On April 29th, the CSCC had 11 members in attendance. The main event was a Fischer-Random, Swiss tournament (G15). In each round, the pawns started in their regular position. However, the roll of a die determined the set-up of the pieces. Of course, a couple of rules helped keep the game close to standard chess; the bishops had to be on opposite colors, and the king had to be between the rooks. Castling was accomplished with the standard rules and into the normal position, but the king and rook could start from almost any other back rank square. Here are the results:

Score	Player
4.0	Paul Anderson
3.0	Dean Brown
2.0	Buck Buchanan
2.0	David Meliti
2.0	Jeff Fox
2.0	Ken Dail
0.5	Kristin Meliti
0.5	Joe Fromme

Last week, I complained about not having enough chess games to choose from for the Game Of The Week column. I guess you have to be careful about what you complain about. This week I had a deluge of offers (mostly from LM Brian Wall). I could have chosen the next episode in the ongoing border dispute between Larry Wutt and LM Brian Wall entitled, “Not On My Watch!” Larry plays the migrant worker who repeatedly tries to cross the 1900 barrier guarded by the Wall. Brian plays a legislator whose main weapon is to mock Larry with disparaging nicknames on his score sheet, based on the fact that Wutt and What sound exactly the same. I could have used the story about my wife trying to remember Larry’s name at Subway. Linda says, “Who was that guy you wrote the article (http://home.att.net/~cs.chess/newsletter/Tue_Apr_22_2008.html) about?” Paul says, “Wutt.” Linda elaborates, “That guy we were talking to this morning?” Paul says, “Wutt.” Linda frustratingly utters, “The guy with the leg cramps!” Paul says, “Wutt.” Linda relents, “Oh, never mind.” Of course, if I had chosen that game then I wouldn’t be able to tell the story of Anthea Carson’s win over Bill Weihmiller. Then I could have drawn the comparison of these two to the classic Swiss novel, “Heidi.” Anthea is orphaned as the only girl in the open section against 4 mountainous peaks of the Certified Class A world. Her battles with Bill over the past year are reminiscent of Heidi’s clashing repeatedly with the strict housekeeper Miss Rottenmeier. Knowing Bill’s fastidious nature, Tim Brennan wanted to set up his grimy set at their table when neither of them showed up on time for their game, giving the psychological edge to Anthea. In addition, Anthea pulled out the atomic bomb of psychological weapons when instead of paying attention to the game she took a page from my wife’s fashion book and braided her hair Heidi-style, only sporadically turning to the board to say, “I think I'll put my horsey here.” This frustrated Bill’s game plan so much that he found himself down 3 points with only 65 seconds left in the game. Of course, a lot can happen in 65 seconds. The final blow came when Anthea preempted the end of the game to go see a movie. However, I figured I couldn’t have chosen this game either as my son knocked off the number 1 seed in the community section. He seems to have a knack for upsets. In the first year of our football pool, he picked so many upsets that he earned the nickname “Miracle Matthew.” He went on to pick the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Super Bowl 37 (http://spam.football.home.att.net/). In 2006, he beat me at chess when I was rated 1885 (http://home.att.net/~cs.chess/newsletter/Sat_Apr_28_2007.html). In 2007, he played in his first simul and beat LM Brian Wall (http://home.att.net/~cs.chess/newsletter/Tue_Feb_19_2008.html). Now, in 2008 another upset. Well, maybe not. It turns out that the seeding of the community section was based on age and not ability. But he did beat the oldest guy in the section, so here is the game anyway.

Miracle Matthew (Click this link to view the game on your web browser)

(116) Wells,Roy - Anderson,Matthew [D13]
Bobby Fischer Memorial Colorado Springs (2.5), 03.05.2008
[Fritz 8 (60s)]

D13: Slav Defence: Exchange variation without ...Bf5
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.cxd5 cxd5 4.Nf3 e6 5.Nc3 Nf6 6.e3 Nc6 7.Bd3 last book move 7...Bb4 8.0-0 0-0 9.Re1 Qd6 [9...Ne4 10.Bd2 f5 11.Rc1= ] 10.a3 Bxc3 11.bxc3 Re8 [11...e5 12.dxe5 Nxe5 13.Be2= ] 12.Qc2 e5 13.dxe5 Nxe5 14.Nxe5 Rxe5 15.h3 Bxh3 [>=15...Bd7!?= would keep Black alive] 16.gxh3 Rg5+ 17.Kf1 Qh2 18.Ke2 Rg2 19.Rf1 Qxh3 20.Bb2 Ng4=/+ 21.c4?? [>=21.Bc1 this is the best bet to save the position 21...Nh2 22.Bxh7+ Qxh7 23.Qxh7+ Kxh7 24.Rd1= ] 21...Re8 22.Bf5 [22.Bd4 desperation 22...Rxe3+ 23.Kd2 Nxf2 24.Bxh7+ Kh8 25.Bxe3 Ng4+ 26.Kc3 d4+ 27.Kb4 Rxc2 28.Bxc2 Qxe3 29.Ka4-+ ] 22...Qxe3+ 23.Kd1 Nxf2+ 24.Rxf2 [24.Qxf2 cannot undo what has already been done 24...Rxf2 25.Rxf2 Qxf2 26.Bc3 Re2 27.Bh3 d4 28.Ra2 d3 29.c5 Qg1+ 30.Bf1 Qxf1+ 31.Be1 Qxe1# ] 24...Qe1# 0-1

5/6 Speed tournament, CSCC
5/7,14,21,28 Poor Richard's Bookstore May Open, CSCC
5/7 May 2008 G/29 Grand Prix Event, BCC
5/10 Western Colorado Open, CSCA
5/13 Bughouse tournament, CSCC
5/17 DCC May Flowers Tour Event, 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/)