Tactics Time Chess Newsletter: 2013 Colorado Open

Published: Wed, 09/04/13

Newsletter Issue 2013 Colorado Open

Tactics Time

2013 Colorado Open

If you're losing it, I can't wait to harvest all your rating points.- Chris Peterson (after his good friend Life Master Brian Wall said he might be losing it)


T

his position comes from the game Brian Wall vs Sandor Kustar, 2013 Colorado Game 10 Championship, played this past Friday in Denver.

In the position on the right it is White to move.

Answer below.

This past Labor Day weekend was the Colorado Open in Denver.

The tournament had an awesome turnout with 130 players! It was a very strong tournament by Colorado standards, with 2 IMs and a bunch of strong masters and experts.

There were also two side events, a simul against IM Michael Mulyar, and the Colorado Game 10 Championship held on Friday night.

The tournament had some really strong players, including Mulyar (2541) and IM Sandor Kustar (2353), who came all the way from South Dakota.

There were 5 players from South Dakota, which was really cool.

Sandor Kustar (2353),
Ekrem Tamkan (2026),
Jerry John Casteel (1891),
Mark Derby (1765),
Richard Timothy Handoko (1404)

Before the tournament, I made some Tactics Time posters at Kinkos, which turned out really nice. Here is a picture of me and Anthea with the "Tactics Time 2" (kindle eBook coming soon!) poster.

Elections were held on Sunday afternoon for the new leaders of the CSCA (Colorado State Chess Association).

Election results:

Randy Reynolds, President
Brad Lundstrom, VP
Richard "Buck" Buchanan, Treasurer
Jackson Chen, Scholastic Rep
Alexander Freeman, Member at Large
Joe Haines, Secretary

So a good mix of new blood, experience, and different areas of Colorado in my opinion!

The meeting went really smooth, and the whole tournament was *extremely* well run. No long registration lines, rounds started on time, etc. Well done to everyone involved!

The awards for the Colorado Tour were also given out. These are awards given out based on a high level or tournament participation and scoring well. Winners were:

Brian Wall, Overall Winner
Chris Peterson, Expert
Rhett Langseth, Class A
Isaac Martinez, Class B
Daniel Herman, Class C
Mihaly Toth, Class D
Kathy Schneider, Class E

Shirley Herman and Rhett Langseth tied for most active players.

Congrats!

Results of the Colorado Open can be seen here: http://www.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?201309013042. Congrats to Michael Mulyar for winning the Open section, Victor Huang in the U1800, and Becca Herman for the winning the U1400. Both Victor and Becca had PERFECT scores of 5.0! Becca picked up over 100 rating points!

Results of the Colorado G/10 Championship can be seen here: http://www.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?201308303012-12812673. There was a 3 way tie for first between IM Sandor Kustar, Jesse Cohen, and Chris Peterson.

In the game that is featured below, Life Master Brian Wall ended up stalemating the International Master in a blitz scramble. They were using an old fashioned analog clock, which is becoming more and more rare these days, as they do not offer the options for delay and increment that digital clocks use.

Life Master Brian Wall Left vs IM Sandor Kustar, 2013 Colorado G/10 Championship

You can see video footage of this game here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWiwhHbaHuM&feature=youtu.be

Here is the complete game:

[Event "Colorado State 10 minute - Quick Championship"]
[Site " Sheraton Denver Tech Center "]
[Date "2013.08.30"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Wall, Brian"]
[Black "Kustar, Sandor"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D00"]
[WhiteElo "2162"]
[BlackElo "2400"]
[PlyCount "127"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5 Ne4 3. Bf4 d5 4. f3 Nf6 5. e4 dxe4 6. Nc3 e3 7. Bxe3 g6 8. Qd2
Bg7 9. O-O-O c6 10. Bh6 Bxh6 11. Qxh6 Qa5 12. Kb1 Nbd7 13. Bc4 Nb6 14. Bb3 Nbd5
15. Ne4 Bf5 16. Nxf6+ Nxf6 17. g4 Bd7 18. Qg7 Rf8 19. Ne2 h5 20. h3 Qg5 21. f4
Qh4 22. g5 Ne4 23. Nc3 Nf2 24. Rhe1 Nxd1 25. Rxd1 Qxf4 26. d5 O-O-O 27. a3 Qxg5
28. d6 exd6 29. Qd4 d5 30. Ka2 Bxh3 31. Na4 Kb8 32. Qc5 Qf6 33. Rd4 Qd6 34. Qa5
Bc8 35. Rb4 Rfe8 36. Nc5 Re7 37. Ba4 b6 38. Rxb6+ axb6 39. Qxb6+ Bb7 40. Bxc6
Rdd7 41. Na6+ Kc8 42. Bxb7+ Rxb7 43. Qxd6 h4 44. Qxd5 f5 45. Qg8+ Kd7 46. Qxg6
h3 47. Qxf5+ Re6 48. Nc5+ Kc6 49. Qxe6+ Kxc5 50. Qxh3 Rb5 51. Qf5+ Kc6 52.
Qxb5+ Kxb5 53. Kb3 Kc5 54. c4 Kd4 55. Kb4 Kd3 56. c5 Kc2 57. c6 Kxb2 58. c7 Kc2
59. c8=Q+ Kd3 60. Qc5 Ke4 61. Kc4 Kf3 62. Qe5 Kf2 63. Kd3 Kf1 64. Qg3 1/2-1/2

You can play through this game here: https://denverchess.com/Games/ViewPgn?id=3365

Answer:

White can pick up two pawns with 23.Bxf7+ Rxf7 24.Qg8+ Rf8 25.Qxg6+ Rf7 26.Qxe4

Happy Tactics!

Your Friend,