Watertown Chess Club

            Kistler’s Summer Cruise Leads to 3^rd Club Championship

On May 15, after two losses in two Watertown Spring tournaments, Dr. David Kistler was tied with Class B rated Robert Kratzat for first place in the Watertown club standings. His rating had dropped below Expert level.

Local players were beginning to dream that a Watertown Chess Club Championship might just be within their grasp. Unfortunately, after spring comes the heat of summer and with it dreams sometimes wither. Thus, it was for the 2012 Chess season. With more than two thirds of the tournament season ahead Dr. Kistler decided enough was enough!

Dr. Kistler began his summer cruise by sweeping the annual June Class Championship and never looked back. He finished out the tournament season with a record of +19-0=1, winning all four tournaments including his 3^rd straight Jefferson County Championship. The Kistler summer cruise returned his rating to Expert level at USCF 2035. He even decided to vacation and not play in the annual Quick Fall Tournament, won by Adolfo Prieto 5-0.

Dr. Kistler finished the North Country Tournament season with a record of +30-2=2, in first place a full 3 ½ games ahead of Club Championship Playoff qualifier Adolfo Prieto.

Dr. Kistler finished his summer cruise with his third straight club championship with a swift 2-0 match victory over Mr. Prieto, winning in 30 and 35 moves. The Watertown Chess Club held its annual Invitational Chess Tournament concurrently during the Club Championship Match. Local non-USCF and non-club players are invited each year to play in the four round event. This year saw a three way tie for first with Bob Kratzat of Carthage, Don Klug and Josh Kelsey of Watertown tied with scores of 2 ½-1 ½. Invitee and non-club member Zach Kozatek finished tied for 4^th with two wins.

Kistler wins title match 2-0 over Prieto

[Event “2012 WCC Championship Match”]
[Site “?”]
[Date “2012.12.04”]
[Round “2”]
[White “Prieto, Adolfo”]
[Black “Kistler, Dr. David”]
[Result “0-1”]
[ECO “A61”]
[WhiteElo “1900”]
[BlackElo “2035”]
[Annotator “,O”]
[PlyCount “70”]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 e6 4. Nc3 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. Nf3 g6 7. Qa4+ Nbd7 8.
Bf4 Nh5 9. Bg5 Be7 10. Bh6 Bf8 11. Bxf8 Kxf8 12. e4 (12. e3 {
a better option that keeps the Black King Knight off f4}) 12… Kg7 13. g3 {
played to keep the Knight from f4} 13… Re8 14. Nd2 a6 15. Be2 {
The Bishop belongs on g3. Placing it on e2 offers a target.} (15. Bg2 b5 16.
Qc2 b4 17. Nd1 {and 18. 0-0}) 15… Nhf6 16. h3 {
still thinking about Black’s Knight infiltrating at g4.} 16… b5 17.
Qc2 ({an interesting exchange of} 17. Bxb5 Nb6 18. Bxe8 Nxa4 19. Bxa4 Qe7 20.
Bc2 Rb8 21. Rb1 Nxe4 22. Ndxe4 f5 23. O-O {
gives the overwhelming edge to Black.}) 17… Bb7 {
placing great pressure on Whites e and d pawns.} 18. f3 {
White spent nearly 20 minutes on this move.} 18… Qe7 19. Nf1 Nb6 20. Rh2 Qd7
{….and Black returns the favor. White has 46 minutes remaining and Black 49.}
21. Nd1 Rac8 22. Nde3 c4 23. Qc3 Qe7 24. Ng4 Nbd7 25. Qe3 Kh8 26. Qd4 {
White thought during post game analysis that his Queen would be better placed
on c3 backed by the b pawn.} (26. Qc3 Kg7) 26… Kg8 27. Nfe3 Ne5 28. Nh6+ Kh8
29. g4 {White needs to get the Queen Rook into the game:} (29. Rd1) 29… Qf8
30. g5 Nh5 {White admitted that he overlooked this Knight move. White has
allowed himself to get into time pressure again. White has just 19 minutes
left to Black’s 35 minutes.} 31. f4 ? {
Thinking that Black’s Knight will be pinned to the distant f pawn.} 31… Nxf4
32. Rf2 Qg7 33. Nhf5 ?? (33. Kd1 {gets the King out of the line of fire.} 33…
Nxe2 34. Kxe2) 33… gxf5 34. Nxf5 Ned3+ 35. Bxd3 Qxd4
36. White resigns the game and match. (game 0-1, match 0-2)