One Of These Nights
Over-the-board chess may be coming back! It has been over a year since the pandemic darkened the doorsteps of the Colorado Springs Chess Club. Now, a glimmer of light is shinning on the horizon.
People are traveling again, restaurants are at 100% capacity, and live events are happening.
In fact, Mark McGough, the Treasurer of the Colorado Springs Chess Club, bought a table for 4 chess players to see The Long Run, an Eagles tribute band, at Stargazers Theatre in April.
The Fab Four Of Colorado Springs Chess |
It had been a year since I had seen Dean Brown. He asked me, "When is the club going to open again?"
I just said, "One of these nights."
It was even longer since I had seen Sam Bridle. He asked me, "When is the club going to open again?"
I just said, "One of these nights."
Finally, I turned to Mark, who I had put in charge of contacting the Housing Authority about when they expected to open the Acacia Apartments, and asked him, "When is the club going to open again?"
He just said:
One of these nights
One of these crazy old nights
We're gonna find out pretty mama
What turns on your lights
Well, we decided not to wait for the Acacia Apartments to open up. The COATI Uprise was willing to let chess players hold an event at their place.
So, the Colorado Springs Chess Club will try out our first over-the-board event in over a year this Wednesday!
So, the Colorado Springs Chess Club will try out our first over-the-board event in over a year this Wednesday!
Wednesday, May 19, 2021 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
CSCC 3rd Wednesday May Unrated Blitz Live!
10SS; TC: G/5+0
Site: COATI Uprise, 514 S Tejon St, Colorado Springs, CO 80903
EF: FREE
Reg.: 6:00 - 6:45pm
Rds.: 7:00pm
Info.: Please bring sets and clocks
Questions: Paul Anderson @ Text: (719) 551-9833; E-mail: cschess@juno.com
Come out and play chess!
Game Of The Year
The Game Of The Year was a tough choice this past year. I usually go over a lot of chess games from the club each week as I manually enter them into my TD database. Since covid scuttled over-the-board chess, we moved the club online. The online version records all the games automatically. So, I have less work to do, but I also have less incentive to look at the games. Therefore, I have less games to choose from for the Game Of The Year.
There has to be something special about the game to get me to look at it online. Sometimes I might go over my previous game in between rounds as I wait for Jeff Fox to finish his 100 move drawn endgame. Sometimes I might go over other players' games when I see the computer analysis spike and I miss the tactic. Sometimes it just might be a milestone for me.
I have beaten him so often that I call him my whipping boy. Although, I have learned not to say that to him, as that is when he gets motivated and goes on a winning streak against me.
Of course, it was a tough game, as Mark never lets me win easily. This time, he threw away a win and missed a clever drawing opportunity.
Two, I finally got to use the Lucena Position. I had first heard about it from Larry Wutt at the Colorado Springs Chess Club when we were meeting in the cafeteria of the Acacia Apartments. However, I don't think I have ever used it in an over-the-board game. Now, I had to remember it with little time on my clock in a rapid game. I just knew the Rook goes to the 4th rank to build the bridge, which I did on move 75. The funny thing is that Mark already had the Lucena Position on move 53, if it counts with the extra pawns on the board, and didn't play it, creating the first...
This one was a milestone in two ways.
One, I finally won with 1...h6. I had been doing my version of LM Brian Wall's 40 Move Challenge and was stuck on h6, losing 3 times:
Thankfully, I got paired with Mark McGough with black. Mark is my most common opponent over-the-board.
I have beaten him so often that I call him my whipping boy. Although, I have learned not to say that to him, as that is when he gets motivated and goes on a winning streak against me.
In the online club, I am doing even better against Mark (+16-1=1) with a 88.9% winning percentage versus the 81.0% winning percentage over-the-board.
Of course, it was a tough game, as Mark never lets me win easily. This time, he threw away a win and missed a clever drawing opportunity.
Black to move |
Two, I finally got to use the Lucena Position. I had first heard about it from Larry Wutt at the Colorado Springs Chess Club when we were meeting in the cafeteria of the Acacia Apartments. However, I don't think I have ever used it in an over-the-board game. Now, I had to remember it with little time on my clock in a rapid game. I just knew the Rook goes to the 4th rank to build the bridge, which I did on move 75. The funny thing is that Mark already had the Lucena Position on move 53, if it counts with the extra pawns on the board, and didn't play it, creating the first...
Double Lucena
On May 16th, the Colorado Springs Chess Club held the 3rd Sunday May Rapid Online.
Game Of The Year XVII
[Event "2nd Sunday December Online"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2020.12.13"]
[Round "2.3"]
[White "McGough, Mark"]
[Black "Anderson, Paul"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B00"]
[WhiteElo "1515"]
[BlackElo "1674"]
[PlyCount "164"]
[EventDate "2020.12.13"]
[TimeControl "600+10"]
1. e4 h6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 Qxd5 4. Nc3 Qd8 5. Nf3 Bg4 6. Bc4 e6 7. h3 Bxf3 8.
Qxf3 c6 9. Be3 Nf6 10. O-O-O Bb4 11. Ne4 Nbd7 12. c3 Be7 13. Kb1 Nxe4 14. Qxe4
Nf6 15. Qc2 Nd5 16. Rhe1 Qc7 17. Bxd5 cxd5 18. Qa4+ Qd7 19. Qxd7+ Kxd7 20. Bf4
Rhc8 21. Re3 b5 22. Rde1 b4 23. Be5 g6 24. Bf4 h5 25. Rc1 a5 26. Rc2 Rc6 27.
Rf3 Raa6 28. Bd2 Ke8 29. cxb4 axb4 30. Rb3 Rc4 31. Rxc4 dxc4 32. Rf3 Ra5 33. a3
Rd5 34. Bxb4 Bxb4 35. axb4 Rxd4 36. Kc2 Re4 37. Kc3 Re2 38. Kxc4 Rxb2 39. b5 f5
40. Kc5 Ke7 41. Kc6 Rc2+ 42. Kb7 g5 43. b6 g4 44. hxg4 hxg4 45. Rf4 Kd7 46.
Rd4+ Ke7 47. f3 gxf3 48. gxf3 Rc3 49. f4 Rc2 50. Ka7 Ra2+ 51. Kb8 Rb2 52. b7
Rb3 53. Rc4 Kd7 54. Rc7+ Kd8 55. Rc6 Kd7 56. Ra6 Rb4 57. Ka7 Kc7 58. Rxe6 Rxb7+
59. Ka6 Rb4 60. Re7+ Kd6 61. Re8 Rxf4 62. Kb5 Kd5 63. Re7 Re4 64. Rf7 Re5 65.
Kb4 Kd4 66. Kb3 Kd3 67. Rf8 Rb5+ 68. Ka4 Rd5 69. Kb4 Ke4 70. Kc4 Rd7 71. Kc3 f4
72. Kc2 Ke3 73. Kc1 f3 74. Kc2 Ke2 75. Kc3 Rd5 76. Rf7 f2 77. Re7+ Kf1 78. Kc2
Kg2 79. Rg7+ Kf3 80. Rf7+ Ke3 81. Re7+ Kf4 82. Rf7+ Rf5 0-1
This Week In Chess
On May 16th, the Colorado Springs Chess Club held the 3rd Sunday May Rapid Online.
Place, 3rd Sunday May Rapid Online, Score
1 "#1 Czechmate1972 (1692)" 3.5
2 "#2 JJ7X (1832)" 3.0
3 "#3 msmcgough (1611)" 2.5
4 "#4 jfoxhoot (1653)" 2.5
5 "#5 cschessnews (1781)" 2.5
6 "#6 dzhierkiev64 (1838)" 2.0
7 "#7 bozhenoff (1694)" 2.0
8 "#8 linuxguy1 (1784)" 2.0
9 "#9 bazinga2 (1586)" 2.0
10 "#10 KingVed (1532)" 1.5
11 "#11 CosmicNovaGalaxy (1483)" 1.5
12 "#12 albertgardner (1451)" 1.0
13 "#13 Cocomcfrecal (1042)" 1.0
14 "#14 RaiderATO (682)" 0.0
15 "- Meta-God (1212)" 0.0
No comments:
Post a Comment