Tactics Time Chess Newsletter: Hank Anzis Guest Newsletter

Published: Sun, 05/26/13

Newsletter Issue Hank Anzis Guest Newsletter

Tactics Time

A Class Player's Dream

At the board, one must fight! Furthermore, every new move in chess is like a new spin of the roulette wheel - anything can happen. One can even win! ~ IM Tim Taylor from his book "True Combat Chess"


T

oday's newsletter is written by special guest Hank Anzis. I met Hank through the "Chess Journalists of America" organization. Hank writes a column for their quarterly magazine called "The Blogger Within" that talks about chess and blogging, which I found very interesting. We exchanged some emails with thoughts on the subject. Hank writes a blog at http://brokenpawn1.blogspot.com/ and is very active in the Iowa chess community. Thanks Hank, take it away!

In the position on the right it is White to move.

Answer below.

   This game was played in Jackson, Minnesota at the 2012 Jackson Open Super Reserve. The Jackson Open is a class players dream tournament. It is restricted to players rated below 2000 who compete for a guaranteed prize fund of $700 with a $300 first prize. The 2012 edition attracted 26 players from Minnesota, Iowa, South Dakota, and Montana.

   This was my second round game against Sam Smith. Sam is the president of Southwest Minnesota Chess and the founder and organizer of the Jackson Open which will have its 7th edition this year. This was my first Jackson Open, although I meet Sam every year when I head 20 miles south of Jackson to direct the Okoboji (Iowa) Open (Here is an article about this year's edition) and we have become close friends.

   Even though Sam and I had never met over the board, I knew he is an attacking player and never afraid to sacrifice material for an attack. I tried to batten down the hatches and not give him any targets, but he still managed to sacrifice a piece and was turning the screws when I turned the tables after his first defensive move of the game.

   The 2013 Jackson Open Super Reserve will be held on Friday August 23th (Round 1) and Saturday August 24th (Rounds 2-4) with a time control of G/90;d5. You can get more information and a tournament flyer at http://www.centraliowachess.com/Tournaments.aspx . You can read the complete story of this game and the tournament at my blog (Broken Pawn), which won the 2011 Best Chess Blog award from the Chess Journalists of America.

Here is the complete game:

[Event "2012 Jackson Open"]
[Site "Jackson, MN"]
[Date "2012.08.18"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Anzis, Hank"]
[Black "Smith, Sam"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "1709"]
[BlackElo "1589"]
[PlyCount "51"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 {This move rules out Sam playing his favored Budapest Gambit
(2...e5)} e6 3. c4 Be7 4. Nc3 d5 5. cxd5 exd5 {Now we're back in my turf - a
nice boring Queen's Gambit Exchange, but Sam still finds ways to liven things
up!} 6. Bg5 Nbd7 7. e3 O-O 8. Bd3 Re8 9. O-O c6 10. Rc1 Ne4 11. Bxe7 Qxe7 12.
a3 Ndf6 13. Ne5 Bf5 14. Ne2 {My first big think of the game (6 minutes). Qc2
may be better, but with Sam's pieces gathering around my king, I decided to
swing a defender over to g3 with a gain of time on the bishop.} Ng4 15. Bxe4 {
15.Nxg4 Bxg4 16.f3 looks attractive, but after 16...Nf6 17.fxg4 Qxe3+ 18.Kh1
Nxg4, Sam has the attacking position he wants.} dxe4 {Sam took 34 minutes on
his last 3 moves} 16. Ng3 {I spent 10 minutes here checking 16.Nxg4 Bxg4 but I
didn't like the pin.} Qh4 17. h3 {Sam missed school the day they learned to
spell retreat.} Nxe3 18. fxe3 {Missing 18.Qb3 Nxf1 19.Qxf7+ Kh8 20.Nxf5} Qxg3
19. Rxf5 Qxe3+ 20. Kh1 f6 {Rad8 keeps the attack rolling. Ironically, Sam's
first defensive move of the game leads to an immediate loss.} 21. Rc3 {
Diverting the Black queen from b3} Qh6 {The only alternative was to give up
the queen with Qxc3 or Rxe5} 22. Qb3+ {When I made this move, Sam softly
chuckled to himself, shrugged his shoulders, and let me execute the smothered
mate rather than resign.} Kh8 23. Nf7+ Kg8 24. Nxh6+ Kh8 25. Qg8+ Rxg8 26. Nf7#
1-0

You can play through this game here: http://tacticstime.com/anzis-smith/

Answer:

21. Rc3 not only threatens the Black Queen directly, it also threatens Qb3+ starting a smothered mate by screening the Black Queen from the third rank.

Black's best chance is to give up the queen for rook and knight by 21...Qxc3 22.bxc3 fxe5 23. Rxe5 but will be down a queen for a rook (having sacrificed a piece on move 17). Sam instead played Qh6 and after 22.Qb3+ played the game out to the smothered mate which was a long standing dream of this class player!

Guest writing a Tactics Time Newsletter has fulfilled another one of this class players dreams. Thanks!

Happy Tactics!

Your Friend,

Hank