French Caffeine

The Streatham & Brixton Chess Club has started a series of posts on games where the Exchange Variation of the French Defense turns out not to be dry, dull, boring and sleep-inducing.

Here is my contribution -- a game with opposite side castling where White neglects to attack on the queenside, so Black has all the fun on the kingside.

Sparkling Moves

Here is a position from Round 3 of the 2007 BCC Championship with Black to move.

NM Wang-IM Vigorito

After 25.Bb2-c3

Highlight the space between the brackets for the continuation.

[Dave finished off Frank with 25...Re3!! The game concluded 26.d3 (if 26.dxe3 then 26...Rd1 wins) Rexd3 27.Ba5 (27.Bxd3 Rxd3 and Black still can't be stopped from playing Rd1) Rd1 28.Rxd1 cxd1=Q 0-1]

By the way, the final crosstable for the Championship is now available in the news section of the BCC website.

A Game from the Hauptturnier

Ok, this is not the greatest game ever, but it is one free of major mistakes, and an opportunity to take a look at the Cambridge Springs Defense.

2007 Hauptturnier -- Round 5
October 8, 2007

Edward Chisam (2063) vs. David Glickman (2027)

1. c4

[In my last Hauptturnier (2000), I relied solely on 1. e4 in order to minimize the number of likely adjournments in a long tournament. But adjourned games are a thing of the past now.]

1.... c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 e6 5. Bg5

[There was a time when the development of the queen's bishop early in the Queen pawn openings was frowned upon, because of black's possible counterplay on the queenside with the bishop absent for defensive purposes. Boylston chess club member Harry Pillsbury was among the first to demonstrate the strength of this bishop move in Queen pawn games.]

5.... Nbd7 6. e3 Qa5

Glickman chooses the Cambridge Springs Defense.

7. cxd5

[I was aware that 7. Nd2 is the most popular move here, but this would not surprise Glickman, who would be well versed in those lines.]

7...... Nxd5 8. Qd2 N7b6

[This surprised me. I remembered that ...Bb4 was a system here, but did not consider this move, remembering that Tarrasch said that a knight on b6 is always misplaced. ]

9. e4!?

[A sign of ambition. Of course, I could play 9. Nxd5 Qxd2+ 10. Nxd2 exd5 11. Bd3 and shake hands a few moves from now. However, this would have the drawback of me being greeted by FM Chris Chase in the tournament room, chastising me for yet another boring game in this tournament. After due deliberation, I decided that it was critical not to allow this to occur.]

9...... Nxc3 10. bxc3 Na4!

[After this move, I knew that Glickman had outwitted me. Black would not be playing this way, so quickly, without a reason. Sure enough, after 11. Rc1? Black plays ....Nxc3 anyway and white is in serious trouble. Still, staying calm, one realizes that White does have a development lead, so he can just gambit this pawn and get the king into safety, with reasonable compensation.]

11. Bd3! Qxc3!

[After 11..... Nxc3 12. 0-0 Black has some problems. Aside from white's development lead, black is in an inconvenient pin, and has to deal with ideas like Ne5 and Nc4.]

12. Qxc3 Nxc3 13. a4

[Black is confronted with the problem of how to rescue his knight.]

13....... b5

[The alternative 13.....f5 lead to a draw in the game Johner-Becker, Carlsbad 1929, with 14. exf5 exf5 15. 0-0 Bd6 16. Rfe1+ Kf7 17. Ne5+ Bxe5 18. Rxe5 19. Bd2 Nd5 20. Bxf5 Bxf5 21. Rxf5+]

14. axb5 Nxb5

[The alternative is 14....cxb5 15. Bd2 b4 16. Bxc3 bxc3 17. Ke2, and analysis shows that black cannot prevent white from winning back the pawn.]

15. 0-0! Be7

[White is a pawn down, but black needs several moves to complete his development, while white is already mobilized. White must do something in the next few moves to address his pawn deficit.]

16. d5

[This is ok, but stronger was 16. Be3 avoiding the exchange and eying a7.]

16...... Bxg5

17. dxc6

[White does not recapture his piece right away, but takes advantage of the opportunity to remove one of the two black queenside pawns that in the long run could win the game for black. With two pieces attacked, black cannot hang onto both.]

17...... Be7

[More natural is 17..... Bf6 18. e5 Nc7 19. exf6 gxf6, and black is an extra doubled pawn ahead on the kingside, and slightly better. This would be punishment for white's failure to play 16. Be3.]

18. Bxb5 0-0 19. Ba6

[This is OK because black is prevented from running his a pawn down the board. The drawback is that black can exchange off the c8 bishop which has no scope. 19. Rfd1 is an alternative.]

19..... Bc5 20. Rfc1 Bb6 21. Kf1 Bxa6+ 22. Rxa6 f6!

[The last few moves have been good play by both sides. With ....f6, Glickman keeps white's knight out of e5.]

23. Nd2

[Here 23. Ra4 is more flexible, because white is going to have to double rooks on the c file soon anyway, to preserve the c6 pawn.]

23....... Rac8! 24. Ra4 Rfd8 25. Nb3 e5

[After 25...... Rd3 26. Rb4 is OK for white.]

26. Ke2 Rd6 27. Rac4 Kf7 28. f3 Ke7 29. Nd2

[White dreams of putting this knight on d5, but Black makes sure this doesn't happen.]

29.... Rd4 30. R4c2! Rd6 31. Nf1 Bd4 32. Ne3 Bxe3

Draw Agreed.

1/2 - 1/2

[33. Kxe3 a5 will soon lead to the trade of black's a pawn for white's c6 pawn.]

A couple of Round 2 Championship games

What the heck, they're fairly easy to post like this. By the way, games from Round 1 are playable in a more traditional web-based format at the BCC Games page.

Kaden-MacIntyre

Cherniack-Times

BCC Championship Round 1 Games

It is not my intent to post the Championship games this year since they will eventually be available on the BCC Website. However, I thought readers might be interested in this new, sophisticated game score viewing technology. Click on the thumbnails to enlarge.

Vigorito-Chase
Riordan-Wang

Rueda-Cherniack

Times-KadenWilliams-MacIntyre

Headlines, Headlines, Headlines

Too many items, not enough time for individual posts. Vacations take such an incredible toll on bloggers...

Monokroussos retires again? - In a recent post, Dennis says that "blogging has become stale and a chore." I feel that way myself sometimes, though not at the moment. It never seems to take that long before the itch returns. It will be interesting to see how long he stays away this time. A new campaign, J'adoube?

Yes I know, I've been tagged - I'm trying to decide whether I should be happy with BDK for giving me an easy topic to post about or whether I should be pissed at him for telling me what I have to write about. I'll decide after I write the post -- which will take a few days, so bear with me. The Kenilworthian tagged me; I wonder who will be next.

First mover advantage is a powerful thing - In response to BDK's cautionary note, let me say that 1) the more the merrier and 2) I'm feeling more than secure in my role.

Africa, a hotbed of chess controversy - The Kenyan Chess Blog has been reporting on the inside dealings involved in the selection of the Kenyan team (here also), as well as the Ugandan teams' inability to attend the All-Africa games due to lack of government funding. It seems like chess federations in Africa are using FIDE as their model for openness, good governance, financial accountability and operational effectiveness.

Haunstrup returns - Joshua Haunstrup has resurrected his blog after a long hiatus with two games he played at the Boylston Chess Club -- a loss against Dan Schmidt in the October 2006 Thursday Night Swiss and a win against Alexander Paphitis in the 2006 Spring Open.

Chess Bloggers leveraging public relations professionals - Who knew that breaking into the chess blogosphere required the use of professional PR? I received this e-mail from Sara Walsh, who identifies herself as the Press Liason for Dr. Mark Ginsburg:

Seventh Rank Associates
Dr. Mark Ginsburg
Editor of http://nezhmet.wordpress.com
mark@seventhrank.com

Sara Walsh
Press Liaison http://nezhmet.wordpress.com
princesschess@gmail.com

PRESS RELEASE

Born to the Fischer era, Dr. Mark Ginsburg was one of many talented teens making the junior rounds in the 1970s. Dr. Mark Ginsburg received his International Master title in 1982 from FIDE, the World Chess Organization headed at that time by GM Fridrik Olafsson. He won the Manhattan Chess Club Championship twice, in 1988 and 1990, before that venerable Carnegie Hall institution sadly went the way of the dodo. His peak rating was 2578 in 1992, putting him 28th in the USA. His specialty is opening innovation.

Mark's undergraduate degree was from Princeton (Biology) and did graduate work at NYU, culminating in a Ph.D. in Information Systems. He is the author or co-author of two programming textbooks and numerous peer-reviewed articles on groupware, digital libraries, and e-business strategy. As for chess, his writings have appeared in "Chess Life" and he was the technical editor for GM Joel Benjamin's magazine "Chess Chow" in the early 1990s.

Using his skills as a writer and storyteller, he is now bringing to life his chess career of over three decades with enlivening anecdotes and wild games. IM Mark Ginsburg's new website is http://nezhmet.wordpress.com. From his 1974 game as a 15 year old against the great GM Bent Larsen to his more recent adventures in the 2007 National Open, these games come alive with his wit and banter rather then lengthy computer annotations. Print them out or bring a board to the computer, playing along with the games, you'll share the joys and heartaches of the moves he makes.

Macauley Peterson's favorite chess musician is Macauley Peterson - It didn't do that much for me, but as you'll see from the e-mail below, he went to great lengths to make sure you didn't miss it. You have to admire his tenacity.

From: "Macauley Peterson"
To: "Mark Crother", "SusanPolgar", "Peter Doggers", "Jennifer Shahade", "bccadmin"
Subject: Macauley's "Today In Dortmund" -- Chess FM intro
Date: Mon, 2 Jul 2007 12:11:34 -0400

The first day of ICC's Chess.FM webcast coverage of the Dortmund super-tournament started a little differently from the rest. But you wouldn't know it from the ICC Chess.FM OnDemand replay. Ostensibly due to "sound quality issues" my intro was cut from the archived show. Yes, I know it was unorthodox, and clearly a little silly, but I hope some people were amused at least, and to that end I'm pleased to present the way the June 23rd show REALLY started…

http://www.macauleypeterson.com/WP/?p=46

Cheers,
Macauley

BCC Weblog crosses 100,000 visitors mark - Now, that was a nice number to come home to.

A Blast from the Past

With the Weaver Adams U1800 Championship underway at the club, it's worth pointing out that the Boylston Chess Club website contains a selection of Adams' games played in the 1940's against BCC legend Harry Lyman.

Mishkin crushes Tenn. High School Champ

The topic of last Saturday's Chess Notes column in The Boston Globe was this win by BCF member Paul Mishkin at the club. I am posting the full article since the editors at The Globe have yet to see fit to post the chess articles on the web. Hopefully none of the newspaper's lawyers read this blog:)

The Boston Globe, Saturday April 28, 2007

Chess Notes
By Harold Dondis and Patrick Wolff
Globe Correspondents

The Albin counter-gambit, which gives up a pawn for space in the center, is generally thought to be unsound, but Black has many tricks and traps to give him an advantage. In this game, Paul Mishkin v. Matan Prilleltensky, played at the Boylston Chess Club, Black instead falls into an opening trap set by White.

It is common in playing against a fianchetto setup to eliminate the strong fianchettoed bishop which sweeps the long diagonal. Here, however, the maneuver backfires, as on the ninth move Mishkin, White, uncorks a pawn offer that cannot be turned down. Black has three ways to take the pawn, all bad. After choosing one, Black's king position is decimated, and there is a slim chance only that he can survive. But Mishkin gets his pawn back and breaks down Black's king cover. Prilleltensky is a rated expert and the 2005 Tennessee High School Champion. Mishkin is a regular at the Boylston Club.

After 2...e5?! - The Albin counter-gambit is not a good opening. Although it is tricky, if White reacts correctly he obtains a very big advantage.

After 8.Qb3! - Notice that White indirectly protects the e-pawn since 8...Bxf3 9.Bxf3 Nxe5 is impossible with the queen hitting b7.

After 8...Bh3? - This is a famous trap. Better is 8...Nge7.

After 9.e6! Bxe6 - Forced, since 9...fxe6 10.Bxh3 and 9...Qxe6 10.Ng5 both lose material.

After 10.Ne5! Qd6 - Forced: of course 10...Nxe5?? 11.Qxb7# is mate, and 10.Na5? loses to 11.Bxb7+! Nxb7 (11...Kb8 12.Nxd7+) 12.Nxd7.

After 15.Qa4 - A pawn down, behind in material and with an exposed king, Black is of course completely lost. But the finish is still nice to see.

After 21.Bxc6+! - If Black does not take the bishop then he loses the rook, but after 21...Qxc6 then 22.Rb7+ wins the queen. Resignation is completely appropriate.

Annotations by Grandmaster Patrick Wolff

Notes from 2006 Paramount

One of the most fun tournaments for me in 2006 was the double-round robin Paramount, held at the Boylston Chess Club. I bring a highlight from my games, just to bring attention to the unique situations the Paramount can offer.

Pre-game prepwork was nothing new for me, but I had never had an adjourned game in 15 years of tournament chess. In Clayton-Rihel, Paramount 2006, I had my first adjourned position, and I was able to turn a depressing loss into a miracle draw, thanks to my home analysis and a little luck.

The following position occured at move 40, when Kyle sealed his 41st move.

Clayton- Rihel adjourned position
White to move

For those playing along at home, this position looks hopeless for Black on almost all White moves. Up a pawn, White cruises with almost any queen move (Fritz calls it +4.7), and I thought about calling Kyle to resign on the spot. Yet, there was one move that looked natural enough to play over the board -- the simplifying 41. Qxg7. When analyzing at home, I saw a faint glimmer of hope in this line.... just a faint one. Given the tense time scramble we had just played, I gave Kyle a 20% chance of playing that very move. When we reconvened later in the week, I vowed that I would resign on the spot if Kyle had sealed any normal move other than 41. Qxg7.

When I sat down over the board and ripped open the sealed move, I was so thrilled to see 41. Qxg7 that I immediately left the board, canceled my dinner plans, and sat down to defend a bad position with my last idea, one cooked up from home.

After the moves, 41.Qxg7 Kxg7 42.Kg2 Nb1 43.Bxc4 Nxc3 44.Kf3 Kf6 45.g4 g5 46.fxg5 hxg5 47.h5 Ke5 48.Ke3 Nd1 49.Kd2 Nf2 50.Be2 Ne4+ 51.Ke3 Nd6 52.Bd3 Nf7 53.Bc4 Nh6, we have reached the following new position:

Clayton-Rihel after 53...Nh6

My idea in full bloom. The whole point of my previous moves was to work my knight to h6, where it hits the pawn on g4 and blockades the position together with my king. This situation was not forced, but even Fritz will often let it happen. I love this position because 1) I worked out this exact idea at home, 2) Without adjournments, I doubt I would have come up with such a cool blockade over the board and 3)Fritz still gives White a large winning advantage, all the way to the end of the game, when a draw is certain.

Kyle tried for many more moves, but cannot make progress:

54.Kf3 Kd4 55.Bb3 Kd3 56.Be6 Kd4 57.a4 Ke5 58.Bb3 Kd4 59.Bc2 Ke5 60.Bd1 Kd4 61.Be2 Ng8 62. Bb5 Nh6 63.Bd7 a5 64.Be6 Ke5 65.Bb3 Kd4 66.Bd1 Ng8 67.Bb3 Nh6 68.Ba2 Ke5 69.Bc4 Kd4 70.Bb5 Ke5 71.Bd7 Kd4 72.Bf5 Ng8 73.Bh7 Nh6 74.Bg6 Ng8 75.Bf7 Nh6 76.Bb3 draw agreed.

Of all my chess games, this one ranks as one of my absolute favorites. It was also a great moral victory (a moral draw?) for me and turned my tournament around. I went on to finish well, including a nice win against FIDE Master Chris Chase.

So, come and play this Monday!

It's all downhill from here

Only one day into the new year and I can already declare that from a chess point of view 2007 is a major success. At yesterday's Herb Healy Open I defeated International Master Joe Fang in the second round. Of course there were mitigating factors -- it was an unrated section; the time control was G/45; after achieving an easily winning position I played pathetically during the time scramble and gave my opponent all sorts of unnecessary chances; I had just six seconds left on my clock when my opponent walked into a mate. Who cares? I defeated an IM!

Because of the time scramble I don't have a complete score of the game, but I do have the part where I played well:

[Event "2007 BCC Herb Healy Open - Unrated"]
[Site "Somerville, MA"]
[Date "1/1/2007"]
[Round "2"]
[White "IM Joe Fang"]
[Black "DG"]
[Result "0-1"]

1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. c4 c6 4. e3 e6 5. Nbd2 Nbd7 6. Bd3 Bd6 7. e4 e5 8. cxd5 cxd5 9. dxe5 Nxe5 10. Nxe5 Bxe5 11. O-O O-O 12. exd5 Qxd5 13. Nc4 Bd4 14. Be3 Rd8 15. Be2 Be6 16. Qa4 b5 17. Qa5 bxc4 18. Qxd5 Rxd5 19. Bf3 Bxb2 20. Rab1 c3 21. Bxd5 Bxd5 22. a4 Be4 23. Rbd1 Nd5 24. Bd4 Bc2 25. Bxc3 Bxd1 26. Bxb2 Bxa4 [and Black won after a time scramble] 0-1

P.S. The picture in Bob Oresick's Herb Healy post below is from IM Fang-DG.

Bobby Fischer visits Massachusetts

OK, it was 42 years ago but who's counting?

Dave Couture, webmaster for the Wachusett Chess Club, pointed me to several rare photographs from Fischer's March 1964 visit to Fitchburg. He played a 56 board simul scoring 49-5-2, including this famous loss to BCC member and Boston Globe columnist Harold Dondis:

[Event "Fischer tour simul"]
[Site "Fitchburg, MA"]
[Date "1964.03.??"]
[White "Fischer, Robert James"]
[Black "Dondis, Harold"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Eco "C27"]
1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Bc4 Nxe4 4.Qh5 Nd6 5.Bb3 Nc6 6.d4 Nxd4 7.Nd5 Ne6 8.Qxe5 c6 9.Nc3 Qf6 10.Qxf6 gxf6 11.Nge2 Nf5 12.g4 Nfd4 13.Nxd4 Nxd4 14.Be3 Nxb3 15.axb3 d5 16.Rxa7 Rxa7 17.Bxa7 Bxg4 18.Bd4 Be7 19.Kd2 c5 0-1

To view the photos, go to the Wachusett Chess Club website and click on "History" and then "Bobby Fischer at the Club."

BCC Hauptturnier Rd. 4: Lee-DG 0-1

We'll finish off our coverage of the 2006 BCC Championship season with one contest from the Hauptturnier -- my game against 2nd place finisher Jon Lee.

Lee,Jon (1801) - DG (1991) [C12]
Hauptturnier Somerville, MA (4), 29.09.2006

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Bb4 5.e5 h6 6.exf6 hxg5 7.fxg7 Rg8 8.h4 Nc6 9.hxg5 Qxg5 10.Rh8 Qxg7 11.Rxg8+ Qxg8 12.Qd2 Bd7 13.0-0-0 0-0-0 14.f4 f6 15.Nf3 e5 16.fxe5 fxe5 17.a3 Bxc3 18.Qxc3 e4 19.Nd2 Re8 20.Re1 Qg5 21.Re3 Rg8 22.Kb1 Qf6 23.Qc5 Qxd4 24.Qxd4 Nxd4 25.c4 Nf5 26.Re1 c6 27.cxd5 cxd5 28.Rc1+ Kb8 29.Rc5 Ne3 30.b3 b6 31.Rc1 Nxf1 32.Nxf1 Rxg2 33.Ne3 Rd2 34.Re1 Be6 35.Kc1 Rd3 36.Kb2 d4 37.Nc2 e3 38.b4 Rd2 39.Kc1 Bf5 40.Na1 Be6 41.Nc2 Bb3 42.Na1 Ba4 43.Rg1 Rf2 44.Re1 d3 0-1

BCC Champ Rd. 9: Cherniack-Chase 0-1

Chris ground down Alex in an ending to tie for first in the Championship.

Cherniack,A (2264) - Chase,C (2292) [B06]
BCC Championship (9), 11.6.2006

1.d4 g6 2.e4 Bg7 3.c3 c6 4.Bd3 d5 5.Nd2 Nh6 6.Ngf3 f6 7.Qe2 Nf7 8.0-0 0-0 9.c4 dxe4 10.Nxe4 Bg4 11.Nc5 e5 12.h3 Bxf3 13.Qxf3 Qe7 14.Qe2 Re8 15.Re1 Nd7 16.Nb3 a5 17.Bd2 Qd8 18.Bc3 a4 19.Nd2 f5 20.dxe5 Bxe5 21.Bxe5 Rxe5 22.Qd1 Nc5 23.Rxe5 Nxe5 24.Bf1 Qd4 25.Qc2 Rd8 26.Nf3 Nxf3+ 27.gxf3 a3 28.Rb1 Qd2 29.Qxd2 Rxd2 30.b4 Rb2 31.Re1 Rxb4 32.Re3 Ra4 33.h4 Kf7 34.Kh2 Ne6 35.Rb3 Ra7 36.Kg3 Kf6 37.Rd3 Ke7 38.Rd1 c5 39.Rb1 Kd6 40.f4 Nd4 41.Rd1 Ra4 42.Rc1 Rb4 43.Rc3 Rb1 44.Kg2 Ne6 45.Rxa3 Nxf4+ 46.Kg1 h6 47.Re3 g5 48.hxg5 hxg5 49.f3 Rb2 50.a3 b6 51.Kh1 Rb1 52.Kg1 Ng6 53.Kf2 Ne5 54.Rc3 f4 55.Be2 Rb2 56.Kf1 Nc6 57.Bd1 Nd4 58.Ke1 Ke6 59.Rd3 Ra2 60.a4 Rb2 61.Rc3 Kf5 62.Kf1 Kg6 63.Ke1 Kh5 64.Rc1 Rb4 65.Rc3 Kh4 66.Kf2 Rb2+ 67.Ke1 Kg3 68.Rd3 Rf2 69.Rc3 Nxf3+ 70.Bxf3 Rxf3 71.Rc2 Rb3 0-1

BCC Champ Rd. 9: Martirosov-Times 0-1

The battle for third place produced a very entertaining encounter with interesting material imbalances. While observing the game, I thought White's two Rooks were better than Black's Queen before Vadim lost his remaining pawns. However, Fritz does not agree. In any case, Lawyer did a nice job of showing that he could continue to make progress against his opponents attempts to engineer a perpetual check.

Martirosov,V (2270) - Times,L (2139) [B02]
BCC Championship (9), 11.6.2006

1.Nc3 Nf6 2.e4 d5 3.e5 Ne4 4.Bd3 Nxc3 5.dxc3 c5 6.f4 Nc6 7.Be3 e6 8.Nf3 Be7 9.h4 h6 10.Qd2 Bd7 11.Qf2 Qa5 12.Qg3 0-0-0 13.Qxg7 Rdg8 14.Qxf7 Rxg2 15.Kf1 Rg3 16.Kf2 Rxf3+ 17.Kxf3 Nxe5+ 18.fxe5 Rf8 19.Qxf8+ Bxf8 20.Rhg1 d4 21.b4 Qd8 22.Bf2 Be7 23.cxd4 Bxh4 24.Bxh4 Qxh4 25.b5 Qxd4 26.Rae1 Kc7 27.Rg4 Qc3 28.Kf2 Kb6 29.a4 Be8 30.Rh4 Qd2+ 31.Re2 Qg5 32.Ree4 h5 33.Rh3 Bg6 34.Rg3 Qd2+ 35.Re2 Qf4+ 36.Rf3 Qh4+ 37.Kf1 Be8 38.Rf6 Ka5 39.Rf8 Qe7 40.Rf6 Bd7 41.Re4 a6 42.Rh4 axb5 43.axb5 Bxb5 44.Bxb5 Kxb5 45.Rxh5 Kc4 46.Rf4+ Kb5 47.c4+ Kb4 48.Kf2 Qd7 49.Rfh4 b5 50.cxb5+ Kxb5 51.Rh8 Qd2+ 52.Kf3 Qc3+ 53.Kf2 Qxe5 54.R8h5 Qb2+ 55.Ke3 Qc3+ 56.Ke2 Kc6 57.Rh8 Qg3 58.Rc8+ Kb5 59.Rch8 c4 60.Rh3 Qe5+ 61.Kd2 Kb4 62.Kc2 Qe2+ 63.Kc1 Qe5 64.Kc2 Qc7 65.R3h7 Qd6 66.Rb7+ Kc5 67.Rh5+ e5 68.Rbh7 Qd3+ 69.Kc1 Qa3+ 70.Kc2 Qa2+ 71.Kc1 c3 72.Rh2 Qa4 73.R7h4 e4 74.Rh8 Kd4 [...and Black won in a time scramble] 0-1

BCC Champ Rd. 9: MacIntyre-Riordan 0-1

Paul's sacrifices didn't work out and as a result Charles captured his piece of the Championship.

MacIntyre,P (2334) - Riordan,C (2330) [B87]
BCC Championship (9), 11.6.2006

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bc4 e6 7.Be3 b5 8.Bb3 Bb7 9.0-0 Nbd7 10.f4 b4 11.Na4 Be7 12.f5 e5 13.Ne6 fxe6 14.fxe6 Nf8 15.Nc5 Bc6 16.Rxf6 Bxf6 17.Ba4 Qc7 18.Qd5 Rc8 19.Nxa6 Qb7 20.Nxb4 Qxb4 21.Bxc6+ Ke7 22.a3 Qxb2 23.Rd1 Qxa3 24.Rd3 Qb4 25.c3 Qb8 26.c4 Nxe6 27.c5 Rxc6 28.Qxc6 Qb1+ 29.Kf2 Qxd3 30.Qb7+ Ke8 0-1

BCC Champ Rd. 9: Krasik-Williams 1/2

Another NM draw...

Krasik,I (2202) - Williams,C (2186) [D17]
BCC Championship (9), 11.6.2006

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.a4 Bf5 6.Ne5 e6 7.f3 Bb4 8.e4 Bxe4 9.fxe4 Nxe4 10.Bd2 Qxd4 11.Nxe4 Qxe4+ 12.Qe2 Bxd2+ 13.Kxd2 Qd5+ 14.Kc2 Na6 15.Nxc4 0-0 ½-½

BCC Champ Rd. 7: Krasik-Chase 0-1

One more game from Round 7...

By popular demand, Ilya's "gem against Mr. Chase." I hope I have the correct moves this time.

Krasik,I (2202) - Chase,C (2292) [A67]
BCC Championship (7), 2006

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e6 4.Nc3 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.e4 g6 7.f4 Bg7 8.Bb5+ Nfd7 9.Nf3 0-0 10.0-0 a6 11.Bd3 b5 12.a3 Nb6 13.f5 N8d7 14.Bg5 f6 15.Be3 Re8 16.Qd2 Nc4 17.Bxc4 bxc4 18.Rae1 Rb8 19.Rf2 gxf5 20.exf5 Rb7 21.g4 Ne5 22.Nxe5 Rxe5 23.Rfe2 h5 24.h3 hxg4 25.hxg4 Bf8 26.Kf2 Rg7 27.Rg1 Qe7 28.Ke1 Kf7 29.Kd1 Rh7 30.Bf4 Rxe2 31.Qxe2 Qxe2+ 32.Kxe2 Rh3 33.Bg3 Bb7 34.Kf2 Be7 35.Rd1 Rh8 36.Ne2 Rg8 37.Kf3 Rb8 38.Nc3 Ba8 39.Rd2 Rb3 40.Rh2 Bxd5+ 41.Kf4 Bc6 [...and Black went on to win] 0-1

BCC Champ Rd. 8: Cherniack-Krasik 1-0

Alex had the advantage early but gave it away by move 25 or so. However, Ilya missed a couple of winning combinations (28...Qc5+ 29.Kh1 Bf4 and 48...Rf1+ 49.Kxf1 Qxe3) and then went on to lose a Rook and Bishop ending.

Cherniack,A (2264) - Krasik,I (2202) [E80]
BCC Championship (8), 10.30.2006

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f3 a6 6.Be3 c6 7.c5 0-0 8.cxd6 exd6 9.Nge2 Nbd7 10.Ng3 b5 11.Qd2 Re8 12.Be2 Bb7 13.0-0 Qe7 14.Rfe1 Rad8 15.Bf1 Qf8 16.a4 b4 17.Na2 c5 18.Nc1 h5 19.Nb3 h4 20.Nh1 cxd4 21.Bxd4 d5 22.Na5 Ba8 23.e5 Nh5 24.Bxa6 Nxe5 25.Nf2 Re6 26.Bxe5 Bxe5 27.Bf1 Qd6 28.Ng4 Bxh2+ 29.Nxh2 Rxe1 30.Qxe1 Qc5+ 31.Qf2 Qxa5 32.Qxh4 Qa7+ 33.Qf2 d4 34.Ng4 Nf4 35.Ne5 Re8 36.Nd3 Nxd3 37.Bxd3 Re3 38.Bc4 Qc5 39.Bf1 Qg5 40.Rd1 Rxf3 41.Qxd4 Kh7 42.Rd2 Rf4 43.Qd6 Qg3 44.Qd3 Qe1 45.Qe2 Qg3 46.Rd3 Qg5 47.Rh3+ Kg7 48.Qb5 Bd5 49.Rd3 Rf5 50.Qxb4 Qc1 51.Qc3+ Qxc3 52.Rxc3 Rf4 53.Rc5 Bb3 54.a5 Ra4 55.Rb5 Be6 56.b4 Ra1 57.Rc5 Kf6 58.a6 Ke7 59.Kf2 Kd6 60.Rc2 f5 [...and White went on to win in a time scramble] 1-0

BCC Champ Rd. 8: Rihel-Martirosov 0-1

An unevenly played game for both sides which led to a relatively equal Rook ending. However, Jason again found a way to lose.

Rihel,J (1953) - Martirosov,V (2270) [B30]
BCC Championship (8), 10.30.2006

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 e6 4.c3 Nge7 5.0-0 a6 6.Ba4 b5 7.Bc2 Bb7 8.d4 cxd4 9.cxd4 Nb4 10.Re1 Nxc2 11.Qxc2 Rc8 12.Qd3 d5 13.e5 Nf5 14.Nbd2 Be7 15.Nf1 Qc7 16.g4 Nh4 17.Nxh4 Bxh4 18.Ne3 h5 19.g5 Bxg5 20.Nf5 Be7 21.Nxe7 Qxe7 22.Qg3 Kd7 23.Bd2 h4 24.Qb3 Rc4 25.Qd3 h3 26.b3 Rcc8 27.Re3 Qh4 28.a4 Bc6 29.Rae1 bxa4 30.bxa4 Bxa4 31.Qxa6 Qg5+ 32.Rg3 Qxd2 33.Qxa4+ Ke7 34.Rd1 Qc2 35.Qa3+ Ke8 36.Ra1 Rh6 37.Rxh3 Rxh3 38.Qxh3 Qg6+ 39.Kf1 Qh6 40.Qg3 Kf8 41.Kg2 Kg8 42.Qd3 Qf4 43.Ra4 Qg4+ 44.Qg3 Qe4+ 45.Qf3 Qxf3+ 46.Kxf3 Rc3+ 47.Kg4 Kh7 48.h4 Rc4 49.Ra7 Rxd4+ 50.f4 Rd1 51.Rxf7 d4 52.f5 Rg1+ 53.Kf3 exf5 54.e6 Rf1+ 55.Ke2 Rf4 56.Kd3 Kg8 57.Rd7 Re4 58.Rd8+ Kh7 59.Rxd4 Rxe6 [...and Black went on to win in a time scramble] 0-1

BCC Champ Rd. 8: Riordan-Salomon 1/2

Surely a disappointing result for Charles who seemed to have the advantage the entire game. He was forced to give perpetual check in order to counter Brian's mate threat at the end.

Riordan,C (2330) - Salomon,B (2005) [B91]
BCC Championship (8), 10.30.2006

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.g3 Bg4 7.f3 Bd7 8.g4 e5 9.Nf5 Be6 10.Bg5 g6 11.Ne3 h6 12.Bxf6 Qxf6 13.h4 Nd7 14.Ncd5 Qd8 15.Qd2 Nb6 16.0-0-0 Nxd5 17.Nxd5 Be7 18.Kb1 Rc8 19.h5 g5 20.Qb4 Bxd5 21.Rxd5 Qc7 22.Bd3 0-0 23.Rc1 b5 24.Qd2 Qb6 25.c4 b4 26.c5 Rxc5 27.Rcxc5 dxc5 28.Bc4 a5 29.Rxe5 Bf6 30.Rd5 Rd8 31.e5 Be7 32.Qd3 Qc7 33.Rxd8+ Qxd8 34.Qg6+ Kh8 35.Qxh6+ Kg8 36.a3 a4 37.Qg6+ Kh8 38.Qd3 Qb8 39.axb4 Qxe5 40.b5 Bf6 41.Qe2 Qc7 42.h6 Kh7 43.Qe8 Kxh6 44.Qxf7 Qe5 45.Qh5+ ½-½