The December Check is in the Mail: Miniature Time!

GAME OF THE MONTH Preston Ladson of Philadelphia demonstrates why a difference of 300+ rating points can be decisive in correspondence chess.

[pgn]

[Event "16P01"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Dollard, Peter"]
[Black "Ladson, Preston"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B19"]
[WhiteElo "1619"]
[BlackElo "1950"]
[PlyCount "86"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bf5 5. Ng3 Bg6 6. h4 h6 7. Nf3 Nd7
8. h5 Bh7 9. Bd3 Bxd3 10. Qxd3 e6 11. Bd2 {11. Bf4 transposes after 11... Qa5+
12. Bd2 Qc7.} Qc7 (11... Ngf6 12. O-O-O Bd6 13. Kb1 Qc7 14. Ne4 Nxe4 15. Qxe4
O-O-O 16. c4 {Giri-Grishuk, European Teams 2013}) 12. O-O-O Ngf6 13. Qe2 O-O-O
14. c4 {Calogridis-Robledo, 2007 Golden Knights semifinal, continued 15. Ne5
(with 11. Bf4 Qa6+ 12. Bd2 Qc7) Nb6 16. Ba5 Rd5 17. Bxb6 axb6 18. c4 Ra5 19.
Kb1 with a slight advantage.} c5 {Standard here is 14...Bd6 with equal play sd
im Zhou-Onyango, US Women's Open 2018. Now White can gain an edge by 15. Ne5!
and if 15...Nb6 17. Ne3.} 15. Be3 Qa5 16. b3 {Safer was 16. Kb1 avoiding
weakening his King safety.} cxd4 {Development by 16...Bd6 is better.} 17. Nxd4
Ba3+ {This just forces the White King into relative safety and could lose a
tempo to Nb5 or Nc2.} 18. Kb1 a6 19. Bc1 {Too defensive minded. White should
tempt Black with 19. Bf4 e5? 20. Bd2 and Nf5 follows.} Bxc1 20. Rxc1 Qe5 21.
Rh4 $6 {Control of the d-file is key here -- 21. Rcd1 is even.} Qxe2 22. Ndxe2
Nc5 23. Nf1 {Passive defense of d2 takes another piece out of action. 23. Kc2
was a better try.} Nd3 24. Rc2 Nxf2 25. Nc3 N2g4 26. Ng3 Rd3 27. Nce4 Rhd8 {
Diagram # Black is in full control now. Black has only to get his kingside
Pawns rolling.} 28. Nxf6 Nxf6 29. Nf1 R8d4 30. Rh1 Ne4 31. Nh2 Rd1+ 32. Rxd1
Rxd1+ 33. Kb2 Ng3 {The sharpshooter Knight claims another White Pawn.} 34. Nf3
Nxh5 35. g4 Nf4 36. c5 Nd3+ 37. Kc3 Ne1 38. Rd2 $2 {The final mistake brings
White's struggles to an end.} Rc1+ 39. Kb2 Nxf3 40. Kxc1 Nxd2 41. Kxd2 Kc7 42.
b4 Kc6 43. a4 a5 0-1

[/pgn]

NOVEMBER RESULTS Swift Quad David Will               16SQ04     5-1 Artem Busorgin       18SQ01     5-1 Trophy Quads Allen Woollen   17Q09   5-1 Palciauskas Tournament Preston Ladson   16P01   5-1 After a wild opening, Black is caught up in the whirl and misses the simple 12…Bxe2 with an advantage. FRENCH DEFENSE (C00)

[pgn]

[Event "16SQ04"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Will, David"]
[Black "Teoli, Christian"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C00"]
[WhiteElo "1566"]
[BlackElo "1345"]
[PlyCount "85"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]

1. e4 e6 2. f4 d5 3. exd5 exd5 4. d4 c5 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. Bb5 Bg4 7. Be3 Qb6
8. Bxc6+ bxc6 9. Qe2 Bxf3 10. dxc5 Qa5+ 11. Bd2+ Kd7 12. Bxa5 {Diagram #} Re8
13. Qxe8+ Kxe8 14. gxf3 Bxc5 15. Nc3 Bd6 16. Ne2 Nf6 17. O-O-O Ke7 18. Rde1 Rc8
19. Ng3+ Kf8 20. Bd2 a5 21. Bxa5 Ra8 22. b4 c5 23. a3 Bxf4+ 24. Kb1 Nd7 25. Rd1
Nf6 26. Ka2 Bd6 27. c3 g6 28. Ne4 Be7 29. Nxf6 Bxf6 30. Bb6 cxb4 31. Bc5+ Kg7
32. Bxb4 Rd8 33. a4 h5 34. Rhe1 Rd7 35. Rd3 d4 36. Red1 Rc7 37. Kb3 Rb7 38. Kc4
Rc7+ 39. Bc5 dxc3 40. Rc1 Be7 41. Rd5 Bf6 42. Rc2 Kh7 43. a5 1-0[/pgn]

OBITUARY Eric Schiller born March 20, 1955, died November 3, 2018.  Eric was the author of many chess books, perhaps even rivaling the output of the legendary Fred Reinfeld.

[pgn]

[Event "correspondence"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1983.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Lindberg"]
[Black "Schiller, Eric"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D09"]
[PlyCount "60"]
[EventDate "1983.??.??"]
[Source "Chess Mail"]
[SourceDate "2001.03.30"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e5 3. dxe5 d4 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. Nbd2 Be6 6. g3 Qd7 7. Bg2
O-O-O 8. O-O h5 9. h4 Nh6 10. Ng5 Bg4 11. Ndf3 f6 12. exf6 gxf6 13. Ne4 Qe6 14.
Qc2 Nb4 15. Qa4 a6 16. c5 Nc6 17. Nfd2 Bxe2 18. Re1 d3 19. Nc3 Bxc5 20. Nb3 Bb6
21. Bf1 Nd4 22. Nxd4 Rxd4 23. b4 Rxh4 24. Nxe2 Bxf2+ 25. Kxf2 Ng4+ 26. Kg1 Qb6+
27. Nd4 Qxd4+ 28. Be3 Nxe3 29. gxh4 Rg8+ 30. Kf2 Nd1+ 0-1[/pgn]

The world of correspondence chess is almost completely ignored by over-the-board players  -- unjustly, for plenty of ideas can be gleaned from it, striking and profound ones, diligently worked out in home analysis – Mark Dvoretsky and Artur Yusupov

MINIATURE GAMES It is December once again and that means it is time for snow, for Christmas, for short days and long nights, for cold weather, and for the annual publication of miniature correspondence  games.  So, beware ! In this battle two Queens are not worth one Knight. PIRC  DEFENSE (B08)

[pgn][Event "1990 Golden Knights"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Charney, D."]
[Black "Willard, S."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B08"]
[WhiteElo "2770"]
[BlackElo "1790"]
[PlyCount "26"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]

1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Be2 O-O 6. O-O c6 7. Re1
Nbd7 8. e5 dxe5 9. dxe5 Ng4 10. e6 Qb6 11. exd7 Nxf2 12. d8=Q Nh3+ 13. Kh1 Qg1+
0-1[/pgn]

Black’s 18. …Nxd3! is a back breaker. ENGLISH OPENING (A25)

[pgn]

[Event "18EN01"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2018.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Ensley, Jeff"]
[Black "Young, William"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A25"]
[WhiteElo "1690"]
[BlackElo "2071"]
[PlyCount "36"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]

1. c4 e5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e4 d6 5. Bg2 Nc6 6. Nge2 Bg4 7. Qc2 Bc5 8. O-O
h5 9. h3 Be6 10. d3 h4 11. g4 Nxg4 12. hxg4 h3 13. Bf3 Qf6 14. Nf4 exf4 15. Qd2
Ne5 16. Bd1 h2+ 17. Kh1 Qh4 18. f3 Nxd3 0-1[/pgn]

It’s just a step to the right and move 14 does Black in. SICILIAN DEFENSE (B23)

[pgn]

[Event "15P03"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2015.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Ladson, Preston"]
[Black "Gladding, Lawrence"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B23"]
[PlyCount "27"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. f4 e6 4. Nf3 d5 5. e5 d4 6. Ne4 f5 7. exf6 Nxf6 8. Bd3
Bd7 9. O-O Qc7 10. Nfg5 Nxe4 11. Bxe4 g6 12. d3 Bd6 13. Qg4 Ke7 14. Qh4 1-0[/pgn]

Black’s game is difficult before 18…d5.  After 19. Bg5 it becomes impossible. OLD INDIAN DEFENSE (A55)

[pgn]

[Event "13Nf02"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2013.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Adams, Gary"]
[Black "Chessing, James"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A55"]
[WhiteElo "2431"]
[BlackElo "2052"]
[PlyCount "37"]
[EventDate "2013.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 d6 3. Nc3 e5 4. Nf3 Nbd7 5. e4 Be7 6. Be2 O-O 7. O-O c6 8. Re1
a6 9. Bf1 b5 10. a3 Qc7 11. h3 Re8 12. Be3 exd4 13. Nxd4 g6 14. Rc1 Qb7 15. b4
bxc4 16. Bxc4 Nb6 17. Ba2 Bd7 18. Qf3 d5 19. Bg5 1-0[/pgn]

White expects resignation on the next move.  Unfortunately it is his. RUY LOPEZ  (C67)

[pgn]

[Event "18EN04"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2018.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Borrell, Robert"]
[Black "Van Hine, Jesse"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C67"]
[WhiteElo "1873"]
[BlackElo "1847"]
[PlyCount "40"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. Bg5 Be7 7. Bxe7 Qxe7 8.
Bxc6 dxc6 9. dxe5 Nf5 10. Nc3 Bd7 11. Qe2 O-O-O 12. Rad1 g5 13. Qe4 h5 14. Nd4
Nxd4 15. Rxd4 g4 16. Rfd1 Rhe8 17. f4 gxf3 18. Qxf3 Qxe5 19. Qxf7 Rf8 20. Rxd7
Rde8 0-1[/pgn]

After both Rooks are gobbled by a Knight, one side works to free his Knight. FRENCH DEFENSE (C02)

[pgn]

[Event "17N17"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2017.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Gamer, Lev"]
[Black "Erlich, Harv"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C02"]
[WhiteElo "1917"]
[BlackElo "1701"]
[PlyCount "29"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. Nf3 cxd4 5. Qxd4 Qc7 6. Nc3 Nc6 7. Nb5 Nxd4 8.
Nxc7+ Kd8 9. Nxa8 Nxc2+ 10. Kd1 Nxa1 11. Be3 Bb4 12. Bxa7 Ba5 13. Bd3 f6 14.
Bc5 Ne7 15. b4 1-0[/pgn]

SICILIAN DEFENSE (B81)

[pgn]

[Event "17CO01"]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2017.04.05"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Mukherjee, Somnath"]
[Black "Johnson, Klaus"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B94"]
[WhiteElo "2453"]
[BlackElo "1655"]
[PlyCount "39"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 Nbd7 7. Qe2 h6 8.
Bh4 g6 9. f4 Bg7 10. O-O-O e5 11. Nf3 Qc7 12. Qc4 Qxc4 13. Bxc4 exf4 14. Rxd6
g5 15. Bf2 O-O 16. Bd4 b5 17. Bd5 Nxd5 18. Nxd5 Bxd4 19. Nxd4 f6 20. Ne7+ 1-0[/pgn]

A sacrifice on d5 ends Black’s chances of survival. SLAV DEFENSE (D13) 

[pgn]

[Event "18W17"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2018.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Schweikert, Edward"]
[Black "Hall, Gregory"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D13"]
[WhiteElo "1783"]
[BlackElo "1703"]
[PlyCount "23"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]

1. c4 c6 2. Nf3 d5 3. cxd5 cxd5 4. Nc3 Nf6 5. d4 Nc6 6. a3 Bg4 7. Ne5 Bh5 8.
Bf4 e6 9. Qa4 Qb6 10. Nxc6 bxc6 11. Rc1 Be7 12. Nxd5 1-0[/pgn]

Three pieces make a mate, especially when  you can sacrifice one of them. QUEEN’S PAWN GAME (D02)

[pgn]

[Event "18N03"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2018.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Buss, Michael"]
[Black "Farrell, Joseph"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D02"]
[WhiteElo "2431"]
[BlackElo "1875"]
[PlyCount "37"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. Bf4 c5 4. e3 e6 5. Nbd2 Be7 6. c3 Nbd7 7. Bd3 b6 8. Ne5
Bb7 9. O-O O-O 10. Qf3 cxd4 11. exd4 a6 12. Qh3 Re8 13. Ndf3 Nf8 14. Ng5 Ne4
15. Ngxf7 Qc8 16. f3 Nd6 17. Qh5 Nxf7 18. Bxh7+ Nxh7 19. Qxf7+ 1-0[/pgn]

Black finds there is no defense to Rae1 and f4 and the  seizure of his Knight. CENTER COUNTER (B01)

[pgn]

[Event "WT/11/1117"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2017.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Aiken, Richard"]
[Black "Droat, Robert"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B01"]
[WhiteElo "1931"]
[BlackElo "1914"]
[PlyCount "29"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]

1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5 4. d4 e5 5. Nf3 Bb4 6. Bd2 exd4 7. Nxd4 Ne7 8.
Bd3 Nbc6 9. Nxc6 Nxc6 10. O-O O-O 11. a3 Bxc3 12. Bxc3 Qc5 13. Qf3 Re8 14. Qg3
Ne5 15. b4 1-0[/pgn]

Black is two Pawns ahead but hopelessly tied up. CARO-KANN DEFENSE (B12)

[pgn]

[Event "USCF/WS/18W03 (USA)"]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2018.02.08"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Walsh, Patrick"]
[Black "Grinsteinner, Raymond"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B12"]
[WhiteElo "1729"]
[BlackElo "1512"]
[PlyCount "37"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. g4 Bg6 5. h4 h6 6. h5 Bh7 7. e6 fxe6 8. Bd3 Nf6
9. Bxh7 Rxh7 10. Qd3 Kd7 11. Nf3 Qe8 12. Nc3 Rh8 13. Ne5+ Kd8 14. Bf4 Nbd7 15.
Ng6 Rg8 16. f3 c5 17. Nb5 c4 18. Qa3 Qf7 19. Qa5+ 1-0[/pgn]

And now the most miniature of miniatures – White is lost after six moves PETROFF DEFENSE (C42)

[pgn]

[Event "CC"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1950.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Lowens"]
[Black "Stafford"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C42"]
[PlyCount "12"]
[EventDate "1950.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 Nc6 4. Nxc6 dxc6 5. e5 Ne4 6. d3 Bc5 0-1[/pgn]

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