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

I Get By With A Little Help From My Opponents

Speed King II

Monday, March 12th, 2018

I am back for another season of chess news and games.  Last year, I suffered another down year rating-wise.  This makes two down years in a row.  I haven't had two down years in a row since 1999 and 2000.

However, last year was not all bad news.

I had two upsets, including setting a new mark for my highest rated victim (2294).  In addition, I collected my highest pay day from chess as a tournament director at the Colorado Senior Chess Championship.  And finally, I regained my crown as Speed King by winning the Colorado Springs City Speed Chess Championship.

Game Of The Week

This week's game comes from my 59th upset.  One more upset and I could write my own version of My 60 Memorable Games.

Of course, just because I classify it as an upset doesn't mean it is memorable.  It just means that I won a game against an opponent who was within 25 (or higher) rating points of me when we played.  Since I have so few of these upsets, I enjoy them no matter how they fall into my lap.

This one was a gift.

I didn't have to make a daring sacrifice to expose the King.  I didn't have to calculate a long, tactical combination to win material.  I didn't have to grind out a drawn endgame in time pressure.  I just had to wait.

Sometimes winning at chess is like giving your opponent rope.  Eventually, he has enough rope to hang himself.

You need not play well - just help your opponent to play badly.

Genrikh Chepukaitis (FIDE 2420)

I don't how many of my upsets were gifts, but like it is said, "Don't look a gift-horse in the mouth."  Well, that is unless you need a game to publish for the start of a new year of newsletters.  Then go ahead and stare right at the bad teeth.

I was examining this set of choppers when my opponent resigned from the tooth ache.  So, I never played the winning move.  See if you can find the root-canal move.

Black to move

I Get By With A Little Help From My Opponent

[Event "November Swiss 90"]
[Site "https://cschessnews.blogspot.com/"]
[Date "2017.11.21"]
[Round "3.2"]
[White "Buchanan, Buck"]
[Black "Anderson, Paul"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E62"]
[WhiteElo "2009"]
[BlackElo "2029"]
[PlyCount "57"]
[EventDate "2017.11.07"]
[TimeControl "5400+30"]

1. d4 c6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. Nf3 d6 5. g3 Nf6 6. Bg2 O-O 7. O-O Na6 8. e4 c5 9. d5 Bd7 10. Re1 Ng4 11. Bf4 f6 12. Qd2 g5 13. Be3 Nxe3 14. Qxe3 h6 15. a3 Qe8 16. Nd2 Nc7 17. b4 b6 18. Rab1 Na6 19. Kh1 f5 20. f4 gxf4 21. gxf4 Bd4 22. Qg3+ Kh7 23. Ne2 Rg8 24. Qf3 Bf6 25. Ng3 Qg6 26. e5 Bh4 27. exd6 exd6 28. b5 Nc7 29. Re7+ 0-1

https://www.chessvideos.tv/chess-game-replayer.php?id=112262

This Week In Chess

On March 6th, the Colorado Springs Chess Club started its March Swiss 90 (4SS, G90+30).

Standings. March Swiss 90

# Name Rtng Rd 1 Tot Prize

1 Paul D Anderson 2045 W9 1.0
2 Peter Barlay 1925 W10 1.0
3 Brian Jo Rountree 1854 W11 1.0
4 Calvin P Dejong 1837 W12 1.0
5 Mark McGough 1804 W13 1.0
6 Michael St Filppu 1654 W14 1.0
7 Dean W Brown 1422 W15 1.0
8 Austin Cl Harbach 1576 H--- 0.5
9 Clinton D Eads 1250 L1 0.0
10 Ayush Pan Vispute 1209 L2 0.0
11 Scott Ch Williams 1203 L3 0.0
12 Joseph Reininger 1193 L4 0.0
13 Joey Arispe 1123 L5 0.0
14 Grayson Ed Harris 1002 L6 0.0
15 Lawrence R Osborn 974 L7 0.0

Remove The Attacker

Game Of The Week

This week's game comes from the Colorado Springs Chess Club's August Swiss 90.  It will be a five round event this month and good preparation for our city championship coming up in October.

A couple of Brians met for the first time.  One is a regular at the club and this time control.  One is new to slow chess.  One has over 1,000 rated chess games under his belt.  One has 4 games in the bank.  One has been playing USCF chess for close to 25 years.  One has just started.

Despite the glaring difference in experience, the newby decided to castle opposite from the veteran.  Chess games where the Kings are located on different sides of the board are often a race to see which player can Pawn Storm the other player's King the fastest.  The veteran won that race.

With open files pointing towards the King and pieces pouring in the holes, the old Brian put the pressure on the new Brian to see how well he could rally his defence.

While chess tactics are most commonly thought of as offensive weapons, similar ideas can be used as defensive weapons.  A chess player can remove the defender to gain material or get to the King. However, when too many of your opponent's pieces are assembling around your King, it just might be time to deploy the counter measures.

See if you can find the moves to salvage this position.

White to move

Remove The Attacker

[Event "August Swiss 90"]
[Site "https://cschessnews.blogspot.com/"]
[Date "2017.08.01"]
[Round "1.5"]
[White "Baum, Brian"]
[Black "Rountree, Brian"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A00"]
[WhiteElo "643"]
[BlackElo "1856"]
[PlyCount "42"]
[EventDate "2017.08.01"]
[TimeControl "5400+30"]

1. e3 e5 2. g3 d5 3. Bg2 c6 4. Ne2 Bd6 5. b3 Ne7 6. Bb2 Be6 7. d4 e4 8. Nbc3 O-O 9. Qd2 b5 10. Nf4 Nd7 11. Nxe6 fxe6 12. O-O-O a5 13. a4 Bb4 14. Qe2 Nb6 15. axb5 a4 16. Bh3 Rf6 17. bxc6 axb3 18. Qb5 Ba3 19. Qxb3 Nc4 20. Na4 Bxb2+ 21. Nxb2 Ra1# 0-1

https://www.chessvideos.tv/chess-game-replayer.php?id=111016

This Week In Chess

On August 1st, the Colorado Springs Chess Club started the August Swiss 90 (5SS, G/90+30).

Standings. August Swiss 90

# Name Rtng Rd 1 Tot Prize

1 Paul D Anderson 2001 W7 1.0
2 Aleksand Bozhenov 1994 W8 1.0
3 Peter Barlay 1912 W9 1.0
4 Mark McGough 1876 W10 1.0
5 Brian Jo Rountree 1856 W11 1.0
6 Michael Smith II 1573 W12 1.0
7 Derek Eskeldson 1270 L1 0.0
8 Scott Ch Williams 1233 L2 0.0
9 Clinton D Eads 1229 L3 0.0
10 Daniel J Rupp 989 L4 0.0
11 Brian Henry Baum 643 L5 0.0
12 Douglas N Clark 159 L6 0.0

The Dark Horse

Game Of The Week

This week's game comes from Earle Wikle's IHOP Quick event.  He runs the event on the 1st and 3rd Friday nights.  It has four rounds that last about an hour each (G24d5).  The games are the longest you can play without effecting your standard USCF rating.  So, it is considered quick chess.

Earle and I seem to do equally well in this time control as our ratings are very close together.  This time he was higher rated going into the game, and I was the underdog.

Since chess ratings are a statisical reflection of the likelyhood of victory, the odds makers probably would have made the betting on this game as even money.  However, Shirley Herman would have put all her chips on Earle, as she always bets on the higher rated.  Upsets just don't exist in her world.  There is no such thing as a dark horse.

The dark horse is a horse racing term that referred to a horse about which the odds makers didn't have any information.  The odds makers were in the dark.  Therefore, the horse would have few people betting on him.  He would be a long shot.

Even though I wasn't much of a long shot in this game (except in Shirley's book), I was playing the Black pieces, which is another factor that makes it slightly less likely to get a win.  In addition, I hadn't castled, and my King was under attack.

  Black to move

“When a King falters, it can take a community to help him stand…”

This quote comes from a new chess movie coming out in April.  It was oddly appropriate for my game with Earle.  While my King looked in trouble, he was actually quite well supported.  I didn't find the best move, but my pieces rallied to put enough pressure on Earle and provide a happy ending.  You will just have to go see the movie to see how that one ends...

Based upon a powerful true story, THE DARK HORSE is the uplifting portrait of a man searching for the courage to lead, despite his struggles with mental illness.  The film features a stunning, award-winning performance by Cliff Curtis [“Fear the Walking Dead”] as Genesis “Gen” Potini, a brilliant but troubled New Zealand chess champion who finds purpose by teaching underprivileged children about the rules of chess and life.  THE DARK HORSE comes to theaters on April 16th...  

The Dark Horse

[Event "IHOP Quick March"]
[Site "https://cschessnews.blogspot.com/"]
[Date "2016.03.04"]
[Round "3.2"]
[White "Wikle, Earle"]
[Black "Anderson, Paul"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B12"]
[WhiteElo "1950"]
[BlackElo "1954"]
[PlyCount "76"]
[TimeControl "1440"]

1. d4 c6 2. e4 d6 3. Bd3 g6 4. Nc3 Bg7 5. Be3 e5 6. dxe5 dxe5 7. Qe2 Qc7 8. O-O-O Nf6 9. f3 Be6 10. g4 Nbd7 11. Bc4 Nf8 12. Bc5 Bxc4 13. Qxc4 Bh6+ 14. Kb1 Rd8 15. Nge2 Ne6 16. Bxa7 Rxd1+ 17. Rxd1 b6 18. Nb5 cxb5 19. Qxb5+ Kf8 20. Bxb6 Qb7 21. Qxe5 Kg7 22. Bd4 Nxd4 23. Nxd4 Re8 24. Qg3 Be3 25. e5 Nd5 26. Nf5+ gxf5 27. gxf5+ Kh8 28. Rd3 Rg8 29. Rb3 Rxg3 30. hxg3 Qa6 31. a3 Qf1+ 32. Ka2 Qxf3 33. f6 h5 34. c4 Nb6 35. c5 Nc4 36. c6 Qxc6 37. Rb8+ Kh7 38. Rf8 Nxe5 0-1

https://www.chessvideos.tv/chess-game-replayer.php?id=106204

This Week In Chess

On March 8th, the Colorado Springs Chess Club continued its March Swiss 90 (4SS, G90+30).  8 players joined.

Standings. March Swiss 90

# Name ID Rtng Rd 1 Rd 2 Tot Prize

1 Brian Jo Rountree 12477167 1809 W8 W4 2.0
2 Paul Dou Anderson 12728345 2050 D6 W7 1.5
3 Josh S Bloomer 12626102 2231 H--- W6 1.5
4 Mark McGough 11366481 1852 W5 L1 1.0
5 Scott Ch Williams 15755696 1089 L4 W8 1.0
6 Alemayeh Mekonnen 14604218 1547 D2 L3 0.5
7 Joseph H Pahk 12795426 1724 H--- L2 0.5
8 Daniel J Rupp 15768473 917 L1 L5 0.0

CS Open Results

By Buck Buchanan

4.5 Gunnar Andersen
4.0 Chris Peterson
4.0 Daniel Herman
4.0 Justin Alter
4.0 Brian Wall
4.0 Earle Wikle
3.5 Mark Krowczyk
3.5 Paul Baxter
3.5 Duwayne Langseth
3.5 Sam Bridle
3.0 Rhett Langseth
3.0 Jason Loving
3.0 David Logan
3.0 Sara Herman
3.0 Adam Steed
2.5 Ronald Rossi
2.5 Alex Cacas
2.5 Joseph Pahk
2.5 John Byrne
2.5 Robert Carlson
2.5 Vibi Varghese
2.5 Calvin Dejong
2.5 Ron Farrar
2.0 Dean Brown
2.0 James Mulberry
2.0 Jason F Lee
2.0 Tara Martinez
2.0 Clifton Ford
2.0 Kathy Schneider
2.0 Charles Minskey
1.5 Rollin Leavitt
1.5 William Wolf
1.5 Sullivan McConnell
1.5 George Lombardi
1.5 Eugin Pahk
1.5 Dean L McNeely
1.5 Travis Crow
1.0 Daniel Rupp
1.0 David Green
1.0 Anthea Carson
0.5 Robin McIntosh
0.0 Gary Bagstad

Game Of The Year XII

End Of The Season

Saturday, August 22, 2015

Well, another chess season has come to a close for me.  It is time for me to move on to managing the website for my other hobby (https://spamfootball.blogspot.com/), but I will return after the football season ends.  Before I go, I wanted to clean up some loose ends.

Of course, you can still send in news items or articles during the off-season, and I will email them along to the subscribers.  Any games I receive will be stored at the Colorado Springs Chess News’ Yahoo! group.  You can also join the group to keep receiving chess games all year round.

So, before I finish typing my chess thoughts for another year, I want to thank all the people who sent in games and articles, all the people who took the time to tell me something nice about the newsletter, and all the people who take the time to read this.

Game Of The Year

Usually at this time, I look over the past year's statistics to see if it was a good or bad year for me.  Looking over the statistics helps me get past the bad feelings that linger from my losses.  They bring me back into balance and force me to look at what I did right and what I did wrong.  While 2014 was a record-setting year for me, this year actually broke several of those marks:

• Same number of upsets as last year (2)
• 2099 peak USCF rating (record: 2014 - 2098)
• 2055 peak BLITZ rating (record: 2014 - 2039)
• 2107 peak CLUB rating (record: 2013 - 2127)
• 20 projected prizes won (record: 2014 - 20)
• 83.33% CLUB winning percentage (record: 2013 - 87.86%)
• 87.50% USCF winning percentage (record: 2012 - 79.31%)
• 42 projected USCF-rated wins (record: 2013 - 75.5)

In addition to the statistics, I authored another article for the Colorado Chess Informant:

The Rook (https://cschessnews.blogspot.com/2015/02/the-rook.html)

However, the biggest change this year was that I became a certified USCF tournament director.  It was a bit of an adjustment from my usual routine as just a player, but after 10 club events, I feel like I have grown accustomed to the new role.  So, I wanted to thank all the players who put up with me as a new TD.

Score Name

38.5 Daniel Herman
28.0 Mark McGough
23.0 Jeffrey Rando Fox
22.5 Aleksand Bozhenov
22.0 Brian John Rountree
18.0 Josh S Bloomer
16.5 Shirley Herman
12.5 Dean W Brown
12.0 Earle P Wikle
11.0 Michael St Filppu
10.5 Sara Herman
6.0 Tara R Martinez
5.5 Jordan Myers
5.5 Scott Ch Williams
5.0 Rhett Langseth
4.5 Duwayne Langseth
4.5 Richard Buchanan
4.0 Dan Prutz
3.5 Clark T Stroh
2.5 Joshua Williams
2.0 Anthea Jan Carson
2.0 Gunnar James Andersen
2.0 Justice Myers
2.0 Richard Houy
2.0 Robert Dzagan
1.5 Geo Krasnopolskiy
1.5 Jesse Williams
1.5 Peter Barlay
1.5 Teah Williams
1.0 Cory Batchelder
0.5 Benjamin Maye
0.5 David Silva
0.5 Federico Carreon
0.5 Selah Williams
0.0 Andrew Powell
0.0 Daniel Rupp

As far as choosing my favorite game of the year, it was a little tough.  My two upsets came from a new event:  The IHOP Quick.  Typically, I used to play quick-rated games only at the club.  Therefore, they seemed more like club games than rated games, and I didn't track my upsets from club events that were less than 30 minutes (G30).

However, the way I entered quick events that occurred on non-club nights in my database had these upsets showing up on my list.  So, I thought I would leave them on the upset list.

Now, I had to overcome another problem.  I don't record quick-rated games.  How was I going to publish games with no record?

Well, it turns out that I don't need a score sheet to replay a game, as long as I get back to it quickly.  Especially when I get an upset, the game is memorable enough that I can recall all the moves.  So, I entered my two upsets into my games database in case I didn't get anything better.  And I didn't.

I chose my upset over NM Josh Bloomer as the game of the year because it was more exciting than my upset over NM Gunnar Andersen.  I felt like I had messed up the opening against Josh and had to do something daring to have a shot.

I played quickly and aggressively, throwing away pieces and going after his King without much analysis.  He took his time and thwarted my attack.  Once I realized that I was not going to get his King, I switched my plan to getting back my material.  I was pleasantly surprised to see I wasn't too bad off.

I felt my best option was to stay ahead in time and just keep fighting for a draw.  I was willing to trade off his Rooks to reduce his activity, but I decided to keep the Queens on for perpetual check threats.  It turned out to be the right choice.

When we reached this position, I had a substantial lead in time.  I was just trying to stop his Pawn on c2.

White to move

Game Of The Year XII

[Event "IHOP Quick"]
[Site "https://cschessnews.blogspot.com/"]
[Date "2015.06.19"]
[Round "4.1"]
[White "Anderson, Paul"]
[Black "Bloomer, Josh"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D79"]
[WhiteElo "1984"]
[BlackElo "2085"]
[PlyCount "87"]
[EventDate "2015.04.17"]
[TimeControl "1440"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 d5 4. c4 c6 5. cxd5 cxd5 6. Nf3 Bg7 7. O-O O-O 8. Nc3 Nc6 9. Bg5 Ne4 10. Bf4 Bf5 11. Nh4 Bxd4 12. Nxf5 gxf5 13. Bh6 Re8 14. e3 Nxc3 15. Qh5 Bf6 16. bxc3 e6 17. Rad1 Qe7 18. c4 dxc4 19. e4 Bg7 20. Bxg7 Kxg7 21. exf5 e5 22. Qg4+ Kh8 23. Qxc4 Nd4 24. Be4 f6 25. Rb1 Rac8 26. Qd5 b6 27. Kg2 Red8 28. Qb7 Rc7 29. Qa6 Rc5 30. Qa3 Qc7 31. Rbc1 Rc8 32. Rxc5 bxc5 33. Rb1 Qe7 34. Rb7 Rc7 35. Qxa7 Rxb7 36. Bxb7 c4 37. Qa6 c3 38. Be4 Qc7 39. Qxf6+ Qg7 40. Qd8+ Qg8 41. Qc7 Qe8 42. Qxc3 Qd7 43. Qc5 Qe8 44. f6 1-0

https://www.chessvideos.tv/chess-game-replayer.php?id=103227

This Week In Chess

On August 11th, the Colorado Springs Chess Club hosted the August Swiss 90 (4SS, G/90+30, $10 entry).  10 players joined the event.

Here are the results:

Standings. 2015 August Swiss 90

# Name ID Rtng Rd 1 Rd 2 Rd 3 Tot Prize

1 Peter Barlay 14700831 1876 W6 W2 W3 3.0
2 Mark McGough 11366481 1857 W8 L1 W6 2.0 25.00
3 Alemayeh Mekonnen 14604218 1518 W10 W9 L1 2.0 25.00
4 Paul Dou Anderson 12728345 2084 W5 H--- U--- 1.5
5 Brian Jo Rountree 12477167 1793 L4 H--- W7 1.5
6 Gerald Mena 12430450 1336 L1 W8 L2 1.0 4.33
7 Calvin P Dejong 15617641 1089 U--- W10 L5 1.0 4.33
8 Dan Rupp 15768473 unr. L2 L6 W9 1.0 4.33
9 Scott Ch Williams 15755696 1208 H--- L3 L8 0.5
10 Imre Barlay 11024190 1888 L3 L7 U--- 0.0

Pikes Peak Open Games

By Richard Buchanan

[Event "2015 PPO"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Joe Pahk"]
[Black "Brian Wall"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B13"]
[WhiteElo "1731"]
[BlackElo "2255"]
[PlyCount "76"]

1. e4 c6 2. Nf3 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. d4 Nc6 5. Bf4 Bg4 6. Nbd2 e6 7. Be2 Bd6 8.
Bg3 Nf6 9. c3 O-O 10. Ne5 Bxe2 11. Qxe2 Rc8 12. O-O Ne7 13. Ng4 Nf5 14. Nxf6+
gxf6 15. Nf3 Kh8 16. Nh4 Nxg3 17. hxg3 Rg8 18. Qd3 a6 19. f4 Rg4 20. Rf3 Qc7
21. Kf2 Rcg8 22. Rh1 b5 23. Rh3 Qc4 24. Qxc4 bxc4 25. Ke3 Rb8 26. Rf2 Rb7 27.
Kf3 Rg8 28. Rh1 Rgb8 29. Rb1 Ba3 30. f5 Rxb2 31. Rbxb2 Rxb2 32. Rf1 Rc2 33.
fxe6 fxe6 34. Re1 Rxc3+ 35. Kg4 e5 36. dxe5 fxe5 37. Rxe5 Rxg3+ 38. Kh5 c3 0-1

[Event "2015 PPO"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Michael Filppu"]
[Black "Dean Clow"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B12"]
[WhiteElo "1706"]
[BlackElo "2103"]
[PlyCount "92"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. f3 e6 4. Bf4 Bd6 5. e5 Bc7 6. Bd3 Ne7 7. Ne2 Na6 8. c3 O-O
9. Qc2 Ng6 10. Bxg6 fxg6 11. h4 c5 12. Bg5 Qe8 13. Nd2 cxd4 14. cxd4 Bd7 15.
O-O Bb6 16. a3 Bb5 17. Nb3 Ba4 18. Qd3 Bb5 19. Qe3 h6 20. Bf4 Bxe2 21. Qxe2
Rxf4 22. g3 Rf8 23. Rac1 Qa4 24. Qd3 Rf5 25. Kg2 Raf8 26. f4 Qe8 27. Rf2 g5 28.
Qf3 gxh4 29. g4 Rxf4 30. Qxf4 Rxf4 31. Rxf4 Qb5 32. Rc3 Qe2+ 33. Kh3 Qxb2 34.
Rcf3 Qb1 35. Rf8+ Kh7 36. Kxh4 Qb2 37. g5 Kg6 38. gxh6 Qh2+ 39. Rh3 Bd8+ 40.
Kg4 Qe2+ 41. Rhf3 Qe4+ 42. R8f4 Qe1 43. Rg3 Kxh6 44. Rf8 Qe4+ 45. Rf4 Qg6+ 46.
Kf3 Qh5+ 0-1

[Event "2015 PPO"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "David Logan"]
[Black "Avinaya Subedi"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B23"]
[WhiteElo "1678"]
[BlackElo "2082"]
[PlyCount "74"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. f4 g6 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Bb5 Nd4 6. O-O a6 7. Bc4 b5 8. Bd5
Rb8 9. e5 e6 10. Be4 d5 11. Bd3 Nxf3+ 12. Qxf3 Ne7 13. Nd1 Qb6 14. Be2 Bb7 15.
d4 cxd4 16. Bd3 O-O 17. Qf2 Ba8 18. g4 Nc6 19. Qh4 Qd8 20. g5 h5 21. Nf2 Ne7
22. Nh1 Nf5 23. Qf2 Qb6 24. Ng3 Rfc8 25. Nxf5 exf5 26. b3 Bf8 27. Bb2 Bc5 28.
Rfd1 Qa7 29. Rd2 Bb6 30. Rad1 b4 31. Qe2 Rc3 32. e6 Re8 33. exf7+ Kxf7 34. Qf2
Re4 {Diagram [#]} 35. Kg2 Qc7 36. Bxe4 dxe4 37. Qe2 e3+ 0-1

[Event "2015 PPO"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Jonathan Leathwood"]
[Black "Earle Wikle"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C01"]
[WhiteElo "1585"]
[BlackElo "1975"]
[PlyCount "56"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 exd5 4. Bd3 Nc6 5. c3 Bd6 6. Qf3 Nge7 7. Ne2 Be6 8.
Nf4 Qd7 9. O-O Bg4 10. Qe3 O-O-O 11. Na3 g5 12. Ne2 a6 13. b4 Rde8 14. f3 Bf5
15. Ng3 Bf4 16. Qe2 Bxd3 17. Qxd3 Bxg3 18. hxg3 Nf5 19. b5 axb5 20. Qxb5 Nxg3
21. Rb1 Nd8 22. Qa5 Ne2+ 23. Kf2 Qd6 24. Be3 Qg3+ 25. Kxe2 Qxg2+ 26. Rf2 Rxe3+
27. Kxe3 Re8+ 28. Kd3 Qxf2 0-1

[Event "2015 PPO"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Justin Gailey"]
[Black "Brian Rountree"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C50"]
[WhiteElo "1307"]
[BlackElo "1793"]
[PlyCount "64"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. d3 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. h3 Be6 7. Nd5 Ne7 8. Bb5+
c6 9. Nxf6+ gxf6 10. Ba4 Qb6 11. Qd2 Rg8 12. g4 O-O-O 13. c3 Qc7 14. Qc2 h5 15.
g5 f5 16. h4 fxe4 17. dxe4 Ng6 18. Be3 Qe7 19. Nd2 Bxe3 20. fxe3 f6 21. O-O-O
fxg5 22. hxg5 Qxg5 23. Bb3 d5 24. Qd3 Qe7 25. Rde1 dxe4 26. Bxe6+ Qxe6 27. Qxe4
Qxa2 28. Rxh5 Rxd2 29. Qg4+ Rd7 30. Kc2 Qd5 31. Rh7 Ne7 32. Qe2 Rg2 {and Black
won.} 0-1

[Event "2015 PPO"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Paul Connors"]
[Black "Clifton Ford"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A03"]
[WhiteElo "2000"]
[BlackElo "1800"]
[PlyCount "29"]

1. b3 Nf6 2. Bb2 e6 3. e3 d5 4. f4 b6 5. Nf3 Ba6 6. Bxa6 Nxa6 7. Qe2 Nb8 8. O-O
Be7 9. d3 O-O 10. Nbd2 Nbd7 11. f5 Bd6 12. fxe6 fxe6 13. Nd4 Qe7 14. e4 Rae8
15. Nc6 1-0

[Event "2015 PPO"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Brian Rountree"]
[Black "Victor Huang"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B07"]
[WhiteElo "1793"]
[BlackElo "1995"]
[PlyCount "52"]

1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. Be2 Bg7 5. Be3 O-O 6. Qd2 Re8 7. f3 c6 8. O-O-O
b5 9. g4 Qa5 10. a3 Na6 11. Kb1 b4 12. Na2 c5 13. axb4 Nxb4 14. Nxb4 cxb4 15.
Nh3 Bxg4 16. fxg4 Nxe4 17. Qd3 Nc3+ 18. Kc1 Qa1+ 19. Kd2 Nxd1 20. Rxd1 Qxb2 21.
Rf1 Rac8 22. Ng5 Rc3 23. Qe4 d5 24. Qf3 Qxc2+ 25. Ke1 Rf8 26. Qxd5 Rxe3 0-1

[Event "2015 PPO"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Daniel Herman"]
[Black "Randy Reynolds"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E07"]
[WhiteElo "1972"]
[BlackElo "1780"]
[PlyCount "55"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. g3 Nf6 4. Bg2 c6 5. Nf3 Be7 6. O-O O-O 7. Nc3 Nbd7 8. Nd2
Nb6 9. b3 Re8 10. e4 dxe4 11. Ndxe4 Nxe4 12. Nxe4 Nd7 13. Bb2 Nf6 14. Nc5 Bxc5
15. dxc5 Qe7 16. Qd6 Kf8 17. b4 Rd8 18. Bxf6 gxf6 19. Qf4 f5 20. Qh6+ Kg8 21.
Rad1 Bd7 22. Rd6 Be8 23. Rfd1 Rxd6 24. cxd6 Qf8 25. Qxf8+ Kxf8 26. d7 Rd8 27.
dxe8=Q+ Kxe8 28. Rxd8+ {and White won.} 1-0

[Event "2015 PPO"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Sara Herman"]
[Black "Jason Lee"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D60"]
[WhiteElo "1692"]
[BlackElo "1475"]
[PlyCount "111"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 c6 5. Bg5 Be7 6. e3 Nbd7 7. Be2 O-O 8. O-O
dxc4 9. Bxc4 b5 10. Bd3 a6 11. Qc2 h6 12. Bh4 Bb7 13. e4 c5 14. e5 Nd5 15. Bxe7
Qxe7 16. Be4 Nb4 17. Qd2 Bxe4 18. Nxe4 cxd4 19. Nd6 Nxe5 20. Qxb4 Nxf3+ 21.
gxf3 Rfd8 22. Qxd4 Qxd6 23. Qe4 Qd4 24. b3 Rab8 25. Qc6 Rb6 26. Qc7 Qd6 27.
Rfc1 Qxc7 28. Rxc7 Kf8 29. Rac1 Rbb8 30. Ra7 Rb6 31. Rcc7 e5 32. Rxf7+ Kg8 33.
Rxg7+ Kf8 34. Raf7+ Ke8 35. Rc7 Kf8 36. Rh7 Rg6+ 37. Kf1 Kg8 38. Rhe7 Kf8 39.
Rcd7 Rc8 40. Rc7 Rd8 41. Red7 Re8 42. Rh7 Kg8 43. Ke2 Rd8 44. Rhe7 Rgd6 45. Rc2
Rf8 46. Rxe5 Rdf6 47. Rc3 Rd6 48. Rce3 Rdd8 49. Re6 Kh7 50. Rxa6 Rg8 51. Re7+
Rg7 52. Rxg7+ Kxg7 53. Rb6 Re8+ 54. Kd3 Rd8+ 55. Ke2 Re8+ 56. Kf1 1-0

[Event "2015 PPO"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Jason Loving"]
[Black "Brian Wall"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B12"]
[WhiteElo "2067"]
[BlackElo "2255"]
[PlyCount "50"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. f3 e6 4. Qd3 Nf6 5. Bf4 Qb6 6. b3 c5 7. Bxb8 Rxb8 8. e5
Ng8 9. c3 Ne7 10. dxc5 Qxc5 11. f4 Nc6 12. Nf3 Be7 13. Nbd2 O-O 14. Nd4 Nxd4
15. cxd4 Qa5 16. Kf2 f6 17. exf6 gxf6 18. Nf3 e5 19. dxe5 fxe5 20. fxe5 Bf5 21.
Qb5 Bc5+ 22. Kg3 Qc7 23. h3 Be4 24. Re1 Rxf3+ 25. gxf3 Qg7+ 0-1

[Event "2015 PPO"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Ryan Swerdlin"]
[Black "Paul Connors"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E11"]
[WhiteElo "2168"]
[BlackElo "2000"]
[PlyCount "103"]

1. d4 e6 2. c4 Bb4+ 3. Bd2 a5 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. a3 Be7 6. Nc3 d5 7. cxd5 exd5 8.
Qc2 O-O 9. Bg5 c6 10. e3 h6 11. h4 Be6 12. Bd3 Nbd7 13. Na4 Re8 14. Bf4 Ne4 15.
h5 b5 16. Nc3 Nxc3 17. bxc3 b4 18. Ne5 Nxe5 19. Bxe5 bxa3 20. g4 Bd6 21. Bxd6
Qxd6 22. g5 Kh8 23. gxh6 gxh6 24. Qe2 Rg8 25. Qf3 Bg4 26. Qxf7 Rg7 27. Qf4 Qxf4
28. exf4 Bf3 29. Rf1 Rb8 30. Kd2 Rb2+ 31. Kc1 Be4 32. Bxe4 dxe4 33. Rxa3 Rgb7
34. Ra1 a4 35. Rd1 Rxf2 36. Rxa4 e3 37. Re1 Re7 38. Ra5 Rxf4 39. Ra2 Rf2 40.
Rae2 Rxe2 41. Rxe2 Kg7 42. Kc2 Kf6 43. Kd3 Kg5 44. Rxe3 Rxe3+ 45. Kxe3 Kxh5 46.
c4 Kg5 47. d5 cxd5 48. cxd5 Kf6 49. Kf4 h5 50. d6 Ke6 51. Kg5 Kxd6 52. Kxh5
1/2-1/2

[Event "2015 PPO"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Victor Huang"]
[Black "Avinaya Subedi"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C00"]
[WhiteElo "1995"]
[BlackElo "2082"]
[PlyCount "86"]

1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 e6 4. O-O c5 5. d3 Nc6 6. Nbd2 Be7 7. e4 O-O 8. c3
d4 9. c4 e5 10. Ne1 Bg4 11. f3 Be6 12. f4 Ng4 13. Qe2 Ne3 14. Rf2 exf4 15. Rxf4
Bg5 16. Rf2 Ne5 17. h3 Qd7 18. Nef3 Nxf3+ 19. Nxf3 Bh6 20. g4 Bf4 21. Nh2 Bg3
22. Rf3 Qd6 23. Nf1 Nxf1 24. Qxf1 Be5 25. Bd2 f6 26. Qe1 Rf7 27. b4 b6 28. Rb1
g5 29. Qc1 h6 30. Kf2 Kg7 31. bxc5 bxc5 32. Qh1 Rh8 33. Bf1 h5 34. gxh5 Rxh5
35. Qg1 Qd7 36. Ke1 Bxh3 37. Bxh3 Rxh3 38. Rf5 Bg3+ 39. Kd1 Qa4+ 40. Kc1 Qa3+
41. Rb2 Rb7 42. Bxg5 Qxb2+ 43. Kd1 Qb1+ 0-1

[Event "2015 PPO"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Earle Wikle"]
[Black "Jasom Ad-Adsani"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E99"]
[WhiteElo "1975"]
[BlackElo "1878"]
[PlyCount "89"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Be2 O-O 6. Nf3 e5 7. O-O Nc6 8. d5
Ne7 9. Ne1 Nd7 10. Nd3 f5 11. Bd2 Nf6 12. f3 f4 13. c5 g5 14. Rc1 Ng6 15. cxd6
cxd6 16. Nb5 Rf7 17. Qc2 Ne8 18. Nf2 h5 19. a4 Bf8 20. Nxa7 Rc7 21. Ba5 Rxc2
22. Bxd8 Rxc1 23. Rxc1 Bd7 24. Bb6 Bxa4 25. Nb5 Bxb5 26. Bxb5 Be7 27. Bxe8 Rxe8
28. Rc7 Ra8 29. Nd3 g4 30. Kf2 Rf8 31. Rxb7 Rf7 32. Ra7 Bh4+ 33. Kf1 Be7 34.
Nb4 gxf3 35. gxf3 Nh4 36. Nc6 Nxf3 37. Nxe7+ Kf8 38. Nf5 Rxa7 39. Bxa7 Nd2+ 40.
Ke2 Nxe4 41. Bb8 Nf6 42. Bxd6+ Kf7 43. Bxe5 Nxd5 44. Nd4 Kg6 45. h4 1-0

[Event "2015 PPO"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Spencer Shook"]
[Black "Cory Foster"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B77"]
[WhiteElo "1888"]
[BlackElo "1670"]
[PlyCount "97"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Bc4 Bg7 7. Be3 O-O 8. f3
Nc6 9. O-O Bd7 10. Qd2 Nxd4 11. Bxd4 Bc6 12. Rfd1 a6 13. a4 Qc7 14. Bb3 Rfd8
15. a5 Qd7 16. Bb6 Rdc8 17. Rab1 Ne8 18. Qe3 e5 19. Rd2 Qe7 20. Rbd1 Qf8 21.
Qf2 Bh6 22. Rd3 Bb5 23. Nxb5 axb5 24. Bd5 Qe7 25. c3 b4 26. c4 Nf6 27. b3 Nxd5
28. Rxd5 Rc6 29. Qe1 Rxb6 30. axb6 Ra2 31. Rxd6 Qg5 32. g4 Qf4 33. Qg3 Qe3+ 34.
Kh1 Bf4 35. R6d3 Qxb6 36. Qh4 Rxh2+ 37. Qxh2 Bxh2 38. Kxh2 Qf2+ 39. Kh3 Kg7 40.
R1d2 Qb6 41. Kg2 Qf6 42. Rd7 Qf4 43. R2d3 h5 44. gxh5 Qg5+ 45. Kf2 Qh4+ 46. Kg2
Qg5+ 47. Kf1 Qxh5 48. Rxb7 Qh1+ 49. Kf2 1/2-1/2

[Event "2015 PPO"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Alexander Freeman"]
[Black "DuWayne Langseth"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D55"]
[WhiteElo "1736"]
[BlackElo "1974"]
[PlyCount "117"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 Be7 5. Bg5 O-O 6. e3 b6 7. cxd5 exd5 8. Bd3
Bb7 9. O-O Nbd7 10. Qe2 c5 11. Rfd1 c4 12. Bf5 a6 13. Qc2 g6 14. Bh3 b5 15.
Rac1 b4 16. Ne2 Ne4 17. Bxe7 Qxe7 18. Bxd7 Qxd7 19. Ne5 Qb5 20. f3 Nd6 21. Nf4
Rfe8 22. Qf2 Nf5 23. g4 Ng7 24. Qh4 Bc8 25. Nh3 Ne6 26. f4 Qb7 27. f5 Nf8 28.
Rf1 Ra7 29. Rf3 Qc7 30. Nf4 Rxe5 31. dxe5 Qxe5 32. fxg6 fxg6 33. Qd8 Bxg4 34.
Nxg6 hxg6 35. Rxf8+ Kg7 36. Rg8+ Kh6 37. Rh8+ Rh7 38. Qf8+ Qg7 39. Qf4+ Kh5 40.
Rxh7+ Qxh7 41. Qe5+ Bf5 42. Qxd5 Qe7 43. Qf3+ Bg4 44. Qf4 Be2 45. Kf2 Bd3 46.
Rg1 Qh4+ 47. Qxh4+ Kxh4 48. Kf3 c3 49. bxc3 bxc3 50. e4 a5 51. e5 Bf5 52. Ke3
Be6 53. a3 Bf5 54. Rg3 c2 55. Kd2 g5 56. Re3 g4 57. e6 Bg6 58. e7 Be8 59. Kxc2
{and White won on move 65. Moves have been unclear for a while, and this may
not be the exact position.} 1-0

[Event "2015 PPO"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Anthea Carson"]
[Black "Jonathan Leathwood"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D25"]
[WhiteElo "1828"]
[BlackElo "1585"]
[PlyCount "158"]

1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. e3 Bg4 4. c4 dxc4 5. Bxc4 e6 6. Nbd2 Nbd7 7. O-O c5 8.
Re1 Be7 9. Qb3 Rb8 10. dxc5 Bxc5 11. e4 Qb6 12. Qxb6 Nxb6 13. Bb5+ Nfd7 14. Ne5
Bh5 15. g4 Bg6 16. Nb3 Be7 17. Rd1 Rd8 18. Be3 a6 19. Bxb6 axb5 20. Bxd8 Nxe5
21. Bxe7 Kxe7 22. g5 Nf3+ 23. Kf1 Bxe4 24. Nd2 Bd3+ 25. Kg2 Nxg5 26. h4 Ne4 27.
Nxe4 Bxe4+ 28. f3 Bc6 29. Kg3 h5 30. Rac1 Rd8 31. Rxd8 Kxd8 32. Rc5 g6 33. f4
Kd7 34. Kf2 Kd6 35. b4 Kd7 36. Ke3 Ke7 37. Rg5 Bd5 38. a3 Bc6 39. Kd4 Kd6 40.
Rg1 Bd7 41. Rd1 Bc6 42. Rd2 Bd5 43. Rc2 Bc4 44. Rc3 Bd5 45. Rc8 Kd7 46. Rh8 Ke7
47. Kc5 Bc6 48. Rh7 Kf8 49. Rh8+ Ke7 50. Rc8 Kd7 51. Rb8 Ke7 52. Kb6 Kf6 53.
Rf8 Ke7 54. Rc8 Kd7 55. Rc7+ Ke8 56. Kc5 Kf8 57. Kd6 Bd5 58. Rc8+ Kg7 59. Ke7
f6 60. Rf8 e5 61. Rxf6 exf4 62. Rxf4 Bc4 63. Rd4 Bf1 64. Rd7 Bg2 65. Ke6+ Kg8
66. Kf6 Be4 67. Re7 Bc6 68. Kxg6 Kf8 69. Kf6 Bf3 70. Re5 Bg4 71. Rxb5 Bf3 72.
Rc5 Ke8 73. Rc7 Kd8 74. Rh7 Ke8 75. a4 Kd8 76. a5 Kc8 77. b5 Be2 78. b6 Bf3 79.
Ke7 Bc6 1-0

[Event "2015 PPO"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "John Byrne"]
[Black "Brian Rountree"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C50"]
[WhiteElo "1568"]
[BlackElo "1793"]
[PlyCount "62"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. d3 d6 5. O-O Nf6 6. Nc3 a6 7. Bg5 Be6 8. Bxe6
fxe6 9. a3 Qe7 10. Re1 O-O-O 11. b4 Bd4 12. Nxd4 exd4 13. Ne2 h6 14. Bd2 Rdf8
15. a4 Ng4 16. f3 Nge5 17. Rf1 b5 18. axb5 axb5 19. Ra8+ Kd7 20. Rxf8 Rxf8 21.
Qa1 Qf6 22. f4 Ng4 23. Rf3 h5 24. e5 dxe5 25. fxe5 Qh4 26. Rxf8 Qxh2+ 27. Kf1
Qh1+ 28. Ng1 Nh2+ 29. Kf2 Ng4+ 30. Kf1 Nh2+ 31. Kf2 Ng4+ 1/2-1/2

[Event "2015 PPO"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Randy Reynolds"]
[Black "Alex Mekonnen"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B12"]
[WhiteElo "1780"]
[BlackElo "1514"]
[PlyCount "55"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d6 3. Nf3 Qc7 4. Bf4 Nd7 5. Bc4 e5 6. Bg3 Be7 7. O-O Ngf6 8.
Bxf7+ Kxf7 9. Ng5+ Kg8 10. c3 Nf8 11. dxe5 dxe5 12. Qb3+ Nd5 13. exd5 Bxg5 14.
dxc6+ Be6 15. Qxb7 Qxb7 16. cxb7 Rb8 17. Bxe5 Rxb7 18. f4 Be7 19. Rf3 Nd7 20.
Bd4 Rxb2 21. Nd2 Rxd2 22. Re1 Kf7 23. Rfe3 Rxa2 24. f5 Nf6 25. fxe6+ Kg6 26.
Rg3+ Kf5 27. Rf3+ Kg6 28. Rg3+ 1/2-1/2

[Event "2015 PPO"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Will Wolf"]
[Black "Sami Ad-Adsani"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D00"]
[WhiteElo "1400"]
[BlackElo "1296"]
[PlyCount "46"]

1. e4 Nf6 2. Nc3 d5 3. d4 dxe4 4. f3 exf3 5. Nxf3 e6 6. Bg5 Be7 7. Bd3 Nd5 8.
Qd2 Nxc3 9. bxc3 a6 10. Bf4 c5 11. O-O Nc6 12. Ne5 cxd4 13. Nxf7 Qb6 14. Nxh8
dxc3+ 15. Qf2 Bc5 16. Bg6+ Ke7 17. Be3 Bxe3 18. Rad1 Bxf2+ 19. Rxf2 Bd7 20. Kf1
Qb5+ 21. Ke1 Ne5 22. Bd3 Nxd3+ 23. Rxd3 Rxh8 0-1

[Event "2015 PPO"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Brian Wall"]
[Black "Avinaya Subedi"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D51"]
[WhiteElo "2255"]
[BlackElo "2082"]
[PlyCount "86"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 e6 5. Bg5 Nbd7 6. e3 h6 7. Bh4 g5 8. Bg3
Nh5 9. cxd5 exd5 10. Bd3 Nxg3 11. hxg3 Bg7 12. Qc2 Nf6 13. O-O-O Be6 14. Kb1
Qa5 15. Bf5 O-O-O 16. Ne5 Qc7 17. f4 Kb8 18. Bxe6 fxe6 19. Qg6 Rhg8 20. Rc1 a6
21. Na4 Ne4 22. Qxe6 Rde8 23. Nxc6+ bxc6 24. Qxc6 Rc8 25. Qxc7+ Rxc7 26. fxg5
hxg5 27. g4 Rgc8 28. Rxc7 Rxc7 29. a3 Kb7 30. Ka2 Rf7 31. Rc1 Bf8 32. Rc2 Rf1
33. b4 Re1 34. Nc5+ Bxc5 35. bxc5 Rxe3 36. Rb2+ Kc7 37. Rb6 Rd3 38. Rxa6 Rxd4
39. Rg6 Rc4 40. Kb2 d4 41. Kb3 Rc3+ 42. Kb4 d3 43. Re6 d2 0-1

[Event "2015 PPO"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Daniel Herman"]
[Black "Ryan Swerdlin"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D13"]
[WhiteElo "1972"]
[BlackElo "2168"]
[PlyCount "30"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. cxd5 cxd5 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. Bg5 Ne4 7. Bf4 e6 8. e3
Bb4 9. Rc1 Bd7 10. Bd3 Qa5 11. Qb3 Nxd4 12. Nxd4 Ba4 13. Bb5+ Bxb5 14. Ndxb5
Qxb5 15. f3 Nc5 0-1

[Event "2015 PPO"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Sara Herman"]
[Black "Andy Wu"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E46"]
[WhiteElo "1692"]
[BlackElo "1906"]
[PlyCount "80"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Nge2 d5 6. a3 Be7 7. cxd5 exd5 8. g3
Bf5 9. Bg2 c6 10. O-O Qc7 11. b4 Nbd7 12. Bb2 Nb6 13. f3 Nc4 14. Bc1 Nd6 15.
Re1 Rfe8 16. Bd2 Bf8 17. Nf4 h6 18. Rc1 Qd7 19. Re2 g5 20. g4 Nxg4 21. Nh5 Bg7
22. Nxg7 Kxg7 23. fxg4 Bxg4 24. Qf1 Bxe2 25. Qxe2 Re7 26. Re1 Rae8 27. Qf2 Nc4
28. Bc1 f5 29. Bf1 Nd6 30. Na4 f4 31. Nc5 Qg4+ 32. Bg2 fxe3 33. Bxe3 Nc4 34. h3
Qh5 35. Bd2 Rxe1+ 36. Bxe1 Qd1 37. Kf1 Ne3+ 38. Kg1 Nxg2 39. Kh2 Nxe1 40. Kg3
Nd3 0-1

[Event "2015 PPO"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "DuWayne Langseth"]
[Black "Randy Reynolds"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D00"]
[WhiteElo "1974"]
[BlackElo "1780"]
[PlyCount "91"]

1. d4 d5 2. e3 Nf6 3. f4 e6 4. Bd3 Be7 5. Nf3 c5 6. c3 Nc6 7. Qe2 Qb6 8. Nbd2
O-O 9. Ng5 g6 10. h4 Nh5 11. Nf1 f5 12. g4 fxg4 13. Nxh7 Kxh7 14. Bxg6+ Kxg6
15. Qxg4+ Bg5 16. Qxg5+ Kf7 17. Qxh5+ Ke7 18. Rg1 Bd7 19. Rg7+ Kd6 20. b3 Qa5
21. dxc5+ Qxc5 22. Bb2 Rf5 23. Qh7 Rd8 24. O-O-O Kc7 25. Kb1 Nb8 26. c4 dxc4
27. Bd4 Qa5 28. Ng3 Rb5 29. Qc2 Nc6 30. Qxc4 Kb8 31. Bf6 Rd5 32. Rxd5 exd5 33.
Bxd8 Qxd8 34. Qxd5 Bf5+ 35. Qxf5 Qd1+ 36. Kb2 Qd2+ 37. Qc2 Qxe3 38. f5 Qd4+ 39.
Qc3 Qxh4 40. f6 Qh2+ 41. Ka3 Qh4 42. f7 Qe7+ 43. Kb2 Nd8 44. f8=Q Qxf8 45. Qc7+
Ka8 46. Qc8# 1-0

[Event "2015 PPO"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Cory Foster"]
[Black "Jeff Baffo"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C56"]
[WhiteElo "1670"]
[BlackElo "1818"]
[PlyCount "38"]

1. e4 Nc6 2. Nf3 e5 3. d4 exd4 4. Bc4 Nf6 5. e5 d5 6. exd6 Qxd6 7. O-O Bg4 8.
Bg5 Be7 9. Nbd2 O-O 10. Bxf6 Qxf6 11. Ne4 Qf4 12. Qe2 Ne5 13. Ned2 Bd6 14. Bd5
Nxf3+ 15. Nxf3 Bxf3 16. g3 Bxe2 17. gxf4 Bxf1 18. Rxf1 c6 19. Be4 Bxf4 0-1

[Event "2015 PPO"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Sami Al-Adsani"]
[Black "Alexander Marsh"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D32"]
[WhiteElo "1296"]
[BlackElo "1509"]
[PlyCount "165"]

1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 c5 3. c4 e6 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. dxc5 d4 7. Ne4 Nf6 8.
Ng3 Bxc5 9. e3 O-O 10. Bc4 dxe3 11. Bxe3 Bxe3 12. fxe3 Qb6 13. Qb3 Qxb3 14.
Bxb3 Re8 15. Kf2 Ng4+ 16. Kf1 Nxe3+ 17. Kf2 Ng4+ 18. Kf1 Nge5 19. Re1 Bg4 20.
Nxe5 Rxe5 21. Rxe5 Nxe5 22. Bd5 g6 23. b3 Rb8 24. a3 b6 25. Kf2 Rd8 26. Ne4 Kg7
27. Nc3 Nd3+ 28. Ke3 Nc5 29. Rf1 Re8+ 30. Kd2 Be6 31. b4 Bxd5 32. Nxd5 Ne4+ 33.
Kc2 Rc8+ 34. Kd3 f5 35. g4 Rd8 36. gxf5 Nc5+ 37. Kc4 Ne4 38. f6+ Kf7 39. Rd1
Nxf6 40. Rf1 Rxd5 41. Rxf6+ Kxf6 42. Kxd5 {Diagram [#]} Kg5 43. Kc6 Kg4 44. Kb7
Kh3 45. Kxa7 Kxh2 46. a4 g5 47. a5 bxa5 48. b5 $1 g4 49. b6 g3 50. b7 g2 51.
b8=Q+ Kh1 52. Qb7 h5 53. Qf3 h4 54. Qh3+ Kg1 55. Qxh4 Kf1 56. Qh3 Kf2 57. Qf5+
Kg3 58. Qd3+ Kf2 59. Qd2+ Kf1 60. Qd3+ Ke1 61. Qe3+ Kf1 62. Qf3+ Kg1 63. Kb6
Kh2 64. Qf2 Kh1 65. Qh4+ Kg1 66. Kxa5 Kf1 67. Qh3 Kf2 68. Qh2 Kf1 69. Qf4+ Ke2
70. Qg3 Kf1 71. Qf3+ Kg1 72. Kb4 Kh2 73. Qf2 Kh1 74. Qh4+ Kg1 75. Kc4 Kf1 76.
Qf4+ Ke1 77. Qe3+ Kf1 78. Qf3+ Kg1 79. Kd3 Kh2 80. Qf2 Kh1 81. Qh4+ Kg1 82. Ke3
Kf1 83. Qf2# 1-0

[Event "2015 PPO"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Tara Martinez"]
[Black "Herb Conley"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C41"]
[WhiteElo "1215"]
[BlackElo "1377"]
[PlyCount "49"]

1. e4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e5 3. Nf3 d6 4. d4 exd4 5. Nxd4 Be7 6. Be2 a6 7. O-O c5 8. Nf3
Bg4 9. h3 Bh5 10. Bg5 Nc6 11. Bxf6 Bxf6 12. Nd5 Be5 13. Nxe5 Bxe2 14. Nxc6 bxc6
15. Qxe2 cxd5 16. exd5+ Qe7 17. Qg4 O-O 18. Rfe1 Qf6 19. c3 Rab8 20. Re2 a5 21.
Rae1 Qd8 22. a3 h6 23. b4 f5 24. Qg6 axb4 25. Re7 1-0

[Event "2015 PPO"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Brian Wall"]
[Black "Frank Marzano"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A40"]
[WhiteElo "2255"]
[BlackElo "1896"]
[PlyCount "79"]

1. d4 g6 2. c4 Bg7 3. Nc3 c5 4. d5 f5 5. e4 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Qa5 7. exf5 Qxc3+ 8.
Bd2 Qe5+ 9. Be2 Qxf5 10. Bc3 Nf6 11. Nf3 d6 12. h3 O-O 13. g4 Qd7 14. Ng5 Qe8
15. Bd3 h6 16. Qd2 e5 17. Ne4 Nxe4 18. Bxe4 Rf4 19. Qc2 Kg7 20. Bd2 Rf8 21. Qc1
Rh8 22. Qc3 Kg8 23. O-O-O Nd7 24. Rde1 Qf7 25. Rhf1 g5 26. f3 Nf8 27. h4 Ng6
28. hxg5 Nf4 29. g6 Qf6 30. Bxf4 Qxf4+ 31. Qd2 Qxd2+ 32. Kxd2 Bd7 33. f4 Bxg4
34. fxe5 dxe5 35. Rf7 Rf8 36. Rxb7 Rf2+ 37. Ke3 Rf4 38. Reb1 h5 39. Re7 Kf8 40.
d6 1-0

[Event "2015 PPO"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Daniel Herman"]
[Black "Dean Clow"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B12"]
[WhiteElo "1972"]
[BlackElo "2103"]
[PlyCount "107"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. h4 h5 5. Bd3 Bxd3 6. Qxd3 e6 7. Bg5 Qb6 8. Nf3
Qxb2 9. O-O Qb5 10. Qe3 Ne7 11. Nc3 Qa6 12. Bxe7 Bxe7 13. Ng5 Nd7 14. Rab1 b6
15. Qf4 Bxg5 16. Qxg5 g6 17. Rb3 Qc8 18. Ne2 Qd8 19. Qg3 c5 20. Nf4 Qe7 21. Rf3
cxd4 22. Nxg6 fxg6 23. Qxg6+ Kd8 24. Rf7 Qe8 25. Qg7 Nc5 26. Qf6+ Kc8 27. Re7
Qd8 28. f4 Re8 29. Rxe8 Qxe8 30. f5 exf5 31. Qxf5+ Kb7 32. Qh7+ Ka6 33. Qc7 Qd7
34. Qxd7 Nxd7 35. e6 Nc5 36. e7 Re8 37. Rf7 Kb5 38. g4 hxg4 39. h5 Nb7 40. h6
Nd6 41. Rf6 Kc6 42. h7 {Diagram [#]} Rh8 43. Rf8 Rxh7 44. e8=Q+ Nxe8 45. Rxe8
Rc7 46. Rg8 Kc5 47. Rxg4 Kc4 48. Rg3 Re7 49. Kf2 a5 50. a4 Re6 51. Rb3 Kc5 52.
Kf3 Re3+ 53. Rxe3 dxe3 54. Kxe3 0-1

[Event "2015 PPO"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Earle Wikle"]
[Black "Jason Loving"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E99"]
[WhiteElo "1975"]
[BlackElo "2067"]
[PlyCount "99"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Be2 O-O 6. Nf3 e5 7. O-O Nc6 8. d5
Ne7 9. Ne1 Nd7 10. Nd3 f5 11. Bd2 Nf6 12. f3 Rf7 13. c5 c6 14. Nxe5 dxe5 15. d6
Be6 16. dxe7 Rxe7 17. Be3 Rd7 18. Qc1 Qe7 19. Rd1 Rad8 20. Qc2 f4 21. Bf2 Nh5
22. Rxd7 Rxd7 23. Rd1 Bf6 24. Rxd7 Bxd7 25. Bc4+ Kf8 26. Qd2 Be8 27. b4 Bh4 28.
Bxh4 Qxh4 29. Qd6+ Qe7 30. Be6 Qxd6 31. cxd6 Nf6 32. Na4 b6 33. Nb2 Bd7 34. Bb3
Ne8 35. Nc4 Nxd6 36. Nxd6 Ke7 37. Nc4 Kf6 38. Kf2 h5 39. h4 Be6 40. Nd2 Bc8 41.
a4 g5 42. hxg5+ Kxg5 43. Bf7 h4 44. Be8 c5 45. bxc5 bxc5 46. Nc4 Kf6 47. Nd6
Be6 48. Bb5 Kg5 49. Bc4 Bd7 50. a5 1-0

[Event "2015 PPO"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Andy Wu"]
[Black "Paul Connors"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B23"]
[WhiteElo "1906"]
[BlackElo "2000"]
[PlyCount "152"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. f4 e6 4. Nf3 d5 5. Bb5 Nge7 6. exd5 exd5 7. Qe2 g6 8.
Qe5 Rg8 9. Bxc6+ bxc6 10. O-O Bg7 11. Qe2 Bg4 12. Re1 Kf8 13. Rb1 Nf5 14. d3
Nd4 15. Qf2 Bxf3 16. gxf3 Bf6 17. Rf1 Kg7 18. Kh1 Re8 19. Be3 Kg8 20. Na4 Bh4
21. Qd2 Qe7 22. Bg1 Qe2 23. Qxe2 Nxe2 24. Nxc5 Nxf4 25. Bf2 Bxf2 26. Rxf2 Re7
27. d4 Rae8 28. h4 Kg7 29. c3 Kh6 30. Kh2 Re3 31. Rbf1 Nd3 32. Nxd3 Rxd3 33.
Kg3 Re6 34. Kg4 Rde3 35. Rh2 Re2 36. Rff2 Rxf2 37. Rxf2 Kg7 38. Kf4 f6 39. b3
Re1 40. Rc2 Rh1 41. Kg3 f5 42. f4 Rd1 43. Re2 Rd3+ 44. Kg2 Kf6 45. Rc2 h6 46.
b4 g5 47. fxg5+ hxg5 48. hxg5+ Kxg5 49. a4 Rd1 50. a5 Kg4 51. c4 f4 52. b5 f3+
53. Kf2 cxb5 54. c5 {Diagram [#]} Rh1 55. Ke3 Rh7 56. c6 Rc7 57. Rc1 b4 58.
Rg1+ Kf5 59. Kxf3 Rxc6 60. Rb1 Rc3+ 61. Ke2 b3 62. Kd2 Rh3 63. Re1 Kf4 64. Kc1
Re3 65. Rf1+ Ke4 66. Rf7 Kxd4 67. Rxa7 Kc3 68. Rc7+ Kb4 69. a6 Re6 70. Rb7+ Ka3
71. a7 Ra6 72. Rd7 Ka2 73. Rb7 d4 74. Kd2 b2 75. Kc2 d3+ 76. Kc3 b1=Q 0-1

[Event "2015 PPO"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Victor Huang"]
[Black "Mark Krowczyk"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A04"]
[WhiteElo "1995"]
[BlackElo "1882"]
[PlyCount "91"]

1. Nf3 f5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 g6 4. O-O Bg7 5. d3 O-O 6. Re1 d6 7. e4 e5 8. c3
fxe4 9. dxe4 b6 10. Nbd2 Qe7 11. Qc2 Nbd7 12. Ng5 h6 13. Ngf3 Nc5 14. b4 Ne6
15. Nh4 Qf7 16. Rf1 Ba6 17. Rd1 Ng4 18. Ndf3 Bf6 19. h3 Bxh4 20. gxh4 Nf6 21.
Bxh6 Rfe8 22. Ng5 Nxg5 23. Bxg5 Nh5 24. Qd2 Rf8 25. Bh6 Nf4 26. Bxf8 Rxf8 27.
Qe3 Qf6 28. Rd2 Qxh4 29. Kh2 Ne2 30. Rxe2 Bxe2 31. Qxe2 Rxf2 32. Qg4 Qxg4 33.
hxg4 Rc2 34. Kg3 Rxc3+ 35. Kh4 Ra3 36. Bf1 Rc3 37. Ba6 Kg7 38. Kg5 c5 39. bxc5
dxc5 40. Rd1 Ra3 41. Rd7+ Kf8 42. Bc4 b5 43. Bxb5 Rxa2 44. Kxg6 Rb2 45. Rf7+
Kg8 46. Bc4 1-0

[Event "2015 PPO"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Randy Reynolds"]
[Black "John Byrne"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B21"]
[WhiteElo "1780"]
[BlackElo "1568"]
[PlyCount "126"]

1. e4 c5 2. d4 cxd4 3. c3 dxc3 4. Nxc3 Nc6 5. Bc4 e6 6. Nf3 g6 7. Bf4 a6 8. Bd6
Bxd6 9. Qxd6 b5 10. Bb3 Nge7 11. O-O O-O 12. Qf4 f6 13. Qh6 Rf7 14. Rfd1 Qf8
15. Qe3 Na5 16. Qb6 Nxb3 17. axb3 Nc6 18. Nd4 Rb8 19. Qc7 Rb7 20. Qg3 Nxd4 21.
Rxd4 e5 22. Rd3 Rb6 23. Rad1 d6 24. Qe3 Rc6 25. Qd2 Rd7 26. Rh3 Rdc7 27. Rd3
Rd7 28. Nd5 Bb7 29. Rf3 Rf7 30. Rc1 Rxc1+ 31. Qxc1 Bxd5 32. exd5 Qa8 33. Qc6
Qxc6 34. dxc6 e4 35. Rc3 Rc7 36. Kf1 Kf7 37. Ke2 Ke6 38. Ke3 d5 39. Kd4 Kd6 40.
Rc5 f5 41. Rxd5+ Kxc6 42. Rc5+ Kd6 43. Rxc7 Kxc7 44. Kc5 Kb7 45. h4 Kc7 46. g3
h6 47. Kd5 Kd7 48. Ke5 Ke7 49. b4 Kf7 50. Kd4 Ke6 51. Kc5 Ke5 52. Kb6 f4 53.
gxf4+ Kxf4 54. Kxa6 Kf3 55. Kxb5 Kxf2 56. Kc6 e3 57. b5 e2 58. b6 e1=Q 59. Kb7
Qb4 60. h5 gxh5 61. b3 h4 62. Ka7 Qxb3 63. Ka8 h3 0-1

Peak Position

Game Of The Week

This week's game comes from one of my four customary losses of the season.  I have typically published four losses each season.  It all started when former Colorado Springs Chess Club regular Dan Avery suggested that I should publish some of my losses.

I thought to myself, "Could I be so biased that I have never picked a game to publish where I lost?"

I was relieved to find out that I had chosen four.  Of course, the victories out-numbered the defeats, but the difference between the wins and losses was not great.  In fact, this year I have only published seven of my wins so far.

It is not easy to pick a loss.  The higher my rating has climbed the fewer the defeats have occurred.  This year I have three losses from which to choose.  Also, the losses are far less memorable than the wins.

A bad win is better than a good loss.

However, I do think it is a good idea to go over your losses no matter how painful.  This one was especially painful.  I was only seven rating points away from a new peak rating, a new rating floor, and crossing the 2100 barrier.  This loss set me back 5 months.

It was also because of a huge blunder.  I had not been playing well this game and made some moves that I did not calculate fully.  As soon as I took my hand off the piece, I would see a good move for Jordan.  I would then sit there in anguish hoping that he would not see it.  He kept finding the best move.

Finally, we arrived at this position.  I was eager to activate my King and eliminate his Passed Pawn.  Then I thought I might be able to get the win.  Quickly, I saw I cannot take the under-defended Pawn due to the threat of the Pin.  I also realized that I cannot get my King out to the second rank due to the Overload on the King and Bishop.  I knew the Bishop had to be saved, but I didn't put any thought into how to save it.  Turns out there are five ways to save it.  See if you can find all of them.

White to move and save the Bishop

Peak Position

[Event "March Swiss 75"]
[Site "https://cschessnews.blogspot.com/"]
[Date "2015.03.10"]
[Round "2.3"]
[White "Anderson, Paul"]
[Black "Myers, Jordan"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D55"]
[WhiteElo "2093"]
[BlackElo "1515"]
[PlyCount "100"]
[EventDate "2015.03.03"]
[TimeControl "4500+30"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e3 O-O 6. Nf3 b6 7. cxd5 exd5 8. Bd3 Be6 9. O-O c5 10. Rc1 c4 11. Bb1 Nc6 12. a3 b5 13. Qc2 g6 14. Nxb5 Rb8 15. Nc3 Na5 16. Ne5 Qb6 17. Na4 Qb7 18. b4 cxb3 19. Qc7 Nc4 20. Qxb7 Rxb7 21. Bxf6 Bxf6 22. Nxc4 dxc4 23. Nc5 Rc7 24. Nxb3 Be7 25. Nc5 Bxc5 26. dxc5 Rxc5 27. Rc3 Rb8 28. Rfc1 Rcc8 29. f3 Rb3 30. Ba2 Rxc3 31. Rxc3 Kf8 32. e4 Rd8 33. Bb1 Rd1+ 34. Kf2 Rxb1 35. Rc2 Rb3 36. a4 c3 37. Ke3 a5 38. g4 Bd7 39. Ra2 Rb2 40. Ra3 c2 41. Kd2 Be6 42. Rc3 Bb3 43. Rc5 Rb1 44. Rxc2 Bxc2 45. Kxc2 Rb4 46. Kc3 Rxa4 47. Kb3 Rb4+ 48. Ka3 Ke7 49. h3 Kf6 50. h4 Ke5 0-1

https://www.chessvideos.tv/chess-game-insert.php?id=103110

This Week In Chess

On July 28th, the Colorado Springs Chess Club hosted the July Swiss 90 (4SS, G/90+30, $10 entry).  12 players joined the event.

Here are the results:

Standings. 2015 July Swiss

# Name ID Rtng Rd 1 Rd 2 Rd 3 Rd 4 Tot Prize

1 Paul Dou Anderson 12728345 2084 W10 H--- W9 W2 3.5 $34.00 1st
2 Mark McGough 11366481 1857 W7 W9 W3 L1 3.0 $11.50 2nd
3 Brian Jo Rountree 12477167 1807 W4 W8 L2 W10 3.0 $11.50 2nd
4 Clark T Stroh 12761284 unr. L3 W11 W10 D7 2.5 $15.00 U1800 + $5.00 GOW
5 Peter Barlay 14700831 1885 H--- U--- U--- W12 1.5
6 Geo Krasnopolskiy 12730517 1609 L8 H--- W11 U--- 1.5
7 Scott Ch Williams 15755696 1338 L2 L10 W12 D4 1.5
8 Duwayne Langseth 11197175 1974 W6 L3 U--- U--- 1.0
9 Aleksand Bozhenov 15525004 1908 W11 L2 L1 U--- 1.0
10 Michael St Filppu 12915820 1706 L1 W7 L4 L3 1.0
11 Dean W Brown 10224098 1595 L9 L4 L6 U--- 0.0
12 Daniel Rupp 15768473 unr. U--- U--- L7 L5 0.0

THE HISTORICAL ORIGINS OF CHESS IN ANCIENT INDIA

Game Of The Week

By Anthea Carson NN

A few years ago I wrote an article about the origins of chess.  It started as just an idea for a hubpage article which didn’t mean much to me at the time but I thought, since they paid by the view for clicks on their advertisements, I needed material to write about.

What started out as a casual topic for content became a fascination for me that led to me hacking my way through half the Mahabharata, the edited, translated version of course.

The original was in Sanskrit, and has been described as the longest poem ever written.  The shadowy origins can be traced all the way back to between 800 and 900 BC, and the current text that my edited, translated version originates from was probably written in the 4th century AD during the Gupta Empire in India.  Mahabharata could be translated as “The great tale of the Bharata Dynasty,” according to Wikipedia.  However this title doesn’t quite for me capture the mysticism of the original, literal translation of the two words, Maha Bharata.  Maha (The Great) Bharata (Successor of King Bharat).

In short, it is the story of two brothers.  The older, by birth, was the legitimate heir to the throne, but he was blind.  In those times, and in that culture, blindness symbolized wickedness and so the people would not accept him as king.  The younger brother was made king.  After the younger brother died, the different sons of the two brothers disputed the legitimacy of the other to be king.  It was a valuable piece of land they each desired to rule, the Kurukshetra, a fertile plain between two rivers.  Thus started the Kurukshetra Wars, also called The Mahabharata.  And it becomes much more than a war between two cousins.  It was now a war between two families, the Kurus, and the Pandavas.

Contained in the Mahabharata is the Bhagavad Gita, basically a conversation between the Pandava prince Arjuna and his charioteer, Krishna, who also happens to be an incarnation of a Hindu god.

At one point in their deeply spiritual dialogue Arjuna is shooting arrows from his chariot (which is the historical precedent for our modern rook), and he asks Krishna to take him up close so he can shoot his enemies better.

Krishna does so, after which Arjuna cries in essence, “Why did you do that?  Why did you make me see that the people I’m killing are my own family.  Now how am I supposed to kill them now.”

A similar feeling occurs for me when I can’t hate my chess opponent.  It’s much easier to kill over the board when I can work up some hate.  This is not an irrelevant side note of chess or war.  It is a spiritual truth and conundrum contained within the Bhagavad Gita.

What, you might ask, does all this have to do with the history of chess?

Well, you see, I got so bogged down in this question myself that I failed to ever find the answer.  I got so fascinated that I decided that if I had nine lives, I’d spend one of them pursuing this question even if it meant going to live in India in the region of Kurukshetra itself, to find some answers.

If you’re like me, and you too are deeply intrigued by the idea that the ancient game of chess originates somewhere around the time of the origins of this epic battle between cousins over the rulership of a fertile area of land between two rivers, then I say stay away from the topic altogether, if you value playing the game of chess.

You will find yourself so lost in the complexities of the details and tales within tales inside the Mahabharata that it will take hours and hours of valuable study time away from the game you love.

Of course many of the pieces moved differently in the ancient game.  And it would take centuries for some brilliant mind to come up with the idea of using a checkered board instead of an undifferentiated white grid.

And of course most likely none of the games from these times were recorded, and had they been, they wouldn’t be analyzable by Fritz today, since the rules have changed many times since then.

The earliest game recorded, according to my limited research, is shown here:

Francesco di Castellvi vs Narciso Vinyoles

(The year was 1475, and took place in Valencia, Spain)

1. e4 This game may be the oldest recorded game of chess. 1... d5 2. ed5 Qd5 3. Nc3 Qd8 4. Bc4 Nf6 5. Nf3 Bg4 

Black to move

6. h3 Bf3 7. Qf3 e6 8. Qb7 Nbd7 9. Nb5 Rc8 10. Na7 Nb6 11. Nc8 Nc8 12. d4 Nd6 13. Bb5 Nb5 14. Qb5 Nd7 15. d5 ed5 16. Be3 Bd6 17. Rd1 Qf6 18. Rd5 Qg6 19. Bf4 Bf4 20. Qd7 Kf8 21. Qd8#

If it seems like 19… Bxf4 was a ridiculous blunder, keep in mind that in the early days of European chess it was considered rude not to accept a sacrifice.  Many things about the game have changed over the centuries.

This game, the first recorded game that we know of, stands in place of literally thousands of years of possible games that went before it, including the metaphorical game that might possibly represent the battle in the Bhagavad Gita.  A battle that lasted only 18 days.  A battle over who should be king.  It really puts the whole game into a new perspective for me.  It truly is the game of kings.

THE HISTORICAL ORIGINS OF CHESS IN ANCIENT INDIA

[Event "Valencia, Spain"]
[Site "https://cschessnews.blogspot.com/"]
[Date "1475.??.??"]
[EventDate "1475.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[Result "1-0"]
[White "Francesco di Castellvi"]
[Black "Narciso Vinyoles"]
[ECO "B01"]
[WhiteElo "?"]
[BlackElo "?"]
[PlyCount "41"]

1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qd8 4. Bc4 Nf6 5. Nf3 Bg4 6. h3 Bxf3 7. Qxf3 e6 8. Qxb7 Nbd7 9. Nb5 Rc8 10. Nxa7 Nb6 11. Nxc8 Nxc8 12. d4 Nd6 13. Bb5+ Nxb5 14. Qxb5+ Nd7 15. d5 exd5 16. Be3 Bd6 17. Rd1 Qf6 18. Rxd5 Qg6 19. Bf4 Bxf4 20. Qxd7+ Kf8 21. Qd8# 1-0

https://www.chessvideos.tv/chess-game-replayer.php?id=102634

This Week In Chess

On July 7th, the Colorado Springs Chess Club hosted the July Swiss 90 (4SS, G/90+30, $10 entry).  10 players joined the event.

Here are the results:

Standings. 2015 July Swiss

# Name ID Rtng Rd 1 Tot Prize

1 Paul Dou Anderson 12728345 2084 W6 1.0
2 Duwayne Langseth 11197175 1974 W7 1.0
3 Aleksand Bozhenov 15525004 1908 W8 1.0
4 Mark McGough 11366481 1857 W9 1.0
5 Brian Jo Rountree 12477167 1807 W10 1.0
6 Michael St Filppu 12915820 1706 L1 0.0
7 Geo Krasnopolskiy 12730517 1609 L2 0.0
8 Dean W Brown 10224098 1595 L3 0.0
9 Scott Ch Williams 15755696 1338 L4 0.0
10 Clark T Stroh 12761284 unr. L5 0.0

You Shook Me All Night Long

Game Of The Week

This week's game comes from the Colorado Springs Chess Club's annual June event:  The June Mating Game.  It is one of several 2 week events at the club, which means that players can join during the middle of the event.

This time LM Brian Wall announced that he was going to play in the final 2 rounds.  This had the effect of drawing four more players who also came out for the final 2 rounds.  Some of the players clearly came out just for a shot to play one of a handful of active Colorado masters, none of which are from the Springs.

However, Spencer Shook, a rising Colorado Springs scholastic player, was not one of them.  His reaction to being paired against the Life Master in the third round of an event where he only had half a point:

"Is this some kind of sick joke?!"

Despite the surprise, Spencer fought well and survived a long time in extreme time pressure against the master.  Brian stayed all night at the club and regailed us with the tale of how he won the game (along with many others).

Here is a position from the game when both players were getting into time pressure.

White to move

I thought this was a clever trap and a good example of not trying to play perfect chess.  Brian had Spencer in time pressure for a long time but began to run out of time himself looking for the best lines.  He began to realize that Spencer could live on his 5 second delay forever.

Instead of trying to keep his large material lead, Brian decided to sacrifice a Pawn to reduce Spencer's forces and eliminate perpetual checks threats.

This is a great way to manage your clock by finding an easier, weaker line that you can play quickly, rather than run the risk of running out of time searching for mates or blundering into a draw (or a loss) by moving too fast in a complicated line.

You Shook Me All Night Long

[Event "June Mating Game"]
[Site "https://cschessnews.blogspot.com/"]
[Date "2014.06.17"]
[Round "3.4"]
[White "Shook, Spencer"]
[Black "Wall, Brian"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B00"]
[PlyCount "102"]
[EventDate "2014.06.10"]
[TimeControl "1800"]

1. e4 Na6 2. Nf3 g6 3. d4 Bg7 4. Be3 d6 5. c3 Nf6 6. Nbd2 O-O 7. Qb3 c5 8. Bc4 cxd4 9. Bxd4 e5 10. Be3 b6 11. O-O h6 12. Rfd1 Qc7 13. Nh4 Kh7 14. h3 Bb7 15. Bd5 Nxd5 16. exd5 f5 17. f4 exf4 18. Bd4 Bxd4+ 19. cxd4 Rae8 20. Re1 Qg7 21. Qa4 Nc7 22. Rxe8 Rxe8 23. Rc1 Re2 24. Ndf3 Nxd5 25. Kf1 Rxb2 26. Qa3 Rc2 27. Re1 Ne3+ 28. Rxe3 fxe3 29. Qxe3 Bxf3 30. Nxf3 Rc7 31. Qd2 Qe7 32. d5 Qe4 33. Ne1 Rc5 34. Qb2 Qxd5 35. Qf6 Qe5 36. Qf7+ Qg7 37. Qe6 Qc7 38. Nf3 Rc2 39. Kg1 Rc1+ 40. Kh2 Qg7 41. Qxd6 Qc7 42. Qxc7+ Rxc7 43. Ne5 Rc2 44. Kg3 Rxa2 45. Kf4 Rxg2 46. Nf3 Rf2 47. Kg3 Rxf3+ 48. Kxf3 g5 49. h4 Kg6 50. h5+ Kxh5 51. Kg3 a5 0-1

https://www.chessvideos.tv/chess-game-replayer.php?id=93275

This Week In Chess

On June 17th, the Colorado Springs Chess Club finished its annual June event:  The June Mating Game.  It is a 2-week event, and five players joined for the final 2 rounds.  Jeff Fox, Daniel Herman, and I all beat each other to tie for 1st place.

June Mating Game (4SS, G30):

3.0 Jeff Fox 1st, $16
3.0 Daniel Herman 1st, $16
3.0 Paul Anderson 1st, $16
2.5 LM Brian Wall
2.5 Mark McGough
2.0 Luke Thurman U1700, $11
2.0 Shirley Herman U1700, $11
1.5 Arthur Knize
1.5 Isaac Martinez
1.5 Timothy Brennan
1.5 Spencer Shook
1.0 Sara Herman
1.0 Steven Readel
0.5 Dean Brown
0.5 Tara Martinez

Tuesday Night Chess Tour Cumulative and 2nd Quarter Standings

# MAX POSSIBLE 92.00 48.00

1 Paul Anderson 60.20 28.70
2 Daniel Herman 49.33 29.00
3 Richard Buchanan 32.00 8.50
4 Mark McGough 30.87 17.53
5 Koji DelConte 25.00 10.00
6 Shirley Herman 22.00 10.00
7 William Benedek 19.03 9.53
8 Joe Pahk 15.70 2.20
9 Dean Brown 15.50 10.50
10 Earle Wikle 15.00 10.00
11 Katie Wise 12.20 8.20
12 Imre Barlay 12.00 6.00
13 Jeff Fox 11.50 11.50
14 Sara Herman 10.33 6.33
15 Josh Bloomer 8.00 0.00
16 Anthony Thomason 8.00 8.00
17 Larry Kledzik 7.00 2.00
18 Mike Makinney 7.00 7.00
19 Mike Madsen 7.00 2.00
20 Gunnar Andersen 6.50 3.50
21 Eugin Pahk 6.00 0.00
22 Ben Matthews 6.00 2.00
23 Alex Freeman 5.33 0.00
24 Peter Barlay 5.00 3.00
25 Paul Protheroe 5.00 5.00
26 Rezheen Hamid 5.00 5.00
27 Kevin Kaaoush 4.00 1.00
28 Alex Torres 4.00 1.00
29 Arthur Knize 4.00 4.00
30 Mitch Vincent 3.00 3.00
31 Peter Wise 3.00 1.00
32 David Silva 3.00 3.00
33 Richard Brown 2.50 2.50
34 Gary Atkinson 2.00 0.00
35 John Byrne 2.00 0.00
36 Robert Jimenez 2.00 0.00
37 Ron Dotson 2.00 0.00
38 Chris Wynkoop 2.00 0.00
39 Isaac Martinez 2.00 2.00
40 Tim Brennan 2.00 2.00
41 Brian Wall 2.00 2.00
42 Luke Thurman 2.00 2.00
43 Spencer Shook 2.00 2.00
44 Steven Readel 2.00 2.00
45 Tara Martinez 2.00 2.00
46 Bobby Dzagen 1.00 0.00
47 Adam Metzger 1.00 0.00
48 Web McNairy 1.00 0.00
49 Jeremy Hawks 1.00 1.00
50 Phil Van Hawk 1.00 1.00
51 Brandon Hilliard 1.00 1.00
52 Dragan Plakalovic 1.00 1.00
53 Thomas Mullikin 1.00 1.00
54 Daniel Cabrera 1.00 1.00
55 Anthea Carson 1.00 1.00

Online Chess Lessons

By George Krasnopolskiy

We are doing online chess lessons this summer, we can teach through PC, Mac, IPad, and even X Box.  The lessons are one on one with an instructor who comes up with an ICED (Individualized Chess Education Plan).  We have instructors from education experts to international chess masters who would be more than glad to help your kids learn or get better at chess this summer, from the comfort of your own home.

Thank you,

George Krasnopolskiy, www.CheckMatesUSA.com

I Told Carlos Danger To Resign

Game Of The Week

This week's game comes from Tim Brennan, author of Tactics Time (https://x.com/TacticsTime).  Our feud over when to resign was recently reignited via email.  You may remember the controversy we sparked last year when Tim and I had conflicting articles published in the Colorado Chess Informant:

• Nothing Is Over! https://cschessnews.blogspot.com/2012/07/nothing-is-over.html
• Wise Beyond Her Years https://cschessnews.blogspot.com/2012/07/wise-beyond-her-years.html

Of course, it looked like my wisdom had prevailed in the popular culture mindset when the Pope resigned earlier this year after careful thought and keen observation of his current position.  That news shut Tim up for a while.

However, after recent events in the mayoral race in New York City, Tim's "Never Resign" philosophy has found a new poster boy, Anthony Weiner.  In fact, as far as I can tell, Tim has just ended his lucrative computer career to become the campaign manager for the democratic party's rising star.  His goal is to prove that even the biggest dolt on the planet can make it to the white house armed solely with the motto that "NOTHING IS OVER!"

Yes, I admit I may have inadvertently encouraged him to join forces with Weiner in our email feud:

"Of course you disagree with having the ability to assess a position correctly and knowing when to resign, you are still working with a class brain!  You are the Anthony Weiner of Colorado chess - you just don't know when to resign!"

But I didn't expect him to take it seriously.  I was actually shocked when he responded:

"lol - well you can call me Carlos Danger then, since I just won a game DOWN A QUEEN!! :-) I had my best comeback win ever tonight at Panera Bread!  I dropped my Queen on move 14, for no compensation, and went into Tebow Time to come back and win.  I was remembering the words of my good friend Francisco Baltier and John J. Rambo - "NOTHING IS OVER!!! NOTHING!!!"

Of course, Tim quickly found out that the Carlos Danger screen name is already taken.  So, he used his former computer skills to write a program to give everyone who joins his campaign a similar name.  If you are ready for "Danger In 2016!", then get your name here:

Carlos Danger Name Generator

Having a Carlos Danger alias is not only beneficial for politicians, but also it is helpful for chess players as well.  Maybe Tim Brennan can handle texting images like this using his own name, but I would be using an alias if it was me.  This is more embarrassing than anything Anthony Weiner sent out.

So, to help Tim out I have changed his name in this game to his Carlos Danger alias:

Alfonso Covert vs Benito Dynamite

White to move

White plays a Discovery with Bb5+!  Now the black Queen is under attack while the black King has to get out of check.  Tim has just hung his Queen, and he doesn't seem too happy that I happened by with my camera phone.

Don't forget to vote for Danger & Dynamite in 2016!

I Told Carlos Danger To Resign

[Event "Academy Panera Bread"]
[Site "https://cschessnews.blogspot.com/"]
[Date "2013.08.01"]
[Round "1.7"]
[White "Covert, Alfonso"]
[Black "Dynamite, Benito"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D03"]
[WhiteElo "1236"]
[BlackElo "1836"]
[PlyCount "62"]
[EventDate "2013.08.01"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. Bg5 Ne4 4. e3 Nxg5 5. Nxg5 e5 6. Nf3 e4 7. Nfd2 Bd6 8. f3 Qh4+ 9. g3 Bxg3+ 10. hxg3 Qxh1 11. fxe4 dxe4 12. Kf2 Bh3 13. Bb5+ c6 14. Qxh1 Bf5 15. Be2 Nd7 16. Nxe4 O-O 17. Bd3 Bg6 18. Nd6 Nf6 19. Bxg6 fxg6 20. Ke2 Ng4 21. Qh3 h5 22. Nc3 Rf2+ 23. Kd3 Rf6 24. Nce4 Rxd6 25. Rf1 Re6 26. Rf3 Rae8 27. Nc5 Rxe3+ 28. Kd2 Rxf3 29. Nxb7 Ree3 30. b3 Rf2+ 31. Kc1 Re1+ 0-1

https://www.chessvideos.tv/chess-game-replayer.php?id=82906

This Week In Chess

On July 30th, the Colorado Springs Chess Club held a Swiss event (3SS, G30).  Six players joined for this USCF-rated event.

I got a forfeit win in the final round to lock in the 1st place tour points.

Here are the results:

Score, Player

3.0 Paul Anderson
2.0 Kevin Kaaoush
1.0 Mark McGough
1.0 Alex Torres
1.0 Koji Del Conte
1.0 Dean Brown

Tuesday Night Chess Tour Cumulative and 3rd Quarter Standings

Current Standings (rank, name, total, quarter):

MAX POSSIBLE 100.00 20.00

1 Paul Anderson 73.50 13.00
2 Mark McGough 44.00 10.75
3 Isaac Martinez 42.00 4.50
4 Mike Madsen 26.50 2.00
5 Alex Torres 22.25 7.25
6 Daniel Herman 19.00 0.00
7 Jeff Fox 17.25 2.50
8 Joe Pahk 17.00 4.00
9 Dean Brown 16.75 2.25
10 Koji DelConte 14.75 1.25
11 Shirley Herman 14.50 0.00
12 Gunnar Andersen 14.50 7.50
13 Tim Brennan 14.00 2.00
14 Kevin Kaaoush 12.25 5.25
15 Peter Grigg 12.00 0.00
16 Richard Buchanan 11.75 2.00
17 Josh Divine 10.75 6.50
18 Josh Bloomer 10.50 0.00
19 Eugin Pahk 9.50 2.50
20 Tom Richardson 9.00 2.00
21 Alex Freeman 8.50 0.00
22 Sara Herman 7.00 0.00
23 Randy Canton 6.00 0.00
24 Brian Rountree 6.00 0.00
25 Scott Williams 4.00 0.00
26 Kathy Schneider 4.00 0.00
27 Nick Curott 4.00 4.00
28 Peter Barlay 3.50 0.00
29 Joe Polanco 3.00 0.00
30 Anthea Carson 2.00 0.00
31 Mike Wanek 2.00 0.00
32 James Powers 2.00 0.00
33 Wes Smith 2.00 0.00
34 William Wilken 2.00 0.00
35 Imre Barlay 2.00 0.00
36 Laurence Wutt 2.00 2.00
37 Rebecca Herman 1.50 0.00
38 Mike Toth 1.00 0.00
39 Buddy Diamond 1.00 0.00
40 Curits Holsinger 1.00 0.00
41 Evan Baron 1.00 0.00
42 Teppei Monjiyama 1.00 0.00
43 Nicholas Wyle 1.00 0.00
44 Katie Wise 1.00 0.00
45 Joseph Stafford 1.00 1.00
46 Istvan Hornyak 1.00 1.00

Bloomer's Blunder Win

Game Of The Week

This week's game comes from Dean Brown.  He is a long-time chess player and tournament director for Colorado Springs.  His 705 rated events since 1991 has to be a Colorado record and possibly one of the tops in the nation.  In comparison, I have played 668 rated games in that time.

So, when such an experienced player and tournament director has a problem with how the rules are being enforced, you would think that the powers that be would be eager to listen to his sage advice.

However, something was amiss.  Dean was uncharacteristically upset this past Tuesday night.  He was in a rant at the club about the actions of the board of the Colorado State Chess Association (CSCA).

I mostly report chess news for entertainment purposes and try to avoid saying anything controversial, as my loyal readers know, but I could only guess that the CSCA board's decision to allow masters to be exempt from rules that strictly apply to the lower classes was the reason behind Dean sending me his game against NM Josh Bloomer.

I think it had something to do with this position.  Black just played 37...Re5.  Unfortunately, Dean had stopped using his illegal score-keeping device and was not notified about the best move in this position.

White to move

The best move for white in this position is to stop the clock and claim a time penalty for an illegal move.  Actually capturing the black king with the queen makes the point as well since your opponent should quickly realize they cannot play on without a king.

The best move for black in this position is to petition the CSCA board for an exception to the rules and promise to get out of check on the next possible move.

Bloomer's Blunder Win

[Event "CSCC March Quick"]
[Site "https://cschessnews.blogspot.com/"]
[Date "2013.03.19"]
[Round "3.2"]
[White "Brown, Dean"]
[Black "Bloomer, Josh"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C12"]
[PlyCount "73"]
[EventDate "2013.??.??"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Bb4 5. e5 h6 6. exf6 hxg5 7. fxg7 Rg8 8. Qf3 c5 9. Bb5+ Bd7 10. Bxd7+ Nxd7 11. O-O-O Rxg7 12. Nge2 Rc8 13. a3 Bxc3 14. Nxc3 cxd4 15. Rxd4 Ne5 16. Qg3 Nc4 17. Re1 Qb6 18. Rxc4 dxc4 19. Nd5 Qd8 20. Qe5 Rg6 21. Rd1 Kf8 22. Nf4 Qxd1+ 23. Kxd1 gxf4 24. Qxf4 Rd8+ 25. Ke2 Rxg2 26. Qh6+ Rg7 27. Qh8+ Rg8 28. Qh6+ Ke8 29. Qe3 Rg1 30. Qxa7 b5 31. Qb6 Rd5 32. Qb8+ Ke7 33. Qa7+ Kf6 34. Qb6 Rf5 35. Qd4+ Kg6 36. Qe4 f6 37. h4 0-1

https://www.chessvideos.tv/chess-game-replayer.php?id=78060

This Week In Chess

On March 19th, the Colorado Springs Chess Club held a Swiss event.  Five players participated in the Quick-rated, Swiss tournament (3SS, G/20).  I went unbeaten to claim 1st place.  Here are the results:

Score, Player:

3.0 Paul Anderson
2.0 Josh Bloomer
2.0 Jeff Fox
1.0 Dean Brown
1.0 Alex Torres

Tuesday Night Chess Tour Standings for 1st Quarter

1 Paul Anderson 22.00
2 Tim Brennan 12.00
3 Mark McGough 11.00
4 Mike Madsen 7.50
5 Dean Brown 7.00
6 Alex Freeman 5.00
7 Alex Torres 5.00
8 Jeff Fox 4.50
9 Brian Rountree 4.00
10 Koji DelConte 3.50
11 Peter Grigg 3.00
12 Josh Bloomer 2.50
13 Anthea Carson 2.00
14 Isaac Martinez 2.00
15 Mike Wanek 2.00
16 James Powers 2.00
17 Mike Toth 1.00
18 Buddy Diamond 1.00
19 Wes Smith 1.00

Going Away Simul II

Game Of The Week

This week's game comes from the "Going Away" simultaneous exhibition given by NM Josh Bloomer.  Josh had to play 22 players going +16-5=1.  Two of the losses and the draw came from "Murders' Row," which included 7 class A players in a row.  Josh Divine was only able to get his feet in the picture, but did score the first victory, taking home the tournament chess set donated by The Gentlemen's Chess Club (http://www.gentlemenschessclub.com/).

Josh Divine started playing tournament chess in 2005 and climbed up to the class A barrier before plateauing (mostly due to college).  He is like me in that his highest rated played, who he beat, is Josh Bloomer at 2222 in March of 2007.  However, Josh Divine's victory came before he had cracked the class A barrier, as Josh finally made it into the class A world on July 10th, 2012.  Not a bad way to start off your class A career.

Black to move

Going Away Simul II

[Event "Going Away Simul"]
[Site "https://cschessnews.blogspot.com/"]
[Date "2012.07.24"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Bloomer, Josh"]
[Black "Divine, Josh"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A85"]
[WhiteElo "2226"]
[BlackElo "1807"]
[PlyCount "54"]
[EventDate "2012.07.24"]

1. d4 e6 2. c4 f5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. g3 d5 5. Bg2 c6 6. Nh3 Bb4 7. O-O Bxc3 8. bxc3 O-O 9. cxd5 exd5 10. Bg5 Nbd7 11. Nf4 Qa5 12. Qd3 Nb6 13. f3 Bd7 14. Bxf6 Rxf6 15. e4 c5 16. Nxd5 Nxd5 17. exd5 c4 18. Qxc4 Bb5 19. Qc5 b6 20. Qc7 Rf7 21. Qd6 Bxf1 22. Qc6 Bxg2 23. Qxa8+ Rf8 24. Qc6 Bxf3 25. Qe6+ Kh8 26. Qe7 Rc8 27. Re1 Qxd5 0-1

https://www.chessvideos.tv/chess-game-replayer.php?id=68707

This Week In Chess

On July 31st, the Colorado Springs Chess Club held a Quad and a Swiss event.  The USCF-rated players faced off in a Round Robin Tournament (RR, G30) while the unrated players formed a Swiss Tournament (3SS, G20).  Gunnar Anderson went unbeaten in the quad while Josh Divine did the same in the Swiss.  Here are the results:

Score, Player

USCF Quad

2.5 Gunnar Andersen
2.0 Anthea Carson* NN
1.5 Isaac Martinez
0.0 Mark McGough

Unrated Swiss

3.0 Josh Divine
2.0 Alex Torres
2.0 Jeff Fox
1.0 Gerardo Caballero
1.0 Daniel Herman
0.0 Shirley Herman

* Paul Anderson substitution after round 1