Chessola

Chess for no good reason, part 25
Why do you play chess?

There are two types of chess players at the U.S. Open ...

Oh, don't you hate it when people say something like that? There's always at least two ways of doing things or reasons for doing them. It's not like everyone ever does anything in the same way. Indeed, there are probably as many different reasons for playing in any chess tournament as there are players.

But the two I would like to highlight at the U.S. Open are the Vacationers versus the Ambitious. My first three opponents (Grey, Cunningham and Koller) were clearly vacationers. They were serious about the games, but that wasn't their main focus for being at this tournament. They were on vacation.

My opponent this round was an intense young fellow from Iowa who was clearly ambitious, using the U.S. Open as a springboard to meet really tough opposition and sharpen his game. I was not surprised to learn a few years later that he had made Master.

Against a relative fish like me--and a vacationer, at that--he was taking no prisoners.

Moody,David (1640) - Rose,John (1888) [B06]
U.S. Open Lincoln, Neb. (4), 13.08.1975

1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Be3

I played this on the spot, having never looked at it before. I can't recall my reasoning now, but it's probably not worth recalling.

3...d6

Preferring to stay in more quiet lines than lashing out with ...c5.

4.Nf3

From what I can find, White's idea here should be Nc3/Qd2 and possibly f3, with sort of a Yugoslav Attack. It doesn't seem to be all that strong, but my continuation is definitely gummy.

4...Nf6 5.Nbd2 0–0 6.Bd3 Ng4 7.Bf4 e5 8.dxe5 dxe5 9.Bg3 Qe7 10.h3 Nh6 11.Nc4 f6 12.Qe2 c6 13.0–0–0

This is definitely wrong. If White thinks he has a kingside attack, he's got another think coming. In the first place, Black is well entrenched there; in the second place, White's pieces block his kingside pawns and can't move out of the way easily.

13...Be6 14.Kb1 Nd7 15.Ne3 Nc5 16.Bh4 Nf7 17.g4 Nxd3 18.cxd3 Nd6 19.Nd2 Nb5 20.Qf3 Qb4

A simple threat, but not easily met. White's pawn sacrifice just makes things worse, and his subsequent childish kingside "threats" are met by a purposeful march of the a-pawn, a.k.a. Cap'n Crunch.

21.Nb3 Bxb3 22.axb3 Qxb3 23.Ka1 Nd4 24.Qg2 a5 25.Rhg1 a4 26.Nf5 a3 0-1

Mate in three, no matter what.

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