Summer 2015

Alabama Chess

Antics

Inside this issue:

Adams-Rasberry: a Decisive Battle from the Alabama Scholastic Ch. by Jonathan Rasberry

4

A King’s Indian at the Queen of Hearts by Scott Varagona

10

B-R6! by Bill Melvin

13

“The English Horned Frog” by Doug Strout (also featuring Kirk Petty)

16

Goodman-Wu by Ken Goodman

19

The Official Publication of the Alabama Chess

Federation

Chess players in action during Round 4 of the 43rd Annual Queen of Hearts. 

Page 2 Alabama Chess Antics

It is a great pleasure to welcome you to this Summer 2015 Antics. We had six different contributors for this issue.

Jonathan Rasberry, our newly crowned Alabama Scholastic State Champion, has annotated his critical game with Stephen Adams from the final round of the scholastic championships in Mobile. What a fight! Jonathan, congratulations on winning the championship, and best of luck to you at the Denker.

I annotated my best game from this year’s Queen of Hearts. (All you King’s Indian Defense lovers better watch out…) Also, a few key positions from my games at various Vulcan Opens, past and present, can be found as puzzles at the end of this issue. Alabama chess players have always enjoyed the entertaining articles submitted to the Antics by Life Master and seven-time Alabama state champion, the legendary Bill Melvin. I am very pleased to announce that Bill is back, with an ode to descriptive notation. Perennial Antics contributor Doug Strout annotates a win against Kirk Petty. This game features an unorthodox defense against the English Opening with a sort of Scandinavian flavor to it. Doug calls it the “English Horned Frog,” and gives an argument in support of playing the defense as Black. Kirk Petty, on the other hand, presents a game from White’s point of view. Finally, Ken Goodman looks at a recent game he played versus our world-class scholastic player, Rochelle Wu. I share your sentiment, Ken: we may not be able to hold off these youngsters for much longer… As always, I welcome submissions to the Antics from Alabama players of all levels. Please send pictures, articles, and games to

Alabama.Chess.Editor@gmail.com and let’s show the world what Alabama chess players are made of! Kindest regards, Scott Varagona

Greetings from the Editor

ACF Membership

Any individual may become a Regular Member upon the payment of annual dues of $10.00. 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 $25.00. 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.

How did Jonathan Rasberry (as Black) survive White’s attack? Read this issue to find out...

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1 FM BRADLEY J DENTON 2351 26 RAY DOWNS 1887

2 SCOTT VARAGONA 2279 27 SIJING WU 1866

3 CHAO ZHANG 2272 28 CHARLES H ANTHONY 1863

4 BILL MELVIN 2200 29 STEVE MENGXI CHEN 1849

5 MATTHEW V PUCKETT 2187 30 RHODES PEELE 1821

6 REX E BLALOCK 2148 31 KENNETH JIAO 1820

7 GERALD A LARSON 2147 32 CAESAR W LAWRENCE 1812

8 BRENT H INMAN 2127 33 KENNETH W GOODMAN 1812

9 JOSEPH JURJEVICH 2123 34 THOMAS H LAWRY 1810

10 STEPHEN ADAMS 2095 35 TIM BOND 1803

11 GORDON JAMALL RANDALL 2092 36 ABRAHAM KUNIN 1799

12 GEORGE RUSYNIAK 2069 37 JOHN MARCUS FIQUETT 1786

13 JOSHUA THOMAS MCCLELLAN 2041 38 DR PAUL MULQUEEN 1757

14 CHARLES L MEIDINGER 2027 39 ADRIAN J MAJERLE 1753

15 RONNIE NETTLES 2018 40 CHRISTOPHER TREES 1749

16 JONATHAN RASBERRY 1964 41 KENNETH SLOAN 1742

17 STEPHEN JAMES GRAVELING 1962 42 MARK THOMAS PETERSON 1734

18 ARDEN QUINLAN MARKIN 1957 43 ROCHELLE WU 1730

19 ROGER D JOHNSON 1952 44 KEN KIRBY 1723

20 TERRENCE W EDINBURGH 1939 45 STEPHEN JOHN PETRANY 1721

21 JEFF TOBIN 1937 46 BRIAN MCCORMICK 1716

22 VINCENT J GLORIOSO 1923 47 LOUIS S DE FIORE 1708

23 MILES MELVIN 1920 48 HARRY DUNCAN 1704

24 KIRK D PETTY 1900 49 W MATTHEW ADAMS 1693

25 CHARLES AUGUSTUS SMITH 1891 50 DOUGLAS STROUT 1688

Alabama Chess Leaderboard Top 50 Ratings in June 2015

Page 4 Alabama Chess Antics

Stephen Adams – Jonathan Rasberry (2093) (1911) Alabama State Scholastic Individual Ch.

(Open); Round 4; 3/14/15 Here is my final round game

against Stephen Adams in the 2015 Alabama State Scholastic Championships. This win is the second or third strongest win of my career, and with the possible exception of beating NM Rex Blalock when I was a 1600, my most important and surprising win. Enjoy!

1.b3 d5 2. Bb2 Nf6 3. e3 e6 4. Nf3 Bd6 5. d4 c6!?

Stephen Adams is well known for his beautiful play with the unusual 1.b3. In this line, I was simply trying to neutralize his coming attack (when playing Adams, being attacked is a given). The problem with 5…c6 is that it is too

committal. I may want to play …c5, and …c6 just loses a tempo. The safe …0-0 or the flexible …Nbd7 were the best choices. 6. Bd3 Nbd7 7. Nbd2 0-0 8. 0-0 Re8 I missed the strength of Ne5, blocking my own pawn thrust …e6-e5. …Qc7, preparing …e5, was much better. 9. Ne5! c5 10. f4 With this move Stephen told me he was going to attack the kingside (what a surprise…) by playing Rf1-f3-h3, g2-g4, and Qd1-f3 or Qd1-e1-g3 or h4! At this point I began to realize that he had a very formidable structure and game plan, and that I was in for a long game of defending.

Adams-Rasberry: a Decisive Battle from the Alabama State Scholastic Chess Championship

By Jonathan Rasberry

Stephen Adams (left) and Jonathan Rasberry (center) fight through a time scramble as ACF President Neil Dietsch (right) takes notation. (Photo submitted to Antics by J. Rasberry)

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10…cxd4?! 11. exd4 b6 12. Rf3 a5?

A good try to rid my adversary of the powerful light-square bishop if I had one extra tempo, but, sadly, his attack is coming too fast. 13. Rh3 Ba6 loses to 14. Bxh7+! Nxh7 15. Qh5! Ndf8 16. Qxf7+ Kh8 17. Ng6+ Nxg6 18. Qxg6 followed by queen or rook takes h7. After …a5, his attack becomes almost unstoppable. 13. Rh3 h6 (rather unnecessary) 14. g4?! Nh7?! 16. g4 gives me the possibility to play 14…Ba6 15.Bxa6 Rxa6, but after the ensuing 16.g5, my h6 pawn and knight are forked and 16…hxg5 17.fxg5 Ne4 looks pretty bad for me.* 14…Nh7 was an interesting move, a move which concedes the fact that I am worse, but gives me the chance to take off two of his best attacking pieces if he is not careful. 15. Bxh7+!?

Winning a pawn but giving up two of his best attackers. After: 15…Kxh7 16. Nxf7 Qe7 17. Nxd6 Qxd6 ...I felt like the presence of opposite colored bishops might (might) give me some hope for an endgame draw. Sadly, I was mistaken: his minor pieces might have been traded off, but now come in the big guns. 18. Qf3 Rf8 19. Rf1 Ba6 20. c4! Rac8

According to the computer, ...Kg8 is necessary to limit his advantage. With …Rac8 the computer gives an evaluation of 2.30, and …Kg8 only gives white a 1.50 pawn advantage. …Kg8 gets off the h-file and prepares to meet g5 with ...hxg5. 21. g5 Rf5!

* In fact, Houdini’s immediate 17.Rh8+! would win material. Interestingly, 14.g4 is the computer’s first choice, despite the risks involved. –Ed

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A great attacking and defensive move intending to meet gxh6 with …gxh6 and an attack on White’s king. Also, this move allows Black to double on the f-file which is crucial to the defense as you will later see. 22. Qg4 Rcf8 I missed the power of gxh6, gxh6 Rg3 when I played Rcf8. In that variation, the queen on f8 would be stronger, thus 22…Qf8 gives some more defensive hopes. 23. gxh6! gxh6 24. Rg3 R5f7?! A very dubious decision. I decided to jettison the idea of bringing the queen into the defense with 24…Qe7 in view of 25.Qg6+ Kh8 26.Qxh6+ which forces me to trade queens two pawns down. In one sense, 24...Qe7 is strongest in that it gets rid of the attack, but what do I have to lose? I decided to keep on the queens and try to defend with my rooks only in hopes that I might have some counter-chances later on.

25. Ne4! Qe7 26. Ba3!! Qxa3 27. Ng5+?? Brilliant sacrifice followed by brilliant sacrifice, followed by blunder. Ouch! 25. Ne4 cannot be taken in view of 26.Qg6+ Kh8 27.d5+ e5 28.Qxd6. 26.Ba3 Qxa3 allows for a beautiful finishing combination of 27.Qg6+! Kh8, and only then, when guarding h7, 28.Ng5 is winning. 28…hxg5 29.Rh3 is mate, and if nothing happens Qxh6+ is devastating. 27.Ng5+ loses to a quiet little king safety move that I saw when I played …Qxa3.

27…hxg5!! Come and get me Stephen! 28. Qxg5?! 28.Rh3+ Kg8 29.Qh5 Rg7 30.Qh8+ Kf7 31.fxg5+ Ke8 32.Qxg7 is met with (sadly I miscalculated and thought I had something else) 32…Rxf1+! 33.Kxf1 Bxc4+!! 34.Kg1 Qc1+ with a winning attack. Stephen’s 28th

Page 7 Summer 2015

move was the move he calculated when playing Ne4, Ba3, and Ng5+. How could I get out of the jaws of the back rank?

28…Kh8 With this move, I side-step any checkmates on the back rank. From now on, Stephen just tried to mix things up and I hoped I would relax and not mess up this very tenuous position. 29. f5! I give this move an exclamation because this is the only move that continues to force me to be extremely accurate. Other moves allow the queen to come back to the defense with Qe7. 29…Rh7! The only move that was winning for me. His threat was Rh3+, ...Rh7, Rxh7+, ...Kxh7, and Qg6+ drawing by perpetual at the very least. …Qe7 loses to Rh3+ in that after …Rh7 (only legal move) Qxe7 wins the queen. 30. f6 Nxf6?!

I was too afraid of f7 and Qg8+ so I decided that sacrificing one piece back to slow his attack should be enough to win. With correct play, White can draw though. Correct was the computer cold move 30…Rc8! with the point being that …Qf8 will swoop in to save the day. 31. Rxf6 Qe7

My point is something is about to be traded and his attack should end. 32.Rxf8+ Qxf8 33.Qe5+ was the line that the computer said was drawing for White with correct play. 32. Rf4?? Now I am just going to be up a piece for two pawns, not winning, but the game is now much better for me. 32...Qxg5 33. Rxf8+ Kg7 34. Rb8 Qxg3+ 35. hxg3 dxc4 36. Rxb6 Bc8 37. bxc4

27.Ng5 loses to a quiet

little king safety move...

Page 8 Alabama Chess Antics

I eventually lost my a-pawn after shuttling it to the supposed safe square a4. This created an incredible moment for me. If I traded only one pawn, the e-pawn, the game is drawn at best (because rook & bishop vs. rook is too drawish). I played very well with my 4 remaining minutes and eventually broke through on the third rank with my rook. This, due to the strong positioning of my king, forced his king back to the second rank. I then proceeded to eat his d, c, and g-pawns with no trouble:

37...a4 38.c5 Rh8 39.Rb4 a3 40.Ra4 Rd8 41.Kf2 Kg6 42.Ke3 Kf5 43.Rxa3 Bb7 44.Ra7 Bd5 45.a4 Rb8 46.Rf7+ Kg6 47.Re7 Kf6 48.Rh7 Rb3+ 49.Kd2

He then marched his a-pawn, his final bid for counterplay. Sadly for him, my rook was perched on a1 and my bishop was shuttled over to d5 covering up his queening square. This then allowed me to slowly but surely march my e-pawn

up the board to force Stephen to sacrifice his rook for it and concede the game.

49…Rxg3 50.a5 Ra3 51.Ra7 Kf5 52.Kc2 Ke4 53.Kb2 Ra4 54.Kc3 Ra3+ 55.Kb4 Rb3+ 56.Ka4 Rb1

The game ended when Stephen, due to the time pressure of having only 2 seconds, blundered his rook away to my bishop. The game, though, was won already: 0–1.

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After my nice win in this game I played Vikhram Balagee (1635) in a two-game blitz play-off. I won the first game after Vikhram found his queen trapped early. In game two, all I had to do was draw. Vikhram played the Exchange French and traded into a knight vs. bishop endgame. I botched it terribly. He won it and we went to an Armageddon playoff where I drew the White pieces. I ended up playing poorly, went down a pawn, and one of his pawns was only one step away from queening when it all came to a head. I sacrificed my bishop for his g7-pawn in an attempt to mate him with a queen and rook against (virtually speaking) a rook. His king could have avoided mate and the game was drawn. But, he thought that he could get in a queen check first, then take my bishop. The only problem was he missed the bishop moving back to block the check and unleashing a check of my own which forced mate. A nice little way to end the game. Whether or not I continue chess throughout my life, I can say I have accomplished something in chess: I have become Alabama’s state scholastic chess champion! ■

Jonathan Rasberry (left) and Vikhram Balagee (right) are the 2015 Alabama Scholastic Open Co-Champions. By winning the playoff, Jonathan won the 1st place trophy and the right to represent Alabama in the 2015 Denker Tournament of High School Champions. (Photo from www.alabamachess.com.)

Page 10 Alabama Chess Antics

I cannot explain it, but somehow the Queen of Hearts tournament keeps bringing out the best in me. Before this game was played, Chao Zhang had played me twice in the last two years. He destroyed me in both games, and for a simple reason: he played well, and I played badly. This time, I was at least hoping I would give him a better game. I got more than I bargained for as this turned out to be one of the nicest games versus the King’s Indian Defense I have ever played.

Scott Varagona – Chao Zhang (2264) (2296)

Queen of Hearts, Round 3; 2/7/15 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Bd3!? This sideline may not be recommended as “best” against the King’s Indian Defense, but it’s much more likely to trick an unsuspecting opponent than the mundane 5.Nf3. White simply develops behind his pawn center and hopes to play positionally, maybe pressing his space advantage later with f2-f4, or maybe playing in Samisch-style with f2-f3 and Be3. The drawback is that d4 is a bit more vulnerable than normal because the d3-bishop blocks the d1-queen’s view. 5...Nbd7

I think 5...O-O is more prudent, not committing the b8-knight to a particular square yet. Somehow, after this move, Black’s pieces get a bit jumbled. 6.f4! This not only keeps Black’s knight off of e5, it puts White in a favorable version of the Four Pawns Attack.

6...c5 7.d5 e6 8.Nge2 exd5 9.exd5! Although 9.cxd5 is possible, the text move keeps a strong clamp on Black’s center and queenside. 9...0–0 10.0–0 Re8 11.h3 An important point: Black cannot be allowed to play ...Ng4, with counterplay.

A King’s Indian at the Queen of Hearts By Scott Varagona

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11...a6 12.a4 Nh5! Well played; Black must find some kind of counterplay or White consolidates his space advantage and squeezes Black to death. Black may be considering some ideas with ...Qh4 or even ...f5!?, trying to lay claim to e4. However, let’s not forget that ...Nh5 also provokes the space-gaining g2-g4—and with tempo! 13.g4 I decided to throw down the gauntlet. As early as move 13, the crucial strategic moment of the game has already been reached.

13...Nhf6? After a very long think by Chao, the knight backs off. I was certainly happy to see this, since now White’s space advantage is practical ly incontestable. Still, one of the reasons I

played 13.g4 was to provoke 13... Qh4, which I thought was an unsound sacrifice. Turns out, I was wrong: critical was 13...Qh4!, when 14.gxh5 Bxc3! 15.bxc3 Rxe2! 16.Qxe2 Qg3+ (Houdini) threatens both perpetual check and (if Qg2) ...Qxd3. The resulting position is a complete mess, but of course that’s way better for Black than just being positionally busted. If I recall, during the game I had in mind the trap 14. Kg2!? Ndf6? 15.Qe1!, forcing an ending where Black loses a minor piece. The problem is, the idea of 14...Bxc3! 15.bxc3 Rxe2+! ruins this variation as well. Curses, curses, curses! Isn’t the King’s Indian Defense pesky? It seems like Black can always conjure up some obnoxious tactical tricks. 14.Ng3 Nf8 15.Kg2 h6 16.f5 g5 17.Bd2 N8d7 18.Qc2 Ne5 19.Be2

Black has tried to create a kingside fortress, but with great patience and

Page 12 Alabama Chess Antics

preparation, White will always be able to force open a file with h3-h4xg5.

19...Qe7 20.Rae1 Rb8?! I feel that, after this move, Black has no more realistic chances for counterplay. It’s a slow plan, but Black had to try 20...b6, and only then ...Rb8, so that later Black will have the opportunity to sacrifice a pawn for play with ...b5. 21.a5! b6 22.axb6 Rxb6 23.b3 This situation is nowhere near as promising to Black as the previous one I discussed. White can always play Be2-d1 to hold the pawn on b3, so Black has no real targets. Now that Chao’s play has been stopped, it is time to proceed with my kingside invasion. 23...Bb7 Yet another interesting moment: White could win the Exchange with 24.Na4 here. However, after 24...Rb4 25.Bxb4 cxb4, White’s a4-knight is out of play and Black may be able to use c5. Although this variation is probably still winning for White, in this case, to me, it

seems more natural to ignore the material and proceed with my plan. 24.Nge4 The f6-knight is a key defender and blockader, so I try to dislodge it. 24...Ned7 25.Bf3 Nxe4 26.Nxe4 Be5 Black gets his bishop outside the pawn chain in time to play ...f7-f6 and reinforce the fortress. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your point of view), Black’s kingside is just too vulnerable.

27.h4! f6 28.Rh1 Bc8 29.hxg5 hxg5 30.Rh6 Suddenly, Rg6+ and/or Reh1 are a huge problem for Black. 30...Nf8 seems forced, but then White wins in style:

Isn’t the King’s Indian

Defense pesky?

Page 13 Summer 2015

30...Nf8

31.Nxf6+! Bxf6 32.Rxe7 Bxe7 33.f6 Bd8 34.Bxg5 a5 35.Rg6+ Kh8 36.f7 1–0 I always take great pride in victories against that darned King’s Indian Defense! ■

As TD Caesar Lawrence likes to remind me at times like these: “You are the Queen of Hearts.”

When I first started playing chess, most of the chess books were written in descriptive notation. It is much easier to write “e4” than “P-K4” and you do not have to worry about whose move it is to know which square is QR4. Descriptive notation is still useful to understand as many of the greatest books ever written were written in this format. While the games below are in algebraic notation, I am dedicating them to descriptive notation. I nearly had every game in a tournament end with the same descriptive move (B-R6).

Bill Melvin – Paul Mulqueen (2200) (1744) North Alabama Open; Round 1; 1/10/15 1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.f4 d6 4.Nc3 Nd7 5.Nf3 c5 6.Bc4 cxd4 I felt like a bull with a red flag being waved in front of me. I thought long and hard, came up with the evaluation “maybe it is sound,” and played the bishop sacrifice anyway. 7.Bxf7+?! Kxf7 8.Ng5+ Ke8 (8...Kf6 9. Nd5 mate) 9.Ne6 Qa5 After playing 9. Ne6, I realized that I had overlooked the queen sacrifice. The computer evaluates 9...dxc3 10. Nxd8 cxb2 11. Bxb2 Bxb2 12. Ne6 Bc3+

B-R6! By Bill Melvin

Page 14 Alabama Chess Antics

13. Kf1 Rb8 as dead even. Most masters would prefer the three pieces over the queen in positions like this I would think. 10.Nxg7+ Kf7 11.Qxd4 Qc5? The one variation I could not work out on move seven was 11...Ngf6. My knight is trapped and I decided that I had enough of an attack to compensate. The computer gives Black an edge after 12. Ne6 Kxe6 13. Qc4+ d5 where neither 14. exd5, 14. Qb5, nor 14. Qd4 give anything to White. After the game move, White emerges a pawn up with no problems. 12.Ne6! Qxd4 13.Nxd4 Ngf6 14.0–0 Nc5 15.e5 Nfe4 16.Nxe4 Nxe4 17.f5 dxe5 18.fxg6+ Kxg6 19.Nf3 Kf6? 20.Ng5+ Kg6 21.Nxe4 Bf5 22.Ng5 Bxc2 23.Nf7 Rhf8 24.Nxe5+ Kg7 25.Bg5 e6 26.Rac1 Rxf1+ 27.Rxf1 Rf8

28.Bh6+ (B-R6 #1) 1–0

Sijing Wu – Bill Melvin

(1727) (2200) North Alabama Open, Round 2; 1/10/15 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Be2 e5 7.Nb3 a5 8.Bg5 a4 9.Nd2 a3 10.Nc4 axb2 11.Rb1 Nd4 12.Rxb2 Be7 13.Bxf6 gxf6 14.Nb6 Ra3 15.Ncd5 f5 White has played well. My little pawn ramming exercise on the queenside did not lead to anything. The computer finds White ahead nearly a pawn positionally. I have no argument here. I found this whole game difficult to play for Black. 16.c3 Nxe2 17.Qxe2 fxe4 18.Qxe4 Be6 Black still trails by about half a pawn. The White knights threaten forks all over the board. It was difficult to do anything. 18...Be6 was the only move that does not lead to further problems. It may be my strongest move of the game! 19.Nxe7 Qxe7 20.Nd5 Qg5 (20...Bxd5 is objectively the best move and roughly even, but who can resist ignoring White and trying an attack! 21. Nc7+ leads to a nice advantage for White.) 21.0–0 0–0 22.Rxb7 f5 23.Ne7+ Kh8 24.Qb4 Ra6 White has an extra pawn, but the position remains rich. Black’s attack is not quite sound, but on the way nonetheless. White’s next move throws

Page 15 Summer 2015

away most of the advantage. 25. f4 was much better. 25.Rd1 f4 26.Qb5 f3 27.Qf1??

27…Bh3 (B-R6 #2) 0–1 In Round 3, NM Chao Zhang beat me soundly, so a chance to go 4-0 ending each game with B-R6 was gone forever. In the last round, I would try to get in B-R6 #3 and #4 anyway.

Miles Melvin – Bill Melvin (1933) (2200) North Alabama Open; Round 4; 1/10/15 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nxd5 4.d4 e6 5.Bd2 Be7 6.Bd3 Nb4 7.Nf3 Nxd3+ 8.cxd3 0–0 9.Qe2 Bf6 10.Qe4 Nc6 11.Be3 Nb4 12.0–0–0 Nd5 13.g4 Nxc3 This is an over-reaction to White’s attack. There is no reason to fix White’s pawn structure. I was banking on the bishop pair after the queen trade being enough.

14.bxc3 Qd5 15.Qxd5 exd5 16.Rdg1 Be7 17.h4 f5 18.g5 f4 19.Bd2 c5 White should play 20. Re1 and give up on the pawn storm. 20.dxc5 Bxc5 21.d4 Ba3+ 22.Kc2 Bf5+ 23.Kb3 Bd6 24.Nh2 a5 This is one of those moves that you just know is right when you find it. The rook lift is super strong here. Black has a clear advantage. 25.f3 a4+ 26.Kb2 Ra6 27.Rg2 Rb6+ 28.Ka1 Ba3 (B-R6 #3!) 29.Bxf4 Bh3 (B-R6 #4!!!) 0–1

Note the finish 30. Rg3 Bb2+ 31. Kb1 Bf5 mating with the two bishops who were on R6. In summary, game #1 ended with B-R6, game #2 ended with B-R6, and game #3 ended with a double B-R6! ■

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Kirk Petty – D.L. Strout (1918) (1626)

MLK Classic; Round 4; 1/17/15

1.c4 This is the final round of the 2015 MLK Classic in Montgomery. The opponent is Kirk Petty (1918), who opens with the English. 1...d5

Per GM Lev Alburt’s reference to this move as a novelty in the July 2010 Chess Life, I hereby designate this opening the English Horned Frog. It is similar in philosophy to the Scandinavian and invites a number of lines, including Queen’s Gambit if White plays 2. d4. 2.cxd5 Nf6 Is this move a gambit, since 3. e4 holds the d5 pawn? (3. e4 Nxe4 4. Qa4+ is a trap for Black.) 3.Nc3 Nxd5 Recovering the pawn. 4.Nf3 Nxc3 5.bxc3 e6 This move blocks one diagonal from the light-square bishop, but with the b-file half-open, a queenside fianchetto is

a good idea for Black anyway. 6.g3 Be7 7.Bg2 0–0 8.0–0 Developing moves and castling for both sides. White has fianchettoed the king’s bishop, but Black can oppose it by also fianchettoing the light-square bishop. 8...Nd7 9.d4 Rb8 10.e4 b6 11.Be3 Bb7 All minor pieces developed for both sides, and the bishops are heads-up on the light-square diagonal. 12.Nd2 Bg5 13.f4 The try for a dark-square bishop swap fails, and White is building up a strong pawn center. 13...Be7 14.h3 Qc8 15.Rc1 X-ray to Black’s queen. 15...Bd6 16.e5 Opening up the erasure of the light square bishops. 16...Bxg2 17.Kxg2 Be7 18.g4 Qb7+ This becomes a nice parking space for Black’s queen, peeking into White’s castle. Is this a downside of White’s pawn advance?

19.Kh2 c5 Trying to do something about

“The English Horned Frog” By Doug Strout

Page 17 Summer 2015

White’s pawn center and also find better squares for Black’s minor pieces. 20.f5 cxd4 21.cxd4 Rbc8 22.Qb3 Threatening to win a pawn with check at e6. 22...Qd5 might have been playable but I decided against it. 22...exf5 23.gxf5 Rxc1 24.Rxc1 Rc8 Trying to control the open file and swap the remaining rooks. 25.Rg1 Kf8 Breaking the pin at g7 to prevent Bh6. 26.f6

Hmmm. I was afraid to play ...gxf6 because of Bh6+, so... 26...Nxf6 ...it’s time to get a little creative. 27.exf6 Bd6+ The knight was sacked, but I get back an Exchange with this bishop-queen combo sweeping side-by-side diagonals. 28.Rg3 Bxg3+ 29.Kxg3 Qc7+ Getting after the king. Possible targets include forking f6,

forking h3, and maybe somehow pushing his king to the first rank, which would make Rc1+ playable. 30.Kf2* Qh2+ 31.Kf3 Qxh3+ 32.Ke2 Qg2+ 33.Kd3 Qg6+ 34.Ne4 gxf6 ...Qxf6 is obviously not playable, but it turns out I needed a running pawn on f-file anyway. 35.Qb4+ Kg8 36.Qe7 Kg7 Shoring up f6. 37.Bf4 Qf5 38.Be3 Qf1+ Resuming the check attacks on the king, but with his queen and knight where they are, my attacks must be decisive or I will have to pull back. 39.Kd2 Qc1+ 40.Ke2 Qc4+ 41.Kf3 Qe6 Okay, check attack failed, but I do get to challenge his queen to a trade, which is stylistic for me. Also, Qxe6 fxe6 would help me against the d4-pawn in the endgame. 42.Qxa7 This move not only declines the queen trade but removes the queen from any possibility of assisting with either offense or defense. 42...Re8 Uniting the rook and queen in teamwork and threatening not only the knight but also the bishop behind it. 43.Qb7

It’s time to get a little

creative...

* Fritz confirms that this move was a serious mistake; 30.Bf4 would have been safer. –Ed

Page 18 Alabama Chess Antics

This is the only move that puts a second defender on the knight, but… 43...f5 ...a third attacker on the knight wins the game as either the knight or bishop must fall. White resigns. This win results in a 3rd place finish for me (1st U2000). 0–1 Editor’s note: in an effort to provide balanced coverage of this unconventional opening, I’d like to supplement this article with a sample game from White’s point of view. (With careful play, White uses his central majority and space advantage to dominate the battlefield.) Thanks to Kirk Petty for submitting this game:

Kirk Petty – D.L. Strout Queen of Hearts; Round 1; 2/11/14

1.c4 d5 2.cxd5 Nf6 3.d4 Nxd5 4.e4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6 6.a3 Be7 7.Nf3 0–0 8.h3 b6 9.Qc2 Bb7 10.Bd3 g6 11.0–0 Re8 12.Be3

12…Ba6 13.Rfd1 Bxd3 14.Rxd3 Nbd7 15.b4 Qc8 16.Rad1 Qb7 17.e5 Nd5 18.Nxd5 exd5 19.Rc3 Bd8 20.Qd2 Nf8 21.Rdc1 Ne6 22.Ng5 Nxg5 23.Bxg5

Bxg5 24.Qxg5 Rac8 25.Rc6

25…Qb8 26.Qf6 Red8 27.R1c3 Rd7 28.g4 Re8 29.h4 Rde7 30.Rf3 Qc8 31.Rf4 Qd7 32.Rc3 Re6 33.Qg5 Qe7 34.Qh6 Rc8 35.Rcf3 Qf8 36.Qxf8+ Rxf8 37.Rc3 Re7 38.Rc6 Rd8 39.b5 Rdd7 40.Rff6 Kg7 41.f4 Kg8 42.f5 gxf5 43.gxf5 Re8 44.Rc3 Kh8 45.Rg3 Rg8 46.Rg5 Rg7 47.Kf2 Rd8 48.Kf3 Rxg5 49.hxg5 Kg7

50.Rc6 Rd7 51.Kf4 Kf8 52.f6 Kg8 53.Kf5 Kf8 54.e6 fxe6+ 55.Kxe6 Rf7 56.Kxd5 Ke8 57.Ke6 Kf8 58.d5 Ke8 59.d6 Rd7 60.dxc7 1–0 ■

Page 19 Summer 2015

Here is the only game I managed not to lose in my most recent outing, and I only survived this one by the skin of my teeth. This is my third game against Rochelle Wu, and the handwriting is on the wall: sooner or later I will succumb to her steadily increasing strength. I probably shouldn’t feel too bad when it happens, considering her recent results against stronger players than myself.

This time I started out with a slight edge in the opening, and prospects for a kingside attack—until I traded off a key piece for no reason on move 12. With only an imagined initiative remaining, I kept playing for the attack, and mishandling it badly. At the beginning of her queenside advance on move 19, the position looked perfectly okay to me, but after her next two moves I found my queenside falling apart. Feeling totally busted and facing the prospect of being crushed under her unstoppable queenside advance, I decided to give up the defense there, and started marshalling my awkwardly placed pieces to attack her king. Around moves 27-30, Rochelle could have turned aside my

attack and clinched the victory, but apparently she didn’t feel defense was necessary until it was just about too late. I’m sure it was a disappointing turn of events for her—but what an incredible sense of relief for me!

Ken Goodman – Rochelle Wu Tom Nard Memorial; Round 2; 2/28/15

(annotated by Scott Varagona)

1.Nf3 Nc6 2.d4 d5 3.e3 Interestingly, White declines the invitation to a Chigorin Defense by 3.c4. 3...e6 4.a3 a6 5.Bd3 Bd6 6.0–0 Nf6 7.b3 b6 8.Bb2 Bb7 9.Ne5 Ken Goodman has been faithful to this sort of Zukertort Colle setup for years and years. Although Black should usually be fine, in this case the Nc6 inhibits Black’s natural counterplay with ...c7-c5. Thus, White is pretty comfortable. Nd7 10.f4 Qe7 11.Nd2 0–0

Ken Goodman – Rochelle Wu By Ken Goodman (with annotations by Scott Varagona)

The handwriting is

on the wall...

Page 20 Alabama Chess Antics

12.Nxd7? Ken makes a good point: why trade this nice piece? The rule of thumb in such positions is to wait for Black to either trade on e5 (which would allow fxe5, opening the f-file) or play the weakening ...f6, and only then White will move the knight. Also, leaving the knight on e5 as long as possible makes it more likely that the “Classical Bishop Sacrifice” Bxh7+ will actually work someday. 12...Qxd7 13.Nf3 f6?! (Strange, since ...f5 is played next move anyway.) 14.Qe1 f5 15.Ne5 Nxe5 16.fxe5 Be7 Black has basically equalized. 17.Rf3 Bg5 18.h4 Be7 19.Qg3 c5 20.c3? Now Black’s queenside invasion will be unstoppable, and Ken has to risk everything on a kingside attack that shouldn’t work. Perhaps the more prudent plan was 17.Qe2 and 18.c4, with equality. 20...c4 21.Be2 cxb3 22.Kf2 a5 23.h5 a4 24.Rh1 Rfc8

25.Qh3 b5 26.g4 b4 27.gxf5 bxc3? A bit too hasty: 27...exf5! was winning, as verified by the computer. Now, both

sides are crashing through and with best play, it’s just even. 28.fxe6 Qc6?? Chess can just be ridiculous sometimes: apparently 28...Qc6?? simply loses, whereas 28...Qc7! would have held the balance (thanks to some crazy computer variations). Without letting us get overwhelmed by the silicon beast, it seems the key difference between these two lines is the fact that, if Black moves his e7-bishop, a queen on c7 could help with kingside defense. 29.Rf7? Shockingly, this move throws away the advantage! 29.Rg1! Rf8 30.Qg4 Rxf3+ 31.Bxf3 Bf8 32.e7! (Houdini) wins. 29...Rf8 30.Qf5 cxb2?? The final mistake. 30...Qe8 was forced. This was a difficult game, but I know both sides will learn a lot from it. 31.Bd3 Rxf7 32.Qxf7+ Kh8

33.h6! 1–0 ■

Page 21 Summer 2015

Vulcan Open

Puzzle 1: ...Nd5! wins, since ...Rxe2+ and ...Nf4+ will follow. Puzzle 2: In time pressure, Black played ...Re8? and lost. However, the surprising ...Qb8+! wins material. Puzzle 3: 1.Nb6! wins the Exchange, thanks to the dual threat of Nxa8 and Bd5. Puzzle 4: 1.Qa1+! Qf6 2.Qxf6+ Rxf6 3.Rxd6! wins a piece because of the threat of Ne8+.

1. R. Johnson–Varagona Vulcan Open 2015

Black to play.

2. Varagona–A. Markin Vulcan Open 2015

Black to play.

(See the bottom of this page for solutions.)

Puzzles

3. Varagona–Mansfield Vulcan Open 2001

White to play.

4. Varagona–D’Souza Vulcan Open 2002

White to play.

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Championship

ALABAMA CHESS

ANTICS

Summer 2015

Alabama Chess Federation

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