The Check is in the Mail: December 2019

Kendrick Aung of Seabrook, Texas, scored 5 ½-½ to win a 2019 Swift Quad,  An example of his play follows.

[pgn]

[Event "19Sq04"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2019.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Aung, Kendrick"]
[Black "Bashur, Michael"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B30"]
[WhiteElo "1982"]
[BlackElo "1922"]
[PlyCount "65"]
[EventDate "2019.??.??"]

1. e4 d6 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nc3 c5 {More usual is 3...g6 4. d4 Bg7 5. Be2 00
6.00 a6 7. a4 as in Nakamura-Caruana, blitz 2016.} 4. Bb5+ {A standard
Sicilian arises after 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4, but White wants more out of the
opening.} Nc6 $6 {And he gets it. Both 4...Bd7 and 4...Nbd7 have good records
against White's setup. 4...Bd7 5. Bxd7+ Nbxd7 6.00 g6 is Casilhac-Mecking,
Floripa Open 2017 4...Nbd7 5. d4 cxd4 6. Qxd4 Toufigue-Sasikiran, Asian
Continental 2010 was seen in 215 recent games with White scoring 37%} 5. e5
dxe5 {Black stands worse after 5...Nd7 6. exd6 e6 7, d4 Bxd6 8. d5 exd5 8.
Qxd5 Qe7 9. Be3 Nb4 10. Qd2. but in the twelve recent games from 5...dxe5,
White scored 11 1/2-1/2.} 6. Nxe5 Bd7 7. Bxc6 Bxc6 8. Nxc6 bxc6 {Black is left
with a scarred Pawn position, but they do exert some central control so it is
not all bad for Black.} 9. O-O e6 10. Qf3 Nd5 {The single game Black escaped
with a draw was between two experts, Purton-Snape, 4NCL 2014, which continued
10...Qc7 11. h3 Rd8 12. d3 Nd5} 11. b3 Bd6 12. Bb2 Be5 13. Rfe1 Qf6 {Diagram #}
14. Qh5 $1 Bd4 {The endgame is near winning for White after 14... Bxc3 15.
Bxc3 Nxc3 16. dxc3 Qxc3 17. Rxe6+ Kf8 18. Qe5! Qxe5 19. Rxe5} 15. Ne4 Bxf2+ {
White is also winning after 15...Qg6 16. Qxg6 hxg6 17. c3 Be5 18. h3 c4 19.
bxc4} (15... Qg6 16. Qxg6 hxg6 17. c3 Be5 18. h3 c4) 16. Nxf2 Qxb2 17. Rxe6+ $1
Kd8 {After 17...Kf8 18. Rf1 ! sees the full force of White's army focusing in
on the Black King.} 18. Ree1 g6 19. Qh4+ f6 {Black is fading, but 19. ...Kc7
to unite the Rooks and head for the relative safety of b6 is a better defense.}
20. c4 Nb6 21. d4 $1 Nd7 {Now 21...cxd4 22. Qxf6+ is curtains.} 22. Rad1 h5 23.
Qe4 Kc7 24. Qf4+ Kb6 25. dxc5+ Nxc5 26. b4 $1 {Another forbidden Pawn seals
Black's fate.} Kb7 27. Re7+ Ka6 28. bxc5 Rhc8 29. Nd3 Qc3 30. Rd7 g5 31. Qd6
Qxc4 32. Rb1 Ka5 33. Rb3 1-0

[/pgn]

A frequent cause of failing defense after a long and so far successful defense is a Pawn move in the critical area – like 46…h6 in this game.

[pgn]

[Event "19W04 "]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2019.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Young, Vernon"]
[Black "Higgins, Brian"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B27"]
[WhiteElo "1753"]
[BlackElo "1689"]
[PlyCount "115"]
[EventDate "2019.??.??"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 g6 3. c3 Bg7 4. d4 cxd4 5. cxd4 d5 6. e5 Bg4 7. Bb5+ Nd7
8. O-O a6 9. Ba4 b5 10. Bc2 e6 11. Nbd2 Ne7 12. h3 Bf5 13. Bxf5 Nxf5 14. g4 Nh4
15. Nxh4 Qxh4 16. Kg2 O-O 17. f4 Qe7 18. Nf3 f6 19. Be3 Qb4 20. b3 Rac8 21. Bd2
Qe7 22. Rc1 Nb6 23. Qe2 Rxc1 24. Rxc1 Rc8 25. exf6 Bxf6 26. Re1 Re8 27. Rc1 Rc8
28. Re1 Re8 29. Ba5 Qd6 30. Qe3 Nc8 31. Ne5 Bxe5 32. fxe5 Qf8 33. Qc1 Na7 34.
Re2 Rc8 35. Qg5 Nc6 36. Bb6 Qe7 37. Qh6 Qg7 38. Qe3 Nb8 39. Rf2 Nd7 40. Ba5 Qe7
41. Qd2 Kg7 42. Bb4 Qd8 43. Qf4 Qe8 44. Kg3 Qg8 45. h4 Qe8 46. Qg5 h6 47. Qf4
Rc7 48. Bd2 Nf8 49. Qxh6+ Kg8 50. Bb4 Rf7 51. Rxf7 Kxf7 52. Qxf8+ Qxf8 53. Bxf8
Kxf8 54. Kf4 b4 55. Kg5 Kg7 56. h5 gxh5 57. gxh5 a5 58. h6+ 1-0

[/pgn]

Black’s Pawn mass, like a plague of locusts, devours White material.

[pgn]

[Event "15ENf01"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2015.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Cousins, Robert"]
[Black "Corkum, Tim"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E04"]
[WhiteElo "1999"]
[BlackElo "2284"]
[PlyCount "124"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Nf3 dxc4 5. Bg2 a6 6. O-O Nc6 7. Nc3 Rb8
8. e4 Be7 9. Qe2 b5 10. Rd1 O-O 11. d5 exd5 12. e5 d4 13. exf6 Bxf6 14. Qe4 Bb7
15. Nd5 Nb4 16. Nxf6+ Qxf6 17. Qf4 c5 18. Qxf6 gxf6 19. Bf4 Rbc8 20. Bd6 Rfd8
21. Be7 Re8 22. Bxf6 Nd3 23. Rd2 Rb8 24. Bh4 h6 25. g4 Re6 26. Bg3 Rbe8 {
Diagram #} 27. Rad1 b4 28. b3 Bxf3 29. Bxf3 Ne1 30. Bd5 c3 31. Bxe6 Rxe6 32.
Kf1 cxd2 33. Rxd2 Nf3 34. Rd3 Ne5 35. Rd1 Nf3 36. Rd3 Ng5 37. f3 f5 38. h4 Nh7
39. gxf5 Rf6 40. Bf4 Kf7 41. Ke2 Rxf5 42. Bxh6 Re5+ 43. Kf2 Rh5 44. Bf4 Rxh4
45. Bg3 Rh5 46. Rd1 Nf6 47. Re1 Nd5 48. Ke2 Rf5 49. Bd6 Nc3+ 50. Kd2 a5 51. Kd3
Rxf3+ 52. Kd2 Nxa2 53. Bxc5 Rxb3 54. Bxd4 Rh3 55. Kc2 a4 56. Re2 Nc3 57. Bxc3
Rxc3+ 58. Kb2 a3+ 59. Ka2 Rf3 60. Re1 Rf2+ 61. Kb3 Rb2+ 62. Ka4 a2 0-1

[/pgn]

This game just has one shocker after another.  Rather than a draw, it should be listed as both sides win.

[pgn]

[Event "17ENs03"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2017.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Hall, Jay"]
[Black "Simon, Julius"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B40"]
[WhiteElo "1800"]
[BlackElo "2221"]
[PlyCount "85"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d3 e6 4. c3 d5 5. Qe2 Nge7 6. g3 e5 7. Bg2 d4 8.
O-O Ng6 9. cxd4 cxd4 10. Bd2 Be7 11. Rc1 O-O 12. a4 Be6 13. h4 f6 14. h5 Nh8
15. Nh4 Re8 16. Na3 Nf7 17. Qe1 Qd7 18. a5 Nd6 19. b4 Rac8 20. Qd1 a6 21. Nf5
Nxf5 22. exf5 Bxf5 23. Qb3+ Kf8 24. Nc4 Qe6 25. b5 Nd8 26. h6 axb5 27. Qxb5 Rc5
28. hxg7+ Kf7 {Diagram #} 29. Qxe8+ Kxe8 30. Bxb7 Nxb7 31. a6 Nd8 32. a7 Kf7
33. a8=Q Kxg7 34. Ra6 Qc8 35. Bb4 Rc7 36. Bxe7 Rxe7 37. Qxc8 Bxc8 38. Ra8 Rc7
39. Rc2 Nf7 40. Na3 Rxc2 41. Nxc2 Bf5 42. Ne1 Ng5 43. Kf1 1/2-1/2

[/pgn]

NOVEMBER RESULTS John Collins George Barton      18C02  4-2 Jonathan Lartigue 18C02  4-2 Swift Quad Kendrick Aung  19SQ04  5 ½-½ Brian Harrigan   19SQ03  5-1 David Ferster     19SQ01  5=1 Walter Muir Vernon Young    19W04   5 ½-½ Palciauskas Cory Bloch  18V01   6-0 Trophy Quad Joseph Nadworny  17Q10  6-0 MINIATURE TIME ! It is that time of the year again, time for games of chess where the loser finds a way to finish the game in twenty moves or under and the winner finds a way to save postage stamps and/or emails.  Welcome to miniature time!

[pgn]

[Event "15ENf02"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2015.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "West, Tony"]
[Black "Finnegan, John"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E15"]
[WhiteElo "2068"]
[BlackElo "1693"]
[PlyCount "27"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Ba6 5. b3 Bb7 6. Bg2 Bb4+
7. Bd2 a5 8. O-O O-O 9. Qc2 d5 10. cxd5 exd5 11. Nc3 Re8 12. a3 Bd6 13. Ng5 h6
14. Nxd5 1-0

[/pgn]

Black poses his forces for the attack, but a simple developing move reveals it is White who has the attack.  After 19…Bxf4 20. Qf3! Black can’t survive and so saves a lot of postage by resignation.

[pgn]

[Event "18N12"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2018.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Ellis, James"]
[Black "Winbush, Jeremy"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D11"]
[WhiteElo "2348"]
[BlackElo "1829"]
[PlyCount "37"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]
[EventType "corr"]

1. c4 c6 2. Nf3 d5 3. g3 Nf6 4. Bg2 Bg4 5. O-O Bxf3 6. Bxf3 e6 7. b3 Bd6
8. d4 Nbd7 9. Bb2 h5 10. Nd2 h4 11. e4 dxe4 12. Nxe4 Nxe4 13. Bxe4 Qg5 14. Bc1
Qe7 15. Bg2 O-O-O 16. b4 hxg3 17. hxg3 Qf6 18. b5 c5 19. Bf4 {Diagram #} 1-0

[/pgn]

It’s the same old story in a shortened form.

[pgn]

[Event "19SQ01"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2019.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Sawyer, Timothy"]
[Black "Blackburn, Scott"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D07"]
[WhiteElo "1439"]
[BlackElo "1385"]
[PlyCount "19"]
[EventDate "2019.03.13"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 Nf6 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nf6 6. Nc3 e6 7. Bd3 Bb4
8. O-O O-O 9. e5 Nd5 10. Bxh7+ 1-0

[/pgn]

After 10…Kxh7 11. Ng5_ Kg6 12. h4! Black is ready to start a new game. In the following game White seems to have forgotten about his army that is sleeping on the queenside.

[pgn]

[Event "18EN13"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2018.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Hulslander, James"]
[Black "Sylvander, Dana"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B22"]
[WhiteElo "1465"]
[BlackElo "2193"]
[PlyCount "38"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]

1. e4 c5 2. c3 Nf6 3. e5 Nd5 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. Bc4 Nb6 6. Bb3 c4 7. Bc2 Qc7
8. Qe2 g5 9. h3 Bg7 10. O-O Nxe5 11. Nxg5 d5 12. Bxh7 Rxh7 13. Nxh7 Bf5 14. Qh5
Bd3 15. Ng5 O-O-O {Diagram #} 16. Nxf7 Bg6 17. Nxd8 Bxh5 18. Ne6 Nf3+ 19. gxf3
Qe5 0-1

[/pgn]

The White King develops wings !

[pgn]

[Event "USA cc"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1949.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Shaw, Jack"]
[Black "Whitney, W.."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A22"]
[PlyCount "24"]
[EventDate "1949.??.??"]

1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. e4 Nc6 4. f4 d6 5. d3 Be7 6. Be3 $2 Ng4 7. Bd2 $2
Nxh2 $1 8. Rxh2 $2 Bh4+ 9. Ke2 Nd4+ 10. Ke3 exf4+ 11. Kxd4 Qf6+ 12. Kd5 Be6#
0-1

[/pgn]

After a Black Knight lands on e3 White sees ...Be6 and ultimate doom.

[pgn]

[Event "17C18"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2017.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Hall, Ron"]
[Black "Rogers, Brad"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D01"]
[WhiteElo "1905"]
[BlackElo "2238"]
[PlyCount "30"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5 d5 3. Nc3 c6 4. Qd2 Nbd7 5. f3 h6 6. Bf4 Nh5 7. Be5 f6
8. Bg3 Nxg3 9. hxg3 e5 10. e4 exd4 11. Qxd4 Bc5 12. Qd2 d4 13. Nce2 Ne5 14.
O-O-O Nc4 15. Qd3 Ne3 0-1

[/pgn]

Beware when French players get active!  White faces 19. Bf1 Bb5 20. Rb1 Qa6 and calls it quits.

[pgn]

[Event "19EN04"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2019.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Hulslander, James"]
[Black "Crittenton, Lawrence"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C02"]
[WhiteElo "1500"]
[BlackElo "2072"]
[PlyCount "36"]
[EventDate "2019.??.??"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Qb6 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. a3 Nh6 7. b4 cxd4 8.
cxd4 Nf5 9. Bb2 Bd7 10. g4 Nfe7 11. Nbd2 h5 12. g5 Ng6 13. Rc1 Be7 14. h4 O-O
15. Nb3 {Diagram #} Nxb4 16. axb4 Bxb4+ 17. Nbd2 Rfc8 18. Bd3 Nf4 0-1

[/pgn]

Both sides develop.  One side leaves his King in the center.  One side loses.

[pgn]

[Event "19W02"]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2019.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Brown, Parrish"]
[Black "Sawyer, Timothy"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B07"]
[WhiteElo "1446"]
[BlackElo "1439"]
[PlyCount "31"]
[EventDate "2019.??.??"]

1. d4 d6 2. e4 Nf6 3. Nc3 Nbd7 4. f4 e5 5. fxe5 dxe5 6. dxe5 Nxe5 7.
Qxd8+ Kxd8 8. Bg5 Be7 9. O-O-O+ Bd7 10. Be2 c6 11. Bf4 Neg4 12. Nh3 Re8 {
Diagram #} 13. e5 Nd5 14. Nxd5 cxd5 15. Rxd5 Kc8 16. Rxd7 1-0

[/pgn]

Miniature games are the hors d’oeuvres of chess. = Chess Review The cliché has it that even Homer nods – Black is busted after 15....Kxf7 16. Qh5+ Kf8 17. Rxf6! Bxf6 18. Bh6+.

[pgn]

[Event "19V01"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2019.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Horvath, Michael"]
[Black "Buss, Michael"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A43"]
[WhiteElo "1953"]
[BlackElo "2458"]
[PlyCount "29"]
[EventDate "2019.??.??"]

1. c4 g6 2. Nc3 Bg7 3. d4 c5 4. d5 d6 5. e4 e6 6. Bd3 Ne7 7. Nge2 O-O 8.
O-O exd5 9. exd5 Nd7 10. f4 Nf6 11. h3 Re8 12. Ng3 h5 13. f5 h4 {Diagram #} 14.
fxg6 hxg3 15. gxf7+ 1-0

[/pgn]

White attacks and attacks and resigns.

[pgn]

[Event "19V01"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2019.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Leach, Charlie"]
[Black "Buss, Michael"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B00"]
[WhiteElo "2119"]
[BlackElo "2458"]
[PlyCount "40"]
[EventDate "2019.??.??"]

1. e4 Nc6 2. d4 e5 3. dxe5 Nxe5 4. f4 Ng6 5. Be3 Nf6 6. e5 Qe7 7. Nc3 d6
8. Qf3 Nh4 9. Bb5+ c6 10. Bxc6+ Kd8 11. Qe2 bxc6 12. O-O-O Nd5 13. Nxd5 cxd5
14. Qf2 Nf5 15. Rxd5 Nxe3 16. Rxd6+ Ke8 17. Qxe3 Qb7 18. Rd2 Rb8 19. Qd4 Bf5
20. Ne2 Bc5 0-1

[/pgn]