Chess Room Newsletter #940

 

This makes sense. The platform was designed to play chess and adhere to the basic rules of chess, not to be responsible for rated chess and being malleable to the nuances of USCF vs. FIDE rules. An example of the difference between USCF and FIDE rules and how it can come into conflict with the platform is a game where a player has a king and two knights vs. a lone king. In this example, under USCF rules, the game is declared drawn since it cannot force mate. Under FIDE rules, the game is not declared drawn, as it is possible to mate, though the lone king would have to be a willing participant. 

 

So in this respect, it seems that Chess.com follows USCF rules, because as it states here: https://support.chess.com/article/128-what-does-insufficient-mating-material-mean, a king and two knights is considered insuffient mating material. 

 

Chess.com also auto recognizes three-fold repetition and 50-move draws according to USCF rules. 

 

So the simple answer is it does not specifically conform to either USCF or FIDE rules, but was designed rather to conform to what is commonly recognized as standard rules of chess. It pretty much adheres to all the rules except in certain instances, where it may differ between a USCF or FIDE rule. An unforseen challenge may arise for example if a tournament is run on a platform where it does not account for a nuanced rule, for example, if an event goes by FIDE rules, but uses Chess.com as a platform. A rule like the king and two knights vs lone king would come at odds with the server capability, and so the tournament director and organizer would have to decide what to do in that instance.

 

Best practice for organizers and tournament directors of online rated chess is to announce in advance if there should ever be the possibility that a specific USCF or FIDE rule cannot be observed given the parameters of the platform, and what the arbiter will do if the situation arises. We are all learning best practices as we go, and new challenges arise as we push the envelope of utilizing online chess to play competitively. As long as we all keep the dialogue open and keep players informed, we are keeping the integrity of the game intact.

 

The Tuesday Night Marathon concluded rounds 5 & 6 on Tuesday night, with the top players rising to the top. IM Elliott Winslow played a very inspiring and aggressive draw against GM Gadir Guseinov, a game in which it appeared he may even have had some winning chances. He now sits as the sole leader of the Ray Conway Memorial Tuesday Night Marathon with 5.5/6 with 2 rounds to go. FM Kyron Griffith won both of his games in very quick fashion, pulling him right behind Elliott with 5/6. Also on the heels of Elliott is NM Michael Walder, who also has 5/6. Trailing at 4.5/6 are GM Guseinov, IM Prasanna Rao, Felix German and Javier Silva. The final two rounds next week will surely produce some action, as the top players battle to climb the ladder. 

Here are some games from Tuesday, annotated by GM Nick de Firmian.

(7) GM Guseinov,Gadir (GGuseinov) (2600) - IM Winslow,Elliott (ecwinslow) (2278) [B23]
Ray Conway mem TNM Chess.com (6.1), 20.10.2020
[de Firmian,Nick]

1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 d6 3.Bb5+ This as-yet unnamed line has been appearing in the Bay Area among some of the top players -- in fact, this is the third time Winslow has been up against it. Maybe he's starting to catch on. [One can find quite a few games where Guseinov has played 3.d4 cxd4 4.Qxd4 Nc6 5.Bb5 for example 1-0 (23) Gadir Guseinov (2586)-Davit Shengelia (2523) Baku AZE 2007(but after a string of losses he switched to 5.Qd2 (analyzed in NIC #128 "The Birth of a New System", by Ioannis Simeonidis) and won: 5...e6 6.b3 Nf6 7.Bb2 d5 (7...a6 8.0-0-0 b5 9.f3 h5!? 10.Nh3 Be7 11.Ng5 h4 12.f4 Bb7 13.Kb1 Rc8 14.Be2 Qc7 15.Rhe1 Nh7 16.Nxh7 Rxh7 17.g4 1-0 (31) Carlsen,M (2843)-Wojtaszek,R (2744) Shamkir 4.23.2018 was the game that started quite a run on this line. (17.Nd5!) ) 8.exd5 exd5 9.0-0-0 Be6 10.Nf3 Qa5 11.Nd4 Bb4 12.Nxe6 fxe6 13.Qe3 Kf7 14.Kb1 d4 15.Rxd4!? (Stockfish doesn't believe in it, but in practice...) 1-0 (34) Guseinov (2664) - Sarana (2618) St. Petersburg RUS 2018) ] 3...Bd7 4.Bxd7+ Qxd7 [4...Nxd7 makes less sense here than with the knight on f3 instead of c3, and 5.f4!? scores very well, including in an earlier TNM game: 5...e6 6.Nf3 Ngf6 7.0-0 Qc7 8.d3 Be7 9.Kh1 a6 10.a4N 0-0 11.Qe1 b6 12.e5 1-0 (43) KyronGriffith (2149)-ecwinslow (1943) Chess.com July 21, 2020] 5.d4 cxd4 6.Qxd4 Nc6 7.Qd3 [7.Qd2 and b2-b3 has hardly ever been tried here: 7...g6 8.b3 Bh6 9.f4 e5 10.Nd5 Nce7 11.Ne2 Nxd5 12.Qxd5 Bg7 13.Bb2 Nf6 14.Qd3 Qc6 0-1 (36), Kovalev,V (2662)-Matlakov,M (2699) Moscow 2019.] 7...Nf6 [7...g6 8.Nf3 Bg7 9.0-0 Rc8N 10.Nd5 Nf6 11.c3 0-0 12.Bg5 Nxd5 (12...Ng4; 12...Ne8=) 13.exd5 Ne5 14.Nxe5 dxe5 15.Rad1

15...h6N 16.Be3 b6? (16...b5) 17.c4 1-0 (40) Stearman,J (2445)-Winslow,E (2223) San Francisco Feb 11, 2020; 7...Rc8] 8.Nf3 g6 9.0-0 [For a modern line there are some pretty not-so-modern precedents, for instance: 9.Bg5 Bg7 10.h3 0-0 11.0-0 Rac8 12.Rad1 Qe6 13.Nd5 Nd7 14.Rfe1+/- ½-½ (40), Robatsch,K-Larsen,B Amsterdam 1954 (!)] 9...Bg7 10.Nd5 [And that was nothing, compare to this: 10.h3 0-0= 11.Be3 Rfc8 12.a3 Na5 13.Nd2 Qc6 14.Rac1 Nc4 15.Nxc4 Qxc4 16.Bd4 Qxd3 17.cxd3 ½-½ (28) Romanovsky, P-Chekhover,V Leningrad 1938 (!!)] 10...0-0 11.Bg5 Guseinov has been here before. 11...Ng4 [11...Nxd5 12.exd5 Ne5 13.Nxe5 Bxe5 14.c3 Rfe8 15.Rae1 Bf6!? 16.h4!? Bxg5 17.hxg5 e5 18.dxe6 Rxe6 19.Rxe6 Qxe6 and Black held on: 1/2-1/2 (54) Guseinov,G (2665)-Baches Garcia,G (2329) chess.com INT 2020; 11...Nh5!? 1/2-1/2 (33) Shimanov,A (2593)-Grischuk,A (2777) chess.com INT 2020] 12.h3 12...h6N [Previously 12...Nge5] 13.Bh4 Nge5 14.Nxe5 Nxe5 15.Qb3 g5 16.Bg3 e6 17.Ne3 Qc6 18.f3 Black doesn't have any conspicuous reason to be unhappy with the result of the opening. 18...Rac8?! [and in fact Stockfish thought it was some advantage after 18...b5] 19.Rad1 Rfd8 20.c3 a6?! 21.Kh1 Ng6 22.Rd2 Be5 23.Bf2 23...Bf4! Black decides to take out the white knight before it can get "tricky." His remaining minor piece will have no trouble finding squares. 24.Rfd1 b5 25.Re2 Bxe3 26.Bxe3 Qc4?! 27.Red2 Qxb3 28.axb3 Rc6 29.Bd4 e5 else 30.Bf6 would be disruptive; the hole on d5 isn't a problem, seeing as how White has no knight to plant there. 30.Be3 Kf8 31.Kg1 Ke7 32.Kf2 Ke6 33.b4 [33.g4!?] 33...f5 keeping the balance 34.exf5+ Kxf5 35.Ra1 d5 It's hard for either side to make progress, except for one factor: the experience imbalance. Guseinov has been playing these lines since he was European Under-10 Champion (he was born in 1986), and he's used a grand total of six and a half minutes on his clock, while Winslow has burned almost two thirds of his time. And it gets worse, as he tries to avoid ghosts. 36.Bc5 Nf4 37.Rad1 Ke6 38.Be3 Ng6 39.Kg3 Rc4 40.Bb6 Rd7 41.Ra1 Rc6 42.Bc5 h5 43.Rdd1 Nf4 Times: White: 26:38, Black: 10:10 44.Rd2 Rg7! Black tries to give his grandmaster opponent something to be concerned about. 45.b3? [45.Kf2 g4 46.hxg4 hxg4 47.Rh1=] 45...Kf5 46.Kh2 g4 [46...h4!? when the weakness of c3 is a factor.] 47.g3 Nxh3 48.Rxd5 [48.Rf1!? Ke6 (48...Kg6!) 49.f4 exf4 50.gxf4 Rf7 51.Re2+ Kf6 52.f5!=] 48...Ng5 49.fxg4+?! [49.f4 Nf3+ 50.Kg2 h4=/+] 49...hxg4 50.Rxe5+! Tactics in the Endgame indeed! 50...Kxe5 51.Bd4+ Ke4 52.Bxg7 White has won a pawn for now, but Black's king rules. 52...Nf3+ [52...Rd6!?] 53.Kg2 Rg6 54.Bf8 Kd3

55.c4! White heads for safety, eventually trading off the queenside pawns and continually harrying Black. Now follow a lot of moves, leaving Black with very little time, but in the end he finds a repetition that can't be avoided. 55...bxc4 56.bxc4 Kxc4 57.Kf2 Rf6 58.Be7 Re6 59.Bc5 Kd3 [Last chance for a plus: 59...Nd2!] 60.Ra3+ Kd2 61.Be3+ Kc2 62.Ra5 Kc3 63.b5 axb5 64.Rxb5 Truthfully the players could make peace here. 64...Ra6 65.Bf4 Re6 66.Rd5 Kc4 67.Rd8 Times: 22:04 3:02 67...Nd4 68.Be3 Rf6+ 69.Kg2 Nf5 70.Bf2 Re6 71.Rg8 Re4 72.Rg5 Nd4 73.Ra5 Nf3 74.Ra2 Kd3 75.Ra3+ Kc4 76.Ba7 Re2+ 77.Bf2 Re4 78.Ra8 Kd3 79.Rb8 Kc4 80.Rd8 Kc3 81.Rd7 Kc4 82.Ba7 Re2+ 83.Bf2 Re4 84.Kf1 Nh2+ 85.Kg1 Nf3+ 86.Kg2 Kc3 87.Rg7 Kd3 88.Rc7 Rc4 89.Rd7+ Ke2 90.Re7+ Kd3 91.Re3+ Kd2 92.Ra3 Re4 93.Ra6 Rc4 94.Re6 Kd3 95.Re7 Re4 96.Rf7 Ke2 97.Ba7 Kd3 98.Rd7+ Ke2 99.Rg7 Ke1 100.Bf2+ Ke2 101.Rf7 Kd3 102.Rf6 Ke2 103.Bb6 Ne1+ 104.Kh1 Nf3 105.Rc6 Re5 106.Kg2 Ne1+ 107.Kg1 Nf3+ 108.Kg2 Ne1+ 109.Kg1 Nf3+ 110.Kg2 It's been "0.00" for the last 50 moves: Game drawn by repetition 1/2-1/2

(4) Zhou,Chelsea (mwncklmann (1927) - IM Winslow,Elliott (ecwinslow) (2278) [E67]
Ray Conway mem TNM Chess.com (5.1), 20.10.2020
[de Firmian,Nick]

1.c4 g6 2.Nc3 Bg7 3.Nf3 d6 4.g3 Nf6 5.Bg2 0-0 6.0-0 e5 7.d4 Nbd7 It's now the King's Indian Defense, Classical Fianchetto. 8.h3 [This is usually only played after 8.e4 c6] 8...c6 9.Be3 White goes another way. Does Chelsea know "theory"? Perhaps she was thinking about the Panno Variation, where instead of ... Nbd7 and ...c6 Black has played ...Nc6 and ...a6. In that position the moves h3 and Be3 used to be quite a main line. 9...Qe7 [This old game is in the database 9...exd4 10.Nxd4 Qe7 11.Qd2 Re8 12.Bh6 Bxh6 13.Qxh6 Nb6 14.b3 d5 15.cxd5 Qb4 16.Qh4 Qxc3 17.Rac1 Qa5 18.Qxf6 Nxd5 19.Qh4 Nc3 20.Rc2 c5 21.Nf3 Bf5 22.Ng5 h5 23.Qc4 1-0 Lombardy,W (2520)-Winslow,E (2250) US Open (9) Fairfax 1976] 10.Qd2 e4 Producing quite a different battleground:

11.Ne1N [The previous, probably not too important game was 11.Nh2 1-0 (36) Schwaninger,U (1892)-Vokroj,G (1792) Frohnleiten 2000] 11...d5 12.cxd5 cxd5 13.Bg5 [The standard attack on Black's center here would be 13.f3 but coupled with h2-h3 it starts to look pretty loose on the kingside.] 13...Nb6 14.b3 Letting herself be led around. (This move wasn't necessary.) 14...Be6 15.Nc2 Rfc8 to keep a7 guarded vs. Nb5 [15...h6!? 16.Bxh6? Bxh6 17.Qxh6 Rac8 18.Qe3 Qc7 19.Nb5! Qd7! (19...Qxc2 will be a perpetual on the queen) 20.Nba3 Bxh3 21.Qh6! Bxg2 22.Kxg2 Ng4 23.Qg5 Kg7 24.Rh1 Rh8 25.Ne3 White is looking to hold the line.] 16.Rac1 16...h6! The first appearance of the Overworked Queen theme in this game. 17.Bf4?! [17.Be3; 17.Bxh6? Bxh6 18.Qxh6 Rxc3] 17...g5?! [17...Nh5! 18.Be3 (18.Be5? f6 19.Bf4 g5 20.Be3 f5 gives Black a free move) 18...g5 is dangerous for White. (or 18...f5 first) ] 18.Be5! Nfd7?! [18...Nh5! 19.Bxg7 Kxg7 20.Ne3 f5] 19.Bxg7 Kxg7 20.Ne3 f5 21.Kh2? White needs to stop the bulldozer: [21.f4!+/- has to be played, which is fine -- it exposes the weakness of f5 (and Black wishing his rook were still on f8).] 21...f4-/+ 22.Nc2?! [22.Ned1!?] 22...a6?! [22...Nf6! makes better use of the O.Q. theme, and gets that knight back on track to h5 where it's doing something (pressuring g3).] 23.gxf4 gxf4 24.Qxf4? Sacrificing a piece for some dangerous threats, which indeed Black mishandles. [But 24.Rg1! would have been more sophisticated, even if the computer finally finds some advantage for Black: 24...Kh8!! (24...Kh7? 25.Nxe4!+-) 25.Qxf4 Rxc3 26.Qxh6+ Qh7 27.Qxe6 Rc6! 28.Qg4 Rg8 29.Qf4 Rf6 30.Qe3 Qh4 31.Rcf1 Rfg6 and despite the two-pawn deficit, the computer makes Black doing pretty well.] 24...Rxc3 25.Rg1 Qf6 [25...Kh7! is safe when White doesn't have the knight to play Nxe4 any more! 26.Bxe4+ fizzles: 26...dxe4 27.Qxe4+ Kh8 28.Rg6 Rxh3+ 29.Kg1 Bd5! is a rude surprise.] 26.Qd2 [26.Bxe4+ Kf7] 26...Rac8 27.Bxe4+ Kh8 28.Bf3 [28.Bd3 Bf5! is the best according to Stockfish 12.] 28...Qh4? Sure enough, defense is hard. The following moves all would have been winning: [28...R8c6; 28...Kh7; 28...Nf8; 28...Bf7] 29.Rg3? [29.Rg6! when Black is lucky to have two paths to a draw: 29...Kh7 (29...Qxh3+ 30.Kg1 Kh7 31.Bg2 Qh4 (31...Kxg6 32.Bxh3 Bxh3=) 32.Rxe6 Qg5 33.Re3 R3c6 is a pin that's hard to break: even game.) 30.Rxe6 Qxf2+ 31.Bg2 (31.Kh1 Qh4 32.Kh2 (32.Bg2?? Rxh3+ 33.Kg1 Rg8-+) 32...Qf2+) 31...Qg3+ 32.Kh1 Qg5 33.Qxg5 hxg5 34.Rf1 Rxc2 35.Rf7+ Kg8 36.Ree7= White's turn for a perpetual] 29...Nf6? [29...Nf8 (best of a few winners) puts out the fire.] 30.Rg6? [30.Ne1? Ne4!-+; 30.Ne3! Rxc1 (30...Ne4 31.Bxe4 and no ...Rxg3!) 31.Ng2! Black's queen is "trapped, although the knight-check and QxR+ both draw.] 30...Qxh3+ 31.Kg1 Ng8 [31...Kh7!] 32.Bg4!? The computer suggests all sorts of moves that are "only' around -4.7 (vs. -8 for the move played), but Black was confused and took a lot of time here. 32...Bxg4 Hard to give this an exclamation point! [Times: 4:30 4:07] [32...Rg3+ was the alternate, forcing a draw. 33.fxg3 Qxg3+ 34.Kh1 (34.Kf1?? Rf8+) 34...Qh4+ 35.Kg1 (35.Kg2 Bxg4 starts to get uncomfortable, with ...Bh3 being check) ; 32...Qxg4+ 33.Rxg4 Bxg4 34.Qf4! isn't good for anything (except maybe a draw) either.] 33.Rxb6 [33.Qf4!? was the scary move, but when you're two pieces up there are a lot of roads to a successful defense. Either rook along the c-file (c6 or c7) was enough, but best was 33...Qh5! e.g. 34.Rxg4 Nd7] 33...Rg3+? Black just didn't see the knockout: (and now 2:23 left) [33...Bf3! 34.exf3 Nf6!] 34.fxg3 Qxg3+ 35.Kh1 Bf5 [3:13 2:23] and Chelsea didn't see the defense - and resigned! [ 35...Bf5 0-1?! 36.Ne1! Be4+ 37.Nf3 Qh3+ (37...Bxf3+ 38.exf3 Qxf3+ 39.Kh2 Qh5+ 40.Kg1 Qg4+ 41.Kh1 Qh4+ 42.Kg2 Rf8) 38.Kg1 Rf8!-/+ But is there a win? Certainly worth a blitz finish to find out.] 0-1

(5) Weng,Nicholas ninjaforce (1958) - Flores,David PlayerCreate (1812) [C66]
Ray Conway mem TNM Chess.com (5.7), 20.10.2020
[de Firmian,Nick]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 d6 The time-worn Steinitz Defense. 4.0-0 Nothing wrong, [but 4.d4 tries to upset Black right away and encourage ...exd4, when White has a space advantage (but Black is solid for now).] 4...Nf6 5.Re1 Be7 6.c3 [Or 6.d4 still, reserving c3 for the knight.] 6...0-0 7.h3

7...g6!? Played after two seconds (!). In fact, with a time control of 35 minutes and an increment of two seconds, David's clock now read 34:57! And that's about how it went the whole game. [Most common is 7...Bd7; or 7...a6; 7...Nh5? 8.Nxe5 was the course of one game whose players shall remain unnamed.] 8.d3?! Too passive. Black's plan is ...Nh5 and maybe ...f5? Then White should "meet a wing attack with a counterattack in the center" -- [8.d4! exd4 9.cxd4 Bd7 10.Nc3 Re8 11.b3 a6 12.Bd3 Nb4 13.Bb1 c5 14.Bb2 Nh5 15.a3 Nc6 16.Nd5 Bf6 17.g4 Ng7 18.e5 and White crashed through: 1-0 (26) Gimenez Aguirre,I (2234)-Prado,I (2063) La Cumbre 2019] 8...Nh5 9.Be3 [9.d4!+/- Better late than never!] 9...Bd7 10.Nbd2 [10.d4!] 10...Bf6 Black shuffling of his pieces, allowed by White's cautious buildup. 11.Nf1 Qe7 12.a4 a6 13.Bc4 Na5 14.Ba2 c5 Standard queenside expansion by Black Times: White: 30:12, Black: 34:15. Impressive. 15.Bd5 Still no break. [15.d4; 15.b4] 15...Nc6 16.Qb3 [16.N1d2!? b5 17.axb5 axb5 18.Rxa8 Rxa8 19.d4+/-] 16...Rab8 17.a5 Qd8 18.Qa3 Black's pawns are somewhat compromised on the queenside. 18...Ne7 19.N1d2 Around here the computer (Stockfish) starts think White is close to winning; taking the bishop gives White great squares for knights. 19...Bc6 20.c4?! [20.Ba2! followed by d4 and/or Nc4 keeps Black's game dire.] 20...Nxd5 21.cxd5 Bb5 22.Nc4 Nf4 Black still hasn't gotten around to ...f5 23.Red1?! giving Black's knight the option of ... Ne2+ and into d4. [How about 23.Rab1 followed by b2-b4?] 23...Rc8 24.Nb6?! Deadend Outpost. 24...Rc7 25.Kh2 [25.Bxf4 exf4 26.Rac1 again, playing for b4] 25...Qe7 26.g3? [26.Rd2] 26...Ne2! 27.Rd2? [27.b4!] 27...Nd4 28.Bxd4 28...exd4?! [28...cxd4!-/+ and White's chance of opening up the b-file goes away.] 29.Rc1?! [29.Re1! White has a new lever -- e5! -- and should play for it.] 29...h5 30.Rdc2 Bg7 31.Nh4 Bh6 32.Re1 White has been burning up his clock (finally!) and is down to 6:36 left (Black: 32:41, having spent less time on the last dozen moves than White has on almost any one of them!). 32...Qf6?! [Black could cripple White on the dark squares now: 32...Bg5! 33.Nf3 h4!] 33.Kg2! Re7?! [33...Bg5 34.Nf3 h4 35.e5! dxe5 36.Rxe5 Bh6 37.Rxc5 is a lot of trades, with White on top at the end. 37...Rxc5 38.Qxc5 hxg3 39.fxg3 Bxd3 40.Qxd4] 34.Nc4 Bxc4 35.Rxc4 35...Re5? 36.b4?! A dangerous but inconclusive exchange sacrifice by White. [36.Nf3 pushes Black back without risk. 36...h4 37.Nxh4 Rh5 38.Nf3 Rxh3 doesn't do it.] 36...cxb4? [36...Bd2! 37.Rb1 Bxb4 38.Rbxb4 cxb4 39.Qxb4+/=] 37.Qxb4 Qe7?! This would be a huge win for White, except that he's down to under four minutes (Black has yet to break a sweat -- or 31 minutes!). 38.f4 Going for the whole enchilada, but with some risk to the king. [38.Nf3!] 38...g5!? 39.fxe5 How could you not, especially with 3:11 remaining (and he used almost a minute on it!). [39.Nf5! Rxf5 40.exf5 Qd7 41.fxg5 Bxg5 when White dares Black to take on f5 (and the rooks have the f-file then as well).] 39...gxh4 40.Qxd6?! Qg5 41.e6?? It looked so good in the moment, but it loses -- and he had much much better moves! [41.Kh1! and Rg1 suddenly it's White taking over.] 41...Qd2+ 42.Kf1 Be3! A final instant move -- and it's over. 43.exf7+ Rxf7+ 44.Qf4 Rxf4+ 45.gxf4 Qf2# A tough game to lose by Nicholas -- and as for David's final clock time of 30:51, what fire was there in the kitchen that he played so fast! It could have cost him. 0-1

(6) Hon,Eric (microbear) (2186) - Mercado,Adam (A-boy415) (1842) [C44]
Ray Conway mem TNM Chess.com (5.9), 20.10.2020
[de Firmian,Nick]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.d3 This is hardly bad, but no way to play for an advantage. [3.Nxe5 is the classic approach; 3.d4 is the more modern move] 3...Nc6 4.Be2 Bc5 5.0-0 d6 6.h3 h6 7.Re1 Be6 8.Bf1?!

8...g5! Black takes advantage of not having castled to throw his pawns at White's kingside. Correctly, according to the computer! 9.Be3?! [Incredibly Stockfish finds the idea to play a delayed Evans Gambit, 9.b4 Bxb4 10.c3 Ba5 11.d4 as the best way to minimize the disadvantage (although it is still pretty good for Black).] 9...g4 10.hxg4 Bxe3 11.Rxe3 Nxg4 12.Re1 Nd4 [12...Qf6!] 13.Nbd2 Qf6 14.c3 Nxf3+ 15.Qxf3 White: 31:13, Black: 32:13 15...Qh4 [15...Qg5! gains time attacking the knight, and there follows ...h5 and/or ... 0-0-0, with a winning attack.] 16.Qg3! Another case of speed-demoning: the clock times are White: 31:13, Black: 32:04. 16...Qxg3 Keeping queens on might have been right strategically (attack!), but giving White a dreadful pawn structure is right up there in value. 17.fxg3 0-0-0 18.d4 Rhg8 19.Be2 Ne3?! looking for trouble... there's nothing there (for Black...) 20.Bd3 20...Rxg3?? ...and finding it! [Black should just say no: 20...Ng4 still with a sizable advantage (but the lost time will cost him).] 21.Kf2 Rdg8 22.Rxe3 White is winning. 22...Rxg2+ 23.Ke1 h5 24.Kd1? His biggest think of the game so far, and it's a lemon. [24.Bf1! gets on to the business of neutralizing Black's rooks, with a likely win.] 24...Rf2 [24...Rh2! leaves White with no advantage!] 25.Ke1 At least White admits the error of his ways. 25...Rh2 26.Rf3 and has a clear advantage again. But between moving his king back and forth, and then this (excellent) move, it cost him a third of his time. 26...Rgg2?! and eight minutes for this helpful (for White) move. 27.Nf1 Rh1 28.Rf2 Rgg1 29.d5 [29.Rd1] 29...Bh3?! [29...Bg4!?] 30.Rxf7 [30.Rd1] 30...h4! 31.Kd2 [31.Rd1! Gets the rook in the game.] 31...Bg2 White: 13:27, Black: 11:11 32.Ke3 The best move, but he used the majority of his time. Ultimately that costs him the game. 32...h3 33.Kf2 Bxf1 34.Bxf1 h2 A scary position! Suddenly the black h-pawn has become a force. 35.Rh7 Kd8 36.Rd1 White still has to solve the problem of dealing with this pin without something awful happening (Black queening!) or slipping into a bad ending. But Black also has a problem: Is this Zugzwang!? [Annoying that 36.Rxh2?? Rxf1+ 37.Rxf1 Rxh2+ 38.Ke3 Rxb2 fails dreadfully.] 36...Rg4 All the "best" moves for Black, according to Stockfish, are pawn moves now. So this lets White free himself! White: 2:09, Black: 6:47. 37.Be2! Rgg1 A trade of e-pawn for h-pawn means that White is ready to get his bishop into the game and after Black's pawns. 38.Rf1?! Only 25 seconds left! (plus the two-second increment) [38.Rd3! and Rf3! is problematic. 38...Rg8 39.Rdh3 Rb1 40.Rxh2 Rxb2 41.Rf7 is going to get ugly on the 7th.] 38...Ke8 39.Ke1! Kd8 40.a4 a6 41.b4 Ke8 42.a5 Kd8 43.c4 Ke8 44.b5 [44.c5! looks to take out the b-pawn (c5-c6), then the a-pawn, then make a queen.] 44...Kd8 45.bxa6 bxa6 White: 0:14.3, Black: 2:36 46.c5! [46.Kf2! even better] 46...Rxf1+ 47.Bxf1 dxc5 48.Kf2 c4 (Black wouldn't have had this if he'd played 46.Kf2 first) 49.Kg2?? White has played such a fine strategic endgame, only to trip up at the finish line. [49.Bxc4 Ra1 (49...Rc1 50.Bf1) 50.Rh8+ Kd7 51.Rxh2 Rxa5 52.Rh6 is pretty routine.] 49...Rg1+ 50.Kf2?! [50.Kxh2 Rxf1 51.Rh6 is a try, but it looks like Black takes it with 51...c3 52.Rc6 Re1 53.Rxc3 Rxe4] 50...h1Q 51.Rxh1 Rxh1 52.Bxc4 Ra1 53.Bxa6 Rxa5 This is a technical win. Black is down to 1:31 (White 11.1 seconds!) but that is plenty of time to claim the win. 54.Bb7 Ke7 55.Ke3 Ra3+ 56.Ke2 Kd6 57.Bc8 Kc5 58.Bf5 Kd4 59.Kd2 Ra2+ 60.Kc1 Kc3 61.Kb1 Rg2 62.Be6 Kd2 63.Bf5 Kc3 64.Be6 Rd2 65.Bf5 Rd4 66.Kc1 Ra4 67.Kb1 Kd2 68.Kb2 Rb4+ 69.Ka3 Kc3 70.Bg6 Rb8 [70...Rb6] 71.Ka4 Kc4 72.Ka3 Rb6 73.Bf7 Kc3 74.Ka4 Rd6 75.Kb5 Kd4 76.Be6 Kxe4 77.Kc5 Kf4 78.Bg8 Rh6 79.Be6 e4 80.Kc6 e3 81.Kxc7 e2 82.d6 Rxe6 83.d7 Re7 84.Kd6 Rxd7+ A difficult struggle with interesting phases, marred by a game-turning blunder leading to an upset win by Adam. If Eric only had more time he surely would have brought it home. 0-1

(1) NM Michael Walder (FlightsOfFancy) - Chelsea Zhou (mwncklmann) [B99]
Ray Conway mem TNM Chess.com
[de Firmian,Nick]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 The sharpest line of the Najdorf. It's good to see this classic battle played again. 6...e6 7.f4 Be7 8.Qf3 Qc7 9.0-0-0 Nbd7 10.f5!? Mike likes this direct move and has scored well with it. 10...e5 [Black may wish to keep the pawn on e6 to cover the light squares and try 10...Ne5 11.Qh3 Nfg4 12.Bxe7 Qxe7 (not 12...Nf2? 13.Nxe6!!) 13.Qg3 0-0] 11.Nde2! b5 12.Bxf6 Nxf6 13.Nd5 Nxd5 14.exd5! An interesting plan to open the e4 square for the white knight. This is much more dangerous than it looks at first sight. 14...0-0?! [14...Qc4 15.Kb1 Bd7 16.Nd4 Qc5 could be an improvement. The black king will then have a choice which of place on the board is safest.] 15.Ng3 Bd7?! [15...b4!? 16.Ne4 f6 17.g4 Bd7 18.Kb1 a5 19.h4 looks dangerous, but Black should also get some chances for attack.] 16.Ne4 f6 17.c3!

17...a5 18.g4 White can close up the queenside against any pawn advance but Black can't stop the white pawn storm on the kingside. So Black needs to do something to alter the course of the game, but it's not easy. 18...b4?! 19.c4! a4 20.Bd3 Rac8 21.h4 Qb6 22.Kb1 White is now in complete control. There is no breakthrough for Black on the queenside and White can calmly prepare the kingside breakthrough. 22...Rb8 23.Rdf1 b3 24.a3 Qd4 looking for counterplay. This allows an unexpected breakthough. 25.c5! dxc5 26.Rc1 The black queen is in danger and the d5 pawn cannot be taken because of Nf6+ 26...c4 27.Bxc4 Kh8 28.Rhd1 Qb6 29.d6 Bd8 30.Be6 The white pieces are suddenly dominating on the queenside and center. The d6 pawn is a monster. 30...Bc6 31.Bd5 Bb5 32.g5 Qa7 33.gxf6 Bxf6 34.Nxf6 Rxf6 35.Rc7 Qb6 36.Qg4 g6 37.fxg6 Black resigns. 37...Rxg6 38. Qh5 is finished. 1-0

Here are the current standings:

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Support the Mechanics' Institute and

Save big in the process!

Join the Mechanics' Institute, and realize savings on our events and classes while supporting our mission to provide a center for cultural and intellectual advanncement

We are doing a membership drive through the end of the year for new members and to encourage current members to renew. 

• Discount on most chess events or classes.
• Full use of the Library and its services, including online databases, ebooks, and more!
• Free or reduced admission to cultural events, programs, classes, and book groups.
• Access to the Chess Room and its tournaments and classes.
• WiFi access throughout the Library, Chess Room, and 4th floor meeting room.
• Membership access at other membership libraries.

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Dr. Alexey Root

In Dr. Alexey Root's latest installment of Grandmaster Chef, Alexey and NM Michael Walder look at a favorite dish of France's top GM, Maxime Vachier Lagrave. To learn more about what this delicious dish is, along with an annotated game from MVL against GM Ian Nepomniachtchi from the FIDE Candidates match by Michael Walder, click here: https://en.chessbase.com/post/grandmaster-chef-maxime-vachier-lagrave

The dish, along with the position from MVL-Nepomniachtchi

Also, Alexey has been profiling the candidates for her Grandmaster Chef articles. If anyone out there knows some favorite dishes for Ding Liren, Wang Hao, Ian Neponiachtchi, and Kirill Alekseenko, please reach out to her at [email protected]. 

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Take on the Mechanics' Chess Staff Live on Twitch!

The chess room staff at the Mechanics' Institute are taking on all comers now weekly, as each of us will live stream an arena tournament where we will commentate our own games! You might be playing 3-time US Champion GM Nick de Firmian, or perhaps our commentator and instructor extraorinaire FM Paul Whitehead. Try to take down Organizer sensation Dr. Judit Sztaray or Chess Director Abel Talamantez. We will all be live on Twitch playing, reviewing about our games, and talking about anything that comes up in the chat. Come hang out with us at the Mechanics' online club, perhaps we may even give out an occasional free prize!

Arenas are an hour long, and the chess staff will be paired against the first available player to play at the conclusion of their games. All other players will be paired with the next available opponent. This will continue for the whole hour. While there is no guarantee you will be paired against a chess staff member, you will have a very good chance at it, depending on the number of players playing. All games will be streamed live on our Twitch channel: https://www.twitch.tv/mechanicschess

Check out the times here:

GM Nick de Firmian Arena: Mondays 4pm-5pm, 10/26: https://www.chess.com/live#r=554026

FM Paul Whitehead Arena: Tuesdays 5pm-6pm, 10/27: https://www.chess.com/live#r=554028

MI Chess Director Abel Talamantez, Dr. Judit Sztaray Arena: Fridays 5pm-6:00pm, 10/30: https://www.chess.com/live#r=554479

See you in the arena!