Check is in the Mail
by FIDE Master Alex Dunne
Ed Limayo Earns ICCM Title

Ed Limayo earned the title of International Correspondence Chess Master in October of 2002. Ed was born in the Philippines on April 1, 1949. He earned a Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration at the University of the East in Manila. When President Marcos declared martial law in the early 1970s, Ed immigrated to the United States. Ed moved to Los Angeles, married in 1976, had two children, Lenalour and Edgar, and became a naturalized citizen in 1980. In 1990 he started to play chess at the late age of 41. Beginning with a rating of 1100, his OTB rating climbed steadily until the demands of his job and his remarriage convinced him that correspondence chess was the way to go. As his OTB career was left behind, his correspondence rating took off. And now at 53, he has earned the ICCM title. Are there more worlds to conquer, Ed?

GAME OF THE MONTH
Black's maneuvers from Moves 29-45 are excellent examples of a Karpovian square-by-square conquest.

ANDERSSEN OPENING [A00]
W: Zvonko Krecak (2421)
B: Ed Limayo (2314)
ICCF E-mail, 2001
1. a3
Krecak has scored some notable victories with this ancient debut, usually transposing into a reversed Sicilian as in this game.
1. ... Nf6 2. c4 e5
Frequently Black plays a King's Indian Defense against the Anderssen Opening as a2-a3 doesn't usually fit into White's schemes.
3. e3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. Nf3 Bd6 6. d3 c5
Limayo sets up a Maroczy bind. White would probably do best to play for a reverse hedgehog with an early b2-b3 and Bb2.
7. Nbd2 Nc6 8. Be2 b6 9. Qc2 Bb7 10. Qc4 Bc7 11. 0-0 0-0 12. Ne4 Qd7 13. Bd2 a5 14. Rfd1 a4
Now Black has the better center and pressure on the White queenside. Black stands better.
15. Rab1 Na5 16. Qc2 Nb3 17. Be1 Rfe8 18. Ned2 Nxd2 19. Nxd2 Red8 20. Ne4 f5 21. Nc3 Kh8 22. Bd2 Nxc3 23. bxc3 c4!
Limayo pinpoints the weakness of White's position, the Bishop on d2. It is on its way to complete passivity. If 24. dxc4?, then 24. ... Be4 is the clincher.
24. Be1 Qc6 25. Bf3 e4 26. dxe4 fxe4 27. Rxd8+ Rxd8 28. Be2 b5

29. f4 Qc5 30. g3 Bc6 31. Qc1 Qf8 32. Qb2 Bb6 33. Bd2 Bc5 34. Ra1 Qd6 35. Bc1 g5!
After tying down White's pieces to the defense of the queenside, Black cracks open the kingside. Nicely played!
36. fxg5 Qg6 37. h4 Qf7 38. Ra2 Qc7!
There is no good defense to the g3-pawn. Game over.
39. Kg2 Bd6 40. Bg4 Bxg3 41. Kh3 Bd7 42. Qg2 Bxg4+ 43. Kxg4 h5+ 44. Kh3 Be1 45. g6 Rd1, White resigns.
After 46. Qg5, then 46. ... Kg7 spells the end.

� Note to all postal players: This warning may already be too late. From the April 1947 Chess Review - "A bill now before Congress contains a proposal that, if passed, will affect the pocketbooks of all our postal players. Unless the proposal is defeated, a postcard will require a 2-cent stamp in the future instead of a 1-cent stamp. "As this change in rates would increase the cost of postal chess ... we urge our readers to protest ... do it now before it is too late."

� White sacrifices his queen for three energetic minor pieces against a lethargic queen. At the end, Black is too tired to even watch the conclusion.

PETROFF'S DEFENSE [C42]
W: John Mousessian (2475)
B: Felipe Diaz Rubi (2292)
ICCF E-mail, 2002
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Bd6 7. 0-0 0-0 8. c4 c6 9. Re1 Bg4 10. h3 Bf5 11. Qb3 Na6 12. cxd5 Nec5 13. dxc5 Nxc5 14. Bxf5 Nxb3 15. axb3 Bb4 16. Nc3 Bxc3 17. bxc3 Qxd5 18. Bc2 Rfe8 19. Be3 a6 20. c4 Qd8 21. c5 Qf6 22. Bd3 h6 23. Bd4 Qf4 24. Bc3 Rxe1+ 25. Rxe1 Qc7 26. b4 f6 27. Bc4+ Kh8 28. Nd4 Qd7 29. g4 Re8 30. Ne6 Rb8 31. Kg2 Kh7 32. f4 Re8 33. f5 Kh8 34. h4 Qf7 35. Re4 Qd7 36. Rd4 Qe7 37. g5, Black resigns.

� When Lutes takes on a center pawn duo, he finds them more of a liability than an asset. White first paralyzes them and then attacks through all the squares around them.

ALEKHINE'S DEFENSE [B03]
W: John Bokar (2460)
B: W. John Lutes (2267)
U.S. Correspondence Champ. Preliminaries, 1999
1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 d6 4. c4 Nb6 5. exd6 cxd6 6. Nc3 g6 7. Be3 Bg7 8. Rc1 Nc6 9. d5 Ne5 10. Be2 0-0 11. b3 a5 12. f4 Ned7 13. Nf3 Nf6 14. 0-0 Re8 15. Nd4 e6 16. dxe6 fxe6 17. Ndb5 d5 18. Qd2 a4 19. Rfd1 axb3 20. axb3 Re7 21. Bc5 Re8 22. Bd6 Ra6 23. Be5 Re7 24. c5 Na8 25. Nd6 Rc6 26. Qd4 Ne8 27. Bb5 Nxd6 28. cxd6 Rxd6 29. Ne4 Bxe5 30. Qxe5 Qb6+ 31. Kh1 Rd8 32. Nf6+ Kf8 33. Rxc8 Rxc8 34. Nd7+ Rxd7 35. Bxd7, Black resigns.

� The lure of the gambit, the romance of the combination, the thrill of the counter-gambit. It's all here in this CCLA Team game.

FRENCH DEFENSE [C02]
W: Harry Simon (1984)
B: Michael Morgan (1819)
CCLA Team Championship, 2001
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Qb6 5. Nf3 Be7 6. Bd3 cxd4 7. cxd4 Nc6 8. 0-0 Bd7 9. Nc3 Nxd4 10. Nxd4 Qxd4 11. Nb5 Qxe5 12. Re1 Qb8 13. Qf3 g5 14. Bd2 a6 15. Nd4 e5 16. Qxd5 f6 17. Bxh7 exd4 18. Bg6+ Kd8 19. Bf5 Bd6 20. Bb4 Bxh2+ 21. Kf1 Qc8 22. Rec1 Bc7 23. Rxc7 Qxc7 24. Ba5 Ke8 25. Bg6+ Kd8 26. Bf5 Ke8 27. Bxc7 Bxf5 28. Re1+ Ne7 29. Kg1 Rc8 30. Qxb7 Rh7 31. Bd6 Be6 32. Qe4 Bf5 33. Qxf5 Rc1 34. Qxh7 Rxe1+ 35. Kh2 Kd7 36. Bxe7 Rxe7 37. Qd3, Black resigns.