The Check is in the Mail: June 2019

HIGHEST RATED CC PLAYER EVER John Penquite born in 1935, died in 2007, achieved the highest US Chess rating after a remarkable streak of 58 games undefeated and undrawn.  In 1993 John Penquite established a USCF correspondence rating of 2939.  In comparison, this  exceeds the current correspondence rating leader Michael Buss who has a 2461 record by 478 points. John’s  CC rating also exceeds Magnus Carlsen’s  highest  rating of 2882 (over the board) by 57 points.  John, however, did not compete in OTB tournaments due to a severe tobacco smoke allergy during the time when smoking was still allowed. In  1990 John entered five sections of the 1990 Golden Knights and ended up tied for first with a perfect score, and had he been eligible, he also would have finished third, fourth, fifth, and sixteenth.  John also finished second in the 1991 Absolute.  Besides his USCF rating, he was the top-rated player in several other correspondence chess  organizations. As an example of John’s play witness this stellar game from the 1991 Absolute Championship against third place finisher Louis Petithory.

[pgn]

[Event "Absolute Championship"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1991.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Penquite, John"]
[Black "Petithory, Louis"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E97"]
[WhiteElo "2915"]
[BlackElo "2415"]
[PlyCount "61"]
[EventDate "1993.??.??"]
[Source "Chess Mail"]

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. d4 O-O 6. Be2 e5 7. O-O Nc6 8.
d5 Ne7 9. b4 Nh5 10. g3 a5 11. Ba3 {This was pretty much standard for the time.
Black usually continued 11...f5 with a vicious battle, Black on the kingside,
White on the queenside, with fortune typically favoring White. Petithory's
next changes everything.} Bh6 $5 {An original try by Petithory -- the Bishop
is placed on a more active diagonal. The Pawn advance ...f5 is delayed fpr a
few moves, and the possibility of White's Ng5-e6 is prohibited.} 12. bxa5 {
This or 12. c5 are the best way for White to continue with his queenside
action. White intends, after 12. bxa5 Rxa5 to play 13. Bb4 followed by c5.} Bh3
13. Re1 f5 14. exf5 Nxf5 {Naturally the desireable 14...gxf5 is answered by 15.
Nxe5!} 15. Rb1 {Black could save his b-Pawn by 15...Qc8 which might lead to
great complications after 16. Nxe5! Ne3 17. Qd3 Ng2 18. Bxh5 Nxe1 19. Rxe1 Bf5
20. Bg4 Bxd3 21. Bxc8 Rfxc8 22. Nxd3 Bd2 23. Bb4 Bxe1 24. Nxe1 leading to an
endgame of three minor pieces versus two Rooks which should favor the minor
pieces.} Re8 16. Kh1 $1 {With an eye on the h3 Bishop. The threat is 18. Ng1.}
e4 $5 {Petithory breaks under the complications. Necessary was 16...
Bg4 when play would continue roughly even. Now begins an ingenious attack by
Black met by an equally ingenious defense.} 17. Ng1 Nhxg3+ {Equally hopeless
is 17...e3 18. Bxh5 Qf6 19. Nxh3 Qxc3 20. Bb4} 18. hxg3 e3 19. Bd3 Rf8 20. Nxh3
exf2 21. Nxf2 Nxg3+ {Black has done his best to open up the White King's
protective forces, but two pieces down is just too much, but some tricks
remain.} 22. Kg1 $1 Rxf2 $1 {Black is not TKO'ed after 23. Kxf2 Qh4! 24. Kg2
Rf8 25. Rb2 Nh5 and White has many problems to solve.} 23. Qg4 $1 {And Black's
attack is no more.} Qf6 24. Qe6+ $1 {With the Queens off the board, White's
win is simple.} Kf8 25. Rxb7 Qh4 26. Qe7+ $1 {See above note.} Qxe7 27. Rxe7
Rd2 28. Rbxc7 Kg8 29. Bc1 Rxd3 30. Bxh6 Nf5 31. Ne4 $1 1-0

[/pgn]

May Results Trophy Quad Philip Hart    17Q08    6-0 Michael Allard  18Q03  4-2 Walter Muir Jay Hall              18W23  4-2 James Mahooti  18W23   4-2 Rex Bush           18W22  6-0 Mark Herrmann  18W18 3 ½=2 ½ You can almost hear Black’s defenses crumble in this slow paced crush by Jay Hall.

[pgn]

[Event "18W23"]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2018.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Hall, Jay"]
[Black "Badger, John"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C11"]
[WhiteElo "1710"]
[BlackElo "1809"]
[PlyCount "97"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Ng8 5. Be3 Ne7 6. Nf3 Nf5 7. Bg5 Be7
8. h4 h6 9. Bxe7 Nxe7 10. Qd2 b6 11. O-O-O Bb7 12. g4 Nbc6 13. h5 Qd7 14. Nh4
O-O-O 15. f4 Kb8 16. Bb5 a6 17. Ba4 b5 18. Bb3 Na5 19. Ne2 Nc4 20. Qc3 Nc6 21.
Qh3 a5 22. a4 b4 23. f5 Na7 24. fxe6 fxe6 25. Nf4 Bc6 26. Nhg6 Rhe8 27. Nd3 Qc8
28. Nc5 Nb6 29. Qh4 Ka8 30. Ne7 Qb8 31. Rhf1 Nbc8 32. Nxc8 Qxc8 33. Rf7 {
Diagram #} Rg8 34. Qe7 Rde8 35. Qxc7 Qxc7 36. Rxc7 Kb8 37. Na6+ Ka8 38. Rf1
Ref8 39. Rff7 Rxf7 40. Rxf7 g6 41. Nc7+ Kb8 42. Nxe6 gxh5 43. gxh5 Nc8 44. Rf6
Rg1+ 45. Kd2 Rg2+ 46. Ke3 Ne7 47. Rf8+ Nc8 48. Nf4 Rh2 49. Rh8 1-0

[/pgn]

What’s a couple of Pawns among friends ?

[pgn]

[Event "18W23"]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2018.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Leisner, Jon"]
[Black "Mahooti, James"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B22"]
[WhiteElo "1776"]
[BlackElo "1854"]
[PlyCount "56"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]

1. e4 c5 2. c3 d5 3. exd5 Nf6 4. Qa4+ Nbd7 5. c4 b5 6. Qxb5 Rb8 7. Qa4
Rb6 8. Nf3 e6 9. Nc3 exd5 10. cxd5 Bd6 11. Be2 O-O 12. O-O Bb7 13. Qxa7 Nxd5
14. Qa4 Re8 15. Bd1 Nf4 {Diagram #} 16. d3 Nxg2 17. Qg4 Nf4 18. Bxf4 Bxf4 19.
Qxf4 Rg6+ 20. Qg3 Ne5 21. Nxe5 Rxg3+ 22. hxg3 Rxe5 23. f3 Qxd3 24. Kg2 g5 25.
Rf2 g4 26. Rb1 Re1 27. Bc2 Bxf3+ 28. Kh2 Qe3 0-1

[/pgn]

The sad tale of the buried Bishop.

[pgn]

[Event "18W22 "]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2018.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Segreto, Thomas"]
[Black "Bush, Rex"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A50"]
[WhiteElo "1284"]
[PlyCount "48"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 b6 3. Nf3 Bb7 4. Nc3 g6 5. Bf4 Bg7 6. h3 O-O 7. e3 Ne4 8.
Qc2 Nxc3 9. Qxc3 c5 10. Be2 d5 11. cxd5 Bxd5 12. O-O Nc6 13. Rfd1 cxd4 14. exd4
Bxf3 15. Bxf3 Nxd4 16. Qe3 Nxf3+ 17. Qxf3 Qc8 18. Rab1 Qf5 19. b3 e5 20. Bh2
Qxf3 21. gxf3 Rfd8 22. Kg2 f5 23. Re1 f4 {Diagram #} 24. h4 Bf6 0-1

[/pgn]

 

[pgn]

[Event "18W18"]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2018.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Herrmann, Mark"]
[Black "Badger, John"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D37"]
[WhiteElo "1939"]
[BlackElo "1914"]
[PlyCount "57"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]

1. c4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 Be7 5. Bf4 O-O 6. e3 c5 7. dxc5 Bxc5
8. a3 Nc6 9. Qc2 Qa5 10. Rd1 Be7 11. Be2 Ne4 12. cxd5 Nxc3 13. bxc3 exd5 14.
O-O Be6 15. a4 Rfd8 16. Bd3 Bf6 17. Bxh7+ Kh8 18. Bg5 Rdc8 19. Bxf6 gxf6 20.
Bf5 Ne7 21. Bxe6 fxe6 22. Rd4 Nf5 23. Rd3 e5 24. Rfd1 Rc5 25. e4 dxe4 26. Rd7
Rc4 27. Qe2 Rxa4 28. Nh4 Ng7 29. Qe3 1-0

[/pgn]

 A poem from Chess, March 1997 first published in 1912. CORRESPONDENCE CHESS by Robert Potter Elmer The mania for morphine and the taste for alcohol May overthrow a person and his intellect enthrall But both are harmless habits, rather pleasant to possess, Compared to that fell practice known as correspondence chess. Just a bit pathetic is a man’s first postal-card Which bears a modest challenge to a friend who’s “not too had”; The unsuspecting tyro does not dream of what a mess He enters into by beginning Correspondence Chess. At first his interest is mild, the opening is tame, But things soon get more exciting and pretty soon the game Appears before his eyes at night, at church, at business, Until he thinks of little else but Correspondence Chess. Caissa’s hand is on him with the magic of its touch She guides him to new battlefields, nor ever hints “Too much”, Though lust of mental combat is aroused by her caress, He rides exultant in the lists of Correspondence Chess. For hours he struggles o’er the board, his features drawn and pale, Then hurries off his cabalistic ciphers to the mail; The cooling night can bring no balm to soothe his fevered stress, He starts awake, but yet he broods on Correspondence Chess. In dreams he battles with great Knights on endless chequered lawns Or falls beneath the leaden feet of myriads of pawns Two bishops seated on his head his breath almost suppresses, He starts awake, but yet he broods on Correspondence Chess. If accident or sickness should improve my earthly road, Misfortune bear upon me in an overwhelming load, I’d bow my head before my fate and humbly acquiesce, But I would pray to be preserved from Correspondence Chess. Quote: The mark of the postal player is the odd openings -- Dan Waite Active pieces + active play = active victory

[pgn]

[Event "15EN02"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2015.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Grabove, Matthew"]
[Black "Pedersen, Roger"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B12"]
[WhiteElo "2116"]
[BlackElo "2039"]
[PlyCount "65"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. h4 h5 5. c4 e6 6. Nc3 Ne7 7. Nge2 dxc4 8. Ng3 b5 9. Bg5 Qa5 10. a4 b4 11. Nce4 Bxe4 12. Nxe4 Nf5 13. Bxc4 Nd7 14. O-O Qb6
15. d5 cxd5 16. Bxd5 Rc8 17. a5 Qb8 18. Bb3 Be7 19. Ba4 Rd8 20. Rc1 Bxg5 21.
hxg5 Ke7 22. Nd6 Nxe5 23. Nxf5+ exf5 24. Qe2 Rd4 25. Qe3 Rhd8 26. f4 R8d5 27.
fxe5 g6 28. Bb3 Rd3 29. Qe2 Qxe5 30. Rfe1 Qxe2 31. Rxe2+ Kd6 32. Bxd5 Kxd5 33.
Rc7 1-0

[/pgn]

GAMES OF JOHN PENQUITE

[pgn]

[Event "corr"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1996.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Wilson, Glenn"]
[Black "Penquite, John"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B25"]
[PlyCount "64"]
[EventDate "1996.??.??"]
[Source "Chess Mail"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 d6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. d3 Nc6 6. f4 e6 7. Nf3 Nge7 8.
O-O O-O 9. Be3 a6 10. Qd2 Nd4 11. Qf2 Nec6 12. Nd1 Nxf3+ 13. Bxf3 b6 14. c3 Bb7
15. Qg2 Ne7 16. Nf2 Qd7 17. g4 f5 18. h3 Bc6 19. Nh1 Rab8 20. Ng3 fxg4 21. hxg4
d5 22. Rad1 d4 23. cxd4 Bxd4 24. Bxd4 Qxd4+ 25. Kh1 Rbd8 26. f5 exf5 27. gxf5
Kh8 28. Bg4 Rf6 29. fxg6 Rxg6 30. Qh3 Qxb2 31. Be6 Qg7 32. Nh5 Qe5 0-1

[/pgn]

[pgn]

[Event "NWPC"]
[Site "corr"]
[Date "1990.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Penquite, John"]
[Black "Murlin, Varner"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E32"]
[PlyCount "55"]
[EventDate "1990.??.??"]
[Source "Chess Mail"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 O-O 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. Qxc3 b6 7. Bg5
Bb7 8. f3 h6 9. Bh4 d6 10. e4 g5 11. Bf2 Nbd7 12. e5 Ne8 13. O-O-O d5 14. h4 f6
15. hxg5 hxg5 16. exf6 Qxf6 17. Be3 Nd6 18. Qd2 Nxc4 19. Bxc4 dxc4 20. Bxg5 Qf5
21. Ne2 c5 22. Ng3 Qd3 23. Qe1 Qg6 24. Be3 Rad8 25. Rh6 Qf7 26. Nh5 Qf5 27. Qh4
Rc8 28. g4 1-0

[/pgn]

[pgn]

[Event "USA"]
[Site "corr"]
[Date "1990.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Beardsley, Bruce D"]
[Black "Penquite, John"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A04"]
[PlyCount "86"]
[EventDate "1990.??.??"]
[EventType "simul"]
[Source "Chess Mail"]

1. Nf3 c5 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4. O-O Nc6 5. d3 e5 6. e4 Nge7 7. c3 O-O 8.
Nh4 d5 9. Nd2 Be6 10. f4 exf4 11. gxf4 dxe4 12. dxe4 Qd3 13. Qf3 Qxf3 14. Nhxf3
Rad8 15. Nb3 b6 16. Be3 a5 17. Nbd2 a4 18. a3 Na5 19. Rfe1 Nc4 20. Nxc4 Bxc4
21. Rad1 Bb3 22. Rxd8 Rxd8 23. Kf2 Nc6 24. Nd2 Be6 25. Bf3 Nd4 26. Bd1 Bf6 27.
Kg3 Nb3 28. Nxb3 axb3 29. Be2 Kf8 30. Rd1 Rxd1 31. Bxd1 Ke8 32. e5 Be7 33. Bf3
Kd7 34. Kf2 b5 35. Ke2 c4 36. Be4 Bf5 37. Bd5 {Diagram #} Bxa3 38. Bc1 Bg4+ 39.
Kf1 b4 40. cxb4 c3 41. bxa3 b2 42. Bxb2 cxb2 43. Ba2 Bf5 0-1

[/pgn]

[pgn]

[Event "corr"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1990.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Hayami, Marvin"]
[Black "Penquite, John"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B66"]
[PlyCount "52"]
[EventDate "1990.??.??"]
[Source "Chess Mail"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bg5 e6 7. Qd2 a6
8. O-O-O h6 9. Bf4 Bd7 10. Nxc6 Bxc6 11. f3 d5 12. Qe1 Bb4 13. a3 Ba5 14. b4
Bb6 15. exd5 Bxd5 16. Be5 O-O 17. Qg3 Rc8 18. Nxd5 exd5 19. Bd3 Be3+ 20. Kb1
Qb6 21. Bxf6 Qxf6 22. Qg4 g6 23. h4 {Diagram #} Rc3 24. Ka2 Rfc8 25. Rc1 Bxc1
26. Rxc1 R8c6 0-1

[/pgn]