The Check Is in the Mail - March 2018

Max Zavanelli was born August 20, 1946 and died January 27, 2018.  In those seventy plus years, Max contributed a lot to correspondence chess, especially international correspondence chess. Max’s international career started in a 1987 telephone call to me from an irate Max complaining about the state of US CC at the international level – the numerous dropouts, the rarity of winning any international matches,, the apparent cronyism in selecting team members.  After an introduction to the right people,. This all changed under “Max the Axe.”  Max initiated a get tough policy and forever changed the US and international chess.  Max rose from ICCF/US Secretary to ICCF Vice-President in 1992 to Deputy Chairman in 1993, International Arbiter in 1993 Zonal Director in 1995 Deputy President in 2004 and Acting President in 2005. Max also continued playing CC during the course of those years gaining the ICCM title in 2002.

GAME OF THE MONTH

[pgn][Event "USCCC-7 prel"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1984.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Dunne, Alex"]
[Black "Zavanelli, Max"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A89"]
[WhiteElo "2335"]
[BlackElo "2265"]
[PlyCount "60"]
[EventDate "1984.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2015.04.04"]{MAR} 1. d4 f5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 g6 4. c4 Bg7 5. Nc3 O-O 6. Nf3 d6 7. O-O Nc6 8.
d5 Ne5 {8...Na5 with play on the queenside is fequently played, but the more
aggressive 8..Ne5 better suited Max's style.} 9. Nxe5 dxe5 10. e4 Ng4 $5 {The
most common treatment of this position was Kramer-Euwe, Hoogovens 1953 which
saw 10...f4 11 f3 fxg3 12. fxg3 hxg3 +/=} 11. c5 {Botterill-Wise, Portsmouth
1976 saw 11. h3 Nh6 12. f4 with a small edge to White. Mitchell-Zavanelli,
pacific area 1987 continued 12. c5 (insread of 12. f4) f4! 13. g4 with equal
chances. Norris-Zavanelli NATT2, 1985, continued 11. exf5 gxf5 12, h3 Nh6 13,
Re1 with an edge.} f4 12. Bf3 {Also good for White is 12. f3 Nh6 13, g4
keeping the kingside closed.} Nh6 13. b4 g5 {A slip -- 13. ..Bh3 keeps the
balance.} 14. g4 e6 15. h3 exd5 16. Qb3 $1 Nf7 17. exd5 h5 18. Re1 hxg4 19.
Bxg4 Nh6 20. d6+ Kh8 21. dxc7 Qxc7 {Diagram #} 22. Nd5 $6 {This move looks
strong but 22. Nb5! intending to settle on d6 preserves White's edge. Now the
scales are tipped toward Black.} Qf7 23. Bxc8 {White should have tried a
swindle here -- 23, Bb2 when Black's best is 23...Re8. If greed overcomes
Black and he tries 23...Bxg4 24. fxg4 Nxg4 then 25. Qh3+ Nh6 26. Rxe5 wins.}
Raxc8 24. Bb2 Rce8 {Coordination! Black is fully mobilized here and White's
kingside is a liability.} 25. Re4 {White had to try 23. f3 here, but chances
of survival would be very slim.} Qh5 26. Nc7 f3 27. h4 Ng4 28. Qc4 Rf4 $1 29.
Rxf4 gxf4 30. Qe4 Nf6 {Black had a mate in eight after 30...Ne3! but the move
made forcing an instant resignation was even stronger. The Axe has struck!} 0-1[/pgn]

FEBRUARY RESULTS

John Collins

David McDuffie          17C17 6-0

Walter Muir

Fletcher Penney          17W17  4 ½-1 ½

2018 ABSOLUTE CHAMPIONSHIP The 2018 Absolute Championship has begun and the line-up looks fierce!  In rating order the contestants are Harry Ingersol (2435), Laurence Bonsack (2387), James Tracz (2385). Kristo Miettinen (2384), Robert Rizzo (2367), Gordon Magat (2364), Joel Levine (2359), Keith Rodriguez (2328), John Procopi (2325), Ferdinand Burmeister (2318), Charles Jacobs (2294), Tim Corkum (2289), and John Millett (2286).

"The Fischer boom affected correspondence chess, too.  The 1972 Golden Knights was the largest ever with 770 sections containing 5,390 players.  The eventual winner of a playoff over Robert Jacobs and Kiven Plesset was R. Cayford.  -- three future Absolute winners!"

White’s Knights would have done King Arthur proud.

[pgn][Event "16Q04"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Gladding, Lawrence"]
[Black "Woollen, Allen"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B96"]
[WhiteElo "1635"]
[BlackElo "1792"]
[PlyCount "47"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2015.04.04"]{MAR} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 b5 8.
e5 dxe5 9. fxe5 Qc7 10. exf6 Qe5+ 11. Be2 Qxg5 12. O-O Ra7 13. Qd3 Rd7 14. Ne4
Qe5 15. Nf3 Qxb2 16. Qe3 Bb7 17. Rab1 Qxc2 18. Nfg5 Qc7 19. a4 b4 20. Rxb4 Bxb4
21. fxg7 Rg8 22. Nxe6 Qc6 {Diagram #} 23. Nf6+ Ke7 24. Nxg8+ 1-0[/pgn]

[pgn][Event "17W18"]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2017.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Penney, Fletcher"]
[Black "Gitananda, Rama"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B48"]
[WhiteElo "1806"]
[BlackElo "1831"]
[PlyCount "59"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2015.04.04"]{MAR} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 Qc7 6. Be3 Nf6 7. f4
Nxd4 8. Qxd4 b6 9. Be2 Bc5 10. Qd3 Bb4 11. Bd2 a6 12. O-O-O O-O 13. e5 Bxc3 14.
Qxc3 Qxc3 15. Bxc3 Nd5 16. Bf3 Nxc3 17. Bxa8 Nxd1 18. Rxd1 d5 19. exd6 Rd8 20.
g3 f6 21. c4 a5 22. b3 Kf7 23. a3 h6 24. Bf3 Bd7 25. Kc2 Rc8 26. Kc3 b5 27. Bb7
b4+ 28. axb4 axb4+ 29. Kd4 Rb8 30. Be4 1-0[/pgn]

Queen sacrifices are always a surprise.

[pgn][Event "16Q04"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Gladding, Lawrence"]
[Black "Gregg, Vaughn"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B12"]
[WhiteElo "1635"]
[BlackElo "1677"]
[PlyCount "69"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2015.04.04"]{MAR} 1. d4 c6 2. e4 d5 3. Nd2 e6 4. e5 Ne7 5. Ngf3 Ng6 6. c3 Be7 7. Be2 O-O 8.
O-O Nd7 9. Re1 b5 10. Nf1 f6 11. Bd3 f5 12. Bd2 Ba6 13. b4 Nb6 14. a4 Nh4 15.
Nxh4 Bxh4 16. g3 Bg5 17. f4 Be7 18. Ne3 g5 19. Ng2 Nc4 20. Bxc4 bxc4 21. Qh5 g4
22. h3 gxh3 23. Qxh3 Rf7 24. Kf2 Qd7 25. Rh1 Bb7 26. Ne3 a5 27. g4 Kh8 28. g5
axb4 29. cxb4 Rg7 30. Nf1 Bf8 31. Ng3 h6 32. Nh5 Rg6 33. Nf6 Qc7 34. gxh6 Rxh6
35. Qxh6+ 1-0[/pgn]

How much bait is a Rook on f1?  Apparently enough in this game.

[pgn][Event "17EN12"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2017.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "McCartney, Patrick"]
[Black "Khan, Mohammad"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D05"]
[WhiteElo "1978"]
[BlackElo "1597"]
[PlyCount "59"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2015.04.04"]1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. e3 c5 4. Bd3 d5 5. b3 Nbd7 6. Bb2 Be7 7. O-O b6 8. Nbd2
Bb7 9. Ne5 O-O 10. Qf3 Qc8 11. Qh3 h6 12. Ndf3 Ne4 13. Nxd7 Qxd7 14. Ne5 Qc7
15. f3 Nf6 16. Rae1 Bd6 17. f4 Ne4 18. c4 Rad8 19. cxd5 exd5 20. Bxe4 dxe4 21.
Nc4 Ba6 {Diagram #} 22. Nxd6 Bxf1 23. dxc5 Bd3 24. Bxg7 Rxd6 25. cxd6 Qxd6 26.
Bxf8 Kxf8 27. Qc8+ Kg7 28. Rc1 Be2 29. Qc7 Qg6 30. Qe5+ 1-0[/pgn]

Build your position up one move at a time and the opponent’s position may collapse all at once.

[pgn][Event "17EN13"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2017.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Finnegan, John"]
[Black "Fielding, Gerald"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A47"]
[WhiteElo "1809"]
[BlackElo "2022"]
[PlyCount "58"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2015.04.04"]{MAR} 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 b6 3. e3 Bb7 4. Bd3 g6 5. c4 Bg7 6. Nc3 d5 7. O-O O-O 8.
cxd5 Nxd5 9. Bd2 Nd7 10. Nxd5 Bxd5 11. Bc3 c5 12. e4 cxd4 13. Bxd4 Bxd4 14.
Nxd4 Bb7 15. f3 Rc8 16. Be2 a6 17. Rc1 e5 18. Nc2 b5 19. Qd2 Nc5 20. Rcd1 Na4
21. Nb4 Qb6+ 22. Kh1 Rfd8 {Diagram #} 23. Nd3 Kg7 24. Rc1 Qd4 25. Rxc8 Bxc8 26.
Qc2 Be6 27. Qb1 Qe3 28. Re1 Bxa2 29. Qxa2 Rxd3 0-1[/pgn]

SOME MAX THE AXE WINS

For the first eighteen moves, White attacks.  For the next eighteen, Black improves his position.

[pgn][Event "NAICCC VI"]
[Site "corr ICCF"]
[Date "1989.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Tears, C."]
[Black "Zavanelli, Max"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B26"]
[PlyCount "74"]
[EventDate "1989.??.??"]
[EventType "corr"]
[SourceDate "2015.04.04"]1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. d3 g6 4. g3 Bg7 5. Bg2 e6 6. Be3 d6 7. Qd2 Nge7 8. Bh6
O-O 9. h4 f6 10. Nh3 e5 11. O-O-O Nd4 12. Bxg7 Kxg7 13. Rdf1 h5 14. f4 Be6 15.
Nf2 Qa5 16. fxe5 dxe5 17. g4 hxg4 18. h5 g5 19. h6+ Kh7 20. Qe3 Ng6 21. Kb1 Nf4
22. Rhg1 Kxh6 23. Nfd1 Kg6 24. Qf2 c4 25. Nd5 Bxd5 26. exd5 cxd3 27. Be4+ f5
28. Bxd3 Nxd3 29. cxd3 Qxd5 30. Nc3 Qd7 31. Rg2 Nf3 32. Qe3 Qc6 33. Rc2 Rac8
34. Rg2 a6 35. Rgf2 Qc5 36. Qc1 Qd4 37. Qc2 Rfd8 0-1[/pgn]

This is an attacking game par excellence – Max sacrifices a Pawn for an early initiative game and then concludes with sparkling tactics.

[pgn][Event "2nd CCLA Ch"]
[Site "corr"]
[Date "1986.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Zavanelli, Max"]
[Black "Garfinkel, Boris"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C17"]
[PlyCount "73"]
[EventDate "1986.??.??"]
[EventType "corr"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceDate "2015.04.04"]{MAR} 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. Nf3 Ne7 6. dxc5 Nbc6 7. Bd3 d4
8. a3 Ba5 9. b4 Nxb4 10. axb4 Bxb4 11. O-O Bxc3 12. Rb1 Qd5 (12... O-O $2 13.
Bxh7+) 13. Qe2 Qxc5 14. Ng5 Ng6 15. Qh5 Qxe5 $2 (15... a6 $142) 16. Bb5+ Bd7
17. Bxd7+ Kxd7 18. Rxb7+ Kc8 19. Rxf7 a5 20. Qf3 Qd5 21. Ne4 Bb4 22. Bf4 $1 Rf8
23. Bd6 $1 Rxf7 24. Qxf7 Bxd6 25. Nxd6+ Kd8 (25... Qxd6 26. Qe8+ Qd8 (26... Kb7
27. Rb1+ Ka7 28. Qb5 Qc7 29. Ra1) 27. Qc6+ Kb8 28. Rb1+) 26. Nb7+ Kc8 27. Rb1
Qa2 28. Nd6+ Kd8 29. Qb7 Qd5 30. Nf7+ Ke8 31. Qc7 Qd7 32. Nd6+ Ke7 33. Nf5+ Ke8
34. Nxg7+ Ke7 35. Nf5+ Ke8 36. Nd6+ Ke7 37. Qc5 1-0[/pgn]

Max shows that an Axe can be used to slowly grind an opponent down.

[pgn][Event "USCCC-6"]
[Site "corr"]
[Date "1982.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Zavanelli, Max"]
[Black "Patterson, S. (USA)."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C11"]
[PlyCount "67"]
[EventDate "1982.??.??"]
[EventType "corr"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[SourceDate "2015.04.04"]{MAR} 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. Be3 cxd4
8. Nxd4 Qb6 9. a3 Bc5 10. Na4 Qa5+ 11. c3 Bxd4 12. Bxd4 Nxd4 13. b4 Nf3+ 14.
gxf3 Qd8 15. h4 Nb6 16. Nc5 O-O 17. Bd3 Nc4 18. Bxc4 dxc4 19. Qe2 b6 20. Rd1
Qc7 21. Ne4 Bb7 {Diagram #} 22. Rd4 b5 23. Kf2 Rad8 24. Rhd1 Rxd4 25. Rxd4 Bxe4
26. Qxe4 g6 27. Rd6 Rd8 28. Qd4 Rxd6 29. exd6 Qd7 30. Qc5 Kf8 31. Qd4 Kg8 32.
Ke3 f5 33. Qc5 Kf7 34. Qc7 1-0[/pgn]

Things aren’t going well for White, but when he sacks the exchange on Move 37, things go even worse.

[pgn][Event "NATT2-04"]
[Site "corr"]
[Date "1985.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Harding, Timothy David (IRL)"]
[Black "Zavanelli, Max"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B21"]
[PlyCount "102"]
[EventDate "1985.??.??"]
[EventType "corr"]
[SourceDate "2015.04.04"]{MAR} 1. e4 c5 2. f4 Nc6 3. Nf3 g6 4. Bb5 Bg7 5. Bxc6 bxc6 6. d3 Nf6 7. e5 Nd5
8. O-O Ba6 9. c4 Nc7 10. Nc3 Rb8 11. b3 O-O 12. Qe1 f6 13. Be3 Ne6 14. Na4 d6
15. Rd1 Bc8 16. d4 cxd4 17. Nxd4 Nxd4 18. Bxd4 Qc7 19. exd6 exd6 20. Qf2 Rb7
21. Rfe1 Qf7 22. Bb2 Rd7 23. f5 gxf5 24. Ba3 c5 25. Nc3 Qg6 26. Nd5 Qh5 27. Bb2
Bb7 28. Nf4 Qf7 29. Rd3 Re8 30. Red1 Re4 31. h3 Bh6 32. Rg3+ Kf8 33. Nd5 Bxd5
34. Rxd5 f4 35. Rf3 Qe6 36. Qh4 Bg5 37. Rxg5 fxg5 38. Qxg5 Qg6 39. Qd5 Rf7 40.
Bc3 Re2 41. Qa8+ Re8 42. Qc6 h5 43. Bd2 Re2 44. Qc8+ Kg7 45. Bc3+ Kh6 46. Qh8+
Qh7 47. Qd8 Qf5 48. Rf1 f3 49. Qxd6+ Kh7 50. Qg3 f2+ 51. Kh1 Rc2 0-1[/pgn]