Spassky's Trap

Game Of The Week

This week's game comes from my most common USCF opponent, Dean Brown (+24=2-6).  After setting his record as the highest rated opponent beaten, I have been taking things a little more carefully against him.  Prior to the October 2012 upset, I hadn't lost to him since 2006, and I guess I was getting complacent.

I thought I was Bobby Fischer to his Boris Spassky.  I was the youthful up-and-comer while he was the aged veteran, who was past his prime.  I thought I had broken him.  However, the upset proved I was no Bobby Fischer.

So, instead of trying to play like Bobby, I tried to play like Boris.

Black to move

Dean and I reached this position after I played b3.  My hope was that he would grab the pawn on h2 much like Fischer did in game 1 of the 1972 World Chess Championship.  I would trap the bishop with g3 and win the piece with a quick Nf3.  However, Dean was not biting.

You can click through the game to see how Dean responded.  However, I was undaunted with my plans to trap the bishop.  I came up with another idea that looked like it might work, but it really didn't.   I could trap the bishop, but I couldn't win it.  I guess this proves I am no Boris Spassky either.

Spassky's Trap

[Event "February Quad"]
[Site "https://cschessnews.blogspot.com/"]
[Date "2013.02.26"]
[Round "3.2"]
[White "Anderson, Paul"]
[Black "Brown, Dean"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A45"]
[WhiteElo "2031"]
[BlackElo "1583"]
[PlyCount "91"]
[EventDate "2013.02.26"]
[TimeControl "1800"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5 h6 3. Bxf6 exf6 4. e3 b6 5. Be2 Bb7 6. Bf3 Bxf3 7. Nxf3 d5 8. O-O Bd6 9. c4 c6 10. cxd5 cxd5 11. Qa4+ Qd7 12. Qxd7+ Nxd7 13. Nc3 O-O 14. Nxd5 Rac8 15. Rfc1 b5 16. Kf1 Rfe8 17. Ke2 Nb8 18. Kd2 Nc6 19. Rc2 Nb4 20. Rxc8 Rxc8 21. Nxb4 Bxb4+ 22. Kd3 f5 23. a4 a6 24. axb5 axb5 25. Ra7 Bd6 26. Rb7 b4 27. Nd2 Rb8 28. Rxb8+ Bxb8 29. b3 Bd6 30. Kc4 Bxh2 31. f4 Bg1 32. Kd3 g5 33. Nf3 Bf2 34. fxg5 hxg5 35. Nxg5 Bg3 36. Kc4 Bd6 37. Kd5 Be7 38. Nh3 Kg7 39. Ke5 Kg6 40. Nf4+ Kg5 41. Nd3 Kg4 42. d5 Bg5 43. Nf4 f6+ 44. Ke6 Bxf4 45. exf4 Kxf4 46. d6 1-0

https://www.chessvideos.tv/chess-game-replayer.php?id=77199

This Week In Chess

On February 26th, the Colorado Springs Chess Club held a Quad event, chosen by the players.  A Quad is a Round Robin tournament with 4 players.  The USCF-rated quad (G/30;d5) was won my myself, and the unrated quad (G/20; d3) was won by Alex Torres.  Here are the results:

Score Player (Tour Points)

USCF-rated Quad

3.0 Paul Anderson (4.00)
2.0 Mark McGough (3.00)
1.0 Dean Brown (2.00)
0.0 Mike Toth (1.00)

Unrated Quad

2.0 Alex Torres (4.00)
0.5 Koji Del Conte (2.50)
0.5 Mike Madsen (2.50)

Tuesday Night Chess Tour Standings for 1st Quarter

1 Paul Anderson 10.00
2 Tim Brennan 8.00
3 Mark McGough 6.00
4 Mike Madsen 4.50
5 Dean Brown 4.00
6 Alex Torres 4.00
7 Alex Freeman 3.00
8 Koji DelConte 2.50
9 Brian Rountree 2.00
10 Jeff Fox 2.00
11 Anthea Carson 2.00
12 Isaac Martinez 2.00
13 Mike Wanek 2.00
14 Mike Toth 1.00