The February Check Is in the Mail

In addition to the 2008 and 2009 Electronic Knights Championships and the 2013 Absolute Tournament and the ICCM title, Wilbur Tseng has now annexed the 2009 Golden Knights Championship, ceding only two draws in his qualifying section and winning his finals section with a perfect 6-0 score.

GAME OF THE MONTH

In this game from Tseng’s 6-0 sweep of the 2009 Golden Knights Finals, Tseng demonstrates how proper technique can bring in the full point against strong opposition.

[pgn][Event "09Nf03"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2009.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Zeppa, A. J."]
[Black "Tseng, Wilbur"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B32"]
[WhiteElo "2213"]
[BlackElo "2403"]
[PlyCount "80"]
[EventDate "2009.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]

{FEB} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 e5 5. Nf3 {This move does not
have a very good reputation. In connection with White's next play, it may be
an attempt by Zeppa to take Tseng out of book. The standard move in this
position is 5. Nb5 which is still being explored.} Nf6 6. Bd3 {What else?
After 6. Bc4 Nxe4 7. Qd5 Nd6 8. Nb3 f6, Black was on the plus side of equality.
} Bc5 7. Nc3 Bb4 {A remarkable choice, forgoing the natural 7...00 in favor of
this tempo-losing reply. Nevertheless, the position remains roughly equal.} 8.
Bd2 d5 {With this Pawn push comes an explosion of pieces being exchanged in
the center leading to an even endgame -- possibly.} 9. exd5 Nxd5 10. Nxd5 Qxd5
11. Bxb4 Nxb4 12. a3 Nxd3+ 13. Qxd3 Qxd3 14. cxd3 {Diagram #} O-O {This is
correct. The Black King is needed on the kingside, The long-range Bishop will
work with the Rooks to fight for the advantage.} 15. O-O $6 {What is sauce for
the goose is not alweayts sauce for the gander. The White King needs to stay
in the center to support the short-ranged Knight and secure the wqeakness on
d3. By hiding the King on the kingside away from the field of battle, White's
position begins to crumble.} f6 16. Rfe1 {A better fighting chance lay in 16.
Rac1} Rd8 17. d4 exd4 18. Rad1 Bg4 19. Rd3 $2 {White needs to accept weakened
kingside Pawns in exchange for the superior Bishop -- 19. Rxd4 Bxf3 20. Rxd8+
Rxd8 21. gxf3 Kf7 22. Rc1 Rd7 23. Kf1 Ke6 24. Ke2 offers fair drawing chances.}
Bxf3 20. Rxf3 Rac8 21. Rd3 Rc2 22. b4 Kf7 23. g3 Rc3 24. Rxc3 dxc3 25. Kg2 {
Black has a winning procedure mapped out after 25. Rc1 Rc8 26. Kf1 Ke6 27. Ke2
Kf5! headed toward e4 or g4 28. f3 Ke5 29. Kd3 c2! 30. Rxc2 Rxc2 31. Kxc2 Kd4
! 32. Kd2 b5! and Black wins the ending..} Rd3 $1 {Tseng efficiently wraps
things up. Sound technique saves postage !} 26. Kf1 c2 27. Ke2 Rxa3 28. Kd2 Rf3
29. Rf1 Rb3 30. Kxc2 Rxb4 31. Ra1 a6 32. h3 Rb6 33. Kc3 Ke6 34. Ra2 Rc6+ 35.
Kb4 b5 36. h4 Kf5 37. Rd2 Rc4+ 38. Kb3 a5 39. Rd7 a4+ 40. Kb2 Rb4+ 0-1[/pgn]

On Move 36, the White Rook enters b4 and it is imprisoned there for the rest of the game.

[pgn][Event "2009 Golden Knights Final"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Wilson, Abe"]
[Black "Zeppa, A.J.."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C87"]
[PlyCount "100"]1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 O-O 7. Bxc6 dxc6 8.
Nxe5 Re8 9. Nf3 Bg4 10. h3 Bh5 11. d3 h6 12. Be3 Nd7 13. Nbd2 Bd6 14. a4 Qf6
15. Bd4 Qxd4 16. Nxd4 Bxd1 17. Rexd1 c5 18. Nf5 Bf4 19. Nc4 g6 20. Nfe3 Bxe3
21. Nxe3 Rad8 22. a5 Kg7 23. Ra3 Nf8 24. g3 h5 25. h4 Ne6 26. Kg2 Rd4 27. f4
Rb4 28. Rb1 Rd8 29. f5 gxf5 30. exf5 Nf8 31. c3 Rb5 32. c4 Rb4 33. Nd5 Nd7 34.
Nxb4 cxb4 35. Ra4 Nc5 36. Rxb4 Rxd3 37. Re1 Rd2+ 38. Kf3 Rd3+ 39. Re3 Rd8 40.
Re7 Rc8 41. g4 Kf6 42. Re3 hxg4+ 43. Kxg4 Rg8+ 44. Kf4 Rg1 45. Rg3 Rd1 46. Kf3
Rd4 47. Rg4 Rd3+ 48. Kf2 Rd2+ 49. Kg3 Rd3+ 50. Kh2 Rd2+ 1/2-1/2[/pgn]

2009  FINAL STANDINGS

Wilbur Tseng       42.40

Spencer Kell       39.45

James Vaughan      37.35

Laurence Bonsack     35.75

Paul Boymel       35.65

Daniel Woodard       33.90

James Tracz        33.40

Gary Adams      33.35

Bradley Rogers      30.00

David Hammel      29.65

Robert Boles      28.40

Abe Wilson     28.25

James Rhodes       27.75

John Coulter      26.65

Eric Godin       25.65

J. Zeppa     25.50

William Clark      24.40

Rafael Camacho     23.90

J. Zeppa      23.90

Lee Kemfort       14.40

JANUARY  RESULTS

John Collins

Scott Sensiba      15C06    4-2

John Ellison      15C96    4-2

Thomas Pippin      15C06    4-2

Philip DeAugustino     15C02 5-1

Joshua Kuzmen       14C11    4-2

Alphonso Zenoh      16C03    4-2

Joseph Nadworny      16C03    4-2

Walter Muir

Patrick Walsh      16W27   5-1

Joe Nolte      16W15   6-0

Andrew Leonard      16W22  6-0

Thomas Kirk      16W28  5 ½- ½

Swift Quad

Allan Ong      15SQ07   5-1

Jake Garcia      15SQ07  5-1

Paul Castle      15SQ08  5-1

"Years later I woke up dreaming that I was defending my title but not having enough time for the analysis and therefore making mistakes." –Hans Berliner, 5^th World CC Champion

OBITUARY

Alphonso Zenoh of Topeka, Kansas, has died.  Alphonso was born October 9, 1958.  He was an enthusiastic correspondence chess player completing over 200 games in his US Chess CC career.  Alphonso was known for his disdain of material on the board.

[pgn][Event "14Q06"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2014.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Acosta, Errol"]
[Black "Zenoh, Alphonso"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C30"]
[WhiteElo "1154"]
[BlackElo "1184"]
[PlyCount "53"]
[EventDate "2014.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]{FEB} 1. e4 e5 2. f4 Nc6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 a6 5. Bc4 d5 6. Nxd5 Bg4 7. d4 exd4
8. Nxf6+ Qxf6 9. O-O b5 10. Bxb5 axb5 11. e5 Qf5 12. Qe2 Rb8 13. h3 Bxh3 14.
gxh3 Qh5 15. Qg2 h6 16. Kh2 g5 17. f5 Ne7 18. Nxd4 Rb6 19. Qa8+ Kd7 20. e6+
fxe6 21. fxe6+ Kd6 22. Qd8+ Kc5 23. b4+ Kc4 24. Qxc7+ Rc6 25. Qg3 Kxd4 26. Bb2+
Ke4 27. Qe5# 1-0[/pgn]

HANS BERLINER   1929-2017

Hans Berliner, born January 27, 1929, died January 13, 2017.  Hans Berliner was the Fifth World Correspondence Chess Champion.  His record in correspondence play, both national and international, was unsurpassed.  He won the 1955, 1956, and 1959  Golden Knights championship with a perfect 18-0 score each time.  He then won the Fifth World Correspondence Championship finishing three points ahead of the field, ceding only four draws.   His overall record in CC play was +91 =13 -3, two of the losses and five draws coming 40 years after he retired from CC play.  In 1990 he was initiated into the US Chess Hall of Fame, the first correspondence player to be so honored. His book The System was an attempt to merge machine logic with human to explain choices and  planning in chess. Hans also worked developing chess playing  computers.  In 1985 he developed HiTech which quickly became Senor Master strength, and was the first computer to defeat a Grandmaster, Arnold Denker, in a match. Hans was an over-the-board International Master and played in several United States Championships. In Andy Soltis’ book The 100 Best Chess Games of the 20^th Century  Berliner’s game against Jakov Estrin was ranked as the number one best game.

[pgn][Event "5 World Chmpshp"]
[Site "corr ICCF"]
[Date "1965.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Estrin, Yakov"]
[Black "Berliner, Hans"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C57"]
[PlyCount "84"]
[EventDate "1965.??.??"]
[EventType "corr"]
[Source "Chess Mail"]
[SourceDate "2001.03.30"]1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5 5. exd5 b5 6. Bf1 Nd4 7. c3 Nxd5 8.
Ne4 Qh4 9. Ng3 Bg4 10. f3 e4 11. cxd4 Bd6 12. Bxb5+ Kd8 13. O-O exf3 14. Rxf3
Rb8 15. Be2 Bxf3 16. Bxf3 Qxd4+ 17. Kh1 Bxg3 18. hxg3 Rb6 19. d3 Ne3 20. Bxe3
Qxe3 21. Bg4 h5 22. Bh3 g5 23. Nd2 g4 24. Nc4 Qxg3 25. Nxb6 gxh3 26. Qf3 hxg2+
27. Qxg2 Qxg2+ 28. Kxg2 cxb6 29. Rf1 Ke7 30. Re1+ Kd6 31. Rf1 Rc8 32. Rxf7 Rc7
33. Rf2 Ke5 34. a4 Kd4 35. a5 Kxd3 36. Rf3+ Kc2 37. b4 b5 38. a6 Rc4 39. Rf7
Rxb4 40. Rb7 Rg4+ 41. Kf3 b4 42. Rxa7 b3 0-1[/pgn]

2009 GOLDEN KNIGHTS GAMES

Excitement excitement excitement

[pgn][Event "09Nf01"]
[Site "http://gameknot.com/"]
[Date "2009.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Kell, Spencer"]
[Black "Clark, William"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B12"]
[PlyCount "75"]
[EventDate "2012.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]{FEB} 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Nf3 e6 5. Be2 Ne7 6. O-O h6 7. Nbd2 Bg6 8.
Nb3 Nd7 9. Bd2 Nf5 10. Rc1 a5 11. a4 Qb6 12. g4 Ne7 13. Nh4 Be4 14. f3 Bh7 15.
f4 Be4 16. Bf3 g5 17. Ng2 gxf4 18. Bxe4 dxe4 19. Nxf4 Nxe5 20. Kh1 Nc4 21. Qe2
Nd6 22. Nc5 Qxb2 23. Nh5 Nd5 24. c4 Nxc4 25. Rxc4 e3 26. Qf3 O-O-O 27. Bxe3 Qa2
28. Qxf7 Bxc5 29. Qxe6+ Rd7 30. Rxc5 Qe2 31. Rxc6+ bxc6 32. Qxc6+ Kd8 33. Ng3
Qxe3 34. Qa8+ Kc7 35. Qxh8 Nb6 36. Qe5+ Qxe5 37. dxe5 Rd4 38. e6 1-0[/pgn]

White’s 22^nd move proves fatal.

[pgn][Event "09N10"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2009.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Lilien, Elliot"]
[Black "Tseng, Wilbur"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D46"]
[WhiteElo "2107"]
[BlackElo "2041"]
[PlyCount "66"]
[EventDate "2009.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]{FEB} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Qc2 Bd6 7. Be2 dxc4
8. Bxc4 b5 9. Bd3 Bb7 10. O-O O-O 11. e4 e5 12. dxe5 Nxe5 13. Nxe5 Bxe5 14. h3
b4 15. Ne2 c5 16. f3 Rc8 17. Bc4 Nd7 18. Rd1 Qe7 19. f4 Bd4+ 20. Nxd4 cxd4 21.
Rxd4 Nb6 22. e5 Rfd8 23. Rxd8+ Qxd8 24. Bxf7+ Kxf7 25. Qe2 Qd5 26. Be3 Qe4 27.
Re1 Rc2 28. Qh5+ Qg6 29. e6+ Ke8 30. Qxg6+ hxg6 31. Bd4 Rxg2+ 32. Kf1 Nc4 33.
Rd1 Nd2+ {adjudicated 0-1} 0-1[/pgn]

A fight to the bitter end…

[pgn][Event "09Nf01"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2009.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Kell, Spencer"]
[Black "Woodard, Daniel"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B01"]
[PlyCount "127"]
[EventDate "2009.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]{FEB} 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Nf6 3. Nf3 Qxd5 4. Nc3 Qd6 5. d4 a6 6. g3 Bf5 7. Bg2 c6
8. O-O h6 9. Na4 Qd8 10. Nc5 Qc8 11. Ne5 e6 12. Nc4 Nbd7 13. Bf4 Nxc5 14. dxc5
Qd7 15. Bd6 Bxd6 16. Nxd6+ Kf8 17. Qe2 Qc7 18. Rad1 Kg8 19. Rd4 Bg6 20. h4 h5
21. Rfd1 Kh7 22. c4 Rhd8 23. b4 Qe7 24. a4 Kg8 25. b5 axb5 26. cxb5 Nd5 27.
Bxd5 cxd5 28. Rxd5 Qc7 29. Re5 Rxa4 30. b6 Qd7 31. Qf3 Ra2 32. Ree1 Rb8 33. Rc1
Kh7 34. Red1 e5 35. Qd5 Qe6 36. Qxe6 fxe6 37. Rc3 Rb2 38. Rf1 Kg8 39. Ra1 Rf8
40. f3 Be8 41. Nc4 Re2 42. Kf1 Rh2 43. Ra8 e4 {Diagram #} 44. Nd6 Bb5+ 45. Kg1
Rxa8 46. Kxh2 Ra2+ 47. Kg1 Ba4 48. fxe4 Bc6 49. Nxb7 Bxb7 50. c6 Bxc6 51. Rxc6
Kf7 52. e5 Rb2 53. Rc7+ Kg6 54. b7 Kf5 55. Rxg7 Kxe5 56. Rf7 Kd5 57. g4 Rb1+
58. Kf2 Rb2+ 59. Ke1 Rb1+ 60. Kd2 hxg4 61. Ke2 Rb2+ 62. Kf1 Rb1+ 63. Kf2 e5 64.
h5 1-0[/pgn]

White’s King, alone and besieged, cannot resist the combined force of Black’s Rook and two Bishops.

[pgn][Event "09Nf03"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2009.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Wilson, Abe"]
[Black "Tseng, Wilbur"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C13"]
[PlyCount "88"]
[EventDate "2009.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]{FEB} 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 dxe4 5. Nxe4 Be7 6. Bxf6 gxf6 7. Nf3
f5 8. Nc3 Qd6 9. Qd2 a6 10. O-O-O b5 11. Qe3 b4 12. Na4 Nd7 13. Ne5 Qd5 14. b3
Qe4 15. Qg3 Nxe5 16. dxe5 Bb7 17. f3 Qe3+ 18. Kb1 h5 19. h4 Rh6 20. Nb2 Rg6 21.
Qh2 Rd8 22. Rxd8+ Kxd8 23. Nd3 a5 24. Qf4 Bc5 25. a3 bxa3 26. Ka2 Rg8 27. Qxe3
Bxe3 28. Kxa3 Bd4 29. Ka4 c5 30. b4 axb4 31. Kb5 Ke7 32. Nxc5 Bd5 33. Kxb4 Rc8
34. Nd3 Rb8+ 35. Ka4 Bc3 36. Nf2 Rb4+ 37. Ka5 Bc6 {Diagram #} 38. Nd1 Rxh4+ 39.
Nxc3 Rxh1 40. Be2 Rg1 41. Nb5 Bxb5 42. Bxb5 Rxg2 43. Ka4 h4 44. Bf1 Rf2 0-1[/pgn]