The Check is in the Mail: August 2020

John Walton (courtesy subject)

John Walton of Pullman, Washington, showed his Master’s rating in this John Collins event scoring a perfect 6-0. One of his opponents chose to remain anonymous and I have honored his wishes.

[pgn][Event "18C08"] [Site "?"] [Date "2018.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Walton, John"] [Black "Anonymous"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E69"] [WhiteElo "2218"] [BlackElo "1883"] [PlyCount "61"] [SourceDate "2005.04.21"] {AUG 20} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. g3 O-O 5. Bg2 d6 6. Nc3 Nbd7 {The alternative is 6...Nc6 7. 00 e5 8. d5 when Black has the choice between the classic 8...Ne7 as in Caruana-Kananov, Aix-les-Bains 2011 or the more modern 8. ..Nb8 as in Caruana-Vachier Lagrave, blitz 2016.} 7. O-O e5 8. e4 c6 {Black's choice controlling d5 and giving choices for the Queen is a more modern treatment than 8...cxd4 as in Svidler-Radjubov, rapid 2012, 9. Nxd4 Re8 10. h3 Nc5 11. Re1 Bd7} 9. h3 Re8 {Kotronias on the King's Indian recommends 9...Qb6 here. Wang Hao - Firouza, rapid 2019, continued 10. Re1 exd4 11. Nxd4 Re8 12. Nc2!? removing the Knight from tactical threats and uncovering an attack on d6. } 10. Be3 {Also gaining in popularity is 10. Re1 exd4 11. Nxd4 Nc5 12. Bf4 as in Van Wely-Todorov, France 2018.} exd4 11. Nxd4 Nc5 12. Qc2 a5 13. Rad1 Nfd7 { After 13...Qe7, Petrosian-Hossain, Orissa 2011 continued 14. Rfe1 Bd7 15. Bf4 Rad8 16. Ndb5!? cxb5 17. Bxd6 Qe6 18. Bxc5 with an edge.} 14. b3 Qe7 { Balakrishnan-Liang, US Junior 2018, saw White gain an edge by expanding on the queenside after 14...Qb6 15. Rb1 Qc7 16. a3 Ne5 17. f4 Ned7 18. Bf2 h5 19. b4.} 15. Rfe1 Ne6 {Maletin-Trjapishko, blitz 2018 played the better 15...Nb6 16. f4 a4 17. Bf2 with equality.} 16. Nxe6 fxe6 {Walton notes that White was much better in Cao-Sali, Victoria 2016, which continued 16...Qxe6 17. Bd4 Bf8 18. f4 f6 19. Re2 with an edge.} 17. f4 Rb8 18. Kh2 {Diagram # White could also continue with 18. Qd2 Bf8 19. g4 when White will continue with f5, with devastating affect.} b6 19. e5 $1 {Black tries to keep the position somewhat closed as after 19...dxe5 20. Bxc6 exf4 21. Bxf4 e5 22. Qd2 all White pieces are working.} d5 20. cxd5 cxd5 21. Nb5 Ba6 22. Nd6 {With the White Knight planted firmly on d6 and Black's forces in disarray, White needs only to find the key to the final attack.} Red8 23. Bd4 Bf8 24. Qc3 Qg7 25. Qc6 h6 26. h4 $1 {Aiming for Bh3 and then e6.} Kh7 27. Bh3 Qe7 28. h5 Rdc8 {Black tries to ofer some material in the hopes of slowing White's atack, but nothing so easy will save him.} 29. Nxc8 Rxc8 30. hxg6+ Kg7 31. Qxe6 1-0 [/pgn]

July Results

Walter Muir

Christopher Carlson 5-1 20W05

Swift Quad

David Stone 5 ½-½ 20SQ03

Luis Nunez 5 ½-½ 20SQ01

John Collins

Scott Sensiba 18C06 5-1

Trophy Quad

Scott Rubin 18Q01 4 ½-1 ½

OBITUARY

Pete Melissakis of Casper Wyoming, born November 28, 1935 died May 7, 2020.

[pgn][Event "Queen year?"] [Site "corr"] [Date "1985.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Johnson, Otis"] [Black "Melissakis, Pete"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B08"] [PlyCount "70"] [Source "Chess Mail"] [SourceDate "2001.03.30"] {AUG 20} 1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. b3 O-O 6. Bb2 Bg4 7. Be2 Nc6 8. O-O e5 9. dxe5 dxe5 10. Qc1 Nd4 11. Rd1 Nxe4 12. Nxd4 exd4 13. Bxg4 dxc3 14. Ba3 Qh4 15. Bxf8 Bxf8 16. Bf3 Qxf2+ 17. Kh1 Nd2 18. Bxb7 Rb8 19. Bf3 Bd6 20. Rxd2 cxd2 21. Qg1 Bc5 22. Qxf2 Bxf2 23. g4 c5 24. Kg2 Be1 25. Be2 a5 26. a4 Rf8 27. Bd3 Kg7 28. Kf3 Kf6 29. Rd1 Kg5 30. h3 Kh4 31. Kg2 Re8 32. Bf1 Re3 33. Kh2 Rf3 34. Kg1 Kg3 35. Ra1 Re3 0-1 [/pgn]

Daniel Lines

Daniel Lines was born March 4, 1947 died May 17, 2020

[pgn][Event "USA/S94011 (USA)"] [Site "ICCF"] [Date "2019.04.22"] [Round "?"] [White "Lines, Daniel"] [Black "Jimenez, Jose"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D00"] [WhiteElo "1626"] [PlyCount "67"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] [SourceDate "2005.04.21"] {AUG 20} 1. d4 d5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Bf4 e6 4. e4 dxe4 5. a3 Bd6 6. Bxd6 Qxd6 7. f3 exf3 8. Nxf3 O-O 9. Bd3 Qf4 10. O-O Nc6 11. Qc1 Qg4 12. Qg5 Qh5 13. Qxh5 Nxh5 14. Bb5 Nf4 15. Bxc6 bxc6 16. Rfe1 Rb8 17. b4 f6 18. g3 Nh3+ 19. Kg2 e5 20. Ng1 Nxg1 21. Kxg1 exd4 22. Ne2 Rd8 23. Rad1 Bf5 24. Nxd4 Rxd4 25. Rxd4 Bxc2 26. Rd2 Ba4 27. Rde2 c5 28. bxc5 Bc6 29. Rd2 g5 30. Red1 Ba4 31. Rd8+ Rxd8 32. Rxd8+ Kg7 33. Ra8 c6 34. Rxa7+ 1-0 [/pgn]

[pgn][Event "18Q01"] [Site "?"] [Date "2018.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Schuttenhelm, Lance"] [Black "Rubin, Scott"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D00"] [WhiteElo "1656"] [PlyCount "69"] [SourceDate "2005.04.21"] {AUG 2020} 1. d4 d5 2. e4 dxe4 3. f3 exf3 4. Qxf3 Qxd4 5. Nc3 c6 6. Be3 Qg4 7. Qf2 Nf6 8. Nf3 Ne4 9. Nxe4 Qxe4 10. O-O-O Qa4 11. Rd4 Qa5 12. Bc4 f6 13. Rhd1 e5 {Diagram #} 14. Rd8+ Qxd8 15. Ng5 Qxd1+ 16. Kxd1 Bg4+ 17. Nf3 Nd7 18. Kc1 Bxf3 19. Qxf3 Bc5 20. Be6 Bxe3+ 21. Qxe3 Ke7 22. Bg4 Nb6 23. Qa3+ Kf7 24. Qb3+ Kg6 25. Qf3 Kf7 26. Qb3+ Kg6 27. Qd3+ Kf7 28. Qd6 Rhe8 29. Qb4 Re7 30. Qb3+ Nd5 31. Bf3 Rd8 32. Qd3 Rh8 33. Bxd5+ cxd5 34. Qxd5+ Ke8 35. Qc4 {adjudicated} 1/2-1/2 [/pgn]

[pgn][Event "20W05 "] [Site "ICCF"] [Date "2020.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "McGahee, Ben"] [Black "Carlson, Christopher"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B90"] [WhiteElo "1486"] [BlackElo "1764"] [PlyCount "74"] [EventDate "2020.??.??"] [SourceDate "2005.04.21"] {AUG 2020} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bd3 g6 7. Be3 Bg7 8. Qd2 Ng4 9. O-O Nxe3 10. fxe3 O-O 11. Bc4 Qc7 12. Bb3 e6 13. Rad1 Rd8 14. Qf2 Qe7 15. Qf3 Nc6 16. a3 Ne5 17. Qe2 b5 18. Rf2 Bb7 19. Qd2 Rac8 20. h3 Nd7 21. Rdf1 Rf8 22. Nde2 Nc5 23. Ng3 {Diagram #} Bxc3 24. bxc3 Nxe4 25. Nxe4 Bxe4 26. Qd4 d5 27. Ra1 Qc5 28. a4 Qxc3 29. Qxc3 Rxc3 30. axb5 axb5 31. Re2 Rfc8 32. Ra2 Bd3 33. Rd2 Bc4 34. Bxc4 dxc4 35. Kf2 b4 36. Ke2 Ra3 37. Rb2 c3 0-1 [/pgn]

GAMES FROM 18C08

[pgn][Event "18C08"] [Site "?"] [Date "2018.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Bashur, Michael"] [Black "Walton, John"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A48"] [WhiteElo "1928"] [BlackElo "2218"] [PlyCount "50"] [SourceDate "2005.04.21"] {AUG 2020} 1. d4 Nf6 2. Bf4 g6 3. e3 Bg7 4. Nf3 d6 5. h3 O-O 6. Be2 c5 7. c3 Qb6 8. Qb3 Nc6 9. Nbd2 cxd4 10. Nxd4 e5 11. Nxc6 bxc6 12. Bg3 Be6 13. Qxb6 axb6 14. Bf3 Rfc8 15. a3 {Diagram #} h6 16. O-O Nd7 17. e4 Nc5 18. b4 Na4 19. c4 h5 20. Bd1 Nc3 21. Bf3 Bh6 22. Nb3 Bxc4 23. Rfc1 Bxc1 24. Rxc1 Bxb3 25. Rxc3 Rxa3 0-1 [/pgn]

[pgn][Event "18C08"] [Site "?"] [Date "2018.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Bashur, Michael"] [Black "anonymous"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D02"] [WhiteElo "1928"] [BlackElo "1883"] [PlyCount "60"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] [SourceDate "2005.04.21"] {AUG 2020} 1. d4 Nf6 2. Bf4 d5 3. Nf3 e6 4. e3 Be7 5. h3 O-O 6. Bd3 c5 7. c3 Nc6 8. Nbd2 b6 9. O-O Bb7 10. Re1 Nh5 11. Bh2 f5 12. c4 g6 13. Nb3 Nf6 14. Ng5 Qd7 15. dxc5 bxc5 16. cxd5 exd5 17. Bb5 Ne4 18. Nf3 Qe6 19. Rc1 Rfd8 20. Nfd2 Ne5 21. Nxe4 dxe4 22. Qc2 Nd3 23. Bxd3 exd3 24. Qc3 Rac8 {Diagram #} 25. Qc4 Bd5 26. Qa4 Bxb3 27. Qxb3 d2 28. Be5 dxc1=Q 29. Rxc1 Kf7 30. Ra1 c4 0-1 [/pgn]

[pgn][Event "18C08"] [Site "?"] [Date "2018.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Anonymous"] [Black "Bashur, Michael"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B07"] [WhiteElo "1883"] [BlackElo "1928"] [PlyCount "59"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] [SourceDate "2005.04.21"] {AUG 20} 1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 c6 4. f4 Qa5 5. Bd3 e5 6. Nf3 Bg4 7. Be3 Nbd7 8. O-O Be7 9. h3 Bxf3 10. Qxf3 O-O 11. a3 exd4 12. Bxd4 Rfe8 13. g4 Nf8 14. g5 N6d7 15. h4 Ne6 16. Be3 Bd8 17. b4 Qc7 {Diagram #} 18. Qg3 g6 19. f5 Ng7 20. Be2 Ne5 21. Bd4 Qd7 22. Rad1 Bb6 23. Qf2 Qc7 24. Na4 h5 25. gxh6 Bxd4 26. Rxd4 Nh5 27. Bxh5 gxh5 28. Qg3+ Ng4 29. e5 Kh7 30. exd6 1-0 [/pgn]