The Check is in the Mail: May 2019

2014 Electronic Knights Championship Chris Lewis of Lynchburg, Virginia has improved his position from the 2013 Electronic Knights where he finished second, to first place in the 2014 Electronic Knights, and how!  The championship was divided into two Finals sections, and Chris won both of them, thereby annexing the title of 2014 Electronic Knights Champion. GAME OF THE MONTH

[pgn]

[Event "14ENS04"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2014.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Lewis, Chris"]
[Black "Young, William"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C95"]
[WhiteElo "2220"]
[BlackElo "2124"]
[PlyCount "49"]
[EventDate "2014.??.??"]

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 Nb8 {Breyer's continuation. With 9...Nb8 Black frees the c-pawn and
relocates the Knight to d7 where it supports e5. After 10.d4 Nbd7 11.Nbd2 Bb7
12.Bc2 Re8 13.Nf1 Bf8 as seen in the game, Black is threatening to win the
e4-pawn so White plays 14.Ng3. Black generally plays 14...g6 and White has
some kingside chances.} 10. d4 Nbd7 11. Nbd2 Bb7 12. Bc2 Re8 13. Nf1 Bf8 14.
Ng3 g6 15. Bg5 h6 16. Bd2 Bg7 17. a4 {Before White launches his kingside
attack, he needs to make sure the center is solid. Thus 17. a4 which will
should elicit a ...c5 advance when White can close with d5 with come chances.}
Nb6 {Hevis-Carlsen, ICC Open 2016 continued 17...c5 18. d5 c4 19. Qe2 Nc5 with
equality.} 18. axb5 {Smirin-Kazhgalev, World Open 2010 was a quickie after 18.
b3 bxa4 19. bxa4 Nc4 20. Rb1 DRAW} axb5 19. b3 Nfd7 {Swiercz-Rishi, Santo Open
2018 cpntinued 19...c5 20. d5 Rxa1 21. Qxa1 Qc7 equal.} 20. Rxa8 Qxa8 21. Bd3 {
Black turned the center into a whirlpool with 21...d5 in Muniz Pardino -
Mostowik, Germany CC 2017 when 22. Bxb5 appears more promising than 22. exd5.}
b4 22. Qc1 $1 {A wonderful move that sets a deep trap, into which Black falls.
Note that all White's pieces point toward the Black King. After 22. d5, the
game remains even.} bxc3 23. Bxh6 $1 {Again, White could play it safe and
respond 23.Bxc3, but he has a totally different idea in mind.} Bxh6 {White is
better after 23...exd4 24. Bxg7 Kxg7 25. Nxd4 Qa5 26. b4! Qe5 27. Qxc3} 24.
Qxh6 exd4 {There is no defense -- 24. ...Qa2 25. Ng5 Nf8 26. Nf5! gxf5 27.
exf5 and White overwhelms the Black King.} 25. Nh5 $1 {With almost all of
Black's forces way over on the queenside, the Black King is abandonded. After
25...gxh5 26. e5! f5 27. Qg6+ Kh8 28. Ng5 Re7 29. exd6! Rxe1 30. Kh2 mate is
not far off. 1-0} 1-0

[/pgn]

APRIL RESULTS John Collins

•             Robert Ulrich     16C17  6-0
•             Bradley Rogers  17C18  6-0

Trophy Quad

•             George Thomas  18Q02  5 ½-½

Walter Muir

•             Arthur Holmer  18W24  5 ½- ½

Swift Quad

•             LeRoy Sims    18SQ03  6-0

2016 Palciauskas Champion James Ellis of Ellijay, Georgia, has won the 16P02 Master level Palciauskas Championship with an undefeated 5 ½-½ score. 16P02

Ellis		½	1	1	1	1	1	5½
Cross	½		½	1	1	1	1	5
Levine	0	½		1	1	1	1	4½
Dunne	0	0	0		1	½	1	2½
Chessing	0	0	0	0		1	½	1½
Sgro	0	0	0	½	0		½	1
Spencer	0	0	0	0	½	½		1

 

[pgn]

[Event "Palciauskas"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Ellis, James"]
[Black "Levine, Joel"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E68"]
[WhiteElo "2223"]
[BlackElo "2375"]
[PlyCount "65"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[EventType "corr"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 O-O 5. Nc3 d6 6. Nf3 Nbd7 7. O-O e5
8. e4 exd4 9. Nxd4 Re8 10. h3 Nc5 11. Re1 a5 12. Ndb5 Bd7 13. Bf4 Bxb5 14. cxb5
Nfd7 15. Qc2 h5 16. Be3 h4 17. g4 g5 18. Rad1 Be5 19. Nd5 Ne6 20. Rf1 Ndc5 21.
Qd2 c6 22. f4 {Diagram #} gxf4 23. Nxf4 Ng5 24. bxc6 bxc6 25. Nh5 Ncxe4 26. Qc1
Rc8 27. Rf5 f6 28. Bxe4 Nxe4 29. Bd4 Qc7 30. Qe3 d5 31. Bxe5 Rxe5 32. Nxf6+ Kg7
33. Qd4 1-0

[/pgn]

OBITUARIES Ronnie Rubit of Houston, Texas was born June 12, 1958 and died March 24, 2019.

[pgn]

[Event "CCLA E71021 Class A Champ"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1987.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Rubit, Ronnie D"]
[Black "Campbell, J. Franklin"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B24"]
[PlyCount "50"]
[EventDate "1987.??.??"]
[EventType "simul"]
[EventRounds "8"]
[Source "Chess Mail"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. Nge2 e6 6. d3 Nge7 7. O-O O-O
8. Be3 Nd4 9. f4 Nec6 10. Kh1 d6 11. Ng1 Qe7 12. Qd2 Bd7 13. Nce2 Nxe2 14. Nxe2
d5 15. e5 b5 16. d4 c4 17. g4 Qd8 18. h3 Ne7 19. Ng3 a5 20. a3 Ra6 21. Kh2 f5
22. exf6 Bxf6 23. Ne2 Qb6 24. Ng1 Raa8 25. Nf3 Qd6 1/2-1/2

[/pgn]

Murphree Donnan of Columbia, South Carolina was born March 1, 1950 and  died January 31, 2019.

[pgn]

[Event "06Ns07"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2006.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Donnan, Murphree"]
[Black "Walker, Barry"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A80"]
[WhiteElo "1458"]
[BlackElo "2051"]
[PlyCount "48"]
[EventDate "2006.??.??"]

1. d4 f5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bf4 Nf6 4. e3 g6 5. Bd3 Bg7 6. O-O O-O 7. c4 Nc6 8.
Qd2 Nh5 9. Bg5 h6 10. Bh4 g5 11. Bg3 Nxg3 12. fxg3 e5 13. e4 fxe4 14. Bxe4 Nxd4
15. Nc3 c6 16. Nxd4 exd4 17. Ne2 Qb6 18. Qd3 Bg4 19. Nc1 Rxf1+ 20. Kxf1 Rf8+
21. Bf3 Bf5 22. Qd2 g4 23. Ne2 gxf3 24. gxf3 Bh3+ 0-1

[/pgn]

---

Bishops 1  Knights 0

[pgn]

[Event "18W24"]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2018.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Anderson, Clarence"]
[Black "Holmer, Arthur E"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B12"]
[WhiteElo "1769"]
[BlackElo "1752"]
[PlyCount "52"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. dxc5 e6 5. a3 Bxc5 6. b4 Be7 7. Qg4 g6 8.
Nf3 h5 9. Qg3 a5 10. b5 h4 11. Qf4 Nd7 12. Be3 Nh6 13. Bd3 Nf5 14. Bxf5 gxf5
15. Nbd2 b6 16. a4 Bb7 17. c4 Nc5 18. Bxc5 Bxc5 19. O-O h3 20. g3 dxc4 21. Qxc4
Rc8 22. Qf4 Qd5 {Diagram #} 23. Rfd1 Rd8 24. Kf1 Qd3+ 25. Kg1 Rg8 26. Ne1 Qe2
0-1

[/pgn]

[pgn]

[Event "18SQ03"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2018.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Sawyer, Timothy"]
[Black "Sims, LeRoy"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A47"]
[WhiteElo "1450"]
[BlackElo "1497"]
[PlyCount "42"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Bf4 b6 3. e3 Bb7 4. Nf3 Nh5 5. Bg3 Nxg3 6. hxg3 e6 7. Bd3
Nc6 8. c3 g6 9. Nbd2 Bg7 10. Qe2 O-O 11. O-O-O a5 12. a4 Ne7 13. e4 c5 14. Kb1
d5 15. e5 c4 16. Bc2 b5 17. axb5 a4 18. Ng5 Qa5 19. Nxh7 a3 20. Nxc4 dxc4 21.
Qxc4 axb2 0-1

[/pgn]

  GAMES OF THE 2014 ELECTRONIC KNIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP White conducts a sterling attack in this final round.

[pgn]

[Event "14ENf01"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2014.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Lewis, Chris"]
[Black "Hehir, Michael"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B76"]
[WhiteElo "2229"]
[BlackElo "2191"]
[PlyCount "71"]
[EventDate "2014.??.??"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 g6 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 Bg7 6. Be3 Nf6 7. Bc4
O-O 8. Bb3 d6 9. f3 Bd7 10. h4 Na5 11. h5 Nxh5 12. g4 Nxb3 13. axb3 Nf6 14. Qd2
Re8 15. Bh6 Bh8 16. Qh2 a5 17. Be3 a4 18. bxa4 Qa5 19. O-O-O Bxa4 20. Nd5 e6
21. Bd2 Qa6 22. e5 {Diagram #} Nxd5 23. Qxh7+ Kf8 24. exd6 Qxd6 25. Qxh8+ Ke7
26. Qg7 Kd7 27. Qxf7+ Kc8 28. Rh7 Ra7 29. Be1 Qf4+ 30. Qxf4 Nxf4 31. Bg3 e5 32.
Bxf4 exf4 33. Rf7 Ra6 34. Rxf4 Bd7 35. Rd3 Rd8 36. Kd2 1-0

[/pgn]

White’s Bishop locates itself on Move 30 and doesn’t move again until Move 70.

[pgn]

[Event "14ENf02"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2014.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Bussom, Andrew"]
[Black "Schoessler, Timothy"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B90"]
[WhiteElo "2220"]
[BlackElo "1994"]
[PlyCount "147"]
[EventDate "2014.??.??"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 e5 7. Nb3 Be6
8. Qd2 Nbd7 9. f3 h5 10. Nd5 Bxd5 11. exd5 Qc7 12. c4 b6 13. Bd3 g6 14. Rc1 Bg7
15. O-O O-O 16. Bb1 a5 17. Qf2 Kh7 18. g4 a4 19. Nd2 Nc5 20. b4 axb3 21. axb3
Ra3 22. Bc2 Kg8 23. g5 Nh7 24. b4 Nd7 25. Qe2 Rc8 26. Ne4 Rca8 27. Kh1 Ra2 28.
Rg1 Qb8 29. Qd3 R2a3 30. Bb3 {Diagram #} Bf8 31. Rcf1 Qc7 32. Bc1 Ra1 33. Bb2
Rxf1 34. Rxf1 Bg7 35. Bc1 Qb8 36. Be3 Ra3 37. Rb1 Bf8 38. c5 dxc5 39. d6 cxb4
40. Qc4 Qe8 41. Qxb4 Qa8 42. Bxb6 Ra1 43. Rxa1 Qxa1+ 44. Kg2 Nxb6 45. Qxb6 Qb2+
46. Kf1 Qc1+ 47. Ke2 Qb2+ 48. Nd2 Qd4 49. Qxd4 exd4 50. Nc4 Nxg5 51. d7 Be7 52.
Ne5 Kg7 53. Nc6 Kf6 54. Nxd4 Ke5 55. Nc6+ Kd6 56. d8=Q+ Bxd8 57. Nxd8 Ke7 58.
Nc6+ Kd6 59. Nd4 Ke7 60. h4 Nh7 61. f4 Nf8 62. Nc6+ Kd6 63. Ne5 f6 64. Nf7+ Ke7
65. Nh8 f5 66. Kd3 Kf6 67. Kd4 Nh7 68. Nf7 Kg7 69. Ne5 Nf6 70. Bf7 Ne4 71. Bxg6
Ng3 72. Be8 Kf6 73. Ba4 Ne2+ 74. Ke3 1-0

[/pgn]

White uses a familiar winning technique – restrict Black’s moves until his pieces have almost no scope.

[pgn]

[Event "14ENf02"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2014.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Cousins, Robert"]
[Black "Schoessler, Timothy"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D78"]
[WhiteElo "2017"]
[BlackElo "1994"]
[PlyCount "87"]
[EventDate "2014.??.??"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. g3 c6 4. Nf3 d5 5. b3 Bg7 6. Bg2 b6 7. O-O O-O 8.
Bb2 Bb7 9. Nc3 Nbd7 10. Qc2 e6 11. Rad1 Rc8 12. e4 dxe4 13. Nxe4 Qe7 14. Rfe1
Nxe4 15. Rxe4 Nf6 16. Ree1 Rfd8 17. Ne5 Nd7 18. f4 b5 19. a4 a5 20. Bc3 b4 21.
Bb2 Rc7 22. Qf2 Nf6 23. h3 Nd7 24. Kh2 Rcc8 25. g4 Nxe5 26. fxe5 Bh6 27. h4 Rc7
28. g5 Bg7 29. Rd3 Rcd7 {Diagram #} 30. c5 Rf8 31. Rh3 Rc7 32. Qg3 Ba6 33. h5
Bh8 34. Re4 Qe8 35. Reh4 Qd8 36. Kg1 Be2 37. Bc1 gxh5 38. Qf4 Bg4 39. Rxg4 hxg4
40. Qxg4 Bg7 41. Be3 Re8 42. Qh5 Kf8 43. Qxh7 Rd7 44. g6 1-0

[/pgn]

This is a war -- Just the opposite of what you would expect a draw to be like.

[pgn]

[Event "14ENf01"]
[Site "USCF"]
[Date "2017.03.04"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Millett, John"]
[Black "Corkum, Tim"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D37"]
[PlyCount "61"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bf4 O-O 6. e3 c5 7. dxc5 Bxc5
8. Qc2 Nc6 9. a3 Bd7 10. Rd1 Rc8 11. Be2 dxc4 12. Bxc4 Qe7 13. O-O Rfd8 14. Ne4
Nxe4 15. Qxe4 Bb6 16. Ng5 g6 17. Qf3 Nd4 {Diagram #} 18. Qh3 h5 19. Ne4 e5 20.
Bg5 Bxh3 21. Bxe7 Nf3+ 22. gxf3 Rxd1 23. Rxd1 Rxc4 24. Bd6 Bd8 25. Bxe5 Bh4 26.
Nf6+ Bxf6 27. Bxf6 Kh7 28. Bc3 Rc5 29. f4 g5 30. f3 gxf4 31. exf4 1/2-1/2

[/pgn]

Fight, fight, and then fight some more.

[pgn]

[Event "14ENf02"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2014.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Bussom, Andrew"]
[Black "Young, William"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D37"]
[WhiteElo "2216"]
[BlackElo "2071"]
[PlyCount "75"]
[EventDate "2014.??.??"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Be7 5. Bf4 O-O 6. e3 c5 7. dxc5 Bxc5
8. a3 Nc6 9. Qc2 Qa5 10. Rd1 Be7 11. Be2 dxc4 12. Bxc4 e5 13. Bg3 Bg4 14. O-O
Rac8 15. Nd5 e4 16. b4 Qxa3 17. Ra1 Qxa1 18. Nxe7+ Nxe7 19. Rxa1 exf3 20. Qa2
Ne4 21. h3 Bh5 22. Bh4 g5 23. Bd3 Nc3 24. Qa5 h6 25. Bxg5 hxg5 26. Qxg5+ Bg6
27. h4 f6 28. Qg4 Kf7 29. Bxg6+ Nxg6 30. Qxf3 Rc7 31. h5 Ne5 32. Qf5 Nd5 33. f4
Rg8 34. fxe5 Rxg2+ 35. Kh1 Rg5 36. Qh3 Rxe5 37. Rg1 Rg5 38. h6 1-0

[/pgn]

This is how a draw should be played.

[pgn]

[Event "14ENf01"]
[Site "USCF"]
[Date "2014.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Corkum, Tim"]
[Black "Stephenson, Mark"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E06"]
[WhiteElo "2280"]
[BlackElo "2157"]
[PlyCount "129"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. c4 d5 4. g3 Be7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. Qc2 c5 7. O-O Nc6 8.
cxd5 Nxd4 9. Nxd4 cxd4 10. dxe6 Bxe6 11. Bxb7 Rb8 12. Bg2 Rc8 13. Qd3 Bc4 14.
Qd1 Ba6 15. Nd2 d3 16. e3 Re8 17. Nb3 Bf8 18. Bd2 Ne4 19. Rc1 Rc2 {Diagram #}
20. Bxe4 Rxe4 21. Bc3 Rxc1 22. Qxc1 Ra4 23. a3 d2 24. Nxd2 Bxf1 25. Qxf1 Qc8
26. Qd3 Ra6 27. Qd4 Qc5 28. Qf4 h6 29. Nf3 Qd5 30. h4 Re6 31. Nd4 Re8 32. Nf5
Kh7 33. Qa4 Rd8 34. Nd4 Bc5 35. Qb5 Bxd4 36. Qxd5 Rxd5 37. Bxd4 Ra5 38. f3 a6
39. Kf2 h5 40. Ke2 Kg6 41. Kd3 f6 42. e4 Kf7 43. Kc4 Ke6 44. Bc5 Rb5 45. b4 Rb8
46. a4 Rd8 47. b5 axb5+ 48. axb5 Rd1 49. Be3 Kd7 50. Bc5 Rc1+ 51. Kd5 Rc3 52.
f4 Rxg3 53. b6 Rd3+ 54. Bd4 g5 55. hxg5 fxg5 56. f5 h4 57. e5 h3 58. e6+ Kc8
59. Kc4 Rxd4+ 60. Kxd4 h2 61. e7 Kd7 62. b7 h1=Q 63. e8=Q+ Kxe8 64. b8=Q+ Kd7
65. Qb5+ 1/2-1/2

[/pgn]