Gregory Cross of San Antonio, Texas has won CCLA’s 2012 Grand National. For those unfamiliar with the Grand National, it is a two-round event with each player playing six games in each round, A score of 4-2 or better is required to advance to the second round. Gregory finished with a score 11-1 (a weighted score of 46-2) to win the tournament outright.
GAME OF THE MONTH
Gregory’s score of 11-1 was made up of ten wins and two draws. This fight is an example of a draw occurring when both sides want to win.
[pgn]
[Event "Grand National"]
[Site "Correspondence"]
[Date "2012.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Corbett, William"]
[Black "Cross, Gregory"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C43"]
[WhiteElo "2174"]
[BlackElo "2203"]
[PlyCount "59"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. d4 {White has two basic choices here if he wants
to play for a win -- the aggressive 3. d4 counting on his single move lead in
development or 3. Nxe5 counting on the fact that Black cannot repeat his move
as 3...Nxe4 loese material to 4. Qe2.} Nxe4 4. Bd3 {White's position is too
loose after 4. dxe5 Be7 5. Bd3 Be7 6.00 Nc6 7. Re1 00 8. c3 (8. Nc3!?) Bf5 9.
Nd4 Nxd4 10. cxd4 Bb4 11. Re3 Nxf2! as in Cross-McCann, 1992 Golden Knights} d5
5. Nxe5 Nd7 {A popular lne these days but still playable is 5... Bd6 6.00 00 7.
c4 Nc6 with an unbalanced position though White keeps an edge with 8. Nxc6
bxc6 9. c5} 6. Nxd7 {A drawing line is 6. Nxf7 Kxf7 7. Qh5+ Ke6 8. Qe2 Kf6 9.
Qf3+ Ke6 10. Qe2 as in Mamedov-Safarli, FIDE blitz 2013} Bxd7 7. O-O Qh4 {
Black varies from the more popular 7...Bd6 into a side line that does not
score too well (+8 =4 -1 in recent games) but 7....Bd6 has its problems too.
Lu Shanglei-Wang Yue, China 2016 continued 8. Qh5 Qf6 9. Nc3 Qxd4 10. Be3 Qe5
11. Qxe5+ Bxe5 12. Nxd5 Nf6 13. Bf4 Bxf4 14. Rfe1+ Kf8 13. Nxf4 attempted to
solve those problems.} 8. c4 {Both 8. g3 and 8. Nc3 have been tried here with
success, but the favorite move at the moment is 8. c4.} O-O-O {Failing is 8...
Bd6 9. g3 Nxg3 10. hxg3! Bxg3 11. Qe1+ Kf8 12. fxg3 Qxd4+ 13. Qe3} 9. c5 {
White prevents ...Bd6 and establishses the foundation for an attack on the
castled King.} g5 {And Black begins his counterattack. The war is on!} 10. Nc3
Bg7 11. Ne2 {Tried here has been 11. g3 which was equal after 11...Qh3 12.
Nxe4 dxe4 13. Bxe4 Bb6 14. Bg2 Qf5 15. Be3 as in Lu Shanglel 0 Dragun, World
Junior Open 2014.} Rde8 12. f3 {White chooses to repulse Black's attack
directly as 12. a4 led to a Black attack as in Barbalic-Cross, Finjub 2012
after 12...Re6 13. fxe4 dxe4 15. Bc4 Qxh2+ 16. Kf2 Be6} Nf6 13. Rf2 {Diagram #
White avoids the check on d4 after 13. Bd2 Rxe2 14, Qxe2 Nh5 which was equal
in Aberbakh-Ret Saravia, Copa de Maestros 1995} Re7 14. Qb3 {A try here might
be 14. b4!? Rhe8 15. Bb2 g4 15. Ng3 with an unbalanced but equal position.}
Rhe8 15. Bd2 Rxe2 $1 {The key to Black's defense/ Withthe dissolusion of White;
s center his attack comes to an end.} 16. Bxe2 Qxd4 17. Qd3 {White would be
losing after 17. Qc3? Ng4! 17. fxg4 Rxe2} Qxc5 18. Rc1 Qb6 19. Bxg5 h6 {
Black has onlyone Pawnforthe exchange but his active pieces and d5 Pawn make
up for the slight material deficit,.} 20. Bf4 c6 21. Bd6 Ng8 22. b4 $1 {
White gives back the exchange but reinvigorates his attacking chances.} Bd4 23.
Bc5 Bxf2+ 24. Kxf2 Qc7 25. g3 Ne7 {Black has to give back the a-Pawn as White
has too much play after 25...a6 26. a4 Qe5 27. b5 axb5 18. axb5 Bf5 29. Qd2}
26. Bxa7 Nf5 27. Bc5 Qe5 {Black does better to continyue his own attack with
27.... h5 and ....h4, but the centralization of the Black Queen is appealing.}
28. f4 Qb2 29. Rc2 Qb1 30. b5 {After 30. g4 White sees that 30...Qh1! 31. gxf5
Qxh2+ 32. Ke1 Qxf4 33. Rc3 Bxf5 is not appealing and so offers the draw which
is accepted.} 1/2-1/2[/pgn]
Second International Clergy Polish Championship
David McCann of Weslaco, Texas, has finished second in the second international Clergy Polish Championship Tournament. The tournament is sponsored by the Arch Diocese of Poland but is open to clergy of all faiths around the world. Readers may be familiar with two other American players in the event, Daniel Horwitz and Paul Berthelot
[pgn]
[Event "POL/CClergy2 "]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2015.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Berthelot, Paul"]
[Black "McCann, David"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E84"]
[WhiteElo "2007"]
[BlackElo "2022"]
[PlyCount "118"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]
{NOV} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nge2 O-O 6. f3 {I have
struggled against the Saemisch until I finally settled on the Panno Variation.
Since then I have had great success against the Saemisch.} a6 {6...Nc6 is
another way to play the Panno, but I find that6...a6 usually catches my
opponent by surprise, especially in OTB games.} 7. Be3 Nc6 8. Qd2 Rb8 9. Nc1 e5
10. d5 Nd4 11. N1e2 c5 12. dxc6 Nxc6 13. Rd1 Be6 14. b3 {I don't particularly
care for this move for White. 14. Nc1 seems to make more sense to me.} b5 15.
Qxd6 {15. cxb5 probably transposes back to the game. However, even though
Black will soon be down twio Pawns, I think White's position is getting
critical.} Qxd6 16. Rxd6 Nb4 17. Nd5 Nc2+ 18. Kf2 bxc4 19. bxc4 Nxe3 20. Kxe3
Rb2 21. Rxa6 {Diagram # Let's evaluate the position. White has won two Pawns
but has two pieces undeveloped and completely out of play, Rh1 and Bf1. Black
on the other hand has all of his pieces develped, a Rook deep in White's camp
and has forced the White King out into the open where it can be attacked. White
will eventually have to give back the material to try to hang on..} Bh6+ 22.
Kf2 Kg7 23. h4 Rc8 24. g4 Bd2 25. h5 {I had expected perhaps 15. g5 here,
closing up the kingside or 15 Rh2 so White could extricate his King from the
bind he is in.} Nd7 26. hxg6 hxg6 27. Ra3 Rxc4 {Black has regained one Pawn,
but White still has Rh1 amd Bf1 undeeloped and out of play. Ijn addition,
Black's pieces are swarming to attack the White King.} 28. Ne3 Rc8 29. Nd1 Rb1
30. Ndc3 Be1+ 31. Kg1 Ra1 32. Nd5 Rc2 {Black now has both Rooks deep in
White's position.} 33. Kg2 Nf6 34. Ne3 Rcxa2 {Black regains the other Pawn and
still has a strong attack.} 35. Rxa2 Rxa2 36. Rh2 Bd2 37. Nd1 Bc4 38. Kh1 Ra1
39. Ng1 Bf4 40. Bxc4 {What else is there? White is losing material regardless.}
Bxh2 41. Kxh2 Rxd1 42. Bb5 Rb1 43. Bc4 Nh7 44. Nh3 Rc1 45. Bd5 Nf6 46. Bb7 Rc7
47. Ba6 Nd7 48. g5 Nc5 49. Bf1 Ne6 50. Kg3 Kf8 51. Kg4 Ke7 52. Bg2 Kd6 53. f4
exf4 54. Nxf4 Ke5 55. Nd3+ Kd4 56. Nf4 Rc2 57. Bf3 Nxf4 58. Kxf4 Rf2 59. Kg3
Ke3 {White has to lsoe more material so resigned.} 0-1[/pgn]
[NOV]
OCTOBER RESULTS
Trophy Quads
Frank Barrett 14Q05 6-0
John Collins
Carl Gooding 14C18 5-1
Walter Muir
Scott Baker 15W34 4 ½-1 ½
Victor Palciauskas
Joel Levine 14P01 5 ½- ½
OBITUARY
Raymond Musselman
Raymond Musselman of Berkeley, California has died. Raymond carried an Expert’s rating in cc play.
[pgn][Event "SA.2009.0.00098"]
[Site "LSS"]
[Date "2009.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Musselman, Ray"]
[Black "Fernandez, Javier Horacio"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A60"]
[WhiteElo "2179"]
[BlackElo "2072"]
[PlyCount "59"]
[EventDate "2009.11.04"]
[EventType "corr"]
{NOV} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 c5 4. d5 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. Nc3 g6 7. Nf3 Bg7 8.
Bg2 Na6 9. O-O Nc7 10. e4 O-O 11. Bf4 Re8 12. Re1 Nh5 13. Bg5 Qd7 14. e5 Nb5
15. e6 fxe6 16. Nxb5 Qxb5 17. dxe6 h6 18. Bxh6 Bxh6 19. Qc2 Kh7 20. a4 Qb4 21.
Re4 c4 22. Rxc4 Qa5 23. Nh4 Qg5 24. Nxg6 Kg8 25. f4 Qa5 26. Rc7 Bg7 27. f5 Qb6+
28. Kh1 Qxb2 29. Rc1 Qxc2 30. R1xc2 1-0
[/pgn]
Scott Baker won this one to claim first place in his Walter Muir quad.
[pgn]
[Event "15WM34"]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2015.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Baker, Scott"]
[Black "Segreto, Thomas"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A08"]
[WhiteElo "1508"]
[BlackElo "1423"]
[PlyCount "59"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]
{NOV} 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 d5 3. Bg2 c5 4. d3 e6 5. Bg5 Nc6 6. O-O Be7 7. Nbd2 O-O
8. c3 h6 9. Bxf6 Bxf6 10. Qc2 Rb8 11. e4 b6 12. Rfe1 Qc7 13. Rad1 Bb7 14. Re2
Rfc8 15. exd5 exd5 16. Rde1 a6 17. Nb3 Qd6 18. Qd1 Rd8 19. d4 c4 20. Na1 a5 21.
Nc2 Ba6 22. Ne3 b5 23. Ng4 b4 24. Nxf6+ Qxf6 25. Ne5 b3 26. a3 Bb7 27. f4 Ne7
28. Ng4 Qc6 29. Rxe7 f6 30. Nxh6+ 1-0
[/pgn]
Quote: Playing CC one always has a poker face. – anonymous
Black comes slugging right from the opening bell to score this knockout.
[pgn]
[Event "16EN10"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Rossello, Charles"]
[Black "Irons, Robert"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A03"]
[WhiteElo "1877"]
[BlackElo "1865"]
[PlyCount "58"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
{NOV} 1. f4 d5 2. b3 Bg4 3. Bb2 Nc6 4. Nf3 Bxf3 5. exf3 e6 6. g3 h5 7. Qe2 h4
8. g4 Qd6 9. f5 O-O-O 10. fxe6 Re8 11. Kd1 Rxe6 12. Qf2 Qf4 13. Bd3 Bc5 14. Qf1
Nge7 15. Bxg7 Re8 16. Bb2 Nb4 17. c3 Nxd3 18. Qxd3 d4 19. c4 Nc6 20. Ba3 Bxa3
21. Nxa3 Qxh2 22. Rxh2 Re1+ 23. Kc2 Nb4+ 24. Kb2 Nxd3+ 25. Kc2 Rxa1 26. Kxd3
Rxa2 27. Nb5 Re3+ 28. Kxd4 Rxf3 29. Nc3 c5+ 0-1[/pgn]
GAMES FROM THE POLISH CLERGY
Danny Horwitz narrowly misses taking the leader down.
[pgn]
[Event "POL/CClergy2 (POL)"]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2015.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Horwitz, Daniel M"]
[Black "Brzoza, Miroslaw"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B17"]
[WhiteElo "2300"]
[BlackElo "2298"]
[PlyCount "110"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]
{NOV} 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nd7 5. Ng5 e6 6. Bd3 Ngf6 7. N1f3
h6 8. Nxe6 fxe6 9. Bg6+ Ke7 10. O-O Qc7 11. Re1 Kd8 12. c4 Bb4 13. Re2 Nf8 14.
Bd3 Bd6 15. c5 Bf4 16. Bxf4 Qxf4 17. Ne5 Nd5 18. Be4 Qf6 19. Qd2 a5 20. Rae1
Nd7 21. Ng6 Re8 22. Bxd5 Qxg6 23. Bxe6 Nf6 24. Bc4 Rxe2 25. Qxe2 Qe8 26. Qd2
Qf8 27. Qf4 a4 28. h4 Bd7 29. Re3 Kc8 30. Rf3 Qd8 31. Qg3 Qe7 32. Re3 Qf8 33.
Ra3 Ne8 34. Rf3 Qe7 35. a3 Kd8 36. Rf7 Qe1+ 37. Kh2 Be6 38. Bxe6 Qxe6 39. Qf4
Kc8 40. Rf8 b5 41. Rf7 g5 42. Qf3 Rb8 43. Ra7 Nf6 44. Ra6 Kd7 45. d5 Qe5+ 46.
g3 Rc8 47. hxg5 hxg5 48. Ra7+ Rc7 49. dxc6+ Kd8 50. Qd3+ Qd5 51. Qxb5 Qxc6 52.
Qb8+ Rc8 53. Qb6+ Qxb6 54. cxb6 Rb8 55. b7 Ke7 1/2-1/2
[/pgn]
White plays well until his pieces become possessed around move 21.
[pgn]
[Event "POL/CClergy2 (POL)"]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2015.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Schenker, Leo"]
[Black "Berthelot, Paul"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C02"]
[WhiteElo "1652"]
[BlackElo "2007"]
[PlyCount "62"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]
{NOV} 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Bb5 Bd7 6. Bxc6 bxc6 7. Be3 cxd4
8. cxd4 Ne7 9. Ne2 Nf5 10. O-O c5 11. Ng3 cxd4 12. Bxd4 Nxd4 13. Qxd4 Qb6 14.
Qxb6 axb6 15. Nd2 g6 16. a3 Bg7 17. f4 f6 18. Nf3 Ra4 19. exf6 Bxf6 {Diagram #}
20. Ne5 Rf8 21. Nxd7 Kxd7 22. Rab1 Rc8 23. Ne2 Rc2 24. Nc3 Rd4 25. Rfd1 Rxf4
26. Rxd5+ exd5 27. Nxd5 Bd4+ 28. Kh1 Rff2 29. Rd1 Rcd2 30. Nxb6+ Kd8 31. Rc1
Bxb6 0-1
[/pgn]
When White’s play on the queenside comes to a halt, Black wins on the kingside by pushing Pawns.
[pgn]
[Event "POL/CClergy2 (POL)"]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2015.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Debowski, Stanislaw"]
[Black "McCann, David"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E97"]
[WhiteElo "2356"]
[BlackElo "2022"]
[PlyCount "126"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]
{NOV} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 e5 7. O-O Nc6 8.
d5 Ne7 9. b4 Nh5 10. Re1 f5 11. Ng5 Nf6 12. Bd3 h6 13. Nf3 a5 14. b5 b6 15. Rb1
f4 16. Bb2 g5 17. Nd2 Bd7 18. Kh1 g4 19. Be2 Qe8 20. Rg1 Qg6 21. Qe1 h5 22. Ba1
Rab8 23. Rb3 Qh6 24. Na4 Ng6 25. Bd1 Nh8 26. h4 Qh7 27. Bb2 Bh6 28. Bc2 Be8 29.
Nc3 Nd7 30. Na4 Bg6 31. Bc1 Rbe8 32. Nf1 Nc5 33. Nxc5 dxc5 34. Kh2 Qe7 35. Rh1
Nf7 36. Kg1 Nd6 37. Nd2 Bg7 38. f3 g3 39. Bd3 Bf6 40. Nb1 Kg7 41. Kf1 {Diagram
#} Bxh4 42. Nc3 Bf6 43. Ne2 Rh8 44. Ng1 Nf7 45. Nh3 Ng5 46. Nxg5 Bxg5 47. Ke2
h4 48. Bb2 h3 49. gxh3 Qd7 50. Qf1 Rh4 51. Kd2 Bf6 52. Qg2 Reh8 53. Bf1 Be8 54.
Qe2 Qf7 55. Qe1 Bd7 56. Rg1 Bxh3 57. Be2 Qh5 58. Ba1 Bd7 59. Rb1 Rh2 60. Kc3
Bf5 61. Kd3 Bg6 62. Bc3 Rf2 63. Rf1 Rxf1 0-1
[/pgn]
