The December Check is in the Mail

Joel Levine wins another Palciauskas!  Joel Levine has won his fourth Master-level Palciauskas tournament with a decisive edge in 14P01 ceding only a draw to John Galvin who died while the tournament was in progress. GAME OF THE MONTH PHILIDOR’S DEFENSE (C41)

[pgn]

[Event "14P01"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2014.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Levine, Joel"]
[Black "Chessing, James"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C41"]
[WhiteElo "2358"]
[BlackElo "2112"]
[PlyCount "77"]
[EventDate "2014.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]

{DEC} 1. d4 d6 2. e4 Nf6 3. Nc3 e5 {Offering a queenless middlegame after 4.
dxe5 dxe5 5. Qxd8+ Kxd8 6. Nf3 Nbd7 7. Bc4 when Black is doing all right when
White has a minimum edge. Levine chooses instead to transpose into a
Philidor's Defense.} 4. Nf3 Nbd7 5. Bc4 Be7 6. O-O O-O {Black's goal in this
variation of the Philidor's is to hold on to e5. White has only two potential
invasion points on d5 and f5, and ...c6 ill take care of one. Black's plan is
very defensive and White has leeway to try a variety of schemes.} 7. Re1 c6 8.
a4 a5 {Black's game plan is to restrict White's advances. A model game of
Black;s defensive chances was Efimenko-Gagunashivili, European Championship
2009 which continued 8...b6 9. Ba2 a6 10. Nh4 exd4 11. Qxd4 Nc5 11. Nf3 Be6
and an eventual draw.} 9. h3 {White on the other hand is in no hurry, He makes
sure Be3 will not be bothered by ...Ng4. Black's defensive setup ensures that
no action will be taken against White.} Nb6 {White stood better after 9...exd4
10. Qxd4 Nc5 when 11. Bf4 grants White an edge instead of 11.e5 = as in
Bertorello-De Dovellis, Argentina CC} 10. Bb3 Nfd7 11. Be3 exd4 {Apparently
untried here is 11...Bf6 continuing the campaign of defensive play. White
would have to choose between 12. d5 and 12. dxe5!? with fair chances for an
advantage,} 12. Nxd4 {Andersson-Cemcesen, postal 2015, saw 12. Bxd4 Nc5 13.
Bxc5 dxc5 14. Nd2 and near equality.} Nc5 13. Qf3 Nxb3 14. cxb3 Nd7 {The
misplaced Knight heads back toward the kingside. This is an improvement on
Topalov-Morozevich, Bejing 2013 which saw 14...Be6 15. Rad1 Nd7 16. Qg3 with
kingside pressure.} 15. Rad1 Ne5 {After 15...Re8 White concentrated his
attention on d6 in Durarbayli-Beelby, National Open 2016 with 16. Rd2! and an
advantage.} 16. Qe2 {As White plans f4 with a further restriction of the Black
pieces and either a kingside assault or a siege of d6, or both, to follow, he
avoids a potential trap after 16. Qg3 when the Queen and Rook might ne subject
to ...Bh4} Bf6 {The parent game was Rublevsky-Bologan, Rapid 2006, which
continued 16...Bd7 17. f4 Ng6 18. Nf5 Bxf5 19. exf5 Nh4 20. Bf2 Nxf5 21. g4
Nh4 with a slight edge to White that was eventually drawn.} 17. f4 Ng6 18. Rd3
$1 {White announces his target -- d6.} Re8 19. Qd2 d5 $5 {Diagram # And Black
shifts the target looking for counterplay. At this critical juncture Levine
opts to sacrifice the exchange to keep White;s initiative alive in keeping
with his game plan and Black's lagging development. Safe is 20. Bf2 keeping an
edge.} 20. exd5 $5 c5 21. Ndb5 Bf5 22. Rd1 Bxd3 23. Qxd3 Bxc3 {Surrendering
this Bishop seems inevitable, but White gets to even out his Pawn structure
and support d5.} 24. bxc3 Qe7 25. Bd2 Qe2 $2 {This is an error. White's King
is more exposed than Black's and so an exchage of Queens is welcomed by White.
Better was 25...Rad8 with roughly even chances.} 26. Qxe2 Rxe2 27. Kf1 Re7 28.
f5 Ne5 $2 {Necessary was 28...Nf8 29. Bf4 Nd7 30. Kf2 Rd8 with good chances of
holding.} 29. d6 Rd7 30. Bf4 f6 {Black is also lost after 30...Nc6 31. Nc7 Rb8
32. Nd5 b6 33. g6 g6 34. Re1 h5 35. Re7! Nxe7 36. fxe7} 31. Bxe5 fxe5 32. Rd5
b6 33. Ke2 $1 {The King is a strong piece in the endgame...} Kf7 34. Kd3 Re8
35. Ke4 Kf6 36. Na3 $1 {The Knight repositions itself to c4 and Black's game
falls apart.} g6 37. fxg6 hxg6 38. Nc4 Re6 39. Rd2 $1 {The gate is opened for
the King to slide to d5 and c6 when Black has no defense.} 1-0[/pgn]

2017 ABSOLUTE CHAMPIONSHIP The 2017 Absolute Championship is coming up.   This prestigious tournament is open to the top 13 players who submit bids.  Entry is free.  The Absolute is unique among US Chess Federation tournaments  in that computer engines are allowed,  The tournament this year will be ICCF rated.  A prize fund will be offered so get your bids in now ! NOVEMBER RESULTS Walter Muir David Stone        16W09   5-1 David Wright   16W24  5-1 Swift Quad Razvan Azamfirei  15SQ02  5-1 Robert Irons              15SQ02  5-1 Kendrick Aung       15SQ13  5½-½ Trophy Quad Scott Sensiba               15Q03    5-1 Lawrence Gladding  15Q03    5-1 OBITUARY Ernest Chace of Beverly Hiils, FL,  Ernest was born 19 June, 1936, and died October 15, 2015.  In the following game Ernest shows his strength against US CC Master Peter Radomsky. SCOTCH OPENING (C45)

[pgn]

[Event "US17P09"]
[Site "ICCF-US"]
[Date "2004.09.07"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Chace, Ernest"]
[Black "Radomskyj, Peter"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C45"]
[WhiteElo "1967"]
[BlackElo "2212"]
[PlyCount "81"]
[EventDate "2004.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]

{DEC} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nxc6 bxc6 6. e5 Qe7 7. Qe2
Nd5 8. c4 Nb6 9. Nd2 Qe6 10. b3 Be7 11. Bb2 O-O 12. g3 Ba6 13. Bg2 f6 14. O-O
fxe5 15. Qxe5 Qxe5 16. Bxe5 d6 17. Bd4 d5 18. a3 dxc4 19. Rfe1 Bf6 20. Bxf6
Rxf6 21. Nxc4 Nxc4 22. bxc4 Kf8 23. c5 Re8 24. Rxe8+ Kxe8 25. Re1+ Kf8 26. Re5
Bb5 27. f4 Rf7 28. Be4 g6 29. Re6 Re7 30. Rxe7 Kxe7 31. Kf2 Ke6 32. g4 Kf6 33.
h4 Ba4 34. g5+ Ke6 35. h5 gxh5 36. Kg3 Bd1 37. f5+ Kf7 38. Bf3 h4+ 39. Kf4 Bc2
40. Be4 Bd1 41. Bxc6 1-0[/pgn]

Quote: Correspondence ought to make one’s play more accurate and far-seeing  and is also suitable for people living in villages or in poor health or who find the strain and excitement too much for the over-strung nerves and who are thus put to considerable disadvantage with hardier opponents -- James Pierce December is the month for our miniature games column.  Enough said!   Let the games begin. ANATOMY OF A MINIATURE SICILIAN DEFENSE (B99)

[pgn]

[Event "VWC6/pr20"]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2013.09.01"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Rodriguez, Keith"]
[Black "Chomicki, Henryk"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B99"]
[WhiteElo "2341"]
[BlackElo "2100"]
[PlyCount "37"]
[EventDate "2013.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]

{DEC} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 {Sicilian
Najdorf: Main Line. One of the most exciting openings from either side of the
board.} e6 7. f4 Be7 8. Qf3 Qc7 {[8...Nbd7 9.0–0–0 0–0 10.Bd3 Qb6 11.
Bc4N h6 12.Bh4 Qa5 13.Be1 Qh5 14.Qe3 Qc5 15.Qe2 Qh5 16.Qd2 Nc5 17.Be2 Qg6 18.
Bd3 Nxd3+ 19.cxd3 e5 20.f5! Qh5 21.Nf3 Bd7 22.Kb1 Rac8 it appears that Black
has finally developed his pieces 23.h3! g5 to prevent White from playing 24.g4
24.Nd5! 1–0 Rodriguez, K.-Wynn, J, Orlando Op, Orlando FL 1993(the immediate
24.g4? isn't as decisive because of 24...Nxg4! 25.Rg1! Qxh3 26.Rg3 Qf1™ 27.
Nh2 Nxh2 28.Qxh2 Rxc3 29.bxc3± White is better due to the uncomfortable
position of the black Queen.) ]} 9. O-O-O Nbd7 10. g4 {[10.Bd3 Currently in
vogue. Covered in NIC Yearbook 104 (2012) 10...b5 11.Rhe1 Bb7 12.Qg3 b4 13.Nd5
exd5 14.exd5 Kd8 as seen in Wang Hao (2733) -Dominguez Perez,L (2730) Sochi tt
2012 (YB/104-44 Vilela)]} b5 11. Bxf6 Nxf6 12. g5 Nd7 {back to the main line}
13. f5 O-O {Castling into it! [13...Nc5÷ 14.f6 gxf6 15.gxf6 Bf8 16.Rg1 A very
logical move, originally introduced by Perenyi, as regarded as the main line.
It prevents ... Rg8, which is a common theme in the analysis of 16.Qh5. It
introduces many tactical possibilities based on the move Rg7. White initially
scored well with Rg1, but Black has bolstered the defense schemes over the
years.]} 14. Qh5 {[on 14.Qg3 Rene Olthof recommends 14...b4 15.Nce2 Bb7; 14.
Rg1 b4 15.Nce2 e5 16.f6 exd4 17.fxe7 Re8 18.Nxd4 Ne5 19.Qf4 Be6 and White
still has not demonstrated anything special.; 14.fxe6 fxe6 15.Nxe6 Bxg5+ (15...
Rxf3 16.Nxc7 Rb8 17.Ne8 Nc5 18.Nxd6 Be6 19.Rg1) 16.Kb1 Rxf3 17.Nxc7 Rb8 still
has made no impact.; 14.g6 hxg6 15.fxe6 fxe6 16.Nxe6; There is nothing new in
the sharp line 14.f6 gxf6 15.gxf6 Nxf6 16.e5 dxe5 17.Nc6 Bb7!]} b4 {[14...Ne5
15.Bh3 Qc4 16.Kb1 Bd7 17.f6 gxf6 18.Nf5 exf5 19.Nd5 fxg5 20.Nxe7+ Kh8 21.Rxd6
Qxe4 22.Rhd1 Rac8 23.Nxc8 Rxc8 24.Qxg5 Rxc2 25.Ka1 Rxb2 26.Qd8+ Kg7 27.Rg1+
1–0 Li Chao2 (2686)-Dao Thien Hai (2506) Manila PHI 2013]} 15. Rd3 bxc3 16.
Rxc3 Qb6 {[16...Qd8 17.Rg1 Ne5 18.Nc6 Bxg5+ 19.Rxg5 Qf6 20.Rh3+-]} 17. Nc6 {
A direct attempt at refuting Black's setup.} Bd8 {[17...Bf6! Black's only
defense. 18.e5 (18.gxf6 Nxf6 19.Qh4 Bb7 20.Ne7+ Kh8 21.Rg3 at another
crossroad. 21...Qd4 Looks good at first. (21...Bxe4 22.Qg5 Rg8 23.Nxg8 Rxg8 24.
Rhg1 Bxf5 and Black has more or less enough for the exchange.) 22.Bd3 Rae8 23.
Rhg1 Rxe7 24.Rxg7 exf5 25.Qh6 Ree8 26.c3 Qe5 27.R1g3 Rg8 28.Rxf7 Rxg3) 18...
dxe5 a) not 18...Bxe5?? 19.Ne7+ Kh8 20.Qxh7+ Kxh7 21.Rh3#; b) 18...g6 19.Qh4
Bxe5 (19...Bd8 20.Bg2 Bb7 21.Rb3! Qc5 22.Rxb7! Nxe5 23.Nxd8 Raxd8 24.fxe6 Nf3
25.Bxf3 Qe3+ 26.Kb1 Qxf3 27.Re1 Qxb7 28.e7 Qd7 29.exf8Q+ Rxf8 30.Qf4²) 20.
Ne7+ Kh8 21.fxg6 fxg6 22.Nxg6+ Kg8 23.Ne7+ leads to a draw.; 19.Rh3 h6 20.gxh6
Qf2 21.Kd1!? (21.Be2 Qf4+ 22.Kb1 Qxh6 23.Qxh6 gxh6 24.fxe6 Bg5 25.Rg1 Kg7 26.
Rf3 fxe6 27.h4²) 21...g6 22.fxg6 Bb7 23.g7 Bxc6 24.Qg4 Kh7 25.gxf8N+ Nxf8 26.
Bd3+ e4 27.Bxe4+ Bxe4 28.Qxe4+ Qf5 29.Qxf5+ exf5 With an unclear endgame;; 17..
.Re8?? A logical defensive move with an unfortunate flaw. 18.fxe6 Ne5 19.exf7+
Nxf7 20.Bc4 Be6 21.Bxe6 Bxg5+ 22.Qxg5 Rxe6 23.Ne7+ Kf8 24.Qd5 Kxe7 25.Qxa8 Qf2
26.Qb7+ Kf6 27.Qxa6 Qf4+ 28.Kb1 Qxe4 29.Qf1+ Kg6 30.Rg3+ 1–0 Kosintseva,T-Ju
Wenjun Ankara 2012 (YB/ 105-30 Benjamin)]} 18. Rh3 h6 {[18...Bxg5+ 19.Qxg5 Re8
(19...Qxc6 20.Rg1 and mate in 8.) 20.Rg1 Qxg1 21.Qxg1 Bb7 22.fxe6+-]} 19. gxh6
{if 19. ... Qf2 20.Kd1! leaves black defenseless 20. ... Nf6 21.Qg5 g6 22.fg6
Ne8 23.gf7+ Kh8 24.Nxe8 When Black captures the wrong way (15,,,Qxd4+!)
White overwhelms.} 1-0 [/pgn]

SICILIAN DEFENSE (B21)

[pgn]

[Event "15WM37"]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2015.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Acosta, Errol"]
[Black "Roberts, Ronald"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B21"]
[WhiteElo "1231"]
[BlackElo "1246"]
[PlyCount "37"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]

{DEC} 1. e4 c5 2. f4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Nf3 e6 5. c3 c4 6. b3 b5 7. Nd4 Bxb1 8.
Rxb1 a6 9. bxc4 bxc4 10. d3 cxd3 11. Bxd3 Bc5 12. Rb7 Qa5 13. O-O Qxc3 14. Qa4+
Kf8 15. f5 Bxd4+ 16. Kh1 exf5 17. Ba3+ Bc5 18. Rc1 Qxa3 19. Qxa3 1-0[/pgn]

From the CCLA almost half of Black’s moves are with his victorious Knight. SICILIAN DEFENSE (B21)

[pgn]

[Event "CCLA"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2014.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Daniel, Bob"]
[Black "McMurry, Robert"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B21"]
[WhiteElo "1583"]
[BlackElo "1645"]
[PlyCount "18"]
[EventDate "2014.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]

{DEC} 1. f4 c5 2. e4 d5 3. exd5 Nf6 4. Bb5+ Bd7 5. Bc4 b5 6. Bf1 Nxd5 7. g3 Bc6
8. Nf3 Ne3 9. Qe2 Nxc2+ 0-1[/pgn]

White’s pieces overrun Black in this game. PHILIDOR’S DEFENSE (C41)  

[pgn]

[Event "16EN07"]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2016.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Crittenton, Larry"]
[Black "Goellner, Gregory"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C41"]
[WhiteElo "1941"]
[BlackElo "1565"]
[PlyCount "23"]
[EventDate "2010.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]

{DEC} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Bg4 6. f3 Bh5 7. Be3 Be7
8. g4 Bg6 9. g5 Nh5 10. f4 f6 11. Ne6 Qd7 12. Nd5 1-0[/pgn]

White pulls off a neat trap when his pieces just overwhelm the Black King. FRENCH DEFENSE (C14)  

[pgn]

[Event "16EN01"]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2016.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Franklin, Jarrett"]
[Black "Acosta, Errol"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C14"]
[WhiteElo "1985"]
[BlackElo "1228"]
[PlyCount "31"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]

{DEC} 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e5 Nfd7 6. Bxe7 Qxe7 7. f4 a6
8. Qg4 O-O 9. Bd3 f5 10. exf6 Qxf6 11. Nf3 h6 12. O-O Qxf4 13. Qxe6+ Qf7 14.
Qe2 Nf6 15. Nxd5 Nxd5 16. Ng5 1-0[/pgn]

Black’s Knight makes almost half of the moves in this game while White is developing everything. PETROFF DEFENSE (C43)  

[pgn]

[Event "15ENs04"]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2015.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Sylvander, Dana"]
[Black "Ellison, John"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C43"]
[WhiteElo "2195"]
[BlackElo "1783"]
[PlyCount "23"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]

{DEC} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. d4 exd4 4. e5 Ne4 5. Qxd4 f5 6. exf6 Nxf6 7. Bg5
Be7 8. Nc3 Nc6 9. Qf4 Ng8 10. O-O-O Bxg5 11. Nxg5 Nf6 12. Bc4 1-0[/pgn]

Beware the pin that binds: ENGLISH OPENING (A37)  

[pgn]

[Event "2016 Golden Knights 16N03"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.02.21"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Ellis, James"]
[Black "Biasotti, Louis"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A37"]
[WhiteElo "2190"]
[BlackElo "1980"]
[PlyCount "35"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[EventType "corr"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]

{DEC} 1. c4 c5 2. Nc3 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 Nc6 5. Nf3 e5 6. d3 d6 7. O-O Nge7 8.
Rb1 O-O 9. a3 a5 10. Ne1 Rb8 11. Nc2 Be6 12. b4 axb4 13. axb4 b6 14. Nd5 Bxd5
15. cxd5 Nd4 16. Na3 Qd7 17. e3 Nb5 18. Qa4 1-0[/pgn]

The female of the species is more deadly than the male. KING’S INDIAN DEFENSE (E91)  

[pgn]

[Event "16W"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Davis, John"]
[Black "Niemi, Nicole"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E91"]
[WhiteElo "1220"]
[BlackElo "1005"]
[PlyCount "34"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 Nc6 7. O-O h6 8. h3 e5
9. Be3 exd4 10. Nxd4 Re8 11. f3 Nxd4 12. Bxd4 Nh5 13. Bf2 Nf4 14. Rc1 Be5 15.
Re1 Bxh3 16. Bf1 Qg5 17. Ne2 Nxg2 0-1[/pgn]

Paging 1856… KING'S PAWN GAME (C44)  

[pgn]

[Event "16EN09"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Vargas, Lemuel"]
[Black "Crittenton, Larry"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C44"]
[WhiteElo "1502"]
[BlackElo "1954"]
[PlyCount "36"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]

{DEC} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Bc4 Bc5 5. Ng5 Nh6 6. Nxf7 Nxf7 7.
Bxf7+ Kxf7 8. Qh5+ g6 9. Qxc5 d5 10. exd5 Re8+ 11. Kd1 Re5 12. c4 Qh4 13. Qa3
Bf5 14. Qg3 Qe4 15. Be3 Qc2+ 16. Ke1 Qc1+ 17. Ke2 d3+ 18. Kf3 Nd4+ 0-1[/pgn]

Black engineers a hit and run against the White Queen. ENGLISH OPENING (A20)  

[pgn]

[Event "16W23"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Serovey, Michael"]
[Black "Azamfirei, Razvan"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A20"]
[WhiteElo "2147"]
[BlackElo "2078"]
[PlyCount "22"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]

{DEC} 1. c4 e5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 Nc6 4. a3 d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. b4 Be6 7. b5 Na5
8. Nf3 Nf4 9. gxf4 Bb3 10. O-O Bxd1 11. Rxd1 exf4 0-1[/pgn]