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Chess Life Online 2011 The December Check is in the Mail
Chess Life Online 2011 The December Check is in the Mail | The December Check is in the Mail |
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| By Alex Dunne | |
| December 5, 2011 | |
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John Ballow has earned the ICCM title and will
receive his certificate and medal at the 2012 ICCF Congress. John made his norms at the
Chessfriends Rochade scoring 9-4 with one game remaining and in the 2010
Interzonal playing on Board 4 where his present score of 5-4 leads the pack. QUEEN'S GAMBIT DECLINED (D37) 6006 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 d5 4.d4 Be7 5.Bf4 0-0 6.e3 Nbd7 7.c5 White sets the terms of the battle right in the opening. Will White's gain of space on the queenside set the standard of play or will Black be able to find center or kingside play to offset White's space grab? 7...c6 8.h3 b6 9.b4 a5 10.a3 Ne4 This has to be correct to drum up play, but Back's Pawn structure is damaged. 11.Nxe4 dxe4 12.Ne5 Nxe5 13.Bxe5 b5 This attempt to shut down the queenside actually results in a wider field of battle there. Better was 13...Qd5 and ...Ba6 to keep some tension in the position. 14.a4! f6 15.Bg3 Bd7 16.Be2 axb4 17.0-0! Another alert play and now White is ready for complete mobilization while Black's queenside Pawns fall. 17...Qa5 18.axb5 Qxa1 19.Qxa1 Rxa1 20.Rxa1 cxb5 21.Rb1 Ra8 22.Rxb4 Ra1+ 23.Kh2 Ra5 24.Bc7 Ra7 25.Bb6 Ra2 26.Bxb5 Bxb5 27.Rxb5 Rxf2 28.Kg3 White's King centralizes strongly after which the c-Pawn has an extra escort. 28...Re2 29.Kf4 f5 30.Ke5 Kf7 31.Ba5 1-0 Hopeless is 31...Rxe3 32.Rb7 Ke8 33.Kxe6 Sanford Greene qualifies for CCLA's 2011 North American master/Expert Server Championship Scoring an undefeated 5-1, Sanford heads toward CCLA's North American Finals. SEMI-SLAV DEFENSE (D47) 6007 ABSOLUTE PLAYERS NEEDED ! It is that time again, or will be shortly. I will be needing thirteen strong players to play in the 2012 Absolute. This is (or should be) a computer-free tournament. Please send in your bids to play. There is no entry fee. The top thirteen rated CC players applying will be selected. US POSTAL RATES TO GO UP January 22, 2012, the US postal rates will increase. A first class stamp will go up a penny to 45 cents while the post card will increase three cents to 32 cents. Also increasing will be international letters, packages and periodicals. 2011 Colorado Correspondence Chmpshp Kovats first, Lahti and Johnson second and third. For the report on the Kovats win, see the August 2011 The Check Is in the Mail. Second place finisher Lee Lahti shows his technique in winning this King and Pawner, not giving Lasley the opportunity to show the attacking potential of the Budapest Defense. BUDAPEST DEFENSE (A52) 6008 November Results Walter Muir Matthew Lasley 11W06 5 ½-½ John Collins Patrick Stephens 10C06 5 ½-½ Swift Quad Kendrick Aung 11SQ02 5 ½-½ Trophy Quad Gerald Sitter 11Q11 6-0 Obituary Ralph C. Williams Ralph William of Columbus Georgia, born October 31, 1927, died on 3 June, 2010. Ralph played frequently in the trophy quads. SEMI-ITALIAN OPENING (C50) 6009 Quote: ...in the age of chess software, email, and chess websites, correspondence chess [postal] could be on its way out -- Jon Edwards REUBEN FINE POSTAL PLAYER In the November Chess Life Neil Brennan's article on "A Game with Considerable Ego Involvement" reported that Reuben Fine was "not a correspondence player". Sorry, Neil, Reuben played dozens of correspondence chess games back in the Thirties and Forties, even at the peak of his OTB career. Here is Reuben illustrating some sharp tactics: QUEEN'S GAMBIT ACCEPTED (D21) 6010 CLASSIFIED ADS LEARN CHESS BY MAIL ! Lessons given by mail, telephone, ICC - many different ways. I specialize in players rated 800-2100 who would like to improve their game. Contact me for information. Alex Dunne, 324 West Lockhart St., Sayre, PA 18840 or [email protected] Chess booklet for sale: 2004 Golden Knights Championship -- booklet of the 57th USCF CC Championship -- $10.00 postage paid. 35 pages. And now for fans and fantasies - the 2011 collection of miniature games - If brevity is the soul of wit, here are some brief candles to light up your day. Fans of the Accelerated Dragon take note! SICILIAN DEFENSE (B34) 6011 A devastating win against a strong Expert LARSEN'S OPENING (A01) 6012 FRENCH DEFENSE (C10) 6013 Black's Bishops are terrifying. PHILIDOR'S DEFENSE (C42) 6014 White's Queen Rook loses no time in hurrying to the kingside. ALAPIN VARIATION (A50) 6015 Sigmund Malek comes up with an original opening trap in this gamelet. SICILIAN DEFENSE (B23) 6016 Black finds his King has unwanted wings... MORRA GAMBIT (B21) 6017 White's Rook on a1 is curiously helpless. FRENCH DEFENSE (C02) 6018 White shows that the Morra still has some very sharp teeth. MORRA GAMBIT (B21) 6019 From an old Chess Review comes this defeat of young Grandmaster-to-be Robert Byrne. The tournament was a 1943 Victory Tournament, a precursor of the Golden Knights. Black cedes rather than face destruction after 14...fxe6 15. Qh5+ SICILIAN DEFENSE (B90) 6020 The Dragon was designed for aggressive Black players. James Sawaski shows why. SICILIAN DEFENSE (B ) 6021 Black is French fried in this quickie. FRENCH DEFENSE (C14) 6022 Black forgets that recaptures are not obligatory and falls into the classic Bishop sacrifice on h7. ALEKHINE'S DEFENSE (B03) 6023 Black's Queen is striking in this miniature from nearly sixty years ago. ALEKHINE'S DEFENSE (B02) 6024 This game is a treat - mate threats, Knight forks, Bishops en prises, Queen sacks, - only the Rooks stay home. BENONI (A45) 6025 For more by Alex Dunne see a pdf index of Check is in the Mail columns. |
