You've Got Another Thing Comin'! Part II

Game Of The Week

Part I (https://cschessnews.blogspot.com/2014/02/youve-got-another-thing-comin-part-i.html)

Round II

Within the first decade of the city championship, a couple of players gained their 2nd titles.  The first player to regain the title, Robert Jordan, was also the first player to win back-to-back titles.  However, other players took a little more time between titles.  The record-holder for waiting the most time between winning championships is Shaun MacMillan.  Shaun won his 1st title in 1982 as a youthful expert and waited 25 years before earning his second, as a hard-working, if less-talented, renewed student of the game.

2x Champions (9):

1968 Robert Jordan
1969 Robert Jordan
1970 Carl Freeman
1973 KenCase
1974 Carl Freeman
1979 Joe DeVico
1980 Joe DeVico
1981 Ken Case
1982 Shaun MacMillan
1995 Chris Brunt
1996 Chris Brunt
1999 Jeff Fox
2001 Josh Bloomer
2005 Josh Bloomer
2007 Shaun MacMillan
2009 Jeff Fox
2010 Paul Anderson
2013 Paul Anderson

In the 2nd round, my fear begins to increase.  I have to face Mark McGough with the Black pieces.  The problem is that Mark and I have played 41 games against each other in rated play and far more in blitz games.  Plus, Mark is a great student of the game, studying his losses and coming up with new ideas to eliminate his past mistakes.  He even gets advice from NM Josh Bloomer on what opening variations he can use against me.

You can see Mark (red shirt with a diet coke in front of him) with NM Josh Bloomer, when the video cuts to the left, putting together his next plan to beat me.

McGough,Mark -Anderson,Paul [A42]

CSCC Championship Colorado Springs (2.3), 15.10.2013

1.d4 c6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.Nf3 d6 5.e4 Bg4 6.Be2 Nf6 7.0–0 0–0 8.Be3 Qc7 9.Rc1 e5 10.dxe5 dxe5 11.h3 Bxf3 12.Bxf3 Rd8 13.Qc2 Nbd7 14.Rfd1 Nf8 15.Qb3 b6 16.a4 Ne6 17.c5 Nxc5 18.Bxc5 bxc5 19.Qc4 Qb6 20.b3 Bf8

I have survived the opening and gained a Pawn.  This time I am sure that Mark gave up the Pawn intentionally.  I think he was worried about the Knight being well supported on d4 and figured that he could regain the Double Pawn eventually.

21.Ne2 Rab8 22.Rxd8 Rxd8 23.Rc3 Kg7 24.Nc1 Rd4 25.Qe2 Qb4 26.Na2 Qa5 27.Qc2 Qd8 28.Rc4 Rd2 29.Qb1 h5 30.Nc3 Qd3 31.Qxd3 Rxd3 32.Be2 Rd4 33.f3 Nd7 34.Nd1 a5 35.Kf2 Kf6 36.Ke3 Bh6+ 37.Kf2 Nb6 38.Rc2 Bf8 39.Ne3 h4 40.Nc4 Nxc4

I have been able to hold onto the Pawn, but it was more out of luck than skill.  As Mark gets into time pressure, I start to make some impulsive moves.  On move 36 and 37, I remove both the Bishop and Knight from protecting the c5 Pawn.  Fortunately, Mark had little time to survey the position and just reacted to the attack on his Rook.  So, I restored the protection on the Pawn and tried to come up with a better plan.

41.Bxc4 Kg5 42.Ke2 Kf4 43.Bxf7 g5 44.Kf2

Black to move

44...c4 45.Bxc4 Bc5 46.Kf1 Rd1+ 47.Ke2 Rg1 48.Kd3 Bd4 49.Be6 c5 50.Kc4 Kg3 51.Bg4 Rb1 52.Bf5 Bf2 53.Be6 Kxg2 54.Kb5 Kxf3 55.Bf5 Rxb3+ 56.Kxa5 Rb4 57.Ra2 Bd4 58.Ka6 c4 59.Ka5 Rb2 60.Rxb2 Bxb2

My plans begin to bounce back and forth between good and bad ideas.  Again I remove the protection from a Pawn, and this time, Mark sees it before I do.  I am undaunted by the set back and devise a plan to sacrifice another Pawn for a Bishop and Rook invasion.  Despite being a Pawn down, I am hopeful that Mark’s time pressure and my more active pieces can create a winning opportunity.  I finally see the light at the end of the tunnel after picking up a couple of Mark’s Pawns and cutting off his King.  As I begin to relax with time and material on my side, I quickly decide to trade off Rooks only to realize too late that it turned my win into a draw.

61.Kb4 c3 62.Kb3 Ke3 63.Kc2 Kd4 64.a5 Ba3 65.a6 Bc5 66.Bc8 Kc4 67.Be6+ Kb4 68.Bc8 Bd4 69.Bf5 Kb5 70.Bc8 Kc4 71.Bf5 Ba7 72.Be6+ Kd4 73.Bf5 Kc4 74.Be6+ Kb4 75.Bf5 Bd4 76.Bc8 Kb5 77.Bb7 g4 78.hxg4 h3 79.Bc8 h2 80.g5 h1Q

Mark is down to seconds left on his clock and has no time to find any subtle moves.  I feel like I have one last shot if I can find a way to draw his Bishop off the b8-h3 diagonal.  However, I don’t have much time either so I am mostly in trial and error mode.  Finally, the Bishop comes off the key diagonal, and I use my time to work out the win.  Whew!

81.g6 0–1

To be continued...

You've Got Another Thing Comin'! Part II

[Event "CSCC Championship"]
[Site "https://cschessnews.blogspot.com/"]
[Date "2013.10.15"]
[Round "2.3"]
[White "McGough, Mark"]
[Black "Anderson, Paul"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A42"]
[PlyCount "161"]
[EventDate "2013.10.08"]
[TimeControl "5400"]

1. d4 c6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. Nf3 d6 5. e4 Bg4 6. Be2 Nf6 7. O-O O-O 8. Be3 Qc7 9. Rc1 e5 10. dxe5 dxe5 11. h3 Bxf3 12. Bxf3 Rd8 13. Qc2 Nbd7 14. Rfd1 Nf8 15. Qb3 b6 16. a4 Ne6 17. c5 Nxc5 18. Bxc5 bxc5 19. Qc4 Qb6 20. b3 Bf8 21. Ne2 Rab8 22. Rxd8 Rxd8 23. Rc3 Kg7 24. Nc1 Rd4 25. Qe2 Qb4 26. Na2 Qa5 27. Qc2 Qd8 28. Rc4 Rd2 29. Qb1 h5 30. Nc3 Qd3 31. Qxd3 Rxd3 32. Be2 Rd4 33. f3 Nd7 34. Nd1 a5 35. Kf2 Kf6 36. Ke3 Bh6+ 37. Kf2 Nb6 38. Rc2 Bf8 39. Ne3 h4 40. Nc4 Nxc4 41. Bxc4 Kg5 42. Ke2 Kf4 43. Bxf7 g5 44. Kf2 c4 45. Bxc4 Bc5 46. Kf1 Rd1+ 47. Ke2 Rg1 48. Kd3 Bd4 49. Be6 c5 50. Kc4 Kg3 51. Bg4 Rb1 52. Bf5 Bf2 53. Be6 Kxg2 54. Kb5 Kxf3 55. Bf5 Rxb3+ 56. Kxa5 Rb4 57. Ra2 Bd4 58. Ka6 c4 59. Ka5 Rb2 60. Rxb2 Bxb2 61. Kb4 c3 62. Kb3 Ke3 63. Kc2 Kd4 64. a5 Ba3 65. a6 Bc5 66. Bc8 Kc4 67. Be6+ Kb4 68. Bc8 Bd4 69. Bf5 Kb5 70. Bc8 Kc4 71. Bf5 Ba7 72. Be6+ Kd4 73. Bf5 Kc4 74. Be6+ Kb4 75. Bf5 Bd4 76. Bc8 Kb5 77. Bb7 g4 78. hxg4 h3 79. Bc8 h2 80. g5 h1=Q 81. g6 0-1

https://www.chessvideos.tv/chess-game-replayer.php?id=89998

This Week In Chess

On February 25th, the Colorado Springs Chess Club held an USCF-rated Swiss (3SS, G30) and an unrated Quad (RR, G20), which was chosen by the players.  Daniel Herman held off the competition to claim the 1st place tour points in the rated section and Joe Pahk pulverized the players in the unrated section to get his 1st place points.

Here are the results:

Score Player

USCF-rated Swiss (3SS, G30)

2.5 Daniel Herman
2.0 Koji Del Conte
1.5 William Benedek
1.5 Mark McGough
1.0 Mike Madsen
0.5 Sara Herman

Unrated Quad (RR, G20)

3.0 Joe Pahk
1.0 Shirley Herman
1.0 Eugin Pahk
1.0 Larry Kledzik

Tuesday Night Chess Tour Standings for 1st Quarter

MAX POSSIBLE 28.00 28.00

1 Paul Anderson 15.50 15.50
2 Richard Buchanan 15.50 15.50
3 Daniel Herman 14.00 14.00
4 Koji DelConte 13.00 13.00
5 Joe Pahk 9.50 9.50
6 Mark McGough 9.00 9.00
7 Josh Bloomer 8.00 8.00
8 Shirley Herman 7.00 7.00
9 William Benedek 6.50 6.50
10 Mike Madsen 5.00 5.00
11 Eugin Pahk 5.00 5.00
12 Sara Herman 4.00 4.00
13 Katie Wise 3.00 3.00
14 Kevin Kaaoush 3.00 3.00
15 Alex Torres 3.00 3.00
16 Dean Brown 3.00 3.00
17 Gary Atkinson 2.00 2.00
18 John Byrne 2.00 2.00
19 Robert Jimenez 2.00 2.00
20 Ron Dotson 2.00 2.00
21 Chris Wynkoop 2.00 2.00
22 Alex Freeman 2.00 2.00
23 Imre Barlay 2.00 2.00
24 Larry Klezdik 2.00 2.00
25 Bobby Dzagen 1.00 1.00