Blunders Are The Way

Game Of The Week

This week's game comes from LM Brian Wall's email list.  One of the things that the pandemic interrupted, besides Over-The-Board chess, was the reading of my Wallmails.  I had formed a habit of stopping by the library to get online and check emails several times a week.  However, with the library shuttered, I fell behind and created a backlog of Wallmails that go back to April of 2020.  I have a new habit of checking the current ones and just started going back through the old ones I missed.

You can sign up for his emails and to get into the archives here:

http://www.taom.com/mailman/listinfo/brianwall-chesslist

I have backtracked to April 2021 (only a year's worth of emails to go!), and, to my surprise, Brian sent out the 2021 Jim Burden Award winner on the customary award date of April Fool's Day.  Well, sort of.  The game was actually played on April 2nd, but that is pretty darn close for a guy who can forget his annual award for years at a time.

The Jim Burden Award is for a chess player who drops their Queen but comes back to win.  It is one of my favorite email themes that Brian does, and I have made it my mission to keep the award alive.  However, it looks like the pandemic may have interrupted the annual tradition of this award.  Of course, the 2020 winner could still be somewhere in my backlog of Wallmails.

Jim Burden Award Winners:
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1089372

2025 Sam Stansel - game

2024 Nick Petersen - game

2022 Paul Anderson - game

2021 Lorna Idol - game

2020 LM Brian Wall - game
2019 Chris Motley - game
2018 Larry Osborn - game
2017 LM Brian Wall - game
2016 Paul Anderson - game & game
2015 Daniel Herman
2014 Tim Brennan - game
2013 Scott Massey - game
2012 Tom Mullikin - game
2011 Devon Wall - game
2010 Paul Anderson - game
2009 Francisco Baltier
2008 Tim Fisher - game
2007 Chris Peterson - game
2006 Tobias Lingaard - game
2005 Josh Smith - game

 

One of the reason I like this award so much is because of my stoic nature.  I realized that I have a high degree of stoicism when my son had me read a book called The Obstacle Is The Way.  This philosophy dates back to ancient Greeks and tries to create a person who can endure pain or hardship without showing their feelings or complaining.  Instead of trying to avoid obstacles, the stoic embraces the obstacle as a means to improve his character.

“The impediment to action advances action.  What stands in the way becomes the way.”

Marcus Aurelius

Blunders happen.  If you are going to play chess, you are going to drop pieces.  And there is no bigger obstacle to winning at chess than to blunder your Queen.  It is such a major mistake that most chess player will resign immediately.  Usually, it will occur with an outburst of emotion and a myriad of complaints directed towards their opponents.  

But in reality, blundering your Queen is a blessing.

If you can sow the pain of playing down a Queen, you will reap a harvest of joy and freedom from materialism.  You will be a better chess player and better equipped for life.  In fact, the hardship of dropping a Queen is the best preparation for the drudgery of life, like marriage and kids.

A foolish son is the calamity of his father: and the contentions of a wife are a continual dropping.

Proverbs 19:13 KJV

But I digress.

The game that Brian Wall chose for the 2021 Burden Award was a classic.  Lorna blunders her Queen early on, and I was riveted to my chair to see how she would salvage this game.  Does she take the Fork and get the Queen back?  No!  Does she Skewer the Queen to the King and pull into the lead?  No!  How many more opportunities could she possibly have left?  Finally, she found the right move in this position, but that still wasn't the end of the hardship.  There was plenty of drama to come.

Black to move

Blunders Are The Way

[Event "2021 Jim Burden Award"]

[Site "https://cschessnews.blogspot.com/"]

[Date "2021.04.02"]

[Round "?"]

[White "Rjgragg"]

[Black "Idol, Lorna"]

[Result "0-1"]

[ECO "C50"]

[WhiteElo "540"]

[BlackElo "623"]

[PlyCount "146"]

[EventDate "2021.04.02"]

[TimeControl "2700+45"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nge7 4. d3 d5 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 Ng6 7. Bxd8 Nxd8 8.

Bxd5 f6 9. Nc3 Bg4 10. O-O Nf4 11. h3 Bh5 12. Qd2 Ng6 13. Nb5 c6 14. Nc7+ Kd7

15. Bc4 Kxc7 16. Qa5+ b6 17. Qc3 Nb7 18. g4 Nf4 19. gxh5 Nxh3+ 20. Kh1 Rd8 21.

Kh2 Nf4 22. d4 Nxh5 23. dxe5 Nc5 24. exf6 Nxf6 25. Qe5+ Kb7 26. Ba6+ Nxa6 27.

Rfd1 Ng4+ 28. Kg3 Nxe5 29. Nxe5 Rxd1 30. Rxd1 Rh7 31. Rd8 Be7 32. Rd7+ Nc7 33.

Rxe7 Rh8 34. Rxg7 Re8 35. Nf7 Rxe4 36. f3 Re2 37. Nd8+ Kc8 38. Nxc6 Rxc2 39.

Nxa7+ Kb7 40. Nc6 Kxc6 41. Rg6+ Kb7 42. Rxh6 Rxb2 43. f4 Rxa2 44. f5 Ra3+ 45.

Kg4 b5 46. f6 Re3 47. f7 Re4+ 48. Kg5 Ne6+ 49. Rxe6 Rxe6 50. f8=Q Re5+ 51. Kg6

b4 52. Qf7+ Kb6 53. Qf6+ Ka5 54. Qxe5+ Ka4 55. Kf5 b3 56. Qe4+ Ka3 57. Ke5 Ka2

58. Kd4 b2 59. Kc3 b1=Q 60. Qe2+ Ka1 61. Qb2+ Qxb2+ 62. Kc4 Qd2 63. Kc5 Ka2 64.

Kb5 Qc2 65. Kb6 Ka3 66. Ka5 Qc3+ 67. Kb5 Qb4+ 68. Kc6 Qd4 69. Kc7 Kb4 70. Kc6

Qc5+ 71. Kb7 Kb5 72. Kb8 Kb6 73. Ka8 Qc8# 0-1

https://www.chessvideos.tv/chess-game-replayer.php?id=116775

This Week In Chess

On July 11th, the Colorado Springs Chess Club held the How It Started Rapid Online (4SS, G/10+10).  The newcomer took home gold, I won the silver, and Jose Llacza got the bronze.

Place, How It Started Rapid Online, Score

1 "#1 BigBoyShaq12 (1710)" 3.5

2 "#2 cschessnews (1779)" 3.0

3 "#3 JJ7X (1956)" 2.5

4 "#4 linuxguy1 (1820)" 2.0

5 "#5 chitownjosh (1805)" 2.0

6 "#6 jfoxhoot (1694)" 2.0

7 "#6 AluminumHD (1429)" 2.0

8 "#8 msmcgough (1612)" 2.0

9 "#9 pktiger90 (1251)" 1.0

10 "#10 albertgardner (1479)" 0.0

Game Of The Year XVI

Start Of The Season

Sunday, April 12, 2020

The times are changing.  Historically, I put out my Game Of The Year at the end of my chess publishing season some time in August.  For 2019, I did not get it done.  I have been spending the off-season looking for some excuse why I did not publishing the 16th version of the Game Of The Year.

Then Coronavirus hit!  The Colorado Springs Chess Club was closed; businesses went dark; the streets became desolate, and toilet paper can only be purchased on the dark web.  Now, I had the perfect justification for my lack of chess writing.

However, the more I thought about it; the more I realized how essential chess is to the victory over this dreaded plague.  Clearly, chess is the greatest tool for social distancing since the invention of body odor.

I have been social distancing ever since I downloaded a chess app to my phone.  I convinced myself that moving from sleeping in bed to playing chess on the couch meant I was up and being productive since, technically, I am a chess professional and any practice counts as work.  In addition, my favorite aspect of chess club is the fact that I can escape any boring social interaction with three simple words, "My opponent moved."

Unfortunately, the stay-at-home order has been extended.  Not enough people are practicing safe space.  Well, I have decided to do my part.  My plan is to resurrect the Colorado Springs Chess Club and convert more people into social distancing masters by offering online tournaments for the club.

The Colorado Springs Chess Club will try out our first online event this Sunday, April 12th at 8 pm.  You just need a free chess.com account and join the Colorado Springs Chess Club.

Stay home and play chess!

Game Of The Year

The Game Of The Year comes from a Quick-rated game given to me by LM Gunnar Andersen.  He won the 2020 Colorado Springs City Speed Chess Championship in January and became the 11th champion.  Unfortunately, the speed games are not recorded.  So, I picked the next best thing.

However, I also wanted to tell you about my best victory from last year.  It came from my encounter with the auto insurance company Progressive.  If you are just interested in the chess, then feel free to skip over my rant.

[Begin Rant]

Filing an insurance claim can be like a chess game.  You will need a lot of patience; it helps to look at all the legal moves you have and be familiar with the tactics your opponent will employ.  After all, your opponent will use all the time allowed and still not resign no matter how bad their position is.

When I was finally finished with my ordeal with Progressive, I thought I should share my experience with others.  I had spent a lot of time researching how I could beat them and wanted to record some of the things I learned just in case someone may need advice in the future.  However, coming up with a title for the blog was difficult.  I wasn't sure how much emotion to convey.

• How To Sue An Insurance Company In Small Claims Court
• How To Win $2,914.57
• I Still Hate Progressive
• Flo Blows

Finally, I just decided to make it my Game Of The Year.  After all, it was my best win of 2019 and a better payday than any chess tournament I have won.

Before I get into the details, here are the main lessons I learned:

• Get off the phone
• Get to court
• Get 3 estimates

"The accident was simple," I thought.  Someone backed into my parked car on November 9, 2018.  I was not even in the vehicle at the time.  He apologized and gave me his insurance information.

I had a similar accident 10 years earlier.  I made one call to State Farm.  They said, "We are sorry, pick a repair place, and we can help with the rental."  I never had to speak to them again, and my car was restored to its previous glory.

With Progressive, the tactics started on the first call.  They will push you to use their repair place and get you in before they have to mail out the state required notice that you have a legal right to choose your own repair company in Colorado.

Then the lies will come.

The repair place I chose said, "We can submit the estimate.  Who is the insurance company?"  When I told them it was Progressive, they groaned.  But they had worked with Progressive before and emailed the company and myself the estimate within one day.  But, I heard nothing.

When I called, Progressive said, "We never got the estimate."  Now, I realized this was going to be a fight and got off the phone.  I figured it would be better to have a record of what they were saying if I needed to prove it in court.  So, I resent the estimate to them.  I had to sent it close to six times before they acknowledged it.  By this time I had filed a complaint with the Department of Insurance.

The Department of Insurance doesn't really do anything.  However, the insurance company can face a fine if they do not respond to the complaint within a certain period of time, and it does get other people involved with your case.

Finally, after months of stalling, they made an offer based on the original estimate.  They offered $1,451.63 after I emailed them that I was going to take this to small claims court.  Their low-ball offer was about $1,000 lower than the estimate.  They even lied (in writing this time) saying, "I have issued payment for the damage."  The check never arrived, and I would not have accepted it anyway.  I felt I had enough ammo for court.

It took 4 months of calls and emails for nothing.  When I threatened to sue, I got an offer.  After I filed the case, they were willing to settle.

One of the concerns I had was how to get Progressive and not the insured.  But you have to sue the insured in small claims court, and the insurance company will provide an attorney and pay the judgement.  I kept the insured informed about how I was being treated and the suit.  He was not happy, but he was willing to call Progressive and push them to settle.

I had one more chance to remove Progressive out of the loop and get my money when Judge Mathis contacted us.  I was willing to drop the small claims case and get a free trip to Chicago to be on TV, but, unfortunately, the defendant has to agree.

My preparation for trial was to watch A Few Good Men and Pawn Stars.  You can have representation in small claims if the defendant has an attorney, but I couldn't find an attorney willing to take my case pro bono.  So, I was just going to use what I learned about negotiation from Pawn Stars to settle before the trial.

I had filed the case for $6,890.01 by throwing in lost wages, interest, and punitive damages.  The limit for small claims cases in Colorado is $7,500.  I figured that would scare them and give me plenty of room to negotiate.  I don't think it worked.  Progressive has probably been sued a lot and knows what they are likely to lose.

The Progressive attorney contacted me the day before the trial with a revised offer.  It wasn't much higher.  So, we went to court.  The judge gives you one more chance to settle before starting trial.  I decided $3,000 was my bottom line, but Progressive wouldn't go any higher than $2,200.  I was still so mad at them that it was worth the risk to have the judge decide.

The verdict was $2,914.57.  I was pretty close and may have been right on the money except that I only got 2 estimates for the damage and the judge used the low, Progressive estimate as the third to make an average.

While things went well for me, I realized going to court is a risk.  The court can be backed up and have a back-log of cases.  Sometimes the wheels of justice grind slow.  The judges can pretty much do whatever they want.  Sometimes you get a just judge, sometimes not.

Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison.

Matthew 5:25 (KJV)

[End Rant]

And now, back to an actual chess game.

LM Gunnar Andersen got the Game Of The Year thanks to good timing and an old policy I created to punish one of my chess villains.  I am the Dark Knight of Colorado Springs chess.  When the bat-signal shines bright on Tuesday night, I must swoop in and prevent any crime.

Years ago, the Penguin🐧tormented the citizens of Colorado Springs.  I banished him to Arkham asylum and offered any citizen the right to have their victory over Penguin moved to the top of the publish list.  The citizens rejoiced with the return of safety and sportsmanship.

However, the peace was short-lived when the Riddler︖ tried to wreak havoc.  The ingenious use of the bat-camera scared the Riddler︖ into hiding.  Tranquility returned to the club until the Joker's🃏cackling laughter sent shivers up the spines of everyone in the tournament hall.  Again, the Dark Knight was able to restore order.

One at a time, the villains were little match for the Caped Crusader.  Unfortunately, there has been a jailbreak and the inmates have escaped: the Penguin🐧, the Riddler︖, and the Joker🃏 are on the loose!

With LM Gunnar Andersen's new Speed crown and his ability to win chess games at lightning speed, I chose one of his quick wins as the Game Of The Year.  I call it:

The Flash🗲 vs The Penguin🐧

Black to move

Game Of The Year XVI

[Event "IHOP QUICK SEPTEMBER"]
[Site "https://cschessnews.blogspot.com/"]
[Date "2019.09.15"]
[Round "2.1"]
[White "Whinemiller"]
[Black "Andersen, Gunnar"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B00"]
[WhiteElo "1793"]
[BlackElo "2124"]
[PlyCount "34"]
[EventDate "2019.09.15"]
[TimeControl "1440+5"]

1. e4 Na6 2. d4 c6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 dxe4 5. Nxe4 Bf5 6. Ng3 Bg6 7. Bc4 Nb4 8. Bb3 Nf6 9. O-O e6 10. a3 Nbd5 11. c4 Nb6 12. Re1 Be7 13. Be3 O-O 14. Rc1 Qc7 15. d5 Rad8 16. Bxb6 Qxb6 17. Nd4 Bc5 0-1

https://www.chessvideos.tv/chess-game-replayer.php?id=115314

The Last Week In Chess

On March 10th, the Colorado Springs Chess Club held the 2nd round of the March Swiss 90 (5SS, G/90+30).  Then the Coronavirus hit!  And life has never been the same.

Standings. March Swiss 90

# Name Rtng Rd 1 Rd 2 Tot Prize

1 Paul D Anderson 1957 W6 W4 2.0
2 Gunnar Andersen 2292 W5 D3 1.5
3 Mitchell Anderson 1969 W7 D2 1.5
4 Mark McGough 1805 W9 L1 1.0
5 Grayson Ed Harris 1599 L2 W8 1.0
6 Gabriel Frank 1350 L1 D7 0.5
7 Dean W Brown 1442 L3 D6 0.5
8 Derek Eskeldson 1368 H--- L5 0.5
9 Clinton Eads 1241 L4 H--- 0.5

Mind Games

Game Of The Week

This week's game comes from the Colorado Springs Chess Club's July Quick Six event.  It is a 2-week tournament with 3 games per week.  It is also Quick-rated.  These games can be a lot of fun since they are fast, don't effect your standard rating, and most often leave no record of your mental lapses.

This one Chris recorded until he got in time pressure, and I filled in the rest.  The pgn may not be 100% accurate, but the final position is real.  I couldn't forget it.  I was chuckling about it all night long.  I even had tears in my eyes and laughing out loud, as I walked through Walmart after club.🤣 The crazy shoppers were looking at me like I was insane.

It was Chris' reaction.  He was so shocked that I had any chance to win after we both knew it was a draw.  However, I am a smidge of a "Bitter Ender."  I don't like to admit defeat.  I don't like to offer a draw.  I will use every weapon in my arsenal no matter how futile the position is.  I am not like Bobby Fischer.

I don’t believe in psychology. I believe in good moves.

Bobby Fischer, 11th World Chess Champion

I don't believe in good moves.  I believe in mind games.

Since I can't play like Fischer, mind games are all I have.  You see, I was getting into Chris' head from move one.  I was just playing for a draw.  I knew Chris has to play the brilliancy.  He has wildly sacrificed his Queen 3 times this year, just to make the game interesting.  A draw is too boring.  His brain just can't handle it.

So, when I traded down to this position, DuWayne Langseth was screaming that I had giving up way too much material.  However, I trust the mind games.  I have a Masters degree in brainwashing from my time in a campus mind-control group that was profiled on 20/20 (below).

I was really setting a mental trap.  And SNAP!

Black to move and lose

Mind Games

[Event "July Quick Six"]
[Site "https://cschessnews.blogspot.com/"]
[Date "2019.07.09"]
[Round "4.1"]
[White "Anderson, Paul"]
[Black "Motley, Chris"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A45"]
[WhiteElo "1935"]
[BlackElo "1759"]
[PlyCount "113"]
[EventDate "2019.07.02"]
[TimeControl "1440+5"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5 h6 3. Bxf6 exf6 4. e3 d5 5. Nf3 c6 6. Be2 Qb6 7. Qc1 Bd6 8. O-O Bf5 9. Nbd2 Qc7 10. c4 O-O 11. cxd5 cxd5 12. Qxc7 Bxc7 13. Rfc1 Bd6 14. Nh4 Bh7 15. Bg4 g6 16. a3 f5 17. Bd1 g5 18. Nhf3 Nd7 19. Bc2 f4 20. Bxh7+ Kxh7 21. e4 Rac8 22. exd5 Nf6 23. Nc4 Bb8 24. Nce5 g4 25. Nd2 Bxe5 26. dxe5 Nxd5 27. Ne4 Kg6 28. Nd6 Rc7 29. Rxc7 Nxc7 30. Rc1 Ne6 31. Rc4 f6 32. exf6 Kxf6 33. Nxb7 Rb8 34. Rb4 a5 35. Nxa5 Rxb4 36. axb4 Nd4 37. Nc4 Ke6 38. Kf1 Kd5 39. Na3 h5 40. Ke1 h4 41. Kd2 h3 42. gxh3 gxh3 43. b5 Nf3+ 44. Ke2 Nxh2 45. f3 Ng4 46. Kf1 h2 47. Kg2 Ne5 48. Nb1 Nxf3 49. Nc3+ Kc5 50. Kh1 Nd4 51. Kxh2 Nxb5 52. Nxb5 Kxb5 53. Kg2 Kb4 54. Kf3 Kb3 55. Ke4 f3 56. Kxf3 Kc2 57. b4 1-0

https://www.chessvideos.tv/chess-game-replayer.php?id=114498

This Week In Chess

On July 9th, the Colorado Springs Chess Club finished the July Quick Six event (6SS, G/24+5).

Standings. July Quick Six

# Name Rtng Rd 1 Rd 2 Rd 3 Rd 4 Rd 5 Rd 6 Tot Prize

1 Paul D Anderson 1935 W4 W7 W2 W3 W5 W6 6.0 $27.00 1st
2 Aleksand Bozhenov 1898 W8 W9 L1 W4 W6 D3 4.5 $18.00 2nd
3 Christophe Motley 1759 H--- H--- H--- L1 W4 D2 3.0
4 Robert Carlson 1569 L1 W11 W9 L2 L3 D5 2.5 $12.00 U1600
5 Mark McGough 1668 H--- H--- H--- D6 L1 D4 2.5
6 Joseph Griffin 1225 H--- H--- H--- D5 L2 L1 2.0
7 Peter Barlay 1740 W11 L1 W8 U--- U--- U--- 2.0
8 Dean W Brown 1403 L2 W10 L7 F11 U--- U--- 1.0
9 Clinton Eads 1003 W10 L2 L4 U--- U--- U--- 1.0
10 Brian Jo Rountree 1652 L9 L8 W11 U--- U--- U--- 1.0
11 Kenneth Macrae 1250 L7 L4 L10 F8 U--- U--- 0.0

The Millchessial

Game Of The Week

I have played 1000 USCF-rated games.

I knew the milestone was approaching and figured that I would publish the game.  However, there is a gap of time between when I record my game for my TD database and when I move it to my USCF database.  Due to this gap, I didn't notice that I had played 1000 games when I published it, just because I liked the ending.

https://cschessnews.blogspot.com/2019/05/the-end-of-thing.html

It was fitting that my 1000th game was against my most common opponent, Mark McGough.  He is a big fan of my newsletter and is always impressed that I can tie any chess game to a verse in the Bible.  I asked him what is his favorite verse.

Which yet my soul seeketh, but I find not: one man among a thousand have I found; but a woman among all those have I not found.

Ecclesiastes 7:28 (KJV)

And since he suffered through having his endgame loss published as my actual 1000th game, I will reward him with getting his endgame win published to commemorate my pseudo-Millennial game, the Millchessial!

Black to mate in 3

Event, Paul Anderson’s Lexicon Of Chess Holidays

• 5 years = Quinquennial
• 50 games = Semicenchessial
• 150 games = Sesquicenchessial
• 500 games = Quincenchessial
• 1000 games = Millchessial

Database of 1000 USCF-rated Games

(Rank, Name, Initial Rating, Wins/Games)

1 Anderson,Paul 1614 687.5/1000
2 Buchanan,Buck 2101 20.0/37 - MOST VICTORIES
3 McGough,Mark 1821 14.5/53 - MOST COMMON OPPONENT
4 Fox,Jeff 1874 13.5/32
5 Bloomer,Josh 2068 12.5/17
6 Wall,Brian 2214 9.0/11
7 Rountree,Brian 1781 8.5/45
8 Carson,Anthea 1477 8.0/33
9 Anderson,Renard 2242 7.0/7 - REGULAR OWEN ALERT
10 Rea,Andy 2079 7.0/7 - REGULAR OWEN ALERT
11 Freeman,Alex 1580 7.0/27
12 Herman,Daniel 1429 7.0/25
13 Brown,Dean 1442 7.0/47
14 Billaux,Eric 2136 4.5/5
15 Barlay,Imre 1997 4.0/7
16 Kondracki,Kurt 1882 4.0/7
17 MacMillan,Shaun 2005 4.0/5
18 Avery,Dan 2014 4.0/4 - REGULAR OWEN ALERT
19 McGuire,Virgil 1710 3.5/8
20 Hughes,Tyler 2126 3.5/4
21 Seidler,Kevin 1828 3.5/4
22 DeJong,Calvin 1241 3.0/10
23 Langseth,Rhett 1764 3.0/9
24 Petters,Markus 2037 3.0/4
25 Wutt,Larry 1226 3.0/4
26 Canney,Randy 2225 3.0/3
27 Weissbarth,Adam 2088 3.0/3
28 Arizpe,Frank 1728 3.0/3
29 Cabrera,Dan 1391 3.0/3
30 Bozhenov,Alex 1908 2.5/8
31 Langseth,DuWayne 1824 2.5/4
32 Friedman,Joe 2215 2.5/3
33 Loving,Jason 1794 2.0/7
34 Wise,Katie 1273 2.0/7
35 Evans,Julian 1905 2.0/5
36 Wikle,Earle 1920 2.0/4
37 Cacas,Alex 1800 2.0/4
38 Bihlmeyer,Joe 1800 2.0/3
39 Check,Jason 1655 2.0/3
40 Malone,Zack 1513 2.0/3
41 Ramirez,Robert 1345 2.0/3
42 Ponomarev,Mikhail 2200 2.0/2
43 Pedry,John 1781 2.0/2
44 Farrington,Jack 1507 2.0/2
45 Mensay,Nathan 1400 2.0/2
46 Martinez,Isaac 1666 1.5/10
47 Covington,Paul 1906 1.5/8
48 Bridle,Sam 1854 1.5/4
49 Kuiper,Mike 1655 1.5/4
50 Caldwell,Jason 1987 1.5/3
51 Baffo,Jeffrey 1899 1.5/3
52 Andersen,Gunnar 1786 1.5/3
53 Earlewine,Brad 1648 1.5/3
54 Baughman,Chris 1768 1.5/2
55 Hester,Jesse 1563 1.5/2
56 Pahk,Joe 1249 1.5/17
57 Powers,James 1608 1.0/6
58 Sunderland,Gerry 1354 1.0/6
59 Meliti,David 1790 1.0/5
60 Barlay,Peter 1706 1.0/5
61 Torres,Alejandro 1653 1.0/5
62 Doykos,Ted 1458 1.0/5
63 Whinemiller 1713 1.0/4
64 Brennan,Timothy 1687 1.0/4
65 Divine,Josh 1618 1.0/4
66 Turner,Larry 1791 1.0/3
67 Gitis,Alexander 1995 1.0/2
68 Anderson,Mitch 1991 1.0/2
69 Serna,Jeffrey 1757 1.0/2
70 Johnston,Jim 1753 1.0/2
71 Lasley,Alexa 1548 1.0/2
72 St. John,Daniel 1543 1.0/2
73 Gilchrist,Jeff 1532 1.0/2
74 Myers,Jordan 1525 1.0/2
75 Sabean,Steven 1385 1.0/2
76 Cabrera,Sean 1354 1.0/2
77 Fortune,Jon 1315 1.0/2
78 Chandler,William 1266 1.0/2
79 Sharavdorj,Dashzegve 2480 1.0/1
80 McCarty,James 2315 1.0/1
81 Mo,Sage 2230 1.0/1
82 Karagianis,Pete 2200 1.0/1
83 Fordon,Robert 2196 1.0/1
84 Kaufman,Arthur 2142 1.0/1
85 Genz,Geoffrey 2129 1.0/1
86 Peterson,Chris 2120 1.0/1
87 Hamblin,James 2119 1.0/1
88 Tedla,Shravan 2093 1.0/1
89 Duesing,Tim 2084 1.0/1
90 Gaschler,Shane 2022 1.0/1
91 Shedd,Mike 2014 1.0/1
92 Sharnopolskiy,Yefim 2006 1.0/1
93 Herbst,Richard 2000 1.0/1
94 Samuels,Joshua 1990 1.0/1
95 Irwin,John 1990 1.0/1
96 Simond,Roger 1934 1.0/1
97 Morrow,Hans 1920 1.0/1
98 Ola,Nathaniel 1899 1.0/1
99 Clevenger,Chris 1848 1.0/1
100 Figlio,Gino 1769 1.0/1
101 Maynes,Jack 1766 1.0/1
102 Christie,Kyle 1763 1.0/1
103 Bhavikatti,Neil 1760 1.0/1
104 Steadman,Gregg 1743 1.0/1
105 Wheatley,Guy 1736 1.0/1
106 McKenna,James 1730 1.0/1
107 Mendoza,Aldo 1726 1.0/1
108 Pinedo,Javier 1710 1.0/1
109 Kern,Wolfgang 1704 1.0/1
110 Zax,Jacob 1674 1.0/1
111 Greenup,Randall 1628 1.0/1
112 Hoak,Don 1598 1.0/1
113 Kornienko,Alexander 1588 1.0/1
114 Abresch,Martin 1561 1.0/1
115 Torres,Michael 1559 1.0/1
116 Groves,Sean 1544 1.0/1
117 Hughes,Brian 1519 1.0/1
118 Al-Mutlaq,Omar 1501 1.0/1
119 Sohn,Inn 1431 1.0/1
120 Heath,Roy 1364 1.0/1
121 Lewis,Dain 1360 1.0/1
122 Naszodi,Laszlo 1295 1.0/1
123 Timmons,Tiffany 1278 1.0/1
124 Hagstrom,George 1261 1.0/1
125 Davies,Ann 1211 1.0/1
126 Mekonnen,Alex 1576 0.5/7
127 Cordovano,Richard 1554 0.5/7
128 Lucas,Gene 1502 0.5/5
129 Fox,Shannon 1738 0.5/3
130 Fromme,Joe 1647 0.5/3
131 Fisher,Timothy 1562 0.5/3
132 Grimm,Paul 1353 0.5/3
133 Williams,Jesse 1260 0.5/3
134 Vispute,Ayush 1098 0.5/3
135 Flores,John 1805 0.5/2
136 Martinson,Timothy 1760 0.5/2
137 Smith,Victor 1747 0.5/2
138 Neri,Gerardo 1743 0.5/2
139 Bagstad,Gary 1700 0.5/2
140 Deloslado,Edelreich 1697 0.5/2
141 MacNeil,JC 1638 0.5/2
142 Kass,Michael 1604 0.5/2
143 Motley,Chris 1575 0.5/2
144 Bartlow,Justin 1414 0.5/2
145 Tucker,Matthew 1217 0.5/2
146 Csima,Jeffrey 2018 0.5/1
147 Kulbacki,James 1932 0.5/1
148 Aandahl,Vance 1809 0.5/1
149 Szaloky,Zoltan 1781 0.5/1
150 Labencki,Mark 1760 0.5/1
151 Nguyen,Vinh 1591 0.5/1
152 Haines,Joseph 1564 0.5/1
153 Bourie,Tom 1563 0.5/1
154 Moore,Randall 1531 0.5/1
155 Kovach,Stephen 1412 0.5/1
156 Harris,Grayson 1402 0.5/1
157 Snavely,Josh 1363 0.5/1
158 Katona,John 1361 0.5/1
159 Chase,Zachary 1302 0.5/1
160 Bonifate,Gregory 1251 0.5/1
161 Ufer,Allan 1048 0.0/10 - REGULAR OWEN ALERT
162 Brown,Richard 1469 0.0/7 - REGULAR OWEN ALERT
163 Eads,Clint 1231 0.0/7 - REGULAR OWEN ALERT
164 Smith,Mike 1545 0.0/6 - REGULAR OWEN ALERT
165 Spell,Fred Eric 1203 0.0/6 - REGULAR OWEN ALERT
166 Shotwell,Frank 1081 0.0/6 - REGULAR OWEN ALERT
167 Filppu,Mike 1312 0.0/5 - REGULAR OWEN ALERT
168 Sparks,Steve 1227 0.0/4 - REGULAR OWEN ALERT
169 Delaware,Renae 1125 0.0/4 - REGULAR OWEN ALERT
170 Williams,Scott 1120 0.0/4 - REGULAR OWEN ALERT
171 O'Dell,Ray 1111 0.0/4 - REGULAR OWEN ALERT
172 Telinbacco,Anthony 1909 0.0/3
173 Krowczyk,Mark 1819 0.0/3
174 Santiago,Roderick 1632 0.0/3
175 Reynolds,Randy 1594 0.0/3
176 Shook,Spencer 1574 0.0/3
177 Corbett,Tom 1516 0.0/3
178 Herman,Becca 1428 0.0/3
179 Martin,Charles 1402 0.0/3
180 Herman,Sara 1284 0.0/3
181 Foster,Cory 1222 0.0/3
182 Frenzel,Gary 1075 0.0/3
183 Kaaoush,Kevin 1049 0.0/3
184 Meyer,Sam 968 0.0/3
185 Arispe,Joey 912 0.0/3
186 Hortillosa,Andy 1939 0.0/2
187 Miller,Glenn 1795 0.0/2
188 Del Conte,Koji 1791 0.0/2
189 Hornyak,Istvan 1705 0.0/2
190 Myers,Justice 1650 0.0/2
191 Anderson,Robert 1587 0.0/2
192 Walo,Max 1489 0.0/2
193 Short,Peter 1484 0.0/2
194 Stark,Nathan 1468 0.0/2
195 Robb,Morgan 1459 0.0/2
196 Aragon,Joseph 1413 0.0/2
197 Swan,Peter 1377 0.0/2
198 Inman,Ross 1367 0.0/2
199 Garcia,William 1332 0.0/2
200 Wolf,Will 1316 0.0/2
201 Feller,David 1304 0.0/2
202 Eskeldson,Derek 1270 0.0/2
203 Toth,Mike 1122 0.0/2
204 Brunn,John 1113 0.0/2
205 Pahk,Eugin 1079 0.0/2
206 Gibbs,Dale 1073 0.0/2
207 Mullikin,Tom 1070 0.0/2
208 Osborn,Larry 905 0.0/2
209 Schneider,Kathy 700 0.0/2
210 Hartsook,David 2077 0.0/1
211 Jex,Joshua 2005 0.0/1
212 Zupa,Daoud 1973 0.0/1
213 Glassman,Arthur 1912 0.0/1
214 Alexander,Charles 1863 0.0/1
215 Jablon,Stephen 1784 0.0/1
216 Massey,Scott 1783 0.0/1
217 Leotaud,Glen 1755 0.0/1
218 Johnson,Debra 1753 0.0/1
219 Laganiere,James 1738 0.0/1
220 Terrell,Darryl 1735 0.0/1
221 Perry,Silas 1733 0.0/1
222 Sbarge,Reuben 1728 0.0/1
223 Hoffacker,Dan 1699 0.0/1
224 McAdam,Mark 1683 0.0/1
225 Coker,Laurence 1678 0.0/1
226 Chen,Jackson 1672 0.0/1
227 Llacza,Jose 1667 0.0/1
228 Ohnmacht,Michael 1650 0.0/1
229 Vispute,Atharva 1647 0.0/1
230 Montgomery,Brad 1645 0.0/1
231 Wall,Chris 1637 0.0/1
232 Thigpen,Douglas 1610 0.0/1
233 Brown,Phil 1604 0.0/1
234 Hanagan,Christopher 1600 0.0/1
235 Stoneking,Jason 1593 0.0/1
236 Kohler,Robert 1588 0.0/1
237 Grigg,Peter 1586 0.0/1
238 Benedek,William 1585 0.0/1
239 Dail,Ken 1580 0.0/1
240 Wolf,William 1559 0.0/1
241 Weissbarth,Daniel 1546 0.0/1
242 Silva,David 1544 0.0/1
243 Matthews,Ben 1537 0.0/1
244 Schultz,John 1530 0.0/1
245 Galla,Chris 1526 0.0/1
246 Wright,Steve 1514 0.0/1
247 Majid,Kahhak 1504 0.0/1
248 Chow,Andrew 1492 0.0/1
249 Boyce,Bongee 1489 0.0/1
250 Kovats,Jiri 1462 0.0/1
251 Cruz,Rodney 1443 0.0/1
252 Mitchell,Dean 1441 0.0/1
253 King,John 1438 0.0/1
254 Coyle,William 1432 0.0/1
255 Staten,Bob 1423 0.0/1
256 Southard,Dan 1401 0.0/1
257 Moritz,David 1395 0.0/1
258 Guthrie,Scott 1389 0.0/1
259 Galler,Sam 1385 0.0/1
260 Blain,Blaise 1380 0.0/1
261 Lucas,Joice 1374 0.0/1
262 MacRae,Ken 1346 0.0/1
263 Madsen,Mike 1336 0.0/1
264 Nichols,Tikila 1332 0.0/1
265 Isacoff,Robert 1327 0.0/1
266 Groves,Dan 1325 0.0/1
267 Mayer,Scott 1319 0.0/1
268 Hansen,Matthew 1317 0.0/1
269 McNairy,Webster 1301 0.0/1
270 Nastri,John 1300 0.0/1
271 Conforti,Larry 1300 0.0/1
272 Mason,Suliman 1300 0.0/1
273 Buring,Alan 1295 0.0/1
274 Szymanski,Donna 1285 0.0/1
275 Maier,Jerry 1254 0.0/1
276 Davis,Boris 1245 0.0/1
277 Scott,Elizabeth 1243 0.0/1
278 Harris,Edward 1234 0.0/1
279 Bracht,Stephen 1229 0.0/1
280 Bram,Pret 1190 0.0/1
281 Nickelson,Leroi 1188 0.0/1
282 Miller,Joshua 1154 0.0/1
283 Timmons,Teanna 1145 0.0/1
284 Nica,Adrian 1140 0.0/1
285 Artis,Ray 1131 0.0/1
286 Schneider,Charles 1129 0.0/1
287 Kesler,Corey 1129 0.0/1
288 Chase,Tyler 1116 0.0/1
289 Hathorn,Larry 1111 0.0/1
290 Umana,Zach 1108 0.0/1
291 Santucci,Bernie 1097 0.0/1
292 Smythe,Steve 1097 0.0/1
293 Mihalas,Mike 1092 0.0/1
294 Hawthorn,Larry 1091 0.0/1
295 Dimiduk,Jeffrey 1089 0.0/1
296 Prutz,Dan 1059 0.0/1
297 Novik,Elena 1053 0.0/1
298 Kiechlin,Jack 1053 0.0/1
299 Richardson,Tom 1048 0.0/1
300 Sills,Scott 1048 0.0/1
301 Wheeler,William 1039 0.0/1
302 Hope,Frederick 1035 0.0/1
303 Barr,Robert 1021 0.0/1
304 McEnany,Rian 1004 0.0/1
305 Capen,Tony 980 0.0/1
306 Schiaffino,Riccardo 974 0.0/1
307 Dais,Ayman 969 0.0/1
308 Castle,Bryan 966 0.0/1
309 Rupp,Dan 965 0.0/1
310 Williams,Selah 944 0.0/1
311 Derbyshire,Sanjay 938 0.0/1
312 Kidd,Nathan 882 0.0/1
313 Veitch,James 880 0.0/1
314 Herbst,Robbie 873 0.0/1
315 Crose,Kendel Boyd 867 0.0/1
316 Rice,Sarah 842 0.0/1
317 Joy,Thomas 820 0.0/1
318 Beasley,Charles 742 0.0/1
319 Clark,Doug 379 0.0/1

The Millchessial

[Event "June Swiss 90"]
[Site "https://cschessnews.blogspot.com/"]
[Date "2019.06.18"]
[Round "3.2"]
[White "Arispe, Joey"]
[Black "McGough, Mark"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A45"]
[WhiteElo "1259"]
[BlackElo "1857"]
[PlyCount "152"]
[EventDate "2019.06.04"]
[TimeControl "5400+30"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e6 3. Bf4 d5 4. Nf3 Bd6 5. Bxd6 Qxd6 6. e3 Bd7 7. Be2 O-O 8. O-O Bc6 9. Re1 Nbd7 10. Qd3 a6 11. Rad1 e5 12. Nxe5 Nxe5 13. dxe5 Qxe5 14. Qd4 Rfe8 15. Qxe5 Rxe5 16. Rd4 Ne4 17. Nxe4 dxe4 18. Red1 h6 19. h3 Rae8 20. Kh2 g6 21. g3 Kg7 22. Rd8 Rxd8 23. Rxd8 Rd5 24. Rxd5 Bxd5 25. a3 a5 26. b4 axb4 27. axb4 Kf6 28. g4 Ke5 29. Kg3 f6 30. h4 g5 31. hxg5 hxg5 32. c4 Be6 33. f3 b6 34. Kf2 Bd7 35. b5 Be6 36. Kg3 Bc8 37. Kf2 Bb7 38. Kg3 exf3 39. Bxf3 Be4 40. Kf2 Bd3 41. Bd5 Kd6 42. Kf3 Kc5 43. Be6 Bxc4 44. Bxc4 Kxc4 45. Ke4 Kxb5 46. Kf5 c5 47. Kxf6 c4 48. e4 c3 49. e5 c2 50. e6 c1=Q 51. e7 Qf4+ 52. Kg7 Qe5+ 53. Kf7 Qd5+ 54. Kf8 Qd6 55. Kf7 Qf4+ 56. Kg6 Qe4+ 57. Kf7 Qh7+ 58. Kf8 Qh8+ 59. Kf7 Kc5 60. e8=Q Qxe8+ 61. Kxe8 b5 62. Kf7 b4 63. Kf6 Kd6 64. Kxg5 b3 65. Kf6 b2 66. g5 b1=Q 67. g6 Qf1+ 68. Kg7 Ke7 69. Kh7 Qh3+ 70. Kg7 Ke8 71. Kg8 Qe6+ 72. Kh7 Qf5 73. Kg7 Qf8+ 74. Kh7 Qf5 75. Kg7 Qh5 76. Kf6 Kf8 0-1

https://www.chessvideos.tv/chess-game-replayer.php?id=114442

This Week In Chess

On June 18th, the Colorado Springs Chess Club continued the June Swiss 90 event (4SS, G/90+30).

Standings. June Swiss 90

# Name Rtng Rd 1 Rd 2 Rd 3 Tot Prize

1 Paul D Anderson 1950 W5 W3 W2 3.0
2 Christophe Motley 1679 W6 W5 L1 2.0
3 Mark McGough 1857 W10 L1 W4 2.0
4 Joey Arispe 1259 W11 H--- L3 1.5
5 Grayson Ed Harris 1534 L1 L2 W9 1.0
6 Richard Buchanan 2000 L2 W13 U--- 1.0
7 William Leo Wolf 1300 U--- W12 U--- 1.0
8 Peter Barlay 1906 W9 U--- U--- 1.0
9 Dean W Brown 1460 L8 D10 L5 0.5
10 Kenneth Macrae 1264 L3 D9 U--- 0.5
11 Michael Smith II 1713 L4 H--- U--- 0.5
12 Joy Sato unr. U--- L7 U--- 0.0
13 Joseph Griffin 761 U--- L6 U--- 0.0

Projected Prizes: 1st $30; 2nd $20; U1600/unr $13

Final Nail

Game Of The Week

All good things come to an end.

My Father's Day tradition for the Colorado Springs Chess News website has been to publish a win from my dad during our email match together.  We started playing in 1996, before I ever went to the Colorado Springs Chess Club.  We finished the match after 53 games in 2010.

The match was even (+12-12=9) after this game in 2003.  However, it was also the final nail in the coffin for my dad.  He had purchased Fritz 8 for me as a Christmas gift.  Now, I had a tool to go over my games.  After this point, I won ten of the last twenty games (+10-3=7) to pull ahead in the match.

Going over your own chess games is key to improvement at chess.

I was reminded of this fact recently when I stopped by the Denver Open in April.  One of the invited masters was IM Danny Rensch, who was doing a lecture and simul the night I was there.  I caught part of his lecture where he talked about how to go over your games.  He stressed turning off the computer and finding three key moments on your own.

Of course, I didn't catch the lesson perfectly, as it is never easy to retain 100% when you are not taking notes or expecting to stay for the whole lecture.  I was only in Denver to meet with family and unprepared to catch some pearls of chess wisdom.

The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master.

Luke 6:40 (KJV)

However, here is what I gleaned from IM Daniel Rensch's 3 Point System for analyzing games without a computer.  You are to find the moves where these main elements occurred:

• Out of Book
• Turning Point
• Final Nail

Since this game is also the final nail in the coffin of publishing wins for my dad and doesn't have a good tactical moment, I thought I would apply the 3 Point System to this game.

First, finding the point I got out of book was pretty easy.  I had just discovered LM Brian Wall's emails and the Fishing Pole was all the rage.  Of course, some might say the Fishing Pole move was also the final nail in the coffin of winning this game.

Second, the turning point was harder to choose.  I clearly missed the explanation of this item during the lecture.

Third, the final nail is that moment when the final result is set in stone.  If you play on, you are just hoping for a miracle.  It is that time when the masters say, "The rest is technique."  Here is the position I chose for this game.  Black has given up all hope for a win, but might have one last shot at a draw.  I didn't play the move.  You just have to find a better move than 34...Rf8.

I will let you be the judge on how well I found the 3 points.

Black to move

Final Nail

[Event "12-12-9"]
[Site "https://cschessnews.blogspot.com/"]
[Date "2003.10.31"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Anderson, Douglas"]
[Black "Anderson, Paul"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C65"]
[PlyCount "115"]
[EventDate "2003.08.16"]
[TimeControl "0"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Ng4 5. h3 h5 6. d3 Bc5 7. Bg5 f6 8. Bh4 g5 9. Bg3 h4 10. Bxh4 gxh4 11. hxg4 Qe7 12. Nc3 a6 13. Ba4 Qg7 14. Nd5 Kd8 15. Nh2 d6 16. Kh1 h3 17. g3 b5 18. Bb3 Na5 19. f3 Nxb3 20. axb3 Bb7 21. b4 Bd4 22. c3 Bxd5 23. cxd4 Bb7 24. d5 f5 25. Qe2 fxg4 26. fxg4 Ke7 27. Rac1 Kd7 28. Rf5 Raf8 29. Qe3 Rhg8 30. Rcf1 Rxf5 31. Rxf5 Kd8 32. Rh5 Kc8 33. Rxh3 Kb8 34. Kg2 Rf8 35. g5 Rf7 36. Rh6 Rf8 37. Ng4 Rg8 38. Nf6 Qxg5 39. Qxg5 Rxg5 40. Kh3 Rg7 41. Kh4 Ka7 42. g4 Bc8 43. g5 Kb6 44. Rh8 Bh3 45. Ne8 Rxg5 46. Kxg5 Bf1 47. Rh7 Bxd3 48. Nxc7 a5 49. Na8+ Ka6 50. Kf5 a4 51. Rd7 a3 52. Rxd6+ Kb7 53. bxa3 Kxa8 54. Rc6 Kb7 55. Rc5 Kb6 56. d6 Bf1 57. Kxe5 Bh3 58. Kf6 1-0

https://www.chessvideos.tv/chess-game-replayer.php?id=114430

This Week In Chess

On June 11th, the Colorado Springs Chess Club continued the June Swiss 90 event (4SS, G/90+30).

Standings. June Swiss 90

# Name Rtng Rd 1 Rd 2 Tot Prize

1 Paul D Anderson 1950 W11 W4 2.0
2 Christophe Motley 1679 W5 W11 2.0
3 Joey Arispe 1259 W10 H--- 1.5
4 Mark McGough 1857 W9 L1 1.0
5 Richard Buchanan 2000 L2 W13 1.0
6 Peter Barlay 1906 W8 U--- 1.0
7 William Leo Wolf 1300 U--- W12 1.0
8 Dean W Brown 1460 L6 D9 0.5
9 Kenneth Macrae 1264 L4 D8 0.5
10 Michael Smith II 1713 L3 H--- 0.5
11 Grayson Ed Harris 1534 L1 L2 0.0
12 Joy Sato unr. U--- L7 0.0
13 Joseph Griffin 761 U--- L5 0.0

The End Of A Thing

Game Of The Week

This week's game comes from the Colorado Springs Chess Club's May Swiss 90 event.  It is a month-long, slow-chess tournament.  Each week the players get one slow game.  It is the favorite of Turtles.

Turtles are chess players who can take an hour on one move, even if it is their first move.  With only one and a half hours in the entire game, turtles can flag in only two moves.  Sometimes when turtles meet, they both flag, and the game is a draw.

However, our turtles are getting better about picking up the pace at the end of the game to avoid the loss on time.

I am just the opposite.  I start fast and slow down at the end.

Saving my time for the endgame worked out for me in this week's battle against Mark McGough.  He used his time to push for an advantage in the opening.  While I felt he was better most of the game, I just tried to be patient and hold the draw until he made a mistake.

Finally, I got something.  He allowed me to trade off his Knights and leave him with just a Bad Bishop.  Now, I felt I could hold the draw and probe for a win as well.  Of course, my thirty minute time lead dwindled down to five minutes as he kept defending well.

When I stumbled onto the position below, I knew I was going to win.  I just didn't know it was mating and the game reminded me of this verse.

Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof: and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.

Ecclesiastes 7:8 (KJV)

Black to move

The End Of A Thing

[Event "May Swiss 90"]
[Site "https://cschessnews.blogspot.com/"]
[Date "2019.05.14"]
[Round "2.2"]
[White "McGough, Mark"]
[Black "Anderson, Paul"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B15"]
[WhiteElo "1823"]
[BlackElo "1950"]
[PlyCount "150"]
[EventDate "2019.05.07"]
[TimeControl "5400+30"]

1. d4 c6 2. e4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. e5 Na6 5. f4 h5 6. Nf3 Nh6 7. Be3 Nc7 8. Bd3 Bf5 9. O-O Ne6 10. Ne2 Ng7 11. c4 Bxd3 12. Qxd3 Ngf5 13. c5 e6 14. b4 Be7 15. Nc3 Qd7 16. Rfb1 O-O 17. b5 Rfb8 18. Rb3 Kg7 19. Rab1 Qc8 20. bxc6 bxc6 21. Bd2 Bd8 22. Na4 Bc7 23. R1b2 Rxb3 24. Rxb3 Rb8 25. Rxb8 Qxb8 26. Qb3 Qc8 27. Qd3 Ng8 28. Nb2 Nge7 29. Qa3 Qb7 30. Qb3 Qb5 31. Kf2 a6 32. Bc3 Nc8 33. Qxb5 cxb5 34. a4 Na7 35. Ke2 Nc6 36. axb5 axb5 37. Nd3 Kf8 38. Nb4 Nfe7 39. Na6 Bd8 40. Kd3 Ke8 41. Nb4 Kd7 42. Ng5 Nxb4+ 43. Bxb4 Nc6 44. Bc3 Bxg5 45. fxg5 Kc7 46. Bb2 Kb7 47. Kc3 Ka6 48. Kb3 Ka5 49. Bc3+ b4 50. Bb2 Kb5 51. Ba1 Na5+ 52. Kc2 Kc4 53. Bb2 Nc6 54. Ba1 Ne7 55. Bb2 Kb5 56. Kd3 Nf5 57. Bc1 Ne7 58. Bb2 Nc6 59. Ba1 Na5 60. Bb2 Nc4 61. Bc1 Ka4 62. Kc2 Na5 63. Bb2 Nc6 64. Ba1 Ka3 65. Kb1 Kb3 66. Bb2 Na5 67. Bc1 Kc3 68. Bb2+ Kd3 69. Ka2 Kc2 70. Ba1 Nc4 71. Bb2 Nxb2 72. c6 Na4 73. c7 Nc3+ 74. Ka1 b3 75. c8=N b2# 0-1

https://www.chessvideos.tv/chess-game-replayer.php?id=114335

This Week In Chess

On May 14th, the Colorado Springs Chess Club continued the May Swiss 90 event (4SS, G/90+30).

Standings. May Swiss 90

# Name Rtng Rd 1 Rd 2 Tot Prize

1 Paul D Anderson 1950 W8 W5 2.0
2 Brian Jo Rountree 1962 W6 D3 1.5
3 Christophe Motley 1662 W10 D2 1.5
4 Peter Barlay 1906 H--- W9 1.5
5 Mark McGough 1823 W11 L1 1.0
6 Grayson Ed Harris 1466 L2 W10 1.0
7 Dean W Brown 1442 U--- W11 1.0
8 Ayush Vispute 1365 L1 H--- 0.5
9 Joey Arispe 1259 H--- L4 0.5
10 Daniel Rupp 1076 L3 L6 0.0
11 Clinton Eads 1291 L5 L7 0.0

Scottch ROOM Attack

Game Of The Week

This week's game comes from the March Swiss 90, round 2.  It was played by Dean Brown and Scott "Scottch" Williams.  They have faced each other 14 times in rated chess.  Scottch needed this game to pull even with a +7-7=1 score.

Dean helped out with Scottch's quest by getting his Bishop trapped and going down material.  However, Scottch didn't just trade down to a winning endgame.  He kept looking for the best moves when he ran across a nice attack in this position.

Black to move

I came up with a method to simplfy the list of tactics called the DROP Method.  Each letter in the acronym stands for each of the different basic kinds of tactics:  D = Discovery, R = Removal, O = Overload, and P = Pin.

Getting good at chess means combining the basic tactics into a pattern that is hard to comprehend and wins material or mates.

These tactial combinations often get a new name, as if they are a brand new tactic.  However, it is just the same stuff in a different wrapper.

The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.

Ecclesiastes 1:9 (KJV)

So, here is my new wrapper:  The Scottch ROOM attack.

This tactical combination comes from "Scottch" Williams who took the above position and added a few basic tactics to come up with a new brew.

19...Bxh2+!! starts the newly minted Scottch ROOM attack with a Removal = R
20.Kxh2 Qh4+ an Overload occurs by the Queen attacking the King and Pawn = O
21.Kg1 Qxf2+ another Overload occurs when 2 pieces attack a once-guarded piece = O
22.Kh2 Rf5 a Mating Attack forces the material gain = M
23.Qxf5 exf5

And please turn out the lights out after leaving the ROOM.

Scottch ROOM Attack

[Event "March Swiss 90"]
[Site "https://cschessnews.blogspot.com/"]
[Date "2019.03.12"]
[Round "2.5"]
[White "Brown, Dean"]
[Black "Williams, Scott"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C10"]
[WhiteElo "1444"]
[BlackElo "1225"]
[PlyCount "46"]
[EventDate "2019.03.05"]
[TimeControl "5400+30"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 a6 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. Bg5 Be7 6. Bxf6 Bxf6 7. e5 Be7 8. Bd3 c5 9. O-O Nc6 10. Ne2 c4 11. Bxc4 dxc4 12. c3 O-O 13. Qd2 f6 14. exf6 Bxf6 15. Rad1 Ne7 16. Rfe1 Nd5 17. Ne5 Bg5 18. Qc2 Bf4 19. Nxc4 Bxh2+ 20. Kxh2 Qh4+ 21. Kg1 Qxf2+ 22. Kh2 Nf4 23. Ne3 Rf6 0-1

https://www.chessvideos.tv/chess-game-replayer.php?id=114061

This Week In Chess

On March 12th, the Colorado Springs Chess Club continued its March Swiss 90 (4SS, G90+30).

Standings. March Swiss 90

# Name Rtng Rd 1 Rd 2 Tot Prize

1 Josh S Bloomer 2323 W9 W6 2.0
2 Christophe Motley 1599 W8 D3 1.5
3 Paul D Anderson 1985 W12 D2 1.5
4 Jesse Williams 1731 H--- W7 1.5
5 Brian Jo Rountree 1869 W11 H--- 1.5
6 Aleksand Bozhenov 1980 W10 L1 1.0
7 Grayson Ed Harris 1490 W13 L4 1.0
8 Scott Ch Williams 1225 L2 W12 1.0
9 Ross Inman 1481 L1 D10 0.5
10 Gerald Mena 1362 L6 D9 0.5
11 Clinton Eads 1307 L5 H--- 0.5
12 Dean W Brown 1444 L3 L8 0.0
13 Nick A Curott 1161 L7 U--- 0.0

Forty Stripes Save One

Game Of The Week

This week's game comes from the March Swiss 90, going on at the Colorado Springs Chess Club this month.  My opponent was Dean Brown.  We have played 65 rated games over the years.  He used to be my "whipping boy" until Mark McGough passed him up for the most losses from one opponent in 2016.

However, when you look at just standard-rated games, Dean is still the "standard whipping boy."  He had 38 losses to me, with Mark McGough and Brian Rountree tied at 36.  So, you might think that I would feel confident about getting the victory against him.  Such is not the case.

I am still the highest rated player Dean has beaten.  I was rated 2042 in 2012 the last time he got me in a standard game.  But, he almost got me last month.

So, I was trying to play better this time and get to thirty-nine.  However, I might be close to my limit.  I don't know how many more times I can beat Dean without him getting mad at me.

Forty stripes he may give him, and not exceed: lest, if he should exceed, and beat him above these with many stripes, then thy brother should seem vile unto thee.

Deuteronomy 25:3 (KJV)

White to move

Forty Stripes Save One

[Event "March Swiss 90"]
[Site "https://cschessnews.blogspot.com/"]
[Date "2019.03.05"]
[Round "1.2"]
[White "Anderson, Paul"]
[Black "Brown, Dean"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A60"]
[WhiteElo "1985"]
[BlackElo "1444"]
[PlyCount "69"]
[EventDate "2019.03.05"]
[TimeControl "5400+30"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 c5 4. d5 exd5 5. cxd5 Bd6 6. e4 Bc7 7. Nf3 d6 8. Bb5+ Bd7 9. O-O O-O 10. Bf4 Nh5 11. Bg5 f6 12. Be3 g6 13. Be2 a6 14. a4 Bg4 15. h3 Bxf3 16. Bxf3 Ng7 17. Be2 Ba5 18. Qb3 b6 19. Na2 Nd7 20. f4 Qe7 21. Bf3 Kh8 22. Rad1 Rac8 23. Qc4 f5 24. e5 dxe5 25. d6 Qf6 26. Bb7 Rcd8 27. b4 cxb4 28. Nxb4 Bxb4 29. Qxb4 a5 30. Qb2 Rfe8 31. Bc6 exf4 32. Bd4 Qf8 33. Rfe1 Rxe1+ 34. Rxe1 Qf7 35. Re7 1-0

https://www.chessvideos.tv/chess-game-replayer.php?id=114018

This Week In Chess

On March 5th, the Colorado Springs Chess Club started its March Swiss 90 (4SS, G90+30).

Standings. March Swiss 90

# Name Rtng Rd 1 Tot Prize

1 Josh S Bloomer 2323 W7 1.0
2 Paul D Anderson 1985 W8 1.0
3 Aleksand Bozhenov 1980 W9 1.0
4 Brian Jo Rountree 1869 W10 1.0
5 Christophe Motley 1599 W11 1.0
6 Grayson Ed Harris 1490 W12 1.0
7 Ross Inman 1481 L1 0.0
8 Dean W Brown 1444 L2 0.0
9 Gerald Mena 1362 L3 0.0
10 Clinton Eads 1307 L4 0.0
11 Scott Ch Williams 1225 L5 0.0
12 Nick A Curott 1161 L6 0.0