The Schenectady Finals Begin

As scheduled the Finals of the Schenectady championship and the Consolation Swiss began Thursday night. In the Finals the pairings were:

White Black Result
Mockler, M Howard, D 1-0
Rotter, B Phillips, J 0-1
Sells, P Chi, P 1-0

The top pairing, Mockler v Howard was an odd game with both players bringing their own unique twists to what started out to be a French Defense. The game reached a complex position and I was not able to decipher the game score accurately. When I get the moves corrected, it will be posted. Hope to do so within the next day. Mike obtained a big space advantage on the Kingside early on. Dean had to give up some material to keep chances alive, but alas that was not enough to hold and he resigned somewhere around move 52.

Bobby Rotter continued to explore the endgame is an attempt to round out his skill set. This time it did not work out very well for him.

SCC Finals 09-10
Date 03/04/10
White: Rotter, B
Black: Phillips, J
[ECO "A53"]

1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 c6 4. Nf3 Bg4 5. h3 Bh5 6. Be2 e6 7. Be3 d5 8. Qd3 Bb4 9. exd5 Nxd5 10. O-O Bg6 11. Qc4 Bxc3 12. bxc3 Bxc2 13. Ne5 Nd7 14. Rac1 Nxe5 15. dxe5 Nxe3 16. fxe3 Bg6 17. Rcd1 Qb6 18. Rd4 O-O 19. Rf3 Qb1+ 20. Kh2 Rad8 21. Rf1
Qc2 22. Rfd1 Rxd4 23. cxd4 Qe4 24. Qc3 Qc2 25. Qxc2 Bxc2 26. Rd2 Be4 27. Bd3 Bxd3 28. Rxd3 Rd8 29. Ra3 a6 30. Rb3 Rd7 31. Rc3 f6 32. exf6 gxf6 33. Kg3 Kf7 34. Kf4 Ke7 35. Rb3 Kd6 36. e4 Kc7 37. Ke3 e5 38. dxe5 fxe5 39. Rb2 b5 40. g4 c5 41. g5 c4 42. h4 Kc6 43. Kf3 Kc5 44. Kg4 c3 45. Rc2 Kc4 46. Kf5 Kd3 47. Rc1 Kd2 48. Rg1 c2 49. Kxe5 c1=Q 50. Rxc1 Kxc1 51. Ke6 Rd2 52. h5 Rxa2 53. g6 hxg6 54. hxg6 b4 55. Kf7 Rf2+ 56. Ke6 b3 White Resigns 0-1

Phil Sells carried the day against the our newest up and coming youngster Patrick Chi. Patrick varied early on in a Scotch Game, got a slightly worse position and Phil used the positional edge to maintain pressure until the end.

SCC Ch Finals 09-10
Date:03/04/10
White: Sells, P
Black: Chi, P
[ECO "C45"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Qf6 5. Be3 Bc5 6. c3 Nge7 7. Bc4 O-O 8. O-O Ne5 9. Be2 Qg6 10. f3 d6 11. Nd2 a6 12. Kh1 Bd7 13. Nc4 Kh8 14. a4 Nxc4 15. Bxc4 Bxd4 16. cxd4 f5 17. Bd3 f4 18. Bg1 (18. Bf2) 18... Qh5 19. Qd2 d5 20. Qb4 Qf7 21. Qc5 c6 22. b4 Be6 23. Rfe1 g5 24. Bf2 Rae8 25. b5 axb5 26. axb5 Rg8 27. bxc6 Nxc6 28. exd5 Bxd5 29. Be4 Bxe4 30. fxe4 g4 31. d5 Ne5 32. Bd4 g3 33. Qc3 Qh5 34. h3 Rg7 35. Rf1 Qg5 36. Bxe5 Rxe5 37. Ra8+ Rg8 38. Rxg8+ Kxg8 39. Qc8+ Kg7 40. Qxb7+ Re7 41. Qb2+ Kg6 42. Qb6+ Kg7 43. Qd4+ Kg6 44. d6 Rd7 45. e5 Kf5 46. Qd5 Qg6 47. e6+ Kf6 48. Rxf4+ Kg7 49. Rg4 1-0

The Consolation Swiss is not huge, but the turn out is pretty good, twelve entrants:

Lee Battes, Alan LeCours, Bill Little and John Barnes all Experts or Class A players who have contended for the Schenectady and the Saratoga club championships at one time or another; Chen Qu the next in a line of young strong players we seen in recent years; the dangerous “giant killers” Ray Alguire, Richard Chu and David Connors; and looking for a break through the veterans George Dire and Mike Stanley and new faces, Jeff Capitummino and Cory Northrup.

Cory Northrup gave a good account of himself with the Black pieces against John Barnes after dropping a pawn early on. Cory made a stubborn defense carrying the game out to 58 moves. With time trouble for both sides, Northrup was not able to find resources to prevent John from cashing the material advantage.

Consolation Swiss
Date 03/04/10
White: Barnes, J
Black: Northrup, C
[ECO "B27"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 g6 3. Bd3 Nc6 4. c3 Bg7 5. Bc2 Nf6 6. O-O (6. Kf1) 6... d6
7. d4 cxd4 8. cxd4 O-O 9. h3 Re8 10. Nc3 a6 11. a4 d5 12. e5 Ne4 13. Nxe4 dxe4 14. Bxe4 Bd7 15. Be3 Qc7 16. Rc1 Qb8 17. Qd2 Rd8 18. Rfd1 Be8 19. Bf4 e6 20. Qe3 Qc8 21. Bg5 Rd7 22. b4 Rc7 23. Qc3 b5 24. a5 Raa7 25. Qb2 Bf8 26. Bxc6 Bxc6 27. Ne1 Bd5 28. Nd3 Rxc1 29. Rxc1 Qa8 30. f3 Be7 31. Bxe7 Rxe7 32. Nc5 Rc7 33. Qd2 Qc8 34. Kf2 Bc4 35. Ne4 Kg7 36. Qf4 Qd8 37. Qf6+ Qxf6 38. Nxf6 Rc8 39. Ne4 Rc7 40. Ke3
Rc8 41. Nd6 Rc7 42. Nxc4 bxc4 43. Ke4 Kf8 44. d5 exd5+ 45. Kxd5 Ke7 46. Rc2 h5 47. g3 Rc8 48. Rxc4 Rd8+ 49. Ke4 Ra8 50. f4 Rb8 51. f5 g5 52. f6+ Ke6 53. Rc6+ Kd7 54. Rb6 Rc8 55. Rxa6 Rc1 1-0

George Dipre and I have battled many times both in Schenectady and Saratoga. Mostly I have won these games. George has an inventive chess mind and he always sets problems that require careful handling. In this game he tries out a pet line of his in the Center-Counter. His innovation, 4 Qh5!?, is not to be found in my databases or opening books. The few games I have found in the 3 Bc4 line go down different paths. George’s move may not be any worse than those moves the international players have chosen, however it does give a different look to the game.

Consolation Swiss
Date:03/04/10
White: Dipre, G
Black: Little, B
[ECO "B01"]

1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Nf6 3. Bc4 Nxd5 4. Qh5 e6 5. Ne2 Be7 6. Nbc3 Nf6 7. Qf3 Nc6 8. d4 O-O 9. Bg5 Nxd4 10. Nxd4 Qxd4 11. Qf4 Qxf4 12. Bxf4 c6 13. O-O-O b5 14. Be2 Nd5 15. Be5 Bb7 16. h4 Rfd8 17. Ne4 a6 18. Rh3 c5 19. g4 Nf4 20. Bxf4 Rxd1+ 21. Bxd1 Bxe4 22. Re3 Bd5 23. g5 c4 24. Be5 Bc5 25. Re2 a5 26. f4 Be7 27. Re3 b4 28. f5 Bc5 29. Rg3 exf5 30. Bf3 Rd8 31. Bc7 Be3+ 32. Kb1 Rd7 33. Bxd5 Rxd5 34. a4 b3 0-1

Several of the folks intending to play in the Consolation Swiss were not able to attend Thursday. Their first round games will be played next Thursday. The Tournament Director, Bill Townsend, intends to run this five round Swiss System event over about seven Thursdays to accommodate scheduling problems. More later.