Watertown Chess Club

Shelby Woodruff defended his Watertown Chess Club Championship of 2024 in elegant style during the club championship match cycle held this past December. Mr. Woodruff finished the 2025 club tournament season standings in second place and qualified as the number two seed in the championship semi-final matches. He suffered a loss in game one against #3 seed Mr. Bob Kratzat, however, Mr. Woodruff overcame the deficit with a 20 move game two win, to tie the match and advance to the championship finals as the higher seed. Mr. Woodruff crushed top seed Don Klug to win his second club championship in two years. In game one, Mr. Woodruff found himself in a bit of a deficit of after his sacrifice attack on move 14…Ng4. By Black’s forced move on 18…g6, White had locked up the position with a combination of white and black pawns which blocked Black’s queen attack. It was now Mr. Klug’s
turn to error with his own sacrifice 19. Bxg5?? The goal was to return the piece to gain two pawns. Unfortunately, after White grabbed the targeted second pawn with 25. Qxf5?? , the white kingside was now open to a mate in nine moves. Black continued the assault backed up by a kingside rook on the open rook file. It was only a matter of time before Black’s “coupe de grace” move with 34…Qh3##, mate! Mr. Woodruff cruised with ease through games two and three to capture his second club championship 3-0.
Congratulations, Mr. Woodruff.

Klug, Don (1689) – Woodruff,Shelby1689 (1700) [D04]
WCC 2025 Championship Finals (Round 4.1) Dec. 9.2025

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d5 3.e3 Bf5 4.Nbd2 e6 5.c4 c6 [5…Nbd7] 6.Qb3 Qc7 7.Bd3 Ne4 8.0–0 Nd7 9.h3 Rb8 10.Nh4? [(–1.25)] [10.Bxe4 dxe4 11.Ng5 Nf6 12.Qc2 c5 13.Ngxe4 cxd4 14.exd4 Rd8 15.Nxf6+ gxf6 16.Ne4 Bg7 17.Be3 0–0 (+0.75) 18.f3 Bg6 19.Qe2 f5 20.Nc3 Rd7 21.Rad1 Rc8 22.c5 f4 23.Nb5 Qb8 24.Bf2 Rd5 25.Nc3 Rdd8 26.b4 b6 27.Ne4 bxc5 28.bxc5 Rd5 29.Qc4 Rd7 30.Rfe1 Qb7] 10…h5? 11.Nxf5 exf5 12.cxd5 Ndf6 13.dxc6 bxc6 14.Qc2
Ng4? [see board position]

15.Nf3 [(+2.83)] [15.hxg4 hxg4 16.f4 gxf3 17.Nxf3 Ng3 18.Re1 Bb4 19.Bd2 Bd6 20.Rac1 Qd7 21.b3 (21.e4 Rh1+ 22.Kf2 Rxe1 23.Rxe1 fxe4 24.Bxe4 Kf8 25.Bh7 Nh5 26.Rh1 Rb5 27.a4 Rd5 28.Be4 g6 29.Bxd5 Bg3+ 30.Kg1 Qxd5 31.Bh6+ Ke8 32.Rh3 Kd8 33.Bg5+ Kc8 34.Qe2 Kb7 35.Qe7+ Ka6 36.b4 Qe6 37.b5+ cxb5 38.axb5+ Kxb5 39.Qxa7 Qe4 40.Qc5+ Ka6 41.Qc4+ Kb6 42.Qb3+ Kc7 43.Qxf7+ Kb6 44.Qb3+ Kc7 45.d5 Kc8) 21…Rc8 (+5.21)]
15…Ng5 16.hxg4 Nxf3+ 17.gxf3 hxg4 18.f4 g6 [ see board position]

19.Bxf5?? [(+0.83)] [19.Rd1 Bd6 20.b3 Kf8 21.Bb2 Rh5 (+4.78) 22.Rac1 Bxf4 23.exf4 Qxf4 24.Qxc6 g3 25.Rc2 g2 26.Qc7 Rh1+ 27.Kxg2 Qxc7 28.Rxc7 Rxd1 29.Bc4] 19…gxf5 20.Qxf5 [20.d5 Bg7 21.Qxf5 Kf8 22.Rd1] 20…Rb5 21.Qe4+ Be7 22.Bd2 f5 23.Qc2?? [23.Qe6 Qd6 24.Qxd6 Bxd6 25.Bc3] 23…Qd6 24.Rac1 Rb6 25.Qxf5?? [(Black has mate in 9)] [The alternative as noted by Fritz is: 25.Kg2 Qd5+ 26.e4 fxe4 27.Be3 Rh3 28.Rh1 (+1.00) leaving White ahead by a pawn.]
25…Qh6 26.Qc8+ Kf7 27.Qf5+ Kg7?? [=] [27…Ke8 28.Qc8+ Bd8] 28.Qe5+?? [(–10.14)] [28.Qxg4+ Kf8 29.Qf5+ Ke8 30.Kg2 Rg8+ 31.Kf3 Rb5 (+2.95)] 28…Kg8 29.Qxh8+ Qxh8 30.Ba5 Rb5 31.Rxc6 [A. 31.d5 Rxd5 32.Rfd1 Rh5 33.Kf1 Rxa5 34.a3 Qh1+ 35.Ke2 Qf3+ 36.Kd3 Rd5+ 37.Kc3 Bf6+ 38.Kb3 Rxd1 39.Rc5 Rd3+ 40.Kb4 Qe4+ 41.Ka5 Rb3 42.f5 Bd8+ 43.Ka6 Qa4+ 44.Ra5 Qxa5#; B. 31.Rfd1 Qh3 32.d5 g3 33.fxg3 Qxg3+ 34.Kf1 Qf3+ 35.Kg1 Qxe3+ 36.Kh2 Qxf4+ 37.Kh1 Qf3+] 31…Rh5 32.Rg6+ Kf7 33.Rxg4 [33.f3 Rh1+ 34.Kf2 Qh2+ 35.Ke1 Bh4+ 36.Kd1 Rxf1+ 37.Be1 Rxe1#] 33…Rh1+ 34.Kg2 Qh3# 0–1

Shelby Woodruff before the WCC Game Four Championship

The 2024 Watertown Chess Club Title was earned by native Watertown resident Shelby Woodruff  who defeated defending champion Don Klug in a four game match 2 ½-1 ½ in early January. Number three seed, Mr. Woodruff, as reported in the winter issue of Empire Chess article, “Youth Has Their Day,” had upset number two seed Bob Kratzat in the semi-final match 2-0. Mr. Woodruff’s next target was the defending club champion, who won the other semi-final match over number four seed Russ Wood.

Mr. Woodruff arrived at the fourth and final round of the match tied at 1 ½ -1 ½., supported by his game one win. Game four turned into a messy back and forth affair as each player attempted to offer something the other had not seen before. Mr. Woodruff opened game four with an English Opening line theme that he has recently favored, with 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 d5 3. cxd5 Nxd5 4.e4 Nxc3 5. bxc3. (See diagram below)

In game two of the match, a draw, Mr. Klug played the Fritz recommended 5… e5. In game four Mr. Klug decided to deviate from game two with the obscure move 5…c5 to cause confusion. Here Fritz 18 also suggests 5…g6  6. d4  Bg7 7. Bc4 O-O, which leads to a Grunfeld type of position offering White a strong central pawn formation opposed by Black’s fianchettoed king bishop. Mr. Klug decided to seek a different direction, however, an error on move seven leads to the messy theme that the game evolved into. Here is game four of the championship match below:

Woodruff, Shelby (1690) – Klug, D. C. (1702)

 (Time Control  Game 90 minutes, delay 10 seconds)

WCC 2024 Championship Match Game 4, January 14, 2025

1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 d5 3.cxd5 Nxd5 4.e4 Nxc3 5.bxc3 c5[5…g6 6.d4 Bg7 7.Bc4 0–0 8.Ne2 Nc6 (8…c5 9.0–0 Nc6 10.Be3) 9.0–0] 6.Nf3 g6 7.Bc4 e6? [ Mr. Klug eyed the two developed white pieces on c4 and f3 and attempted to block them with 7.e6, an error. (see diagram)

[Fritz recommends 7…Bg7 8.d4 (8.Ng5 0–0 9.Qf3 e6) 8…0–0 9.h3 Qc7 10.Bb3 b6 11.0–0] leaving a solid position for Black.

8.0–0 Bg7 9.e5 [9.d4 0–0 10.Bg5 Qc7 11.Qc1] 9…Nc6 10.Re1 0–0 11.Bb2 [Fritz 18 recommends: 11.d4 b6 12.Ba3 Qc7 13.dxc5 Na5 14.Bf1 bxc5] 11…Qc7 12.Qe2 a6 13.d4 b5 14.Bd3 c4? [14…Bb7 15.Be4 cxd4 16.cxd4 Rfd8 17.Red1 Ne7 18.Rdc1=] 15.Bc2 Bb7 16.Ng5 Ne7 17.Qg4 Bd5?? [17…b4 18.Qh4 h6 19.Ne4 Nd5 20.cxb4 Qd8] 18.Re3? [18.Ba3 Rfe8 19.Qh3 h6 20.Ne4 Bxe4 21.Bxe4 Nd5 22.Bd6 Qb7] 18…f5?? (see diagram)

                                                                      Position after 18…f5??

[Fritz suggests 18…h5 19.Qe2 Qb7 20.Ne4 Bxe4 21.Bxe4 Nd5 22.Ba3 Rfc8]19.Qh4? [19.exf6 Rxf6 20.Qh3 Qf4 21.Qxh7+ Kf8 22.Nh3 Qh6 23.Qxh6 Bxh6 24.Re2] 19…h5?? [19…h6 drives away the knight and now Black would suddenly have the edge. 20.Nh3 g5 21.Nxg5 hxg5 22.Qxg5 a5 23.Rh3 Rf7 24.Re1 b4]

20.Nh3 Bh6 21.f4 Kh7 22.Ba3 Rf7 (see diagram)

23.Ng5+? [… In this back and forth game the position is now even.][23.g4 Kh8 24.gxh5 gxh5 25.Rg3 Rg8 26.Kf2 Rxg3 27.hxg3]23…Bxg5 24.Qxg5 Rg7 25.Rg3 Ng8? [25…Bc6 26.Bc5 Nd5 where Black’s knight blocks a d5 push and threatens the c3 and f4 pawns.]26.Rh3 Nh6 [26…Qd8 27.Qxd8 Rxd8 28.Kf2 Nh6 29.Bd1 Ng4+ 30.Kg1]27.Bd1 Ng4? (Black had used half of his 90 minutes by move 18 and now drops to just 10 minutes with this move. White has a generous 21 minutes left on his clock!) 28.Bxg4 fxg4 (see diagram)

29.Re3? [missing… 29.Qxg4 …the ‘h’ pawn is pinned to the king on h7.] 29…Qd8 (This queen trade offer aids White. Black has weathered the storm and needs to realize a counterattack should begin with 29….a5, 30….Qb7 and 31…b4. Black’s poor early clock management now returns to haunt him.)

30.Rf1 (see diagram)

30…Qxg5?! [missing a second chance as previously discussed with 29….a5]

31.fxg5 Kg8 32.Re2 Raa7 33.Ref2 Raf7 34.Rf6 Rxf6? [A better choice is 34…a5 . Black needs to counter with a queenside attack. 35.Bc5 b4 36.cxb4 axb4 37.Bxb4 c3 38.R1f2 (38.Bxc3 Bxa2 39.Bb4 Bd5 40.Rxf7 Rxf7 41.Rf6) 38…Rc7 39.Rc2 Rc4 40.a3=]35.gxf6 [35.exf6 Rh7 36.h4 gxh3 37.gxh3 h4 38.Be7]

35…Rf7?? [The rook should begin the counterattack with 35…Rb7 36.Be7 when the king can defend at 36… 36…Kf7]36.Bc5?? Be4? [36…Rb7] 37.Ra1 (see diagram)

37…Bc2?? [Again, Black missis the opportunity. 37…Rb7 Black’s real problem is that he suffers a substantial deficit on his clock. White has over 15 minutes left for Black’s 4 .]

38.a3 Rd7 39.Bd6 Kf7 40.Re1 Rd8 41.Kf2 Re8 42.Ke3 g5 43.Kf2 h4 44.Re2 Bd1? 45.Rd2 Bb3 46.d5 Ba4 47.Be7 exd5 48.Rxd5 a5 49.Rd7 Ke6? [Black has less than 30 seconds left.]50.Ra7 Bc2 51.Ra6+ Kf7 52.e6+ Kg6 53.f7 [A spite check.]53…g3+ 54.hxg3 hxg3+ 55.Kxg3 Black resigns 1–0

Congratulations to Shelby Woodruff on winning his first Watertown Chess Club championship.

In Other Watertown Chess News

The Watertown Chess Club, previously known as the Watertown Chess Knights, established in 1994 celebrated 30 years of  providing chess to the community. The 2025 Watertown chess season is under way after hosting the 2025 Blitz and Quick Chess Championships in March.