The September Check Is in the Mail

Johnny Owens of Radcliff, Kentucky has scored a rare double this month, tying for first at 4 ½-1 ½ with Razvan Azamfirei in Walter Muir 16W17 and winning clear first in 16W23 (which, coincidentally, saw Razvan Azamfirei finish in second place with 3 ½-2 ½).

GAME OF THE MONTH

In the following game, Owens demonstrated how the center is integrally linked with the kingside and the queenside, closing the center and the queenside to open up the center to sacrifice on the kingside to win on the queenside.

[pgn][Event "16W23 "]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2016.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Angres, Robert"]
[Black "Owens, Johnny"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D03"]
[WhiteElo "2056"]
[BlackElo "2104"]
[PlyCount "62"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]{9/17} 1. d4 e6 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bg5 {The Torre Attack is named after Carlos
Torre, possibly the strongest player ever to come from Mexico. Today it is
mostly played by players who want to avoid long theoretical battles.} c5 4. e3
Nc6 {An earlier Angres game continued 4...Be7 5. Bd3 cxd4 6. exd4 d6 7.00 in
Angres-Soricelli, 2012 John Collins with White having some pull.} 5. Nbd2 {The
Knight is better placed on c3 to meet 5, Nc3 cxd4 6. Nxd4 h6 7. Nxc6 bxc6 8.
Bf4 with about equal chances.} d5 6. c3 Be7 7. Bd3 c4 $1 {Black establishes
the queenside as the war zone. White will have to react in the center to
countebalance it.} 8. Bc2 h6 9. Bh4 b5 10. O-O O-O 11. Qe2 b4 12. e4 $1 {With
this counterthrust, White keeps chances roughly even.} Bb7 13. e5 Nd7 14. Bxe7
Qxe7 {Diagram # The board is divided into halves. White owns the kingside,
Black the queenside. White's nect move violates a fndamental axiom: play on
the side on which you have the advantage -- 15. Rfe1 and N-f1-g3} 15. a3 $6 b3
$1 16. Bd1 f6 $1 {The key to this play on the "wrong side" is the center will
beome unlocked in Black's favor.} 17. Re1 $2 {White tries to keep the center
closed, but he cannot do so. Best was 17. exf6 =/+} fxe5 18. Nxe5 Ncxe5 19.
dxe5 Nc5 {The passive position of White's pieces means ...d4 is coming.} 20.
Nf3 Nd3 21. Rf1 d4 $1 22. Qd2 {Not 22. cxd4? Rxf3! 23. gxf3 Nf4 wins} Rxf3 $1
23. Bxf3 Bxf3 24. gxf3 dxc3 25. bxc3 b2 26. Rab1 Qxa3 $1 {And with White's
kingside in ruins, disaster strikes on the other side of the board.} 27. Rfd1
Rb8 28. Qc2 a5 29. Rxd3 cxd3 30. Qxd3 a4 31. Kg2 Qb3 {Nothing will stop the
Pawn avalanche on the queenside.} 0-1[/pgn]

16W19

16W23

       AUGUST RESULTS

            Walter Muit

            Razvan Azamfirei  16W19  4 ½-1 ½

            Johnny Owens        16W19  4 ½-1 ½

            Juan Lopez              17W11  5-1

            Johnny Owens        16W23  5 ½-½

            Timothy Weil          17W04  6-0

            Paul Shannon          17W06  4½-1 ½

            Alex Strobehn         17W08  5-1

            Ronald Roberts       17W07  6-0

            Ben McGahee         17W15  5-1

            Trophy Quad

            Carlos Graupera  16Q01  6-0

            Swift Quad

            David Will      16SQ05   6-0

 

CHALLENGE ONLINE

Wanted!  A few interested players who wish to accept a challenge from the Internationally based Conrad Goodman Club.  Entry is free.  One game to be played. Computer use is allowed, and therefore the games will not be US Chess rated.  If you are interested in playing, please contact me at Click here to show email address  

"There is never enough time you could spend on a single game as long as there are ideas to try." -Ron Langeveld,  26^th World Correspondence Champion

 

GAMES !  GAMES !  GAMES !

Black demonstrates he is familiar with the fine art of the attack.

[pgn][Event "16W19 "]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2016.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Angres, Robert"]
[Black "Azamfirei, Razvan"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A45"]
[WhiteElo "2056"]
[BlackElo "2131"]
[PlyCount "54"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]{9/17} 1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5 Ne4 3. h4 c5 4. d5 Qb6 5. Qc1 c4 6. e3 e5 7. dxe6 dxe6
8. Nf3 e5 9. h5 f6 10. Bh4 g5 11. hxg6 hxg6 12. Rh2 g5 13. Bg3 Rxh2 14. Bxh2
Qc6 15. c3 Be6 16. Nbd2 Nxd2 17. Nxd2 Nd7 18. Qc2 O-O-O 19. b4 cxb3 20. axb3
Kb8 21. e4 Nc5 22. c4 Qb6 23. Rb1 g4 24. f4 Nd3+ 25. Bxd3 Qe3+ 26. Be2 g3 27.
Bxg3 Qxg3+ 0-1[/pgn]

White’s concentration of forces on the e-file is fierce.

[pgn][Event "16WM21 "]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2016.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Lopez, Juan"]
[Black "Davis, John"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C10"]
[WhiteElo "1391"]
[BlackElo "1160"]
[PlyCount "49"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]{9/17} 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nd7 5. Nf3 Ngf6 6. Bd3 c5 7. O-O
Nxe4 8. Bxe4 Nf6 9. Bd3 cxd4 10. Nxd4 Be7 11. Bf4 O-O 12. Re1 Bd7 13. h3 Rc8
14. Qd2 Nh5 15. Bh2 f5 16. Nxe6 Bxe6 17. Rxe6 Nf6 18. Rd1 Nd5 19. c3 Kh8 20.
Bb1 Nc7 21. Bxc7 Qxc7 22. Qe1 Rce8 23. Rd5 Qf4 24. Rde5 Kg8 25. Rxe7 1-0[/pgn]

Black has to pay an exchange to rescue his Queen.

[pgn][Event "17W07"]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2017.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Roberts, Ronald"]
[Black "Acosta, Errol"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D53"]
[WhiteElo "1214"]
[BlackElo "1191"]
[PlyCount "91"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]{9/17} 1. d4 e6 2. c4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Nc6 5. e3 Be7 6. Nf3 O-O 7. Bd3 Ne4
8. Nxe4 dxe4 9. Bxe7 Qxe7 10. Bxe4 Qb4+ 11. Nd2 Qxb2 12. O-O Qa3 13. c5 Qa6 14.
Nf3 Ne7 15. Ne5 f6 16. Bd3 Qa3 17. Nc4 Qa6 {Diagram #} 18. Nb6 Qa3 19. Nxa8 Qa5
20. Nxc7 Qxc7 21. f4 f5 22. Rf3 b6 23. cxb6 axb6 24. Rh3 Bb7 25. Be2 Nd5 26.
Rc1 Qd6 27. Bf3 Nxe3 28. Qd2 Bxf3 29. Rxf3 Nd5 30. g3 b5 31. Rb3 Qd7 32. Qa5
Rb8 33. Rc5 h6 34. Rcxb5 Rxb5 35. Qxb5 Qe7 36. Qb7 Qf6 37. Qb8+ Kh7 38. Qe5 Qe7
39. Rb5 Qd7 40. Rb3 Qa4 41. Rf3 Qxa2 42. Qxe6 Qa1+ 43. Kg2 Qxd4 44. Qxf5+ Kg8
45. Kh3 Ne3 46. Qe6+ 1-0[/pgn]

White loses a Pawn, then a second, then a third, and then the game.

[pgn][Event "17W04"]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2017.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Arnold, Eric"]
[Black "Weil, Timothy"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "1894"]
[BlackElo "1938"]
[PlyCount "86"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]{9/17} 1. c4 e5 2. g3 c6 3. d4 Bb4+ 4. Bd2 Bxd2+ 5. Nxd2 exd4 6. Ngf3 c5 7. Ne4
d6 8. Bg2 Nc6 9. O-O Nf6 10. Nxf6+ Qxf6 11. e3 dxe3 12. fxe3 Qe7 13. Qb3 O-O
14. a3 Re8 15. Qa4 Qxe3+ 16. Kh1 Bd7 17. Rae1 Qh6 18. Qb5 b6 19. Qa6 Rxe1 20.
Rxe1 Re8 21. Qb7 Rxe1+ 22. Nxe1 Qe3 {Diagram #} 23. Qa8+ Qe8 24. Qxe8+ Bxe8 25.
Nd3 Ne5 26. Nxe5 dxe5 27. Be4 g6 28. Kg2 f5 29. Bb7 Kf7 30. Kf3 Kf6 31. h4 Bf7
32. b3 e4+ 33. Kf4 h6 34. g4 g5+ 35. hxg5+ hxg5+ 36. Ke3 f4+ 37. Kxe4 Be6 38.
Kf3 Ke5 39. Bc6 Kd4 40. a4 Kc3 41. Be4 Kxb3 42. Bd5 Bc8 43. Kf2 Bxg4 0-1[/pgn]

Two bishops or not two bishops, that is the question.  Paul Shannon gives the answer.

[pgn][Event "17W06"]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2017.03.17"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Shannon, Paul"]
[Black "Hall, Gregory"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D15"]
[WhiteElo "1934"]
[PlyCount "81"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]{9/17} 1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 Nf6 3. c4 c6 4. Nc3 a6 5. a4 e6 6. Bg5 a5 7. e3 Be7 8.
Be2 Na6 9. O-O O-O 10. c5 Nd7 11. Bf4 Nf6 12. h3 b6 13. cxb6 Qxb6 14. Qd2 Bb4
15. Qc2 c5 16. Nb5 c4 17. Ne5 Bd7 18. Nxd7 Nxd7 19. b3 cxb3 20. Qxb3 Rac8 21.
Rac1 Rc6 22. Rc2 Rfc8 23. Rfc1 Rxc2 24. Rxc2 Rxc2 25. Qxc2 Qb7 26. Nd6 Bxd6 27.
Bxd6 Nb4 28. Qc7 Qxc7 29. Bxc7 Nc6 30. Bb5 Ndb8 31. f3 f6 32. Kf2 Kf7 33. h4 h6
34. h5 f5 35. Kg3 Ke7 36. Kf4 Kf6 37. g4 g5+ 38. hxg6 Kxg6 39. gxf5+ exf5 40.
Bd3 Na6 41. Bxa6 1-0[/pgn]

Queen + Bishop can be a powerful attacking tool in the endgame.

[pgn][Event "17W15"]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2017.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "McGahee, Ben"]
[Black "Stone, David"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "1486"]
[BlackElo "1699"]
[PlyCount "71"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]{9/17} 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Nf6 3. Nf3 Nxd5 4. Be2 e6 5. O-O Be7 6. d4 O-O 7. c4
Nf6 8. Nc3 Nbd7 9. Be3 a6 10. Qc2 h6 11. Rac1 c6 12. Rfd1 Qc7 13. d5 Ne5 14.
Nxe5 Qxe5 15. dxc6 bxc6 16. Bf3 Bc5 17. Bxc5 Qxc5 18. Ne4 Nxe4 19. Bxe4 Bb7 20.
a3 Rad8 21. b4 Qg5 22. a4 f5 23. Bf3 Rxd1+ 24. Rxd1 Rd8 25. b5 axb5 26. cxb5
Rxd1+ 27. Qxd1 cxb5 28. Bxb7 bxa4 29. g3 f4 30. Qxa4 fxg3 31. Qe8+ Kh7 32. Be4+
g6 33. Qf7+ Kh8 34. hxg3 Qg4 35. Bxg6 Qd1+ 36. Kh2 1-0[/pgn]

White’s error on move 32 proves fatal.

[pgn][Event "17W08 "]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2017.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Baer, Steve"]
[Black "Strobehn, Alex"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C50"]
[WhiteElo "1321"]
[BlackElo "1299"]
[PlyCount "112"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]{9/17} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Be7 5. Bc4 Nf6 6. Nc3 O-O 7. O-O
Bd7 8. Re1 Nc6 9. Nf5 Bxf5 10. exf5 h6 11. Re2 Nh7 12. Qe1 Bg5 13. Bxg5 Qxg5
14. Bd3 Ne5 15. Be4 Nf6 16. Kh1 Rab8 17. Rd1 a6 18. f3 Nxe4 19. fxe4 Rfd8 20.
Nd5 c6 21. Ne3 Qf4 22. Qb4 Ng4 23. Nxg4 Qxg4 24. Ree1 d5 25. Kg1 dxe4 26. Rxd8+
Rxd8 27. Qxe4 Qxe4 28. Rxe4 Kf8 29. Kf2 Rd2+ 30. Re2 Rd5 31. g4 h5 {Diagram #}
32. gxh5 Rxf5+ 33. Kg3 Rxh5 34. Rd2 Rb5 35. b3 Rd5 36. Re2 g6 37. c4 Rd7 38.
Rf2 Kg7 39. h4 b5 40. Rc2 Rd6 41. c5 Rd3+ 42. Kg2 f5 43. b4 Rd4 44. Re2 Kf6 45.
Kg3 Rxb4 46. Rd2 Ra4 47. Rd6+ Kg7 48. Rxc6 Rxa2 49. Rc8 a5 50. c6 Rc2 51. Ra8
a4 52. Rc8 b4 53. c7 a3 54. Rb8 a2 55. c8=Q Rxc8 56. Rxc8 a1=Q 0-1[/pgn]

Just a feint to the left, and Black soon collapses.

[pgn][Event "16Q01"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Graupera, Carlos"]
[Black "Acosta, Errol"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C02"]
[WhiteElo "1179"]
[BlackElo "1266"]
[PlyCount "45"]
[EventDate "2012.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]{9/17} 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nf3 f6 6. Bd3 cxd4 7. cxd4 g6 8.
O-O Bg7 9. Re1 Kf7 10. Nc3 a6 11. exf6 Bxf6 12. Ne5+ Kg7 13. Qg4 Nxe5 14. dxe5
Be7 15. Bd2 Qe8 16. h4 h5 17. Qg3 Nh6 18. Rac1 Qf7 {Diagram #} 19. Na4 Nf5 20.
Bxf5 Qxf5 21. Rc7 Qf8 22. Qg5 Qf7 23. Rxe7 1-0[/pgn]

White survives a difficult middlegame, wins a pawn, and hangs on to win the endgame.  A familiar story?

[pgn][Event "16SQ03"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.08.23"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Will, David"]
[Black "Jones, Casey"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B21"]
[PlyCount "69"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]{9/17} 1. e4 c5 2. f4 d5 3. exd5 Nf6 4. Nf3 Nxd5 5. Bb5+ Bd7 6. Bxd7+ Nxd7 7.
d3 e6 8. O-O Bd6 9. g3 O-O 10. c4 N5b6 11. Nc3 e5 12. fxe5 Nxe5 13. Ne4 f5 14.
Nxd6 Qxd6 15. Bf4 Nxf3+ 16. Qxf3 Qd4+ 17. Kh1 Rae8 18. b3 h6 19. Rae1 Qb2 20.
Rxe8 Rxe8 21. Rf2 Qa1+ 22. Kg2 Qe1 23. Bd6 Nd7 24. Qxf5 Qe6 25. Qxe6+ Rxe6 26.
Bf4 {Diagram #} Kh7 27. g4 Rf6 28. Bg3 Rxf2+ 29. Kxf2 Nf6 30. h3 Nd7 31. Ke3 g5
32. d4 Kg6 33. dxc5 Nxc5 34. b4 Na4 35. Be5 1-0[/pgn]