Faith, Hope, And Love

Game Of The Week

This week's game comes from the Thursday Panera tournament.  DuWayne Langseth, local chess coach and player, wanted to see it, as he caught some of it the night it was played.  I think he had little faith that I could escaped with a win.  I felt like quoting Darth Vader to him, "I find your lack of faith disturbing."

Here is the position where I blundered.  I didn't know it was a blunder at the time.  Well, I realized it after Kurt, as white, found the best move.  Then I had to figure out how to get myself out of the mess I had created.  I tried to pick the most complicated line and hope for the best.

White to move

You can click through the game to see how Kurt played the line, finding many of the best moves, until about 6 moves into the combination when hope finally arrived for me.

One of the things I love about chess is that the wins are always thrilling.  No matter how bad you play.  Pulling off the victory makes everything worthwhile.  And getting a hard-fought win on Valentines Day deserves a special treat, like a heart-shaped pizza, which I did.

"And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."

1 Cor 3:13 (NIV1984)

Faith, Hope, and Love

[Event "February Panera"]
[Site "https://cschessnews.blogspot.com/"]
[Date "2013.02.14"]
[Round "2.1"]
[White "Kondracki, Kurt"]
[Black "Anderson, Paul"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B12"]
[PlyCount "68"]
[EventDate "2013.02.07"]
[TimeControl "5400"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d6 3. f4 g6 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Bc4 Nf6 6. Qe2 Nxe4 7. Bxf7+ Kxf7 8. Qxe4 Qa5+ 9. Nc3 Qf5 10. Qe2 Re8 11. O-O Na6 12. Ne4 Bd7 13. Ne5+ Kg8 14. g4 Qe6 15. Ng5 Qd5 16. Nxd7 Rad8 17. c4 Qxd4+ 18. Kh1 e5 19. fxe5 Rxd7 20. e6 Rde7 21. Be3 Qxb2 22. Qxb2 Bxb2 23. Rab1 Be5 24. Rf7 b6 25. Rbf1 Nc7 26. Rxh7 Rxh7 27. Nxh7 Nxe6 28. Nf6+ Bxf6 29. Rxf6 Kg7 30. g5 d5 31. cxd5 cxd5 32. Bd2 d4 33. Kg2 Nc5 34. Rf2 Nd3 0-1

https://www.chessvideos.tv/chess-game-replayer.php?id=77106

This Week In Chess

On February 19th, the Colorado Springs Chess Club held the conclusion of its USCF-rated Cabin Fever Reliever (4SS, G30).  11 players joined, and Tim Brennan went unbeaten to take home the top prize.  In addition, the top 3 finishers earned bonus points for the Tuesday Night Chess Tour.  Here are the results:

Score Player

4.0 Tim Brennan 1st $25.00
3.0 Paul Anderson 2nd $15.00
2.0 Mark McGough U1750 $10.00
2.0 Alex Freeman
1.5 Brian Rountree
1.5 Dean Brown
1.0 Mike Madsen
1.0 Jeff Fox
1.0 Anthea Carson
1.0 Isaac Martinez
0.0 Mike Wanek

Tuesday Night Chess Tour Standings for 1st Quarter

8.0 Tim Brennan
6.0 Paul Anderson
3.0 Mark McGough
3.0 Alex Freeman
2.0 Brian Rountree
2.0 Dean Brown
2.0 Mike Madsen
2.0 Jeff Fox
2.0 Anthea Carson
2.0 Isaac Martinez
2.0 Mike Wanek