Choose Your Weapon

Game Of The Week

By Tim Brennan

Thank you, Paul, for inviting me back for another installment of “Tim Brennan week!"

Things got back to somewhat “normal” chess wise in the later part of 2021 after over a full year of things being shut down by the pandemic.  I got to be one of the “gaming monks” again this year at the Renaissance Festival, which was fun.  The crowds were especially crazy this summer. 

While at the Ren Fest, I asked Buck, “What happened to Brian Wall’s emails.  Did he stop writing them”?  Buck laughed, and said “Oh heavens no!  Brian sends 20 emails per day!”  I contacted Brian, and it turns out that Yahoo! shutdown their groups service, which is how I was subscribed.  Brian got me signed up again, and my inbox was quickly flooded with people fiercely debating the DCC’s mask and vaccine requirements, which were amusing to read.  Kudos to the DCC for the way they have handled things during these unprecedented times.

The 2021 Colorado Open, played at the Embassy Suites Denver Tech Center North, over Labor Day Weekend, was my first chess tournament since the pandemic began.  It was exciting to play over the board, and to see many people that I had not seen in many months or even years.

Several new members were inducted into the Colorado Chess Hall of Fame, including Brian Wall and Todd Bardwick, which was well deserved!

Unfortunately, the tournament was not very well run.  There was an overwhelming number of new players (60+), computer issues, and not enough help.  The pairings were late, wrong, and in some cases nonexistent.  The open section had to skip a round because they could not get the pairings right.  People were paired in the wrong section, more than one section, and requests for half point byes were ignored, leading to unnecessary forfeit wins. 

For example, I requested a third-round bye because I had a fantasy football draft Saturday evening.  I ended up getting paired against Jeff Baffo, who had to sit around and wait to claim a forfeit win, and then the next day the pairing sheet showed that I had won the game, when I wasn’t even there!

I don’t want to trash the organizers and directors, because they were aware of the problems, and did their best to correct them.  I know they are all going to do an analysis of what happened, to make sure that this does not happen again.  Being a tournament director is a thankless job.  Sometimes everything goes wrong, and the dog really does eat your homework.  Everyone is rusty with different skills after endless months of pandemic.  So, I am giving everyone a “pass” this time.

My games were pretty “hit and miss.”  I won all my games Saturday but drank too much hydroxychloroquine mixed with horse worm pills on Sunday and lost all my games.

Here is my favorite game, played against Ken Doykos.  Ken and I have faced off several times over the years, and I know he knows his openings well.  I tried to take the game into uncharted waters so I wasn’t “bringing a knife to a gun fight."

Hope that everyone is safe and well, and things can continue to get back to normal.  Best of luck to the new CSCA board, congrats to the prize winners of the Colorado Open, and to the new Hall of Fame inductees!

Your friend,

Tim

White to move

Choose Your Weapon

[Event "Colorado Open"]

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

[Date "2021.09.04"]

[Round "2"]

[White "Brennan, Tim"]

[Black "Doykos, Ken"]

[Result "1-0"]

[ECO "A00"]

[WhiteElo "1832"]

[BlackElo "1700"]

[PlyCount "69"]

[EventDate "2021.09.04"]

1. b4 d5 2. Bb2 e6 3. a3 Nf6 4. Nf3 c5 5. bxc5 Bxc5 6. e3 O-O 7. d3 Nbd7 8.

Nbd2 Qc7 9. Rg1 e5 10. g4 e4 11. g5 Ne8 12. dxe4 Bd6 13. exd5 Bxh2 14. Rh1 Be5

15. Nd4 g6 16. Qg4 f5 17. Qh4 Nb6 18. Nb5 Qe7 19. Bxe5 Rf7 20. Bd4 f4 21. Bd3

Bf5 22. e4 Nxd5 23. Kf1 Ne3+ 24. Kg1 Nd6 25. Nxd6 Qxd6 26. fxe3 fxe3 27. Bxe3

Qe5 28. Rf1 Raf8 29. Bc4 Be6 30. Bxe6 Qxe6 31. Rxf7 Rxf7 32. Qh3 Qe5 33. Nb3

Qxe4 34. Rh2 Qxc2 35. Rxc2 1-0

https://www.chessvideos.tv/chess-game-replayer.php?id=116923

This Week In Chess

On September 19th, the Colorado Springs Chess Club held a club match with the Air Force Academy Chess Club.

CSCC vs AFACC:  Colorado Springs Chess Club Won the Match
Finished On: Sep 19, 2021, 7:39 PM
Players per Team: 7
Time Control: 10 minutes|10

Colorado Springs Chess Club

14 vs 0

Air Force Academy Chess Club 

After the club match, the Colorado Springs Chess Club held the AFA Overflow Blitz Arena Online (90 min, G/5+0).  John Brezina won his 1st gold in the arena and completed the trifecta (gold, silver & bronze), while Paul Anderson was knocked down to silver by Jeff Fox.  Jeff Baffo tested out the arena for the first time and took home the bronze.

Place, AFA Overflow Blitz Arena, Score

1 "#1 Czechmate1972 (1763)" 33

2 "#2 cschessnews (2131)" 30

3 "#3 phatchess (1668)" 15

4 "#4 CosmicNovaGalaxy (1537)" 11

5 "#5 brokenarrow42069 (1730)" 10

6 "#6 albertgardner (1323)" 10

7 "#7 msmcgough (1437)" 5

8 "#8 bozhenoff (1942)" 5

9 "#9 jfoxhoot (1612)" 5

10 "#10 pretbram (1629)" 0

11 "#11 Cocomcfrecal (1085)" 0

Corona, No Lime

Game Of The Week

By Tim Brennan

Greetings Friends!

Hope you are surviving the global pandemic and your N95 masks are nice and snug!

Thank you, Paul, for inviting me back for another "Tim Brennan Week" on the Colorado Springs Chess Club newsletter!

Last week, on Easter Sunday, I was hoping that the Easter Bunny would fill my basket with toilet paper, hand sanitizer, and Clorox wipes, but, instead, I got an even nicer surprise!  Paul resurrected the CSCC newsletter!  That made my day!  Welcome back Paul!

Here are some thoughts and news and notes from my quarantine bunker in the Mountain Shadows area of Colorado Springs:

• Rest in Peace to Mikhail Ponomarev, who died recently at age 94.  I remember the first time I played Mikhail was at a 24 hour tournament held in 2004.  Even though it was 3AM in the morning and Mikhail was 3 times my age, he stomped me easily.  He was a fierce competitor and will be missed.
• I have read about several well known chess players who have contracted COVID-19.  Best wishes to them on a speedy recovery.  I would also like to give appreciation to the Colorado Chess leaders like Brian Wall, who were quick to shut down their clubs and cancel their tournaments, even when there was a lot of uncertainty about what to do.  This leadership helped to stop the spread of the virus and was the right thing to do.  Well done.
• I just finished listening to the latest episodes of the Perpetual Chess Podcast by Ben Johnson where he talked to Neil Bruce about one of my favorite chess books of all times, Rapid Chess Improvement by Michael de la Maza.  If you haven't subscribed yet to Perpetual Chess, it is a really great podcast.  Neil is a great follower on twitter as well, and shares lots of great tactics problems.
• Shoutout to Fred Spell, who continues to do an outstanding job with the Colorado Chess Informant.  With the current shutdown going on, Fred might have a harder time than usual finding content for the magazine.  Since some people might have extra time on their hands, now might be a good time to submit a story or article!
• I very recently completed a 1 year streak on chessable.com, meaning I solved at least one problem per day, every day, for a year!  I am a big fan of their spaced repetition learning model.  Both Tactics Time 1 and 2 are available on chessable, and I really enjoy going through them.
• Speaking of learning, I am also reading a book called Ultralearning by Scott Young, which I am really enjoying and highly recommend.  The book talks about people who are able to take a subject, such as learning a language, and make rapid progress doing it.  Lots of great ideas in this book.
• I only played in two tournaments last year, the Denver Open and Colorado Open, but both were outstanding.  Kudos to the organizers of both.  Very well run, and tournaments I will always remember.

Here is a game I played against Jesse Hester at the "Donor Cloner Closer" held earlier this year.  Brian Wall contacted me about a week before the tournament.  He was a few points shy of qualifying for the Colorado Closed and wanted to have a "Clone Wars" style tournament to have a shot at gaining the necessary points to qualify.  He also wanted to raise money for the Denver Open, hence the name "Donor Cloner Closer."

A "Clone Wars" tournament is where you can enter more than once, but you cannot be paired against yourself.  Basically, the players are doing simuls against other players, who are also doing simuls.  And it is all rated, with a clock!  So it is very fun!

I was both the tournament director, and player, which was fun too.  This was the 4th Clone Wars style event I have played in, and it is always a blast, but very exhausting!

In Round 2, I was paired against Jesse Hester, who I had not played against since he was a teenager about 15 years ago.  I had grabbed a pawn earlier in the game, that appeared to be defended, but really wasn't with 17.Bxg5+ but this was the real kill shot that ended it.

Stay safe friends!  Your friend,

Tim

White to move

Corona, No Lime

[Event "Donor Cloner Closer"]
[Site "https://cschessnews.blogspot.com/"]
[Date "2020.01.11"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Brennan, Tim"]
[Black "Hester, Jesse"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B23"]
[WhiteElo "1818"]
[BlackElo "2030"]
[PlyCount "49"]
[EventDate "2020.01.11"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. f4 g6 4. Bc4 Bg7 5. Nf3 d6 6. f5 Nf6 7. fxg6 hxg6 8. h3 Bg4 9. O-O Bxf3 10. Qxf3 a6 11. a4 Ne5 12. Qe2 e6 13. d3 Nh5 14. Qf2 g5 15. Ne2 Qe7 16. Rb1 Ng6 17. Bxg5 f6 18. Be3 e5 19. b4 cxb4 20. Rxb4 Rc8 21. Qf5 Rc6 22. Qxg6+ Kd8 23. Rfb1 Kc8 24. Rxb7 Rc7 25. Qf5+ 1-0

https://www.chessvideos.tv/chess-game-replayer.php?id=115356

This Week In Chess

On April 19th, the Colorado Springs Chess Club held the CSCC Mouse Rapid Online event (4SS, G/15+10).

https://www.chess.com/tournament/live/cscc-mouse-rapid-online-1196948

Place, Player, Score

1 "#1cschessnews (1737)" 3.0
2 "#1Termenoil (1921)" 3.0
3 "#3deanclow (1990)" 3.0
4 "#4NMBrianWall (1837)" 2.5
5 "#5bozhenoff (1719)" 2.5
6 "#6Navajo36us80917 (1125)" 2.0
7 "#6CosmicNovaGalaxy (1253)" 2.0
8 "#6jfoxhoot (1666)" 2.0
9 "#9msmcgough (1292)" 1.0
10 "#10linuxguy1 (1511)" 1.0
11 "#10KingVed (1456)" 1.0
12 "#12agapatos1 (1427)" 0.0

Guys In Costumes

Game Of The Week

By Tim Brennan

There is a YUGE event this week that millions of people around the world have been looking forward to for years!  No, not the final season of Game of Thrones!  I'm talking about the 15th year of Tim Brennan Week in the Colorado Springs Chess Club Newsletter!

Thanks Paul for inviting me back for the 15th year!  I'm honored!  Kudos to Paul for keeping his newsletter going for this long as well!  That is a great accomplishment!

Although I do not play as much chess as I used to, chess is always in my heart.

I got to spend some time with Paul this past summer at the Renaissance Festival in Larkspur, which is always a good time.  As usual, we were dressed as monks, and played the public for one dollar a game.  If we win, we keep the dollar.  If they win, they get a prize.  Our goal is always to give out zero prizes!

My funniest story from this past year was a guy who came up to me, and confidently said something to me like, "I hope you are ready to lose," in a thick Russian accent (like Ivan Drago in Rocky IV).  I smiled and then proceeded to checkmate him in about 8-10 moves, using about one second per move.  He was shocked!  He said, "I thought you were just guys in costumes!" 🤣

Right now, I am excited about the upcoming Denver Open!  It takes place April 26-28 at the Embassy Suites in the Denver Tech Center.

Brian Wall and the Denver Chess Club have been recruiting strong players from all over the country to attend this tournament.  Here are some of the strong players who have registered already:

14958890 2635 CORRALES JIMENEZ
12077910 2584 ALEXANDER FISHBEIN
13215196 2583 ANDREW TANG
15229287 2562 ANDREY GOROVETS
12442362 2543 JESSE KRAAI
16083805 2520 PRASANNA RAGH RAO
12659833 2489 DANIEL M RENSCH
12851435 2462 TATEV ABRAHAMYAN
12445752 2443 DEAN IPPOLITO
12426279 2410 DAVID VIGORITO
12563733 2332 LIOR CHAIM LAPID
10373638 2292 JOHN L WATSON

Wow!  I think that is really exciting!  This will be the strongest tournament in Colorado since the Edward Levy tournaments in the early aughts.  I'm signed up, and ready to go!

One other thing I am excited about these days is a new interactive online Tactics Time chess course that just came out on the website chessable.com.  The funny thing is:  I had no idea that this was in the works!

Someone sent me an email last month asking about one of the positions that was in the this course, because he was one of the beta-testers.  I wrote back that I had no clue what he was talking about.  He got me in touch with the creator of the site, and I discovered that this was all legitimate, and New in Chess had set the whole thing up.  The course just came out recently.  You may have seen the ad for it in the April 2019 issue of the Colorado Chess Informant.

I think it is really cool.  The whole thing is based on "spaced repetition."  Similar to using "flash cards."  I am really impressed with chessable in general, and it is worth checking out!  You can checkout the new online Tactics Time course here: https://www.chessable.com/tactics-time-1/course/21108/

Below is one of my favorite games.  It comes from the Millionaire Chess 2 tournament, which was held at the Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas.  I had an amazing time at the tournament.  Joel Johnson published this game in one of his Attacking books (which are highly recommended!).

Thanks again Paul for all of your hard work!

Hope to see everyone at the Denver Open!

Your Friend, Tim

White to move

Guys In Costumes

[Event "Millionaire Chess Open 2"]
[Site "https://cschessnews.blogspot.com/"]
[Date "2015.10.10"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Brennan, Tim"]
[Black "Aregbeyen, Aigboje"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B07"]
[WhiteElo "1800"]
[BlackElo "1944"]
[PlyCount "35"]

1. e4 d6 2. Nc3 g6 3. f4 Bg7 4. Bc4 Nd7 5. Nf3 e6 6. d3 a6 7. a4 Ne7 8. O-O O-O 9. Qe1 b6 10. Qh4 h6 11. f5 exf5 12. Bxh6 fxe4 13. Bxg7 Kxg7 14. Ng5 Nf6 15. Rxf6 Nf5 16. Rxf7+ Rxf7 17. Qh7+ Kf6 18. Ncxe4+ 1-0

https://www.chessvideos.tv/chess-game-replayer.php?id=114194

This Week In Chess

On April 9th, the Colorado Springs Chess Club finished the Cabin Fever Reliever event (4SS, G/45; d/10).

Standings. Cabin Fever Reliever

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

1 Mitchell Anderson 1970 W8 W4 W3 L2 3.0 $28.00 1st
2 Christophe Motley 1582 W10 L3 W6 W1 3.0 $28.00 1st + $5.00 GOW
3 Aleksand Bozhenov 1980 W9 W2 L1 D4 2.5
4 Mark McGough 1822 W7 L1 W9 D3 2.5
5 Ayush Vispute 1307 H--- U--- W7 W9 2.5 $14.00 U1450
6 Grayson Ed Harris 1471 W11 L9 L2 W10 2.0
7 Clinton Eads 1301 L4 W10 L5 D8 1.5
8 William Leo Wolf 1303 L1 W11 U--- D7 1.5
9 Dean W Brown 1421 L3 W6 L4 L5 1.0
10 Earle Macenulty 1118 L2 L7 X11 L6 1.0
11 Colum Ashlin unr. L6 L8 F10 U--- 0.0

Puncher's Chance

Game Of The Week

By Tim Brennan

Thanks Paul for inviting me back for another Tim Brennan week in the Colorado Springs Chess Newsletter!

Today I would like to share my experience playing in the Colorado vs New Mexico team match last fall.  The Colorado vs New Mexico matches go back a few years, and I believe the idea was started by Paul Covington (although it might have been Klaus Johnson).  Each year the event is hosted by a different state.

Last year (2017), it was held in Santa Fe, which is the capital of New Mexico.  Santa Fe is also home of my favorite author George R. R. Martin who wrote the Game of Thrones books.  GRRM is also a life member of the USCF!

I was the TD for the Colorado vs New Mexico match a few years ago when it was held in Trinidad.  So, I was pretty familiar with the format and knew the event was a lot of fun.  These tournaments are similar to the Scholastic Closed, where there are always last minute drop outs and no shows.

For the 2017 tournament, it was announced that it was going to be held in the capital building, which I thought sounded very exciting.  I love tournaments that are held in nice and exotic locations.

They were holding a side event that was open to everyone.  So, I decided I would drive down to Santa Fe and play in that.  I had done nothing to qualify in the team tournament, and didn't even play in the class championship, which determines who represents Colorado.  As I was driving down that Friday, Brian Wall texted me to let me know that Chris Peterson, who was supposed to play board one, dropped out at the last minute.  Brian wanted to know if I could take Chris's place on the team.

Of course, Chris is a much stronger player than I am, but when you are man short you have to take any warm body that you can find!  Much like when the Chicago Blackhawks signed a 36 year old accountant earlier this year to be their backup goalie - and he ended up in the game!

The day of the tournament I ended up on board 2, the "master/expert" board, even though my brief tenure as an "expert" ended faster than a Britney Spears Vegas marriage.  I found out I was paired against Philip Bauer (rated 2102).  Brian sat next to me on board 1.

The event was absolutely beautiful!  We sat right in the middle of the capital in a circle under the domed ceiling.  They had flags and nice boards for us to play on.

Round 1, Brian and I both lost, but the team score was 5-5.

After round 1, everyone went out for a nice lunch at a Mexican restaurant which was great.  That night was the Connor McGregor vs Floyd Mayweather fight, which I really wanted to watch.  Most people predicted that Mayweather would win, but McGregor had a "puncher's chance."  I felt the same way going into my second round game.

In round 2, I was able to get my pieces on some active squares, and then my opponent let down his guard and allowed me a sucker punch.

White to move

After the dust settled in round 2, Colorado came out a game ahead and won the match 11-9.  I was happy that I was able to contribute and put Colorado over the top with my 300 point upset win!  That night Brian, Philip (my opponent in the match) and I all watched the McGregor fight, which was a blast!

Thank you to the fine folks in New Mexico who put on such an awesome event!  This will be a tournament and weekend I will never forget.

Puncher's Chance

[Event "NM vs CO"]
[Site "https://cschessnews.blogspot.com/"]
[Date "2017.08.26"]
[Round "2.2"]
[White "Brennan, Tim"]
[Black "Bauer, Philip"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B18"]
[WhiteElo "1821"]
[BlackElo "2102"]
[PlyCount "67"]
[EventDate "2017.08.26"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bf5 5. Ng3 Bg6 6. Bc4 e6 7. N1e2 Nf6 8. O-O Nbd7 9. f4 b5 10. Bb3 a5 11. c3 a4 12. Bc2 Bxc2 13. Qxc2 Bd6 14. f5 e5 15. Bg5 h6 16. Bh4 Qb6 17. Kh1 exd4 18. Nxd4 O-O 19. Ne4 Nxe4 20. Qxe4 c5 21. Nf3 Rfe8 22. Qg4 Re2 23. f6 Nxf6 24. Bxf6 Bf8 25. Bh4 Rae8 26. Rae1 c4 27. a3 R8e6 28. Nd4 Rxe1 29. Rxe1 Rg6 30. Qc8 Qa6 31. Qxa6 Rxa6 32. Re8 g5 33. Bg3 f6 34. Re6 1-0

https://www.chessvideos.tv/chess-game-replayer.php?id=112502

This Week In Chess

On April 10th, the Colorado Springs Chess Club finished the April Quick Six event (6SS, G/24+5).

Standings. April Quick Six

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

1 Peter Barlay 1617 W8 L3 D11 W6 W2 W4 4.5 $36.00 1st
2 Mark McGough 1648 W6 W4 W7 W3 L1 L5 4.0 $6.00 2nd
3 Paul D Anderson 1930 W11 W1 W5 L2 L4 W6 4.0 $6.00 2nd
4 Michael Smith II 1508 W12 L2 W10 W5 W3 L1 4.0 $6.00 2nd
5 Brian Jo Rountree 1643 W13 W10 L3 L4 W7 W2 4.0 $6.00 2nd
6 Scott Ch Williams 1294 L2 W12 W13 L1 W10 L3 3.0 $8.00 U1500
7 Supreme King 1889 L10 W13 L2 W8 L5 W12 3.0
8 Grayson Ed Harris 1011 L1 L11 W12 L7 W13 W10 3.0 $8.00 U1500
9 Joey Arispe 1208 H--- U--- U--- L10 W12 W13 2.5
10 Dean W Brown 1409 W7 L5 L4 W9 L6 L8 2.0
11 William Leo Wolf 1477 L3 W8 D1 U--- U--- U--- 1.5
12 Lawrence R Osborn 986 L4 L6 L8 W13 L9 L7 1.0
13 Clinton D Eads 1052 L5 L7 L6 L12 L8 L9 0.0

He Mate Me

Game Of The Week

By Tim Brennan

Friends, Romans, Countrymen:

It is Tim Brennan here, and I am very happy to be back again for another annual installment of "Tim Brennan week" on Paul Anderson's excellent Colorado Springs Chess News email newsletter!

Thanks Paul for having me!

It is nice to take a break from being a magazine cover model, and be able to focus on writing instead of always being treated like a piece of meat!

Today I would like to share a game that I played against Daoud Zupa at the Denver Chess Club in January 2017.

I have known Daoud for many years.  I used to live in downtown Denver (9th and Lincoln) in the "Capitol Hill" area in the early 2000s.  The Denver Chess Club at that time met at the VFW Post 1, on 9th and Bannock (which has since been torn down and replaced with luxury condos).

The VFW was a bit of a dump.  This was back when people were allowed to smoke indoors, and the whole place smelled like an ash tray.  There was a bar area inside that looked like "Moe's" from the Simpsons.  The toilets were always getting clogged, and the owner was always kicking us out (a common and oft-repeated theme with Colorado Chess clubs).

Daoud also lived on capitol hill, and we could both walk there.  At the time, I was only rated in the 1300s, and he was a very strong player.  I also used to see Daoud a lot on the Auraria Campus where both of us were taking computer science classes at the University of Colorado.

Although we have crossed paths and played in many of the same tournaments over the years, I have rarely been paired against him.  Sometimes there are players like this, that you see all the time, but for whatever reason rarely get paired against.  DuWayne Langseth is another person that falls in this category for me.

But during the January Denver Chess Club monthly tournament I did get paired against Daoud.

Two weeks prior, I had beaten Rudy Tia in one of the best games I had ever played, which I wrote about in my Tactics Time email newsletter "Cover Me", which I sent out on January 5, 2017 (http://archive.aweber.com/tacticstime/MLlEy/h/Tactics_Time_Chess_Newsletter_.htm).  In that game I sacrificed an exchange and a knight to set up a mating attack, and mated Tia on move 23.

Daoud had seen that game, and said before our game, "I don't want to play the French against you, after seeing what you did to Rudy Tia!"

Our game started off kind of slow, with an early trade of queens.  I realized around move 22 that I could win a pawn, which I did.  My plan was then to trade down into a winning endgame.  I activated my king, moving him towards the center, and got a passed pawn.  All textbook.

Unfortunately for me, Daoud went into "NOTHING IS OVER" mode and found a brilliant mating net!

Black to move

Normally I don't like losing to an opponent's tactic, but when it is a brilliant one like this, it actually makes me quite happy.  I love a beautiful tactic, even when I am on the receiving end.  After the game, I shook Daoud's hand and congratulated him on the brilliant move 41...Rxg7!! which I didn't see coming at all.

Thanks again Paul for having me!  Keep up the outstanding work that you do!

Your friend, Tim

P.S. If you haven't already, check out the Tactics Time books on amazon, available in both Kindle and paperback formats!

http://amzn.to/2oPr8Xl

He Mate Me

[Event "Denver Chess Club"]
[Site "https://cschessnews.blogspot.com/"]
[Date "2017.01.17"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Brennan, Tim"]
[Black "Zupa, Daoud"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B23"]
[WhiteElo "1864"]
[BlackElo "1999"]
[PlyCount "84"]
[EventDate "2017.01.03"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 a6 3. a4 Nc6 4. f4 d6 5. Bc4 Nf6 6. Nf3 e6 7. d3 d5 8. Ba2 dxe4 9. dxe4 Qxd1+ 10. Kxd1 b6 11. h3 Bb7 12. e5 Nh5 13. Ne2 Nd4 14. Nfxd4 cxd4 15. Rh2 g5 16. g4 Nxf4 17. Nxf4 gxf4 18. Bxf4 O-O-O 19. Ke2 Bc5 20. Bc4 Kc7 21. Bd3 Kc6 22. Bg5 Rd7 23. Bf6 Re8 24. Bxh7 Be7 25. Be4+ Kc5 26. Bxb7 Bxf6 27. exf6 Rxb7 28. Kd3 e5 29. Re1 b5 30. axb5 Rxb5 31. b3 Kb4 32. h4 Rc5 33. Ke4 a5 34. Rd1 Rec8 35. Rdd2 Kb5 36. g5 Rg8 37. Rdg2 Kc6 38. h5 Kd6 39. g6 Ke6 40. g7 Rc3 41. Re2 Rxg7 42. fxg7 f5# 0-1

http://www.viewchess.com/cbreader/2017/4/9/Game1299959937.html

This Week In Chess

On April 4th, the Colorado Springs Chess Club began its Cabin Fever Reliever (4SS, G/45;d10).

Standings. CFR

# Name Rtng Rd 1 Rd 2 Tot Prize

1 Richard Buchanan 2000 W5 W3 2.0
2 Mark McGough 1848 W6 W4 2.0
3 Brian Jo Rountree 1832 W7 L1 1.0
4 Aleksand Bozhenov 1914 W8 L2 1.0
5 Dean W Brown 1517 L1 W8 1.0
6 Scott Ch Williams 1273 L2 D7 0.5
7 Clinton D Eads 1168 L3 D6 0.5
8 Michael Smith II 1332 L4 L5 0.0

Better Call Paul

Game Of The Week

By Tim Brennan

It's Tim Brennan week again!

I'm honored to be invited back for my 12th year!

I wasn't sure what to write about this year, so I thought "Better Call Paul" and invited Paul to hang out on Sunday and do a podcast!

We talked about some of Paul's funny experiences during his first year as a USCF Tournament Director.

Thanks Paul for your hard work and giving back to the chess community!

Paul and I both love to talk about different loop holes and "corner cases" in the rules, and all of the various "controversies" that have come up in Colorado chess the past couple of years.

I think you will really enjoy this conversation!

Here is my favorite tactic from one of my games in the past year.  It was played at the US Open in Phoenix, which had a lot of Colorado Chess players in attendance.  It was published in Joel Johnson's book "Attacking 101 Volume 2," which came out last fall.

Black to move

Better Call Paul

[Event "US Open 2015"]
[Site "https://cschessnews.blogspot.com/"]
[Date "2015.08.06"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Kaye, Dylan"]
[Black "Brennan, Tim"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A46"]
[WhiteElo "1534"]
[BlackElo "1800"]
[PlyCount "40"]

1. d4 b5 2. Bf4 Bb7 3. e3 Nf6 4. Nf3 a6 5. Bd3 e6 6. h3 d6 7. O-O Nbd7 8. c3 h6 9. b4 g5 10. Bh2 g4 11. hxg4 Nxg4 12. Nbd2 h5 13. Bg3 Rg8 14. Re1 Be7 15. Nf1 h4 16. Bf4 e5 17. dxe5 dxe5 18. Bh2 e4 19. Nd4 exd3 20. Bf4 Nxf2 0-1

https://www.chessvideos.tv/chess-game-replayer.php?id=106543

This Week In Chess

On April 5th, the Colorado Springs Chess Club held its annual tradition, the Cabin Fever Reliever (4SS, G/30;d10).  9 players joined.

Standings. Cabin Fever Reliever

# Name ID Rtng Rd 1 Rd 2 Tot Prize

1 Josh S Bloomer 12626102 2241 W5 W4 2.0
2 Mark McGough 11366481 1882 W8 W7 2.0
3 Paul Dou Anderson 12728345 2053 W9 H--- 1.5
4 Daniel Herman 14345456 2065 W6 L1 1.0
5 Travis Crow 15831070 1750 L1 W8 1.0
6 Dean W Brown 10224098 1568 L4 W9 1.0
7 Shirley Herman 14812654 1050 H--- L2 0.5
8 Doug Clark 15941617 unr. L2 L5 0.0
9 Daniel J Rupp 15768473 981 L3 L6 0.0

Projected Prizes: 1st $16; 2nd $11; U2000/unr $7; U1500/unr $5

Make It So

Game Of The Week

By Tim Brennan

Thanks, Paul, for inviting me back for another Tim Brennan week!

I thought I would do some news and notes style writing about some things on my mind.

I find the Wesley So forfeit at the US Championship fascinating (for those who don't know, So, the 2nd highest ranked player in the US, was "making notes" during the game).  The notes were not analysis but appear to be little reminders like "Double and triple check every move before you make it."  While I would not call this cheating, it certainly is against the rules.  So got multiple warnings in the past, and even got warnings in the past from teammates and coaches that he should not be doing this.  

In one article I read, So mentioned how he was having family problems at home (his host family in Minnesota and biological family are fighting), and this was causing him a lot of stress.  The notes were intended to help him keep focused.  It is a tough situation, but I think the arbiter did the correct thing.  This situation happened to me years ago at the Denver Chess Club.  My opponent was making chess related notes (not analysis) such as "develop all your pieces" and other things like this on his score sheet.  I told the TD, LaMoyne Splichal, who told me this was allowed.  I looked it up after the game and found out it was not allowed (this was before I became a TD myself).

Personally, I am not a fan of players who write down their move before they play it.  ESPECIALLY players who write down a move, think for 2 minutes, scratch out the move, write down a different move, etc.  Some even cover up the move.  The score sheet is supposed to be a record of the game.  How can you record something that hasn't happened yet?  This would be like a baseball scorekeeper writing down a home run for Adrian Gonzales before the pitcher even throws the ball.  If you are recording something, why would you need to cover it up?  The USCF did try to change this at one point, but it was controversial, because so many chess coaches taught their kids to write down the move first (a mental crutch to help them prevent blunders).  In FIDE I believe it is illegal.

Shirley Herman made an interesting point that people with Mon Rois (like me) or other electronic score keeping devices, should not be allowed to use the GUI (graphical user interface) to study the board.  That way you do not get the benefit of using both a 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional board when playing.  This seems fair.  I remember there was a letter to the editor months ago about this possible issue but never heard more about it.

Knowing the rules is important.  When I played at the Millionaire Open last fall I was talking to one "chess mom."  She told me that her son has lost a game on time due to not understanding the 40-move rule.  The kid had black, and his opponent made 40 moves, but he did not.  He thought as long as anyone made 40 moves, then the second time control kicked in.  A mistake like this could have cost him $40,000.

Congrats to Paul on becoming a tournament director!  Being a TD is a pretty thankless job, but an important one.  There are a lot of rules out there, and everyone has a different interpretation of them.

Finally, I was watching a video by Marie Forleo (https://www.marieforleo.com/blog/when-you-feel-useless-and-alone) where she encouraged everyone to comment on social media, with the hashtag #5GreatThings and give a heartfelt shout out to someone you love.  Tell them five great things you appreciate about who they are.

So I would like to list #5GreatThings about Paul

1. Paul is witty - His jokes crack me up.  I love making little jabs at Paul, and he always comes back with an even more clever joke.
2. Paul is consistent and reliable - He is always there to open the doors of the CSCC, and writes his newsletters on a consistent basis.  If he says he is going to do something, he will (except return my demo board that he borrowed about 6 years ago)
3. Paul is a leader.  He is doing great work at the CSCC and has really stepped up.
4. Paul is wise.  He has a lot of good and original ideas.
5. Paul is patient.  He doesn't care if it takes him 110 moves to win a game.  He rarely makes reckless moves, which makes him a tough opponent to play against, and is how he can maintain his impressive rating.

So, thanks Paul for inviting me back for Tim Brennan week!  Keep up the great work!

Here is my game from the Colorado Open against LMBW.  Can you see how I could have gone into a winning endgame at the end instead of taking a draw?  I was worried about the run-away h pawn.

White to move

Your Friend, Tim Brennan

Make It So

[Event "Colorado Springs Open"]
[Site "https://cschessnews.blogspot.com/"]
[Date "2015.03.07"]
[Round "2.1"]
[White "Brennan, Tim"]
[Black "Wall, Brian"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B00"]
[WhiteElo "1816"]
[BlackElo "2278"]
[PlyCount "104"]
[EventDate "2015.03.07"]

1. e4 a6 2. d4 e6 3. c4 c5 4. Nf3 cxd4 5. Nxd4 Bd6 6. Nc3 b6 7. Bd3 Bb7 8. f4 Bc7 9. Qe2 d6 10. Be3 Nf6 11. g4 d5 12. cxd5 exd5 13. exd5 O-O 14. O-O-O Re8 15. Nc2 Bxf4 16. Qf2 Bxe3+ 17. Nxe3 Nfd7 18. Rhf1 Ne5 19. Bc2 Nbd7 20. Qf5 g6 21. Qf4 Qh4 22. h3 Rf8 23. Kb1 Rab8 24. Bb3 Kg7 25. Ne4 h6 26. Ng2 Qd8 27. g5 h5 28. Nf6 b5 29. Qe4 Nc4 30. Nf4 Nxf6 31. gxf6+ Kh6 32. Bxc4 bxc4 33. Qe3 Re8 34. Ne6+ Kh7 35. Nxd8 Rxe3 36. Nxf7 Rf8 37. Ng5+ Kh6 38. h4 Bc8 39. f7 Kg7 40. Rde1 Bf5+ 41. Kc1 Rd3 42. Ne6+ Kxf7 43. Nxf8 Kxf8 44. Rd1 Ke7 45. Rxd3 cxd3 46. Kd2 Kd6 47. Rf4 Kxd5 48. Ra4 Ke5 49. Rxa6 Kf4 50. Ra4+ Kg3 51. Rd4 g5 52. hxg5 h4 1/2-1/2

https://www.chessvideos.tv/chess-game-replayer.php?id=101159

This Week In Chess

On April 7th, the Colorado Springs Chess Club hosted the April Swiss 75 (4SS, G/75+30, $10 entry).  10 players battled on 5 boards this evening.

Here are the results:

Score, Player

1.0 Rhett Langseth
1.0 Richard Buchanan
1.0 Aleksand Bozhenov
1.0 Brian Jo Rountree
1.0 Mark McGough
0.0 Justice Myers
0.0 Jordan Myers
0.0 Dean W Brown
0.0 Dan Prutz
0.0 Federico Carreon

Tim Brennan Resurrects

Game Of The Week

By Tim Brennan

Thanks Paul, for inviting me to be part of your "Tim Brennan Week" again!

As Mark Twain said, "Rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated!"

Tim's back from the grave for yet another book!

Now that I am done spending dozens of hours responding to press releases and media inquires regarding the story that I have quit chess (https://cschessnews.blogspot.com/2014/03/tim-brennan-resigns.html), I have some free time to write a guest newsletter!

One of the things that I really like about Paul Anderson's chess ideas and teachings is that he realizes that in order to become a better chess player, you have to become a better person.

Chess isn't just about openings, tactics, strategies, endgames, etc, etc.  Becoming a better person, and a better chess player go hand in hand.

I was reading a very interesting article on time.com this morning entitled "8 Things the Most Successful People Do That Make Them Great" (https://time.com/59658/8-things-the-most-successful-people-do-that-make-them-great/) and I think most of them could apply to getting better at chess as well.

Success in any area is about building good habits, and eliminating bad habits - including chess.

Jim Rohn, who recently passed away, and was the mentor of Tony Robbins, talks about this idea in relationship to earning money by quoting his mentor, Earl Shoaff:

Set a goal to become a millionaire for what it makes of you to achieve it.

He said, “Do it for the skills you have to learn and the person you have to become.  Do it for what you end up knowing about the marketplace, what you’ll learn about the management of time and working with people.  Do it for the ability of discovering how to keep your ego in check.  For what you have to learn about being benevolent.  Being kind as well as being strong.  What you have to learn about society and business and government and taxes and becoming an accomplished person to reach the status of millionaire.

All that you have learned and all that you’ve become to reach the status of millionaire is what’s valuable.  Not the million dollars." (page 20, Conversations with Millionaires, by Mike Litman and Jason Omar)

Paul has said similar things about chess, which many chess teachers never mention or think about.

For example, if you lifestyle is something out of a "girls gone wild" video, you probably are not going to reach your chess goals as quickly as you would like.  If you have emotional issues, and cannot control your temper, you probably will have a hard time handling a loss or a tough tournament.  If your ego is so fragile that you cannot handle losing, then you are not going to get very far.  If your ability to concentrate is worse than a kitten hopped up on catnip during a laser light show, you are going to have problems at the chess board.

To become good at chess, you have to learn patience, and discipline.  You have to try and find the best move every turn, even when you don't feel like it, and your brain wants to take a break.

It is about the journey - not the destination.  It is about small improvements - constant and never ending improvements - which build up over time.  It is about pinpointing your bad habits and weaknesses, and fixing them.  It is about learning from mistakes and doing your best every time.  It is about using your time wisely.

All of these things apply to getting better at chess and life.

Here is a very interesting game that I was sitting next to yesterday during Lee Simmon's monthly chess tournament at the Colorado Chess center.

White to move

Thanks Paul for your great newsletters!  I always enjoy them!  Keep up the good work!

Tim Brennan

P.S. Be sure to check out my best selling chess tactics books on amazon!

https://a.co/d/0bHKSazR

I think that you will like them, and they will help your chess game!

Tim Brennan Resurrects

[Event "C.S. Chess Center April Tournament"]
[Site "https://cschessnews.blogspot.com/"]
[Date "2014.04.12"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Wu, Andy Honeyu"]
[Black "Carson, Anthea"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C78"]
[WhiteElo "1713"]
[BlackElo "1712"]
[PlyCount "37"]
[SourceDate "2014.04.12"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O b5 6. Bb3 Bc5 7. c3 d6 8. d4 Bb6 9. h3 Bb7 10. Re1 O-O 11. Bg5 Qe7 12. Nh4 exd4 13. Nf5 Qe5 14. f4 dxc3+ 15. Kh1 cxb2 16. fxe5 bxa1=Q 17. Bxf6 Nxe5 18. Qh5 Bxe4 19. Qh6 1-0

https://www.chessvideos.tv/chess-game-replayer.php?id=91369

This Week In Chess

On April 1st, the Colorado Springs Chess Club held a free, Quad event.  Since the USCF-rated players didn't fit smoothly into a multiple of 4, they were grouped into one Swiss tournament.  Imre went unbeaten to claim 1st place in the rated section, along with Earle Wikle and Rezheen Hamid in the unrated sections.

Swiss tournament (3SS, G30):

2.5 Imre Barlay
2.0 Mark McGough
2.0 Daniel Herman
1.5 Koji Del Conte
1.0 Paul Anderson
0.0 Brandon Hilliard

Unrated Quad A (RR, G20):

3.0 Earle Wikle
2.0 Peter Barlay
1.0 Mike Makinney*
0.0 Ben Matthews

Unrated Quad B (RR, G20):

3.0 Rezheen Hamid
2.0 Paul Mark Protheroe
1.0 Shirley Herman
0.0 David Silva

* Dean Brown substitution after round 1

Tuesday Night Chess Tour Standings for 2nd Quarter

MAX POSSIBLE 52.00 8.00

1 Paul Anderson 32.50 1.00
2 Richard Buchanan 27.00 3.50
3 Daniel Herman 26.33 6.00
4 Mark McGough 16.83 3.50
5 Koji DelConte 16.00 1.00
6 Shirley Herman 15.00 3.00
7 Joe Pahk 13.50 0.00
8 Earle Wikle 11.00 6.00
9 William Benedek 10.50 1.00
10 Imre Barlay 10.00 4.00
11 Josh Bloomer 8.00 0.00
12 Dean Brown 7.00 2.00
13 Eugin Pahk 6.00 0.00
14 Mike Madsen 6.00 1.00
15 Alex Freeman 5.33 0.00
16 Larry Kledzik 5.00 0.00
17 Ben Matthews 5.00 1.00
18 Peter Barlay 5.00 3.00
19 Sara Herman 4.00 0.00
20 Katie Wise 4.00 0.00
21 Paul Protheroe 4.00 4.00
22 Rezheen Hamid 4.00 4.00
23 Kevin Kaaoush 3.00 0.00
24 Alex Torres 3.00 0.00
25 Gunnar Andersen 3.00 0.00
26 Gary Atkinson 2.00 0.00
27 John Byrne 2.00 0.00
28 Robert Jimenez 2.00 0.00
29 Ron Dotson 2.00 0.00
30 Chris Wynkoop 2.00 0.00
31 Peter Wise 2.00 0.00
32 Mike Makinney 2.00 2.00
33 Bobby Dzagen 1.00 0.00
34 Adam Metzger 1.00 0.00
35 Web McNairy 1.00 0.00
36 Jeff Fox 1.00 1.00
37 Jeremy Hawks 1.00 1.00
38 Phil Van Hawk 1.00 1.00
39 David Silva 1.00 1.00
40 Brandon Hilliard 1.00 1.00

Tim Brennan Resigns

Game Of The Week

It is with mixed emotions that I announce that Tim Brennan has resigned.

It is sad to see him resign after doing so much for Colorado Chess.  He served as editor of the Colorado Chess Informant and created the Tactics Time column and Tactics Time Kindle books.  His constant complaining got the Denver Chess Club to update their ratings.  Also, he used that annoying personality to return the Colorado Springs City Championship to a rated event as well.

While not all his efforts have been successful, he continued to work tirelessly to pester tournament directors to harass innocent, low-rated players about the pointless minutia of the USCF rule book regarding electronic score-keeping devices and to punish paying, well-meaning players who show up for their games within the USCF-allowed grace period rather than the irresponsible players who forfeit games without notice.

However, the growing burden of running the Tactics Time empire became too much for him.  In an effort to automate the process, he created a chess program that got out of control and took over his entire life.  His whereabouts are still unknown.  The last known images of Tim were saved from his laptop computer's web cam:

Fortunately, Tim penned a resignation letter with a contingency plan should the automation fail.  He named myself as sole heir and executor of the Tactics Time fortune, as long as I promise that I will do my best to continue to delude low-rated players that chess is 99% tactics (the other 1% being setting up the board).

So, it is with great pride that I publish Tim's last tactics puzzle.  He chose this position from one of my actual tournament games (just like 99% of the Tactic Time books), in which a class player might find themselves, rather than from a Grandmaster game they couldn't possibly understand or appreciate.

White to move and find the winning tactic!

Tim Brennan Resigns

[Event "Pikes Peak Open"]
[Site "https://cschessnews.blogspot.com/"]
[Date "1999.08.08"]
[Round "4.14"]
[White "Anderson, Paul"]
[Black "Krowczyk, Mark"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A10"]
[WhiteElo "1553"]
[BlackElo "1819"]
[PlyCount "1"]
[EventDate "1999.08.07"]
[TimeControl "40/7200:20/3600:20/3600"]

1. c4 1-0

https://www.chessvideos.tv/chess-game-replayer.php?id=90900

This Week In Chess

On March 25th, the Colorado Springs Chess Club held its most-beloved Thematic, Double Swiss event (3SS, G10).  The theme chosen for this night was the King's Gambit opening from MCO-14.  A grand time was had by all, and the members showered me in gold coins, as I went unbeaten and played the most beautiful chess in the history of the game.

All games started: 1. e4 e5 2. f4

6.0 Paul Anderson
5.0 Gunnar Andersen
4.0 Peter Wise
3.5 Katie Wise
3.0 Koji Del Conte
3.0 Mark McGough
3.0 Daniel Herman
2.5 William Benedek
2.0 Earle Wikle
2.0 Buck Buchanan
2.0 Shirley Herman
0.0 Gary Atkinson

Tuesday Night Chess Tour Results for 1st Quarter

MAX POSSIBLE 44.00 44.00

1 Paul Anderson 31.50 31.50
2 Richard Buchanan 23.50 23.50
3 Daniel Herman 20.33 20.33
4 Koji DelConte 15.00 15.00
5 Joe Pahk 13.50 13.50
6 Mark McGough 13.33 13.33
7 Shirley Herman 12.00 12.00
8 William Benedek 9.50 9.50
9 Josh Bloomer 8.00 8.00
10 Eugin Pahk 6.00 6.00
11 Imre Barlay 6.00 6.00
12 Alex Freeman 5.33 5.33
13 Mike Madsen 5.00 5.00
14 Dean Brown 5.00 5.00
15 Larry Kledzik 5.00 5.00
16 Earle Wikle 5.00 5.00
17 Sara Herman 4.00 4.00
18 Ben Matthews 4.00 4.00
19 Katie Wise 4.00 4.00
20 Kevin Kaaoush 3.00 3.00
21 Alex Torres 3.00 3.00
22 Gunnar Andersen 3.00 3.00
23 Gary Atkinson 2.00 2.00
24 John Byrne 2.00 2.00
25 Robert Jimenez 2.00 2.00
26 Ron Dotson 2.00 2.00
27 Chris Wynkoop 2.00 2.00
28 Peter Barlay 2.00 2.00
29 Wise, Peter 2.00 2.00
30 Bobby Dzagen 1.00 1.00
31 Adam Metzger 1.00 1.00
32 Web McNairy 1.00 1.00

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

Tragic Flaw

Game Of The Week

By Tim Brennan

Pardon the interruption, boys and girls, but I'm Tim Brennan, and I will be hosting Paul's Newsletter today!

Sorry to disappoint those of you tuning in today hoping to continue reading Paul's new series on his most brilliant wins against Kathy Schneider, part 5 of 12, but I promise he will be back next week to go over every pawn push in the those epic battles!

Thanks for having me here today Paul!  It is an honor!

There has been a lot of politics going on in Colorado these days.  People are complaining about the Colorado Closed, the use of electronic devices, and everything in between.  It reminds me of a joke from the world of academia...

Why is the infighting so vicious?

Because the stakes are so low!

One of the things that I really admire about Paul is that he manages to stay out of the mud on these issues.  Personally, I end up getting sucked into a lot of these issues, and often play the role of internet troll throwing gas on the fires, which I have to admit I enjoy doing.

Paul has a really great sense of humor about things, and often makes little jokes and quips about these issues without offending anyone, which is a great quality.

Paul is also quite an amazing chess player.  He is also an excellent teacher and writer on the subject of chess.  He has a great positional understanding, a solid opening repertoire, and amazing endgame skills.  He has pulled himself up by the bootstraps, and has become one of the best, and most respected chess players in all of Colorado.

But, as Aristotle wrote, every hero has a hamartia - a tragic flaw.  If you think about today's popular comic heroes - they all have some kind of tragic flaw:

• Superman has kryptonite
• Daredevil hates noise
• Green Lantern has the color yellow

As near perfect as Paul's game has become, after years of honing his craft, spending hours pouring over computer analysis, achieving an understanding of the most complex middle game pawn structures that most of us could never dream of, he still has one flaw, one weakness, one hole in his game.

And I am going to share it with each and every one of you here today!  Paul Anderson's one and only weakness is (drum roll please!):

Playing against the authors of Tactics Time! 1001 Chess Tactics from the Games of Everyday Chess Players [Kindle Edition]

Now this might sound lame, but really, is it any more lame than having your weakness being the color yellow?

I have to admit that I have an unfair advantage because we looked at hundreds of Paul's games while putting together this book.  In fact, about 8% of the book comes from Paul's games.

(Paul, please insert my 15 pages of multimedia, high pressure sales copy for the book here including reviews, testimonials, video trailers, thanks.  I am also experimenting with a hypnotic subliminal MP3 to convince people to buy the book - is there any way to get that to play while people read this email? )

Now that you are done reading (and listening, heehee) to all that, let's look at a position from Tactics Time vs Paul Anderson :

White to move

White played Rxf7!

So, now you are probably thinking to yourself: 

 "Self, I would love to have this kind of tactical power!  To be able to score 300 point upsets!  If only there were a way?"

Well luckily there is!  AND - Since this is Tim Brennan week - I am going to give you this book, that will turn you into a tactical demigod, for FREE!!!

Check out Tactics Time!  1001 Chess Tactics from the Games of Everyday Chess Players [Kindle Edition] and start unleashing heck on your opponents today!

http://www.amazon.com/Tactics-Chess-Everyday-Players-ebook/dp/B009TBYA7U

Be sure to tell your chess friends!

Thanks Paul, for having my here today as your guest.  Keep up the great work!

Your Friend, Tim Brennan

Tragic Flaw

[Event "Cabin Fever Reliever"]
[Site "https://cschessnews.blogspot.com/"]
[Date "2013.02.19"]
[Round "3.1"]
[White "Brennan, Timothy"]
[Black "Anderson, Paul"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B10"]
[WhiteElo "1755"]
[BlackElo "2038"]
[PlyCount "55"]
[EventDate "2013.02.12"]
[TimeControl "1800"]

1. e4 c6 2. f4 d6 3. Nf3 g6 4. Bc4 Bg7 5. O-O Nf6 6. d3 O-O 7. c3 Ng4 8. h3 Qb6+ 9. d4 Nf6 10. e5 dxe5 11. fxe5 Nd5 12. Bb3 Bf5 13. c4 Nb4 14. Nc3 Nd3 15. g4 Nxc1 16. Rxc1 Bc8 17. Ng5 Qc7 18. c5 e6 19. Nce4 Bh6 20. Nf6+ Kg7 21. Qd2 Nd7 22. Nfxh7 Bxg5 23. Nxg5 Qd8 24. Rxf7+ Rxf7 25. Nxe6+ Kh7 26. Nxd8 Rg7 27. Nf7 Nf8 28. Qh6+ 1-0

https://www.chessvideos.tv/chess-game-replayer.php?id=78567

This Week In Chess

On April 9th, the Colorado Springs Chess Club held a quad event.  Eight players were grouped into 2 quads for a USCF-rated and unrated Round Robin tournament (RR, G30 and G20).  NM Josh Bloomer went unbeaten in the rated quad while there was a three-way tie for 1st in the unrated quad.  Here are the results:

Score, Player:

Rated Quad (G30):

3.0 Josh Bloomer
2.0 Isaac Martinez
1.0 Alex Torres
0.0 Curtis Holsinger

Unrated Quad (G20):

2.0 Mike Madsen
2.0 Koji Del Conte
2.0 Paul Anderson
0.0 Wesley Smith

Tuesday Night Chess Tour Cumulative and 2nd Quarter Standings

1 Paul Anderson 30.50 5.50
2 Mark McGough 13.00 1.00
3 Tim Brennan 12.00 0.00
4 Mike Madsen 11.50 4.00
5 Alex Torres 11.00 3.00
6 Koji DelConte 10.50 4.00
7 Josh Bloomer 10.50 8.00
8 Isaac Martinez 8.00 3.00
9 Dean Brown 7.00 0.00
10 Alex Freeman 5.00 0.00
11 Jeff Fox 4.50 0.00
12 Brian Rountree 4.00 0.00
13 Daniel Herman 4.00 0.00
14 Sara Herman 4.00 0.00
15 Peter Grigg 4.00 1.00
16 Eugin Pahk 3.00 0.00
17 Josh Divine 2.50 2.50
18 Anthea Carson 2.00 0.00
19 Mike Wanek 2.00 0.00
20 James Powers 2.00 0.00
21 Shirley Herman 2.00 0.00
22 Wes Smith 2.00 1.00
23 Rebecca Herman 1.50 0.00
24 Joe Pahk 1.50 0.00
25 Mike Toth 1.00 0.00
26 Buddy Diamond 1.00 0.00
27 Kathy Schneider 1.00 0.00
28 Curits Holsinger 1.00 1.00

Colorado Closed‏

By Buck Buchanan

April 19 - 21, Manitou Springs: 2013 Colorado Closed / Scholastic Closed. 5 - RR in 4 sections. Time control G/90 with 30 second increment.

Masonic Lodge, 455 El Paso Blvd, Manitou Springs

Rd 1 Friday, 4/19, 7:00 PM
Rds 2-3 Saturday, 4/20, 10:00 AM and 5:00 PM
Rds 4-5 Sunday, 4/21, 9:00 AM and 3:00 PM

Prizes: Championship sections 1st place $100, 2nd $50; Challenger sections 1st $75, 2nd $40.

***********************************************

OK, Here are the pairings for all sections. The player whose number comes first in each pairing has White.

Round One 3-6 5-4 1-2
Round Two 2-6 4-1 3-5
Round Three 6-5 1-3 4-2
Round Four 6-4 5-1 2-3
Round Five 1-6 2-5 3-4

And here are the players for each section with their pairing numbers. These have been determined randomly.

COLORADO CLOSED CHAMPIONSHIP

1 Randy Canney 2238
2 Robert Cousins 2141
3 Jackson Chen 2092
4 Brian Wall 2204
5 Michael Ginat 2238
6 Zach Bekkedahl 2165

COLORADO CLOSED CHALLENGER

1 Robert Ramirez 2135
2 Chris Peterson 2104
3 Kevin Seidler 2099
4 Paul Anderson 2038
5 Josh Jex 2005
6 David Hartsook 2105

SCHOLASTICS CLOSED CHAMPIONSHIP

1 Brady Barkemayer 1626
2 Gunnar Andersen 1934
3 Justin Alter 1820
4 Ryan Swerdlin 1915
5 Nabil Spann 1849
6 Deanna Alter 1776

SCHOLASTICS CLOSED CHALLENGER

1 Cory Kohler 1583
2 Andy Wu 1632
3 Suhass Narayanan 1764
4 (Player X)
5 Luke Stephens 1721
6 Isaac Martinez 1734

Wise Beyond Her Years

Game Of The Week

A dangerous heresy is circulating!  I wanted to warn the chess playing public about a malicious doctrine that is infecting the Colorado chess scene.  It is as deadly as the plague, and it has ruined the minds of every chess player who has fallen under its spell.

Be warned!  Do not be lured in by its siren’s song.  It has the appearance of wisdom, but it only serves to retard the strategic planning center of the brain.  And don’t think you are invincible.  It is coming for you.  Its agents are wolves in sheep clothing.  You must stand firm, and you will be rewarded with a crown of rating points!

Tim the Tactician is advocating a “Never Resign” philosophy.  While he is not the first chess player to do so, he has become an internet marketing guru who has grown his Tactics Time website from 3 subscribers to over 7,000 followers in about a year, using high pressure tactics like pop-up ads.  Now, he is using this forum and his endless supply of positive affirmations to turn the adult chess playing population into mindless zombies who refuse to concede defeat no matter how grim the circumstances.  He wants all middle-aged, middle-class, chess players to blindly play on like one of his automated, follower-generating computer programs.

If I had to compare Tim to one of the characters in Monty Python And The Holy Grail, the obvious choice would be Tim The Enchanter.  However, that character has no relevance to the point I am trying to make.  So, I will use the Black Knight instead.  He is the classic example of the Tim Brennan philosophy “Never Resign.”  

When King Arthur cuts off his left arm, he replies, “Tis but a scratch.”  Since the Black Knight still has one arm left to hold his sword, he fights on.  King Arthur quickly removes the Knight’s right arm, to which the Knight responds, “I’ve had worse.”  Undaunted, the Knight begins to kick King Arthur.  After severing one leg, the Knight exclaims, “It's just a flesh wound!”  Finally, King Arthur is forced to remove the final limb, to which the Knight offers, “All right, we'll call it a draw.”

While this humorous example is entertaining to watch in the comfort of your family room, it is far less entertaining to watch played out over the chess board.  Especially if you are King Arthur being forced to fight a long, slow pointless battle with no benefit to you other than maybe learning not to blunder out of boredom.

Resignation is one of the toughest skills to learn as a chess player.  Not only does it require the player to analyze the position, but also the opponent, the time, and yourself.  The player must count the cost for each of these items.  The player must evaluate the material disadvantage and the possibility of overcoming this deficit.

“Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage, and desireth conditions of peace.”

Luke 14:31-32 (KJV)

Once the position has been scrutinized, it is time to assess the opponent.  If your plan to play on is to hope for a blunder, then the higher the rating of your opponent the less likely that is going to happen.  Of course, time pressure can effect your opponent.  If your opponent is under one minute on his clock, blunders are far more likely.  In addition, very little time left on the clock means that you won’t be wasting much of the opponent’s time.

However, the hardest part of resigning is admitting failure.  Sometimes chess players would rather flag or get mated than have to admit they lost.  This takes humility, and lots of chess players are not willing to learn the spiritual lessons of chess.  One does not want to resign out of anger, which would be a lack of self-control.  But also, one does not want to play on out of pride, which would be a lack of meekness.

Learn from the example of a wise young maiden.  I was really impressed with Katie after our June Panera game (https://cschessnews.blogspot.com/2012/07/nothing-is-over.html).  It was not because of her play, but rather it was because of her resignation.  I have played a lot of scholastic kids who have been taught to “Never Resign” and was expecting a long, slow death for Katie after she fell behind two pawns.  However, she graciously shook my hand and went on to use her time more wisely.

One could argue that Katie has not learned to think but rather that she has just memorized a different mantra:  Two pawns are winning.  If that were the case, then she would resign anytime she got down two pawns.  While I considered that possibility, it only took six months to realize that was not the case.  Here is an example from our next game where she also fell behind two pawns but chose to play on.

Black to move

Again I have gained a two pawn advantage.  However, we are much further into the game and the time is a factor now.  This time she decided to play on.  It was a good decision, despite the fact that I still won the game, as the time pressure caused both of us to miss good moves.

So, the decision to resign was right, and the decision to not resign was right.  The important part is learning how to make that decision.

The “Never Resign” philosophy is quick and easy.  It requires no learning.  Sure, it may work a small percentage of the time.  One may even get an upset over a higher-rated player because of it or finish higher in the standings to take home some prize winnings.

However, all glory is fleeting.  Rating points will be lost again, and prize money will be spent.  Nothing truly valuable has been gained.  Yet it comes with a cost.  It keeps the chess player in a state of suspended development never being able to admit his mistakes and grow from them.

This is why I say, “Tim Brennan must be stopped!” 

He must resign from this current philosophy and concede it is flawed.  He must be stopped from creating an army of Black Knights who cannot and will not ever admit defeat.  While he has been a long time member of Colorado Springs Chess News, it is with a heavy heart that I recommend Tim be dismembered.  Should Tim show true repentance, turn from his ways, and learn how to resign, then he can be remembered as part of Colorado Springs Chess News.

Wise Beyond Her Years

[Event "December Panera"]
[Site "https://cschessnews.blogspot.com/"]
[Date "2011.12.01"]
[Round "1.1"]
[White "Wise, Katie"]
[Black "Anderson, Paul"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A03"]
[WhiteElo "1837"]
[BlackElo "1962"]
[PlyCount "120"]
[EventDate "2011.12.01"]
[TimeControl "5400"]

1. f4 d5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. g3 Bf5 4. Bg2 e6 5. O-O Bc5+ 6. Kh1 Nf6 7. d3 Ng4 8. Qe1 Ne3 9. Bxe3 Bxe3 10. c3 Bc5 11. e4 dxe4 12. dxe4 Bg4 13. Nbd2 Qd3 14. Nb3 Bb6 15. Rd1 Qe3 16. Nbd4 Qxe1 17. Rdxe1 Nxd4 18. Nxd4 O-O-O 19. h3 e5 20. hxg4 exd4 21. cxd4 Rxd4 22. Bf3 Rd2 23. Re2 Rhd8 24. b4 Rxe2 25. Bxe2 Rd2 26. Bc4 f6 27. Rf3 Rd4 28. Bd3 Rxb4 29. e5 h6 30. e6 Kd8 31. g5 Ke7 32. gxh6 gxh6 33. Bf5 Rd4 34. Kg2 Rd2+ 35. Kh3 Bd4 36. Rb3 b6 37. Rb1 Rxa2 38. Rh1 Ra3 39. Rh2 a5 40. Kg4 Re3 41. Rxh6 Bc5 42. Rh7+ Kd6 43. Rd7+ Kc6 44. Rf7 a4 45. Rxf6 Be7 46. Rh6 Re1 47. Kf3 a3 48. Rh2 b5 49. g4 Bd6 50. Be4+ Kc5 51. Rc2+ Kb4 52. f5 Rg1 53. f6 Rg3+ 54. Kf2 Rxg4 55. Bf3 Rh4 56. Re2 Rh2+ 57. Bg2 Rh6 58. e7 Rxf6+ 59. Ke1 Bxe7 60. Rxe7 a2 0-1

https://www.chessvideos.tv/chess-game-replayer.php?id=67825

This Week In Chess

On July 17th, the Colorado Springs Chess Club held a Swiss event.  The participants played in a Quick-rated, Swiss tournament (3SS, G20).  Isaac Martinez went unbeaten to claim the top spot.  Here are the results:

Score, Player

3.0 Isaac Martinez
2.0 Paul Anderson
2.0 Mark McGough
2.0 Gunnar Andersen
2.0 Joe Pahk
2.0 Peter Grigg
2.0 William Malone
1.5 Buck Buchanan
1.5 Anthea Carson
1.0 Mike Madsen
1.0 Daniel Herman
1.0 Eugin Pahk
0.0 Sara Herman
0.0 Shirley Herman

Nothing Is Over!

Game Of The Week

by Tim Brennan

[Today I viewed an article that Tim Brennan's website is sending out.  I have to express my deep disappointment that he is continuing to share false and discredited blogs with information that is not true to the chess players of Colorado.  He says one thing in podcasts and then he turns around and does this.  Shame on you, Tim Brennan!]

There is a dangerous “mind virus” being propagated by Paul Anderson, and his ilk, here in the chess community of Colorado Springs.

And I am not referring to 

• the unsolicited “Evolution is a Myth” creationist propaganda that the Anderson clan passes out at tournaments
• how Paul refers to himself as an “Expert” even during the times Anthea Carson NN has slapped his rating back to the 1900s
• the flagrant violations of US Copyright law Title 17 USC § 302 which take place on Paul’s YouTube Channel.

No, this “meme” is much more serious, and dangerous.

It threatens to rob of us of 

• beautiful games
• studies
• tactics
• all of the things that we love about the game of chess

It promises to stunt the minds and growth opportunities of our young and steal the last hopes and dreams of our old.

What is this horrendous seed of poison that Paul is trying to plant into our collective consciousness you ask?

Paul’s warped idea is that you should resign early, which shows respect to your opponent, and chess “maturity.”

Normally I think that Paul, who writes the really interesting Colorado Springs Chess Newsletter, has a lot of great ideas and thoughts.

But this brain child of Paul’s goes against just about everything that I believe in, and rant about in my own chess newsletters.

My own ideas about “when to resign” in a game are based on the teachings of my mentors Paul Grimm, Francisco Baltier, and Rambo – John J Rambo!

Nothing is Over!

Or to quote Bluto from Animal House:

"What? Over? Did you say “over?”  Nothing is over until we decide it is!  Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?  Hell no!"

I love this kind of fighting spirit!

In the past year I have looked at thousands of games looking for good examples to use in my chess tactics newsletter, chess column, and chess training database.

The most important thing I have learned is that we all make mistakes, and we are constantly making them.

Just recently I have seen:

• A Grandmaster fall for a stalemate trap at the 2012 National Open, with a totally winning position
• A Grandmaster just leave his bishop unprotected for no reason on move 7 in the US Championship.
• A Grandmaster get his queen trapped in the World Championship match

And these are the types of blunders that are happening to the best players in the world!

Paul likes to publicly praise his opponents who resign down a pawn or 2 against him:

"Learn from the example of a wise young maiden.  I was really impressed with Katie after this game.  It was not because of her play, but rather it was because of her resignation.  I have played a lot of scholastic kids who have been taught to “Never Resign” and was expecting a long, slow death for Katie after she fell behind two pawns.  However, she graciously shook my hand and went on to use her time more wisely." 

Paul Anderson, Colorado Chess Informant, July 2012

White to move

Of course he does!  He wants to reenforce this type of behavior in others, just like Pavlov ringing a bell to make a dog salivate.

When people resign early against him, it just makes his life easier, and basically gives him free rating points!

But when the tables are turned, does Paul himself resign early?

Hell to the no!

Recent stories include drawing Jeff Baffo in a blitz game after blundering a queen, beating Buck Buchanan after a dubious knight sac, and drawing Jeff Fox down a bishop.

See, Paul likes it when people resign against him, not the other way around.

It is kind of like taking the bus and using public transportation instead of driving a car – everyone thinks it is a great idea – FOR OTHER PEOPLE TO DO!

I could easily give hundreds of examples of games where someone was losing, didn’t resign, then came back to win or draw.  That would be like shooting fish in a barrel.

Instead, I will just invite you to play my friend Paul Anderson sometime, and do as he does, not as he says!

Nothing Is Over!

[Event "June Panera"]
[Site "https://cschessnews.blogspot.com/"]
[Site "Colorado Springs"]
[Date "2011.06.02"]
[Round "1.1"]
[White "Wise, Katie"]
[Black "Anderson, Paul"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B07"]
[WhiteElo "1815"]
[BlackElo "1938"]
[PlyCount "38"]
[EventDate "2011.06.02"]
[TimeControl "5400"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. Bd3 d6 5. h3 Nf6 6. O-O O-O 7. c4 Na6 8. Re1 Nd7 9. Bg5 c5 10. Bf1 cxd4 11. Nbd2 Qe8 12. Nh2 e5 13. f4 f6 14. Bh4 Ndc5 15. Bg3 Bd7 16. Rb1 Nb4 17. Ndf3 Nxa2 18. Qd2 a5 19. Nh4 Bc6 0-1

https://www.chessvideos.tv/chess-game-replayer.php?id=67509

This Week In Chess

On July 10th, the Colorado Springs Chess Club held a Quad event.  The participants were split into groups of 4 for a rated, Round Robin tournament (RR, G30) and an unrated, Round Robin tournament (RR, G20).  Joe Pahk and Mike Madsen won the rated quads while Mark McGough and Tyler Ruona won the unrated quads.  Here are the results:

Score, Player

Quad A (rated)

2.5 Joe Pahk
2.0 Josh Divine
1.5 Jeff Fox
0.0 Peter Grigg

Quad B (rated)

3.0 Mike Madsen
2.0 Daniel Herman
1.0 Eugin Pahk
0.0 Sara Herman

Quad C (unrated)

3.0 Mark McGough
2.0 Alex Torres
1.0 David Banney
0.0 Shirley Herman

Quad D (unrated)

3.0 Tyler Ruona
2.0 Jeremy McLinden
0.5 Emily Given
0.5 Mike Kniffin