The Check Is in the Mail - June 2018

Barry Walker of Columbia, Missouri, showed his staying power in a withdrawal plagued 2016 John Collins.  Barry persevered, and his strong chess carried the day.

[pgn][Event "16C15"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Walker, Barry"]
[Black "Godin, Eric"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B23"]
[PlyCount "56"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2015.04.04"]{JUN} 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 d6 3. Bb5+ {This Bishop check is considered one of the
main-line Anti-Sicilians. White's basic plan is to exchange off this Bishop
and play d3 (and possibly c4). This would make this Bishop bad, and thus the
plan to first exchange it. Although this line is known in OTB play, it is
quite rare in correspondence chess.} Bd7 {Black has to make an important
choice here as 3...Nc6 and 3...Nd7 lead to very different play.} 4. Bxd7+ Qxd7
{Also comparatively rare is 4...Nxd7 as the Knight is needed for the more
aggressive post on c6 to fight for central squares. After 4...Nxd7 5. d3 g7 6.
f4 Bg7 7. Nf3 the game was even in Colorado-Ortiz Perez, Panamerican Games 2015
} 5. f4 {White could transpose into the Rossolimo Variation of the Sicilian by
5. Nf3 Nc6 6. d4 cxd4 7. Nxd4 g6 8.00 Bg7 9. Be3 Nf6 10. f3 with equality as
in Bersamina-Kotanjian, Philippines Open 2015. Also equal is 5. d4 cxd4 6,
Qxd4 Nc6 7. Qd3 Pirs-Bokar, MT/Muir 2012} g6 6. Nf3 Bg7 7. O-O Nc6 8. d3 Nf6 {
Hebden-Novikov, Isle of Man 1996, saw 8...Nh6 9. Kh1 f5 with an immediate
counterattack on the center and equality. Verenzuela-Perez Lopez, CADAP 2015
was even after 8...e6 and now 9. Be3 instead of 9. a3} 9. Qe1 O-O {
Murray-Benson, Dublin 2011 continued 9...Nd4 10. Nxd4 cxd4 11. Ne2 when 11...
Qc7 is equal.} 10. Qh4 {Kulhanek-Postupa, Golden Prague Open 2015 saw White
procrastinate with 10. Kh1 Rac8 11. Bd2 Nd4 when Black was slightly better.}
Nd4 {Volovikov-Hamitovici, Amitan Memorial 2010 saw Black offering an equal
endgame and White declining after 10...Qg4 11. Qf2 Rac8.} 11. Nxd4 cxd4 12. Ne2
Rac8 13. Nxd4 Nxe4 14. Be3 Nf6 {With 14...e5 Black plays for an advantage - 15.
Nb3 Nf6 16. c3 Nd5 as in Kharlov-Haroutjudian, Murcom 2009} 15. f5 h5 {Diagram
# We have now reached an originlal position with about even chances. White's
edge lies in his kingside attack. Black's advantage, which he does not get to
use, is his Pawn advantage in ther center.} 16. h3 b5 $6 {Better was 16...Nd5
17. Bd2 e5 with play.} 17. Qg3 $1 Kh7 18. Rf2 Nd5 {Black removes one of his
best defenders to remove a mediocre attacker. This was the last chance for ...
e5, but White is much better.} 19. Raf1 Bf6 {There is not much hope in
defending a heavy piece ending after 19...Nxe3 20. Qxe3 Bxd4 21. Qxd4 f6 22.
Qh4!} 20. Ne6 $1 Rg8 {The Knight is immune -- 20....fxe6 21. Qxg6 Kh8 22.
Qxh5_ Kh7 23. Rf3 leads to mate.} 21. Ng5+ Kg7 {Black could take the Knight
now -- 21...Bxg5 22. Qxg5 Nxe3 23. fxg6+ fxg6 24. Qxe3 Rg7 25. d4 leaves White
with some pull, but the game is not yet decided.} 22. Bc1 b4 23. fxg6 fxg6 24.
Qf3 Qb5 25. Ne6+ Kf7 $2 {The King runs the wrong way -- 25...Kh7 is better but
Black is losing anyway.} 26. Qe4 Rh8 27. Bg5 Rhe8 28. c4 $1 {A artistic
knife-thrust ends the fight -- after 28...bxc3 29. Nd4 Qa5 30. b4! is the end
and 29...Qb7 30. Bxf6 exf6 31. Rxf6+! wraps it up. 1-0} Qc6 1-0[/pgn]

Rick Johnson won a well-contested 2017 Swift Quad.

[pgn][Event "17SQ04"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2017.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Johnson, Rick"]
[Black "Wolfe, Herbert"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "2033"]
[BlackElo "1622"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "51"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2015.04.04"]{JUN} 1. d4 f5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 g6 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. c4 O-O 6. Nc3 d6 7. O-O c6 8.
d5 e5 9. e4 cxd5 10. cxd5 Na6 11. Ng5 Nc7 12. exf5 gxf5 13. Qb3 Qe7 14. a4 e4
15. f3 Na6 16. fxe4 Nc5 17. Qc4 fxe4 18. Bf4 h6 19. Ngxe4 Nfxe4 20. Nxe4 Nxe4 {
Diagram #} 21. Rae1 Qd8 22. Qxe4 Qb6+ 23. Be3 Rxf1+ 24. Rxf1 Qd8 25. Bxh6 Bxh6
26. Qg6+ 0-1[/pgn]

May Results

Walter Muir

      17W24    Sanjit Krishnamurthy  5 ½-½

      18W02    Patrick Gordon-Davis  6-0

      17W13   Fletcher Penney   5-1

      17W13   Edward Schweikert  5-1

John Collins

      17C07      John Obrien   5 ½-½

      16C10     William Bragg 6-0

Trophy Quad

       17Q04    Lance Schuttenhelm  6-0

       17Q01    Allen Woollen   5 ½- ½

       16Q08    Lawrence Gladding  5 ½-½

 

"Play your best chess by post."

–British Correspondence Chess Association

[pgn][Event "18W02 "]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2018.01.05"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Gordon-Davis, Patrick"]
[Black "Roberts, Ronald"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A46"]
[BlackElo "1529"]
[PlyCount "43"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2015.04.04"]{JUN} 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. d4 e6 3. e3 c5 4. Nbd2 cxd4 5. exd4 d5 6. Bd3 Bb4 7. c3 Ba5
8. Ne5 O-O 9. O-O Nbd7 10. f4 Nxe5 11. fxe5 Nd7 12. Nf3 f6 13. exf6 Nxf6 14.
Ne5 Bc7 15. Bg5 Bxe5 16. dxe5 Qb6+ 17. Kh1 Ne4 18. Rxf8+ Kxf8 19. Qf3+ Kg8 20.
Rf1 Bd7 21. Qf7+ Kh8 22. Qf8+ 1-0[/pgn]

Here is a trophy winning game from a 2017 Trophy Quad.

[pgn][Event "17Q04"]
[Site "Trophy Quad "]
[Date "2017.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "DeElena, Matthew"]
[Black "Schuttenhelm, Lance"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C01"]
[WhiteElo "1726"]
[BlackElo "1657"]
[PlyCount "48"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2015.04.04"]{JUN} 1. e4 d5 2. d4 Nc6 3. c4 e6 4. exd5 exd5 5. Nc3 Nf6 6. Nf3 Bb4 7. Bd3 Be6
8. c5 Ne4 9. O-O Bxc3 10. bxc3 h5 11. Re1 O-O 12. Bxe4 dxe4 13. Ng5 Bf5 14.
Qxh5 Bg6 15. Qh4 Re8 16. Bb2 Qd5 17. c4 Qxc4 18. Re3 f6 19. Nxe4 Qc2 20. Nxf6+
gxf6 21. Qxf6 Rxe3 22. d5 Ne5 23. Bxe5 Rxe5 24. Qxe5 Qxc5 0-1[/pgn]

Fletcher Penney plays an unusual line against the Marshall Ruy Lopez and engineers a decisive attack.

[pgn][Event "17W13"]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2017.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Penney, Fletcher"]
[Black "Younkin, Samuel"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C89"]
[WhiteElo "1748"]
[BlackElo "1630"]
[PlyCount "63"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2015.04.04"]{JUN} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O
8. c3 d5 9. d4 exd4 10. e5 Ne4 11. cxd4 Bf5 12. Nc3 Nxc3 13. bxc3 Qd7 14. Bc2
h6 15. Re3 Na5 16. Bxf5 Qxf5 17. Ne1 c5 18. Rf3 Qe6 19. Nd3 Nc6 20. Nf4 Qd7 21.
Nh5 Qe6 22. Rg3 g5 23. h4 cxd4 24. cxd4 f6 25. exf6 Bxf6 26. hxg5 Bxd4 27. Nf6+
Kh8 28. Qh5 Rxf6 29. gxf6 Qxf6 30. Bxh6 Bxf2+ 31. Kh1 Qxa1+ 32. Bc1# 1-0[/pgn]

In a battle between a 10-year-old and a 70-year-old, the smart money is on the ten.

[pgn][Event "17W24 "]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2017.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Williams, Rufus"]
[Black "Krishnamurthy, Sanjit"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D02"]
[WhiteElo "1166"]
[PlyCount "70"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2015.04.04"]{JUN} 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. h3 e6 4. a3 c5 5. e3 Nc6 6. Bb5 a6 7. Bxc6+ bxc6
8. c3 Bd6 9. O-O O-O 10. Nbd2 cxd4 11. exd4 c5 12. b3 Bb7 13. Re1 Re8 14. Bb2
Rc8 15. g3 c4 16. b4 a5 17. Ne5 Ne4 18. Ndf3 f6 19. Ng4 f5 20. Nge5 Rf8 21. Kg2
f4 22. g4 Ra8 23. Qc2 Qc7 24. Qc1 Bxe5 25. dxe5 Qb6 26. Rf1 {Diagram #} d4 27.
cxd4 Ng5 28. Qc3 Bxf3+ 29. Kh2 Be2 30. Rfe1 Nf3+ 31. Kg2 Nxe1+ 32. Qxe1 f3+ 33.
Kg3 axb4 34. a4 c3 35. Bc1 Qxd4 0-1[/pgn]

Black just can’t handle two catastrophes on b7 featuring first the loss of a Pawn and then a piece.

[pgn][Event "17W13"]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2017.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Schweikert, Edward"]
[Black "Nelson, Christopher"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A97"]
[WhiteElo "1707"]
[BlackElo "1690"]
[PlyCount "59"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2015.04.04"]{JUN} 1. d4 f5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 e6 4. c4 Be7 5. Nf3 O-O 6. O-O d6 7. Nc3 Qe8 8.
Re1 Qg6 9. e4 fxe4 10. Nxe4 Nxe4 11. Rxe4 {Diagram #} Nc6 12. Qe2 Bf6 13. Bd2
e5 14. dxe5 Nxe5 15. Re1 Bd7 16. Nxe5 Bxe5 17. Ba5 c5 18. Bc3 Bxc3 19. bxc3
Rae8 20. Rxe8 Rxe8 21. Bd5+ Kh8 22. Qd2 h5 23. Bxb7 h4 24. Bd5 Rxe1+ 25. Qxe1
h3 26. f3 Qf6 27. Qc1 a5 28. Kf2 g5 29. Qb1 Kg7 30. Qb7 1-0[/pgn]

The Latvian Gambit is designed to offer Black attacking chances along the f-file --  as in this game by Barry Walker.

[pgn][Event "16C15"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Gooding, Carl"]
[Black "Walker, Barry"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C40"]
[PlyCount "48"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2015.04.04"]{JUN} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 f5 3. Nxe5 Qf6 4. d4 d6 5. Nc4 fxe4 6. Ne3 c6 7. d5 Qg6
8. Be2 Nf6 9. Nc3 Be7 10. b3 O-O 11. Bb2 Nbd7 12. Qd2 Ne5 13. h3 a6 14. h4 Neg4
15. dxc6 bxc6 16. f3 Nxe3 17. Qxe3 Qg3+ 18. Kd2 d5 19. fxe4 {Diagram #} Bb4 20.
Qxg3 Nxe4+ 21. Kd1 Nxg3 22. Rg1 Nxe2 23. Kxe2 Bg4+ 24. Kd3 Bf5+ 0-1[/pgn]

An interesting battle ensues right out of the opening.

[pgn][Event "17ENs01"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2017.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Leonard, Andrew"]
[Black "Jarmuz, Fredrick"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D12"]
[WhiteElo "2261"]
[BlackElo "2017"]
[PlyCount "59"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]
[EventType "corr"]
[SourceDate "2015.04.04"]{JUN} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 Bf5 5. Nc3 e6 6. Nh4 Bg4 7. Qb3 b6 8.
h3 Bh5 9. g4 Ne4 10. Nxe4 Qxh4 11. cxd5 exd5 12. gxh5 Qxe4 13. Rg1 Qe6 14. Bd2
Nd7 15. O-O-O Nf6 16. f3 O-O-O 17. Ba6+ Kb8 18. Kb1 Qxh3 19. Rc1 Qd7 20. Rc2
Re8 21. Rgc1 Re6 22. a4 Ka8 23. a5 bxa5 24. Bb5 Bb4 25. Bxb4 cxb5 26. Rc7 a4
27. Qc2 Qe8 28. e4 Rb6 29. Re7 Qb8 30. Rxf7 1-0[/pgn]