The January Check is in the Mail

 The Check Is in the Mail January 2019 The United States correspondence team has qualified for the finals by tying or winning all its nine matches in the preliminary round. ICCF Olympiad 21 Preliminaries On  first board, SIM Dan Perry of the US took first with an undefeated 6-3 result.  Second Board was won on tie break by SIM Carl Siefring with a score of 5-4.  Third board saw SIM Wieland Belka score 6-3 to tie for first.  On Board 4 SIM Kenneth Reinhart finished in third place with a 5 ½-3 ½ result. Board 5 was held down by IM Wilbur Tseng who GAME OF THE MONTH Dan Perry of the United States faces a little-known line in the Sicilian to score the win over Spain in what would prove to be a  critical game in determining first place for the US team.

[pgn]

[Event "CCO21/S1"]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2016.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Perry, Daniel"]
[Black "Punzón Moraleda, Jesús"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B90"]
[WhiteElo "2494"]
[BlackElo "2485"]
[PlyCount "127"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "U.S.A."]
[BlackTeam "Spain"]
[BlackTeamCountry "ESP"]

{JAN} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 e5 7. Nb3 Be6
8. f3 Be7 9. Qd2 O-O 10. O-O-O b5 11. g4 Nfd7 {This rare line has a poor
record (+5 -1 -0 for White) and is highly suspicious. The computer engines
hate it. Standard is either 11...b4 or 11...Nbd7} 12. Nd5 {With the obvious
threat of 13. Nxe7+ Qxe7 14. Qxd6 with a healthy Pawn plus and the two Bishops}
Bxd5 13. exd5 Nb6 {13...Qc7 was tried (unsuccessfully) in Soos-Sleisz, Szaged
1993.} 14. Na5 Qc7 {White has a problem -- which side to play on: the
queenside with 15. Qb4, the kingside with 15. g5 or 15. h4 or, safety first,
with 15. Kb1. He soon gets all the plays in.} 15. g5 Na4 {White was better
after Quirk-Jarmuz, US CC 2016 when Black tried 15. ...Nc4 16. Nxc4 bxc4 17.
Rg1} 16. f4 Bd8 {Black chooses to keep his kingside as intact as possible,
rejecting 16...exf4 17. Bxf4 f6 18. h4 Nd7 when Black trusts ...Ne5 to hold
White's attack.} 17. Nb3 Nd7 18. Kb1 Qb7 {Black plays to exchange off White's
Bishop pair.} 19. Qb4 Bb6 20. Bc1 Qc7 21. f5 f6 22. h4 {Equally strong appears
to be 22. g6.} Rae8 23. Qe4 Nac5 24. Qg2 Nxb3 25. axb3 e4 $5 {Black's Pawn
advances almost singlehandedly into enemy territory where it could be lost,
but in so doing it invigorates Black's forces which now gain a near equality
to White's.} 26. Bf4 Ne5 27. Be2 {White decides that 27. Qxe4 gives Black too
many chances, but the ending is in White's favor after 27 Qxe4 Ng4 28. Qb4 Bc5
29. Bxd6 Bxb4 30. Bxc7 Nf2 31. Bg2 Nxh1 32. Bxh1} e3 $6 {Playing for the win
?! -- Black had better chances of that with 27...fxg5 28, Bxg5 Rxf5 29. Qxe4.
Now Black remains on the defense.} 28. Rhf1 Kh8 29. h5 {White could go afte
the e-Pawn with better chances after 29. Bh5 Re7 30. Rde1 when the e-Pawn is
doomed.} fxg5 30. Bxg5 h6 31. Bh4 Qb7 {Diagram #} 32. f6 $1 Bd8 33. fxg7+ Qxg7
34. Qh3 {White declines the Pawn plus endgame as Black has good drawing
chances after 34. Rxf8+ Rxf8 35. Qxg7+ Kxg7 36. Bxd8 Rxd8 37. Rg1+ Kh7 38. Rg3
and Rxe3.} Rxf1 35. Rxf1 Bxh4 36. Qxh4 Rf8 37. Rxf8+ Qxf8 38. Ka2 Kg8 {Black
has better drawing chances after 38...Qf2, but he is still lost after 39. Qd8+
Kg7 40. Qxd6 Qxe2 41. Qxe5+} 39. c3 Kh8 40. Bd1 a5 41. Qe4 Qf2 42. Bc2 Qf7 43.
Qxe3 Kg7 {There is no hope after 43...Qxh5 44. Qb6 Nf7 45. Qxb5 Kg7 46. Qxa5.}
44. Qg1+ Kf8 45. Qd4 Ke7 {Nlack must protect his base d6 -- 45...Qxh5 46. Qb6
Kf7 47. Qxd6 s hopeless.} 46. Bd3 {White can also win after 46. Qa7+ Nd7? 47.
Qe3+ and Qxh6} b4 47. Be2 bxc3 48. bxc3 Qf5 49. Ka3 Qc2 50. Bc4 Qh2 51. Qb6 Nf7
52. Qa7+ Kf8 53. Qxa5 Qe5 {Black cannot stop the White Pawns after 53. ...Qxh5
54. b4 Ne5 55. Qc7 Nxc4+ 56. Qxc4 Qf7 57. b5} 54. Ba6 Qf5 55. Qc7 Qg5 56. b4
Kg7 57. c4 Qxh5 {Why not? Now comes a very uneven Pawn race.} 58. b5 Qf3+ 59.
Kb4 h5 60. b6 h4 61. b7 h3 62. b8=Q h2 63. Qe7 h1=Q 64. Qbf8+ 1-0

[/pgn]

Quote: Steinitz was once arrested as a spy.  The moves of a correspondence game between him and Chigorin were mistaken for being a code with which war secrets were being divulged. --- Henebry DECEMBER RESULTS John Collins   Allen Woollen 17C13     6-0 Rick Johnson   17C15      5-1 Eric Godin      17C04      5 ½-½ James Ruth      18C05      6-0 Walter Muir George Barton   18W12     5-1 Jon Leisner        18W17     4½-1 ½ Matthew Tedesco  18W17 4½-1½

[pgn]

[Event "18W12 "]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2018.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Barton, George"]
[Black "Yonkers, James"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A51"]
[WhiteElo "1384"]
[BlackElo "1395"]
[PlyCount "101"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]
[BlackTeam "Spain"]
[BlackTeamCountry "ESP"]

{JAN} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e5 3. e3 exd4 4. Qxd4 Nc6 5. Qd1 d5 6. a3 a5 7. Nf3 dxc4
8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 9. Bxc4 Ke8 10. O-O Bc5 11. Nc3 Ke7 12. Nb5 Bb6 13. Rd1 Bf5 14.
b3 Rhd8 15. Bb2 h6 16. Nbd4 Nxd4 17. Bxd4 Bxd4 18. Nxd4 Be4 19. f3 Bd5 20. Nf5+
Kf8 21. Bxd5 Nxd5 22. Rac1 c6 23. e4 Nf6 24. Nd6 Rd7 25. Nf5 Rad8 26. Rxd7 Rxd7
27. Rc5 a4 28. bxa4 Rd8 29. Ra5 b6 30. Ra6 Rb8 31. Nd4 c5 32. Nc6 Rb7 33. Ra8+
Ne8 34. Kf2 Rc7 35. Ne5 Ke7 36. Nc4 Rb7 37. Ra6 b5 38. axb5 Rxb5 39. Ra7+ Ke6
40. h4 g5 41. hxg5 hxg5 42. Ra6+ Ke7 43. Kg3 f6 44. Ra7+ Ke6 45. a4 Rb4 46. Ne3
Nd6 47. a5 Ra4 48. a6 c4 49. Ra8 c3 50. a7 Nb5 51. Re8+ 1-0[/pgn]

               OBITUARY Walter Griesmeyer of Cairo, Il, born August 4, 1940, died February 2018. SICILIAN DEFENSE (B14)

[pgn]

[Event "07Q15"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2008.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Griesmeyer, Walter"]
[Black "Jaris, Jill"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B14"]
[BlackElo "1279"]
[PlyCount "24"]
[EventDate "2008.??.??"]
[BlackTeam "Spain"]
[BlackTeamCountry "ESP"]

{JAN} 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. c4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e6 6. Nf3 Bb4 7. a3 Bxc3+
8. bxc3 dxc4 9. Bxc4 Qc7 10. Qb3 O-O 11. O-O Nc6 12. h3 Na5 0-1[/pgn]

2019 ABSOLUTE CHAMPIONSHIP I am taking bids for the 2019 Absolute Championship.  The 13 highest rated players will be selected to play.  Remember, the Absolute is the only US Chess correspondence event that allows the use of computers.  Entry is free.  Please send your bids to Click here to show email address James Ruth wins a quickie… BIRD’S OPENING (A03)

[pgn]

[Event "18C05"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2018.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Ruth, James"]
[Black "Hagerty, Alexander"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A03"]
[WhiteElo "1336"]
[PlyCount "21"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]
[BlackTeam "Spain"]
[BlackTeamCountry "ESP"]

{JAN} 1. f4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. d3 e6 5. Bd2 Bd6 6. e4 O-O 7. Ng5 h6 8.
h4 hxg5 9. hxg5 Nh7 10. Qh5 d4 11. Qxh7# 1-0[/pgn]

Jon Leisner submits this game as a high-quality draw that was the last to finish and resulted in a tie for first place in 18W17. BISHOP’S OPENING (C56)

[pgn]

[Event "18W17 "]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2018.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Tedesco, Matthew"]
[Black "Leisner, Jon"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C56"]
[WhiteElo "1729"]
[BlackElo "1776"]
[PlyCount "76"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]
[BlackTeam "Spain"]
[BlackTeamCountry "ESP"]

{JAN} 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nf6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. e5 Ng4 6. O-O d6 7. exd6
Qxd6 8. Na3 a6 9. h3 Nh6 10. Re1+ Be7 11. Bb3 b5 12. c4 b4 13. Nc2 d3 14. Ne3
O-O 15. Nd5 Bd8 16. Qxd3 Bf5 17. Qe2 Qg6 18. Nf4 Qd6 19. Be3 Na5 20. c5 Qd7 21.
Rad1 Qb5 22. Qxb5 axb5 23. Nd4 Nxb3 24. axb3 Ra2 25. Re2 Bf6 26. Nd5 {Diagram #
} Bxd4 27. Bxd4 Be6 28. Nxc7 Bxb3 29. Rde1 Nf5 30. Nxb5 Bc4 31. Re5 g6 32. Nd6
Nxd4 33. Nxc4 Ne6 34. Rc1 Rc8 35. Nd6 Rc6 36. b3 Ra3 37. Nb7 Rc7 38. c6 Rxb3
1/2-1/2[/pgn]

Games from the ICCF Olympiad Preliminaries Second board SIM Carl Siefring scores the point against a Belgian IM. FRENCH DEFENSE (C06)

[pgn]

[Event "CCO21/S1"]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2016.09.01"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Siefring, Carl"]
[Black "Ghysens, Dirk"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C06"]
[WhiteElo "2506"]
[BlackElo "2416"]
[PlyCount "91"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "U.S.A."]
[BlackTeam "Belgium"]
[BlackTeamCountry "BEL"]

{JAN} 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. Bd3 c5 6. c3 b6 7. f4 Ba6 8.
Ndf3 Bxd3 9. Qxd3 Nc6 10. Ne2 g6 11. O-O h5 12. b3 Be7 13. Ng5 Bxg5 14. fxg5
Rc8 15. h3 Ne7 16. Qf3 Rh7 17. Rd1 Qc7 18. Ba3 Qc6 19. Nf4 h4 20. c4 dxc4 21.
d5 exd5 22. Nxd5 c3 23. Nxc3 Qxf3 24. gxf3 Nf5 25. Bb2 Nb8 26. Ne4 Ke7 27. Nf6
Rhh8 28. Nd5+ Kf8 29. e6 Rh5 30. Kf2 fxe6 31. Nf6 Rh8 32. Nd7+ Nxd7 33. Rxd7
Nd4 34. Re1 Re8 35. Rxa7 e5 36. f4 Rh5 37. Bxd4 cxd4 38. Kf3 exf4 39. Rxe8+
Kxe8 40. Kxf4 d3 41. Ra4 Rh7 42. Re4+ Kf8 43. Ke3 Rd7 44. Kd2 Rd5 45. Rxh4 Rxg5
46. Rg4 1-0[/pgn]

Third board Wieland Belka essays the very rare Wing Gambit against his Hungarian opponent and very quickly finds himself two Pawns down with the superior chances WING GAMBIT (B20)

[pgn]

[Event "CCO21/S1"]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2016.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Belka, Wieland"]
[Black "Sturm, Gyula"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B20"]
[WhiteElo "2495"]
[BlackElo "2390"]
[PlyCount "77"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "U.S.A."]
[BlackTeam "Hungary"]
[BlackTeamCountry "HUN"]

{JAN} 1. e4 c5 2. a3 Nc6 3. b4 cxb4 4. axb4 Nxb4 5. d4 Qc7 6. c3 Nc6 7. Nf3 a6
8. Bd3 e6 9. O-O Rb8 10. d5 Ne5 11. Nxe5 Qxe5 12. f4 Qc7 13. c4 d6 14. Kh1 Nf6
15. Nd2 e5 16. c5 Qxc5 17. fxe5 dxe5 18. Bb2 Qe7 19. Rc1 Bd7 {Diagram #} 20. h3
h5 21. Nc4 Ng4 22. Qe1 b5 23. Ba3 Qg5 24. Nd6+ Bxd6 25. Bxd6 Rb7 26. Bc5 Rc7
27. Qg3 Rxc5 28. Rxc5 h4 29. Qe1 Nf6 30. Rc7 Nh5 31. Rf2 Qd8 32. Qc3 Qe7 33.
Ra2 Ng3+ 34. Kg1 Qd6 35. Rc8+ Bxc8 36. Qxc8+ Qd8 37. Bxb5+ axb5 38. Qc6+ Qd7
39. Ra8+ 1-0[/pgn]

The endgame from Move 40 on is strongly played by Kenneth Reinhart against Belgian’s fourth board. CATALAN OPENING (E09)

[pgn]

[Event "CCO21/S1"]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2016.09.01"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Reinhart, Kenneth"]
[Black "Van tricht, Marcel"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E09"]
[WhiteElo "2469"]
[BlackElo "2349"]
[PlyCount "101"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "U.S.A."]
[BlackTeam "Belgium"]
[BlackTeamCountry "BEL"]

{JAN} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 Be7 5. Nf3 O-O 6. O-O Nbd7 7. Qc2 c6
8. Nbd2 b6 9. e4 Bb7 10. e5 Ne8 11. cxd5 cxd5 12. Re1 Rc8 13. Qa4 Nc7 14. Nf1
b5 15. Qd1 Na6 16. Ne3 Nb4 17. h4 Re8 18. h5 a5 19. Bf1 Qb6 20. a3 Nc6 21. h6
g6 22. Ng4 Ba6 23. Qd3 a4 24. Bg5 Bf8 25. Qd2 b4 26. axb4 Bb5 27. Bxb5 Qxb5 28.
Rec1 Nxb4 29. b3 a3 30. Rxa3 Rxc1+ 31. Qxc1 Qb7 32. Qa1 Nc6 33. Ra6 Qb5 34. Ra8
Rb8 35. Qa6 Qxa6 36. Rxa6 Rc8 37. Bd2 Be7 38. b4 Rc7 39. Ra8+ Ndb8 40. b5 Ra7
41. Rxa7 Nxa7 42. Bb4 f5 43. Nf6+ Bxf6 44. exf6 Nd7 45. b6 Nc6 46. Be7 Nxe7 47.
Ne5 Nxf6 48. b7 Nd7 49. Nxd7 Nc6 50. f4 Kh8 51. b8=R+ 1-0[/pgn]

Our fifth board IM Wilbur Tseng  scores the point against Nicaragua. RUY LOPEZ (C75)

[pgn]

[Event "CCO21/S1"]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2016.09.01"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Tseng, Wilbur"]
[Black "Avellán, Gerardo"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C75"]
[WhiteElo "2449"]
[BlackElo "2206"]
[PlyCount "99"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "U.S.A."]
[BlackTeam "Nicaragua"]
[BlackTeamCountry "NCA"]

{JAN} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nge7 5. c3 h6 6. O-O d6 7. d4 Bd7 8.
Bc2 Ng6 9. a4 Be7 10. d5 Nb8 11. a5 Bg5 12. Nbd2 Be7 13. Re1 Bg4 14. h3 Bc8 15.
b4 O-O 16. c4 Nd7 17. Nf1 c5 18. Ba3 b5 19. g3 Qc7 20. Ne3 cxb4 21. Bxb4 Rb8
22. h4 Rd8 23. cxb5 axb5 24. a6 Nc5 25. a7 Ra8 26. Ba5 Qb7 27. Bxd8 Bxd8 28.
Nf5 Bxf5 29. exf5 Ne7 30. Nxe5 dxe5 31. Rxe5 Nd7 32. Re1 Nf6 33. d6 Nc8 34. g4
Qc6 35. g5 Nxd6 36. gxf6 Bxf6 37. Ra2 Bxh4 38. Qg4 Bf6 39. Be4 Qc4 40. Ra6 Nxe4
41. Qxe4 Qxe4 42. Rxe4 h5 43. Rb4 Kh7 44. Kg2 Be5 45. Rxb5 f6 46. Rd5 Bb8 47.
axb8=Q Rxb8 48. Rd7 Kh6 49. Raa7 Kg5 50. Rxg7+ 1-0[/pgn]

SICILIAN  DEFENSE (B99)

[pgn]

[Event "CCO21/S1"]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2016.09.01"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Miettinen, Kristo"]
[Black "Otspere, Urmas"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B99"]
[WhiteElo "2443"]
[BlackElo "2306"]
[PlyCount "115"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "U.S.A."]
[BlackTeam "Estonia"]
[BlackTeamCountry "EST"]

{JAN} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 Be7
8. Qf3 Qc7 9. O-O-O Nbd7 10. g4 b5 11. Bxf6 Nxf6 12. g5 Nd7 13. f5 O-O 14. Rg1
b4 15. Nce2 e5 16. f6 exd4 17. fxe7 Re8 18. Nxd4 Ne5 19. Qf4 Be6 20. Nxe6 fxe6
21. Rg3 Rab8 22. Qd2 Rb6 23. Kb1 Qxe7 24. h4 a5 25. Bh3 Rc6 26. Rg2 Rb8 27. Qd4
a4 28. h5 a3 29. h6 axb2 30. Rf2 Rc3 31. Rh1 Rbc8 32. hxg7 Kxg7 33. Rfh2 Rh8
34. Qxb4 Rg3 35. Qd2 Nf7 36. Qd4+ Ne5 37. Bf1 Rxg5 38. Rh3 h6 39. Ba6 Kg6 40.
a4 Qd7 41. Be2 Qd8 42. Qb4 Qe7 43. a5 h5 44. Qe1 Qd8 45. a6 Ng4 46. e5 Rxe5 47.
Bd3+ Kf6 48. Qb4 Qa5 49. Qxb2 Kg5 50. Be2 Kf6 51. Rg1 Qc5 52. Rf1+ Kg5 53. Qb7
Kh6 54. Bxg4 Qb5+ 55. Qxb5 Rxb5+ 56. Kc1 Ra8 57. Be2 Ra5 58. Rf6+ 1-0[/pgn]