Nova Scotia Chess News

October,1995

Written and compiled by Kim Tufts

The 1995-96 chess "season" is about to begin and with it new plans and ideas. The primary goal is to attract many more new players this year than in past years and make competitive chess more visible. To this end we're adopting a more professional approach. The next few months should see many of these ideas put into practice. Suggestions are welcome as are volunteers.

Previously I've mentioned that this newsletter is primarily for tournament pleyers. In draconian fashion--or latest political fashion if you like-- I whittled the list from approximately 145 names to about 100, deleting all players whose memberships had long expired or who no longer played competively. This should allow us to send the newsletter out every two months. Players who wished to remain on the list could contact me and I did receive a few letters and phone calls. In fact three chessplayers unexpectedly sent donations to cover the costs and help promote chess in Nova Scotia. They were: Peter Andrewes in Halifax; William Kummer in Chester ; and Arthur Grant in Mahone Bay. Many thanks gentlemen for your support.

Nova Scotia Open

This year's Open was played July 28-30 at Dalhousie University in Halifax. Attendance was only fair, I think due to the time of year so next year the Open will probably be in May. The 6 round format made for some interesting matches and numerous upsets. The first round saw Paul Hake lose to Harold Uuetoa, reportedly after spurning Mr Uuetoa's draw offer--an exchange down! Cedric Davies crushed Jacques Brun, negating the 400 point spread. Ed Urquhart swindled a game form Rob Bentley, down an entire piece. The second round saw Cedric Davies again win, this time over Mark Holmstrom as.the players from "away" had a rather dismal tournament. Jim Brennan defeated Paul LeBlanc with 1.f4 in a very close and long game. In round 3 Kim Tufts won a lucky one from Jim Hayward in a see-saw affair, losing throughout, equalizing only to misplay, finally catching a bounce with a little tactic. The silliest game of the tournament (of the year?) was Urquhart-Singh in round 4. Manvinder sacced a piece for negligible compensation in the opening and Ed wrote a book on how not to play a piece up. Manvinder lined up his remaining forces and fired. After the dust had settled Manvinder emerged 3 pawns up in a rook and pawn endgame, which was of course....drawn ??? Afraid so sportsfans. Round 5 saw a minor upset in Mayo-Paterson as Alvah got a very bad Chigorin French. Urquhart won over Jim Mathers in a game that resembled chess. The last round saw a real shocker as John Paterson defeated Mathers in a Benoni after Mathers, a pawn down with a restricted game, lashed out prematurely, losing a piece. Urquhart won a very good game against LeBlanc, probably the best of the tournament.

I should also mention that Alvah Mayo won the award for Most Improved over the past year as his rating jumped 300 points in 1994-95. The award -a recent Informant- has also been nicknamed "the kiss of death" as Alvah lost in under 20 moves to Jim Mathers after being named.

  
  Open    1st  Ed Urquhart    5/6  (champion on tie-break)
          John Paterson  
     U1900     Jim Hayward    4.5
     U1700     Harold Uuetoa  3.5
          Gilbert Bernard
          Kim Tufts
     U1500     Dave Poirier   3.5
  
  1995 Nova Scotia Open
  July 28-30  Dalhousie University
  Player            Rating    Perf Rd1  Rd2  Rd3  Rd4  Rd5  Rd6  Total
   1. Paul LeBlanc       2154 1968 +16  -12  +36  +6   +10  -2   4    
   2. Ed Urquhart        2147 2203 +17  +13  =6   =10  +3   +1   5
   3.Jim Mathers         2103 1967 +20  +14  +12  +4   -2   -13  4
   4.Alvah Mayo          1950 1846 +22  +15  +25  -3   -13  +16  4
   5.Paul Hake      1928 1414 -21  +24  -16  -0   -0   -0   1
   6.Mike Eldridge       1903 1999 +23  +19  =2   -1   +18  +14  4.5
   7.Jim Hayward         1884 1824 +24  =21  -18  +34  +15  +12  4.5
   8.Jacques Brun        1834 1337 -25  =27  =26  -20  -36  +33  2
   9.Leighton Steele          1826 1700 =26  +34  =0   +16  -14  =18  3.5
  10.Manvinder Singh     1815 1965 =0   +35  +21  =2   -1   =0   3.5
  11.Mark Holmstrom 1813 1448 +27  -25  -19  +23  =21  -35  2.5
  12.Jim Brennan         1785 1872 +28  +1   -3   =15  +17  -7   3.5
  13.John Paterson       1760 2081 +29  -2   +20  +19  +4   +3   5
  14.Steve Karis         1746 1805 +30  -3   +22  +25  +9   -6   4
  15.Gary Phillips       1710 1680 +31  -4   +23  =12  -7   +24  3.5
  16.Albert Ede          1701 1795 -1   +28  +5   -9   +20  -4   3
  17.Rob Bentley         1670 1698 -2   +30  =0   +35  -12f -0   2.5
  18.Kim Tufts      1650 1846 =0   +33  +7   =0   -6   =9   3.5
  19.George Hensel       1640 1599 +32  -6   +11  -13  =22  =21  3
  20.Bruce Fleury        1610 1709 -3   +29  -13  +8   -16  +26  3
  21.Harold Uuetoa       1600 1816 +5   =7   -10  +26  =11  =19  3.5
  22.David Poirier       1472 1694 -4   +31  -14  +36  =19  +34  3.5
  23.Patrick Goguen 1459 1297 -6   +32  -15  -11  =31  -29  1.5
  24.Pat Diggins         1433 1502 -7   -5   =29  +31  +28  -15  2.5
  25.Cedric Davies       1425 1764 +8   +11  -4   -14  -34  +36  3
  26.Christian Rose      1375 1593 =9   =36  =8   -21  +29  -20  2.5
  27.Garrnet Bezanson    1308 1345 -11  =8   -34  +30  -35  -28  1.5
  28.Victor Goguen       1305 1345 -12  -16  =30  +32  -24  +27  2.5
  29.John Klapstein      unr  1418 -13  -20  =24  +33  -26  +23  2.5
  30.Christian Wolinski  unr  1200 -14  -17  =28  -27  =0   =31  1.5
  31.Alex Fraser         unr  1167 -15  -22  =32  -24  =23  =30  1.5
  32.Ian Mhar       907  1068 -19  -23  =31  -28  -33  =0   1
  33.Vincent Pye         1273 1234 =0   -18  -35  -29  +32  -8   1.5
  34.Bradley Poulette    1569 1503 =0   -9   +27  -7   +25  -22  2.5
  35.Gilbert Bernard     1560 1650 =0   -10  +33  -17  +27  +11  3.5
  36.George Beals        1670 1605 =0   =26  -1   -22  +8   -25  2

A number of Nova Scotia players also played in the North Bay International Open. I heard that Paul LeBlanc, Ed Urquhart, Alvah Mayo, Bruce and Jordan Fleury, and Gilbert Bernard played. Rob Villeneuve, a Dalhousie PhD candidate, also attended. Best performance seems to have been by Gilbert Bernard who played a section up from his published rating and had a plus score. Paul LeBlanc defeated Bob Kiviaho (2340) but later faded. Alvah and Ed both complained about not winning won games. The highlights included meeting Bent Larsen and gossiping about Gilbert's breakfast with Sofia Polgar.

Gilbert Bernard (1478) - Daniel Moorehouse (1725) North Bay, Rd 8

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Bb7 5.Bg2 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 Bd2+ 7.Nbd2 0-0 8.0-0 d6 9.Re1 Nbd7 10.Rc1 c5 11.e3 Rb8 12.Nb3 Ne4 13.Qd3 Ng5 14.Nbd2 Nf3+ 15.Nf3 Qf6 16.Qd1 Rfd8 17.b3 d5 18.cd5 ed5 19.dc5 Nc5 20.Nd4 Ne6 21.Qd2 Ng5 22.Rc7 Ne4 23.Be4 de4 24.Rec1 h6 25.Qe2 Rdc8 26.Qg4 Rc7 27.Rc7 Kh7? 28.Qd7 (Rb7 Rb7/ Qe4+) Ba6?! 29.Ra7 Bd3 30.Qf7 Qf7 31.Rf7 Ra8 32.h4 Rc1+ 33.Kh2 Kg6 34.Rb7 b5 35.g4 Kh7 36.h5 Kg8 37.Ne6 Rc2 38.Rg7 Kh8 39.Rg6 Rf2+ 40.Kg1 Rf1+ 41.Kg2 Rf3 42.Rh6+ Kg8 43.Rg6 Kh8 44.h6 Re3 45.Ng5 Re2+ 46.Kg3 e3 47.Nf7+ resigns 1-0

The 11th Pictou County Chess Challenge was held Sept. 2-4. Ed Uquhart won with 5/5, a not surprising result considering the 200 point rating difference from # 1 to #2. Fourteen players attended. Mike Eldridge was second with 4. Alvah Mayo directed and organized, finishing with 3.5. Alvah also sends his apologies for swindling at least two games he said.

Pictou County Chess Challenge

Sept. 2-4, Westville

  Player            Rating    Perf Rd1  Rd2  Rd3  Rd4  Rd5  Total
   1.Ed Urquhart         2147 2193 +8   +6   +3   +2   +4   5
   2.Alvah Mayo          1920 2004 =0   +12  +4   -1   +5   3.5
   3.Mike Eldridge       1903 1946 +9   +7   -1   +5   +11  4
   4.Jim Hayward         1884 1819 +10  +11  -2   +6   -1   3
   5.Steve Karis         1746 1602 -11  +10  +8   -3   -2   2
   6.George Hensel       1649 1789 +13  -1   +7   -4   +8   3
   7.Ed McKearney        1642 1374 +14  -3   -6   -11  =0   1.5
   8.Bruce Fleury        1610 1632 -1   +9   -5   +10  -6   2
   9.Mike Babinec        1517 1213 -3   -8   =0   =14  -13  1
  10.Cedric Davies       1500 1470 -4   -5   +12  -8   =0   1.5
  11.Gilbert Bernard     1478 1766 +5   -4   +14  +7   -3   3
  12.John MacLean        1439 1289 =0   -2   -10  +13  -14  1.5
  13.Jordan Fleury       1272 1268 -6   -14  =0   -12  +9   1.5
  14.Jonathan Bjornson   1265 1470 -7   +13  -11  =9   +12  2.5

Note: Ratings used above were last published ratings in "En Passant". Significant chnges would be G. Bernard (1668) and J.Bjornson (1428) .

The Bluenose Club has begun its fall schedule. So far we've had a couple of Active tournaments with more events planned. Here is the Sept-Oct schedule:

  Sept 11 Gambit Active       Oct   9  GM P. Wolff  lecture
  Sept 18 CFC Active          Oct 16  Gambit Active
  Sept 25 CFC Tornado         Oct 23    CFC Active
  Oct    2 Blitz night                Oct 30  CFC Tornado

Sept 30 Coffee Shop Active - At the Second Cup on Spring Garden Rd (near the library). Starts at 1 pm. Entry fee of $5 plus a cup. Winners will receive fabulous prizes.

Oct 6-8 Thanksgiving Open - 5 Rd Swiss at Dal to support the Bluenose Club. See enclosed sheet for further details.

Oct 7-9 Pepsi Maritime Open - 5 Rd Swiss in Summerside, PEI. See enclosed sheet. Oct 7 NS Cadet Championship - 4 Rd Swiss for the U16 championship.

Nov 10-12 Halifax Open - 5 Rd Swiss at Dal. See enclosed sheet. Nov 11 Maritime Ladies Championship

As everything is in a bit of a rush at the moment to get things out details are not a priority. I should have more information for those players at the Thanksgiving Open on these and other events. Our club is going well but there's been no word yet from other areas. The gambit active was surprisingly well received as players picked randomly from an assortment of gambits and had to play those moves as written. It made for some ...er...interesting chess:

R. Villeneuve (2136) - A.Mayo (1750)
Bluenose Gambit Active, Sept. 18, 1995

Latvian Gambit

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f5 3.Nxe5 Qe7 (Qf6) 4.Qh5+ g6 5.Nxg6 Qxe4+ 6.Be2 Nf6 7.Qh4 (Qh3) Qxg2 8.Qxf6 Qxh1+ 9.Bf1 Qe4+ 1/2-1/2 !

(Please excuse the vulgarity to the right.)
IMAGE MISSING!!!!

The Kasparov-Anand match has so far been a bit of a disappointment with 8 straight draws as neither player seems willing to risk a loss. Opinion generally has it that Anand is playing the more creative chess. Although hard fought neither has gotten a bloody nose so far.

"Chess is a struggle...if it is anything at all it is a fight!" - Marcel DuChamps, loosely translated.

If you'd like to watch the games in real time with GM analysis you can join the Internet Chess Club (ICC) at chess.lm. com 5000 or try the Free Internet Chess server (FICS) at ics.onenet.net 5000 through telnet.

G.Kasparov (2805) - V.Anand (2760) Intel World Championship, Game 6
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Ne4 6.d4 b5 7.Bb3 d5 8.de5 Be6 9.Nbd2 Nc5 10.c3 d4 11.Ng5 [ A move played by Karpov (!) against Korchnoi in the 1977 match. Tal originated the move and Karpov did not repeat it as Korchnoi nearly won the game, declining after 43 minutes thought.] 11...dc3 12.bc3 Qd3 13.Ne6 fe6 14.Nf3 0-0-0 15.Qe1 Nb3 16.ab3 Kb7 17.Be3 Be7 18.Bg5 h6 19.Be7 Ne7 20.Nd4 Rd4! 21.cd4 Qb3 22.Qe3 Qe3 23.fe3 Nd5 24.Kf2 Kb6 25.Ke2 a5 26.Rf7 a4 27.Kd2 c5 28.e4 1/2-1/2

Game 8 G.Kasparov (2805) - V.Anand (2760)
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 ed4 4.Nd4 Nf6 5.Nc6 bc6 6.e5 Qe7 7.Qe2 Nd5 8.c4 Ba6 9.b3 g5 N 10.Ba3 d6 (Qa3!?/Na3 Bb4+/Qd2 if Kd1?? Nc3+ wins but Qa3 isn't convincing. ) 11.ed6 Qe2 12.Be2 Bg7 13.cd5 Be2 14.Ke2 Ba1 15.Rc1 0-0-0 16.Rc6 Re8+ 17.Kd3 Rd7 18.Nc3 Bc3 19.Kc3 Re5 (Re2 perhaps) 20.Kc4 Re4 21.Kd3 Re5 22.Kc4 Re4 1/2-1/2

The Nova Scotia Chess Site

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