Volume 40, Number 1 January 2013 / $3.00 Colorado State Chess Association COLORADO CHESS INFORMANT Colorado Open in full swing. Picture by Paul Covington. Colorado Labor Day Weekend Chess Festival Colorado Open Revamped www.colorado-chess.com Volume 40, Number 1 Colorado Chess Informant January 2013 From The Editor Happy New Year everyone and welcome to the 40th year of the Informant! As promised from last issue, inside you will find a large number of articles about the 2012 Colorado Labor Day Chess Festival. This was the brainchild of former CSCA Presi- The Colorado State Chess Send address changes and dent Paul Covington. He wanted not just a Colorado Open, but Association, Inc., is a Section memberships to Joe Haines. to expand the Labor Day theme of chess during this holiday, so 501(C)(3) tax exempt, non- Send pay renewals to Richard Paul brought in Grandmaster Alexander Yermolinsky, not only profit educational corporation Buchanan. See back cover for to play in the Open but to give a simul as well as a lecture. formed to promote chess in EZ renewal form! Included also, was the Colorado Quick Chess Tournament. Colorado. Contributions are The Colorado Chess Informant I for one was proud and honored to be asked to assist Tourna- tax deductible. Dues are $15 a (CCI) is the official publication ment Director Jerry Maier with some of the various events. year or $5 a tournament. Youth of the CSCA, published four (under 21) and Senior (65 or Included amongst the great articles in this issue, you will find a times a year in January, April, number of them submitted by CSCA Vice President Brad older) memberships are $10. July & October. Family memberships are avail- Lundstrom, who has revived the Wild Boar tournaments in Fort Articles in the CCI do not nec- Collins to the appreciation of the players in that area. able to additional family mem- bers for $3 off the regular dues. essarily reflect the views of the Unfortunately this issue does not contain the standings for the CSCA Board of Directors or its 2012-2013 Colorado Tour as the Board has yet to select some- membership. one to administer it. If you would be interested, please contact any Board member (email address on the left side of this page) and let them know. CSCA Board of Directors CSCA Depts. / Appointees May Caissa be with you. President: USCF Delegate: Obi Ikeako Richard Buchanan Fred Eric Spell [email protected] CCI Editor: k Vice President: Fred Eric Spell Brad Lundstrom [email protected] [email protected] Colorado Chess Tour: In This Issue Secretary: Joe Haines Joe Haines [email protected] 3. 2012 Colorado Labor Day Weekend Chess Festival [email protected] Jerry Maier Correspondence Chess: Treasurer: Klaus Johnson 18. Simul With Yermo Brian Wall Richard “Buck” Buchanan [email protected] 19. Prize Breakdown / 2012 Colorado Labor Day Chess Festival [email protected] Prison Chess: Jerry Maier Junior Representative: Randy Canney 20. Making Better Tournaments Christofer Peterson Gunnar Andersen [email protected] gunnarandersen1998 22. Going Berserk Jeffrey Baffo Scholastic Chess: @gmail.com 24. Bittersweet Jeffrey Baffo Tom Nelson Members at Large: csca-scholastic-chess 25. Tactics Time! Tim Brennan Zachary Bekkedahl @comcast.net 27. Hunting the King in the Center NM Todd Bardwick [email protected] Webmaster & Tournament 28. Winter Springs Open Richard “Buck” Buchanan Tom Nelson Clearinghouse: csca-scholastic-chess Rick Nelson 32. Tri-Lakes Open Fred Eric Spell @comcast.net [email protected] 39. Colorado Chess Club Directory 40. Return of Wild Boar Coffee House Chess Brad Lundstrom Informant Article 42. Fort Collins Invitational Chess Tournament Submission Deadlines: Brad Lundstrom January Issue - December 1 44. A Look at a Colorado Chess Legend Brad Lundstrom April Issue - March 1 47. Sojurn to Iceland Joe Fromme July Issue - June 1 October Issue - September 1 50. Upcoming Colorado Tournaments © 2013 Page 2 www.colorado-chess.com Volume 40, Number 1 Colorado Chess Informant January 2013 those slimy pawn moves.” I have never Shaun MacMillan (1900) 2012 Colorado thought of pawns as slimy per se, but it James McCarty (2245) Labor Day Weekend does conjure up an image. 1.e4 Nf6 2.Bc4 d6 3.Nc3 c5 4.Nf3 Nc6 Chess Festival The TD staff overcame obstacles as 5.d4 cxd4 6.Nxd4 Qb6 7.Nb3 e6 8.Be3 quickly as possible and provided an over- Qc7 9.f3 a6 10.Qd2 Be7 11.a4 Ne5 by Jerry Maier, Chief TD all smooth experience for the players. 12.Be2 Nc4 13.Bxc4 Qxc4 14.Qe2 Some player comments were: Qxe2+ 15.Kxe2 Bd7 16.Rhd1 Bc6 The 2012 Colorado Labor Day Chess “It was a truly excellent tournament, and 17.Rd2 d5 18.exd5 Nxd5 19.Nxd5 Bxd5 Festival was held in Englewood, CO, at I had a blast!” 20.Nd4 Bb4 21.c3 Ba5 22.Kf2 g6 23.b4 the newly renovated Sheraton in the Den- Bd8 24.a5 0–0 25.Ne2 Bf6 26.Bc5 Rfc8 “Excellent planning and execution!” 27.g3 Bc6 28.Rad1 Ba4 29.Ra1 Bb5 ver Tech Center. It was a huge success. Comprised of three tournaments and a “Loved the tournament site, playing loca- 30.Nd4 Bc4 31.Rc1 Rd8 32.Bb6 Rd5 couple of side events, the festivities be- tion, great rates on the hotel rooms, great 33.Ke3 e5 34.Ne2 Bg5+ 35.f4 exf4+ 0–1 gan Friday, August 31, with GM Alex prizes, great advertising, and great spe- Yermolinsky (a.k.a. “Yermo”) giving a cial events (simul, side events, etc).” Michael Ginat (2233) 26-player Simul. Jack Woehr (1868) It is that kind of positive feedback that Three of Colorado’s Scholastic players makes it all worthwhile, and lets the Or- 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e6 4.Nc3 exd5 drew GM Yermolinsky: Justin Alter, Ja- ganizer and TD staff know that their hard 5.cxd5 d6 6.e4 g6 7.Nf3 Bg7 8.Be2 0–0 son Loving and Rhett Langseth. work and sacrifice, much of which hap- 9.0–0 Re8 10.Qc2 a6 11.a4 Nbd7 12.Bg5 Rb8 13.Rfe1 Qc7 14.Nd2 h6 15.Bh4 Ne5 Phillip Ponomarev went a perfect 6.0 to pens behind the scenes, really paid off. 16.f4 Neg4 17.h3 Ne3 18.Qd3 Nxe4 take the title of Colorado Quick Chess We hope to see you next year at this an- 19.Ndxe4 Nf5 20.Bf2 Nd4 21.Bf1 Bd7 Champion. The Colorado Open was won nual event. Please bring a friend or two! 22.Ng3 Qb6 23.Rxe8+ Rxe8 24.Rb1 Qb3 by GM Yermolinsky with a score of 4.5. However, since the title of Colorado State Games From the Colorado Open Champion goes only to a Colorado resi- (Commentary by dent, the title went to National Master Richard “Buck” Buchanan.) Michael Ginat, who scored 4/5 and won the title on tie-breaks over Brian Wall and Buck's award for the best kept James McCarty. scoresheet goes to Ed Cronin, with runners-up Jeff Baffo and Ron Rossi. There were three side events on Sunday: a Chess devotional with CSCA President Open Section games Paul Covington who led a small group in reflection on spiritual matters and how it Larry Wutt (1920) related to their chess activities, Yermo GM Alex Yermolinsky (2540) gave a lecture regarding stalemate and then fielded questions from the audience, 1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 e6 3.f4 a6 4.Nf3 b5 5.g3 and there was the annual Colorado State Bb7 6.d3 d5 7.Bg2 b4 8.Ne2 dxe4 9.Ne5 Chess Association membership meeting. Nf6 10.Be3 Be7 11.Nc1 0–0 12.Qd2 Qc7 25.Qd1 Qb6 26.Kh1 Qd8 27.Nce4 Bc8 It was a full weekend and the highlight 13.Nb3 a5 14.Qf2 exd3 15.cxd3 Nbd7 28.b4 b6 29.a5 f5 30.Nc3 b5 31.Nce2 was our guest of honor, Yermo. Players 16.Nc4 Ng4 17.Qe2 Nxe3 18.Nxe3 Bf6 Nxe2 32.Nxe2 cxb4 33.Bb6 Qh4 34.Bd4 and staff were impressed by Yermo’s 19.Nc4 a4 20.Nbd2 a3 21.Rb1 axb2 Bb7 35.Bxg7 Kxg7 36.Qd4+ Kg8 37.Kh2 graciousness, humbleness, approachabil- 22.Ne4 Bd4 23.Ncd6 Bxe4 24.Nxe4 Rxa2 Re4 38.Qd2 Qf2 39.Rc1 Rc4 40.Rxc4 ity and fun-loving spirit which shone 25.Qc2 Nb6 26.Qb3 Ra3 0–1 bxc4 41.Qxb4 Qxf1 42.Qxc4 h5 43.Qb3 through whether he was playing in an Qxe2 44.Qxb7 Qe3 45.Qb8+ Kh7 event, or just hanging out and relaxing. Randy Canney (2247) 46.Qxd6 Qd2 47.Qe5 Qxa5 48.Qe7+ Kh6 Ryan Swerdlin (1916) As the Chief TD, I am privy to some 49.d6 Qd2 50.Kg3 Qc3+ 51.Kh4 Qd4 comments that players don’t always hear 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Nc3 Qb6 52.g3 Qb4 53.Qg5+ Kg7 54.d7 1–0 themselves, but sometimes they bear re- 5.Nf3 e6 6.Be2 Nd7 7.0–0 Ne7 8.a4 Bg6 peating. For instance, Yermo, while 9.a5 Qc7 10.a6 b6 11.Nh4 Nf5 12.Nxf5 Eric Montany (2196) pointing to a photo of him and Justin Al- Bxf5 13.g4 Bg6 14.f4 h6 15.f5 Bh7 Gunnar Andersen (1901) ter, taken after the youngster drew the 16.Bd3 Ke7 17.fxe6 Kxe6 18.Qf3 Bg8 1.d4 e6 2.c4 f5 3.g3 Nf6 4.Bg2 d5 5.Nh3 GM, commented quite succinctly and 19.Bf5+ Ke7 20.Bf4 Qd8 21.Rae1 g6 Be7 6.0–0 c6 7.Nd2 0–0 8.Nf3 b6 9.b3 knowingly, “That kid is good!” Master 22.Bd3 Bg7 23.b4 b5 24.Nxd5+ cxd5 Ne4 10.Nf4 Bf6 11.Ba3 Re8 12.Rc1 Bb7 Ginat, while referencing a popular local 25.Qxd5 Nb6 26.Qc5+ Ke6 27.Bxb5 Rc8 13.Nh5 Nd7 14.Nxf6+ Ndxf6 15.Ne5 player, said with deliberate pauses, “He 28.Bc6 Bf8 29.d5+ Nxd5 30.Bxd5+ Qxd5 Qc7 16.Qc2 c5 17.cxd5 exd5 18.Nd3 has a definite style...pawn to c6… I love 31.Qxc8+ 1–0 Rac8 19.dxc5 bxc5 (continued on next page) www.colorado-chess.com Page 3 Volume 40, Number 1 Colorado Chess Informant January 2013 20.Nxc5 Qa5 21.Nxb7 Qxa3 22.Qxc8 55.Be4 Bg3 56.Bd5 Ke3 57.Be4 Kd4 Rxc8 23.Rxc8+ Kf7 24.Rc2 d4 25.Nd8+ 58.Bc6 d5 (White can play 59.Bxd5 be- Ke8 26.Ne6 Qd6 27.Nxg7+ Kf7 28.Nxf5 cause Black's bishop is the wrong color Qe5 29.Nh4 Nc3 30.Nf3 Nxe2+ 31.Kh1 to promote his h-pawn.