The Check is in the Mail: April 2020

Joseph Hawkins of Bald Head Island, North Carolina has won a Class A section of the Walter Muir Quad.

[pgn] [Event "19W10"] [Site "?"] [Date "2019.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Hawkins, Joseph"] [Black "Aung, Kendrick"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C14"] [WhiteElo "1830"] [BlackElo "1985"] [PlyCount "61"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e5 Nfd7 6. Bxe7 Qxe7 7. f4 { White chooses the most popular line against this variation of the French Defense. After 7. Nb5 Nb6 8. c3 a6 9. Na3 c5 Black is OK.} a6 {An immediate 7. ..c5 is just inviting destruction by 8. Ng5} 8. Qd2 c5 9. Nf3 Nc6 10. dxc5 { Also scoring well here is 10.000, but giving up the conflict for d4 is most common. White intends to use the square d4 for his pieces.} Qxc5 11. O-O-O b5 12. Bd3 Nb6 {This is the more modern treatment of the position. Aung has had experience with 12...b4 13. Na4 Qa5 14. b3 Nc5 15. Nxc5 Qxc5 16. g4 a5 17. f5 a4 as in Aung-Cousins, 2012 Swift Quad when he played 18. bxa4?} 13. Kb1 { This is the key defensive element that Aung missed in the quoted Cousins game. White intends to allow ...a4 and axb3 when he will play cxb3 and a2 is protected twice.} b4 {Black gets nowhere by rushing the attack, but after the more cautious 13...Bd7, White reinforces d4 with an advantage -- 14. Ne2 000 15. c3 as in Arapovic-Postek, 9th Premiere 2010.} 14. Ne2 a5 15. Rhe1 {White increases his grip on the center, but more logical seems to expand on the kingside by 15 g4.} a4 16. Nfd4 $1 {At last the d4 square is occupied thanks to its clearance by 10. dxc5. Chances remain about even but Black has a problem of where to locate his King.} Bd7 $2 {Black slips here -- 16...Nxd4 17. Nxd4 Bd7 18. Nf3 is balanced.} 17. Nxc6 Bxc6 18. f5 $1 {And suddenly Black's queenside expansion becomes a weakness along with possibly e6 and also the threat of an invasion by Qg5. Black's next is desperation.} b3 $5 {Faced with a looming White attack, Black tries to speed up his own attack but only makes White safer. After 18...a3 19. b3 Bd7 20. Qg5 Black can still fight.} 19. cxb3 axb3 20. a3 {This looks good but White had better with 20. axb3 Bb5 21. fxe6 fxe6 22. Rf1 with the Black King stuck in the center an extra Pawn and a safe King.} exf5 {After 20...Nc4 21. Bxc4 Qxc4 22. Nd4 Bd7 23. Rc1 Qa4 24. Rc3 White is happy, Black is not.} 21. Bxf5 O-O 22. Qd4 $1 {Diagram # Offering Black the choice of a bad endgame or a bad middlegame.} Qa5 {The alternative is 22...Qxd4 23. Nxd4 Ba4 24. Rd3 g6 25. Bg4 Rfe8 26. e6 Kg7 27. Nxb3} 23. e6 Rae8 $2 {This loses immediately, but 23...fxe6 24. Bxe6+ Kh8 25. Nf4 Be8 26. Re3 means Black will shortly be two Pawns down.} 24. Qh4 g6 25. e7 Rxe7 26. Qxe7 gxf5 27. Nd4 Bd7 28. Qg5+ Kh8 29. Qf6+ Kg8 30. Re3 f4 31. Re5 1-0 [/pgn]

MARCH RESULTS Walter Muir James Bougher  19W06 6-0 Joseph Hawkins  19W10 4 ½-1 ½ David Stone       19W14 4 ½-1 ½ Swift Quad Luis Nunez      19SQ08 5-1 Trophy Quad Andrew Perry  18Q09  6-0 White misses 25. g5 which would increase his attacking chances.

[pgn] [Event "19W06"] [Site "ICCF"] [Date "2019.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Shannon, Paul"] [Black "Bougher, James"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A12"] [WhiteElo "1780"] [BlackElo "1796"] [PlyCount "88"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. Nf3 d5 2. c4 c6 3. b3 Bf5 4. g3 Nf6 5. Bg2 Nbd7 6. O-O e6 7. Bb2 Bd6 8. d3 O-O 9. Nbd2 e5 10. Nh4 Bg4 11. h3 Bh5 12. Nf5 Bc7 13. g4 Bg6 14. Ng3 e4 15. dxe4 Bxg3 16. fxg3 dxc4 17. e5 Nd5 18. Nxc4 N7b6 19. Nxb6 Nxb6 20. e4 Re8 21. h4 h6 22. Qe1 Nd7 23. h5 Bh7 24. Rd1 Qc7 {Diagram #} 25. Qf2 Nxe5 26. Qf4 f6 27. Rd2 Rad8 28. Rfd1 Rxd2 29. Rxd2 Re7 30. Bxe5 Rxe5 31. Kh2 Re7 32. Qf1 Rd7 33. Qc4+ Kh8 34. Re2 Bg8 35. Qc5 b6 36. Qf5 Re7 37. Qf4 Re5 38. Rd2 Qe7 39. Rd4 c5 40. Rd3 c4 41. bxc4 Bxc4 42. Rd4 Bxa2 43. Qd2 Be6 44. Kh3 Rxh5# 0-1 [/pgn]

2020 ABSOLUTE TOURNAMENT UNDERWAY The 2020 Absolute has begun with eleven of our top players fighting it out for Absolute supremacy. It is quite an impressive group with a lot of titles. They are, in US Chess rating order, IM Harry Ingersol 2415, IM Robert Rizzo 2380, SIM Kristo Miettinen 2378, IM Keith Rodriguez 2360, CCE Ferdinand Burmeister 2356, Charles Jacobs 2311, IM Andrew Leonard 2282, Timothy Harris 2239, CCM Mark Stephenson 2220, CCM Robert Cousins 2134, and IM Thomas Williams 0000. Good skill and good chess, men! White conceded rather than face destruction after 22. Kd1 Rfd8.

[pgn] [Event "19W14"] [Site "ICCF"] [Date "2018.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Perkins, Kele"] [Black "Stone, David"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B01"] [BlackElo "1458"] [PlyCount "42"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Nf6 3. d4 Nxd5 4. Nf3 g6 5. c4 Nf6 6. Nc3 Bg7 7. c5 O-O 8. Bc4 e6 9. O-O Nc6 10. Be3 Ng4 11. h3 Nxe3 12. fxe3 a6 13. Ne4 b5 14. Be2 Bb7 15. Kf2 Nxd4 16. exd4 Bxe4 17. Qd2 Bxf3 18. Bxf3 Bxd4+ 19. Ke2 Rb8 20. c6 Qf6 21. Rab1 Qe5+ 0-1 [/pgn]

OBITUARY Rudolf Katzl of Missoula, MT born January 30, 1934, died April 8, 2014. A Master rated OTB and postal player, Edward was also a Montana State Champion.

[pgn] [Event "US17P08"] [Site "ICCF-US"] [Date "2004.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Walrath, Edward"] [Black "Katzl, Rudolf"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D03"] [WhiteElo "2059"] [BlackElo "2264"] [PlyCount "58"] [EventDate "2004.??.??"] 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bg5 e6 4. h4 c5 5. c3 cxd4 6. cxd4 Nc6 7. Nc3 Qb6 8. Rb1 Ne4 9. a3 f6 10. Be3 Nxc3 11. bxc3 Qc7 12. g4 Bxa3 {Diagram #} 13. g5 Bd6 14. gxf6 gxf6 15. Rg1 Ne7 16. Qb3 a5 17. Nd2 a4 18. Qb5+ Bd7 19. Qxb7 Qxb7 20. Rxb7 a3 21. Rb1 Nf5 22. h5 Kf7 23. Bh3 Nxe3 24. fxe3 a2 25. Ra1 Rhc8 26. h6 Bf8 27. e4 Rxc3 28. Bg2 Bxh6 29. exd5 Rb8 0-1 [/pgn]

Black is doing well until his over-imaginative 17…Nf3+ unleashes a fire storm across the board.

[pgn] [Event "2019 Walter Muir"] [Site "?"] [Date "2019.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Hawkins, Joseph"] [Black "Anderson, Clarence"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B08"] [WhiteElo "1830"] [BlackElo "1804"] [PlyCount "49"] [SourceVersionDate "2020.03.31"] 1. e4 g6 2. d4 Bg7 3. Nc3 c6 4. Nf3 d6 5. Be2 Nf6 6. O-O O-O 7. Re1 Nbd7 8. Bf4 Qa5 9. Nd2 Qc7 10. d5 Nb6 11. Bf3 Nfd7 12. Qc1 Ne5 13. Be2 f5 14. dxc6 bxc6 15. a4 fxe4 16. Ndxe4 d5 17. Nc5 Nf3+ 18. Bxf3 Rxf4 19. a5 Nc4 20. Nxd5 cxd5 21. Bxd5+ Kh8 22. Nd3 Rb8 23. Qxf4 Nd6 24. Ne5 Bf6 25. Nf7+ 1-0 [/pgn]

When Black avoids 29…Rxe5 and a probable draw, Bougher does not let up.

[pgn] [Event "19W06 "] [Site "ICCF"] [Date "2019.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Bougher, James"] [Black "Anderson, Clarence"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B15"] [WhiteElo "1796"] [BlackElo "1791"] [PlyCount "85"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. e4 g6 2. d4 Bg7 3. Nc3 c6 4. Be3 d5 5. f3 Qb6 6. Rb1 dxe4 7. fxe4 e5 8. Na4 Qa5+ 9. Nc3 Nf6 10. Qd2 Ng4 11. dxe5 Nxe3 12. Qxe3 Bxe5 13. Nf3 Bxc3+ 14. Qxc3 Qxc3+ 15. bxc3 Nd7 16. Bc4 Nb6 17. Bb3 f6 18. O-O Bd7 19. a4 O-O-O 20. a5 Na8 21. Nd4 Rhf8 22. Rf2 Nc7 23. Rbf1 c5 24. Ne2 Bb5 25. c4 Bc6 26. Nc3 Ne8 27. Nd5 Rd6 28. e5 Re6 29. Nxf6 {Diagram #} Nxf6 30. Rxf6 Rfxf6 31. exf6 Re8 32. g4 Re2 33. Rf4 Re8 34. g5 Kd7 35. Rh4 Rh8 36. c3 Ke6 37. Bc2 Kf7 38. Be4 h5 39. Bxc6 bxc6 40. Re4 a6 41. Re7+ Kg8 42. Rg7+ Kf8 43. Ra7 1-0 [/pgn]

Material doesn’t seem to mean much in this brawl.

[pgn] [Event "19ENs01"] [Site "?"] [Date "2019.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Crittenton, Lawrence"] [Black "Walton, John C"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B33"] [WhiteElo "2066"] [BlackElo "2264"] [PlyCount "98"] [EventDate "2019.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Bg5 a6 8. Na3 b5 9. Bxf6 gxf6 10. Nd5 f5 11. Bd3 Be6 12. O-O Bxd5 13. exd5 Ne7 14. c3 Bg7 15. Qh5 e4 16. Bc2 O-O 17. Rae1 Qc8 18. Bb3 a5 19. Nxb5 a4 20. Bd1 Qc5 21. Nd4 Qxd5 22. Re3 Rfb8 23. Rh3 h6 {Diagram #} 24. b3 f4 25. bxa4 Qxh5 26. Rxh5 Bxd4 27. cxd4 Kg7 28. Rh4 Ng6 29. Rh5 Ne7 30. Bb3 f5 31. Rh3 Rc8 32. Re1 Kg6 33. f3 e3 34. g3 Rc3 35. gxf4 Kh7 36. Rg3 Ng6 37. Rg2 Nh4 38. Rg3 Re8 39. Bf7 Rf8 40. Bh5 Ra8 41. Bf7 Rxa4 42. Bg8+ Kh8 43. Be6 Rxd4 44. Kh1 Rc7 45. Reg1 e2 46. Rg8+ Kh7 47. Re8 Rg7 48. Bg8+ Rxg8 49. Rexg8 e1=Q 1/2-1/2 [/pgn]

A slow-moving attack brings home the point.

[pgn] [Event "11nf03"] [Site "?"] [Date "2016.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Tracz, James"] [Black "Wilson, Abe"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A45"] [WhiteElo "2397"] [BlackElo "2171"] [PlyCount "77"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5 Ne4 3. Bf4 c5 4. f3 Qa5+ 5. c3 Nf6 6. d5 Qb6 7. Bc1 e6 8. e4 exd5 9. exd5 Bd6 10. Na3 O-O 11. Bd3 Re8+ 12. Ne2 Bf8 13. Nc4 Qd8 14. Ne3 d6 15. O-O Nbd7 16. Ng3 g6 17. f4 Bg7 18. a4 Qc7 19. c4 a5 20. Bd2 Qb6 21. Re1 Bh6 22. Nef5 {Diagram #} Bf8 23. Bc3 Qd8 24. Ne3 Bg7 25. Qf3 b6 26. Ngf5 Bf8 27. Qh3 h5 28. g4 gxf5 29. Nxf5 Ne5 30. fxe5 dxe5 31. gxh5 e4 32. h6 Kh7 33. Bc2 Be7 34. Qf1 Rg8+ 35. Kh1 Bxf5 36. Qxf5+ Kxh6 37. Rxe4 Rg6 38. Rh4+ Kg7 39. Qh3 1-0 [/pgn]