Sex Change Capital Of Chess

Game Of The Week

This week's game comes from Alex Freeman.  He is an active, Colorado Springs chess player who served as a monk with me at the Renaissance Festival.  He gave me a game last year (https://cschessnews.blogspot.com/2011/05/i-am-not-number.html), which I combined with the opening line from the British TV show, The Prisoner:  I am not a number; I am a free man!

Alex and I have been hanging out with a couple of Masters, LM Brian Wall and NM Josh Bloomer, after the Thursday Panera tournament.  They trounce us in blitz and go over our games, laughing at all our mistakes.

One of the funnier games we looked at was Alex's win over James Powers in the Wild Boar #10 tournament in Fort Collins.  Alex was already lost after 7 moves into his opening but came back to win because James had forgotten that the King and Queen had changed places.

We couldn't help thinking that this game was strangely appropriate to be played in Colorado.  Trinidad, Colorado is the home of the sex change capital of the US.  So, now we have the sex change capital of chess in Fort Collins.

In this position, Bb5 with check against the King would still be a fairly even game.  However, with the switch in place, it just loses and is quite shocking when you realize that everything you have assumed is totally wrong.

Black to move

Well, I'm not dumb but I can't understand why she looked like a King but moved like a Queen.

Sex Change Capital Of Chess

[Event "Wild Boar #10"]
[Site "https://cschessnews.blogspot.com/"]
[Site "Fort Collins"]
[Date "2012.03.03"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Powers, James"]
[Black "Freeman, Alexander"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A80"]
[WhiteElo "1776"]
[BlackElo "1718"]
[PlyCount "69"]
[EventDate "2012.03.03"]
[TimeControl "3600"]

1. d4 f5 2. Nc3 e6 3. e4 fxe4 4. Nxe4 Be7 5. Bd3 Nf6 6. Nxf6+ Bxf6 7. Qh5+ Ke7 8. Nf3 Qe8 9. Qc5+ Kd8 10. Bf4 d6 11. Qa5 Nc6 12. Qc3 Nxd4 13. Nxd4 e5 14. Bb5 exd4+ 15. Bxe8 Rxe8+ 16. Qe3 dxe3 17. Bxe3 Bf5 18. c3 Bg5 19. O-O Bxe3 20. fxe3 Bg6 21. Rae1 Kd7 22. e4 Rf8 23. Rf3 Rxf3 24. gxf3 Rf8 25. Kf2 Bh5 26. Re3 g5 27. Kg3 Bf7 28. Kg4 h6 29. b3 Ke6 30. Rd3 Ke5 31. c4 Bg6 32. Rd5+ Ke6 33. c5 Rf4+ 34. Kg3 Bh5 35. cxd6 0-1

https://www.chessvideos.tv/chess-game-replayer.php?id=61711

This Week In Chess

On March 20th, the Colorado Springs Chess Club held a Swiss event (G15, 3SS).  The members chose to play an unrated event to allow Alex Torres to participate, who almost won the tournament but lost to Jeff Fox in the final round.  Here are the results:

Score, Player

2.5 Jeff Fox
2.0 Alex Torres
2.0 Paul Anderson
1.5 Koji Del Conte
1.0 Mark McGough
0.0 Wesley Smith

Colorado Class Tournament, March 31-April 1, 2012

By Jerry Maier

Hello Chess Enthusiasts...The deadline for pre-entries is this Friday, March 23.  Yes, this is your personal invitation.  Hope you can attend!

Jerry Maierpmjer77@aim.com719.660.5531 cell 719.268.6970 home ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Colorado Class Tournament, March 31-April 1, 2012

4 round Swiss system tournament.
Time Controls: G/90, inc/30
Site: Manitou Springs City Hall, 606 Manitou Ave., Manitou Springs, Colorado, 80829.
Directions: Take I-25 to Exit 141, US 24 West. Head 3 1/2 miles west towards the mountains and depart US24 at the Manitou Avenue exit. Turn west onto Manitou Avenue then go 1 mile to the Manitou Springs City Hall.

Senior Master/Master/Expert: Open to players rated 2000 and above.
Class A: Open to players rated 1800-1999.
Class B: Open to players rated 1600-1799.
Class C: Open to players rated 1400-1599.
Class D: Open to players rated 1200-1399.
Class E: Open to players rated 1000-1199.
Under Class E/Unrated: Open to players rated under 999 and unrated. This section may be combined with Class E if there are not enough participants in either section.

Pre-registration Entry fee: $40 if received by Friday March 23, 2012; $30 for seniors (65 & over), juniors (under 21), and unrated players (no USCF Rating on the USCF Ratings website for March 2012 Supplement). No pre-registrations accepted without full payment.
On-site Entry fee: $45 regular; $33 for seniors (65 & over), juniors (under 21) and unrated players (no USCF Rating on the USCF Ratings website for March 2012 Supplement).
Prizes: Cash Prizes per Entries. Unrated players may only win an Unrated category prize.

*In addition, the Class champions in the A, B, C, D, and E classes will represent Colorado in the Rocky Mountains Team Chess Challenge.

Registration: March 31, 2012, 9:00-10:30 AM, Rounds: Sat. 11:00 AM, 4:00 PM, Sun. 9:00 AM, 2:00 PM.
Entries: Jerry Maier, 229 Hargrove Court Colorado Springs, CO 80919-2213
Phone: 719-660-5531
E-mail: pmjer77@aim.com

COLORADO TOUR EVENT

USCF Membership required. Memberships available onsite. See TD.
CSCA Membership required. OSA.
One non-retractable half point bye may be requested no later than the start of the second round.

*Should two (or more) players tie for a Class Championship, we will have Armageddon style playoff game(s) to select the Primary and Alternate representatives for our Colorado Chess Team. The exact format of the playoff game(s) will depend on how many tie for one of the titles. Playoff games will not affect ratings nor prize fund distribution.

Produced and Directed by the Colorado State Chess Association.