BCCF E-MAIL BULLETIN #115 Your editor welcomes welcome any and all submissions - news of upcoming events, tournament reports, and anything else that might be of interest to B.C. players. Many thanks to all those who contributed to this issue, especially Jonathan Berry for his series of annotations. To subscribe, send me an e-mail ([email protected]) or sign up via the BCCF webpage (www.chess.bc.ca); if you no longer wish to receive this Bulletin, just let me know. Stephen Wright [Back issues of the Bulletin are available on the above webpage.] RECENT NEWS February Active (February 25) Organizer Luc Poitras won this thirteen-player event with 5/6; details - http://wcjc.blogspot.com/2007/02/vancouver-chess-centre.html 2007 Kelowna Winterfest (February 17-18, 2007) Tournament Report by TD Grant Rice Winterfest in Kelowna was more spring-like than in past years and players enjoyed our wonderful sunny weather between rounds at the Best Western Inn, Kelowna. Nineteen players competed for guaranteed 1st and 2nd place cash prizes at this year's five-round Swiss event. The tournament attracted players from Washington State to Prince George with an average rating of 1630. Total prize fund was $290.00 including a best game award. The Interior was well represented with David Moore of Sicamous and Niel Dendy of Kelowna placing clear 1st and 2nd with 4.5 and 4.0 pts respectively. 3rd place was a tie between Kevin Goodman of Vernon and Chris Levin of Vancouver. The following was awarded the Best Game prize: Levin, Chris - Moore, David [B71] Winterfest Kelowna (4), 18.02.2007 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.f4 Bg7 7.e5 dxe5 8.fxe5 Nh5 9.Bb5+ Bd7 10.g4 Qc7 11.Nf3 Bxb5 12.Nxb5 Qa5+ 13.Nc3 Bxe5 14.gxh5 Bxc3+ 15.bxc3 Qxh5 16.Rb1 b6 17.Qe2 0-0 18.Rb5 Qh3 19.Bb2 Nd7 20.Rg1 Nc5 21.Rb4 f6 22.Rbg4 Rae8 23.Nh4 f5 24.Rxg6+ hxg6 25.Rxg6+ Kf7 26.Qh5 Qe3+ 27.Kd1 Rd8+ 28.Rd6+ Kg8 29.Qg6+ Kh8 30.c4+ e5 31.Qh5+ Kg8 32.Qg6+ Kh8 33.Qh5+ 1/2-1/2 Crosstable: http://www.chess.ca/xtable.asp?TNum=200702096 School Team Championship (February 17) Mr. Poitras has been a busy man - he was also the driving force behind this year's School Team Championship: Report - http://wcjc.blogspot.com/2006/12/interschool-elementary-team.html Results - http://www.bjdy.com/juniorchess/ju_team_2007.html A Recent Game (submitted by Nick Beqo) Tegzes, Laszlo - Beqo, Nick [B00] North-West Vancouver vs. Port Coquitlam Team Match, 18.01.2007 [Beqo] This year, Len Molden, a chess lover and the captain of the PoCo team, asked me to play for his team. Although rusty, I agreed to play and try an opening idea I have been playing online lately. 1.e4 a6 This move is against the principles of the chess opening; it has been played in tournaments many times and has been considered to be an insult against white. However, this is not my intention; I consider myself to be an ethical player. My intention behind 1... a6 is revealed in the next move. 2.d4 c6 The main idea behind my opening is to reinforce the control on both b5 and d5 squares and to keep the options open. I won the following game slowly and did not see any obvious mistake by my opponent, who is a strong player. Therefore, I will be happy to hear any comment! 3.Nf3 d5 4.e5 Bg4 5.Bd3 e6 6.0-0 Nd7 7.c3 c5 8.Be3 Ne7 9.Nbd2 Nc6 10.Rc1 c4 11.Bb1 b5 12.Re1 b4 13.Nf1 bxc3 14.bxc3 Ba3 15.Rc2 Bf5 >=15...Rb8 16.Ng3 h5 17.h3 h4=/+. 16.Rce2 Bxb1 17.Qxb1 Rb8 18.Qc2 Qa5 19.Bc1 Nb6 19...Ne7. 20.Ng5 20.Bxa3. 20...Bxc1 21.Rxc1 Na4 22.Re3 Nb2 22...Rb2 23.Qd1 h6 24.Nxe6 fxe6 25.Qh5+ Ke7 26.Qg6 Rf8-/+. 23.Rb1 23.Rh3 23...Nd3 24.Rf3 24.Rxb8+ Nxb8. 24...Rxb1 25.Qxb1 Nd8 26.Ng3 Qxc3 27.Ne2 Qe1+ 27...Qd2 28.Re3 Nc6. 28.Qxe1 Nxe1 29.Ra3 f6 30.Nh3 fxe5 31.dxe5 0-0 31...Nd3 32.f4 Nc6 33.Rxa6 Kd7 34.Ng5 Rb8. 32.Nd4 32.Rxa6. 32...Nd3 33.Rxa6 Nxe5 34.Ng5 Nd3 35.Ngxe6 Nxe6 36.Nxe6 Rc8 >=36...Rxf2 37.Ra8+ Kf7 38.Rf8+ Kxe6 39.Rxf2 Nxf2 40.Kxf2 d4-+. 37.Nd4 c3 38.Nc2 Rb8 39.Kf1 Rb2 40.Nd4 Rxf2+ 41.Kg1 c2 42.Rc6 Rd2 43.Rxc2 Rd1# 0-1 [Your editor is even rustier, but it seems to me White shouldn't transpose into the Advance Caro-Kann - Bg4 isn't normally available to Black via the regular move orders. On general principles keeping the centre fluid is a better idea - Bd3 or Nd2 rather than Nf3 and e5. At least Black's choice has the advantage of getting White out of the books - it isn't even in Unorthodox Openings by Some Loser (see Bulletin #76); Gunsberg once essayed 1.d4 a6 2.e4 d5 (looks like a mouseslip, but not in 1914!) against Rubinstein, but got flattened for his trouble.] Team championship results: http://www.chessmastery.com/teamresults.html LESSONS FROM GMSLUGFEST PART 6 by Jonathan Berry Last in a series that recaps what I learned, or might have learned, from the GM Slugfest, a tournament played in Bellevue, Washington, just after the BC Championship, in October 2006. In the first round I lost honourably to GM Alex Shabalov. Second round I squandered the advantage in a game against a master of about my own rating, eventually going down in flames in the sudden death time control. I was sick and playing miserably, but not about to give up. The next three rounds showed improvement in my fortunes. Fortunes because, even if you play well, your opponent has to make a mistake before that can be converted into a point. Having played a young San Franciscan with two GM norms, Josh Friedel, in the 4th round, I was to meet another Bay-area resident, David Pruess, with the same colour, in the final round. In 2003 he won the Championnat Invitation du Quebec (http://www.chess.ca/xtable.asp?TNum=200308003) with a 2680 performance rating. I give the French title of the tournament because in English it translated to Quebec Closed, which is not quite right. He reportedly also charmed the locals with his command of the French language. David is the recipient of the prestigious Samford Fellowship, which is also worth $32,000 a year, to study chess! At stake were USCF rating points, valuable at least to my opponent. The event was not FIDE-rated. We were both out of the running for the first and only prize of $5,000 cash, but there were intimations of a possible game prize. Pruess, David - Berry, Jonathan [C60] GM Slugfest Bellevue (6), 10.12.2006 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 g6 4.d4 exd4 5.Bg5 Bb4+ An old and risky line. I had no doubt that Pruess, having seen my game with Friedel from two rounds earlier, had prepared something comfortable against my normal 5...Be7. 6.Nbd2 The idea variation is 6.c3 dxc3 7.Bxd8? c2+ and Black comes out a piece to the good; gambit play with 6.c3 dxc3 7.Nxc3 can get hairy, but Black's score is OK. The Seattle player Viesteurs Seglins (whom I played a couple of times in the late 1960s) used to say "Pawn is Pawn," not because he was fond of grubbing pawns, but perhaps to discourage himself from giving them away. For a while I used "A Pawn is a Pawn" as a motto. A couple of years later, R.V. Mohan opined to me that it was good to give up a pawn in the opening just for the sake of giving up a pawn. He lived that principle (certainly with White) in his games, though maybe he would have been embarrassed to get so *much* play as White gets in this path not taken. 6...f6 7.Bf4 7.Bh4 would be the other major variation. 7...a6 8.Bc4 d6 9.0-0 Ne5 A remarkable moment. Occasionally we all play a novelty, sometimes by design, sometimes by accident. Of course every game that doesn't copy a game has at least one novelty somewhere, though usually it is simply a move that isn't as good as what was played before. However, I don't think I've ever played a novelty that improves on a game played in 1898. Yes, for 108 years, nobody was willing to repeat the moves of Harry Nelson Pillsbury in Vienna against homebody Georg Marco. Pillsbury played 9...Qe7 and needed to use most of his formidable talent to salvage an 81-move draw from a long and painful defence. My move, found at the board, confronts White with choices. As he was thinking on my time, Pruess made all of his 6th through 11th moves instantaneously. He had no doubt after the game that they were the correct moves. I wish that I could be as certain of anything. 10.Bxg8 Rxg8 11.Nxd4 Bc5 12.c3 Qe7 Pillsbury's move, delayed. White has ceded the bishop pair. He has a slight space advantage and regained the temporary gambit.