Michigan Top 100 (almost)

 Ratings are taken from the january 2008 supplement. Only
those who played in 2007 are included.
 
 1 FINEGOLD,B     2603   51 SHETTY,A       1926
 2 ANTONIO,R      2585   52 HICKEY,W       1926
 3 TCHEREPANOV,A  2493   53 GENTRY,B       1925
 4 TORMAN,E       2440   54 JAROSZ,S       1924
 5 CALTON,B       2320   55 CARTER,A       1922
 6 KAHN,A         2267   56 RHEE,W         1915
 7 HOMA,S         2246   57 JENDRAS,G      1913
 8 WARD,T         2227   58 SMITH,M        1912
 9 BROOKS,J       2216   59 BRERETON,J     1911
10 PEREIRA,S      2206   60 WEST,T         1905
11 FINEGOLD,M     2204   61 EVANS,T        1902
12 CZUHAI,K       2202   62 WILSON,V       1900
13 OBUKHOV,D      2193   63 ALDRICH,J      1900
14 MCGREW,T       2168   64 LEHOTZKY,A     1888
15 LEVI,A         2144   65 ALSON,J        1884
16 DANIEL,A       2128   66 PETERSON,R     1881
17 GHOBRIAL,A     2126   67 SAWASKI,J      1875
18 XUE,D          2124   68 NIKOLOVSKI,O   1873
19 O'DONNELL,R    2121   69 VANDIVIER,D    1868
20 HAHN,D         2115   70 TRIPLETT,T     1867
21 HARTWIG,T      2112   71 WERHNYAK,R     1862
22 DAVIDOVICH,M   2113   72 RITTER,H       1850
23 CIAFFONE,R     2107   73 PRONG,C        1850
24 BROMBERG,H     2108   74 ACCAD,W        1846
25 MALOY,M        2102   75 SKIDMORE,J     1845
26 CANTY III,J    2093   76 FORTUNA,J      1841
27 FERNANDEZ,A    2090   77 THACH,S        1837
28 FERENTI,C      2089   78 AMARASINGHE,P  1836
29 NICHOLS,A      2042   79 GARRISON,R     1835
30 MORONEY,T      2038   80 LAHR,F         1834
31 BRUMLEY,E      2036   81 MANION,T       1832
32 SUDHARSAN,K    2024   82 KOTMAN,S       1832
33 EVERETT,M      2017   83 BOJANOVIC,R    1829
34 ROGERS,B       2005   84 FERGUSON,G     1829
35 ENDSLEY,B      2001   85 BRADY,L        1822
36 SANTIAGO,R     2000   86 DECKER,D       1814
37 FINEGOLD,R     2000   87 MATIAS,I C     1811
38 MAZUCHOWSKI,T  2000   88 STOJANOVSKI,Z  1811
39 PALMER,T       1996   89 SEMERCIYAN,M   1810
40 KOBALKA,A      1986   90 RICHARDSON,W   1810
41 GREGG,A        1980   91 JIA,R          1808
42 ROSENBERG,S    1973   92 SCHILLEMAN,A   1807
43 WILLIAMS,K     1969   93 LA FORGE,T     1807
44 JENKINS,D      1961   94 SMITH,L        1805
45 CATLIN,A       1961   95 FINEGOLD,K     1801
46 PRATT,G        1954   96 TASKILA,P      1801
47 BAILEY,G       1931   97 SKIDMORE,M     1800
48 KITTS,G        1930   98 SOBOCINSKI,M   1800
49 AMARASINGHE,S  1930 
50 HILL,B         1927 

December Swiss

-----------------------------------------------
| Player Name         |Total|Round|Round|Round|
| Rtg(Pre->Post)      | Pts |  1  |  2  |  3  |
-----------------------------------------------
| ANTHONY T NICHOLS   |3.0  |W   5|W   6|W   3|
| R: 2031->2035       |     |     |     |     |
-----------------------------------------------
| JEFFREY P GUILFOYLE |2.5  |W   4|D   3|W   6|
| R: 1646->1671       |     |     |     |     |
-----------------------------------------------
| BRUCE I ROTH        |1.5  |W   7|D   2|L   1|
| R: 1638->1646       |     |     |     |     |
-----------------------------------------------
| GILBERT POINTER     |1.5  |L   2|W   7|D   5|
| R: 1516->1522       |     |     |     |     |
-----------------------------------------------
| JOHN L GRIFFIN      |1.5  |L   1|W   8|D   4|
| R: 1506->1508       |     |     |     |     |
-----------------------------------------------
| DAVID R SUNDEEN     |1.0  |W   8|L   1|L   2|
| R: 1619->1605       |     |     |     |     |
-----------------------------------------------
| DOUGLAS M FORSYTHE  |1.0  |L   3|L   4|W   8|
| R: 1525->1500       |     |     |     |     |
-----------------------------------------------
| MICHAEL RATHKE      |0.0  |L   6|L   5|L   7|
| R: 1078->1078       |     |     |     |     |
-----------------------------------------------

November Swiss

|    Player Name                 |Total|Round|Round|Round|
|                Rtg (Pre->Post) | Pts |  1  |  2  |  3  |
----------------------------------------------------------
| RATKO BOJANOVIC    1829->1855  |3.0  |W  10|W   9|W   3|
----------------------------------------------------------
| ALLEN WICKERING    1548->1602  |3.0  |W  11|W   5|W   6|
----------------------------------------------------------
| ANTHONY T NICHOLS  2042->2031  |2.0  |W   7|W   4|L   1|
----------------------------------------------------------
| DAVID R SUNDEEN    1600->1619  |2.0  |W   8|L   3|W   9|
----------------------------------------------------------
| BRUCE I ROTH       1659->1638  |1.5  |D   6|L   2|W  12|
----------------------------------------------------------
| GILBERT POINTER    1541->1545  |1.5  |D   5|W  10|L   2|
----------------------------------------------------------
| DOUGLAS M FORSYTHE 1514->1510  |1.5  |L   3|W  12|D   8|
----------------------------------------------------------
| FARON E BREWSTER   1463->1456  |1.5  |L   4|W  11|D   7|
----------------------------------------------------------
| JOHN L GRIFFIN     1522->1506  |1.0  |W  12|L   1|L   4|
----------------------------------------------------------
| JERRY D CRYSLER    1478->1461  |1.0  |L   1|L   6|W  11|
----------------------------------------------------------
| THIERRY LAURENS    892-> 887   |0.0  |L   2|L   8|L  10|
----------------------------------------------------------
| PHILIPPE LAURENS   878-> 874   |0.0  |L   9|L   7|L   5|
----------------------------------------------------------

Endgame Study

I thought that this was a pretty amazing study. White to play and win

Quad

Tony Nichols, Mike Sobocisnki, Jacob Fortuna and I played another quad on September 21. Tony won all of his games, and each of the rest of us ended up with 1 point. You can view the games here. I am especially proud of the game I had against Mike Sobocinski, making him the highest rated player I have ever beaten.

Can't Lose

Tony is famous for saying, "I've never seen a position that I can't lose in one move." This has never sat right with me, so I decided to come up with a position that proves him wrong. In this position, the only legal moves win the game. Sure, it's completely unrealistic... but it proves a point. THIS is a position that can't be lost.


White to move.

Quads

Tony Nichols, Mike Sobocinski, Jacob Fortuna, and David Sundeen came together for quads two weeks in a row. On August 31, 2007, these games were played. And the next week, on September 7, 2007 the players met again resulting in these games. Congratulations are in order to Tony for winning all six of his games.

In the quad format, three rounds of G/30 are played in a single night. Each player plays each of the other three players once, like a round-robin tournament. The club sponsors these small, rated events when there is interest.

May Mini Swiss PGN

Click here for the games of the Lansing May Mini Swiss Tournament.

June Mini Swiss

The june mini swiss had a good turnout with 2 sections. Tony Nichols finished 1st in the top section and Scott Faust took 1st in thebottom section. The crosstables; Top Section
NAME RATE 1 2 3 TOTAL
-------------------------------------------
1 NICHOLS,A 2034 W---6 W---2 D---3 2.5
2 CZUHAI K 2200 W---4 L---1 W---5 2.0
3 CATLIN,A 1924 D---8 W---7 D---1 2.0
4 BRERETON,J 1839 L---2 W---6 W---7 2.0
5 QUANDER,M 1765 D---7 W---8 L---2 1.5
6 RAMSEY,D 1737 L---1 L---4 W---8 1.0
7 KITTS,G 1888 D---5 L---3 L---4 0.5
8 GUILFOYLE,J 1658 D---3 L---5 L---6 0.5

Bottom Section
NAME RATE 1 2 3 TOTAL
--------------------------------------------
1 FAUST,S 1564 W---5 W---3 D---2 2.5
2 SUNDEEN,D 1614 D---4 W---6 D---1 2.0
3 WILSON,R 1597 W---6 L---1 W---5 2.0
4 GRIFFIN,J 1500 D---2 L---5 W---6 1.5
5 HODGE,L 1240 L---1 W---4 L---3 1.0
6 METCALF,N 1435 L---3 L---2 L---4 0.0

May Mini Swiss

 Andrew Catlin is the winner of this months Mini Swiss,
 Congrats!, Andy. There was a jam pile on 2nd. Games to
 follow soon.

  NAME               RATE     1     2     3   TOTAL
-----------------------------------------------------
1 CATLIN, A         MI 1864   W---7 W---8 W---2  3.0
2 CZUHAI, K         MI 2200   W---9 W---5 L---1  2.0
3 NICHOLS, A        MI 2035   L---6 W--12 W---8  2.0
4 BURDICK, P        MI 1640   W--12 L---6 W---9  2.0
5 SUNDEEN, D        MI 1600   W--10 L---2 W---6  2.0
6 EASTERDAY, J      MI 1459   W---3 W---4 L---5  2.0
7 ELENBOGEN, A      MI 1295   L---1 W--11 W--12  2.0
8 WILSON, R         MI 1611   W--11 L---1 L---3  1.0
9 GRIFFIN, J        MI 1500   L---2 W--10 L---4  1.0
10 LAURENS, T       MI  971   L---5 L---9 D--11  0.5
11 LAURENS, P       MI  827   L---8 L---7 D--10  0.5
12 VORVA, S         MI 1192   L---4 L---3 L---7  0.0 

Lansing City Championship

 Another Lansing City Championship is over. Seth Homa and
Tony Nichols tied for 1st with seth taking the title on
tiebreaks. Here is the crosstable;


 NAME         RATE     1     2     3     4     5   TOTAL
----------------------------------------------------------
1 HOMA, S      2233   W---8 W--10 W---2 W---6 L---3  4.0
2 NICHOLS, A   2032   W---3 W---7 L---1 W--11 W---6  4.0
3 CASTILLO, O  1597   L---2 B---0 D---5 W---7 W---1  3.5
4 ROBINSON, E  1430   D---6 W---9 D---7 H---0 W---8  3.5
5 RAMSEY, D    1739   L---7 W--12 D---3 W--10 W--11  3.5
6 GARRISON, R  1814   D---4 W--14 W--10 L---1 L---2  2.5
7 ROTH, B      1600   W---5 L---2 D---4 L---3 W--12  2.5
8 SUNDEEN, D   1619   L---1 W--13 X---0 H---0 L---4  2.5
9 JACKSON, R   1516   H---0 L---4 F---0 B---0 W--13  2.5
10 SPARKS, F   1831   W--12 L---1 L---6 L---5 W--14  2.0
11 HALL, G     1374   H---0 H---0 W--14 L---2 L---5  2.0
12 MONICH, A    911   L--10 L---5 B---0 W--14 L---7  2.0
13 FORGER, A    939   H---0 L---8 H---0 H---0 L---9  1.5
14 IRWIN, C    1387   B---0 L---6 L--11 L--12 L--10  1.0 

Women in chess

This maybe interesting for other men out there, who have wondered how many attractive women play chess well.

Lansing City Championship: Round 5 rescheduled

Unfortunately, We were locked out of the site friday night. Therefore, Round 5 of the lansing city championship will be held on the 11th.

Vandenburg Cup PGN

Here are all the games from the Vandenburg Cup.

Vandenburg Cup

We had a pretty good turnout for the 2007 version of the Vandenburg cup. 22 players competed in two sections for cash and trophies. To nobody's surprise, Seth Homa too clear 1st in the top section, winning all his games. Tony Nichols edged out Andy Catlin for 2nd on tie-breaks. In the bottom section, Rick Wilson took 1st on tiebreaks from Orlando Castillo. We would like to give a special thanks to Nell Griffin for providing the wonderful food!

Top Section

     NAME           Rating    1     2     3     4   TOTAL
--------------------------------------------------------
1 HOMA, SETH         2223   W---3 W---4 W---2 W---6  4.0
2 NICHOLS, ANTHONY   2020   W---7 W---6 L---1 W---4  3.0
3 CATLIN, ANDREW G   1847   L---1 W---8 W---6 W---7  3.0
4 ALDRICH, JEFF R    1900   W---8 L---1 W---5 L---2  2.0
5 SWAN, HEATHER      1795   L---6 W---7 L---4 W---8  2.0
6 KITTS, GARY        1918   W---5 L---2 L---3 L---1  1.0
7 GARRISON, R RAYMO  1838   L---2 L---5 W---8 L---3  1.0
8 FAUST, SCOTT W     1582   L---4 L---3 L---7 L---5  0.0

Bottom Section

     NAME           Rating     1     2     3     4   TOTAL
----------------------------------------------------------
1  WILSON, RICHARD   1557    W---4 W---7 W---5 D---2  3.5
2  CASTILLO, ORLANDO 1532    W--10 W---3 W---6 D---1  3.5
3  SUNDEEN, DAVID R  1610    W---8 L---2 W--12 W---7  3.0
4  COMBS, TERRY ALLE 1350    L---1 W--13 W--11 W---5  3.0
5  UDVADIA, JAMSHED  1550    W--12 W--11 L---1 L---4  2.0
6  CRYSLER, JERRY D  1532    D---9 D---8 L---2 W--12  2.0
7  GRIFFIN, JOHN L   1504    W--13 L---1 W--10 L---3  2.0
8  ROBINSON, ERIK D  1444    L---3 D---6 D---9 W--13  2.0
9  HODGE, LARRY      1196    D---6 L--12 D---8 W--14  2.0
10 FORD, KATY M      1169    L---2 W--14 L---7 W--11  2.0
11 FORSYTHE, Douglas 1500    W--14 L---5 L---4 L--10  1.0
12 IRWIN, CHRIS      1411    L---5 W---9 L---3 L---6  1.0
13 LAURENS, THIERRY   964    L---7 L---4 W--14 L---8  1.0
14 LAURENS, PHILIPPE  859    L--11 L--10 L--13 L---9  0.0 

Pictures of players

Here's some pictures of chessplayers from the lansing area.

The usual suspects


Jeff Guilfoyle and Chris Irwin deep in thought

Dave Sundeen and Thierry Laurens

Phillipe Laurens and Bruce Roth

March Mini Swiss PGN

Click the title above to download all the games from the March Mini Swiss Tournament.

Notable games are: Sundeen - Nichols, Sundeen - Irwin, Nichols - Griffin, and of course, Nichols - Homa, the game annotated in "The Master Annotates" which is a beauty.

The Master Annotates

Seth Homa was kind enough to annotate his last round win. Unfortunately, He was playing me!
I have added some of my own notes as well, Enjoy.

Nichols,Anthony T 2022 - Homa,Seth 2218 E90
March Mini Swiss
3-11-2007
(Homa, Seth-Nichols, Tony)

1.d4 Nf6
2.c4 g6
3.Nc3 Bg7
4.e4 d6
5.h3 0–0
6.Bg5 Na6
7.Nf3 Qe8

This move threw me off. Now, I was worried about Nh5.

8.Bd3

This line was new to both of us, but we had previous experience with the general strategies. We have had the position after 5.Nf3 O-O 6.h3 e5 7.d5 Na6 8.Bg5 a couple of times in our battles.
8.g4 is a better move. It's unclear where the bishop should go.

8... e5
9.d5 Nd7

This retreat, which obstructs the c8-bishop and aims for the same square as the offside a6-knight, looks odd, but black needs to push his f-pawn to create play.

10. g4

So, white decides to make this break as unpleasant for black as possible. No, there will be no castling kingside

10... Ndc5

In hindsight, 10...f5 right away looks better. For example: 11.gxf5 gxf5 12.exf5?! e4!

11.Be2

This amounts to a loss of tempo, so maybe the unnatural 11.Bb1!?, keeping touch with the e4-square, should be considered.

11... f5

Obvious, but it needed to be calculated. See note to white's 14th move.

12.gxf5 gxf5
13.Rg1 Kh8
14.Nd2

The fight centers around the e4 point. White aims to occupy, black intends to open his dragon bishop by moving his e-pawn. Tony and I both saw the following line: 14.Qd2 fxe4 15.Bh6 Bxh6 16.Qxh6 Qf7 17.Ng5 Qxf2+ 18.Kd2 e3+ 19.Kc2 Nb4+ 20.Kc1 Qxg1+ 21.Nd1 Bf5–+

14... fxe4

14...Nb4 is not so good. White replies 15.Qb1 playing defensively only for a moment. a3 and b4 will force an uncoordinated retreat from black's cavalry. 15...Qg6 attempting to exploit the pin on the g-file does not work on account of 16.h4 h6 17.h5

15.Ndxe4 Bf5

It looks like Black is winning the battle for e4.

16.Nxc5

Possibly inaccurate as it abandons the fight for the e4 square. However, alternatives didn't look satisfactory. I was expecting 16.f3 which is ugly, but supports the knight and gives white time to castle without the pain of having an enemy pawn on d3.

16... Nxc5
17.Qd2 Bg6

Blocking the g-file and opening the f-file, preventing the enemy king from moving.

18.Be3

Necessary.

18... e4

Black has acheived his main goal. However, that was only the first battle... the war continues.

19.0–0–0

19.Bd4?? loses tactically to 19...Nd3+; 19.Bxc5?? and this would be a horrible positional mistake. White would abandon his dark squares to the Fates. 19...dxc5

19... Nd3+
20.Bxd3 exd3

I was fairly happy with my position. My king is pretty safe here. The problem is how to attack Black's king!

21.h4

White plays to stir up trouble by opening more lines on the kingside. He has to act quickly, otherwise black's plusses will start to tell in a hurry (e.g, ...a6 with ...b5). 21.Nb5 White plays this a move later, but maybe right away is better. The added benefit is Nxc7 is threatened with a fork.

21... Qf7

Preventing the dark squared bishop from moving, and connecting the rooks.

22.Nb5

Tony fights with great energy. White has ideas of Nd4 into e6, or Bd4, exchanging a key piece of black's attack and defense.

22... c6!?

I thought this was forced and strong. However, this gives white good chances of at least a draw on move 25. Rybka 2.2 doesn't seem to mind a knight on e6.

23.Nxd6 Qf6
24.c5 cxd5

Black is just one move away from winning comfortably with 25...d4. It's time to mix things up again!

25.h5!?

25.Rg4! is Rybka's choice, and a good one although black seems to still keep a tiny pull. A sample: 25...Qf3 26.Rdg1 d4 27.Bxd4 (27.Rxd4!? also deserves a closer look.) 27...Bxd4 28.Rxd4 Qxf2 29.Qxf2 Rxf2 30.h5 Rc2+ 31.Kb1 Bxh5 32.Rxd3 Rxc5=

25... Bxh5
26.Rxg7!?

Now the complications become ludicrous!

26.Nb5 Bg6 27.Bd4 Qh4 28.Qxd3 is a better idea. White maximizes the pressure.

26... Qxg7

Forced. 26...Kxg7?? leaves black suffering for a reply to Bd4 after 27.Qxd3±; 26...Bxd1 taking this exchange loses beautifully to 27.Nf5!! OK, I didn't see this, but Rybka did! 27...Qxf5 28.Bd4 Qf4 29.Rg4++-

27.Bh6?

Should be the losing move! 27.Qxd3 also had to be looked at. I rejected it to (27...Bxd1 28.Bd428.Qxd1 Qg2–+ presents no difficulties.) 28...Rf6 29.Qc3 Raf8 30.Ne8 Qg1–+ More craziness!

27.Re1 Bg6 28.Qb4 Kg8 29.f4 Black is better but White has lots pressure.

27... Qd4?

At the time I thought this was winning, but a day later with computer analysis, I have to give this a question mark! 27...Qg4 Funny, as I play this a move later, that I never considered playing it here. There is the simple threat to the d1–rook, but more importantly, black has control over d4 and can meet Qc3+ with ...d4.

28.Be3

I seriously underestimated this move. I had to refocus fast, as now white has serious counter chances once again.

28... Qg4

The difference now is white owns d4. 28...Qg7 29.Bh6 could have been a draw, or I might have then spotted 29...Qg4

29.f3??

The losing move was an oversight caused by white's oncoming time trouble (11 minutes to my 24).
I can't explain the text move. Much better was 29.Qc3+ Kg8 30.Re1

29... Rxf3
30.Qc3+ Kg8
31.Rg1 Rg3–+

The move white missed.

32.Rxg3 Qxg3
33.Nf5!

The only one of my opponent's moves that completely skipped my radar. White threatens, among other things: my queen, forks (if I move my queen to g6 or g4), and Nh6+ followed by Qf6+ or Qh8+. Even worse, I can't check white's king as the bishop covers g1.

33... d2+!!

Deflecting white's queen. Even now, with an objectively lost position and less than 4 minutes on his clock, Tony puts up incredibly tough resistance to the very end.

34.Qxd2

34.Bxd2 Qg1+ 35.Kc2 Qd1+ 36.Kd3 Qf1+ 37.Kc2 Qxf5+ picks up the knight; 34.Kxd2 Qg2+ 35.Kd3 Qe4+ 36.Kd2 Qxf5 ditto.

34... Qf3

Covering d5, g2, and even c3 indirectly (Qc3? Qd1 mate).

35.Nh6+

He used up 6 of his remaining 9 minutes on this move. 35.Qxd5+ would have on the pawn as opposed to what happened in the game. However, this would have helped black more. 35...Qxd5 36.Ne7+ Kf7 37.Nxd5 Bf3 and while black lost a pawn compared to the game, the bishop is unobstructed in protecting the queenside.

35... Kf8
36.Qd4

White couldn't avoid the trade of queens.

36... Qf1+
37.Kd2 Qd1+
38.Kc3 Qxd4+
39.Kxd4 Re8

Protecting d5 indirectly with a gain of time.

40.Nf5 Bf3
41.Bh6+ Kg8

41...Kf7?? is a 10 on the "D'oh!" factor. 42.Nd6+=

42.Nd6 Re6!

Accurate. Black ignores defending his b-pawn just yet and frees his h-pawn.

43.Bf4 h5!

Again, black protects his b-pawn indirectly. This time, Re4+ would be the trick.

44.b4 h4
45.b5 h3
46.c6 bxc6
47.bxc6 Re7

If instead 47...Re2 48.c7 Bg4 49.Kxd5 h2 50.Bxh2 Rxh2 51.c8Q+ Bxc8 52.Nxc8 Rxa2 May or may not be won.

48.Bh2 Re2!

Going to attack the c-pawn from behind with gain of time. 48...Rc7?? Just when you may have thought this wins the c-pawn and the game (49.Kc5 d4)... 49.Nf5! and suddenly white has a draw! 49...Rxc6?? and even a win if black plays this! 50.Ne7+

49.c7 Bg4
0-1

White resigned with just seconds left on his clock. An epic, last round battle with everything at stake!49...Bg4 50.Bg3 Rc2–+
A very interesting game! Well done Seth!

March Mini Swiss

Congrats, to Seth Homa. Winner of the March Mini Swiss. There
was a four way tie for second.


 NAME         ST PRERATE PSTRATE     1     2     3    TOTAL
-------------    --------   -------   ---------------- -----
1  HOMA,S         MI 2218*   2223*   W---7 W---3 W---2  3.0
2  NICHOLS,A      MI 2022*   2020*   W---8 W---4 L---1  2.0
3  BURDICK,P      MI 1623*   1640*   W--10 L---1 W---9  2.0
4  SUNDEEN,D      MI 1604*   1610*   W--11 L---2 W---5  2.0
5  IRWIN,C        MI 1299*   1411*   W---9 W---6 L---4  2.0
6  ROTH,B         MI 1628*   1600*   W--12 L---5 D---8  1.5
7  CRYSLER,J      MI 1548*   1532*   L---1 W--12 D--11  1.5
8  GRIFFIN,J      MI 1500*   1504*   L---2 W--10 D---6  1.5
9  GUILFOYLE,J    MI 1723*   1684*   L---5 W--11 L---3  1.0
10 MCLAUGHLIN,S   MI 629/05  733/08  L---3 L---8 W--12  1.0
11 LAURENS,T      MI 882*    912*    L---4 L---9 D---7  0.5
12 LAURENS,P      MI 900/17  859/20  L---6 L---7 L--10  0.0 

Submitted Game

Hello Everybody,
Chris Irwin was kind enough to annotate one of his games for us. Here it is;

Date: December 3, 2006
Event: Lansing December Swiss
Section: Bottom
Round: 3
White: Chris Irwin - 1264
Black: Larry Hodge - 1450

1. d4 d5
2. Nf3 Nf6
3. e3 e6
4. Bd3 Bd6
5. Nbd2 Nbd7
6. O-O O-O
7. Re1 Re8
8. e4

The key move in the Colle System. This move, in one sweep,
threatens a fork on e5, attacks d5, and opens the c8-h6
diagonal for the bishop. Here, black chose not to keep
copying white's every move, which would have been fine,
but instead played
8... dxe4
9. Nxe4 h6
Preventing Bg5, but a waste of tempo.
10.c4 b6
11.Nxd6
To allow Bf4
11... cxd6
12.Bf4 d5
Five pawn moves in a row cannot be recommended.
13.Ne5 Bb7
14.Re3

Black should be worried at this point.
14... Ne4
15.Bxe4 dxe4
16.Rg3 Kf8
17.Qh5 Nxe5
The only move.  Trying to defend f7 leads to mate.
17... Qe7 18. Bxh6 gxh6 19. Qxh6# or 17... Re7
18. Bxh6 gxh6 19. Qxh6+ Ke8 20. Qh8# (or20. Rg8#)
18.Bxe5 f6
19.Qg6 Qe7?
19...Qd7 was better, but still losing.  After 20.Bxf6
gxf6 21. Qxh6+ Ke7 22. Rg7+ Kd8 23. Rxd7 Kxd7 black is
only down a queen for a rook and a minor piece, not
considering the pawns.
20.Bd6 Resigns

This either wins the queen for the bishop or the game is over.
On 20...Qxd6, 21. Qxg7#

Febuary Mini Swiss

This was our first tournament at our new location so a turnout of 12 was not bad. Two players went undefeated. Andy Catlin and I shared the honors. In the last round I played the talented junior Atulya Shetty. Here's the game:

[Event "LMS 2-2007"]
[Date "2007.02.11"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Nichols, Tony"]
[Black "Shetty, Atulya"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D41"]
[WhiteElo "2012"]
[BlackElo "1890"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 c5 7. Nf3 Nc6 8.Bd3 cxd4 9. cxd4 Bb4+ 10. Bd2 Bxd2+ 11. Qxd2 O-O 12. Bc2 b6 13. O-O Ba6 14.Rfe1 Rc8 15. Rac1 Na5 16. Bd3 Bxd3 17. Qxd3 Qd7 18. d5 exd5 19. exd5 Rxc1 20.Rxc1 Rd8 21. Ng5 g6 22. Ne4 Rc8 23. Re1 Qa4 24. d6 Qc4 25. d7 Rd8 26. Nf6+ Kg727. Ne8+ Kh6 28. Qe3+ g5 29. Qe7 Qc3 30. Qf8+ Kg6 31. Qd6+ f6 32. Rd1 Nc4 33.Qe7 Nb2 34. Qg7+ Kf5 35. Qxh7+ Ke5 36. Qe7+ Kf4 37. Qxd8 Nxd1 38. Qxf6+ Qxf639. Nxf6 Nc3 40. d8=Q Ne4 41. Qd4 Kf5 42. Nxe4 b5 43. Ng3+ Kg6 44. Qxa7 g4 45.Qb6+ Kg5 46. Qxb5+ Kg6 47. Qf5+ Kg7 48. Qe6 Kh7 49. Qxg4 Kh8 50. Nf5 Kh7 51.Qg7# 1-0

The cross table:

       NAME          ST PRERATE PSTRATE   1     2    3   Total
----------------  -- ------ ------   ----- ----- ----- ----
1 NICHOLS, ANTHONY  MI 2012*   2022*   W--10 W---4 W---3 3.0
2 CATLIN, ANDREW G  MI 1863*   1870*   W--11 W--12 W---5 3.0
3 SHETTY, ATULYA AR MI 1878*   1877*   W---8 W---7 L---1 2.0
4 GUILFOYLE, JEFFRE MI 1712*   1723*   W---6 L---1 W---9 2.0
5 BURDICK, PATRICK  MI 1617*   1623*   W--12 W--11 L---2 2.0
6 FAUST, SCOTT W    MI 1551*   1582*   L---4 W--10 W---7 2.0
7 ROTH, BRUCE I     MI 1643*   1628*   W---9 L---3 L---6 1.0
8 GRIFFIN, JOHN L   MI 1500*   1500*   L---3 L---9 W--12 1.0
9 METCALF, NATHAN   MI 1472*   1474*   L---7 W---8 L---4 1.0
10 CRYSLER, JERRY D  MI 1537*   1518*   L---1 L---6 D--11 0.5
11 FORSYTHE, DOUGLAS MI 1503*   1500*   L---2 L---5 D--10 0.5
12 FORD, KATY M      MI 1157*   1147*   L---5 L---2 L---8 0.0 

Welcome!

This is the new blog of the Lansing Chess Club. You will be able to see upcoming tournaments and reports of previous tournaments on this site. Perhaps, We will even have some games to analyze.
That's all for now,

Tony