chess

QBR Checkmate

QBR-Mate

I won this correspondence chess game recently when I caught the Black King in a QBR checkmate. Position of pieces at game's end is shown above, and our full move record is below:'

1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. Nf3 Bg4 5. h3 Bxf3 6. exf3 e6 7. Bxc4 Bb4 8. Be3 Nf6 9. O-O O-O 10. a3 Nh5 11. axb4 Nxb4 12. f4 a5 13. d5 exd5 14. Nxd5 c6 15. Nxb4 Qe7 16. Na2 b5 17. Bd3 Rad8 18. b4 axb4 19. Qb3 c5 20. Bxb5 h6 21. Nc1 Rb8 22. Qc4 Qf6 23. Nd3 Rfc8 24. Bxc5 Rb7 25. Qxb4 Qe6 26. Rfe1 Qd5 27. Qc4 Qf5 28. Re3 Rbc7 29. Re5 Qf6 30. Ra6 Qd8 31. Rxh5 Qf6 32. Rxf6 gxf6 33. Rxh6 Rxc5 34. Nxc5 Kg7 35. Rh5 Kg6 36. Qd5 Kg7 37. Bc4 Rf8 38. Nd7 Rd8 39. Qxf7# 1-0

Posted 16/Jun/2021 ~ 15:30 Central Time #blog #chess

by Roscoe

Checkmate by pawn

Mate by Pawn

I seldom post about it these days because my life away from the Internet is becoming WAY busier post-pandemic, but I still play chess every day. A lot of chess, every day.

A few days ago I won this game with the White pieces by trapping the Black King in what may be the first-ever-for-me pawn-pawn-King checkmate. As you can see in the graphic posted above, my 69. f7 was the kill shot, but every possible escape move by the Black King was covered by my e pawn or my White King.

The full move record of this game is below:

1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 Bd7 5. e3 e6 6. a3 Nc6 7. Bxc4 h6 8. O-O a6 9. Ne5 Nxe5 10. dxe5 Nh7 11. h3 g5 12. Bd3 f5 13. Qh5+ Ke7 14. Bd2 Be8 15. Qf3 c6 16. Qe2 b5 17. a4 b4 18. Nb1 a5 19. e4 f4 20. f3 Qd4+ 21. Kh1 Qxb2 22. Bc3 Qb3 23. Bd4 Kf7 24. Bc4 Qxb1 25. Raxb1 c5 26. Ba1 Bxa4 27. Qa2 Bd7 28. Rfd1 Bc8 29. Qf2 h5 30. h4 a4 31. Rd6 Bxd6 32. Rd1 Be7 33. hxg5 Nxg5 34. Kg1 a3 35. Qa2 h4 36. Bxe6+ Bxe6 37. Qe2 Rhg8 38. Kf2 h3 39. Qf1 h2 40. Qh1 Rh8 41. Ke2 Bc4+ 42. Kd2 Rad8+ 43. Kc2 Be2 44. Rd2 Rxd2+ 45. Kxd2 Rh7 46. Kxe2 Ke6 47. Kf2 c4 48. g3 c3 49. gxf4 c2 50. f5+ Kf7 51. e6+ Ke8 52. Kg2 c1=Q 53. Qxc1 h1=Q+ 54. Qxh1 Rxh1 55. Kxh1 Nxf3 56. f6 Bf8 57. e7 Bh6 58. Kg2 Ne5 59. Bxe5 a2 60. Kf3 b3 61. Ke2 a1=Q 62. Bxa1 Bg5 63. e5 Kf7 64. Kd3 Bf4 65. Ke4 Bc1 66. Kd5 Ke8 67. Ke6 b2 68. f7# 1-0

Posted 07/Jun/2021 ~ 08:20 Central Time #blog #chess

by Roscoe

Rook-King Checkmate

Checkmate

My last correspondence chess win of April 2021 was a checkmate of the White King with my Black Rook on h2 delivering the final attack. As you can see by the position of pieces on our board at game's end, pictured above, the White King's only possible flight squares were blocked by my g5 Bishop, my h6 pawn, and my Black King on the h7 square.

Our full move record is below:

1. e4 d6 2. Bc4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. d4 Nc6 5. d5 Ne5 6. Bb5+ Bd7 7. dxe6 fxe6 8. Nf3 Bxb5 9. Nxb5 Be7 10. Ng5 O-O 11. Nxe6 Qd7 12. Nbd4 c5 13. Nxg7 Kxg7 14. f4 Neg4 15. Nf5+ Kh8 16. e5 dxe5 17. Qf3 e4 18. Qc3 Qxf5 19. O-O h6 20. b3 a5 21. Ba3 b6 22. Rae1 Kh7 23. h3 Nd5 24. Qd2 e3 25. Qe2 Nc3 26. Qf3 e2 27. Qxg4 Qxg4 28. hxg4 exf1=Q+ 29. Kxf1 Rxf4+ 30. Kg1 Bh4 31. Re3 Bf2+ 32. Kh2 Bxe3 33. Bb2 Bd4 34. Kh3 Re8 35. g3 Rf2 36. Bc1 Be3 37. Bb2 Ne2 38. a4 Ng1+ 39. Kh4 Bg5+ 40. Kh5 Rh2# 0-1

Posted 07/May/2021 ~ 10:00 Central Time #blog #Chess

by Roscoe

Another Recent Win

Q-R Checkmate

I won this correspondence chess game recently with a Queen-Rook checkmate. The White King was checkmated by my f2 Queen who was defended by her a2 Rook.

The position of pieces at game's end is above, and our full move record is below:

1. e4 d6 2. d4 a6 3. d5 e5 4. h3 Nf6 5. g4 h6 6. g5 Nxe4 7. h4 h5 8. Be2 g6 9. Nc3 Nxc3 10. bxc3 Bg7 11. a4 O-O 12. Ba3 e4 13. Bb2 Nd7 14. Nh3 Nc5 15. Qc1 Re8 16. Ba3 e3 17. f3 Bxc3+ 18. Kf1 c6 19. dxc6 Bxa1 20. Qxa1 Nxa4 21. Nf4 bxc6 22. Qd4 Nb6 23. Bb2 Re5 24. Qb4 a5 25. Bxe5 axb4 26. Bd4 c5 27. Bf6 Qd7 28. Kg2 Qf5 29. Bd3 Qxf4 30. Re1 Nd5 31. c4 Nc3 32. Be4 Nxe4 33. fxe4 Ra2+ 34. Kg1 Qh2+ 35. Kf1 Qf2# 0-1

Posted 01/May/2021 ~ 11:15 Central Time #blog #chess

by Roscoe

Another Black Win

Black Win

Offline life has kept me too busy to talk about my chess lately, but I have been playing everyday. At the moment I have 12 active correspondence chess games in progress, which is just about as much as I can handle right now given the increased pace of my life away from the board.

This is one game I won recently with Black when White resigned after my 51...e2. There was nothing White could do to prevent one of my pawns from advancing to the last rank and promoting to a Queen. Checkmating the White King then would be inevitable.

The position of pieces at game's end is above, and our full move record is below:

1. d4 d5 2. f4 Nc6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 e6 5. Bd3 g6 6. O-O Bg7 7. g3 Nb4 8. c3 Nxd3 9. Qxd3 O-O 10. a4 a5 11. b4 axb4 12. cxb4 b6 13. b5 Ne4 14. Nc3 c5 15. dxc5 bxc5 16. Ne5 c4 17. Qc2 Bb7 18. Ba3 Re8 19. Nxe4 dxe4 20. Nxc4 Bxa1 21. Rxa1 Qc8 22. Qb3 Rd8 23. Nb6 Qc7 24. Nxa8 Bxa8 25. Bb2 Rd3 26. Qa2 Rxe3 27. Rc1 Qd8 28. Ba1 h5 29. Qb2 f6 30. Rc8 Qxc8 31. Qxf6 Re1+ 32. Kf2 Rxa1 33. Qxa1 Qc2+ 34. Ke1 Qxh2 35. Qc3 Qg1+ 36. Kd2 Qf2+ 37. Kc1 e3 38. Qc8+ Kg7 39. Qd7+ Kh6 40. Qd1 Qxg3 41. Qd3 Qxf4 42. b6 Be4 43. Qd1 Bf3 44. Qe1 Qxa4 45. b7 Qa3+ 46. Kc2 Bxb7 47. Qc1 Qc5+ 48. Kb1 Be4+ 49. Kb2 Qxc1+ 50. Kxc1 Bf3 51. Kc2 e2 0-1

Posted 29/Apr/2021 ~ 12:15 Central Time #blog #chess

by Roscoe

Another Black Win

Black Wins

It took 61 darned moves, but I finally won this Correspondence Chess game with the Black pieces after my opponent playing White resigned.

He and I had knocked off all of each others' major pieces and we were left with only Kings and pawns. Over on the right side of our board, as pictured above, I had effectively blocked his pawns. And on the left side of the board my King was patiently ushering a group of Black pawns down to White's King row where I would promote at least one of them to a Queen. Then I would force an eventual Checkmate.

It might take many more moves to end this game by checkmate, but it would happen eventually. There was nothing he could do to prevent it. He was right to resign when he did.

The position of pieces on our board at game's end is above, and our full move record is below:

1. e4 Nc6 2. d4 d6 3. d5 Ne5 4. Be2 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. h3 Bg7 7. Nf3 O-O 8. Nxe5 dxe5 9. Bg5 c6 10. dxc6 bxc6 11. Bd2 c5 12. O-O Bb7 13. Bf3 Ba6 14. Re1 Rb8 15. b3 h5 16. Na4 Nd7 17. c4 Rc8 18. Nc3 Nf6 19. Qc1 Bb7 20. Rd1 e6 21. Bg5 Qa5 22. Bd2 Bc6 23. Bh6 Kh7 24. Be3 Rfd8 25. Kf1 Rxd1+ 26. Nxd1 Rd8 27. Qc2 Bh6 28. Qb2 Bxe3 29. Nxe3 Qc7 30. a4 Bxe4 31. Bxe4 Nxe4 32. Qc2 Nd2+ 33. Ke2 f5 34. Rd1 Ne4 35. f3 Ng3+ 36. Kf2 h4 37. Nf1 e4 38. Nxg3 hxg3+ 39. Ke1 exf3 40. gxf3 f4 41. Rd2 Rxd2 42. Qxd2 e5 43. Kf1 Qb7 44. Qb2 Qxf3+ 45. Kg1 Qh5 46. Kg2 Qf5 47. Qc3 Kh6 48. Qf3 Qc2+ 49. Kg1 Qh2+ 50. Kf1 Qxh3+ 51. Ke2 Qh2+ 52. Kf1 a5 53. Ke1 Qg1+ 54. Ke2 Qf2+ 55. Qxf2 gxf2 56. Kxf2 g5 57. Kf3 Kh5 58. Kg2 g4 59. Kf2 Kh4 60. Kg2 f3+ 61. Kf2 e4 0-1

And the adventure continues.

Posted 16/Apr/2021 ~ 13:10 Central Time #blog #chess

by Roscoe

Queen-Rook-Rook Checkmate

Checkmate

I won this correspondence chess game this afternoon by checkmate with my Black Queen at d3 delivering the fatal strike to the White King. My Rooks at the Queen's side, on the c and e files, covered the King's only possible flight squares.

The position of pieces at game's end is above, and our full move record is below:

1. e4 d6 2. Qf3 Nf6 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. Bb5 a6 5. Bd3 Bg4 6. Qg3 e5 7. f3 Be6 8. Nge2 Nh5 9. Qf2 g6 10. g4 Nf4 11. Nxf4 exf4 12. Ne2 g5 13. c4 Ne5 14. Bc2 Qd7 15. a4 Nxc4 16. Qd4 Rg8 17. b3 Ne5 18. Bb2 Nxf3+ 19. Kf2 Nxd4 20. Nxd4 Bxg4 21. h3 Bh5 22. Bd3 Bg7 23. Nf5 Bxb2 24. Rag1 O-O-O 25. Rb1 Ba3 26. Bc4 Bc5+ 27. d4 Bxd4+ 28. Nxd4 Rde8 29. Bd3 Re5 30. Rbg1 f6 31. Rc1 Rc5 32. Rb1 Rc3 33. Bc4 Re8 34. Rhg1 Qxh3 35. Be2 Bxe2 36. Kxe2 Rxe4+ 37. Kd1 Qd3# 0-1

And the adventure continues.

Posted 07/Apr/2021 ~ 19:35 Central Time #RoscoeEllis #blog #SeniorLiving #chess

by Roscoe

White Win

Queen fork

I won this correspondence chess game earlier today when my opponent playing Black resigned after my 37.Qf5+. He was right to do this. My Queen had forked his King (hence the check) and his e4-Rook. After he moved his King out of check I'd have taken that Rook. Then he'd have been left with only one Rook and a very exposed King, while I had my Queen and my Rook pair and a well-defended King. Checkmate would then have come quickly and easily.

Our board at game's end is above, and our full move record below:

1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. e3 b5 4. Nc3 c6 5. g3 Nf6 6. Bg2 a6 7. Nf3 Bg4 8. h3 Bh5 9. O-O e6 10. Re1 h6 11. Ne2 Nbd7 12. Nf4 Bd6 13. b3 Nb6 14. Nxh5 Nxh5 15. Ne5 Nf6 16. Nxc6 Qc7 17. d5 Qd7 18. dxe6 Qxe6 19. Nd4 Qd7 20. Bc6 O-O 21. Bxd7 Nbxd7 22. Nc6 Rfe8 23. Qxd6 Rad8 24. Ne7+ Kh8 25. Bb2 a5 26. Rad1 Ne4 27. Qd4 Nef6 28. Nd5 cxb3 29. axb3 b4 30. Qa7 Ne5 31. Nxf6 gxf6 32. Bxe5 fxe5 33. Qxf7 Rg8 34. Qf6+ Kh7 35. Qxe5 Rde8 36. Qxa5 Re4 37. Qf5+ 1-0

And the adventure continues.

Posted 03/Apr/2021 ~ 17:10 Central Time #RoscoeEllis #blog #SeniorLiving #chess

by Roscoe

And Another Win With Black

Black Win

Just as my month of March ended with a won correspondence chess game, so too does my month of April begin. Yesterday, on April 1st, my opponent playing White resigned this game to me after my 41...b2, giving me the win with Black by default.

He was right to surrender. He could see that on my next move I was going to promote the b-pawn to a Queen, making my already overwhelming material advantage even greater.

Our board at game's end is shown above, and our full move record below:

1. e4 Nc6 2. d4 d6 3. Bb5 Bd7 4. d5 Ne5 5. Bxd7+ Qxd7 6. Nc3 Nf6 7. Nf3 h6 8. Nh4 O-O-O 9. a4 g5 10. Nf5 e6 11. dxe6 fxe6 12. Nd4 d5 13. exd5 exd5 14. a5 a6 15. O-O Ne4 16. f3 Nxc3 17. bxc3 Bc5 18. Kh1 Rhe8 19. Ne2 Rg8 20. Ng3 Rgf8 21. Ba3 Bxa3 22. Rxa3 Nc4 23. Rb3 Ne3 24. Qd4 Nxf1 25. Qa7 c6 26. Nxf1 Rfe8 27. Qf2 Kb8 28. h3 Qd6 29. Ng3 c5 30. Nf5 Qf4 31. Nxh6 Qc1+ 32. Kh2 Re1 33. Qg3+ Ka7 34. Qf2 Rc8 35. g3 Qe3 36. Qg2 c4 37. Ng4 Qe7 38. Nh6 cxb3 39. Nf5 Qe2 40. Nd4 Qxg2+ 41. Kxg2 b2 0-1

And the adventure continues.

Posted 02/Apr/2021 ~ 12:00 Central Time #RoscoeEllis #blog #SeniorLiving #chess

by Roscoe

Another Win with Black

Black Win

Late last night my opponent playing White resigned after my Bishop pinned his Rook to his Queen with 48...Bd4.

Throughout our endgame my Black army had been harassing his King mercilessly while whittling away his pieces. At game's end his King was practically defenseless and threatened by many of my men. And he was about to lose his last remaining Rook. He was right to resign when he did.

The final position of our pieces is above, and our full move record is below:

1. e4 d6 2. d4 a6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Nf6 5. Ne2 Bg7 6. O-O O-O 7. Be3 b5 8. Qd2 Ng4 9. h3 Nxe3 10. Qxe3 Nc6 11. c3 Bb7 12. a4 e5 13. axb5 axb5 14. Rxa8 Qxa8 15. d5 Na5 16. b4 Nb3 17. Nd2 Nxd2 18. Qxd2 c5 19. bxc5 dxc5 20. Nc1 h5 21. Nb3 c4 22. Nc5 Qc8 23. d6 Bf6 24. Rd1 Qxc5 25. Qb2 Rd8 26. d7 Bc6 27. h4 Rxd7 28. Re1 Rd6 29. Qc2 b4 30. cxb4 Qxb4 31. Rb1 Qc5 32. Bf1 Rd4 33. Rb8+ Kg7 34. Bg2 Qd6 35. Rb6 Rd1+ 36. Kh2 Rd2 37. Qc1 Rxf2 38. Rb2 Rxg2+ 39. Rxg2 Qd4 40. Rd2 Qe3 41. Qd1 Bxe4 42. Re2 Qf3 43. Qe1 Bd3 44. Rf2 Qg4 45. Qg1 Bf5 46. Kg2 Qh3+ 47. Kf3 e4+ 48. Ke2 Bd4 0-1

And the adventure continues.

Posted 01/Apr/2021 ~ 12:40 Central Time #RoscoeEllis #blog #SeniorLiving #chess

by Roscoe