Colorado Springs Chess News

Game Of The Week

The first game I ever published was a win against my dad (http://cschess.webs.com/apps/blog/show/2929905-the-miracle-on-wood).  I called it the Miracle On Wood, as it ended on the same date (16 years later) as the USA Hockey upset over the Soviets.  It was our first game in an email match that continues to this day and spans 51 games over 14 years. 

I have to give my dad a lot of credit for my chess career as it was his 4 straight wins over me that prompted me to start going to the Colorado Springs Chess Club.  Also, it was my victory over him that started my chess newsletter.

After the first win, I switched to publishing my losses to my dad as part of a Father’s Day gift.  The first Father’s Day tribute came out in 2005 called Lessons From Dad (http://cschess.webs.com/apps/blog/show/2929706-lessons-from-dad).  I have continued the tradition ever year since. 

However, this past year I added a new twist:  a Mother’s Day tribute.  I also had my son create a video card to mark the occasion too.

Of course, I can’t publish my chess losses to my mom as she doesn’t play, but I did the next best thing:  Publish my victories over her ex-husband. 

Ok, it is not the greatest tradition, but it does give me an excuse to publish more wins over my dad.  They are games that have helped me to improve over the years and break through certain barriers in chess.  This game is an example of learning to look for and make an intentional sacrifice to break open a closed position.

Anderson,Paul - Anderson,Douglas [A21]

+19–13=16 Email, 15.05.2008

[Fritz 8 (120s)]

A21: English Opening: 1...e5 2 Nc3 1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 b6 3.e3 Bb7 4.a3 Nf6 last book move 5.Qc2 Be7 6.b3 d6 7.Nf3 Qd7 8.Bb2 Qg4 9.h3 Qg6 10.Qxg6 fxg6 11.Be2 a6 12.0–0 Nbd7 13.d4 0–0 14.Rad1 Rad8 15.dxe5 Nxe5 16.Nxe5 dxe5 17.Rfe1 Bd6 18.Rd2 Rd7 19.Red1 Re7 20.Bd3 Rfe8 21.e4 g5 22.Bb1 g6 23.b4 Kg7 24.f3 Bc6 25.Ba2 Rf8

Up to this point, it seemed to me that my dad was playing for a draw.  He was struggling through another winless drought in our 51-game match.  There have been 4 major droughts for him over the years we have played.  These are the times when I get on a roll and he doesn’t win a game in more than 5 attempts. 

The first drought was 7 games, after his 4th win, when I went +5=2.  After that, he settled down and kept the match even until his 10th win when I fail to lose in 6 games going +3=3.  Another drought occurred after his 12th win (8 games, +3=5) and his 13th win (6 games, +4=2). 

He usually responds to these droughts by becoming more and more defensive, just waiting for me to become impatient and careless.  It usually works, as I have suffered through some droughts of my own.  After my 9th win, he went on a 6-game streak winning 3 and drawing 3.  Then again, after my 12th win, he rattled off 5 games, winning 2 and drawing 3. 

We have even suffered though droughts at the same time.  During his 8-game drought, we drew 4 straight games.

My goal now is to figure out ways to win these drawn games.  This game seemed like the perfect opportunity.  It looked like yet another draw after I traded off the queens and failed to do much with a slight edge in the opening. 

However, he did give me the open file, and I figured that would be where I would have to break through.  But the thought of a sacrifice on the d6 bishop scared me to death.  I am not a sacrifice kind of player. 

I prefer to use my mind tricks to pick up some free material.  So, I maneuvered my pieces a bit to find another way to break on through his defenses.  Finally, it dawned on me that in this world there is the known and the unknown.  In between are the doors.

You know the day destroys the night

Night divides the day

Tried to run, tried to hide

Break on through to the other side.

Made the scene, week to week

Day to day, hour to hour

The gate is straight, deep, and wide

Break on through to the other side

When I was a child growing up in my hometown of Naperville, we had three toy boxes in our basement:  one for my dad, one for my sister, and one for me. 

I always like peeking at my dad’s stuff.  He had a drawing of a tiger, the game of Go, and some 8-track tapes.  I was surprised to find The Best Of The Doors and even more surprised to find that 8-track tapes can get sticky over time and ruin, not only the tape, but also the tape player you borrowed from a friend as well. 

Eventually, I made a CD of The Doors for my dad to replace the tape I ruined.  He told me that it was his brother’s tape.  He just used it during grad school when his noisy downstairs neighbor would play The Doors late into the night.  He would get up early for class and place the speakers facedown on the floor and crank up “Light My Fire” until he got back.  I told him to keep the CD, just in case any of his neighbors at the retirement village got out of hand.

26.Rxd6 cxd6 27.Rxd6 Rc8 28.Nd5 Nxd5? [¹28...Bxd5 29.exd5 Nd7+-] 29.exd5 Bb5 [29...Bxd5 hoping against hope 30.Rxd5 Kf6+-] 30.cxb5 Rc2 31.Rxb6 [¹31.Re6 and White takes home the point 31...Kf8 32.Rxe7 Kxe7 33.bxa6 Kd6+-] 31...Rxb2 32.d6 Rxa2 [32...Ra7 is one last hope 33.Rxa6 Rb7+-] 33.dxe7 Kf7 34.Re6! it's best to give back material[34.Re6 Kxe6 35.e8Q+ Kd5 36.b6+-]  1–0

Break On Through

www.chessvideos.tv/chess-game-replayer.php?id=71245

[Event "19-13-16"]

[Site "http://cschess.webs.com/"]

[Date "2008.05.15"]

[Round "?"]

[White "Anderson, Paul"]

[Black "Anderson, Douglas"]

[Result "1-0"]

[ECO "A21"]

[PlyCount "67"]

[EventDate "2007.12.10"]

1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 b6 3. e3 Bb7 4. a3 Nf6 5. Qc2 Be7 6. b3 d6 7. Nf3 Qd7 8. Bb2

Qg4 9. h3 Qg6 10. Qxg6 fxg6 11. Be2 a6 12. O-O Nbd7 13. d4 O-O 14. Rad1 Rad8

15. dxe5 Nxe5 16. Nxe5 dxe5 17. Rfe1 Bd6 18. Rd2 Rd7 19. Red1 Re7 20. Bd3 Rfe8

21. e4 g5 22. Bb1 g6 23. b4 Kg7 24. f3 Bc6 25. Ba2 Rf8 26. Rxd6 cxd6 27. Rxd6

Rc8 28. Nd5 Nxd5 29. exd5 Bb5 30. cxb5 Rc2 31. Rxb6 Rxb2 32. d6 Rxa2 33. dxe7

Kf7 34. Re6 1-0

This Week In Chess 

On May 4th, the CSCC had 12 members play in a Round Robin, blitz tournament (G5).  Three players tied for the top spot.  Here are the results from Dean Brown:

Results: 

1st: Richard Buchanan, Gordon Randall, David Meliti (9.5/11)

4th: DuWayne Langseth (8.5)

5th: Jeff Fox (6.5)

6th: Imre Barlay (5.5)

7th: Omar Al-Matlaq (4.5)

8th: Dean Brown (4.0)

9th: Tikila Nichols (3.5)

10th: Leah Katz (3.0)

11th: Mike Voight (2.0)

12th: Kathy Schneider (0.0)

May Panera Bread Thursday

By Dean Brown

Round 1 Results:

Anthea Carson over Pret Bram

Kurt Kondracki over Tyler Chase

Rhett Langseth over Zach Umana

Dean Brown over Cody Mainders

Jerry Maier over Cynthia Langseth

Zach Chase over Keith Suder

Isaac Martinez over Chandler Meinders

Gene Lucas over Justin Leo

Right Move Public Chess Club

by David Meliti

Usually, upsets are very rare in the first round of a Swiss tournament. This past Thursday's first round of the USCF May 2010 Thursday night G/75 Swiss saw just that !!! Joseph Pahk (1568 USCF) overcame a 435 point rating disadvantage to beat Richard Buchanan May 6th. Here are all the results of round 1:

Joseph Pahk.............1-0............Richard Buchanan

Mark McGough.........1-0............Peter Swan

Omar Al-mutlaq.........0-1...........Alejandro Torres

It is still possible to join the tournament in the second round on May13th with a starting score of half a point (bye).

Our club tradition is to have two tournaments running concurrently (both USCF AND informal club tourneys) each month. Six players participated in round 1 of the 4-round G/75 informal club tourney this past Thursday with two additional players taking byes for round 1. The players were apparently in the mood to take draws this evening. Mr Paul Covington was the only player to win a game:

Jay Shuler................0-1............Paul Covington

Leah Katz.............1/2-1/2.........Travis Bradley

Michael Voight......1/2-1/2.........Ty Winkler

Byes: Tim Smith & Gil Garrison

Players may still join the tourney in the 2nd round this Thursday with a starting score of a half a point (bye).

Six other players engaged in some casual chess & blitz chess this past Thursday night for a total of 18 attendees.

Group Chess Lessons: Monday May 10th we continue with lesson #6. As always childrens lessons begin at 6pm followed by adult and teen lessons starting at 7pm. We are approximately 1/3rd of the way through the lessons but it is still possible to join the group lessons if you feel you have an understanding of the fundamentals of the game. Come learn about attacking strategy, tactics and middle & end game technique.

Mark your calendars and prepare for the 2010 Summer Quads: A Saturday summer chess series to take place over 3 Saturdays in July & August:

3RR. G/60, Regular and Quick Chess Rated , Sudden death in 60 minutes, Groups of 4 by rating, USCF rated, USCF membership required. Right Move Public Chess Club, First United Methodist Church, 420 North Nevada Avenue, Classroom #234, Colorado Springs, CO 80903. The church is on Nevada Avenue between Boulder and St Vrain in downtown Colorado Springs. EF: $10 if received 3 days prior to event, $15 on event day. $35 to first in each quad. Registration: 10-10:30 a.m. Rounds: 10:45-1:00-3:00 p.m. If the total number of entries is not divisible by four, the lowest 5 - 7 players will play a 3-round swiss. Because this tournament is in a "Quads" format, byes are not allowed and withdrawals are strongly discouraged. USCF 5th edition rules will be in effect for all quad tournaments. Digital clocks will be set to G/55 td/5. Unrated players will be placed in the lower quad or section and will be eligible for prizes. USCF membership may be obtained at playing site. Send pre-registrations to: Right Move Public Chess Club, P.O. Box 246, Colorado Springs, CO 80901, Checks payable to Right Move Public Chess Club. Info: [email protected], 719- 484-9467.

July 3, 2010, Tournament #1 (USCF RATED)

July 24, 2010, Tournament #2 (USCF RATED)

August 28, 2010, Tournament #3 (USCF RATED)

Happy Chess Playing !!!

May East Coast Deli Wednesday

By Jerry Maier

Round 1 Results:

Buck Buchanan over Omar Al-Mutlaq

David Meliti over Fred Spell

Brian Rountree over Jerry Maier

Mark McGough over Alexander Freeman

Dean Brown over Ken MacRae

Prizes From The 2010 Daffy Down Dilly Tournament

By Jerry Maier

Prize Schedule:

1st Place $69.00 split three ways: Jeff Baffo, Jeff Csima and David Meliti ($23 each)

U1800 $44.00 split two ways: Anthea Carson and Joe Golob ($22 each)

U1600 $40.00 split four ways: Omar Al-Mutlaq, Dean Brown, Jerry Maier, and Isaac Martinez ($10 each) UU

U1200 $30.00 split two ways: Ken MacRae and Kathy Schneider ($15 each)

U1000/Unr. $20.00 Roger Weitzel