The February Check is in the Mail

The Check Is in the Mail February 2019 Somnath Mukherjee It’s a three-peat for Colorado champion Somnath Mukherjee, winning the championship in 2016, 2017, and with a perfect 6-0 score in 2018. GAME OF THE MONTH

[pgn]

[Event "18CO01"]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2018.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Kovats, Jiri"]
[Black "Mukherjee, Somnath"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E46"]
[WhiteElo "2149"]
[BlackElo "2394"]
[PlyCount "80"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Nge2 {Although a popular line,
second only to 5. Nf3, 5. Ne2 does not score well, being too passive.} d5 6. a3
Be7 7. cxd5 exd5 8. Nf4 {An alternative that works better is 8. g3 c6 9. Bg2
Na6 10.00 Nc7 as in Swayams-Tregubov, Aeroflot Open 2015} c6 9. Bd3 Na6 10. O-O
{Black would benefit after 10. Bxa6, bxa6 with the two Bishops and play
against White's weakened queenside after ...Rb8} Nc7 11. f3 Ne6 12. Nxe6 Bxe6 {
Costachi-Ni Hua, King's Tournament blitz 2014 ended here with an agreed draw
-- an accurate evaluation of the position.} 13. Bd2 Re8 14. Na4 {White begins
to pressure Black's queenside, but the lurking presence of his e3 Pawn,
backward on an open file, has to be a concern.} Bd6 15. Bb4 $5 {White properly
offers Black the chance to ruin his Pawn structure, but that would fit in with
his queenside pressure with the advance b5 looming.} Bc7 $5 {And Black
correctly declines, repositioning his dark-squared Bishop to c7 where it halps
defend the queenside and eyes White's nearly deserted kingside.} 16. Qc2 h6 17.
Nc5 Qb8 18. h3 Bc8 19. e4 {Diagram # Chess is a difficult game. It looks as if
White's queenside action has forced Black on the defensive allowing the e4
push in the center, ridding White of the weakness on e3, but e3 remains weak
and except for a8, all Black's pieces aim at White's nearly deserted kingside.}
b6 $1 20. Na4 {After 20. Na6 Bxa6 21. Bxa6 dxe4 22. Qxc6 Bh2+ 23. Kh1 e3!
Black is on the plus side of the complications. White could have played 20.
Nb3 here.} c5 $1 {This counter-blow in the center keeps Black fully in the
fight. Now best for White is 21. e5 cxb4 22. exf6 bxa3 23. Rxa3 Bf4 24. Nc3
with near equality.} 21. dxc5 dxe4 22. Bb5 {After 22, fxe4 the same
combination as happened in the game occurs -- 22...b5!} Re6 23. Bc4 exf3 24.
Rxf3 {Material is even, but the position is not after 24. Bxe6 Bxe6 25. cxb6
Bh2+ 26. Kh1 fxg2+ 27. Qxg2 Bd5 28. Rf3 Be5} b5 25. Bxe6 Bxe6 26. Re1 Nh5 27.
Rxe6 {Faced with the possibility of 27. Bc3 bxa4 28. Qxa4 Bd5 29. Rde3 Bh2+ 30.
Kh1 Ng3+ 31. Kxh2? Nf1+ 32. Kg1 Qh2+ 33. Kf1 Qxg2 mate, White elects to
sacrifice an exchange in the hopes Black's shattered kingside will offer some
chances.} fxe6 28. Qe4 bxa4 29. Qxe6+ Kh8 30. Bc3 {White's counterattack is at
its peak, but Mukherjee finds the only answer and the game is over.} Qe8 $1 {
30...Nf6 fails to 31. Rxf6!} 31. Qxh6+ Kg8 32. Qd2 Rd8 33. Rd3 Rxd3 34. Qxd3
Qe6 35. Qd4 Nf6 36. Kh1 Qe2 37. Kg1 Kf7 38. h4 Ke7 39. Qd2 {The middlegame is
loost. The ending is lost. White isn't allowed to pass. What can he do?} Qxd2
40. Bxd2 Be5 {There is one last swindle -- 41. Bc1 Ne4 42. c6 Nc5 43. Be3 Kd6?
44. c7! but this is easily avoided by 43....Nb3.} 0-1

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2018 Colorado State Championship JANUARY RESULTS Walter Muir Johnny Owens   18W10    5-1 Patrick Walsh     18W14   6-0 John Collins John Chartier    16C06   5-1 Swift Quad David Will     18SQ05        4-2 Cesar Tamondong  18SQ06  5 ½-½ Patrick Walsh     18SQ07   5 ½-½ Quote:  Players with good positional understanding but who are weak on tactics have a chance to shine in correspondence play, where the time to think and the ability to move the pieces on the board allows one to sort through the most opaque tactical mess. -- Graham Burgess 2019 ABSOLUTE CHAMPIONSHIP Bids are still being taken for the 2019 Absolute Championship.  The top 13 rated players who apply will be accepted.  Remember that the US Absolute is our only US correspondence chess event that allows the use of consulting with computers to generate moves. If you would like to play in this free e-mail  championship, send in your request to Click here to show email address. 18W10 Walter Muir Championship Johnny Owens

[pgn]

[Event "18W10 "]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2018.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Owens, Johnny"]
[Black "Leslie, Cameron"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A29"]
[WhiteElo "2210"]
[BlackElo "1846"]
[PlyCount "65"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]

1. c4 e5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. Nc3 Nb6 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. d3 Be7
8. Be3 O-O 9. O-O Re8 10. Rc1 Bf8 11. Ne4 Nd4 12. Nxd4 exd4 13. Bd2 c6 14. b4
Be6 15. Nc5 Bxc5 16. bxc5 Nd5 17. Rc2 Qd7 18. Re1 Bh3 19. Bf3 Re7 20. Qa1 Nc7
21. Bf4 Ne6 22. Bd6 Ree8 23. Be4 f5 24. Bh1 f4 25. Qc1 fxg3 26. hxg3 Qf7 27.
Rb2 h5 28. Qb1 Rf8 29. e4 h4 30. f4 hxg3 31. f5 Ng5 32. Qc1 Qh5 33. Be7 1-0

[/pgn]

OBITUARY Crawford Daniels of Pittsburgh, PA, born September 13, 1947 died July 10, 2018. Crawford Daniels

[pgn]

[Event "12M332"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2012.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Daniels, Crawford"]
[Black "Garner, Mark"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C55"]
[WhiteElo "1961"]
[BlackElo "1924"]
[PlyCount "121"]
[EventDate "2013.08.16"]

{FEB} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Be7 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3 O-O 6. c3 d6 7. b4 h6 8.
Qb3 a6 9. a4 Nh7 10. Be3 Ng5 11. Nbd2 Bg4 12. Rae1 Nxf3+ 13. Nxf3 Bxf3 14. gxf3
Bg5 15. Kh1 Qf6 16. Qd1 Ne7 17. Rg1 Bxe3 18. fxe3 Ng6 19. Rg3 Kh7 20. Reg1 Rg8
21. d4 Ne7 22. Bd3 g6 23. Qd2 Qe6 24. d5 Qd7 25. Bc2 a5 26. b5 Rg7 27. Bd3 Rh8
28. Bf1 Kg8 29. Bh3 Qe8 30. Qg2 Kf8 31. f4 f6 32. Be6 c6 33. fxe5 dxe5 34. d6
g5 35. dxe7+ Rxe7 36. Bc4 c5 37. Rf3 Qg6 38. Rgf1 Kg7 39. Rf5 Rf8 40. b6 Rd7
41. Bd5 Rd6 42. Qb2 Rfd8 43. c4 Qe8 44. Qb3 Qd7 45. Rb1 Ra8 46. Rf2 Ra6 47. Kg1
Kg6 48. Qd1 Raxb6 49. Rb5 Rxb5 50. axb5 b6 51. Rd2 Kg7 52. Qh5 Qe7 53. Kf1 Rd8
54. Ke1 Rh8 55. Bc6 Rd8 56. Rxd8 Qxd8 57. Be8 Qe7 58. Qg6+ Kf8 59. Bc6 Qf7 60.
Qxh6+ Ke7 61. Bd5 1-0

[/pgn]

Joseph Lewis of Baton Rouge, LA, born 28 October 1941, died December 2018. Joseph engages in a wild struggle against Vladimir Pashkov.

[pgn]

[Event "12C10"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2012.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Pashkov, Vladimir"]
[Black "Lewis, Joseph"]
[Result "*"]
[ECO "E46"]
[WhiteElo "1827"]
[BlackElo "1813"]
[PlyCount "59"]
[EventDate "2012.??.??"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Nge2 d5 6. a3 Bxc3+ 7. Nxc3 c6
8. c5 Nbd7 9. Bd3 Re8 10. O-O e5 11. f3 exd4 12. exd4 b6 13. b4 a5 14. Bb2 bxc5
15. bxc5 Nh5 16. Bf5 Ba6 17. Re1 Rxe1+ 18. Qxe1 Ndf6 19. Qe5 g6 20. Bc2 Nd7 21.
Qe3 Rc8 22. Re1 Ng7 23. Bc1 Qf6 24. Qe7 Qxd4+ 25. Re3 Re8 26. Qg5 Nf5 27. Bxf5
Ne5 28. Kh1 Qxc5 29. Bd7 d4 {Diagram #} 30. Bxe8 1-0

[/pgn]

Patrick Walsh engineers a steady and  successful  attack against a beleaguered Black King.

[pgn]

[Event "18SQ07"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2018.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Walsh, Patrick"]
[Black "Taylor, Bobby"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B76"]
[WhiteElo "1757"]
[BlackElo "1728"]
[PlyCount "69"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be3 Bg7 7. f3 Nc6
8. Qd2 Bd7 9. O-O-O Rc8 10. g4 Ne5 11. Kb1 O-O 12. h4 Qa5 13. Nb3 Qd8 14. Nd4
h5 15. g5 Nh7 16. f4 Nc4 17. Bxc4 Rxc4 18. Qd3 Rc8 19. f5 Be5 20. Nde2 b5 21.
Bd4 Bxd4 22. Nxd4 b4 23. Nd5 e6 24. fxe6 fxe6 25. Nf6+ Nxf6 26. e5 Qe8 27. gxf6
dxe5 28. Rdf1 Qf7 29. Rhg1 Qh7 30. Rxg6+ Kh8 31. Qg3 Rg8 32. Rxg8+ Rxg8 33.
Qxe5 Qf7 34. Nf3 Be8 35. Ng5 1-0

[/pgn]

North America/ Pacific Zone Championship Adel Faridani of Philomath, Oregon has won the 6^th North America. Pacific Zone Championship with an undefeated 11-5 score.  Fandani finished ahead of second place John Adams of Salem, Oregon and third place Oliver Koo of Munroe Falls, Ohio. Adel Faridani

[pgn]

[Event "NAPZ/C6"]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2017.01.31"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Faridani, Adel"]
[Black "Hill, Grayling V"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A62"]
[WhiteElo "2312"]
[BlackElo "2419"]
[PlyCount "89"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 c5 4. d5 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. Nc3 g6 7. Bg2 Bg7 8.
Nf3 O-O 9. O-O Re8 10. Bf4 Na6 11. Re1 Bf5 12. Nd2 Nh5 13. e4 Nxf4 14. gxf4 Bc8
15. Nc4 Bxc3 16. bxc3 b5 17. Nd2 Rb8 18. Qf3 Nc7 19. e5 Bf5 20. Qg3 a6 21. c4
f6 22. a4 Rc8 23. e6 Qe7 24. axb5 axb5 25. Ra7 b4 26. Be4 Bxe4 27. Nxe4 f5 28.
Ng5 Ra8 29. Rea1 Qf6 30. Qh4 h5 31. Kg2 Rxa7 32. Rxa7 Re7 33. Rb7 Kg7 34. Rb6
Ne8 35. Rb8 Kg8 36. Qg3 Kf8 37. Rd8 Qg7 38. Nf3 Kg8 39. h3 h4 40. Qg5 Kh8 41.
Kh2 Kh7 42. Qxh4+ Kg8 43. Rb8 Qf8 44. Ne5 Rh7 45. Qd8 1-0

[/pgn]

Sharp and accurate play brings home the point.

[pgn]

[Event "15ENf02"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2018.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "West, Tony"]
[Black "Angres, Robert"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A50"]
[WhiteElo "2068"]
[BlackElo "1836"]
[PlyCount "41"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]

1. d4 b6 2. c4 Bb7 3. Nc3 e6 4. e4 Bb4 5. Bd3 Nf6 6. f3 Bxc3+ 7. bxc3 d6
8. Ne2 e5 9. O-O O-O 10. Ng3 Nbd7 11. Bg5 Re8 12. Qd2 a5 13. Nf5 Nf8 14. f4
exd4 15. e5 dxc3 16. Qxc3 dxe5 17. fxe5 Nd5 18. cxd5 Qxg5 19. Rf3 Ng6 20. e6 f6
21. Qxc7 1-0

[/pgn]

GAMES FROM 2018 COLORADO CHAMPIONSHIP Black’s troubles begin with the over-aggressive 23. … Ne4 instead of the calmer 23. … Rd8.

[pgn]

[Event "18CO01"]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2018.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Kovats, Jiri"]
[Black "Dorchuck, Jordan"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D58"]
[WhiteElo "1956"]
[PlyCount "59"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e3 O-O 6. Nf3 h6 7. Bh4 b6 8.
cxd5 exd5 9. Bd3 Bb7 10. Rc1 Nbd7 11. O-O c5 12. Bxf6 Nxf6 13. Ne5 a6 14. b3
Rc8 15. Na4 Qd6 16. Qe2 a5 17. Ba6 Rc7 18. f4 Ne4 19. dxc5 bxc5 20. Bd3 Nf6 21.
Rcd1 Qe6 22. Nc3 Ra8 23. Rf2 Ne4 {Diagram #} 24. Nxe4 c4 25. Qc2 Ba6 26. Ng3
Qb6 27. Bh7+ Kf8 28. Nxf7 Kxf7 29. Qf5+ Qf6 30. Qxd5+ 1-0

[/pgn]

When David meets Goliath, sometimes Goliath wins.

[pgn]

[Event "18CO01"]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2018.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Mukherjee, Somnath"]
[Black "Johnson, Klaus"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B81"]
[WhiteElo "2394"]
[BlackElo "1639"]
[PlyCount "35"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e6 6. g4 h6 7. h4 Be7 8.
Qf3 Bd7 9. g5 hxg5 10. hxg5 Rxh1 11. Qxh1 Ng8 12. Qh7 Kf8 13. f4 e5 14. Nf5
Bxf5 15. exf5 exf4 16. f6 gxf6 17. g6 fxg6 18. Bc4 1-0

[/pgn]

When Black attacks an unguarded piece, a few White attacking moves wins one.

[pgn]

[Event "18CO01 "]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2018.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Mukherjee, Somnath"]
[Black "Dorchuck, Jordan"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C10"]
[WhiteElo "2394"]
[PlyCount "49"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nd7 5. Nf3 Ngf6 6. Nxf6+ Nxf6 7. c3
Be7 8. Bd3 O-O 9. Bf4 b6 10. Qe2 Bb7 11. O-O-O Nd5 {Diagram #} 12. Qe4 g6 13.
Bh6 Re8 14. c4 c6 15. cxd5 exd5 16. Qe5 Bf8 17. Qf4 Qd6 18. Ne5 Re7 19. Bxf8
Rxf8 20. Nxg6 Qxf4+ 21. Nxf4 Rfe8 22. Nh5 Re6 23. g4 c5 24. Bf5 Re2 25. Nf6+
1-0

[/pgn]