Next Tournament

You Did It! You Really Did It!

Way to go Buffalo!
After a concerted effort, the fine folks at NYSCA have heard your pleas.
Not only were the local chess clubs listed on the NYSCA download of chess clubs, but also our website is now also a link on the NYSCA site. See http://www.nysca.net/Chess%20Clubs.pdf and http://www.nysca.net/links.html
See Roy, "Never give up, never surrender!"
My thanks go out to Mr. Heck and Mr. Rich of NYSCA as well as to the local membership who lobbied them for the change.

RIDE NEEDED TO MARCHAND OPEN

Ray Kline has asked me to post if anyone could give him a ride to the Marchand Open at St John Fisher College this weekend. Please contact Ray at 716-892-5777 to work out the details.

AQE SHERMAN THOMAS MEMORIAL

SATURDAY, APRIL 14, 2007 MAIN PLACE MALL, 2ND FLOOR, 390 MAIN ST, BUFFALO, NY 4 ROUNDS, GAME 45, SWISS, REGISTRATION CLOSES AT 9:30AM ROUNDS 10AM, 11:45AM, 1:30PM AND 3:15PM MUST BE A USCF MEMBER TO PLAY MUST BRING CHESS SET, BOARD, CLOCK AND PENCIL. OPEN ENTRY FEE $15 BY APRIL 9, 2007 OR CASH $20 AT DOOR. SCHOLASTIC ENTRY FEE $10 BY APRIL 9, 2007 OR $15 CASH AT DOOR. OPEN PRIZES BASED ON 20 ENTRIES, 1ST PRIZE - Trophy and $100, 2nd Place - $60, 3rd Place $40 and Class Prize $50. Mail checks to ARCHANGEL 8 CHESS ACADEMY, 60F GUILFORD LANE, BUFFALO, NY 14221. Please provide name, USCF chess ID number, current rating and Section to participate. MALL POLICY - PARENTS MUST SUPERVISE THEIR CHILDREN AT ALL TIMES. CELL PHONES ARE NOT ALLOWED DURING THE TOURNAMENT.

MONDAY KNIGHTS CHESS CLUB

FRIENDLY'S MONDAY KNIGHTS CHESS CLUB 2 LOCKS PLAZA, LOCKPORT, NY MEETS every Monday in April 2, 9th, 16th, 23rd and 30th, 2007 Kids meals cost $1.99 for chess club students. Time:4:30pm till 7:30pm, Classes start promptly at 5:30pm Entry fee:$8.00 per lesson or $30 for entire program Checks made payable to ARCHANGEL 8 CHESS ACADEMY attn:Monday Knights Chess Club 60F Guilford Lane, Buffalo, NY 14221 no later than March 31, 2007, CASH AT DOOR. PRIZES: TROPHIES TO TOP CHESS PLAYER IN EACH GRADE WINNERS: 5 Weekly chess matches, player with most points declared the winner. I have been asked why Lockport? 1500 students and no chess clubs in their schools. 1500 students missing out on a great international life long game. WISH ME LUCK!

WNY Chess Report for Empire Chess

The following was the report I had submitted to Empire Chess, the award winning quarterly official magazine of the New York State Chess Association. It has been quite awhile since there has been any reporting from the Western end of the state. The next issue is to be published on/about April 15th and is sent to all the state members. Buffalo-Niagara Chess News Welcome to the Wild West! Yes, there actually are chess activities in the hinterland of the state. For all too long, it seemed only Mr. Thomas Warner of the Southtowns, was able to keep some semblance of over the board chess events going in this part of New York. While we thank him to have kept the flame alive, we are proud to report that he has been joined by two other active chess promoters- Mr. Michael McDuffie of Buffalo, and Dr. Mark Mieth of Niagara Falls. Within the last 12 months there have been 12 USCF rated events including both scholastic and open events, one of which was a 40 point Grand Prix Tournament! Although there always has been some scholastic clubs here, now there at least 7 active chess clubs spread out in the region in which anyone may participate. The potential exists to play almost every day of the week! Within the past year, we have brought two internationally famous Grandmasters- Jaan Ehlvest and Susan Polgar to the area as well as seen the reemergence of the area’s highest rated player, International Master Ken Regan back to tournament play. We have also hosted a top USCF representative- Mr. Jerry Nash to help strengthen our scholastic training efforts. Lastly, there has been the establishment of an effective method of communication regarding chess happenings in the area with the creation of the internet site www.buffalochess.blogspot.com. With that in mind here is a recap of some of the highlights: April 2006 With the untimely death of Mr. Jeff White, the prior president of the Niagara Falls Chess Club, the first of hopefully many Grand Prix tournaments in his honor was held. The inaugural White Memorial-Excelsior Open was won by GM Ehlvest with FM Igor Schneider finishing second and third shared by IM Regan and promising high school player Matt Parry. The following game by Thomas Riccardi was the winner of the White Memorial Brilliancy Prize: James Hiltunen (1861) v. Thomas Riccardi (2138) Round 1 White Memorial-Excelsior Open, Buffalo, NY 4/22/06 http://chess.maribelajar.com/chesspublisher/viewgame.php?id=1174848780 May 2006 The Second Annual Stella Niagara-Excelsior Scholastic event was proud to host GM Susan Polgar who delighted us with a simul, live chess exhibition, lectures, and her gracious presence in answering questions and signing autographs. This year’s top scholastic section was won by her six year old son Tom Polgar-Shuzman! September 2006 Western New York’s own Mr. William Rich captured the NY State Championship Under 1200 Section with a perfect 6/6 score. Who says retirees can not outperform our more youthful members? October 2006 Eleventh Annual Arkport Open had a three way tie for first with FM Igor Nikolayev and the stellar high school players Stephen Dygert and Matt Parry. December 2006 Harish Srinivasan, a graduate student at the University of Buffalo and relative new comer to tournament chess, establishes the http://www.buffalochess.blogspot.com/ website. Mr. McDuffie, of the Archangel 8 Chess Academy, holds the first in a series of monthly scholastic and open tournaments in downtown Buffalo at the Main Place Mall with sponsorship from New York State Senator Antoine Thompson and the Alliance for Quality Education (AQE) group. Besides the local chess community, winners that month were Mark Johnson, Evan Ashton, and Rael Dolan in the Open, Grades 6-9, and Grades 3-5 sections respectively. January 2007 The Reverend Marijan Procyk begins a string of strong performances as he captures the open section of the monthly AQE event with a perfect 4/4. Randall Beach and Partho Bhattachayra won the Grades 3-5, and Grades 6-9 sections respectively. Procyk followed up with then winning the First Buffalo Blitz-zard event with an undefeated 6.5/7. February 2007 Father Procyk continued his winning ways by scoring a perfect 4/4 in the first monthly “free” event at the University of Buffalo and then capturing his second AQE event in a row with another perfect 4/4 score. That event was notable also for the emergence of an outstanding high school player Stephan Demjaneko who finished second after beating an experienced class B player as well as an expert rated player. The Grades 3-5, and Grades 6-9 sections were won by Austin Kossow and Yakun Hu respectively. Mostly, however, the event was important as it was a part of the chess activities of visiting USCF Scholastic and FIDE Director Mr. Jerry Nash, who was in town at the behest of our regional “chess ambassador McDuffie” to visit Buffalo and Niagara Falls area schools to promote scholastic chess in the area. Upcoming Events: April 7 Free Event at UB April 14 AQE event at the Main Place Mall April 21 Third Annual Stella Niagara-Excelsior Scholastic May 5 Free Event at UB June 9 &10 Queen City Chess Championships at Buffalo State College There is now no excuse for a chess player in the Buffalo-Niagara region to not be involved in over the board chess here. Perhaps even others in the state should consider coming here for future chess events. Faithfully submitted by the “chessdoctor” aka Dr. Mark Mieth

Results of the March Main Place Mall Event

Congratulations to ROY HAMANN and STEPHEN V DEMJANENKO who tied for first in the Open section with a 3.5/4. In the Grade 6-8 section, MORGAN R BEACH was clear first with a perfect 4/4, while the Grade 3-5 section was captured by RYAN MADDEN who was undeafeated with a 3.5/4 score.
Moving on up honors goes to undeafeted KYLE MATTHEW JOHNSON who both raised his rating the most up + 132 points and had scored the biggest upsets by getting draws against players rated 302, 515, and 676 points above him!
Congratulations to all and, as always, a big thank you to "Buffalo's Chess Ambassador" Mr. Michael Mc Duffie who once again put on a great event.

Any interest in our own online chess club?

An option exists on the free Chessbase server Playchess.com to create our own "room" to play online games against members of our Buffalo-Niagara "Club."
Would there be any interest in doing this?

Puzzle for 3/20/07 by Selezniev

The Ukrainian Selezniev composed this puzzle
White to move and win.

What to do? Quiz for 3/18/07

Black to move.
This was from a game I played yesterday evening against the Ukrainian Marvel. Am I lost?

Chess & Boxing?

Just in case you did not see this about Klitschko brothers who are also avid chess players. http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=3727

Way to go Niagara! Quiz for 3/13

Black to move. What danger do you eliminate?

NCCC goes 3 for 3

Niagara County Chess Club had 3 representatives in a field of 19 competitors, at the AQE BILL ZACHARY MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT Saturday 3/10 at the Main Place Mall, and all 3 went home with prizes. Congratulations to Harish Srinivasan, Dave Biddle, and Roy Hamann on their successful results.

Paul Turecki Memorial Chess Quad Tournament

CHESS TOURNAMENT(Round one March 17, Round 2 March 24, 2007) Registration is from 3pm till 3:30pm. Kenmore Quads, 3 Rounds, Game 20 Library requires children must be supervised at all times! Entry Fee: Library Card, Must know how to check mate! Must have chess set, and chess board Compete against chess players of like age and grades, will be placed in each section and group of four. ADVANCE REGISTRATION: Comment here with name, section, and grade. Sections are Elementary (2nd grade thru 4 grades), (5th grades thru 8), (9th thru 12th grades) and and Open for all others. Prizes and name in Kenmore News to all first and second place winners in each section.

URBAN KNIGHTS CHESS CLUB

Frank E Merriweather Jr Branch Library Wednesday nights 5:45pm till 7:45pm East Utica and Jefferson Avenue Buffalo, NY 14208 Chess Classes will be on End Game Tactics Bring your chess set, chess board, pencil and come to play. Comment here or www.arcangel8.blogspot.com if you plan to attend.

Villa Maria

I was there Friday night around 8 PM. There were 4 of us. One player left earlier. We played until 10 PM, and it was nice to be able to meet at good place. So, come on down. It is definitely another opportunity to play. Paul is really hopeful that more players will come. To bad we could not have our own place, as Rochester has, and somebody dedicated full time.

Games from Niagara Falls, Canada Open

I hope these games might be useful - at least on how not to play - especially 4th game where I simply lost without playing any good move. Marijan p.s. My Canadian rating is2140 ======================= [Event "NF Open"] [Date "3_3_2007"] [Round "1"] [White "Marijan Procyk"] [Black "Vanderlee"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2140"] [BlackElo "1690"] 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 b6 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Bg5 Be7 7.e3 Be6 8.Bd3 Nbd7 9.O-O O-O 10.Rc1 c5 11.Ne5 Nxe5 12.dxe5 Nd7 13.Bxe7 Qxe7 14.f4 c4 15.Bb1 Qc5 16.Qd4 g6 17.Rcd1 Rad8 18.h3 Nb8 19.g4 Nc6 20.Qxc5 bxc5 21.f5 gxf5 22.gxf5 Bc8 23.Nxd5 Nxe5 24.Ne7 Kh8 25.Nxc8 Rxd1 26.Rxd1 Rxc8 27.f6 c3 28.bxc3 Nf3 29.Kf2 Ng5 30.Bf5 Re8 31.Rd7 h6 32.Re7 Rb8 33.h4 1-0 http://chess.maribelajar.com/chesspublisher/viewgame.php?id=1173407065 [Event "NF Open"] [Date "3_3_2007"] [Round "2"] [White "Gillanders R."] [Black "Marijan Procyk"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "1858"] [BlackElo "2140"] 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 O-O 6.Be2 Nbd7 7.O-O e5 8.d5 Nc5 9.Qc2 a5 10.Ne1 Ne8 11.Be3 b6 12.Kh1 f5 13.f3 f4 14.Bf2 g5 15.g4 Rf6 16.Kg2 h5 17.h3 Rh6 18.Nd3 Bd7 19.b3 Bf6 20.Rh1 Kf7 21.Rag1 Ng7 22.Kf1 Qe7 23.Rh2 hxg4 24.fxg4 Rah8 25.Nxc5 bxc5 26.Qd3 Ra8 27.a4 Qd8 28.Nb5 Ne8 29.Ke1 Qc8 30.Bf3 Be7 31.h4 Qd8 32.h5 Nf6 33.Kd1 Qc8 34.Rhg2 Rh8 35.Be1 Qb7 36.Bc3 Kg7 37.Qd2 c6 38.dxc6 Bxc6 39.Qb2 Bxe4 40.Bxe4 Nxe4 41.Qc2 Rh6 42.Re2 Nxc3 43.Qxc3 Re6 44.Kc2 Bf6 45.h6 Kh8 46.Qd3 Rd8 47.Qd5 Qxd5 48.cxd5 Re7 49.Nc3 Rh7 50.Rh2 Be7 51.Ne4 Kg8 52.Rh5 Kf7 53.Nxg5 Bxg5 54.Rxg5 Rxh6 55.Rh5 Rdh8 56.Rxh6 Rxh6 57.Kd3 Rh3 58.Kc4 e4 59.Kb5 e3 60.Kc6 Ke7 61.g5 Rg3 62.Rh1 e2 63.Rh7 Kf8 64.Rh8 Kg7 65.Rh1 f3 66.Kxd6 f2 0-1 http://chess.maribelajar.com/chesspublisher/viewgame.php?id=1173407180 [Event "NF Open"] [Date "3_3_2007"] [Round "3"] [White "Marijan Procyk"] [Black "Ochkoos"] [Result "1/2"] [WhiteElo "2140"] [BlackElo "2400"] 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bg5 O-O 6.e3 dxc4 7.Bxc4 a6 8.O-O b5 9.Bd3 Bb7 10.Rc1 Nbd7 11.Qc2 h6 12.Bxf6 Nxf6 13.Ne4 Rc8 14.Nc5 Bxf3 15.gxf3 Qd5 16.Nxa6 Qxf3 17.Bxb5 Qg4 18.Kh1 Qf3 19.Kg1 1/2 http://chess.maribelajar.com/chesspublisher/viewgame.php?id=1173407240 [Event "NF Open"] [Date "3_4_2007"] [Round "4"] [White "Bailly"] [Black "Marijan Procyk"] [Result "1-0"][WhiteElo "2330"] [BlackElo "2140"] 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7 5.Nf3 Ngf6 6.Ng3 e6 7.Bd3 c5 8.O-O b6 9.c4 Bb7 10.d5 exd5 11.Re1 Be7 12.Nf5 Ng8 13.Bf4 Ndf6 14.Ng5 Kf8 15.Rxe7 Nxe7 16.Bd6 Nfg8 17.Qf3 Bc8 18.Nxe7 1-0 http://chess.maribelajar.com/chesspublisher/viewgame.php?id=1173407298 [Event "NF open"] [Date "3_4_2007"] [Round "5"] [White "Marijan Procyk"] [Black "Wight Keith"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2140"] [BlackElo "2133"] 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5 4.f3 e6 5.dxe6 fxe6 6.cxb5 d5 7.e4 Bd6 8.Bg5 Bb7 9.Nc3 d4 10.Nb1 O-O 11.Bc4 Kh8 12.Na3 a6 13.Ne2 Qb6 14.Qc2 Nbd7 15.bxa6 Bxa6 16.O-O Ne5 17.Nf4 Nfd7 18.Nxe6 Nxc4 19.Nxf8 Nxa3 20.Nxd7 Nxc2 21.Nxb6 Nxa1 22.Nxa8 Bxf1 23.Kxf1 c4 24.Nb6 c3 25.bxc3 dxc3 26.Nd5 Be5 27.Ke2 Nc2 28.Bc1 Kg8 29.f4 1-0 http://chess.maribelajar.com/chesspublisher/viewgame.php?id=1173407332

Funny puzzle

White to move and draw. Position from "Excel at chess calculations book". Interestingly, only a rather strange move draws.

Silly Chess. Quiz for 3/6

Position after 17...Qc5What are some of the best moves to consider here for white? This game was a classic example that in quick games, it is the person who makes the last blunder that loses the game. Obviously, this can be said for long games as well, but usually the strong player will have the patience to calculate it out properly and just grind down a victory. Here I played 18. Qe3? hoping to just trade off the queens and get to a better endgame for white. I forget that that move drops the knight! I was about to resign, but then saw an idea which fortunately worked out for me. But after analysis, perhaps if it was not fast time controls or "silly chess" as I call it, my higher rated opponent would have found the proper defense. After 18...Qxc4 19. Qxa7 Qa6 20. Qd4 What should black do now?
To replay the entire game click on the link below:

GOING DOWNTOWN?

There will be another tournament directed by Mr. Michael Mc Duffie of ArchAngel chess this Saturday 3/10 at the Main Place Mall.
Comment below if you plan on participating.
AQE BILL ZACHARY MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT Main Place Mall 2nd Floor
390 Main St Buffalo, NY 14202 PARENTS MUST SUPERVISE THEIR CHILDREN IN MALL AT ALL TIMES! SECURITY GUARDS ON WATCH. 4 Rounds, Swiss, Game 45 USCF rated, must be a member to participate. Entry Fee Open section $20, Scholastic Section $15, Cash at the door. Check in no later than 9am, Round 1 starts at 10am, Rd 2 at 11:45am, Rd 3 at 1:30pm and Round 4 at 3:15pm. Preregister at http://www.arcangel8.blogspot.com/ Open section cash prizes based on 20 entries, 1st Place - Trophy and $100, 2nd Place - Trophy and $60, 3rd Place $40 and Class Prize $50. Trophy for highest score in seniors (age 55+). Scholastic sections: Grades 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12, Trophies for 1st and 2nd Place in each section.

Paging IM Regan, Paging IM Regan?

We found him, or rather he found us! Some of you may not have noticed that the top rated chess player in the Buffalo-Niagara Area, INTERNATIONAL MASTER KENNETH W REGAN, posted on the blog in the comments section two posts ago. Now we can only hope that the good professor again may make an appearance in one of the upcoming chess events. This Saturday at the Main Place Mall? The Marchand in Rochester? The next White Memorial-Excelsior Open? The Queen City Championships?

The Very Reverend Continues to Shine

Our own Father Marijan Procyk continues to play well. This weekend, in a strong field, at the Niagara Falls, Ontaio Open he finished 3.5/5. He was prevented from finishing higher than 5th only by playing too cavalierly in his famed Caro-Kann in the fourth round and also, perhaps, by a number of quick draws among the 4 player group that finished first with 4/5.
Congratulations to Marijan.
My compliments to Mr. John Erickson who organized and directed the tournament. Once again it was wonderfully done. Thank you.

Sign Up for Saturday's Wegman's session

As I said in an email earlier, I think it will be a good idea to have people check this site on Friday/Saturday to see who may be going to Wegman's on Saturday night to play chess. So here is the first of a weekly posting. Please comment below if you plan on being at Wegman's Saturday night 3/3.

More National Exposure!

Our beautiful area was once again given some national/ international exposure on Grandmaster Susan Polgar's blog spot.

How am I doing?

There is a very cool program that is free to download that allows you to statistical manipulate, graph, view, or just see how you have been progressing in your USCF rating. It is at: