Chess Room Newsletter #858

Newsletter #858

February 1, 2019

Tournament Musings

I have been a tournament director with the USCF for about 6 years, and hold the certification of Senior Tournament Director. I also hold a National Arbiter License with FIDE, and after this next TNM, will have qualified for the title of FIDE Arbiter (FA). I have helped organize and direct many events, including the CalChess Super State Championship (with 1200 kids), The People's Tournament, and too many other adult and scholastic tournaments to list here. I have seen and experienced quite a bit over the course of all these events, so I thought I would entertain and enlighten the readers with some actual experiences so you may better understand what tournament directors have to go through. I think most players see the arbiter as a referee of sorts, where in reality, we are often, teacher, psychologist, therapist, policeman, parent, rock star and donkey all rolled into one, and each of these can come out at any moment depending on the situation.

Scholastic Tournaments: Where Resolve and Quick Thinking is Tested

Scholastic tournaments are by far the most difficult, as you have to often deal not just with the range of issues that can come up in a game with kids, but we often must deal with parents who seem to think they know much more about what should be done than the TD's.

Nuclear Meltdown

During the last round of this scholastic event, I was called into the room by a floor TD who had rushed out of the tournament hall saying they will need my assistance. I rushed into the room, and a child was irate that he had just lost his final round game, which would prevent him from winning a trophy. As I approached the table, the child grabbed the tablecloth, and was about to yank it hard, causing not just his board and pieces to fly off the table, but those of about 3 or 4 others as well. I was able to put my hand on the tablecloth before he could pull it, and then he started yelling and screaming. We were able to alert the parent, who came and took him out.

For Love of...the Trophy

This is one I have encountered frequently believe it or not... A child just fell short of qualifying for a trophy, and the parent approaches me and asks if I can give the child a trophy anyway because they were so close, and to not have a trophy would be so discouraging as to cause their child to lose their interest in chess. I pointed out that if the only motivating factor for the child and the parents is winning a trophy, they are definitely in the wrong sport. Seriously, this has happened more times than I care to think about...

So you think regular events with adults lends itself to a much more mature demeanor among players? Think again...

Heavy Hands

I had a player come out to an event I was directing in the open section, saying that his opponent was slamming the clock. I asked him to return to the table and I quietly went in to a dead silent room to observe, when all of a sudden the player in question slowly made their move at the board, and slammed the DGT North American clock so loud it echoed in the room. I quietly asked that player to step outside with me, where I explained that the execution of the movement to hit the clock would be completed just the same if he pressed the button in a more respectful manner that wouldn't do damage to the clock.

From 2017 Organizer of the Year Judit Sztaray:

There was a player in a regular event that continued to make illegal moves in the game, so their opponent complained to the TD after enduring three illegal moves. The player became so frustrated about the complaint (which was obviously legitimate), that they sent an email to the USCF saying that the player was harassing them and that the TD and organizer was not doing enough to prevent the harassment. As you may have figured, nothing came of that complaint.

From National TD and 2016 USCF Tournament Director of the Year Tom Langland:

1. I was brought to a board requesting an insufficient losing chances claim. Claiming player (black) had a King and Rook, opponent had King, Rook and Pawn. Black said that he had been studying rook and pawn endings at great length to prepare for the tournament and he knew the position was a book draw. I was familiar with R+P endings and he did have his King in front of the pawn so white didn't have the winning Lucena position, but black didn't quite have the drawing Philidor position either. Black went on and on boasting about how he knew this was a book draw, extensively telling me exactly in detail how it was a clear easy draw and shouting that I should not waste his time playing this out. I knew there were pitfalls in defending the position so didn't give him his insufficient losing chances claim. Later, I saw on the result sheet he lost!

2. With adults you usually you don't have to deal with childish behavior. However, I had to deal with two IM's that didn't like each other and were each trying to do little things that would annoy their opponent. Tapping pencils, sniffling, slurping drinks, coughing, leaning over the board, twirling pieces they both were intentionally carrying out to irritate the other player. Repeating claims and warnings didn't stop them. Finally, a claim was made that the opponent was "looking at me". OK, now I decided that since they were acting like children I would treat they as such. I sent each to a corner of the room for two minutes. Aghast, they looked at me wondering if I was serious. I told them I was, and if this didn't solve the problem next time it would be longer. I didn't have a problem with them after that.

Other interesting things observed:

The King is Where?

In the open section at the People's Tournament in Berkeley, two players rated above 2000 played 8 moves in the game before realizing that one side had the king and queen in the wrong place. According to USCF rules, if this error is caught before blacks 10th move, the game is annulled and a new game are played. If it is discovered after black's 10th move, the game continues.

Wait... I Lost??

Again at the People's Tournament in Berkeley, a game in the open section, which was played under FIDE rules, came down to a king and knight versus king and rook. The player with the king and rook declined a draw offer from the opponent, looking to fond a win. The player got so involved in finding a way to win, that the player with the king and rook ran out of time. They figured it should be a draw, because the opponent had insufficient mating material, but under FIDE rules, the game is drawn only if there is no possible way to checkmate, under USCF rules, this would be a draw because of insufficient mating material without a forced win.

Rinse, Repeat and Repeat and Repeat

During a game at the U.S. Amateur Team Championship, a player was in time trouble and stopped notating on move 38, a few moves later, they tried to claim a three fold repetition, but the claim was rejected because they were not keeping score of the full game. This is one of the many reasons you should always keep score of your games. For the record, three-fold repetition is repetition of position, not repetition of moves.

Get a Signature!!!

Along these same lines, I was sent an email the next day after a major weekend event that there was an incorrect result in the rating report. I emailed both parties to verify the result. Each player confirmed that they won the game. I then asked for both to send me copies of their score sheet. Only one player was able to send me a copy of the score sheet, the other saying that they had thrown it out. As I replayed the game from the score sheet,, where the recording stopped, the player that provided the score sheet was in a completely lost position. I consulted with more senior directors, and I made the judgment call on the result, basing my decision on the result from the position I had from the score sheet that was available. This shows the necessity of always obtaining a signature on a complete score sheet after a game.

Advanced Fundamentals

At a major event in the open section in 2018, 2 games in the final round only a few boards apart came down to king, bishop and knight versus king. It was very clear that the pattern for checkmate was not fully known the players who had the advantage, though one game did end decisively while the other did not.

Tuesday Night Marathon Round 4

Round 4 of the TNM withered the field of undefeated down to 2 players, after victories by NM Conrado Diaz and Alexnader Ivanov. Of the 111 players currently registered, they alone have a perfect 4/4. Chasing them at 3.5 are IM Elliot Winslow, NM Romulo Fuentes and Michael Walder. Chasing the leaders at 2.5 is a late entrant, playing his first game last week. FM Kyron Griffith (2457).

I want to give a special shout out to the many up and coming players that play every week, study their games, try to learn from mistakes, and come back the next week eager to play. The learning process can be tough, but it is exciting to see the genuine love of the game and eagerness to find ways to improve.

PRO Chess League Update

The San Francisco Mechanics had their big guns for the week 4 Battle Royale, with GM Sam Shankland making is PRO Chess debut, playing with GM Daniel Naroditsky, FM Andrew Hong and FM Josiah Stearman. Out of an 8-team match where people were matched individually against various teams, our Mechanics finished 5th out of 8. Tune in next Tuesday night, as we seek our first victory of the season against the divisions top team the Chengdu Pandas. Match starts at 6:35pm and IM David Pruess will live stream from the Mechanics' Institute.

Wednesday Night Blitz Update

International Master John Donaldson had a rough time, but ultimately won the January 30th edition of the Wednesday Night Blitz with 9 point from 12 games played. Second was Expert Manuel Santos with 8.5. Tied for 3rd/4th were strong unrated Romulo Sylvestri and surprise B-player Jeff Sinick with 8 points each. 12 players participated with Jules Jelinek directing.

Tony Lama's Teasers

Here is the solution to last week's problem:

Solution:

• Kf3!! g1=Q
• Nf2+ Qxf2
• Kf2++

• Kf3!! g1=N+
• Kf2+ Nf3
• Bxf3++

This week's mate in 3 problem:

First and Last Games.

By FM Paul Whitehead

The following 2 games are the first (won by me in 1973) and last (won by Jay in 1985) of about a dozen tournament games my brother and I played against one another. I choose not to keep a direct count, or attempt to find out who had the upper hand overall . Partly I wish to put to rest the “sibling rivalry” that sometimes dogged Jay and I – exacerbated by the joy that tournament directors had in pairing us, and the even greater joy our mutual friends had by seeing our blood spill over the chessboard.

Other facts are clear: at first I was ascendant, naturally as I had gotten into chess before Jay, and had “infected” him with my passion for the game. Equally obvious is that his interest and talent outstripped mine in time: Jay won the U.S. Junior Open Championship outright in 1979, and won the U.S. Junior Closed Championship, also outright, in 1981.

Awarded the International Master Title by FIDE in 1986, Jay participated in the 1983 and 1987 U.S. Championships. Of historic note is that Jay Whitehead is the only player from the United States to finish ahead of Kasparov in a tournament, in the World Cadet Championship, 1977 (won by Arnason). They drew their only encounter.

Those are the chess facts, folks.
Jay's star burned bright and fast.
We were brothers, we won and lost: we played hard sometimes.
I am glad to have known him.

(1) Whitehead,Jay E (2405) - Whitehead,Paul A (2370) [A53]
San Francisco 1st Miz Brown's San Francisco (2), 1985

Black goes kamikaze. His futile thrashing is effortlessly rebuffed. 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 d6 3.Nc3 Nbd7 4.e4 e5 5.d5 Nc5 6.f3 a5 7.Nge2 Be7 8.Be3 0-0 9.g4 Bxg4 10.fxg4 Nxg4 11.Bxc5 dxc5 12.Ng3 Ne3 13.Qe2 Bg5 14.Nd1 Nxd1 15.Rxd1 g6 16.Bh3 Bf4 17.0-0 Qh4 18.Qg4 Qxg4 19.Bxg4 Ra6 20.Ne2 Be3+ 21.Kg2 h5 22.Rd3 Bg5 23.Bh3 Rb6 24.Rb3 Rb4 25.Nc3 Rxc4 26.Rxb7 Bd2 27.Rxc7 Bxc3 28.bxc3 Rxe4 29.d6 Re2+ 30.Rf2 Re3 31.Rd2 Rd8 32.Rc8

1-0

(2) Whitehead,Jay - Whitehead,Paul [B75]
2nd Mechanics' Marathon 1973

A very hard faught and... sophistacated game! Black's play was just a bit more inciseful. 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 Nc6 8.Qd2 Bd7 9.Bc4 Ne5 10.Bb3 Qb8 11.0-0-0 b5 12.h4 h5 13.Nd5 a5 14.a3 Nc4 15.Bxc4 bxc4 16.Nxf6+ Bxf6 17.Bg5 Bg7 18.Kb1 Qb6 19.Be3 Rb8 20.Qc1 Qb7 21.Ka1 0-0 22.c3 Kh7 23.Rdg1 d5 24.exd5 Qxd5 25.Qd2 Rb7 26.Rf1 Rfb8 27.Rf2 Rxb2 28.Qxb2 Rxb2 29.Rxb2 e5 30.Ne2 Ba4 31.Rd2 Qe6 32.Rc1 Qe7 33.g3 Qxa3+ 34.Ra2 Qd6 35.Rxa4 Qd3 36.Ng1 Qxe3 37.Kb1 Bh6 38.f4 exf4 39.Ra1 f3 40.Ka2 Qd2+ 41.Ka3 Qxc1+

0-1

GM Nick de Firmian's Endgame Lab

Sam Shankland had a small embarrassment in the recently finished Tata Steel Chess Masters tournament (won by Magnus Carlsen). Sam resigned in a drawn position in the 11th round against Anish Giri, but redeemed himself by winning his last two games and gaining a few rating points. (Upon returning to the United States Sam had to promise the border control official that he'd never resign a drawn position again.) The interesting thing is that a similar ending nearly occurred in one of the most important chess games ever played – the first game of the Match of the Century in 1972 between Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky. That epic battle of the cold war era was front-page news around the world. Secretary of State Kissinger helped convince Fischer to go off and battle for the United States. The major networks had nightly news of the match and special broadcasts explained the moves to the general public. The first game was long awaited and highly anticipated. Fischer was by far the highest rated player of the time, but his personal score against World Champion Spassky was 4 losses, no wins and some draws. Thus the whole world was focused on Reykjavik Iceland as the first game got underway.

(1) Spassky,Boris - Fischer,Bobby [E56]
World Championship (1), 1972

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.e3 0-0 6.Bd3 c5 7.0-0 Nc6 8.a3 Ba5 9.Ne2 dxc4 10.Bxc4 Bb6 11.dxc5 Qxd1 12.Rxd1 Bxc5 13.b4 Be7 14.Bb2 Bd7 15.Rac1 Rfd8 16.Ned4 Nxd4 17.Nxd4 Ba4 18.Bb3 Bxb3 19.Nxb3 Rxd1+ 20.Rxd1 Rc8 21.Kf1 Kf8 22.Ke2 Ne4 23.Rc1 Rxc1 24.Bxc1 f6 25.Na5 Nd6 26.Kd3 Bd8 27.Nc4 Bc7 28.Nxd6 Bxd6 29.b5

Play has been accurate and level, and we have reached a perfectly even, very drawish endgame. Not too exciting for the start of the match, but Fischer was the ultimate fighter - one of the main reasons chess became so popular in his reign. 29...Bxh2 ??!! This move is wild. Black snatches a pawn at the cost of the bishop being trapped. Objectively it is a bad move, but it created an incredible drama for the game and the match. 30.g3 h5 31.Ke2 h4 32.Kf3 Ke7

Perhaps Fischer had missed that 32/\h3 33. Kg4 Bg1 34. Kxh3 Bxf2 35. Bd2! keeps the bishop trapped. Now White gains the bishop at the cost of 2 pawns, which gives him good winning chances. 33.Kg2 hxg3 34.fxg3 Bxg3 35.Kxg3 Kd6 36.a4 Kd5 37.Ba3 Ke4 38.Bc5 a6 39.b6 f5 40.Kh4 f4 41.exf4 Kxf4

Fischer fights valiantly, but Spassky plays with great accuracy. The bishop is a long range piece and better than the knight to stop pawns. 42.Kh5 Kf5 43.Be3 Ke4 44.Bf2 Kf5 45.Bh4 e5 46.Bg5 e4 47.Be3

Zugzwang. Black must move his king and give ground. 46/\g6 47. Kh4 does not help matters. 47...Kf6 48.Kg4 Ke5 49.Kg5 Kd5 50.Kf5

If only the white a-pawn were on a5. Then Fischer would have the same situation as Sam/^s ending where he could just run with his king down to c8 (getting to the corner at a8 is even better). He would lose the e and g pawns but that wouldn/^t matter. The king on c8 (or a8) simply steps out and steps back when White could only stalemate or repeat the position. Unfortunately with the white pawn on a4, Black would not be stalemated and would have the move a6-a5, when White would just release the stalemate and go capture the pawn on a5. 50...a5 51.Bf2 g5 52.Kxg5 Kc4 53.Kf5 Kb4 54.Kxe4 Kxa4 55.Kd5 Kb5 56.Kd6

A win for Spassky to start the match, which peaked the already high drama. After forfeiting the 2nd game Fischer would go on a tear, scoring 6.5-1.5 in the next seven games. 1-0

(2) Giri,Anish - Shankland,Sam [C50]
Tata Steel, 2019

We give Sam's recent game for completeness. He is too young to have followed the Fischer-Spassky game, otherwise he would have recognized the situation. 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.d3 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.Na4 Qe7 7.a3 Be6 8.Bxe6 Qxe6 9.b4 Bb6 10.0-0 0-0 11.c4 Nd7 12.Bb2 Nd4 13.Nd2 f5 14.Rc1 c5 15.exf5 Nxf5 16.Ne4 cxb4 17.Nxb6 axb6 18.axb4 Qg6 19.Ra1 Rxa1 20.Bxa1 Nf6 21.Nxf6+ Rxf6 22.Qf3 Nh4 23.Qd5+ Kh8 24.f4 h6 25.Qe4 Qxe4 26.dxe4 Rxf4 27.Rxf4 exf4 28.e5 dxe5 29.Bxe5 Ng6 30.Bc7 b5 31.cxb5 Kg8 32.Kf2 Kf7 33.Kf3 Nh4+ 34.Kxf4 Nxg2+ 35.Ke5 Ke7 36.Bd6+ Ke8 37.Ke6 g5 38.Kf6 Kd7 39.Bf8 Nh4 40.Bxh6 Nf3 41.h3 Ng1 42.Bxg5 Nxh3 43.Be3 Kd6 44.Kf5 Kd5 45.b6

Simply let the knight be captured and play K-e6,d7,c8 with a draw. It is either stalemate or no progress for White. 1-0

TNM Games Round 4

Annotations by IM Elliott Winslow

(18410) Gaffagan,Steven (2054) - Diaz,Conrado (2343) [C10]
Mechanics' Winter TNM; G/2 d5 San Francisco (4.1), 29.01.2019

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bd7 5.Bd3 Bc6 6.Nf3 Nd7 7.0-0 Ngf6 8.Qe2 Be7 9.Bd2 0-0 10.c4 Bxe4 11.Bxe4 Nxe4 12.Qxe4 c6 13.Bc3 Nf6 14.Qe2 a5 15.Rfd1 Re8 16.Rac1 a4 17.Ne5 Bf8 18.Rd3 Nd7 19.Rcd1 Qc7 20.Nxd7 Qxd7 21.h4 b5 22.c5 Qd5 23.a3 g6 24.Rg3 Bg7 25.Rg5 Qb3 26.Rg3 Qa2 27.h5 Rad8 28.Rh4 Rd5 29.hxg6 hxg6 30.Qg4 Qc4 31.Qh4 Rh5 32.Qg3 Rxh4 33.Qxh4 Qd5 34.Qg4 Rd8 35.Rd2 Bf6 36.Qg3 Kg7 37.Ba5 Rh8 38.Bc7 Qe4 39.Rd1 Bxd4 40.Qf3 Qxf3 41.gxf3 Bxb2 42.Rd3 Rh5 43.Bd6 Rd5 44.Re3 Bd4 45.Re2 Bxc5 46.Be5+ Rxe5 47.Rxe5 Bxa3 48.Kf1 Bb2 0-1

(18411) Askin,Michael (1993) - Ivanov,Aleksandr (2171) [A43]
Mechanics' Winter TNM; G/2 d5 San Francisco (4.2), 29.01.2019

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 c5 3.d5 b5 4.Bg5 Qb6 5.Nc3 b4 6.Na4 Qa5 7.Bxf6 gxf6 8.c4 Bg7 9.Qb3 d6 10.a3 Na6 11.Nd2 0-0 12.e4 Rb8 13.Qd1 f5 14.axb4 Nxb4 15.Rb1 fxe4 16.Nc3 Bf5 17.g4 Bg6 18.h4 e3 19.Nf3 Bxc3+ 0-1

(18412) Winslow,Elliott C (2318) - Rudyak,Felix (1892) [D07]
Mechanics' Winter TNM; G/2 d5 San Francisco (4.3), 01.12.2019
[Winslow,Elliott]

1.d4 d5 2.c4 Nc6 3.Nc3 I saw some article very recently on this, which now I can't find, which happened to be on the very line he played. A sort of luck. 3...dxc4 4.d5 Ne5 [4...Na5 5.Qa4+ c6 6.b4 b5 (6...cxb3 7.axb3 e6 8.Bd2! Nxb3 (8...b6 9.dxc6 Ne7 Black could well survive) 9.Qxb3 exd5 10.e4 stays exciting) ] 5.f4 The main move nowadays, and the subject of the article. Unfortunately for me all I remembered was that Black has three moves for the knight, not what to do after them! [5.Qd4; 5.Bf4 Ng6 6.Bg3 e5 even has a plus score for Black -- but wait! There's 7.h4!? (2W 1D)] 5...Ng6 [5...Nd7 6.e4 Nb6; 5...Ng4 6.e4 e5 7.f5 (7.Nf3) ] 6.e4 e5 [6...e6] 7.f5 N6e7?+- This traffic jam should be fatal. [Better or worse, Black has to try 7...Nf4!? 8.Nf3 Bd6 (Someone won a game with 8...Qf6 but 9.Qa4+ Bd7 10.Qxc4 is very annoying -- the natural 10...Bd6?? runs into 11.g3 Nh5? 12.Bg5) 9.Qa4+ Bd7 10.Qxc4 Qe7 11.g3 Nh5 when, so help me, Stockfish is enamored with 12.Rg1] 8.Nf3 f6 [8...g6!? (no, still horrible) All bordering on overwhelming are 9.Bxc4 (9.Nxe5; 9.Bg5; 9.fxg6) ] 9.Bxc4 g6 [9...Bd7 10.Qb3 Qc8 11.Be3 Nh6 12.Rc1 Nf7; 9...a6 10.Be3 (10.d6 Qxd6 11.Qb3 Qb6 12.Bf7+ Kd8 13.Qxb6 cxb6 14.Be3 b5 15.Rc1! Nh6 16.Bxh6 gxh6 17.Ke2!) 10...Qd6 (10...g6 11.d6! Remember the warning, not to play ...f6 too early, if at all? 11...cxd6 (11...Qxd6 12.Qb3) 12.Qb3 Bh6 13.Bb6 Qd7 14.Rd1) 11.Nd2! followed by a bishop move and Nd2-c4, and Black is completely disorganized (and lost).] 10.g4 Damned computer! [It makes 10.Be3! (best); 10.Qb3; 10.0-0; 10.Nh4; 10.fxg6; 10.Qe2 as all better than my move; 10.Nd2; 10.d6 also works "as usual" (+-) 10...Qxd6] 10...h5?!

[10...a6] 11.g5! (hitting the detonator when Black is undeveloped) 11...gxf5 12.gxf6?! [12.Qb3 f4 (Is 12...Bh6 even a consideration??) 13.Bxf4! exf4 14.d6! cxd6 15.Bf7+ Kd7 16.0-0-0 just like that.] 12...Nxf6 13.Nxe5 Stockfish prefers pretty much anything: [13.Qb3 Rh7] 13...fxe4

[13...Bg7; 13...Qd6 14.Qd4 was my intention 14...c5 (14...a6 15.Nf7!; 14...Nc6 15.Nxc6 bxc6 16.e5) 15.Nb5; 13...Ng4 14.Nxg4 hxg4 (14...fxg4 15.Qd4 (15.0-0) ) 15.Qe2!? (The computer keeps surprising me); 13...Rh7 14.Bg5 Qd6 15.Bb5+ Bd7 16.Nc4 Qc5 17.Be3 Qb4 18.a3] 14.d6!? [Even better was 14.Qa4+! Bd7 15.d6] 14...Qxd6 15.Qxd6? [15.Bf7+! Kd8 16.Bg5 Nh7 17.Nxe4 really pushes Black down the elevator shaft] 15...cxd6 16.Bf7+! [My first thought was 16.Nf7 but 16...d5! 17.Nxh8 dxc4 18.Bg5 Nh7 19.Bxe7 Bxe7 20.Ng6 is too many pawns] 16...Kd8 17.Bg5! Bg7?! [17...Nh7!? 18.Bxe7+ Bxe7 (18...Kxe7 19.Nd5+ Kd8 20.Ng6 Bg7 21.Nxh8 Bxh8 22.Rg1) 19.Ng6 Rf8! (19...Bf6) 20.Nxf8 Nxf8 21.Bxh5 will require quite a bit of technique; 17...dxe5 18.Bxf6 Rh6 19.Rd1+ Bd7 20.Nd5! Bg4 21.Nxe7+ Bxd1 22.Ng6+ Kc7 23.Kxd1 yow!] 18.0-0-0? similar to the "wrong rook" scenario [18.Rd1! turns out, of course, to be a lot better.] 18...Kc7 19.Nb5+ Kb6?!

[19...Kb8! 20.Rxd6 Bh6! The difference! 21.h4 a6 22.Nc3 Bxg5+ 23.hxg5 Ng4 24.Nxg4 Bxg4 25.Re1 Nf5 26.Rf6 e3 27.Bg6 Ng3 28.Rxe3 h4 29.Ne4 White wants that bishop on e4!] 20.Nxd6! [20.Bxf6 Bxf6 21.Rxd6+ Kxb5 22.Rxf6 Bf5 is "0.00" everywhere...] 20...Nc6?! [20...Bh6!? 21.h4 is still advantage White, but the king lives] 21.Be3+ [21.Nec4+! Ka6 (21...Kc5 22.Bxf6) 22.Rhe1! (-e3-a3)(22.Rhf1) ] 21...Kc7?! {#} I was relieved to see this; I could see he missed a little shot [21...Ka6 22.Bc4+ Ka5 23.Bc5! is mate soon 23...Nxe5 (23...Nb4 24.Bb5 Be6 25.a4) 24.b4+ Ka4 25.Bb3+ Ka3 26.b5#; 21...Ka5 I hadn't worked out anything conclusive. The computer is town between 22.Nxc6+ (and 22.Bd2+ Kb6 23.Nec4+ (23.Be3+ Ka5 if you've changed your mind) 23...Ka6 24.b4 b5 25.a4! bxc4 26.a5! (26.b5+ how mundane) 26...Nxa5 27.bxa5) 22...bxc6 23.Kc2!! I am still appreciating this move...] 22.Nb5+ Kb8 23.Bf4! [23.Bf4 Bh6 24.Nxc6#] 1-0

(18413) Drane,Robert (1800) - Ye,Win Aung (2229) [B09]
Mechanics' Winter TNM; G/2 d5 San Francisco (4.4), 29.01.2019
[Winslow,Elliott]

1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.f4 Bg7 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be3 Ng4 7.Bg1 e5 8.dxe5 dxe5 9.h4 Nh6 10.Qxd8 Rxd8 11.Nd5 Na6 Ye thought for a long time. [And prefers (by a lot!) 11...Rxd5!? even though it gets crazy complicated. (Maybe that's a good thing!) 12.exd5 exf4 13.0-0-0 Nf5 14.Re1 Nd7 15.Re8+ Bf8 16.Bd3 Ng3 17.Rh2 a6 18.Rd8 Kg7 time to cop out with "it's unclear" even if the computer goes +/-; 11...Nc6 12.Nxc7 (12.fxe5) 12...Rb8 13.fxe5 Nxe5? 14.Bxa7] 12.0-0-0 Allows Black's next, but it's still fine [12.fxe5 was my choice (I was sitting next to them); 12.Bxa6 bxa6 13.fxe5 Kh8 has White going 14.0-0-0 anyway] 12...Be6 13.Bxa6 [13.fxe5! Bxd5 14.exd5 Nb4 15.Bc4 b5!? 16.Bxb5! not that the alternative weren't fine 16...Nxa2+ 17.Kb1 Nc3+!? 18.bxc3 Rdb8 19.c4 a6 20.g4 axb5 21.c5 Oooooh no -- lava pawns! 21...f5 (21...Ra3 22.Rd3! Rxd3 23.cxd3 for a novel pawn center!) 22.exf6 Bxf6 DO notice the threat 23.Bd4+-] 13...bxa6?! [13...Bxd5!? 14.Rxd5 (14.exd5 e4!? but ultimately no) 14...bxa6 15.fxe5 Nf5!? 16.Bc5 no fun.] 14.fxe5 Bxd5 15.exd5 Nf5 Back in the game!? 16.g4 Not really 16...Bh6+ 17.g5?! [17.Kb1! Ne3 18.Bxe3 Bxe3 19.Rhe1 is a very wholesome situation, Black's bishop almost a ghost.] 17...Bg7 [17...Nh4! 18.gxh6 Nxf3 Let's see how White likes having three rook pawns! (Well enough for the computer to *still* make it +-)] 18.Bf2 Rd7 19.Rhe1 Re8 20.c4 Rde7 21.c5 [21.Bc5] 21...Rxe5 No better or worse than anything else, but at least unbalancing! 22.Nxe5 Bxe5 23.Kc2 [If you happen to be a 3 million nodes per second human you could play 23.Rxe5! Rxe5 24.d6 cxd6 25.cxd6 Re8 (25...Nxd6 26.Rxd6 Rxg5 27.Rxa6 and White will win (as long as he doesn't play like Kramnik vs. Shankland!)) 26.d7 Rd8 27.Bxa7 will be up a rook 27...Kf8 28.Bc5+] 23...h6 24.Bd4 [For a while Stockfish's first move was 24.Kb1 until it came to its sensors. (Oops -- it's changed its mind again to 24.Kb1)] 24...Nxd4+ 25.Rxd4 hxg5 26.d6 [26.Ra4! mop up pawns, queen] 26...cxd6 27.cxd6?! [27.Rxd6! Kg7 28.Rxa6 Re7 29.b4 f5 30.a4 (30.Kb3; 30.Kd3; 30.b5; Heck, 30.a3 is overwhelming) ] 27...Rc8+ 28.Kd3 f6 [28...Bxd4?! 29.d7] 29.Rd5 Rd8 30.d7 Kf7 31.Kc4 Ke7 32.Red1 Bc7 33.Kc5 Rb8 34.Re1+ [34.R1d3! Rxb2?! 35.d8Q+ Bxd8 36.Re3+ Kf7 37.Rd7+; 34.R5d3! same thing 34...Rb5+ 35.Kc4 Kd8 36.Rb3 Rxb3 37.axb3 Bb6 38.Rd6] 34...Be5 35.a4 [35.Re3!] 35...Kd8 36.b4 Rb7 (with a threat!) 37.Kc4 Rc7+ 38.Rc5 Rxd7 39.Rexe5?? [39.Rd5 Bd6 (39...Rxd5 40.Kxd5 Bc3 41.Re6) 40.Re6 Bxb4 41.Rxf6] 39...fxe5 40.Rxe5 Rh7 41.Rxg5 Rxh4 42.Rxg6 1/2-1/2

(18414) Fuentes,Romulo C (2200) - Persidsky,Andre (1814) [B51]
Mechanics' Winter TNM; G/2 d5 San Francisco (4.5), 29.01.2019

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 d6 4.Bxc6+ bxc6 5.b3 e5 6.Bb2 Nf6 7.d3 Be7 8.Nbd2 Bg4 9.h4 Bh5 10.Qe2 a5 11.a4 Qc7 12.0-0-0 Nd7 13.g4 Bg6 14.Nc4 f6 15.Nh4 d5 16.Nd2 Bf7 17.Nf5 Bf8 18.f4 g6 19.Nh4 d4 20.fxe5 Nxe5 21.Rdf1 Be7 22.Nhf3 0-0 23.Kb1 Rab8 24.Nxe5 fxe5 25.h4 h6 26.Qh2 Be6 27.Qg3 Bd6 28.Bc1 Qg7 29.Rhg1 Rxf1 30.Rxf1 Qe7 31.Ka2 Rf8 32.Nf3 Bd7 33.Bxh6 Rf7 34.Bd2 Bc7 35.Nh2 Rxf1 36.Nxf1 Qe6 37.Nh2 Bd8 38.h5 gxh5 39.gxh5+ Kh7 40.Nf3 c4 41.dxc4 Bf6 42.Ng5+ Bxg5 43.Qxg5 Be8 44.Bxa5 c5 45.Bc7 Bc6 46.Bxe5 Bxe4 47.Qg7# 1-0

(18415) Wong,Russell (2200) - Malykin,Erika (1628) [C25]
Mechanics' Winter TNM; G/2 d5 San Francisco (4.7), 29.01.2019
[Winslow,Elliott]

1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Bc5 3.f4 Bxg1 4.Rxg1 d6 5.fxe5 dxe5 6.Qf3 Nc6 7.Bb5 Bd7 8.Bxc6 Bxc6 9.d3 Qh4+ 10.g3 Qxh2 11.Rh1 Qxc2 12.Rf1 0-0-0

13.Qxf7?? [13.d4 Rxd4 14.Qg4+ Kb8 15.Qxg7 Rxe4+=] 13...Qxd3 [13...Nf6! 14.Qxg7 Nd7-+] 14.Qxg7 Ne7! 15.Qg4+ [15.Qxe7? Qxg3+ 16.Rf2 (16.Ke2 Bb5+! 17.Nxb5 Qd3+ 18.Ke1 Qxe4+ 19.Kf2 Rhf8+ 20.Kg3 Rd3+) 16...Rhf8 17.Qc5 Qg1+ 18.Ke2 Bb5+! 19.Nxb5 Qd1+ 20.Ke3 Qd3#] 15...Bd7 16.Qf3 Qxf3 17.Rxf3 Bg4?! [17...Nc6; 17...Rdf8] 18.Rf7 Nc6 [18...Rd7] 19.Nd5 Nd4 [19...Be6!? 20.Rxc7+ Kb8 21.Rg7 (21.Bg5 Bxd5 22.Bxd8 Nxd8 23.Rc5 Bxe4) 21...Nd4 22.Kf2 Rhf8+] 20.Rxc7+ Kb8 21.Rc3 Nf3+ 22.Kf2 Rhf8 23.Bh6 [23.Kg2] 23...Rf7 24.Kg2 Nd4 25.Re1?! [25.Bg5 Rd6-/+] 25...Rd6 [25...Rg8] 26.Bc1 Bf3+ 27.Kh2 Bxe4?! 28.Rxe4 Rxd5 29.Kg2 Nc6 [29...b6] 30.Be3 Rfd7 31.b4 Ne7 32.a4 Nf5 33.Bf2 Rg7 34.Rf3 Nd6 35.Re2 Rc7 1/2-1/2

(18416) Babayan,Gagik (1806) - Corper,Adam (2193) [B03]
Mechanics' Winter TNM; G/2 d5 San Francisco (4.8), 29.01.2019
[Winslow,Elliott]

1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.c4 Nb6 5.f4 dxe5 6.fxe5 c5 7.d5 g6 [7...e6] 8.Nf3 [8.Nc3 Bg7 9.Bf4] 8...Bg4 9.h4 Bxf3 10.Qxf3 Bg7 11.Qe4 0-0 12.Be2 e6 13.Nc3 N8d7 [13...exd5 14.cxd5 N8d7] 14.Bf4 [14.dxe6 Nxe5 15.0-0 fxe6=/+] 14...exd5 15.cxd5

15...Re8 [15...Nxe5! 16.0-0 Re8-/+; 15...f5!] 16.e6 [16.0-0 Nxe5] 16...fxe6 17.d6 [17.dxe6 Nf8] 17...Nf6 18.Qd3 Nfd5 19.Bg3 c4 20.Qd2 Nxc3 21.bxc3 Nd5 22.Rc1

22...Qa5 [22...Qb6!-+] 23.0-0 Bxc3 24.Qg5 Bd2 25.Qe5 Ne3 [25...Nc3!-/+] 26.Qf6 Qd5 27.Qf7+ Kh8 28.Qf6+ Kg8 29.Qf7+ 1/2-1/2

(18417) Kuczek,Kevin W (2003) - Mercado,Adam (1714) [C45]
Mechanics' Winter TNM; G/2 d5 San Francisco (4.9), 29.01.2019
[Winslow,Elliott]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Bc5 5.Be3 Bb6 6.Nf5 g6 7.Bxb6 axb6 8.Ne3 d6 9.Nc3 Nf6 10.Be2 Be6 11.0-0 h5 12.Ned5 h4 13.h4 Nh5 14.Bg4 Bxg4 15.Qxg4 Ne5 16.Qd1 c6 17.f4 Nc4 18.Qd4 0-0 19.Qxc4 b5 20.Nxb5 cxd5 21.Qxd5 Ng3 22.Rf3 Ra5 23.c4 Qf6 24.e5 Ne2+ 25.Kf2 [One of the scores gives 25.Kh2 , which only "matters" at the very end, when both players give 37...Ne4"+".; And of course the computer casts them both aside for 25.Kf1 Nxf4 26.Qd2 dxe5 27.Qxa5] 25...Nxf4 26.exf6 [26.Qd2!] 26...Nxd5 27.Nxd6?! [27.a3; 27.b3] 27...Ra6 28.Nxb7 Nxf6 A flurry of tactics, but still two pawns down 29.Nc5 Rd6 30.Re1 [Rats, now 30.Rxf6?? Rxf6+ is check.; Stockfish prefers 30.b4] 30...Nh5 [>=30...Rc8] 31.Ne4 [31.Rd3] 31...Rd4 32.b3 Kg7 33.Re2 Re8 34.Nc3 [34.Ng5! Rxe2+ 35.Kxe2 Rd7 36.Ne4] 34...Red8 35.Nd5?! [35.Re7 Rd2+ 36.Kg1 Nf6 37.Rf2] 35...Ng3 36.Rc2 Re8 37.Re3 Ne4+ So after 37..."Ne4+", both scoresheets say 38."Nc3". And end. I give up. Well, Black gave up. 1-0

(18418) Busch,Jonah (1799) - Clemens,Kristian (2002) [C21]
Mechanics' Winter TNM; G/2 d5 San Francisco (4.10), 29.01.2019
[Winslow,Elliott]

1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.c3 d5 4.exd5 Nf6!? [4...Qxd5 5.cxd4 Nc6 6.Nf3 (6.Be3 Nf6 7.a3!?) 6...Bg4 7.Be2 Bb4+ 8.Nc3 Bxf3 9.Bxf3 Qc4=] 5.c4 [5.Bb5+ Bd7 6.Bxd7+] 5...c6 6.Qxd4 cxd5 7.cxd5 Qxd5 8.Nf3 Let the record note that White has achieved a symmetrical position -- with Black on move. 8...Nc6 9.Qxd5 Nxd5 10.a3 Be7 11.Bc4 Nb6 12.Be2 0-0 13.Nc3 Be6 14.0-0 Rad8 15.Bf4 Nc4 16.b3 Nxa3 17.Bd1 Bf6 18.Rxa3 Bxc3 19.Be3 Bb4 20.Ra4 a5 21.Bc2 h6 22.Bb6 Rd5 23.Raa1 Rb5 24.Be3 Bc3 25.Rab1 Nb4 26.Bd4 Bxd4 27.Nxd4 Rb6 28.Nxe6 Rxe6 29.Bd1 Rd8 30.Bf3 b6 31.Rfc1 Kf8 32.Kf1 g6 33.Be2 Rd2 34.Bc4 Rf6 35.f3 Rfd6 36.Re1 Ra2 37.Re2 Rdd2 38.Rbe1 Rxe2 39.Rxe2 Ra1+ 40.Re1 Ra2 41.Re2 Ra1+ 42.Re1 Rxe1+ 43.Kxe1 f6 44.Kd2 Ke7 45.Ke3 Kd6 46.h4 Nd5+ 47.Kd4 Nb4 48.g4 Nc6+ 49.Ke4 Ne5 50.Be2 Nd7 51.Kd4 Nf8 52.Bc4 Ne6+ 53.Ke4 Nc5+ 54.Kd4 a4 55.bxa4 Nxa4 56.f4 Nc5 57.g5 fxg5 58.fxg5 hxg5 59.hxg5 Ne6+ 60.Kc3 Ke5 61.Bd3 Nf8 62.Kc4 Kf4 63.Bxg6 Nxg6 64.Kb5 1/2-1/2

(18419) Lum,Michael K (1941) - Agdamag,Samuel Za (1506) [A34]
Mechanics' Winter TNM; G/2 d5 San Francisco (4.11), 29.01.2019
[Winslow,Elliott]

1.c4 c5 2.g3 g6 3.Bg2 Bg7 4.Nc3 Nf6 5.e4 d6 6.Nge2 a6 7.0-0 0-0 8.Rb1 Be6 9.d3 Qc8 10.Nf4 Bg4 11.f3 Bd7 12.Be3 Nc6 13.Qd2 Rb8 14.Kh1 b5 15.Nfd5 Re8 16.Nxf6+ Bxf6 17.Nd5 Bg7 18.f4 Bh4 19.f5 Bxg2+ 20.Kxg2 bxc4 21.Bh6 [21.dxc4 Ne5 22.b3 Ng4 23.Bg5] 21...cxd3 22.Bxg7 Kxg7 23.Nxe7 Nxe7 24.f6+ Kh8 25.fxe7 Rxe7 26.Qxd3 Qb7 27.Kg1 Qb6 28.Qc3+ Kg8 29.Qf6 Rbb7 30.Rbd1 Red7 31.Rf2 c4 32.Qd4 Qxd4 33.Rxd4 Rbc7 34.Rc2 c3 35.b3 Rc6 36.Kf2 Kf8 37.Ke3 Ke7 38.Kd3 Ke6 39.Rc4 Rxc4 40.bxc4 Ke5 41.Rxc3 Rb7 42.c5 dxc5 43.Rxc5+ Kd6 44.Ra5 Rb6 45.Ke3 f6 46.Kf4 h6 47.h4 h5 48.a3 Ke6 49.Rc5 Rd6 50.Ra5 Rc6 51.Ke3 Rd6 1/2-1/2

(18420) Wonsever,James (1916) - Zeller,William Patrick [E91]
Mechanics' Winter TNM; G/2 d5 San Francisco (4.12), 29.01.2019
[Winslow,Elliott]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.Nf3 d6 5.e4 0-0 6.Be2 Bg4 [6...e5] 7.Be3 Nbd7 8.Qd2 Bxf3 9.Bxf3 e5 10.0-0 exd4 11.Bxd4 Ne5 12.Be2 Re8 13.f3 a6 14.Rac1 Qe7 15.Rfe1 Qf8 16.Be3 Rad8 17.Nd5 Nxd5 18.cxd5 Rd7?? 19.f4 f5 20.fxe5 Rxe5 21.exf5 gxf5 22.Bf4 Re4 23.Bf3 Rd4 24.Qe3 Bf6 25.Qe6+ Rf7 26.Be3 Rh4 27.Rxc7 f4 28.Bf2 Rh6 29.Rc8 Bd8 30.Rxd8 Rxe6 31.Rxf8+ 1-0

(18421) Mays,Jerry L (1700) - Yanofsky,Kevin (1915) [B34]
Mechanics' Winter TNM; G/2 d5 San Francisco (4.13), 29.01.2019
[Winslow,Elliott]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Be3 Bg7 6.Nc3 Nf6 7.Qd2? Ng4 [7...0-0! and ...d5 next move or after 8.Nb3 a5 9.a4 d5] 8.Nxc6 bxc6?! I wouldn't guess this an error! [8...dxc6 9.Qxd8+ Kxd8=] 9.0-0-0? [9.Bd4 Bh6 10.Qe2] 9...Nxe3 10.Qxe3 Qa5 11.Bc4 0-0 12.g4? [12.Bb3; 12.h4 h5 13.Bb3] 12...d6 13.h4 Be6 14.Bxe6 [14.Bb3 Bxb3 15.axb3 Qa1+ 16.Kd2 Qxb2 17.h4 (17.Rhe1) ] 14...fxe6 15.Rdf1 [15.Rhf1] 15...Rab8 16.f4 [16.a3] 16...Qb4 17.e5 Qxb2+ 18.Kd2 dxe5 19.fxe5 Rfd8+ 0-1

(18422) Robeal,Rafik (1716) - Maser,Thomas F (1907) [A47]
Mechanics' Winter TNM; G/2 d5 San Francisco (4.14), 29.01.2019

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.d4 e6 3.g3 b6 4.Bg2 Bb7 5.0-0 c5 6.c3 Be7 7.Nbd2 0-0 8.Re1 d5 9.Ne5 Qc7 10.Ndf3 Nc6 11.Bf4 Bd6 12.Rc1 Nh5 13.Bh4 Nxf4 14.gxf4 Rae8 15.Kh1 f6 16.Nxc6 Bxc6 17.e3 e5 18.dxe5 fxe5 19.Ng5 Rf6 20.f5 Qe7 21.Qg4 Rh6 22.f3 Qf6 23.Rg1 Re7 24.Rcd1 d4 25.e4 Be8 26.Bf1 b5 27.a4 c4 28.axb5 d3 29.b3 Bc5 30.Rg2 Be3 31.bxc4 d2 32.Ne6 Bh5 33.Qg3 Rxe6 34.c5 Re7 35.Rgxd2 Bxd2 36.Rxd2 Rc7 37.Rd6 Qh4 38.Bc4+ Kh8 39.Rxh6 Qxg3 40.hxg3 gxh6 41.Be2 Rxc5 42.g4 Bf7 43.Kh2 Bc4 44.Bxc4 Rxc4 45.Kg3 Rxc3 46.Kh4 Rxf3 47.g5 Rf4+ 48.Kh5 hxg5 0-1

(18423) Anderson,Michael (1903) - Cunningham,Charles (1414) [C45]
Mechanics' Winter TNM; G/2 d5 San Francisco (4.15), 29.01.2019
[Winslow,Elliott]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Ne5? 5.f4 Ng6 6.Be2 Bc5 7.Be3 d6 8.0-0 Nf6 9.Nc3 c6 10.g3 Bb4 11.Bf3 Bxc3 12.bxc3 0-0 13.Re1 Re8 14.Bf2 Re7 15.Qd3 Bg4 16.Bg2 Qa5 17.h4 Bd7 18.Nf5 Bxf5 19.exf5 Rxe1+ 20.Rxe1 Nf8 21.c4 Qxa2 22.g4 Re8 23.Rxe8 Nxe8 24.Qe3 Nc7 25.Qxa7 Qb1+ 26.Bf1 Na6 27.c3 Nc5 28.Bxc5 dxc5 29.Qxc5 Qc1 30.Qe5 h6 31.Kf2 Qd2+ 32.Be2 b5 33.cxb5 cxb5 34.Qe3 Qd5 35.Bf3 Qa2+ 36.Kg3 Qa3 37.Qd4 Qe7 38.Qe5 Qd8 39.h4 Qd3 40.g5 Nd7 41.Qd4 Qxf5 42.Bg4 Qb1 43.Bxd7 hxg5 44.hxg5 Qe1+ 45.Kg2 Qe2+ 46.Qf2 Qe4+ 47.Qf3 and White won. 1-0

(18424) Hakobyan,Sos (1829) - McKellar,Daniel (1872) [B31]
Mechanics' Winter TNM; G/2 d5 San Francisco (4.16), 29.01.2019
[McKellar,Daniel/Winslow,Elliott]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.c3 Nc6 4.Bb5 Bg7 5.Bxc6 dxc6 6.0-0 Qd3 7.Re1 Bg4 8.Qe2 0-0-0 9.Qxd3 Rxd3 10.Re3 Rxe3 11.fxe3 Nf6 12.h4 Bxf3 13.gxf3 Nd7 14.d4 cxd4 15.exd4 e5 16.Be3 exd4 17.Bxd4 Bxd4+ 18.cxd4 Rd8 19.Nc3 Nb6 20.Rd1 Nd7 [20...f5] 21.Kf2 Nf8 [21...f5] 22.Ke3 Ne6 [22...f5] 23.a4 c5 24.d5 Nd4 25.h4 h6 26.Kf4 Re8 [26...Rd6] 27.b4 g5+ (too desperate) [27...cxb4 28.Rxd4 bxc3 29.Rc4+ Kd7 30.Rxc3 Kd6] 28.hxg5 hxg5+ 29.Kxg5 Nxf3+ 30.Kf4 Ne5 31.bxc5 [31.Nb5 Ng6+ 32.Ke3] 31...a6 32.Rh1 [32.Ne2; 32.a5; 32.d6] 32...Nd3+ 33.Kf5 Nxc5 34.Rh7 b5 (again, too desperate) [34...Re7 35.Kf6 Kd8 36.Rxf7 Nd7+ 37.Kg7 Ne5 38.Rxe7 Kxe7 should be drawn.] 35.axb5 axb5 36.e5 [36.Rh6; 36.Nxb5 Nxe4 37.Rxf7] 36...Nd3 37.e6 fxe6+ 38.dxe6 Nc5 39.Nxb5 Rxe6 40.Rc7+ Kd8 41.Rxc5 Re1 42.Rc6 Rf1+ 43.Ke5 Re1+ 44.Kd5 Rd1+ 45.Nd4 Ke7 46.Re6+ Kf7 47.Re4 Rf1 48.Re5 Rd1 49.Re4 Rf1 50.Ke5 Rf2 51.Kd6 Rd2 52.Rf4+ Kg6 53.Ke6 Rg2 54.Rf8 Kg7 55.Rf7+ Kg6 56.Rf6+ Kg5 57.Rf8 Ra2 58.Ke5 Ra5+ 59.Ke4 Ra4 60.Rb8 Kf6 61.Rb6+ Ke7 62.Ke5 Ra5+ 63.Nb5 Kd7 64.Kd5 Ke7 65.Ke5 Kd7 66.Rd6+ Ke7 67.Rd5 Ra1 68.Nc3 Re1+ 69.Ne4 Kf7 70.Rd6 Kg7 71.Rd7+ Kg6 72.Re7 Ra1 73.Re6+ Kg7 74.Re8 Ra5+ 75.Ke6 Ra6+ 76.Nd6 Ra1 77.Nf5+ Kh7 78.Kf6 Ra6+ 79.Kg5 Rg6+ 80.Kh5 [80.Kf4 Ra6 and we'd continue another 10 moves.] 80...Rg5+ 81.Kxg5 1/2-1/2

(18425) Cendejas,Juan (1686) - Harris,John (1854) [B17]
Mechanics' Winter TNM; G/2 d5 San Francisco (4.17), 29.01.2019

1.e4 c6 2.Nc3 d5 3.d4 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7 5.Bf4 Ngf6 6.f3 g6 7.Qd2 h5 8.0-0-0 Nd5 9.Kb1 Nxf4 10.Qxf4 Bh6 11.Qg3 Nf6 12.Bc4 Nd5 13.Bb3 a5 14.a4 Bf5 15.h4 Bf4 16.Qe1 h4 17.Ne2 Bc7 18.N2c3 Kf8 19.g4 hxg3 20.Nxg3 Nxc3+ 21.bxc3 Bxg3 22.Qxg3 Qd6 23.f4 Qa3 24.c4 b5 25.cxb5 cxb5 26.Qf3 Rb8 27.Qd5 e6 28.Qe5 Qxb3+ 29.Ka1 Qxa4+ 30.Kb2 Qxc2+ 31.Ka1 Qc3+ 32.Ka2 Ke7 33.Rc1 Bc2 0-1

(18426) Chambers,Don (1127) - Melville,Cailen (1954) [C02]
Mechanics' Winter TNM; G/2 d5 San Francisco (4.18), 29.01.2019
[Winslow,Elliott]

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c4 cxd4 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.Nxd4 Nxe5 7.cxd5 Qxd5 8.Nc3 Bb4 9.Qa4+ Nc6 10.Be3 Bd7 11.Nxc6 Bxc3+ 12.bxc3 Qxc6 13.Qxc6 Bxc6 14.Bd4 Nf6 15.f3 0-0-0 16.Bc4 Rd7 17.Bxa7?? b5 18.Bxe6 Re8 19.0-0 Rxe6 20.Bd4 Nd5 21.Bxg7 Rg6 22.Bd4 Nf4 23.Kh1 Nxg2 24.Be5 Nh4 25.Bg3 Nxf3 26.Kg2 Rd2+ 27.Rf2 Rd3 28.Rc1 Nd2+ 29.Kg1 h5 30.Rxf7 h4 31.Rc7+ Kd8 32.Rxc6 Nf3+ 33.Kh1 Rxc6 34.Bf2 h4 35.a4 Rcd6 36.Bd4 R6xd4 37.cxd4 Rd2 0-1

(18427) Robertson,Wade (957) - Argo,Guy (1909) [C40]
Mechanics' Winter TNM; G/2 d5 San Francisco (4.19), 29.01.2019
[Winslow,Elliott]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f5 3.Nc3 fxe4 4.Nxe4 d5 5.Ng3 e4 6.Nd4 Nf6 7.d3 c5 8.Nde2 exd3 9.Qxd3 Nc6 10.Bg5 Nb4 11.Qd2 Be7 12.a3 Nc6 13.0-0-0 0-0 14.Bxf6 Rxf6 15.Qxd5+ Qxd5 16.Rxd5 Be6 17.Rd1 Rxf2 18.Ne4 Rf7 19.N2c3 Nd4 20.Nb5?? Rxf1 21.Nxd4 Rxd1+ 22.Rxd1 cxd4 23.Rxd4 Rd8 24.Rxd8+ Bxd8 25.Nd6 Bc7 26.Nxb7 Bxh2 27.Nc5 Bd5 28.Nd3 Bxg2 29.b4 h5 30.Kd2 Bg3 31.Ke2 h4 32.Nf2 h4 33.Nxh4 Bxh4 34.Kd3 g5 35.c4 Bf1+ 36.Kd4 Bf2+ 37.Kc3 g4 38.c5 Bb5 39.Kd2 g3 40.a4 g2 41.axb5 g1Q 42.b6 Qe1+ 43.Kd3 Qxb4 44.bxa7 Qa3+ 45.Ke4 Bxc5 0-1

(18428) Pane,Gianluca (1863) - Francis,Daniel E (1607) [A85]
Mechanics' Winter TNM; G/2 d5 San Francisco (4.20), 29.01.2019

1.d4 e6 2.c4 f5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.f3 Bb4 5.Qc2 d6 6.e3 0-0 7.Bd3 Bxc3+ 8.Qxc3 b6 9.Ne2 c5 10.b3 Nc6 11.Bb2 Nb4 12.Bb1 Bb7 13.0-0 a5 14.a3 Na6 15.Bc2 Nh5 16.dxc5 bxc5 17.Nf4 Nxf4 18.Qxg7# 1-0

(18429) Matz,James I (1601) - Jensen,Christian (1857) [A07]
Mechanics' Winter TNM; G/2 d5 San Francisco (4.21), 29.01.2019

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 d5 3.Bg2 e6 4.d3 g6 5.Nbd2 Bg7 6.0-0 Nbd7 7.e4 0-0 8.e5 Ng4 9.d4 c5 10.c3 f6 11.Bh4 h5 12.Nh4 fxe5 13.Bxg4 hxg4 14.Qxg4 Nf6 15.Qxg6 exd4 16.cxd4 cxd4 17.Ndf3 Qe8 18.Qd3 e5 19.Nxe5 Qxe5 20.Ng6 Qe4 21.Qxe4 dxe4 22.Nxf8 Kxf8 23.Bg5 Bd7 24.Rac1 Bc6 25.h4 Nd7 26.Bf4 Ne5 27.Rc5 Re8 28.Rd1 Kg8 29.Bd2 Rd8 30.Bf4 Nd3 31.Rg5 Rc8 32.h5 Kh7 33.b3 Nxf4 34.gxf4 Rf8 35.f5 Bd7 36.Rc1 Bc6 37.b4 Bh6 0-1

(18430) Abraham,Michael (1609) - Marcus,Joel (1833) [A41]
Mechanics' Winter TNM; G/2 d5 San Francisco (4.22), 29.01.2019

1.d4 d6 2.c4 e5 3.d5 f5 4.Nc3 Nf6 5.Bg5 Be7 6.e3 0-0 7.Nf3 Na6 8.Be2 Nc5 9.0-0 Nce4 10.Nxe4 Nxe4 11.Bxe7 Qxe7 12.Nd2 Qh4 13.f4 Rf6 14.Nf3 Qh6 15.fxe5 Qxe3+ 16.Kh1 Rh6 17.Qe1 f4 18.h4 Ng3+ 19.Kh2 Bg4 20.Rf2 Bxf3 21.gxf3 Qxe5 22.Qd2 Rxh4+ 0-1

(18431) Bayaraa,Timothy (1175) - Kim,Andy (1604) [B18]
Mechanics' Winter TNM; G/2 d5 San Francisco (4.23), 29.01.2019

1.e4 c6 2.Nc3 d5 3.d4 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Qf3 e6 6.Be3 Nd7 7.Bd3 Qb6 8.b3 Bxe4 9.Qxe4 Ndf6 10.Qh4 Bb4+ 11.Ke2 Nd5 12.Bd2 Ngf6 13.Rd1 Bxd2 14.Rxd2 Nc3+ 15.Ke1 0-0-0 16.Nf3 Qa5 17.Ne5 Rdf8 18.f3 Nb1 19.Qf4 Nd5 20.Qe4 Qxd2+ 21.Kf1 Ne3+ 22.Kg1 Qxg2# 0-1

(18432) Yun,Andrew (1780) - Carron,Joel (1491) [B38]
Mechanics' Winter TNM; G/2 d5 San Francisco (4.24), 29.01.2019
[Winslow,Elliott]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.c4 Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Nc3 0-0 8.Be2 d6 9.0-0 Bd7 10.Qd2 Ng4 11.Bxg4 Bxg4 12.f3 Bd7 13.Rad1 a6 14.Nde2 Be6 15.b3 Qa5 16.Rf2 Rab8 17.Rc1 Rfd8 18.Bh6 f6 19.Be3 Bf7 20.Nf4 Bh6 21.Nfd5 Bxe3 22.Qxe3 Qc5 23.Qh6 Qd4 24.f4 e6 25.Rd1 Qxd1+ 26.Nxd1 exd5 27.exd5 Nd4 28.Ne3 f5 29.g4 [29.Rd2 Re8 30.Kf2 Re4 31.Nf1] 29...Re8 30.gxf5?? Many moves win. Not this. 30...Rxe3 31.f6 Nf5 32.Qg5 h6 33.Qg4 [33.Qg2] 33...Rbe8 [33...Re1+!] 34.Rf1 Re2 35.a3 Rb2 36.Qd1 Ree2 37.Rf3 Rg2+ 38.Kf1 Rxh2 39.Ke1 Ne3! 0-1

(18433) Latourette,Nicholas (1347) - Perlov,Alexander (1720) [B34]
Mechanics' Winter TNM; G/2 d5 San Francisco (4.26), 29.01.2019
[Winslow,Elliott]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.f3 [7.Bc4; 7.Nb3] 7...0-0 8.Qd2?! White tries to force the "normal" Yugoslav Attack, but [8.Nb3!? d5 anyway!(or even 8...a5 9.a4 d5) ] 8...d5! 9.Nxc6 bxc6 10.Bh6 [10.0-0-0 Qa5 11.Kb1

with the classic threat of Nxd511...Rb8! 12.Nxd5? Rxb2+!! That's using that extra tempo! 13.Kxb2 (13.Kc1 Qxa2) 13...Nxe4+! Wrong queen is lost!] 10...Qa5? [Sometimes you can just draw White's queen away for the right moment: 10...Bxh6 11.Qxh6 dxe4 The attack is all Black's 12.fxe4 (12.Nxe4 Nxe4 13.fxe4 Qd4) 12...Rb8-+] 11.Bxg7 Kxg7 12.e5? [12.exd5=/+] 12...Ng8? [12...Nd7 13.f4 Rb8 14.b3 Nc5 (14...f6) 15.Ne4 Qb6 16.Nxc5 Qxc5-/+ White's king has no happy home] 13.Qd4?! [13.h4 h5 14.0-0-0 Rb8 15.g4= gets something going on the other side 15...c5! (15...hxg4 16.h5) ] 13...e6 [13...c5! This is a Dragon! Give up a pawn already! 14.Qxd5 Rb8 15.Qd2 Rd8 16.Qc1 Qb4; In retrospect (and after letting the computer run for a while) this might be pushier. 13...Rb8] 14.0-0-0 c5 [14...Rb8] 15.Qa4 Qc7! 16.Re1 [16.f4] Helping White out 16...Bd7?! [16...Rb8!] 17.Bb5! Bxb5 18.Nxb5 Qc6 19.Nc3 Qxa4 20.Nxa4 Rfc8 21.h4 h5 Black is still solidly better 22.g4 Checkmate? That train has left the station. [22.b3] 22...hxg4 [22...Rab8!?] 23.fxg4 Ne7 [23...Rab8 24.a3 c4] 24.h5 gxh5 25.gxh5 Nf5 [25...Rab8!=/+] 26.Nc3 [26.h6+ Kh7 27.c4] 26...Rab8 27.Ref1

with a threat! 27...Kh6? [27...Nh6] 28.Nxd5! Ng3?! panic 29.Rf6++- Kh7 30.Rh4 [30.Rxf7+! Kg8 31.Rxa7 Nxh1 32.Ne7+! (32.Nf6+ Kf8 33.h6 Rb4 34.h7 Rh4 35.Nd7+ Ke8 36.Nb6 Rb8 37.Nc4 is winning for White!) 32...Kg7 (32...Kf8 33.Ng6+ Ke8 (33...Kg8 34.h6) 34.h6 Black is helpless!) 33.Nxc8+ etc.] 30...Ne4 31.Rxf7+ [31.Ne7 Nxf6 32.Nxc8 Rxc8 33.exf6+/-] 31...Kg8 32.Rxa7? [32.Nf6+ Kxf7 33.Nxe4+/=] 32...exd5 33.h6 Rf8=/+ 34.b3?! c4?! [34...Rf1+ 35.Kb2 d4 Black's turn! 36.h7+ Kh8 37.e6 Nc3 38.Rxc3[] dxc3+ 39.Kxc3 Re1 40.a4 Rxe6-/+] 35.e6 c3 36.Rh1 Rbe8 37.Rg7+ Kh8 38.e7?! [38.Rf7] 38...Rf6-/+ 39.Rhg1 Rxh6??

[39...Re6 THAT is the dangerous pawn. 40.a4 R6xe7 41.Kb1=/+] 40.Rg8+!+- Rxg8 41.Rxg8+ Kh7 42.Rh8+! Kxh8 43.e8Q+ Kg7 44.Qe5+ Kg6 45.Qe8+ [45.Kd1! (keeping d5, h2(!) covered)] 45...Kg7 46.Kd1 Rh1+ 47.Ke2 Rh2+

48.Kf1?? [48.Ke3 avoids any trouble; or 48.Kf3 Rf2+ 49.Ke3] 48...Rd2?? [48...Nd2+ is a drawing mechanism well worth integrating! 49.Ke1 (49.Kg1 Nf3+) 49...Nf3+ 50.Kf1 (50.Kd1?? Rh1+ 51.Ke2 Re1+-+) ] 49.a4?? [49.Ke1 Kf6! when the king joining in forces a draw; 49.Qe5+! is the only winning move! 49...Kg6] 49...Ng3+?? [49...Kf6! again, locks up the draw! 50.a5 is the only move to disturb Black's king approach a) 50.Ke1 Kf5; b) 50.Qc6+ Kf5 (50...Ke5; 50...Kg5) ; c) 50.Qf8+ now any king move; 50...Rxc2!! (50...Kf5 in a way helps White (by permitting checks on the 7th): 51.a6 Rd1+ 52.Ke2 Ra1 53.Qf7+ & a7(53.Qd7+) ) 51.a6 Ra2= There's a new passed pawn in town 52.a7 Rxa7 (52...c2 53.Qc6+ Ke5 54.a8Q Rxa8 55.Qxc2 Rf8+ 56.Ke1 Rf2 is good for a draw as well) 53.Ke2 Ra2+ 54.Ke3 Rd2 the perpetual for White is there of course] 50.Kg1 [50.Ke1! is blunter, since 50...Rxc2 51.Qe5+ takes everything] 50...Ne2+ 51.Kf2 Nd4+ 52.Kg3 Nxc2 53.Qe5+ Kg6 54.Qxc3 Ne3 55.Qxe3 An epic battle, which mistakes only made more interesting. Thanks to Alexander Perlov for reconstructing the full game score. (I would not have been able to as the pages stood!) 1-0

(18434) Lamstein,Joshua D (1655) - Morgan,Jerry (1491) [B03]
Mechanics' Winter TNM; G/2 d5 San Francisco (4.27), 29.01.2019

1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.c4 Nb6 4.d4 d6 5.f4 g6 6.Nf3 Bg7 7.Be2 0-0 8.0-0 Be6 9.b3 c5 10.d5 Bg4 11.Bb2 N8d7 12.Nbd2 Qb8 13.h4 Bxf3 14.Nxf3 dxe5 15.fxe5 Nxe5 16.Nxe5 Bxe5 17.Bxe5 Qxe5 18.Bf3 Rad8 19.Qc2 Nc8 20.Kh1 Nd6 21.Rae1 Qg5 22.Qb2 Nf5 23.Kg1 Nd4 24.Re4 Rd6 25.Qa3 Rf6 26.Kh1 Ra6 27.Qxc5 Nxf3 28.Rxf3 Rxa2 29.Rg4 Ra1+ 30.Kh2 Qe5+ 31.g3 Qd6 32.Qd4 Qa3 33.h4 Qc1 34.Kg2 Qh1+ 35.Kf2 Rf1+ 0-1

(18435) Rakonitz,David (1644) - Ansari,Jahaan (1390) [D52]
Mechanics' Winter TNM; G/2 d5 San Francisco (4.28), 29.01.2019
[Winslow,Elliott]

1.d4 e6 2.Nf3 d5 3.c4 Nf6 4.Nc3 c6 5.Bg5 Nbd7 6.e3 Qa5 7.Nd2 Bb4 8.Qc2 dxc4 9.Bxf6 Nxf6 10.Bxc4 Bd6 11.0-0 0-0 12.Nf3 b5 13.Bd3 g6 14.Ne4 Nxe4 15.Bxe4 Bb7 16.Rfc1 Rac8 17.Qe2 f5 18.Bd3 a6 19.Nd2 Qc7 20.h4 Qe7 21.Nb3 Qg5 22.Nc5 Ba8 23.Nxe6 Qf6 24.Nc5? [24.Nxf8 No reason not to] 24...Rfe8 25.Qd2 f4 26.Rf1 Rcd8 27.Nxa6 f3 28.g3 Qe6 29.Kh2 Bb7 30.Bc2 Kg7 31.Bb3 Qd7 32.Bd1 Rf8 33.Bxf3 Rxf3 34.Nb4 Bc8 35.Kg2 Rdf8 36.Rh1 Qf5 37.Raf1 Bxb4 38.Qe2 c5 39.dxc5 Bb7 40.Kg1 Bxc5 41.Rh2 Ba6 42.b4 Bd6 43.Qd2 Bxg3 44.Rg2 Be5 45.Qe2 Bb7 46.Rd1 Rxh4 0-1

(18436) Buchner,Karl - Lilles,Alex Pierre (1622) [B01]
Mechanics' Winter TNM; G/2 d5 San Francisco (4.29), 29.01.2019

1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Nf6 3.d4 Nxd5 4.Nf3 Bf5 5.a3 e6 6.c4 Nf6 7.Nc3 c6 8.c5 Qc7 9.g3 Nbd7 10.Bf4 Qd8 11.Bg2 Be7 12.0-0 0-0 13.b4 Nd5 14.Ne2 Nxf4 15.Nxf4 Qc7 16.Re1 Rfd8 17.Qd2 Bf6 18.Qe3 a5 19.Bh4 Bxh4 20.Nxh4 Nf8 21.Nf4 Ng6 22.Nxg6 hxg6 23.Qe4 Rd5 24.g4 Qd8 25.Re2 axb4 26.Qb1 Bxd4 27.Nxd4 Rxd4 28.f3 Rxa3 29.Rxa3 Rd1+ 30.Qxd1 Qxd1+ 31.Kf2 bxa3 0-1

(18437) Xu,Jayden (1619) - Wingenroth,Jordan (1442) [D06]
Mechanics' Winter TNM; G/2 d5 San Francisco (4.30), 29.01.2019
[Winslow,Elliott]

1.d4 d5 2.c4 Nf6?! 3.cxd5 Nxd5 4.e4 [4.Nf3] 4...Nf6 5.Nc3 [5.e5 Nd5 6.Bc4] 5...e5 6.d5 Bb4?? 7.Qa4+ Bd7 8.Qxb4 a5 9.Qxb7 Na6 10.Bxa6 Rb8 11.Qa7 c6 12.Qc5 Qc7 13.dxc6 Bxc6 14.Nb5 Qd7 15.Qxe5+ Qe6 16.Qxb8+ Ke7 17.Qxh8 Qxe4+ 18.Ne2 Bxb5 19.Bxb5 Qb4+ 20.Nc3 Ke6 21.Qc8+ Ke7 22.Bg5 Qg4 23.Qe8+ Kd6 24.Qd8+ Ke5 25.f4+ 1-0

(18438) Sadowsky,Jacob (1703) - Griffith,Kyron Wa (2458) [B90]
Mechanics' Winter TNM; G/2 d5 San Francisco (4.31), 29.01.2019
[Winslow,Elliott]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be2 e5 7.Nb3 Be7 8.f3 Be6 9.Bg5 Nbd7 10.Qd2 0-0 11.0-0-0 White has really mixed systems 11...b5 12.Kb1 b4 13.Bxf6 Nxf6 14.Nd5 Bxd5 15.exd5 a5 16.Bb5 Qb6 17.Qd3 a4 18.Nd2 Rfb8 19.Bc6 Ra7 20.Ne4 Nxe4 21.fxe4 Bg5 22.Rhf1 Be3 23.Rde1 Bd4 Good Bad Bishop vs. Bad Bad Bishop 24.Qf3 [24.b3] 24...b3 25.axb3? [25.cxb3 axb3 26.Qxb3 Qxb3 27.axb3 Rxb3 28.Re2 h5!? -+ Stockfish 10(28...Ra6 29.Be8) ] 25...axb3 26.c3

[26.cxb3 Bxb2! (26...Qa5) 27.Kxb2 Qd4+ 28.Qc3 Ra2+ 29.Kxa2] 26...Ra1+ 27.Kxa1 Qa5+ 28.Kb1 Qa2+ 29.Kc1 Qa1+ 30.Kd2 Qxb2+ 0-1

(18439) Cortinas,Martin A (1666) - Otterbach,Renate (1281) [B27]
Mechanics' Winter TNM; G/2 d5 San Francisco (4.32), 29.01.2019
[Winslow,Elliott]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.c3 Bg7 4.d4 cxd4 5.cxd4 a6 [5...d5!= is "what they do" 6.e5 (6.exd5 Nf6 7.Bb5+ Nbd7 8.d6!? 0-0!?) 6...Bg4 (6...a6!?; 6...f6!? 7.exf6 exf6) 7.Bb5+ Nc6 (7...Nd7) 8.Bxc6+ bxc6 9.Nbd2 is not at all comfortable for Black] 6.a4?! [6.Nc3!] 6...d6 [6...d5!] 7.h4! A fine "space" move 7...Nf6 8.Nc3 0-0 9.Be2 Nc6 10.0-0 Bd7 11.Re1 Kh8 12.Bf1 Ng8 13.Be3 Rc8 14.Qb3 Na5 15.Qb4 f5 16.d5 e6 17.Bb6 Qe8 18.Bxa5 e5 19.Bb6 Bf6 20.Rac1 Qf7 21.Qxd6 Qe7 22.Qxe7 Nxe7 23.d6 Nc6 24.Nd5 Bg7 25.Ne7 Rce8 26.Nxc6 Bxc6 27.Nd2 Bxa4 28.Rc7 Rd8 29.Nc4 Bc6 30.Rd1 Bf6 31.Rxc6 bxc6 32.Bxd8 Bxd8 33.Nxe5 fxe4 34.Nxc6 Bb6 35.d7 Bxf2+ 36.Kh1 Bh4 37.d8Q Bxd8 38.Rxd8 Rxd8 39.Nxd8 Kg7 40.Ne6+ Kf6 41.Nc5 Ke5 42.Nxa6 Kd6 43.Kg1 e3 44.Be2 Kc6 45.g4 g5 46.Kg2 Kd5 47.Kf3 Kd4 48.b4 Kd5 49.Kxe3 Ke5 50.b5 Kd5 51.Nc7+ Kc5 52.Ne6+ 1-0

(18440) Capdeville,Barry (1219) - Casares Jr,Nick (1600) [C77]
Mechanics' Winter TNM; G/2 d5 San Francisco (4.33), 29.01.2019

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.d3 b5 6.Bb3 Be7 7.c3 0-0 8.Nbd2 d6 9.Nf1 Na5 10.Bc2 c5 11.Ng3 Nc6 12.0-0 h6 13.Be3 Ng4 14.Qd2 Nxe3 15.Qxe3 Re8 16.Rad1 Bg4 17.h4 Bg5 18.Qe2 Bxf3 19.Qxf3 a5 20.Nf5 a4 21.d4 cxd4 22.cxd4 g6 23.d5 Nb4 0-1

(18441) Enkhjargal,Gabriel (1135) - Chan,John (1560) [A50]
Mechanics' Winter TNM; G/2 d5 San Francisco (4.34), 29.01.2019

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 h6 3.Nc3 c6 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 Bg4 6.h4 Bxf3 7.Qxf3 Nbd7 8.Bf4 e5 9.dxe5 dxe5 10.Bg3 Qb6 11.b3 Bb4 12.a3 Qa5 13.Rc1 Qxa3 14.Rb1 0-0 15.Be2 Qa5 16.Rc1 Rfe8 17.0-0 Bxc3 18.Rxc3 Nc5 19.Re3 Rad8 20.Bh4 Rd6 21.Qg3 Ncxe4 22.Qh2 Rde6 23.f4 Qc5 24.Rff3 Nd2 25.Bf2 Nxf3+ 26.Rxf3 Qa3 27.f5 Qc1+ 28.Bf1 Rd6 29.Bg3 Qb2 30.Re3 Qd4 31.Bf2 Ne4 32.Rf3 Nxf2 33.Rxf2 Rf6 34.g4 Qe3 35.Kh1 Qe1 36.Qg2 Rd8 37.Re2 Qa1 38.Ra2 Qd4 0-1

(18442) Cole,Tony (1520) - Tabatabai,Hadi (1149) [C55]
Mechanics' Winter TNM; G/2 d5 San Francisco (4.35), 29.01.2019
[Winslow,Elliott]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bc4 h6 5.h4 Bb4 6.d3 Bxc3+ 7.bxc3 0-0 8.g4 d5 9.exd5 Nxd5 10.Bd2 Re8 11.Bxd5 Qxd5 12.c4 Qd6 13.Qe2 Nd4 14.Nxd4 Qxd4 15.c3 Qd7 16.0-0-0 Qa4 17.Kb1 b5 18.Ka1 bxc4 19.Qe4 Be6 20.d4 c6 21.Rhg1 Bd5 22.Qb1 Rab8 23.Qc1 Be4 24.Rde1 Rb1+ 25.Qxb1 Bxb1 26.Rxb1 exd4 27.cxd4 Re2 28.Rb2 Rxf2 29.Bc3 Rxb2 30.Kxb2 Qb5+ 31.Kc2 a5 32.Rb1 Qg5 33.Bd2 Qd5 34.Kc3 c5 35.dxc5 Qxc5 36.Rb2 a4 37.Rb4 Somehow Black now checks on f3. I will make two moves: 37...Qf2 38.-- Qf3+ 39.Kxc4 Qxh4 40.Rxa4 Qxg4+ 41.Kb3 Qd1+ 42.Kb4 Qxd2+ The scoresheet doesn't read "...Qxd2+", so maybe the bishop is somewhere... 43.Kb5 Qd5+ 44.Kb4 h5 45.Ra3 h4 46.Rh4 Qxa2 47.Rxh4 Qf2 48.Rg4 f5 49.Rg6 Kh7 50.Rc6 g6 51.Rc7+ Kh6 52.Rc8 Kg5 53.Kc3 Kg4 54.Kd3 g5 55.Rg8 f4 56.Rf8 Kg3 57.Ke4 g4 58.Rg8 f3 59.Kf5 Qc5+ 60.Ke4 f2 61.Rb8 f1Q 62.Rb3+ Qf3+ 63.Rxf3+ gxf3 64.Kd3 Qf5+ 65.Kd2 f2 66.Ke3 f1Q 67.Kd2 Qd5+ [67...Q5d3#] 68.Ke3 Qe1# Now White played Kf4! Enough. 0-1

(18443) Harris,Clarence (1469) - Cendejas,Jon (952) [C71]
Mechanics' Winter TNM; G/2 d5 San Francisco (4.38), 29.01.2019
[Winslow,Elliott]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nge7 4.d3 g6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Ba4 Bg7 7.0-0 d6 8.Be3 Bd7 9.Qd2 Black now reads ...Qd7. Hmm. 10.Bh6 Bg4 11.Bxg7 and won on move 56. 1-0

(18444) Dubensky,Walter - Thibault,William (1052) [B12]
Mechanics' Winter TNM; G/2 d5 San Francisco (4.39), 29.01.2019

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Nc3 e6 5.Nf3 Nd7 6.Bd3 Bxd3 7.Qxd3 Be7 8.h4 Qc7 9.Ng5 h6 10.Nh7 0-0-0 11.g4 c5 12.Nb5 Qb6 13.c4 dxc4 14.Qxc4 Rxh7 15.Be3 Kb8 16.a4 a5 17.f4 f6 18.dxc5 Bxc5 19.Bxc5 Nxc5 20.Nd6 fxe5 21.fxe5 g6 22.Rc1 Rc7 23.Qd4 Qb4+ 24.Qxb4 axb4 25.a5 Nd3+ 26.Ke2 Nxc1+ 27.Ke3 Ne7 28.Ke4 Nd5 29.Nb5 Rc5 30.Nd4 Rc4 31.Rd1 Nb3 32.Rd3 Rxd4+ 33.Rxd4 Nxd4 34.Kxd4 Rc8 35.b3 Ka7 0-1

(18445) Frank,Robert H (1426) - Lintz,Michael [D05]
Mechanics' Winter TNM; G/2 d5 San Francisco (4.40), 29.01.2019
[Winslow,Elliott]

1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 e6 3.e3 Nf6 4.Bd3 Be7 5.Nbd2 b6 6.0-0 Nbd7 7.e4 dxe4 8.Nxe4 Bb7 9.Re1 0-0 10.c3 c5 11.dxc5 Nxc5 12.Nxc5 Bxc5 13.b4 Be7 14.Ng5 h6 15.Nh4 Rc8 16.Bb2 Nd5 17.Rc1 Bf6 18.Be4 Rc7 19.Bxd5 Qxd5 20.Qxd5 Bxd5 21.a4 Rfc8 22.Re3 Rc4 23.f4 a5 24.Nf2 Rxf4 25.Nd3 Rfc4 26.Ne5 Bxe5 27.Rxe5 axb4 28.Re3 b3 29.Ba3 Rxa4 30.Bb4 f5 Somebody saw it, there was a "?" here on one scoresheet [30...Rxb4] 31.Bd6 Ra2 32.Rg3 b2 33.Rb1 Ra1 0-1

(18446) Rushton,Peter (1186) - Starr,Albert Mart (1500) [C27]
Mechanics' Winter TNM; G/2 d5 San Francisco (4.41), 29.01.2019

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Bc4 0-0 5.0-0 d6 6.a3 Ba5 7.d3 h6 8.b4 Bb6 9.Bb2 Bg4 10.b5 Nbd7 11.Qd2 Nh7 12.Nd5 Bc5 13.d4 exd4 14.Nxd4 Ne5 15.h4 Bh5 16.Nf4 Nxc4 17.Qc3 Nxb2 18.Qxb2 Bxd4 19.Qxd4 Qf6 20.Qe3 Bg6 21.Nd5 Qd8 22.Nf4 Ng5 23.Nxg6 fxg6 24.Qb3+ Kh7 25.f3 Qf6 26.h4 Ne6 27.c3 Rae8 28.h5 gxh5 29.Qd5 Nc5 30.Qxh5 Qxc3 31.a4 Re5 32.Qh2 Nd3 33.Rad1 Qd4+ 34.Rf2 Qxf2+ 35.Kh1 Nf4 36.Rg1 Rh5 37.Qxh5 Nxh5 0-1

(18447) James,Charles (1419) - Roberts,Joseph [D90]
Mechanics' Winter TNM; G/2 d5 San Francisco (4.42), 29.01.2019
[Winslow,Elliott]

1.d4 d5 2.c4 Nf6 Second game this round? Okay, look, this is not a great idea. Sorry Marshall. [Play something solid, 2...e6; or 2...c6; or temporarily abandon the center to get in ...c5 or ...e5 on your own later, 2...dxc4; or enter some strange world, like 2...Nc6 (note Winslow-Rudyak, Bd.3 this round!); Then there's the Albin Countergambit: 2...e5; Keres' line: 2...Bf5; Even the Symmetrical Variation is pretty difficult for White: 2...c5] 3.cxd5 Nxd5 4.e4 [4.Nf3] 4...Nf6 5.Nc3 [5.e5 Nd5 6.Bc4] 5...g6 [5...e5] 6.Nf3 Bg7 7.Bc4 c6 8.0-0 0-0 9.h4 b5 10.Bb3 e6 11.Bg5 Qc7 12.e5 Nfd7 13.Rc1 Bb7 14.Nxb5 Qb6 15.Nd6 c5 16.Be7 That should just about do it! Except... 16...Nc6 17.Bxf8 Kxf8 18.Nxb7 Qxb7 19.dxc5 Rd8 20.Qe2 Bh6 21.Rc4 Qc7 22.Rd1 Ke7 23.Ba4 Rc8 24.Rd6 Qb7 25.b4 Rc7 26.b5 Na5 27.c6 Nxc6 28.bxc6 Qb1+ 29.Kh2 Nb6 30.Rcd4 Kf8 31.Rd8+ Kg7 32.R4d7 Nxd7 33.cxd7 Qc1 34.Rg8+ Kxg8 35.d8Q+ Kg7 36.Qed3 Bf4+ 37.g3 Rc3 38.Qf6+ Kh6 39.Qxf4+ Qxf4 40.Qxc3 Qxa4 41.Qe3+ Kg7 42.a3 h6 43.Nd4 a5 44.Qc3 Qd1 45.Nc6 a4 46.Qb4 Qc2 47.Qe4 Qxf2+ 48.Qg2 Qc5 49.Qf3 1/2-1/2

(18448) Hilliard,Michael (1404) - Soffer,Josiah (799) [D02]
Mechanics' Winter TNM; G/2 d5 San Francisco (4.43), 29.01.2019

1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.e3 Nc6 4.c3 Ne4 5.Bd3 Bg4 6.Nbd2 Nxd2 7.Bxd2 e6 8.0-0 Bd6 9.Re1 0-0 10.e4 Bxf3 11.Qxf3 Qh4 12.e5 Be7 13.Qf4 Qxf4 14.Bxf4 g5 15.Bd2 g4 16.Re3 Bg5 17.Re2 Bh4 18.Bf4 Ne7 19.g3 Ng6 20.Bh6 Rfe8 21.gxh4 Nxh4 22.Re3 Nf3+ 23.Kg2 Nh4+ 24.Kg3 Nf5+ 25.Bxf5 exf5 26.f3 Re6 27.Bg5 Rg6 28.Bf6 Rh6 29.Rg1 Rh4 30.Kxh4 Kf8 31.fxg4 fxg4 32.Rxg4 Ke8 33.Rg8+ Kd7 34.Rxa8 c6 35.Rxa7 c5 36.Rg3 cxd4 37.cxd4 Kc7 38.Rg7 Kb8 39.Ra5 b6 40.Rxd5 Ka7 41.Rxf7+ Kb8 42.Rd8# 1-0

(18449) Soffer,Aaron (1260) - Birdsall,Erik [C07]
Mechanics' Winter TNM; G/2 d5 San Francisco (4.44), 29.01.2019
[Winslow,Elliott]

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 c5 4.c3 cxd4 5.cxd4 Nc6 6.Ngf3 Qb6 7.exd5 exd5 8.Nb3 Nf6 9.Be2 Bd6 10.0-0 0-0 11.Bg5 Be7 12.Ne5 Qc7 13.Rc1 Ne4 14.Bxe7 Qxe7 15.Nxc6 bxc6 16.Rxc6 Bb7 17.Rc1 Rfe8 18.Re1 Qg5 19.Qd3 Bc8 20.Nc5 Bf5 21.Qf3 Rac8 22.h4 g6 23.Bb5 Re7 24.Nxe4 Rxe4 25.Rxc8+ Bxc8 26.Rxe4 dxe4 27.Qc3 Bxh4 28.Qxh4 Qxb5 29.Qc8+ Kg7 30.Qc3 f6 31.Qc7+ Kh6 32.Qf4+ Kg7 33.Qxe4 Qxb2 34.Qe7+ Kh6 35.Qxf6 Qa1+ 36.Kh2 Qxa2 37.Kh4 a5 38.Kh4 [One scoresheet says 38.Qf8+ "mate!"; The other scoresheet doesn't give Black's 38th move. 38.Kh4 My bet's on 38...a4] 1-0

(18450) Bryan,Robert R (429) - Tabatabai,Ashkon (1138) [C64]
Mechanics' Winter TNM; G/2 d5 San Francisco (4.45), 29.01.2019
[Winslow,Elliott]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Bc5 4.0-0 Nge7 5.Re1 0-0 6.c3 d5 7.exd5 Qxd5 8.Ng5? [8.Qe2; 8.Qb3] 8...Bb6 [8...Bxf2+ 9.Kxf2 Qxb5] 9.d4?? exd4? [Just take it now! 9...Qxb5] 10.cxd4? [10.Bxc6 Nxc6] 10...Qxb5 11.Nc3 Qf5 12.h4 Bxd4 13.Re2 Qg6 14.Be3 Bxe3 15.Rxe3 Qxg5 16.Ne4 Qg6 17.Rc1 Nf5 18.Rf3 Ne5 19.Rfc3 Nh4 20.Qd4 Qxg2# 0-1

(18451) Dunlap,Steven (1057) - Reyes,Victor Hugo [A84]
Mechanics' Winter TNM; G/2 d5 San Francisco (4.46), 29.01.2019
[Winslow,Elliott]

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 e6 4.e3 Bd6 5.Nc3 f5 6.Ne5 Nf6 7.c5 Bc7 8.a3 Nbd7 9.Bd3 Nxe5 10.dxe5 Bxe5 11.Bd2 0-0 12.f4 Bc7 13.h4 Ne4 14.Nxe4 fxe4 15.Be2 Qh4+ 16.Kf1 e5 17.Be1 Qe7 18.g3 exf4 19.exf4 a5 20.Bg4 Qxc5 21.Bxc8 Raxc8 22.Bf2 Qe7 [22...e3] 23.Rc1 Bd6 24.Bd4 c5 25.Qg4 cxd4? 26.Rxc8 e3?? 27.Rxf8+ Qxf8 28.Qe6+ Kh8 29.Ke2 b6 30.Rc1 Bc5 31.Qxd5 h6 32.b4 axb4 33.axb4 Bxb4 34.Qxd4 Bc5 35.Qe4 Qd8 36.Rd1 Qc8 37.Ra1 Bf8 38.Ra8 Qc5 39.Qxe3 Qxe3+ 40.Kxe3 Kg8 41.Rb8 Kf7 42.Rxb6?? Bc5+

Here White resigned. Should he? If White can engineer the trade of Black's g-pawn, and get his king to the h1 corner or near it, it's drawn. Wrong color bishop! (Or wrong color rook-pawn, call it either way.) Stockfish has it pegged at the highest value I've seen for this sort of situation: -60.55. (Well, 43.Kd3 gets -60.47.) But no mate! (depth 42 already done) 0-1