Tactics Time Chess Newsletter: Spassky Tribute
Published: Thu, 07/24/14
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his position comes from the game Gene Lucas (1656) - Anthea Carson (1857), Round 1, Tribute to Boris Spassky, played this past weekend. Black to move. Answer below.
The Salute to Boris Spassky tournament was held this past weekend in Palmer Lake, Colorado (just north of Colorado Springs) presented by the Gentlemen's Chess Club, http://www.gentlemenschessclub.com/.
The Gentlemen's Club (as I like to call them) has been holding a Bobby Fischer tournament for several years, but this was the first one named after Boris Spassky.
President of the GCC Joe Fromme gave a very touching speech before the start of round 2 about what a great sportsman Boris Spassky is.
Joe told some great stories about Spassky about how he was the one who really held the famous 1972 match against Fischer together, when the Soviets wanted him to return to Russia. Joe gave an example about how Spassky lead a standing ovation for Fischer after his famous 1.c4! game, as to what a great man he is. Joe said that Spassky is his favorite World Champion, which surprised me, because Joe is a huge Fischer fan (he even traveled to Iceland a few years ago to visit Fischer's grave!)
I got to hear some of Spassky's stories first hand several years ago in Reno, and he made a wonderful impression on me as a true gentlemen of the game.
There were a lot of strong players there, with 32 players in the open section, and 62 total players.
One game, between Kevin Seidler and Dean Clow (which I learned is pronounced "Clo", so it rhymes with "glow", not "how") lasted 168 moves, which is the most I have ever heard a game in Colorado lasting. The time controls were G/90; SD30 with a 30 second increment after every move. So with 168 moves, each player got about an extra hour and half just off the increment!
Anthea did really well in the Under 1800 section, getting a perfect score of 4-0! She also reached an all time high rating of 1858! Nice work Anthea!
Brian Wall mentioned in his tournament report, this funny quote from Daniel Herman about Anthea's playing style:
I thought that was really funny. Anthea's games were packed with great tactics, and she was quick to punish her opponent's mistakes.
I was joking on facebook that Dean Brown was diving on grenades to clear the path for Anthea's rise to the top, as Dean took out several high rated players in the first 2 rounds, and picked up over 70 rating points for his efforts, before Anthea took him out in round 3. Brian Wall made a similar analogy that Anthea used Dean as a "snow plow" lol.
Anthea also wrote a nice tournament report, which I will be posting soon on my blog (having a few technical difficulties at the moment there).
The tournament was won by Candidate Master Avi Subedi of the Fort Collins area, who also had a perfect score (and kicked my butt in round 1). Avi also reached an all time high rating of 2126! Congrats!
You can see the full results here: http://www.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?201407203632.0
This weekend chess mom Shirley Herman is having a "half insanity" at her house. You might remember last year she had a 24 hour tournament around Christmas which was a blast. She was originally going to have another marathon during the summer, but it didn't work out. I jokingly called it a "half assed" insanity, which Shirley (luckily) found funny. I am sure it will not be half assed though, as Shirley is the "hostess with the mostest", and her tournaments are great.
Normally the summer months are somewhat dead for Colorado chess, but not this year!
Here is the game in PGN
[Event "Tribute to Boris Spassky"] [Site "The Inn at Palmer Divide, Palmer Lake, CO"] [Date "2014.07.19"] [Round "1"] [White "Lucas, Gene"] [Black "Carson, Anthea"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A52"] [WhiteElo "1597"] [BlackElo "1763"] [PlyCount "56"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e5 3. dxe5 Ng4 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. e6 Bb4+ 6. Bd2 dxe6 7. a3 Bc5 8. e3 a5 9. Nc3 O-O 10. Nb5 a4 11. Nc3 Nce5 12. Nxe5 Nxe5 13. Nxa4 Be7 14. Qc2 Bd7 15. Nc3 Bc6 16. b4 Bxb4 17. Qb2 Bxg2 18. Rg1 Nf3+ 19. Kd1 Nxg1 20. Bxg2 Bxc3 21. Qxc3 Qg5 22. Bxb7 Rab8 23. Bc6 Rb6 24. Bb5 Rd6 25. c5 Rdd8 26. Kc2 Nf3 27. Rd1 Nxd2 28. Rxd2 Rxd2+ 0-1 You can play through this game here: http://www.viewchess.com/cbreader/2014/7/23/Game976821975.html
Answer:
17...Bxg2+! ignores White's threat to the bishop on b4, and creates a bigger threat, winning another pawn, and attacking the Rook on h1, and setting up all kind of other tactical threats.
If 18.Bxg2 Nd3+ forks the White King and Queen.
If 18.Qxb4 Nf3+ 19.Kd1 Qxd2#
If 18.Rg1 Nf3+ forks the King and Rook. If a move like 18.Be2 White just takes the rook with 18...Bxh1
Nice work Anthea!
Happy Tactics!
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© Copyright 2011-2014 Timothy Brennan, All Rights Reserved.
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Personally, I like him very much. He was under a lot of pressure. He can't really do what he wants, he has to follow orders from Moscow. - Bobby Fischer on Boris Spassky
