Game Of The Week
This week is the second time my Yahoo! Group got to vote on the game of the week. And for the second time, the poll ended in a tie. This time I did publish the games so the voters could make a more informed choice, and this time Randy did vote. Alas, it was to no avail as none of my games from this weekend’s Colorado Springs Open was a clear choice.
So, I am going with a game that was sent to me from Fred Eric Spell. Fred started out of the gate like a flash with a 500-point upset, but failed to keep his sprinter’s pace going for the duration of the tournament.
He found another burst at the end of the tournament, but it was really the first win that garnered him all his rating points. He will probably take home more than four times as many rating points as I earned. That is what an upset can do for you.
I beat the people I was supposed to beat and lost the one I was supposed to lose. Nothing exciting there. But the rest of the tournament hall was filled with the tension of the lower-rateds putting the pressure on their higher-rated opponents.
I was drawn to one game where Tom Mullikin had miraculously survived the opening three pawns down to possibly pull ahead a pawn in a rook ending. He declined repeated draw offers and the extra material to chase after a phantom mate and snatch defeat from almost certain victory.
How does this happen? He is like the John Nash of the chess scene, with brilliant ideas sparkling in his mind, but unable to tell what is real and what is the delusion. If only he could stop and ask someone do you see this too?
It reminds me of a song by Triumph, “I’ll clear my head in the morning light; start all over when I feel alright. I better shape up before it’s too late. I think I’m losing my mind and I’m spellbound.” But not all higher-rateds are fortunate enough to play Tom, and you can’t cast a spell over the original.
 |
| White to move |
Spellbound
[Event "Colorado Springs Open"]
[Site "https://cschessnews.blogspot.com/"]
[Date "2007.03.03"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Spell, Fred Eric"]
[Black "Bagstad, Gary"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C68"]
[WhiteElo "1199"]
[BlackElo "1751"]
[PlyCount "130"]
[EventDate "2007.03.03"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. d4 exd4 6. Qxd4 Bg4 7. Qxd8+ Rxd8
8. Bf4 Bxf3 9. gxf3 Rd7 10. Nd2 Ne7 11. O-O-O Ng6 12. Bg3 Bd6 13. Nc4 Bf4+ 14.
Kb1 Ke7 15. Rxd7+ Kxd7 16. Rd1+ Kc8 17. Bxf4 Nxf4 18. Ne5 f6 19. Nd3 Rd8 20.
Rd2 Ne6 21. Kc1 Nd4 22. Ne1 Ne6 23. Rxd8+ Kxd8 24. Nd3 Ke7 25. Kd2 Kd6 26. c3
b5 27. Ke3 c5 28. f4 c4 29. e5+ Kd5 30. Nb4+ Kc5 31. Nxa6+ Kb6 32. Nb4 c5 33.
Nd5+ Kc6 34. Ne7+ Kd7 35. Nf5 g6 36. Nd6 Nc7 37. Ke4 Ke6 38. Nb7 f5+ 39. Kf3
Kd5 40. Nd8 Ne6 41. Nxe6 Kxe6 42. Kg3 Kd5 43. f3 Kc6 44. Kh4 h6 45. h3 b4 46.
Kg3 Kd5 47. h4 h5 48. Kf2 Kc6 49. Ke2 Kd5 50. Kd2 Kc6 51. Kc2 Kb5 52. b3 cxb3+
53. axb3 Kc6 54. cxb4 cxb4 55. Kd3 Kd5 56. Ke3 Kc5 57. e6 Kd6 58. e7 Kxe7 59.
Kd4 Kd6 60. Kc4 Kc6 61. Kxb4 Kb6 62. Kc4 Kc6 63. b4 Kc7 64. Kc5 Kb7 65. Kd6 Kb6
1-0
This Week In Chess
Tuesday March 6, 2007
On February 27, the CSCC had 22 members in attendance. In the USCF-rated ladder game (G90), Fred Eric Spell shut down Tom Mullikin.
Most of the participants played in the round robin, Bughouse Tournament (G5). Bughouse is a chess variant where a two-man team, playing opposite colors on two separate boards, challenges another two-man team, and one partner can use the other’s captured pieces. Therefore, once one partner captures a piece, the other partner can now drop that piece onto any vacant square (as long as it is not a pawn onto the eighth rank) of his board in lieu of making a regular move. The partners can advise each other regarding moves or captures, and either partner can win to gain the point for the team. Here are the results:
Team Score
Josh Bloomer & Joe Pahk 7.0
Buck Buchanan & Kathy Schneider 5.0
Bill Whinemiller & Gerry Sunderland 5.0
Paul Anderson & Matthew Anderson 4.0
Mike Filppu & Dean Brown 4.0
Jerry Maier & Kirsten Maier 2.0
Chris Clarke & Thomas Clarke 1.0
Bob Edgar & Jenna Bloomer 0.0
Colorado Springs Open Standings
By Buck Buchanan
Below is the crosstable of the Colorado Springs Open, which I directed in Manitou Springs on March 3-4. Selected games will follow in a few weeks.
Player Score Place $
Renard Anderson 5.0 1st $175.00
Larry Wutt 4.0 2nd $125.00
Gordon Randall 3.5 U2000 $25.00
Phil Brown 3.5 U2000 $25.00
Paul Anderson 3.5 U2000 $25.00
Randy Canney 3.5
Bill Whinemiller 3.5 U2000 $25.00
Alex Cacas 3.5 U2000 $25.00
Anthea Carson 3.0
Imre Barlay 3.0
Mike Filppu 3.0 U1400 $40.00
Tim Fisher 3.0 U1600 $15.00
Evan Wright 3.0 U1600 $15.00
Joe Pahk 3.0 U1600 $15.00
Robert Rountree 2.5
Nathan Stark 2.5
Gerry Sunderland 2.5
Robert Blaha 2.5
Shaun MacMillan 2.5
Jerry Maier 2.5 U1100 $35.00
John King 2.0
Fred Eric Spell 2.0
Dean Brown 2.0
Bongee Boyce 2.0
Russel Stark 2.0
Gary Frenzel 2.0
Scott Massey 1.5
Ryan McCardell 1.5
Gary Bagstad 1.5
Alfredo Vigil 1.0
Tom Mullikin 1.0
Kathy Schneider 1.0
Isaac Martinez 1.0
Comments from Email
Reynolds, Randy, Tuesday, February 27, 2007 10:14 AM:
So what do we WIN if our design is chosen? I’m guessing nothing, since that detail was omitted… Also, I didn’t vote on the Oscars related best game because I couldn’t find where the games were published. I thought we’d look at each game and figure out which one deserved the top spot. Now I’m understanding that the four games were never published anywhere, that the top voted game would be the one published and the rest would go back into the “vault”. Sorry, I’m just bad at voting when all I have to go off of is a title and a few words of “teaser”. I’ll make sure I get in and vote next time, now that I understand better how this works.. The “Little Miss Sunshine” game, if you needed one, goes a little like this: (White is some 3rd grade girl at a Poudre School District tournament I directed recently…1. e4 d5 2. Bb5+ The girl then raised her hand for a TD, I came over, and she asked if this was checkmate. I stood in awe of the “Super freak”y position, slowly shaking my head in disbelief… “uh, no, that’s not quite checkmate yet…” then gave a brief clinic on something called “interposition”… Now THAT’S a comedy…
[Comment is about this newsletter: https://cschessnews.blogspot.com/2007/02/400.html ]
New Photos In The Yahoo! Group
Thanks again to Fred Eric Spell for putting the Colorado Springs Open photo on the web! He has now become the official photographer for the Colorado Springs Chess Newsletter with compensation equal to mine for his efforts. You can view my lovely mug in pictures 2, 4, and 10 here:
Upcoming Events
3/6 Speed Tournament, CSCC
3/7,14,21,28 Poor Richard's Book Store March Open, CSCC
3/10 CU Rapid IV, BCC
3/10 Durango Spring Adult & Youth, CSCA
3/13 Quads: 4-RR, G/30 (USCF rated) or G/20, CSCC
3/17 Regis Jesuit Grand Prix Tournament # 7, CSCA
Colorado Springs Chess Club: CSCC (http://www.foxfrenchtranslations.com/cscc/)
Denver Chess Club: DCC (http://www.denverchessclub.org/)
Boulder Chess Club: BCC (http://www.geocities.com/boulderchessclub/)
Colorado State Chess Association: CSCA (http://colorado-chess.com/)
No comments:
Post a Comment