Malcolm Pein on…Sinquefield’s Enterprise

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Malcolm Pein’s Daily Telegraph chess column highlights the impact made on US chess by Rex Sinquefield’s enterprise.

Attention then switches to a brace of recent games by World Champion Magnus Carlsen, demonstrating the contrasting fortunes of a white bishop landing on f7.

Malcolm Pein on…Sinquefield’s Enterprise

Chess in the United States has been transformed by the generosity of Rex Sinquefield, whose support of the St Louis Chess Club has enabled the staging of top-flight tournaments and regular junior coaching programmes as well as the strengthening the US Olympiad team.

The chess club is sited in a quiet street of the Central West End of St Louis and boasts an elegant tournament hall upstairs and a broadcast studio in the basement. On the ground floor, there is a commentary area with seating for spectators and there are tables outside for social games. There is even the chess-themed Kingside Diner next door to the club and over the road, a chess museum with all kinds of artefacts from chess history.

The US chess scene recently received another great boost with news that the United States Chess Federation is to benefit from a three-million-dollar gift from the John D. Rockefeller V Foundation, the largest donation presented to the federation in its 81-year history.
Chess activity remains mainly online, although the Sunway Chess Festival at Sitges just outside Barcelona begins today.

Breaking the Banker

Two Bullet games from the Chess.com Speed Chess Championship, which concludes this weekend. Black plays the solid Banker variation, but Carlsen breaks in.

M. Carlsen – P. Maghsoodloo

Scandinavian Defence 1+1

1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qd8 4.d4 Nf6 5.Nf3 g6 6.Bc4 Bg7 7.0–0 0–0 8.Re1 a6 9.a4 Nc6 10.h3 b6 11.Bf4 Bb7 12.Qd2 e6 13.Rad1 Ne7 14.Ne5 Ned5 15.Bg5 Qd6 16.Nxd5 exd5 17.Bxf6 Bxf6 18.Bb3 c5? (After 18…Rae8! Black stands well) 19.dxc5 bxc5 20.Bxd5 Rad8 21.Bxf7+ 1-0 21…Rxf7 22.Qxd6

Malcolm Pein Daily Telegraph Column

Artemiev went for broke in this Bullet game, but Carlsen had everything worked out.

V. Artemiev – M. Carlsen

Modern Defence 1+1

1.Nf3 g6 2.e4 Bg7 3.d4 d6 4.Nc3 a6 5.h3 b5 6.a4 b4 7.Ne2 Nd7 8.Ng3 e5 9.Bc4 exd4 10.Nxd4 Bb7 11.0–0 Ngf6 12.Re1 0–0 13.Bg5 h6 14.Bf4 Re8 15.Ndf5?! (White is already struggling. If 15.f3 d5 16.exd5 Nb6 opens up the game favourably for Black) 15…gxf5 16.Nxf5 Bxe4 17.Nxh6+ Bxh6 18.Bxh6 Ne5 19.Ba2 Bg6 20.f4 Ned7 21.Qf3 Kh8 22.Rxe8+ Qxe8 23.f5 Bh7 24.Bxf7

Magnus Carlsen WinsBlack to play and win

Highlight the text below this line to reveal the answer.

24…Ne5! 0-1 Not 24…Qe5 25.Qxa8+

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