Check is in the Mail: February 2021

It is with great regret that I must resign my position as US Chess Correspondence Chess Director. On October 2 I had a stroke, and it has rendered me incapable of handling the nearly threefold increase in correspondence activity. As part of my resignation, I will be ending my time as author of this column. Thanks to all my readers over the years.

I had a blast working as director these many years, but now I turn the reins over to a capable man in Christopher Bird.

FEBRUARY MINIATURE GAMES

[pgn][Event "2017 Golden Knights Semifinal"] [Site "?"] [Date "2021.02"] [Round "?"] [White "Buss, Michael (2459)"] [Black "Salmon, Chris (1959)"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A47"] [WhiteElo "2459"] [BlackElo "1959"] [PlyCount "31"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Bf4 c5 3. e3 e6 4. Nf3 b6 5. Nc3 Bb7 6. Nb5 Na6 7. c3 cxd4 8. Qxd4 d5 9. Qa4 Nd7 10. b4 Be7 11. Rc1 O-O 12. Nd6 Bxd6 13. Bxd6 Re8 14. Bxa6 Bxa6 15. Qxa6 e5 16. b5 1-0 [/pgn]

[pgn][Event "15ENf02, 2015"] [Site "?"] [Date "2021.02"] [Round "?"] [White "West, Tony (2068)"] [Black "Finnegan, John (1693)"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E15"] [WhiteElo "2068"] [BlackElo "1693"] [PlyCount "27"] [SourceVersionDate "2021.02.22"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Ba6 5. b3 Bb7 6. Bg2 Bb4+ 7. Bd2 a5 8. O-O O-O 9. Qc2 d5 10. cxd5 exd5 11. Nc3 Re8 12. a3 Bd6 13. Ng5 h6 14. Nxd5 1-0 [/pgn]

[pgn][Event "19W15, 2019"] [Site "?"] [Date "2021.02"] [Round "?"] [White "Kessler, Michael (1568)"] [Black "Goellner, Gregory (1557)"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C45"] [WhiteElo "1586"] [BlackElo "1557"] [PlyCount "31"] [SourceVersionDate "2021.02.22"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Nge7 5. Nc3 Nxd4 6. Qxd4 Nc6 7. Qe3 Bb4 8. Bc4 O-O 9. O-O d6 10. Nd5 Bc5 11. Qg3 Re8 12. Bg5 Ne7 13. Bf6 g6 14. Qg5 Bd4 15. Qh6 Bxf6 16. Nxf6+ 1-0 [/pgn]

[pgn][Event "19EN11, 2019"] [Site "?"] [Date "2021.02"] [Round "?"] [White "Repici, David"] [Black "Hillery, David"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D20"] [PlyCount "27"] [SourceVersionDate "2021.02.22"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 Nf6 3. cxd5 Nxd5 4. e4 Nf6 5. e5 Nd5 6. Nc3 c6 7. Bc4 e6 8. f4 Bb4 9. Nge2 b6 10. O-O Bxc3 11. bxc3 Bb7 12. f5 O-O 13. f6 g6 14. Qd2 1-0 [/pgn]

Sometimes it is good not to part with a Bishop to win an offered exchange.

[pgn][Event "19N11,2019"] [Site "?"] [Date "2021.02"] [Round "?"] [White "Jones, Jackie"] [Black "Ashcroft, James (1585)"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A00"] [BlackElo "1585"] [PlyCount "12"] [SourceVersionDate "2021.02.22"] 1. a4 e5 2. Ra3 d5 3. Rd3 Nf6 4. a5 Bc5 5. Rc3 Ne4 6. Rh3 Bxf2# 0-1 [/pgn]

Beware King Knight!

[pgn][Event "19C10, 2019"] [Site "?"] [Date "2021.02"] [Round "?"] [White "Hart, Bert (1913)"] [Black "Walker, Harry (2228)"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B00"] [WhiteElo "1913"] [BlackElo "2228"] [PlyCount "38"] [SourceVersionDate "2021.02.22"] 1. e4 b6 2. d4 Bb7 3. Bd3 Nf6 4. Qe2 Nc6 5. c3 e5 6. Nf3 d6 7. O-O Be7 8. a3 a5 9. d5 Nb8 10. Bg5 Nxd5 11. Bxe7 Nxe7 12. Nbd2 a4 13. b4 axb3 14. Nxb3 O-O 15. a4 Nbc6 16. Ra3 Qd7 17. Bb5 Ng6 18. Qc4 Nf4 19. Kh1 Nxg2 0-1 [/pgn]

[pgn][Event "20W06"] [Site "?"] [Date "2021.02"] [Round "?"] [White "Perkins, Kele (1308)"] [Black "Haggard, Thomas (1313)"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B09"] [WhiteElo "1308"] [BlackElo "1313"] [PlyCount "29"] [SourceVersionDate "2021.02.22"] 1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. f4 Bg7 5. Nf3 c5 6. Bb5+ Bd7 7. e5 Ng4 8. Bxd7+ Qxd7 9. d5 dxe5 10. h3 e4 11. hxg4 exf3 12. Qxf3 O-O 13. Qh3 h6 14. f5 g5 15. Bxg5 1-0 [/pgn]

If it has happened once…

[pgn][Event "20W05"] [Site "?"] [Date "2021.02?"] [Round "?"] [White "Carlson, Christopher (1403)"] [Black "Grinnsteinner, Raymond (1606)"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E11"] [WhiteElo "1403"] [BlackElo "1606"] [PlyCount "23"] [SourceVersionDate "2021.02.22"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Bb4+ 4. Nbd2 O-O 5. a3 Be7 6. e4 d5 7. e5 Nfd7 8. Bd3 c5 9. h4 cxd4 10. Bxh7+ Kxh7 11. Ng5+ Kg8 12. Qh5 1-0 [/pgn]

[pgn][Event "19N13, 2019"] [Site "?"] [Date "2021.02"] [Round "?"] [White "Carlson, Christopher (1368)"] [Black "Izard, Connor (1960)"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A20"] [WhiteElo "1368"] [BlackElo "1960"] [PlyCount "38"] [SourceVersionDate "2021.02.22"] 1. g3 e5 2. c4 c6 3. Bg2 d5 4. cxd5 cxd5 5. d4 e4 6. Nc3 Nf6 7. Bg5 Nbd7 8. Qb3 Bd6 9. Nh3 h6 10. Bf4 Nb6 11. Be5 g5 12. Bxf6 Qxf6 13. Nxd5 Nxd5 14. Qxd5 Bb4+ 15. Kf1 O-O 16. Qxe4 Rd8 17. e3 Bf8 18. Ke2 Bf5 19. Qe5 Bd3+ 0-1 [/pgn]

Queen sac!

[pgn][Event "19C10, 2019"] [Site "?"] [Date "2021.02"] [Round "?"] [White "Walker, Barry (2226)"] [Black "Baumer, William (1940)"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B12"] [WhiteElo "2226"] [BlackElo "1940"] [PlyCount "29"] [SourceVersionDate "2021.02.22"] 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Nf3 e6 5. Be3 Nd7 6. Be2 Ne7 7. O-O Bg6 8. Nbd2 c5 9. c4 dxc4 10. Nxc4 Nd5 11. dxc5 Nxc5 12. Rc1 Nd7 13. Bg5 Qb8 14. Ne3 Nxe3 15. Qxd7+ 1-0 [/pgn]

[pgn][Event "Lockdown Cup, 2020"] [Site "?"] [Date "2021.02"] [Round "?"] [White "Rodriguez, Keith (2366)"] [Black "Mcloughlin, Ed (1515"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B00"] [WhiteElo "2366"] [BlackElo "1515"] [PlyCount "19"] [SourceVersionDate "2021.02.22"] 1. e4 b6 2. d4 Bb7 3. Bd3 d5 4. exd5 Qxd5 5. Nf3 Nf6 6. O-O Nc6 7. c4 Qd7 8. d5 Nb4 9. Ne5 Qd8 10. Qa4+ 1-0 [/pgn]

Sadists may watch this game as Black slowly chokes to death.

[pgn][Event "Lockdown Cup, 2020"] [Site "?"] [Date "2021.02"] [Round "?"] [White "Rodriguez, Keith (2366)"] [Black "Gomolka, Ed (1507)"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B28"] [WhiteElo "2366"] [BlackElo "1507"] [PlyCount "39"] [SourceVersionDate "2021.02.22"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 a6 3. c4 Nc6 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 e5 6. Nf5 d6 7. Nc3 g6 8. Ne3 Nf6 9. Ned5 h6 10. Nxf6+ Qxf6 11. Nd5 Qd8 12. Be3 Bg7 13. Bb6 Qh4 14. Nc7+ Kd7 15. Qd5 Rf8 16. O-O-O Nd4 17. c5 Qf6 18. Kb1 Rb8 19. g3 Qxf2 20. Qxd6# 1-0 [/pgn]

[pgn][Event "20EN04, 2020"] [Site "?"] [Date "2021.02"] [Round "?"] [White "Walker, Brent (1830)"] [Black "Sheft, Mark (1804)"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E32"] [WhiteElo "1830"] [BlackElo "1804"] [PlyCount "37"] [SourceVersionDate "2021.02.22"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 O-O 5. e4 d5 6. e5 Ne4 7. Bd3 c5 8. Nf3 cxd4 9. Nxd4 Nc5 10. O-O Nxd3 11. Qxd3 Nc6 12. Nf3 dxc4 13. Qxc4 Qa5 14. Re1 Bxc3 15. bxc3 Rd8 16. Bg5 Rd5 17. Qg4 Qxc3 18. Bh6 g6 19. Qg5 1-0 [/pgn]

[pgn][Event "20N06, 2020"] [Site "?"] [Date "2021.02"] [Round "?"] [White "Sensiba, Scott (1780)"] [Black "Buss, Michael (2464)"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B00"] [WhiteElo "1780"] [BlackElo "2464"] [PlyCount "26"] [SourceVersionDate "2021.02.22"] 1. e4 Nc6 2. d4 e5 3. dxe5 Nxe5 4. f4 Nc6 5. Nf3 Bc5 6. Bc4 Nf6 7. e5 d5 8. Bb3 Ng4 9. Qxd5 Qe7 10. Ng5 O-O 11. Nc3 Bf5 12. e6 fxe6 13. Nxe6 Rae8 0-1 [/pgn]

[pgn][Event "18Ns03, 2018 Golden Knights Semifinal"] [Site "?"] [Date "2021.02"] [Round "?"] [White "Ruiz, Glenn (1854)"] [Black "Ellis, James R. (2351)"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B02"] [WhiteElo "1854"] [BlackElo "2351"] [PlyCount "22"] [SourceVersionDate "2021.02.22"] 1. e4 Nf6 2. Nc3 d5 3. exd5 Nxd5 4. Bc4 Nb6 5. Bb3 Nc6 6. Nf3 Bf5 7. d4 e6 8. Be3 Be7 9. O-O O-O 10. Ne5 Bb4 11. Nb5 Qe7 0-1 [/pgn]

SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER RESULTS

Swift Quad

Elijah Neumann 18SQ09 5-1