ACF Champion. ACF Officers. Alabama Chess November Top 50. ACF Membership

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2 ACF Champion Alabama Chess November Top 50 Alabama State Champion Alabama Scholastic Champion Stephen Adams ACF Officers President: Neil Dietsch Vice-President: Balagee Govindan Secretary Paul Nager 1.BRADLEY J DENTON SCOTT VARAGONA CHAO ZHANG JOSEPH H JURJEVICH GERALD A LARSON REX E BLALOCK BRENT H INMAN JOSHUA THOMAS MCCLELLAN CHARLES L MEIDINGER GORDON JAMALL RANDALL STEPHEN WADE ADAMS ROGER D JOHNSON TERRENCE W EDINBURGH STEPHEN JAMES GRAVELING KIRK D PETTY VINCENT J GLORIOSO MILES MELVIN KEVIN WANG JONATHAN RASBERRY TIM BOND ARDEN QUINLAN MARKIN GUENTHER HUBER-DELLE JEFF TOBIN RAY DOWNS KENNETH JIAO KENNETH W GOODMAN CHARLES AUGUSTUS SMITH CAESAR W LAWRENCE THOMAS H LAWRY ABRAHAM KUNIN LUIS ALVARO HARNES BRIAN MCCORMICK STEVE MENGXI CHEN RHODES PEELE KENNETH SLOAN CHRISTOPHER TREES ADRIAN J MAJERLE LOUIS S DE FIORE ELEANOR BARKLEY LANDON B ANGLIN WILLIAM R SAVOIE CHRISTOPHER J LASKY SIJING WU WALTER F MALMBORG JR STEPHEN O'SHEA VIKHRAM BALAGEE WILLIAM R SHERRILL KEYVAN AMOUIE DR ASHOK NAKHASI PAT R ALFORD 1600 Treasurer: Scholastic VP: Antics Editor: Bradley Denton Gerald Larson Scott Varagona ACF Membership Webmaster: Jared Collins Please contact president@alabamachess.com if you are interested in helping with the Alabama Chess Federation Any individual may become a Regular Member upon the payment of annual dues of $ Regular members may enter ACF tournaments and receive special publications or notices from ACF as they are issued. Any chess club seeking to become an Affiliate is required to file the Affiliate Information Form with the Secretary of the ACF and pay annual dues of $ Benefits of becoming an affiliate include the right to bid to host ACF-sanctioned events, such as the Alabama State Championship, and to receive advertising through the ACF for your tournaments. 2

3 Alabama Chess Antics Contents 4 AL Dual Rated: U1800 Doug Strout 5 Winter Book Suggestion 6 Fischer Miniature 7 Tal Miniature 8 Rivalry! 10 AL State Championship Stephen Graveling Editor in Chief: Copy Editor: Christine Dietsch Letter From the Editor: The dust has settled after the 2014 Alabama State Championship and Stephen Adams is the new champion. The last issue was very warmly received; I sincerely appreciate all of the comments after the reboot of the format. This will be my last issue as the editor as I have taken a full-time chess position at Franklin Academy in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. I look forward to seeing more great issues by our old/new editor Scott Varagona. Scott needs pictures! games! and articles! Chessfully, 3

4 AL Dual-Rated: U1800 Doug Strout Jerome Flowers (1545) - Jayashree Sekar (1627) Alabama Dual Championship: U1800, July 26, 2014 This game was played during the final round of the 2014 Alabama Dual-Rated Chess Championship in Montgomery. Here's the situation: Jerome Flowers is 3.0/3 and clear first in the U1800 by a full point. His opponent is Jayashree Sekar of Georgia (2.0/3). 1.d4 d5 2.c4 Nf6? Jerome is pushing for a center break to open up the board exd5 13.exd5 Major problem for Jayashree here: the knight is threatened and Jerome has Re1 to pin the queen dxc6 Bxc6 Jayashree has to concede the piece, but she has a tempo and a well-placed bishop pair. 15.Bf5+ Kb8 16.Qc2 Faced with Queen's Gambit, Jayashree avoids both the Orthodox 2....e6 and the Slav 2....c6. Interesting choice, but that knight ends up making several moves during the opening. 3.cxd5 Nxd5 4.e4 Nf6 Jerome is pushing around the knight and building his center. 5.Nc3 [5.e5 Editor: Also: 5...Nd5 6.Bc4 c6 7.Nc3 e6 8.Nge2 Nd Be7 10.Bd3 With a big attack on the king-side for White.] 5...e6 6.Nf3 Bb4 7.Bd3 Protecting the e4 pawn against...bxc6 bxc Bd Nc6 9.Bf4 Ba5 10.a3 Bb6 11.Bc2 Qe7 12.d5 [16.Qe1 is stronger as it defends and threatens to trade more pieces favoring White] 16...Bxf3 17.gxf3 Breaking the White castle wall with queens still on the board. White has to be very careful now Nh5 18.Rae1 Qh4 19.Bg3??

5 Winter Book Suggestion This is White responding to the wrong threat. The Black bishop is pinning f2, which becomes a weakness for White. [19.Be3 Bxe3 20.fxe3+-] 19...Nxg3 20.hxg3 Qxg3+ White's position collapses quickly from here. 21.Kh1 Qxf3+ 22.Kh2 Rd6 23.Qe4 Rh6+ 24.Kg1 Rh1# Amateur to IM by Jonathan Hawkins is, simply put, an excellent chess book. The back cover states: "The secret was knowing what to study and how to learn as efficiently as possible. Jerome and Jayashree (along with William Sherill) tie for first in the U1800. Interestingly, with Jayashree not being an Alabamian, Jerome still wins the U1800 Championship on tiebreak. The U1800 was a hardfought section in the 2014 Alabama Dual Championship. 0-1 IM Hawkins focused his efforts specifically on the endgame in this non-exhaustive and lighthearted text. The initial phase of the book has Jonathan introducing a number of building blocks and identifying a number of very important areas of study. With these concepts clearly explained, the book then dives into more complicated endgames and how using the building blocks can help with the chess player s decision-making process. Overall, the book is a well-rounded text that is excellent for the player in the range looking to improve their understanding of core concepts in the endgame. I highly recommend this book for the person who hates studying the endgame as it is more dialogue intensive then the dictionary-like endgame tomes you see at every other tournament. 5

6 Fischer Miniature Ignoring the draw offer Larsen goes for the plunge and it turns out to be a slaughter! Robert James Fischer 11 th World Chess Champion Sometimes even the best players in the world can slip and lose a game quickly. Here Fischer dismantles Bent Larson in one of my favorite Fischer games. Robert James Fischer - Bent Larsen Santa Monica free game Santa Monica, Kd6 11.c4 N7f6 [11...e6 12.cxd5 exd5 13.Bf4+ Ke7 14.Bd3 Nf6 Was the first choice of an engine, but why play chess if you get such an awful position out of the opening?] 12.Qg3+ Ke6 13.cxd5+ Qxd5 14.Nc3 Qxd4 1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.Nf3 dxe5 5.Nxe5 5...Nd7 [5...c6 The modern approach in recent theory recommends this move, but Nd7 is still played by the insane and the cold-blooded.] 6.Nxf7 Kxf7 7.Qh5+ Ke6 8.Qg4+ Kf7 9.Qh5+ Ke6 10.Qg4+ Greedy, but not many other options can be played with a straight face. [14...Qa5 15.Bc4+ Kd Kd8 17.Re1 h6 18.b3 e6 19.Bf4 Where all of White's pieces are out and Black is getting overwhelmed.] 15.Be3 Qb4 16.a3! Qxb2 [16...Qg4 17.Qxc7 Ne8 18.Qd8 Kf7 19.Rd1 e5 20.f4 Qe6 21.fxe5 Qxe5 22.Bc4+ Kg6 23.Bd3+ Kf Nf6 25.Ne4 with a winning attack] 17.Bc4+ Kd7 18.Rd1+ Ke8 19.Nb

7 Tal Miniature Mikhail Tal 8 th World Chess Champion Janusz Szukszta - Mikhail Tal WchT U26 03th Upsala, 1956 Continuing the theme of miniatures, the great Tal! 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f Be3 e5 The point!, White is nowhere near being safe, so Black must be dynamic and accurate. 10.cxd5 [10.e5 Re8!] 10...cxd5 11.exd5 [11.Nxd5 Nxd5 12.Qxd5 Qb6 with compensation] 11...Nc6?? A blemish on this game, but Szukszta failed to find the refutation. [11...Re8 with dynamic equality] 12.dxc6 Re8 13.Kf2? [13.cxb7! Rxe3+ 14.Nce2 Bxb7 15.Qxe3 Nd5 16.Qd3 Qa5+ 17.Kf2 Re8 18.Rd1 Bh6 19.Nc2 Qb6+ 20.Qd4 Qa5 21.Rd3 Qxa2 22.Nb4 Nxb4 23.Qxb4 Ba6 24.Rd1 Be3+ 25.Kg3 Where White's king is safe and Black's attack is quickly running out of steam.] 13...Rxe3 14.Rd1?? Recently in theory many other approaches are being used against the Saemich. [6...c5 7.dxc5 dxc5 8.Qxd8 Rxd8 9.Bxc5 Nc6 10.Nd5 Nd7 11.Bxe7 Nxe7 12.Nxe7+ Kf8 13.Nd5 Bxb2 14.Rb1 Bg7 15.Nh3 Nc5 16.Nf2 Be6 17.Be2 Rac8 Black has more than compensation; 6...Nc6 7.Nge2 a6 8.Qd2 Rb8 9.g4 b5 with Sicilian Dragon style pawn storms] 7.Nge2 c6 8.Qb3? [8.Qd2 Would be much more normal, the weird move Qb3 sets Tal upon an aggressive idea.] 8...exd4 9.Nxd4 d5! [14.Kxe3 Ng4+ 15.Ke2 Qxd4 16.Ne4 bxc6 17.Rd1 Qe5 18.Rd8+ Bf8 19.Rxf8+ Kxf8 20.h3 Nf6 21.Qc3 Qxc3 22.Nxc3 Be6] 7

8 14...Ng4+ 15.fxg4 Bxd4 16.Rxd4 Qxd4 17.Qd5 Rivalry! [17.Qa4 Re2+ 18.Kxe2 Bxg4+ 19.Ke1 Re8+ 20.Be2 Rxe2+] 17...Re2+ 18.Kxe2 Bxg4+ 19.Ke1 Re8+ 20.Be2 Rxe2+ Topalov (gray jacket) and Kramnik refuse to acknowledge each other! Vladimir Kramnik (2760) - Veselin Topalov (2772) 41st Olympiad Tromso (5), August 6, 2014 The intense history between these two players is well known (Toiletgate). These two top players have by far the most bitter rivalry in all of chess. In the game itself you see spurned repetitions by both sides indicating the want for a true fight. This particular game caught my eye during the Olympiad and is an instant classic! 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.g3 0-1 This is a very interesting continuation, more and more top players are just getting positions against one another rather than showing off theory Bg2 Nbd7 8 [6...dxc4 7.Ne5 Nc6 8.Bxc6 bxc6 9.Nxc6 Qe8 10.Nxe7+ Qxe7 11.Qa4 is the usual mainline in the Nc3 Catalan]

9 7.Qd3 Nb6!? 30...Bxa1 31.exd5 Qf6 32.d6! The pawns become monsters well worth a piece Qc3 33.Qd1! Black's dark-squared bishop must be kept uncoordinated, this will buy White serious time Bb2 34.Bxc6 Rad8 35.Nb1! Qf6 36.Qd2 Rb8 37.Be4 e5 38.Nc3! Qe6 [38...Bxc3 39.Qxc3 exf4 40.Qxf6 gxf6 41.d7+-] 39.Nd5 Qxh3 40.Bg2 Qh5 41.d7 This seems to be questionable as White now will have a clear plan of expansion on the queenside. [7...c b6 9.e4 Ba6 10.b3 dxc4 11.bxc4 e5 would be my first choice line for Black where the position becomes interesting because of the queen on d3] 8.c5 Nbd c6 10.b4 b6 11.Bf4 a5 12.a3 Ba6 13.Qc2 Nh5 14.Bd2 Nhf6 15.Bf4 Nh5 16.Bd2 Nhf6 17.Rfe1 Clearly neither of these rivals wants a draw, this is simply professional posturing to gain time on the clock Bc4 18.Bf4 Nh5 19.Be3 Nhf6 20.Bf4 Nh5 21.Be3 Nhf6 22.h3 h6 23.Nd2 Ba6 24.f4!? Being down the exchange is meaningless, how much is a rook worth again? 41...exf4 42.Qxf4 Bxa3 43.Qxb8! Rxb8 44.Re8+ Kh7 45.Rxb8 Qd1+ 46.Kh2 Qh5+ 47.Bh3 Qf3 48.d8Q Qxf2+ 49.Bg2 This move puts a serious bind on Black. The tradeoff comes longterm as White's king will be more open in many future variations bxc5 25.bxc5 Nxc5 26.dxc5 d4 27.Bf2 dxc3 28.Qxc3 Nd5 29.Qc2 Bf6 30.e4! A beautiful exchange sack in the style of the great Petrosian! Kramnik s stellar play in this game is why I wanted to see a Carlsen - Kramnik match for the WCC

10 Alabama State Championship Stephen Graveling Stephen Graveling (1927) Scott Varagona (2275) Alabama State Championship, September 27, e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.h4 h6 7.Nf3 Nd Ngf6 Now Nxd6 seems somewhat logical to me, but instead I played what I remembered playing in my correspondence game... Only that was with a different variation. 15.Kb1 Over the next few moves I simply played what I'd seen when playing my online game. Instead, I should have thought about the position on the board. After the game my opponent mentioned that he encounters Nxd6 more often, though when I looked in the database today Kb1 has been tried Nxe4 16.Qxe4 Nf6 17.Qe2 Here the queen supports c4 as well as the g4 square and h5 pawn b5 O-O-O was more common. This has been played twice. One game was drawn after this move (!?) while in another, White won. Now, believe it or not, for a moment I forgot theory. You see, I learn most lines through correspondence play and study them as I play them, but I'd only had one recent game against the Caro. 8.h5 Bh7 9.Bd3 Bxd3 10.Qxd3 e6 11.Bf4 Qa5+ 12.Bd2 Qc Up to this point, though slightly unsure, I thought it was the main line, partly because he didn't hesitate on his moves Bd6 This isn't a common move, but doesn't look so bad either. I was very sure that the mainline was Ngf6. 14.Ne4 This is most common after Ngf6 and also seems logical here c4 The first novelty, and again maybe not the best move. Black hasn't decided where to castle, so playing in the center is probably better. Ne5 was played and makes a lot more sense. [18.Ne5 Bxe5 19.dxe5 Nd5 20.Rh g4 Qe7 22.g5 hxg5 23.Rg4 f6 24.exf6 gxf6 25.f4 e5 26.fxe5 Kh8 27.Re1 Rae8 28.Qd1 Qd7 29.Rgg1 Rxe5 30.Rxe5 fxe5 31.Bxg5 Qf5 32.Bc1 Qe6 33.Qe1 Rg8 34.Rxg8+ Kxg8 35.Qg1+ Kh8 36.Qxa7 e4 37.h6 Qe5 38.Qa8+ Kh7 39.Qb7+ Kh8 40.Qa8+ Kh7 41.Qa7+ Kh8 42.Qc5 Kh7 43.Be3 Qf6 44.Qa7+ Kg6 45.Bc1 Qe5 46.Qg1+ Kh7 47.Qg5 Qxg5 48.Bxg5 c5 49.Kc1 c4 50.a3 Kg6 51.Kd2 Kh7 52.b3 cxb3 53.cxb3 Kg6 54.Be3 1-0 Polgar (2630) vs Korchnoi (2635) Madrid 1995] 18...bxc4 19.Qxc4 0-0 Now that the 'b' file is open my opponent castles. He has a head start in the race toward the kings. 20.g4 I'm rather happy that I'm not so materialistic as I used to be. Earlier I doubt I'd have played this move. My plan is g5 when I'm making progress Bf4 I was a little annoyed by this move. It hinders my attack. At the same time I was happy the game

11 wasn't all one sided. Now I wasn't exactly sure what to move. I calculated g5 and now I wonder if it might have been better than my move. [20...Nxg4 21.Qe2 This was my plan, when Rg1 is threatened and it looks like he's in a dangerous position.] 21.Ne5 [21.g5 hxg5 22.h6 g6 23.Ne5 Bxe5 24.dxe5 Qxe5 25.Bc3 Something like this looks good, but during the game I just wasn't sure if I had anything after move 22 in this variation. Also, my opponent might have had better moves.] 21...Bxe5 22.dxe5 [22.g5 I seriously considered this hxg5 23.dxe5 Qxe5 Though perhaps best on move 21, g5 still probably worked now. The important thing is that his pawns are disrupted. 24.Rhe1 Qd5 25.Qe2 When Black might be able to defend, but White's ideas seem somewhat promising.] 22...Qxe5 Now I'd thought about Qxc6, but felt the open 'c' file was to his benefit. Also, the position demands some speed Nd5 26.Bd2 Rb6 27.g5 hxg5 28.h6 Rfb8 29.Rb1 Probably not a good move. [29.hxg7 Qxb2+ 30.Qxb2 Rxb2 31.Bxg5 I assumed this position was lost for White Ra6 30.b3 So I'm forced to move a pawn anyway. a3 might have been better since it doesn't allow diagonal checks. [30.a3 Qb3 31.Qxb3 Rxb3 32.Bxg5 This looks better maybe.] 30...Qe2 After the game my opponent said he was proud of this move. It's a very nice idea. If White plays hxg7, Black plays Qe5+ and recaptures with the queen. He said that dealing with my h pawn with gxh6 looks like suicide and playing g6 looked dangerous with the dark squares being weak. 31.Rbe1 Clearing b1 and attacking the queen. [31.hxg7 Qe5+ 32.Rb2 Qxg7 I have kept the f pawn, but my rook is funny ;)] 31...Qxf2 32.hxg7 [32.Kb1 Qf5 33.Qxf5 exf5 34.hxg7 Kxg7 35.Bxg5 Something like this is probably hopeless, but I could hope :)] 32...Qf6+ 33.Kb1 Qxg7 34.Rhg1 At this point I was down to around 2 minutes while my opponent had about 20 so I stopped recording moves. Maybe I had better moves to fight, but I needed to have managed my time better to find them Nb4 35.Bxb4 Rxb4 36.Qd2 Rxb3+ 37.axb3 Ra1+ 38.Kc2 Ra2+ 39.Kd3 Rxd2+ 40.Kxd2 I should have resigned here or after Rxb Qb2+ 41.Ke3 Qxb3+ 42.Ke4 f6 23.Ka1 I needed to avoid a queen trade. Now I was seeing why I might have needed to play g5 earlier. Though I still have ideas of it and maybe f4 first, I must pause my attack, which is always nice for an opponent Rab8 24.Bc1 My position doesn't look so bad, but for some reason I thought I was probably lost here. [24.Bc3 Qe4 25.Qf1 (25.Qa6) 25...Nd5 26.Rd4 This looks interesting, but in the game I didn't want his knight to get to d5 with an attack on my bishop.] 24...Qb5 The endgame likely favors him since he's a pawn up. 25.Qc2 Somewhere in here I probably had better moves, but I'd used quite a bit more time on the opening than he did. And I resigned. Somehow I'd been thinking he might allow me Rxg5+ and then somehow play his king to the h file. ;P Of course, he wouldn't. He's a very good player and had 20 minutes remaining

12 Chess Clubs Around The State Huntsville Chess Club Mondays 6 10pm at the UAH Student Center; Fridays 5:30 8:30pm at the Brahan Springs Recreation Center Decatur Parks & Recreation Chess Club Thursdays 7 9pm at the Fort Decatur Recreation Center Contact: Keith Andrews (randrews@decatur-al.gov or ) Birmingham Chess Club Tuesdays 7-10pm, Room #458 Campbell Hall, 1300 University Boulevard Contact: James King ( or jamesking_05@yahoo.com) Magic City Chess U Saturdays 10am noon at the Central Branch of the Birmingham Public Library Contact: Michele Morris (magiccitychessu@yahoo.com or ) ChessKidsNation Sundays 1:30 6pm at the Hoover Recreation Center. Contact: Balagee Govindan ( ) Freedom Chess Academy Tuscaloosa, visit their website for its extensive schedule Contact: Neil Dietsch (president@freedonchessacademy.org) Evangel Chess Club Sundays from 5-7p.m, at Evangel Church, 3975 Vaughn Road, Montgomery Contact: Doug Strout (dtstrout@bellsouth.net) Dothan Chess Club Tuesdays 5:30-9pm at The Atlanta Bread Company, 3070 Ross Clark Circle Contact: Tim Owens (slicksloth@centurytel.net) Upcoming Tournaments See calendar for details! November 15 November 22 December 6 December 12 December 13 December 20 ChessKidsNation Thanksgiving Chess Tournament, Birmingham. Alabama Fall Queen Scholastic, Madison, Alabama Panhandle Classic, Cantonment, Florida Chess Workshop and Unrated Tourney, Dothan, Alabama 13 th Annual Dothan Open, Dothan, Alabama Magic City Classic, Birmingham, Alabama January 10 January 17 January 19 January North Alabama Open, Huntsville, Alabama MLK Classic, Montgomery, Alabama MLK Scholastic, Montgomery, Alabama Bayside Open, Daphne, Alabama 12