Metro League R4

Ho,R (2019) - Prong,C (1786)
2005-2006 Metro Chess League
All the King's Men, Warren, 12.16.2005
Three Knights' Game [C46]

1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Bc5 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.Nxe5 Nxe5 5.d4 Bxd4
This is a mistake. Bd6 is answered by dxe5 and Bxe5 follows. The difference is that black has not centralized white's queen for him.
6.Qxd4 Qf6
This gives away a tempo. d6 is the right move. White should answer with Nb5 and force black to choose to defend the fork on c7 or the knight on e5. Black cannot will not be able to play Kd8 because of Qc5 with a mate threat on f8 and a pawn capture threatened with check on c7.
7.Be3 c6
Fritz suggests that black's best move was to withdraw the knight to c6 and offer an exchange of queens. I must admit that I considered the move, but I wanted to prevent the c3 knight from taking advantage of the weakness on c7.
8.Be2 Ne7
The problem with this move, as I discovered after playing it, was that the knight really has nowhere to advance to. After Ng6 comes f4 and the e5 knight is lost, or so it appeared to me at the table. However, I failed to realize that the knight on g6 would help the queen double team the f4 pawn. Therefore, white would have to play g3 to prepare f4 giving black options.
9.0–0–0 0–0 10.h4 h6?
Black has survived a nearly disastrous opening and has yielded only positional concessions to this point. After 11. f4, black play N5g6 and is forced to part with a pawn after 12. Qxf6 gxf6 13. Bxh6
11.g4
This move is second best, but Randy is following his strategic plan of opening a file on the kingside.
11...d5
Black is trying dwsperately to get more pieces into the game and is willing to sacrifice the d-pawn to achieve this end.
12.g5
White realizes the d-pawn isn't going anywhere and therefore he takes time to open a path to the black king.
12...hxg5 13.hxg5 Qd6 14.exd5 Nf5 15.Qe4 Nxe3??


A blunder that only a novice should make!
16.Qh7# 0-1

BND match vs Walt Carrara

Carrara,W (1648) - Prong,C (1786)
Brand New Day Cafe, 1.26.2006
French Defense: Advance Variation [C02]

1.e4 e6
Not sure what possessed me to play the French Defense. This was the first time in 110 USCF rated games as black that I played the French Defense.
2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5
Walt chooses the Advance Variation, which happens to be the line I know best as white.
4.c3 Nc6 5.Bb5
Nf3 is the main line. After, Bb5 if white chooses to exchange the light squared bishop he frequently has difficulty because of his weakness on the light squares, and the vulnerable a6-f1 diagonal.
5...Nge7
Bd7 was also possible here. I played the knight first because if white exchanges, then I will be a tempo closer to castling. Further, the light squared bishop wouldn't be active on c6 anyhow.
6.Nf3 Bd7 7.dxc5
I really didn't expect this. I thought O-O was most likely. Anyhow, White gains the upper hand if black plays anything except Nxe5. Note: the feature in this position that makes this tactic possible is the undefended bishop on b5.


7...Nxe5 8.Bxd7+ Nxd7
It seems like black has a much better position now. White has doubled pawns on the c-file and no pawns in the center. Black on the other hand, has a solid pawn structure and his two center pawns control important squares in the sweet center of the board. 9.0-0?
This loses a pawn. Walt didn't notice that he needed to protect the c5 pawn with either b4 or Be3.
9...Nxc5 10.Be3 Nf5
Rather than retreat whe c5 knight black continues to develop. Now if Bxc5, then Bxc5 and black has gained a tempo toward completing his development.
11.Bd4 Be7
Black continues to develop.
12.Be5 0-0 13.Nd4 Nxd4
I really couldn't find a good home for the knight on f5, so I exchanged here. The best option I had was probably Nd6-Nde4. However, I wanted this outpost for th c5 knight. Regardless, I didn't want my pawn structure weakened, and I realized that no matter how white responded I would be able to play f6 to drive the bishop back or Bf6 to exchange the bishops.
14.Qxd4 f6
I wasn't afraid to weaken the light squares around my king with white's light-squared bishop off the board already.
15.Bg3 Qb6 16.b4
This move leaves a backward pawn on the half-open c-file. Black will use this as a target later. In the meantime, he gets to offer to trade off the queens and then he can bear down on the c3 weakness.
16...Na4
One piece now targets the c3 pawn.
17.Qd1 Qc6
Now 2 pieces attack the c3 pawn, and only 1 defends. White has to protect the pawn now or risk losing it.
18.Bf4 Nxc3
Black takes advantage of white's weakness. However, the pawn is going anywhere, Black should take a move to play e5. This advances a pawn, removes a key weakness in the black pawn structure, and threatens the white bishop. However, I didn't want to have to invent ways of winning the pawn later when it could be done now. Bonus: black now has a connected passer.
19.Nxc3 Qxc3 20.Bd2
Re1 trying to counterattack is probably a better idea. Black is down material, and when you are down material it is usually a good idea to trade off pawns. Furthermore, if black relinquishes the e-pawn, then white can turn black's passed d-pawn into a target.
20...Qd4 21.Qe1 e5 22.Bc3
Not certain I like this move, even though GM Fritz thinks it is best. The black plan has to be to push pawns until the passer promotes. The black queen was blocking the advance of the passed pawn. After this move, the queen will have to move allowing d4. For the record, I like a3 better for white here.
22...Qc4 23.a3 Rac8
Taking firm control of the c-file and doubling up on the white bishop.
24.Bd2 Qb3 25.Qe3 Qxe3 26.Bxe3
The queen exhange plays into black's hands. The threat of the pawn chain looms larger with each pair of pieces that are traded off the board.
26...d4 27.Bd2 Rc2
This allows black to double his rooks on the c-file with tempo.
28.Rfd1 Rfc8 29.Kf1 a6 30.Rac1 f5
I played f5 to give my bishop the f6 square. Furthermore, i need to get my pawns off the dark squares to transform my bad bishop into a good bishop.
31.Rxc2 Rxc2 32.Ke1 Kf7 33.Rc1 Rxc1+ 34.Bxc1 Bf6 35.f3 Ke6
The king is headed to b3.
36.Kd2 Kd5 37.Bb2 e4 38.f4 Kc4 39.g3 Kb3 40.Bc1
White relinquishes the fight for the long diagonal.
40...b5
This move probably wasn't necessary, but I was looking to get things locked up on the queenside before continuing my effort to promote the d-pawn.
41.h3 d3
Notice the power of the f6 bishop now that the diagonal is free of pawns.
42.g4 Bc3+ 43.Ke3
Now it is all over. The king had to protect the bishop and keep the black king out of c2.
43...Kc2 44.gxf5 Kxc1 45.Kxe4 0-1

2006 Class Championship R5

Prong,C (1786) - Beckwith ,S (1792)
2006 Michigan Class Championship, 1.15.2006
Sicilian Defense: Najdorf Varition [B99]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Be7 8.Qf3 Qc7 9.0-0-0 Nbd7
This was the third USCF rated game that I had played with these first 9 moves. I lost the first 2 games, both of which were played in 2005, to Randall Brooks and Derek Wilder.
10.g4 b5
This was the last book move I remembered.
11.Bg2
Bxf6 is the book move according to both MCO and NCO. Fritz scores this move similarly to the book line though.
11...Bb7 12.Bxf6 Nxf6 13.g5 Nd7
This is the same theme that is seen in the book line. After the exchange on f6, white pushes the g-pawn with a gain of tempo sending the black knight back to where it came from.
14.h4 I wanted to continue my attack and after b4 I figured I could safely defend the e4 pawn with the knight by redeploying it to g3. The other move worth consideration was a3 to prevent black's next move.
14...b4 15.Nce2 Rc8 16.Rd2
One of the benefits to developing the light squared bishop to d3 is that it makes Rd2 unnecessary.This probably isn't a bad move overall though. The 2nd rank is free of pawns on the kingside, so the rook will have some freedom to roam after Ng3 and a bishop move.
16...Nc5 17.Qe3
This move was nearly forced. If white plans to recapture on e4 with the knight, then it will be pinned to the queen.
17...Qb8
The idea here is obvious. Black plans to move the queen to a8 and put pressure down the a8-h1 diagonal. However, white will be able to prophylactically protect a third time before black even gets the queen to a8. Furthermore, white can continue protecting the pawn with his rooks.
18.Ng3 a5 19.f5
Black won't be able to take the pawn because after exf5 come exf5 with a pin of the bishop to the king. With the king still in the center and on an open file that would be a recipe for disaster.
19...Rc7 20.fxe6 fxe6 21.Bh3
After creating three pawn islands for black, white now sets his sights on attacking those weaknesses.
21...Bc8 22.Nh5?
This was clearly an error. I needed to play Rf1 before Nh5 to trap the king in the center.
22...0-0 23.Nb3 a4 Qb6
would have allowed black to achieve the same result, except that the queens would be off the board. In the current position the white queen is far better placed than the black due to her level of activity in the center of the board.
24.Nxc5 Rxc5 25.Nf4
White doubles up on the e6 pawn.
25...Re5
The only way that black can protect the pawn.
26.Nd3 Rb5 27.Nf4 Re5 28.Nd3 Rb5
Here black offered a draw, and clearly white can achieve this on the board anyhow. I only needed a draw for first place, but I had won every game in the tournament so far and I thought the black pieces did not look very coordinated or well posted. The experts and masters agreed with Fritz that black has the better position though. Even so, you never win a game by accepting a draw.
29.Rf2 Bd7 30.Rhf1 Rxf2 31.Qxf2
White has already made considerable progress. He has gained control over the f-file. Further, he now threatens the unprotected bishop on e7 with Qf7+ followed by Qxe7. 31...Qf8
At first glance the queen looks better placed on f8 than e8. The queen is purely defensive on e8, while on f8 she offers an exchange.
32.Nf4
White now prepares to ambush the black queen with a discovered attack. Qa7 is also a viable option because of the fork of the bishop on d7 and the pawn on a4.
32...Qc8??
Black perceives a threat to the e6 pawn but misses the tactics in the position. 33.Nd5!
White exposes the weakness of the f7 square. If black takes the knight with the e-pawn, then Bxe7 wins, as it forks the queen and rook. The queen cannot retake because of Qf7+ Kg8 Qf8+ Bxf8 Rxf8#
33...Qf8 34.Qe2 Qd8


35.Bxe6+!!
Not only does this remove the e-pawn attack on the d5 knight, but it checks the king. The problem is after Bxe6 come Qxb5 winning the exchange and a pawn. 1-0

2006 Class Championship R4

Aldrich,J (1757) - Prong,C (1786)
2006 Michigan Class Championship, 1.15.2006
Two Knight's Defense: Ulvestad Variation [C57]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5 b5
Black's plan is to sacrifice a pawn for counterplay, development, and piece activity. Incidentally, this is the last book move. 6. Bf1 is the book move according to MCO. Fritz likes Nc3. After Bxb5 black wins 63% of the games in the Chessbase database.
6...Qxd5 Notice the difference in the positions. Despite moving first, white finds that he is behind in development and black has control of the center.
7.Qe2 I didn't consider this move, as I had never seen it played previously. The other possiblity for white is exchanging on c6.
7...Qxg2 8.Qf3
Qxe5 looked like the most playable move to me. It never occured to me that my opponent would allow me to equalize the material by trading queens.
8...Qxf3 9.Nxf3 Bd7 10.Nc3 Nd4
When I played this move I calculate the trade of bishops and knight, but I neglected to calculate that black would be able to win a pawn at the end of this variation. 11.Bxd7+ Nxd7 12.Nxd4 exd4 13.Nb5 0-0-0
I'm expecting to gain a tempo after Nxd4 and Ne5 because of the discovered attack on the knight.
14.Nxd4 Ne5 15.Nb3
This is another position where the positional differences are clear. Black has superior activity and decvelopment, but remains down a pawn. 15...Bd6
The threat is Nf3+ and then Nxh2.
16.f4
d3 is probably better here as it instantaneously gives the dark squared bishop some scope.
16...Ng6 17.d3 Nxf4 18.Bxf4 Bxf4 19.0-0 Be3+ 20.Kg2
After Kg2 I realized that black owns the only passed pawn on the board. Moreover, black needed to get his kingside pawns rolling before white managed to create a passed pawn of his own.
20...Rhf8
In preparation to push the pawn down the field.
21.Rae1
The darks squared bishop dominates the white knight while it controls the a7-g2 diagonal. However, after Bb6 white will probably play a4. Tactically the move was safe, but at the time I was afraid that my bishop would get trapped.
21...Bg5
Ironically Bg5 is probably the best move that black has available to him. I liked this move because it prevented entry to the 7th rank along the e-file (no reference to filing your taxes electronically intended here.
22.Nc5
This move temporarily freezes the f-pawn because of the potential fork on e6, where white will win an exchange.
22...h6 23.Rf3
My goal is to push the f-pawn, but the knight on c5 is preventing this. So I play my bishop to b4 (via d2) in order to drive the knight back. This will generate the time I need to start my pawns moving.
23...Bd2 24.Ref1 Bb4 25.Ne4 f6
I wanted to play f5, but white prevents this with his doubled rooks.
26.Ng3
The knight was obviously headed to f5 to attack the backward g-pawn.
26...Rd5
I wanted to eventually double my rooks on the e-file.
27.Nf5 Rf7 28.Rg3 Bf8 29.Ne3
White moves me to the e-file, just like I wanted.
29...Re5 30.Nc4 Re2+ 31.Rf2 Rxf2+ 32.Kxf2 g5
Now white has no way to prevent the f-pawn from advancing to the head of the pawn chain to take up residence on f4.
33.Rf3 Bd6
With pawns on both sides of the boards, white needs to trade off the minor pieces and head to an even rook endgame.
34.Kg2 f5 35.Ne3 f4
White has blockaded the passed pawn. Furthermore, white now sets out to prevent the rest of the pawn chain from moving forward and pushing the blockade out of the way. Note that the pin of the f-pawn means that that the attack on the white knight can be temporarily ignored.
36.h3 h5 37.Rf1 Bc5 38.Nc4 Rf5
Taking the e5 square away from the knight.
39.c3 Kd7 40.d4 Bd6
Black makes a mistake here in allowing white to trade off the minor pieces. I think Be7 was better because of the potential to play to h4 after the g4 pawn push.
41.Kf3 Rf8 42.Rg1 Rg8
Be7 was the correct way to protect the g5 pawn.
43.Nd2
White could have played 43.Nxd6 Kxd6 44. h4 g4+ 45. Kxf4 and white can hold on for a draw.
43...Ke6
The king is headed to f5 to help push the stalled black pawns.
44.Ne4 Kf5 45.Nf2
While this move was correct, it emphasizes the positional deficit that white now faces. Black now protects the g5 pawn with the king. This frees the rook to take control of the the only open file on the board.
45...Re8 46.Nd1
To prevent Re3+.
46...c5 47.d5 c4
I needed this pawn on a light square so that my bishop would have avenues to infiltrate the white position.
48.b4 Re5 49.Rg2 g4+!


The brilliance of the move is that black cannot safely recapture on g4 with the rook because after Re1 drives the white knight away from protecting the e3 square, then Re3+ will prevent the white king from protecting the rook on g4.
50.hxg4+ hxg4+ 51.Rxg4 Re1 52.Nb2 Re3+ 53.Kf2 Kxg4
The game is over after this. Black simply needs to mop up the mess and cash in the full point.
54.Nxc4 Rf3+
This intermezzo prevents white from gaining any material here. 55.Kg2 Rg3+ 56.Kf2 Bb8
57.d6 Rxc3 58.d7 Bc7 59.Ne5+
Bxe5 d8/Q and white is back in the game.
59...Kf5
After the knight leaves e5, there will be no protection for the d-pawn and black will win it momentarily.
60.Nf7 Rd3 61.a4 Rxd7 62.Nh6+ Kg5 63.Ng8 Kg6 64.b5 Kg7 65.a5 Kxg8 66.b6 axb6 67.axb6 Bxb6+ 68.Kf3 Be3 69.Ke2 Kf7 70.Kf3
White's flag had fallen, and I claimed a win on time. 0-1

I Got Fired Today

You could see the train coming, and it finally got to where I was standing on the tracks today. I cleaned out my classroom between 4:00 and 4:45, and then I headed home. I rode up to the Metro Chess League with some friends from Garden City. So with all the excitement, I plan to push back my blog posts a day.

Planned Updates

This weekend I plan to post the following updates:

Friday- Game 4 of the MCA Class Championship vs. Justin Aldrich
Saturday- Game 5 of the MCA Class Championship vs. Stan Beckwith
Sunday- My game from the Brand New Day Cafe month long vs. Walt Carrara
Monday- My December Metro Chess League match vs. expert Randy Ho
Tuesday- My January Metro Chess League match vs. expert Aaron Kahn

There are two tournaments taking place that I have interest in this weekend. The first is a 5 round action tournament in Warren at All The King's Men. The second is the Cardinal Open in Columbus, OH. It is a two-day affair with a total of 5 games. There is a 50% guaranteed prize fund. Here is the TLA as listed at USCF:

A Heritage Event!
Jan. 27-29 or 28-29 2006 Cardinal Open GPP: 30 Ohio
5SS, Five Sections 30/90, SD/1 2 day option rd 1 g/75. Holiday Inn Center, 175 East Town St., Columbus, Ohio 43215. Prizes: $5700 total, based on 110, 50% guaranteed. OPEN: $900-500-300 <2400 $200-100 <2200 $200-100 UNDER 2000: $500-250 UNDER 1800: $500-250 UNDER 1600: $500-250 UNDER 1400 & UNRATED: $500-250 <1200 $250-150. EF: $65 advance by January 25, $75 at the door. $20 less to players in the Under 1400 section. HOTEL: Holiday Inn Center, 175 East Town St., Columbus, Ohio 43215, 614-221-3281, $75 (reserve early as hotel might be sold out). 3-day Schedule: Reg ends Fri 7:15, rds Fri 8pm, Sat 1:30, 6:30, Sun 9:30, 3:00. 2-day Schedule: Reg ends Sat 10:15am, rds Sat 11am then merge with 3-day schedule. Advance Entries and Questions: OCA c/o Grant Perks, PO Box 9830, Columbus, Ohio 43209, gperks2@aol.com, 614-405-2128.

More on the 2005 MCA Action

It looks like the 2005 MCA Action Championship is finally in the USCF system correctly, although there remains a small ratings glitch that will likely be corrected after the next rerate. To recap: the MCA Action was originally submitted for rating with only 5 rounds as the 6th round was apparently omitted from the rating report. As you may recall from a previous post, I gained 17 rating points taking me from 1865 to 1882 due to this error. Then the tournament was sent in again with all 6 rounds and rated a second time. This increased my rating from 1882 to 1891. It seems that USCF has now deleted the 5 round tournament from their database. However, my rating remains 1891, and I guess it will stay there until the March rerate ahead of the April rating supplement. However, I think I have already attained the 9 points that I need to make 1900 based on my current rating of 1891. This would allow me to move from a floor of 1600 to 1700. (A rating floor is the lowest rating that a player is allowed to have. This prevents players losing intentionally to gain entry into lower classes where they will dominate the field and win big prizes.)

Some questions remain, as I am not totally certain of how the USCF system works. The biggest question I have is this"

If I make 1900 and establish a floor of 1700, then will that floor be maintained even after the rerate indicates that I have not made 1900 yet?

BND match vs. Scott Rogers

Rogers,S (1340) - Prong,C (1786)
Brand New Day Cafe, 1.19.2006
Spanish: Exchange Variation [C69]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.0-0 f6 6.d4
This is the last book move.
6...Bd6
The book line continues with Bg4. Bd6 is an error that hangs a pawn if white knows the tactics of the position.
7.dxe5 fxe5 8.Bg5
This is where white misses an opportunity to win a pawn. The accurate line is 8. Nxe5 and if Bxe5, then 9. Qh5+ picking off the bishop on e5 next.
8...Nf6 9.Nc3 Bg4 10.Qd3 Qe7
I played this move with an eye toward castling queenside and having a potential discovered attack on the queen.
11.Qe3
I figured at this point I could pick up a tempo or two by harassing the white queen.
11...Bc5
Forcing the queen to make a 3rd consecutive move.
12.Qd3 Rd8
And now forcing a 4th consecutive queen move. The lesson here is to always develop with tempo when possible. Those are like free moves.
13.Qe2 0-0
Now black is slightly better since his pieces are all developed and he has a higher degree of activity.
14.h3
At this point I realize that the white rook on f1 and the queen on e2 are on the same diagonal. I now make a plan to try and arrange a skewer clong the a6-f1 diagonal.
14...Bh5 15.g4
White helps me out since I want to move this bishop to c4 via f7 anyway.
15...Bf7 16.Rad1 Rde8
This move is passive, but it avoids trades and forces white to come up with a plan. While white seems to control the d-file, there are no entry points for the rook. Furthermore, neither knight seems to have prospects of moving up the board.
17.a3 b5
White's queenside pawn move is enough of a diversion for me to play b5 giving the light squared knight a support point for the skewer I had been planning.
18.b4
This move threatens to win a bishop.
18...Bc4
However, you can often counter a threat by making a bigger threat, and this particular skewer threatens to slay the white queen.
19.Qd2 Bxf1
White has two equally good possibilities here. I realized that I could continue to leave the c5 bishop en prise because I was making bigger threats. Black's other possibility is Rd8 threatening the white queen once again. I decided to play this move after taking the rook.
20.Kxf1 Rd8
Another free move as the rook returns to the open file with a gain of tempo.
21.Qe2 Rxd1+ 22.Qxd1 Rd8
This is another gain of tempo, and notice that I continue to ignore the apparently hanging bishop on c5.
23.Qe2 Bd4
Finally, it is time to get the bishop to safety as I have no more ways to gain tempo available to me.
24.Nd1 c5??
This move is horrible and simply loses the bishop. I realized this almost as soon as I pressed my clock, and hope that Scott wouldn't see it.
25.c3 h6
Trying to delay the inevitable loss of my bishop and hoping that my opponent blunders again soon.
26.Bc1 Bxc3
I have to get something for the bishop, and it seems a pawn is all I can get. 27.Nxc3 c6
I though about playing cxb4, but I really didn't want the c3 knight to move up the board.
28.bxc5 Qxc5 29.Bb2 a5 30.Nd1 b4 31.axb4 axb4
After the exchange of pawns, black now has a degree of compensation for the piece. I have connected passed pawns on the queenside.
32.Bxe5
But this is at the expense of my e-pawn allowing my opponent a passed center pawn. 32...Qb5?
I need to have played Qc1 and get my passed pawns rolling. Instead I offer my opponent to go into an endgame. When I played this move I think I thought that after Qxb5 I win a piece with the intermezzo Rxd1+ followed by cxb5. However, after Rxd1+, white will surely play Ke2 threatening the black rook, and black will lose the rook and the game.
33.Bxf6??
Unbelieveable! White has played his exchanges in the wrong order. Now black will have a huge advantage in the endgame.


33...Rxd1+!
Obviously the knight was hanging, since the white queen cannot capture due to the pin.
34.Ne1 gxf6 35.Qxb5 cxb5
The doubled b-pawns are a small price to pay for the exchange advantage and a winning endgame.
36.Ke2 Rd4 37.Ke3 b3
Black gets away wih this move, since white has no way to stop the pawn from queening if he takes the rook.
38.Nd3 Rc4 39.Kd2 b4 40.f3 Rc2+ 41.Kd1 Rh2 42.Kc1
This move was forced. After b2, white would have had to sacrifice the knight to prevent the pawn from scoring a touchdown.
42...Rxh3 43.Nxb4 Rxf3 44.Kb2 Rf4 45.Nd5
Excellent play by white here. He attacks the black rook, and begs him to take either of the two pawns. If that happens, then white wins the game after Nxf6+, and then white picks up the black rook as well.
45...Rf3
Black sees the trap, and comes up with a new plan: guard the f6 pawn and then go after the g4 pawn creating a passer on the h-file.
46.Ka3 Kf7
Phase 1: the pawn on f6 is guarded.
47.Kb2 Rg3 48.Nc3 Rxg4
Phase 2: the pawn on g4 is captured creating the passed h pawn.
49.Kxb3 h5 50.Kc4 h4 51.Kd3?
Nd1 or Kd4 keep the game going, although there isn't much hope for white anyhow. 51...Rg3+ 52.Kd4 Rxc3 0-1

2005 MCA Action- Revisited

Every so often something like this happens. It seems that the error in the 2005 MCA ACtion Championship results was noticed. Furthermore, the results seem to have been resubmitted with the 6th round added in. However, the previous 5 round results have not been deleted. So in essence the first five round of the tournament count twice. In the past USCF has been notorious about not correcting such matters, and I am expecting that this mistake will not be corrected either. I gained 17 points from the 5 round tournament, but only 9 when it was posted as 6 rounds. My actual result is probably somewhere between the two, and I expect to be rated somewhere between 1875 and 1880 if this whole mess get corrected.

2006 Class Championship R3

Prong,C (1786) - Fick,D (1692)
2006 Michigan Class Championship, 1.14.2006
Sicilian Dragon: Yugoslav Attack [B76]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 Nc6 8.Qd2 0-0 9.0-0-0 Bd7 10.g4
This is the last book move. Black would usually play Rc8 here.
10...Nxd4
This move has been tried 56 times according to Chessbase. White has dominated the games by winning 58%, while only losing 21%. It is worth noting that this move does not seem to have ever been played in GM games. However, at the class level we mortals must still find our way through the maze of lines and tactics to convert an opponent's opening positional concession into a full point. Many have lost their way along this path, and this is why we play the games out.
11.Bxd4 Be6 12.h4 Qa5 13.Kb1
White removes the king from the half open c-file.
13...Rfc8 14.a3 Rab8 15.h5
White is looking to open a file on the kingside.
15...b5 16.hxg6 hxg6
Mission accomplished. File open.
17.Qg5
I thought that Qg5, pinning the b5 pawn would freeze the black counterattack, while training another piece on the black king. However, a bigger threat can be mounted by capturing the knight on f6 and threatening to briong the queen to the h-file. White also has the option of Nd5, which threatens Nxe7+, winning a pawn.
17...Rxc3
This seems like a dubious speculative sacrifice. Black has mating chances, but will need black's cooperation to get checkmate.
18.Bxc3
Accepting the exchange sacrifice is the only reasonable move white has.
18...Nxe4
This second sacrifice was black's point. Black gets a pawn back if white plays BxQ, since black has NxQ. White can continue to trade off minor pieces for a bit longer, but he must be wary. The defense around his king is thinning.
19.fxe4
White really had no choice but to capture the knight, unless he wanted to trade off queens. With black holding an edge in piece activity this seemed more dangerous to me, so I captured the knight.
19...Bxc3


20.Qxe7
If white had recaptured on c3, then 20. ... Qxa3
would have led to mate if 21. Qc1, then 21. ... Qa2#. Otherwise, 21. ... Ba2+ 22. Ka1 Bb3+ 23. Kb1 Qa2+ 24. Kc1 Qxc2#. Ultimately, white must part with substantial amounts of material to hold the game. Rh2 is answered by Rb6, with mating threats coming on the a-file.
20...b4 21.Qxd6 bxa3??
Throwing the game away. Be5 is the best move with white answering by playing Qa6. There is still a lot of chess to be played after this.
22.Qxb8+ 1-0

2006 Class Championship R2

Waller,A (1695) - Prong,C (1786)
2006 Michigan Class Championship, 1.14.2006
King's Gambit Accepted: Becker Defense [C34]

1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 h6
I hadn't really had much luok with the Becker Defense to the King's Gambit, but I thought I would give it a try since my loss with it came against expert Manis Davidovich.
4.Bc4
I wasn't familiar with this response, since the book line is d4. When I went to look it up in MCO, I found that GM deFirmian neglects to write about the Becker Defense. Similarly, Nunn only includes one column for the Becker defense with d4 as the move to be played here by white. A footnote has b3 marked as interesting. Finally, I found a reference to the line that Waller plays in Gallagher's Winning with the King's Gambit. He states that Bc4 g5 leads to the classical defense.
4...d6 5.d3 g5 6.0-0 Bg7 7.Nc3 Ne7 8.Bd2 Nbc6
Black could ask for a better position out of the KGA. He has gained a pawn, and found homes for nearly all of his minor pieces. He will be able to finish his development and castle soon. Furthermore, the position, while ripe with tactical potential for white, is completely playable for black with the added bonus of the gambit pawn as an advantage.
9.g3
White has a lead in development, and he wants to open some lines to begin his attack. However, this move weakens all the light squares around the king and gives the black light squared bishop an opportunity to develop with tempo. Qe1 or Qe2 would have been preferable.
9...Bh3 10.Rf2 Ng6
In hindsight this move was clearly inaccurate. Black has an opportunity to dispense with the bishop on c4 that is causing tactical complications by playing Na5-Nxc4. 11.Ne2 fxg3
The line that I played was clearly inferior to 11. ...g4 12. Ne1 f3
12.hxg3 Nge5 13.Nxe5 Nxe5 14.Bc3 0-0 15.Bb3 Qd7 16.Nd4 Qg4
Rather than merely trade off pieces, black should continue to gain tempo with a move like Bg4 or Ng4.
17.Qxg4 Bxg4
Nxg4 gains tempo.
18.Nf5 Bxf5 19.Rxf5 Rae8 20.Raf1 Re7 21.a3 Ng4
Threat of Ne3 forking the rooks.
22.Bxg7 Kxg7 23.R5f3 f6
Black will methodically seek to place all of his pieces on the dark squares, negating much of the threat of the white bishop.
24.c3 Kg6
This move was made because the idea Rd5, followed by d5 had occurred to me. Obviously, this is a mistake because it is a plan that takes much preparation, yet white has only to play d4 to prevent this. Now, if the whole point of the exrcise was to weaken the e4 pawn by forcing d3, then that would be another matter.
25.d4 Kg7
Recognizing my mistake and negating the threat of Bc2.
26.Bc2 c6 27.b4 c5 28.bxc5 dxc5 29.d5


A strategic mistake. White has moved the wrong pawn and now he has minimized the scope of his bishop by placing his pawns on the squares of the same color as his bishop. Furthermore, black will now have targets all over the board that his knight can attack.
29...Rd7 30.Rb1 b6
Another pawn leaves the dreaded white squares.
31.Rd1 Rd6 32.Kg2 Ne5
The black knight dominates the board. White's long-range pieces are blackaded by pawns, meanwhile the knight eyes squares and pieces on both sides of the board.
33.Rf2 Nc4 34.Ra1 Ne3+ 35.Kg1
The king had to move to f3 to help hold the position together. Now white loses a center pawn by force.
35...Nxc2 36.Rxc2 Re8 37.Rf2
Waller meant to put this rook on e2, but her didn't realize that he still drops a pawn to Rxd5 exd5 Rxe2.
37...Rxe4
White resigns. 0-1

2005 MCA Action Championship

The results from the 2005 MCA Action Championship, held December 10th, were finally posted on the USCF website. I scored 4/6 in this event with losses to GM-elect Ben Finegold and expert Bradley Rogers. Curiously, the last round was omitted from the crosstable. Anyhow, my 4 out of 6 was good for an additional 17 rating points bringing my overall rating to 1882. It is worth noting that this event will be re-rated in late February or early March and placed in chronological order.

Fortunately, this event wasn't reported in time to make the February supplement, so I officially remain at 1798 until March 31. That gives me exactly 2 more months to rake in decent results in U1800 or Class B sections of tournaments.

Finally, I still have 4 tournaments that remain outstanding. I think I have already earned enough rating points in those 4 events to make 1890, so I am within shouting distance of my June 2006 rating goal of 1900.

2006 Class Championship R1

Prong,C (1786) - Cottrell-Finegold,K (1660)
2006 Michigan Class Championship, 1.14.2006
Sicilian Defense: Najdorf Variation [B98]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Be7 8.Qf3 0-0
This was the second time Kelly had played this against me in a month, and it is a move that is rarely played. Qc7 is the book line, but 0-0 is found over 100 times in the Chessbase database.
9.0-0-0
Nfd7 While Nbd7 is more common in miost Sicilian systems, it seems that Nfd7 seems to simply trade off some pieces.
10.Bxe7 Qxe7 11.g4 Nc6 12.Nb3
At the MCA Action Championships I played Nxc6 to give me an extra tempo attacking on the kingside.
12...b5 13.e5 d5 14.Bd3 Bb7 15.Qh3 g6 16.Rhg1
In a similar position against Kelly in December I played g5, preventing f6, and got a strong attack down the h-file.
16...f6 17.exf6 Rxf6 18.Rde1 Nb4 19.f5 Nxd3+ 20.Qxd3 Nc5 21.Qd4 Ne4
Nxb3+ was better since black's e pawns are weak after Nxe4 dxe4. 22.Nxe4 dxe4 23.Nc5 Rd8 24.Qf2
I saw Qe5 Rd5, but missed the follow up Qb8+ Rf8 Qxb7 while at the table.
24...exf5 25.gxf5 Qf7?
The black rooks are on the same diagonal, so after Nxb7 Qxb7 the queen gets out of the way with tempo and gives white time to win a pawn.
26.Nxb7 Qxb7 27.Qh4 Qf7 28.fxg6 hxg6 29.Qxe4 Rdd6 30.b3 Rfe6 31.Qg4 Qf6 32.Kb1 Rxe1+ 33.Rxe1 Kg7 34.Qe4 Rd7 35.h4 Rd6
Rd4 wins back the pawn on h4
36.Rg1
My plan was to play h5 next winning trading off the pawn for its counterpart on g6.
36...Rd4


37.Rxg6+!!
Clearly my best move of the game. This move wins a second pawn, and trades off more material.
37...Kh7 38.Rxf6+ Rxe4 39.Rxa6 Rxh4 40.a3 Kg7 41.Rb6 Rh5 42.Kb2 Kf7 43.Kc3 Ke7 44.Kb4 Rh2 45.Rc6 Rh5 46.Rc5
Winning the last remaining black pawn.
46...Rh6 47.Kxb5 Kd7 48.a4 Rh8 49.a5 Ra8 50.b4 Kd6 51.c4 Rb8+ 52.Ka4 Ra8 53.Rh5 Rc8 54.Rh6+ Kc7 55.b5 Kb8 56.Kb4 Rc7 57.a6 Rc8 58.Rh7 Ka8 59.b6 Rb8 60.Ra7# 1-0

2006 Class Championships

The 2006 Michigan Class Championship results were posted Monday. After scoring 5/5 and winning the Class B title, I was expecting a nice jump in rating. My previous high rating was 1815 after my 4/5 performance at the 2005 Bottom-Half Class Championships, which netted me the U1900 title. Anyhow, the results from Lansing easily bested my previous high, as USCF has calculated my current rating at 1865.

For 2005 my rating goals were to make 1700 by June and 1800 by December. I achieved the former goal in Toledo in February by scoring 3/4 with a lost to Gerard Jendras. My rating had landed at 1743 after this tournament. The latter goal was achieved with the aforementioned Bottom-Half result in June 2005, but I found that I was not able to sustain the 1800 rating. It was November before my rating resurfaced above 1800.

For 2006 my rating goals are to make 1900 by June and 2000 by December. These are lofty expectations, considering that in Ocotober of 2004 I was staring at a rating of 1562. However, I am hoping that I have neither plateaued nor peaked, and that I can continue scoring well in 2006.

Finally, I would like to credit master Fred Lindsay with helping me prepare for the 2005 Bottom-Half Class Championships and master Bill Calton for helping me prepare for the 2006 Class Championships.

In my next blog I will discuss one of my games from the Class B Championships played in Lansing on Jan 14-15.