The April Check Is in the Mail

Newly passed legislation allows you to win correspondence chess games by legalization! The following rules are to be added to the US Chess Correspondence Rules:

1. If you haven’t heard from your email opponent in 3 days, assume he has quit and claim forfeiture. Allow a postal opponent 7 days.
2. If you receive an illegible move, assume it is the worst move on the board and make him stick to it.
3. Now, a special app for sending if-moves. It is in standard font up front, but there is small print included.  As no one ever reads the small print, you can include all sorts of details.  blah, blah, blah and so forth and so on nothing important to read in the fine print including clauses that lead you to victory if your opponent selects the if-move you have provided.
4. Computer usage will be legal, not for evaluating the position in your game, but for one move earlier/later.
5. The “What-if” move, a non-binding if-move, is available now to see how your opponent will respond. If you like his answer, the game is continued.  If you do not, the if-move is cancelled.
6. Note these rule changes are only good on April 1, 2017.

 

Robert Fass our latest International Master

Robert Fass of New York City has become our newest International Correspondence Chess Master.   Besides his success on the international level, Robert has made his mark domestically also, finishing second in the 2004 Electronic Knights, then third in the 2008 event.  Robert also tied for third place in the 2014 Absolute Championship.

[pgn][Event "Palciauskas Invitational"]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2014.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Fass, Robert"]
[Black "Andéer, Stefan"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B90"]
[WhiteElo "2390"]
[BlackElo "2480"]
[PlyCount "87"]
[EventDate "2014.??.??"]{APR} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 e5 7. Nb3 Be6
8. h3 Be7 {Black tried an early central break unsuccessfully in Manik-Postupa,
Prague 2016 with 8. ...d5 9. exd5 Nxd5 10. Nxd5 Bxd5 11. Qh5 Qc7 12. -000 +=
The other major try here is 8...Nbd7 9. g4 Rc8 10. Qd2 b5 11.000 Nb6 12. g5
Nfd7 13. f4 as in Shankland-Ortiz Suarez, Pan American Team 2013.} 9. f4 exf4
10. Bxf4 O-O {This is too early to castle. Bavara-Duda, 14th European
Championshiop 2013 continued 10. ...Nc6 11. Qe2 Nd7 12.000 Nce5 13.000 with an
edge to White.} 11. Qf3 Nbd7 {Ni Hua-Forcen Esteban, Benasque Open 2013 saw a
failed Pawn sacrifice after 11...Nc6 12.000 Nd7 13. Bxd6 +-} 12. O-O-O Rc8 13.
g4 h6 14. Kb1 Re8 {A 2700+ player was crushed after 14...Qc7 15. Qg2 b5 16. g5
hxg5 17. Bxg5 b4 18. Bh6 Ng4 19. hxg4 gxh6 20. Nd5 Bxd5 21. Rxd5 Ne5 22, Rxh6
Bg5 23. Rh5 f6 22. Nd4 1-0 Kryvoruchko-Areshchyko, Ukraine 2013.} 15. Be2 {
White can' t profitably take the d-Pawn as after 15. Bxd6 Bxd6 16. Rxd6 Qc7 17.
Rd2 b5 18. Bd3 Ne5 Black has healthy play for the Pawn.} b5 16. Rhf1 Bf8 17.
Nd4 Rc5 18. Nxe6 Rxe6 19. h4 Qc8 20. Bd2 Ne5 {Black avoids being tricked by 20.
..b4 21. Nd5 Rxc2 22. g5 Ne5 23. Qf5 hxg5 24. hxg5 Nxd5 25. exd5 +-} 21. Qf4
Ng6 22. Qf2 Ne5 {Diagram # The Knight guards f7 preventing White's invasion on
f7, but now comes a forcing line that wins the exchange for White.} 23. g5 b4
24. Nd5 Nxe4 25. Qf4 Nxg5 26. Bxb4 Rxc2 27. Bxa6 Qxa6 28. Kxc2 Ng6 29. Qf5 Nxh4
30. Qd3 {Material is balanced but White's queenside Pawns will move much
faster than Black's kingside Pawns.} Qc6+ 31. Kb3 $1 {The King is safe here
and will hlep suppport the coming Pawn race.} Re5 32. a4 Qa8 33. Rfe1 Rf5 34.
a5 Qb8 35. Ka3 Ne6 36. Qe4 Nc7 {Black tries an outright swindle that fails to
work considering the disjointed arrangement tof the Black pieces.} 37. Nxc7 $1
Rxa5+ 38. Kb3 Ng6 39. Nd5 Ne5 40. Kc2 Rb5 41. Bc3 Qc8 42. Kb1 Kh8 43. Bxe5 dxe5
44. Qxe5 1-0[/pgn]

MARCH RESULTS

Walter Muir

                Raymond Grinsteinner     16W31  4 ½-1 ½

                Patrick Beatrez     16W30  6-0

                Casey Jones    16W26  5-1

John Collins

                Brian Davis     14C19    5-1

                Bert Hart    15C08    6-0

Swift Quad

            Allan Ong     15SQ10           5-1

            Carlos Graupera     15SQ10        5-1

OBITUARY

Bruce Gronenthal of Dover, Delaware.  Bruce was born11 November 1948 and died December 15, 2016.

[pgn][Event "02Ns11"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2005.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Gronenthal, Bruce"]
[Black "Zeppa, A. J."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C06"]
[PlyCount "91"]
[EventDate "2005.??.??"]{APR} 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. Bd3 c5 6. c3 Nc6 7. Ne2 f6 8.
Nf4 Qe7 9. exf6 Qxf6 10. Nf3 Bd6 11. Nh5 Qe7 12. O-O cxd4 13. Re1 Nc5 14. Nxd4
Nxd3 15. Qxd3 O-O 16. Ng3 Nxd4 17. cxd4 Bd7 18. Be3 a6 19. a3 Rac8 20. Rac1 Bb4
21. axb4 Qxb4 22. Qa3 Qxa3 23. bxa3 b5 24. Rxc8 Rxc8 25. Rc1 Rc4 26. Rxc4 bxc4
27. Kf1 c3 28. Ne2 c2 29. Ke1 Ba4 30. Kd2 Kf7 31. Nc1 Bb5 32. Kxc2 Kf6 33. Nd3
h6 34. f3 g5 35. g4 Ba4+ 36. Kc3 Bd1 37. Ne5 Be2 38. Kb4 Bb5 39. a4 Be2 40. Bd2
Ke7 41. Kc5 Bd1 42. a5 Be2 43. Kc6 Bb5+ 44. Kc7 Be2 45. Bb4+ Ke8 46. Kd6 1-0[/pgn]

Harold Bearce of Topeka, KS.  Born Sep. 8, 1938, died Feb. 6, 2017

[pgn][Event "USA/S67129 (USA)"]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2016.11.20"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Lyons, Gage W"]
[Black "Bearce, Harold"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D00"]
[BlackElo "1302"]
[Annotator " "]
[PlyCount "56"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]{APR} 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 c6 3. Nc3 e6 4. Bf4 Nf6 5. e3 Be7 6. Bxb8 Rxb8 7. Bd3 O-O
8. O-O Bd7 9. Ne5 Bc8 10. Re1 Ne8 11. e4 Nf6 12. exd5 cxd5 13. b3 Bd6 14. Ne2
Nd7 15. Nxd7 Bxd7 16. a4 Qc7 17. g3 f5 18. Bb5 Bc8 19. Qd2 a6 20. Bd3 Bd7 21.
Nf4 g6 22. Rec1 e5 23. Ne2 e4 24. Qc3 Qxc3 25. Nxc3 exd3 26. cxd3 Bc6 27. Re1
Rbe8 28. Kf1 Be7 0-1[/pgn]

"Computers check first five moves, rating, health of players, biorhythms and then decide the outcome of game."

After Black loses the exchange on Move 24, White gets a chance to show off his endgame prowess.

[pgn][Event "USCF/WS/16WM31 (USA)"]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2016.12.22"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Grinsteinner, Raymond"]
[Black "Stone, David"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A46"]
[WhiteElo "1552"]
[BlackElo "1699"]
[PlyCount "111"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]{APR} 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. Bg5 h6 4. Bxf6 Qxf6 5. e4 d5 6. Nbd2 Qd8 7. Bd3
Be7 8. O-O O-O 9. c4 dxe4 10. Nxe4 Nd7 11. Bc2 Nf6 12. Qd3 Nxe4 13. Qxe4 f5 14.
Qe3 b6 15. Rfe1 Bd7 16. Ne5 Be8 17. Rad1 Bh5 18. f3 Bg5 19. Qd3 Qe8 20. g4 Bg6
21. Nxg6 Qxg6 22. Kh1 Qf6 23. gxf5 Qxf5 24. Re5 {Diagram #} Qxf3+ 25. Qxf3 Rxf3
26. Be4 Raf8 27. Bxf3 Rxf3 28. Rxe6 Rf2 29. Rde1 Rxb2 30. R1e2 Rb4 31. Rc2 Rb1+
32. Kg2 Kf7 33. d5 Bf6 34. Rf2 Rb4 35. Rc6 a5 36. Rxc7+ Ke8 37. Re2+ Kd8 38.
Rc6 Kd7 39. Kf3 b5 40. cxb5 Rxb5 41. Rd2 Bg5 42. Rdc2 Rxd5 43. Rc7+ Kd6 44.
Rxg7 Rf5+ 45. Kg2 Rc5 46. Rxc5 Kxc5 47. Rb7 Bd2 48. Kf2 Bg5 49. Ke2 Kc6 50. Rb3
Kc5 51. Kd3 Bf4 52. h3 Bg5 53. a4 Bd8 54. Rb5+ Kc6 55. Kc4 Bb6 56. Rh5 1-0[/pgn]

The first two-thirds of the game belong to White who handles the offensive side of the Caro-Kann  Defense very well.  The last third of the game, however, are all Black’s.

[pgn][Event "16WM30"]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2016.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Baer, Steve"]
[Black "Beatrez, Patrick"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B19"]
[WhiteElo "1599"]
[PlyCount "58"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]{APR} 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bf5 5. Ng3 Bg6 6. h4 h6 7. Nf3 Nd7
8. h5 Bh7 9. Bd3 Bxd3 10. Qxd3 e6 11. Bf4 Qa5+ 12. Bd2 Qc7 13. O-O-O Ngf6 14.
Ne4 O-O-O 15. g3 Nc5 16. Nxc5 Bxc5 17. c4 Bb6 18. Bf4 Qe7 19. Qe2 Rhe8 20. Rh4
c5 21. Qe5 Nd7 22. Qxg7 cxd4 {Diagram #} 23. Qxh6 e5 24. Bg5 f6 25. Bd2 e4 26.
Nh2 e3 27. fxe3 dxe3 28. Bc3 e2 29. Re1 Be3+ 0-1[/pgn]

When Black underestimates the strength of White’s retreating 14.. Nd2 he dooms himself to material  loss.

[pgn][Event "16W26"]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2016.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Jones, Casey"]
[Black "Acosta, Errol"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A17"]
[WhiteElo "1596"]
[BlackElo "1585"]
[PlyCount "55"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]{APR} 1. c4 e6 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 g6 4. g3 Bg7 5. d4 O-O 6. Bg2 Nc6 7. e4 h6 8.
e5 Nh7 9. O-O d5 10. b3 Ne7 11. Be3 dxc4 12. bxc4 a6 13. Qb3 b6 14. Nd2 c5 15.
dxc5 Rb8 16. cxb6 Bb7 17. Bxb7 Rxb7 18. c5 Bxe5 19. Rfd1 Nd5 20. Nxd5 exd5 21.
Rab1 d4 22. Bxh6 Bg7 23. Bxg7 Kxg7 24. c6 Rxb6 25. Qxb6 Qd5 26. Nb3 Ng5 27.
Qxd4+ Qxd4 28. Nxd4 1-0[/pgn]

When White grasps the attack on Move 19, Black can’t shake him loose.

[pgn][Event "15SQ10"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2015.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Graupera, Carlos"]
[Black "Ong, Allan"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B01"]
[WhiteElo "1120"]
[BlackElo "1558"]
[PlyCount "49"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]{APR} 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qd6 4. d4 Nf6 5. Nf3 a6 6. g3 Bg4 7. Bg2 Nc6
8. Be3 O-O-O 9. h3 Bh5 10. O-O e6 11. a3 Be7 12. Ne2 Nd5 13. c4 Nxe3 14. fxe3
h6 15. b4 Na7 16. Nf4 Bxf3 17. Bxf3 Nc6 18. b5 g5 {Diagram #} 19. bxc6 gxf4 20.
cxb7+ Kb8 21. c5 Qd7 22. c6 Qd6 23. Qa4 Ka7 24. Be2 Qd5 25. Qxa6+ 1-0[/pgn]

Black overlooks the defense 28…Ng5 29.  Bxg5 Qc3 and falls prey to a Queen sacrifice.

[pgn][Event "Swift Quad 2015"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2017.04.04"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Ong, Allan"]
[Black "Graupera, Carlos"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A80"]
[WhiteElo "1558"]
[BlackElo "1558"]
[PlyCount "61"]1. d4 e6 2. Bf4 f5 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 Be7 5. h3 O-O 6. Bd3 b6 7. Nbd2 Bb7 8. Qe2
d6 9. Ng5 Qd7 10. Ngf3 Nc6 11. c3 Nd8 12. g4 Nf7 13. gxf5 exf5 14. Rg1 Ne4 15.
O-O-O Qa4 16. Kb1 c5 17. Bc4 b5 18. Bb3 Qa5 19. Nxe4 Bxe4+ 20. Bc2 b4 21. Bxe4
fxe4 22. Nd2 bxc3 23. Nxe4 cxb2 24. dxc5 dxc5 25. Rd7 Rae8 26. Rxe7 Rxe7 27.
Nf6+ Kh8 28. Qg4 Nh6 29. Bxh6 gxh6 30. Qg8+ Rxg8 31. Rxg8# 0-1[/pgn]

FASS AND FURIOUS !

Newly titled ICCM Robert Fass shows why he is ICCM material.

[pgn][Event "ISL-USA 2013"]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2014.01.02"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Fass, Robert"]
[Black "Haraldsson, Haraldur"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C45"]
[WhiteElo "2390"]
[BlackElo "2399"]
[PlyCount "95"]
[EventDate "2014.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "U.S.A."]
[BlackTeam "Iceland "]{APR} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Bc5 5. Be3 Qf6 6. c3 Nge7 7. Bc4
O-O 8. O-O d6 9. Nxc6 Nxc6 10. Bxc5 dxc5 11. f4 Be6 12. e5 Qg6 13. Bd3 Bf5 14.
Bxf5 Qxf5 15. Nd2 Rad8 16. Rf2 Rd3 17. Qe2 Rfd8 18. Ne4 b6 19. Re1 R3d5 20.
Rff1 Qd7 21. Qh5 h6 22. b3 Qe7 23. Qg4 Kh8 24. Ng3 Qf8 25. Nf5 Kh7 26. Re3 Ne7
27. Ng3 f5 28. exf6 Qxf6 29. Nh5 Qg6 30. Rxe7 Rxh5 31. Qxg6+ Kxg6 32. Rxc7 c4
33. Rc6+ Kh7 34. Rxc4 Rd2 35. f5 Rxa2 36. h4 Ra5 37. Rcf4 Rc5 38. Kh2 Rxc3 39.
g3 Kg8 40. Kh3 g6 41. fxg6 Rc7 42. g4 Rc3+ 43. R1f3 Rxf3+ 44. Rxf3 Rc5 45. h5
a5 46. Rd3 b5 47. Rd8+ Kg7 48. Rd7+ 1-0[/pgn]

[pgn][Event "14A01"]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2014.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Fass, Robert"]
[Black "Miettinen, Kristo"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B09"]
[WhiteElo "2390"]
[BlackElo "2362"]
[PlyCount "121"]
[EventDate "2014.??.??"]{APR} 1. e4 g6 2. d4 Bg7 3. Nc3 d6 4. f4 Nf6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Bd3 Na6 7. O-O c5 8.
d5 Rb8 9. Qe2 Bg4 10. Bc4 Nc7 11. a4 a6 12. a5 e6 13. dxe6 Nxe6 14. Qd3 Bxf3
15. Qxf3 Nd4 16. Qd1 d5 17. Nxd5 Nxe4 18. c3 Nf5 19. g4 Nfd6 20. Bb3 c4 21. Bc2
f5 22. g5 Rf7 23. Be3 Qe8 24. Re1 h6 25. h4 Rd8 26. Bb6 Rc8 27. Kg2 h5 28. Qf3
Qc6 29. Nb4 Qd7 30. Rad1 Re8 31. Bxe4 fxe4 32. Qh3 Rf5 33. Bc5 Re6 34. Nd5 Qf7
35. Bxd6 Rxd6 {Diagram #} 36. Nf6+ Rdxf6 37. gxf6 Rxf4 38. Rf1 Rg4+ 39. Kh1
Bxf6 40. Rd6 Rxh4 41. Qxh4 Bxh4 42. Rxf7 Kxf7 43. Rd4 Bg5 44. Rxc4 Bd8 45. b4
e3 46. Re4 Bg5 47. Kg2 e2 48. Rxe2 Bf6 49. Re3 Be7 50. Re1 g5 51. Rh1 h4 52.
Rd1 Ke6 53. Kh3 Bf6 54. Rd3 Kf5 55. Rf3+ Ke6 56. Kg4 Bd8 57. c4 Kd7 58. Rd3+
Ke8 59. Kf5 Be7 60. c5 Kf8 61. Rd4 1-0[/pgn]

“Attack, attack, attack – Is that all you ever do ?”

[pgn][Event "WC36/pr15"]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2012.03.10"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Fass, Robert"]
[Black "Johnston, Allan"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C03"]
[WhiteElo "2367"]
[BlackElo "2381"]
[PlyCount "103"]
[EventDate "2012.??.??"]{APR} 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 Be7 4. Ngf3 Nf6 5. Bb5+ Bd7 6. Bd3 dxe4 7. Nxe4
Nxe4 8. Bxe4 Bc6 9. Bd3 Qd6 10. O-O Nd7 11. Re1 O-O 12. c3 Bd5 13. Ne5 Nxe5 14.
dxe5 Qd7 15. Qg4 Rfd8 16. Bh6 g6 17. h4 Bxa2 18. Re3 Bb3 19. h5 Qe8 20. c4 Bc5
21. Rh3 Rd4 22. Qf3 Be7 23. hxg6 fxg6 24. Bxg6 hxg6 25. Qxb3 g5 26. Qe3 Rg4 27.
f3 Rxc4 28. Qd3 Rf4 {Diagram #} 29. Bxg5 Bxg5 30. Qh7+ Kf8 31. Qh8+ Ke7 32.
Qg7+ Qf7 33. Qxg5+ Kd7 34. Rh4 Rf8 35. Rxa7 Kc6 36. Ra3 b5 37. Kf2 b4 38. Ra6+
Kd7 39. Ra1 Kc6 40. Rc1+ Kb6 41. Rxf4 Qxf4 42. Qxf4 Rxf4 43. g4 c5 44. Ke3 Rf8
45. f4 Kb5 46. Ke4 Rg8 47. g5 c4 48. f5 exf5+ 49. Kxf5 Rf8+ 50. Kg6 Rg8+ 51.
Kh6 Rh8+ 52. Kg7 1-0[/pgn]