ICCM Wayne Conover

"In the gymnasium of the mind postal chess is equivalent to a 300 pound bench press." -- Brian Flowers

This month it is my pleasure to write about Wayne Conover. We first played postal in Virgil Kimm's Courier Chess Club almost 40 years ago. He and Conrad Goodman were the giants. Since then, Wayne has gone on to be a major force in US/ICCF chess, gained a rating of 2463, and earned the title of International Correspondence Chess Master.

Wayne is a very difficult man to beat. A drawing master, like Carl Schlechter or Tigran Petrosian, Wayne is content to draw many of his games as long as he wins many more. His record certainly shows the success of his style. Nearly invulnerable in postal play, his first U.S. Championship final was the ninth U.S. Championship where he scored +6 =9.

In the 10th Final, Wayne scored +9 -1 = 6 to finish second. In the 12th Final, Wayne went +3 -1 = 12. In the current 14th U.S. Championship preliminary, he stands at +7 -0 =4. In the National Team Championship, on Board 13, Wayne went +1 -0 =7. In the very strong 8th North American Invitational, Wayne tied for third with a score of +7 -2 =5.

He also stands at 8-2 (is that four draws, Wayne?) in the ongoing North Atlantic Team Tournament, on Board 7. Those are impressive results, and it is why we celebrate Wayne Conover, ICCM!

GAME OF THE MONTH

The following game is typical of Conover's play - Wayne keeps the balance in a double-edged game until his opponent errs, and then he is all over White for the full point.

DUTCH DEFENSE [A88]

W: Russell Arsaga (2215)

B: Wayne Conover (2263)

9th U.S. CC Championship, 1991

1. d4 f5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 g6 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. 0-0 d6 6. c4 0-0 7. Nc3 c6 8. d5 e5

This line immediately challenges the assumption that e6 is weak: Conover plans to hide the guardian of e6 on g8.

9. dxe6 e.p. Bxe6 10. Qd3 Kh8!? 11. Bf4 d5

Black's temporary pawn sacrifice with 11. ... Na6!? 12. Ng5 Bg8 13. Bxd6 Re8 14. Rad1 Nd7 15. Nf3 Qf6 16. Bf4 Ndc5 17. Qc2 Bxc4 gave White too much center play after 18. Bg5 Qf7 19. b3 Be6 20. Nd4 in Levin-Duchov (Novogorod, 1995).

12. Ng5 Bg8 13. cxd5 Nxd5 14. Rad1 h6 15. Nh3 g5 16. Nxd5 cxd5 17. Be3

The exchanges by 17. Bxb8?! Rxb8 18. Bxd5 Bxd5 19. Qxd5 Bxb2! (not 19. ... Qxd5? 20. Rxd5 Bxb2 21. Rb1 with the edge for White) lead to an endgame in Black's favor.

17. ... Nc6 18. Qb5 Qc8 19. Bc5 Rd8 20. b3 d4 21. Rc1?

White has allowed his knight to be out of play long enough. After 21. f4 g4 22. Nf2 Re8 23. Rfe1, chances remain even. Now the uselessness of this knight hurts White.

21. ... f4!

A standard trick: 22. gxf4? g4 wins the knight.

22. Be7 Re8 23. Bd6 a6 24. Qa4 Rxe2!

Black could win the h3-knight by 24. ... Be6 but after 25. Nxf4, White gets some play for his piece.

25. Rfd1 f3 26. Bxf3 Qxh3 27. Bxe2 Bd5 28. Bf1 Qe6

And the threat of ... Qe4 breaks White's resistance. He has to let the bishop go, after which Black has a winning material advantage.

29. Bc4 Qxd6 30. Bxd5 Qxd5 31. Qc4 Qd7!

Black's attack is not yet finished. The endgame is not necessary.

32. Qc2 Rf8 33. Qe4 Re8 34. Qd3 Ne5 35. Qe4 g4 36. Kg2 Nc6 37. Qd3 Qd5+ 38. Kg1 Ne5 39. Qf1 d3, White resigns.

Another one of the great U.S. correspondence players has passed away. Dr. Eugene Martinovsky repeated as ICCF/US Correspondence Champion (first in the second USCCC, tied for first in the eighth). Dr. Martinovsky's chess was always accurate. Here he refutes Black's 11th move as too ambitious.

ENGLISH OPENING [A29]

W: Eugene Martinovsky (2365)

B: Vidar Taksrud (2315)

North Atlantic Team Tournament, 1992

1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. d3 d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. g3 Be7 7. Bg2 Nb6 8. 0-0 Be6 9. a3 0-0 10. b4 Nd4 11. Rb1 a5 12. Nxe5 axb4 13. axb4 Bf6 14. f4 Bxe5 15. fxe5 Nc6 16. Be3 Nd5 17. Bxd5 Bxd5 18. d4 Ra3 19. Qc1 Rb3 20. b5 Ne7 21. Bg5 Bc4 22. Rxb3 Bxb3 23. e3 Bc4 24. Qa3 Re8 25. Ra1 h6 26. Bxe7 Rxe7 27. Qa8 Qxa8 28. Rxa8+ Kh7 29. Ra7 b6 30. e4 f6 31. d5 Rxe5 32. Rxc7 Bd3 33. d6 Re8 34. Rb7 Rd8 35. Rxb6 Kg6 36. Kf2 Kf7 37. Ke3, Black resigns.

White plays an aggressive line, but when he cannot make his pieces cooperate, the light-footed Black knights help to catch his king.

BENKO GAMBIT [A57]

W: David Rowles (2007)

B: Chris Reeves (2127)

1998 Golden Knights

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5 4. cxb5 a6 5. Nc3 axb5 6. e4 b4 7. Nb5 d6 8. Bc4 Nbd7 9. Nf3 Nb6 10. Bd3 g6 11. b3 Bb7 12. 0-0 Bg7 13. Bb2 0-0 14. Qc2 e6 15. dxe6 fxe6 16. Ng5 Qe7 17. e5 Ng4 18. Nxh7 Qh4 19. h3 Bxg2 20. Kxg2 Nd5 21. Nf6+ Rxf6 22. exf6 Nf4+ 23. Kf3 Qxh3+, White resigns.

Beware! The game you are about to play over may be harmful to you (or your opponent's) health. Tired of playing against databased openings whose analysis extends for 20 or more moves, Chris Maciulewicz finds a little analyzed opening to play. The result is "The Mack Attack" that he believes is as playable as the Center Counter and has already taken the scalps of some strong players. Here is an example of the Mack Attack at work.

SICILIAN DEFENSE [B20]

W: Christopher Maciuelewicz (2260)

B: John Elburg (2330)

ECLIPSE 1999

1. e4 c5 2. Qh5 Nf6 3. Qxc5 Nxe4 4. Qe3 d5 5. Nc3 Nxc3 6. dxc3 e6 7. Qg3 Nd7 8. Be3 Nf6 9. 0-0-0 Qa5 10. Kb1 b5 11. Bd4 Bd7 12. Bd3 Rc8 13. Ne2 Qc7 14. Nf4 a5 15. Rhe1 Bc6 16. Be5 Qd7 17. Bf5 Qb7 18. Nxe6 fxe6 19. Bxe6 Kd8 20. c4 bxc4 21. Qg5 Bb4 22. Bxd5 Bxd5 23. Rxd5+ Ke8 24. Bxf6+ Bxe1 25. Re5+ Kf8 26. Qf5 Qf7 27. Qxc8+, Black resigns.