Monday 052316 was an Exciting Night at LCCC

Luigi and Americo Milani - win bling at a K-12 tournament.

The LCCC tournament was over and it was just a scheduled casual night of chess on the Monday prior to the Memorial weekend.

But...... BAM!......we had a big crowd of 16 players on the first actually warm Monday night of 2016.

We welcomed three new players to LCCC this evening. A big welcome to Brian G, Luke G and Alan M. Great to have you at here guys.

We also had two players that have been away stop by. First of all - Zade K was home for a visit from West Point. He was part of the Armed Forces chess team that played a 'friendly' match against a military team from Canada. The USA did win the match!

The other guy returning to the Club is Jason M. He left the USA for a long work assignment in Australia in software engineering. But the assignment is over and he is back. As the highest rated player in the Club, Jason jumped right in by going over the tournament games of some of the K-12 players of LCCC. Thanks Jason!

Now here is a game played at the club years ago by Scott M as White. It shows that the Kings Gambit is a dangerous opening for Black - even when Black correctly accepts the pawn offering at the right time.

Comments by Igor3000.

1. e4      e5
2. f4       Nc6
3. Nf3    d6
4. Nc3    Nf6
5. Bb5     ef
6. d4       Bd7
7. O-O      Ne7?

This move cramps Black. 7. .....Be7 was the correct play. White is up positionally over a pawn (+1.5).

8. Bc4      h6
9. Bxf4     Ng6
10. Bg3      Be7??
Black falls apart under the pressure (+4.3). Even the best move 10. .....Qe7 leaves Black down two pawns positionally.
 
11. e5       de
12. de       Bc5+
13. Kh1     Ng4
Even 13. .....Nh5 doesn't help. 14. Bxf7+!

14. Ng5     Qxg5
15. Bxf7+     Kd8
16. Ne4       Qe7
17. Bxg6      Ne3
A helpless try to alter the game might have been 17. ....Nxe5 18. Nxc5, Qxc5 19. Qh5.

18. Qd3       Nxf1
19. Rxf1      Kc8
20. Rf7       Rf8
21. Rxe7     Resigns

Vince Valente - LCCC Club Champion for 2016!

Congratulations to Vince Valente - the 2016 LCCC Club Champion!

Vince went 5 - 0 as no one could stop him. Vince used his solid style with a touch of sneaky tactics to win his games. Nice job Vince.

The next event for the Club is a Speed (5 minute) tournament on Monday, June 6.  The tournament will start at 6:30 pm, so get there at 6pm to sign up! The plan is for 4 rounds - but each round will consist of two games against each opponent - one with White and one with Black.

If you win both games or win and draw - you get a win for the match.
If you win one and lose one - you get a draw for the match.

Eight games played in the same evening! A lot of chess in a short period of time. Be sure to be here June 6th for the fun event.

Casual chess is on tap for May 23, and of course we will be closed on Memorial Day.

Here is a game between two GM's - Kacheishvili vs Wang, Dubai Open 2005. Computer - [Igor3000] comments are in brackets.

1. d4      d5
2. c4      c6
3. Nf3     Nf6
4. Nc3     dxc4
5. a4        Bf5
6. Ne5     Nbd7
The old fashion way to play the Slav Defense. Not everybody has the nerves to enter the sharp line 6. ...e6 7. f3, Bb4 8. e4, Bxe4 9. fxe4 Nxe4 that remains unsolved.
[Igor3000 says White has a (+.4) advantage with proper play, but mind fields lurk.]

7. Nxc4      Qc7
8. g3       e5
9. dxe5     Nxe5
10. Bf4     Nfd7
11. Bg2      f6
12. O-O      Nc5!?

Position after Black's move 12. ......Nc5!?

A move embraced by the Russian GM Alexander Morozevich, stressing active piece play.
[+.5 for White]

13. Ne3     Bg6
14. b4       Ne6
The aggressive 14. ....Rd8 is refuted with 15. Ned5!, cxd5 16. bxc5 with White's advantage. [Igor agrees as this line gives White a (+.8) advantage.]

15. b5     Rd8
16. Qc1     .........
Black should not have problems with this passive move. Trying to invade Black's position via the b-file with 16. Qb3!?, Bf7 17. Bxe5, fxe5 18. bxc6, bxc6 19. Rab1, Nd4 20. Qb7 is more critical. [+.25 for White].

16. ......       Bc5
More aggressive than 16. ......Be7.

17. bxc6      ........
Not much can be gained by 17. a5, O-O 18. a6, b6! 19. Bxe5, Qxe5 20. Bxc6, because after 20. ....Nd4, the activity of Black's pieces easily compensates the small material loss. [Igor3000 agrees with this note as Black up (-.8) in this line.

17. ......       bxc6
18. Bxe5     ........
Scattering Black's pawns, White also gets the e4 square, but in this line, the activity of Black's pieces makes up for his discrepancies. [(+.2) for White - basically even]

18. .....      fxe5
19. Ne4    Be7!
The bishop controls many dark squares in White's camp.

20. Nc4       Nd4
21. Ra2       O-O
22. Kh1       Kh8
23. e3!?       Nf3
24. Ncd2     Qd7!

After Black's move 24. ....Qd7!

After 25. Bxf3, Rxf3! 26. Nxf3, Bxe4 and Black wins.

25. Qa1      Qe6
26. Nc5?     .......
White should have tried 26. Nxf3!?, Bxe4 27. Qxe5, Qd5 28. Qxe7, Bxf3 29. Bxf3, Qxa2 30. Bxc6, Qc2 31. Bd5 (on 31. Bb5 comes 31. ....a6!), Qxa4 32. e4 with some fighting chances for the exchange. [In this line, Black is up (-.7). But the text move is actually BETTER as Black is up only (-.4)]

26. .....        Bxc5
27. Nxf3     Be4!
This spells trouble for White on the long diagonal h1-a8.

28. Ne1?     .......
A sad retreat. [Also the 5th best move (-1.3)] But after 28. Nxe5 [2nd best move], Bxg2? 29. Kxg2, Bd6, the knight cannot go back because of 30. Nf3, Qe4 31. Qd1, Bxg3 32. Qe2, Bc7 and Black wins[(-.8)].

And on 30. f4 comes .....Bxe5 31. fxe5, Qd5+ 32. e4, Qxe4+ 33. Kh3, Rxf1 34. Qxf1, Qxe5 and Black is a pawn up and the White king is exposed.

Grabbing the pawn with 28. Qxe5 [not even in the top five moves under consideration by me] leads to .....Qc4! 29. Raa1, Rd5 and a winning position for Black.

[The best response for White was 28. Ng5, Bxg2 29. Kxg2, Qf5 30. Qc3, Be7 31. h4, h6 32. Nh3, c5 33. Rb2, Qe6 and Black is up only (-.3)]

28. ......        Bd5
29. Bxd5    Qxd5+
30. Kg1      Bxe3!
Punctuating the attack with a piece sacrifice that helps Black in hunting down the White king.
[31. Re2 keeps the game from getting completely away from White at (-1.3)]

31. fxe3?     Rxf1+
32. Kxf1      Qh1+
33. Ke2       e4!
Closing the net on the White king.

34. Kf2      Qxh2+
35. Ng2      Rf8+
36. Ke1      Qxg3+
37. Kd2      Qxg2+
38. Kc3      Qg5
White resigns
   

LCCC 2016 Club Championship - Final Round Postings

Hello Club;

Here are the pairings for the final round of our tournament Monday, May 16.

Board 1:  Luke S (W) -  Vince V (B)

Board 2:  Ken T (W) - Gene M (B)

Board 3:  John R (W) - Mike N (B)

Board 4:  Riley B (W) - Paul M (B)  postponed!

Board 5:  Dave K (W) - Don J (B)

The current standings:

Vince V = 4 points
Gene M = 3
Luke S = 2.5
Mike N = 2
Paul M = 2
Ken T = 2
Don J = 1.5
John R = 1.5
Riley B = 1
Dave L = .5

See you all Monday night!

Night 050916 Included Fun Chess - and Thank You Readers!

Playing chess internationally.....via telegraph. Chess is the international language.

We had seven players on this spring night.....and it was a lot of fun.

We had one league game make up .....and it was a doozy.

Now the final round (round 5) will be this coming Monday - May 16 at 7pm. The club opens at 6pm. Come on by for some casual chess and either keep playing - or watch the final round action.

Your humble scribe would like to take a moment to thank our readers across the world! This blog passed the 50,000 mark in 'hits' and all of us at LCCC are humbled by that number!

Thank you to all our readers. This blog is truly international in scope - as is chess!
Nearly 40% of our readers are from outside the United States!
The other amazing stat is that almost 40 countries make up our readership.
The top countries - excluding the USA - are:

Russia
France
Ukraine
Germany
China
Poland
Turkey
Ireland
United Kingdom
Japan
Spain
Australia

Again - thank you to all our readers!

Next post will include the final round pairings for our Club Championship and a game from the last round. Stay tuned!

Round 4 - 2016 LCCC Club Championship

We had thirteen players make an appearance this cool spring evening. Casual chess was played in addition to the 4th round of our Club Championship.

The winners were:
Vince V and Mike N

Drawing their games were Don J with Ken T and Dave K with John R.

One 4th round match remains with Gene M and Luke S to square off next Monday at 7pm.

The club will be open at 6pm for open chess. Stop by and get your chess on or watch the Tournament action.

Now for a  casual game played at the club. The moral of this game is that sometimes just playing chess fundamentals sets you up for a win.

1. e4      e6
2. d4      d5
3. ed      ed
4. Bd3     Nf6
5. Bg5     h6
6. Bh4     Nc6

Position after Black's 6. ......Nc6

Black is already ahead slightly due to all the forced move targets White has presented - such as the d-pawn, both White bishops, and a possible pinned knight at f3 to the queen. (-.2)

7. c3      Be7
8. Nf3      O-O
The computer Grandmaster Igor3000 liked 8. Nh5 here, but we are not grandmasters. Leaving a knight on the rim and unprotected is generally not a good idea for us mere mortals. Castling here was not the 'best' move, but certainly not unwise or bad.
 
9. Nbd2     Re1
Another development move by Black. With no real plan in mind, Black prepares his army for battle.

10. O-O      Ne4
11. Bxe7     Rxe7
12. Qc2       f5
13. Rfe1      Qe8?!
Igor liked 13......Qd6 better because of White's possible 14. Bb5. (+.6) for White.

14. c4?        Nb4
A full pawn error by White as he misses the double attack by the knight. (-.4).

15. Qb1?      ........
A blunder that loses a piece and position (-4.7). Yes, White blundered, but it is the developed Black pieces that allow the blunder to be taken advantage of. It is the norm rather than the exception - where solid chess moves eventually pay dividends.

15. .......       Nxd2
16. Nxd2     Rxe1+
17. Qxe1      Qxe1+
18. Rxe1      Nxd3
19. Re7        c6
Resigns

Lesson: Develop your pieces and forego the early one or two piece attack. Get your entire army mobilized first.