At Ohio Grade Level Chess Championship 2012

          This past Saturday 401 scholastic chess players descended upon the campus of Akron University to play in the Student Union.  The students represented grades K-12 and played 5 rounds of a game known worldwide that tests mental agility.

The BHS team travelled 3.5 hours to attend the event.  Four sophomores represented the school in the 10^th grade section, and were determined more than ever to capture first place.  Since the formation of the chess club at the high school 3 years ago, the chess team has gone to state with a small team, losing chess the majority of its players to the marching band, sport events, and other extracurricular act ivies.

The team faced 18 schools from all over the state that had 6 or 7 members on the team.  Despite the odds against them, our chess team proved that chess eagles soar when inspired.

The Bellbrook High School Chess Team members were; Adam Sirens, Brian Sirens, Vincent Tong, and Joseph Zoller.  These young men  proved to be a formidable force and brave in battle thanks to their chess coach Dr. Rob Dennis ‘s  weekly mentoring, and instruction.  Our team played students of equal ability or rated 300-400 points higher, they played long games that tested their stamina.  Chess requires sustained concentration and our team used eagle eyes to spot hanging pieces that proved to be fatal mistakes for their opponents and tactics to win games.  When the battles were over, and the smoke cleared, our team came within ½ point of the elusive first place.  Adam, Brian, and Vincent won 3 of 5 games, which gained them rating points.

So the Bellbrook High School Chess Eagles team took second place for 10^th grade in the state of Ohio for the third time in the past 4 years, proving once again that they have the tenacity to be champions.  The beautiful trophy accompanied the team back to Bellbrook, and Joseph Zoller took his own trophy home, after winning 4 of 5 games and placing 7^th in the 10^th grade section.

Heartfelt thanks are in order to the Sugarcreek Local school board, Dr. St. Pierre and Principal Baker for supporting scholastic chess at BHS.

Congratulations are in order to our Bellbrook Chess Eagles High School Team: Adam, Brian, Vincent and Joseph for representing our school at the Ohio Grade Level Chess Championships.

Lillian Ortiz Zoller
Bellbrook Chess Eagles Coach/Organizer

Too Good Not to Share

Wednesday night, September 14, 2011  was a “Movies and Matches” night.   No one showed up to play any match chess. However, there were a few of us for the “Movie.”

To be sure, this was not a movie in the normal “movie” sense. Instead it was a selection from www.chessvideos.tv that was free for public consumption. I titled it “Knightmare!” as it was a case of an eventual good Knight against a bad Bishop where the play with the Knight resulted in a Knightmare for the player with the bad Bishop

Peter Lumbaers with the Black pieces provides solid instruction on how to win with the smallest of advantages – in this case a good Knight vice a bad (but not too bad) Bishop – against Anne Haast with the White pieces.

He is very frank about the position being a draw, until Ms. Haast made an error resulting in amplifying Lumbaers’ Knight’s mobility as well as that of his King.

If you care to watch 25 minutes of quality instruction for free, you may find the game here. I have seen it three times and enjoyed it each time as well as learning something each time.

Watch, learn, enjoy, and be entertained.

Round 1 Dayton won by the surprising score of 9-7, splitting on the top six boards 3-3, even though they were out-rated about 200 points on boards 3-6. On the next 10 boards Dayton took 6 to 4 points. Then came round 2 where Dayton picked up 3½ points on the top boards, but only winning one match with 1 1½ points out of 2. On the top 6 boards, Cincinnati failed to pick up a single match point. On the next 10 boards, Dayton lost overall 4½ to 5½, but picked up enough key wins for 3 match points to Cincinnati’s 2 match points.

Photos of the players from both Cincinnati and Dayton are shown below. Also, the players and the individual match results are shown in the table below. Not shown in the table are the four players from DCC who had no Cincinnati opponent so they played each other – Kay Stanley, Bruce Hill, Daniel
Mogilesvasky, and Malachi O’Neal.

Many thanks to Michael Schauer for acting as the tournament director for this event and running the DCC while the event went on. Also many thanks to Duane Larkin for organizing the Cincinnati team and making the event happen. Lots of fun for all involved

Cincinnati's Chess Team

Dayton’s Chess Team

For a break-down of scores be sure to check out the: Bragging Rights…..

1. d4 d6 2. c4 Nd7
Signature move of my “Grape” system.

3. Nc3 g6 4. e4 Bg7 5. Be3 e5 6. d5?!
In this “Grape” system which I play, the d5 move relieves the tension in the center, which helps black in the near term; however, the move d5 can pay dividends to the white player in the endgame should white: 1) survive to an endgame and, 2) get a clear lane to promote on the 8th rank somehow. Also positive for white is that a pawn on d5 can support other pieces at some later point at e6 or c6, providing holes appear on those squares as game play continues.

6. … Ne7
Placement of the Knight here seems and can be passive but, its placement here also gives black many non-traditional options.

7. Bd3 h6!
In my “Grape” system, this move seems bad; however, thousands of games I’ve played on the Internet have proved that the position demands an early h6. I don’t have the time to explain why here, just suffice to say that in the “Grape”, rarely will I not play the “h” pawn.

8. b4
Seeking early queenside expansion and counter-play at the expense of officer development…

8. … O-O 9. Qd2
Too be considered here is Queen movement to the queenside in support of the queenside expansion idea?

9. … Kh7 10. Nge2
What is the idea here?

10. … f5!
In my “Grape” system, a key idea is an early “f” pawn sortie; this can bring on quick attacks by opening the position or, can support transposition to King’s Indian pawn pyramid positions, with ‘attack’ always in my mind.

11. f3
Also to be considered here is f4

11. … f4!?
I accept the ‘invite’ and transpose the position to a King’s Indian pawn pyramid type of position; these types of positions always have pros and cons, but suit the attacking player more than the defender.

12. Bf2 Nf6
The “Grape” snake or spring begins to uncoil.

13. g3 g5 14.gxf4 gxf4 15.Rc1
Before White can take the pawn of f4 (Nxf4), he desires to get the rook on a1 out from the bishop (g7) pin while simultaneously supporting his Queenside expansion idea.

15. … Ng6
In many King’s Indian positions, a Knight placement here often supports future offensive operations.

16. c5
Continuing with Queenside ideas.

16. … a6
A necessary defensive move, otherwise a Knight at b5 supports a breakthrough of the “c” file and also ‘eyes’ the d6 square.

17. cxd6 cxd6 18.Na4?!
Seeking holes.

18. … Bh3!
Bh3 here stops a potent h pawn push; this Bishop is almost always developed or ‘uncorked’, or ‘un-sprung’ if you will on this diagonal and not the b7 or a6 diagonals; if developed at b7 or a6, my opening is no longer a “Grape” but rather, a “Hippopotamus”.

19. Rg1?!
Knight to b6 immediately is better.

19. … Rc8
Ah, my “Grape” is developing nicely!

20.Nb6
Too late.

20. … Rxc1+ 21. Qxc1 Nh4!
Knight begins the ‘offensive’ operations.

22. Bxh4 Qxb6 23. Qb2?
Lets me ‘in’

23. … Qe3
Licking my ‘chops’

24. Qd2 Nh5!
Now, the “Grape” Knight springs to life in this King’s Indian position while avoiding any tactical trickery by White (Nxf4).

25. Qxe3 fxe3
Now this pawn is not easily ‘touchable’ by White and is a ‘monster’ dagger aimed directly at the heart of the enemy King! Notice how f4 is now open to the black Knight; a very common theme in King’s Indian positions.

26. Ng3?
Hoping for an exchange.

26. … Nf4
The end is nigh…

27. Bf1
Hoping for an exchange.

27. … Rc8! 28. Ne2 Nd3+ 29. Kd1 Bd7!!
The hemmed-in and backward “Grape” bishop (from the opening position) has now become, Abbadon, the ‘destroyer’!

30. Ng3
Hoping for…Rc1+

30. … Nf4! 31. Ne2 Ba4+ 32. Ke1 Nd3++
Staked in his (the King) bed! 0-1
Many reading this may ask, “Why does the author call this the “Grape”? I call this the “Grape” in honor of my friend, Ross Sprague, who stated when he first encountered it in OTB tournament play, “I’m going to crush that like a grape”; in that game, my “Grape” did all the crushing! So now, for about three years or so, I’ve been playing my “Grape” from both sides of the board with much fun and success. However, I’d like to note that there are some good answers to my system and that sometimes, my “Grape” falls flat and turns out to be a,…”Raisin”.

Ariel Ofek beat USCF Master Hans Multhopp in Round 1 near miniature (23 moves) to get off to a great start, followed by a long hard fought draw in Round 2 against National Expert and 8 time Dayton Chess Club Champion David Friedman . Not bad for a player rated 1991. Then in Round 3 Ariel was paired against International Master Ronald Burnett who he played to a likely draw in 67 moves, but on move 68 he faltered and IM Burnett won. Here is the game.

Heartbreak

First, in the Ohio HS Championship he tied for first picking up only 9 rating points. Then in the Mulligan Masters & Experts III, May 22, he finished with three out of four points, but picked up 49 rating points. Next in the Chicago Open in the U2100 section, he finished in a four way tie for first with six out of seven points (one loss, the rest wins) and picked up 45 rating points.

At the 53 Gem City Open he scored four and one half out of five, drawing an IM, and picking up 56 rating points pushing him into National Master territory with a rating of 2207. At the end of the tournament he bought all the Klondike bars and handed them out to friends and strangers alike.

I asked Walker if he would annotate his games for the Dayton Chess Club website and for submission to the Ohio Chess Bulletin. He graciously agreed to do so and his games follow along with his analysis. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did. Riley D. Driver

Round 1 – June 4, 2011, G/75, td/5
Walker Griggs 2151 vs Narasimhan Madabusi 2212

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Bg5 e6 7.Qd2 a6 8.O-O-O Qc7 9.Be2 Bd7 10.Kb1 Be7 11.f4 O-O-O
Vishy Anand once said, “If Black castles queenside in the Sicilian, White is better, unless there is some mitigating factor”. That is true here.

12.Nb3 Be8

Here are some convenient parking spots close to the Dayton Chess Club:

DCC Parking