Tactics Time Newsletter: MLK 2015

Published: Mon, 01/19/15

Newsletter Issue MLK 2015

Tactics Time

MLK 2015

Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase.
Martin Luther King, Jr.


T

his position comes from my game against Aiden Marco, from round 4 of the Martin Luther King tribute tournament played this past weekend in Denver.

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

Answer below.

This past weekend was the Tribute to Martin Luther King tournament in Denver.

The tournament was held at the Marriott in the Denver Tech Center, which is a beautiful hotel and great location for chess.

The tournament attracted 91 players, which I thought was a lot for a tournament in January, when the weather can be crazy (luckily the weather has been great the last few days). This is a great turnout by Colorado standards.

You can see the results of the tournament here: http://www.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?201501189632.0

The Denver Chess Club did a great job organizing this tournament. The team of Randy Schine, James "JC" MacNeil, Brian Wall and webguru Chris Peterson did a great job promoting and organizing this tournament. Over 3000 dollars in prizes were given out, which is a huge by Colorado standards.

Brian Wall won the open section with a score of 4.5 out of 5, and won $720 dollars, which he said is the most he has ever won in a long chess career. Congrats Brian!

Tactics Time 2 came out in paperback this past week (after all kinds of changes on the dates), and I sold some copies at the tournament which was fun. Thanks to everyone who bought one!

Before Round 2 Tournament Director Richard "Buck" Buchanan gave a very nice talk about Martin Luther King Jr, and the impact that he had on Buck's life.

I read a good story about Dr. King this morning in the "Now I know" newsletter, which you might also enjoy, and can read here: http://nowiknow.com/a-city-fit-for-a-king/

Friday night I did a podcast with Chris Peterson and Brian Wall, which I haven't posted yet, but will post soon. We talked about some of the creative ideas that the Denver Chess Club has planned for the future, including a "zombie apocalypse", where players who haven't played in 5 years (a "zombie") get free entry, and a "clone wars" tournament, where you can enter more than once, and play more than board at a time. So one person, and their "clones", could finish 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the tournament! Very clever and fun ideas!

Here is the complete game:

[Event "MLK 2015"]
[Site "Denver, CO"]
[Date "2015.01.18"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Brennan, Tim"]
[Black "Marco, Aiden"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A00"]
[WhiteElo "1805"]
[BlackElo "1711"]
[PlyCount "67"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]

1. b4 e6 2. a3 d5 3. Bb2 Nf6 4. Nf3 c5 5. bxc5 Bxc5 6. e3 O-O 7. d3 Qb6 8. Bxf6
gxf6 9. Nbd2 Nc6 10. g4 e5 11. Nh4 d4 12. e4 Kh8 13. Rg1 Qa5 14. Rg3 Qc3 15.
Rb1 Bxa3 16. Nf5 Be6 17. Rh3 Nb4 18. Bg2 Nxc2+ 19. Kf1 Bb4 20. Nf3 Bb3 21. Qe2
Na3 22. Re1 Bc2 23. N3h4 Qxe1+ 24. Qxe1 Bxe1 25. Kxe1 Rg8 26. Nh6 Rgf8 27. N4f5
b5 28. g5 b4 29. Ng4 Rg8 30. Nxf6 Rg7 31. Nxg7 Kxg7 32. Rxh7+ Kg6 33. h4 b3 34.
Bh3 1-0

You can play through this game here: http://www.viewchess.com/cbreader/2015/1/19/Game71262754.html

Answer:

I was getting crushed in this game (Fritz has me at -6, meaning Black has more than a 6 pawn advantage), but I went into Rambo's "NOTHING IS OVER" mode, and found a mating attack that works, mating one half move before my opponent could make a queen.

The fastest mate is 34. Bh3 b2 (or any) 35.Bf5#

Happy Tactics!

Your Friend,