The Check Is in the Mail - July 2018

Danny Horwitz

Danny Horwitz has won the 2016 Absolute Championship by a full point over a cluster of rivals.  Danny, a retired rabbi and author of A Kabbalah and Jewish Mysticism Reader, learned chess from his father at a very early age.  When he was 14 his family moved to Norman, Oklahoma, and for lack of over-the-board opponents began playing in Golden Knights tournaments.  He also played in APCT, CCLA, and ICCF and won the APCT King Tournament in 2004, the CCLA Server Championship in 2016, and twice qualified for the preliminary round of the ICCF World Championship. Modestly, he admits he will not put in the amount of time it takes to advance to the highest ranks in correspondence chess.  One ICCF World Champion took a year’s leave of absence from his academic post in order to spend all of his time on the 16 games in the final championship round.  He offers these four points for students to enable them to reach a level that is both enjoyable and challenging. Note that computer use is only allowable in US Chess CC in the Absolute Championship. 1)  Keep a manageable game load, no more than about 30-35 games going at one time. 2)  Try to spend a lot of time on the position when you need to work out a long-term plan.  You can’t beat the computer with tactics, but you can often win with a solid long-term strategy.  He might spend an hour or more on one position, set it aside to come back to it a few days later.  Danny doesn’t recall ever losing a game on time, but he notes he has lost plenty of games because he moved far too quickly. 3)  Have a steady opening repertoire of solid openings.  When other players can look up how others have responded in ECO or online, it is too easy to have your head handed to you. 4)  Try to devote at least a little time each day to a continued study of the game.  There is infinite pleasure to be gained thereby.

[pgn][Event "Absolute Championship"]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2016.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Horwitz, Danny"]
[Black "Miettinen, Kristo"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B04"]
[WhiteElo "2309"]
[BlackElo "2451"]
[PlyCount "127"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]{JUL} 1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 d6 4. Nf3 dxe5 {Black has lots of options here
-- 4...g6, 4...Bg4, 4...Bf5 4...Nc6 and 4...c6 are among the most popular.} 5.
Nxe5 g6 {Karjakin-Kamsky, blitz 2012 continued 5...c6 6. Be2 Bf5 7.00 Nd7 8.
Nf3 e6 9. c4 N5f6 += Interesting would have been 9...Nb4 10. Nc3 Nc2 11. Rb1
Nb4 12. Bg5! f5 13. Be3 Bxb1 14. Qxb1 when White, an exchange down, has the
better position.} 6. Bc4 {No longer popular is 6. c4 as in Stevic-Kovacevic,
Porec 2016 though after 6. c4 Nb6 7. Nc3 Bg7 8. Be3 White had a slight edge.}
Be6 7. O-O c6 8. Re1 Bg7 9. Nf3 {This is apparently new. White retreats to
avoid a future exchange after ...Nd7 and again with 10. Bb3 to avoid a
possible Knight to c3 or e3.} O-O 10. Bb3 Bg4 {With the threat of 11...Bxf3 12.
Qxf3 Bxd4, but development by 10...Na6 followed by N6c7 may be better.} 11. c3
e5 $5 {With his lead in development, Miettinen correctly attacks White's
strong point, the center.} 12. dxe5 Nd7 13. Nbd2 {White can't afford to be too
greedy -- 13. Bxd5 cxd5 14. Qxd5 Re8 15. Qxb7 Nxe5 16. Nd4 Nc6! 17. Rxe8+ Qxe8
18. Bd2 Nxd4 19. cxd4 Bxd4 is dead equal.} Nxe5 14. h3 Nxf3+ 15. Nxf3 Be6 16.
Nd4 Bd7 17. Bxd5 {White elects to play against a structural weakness (d5) at
the cost of the two Bishops. With no weakness in his structure, it turns out
to be a wise decision, mainly because he sees a way to deprive Black of the
two.} cxd5 18. Bf4 Qb6 19. Qd2 Rfe8 20. Nf3 $1 Re4 21. Be5 $1 Bxe5 22. Nxe5 Be6
23. Nf3 $1 {This Knight now relocates itself to d4 and the classic good Knight
versus bad Bishop struggle negins to take shape.} f6 24. Re2 $1 {White must
deprive Black of his most active piece.} Bf7 25. Qd3 Rxe2 {The Rook cannot
stay at e4 -- 25...Rae8 26. Rae1 Kg7 27. Nd4 and f3 will lead to the Rooks
coming off.} 26. Qxe2 Re8 27. Qc2 Re7 28. Nd4 Kg7 {Diagram # White has
established his Knight on d4 and Black's Bishop is bad, and the d4 Pawn is
isolated, but that is not enough to win as d5 can be easily protected three
times. White must create a second weakness. His goal is the the queenside
where he is strongest.} 29. a4 $1 Be8 30. a5 Qc5 31. Qb3 Qc4 32. Qa3 {
Naturally White avoids un-isolating the d-Pawn.} Qc7 33. g3 Re5 34. Qb3 Bd7 35.
Kg2 Bc8 36. h4 {The more aggressive looking 36. f4 fails to 36...Re3 37. Qxd5
g5! 38. Rf1 gxf4 39. Rxf4 Re5 40. Qf3 Rxa5 41, Rxf6 Ra2 and all Black's pieces
are working with even chances.} h5 {36. ...Qd7 just leads to an empty check
after 37. Qb4 Qh3+ 38. Kg1 g5 39. hxg5 fxg5 40. Qd6} 37. Qb4 Re4 38. Qb5 Qd6
39. Rd1 a6 {And there it is -- the second weakness. The square b6 (and later
c7) and the bad Bishop becomnes a llittle "badder".} 40. Qb6 {Also playable
was 40. Qb4 because 40...Qxb4 would soon leave White in control of the c-file
and the doubled b-Pawns could be dissolved by b5.} Qxb6 41. axb6 Kf7 42. b4 Ke7
43. Ra1 {The Rook aims for c5 and the entrance to Black's position.} Kd6 44.
Ra5 Re7 45. Rc5 Bg4 46. f3 Be6 47. Kf2 {Black's position is quite constricted
now. White only needs to bring his King into the battle.} Rf7 48. Ke3 Re7 49.
Nxe6 $1 {It is time -- the "bad" Bishop played a defensive role on d5.} Rxe6+
50. Kd4 Re1 {After 50...Re7, White snakes his way into Black's position by 51.
Rxd5+ Kc6 52. Rd8 Re6 53. Rg7 f5 54. c4 Kxb6 55. Kd5 Rf6 56. f4 Kc7 57. c5 Kd7
58. Rg7+ Kc8 59. Rh7 Rc6 60. Re7 Rf6 61, Re6} 51. Rc7 Rd1+ 52. Ke3 Re1+ 53. Kd3
Re7 54. Rc8 f5 55. Kd4 Re2 {A try was 55...f4 but 56. Rg8! negates that.} 56.
Rc7 Rd2+ 57. Ke3 Rc2 58. Kf4 $1 {And now another weakness is exposed -- the
Pawn on g6 is doomed.} d4 59. c4 d3 60. c5+ Kd5 61. Rd7+ Kc6 {Black cannot
play 61..Kc4, blocking his Rook's conrol of the c-Pawn as 62. c6! produces a
new Queen.} 62. Rxd3 Rc4+ 63. Kg5 Rxb4 64. Kxg6 {The endgame is lost after 64..
.f4 65. g4! when White's Pawns easily triumph.} 1-0[/pgn]

JUNE RESULTS

Walter Muir

              Patrick Walsh    18W03     5 ½- ½

      Thomas Kirk    17W20     4-2

      Patrick Walsh   18W05    6-0

              Scott Langgood   17W25    4 ½-1 ½

                 Ray Kappel    17W26   3 ½-2 ½

Victor Palciauskas

        Patrick Schilling   16P03   6-0

Trophy Quad

         Alan Andux     17Q05  5 ½ ½

John Collins

              Louis Biasotti    15C14   4 ½-1 ½

Swift Quad

          Steve White   17SQ02   6-0

  After Black is all tied up, White’s slow motion attack is very effective.

[pgn][Event "18EN01"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2018.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Young, William"]
[Black "Angres, Robert"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B00"]
[WhiteElo "2071"]
[BlackElo "1829"]
[PlyCount "77"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]{JUL} 1. e4 b6 2. d4 Bb7 3. Bd3 e6 4. Nf3 c5 5. c3 cxd4 6. cxd4 Nf6 7. Qe2 Bb4+
8. Bd2 Bxd2+ 9. Nbxd2 d5 10. e5 Nfd7 11. O-O O-O 12. Rac1 Nc6 13. a3 Rc8 14.
Rfe1 Qe7 15. b4 Ncb8 16. b5 Rfd8 17. Nf1 Nf8 18. Qb2 Ng6 19. Ne3 Nf4 20. Bf1
Qf8 21. g3 Ng6 22. Qb3 Rxc1 23. Rxc1 Rc8 24. Rc2 Qd8 25. Rxc8 Qxc8 26. Bd3 Nf8
27. a4 a5 28. h4 h6 29. Qb2 Nbd7 30. Qa3 Qc7 31. Ng2 Nb8 32. Nh2 Nbd7 33. Nf4
Qc8 34. Ng4 Qc7 35. Kg2 Qb8 36. Nh5 Ba8 37. Qe7 Qc8 38. Nxg7 Kxg7 39. Nxh6 1-0[/pgn]

[pgn][Event "17W20 "]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2017.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Kirk, Thomas"]
[Black "Gitananda, Rama"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A00"]
[WhiteElo "1967"]
[BlackElo "1831"]
[PlyCount "81"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]{JUL} 1. b4 Nf6 2. Bb2 e6 3. b5 d5 4. e3 Bd6 5. Nf3 c5 6. c4 Nbd7 7. Be2 O-O 8.
O-O a5 9. a4 e5 10. d4 exd4 11. exd4 Nb6 12. Nbd2 cxd4 13. Bxd4 Nxc4 14. Nxc4
dxc4 15. Bxc4 Bg4 16. h3 Bxf3 17. Qxf3 Bh2+ 18. Kxh2 Qxd4 19. Bb3 b6 20. Rfd1
Qe4 21. Qg3 Rac8 22. Rac1 Qb7 23. Rxc8 Qxc8 24. Qd6 Qb8 25. f3 Rd8 26. Qxb8
Rxb8 27. g4 h6 28. h4 g5 29. Rd6 Kg7 30. h5 Rb7 31. Kg3 Rd7 32. Rxb6 Rd3 33.
Bc4 Rc3 34. Rc6 Ne4+ 35. Kg2 Nd6 36. Bf1 Rxc6 37. bxc6 Ne8 38. f4 f6 39. Kf3
Kf7 40. fxg5 fxg5 41. Ke4 1-0[/pgn]

"The full history of correspondence chess begins only in 1804, when D. W. de Mauvillon of Breda played three games by post with an anonymous officer friend at the Hague – the first postal games of which we have the scores."

-Meissenburg

[pgn][Event "17W25"]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2017.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Dee, Jimmy"]
[Black "Langgood, Scott"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D17"]
[WhiteElo "1711"]
[BlackElo "1762"]
[PlyCount "42"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]{JUL} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4 Bf5 6. Ne5 e6 7. f3 Bb4 8.
e4 Bxe4 9. fxe4 Nxe4 10. Bd2 Qxd4 11. Nxe4 Qxe4+ 12. Qe2 Bxd2+ 13. Kxd2 Qd4+
14. Kc2 Na6 15. Nxc4 O-O-O 16. Qe5 Qf2+ 17. Kc3 Rd5 18. Qxg7 Rhd8 19. Qg3 Qc5
20. Qe3 Rd4 21. Qe5 Rxc4+ 0-1[/pgn]

[pgn][Event "17W26 "]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2018.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Kappel, Ray"]
[Black "Badger, John"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E06"]
[WhiteElo "1820"]
[BlackElo "1808"]
[PlyCount "89"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]{JUL} 1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 e6 3. g3 Nf6 4. Bg2 Be7 5. O-O O-O 6. c4 c6 7. Qc2 b6 8.
cxd5 cxd5 9. Bf4 Bb7 10. Ne5 Nfd7 11. Nf3 Nc6 12. Nc3 Rc8 13. Qd3 Nf6 14. Rac1
Na5 15. Nb5 Nc6 16. Rxc6 Rxc6 17. Nxa7 Rd6 18. Bxd6 Bxd6 19. Nb5 Ba6 20. Rc1
Qd7 21. a4 Rc8 22. Rxc8+ Qxc8 23. Bf1 Bb8 24. e3 Bb7 25. Qc3 Qd8 26. Bd3 h5 27.
h4 Ng4 28. Nh2 Nxh2 29. Kxh2 Qxh4+ 30. Kg2 Qe7 31. a5 g6 32. axb6 h4 33. Qc5
Qd7 34. gxh4 e5 35. Kf1 Qg4 36. Ke1 e4 37. Bf1 Qxh4 38. Nc7 Qd8 39. Ba6 Bxa6
40. Nxa6 Bh2 41. b7 Kg7 42. Qb5 Bb8 43. Nxb8 Qxb8 44. Qxd5 Qa7 45. Qe5+ 1-0[/pgn]

GAMES FROM THE 2016 ABSOLUTE CHAMPIONSHIP

[pgn][Event "16A01 (USA)"]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2016.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Jacobs, Charles"]
[Black "Miettinen, Kristo"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E18"]
[WhiteElo "2177"]
[BlackElo "2451"]
[PlyCount "101"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]{JUL} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Be7 5. Bg2 Bb7 6. O-O O-O 7. Nc3 Ne4
8. Bd2 d6 9. d5 Nxc3 10. Bxc3 Bf6 11. Nd4 e5 12. Nc2 a5 13. e4 Nd7 14. b3 Nc5
15. Rb1 Qe7 16. Qe2 Bc8 17. a3 g6 18. b4 Na4 19. Bd2 Bd7 20. Rb3 Bg7 21. Rc1 h5
22. h4 Bg4 23. Qe3 Kh7 24. Rbb1 Bd7 25. Ne1 Rfb8 26. Nf3 f6 27. Ne1 Qf8 28. Nd3
Bh6 29. Qe2 Bxd2 30. Qxd2 Qh6 31. f4 Qg7 32. Rf1 Rf8 33. Rbc1 Qe7 34. Kh2 Rf7
35. Bh3 Bxh3 36. Kxh3 Qe8 37. Kh2 Kg8 38. Rf2 Rd8 39. Qc2 Ra8 40. Rcf1 Kg7 41.
f5 Rf8 42. fxg6 Qxg6 43. Qxa4 axb4 44. Qxb4 Qxe4 45. Qc3 Rf7 46. Nb4 Rh8 47.
Rf5 Rg8 48. Nc2 Rh8 49. Ne3 Rh6 50. Qd2 Rf8 51. Qe2 1-0[/pgn]

[pgn][Event "16A01 "]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2016.02.02"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Bussom, Andrew"]
[Black "Magat, Gordon"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B33"]
[BlackElo "2247"]
[PlyCount "74"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]{JUL} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Bg5 a6
8. Na3 b5 9. Bxf6 gxf6 10. Nd5 f5 11. Bd3 Be6 12. O-O Bxd5 13. exd5 Ne7 14.
Nxb5 Bg7 15. Nc3 e4 16. Be2 O-O 17. Qd2 Ng6 18. Rae1 Re8 19. Bd1 Qf6 20. Kh1
Rab8 21. Na4 f4 22. b3 Qh4 23. g3 Qh6 24. c4 f5 25. c5 Be5 26. c6 {Diagram #}
e3 27. fxe3 fxg3 28. Bf3 Re7 29. Rc1 Bd4 30. Qg2 Bxe3 31. Rc2 Nf4 32. Qxg3+ Rg7
33. Qe1 Qh3 34. Nb2 Kh8 35. c7 Rc8 36. Nc4 Bc5 37. Bd1 Nd3 0-1[/pgn]

[pgn][Event "16A01 "]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2016.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Walters, Gary"]
[Black "Bussom, Andrew"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A40"]
[WhiteElo "2391"]
[PlyCount "113"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]{JUL} 1. d4 e6 2. c4 b6 3. e4 Bb7 4. Bd3 Nc6 5. Nf3 Nb4 6. O-O Nxd3 7. Qxd3 Ne7
8. Nc3 Ng6 9. d5 Be7 10. Re1 O-O 11. Bd2 h6 12. b3 e5 13. Ne2 a5 14. a3 d6 15.
Ng3 Qd7 16. Nf5 Bf6 17. h3 Rfe8 18. Qc2 Ne7 19. Ng3 Ng6 20. Be3 Qe7 21. b4 Nf4
22. c5 bxc5 23. bxc5 g6 24. Ne2 Ba6 25. Nxf4 exf4 26. Bd4 Bxd4 27. Nxd4 dxc5
28. Nc6 Qg5 29. f3 Bc8 30. Rab1 {Diagram #} h5 31. Kh1 Qh4 32. Re2 a4 33. Rd1
Bd7 34. Qxc5 Bxh3 35. Nd4 Bd7+ 36. Kg1 Qg5 37. Qxc7 Red8 38. e5 Rac8 39. Qb6
Rb8 40. Qa6 Ra8 41. Qd3 h4 42. e6 fxe6 43. Nxe6 Bxe6 44. Rxe6 Kf7 45. Re4 Re8
46. Rde1 Rxe4 47. Qxe4 Rd8 48. Qxa4 h3 49. Re2 Kg7 50. Qd4+ Kh6 51. d6 Rb8 52.
Qd1 Re8 53. d7 Rxe2 54. Qxe2 Qc5+ 55. Kh2 hxg2 56. Kxg2 Qd4 57. Qe8 1-0[/pgn]

[pgn][Event "16A01 (USA)"]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2016.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Woodard, Daniel"]
[Black "Miettinen, Kristo"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E18"]
[WhiteElo "2402"]
[BlackElo "2451"]
[PlyCount "109"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]{JUL} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 Be7 4. Nf3 b6 5. Bg2 Bb7 6. O-O O-O 7. Nc3 Ne4
8. Bd2 c5 9. d5 exd5 10. Nxd5 Bxd5 11. cxd5 Nxd2 12. Qxd2 d6 13. e4 Nd7 14. e5
Nxe5 15. Nxe5 dxe5 16. d6 Rb8 17. Rad1 Bf6 18. d7 {Diagram #} Qc7 19. b4 a6 20.
Rfe1 c4 21. Qd5 Rbd8 22. Re2 b5 23. Qb7 Qxb7 24. Bxb7 Rb8 25. Bxa6 Rb6 26. Bc8
g6 27. Red2 Bd8 28. Rd6 Rxd6 29. Rxd6 Be7 30. Rb6 c3 31. a3 f5 32. Kg2 e4 33.
Rc6 Rf6 34. Rxc3 Rb6 35. h3 Kf7 36. Rc5 h6 37. g4 f4 38. h4 Rd6 39. Re5 Rd4 40.
g5 hxg5 41. hxg5 Bd8 42. Bb7 Rxd7 43. Bd5+ Kg7 44. Bxe4 Re7 45. Rd5 Rxe4 46.
Rxd8 Re5 47. Rd7+ Kf8 48. Kf3 Rxg5 49. Kxf4 Rf5+ 50. Ke3 Rf6 51. f4 Ra6 52. Kd4
Ke8 53. Rd5 Rxa3 54. Kc5 Rf3 55. Rd4 1-0[/pgn]