From: mginsbur@rnd.GBA.NYU.EDU (Mark Ginsburg)
Newsgroups: rec.games.chess
Subject: _Chow_ upload:  articles by Andy Sacks and Mark Ginsburg
Date: 14 Nov 92 01:57:09 GMT
Distribution: rec.games.chess
Organization: NYU Stern School of Business

"Chess as Football:   3 Plays"

games collected by IM Mark Ginsburg

[appeared in the Aug-Sept 1992 issue of _Chess Chow_, GM Joel 
 Benjamin, Editor]

[and posted on rec.games.chess for the enjoyment of the rgc community]

For your amusement, we've put together three nice king hunts. 
Each game is sort of like a football play:  the black king, i.e.
the quarterback, starts out with a wall of blockers (pawns),
then gets flushed out and starts running on his own in the open
field.  After much trial and tribulation, each guy meets his own
brand of horrible death (or, if you prefer, career-ending
injury) at the end of the journey.  

#1:  Failed Reverse

First, we've got an instant classic that was recently contested
at the Reshevsky Memorial, July 1992.

GM Michael Rohde-GM Zsuzsa Polgar  

1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Nf3 f5 4.d4 e4 5.Ng5 h6 6.Nh3 g5 7.Ng1 Bg7
8.e3 Nf6 9.h4 Kf7?

The "play" starts as a sweep to the right side.  However, those
in the know play the apparently unpositional 9...g4 to gain
space and challenge white to prove the worth of the 7. Ng1 idea.

 10.Nh3 Kg6 11.f3 Qe7 12.fxe4 Nxe4 13.Nxe4! Qxe4 14.Bd3! Qxg2  

[diagram]

caption:  Post Pattern Fails without Pass Protection 

15.Bxf5+!!

The beautiful "B" following the 14th move "A."

15...Kxf5 16.Rf1+ Ke6

Black ducks right to avoid the first wave of rushers.  16...Kg6
is brutally punished by 17. Qd3+ Kh5 18. Nf4+! gxf4 19. Qf5+.

 17.Qh5 

[diagram]

caption:   Floating in the Middle

Troy Aikman is looking for receivers but the only one eligible
is too far downfield on g2.

17...Ne5

Afterwards, both players agreed that 17...Bxd4 was the best try
with white only winning after (do we even have to say it)
further complications. 

 18.dxe5 Bxe5 19.Qf7+ Kd6  

[diagram]

caption:  The secondary joins in 

20.Rf6+ Kc5 21.b4+

Just as in a pre-season game, the coach is letting all the subs
and rookies play to prove their worth.

Maybe I'll stop this ridiculous metaphor soon.

21...Kxb4 22.Bd2+ Ka3 23.c5 d5

A little weirdness to further enliven things:  some of black's
guys run fult-tilt diagonally across the field, but more or less
in the wrong direction.

 24.cxd6 Bg3+ 25.Rf2  

Black calls a time-out.  

Any hope left?  Let's tell the tight-end (the QB) to scream and
run all the way downfield to d1 and see what happens...

[diagram]

caption:  Marching band on the field?  

25...Qh1+ 26.Ke2 Bg4+ 27.Kd3 Bd1 

So Black's blockers are in position for...what?

[diagram]

caption:  The whistle stops the play

 28.Bc1+ Ka4 29.Qc4+ Ka5 30.Bd2+ 1-0

Black voluntarily falls down rather than have a couple of three
hundred pound major pieces finish the job.

#2:  Exploded Pocket

How can we continue after that first game?  For the sporting
connoisseur, instant replay this subtle morsel:  the quarterback
is safe in his pocket the whole middlegame, then suddenly he's
flushed and runs to the middle.  White's safeties come up
and...let's just see the moves.

GM Alex Wojtkiewicz-GM Leonid Yudasin  Nor'easter, MA  1991

1.Nf3 d5 2.c4 e6 3.g3 dxc4 4.Qa4+ Bd7 5.Qxc4 Bc6 6.Bg2 Nf6 7.O-O
Be7 8.Qc2 O-O 9.Nc3 b5!?

Not a clearly bad anti-Catalan treatment from the affable
Candidate vegetarian.  

Personally, I like the refreshing vulgarity of this voluntary
weakening.  Remind me to ask Deep Thought what it thinks.    

[diagram]

caption:  Expansion Team  

10.b3 Na6 11.Bb2 Nb4 12.Qc1 a5 13.Rd1 Qb8 14.d3 Rd8 15.Qd2 Qb6
16.Rac1 Rac8(?!) 17.a4!  

[diagram]

caption:  Sideline run 

White starts a creeping action to force some serious
concessions.  I call into question black's last while
conveniently not offering improvements. 

 17...bxa4 18.Nxa4 Qa7 19.Ne5 Bd5 20.Bxd5 exd5 21.Nc6 Nxc6
22.Rxc6 Ne8 23.Rdc1 Rb8 24.Be5 Rb7 25.Qf4 h6!

Cute, but nothing changes.  You say "Big Deal."  

 26.h4 Bd6 27.Bxd6 Nxd6 28.Nc3 Ne8 29.Qf5 Rxb3 30.Nxd5 Rb7
31.Ne7+ Kf8 32.Ng6+ Kg8 33.Ne5 Nd6  

[diagram]

caption:  Delayed Blitz

 34.Rxd6! Rxd6

34...cxd6 is out of the question:  35. Nc6 followed by 36. Nxd8
and the knight will be untouchable because of Rc8.

 35.Qxf7+ Kh7 36.Qf5+ Kg8 37.Qc8+ Kh7 38.Nf7 Rf6 39.Qh8+ Kg6
40.Ne5+ Kf5 41.Qe8!  

[diagram]

caption:  Nobody downfield

The Cards' Hart has to eat the ball with absolutely nobody
between the helpless QB and white's free safety.

41...Qb6

Not critical because it allows mate in one.  To be fair, the
main alternative 41...Re6 also allows forced mate:   42.Qf7+!
Kxe5 (42...Rf6 43.e4+ Kxe5 44.Qd5 mate) 43.Qf4+ Kd5 44.e4+ Kd4
45.e5+! does the trick.

42. e4 mate

#3:  Busted Play

For the last installment, we dig up something you may recall
from Joel's "Theoretically Speaking" Chess Life series.  Here,
black's quarterback is a wild scrambler  la Fran Tarkenton.  He
gets out of the pocket, goes left, goes up, goes right...

Ginsburg - NM Jack Young   Plymouth, 1990

1.Nf3 e6 2.d4 f5 3.e4!?

Does everyone remember the Sjdin Gambit?

3...fxe4 4.Ng5 Nf6 5.f3 

[r.g.c. note:  I hope everyone knows that 5...c5! is strong here]

5...exf3?! 6.Qxf3 Nc6 7.Bd3?

Too exuberant; the calm 7. c3 was called for.

7...Nxd4 8.Qh3 d5 9.Nxh7 Nxh7 10.Bxh7 Nxc2+ 

I think 10...Qf6! is the shot here.  

11.Ke2

11. Kd1 is the saner choice.

11...Kd7?

Black collapses his own bubble.  With white's rook on a1 doomed,
this certainly looks attractive, but in retrospect 11...Nd4+
would have been annoying or again 11...Qf6! [12. Rf1 Nd4+ 13.
Ke1 Qe5+!

[diagram]

Kill the guy with the ball

 12.Rf1 Nxa1 13.Rf7+ Kc6 14.Qc3+ Kb6 15.Be3+ c5

Black keeps throwing blockers in the way so white needs to
activate the only player not yet on the scene:  the QN.  

 16.b4 d4 17.bxc5+ Bxc5 18.Qb2+ Kc6 19.Nc3!!  

[diagram]

caption:  Crunching blow

19...Qb6

Reasonable, but it loses.  There were lots of choices: 

a.  19...Rxh7 20.Qb5+ Kd6 21.Ne4+ Ke5 22.Qxc5+ Qd5 23.Qc7+ Kxe4
24.Rf4 or 24. Qf4 mate,

b.  19...dxe3 20.Be4+ Kd6 21.Nb5 mate!; 

c.  19...dxc3 20.Be4+ Kd6 21.Bxc5+ Kxc5 22.Qxc3+ with heavy win
of material, or 

d 19...a6, which looks like the toughest.  Then, who knows,
probably 20.Be4+ Kd6 21.Bxb7 is best.  I would love to play 21.
Bf3, but this time can black get away with 21...dxc3 22. Bxc5+
Kxc5?  

20.Be4+ Kd6 21.Nb5+ Ke5 22.Bf3!

Once again, the "receiver" on a1 is too far away from the
passer.  23. Bf4 mate is the savage threat that keeps popping up
for the rest of the game.

22...Rh4 23.g4!  

[diagram]

[r.g.c. note:  How does this compare with g4! from F-S II, Game 1 ?!] 

caption:  This was one Cotton Bowl to remember; it's even got a queen
sacrifice.  

23...g5 24.Bxg5 Rxh2+ 25.Kd1 Rxb2!

With a smile, black gives up possession.

 26.Bf4 mate  

[diagram of final position]

caption:  Let's go to the videotape

Reasoned Conclusion

So there they are, three games linked only by the fact that I
just linked them.  I apologize if you feel cheated that game #1
did not end in mate as the other two did.   

Do readers have memorable kinghunts or silly metaphors of their
own they'd like to share?    No?  Sorry to hear that.

Next time:  Ulf Andersson endings as Rock Cornish Game Hens, or
possibly Labourdonnais-McDonnell match games as an accordion
solo.  Naturally, it all depends on what Michael Wilder tells us
to do.   If we can't find him, we'll have to ask one of the
Samford boys.

[R.G.C. Bonus - another article tacked on!]

"Play It Again, Sammy"

by CC's Hollywood Correspondent, NM Andy Sacks

Those of you on the East Coast, not to mention the far-flung
regions of our increasingly chess-loving nation, can hardly be
expected to fully grasp the sense of excitement currently
gripping Southern Caifornia in anticipation of next fall's World
Championship Match scheduled for Los Angeles.  But while many of
our planned chessic activities-- e.g. side events, some to
include titled players whose influx from around theglobe will be
eagerly reported by a large international press contingent-- are
well known outside our area, a few are not.

For example, the response of Hollywood to the local chess fervor
is less well publicized-- as yet.  It has, however, come to our
attention, through unimpeachable studio sources, that the Silver
Screen will also glitter with Caissa's finest.  Many film
classics are currently being quietly remade to incorporate chess
themes, and splashy release is projected to coincide with the
1993 match.

While lunching recently on the Sunset Strip, a sampling of
working titles came our way:

Gone With the Winawer

Dr. Strangemove

The Wizard of Odds

Rating without a Cause

The Good, the Bad, and the Unplayable

I am a Fugitive from a Pawn Chain

Miracle On the 34th Move

Invasion of the Pawn Snatchers

Luft Story

Bad Bishop at Black Rock

Korchnoi's Complaint

I wonder who's Kibitzing Her Now

The Day the Board Caught Fire

Beach Blanket Benko

They Died With Their Felt On

By the by, it was suggested by production big-wigs that if the
chess mania continues to spiral, and the phenomenal success of
Chess Chow follows suit, delectable entries such as the
following may be served:

Gunga Dinner

On the Watercress

A Man for All Seasonings

Planet of the Crepes  

Editor's note:  On the serious side, the Paramount is currently
shooting  "Searching For Bobby Fischer" (expect a few familiar
faces) while a Fischer film is also in the works.


[THE END]


R.G.C. Fans may contact GM Joel Benjamin at 212 580 0343 for more
information about the _Chess Chow_ Magazine, or e-mail me and
I will send you more info via e-mail.

Thanks for your support! Gala 64-pp end of year superspecial due
back from the printer in one day!!!

-"aries" on ICS
Newsgroups: rec.games.chess