Colorado Springs Chess Newsletter
Game Of The Week
Last week I wrote about my 500th USCF-rated game. Since there was no term to describe the occasion of playing 500 chess games, I had to create my own: The Quincenchessial. I had remembered the big stink my hometown, Naperville, had made back in 1981 when it celebrated its sesquicentennial of the year it was founded. Apparently, some guy, Joe Naper, took two months to sail across the Great Lakes and was too tired to cross the DuPage river so he plopped his butt right there in 1831. The thought occurred to me that if 150 years had its own designation, surely 500 years would as well. So, I just modified the term for my own purposes. And the first chess holiday was born.
Well, I soon realized that I had more milestones to come. This week’s game marks the quinquennial of my father’s day emails. I have been forgetting my card to my dad the past couple of years, but I have been making up for it by publishing his chess victories over me. Isn’t that much better than a tie anyway? And this year’s game is especially memorable, as our email match has now hit the semicenchessial mark. Even the Karpov vs. Kasparov World Chess Championship match in 1984 only made it to 48 games before being terminated. This was the game that put us past the two former World Champs and was a long awaited, hard earned win for my dad after a drought of 6 games (4 loss, 2 draw) and 2.5 years. In addition, it turns out to be my 150th published newsletter, just in time for my dad to now claim he has beaten Colorado’s newest expert (uschess.org/msa/MbrDtlTnmtHst.php?12728345). Happy Father’s Day!
Event Paul Anderson’s Lexicon Of Chess Holidays
5 years Quinquennial
50 games Semicenchessial
150 games Sesquicenchessial
500 games Quincenchessial
The Sesquicenchessial (home.att.net/~cs.chess/games/and … 092008.htm)
(150) Anderson,Douglas - Anderson,Paul [B10]
19-14-16 Email, 09.10.2008
[Fritz 8 (60s)]
B10: Caro-Kann: 2 d3 and 2 c4
1.e4 c6 2.Nf3 g6 last book move 3.a3 Bg7 4.Bc4 d6 Prevents intrusion on e5 5.d3 Nf6 6.c3 0-0 7.Be3 e5 8.Nbd2 Bg4 9.h3 Bxf3 10.Nxf3 Nbd7 11.Qd2 Re8 12.0-0-0 d5 13.exd5 cxd5 14.Ba2 Rc8 15.Kb1 [15.Bxa7? is a blank shot 15…b6-+ ] 15…a5 16.c4 d4 Black gains space 17.Bg5 Qb6 18.Bxf6 Bxf6 19.Ng5 Nc5 20.Ne4 Nxe4 21.dxe4 a4 22.h4 Qc6 23.f3 Rc7 24.g4 White intends h5 24…Rec8 c4 seems the pivot of the position 25.g5 White gets more space 25…Bg7 26.h5 Bf8 27.hxg6 hxg6 [>=27…fxg6!? must definitely be considered 28.Qh2 Qc5= ] 28.Rh3 b5?? [>=28…Bg7 would save the game 29.Rdh1 Kf8+/- ] 29.Rdh1 [29.Qh2 Bg7 30.Rh7 Kf8 31.Rxg7 bxc4 32.Qxe5 Re7 33.Qxd4 Rd7 34.Qxd7 Qxd7 35.Rxd7 Kxg7± ] 29…Bg7 30.Qh2 Kf8 31.Rh7 f5 [31…bxc4 32.Rxg7! Annihilates a defender: g7 32…Qe6± ] 32.Rxg7! Eliminates the defender g7 32…Rxg7 [32…Kxg7 Decoy theme: g7 33.Qxe5+ ] 33.Qh8+ [33.c5 Re8 34.Qh8+ Ke7 35.Qxg7+ Kd8± ] 33…Rg8 34.Qxg8+! it’s all over 34…Kxg8 Decoy to g8 35.cxb5+ Theme: Double Attack 35…Kg7 36.bxc6 Rxc6 37.Rc1 Ra6 38.Bd5 Ra7 39.Rc4 Ra5 40.Bc6 Ra6 41.Bxa4 Kf7 42.Bd1 1-0
This Week In Chess
On June 16th, the CSCC had 9 members in attendance. The main event was the conclusion of the two-week, USCF-rated June Mating Game Tournament (4SS, G30). Paul Anderson, Dean Brown, and Bob Staten withdrew from the event opening the door for Mitch Anderson to claim the top prize and James Powers to jump in and snag the U1800 prize. Here are the final results:
Score Prize Place Player
3.0 $18 1st Mitch Anderson
2.5 $12 2nd Josh Divine
2.0 Paul Anderson
2.0 Jeff Fox
1.5 Buck Buchanan
1.5 $12 U1800 James Powers
1.0 Dean Brown
1.0 Bob Staten
0.0 Mitchell Pjontek
Comments From Email
Josh “JD” Smith, Tuesday, June 16, 2009 4:56 PM
Was that a Mike Fuchs response that I saw in there? Roommate from way back! It’s fun to read the names on your email list and remember old friends. Fromme, Splichal, Schultz just to name a few… You guys should stop by Utah sometime. I have all of the top rated players in the state playing a tournament in my basement this weekend! Anybody know how to get a hold of Randall Moore?
Brian Wall, Tuesday, June 16, 2009 5:12 PM
After 17 years of playing Chess I was about to become a Chessmaster. I normally played 1 d4 d5 2 e4 (The Blackmar-Diemer Gambit). I was so scared my unsound gambit would lose to Steven Henderson and I would never become a Master I offered a draw after 1 d4 d5 which he accepted.
My idea of a major upset is anyone 400 or more points above me lucky enough to weasel out a draw.
DuWayne Langseth, Wednesday, June 17, 2009 9:51 AM
Way to spook him into a draw with a fishing pole attack!
Jeffrey Csima, Saturday, June 20, 2009 7:43 AM
I was surprised to hear our game last Sunday was such an important one for you, especially since a little bird told me you were going for a grandmaster draw even before the game began! I normally play for a win and don’t mind taking it to 150 moves if need be, but you caught me in a fatigued state after a fairly grueling tournament with 6 games in 2 days. My brain was feeling a bit numb and indeed the NBA finals was looming as well. Having the black pieces and not losing too many rating points helped the decision too. If my glazed-over brain had seen the continuations stemming from 10 … d4! I probably would’ve declined the draw. Instead I was only looking for ways to win the knight with little compensation for white, but I didn’t see any so that was a key reason for my acceptance. Next time we meet up you can look forward to a proper fight!
The question by Ann Davies is interesting I’d like to add my 2c on it. I agree there is no official ratings difference that counts as an upset. I suppose even a single rating point would qualify technically but most people don’t take it that far. Personally I use 200 rating points as the cutoff. That’s roughly where the higher rated player has about a 0.75 point expected result, which can be thought of as a 50-50 chance to win or draw with no chance to lose. In reality there is obviously some chance to lose but it’s small enough to deserve a special name like “upset” I’d say.
As a newcomer to your mailing list I’d also like to compliment you on your fine newsletter and hope you keep up the good work for years to come!
[Comments are about this newsletter: (home.att.net/~cs.chess/newslette … _2009.html)]
Upcoming Events
6/23 G/15 Ladders, CSCC
6/24 East Coast Deli’s June Open final rounds, CSCC
6/27 USAFA Quads #11, CSCA
6/30 Bughouse!, CSCC
7/1,8,15,22,29 2009 July East Coast Deli, CSCC
7/2,9,16,23,30 2009 July USAFA Chess, CSCC
For event details and additional events, see the following websites:
Colorado Springs Chess Club: CSCC (springschess.org/)
Boulder Chess Club: BCC (geocities.com/boulderchessclub/)
Colorado State Chess Association: CSCA (colorado-chess.com/)
Wyoming Chess Association: WCA (wyomingchess.com/)
Kansas Chess Association: KCA (kansaschess.org/)
