On April 3, the CSCC had 11 members in attendance. In the USCF-rated ladder game (G90), Tom Mullikin mauled Kathy Schneider and Bill Weihmiller won over Dean Brown. The rest of the participants played in a double round robin, blitz tournament (G5). I finished unbeaten in clear first. The rest of the player may have more or less points than shown, as some of the final games didn’t get recorded. Here are the best guesses at the results:

Player Score

Paul Anderson 10.0
Josh Bloomer 8.0
Buck Buchanan 5.5
Devin Smith 4.5
Mike Filppu 2.0
Joe Pahk 0.0

Below is the standings table for the Springs Denker/Polgar Fundraiser, held in Colorado Springs on April 7.

Player Score Place Prize

Brian Wall 4.0 1st $35.00
Anthea Carson 3.0 2nd/U1800 $22.50
Richard Buchanan 3.0 2nd/U1800 $22.50
Paul Anderson 2.5
Matt Tucker 2.5
Ryan McCardell 2.5
Alex Cacas 2.0
Joe Pahk 2.0
Robert Rountree 2.0 U1200 $15.00
Dean Brown 1.5
Fred Eric Spell 1.0
Kathy Schneider 1.0
Russel Stark 1.0
Tom Mullikin 0.0

Martin Deschner, Saturday, April 07, 2007 11:04 AM:

I was thinking a good candidate for Game of the Week might be that recent Anderson-Anderson game. Maybe.

Tim, Sunday, April 08, 2007 1:24 PM:

I'd like to see Anthea's "the Buck Stops here" game if you could get it!

With two people making requests for the Game Of The Week, someone wasn’t going to get their request honored. But how to make the choice? Martin did ask first and who wouldn’t want to see a game by an Anderson. On the other hand, Tim’s game is timelier as it comes from this weekend’s Springs Fundraiser and I do like to keep the Game Of The Week current. I guess what tipped the balance in favor of Tim’s request was the fact that I have only published games from one female chess player so far, Renae Delaware. Anthea Carson would now be the second female chess player to be published on the Colorado Springs Chess News website. Now that I will have two different female chess players in my archive, I will be less susceptible to the charges of having a glass ceiling, “an unacknowledged discriminatory barrier that prevents women and minorities from rising to positions of power or responsibility, as within a corporation.” Also, Anthea recently signed up for the newsletter after we had a conversation about females in chess. Our conversation spurred me into a search of my results against women, which lasted well into the double-digit minutes. With all that time invested, it would be nice to have that information saved for posterity, and I figured I could subtly twist Tim’s honest request to see a game toward my own purposes as I casually mention my results against women:

Anthea 7-1
Ann 0-1 (ouch!)
Renae 7-1
Stephanie 1-0
Debra 1-0
Sarah 1-0
Katie 1-5 (ouch!)
Eva 1-0
Kathy 5-0
Elizabeth Sc. 1-0
Heather 1-0
Elizabeth Sz. 1-0
Teanna 1-0
Tiffany 0-1 (ouch!)

Overall 28-9

Of course, this is all unofficial as my search was based on what I thought sounded like a female name, as my database records are gender neutral. In any case, Anthea’s game against Buck was also an interesting game to watch as I sat on the board next to them. I saw Anthea lose her bishop as she mistakenly went after a poisoned pawn. It looked bad, and I assumed Buck would roll on for the victory. All that was left was for Jeremiah to come over and mock Anthea’s pieces like the warriors of Babylon,
“Babylon's warriors have stopped fighting;
they remain in their strongholds.
Their strength is exhausted;
they have become like women.
Her dwellings are set on fire;
the bars of her gates are broken” (Jeremiah 51:30).
But Anthea wasn’t going to let her dreams of victory be shattered so easily. She was going to turn the tables and do some glass breaking of her own. She gathered her oppressed and downtrodden pawns towards the cause and marched forward, chanting in unison, “We shall overcome!”

Breaking The Glass Barrier (Click this link to view the game on your web browser)

(85) Carson,Anthea (1657) - Buchanan,Buck (2011) [B62]
Springs Fundraiser Colorado Springs (2.2), 07.04.2007
[Fritz 8 (60s)]

B62: Sicilian: Richter-Rauzer: 6...e6: Unusual White 7th moves
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Bg5 e6 7.Bb5 Bd7 8.0-0 Be7 last book move 9.Qd2 a6 10.Nxc6 bxc6 11.Bd3 e5 12.f4 Ng4 [>=12...Qb6+!? deserves consideration 13.Kh1 h6=/+ ] 13.Bxe7+/= Qxe7 14.h3 Nf6 15.fxe5 [15.Rad1 Nh5 16.f5 a5+/= ] 15...dxe5 16.Qe2 The isolani on a6 becomes a target 16...Be6 17.Bxa6?? [>=17.Kh2= the rescuing straw] 17...Qa7+-+ 18.Kh1 Qxa6 19.Qd2 h6 20.Qd6 Nd7 21.Rad1 c5 22.Qd2 0-0 23.a3 Qc8 24.Nd5 Bxd5 25.exd5 c4 26.Qc3 Qc5 27.Rfe1 f6 28.Re4 Rad8 [>=28...Nb6 makes sure everything is clear 29.b4 Qd6-+ (29...Nxd5?! 30.Qd2 (30.bxc5?? materialistic play, which will be punished 30...Nxc3 31.Rde1 Nxe4 32.Rxe4 Rxa3-+ ) 30...c3 31.Qxd5+ (31.bxc5 White still proves to be far too greedy 31...cxd2 32.Rxd2 Nc3-+ ) 31...Qxd5 32.Rxd5-/+ ) ] 29.Rxc4-/+ Qf2 30.Qb3 [30.Qf3!? Qa7 31.d6-/+ ] 30...Rb8 31.Rb4 Rxb4 32.axb4 Kh8 33.c4 Qb6 [>=33...e4 with excellent chances for Black 34.c5 Ne5-+ ] 34.Qa4= Qb7 35.c5 White gets more space 35...Nb8 36.b5 Rd8 37.d6+- Nd7 38.c6 Qb6 39.cxd7 Rxd7 40.Qa8+ Kh7 41.Qc6 Qd8 42.b6 Rf7 43.d7 [43.d7 e4 44.Qc8 Rxd7 45.Qxd8 Rxd8 46.Rxd8+- ] 1-0

4/10 Bughouse tournament. Sum of team members’ ratings < 3400, CSCC
4/11,18,25 Poor Richard's Book Store April Open Final Rounds, CSCC
4/14-15 Colorado Chess Festival, Colorado Closed Starts, CSCA
4/17 Juniors vs Seniors match. 2 games, G/30, CSCC
4/21-22 Colorado Chess Festival, Colorado Scholastic Closed Starts, CSCA
4/24 Quads: 4-RR, G/30 if USCF rated, G/20 if not, CSCC

Colorado Springs Chess Club: CSCC (http://springschess.org/)
Denver Chess Club: DCC (http://www.denverchessclub.org/)
Boulder Chess Club: BCC (http://www.geocities.com/boulderchessclub/)
Colorado State Chess Association: CSCA (http://colorado-chess.com/)