The April Check is in the Mail |
By Alex Dunne | |
April 11, 2012 | |
The 2011 Michigan State Championship has ended with a tie between the two Masters, Eric Fischvogt and Barry Endsley at 6-2 each. GAME OF THE MONTH By quiet but effective means Eric Fischvogt demonstrates the power of the two Bishops in both the loosening up and constricting of the opponent’s kingside. SICILIAN DEFENSE (B22) 6192 1.e4 c5 2.c3 Nf6 3.e5 Nd5 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nf3 e6 6.cxd4 b6 This and an immediate 6...d6 are the most popular ways of meeting White's setup. 7.Nc3 Nxc3 8.bxc3 Qc7 9.Bd2 Bb7 10.Bd3 Be7 The more modern method for Black is to leave the Bishop on f8 in deference to developing the Knight by 10...d6 11. 00 Nd7 12. Re1 dxe5 13. Nxe5 Nxe5 14. Rxe5 Bd6 15. Rh5 as in Mammadov-Smirin, Baku 2011. 11.0–0 d6 12.Re1 Nd7 13.Ng5 White is ambitious. 13. Rac1 does not score very well and White's battleground would appear to be the center and kingside. 13...dxe5 14.Qh5 Bxg5 White has scored +2 =2 –0 in recent events against 14...g6. Schmittdiel-Schelle, Seefeld 1997 continued 14...g6 15. Qh6 Bf8 16. Qh3 Bg7 17. f4 with an unclear position. 15.Bxg5 Kf8?! Black is perplexed -- what to do? After 15...Qc6 16. Be4 Qc7 17. Bxb7 Qxb7 18. dxe5 leaves Black cramped. Taking the c-Pawn may be playable but also painful after 15...Qxc3 16. Bb5 Qc7 17. Rac1 Qd6 18. dxe5 Qd5 19. Bxd7+ Qxd7 20. Red1 when material is even but Black is cramped. But 15...Kf8?! looks the most cramped of all. 16.dxe5 h6 17.c4 For now White's attack is stalled and so a brief rescue operation to save the c3 Pawn is necessary. More active is 17. Re3 Qxc3 18. Rd1 White stands better but there is nothing yet decisive. A few moves later, however, the value of the c-Pawn attacking the d5 square is evident. 17...Nc5 18.Bc2 Qc6 19.f3 Qe8 Black's King was getting very lonely with most of his pieces on the queenside, but White already has a strong initiative. 20.Qh4 Kg8 21.Bf6! The Bishop is taboo -- 21...gxf6 22. Qg3+ Kf8 23. exf6 Rg8 24. Qd6+ 21...Nd7 22.Qg3 Nxf6 23.exf6 g5 Nor is 23...g6 adequate-- 24. Rad1 Rh7 25. Qc7 Ba6 26. Rd7 and White is dominating the board. 24.Rad1 Qc6 25.Qd6 h5 Planning to get the Rook into the fight, but two quick Queen moves expose the fatal position of the King. 26.Qd8+! Qe8 27.Qd2 1–0 The co-winner of the Michigan State Championship, Barry Endsley, can also lay claim to another great finish – third place in the 2007 Electronic Knights Championship. Great finishes may be an Endsley specialty. Note this endgame race, one of the most exciting finishes in recent CC play. ENGLISH OPENING (A25) 6193 WALTER MUIR MEMORIAL The Canadian Correspondence Chess Association has organized a two-tiered memorial tournament to honor ICCF IM Walter Muir. The first tier is a 15-man section with two US GM’s Jason Bokar and Daniel Fleetwood. They will be competing against six other GM’s and six SIMs. The second tier also consists of fifteen players headed by 3 IM’s and 2 SIM’s and includes US players Steve Douglas and Anthony Kain and Canadian players Paul Morley, Serge Dubuc, and Valer-Eugen Demian. IM WALTER MUIR 1905-1999 For those of you not familiar with Walter Muir, Walter had been everywhere. A true pioneer of postal play, Walter was one of the first Americans to forage into modern international correspondence play. Walter was eight times a CC champion of Canada, twice British overseas champion, first in the 1984 Hawver Cup, sixteen times CC champion of Illinois. Walter played in two Absolute tournaments and seven Golden Knights Finals. He was awarded the title of International Correspondence Chess Master in 1971. Walter was born in Brooklyn to Canadian parents on August 7, 1905 and died December 29, 1999. Readers interested in the career of this remarkable correspondence player can find out more in his autobiography My 75 Year Chess Career. SICILIAN DEFENSE (B53) 6194 Quote: Correspondence games are a rich source for discovering new and important opening ideas for OTB players, as these games are generally very thoroughly researched and analyzed by the players involved -- John Emms 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, 90+ games Obituary Kiven Plesset, born November 23, 1927, died in January 2012. Kiven, of Sequim, Washington, was one of the top CC players. He finished tied for second through third in the 1972 Golden Knights, tied for first through second in the 1981 Absolute tournament, finished clear first in the 1996 event, and Kiven tied for first place in the Fifth United States Correspondence Chess Championship. TROMPOWSKY ATTACK (D00) 6195 In the following game, with seven isolated Pawns, Black holds the draw against a strong Master. DUNST OPENING (A00) 6196 MARCH RESULTS Swift Quad Carlos Graupera 11SQ06 5-1 Elton Aguilar 12SQ01 5 ½ - ½ Walter Muir Rick Massimo 10W24 5 ½-½ David Cornejo 12W03 5 ½-½ Thomas Haggard 11W23 5 ½-½ Edward Schweikert 11W37 5-1 Paul Lowry 11W37 5-1 Golden Knights Spencer Kell 10N17 5 ½-½ Gary Adams 11N13 6-0 Charles Musgrove 10N24 6-0 John Collins LaVerne Gildner 11C05 6-0 Trophy Quad Alphonso Zenoh 11Q09 6-0 James Ruth 11Q02 6-0 Carlos Graupera 11Q05 Electronic Knights Richard Moran 11EN22 5-1 William Morris 11EN22 5-1 TOP 20 USCF CC PLAYERS 1 Cullum, Chuck MA 2476 2 Menke, John IL 2453 3 Van Enk, Steven OR 2443 4 O'Connell, Christopher DE 2429 5 Langland, Thomas CA 2404 Concha, Hugo FL 2404 7 Tracz, James OH 2401 8 Buss, Michael IN 2392 9 Cook, Randy AZ 2391 10 Ingersol, Harry IA 2388 11 Brower, Walter AL 2374 12 Woodard, Daniel NV 2369 13 Walters, Gary OH 2368 14 Levine, Joel NY 2363 15 Rizzo, Robert NY 2360 16 Rodriguez, Keith FL 2359 17 Swan, Peter Lee CO 2358 18 Tseng, Wilbur IL 2352 19 Wilson, Abe HI 2347 Adams, Gary AZ 2347 While Black misses 18...Nxe5 to hold on, White misses nothing. CARO-KANN DEFENSE (B19) 6197 TOP 20 ICCF/US PLAYERS 1. Alik Zilberberg GM 2611 2. Jason Bokar GM 2581 3. Stephen Ham GM 2580 4. Daniel Fleetwood GM 2578 5. Tim Murray SIM 2546 6. Edward Duliba GM 2534 7. Jon Edwards SIM 2524 8. Jon Ostriker GM 2521 9. Keith Holzmueller SIM 2501 10. Michael Proof SIM 2487 11. Victor Palciauskas GM 2479 12. Jerry Weiskohl SIM 2476 13. Kenneth Reinhart SIM 2470 14. John Menke IM 2467 15. Michael Millstone SIM 2466 Carl Siefring IM 2466 17. Dan Perry SIM 2465 18. Wieland Belka 2447 19. Wesley Green 2444 20. Thomas Biedermann SIM 2437 What do you do when the opening goes very sour against you? John Menke heads the game right to the draw. SICILIAN DEFENSE (B49) 6198 See a pdf index of Alex Dunne's columns. |