Chuck Cullum
Chuck Cullum has won the 2002 Golden Knights. Chuck was born on 17 July 1944 and raised a proud Dorchester boy.
Married for the last eight years to a beautiful southern belle, father to three grown children and five grandkids, Chuck has enough businesses and hobbies to keep him very busy - with just enough time for CC play.
Chuck states that his approach to CC seems to echo that of Burton, Duliba, O'Connell and others - take your time! Study! Use the books and databases, set up the position on the board and move the pieces around! And above all, leave it alone if you are preoccupied with other matters!
Chuck avoids OTB tournament play as it reminds him too much of what his normal life is like: hectic, fast-paced, constantly dealing with distractions and sometimes annoying people. Scroll down for 2002 Golden Knights Standings.
GAME OF THE MONTH
The technique of good correspondence chess lies in playing good moves - Graham Mitchell
3660
MODERN DEFENSE (E90)
White: Chuck Cullum (2416)
Black: Preston Polasek (2237)
2002 Golden Knights Final
1.d4 c6 2.c4 d6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 Nbd7 5.e4 e5 6.Be2 g6 7.0-0 Bg7 8.d5
8.Re1 0-0 9.Bf1 a5 10.dxe5 Vostrotin-Koehs, ICCF email 2003 drawn shortly
8...Nc5 9.Qc2 a5 10.Be3
10...Qc7?
A natural move, but a careless one. White now wins a Pawn after which it is a "matter of technique". Black can afford to castle, after which if White tries to win the e-Pawn, Black will play ...Re8 regaining the button.
11.Nxe5! Nfxe4 12.Nxe4 Nxe4 13.Nxc6 Nc5 14.Nd4 0-0
White has pocketed a free Pawn and has a winning edge. Now White sets his sight for the d6 Pawn.
15.Nb5 Qb6 16.Bf4 Bf5 17.Qd2 Ne4 18.Qe3!
With the Queens off the board it only gets easier for White.
18...Qxe3 19.fxe3 Bxb2 20.Rab1 Be5 21.Bd3!
Now Black has to face the threat of g4 as well as 22. Bxe4 Bxe4 23. Nxd6. Faced with these threats, Black does best to take the offered exchange.
21...Nd2 22.Bxf5 Nxf1 23.Kxf1
Also good for White was 23. Bd3 Bxf4 24. exf4 Ne3 25. Nxd6 but this is simpler.
23...Bxf4 24.exf4 gxf5 25.Nxd6
Two passed Pawns in the center, two unguarded Pawns under attack, an active Rook and a handsome Knight -- what more would White want for the exchange ?
25...Rfd8 26.c5 Ra6 27.Nxf5 Rf6 28.Ne7+ Kf8 29.Rxb7 Rxf4+ 30.Kg1
1-0
The simplest win is 30...Re8 31. d6 Rd4 32. h3! a4 33. Nf5 and the Pawns will advance.
US TENTH in 15 OLYMPIAD
Jason Bokar
15 Olympiad Final Standings
1. Norway 48-30
2. Germany 47-31
3. Netherlands 46 ½-31 ½
4. Portugal 43 ½-34 ½
5. Russia 42 ½-35 ½
6. Slovenia 41 ½-36 ½
7. Estonia 39 ½-38 ½
8. Austria 38-40
9. Lithuania 37-41
10. Ireland 36-42
11. United States 34 ½-43 ½
12. Latvia 34-44
13. Kazakhstan 30-48
14. Poland 28-50
Defense is the hardest. Here Bokar defends and defends until his Polish opponent finally collapses from exhaustion.
GRUNFELD DEFENSE (D)
3661
OCTOBER RESULTS
Swift Quad
Jaun Le Roux 09SQ07 5 ½-½
John Collins
Michael Hensley 07C46 5 ½-½
David McCann 08C12 5 ½-½
Thomas Everson 07C23 5 ½-½
Louis Biasotti 08C05 4 ½-1 ½
Stephen Fairbairn 08C05 4 ½-1 ½
Greg Whitlock 08C38 5 ½-½
Walter Muir
Thomas Hullsiek 09W24 6-0
James Sawaski 08W44 5-1
Souvik Roychoudhury 08W44 5-1
Wade Reaves 08W49 5 ½-½
Sandip Chattopadhyay 09W14 5 ½-½
Trophy Quad
Ken Koepplin 07Q08 5-1
Palciauskas Tournament
Jeffrey Baffo 08P03 5 ½-½
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]
CALL FOR MINIATURE GAMES !
December will be the month for our usual miniature games presentation. If you have won (or lost) (or drawn!) an interesting, amusing, instructive, agonizing, surprising, original or slashing correspondence game of 20 moves or under, please send it to me for possible publication in the December issue.
If you like chess jokes, you can find more at www.chess.com
Two chess players are playing a correspondence game. White lives at the South Pole, and Black lives at the North Pole. The postal service is rather slow and play proceeds at the rate of one move per year. After 22 years of play, white makes a daring queen sacrifice, the consequences of which are by no means clear. A year later, as he sees the postman returning, he is very excited. He thinks "Will Black take my Queen ?" "Is the sacrifice sound ?"
He tears open the reply and sees, "Jadoube".
50-MOVE RULE IN ICCF PLAY
As computer strength increased, certain positions (such as R+B vs. R and Q vs. 2 B's endgames, among others) were found to have solutions that would exceed the 50-move rule. These positions are recorded now in Nalimov Endgame Databases and are available for free online. OTB play continues to uphold the 50-move rule. An argument has been proposed in ICCF play (to be decided upon in the 2010 ICFF Congress in Turkey by the Rules Commission). The argument is made that CC being more scientific and practical, the OTB oriented 50-move rule contradicts the basic correspondence chess approach, supposing an artificial restriction to the mathematical solution of a problem. What do the USCF readers think ?
Obituaries
Ralph J. Bos
Ralph Bos of Seal Beach, California, born on Valentine's Day 1931, died on 2 October 2009. Ralph was an active member of USCF CC play.
SICILIAN DEFENSE (B40)
3662
ShozDijiji ShisInday
ShozDijiji
ShisInday born 8/30/55 died on August 29, 2009 on Texas' Death Row where he had
been imprisoned for twenty-seven years. ShozDijiji, born Danny Thomas,
claimed to be of Master strength, but this is the only game (fragment) I have
of his play. He died before making his fifth move.GROB ATTACK (A00)
3663
R. Scott Ireland, second place finisher in the 2002 Golden Knights is a photographer and a member of the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior. His website has some outstanding astronomy and volcano photos..
His chess may not be quite as fiery, but in the following game he makes it plenty hot for A. J. Zeppa.
You can view Scott's nature photos at www.rsiphotos.com
BOGO-INDIAN DEFENSE (E11)
3664
Donald Schultheis of Baltimore, MD, finished third in the 2002 GK. He shows that he is a hard man to beat in this fine defensive effort against John Hillery.
SICILIAN DEFENSE (B80)
3665
This is bruising chess: both sides make mistakes but the last loses.
KING'S INDIAN ATTACK (A08)
3666
It's a familiar, but always-beautiful dance: The queenside is the floor for all the action until there is a quick slide and the game is decided on the kingside.
SICILIAN DEFENSE (B22)
3667
2002 Golden Knights Standings:
Chuck Cullum 41.70
R, Scott Ireland 39.55
Chuck Cullum 39.50
Donald Schultheis 39.50
Donald Schultheis 39.10
Donald Schultheis 38.50
John Hillery 37.50
Laurence Bonsack 37.25
Bleys Rose 35.05
Brad Lundstrom 34.95
Michael Buss 33.90
Paul Albanesi 32.40
Corky Schakel 32.35
Robert Miehm 31.75
Gerald Weiner 31.60
Preston Polasek 30.45
William Jempty 29.50
Walter Brower 29.40
Gary Adams 28.90
William Jempty 28.90
Robert Miehm 27.80
Wes Hopkins 27.25
Norman Furse 26.15
Richard McLaughlin 26.15
William Jempty 26.00
David Porter 25.55
Paul Kolis 25.50
A. J. Zeppa 25.05
Guido Stueber 24.55
Donald Cotton 19.40
William Jempty 18.15
Ronald Comstock 17.15
James Fisher 17.00
David Lay 16.65
Gerard Van Deene 13.80
See the archive of Alex Dunne's "The Check is in the Mail" columns here.