This Week In Chess
On April 15th, the CSCC had 6 members in attendance. The event was changed from a Swiss tournament (G15) to a single, round robin tournament (G15). Jeff Fox was perfect to finish in 1st place. Here are the results:
Player Score
Jeff Fox 3.0
Paul Anderson 2.0
Dean Brown 1.0
Ken Dail 0.0
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Bobby Fischer Memorial Chess Tournament
By Buck Buchanan
Manitou Springs City Hall
606 Manitou Ave.
May 3-4, 2008
Rated Tournament
Membership in US Chess Federation, Colorado State Chess Association required
4-SS, G/2. Manitou Springs City Hall, 606 Manitou Ave., Manitou Springs. 2 sections: Open and Reserve (U1600); EF $35 if rec'd by 5/1, $40 at site. $9 discount for juniors, seniors, unrated. Cash prizes per entries. Register 8:30 - 9:30, rds 10, 3 ; 9, 2. CSCA required, OSA. Entries to Richard Buchanan, 844 B Prospect Place, Manitou Springs CO 80829. COLORADO TOUR EVENT.
First prize of at least $600 is guaranteed! Check tournament announcement at www.colorado-chess for updates.
Community Tournament
Saturday, May 3 only
4-round tournament, open to any chess player. No memberships required. No entry fee. Please bring standard chess sets and a chess clock if possible. Register at City Hall 8:30 - 9:30 AM. Games start at 10:00 AM, 11:30 AM, 1:30 PM, 3:00 PM. Everyone plays all 4 rounds - no eliminations. Prizes of merchandise, gift certificates, etc. given as prizes.
For more information e-mail buckpeace@pcisys.net or call Richard Buchanan at (719) 685-1984.
Sponsored by the Colorado Springs Chess Club
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2008 Spring is Sprung One-Day Rated Tournament
By Liz Wood
Just a reminder of the tournament Saturday:
2008 Spring is Sprung One-Day Rated Tournament,
April 26, 2008
5SS tournament.
Time Control: G/30 No Time Delay
Site: The Daily Grind, 209 S. Union, Pueblo
Directions: Take 1st Street exit, three blocks to Union; Union & D Street
Entry fee: $20; Sr, Jr, Unr $15
Prizes: Cash prizes based on entry fees will be distributed at the conclusion of
the event.
Registration: 9:00-9:45, Rounds: 10, 11:15, 12:30, 2:30, 3:45.
Entries: Liz Wood
Phone: 719-566-6929
E-mail: chessliz@comcast.net
CSCA & USCF required
Final round byes must be requested before the start of Round 2, and are
irrevocable.
Pre-register by Wednesday, 4/23/08 and entry fee is $15;
Send checks to TD Jerry Maier at 229 Hargrove Court, Colorado Springs CO
80919-2213
Colorado Tour Event
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Game Of The Week
I was running short on time this week to write an article for the newsletter. Fortunately, I had an article I wrote from the Colorado Chess Informant for which I received a lot of positive feedback. That is everyone except my mother. For most people, their mother is their biggest fan. You could even kill someone and she would still say what a wonderful child you were. However, my mother is my biggest critic. When I showed her the article, the only thing she said was, “You weren’t born in 1875.”
Here is what other people are saying:
“nice...one of our very favorite poems.” – Linda Bragg
“Enjoyed your husband's article. Nice blending of two totally different worlds!” – Jacqi Stevens
“The road not taken was my wife Debbie's favorite poem so I really enjoyed the beautiful job you did making a great chess email out of that one-I didn't write much for that Informant but you seem to have my style down pat anyway.” – LM Brian Wall
“READ THIS ARTICLE, bring your friends and bring your church.” – Paul Anderson
So, without further ado, here is the most over-hyped, greatest chess article of the millennium:
My wife recently checked out a book from the library called “The Top 500 Poems.” It ranks the poems by how often poems are included in anthologies, kind of like Casey Kasem’s American Top 40 countdown show, “And coming in at number 1 is The Tiger by Blake.” I flipped through it to find some of my favorites and was usually disappointed about how low their ranking was compared to what I thought they should be. One of the poems I’ve seen often and thought would have been higher in the ranking was The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost. It came in at number 149. But as I read it over again, it reminded me of my chess career and a fellow player who has been on his chess journey almost exactly as long as I have been on mine.
Paul Grimm once asked me if I had an archrival for an Informant article (January 2005). I gave him my “List of Enemies” which included 10 opponents who have taken the most net rating points from me. However, in reality, most of those 10 people wouldn’t be considered an archrival. I haven’t played 9 of those people since I published the list. I have played one person from the list one time at the end of last year. So, if anyone on that list could be considered an archrival, it would be Larry Wutt. Larry was public enemy number 3 back in 2005, but we hadn’t played together in five years. Could someone I played once in 5 years possibly be an archrival? I thought the only way I could tell for sure was to compare Larry and myself to the greatest rivalry of all time: The Chicago Bears versus The Green Bay Packers.
Event Date Type Win Loss Color Time Change Larry Me
CHAMP 10/27/98 CLUB 1.0 0.0 W 90 9 1494 1704
QUAD 11/10/98 USCF 0.0 1.0 B 30 -29 1226 1572
LIBERTY 5/15/99 QUICK 1.0 0.0 B 29 5 1388 1678
LADDER 8/17/99 CLUB 0.0 1.0 B 60 -17 1694 1708
LADDER 8/31/99 CLUB 0.0 1.0 W 60 -18 1676 1726
LADDER 11/30/99 CLUB 0.0 1.0 W 30 -18 1662 1695
LADDER 7/18/00 CLUB 0.0 1.0 W 60 -22 1663 1802
SWISS 7/17/01 QUICK 1.0 0.0 W 15 10 1526 1684
SWISS 7/16/02 CLUB 1.0 0.0 W 15 17 1747 1731
W SPNGS 12/2/07 USCF 1.0 0.0 W 40/2 17 1905 1875
Why are the Bears versus Packers so great?
One reason has to be their proximity to each other. Illinois and Wisconsin are border states, and some animosity goes back to when these states were drawing up their state boundaries. “Many Chicagoland residents speak disparagingly of their neighbors to the north, referring to the Illinois-Wisconsin border as the ‘cheddar curtain’” (Michael D. Sublett and Frederick H. Walk). Interestingly, Larry is from Wisconsin and a Packers fan while I am from Illinois and a Bears fan.
Another reason has to be the long history of competition together. The Bears and Packers started playing football one year apart and against each other since 1921. Well, Larry and I have been going at it for 10 years now. My first USCF event was the Colorado Springs Chess Club’s February Flatulence (02/10/1998), and I ended up with a provisional rating of 1614. Larry’s first USCF event was the Colorado Springs Chess Club’s June Borborgyms (06/09/1998). He earned a provisional rating of 1027.
Of course, a great rivalry has to include bragging rights. Both teams have to be able to make a claim for superiority. The Bears could point to their overall record against the Packers (W 90, L 79, T 6) while the Packers could refer to their number of championships (Packers 12, Bears 9). Early on, I was confident of my superiority with my whopping 1670 rating while Larry was starting at 1027 and the fact I had won two of our first three games. But Larry could point to his four straight upsets and his net rating gain of 63 points.
However, this rivalry wouldn’t be played out over the board as Larry chose a different path.
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Like most chess players who wish to improve their rating, Larry embarked on the path of theory and education. He purchased chess books, found a study partner, and focused on fewer chess events with slower time controls where his memorization and recall could be fully utilized. During this time, I began to pull head of Larry in number of events. I played in 129 USCF events compared to 97 for Larry. Of course, I was on a different path.
Then look the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
I wanted to play as often as I could and get as much experience as I could without all the book learning. My aim was to learn from my real world, hands-on knowledge to avoid the mistakes I had suffered through personally. Of course, I often wondered if Larry’s path would have worked better for me. After all, Larry had pulled ahead of me, despite of my head start. He crossed the 1800 barrier in the Colorado Springs Open (03/08/2003) when I was still 1740. I didn’t cross that mark until the Winter Springs Open (12/04/2004) almost 2 years later. I didn’t have a goal to reach 1800 until I read about Paul Grimm’s quest to break it. Then I decided to beat him there. Paul never made it to 1800, and once I did, I needed a new goal. I chose to beat Larry to 1900. But now Larry had the lead. Would I need to change paths? Would mine still get me where I wanted to go? Could I afford to go back now?
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I still liked the path I was on. However, I did feel like I was out on my own listening to the other chess players talk about the books they were studying. It didn’t bother me though, as I have felt there is a lot of wisdom in not following the crowd. “But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it” (Matthew 7:14). I was still making progress, and I got close a couple of times. I got as high as 1899 (03/24/2007), but I never was able to reach the destination. Larry finally beat me past the 1900 mark by drawing LM Brian Wall in the Larimer County Open (10/06/2007).
After five years of off-the-board rivalry, our paths finally crossed. Now it was a battle to see who had progressed father, the professor or the unschooled, ordinary man. Would book-smarts be vindicated or would street-smarts triumph?
Two Roads
(Click this link to view the game on your web browser)
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(114) Anderson,Paul (1875) - Wutt,Larry (1905) [E70]
Winter Springs Open Colorado Springs (3.3), 02.12.2007
[Fritz 8 (60s)]{Paul Anderson}
E70: King's Indian: Miscellaneous lines with 4 e4, including 5 Nge2 and 5 Bd3 0-0 6 Nge2
1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 g6 3.d4 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Bd3 0-0 6.f3 Nc6 7.Be3 e5 8.d5 last book move {I am just as surprised as you are to see me make the last book move. I don’t even own the book.} 8...Ne7 9.Qd2 Ne8 10.h4 {Larry seemed to be surprised by this move, but I have seen enough of this opening in my journeys to know f5 is coming, and I don’t do well when I let the pawn get to f4. So, why not start the kingside attack now} f5 11.exf5 Bxf5 [11...gxf5 12.h5= ] 12.g4 Bxd3 13.Qxd3 c6 14.0-0-0 b5 [>=14...Qa5!?+/= deserves consideration] 15.dxc6+/- bxc4 16.Qxc4+ Rf7 17.h5 [>=17.Nh3 Bf6 18.Bg5+/- ]{I am starting to get a little nervous about being a little more exposed and having the slower attack.} 17...Rc8= 18.hxg6 hxg6 19.Bg5 {I thought I was ok after Bg5, but I am starting to miss things, as 19…Nf6 and 20. Nd5 weren’t examined close enough.} Kf8 [19...Nf6!?= should be examined more closely] 20.b4 [20.Nd5!? Nf6 21.Nxf6 Rxf6 22.Bxf6 Bxf6 23.Qd3 Rxc6+ 24.Kb1+- ] 20...Qb6 21.Bxe7+ Rxe7 22.b5 Qe3+ {Even with Larry’s queen deep in my territory, I am feeling better as a6 leads to more exposed king worries. Larry preferred a6 in the post mortem.} 23.Kb1 Rf7? [>=23...a6!? 24.a4 axb5 25.axb5 Ra7+/- ] 24.Nd5 Qg5? 25.Rh3 [>=25.Nh3 and White has reached his goal 25...Qh4 26.Nhf4 Rxf4 27.Qxf4+ (27.Rxh4? is seductive, but 27...Rxc4 28.Rh2 Rb8-+ ; ‹27.Nxf4 Qf6 28.Ne6+ Kf7 29.Ng5+ Ke7+- ) 27...exf4 28.Rxh4+- ] 25...Nf6 26.Ne2 e4? [26...Re8 27.Nec3 e4 28.c7+- ]{I was always worried about plugging up e4 to keep the black bishop blocked, but now the open diagonal works in my favor, as the overly aggressive black queen is becoming a huge liability.} 27.Nef4 [>=27.Nd4 makes it even easier for White 27...Qe5 28.Nf4+- ] 27...Ke8?? an oversight. But Black was lost anyway. [>=27...Re8 28.c7 Nxd5 29.Ne6+ Rxe6 30.c8Q+ Re8 31.Rxd5 Qf6+- ] 28.Ne6 Qe5 29.Nxg7+ Rxg7 30.f4 1-0
Larry survived the Winter Springs Open (12/01/2007) with his +1900 rating in tack, and I still hadn’t crossed the barrier. However, our paths crossed again at the Al Ufer Memorial (01/05/2008). We didn’t get paired together, but Larry went home with a rating of 1873 while I broke the 1900 mark for the first time (1904). Race you to 2000!
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I –
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
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April Fools' Pizza Contest
The April Fools' Game Of The Week (http://home.att.net/~cs.chess/games/frenzelfox03252008.htm) has been updated to reflect the actual participants. No one correctly identified them so the free pizza prize will be donated to the Colorado Springs Chess Club for tonight’s event.
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Upcoming Events
4/22 Josh Bloomer simul, CSCC
4/23,30 Poor Richard's Bookstore April Open final rounds, CSCC
4/26 2008 Spring is Sprung One-Day Rated Tournament, CSCA
4/26 14th Annual Pir Maleki Memorial, April 26, NMCO
4/29 Fischer Random tournament: 4-SS, G/15, not rated, CSCC
5/3-4 Bobby Fischer Memorial, CSCA
For event details and additional events, see the following websites:
Colorado Springs Chess Club: CSCC (http://springschess.org/)
Boulder Chess Club: BCC (http://www.geocities.com/boulderchessclub/)
Colorado State Chess Association: CSCA (http://colorado-chess.com/)
Wyoming Chess Association: WCA (http://www.wyomingchess.com/)
Kansas Chess Association: KCA (http://www.kansaschess.org/)
New Mexico Chess Organization: NMCO (http://www.nmchess.org/)
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