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Chess Life Online 2014 May The May Check is in the Mail
Chess Life Online 2014 May The May Check is in the Mail | The May Check is in the Mail |
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| By Alex Dunne | |
| May 4, 2014 | |
 Daniel Woodard tops 2007 GNDaniel Woodard, winner of the Game of the Year Award for 2013 (See February 2014 issue) has won the 2007 Golden Knights. Daniel is 70 years old and began playing in 1958 with the help of some Fred Reinfeld books, He began playing postal in 1975 but had to give it up due to a heavy work load. He came back to postal play in 1998 playing in USCF, CCLA, and in 2011, ICCF Veterans World Cups. GAME OF THE MONTH Daniel, of Las Vegas, Nevada, gambles away a Pawn in the opening for the initiative. Or is it an investment? Whichever, the initiative stays with the Black pieces for a long time. ENGLISH OPENING (A29) 7349 1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.g3 Bb4 5.Nd5 The usual continuation here is 5. Bg2. The text is very aggressive and tricky 5...e4 This aggressive action has been largely replaced by 5...Bc5. Woodard has a different opinion as to the value of this move. 6.Nh4 0-0 6. ... Bc5 7. Bg2 d6 8. 00 00 9. Nxf6+ Qxf6 10. Bxe4 Walters-Greene, 2009 Absolute when Black has some compensation for ther Pawn, but White won. 7.Bg2 Bc5 7...Re8 led to a slaughter after 8. 00 Bc5 9. e3 g5 10, Nf5 d6 11. Ne7+ Rxe7 12. Nxf6+ Kg7 13, Ne4 Bf5 14. Nc3 Vacher Legrave - Meins, Biel 2002 8.e3 Safer is 8. 00 Re8 9. e3 d6 10. f3 Libiszewski-Naumkin, Maremman 2013, destroying the foundation of Black's attack with chances for a White advantage. 8...d6 9.Nxf6+ Qxf6 10.Bxe4 Re8 11.Bxc6 bxc6 12.0-0 d5 This is a Woodard TN. Both 12...Be6 13. d4 Bb6 14. b3 Bh3 15. Ng2 Veceu-Petruzzelli, ICCF 2012 and 12...Bh3 13. Ng2 a5 14. d4 Bd6 15. c5 Bf8 16. Bd2 g6 17. Re1 Solares-Malo Guillen, Zaragoza 1997 have failed to produce anthing for Black. 13.d4 Bf8 14.cxd5 cxd5 15.Qf3 Qe6 16.Ng2 c6 White's extra Pawn in this position is not enough to give him a plus.. 17.Bd2 Rb8 18.Bc3 Ba6 19.Rfd1 g5! Restricting White's Knight but not weakening Black's King's position. 20.Qh5 h6 21.Rd2 Qf6 22.Rad1 Re6 23.h3 This passive move cannot be helpful to White. 23...Qf5 24.Ne1 Rf6 25.Qg4 Qg6 26.Nd3 h5 27.Qe2 It was better to keep White's pieces active with 27. Qd7. 27...Re8 28.Ba5 Bd6 29.Rc1 Qf5 With all Black's pieces active and looking at the White King, White is desperate for activity. 30.Rxc6!? Bb5 31.Rc3 White is tiring of being strait-jacketed but 31. Rcc2 was better. 31...Qxh3 32.Qf1 Naturally 32. Bc7 is met by 37...Bb4 with advantage to Black. 32...Qf5 Black could play 32...Qxf1+ 33. Kxf1 Rxe3 34. Kg2 Re4 with even material and a slight edge, but he prefers to keep to pressure on. 33.Qg2 Bxd3 34.Rdxd3 h4! The attack begun with 19...g5! comes to life as White's pieces are poorly situated to help defend the King. 35.gxh4 Rh6 36.f4 Kh8! A crushing conclusion. White has no defense. 37.hxg5 Rh4 38.e4 Rxe4 0-1 Spencer Kell took second place. Spencer is currently down to one postal game after which he plans to retire. He has had a long and distinguished career in postal play: 1-3 rd tie in the 1979 Golden Knights, second in the CCLA 51st Grand National, the ICCM title was awarded to him in 1999. Spencer also played fourth board in the Afrotain Cup. Here Spencer defeats Alfredo Nunez with a decisive Kingside attack after winning two pieces for a Rook. GRUNFELD DEFENSE (D87) 7350 BUDAPEST DEFENSE (A52) 7351 2007 STANDINGS Daniel Woodard 42.35 Spencer Kell 41.30 Thomas Langland 40.60 Gary Adams 36.90 Barry Walker 36.75 Lee Kemfort 36.70 Randy Cook 36.15 Chuck Cullum 36.10 Edward Addis 34.65 Laurence Bonsack 34.45 Dana Daves 33.35 James Ellis 31.15 Alfredo Nunez 30.75 Leo Bonnell 30.65 Gregory Cross 30.50 Stephen Fairbairn 29.55 Walter Howard 29.50 James Anderson 28.50 Abe Wilson 26.60 Michael Calogridis 25.65 Joel Robinson 20.00 James Ellis 19.90 Carlos Molina 19.90 David Porter 17.65 William Perez 16.00 Menahem Ovadya 15.90 Barry Walker 14.90 2014 Absolute Roster The 2014 Absolute is underway. The contestants are Harry Ingersol 2417, Daniel Woodard 2395, David Sogin 2386, Anthony Kain 2381, Chris Torres 2375, Keith Rodriguez 2363, Robert Fass 2351, Danny Horwitz 2322, Kristo Miettinen 2309, Gordon Magat 2305, Dana Daves 2289, Charles Jacobs 2259, and James Rhodes 2250. APRIL RESULTS John Collins Kenneth Langstraat 13C09 6-0 John Galvin 11C22 6-0 Tim Rutledge 12C15 5-1 Thomas Buchanan 12C15 5-1 Walter Muir John Davis 13W15 6-0 Gregory Sanders 13W19 5-1 Edward Schweikert 13W43 5-1 David Wright 13W47 4-2 Errol Acosta 13W47 4-2 Swift Quad Nathaniel Wood 13SQ03 6-0 Mark Stephenson notes that he is not a board's on fire: kind of player. Here is an example of a board's on fire kind of game. RUY LOPEZ (C96) 7352 11P05 Palciauskas Tournament Joel Levine of Commack, New York, won the 2011 Palciauskas tournament with an unbeaten 5 ½-½ score duplicating his effort in the 2008 Palciauskas. GRUNFELD DEFENSE (D98) 7353 John Galvin takes 11C22 John Galvin has added another tournament to his name. Last month he won a Master level Swift Quad. This month he dominates a Master level John Collins. FOUR KNIGHTS GAME (C49) 7354 OBITUARY Jack Shaw of Phoenix, Arizona, has died. Jack was a prolific player at one time carrying a 2100+ rating. SICILIAN DEFENSE (B22) 7355 ENGLISH OPENING (A35) 7356 An excellent defensive stance by Walker is translated into a winning endgame. CENTER COUNTER (B01) 7357 Take my pieces, please ! Daniel Woodard sacrifices his Queen for three pieces and then gives most of those pieces back. BUSINESSMAN'S OPENING (D02) 7358 The White pieces take turns in this game: First the Rooks, then the Bishops, and then the Pawns. QUEEN's GAMBIT DECLINED (D37) 7359 Find an archive of Alex Dunne's columns here. |