35 Years ago...

some future blogger won a chess tournament. How time flies !

From the Winnipeg Free Press, December 31, 1973


I was quite fortunate that the best player that year, Jeff Babb, was upset by Chris Cooley sometime in a middle round. Thus I didn't have to play Jeff, and I beat Cooley in the 8th and final round. I scored 6.5 -1.5 (3 draws) and if I recall correctly I won the trophy on tiebreak over Cooley and Babb. I also seem to recall there were over 80 players, but I may be wrong.
If anybody knows - please leave a comment.
According to my recopied scoresheets there were 3 rounds on each of the 27th and 28th, 2 rounds on the 29th. The draws were with the still active John Remillard and Richard Lindsay, and J. Bradford.
I do remember Eric Jefferson giving me a ride from Tec Voc to the Free Press (which was on Carlton) for the photos.

Students, create your own future nostalgia February 19, 2009 !

Cecil's Saturday Puzzle - December 20, 2008

From the Winnipeg Free Press

White to Mate in 3 (Jacobs)

My intial impulse was 1. Qd5+ cd5 2.Bc3 mate, but it is not mate. But that little exercise highlighted that White's c4 is the weak spot.
I tried several moves - Qf6, Qe6 but didn't get too far. I should have thought more about c4.
The answer is 1. Qf4 !
I'll post a few of the lines in a few days.

Grand Prix - Round 6

Khedkar-Kernetsky 1-0
Black goes downhill starting with 42...Rf6. White rejects 43. Nh5 winning the exchange but converts to won ending.

Kong- Wierda DRAW
Black would have had a good chance at the full point if he had played 33...Qd4.
In the final position, Black has to find Qd7 to survive- perhaps Kong offered the draw knowing that was enough to win his Section.

Green - Greenberg 1-0
Green confirms that in the game score 20. Bxa7 should be 20. Bxh6. If Black responds Rd8, the position is level.

Arie Wasserman - Evans 0-1
White has no compensation for the lost exchange.

Aaron Green - Wiebe 0-1
White suddenly fins himself in a mating net.

Gibbons - Letain 0-1
Lorne loves the king walks.

Leor Wasserman - Swift 0-1
Black was up a pawn, but would have to work to convert it into a win, but his task is made easier after 31. h4

Repa-Lauritson 0-1
In the final position, Black is two pawns up and tricks involvng 22...Nf2+ are in the air.

Ott-Trueman 0-1

Campbell-Crawford 0-1
White loses the exchange and Black converts.

Mandusic - Pottinger 0-1

Grand Prix - Round 5

White has a perfect score in games in Round 5 !

Kernetsky-Mundwiler 1-0

Black's unusual opening gets him in trouble.
Not sure why 22. f3 was rejected, but White wins an exchange anyway.
Black does his best to mass his pieces for a potential winning attack, but Les doesn't find anything and neither did I. But the silicon beast suggests 36...Nxg2 37. Bxg2 h3 ! and Black may have drawing chances.
Later, did both players miss the relative simple 41...Qxe3, winning for Black! So I am going to speculate that time trouble was a factor

Green-Kong 1-0
Black grabs a tainted pawn with 29...Qxb4. He may missed that White has 32. Qxg6 which nets him a piece.

Greenberg- Wierda 1-0
The knight on e5 is a monster.

Aaron Green - Arie Wasserman 1-0

Wiebe - Evans 1-0
White sheds a piece with 27. Bxa6? thinking he can win the knight pinned on the g file. But Black doesn't find 29...h5 preserving the knight at the cost of a pawn.
In the game, the resulting king and pawn ending may be holdable by Black, but he takes his king away from White's queening square.

Leor Wasserman - Gibbons 1-0

Swift- Letain 1-0
Campbell - Mandusic 1-0
Lauritson-Ott 1-0
Black sacs a bishop with 17...Bxg2, but had 17...Nxh4 winning a clear pawn

Trueman - Crawford 1-0
Black missed many opportunities
23...Nd4 would have caused headaches for White
35...Rdd2, 42...Nd5

Cecil's Saturday Puzzle - December 6, 2008

From the Winnipeg Free Press

White to mate in 3 (Wainwright)

Diabolical ! First move is 1. Qe2 !
For the answer, please play through some lines below. Some very nice lines.

Grand Prix - Round 4

Mundwiler - Khedkar 1-0
White plays the interesting exchange sacrifice 24. Rxe5 !? and crashes through. Great intuition.

Kong - Greenberg DRAW
White wins a pawn but needs to squeeze the maximum out of the position due to the opposite coloured bishops. Therefore, 19. Rb1 and taking on b7 with the rook is much stronger than taking on b7 with the bishop.

Wierda - Jim Green 1-0
Black missed a chance..
30...dxe4 31.fxe4 Qc6 wins a pawn - if 32. Rxb5 ...Rc2 and it is all but over.

In the game, 38...Bxe4 would get him out of impending trouble as 39. Bxe4 is met by ...Qh3+ winning. White's best is 39. Kh2; Black will still have to contend with the passed b pawn.

Arie Wasserman - Daniel Wiebe 0-1
White has some trouble with knight placement.

Evans - Aaron Green 0-1
White is unsure where to put his king in the endgame and he hands Black three tempo by my count starting with 43. Ke3. 43. h3 looks like it secures a draw and also gives Black chances to go wrong.

Gibbons - Swift 0-1
White spoils a good position by playing a move that he must have thought mated.

Letain - Leor Wasserman 0-1
An extreme case of castling into it.

Ott - Pottinger 0-1
White sets up a clever trap - but did not realize it.
After 14... Qxa3, play could continue (with logical moves for Black) 15. Bd6 Rfe8 16. Rb1 b6 17. Rb3 Qa5 18. Ra3 and the queen is trapped.

Repa- Mandusic 1-0

Crawford - Lauritson DRAW
Upset of the night. Solid play on both sides.

Trueman - Campbell 1-0
Another upset

Grand Prix - Round 3

Khedkar - Mundwiler 1-0
Black plays the rare 3...Ne7 and never gets coordinated for attack or defence.

Greenberg- Kong 0-1

Jim Green - Wierda 0-1
Looks like White lost on time three moves short of a draw of K vs. K, although just a few moves earlier he was lost if Black plays 71...h4

In the game, Black has just played 23...e5 with an obvious threat.
However, White can win material with 24. Rxc6 ! and if 24...e4 25. Rxd6.
White played 24. dxe5 with a roughly level game.


Aaron Green - Evans DRAW

Swift - Gibbons 1-0

Leor Wasserman - Letain 0-1
An idea for White to hold is 22. Rf3 (to cover the N on c3) ...Nc4 23. b3 Na3 24, Rc1

Campbell - Repa 0-1
White misses a few good chances - 26. c5 is very good when Black has to play accurately to survive.

Mandusic -Ott 0-1
White had the old French defence tactic available - 17.Nxd4 but he would still be suffering positionally. White has to chop the strong knight with 19. Bxf4

Crawford - Pottinger 0-1
White blunders a bishop to a 'backwards' knight move. Instead 31. Ne2 was a good alternative and Black's knight has no moves.

Lauritson - Trueman 1-0
Good example of the benefits of a space advantage.