DCC July 2024 Report

So with that bit of bragging out of the way...

Quoting a headline from MSN news , by Callum McAvoy. "Nine-year-old chess prodigy becomes the youngest player to represent England in any sport".  First, note that Mr. McAvoy is calling chess a sport. Does anyone think chess is not a sport anymore? Bodhana Sivanandan will be on England's women's chess team at the upcoming Olympiad in Budapest this September. She will be competing on an equal footing with and against adults more than twice her age. Think about that, and then try to think of another sport where that is possible. The heading photo shows a couple of youngsters at the DCC who may also reach the GM level eventually.

A terrific attendance as usual on Tuesday night at the DCC. 

Let me start this DCC report by mentioning that the Tuesday night registration was over 100 players with an average of 70 men, women, teenagers, and kids. playing each night. We continue to sign up new USCF members regularly. They appear at the registration table asking how to enter the tournament. - Join the USCF, pay an entry fee, go to your board number, sit down, and win prize money and rating points by making better moves than your opponents. Making better moves is the hard part :-) I am most pleased to say one of this month's extra games was my win against Will Wolf. Everyone knows Mr. Wolf is a strong player, and I'm sure that won't happen again. Wait, maybe it will happen again :-) So with that bit of bragging out of the way, on to who else played some good chess. 

Matthew Wolford (w) vs. Richard Shtivelband (b).  Photo by Shirley Herman 

In the Tuesday night Premier section, it's safe to say that Matthew Wolford had to have played very well to win his last round game against NM Richard Shtivelband. Recall that Richard won the 2024 DCC Denver Open with a perfect 5-0 score and had been winning all his Tuesday and Thursday night games. With a 3rd round bye, Mr. Wolford took 1st place with 4.5 points and won 167 dollars and 2 cents. 

Alexander Steger only lost to Mr. Shtivelband and they each finished with 4 points, and they share the combined 2nd and 3rd place prize of 167 dollars and 2 cents. Another game that had to have been hard fought was Forrest (1849) Lundstrom against NM Eamon Mongomery (2228) in round 1. Mr. Lundstrom took the full point and won the 30 dollar Premier Upset Prize. Incredibly, Eamon also lost to Jarod Heap (1898) and allowed draws to Grayson Manuel (1842) and Kenzi Moore (1816). I'm sure Mr. Montgomery will bounce back in August.

Kenzie Moore (b) in post game analysis with Sikander Baker-Nagar

In the Tuesday Night U1900 section, there was a 3-way tie for 1st place. Matt Stecklow, Kristofor Zelkin, and Will Evans all ended up with 4 points. Mr. Zelkin (1722) was held to a 1st round draw by Elena Donaldson (1493) but held Mr. Stecklow (1823) to a round 4 upset draw, who also had a round 1 bye. Mr Evans won all his games. Only losing to Mr. Stecklow in the last round. 

Will Evans (w) vs. Matt Stecklow  (b).  Photo by Shirley Herman 

Once again proving that her game is improving, Shirley Herman (915) won the 30 dollar U1900 Upset Prize, for her round 4 win against Sofiia Gainullina (1341). Ms. Herman also had a round 1 upset draw against Randolph Schine (1500) Note: when it's a draw, the upset is half the rating point difference. I predict that Ms. Herman will not have a 3 digit rating for much longer. 

Thomas Wellborn (w) vs. Andrew Nohrden (b).  Photo by Shirley Herman 

Thomas Wellborn ruled the Tuesday night U1500 section. After a 1st round bye, he went on a tear and won four straight. Finishing in 1st place and winning 167 dollars and 37 cents. Hansit Ravada lost to Richard Lindstrom in round 1, then won four in a row to take the 96 dollar and 82 cents 2nd prize. Andrew Nohrden and David Barthold tied for 3rd place and they each 32 dollars and 21 cents. Notably, Mr. Barthold's points were all upsets totaling up to an astounding rating point difference of 949.5 points. He only lost to Hansit in the last round. 

In the Thursday night Premier section is anyone surprised that NM Richard Shtivelband has again taken 1st place? He won in the last round against Daniel Herman to finish with a perfect 4-0 score and win 105 dollars and 60 cents. 

Richard Shtivelband (w) vs. Daniel Herman (b).   Photo by Shirley Herman 

It was good to Turpana Molina (1950) back at the board. He suffered a huge upset loss in the 1st round to Ahriel Godoy (1603) then bounced back to win three in a row to take 2nd place and put 72 dollars and 20 cents in his pocket. 

Turpana Molina (w) vs. Alex Steger (b).   Photo by Shirley Herman

Mr. Herman had also given up a half point to Sam Slack (1725) in round 1. Thus, Daniel ended up in 3rd place, which was at least worth 39 dollars and 60 cents. Mr. Slack won the Premier section U1900 prize of 39 dollars and 60 cents with 2 points, having also lost to Ben DeGuire in round 2. Mr. Godoy won the 20 dollar Premier section Upset prize for his win against Mr. Turpana

Enrico Moss (b) vs. Andrew Robichaud (w)   Photo by Shirley Herman 

In the Thursday night U1600 and Unrated section Enrico Moss took 1st place with 3.5 points. (three wins and a round 3 bye). His last round game against Andrew Robichaud was a 279 rating point difference win. A nice way to take 1st place and win 105 dollars and 60 cents. Mr. Robichaud and Marceline Kirkpatrick finished with 3 points and they share the combined 2nd and 3rd place prize of 118 dollars and 80 cents. 

Brian Pomerantz (1132) won the U1600 U1300 prize of 39 dollars and 60 cents, with a last round small upset win over the Thursday night TD, Weston Taylor (1180). Long time DCC player Glen Holguin (1083) won the 20 dollar Upset prize when he won against Ayrat Gaynullin (1371) in round 1.  

Thanks to the players who attend these monthly DCC tournaments, week after week. Your participation is what's making the DCC great. Thanks also to the DCC Tournament Directors. Without their time and effort, it would just be random casual chess for fun. Instead, we have DCC chess for pride, prize money, and USCF rating points... and fun :-) 

I was paired against Joseph Pelso (b) who was in town visiting from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I'll have everyone know that I won a nice Rook and Pawns ending :-) Many thanks to Shirley Herman for the photography used in this DCC report.

Thanks again to all,

J.C. MacNeil

Games Section

Best Game

by NM Christofer Peterson

There were many great games submitted for consideration for July’s Best Game prize. It was difficult to select just one game. For example, one game that was submitted included a queen that could be captured for 17 consecutive moves. There were several games that included excellent, powerful endgame technique, and, of course, there were many that had excellent, decisive attacks and king hunts. Here is a reminder of the criteria I am looking for:

1. The game should be decisive. Especially if the game was not submitted to me, I cannot award a single prize to a game that ended in a draw.
2. Being fond of tactical complexity, I want to see a game that has tactics.
3. I also wanted to select an inspiring game. This means it can inspire people to better their play with the lessons learned in the game.
4. I was not overly concerned with the accuracy of play as we are humans and the computer makes fools of us all.
5. Finally, I was looking for a real struggle. A game where both players were putting their all into winning the game.

With all that said, I also don’t want to keep selecting the same winners every time. To win consecutive best game prizes, the game must be exceptionally spectacular.

Ultimately, I decided to pick a game that provided some instructional concepts that I hope you will find beneficial to your future chess games. The game features what looks like a blunder but is actually a powerful sacrifice. I have no way of knowing if the player made this sacrifice on purpose but their opponent, who submitted the game, annotated it as a blunder. I believe this game is an excellent showcase of why material is merely a positional consideration, and not the sole deciding factor as to who is winning.

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Jacob Zirin (1617) - Andrew Robichaud (1531)

Round 2 of DCC Tuesday July 2024 [ 2024.??.?? ]

2024.07.10

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1. d4 g6 2. Nc3 Bg7 3. e4 d6The opening here is a relatively common hypermodern system. 4. Bc4 a6 5. Be3 b5 6. Bb3 Bb7 7. f3 Nd7 8. a4 b4 9. Nd5 a5 10. Qd2 c6 11. Nf4 c5Excellent positional play from black. The dark squared bishop is a monster piece. It can be made even more menancing if the a1-h8 diagonal opens up. The c5 pawn exerts pressure on d4 and threatens to open it up. It also sets up a tactic that, if played at the right moment, could secure black's advantage. Furthermore, it undermines white's center so the thematic e5 pawn advance is deterred. 12. Nge2( 12. dxc5 dxc5 13. c4 Ne5 14. O-O-OFor some reason the computer suggests this line for white. It looks ridiculous from a positional standpoint. White entombs his own bishop, gives black tremendous central presence, and white's pieces will be on awkward squares. This is a warning to everyone using only computers to analyze your games. Unless you somehow develop the tactical precision of a computer, you should study positional computer lines incredulously. The computer has no emotion and does not care if they suffer for 20 moves until a subtle tactical motif comes to fruition. ) 12... cxd4 13. Nxd4 Bxd4?( 13... e5 14. Nfe6! fxe6 15. Nxe6 Qh4+ 16. g3 Qe7 17. Nc7+ Kd8 18. Nxa8 Bxa8 19. O-O-OBlack has two knights for a rook but white has a dominating position. We'll talk more about how to analyze positions with material imbalances a little later. )( 13... Nc5Black's play has been focused on sniping at the center. He has forestalled developing and securing his king. This is a dangerous game. Sometimes your opponent will slip up and you'll get a decisive tactical shot. Sometimes you'll delay development and castling too long and find yourself in a difficult position like black here. Fortunately black may find some security if he plays accurately. 14. O-O-O Nxb3+ 15. Nxb3 Qc8 16. Nd5 Bxd5 17. Qxd5 Nf6 18. Qb5+ Nd7 19. Bd4 O-OIt took some finangling but black finally got castled. ) 14. Bxd4This is the position where I believe black though white blundered. There is a tempting fork on e5 with the pawn. While taking Bxd4 is not the best move, it also does not give black a winning material advantage. The computer puts the position as dynamic equality. Let's play a few moves and see if we can figure out why that is the case.( Even better was 14. Qxd4! e5 15. Qc4Threatening checkmate on f7 15... Qh4+ 16. g3 Qf6 17. O-O-O exf4 18. Bd4 Ne5 19. Bxe5 dxe5 20. Rd6!! Rc8( 20... Qxd6 21. Qxf7+ Kd8 22. Rd1 Qxd1+ 23. Kxd1Black has a lot of material for the queen right now but their king safety and lack of development/coordination gives white a winnig position. ) 21. Qd3 Qe7 22. Qb5+ Kf8 23. Rd7 Bc6 24. Rxe7 Bxb5 25. Rxf7+ Ke8 26. axb5White is clearly winning due to black's exposed king and disconnected rooks. The b5-pawn is also going to be a menance to deal with. ) 14... e5 15. Be3 exf4 16. Bxf4 Ne5( 16... Nc5It is important to pressure the b3 bishop. It is a very dangerous attacking piece as it eyes f7. ) 17. O-O-OWhen it comes to analyzing a chess position, there are many key factors. The first and most obvious is the material advantage. Here black is up a knight for a pawn. Alone, that would be a decisive advantage. The other factors are space, pawn structure, king safety, initiative, lead in development, and key squares. With material, it can make mneumonic SPSMILK. Space wise, black has more on the queenside and white has more in the center, we'll call it even. Pawn structure wise, black has two serious flaws: the backward, isolated d6 pawn, and the dark square holes on the kingside. Meanwhlie white has no obvious pawn weaknesses. King safety is clearly better for white as he is caslted. The initiative is basically, who is dictating the game by making threats. Right now, neither player has the initiative. Lead in development clearly favors white as black is uncastled and has five pieces on their starting squares and white's peices are on naturally strong squares such as the bishops on b3 and f5, the queen on d2, and the rook on d1. Finally, the key squares are roughly level with both players with pawns controlling important central squares. White's control is more stable due to the strong pawn chain. With all that in mind, I believe it is obvious white has enough compensation for the sacrificed material and may even be slightly better, here. Black will have a difficult time working around his weakned pawn structure to develop his pieces safely. If white takes advantage, he can easily close the material gap. 17... Qf6??And black's difficult position already induces a blunder.( 17... Nf6Black needs to develop and castle urgently. 18. Qxd6 Qxd6 19. Rxd6 Nfd7While the d6 pawn falls and black loses any central footing, at least the queens are off and he can stabilize. ) 18. Bg5 Qg7White now firmly has the initiative and that forces black into an awkward, defensive position. 19. Qxd6I love that white delayed taking the d6 pawn. Taking it too early would have invited a queen trade, immediately taking the sting out of the attack. 19... f6 20. Bf4 Nc6 21. Bxg8( 21. e5!When attacking an uncaslted king, it is important to look for opportunities to open lines. White has a tremendous development advantage and can take advantage of it if the rook on h1 can join the fight. Playing e5 here either forces the file open, or adds a pawn to the attack. 21... fxe5( 21... Rd8 22. exf6 Nxf6??( 22... Qxf6 23. Rhe1+Black must give up his queen ) 23. Rhe1+ Ne4 24. Rxe4+ Qe5 25. Rxe5+ Nxe5 26. Qxd8# ) 22. Bxe5 Nxe5( 22... Qe7 23. Bxh8Now white is up material ) 23. Rhe1 ) 21... Rxg8 22. Qe6+ Ne7 23. Qd7+ Kf7 24. Qxb7White was able to exploit black's lack of development and exposed king to recover the material. And the king is still in huge danger. 24... Rge8 25. Rd7 Kf8 26. Bd6The pain keeps coming 26... Rad8 27. Bxe7+ Qxe7 28. Rxe7 Rxe7 29. Qb6 Red7 30. Qxa5 Rd4 31. Qc5+ Kg7 32. a5 b3 33. cxb3 R4d7 34. b4 Rb8 35. Rd1 Rdb7 36. Rd4 Rf7 37. a6 Ra8 38. b5 Raa7 39. Kd2A well executed attack on an uncastled king. It really showcases how material is not the only thing that matters in chess. Remember, you win a chess game by checkmate, not by capturing all of your opponent's pieces.1-0

Congratulations to Jacob Zirin for winning this month’s Best Game prize. While each of the games have merit for the award, I chose this game for the lessons that could be learned from it."

1) Wyatt Wear vs. Brian Wall. Tuesday. Round 2. After 17... Rf6xf3, capturing a pawn, Wyatt played 18. Qxf3. Maybe thinking he would get both Rooks for the Queen. What did Mr. Wear overlook? Brian's comment: "Panic. Sacrificial Shock + Time Pressure Chris Peterson comment:  Breaking through an overextended kingside

2) Gunnar Anderson vs. Brian Wall. IHOP Quick Chess Monday. White has just played 20. e4-e5. How does NM Wall win material?

3) Brian Wall vs. Daniel Herman. IHOP Quick Chess Monday. In this position after 25. h2-h3, White is up an exchange but over the next several moves Brian says "It was like watching the tide wash away a sand castle on Jones Beach." Note: the score is given as 1-0 but should read 0-1.

4) Brian Wall vs. Richard Shtivelband. IHOP Quick Chess Monday. After 23...Re8-f8 how does Mr. Wall win a piece?

5) Vedanth Margale vs. Brian Wall. Thursday. Round 1. NM Wall credits his young opponent by saying, "Vedant, a fast calculator, has been giving me fits since he was 10 years old. Each game has been a struggle." In this position after 26...Qd7-a7 Vedanth played 27. Rd1-d2, which protected the a2 pawn, but... Chris Peterson comment: Advanced pawns and outposts, converting advantage from positional to material

6) Alex Steger vs. Richard Shtivelband. Kings of Chess Tournament. Mr. Steger has just played 18. Qe2-h5. Did he overlook that his Ba4 was under attack?

7) Alex Steger vs. Richard Shtivelband Tuesday. Round 4. After  20. Bf3-e2 Black wins material. Do you see how?

8) Richard Shtivelband vs. Alex Steger. Thursday Round 3. Alex offers his Queen with 22...Qb2-e2. Of course, 23. Rxe2 loses to ...Rd8-d1#, yet White's next move causes Black to resign. I imagine Mr. Steger has had enough of Mr. Shtivelband for a while :-)

9) Luis Jimenez vs. Richard Shtivelband Thursday. Round 2. Mr. Jimenez has just moved out of check with 51. Kh3-g3. How does Mr. Shtivelband win the Rook, and will it be enough to win against the White passed pawns?

9a) John Schoneke vs. Richard Shtivelband Thursday. Round 2. Simultaneous extra game while Mr. Shtivelband was also playing Mr. Jimenez. In this overwhelming position, I think Richard should have taken the Rook and the Bishop, then played to get five Queens. Instead, he somehow found a mate in one :-) Chris Peterson comment: "Queen hanging for 17 moves"

10) Richard Shtivelband vs. Daniel Herman. Tuesday Round 3. I think 34. Nd4-e6 forced Mr. Herman to play 34...Nf7xg4. Otherwise, 35. f5 would win the knight anyway. In any case, Richard went on to win the game efficiently. Chris Peterson comment: "Conversion of extra pawn with rook plus opposite colored bishop ending"

11) Richard Shtivelband vs. Mike Maloney Thursday. Round 1. After 22. f5xe6, capturing a pawn, is there any other move besides ... f7-f6. Chris Peterson comment: "Breaking through in the center"

12) Luis Jimenez vs. Richard Shtivelband. Thursday. Round 2. How does Mr. Shtivelband win the White Rook, and will that be enough to stop the White Pawns? Chris Peterson Comment: Great back and forth slugfest with converting initiative and king safety advantages to material

13) Sikander Baker-Nagar vs. Richard Shtivelband. Tuesday. Round 2. Final Position. White resigns. Mr. Shtivelband has done a Brian Wall style pawn wave. Chris Peterson Comment: Attack parried and excellent pawn play to convert the ending

15) Richard Shtivelband vs. Daniel Herman. Thursday. Round 4. Final Position. Black resigns. A draw was offered on move 38. If it was Mr. Shtivelband making the offer, I bet  Daniel wishes he had accepted the offer. Chris Peterson Comment: Nice, principled endgame technique (missing moves?)

16) Richard Shtivelband vs. Derek Yin. Tuesday. Round 1. Final Position. Chris Peterson Comment: Prolonged attack on an uncastled king with endgame conversion.

17) Kaavya Sakthisaravanan vs. Luis Jimenez Tuesday. Round 3. After the forced move 28. Ka3-b3 how does Luis win the Queen? Incredibly the Nf8 has sat there since capturing a Rook on move 11. Mr. Jimenez's verbal annotations of this game are excellent. Chris Peterson comment: Brutal king hunt, why you should castle early

20) Sikander Baker-Nagar vs. Kenzie Moore Tuesday. Round 5. Sikander has just played 31. c5-c6. Mr. Moore grabbed the c4 pawn with ...Be6xc4. Find the winning move White plays next. Chris Peterson comment: Impressive queenside pawn play, converting an extra pawn