The Check is in the Mail: September 2020

John Millett has won the 2015 Electronic Knights Championship.

John Millett (courtesy subject)

John, who finished second in the 2017 Absolute Championship, showed his championship qualities by scoring a perfect 6-0 in the finals of the 2015 Electronic Knights.

[pgn][Event "15ENf01"] [Site "?"] [Date "2015.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Angres, Robert"] [Black "Millett, John"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D00"] [WhiteElo "1836"] [BlackElo "2310"] [Annotator " "] [PlyCount "72"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] [SourceVersionDate "2005.04.21"] {[%mdl 1][%evp 0,72,18,18,18,-1,-1,7,30,-51,-51,-51,-51,-36,-13,-13,-23,-23, -27,-23,-18,-46,-16,-39,-19,-34,-32,-48,-55,-55,-50,-75,-82,-57,-57,-86,-75, -81,-52,-22,-24,-39,-12,-12,-12,-49,-94,-64,0,-63,-63,-109,-99,-120,-49,-57,4, -43,-1,-5,-5,-38,41,-151,-96,-328,-339,-545,-108,-285,-289,-815,-836,-756,-859] SEP 20} 1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5 d5 3. Nd2 c5 {Carlsen-Cuenca Jimenez, Banter Blitz 2019 saw 3...e6 4. e3 Be7 5. c3 00 6. Bd3 b6 7. f4 =} 4. Bxf6 {Playing for a radical shift in the Pawn structure leads to an unbalanced position with equal chances. Equal was 4. c3 cxd4 5. exd4 Qb6 6.Ngf3 Nc6 7. Nb3 Calrsen - Wei Yi, Cote d'Ivoire blitz 2019.} exf6 5. dxc5 Bxc5 6. Nb3 Bb6 7. e3 O-O 8. Nf3 Nc6 9. Be2 {Angres had been here before. Equal was 9...Bg4 10. c3 Qd6 11. 00 Bc7 12. g3 Bh3 13. Re1.} Bf5 10. c3 Re8 11. O-O Qd6 12. Nbd4 Be4 13. Nxc6 $6 {White had forsaken the two Bishops to weaken the Black Pawn structure, but this exchange strengthens Black's center position.} bxc6 14. Bd3 f5 15. Bxe4 fxe4 16. Nd4 {Diagram [#] Put the c6 Pawn on b5 and the position is basically even. Put the c6 Pawn on c5, Black's next move, and Black is better.} c5 17. Ne2 Rad8 18. Qa4 h5 $1 {Switching his battle campaign from the center to the kingside, Millett rejects ...Re6-g6 in favor of the slower but more efficient Pawn storm. } 19. Rfd1 h4 20. Rd2 {White could try 20. b4!? here in the hopes of finding some queenside counterplay...} Qe5 21. Rad1 Re6 22. Qb3 $6 {Last chance for b4!?} Red6 23. Qb5 Kh7 {Black shouldjust continue with 23...g5!} 24. Nf4 { Now White has to be wary of 24. b4 cxb4 25. Qxb4 Qg5 26. Nf4 Ba5} g5 25. Ne2 Rf6 26. Nc1 {After a neutral move such as 26. a4, Black could break through with 26...Bc7 27. h3 Qf5 28. Nc3 c4! 29. Na2 Qf3 and White is finished.} Bc7 27. g3 Qe6 28. Qe2 Rf3 $1 {After this there is no saving White. White tries to bring the Knight to the aid of the King, but it is too late.} 29. Nd3 hxg3 30. fxg3 Bxg3 $1 31. Qg2 g4 {31...Bd5 is more efficient, but Black has his eye on the King.} 32. hxg3 exd3 33. Rxd3 Qe4 34. b3 Rh8 $1 35. c4 Kg6 36. cxd5 Rh3 0-1 [/pgn]

2015 FINALS

John Millett                        41.30
Chris Lewis                          37.25
Tim Corkum                       36.10
John Musumeci 35.75
Tony West                          30.70
Patrick Ryan                       30.65
John Hagerty                      28.90
Andrew Bussom               27.10
Dana Sylvander 26.15
John Finnegan                   24.10
Robert Cousins 22.2
Matthew Grabove           26.05
Robert Angres                   15.10
Daniel Whitted 11.10

AUGUST RESULTS

Walter Muir

Brian Hey        20W02 4½-1 ½
Kele Perkins     20W06 5 ½- ½
Timothy Harris 19W13 5 ½-½
Robert Heisler 20W11 6-0
Brian Hey         20W14 5 ½-½

Trophy Quad

Linda Dechaine 19Q03 6-0

Swift Quad

Peter Cahill 20SQ04 4 ½-1 ½
Scott Blackburn 18SQ08 4-2
Carlos Graupera 18SQ08 4-2

Timothy Harris is the winner of the 19W13 Walter Muir.

Timothy Harris (courtesy subject)

[pgn][Event "19W13 "] [Site "ICCF"] [Date "2019.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Harris, Timothy"] [Black "Bell, Adam"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C10"] [WhiteElo "2209"] [BlackElo "2104"] [Annotator " "] [PlyCount "75"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] [SourceVersionDate "2005.04.21"] {[%mdl 1][%evp 0,75,18,35,56,7,46,22,29,29,90,73,68,73,56,41,36,38,27,54,109, 80,84,50,112,106,101,80,72,69,68,43,65,53,54,30,69,65,87,87,72,68,57,51,67,54, 54,67,65,76,76,76,145,136,89,143,133,133,139,139,139,139,106,101,101,106,105, 106,102,104,104,165,165,142,220,194,194,163] SEP 20} 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bd7 5. Nf3 Bc6 6. Bd3 Nd7 7. c3 Ngf6 8. Nxf6+ Nxf6 9. O-O Bxf3 10. Qxf3 Qd5 11. Qh3 Qh5 12. Qxh5 Nxh5 13. Be4 c6 14. Bf3 Nf6 15. b4 a6 16. a4 Bd6 17. Rb1 Kd7 18. a5 e5 19. dxe5 Bxe5 20. Rd1+ Ke6 21. c4 Kf5 22. Be2 Rad8 23. Bd3+ Ke6 24. Rb3 Rhe8 25. Re1 Kd6 26. Be3 Bd4 27. Bf4+ Be5 28. c5+ Kd5 { Diagram [#]} {SEP 20} 29. Bf1 Bd4 30. Rd1 Re4 31. g3 Ng4 32. Kg2 Nxf2 33. Rxd4+ Rxd4 34. Kxf2 Ke6 35. Re3+ Kf5 36. Bd6 Rxb4 37. Bd3+ Kg4 38. h3+ 1-0 [/pgn]

[pgn][Event "19EN11"] [Site "?"] [Date "2019.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Joshi, Om"] [Black "Repici, David"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C17"] [Annotator "Alex"] [PlyCount "81"] [SourceVersionDate "2005.04.21"] {[%mdl 1][%evp 0,81,18,28,45,17,71,24,24,24,78,37,62,60,83,62,94,47,98,73,87, 78,78,60,60,3,59,19,41,7,41,19,36,4,75,62,90,72,72,72,82,79,96,-114,7,0,0,0, 453,444,356,230,143,134,134,150,144,146,146,146,146,70,70,110,110,110,103,58, 84,66,66,75,78,79,69,77,90,94,97,108,118,91,201,267] SEP 20} 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. Nf3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Qa5 7. Qd2 c4 8. Be2 Bd7 9. O-O Ne7 10. a4 Bxa4 11. Ba3 Nbc6 12. g4 b5 13. Nh4 O-O-O 14. h3 Qc7 15. f4 g6 16. Rfb1 Rhg8 17. Nf3 h6 18. Bc5 a6 19. Qc1 Kd7 20. Bd6 Qa5 {Diagram [#]} 21. Rxa4 bxa4 22. Rb7+ Kc8 23. Qb1 a3 24. Rxe7 Qb5 25. Rc7+ Kb8 26. Qxb5+ axb5 27. Rd7+ Kc8 28. Rxd8+ Rxd8 29. Bxa3 Kd7 30. h4 Ra8 31. Bc5 Ra2 32. Ne1 Rb2 33. Bf8 Ke8 34. Bc5 b4 35. cxb4 Nxb4 36. Bxb4 Rxb4 37. Kf2 Kf8 38. Ng2 Rb1 39. h5 Kg7 40. hxg6 fxg6 41. f5 1-0 [/pgn]

OBITUARY

John Burke of Tewksbury, Massachusetts was born June 22, 1944 and died July 15, 2020

[pgn][Event "Compuserve email"] [Site "?"] [Date "1996.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Burke, John"] [Black "Davis, Duane"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C36"] [PlyCount "65"] [SourceVersionDate "2020.08.31"] 1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 d5 4. exd5 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nxd5 6. Nxd5 Qxd5 7. d4 Be7 8. Be2 O-O 9. O-O Bd6 10. c4 Qf5 11. c5 Be7 12. Bd3 Qd5 13. Re1 Qd8 14. Bxf4 Bg4 15. Be3 Nc6 16. Be4 Rb8 17. Qa4 f5 18. Bxc6 bxc6 19. Ne5 Rxb2 20. Nxc6 Qd7 21. Qc4+ Kh8 22. Ne5 Qe8 23. Bc1 Rb7 24. Nxg4 fxg4 25. c6 Rb8 26. Ba3 Rf7 27. Qe6 Bxa3 28. Qxe8+ Rxe8 29. Rxe8+ Rf8 30. Rxf8+ Bxf8 31. Rb1 Kg8 32. Rb8 Kf7 33. Rd8 1-0 [/pgn]

White’s too passive treatment of the opening is met by active play by Black.

[pgn][Event "20W11 "] [Site "ICCF"] [Date "2020.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Cardenas, Inoel"] [Black "Heisler, Robert"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B02"] [WhiteElo "1635"] [BlackElo "1549"] [Annotator "Alex"] [PlyCount "68"] [EventDate "2020.??.??"] [SourceVersionDate "2005.04.21"] {[%mdl 1][%evp 0,68,24,12,-16,-46,-3,-1,11,-41,7,24,11,16,-3,-2,51,46,71,47,65, -1,2,2,-2,-29,2,-68,-29,-97,-125,-104,-144,-164,-176,-176,-181,-175,-151,-173, -144,-242,-254,-224,-244,-253,-253,-271,-222,-342,-364,-328,-323,-319,-317, -394,-374,-436,-410,-439,-412,-459,-520,-438,-487,-485,-506,-956,-496,-696, -837] SEP 20} 1. d3 Nf6 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4. e4 O-O 5. Nf3 d6 6. Nc3 e5 7. Bg5 c6 8. Qd2 Nbd7 9. h4 Qc7 10. Bh6 Bxh6 11. Qxh6 Qb6 12. Qc1 Ng4 13. Nd1 d5 14. Nh2 Nxh2 15. Rxh2 {Diagram [#]} dxe4 16. h5 exd3 17. hxg6 fxg6 18. cxd3 Nf6 19. Qc4+ Kg7 20. Qh4 h5 21. Qg5 Bg4 22. Be4 Nxe4 23. dxe4 Qd4 24. Qe3 Rf3 25. Qxd4 exd4 26. Rc1 Rd3 27. b3 Re8 28. Nb2 Rxe4+ 29. Kf1 Rd2 30. Nc4 Rxa2 31. Nd6 Ree2 32. Nxb7 d3 33. Nd6 d2 34. Rb1 Rc2 0-1 [/pgn]

Quote: For postal play … one can strive for accurate and complete analysis. – Alexander Kalinin

Sometimes queenside castling is strong …

[pgn][Event "20W02 "] [Site "ICCF"] [Date "2020.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Hey, Brian"] [Black "Grinsteinner, Raymond"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B11"] [BlackElo "1516"] [Annotator "Alex"] [PlyCount "29"] [EventDate "2020.??.??"] [SourceVersionDate "2005.04.21"] {[%mdl 1][%evp 0,29,24,20,55,67,64,48,97,93,126,131,137,142,142,140,101,101, 136,94,173,165,174,158,362,327,394,179,242,134,662,831] SEP 20} 1. e4 c6 2. Nf3 d5 3. Nc3 Bg4 4. h3 Bh5 5. exd5 cxd5 6. Bb5+ Nc6 7. g4 Bg6 8. Ne5 Qd6 9. d4 O-O-O 10. Bxc6 bxc6 11. Bf4 h5 12. Qe2 Kb7 13. O-O-O hxg4 14. Na4 Ra8 15. Nc5+ 1-0 [/pgn]

Black proves that Pawns are not always expendable.

[pgn][Event "20W06"] [Site "ICCF"] [Date "2020.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Acosta, Errol"] [Black "Perkins, Kele"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B01"] [WhiteElo "1199"] [BlackElo "1308"] [Annotator "Alex"] [PlyCount "84"] [EventDate "2020.??.??"] [SourceVersionDate "2005.04.21"] {[%mdl 1][%evp 0,84,24,20,23,49,54,7,7,-58,-52,-99,-82,-53,-44,-84,-40,-37,-42, -32,-52,-51,-49,-71,-11,-59,-30,-88,-83,-83,-75,-76,-57,-153,-126,-200,-139, -121,-107,-136,-134,-189,-182,-161,-180,-246,-247,-290,-278,-511,-518,-521, -521,-585,-536,-549,-530,-566,-565,-598,-609,-640,-648,-647,-591,-597,-588, -613,-602,-916,-501,-560,-364,-377,-340,-429,-446,-452,-446,-452,-964,-1127, -1154,-1242,-1342,-1342,-1829] SEP 20} 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Nf6 3. c4 e6 4. d3 exd5 5. cxd5 Qxd5 6. Nc3 Bb4 7. Nf3 O-O 8. Be2 Nc6 9. Bd2 Qd6 10. O-O Bf5 11. a3 Ba5 12. b4 Bb6 13. Na4 Bxd3 14. Bxd3 Qxd3 15. Nxb6 axb6 {Diagram [#]} 16. Be3 Rxa3 17. Qc1 Rb3 18. Rd1 Qc3 19. Nd4 Qxc1 20. Rdxc1 Nxd4 21. Bxd4 Nd5 22. Re1 Nxb4 23. Rac1 Nd3 24. Ra1 Nxe1 25. Rxe1 c5 26. Ba1 Rd3 27. Kf1 Rfd8 28. g3 Rd1 29. Ke2 R8d2+ 30. Kf1 Rxe1+ 31. Kxe1 Rd5 32. Bc3 b5 33. Bd2 b4 34. Kd1 c4 35. Kc1 Rxd2 36. Kxd2 b3 37. Kc1 c3 38. Kb1 f5 39. f4 Kf7 40. Kc1 Ke6 41. Kb1 Kd5 42. Kc1 Ke4 0-1 [/pgn]

[pgn][Event "18SQ08"] [Site "?"] [Date "2018.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Blackburn, Scott"] [Black "Graupera, Carlos"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B01"] [WhiteElo "1384"] [BlackElo "1248"] [Annotator "Alex"] [PlyCount "92"] [SourceVersionDate "2005.04.21"] {[%mdl 1][%evp 0,92,20,20,16,28,40,7,97,32,54,68,84,59,32,31,9,13,5,-2,29,-3, 19,-4,-14,-46,-49,-44,-51,-58,-49,-66,-34,-41,-10,-127,-117,-118,-114,-116, -122,-138,-84,-120,-122,-151,-139,-141,-133,-152,-171,-171,-136,-154,-160,-160, -172,-172,-110,-112,-94,-104,-106,-128,-124,-136,-102,-166,-135,-141,-145,-202, -147,-147,-119,-162,-168,-188,-147,-191,-197,-160,-157,-257,-307,-302,-318, -363,-355,-412,-438,-449,-498,-1052,-1111] SEP 20} 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Nf6 3. d4 Bg4 4. Nf3 Qxd5 5. Nc3 Qh5 6. h3 Bxf3 7. Qxf3 Qxf3 8. gxf3 e6 9. Bd2 Nbd7 10. Bb5 c6 11. Bc4 O-O-O 12. O-O-O Nb6 13. Bb3 Rxd4 14. Be3 Rxd1+ 15. Rxd1 Bb4 16. Ne4 Nfd5 17. Bc5 Bxc5 18. Nxc5 Rd8 19. a3 Nd7 20. Ne4 N7b6 21. c4 Nf4 22. Rxd8+ Kxd8 23. h4 Kc7 {Diagram [#]} 24. Kd2 h6 25. Ba2 Ng2 26. h5 Nf4 27. Ng3 Nd7 28. Ke3 g5 29. hxg6 Nxg6 30. b4 c5 31. Nh5 b6 32. b5 Kd6 33. Nf4 Nxf4 34. Kxf4 Ne5 35. Kg3 h5 36. f4 Ng4 37. f3 Ne3 38. Kh4 Ng2+ 39. Kg3 Ne3 40. Kh4 e5 41. Kxh5 exf4 42. Kg5 Ke5 43. Bb3 f6+ 44. Kg6 Kd4 45. Ba2 Nxc4 46. Bxc4 Kxc4 0-1 [/pgn]

GAMES FROM 2015 ELECTRONIC KNIGHTS

[pgn][Event "15ENf01"] [Site "?"] [Date "2015.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Hagerty, John"] [Black "Lewis, Chris"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A36"] [WhiteElo "2110"] [BlackElo "2337"] [Annotator "Alex"] [PlyCount "92"] [SourceVersionDate "2005.04.21"] {[%mdl 1][%evp 0,92,20,20,70,5,7,17,12,-44,-25,-16,52,52,52,11,14,11,13,-10,11, 1,-24,-35,3,3,24,-3,24,-11,10,-2,39,15,92,88,170,132,109,-48,39,-105,45,1,33, -25,45,-30,27,-15,-11,-2,-3,-34,-27,-27,5,5,13,-26,-30,-48,-48,-44,-6,-62,11, -166,-15,12,13,-24,5,-29,-5,-17,-6,-25,-16,-73,-6,-123,10,-68,-64,-71,-22,-37, -71,-157,-157,-165,-199,-269,-155] SEP 20} 1. e4 c5 2. c4 Nc6 3. Nc3 g6 4. g3 Bg7 5. Bg2 e6 6. Nge2 Nge7 7. O-O O-O 8. d3 d6 9. Be3 Nd4 10. Qd2 Nec6 11. Bh6 Bxh6 12. Qxh6 Rb8 13. Rad1 a6 14. f4 f6 15. Nxd4 cxd4 16. Ne2 b5 17. f5 Ne5 18. fxg6 hxg6 19. h3 Rb7 20. Qc1 Qb6 21. b3 Kg7 22. g4 Rbf7 23. Nf4 g5 24. Nh5+ Kg6 25. Qd2 Bd7 26. Ng3 Kh6 27. Kh2 Ng6 28. Rf2 e5 29. Nf5+ Bxf5 30. exf5 Nf4 { Diagram [#]} 31. h4 Rh8 32. Be4 Rff8 33. Kg3 Kg7 34. h5 Rb8 35. Rff1 Kh6 36. Ra1 Rhc8 37. Rfd1 a5 38. Rdc1 bxc4 39. bxc4 a4 40. Rab1 Qc7 41. a3 Rb3 42. Rxb3 axb3 43. Rb1 Rb8 44. a4 d5 45. cxd5 Qc2 46. Rd1 Qc3 0-1 [/pgn]

White produces an unstoppable b-Pawn by direct means.

[pgn][Event "15ENf02"] [Site "?"] [Date "2015.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Musumeci, John"] [Black "West, Tony"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B22"] [Annotator "Alex"] [PlyCount "51"] [EventDate "2020.??.??"] [SourceVersionDate "2005.04.21"] {[%mdl 1][%evp 0,51,20,20,48,58,45,5,38,8,9,-12,8,2,-16,-4,8,7,7,-59,24,-14,0, -20,22,13,34,2,43,25,32,41,57,47,70,47,48,59,83,76,66,58,59,38,28,11,52,37,63, 55,106,113,121,187] SEP 20} 1. e4 c5 2. d4 cxd4 3. c3 Nf6 4. e5 Nd5 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. Bc4 Nb6 7. Bb3 d5 8. exd6 Qxd6 9. O-O Be6 10. Na3 Bxb3 11. Qxb3 Qd5 12. Nb5 Rc8 13. Nfxd4 Nxd4 14. Nxd4 e6 15. Rd1 Qxb3 16. axb3 a6 17. b4 Be7 18. b5 { Diagram [#]} Ra8 19. bxa6 Rxa6 20. Rxa6 bxa6 21. Nc6 Bf6 22. Be3 Nc4 23. b4 Nxe3 24. fxe3 O-O 25. Ra1 Bxc3 26. Rxa6 1-0 [/pgn]