2016 Summer Blowout!

   On July 5, 2016, the Missouri State University Chess Club started a correspondence match with Team South Africa.  This was only the third match for the MSU Club on Chess.com and they were hoping to preserve their perfect match record. 

    The first match was played back in 2012 against the Crowder College Chess Club.  Unfortunately, there were several timeouts which resulted in a lopsided score and not much competitive chess. MSU won with a comfortable four point margin 6-2.  The second match was more of a mini-match against the University of Birmingham Chess Society, consisting of only two players from each club.  MSU won that by a score of 3-1.

    The 2016 Summer Blowout, as it was called, had six players from each club playing two simultaneous games with a time control of three days per move. In the six head-to-head match-ups the MSU Club finished with 4 wins, 1 tie and 1 loss for a final match score of 8.5-3.5.  This was most impressive considering two MSU players (tennisadd91 and expiredninja) were facing significantly stronger opponents.

    Below is an analysis of one game from each match-up.  Suggested variations came from both the human and machine (Fritz & Stockfish) brain.

    Board 1 featured MSU’s strongest player, thismic. In his game as White, he handled the Scotch opening superbly, eventually establishing three strong central pawns on d4, e4 and f4, which kept Black’s position quite cramped.  The timely advance of the e-pawn later on demonstrated the force of the central pawn mass and opened the door for a nice decoy attack at move twenty.  White kept the pressure on and finished off his opponent with lethal threats looming on the h-file.

    Board 2 featured the MSU Chess Club advisor/sponsor, c3Beatty.  Beatty was only able to win one of the two games he played.  The loss was plagued by an early advantage for his opponent that could not be overcome.  His win with the Black pieces, however, did show some resilience and accurate play after a shaky start.  Trouble popped up as soon as move eight when Black failed to adequately protect the d-pawn and was forced to play a pawn down for many moves.  However, he was able to defend and create enough counter-threats to throw White off his game.  White’s poor choices for moves twenty-eight and twenty-nine gave the game to Black.

    Board 3 featured long-time MSU Chess Club member IntotheGloaming.  Playing the Black pieces in the game below, IntotheGloaming manages a solid win that illustrates the benefit of not missing opportunities given to you by your opponent, no matter how slight they may at first appear.  The game was a Sicilian Najdorf and was fairly equal through the first sixteen moves. But Black soon began to expand on the kingside, which seemed to trigger a series of bad choices by White.  The ultimate blunders for White, however, came later on moves twenty-seven, thirty-one and thirty-two.  Black finds a strong finish that leaves his foe no option other than resignation.

   Board 4 featured another strong MSU player, tennisadd91.  He won both his games, but the win with the White pieces was a bit more interesting.  The game was a Scandinavian Defense and was rather even for the first half of the game, with only miniscule swings in “advantage” for either side.  White had a few missteps at move thirty-three and thirty-four, but according to the machines Black only gets a slight advantage.  He does not capitalize on the missteps and soon hands the advantage over to White on move forty.  White does not squander the opportunity and makes his opponent pay in the long run, using his king to gobble up pawns and clear a path for his own pawn to make it to the promised land.

   Board 5 featured expiredninja, a long time MSU Chess Club member who was also able to win both his games against a higher rated opponent.  Playing the Black pieces in the game below, he faced the King’s Gambit and was able to overcome an early blunder and find a path to victory.  By using what counter-play there was in the position Black was able to keep White off-balance, thereby mitigating his material deficit. White’s king was forced to the corner and Black kept an eye out for the knockout blow, which eventually came after several sub-par move choices by both sides.

   Board 6 featured the President of the Missouri State University Chess Club, kwangsha.  Unfortunately, he lost both his games to a much higher rated player.  Analysis of his game as Black shows a missed opportunity to hold the game even at move seventeen.  Instead, Black loses his knight after it makes a dangerous foray into enemy territory. He is then slowly pushed back and out-maneuvered.  Another blunder at move thirty-two loses a second piece and hands the game to White.