Six Players on a Cold 112816 Monday - But 2nd Chance Tourney Entry Monday

The best United States player and world's best blitz player - Hikaru Nakamura

It was a cold and rainy night and that probably dampened the turnout.
The tournament started with 6 entries with one pairing postponed due to some scheduling confilicts.

Thats ok - cause we roll with things like bad weather and scheduling issues at LCCC.

Looks like we should have more entries this coming Monday, so some tournament action will be held this coming week, along with our usual lessons and casual chess.

It also means on Dec 5, the 2nd round will begin with the entire tourney field all together.

Round 3 is Jan 9 and Round 4 is Jan 23, so this tournament is not an every week commitment.

Be sure to get to the Club by 6:30 this Monday to make sure you get a seat in this fun event. You don't want to miss it.

So here is an interesting endgame. Early notes are by an Expert (playing Black against another Expert) and an International Master - without the benefit of a computer. [Igor3000 will chime in].

White to move.

[The notes show what was played and how Black loses the game. Igor3000 has Black actually winning right now at -.30 of a pawn in a drawn endgame if played Igor-esque. But of course what makes chess so much fun is that humans are not Igor-esque.]

39. g4!          Kc5

The right move was 39. h4!! (advance the candidate). But the text is good enough. Here is the rest of the game.

[Both moves by White actually raise Black's advantage to (-.7). The correct move order was 39. Rb1+, Kxa7 40. h4! and Black's king is even farther away from the action and stuck on the a-file. This keeps Black's advantage small.

Black's 39th move was the fatal error (+1.3). Much better is 39. .......Rxa7, 40. Rxa7, Kxa7 and Black's pawn advantage will hold the fort (-.7) until their monarch can return. Instead White rolls to victory.]

40. h4           d5?   
[Black needed d4 here to give White a passed pawn to worry about. It appears Black has quit fighting and is just trading down to a lost endgame. (+3)]

41. Kd3        e5?
[Black needed 41. .......h6. Black is falling quickly. (+3.4)]

42. fxe5?        d4
[Better for White was 42. f5! (+4.7) and it's over. But Whites lead remained the same so there is still no hope for Black without a major error by his opponent.]

43. Ra2           h5?
[Another unforced error. This is too aggressive. 43. ........h6 was still needed and better. Now White has a (+6.6) lead.]

44. gxh5         gxh5
45. Ra1          Kb5
46. Kxd4        e6??
[Not that it matters at this point but 46. .......Rd8+ was required to activate the rook. (+17.7).]

47. Ke3          Kc4
48. Kf4          Kd3
49. Ra4         Resigns