The May Check is in the Mail

2014 John Collins to David McCann David McCann learned chess from his father and played in his first OTB tournament at age 11.  Due to the demands of ministry he began playing correspondence chess in the late 1980’s.  He took a break from chess for several years while coaching his three oldest children in soccer. He returned to chess about ten years ago when his youngest son started getting interested in scholastic chess.   David found the most difficult part of getting back into chess was the change in opening theory. He annotates a key Caro-Kann game from the event below. 14C08

McCann	2117		1½	1½	11	5
Babcock	2204	0½		10	11	3½
Ott	2121	0½	01		11	3½
Strand	2021	00	00	00		0

 

[pgn] [Event "14C08"] [Site "?"] [Date "2014.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Babcock, Thomas"] [Black "McCann, David"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B19"] [WhiteElo "2204"] [BlackElo "2117"] [PlyCount "74"] [EventDate "2014.??.??"] [SourceDate "2005.04.21"] 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bf5 5. Ng3 Bg6 6. Nf3 Nd7 7. h4 h6 8. h5 Bh7 9. Bd3 Bxd3 10. Qxd3 e6 11. Bd2 Ngf6 12. O-O-O Be7 13. Ne4 {In August 2015, in an OTB game against IM Max Comejo, IM Comejo played 13. Kb1 agaiinst me. 13 Kb1 was later played in Granddelisu-Navara, Reykjavik in November 2015.} O-O 14. Nxf6+ Nxf6 15. Qe2 {15. Ne5 is a more popular alternative.} Qd5 16. c4 Qe4 17. Rde1 $6 {This move was played before, in 1992. I don't like it though. I think White has the better game with 17. Qxe4 Nxe4 18. Be3. After the text move I prefer Black's position.} Qxe2 18. Rxe2 Rfd8 { Now we see the problem with White's seventeenth move. Black has seized the initiative and White is in a positin of simply responding to Black's developing threats.} 19. Bc3 Bf8 {Removing the Bishop from danger in the soon to be opened e-file.} 20. Ne5 Rac8 21. g4 b5 22. b3 bxc4 23. bxc4 c5 24. dxc5 Rxc5 25. f3 $6 {I do not like this move, but White;s game is already difficult. Perhaps 25. Rd1 may be a better try when play could continue 25...Nd5 26. Re3. Black still has a slight advantage, but there is still a lot of play left in the position.} Nd5 $5 {This was the only move I coudfind in the position that would allow me to continue pushing my advantage. Even after lengthy analysis I was not sure that it was the correct way to proceed, but the other alternatives that I considered -- 25...Bd6 and 25...Rdc8 -- seemed to allow White to hold the position. After the game concluded, I put this position in the computer, Komodo 9.1, and the computer liked the move but gave 25....Bd6 as an almost equal alternative.} 26. cxd5 Rxc3+ 27. Kb2 Rdc8 {Now Black has a mate threat beginning with ...Ba3+} 28. Nc6 {I must admit that in my analysis I had not given much attention to this move. Imstead my analysis was focused more on 26. Ree1, which is inferior, and 28. a4, which may have been a slightly better attempt by White to hold the position. In all these lines, though, White ends up losing a Pawn.} Rxf3 29. dxe6 Rxc6 30. e7 Bxe7 31. Rxe7 Rf2+ 32. Kb3 a5 {This move not only protects the a-Pawn but sets up a mating et with Rf4-b4+ and Rc3 mate} 33. Rd1 Rf4 34. Rd8+ {White uses the check move to set up a position with his own mating threat while stopping Black's immediate mate threat.} Kh7 35. Rb8 Rc1 36. Kb2 {36. Ree8 is no better. After 36. ...Rb1+ 37. Kc2 Rxb8 38. Rxb8 Rxg4 and White's position is hopelessly lost. } Rg1 37. Ree8 Rg2+ {And White's kingside Pawns will soon fall so he resigned.} 0-1[/pgn]

Quote:  I also use the ChessBase MegaDatabase and the Playchess game database but ONLY for getting new ideas --human games are just too unreliable.     --  Leonardo  Ljubicic, 28^th World Correspondence Chess Champion MORROW MAKES SENIOR IM TITLE Wolff Morrow has earned his Senior International Master title.  A graphic artist and computer technician from Denton, Texas, Wolff has set a few world records playing video games.  He has now earned a Senior International Master title by playing games like the following: SEMI-SLAV DEFENSE (D43)

[pgn] [Event "WC39/sf08"] [Site "ICCF"] [Date "2015.06.20"] [Round "?"] [White "Morrow, Wolff"] [Black "Tiemann, Hagen"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D43"] [WhiteElo "2455"] [BlackElo "2362"] [PlyCount "49"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] [SourceDate "2005.04.21"] 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. d4 d5 3. c4 c6 4. Nc3 e6 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 dxc4 7. e4 g5 8. Bg3 b5 9. h4 g4 10. Ne5 Bb4 11. Be2 Nxe4 12. O-O Bxc3 13. bxc3 h5 (13... Nxc3 14. Qc2 Nxe2+ 15. Qxe2 h5 16. f3) 14. Qc2 Nxg3 15. fxg3 f5 16. a4 a6 17. Qd2 Ra7 18. Rab1 Rb7 19. Qe3 Qc7 20. Bxc4 bxc4 21. Qg5 Qe7 22. Qg6+ Kf8 23. Rxb7 Bxb7 24. Rb1 Rh7 25. a5 1-0[/pgn]

13C24    WON BY JAMES VAUGHAN James Vaughan of Troy, Ohio won the 13C24 John Collins. TROMPOWSY ATTACK (D00)

[pgn] [Event "13C24"] [Site "?"] [Date "2013.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Angres, Robert"] [Black "Vaughan, James"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D00"] [WhiteElo "2054"] [BlackElo "2250"] [PlyCount "80"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [SourceDate "2005.04.21"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5 d5 3. Bxf6 exf6 4. e3 Bd6 5. c4 dxc4 6. Bxc4 O-O 7. Nc3 c5 8. dxc5 Be5 9. Nge2 Qa5 10. O-O Qxc5 11. Qb3 Nc6 12. Bd5 Nb4 13. Rac1 Bg4 14. Rfd1 Nxd5 15. Nxd5 Qa5 16. f3 Be6 17. Nec3 Rad8 18. e4 Rd7 19. Qc4 f5 20. a3 fxe4 21. fxe4 Rfd8 22. Qe2 Bxc3 23. Nxc3 Qg5 24. Rxd7 Rxd7 25. Rb1 Rd2 26. Qf3 Qc5+ 27. Kh1 h6 28. h3 Qc4 29. Qe3 Rc2 30. Kg1 b5 31. e5 a5 32. Rd1 Rxb2 33. Rd8+ Kh7 34. Qd3+ Qxd3 35. Rxd3 Rb3 36. Rf3 Rxa3 37. Nxb5 Rxf3 38. gxf3 Kg6 39. Kg2 Kf5 40. Nd4+ Kf4 0-1[/pgn]

13C24

Vaughan	2250		1F	11	11	5-1
Soricelli	2204	01		½0	11	3 ½
Angres	2054	00	½1		11	3 ½
Hayward	2007	FF	0F	FF		0-6

APRIL RESULTS John Collins James Vaughan  13C24   5-1 Wayne Wisdom  15C11  6-0 Tim Rutledge      14C14  5 ½-½ Walter Muir David Wright    15W35  4-2 Marton Forbush 15W22  6-0 Fletcher Penney 15W15  5-1 Rufus Williams  15W40 5-1 Swift Quad James Yonkers    15SQ12  4-2 David Stone    15SQ12   4-2 James Van Dooren gives a dissertation: How to play against a bad Bishop SICILIAN DEFENSE (B50)

[pgn] [Event "16EN03"] [Site "?"] [Date "2016.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Hall, Jay"] [Black "Van Dooren, James"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B50"] [WhiteElo "1667"] [BlackElo "2194"] [PlyCount "92"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] [SourceDate "2005.04.21"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. c3 Nf6 4. d3 Nc6 5. Be2 Bd7 6. O-O e5 7. Na3 Be7 8. Bg5 O-O 9. Nc4 Be6 10. Qc2 b5 11. Ne3 Rb8 12. b3 b4 13. c4 Ng4 14. Bxe7 Nxe3 15. Bxd8 Nxc2 16. Bc7 Nxa1 17. Rxa1 Rbd8 18. Bxd8 Rxd8 19. a3 a5 20. axb4 axb4 21. g3 Bg4 22. Kg2 h5 23. h3 Bxf3+ 24. Bxf3 Nd4 25. Bd1 g6 26. f3 h4 27. gxh4 Ne6 28. Kg3 Nf4 29. Bc2 Kg7 30. Ra7 Rh8 31. Kg4 g5 32. Kxg5 Rh5+ 33. Kg4 Rh6 34. h5 Rxh5 35. h4 Rh6 36. h5 Rxh5 37. Ra2 Rh1 38. Kg3 Kf6 39. Kf2 Kg5 40. Ke3 Ne6 41. Rb2 Nd4 42. Bb1 Kh4 43. Ba2 Kg3 44. Bb1 Rd1 45. Ba2 Re1+ 46. Kd2 Nxf3+ 0-1[/pgn]

Paging Harry Houdini  – joy riding to victory, White errs on Move 29 and allows Black to engineer a miraculous escape. DUTCH DEFENSE (A92)

[pgn] [Event "14C08"] [Site "USCF"] [Date "2015.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "McCann, David"] [Black "Babcock, Thomas"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A92"] [WhiteElo "2117"] [BlackElo "2204"] [PlyCount "68"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] [SourceDate "2005.04.21"] 1. d4 f5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. g3 e6 4. Bg2 d5 5. O-O c6 6. c4 Be7 7. Nbd2 O-O 8. Ne5 Nbd7 9. Nd3 Qe8 10. Nf3 Bd6 11. Qc2 a5 12. Bf4 Bxf4 13. Nxf4 Ne4 14. Nd3 Rf6 15. Rad1 Rh6 16. Nde5 Qh5 17. h4 g5 18. Nxd7 Bxd7 19. Ne5 gxh4 20. g4 fxg4 21. Bxe4 Be8 22. cxd5 exd5 23. Bf5 g3 24. Bg4 Qg5 25. Qd2 Qg7 26. fxg3 hxg3 27. Rf3 Kh8 28. Rdf1 Bg6 29. Nf7+ Bxf7 30. Rxf7 Rh1+ 31. Kxh1 g2+ 32. Kxg2 Qxg4+ 33. Kf2 Qh4+ 34. Ke3 Qe4+ 1/2-1/2[/pgn]

White has a winning game plan:  accept all of Black’s sacrifices and then sacrifice some of it back SICILIAN DEFENSE (B92) Black plays control chess and wins a neat endgame. NIMZOVICH DEFENSE (B00)

[pgn] [Event "13EN06"] [Site "?"] [Date "2013.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Pedersen, Roger"] [Black "Buss, Michael"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B00"] [WhiteElo "2009"] [BlackElo "2414"] [PlyCount "110"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [SourceDate "2005.04.21"] 1. e4 Nc6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 f6 4. f4 Nh6 5. c3 Bg4 6. Nf3 Qd7 7. Bd3 e6 8. O-O Be7 9. b4 O-O 10. b5 Na5 11. exf6 gxf6 12. Ba3 Rae8 13. Bxe7 Rxe7 14. Nbd2 Bf5 15. Qe2 Bxd3 16. Qxd3 Nf5 17. g3 c6 18. bxc6 Qxc6 19. Rfe1 Nd6 20. Re2 Qb5 21. Qxb5 Nxb5 22. Rae1 Nxc3 23. Re3 Nb5 24. Rxe6 Rxe6 25. Rxe6 Kf7 26. Re1 Rc8 27. a4 Nc3 28. Ra1 b6 29. Kf2 Nc4 30. Nxc4 Rxc4 31. a5 Ne4+ 32. Ke3 b5 33. Ra3 Rc2 34. a6 Rb2 35. f5 Nd6 36. Kf4 b4 37. Rd3 Rb1 38. Re3 Nc4 39. Rd3 b3 40. Nd2 Rd1 41. Rxb3 Rxd2 42. Rb7+ Ke8 43. Rxa7 Rxd4+ 44. Kf3 Ne5+ 45. Ke3 Ra4 46. Ra8+ Kd7 47. a7 d4+ 48. Kd2 Ra2+ 49. Kc1 d3 50. Kb1 Ra3 51. Rh8 d2 52. Kc2 Ra2+ 53. Kd1 Nc4 54. Ke2 Ra1 55. a8=Q d1=Q+ 0-1[/pgn]

RUY LOPEZ  (C96)

[pgn] [Event "BLR/BL-3 (BLR)"] [Site "ICCF"] [Date "2014.12.15"] [Round "?"] [White "Morrow, Wolff"] [Black "Dutra, Alfredo"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C96"] [WhiteElo "2449"] [BlackElo "2432"] [PlyCount "117"] [EventDate "2014.??.??"] [SourceDate "2005.04.21"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 O-O 9. h3 Na5 10. Bc2 c5 11. d4 Nd7 12. Nbd2 exd4 13. cxd4 Nc6 14. d5 Nce5 15. a4 Bb7 16. Nxe5 Nxe5 17. f4 Ng6 18. Nf3 Bf6 19. Kh2 Rb8 20. Qd2 Re8 21. e5 Be7 22. e6 fxe6 23. dxe6 b4 24. Qf2 Rc8 25. Bd2 Bf6 26. Rad1 Rf8 27. f5 Bxf3 28. Qxf3 Ne7 29. g4 h6 30. Rg1 Nc6 31. Be4 Nd4 32. Qg2 a5 33. Bd5 Kh8 34. Be3 Be5+ 35. Kh1 Qh4 36. Rgf1 Ne2 37. Rf3 Nd4 38. Rf2 Bg3 39. Rfd2 Be5 40. Rf1 Rce8 41. b3 Re7 42. Bc4 Rc7 43. Rdf2 Qg3 44. Qxg3 Bxg3 45. Rd2 Be5 46. h4 Bg3 47. Bxd4 cxd4 48. Rxd4 Bxh4 49. Rxd6 Rd8 50. Rfd1 Rxd6 51. Rxd6 Ra7 52. Kg2 Bf6 53. Rc6 Kh7 54. Bd3 g6 55. fxg6+ Kg7 56. Kf3 Be7 57. Rc8 Bd6 58. Ke4 Kf6 59. Kd5 1-0[/pgn]

SICILIAN DEFENSE (B90)

[pgn] [Event "WS/GMN/046"] [Site "ICCF"] [Date "2015.02.23"] [Round "?"] [White "Morrow, Wolff"] [Black "Perry, Dan"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B90"] [WhiteElo "2454"] [BlackElo "2486"] [PlyCount "153"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] [SourceDate "2005.04.21"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. f3 e5 7. Nb3 Be6 8. Be3 Be7 9. Qd2 O-O 10. O-O-O Nbd7 11. g4 b5 12. g5 b4 13. Ne2 Ne8 14. f4 a5 15. f5 a4 16. Nbd4 exd4 17. Nxd4 b3 18. Kb1 bxc2+ 19. Nxc2 Bb3 20. axb3 axb3 21. Na3 Ne5 22. Qg2 Qb8 23. Bf4 Bd8 24. g6 fxg6 25. Bxe5 dxe5 26. Bc4+ Kh8 27. fxg6 Be7 28. Rd3 Qa7 29. Rh3 h6 30. Rg1 Bb4 31. Bf7 Bd2 32. Rd1 Bf4 33. Bxb3 Rb8 34. Bf7 Qa6 35. Nc4 Nc7 36. Ra3 Qf6 37. Nd6 Rb6 38. Rad3 Nb5 39. Nxb5 Rxb5 40. Qf2 Rb7 41. h3 Rbb8 42. Rc3 Rb4 43. h4 Qa6 44. Qf3 Qa4 45. Bd5 Rfb8 46. Bb3 Qa6 47. Rcd3 Qf6 48. h5 Qf8 49. Rc3 Qe7 50. Qd3 Bg5 51. Rf1 Bf4 52. Qd5 Qf8 53. Rf2 Qe8 54. Rd3 R4b7 55. Qe6 Qf8 56. Rc2 Bg5 57. Qh3 Rb4 58. Rf3 Qd8 59. Bd5 Rd4 60. Qf1 Bf4 61. Ra3 Rd2 62. Rxd2 Bxd2 63. Ra7 Bf4 64. Qa6 Qf8 65. Rf7 Qb4 66. Bb7 Bg5 67. Qa3 Qc4 68. Qc3 Qa4 69. Bc6 Qd1+ 70. Ka2 Qd6 71. Qa3 Qe6+ 72. Bd5 Qe8 73. Bb7 Qe6+ 74. Qb3 Qe8 75. Kb1 Be7 76. Qd5 Bf6 77. Qd7 1-0[/pgn]