The Check is in the Mail: October 2020

John Walton is the winner of the 18Q08 Trophy Quad with a perfect 6/6 score.

John Walton (courtesy subject)

[pgn][Event "18Q08"] [Site "?"] [Date "2018.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Hayward, Clark"] [Black "Walton, John"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E61"] [WhiteElo "2024"] [BlackElo "2218"] [Annotator "Alex"] [PlyCount "98"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] [EventType "corr"] [SourceVersionDate "2005.04.21"] {[%mdl 1][%evp 0,98,25,25,25,30,54,38,39,2,6,-4,1,14,25,6,18,15,68,25,16,25,25, 16,16,17,35,35,61,35,137,49,49,49,49,9,19,32,52,53,44,27,76,43,43,34,43,34,6, 14,58,0,-12,-7,-7,-27,-17,-49,-33,-31,-37,-38,-45,-33,-51,-38,-36,-41,-33,-49, -24,-28,-24,-14,-10,-33,-42,-35,-41,-50,-50,-50,-47,-55,-35,-60,-46,-54,-65, -31,-15,-15,-26,-48,-13,-13,-13,0,-42,-82,-110]} 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. d4 g6 3. c4 Bg7 4. e3 {This somewhat passive system actually scores as well as the more aggressive 4. Nc3 or 4. g3. White's idea is to keep his center flexible until Black commits his central Pawns.} O-O 5. Be2 d6 6. Nc3 Nbd7 7. O-O e5 8. e4 { Now that Black is commited in the center, White also takes his shjare. Also played here witth sucess has been 8. Qc2 as in Caruana-Savchenko, Titled Tuesday 2020 which continued 8...Re8 9. Rd1 Qe7 10. b4 e4 11, Nd2 Nf8 12. a4 with a slight plus to White.} c6 {Straka-Fleetwood, ICCF 2016 continued wityh the less popular 8...exd4 9. Nxd4 Re8 10. f3 c6 11. Nd4 equal and drawn shorlty.} 9. d5 {After 8. Qc2 exd4 10. Nxd4 Re8 allows Black counter play against e5.} Nc5 {Black choses piece activity rather than close uip his queenside counteroplay by 9...c5. That choice would lead to Black seeking a kingside attack by an eventual ...f5, etc., White would strive to open up the queenside by b4, etc. This plan has led to a 70% score for White.} 10. Qc2 cxd5 11. cxd5 Qc7 $5 {[%eval 0,0] Black operates with the threat of ...Ncxe4! White could continue with 12. Qb1 but instead correctly plays to use his initiative.} 12. Nb5 $5 Qe7 13. Bg5 Bd7 14. b4 Na4 {Continuing his plan to find piece activity, Black sets an ingenius trap -- offer White a chance to "punish" Black's audacity and overlook a more decisive idea.} 15. Qxa4 $6 {White falls for it. But 15. Qc7! means the d-Pawn will fall and White will have much the better game.} a6 16. Qa5 axb5 17. Qc7 Rfc8 18. Qxb7 Rab8 19. Qa7 Ra8 20. Qe3 { [#] So White has pocketed a pawn, but Black has two active rooks on two open files.} Qf8 {And now Black prepares to add the two bishops to his arsenal.} 21. Bxf6 Bxf6 22. Bd3 $2 {With this slip, White allows Black's Rooks to split his forces. Chances are about even now.} Rc3 23. Qe2 Qb8 24. Rfc1 Qc7 25. Rc2 { Too fancy as now Black gains the advantage in the endgame though still down a pawn.} Rxc2 $1 26. Qxc2 Qxc2 27. Bxc2 Rc8 28. Ne1 Bg5 29. Bd3 f5 $1 {And now Black's Bishops start to copme to lifge. White can't try 30. a4 bxa4 31. b5 Bd2!} 30. Rb1 (30. a4 bxa4 31. b5 Bd2 32. Nf3 Rc1+ 33. Rxc1 Bxc1 34. b6 Bc8 35. exf5 gxf5 36. Bc4) 30... fxe4 31. Bxe4 Rc4 32. f3 Bf5 $1 {Sometimes the two Bishop advantage must transform itself into the bishop vs. knight advantage. This is just such a case. The White pawns on b4 and d5 remain targets for the rook.} 33. Bxf5 gxf5 34. Kf1 Kg7 35. g3 h5 36. Rb2 Bh6 37. Ke2 Kf6 38. a3 Rd4 39. Rc2 Rxd5 40. Nd3 Rd4 41. h4 Rc4 {And now the endgame battle shifts to two passed pawns on the queenside for White versus a mass of passed pawns in the center for Black and a soon-to-be healthy bishop versus a hobbled knight.} 42. Rxc4 bxc4 43. Nf2 (43. b5 cxd3+ 44. Kxd3 d5 45. b6 Bf8 46. b7 (46. a4 Bc5 47. a5 e4+ 48. fxe4 fxe4+ 49. Kc3 Kf5) 46... Bd6) 43... d5 {Now Black just wraps it up.} 44. a4 Bf8 45. b5 Bc5 46. a5 d4 47. b6 Ke6 (47... d3+ 48. Nxd3 cxd3+ 49. Kxd3 Ke6 (49... Bf2 50. Kc4 (50. Ke2 Bc5 51. Kd3 Ke6 52. Kc4 Kd6 53. Kb5) 50... e4 51. fxe4 fxe4 52. b7) 50. Kc4 Kd6 51. Kb5) 48. b7 Ba7 49. a6 Kd5 0-1 [/pgn]

Harry Ingersol (courtesy subject)

Harry Ingersol earned the Senior International Master title awarded by the International Correspondence Chess Federation. The SIM title is one step away from the Grandmaster title. Harry has had great success in US Chess play also. He finished second in the 2007 Electronic Knights and amassed a great number of first, second, and third place finishes in US Absolute play. We cheer SIM Ingersol on this rare achievement.

[pgn][Event "MT-Zavanelli B (LTU)"] [Site "ICCF"] [Date "2018.07.15"] [Round "?"] [White "Ingersol, Harry"] [Black "Voveris, Saulius"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E11"] [WhiteElo "2490"] [BlackElo "2405"] [PlyCount "101"] [EventDate "2018.??.??"] [SourceVersionDate "2005.04.21"] [WhiteTeam " "] [BlackTeam " "] {[%mdl 1][%evp 0,101,16,28,29,-16,-16,-23,26,32,54,29,16,19,32,22,42,2,23,18, 40,38,45,48,62,15,27,11,55,36,29,42,43,8,27,25,81,52,49,55,7,16,37,54,80,5,40, 40,32,35,52,46,30,8,41,62,76,40,86,53,109,109,125,47,67,65,65,61,50,72,93,66, 85,83,83,88,105,82,128,89,125,125,102,114,106,148,144,166,188,135,128,128,122, 103,130,183,204,151,209,165,165,155,142,108]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Bb4+ 4. Bd2 Qe7 5. g3 Nc6 6. Nc3 Bxc3 7. Bxc3 Ne4 8. Rc1 O-O 9. Bg2 d6 10. d5 Nxc3 11. Rxc3 Nb8 12. dxe6 fxe6 13. O-O Nd7 14. Qd2 Nf6 15. Ng5 Rb8 16. b4 h6 17. Ne4 Ne8 18. Re3 e5 19. c5 Be6 20. cxd6 cxd6 21. Rd1 Kh8 22. Nc3 Rc8 23. Nd5 Bxd5 24. Qxd5 Nf6 25. Qxb7 Rc7 26. Qa6 e4 27. Qa3 Qe5 28. b5 Rc5 29. h3 h5 30. Qxa7 Rxb5 31. Qa6 Rd5 32. Rxd5 Qxd5 33. Rd3 {[#]} Qf5 34. Rd1 d5 35. Qa3 Rd8 36. Qb3 Qe5 37. a4 h4 38. g4 d4 39. Qb4 Rd5 40. Rb1 Kh7 41. Qb8 Qxb8 42. Rxb8 Kg6 43. f4 Rd6 44. Kf2 d3 45. exd3 exd3 46. Rb1 Rd4 47. Ke3 Rxa4 48. g5 Nh5 49. Be4+ Kf7 50. Bxd3 Ke7 51. f5 1-0 [/pgn]

Allen Woollen (courtesy subject)

Allen Woollen, who won a 2018 Palciauskas Tournament has won again. This time it includes a trophy, winning with a perfect score in 19Q04.

[pgn][Event "19Q04"] [Site "?"] [Date "2020.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Woollen, Allen"] [Black "Gallagher, Gary"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D06"] [WhiteElo "1964"] [BlackElo "1621"] [PlyCount "27"] [SourceVersionDate "2005.04.21"] {[%mdl 1][%evp 0,8,16,28,26,-1,7,-39,6,66,26] OCT 20} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 Nf6 3. cxd5 Qxd5 4. Nc3 Qa5 5. Bd2 e6 6. Nf3 Bb4 7. e4 c6 8. Bd3 O-O 9. e5 Nd5 10. Bxh7+ Kxh7 11. Ng5+ Kg6 12. Qg4 Ne3 13. fxe3 Rh8 14. h4 1-0 [/pgn]

SEPTEMBER RESULTS

John Collins

Greg Whitlock 19C09 6-0

Craig Faber 19C01 4-2

Michael Horvath 19C01 4-2

Trophy Quad

Allen Woollen 19Q04 6-0

John Walton 18Q09 6-0

Walter Muir

Alex Strobehn 19W15 4-2

Allyne Smith 20W13 6-0

Kele Perkins 20W08 5-1

Swift Quad

Daniel Brenneman 19SQ10 5½-½

David Will 20SQ02 6-0

OBITUARIES

Howard Sample from Toledo, Ohio, was born August 9, 1960, died August 13, 2020.

Eugene Bedard of Gardner Massachusetts was born June 26, 1942 died August 15, 2020

[pgn][Event "USA/S52999 (USA)"] [Site "ICCF"] [Date "2015.10.30"] [Round "?.2"] [White "Thomas, Gerald K"] [Black "Bedard, Eugene"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B08"] [WhiteElo "1974"] [BlackElo "1651"] [PlyCount "92"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] [SourceVersionDate "2005.04.21"] [WhiteTeam " "] [BlackTeam " "] {[%mdl 1][%evp 0,92,16,28,76,89,84,77,113,94,84,79,89,63,127,96,113,49,47,38, 28,43,53,-58,-58,-58,-77,-83,-71,-88,-49,-73,-49,-48,-50,-51,-51,-68,-68,-76, -76,-26,-26,0,0,-28,-26,-16,-13,0,0,0,-7,5,3,-3,-24,-26,-26,6,0,0,0,0,0,12,2,6, 6,10,15,-3,17,0,0,0,0,-32,0,1,-8,-11,-25,-24,-39,-93,-13,-17,-8,-127,-189,-240, -982,-29999,-30000] OCT 20} 1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Be2 O-O 6. O-O c6 7. Bf4 Bg4 8. Qd2 Nbd7 9. Be3 Nb6 10. b3 d5 11. Ne5 Bxe2 12. Qxe2 Nxe4 13. Qe1 Nd7 14. Nxe4 dxe4 15. Rd1 Nxe5 16. dxe5 Qc8 17. Bc5 Qf5 18. f4 exf3 19. Bxe7 Rfe8 20. Rxf3 Qxe5 21. Qxe5 Bxe5 22. Rd7 Rab8 {[#]} 23. g4 a6 24. Bf6 Bxf6 25. Rxf6 Rf8 26. Kg2 Kg7 27. g5 h6 28. h4 Rbe8 29. Kf3 Re1 30. Rxb7 hxg5 31. hxg5 Rf1+ 32. Ke2 Rxf6 33. gxf6+ Kxf6 34. Rb6 Rc8 35. Rxa6 Ke6 36. c4 Ke5 37. Ke3 f5 38. Ra7 Re8 39. Kf3 g5 40. Ra5+ Kf6 41. Rc5 g4+ 42. Kf2 f4 43. Rxc6+ Kf5 44. Rd6 g3+ 45. Kg2 Re2+ 46. Kf3 Rf2# 0-1 [/pgn]

What a wild game…

[pgn][Event "19ENs03"] [Site "?"] [Date "2019.??.??"] [Round "1"] [White "Buss, Michael"] [Black "Walsh, PAtrick"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C00"] [WhiteElo "2460"] [BlackElo "1936"] [PlyCount "78"] [EventDate "2019.01.03"] [EventType "corr"] [SourceVersionDate "2005.04.21"] {[%mdl 1][%evp 0,78,16,28,55,1,5,-60,-66,-58,-62,-90,-15,-1,-1,-1,-11,-12,-7, -56,-48,-37,-12,-58,-70,-108,52,-134,-36,-59,77,-89,-64,-61,-21,-161,-46,-46, -85,-85,-65,-148,-148,-197,-160,-160,-61,-157,-147,-133,-74,-136,-67,-59,-64, -62,-55,-47,-47,-47,-45,-70,-54,-64,-76,-64,-77,-71,-72,-72,-74,-99,-91,-91, -68,-68,-74,-74,-76,-103,-134] OCT 20} 1. e4 e6 2. b3 d5 3. Bb2 dxe4 4. Nc3 Nf6 5. g4 Bd7 6. g5 Nd5 7. Nxe4 Bc6 8. Ne2 h6 9. Rg1 hxg5 10. Nxg5 Rxh2 11. Nd4 Qf6 12. Qf3 Nf4 13. Qe3 Nd5 14. Qf3 Nf4 15. Qg3 Bd6 {[#]} 16. O-O-O Nh3 17. Nh7 Qxd4 18. Bxd4 Bxg3 19. Rxg3 Nxf2 20. Rxg7 Nxd1 21. Bc5 Rxh7 22. Rxh7 b6 23. Rh8+ Kd7 24. Bg1 Ke7 25. Rc8 Kd6 26. Bh2+ e5 27. Kxd1 Nd7 28. Rxa8 Bxa8 29. d4 f6 30. Bd3 c5 31. c3 cxd4 32. cxd4 Ke6 33. dxe5 fxe5 34. Kd2 Nf6 35. a4 Be4 36. Bf1 a5 37. Bg1 Nd7 38. Bh3+ Bf5 39. Bxf5+ Kxf5 1/2-1/2 [/pgn]

[pgn][Event "2018 Walter Muir"] [Site "ICCF"] [Date "2019.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Goellner, Gregory"] [Black "Strobehn, Alex"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D02"] [WhiteElo "1557"] [BlackElo "1405"] [PlyCount "78"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] [SourceVersionDate "2005.04.21"] {[%mdl 1][%evp 0,78,28,29,27,14,27,1,0,13,11,-6,36,3,14,8,17,2,-8,-14,-14,-31, 34,33,31,27,32,9,42,41,25,19,147,118,92,93,93,15,111,73,142,58,67,25,45,11,58, -64,-92,-75,-41,-46,-38,-140,-151,-235,-235,-243,-220,-220,-239,-239,-220,-239, -211,-215,-206,-269,-246,-246,-275,-370,-218,-624,-689,-689,-1093,-1010,-1524, -29999,-30000] OCT 20} 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. g3 e6 4. Bg2 c5 5. c3 Be7 6. O-O O-O 7. Bg5 cxd4 8. cxd4 h6 9. Bf4 Nc6 10. Nbd2 Nh7 11. Rc1 Bd7 12. Qb3 b6 13. Qd3 Ng5 14. Ne5 Nxe5 15. Bxe5 Bf6 16. Bxf6 Qxf6 17. f4 Nh7 18. Rc7 Rfd8 19. e4 Nf8 20. Rcc1 dxe4 21. Nxe4 Qe7 22. Qf3 Qb4 {[#]} 23. Rb1 Qxd4+ 24. Kh1 Rac8 25. Rfd1 Qa4 26. Qg4 Bc6 27. Nf6+ Kh8 28. Nh5 Rxd1+ 29. Rxd1 Bxg2+ 30. Kxg2 Ng6 31. Kh3 Kh7 32. Qe2 Rc2 33. Qd3 Qc6 34. Rg1 Qc5 35. f5 exf5 36. Qf1 f4 37. g4 Qe3+ 38. Rg3 fxg3 39. Qxf7 Rxh2# 0-1 [/pgn]

What White misses on move 16 he finds on move 17.

[pgn][Event "2019 Walter Muir"] [Site "ICCF"] [Date "2019.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Perkins, Kele"] [Black "Segreto, Thomas"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D37"] [WhiteElo "1308"] [BlackElo "1248"] [PlyCount "35"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] [SourceVersionDate "2005.04.21"] {[%mdl 1][%evp 0,35,27,27,27,-16,-14,0,-3,-3,19,15,30,25,84,62,66,44,78,74,80, 59,65,49,62,30,130,83,97,97,102,41,188,29,144,131,515,511] OCT 20} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bf4 a6 6. e3 c5 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8. a3 O-O 9. b4 Be7 10. cxd5 Nxd5 11. Nxd5 exd5 12. Be2 b5 13. O-O Nc6 14. Rc1 Bb7 15. Nd4 Rc8 16. Bf3 Bf6 {[#]} 17. Bg4 Ra8 18. Nxc6 1-0 [/pgn]

Both sides attack, but Black attacks much more.

[pgn][Event "18N09"] [Site "?"] [Date "2018.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Garner, Mark"] [Black "Walker, Barry"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A01"] [WhiteElo "1875"] [BlackElo "2234"] [PlyCount "60"] [SourceVersionDate "2005.04.21"] {[%mdl 1][%evp 0,60,16,-16,-16,-35,19,-5,43,58,31,31,26,35,78,69,65,23,39,0,6, -17,-4,-49,-31,-46,-33,-42,-42,-32,-46,-82,12,-115,-101,-162,-146,-185,-185, -188,-191,-191,-156,-165,-133,-182,-292,-358,-367,-623,-606,-853,-1056,-1056, -858,-1056,-1276,-1276,-1276,-1276,-1509,-1293,-1645] OCT 20} 1. b3 e5 2. Bb2 d6 3. e3 f5 4. d4 e4 5. d5 Nf6 6. Nh3 Bd7 7. Nf4 Be7 8. h4 O-O 9. Qd2 Ng4 10. g3 Bf6 11. Nc3 a5 12. a4 Na6 13. O-O-O Nc5 14. Bg2 Qe7 15. Rde1 {[#]} b5 16. axb5 a4 17. f3 exf3 18. Bxf3 axb3 19. Bxg4 bxc2 20. Qxc2 fxg4 21. e4 Rfb8 22. Kd2 Bxb5 23. Nxb5 Rxb5 24. Bxf6 Qxf6 25. Rb1 Qd4+ 26. Ke2 Nxe4 27. Rxb5 Qf2+ 28. Kd3 Ra3+ 29. Rb3 Nc5+ 30. Kc3 Rxb3+ 0-1 [/pgn]