201211 - Northwest Chess!

a forced draw 42...Rce7 43.Rd7! Qc6
a)43...e3 44.Qxg7+ Rxg7=; b)43...
Kh8 I get out of Qxg7+ but white
now has 44.Qd6 with many interesting
lines, that all end in draws 44...
Rxe6 45.Qd5 (b)45.Rxg7 is drawn
45...Rxd6 and rook anywhere up
g-file 46.Rg6+ Kh7 47.Rg7+ Kh8
48.Rg5+ Kh7=; b) 45.Bxg7+ Kg8
46.Qd5 Qc6 47.Qd4 e3 48.Bxh6
R6e7 49.Qg4+ Kh7 50.Rxe7+ Rxe7
51.Bf8 Rd7 52.Qh3+ Kg8 53.Bd6
Rg7 54.Qe6+ Kh7 55.Qh3+ Kg8=)
45...Qc6 46.Qxc6 Rxc6 47.Rxg7
Ree6 48.Rxa7+ Kg8 49.Rg7+ Kf8
50.Rb7 e3 51.Kf1 b4 52.Rb6 Ke8
53.Bd4 Kd7 54.a6 Rc7 55.Ke2
Ra7 56.Rxb4 Raxa6 57.Bxe3 Ra2+
58.Kf3 Rc2 59.Bd4=; 44.Qxg7+
Rxg7 45.Rxg7+ Kf8 46.Rf7+ Kg8
47.Rg7+ Kf8=.
42...Rce7
43.b4
43.Qd4 again with Rd7 is a forced
draw still 43...Kh8 44.Rd7 Qc6
45.Rd6=.
43...e3! 44.g4??
44.Bc3 e2 45.Qd4 and computer
calculates a draw 45...Kh8 (45...
e1Q+ 46.Bxe1 Rxe6 47.Bc3=)
46.Rd7 a6 47.Rd6 Rf8 48.Qe4 Rf1+
49.Kh2 Rd1! 50.Rb6 Rc1 51.Bd2
Rf1 52.Bc3 e1Q 53.Bxe1 Rf6
54.Bg3 Rfxe6 55.Qf5 Re8 56.Qf7=;
44.Kf1? Rf8+ 45.Kg1 (45.Ke1 Qe8
46.Qxe3 Qg6–+) 45...Rf6 46.Qxe3
Rfxe6 47.Qb3 Kf8 48.Qf3+ Rf7
49.Qd5 Rxd6 50.cxd6 a6–+.
44...e2 45.Bc3 e1Q+ 46.Bxe1
Rxe6 47.Qd5 Kh8 48.Bc3?
48.Rxe6 Qxe6 49.Qxe6 Rxe6
50.Kf1 Re4–+.
48...Rxd6 0–1
A good game, with not many mistakes,
except in the end where Carl
seemed to be tired and lost focus.
Steven added the following conclusion
which I omitted last month
due to space constraints. Once
again, I apologize.
“First I want to thank my Lord and
Savior, Jesus Christ, and I want to
thank Daniel Gay for the fellowship and
encouragement in between our rounds,
and nice study and lunch together after
our game. He and his mom and family,
have been really wonderful support as
well. Whenever his mom would see me,
she would always run up to hug me, as
we’ve become friends.
A special thanks to my dear friend,
Mikeal Davis, who though he couldn’t
make it, would send me scriptures before
my rounds during the tournament, when
I really needed to hear them, as I started
to feel a little fearful in playing just to
win so others may see. The first verse was
Colossians 3:23, which says in whatever
I do, I am to do
it heartily unto
the Lord, and not
to men. And the
second verse was
in Joshua 1:8-9
which says, to be
strong and of good
courage, and not to
be afraid, for God
is with me wherever
I go, and I shall meditate on His word,
day and night, which is exactly what I
needed to hear, and it kept me focused on
just playing to honor God, win, lose, or
draw. Thanks and God bless everyone!
Finally, I just want to give a great big
thanks to really one of the most loving
and gracious families, that I had the
privilege of staying with for every day
of the U.S. Open: the May family, in
Vancouver. The only chaos you would
find with them is their cats doing something
crazy. They all have a great sense
of humor, and warm gentleness, and
Christ-likeness to them. I really learned
a lot from staying with them, and I made
a joke to Mrs. May, about how I hope
she doesn’t mind me taking notes on the
way they do things at their house, because
I was really impressed! I want my house
and hopefully my future kids (if I have
any) to be in that order, except I don’t
know about Andy, lol.
And another, really big thanks to Nancy
and Dale Tubbs, from my home church,
Trinity Church in Portland. After
taking me to my simul exhibition in
Portland, OR, Dale took me to my first
round of the chess tournament, and then
they came to watch me play every round
after that! Dale is really fascinated by the
game, and really a great encouragement
and friend. They love to take people out
to eat, I would definitely encourage people
to go to Trinity and maybe see them, it’s
really the most loving place on the planet,
and I really miss them.”
Page 26 November 2012 Northwest Chess