Here are two games from Michigan players at SuperNationals. The first game came from Prince Barlow of Detroit, who had an excellent result for his rating:

Jared Defibaugh (1702)
Prince Barlow (1309)
SuperNationals (K-12 Championship), Round 7
Nashville, TN, April 2005
English: Carls, A22

Notes by Tim McGrew

This game features a stunning reversal of fortunes commensurate with the rating upset. Hold on tight...

1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.g3 Bc5

Not the most popular move, but it is reasonable if Black follows up properly.

4.Bg2 Nc6 5.e3

White indicates that he's prepared to kick forward with d4 after a little more preparation.

5...d6 6.Nge2

Black to Move

6...Be6?

This apparently innocent move is a big mistake. The problem lies in the dynamism of White's d-pawn. Imagine for a moment that the pawn can leap a full three squares forward on its first move rather than the normal two. Yes, that's right -- Black is forked. Now back to reality: if the pawn comes forward two of those three squares, can Black stop it from coming all the way?

7.b3?

White misses his chance. 7.d4! is indeed punishing since Black's bishop at c5 must give way. The most Black could get for his bishop would be two pawns -- not enough.

7...0–0 8.d4

Now this is not so strong.

8...exd4 9.exd4 Bb6?

Black invites the fork again, and this time White doesn't miss his chance. 9...Bb4 keeps Black from losing material in the short run because of the tactical trick 10.d5 Bg4! when White's knight on c3 has gone lame. But White can still keep things hot with a series of precise moves: 11.f3! Ne4!? 12.Bd2! Nxc3 13.Bxc3 Bxc3+ 14.Nxc3 Re8+ 15.Kf1 Nb4 16.fxg4 Qf6+ 17.Qf3 Qxf3+ 18.Bxf3 Re3! 19.Nb5! and Black is losing some material after all.

10.d5 Bxf2+??!!

Throwing another piece on the fire is bold to the point of borderline insanity! 10...Ng4 would limit the damage. A pawn and a rook is not full value for two minor pieces. Black would be advised to take what he can get while he can get it.

11.Kxf2 Ng4+ 12.Ke1 Nce5 13.dxe6 fxe6 14.Nf4 g5

Black is lost in any event, so I like this move, inviting White to open the e-file.

15.Nxe6 Qf6

It can't hurt to threaten mate in one, can it?

16.Rf1

Right here, I think White made a decisive mental error. Before moving, he envisaged his next two moves -- and nothing further. And when Black “fell into the trap,”...

16...Qxe6! ...

White, without rechecking his calculations, “sprang” it...

17.Bd5??

...only to be absolutely dumbfounded by...

17...Nf3#! 0–1

Samer Sahoury from Clio swept the K-12 U1200 section with a perfect 7-0 score:

Samer Sahoury (1146)
Marc Arias (1048)
SuperNationals (K-12 U1200), Round 7
Nashville, TN, April 2005
Spanish: Cozio, C60

Notes by Jeff Aldrich

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nge7?!

Black anticipates the exchange of bishop for knight and looks to keep a defender on the e-pawn. The problem with this move is he blocks in his kingside bishop. Well-known theory tells us that Black is all right after the exchange. For example: 3...a6 4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.Nxe5 Qd4 Black gets the pawn back and has the advantage of the bishop pair.

4.d3 h6 5.Nc3 d6 6.d4 Bd7 7.d5 Na5?!

Knights on the rim... Black should play 7...Nb8 with the idea of redeployment via the d7-square to f6 or c5.

8.Bxd7+ Qxd7 9.Be3 Ng6?

Black needs to realize that the knight on the edge on has only one square available.

10.Nd2 Be7 11.b4! c6 12.bxa5 Qc7 13.a6 bxa6 14.dxc6 Qxc6 15.Nd5 Bd8 16.0–0 Bb6 17.Rb1 Rb8 18.c4 0–0 19.h4 Rfe8 20.Qg4 Bxe3 21.Rxb8 Rxb8

The in-between move 21...Bxf2+? seemingly picks up a pawn. Instead, it gives White an extra tempo, which will cost Black another piece: 22.Rxf2 Rxb8 23.h5 and the knight cannot move due the knight fork on e7.

22.Nxe3 Rb2 23.Nf5

White sees a way to simplify the game based on the same knight fork as before.

23...Rxd2

White to Move

24.Qxg6!

Removing the defender of e7. 24.h5 is good too, but the queens stay on the board, which may give Black some long-term chances.

24...fxg6 25.Ne7+ Kf7 26.Nxc6 Rxa2 27.Nxa7 Rc2 28.Ra1 Rxc4 29.f3 Rd4 30.Rxa6 Ke6 31.Nc6 Rd2 32.Kh2 Kf6 33.Nb4 g5 34.Nd5+ Ke6? 35.hxg5

35.Ra7! threatens mate and Black must give up the rook to stop it.

35...hxg5 36.Kh3 g6 37.g3 Rd3 38.Kg4 Rb3 39.Ra7! Rxf3

39...Rb7 is a better desperation try as 40.Rxb7 is stalemate.

40.Kxf3 g4+ 41.Kxg4 g5 42.Re7# 1–0

Douglas Forsythe has been running some tournaments in the Grand Rapids area. Duane Croel sent in the following game and reports, “This is one of the best sites that I have ever seen for a tournament.” Doug already has many more of these planned in the future:

Eric Fischvogt (2223)
Duane Croel (1753)
Western Michigan Open III, Round 2
Wyoming, March 2005
Indian: Trompowsky, A45

Notes by Duane Croel

1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5

Ah, the Tromp!

2...Ne4 3.Bf4

3.Bh4 and 3.h4 are also played.

3...d5

Simple. 3...c5 is more dynamic.

4.f3 Nf6

I think this is the best way to equalize.

5.e4

Transposing to a Blackmar-Diemer gambit with an extra tempo. In practice, the tempo has not proven to have any better results.

5...dxe4 6.Nc3 e3!? 7.Bc4 e6 8.Qd3 Bd6!? 9.Bg5 h6 10.Bxe3 c6 11.0–0–0 b5 12.Bb3 a5 13.a4 b4 14.Ne4 Ba6 15.Nxd6+ Qxd6 16.Qd2 Nbd7 17.Bf4 Qe7 18.Nh3 Rc8 19.Kb1 Nd5 20.Rhe1 N7b6?!

Better is 20...0–0 or 20...N7f6.

21.Nf2 Nxf4 22.Qxf4 Nd5?!

22...0–0 seems better.

23.Qe5! Nf6? 24.Qxa5 Bb7 25.Nd3 0 0!? 26.Qxb4 Qc7 27.g3

OK, I am down two pawns but look at all them open lines :)?!

27...Rb8 28.Nc5 Ba8 29.Qc3

I think 29.Na6 is worth looking at.

29...Nd5 30.Bxd5 cxd5

More open lines:)!

31.Re3 Qa7 32.Qa3?! Bc6 33.Rdd3 Ra8 34.b3

The White queen seems a little misplaced.

34...Rfb8 35.Kc1!

Yes, the right plan is to walk to the other side of the board and win with the two extra pawns.

35...Bb5 36.Rc3 Qb6 37.Qb4 Qc6! 38.Nxe6 Bc4! 39.Rxc4 dxc4 40.Qc5 Qd7 41.Nf4 cxb3 ½–½

Here is a game from one of the Toledo Swiss tournaments:

Bill Calton (2267)
Nick Perlongo (1634)
Nimzo-Indian: Kmoch, E20
Toledo Swiss, Round 2
Toledo, OH, February 2005

Notes by Bill Calton

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.f3

The ultra-aggressive way to combat the Nimzo. By refusing to concede the e4-square, White immediately raises the stakes.

4...d5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 b6?!

Mark per Yuri Yakovich, in “Play the 4.f3 Nimzo-Indian. 6...c5 is the main and most testing move.

7.cxd5

7.Bg5!? developing outside the pawn chain, as in the classic game Lilienthal-Capablanca, Hastings 1934, is the attempt to punish Black for not challenging White's center, although it does involve a pawn sacrifice. 7...h6 8.Bh4 Ba6 9.e4 Bxc4 (9...dxe4 10.fxe4 g5 11.Bg3 Nxe4 12.Be5 Rg8 13.Bd3 is the sacrifice, where White enjoys plenty of compensation.) 10.Bxc4 dxc4 11.Qa4+ Qd7 12.Qxc4 is Lillenthal-Capablanca, with a nice initiative.

7...exd5 8.e3 0–0 9.Ra2

As played by Volkov against Shariyazdanov in the 2001 Russian championship. Anticipating ...Ba6 from Black, White tries to play a more useful move than Bd3. White also opens the possibility of a g4-thrust, to be supported by a rook swinging across the second rank to g2. Instead, 9.Bd3 c5 would transpose to the Botvinnik line of the Rubenstein system. Though Yakovich prefers White, I think this is a reasonable way for Black to play. Play might proceed 10.Ne2 Ba6 11.0–0 Re8 12.Ng3 Bxd3 13.Qxd3 Nc6 14.Ra2 and White appears to be making progress in the struggle for the e4-square.

9...Bb7?

The bishop is misplaced here.

10.g4

Nick was scratching his head, and other body parts too after this move! On the surface, a kingside advance looks ridiculous. After all, White has no developed pieces. As Yakovich explains, “White's solid and flexible pawn structure allows him to play the position this way.”

10...h6?!

This provides what Aagard calls a hook. Now my kingside pawn storm now has something to latch on to, increasing my chances of opening lines to the Black king. I love the visual of having moved all eight pawns, with no pieces developed (barring the curious rook on a2. I think White is clearly better here.

11.h4

Black to Move

11...Nh7 12.Bd3 g6 13.Rg2 Qd6 14.Bb1 Kg7 15.Ne2 Nd7 16.Nf4?!

The knight may be misplaced here.

16...Rfe8 17.Kf2 Ndf8 18.Qd3 c5 19.Rhg1

Preparing g5. White is planning 21.Nxh5 in the event of 20.g5 h5.

19...Bc8

Black panics.

20.dxc5 bxc5 21.Qxd5 Qxd5 22.Nxd5+- Rb8 23.Ba2 Bb7 24.e4 Nd7 25.Be3 Nhf8 26.Rd1 Rbc8 27.Kg3 Nb6 28.Rb2 Bxd5 29.Bxd5 Nfd7 30.c4 Nf6 31.Rb5 Nfd7 32.Ra5 Rc7 33.Rc1 Ne5 34.Rc2 Rec8 35.f4 Ned7 36.Kf3 Re8 37.Bc1 f6 38.Bb2 Kf8 39.Ba1 Ke7 40.Rb5 Kd6 41.Rb1 Ke7 42.Rh1 Nc8 43.Rb2 Nd6 44.Ke3 Kf8 45.Kd3 Ke7 46.Rbb1 Kf8 47.Bc3 Ke7 48.e5 fxe5 49.fxe5 Nf7 50.Rbe1 Nf8 51.Rhf1 Nd8 52.Rf6 Kd7 53.h5 gxh5 54.gxh5 1–0