Issue of the Lake Superior Chess Association WoodPusher January/February, 2000 Back

UP Players Excel on WI Tour

The 1999 WI tour came to a conclusion with the Schramm Memorial Tournament held in Oshkosh WI on the weekend of Dec 18th and 19th. The tour consisted of 10 tournament that are held from January to December. This year the tournament included the Waukesha Memorial, WI State Closed, Western Open, Green Bay Open, Badger Open, UW Fall, Racine/Kenosha Open, North Central Open and the Schramm Memorial. This year saw the domination of the Tour by Class B players as most of the masters and experts have either stopped playing or come out less and less. This is a general trend in chess as indicated by the stats of the last ratings published in Dec. '99 Chess Life with only 421 active masters and 999 active experts playing in the whole county. This fact was reflected in the WI Tour with the elimination of the Top Expert Class and the addition of a Class D prize.

The winner of the Tour was Josh Zillmer who lead from the start and have a very strong year seeing his rating climb from Class B to near Expert thur the year. The real battle all year was for 2nd place with John Wagner, Guy Hoffman and Tom Ceterski fighting for position all year. And in the end John just nosed Tom out by a mere 6 tour points. The Class A winner was Guy Hoffman while Tom Ceterski took home the Class B prize money. Class C was won by Joe Schneeberger while Class D was won by Andy Becker. Ken Ceterski took home the top Junior prize.

Tour Standings

EVENTS: (PLAYERS) (POINTS) - WAUKESHA MEMORIAL 51 76, STATE CLOSED 67 (42/25) 122 / 66, WESTERN OPEN 58 93, GREEN BAY OPEN 91 122, BADGER OPEN 41 63, U.W. FALL 61 90, RACINE/KENOSHA OPEN 74 128 / 74, NORTH CENTRAL, SCHRAMM MEMORIAL.

The top players in the WI Tour:

It all starts over for 2000 WI Tour with the Waukesha Memorial to be held on Feb 12. See ya there!!

Negaunee VFW Chess Club Quads
OCT-NOV, 1999
TD: Greg Rose

Sault High vs Cheboygan Chess Match

Tuesday, December 21, 1999

The Sault High Chess Team came from behind to tie their Team Chess Match against Cheboygan High School's Chess Team, G-45. The four Boards (top players) were Brian Pahn (Board 1), Rob Sullivan (Board 2), Pete Stevens (Board 3) and Jesse Monroe {a 6th Grader} (Board 4). Several of Sault High's chess players also wrestle or swim. The wrestlers had a Meet with Rogers City and Marquette that day so they could not participate in the Cheboygan Chess Match.

Sault High was down three games to one after they lost three of the four games in the first Round. Though Rob Sullivan had a good chance to win his game, Brian Pahn was the only player to score a victory.

In the second Round the Sault Team took back three of four games from Cheboygan! Pahn won handily on Board One, Rob Sullivan made some moves in the endgame to mate his opponent on the back rank, and Jesse Monroe was down in material but beat his opponent with a nifty checkmate! Pete Stevens played well but came up short of winning his game.

Read newsletter for results table....

Games from newsletter:

Brian Pahn - Kyle Johnston [C10] Sault-Cheboygan HS Match, Dec 21, 1999 [Fritz]

White jumps out to a nice space advantage in the opening plus a piece but Black fights back with a fine Queenside expansion resulting in a giant passed "b" pawn but in Black's quest to queen it he misses a pretty tactic (31. Qxe6+) that wins for White! Another example of strong center play beating a wing attack.

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d6 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.Nf3 d5 5.Bf4 Bd7 [1.16 Fritz 5.00: 5...dxe4 6.Nxe4 Nf6 7.Bg5 Be7 8.Nxf6+ Bxf6 9.Bxf6 Qxf6 10.Bb5] 6.Bd3 Nf6 7.e5 Ng4 8.Qe2 Bb4 9.Bd2 a5 10.Ng5 Nxd4 [2.69 Fritz 5.00: 10...Nh6 11.Qe3 Nf5 12.Bxf5 exf5 13.0-0 Bc8 14.e6 fxe6 15.Nxe6] 11.Qxg4 c5 [4.50 Fritz 5.00: 11...Nf5 12.0-0-0 c6 13.Qh5 g6 14.Qh3 h6 15.Nf3 Qb6] 12.b3Qb8 13.Qf4 Nf5 14.a3 Bxc3 15.Bxc3 b5 16.Nxf7 [1.88 Fritz 5.00: 16.g4 Nh6 17.Bxh7 a4 18.Bb2 Bc6 19.0-0-0 d4 20.Be4 Bxe4] 16...Kxf7 17.0-0 [0.69 Fritz 5.00: 17.g4 g5 18.Qxg5 Ng7 19.0-0-0 a4 20.Qf6+ Kg8] 17...Rf8 [1.56 Fritz 5.00: 17...Kg8 18.Rfd1 d4 19.Bd2 Ne7 20.c4 dxc3 21.Bxc3 Nd5 22.Qd2] 18.Qg4 [-0.16 Fritz 5.00: 18.g4 d4 19.Bd2 g5 20.Qf3] 18...Qc719 Qh5+ Kg8 20.a4 c4 21.Be2 [-2.09 Fritz 5.00: 21.bxc4 b4 22.Bb2 dxc4 23.Be4 c3 24.Bc1 Be8 25.Qg5 Rd8] 21...b4 [-1.03 Fritz 5.00: 21...cxb3 22.Bb2 Qxc2 23.Ba3 b4 24.Rac1 Qe4 25.Bf3 Qxe5] 22.Bb2 h6 23.c3 [-1.47 Fritz 5.00: 23.bxc4 dxc4 24.Bf3 c3 25.Bc1 Rad8 26.Re1 Nd4 27.Be4 Bc6] 23...Qc5 [-0.13 Fritz 5.00: 23...Qxe5 24.bxc4 bxc3 25.Bc1 Rfd8 26.cxd5 exd5 27.Re1 Rac8 28.Qg6] 24.Rac1 cxb3 25.cxb4 Qxb4 26.Ra1 Bxa4 [-1.00 Fritz 5.00: 26...Qd2 27.Ba3 Rfb8 28.Rad1 Qa2 29.Ra1 Qc2 30.Rac1 Qe4 31.Bf3] 27.Rac1 [-2.81 Fritz 5.00: 27.Ba3 Qd4 28.Bxf8 b2 29.Ra3 Rxf8 30.Bd3 Qb4 31.Ra2 Rb8] 27...Bb5 28.Bxb5 Qxb5 29.Ba3 Rfc8 30.Qg6 b2? [6.41 Fritz 5.00: 30...Qe8 31.Rxc8 Rxc8 32.Qxe8+ Rxe8 33.Rc1 a4 34.Rc6 d4 35.g4] 31.Qxe6+ Kh8 32.Rxc8+ Rxc8 33.Qxc8+ Kh7 34.Qxf5+ g6 35.Qf7+ Kh8 36.Bxb2 Qxb2 37.e6 Qg7 38.Qxg7+ Kxg7 39.e7 Kf7 40.Re1 Ke8 41.Re2 a4 42.f4 d4 43.Rd2 a3 44.Rxd4 a2 45.Rd1 Kxe7 46.Ra1 Ke6 47.Rxa2 Kf5 48.Kf2 Kxf4 49.Ra5 g5 50.h3 h5 51.g3+ 1-0

This one features one of the last active masters in Wisconsin and the current WI State Closed Champion going against the 1999 WI Tour Top Junior Prize Winner. How many times do you see a master with tripled pawn right out of the opening? Note now the master pushes the endgame out forever in the hopes of an endgame blunder...Maybe studying all those R-P endings are paying off!

Jeff Cooper (2200) - Ken Ceterski (1761)[B23] NC Open, Nov 26, 1999 [Fritz]

1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.f4 g6 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Bc4 e6 6.Qe2 Nge7 7.d3 0-0 8.a3 d6 9.0-0 out of book 9...Nd4 10.Qf2 Nxf3+ 11.Qxf3 Bd7 12.Qg3 a6 13.f5 exf5 14.Qxd6 Bd4+ 15.Kh1 Be6 16.Qxd8 Raxd8 17.Bg5 Rd7 18.Bxe7 Rxe7 19.exf5 Bxc4 20.dxc4 Bxc3 21.bxc3 f6 [0.38 Fritz 5.00: 21...Re4 22.fxg6 hxg6 23.Rfb1 Rfe8 24.a4 R8e7 25.a5 Rxc4 26.Re1] 22.Rab1 Rff7 23.Kg1 Re4 24.fxg6 hxg6 25.Rb6 Kg7 26.Rfb1 Rxc4 27.Rxb7 Rxc3 28.Rxf7+ Kxf7 29.Rb7+ Ke6 30.Rb6+ Ke5 31.Rxa6 Rxc2 32.h4 c4 33.Rc6 Ra2 [0.16 Fritz 5.00: 33...c3 34.a4 Kd5 35.Rc7 Kd4 36.Rd7+ Ke5 37.Rc7 Kf4 38.Rg7] 34.Rxc4 Rxa3 35.Kh2 Ra5 36.Kh3 Ke6 37.Rc7 f5 38.Rh7 Kf6 39.Rb7 Ra3+ 40.Kh2 Ra5 41.Rb8 Rc5 42.Rb6+ Kf7 43.Rb4 Kf6 44.Kg3 Rc6 45.Kf4 Ra6 46.g3 Rc6 47.Ra4 Rb6 48.Ra3 Rb4+ 49.Kf3 Rb6 50.Ra8 Kf7 51.Kf4 Kf6 52.Ra4 Rc6 53.Rd4 Ra6 54.Ke3 Ra3+ 55.Kf4 Ra6 56.Rd3 Ra4+ 57.Ke3 Ra6 58.Kd2 Rc6 59.Rd8 Ra6 60.Ke3 Ra3+ 61.Kf4 Ra4+ 62.Kf3 Ra3+ 63.Kg2 Ra2+ 64.Kh3 Ra6 65.Rh8 Kg7 66.Rd8 Kf6 67.Rd4 Rb6 68.Rd3 Ra6 69.Rf3 Kg7 70.h5 Ra5 71.Kh4 Kh6 72.hxg6 Kxg6 73.Rb3 Ra4+ 74.Kh3 Ra6 75.Rf3 Kg5 76.Rf4 Ra2 77.Rb4 Rc2 78.Rb8 Rc4 79.Rf8 Rc2 80.Rg8+ Kf6 81.Ra8 Kg5 82.Ra3 Rc4 83.Rf3 Ra4 84.Rb3 Rc4 85.Rb5 Rc2 86.Rb8 Ra2 87.Re8 Rc2 ½-½

This is a clash between the WI Tour Winner and the WI Tour Top B Prize Winner. All the WI Tour games this year were hard fought battles and this was no exemption. White gets an opening advantage and keeps the pressure up until the passed pawns become too much for Black to handle.

Tom Ceterski (1754) - Josh Zillmer (1935) [A57] Schramm, Dec 18, 1999 [Fritz]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5 4.cxb5 a6 5.Nc3 g6 6.e4 d6 7.a4 out of book 7...axb5 8.Bxb5+ Bd7 9.Qe2 Bxb5 10.Nxb5 Nbd7 11.Nf3 Bg7 12.0-0 0-0 13.Bd2 Ne8 14.Bc3 Nc7 15.Nd2 Nxb5 16.Qxb5 Rb8 17.Qe2 Bxc3 18.bxc3 Qa5 19.Rfc1 Rb7 20.f4 Ra8 21.e5 dxe5 22.fxe5 Qc7 23.Nc4 Nb6 24.d6 Qc6 25.Nxb6 Qxb6 26.Rd1 exd6 27.exd6 Rd7 28.a5 Qc6 29.Qe5 Rda7 30.Qd5 Qxd5 31.Rxd5 Rd7 32.a6 Kg7 33.c4 Kf6 34.Kf2 Ke6 35.Rxc5 Rxd6 36.a7 Rd7 37.Rca5 f5 38.Ke3 Kd6 [3.09 Fritz 5.00: 38...Rc7 39.Ra6+ Ke7 40.R1a4 Kd8 41.Kd4 Kc8 42.Kd5] 39.Rd1+ Kc7 40.Rxd7+ Kxd7 41.Kd4 Kc6 42.c5 Kb7 43.Kd5 Rd8+ [4.16 Fritz 5.00: 43...Kc7 44.Ra6 Rd8+ 45.Rd6 Ra8 46.Rf6 Rd8+ 47.Kc4 Kb7 48.Rf7+] 44.Ke6 Ka8 45.c6 Rd2 46.c7 Re2+ [8.59 Fritz 5.00: 46...Rc2 47.Kd6 Rd2+ 48.Kc6 Rc2+ 49.Rc5 Rxc5+] 47.Kd6 Rc2 48.Rc5 1-0

This is a classic example of stronger player dominating the opening, winning material, trading down to a won endgame, etc...but wait it appear that the game was so won that the stronger player fell asleep and walked into checkmate. Ooops that could be why there are so few masters and experts playing these days.

Martha Ceterski (1385) - Don Oberweiser (1940) [A43] North Central Open, Nov 26, 1999 [Fritz]

1.d4 c5 2.c4 cxd4 out of book 3.Qxd4 Nf6 4.Bg5 Nc6 5.Qd1 Ne4 6.Be3 Qa5+ 7.Nd2 Ne5 8.Qc2 Nd6 9.b3 Nc6 10.Ngf3 g6 11.Qb2 Rg8 12.Rd1 Bg7 13.Nd4 [-0.94 Fritz 5.00: 13.Bd4 Nxd4 14.Nxd4 b5 15.e3 bxc4 16.Bxc4 Nxc4 17.bxc4 Ba6] 13...Nf5 14.Nxc6 dxc6 15.Qc2 Nxe3 16.fxe3 Be6 17.Kf2 Bf5 [-0.81 Fritz 5.00: 17...0-0-0 18.Qc1 Qxa2 19.Ke1 Rd7 20.g3 Rgd8 21.Bg2 Bf5 22.b4] 18.e4 Qc5+ 19.e3 Bh6 20.Qc3 Bg7 [0.00 Fritz 5.00: 20...Bxe4 21.Nxe4 Qf5+ 22.Kg1 Qxe4 23.Rd3 Bg7 24.Qb4 Rb8 25.Be2] 21.Qc2 Bg4 22.Be2 Bxe2 23.Kxe2 Bh6 24.Qc3 Qg5 25.Rhg1 Qg4+ 26.Kf2 Qh4+ 27.Ke2 Bg7 28.Nf3 Qxe4 29.Qd3 Qxd3+ 30.Rxd3 Rd8 31.Rgd1 Rxd3 32.Rxd3 e6 33.Ng5 Ke7 34.h3 h6 35.Ne4 Be5 36.Nc5 b6 [0.22 Fritz 5.00: 36...Bd6 37.Nxb7 Bb4 38.c5 Rb8 39.Nd6 Bxc5 40.Nc4 f6 41.g4] 37.Rd7+ Kf6 38.Ne4+ Kf5 39.Kf3 f6 [#1 Fritz 5.00: 39...g5 40.Rxf7+ Kg6 41.Rxa7 Rf8+ 42.Ke2 Kf5 43.Nd2 Bc3 44.g4+] 40.g4# 1-0

Created by LSCA Editor: Ken Ceterski