Game Of The Week
This week’s game comes from the Southern Colorado Open, except that it was six years ago. The 2008 tournament is this coming weekend, and I will be putting down my money tonight for my ninth appearance.
I used to think it was my best tournament because I won my highest prize there ($120), but now I realize that was the only time I have won money there. Seven times I have gone home empty-handed. That works out to a 13% chance of winning prize money, which is far lower than my overall average of 43%.
While I haven’t won as big of a prize at any other tournament, the cumulative prize winnings of six other tournaments have now passed my total for the Southern Colorado Open. In addition, the total could have been a lot less, as the game that put me in sole possession of the prize could have been a draw.
I was a class B player back then, and there were 5 other Bs buzzing around the honey-pot going into the sixth and final round. However, I had already learned my lesson about being too greedy and was more than happy to take a split of the money.
I used to hate draws. I never asked for one, and I never accepted one. I looked at them as a sign of weakness. Clearly, my opponent was too tired to try to find a winning plan. Now, I had the psychological edge.
Of course, in my first USCF-rated tournament that attitude changed. I was playing Dan Cabrera in the final round of the Colorado Springs Open in 1998 when he offered a draw. Had I put much thought into it, I would have realized that a draw would have tied me for the unrated prize of $75. However, I thought I had the edge now and played on to win.
Of course, as often happens, I actually put more pressure on myself to now prove I could come up with a win. As the game progressed, the pressure increased, as I was not improving my position, until, finally, I blundered away the draw and lost.
I realized that this draw was not the typical half point kind, but rather this draw was worth $37.50. It was as if Dan had asked me, “Would you like $37.50?” And I replied, “No thanks, I would like to play on for nothing.”
That lesson stuck with me. Four years later, I had another final round money game where a win gets a lot, a draw get a little, and a loss gets nothing. In addition, I was not feeling well at the start of the game and was in no mood to sit there for 3 hours. I had decided to make my first “grandmaster draw” offer.
I figured 12 moves was good enough and blitzed them out in between trips to the restroom. I didn’t actually wink at my opponent, but I figured he would get what I was trying to do, take the money, and go home early.
He did not. I guess he thought he had the edge as I was having trouble staying in front of the board.
However, shortly after the refused draw, I began to feel better and so did my position. This time the draw would have been worth $30, as I finished half a point ahead of two other Bs and a full point ahead of Silas. I guess the value of a draw is relative, but for me it will always be $37.50.
 |
| White to move |
Would You Like $37.50?
[Event "Southern Colorado Open"]
[Site "https://cschessnews.blogspot.com/"]
[Date "2002.06.09"]
[Round "6.4"]
[White "Anderson, Paul"]
[Black "Perry, Silas"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E70"]
[WhiteElo "1719"]
[BlackElo "1733"]
[PlyCount "115"]
[EventDate "2002.06.08"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Bd3 e5 6. d5 O-O 7. Nge2 c5 8. O-O
Nbd7 9. f3 Ne8 10. Be3 f5 11. exf5 gxf5 12. Qc2 Nb6 13. b3 Kh8 14. Rae1 f4 15.
Bf2 Qg5 16. Ne4 Qh5 17. N2c3 Rg8 18. Kh1 Nd7 19. Qd2 Ndf6 20. Rd1 Bf8 21. Be1
Be7 22. Qf2 Nxe4 23. Nxe4 Ng7 24. g4 Qf7 25. Qg2 Nf5 26. Bf2 Rg6 27. Rg1 Bh4
28. Bxh4 Nxh4 29. Qf2 Rh6 30. Nxd6 Qe7 31. Nxc8 Rxc8 32. Be4 Rd8 33. Rd2 Rdd6
34. Qe2 Qg5 35. Re1 Kg7 36. Bf5 Qe7 37. Qxe5+ Qxe5 38. Rxe5 Nxf3 39. Re7+ Kf8
40. Rde2 Rxh2+ 41. Rxh2 Kxe7 42. Rxh7+ Kf6 43. Rxb7 Kg5 44. Rg7+ Kf6 45. Rxa7
Ke5 46. Re7+ Kd4 47. Re4+ Kc3 48. Rxf4 Nd4 49. Kg2 Kb2 50. Rf2+ Kc3 51. Kg3 Rf6
52. Kf4 Kb4 53. Ke5 Ra6 54. g5 Nc6+ 55. dxc6 Rxc6 56. g6 Rc8 57. g7 Ka3 58.
Bxc8 1-0
This Week In Chess
On June 3rd, the CSCC had 13 members in attendance. The evening’s event was a double, round robin, blitz tournament (G5). I lost one game to NM Buck Buchanan and one game to David Meliti to finish in clear first. Here are the results:
Score Player
12.0 Paul Anderson
11.0 David Meliti
11.0 Buck Buchanan
9.0 Alex Torres
4.0 Ken Dail
4.0 Imre Barlay
3.0 Joe Pahk
2.0 Dean Brown
Results from Spring is Sprung tourney in Pueblo
By Liz Wood
2008 Spring is Sprung One-Day Rated Chess Tournament
April 26th was a Spring is Sprung day in Pueblo as 13 players came together to participate at a tournament held at the Daily Grind Café in Pueblo, Colorado. There was a great deal of competition among the mostly higher rated players and some interesting G/30 games.
Name Rating Total Points
Renard Anderson 2217 4.5
Josh Bloomer 2215 3.5
Alexander Chavez Unr(2200) 0.0
James Hamblin 2053 3.5
Chris Clevenger 1842 3.0
Scott Massey 1812 2.5
Igor Melnykov 1812 4.0
Scott Nichols 1796 2.0
Alejandro Torres 1666 2.5
Dean Brown 1535 2.5
Tom Mullikin 1339 1.5
Jerry Maier 1238 2.0
Liz Wood 1148 2.0
Kathy Schneider 866 2.0
1st Renard Anderson $60
2nd Igor Melnykov $55
3rd Tied: Josh Bloomer $25
James Hamblin $25
U1800 Tied: Alejandro Torres $17
Dean Brown $17
U1400 Tied: Gerald Maier $ 8
Liz Wood $ 8
Kathy Schneider $ 8
GAMES
Jim Hamblin - Scott Nichols Pirc or Modern
1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.Be2 Bg7 5.h4 h5 6.Nh3 Bh3 7.Rh3 Nc6 8.f3 e5 9.d5 Ne7 10.Be3 Qd7 11.Qd2 a6 12.b4 Nh7 13.b5 f5 14.ba ba 15.Rb1 f4 16.Bf2 g5 17.hg Ng5 18.Rh1 Ng6 19.Bc4 h4 20.Qe2 h3 21.Ba6 hg 22.Rh8+ Bh8 23.Bb5 Ra3 24.Bd7+ Kd7 25.Kd2 1-0
Dean Brown - Chris Clevenger Reti/English
1.Nf3 d5 2.c4 d4 3.g3 c5 4.Bg2 Nc6 5.0-0 e5 6.d3 Nf6 7.Bg5 Be7 8.Bxf6 Bxf6 9.Nbd2 Be6 10.a3 0-0 11.Rb1 Be7 12.b4 cb 13.ab f6 14.b5 Na5 15.Qa4 b6 16.Ne1 Rb8 17.Nb3 Nxb3 18.Rxb3 Qd7 19.Nc2 a5 20.Re1 f5 21.e3 de 22.Rxe3 f4 23.Rxe5 f3 24.Bh1 Bd6 25.Re3 Bg4 26.Ne1 Bc5 27.Re4 Rbe8 28.Rxe8 Rxe8 29.Rb1 Qe2 [can’t stop Qf2++] 0-1
Dean Brown - Jim Hamblin Reti
1.Nf3 d5 2.c4 c6 3.cd cd 4.d4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.e3 Bf5 7.Bb5 e6 8.Ne5 Rc8 9.0-0 Bd6 10.Nxc6 bc 11.Ba4 Bxh2 12.Kxh2 Ng4+ 13.Kg3 Qg5 14.f4 Qg6 15.Qe1 Nxe3+ 16.Kf2 Nxf1 17.Qxf1 Bd3 18.Qd1 0-0 19.g3 c5 20.Be3 cd 21.Bxd4 Rc4 22.Bxa7 Ra8 23.Be3 d4 24.Bb3 de+ 25.Kxe3 Qxg3+ 26.Qf3 QxQf3 27.Kxf3 Rcc8 28.Na4 Rab8 29.Ke3 Bc4 30.Bd1 Bd5 31.Nc3 Rxb2 32.Rc1 0-1
Josh Bloomer - Scott Nichols Modern
1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.f4 Bg7 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Bd3 c5 7.e5 Nfd7 8.e6 fe6 9.Ng5 Nf6 10.dxc5 Nc6 11.Be3 e5 12.Bc4+ d5 13.Nxd5 e6 14.Nxf6 Qxf6 15.0-0 ef4 16.Rxf4 Qe5 17.Rxf8+ Bxf8 18.Qf3 Nd8 19.Rd1 1-0 (NOTE: If you try to defend, the knight threatens Rxd8, then 19...Qf7+ 20.Kh8 Qh7#)
Allejandro Torres - Jim Hamblin Catalin
1.d4 d5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 c6 4.c3 Bf5 5.f3 e6 6.a3 Be7 7.Nd2 Nbd7 8.e4 de 9.fe Bg6 10.Ne2 e5 11.0-0 b5 12.Qb3 Qb6 13.Kh1 0-0 14.h3 c5 15.d5 c4 16.Qd1 Nc5 17.Kh2 Nfe4 18.Ne4 Be4 19.Be3 Bg2 20.Kg2 Rad8 21.Rb1 Qb7 22.Kh2 Rd5 23.Qc2 Rd3 24.Bg1 Nb3 25.Rbd1 Rfd8 26.Nc1 Nc1 27.Qc1 Qe4 28.Bf2 Qf3 29.Rd3 Rd3 30.Qe1 Qd5 31.Ba7 Bg5 32.Kg1 Rd2 33.Bf2 e4 34.Be3 Be3 35.Qe3 Rb2 36.Qa7 h6 37.Qd4 Qd4 38.cd c3 39.Rc1 Rb3 40.Kf2 Ra3 41.Ke3 f5 42.Kf4 g6 43.g4 b5 44.gf gf 45.Kf5 e3 46.Ke4 e2 47.Kd3 Ra2 48.Ke8 b3 49.Kd3 c2 50.Ke2 b2 1.Rg1 Kh7 52.d5 c1=Q 53.RxQa5 0-1
Liz Wood - Dean Brown Sicilian-Accelerated Dragon
1.e4 c5 2.c3 g6 3.Nf3 Bg7 4.Bc4 e6 5.0-0 Nc6 6.Re1 d6 7.d3 Nf6 8.Bg5 Qb6 9.Nbd2 Qxb2 10.Qb3 Qxb3 11.Bxb3 0-0 12.Rad1 Ng4 13.Bh4 Bxc3 14.Re2 Bxd2 15.R2xd2 b5 16.Bg3 Nge5 17.Nxe5 Nxe5 18.Bxe5 de 19.Rc1 Ba6 20.Rxc5 Rfd8 21.Rxe5 Rac8 22.h3 Rc6 23.d4 R6d6 24.Rd1 Rxd4 25.Rxd4 Rxd4 26.f3 Kf8 27.Rc5 Rd7 28.f4 h5 29.f5 Ke7 30.fe fe 31.Rc6 Rd6 32.Rc7+ Rd7 33.Rxd7 Kxd7 34.e5 h4 35.Kf2 Bb7 36.g3 g5 37.gh gh 38.Ke3 Bg2 39.Kf4 Bxh3 40.Kg5 Bg2 41.Kxh5 Bd5 42.Kg5 Bxb3 43.axBb3 a5 44.Kf6 a4 0-1
Jim Hamblin - Renard Anderson Sicilian-Najdorf
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cd 4.Nd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be2 e5 7.Nb3 Be7 8.Be3 Be6 9.Qd2 b5 10.f3 Nd7 11.0-0 0-0 12.a4 b4 13.Na2 a5 14.Kh1 d5 15.ed Nd5 16.Bg1 Nf4 17.Bb5 Qc7 18.Rad1 Rad8 19.Nac1 Nb6 20.Qf2 Nc4 21.Nd3 Nd3 22.cd Ne3 23.Rc1 Qb8 24.Qe3 Bb3 25.d4 Bd5 26.de b3 27.Rfd1 Be6 28.Bd3 g6 29.Bb5 Rc8 30.Rc6 Rc6 31.Bxc632.Rc1 Bf5 33.Rc3 Bc2 34.e6 f5 5.Rd5 Rc3 36.Qc3 Qd6 37.Qc4 h5 38.Bc5 Qe5 39.h3 Qg1+ 40.Kh2 h4 41.Be7 Qg3+ 42.Kg1 Qe1+ 43.Qf1 Qe3+ 44.Kh1 Bd3 45.Bg5 Qg5 46.Qd3 Qc1+ 47.Kh2 Qf4+ 48. Kg1 Qc1+50.Qf1 Qe3+ ½ - ½
Upcoming tournament: Second Annual Pueblo Open
By Liz Wood
June 28, 2008 Second Annual Pueblo Open One-Day Rated Chess Tournament
5SS, G/30 No Time Delay
Location: at the Daily Grind, 209 S. Union, Pueblo (take 1st Street exit, three blocks to Union; Union & D Street)
Registration 9:00-9:45, Rounds 10, 11:15, 12:30, 2:30, 3:45.Entry fee: $20; Sr, Jr, Unr $15; CSCA & USCF required. Cash prizes based on entry fees will be distributed at the conclusion of the event.
Final round byes must be requested before the start of Round 2, and are irrevocable.
For further information, contact Liz Wood, chessliz@comcast.net ( 719-566-6929) or Dean Brown, browndw1@mindspring.com
COLORADO TOUR EVENT
Upcoming Events
6/10 June Mating Game begins: 4-SS, G/30, USCF rated, $5 entry fee, CSCC
6/11,18,25 Poor Richard's Bookstore June Open Final Rounds, CSCC
6/14-15 Southern Colorado Open, CSCA
6/17 June Mating Game concludes, CSCC
6/19 June 2008 G/29 Grand Prix Event, WCA
6/24 Ladder games, CSCC
For event details and additional events, see the following websites:
Colorado Springs Chess Club: CSCC (http://springschess.org/)
Boulder Chess Club: BCC (http://www.geocities.com/boulderchessclub/)
Colorado State Chess Association: CSCA (http://colorado-chess.com/)
Wyoming Chess Association: WCA (http://www.wyomingchess.com/)
Kansas Chess Association: KCA (http://www.kansaschess.org/)
New Mexico Chess Organization: NMCO (http://www.nmchess.org/)
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