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Chess Life Online 2012 April The July Check is in the Mail
Chess Life Online 2012 April The July Check is in the Mail | The July Check is in the Mail |
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| By Alex Dunne | |
| July 12, 2012 | |
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The 17th Olympiad has only a few games left to be finished, but it is clear that Germany will win the gold, Spain the silver, and Russia and Italy are still in a battle for the bronze. Bringing up the rear are the United States and Croatia, with Croatia still having a game left. Facing some of the best competition the correspondence world can offer, the US team scored minus one on Boards one (Jason Bokar) three (Kenneth Reinhart) and five (Robert Rizzo). Michael Millstone had a difficult job on Board two, having to take over when Gary Walters was unable to continue his games, scoring minus 4. Keith Rodriguez (Board four) and Corky Schakel (Board six) had a bad tournament, scoring minus seven and minus four respectively. GAME OF THE MONTH Some chess games can impress the reader by the steady accumulation of small advantages until one side emerges with a winning advantage. Take warning -- this is not one of those games. This is Conflict with a capital C. SICILIAN DEFENSE (B90) 6321 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e5 7.Nb3 Be6 8.f3 Be7 9.Qd2 0-0 10.0-0-0 Nbd7 The scene is set. We all know that opposite side castling is generally the clue that some heavy stomping is in the coming attractions. So let the stomping begin! 11.g4 b5 12.g5 b4 13.Ne2 Bokar is ready for a fight. A safer line is 13. gxf6 bxc3 14. Qxc3 Nxf6 15. NA5 Qe8 16. Nc6 Rc8 17. Nxe7+ Qxe7 = as in Pinkovetsky-Scherer, 27th World Championship Final. Bokar is playing for the win against the Estonian GM. 13...Ne8 14.f4 a5 15.f5 a4 And it is clear that Kukk is playing for a win against the American GM, too. 16.Nbd4! Only thus, with the counterthreat of Nc6 so the Knight must be captured. 16...exd4 17.Nxd4 b3! And Black offers his Queen after 18. Nc6? bxa2! 18.Kb1 Recent experience has strongly favored White in this position, but this game was started in 2009. 18...bxc2+ White has also been doing well against 18...bxa2+ as in Rakay-Joao, ICCF 2002: 19. Ka1 Nc5 20. fxe6 fxe6 21. Nc6 Qc7 22. Nxe7+ Qxe7 23. Bxc5 dxc5 24. Bc4.A lesser line worth looking into was 18...Nc5 19. fxe5 Nxe4 20. Qd3 as in Ruggeri Laderchi-Braakhuis, 27 World Championship semifinal. 19.Nxc2 Bb3! 20.axb3 axb3 21.Na3 Ne5 22.h4 Ra4 This position was reached by another American Grandmaster in Fleetwood-Jedrzejowski, 15 Olympiad Final, which continued 23. Qg2 Qa8 24. f6 Bxf6 25. gxf6 Nxf6 with advantage to White. 23.Bd4 Qa8 24.Qe3 Kh8 25.Bb5 White's plan is to force Black to sacrifice on a3 or allow the safe capture of the b3 Pawn. 25...Ra5 26.Bc3 Taking on b3 right away is a catastrophe -- 26. Qxb3 Nc7 27. Be2 Rb8 26...Rxa3 27.bxa3 Qxa3 28.Rd2 Nc7 29.Be2 Rb8 30.Rh3 f6 31.Bxe5 dxe5 32.Rb2 Qa4 33.Qd3 Nb5 34.Rxb3 Remarkably this position was reached in Keuter-Schmidt, Germany cc 2008 and a draw was agreed. Bokar obviously has a different assessment of this position. 34...Na3+ 35.Kc1 Rc8+ 36.Rc3 Rb8 37.Bd1! This is the key to White's defense - turn it into an attack -- as the position now begins to turn strongly to White's favor. 37...Qa8 38.Rc7 Bd8 39.Rf7 Qc6+ 40.Bc2 Kg8 41.Qxa3! The Black King will now be forced into a stomping as White's Rook, Bishop, and Queen will quickly be working together. 41...Kxf7 42.Rc3 Qb6 43.Bb3+ Ke8 44.Qa4+ Kf8 45.Qc4! Qg1+ 46.Kb2 Qf2+ 47.Kb1 Not 47. Rc2? Qd4+ and Black will hold. 47...Qe1+ 48.Ka2 And now not 48. Rc1 Rxb3+! 42. Qxb3 Qxe4+ which is equal. 48...Qf2 After 48...Ra8+ 49. Kb2 Qa1+ 50. Kc2 Black is doomed. 49.Rc2 Qa7+ 50.Kb1 Rxb3+ Now 50...Qg1+ 51. Rc1 Rxb3+ 52. Qxb3 Qd4 53. Rc4 will soon lead to a win. 51.Qxb3 fxg5 52.Rc8! Qd4 Black cannot defend by 52...Qd7 53. Rb8 gxh4 54. Rb7 Qe8 55. f6 Bxf6 56. Rb8 Bd8 57. Qd5 53.Qd5 Qg1+ 54.Kc2 Qf2+ 55.Qd2 Qxd2+ 56.Kxd2 Ke8 57.f6 Also winning is 57. h5, but Bokar's way is neater. 57...gxf6 58.h5 Kd7 59.Ra8 h6 60.Ke2 g4 61.Ra7+ Bc7 62.Kf2 Kc6 63.Kg3 Bb6 64.Rf7 1-0  ObituarySteve Chakis of Loxahatchee, FL, born June 26, 1954 died September 22, 2011. Steve was a Master level CC player, active OTB in many Florida events, and a finalist in the 1996 Golden Knights. Here is a game from the Finals. FRENCH DEFENSE (C13) 6322 JUNE RESULTS Walter Muir Klaus Johnson 11W20 6-0 Harold Brown 12W05 3 ½-2 ½ Roger Pedersen 12W05 3 ½-2 ½ Michael Serovey 11W26 3 ½-2 ½ Paul Shannon 12W01 6-0 Stephen Hoffmeister 11W38 5 ½-½ Brennan Price 12W13 5 ½-½ Trophy Quad Gerald Sitter 12Q01 6-0 Pater Gaffney 11Q07 5-1 John Collins Jack Shaw 10C22 5 ½-½ Thomas Chromczak 11C12 5 ½-½ Robert Eisthen 10C20 6-0 Klaus Johnson's Rooks dominate Frederick Mayes' Queen. DUTCH DEFENSE (A80) 6323 Two chess players were playing a correspondence match. One lived at the North Pole, one lived at the South Pole. Every 6 months a small piece of paper with the other player's move would be delivered. Now the player at the South Pole was eagerly anticipating his opponent's move, for they had just reached a particularly complex position in the Sicilian Najdorf. And at last, one day some dogs arrived bearing the move. He took in a deep breath as he opened up the envelope. It read: "J'adoube." Found on the Internet by Harry Simon LEARN CHESS BY MAIL ! Lessons given by mail, telephone, ICC - many different ways. I specialize in players rated 800-2100 who would like to improve their game. Contact me for information. Alex Dunne, 324 West Lockhart St., Sayre, PA 18840 or [email protected] Chess booklet for sale: 2004 Golden Knights Championship -- booklet of the 57th USCF CC Championship -- $10.00 postage paid. 35 pages, 90+ games The Absolute Championship of the USCF 1976-2010 Just to let the world know - the manuscript (CDscript ?) for this book is at the publishers, McFarland, and is being prepared for publication. Four hundred plus games, statistics, analysis, crosstables, bios, all that good stuff. I will supply more details later. GAMES FROM THE 17 OLYMPIAD On Board Two Michael Millstone defeated former World Champion Gert Timmerman of the Netherlands. White's Knight is the star of this piece. DUTCH DEFENSE (A90) 6324 CC in the year 2373 ? A good magician uses sleight of hand. In this game Kenneth Reinhart uses sleight of pieces. His opponent from Romania does not know which side of the board White will sacrifice next on. KING'S INDIAN DEFENSE (E63) 6325 Fourth Board Keith Rodriguez didn't win any games, but it was not for want of trying. This was a sharp fight for the initiative against his German opponent. SICILIAN DEFENSE (B33) 6326 Robert Rizzo takes the classic icon of attacking chess, the Dragon Variation of the Sicilian, and transforms it into a drawing line. Heresy? or Practicality ? Rizzo showed an iron defense on Board 5, losing only a single game to the gold medal winner and drawing the rest. SICILIAN DEFENSE (B78) 6329 CC Chess Master seeking Expert/Master Rubik's Cube enthusiast for lessons via SKYPE. Must know "Fridrich Method" and be a sub-40 second solver. Other methods (Petrus, Rioux) will be considered. Payment negotiable once contact is made. Contact Tim Harris at [email protected] Harry Golombek once described maneuvering in chess as the fine art of doing nothing. Schakel maneuvers from about Moves 17-65 and then shows his Ukrainian opponent the art of doing something and doing it well. SICILIAN DEFENSE (B52) 6328 See a pdf index of Alex Dunne's columns. Also login as a member to read his June Chess Life Magazine cover story on Abe Wilson, two-time Golden Knights champ. |