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Move the Pieces: Games from Readers Print E-mail
August 6, 2008
Quil Kibak sent in this game, with his notes, played in the last round of the Maryland Scholastics. He finished 4-1 (7th place) and his team (Oliver Hu, Timothy Wang, Kevin Ying) from Fox Chapel took 1st place in the Elementary Section. Quil also raised his rating  to 1028!

2225

Quil Kibak (984)
Trever Smith (739)

Maryland Scholastics, March 16, 2008

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nh6

I don’t know why my opponent played this move. It probably was to defend the f7-square, but I didn’t have any threats yet. 3. ... Bc5 or 3. ... Nf6 would be better.

4.0-0 …

Continuing to develop.

4. ... d6 5.c3 …

I want to play d4 and control the center.

5. ... Ng4

My opponent played this to reroute the knight to f6.

6.h3 …

This gives my king some luft (space) and attacks the knight.

6. ... Nf6 7.d4 …

If Black plays 7. ... Nxe4, I planned to play 8.Re1 Nf6 9.dxe5 dxe5 10. Qxd8 Kxd8 11.Bxf7, or maybe 11. Nxe5 Nxe5 12.Rxe5 and then 13. Bxf7. Either way, Black’s kingside is under pressure.

7. ... Be7 8.Re1 Bd7 9.Nbd2 0-0 10.Nb3 …

I don’t like this move. I should have played 10.Qe2 preparing for a kingside attack.

10. ... a6 11.d5 Nb8?!

11. ... Na7 was probably better, followed by ... Nb5 or ... Bb5.

12.Bd3 …

I played this because the bishop doesn’t do much on c4 and if 12. ... Bb5, then I can play 13.c4.

12. ... Nh5?

This loses a pawn to a discovered attack.

13.Nxe5! dxe5 14.Qxh5 …

Now I can bring my pieces over to attack the kingside. If I hadn’t played my knight to b3, I could have played Nf3 next.

14. ... f6

To defend the pawn on e5.

15.Re3 …

I am bringing my rook to assist in the attack. This is called a rook lift.

15. ... c5 16.Rg3 b5

Threatening to play  ... c4.

17.Bh6! g6 18.Rxg6+! Kh8

If 18. ... hxg6 19. Qxg6+ Kh8 20. Qg7 mate.

19.Bg7+ Kg8 20.Bxf6+

I didn’t take the rook because of 20.Bxf8 Kxf8 21.Qxh7 Ke8 22.Rg8+ Bf8.

20. ... Kf7 21.Qxh7+ Ke8 22.Bxe5 Bh4 23.Qh5 Bxf2+ 24.Kh1 Bxh3

To make an escape square (d7) for the king. Even so, I played …

25.Re6+ Kd7 26.Rd6+ Kc8 27.Rxd8+

27.Qxh3 allows 27. ... Nd7

27. ... Rxd8 28.Qxh3+ Nd7 29.Nxc5?

This was a blunder, but Black didn’t see it right away.

29. ... Ra7?? 30.Rf1 Bxc5 31.Bf6 Kb8? 32.Qg3+ Bd6? 33.Qxd6+ Kc8? 34.Bxd8 Kxd8 35.Rf8 mate.


ARE YOU SMARTER THAN A SECOND GRADER?


Can you imagine a second grader giving knight odds? Both players are from the Pittsburgh Chess Club and play in the K-2 tournaments. Both are rated around 550.

Darek Dinkel
Sterling Turner
Queen’s Gambit Accepted
(Remove White’s king knight)

1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.Nc3 Bf5 4.e4 Be6 5.d5 Bd7 6.Bxc4 h5 7.Bg5 Bg4 8.Qd2 e6 9.Qc2 f6 10.Be3 e5 11.f3 Bd7 12.0-0-0 c6 13.dxc6 Bxc6? 14.Rxd8+ Kxd8 15.Rd1+ Kc8 16.Bd5 b5 17.Bxc6 Nxc6 18.Nd5! g5? 19.Qxc6+ Kb8 21.Qc7 mate.


IN ATLANTA, THEY PLAY FOR REAL!


Harrison Rowe wants to know what you think of his game. In the end, Black had a choice of losing his queen or losing the Exchange. He chose a quicker death. The game was played at the Atlanta Winter Congress in February.

2226

Thomas Mwambay (1385)
Harrison Rowe (1110)
French Defense (C02)

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.Bb5 Bd7 6.Nc3 Qb6 7.a3 cxd4 8.Bxc6 Bxc6 9.Nxd4 Bc5 10.Nce2 Ne7 11.b4 Bxd4 12.Nxd4 Ng6 13.f4 0-0 14.0-0 Rac8 15.Rf2 f6 16.Nxe6 Rfe8 17.exf6 Rxe6 18.f5 Rxf6 19.Bb2 Rxf5 20.Bd4 Qc7 21.Rxf5 Ba4 22.Qe2 Bxc2 23.Qe6+ Kh8 24.Rf7 Qc6 25.Bxg7+ Kg8 26.Rd7+ (26.Re7+ would “only” lose the exchange.) 26. ... Qxe6 27.Rxb7 Qe3+ 28.Kh1 Be4, 0-1.


ARE YOU SMARTER THAN A FIFTH GRADER?


The old saying is “Whomever makes the last mistake, loses.” This game is far from perfect, but it meant a lot to Michael Trobich. It helped him tie for first place in the North Carolina Grade School Championships, grade five. He finished third on tiebreaks, and gained over 100 rating points in just one event! 

Keeping an accurate score sheet is important, as Michael points out below. 

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Michael Trobich (669)
Logan McElvenny (834)
Reti Opening (A07)
NC Grade School, Section K-5, Vance HS, NC, 01.12.2008

1.Nf3 Nc6 2.g3 e5 3.Bg2 Nf6 4.0-0 Bc5 5.d3 d5 6.Bg5 Rg8 7.Bxf6 gxf6 8.e4 Be6 9.Nc3 Qd7 10.Re1 0-0-0 11.Nb5 Qe7 12.Qd2 dxe4 13.Rxe4 13. ... f5 14.Ra4 e4 15.Nh4 exd3 16.cxd3 f4 17.Qxf4 Rd7 18.Bxc6 bxc6 19.Nxa7+ Kb7 20.Qe4 Bxa7 21.Qxh7 Rdd8 22.Re1 Rh8 23.Qe4 Rd6 24.Nf5 Bxf2+ 25.Kxf2 Rxh2+ 26.Kf3 Qf6 27.Kg4 Qg6+ 28.Kf4 Rf2+ 29.Ke3 Bxf5 30.Qb4+ Kc8 31.Ra8+ Kd7 32.Kxf2 Bxd3 33.Ree8 Qf6+ 34.Qf4 Qxb2+ 35.Kf3 Be2+ 36.Rxe2 Rd3+ 37.Re3

Here Black’s queen was on the border between b2 and c3, and he tried to play ... Qd1+, which would have finished me off. Luckily, I was able to check my score sheet!

37. ... Rd4 38.Qxf7+ Kd6 39.Rd8+ Kc5 40.Re5+ Rd5 41.Rdxd5+ Kb4 42.Rd4+ Kc3 43.Qc4# 1-0



MOVE

THE

PIECES!

THE MORE YOU

PLAY,

THE BETTER YOU'LL BECOME!


 
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