Free Chess Tournaments!!

If you are over 1800 and live in NYC, come play free for cash prizes in the top section at selected Chess in the Schools tournaments. Several adult masters and experts have confirmed their participation, and the minimum rating of 1800 is strictly observed, so competition should be good.

You must preregister by emailing Shaun Smith at ssmith@chessintheschools.org, or call him at 646-688-0725

dates:
12/19/2009 IS 318 101 Walton St Williamsburg
1/18/2010 FDA Harlem
1/30/2010 IS 318 101 Walton St Williamsburg
3/6/2010 IS 318 101 Walton St Williamsburg

times: arrive by 9:25.
tomorrow: 4 g/30 at 10. 11:15. 1. 2:15
future tournaments will be g/45

prizes: currently $50, $30, $20, but if particpation is good, we hope to triple or quadrupled the money soon.

the most evil profession

U.S. Said to Reconsider Quick Sale of Citigroup Stake

"The trouble with the share sale underscored the lingering worries over Citigroup’s financial health and raised concern that the bank’s eagerness to free itself from government oversight on issues such as employee pay might come at a high cost to shareholders. It also may heighten pressure on Citigroup’s chief executive, Vikram S. Pandit.

Citigroup attempted to sell stock only a day after another giant bank, Wells Fargo, held a similar sale to raise money to pay back its bailout money.

The development followed news earlier Wednesday that the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority had filed a multi-billion dollar arbitration claim claiming “fraudulent misrepresentation” on the part of Citigroup after the government-run fund’s $7.5 billion investment in Citigroup went south."

it's just disgusting behavior.

by the way, this is my 500th post.

a tactics quiz from grade nationals

1. ???-- Aleem Awan. Black had just played 11...h6, and white retreated the queen to e3. How should Aleem have continued?

2. What good move did black (Isaac Bareyev) play here?

3. Nigel Bryant was white in the above position against Dean Davies; how did he win?

4. White to move (Joel Ogunremi - Nicholas Desmarais)

5. JP Garcia missed a tactic here for white.

6. Miguel Garcia was black in the above position and played some nice moves. What would you do?

7. Randy Rivera played 15... g5 in the above position (rd 7 vs. Sam Chapin).

What is his idea after 16. Nxg5?

White actually played 16. Qb1. Does the same idea work?

answers!!

.

1. 12... Bxh2 wins a pawn, since 13. Kxh2 loses the queen to 13....Ng4+

2. Isaac played 16....b5!, a thematic move that opens up the white king and gains control of the d5 square.

3. Nigel played 14. g4! winning the trapped knight: 14... Nf6 15. exf6 exf6 16. Qxe8+ Rxe8 17. Rxe8+ Bf8 18. Bh6 Qxb2 19. Rxf8# 1-0

4. Joel played the restraining move 19. c5, trying to keep blck's knight on c8.

5. 17. Rxf8 Rxf8 18. Ne7+ forks the king and queen.

6. Miguel played 12...a4! 13. Qd1 Qb6! 14. Rb1 Nxd4

and now his opponent blundered with 15. Ne4? Nxe3 16. fxe3 Nxf3+ 17. Qxf3 Bxc4

He should have lost only a pawn by playing 15. Bxd5! Bxd5 16. Nxd4 Bxd4 17. Bxd4
Qxd4.

7. Randy intended 16. Nxg5 Nxb4! 17. axb4 Qc4+ 18. Ke1 Bxb4.

It also works against 16. Qb1: 16... Nxb4 17. axb4 Qc4+ 18. Bd3 (18. Ke1 Qe2#) 18... Nxd3 19. Nb6 Qb5 20. Ra5 Qxb6 21. Qxd3 -+.

It isn't, however, quite the same if black takes on b4 on move 15 because of 18. Nd2 (15...Nxb4!? 16. axb4 Qc4+ 17. Ke1 Bxb4+ 18. Nd2), although it's still good.

An Instructive Moment in the French

Kevin Cao (2127) - Rashawn Williams (1675)
Grade Nationals 7th grade
round 1

1. e4 e6
2. d4 d5
3. e5 c5
4. c3 Nc6
5. Nf3 Qb6
6. Be2 cxd4
7. cxd4 Nge7
8. Na3 Nf5
9. Nc2




I love talking about the Advanced French with kids, because it illustrates a lot of important strategic/ positional themes. There's a lot to talk about, rather than analyze. The pawn structure gives white a space advantage, but also a big weakness on d4 and sometimes trouble on b2 and f2 as well. There are good and bad bishops, outposts for knights (c5, d6 for white, f5 for black), open and half open files (c, f), pawn breaks (f4-f5, g4-g5, h4-h5, ...f6) and positions that you can choose to open or keep closed.

9...Bb4+
An interesting moment. How should white get out of check?

picture of Rashawn to cover the answer

White should play 10. Kf1, which looks weird, but is a kind of common idea in the advanced French. The Rh1 is often useful on the g or h files, since white often pushes one or both of those pawns. Sometimes the rook is lifted via h3.

Taking the bishop (10. Nxb4) would be a good move (since it's black's good bishop), except it loses a pawn after 10...Qxb4 (D):




Now if 11. Bd2, black can take on b2: Qxb2 and the queen doesn't get trapped: 12. Rb1 Qxa2 13. Bc3 Qa3 and it can escape on the a3-f8 diagonal.

11. Nd2 loses the d4 pawn

11. Qd2 hangs d4 because of where the white king is: 11... Nfxd4 12. Qxb4 Nxf3+ 13. Bxf3 Nxb4 and black's just up a nice pawn.

So 11. Kf1.
Next question: What should black do here?

Black should play 10... h5, so that his knight won't get kicked from the good f5 square, or 10... Be7, to save his good bishop. Instead, he played 10.. Bd7.

After 10.... Bd7 from the above diagram, rank the following moves in order of goodness: 11. b3, 11. h3, 11. g4, 11. Nxb4.

Rashawn and Mr Galvin, 318's Assistant Principal

11. b3? is a silly move that weakens the dark squares and loses the d pawn:
11...Bc3 12. Rb1 Nfxd4.

11. g4! is the best move, kicking the knight from its excellent outpost and forcing it to h6 rather than e7:

11...Nh6 (If 11... Nfe7 12. a3 traps the Bb4) and now white takes the good bishop:
12. Nxb4 Qxb4
13. h3 O-O

14. Kg2 and white has everything: a good vs bad bishop, freedom for the Rh1, a kingside attack, and black's Nh6 is uncomfortable.

Taking the bishop first isn't as good, because without the threat to trap the bishop, the Nf5 can retreat to e7, and from there come back to g6/ f4, or transfer to the queenside:

11. Nxb4 Qxb4
12. a3 (not 12. g4? right away because black can steal the pawn: 12...Nfxd4 13. a3 Qb3!)
12... Qb6
13. g4

13...Nfe7!

White made the mistake of playing 11. h3 rather than 11. g4, and black correctly played
11... h5 on his next move, stopping g4.
12. a3 (12. Nxb4! was better)
12... Be7
13. b4


Black had a nice position here but eventually lost.

Behind the Lights

A former student, Mindy Zhang, has written a fantastic article/video piece, Behind the Lights, about the IS 318 team for a college class:

"Finally, when Galvin was asked what his favorite piece was, the corner of his lips slowly moved towards the corner of his eyes.

'My favorite piece would be the king,' he says. 'Because the king is the one piece on the board that you can’t play without.'"

no charge for awesomeness, part two

IS 318 won the 6th and 7th grade sections of Grade Nationals last weekend, and came second in the eighth grade. We also won the K-6 blitz championship and came second in the K-12.

James Black won the sixth grade section (6.5/7) and the K-6 blitz championship (11/12). Other IS 318 individual winners were:

8th grade
tied for 2nd with 5.5: Alexis Paredes and Jehron Bryant
tied for 10th with 5: Nigel Bryant and Pobo Efekoro

6th grade
1st under 1200: Alex Bradford

photos! (more here)

grocery store musical

improv everywhere

you could have a 1 in 600 chance of developing bladder cancer from the arsenic in your water

arsenic poisoning

Millions in U.S. Drink Dirty Water, Records Show

More than 20 percent of the nation’s water treatment systems have violated key provisions of the Safe Drinking Water Act over the last five years, according to a New York Times analysis of federal data.

That law requires communities to deliver safe tap water to local residents. But since 2004, the water provided to more than 49 million people has contained illegal concentrations of chemicals like arsenic or radioactive substances like uranium, as well as dangerous bacteria often found in sewage.

....

In response to inquiries submitted by Senator Boxer, the E.P.A. has reported that more than three million Americans have been exposed since 2005 to drinking water with illegal concentrations of arsenic and radioactive elements, both of which have been linked to cancer at small doses.

In some areas, the amount of radium detected in drinking water was 2,000 percent higher than the legal limit, according to E.P.A. data.

But federal regulators fined or punished fewer than 8 percent of water systems that violated the arsenic and radioactive standards. The E.P.A., in a statement, said that in a majority of situations, state regulators used informal methods — like providing technical assistance — to help systems that had violated the rules.

But many systems remained out of compliance, even after aid was offered, according to E.P.A. data. And for over a quarter of systems that violated the arsenic or radioactivity standards, there is no record that they were ever contacted by a regulator, even after they sent in paperwork revealing their violations.

Those figures are particularly worrisome, say researchers, because the Safe Drinking Water Act’s limits on arsenic are so weak to begin with. A system could deliver tap water that puts residents at a 1-in-600 risk of developing bladder cancer from arsenic, and still comply with the law.

read more

That freaks me out.

In other news, I'm starting a photography class tonight (2 hours every Tuesday night for 10 weeks), and flying to Dallas with 28 kids for Grade Nationals tomorrow morning. We are meeting at school at 3:15 am, if you can believe that, to get on a 6 am flight. We'll play in the 6th, 7th, and 8th grade sections, and I'll hopefully have pictures, quizzes, and stories for you next week.

Saturday scholastic tournament

Today's CIS tournament was won by Alexis Paredes, James Ovando, D'Andrea Dey, and Randy Rivera (all from 318).

Vaughn Soso, who won 3.5/4 in the reserve section.

Anita Maksimiuk

Alexis Paredes, winner of the tournament and the blitz playoff

Alex Bradford

two quiz questions and a game

1. Otto Schatz - Gabriella. How should black get out of check, 28...Qf8 or 28..Kh7?

2. Keith Leary is white. What should he have played?

Shawn Swindell - Jaja Nyamekye

1. e4 c5

2. Nf3 d6

3. Bb5+ Bd7

4. Bxd7+ Qxd7

5. c4 Nc6

6. O-O Nf6

7. Nc3 e6

8. d4

8...cxd4

9. Nxd4 Be7

10. Be3 Nxd4? no reason for this concession. Black should just castle.

11. Bxd4 Shawn should definitely take with the queen, but he thought black could answer 11... Ng4, which loses to 12. Qxg7.

11... Qc6

12. Qe2 Shawn said he originally intended 12. Qd3, but came to think 12. Qe2 was better. He was wrong, not because of

12... O-O? but because after 12... e5! 13. Be3, his e pawn hangs: Nxe4. Now white gets some compensation after 14. Nd5 Nf6 15. Nxe7 Kxe7, but not enough.

13. f4 Nd7

14. Rad1 a6

what should white play?

Shawn Swindell, author of this beautiful game.

Shawn played
15. Rd3 but it's also possible to try 15. Nd5!?

If black takes, we get the piece back with an attack: 16. exd5 Qc7 17. Qxe7 Rfe8 18. Qh4.

And if black doesn't take, we get a hilarious fritz-generated knight maneuver:15... Bd8 16. Nb4 Qc7 17. Nc2 Bf6 18. Ne3

analysis diagram: Nc3-d5-b4-c2-e3.

15... Nc5

16. Rg3 g6

17. f5!

This position is very dangerous. Black's only hope is to play ...Nd7 and ...Bf6 immediately.
17....Rfe8 This move is totally unrealistic.

Another way to go wrong for black: 17... Qc7 18. Qh5 e5 (18... f6 loses to 19. Rxg6+ hxg6 20. Qxg6+ Kh8 21. Rf3) 19. Nd5 Qd7 20. Bxc5 dxc5 21. Nxe7+ Qxe7 22. f6)

18. fxg6 (18. Qh5!)
18... fxg6
19. Qh5! e5

20. Rxg6+! hxg6
21. Qxg6+ Kh8
22. Rf7
1-0

answers to quiz

1. Black should play 28... Qf8 29. Qb7 a5 30. Qxb6 a4. Instead she got mated after 28... Kh7 29. Qf5+ g6 30. Qxf7+ Kh8 31. Rc8+

2. White wins by taking on f6 and playing Bb5+: 1. Bxf6 exf6 2. Bb5+ Ke7 3. Nd5+ Ke6

4. f4! Bxd1 5. f5+ Ke5 6. f4+ Kd4 7. c3#
Black can try 4... Qa5+ 5. Qd2 Qxd2+ (5... Qxb5 6. Nc7+) 6. Kxd2 but now white threatens both 7. Nc7+, winning the rook, and 7. f5+ Ke5 8. f4+ Kd4 9. c3#

christian rap denounces sinful "front hugs"

this is the funniest thing I've ever seen