Thomas Babcock
Thomas Babcock of St. Louis Park, Minnesota, has done it again. He has added a fifth John Collins first place to his record
[pgn]
[Event "18C03"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2018.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Flowers, Brian"]
[Black "Babcock, Thomas"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A04"]
[WhiteElo "2194"]
[BlackElo "2139"]
[PlyCount "70"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]
1. Nf3 e6 2. g3 f5 3. Bg2 Nf6 4. O-O Be7 5. d3 d5 6. Nbd2 c6 {The
stonewall Defense is frequently a battle over who controls e4 and e5. In this
game the e4 square falls immediately under White control and so the struggle
shifts to e5.} 7. e4 $1 Na6 {Stefanova-Chiburtanidze, blitz 2019 continued 7...
dxe4 8. dxe4 00 when 9. Qe2 Na6 19. Rd1 is in White's favor.} 8. exf5 {Another
idea here is 8. e5 ending the fight over e4 and e5. After 8....Nd7 9. Nb3 00
White stands slightly better.} exf5 9. Ne5 {And e5 belongs to White -- for now.
} O-O 10. Ndf3 Bd6 11. Bf4 {White can make betteruse of this guardian of e5 by
b3 and Bb2. On f4 it is subject to harassment.} Nc7 12. Re1 Ne6 13. Qd2 {
It is better to start over with this Bishop and play Bc1 followed by b3 and
Bb2.} Nxf4 14. gxf4 {White cannot keep his Pawn structure intact by 14. Qxf4
Qb6! 15. b3 Ne4! 16. dxe4 fxe4 17. Qd2 Qc7! and Black is better.} Qc7 15. Re2
Bd7 16. Rae1 c5 $6 {Black deviates from the plan to fight for e5. Better was
16... Rae8 17. Bh3 Bc8 when Black can keep the two Bishops or White plays Nxd7
but Back's stonewall Pawn structure stands firm.} 17. Nxd7 Qxd7 18. Ne5 Qc7 {
Black concentrates on e5 but 16...c5?! has weakened d5. White can take
advantage of that by Qc3-b3} 19. c4 d4 20. a3 a5 21. b3 g6 {To free g7 for the
King in case Black moves his Knight, allowing Bd5+} 22. Bf3 Rae8 {After an
interlude, Black turns again to e5, a square he can attack five times that can
be guarded only three.} 23. Qb2 Re7 24. Bd5+ {What to do? White;s Bishop
cannot retreat (...Nh5), White;s Knights cannot retreat, and ...Rfe8 is coming.
} Nxd5 25. cxd5 Rfe8 {Diagram #} 26. b4 {This excursion does not turn out well,
but nothing helps.} cxb4 27. Qxd4 bxa3 {A last trap but even that doesn't work
-- 28... Bxe5 29. fxe5 Rxe5 30. Qxe8+ Rxe8 31. Rxe8+ Kf7 32. R8e6 Qd7!} 28. Qa4
{A last trap but even that doesn't work -- 28...Bxe5 29. fxe5 Rxe5 30. Qxe8+
Rxe8 31. Rxe8+ Kf7 32. R8e6 Qd7!} Qc5 29. Qd1 {Now it is just mop up time.} Qd4
30. Nf3 Qxd5 31. Rxe7 Rxe7 32. Ng5 a2 33. Rxe7 Bxe7 34. Qa4 b5 35. Qxa5 Bf6 0-1
[/pgn]
DECEMBER RESULTS
Swift Quad
Katrina Muller 19SQ06 6-0
John Collins
Bert Hart 18C04 5-1
Scott Sensiba 17C11 4 ½ -1 ½
Thomas Babcock 18C03 5 ½-½
Gerald Levitt 18C01 6-0
Walter Muir
Alex Strobehn 19W08 6-0
[pgn]
[Event "17C11"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2017.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Sensiba, Scott"]
[Black "Gilley, Jason"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B21"]
[WhiteElo "1762"]
[BlackElo "1553"]
[PlyCount "109"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2005.04.21"]
{JAN 20} 1. e4 c5 2. d4 cxd4 3. c3 dxc3 4. Nxc3 e6 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. Bc4 Bc5 7. O-O
Nge7 8. Bf4 Ng6 9. Bg3 d6 10. a3 a6 11. b4 Ba7 12. Bxd6 e5 13. b5 Nd4 14. Nxe5
Qxd6 15. Nxf7 Qc5 {Diagram #} 16. Na4 Qc7 17. Nxh8 Qxc4 18. Nxg6 Ne2+ 19. Kh1
Qxb5 20. Rb1 Qh5 21. Ne5 Bb8 22. f4 Ng3+ 23. Kg1 Ba7+ 24. Nb6 Qxd1 25. Rfxd1
Nxe4 26. Re1 Bxb6+ 27. Rxb6 Nc3 28. Nc6+ Kf7 29. Nd8+ Kf8 30. Ne6+ Bxe6 31.
Rexe6 Rb8 32. f5 Na4 33. Rb4 Nc5 34. Reb6 Kf7 35. g4 Re8 36. Rxb7+ Nxb7 37.
Rxb7+ Kf6 38. Rb4 Kg5 39. Kf2 Rf8 40. Kg3 h5 41. h4+ Kf6 42. Rb6+ Kf7 43. Rxa6
hxg4 44. Kxg4 Rd8 45. Kg5 Rd3 46. Ra7+ Kg8 47. a4 Rg3+ 48. Kf4 Rh3 49. Kg4 Ra3
50. a5 Kf8 51. a6 Ra2 52. Kf4 Rg2 53. Rb7 Rf2+ 54. Kg3 Rxf5 55. a7 1-0
[/pgn]
Kele Perkins
Kele Perkins runs two chess clubs in Whittier, California. One is the Whittier Chess Club which offers free OTB rated tournaments once or twice a month for the greater Los Angeles community.
Kele’s other club is the Whittier High School Chess Club which Kele conducts with an original idea. Because the club has a limited time to play, the students often use that time to play blitz. In order to slow down their thinking time, Kele has established a correspondence chess group within the club.
He believes that playing chess by email will help them in OTB chess contests.
Kele also mentions another reason for correspondence play among his high school students. He noticed that the Women’s Correspondence Top 100 list has hardly any players on it. Consequently he suggested to some of his female students that they might benefit from CC play. As many people already know, female participation in chess is lower than among males, but there seems to be a much more extreme difference in correspondence play.
Kele’s attitude is that whatever is keeping women from playing CC, it won’t keep his students from trying it!
[pgn]
[Event "19W08 "]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2019.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Strobehn, Alex"]
[Black "Dupy, Jack"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C40"]
[WhiteElo "1423"]
[BlackElo "1388"]
[PlyCount "27"]
[EventDate "2019.??.??"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 f5 3. d3 fxe4 4. dxe4 d6 5. Bc4 Nf6 6. Nc3 Bg4 7. Bg5 h6
8. Bxf6 Qxf6 9. Qd3 c6 10. O-O-O Bxf3 11. gxf3 Be7 12. Rhg1 b5 {Diagram #} 13.
Nxb5 cxb5 14. Bd5 1-0
[/pgn]
BIDS TAKEN ON 2020 ABSOLUTE
The top rated thirteen players who submit their entries will be chosen to participate in the 2020 Absolute Chess Correspondence Championship. Please note that the event is played on the ICCF server and is rated by both the US and the ICCF. The Absolute is also the only event sponsored by US Chess where the use of a computer to generate moves is allowed.
So rev up your chess engine and submit your entry to
Click here to show email address and prepare to play in the 2020 US Absolute Championship!
OBITUARY
George Ziegler II
George Zeigler II of Kennesaw, Georgia was born June 7, 1940, and died November 26, 2019.
[pgn]
[Event "USA"]
[Site "corr"]
[Date "1990.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Zeigler, George"]
[Black "Bauz Mercere, E.."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C10"]
[PlyCount "98"]
[EventDate "1990.??.??"]
[EventType "simul"]
[Source "Chess Mail"]
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nd7 5. Nf3 Ngf6 6. Ng3 b6 7. Bb5 a6
8. Bc6 Ra7 9. O-O Be7 10. Re1 O-O 11. c4 Bb7 12. Qa4 Bxc6 13. Qxc6 Qa8 14. Qxa8
Raxa8 15. Be3 Rfd8 16. Rad1 c6 17. Ne5 Nxe5 18. dxe5 Nd7 19. f4 b5 20. Ne4 bxc4
21. Nd6 c3 22. Nb7 cxb2 23. Nxd8 Rxd8 24. Bd4 Ba3 25. Re3 Nc5 26. Rxa3 Rxd4 27.
Rb1 Na4 28. Rxa4 Rxa4 29. Rxb2 f6 30. exf6 gxf6 31. g3 c5 32. Kf2 Kf7 33. Ke3
h5 34. Rc2 h4 35. gxh4 c4 36. h5 f5 37. Rg2 Ra3+ 38. Kd4 Rf3 39. Kc5 Rxf4 40.
Kb6 Rg4 41. Rc2 e5 42. Kxa6 f4 43. Kb5 f3 44. Rf2 e4 45. Kc5 Rg2 46. Rf1 Rxa2
47. Kxc4 Re2 48. Kd4 f2 49. h4 e3 0-1
[/pgn]
[pgn]
[Event "13ENs01"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2013.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Bussom, Andrew"]
[Black "Endsley, Barry"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C55"]
[WhiteElo "2186"]
[BlackElo "2242"]
[PlyCount "64"]
[EventDate "2013.??.??"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bc4 Nxe4 4. Nc3 Nc6 5. Nxe4 d5 6. Bd3 dxe4 7. Bxe4
Bd6 8. O-O O-O 9. Re1 Re8 10. c3 h6 11. d3 f5 12. Bd5+ Kf8 13. b4 Qf6 14. Bb2
Ne7 15. Bb3 Ng6 16. Qc2 Be6 17. Bxe6 Rxe6 18. g3 Rae8 19. a4 Kg8 {Diagram #}
20. Qb3 f4 21. Nd2 Qf5 22. Qd5 Rf8 23. Rad1 b6 24. Qe4 Qh5 25. Qd5 Qg4 26. Qe4
Ref6 27. a5 bxa5 28. bxa5 Qh5 29. Rf1 Kh8 30. Rb1 Rf5 31. Ba1 Rg5 32. a6 f3 0-1
[/pgn]
Some fancy high stepping by the black Knights bring the draw into being.
[pgn]
[Event "12A01 "]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2012.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Wilson, Abe"]
[Black "Connelly, Thomas"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C92"]
[WhiteElo "2347"]
[BlackElo "2249"]
[PlyCount "50"]
[EventDate "2012.??.??"]
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 Bb7 10. d4 Re8 11. Nbd2 Bf8 12. a4 h6 13. Bc2 exd4 14. cxd4 Nb4
15. Bb1 c5 16. d5 Nd7 17. Nb3 f5 18. exf5 Rxe1+ 19. Nxe1 Nxd5 20. Bd2 b4 21.
Be4 {Diagram #} Ne3 22. Qf3 d5 23. Bd3 Nc4 24. Bxc4 Ne5 25. Qe3 Nxc4 1/2-1/2
[/pgn]
This game is magic on both sides.
[pgn]
[Event "16Ns05"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Walker, Barry"]
[Black "Connelly, Thomas"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B23"]
[WhiteElo "2193"]
[BlackElo "2339"]
[PlyCount "95"]
[EventDate "2019.??.??"]
1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 d6 3. Bb5+ Bd7 4. Bxd7+ Qxd7 5. f4 Nc6 6. Nf3 g6 7. O-O
Bg7 8. d3 Nf6 9. Qe1 O-O 10. h3 Rac8 11. Bd2 a6 12. Qh4 b5 13. e5 dxe5 14. fxe5
Ne8 15. Bh6 Nc7 16. Ne4 Ne6 17. Bxg7 Kxg7 18. Rf2 Ned4 19. Nfg5 h6 20. Nf6 Qc7
21. Nfh7 Qxe5 22. Nxf8 Rxf8 {Diagram #} 23. Rxf7+ Rxf7 24. Qxh6+ Kxh6 25. Nxf7+
Kg7 26. Nxe5 Nxe5 27. c3 Ne2+ 28. Kf2 Nf4 29. d4 Ned3+ 30. Ke3 c4 31. a4 Nd5+
32. Ke4 Nf6+ 33. Kf3 Nxb2 34. axb5 axb5 35. Ra5 Na4 36. Rxb5 Nxc3 37. Rc5 Nfe4
38. Re5 Nd2+ 39. Ke3 Nb3 40. Rxe7+ Kf6 41. Re8 Nb5 42. Rc8 c3 43. h4 N3xd4 44.
g4 Nc2+ 45. Ke2 Nca3 46. h5 gxh5 47. gxh5 Kg5 48. Rxc3 1/2-1/2
[/pgn]
Black finds himself entangled in a spiderweb of pieces.
[pgn]
[Event "17Ns01"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2017.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Ryan, Patrick"]
[Black "Ruiz, Glenn"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B12"]
[WhiteElo "2317"]
[BlackElo "1874"]
[PlyCount "53"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. f3 Qb6 4. Nc3 dxe4 5. fxe4 Nf6 6. Nf3 Bg4 7. Be2 e6
8. e5 Nd5 9. O-O Be7 10. Ne4 Bf5 11. Nd6+ Bxd6 12. exd6 c5 13. dxc5 Qxc5+ 14.
Qd4 Qb6 15. Qxb6 Nxb6 16. Nd4 Be4 17. Nb5 Na6 18. c4 {Diagram #} O-O 19. Be3
Nd7 20. a3 b6 21. b4 h6 22. Rac1 Rfc8 23. Rc3 f6 24. Bd2 f5 25. Nd4 Kf7 26. c5
Nab8 27. Bc4 1-0
[/pgn]
Just when Black looks ready to start an attack on the queenside, White insists that play be on the kingside.
[pgn]
[Event "15Ns05"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2015.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Wilson, Abe"]
[Black "Willis, Wesley"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B90"]
[WhiteElo "2110"]
[BlackElo "1829"]
[PlyCount "87"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 e5 7. Nb3 Be7
8. f3 O-O 9. g4 Be6 10. g5 Nfd7 11. Qd2 Nb6 12. O-O-O N8d7 13. h4 a5 14. Kb1 a4
15. Nc1 Qc8 16. a3 Nc4 17. Bxc4 Qxc4 18. h5 Rfc8 19. g6 fxg6 20. hxg6 h6 {
Diagram #} 21. Bxh6 gxh6 22. Qxh6 Bf6 23. Qh7+ Kf8 24. g7+ Bxg7 25. Rhg1 Bf6
26. Rxd6 Ra6 27. Rxd7 Bxd7 28. Qxd7 Rc7 29. Qd2 Rf7 30. Nd5 Bg7 31. Qg5 Qc8 32.
Nd3 Qb8 33. Ne3 Ke8 34. Nf5 Bf8 35. Qh5 Raf6 36. Rg8 Kd8 37. Nh6 Re7 38. Qg5
Qd6 39. Nf5 Rxf5 40. exf5 Ke8 41. Qh5+ Rf7 42. Rg6 Qd7 43. Rf6 Bg7 44. Nxe5 1-0
[/pgn]
