Colorado Springs Chess News

Game Of The Week

This week's game comes from the club quick event.  I had a pretty good tournament going 3-0, but I realized it is never as good as it feels going unbeaten when you look over the games.  Then you understand that your opponents failed to capitalize on your mistakes. 

I think the reason my opponents failed to catch my mistakes is that my chess is designed to beat these guys.  I have played them enough to eliminate the mistakes they catch easily, leaving me with mistakes they don't see naturally. 

I have played 3 people in rated chess far more than the rest of my opponents:  Buck Buchanan, Jeff Fox, and Dean Brown.  I have played Buck and Jeff 24 times in standard play and 4 times in quick play (Dean is one game behind in both). 

They were my final 2 opponents this night.  These quick-rated events have always gone the same way against my top three opponents, going 3-0 against Jeff and Dean but losing 0-3 to Buck. 

However, this night I was finally able to get a win against Buck in quick play.  I think the speed of the games benefited me more than anyone, as these guys are pretty good at catching my mistakes when given enough time. 

Speed King

www.chessvideos.tv/chess-game-replayer.php?id=71244

[Event "CSCC Quick Swiss"]

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

[Date "2010.05.11"]

[Round "3.1"]

[White "Fox, Jeff"]

[Black "Anderson, Paul"]

[Result "0-1"]

[ECO "A16"]

[WhiteElo "1777"]

[BlackElo "1918"]

[PlyCount "96"]

[EventDate "2010.05.11"]

[TimeControl "1200"]

1. c4 g6 2. Nc3 Bg7 3. g3 Nf6 4. Bg2 O-O 5. e4 d6 6.

Nge2 c5 7. O-O Nc6 8. d4 cxd4 9. Nxd4 Nxd4 10. Qxd4 Nd7 11. Qd2 Ne5 12. b3 Qa5

13. Bb2 Bg4 14. f3 Be6 15. Rfd1 Rfe8 16. Nd5 Qxd2 17. Rxd2 Rac8 18. h3 Bxh3 19.

Bxh3 (19. Bxe5 Bxg2 20. Bxg7 Bxf3 21. Bd4) 19... Nxf3+ 20. Kf2 Nxd2 21. Bxg7

Kxg7 (21... Nxe4+ 22. Ke3 f5 23. Bd4) 22. Bxc8 Rxc8 23. Ke3 e6 24. Nf4 Nxc4+

25. bxc4 Rxc4 26. Kd3 Rc7 27. Ne2 Kf6 28. Nd4 a6 29. Rh1 h5 30. Rf1+ Kg5 31.

Rf4 e5 32. Nf3+ Kh6 33. Rf6 Rd7 34. Nd2 Kg5 35. Rf1 Kg4 36. Rg1 f5 37. Ke3 d5

38. exd5 Rxd5 39. Nf3 e4 40. Nd4 Ra5 41. Ra1 Ra3+ 42. Kf2 Rxg3 43. Rb1 b5 44.

Rb2 h4 45. Ne2 Rf3+ 46. Kg1 h3 47. Nd4 Rg3+ 48. Kh1 f4 0-1

This Week In Chess

On May 11th, the CSCC had 6 members play in a USCF, quick-rated tournament (3SS, G20).  I went unbeaten to take the top spot.  Here are the results:

Score, Player:

3.0 Paul Anderson

2.0 Buck Buchanan

2.0 Jeff Fox

1.0 Omar Al-Mutlaq

1.0 Joe Pahk

0.0 Alex Torres 

May Panera Bread Thursday

By Dean Brown

Round 2 Results:

Anthea Carson over Jerry Maier

Rhett Langseth over Gene Lucas

Isaac Martinez drew Dean Brown

Spencer Shook over Trevor Altenbernd

Pret Bram over Matthew Altenbernd

Zach Umana over Keith Suder

Cody Meinders over Chandler Meinders

Justin Leo over Cynthia Langseth

Half point byes for Kurt Kondracki, Zach Chase, and Tyler Chase.

Right Move Public Chess Club

by David Meliti

Mark McGough and Joe Pahk are at the top with perfect 2-0 scores after two rounds played in the USCF Thursday Night G/75 May 2010 Swiss. At the last club meeting on May 13th Mark played a successful Benko Gambit against Al Torres to secure his second win of the event. Here are all the results of last week's round 2 of the USCF event:

Alejandro Torres............0-1............Mark McGough

Peter Lee Swan.............0-1............Joseph H Pahk

Richard Buchanan.........1-0............Omar Fa Al-Mutlaq

Paul Covington maintains the sole lead with 2.0 points in the Informal Thursday Night G/75 May 2010 Swiss round 2. Leah Katz played an admirable game against Paul in a Queens Pawn Game that lasted 42 moves. Here are all the results of round 2 played on May 13th:

Paul Covington..............1-0............Leah Katz

Mr. Ty Winkler.............0-1............Henry Blandon

David Flaks...................1-0............Michael Voight

Gil Garrison..................1-0............Jay Shuler

Byes: Travis Bradley

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

Small Group Chess Lessons Off-Site(Mondays)

Next Session: May 17, 2010

Small Group Childrens Class: 6:00 -7:00pm (Lesson #7)

End Game Studies / Pawn Breakthough Study / Ways to Promote Pawns

Small Group Adult Class: 7:00 -8:00pm (Lesson #7)

How to build an attack with proper preparation, legitimate threats and combos (Part III)

This past Monday night May 10th, the children learned how to position their chess pieces on desirable spots on the chess board in the first 6-8 moves of the game (the opening). The importance of controlling the center of the board was emphasized. The adults learned the importance of proper attack preparation. Don't prematurely attack your opponent if you do not have the force to complete your attack. You need sufficient force in the battlefield for a good attack. Paul Covington also emphasized the importance of searching for weak spots in your opponent's position.

Club Calendar (Thursdays at First United Methodist Church Dowtown)

May 20, 2010::: Casual Play: 6:00 - 9:30pm

Tournament Style Play: 7:00 - 9:30pm

USCF RATED Tournament: 4-SS G/75 May 2010 Swiss Rd 3 of 4

Informal Club-Rated Event::: 4-SS G/75 May 2010 Swiss Rd 3 of 4

May 27, 2010::: Casual Play: 6:00 - 9:30pm

Tournament Style Play: 7:00 - 9:30pm

USCF RATED Tournament: 4-SS G/75 May 2010 Swiss Rd 4 of 4

Informal Club-Rated Event::: 4-SS G/75 May 2010 Swiss Rd 4 of 4

June 3, 2010::::: Casual Play: 6:00 - 9:30pm

Tournament Style Play: 7:00 - 9:30pm

USCF RATED Tournament: 4-SS G/75 June 2010 Swiss Rd 1 of 4

Informal Club-Rated Event::: 4-SS G/75 June 2010 Swiss Rd 1 of 4

Upcoming USCF Rated Weekend Saturday Chess Tournaments

July 3, 2010 RMPCC 2010 Summer Quads, A Saturday Summer Chess Series #1

July 24, 2010 RMPCC 2010 Summer Quads, A Saturday Summer Chess Series #2

August 28, 2010 RMPCC 2010 Summer Quads, A Saturday Summer Chess Series #3

Other Club Announcements

There will be no group chess lessons on Monday Memorial Day May 31st !!! Small group chess lessons continue with lessons 7 & 8 on May 17th and May 24th respectively before the holiday break. Lessons will then resume after the Memorial Day holiday break.

Happy Chess Playing !!!

Just For Fun

I join the fantasy chess contest again put on by the USCF for the US Championships.  You had to pick a team of 6 whose average rating was less than 2640, the champ, and the final four.  Here are my picks:

1. GM Hikaru Nakamura (2817)

2. GM Varuzhan Akobian (2671)

3. GM Robert Hess (2657)

4. GM Ray Robson (2607)

5. IM Sam Shankland (2541)

6. GM Jesse Kraai (252

Average Rating: 2636.83

You have selected GM Hikaru Nakamura (2817) to be the 2010 U.S. Champion, with a performance rating of 2815. The rest of your final four:

GM Gata Kamsky (2771)

GM Alexander Onischuk (2765)

GM Varuzhan Akobian (2671)

I also added a new video to my chess humor playlist: