The Check is in the Mail: October 2019

2013 Golden Knights Gary Adams of Mesa, Arizona is the 2013 Golden Knights champion.  Gary’s victory caps two third place finishes, one in the 2000 and again in the 2008 Golden Knights. GAME OF THE MONTH

[pgn]

[Event "13Nf02"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2013.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Lopez, Kenneth"]
[Black "Adams, Gary"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C02"]
[PlyCount "56"]
[EventDate "2013.??.??"]
[EventType "corr"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 {The Advance Variation of the French Defense
seems to be easier for Black to play than White, White scoring 49%.} c5 4. c3
Nc6 5. Nf3 Bd7 {This is most likely transposing into the most popular line 5...
Qb6} 6. Bd3 {The most successful line recently for White here is 6. Be2,
scoring 52.1% over 1259 games, with 6. a3 coming in at 43.8%. The choice of 6.
Bd3 deserves a ?! at best.} cxd4 7. cxd4 Qb6 8. Bc2 {White needs to stick to
his romantic tendencies here and sactifice a Pawn or two. His choice of 8. Bc2
scores a pathetic 29.2 % over 60 games while the more engergetic 8.00!? giving
up the d-PAwn at least keeps AWhite in the playable ramge, scoring 47.4% based
on 313 games.} Nb4 {Black correctly goes after White;s bestattacking minor.} 9.
O-O {Also leading to poor play is 9. Ba4 Bxa4 10. Qxa4+ Qc6 11. Qxc6+ bxc6 12.
Kd2 c5 when White has the bad Bishop and a confused position.} (9. Ba4 Bxa4 10.
Qxa4+ Qc6 11. Qxc6+ bxc6 12. Kd2 c5) 9... Nxc2 10. Qxc2 Ne7 11. Nc3 Rc8 12. Rd1
Nf5 {In the six games where thisposition has occurred, White has tried 11,a3
twice), 11. Be3, 11. Qd2, 11. Qd3 and the game choice with a cumulative score
of 0.} 13. g4 Ne7 14. Bg5 {Borba-Sebestyea, Hungary 2010 saw 14. Bf4 Ng6 15.
Be3 with a Black plus.} h6 15. Be3 h5 $1 {Diagram # From positional play the
game suddenly transits to the attack, In the next dozen moves the Pawns
shielding te white King are removed one by one.} 16. h3 {White prevents the
black Knight from returning to f5 but at a cost of opening the h-file.} hxg4
17. hxg4 f5 18. exf6 {After 18. g5, Black transfers the attack to the
queenside with 18...Ng6 19. Kg2 Be7 20. Rh1 Kf7 21. Qd2 a5! which nebertheless
gave White a better chance to survive.} (18. g5 Ng6 19. Kg2 Be7 20. Rh1 Kf7 21.
Qd2 a5) 18... gxf6 19. Kg2 e5 $1 20. Nh2 {After 20. dxe5 Black powerfully
transits the Queen to the kingside with 20...Qe6! 21. Nh2 fxe5 with a winning
game.} (20. dxe5 Qe6 21. Nh2 fxe5) 20... Qe6 21. f3 f5 $1 {Crushing! -- Black
demolishes White's King's guard.} 22. dxe5 Qxe5 23. Bg1 fxg4 24. Qd3 {Lasting
longer but not saving the game was 24. Nxg4 Rg8 25. Bh2 Qh5} (24. Nxg4 Rg8 25.
Bh2 Qh5) 24... Rh3 25. Nxd5 gxf3+ 26. Nxf3 Rc2+ $1 27. Qxc2 Qg3+ 28. Kf1 Bb5+
0-1

[/pgn]

2013 GOLDEN KNIGHTS Gary Adams                42.85 Michael Buss               41.70 Dana Daves                 39.50 Michael Buss               39.00 Gary Adams                35.10 William Merrell           30.65 David Drevinsky         30.00 Thomas Chromczak    29.00 Robert Miehm             27.15 Abe Wilson                 25.05 Edward Addis             25.00 James Chessing           17.30 Donald Hamel             17.20 Kenneth Lopez           13.90 Timothy Harris, making a comeback after a ten year hiatus, shows he hasn’t lost his winning ways.  Tim finished first in a Walter Muir, Express Tournament, and Swift Quad in the middle two thousands. SICILIAN DEFENSE (B36) White: Roger Pedersen(2041) Black: Timothy Harris (2189) 2019 Swift Quad

[pgn]

[Event "19SQ02"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2019.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Pedersen, Roger"]
[Black "Harris, Timothy"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B36"]
[WhiteElo "2041"]
[BlackElo "2189"]
[PlyCount "60"]
[EventDate "2019.??.??"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 g6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. c4 Nf6 6. Nc3 d6 7. Be2 Nxd4
8. Qxd4 Bg7 9. Be3 O-O 10. Qd2 a5 11. O-O a4 12. Bh6 Bxh6 13. Qxh6 Qa5 14. Nd5
Nxd5 15. exd5 Qb4 16. Qc1 Ra6 17. a3 Qc5 18. Qc3 Rb6 19. Bd1 Bd7 20. b4 axb3
21. Bxb3 e6 22. Rfc1 Rc8 23. dxe6 Bxe6 24. Qb2 Bxc4 25. Rxc4 Qxc4 26. Bxc4 Rxb2
27. Bd5 Kg7 28. f4 Ra8 29. g3 Ra5 30. Bg2 b5 0-1

[/pgn]

SEPTEMBER RESULTS John Collins Scott Sensiba   18C12  5-1 Tim McGill        18C12  5-1 Blair MacDermid  17C12  6-0

[pgn]

[Event "18Q03"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2018.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Allard, Michael"]
[Black "Leach, Charlie"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B66"]
[WhiteElo "2136"]
[BlackElo "2116"]
[PlyCount "57"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]

{OCT} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Bg5 e6 7. Qd2 a6
8. O-O-O h6 9. Nxc6 bxc6 10. Bf4 d5 11. Qe3 Bb4 12. Be2 Qa5 13. Be5 Bb7 14. Kb1
O-O-O 15. exd5 cxd5 16. Bd4 Rd6 17. a3 Bxc3 18. Bxc3 Qb6 19. Bd4 Qa5 20. Bc3
Qb6 21. Bd4 Qa5 22. Qg3 Ne8 23. Bh5 Rd7 24. Rd3 f6 25. Rc3+ Nc7 26. Rc5 Qa4 27.
Bc3 Re7 28. Ba5 Bc6 29. Qd6 1-0

[/pgn]

Allen Woollen is the 18V02 Palciauskas winner with an undefeated 5-1 score.

[pgn]

[Event "18V02"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2018.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Woollen, Allen"]
[Black "Daven, Jeff"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A52"]
[WhiteElo "1847"]
[BlackElo "1907"]
[PlyCount "45"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]
[EventType "corr"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e5 3. dxe5 Ng4 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. e3 Ngxe5 6. Be2 g6 7. Nc3
Nxf3+ 8. Bxf3 Bg7 9. Qc2 d6 10. b3 Ne5 11. Be2 Qg5 12. O-O Bh3 13. Qe4 Bf5 14.
Qxb7 O-O 15. e4 Qh4 16. exf5 Ng4 17. Bf4 Bxc3 18. Rad1 Be5 19. Bxe5 Nxe5 20. f4
Ng4 21. Bxg4 Qxg4 22. fxg6 fxg6 23. Qxc7 1-0

[/pgn]

OBITUARY                 Pal Benko was born July 15, 1928 and died August 26, 2019.

[pgn]

[Event "corres"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1973.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Benko, Pal"]
[Black "Heinen, Dennis"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B65"]
[PlyCount "41"]
[EventDate "1804.??.??"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Bg5 e6 7. Qd2 Be7
8. O-O-O O-O 9. f4 Nxd4 10. Qxd4 h6 11. Bh4 Qa5 12. Bc4 Rd8 13. Rhf1 $1 a6 $2
14. f5 b5 15. Bb3 Bd7 16. fxe6 fxe6 17. Bxf6 Bxf6 18. Rxf6 $1 gxf6 19. Qxf6 Kh7
20. Qf7+ Kh8 21. Qg6 1-0

[/pgn]

Linda Clarke  Linda Michelle Clarke of West Hollywood, California born October 21, 1947, died July 2, 2019.

[pgn]

[Event "08EN06"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2008.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Pathania, Nikhil"]
[Black "Clarke, Linda"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C23"]
[BlackElo "1651"]
[PlyCount "30"]
[EventDate "2008.??.??"]

1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nf6 3. Qf3 Nc6 4. Nc3 Nd4 5. Qd3 Bc5 6. b4 Bb6 7. Na4 O-O
8. Ba3 d5 9. exd5 Nxd5 10. b5 Re8 11. Bc5 Bf5 12. Qf1 Nxc2+ 13. Ke2 Nf4+ 14.
Kf3 Qh4 15. h3 e4# 0-1

[/pgn]

GAMES FROM 2013 GOLDEN KNIGHTS Sometimes even a Rook and two Bishops are no match for a rampaging Queen.

[pgn]

[Event "13Ns06"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2013.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Buss, Michael"]
[Black "Porter, David"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C65"]
[WhiteElo "2430"]
[BlackElo "2207"]
[PlyCount "107"]
[EventDate "2013.??.??"]

{OCT} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. c3 O-O 6. O-O d6 7. Nbd2 a6
8. Bxc6 bxc6 9. Re1 h6 10. h3 Bb6 11. Nf1 Re8 12. Ng3 c5 13. Nd2 d5 14. exd5
Qxd5 15. Qe2 Bb7 16. Nde4 Qe6 17. c4 Nh7 18. Qf3 Rad8 19. Bd2 Qd7 20. Rad1 Qxd3
21. Qg4 Bc8 22. Qh4 f5 23. Nh5 f4 24. Nxg7 Kxg7 25. Bxf4 exf4 26. Rxd3 Rxd3 27.
Qxf4 {Diagram #} Re6 28. Re3 Rxe3 29. Qxe3 Ng5 30. Qc3+ Kg6 31. Ng3 Nf7 32. f4
Nd6 33. f5+ Nxf5 34. Nxf5 Kxf5 35. Qd3+ Re4 36. Qd5+ Re5 37. Qf7+ Ke4 38. Qf3+
Kd4 39. Qc3+ Ke4 40. g4 Bxg4 41. hxg4 Kf4 42. Kf2 Re6 43. Qf3+ Ke5 44. Qd5+ Kf6
45. Qa8 Rd6 46. Qxa6 Rd2+ 47. Kg3 Rxb2 48. Qa3 Rd2 49. Qf3+ Kg6 50. a4 Rd4 51.
Qe3 Kg7 52. Qe7+ Kg6 53. Qe1 Kg5 54. Qe6 1-0

[/pgn]

After White declines the exchange of Queens, things don’t go well for him.

[pgn]

[Event "13Nf02"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2013.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Wilson, Abe"]
[Black "Adams, Gary"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C13"]
[WhiteElo "2125"]
[BlackElo "2431"]
[PlyCount "98"]
[EventDate "2013.??.??"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 dxe4 5. Nxe4 Be7 6. Bxf6 Bxf6 7. Nf3
O-O 8. Qd2 Nd7 9. O-O-O b6 10. Bc4 Bb7 11. Rhe1 Bd5 12. Bd3 c5 13. c4 Bb7 14.
dxc5 Nxc5 15. Nxc5 Bxf3 16. Bxh7+ Kh8 17. gxf3 bxc5 18. Be4 Rb8 {Diagram #} 19.
b3 Qc7 20. f4 Rfd8 21. Qe3 g6 22. Rxd8+ Rxd8 23. Rd1 Bd4 24. Qf3 Qa5 25. Kb1
Kg7 26. a4 Rh8 27. Qg3 Qb4 28. Ka2 Qc3 29. Qxc3 Bxc3 30. Rd3 Be1 31. h3 Rh4 32.
Rf3 g5 33. Rg3 Rxf4 34. Rxg5+ Kh6 35. Rg4 Rxf2+ 36. Kb1 f5 37. Rg1 Bc3 38. Rg2
Rxg2 39. Bxg2 Kg5 40. Kc2 Bd4 41. Bc6 e5 42. Kd2 e4 43. Ke2 Kf4 44. a5 Ke5 45.
Be8 f4 46. Bh5 Kf5 47. h4 a6 48. Bf3 exf3+ 49. Kxf3 Bg7 0-1

[/pgn]

[pgn]

[Event "13Ns05"]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2013.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Daves, Dana"]
[Black "Tracz, James"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D97"]
[WhiteElo "2318"]
[BlackElo "2404"]
[PlyCount "119"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. d4 g6 3. c4 Bg7 4. Nc3 d5 5. Qb3 dxc4 6. Qxc4 O-O 7. e4 Nc6
8. h3 e5 9. dxe5 Nd7 10. e6 fxe6 11. Qxe6+ Kh8 12. Qd5 Rxf3 13. gxf3 Nd4 14.
Be3 Nc2+ 15. Kd2 Nxa1 16. Bd4 c6 17. Qd6 Qf8 18. Qxf8+ Nxf8 19. Bxg7+ Kxg7 20.
Bd3 Be6 21. Rxa1 Bxh3 22. f4 Ne6 23. Ke3 Nc5 24. Bc2 Re8 25. Rd1 a5 26. a3 Re7
27. e5 Be6 28. Rc1 Kf8 29. Kd4 Nb3+ 30. Bxb3 Bxb3 31. Ne4 Rf7 32. Nf6 h5 {
Diagram #} 33. f5 gxf5 34. Rh1 Ke7 35. Rxh5 Rf8 36. Ke3 Rd8 37. Rh7+ Ke6 38. f4
b5 39. Rc7 Bc4 40. Rxc6+ Kf7 41. Rc7+ Ke6 42. Nh5 Rd3+ 43. Kf2 Rd2+ 44. Kg3
Rxb2 45. Ng7+ Kd5 46. e6 Rb1 47. e7 Rg1+ 48. Kf2 Rxg7 49. e8=Q Rxc7 50. Qe5+
Kc6 51. Qxf5 Rd7 52. Qf8 Rd1 53. Qa8+ Kb6 54. Qb8+ Kc6 55. Qc8+ Kb6 56. a4 Rf1+
57. Kg2 Rd1 58. Qb8+ Kc5 59. axb5 Bxb5 60. Qa7+ 1-0

[/pgn]

Man does not live by tactics alone, but sometimes it is enough.

[pgn]

[Event "13Nf02"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2013.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Chessing, James"]
[Black "Buss, Michael"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A01"]
[WhiteElo "2052"]
[BlackElo "2428"]
[PlyCount "42"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]

{OCT} 1. b3 d6 2. Bb2 Nd7 3. d4 g6 4. g3 Bg7 5. Bg2 e5 6. e4 exd4 7. Bxd4 Ngf6
8. Ne2 O-O 9. c4 c5 10. Bb2 Re8 11. Nbc3 {Diagram #} Nxe4 12. Bxe4 Rxe4 13.
Nxe4 Bxb2 14. Rb1 Ne5 15. O-O Bf5 16. f4 Nf3+ 17. Rxf3 Bxe4 18. Rxb2 Bxf3 19.
Qd3 Bc6 20. Rd2 Qe7 21. Nc3 Qe1+ 0-1

[/pgn]

[pgn]

[Event "13Nf02"]
[Site "USCF"]
[Date "2013.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Buss, Michael"]
[Black "Wilson, Abe"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C77"]
[WhiteElo "2428"]
[BlackElo "2125"]
[PlyCount "99"]
[EventDate "2018.??.??"]

{OCT} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. c4 g6 7. Nc3 Bg7 8.
h3 O-O 9. O-O Nd4 10. Nxd4 exd4 11. Ne2 Nd7 12. b4 a5 13. Bxd7 Bxd7 14. b5 Qf6
15. Bb2 Qg5 16. f4 Qc5 17. a4 f5 18. Ba3 Qa7 19. e5 Rfe8 20. exd6 cxd6 21. Bxd6
Re3 22. Qd2 Rd8 23. c5 Rde8 24. Rae1 Be6 25. Rf3 Rxf3 26. gxf3 Qa8 27. Be5 Bxe5
28. fxe5 Qd8 29. Qf4 Qd5 30. Rc1 Bc8 31. c6 bxc6 32. Rxc6 Qa2 33. Nxd4 Qxa4 34.
Kg2 Bd7 35. Rc4 Qa3 36. Rc7 Qb2+ 37. Kg3 Qb1 38. Rxd7 Qe1+ 39. Kg2 Rxe5 {
Diagram #} 40. Qxe5 Qxe5 41. b6 Qe8 42. b7 Qxd7 43. b8=Q+ Kg7 44. Qe5+ Kf7 45.
Qh8 Qd5 46. Qxh7+ Kf6 47. Qa7 Qe5 48. Qa6+ Kf7 49. Qc4+ Kf6 50. h4 1-0

[/pgn]