The Check Is in the Mail - February 2018

Olga Rubtsova

Olga Rubtsova was born August 20, 1909 and died December 13, 1994.  She was the first USSR Women’s Champion when she won the event in 1931, and she won that title again in 1937 and 1949.  She won the 4^th Women’s World Championship (OTB) and then, in 1971 she won the first Women’s World  Correspondence Chess Championship 1968-1971.  She was the only person to become the Women's World Champion in both OTB and Correspondence Chess.

[pgn][Event "Women's World Ch I Final"]
[Site "corr"]
[Date "1968.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Hund, Juliane"]
[Black "Rubtsova, Olga"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D19"]
[PlyCount "82"]
[EventDate "1968.??.??"]
[EventType "corr"]{FEB} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4 Bf5 6. e3 e6 7. Bxc4 Bb4
8. O-O O-O 9. Qe2 Nbd7 10. e4 Bg6 11. Bd3 Bh5 12. e5 Nd5 {So far this has been
a very modern treatment of the opening. Anand-Kramnik, World Champonship 2008,
Game 7, continued 13. Nxd5 cxd5 18. Qe3 with equality.} 13. Ne4 c5 {
Uhlmann-Gunina, Czechoslovakia 2012 saw 13...Bg6 with equal play.} 14. Bg5 {
Benaino-Fiss, Marrakesh 2010 continued 14. Ng3 Bxf3 with a balanced game.} Qc7
15. Rfc1 a6 16. Ng3 Bg6 17. Be3 Qa5 18. Bxg6 fxg6 $5 {Black is playing fr the
win ! After the safe 18...hxg6 19. Ne4, White has an easy game while Black's
counterplay is missing.} 19. Ne4 cxd4 20. Bxd4 Nf4 21. Qe3 b5 {Looking at 22.
axb5 Qxb5 followed by ...a5, keeping the queenside safe.} 22. g3 {White misses
her chance here with 22. Nf6+ ! gxf6 23. exf6 Bd6 24, Rc6 Bb8 25. g3 with
winning chances,} Nd5 23. Qd3 bxa4 24. Neg5 Qb5 25. Qe4 Rae8 {Black has held
her ground and the position has evolved back to even chances. White, however,
has to be concerned with Black's long-dange plan based on ...Rf5 ..h6 and ...
Ref8 with play against White's weakened kingside.} 26. Rc2 Rf5 27. Rac1 h6 28.
Nh3 Be7 {Black wisely shows some restraint here. After 28...g5? White could
enjoy her game after 29. g4! Rff8 30. Nfxg5 hxg5 31. Nxg5 N7f6 32. exf6 Nxf6
33. Bxf6 with a winning attakck.} 29. Kg2 g5 30. Rc6 Nf8 {Blck keeps her base
safe, but immediately continuing the attack with 30...Ref8! would have been
better.} 31. Nhg1 Qb7 $1 {Threatening ...Nb4, Black is breaking down the b7-g2
diagonal.} 32. Nd2 Bb4 33. Rc7 Qb5 34. R7c2 {#} Nf4+ $1 {This breaks White's
resistance as 35. Kh1 is met by 35...Nd3} 35. gxf4 Rxf4 36. Qe3 Qd5+ 37. Ngf3 {
Black's attack pours through after 37. Ndf3 Ng6 38. Rc8 Rxc8 39. Rxc8+ Kh7 40.
h3 g4 41. hxg5 Re4! 42, Qc1 Rxd4} Ng6 {Threatening 38...Nh4+ 39. Kg3 Nf5+} 38.
Rc5 $1 Nh4+ 39. Kf1 Bxd2 $1 (39... Bxc5 40. Rxc5) 40. Nxd2 (40. Rxd5 {White an
enter into a losing endgame after 40. Rxd5 Bxe3 41. Bxe3 exd5 42. Bxf4 Nxf3 43.
Bg3 Nd2+ 44. Kg2 Nc4} Bxe3 41. Bxe3 exd5 42. Bxf4 Nxf3 43. Bg3 Nd2+ 44. Kg2 Nc4
45. Rd1 Rd8 46. e6 Nxb2 (46... Kf8 47. Bc7 Rc8 48. Bg3 Nxb2 49. Rxd5 Nc4 50.
Bd6+ Ke8 51. Bb4 a5) 47. e7 Re8 48. Rxd5 Rxe7 49. Ra5 Re6 50. Be5) 40... Qg2+
41. Ke2 Nf5 0-1[/pgn]

JANUARY RESULTS

Swift Quad

            Rick Johnson  17SQ04   4 ½-1 ½

            Josh Pruett      17SQ01    5-1

Trophy Quad

           Ross Holmes            16Q07   5 ½-½

           Vaughn Gregg          16Q04  4 ½-1 ½

           Lawrence Gladding  16Q04  4 ½-1 ½

Obituary

  Walter Alberts

Born Dec. 10, 1936, died Dec. 23, 2017 - Lifelong member of  US Chess. When Walter misses the crushing 22. Qc4, his Morra Gambit fails.

[pgn][Event "USCF Section"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1994.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Alberts, Walter"]
[Black "Borrell, Robert"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B21"]
[PlyCount "74"]
[EventDate "1994.??.??"]
[Source "Chess Mail"]
[SourceDate "2001.03.30"]{FEB} 1. e4 c5 2. d4 cxd4 3. c3 dxc3 4. Nxc3 e6 5. Nf3 a6 6. Bc4 b5 7. Bb3 Bb7
8. O-O b4 9. Ne2 Bxe4 10. Ng3 Bxf3 11. Qxf3 Nc6 12. Be3 Qf6 13. Qe2 Nd4 14.
Bxd4 Qxd4 15. Rfd1 Qf4 16. Rac1 Nf6 17. Ba4 Be7 18. Nh5 Qg5 19. Nxf6+ Bxf6 20.
Bxd7+ Ke7 21. Rc7 Qe5 22. Qxe5 Bxe5 23. Rc2 Rhd8 24. Rcd2 Bxb2 25. Rxb2 Rxd7
26. Rxd7+ Kxd7 27. Rxb4 Rc8 28. Rb7+ Rc7 29. Rxc7+ Kxc7 30. f4 h5 31. Kf2 Kd6
32. Ke3 Kd5 33. Kd3 h4 34. g4 hxg3 35. hxg3 f6 36. g4 g6 37. Ke3 a5 0-1[/pgn]

[pgn][Event "1st Ladies World Championship"]
[Site "corr"]
[Date "1972.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Rubtsova, Olga"]
[Black "Schoisswohl, Gertrude"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E81"]
[PlyCount "58"]
[EventDate "1972.??.??"]{FEB} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. f3 Nbd7 6. Be3 c5 7. d5 a6 8.
Qd2 O-O 9. Nh3 Ne5 10. Nf2 Bd7 11. Be2 Qa5 12. a4 Qb4 13. Ncd1 a5 14. Qxb4 axb4
15. b3 {Diagram #} Nxc4 16. Bxc4 b5 17. Bxb5 Bxb5 18. Rb1 Ba6 19. Bc1 Rfe8 20.
Ne3 e6 21. Bb2 Nxd5 22. exd5 exd5 23. Nfg4 d4 24. Kf2 f5 25. Rhe1 fxg4 26. Nd5
Bb7 27. Nc7 Rxe1 28. Rxe1 Rc8 29. Ne6 Bh6 0-1[/pgn]

"Postal chess players depend less on intuition than on genuine analytical ability." -Irving Chernev

An unusual treatment of the French brings in dividends.

[pgn][Event "12Ns02"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2012.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Buss, Michael"]
[Black "McKearney, John"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C00"]
[WhiteElo "2413"]
[BlackElo "1870"]
[PlyCount "51"]
[EventDate "2012.??.??"]{FEB} 1. e4 e6 2. b3 d5 3. Bb2 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. Qg4 Nc6 6. f4 f5 7. Qg3 a5 8.
d4 Nb4 9. Na3 g6 10. c3 Nc6 11. Nf3 Be7 12. h4 b6 13. Bb5 Na7 14. Bd3 c5 15. h5
Rg8 16. O-O-O cxd4 17. Nxd4 Nc5 18. hxg6 hxg6 19. Rh6 g5 20. Qh3 gxf4 {Diagram
#} 21. Bxf5 exf5 22. Qh5+ Kd7 23. Ndb5 Bb7 24. Qxf5+ Ke8 25. Rh7 Rf8 26. Nd6+
1-0[/pgn]

Crash, Slash, Bang!  What a draw !

[pgn][Event "14ENf01"]
[Site "USCF"]
[Date "2017.03.04"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Lewis, Chris"]
[Black "Corkum, Tim"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C78"]
[PlyCount "87"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]{FEB} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O b5 6. Bb3 Bb7 7. c3 Nxe4
8. d4 exd4 9. Re1 d5 10. Ng5 Qf6 11. Nd2 Qxf2+ 12. Kh1 O-O-O 13. Ndxe4 dxe4 14.
Nxf7 Bd6 15. Bg5 d3 16. Rf1 Qxb2 17. Bxd8 Rxd8 18. Bd5 Qe2 {Diagram #} 19. Re1
Qxd1 20. Raxd1 Rf8 21. Nxd6+ cxd6 22. Bxe4 Ne5 23. Bxd3 Rf2 24. Bf1 Kc7 25. Re2
Bxg2+ 26. Kg1 Rxe2 27. Bxe2 Bh3 28. Kf2 Be6 29. Ke3 g5 30. Ra1 Kb6 31. a4 bxa4
32. Rxa4 a5 33. Ra1 g4 34. Rb1+ Kc7 35. Kf4 h5 36. Kg3 Ng6 37. Rb5 h4+ 38. Kf2
a4 39. Ra5 Nf4 40. Rxa4 g3+ 41. hxg3 hxg3+ 42. Ke3 Nxe2 43. Kxe2 g2 44. Kf2
1/2-1/2[/pgn]

ACTIVE MASTER CC PLAYERS as of January 2018  

1. John Menke 2505
2. Harry Ingersol 2436
3. Gary Adams 2434
4. Wilbur Tseng 2428
5. Michael Buss 2427
6. Gary Walters 2406
7. Laurence Bonsack 2387
8. Kristo Miettinen 2384

Daniel Woodard 2384

10. James Tracz 2374
11. Joel Levine 2366
12. Robert Rizzo 2366
13. Danny Horwitz 2364

Gordon Magat 2364

15. Patrick Ryan 2362
16. Dana Daves 2354
17. Chris Lewis 2340
18. Thomas Connelly 2334

Gregory Cross 2334

20. Keith Rodriguez 2328
21. John Procopi 2319
22. James Ellis 2312
23. Ferdinand Burmeister 2309
24. Tim Corkum 2295
25. David Funston 2288
26. Charles Jacobs 2286
27. Andrew Leonard 2278
28. Robert Miehm 2272
29. John Millett 2256
30. Richard Barber 2253
31. Matthew Grabove 2252
32. David Porter 2248
33. Bradley Rogers 2241
34. Barry Endsley 2213
35. Andrew Bussom 2210
36. David Drevinsky 2209
37. Barry Walker    2203

. Black’s Queen perches on b5, just waiting to be won.

[pgn][Event "17ENs01"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2017.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Leonard, Andrew"]
[Black "Kovats, Jiri"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B01"]
[WhiteElo "2261"]
[BlackElo "2206"]
[PlyCount "65"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]{FEB} 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5 4. d4 Nf6 5. Nf3 c6 6. Bc4 Bf5 7. Bd2 e6
8. Nh4 Bg6 9. Nd5 Qd8 10. Nxf6+ Qxf6 11. Nxg6 hxg6 12. c3 Nd7 13. Qe2 Bd6 14.
g3 O-O-O 15. O-O-O Rh3 16. Bd3 Rdh8 17. f4 Qd8 18. Be4 Nf6 19. Bf3 R8h7 20. Be3
Nd5 21. Bg1 Kb8 22. c4 Nf6 23. Bg2 R3h6 24. h4 Rh8 25. Rd3 Qa5 26. Kb1 Qa6 27.
c5 Bc7 28. Qc2 Nd5 29. Ra3 Nb4 30. Qc1 Qe2 31. Bf3 Qb5 {Diagram #} 32. Rh2 Nd5
33. Rc2 1-0[/pgn]

After an opening like this, is it any wonder that a surprise upset happens?

[pgn][Event "15Ns03"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2015.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Connelly, Thomas"]
[Black "Coulter, John"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C02"]
[WhiteElo "2301"]
[BlackElo "2142"]
[PlyCount "54"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]{FEB} 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 Bf8 5. Nb1 c5 6. c3 Nc6 7. Nf3 Qb6 8.
a3 Nh6 9. b4 cxd4 10. cxd4 Nf5 11. Be3 f6 12. exf6 gxf6 13. Bd3 Nxe3 14. fxe3
Bh6 15. Qe2 a5 16. b5 Ne7 17. Nh4 O-O 18. Qh5 Kg7 19. Nc3 f5 20. Qf3 Qc7 21.
Kd2 e5 {Diagram #} 22. Nxd5 Nxd5 23. Qxd5 e4 24. Bc4 Rd8 25. Nxf5+ Bxf5 26.
Qxf5 Qxc4 27. Qf6+ Kxf6 0-1[/pgn]

Tim Corkum shows an interesting variation on the classical Bxh7+ combination.

[pgn][Event "16EN10"]
[Site "USCF"]
[Date "2016.09.01"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Corkum, Tim"]
[Black "Irons, Robert"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C11"]
[PlyCount "51"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]{FEB} 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. Be3 Be7 8.
Qd2 O-O 9. dxc5 Bxc5 10. O-O-O Qa5 11. a3 a6 12. Bxc5 Qxc5 13. Bd3 b5 {Diagram
#} 14. Bxh7+ Kxh7 15. Ng5+ Kg8 16. Qd3 Re8 17. Qh7+ Kf8 18. Qh5 Nd8 19. f5 Nxe5
20. Qh8+ Ke7 21. Qxg7 Ndc6 22. Rhe1 d4 23. Nce4 Qc4 24. Kb1 b4 25. b3 Qd5 26.
Nf6 1-0[/pgn]