The July Check Is in the Mail

COLORADO STATE CHAMPIONSHIP

Somnath Mukherjee has won the 2016 Colorado State Championship with a perfect 5-0 score.  Although he was unrated at the beginning of the tournament, he defeated two Masters along the way.  An indication of the fighting quality of the championship this year is the lack of any draws, peaceful or otherwise.

          GAME OF THE MONTH

Trigger Warning:  This is a violent game filled with unexpected twists as Black consistently hunts down the White forces using his superior development.  This game is not for the faint of heart who might root for the White pieces.

[pgn][Event "16CO01"]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2016.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Baffo, Jeffrey"]
[Black "Mukherjee, Somnath"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A00"]
[WhiteElo "2274"]
[PlyCount "80"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]{JUL} 1. Nc3 d5 2. e4 d4 3. Nce2 e5 4. Ng3 Be6 5. Nf3 f6 6. c3 d3 {Black gets
to choose between two strong lines -- 6...c5 which scored +5 =1 in my database
or the text 6...d3 which score +5 =1 also.} 7. Nxe5 fxe5 8. Qh5+ Kd7 9. Qxe5
Nc6 10. Qb5 Bd6 11. Bxd3 a6 12. Qh5 {Polasek-Schakel, 2002 ICCF continued 12.
Qa4 Qh4 13. Be2 Nf6 14. d3 Raf8 with a Black plus.} Ne5 13. Qe2 Qh4 {
Borgmann-Borisova, Postal 2007 continued 17...Nxd3+ 14. Qxd3 Qg5 15. Qc2 saw a
plus for White.} 14. Bc2 Rf8 15. d4 {Leonard-Starke, ICCF 2012 saw 15. Qh5 Qf6
16. Qe2 Ng4} Ng4 16. Be3 Bc4 17. Bd3 Nxe3 18. Qxe3 Bf4 19. Qe2 Bxd3 20. Qxd3
Nf6 21. e5 Ng4 22. Ne4 Be3 23. g3 Bxf2+ {Diagram #} 24. Nxf2 {At last we leave
book with this move by Baffo, but iy is not an improvement over the previously
played 24. Kd1 Qh5 25. Kc1 Kc8 as in Roques-Ivanov, ICCF 2007, with an
advantage to Black.} Nxf2 25. Qe2 Qh3 {Black chooses to continue the
harassment of the White King instead of seeking out an endgame win with 25...
Qe4 26. Qxe4 Nxe4 27. Rf1 Rxf1+ 28. Kxf1 Rf8+ 29. Kg1 Ke6.} 26. Rf1 Ng4 27.
O-O-O Kc8 {Failing is 28. e6 Qh6+ 29. Kb1 Ne3 30. e7 Qg6+ 31. Kc1 Rxf1 32.
Rxf1 Nxf1.} 28. Rf4 Rxf4 29. gxf4 Rf8 30. Rf1 Nh6 {The Knight will soon some
to f5 to paralyze the White Pawn mass, and then will come its gradual
dismemberment.} 31. Rf3 Qg4 32. h3 Qe6 33. b3 Nf5 34. Rf2 Ng3 $1 {Black spots
the win of the h-Pawn and his own h-Pawn is then free to expand.} 35. Qe3 {
White can't try 35. Qg4 Qxg4 36. hxg4 Rxf4! 37. Rxf4 Ne2+ with a simple win.}
Qxh3 36. Kb2 Qh4 37. Rg2 Nh5 38. e6 Nxf4 39. e7 Re8 40. d5 $2 {Possibly
euthanasia.} Nxg2 0-1[/pgn]

2017 Colorado Correspondence Championship

Mukherjee	0000		1	1	1	1	1	5-0
Baffo	2274	0		1	1	1	1	4-1
Kovats	2236	0	0		1	1	1	3-2
Sutton	2149	0	0	0		1	1	2-3
Cacas	0000	0	0	0	0		1	1-4
Johnson	1654	0	0	0	0	0		0-5

 

JUNE RESULTS 

Walter Muir

Edward Schweikert   16W25   4-2

    Inoel Cardenas       16W25   4-2

John Collins 

      Robert Eldridge      16C14   6-0

              Bruce Elkins     15C10   4 ½- 1 ½

                Philip Lewis     15C10    4 ½- 1 ½

       Robert Eldridge     17C02   6-0

Trophy Quad

       Scott Sensiba          15Q02   6-0

       Chris Salmon          16Q05   6-0

       Ronald Sanders        16Q02   6-0

Swift Quad

     Vernon Young         16SQ06  6-0

Palciauskas Tournament

            Paul Castle      15P02         5 ½-½

OBITUARIES

Thomas Jobe of Maryville, TN, born July 10, 1945, died March 28, 2017.

[pgn][Event "Swiss-88.1.10"]
[Site "IECC Email"]
[Date "2000.06.16"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Jobe, Tom"]
[Black "Landowski, Wieslaw"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C68"]
[WhiteElo "1648"]
[BlackElo "1182"]
[PlyCount "79"]
[EventDate "2000.??.??"]
[Source "Chess Mail"]
[SourceDate "2001.03.30"]{JUL} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. O-O Bg4 6. h3 h5 7. d3 Qf6
8. Be3 O-O-O 9. hxg4 hxg4 10. Bg5 Qg6 11. Nxe5 Qxg5 12. Qxg4+ Qxg4 13. Nxg4 f6
14. Nc3 Bd6 15. g3 Ne7 16. Kg2 Ng6 17. f4 b5 18. Rh1 b4 19. Ne2 c5 20. Ne3 Ne7
21. Rxh8 Rxh8 22. Rh1 Rxh1 23. Kxh1 Kd7 24. Kg2 Ke6 25. Kf3 c6 26. Nc4 Bc7 27.
f5+ Kf7 28. Nf4 g6 29. g4 Bxf4 30. Kxf4 g5+ 31. Ke3 Nc8 32. Na5 Na7 33. Nb7 Ke7
34. Nxc5 Kd6 35. Nxa6 c5 36. c3 bxc3 37. bxc3 Nc6 38. d4 c4 39. Nb4 Na5 40. Nd5
1-0[/pgn]

Arnold Panciera of Somers, CT, born January 9, 1943, died May 5, 2017.

[pgn][Event "ICCF FM/0877"]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2009.02.24"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Panciera, Arnold C"]
[Black "Ibbitson, Anthony"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C04"]
[PlyCount "29"]
[EventDate "2009.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]{JUL} 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 Nc6 4. c3 e5 5. Ngf3 exd4 6. cxd4 dxe4 7. Nxe4
Bb4+ 8. Nc3 Nf6 9. Bg5 Qd6 10. Be2 Ne4 11. Rc1 Nxg5 12. a3 Bxc3+ 13. Rxc3 Nxf3+
14. Bxf3 Bd7 15. O-O 1-0[/pgn]

Philip Maclin of Bartlett, TN  born August 31, 1937 has died.

[pgn][Event "EK50 Compuserve"]
[Site "email"]
[Date "1993.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Maclin, Philip"]
[Black "Isgro, Thomas R"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A29"]
[PlyCount "53"]
[EventDate "1993.??.??"]
[Source "Chess Mail"]
[SourceDate "2001.03.30"]{JUL} 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. g3 Bb4 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O e4 7. Ng5 Bxc3
8. bxc3 Re8 9. f3 exf3 10. Nxf3 d5 11. cxd5 Qxd5 12. Nd4 Qd7 13. Nxc6 bxc6 14.
Rb1 Ba6 15. d3 Rab8 16. Rxb8 Rxb8 17. Qa4 Rb6 18. Be3 Rb5 19. Qxa6 Re5 20. Qxa7
Qe7 21. Qa8+ Ne8 22. Bd4 Rxe2 23. Bf3 Re6 24. Bxc6 h6 25. Bd5 Rd6 26. Rxf7 Qxf7
27. Qxe8+ 1-0[/pgn]

"Some players raise the objection that it takes too long to play by mail; but the correspondence player finds that the sense of time disappears entirely as the game progresses, and especially so when a number of games are being played instead of just one or two." – Walter James

[pgn][Event "15Ns01"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2015.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Buss, Michael"]
[Black "Connelly, Thomas"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C69"]
[WhiteElo "2418"]
[BlackElo "2272"]
[PlyCount "46"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]{JUL} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. O-O f6 6. d4 exd4 7. Nxd4
c5 8. Ne2 Qxd1 9. Rxd1 Bd7 10. Be3 O-O-O 11. Nbc3 Re8 12. Rd2 Bc6 13. Rad1 b6
14. a4 Ne7 15. a5 Kb7 16. Ng3 g6 17. b3 h5 18. axb6 cxb6 19. h4 Rg8 20. f3 f5
21. exf5 Nxf5 22. Nxf5 gxf5 23. Bg5 c4 1/2-1/2[/pgn]

WANTED: AN OPPONENT A prisoner would like an opponent to play by email.  You would have to pay a $10 fee to CorrLinks and five cents a move thereafter.  If you are interested, please contact me for further information.

[pgn][Event "16WM25"]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2016.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Schweikert, Edward"]
[Black "Cardenas, Inoel"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A48"]
[WhiteElo "1682"]
[BlackElo "1665"]
[PlyCount "89"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]{JUL} 1. d4 g6 2. Nf3 Bg7 3. Bf4 d6 4. e3 Nf6 5. h3 Nc6 6. c3 O-O 7. Nbd2 Nd5
8. Bg3 e5 9. Bb5 Qe7 10. O-O Bd7 11. Qb3 Nb6 12. d5 Nd8 13. Bxd7 Nxd7 14. Ne4
h6 15. Ned2 Nc5 16. Qc4 c6 17. e4 f5 18. dxc6+ Kh7 19. exf5 gxf5 20. Bh4 Bf6
21. cxb7 Qxb7 22. Bxf6 Rxf6 23. Nxe5 {Diagram #} dxe5 24. Qxc5 Rg6 25. g3 Nf7
26. Rad1 Rag8 27. Kh2 f4 28. Qb4 Qc8 29. Qc4 Qb7 30. Qb3 Rb6 31. Qc2+ Rgg6 32.
b3 Ng5 33. h4 Nf3+ 34. Nxf3 Qxf3 35. Qd3 Qh5 36. Qe4 Rb8 37. Rd7+ Kh8 38. Rfd1
Re8 39. Kg2 Rf8 40. Rxa7 fxg3 41. f3 Rg7 42. Rxg7 Kxg7 43. Rd7+ Kf6 44. Qc6+
Kf5 45. Qc4 1-0[/pgn]

  

GAMES FROM  THE COLORADO CHAMPIONSHIP

The battle is a very close one for fifty-one moves, but on the fifty-second…

[pgn][Event "16CO01"]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2016.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Kovats, Jiri"]
[Black "Baffo, Jeffrey"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D20"]
[WhiteElo "2236"]
[BlackElo "2274"]
[PlyCount "104"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]{JUL} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. e4 e5 4. Nf3 exd4 5. Bxc4 Nc6 6. O-O Be6 7. Bxe6
fxe6 8. Qb3 Qd7 9. Qxb7 Rb8 10. Qa6 Nf6 11. Nbd2 Bd6 12. b3 O-O 13. Bb2 e5 14.
Rac1 Nb4 15. Qc4+ Qf7 16. Bxd4 exd4 17. e5 Nxa2 18. Qxf7+ Rxf7 19. Rc4 Nc3 20.
Re1 Bb4 21. exf6 c5 22. fxg7 Rxg7 23. Kf1 a5 24. Ne4 Nd5 25. Rec1 Nb6 26. Rxc5
Bxc5 27. Rxc5 a4 28. bxa4 Nxa4 29. Rd5 Rb1+ 30. Ne1 Rc7 31. Rd8+ Kg7 32. Nd2
Rd1 33. Rxd4 Nc3 34. Ndf3 Rxd4 35. Nxd4 Rb7 36. g4 Kf6 37. Kg2 Rb1 38. Nec2 Ke5
39. Nf3+ Kf4 40. h3 Rb7 41. Ne3 Rb6 42. Ne1 Ke4 43. Nc4 Ra6 44. Nd2+ Kd5 45.
Ndf3 Nd1 46. Nd3 Ra3 47. Nfe1 Rb3 48. f4 Nb2 49. Nf2 Nc4 50. Nf3 Ra3 51. Ne1
Ne3+ {Diagram #} 52. Kg3 Nc2+ 0-1[/pgn]

The Battle of the Pinned Bishops

[pgn][Event "16CO01"]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2016.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Mukherjee, Somnath"]
[Black "Sutton, John C"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B78"]
[BlackElo "2149"]
[PlyCount "91"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]{JUL} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be3 Bg7 7. f3 Nc6
8. Qd2 O-O 9. Bc4 Bd7 10. O-O-O Rc8 11. Bb3 Nxd4 12. Bxd4 b5 13. Nd5 Nxd5 14.
Bxg7 Kxg7 15. exd5 a5 16. a3 b4 17. axb4 axb4 18. Qxb4 Kg8 19. Rhe1 Re8 20. Re3
Rb8 21. Qd4 Qa5 22. Bc4 Rb4 23. Ra3 Qc7 24. Ra7 Qc8 25. b3 Bb5 26. Qc3 Qc5 27.
Ra5 Rc8 28. Re1 Re8 29. Re4 f5 30. Rd4 Rc8 {Diagram #} 31. Qd2 Ra4 32. Rxa4
Bxa4 33. bxa4 Qa3+ 34. Kb1 Qxa4 35. Bb3 Qa7 36. Kb2 Rb8 37. Rh4 h5 38. Qd4 Qa5
39. Qe3 Qc7 40. Qg5 Kf7 41. g4 Qc5 42. gxf5 Ra8 43. Qxg6+ Kf8 44. Qh6+ Kg8 45.
Qxh5 Qa3+ 46. Kc3 1-0[/pgn]

When White fails to solve his back rank problems, Black scores the point.

[pgn][Event "16CO01"]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2016.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Johnson, Klaus"]
[Black "Sutton, John C"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B70"]
[WhiteElo "1654"]
[BlackElo "2149"]
[PlyCount "52"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]{JUL} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Bc4 Bg7 7. O-O O-O
8. Re1 Nc6 9. Bb3 Bd7 10. Bg5 Rc8 11. Ndb5 a6 12. Na3 Na5 13. Qd3 Nxb3 14. axb3
h6 15. Bh4 g5 16. Bg3 b5 17. Ne2 Nh5 18. c3 b4 19. Nc4 Bb5 20. Nd4 d5 21. exd5
Qxd5 22. Rxe7 bxc3 23. bxc3 Bxc4 24. bxc4 Rxc4 25. Ra7 Rfc8 {Diagram #} 26. Qe2
Bxd4 0-1[/pgn]

Twice in this game White learns of the power of a Rook to deflect a White Queen from its duties.

[pgn][Event "16CO01"]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2016.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Cacas, Alexander"]
[Black "Kovats, Jiri"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B40"]
[BlackElo "2236"]
[PlyCount "60"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]{JUL} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 h6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bd3 Nc6 7. Nxc6
bxc6 8. O-O Qc7 9. Be3 Rb8 10. Rb1 Nf6 11. f4 Be7 12. Qe2 O-O 13. e5 Nd5 14.
Nxd5 cxd5 15. c3 Bc5 16. Kh1 Bxe3 17. Qxe3 d6 18. exd6 Qxd6 19. Rfe1 a5 20. Re2
Ba6 21. Rd1 Bxd3 22. Rxd3 Rfc8 23. Qd2 Qa6 24. Re1 Rxb2 25. Qxb2 Qxd3 26. Rc1
Qe3 27. g3 d4 28. c4 d3 29. Qc3 Qe2 30. Re1 Rxc4 0-1[/pgn]

Black tries a different approach than in Baffo-Mukherjee with a different result.

[pgn][Event "16CO01"]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2016.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Baffo, Jeffrey"]
[Black "Johnson, Klaus"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A00"]
[WhiteElo "2274"]
[BlackElo "1654"]
[PlyCount "59"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]{JUL} 1. Nc3 d5 2. e4 dxe4 3. Nxe4 Nc6 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. Nxf6+ exf6 6. Be2 Bd6 7.
O-O O-O 8. d4 Re8 9. c3 Bg4 10. h3 Bh5 11. Re1 Qd7 12. Be3 Re7 13. Qb3 Na5 14.
Qb5 Qxb5 15. Bxb5 Bxf3 16. gxf3 a6 17. Bd3 Nc6 18. f4 Rae8 19. Red1 g6 20. Kg2
f5 21. Kf3 Nb8 22. c4 c6 23. c5 Bc7 24. Bc4 Nd7 25. d5 cxd5 26. Bxd5 b6 27. Bc6
Rd8 28. Bxd7 Rexd7 29. Rxd7 Rxd7 30. cxb6 1-0[/pgn]

Black shows it is possible to surround an active Queen in order to exchange it off.

[pgn][Event "16CO01"]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2016.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Sutton, John C"]
[Black "Kovats, Jiri"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B40"]
[WhiteElo "2149"]
[BlackElo "2236"]
[PlyCount "122"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]{JUL} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 h6 5. Nc3 Qc7 6. Be3 a6 7. a3 Nf6
8. Bd3 Bd6 9. h3 Nc6 10. O-O Bh2+ 11. Kh1 Be5 12. Nde2 d5 13. exd5 exd5 14. Bd2
O-O 15. f4 Bd6 16. Ng3 g6 17. f5 Bxg3 18. fxg6 fxg6 19. Bxh6 Be6 20. Bxg6 Bh4
21. Ne2 Rfd8 22. Nd4 Qg3 23. Bf5 Nxd4 24. Qxd4 Bxf5 25. Rxf5 Re8 26. Rxf6 Bxf6
27. Qxf6 Re2 28. Rg1 Rae8 29. Bf4 Qg7 30. Qd6 Qf7 31. Rf1 Qe6 32. Qc7 Qc6 33.
Qa5 Rxc2 34. Rf3 Qb5 {Diagram #} 35. Qxb5 axb5 36. Rd3 Re4 37. Bb8 Ree2 38.
Rxd5 Rxg2 39. Rxb5 Rge2 40. Ba7 Rh2+ 41. Kg1 Rcg2+ 42. Kf1 Rxb2 43. Rxb2 Rxb2
44. Bc5 Rh2 45. Ke1 Rxh3 46. Kd2 Kf7 47. Kc2 Ke6 48. a4 Kd5 49. Bb6 Kc4 50. a5
Rh2+ 51. Kd1 Kb4 52. Kc1 Rh5 53. Kb2 Re5 54. Kc2 Rxa5 55. Bxa5+ Kxa5 56. Kb3
Kb5 57. Ka3 Kc4 58. Kb2 Kb4 59. Kb1 Kb3 60. Ka1 b5 61. Kb1 b4 0-1[/pgn]