The August Check Is in the Mail

17W02: WALTER MUIR 2-WAY TIE

              Two players fought to share honors in the 2017 Walter Muir Tournament 17W02. Andrew Leonard of Columbia, South Carolina and Johnny Owens of Radcliff, Kentucky managed two draws with each other but shut out the opposition to win first place. Two winners to choose from, two different styles. This month the positional style of Andrew Leonard will be featured over the attacking style of Johnny Owens.

GAME OF THE MONTH

Bishops need breathing room. In this case they are asphyxiated.

[pgn][Event "17W02"]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2017.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Leonard, Andrew"]
[Black "Kappel, Ray D"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D85"]
[WhiteElo "2189"]
[BlackElo "1772"]
[PlyCount "93"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]{AUG} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Nf3
c5 8. Be3 Qa5 9. Qd2 {Lenderman-Zherebusch, World Open 2017, saw 9. Nd2 Bd7 10.
Rb1 b6 11. Bc4 Ba4 12. Qxa4 Qxa4 13. Bb5+ =} Nc6 10. Rb1 a6 11. Bd3 {Standard
today is 11. Rc1 cxd4 12. cxd4 Qxd2+ 13. Kxd2 with So-Giri, Blitz 2017
continuing with 13...f5} O-O 12. Rc1 cxd4 {Vertes-Bobert, France CC, continued
12...Rd8 13. d5 Bg4 14.00 Bxf3 15. gxf3 e6 17. dxc6 c4 17. cxb7 Rab8 with
equality.} 13. cxd4 Qxd2+ 14. Kxd2 Rd8 15. d5 Nb4 16. Bb6 Bh6+ 17. Ke2 Re8 {
Blackk misses the road ro equality with 17...Bxc1 (17...Nxd3 works, too) 18.
Bxd8 Nxd3 19. Kxd3 Ba3 =} 18. Rc5 Nxd3 19. Kxd3 Bd7 20. Nd4 {White is planning
to shut off the Bishop's diagonal with g3 and f4 but the c-file is neutral
territory. Better was 20. Rb1 with strong play on the queenside for White.}
Rac8 21. g3 Rxc5 22. Bxc5 Bf8 {Diagram # Too defensive -- Black had better
with 22...e6! 23. dxe6 fxe6 24. f4 e5 to open up the lines for his two Bishops.
} 23. Rb1 b5 24. a4 $1 {Opening up the queenside for White's more active
pieces.} bxa4 25. Rb7 Bb5+ 26. Nxb5 axb5 27. Rxb5 Ra8 28. Ba3 Kg7 29. f4 f6 30.
e5 fxe5 31. fxe5 Kf7 32. h4 Bg7 33. Ke4 Rc8 34. Rb7 {White completes his
domination of Black's game. If now 34...Bf8 35. d6 Re8 36. Kd5 h5 37. e6+ wins.
} Kg8 35. Bxe7 Bf8 36. Bxf8 Rxf8 37. e6 Ra8 38. d6 a3 39. d7 Kf8 40. Ra7 {Also
40. d8(Q)+! wraps up the win.} Rb8 41. Rxa3 Ke7 42. Rd3 Rd8 43. Ke5 Ra8 44.
d8=Q+ Rxd8 45. Rxd8 Kxd8 46. Kf6 Ke8 47. Kg7 1-0[/pgn]

JULY RESULTS

John Collins

Michael Gross 16C05 6-0

Nianthony Martinez 15C05 6-0

Philip DeAugustino 15C13 6-0

Andrew Graves 15C15 6-0

Walter Muir

Fletcher Penney 17W10 6-0

Howard Turner 16W16 5-1

Andrew Leonard 17W02 5-1

Johnny Owens 17W02 5-1

Trophy Quad

Lawrence Gladding 15Q11 5 ½-½

Hang on to your hats – lots of complications in this one!

[pgn][Event "15Ns03"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2015.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Connelly, Thomas"]
[Black "Porter, David"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C18"]
[WhiteElo "2301"]
[BlackElo "2236"]
[PlyCount "61"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]{AUG} 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Qa5 7. Bd2 Qa4
8. Qg4 g6 9. Nf3 b6 10. Qf4 Qxc2 11. dxc5 bxc5 12. Rc1 Qf5 13. Qe3 Qe4 14. Qxe4
dxe4 15. Ng5 f5 16. exf6 Nxf6 17. Bf4 O-O 18. Rb1 Nc6 19. Bb5 Na5 20. Be5 Ng4
21. Bc7 h6 22. Nxe4 Bb7 23. f3 Ne3 24. Bxa5 Nc2+ 25. Ke2 Nxa3 26. Nd6 Bd5 27.
c4 a6 28. Ba4 Rf4 29. Bd2 Bxc4+ 30. Nxc4 Rxc4 31. Bd7 1-0[/pgn]

OBITUARIES

Zoltan Sarosy

International Correspondence Chess Master Zoltan Sarosy of Canada was born 23 August 1906 died in June 2017. Zoltan was 110 at the time of his death and probably the oldest ICCM in the world. The following game was started by Zoltan when he was 102 years old.

[pgn][Event "ICCF 2008"]
[Site "LSS"]
[Date "2008.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Albesa, Alfredo"]
[Black "Sarosy, Zoltan"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B33"]
[WhiteElo "750"]
[BlackElo "2049"]
[PlyCount "60"]
[EventDate "2008.10.01"]
[EventType "corr"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]{AUG} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Bf4 e5
8. Bg5 a6 9. Na3 b5 10. Bxf6 gxf6 11. Nd5 f5 12. Bd3 Be6 13. O-O Bxd5 14. exd5
Ne7 15. c3 Bg7 16. Qh5 e4 17. Bc2 O-O 18. Rae1 Re8 19. Bb3 Qd7 20. Nc2 a5 21.
a3 Rab8 22. f3 Ng6 23. Ne3 f4 {Diagram #} 24. Nf5 b4 25. Nxg7 Kxg7 26. axb4 Re5
27. Qg4 Qa7+ 28. Kh1 axb4 29. c4 e3 30. h4 Qd4 0-1[/pgn]

Malcolm Peskoff 

Malcolm Peskoff of Yorktown Heights, born September 8, 1942, died May 24, 2017. Malcolm played postal chess in both CCLA and USCF.

[pgn][Event "corr"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1973.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Andersen, R."]
[Black "Peskoff, M."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B07"]
[PlyCount "74"]
[EventDate "1973.??.??"]
[Source "Chess Mail"]
[SourceDate "2001.03.30"]{AUG} 1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. f3 c6 5. Be3 Nbd7 6. Qd2 b5 7. Nh3 Bb7 8.
Nf2 a6 9. Be2 e5 10. O-O-O Bg7 11. dxe5 dxe5 12. Nd3 Qc7 13. Qe1 O-O 14. Qf2
Rad8 15. h4 Nh5 16. g4 Nf4 17. Nxf4 exf4 18. Bd4 f6 19. Qh2 b4 20. Bc4+ Kh8 21.
Ne2 c5 22. Be3 Ne5 23. Nxf4 Qe7 24. Qe2 Nxf3 25. Qxf3 Bxe4 26. Qf2 Bxh1 27.
Rxh1 Qe4 28. Re1 Qxc4 29. Kb1 Rfe8 30. Bc1 Qd4 31. Qxd4 cxd4 32. Rd1 Bf8 33. b3
Re4 34. g5 fxg5 35. hxg5 Bd6 36. Nd3 a5 37. Rf1 Rf8 0-1[/pgn]

"Correspondence play reinforces a player’s combinative ability by giving him time and leisure, and freeing him from the time limitations and nervous strain of international tournament play." -Reinfeld

Jim Schroeder

James Schroeder was born November 30, 1927 and died July 8, 2017. James supported prison chess and encouraged people to play correspondence chess with prisoners. He also was a seller of books and wrote pamphlets on chess. He prided himself on being a maverick and was involved in a few scuffles with the powers that be. James lived in Vancouver, Washington, was the Ohio State chess champion of 1960 and 1985, and the winner of fifty consecutive USCF rated games.

[pgn][Event "ICCF World Cup8-9 prel-188"]
[Site "corr"]
[Date "1990.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Nyffeler, Ulrich"]
[Black "Schroeder, James"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B66"]
[PlyCount "64"]
[EventDate "1990.??.??"]
[Source "Chess Mail"]
[SourceDate "2001.03.30"]{AUG} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Bg5 e6 7. Qd2 a6
8. O-O-O h6 9. Bf4 Bd7 10. Nxc6 Bxc6 11. Qe1 Be7 12. f3 Qc7 13. Bd3 b5 14. g4
b4 15. Ne2 a5 16. h4 Qb6 17. Nd4 Nd7 18. Nxc6 Qxc6 19. Qe2 Rb8 20. g5 a4 21.
gxh6 gxh6 22. Kb1 a3 23. Bc1 Bf6 24. Bc4 Bxb2 25. Bxb2 axb2 26. Kxb2 Nc5 27.
Bb3 Ke7 28. Rh2 Rhc8 29. Qd2 Ra8 30. Qxb4 Rcb8 31. Qd4 Na4+ 32. Ka1 Nc3 0-1[/pgn]

GAMES

Johnny Owens shows his attacking skills with an exchange sacrifice that leads to a wandering Black King.

[pgn][Event "17W02 "]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2017.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Owens, Johnny"]
[Black "Arnold, Ken"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E67"]
[WhiteElo "2104"]
[BlackElo "2014"]
[PlyCount "47"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]{AUG} 1. c4 Nf6 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4. Nc3 O-O 5. d4 d6 6. Nf3 Nbd7 7. O-O c6
8. Bf4 Qe8 9. Qd2 e5 10. Bh6 e4 11. Ne1 d5 12. Bxg7 Kxg7 13. Nc2 dxc4 14. f3
exf3 15. Rxf3 Nb6 {Diagram #} 16. Rxf6 Kxf6 17. Qh6 Ke7 18. a4 Be6 19. e4 f6
20. d5 Bg8 21. Nd4 cxd5 22. exd5 Kd8 23. Ne6+ Bxe6 24. dxe6 1-0[/pgn]

Black’s superior center allows him to dominate both sides of the board.

[pgn][Event "16C05"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Lewis, Philip"]
[Black "Gross, Michael"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A47"]
[WhiteElo "1443"]
[PlyCount "62"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]{AUG} 1. d4 Nf6 2. e3 e6 3. Bd3 b6 4. Nf3 Bb7 5. Nbd2 c5 6. c3 Be7 7. O-O O-O
8. Qc2 d5 9. Re1 Nc6 10. b3 Rc8 11. Ne5 cxd4 12. Nxc6 Rxc6 13. exd4 Bb4 14. Bb2
Rc8 15. a3 Bd6 16. Nf3 Ne4 17. c4 f5 18. Bc1 Rc7 19. Bxe4 fxe4 20. Ng5 Qf6 21.
Be3 Rfc8 {Diagram #} 22. Qe2 h6 23. Nh3 dxc4 24. bxc4 Rxc4 25. Rec1 Rxc1+ 26.
Bxc1 Qg6 27. Be3 e5 28. g3 Rf8 29. Rc1 exd4 30. Qc4+ Kh7 31. Bxd4 Qg4 0-1[/pgn]

White’s plan of attack of 21. Bg7 and 22. Bf6 is ingenious and effective.

[pgn][Event "17W10"]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2017.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Penney, Fletcher"]
[Black "Shannon, Paul D"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "1711"]
[BlackElo "1934"]
[PlyCount "61"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]1. e4 e6 2. d4 c5 3. Nf3 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Nxc6 bxc6 7. Bd3 d5 8.
O-O Nf6 9. Re1 Be7 10. e5 Nd7 11. Qg4 g6 12. Na4 Qa5 13. Bh6 c5 14. b3 Bb7 15.
Rab1 Bc6 16. c4 Bxa4 17. bxa4 Qxa4 18. Qf3 Rb8 19. Rxb8+ Nxb8 20. Rb1 Nc6 21.
Bg7 Rg8 22. Bf6 Bxf6 23. exf6 Nb4 24. cxd5 Qxa2 25. dxe6 Qxe6 26. Qa8+ Kd7 27.
Qxg8 Nxd3 28. Qb8 Nb4 29. Qb7+ Ke8 30. Rd1 Qxf6 31. Qc8+ 1-0[/pgn]

That old French magic strikes again as Black gathers up stray material.

[pgn][Event "16WM18"]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2016.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Vecchio, Ralph"]
[Black "Turner, Howard F"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C19"]
[WhiteElo "1794"]
[BlackElo "1764"]
[PlyCount "42"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]{AUG} 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 Ne7 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 c5 7. Nf3 Bd7
8. Be2 Ba4 9. O-O Qc7 10. Rb1 Nd7 11. Bg5 Nb6 12. dxc5 Qxc5 13. Nd4 O-O 14.
Bxe7 Qxe7 15. Bd3 Qxa3 16. Nb5 Bxb5 17. Rxb5 Qxc3 18. Qh5 g6 19. Rb3 Qxb3 20.
Qh6 Qc3 21. h4 Qxe5 0-1[/pgn]

An interesting draw where Kell proves that developed minor pieces are just as good as undeveloped major ones.

[pgn][Event "09Nf01"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2009.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Kell, Spencer"]
[Black "Rhodes, James"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B12"]
[PlyCount "43"]
[EventDate "2009.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]{AUG} 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Nf3 e6 5. Be2 c5 6. Be3 cxd4 7. Nxd4 Ne7
8. Nd2 Nbc6 9. N2f3 Be4 10. O-O Ng6 11. Nxc6 bxc6 12. Nd4 Nxe5 13. f3 Bg6 14.
f4 Nd7 15. f5 Bxf5 16. Rxf5 exf5 17. Nxc6 Qc7 18. Qxd5 Bd6 19. Rd1 Bxh2+ 20.
Kh1 Nf6 21. Qc5 Ne4 22. Bb5 1/2-1/2[/pgn]

A pair of magic Bishops do most of the hard work in this game.

[pgn][Event "14ENs01"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2014.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Buss, Michael"]
[Black "Jarmuz, Frederick"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B55"]
[WhiteElo "2430"]
[BlackElo "2025"]
[PlyCount "87"]
[EventDate "2014.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]{AUG} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. f3 e5 6. Nb3 Be6 7. c4 a5 8.
Be3 a4 9. N3d2 Be7 10. Nc3 a3 11. b4 O-O 12. Nd5 Nc6 13. b5 Nd4 14. Nxe7+ Qxe7
15. Nb3 Nxb3 16. axb3 Rfc8 17. Bd3 h5 18. O-O h4 19. Rf2 Nh5 20. Rfa2 Nf4 21.
Bf1 Rd8 22. Qd2 f5 23. g3 hxg3 24. hxg3 fxe4 25. gxf4 d5 26. f5 dxc4 27. Bg5
Rxd2 28. Bxe7 Rxa2 29. Rxa2 cxb3 30. Rxa3 Rxa3 31. Bxa3 Bxf5 32. Bc4+ Kh7 {
Diagram #} 33. Bd5 b6 34. Bxe4 {Diagram #} Kg6 35. Kf2 Kf6 36. Bxf5 Kxf5 37.
Bb2 e4 38. Ke3 exf3 39. Kxf3 g6 40. Ke3 g5 41. Kd3 Ke6 42. Kc4 g4 43. Bd4 Kd6
44. Kxb3 1-0[/pgn]