Chess Ninja

Game Of The Week

"Tell me the story, tell me the legend, tell me the tales of war; Tell me, just one time, what it was like before.  Bring me the feeling, right in that moment, when a heart for battle cries.  Find me the treasure where the legend lies.  If I were a noble ancient knight, I'd stand by your side to rule and fight..."

J. Tempest

I have been listening to Europe's Final Countdown recently.  It was a nice trip down memory lane, as they were part of the one concert that I saw at Red Rocks Amphitheater.  One song reminds me of LM Brian Wall.  The song is called Ninja and creates an image of a warrior retelling his famous battles, kind of like the emails Brian puts out.

Also, the Ninja was the unorthodox warrior as compared to the Samuri, who fought with a strict code of conduct.  So, if there were such a thing as a Chess Ninja, it would be Brian.  So, to honor that Ninja spirit, I have put together a little photo montage of Brian.

If you aspire to be a Chess Ninja, here are the qualities you need to follow in the footsteps of the master:

White Belt - publish one of your games online
Gold Belt - publish one of your games in print
Orange Belt - win a game after dropping your queen
Blue Belt - play the crab in a tournament
Green Belt - play the raccoon in a tournament
Purple Belt - play the full metal jacket in a tournament
Brown Belt - win a fishing pole in a tournament
Black Belt - play a simul in costume

Also, I have included below a recent example of one of his tales of war.  He beat me and said I wouldn't publish it.  Since I couldn't prove him wrong over the board, I will have to settle for finding the mistakes in his emails (like the wrong url for this game in the email).

You won't be clicking and moving this game on the Colorado Springs Chess Club Newsletter website any time soon‏

By Brian Wall

Paul crossed 2000 last year and won the Colorado Springs Chess Club Championship after 14 years of trying.

Paul Anderson vs LM Brian Wall

Colorado Springs Fundraiser for Rhett Langseth and Katie Wise, April 16, 2011.

1. d4 Nc6 2. e4 e5 3. Nf3 d6

I watched GMs Maurice Ashley and WGM Jennifer Shahade interview the ridiculously beautiful Alisa Melikhina about her first game in the 2011 U.S. Women's Championship with Anna Zatonskih.

"I wasn't ready for Zatonskih's Scotch - 3 ... d6 doesn't seem to lose in one move."

Melikhina

Zatonskih thought that Melikhina was better but the game was eventually drawn.

If millions of men can buy cars because they use a pretty women to advertise, I can buy a Chess move for the same reason.

4. Bb5 exd4 5. Nxd4

5 Q:d4!! would be the old Morphy line of the Philidor's

5 ... Bd7!! 6. O-O Nge7

Now it looks like the Steinitz Variation of the Ruy Lopez which GM Robert Hess, leading the current US Closed, believes is playable for Black.

7. Bg5

played 10 times before

7 ... h6!! TN Wall

Theoretical Novelty by Brian Wall

7 ... N:d4!! played twice
7 ... Ne5 played once
7 ... f6? played 4 times
7 ... g6 played 3 times

Rybka believes in 7 ... N:d4!! but I didn't see how trading two pieces to bring Paul's Queen into the center could help me.

8. Bh4 g5!!

Now e5 is an artificial strong point and I get a tempo to develop my KB. Also ... Ng6 could reduce the danger of pawn irruptions with h4 or f4

9. Bg3! Bg7!! 10. c3! O-O

Rybka's crazier than I am here, promoting 10 ... h5!!

11. Na3 f5

The reason I hate the Scotch is because there is nothing for Black to attack except the e4-pawn.

12. Bxc6? bxc6!! 13. Qb3+? Kh8!! 14. exf5! Rb8!! 15. Qc2 Nxf5! 16. Nxf5! Bxf5! 17. Qd2! Qd7

Paul has mishandled his Bishops a bit with Bg5-h4-g3 and Bb5:c6 - as a result I am enjoying the Two Bishops.

18. Rae1 Rbe8 19. Nc2 c5 20. Ne3 Be4

I like Bishops that crisscross the center

21. c4 Bd4!

I like Bishops that crisscross the center

22. b3 Qg7!!

Bishops love to probe - ... Bc3 is a threat

23. Re2 Qg6

Rybka loves 23 ... Bc3!! 24 Qd1 Qd4!!

24. Ree1??

Black to move

one minute spent on this move

Time left

Paul 10 minutes
Brian 12 minutes

24 ... Bd3!!

winning the exchange

25. Nd5! Bxf1! 26. Rxf1! c6 27. Nc3 h5!! 28. h3! h4! 29. Bh2! Kh7

2 minutes spent

29 ... R:f2!!! 30 R:f2 Rf8!! already works
29 ... g4!! 30 hg Q:g4!! is also very strong

30. Ne2 Rxf2!!

3 minutes spent

Time left

Paul 6 minutes
Brian 1:50

31. Rxf2! Rf8!! 32. Bf4

the main point is 32 N:d4?? Qb1+ mates

32 ... Bxf2+!! 33. Kxf2!! gxf4! 34. Qc3! Qe4 35. Qf3!

The rest of the score was re-created after the game. I remember I had 13 seconds plus a 5 second delay at the end.

Time left

Paul 2:53
Brian 57 seconds

35 ... Qxf3+! 36. Kxf3! Kg6 37. Kg4!! Kf6!! 38. Nxf4!! Rg8+!! 39. Kxh4 Kf5!! 40. Nh5 Rxg2!! 41. Ng3+! Ke5 42. Kg4! Rxa2 43. h4! Rb2! 44. h5 Rxb3!! 45. h6! Rxg3+!! 46. Kxg3! Kf6!! 47. Kg4 Kg6 48. Kf4! d5!!

0-1 Paul kaputs

Chess Ninja

[Event "Springs Fundraiser"]
[Site "https://cschessnews.blogspot.com/"]
[Date "2011.04.16"]
[Round "2.1"]
[White "Anderson, Paul"]
[Black "Wall, Brian"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C44"]
[WhiteElo "1940"]
[BlackElo "2207"]
[PlyCount "96"]
[EventDate "2011.04.16"]
[TimeControl "1800"]

1. d4 Nc6 2. e4 e5 3. Nf3 d6 4. Bb5 exd4 5. Nxd4 Bd7 6. O-O Nge7 7. Bg5 h6 8. Bh4 g5 9. Bg3 Bg7 10. c3 O-O 11. Na3 f5 12. Bxc6 bxc6 13. Qb3+ Kh8 14. exf5 Rb8 15. Qc2 Nxf5 16. Nxf5 Bxf5 17. Qd2 Qd7 18. Rae1 Rbe8 19. Nc2 c5 20. Ne3 Be4 21. c4 Bd4 22. b3 Qg7 23. Re2 Qg6 24. Ree1 Bd3 25. Nd5 Bxf1 26. Rxf1 c6 27. Nc3 h5 28. h3 h4 29. Bh2 Kh7 30. Ne2 Rxf2 31. Rxf2 Rf8 32. Bf4 Bxf2+ 33. Kxf2 gxf4 34. Qc3 Qe4 35. Qf3 Qxf3+ 36. Kxf3 Kg6 37. Kg4 Kf6 38. Nxf4 Rg8+ 39. Kxh4 Kf5 40. Nh5 Rxg2 41. Ng3+ Ke5 42. Kg4 Rxa2 43. h4 Rb2 44. h5 Rxb3 45. h6 Rxg3+ 46. Kxg3 Kf6 47. Kg4 Kg6 48. Kf4 d5 0-1

https://www.chessvideos.tv/chess-game-replayer.php?id=66994

This Week In Chess

On April 26th, the CSCC had 8 members in attendance.  The participants played in a club-rated, Swiss tournament (3SS, G15).  Jeff Fox stayed unbeaten and won the event.  Here are the results:

Score, Player

3.0 Jeff Fox
2.0 Alex Torres
2.0 Paul Anderson
2.0 Kenton Lloyd
1.0 Jeff Beckman
1.0 Nate Maher
0.0 Mike Voight
0.0 Matthew Anderson