Twelve Grandmasters in a stellar field with two former World Champions competed in the recently finished Simon Webb Memorial. Arno Nickel, GM from Germany won the event with a solid +5 =7 -0. Second and third were Roman Chytilek (Czech Republic) and Raymond Boger (Norway) with 7½-4½.The USA’s Victor Palciauskas had a poor result (+1 =6 -5) but defeated the number two finisher.
GAME OF THE MONTH
SICILIAN DEFENSE (B80)
3828
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6 6.Be3 a6 7.f3
The English Attack has been scoring well against the Sicilian lately.
7...Nc6 8.Qd2 Be7 9.0–0–0 0–0 10.g4 Nd7
Neither move has a great track record, but 10...Nxd4 is statistically a better choice.
11.h4 Nde5 12.Qg2
Short-Kasparov, Belfort 1988, continued 12. Nxc6 bxc6 13. Be2 Eb8 14. g5 d5 and was assessed unclear.
12...Nxd4
Sobirey-Reichardt, email 2000 continued 12...b5 13. Nxc6 Nxc6 14. g5 b4 15. Na4 Rb8 +=
13.Bxd4 Bd7 14.g5 b5 15.f4 Nc6 16.Be3 Na5 17.Kb1 Rb8 18.Bd3 Nc4 19.Bd4 Qc7 20.f5 b4
21.Nd5
The Knight sacrifice on d5 may have been a surprise to Chytilek. Its main ambition is to open up the d3 Bishop's diagonal. The calmer 21. Ne2 is also playable.
21...exd5 22.f6 Bb5
There is no salvation in 22. ..Bd8 23. exd5 Ne5 24. Bxe5 dxe5 25. h5! Bb5 26. Bxh7+ Kxh7 27. g6+ Kg8 28. fxg7 Re8 29. h6
23.exd5 Ne5 24.Bxb5 Rxb5 25.fxe7 Qxe7 26.Rhe1
After the fireworks, White emerges with the better chances.
26...Re8 27.Bxe5 dxe5 28.d6 Qd7 29.h5 Rd8 30.Qe4
Victor begins some Queen maneuvering designed to deprive Black of any counterplay. There is no hurry to eat one of the weak Black Pawns.
30...Qe6 31.Qc6 Rbb8 32.Qc7 Rbc8 33.Qe7 Re8 34.Qb7 Rb8 35.Qc7 Rbc8 36.Qa5 Rcd8 37.Qxb4
White is clearly winning now.
37...Qf5 38.Qd2 e4 39.Qd4 Re6 40.d7 Qe5 41.Qxe5 Rxe5 42.c4 Kf8 43.Rd4 e3 44.Kc2 a5 45.b3
The ending is hopeless after 45...Rxg5 46. Rxe3 Rxh5 47. Rde4! 1–0
NOVEMBER RESULTS
Walter Muir
Inoel Cardenas 09W25 4 ½-1½
Joseph Hawkins 09W18 5 ½-½
Joe Hoffmann 08W35 5 ½-½
Inoel Cardenas 09W27 4 ½-1½
JOHN COLLINS
Antonio Romero 07C34 5-1
David Hunt 08C30 6-0
Keith Wroten 08C23 6-0
John Flanagan 07C36 5-1
Frank Spooner 07C36 5-1
Cory Bloch 09C02 6-0
Leonard Carter 07C55 6-0
SWIFT QUAD
Lloyd Allred 08SQ11 4-2
Byron Berger 08SQ11 4-2
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]
Quote: One often gets over his enthusiasm for playing chess over the board, but when one is stung or bitten by the bugus chessis correspondis, he is gone ! A hopeless incurable addict ! Such is the fascination of correspondence chess." -- George Northrop
GREENE DOMINATES 07C54
Scoring five wins and a draw, David Greene took first place in the 2007 John Collins 07C54.
Greene is merciless as he hunts down and wins Therrien’s Queen.
SICILIAN DEFENSE (B53)
3830
MICHAEL HENSLEY FIRST IN 07C46
Scoring an undefeated 5 ½- ½, Michael Hensley of Ocean Springs, Mississippi won the all-Expert John Collins 07C46.
When Soricelli sets a trap leaving a Pawn on a7 to be captured, it turns out that he was the one trapped.
QUEEN’S INDIAN DEFENSE (E19)
White: Michael Hensley (2054)
Black: Gerard Soricelli (2154)
2007 John Collins
3831
Inoel Cardenas shows strong form in this Walter Muir win.
NIMZO-INDIAN DEFENSE (E32)
3832
ENTRIES FOR THE 2010 ABSOLUTE
At the end of this month (approximately) the yearly ratings for CC players will come out. At that time, I will be selecting the highest-rated applicants to the 2010 Absolute. There will be a $500 prize fund (Thanks to Keith Rodriguez, Abe Wilson, Robert Rizzo, David Sogin, Corky Schakel, and Joan DuBois!).
If your rating is over 2200, send in your bid to be accepted as one of the thirteen Absolute players for 2010. No entry fee!
MINIATURE GAMES
It’s that time of the year again. Miniature games, decisive games of twenty moves or under, were created by Caissa to remind us that we are all human. Here they are, in all their humanness. Enjoy and empathize !
Checkmate ends all greed.
BLACKMAR GAMBIT (D00)
3833
White resigns as 20. Nxg5 is easy but how does he then meet 20…h6 ?
DUTCH DEFENSE (A85)
3834
KING’S KNIGHT OPENING (C40)
3835
Oops Award for 2009 -- When deciding on your move, it is always a good idea to look at the board.
DUTCH DEFENSE (A84)
3836
Black’s winning 13th move is amusing – and very effective !
SICILIAN DEFENSE (B52)
3837
Black baits a trap with a Pawn. White takes the bait. Black discovers he is the one being trapped.
ENGLISH OPENING (A21)
3838
At the end there is no good defense to Nh5-f6 and Qxh7+ and mate follows
VIENNA GAME (C30)
3839
White’s game doesn’t exactly move like clockwork, but his timing is good.
PETROFF DEFENSE (C43)
3840
Ignore Black’s last move. He is quite lost before that.
SICILIAN DEFENSE (B80)
3841
White discovers too late that he has no good defense to ...Re8 ...Re1 and ...Qxg2 mate
TWO KNIGHTS DEFENSE (C57)
3842
Mate ends all struggle.
SLAV DEFENSE (D17)
3843
Seldom do you find 20 such powerful moves packed into one 20-move miniature
FRENCH DEFENSE (C11)
3844
Black understands the concept that friendly pieces on the board are more valuable than enemy pieces off the board.
GIUOCO PIANO (C54)
3845
When White plays the King’s Gambit, his pieces are supposed to go forward. When his King Knight retreats to g1 on Move 6, you know there is going to be trouble.
KING’S GAMBIT (C34)
3846
See the archive of Alex Dunne's "The Check is in the Mail" columns here.