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

Bobby Fischer Challenge II

Game Of The Week

In 1963-64, Bobby Fischer went 11-0 in the US Championship.  Not only did he win the title of best chess player in the US for that year, he also did it without losing or drawing a game.  This feat is possibly the greatest achievement in organized sports.

Last year, I created for myself my own Bobby Fischer Challenge (https://cschessnews.blogspot.com/2012/06/bobby-fischer-challenge.html) during the month of May.  It included two 5 round events (Wednesday & Thursday Panera) and a 3 round event (club Quad).  Therefore, I would have to win 11 games and take 2 byes.

I failed miserably, losing on my 2nd game.  I went on to lose 2 more and gave up on taking the byes to salvage rating points.  I finished the month with 11.5 out of 15 games.  However, the Bobby Fischer Challenge was 11 games and in my 1st 11 games, I lost 3 of them.

Bobby Fischer Challenge 2012

1 Anderson,Paul 1999 8.0/11
2 Carson,Anthea 1729 1.0/2
3 McGough,Mark 1805 1.0/1
4 Andersen,Gunnar 1786 1.0/1
5 Buchanan,Buck 2021 0.0/1
6 Barlay,Imre 1948 0.0/1
7 Del Conte,Koji 1791 0.0/1
8 Rountree,Brian 1778 0.0/1
9 Laganiere,James 1738 0.0/1
10 Lucas,Gene 1492 0.0/1
11 Brown,Richard 1461 0.0/1

This year, the month of May again had 5 Wednesdays and 5 Thursdays so that the Challenge would be similar to last year.  However, this year my personal best streak for winning USCF-rated games was now at 10, which occurred just after the Challenge from 6/19/12 to 10/3/12.  So, the goal was close at hand.

I failed again.  However, I did improve my results from last year.  This time I did not lose any games but did draw 2.  I did use my 2 byes to keep my Challenge to 11 games this year and to keep the rating points and prize money I had earned.

Bobby Fischer Challenge 2013

May Panera Wednesday 2013

1 Anderson,Paul 2015 10.0/11
2 Martinez,Isaac 1824 0.5/3
3 Buchanan,Buck 2000 0.5/1
4 Herman,Daniel 1516 0.0/2
5 Divine,Josh 1973 0.0/1
6 Powers,James 1842 0.0/1
7 Rountree,Brian 1819 0.0/1
8 McGough,Mark 1703 0.0/1
9 Brown,Richard 1576 0.0/1

This week's game comes from the May Wednesday Panera.  It was one of the hardest fought wins during my Bobby Fischer Challenge.  I missed a tactic early in the game.  Here is the position.  See if you can do better than me.

Black to move

I did not see Bxh3 right away winning a Pawn and threatening to remove the defender of the White Knight.  I did play the move later in the game where it is not as good.  You can see the entire game below.

In any case, the Challenge was over.  I am now even more impressed with what Bobby Fischer did.  It is no wonder he is still the icon of American chess.

Bobby Fischer Challenge II

[Event "May Panera Wednesday"]
[Site "https://cschessnews.blogspot.com/"]
[Date "2013.05.15"]
[Round "3.1"]
[White "Powers, James"]
[Black "Anderson, Paul"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A40"]
[PlyCount "150"]
[EventDate "2013.05.01"]
[TimeControl "5400"]

1. d4 c6 2. c4 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. g3 d5 5. Bg2 Nh6 6. O-O O-O 7. cxd5 cxd5 8. Nc3 Nc6 9. Bf4 Bg4 10. Ne5 Nxe5 11. dxe5 d4 12. Nd5 Kh8 13. h3 Bc8 14. Qd2 Ng8 15. Rfd1 Bxh3 16. Nxe7 Bxg2 17. Nxg8 Bc6 18. Nf6 Bxf6 19. exf6 Qxf6 20. Qxd4 Qxd4 21. Rxd4 Rfe8 22. Be3 Kg7 23. Rd2 Re6 24. Bd4+ Kf8 25. f3 a6 26. Kf2 f6 27. e4 Kg8 28. Re1 Rae8 29. Bc3 f5 30. e5 g5 31. Rd6 Kf7 32. Rxe6 Rxe6 33. Ke3 Rh6 34. Re2 Rh3 35. Kd4 Ke6 36. f4 gxf4 37. gxf4 b6 38. Bd2 Bb5 39. Re3 Rh4 40. Rg3 Rh2 41. Kc3 Bc6 42. Be3 b5 43. Rg7 a5 44. Bc5 Kd5 45. Bg1 Rh3+ 46. Kd2 h5 47. Rg6 Be8 48. Rd6+ Ke4 49. Rd4+ Kf3 50. e6 Rg3 51. Rd3+ Kg2 52. Rxg3+ Kxg3 53. Ke3 h4 54. Bf2+ Kg4 55. Bg1 Bc6 56. e7 a4 57. a3 Be8 58. Kf2 Kxf4 59. Bh2+ Kg4 60. Kg2 f4 61. Kf2 Bc6 62. Kf1 Kf3 63. Kg1 Ke3 64. Kf1 h3 65. Ke1 b4 66. Kf1 Bb5+ 67. Kg1 b3 68. Kh1 f3 69. Bg3 f2 70. Bxf2+ Kxf2 71. Kh2 Ke2 72. Kxh3 Kd2 73. Kg2 Kc2 74. Kf2 Kxb2 75. Ke1 Kc2 0-1

https://www.chessvideos.tv/chess-game-replayer.php?id=80603

This Week In Chess

On May 28th, the Colorado Springs Chess Club held a Bughouse event.  This is where players chose partners and play as a team where you can drop in captured pieces from your partner in leiu of a move.  Isaac Martinez & Daniel Herman represented the scholastic crowd well but failed to surpass the veterans, Jeff Fox & Peter Barlay and split the 1st place points.

Also, four players opted for a Quick-rated Quad (RR, G20).  Mark McGough went unbeaten to claim the 1st place points.

Here are the results:

Score, Player:

Bughouse (2RR, G5) results:

8.0 Isaac Martinez & Daniel Herman
8.0 Jeff Fox & Peter Barlay
6.0 Buck Buchanan & Kathy Schneider
4.0 Kevin Kaaoush & Shirley Herman
4.0 Paul Anderson & Eugin Pahk
0.0 Mike Madsen & Randy Canton

Quick-rated Quad (RR, G20) results:

3.0 Mark McGough
1.5 Dean Brown
1.5 Joe Pahk
0.0 Tom Richardson

Tuesday Night Chess Tour Cumulative and 2nd Quarter Standings

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

1 Paul Anderson 52.00 27.00
2 Isaac Martinez 28.50 23.50
3 Mark McGough 26.25 14.25
4 Mike Madsen 23.50 16.00
5 Jeff Fox 13.75 9.25
6 Koji DelConte 13.50 7.00
7 Alex Torres 13.00 5.00
8 Dean Brown 12.50 5.50
9 Daniel Herman 12.50 8.50
10 Tim Brennan 12.00 0.00
11 Peter Grigg 11.00 8.00
12 Josh Bloomer 10.50 8.00
13 Shirley Herman 8.00 6.00
14 Richard Buchanan 6.75 6.75
15 Sara Herman 6.00 2.00
16 Alex Freeman 5.00 0.00
17 Randy Canton 5.00 5.00
18 Josh Divine 4.25 4.25
19 Brian Rountree 4.00 0.00
20 Scott Williams 4.00 4.00
21 Eugin Pahk 4.00 1.00
22 Tom Richardson 4.00 4.00
23 Kathy Schneider 4.00 3.00
24 Joe Pahk 4.00 2.50
25 Peter Barlay 3.50 3.50
26 Joe Polanco 3.00 3.00
27 Anthea Carson 2.00 0.00
28 Mike Wanek 2.00 0.00
29 James Powers 2.00 0.00
30 Wes Smith 2.00 1.00
31 William Wilken 2.00 2.00
32 Kevin Kaaoush 2.00 2.00
33 Rebecca Herman 1.50 0.00
34 Mike Toth 1.00 0.00
35 Buddy Diamond 1.00 0.00
36 Curits Holsinger 1.00 1.00
37 Evan Baron 1.00 1.00
38 Teppei Monjiyama 1.00 1.00
39 Nicholas Wyle 1.00 1.00
40 Imre Barlay 1.00 1.00

MAX POSSIBLE 64.00 36.00

Chess Booth At The Colorado Renaissance Festival

The Colorado Springs Chess Club runs a booth at the Colorado Renaissance Festival (http://coloradorenaissance.com/).  If you are going to be there or are looking for some summer fun, be sure to stop by the booth and play the monks a game or two.

Ye Gaming Monks

I will be there June 23, June 30, July 21, and both days of the final weekend August 3-4 if you are having trouble deciding when to go.

ROYAL ALE & ART FESTIVAL! June 22 & 23

Military Appreciation Weekend

A variety of ale, stout, and lager beer will be on tap for Free Sampling at the Dancing Bear Pub 11:30 a.m. ~ 2:00 p.m. This weekend only! All military personal receive a Buy-One-get-One-Free with Military I.D. plus their kids are Free.

CELTIC FESTIVAL! June 29 & 30

Enjoy a mix of Celtic pleasures. “Scottish & Irish” – Celtic Musicians along with special Celtic Dance Groups, Musicians, and Pipe Bands will be featured throughout the Realm this weekend. Don Ye Kilts for the “Best Men in Kilts” contest. Mike’s Hard Lemonade sampling at the Dancing Bear Pub, 11:30 a.m ~ 2:00 p.m.

LOVE and ROMANCE! July 20 & 21

Romancing the Throne

Join our romantic rogues and fair maidens as we create a special atmosphere for a weekend dedicated to lovers. Attend “Forever Real” Royal Wedding Ceremonies on the Rose Stage, both Saturday and Sunday. “Renewal of Vows,” bring your cherished one to a special gathering and renew your vows of faith, commitment, and love on this most romantic of weekends. ROMANCE IS IN THE AIR!

FARE THEE WELL & MARDI GRAS STYLE CARNIVALE August 3 & 4

A Final Huzzah… We invite one and all to join King Henry for his 523rd Birthday Party. It’s a weekend filled with frivolities and frolicking that is truly fit for the King. Plus A Raucous Celebration and Beads Galore! Mardi Gras today is about the Celebration of life, laughter, music, and dance. Join us in the Fun. Don your favorite mask and costume and let the “ Ye Olde Good Times Roll’ Mardi Gras Style! It will be a Festive conclusion to our 37th Anniversary Season!

Chess Dads

Game Of The Week

This week's game comes from my email match (1996-2010) with my dad.  As my Father's day gift, I publish one of his victories over me.

This year's edition was game number two, and I was not yet coming to the club.  I don't remember what I was thinking, but I make a blunder and suffered a slow death.

White to move

In this position, I had a lot of better choices than Bxg7.  Nd5 is probably the coolest, threatening to fork king and queen with Ne7+.  However, Be7, Bh4, Bg5 are all better places to put the bishop.  I guess this year's lesson from dad was to look before you leap.

It is easier for a son to lose to his dad than the other way around, especially when the son is young.  At a young age, the chess relationship is more master - disciple than as competitors.

My dad and I didn't play much in the master - disciple mode.  Most of our games were as competitors.  Losing wasn't hard for me, it just motivated me to get better.  But I had already won the first game, so I knew I could beat him.  Just having that knowledge, my the losses were easier to take.

I kind of have that mentality when I am playing the dads at the Renaissance fesitval.  I feel like it is my job to show the kids that their dads can be beaten.  Over and over.

It was that way with Joe Waggoner.  He brings his son to the Renaissance Fair every year and wins bracelet after bracelet until his son's entire arm is covered in chain mail.  I found this out because he thought Buck had quit the fair after his victories last year.

Buck is always one of the monks at the fair when Joe and his son show up.  He thought he knocked Buck out of chess like LM Brian Wall knocked him out of chess.

Well, he was back for another bracelet this year when he and his son took on Alex Freeman the first time Alex was trying to play 2 boards at once.  Of course, Alex beat the son but lost to Joe.

So, I had to make it my goal to restore the honor of the monks and show Joe's son that dad could be beat.  Joe gave it 3 tries before the cannon blast, and he was very close in a couple of games, but I am proud to say that Joe's son happily ate his ice cream set in the fact that his dad is not invincible and someday he too can beat his old man.

Chess Dads

[Event "1-1"]
[Site "https://cschessnews.blogspot.com/"]
[Date "1996.08.01"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Anderson, Paul"]
[Black "Anderson, Douglas"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D20"]
[PlyCount "100"]
[EventDate "1996.02.23"]
[TimeControl "0"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. e4 e5 4. d5 Nf6 5. Nc3 Bc5 6. Bxc4 O-O 7. Bg5 a6 8. Nf3 Qd6 9. O-O Bg4 10. Be2 Nbd7 11. a3 c6 12. Re1 Ba7 13. dxc6 Qxc6 14. Bxf6 Bxf3 15. Bxg7 Bxe2 16. Qxe2 Kxg7 17. Red1 Nf6 18. Rac1 Rac8 19. Qf3 Qe6 20. Rd3 Qg4 21. Qg3 Qxg3 22. Rxg3+ Kh8 23. Re1 Rg8 24. Rf3 Rg6 25. g3 Bd4 26. h3 Kg7 27. Kg2 Rc4 28. Re2 Bxc3 29. Rxc3 Rxc3 30. bxc3 b5 31. f3 Ne8 32. a4 Rc6 33. axb5 axb5 34. Rb2 Rc5 35. Kf2 Nd6 36. Rd2 Nc8 37. Rd3 Nb6 38. Ke2 Na4 39. Kd2 Kg6 40. h4 f6 41. g4 h5 42. Re3 Rc4 43. Kc2 b4 44. Rd3 Rxc3+ 45. Rxc3 Nxc3 46. Kb3 hxg4 47. fxg4 Nxe4 48. Kxb4 Nf2 49. g5 fxg5 50. hxg5 Kxg5 0-1

https://www.chessvideos.tv/chess-game-replayer.php?id=66987

This Week In Chess

On June 14th, the CSCC had 5 members in attendance.  The participants played speed games, but no score was kept.

Several members of the club are playing chess as monks at the Renaissance Festival this summer to promote the clubs around the state.  Alex Freeman and I played on June 18th beating all comers except Joe Wagoner, who took home a chain mail bracelet.

Here is my best guess at the results:

Wins, Player

30.0 Paul Anderson
30.0 Alex Freeman
1.0 Joe Wagoner

Dean's Choice

Game Of The Week

It is two years ago today since Allan Ufer passed away.  I still have games people sent me back in 2005 to remember him.  So, I decided to keep publishing them until I run out of games.  But I wasn’t sure which one to choose.  I thought I would turn the responsibility over to Dean Brown, the tournament director of the Al Ufer Memorial.

I was scheduled to play chess at the Renaissance Festival with Dean this past weekend.  Of course, if you have Dean, you get Kathy Schneider as well.  They are like a combo meal.  You just can’t have one without the other.

With the three of us thinking about Al, it was like a reunion of the 2001 Northwest Colorado Open’s famous The Fantastic Four picture.

It was the first time I played Renaissance chess with Dean, and it went well considering our different playing styles.  Dean is a deliberate, single-board monk while I play two boards as fast as I can.  Dean even keeps track of every outcome with his tree-mounted abacus.  He said he would track my games too, as long as I let him know each result.

I would call out, “Huzzah! Give me another bean on the bean counter.”  The customers seemed to enjoy it as they often asked how many wins I had now.  Dean also seemed to enjoy it as I suffered my first loss of the year early on in the day to the gentleman with the 2 rooks tattoo and had to tell everyone I had 1 loss while Dean gleefully added, “I’m still unbeaten!”   However, Kathy was a little confused.  She wanted to know why I kept calling Dean “Huzzah.”

By the end of the day, my style finally vindicated me as Dean finished with a winning percentage of 87% (13 wins out of 15 games) while I scored a winning percentage of 98% (44 wins out of 45 games).

The only thing left to do was select the Al Ufer game for this week.  Dean went with a game from one of Al’s most competitive rivals, Tom Mullikin.  Here is what Tom said, “In going through my games with Alan, I found I had 15 games with him.  We split 7-7-1.”

Black to move

Dean's Choice

[Event "CSCC G/90"]

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

[Date "2004.11.02"]

[Round "?"]

[White "Mullikin, Tom"]

[Black "Ufer, Allan"]

[Result "0-1"]

[ECO "B01"]

[WhiteElo "1080"]

[BlackElo "1096"]

[PlyCount "100"]

[EventDate "2004.11.02"]

1. e4 d5 2. exd5 c6 3. g3 cxd5 4. Bg2 Nf6 5. d4 Bf5 6. Nf3 Qa5+ 7. Bd2 Qb5 8.

b3 Nbd7 9. Bf1 Qc6 10. c4 Qe6+ 11. Qe2 dxc4 12. Qxe6 Bxe6 13. Bxc4 Bg4 14. Ne5

Nxe5 15. dxe5 Ne4 16. Bb5+ Bd7 17. Bxd7+ Kxd7 18. O-O Nxd2 19. Rd1 Ke6 20. Nxd2

g6 21. f4 Bg7 22. Nc4 b5 23. Ne3 f6 24. exf6 Bxf6 25. Rac1 Rad8 26. Rc6+ Kf7

27. Rxd8 Rxd8 28. Ng4 Bd4+ 29. Kg2 Ke8 30. Kf3 Bb6 31. h4 Rd2 32. Rc8+ Kf7 33.

Ne5+ Kg7 34. a4 bxa4 35. bxa4 Ra2 36. Re8 Bc5 37. Rc8 Ra3+ 38. Kg4 Bd6 39. Rc4

Kf6 40. Re4 h5+ 41. Kh3 a5 42. Nc4 Rxa4 43. Nxd6 Rxe4 44. Nxe4+ Kf5 45. Nf2 e5

46. fxe5 Kxe5 47. g4 a4 48. Nd3+ Kd4 49. gxh5 gxh5 50. Nb2 a3 0-1

https://www.chessvideos.tv/chess-game-replayer.php?id=94363 

This Week In Chess

Tuesday July 10, 2007

On July 3, the CSCC had 11 members in attendance.  In the USCF-rated ladder game (G90), Anthea Carson couldn’t claim a victory or a defeat against Tim Brennan as they agreed to a draw after deliberating the possibility of the club’s first adjourned game.

The rest of the participants played in the double-round robin, speed tournament (G5).  LM Brian Wall outpaced the field, but suffered a couple scrapes with a draw against Mike Filppu and a loss to me.  Here are the results:

Player Score

Brian Wall 8.5

Paul Anderson 7.0

Shaun MacMillan 7.0

Mike Filppu 4.5

Renae Delaware 2.0

Jerry Maier 1.0

New Photos From The Renaissance Festival!

By Matthew Anderson

See Brother Dean beat the 2 rook tattooed gentlemen in "Three Boards."  See the abacus in action in "Games Of Skille."  The new photos by Matthew Anderson are on the website on the Photos page.

Upcoming Events

7/10 G/15 Tournament, CSCC

7/11,18,25 Poor Richard's Book Store July Open, CSCC

7/13-15 2007 Kansas Open, KCA

7/14 Delta Swiss Chess Tournament, CSCA

7/20-22 Boulder Chess Festival: Boulder Invitational, BCC

7/21 DCC Red Hot Quick Tournament, DCC

Colorado Springs Chess Club: CSCC (http://springschess.org/)

Denver Chess Club: DCC (http://www.denverchessclub.org/)

Boulder Chess Club: BCC (http://www.geocities.com/boulderchessclub/)

Colorado State Chess Association: CSCA (http://colorado-chess.com/)

Wyoming Chess Association: WCA (http://www.wyomingchess.com/)

Kansas Chess Association: KCA (http://www.kansaschess.org/)

Causing A Stampede

Game Of The Week

This past weekend I played my last day at the Renaissance Festival for this year.  Since it was the last day, I was hoping to finish on a high note and go unbeaten, but it was not my day.

Not only were the number of opponents a little slow early in the day, but also when I did get some takers, they were the slow, deliberate, methodical, tournament-style players.  So, instead of moving between the two boards making alternating moves in a nice rhythm, I spent most of my time just standing there watching two people just stare at their boards and occasionally scratching their heads.

At least, I finally got to see the entire parade that passes right by our booth every weekend.  And I really enjoyed watching the elephant put the obnoxious, teasing teenager in his place by knocking him out of the path, that had been cleared for him by his trainers, with a swipe of his trunk across the boy’s face leaving a trail of warm, moist trunk slime.

I could understand how the elephant felt.  I kind of wished I could have done the same thing to these slowpokes, who were still only three moves into their games.  Of course, just like the elephant, being the entertainer means you have to maintain your decorum and not let your emotions get the best of you or else you’ll get beaten.  I don’t know how many times the elephant was beaten that day, but I was twice.

One of my losses was to Joe Haines, who said he wished he had kept score.  I told him, “If you write it down, I will publish it.”  There was little hope that I could remember it after the 30+ games I played that day.  His comment and the end of the Renaissance Festival had reminded me how close I am to the end of the chess season.

I only have four more times to pick a game to publish.  One of those four games is supposed to be a loss by me since I sort of promised to publish four losses each year, and I am only at three so far.  But Joe couldn’t remember the game either, so I searched my database for my last USCF-rated loss.

I was surprised to see I hadn’t lost in 10 games including 2 complete tournaments while facing such formidable opposition as Tyler Hughes, Daoud Zupa, and Randy Reynolds.  I guess I disliked my last beating so much it sent me on a rampage like a mad circus elephant.

Black to move

Causing A Stampede

[Event "Southern Colorado Open"]

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

[Date "2006.06.11"]

[Round "4.4"]

[White "Abresch, Martin"]

[Black "Anderson, Paul"]

[Result "1-0"]

[ECO "A02"]

[WhiteElo "1561"]

[BlackElo "1820"]

[PlyCount "109"]

[EventDate "2006.06.10"]

1. f4 Nf6 2. b3 d5 3. e3 Bf5 4. Bb2 e6 5. Nf3 Nbd7 6. Ne5 Ne4 7. Qf3 f6 8. Nxd7

Qxd7 9. d3 Nd6 10. g4 Bg6 11. Bg2 Be7 12. O-O h5 13. Nd2 O-O-O 14. Rfc1 hxg4

15. Qxg4 Bf5 16. Qf3 Rh4 17. c4 Nf7 18. cxd5 exd5 19. e4 Bh3 20. Qf2 Qg4 21.

Nf3 Qxg2+ 22. Qxg2 Bxg2 23. Nxh4 Bh3 24. Ng6 Bd6 25. e5 fxe5 26. fxe5 Bb4 27.

d4 Bd2 28. Ne7+ Kb8 29. Rc2 Be3+ 30. Kh1 Bg4 31. Rf1 Ng5 32. Rc3 Bxd4 33. Rg3

Bxb2 34. Rxg4 Ne6 35. Rg6 Nc5 36. Rxg7 d4 37. Rg8 Rxg8 38. Nxg8 c6 39. b4 Ne4

40. e6 Kc7 41. Rf7+ Kc8 42. e7 Nd6 43. Rf8+ Kc7 44. Rd8 d3 45. Rxd6 Kxd6 46.

e8=Q Kd5 47. Ne7+ Kc4 48. Nf5 Bc1 49. Qe4+ Kc3 50. Nd6 d2 51. Qc4+ Kb2 52. Qb3+

Ka1 53. Nf5 c5 54. Ne3 d1=Q+ 55. Nxd1 1-0

https://www.chessvideos.tv/chess-game-replayer.php?id=93543

This Week In Chess

Tuesday August 1, 2006

On July 25, the CSCC had 16 members in attendance.  In the USCF-rated ladder games (G90), Jerry Maier mated Kathy Schneider and Joe Pahk pancaked Tom Mullikin.

The rest of the participants played in a thematic, Swiss tournament (3SS, G20).  The theme for the evening was the Benko Gambit so all games had to start after 1. d4, Nf6 2. c4, c5 3. d5, b5 4. cxb5.  Here are the results:

Player Score

Paul Anderson 2.5

Josh Divine 2.5

Virgil McGuire 2.0

Steve Jumper 1.0

Matthew Tucker 1.0

Dean Brown 1.0

Renae Delaware 0.0

Brett Poulson 0.0

Comments From The Guest Book

Martin Deschner, Denver CO USA, Wednesday July 26, 2006 22:09:20 GMT

Looks like you are a "speed bump" for Tyler Hughes on his road to Chess Master!  Good draw.

[Comment is about this newsletter: (https://cschessnews.blogspot.com/2006/07/giant-killer.html)]

John, Thursday December 02, 2004 14:28:30 GMT

Beautiful site!

Comments From Email

Brian Wall, Tuesday, July 25, 2006 6:08 PM

Hilarious Tyler email -I laughed out loud three times at -1 - Do you mind if I CC a hundred of my closest friends?2 - Quoting from the Bible about David and Goliath.3 - After Tyler dropped the piece, I laughed and asked myself -How the hell is Tyler going to draw this?  Great job.

[Comment is about this newsletter: (https://cschessnews.blogspot.com/2006/07/giant-killer.html)]

Upcoming Events

8/1 Speed tournament, CSCC

8/5-6 Pikes Peak Open, CSCA

8/8 Josh Bloomer Simul, CSCC

8/15 G/15 tournament - 4-SS, CSCC

9/2 2006 Membership Meeting Open, CSCA

9/2-9/4 2006 Colorado Open, CSCA

Colorado Springs Chess Club: CSCC

Denver Chess Club: DCC

Colorado State Chess Association: CSCA

The Monk Strikes Back

Game Of The Week

This week I thought I would continue the Friar Tuck theme.  I don’t want people out there to get the wrong impression from Brian Wall’s loss as Friar Tuck.  I was not trying to imply that Friar Tuck, or monks in general, cannot play chess.

In fact, I know just the opposite to be true.  I have seen the monks play, and I have even played as one myself.   Just check out my photos or this video:

Not only do the monks know how to play chess, they know how to play REAL chess.  No, I am not talking about that wimpy tournament chess.  What I am talking about is Renaissance Chess!

This kind of chess is not played inside a quiet hall on nice sturdy tables with padded folding chairs, it is played outside amidst a parade of musicians and wild animals, in the heat, in the rain, in the wind, in the rain, in the hail, and in the rain, on a wobbly table with a bumpy log for a chair.

It is not played against a couple of knowledgeable opponents each day with their fancy electronic clocks set for equal time, but rather it is played against 30+ opponents per day, often 2 at a time, who take their own sweet time while you are trying to blitz out as many games as possible.

Oh sure, a lot of the opponents have only a limited grasp of the rules, but that only means that they often move several times in a row and capture pieces illegally if you are distracted on the other board you are playing.

If you win, you get to keep their dollar, and all is right with the world.

But if you lose even one game, you disgrace the name of the Gaming Monks and you bring utter shame to yourself and your descendants for a thousand generations.  Plus they get a chain mail bracelet or a drink coupon.

If you wish to see Renaissance Chess in action, you only have 4 more weeks left at the Renaissance Festival.  And if you’re real good, be sure and stop by Buck’s table.

White to move

The Monk Strikes Back

[Event "Renaissance Festival"]

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

[Date "2004.07.03"]

[Round "?"]

[White "Anderson, Paul"]

[Black "Johnson, Cole"]

[Result "1-0"]

[ECO "B01"]

[WhiteElo "1768"]

[PlyCount "81"]

[EventDate "2004.07.03"]

1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Nf6 3. Nf3 e6 4. dxe6 Bxe6 5. d4 g6 6. Bg5 Bg7 7. Bb5+ c6 8.

Bd3 O-O 9. O-O h6 10. Bh4 Nbd7 11. c3 Re8 12. Bc2 Bg4 13. h3 Bxf3 14. Qxf3 Qe7

15. Bd3 Qd6 16. Nd2 Re7 17. Ne4 Qe6 18. Rae1 g5 19. Nxg5 Qxe1 20. Rxe1 Rxe1+

21. Kh2 hxg5 22. Bxg5 Ra1 23. Qg3 Re8 24. Bf5 Ree1 25. Qc7 Nh5 26. g4 Rh1+ 27.

Kg2 Rag1+ 28. Kf3 Nhf6 29. Qd8+ Nf8 30. Bxf6 Rxh3+ 31. Ke2 Bxf6 32. Qxf6 Ra1

33. g5 Rh5 34. Bd3 Rxa2 35. Bc4 Rxb2+ 36. Kf3 Rh7 37. g6 Nxg6 38. Qxg6+ Rg7 39.

Qf6 Rc2 40. Bd3 Rxc3 41. Qd8# 1-0

 

https://www.chessvideos.tv/chess-game-replayer.php?id=91242

This Week In Chess

Tuesday July 06, 2004

On 6/29, the CSCC had 26 members show up for the Quads.  The group was split into USCF-rated (G30) and club-rated (G20) quads.  Here is the quads’ standings:

USCF

Buck Buchanan

2.5

Roy Roberts

2.5

Andrew Chow

1.0

Allan Ufer

0.0

CLUB A

Shaun MacMillan

3.0

Paul Anderson

2.0

Virgil McGuire

1.0

Gerry Sunderland

0.0

CLUB B

Sam Meyer

2.0

Devin Smith

2.0

Richard Cordovano

1.0

Renae Delaware

1.0

CLUB C

Jeff Gilchrist

3.0

Justin Schiff

2.0

Tom Mullikin

1.0

Mike Jozwiak

0.0

CLUB D

Jeff Fox

3.0

Dean Brown

2.0

Dan Southard

1.0

Mike McKee

0.0

Denver Chess Club Prize Winners for June

By Paul Grimm

Congrats to the following:

Place

Prize

Open Section Total:

$208

Andy Rea

1st

$104

Tyler Hughes

2nd

$73

Shannon Fox

U1700

$31

Reserve Section Total:

$286

Bill O’Neil

1st

$143

Curtis Crockett

2nd

$100

Lou Berman

U1200

$43

Misc

Upcoming Events

7/6 Speed Tournament, CSCC

7/12 Kids’ Chess Club, Borders

7/13 Swiss (4SS, G15), CSCC

7/20 Ladder Games, CSCC

8/7-8/8 Pikes Peak Open, CSCA

Wanted

Your chess games or news