The 2018 Saint Louis Norm Congress consists of two classical 10-player round robins where players will attempt to earn Grandmaster of International Master norms. Today's show is a prelude to the first round that begins at 5:00 P.M. today and goes through Tuesday, February 13. Join GM Josh Friedel and Ben Simon with the move-by-move.
USChessChamps.com
2018.02.08
Grandmaster Josh Friedel shows one of his favorite games from the 2018 Gibraltar Chess Festival, Vietnamese Le Quang Liem vs. Russian Daniil Dubov. See how pawns determine where your pieces should be.
2018.02.01
Le Quang Liem vs Daniil Dubov, Tradewise Gibraltar (2018): B31 Sicilian, Nimzovich-Rossolimo attack (with ...g6, without ...d6)
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1910598
Grandmaster Josh Friedel shows his game from the 2017 Chicago Open against Canadian IM Shiyam Thavandiran. Friedel stresses the importance of patience and collecting advantages.
2018.01.30
Josh Friedel vs. Shiyam Thavandiran, 2017: A15 English opening
https://chesstempo.com/gamedb/player/66137
Back in July of 2016, my family decided to move from New Jersey to Saint Louis in order to help support my chess ambition. Moving to the chess capital of the country was an exciting change as it allowed me to be closer to the heart of U.S. chess. Upon entering 2018, I thought it fitting to indulge in some nostalgia and relate my experiences over the last year-and-a-half as a member of the local Saint Louis chess community.
When I was at the St. Louis Student Robotics Association’s “Mind Sport Mashup,” I got the opportunity to play an amazing chess player. I had a very fun experience playing the Grandmaster from the Saint Louis Chess Club; even though he was significantly more skilled than me, I still think I put up a pretty good fight. All fun aside, when I saw that there was going to be a robotics and chess expo at SLU, I started thinking about how robotics and chess were related.
Grandmaster Josh Friedel exhibits how elite grandmasters blunder and how they handle the fallout. World Champion Magnus Carlsen's 2018 Wijk aan Zee campaign was nearly derailed against English GM Gawain Jones. Not only did Carlsen rebound, but he won the tournament.
2018.0.125
Magnus Carlsen vs Gawain Jones, Tata Steel (2018): B76 Sicilian, dragon, Yugoslav attack, Rauser variation
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1908574
Grandmaster Josh Friedel shows his game with IM Guillermo Vazquez from the 2017 Chicago Open. Vazquez had a "clump" of pawns powering down the board, but Friedel shook them apart for the victory.
2018.01.25
Josh Friedel vs. Guillermo Vazquez, 2017: E04 Catalan, open, 5.Nf3
https://chesstempo.com/gamedb/player/66137
National Master Jim McLaughlin looks at X-ray attacks and pawn wedges. X-rays are when the effect of a queen, rook, or bishop is felt beyond its immediate attack. A pawn wedge is a passed pawn in the middlegame that cramps the opponent's position.
2018.01.23
Over the final weekend of January 2018, the Saint Louis Chess Club hosted an event called “Chess Like It Oughta Be”. The tournament was 5 rounds with a time control of Game in 40 minutes with a 5 second delay.
Last school year, Columbia Elementary welcomed the Saint Louis Chess Club into their school by way of a single instructor, who is referred to with endearment as Queen Thomas. With an everyday assignment of sharing chess with grades 1-6, Queen Thomas and the school began their journey together.
OUR MISSION It is the mission of the Saint Louis Chess Club, an educational organization, to maintain a formal program of instruction to teach the game of chess and to promote and support its educational program through community outreach and local and national partnerships to increase the awareness of the educational value of chess.
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