A Reflective Time at the Chess Club-The Third Kansas City Open

Site Of Chess Tournament

It's becoming hard to view myself as a genuinely independent commentator on Riverside tournaments since I can't ever discover operational errors! I just may not be looking hard enough though and this is only my second report on a tourney there so I've got ample opportunity for criticism in the future. This event did spark a whirlwind of reflective thoughts on the nature of the chessic struggle and it's peculiarities that made it quite the topsy turvey time. I walked away from it pondering the limitless capacity for improvement that marks our royal game that's been acknowleged by folks with incredible chessic talent like the infamous Alexander Alekhine....

"In the precisely enunciated,beautifully modulated dicton of the day,the interviewer asks whether Alekhine does not by now know all of the combinations in chess. His voice high-pitched and heavily accented,Alekhine replies, "Oh no, believe me, a lifetime is not enough to learn everything about chess."

-Bobby Fischer Goes to War: How the Soviets Lost the Most Extraordinary Chess Match of All Time by David Edmonds and John Eidinow on pgs. 70-71

It seems like there's always something you can work on to improve your chess whether it's curing a lack of concentration at the board or trying to supercharge your attacking prowess. I was reminded of this when I fell into the Noah's Ark Trap in quite the bizarre incident since I took my time on the fatal move but blundered away a piece anyway.

Here's a link for folks who aren't in the know on what the Noah's Ark Trap is.

It might be apt to put a chessic spin on Thomas Jefferson, and say that eternal vigilance is the price of victory in our timeless game. A consistency of alertness has to be maintained in the face of the countless unrelated thoughts that may be swirling in your head.

The Manley Nick Takes a Trip Down Chessic Memory Lane

I rummaged through my stack of notation sheets in my room and managed to find some games that I particularly like so I wanted to post them on here for any kind of critical feedback readers might have.

They'll be posted in algebraic notation and the first one was played on August 27th,2005.
Roman Bonzon 1596-Nicholas Manley 1515
U.S. Class Championships-Class C Section-Round 2-Board 28

1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.e3 e6 4.Bd3 Be7 5.Nbd2 0-0 6.0-0 Nbd7 7.c3 b6 8.e4 de4 9.Ne4 Bb7 10.Nf6+ Nf6 11.Qe2 c5 12.Bg5 cd4 13.Nd4 Rc8 14.Rad1 Qc7 15.Bf6 Bf6 16.Be4 Rfd8 17.Bb7 Qb7 18.Qe3 Rd7 19.Nb5 Rcd8 20.Qe2 Qa6 21.Rd7 Rd7 22.a3 Qa4 23.Rc1 g6 24.g3 a6 25.Nd4 Bd4 26.cd4 Rd5 27.Rc4 Qd7 28.Qc2 Kg7 29.Qe4 b5 30.Rc5 Rd4 31.Qe5+ f6 32.Qc7 Kh6 33.Qd7 Rd7 34.Rc6 Rd2 35.Re6 Rb2 36.Ra6 Ra2 37.Rf6 Ra3 38.Rb6 Rb3 39.Kf1 Kg5 40.h3 Kf5 41.Ke2 Ke4 42.Re6+ Kd4 43.Re7 b4 44.Rb7 Rc3 45.Rd7+ Kc4 46.Rg7 b3 47.Rc7+ Kb4 48.Rb7+ Ka3 49.Ra7+ Kb2 50.Kd2 Rc2+ 51.Ke3 Kb1 52.Rg7 Rc6 53.Kd2 b2 54.Ra7 Rd6+ 55.Ke2 Rd5 56.f4 Kc2 57.Rc7+ Kb3 58.Rb7+ Kc3 59.Rc7+ Kb4 60.Rb7+ Rb5 0-1

This was the first and so far only rated tournament game in which I've made use of the Lucena's position to squeeze out a win in a rook endgame so it's one of my favorites.

The second game was played on May 29th,2005.
Nicholas Manley 1340-National Master Mike Langer 2291
North American Open-Open Section-Round 5-Board 7

1.e4 c5 2.d4 cd4 3.c3 dc3 4.Nc3 d6 5.Nf3 e6 6.Bc4 a6 7.0-0 Nf6 8.Qe2 Nbd7 9.Bf4 b5 10.Bb3 Be7 11.Rfd1 Qb6 12.Rac1 0-0 13.Rd2 Nc5 14.Bc2 b4 15.Na4 Na4 16.Ba4 Bb7 17.Bc2 Rac8 18.Rcd1 Qc5 19.Bb1 Rfd8 20.h3 h6 21.Bg3 Qc4 22.Qc4 Rc4 23.e5 Nd5 24.ed6 Bd6 25.Bd6 Rd6 26.Ne5 Rc7 27.Be4 Rdd8 28.Kh2 Rdc8 29.Nd3 a5 30.Bf3 g5 31.g3 Kg7 32.Bg2 Ba8 33.Rde1 Rc2 34.Ree2 Rd2 35.Rd2 Kf6 36.Be4 Ne3 37.fe3 Be4 38.Rf2 Ke7 39.Ne5 f6 40.Ng4 Rc1 0-1

This game also qualifies as a memorable one because my far far more experienced opponent congratulated me on my play afterwards and I'd striven to play to the utmost of my ability.

I played the Smith Morra Gambit against the Sicilian Defense which my opponent accepted so I was down a pawn against a National Master with my compensation being slowly eroded but I hunkered down to fight on!

It was a double whammy of a joyful feeling to know I had tried to do my best in a tough situation and also get told I had played well by my opponent afterwards.

Here's a link for those interested in viewing the games online.