Game Of The Week
This week’s game comes from the 2008 Southern Colorado Open. I had written before this tournament how six other tournaments had a higher net total for prize winnings than this one.
Well, that has now changed. I went into this tournament winning prize money only 13% of the time, but I have come out of it winning prize money 22% of the time.
In addition, the net total prize money for this tournament improved from 7th place to 3rd place (behind the Pikes Peak Open and the Winter Springs Open). So, I would have to say it was a good tournament for me. I went unbeaten the first day, I gained 10 rating points, and I took home the U2000 prize.
However, it wasn’t perfect. Just like my chess games, no matter how well things go, there are always some embarrassing mistakes that I continue to make. Let me give you an example.
My only win the second day came against Alex Cacas. It was a nice win, as we had played once before where I lost with more time and a better position because I mistakenly went into a lost endgame with him. This time I was determined not to give up any advantage I could gain over him.
Again I built a huge lead in time and began to chip away at his position. I won a pawn, but I realized that I needed to continue going after the king to not fall into the trap I did last time. So, when I played 39. Qh1, I was really looking at the mating line.
It is one of those positions where enough is going on that it isn’t clear to your opponent what you are trying to do. Did I just blunder away my win again and drop the A pawn? Did I just miss the G pawn falling? Or was I planning a faster attack on the C pawn?
There is a lot there to think about, and Alex was really low in time now. I was trying to use my hypnotizing skills this time to influence a mate and not just gain a piece like DuWayne always accuses me of doing. Even after the rooks get traded off, I still needed Alex to take on g6 to get the mate I wanted, but to my surprise, he took it.
 |
| White to move |
Now, all my planning had come to fruition. I got exactly what I wanted, and I wanted to end in a flourish. I wrote out the rest of the moves on the score sheet and decided to announce mate for the first time in my chess career.
Of course, I still had one mistake left in me. I wasn’t sure what the announcing mate etiquette was, so I debated between announcing mate first then moving and moving first then announcing mate second.
With all this confusion going on in my brain, I ended up sounding like Sir Galahad at the Bridge of Death over the Gorge of Eternal Peril.
KEEPER: “What is your favorite color?”
GALAHAD: “Blue. No yel-- Auuuuuuuugh!”
Mate In Two, No Three
[Event "Southern Colorado Open"]
[Site "https://cschessnews.blogspot.com/"]
[Date "2008.06.15"]
[Round "5.1"]
[White "Anderson, Paul"]
[Black "Cacas, Alex"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D80"]
[WhiteElo "1945"]
[BlackElo "1801"]
[PlyCount "89"]
[EventDate "2008.06.14"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Bg5 dxc4 5. Bxf6 exf6 6. e4 Bg7 7. Bxc4 O-O 8.
Nge2 Nd7 9. O-O Nb6 10. Bb3 Re8 11. Rc1 Bd7 12. Qd3 a6 13. Rfd1 Qe7 14. a3 Rad8
15. Qg3 Bc8 16. Rd3 f5 17. e5 c6 18. Rcd1 Be6 19. Bxe6 fxe6 20. b4 Rd7 21. Nc1
Bf8 22. Nb3 Qg7 23. f4 Red8 24. h4 Nc4 25. Na4 b5 26. Nac5 Bxc5 27. Nxc5 Re7
28. Rb1 Ra8 29. Qf3 Rc8 30. Nxa6 Ra7 31. Nc5 Qe7 32. Qg3 Rca8 33. Rbb3 Kg7 34.
h5 Qe8 35. Qf3 Qc8 36. Kf2 Qe8 37. g4 Kf7 38. Qh3 Qh8 39. Qh1 Rxa3 40. Rxa3
Rxa3 41. Rxa3 Nxa3 42. hxg6+ Kxg6 43. Qh5+ Kg7 44. Nxe6+ Kg8 45. Qe8# 1-0
This Week In Chess
On June 17th, the CSCC had 15 members in attendance. The main event was the conclusion of the two-week, USCF-rated June Mating Game Tournament (4SS, G30). LM Brian Wall was in clear first and controlled his own destiny by the third round. However, the top prize was still up for grabs with Brian having to face two more opponents, Paul Anderson and NM Josh Bloomer. He lost one of those games and tied with David Meliti for the 1st spot. Here are the final results:
Score Player
3.0 Brian Wall
3.0 David Meliti
2.0 Jeff Fox
2.0 Josh Bloomer
1.0 Paul Anderson
1.0 Anthea Carson
0.0 Dean Brown
On June 18th, the CSCC held the 3rd round of the Poor Richard's Bookstore June Open. Here are the current standings:
Score Player
3.0 David Meliti
2.5 Josh Bloomer
2.5 Larry Turner
2.0 Bill Whinemiller
2.0 Joseph T Fromme
2.0 Gerard Sunderland
1.5 Joseph H Pahk
1.5 Fred Eric Spell
1.5 Thomas Mullikin
1.0 M Paul Covington
1.0 Anthea Carson
1.0 Alejandro Isaac Torres
1.0 Michael Joseph Wokurka
1.0 Kathy Schneider
0.5 Dean Brown
0.5 Gerald Maier
0.5 Isaac Martinez
0.5 Kristen Colette Meliti
Comments From Email
Padmanand C Menon, Wednesday, June 18, 2008 11:03 PM
Hi, Its really worth being in this group where a great player like Paul Anderson belongs. Thanks for the comments and guidelines posted in this forums and letters. Much appreciated. Can you pls let me know how should i continue. I am a FIDE rated player (1811 rating) and like to play attacking chess but moreover i want something where i can play positional with an attacking touck. Let me know which books to refer or any player whom should i follow. Assistance please.
Cheers.
Padmanand C Menon
[One of the more interesting ideas I've heard of recently is from International Chess Master Igor Khmelnitsky's book Chess Exam & Training Guide. It has been out a while now, but I just found out about it from a couple of chess players trying to climb out of this class A world, Larry Wutt and Shaun MacMillan, and it rates your chess in 12 different areas including attack and standard positions. But I will see if the group has any more ideas. Stay tuned!]
DuWayne Langseth, Monday, June 16, 2008 6:55 PM
I looked at your game with Renard. Now that was a REAL game until you gave up on move 25. Rybka calls it completely dead even at that point. Besides it was downright interesting. I am amused at your recent strategy of developing your knights to the powerful a6 and h6 squares. Why Renard didn't focus on that, I don't know. Anyway, I enjoyed it...
Upcoming Events
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