Home - Tony Palmer

5/7/2012

RANK	USCF ID	NAME	RATING	PREVIOUS	ACTIVITY
1	13405236	Michael Chen	2081	1	Mar 12
2	13405242	Peter Chen	1957	2	Mar 12
3	12834950	Will Brooks	1825	3	Apr 11
4	12842583	Bethel McGrew	1794	4	Aug 11
5	12871543	Isaac Zylstra	1747	5	Apr 12
6	13856778	Joshua Posthuma	1651	8	Apr 12
7	13465634	Anirudh Ghantasala	1591	6	Sep 11
8	13377446	Clara McGrew	1578	7	Nov 11
9	14073628	Michael Pappas	1413	9	Mar 12
10	14670824	Andrew Schremser	1326	11	Mar 12
11	12930274	Subhodh Kotekal	1257	10	Sep 11
12	12859682	Nishant Jain	1212	13	Feb 12
13	13686238	David Meyer	1198	14	Mar 12
14	13923378	Malachi Keener	1185	20	Mar 12
15	12928115	Mayank Patke	1164	12	Mar 12
16	13834056	Veronica Gawarecki	1107	22	Mar 12
17	14811384	Adam DeHollander	1096	39	Apr 12
18	13711364	Jack Emaus	1095	16	Dec 11
19	13924110	Nicholas Zepf	1076	15	Mar 12
20	13670802	Saano Murembya	1074	23	Mar 12
21	12884385	Bennario Chapman	1071	18	Aug 11
22	13858582	Josh Vander Meulen	1068	30	Apr 12
23	14578247	Joel Buhrer	1064	19	Mar 11
24	14212621	Leah Ziegler	1048	24	Apr 12
25	13341535	Jacob Johnson	1046	17	Feb 12
26	14425288	Seth Strout	1011	21	Jul 11
27	13432634	Ivan Keener	960	25	Jun 11
28	13040277	Thierry Laurens	957	26	Apr 11
29	13854311	Connor Linn	952	33	Mar 12
30	13144916	Oliver Vandenberg	910	27	Mar 11
31	13671716	Mario Arnson	909	33	Apr 12
32	14692007	Karthik Vuyyuru	908	29	Apr 12
33	13124646	Jeffrey Xiao	896	28	Mar 11
34	13670838	Tuan Hoang	881	32	Feb 12
35	13798094	Mac Vanrenterghem	840	31	Feb 12
36	14472852	Benjamin Beach	836	35	Sep 11
37	14685786	Malachi Jobin	824	49	Mar 12
38	14882954	Sofia Stanescu-Bellu	817	X	Apr 12
39	14580060	Chirag Rudrangi	814	39	Mar 12
40	13380194	Anjan Kotekal	808	37	Sep 11
41	13310903	Kartikeya Kandula	769	42	Mar 12
42	13934693	Aditya Kandula	763	50	Mar 12
43	14146427	Josh Virk	760	43	Mar 12
44	13370966	Zachary Lewis	755	41	Feb 12
45	13855418	Ishan Patke	749	45	Mar 12
46	14146344	Daniel Gorelik	700	46	Mar 12
47	13667197	Quinn Hatton	698	48	Mar 12
48	13342208	Haiden Kerrington	695	36	Apr 12
49	14735843	Preston Johnson	685	66	Apr 12
50	14598900	Dakshesh Daruri	675	47	Mar 12
51	13924104	Jason Knox	668	38	Mar 12
52	14368768	Advaith Vuppula	622	56	Mar 12
53	14882960	Constantin Stanescu-Bellu	617	X	Apr 12
54	14578232	Paul Buhrer	580	52	Mar 11
54	14885336	Brendan Klynstra	580	X	Mar 12
54	13565867	Nathan Peterson	580	51	Mar 12
57	13539112	Freddie Noe	569	53	Dec 11
58	13858561	Mrinnal Muralidhar	526	54	Mar 11
59	14087408	Will Gadbois	511	55	Dec 11
60	14150068	Ben Hylen	501	59	Mar 12
61	14150074	Andrew Hylen	461	61	Mar 12
62	14578253	Patrick Brott	424	60	Mar 11
63	14890618	Andre Oravitan	412	X	Mar 12
64	14340141	Cam Grogan	396	62	Mar 11
65	14637601	Trenton Hildenbrand	377	57	Mar 12
66	14652483	Eunjin Han	370	63	Sep 11
66	14847734	Philip Oravitan	370	X	Mar 12
68	14267333	Victor Hao	348	64	Apr 11
69	14769193	Xavier Brandon	336	X	Mar 12
70	14368417	Ryan Ross	274	65	Feb 12

Posted at 8:30 PM by Tony Palmer, MD | Category: Improvement | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

5/5/2012

Top 40 Active West Michigan Players

RANK	USCF ID	NAME	RATING	PREVIOUS	ACTIVITY
1	12838750	Seth Homa	2379	1	Apr 12
2	10275831	Eric Fischvogt	2210	2	Feb 12
3	10302307	Kevin Czuhai	2204	2	Apr 12
4	10299128	Kevin Noren	2200	2	Dec 11
5	12541033	Tim McGrew	2174	5	Aug 11
6	12796057	Alisher Sanetullaev	2164	8	Apr 12
7	10286891	Jim Marfia	2157	7	Oct 11
8	12630415	Eugene Brumley	2150	6	Apr 12
9	12753902	Tony Nichols	2128	9	Apr 12
10	13229944	Ratko Bojanovic	2120	10	Apr 12
11	12402046	Tony Palmer	2103	11	Sep 11
12	13405236	Michael Chen	2081	12	Mar 12
13	12442662	Andy Catlin	2025	15	Apr 12
14	12897660	Benjamin Brandt	2011	13	Jan 12
15	10372852	John Drexel	2000	14	Dec 11
16	13405242	Peter Chen	1957	16	Mar 12
17	12928026	Ian Edgerle	1947	18	Jun 11
18	12708030	Jacob Fortuna	1946	23	Apr 12
19	13837207	Joel Halloran	1936	19	Jan 12
20	12862296	Ashley Carter	1929	22	Apr 12
21	10302994	Greg Bailey	1914	17	Apr 12
21	12900488	Allen Wickering	1914	21	Apr 12
23	12483610	Duane Croel	1909	24	Apr 12
24	12230660	Stan Jarosz	1908	20	Apr 12
25	10299446	Gary Kitts	1904	28	Apr 12
26	10280559	William Eckert	1889	25	Mar 11
26	12907426	Dan Hronchek	1889	25	May 11
28	11453431	Ray Garrison	1857	30	Aug 11
29	12405964	James Abbott	1839	29	Apr 12
30	12834950	Will Brooks	1825	31	Apr 11
30	12745409	Kevin Jackson	1825	33	Apr 12
32	12841496	Douglas Fick	1796	X	Apr 12
33	12842583	Bethel McGrew	1794	32	Aug 11
34	12871543	Isaac Zylstra	1747	34	Apr 12
35	10300240	Stan Beckwith	1700	36	Jan 12
36	12751188	Michael Brooks	1690	37	Dec 11
37	12654071	Chris Irwin	1688	38	Jul 11
38	12452364	Gale Anderson	1652	39	Feb 12
39	13856778	Joshua Posthuma	1651	X	Apr 12
40	12557862	Glen Schmiege	1650	40	Feb 12

Posted at 4:30 PM by Tony Palmer, MD | Category: Improvement | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

3/25/2012

Holland Junior Open

42 juniors competed at Holland Christian High School on March 24, 2012 in the second annual Holland Junior Open, organized by HollandChess.com. David and Tamara Posthuma coordinated the planning and preparation, while the four Sections were very smoothly run by Tournament Directors Eugene Brumley and Derrick Baker. The players displayed admirable fighting spirit along with very good sportsmanship, and everyone had a great time. This year's event had increased emphasis on taking notation, so juniors could learn from their games. As an added bonus, anyone with a perfect score (5/5) would receive a free semester in the Holland Scholastic Chess Training program, and Malachi Jobin was the only player with five wins.

Congratulations to Isaac Zylstra for winning the Top Rated Section for the second time, and Malachi Jobin won the Reserve Rated Section. Luke Klein and Joseph Klein took First Place in their Sections, and Nick Barr won the K-2 Section. Special thanks to Gold Sponsor Haworth Corporation for their continued sponsorship, along with Silver Sponsors Servinsky Engineering and Dr. Tony Palmer for generously supporting and promoting the Holland Junior Open.

The Section winners and their prizes:

Top Rated Section:

1) Isaac Zylstra – First Place trophy, $20 prize money, chess set

2) Andrew Schremser – Second Place trophy, $15 prize money

3) Joshua Posthuma – Third Place trophy

4) Joshua Vander Meulen – Fourth Place medal

5) Karthik Vuyyuru – Fifth Place medal

Reserve Rated Section:

1) Malachi Jobin – First Place trophy, $20 prize money, chess set, free term in Holland Scholastic Chess Training for a perfect score

2) Daruri Dakshesh – Second Place trophy, $15 prize money

3) Ben Hylen – Third Place trophy

4) Preston Johnson – Fourth Place medal

5) Andre Oravitan – Fifth Place medal

Unrated 7-8 Section:

1) Luke Klein – First Place trophy, chess set

2) Keith Takens – Second Place trophy

Unrated 3-6 Section:

1) Joseph Klein – First Place trophy, chess set

2) Kaleb Packard – Second Place trophy

3) Noah DeHollander – Third Place trophy

4) Joe Barr – Fourth Place medal

5) Abhisek Pusty – Fifth Place medal

Unrated K-2 Section:

1) Nick Barr – First Place trophy, chess set

2) Allen Eich – Second Place trophy

3) Charlie Reese – Third Place trophy

4) Constantin Stanescu-Bellu – Fourth Place medal

5) Sarah Alferink – Fifth Place medal

All participants were awarded an event ribbon for attending, and players in the two rated sections received the latest Lake Effect Chess Newsletter to review and study. Thanks to everyone who made the second Holland Junior Open such a success!

Posted at 3:30 PM by Tony Palmer, MD | Category: Improvement | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

2/27/2012

Basic Mates

A basic mate is one of the four fundamental examples of mating material: King and Queen versus King, King and Rook versus King, King Bishop Bishop versus King, and King Bishop Knight versus King. All students must know Mate with KQ vs K and Mate with KR vs K to close out a won game, then learning the two minor piece mates should wait until your rating is over 1000. Mate with KBB vs K and Mate with KBN vs K are both so rare in practice as to have mostly theoretical interest with minimal teaching value. Many of us play chess for decades without ever having to demonstrate a minor piece mate over the board, yet all serious players should know the technique anyway.

1) KQ vs K

The standard technique is called confining, where the superior side restricts the opposing King to the side of the board, and then to the corner. Mate with KQ vs K is the easiest basic mate due to the Queen's power, but you must avoid stalemate situations botching a win into a draw.

Diagram 1

Some players would choose 1. Qd8+ by reflex, yet the quiet move 1. Qd7 is much better, confining the enemy King to two squares (b8 & a8). After 1 … Ka8 then 2. Kb6 (2. Qc7?? stalemate) Kb8 and now White can deliver mate in three ways; 3. Qb7#, 3. Qd8# and 3. Qe8# all win.

Diagram 2

Besides over-confining the King in the corner (like 2. Qc7?? above), here is a key stalemate position to avoid. Black to play has no available moves, thus the game is drawn.

Diagram 3

Queen versus Rook is a theoretical win, but here the Queen got too close to the opposing King. 1 … Rd6+! 2. Kxd6 is drawn by stalemate. Note if the Rook was gone, Black to play would also be stalemate.

2) KR vs K

Diagram 4

This basic mate takes slightly longer but is still an easy win. The diagram is Mate in Four: 1. Rh7 (confining) Kb8 2. Kc6! (the best King move, as here you want the defending King to gain the Opposition) Ka8 (2 … Kc8 3. Rh8#) 3. Kb6 Kb8 4. Rh8#.

Diagram 5

Here White is well on the way to victory, and 1. Rh6+ would be a good move. Using the technique of confining, the quiet move 1. Re5 is even better, then 1 … Kc6 2. Rd5 Kb6 3. Rc5 restricting the King to one corner. White's King will close in (while protecting the Rook as needed) to set up an easy mate.

3) KBB vs K

Diagram 6

White has already confined the opposing King to one corner, using the two Bishops together to cut off escape squares, leading to Mate in Two: 1. Be5+ Ka8 2. Bd5#.

4) KBN vs K

Diagram 7

This is the tricky basic mate that has confounded juniors and students for centuries, even though it almost never shows up in practical play. The key point to remember is that mate always takes place in the Bishop's corner, which in this case is a light square: 1. Nc7+ Kb8 2. Na6+ Ka8 3. Bc6#.

Mate with KQ vs K and Mate with KR vs K should be practiced enough times until you know it by heart. During actual play, you may only have a few seconds left to mate your opponent, so the technique should be automatic. As the defender, keep your King in the center of the board for as long as possible (to avoid being confined to the side and the corner) and try to hold out for fifty moves, earning a draw. Good Luck!

Posted at 8:00 PM by Tony Palmer, MD | Category: Improvement | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

2/13/2012

West Michigan's Top Juniors

RANK	USCF ID	NAME	RATING	PREVIOUS	ACTIVITY
1	13405236	Michael Chen	2092	1	Jan 12
2	13405242	Peter Chen	1970	2	Jan 12
3	12834950	Will Brooks	1825	3	Apr 11
4	12842583	Bethel McGrew	1794	4	Aug 11
5	12871543	Isaac Zylstra	1765	5	Jan 12
6	13465634	Anirudh Ghantasala	1591	6	Sep 11
7	13377446	Clara McGrew	1578	7	Nov 11
8	13856778	Joshua Posthuma	1571	8	Jan 12
9	14073628	Michael Pappas	1356	9	Nov 11
10	12930274	Subhodh Kotekal	1257	10	Sep 11
11	14670824	Andrew Schremser	1236	13	Jan 12
12	12928115	Mayank Patke	1222	14	Nov 11
13	12859682	Nishant Jain	1217	11	Feb 11
14	13686238	David Meyer	1189	12	Sep 11
15	13924110	Nicholas Zepf	1113	23	Nov 11
16	13711364	Jack Emaus	1095	15	Dec 11
17	13341535	Jacob Johnson	1091	X	Feb 12
18	12884385	Bennario Chapman	1071	17	Aug 11
19	14578247	Joel Buhrer	1064	18	Mar 11
20	13923378	Malachi Keener	1044	24	Feb 12
21	14425288	Seth Strout	1011	20	Jul 11
22	13834056	Veronica Gawarecki	991	21	Nov 11
23	13670802	Saano Murembya	976	28	Nov 11
24	14212621	Leah Ziegler	963	27	Jan 12
25	13432634	Ivan Keener	959	25	Jun 11
26	13040277	Thierry Laurens	957	26	Apr 11
27	13144916	Oliver Vandenberg	910	29	Mar 11
28	13124646	Jeffrey Xiao	896	30	Mar 11
29	14692007	Karthik Vuyyuru	895	42	Dec 11
30	13858582	Josh Vander Meulen	893	31	Feb 12
31	13798094	Mac Vanrenterghem	865	36	Jan 12
32	13670838	Tuan Hoang	863	33	Nov 11
33	13671716	Mario Arnson	852	32	Feb 12
33	13854311	Connor Linn	852	38	Jan 12
35	14472852	Benjamin Beach	836	34	Sep 11
36	13342208	Haiden Kerrington	830	35	Mar 11
37	13380194	Anjan Kotekal	808	37	Sep 11
38	13924104	Jason Knox	795	54	Nov 11
39	14811384	Adam Dehollander	770	X	Jan 12
39	14580060	Chirag Rudrangi	770	48	Jan 12
41	13370966	Zachary Lewis	760	40	Mar 11
42	13310903	Kartikeya Kandula	759	41	Mar 11
43	14146427	Josh Virk	728	39	Nov 11
44	14224452	Noah Spungen	727	43	Feb 11
45	13855418	Ishan Patke	706	44	Nov 11
46	14146344	Daniel Gorelik	698	44	Jun 11
47	14598900	Dakshesh Daruri	686	46	Oct 11
48	13667197	Quinn Hatton	674	X	Feb 12
49	14685786	Malachi Jobin	663	53	Jan 12
50	13934693	Aditya Kandula	652	47	Mar 11
51	13565867	Nathan Peterson	582	50	Jun 11
52	14578232	Paul Buhrer	579	51	Mar 11
53	13539112	Freddie Noe	569	49	Dec 11
54	13858561	Mrinnal Muralidhar	526	55	Mar 11
55	14087408	Will Gadbois	510	52	Dec 11
56	14368768	Advaith Vuppula	507	56	Nov 11
57	14637601	Trenton Hildenbrand	448	58	Dec 11
58	14146626	Zal Chinoy	426	59	Feb 11
59	14150068	Ben Hylen	424	60	Feb 11
60	14578253	Patrick Brott	423	60	Mar 11
61	14150074	Andrew Hylen	400	62	Feb 11
62	14340141	Cam Grogan	396	63	Mar 11
63	14652483	Eunjin Han	370	64	Sep 11
64	14267333	Victor Hao	348	65	Apr 11
65	14368417	Ryan Ross	342	X	Feb 11
66	14735843	Preston Johnson	309	57	Feb 12

Posted at 10:00 PM by Tony Palmer, MD | Category: Improvement | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

2/6/2012

Top 40 Active West Michigan Players

RANK	USCF ID	NAME	RATING	PREVIOUS	ACTIVITY
1	12838750	Seth Homa	2374	1	Jan 12
2	10302307	Kevin Czuhai	2200	3	Jan 12
2	10275831	Eric Fischvogt	2200	2	Dec 11
2	10299128	Kevin Noren	2200	3	Dec 11
5	12541033	Tim McGrew	2174	5	Aug 11
6	12630415	Eugene Brumley	2166	6	Oct 11
7	10286891	Jim Marfia	2157	7	Oct 11
8	12796057	Alisher Sanetullaev	2150	8	Jun 11
9	12753902	Tony Nichols	2142	10	Jan 12
10	13229944	Ratko Bojanovic	2134	9	Jan 12
11	12402046	Tony Palmer	2103	11	Sep 11
12	13405236	Michael Chen	2092	12	Jan 12
13	12897660	Benjamin Brandt	2011	15	Jan 12
14	10372852	John Drexel	2000	14	Dec 11
15	12442662	Andy Catlin	1973	13	Jan 12
16	13405242	Peter Chen	1970	16	Jan 12
17	10302994	Greg Bailey	1960	19	Jan 12
18	12928026	Ian Edgerle	1947	16	Jun 11
19	13837207	Joel Halloran	1936	23	Jan 12
20	12230660	Stan Jarosz	1934	22	Jan 12
21	12900488	Allen Wickering	1926	18	Jan 12
22	12862296	Ashley Carter	1901	23	Nov 11
23	12708030	Jacob Fortuna	1900	21	Jan 12
24	12483610	Duane Croel	1893	20	Jan 12
25	10280559	William Eckert	1889	26	Mar 11
25	12907426	Dan Hronchek	1889	26	May 11
27	12706517	Adam Masek	1870	30	Dec 11
28	10299446	Gary Kitts	1869	25	Jan 12
29	12405964	James Abbott	1859	28	Oct 11
30	11453431	Ray Garrison	1857	29	Aug 11
31	12834950	Will Brooks	1825	31	Apr 11
32	12842583	Bethel McGrew	1794	32	Aug 11
33	12745409	Kevin Jackson	1793	35	Jan 12
34	12871543	Isaac Zylstra	1765	38	Jan 12
35	20032704	Joe Meyer	1726	34	Dec 11
36	10300240	Stan Beckwith	1700	36	Jan 12
37	12751188	Michael Brooks	1690	37	Dec 11
38	12654071	Chris Irwin	1688	39	Jul 11
39	12452364	Gale Anderson	1666	X	Jun 11
40	12557862	Glen Schmiege	1648	40	Jan 12

Posted at 8:30 PM by Tony Palmer, MD | Category: Improvement | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

12/10/2011

Spring Lake-Holland Match

Spring Lake's Joshua Vander Meulen (left) digs in against Holland's Joshua Posthuma.
Photo Courtesy of David Posthuma

Spring Lake hosted a fun and friendly practice match against Holland on Saturday December 10 at Jeffers Elementary. Everybody had a great time and showed good sportsmanship. The Spring Lake team was Joshua Vander Meulen, Barrett Hoag, Ryan Ross, Kyle Coon and Ben Kitchel. The Holland players were Joshua Posthuma, Kaleb Packard, Raina Ravial, Trisha Pal and Dhiraj Akkala. Holland scored well on the top two boards while Spring Lake dominated the lower three boards. Thanks to Kathy Vander Meulen and Andy Catlin from Spring Lake for arranging the match and providing snacks for the players. All participants received a copy of the latest Lake Effect Chess Newsletter to read and study.

Here are some puzzles from the match:

1) White to Play

Diagram 1

2) Black to Play

Diagram 2

3) White to Play

Diagram 3

4) Black to Play

Diagram 4

5) White to Play

Diagram 5

SOLUTIONS:

1) 1. Bg5

2) 1 ... Qf2#

3) 1. Bxc6 dxc6 2. Rxe5

4) 1 ... Qb6+ & 2 ... Qxb5

5) 1. Bxf7+! Rxf7 2. Nxf7 Kxf7 3. e5

Posted at 11:30 PM by Tony Palmer, MD | Category: Improvement | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

11/14/2011

West Michigan's Top Juniors

RANK	USCF ID	NAME	RATING	PREVIOUS	ACTIVITY
1	13405236	Michael Chen	2083	1	Oct 11
2	13405242	Peter Chen	1947	2	Oct 11
3	12834950	Will Brooks	1825	2	Apr 11
4	12842583	Bethel McGrew	1794	4	Aug 11
5	12871543	Isaac Zylstra	1697	5	Oct 11
6	13465634	Anirudh Ghantasala	1590	7	Sep 11
7	13377446	Clara McGrew	1578	6	Nov 11
8	13856778	Joshua Posthuma	1484	9	Oct 11
9	14073628	Michael Pappas	1342	10	Mar 11
10	12930274	Subhodh Kotekal	1257	11	Sep 11
11	12859682	Nishant Jain	1217	12	Feb 11
12	13686238	David Meyer	1189	14	Sep 11
13	14670824	Andrew Schremser	1176	X	Oct 11
14	12928115	Mayank Patke	1104	16	Feb 11
15	13711364	Jack Emaus	1081	13	Aug 11
16	13745477	Matthew Zhao	1072	17	Jun 10
17	12884385	Bennario Chapman	1071	15	Aug 11
18	14578247	Joel Buhrer	1065	18	Mar 11
19	12936787	Nicholas Bos	1024	20	Nov 10
20	14425288	Seth Strout	1011	21	Jul 11
21	13834056	Veronica Gawarecki	1007	22	Jul 11
22	14073441	Haotian Jiang	1004	23	Sep 10
23	13924110	Nicholas Zepf	976	24	Jun 11
24	13923378	Malachi Keener	974	29	Oct 11
25	13432634	Ivan Keener	959	27	Jun 11
26	13040277	Thierry Laurens	957	28	Apr 11
27	14212621	Leah Ziegler	943	26	Oct 11
28	13670802	Saano Murembya	914	30	Sep 11
29	13144916	Oliver Vandenberg	911	33	Mar 11
30	13124646	Jeffrey Xiao	896	34	Mar 11
31	13858582	Josh VanderMeulen	862	43	Oct 11
32	13671716	Mario Arnson	847	36	Dec 10
33	13670838	Tuan Hoang	845	37	Jun 11
34	14472852	Benjamin Beach	836	40	Sep 11
35	13342208	Haiden Kerrington	830	38	Mar 11
36	13798094	Mac Vanrenterghem	821	40	Mar 11
37	13380194	Anjan Kotekal	808	58	Sep 11
38	13854311	Connor Linn	777	49	Oct 11
39	14146427	Josh Virk	764	46	Mar 11
40	13370966	Zachary Lewis	761	47	Mar 11
41	13310903	Kartikeya Kandula	759	48	Mar 11
42	14692007	Karthik Vuyyuru	729	X	Oct 11
43	14224452	Noah Spungen	727	50	Feb 11
44	14146344	Daniel Gorelik	698	53	Jun 11
44	13855418	Ishan Patke	698	53	Mar 11
46	14598900	Dakshesh Daruri	685	X	Oct 11
47	13934693	Aditya Kandula	653	60	Mar 11
48	14580060	Chirag Rudrangi	594	52	Oct 11
49	13539112	Freddie Noe	593	62	Aug 10
50	13565867	Nathan Peterson	582	63	Jun 11
51	14578232	Paul Buhrer	580	64	Mar 11
52	14087408	Will Gadbois	570	65	Mar 11
53	14685786	Malachi Jobin	567	X	Nov 11
54	13924104	Jason Knox	529	68	Mar 11
55	13858561	Mrinnal Muralidhar	526	69	Mar 11
56	14368768	Advaith Vuppula	506	71	Mar 11
57	14735843	Preston Johnson	462	X	Oct 11
58	14637601	Trenton Hildenbrand	432	73	Mar 11
59	14146626	Zal Chinoy	426	74	Feb 11
60	14578253	Patrick Brott	424	75	Mar 11
60	14150068	Ben Hylen	424	75	Feb 11
62	14150074	Andrew Hylen	400	77	Feb 11
63	14340141	Cam Grogan	396	78	Mar 11
64	14652483	Eunjin Han	370	X	Sep 11
65	14267333	Victor Hao	348	79	Apr 11

Posted at 10:00 PM by Tony Palmer, MD | Category: Improvement | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

11/3/2011

Top 40 Active West Michigan Players

RANK	USCF ID	NAME	RATING	PREVIOUS	ACTIVITY
1	12838750	Seth Homa	2354	1	Oct 11
2	10275831	Eric Fischvogt	2208	3	Oct 11
3	10302307	Kevin Czuhai	2200	2	Oct 11
3	10299128	Kevin Noren	2200	3	Jul 11
5	12541033	Tim McGrew	2174	7	Aug 11
6	12630415	Eugene Brumley	2166	5	Oct 11
7	10286891	Jim Marfia	2157	6	Oct 11
8	12796057	Alisher Sanetullaev	2150	8	Jun 11
9	13229944	Ratko Bojanovic	2129	10	Oct 11
10	12753902	Tony Nichols	2107	11	Oct 11
11	12402046	Tony Palmer	2103	9	Sep 11
12	13405236	Michael Chen	2083	12	Oct 11
13	12442662	Andy Catlin	2039	13	Oct 11
14	10372852	John Drexel	2003	15	Jun 11
15	12897660	Benjamin Brandt	1970	17	Oct 11
16	13405242	Peter Chen	1947	16	Oct 11
16	12928026	Ian Edgerle	1947	18	Jun 11
18	12900488	Allen Wickering	1944	29	Oct 11
19	10302994	Greg Bailey	1938	22	Oct 11
20	12483610	Duane Croel	1907	24	Sep 11
21	12708030	Jacob Fortuna	1903	21	Jun 11
22	12230660	Stan Jarosz	1901	19	Sep 11
23	12862296	Ashley Carter	1893	25	Jan 11
23	13837207	Joel Halloran	1893	25	Jul 11
25	10299446	Gary Kitts	1890	20	Oct 11
26	10280559	William Eckert	1889	27	Mar 11
26	12907426	Dan Hronchek	1889	27	May 11
28	12405964	James Abbott	1859	23	Oct 11
29	11453431	Ray Garrison	1857	30	Aug 11
30	12706517	Adam Masek	1852	31	Mar 11
31	12834950	Will Brooks	1825	32	Apr 11
32	12842583	Bethel McGrew	1794	33	Aug 11
33	13776533	William Green	1757	35	Dec 10
34	20032704	Joe Meyer	1748	36	May 11
35	12745409	Kevin Jackson	1742	39	Oct 11
36	10300240	Stan Beckwith	1702	37	Sep 11
37	12751188	Michael Brooks	1698	40	Jan 11
38	12871543	Isaac Zylstra	1697	38	Oct 11
39	12654071	Chris Irwin	1688	X	Jul 11
40	12557862	Glen Schmiege	1675	X	May 11

Posted at 10:00 PM by Tony Palmer, MD | Category: Improvement | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

10/29/2011

Scholastic Chess Training 102 - Session 1

RULES

1) Light square right corner

2) White 1/Black 8

3) Can't Castle

a) Out of check

b) Through check

c) King or Rook have moved

4) En Passant

OPENINGS

1) Seven principles

a) Control the center

b) Pawn in the center

c) Knights Before Bishops

d) Avoid extra Pawn moves

e) Don't move the same piece twice

f) Don't develop the Queen early

g) Castle early - King safety

2) 1. e4 e5 openings

a) Vienna 2. Nc3

b) Bishop's 2. Bc4

c) Four Knights 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6

d) Scotch 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4

e) Petrov 2. Nf3 Nf6

3) Opening miniatures

a) Fool's Mate

b) Scholar's Mate

TACTICS

1) Fork = Double Attack

2) Discovered Check

3) Exchange = R for N, R for B

STRATEGY

1) Points - P 1, N 3, B 3, R 5, Q 9

2) Minor pieces = BN, major pieces = RQ

3) Weak squares

a) f2/f7 before 0-0

b) h2/h7 after 0-0

4) Knights on the rim are grim

Posted at 5:00 PM by Tony Palmer, MD | Category: Improvement | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

Tony Palmer

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