Volume 45, Number 1 COLORADO STATE CHESS ASSOCIATION January 2018 COLORADO CHESS INFORMANT Start of a New Year Volume 45, Number 1 Colorado Chess Informant January 2018 From the Editor And so a New Year has begun and for this magazine, we start its 45th year in publication! I hope all of you had a safe and wonderful time celebrating 2018’s arrival. With the holiday season just completed, all of us will be getting back to our regular daily routines like work, and spending time The Colorado State Chess Association, Incorporated, is a directed at doing the things we love to help balance out our lives. Section 501(C)(3) tax exempt, non-profit educational corpora- Through the tireless efforts of organizers and directors it appears tion formed to promote chess in Colorado. Contributions are that the upcoming year for chess in Colorado will be a busy one. tax deductible. So if you have the time and inclination to do so, attend an event Dues are $15 a year or $5 a tournament. Youth (under 20) and or two and have some fun (yes I know, playing tournament chess Senior (65 or older) memberships are $10. Family member- can be stressful - but hey, its an enjoyable past time). ships are available to additional family members for $3 off the Reading Curtis Carlson’s article in this issue brings up some- regular dues. thing that is rarely talked about but is always there - those ● Send address changes to Paul Covington. friends in the chess community that we lose. For whatever rea- ● Send pay renewals & memberships to Jeffrey Cohen. son, be it a new job or family move or when a friend is called to ● See back cover for EZ renewal form. play at the big chessboard in the sky, it is never easy. But with all things in life we adapt, but we also cherish those around us The Colorado Chess Informant (CCI) is the official publication during the special times and remember those who are no longer of the CSCA, published four times a year in January, April, here to share our wins as well as our losses. Our community may July and October. be one of many, but it is just as important to each of us as we Articles in the CCI do not necessarily reflect the views of the play through this game called life. CSCA Board of Directors or its membership. May Caissa be with you. Fred Eric Spell CSCA Board of Directors CSCA Appointees k President: USCF Delegates: Dean Clow Richard “Buck” Buchanan [email protected] [email protected] In This Issue Vice President: Paul Covington Earle Wikle [email protected] 4. Winter Springs Open [email protected] CCI Editor: Richard “Buck” Buchanan ® Secretary: Fred Eric Spell 11. The Chess Detective Paul Covington [email protected] NM Todd Bardwick [email protected] Colorado Chess Tour: 12. Remembering Robert Wendling Curtis Carlson Treasurer: Dean Clow Jeffrey Cohen [email protected] 17. Colorado Chess Club Directory [email protected] Correspondence Chess: 18. Denver Chess Club 2017 Review & Survey Junior Representative: Klaus Johnson J.C. MacNeil Jesse Williams [email protected] 20. More Games From the 2017 Colorado Open [email protected] Richard “Buck” Buchanan Scholastic Chess: Members at Large: Todd Bardwick 26. Tuesday Night Chess Todd Bardwick [email protected] Paul Anderson [email protected] 28. Tactics Time! Webmaster & Tournament Tim Brennan J.C. MacNeil Clearinghouse: 30. Upcoming Colorado Tournaments [email protected] Rick Nelson [email protected] Informant Article Submission Deadlines: January issue - December 21 / April issue - March 21 On the cover: July issue - June 21 / October issue - September 21 “Chess on an Island” by Jacek Yerka (Email articles to [email protected]) (www.Yerkaland.com) © 2018 Colorado State Chess Association Page 2 www.ColoradoChess.com Volume 45, Number 1 Colorado Chess Informant January 2018 www.ColoradoChess.com Page 3 Volume 45, Number 1 Colorado Chess Informant January 2018 just plain fun, as two players showed up Bb4+ 10.Nc3 Bxf3 11.gxf3 N8d7 12.a3 Winter Springs in costume Sunday (see photo). Seth's Bxc3+ 13.bxc3 c5 14.0-0 Qc7 15.Rc1 Open service dog was a very popular feature. 0-0-0 16.f4 f6 17.a4 Nb8 18.a5 N6d7 The tournament happened, we cleaned 19.Qa4 Rdf8 20.d5 fxe5 21.dxe6 Nf6 by Chief Tournament Director things up, the rating report was sent in 22.Qb5 exf4 23.Bxf4 Qc6 24.Bf3 Qxb5 Richard “Buck” Buchanan and the prizes paid, and we adjourned to 25.cxb5 Re8 26.Rfe1 g5 27.Be5 Rxe6 whatever else December had in store for 28.Bg4 Nxg4 29.Bxh8 Rh6 30.Re8+ Kc7 The 2017 Winter Springs Open took us! 31.h3 Rxh3 32.b6+ axb6 33.axb6+ Kxb6 place on a warm December weekend in 34.Rxb8 Rg3+ 35.Kh1 Kc7 36.Rf8 h5 Manitou Springs (climate change deniers, (Pictures courtesy of Shirley Herman) 37.Re1 Rh3+ 38.Kg2 Rh2+ 39.Kg1 Rc2 take note). Attendance was a bit less than 40.Rf5 Kc6 41.Rxg5 Nh2 42.Rg6+ Kb5 usual, but we still had some good fighting Brian Wall (2294) 43.Rb1+ Kc4 44.Rg2 Nf3+ 45.Kh1 Nd2 chess. Griffin McConnell (1864) 46.Rxb7 Rc1+ 47.Rg1 Rc2 48.Rf7 Ne4 Round 1 49.Rf4 Kd3 50.Rf3+ Kc4 51.Rg2 Rc1+ The June section, open to all, was by far 52.Kh2 Nxc3 53.Bxc3 Rxc3 54.Rxc3+ the largest. Brian Wall was the highest 1.h4 d5 2.d4 c5 3.c3 e6 4.Bf4 Nc6 5.e3 c4 6.b3 cxb3 7.axb3 Bd6 8.Nf3 Bxf4 9.exf4 Kxc3 55.Kg3 Kd3 56.Kf3 c4 57.Rg5 c3 rated player, and he celebrated the 58.Rd5+ Kc4 59.Rd8 h4 60.Ke2 h3 occasion by starting every game with 1 f6 10.Bd3 Nge7 11.Nbd2 Qc7 12.g3 e5 13.fxe5 fxe5 14.dxe5 Nxe5 15.Nxe5 (61.Kd1 wins easily.) 1-0 h4 or 1...h5. He gave up a draw to Griffin McConnell in the first round (Swiss Qxe5+ 16.Qe2 Qxe2+ 17.Kxe2 0-0 18.f4 Bg4+ 19.Kf2 Nc6 20.Rhe1 a6 21.Nf3 Charles Alexander (1800) Gambit?), but then won the rest of his Daniel Herman (2064) games to tie for the top prize with Rhett Bxf3 22.Kxf3 Rae8 23.Rxe8 Rxe8 24.Rd1 Rd8 25.Ke3 Re8+ 26.Kf2 g6 Round 1 Langseth (I guess that shows the advantage of playing eccemtric 27.Bf1 Ne7 28.Bg2 Rc8 29.Rd3 Kf7 1.g3 c5 2.Bg2 Nc6 3.b3 d5 4.Nf3 e5 5.d3 openings.) Daniel Herman was the only 30.Ke3 Ke6 31.Kd2 Rc5 32.Re3+ Kf7 Nf6 6.Nbd2 Be7 7.0-0 0-0 8.c4 d4 9.Re1 one going into the last round with 3-0, but 33.Re5 Rb5 34.Kc2 Ra5 35.Kb2 Rb5 Ne8 10.Nf1 f5 11.N3d2 Bf6 12.Rb1 Nd6 he lost to Rhett on the top board. 36.g4 Kf6 37.Bf3 h6 38.Bg2 Kf7 39.h5 13.a3 a5 14.Bd5+ Kh8 15.e4 Ne7 16.Qf3 Following the leaders were Daniel, Vibi Kf6 40.hxg6 Nxg6 41.Rxd5 Rxd5 Nxd5 17.cxd5 fxe4 18.dxe4 a4 19.b4 c4 Varghese, and Neil Bhavikatti with 3 42.Bxd5 b6 43.Bb7 a5 44.g5+ hxg5 20.Qe2 b5 21.Nf3 Bg4 22.h3 Bxh3 points. Other prize winners in that section 45.fxg5+ Kxg5 46.Ka3 Kf4 47.Ka4 Ke3 23.N1h2 Bd7 24.Kg2 Qc8 25.Rh1 Nxe4 were Mukund Gurumurthi, Vedanth 48.Kb5 Kd3 49.c4 Ne5 50.Bd5 Nd7 26.Nxe5 Bh3+ 27.Kg1 Nc3 28.Qh5 Qf5 Sampath, and Aditya Krishna. As you can 51.Kc6 Nc5 52.Kxb6 Nxb3 53.Kb5 Kd4 29.Qxf5 Ne2# 0-1 see, the young players were a mighty 54.Bf7 a4 55.Kb4 Nc5 56.Bg8 Nd3+! force in this tournament. 57.Kxa4 ½-½ Earle Wikle (1993) Clifton Ford (1800) Round 1 The July section (U1800) had only 12 players, and was won by Kenneth Doykos 1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Nf3 f5 4.d3 Nf6 and Andrew Starr with 3 points each. 5.g3 g6 6.Bg2 Bg7 7.0-0 0-0 8.Rb1 d6 Jason Lee took the Under 1600 prize, 9.b4 a6 10.a4 Kh8 11.b5 axb5 12.axb5 while Jordan Dorchuck and Erik Johnson Ne7 13.Qb3 Nh5 14.Bg5 h6 15.Bxe7 won the Under 1500 money. The August Qxe7 16.Nd5 Qd8 17.Rfc1 f4 18.Nh4 section (U1400) was a runaway for Kh7 19.Be4 Bf5 20.Nxf5 gxf5 21.Bf3 William Wolf, who tended to win short, fxg3 22.fxg3 Qg5 23.Bxh5 Qxh5 sharp games. He scored 3.5 points, and 24.Nxc7 f4 25.Qc2 fxg3 26.hxg3 Qg4 half a point behind him was Valentin 27.Kg2 e4 28.d4 Bxd4 29.Rf1 Ra3 Almanza. This section only had six 30.Rf3 Rfxf3 31.exf3 Rxf3 0-1 players, a record for this tournament which the Director hopes will never be DuWayne Langseth (1892) challenged. Vedanth Sampath (1601) Round 1 The event was not, shall we say, free of 1.d4 Nf6 2.e3 d5 3.f4 Bf5 4.Bd3 Bxd3 problems. My printer ran out of ink after Brian Wall deep in calculations. 5.Qxd3 e6 6.Qb5+ Nbd7 7.Qxb7 Bd6 Round 1, and try as I did I was unable to 8.Nf3 0-0 9.0-0 Qb8 10.Qxb8 Raxb8 secure another cartridge.