The December Check Is in the Mail

Thomas Babcock of St. Louis Park, Minnesota, is no stranger to winning first place in a John Collins event, having done so in 2008, 2009, and 2013.  Now he wins for a fourth time.

     15C13

[pgn][Event "15C12"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2015.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Dunne, Alex"]
[Black "Babcock, Thomas"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D12"]
[WhiteElo "2101"]
[BlackElo "2195"]
[PlyCount "82"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]
[EventType "corr"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]{DEC} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 {A cautious approach to the opening
designed to avoid the complexities of 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. e4 b5 which has been
scoring quite well for Black lately.} Bf5 5. Nc3 e6 6. Nh4 {This linr which
seeks to gain the two Bishops and lessen Black;s grip on the e4 square seems
to be White;s best chance for an advantage, scoring +8 -6 =6 in recent cc
games.} Bg6 7. Nxg6 hxg6 8. Bd3 {Rybka does not like my choice here, making
this its eighth choice in this position. I thought since I was playing for the
two B's and control of e4 that this was most logical. Rybka prefers the ugly 8.
Bd2.} Nbd7 {and here the machine prefers 8. ...dxc4 9. Bxc4} 9. O-O Bd6 10. h3
g5 $5 {Rybka doesn't seem to care for this attacking move at all, but at the
time I was unaware of this. All I saw was a kingside that was now under attack
by more than half of Black's army and defended by a lone White Rook. I felt I
had to take immediate action to stem the flow of the attack.} 11. cxd5 Nxd5 12.
Nxd5 {One less attacking piece gone.} exd5 13. e4 $1 dxe4 14. Qe2 $2 {Stll not
realizing the advantage of my position. After the simple 14, Bxe4, White
stands better -- 14...Qf6 15. d5 c5 16. g3 Kf8 17. Bg2, White is for choice.}
f5 {Diagram #} 15. f3 $2 {I had originally planned on 15. Bxe4!? fxe4 16.
Qxe4+ Qe7 17. Qg6+ Kf8 18. Bxg5 Nf6 19. Rae1 with two Pawns for the piece, a
safe King, and only a mild disadvantage, but I failed to appreciate Babcock's
defense.} Qf6 16. fxe4 Qxd4+ 17. Be3 Qxe3+ $6 {Black seeks a superior ending,
but it is an illusion. Black has a decisive attack on the White King by 17...
Qe5! 18. Rxf5 Qh2+ 19. Kf2 g6! and White is doomed.} 18. Qxe3 Bc5 19. Qxc5 Nxc5
20. Bc4 f4 21. b4 Nd7 22. e5 $5 {The position is very unclear. Black has the
advantage on the kingside and queenside, White in the center. White is a Pawn
down but has the only passed Pawn. Rybka gives this position a Pawn plus
evaluation to Black, but at the time of the game I thought White had good
chances.} Ke7 23. Rad1 Rad8 {The Pawn is untouchable -- 23...Nxe5? 24. Rfe1
Kf6 25. Rd6+ Kf5 26. Be6+ Kg6 27. Bb3+ Kf5 28. Bc2+ mates.} 24. Rd6 Rh6 $6 {
Black had better chances after 24...Nb6!} 25. Re1 Nf8 {White has good drawing
chances after 25,,,Rxd6 26. exd6+ Kxd6 27. Re6+ Kc7 28. Re7 g6 29. Bf7 Kb8 30.
Bxg6} 26. Rxd8 Kxd8 27. Kf2 Ke7 28. Kf3 Rh4 29. a4 g4+ {After 29...Nd7 30. Bb3
b6 it is hard to see how Black an make any progress.} 30. hxg4 g5 31. b5 c5 32.
b6 {I still had at least a draw as my goal in this position, but White has the
advantage here after 32. e6! Rh6 33. Re5 Nxe6 34. Bxe6 Rxe6 35. Rxg5} a5 $2 {
Simply 32..axb6 gives Black good drawing chances.} 33. e6 $1 Rh6 34. Bd5 Nxe6
35. Bxb7 Kd8 36. Rb1 Nd4+ 37. Kf2 $2 {The clouds of war were too thick here. I
tried to make 37. Ke4 work, but I didn't see 37, Ke4 Nc2 38. Ba8 Nb4 39. Rc1
Rxb6 40. Rc5 Ra6 and now I missed 41. Rxg5 when the a8 Bishop is immune from
capture.} Kd7 38. Bd5 Rh8 39. b7 Kc7 40. Re1 Kd6 41. Be4 {I offered a draw
here.} Kc7 1/2-1/2[/pgn]

NOVEMBER RESULTS 

Trophy Quad 

James Ruth                  16Q09    5-1

James Anderson          16Q09    5-1

Walter Muir

Samuel Younkin         16W17      609

 David Porter writes that he thinks Black’s 18^th move, a natural one, allowed him a chance to win.  Better was 18…Qg5.

[pgn][Event "12Nf01"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2015.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Porter, David"]
[Black "Addis, Edward"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B64"]
[WhiteElo "2237"]
[BlackElo "2280"]
[PlyCount "79"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]{DEC} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bg5 e6 7. Qd2 Be7
8. O-O-O O-O 9. f4 h6 10. Bh4 e5 11. Nf5 Bxf5 12. exf5 exf4 13. Kb1 d5 14. Bxf6
Bxf6 15. Nxd5 Be5 16. Bc4 b5 17. Bb3 a5 18. c3 b4 19. cxb4 Nd4 20. Rhe1 Nxb3
21. axb3 Re8 22. bxa5 Qxa5 23. Qxa5 Rxa5 24. b4 Raa8 25. b5 f3 26. gxf3 Bxh2
27. Rxe8+ Rxe8 28. f6 Kf8 29. Kc2 Rd8 30. fxg7+ Kxg7 31. Kb3 h5 32. b6 h4 33.
Kc4 Kh6 34. Rh1 Bg3 35. Kc5 Rc8+ 36. Kb5 Kg5 37. f4+ Kg4 38. b7 Rb8 39. Kb6
Bxf4 40. Nxf4 0-1[/pgn]

OBITUARY

Bryan Black

Bryan Black, born August 3, 1982 died in Niger October, 2017.  Bryan had attained an Expert rating at correspondence chess on Compuserve.

[pgn][Event "Compuserve"]
[Site "email"]
[Date "1994.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Prange, Eckhard"]
[Black "Black, Bryan"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B09"]
[Annotator "Rodriguez,Keith"]
[PlyCount "48"]
[EventDate "1994.??.??"]
[EventType "corr"]
[Source "Chess Mail"]
[SourceDate "2001.03.30"]{DEC} 1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. f4 Bg7 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Bd3 c5 7. dxc5 dxc5
8. Qe2 Nc6 9. e5 Nd5 10. Nxd5 Qxd5 11. Be4 Qd8 12. Be3 Qb6 13. c3 Bg4 14. O-O
Qc7 15. h3 Be6 16. f5 gxf5 17. Bxc6 Qxc6 18. Ng5 f6 19. Nxe6 Qxe6 20. exf6 Bxf6
21. Qf3 b6 22. Bh6 Bd4+ 23. cxd4 Qxh6 24. dxc5 Rae8 1/2-1/2[/pgn]

Ronnie Burklow

Ronnie Burklow born September 20, 1944, died October 27, 2017.

[pgn][Event "06N41"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2006.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Burklow, Ronnie"]
[Black "Franco, Michael"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B23"]
[WhiteElo "1760"]
[BlackElo "1454"]
[PlyCount "35"]
[EventDate "2006.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]{DEC} 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 e6 3. f4 d6 4. Nf3 Nd7 5. Be2 e5 6. d3 exf4 7. Bxf4 Be7
8. O-O Ngf6 9. Qe1 Ng4 10. h3 h5 11. Nd5 Bh4 12. Nxh4 g5 13. Bxd6 Nb6 14. Be7
Qd7 15. Bxg4 Nxd5 16. Bxd7+ Kxd7 17. exd5 f6 18. Qe6+ 1-0[/pgn]

John Coulter

John Coulter was born April 26, 1963 and died October 25, 2017

[pgn][Event "15N05"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2015.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Coulter, John"]
[Black "Butler, Michael"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A20"]
[WhiteElo "2088"]
[BlackElo "1956"]
[PlyCount "55"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]{DEC} 1. c4 e5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 c6 4. d4 exd4 5. Qxd4 d5 6. Nf3 Be7 7. cxd5
cxd5 8. O-O Nc6 9. Qd3 O-O 10. a3 Be6 11. Nc3 h6 12. Rd1 a6 13. Bf4 Re8 14.
Rac1 Rc8 15. b4 Bf8 16. Nd4 Nxd4 17. Qxd4 Bg4 18. Nxd5 Nxd5 19. Qxd5 Qxd5 20.
Bxd5 Rxc1 21. Rxc1 b6 22. f3 Bh5 23. g4 Bg6 24. e4 Kh8 25. Be3 Rb8 26. Bf4 Re8
27. Bc6 Re6 28. Bb7 1-0[/pgn]

AND NOW – LET THE GAMES BEGIN – MINIATURE GAMES THAT IS !

[pgn][Event "17W04"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2017.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Anderson, Clarence"]
[Black "Weil, Timothy"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B04"]
[WhiteElo "1830"]
[BlackElo "1938"]
[PlyCount "30"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]{DEC} 1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 d6 4. Nf3 dxe5 5. Nxe5 c6 6. Nf3 Bg4 7. h3 Bxf3
8. Qxf3 e6 9. c3 Nd7 10. Bd3 Be7 11. Nd2 e5 12. Ne4 exd4 13. Bd2 Ne5 14. Qe2
dxc3 15. Nxc3 Nf4 0-1[/pgn]

[pgn][Event "16Q05"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Salmon, Chris"]
[Black "Burke, John"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B00"]
[BlackElo "1279"]
[PlyCount "25"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]{DEC} 1. e4 f5 2. exf5 d5 3. Qh5+ Kd7 4. Nf3 Qe8 5. Ne5+ Kd8 6. Nf7+ Kd7 7. d4
c6 8. Bf4 Nf6 9. Ne5+ Kc7 10. Qxe8 Nxe8 11. Nf7+ e5 12. Bxe5+ Bd6 13. Nxh8 1-0[/pgn]

Thou shalt not steal the b-pawn.

[pgn][Event "17W03"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2017.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Korman, Joseph"]
[Black "Bowman"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C11"]
[PlyCount "31"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]{DEC} 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e6 3. e4 d5 4. e5 Nfd7 5. Nf3 c5 6. dxc5 Bxc5 7. Bd3 Nc6
8. Bf4 Qb6 9. O-O Qxb2 10. Nb5 Ke7 11. Bd2 Bb4 12. Rb1 Qxb1 13. Qxb1 Bxd2 14.
Nxd2 Ndxe5 15. Re1 a6 16. Nd4 1-0[/pgn]

Reinfeld was right when he wrote that the pin is mightier than the sword.

[pgn][Event "16P03"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Woollen, Allen"]
[Black "Pitcher, Clive"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E92"]
[WhiteElo "1745"]
[BlackElo "1648"]
[PlyCount "36"]
[EventDate "2012.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]{DEC} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 d6 3. Nc3 g6 4. e4 Bg7 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 e5 7. d5 a5 8.
O-O Na6 9. h3 Nd7 10. Be3 f5 11. exf5 gxf5 12. Qc2 f4 13. Bd2 Ndc5 14. a3 e4
15. Nxe4 Bf5 16. Bd3 Nxd3 17. Nfg5 Ndc5 18. Rfe1 Qxg5 0-1[/pgn]

A Queen check on a1 is the unwritten end of this miniature.

[pgn][Event "16Q05"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Allred, Lloyd"]
[Black "Salmon, Chris"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A48"]
[WhiteElo "1370"]
[PlyCount "40"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]{DEC} 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. e3 Bg7 4. b3 O-O 5. Bb2 c5 6. dxc5 Nc6 7. Bd3 Qa5+
8. Nbd2 Qxc5 9. O-O d5 10. a3 a5 11. h3 Re8 12. Re1 e5 13. e4 dxe4 14. Nxe4
Nxe4 15. Rxe4 b5 16. Qe2 Bf5 17. b4 axb4 18. axb4 Rxa1+ 19. Bxa1 Qa7 20. Bxe5
Bxe5 0-1[/pgn]

A little Queen check causes havoc in Black’s game.

[pgn][Event "17EN07"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2017.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Hall, Jay"]
[Black "Smith, Damon"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B12"]
[WhiteElo "1730"]
[PlyCount "35"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]{DEC} 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Nf3 e6 5. Bd3 Bxd3 6. Qxd3 Qc7 7. O-O c5
8. Nc3 Nc6 9. Be3 cxd4 10. Bxd4 Bb4 11. Nb5 Qd7 12. c3 Be7 13. Nd6+ Bxd6 14.
exd6 Nxd4 15. Qxd4 Nf6 16. Qb4 Ne4 17. Ne5 Qxd6 18. Qb5+ 1-0[/pgn]

Black passes a bad check and pays the penalty.

[pgn][Event "17W01 (USA)"]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2017.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Bougher, James"]
[Black "Hawkins, Andrew"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C54"]
[PlyCount "21"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]{DEC} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. cxd4 Bb4+ 7. Bd2
Bxd2+ 8. Nbxd2 d5 9. exd5 Nxd5 10. Qb3 Qe7+ 11. Kf1 1-0[/pgn]

Some pins are painful.  This one is fatal.

[pgn][Event "17EN10"]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2017.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Hulslander, James"]
[Black "Mayers, Raymond"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C67"]
[WhiteElo "1484"]
[BlackElo "2071"]
[PlyCount "36"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]{DEC} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. dxe5
Nf5 8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 9. Nc3 Bd7 10. h3 h6 11. Re1 Kc8 12. a3 b6 13. Ne2 c5 14. g4
Ne7 15. Nf4 Bc6 16. Kg2 g5 17. Nh5 f5 18. exf6 Ng6 0-1[/pgn]

Combine six consecutive Queen Knight moves with a foolhardy King, and you get this miniature.

[pgn][Event "17N04"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2017.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Salmon, Chris"]
[Black "De Augustino, Philip"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B51"]
[BlackElo "1676"]
[PlyCount "31"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]{DEC} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 d6 4. Bxc6+ bxc6 5. O-O e5 6. c3 Nf6 7. Re1
Be7 8. d4 Qc7 9. dxe5 dxe5 10. Na3 Bg4 11. Nc4 Nd7 12. Ne3 Bh5 13. Nf5 Bf6 14.
Nd6+ Ke7 15. Nf5+ Ke6 16. Qb3+ 1-0[/pgn]

White’s attack comes with hurricane force.

[pgn][Event "16Q05"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Salmon, Chris"]
[Black "Allred, Lloyd"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C11"]
[BlackElo "1370"]
[PlyCount "31"]
[EventDate "2014.10.02"]
[EventType "corr"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]{DEC} 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 c5 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. e5 Nfd7 6. Be3 Nc6 7. Qe2 Be7
8. O-O-O O-O 9. h4 h6 10. g4 c4 11. Bh3 a6 12. g5 h5 13. g6 f6 14. Bxe6+ Kh8
15. Ng5 fxg5 16. Qxh5# 1-0[/pgn]

Quite positional chess finds Black in a desperate position.

[pgn][Event "16N15"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2017.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Hernandez, Carlos"]
[Black "Sensiba, Scott"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A01"]
[BlackElo "1844"]
[PlyCount "19"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]{DEC} 1. b3 e5 2. Bb2 Nc6 3. e3 d5 4. Bb5 Bd6 5. Nf3 Qe7 6. d4 e4 7. Ne5 Bd7 8.
Nxd7 Qxd7 9. c4 dxc4 10. bxc4 1-0[/pgn]

The second time Black sacrifices his Bishop on g3 is fatal.

[pgn][Event "16N17"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Garner, Mark"]
[Black "Ott, Paul"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A01"]
[WhiteElo "2110"]
[BlackElo "1862"]
[PlyCount "40"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]{DEC} 1. b3 e5 2. Bb2 Nc6 3. e3 d5 4. Bb5 Bd6 5. f4 Qh4+ 6. g3 Qe7 7. Nf3 f6 8.
Qe2 a6 9. Bxc6+ bxc6 10. fxe5 fxe5 11. Nxe5 Nf6 12. Nf3 Bg4 13. Rf1 Ne4 14. d3
Bxg3+ 15. Kd1 Bd6 16. Qg2 Qe6 17. Rg1 O-O-O 18. dxe4 Bxf3+ 19. Qxf3 dxe4 20.
Qg4 Bg3+ 0-1[/pgn]