Watertown Chess Club

KLUG and KISTLER WIN Jefferson County Title

Ken Chamberlain takes Open Title

Don Klug, a category two player tied expert player Dr. David Kistler for the 2014 Jefferson County Chess Title on October 25^th with a score of +2-0=2.  Kenneth Chamberlain, a Syracuse area player scored +3-1=0, to claim a share of first and win the Open Section of the Jefferson County Title. Klug gained a first round draw against Kistler that propelled him to share the title. A fourth round win against Carthage area player Robert Kratzat clinched the title. A third round win by Kistler over Chamberlain seemed to lock up first for Dr. Kistler, but the 4^th round combination of an Adolfo Prieto –Kistler  draw and the Klug win created a logjam for first. Dr. Kistler felt that his second round win over Robert Kratzat was his best game of the tournament. It involved a speculative and risky sacrifice move of 16….Bxf6. Kistler questioned the move himself as either blunder or brilliant? Let the reader make the call. The game follows:

[pgn]

[Event “2014 Jefferson County Championship”]
[Site “Watertown, NY”]
[Date “2014.10.25”]
[Round “2”]
[White “Kratzat, Robert”]
[Black “Kistler, David”]
[Result “0-1”]
[ECO “C02”]
[WhiteElo “1718”]
[BlackElo “2119”]
[Annotator “Klug,D”]
[PlyCount “72”]

1. e4 c5 2. c3 e6 3. d4 d5 4. e5 Qb6 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. Be2 cxd4 7. cxd4 Nh6 8.
b3
 (8. Nc3 {threatens 9. Bb5 or Na5}) 8… Nf5 9. Bb2 Bb4+ 10. Kf1 {
Solid! White cannot block his Queen from holding the d4 pawn.} 10… O-O 11.
a3
Be7 12. b4 Bd7 13. g4 Nh6 14. h3 f6 15. exf6 Bxf6  {Blunder or Brilliant?}
({
A. Fritz suggests} 15… Rxf6 16. g5 Rxf3 17. Bxf3 Bxg5 {
calling the position even.}) ({B. The move …} 15… gxf6 16. Nc3 Bd6 {
looks natural, keeping material even, BUT White would hold a significant
positional advantage. Black’s king looks exposed.}) 16. g5 Bxg5 ({the line}
16… Nxd4 17. gxf6 Nxe2 18. Kxe2 Bb5+ 19. Ke1 gxf6 20. Rg1+ Kh8 21. Nh4 {
seems inferior to the text.}) 17. Nxg5 e5 18. Qc2 e4 19. Qc5 Qc7 {
taking aim at g3.} ({If Black trades Queens} 19… Qxc5 20. dxc5 Nf5 21. Kg1
h6
22. Nc3 Ncd4 23. Bg4 hxg5 {the game seems even.}) 20. Qxd5+ Kh8 21. Qxe4
Nf5 {attacking g3!} 22. Rg1  {not White’s best choice.} (22. Nf3 Rae8 23.
Qd3
Ng3+ 24. fxg3 Qxg3 25. Nbd2 Bf5 26. Qc4 Bxh3+ 27. Rxh3 Qxh3+ 28. Ke1 Qh1+
29.
Kf2 Qh2+ 30. Kf1 {draw}) 22… Rae8 23. Qd3 Ne3+ 24. Ke1 Bf5 25. Qb3  {
White is certainly feeling the pressure, but  Fritz sees giving up the Queen
with…} (25. Qxe3 Rxe3 26. fxe3 Bxb1 27. Rxb1 Nxb4 28. Rc1 {
The Knight on b4 should not  be taken.} (28. axb4 Qc2 29. Rd1 Qxb2 30. Nf3
Qxb4+) 28… Nc2+ 29. Kd2 Rc8 30. Ne4 Qa5+ 31. Bc3 {leading to a White a
fortress. After Black moves his Queen White has a threat on g7 by moving 32.
d5}) (25. Qd2 Nc2+ 26. Kd1 Nxa1 27. Bxa1 Bxb1 28. d5 Bg6 29. f3 Ne5 30. Ne6
Rxe6 31. dxe6 Rd8 32. Bd4 Qd6) 25… Nc2+ {
with the White Queen out of the way Blacks forces overwhelm.} 26. Kd1 Rxe2
27.
Qd5 Qe7 28. Bc3 Nxa1 29. Bxa1 Bxb1 30. Bc3 h6 31. Nf3 Qe4 32. Ne5 Nxe5 33.
Qxe5
Qxe5 34. dxe5 Rc2 35. Ba1 Rd8+ 36. Ke1 Rc1+ {37. White resigns} 0-1

[/pgn]