The 2003 Michigan Senior Championships was back at All the King’s Men Chess Supplies over the weekend of June 7-8. Both sections were very competitive as no player was able to score more than three points. That meant the the championships for each section came down to tie-breaks. In the Open, defending champion Don Vandivier did not participate. There was a two-way tie for first, with Tom LaForge taking the championship over I.C. Matias. The U1600 Reserve section saw Tony Scioly, Oliver Saylor, and Jerry Hooks took turns beating each other and finishing in the order listed.

Open Section Results
U1600 Section Results

Tim McGrew annotates some great games from this event:

Greg Bailey (1926)
Peter Sattler (1624)
Open Section, Round 1
Bird: Dutch, A03

1.f4 d5 2.Nf3 e6

This is not objectively bad, but it limits Black's options later.

3.e3 Nf6 4.b3 Nc6?!

Unless Black intends to ram through ...e5, this knight is not well placed in front of the c-pawn. And if he does intend ...e5, why didn't he play 2...Nf6 and 3...Bg4 to help contest the control of the e5 square?

5.Bb2 Be7 6.Be2 0–0 7.0–0 Bd7 8.Ne5 Nxe5 9.fxe5 Ne4 10.d3 Nc5 11.Nd2 Bg5 12.Rf3 Bc6 13.a4?!

This doesn't make much sense from either a strategic or a tactical standpoint.

Black to Move

13...b6?!

Missing his chance for active play. 13...d4! turns an unpromising opening into an interesting middlegame. After 14.Bxd4 Bxf3 15.Bxf3 Nd7 16.Ne4 (16.Bxb7 c5 17.Bxa8 cxd4 18.exd4 Be3+ 19.Kh1 Qxa8 gives Black the advantage because White's pawns, at the moment, are weak.) 16...Be7, White is certainly better centralized, but it's anybody's game.

14.d4

There will be no second chances for Black's light-square bishop. To the end of the game this piece plays a negligible role.

14...Nd7 15.Bd3 f5 16.g3 a5 17.Ba3 Be7 18.Bxe7 Qxe7 19.Qe2 Bb7 20.Raf1 c5 21.R3f2 Rac8 22.Nf3 Nb8 23.Nh4 Nc6 24.c3 Nb8 25.Qh5 g6?

A move like this is like a red flag to a bull. With no minor pieces within hailing distance of the king-side, Black cannot afford to let White's major pieces in along open lines. Much better is 25...cxd4 26.exd4 Ba6 (But not 26...Rxc3 27.Bxf5! exf5 28.Nxf5 Rxf5 29.Rxf5 g6 30.Rf8+ Qxf8 31.Rxf8+ Kxf8 32.Qxh7 and Black's pieces are so amazingly uncoordinated that White wins easily despite the formal material balance.) 27.Bxa6 Nxa6 and the king-side attack is over, though White can try to make something of his extra space.

White to Move

26.Nxg6! hxg6 27.Qxg6+ Qg7

This drops a third pawn, but Black's position is desperate anyway. 27...Kh8 leaves the king edge trapped, allowing 28.Bxf5! exf5 29.Rxf5 Rxf5 30.Rxf5 Qg7 31.Rh5+ Kg8 32.Qe6+! Qf7 33.Rh8+ Kxh8 34.Qxf7 with an easy win.

28.Qxe6+ Kh8

28...Qf7 29.Bxf5 is crushing.

29.Rxf5 Rxf5 30.Rxf5 1–0

Mike Griffin (1601)
Tom LaForge (1907)
Open Section, Round 1
Queen's Gambit Declined: Classical, D37

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 Be7 5.Bf4 0–0 6.e3 a6 7.Bd3

Shrewd observers of the evolution of opening theory know exactly what is going on here. Black and White are playing a tempo game: Black wants White to move his light-square bishop so that ...dxc4 and ...b5 will gain a tempo, and White wants to provoke Black into making that exchange before the light-square bishop has moved. Here, White blinks first. 7.Rc1 can save White an entire move -- if Black bites on c4.

7...dxc4 8.Bxc4 b5 9.Bd3 Bb7

Black's opening worries are almost over. What remains is for Black to chip away White's spatial advantage with a well-timed ...c5.

10.0–0 Nbd7 11.h3 c5

Mission accomplished.

12.dxc5 Nxc5 13.Be2 b4!

This is a well-timed blow. White's knight has a very limited set of squares, and if he trades queens it will be more limited still.

14.Na4

14.Qxd8 Rfxd8 15.Nb1 Nd3 16.Bxd3 Rxd3µ

14...Qxd1 15.Bxd1 Nxa4

15...Nd3! looks even stronger.

16.Bxa4 Bxf3 17.gxf3 Rfd8 18.Rfd1 Nd5 19.Bg3

The idea of allowing 19...Nxf4 is to horrible to contemplate. It does not take Capablanca or Rubinstein to recognize that White's king-side pawns would be a complete disaster in any endgame.

19...Bf6 20.Rab1 Rac8

White's position is almost permanently unpleasant. His pawns are more vulnerable, his rooks are less active, and he has a hard time finding targets in the Black position. Small wonder that he gets ground down in the ensuing ending.

21.e4 Nb6 22.Rxd8+ Rxd8 23.Bc2?

This hastens the end by inviting Black to seize the seventh rank. 23.Bb3 Rd2 24.e5 is ugly, but at least it keeps the b-pawn on the board for a while.

23...Rd2 24.e5 Rxc2 25.exf6 gxf6 26.Bd6 Nd5 27.h4 Kg7 28.a3 b3 29.Bb4 Kg6 30.Kg2 Ne3+!

Black is alert to the finesse: he shifts his knight to c4 without loss of time.

31.Kg3 Nc4 32.Bc3 Nxa3!

Another finesse. White's resistance is broken.

33.Rh1

33.Ra1 Nb5 (33...Rxc3 34.Rxa3 is a little slower but should also win.) 34.Rxa6 Rxc3! 35.bxc3 b2 and the pawn cannot be stopped.

33...Nb5 34.h5+ Kf5 35.Rh4 Nxc3 36.bxc3 b2 37.Rb4 a5 38.Rb5+ e5 39.c4 a4 40.c5 a3 41.c6 a2 0–1

It's hard to argue with pawns like these!

Tom LaForge (1907)
Greg Bailey (1926)
Open Section, Round 2
French: Open Tarrasch, C07

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 c5

For French addicts who want an offbeat way to meet the Tarrasch, one could do worse than to investigate 3...f5!? Pal Benko played it successfully in the 1962 Candidates tournament, and recently Eckhard Schmittdiel has taken it up repeatedly and with good results.

4.exd5 Qxd5 5.Ngf3 cxd4 6.Bc4 Qc5

This is a known line, but since the queen will be exposed on this square it might be worth investigating other retreats. 6...Qd6 is the more common queen move and looks less risky.

7.Qe2 Nc6 8.0–0 Be7 9.Nb3 Qb6 10.a4 Bf6

Black is determined to hang onto his d-pawn. This is a committal decision and leaves Black rather inflexible when it comes to other plans.

11.a5 Qb4 12.Rd1

So the pawn cannot be held after all. Meanwhile, Black has yet to castle.

12...Nge7 13.Nbxd4 Nxd4 14.Nxd4 0–0 15.c3 Qc5 16.Be3

A move like this, playing "I spy" on the Black queen through the White knight, is almost as good as a direct hit. Here, the tactical threat is 17.Nxe6 winning the exchange and a pawn while Black scrambles to get the queen out of the way.

16...Qc7

Black declines to play chicken. But now White's well-centralized minor pieces have a field day.

White to Move

17.Nb5! Qb8 18.Bc5!

With the not very subtle threat of 19.Bd6.

18...b6 19.Bd6! Qb7 20.Nc7

Strong, but not strongest. 20.a6! forces the queen where she does not wish to go. The crossfire is deadly: 20...Qd7 21.Nc7 Rb8 22.Bb5 Qd8 23.Bg3+-

20...b5 21.a6 Qb6 22.Nxa8 Qc6 23.Bxb5 Qxa8 24.Qc4 e5 25.Qc5 Bg4 26.Bxe7 Bxe7 27.Qxe7 Bxd1 28.Rxd1 1–0

Greg Bailey (1926)
Tom Mazuchowski (2000)
Open Section, Round 3
Bird, A02

A most absorbing game! Black plays uncompromisingly in the opening, but White manages to consolidate. And then... but that would be telling the secret before it's time!

1.f4 d6 2.Nf3 Bg4

After two moves we are already well off of the theoretical highways and onto the bypaths.

3.e3

White sticks to his Bird patterns, but this might be the place for a different interpretation of the opening. 3.e4 grabs space at an opportune moment when Black would lose time playing ...d5. Transpositions into King's Gambit or Sicilian Grand Prix positions look just slightly suspect here since Black's bishop is committed too early. One reasonable Black response would be 3...c6, reserving the option of ...e5 or ...d5 later depending on how the fight in the center evolves.

3...e5

Now Black looks fine.

4.fxe5 dxe5 5.Nc3 Nf6 6.Be2 Bd6 7.0–0 c6

7...Nc6 also looks reasonable.

8.d4 e4 9.Nd2 Bxe2 10.Qxe2 Qe7 11.g4 h5

This looks somewhat weakening, though it must have been hard to resist the chance to lure White's pawn forward.

12.g5 Ng4 13.h4?!

But this is definitely an overextension and gives Black real chances. 13.h3!? Nh2 14.Rf2 Nf3+ 15.Nxf3 exf3 16.Qxf3±

13...Bg3 14.Ncxe4 Bxh4 15.Nf3 Qxe4 16.Nxh4 Nd7 17.Rf4 Qe7 18.Nf5 Qxg5?!

Very bold -- perhaps too bold. Now Black drops the exchange. 18...Qf8 looks much safer.

19.Nd6+ Ke7 20.Nxf7 Qg6 21.Nxh8 Rxh8 22.Qg2 Ndf6 23.Bd2 Kd7 24.e4

White has consolidated and has a clear edge. But those knights are pesky -- the next task is to find a way to dislodge them.

24...Kc8 25.Re1 Re8 26.c4 Nh7 27.Rf5!?

I'm not sure whether this was an oversight or a trap!

27...Qd6

27...Rxe4!? picks up a pawn, but after 28.Rf8+ Nxf8 29.Qxe4 Qxe4 30.Rxe4 the simplification favors White.

28.Bc3 g6 29.Rff1 Ng5 30.e5! Qc7 31.Rf4 Qd7 32.d5!

White's play is magnificently confident. The central squares are well defended and the pawns roll forward powerfully. I have to wonder whether he was consuming clock time working all of this out, however. That might explain some upcoming events.

32...Kb8 33.e6 Qh7 34.Bf6

This is not bad, but it is a small slip that shows White doesn't quite know how to finish things off. 34.d6! breaks the back of Black's resistance because of the weakness of his back rank: 34...Nxe6? is impossible because of 35.Rxe6 Rxe6 36.Rf8+! Re8 37.Rxe8#

34...Qh6 35.Rxg4?!

The slide becomes more serious. Why is White opening the h-file here? 35.Bxg5! Qxg5 36.Qg3 Ka8 37.e7! is decisive.

35...hxg4 36.Qxg4 Nh3+ 37.Kg2?

But this is truly alarming. White had to walk into a discovered check with 37.Kh2! in order to keep everything under control. The knight is under too much pressure now, and after 37...Nf4+ 38.Qh4! Nh5 39.Be5+ Ka8 40.d6! Black cannot stop the pawns except at a prohibitive cost.

Black to Move

37...Qd2+!

Oh dear! Suddenly Black is back in the game.

38.Kxh3

38.Re2 Qxe2+ (38...Nf4+? 39.Qxf4+! Qxf4 40.Be5+ Qxe5 41.Rxe5+-) 39.Qxe2 Nf4+ 40.Kf3 Nxe2 41.Kxe2 is a difficult ending similar to the game.

38...Qxe1 39.Qg3+ Qxg3+ 40.Kxg3 cxd5 41.cxd5 Kc7 42.Be5+ Kd8 43.Bf6+ Kc7 44.Kf4 Kd6 45.Ke4 Rg8 46.Bg5?!

The idea of checking from f4 is attractive, but this allows Black the use of the h8 square. 46.Bc3! threatens Bb4+ after which it is very hard to stop the pawns, e.g. 46...g5 47.Bb4+ Kc7 48.Be1 Kd6 49.Bg3+ Ke7 50.Ke5 and now there is no check on the fifth rank so Black must lose material: 50...Kd8 51.d6 Rh8 52.Kf6 Rf8+ 53.Kg6 Ke8 54.Be5 Rf3 55.Kxg5 Rd3 56.d7+ Ke7 57.Bf6+ and the d-pawn costs Black his rook.

46...Rh8!

Alert play!

47.Bf4+ Ke7!

The king is needed here, not only to stop the advance of the pawns but also to keep an eye on f6 and d6 so that White's king cannot come forward.

48.Bg5+

48.Ke5 doesn't go anywhere now because of 48...Rh5+ 49.Ke4 Rh8 and White has no obvious way to make progress.

48...Kd6 49.Bf4+ Ke7 50.Bg5+ Kd6 51.Bf4+ ½–½

A wonderful fighting game.

Larry Munger (1569)
Tony Scioly (1585)
U1600 Section, Round 1
Réti (by tranposition), A04

1.e4 c5 2.d3 Nc6 3.Nf3 d6 4.g3 g6 5.Bg2 Bg7 6.0–0 Nf6

6...e5 followed by ...Nge7 is a fairly easy system for Black to play. Botvinnik popularized this system and it still bears his name.

7.Nbd2 0–0 8.c3 Bd7 9.Re1 Qc7 10.Rb1 Rac8 11.b3 Qa5 12.Bb2?!

White sees that there will be relatively few exits for the Black queen, but he doesn't quite manage to get the door of the trap closed.

12...Qxa2 13.Nc4

Now Black should back straight out with 13...Qa6 when White cannot actually catch her.

13...Na5?

Apparently this frees the queen, but this is actually an optical illusion...

14.Re2?

...to which White also succumbs! 14.Ra1! Qxb3 15.Rxa5! nabs a piece for two pawns, which should make White quite happy.

14...Nxc4 15.dxc4 Qa5 16.e5 dxe5 17.Nxe5 Bf5 18.Ra1 Qb6 19.Ra3 Rcd8 20.Qa1 a6 21.f4 Nd7 22.Nf3 Nf6

22...e6 is a simpler way to hold everything.

23.Rxe7

If material were all that mattered, White could be happy here. Unfortunately, his pieces are horribly bunched on the queen-side: his bishop on b2 has no scope, his rook at a3 is badly misplaced, and his queen prevents the rook from coming back into the game via a1.

23...Rd6 24.Re1 Rfd8 25.Qc1 Be4 26.Nh4 Bxg2 27.Nxg2 Rd2 28.b4?

A final blunder in an extremely unpleasant position.

28...cxb4+ 29.Kf1 bxa3 30.Bxa3 Qc6

30...Qf2# is more merciful.

31.Ne3 Qh1# 0–1

Ed Mandell (1258)
Jerry Hooks (1523)
U1600 Section, Round 1
Indian, A45

1.d4 Nf6 2.e3 e6 3.b3

If one wants to play a Colle-Zukertort system, it is better to play Nf3 and Bd3 first. Moving all of the pawns into position at the beginning will only transpose if Black reacts passively -- which he does not.

3...b6 4.Nd2 Bb4!

By itself this move is not crushing, but it does discombobulate White, who was intending to develop in his normal fashion.

5.a3 Bc3 6.Rb1 Bb7 7.Bb2 Bxb2 8.Rxb2 0–0 9.Ngf3 d6

Black wants a dark-squared pawn structure to complement his light-square bishop.

10.Bd3 Nbd7 11.0–0 Re8 12.Ng5 h6 13.Nge4 e5 14.Nxf6+ Nxf6 15.c3

Objectively the position is about equal, but Black's pieces are harmoniously disposed and he has no cause to regret what he has achieved out of the opening.

15...exd4

15...c5!? is interesting as White cannot afford d5.

16.cxd4 Qe7 17.b4 Nd5?!

Black is at a loss for a plan here, so he conceives the idea of 18...Nxe3 19.fxe3 Qxe3+ and he will pick up the undefended bishop at d3. But this is not really a good plan since the bishop is easily defended.

18.Qf3 Nxe3?

This cannot be sound.

19.Qxe3 Qf6 20.Qg3 Qxd4

So White has two pawns for the piece -- not enough, objectively. These rough material equivalences are not arbitrary: they represent the accumulated experience of masters over hundreds of thousands of games. It is a rare position where the sacrifice of a piece for two pawns without immediate threats against the opponent's king is actually a sound investment.

21.Rbb1 Re5!?

At least Black understands that he needs to mount an attack before White consolidates. The only remotely vulnerable point is g2, so Black prepares to strike at that...

White to Move

22.Nc4??

...and White doesn't take defensive measures!

22...Rg5!

Now it's all over.

23.Qe3 Rxg2+ 24.Kh1 Qh4 0–1

A remarkable reversal of fortunes.

Don Poniatowski (1350)
Jack Kahn (1350)
U1600 Section, Round 3
Scandinavian: Classical (Lasker), B01

1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qa5

Recently, correspondence IM Michael Melts has endorsed 3...Qd6!?

I like this idea, if only because it takes White out of the lines he is apt to know well. Black's queen is no more exposed on d6 than on a5, and there are some interesting twists to the resulting play.

4.d4 Nf6

In principle, this is supposed to be an acceptable opening for Black. But I worry about his practical chances; Black seems to lose an awful lot of games from here. As a practical weapon, Anderssen's old counter-attack 4...e5!? may be a better weapon for amateurs. After 5.dxe5 Bb4 or 5.Nf3 e4!? the game becomes quite complicated. It would surprise me greatly if any opponent rated below 2000 knew anything about the theory of this gambit variation; and without knowledge of the theory, White is liable to go astray early. Anyone interested in an exhaustive treatment of this crazy variation should consult John Lutes's excellent book.

5.Nf3 Bg4 6.Be2 c6 7.h3 Bf5 8.0–0 Nbd7

This move is not a disaster in itself, but Black is preparing a premature strike in the center.

9.Re1!

Many players underestimate the strength of a move like this, putting the rook opposite Black's king on the half-open file. A survey of half-open and open games reveals that putting a rook opposite the enemy king or queen is consistently strong. Here it makes Black's central break unplayable.

9...e5?

But Black fails to realize this point and plays the break anyway. 9...e6 is more circumspect, with just a space advantage to White.

10.dxe5 Nxe5 11.Nxe5 Qxe5 12.Bd3 1–0 Oh!

Well, that ends that game...

Oliver Saylor (1547)
Tony Scioly (1585)
U1600 Section, Round 4
Sicilian: Yugoslav Dragon, B77

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3

Is the Sicilian Dragon a good chess opening? How can one even ask! And yet... is it a good opening for amateur players? White's system here, dubbed by some wit the "St. George Attack," makes this a serious question. With simply moves White build up a dangerous attack, while Black's counterplay depends on delicate matters of timing.

6...Bg7 7.f3 0–0 8.Qd2

Nothing subtle about this: White lines up for the St. George Swap against the Dragon bishop.

8...Nc6 9.Bc4 Bd7 10.a3?!

This move makes no sense to me. White is planning to castle queen-side, so a weakening of the pawn structure there is not logical.

10...Rc8 11.Bb3 Ne5 12.Bh6 Nc4 13.Bxc4 Rxc4 14.Bxg7 Kxg7 15.Qe3 Qb6 16.0–0–0 e5?

This definitely gives White the advantage.

White to Move

17.Nf5+! gxf5?

The wrong recapture. 17...Bxf5 18.Qxb6 axb6 19.exf5 gxf5 20.Rxd6 Rc6 is relatively best, though White is clearly happier with the position than Black. 17...Kg8 18.Qxb6 axb6 19.Nxd6+- picks off some pawns.

18.Qg5+

A classic pattern. White regains the sacrificed piece with a considerable advantage.

18...Kh8 19.Qxf6+ Kg8 20.Nd5! Rxc2+

Desperation.

21.Kxc2 Rc8+ 22.Kb1 Qf2 23.Ne7+ 1–0

Gregory Kilburn (1223)
Don Poniatowski (1350)
U1600 Section, Round 4
Tarrasch: Schara (von Hennig), D32

This game is proof, if any were needed, that eternal vigilance is the price of victory. White soaks up some early pressure and manages to consolidate when Black fails to make the most of his chances. But then a single tactical lapse brings down the house.

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 c5 4.cxd5 cxd4!?

The Hennig-Schara Gambit, an excellent practical weapon below master level.

5.Qxd4 Nc6 6.Qd1 exd5 7.Qxd5 Bd7

This is the theoretically preferred move. 7...Be6!? is an interesting idea, sometimes known as the "Endgame Gambit." It is probably not quite sound, but half a century ago masters used it against each other because White's best defense against Black's pressure is not easy to find. In the under 1800 world, someone could resurrect this weapon to good effect!

8.e3 Nf6 9.Qd2 Bc5 10.g3 Qe7 11.Bg2 Rd8

Black's development is already looking like very good compensation for his pawn.

12.Qc2 Nb4 13.Qe2 Bg4

13...Bf5! immediately forces an entry on the light-squares: 14.e4 Nd3+! 15.Kf1 Be6 16.Nf3? Bc4!–+ leaves White struggling to meet the coming discovered attack.

14.Nf3

14.Bf3 is the best of a bad lot now, but Black is already in control.

14...Nd3+ 15.Kf1 0–0

White isn't lost, he's just tangled up. Unfortunately, that makes it hard for him to find a good plan, which means that the distance between the two states of affairs -- though real -- is not very great. For the next few moves, White manages to find a good plan and to untangle himself to some extent.

16.h3 Bh5 17.Kg1 Rfe8 18.Kh2 Qc7 19.Rd1

White has gotten away with his reorganization and the position is nearly equal. Still, Black's pieces are more active, and that means that White must exercise caution.

19...Bg6 20.Ne1 Nxe1 21.Rxe1 Bd3 22.Qd1

Objectively this is okay, but I'd be reluctant to put my queen opposite that rook.

22...Be4 23.Bd2?!

It is probably better to unbalance the position with 23.Nxe4!? Rxd1 24.Nxf6+ gxf6 25.Rxd1

23...Bxg2 24.Kxg2 Ne4 25.Nxe4 Rxe4 26.Qc2 Qc6

Not just defending the rook, of course, but setting up a discovered check.

27.a3??

Oh no -- ! 27.Kg1! should be fine for White, who is gradually approaching an endgame where his extra pawn might tell.

27...Rc4+ 0–1

But now there will be no endgame.