The May Check Is in the Mail

    Carl Siefring -- Grandmaster

Carl Siefring of Owings, Maryland, has completed his journey to the title of International Correspondence Chess Grandmaster.  He began his quest domestically by tying for third in the 2004 Electronic Knights championship and then moved on to international play, earning the ICCM title in 2011. He added to both accomplishments the following year with a win in a Walter Muir Masters section and, in 2013, due to his international accomplishments earned a Senior International Masters title. He played on Board 2 in the 20^th Olympiad Team Championships for the US. Following that,  he earned a silver medal in the Tenth Pan American Team play on first board and followed that up with a tie for fist place in the Nineteenth  USCCC.  And now the title is his---Grandmaster Carl Siefring.

[pgn][Event "CL/2017/Chall 3"]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2015.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Siefring, Carl"]
[Black "Jasinski, Miroslaw"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B33"]
[WhiteElo "2484"]
[BlackElo "2407"]
[Annotator "?"]
[PlyCount "105"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "Pawn Stars"]
[BlackTeam "Imperium Szachów"]1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Qb6 {A line that was popularized
in the Sixties, mainly on the strength of Fischer-Benko, Stockholm 1962, which
continued 5. Nb3 Nf6 6. Nc3 e6 7. Be2 Bb4 8.00 00 9. Qd3 Bxc3 10. bxc3 d5.} 5.
Nb3 Nf6 6. Nc3 e6 7. Bd3 a6 8. Be3 {White gains a tempo by this move, but the
Queen was not well placed on b6, interfering with Black's queenside counteplay
based on ...b5.} Qc7 9. f4 d6 10. g4 {Jasinski had faced the more popular 10.
Qf3 in Rizzo-Jasinski, ICCF 2014 which continued 10...b5 11.00 Bb7 12. a4 with
good play for White though Black scored the point. Siefring's 10. g4 is
ultra-aggressive and has scored well in recent games.} b5 11. g5 Nd7 12. Qd2
Bb7 {Schlenther-Ingersol, IECC 2014 continued 12...b4 13. Na4 Rb8 14. c3 h6 15.
g6 and an eventual draw.} 13. O-O-O Be7 14. Kb1 O-O 15. Rhf1 {Interesting.
White declines the usual h4-h5-h6 kingside expansion, concentrating instead on
an attack based on f4-f5-f6 removing the Rook from the attacked (Bb7) to an
attacker.} Rac8 16. h4 Nc5 17. f5 b4 {Diagram # In standard Sicilian fashion,
both sides of the board seem ready to explode, but White's King seems a little
safer.} 18. Ne2 Nxd3 19. cxd3 exf5 20. exf5 Rfe8 {If Black tries to lessen
White's attack plan of f6 and fxg7 by 20...Bd8 White has 21. f6 g6 22. h5! and
the open h-file will provide White with strong atacking chances,} 21. Nf4 Ne5
22. f6 $1 Bd8 {White's attack is decisive after 22...gxf6 23. gxf6 Bxf6 24.
Nh5 Bxh4 25. Rg1+ Ng6 26. Bd4 Re6 27. Rdf1 Qe7 28. Ng7! Rf6 29. Bxf6 Bxf6 30.
Nf5} 23. fxg7 a5 24. Nd4 $1 {When this Knight enters the fray, Black will be
lost.} Qd7 25. Ka1 b3 {Black is desperate but there isn't much else to do.} 26.
axb3 Kxg7 27. Rc1 Rxc1+ 28. Rxc1 Kh8 29. Rg1 {White plans h5 and g6 forcing
Black's Rook into passivity.} Rg8 {After 29... Ng4 White's attack grows after
30. Bf2 Bc8 31. Nh5!} 30. Qf2 Ng4 31. Qe2 Ne5 32. Qf1 Ba6 33. Rg3 f6 34. Bd2 a4
35. b4 Qf7 36. g6 {Also strong is 36. b5 shutting the Bishop off of d3.} Nxg6
37. b5 Bc8 38. Nc6 Ne5 39. Nxd8 Rxd8 40. Nh5 $1 Rg8 41. Qxf6+ $1 {White
transforms his attack on the King to a winning endgame.} Qxf6 42. Rxg8+ Kxg8
43. Nxf6+ Kf7 44. Nxh7 Kg6 45. Ng5 d5 {After 45.. ..Nxd3 46. Ne4 d5 47. Nd6
the way is cleared for the advance of the b-Pawn.} 46. Bc3 Nxd3 47. Ka2 Kh5 48.
Ka3 Kxh4 49. Nf7 Nc5 50. Nd6 Bd7 51. Kb4 Ne4 52. Nxe4 dxe4 53. Kxa4 1-0[/pgn]

Played in true International Correspondence Chess Grandmaster style.

“I don’t have the patience for correspondence or the hands for bullet.” -Magnus Carlsen on limiting himself to three world titles---standard, blitz, and rapid.

APRIL RESULTS

            Walter Muir

                Juan Lopez       16W21     5 ½-½

            John Collins

                 Wayne Wisdom   16C09   6-0

                 Daniel Tulloh       15C03  6-0

            Trophy Quad

                 John Terrall        15Q05    5-1

            Swift Quad

                Andrew Leonard  16SQ08  5½-½

 .

OBITUARY

Arthur Bisquier

Arthur Bisguier, born October 8, 1929, died April 5, 2017.  Arthur was primarily an OTB player, a Grandmaster,  twice US Junior Champion, three time US Open Champion, and in 1954, US Champion.   But what I most remember Arthur for happened in 1958 when I was a sophomore in high school.  An ad in Chess Life announced that he would play a correspondence chess game for $15.  My parents paid for the game, and, ever since, then I have been hooked on correspondence play.  Where else could a teenage boy in a rural community sixty years ago be in contact with the greats?  Thank you, Arthur.

[pgn][Event "Postal"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1958.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Dunne, Alex"]
[Black "Bisguier, A."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D10"]
[PlyCount "89"]
[EventDate "1958.??.??"]1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 dxc4 5. a4 Qa5 6. Bd2 {Such an ugly
move, yet fifty-six years later Rybka gives it as its #1 choice.} e5 7. Nf3
Nbd7 8. e4 {Too ambitious -- 8. e3 is safer. Now White has to suffer and fight
for equality.} exd4 9. Nxd4 Qb6 10. Nc2 Ne5 11. Be3 Bc5 12. Bxc5 Qxc5 13. f4
Ng6 14. g3 Bg4 15. Qd2 Bf3 16. Bg2 Bxg2 17. Qxg2 O-O-O 18. Rd1 Rhe8 19. Rxd8+
Rxd8 20. Qe2 Re8 21. Na3 Nd5 22. Nxc4 Nxc3 23. bxc3 b5 24. axb5 cxb5 25. Nd2 f5
26. Kf1 Qc6 27. Qe3 fxe4 28. Kf2 Ne7 29. Nxe4 Nf5 30. Qc5 Qxc5+ 31. Nxc5 Re3 {
Better was 31...a5. Now the game evens out to a draw,} 32. Rc1 Re7 33. g4 Nd6
34. f5 Kc7 35. Re1 Rxe1 36. Kxe1 Kc6 37. Ne6 Ne4 38. Nxg7 Nxc3 39. Kd2 b4 40.
Kc2 a5 41. Ne6 Kd6 42. Ng5 a4 43. Nxh7 a3 44. f6 Ke6 45. Ng5+ 1/2-1/2[/pgn]

 

James Savage

James Savage of Phoenix Arizona was born 8/15/1949.

[pgn][Event "Compuserve casual"]
[Site "email"]
[Date "1995.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Savage, James"]
[Black "Clayton, Darin"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A42"]
[Annotator "?"]
[PlyCount "31"]
[EventDate "1995.??.??"]
[EventType "corr"]1. d4 g6 2. c4 Bg7 3. Nc3 d6 4. e4 c6 5. f4 Nd7 6. Nf3 Qc7 7. Be2 c5 8.
d5 e5 9. O-O a6 10. Ng5 h6 11. Nxf7 Kxf7 12. fxe5+ Ke7 13. e6 Ne5 14. Bf4 g5
15. Bxe5 Bxe5 16. Rf7+ 1-0[/pgn]

 

J. Zeppa

Anthony (A.J.) Zeppa, a Master at correspondence chess was born February 26, 1940, died April 3, 2017.

[pgn][Event "10Nf01"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2010.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Forbush, Ramsey"]
[Black "Zeppa, A. J."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E29"]
[WhiteElo "2149"]
[PlyCount "50"]
[EventDate "2010.??.??"]1. d4 e6 2. c4 Nf6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Bd3 c5 6. Nge2 Nc6 7. a3 Bxc3+
8. bxc3 d6 9. Ng3 b6 10. O-O Ba6 11. Qe2 Qc7 12. Bb2 Na5 13. d5 exd5 14. cxd5
Bxd3 15. Qxd3 c4 16. Qf5 Rae8 17. e4 Re5 18. Qf4 Nb3 19. Rae1 Rfe8 20. Re3 Nc5
21. Rfe1 h5 22. f3 b5 23. Rd1 Qb6 24. Kf1 Nxd5 25. Rxd5 Ne6 0-1[/pgn]

 

GAMES FROM US CHESS MEMBERS

[pgn][Event "16W21"]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2016.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Lopez, Juan"]
[Black "Strobehn, Alex"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C41"]
[WhiteElo "1301"]
[BlackElo "1442"]
[PlyCount "45"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Bd7 5. Bc4 Nf6 6. Nc3 Be7 7. O-O
O-O 8. h3 Nc6 9. Be3 Nxd4 10. Bxd4 Bc6 11. Nd5 Nxd5 12. exd5 Bd7 13. Qf3 c6 14.
Rfe1 Bg5 15. Rad1 c5 16. Bc3 a6 17. Qg3 Bf6 18. Qxd6 Bxc3 19. bxc3 Qc8 20. Bf1
b5 21. Re7 Bf5 22. Bd3 c4 23. Rc7 1-0[/pgn]

Some games of chess are like a ballet, graceful, eloquent.   What wild music would best frame this game?

[pgn][Event "08Ns08"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2008.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Buss, Michael"]
[Black "Drevinsky, David"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B11"]
[WhiteElo "2355"]
[BlackElo "2132"]
[PlyCount "95"]
[EventDate "2008.??.??"]1. e4 c6 2. Nc3 d5 3. Qf3 d4 4. Bc4 Nf6 5. e5 Nbd7 6. exf6 Ne5 7. Qg3
exf6 8. Bb3 dxc3 9. dxc3 Ng6 10. Ne2 Bd6 11. Qe3+ Be7 12. h4 a5 13. h5 Ne5 14.
a4 O-O 15. Qg3 Re8 16. Bd2 Bd6 17. O-O-O Bg4 18. Rde1 Bf3 19. Nf4 Bg4 20. h6 g5
21. Rxe5 Bxe5 22. Qxg4 Qxd2+ 23. Kxd2 Bxf4+ 24. Kd3 Rad8+ 25. Bd5 Rxd5+ 26. Kc4
b5+ 27. Kb3 bxa4+ 28. Ka2 f5 29. Qh5 Kf8 30. Rd1 Bd2 31. c4 Rd6 32. f4 f6 33.
Qh3 g4 34. Qh5 Re7 35. Qxf5 a3 36. c5 Rdd7 37. Qxf6+ Rf7 38. Qxc6 axb2 39. Qa8+
Ke7 40. c6 b1=Q+ 41. Kxb1 Rd6 42. c7 Rxf4 43. Rxd2 Rb6+ 44. Kc1 Rf1+ 45. Rd1
Rb1+ 46. Kxb1 Rxd1+ 47. Kb2 Rd4 48. c8=Q 1-0[/pgn]

White had a lot of fun in this game.  Black not so much.

[pgn][Event "09Nf01"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2009.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Woodard, Daniel"]
[Black "Clark, William"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A56"]
[WhiteElo "2337"]
[BlackElo "2186"]
[PlyCount "97"]
[EventDate "2009.??.??"]1. d4 Nf6 2. Bf4 c5 3. d5 d6 4. c4 g6 5. Nc3 Bg7 6. e4 O-O 7. Be2 a6 8.
a4 b6 9. Qd2 Ra7 10. Nf3 Nh5 11. Bg5 Nd7 12. O-O Re8 13. Ne1 Nhf6 14. Nd3 Qc7
15. f4 Nf8 16. Rae1 N6d7 17. Bd1 Bd4+ 18. Kh1 Bb7 19. Nf2 Kg7 20. Ne2 Bxf2 21.
Rxf2 h6 {Diagram #} 22. Bxh6+ Kxh6 23. f5+ g5 24. Ng3 f6 25. h4 Nh7 26. Nh5 Rh8
27. Re3 Ne5 28. hxg5+ Nxg5 29. Rh3 Nef7 30. Rff3 Bxd5 31. Qc3 Ne5 32. Rfg3 Bxe4
33. Qe3 Nef7 34. Nxf6+ Kg7 35. Rxg5+ Kxf6 36. Rg6+ Kxf5 37. Rxh8 Kxg6 38. Qxe4+
Kf6 39. Rg8 e6 40. Rg6+ Ke7 41. Rxe6+ Kd7 42. Bg4 Qb7 43. Re8+ Kc7 44. Rc8+
Qxc8 45. Bxc8 Kxc8 46. Qc6+ Rc7 47. Qa8+ Kd7 48. Qxa6 Nd8 49. g4 1-0[/pgn]

 

SOME SIEFRING SAMPLES

Black resigns rather than see his Pawns annihilated one by one.

[pgn][Event "WC38/sf05"]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2014.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Siefring, Carl"]
[Black "Muneret, Maurice"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B30"]
[WhiteElo "2519"]
[BlackElo "2467"]
[Annotator "?"]
[PlyCount "107"]
[EventDate "2014.??.??"]1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Nf3 e5 4. Bc4 Be7 5. O-O Nf6 6. d3 d6 7. Nd5 O-O
8. c3 Nxd5 9. Bxd5 Be6 10. Re1 Qd7 11. a4 Bf6 12. Bd2 h6 13. h3 Rac8 14. Bxe6
Qxe6 15. b4 cxb4 16. cxb4 b6 17. b5 Nd8 18. Nh2 Nb7 19. Ng4 Nc5 20. Ra3 Kh7 21.
Ne3 Bg5 22. Nd5 Bxd2 23. Qxd2 Nb7 24. Rf1 f5 25. f3 Rc5 26. Rc1 Rfc8 27. Rac3
f4 28. R1c2 Na5 29. d4 {Diagram #} Nb3 30. dxc5 Nxd2 31. c6 Nxf3+ 32. Rxf3 h5
33. Ra3 Qg6 34. Rc4 Qf7 35. a5 bxa5 36. Rxa5 Kh6 37. Ra6 f3 38. Ra2 fxg2 39.
Rf2 Qe8 40. Rcc2 a6 41. c7 axb5 42. Nb6 Qe6 43. Rf3 Re8 44. c8=Q Rxc8 45. Rxc8
Qa2 46. Rh8+ Kg5 47. Nd5 Qb1+ 48. Kxg2 Qxe4 49. Ne7 Qb7 50. Nf5 e4 51. h4+ Kg6
52. Rf4 b4 53. Re8 Qa6 54. Ng3 1-0[/pgn]

The d6 square is often critical in the Sicilian Defense.

[pgn][Event "WC35/ct01"]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2015.09.20"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Siefring, Carl"]
[Black "Brodda, Wolfgang"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B78"]
[WhiteElo "2485"]
[BlackElo "2596"]
[Annotator "?"]
[PlyCount "103"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be3 Bg7 7. f3 O-O
8. Qd2 Nc6 9. Bc4 Bd7 10. O-O-O Rc8 11. Bb3 Ne5 12. Kb1 Re8 13. h4 h5 14. g4
hxg4 15. h5 Nxh5 16. Bh6 e6 17. Rdg1 Qf6 18. fxg4 Bxh6 19. Qxh6 Qg7 20. Qe3 Nf6
21. g5 Nh5 22. Nde2 Bc6 23. a3 Kf8 24. Rd1 a5 25. Nd4 Re7 26. a4 Ng4 27. Qd2
Ne5 28. Rh3 Rb8 29. Rf1 Ke8 {Diagram #} 30. Ncb5 Bxb5 31. Nxb5 Rd7 32. Qxa5 Ke7
33. Rd1 Nc6 34. Qb6 Qe5 35. Rhd3 Kf8 36. Rxd6 Re7 37. Rd7 Qxg5 38. Qc7 Kg8 39.
Nd6 Rxd7 40. Qxd7 Qe7 41. Qxe7 Nxe7 42. Rf1 f6 43. Bxe6+ Kg7 44. Rf3 b6 45. Rb3
Nf4 46. Bg4 Ra8 47. Rxb6 Rxa4 48. c4 Kh6 49. Rb7 Nc6 50. Bd7 Ra6 51. Nf7+ Kh5
52. b4 1-0[/pgn]