With all the improvements in correspondence chess in recent years, it might be expected that miniature games would become a thing of the past, relics of a pre-database era. But here they are again. Short, short games for your edification and pleasure!

CARO-KANN DEFENSE [B14]
W: Donald Gittin (2143)
B: Richard Barrett (1718)
CCLA, 2000

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. c4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e6 6. Nf3 Bb4 7. cxd5 Nxd5 8. Bd2 Nc6 9. Bd3 0-0 10. 0-0 Be7 11. Nxd5 exd5 12. Qb3 Rb8 13. Rfe1 Bg4 14. Ne5 Be6 15. Nxc6 bxc6 16. Qc2 g6 17. Bh6 Re8 18. Rxe6, Black resigns.

PHILIDOR'S DEFENSE [C41]
W: Charles Hiber (1840)
B: Dwight Skinner (1918)
USCF CC, 1996

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Be7 6. Bc4 0-0 7. Bf4 c6 8. Qd2 Nxe4 9. Nxe4 d5 10. Bxd5 Qxd5 11. Nc3 Qh5 12. 0-0 Na6 13. Rfe1 Bb4 14. Re5 Qg6 15. Rg5 Qh6 16. Re1 Be6 17. Rg3 Qh4 18. Bg5 Qh5 19. Bf6 g6 20. Re5, Black resigns.

OOPS AWARD!
Even Homers nod ...
SICILIAN DEFENSE [B83]
W: J. Barlow (2527)
B: Carlos Costa (2640)
14 Olympiad, 2000

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e6 6. Be2 Be7 7. 0-0 0-0 8. Kh1 Nc6 9. f4 Bd7 10. Qe1 Nxd4, White resigns.

STONEWALL OPENING [D00]
W: Leo Strull (1643)
B: Daniel Schoolcraft
Correspondence, 2000

1. d4 Nf6 2. e3 c5 3. c3 e6 4. Bd3 d5 5. Nd2 Nc6 6. f4 c4 7. Bc2 Bd6 8. Ngf3 b5 9. 0-0 Bb7 10. Ne5 Qc7 11. b3 Ne7 12. bxc4 bxc4 13. g4 h6 14. g5 hxg5 15. fxg5 Nd7 16. Nxf7 Bxh2+ 17. Kh1 Bg1+, White resigns.

SICILIAN DEFENSE [B76]
W: B. Hart (2000)
B: D. Mehne (1816)
Postal Match, 2001

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be3 Bg7 7. f3 0-0 8. Qd2 Nc6 9. g4 Be6 10. h4 d5 11. g5 Nh5 12. 0-0-0 a6 13. Rg1 Qd6 14. Be2 Be5 15. Nxe6 fxe6 16. exd5 Nb4 17. dxe6 Qxe6 18. a3 Bxc3 19. axb4 Bxd2+ 20. Rxd2 Qxe3, White resigns.

VIENNA GAME [C29]
W: Jeremy Domingo
B: Gardner Johnson (2107)
Pennsylvania State Correspondence, 2001

1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. f4 d5 4. fxe5 Nxe4 5. Qe2 Qh4+ 6. g3 Nxg3 7. Qf2 d4 8. Nf3 Qg4 9. Qxg3 dxc3 10. bxc3 Qe4+ 11. Kd1 Nc6 12. d4 Bg4 13. Bg2 Nxd4 14. cxd4 Qxd4+, White resigns.

FRENCH DEFENSE [C13]
W: Tomislav Serafimovic (2363)
B: Oleg Veres (2395)
Yugoslavia vs. Ukraine, 2000

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e5 Nfd7 6. h4 a6 7. Qg4 Bxg5 8. hxg5 c5 9. g6 f5 10. Qg3 h6 11. Nf3 Nc6 12. 0-0-0 Qc7 13. Rh4 cxd4 14. Nxd4 Nxd4 15. Rhxd4 Nc5 16. Rxd5 exd5 17. Nxd5 Qb8 18. Nf6+ Ke7 19. Qh4, Black resigns.

This opening trap is becoming more common. King Pawn players take note!
CENTER COUNTER DEFENSE [B01]
W: Jason Perry (1824)
B: Garry Pagunsan (1959)
Viktor Palciauskas Prize Tournament, 2001

1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Nf6 3. d4 Bg4 4. f3 Bf5 5. c4 e6 6. dxe6 Nc6 7. exf7+ Kxf7 8. Be3 Bb4+ 9. Nc3 Re8 10. Kf2 Rxe3 11. Kxe3 Bc2 12. Qxc2 Qxd4+ 13. Ke2 Bxc3 14. bxc3 Re8+ 15. Qe4 Rxe4+ 16. fxe4 Qxc3 17. Re1 Nd4+, White resigns.

FRENCH DEFENSE [C18]
W: Douglas Bryson (2565)
B: Edvard Sterud (2445)
Correspondence, 1985

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Qc7 7. Nf3 Nc6 8. a4 Bd7 9. Bd3 cxd4 10. cxd4 Nxd4 11. 0-0 Nxf3+ 12. Qxf3 Ne7 13. Re1 Ng6 14. Ba3 Bxa4 15. c4 dxc4 16. Bd6 Qd7 17. Bxg6 hxg6 18. Rxa4 Qxa4 19. Qxb7, Black resigns.

DUTCH DEFENSE [A85]
W: S. Smith
B: C. Brian
BCCA, 1993

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 c6 4. Nf3 f5 5. Bf4 Nf6 6. e3 Be7 7. Bd3 0-0 8. Ne5 Ne4 9. Bxe4 fxe4 10. 0-0 Nd7 11. f3 exf3 12. Rxf3 Nf6 13. Qc2 Bd7 14. Raf1 Be8 15. Bg5 Bh5 16. g4 Bf7 17. Rh3 h6 18. Bxh6 gxh6 19. Rxh6, Black resigns.

Canadian correspondence chess magazine president Manny Migicovsky shows how they play chess in Canada: Fast and fresh!
LARSEN OPENING [A01]
W: D. Guy (2064)
B: Manny Migicovsky (2144)
NATT 4, 1995

1. b3 e5 2. Bb2 Nc6 3. c4 Nf6 4. e3 d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. a3 f5 7. Nc3 Nb6 8. Bb5 Bd7 9. Nge2 a6 10. Bxc6 Bxc6 11. 0-0 Qg5 12. f3 Bd6 13. Qe1 0-0-0 14. Qf2 Rhf8 15. f4 exf4 16. Nxf4 Qe7 17. Kh1 g5 18. Nfe2 Rf6 19. Nd4 Qe5, White resigns.

SICILIAN DEFENSE [B22]
W: Bouwe Boschma
B: D. Den Herder (2265)
Netherlands, 1994

1. e4 c5 2. d4 cxd4 3. c3 Nf6 4. e5 Nd5 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. Bc4 Nb6 7. Bb3 d6 8. exd6 Qxd6 9. Na3 e5 10. Nb5 Qe7 11. Ng5 Nd8 12. 0-0 a6 13. Nxd4 exd4 14. Nxf7 Nxf7 15. Re1 Ne5 16. Bf4 Nbd7 17. Bxe5 Nxe5 18. Qxd4, Black resigns.

QUEEN'S GAMBIT ACCEPTED [D25]
W: Sando Brilla-Banfalvi
B: Bartolome Marcussi
3 Olympiad, 1967

1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 Bg4 5. Bxc4 e6 6. Qb3 Bxf3 7. gxf3 Nbd7 8. Qxb7 c5 9. Nc3 cxd4 10. exd4 Bd6 11. Ne4 Be7 12. Bf4 0-0 13. Bc7 Bb4+ 14. Ke2 Qe7 15. a3 Nb6 16. Nxf6+ gxf6 17. Rhg1+ Kh8 18. axb4 Nxc4 19. Be5, Black resigns.

Frank Niro has taken over as games editor of the APCT Bulletin. We can hope he publishes more games like this one!
CENTER COUNTER GAME [B01]
W: Frank Niro
B: M. Foust
APCT, 1983

1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Nf6 3. d4 Nxd5 4. Nf3 Bg4 5. Be2 Nc6 6. c4 Nb6 7. 0-0 e6 8. Nc3 Be7 9. d5 exd5 10. cxd5 Nb4 11. Qd4 Bxf3 12. Bxf3 Nc2 13. Qxg7 Bf6 14. Qg4 Nxa1 15. Re1+ Be7 16. Bg5 Rg8 17. Bxe7 Rxg4 18. Bc5+, Black resigns.

In 29 years of postal play, Dr. Trimpi reports this is his shortest win.
SICILIAN DEFENSE [B33]
W: Howard Trimpi (2229)
B: Edward Addis II (1984)
Golden Knights, 1999

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Qb6 6. Nxc6 dxc6 7. e5 Ng4 8. Qe2 Qd4 9. f4 g5 10. h3 Nh6 11. Be3 Qb4 12. 0-0-0 gxf4 13. Nb5 Qa5 14. Qe1, Black resigns.

BLACKMAR DIEMER GAMBIT [D00]
W: G. Danner
B: G. Ciesielski
BDG Thematic, 1965

1. d4 d5 2. e4 dxe4 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. f3 exf3 5. Qxf3 Nc6 6. Bb5 Bd7 7. Nge2 g6 8. 0-0 Bg7 9. Bg5 0-0 10. Rad1 Bg4 11. Qf4 Qd6 12. Bxf6 Bxe2 13. Bxg7 Bxb5 14. Qh6 Bxf1 15. Ne4 Qd5 16. Bf6 exf6 17. Nxf6+, Black resigns.