[BrianWall-ChessList] Mate!! I think?!
Brian Wall
brianwallchess3 at taom.com
Mon Aug 13 11:17:48 MDT 2007
Tom Mullikin is one of my favorite guys to write about, a genius, a rocket
scientist who can chart the path of planets on a napkin like Einstein, a father
who just married off one of his daughters. As smart as Tom is, in Chess, he is
like a kid learning how to get good. If you don't waste your youth playing
Chess like Chessmasters did, then it's not easy when you get older. Tom is
about my age, 52. Tom fluctuates between 900 and 1200.
Rhett Langeth is the 11 year old ( I think) son of Power Chess couple Duwayne
and Cindy Langseth. Rhett goes elk hunting with his father ( bow and arrow only
like Indians). Cindy named Rhett after Rhett Butler in Gone with the Wind.
Rhett fluctuates between 1,000 and 1400.
Tom is old enough to be Rhett's grandfather but in Chess, they are close to the
same level.
What I like about Mullikin Chess is that funny stuff happens to Tom every
tournament that doesn't happen in my rating range. It's relaxing and
enjoyable - it makes Chess fun again instead of a grind to realize a one
pawn advantage like most Master games.
Here we go -
a game between a rocket scientist and a kid who is part of a Chess dynasty.
[Event "Pikes Peak "]
[Site "City Hall, Manitou Springs, CO 606 Manitou Avenue"]
[Date "2007.08.11"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Rhett Langseth"]
[Black "Tom Mullikin"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ICCResult "Black checkmated"]
[WhiteElo "1312"]
[BlackElo "1150"]
[Opening "Réti opening"]
[ECO "A05"]
[NIC "QP.11"]
[Time "00:31:54"]
[TimeControl "40/90 Game/55 plus 5 second delay"]
Pikes Peak Open
40/90
Game/55
plus 5 second delay
second time control only
Round 3
White -
Young Rhett Langseth, 1312
Black -
The Tom Mullikin, 1150
1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 d5 3. d3 c5 4. Bg2 Bf5 5. O-O Nbd7 6. Nfd2 e5
7. e4 Bg4 8. Bf3 Bxf3 9. Qxf3 Nb6 10. exd5 Qxd5 11. Nc3 Qxf3
12. Nxf3 Bd6 13. Nb5 Kd7 14. Re1 a6?
I have spent a lot of time working with Tom Mullikin -
he tries really hard to follow my advice - in a way he
is as excited about Chess as any kid. Here he drops his
e-pawn instead of protecting it.
15. Nxd6 Kxd6 16. Nxe5 Rhf8 17. Bf4 Kd5
My King likes to go for a walk -
World Champion Steinitz
Tom's King reminds me of Mr. Magoo narrowly avoided getting killed by cars or a
drunk on a firing range or Robert Deniro in Deerhunter going back to Nam to
find Christopher Walken. It simply amazes me that Tom sees nothing wrong with
strolling casually into the middle of the board. Mabe he should get Polgar's
5,000 checkmates tome out from under balancing the coffee table leg.
18. c4+ Kd4
There are now 15 checkmates, the fastest being
19 Rad1 and 20 Nf3 mate.
19. Re2
Mate in three if handsome young Rhett follows up with Rd1
19 ... Rae8
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Charge of the Light Brigade
Alfred, Lord Tennyson
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.
Half a league, half a league,
Half a league onward,
All in the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
"Forward, the Light Brigade!
"Charge for the guns!" he said:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
2.
"Forward, the Light Brigade!"
Was there a man dismay'd?
Not tho' the soldier knew
Someone had blunder'd:
Their's not to make reply,
Their's not to reason why,
Their's but to do and die:
Into the valley of Death
Rode the six hundred.
3.
Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon in front of them
Volley'd and thunder'd;
Storm'd at with shot and shell,
Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of Hell
Rode the six hundred.
4.
Flash'd all their sabres bare,
Flash'd as they turn'd in air,
Sabring the gunners there,
Charging an army, while
All the world wonder'd:
Plunged in the battery-smoke
Right thro' the line they broke;
Cossack and Russian
Reel'd from the sabre stroke
Shatter'd and sunder'd.
Then they rode back, but not
Not the six hundred.
5.
Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon behind them
Volley'd and thunder'd;
Storm'd at with shot and shell,
While horse and hero fell,
They that had fought so well
Came thro' the jaws of Death
Back from the mouth of Hell,
All that was left of them,
Left of six hundred.
6.
When can their glory fade?
O the wild charge they made!
All the world wondered.
Honor the charge they made,
Honor the Light Brigade,
Noble six hundred.
Alfred Tennyson,
------------------------------------------------------------------------
20. Nf3+??
Rhett had two knights in his head,
a residual one on e5
and a checking knight on f3.
Rhett - Checkmate!!
Tom Mullikin -
No, it's not.
Rhett, confused and nonbelieving -
Well, where can you move then!?
20 ... Kxd3 21. Rd2+! Kxc4! 22. a4
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 23
King James version
The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:
he leadeth me beside the still waters
He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of
righteousness for his name's sake
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no
evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemes;
thou annointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.
and I will dwell in the house of The Lord forever.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tom has survived his walk through the valley of the shadow of death.
After 22 ... Ne4 he's alive.
22 ... Kb3 23. Ra3+! Kb4! 24. Rc2
Tom has survived his walk through the valley of the shadow of death.
After 24 ... Nc4 he's alive.
24 ... Nxa4 25. Ne5
Tom has survived his walk through the valley of the shadow of death.
After 25 ... R:e5 26 B:e5 Re8 he's alive.
Tom sense of danger is acute as Mr. Magoo's and
he goes right on pawn snatching and moonwalking.
25 ... Nxb2 26. Ra2 Na4 27. Rc4+!!
Young Master Rhett finds the only good move.
27 ... Kb3??
With an amazing ability to learn nothing from the recent path,
Tom wanders again onto the firing range instead of retreating
to the relative safety of his own pawns with 27 ... Kb5!
He just doesn't hear or feel those bullets grazing his ears.
28. Rcxa4!!
Rhett finds the only good move again.
28 ... Ra8!!
The exclams are for pure foolhardy courage.
Apparently in Tom's mind his King is a general
leading the charge. He sets up his men for the
winning queenside pawn wave advance.
Tom has stumbled drunkenly and blindly into another mating net -
14 moves checkmate, the fastest being 29 Bd2 and 30 R4a3 mate
29. Nd3 Nd7
Tom's King is like Will Farrel leading the streaking charge
in Old School, only to find out to his horror he's alone.
30. Nc1+! Kc3 31. Bd2#
Tom was mated as inexorably as the laws of physics he loves to study so much.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Event "Pikes Peak "]
[Site "City Hall, Manitou Springs, CO 606 Manitou Avenue"]
[Date "2007.08.11"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Rhett Langseth"]
[Black "Tom Mullikin"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ICCResult "Black checkmated"]
[WhiteElo "1312"]
[BlackElo "1150"]
[Opening "Réti opening"]
[ECO "A05"]
[NIC "QP.11"]
[Time "00:31:54"]
[TimeControl "40/90 Game/55 plus 5 second delay"]
1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 d5 3. d3 c5 4. Bg2 Bf5 5. O-O Nbd7 6. Nfd2 e5 7. e4 Bg4 8.
Bf3 Bxf3 9. Qxf3 Nb6 10. exd5 Qxd5 11. Nc3 Qxf3 12. Nxf3 Bd6 13. Nb5 Kd7 14.
Re1 a6 15. Nxd6 Kxd6 16. Nxe5 Rhf8 17. Bf4 Kd5 18. c4+ Kd4 19. Re2 Rae8 20.
Nf3+ Kxd3 21. Rd2+ Kxc4 22. a4 Kb3 23. Ra3+ Kb4 24. Rc2 Nxa4 25. Ne5 Nxb2
26. Ra2 Na4 27. Rc4+ Kb3 28. Rcxa4 Ra8 29. Nd3 Nd7 30. Nc1+ Kc3 31. Bd2#
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
I gave the game Langseth - Mullikin for light entertainment but
the deciding game of the Pikes Peak Open was no less comical.
[Event "Pikes Peak"]
[Site "City Hall, 606 Manitou Avenue, Manitou Springs, CO"]
[Date "2007.08.12"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Renard Anderson"]
[Black "brianwall"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ICCResult "Game drawn by mutual agreement"]
[WhiteElo "2237"]
[BlackElo "2234"]
[Opening "Scandinavian: Pytel-Wade variation"]
[ECO "B01"]
[NIC "SD.02"]
[Time "00:31:54"]
[TimeControl "40/2, Game/55 plus 5 second delay"]
Pikes Peak
last money round 5
40/2
Game/55
5 second delay,
second time control only
White -
Renard Anderson 2237
Black -
Brian Wall 2234
Renard and I lived 5 blocks away from each other on New York's Hudson river
when we were 6 years old. Here we are almost half a century later with
3 rating points separating us.
1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qd6 4. d4 Nf6 5. Nf3 a6 6. g3
IM Bill Paschall used to warn me in our ICC/ChessTelevision
webcasts how strong White's setup is here but IM Andrew Martin
assured me in a video Black is OK if he can oppose Bf4 with ... Bd6.
I believe Bill did a video on this for ChessLectures.com
6 ... b5
Perhaps overambitious -
a more modest bishop
development may be in order.
7. a3
A strange move which made me overconfident
and removed any sense of danger.
7 ... Bb7 8.
Bg2! e6! 9. O-O! c5
Overambitious again -
It is high time for
9 ... Be7 and 10 ... 0-0
My plan worked on Bill Weihmiller earlier.
10. Re1
For some reason Renard declines the free tempo with
10 Bf4! for 6 moves.
10 ... cxd4
More madness instead of sanity with 10 ... Be7!
I am sometimes successful with saving a tempo
for f8-bishop development and moving to a more
aggressive square in one swoop. This is not the
time or place for such lofty ambitions.
7 a3 made me feel like King Kong.
11. Nxd4! Bxg2! 12. Kxg2! Nc6
12 ... Nbd7 is better.
13. Qf3!!
Any other move, I am OK with a comfortable game
but I understood even before he played it I am
in deep trouble now.
In Biel 2007 Radjabov was leading the tournament by half a point
when he played the worst game of his life in the last round and got
mated in 28 moves by Magnus Carlsen. I felt sure I was destined to
share the same fate.
13 ... Rc8! 14. Nf5!! Qb8
14 ... Qc5! was more active but
I was scheming to chop wood.
15. Bf4!! Qa8
15 ... Qb7 was more active but I like the Reti square.
16. Rad1!!
Tom Mullikin has an excuse for his play, he is not a Life Master who has
at least scored the same points as the winner in 5 Colorado Championships
and 6 Denver Opens. What's my excuse? This looks like a nightmare right
out of the Evegreen game. Renard is a very active ex-2400, in fact this
year he reached 2300 again. My chances of survival in this absurd position
are about zero right now.
Tom's King likes to go for walks,
mine likes to hold his ground and dodge bullets.
After studying the position for 12 minutes I found one
slim ray of light in my prison cell and like a moth, I flew there.
It's a clear way to win material safely, maybe Renard would go for it.
I knew that any unclear line would be stronger for him
but a safe edge in an endgame is hard to decline in a money round.
16 ... g6
I didn't like 16 ... Na5! 17 Ne4! N:e4! 18 R:e4! Nc4 -
Renard also has a better endgame after 16 ... Na5 17 Q:a8
17. Nd6+!!!
Renard has good instincts - his main choice was this or 17 Bg5!! -
other good moves - 17 Nh6!!, Ne3!, Nd5!, Nh4!, Nd4
17 Bg5!! is very strong -
17 Bg5!! Ng8 or
17 Bg5 gf 18 B:f6 Rg8 19 Nd5!!
are horrible -
the best try is the Fishing Pole defense -
17 Bg5 Ng4!!
17 ... Bxd6! 18. Bxd6!!!
18 R:d6!! or 18 Bg5! are great too.
18 R:d6!! is very scary because of R:e6+ sacs,
not to mention f4-bishop moves.
18 ... Na5!! 19. Qxa8
What a relief when Queens came off
instead of 19 Ne4!!
19 ... Rxa8! 20. Be5! Ke7! 21. Ne4
I was more afraid of 21 Nd5+!! ed 22 Bc7+ Kd7
23 B:a5 Rhe8 24 Bc3
winning the d-pawn.
21 ... Nxe4! 22. Bxh8! Nxf2!
23. Kxf2! Rxh8! 24. b3!
This is the miracle, the ray of hope in my prison cell,
the line I prayed Renard would go for.
With Queens off my centralized King is ideal!
I am the exchange down but the way to draw is to
avoid a rook trade, keep one of his rooks tied down to defense,
advance my King and passed pawns, centralize my knight.
Renard felt by the end I had full compensation
for the exchange and went for a drawing line.
I will let my beloved fanbase decide which game was funnier.
24 ... Rc8! 25. Rd2 h5
Making it hard for Renard to advance his pawns.
26. Re3 Rc6 27. Red3 e5! 28. Ke1 Ke6 29. Kd1 Nb7! 30. Re3 Nd6 31. Rde2 e4!
It seems like I have made tremendous progress and Renard none
so he bailed out into a draw.
32. Rxe4+
1/2-1/2
Old buddy James Hamblin tied with Renard and I for first for a cool $36 profit.
Correction -
It was Jim who said -
He who is afraid of playing with an isolated pawn must give up Chess.
Correction-
Dean Mitrovich is Croation, not Serbian.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Event "Pikes Peak"]
[Site "City Hall, 606 Manitou Avenue, Manitou Springs, CO"]
[Date "2007.08.12"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Renard Anderson"]
[Black "brianwall"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ICCResult "Game drawn by mutual agreement"]
[WhiteElo "2237"]
[BlackElo "2234"]
[Opening "Scandinavian: Pytel-Wade variation"]
[ECO "B01"]
[NIC "SD.02"]
[Time "00:31:54"]
[TimeControl "40/2, Game/55 plus 5 second delay"]
1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qd6 4. d4 Nf6 5. Nf3 a6 6. g3 b5 7. a3 Bb7 8.
Bg2 e6 9. O-O c5 10. Re1 cxd4 11. Nxd4 Bxg2 12. Kxg2 Nc6 13. Qf3 Rc8 14. Nf5
Qb8 15. Bf4 Qa8 16. Rad1 g6 17. Nd6+ Bxd6 18. Bxd6 Na5 19. Qxa8 Rxa8 20. Be5
Ke7 21. Ne4 Nxe4 22. Bxh8 Nxf2 23. Kxf2 Rxh8 24. b3 Rc8 25. Rd2 h5 26. Re3
Rc6 27. Red3 e5 28. Ke1 Ke6 29. Kd1 Nb7 30. Re3 Nd6 31. Rde2 e4 32. Rxe4+
1/2-1/2
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2007.08.02"]
[Round "?"]
[White "GM_Carlsen"]
[Black "GM_Radjabov"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2710"]
[BlackElo "2746"]
[Opening "Pirc defense"]
[ECO "B07"]
[NIC "PU.08"]
[Time "07:52:58"]
[TimeControl "7200+0"]
1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 e5 4. Nge2 Nbd7 5. g3 c6 6. Bg2 b5 7. a3 Be7 8.
O-O O-O 9. h3 a5 10. g4 Ba6 11. Ng3 b4 12. Nce2 bxa3 13. Rxa3 d5 14. Re3
dxe4 15. Re1 Qc7 16. Nf5 Bd8 17. g5 Nd5 18. Rxe4 f6 19. Neg3 g6 20. Nh6+ Kg7
21. dxe5 fxg5 22. e6 Kxh6 23. e7 Qb6 24. exf8=Q+ Nxf8 25. c4 Nf4 26. Qd6 Kg7
27. Bxf4 gxf4 28. Re7+ {White wins} 1-0
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Evergreen Game
[Event "Informal Game"]
[Site "Berlin, Germany GER"]
[Date "1852.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Anderssen, Adolf"]
[Black "Dufresne, Jean"]
[Result "1-0"]
[PlyCount "47"]
[EventDate "1852.??.??"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. b4 {This is the "Evans Gambit" opening, a
favorite in the 1800s and still used today. White gives up material to gain an
advantage in development.} Bxb4 5. c3 Ba5 6. d4 exd4 7. O-O d3 {This isn't
onsidered by many to be a good response; alternatives include dxc3 or d6.} 8.
Qb3 {This immediately attacks, in particular the f7 pawn, but Burgess
suggests Re1 instead.} Qf6 9. e5 Qg6 {The e5 pawn can't be captured right now;
if 9... Nxe5, then 10. Re1 d6 11. Qb5+ at which point black has lost a piece.}
10. Re1 $1 Nge7 11. Ba3 b5 {Instead of defending, this is a
counter-sacrifice. This is a bad idea, since white has a better strategic
position. Burgess suggests instead ...a6, to allow the b-pawn to advance later.
} 12. Qxb5 Rb8 13. Qa4 Bb6 {
Black cannot O-O here, because 14. Bxe7 would overwhelm the knight on c6.} 14.
Nbd2 Bb7 15. Ne4 Qf5 16. Bxd3 Qh5 17. Nf6+ {This is a beautiful
sacrifice. Burgess notes that 17. Ng3 Qh6 18. Bc 19. Qe6 19. c4 wins material
in a much simpler way.} gxf6 18. exf6 Rg8 19. Rad1 Qxf3 {The black queen
can just dangle on f3, because the rook on g8 pins the white pawn on g2.} 20.
Rxe7+ Nxe7 21. Qxd7+ Kxd7 22. Bf5+ {A double-check, which is almost
always dangerous. It's certainly dangerous in this case.} Ke8 23. Bd7+ Kf8 24.
Bxe7# 1-0
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