Author: Commander Exorcist Page 3 of 37

Wesley Surber is a theologian and chess enthusiast in San Antonio, Texas. He has an extensive background and experience in military operations, tactics, and healthcare. In addition, he received his Masters of Divinity from Liberty University in 2016 and is an active member of Vineyard USA. In his spare time, he blogs for Campfire Chess and enjoys chess, horror movies, reading, video games, and as much family time as he can get.

Karpov to Attend 2021 US Open

We’re just a few weeks away from the start of the 2021 U.S. Open and US Chess has announced that legendary World Champion GM Anatoly Karpov will be in attendance on August 4th for a lecture, Q & A session, and book signing. Here is the official release info from the US Chess Federation:

Mr. Karpov will deliver a lecture, to be followed by a question-and-answer period.  Then, Mr. Karpov will appear at a book signing in the US Open bookstore.  He’ll be joined there by a former World Junior Champion, GM Maxim Dlugy!  This special event is happening thanks to the combined generosity of the New Jersey State Chess Federation, Chess Max Academy, and US Chess Sales.  US Chess thanks all of these partners for helping to provide our attendees with this great visit!

According to US Chess, the Crowne Plaza, which is hosting the event, is almost out of rooms but the federation has secured local hotels at the same discount rate. For details, visit the official website for the 2021 US Open.

Personal Analysis – A Closed Conundrum

One of my favorite parts of playing daily chess is how the battles unfold over several days. There are some positions that go fast and others that seem to drag on forever. Then there are those moments where it seems that both sides are ready to lash out. I find myself constantly checking to see if I’ve received a notification that it’s my turn to move when there are tight positions and it’s all hanging by a thread. The game that follows is one such game that I recently played. It was a close battle for most of the game with blunders and mistakes on both sides, but ultimately, I pulled out a very nice win.

Complete Chess Scholastic Tournament

Complete Chess in San Antonio is holding an online tournament for scholastic chess players (K-12) from any state on Friday, June 25th and Saturday, June 26th. Registration is limited to 50 people, so hurry now to register if you’re interested. See the release below from Complete Chess for details:

Complete Chess Scholastic Tournament – Saturday, June 26th

This is an unrated chess tournament open to all students(K-12) in San Antonio and nearby areas. We will play on Saturday at 10a.m. until finish (usually around 1p.m). Registration online only, no registration on site. Registration ends at 8:00pm on Friday.

FREE TOURNAMENT – LIMIT 50 PEOPLE FOR THIS EVENT.

Register Here

Complete Chess Grand Prix Tournament – Friday, June 25th

This is our weekly online rated Swiss Scholastic arena tournament on Lichess. The tournament will run on Friday, June 25th and the first round will start promptly at 5:15 pm CST. Any K-12 players from any state are allowed to participate in the tournament. By the end of the tournament, a running total of points will be collected, based on the number of wins/draws, and it will be recorded on the website. The 2021 Complete Chess Summer Season will continue to have weekly tournaments until the second week of August. By the end of the Season, the top 10 players with the most points will each receive an individual trophy.

Entry fee: $15 if received by June 24th, and $25 on tournament day.

Register Here

Personal Analysis – Pushing and Discovering

Since I returned to writing about and playing chess regularly, I’ve tried to center myself more on developing a comprehensive study plan and maintaining some sense of focus. Previously, I was obsessed with openings, but these days I’m trying to focus more on positional play and strategic level positions in the middlegame. I’m finding myself more able to find discovered checks and push my pawns forward with more momentum and purpose.

The game above was played against an internet opponent on Chess.com on the Daily Chess function. The time control was 1 move per day, but we finished it much sooner than that. I decided to annotate this game because while it’s filled with amateur mistakes, I believe it’s representative of my improvement in the middlegame and my growing ability to identify key moments that can turn a losing position into a winning steamroller. My opponent played hard, but I was fortunate that the chess gods shined their light on me for this one.

Endgame – A Movie Review

Up against the border between the United States and Mexico is the town of Brownsville, Texas, where the residents get much of their past and contemporary culture from a mixture of the two nations. Jose, the unlikely protagonist of Endgame is an elementary school student who is struggling to find his way in a world where he feels disconnected, unappreciated, and unwanted. When he’s not getting into trouble at school, being lectured by the most insufferable movie Principal in history, or arguing with his mother, Jose spends time with his grandmother playing chess.

Endgame does its best to mimic many of the feel good chess movies that have come before it. There are times it tries to channel Searching for Bobby Fischer with a mix of Knights of the South Bronx. Although it certainly doesn’t come close to the beauty of Searching, there are moments that make Endgame a worthy family movie.

Given the story’s setting, the producers do take time to address some of the contemporary political discussions surrounding illegal immigration in the United States and the consequences that come with it for the families involved. Without giving too much away, there is a subplot involving one of the chess team members who’s parents are illegal immigrants. The way in which the film deals with this subplot is very interesting because it has a resolution, but not in the way that one would expect for a film that seems to be geared toward a family friendly audience.

As the world around him seems to crumble, Jose finds himself immersed deeper into the world of scholastic chess. He’s encouraged by the eccentric tutorage of his chess coach, Mr. Alvaredo, who is based on the real life Brownsville chess coach J.J. Guajardo. Mr. Guajardo was a teacher at Brownsville (Russell) Elementary School in the 1980s when he took a group of kids given detention for allegedly destroying a school record collection and taught them to play chess. Since then, Brownsville has been overrun by curious media and chess fanatics curious about its incredibly strong scholastic teams.

Through his effort to win on the board, Jose faces a myriad of challenges that mirror the movement of his pieces. Friends come and go just as though they were nothing more than pieces on the board. There is deep symbolism in chess, which requires little effort from any competent producer or director to bring out in a film. Endgame does a good job of juxtaposing the challenges of daily life and the struggles around us with the endless struggle to checkmate our opponent’s King.

How does Endgame stack up against the increasingly crowded field of feel good chess movies and feel good sports movies in general? Well, for me, it’s a mixed bag. There are some interesting characters, for sure. The Principal is one of the scummiest people I’ve ever seen in a film. Very rarely has a character created a sense of physical rage inside me, but the school’s smug Principal certainly did the job. My main issue with this movie was the character of Jose. It’s obvious that the producers wanted to create a character who was realistic and relatable, but he’s often an obnoxious and annoying boy who’s eventual victories are sometimes overshadowed by his overall attitude and demeanor.

Endgame is not a bad movie by any stretch of the imagination. It has its fun moments and it has some legitimate tear-jerking moments. You can’t go wrong with giving it a try if you’re looking for a lightweight chess film or something for the family to sit down and enjoy over a bowl of popcorn one evening.

Verdict: ♟︎♟︎♟︎♙

Mamedyarov Victorious In Romania

The Superbet Chess Classic came to a dramatic end earlier today with GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov claiming ultimate victory in this leg of the Grand Chess Tour. All games in the final round were drawn, but Mamedyarov finished the tournament a full point ahead of Levon Aronian after forcing a draw against Anish Giri.

#PlayerRtg12345678910Pts
1Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar2770*1½½½½½11½6
2Aronian, Levon27810*½1½½1½½½5
3So, Wesley2770½½*½½½½1½½5
4Grischuk, Alexander2776½0½*½½1½1½5
5Giri, Anish2780½½½½*½½½014.5
6Radjabov, Teimour2765½½½½½*½½½½4.5
7Deac, Bogdan-Daniel2627½0½0½½*½½14
8Caruana, Fabiano28200½0½½½½*1½4
9Lupulescu, Constantin26560½½01½½0*½3.5
10Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime2760½½½½0½0½½*3.5

There will be very little rest for many of the players as they travel from Romania to Paris for the second event in the Grand Chess Tour, the 2021 Paris Rapid and Blitz tournament. Participants include Levon Aronian, Fabiano Caruana, Wesley So, and Peter Svidler. In the meantime, you can replay all of the games from the Superbet Chess Classic in Romania below.

Leader Standings Challenged in Superbet Round 5

GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan is quickly gaining ground on GMs Alexander Grischuk and Wesley So going into the fifth round of the Superbet Chess Classic in Bucharest with a score of 7.5 to So’s 8 and Grischuk’s 7.75.

#PlayerRtgPerf1234567890PtsSB
1Wesley So27702825½½½½13.0/58
2Alexander Grischuk27762808½½½1½3.0/57.75
3Shakhriyar Mamedyarov27702789½½½½13.0/57.5
4Teimour Radjabov27652781½½½½½2.5/56.25
5Bogdan-Daniel Deac26272771½0½½12.5/56
6Levon Aronian27812758½½½½½2.5/55.75
7Fabiano Caruana282027510½½½12.5/55.5
8Anish Giri27802660½½½½02.0/55
9Maxime Vachier-Lagrave27602651½½0½½2.0/55
10Constantin Lupulescu265627110½01½2.0/54.25

After getting off to a sleepy start, the games have started to get more interesting as well. It’s obvious that Anish Giri’s loss the other day affected him severely as he’s fallen to 8th place in the standings with a score of 5. Mamedyarov’s game and performance from Round 4 has certainly been of interest given his quick rise and challenge to the tournament’s current leaders.

Today was a rest day for the players, but tomorrow we get back to business as So and Grischuk work to maintain their leads. But…in chess, like life, anything can happen. You can read more in-depth analysis on Chess.com or The Week in Chess.

Giri Smoked in Superbet Day #3

I spent a good portion of this morning with the boards from the Superbet Chess Classic up while I worked my day job. I watched the full game between Fabiano Caruana and Levon Aronian. It had a few good moments, but was mostly a sleeper that ended in a draw. It wasn’t until I switched to Anish Giri’s game that things got very interesting.

In this position, Giri blundered with 31…Qc5, which allowed White a win with 32.Re7. I missed the move when it was originally made, but it was apparent when the inline analysis tool on Chess.com’s events viewer went from balanced to completely White. It was obvious that the game was over with no real way for Giri to escape. This is an interesting win, especially given that Constantin Lupulescu, the GM who beat him, was chosen to participate as part of the tournament’s local talent pool.

Obviously, Giri is human and nobody’s perfect. He’ll certainly shrug off the blunder and move on to the next drawn game… See the game itself on Chess.com or more commentary on today’s round from The Week in Chess.

Website Code Refresh and Updates

It’s taken a few weeks, but I’m almost finished with the code refresh and cleaning out all of the junk here on Campfire Chess. You’ll notice that quite a few things have changed. Some are subtle and some are not so subtle. I’m still in the process of going through all of the old content to determine its historical merit. Some older content has been removed because the YouTube videos they reference or the websites/products they reference no longer exist. The world of chess is always changing and so will we. Here’s a brief overview of what’s happening so far:

  • More regular updates of news, events, and games from top players as well as local games and events.
  • Completely redesigned the Downloads page. More game collections are on their way.
  • Realigned all 300+ posts since the website opened to make sure they align with proper categories.
  • Removed 10+ posts referencing websites, products, and YouTube videos that no longer exist.

Additionally, I’m working to add some new features to the site as well.

  • Started working on the chess utility. Right now it’s just a board that can be used for quick online analysis. Eventually it’ll include libraries and openings, but it’s just basic at the moment.
  • More interaction and cross-blogging with Chess.com. Campfire Chess is now a Chess.com premium member and I’d eventually like to feature the content on this website alongside their top blogs as well. You can view certain content from this site cross-blogged here.
  • The YouTube channel for this site is dead, but I hope to revive it before the end of the year with some new content. I just have to decide what kind of chess content I’m going to feature.

I’m very excited to be bringing this project back to life and I hope that you’ll continue to take the journey with me. The best way to engage with Campfire Chess is on our social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.

2021 Complete Chess Summer Camp

Learn chess this summer with San Antonio Chess Champion
National Chess Master
Jesse James Lozano

This summer, Complete Chess will offer a series of five-day chess camps for children of all grade levels and chess skill sets. Each camp, taught by City Champion Jesse James Lozano and experienced chess coaches, will provide a range of chess related activities including chess lessons, puzzle competitions, blitz games, Bughouse chess, game analysis, tactics training and strategy workshops. To keep camp fun, additional activities include Rubik’s Cube, LEGO, Pokémon and movie night.

Camp Hours
Monday thru Friday 
9 a.m. to 3 p.m.


Early drop off (8am) is available for an additional $10 per day.
Late pick-up (4 p.m.) is available for an additional $10 per day. 

Cost: $200 (five-day camp) OR
$50 (daily pass)

Can’t commit to a full week of camp?
Try out their daily pass.

Find out more by visiting Complete Chess on their website, Facebook, or
contact them at: (210) 393-3056

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