On February 19th, the CSCC had 9 members in attendance. Most of the group played in the conclusion of the Cabin Fever Reliever (4SS, G30). NM Josh Bloomer suffered one defeat as he tied for 1st place with myself. Here are the results:

Player Score Place $
Josh Bloomer 3.0 1st $17.50
Paul Anderson 3.0 1st $17.50
Jeff Fox 2.5
Bill Weihmiller 2.0
Dean Brown 2.0 U1600 $10.00
Virgil McGuire 1.5
David Moritz 1.5
Buck Buchanan 1.5
Dan Southard 0.5
George McDermith 0.5
Kathy Schneider 0.0

Tim, Wednesday, February 20, 2008 6:24 PM

Nice knight sac by Bill - 22. Qh1! is a neat defense from fritz. [http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/cs_chess/message/161]

Prob would have voted for this one if the bloomer game wasnt a 300 pt upset - Nice game! For some reason I find bishop forks like the one you did to josh easy to miss as well! Congrats!

I'm off to Poor Richards :-)

Cheers,
Tim

This week’s game comes from the club event, the Cabin Fever Reliever. It is typically my first event back at the Colorado Springs Chess Club after my off-season and one that has been very good for me. My winning percentage in this event is 77% and my prize winnings are about 2.6 times my entry fees. So, I look forward to this event with eager anticipation every year. Of course, nothing ever goes as planned, and after the first week of the tournament, I found myself in 5th place with little hope of any prize money and likely to finish with a 50% winning percentage. But as I prepared to play Dean Brown in the 3rd round on the top board, it dawned on me that the top 3 players had not showed up this week. It was as if, all of a sudden, I was Terrell Davis in Super Bowl 32 and the Packers defensive line had parted revealing a clear path to the end zone. I was busy counting my un-hatched chickens when the top 2 players finally arrived. My heart sank as I realized that NM Josh Bloomer would probably go undefeated, and I would have to win out to even have a shot at an under prize. I tried to envision a scenario where Jeff Fox would have to play the master, and I would finish with 3 points. It made perfect sense in my mind how I could be paired with Kathy Schneider in the last round and finish in second place. However, nothing ever goes as planned, and I was paired with NM Josh Bloomer in the final round. I think we both expected another pounding of my Caro-Kann by Josh. However, for some reason I played the King’s Indian. I haven’t played the black side of the King’s Indian in USCF-rated play since 2002 when I beat Anthea Carson with it, and the only other time I won with it was against Frank Shotwell in 1999. It seemed as though there was nothing that could stop NM Josh Bloomer from a perfect tournament. But then again, nothing ever goes as planned…

A Giant Upset (Click this link to view the game on your web browser)

(106) Bloomer,Josh (2222) - Anderson,Paul (1904) [E91]
Cabin Fever Reliever Colorado Springs (4.1), 19.02.2008
[Fritz 8 (60s)]

E91: King's Indian: Classical: 6 Be2, unusual replies including 6...c5 and 6...Bg4
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 c5 7.d5 e6 8.0-0 exd5 9.exd5 Na6 10.Bf4 Nc7 11.h3 a6 12.a4 last book move 12...Rb8 13.Qd2 Re8 14.Rfe1 Ne4 15.Nxe4 Rxe4 16.Bd3 Rxe1+ 17.Rxe1 b5 18.axb5 axb5 19.b3 bxc4 20.bxc4 Rb2 21.Qa5 [21.Bg5!? Qf8 22.Qc1+/- ] 21...Rb3 22.Bc2 Bc3 23.Qa4?? gives the opponent new chances [>=23.Bg5 and White is still in the game 23...Bxa5 24.Bxd8 Rxf3 25.Ra1+/= ] 23...Rb4-+ 24.Qa2 Bxe1 [>=24...Rb2 Black has the better game 25.Qa4 Bd7-+ ] 25.Nxe1-/+ Qf6 26.Nd3 Rb7 27.Bc1? [>=27.Qa4 Qd8 28.Qc6-/+ ] 27...Bf5 28.Qa3 Qe7 [28...Qd4!? 29.Nxc5 Qxc5 30.Bxf5 Qxc4 31.Bd3 Qxd5 32.Qc3-+ ] 29.Be3 h5 30.Qa4 Kh7 31.Qc6 Ne8 32.Bg5 Qd7 33.Qa6 f6 34.Bf4 Qe7 35.Be3 Ng7 [35...Ra7 36.Qb6 Ra1+ 37.Kh2-+ ] 36.Qc6? [36.Qa5 Be4-/+ ] 36...g5?? letting the wind out of his own sails [>=36...Bxd3 and Black has it in the bag 37.Bxd3 Rb3-+ ] 37.Qa4-/+ Bg6 38.Qa2? [>=38.Nc1-/+ ] 38...Nf5-+ 39.Bc1 Nd4 40.Be3 Nxc2 41.Qxc2 Qe4 42.Qa4 [42.Qc3 the only chance to get some counterplay 42...Qxd3 43.Qxf6 Qxc4 44.Qxd6-+ ] 42...Qxd3 43.Qc6 Rb1+ [43...Rb1+ 44.Bc1 Qd1+ 45.Kh2 Qxc1 46.Qb7+ Rxb7 47.f3 h4 48.f4 Qxf4+ 49.g3 Qxg3+ 50.Kh1 Be4# ] 0-1

2/26 Bughouse!!, CSCC
2/28 February 2008 G/29 Grand Prix Event, WCA
3/1 CU Rapid VII & CU Unrated Open, BCC
3/1 DCC March Quick Tournament, CSCA
3/4 Speed Tournament, CSCC
3/5,12,19,26 Poor Richard's Bookstore March Open, CSCC

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/)