Mike Serovey On Chess

Rethinking Chess Tournament Strategies

2016-01-18T16:48:00.000-05:00

Recently, I have started playing in Over the Board (OTB) chess tournaments and I am on a losing streak due to a combination of factors. I caught a cold the first weekend of January and I am still having problems with my sinuses and post-nasal drip. I waste much of the time that I am awake coughing. I have a humidifier / vaporizer, but the air in my place can still be too dry during the winter and too humid during the summer.

While still recovering from my cold I entered a tournament that is being played on Wednesday nights at a restaurant that is called Smashburger. The playing conditions there are bad for me. The lighting is a little too low and the overhead lights are in my eyes if I do not wear a hat. Also, it is noisy there and I am often distracted by people who are moving around while I am playing.

Last Saturday I played an event that was within walking distance of where I live. I lost a hard-fought game in Round 1 that went more than 70 moves and then I had about 10 minutes to recover before starting the next round! I played horribly in Round Two and missed all kinds of chances to win that game. I eventually ended up in an endgame down material and had to swindle my nine-year-old opponent into playing an endgame that he did not know how to win! In Round Three I had another game that went more than 70 moves and I blew that endgame too!

What I now realize is that I lack the endurance to play out chess games that go more than 50 moves, especially if I have to play more than one game per day! I need to slow down during the early parts of these chess games and really look for the wins in the openings. Failing to end the chess games in less than 50 moves will most likely result in my blundering due to fatigue and then losing.

Mike Serovey, MA, MISM

2015-06-01T17:26:00.000-04:00

Michael Serovey of Colorado Springs, Colorado has won a closely contested 2013 trophy quad by a full point over his nearest rival.

13Q10

Serovey	2130		½1	½0	11	4-2
Ellis	2203	½0		11	0½	3-3
Leach	2100	½1	00		½½	2 ½
Pedersen	2028	00	1½	½½		2 ½

ENGLISH OPENING (A11)

White: Michael Serovey (2130)

Black: Roger Pedersen (2028)

2013 Trophy Quad

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 d5 3.Bg2 c6 4.0–0 Bg4 5.c4 e6 6.d3 Nbd7 7.cxd5 cxd5 8.Be3 Bc5 9.Bxc5 Nxc5 10.Nc3 0–0 11.h3 Bxf3 12.Bxf3 Rc8 13.Rc1 Qb6 14.Qd2 Rfd8 15.Rc2 Rc6 16.Rfc1 e5 17.d4 Nce4 18.Bxe4 dxe4 19.d5 Rcd6 20.e3 h6 21.Qe2 a6 22.Kg2 Qb4 23.a3 Qb3 24.g4 Qb6 25.Qc4 Nxd5 26.Nxd5 Rxd5 27.Qxe4 g6 28.Rc7 Qxb2 29.Rb1 Qxa3 30.Rbxb7 Qf8 31.Qf3 e4 32.Qxe4 Rb5 33.Rxf7 Qxf7 34.Rxf7 Kxf7 35.Qf4+ Ke7 36.Qxh6 Rd6 37.Qg7+ Ke8 38.e4 Rbb6 39.Kg3 Re6 40.e5 Rb3+ 41.Kh4 Rf3 42.Qg8+ Kd7 43.Qa8 g5+ 44.Kxg5 Rxe5+ 45.Kh4 Rf6 46.Qb7+ Ke6 47.Qxa6+ Kf7 48.Qa7+ Kg6 49.Qc7 Re2 50.f4 Rf7 51.f5+ Kg7 52.Qf4 Re8 53.Kg5 Rg8 54.Qd4+ Kh7+ 55.Kf4 Ra8 56.Qd6 Kg7 57.Qg6+ Kf8 58.Qh6+ Kg8 59.f6 Ra5 60.g5 Rd7 61.Qh5 Ra8 62.Qg6+ Kf8 63.Qe4 Rda7 64.Kf5 Kg8 65.Kg6 Rf8 66.Qe6+ Kh8 67.f7 Raxf7 68.Qxf7 1–0

Win and Draw

2015-05-01T18:12:00.003-04:00

I went through the chess games that I could find in my score books and elsewhere and then I made a spreadsheet of the highest rated players that I have beaten and drawn in various formats and places. I have posted that below.

Organization	Event Type	Rating	Result	Opponent
USCF	Correspondence Chess	2399	Draw	Daniel Woddard
USCF	Correspondence Chess	2317	Win	Harold Boege
USCF	Over the Board Tournament	1991	Win	Dante Benez
USCF	Over the Board Tournament	2237	Draw	Mikel Peterson
Stan's NetChess	Turn Based Chess	2601	Win	Chachi
ICC	Internet Server Correspondence Chess	2603	Win	Colossus
ICCF	Internet Server Correspondence Chess	2151	Win	Victor Popov
ICCF	Internet Server Correspondence Chess	2389	Draw	Mark Eldridge

Michael R. Serovey, MA, MISM

My New Chess Trophy

2015-05-01T17:36:00.002-04:00

Back in 2013 I entered a trophy quad to be played by correspondence chess. We mailed moves to each other. I moved during the course of this event and so did a couple of my opponents. One of them is now in jail.

I managed to finish this section with 3 wins, one loss and two draws. That gave me clear first place.

The trophy below is the first one that I have won since I left Florida in 2013.

Michael R. Serovey, MA, MISM

Cheating in Chess

2015-04-29T12:11:00.001-04:00

The chess game below is from the final round of the 2011 Golden Knights Postal Chess Championship. This game concluded not only my last game in this section but also my last game in correspondence chess that I played by snail mail.

The rules of the US Chess Federation (USCF) prohibit using chess engines to help analyze a correspondence chess game that is still in progress. My opponent used Stockfish 6 to help him decide whether or not to trade rooks and to accept my draw offer. I did not discover this illegal use of a chess engine until after the game was over and I started to look at it with my own engines. I did not file a complaint about this because the use of this engine did not affect the outcome of the game. I got the draw that I wanted.

It is impossible to go into the engine room at playchess.com without using your own engine. Checking to see if someone else has analyzed a given position in the engine room could be considered cheating by a strict interpretation of the rules, but I will allow it because I do that too. What I object to is someone staying there more than a minute. If they are there long enough to get credit for discovering a position, then they are definitely cheating!

Posted below are screenshots of the engine use.

PGN

Michael R. Serovey, MA, MISM

New Chess Application is Available

2013-10-22T07:24:00.000-04:00

I have developed an application for mobile devices that you can use on a smart phone or tablet. This application will keep you up to date on my chess activities and also allow you to view The Chess Improver blog that I contribute to. You can also get chess supplies from Amazon using this application. It is $0.99 on Google Play, but it is still free if you click on the Amazon link. This will not be true much longer.

You can get it here:

Mike Serovey Publishes a New Chess Book

2013-09-11T14:56:00.001-04:00

I just published a new book on Amazon. It is what is called a "zero content" book. It contains a few introductory pages and then there is an outline for you to put the notation of your chess games and some notes about your opponents and the tournaments that those games were played in. There is also room at the bottoms of the pages for your pictures from these events.

You can get the book here: http://www.amazon.com/Chess-Players-Journal-Scrapbook-Make/dp/1492398004

March Open Chess Tournament in Tampa, Florida

2013-03-26T23:12:00.000-04:00

Mike Hoffer has announced the following:

Tampa Open Chess Tournament – Saturday, March 30 @ 10:15-7 pm

FUTURE DATES: March 30, April 20, May 25

Sorry, we have to limit entries this month to 40. Thanks to your support, we already have 20 tentative entries. Secure your entry NOW and SAVE $5 by registering via PayPal on our website.

(WE MAY CLOSE PAYPAL OPTION EARLY as it takes a few days for PayPal to transfer to our bank):

http://www.yes2chess.com/chess_tournament_detail_open.php

The adults are on the run! These events are rating BONANZAS for younger players & great lessons if they lose!

WE ARE PAIRING THE ADVANCED ENTRIES WHO MAY ARRIVE @10:40. CALL IF YOU CAN’T MAKE IT ON TIME!

Tentative entries include: Jason Abellada, Corey Acor, Luther Barnum, Gary Barrick, Stephem Barrick, Beard Bruce, Peter Calhoun, Preston Copeland, Chad Davis, Wyndell East, Mark Feldman, Terry Feeney, Raul Gutierrez, Joshua Harrison, Jordan Hart, Andres Hernandez, TrongAn Hoang, Truman Hoang, Michael Hoffer, Jason Hofferle, Roshan Jayaraman, Allyn Kahn, Nathan Kelly, Andrew Larson, Kelvin Ng, Vinod Panicker, Robert Prince, Scott Raymond, Geoff Roberts, Mike Serovey, Alex Shah, Rick Sloan, Kevin Stevens, Marc Taylor, Herbert Valdsaar, Charles Wright, Jay Wu, Jeff York

Rated USCF Chess Tournament - Open to all ages PLEASE RSVP EMAIL WHETHER OR NOT YOU PLAN TO ATTEND
Tampa Chess Centre at Busch Commercial Plaza, 5035 E. Busch Blvd, Suite 10, Tampa, FL 33617 Entry fee is only $25 if registered 2 days in advance; Credit cards accepted via PayPal. $30 on-site. USCF membership required. You may join on-site. Please bring your own clocks and sets if you have them.

Time control: NEW! GAME 60 minutes for each player, 5 second delay, four round Swiss System - no elimination

Registration starts 10:15 AM; First round begins (times approximate): 10:40; R2 1 PM; R3 3:00; R4 5:00

Prize money: $335 based on 20 entries. Prize distribution subject to category of entries (including a split between adults and kids) divided equitably. Example of prizes: $125-60-45. U1700: $60; U1300: $45

Prize money: $500 based on 30 entries. Prize distribution subject to category of entries (including a split between adults and kids) divided equitably. Example of prizes: $150-90-60. U1700: $90; U1600: $60; U1300: $50

Prize money: $670 based on 40 entries. Prize distribution subject to category of entries (including a split between adults and kids) divided equitably. Example of prizes: $250-120-80. U1700: $100; U1600: $70; U1300: $50

Tampa Chess Centre Club & Classes by Hoffer’s Chess Academy

Official Affiliate of the United States Chess Federation

Push Pawns Not Drugs! Say Yes 2 Chess!

Tampa Chess Centre

Busch Commercial Plaza, 5035 E. Busch Blvd., Suite 10, Tampa, 33617

www.Yes2Chess.com

CoachMike@Yes2Chess.com

(813) 526-2257

February Chess Tournament in Tampa

2013-02-20T23:54:00.000-05:00

This is from my friend, Mike Hoffer.

Tampa Open Chess Tournament – Saturday, February 23 @ 10:15-7 pm

FUTURE DATES: March 30, April 20, May 25

Sorry, we have to limit entries this month to 40. Thanks to your support, we already have 20 tentative entries. Secure your entry NOW and SAVE $5 by registering via PayPal on our website.

(WE MAY CLOSE PAYPAL OPTION EARLY as it takes a few days for PayPal to transfer to our bank):

http://www.yes2chess.com/chess_tournament_detail_open.php

The adults are on the run! These events are rating BONANZAS for younger players & great lessons if they lose!

WE ARE PAIRING THE ADVANCED ENTRIES WHO MAY ARRIVE @10:40. CALL IF YOU CAN’T MAKE IT ON TIME!

Tentative entries include: Jason Abellada, Corey Acor, Luther Barnum, Gary Barrick, Stephem Barrick, Beard Bruce, Peter Calhoun, Preston Copeland, Chad Davis, Wyndell East, Mark Feldman, Terry Feeney, Raul Gutierrez, Joshua Harrison, Jordan Hart, Andres Hernandez, TrongAn Hoang, Truman Hoang, Michael Hoffer, Roshan Jayaraman, Allyn Kahn, Nathan Kelly, Andrew Larson, Kelvin Ng, Vinod Panicker, Robert Prince, Scott Raymond, Geoff Roberts, Mike Serovey, Alex Shah, Rick Sloan, Kevin Stevens, Herbert Valdsaar, Charles Wright, Jay Wu, Jeff York

Time control: NEW! GAME 60 minutes for each player, 5 second delay, four round Swiss System - no elimination

Registration starts 10:15 AM; First round begins (times approximate): 10:40; R2 1 PM; R3 3:00; R4 5:00

Tampa Chess Centre Club & Classes by Hoffer’s Chess Academy

Official Affiliate of the United States Chess Federation

Push Pawns Not Drugs! Say Yes 2 Chess!

Tampa Chess Centre

Busch Commercial Plaza, 5035 E. Busch Blvd., Suite 10, Tampa, 33617

www.Yes2Chess.com

CoachMike@Yes2Chess.com

(813) 526-2257

Mike Serovey Wins Two More CC Sections

2013-02-19T19:47:00.000-05:00

I received another certificate from Alex Dunne stating that I won a Walter Muir e-quad and I had an opponent resign in a John Collins Memorial section. In Walter Muir Section 12W42 I earned a score of 5 - 1. In the John Collins section 12C01 I earned a score of 5.5 - 05. My only draw was with the highest rated player in that section. That score did win the John Collins section and should give me my first chess trophy in over ten years. That win should also put my USCF CC rating over 2100 points for the very first time. I believe that getting my CC rating over 2110 will get me into a top 100 list for Correspondence Chess players in Florida.

Mike Serovey, MA, MISM

My YouTube Chess Video Channel

2013-02-13T00:46:00.001-05:00

I have had a YouTube channel for several years and never did anything with it until now. I have uploaded my first video on chess and made my first play list. You can check out my chess video channel at Mike Serovey on Chess - YouTube Video Channel. I will be adding new chess related videos and play lists as I have the time for this.

Mike Serovey, MA, MISM

Mike Serovey Loses to Spanish Chess Expert Valentin Costa Trillo

2013-02-10T23:56:00.000-05:00

This is one of my games that was played on the ICCF server last year. I played what I beleive to be a main line in the French Defense, Advanced Variation and I got outplayed by my opponent. The PGN file that I copied below has some notes and analysis in it, but this game is not yet posted to my chess site because I am still analyzing it. I want to get this posted here for the benefit of those players who want to know what was played in this game.

[Event "FINJUB50pr47"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2012.10.20"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Serovey, Michael"]
[Black "Costa Trillo, Valentín"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C11"]
[WhiteElo "1866"]
[BlackElo "2084"]
[Annotator "Michael Serovey"]
[PlyCount "94"]
[EventDate "2012.11.01"]
[EventType "corr"]
[WhiteTeam "USA"]
[BlackTeam "Spain"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nc3 d5 3. e4 e6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. Be3 Qb6 8. Na4
Qa5+ 9. c3 cxd4 10. b4 Nxb4 11. cxb4 Bxb4+ 12. Bd2 Bxd2+ 13. Nxd2 O-O 14. Bd3 b5
15. Nb2 Nb6 16. Ke2 Nc4 17. Qc2 Qa3 18. Rhb1 f6 19. Bxh7+ Kh8 20. Qd3 fxe5 21.
Bg6 e4 22. Nxe4 Qxd3+ 23. Nxd3 dxe4 24. Bxe4 Rb8 25. g3 g5 26. Rf1 Nd6 27. Bc6
b4 28. fxg5 Rxf1 29. Rxf1 Ba6 30. Rf4 Rc8 31. Bd7 Rc3 32. Rxd4 Nf5 33. Rxb4 Rxd3
34. Ra4 Rd6+ 35. Ke1 Ne3 36. Be8 Ng2+ 37. Kf2 Rd2+ 38. Kf3 Bb7+ 39. Kg4
a6 40. h4 e5 41. g6 Kg7 42. Rb4 Bc8+ 43. Kf3 Rxa2 44. Bf7 Ne1+ 45. Ke4 Re2+ 46.
Kd5 Rd2+ 47. Ke4 Bd7 0-1

Mike Serovey, MA, MISM

Can You Win This Game as Black?

2012-11-08T22:17:00.001-05:00

Here is the final position in the fourth round game between Roshan Jayaraman and Lyubomir Gospodinov. Lyubomir claimed a win on time forfeit and I denied the claim because he admitted that he did not set the clock with the five-second delay. Lyubomir refused to continue in this position with a 26 minute time advantage. Can you find the draw for White with only two minutes, plus the five-second delay, without running out of time?

Here is some of the analysis by Deep Rybka 4 of this position:

XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+k+-+(
7+p+-+p+-'
6-+l+-zP-+&
5zp-+pzP-zp-%
4-+-zP-+Pzp$
3+P+-+-+-#
2-+K+-+L+"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy

(1) Jayaraman, Roshan - Gospodinov, Lyubomir

2012 Guavaween Open Tampa (4), 27.10.2012

[Michael Serovey]

1.Kc2 b5 2.Kc3 Bd7 3.Bh3 Be6 4.Kd3 Kd7 5.Kd2 Kc6 6.Kc2 b4

[6...a4 7.Kc3 Kc7 8.bxa4 bxa4 9.Kb4 Bd7 10.Ka3 Kb7 11.Kb4 Kb6 12.Ka3 Kb5 13.Bf1+ Ka5 14.Bg2 Be6 15.Bh3 Kb5 16.Bf1+ Kb6 17.Bh3 Bd7 18.Kb4 Be8 19.Bf1 Kc7 20.Ka3 Kb7 21.Kb2 Bd7 22.Bh3 Kc6 23.Ka3 Kc7 24.Kb2 Bb5 25.Bf1 a3+ 26.Kxa3 Bd7 27.Bh3 Kb6=]

7.Kb2 Kb5 8.Bf1+ Kb6 9.Bh3 Kc6 10.Kc2 Bc8 11.Kd3 Kb5 12.Bg2 Be6 13.Kd2 a4 14.Kc2 axb3+ 15.Kxb3 Bxg4 16.Bxd5 Bd1+ 17.Ka2 Bh5 18.Bg2 g4 19.Kb3 h3 20.Bf1+ Kc6 21.Kc4 h2 22.Bg2+ Kd7 23.Kxb4 g3 24.Kc5 Bg4 25.Kb6 Ke8 26.e6 Bxe6 27.Kc7 Bh3 28.Bc6+ Kf8 29.d5 h1Q 30.d6 Qh2 31.Kb6 Qb2+ 32.Bb5 g2 33.d7 g1Q+ 34.Kc6 Qxf6+ 35.Kb7 Qgb6+ 36.Kc8 Qfd8#

Mike Serovey, MA, MISM

The Demise of Mike Hoffer

2012-11-07T23:23:00.001-05:00

Here is a post on the website for the Saint Pete Chess Club. It is closed to comments because the author of this libelous post is afraid of it being refuted by those who know what really happened!

"The Demise of Mike Hoffer

November 4th, 2012 | Author: GRandolph

It has come to our attention that Hoffer’s Chess Academy Tournaments are dead. Here is the reason why, so his student can win a gam (sic) that are (sic) already over by time loss. He first says that there is a 5 second increment on the clock that was NEVER stated in the tournament email or mentioned at the start of the tournament, because nobody used the added time control in the tournament except during the act of cheating a 13 year old boy. And to top it off, mike (sic) decided to set up the position to where his student had a clear advantage. Now mike’s student can now correct an error he made in the game. The 13 year old boy that won the game outright has now been given a 20 point loss because he would not continue to play the second game. We invite Tampa chess players to come to St. Petersburg Chess Club for tournaments run by the U.S.C.F. rules and regulations with complete fairness! "

Apparently, G. Randolf cannot bother to check his grammar, spelling or facts before making a post on the chess club's website!

First off, Mike Hoffer is getting blasted for a decision that I made! Mike agreed with the decision, but I made it and the USCF has backed my decision! In the past, Mike Hoffer was inconsistent in how he enforced the rules and this has lead to some people accusing Mike of "catering to the Bulgarians". Part of the reason that I took over running his chess tournaments is because he would do stupid things like switching pairings if some cry baby complained about them. Now, the cry babies go to Mike to get him to persuade me to switch pairings! In one tournament about a year and a half ago, Mike let Lyubo do the pairings and I ended up getting three blacks in a row! It is not a coincidence that the third Black was against Lyubo! Now, Lyubo has the audacity to accuse Mike Hoffer of cheating! I have lost track of how many times I have had to talk with both Timo Gospodinov and his son Lyubo about not following the rules! Yet, they claim to be tournament directors that know these rules!

Mike Hoffer and Lybomir Gospodinov are both certified by the USCF as chess tournament directors at the "Club" level. All one has to do to get certified at the "Club" level is to sign a form that says that you understand the rules and have access to a copy of the official rule book! I, on the other hand, am certified at the "Local" level. I am certified at a higher level because I had to pass a test that shows that I know and understand how to apply the rules! Neither Mike Hoffer nor Lybomir Gospodinov has the authority to override my decisions because I am certified at a higher level than they both are!

In the disputed game in question, Mike Hoffer did fail to announce in advance that a five-second delay was to be used on all clocks. However, Lyubo knows that this is required in chess tournaments that I run even if they are not announced in advance! Mike Hoffer was the organizer, but I was the TD in the 2012 Guavaween Open. All decisions on how to enforce the rules were made by me. Before deciding to penalize Lyubo two minutes for not setting the clock correctly, I did consult with Mike Hoffer about this. The continuation of the game would have Lyubo up 26 minutes on time and up a pawn in a Bishop and pawn endgame with both bishops on the same color. Lyubo had a protected passed pawn on the h file. I could have beaten Bobby Fisher up a passed pawn and 26 minutes! Yet, Lyubo refused to finish this game because Roshan knew his strategy of trying to run Roshan out of time! I did not buy that excuse then and I still do not buy it now!

This is a picture of the final position taken by Roshan's father. I testify that is is an accurate representation of the positon that Lybomir Gospodinov claimed he could not win and thus refused to play on in.

Mike Serovey, MA, MISM

Recurring Problems at Chess Tournaments

2012-10-30T03:50:00.001-04:00

Last weekend I ran the 2012 Guavaween Open. We had 12 players in the event, including Mike Hoffer and both Gospodinovs. Lyubo and Timo did not want to play each other in the last round so I let Mike Hoffer twist my arm into changing the pairings. He has an annoying habit of having me switch pairings if a child does not want to play his parent or coach. I would really like to put a stop to that!

Truman Hoang got Timo and beat him. Roshan Jayaraman got Lyubo and lost on time. However, Lyubo did not set the clock correctly and Roshan challenged the time forfeit. After admitting that he did not turn on the 5-second delay on his clock Lyubo argued that it was not announced in the advertisement for the tournament. At the beginning of almost every tournament that I run I tell people to turn on the 5-second delay. I am pretty sure that I made that announcement at this tournament as well. However, I am posting this here to cover my bases. IN ANY CHESS TOURNAMENT THAT I RUN, YOU WILL USE A DIGITAL CLOCK WITH THE DELAY TURNED ON!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lyubo had 28 minutes left on his clock when he claimed the time forfeit. Lyubo was also up a protected passed pawn on the h file. Lyubo was clearly winning at that point in the game. However, his excuse for not resuming a winning game was that Roshan knew what Lyubo's strategy for winning was. I later found out that Lyubo's strategy was to simply run Roshan out of time! Now, Lyubo is making all kinds of complaints about Mike Hoffer and is being a big-time cry baby about losing a game that he refused to play out!!!!!!! I have no sympathy for this cheater at all!

In the future, if both players fail to keep an accurate score sheet when both players have plenty of time left on their clocks I will double forfeit them! If your claim for a win or a draw gets denied by me and you then refuse to finish your game I will adjudicate the game as a rated win for your opponent! If both players fail to post the result of a game before I need to pair the next round I will double forfeit them!

I have never played in a chess tournament in which the organizer allowed anyone to take a half-point bye in the last round. Mike Hoffer has been allowing this even though he knows that I do not like this! To make things worse, he is allowing the request for a final round bye to be made after the first round has been played! Last weekend he allowed Andres Hernandez to make a late request and then change his mind because he wanted to play Corey Acor in the last round! Over my protests Andres was allowed to play! Mike Hoffer is running his chess tournaments as if they were Friday night unrated quads!

Lyubo knows that Mike Hoffer is inconsistent in the way that he enforces rules and has taken unfair advantage of that in the past. He also knows that he cannot manipulate me so he tries to get Mike Hoffer to over rule my decisions. If this continues I am going to ream both Mike Hoffer and Lyubo in front of everyone who is present at the time!!!!!!!!

Mike Serovey, MA, MISM

Latest ICCF Ratings

2012-10-02T21:26:00.002-04:00

Here are my ICCF ratings so far:

Ratinglist	Rating	Games

2011/4	0	1	Details
2012/1	0	9	Details
2012/2	1734	17	Details
2012/3	1812	28	Details
2012/4	1866	35	Details
Mike Serovey, MA, MISM

Please Answer My Poll Question

2012-10-02T21:12:00.002-04:00

I am planning to develop a program that will help people to concentrate better while studying or playing chess. It will combine music with subliminal suggestions that will help people to relax and concentrate better while studying. This program will have suggestions that are specific to chess players. If I get enough interest I will release more information and additional questions here.

Mike Serovey, MA, MISM

2012-09-04T23:52:00.001-04:00

I have been accepted as an author at Amazon Kindle and have published a book that you can get for free from September 5 to September 9 inclusive. Deatails can be found at my Amazon author's page. After that date my book, Better Thinking for Better Chess, will go back to the regular price of $8.97.

This book is based on an independant study that I did back in 1988 as a part of my Bachelor of Arts in Psychology degree program.

Mike Serovey, MA, MISM

Current Correspondence Chess Standings

2012-08-07T12:53:00.000-04:00

One of the drawbacks to playing correspondence chess with really slow time controls is that some of my opponents will play quickly in the first 20 moves of the games and then start to play more slowly when they are losing. After they have accumulated over 100 reflection days and are dead lost they will take 20+ days on every move instead of resigning. They are just delaying the inevitable and I find this to be annoying. I have two different opponents in two different sections who are playing out lost endgames. I have a checkmate in 7 moves against the current leader in one section. When he finally resigns or I checkmate him I will have won this section.

In 5th Webchess Open Tournament prel. 40 I am tied for third place with a score of 1.5 out of 4 games completed. In first place is the Italian master that I lost to. In second place is the Polish expert that I recently drew. In third place is the Russian master that I lost to. I beat a Canadian player rated 1969 and I have a Spanish player rated 1968 who is dead lost and now is stalling. The person who is in dead last place has not finished any games and therefore has no score. Inna is from the Ukraine and took most of her leave time at the beginning of our game. Now, she is moving more quickly but it is too early in this game for anyone to have an advantage.

I have one game remaining in 11N22 and should win that game. I did well enough in that section to get paired into the second round of this Golden Knights chess tournament. I ended up playing this same opponent that I have in 11N22 again in 11NS03. I have not completed any of my games in 11NS03.

I am continuing to copy content from the old, static HTML pages of my chess site to the WordPress pages. I am also updating some of the WordPress pages to better optimize them for SEO purposes.

Mike Serovey, MA, MISM

The New Sicilian Dragon

2012-08-05T20:19:00.001-04:00

The New Sicilian Dragon From: Everyman Chess Price: $18.96& eligible for FREE Super Saver Delivery. Availability:Usually ships in 24 hours Product Description Grandmaster and well-known Sicilian Dragon expert Simon Williams takes a totally fresh look at this famous opening. Concentrating on his favourite Dragadorf Variation, Williams constructs a cutting-edge repertoire for Black, one which is perfect for the modern Dragon player who

The New Sicilian Dragon

Updates to My Chess Site

2012-08-04T21:11:00.000-04:00

I have installed WordPress onto Mike Serovey on Chess and I am copying all of the static HTML pages over to WordPress pages. The following pages have been copied over to WordPress pages and updated:

I have also created a Google Plus Chess Page that you can check out at http://gplus.to/MikeSeroveyOnChess. I also created a Chess Fans group that you can join.

Mike Serovey, MA, MISM

Correspondence Chess History

2012-07-10T15:16:00.001-04:00

http://www.onlywire.com/r/91380913

Mike Serovey Loses to the Italian Master, Gaetano Caradonna

2012-06-15T22:32:00.001-04:00

I recently finished a game that was played on the ICCF server. This game, complete with analysis and diagrams, can be found at http://mikeseroveyonchess.com/games/sicilian-defense-page/sicilian-defense-with-gaetano-caradonna-page/. More complete analysis of this game, and my other games that I played against masters, will be found in my members only area of my chess site once I get it set up. For now, I need to finish the online class in legal and ethical issues and then move before I will have the time and energy to work on that part of my site.

Here is the game in PGN:

[Event "S-Open/5-pr40"]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2012.6.1"]
[Round "-"]
[White "Caradonna, Gaetano"]
[Black "Serovey, Michael"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2203"]
[BlackElo "1734"]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6
6.Ndb5 Bb4 7.a3 Bxc3+ 8.Nxc3 d5 9.exd5 exd5 10.Bd3 O-O
11.O-O d4 12.Ne2 Bg4 13.Bg5 Qd6 14.f3 Bh5 15.Qd2 Nd5
16.Be4 f6 17.c4 Nb6 18.Bf4 Nxc4 19.Bxd6 Nxd2 20.Bxf8 Kxf8
21.Rf2 Nxe4 22.fxe4 Re8 23.Ng3 Bg6 24.Rd2 Re5 25.b4 a6
26.a4 Ke7 27.Rc1 Ke6 28.h4 h6 29.Kf2 Bh7 30.h5 Rg5
31.Rc5 Re5 32.Rdc2 Kd7 33.b5 Nb4 34.Rxe5 fxe5 35.Rc4 Nd3+
36.Ke2 Nf4+ 37.Kd2 Ne6 38.b6 g6 39.hxg6 Bxg6 40.a5 h5
41.Nf5 h4 42.Rc1 Bh7 43.Rh1 Nc5 44.Rxh4 Bg6 45.Ke2 Ke6
46.Rh6 Kf7 47.Kf3 d3 48.Ke3 d2 49.Nd6+ Ke7 50.Kxd2 Nxe4+
51.Nxe4 Bxe4 52.g4 Kf7 53.g5 Bg2 54.Rf6+ Ke7 55.Rf2 Bd5
56.g6 Kd6 57.g7 Kc6 58.Rf5 {Black resigns.} 1-0

FSCL All-Star Results - West Florida

2012-05-25T16:15:00.000-04:00

Coach Willard Taylor sent this information to me and I am posting it here.

- let me take this moment to thank all the players, parents and coaches that attended this great event. Some said it was the best tournament they had ever attended...just thought I would bring that up.

West Florida not only did great on results, but something even more important.... we had 82 players (265 in tournament) attend from the West and that was a record for us.

I was overwhelmed by your response, we had so many new teams go ( and win trophies ) it only proves to me that we are all doing something right.

United Minds, North Tampa, Tampa Chess, Tampa Bay Chess and all the schools and clubs involved are doing a wonderful job of preparing our players for upper level Chess.

It's great to see all the team work and friendships that these groups are developing.

Now it's on to the National Grade Championships in Orlando, Nov 30- Dec 2nd at Disney's Coronado Springs Resort - Lake Buena Vista.

Here are some of the results from All-Stars:

K-1

Kai Nelson, Mitchell Elem. 3rd place, Berkeley Prep Team 4th place Academy Prep 5th place

K-3

Stephen Barrick Lincoln Ave Aca-Lakeland 6th, Benson Walent 7th Banan Truex 9th

Berkeley Prep Team 1st Place, Lincoln Ave Academy 5th Place

K-5

Roshan Jayaraman 1st Place, Dylan Sunjic 7th place, Truman Hoang 8th place,

Aidan Reilly 10th place. WoW!!! that was a great division.....

Christ The King 3rd Place, Berkeley Prep 4th Place

K-8

Jacob Newman tied for 10th Academy Prep 4th Place

K-5 Blitz

1st Truman Hoang, 5th Roshan Jayaraman

K-5 Bughouse

5th Aidan Reilly and Josh Levison

Great Job! The West will do even better next year!!! West is BEST!!!

Coach Taylor

Latest Chess Ratings at Stan's Net Chess

2012-02-25T00:50:00.000-05:00

Eventually I am going to get around to posting my goals for this year. For now, here is what I have accomplished so far at Stan's Net Chess:

Statistics for OnGoldenPawn

              rating [need] win  loss  draw total   best
Blitz           1242  [2]    57    63    14   134   1441 (13-Mar-2005) 
Standard        1957        302   262    88   652   1958 (14-Feb-2012) 
5-minute         851  [8]     1     2     0     3                      
Correspondence  1750  [1]    31    15    10    56   1750 (09-Nov-2011)

Because I am still having trouble getting paired into correspondence chess events, and it seems that other people cannot challenge me to CC games, I will probably never get my CC rating over 1800. I was told by someone who wanted to play some correspondence chess games with me that my settings would not allow him to challenge me and I still do not know how to correct that.

Mike Serovey, MA, MISM
USCF Certified Local Tournament Director