pieces. However, when I examined it, I realized the grandpa, who was getting ready to move was actually going to win the game! (The actual position in the magazine is unknown, but it was siimilar to this one.) How does grandpa win?

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Ratings (adjusted Apr 3, 2014)

This includes the MSCA Tournament. Magnus now has a USCF rating of 835 - down from 1040.   Tom has a USCF of 1118. So my system seems pretty close for both of you.

Last First 30-Mar
Miranda Thomas 1239
Henry Mace 873
Priborkin Anton 786
Sullivan Frank 792
Nordby Magnus 704
Philips Josh 694
McDermott Thomas 546
Smith Lendale 432
Hahnfeldt Carter 369
Barnard Joe 346
Lee Keighvin 245
Johnson Evan 242
Gotham Angela 220
Meyer Oliver 216
Nordby Annikka 220
Kainz Andres 155
Metz-Taylor Grant 127
Church Ben 117
Lee Aidan 108
Williams Brigham 100
Meyer Misha 100