Colorado Springs Chess News

Game Of The Week

This weekend I played in the Southern Colorado Open, and it could just be my worst tournament ever. I finished with more points from byes than from actual victories.

It all started after I beat Anthea Carson NN in the first round. I moved up to the first board and had nowhere to go but down, and man, did I go down! I lost my next three games with two of them being big upsets.

It is not my worst losing steak but it is close. From March 13, 2004 to March 23, 2004 I failed to win one game in six tries over the board in rated play (my best "no loss" streak is 26 games, 10/27/11-2/8/12).

After I lost my second game, I requested a half-point bye to take a break and recharge my chess batteries. It didn’t work. I lost my third game in a row. When I was finally determined to right the ship, I was given my first 1-point bye ever. There were an odd number of players in the section, and I was the lowest man on the totem pole. Since I didn’t get a pairing in the final round, I went home with 1 point from my victory over Anthea NN and 1.5 points from byes.

Now that I think about it, I blame Anthea NN. I think she is a mutant whose special ability is to cure other mutants who get too close to her like that bald-headed kid in the movie “X-men, The Last Stand.”

She had just suffered through three losses as well, and I got too close to her and was cured of my chess playing abilities. I heard about her streak because everyone who beat her wanted their game published.

On Tuesday, Anthea NN called out Mike Filppu for a grudge match. Of course, you have to be careful about what you ask for, as you just may get it. She lost in 23 moves, and he gave me the game.

The next night, she played Tom Mullikin. When it rains, it pours. She lost again, and he gave me the game.

Then on Saturday, I beat her and gave myself the game.

With three Anthea NN losses to choose from, I turned the responsibility of picking the Game Of The Week over to the Yahoo! Group. They chose the 662-point upset by Tom Mullikin. Tom said, “This was fun (for me). Don't know if Anthea NN would want it published or not, (probably NOT), but this is my biggest upset to date.”

Of course, Tom could be the source of the bad luck mutant virus, as he has lost 200 rating points in the past year. I guess it just took him a while to figure out to whom to pass it along. I don’t plan to keep it that long.

So, watch out! And if you think you’re immune, just remember what Solomon said:

“I have seen something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all.”

Ecclesiastes 9:11

If It Weren't For Bad Luck, I'd Have No Luck At All

http://www.chessvideos.tv/chess-game-replayer.php?id=94233

[Event "Poor Richards June"]
[Site "http://cschess.webs.com/"]
[Date "2007.06.06"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Carson, Anthea"]
[Black "Mullikin, Tom"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C54"]
[WhiteElo "1665"]
[BlackElo "1003"]
[PlyCount "116"]
[EventDate "2007.06.06"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 Bc5 5. c3 d6 6. Nbd2 Na5 7. Bxf7+ Kxf7 8.
b4 Bxf2+ 9. Kxf2 Ng4+ 10. Ke2 Nc6 11. Rf1 Rf8 12. Ng5+ Kg8 13. Qb3+ d5 14. Ndf3
h6 15. exd5 hxg5 16. Bxg5 Qd6 17. c4 e4 18. dxe4 Nxh2 19. c5 Nxf3 20. Rxf3 Rxf3
21. gxf3 Nd4+ 22. Kd3 Nxb3 23. cxd6 Nxa1 24. dxc7 Kf7 25. Kc3 a5 26. b5 b6 27.
Kb2 Ra7 28. d6 Ke6 29. Be7 Kd7 30. Bf8 g6 31. a4 Ra8 32. Kxa1 Bb7 33. Be7 Re8
34. Kb2 Rxe7 35. dxe7 Kxe7 36. Kc3 Kd7 37. Kd4 Kd6 38. f4 Bc8 39. e5+ Kxc7 40.Kd5 Kd7 41. e6+ Kc7 42. Ke5 Kd8 43. Kf6 Ke8 44. Ke5 Ke7 45. Kd5 Bxe6+ 46. Kc6Bb3 47. Kxb6 Bxa4 48. Kxa5 Bxb5 49. Kxb5 Kf6 50. Kc4 Kf5 51. Kd3 Kxf4 52. Ke2Kg3 53. Kf1 Kh2 54. Kf2 g5 55. Kf3 Kh3 56. Kf2 g4 57. Kg1 Kg3 58. Kh1 Kf2 0-1

This Week In Chess

Tuesday June 12, 2007

On June 5, the CSCC had 15 members in attendance. In the USCF-rated ladder game (G90), Mike Filppu flabbergasted Anthea Carson NN and Brian Wall wiped out Tom Mullikin.

Most of the participants played in the double round robin, speed tournament (G5). Here are the results:

Player Score

Paul Anderson 9.0

Buck Buchanan 8.0

Ray Allen 4.5

Jerry Maier 3.0

Reggie McKoy 3.0

Dean Brown 0.5

New Photos From S Colorado Open 2007!

By Fred Eric Spell

New photos on the Yahoo! Group by Fred Eric Spell at:

http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/cs_chess/

Upcoming Events

6/12 June Mating Game: 4-SS, G/30, USCF rated, ef $5, CSCC

6/13,20,27 Poor Richard's Book Store June Final Rounds, CSCC

6/16 Rocky Mountain Quads, BCC

6/19 June Mating Game continues, CSCC

6/23 DCC Summer Fun Tournament, DCC

6/26 Thematic tournament 4-SS, G/15. Evans Gambit: 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4 Bc5 4 b4, CSCC

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/)