Cleaning up a loose end from Schenectady

The games played last Thursday at Schenectady brought into focus the struggle for the title. Philip Sells’ win from John Phillips puts him at 3-1 and he has to be seen as the clear leader in the tourney. The only contestant with a chance of overhauling Mr. Sells is Bobby Rotter. Rotter stands at 1-1 with three games to play, one of which is against Sells. It should be said there is a mathematical chance of a kind of logjam finish with several players ending up with 3-2 scores.

Two guys are out of contention, Dean Howard and John Phillips. Dean has finished his schedule with 2 ½ - 2 ½ score, and John has dropped 2 ½ points with one game to play against Rotter. Bill Townsend summed up the situation nicely: “No one who has lost two games can win the title outright.” Those who fall into the category of “could possibly tie” are; Mockler and Chi.

With Bobby Rotter being the key participant in most of the delayed games to be made up in the next few weeks, the situation will resolve itself slowly. Rotter has to face; Sells, Mockler and Chi. The Sells - Rotter game has the potential of being the most dramatic. Philip and Bobby began playing at the Schenectady Club at about the same time, around the turn of the century. There seemed to be a rivalry from the beginning even to the point of a rated match between the two - won by Sells. Philip has had the edge in the rivalry winning the match and couple of championship titles. Bobby has yet to take the title. There certainly will be much to write about in the coming weeks.

In the interest of completeness here is the reconstructed score of the game between Michael Mockler and Philip Sells. These two players won their respective Preliminary Sections and I believed they would battle to the end for the title.

The game was played three weeks ago. A large part of the game was played in terrific time pressure. You will see the time remaining for the players noted where possible within the following score. Getting this game into print was the result of much effort by Bill Townsend who used his considerable experience with reconstructing games and the cheerful cooperation of Michael Mockler even in defeat. As can be seen from the times noted by the various moves, Philip Sells had no leisure to record moves for much of the game. Given the score was a reconstruction from several sources, it is possible errors creept in. Crediting Messrs. Townsend and Mockler for helping in no way relieves me of responsibility for accuracy. Any mistakes in the game score are ultimately mine.

The time control for the game was all moves to be made within 100 minutes with an added five second per move. This Sudden Death time control is a mixed blessing. Games end in a single playing session with adjournments eliminated, and that is good for easy, predictable scheduling . The downside is time scrambles have to be faced as result of the benefit. This is one of the longer time scrambles I have come across.
SCC Championship Finals

Date: 2010
White: Mockler, M
Black: Sells, P

1. b3 e6
2. Bb2 Nf6
3. e3 c5
4. f4 Nc6
5. Nf3 Be7
6. Bd3 Nb4
7. O-O Nxd3
8. cxd3 b6
9. Nc3 Ba6
10. Qc2 O-O
11. Ne5 Rc8
12. e4 d6
13. Nf3 Nd7
14. Rae1 b5
Sells had 46 minutes left

15. Kh1 …..
Mockler had 50 minutes left.

15.… Nb8
Sells had 30 minutes left.

16. Nd1 Nc6
17. Qb1 ….
Mockler had 44 minutes left.

17.… Qb6
18. Qa1 f6
19. d4 Nb4
20. Qb1 c4
21. Nf2 cxb3
22. axb3 Rc7
23. Re3 Rfc8
24. Rc3 d5
25. e5 Nc6
26. Rfc1 b4
27. Rc5 fxe5
Mockler 20 min., Sells 7 min.

28. Nxe5 ….
Mockler 18 min.

28.… Bxc5
29. dxc5 Qb5
Sells 4 minutes left.

30. Nf3 Qe2
Sells 2 minutes left.

31. Ng4 ….
Mockler 10 minutes left.

31... Bd3 Sells 2:33 left
32. Qa1 Bf5 Sells 2:15
33. Ne3 Be4 Sells 1:53
34. Re1 Qd3 Sells 1:34
35. Ng5 Qxd2
36. Nxe4 dxe4
37. Nc4 ….
Mockler had 5 minutes left.

37.… Qd7 Sells 0:54 seconds left
38. Nd6 Rf8 Sells 0:50 seconds
39. Rxe4 Nd8
40. Rc4 Nf7
41. Be5 Nxe5
42. Qxe5 Rf5 Sells 0:19 seconds
43. Qe4 Rf8
44. h3 ….
Mockler had 1:34 minutes left.

44.… g6 Sells 0:14 seconds
45. Rc1 a5
46. Qe5 Rc6
Mockler had 0:59 seconds left.

47. Ne4 Qg7 Sells 0:06 seconds
48. Qg5 Rc7
49. c6 Qe7
50. Qxe7 Rxe7
51. Nd6 Rc7
0-1 Time. Mr. Mockler’s flag fell. This is another amazing performance by Mr. Sells in time trouble that would cause what little hair I have remaining to fall out if it were me playing! He had a similar experience in his game with Steve Taylor in the Saratoga Championship this year. That victory got Philip the Saratoga title. Clearly hoping for clock trouble to overwhelm Sells is not the way to go.

More from Schenectady in the next day or two.