Check Is In The Mail: January 2022

Greetings! I hope each of you and yours have had a great holiday season!

In our first game, between Dr. Kenny Drombosky and Timothy Tingen, White gets the upper hand in the opening after some inaccuracies by Black. In addition to winning a pawn, he forces Black into burning several tempos with his Queen Knight. White uses the extra moves to attack Black’s King and goad him into a misplay that will cost at least a bishop. With chances for a smothered mate looming as well, Black resigns.

[pgn] [Event "2021 Walter Muir E-Quad (21W31)"] [White "Drombosky, Kenny (1934)"] [Black "Tingen, Timothy (1625)"] [Result "1-0"] 1.c4 f5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 e6 4.d4 c6 5.Nf3 Bd6 6.Nc3 O-O 7.O-O Ne4 8.Nxe4 fxe4 9.Nd2 e3 10.fxe3 Na6 11.Nf3 Qe8 12.c5 Bc7 13.Bd2 d6 14.b4 e5 15.Qb3+ d5 16.b5 Nb8 17.bxc6 bxc6 18.e4 Na6 19.exd5 Rb8 20.Qc4 cxd5 21.Qxd5+ Be6 22.Qe4 exd4 23.Ng5 Bf5 24.Qd5+ 1-0[/pgn]

In Game 2, Wallace Mann uses a French Reti (Spielmann) variation, reminiscent to me of a Larsen’s Opening, to launch an attack on CCE Kele Perkins’ (ICCF 2285) kingside. The attack is much more lethal than it seemed at first glance and, before you know it, White scales the mountain, forcing resignation with mate on the move.

[pgn][Event "2021 Victor Palciauskas (21VP12)"] [White "Mann, Wallace (1504)"] [Black "Perkins, Kele (1555)"] [Result "1-0"] 1.e4 e6 2.b3 d5 3.Bb2 dxe4 4.Nc3 Nf6 5.Qe2 Bb4 6.O-O-O Qe7 7.Nxe4 Nbd7 8.Kb1 a5 9.a4 O-O 10.g4 Ba3 11.Ba1 Nd5 12.Nh3 N7f6 13.g5 Nxe4 14.Qxe4 Qb4 15.Bd3 g6 16.Bc4 f5 17.Qe5 Kf7 18.Bxd5 exd5 19.Qg7+ Ke8 20.Rhe1+ Kd8 21.Bf6+ Rxf6 22.Qxf6+ Kd7 23.Qe6+ 1-0 [/pgn]

The following effort from Christopher Ward cemented his +5-0=1 score in the 2021 Electronic Knights Prelim Section 21EN17 and his entry into the semifinals. In this seemingly quiet game Black conjures up a withering attack to rip open White’s kingside and bring home the victory.

[pgn][Event "2021 Electronic Knights (21EN17)"] [White "Cox, Hank (1253)"] [Black "Ward, Christopher (1685)"] [Result "0-1"] 1.d4 g6 2.Nf3 Bg7 3.e4 d6 4.Bc4 Nf6 5.Qe2 O-O 6.O-O Bg4 7.c3 Nc6 8.Nbd2 e5 9.d5 Ne7 10.h3 Bd7 11.a4 c6 12.dxc6 Bxc6 13.Bb5 Nh5 14.Bxc6 bxc6 15.b4 Nf4 16.Qd1 d5 17.Re1 f5 18.exf5 Nd3 19.fxg6 Nxg6 20.Rf1 e4 21.Nd4 Bxd4 22.cxd4 Ngf4 23.Nb3 Nxh3+ 24.gxh3 Rf3 25.Bh6 Qd7 26.Qd2 Kh8 27.Nc5 Rg8+ 28.Bg5 Qxh3 0-1 [/pgn]

To close out this month, here’s a two-pack of games from Walter Muir Quad 21W39. In the first one, Robert Irons takes out Robert Angres. After a complex opening, White gains a clear edge by the 15th move and forces the Black King to sidestep. White then tries to blast open the kingside before Black’s King can find shelter. Complications ensue until White uncorks 20. Rxe7+ and 21. Nxd6+ to emerge with two bishops and a pawn for a rook…and a passed pawn on d6 he can quickly force to the eighth rank, or cost Black at least an Exchange to prevent. (Annotations by Mr. Irons.)

In the second game, Dr. Jeff Reger upends Robert Irons from the White side of a King’s Indian Attack. The game felt quiet in the opening stages as White surreptitiously gained command of the center and then locked it. Then, while Black tried to counter and gain the initiative, White shifted heavy artillery to the kingside more quickly than Black could keep pace. White then blew the game open with a slick bishop sacrifice to set up a ruthless mating net.

[pgn][Event "2021 Walter Muir E-Quad (21W39)"] [White "Irons, Bob (2007)"] [Black "Angres, Robert (1860)"] [Result "1-0"] 1.Nf3 b6 2.g3 Bb7 3.Bg2 e6 4.c4 f5 5.O-O Nf6 6.d4 Be7 7.d5 Ne4 8.Nd4 c5 9.Nb5 exd5 10.cxd5 Nd6 11.Nxd6+ Bxd6 12.Nd2 Be5 13.Nc4 d6 14.Bg5 Bf6 {14... Qxg5 15.f4 Bd4+ 16.Qxd4 cxd4 17.fxg5 Ke7 18.Rxf5 Ba6 19.Nd2 Bxe2 20.Re1 d3 21.Rf3} 15.Qa4+ Kf7 16.Bf4 Be7 17.e4 fxe4 18.Rae1 Na6 {18... Bxd5 19.Bxe4 Bxe4 20.Nxd6+ Bxd6 21.Qc4+ Kf8 22.Rd1} 19.Rxe4 Nc7 20.Rxe7+ Qxe7 21.Nxd6+ Kf8 22.Nxb7 Ne8 23.d6 1-0 [/pgn]

[pgn][Event "2021 Walter Muir E-Quad (21W39)"] [White "Reger, Jeff (2055)"] [Black "Irons, Robert (2007)"] [Result "1-0"] 1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 c6 3.Bg2 Nf6 4.O-O Bf5 5.Nh4 Be4 6.f3 Bg6 7.d3 e5 8.e4 Bc5+ 9.Kh1 O-O 10.Nxg6 hxg6 11.f4 exf4 12.e5 Ne8 13.gxf4 Nc7 14.d4 Bb6 15.c3 Ne6 16.Nd2 Qd7 17.f5 gxf5 18.Bh3 c5 19.Qh5 g6 20.Qh6 Bd8 21.Nf3 Qb5 22.Bg5 Bxg5 23.Nxg5 Nxg5 24.Bxf5 Qe8 25.Rf4 1-0[/pgn]

Happy New Year!

Larry

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Recent Event Winners

19C03, Greg Whitlock, 6-0
20C08, Christian von Huene, 6-0
21C03, Russell Schoon, 6-0

20W38, Reema Dawar and Medha Kalidas, 4.5-1.5
21W24, Elijah Neumann, 6-0
21W32, Thomas Segretto, 5-1
21W36, James Queenan, 6-0

19V02, Craig Faber, 5-1
19V03, David McDuffie, 6-0
20V02, Greg Whitlock and Allen Woollen, 5-1
21VP02, Benjamin Sandefur, 5.5-.5