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CONTENTS From the Secretary’s Desk Amendment of Rule for Cessation ICCF Invites Indian Participation Report Your Results ICCF CONGRESS 2000 J. Franklin Campbell Anil Kumar is India’s First CC International Master Here and There The ICCF Website Santhosh M.Paul The AICCF Championships 1503, 1504 Auto-Chess-O-Graphy V.Sadashiva Heritage Nagesh J. Endgame M.Samraoui Games Section Santhosh M.Paul Readers Write Short Comments Corchegimmic New Tournaments International Section Dr. K.Prabhakar New ICCF Thematic Tournaments ICCF Ratings

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2 3 4 4 5 10 12 13 16 19 25 26 32 40 42 43 44 45 45 47

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FROM THE SECRETARY’S DESK On behalf of AICCF, I would like to wish all our members for the Diwali-New Year Season. To brighten up the season we have the wonderful news that N.R.Anil Kumar has achieved ICCF’s International Master title (see pg. 10). As mentioned in the August Bulletin, the next AICCF Championship, 1505 will commence in the early part of 2001. Selection of players will be on the basis of ratings published in the Feb 2001 Bulletin (not Feb 2000 as erroneously printed in the August Bulletin). We thank Nagesh Jayaram, Santhosh Matthew Paul, K.Lhouvum and others for their contributions to this Bulletin (articles, annotations, quotations etc.). We also thank members who have sent in their games to the Games Section, solutions to Corchegimmic, Letters and Short Comments and look forward to further contributions. The 7th Annual General Meeting of AICCF was held on Sunday, 24th September 2000 at A-3 Gurukrupa Terrace, R.C.Road, Chembur, Mumbai 400 071.

Members who attended (L to R): N.Neelakantan, Dr. K.Prabhakar (Vice President), Dr. A.Chaterjee (Bulletin Editor), H.J.Samtani (President), Dr. A.B.Surveyor, P.S.Dabholkar, P.M.Dalvi (Member, Management Committee) and E.G.Meherhomji (Secretary-cum-Treasurer). During the meeting, two minutes silence was observed in memory of Dr. B.N.Aindley and M.Sankaran Kutty. The minutes of the 6th AGM held on 19th

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September 1999 were confirmed. The report of the Managing Committee on the working of AICCF for the year ending 31st March 2000 and the balance sheet for the same year (published in the Aug 2000 Bulletin) were considered and adopted. M/s T.B.Karnik & Co. were appointed the auditors for the year 2000-2001. The issues raised by Shri N.K.Bajpai’s letter regarding possible adjudication of games (instead of annulment) after the death of a player, were deliberated upon. It was felt that adjudication is always subjective, no matter how clear or straightforward a position appears to be. Moreover, annulment is really a mark of respect to the departed soul and should continue. A suggestion about the rules for cessation was considered. The new rule for cessation is detailed below and will come into force for all tournaments which will commence from 2001. The committee lauded the generous donation of Shri N.K.Bajpai. He has donated an amount of Rs. 1000 towards prize money for the Championship 1505 which will commence in 2001. All present were enthusiastic about the idea of hosting a Congress of the International Correspondence Chess Federation (ICCF) in India. However, as locations for this convention are already booked upto 2004, and the next congress outside Europe could be only in 2008, we may have to wait for several years before this becomes possible. Meanwhile ICCF has offered to cover the expenses for one AICCF official to attend the next ICCF congress (see pg. 4.). Santosh Matthew Paul has been doing a magnificent job of maintaining the AICCF web page www.geocities.com/aiccf, but now with his assignment as Games Editor and his increased participation in Email tournaments he is overloaded. Any member who is prepared to help may please get in touch with Dr. A.Chatterjee on and Santhosh Matthew Paul on . We welcome the new members: Mrs. Urmila Chatterjee (Mumbai, Donor), V.Sanath (Bangalore), Manik Talukder (Guwahati). In addition K.Mahadevan and K.Ansar Baksha have upgraded their membership to become Life Members.

AMENDMENT OF RULE FOR CESSATION Rules for cessation of play as applicable for all tournaments (both postal and email) starting on or after 1st January 2001 will be as follows: i) Normal Cessations: In one calendar year (i.e. 1st Jan – 31st Dec) a player may avail cessation of play for maximum 30 days. This need not be in one stretch. A single cessation should be for a minimum period of 10 days and not more than 2 cessations are allowed in a calendar year. ii) Special Cessation: Under unusual circumstances (overseas travel, sickness etc.), a player can apply to the concerned Tournament Director for a special cessation. For this, previously un-availed cessation in a tournament, may be combined with cessation presently available. The application must be made 1 month prior to the start of the cessation. Special cessations will be subject to the approval of the Management Committee. iii) The request for cessation of play applies to all the opponents in a given tournament (email or postal) but is not linked to cessation in other tournaments.

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For all cessations, the player is required to inform his opponents and the concerned Tournament Director under COP for postal tournaments or by email in case of email tournaments. The opponent on receipt of the intimation of the cessation of play must reply the last move received as usual in the normal time and not wait for the end of the cessation.

ICCF INVITES INDIAN PARTICIPATION The Annual ICCF Congress is the global event for Correspondence Chess. For several years now, we have been lamenting the situation wherein despite all our best intentions, AICCF is unable to participate in any of ICCF’s Congresses because of the huge expenditure involved. Time and again Mr. V.D.Pandit (the past Bulletin Editor and for long our International spokesperson) has been asking ICCF to consider sponsoring members from underdeveloped countries to the Congress. His efforts have not been in vain! At the ICCF Congress 2000, Daytona Beach, Florida, a decision to this effect was announced and to top it all, India has been chosen to be the first country to be supported! ICCF will sponsor one AICCF official to attend the ICCF Congress 2001 at Rimini, Italy. We thank ICCF President, Alan Borwell for extending this invitation to us, mentioning the good work being done by AICCF in promoting CC in India. An AICCF representative attending the ICCF Congress will pave the way for further close association with ICCF and bring us closer to the International scene.

REPORT YOUR RESULTS It is not enough to win your game. Rating points will be credited to you only after you report the result to the concerned Tournament Director. Send the result promptly after the game is completed. You should do this irrespective of whether you had White or Black or have won, lost or drawn the game. While reporting the result use the correct style: 4199 Vaibhav Saxena ½-½ Dr D.R.K.S. Rao 4205 Manish Sharma 0-1 J.Nagesh Make sure you get the colours right. The first player is White and the second player is Black. An incorrectly reported result will cause confusion and may lead to delays in the correct calculation of your rating. Keep track of the end of a tournament (adjudication date). After the adjudication date (or as soon as all the games are completed) send a full report in a tabular form. For all unfinished games, prepare Adjudication Forms as shown on the inside back cover of this Bulletin. Remember if you neither report your result, nor send the adjudication form in time, you are liable to lose the game and further penalty points. A common error is to report the result to the wrong person. The result must be reported to the Tournament Director (TD) of your tournament. The name and address of the TD is given on the start list of the tournament.

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ICCF CONGRESS 2000 J. Franklin Campbell, ICCF Press Officer, [email protected] The ICCF Congress for 2000 was held at Daytona Beach, Florida, USA, September 16, 2000. An abbreviated report from the ICCF Press Office:

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aturday September 16, 2000 marked the start of the ICCF Congress. The first day was modest. The Presidium met to discuss the agenda and objectives for this Congress. In the evening we experienced the Welcoming Reception and met our hosts, ICCF-U.S. Secretary Max Zavanelli and his wife (and real force behind the organization of this Congress) Ruth Ann Fay. The official opening of the Congress occurred at 10:00 this morning. First came a welcoming message from Max, who graciously explained that when work was to be done we should turn to Ruth Ann. But when congratulations were being handed out, then we could see him! ICCF President Alan Borwell spoke next, starting with a moment of silence for friends who have been lost to us, such as Walter Muir, described as the Dean of American correspondence chess. Following there was a brief description of the difficulties faced in the early days of USA cc organization. Max Zavanelli received full credit for putting the USA cc ship right. Thanks for all your outstanding work, Max! The President then welcomed representatives from Japan and Turkey, the first to attend an ICCF Congress. Alan Borwell then sought to characterize this year's meeting. Each Congress seems to have a theme: Emergence of new technologies (held in Buenos Aires in 1997); Importance of the players and how to relate to their

needs and desires (Riga 1998); Past achievements and a look to the future (Thun 1999). This year's theme is less dramatic sounding but extremely important: Playing Rules with flexibility to insure progression of games and to facilitate finishing of events. While lacking a romantic name this theme demonstrates the hard work delegates are committed to, in order to make ICCF better serve the cc community. The idea is that we need a good set of rules that will gain wide acceptance by the players but will enable tournament directors the flexibility to consider the circumstances when making rulings. Over and over I hear the same thing from the leadership of ICCF. Games should be decided on the board, not on some minor rules infraction. While we need to base any needed decisions on the basis of fair rules and we need to insure the proper progress of the games, ICCF does not want games decided by arbiters. Following President Borwell we heard from the charming and energetic Ruth Ann Fay. I could predict from my many dealings with Ruth Ann by email that I would not be disappointed by any Congress she organized, and I certainly haven't been. Unfortunately, Congress visitors have found the weather less than hospitable on Sunday, with the edge of a hurricane sweeping over the area. Ruth Ann characterized the weather as "liquid sunshine." Though the weather was grey and uninviting outside, inside it was cheerful and colourful. Congresses often

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feature entertainment that is representative of the host country. Could the USA match last year's Swiss dancing in Thun? First up were seven sweet little girls demonstrating the popular baton twirling seen at American football games and many other events. Their red outfits and enthusiastic show was a good start. Then, we were treated to another kind of all-American entertainment, a barbershop quartet. This is a form of singing where the voices are in close harmony. Many of the songs are humorous or romantic in nature. My favourite songs were Farewell to my Coney Island Baby and Swing Low, Sweet Chariot. After a short break we got down to the hard work of the convention. Alan Borwell mentioned that the Congress would be held entirely in English this year, to keep things moving quickly. He urged speakers to talk clearly and slowly and to avoid using difficult words, to avoid confusing the nonEnglish speakers. Alan Rawlings, the ICCF General Secretary, then took over the meeting with apologies for absences, proxy holders, voting rights and procedures and approval of the 1999 Thun Congress minutes. ICCF now has 62 member nations. Two men who have made major contributions to international cc were honoured by Honorary Membership in ICCF. The Congress overwhelmingly approved the very popular proposals for these gentlemen: Roald Berthelsen (NOR), who has been TD for countless Olympiads and World Championship cycles, plus Norwegian delegate for many years and Carlos Germán Dieta (ARG), a key actor in Argentinian and

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South American CC (accepted by countryman Dr. Hector Tepper). Following this were the Bertl von Massow Awards, given to recognize service to correspondence chess through the ICCF over a long period of time. The Gold Medal awarded for 15 years of service: A. Raúl Raminez (ARG), a worker for CC for very many years in South America. The Silver Medal awarded for 10 years of service: Ralph Marconi (CAN), current NAPZ Director and long-time TD and International Arbiter; Dr. Fritz Baumbach (GER), former World Champion and General Secretary; Joseph Deidun, Sr. (CAN), World Higher Class TD for many years; Ernst Kotzem (GER), TD of many years standing; Georg Walker (SWZ), last year's Congress host and long time delegate. Congratulations to these fine gentlemen for the well-deserved recognition! Next Carlos Flores Gutierrez presented his Treasurer's report. President Borwell followed up with a call to the federations to pay their accounts promptly to make the hardworking Treasurer's job easier. Hendrik B. Sarink (NLD) followed up with Auditor's report, stating that all was in order with the Treasurer's report. This is the kind of work that receives little outside recognition but is so important for the orderly conduct of business by an organization. President Alan Borwell presented a detailed three-year financial plan, which included projections based on the financial numbers from recent years. A key component of it is the ICCF Development Plan, proposed to fund the promotion of correspondence chess. ICCF is already involved in cc in 62 countries, and we want to help additional countries get organized to

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insure the availability of international competition for people in every part of the world. After returning from a break for lunch the Congress continued to slave over the rules (as, indeed, they continued to do the next day). Ragnar Wikman, Deputy President (Rules), re-stated his objective: “I want the rules to serve the players, not the other way around.” In this spirit Congress forged on with fine tuning the rules to add flexibility and the application of our excellent motto Amici Sumus (We Are Friends). It is agreed by all the this is the appropriate approach to our incredible art/sport/science, but a really good set of rules can encourage this approach. Ragnar did a superb job of organizing the proposed changes, which he made available at his web site months ago. As a result, some valuable suggestions for correcting oversights or other errors were incorporated into the proposals before Congress time. Dr. Jaromir Canibal received special praise for his work during the last four years as Chairman of the Rules Committee. Two additional topics wrapped up the day's discussion. How should withdrawals be handled? What effect should a player's withdrawal have on previously finished games, ratings and the cross table? This is a difficult subject and no final solution was reached at this time. ‘Live’ coverage of correspondence chess events on the Internet was also discussed with many different opinions and suggestions. In the end I believe the following was the consensus: ‘Live’ coverage is an excellent vehicle for promoting the game and increasing people's pleasure. ‘Live’ coverage on the Internet makes cc a ‘spectator sport’. Instant reporting of moves can lead to

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problems and in many cases should be avoided. A delay of approximately three moves in reporting game positions would solve most problems once all games in the event have taken different paths. Events that will be covered ‘live’ by the organizer should include this information in the tournament description, so players won't be surprised by the coverage after they have already committed to playing. ICCF should make no attempt to regulate ‘live’ coverage of ICCF games by individuals, except to encourage them to observe the guideline concerning the 3-move delay. ICCF is already publishing ‘live’ coverage of two major cc events at the ICCF web site iccf.com with the recommended 3-day delay. Sunday evening finished off with a grand banquet in the Daytona Beach Hilton hotel, where the ‘hostess with the mostess’ Ruth Ann Fay had arranged a wonderful meal with a jazz quartet that entertained us all evening. It was a festive occasion where the work of the day was (to some extent) put aside and old acquaintances and new friends were greeting, and we relaxed with pleasant surroundings, good food, wonderful conversation, wine, music, the chance to mingle with world champions and some of the most knowledgeable people in the world of correspondence chess, and wine. I was thrilled to take group photos of the four World Champions present as well as other luminaries. Over all, I have found correspondence chess people some of the most agreeable people in the world. Our shared love for this fabulous art form and intensely competitive sport bonds us together and provides the opportunity to get to know each other better in other ways as well.

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My admiration for Pedro Hegoburu (ARG), Soren Peschardt (DEN) and John Knudsen (USA) for their production of last year’s reports from the Thun (SWZ) Congress continues to grow a little more each evening. I am incredibly impressed at how the official ICCF motto AMICI SUMUS (We Are Friends) is a real, living principle in the decisions made by this body. Of course, it’s difficult to approach the hard job of dealing with rules with the requisite penalties while trying to proceed in a purely friendly fashion, so the concept of fairness is also a guiding principle in the actions of this Congress. Often the rules allow for exceptions to be granted where the regular rules may not give a completely fair result, and the Congress and Presidium members have acted to make the corrections. However, the orderly and timely conduct of official and serious chess competition requires a well thought out set of playing rules and the administrative structure to enforce these rules. Monday morning the Congress resumed its work on the playing rules that began in Congress four years ago. Ragnar Wikman (FIN), the ICCF Deputy President (Rules), once again led the examination of the rules and presentation of the proposals from these four years of work. Ragnar placed most of this material on his web site to make it possible for Congress participants to study them carefully before these final discussions and formal votes. He ‘gently reminded’ those present that if they had new suggestions at this late date they should recall that they had ample opportunity to supply them before Congress. The clear attitude towards the new proposed set of rules is clear. The word is flexibility. The first step is to

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encourage the players to solve problems between themselves. Tournament Directors may allow considerable latitude in the types of agreements players make among themselves, such as adjustments in time controls. As long as the players notify their tournament director of their mutual agreement, if the TD believes it is reasonable and isn’t a clear breach of the rules, then this mutual agreement should be accepted. This, of course, makes the job of the tournament directors and arbiters potentially more difficult since different players may be playing under different ‘rules’, but it is certainly to the advantage of the players and should make playing the game of chess a larger part of the competition and worrying about the rules a smaller part. I would characterize this as a real ‘user friendly’ approach to competition. An interesting feature of the annual ICCF Congress is the signing of cards. As business is being conducted, postcards are being passed around for signatures. These are souvenirs of this yearly event and signing cards is a much loved tradition. Four different sets of rules make up the playing rules for ICCF: Postal Email Postal Team Tournament Email Team Tournament Each set of rules has its own peculiarities and requirements, though much effort is made to keep them identical as far as possible. The Rules discussions ended the official business of the day, but the big ICCF World Team vs. the host USA Team event was yet to come! This was a 21-board match played at 90 minutes for the game. Of course, the USA team attempted to bring in the strongest players possible, but the World Team took full advantage of their great resources to field an unbeatable team.

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In the end the USA played the perfect host and ‘let’ the world team win by the convincing score of 13-8. It was a fun evening, and it’s not every day you get to see four world champions battling it out. A USA advocate may want to call this a 3-board match and just count the top three boards (a USA 2-1 win!) but fairness requires revealing the results on the other boards as well. There were draws on the top two boards in the Berliner-Sanakoev and PalciauskasBaumbach world champions games. The full results follow, with the ICCF World Team listed first (top): There was a discussion about tournament organizers who have not paid prizes to winners. A possible reasonable explanation was offered by ICCF-U.S. Secretary Max Zavanelli that prize money (entry fees, etc.) are often invested to earn interest to increase the prize fund. Such investments are often not available early without forfeiting the interest. It was generally felt by Congress members that prizes should either be paid in a timely fashion or that the winners should be notified when they will be paid, in the case of delayed payment. Preferably this information should be available earlier, perhaps with the tournament announcement. Chris Luers, Controller of the Email Tournament Office, pointed out that the guidelines to be published at the web site should cover this subject to help avoid future problems. Following this the Congress adopted proposed guidelines for International Open Tournaments. The afternoon session started with an awards ceremony for Continental Championships. The following were recognized: NAPZ Zone: Rene duCret (USA) African-Asian Zone: Mekki Samraoui (ALG) European

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Championships #53: Fatih Atakisi (TUR) #56: Werner Hase (GER) #57: Gabriel Cardelli (ITA) #58: Siegfried Neuschied (OST). After 1997 the ICCF Congress initiated an annual cycle for the European Championship. The Congress created a new position of Rules Commissioner and subsequently appointed Dr. Ian Brooks (ENG) to this position. Authority for dealing with the web-based guidelines was then delegated to this position with Presidium oversight. The tournament was given rapid approval, in the spirit of Amici Sumus. The second case presented more difficulties, since there were multiple serious infractions, but the sponsor (who was organizing the event) may not have been fully aware of these issues. After much thoughtful discussion this tournament was also given approval by the Congress. Due to the unavailability of the Deputy President (Tournaments) in the past, some communications might have been unanswered, which may have contributed to the problem. The tournament was approved but a warning will be noted in the minutes to remind future organizers to avoid these infractions. Mr. Rawlings also presented a list of the tournaments that have been approved since the last Congress. At a future date the games played between the world champions in the USA vs. ICCF (Rest of World) will be made available. Next year the Congress will be held in Rimini, Italy. This will be the year of ICCF’s Jubilee (50th year), so we are sure to see some special celebration events scheduled.

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ANIL KUMAR IS INDIA’S FIRST CC INTERNATIONAL MASTER! n 19th October 2000, a landmark was achieved for Correspondence Chess in India, with N.R.Anil Kumar becoming India’s first ever CC International Master. It was a red letter day not only for Anil Kumar himself but also for AICCF. In 1997 we were seriously considering becoming affiliated to ICCF. In the AICCF Bulletin of February 1997, V.D.Pandit wrote, “We do not have Indian players on the international scene. If this is allowed to continue, we never see an Indian CC GM or IM. But things can change ...”. At that time we were optimistically hoping to see some of our players on the ICCF Rating List by the turn of the century. But what we achieved is that seven of our players appeared on the ICCF Rating list of July 1998 and now in 2000 we already have our first IM! AICCF proudly congratulates Anil Kumar on this milestone achievement! Letters of congratulations and felicitations to AICCF are pouring in from various quarters. Many feel that while credit for the attainment undoubtedly goes to Anil Kumar, one must also highlight the organizational success of AICCF in providing the atmosphere under which a player has flourished and accomplished. We do hope there will be others who will reach similar heights!

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Here is what Anil Kumar wrote: Dear Dr.Chatterjee, With great pleasure I am sending you the copy of Mr.Alan Borewell's letter.

Let me thank you with all my heart for all the help and encouragement you have always extended to me. I am a bit short for words now! Warm regards Anil 19/10/2000 Dear Chessfriend My warmest congratulations on achieving the qualification for the IM title - I believe you are the first player from India ever to qualify for an ICCF title! The procedure now is this. By copy of this email, I notify the ICCF Qualifications Commissioner of your norm, and India's ICCF delegate will submit a formal application for the award of the title. The title will be confirmed by the next ICCF Congress (Rimini, Italy - September 2001) and the certificate and medal will be presented to you in person, if you can be there, or alternatively to India's delegate. (You may not have heard the news yet - ICCF are making a substantial contribution to the cost for India to send a delegate to Rimini.) As for our tournament, do not relax yet - your last two games are crucial for determining the prizewinners. Indeed, you may well be one of them! The current situation is Gaujens 10(1), Mrugala 9.5(1), Anil Kumar 9(2), Berclaz 9, Finnie 8.5(3), Simonsen 6.5(5), ..., Kaczorowski 4(6). Best regards Alan (Alan Borwell - ICCF President)

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The news was featured in the Mumbai newspapers Mid-Day and Asian Age dt. 25 Oct. 2000. Award For Anilkumar N.R.Anilkumar who hails from Thrissur, Kerala has achieved the distinction of being the first Correspondence Chess player from India to be awarded the title of International Master (ICCM) by the International Correspondence Chess Federation (ICCF), being the apex body, akin to FIDE, which controls the game of Correspondence Chess i.e. chess played through post or email internationally. This form of chess was recently in the limelight when Kasparov took on the world in a game played through email in 1999. Our own GM, Vishy Anand has expressed his desire to play such a game. Mr. N.R.Anil Kumar, born in 1957, is working as a Senior Lecturer of English in S.K.V. College, Thrissur. He is participating currently in the First Email Olympiad representing India as a team from All India Correspondence Chess Federation on Board I. Dr. K.Prabhakar from Mumbai is the non-playing Captain. India is placed in Group I with Russia, Mexico, Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, Argentina, Kenya, Slovenia, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Yogoslavia.

Anil Kumar in his AutoChessOGraphy in the AICCF Bulletin, August 1998 (about joining AICCF): It is one of the happiest things that happened to me. CC has brought me into contact with some fine men with whom lasting friendships have been established. With every CC tournament, I keep coming across nice gentlemen.

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HERE AND THERE CHAMPIONS From the report already given, the ICCF Congress 2000, at Dayatona Beach,

Florida, USA was a grand success. The photo below taken at the Congress shows 4 World Champions together!

(L to R) Fritz Baumbach (GER), 11th World Champion, Grigory Sanakoew (RUS), 12th World Champion, Hans Berliner (USA), 5th World Champion, and Vytas Palciauskas (USA), 10th World Champion. YAMINI WINS Yamini Hule became the University Champion (Girls Section) of Bombay University. Well done Yamini!

his book, All About Chess (Minerva Press (India) Pvt. Ltd. price Rs. 150, US$ 6.50). See Corchegimmic on pg. 43.

RAMAN IN MUMBAI Our member R.Raman, of Pondicherry (now Chidambaram) was in Mumbai recently. Although he began to play CC, his involvement in various other activities have now compelled him to give up his games. Raman visited the Secretary, Mr. E.G.Meherhomji and the Bulletin Editor, Dr. A.Chatterjee. Showing his skill in 5-minute chess, he scored 5½ / 6 against your Editor! Readers are invited to try their hand at a position appearing on the cover of

KRAMNIK TRIUMPHS As we go to press, the news of Vladimir Kramnik’s win over Garry Kasparov in the Braingames World Championship in London has just come in. This ends Garry’s 15 year reign as World No 1.

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THE ICCF WEBSITE Santhosh M.Paul

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n this article, I will introduce you to the riches available at the ICCF web site (www.iccf.com). Players participating in international ICCF rated events will find this site particularly useful, but there is something for everyone. I have been watching it's evolution since I first started accessing the Internet, and many features have been slowly added during the past couple of years. It is now a valuable resource for CC players at all levels. The only criticism I can make is the looks: appearance has been clearly subordinated to function. I summarise the main attractions below: The Online Games Archive This is a repository of games played in ICCF tournaments, both postal and email. All kinds of tournaments are represented, from Open Class to World Championship games. The games are stored in PGN format, and the archive is regularly updated. The Archive has tremendous practical utility for the competitive player. As soon as the pairing chart arrives, one can search the games in the Archive (the games must be downloaded to your PC first) for games played by your opponent. You must have a programme like ChessBase (the free version, ChessBase Light, can be downloaded from the ChessBase site) to play through the games and use the search functions. The Online Games Archive is a fairly recent development (not more than 2 years old, I think), and is nothing short of revolutionary. It can double up as a poor man's correspondence games CD. Wesley

Green, who manages the Archive, is doing a fantastic job. There is one thing I want to add in this context. It is easier to add email games to the Archive than postal games. This is because in email tournaments, both players have to send the game score in PGN format to the TD. The TD then forwards the game score to the Archivist. Since the game score is in the electronic-friendly PGN format, it can be added to an existing database without much labour. Postal tournaments have no such requirement to submit the games in PGN format, so the games have to be input by hand – not a job for the faint of heart. It is indeed creditable that even postal games are being made available in the Archive. Tournament Cross Tables Cross Tables (i.e. result tables) of current tournaments are regularly updated here. This means you can follow the progress of the other players in your tournament. This again could help in planning your tournament strategy. Discussion Forum TCCMB The Correspondence Chess Message Board There is a link to TCCMB, a Bulletin Board run by John Knudsen, who is an Executive Officer with ICCF. It is a discussion forum on correspondence chess – a kind of watering hole, where players can gather together and share ideas and opinions. Discussions do get heated sometimes. Important news is also posted here. For example, I came to

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know that the ratings as on October 1 had been uploaded, from TCCMB. ELOQuery This is the name of the programme developed by the Ratings Commissioner, Gerhard Binder, to allow players like you and me to access the Ratings database. The latest ratings are uploaded to the ICCF web site, and can be downloaded from there. Update of the ratings twice a year has just been started (previously it was yearly). The last update was on October 1. Once you download the ratings database and the ELOQuery programme to your PC, a wealth of information becomes available at your fingertips. Data on each and every player who has come under the umbrella of the ICCF rating system at some time or other is stored here. The records can be ordered by rating or by name. We can know how many rated games a player has played, whether a player's rating is fixed or unfixed, when the last result for the player was reported etc. All this is fine. However, the latest version of ELOQuery has an additional feature that is really a splendid innovation. It has to be seen to be believed. Let us say you are now at a particular player's record, say that of N.R.Anilkumar. The tournaments N.R. has entered are all displayed, starting with the England (BPCF) – India match with N.R. on Board 10. Now comes the magic: highlight the tournament you are interested in and press the hot key . Hey Presto! The entire cross-table for the tournament loads. So, I know N.R. defeated Richard Ward in one game and lost the other, and all the other results of the tournament are also displayed. This is not all. There is a feature called ‘Forecast’. Press and all the

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games yet to be completed for tournaments you are currently playing in are displayed. You can enter the projected result for each such game, and the programme will tell you how your rating will change as a result. Fantastic! For example, N.R. currently has a fixed rating of 2471 from 57 games. In the current Email Olympiad, suppose he defeats Argentina's Roberto Alvarez (2633). N.R's rating will increase to 2482. If he also beats Plomp (2532), it goes up to 2494, and should he also beat Mirkovic (2500), his rating will be 2503. You can imagine how useful this feature is. Some cunning players use this feature to know the opponent's game load and plan their strategy accordingly! Congress Reports, Playing Rules etc. A number of official ICCF documents are available for download. You can get the latest version of the playing rules, for example or reports of the ICCF Congress concluded recently at Daytona Beach, Florida filed by the ICCF Press Officer Franklin Campbell with photos. Here, important decisions were highlighted. For example, I came to know of two important rule changes for email tournaments. One, the player who concedes even one ETL loses the game. However, two ETL’s are allowed for postal games. Secondly, the standard time limit for email games is being raised from 40 days for 10 moves to 60 days for 10 moves. Tournament organisers are also being given greater flexibility to fix their own time limits in email tournaments. Game of the Month This is a monthly column by former World CC Champion, Vytas Palasciuskas. The idea is to provide a

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deeply annotated game from an ICCF tournament every month. This column is sometimes delayed, but is worth waiting for. The latest game features the win of Tony Hedlund (Sweden) over Osman Kosebay of Turkey in the 6th European Team Championships. The opening is the 8.¦b1 Gruenfeld. Online Games Display Another revolution made possible by the Internet! Here, you can watch the MECT (Millenniuum Email Chess Tournament) featuring top CC players like Andersson, Elwert, Timmerman, Oosterom, Bang and Tarnowiecki, as well as the XVWC, displayed live. What does ‘live display’ mean? It means that the all the moves of the games are displayed as they are played. Updating is done once a month with a 3 move delay, thus transforming CC into a spectator sport. This live coverage was

Chess Mail The premier magazine for Correspondence Chess world wide. Subscription for the year 2000 (eight issues) is US$ 46 for surface mail or US$ 60 for Air Mail. Chess Mail Ltd., 26 Coolamber Park, Dublin 16, IRELAND

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a controversial topic on TCCMB. CC players have upto now been assured of complete privacy for their moves till the game is complete. No longer! This topic was discussed during the Florida Congress and the concept of live coverage has been approved in principle, subject to certain conditions: such as, the display will commence only after all the games have diverged from each other. This is to prevent copying. So, it is possible that your game will be displayed live, move by move, at some website while the game is in progress. Lastly, before concluding, I almost forgot to tell you that the hard-working Webmaster, who orchestrates everything behind the scenes, is Søren Peschardt ! Happy Surfing !

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THE ALL INDIA CORRESPONDENCE CHESS CHAMPIONSHIPS 1503 , 1504 In 1503, the games Gautam De – K.Lhouvum and K.Lhouvum – C.S.Mohan are yet to come to a finish. The points position published in the August Bulletin remains unchanged (No of unfinished games are shown in brackets): 1. Anil Kumar 13½, 2. M.Satheesan 10½ 3. N.Neelakantan 9½ 4. K.Lhouvum 9(2) 5. Gautam De 9(1) 6. C.S.Mohan 9(1) 7. R.G.D.Saxena 7½ … In 1504, the points position is as follows: 1. Gautam De 5(8) 4. N.Neelakantan 3½(6) 7. M.Satheesan 2(12) 10. Nagradjane 1½(11) 13. M.L.Juneja 0(12)

2. N.R.Anil Kumar 4½(9) 5. R.K.Chauhan 2½(11) 8. K.Lhouvum 2(9) 11. V.H.Chole 1(13) 14. T.Chandran 0(9)

K.Lhouvum – A.Chatterjee T.No. 1504 King’s Indian Classical, E97 1.d4 ¤f6 2.c4 g6 3.¤c3 ¥g7 4.¤f3 OO 5.e4 d6 6.¥e2 e5 7.O-O ¤c6 8.d5 ¤e7 9.b4 ¤h5 10.c5 ¤f4 11.¥xf4 exf4 12.¦c1 f5 13.cxd6 cxd6 14.e5 dxe5 15.d6 ¤c6 16.£d5+ ¢h8 17.b5 ¤d4 18.¤xe5 ¤xe2+ 19.¤xe2 £e8 20.¤f3 £xe2 21.Rfe1 £b2 22.¦c7 a6 23.b6 £b5 24.£b3 ¥f6 25.£xb5 axb5 26.d7 ¥xd7 27.¦xd7 ¦xa2 Lhouvum writes to Dr. Chatterjee, “You were combative and held fort all along, upto here. But now I was worried about: 27...Rfb8 28.¦e2 ¦a6 29.¦d6 ¢g7 30.h4 b4/Rba8” 28.¦xb7 b4? Lhouvum continues, “And here, I prefer: 28...¦a6 29.¦b1 ¦d8 30.h4 ¦d5 31.¦b8+ ¢g7 ³. I think your 28th and 29th were weak moves possibly due to your pre-occupation with your family life!” (Ed: At that time I was busy getting married and off for my honeymoon!)

3. A.Chatterjee 4(8) 6. Dr. D.R.K.S.Rao 2(12) 9. C.S.Mohan 1½(11) 12. T.K.Chaudhuri 1(11) 15. K.C.Sukumaran 0(8)

29.¦c7 ¥d8? 30.¦c8 ¥xb6 31.¦xf8+ ¢g7 32.¦b8 ¥xf2+ 33.¢f1 ¥xe1 34.¤xe1 1-0 P.M.Dalvi – C.S.Mohan T.No. 1503 Sicilian Scheveningen, B85 1.e4 c5 2.¤f3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.¤xd4 ¤f6 5.¤c3 d6 6.¥e2 ¥e7 7.O-O a6 8.f4 O-O 9.¥e3 £c7 10.¢h1 ¤c6 11.a4 ¦e8 12.¥f3 ¦b8 13.£e1 e5 14.¤b3 exf4 15.¥xf4 ¥e6 16.£g3 ¤e5 17.¤d4 Nfd7 18.Rad1 ¥f8 19.¥e2 ¤g6 20.¥g5 h6 21.¥e3 ¥c4

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22.¥xc4 £xc4 23.h4 ¢h7 24.£h3 ¤c5 25.h5 ¤e5 26.¥xh6 ¢xh6 27.b3

Position after 34.¢h1 27…¤xb3 28.cxb3 £c8 29.¤f5+ ¢h7 30.¤d5 £d8 31.h6 g6 32.¤xd6 ¥xd6 33.¤f6+ ¢h8 34.¤xe8 £xe8 35.¦xd6 £e7 36.Rfd1 ¢h7 37.R6d5 ¦e8 38.¦f1 £f8 39.¦f4 f6 40.¦h4 £b4 41.¦f4 f5 42.£g3 ¤g4 43.¦d7+ ¢g8 44.¦xg4 fxg4 45.£f2 1-0 N.R.Anil Kumar – Gautam De T.No. 1503 Caro Kan, B10 1.c4 c6 2.e4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.cxd5 ¤f6 5.£a4+ Nbd7 6.¤c3 g6 7.¤f3 ¥g7 8.£b3 O-O 9.¥c4 ¤c5 10.£a3 Nce4 11.O-O a6 12.¦e1 ¥f5 13.¤h4 £b6 14.¤xe4 ¥xe4 15.d3 ¥xd5 16.¥e3 £c7 17.Rac1 ¥c6 18.¥c5 b5 19.¥b3 a5 20.¥d1 b4 21.£b3 ¤d5 22.£c2 Rfd8 23.¤f3 Rac8 24.d4 ¥h6 25.¦a1 ¥b7 26.a3 ¥f4 27.¤e5 e6 28.£b3 ¥xe5 29.¦xe5 ¤f4 30.¦g5 £c6 31.f3 £b5 32.¦e5 ¥a6 33.¥c2 ¤e2+ 34.¢h1 (see diagram) 34…¦xd4 35.¥xd4 ¤xd4 36.¦xb5 ¤xb3 37.¥xb3 ¥xb5 38.axb4 axb4 39.¢g1 ¢f8 40.¢f2 ¦d8 41.¢e1 ¢e7 42.¦a7+ ¦d7 43.¦a5 ¦b7 44.g4 ¥c6 45.¢e2 ¦d7 46.¢e3 h6 47.h4 g5 48.hxg5 hxg5 49.¦xg5 ¥xf3 50.¥a4 ½–½

R.K.Chauhan - Gautam De T.No. 1504 Queen’s Gambit, D44 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.¤f3 ¤f6 4.¤c3 e6 5.¥g5 dxc4 6.e4 b5 7.e5 h6 8.¥h4 g5 9.¤xg5 hxg5 10.¥xg5 Nbd7 11.exf6 ¥b7 12.g3 c5 13.d5 ¥h6 14.¥xh6 ¦xh6 15.£d2 £xf6 16.O-O-O ¢f8 17.h4 ¤b6 18.g4 ¦h8 19.g5 £g7 20.¤xb5 ¥xd5 21.¦h3 ¤a4 22.¤d6 c3 23.bxc3 ¥xa2?

24.¦f3 +– ¦d8 25.£xa2 ¦xh4 26.£d2 ¢g8 27.¥b5 £f8 28.g6 1-0 Dr. D.R.K.S.Rao – K.Lhouvum T.No. 1504 French Defence, Advance Var., C02 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.¤f3 ¤c6 5.¥b5 £a5+ 6.¤c3 a6 7.¥xc6+ bxc6 8.O-O cxd4 9.£xd4 c5 10.£g4 ¥d7 11.¥d2 £b6? 12.¤a4 £b5 13.b3 f5

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14.£g3 ¤e7 15.¤g5 ¤c6? 16.¤xh7 O-O-O 17.¤xf8 ¤d4 18.Rfe1 Rdxf8 19.£c3 ¢d8 20.¤xc5 ¤e2+ 21.¦xe2 £xe2 22.£a5+ ¢e8 23.£c7 £b5 24.¤b7! £c6 25.¤d6+ ¢e7 26.¥g5+ ¦f6 27.£a5 ¦h5 28.exf6+ gxf6 29.£b4 fxg5 30.¤xf5+ ¢f7?

31.£e7+ ¢g6 32.£g7+ ¢xf5 33.£f7+ ¢e5 34.£xh5 £xc2 35.£xg5+ ¢d6 36.£c1 1-0

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14.¥xc4 bxc4 15.¦e1+ ¥e7 16.¥d6 ¤e5 17.¥xe7 ¢xe7 18.¤xe5 ¢f8 19.£d4 ¢g8 20.¤g4 ¢h7 21.Rad1 h5 22.¤e3 £b6 23.£e5 Rhe8 24.£xg5 £g6 25.£xg6+ ¢xg6 26.b3 cxb3 27.axb3 Rac8 ½ – ½ V.H.Chole - C.S.Mohan T.No. 1504 Sicilian Pelikan, B33 1.e4 c5 2.¤f3 ¤c6 3.d4 cxd4 4.¤xd4 ¤f6 5.¤c3 e5 6.Ndb5 d6 7.¥g5 a6 8.¥xf6 gxf6 9.¤a3 b5 10.¤d5 ¥g7 11.¥e2 f5 12.¥d3 ¥e6 13.c3 O-O 14.£h5 fxe4 15.¥xe4 f5 16.¤f4 exf4 17.¥xc6 b4 18.£e2 ¥d7 19.£c4+ ¢h8 20.¥xa8 ¦e8+ 21.¢d2 bxa3 22.¥f3 £b6 23.Rab1 £xf2+ 24.¢c1 ¥b5 25.£d5 £e3+ 26.£d2 axb2+ 27.¦xb2 ¥xc3

N.Neelakantan - R.K.Chauhan T.No. 1504 Queen’s Gambit, D43 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.¤c3 ¤f6 4.¤f3 e6 5.¥g5 h6 6.¥h4 dxc4 7.e4 g5 8.¥g3 b5 9.¥e2 ¥b7 10.O-O Nbd7 11.d5 exd5 12.exd5 ¤xd5 13.¤xd5 cxd5 28.£xe3 ¥xb2+ 29.¢xb2 fxe3 30.¢c3 ¢g7 31.¢d4 ¦e5 32.¦e1 e2 33.a4 ¥xa4 34.¦xe2 ¦xe2 35.¥xe2 ¥c6 36.¥xa6 ¥xg2 37.¢e3 ¢f6 38.¢f4 d5 39.¥b7 ¥e4 0-1

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AUTO-CHESS-O-GRAPHY 16 We are pleased to feature the write up of V.Sadashiva. I have always thought that to qualify as a ‘good’ AICCF member, it is not enough to play a good game; it is also necessary to share the game with others, and in this respect Sadashiva has been exemplary. Our members will recall his prolific contributions to the Games Section of the AICCF Bulletin. He is placed 10th in the Rating Chart of July 2000. Name: V.SADASHIVA (V stands for father’s name ‘Venugopal’) Date of Birth: 10th August 1965 Address: No.26, 11th Cross, Near Sathyanarayana Choultry, J.C.Nagar, Bangalore 560 086 E-mail: [email protected] Phone: 91-080-359 0011, 91-98440 21596 Place of Birth: Bangalore, Karnataka Mother Tongue: Tamil, but more comfortable and fluent in Kannada Other Languages: English, Telugu, Hindi Education: I completed my Diploma in Telecommunication Engineering in 1984 and joined for job and later completed AMIE in Electronics. Profession: I joined Kirloskar Electric Co. in 1984 and worked there as shop floor supervisor till 1990. Then I joined Kirloskar Brothers Limited as Assistant Manager and worked there till end-1998 as Marketing in-charge of two divisions for the state of Karnataka. I left the job and took Clearing & Forwarding Agency of the same company for the State of Karnataka (JMS ENTERPRISES) and am running the same business successfully. For the past one year, I got addicted to computers and learnt several programming languages like C, C++, Java etc. I have started a small Computer Centre from 01.09.2000 (JED COMPUTERS). I teach there in the morning and evening times. This has drastically reduced the time which I used to spend on CC. Family : Married in 1994 to Meenakshi. My daughter Jahnavi was born in 1995. My wife knows the moves of chess, but not interested in playing. Jahnavi used to set up the board when she was just three. But later there are other things, which she is more interested. Now and then she gets interested in chess but still not able to make moves. She operates a computer independently and plays lot of games in the computer. Chess: Learnt Chess very late, at the age of 16, after my 10th standard examination in 1981. My friend H.Devaraju, who is also a member of AICCF, taught me chess. After learning for one year I used to play chess at College. I lost a game in the knockout style semi-finals at the college and that day I literally cried and then the chess fewer caught me. I purchased two books: Your First Move and Road to Chess Mastery. The next few years it was chess and chess and chess.

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20 I played in several local tournaments during 1982 to 1983 and won few of them and got several prizes. Few of my OTB landmarks are:

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1. 1982 District Junior Champion. 2. 1983 Tied for first place in State Open Championship 3. 1983 tied for first place in State Junior Championship after missing first round. 4. 1983 Selected for Asian City Meet to be held at HongKong. Could not play at HongKong, as I did not even know that I need a passport to go to HongKong! In my family none were educated enough to understand or to encourage playing chess. I played the National Junior in 1984 with dismal performance.

That was the end of my short OTB career. After joining job, I concentrated on my further studies and the job. Tried to play in two more State Championships but I was neither in form nor fit. Correspondence Chess: I came to know about CC through one of my chess friends Mr.Rangaraj. He introduced me to CCAI in 1991. Initially I played with a lot of interest but the interest died as the games never progressed. I almost stopped playing in CCAI (within a year or two). At that time I had played one game with our beloved Secretary Mr.E.G.Meherhomji. He had informed me that in Bombay they were planning to start a new correspondence chess association. I wrote to him that I would join if it started. Then one fine day I received a PC from Mr.Meherhomji saying that AICCF had come into existence. Immediately I joined and probably I must be the 7th member of AICCF (based on my membership no). Then I played for a year or two. At that time I acquired additional responsibilities at work and my touring increased. The work demanded more time, even when I was in station. I was also playing in more tournaments and finally I was unable to reply in time. It became a vicious circle. One day I simply stopped playing CC. It was an unpardonable sin I committed, and I wish to apologise to everybody, to whom I stopped replying, including Dr.Chatterjee, Mr.C.S.Mohan, Mr.Nagardjane, Mr.Gautam De and so many others. Till 1997, I simply used to sigh, whenever I saw an AICCF Bulletin. After receiving the July Bulletin, my wife asked me why should not I restart. But I was worried about my inability to reply in time due to travelling. She suggested that I could carry the chessboard while on tour and communicate by telephone with my wife to get and tell the moves and she could take care of replying the PCs. I agreed and started my first tournament after a gap of 3 years. I played only one tournament for almost one year and then the confidence built up.

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We continued the same system and increased the number of tournaments. After I left my job I was able to concentrate more on CC, specially in 1999 I have devoted maximum time for CC, as can be seen from my rating performance curve. The complete credit for my rating and for my eligibility to write this auto-chess-o-graphy goes to my wife Meenakshi. CC Results: The games I forfeited during 1994 and 95 are uncountable and I have also lost all the records. After restarting CC since 1997 my record of games is given below.

Played 80

Wins 71

Draws 4

Losses 5

Score 73.5

% 91.25%

Pending 22

Editors Note: According to AICCF records, the complete statistics for player V.Sadashiva upto July 2000, are as follows (games completed after July 2000 are not yet on record): Played 129

Wins 66

Draws 3

Losses 60

Score 67.5

% 52.33%

Pending 39

Favorite First Move: I generally play 1.e4 with white, but of late I am trying to include 1.d4 and 1.c4 in my repertoire. Favorite Opening: I used to like Modern Benoni and Ruy Lopez earlier, but for the past two or three years, my liking is shifting towards gambits. I tried several, but the Smith-Morra has given me maximum success. Favorite Books: Nimzowitsch’s My System and Reinfeld’s The Immortal Games of Capablanca. Favorite Player: Capablanca for imaginative style, Tal for guts, Botwinnik for will, Anand for speed, Kasparov for understanding and evaluation of the position, and so on. Favorite Theoretician: Nimzowitsch. Favorite CC players: A.G.Nagaradjane, K.Lhouvum, Dr.D.R.K.S.Rao Favorite Game: The game between the great Capa and Nimzo given below is one of my favourites. Capablanca uses the several themes strongly advocated by Nimzowitsch himself, in a very instructive way. The game contains failure of Nimzo’s Overprotection and success of his other themes: Centralization, Outpost, penetration and finally ZugZwang. Had he been on the other side of the board, Nimzo could have used this game for illustrating the themes propagated by him.

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Nimzowitsch – Capablanca New York, 1927 Caro-Kann Defence, B12 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 ¥f5 4.¥d3 ¥xd3 5.£xd3 e6 6.¤c3 £b6 7.¤ge2 c5 8.dxc5 ¥xc5 9. 00 ¤e7 10.¤a4 £c6 11.¤xc5 £xc5 12.¥e3 £c7 13.f4 ¤f5 14.c3 ¤c6 15.¦ad1 g6 16.g4 ¤xe3 17.£xe3 h5 18.g5 0-0 19.¤d4 £b6 20.¦f2 ¦fc8 21.a3 ¦c7 22.¦d3 ¤a5 23.¦e2 ¦e8 24.¢g2 ¤c6

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25.¦ed2 ¦ec8 26.¦e2 ¤e7 27.¦ed2 ¦c4 28.£h3 ¢g7 29.¦f2 a5 30.¦e2 ¤f5 31.¤xf5+ gxf5 32.£f3 ¢g6 33.¦ed2 ¦e4 34.¦d4 ¦c4 35.£f2 £b5 36.¢g3 ¦cxd4 37.cxd4 £c4 38.¢g2 b5 39.¢g1 b4 40.axb4 axb4 41.¢g2 £c8 (Zugzwang) 42.¢g3 Qh1 43.¦d3 ¦e1 44.¦f3 ¦d1 45.b3 ¦c1 46.¦e3 ¦f1 (If 47.£e2 £g1+ 48.¢h3 ¦e1) 0 - 1

To Popularise CC: The hard work and commitment of our managing committee members itself is popularising AICCF to a great extent. As members, we should try to get at least one new member per year. If our top players can send annotated games, using these games, we could print books containing only annotated games and sell them to AICCF members and also to others through our members. This should generate finance for the federation and also help in popularising AICCF. We could even tie up with Chess Mate for marketing these books. Experience in Correspondence Chess: Depending on the profession and family commitments, our life styles change and the time that can be spared for any extracurricular activity is not constant. But CC is a long time commitment. Hence, we should not decide on number of games just by thinking of time available today. The lesson I have learnt (twice) is to play a limited number of games at any point of time. More the number of games, lesser the quality of the games. A Few of my CC Games of Interest:

The End Game A.G.Nagardjane – V.Sadashiva T.No.7199 (Thematic) Smith-Morra Gambit In this game, with a nice manoeuvre, I obtained the initiative, but with one inaccurate move, lost the initiative and a vital pawn. Then struggled in a hopelessly lost Bishop ending by an active plan of defence and held the fort. One of my best endgames. 1.e4 c5 2.d4 cxd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.¤xc3 ¤c6 5.¥c4 d6 6.¤f3 e6 7.0-0 ¤f6 8.£e2 ¥e7 9.¦d1 e5 10.h3 0-0 11.¥e3 ¥e6 12.¥xe6 fxe6 13.¦ac1 ¦c8 14.b4 a6 15.b5 axb5 16.£xb5

£d7 17.¤a4 ¤d4 18.¤xd4 exd4 19.£xd7 ¤xd7 20.¥xd4 Black aims to control the c-file 20…b5 21.¤b6 ¤xb6 22.¥xb6 ¦a8 23.¦c2 ¦a4 24.f3 ¦fa8 25.¦dd2 ¦c4 26.¢f2 ¦ac8 27.¦b2 b4 28.¥a5 ¦b8? (In line with the position is 28…d5) 29.a3 b3 30.¥b4 ¥g5 31.¥xd6 ¦b6 32.f4 ¥f6 33.e5 ¦xf4+ 34.¢g3 ¥g5 35.¦d3 ¦f5 36.¦bxb3 ¥f4+ 37.¢h4! A precise move. 37.¢g4 might lead to perpetual check. 37…¥g5+ 38.¢g4 ¦xb3 39.¦xb3 g6 40.¦f3 ¥d8 41.¦xf5 exf5!+ A move which needs a lot of courage.

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a3 diagonal to guard d6, in case the trap failed.

It allows White two passed pawns, but the idea is to create a passer for Black on the kingside and tie white’s King to it.) 42.¢f4 ¢f7 43.¢e3 ¥b6+ Accelerates the ¢’s wrong journey to the Queen side 44.¢d3 ¢e6 45.¢c4 g5 46.a4 h5 47.¢b5 ¥e3 48.a5 g4 49.¢c4 The king is a bit late 49…f4 50.¢d3 ¥a7 51.h4 f3 52.g3 Not 52.gxf3?? g3! 52…¢d7 53.¥b4 ¢e6 54.¥c3 ¢d5 55.¢d2 ¥f2 56.a6 ¢e6 The final fineness! If 56…. ¢c6?? 57.e6! ¢d6 58.¥e5+!! and ¥b8 wins. ½-½

The Trap Game Dushyant Tyagi – V.Sadashiva T.No. 7199 (Thematic) Smith-Morra Gambit This one features an original opening trap. 1.e4 c5 2. d4 cxd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.¤xc3 e6 5.¥c4 ¥c5 6.¤f3 ¤e7 7.¥f4 a6 8.0-0 0-0 9.¦c1 ¤g6 10.¥g3 ¤c6 11.e5 In the bid to control d6, white lost focus on d5. He wants to play ¤e4 11…¥b4! The Trap. The Bishop should be placed out of attack, but I wanted it on the f8-

12.¤e4? f5 13.exf6 Forced! 13…d5! The point!! 14.f7+ ¦xf7 Not ¢h8 15.¤fg5 dxe4 16.£h5 with some compensation for the piece. 15.¤eg5 ¦xf3 16.¤xf3 dxc4 17.£xd8+ ¤xd8 18.¦xc4 ¤c6 19.¤d4 ¤xd4 20.¦xd4 ¥e7 21.¦c1 e5 22.¦dc4 ¥d7 23.¦c7 ¥g5 24.¦e1 ¥c6 25.¥xe5 ¤xe5 26.¦xe5 ¥f4 27.¦xc6 ¥xe5 28.¦b6 ¦c8 0-1

The Forced Game Manish K. Sharma – V.Sadashiva T.No. 4215 In a seemingly equal position, there developed a tremendous attack with almost forced sequence of moves, as white did not play actively on the opposite wing. 1.d4 ¤f6 2.c4 e6 3.¤f3 c5 4.d5 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.¤c3 g6 7.¥g5 h6 8.¥h4 g5 9.¥g3 ¤h5 10.e3 ¥g7 11.¥b5+ ¢f8 12.¥d3 ¤xg3 13.hxg3 ¤d7 14.£c2 £e7 15.¥f5 ¦b8 16.a4 £f6 17.0-0-0 Not a sound decision. 17…a6 18.g4 ¤e5 19.¤e4 ¥xf5 20.gxf5 £e7 21.¤xe5 ¥xe5 22.¦h5 b5

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¤f6 14.¥e2 ¦b8 15.¦hd1 ¢f8 Black’s position is compromised due to blockaded d7 pawn and he starts to wander restlessly. 16.c5 ¢g8 17.f4 ¢h7 18.f5 Now the centre is closed and white starts rolling both the sides and also plans to bring the King forward. 18…¢g8 19.g4 ¤e8 20.¦6d2 ¢f8 21.h4 ¤a7 22.¤d5 ¤c6 23.¢c2 ¤e7 24.b4 f6 23.¤c3 Move without a clear plan, looses immediately. The rest of the game is almost forced. 23…b4 ¤e4 b3 25.£d3 ¦b4 26.¤c3 c4 27.£d2 £d7 28.g4 ¦xa4 29.£e1 ¢g7 30.f4 Desperation 30…gxf4 31.exf4 ¦a1+ 32.¤b1 ¥xf4+ 33.¦d2 ¦e8 34.£f2 £a4 0-1

The Cruel Game V.Sadashiva – P.Sdabholkar T.No.7222 Sicilian Defence This is one of most cruel positions I have ever seen on the chess board. Black made few inaccuracies at the beginning, but he never got a chance to play a equal game thereon. 1.e4 e6 2.c4 c5 3.¤f3 ¤c6 4.d4 cxd4 5.¤xd4 £f6 6.¤b5 £d8 7.¥f4 To create a hole at d6 by forcing the advance of e pawn 7…e5 8.¥e3 a6 9.¤d6+ ¥xd6 10.£xd6 h6? Immediate £e7 was mandatory. White now tightens his grip on d6. 11.¤c3 £e7 12.0-0-0 £xd6 13.¦xd6

The final mistake. One cannot hold for long in such a one sided position. 25.¤b6 ¤c6 26.¢b3 ¤c7 27.a4 The cold-blooded move. Kills all possible counter play. 27…¢e7 28.¦xd7+ ¥xd7 29.¦xd7+ ¢e8 30.¦xc7 ¤e7 31.¤d5 ¤xd5 32.exd5 ¦g8 33.h5 The hunter meticulously closes all the escape routes of the prey before striking. 33…Kd8 34.d6 ¢e8 35.¥c4 ¦h8 36.¦xg7 ¢d8 37.¥xh6 ¦c8 38.¥e6 e4 39.¦d7+ 1-0

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HERITAGE Episode 5: The 1984 World Championship Nagesh J.

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mong all events held, the World Championship is a truly special one. Among thousands of chess players all over the world, one person is crowned as World Champion. Over the years, we have seen some truly great battles for the Championship. The 1984 Championship between Karpov and Kasparov was one such event. During the event, Florencio Campomanes, then President of FIDE, said, “All records of duration have been broken. Even in terms of emotion.” After 48 games, no player had won the Championship. In 1984, the rules stated that the first player to score 6 victories (draws notwithstanding) would be the victor. The reigning champion, Karpov and the young star, Kasparov met in Moscow in September,1984. Kasparov, by nature, was an adventurous player. As a result, after just 9 games the score was 4:0 in favour of Karpov. Everyone thought that the match would be over quickly. The next stage of the match produced no less than 17 draws! But, during this period, Kasparov got over his initial over-confidence and settled down. Even Karpov did not want to risk his lead. For 50 days this lasted. Then Karpov won the 27th game in classical style to extend his lead to 5:0. In this critical situation, Kasparov showed everyone why he is considered as a truly great player. He threw off his

psychological depression and began to play with passion and flair. His energy and creative imagination began to work. The 32nd game was the turning point in which Kasparov won with the White pieces. The next 14 games produced another spate of draws, but this time Karpov's energy was slowly draining. By winning the 47th and 48th games consecutively, Kasparov reduced the score to 5:3. On 15th February, 1985 (6 months since the Match got started), Florencio Campomanes took the decision to stop the match. He explained that he had to take this decision to safeguard the 'physical and psychological resources' of both players and others involved in the Match. Many doctors had also expressed their opinion that a strain of this sort could lead to a severe nervous breakdown. After this uncompleted 159-day contest, FIDE took the decision to change the format of the World Championship itself. The Match was to be limited to 24 games. Whoever scored maximum points would win. In case of a draw in the Match, the Champion would retain the title. The new Match was scheduled for September 1985. In that historic Match, Kasparov won to become the new World Champion. But that is another story...

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ENDGAME M.Samraoui Mohamed Samraoui, Director ICCF Zone 4 (Africa/Asia) has become a regular contributor to these pages. He has written about Opening Theory, Middle Game Motifs, and now we feature an article about the Endgame.

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n master play, one sees very often a decisive stage in the endgame. The endgame could be the most important phase during play. Here there is no place for randomness or wild ideas, only precision and calculation and of course, the knowledge of typical schemes and patterns. Former World Champion, Jose Raoul Capablanca of Cuba, was an expert of the endgame and recommended that beginners should commence their study from the endgame. There are too many instances of players emerging with a big advantage in the opening or middle game only to mess things up during the endgame. It is surprising how many players do not even understand the ‘elementary’ mate with ¢+¥+¤ vs. ¢! Computer chess programs are still weak in the endgame because they make their evaluations too heavily biased in favour of material. In this article, the reader will find some indications of how to recognise a win when fighting with rook against 3 pawns. Often the ¦ is no match vs. 3 connected pawns, but a win is possible if: 1. The ¢ plays a defensive role facing the pawns while the rook is active (Diag. 1,2,3). 2. The opposite ¢ cannot support the pawns (Diag. 4)

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None of the pawns can reach the 3rd rank (Diag. 5).

It is also useful to show 2 practical examples: Portisch – Spassky (Diag. 6) and Taratakover –Thomas (Diag. 7) as well as 2 paradoxically related examples (Diag. 8 and 9). Play against other pawn structures is illustrated in Diags 10-17.

Diagram 1, White to move The Black pawns look dangerous. But the win for White is possible if he does not allow the advance of the h-pawn. Club players could be tempted by: 1.¦g8+ ¢h7 (or 1...¢f5 2.¦h8 ¢g5 =) 2.¦a8 ¢g6 = or by 1.¦a6+ ¢g5 2.¦a5+ ¢f4 = and 1.¢g3? ¢g7! 2.¢h4 ¢h7 3.¦a7+ (3.¢xh5 f2 4.¦a7+ ¢g8 5.¦a1 g3 =) 3...¢g6 4.¦b7 ¢f6 = . The winning move is: 1.¦h8! ¢g5 2.¢g3 ¢g6 3.¢h4 ¢f6 4.¦h6+! (4.¢xh5? ¢g7 5.¢xg4=) 4...¢f5 5.¦xh5+ ¢f4 6.¦h8 and wins.

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From what has already been said, it should be clear that the win is possible if the ¢ is able to stop promotion and the ¦ stays active. The solution is: 1.¢f3 ¢f5 2.¦f8+ ¢g6 (if 2…¢g5 3.¢e4 +–) 3.¢g2 ¢g5 4.¢h3 ¢g6 5.¢h4! ¢h7 6.¦f5 g2 7.¦h5+ ¢g6 8.¦g5+ ¢f6 9.¦xg2 wins and if 5…¢g7 (5…g2 6.¦g8+) 6.¦f5 wins.

4.b5 ¦c8+ 5.¢b3 (if 5.¢d3 ¢d5 6.b6 ¢c6) ¢d5 6.¢b4 ¦c4+. c) 2.d4 ¦c8+ 3.¢b3 (3.¢b5 ¦xc3) ¢d3 4.b5 or d5 ¦xc3 wins. d) 2.b5 ¦c8 3.¢b4 ¢d5 4.d3 ¦h8 5.c4+ ¢d6 6.d4 ¦h3 6.c5+ ¢c7 wins. e) 2.¢c5 ¢e5 3.¢c6 ¢e6 4.¢c7 (4.¢c5 ¦d8! –+) ¦h8 5.b5 (5.¢c6 ¦d8 5.b5 ¦c8+ 6.¢b7 ¦c4) ¦h7+ 6.¢c6 ¢e7! 7.b6 (7.¢c7 ¢e8+ 8.¢c8 ¦h5 9.b6 ¦c5+ 10.¢b8 ¢d7 11.b7 ¢c6 12.d4 ¦xc3 13.d5+ ¢b6 14.d6 ¦h3 15.¢a8 ¦a3+ 16.¢b8 ¦a7 17.d7 ¦xb7+ 18.¢c8 ¦c7+ wins) ¢d8 8.c4 ¢c8 9.d4 ¦h4 10.¢d5 ¢b7 11.c5 ¦h3 12.¢d6 ¦d3 13.¢d5 ¦d1 14.¢c4 ¢c6 15.¢c3 ¢d5 16.¢b3 ¦d3+! 17.¢c2 ¦xd4 wins.

Diagram 3, Black to move

Diagram 4, White to move

After 1…¢e4! Andre Cheron, in his book, Lehr und Handbuch der Endspiel, Vol 4, used 12 pages to demonstrate the Black win. Here we show only the main lines: a) 2.¢b3 ¢d3 3.¢a4 ¢xd2 4.c4 ¢c3 5.c5 ¦xb4+ 6.¢a5 ¦c4 7.¢b6 ¢d4 8.c6 ¢d5 9.c7 ¢d6 wins. b) 2.d3+ ¢e5 3.d4+ (if 3.b5 ¦c8+ 4.¢b4 ¢d6 5.c4 ¦h8 6.d4 ¢c7) ¢d6

1.¢d2! (if 1.¢d4 ¢f7 2.¦h8 ¢e7 =) ¢f5 2.¢e3 ¢f6 3.¢f2 ¢f5 4.¢g3 ¢f6 5.¢h2! wins.

Diagram 2, White to move

If one rook attacks a pawn whilst the other is deemed to passive defence, this creates a prerequisite for the actively placed side to win.

– Levenfish and Smyslov

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Diagram 5, White to move An ideal position for White, combining the defensive role of the ¢ and the active ¦. This position issued from the game, Mason – Paulsen, Wien 1882 and is winning for White after: 1.¦a8 h4 (1…f4 2.¦h8! ¢g5 3.¢f2 ¢g6 4.¦f8 ¢g5 5.¦f7 f3 6.¦h7! ¢g6 7.¦h8 wins) 2.¦f8! ¢g5 3.¦h8 h3+ 4.¢g3 ¢g6 5.¦f8 ¢g5 6.¦g8+ followed by ¢f4 wins.

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Diagram 7, White to move Taratakover – Thomas, Carsbald 1923 1.¦g1 b5 2.¦a1 c4+ (2…¢b3 3.¦b1+ ¢a4 4.¢c3 b4+ 5.¢c4 +–) 3.¢d4 ¢b3 (3…a5 4.¦b1+ ¢a4 5.¢c3 +–) 4.¦b1+ ¢a4 5.¢c3 ¢a5 6.¦h1 ¢b6 7.¦h6+ ¢a5 8.¦g6 a6 9.¦h6 1-0.

Diagram 8, White to move

Diagram 6, Black to move Portisch – Spassky, Amsterdam 1964 1…¢e4 2.¢b4 (if 2.d6 ¢e5 3.c5 ¦c1+! 4.¢b4 ¢e6 5.¢b5 ¢d7 6.b4 ¦b1 7.¢c4 ¢c6 8.¢c3 ¢b5 +–) ¢e5 3.¢c5 ¦f8 0-1

1.¦d1+ ¢e3 (1…¢e5 2.¢c3 +–) 2.¢c3 ¢e2 3.¢c2 e3 4.¦d4! ¢f2 (if 4…¢f3 5.¢d3 e2 6.¢d2 ¢f2 7.¦f4+ ¢g3 8.¦f8 wins) 5.¦f4+ ¢e1 (5…¢e2 6.¦f6 d4 7.¦d6! c5 8.¦d5 d3+ 9.¦xd3 wins) 6.¦f6 c5 (6…e2 7.¦xc6 ¢f2 8.¦f6+ ¢e3 9.¦e6+ ¢f2 10.¢d2 +–) 7.¦f5 e2 (7…d4 8.¦xc5 e2 9.¦e5 ¢f1 10.¢d2 d3 11.¦f5+ ¢g2 12.¢e1 +–) 8.¦xd5 c4 9.¦f5 c3 10.¢c1 c2 11.¦h5 ¢f2 12.¦h2+ ¢f3 (¢f1 13.¦h1+ ¢f2 14.¢d2 wins) 13.¦h1 ¢f2 14.¢d2 wins.

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Diagram 9, White to move This position appears to be similar to Diag. 8, but in this case there is no forced win, because the move analogous to 11.¦h5 would require the chess board to be extended with an i-file! After 1.¦e1+ ¢f3 (not 1…¢f5? 2.¢d3 +–) 2.¢d3 ¢f2 3.¢d2 f3 4.¦e4! ¢g2 5.¦g4+ ¢f1 6.¦g6 d5 7.¦g5 f2 8.¦xe5 d4 9.¦g5 d3 10.¢d1 d2 draw.

Diagram 10, White to move

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Diagram 11, White to move Study by Richard Reti If 1.¦f3+? ¢g2 followed by 2…h3. If 1.¢e3 ¢g3! 2.¦f5 g4 3.¢e2 h3 4.¢f1 ¢h2! 5.¦g5 g3 6.¦g6 g2+ 7.¢f2 ¢h1 8.¦g3 ¢h2 9.¦xg7 g1=£+ draw. If 1.¦f5? ¢g4 2.¦f1 (2.¦a5 h3 3.¢e3 h2 =) ¢g3! 3.¦g1+ ¢f2 4.¦d1 g6 (4…h3 draws too) 5.¦d2+ ¢g3 =. The only move to win is: 1.¦d2! ¢g3 If 2.¢e3 ¢g3 (2…g3 3.¦d4! ¢g2 [3…g2 4.¢f2 g5 5.¢g1 +-]4.¦xh4 ¢f1 5.¦a4 +)3.¢e2! h3 4.¢f1 ¢h4 5.¦d4! ¢g3 6.¦d3+ ¢h4 7.¢f2 +– 2.¦d3+ ¢g2 2…¢g4 3.¢e3 ¢g3 4.¢e2 ¢g2 5.¦d5 g4 6.¦d4! +– 3.¢f5 h3 4.¢g4 h2 5.¦d2+ ¢g1 6.¢g3 h1=N+ 7.¢f3 wins.

It’s not easy to win such positions, but here, the ¢ and ¦ are well placed, so a forced win is possible after: 1.¦a8! ¢e6 (1…f4+ 2.¢f2 ¢e4 3.¦e8+ ¢f5 4.¦g8 +–) 2.¢f4 ¢f6 3.¦a5 ¢g6 (if 3…¢e6 4.¦e5+) 4.¦xf5 g3 (if 4…f2 5.¢xg4 wins) 5.¦g5+ +–. In Diagram 11, Black is threatening 1…g4. If 1.¢f3? g4+ 2.¢f4 g3 Black wins. If 1.¢f5 g4 with the same threat.

Diagram 12, White to move Is it possible for White to withstand the double threats of c2 and f3? The rook seems condemned to prevent c2 and the

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¢ cannot play 1.¢e4. Despite such a dilemma, White can save the game after: 1.¦h8! ¢b2 (1…f3? 2.¦h2 ¢a3 3.¢c4 +–) 2.¦h2+ ¢b1 (2…¢c1? 3.¦c2+ ¢b1 4.¦f2 ¢c1 5.¢c4 c2 6.¢b3 ¢d1 7.¦xc2 ¢e4 8.¢c4 f3 9.¢d3 f2 10.¦c1#) 3.¦g2 f3 4.¦f2 ¢c1 5.¢c4 c2 6.¢b3 ¢d1 7.¦xc2 ¢e1 Draw.

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1.¦f8! f3 2.¢c2! ¢d4 (2…b4 3.¦f4 b3+ 4.¢xb3 ¢d5 5.¢c3 ¢e5 6.¦f8 ¢e4 7.¢d2 wins) 3.¢d2 ¢e4 (3…b4 4.¦f4+ ¢e5 5.¦xg4 +–) 4.¦b8 g3 5.¢e1! wins.

Diagram 15, White to move Study by Richard Reti Diagram 13, White to move

1.¢f2! (not 1.¢xg2 ¢e4 2.¢f2 e1=Q+ 3.¢xe1 ¢d3 =) ¢e4 (if 1…¢f4 2.¢xe2 ¢g3 3.¢e3 ¢h3 4.¢f2 +-) 2.¢xe2 + – .

In comparison with Diag. 12, the pawn at g4 is further away at f4, apparently making the task of holding back the pawns still harder. But paradoxically, White can win this position! 1.¦e8! ¢b2 (1…g3 2.¦e2 ¢a3 3.¢c4 wins and 1…¢a3 2.¢c2 wins) 2.¦e2+ ¢b1 3.¦h2 (or ¦f2) g3 4.¦g2 ¢c1 5.¢c4 ¢d1 (5…c2 6.¢b3 +–) 6.¢b3 c2 (or 6…¢e1 7.¦xg3 wins) 7.¦xc2 ¢e1 8.¦g2 wins. Diagram 16, White to move Study by Averbakh 1.¢c4! ¢d6 (if 1…¢b6 2.¢d3 ¢c5 3.¢xc2 ¢d4 4.¢d2! ¢e4 5.¢e2 ¢d4 6.¢f2 ¢d3 7.¦a1 +–) 2.¦e1! a1=£ 3.¦xa1 ¢e5 4.¢d3 ¢f4 5.¢e2 ¢g3 (5…¢e4 6.¦e1 +–) 6.¢e3 ¢h2 7.¢f2 wins.

Diagram 14, White to move

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11.¦xd4 ¢f3 12.¢d3! g4 13.¦d8 g3 14.¦f8+ ¢g2 15.¢e2 +–) 6.¢b3 wins.

Diagram 17, White to move The pawn at a4 seems very dangerous, but the centralisation of White’s ¢ and the strong mobility of the ¦ make the decision. 1.¢d5! a3 2.¢c4 d5+ (if 2…a2 3.¦h2+ ¢b1 4.¢b3 a1=¤+ 5.¢c3 d5 6.¦h1+ ¢a2 7.¦d1 ¤b3 8.¦xd5 wins) 3.¢b4! a2 (if 3…d4 4.¦h2+ ¢c1 5.¢c4! Kb1 6.¢b3 ¢c1 7.¦a2 +–) 4.¦h2+ ¢b1 5.¢a3! a1=£+ (if 5…a1=¤ 6.¦h1+ ¢c2 7.¦xa1 d4 8.¢b4 ¢d3 9.¦d1 ¢e3 10.¢c4 g5

Summary In terms of material worth, beginners may think that the ¦ is worth 5 pawns. However the evaluation is changed in the endgame, where, unopposed pawns, threatening to achieve crowning glory by their relentless march towards the queening square can overrun the rook. In this article we have given illustrative example positions, positions from practical play and a few problem positions (endgame studies) to illustrate the methods of playing when confronted with 3 pawns vs. rook. The basic principle is to strive to use the ¢ to hold back the pawns and employ the ¦ from behind to hold back the opposite ¢.

It is well known that two pawns on the sixth rank are stronger than a rook. – DuMont

Each position must be regarded as a problem, where it is a question of finding the correct move, almost always only one, demanded by that position. – S.Tarrasch

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GAMES SECTION Santhosh M.Paul Please submit your games for publication to the Games Editor: Santhosh Matthew Paul, Earalil Market Road, Convent Jn, ERNAKULAM, Kochi 682011 or by email to . Shams Khan – Dr. R.K.Kapoor T.No. 7248 Sicilian Labourdonnais, B32 1.e4 c5 2.¤f3 ¤c6 3.d4 cxd4 4.¤xd4 e5 5.¤b5 d6 6.¥c4 ¤f6 7.¥g5 a6 8.¥xf6 gxf6 9.£h5 £d7

10.¥e6 ! £e7 11.¥xf7+ £xf7 12.¤c7+ ¢e7 13.¤d5+ ¢e6 14.£f5# C.Venugopalan - S.K.Somani T.No. 7244 QP Nimzo Indian ,E52 Notes by S.K.Somani 1.d4 ¤f6 2.c4 e6 3.¤c3 ¥b4 4.¥d2 Usual move is 4.e3 4...O-O 5.¤f3 b6 6.e3 ¥b7 7.¥d3 d5 8.O-O dxc4 9.¥xc4 Nbd7 10.¥d3?!

Dubious. Better are the book continuations 10.£e2 or 10.¦e1 10...e5! This is why 10.¥d3 is dubious. The mistake is punished immediately. 11.dxe5 Again, inviting the thunder!! Better was 11.¤e4 or 11.¥f5 or even the tempolosing 11.¥d3. 11...¥xf3 12.gxf3 ¤xe5 13.¥e4 Better is 13.¥e2 £d7 etc. 13...¤xe4 If 14.¤xe4 ¥xd2; if 14.fxe4 £xd2 14.f4 ¤xd2 0-1 K.C.Sukumaran – Dr.D.R.K.S.Rao T.No. 7221 Two Knight’s Defence, C55 Notes by Dr.D.R.K.S.Rao 1.e4 e5 2.¤f3 ¤c6 3.¥c4 ¤f6 4.d4 exd4 5.e5 d5 6.¥b5 ¤e4 7.¤xd4 ¥d7 Here 7...¥c5 6.¥e3 etc. may lead to equality. 8.¥xc6 8.¤xc6, preserving the King Bishop, may be better 8...bxc6 9.O-O ¥c5 10.¥e3 O-O 11.f3 This weakens the King-side pawn structure. 11...¤g5 12.a3 The Queen Knight should have been developed. 12...¦e8 13.¦e1 ¦b8 14.f4 ¤e6 15.¤xe6 ¥xe3+ 16.¦xe3 ¥xe6 17.b4 c5 Opening the b-file and hoping to recover the pawn later.

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18.bxc5 £e7 19.£d4 ¦b5 20.c6 Reb8 21.¦b3 If 21.¤c3 or 21.¤d2, then ...¦c5 etc 21...¦xb3 22.cxb3 ¦xb3 23.£xa7 h6 24.£d4 £e8 25.a4 Post-haste for Queening. 25...£xc6 26.¤d2 ¦c3 27.a5 ¦c1+ 28.¢f2 To protect the 'a' pawn from the first rank. 28...¦xa1 29.£xa1 ¥c8 This Bishop comes into play to create havoc. 30.h3 £c2 31.£d4 £a2 32.£c3 c5 33.¢e2 A waste of time. Here Mr.Sukumaran made a proposal for a draw, a very reasonable one. But I am accustomed to play for a win with even 2 pawns down! 33...¥a6+ 34.¢e1 c4 35.¢f2

35...d4 It is this move which forms the basis for a winning combination. 36.£xd4 £c2 37.¢g3 c3 38.¤f3 £g6+ The key move. 39.¢h2 39.¢f2 appeared better. 39...c2 40.£b2 If 40.£d2 £d3 40...£d3 41.¤e1 £d2 The Knight is lost. 42.¤xc2 ¥d3 43.e6 fxe6 If 43...£xc2 44.£b8+ ¢h7 45.exf7

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44.£e5 £xc2 45.£xe6+ ¢h7 46.a6 ¥f1 Clinching the issue. 47.£g4 ¥xa6 The rest is mere technique. 48.f5 £c6 49.h4 ¥c8 50.h5 £f6 51.£g6+ £xg6 52.hxg6+ ¢g8 53.g4 ¢f8 54.¢g3 ¢e7 55.¢h4 ¢f6 56.¢h5 ¥d7 57.g5+ hxg5 58.¢g4 ¥xf5+ 0-1 Dr.D.R.K.S.Rao – M.K.Mohammed T.No. 4199 French Tarrasch, C05 Notes by Dr.D.R.K.S.Rao 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.¤d2 ¤f6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.¥d3 c5 6.c3 ¤c6 7.¤e2 £b6 Here 7...exd4 is preferred. 8.¤f3 c4 9.¥c2 f6 This weakens the pawn structure. Better is 9...¥e7. 10.¤f4 ¤e7 11.O-O fxe5 12.¤xe5 ¤xe5 13.dxe5 ¥d7 Here 13...g6 is necessary. 14.£h5+ ¢d8 15.£f7 g6 16.b3 £c7 17.£f6 ¦g8 18.¥a3 18.¤xe6 is better. White is greedy! 18...£c8 19.bxc4 ¢e8 20.cxd5 ¤xd5 21.¤xd5 ¥xa3 22.¤f4 Chess blindness! 22...¥e7

Any sensible person would resign now and try to forget about the game, but I am not sensible. I apologised to my opponent, asking his permission to

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continue the game. He graciously replied: “It is the coins that win or lose, not the player.” I quoted some Suras from the Quran and asked him to justify his statement. The result of our correspondence was a lengthy typed letter from Mr.Mohammed interpreting the Suras. I enjoyed the correspondence more than the game! 23.¤h5 ¥xf6 24.¤xf6+ ¢f7 25.Rfd1 I wanted to preserve my active Knight, that won he game in the end. I have to be aggressive! 25...¦d8 26.¤e4 ¢e7 26...¥e6 is better. 27.¥b3 £c7 28.¦d6 If 28...¥c8 29.Rad1 28...£a5 29.f4 Rac8 30.Rad1 ¦c6 31.R6d3 h6 32.h4 £b6+ 33.¢h2 £a5 34.¤f6 ¦c7 35.g3 £xc3 I was nonplussed and asked Mr.Mohammed: "Are you angry at my continuation without resigning ?" He wrote: "Anger is not in my dictionary! Win and loss are not connected to body and soul". Probably Mr.Mohammed thought, justifiably, that "exchange up" was good enough as it eased the tension around his King. 36.¦xc3 ¦xc3 37.h5 I wanted to have two passed pawns. 37...gxh5 38.¦d6 ¥c8 39.¦xd8 Forced. 39...¢xd8 40.¤xh5 ¢e7 41.¤f6 ¢f8 To prevent ...¤g8+. 42.¤e4 ¦c1 43.¢h3 ¥d7 44.¤f6 ¦h1+ 45.¢g4 ¢e7 46.¤g8+ ¢f7 47.¤f6 At this stage a draw is my aim. 47...¢e7 48.¤g8+ ¢f7 49.¤f6 ¥b5 I was expecting the mate threat earlier. 50.¢f3 ¥c6+ 51.¢f2 ¦h2+ 52.¢e3 ¦b2 53.g4 a5 54.f5 ¦xb3+ With this move I had hopes of a win!

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55.axb3 exf5 56.gxf5 b5 57.¢d4 ¥f3 58.¢c5 This is a diversionary move, luring Black to protect b5 58...¥e2 Now I have a winning game.58...a4 was correct. 59.¤d5 a4 60.bxa4 bxa4 61.e6+ ¢f8 62.¢d6 ¥b5 62...a3 63.e7+ ¢f7 64.¤c7; 62...¢e8 63.¤c7+; 62...¥h5 63.¤f6 a3 (63...¥e8 64.¤xe8 a3 65.¤c7 a2 66.e7+ ¢g7 67.e8=Q a1=£ 68.¤e6+ ¢h7 69.£g6+ ¢h8 70.£xh6+ ¢g8 71.£f8+ ¢h7 72.¤g5# A beautiful mating picture! Games Editor) 64.¤xh5 a2 65.e7+ ¢f7 66.¢d7 a1=£ 67.e8=Q# 63.¤c7 1-0 For, if 63...a3 64.e7+ ¢g7 65.¤xb5 a2 66.e8=Q a1=£ 67.£e5+ or 63...¥e8 64.¤xe8 a3 65.¤c7 a2 66.e7+ ¢g7 67.e8=£ a1=£ 68.¤e6+ ¢h7 etc. as in the 63...¥e8 variation. I hope that Mr.Nilesh Vyas who wrote the letter, ‘Resign Early’ in the Feb 99 Bulletin goes through this game. A.Chatterjee – N.Neelakantan T.No. 1504 Championship Ruy Lopez, Modern Steinitz, C73 Notes by Dr.A.Chatterjee 1.e4 e5 2.¤f3 ¤c6 3.¥b5 a6 4.¥a4 d6 5.¥xc6+ bxc6 6.d4 f6 In this variation, with f6 and g6, Black sets up a solid pawn wall that will be quite impregnable to a King side attack. However I have always been unimpressed by this passive strategy when Black really has to worry about his weak pawn structure: the doubled cpawns. 7.¤c3 g6 8.¥e3 ¤h6 9.h3 Not a new move here, though 9.dxe5 is more common. However, in master play 9.h3 is followed by 9...¤f7 10.£d2 ¥g7

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11.0-0-0 e.g.Hermannson,E - Engqvist,T SVE-ch 1992, Cigan,S - Schuh,F AUT BL 1989, when, in my opinion, Black has the upper hand with mutual Kingside attacks on opposite wings. My strategy is a positional treatment of Black's pawn weakness and for this I avoid 0-0-0. 9...¥g7 10.O-O ¤f7 11.£d2 O-O 12.Rad1 ¦b8 13.b3 f5

At last an attempt by Black to relieve the cramped placement of his pieces, but it is exactly what White has been waiting for! The centre is dissolved and the major pieces are traded off. In the endgame White will be better placed. 14.dxe5 ¤xe5 15.¤xe5 ¥xe5 16.¥d4 £f6 17.¥xe5 £xe5 18.exf5 ¥xf5 19.Rfe1 £g7 20.¦e3 Rbe8 21.Rde1 £f7 22.¤e4 The threat of 23.¤f6+ winning the exchange compels Black to exchange the Knight for Bishop. 22...¥xe4 23.¦xe4 ¦xe4 24.¦xe4 At last we have reached an endgame where Black is hard pressed to defend his weak Q-side pawns. He chooses to exchange the remaining pieces, but the resulting pure pawn ending is surely winning for White. 24...¦e8 25.£e3 ¦xe4 26.£xe4 £d5

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This Q exchange is practically forced since 26...£d7 results in the loss of the a-pawn by 27.£c4+. 27.£xd5+ cxd5 28.f4 d4 29.¢f2 ¢f7 30.¢f3 ¢e6 31.¢e4 c5 32.g4 d5+ 33.¢d3 a5 34.a3 h6 35.b4! White's aim is to create a K-side passer, but here, as often, it is necessary to create threats on both wings. 35...cxb4 36.axb4 axb4 37.¢xd4 ¢d6 38.f5 g5 39.f6 ¢e6 40.f7 ¢xf7 41.¢xd5 1-0 Santosh M. Paul – K Prabhakar 2nd Afro-Asian Tournament French Winawer, C16 Notes by Dr.K.Prabhakar 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.¤c3 ¥b4 4.e5 ¤e7 5.a3 ¥xc3+ 6.bxc3 b6 7.£g4 ¦g8 A rare line, hardly played and not found in leading opening books. Actually I had a temptation to claim this as novelty, but it is not! 8.h4 8.¥d3 8...¤f5 ² 8...¥a6 9.¥xa6 ¤xa6 10.h5 h6 Controls g5. 11.a4 c5 12.£e2 ¤b8 13.¤f3 £c7 14.¢f1 ¤d7 15.¦h3 ¦c8 16.¤e1 ¤f5 17.¥b2 ¤b8 18.a5 ¤c6 19.axb6 £xb6 20.£a6 ¦b8 21.£xb6 ¦xb6 22.¥a3 ¦a6 23.g4 Nfe7 24.¦d3 Weaker is 24.dxc5 ¤xe5 25.¤d3 ¤c4 μ 24...f5 25.exf6 Worse is 25.dxc5 ¤xe5 26.¦g3 fxg4 μ 25...gxf6 26.¦f3 cxd4 27.¦xf6 dxc3 28.¦xh6 ¦xg4 29.¦xe6 ¦h4 30.¥xe7 ¦h1+ 31.¢g2 ¦xa1 32.¢xh1 ¤d4 32...¤xe7?? Black will lose if he goes for the bishop 33.h6 +– 33.¦e5

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33...¤c6 34.¦e6 ¤d4 34...¤xe7?? Black should leave the bishop well alone 35.h6 +– 35.¦e5 ½ – ½ An interesting and fighting draw, where there was more to the game than the moves played! A b Santhosh Paul – Mekki Samraoui 2nd Afro-Asian Championship King’s Gambit, C35 Notes by Santhosh Paul 1.e4 An expanded version of the notes to this game was published in cc.com news at http://www.correspondencechess.com. 1...e5 2.f4!? The opening choice calls for some comment. Why play the Kings Gambit? Well, I wanted to avoid the heavilyanalysed mainstream theory in the Ruy Lopez and the Petroff, where it seems to me that White does a lot of huffing and puffing with just a miniscule plus to show for his efforts. The KG is far from being on the cutting edge of opening theory today, which is a blessing in disguise: one can examine positions at leisure without being bombarded by a series of TN's from contemporary GM practice. At the same time, there is a kind of renewed interest in this opening today. GM's like Morozovech, Fedorov,

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Yuldashev, Grischuk etc.play it quite often. 2...exf4 3.¤f3 ¥e7 The Cunningham Variation. Strangely, the Cunningham was my favourite defence to the KG during the days when I used to answer 1.e4 with 1...e5, based on a recommendation in an old MCO. 4.¥c4 The Bishop looks down the Italian diagonal, eyeing the soft spot f7: an ancient idea.4.¤c3 is also possible. 4...¤f6 5.e5 Not 5.¤c3? ¤xe4! 5...¤g4 6.d4 One of the ideas behind the Gambit: White gets a central majority 6.0-0 is also played. 6...d5 7.¥b3 A tough decision! The regular line is 7.exd6, giving White an edge. The text is a rare, highly aggressive continuation. I first saw the text move in FedorovSoldatenkov Petrov Memorial 1996, 1-0, 38 moves. The idea of maintaining the d4-e5 wedge in the centre appealed to me, as also the idea of maintaining the tension in the centre 7...¥h4+ 7...¤e3 8.¥xe3 fxe3 9.O-O² FedorovSoldatenkov Petrov Memorial 1996, 1-0, 38 moves. 8.¢f1 b6 9.£e2 As far as I can see, this paradoxical move that voluntarily aligns the Queen and King along the same diagonal as the enemy Bishop, is the only move. The ‘c4’ point. 9.¥xf4? ¥a6+ 10.c4 dxc4 11.¥a4+ b5 12.¤c3 bxa4 13.£xa4+ c6 0-1, 25 moves, Kramer-Euwe, Netherlands, 1941. 9...a5! A finesse. The ‘a6’ Bishop is now protected by the 'a8' Rook, which becomes significant in some lines. Moreover, no loss of time is incurred,

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because of the threat of 10...a4, trapping the Bishop on b3. 10.a4?! A reflex action. 10.a3! avoiding the hole on b4, looks correct. I thought the Queen Knight might want to emerge on a3, realising only later that c3 was the right square for it. I also considered here the wildly speculative 10...g3. 10...¥a6 11.c4 The centre is now in an interesting state of tension. Black cannot trade pawns, for that would mean giving up the centre. 11...¥g5 12.¤c3 c6 13.g3 Time to evacuate the King to g2. 13...¤e3+ 14.¥xe3 fxe3 15.¥a2 Essentially, a waiting move. I wanted to see how Black would proceed with his deployment. 15...O-O 16.¢g2 ¥h6 17.Rhf1 £e7! 18.¤h4 g6 19.£g4 ¢h8 20.cxd5!? An exchange sacrifice to occupy the centre and take charge of the White squares. 20...¥xf1+ 21.¦xf1 £b4 22.e6 £xb2+? My opponent confessed after the game that he was writing exams during this period and that this move was “too optimistic”. He felt that maybe 22...¦a7!? was winning. I think he is right. 23.¦xf7 Raxf7 24.exf7 ¦xf7 25.dxc6 ¦f2+ 26.¢h3 ¤xc6 and here White can try 27.¤xg6+ or 27.£c8+ or 27.£e6, but Black seems to come out on top each time. It turns out that the Queen is ideally positioned on b4, covering e7 defensively and looking for an opportune moment to take on b2. Note that 10.a3 would have covered the b4-square. 23.¢h3 ¦a7 24.£e4! I had thought 24.¦xf7 would give me a mating attack, but a deeper look revealed that Black's defences were

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adequate. The text move was the result of a new search! 24...f5 25.£e5+ ¦g7 26.e7 ¦e8

27.¤xf5! Crashing through, though only for a draw! 27.d6?? g5!! idea 28.g4++ wins! 27...e2 28.¦b1 £xc3 ½ - ½ The draw comes after: 29.¤xh6 £f3 30.d6 £f1+ 31.¢g4 ¤d7 32.£e6 £d1 33.¤f7+ ¦xf7 34.£xf7 e1=£+ 35.¦xd1 £xd1+ with a perpetual. My opponent wrote afterwards that this was “the most interesting game of the tournament”. Certainly, this was good, fighting chess! N.R.Anilkumar – Ferenc Foldvary Reg Gillman Memorial Tmt-D Gruenfeld Defence, D85 Notes by N.R.Anilkumar This is a game I played in the Reg Gillman Memorial Tournament, D Group being conducted by the BPCF. It is a strong event with 1 lady CCGM, 5 CC IMs and an OTB IM taking part. Previously, I had performed poorly with 4½ out of 10 in a very strong semi-final group in the 1st Email World Championship, but it had given me valuable experience and taught me how to prepare and play in such strong international events. This time I was determined to get an IM norm. Luckily for me, if one could score 8½ from 14 here, it would be not just an IM norm,

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but the IM title itself because of the large number of games. Working hard and assisted by a good amount of good fortune, I have now managed to reach 8/11 and I think that I will finish with 10 or 10½ from 14 games thus earning the IM title, if things do not go wrong. Ed: Indeed the landmark of the IM Title was achieved! See pg. 10. My good fortune is clear from the game Dr. K.Prabhakar – N.R.Anil Kumar: 1.c4 e5 2.¤c3 ¥b4 3.¤d5 ¥c5 4.e3 ¤f6 5.¤e7??? 0-1. In fact, Dr.Prabhakar had written 5.Nxe7 thinking that I had played my N to e7. I pointed out that his move was impossible. Two letters from Dr.Prabhakar surprised me and showed the real sportsman he was: “Dear Anil, I see that you have become victim to my ‘blunder land’ period as told by me in the Bulletin! What can one do after working long hours, which sometimes stretch to 30 hours without break! In another game I have committed a similar mistake in transmitting a legal but unintended move, though hopefully here it will not prove fatal.” And the second letter… “Dear Anil, I clarified the matter with The T.D., Mr Alan Rawlings, and he informed me that the move 5.Nxe7 is a legal move and is to be read as 5.Ne7. Under the circumstances the Knight is lost and I have no alternative but to resign. Congratulations!” (Ed. Readers should note that AICCF rules are also clearly identical in this matter. Rule 12 (i) (iii) states, “The omission or addition of chess symbols (check/takes/mate/e.p., etc.) is of no significance…”) My sole purpose in giving the game below is to show my AICCF friends that a lot of theoretical work is required while playing CC at the international level.

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1.c4 ¤f6 2.d4 g6 3.¤c3 d5 4.cxd5 ¤xd5 5.e4 ¤xc3 6.bxc3 ¥g7 7.¤f3 c5 8.¦b1 From the English Opening the game has changed to the Gruenfeld Defence. In OTB I used to play 1.d4 ¤f6 2.c4 g6 3.¤c3 d5 4.¥g5 opting for a not so popular line to divert theoretically adept opponents from their prepared lines. 8.¦b1 is in great popularity nowadays and readers will recall Mohamed Samraoui's in-depth article on the line in our AICCF Bulletin. 8...O-O 9.¥e2 ¤c6 10.d5 ¥xc3+ Risky. Although Black gains a pawn, he gives up his valuable Bishop which protects his vital Black squares. Safer is 10...¤e5 11.¤xe5 ¥xe5 12.£d2 e6 13.f4 ¥c7 14.O-O exd5 15.exd5 ¥a5 16.¥a3 b6 17.¥b5 [The Games Editor adds: GM Bogodan Lalic suggests instead 17.¦b5!? with the idea 18.¦xa5, obtaining excellent compensation for the exchange, e.g: 17...£f6 18.¥b2 ¥f5 19.Rbd1 a6 20.¥c6 Rad8 21.c4 £xc6 22.£xa5 bxa5 23.dxc6 ¦c8 24.¦d6 ¥e4 25.¦e1 ¦xc6 26.¦xc6 ¥xc6 27.¦e7 ¦e8 28.¦c7 ¥xg2 29.¦xc5 ¥h3 30.¢f2 ¦c8 31.¦xc8+ ½ - ½ Ivanov,S – Tseitlin,M Beersheva-St.Petersburg, 1998] In Reg Gillman-D itself, I played 10...¤e5 against Peter Kaczorowski of Poland and drew the game. 11.¥d2 ¥xd2+ 12.£xd2 ¤a5 The alternatives 12...¤d4 and 12...¤b8 are no better, e.g. 12...¤d4 13.¤xd4 cxd4 14.£xd4 £a5+ 15.£d2 £xd2+ 16.¢xd2 e6 17.¥c4 b6 18.d6 ¥d7 19.Rhc1 Rfb8 20.e5 a6 21.¥d3 b5 22.¥e4 ¦a7 23.¦c7 ¦xc7 24.dxc7 ¦b6 25.¢c3 f5 26.¦d1 1-0, Ftacnik,L – Gollasch,T Hamburg Wichern, Hamburg, 1993. 13.h4

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White has not committed himself on the K-side and Black's K-side is weak. This is the right time to launch a K-side offensive. 13...f6 13...¥g4 is another way of combating white's attack: 14.h5 ¥xf3 15.gxf3 e5 16.hxg6 fxg6 17.d6 b6 18.£d5+ ¢g7 19.£xe5+ £f6 20.£h2 h5 21.¦d1 ¤c4 22.¥xc4 £c3+ 23.¢f1 £xc4+ 24.¢g2 Rad8 25.£e5+ ¢g8 26.¦d5 ¦f7 27.¦h3 Rdd7 28.¦g3 ¦g7 29.£e6+ 1-0, Kramnik,V – Ivanchuk,V Paris PCAIntel GP, 1995. 14.h5 g5

14...gxh5 15.¦xh5 ¥g4 16.¦h4 ¥xf3 17.gxf3 ¦f7 18.¥d3 b6 19.¢e2 £d6 20.¦g1+ ¢h8 21.Rhg4 e5 22.£h6 £f8 23.£h5 ¦d8 24.f4 ¦e8 25.¥b5 Ree7 26.d6 ¦b7 27.d7 a6 28.£xf7 1-0, Drewelius,D - Pillotelle,B Dortmund WB, 1988. 15.¤xg5 Of course! Otherwise, Black may get time to reorganize his defences as in Kordts,W - Eckert,R BL2-S, 1991: 15.e5 ¥f5 16.¦b5 b6 17.¤xg5 fxe5 18.¤e6 ¥xe6 19.£g5+ ¢f7 20.dxe6+ ¢xe6 21.¦b2 £d4 22.¥g4+ ¢f7 23.¦d2 £e4+ 24.¥e2 £f4 25.£xf4+ exf4 26.¦h4 ¢e6 27.¥g4+ ¢f6 28.¥f3 Rad8 29.¦xf4+ ¢g7 30.¦g4+ ¢h8 31.¦e2 ¦f7 32.¦e6 ¦d6 33.¦e5 e6 34.h6 ¦f5 35.¦e3 0-1 15...fxg5 Black can try something else too: Brenninken,J 2415 - Tukmakov, V 2590

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Lugano, 1989: 15...e5 16.¤f3 b6 17.¤h4 ¦f7 18.f4 £d6 19.O-O c4 20.£e3 ¥d7 21.h6 ¦e7 22.¦f2 exf4 23.¦xf4 ¦e5 24.Rbf1 £xd5 25.¦xf6 £c5 26.£xc5 ¦xc5 27.¦f7 ¥e6 28.¦e7 ¦c6 29.¥h5 ¢h8 30.¥e8 ¥g8 31.¥xc6 ¤xc6 32.¦c7 ¤d4 33.¤f5 ¤b5 34.¦e7 c3 35.a4 ¤a3 36.¤d6 c2 37.¦c7 ¥e6 38.¦c3 ¦d8 39.e5 1-0 16.£xg5+ ¢h8 16...¢f7 is even worse. Kargoll,B Staub,G OL Baden, 1993 went: 17.h6 ¢e8 18.¥b5+ ¥d7 19.£h5+ ¦f7 20.e5 ¢f8 21.¥xd7 ¤c4 22.O-O ¤d2 23.¥e6 £e8 24.¥xf7 £xf7 25.£xf7+ ¢xf7 26.¦xb7 ¤xf1 27.¢xf1 1-0 17.h6 ¦f7 18.¥h5 £g8 19.£xg8+ I saw a GM (Ftacnik?) commenting: 19.£e5+ ¦f6 20.g4 will win for White since g5 looks like a terrible threat. In fact, 20.g4 is a mistake because of 20...£d8 21.g5 £d6 22.£c3 £f4 23.gxf6 £xe4+ and the tables are turned! 19...¢xg8 20.¥xf7+ ¢xf7 21.¦c1 The rest of the game shows the power of Rooks against 2 pieces which are disorganised and lagging behind seriously in development. 21 ...b6 22.¦c3 ¥b7 Curiously enough, we have not left theory even after 22.¦c3! Look at this game: Savchenko,S 2530 – Svidler,P 2495 Groningen, 1993: 22...e6 23.¦f3+ ¢e7 24.¦h5 exd5 25.¦e5+ ¢d6 26.¦e8 ¤c6 27.¦f6+ ¢d7 28.¦h8 1-0 23.¦f3+ I am getting an original position in this game for the first time - that too, perhaps! The rest of the game plays by itself and needs no comments. 23...¢e8 24.¦h5 ¤c4 25.¦g5 ¤d6 26.¦g8+ ¢d7 27.¦xa8 ¥xa8 28.¦f8 ¥b7 29.¦h8 ¤f7 30.¦xh7 ¢e8 31.g4 ¢f8 32.g5 ¤xg5 33.¦h8+ ¢f7 34.h7 ¢g7 35.¦g8+ 1-0

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READERS WRITE Dear Editor, For some time now, I have been thinking of sending in some of my games with annotations to the Games Section but didn’t manage it yet. However I was pleasantly surprised to see my game with K.Lhouvum in the August issue (p. 10). I am also grateful to Sunil Somani for his kind words regarding my association with his good experience in CC. Reading the Editor’s own remarks under “Meet the Management” was interesting indeed. Gautam De Jhargram I hope you (and other top rated players) spare some time to send in your annotated games. Dear Editor, First of all I congratulate you on your wedding on 25.5.2000. I had a suggestion that some space be devoted to national (OTB) chess (i.e. AICF). Another suggestion is that a new AICCF Championship should be started every year. Vijay Kumar Gupta Patiala We seem to have anticipated your first suggestion by publishing “FIDE Turns to India Again” by P.S.Dabholkar in the August issue. We were in fact starting a new AICCF Championship every year (1501 started 1-6-95, 1502: 1-6-96), but thereafter we also ensure that at any given time there are no more than two Chamionships in progress.

Thus 1505 can be started only after 1503 has been completed. Dear Editor, The addresses of all the AICCF players should be published (in one or two instalments) along with subsequent updates. This would allow more contact among the members. I would also like to contact players, asking them to apply for a new tournament along with me, so that I could to be paired with them. Moreover tournaments should be of two categories, Regular and Irregular depending on openings. Players wanting to play Irregular openings may be able to create new openings and convert Irregular into Regular in course of time. Dr. D.R.K.S.Rao Visakhapatnam A full list of AICCF addresses can be supplied on application to the Hon. Secretary, Shri E.G.Meherhomji on payment of Rs. 100/- by M.O. or Bank Draft (payable to All India Correspondence Chess Federation). Regarding “Irregular” openings, we already published your letter “Declare Independece!” quite prominently in the AICCF Bulletin, Feb 1999 where you mentioned openings such as 1.e4 e5 2.h4 or a4; 1.e4 e3 2.g4 etc. However we did not receive a single response from any other player who may be prepared to play such an opening!! Dear Editor, The Bulletin was as good and informative as ever. It is nice to know that your wife has taken a liking to chess. Nothing is better than the voyage

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of discovery to new and uncharted territory and that too into a field with cerebral dimensions. Readers comments have made the Bulletin more enchanting and humane. K.Prabhakar Mumbai Dear Editor, Women chess players are growing in quality and quantity in India. It is clear for the over-the-board (OTB) version of the games, while for CC things are the opposite. A chess game by post card is not only a chess game but a healthy competition where every player is pleased to see his/her rating every six months. Even a loser is a gainer by having enriched himself/herself with the nuances of the game. To see an increase in women AICCF players, the management may advertise in the AICCF Bulletin, Chess Mate etc. and also request existing active CC players to motivate the growing number of women chess players to join AICCF. N.K.Bajpai Shamshi, Kulu (H.P.) Dear Editor, Please refer to the fabulous donations of Mr.K.V.Lakshminarayana at pg. 5, of the AICCF Bulletin, Aug. 2000 issue. You have expressed our gratefulness to the donor. I believe that the wishes of AICCF members to increase the frequency of the Bulletin from bi-annual to quarterly was possible due to the generous hands of Mr.Lakshminarayana and his family. I am very confident that such generosity will continue!

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To cap our gesture for the rare kind of attachment with AICCF, I am of the view that our benefactor deserves conferment of the title Patron of AICCF. K.Lhouvum Tezpur, Assam CONGRATULATIONS ANIL KUMAR! Dear Editor, The news published in the sports column of the newspaper, Asian Age, 25.10.2000 about N.R.Anilkumar’s award of the International Master (ICCM) title by the International Correspondence Chess Federation (ICCF) delighted me. I and all the members of AICCF here are extremely proud of his high distinguished achievement. In fact his splendid performance and subsequent reward has not come as a surprise, because he was an ace in this arena since the past year. With recognition come greater responsibilities and more hard work. Being a senor lecturer of English in S.K.V. College, Thrissur, and sparing some time for a hobby like CC, he succeeded in climbing the first step (ICCM title) in the International CC arena. This award has not only confirmed his pure love, concentration, deep study/analysis of chess games but also dedication to the game. His success should be an encouragement to all CC players to prosper, especially, P.M.Dalvi, N.Neelakantan, Santhosh Paul, Dr. A.Chatterjee etc. P.S.Dabholkar Mumbai

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SHORT COMMENTS Dr. A.B.Surveyor: I would like to take up the challenge issued by Dr. Rao on pg. 23 of the Aug. 2000 Bulletin (C.S.Mohan – Dr. D.R.K.S.Rao, T.No. 7140) as I think White can win in the position that was adjudicated as drawn! K.C.Sukumaran: I think the August Bulletin is even better than the previous issues. I thank you for your painstaking work. C.S.Mohan: Thank you for sending me a duplicate copy of the May Bulletin at my new address. I would have missed what is probably the best AICCF Bulletin so far. R.K.Chauhan: It was a pleasant surprise to see the new coloured cover page. Although my game against K.Lhouvum in 1504 is printed on pg. 9, it is not mentioned under Tournament Results on pg. 33. (This is because the result was reported after 30-06-2000 and so can only be rated in the next frozen period. –Ed.) N.R.Anil Kumar: Thanks for your congratulations upon my becoming IM, but more than that for all the help and encouragement you have extended to me. The last Bulletin was an exceptional issue, remarkable for three things – the astounding personalities of Dr.Aindley, yourself and KVLN. They make one keep faith in human virtue! Anirudh Trehan: Congratulations for maintaining a high standard of the Bulletin with increase in frequency. With your recent marriage, it must be tight rope walking as far as time is concerned! A.G.Nagradjane: I am really very happ to read about Mr. N.R.Anil Kumar’s achievement. It is not only his effort but that of AICCF. I hope the team effort will produce many more CC IM in the near future!

Castle when you will, or if you must, but not when you can. – Napier

Endgames with Queen and pawn on both sides are among the most difficult in chess. – Paul Keres

An inelastic pawn structure is an aesthetic eyesore. – John W. Collins

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CORCHEGIMMIC Solution to Corchegimmic-17A

& Vinod Sharma, Ibmocha Singh and Suraj Bhan Sharma (Corchegimmic 18 only).

Corchegimmic-19 The position below contains the intricacies of a game from practical play (as opposed to a composed problem). You are asked to think of White’s best line of play in this position. White to mate in 6 1.¥f7 (… ¥g6) ¤e4 2.¥g6 (… ¥xe4) ¤g3+ 3.¢f2 ¤f5 4.¥e8 (… ¥c6) ¤xd4 (4…¤d6 5.¥c6+ ¤e4+ 6.¥xe4#; 4…¤e7 5.¥f7 ¤c6 6.¥d5#) 5.¥h5 ¤b3 6.¥f3#

Solution to Corchegimmic-18

White to play R.Raman – S.Jeyaprakash Tamil Nadu State Ch.

Black to play Black cannot play 1…Qxh2+? 2.Kxh2 Rh8+ because of 3.Bh7 Rxh7+ 4.Qxh7+ and white is the exchange up. Instead correct is: 1…Qh3 2.Bf1 Qxh2+ 3.Kxh2 Rh8+ 4.Bh3 Rxh3+ 5.Kxh3 Rh8+ with mate. Also correct is 1...Rxd3 2.Qxd3Qxh2+ 3.Kxh2 Rh8+ with mate. Correct Solvers: Dr. A.B.Surveyor, Barun Das, V.D.Pandit, Pranab Bhowmick, Ashutosh De, S. K.Somani

Rush your solutions! Solutions must be sent to the Bulletin Editor: Dr. A.Chatterjee 102 Meghnad, TIFR Housing Complex, Colaba, Mumbai 400 005

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NEW TOURNAMENTS 4-Player Double-Game Tournaments 4251 Shams Khan, C.Venugopalan, Wahee, Tyagi (Adj. Date: 15-10-02) 4252 Dr.Phani, Neelakantan, Chauhan, Trehan (Adj. Date: 20-05-01) 7-Player Single-Game Tournaments 7257 Lhouvum, S.Upadhyay, V.K.Gupta, C.Venugopalan, Sundararajan, Dabholkar, Anish Das Sarma (Adj. Date: 15-10-02) 7258 Lhouvum, Shams Khan, S.Upadhyay, Nagradjane, Tyagi, Sundararajan, Swapan Das (Adj. Date: 15-10-02) 7259 Samuel, C.Venugopalan, Mandviwala, Anpazhakan, Trehan, Pandavakrishna, Lhouvum (Adj. Date: 15-11-02)

Extension of Adjudication Date The following games are extended by 6 months: 4202 Chole – Nagesh; 4205 Nagesh – Manish Sharma; 7207 Chole – Nagesh; 7208 Dabholkar – Lakshminarayana

Erratum Corrections: 4218 Anish Das Sarma 1 Wahee Player/Published/Correct: Anish Das Sarma 898/930; Wahee S.N. 1025/993

Thematic Tournaments M.B.Mulla Hill View, 23 N.S.Patkar Marg, MUMBAI 400 007, Ph: 022-3803951, 3804523 Entries are invited for: TH-18: Theme – D45: QGD Anti-Meran 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 e6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Qc2 Bd6 7.g4

AICCF Email Tournaments  We are glad to announce that Santhosh Matthew Paul is the winner of AICCF’s first Email Tournament, 01-EM-4224. Final standings: 4224: S.M.Paul 5, A.Patil 4, R.Raman 0, V.Sadashiva 3.  If you would like to play in an email tournament, lease send your entries to Dr. A.Chatterjee . A new tournament will be started as soon as there are sufficient entries.

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INTERNATIONAL SECTION Dr. K.Prabhakar, Team Captain (India) and ICCF Coordinator 36/A-21 Aksharkripa, Manish Nagar, Four Bungalows, Andheri(W), MUMBAI 400 053 (Email: [email protected], Ph: 022-6238601) Members wishing to play in ICCF tournaments should send their entries to Mr. E.G.Meherhomji along with the requisite fees. Here are the results of games completed recently: FICCM(Denmark–India): M.B.Mulla = S M Larsen; V.Chole 1 J.Engelsoft; P.P.Padhi 0(both) K.Dyeberg. FICCM(Scotland–India): V.Chole 0 I.Mckintosh. FICCM(Italy–India): K.Prabhakar = (both) G.Mastrojeni; P.P.Padhi 0 (both) F.Vetro. FICCM(BCCA–India): E.G.Meherhomji 0 W.A.Clews; N.K.Bajpai 0 P.Adams; N.K.Bajpai = P.Adams. FICCM(France–India): V.Saxena 0 M.Muneret. Olympd Pre XIII: K Lhouvum 0 Dr. H Polsterer; Gautam De 1 D.Hamilton; K.L.Gala 0 Dr. N.Kristoffel; K.L.Gala 0 S.Maurer. 2nd Asian CCC: N.R.Anilkumar 0 S.Ohtake; N.R.Anilkumar 0 Yazdurevich. 2nd Afro Asian F: N.R.Anilkumar 1 S.M.Paul; N.R.Anilkumar = E.Hoidahl; N.R.Anilkumar 1 Mekki Samraoui; K.Prabhakar = Mekki Samraoui; K.Prabhakar 1 K.Akadegawa; K.Prabhakar = S.M.Paul. Reg Gillman Memorial: K.Prabhakar = Iluska P.Dacunha; K.Prabhakar 0 Jose D. Ward; K.Prabhakar = W.F.Lumley; N.R.Anilkumar 1 G.Quatrrochchi. EM/MN023: K.Prabhakar = K.P.Thomsen. David Lodge Memorial: S.M.Paul = Richard Ward; S.M.Paul = Carlo Menghi; S.M.Paul = John C.Knudsen. WT/H/ 945: P.G.Mandviwala 1 D.R.Dartnell. WT/ II /GT/43: E.G.Meherhomji = Gotz Prense; NE.Schreiber 0 E.G.Meherhomji; E.G.Meherhomji 1 H.G.Schwerdtfeger. WT/ II /935: E.G.Meherhomji 0 K.Erich; E.G.Meherhomji 1 G.Wunderbank. TH/12/98/3-B33: P.S.Dhabolkar 0 S Gonzalez; P.S.Dhabolkar 0 P.Hoffman. AA/E02/Open: Mohanchandran 1 Paner; Mohanchandran 1 Etemadi.

NEW ICCF THEMATIC TOURNAMENTS Games will be played by post. Entry fee Rs. 192/- (SF 6) each. Send entries to Shri E.G.Meherhomji at least 15 days before ICCF’s last date. 1. Fegatello Variation, C 57: Last date: 15.12.2000 Starts: 01.02.20001 1. 5254 5755 2. 7163 2836 3. 6134 7866 4. 6375 4745 5. 5445 6645 6. 7567 5867 7. 4163 6756 8. 2133 2. Alekhine Defence, B02-05: Last date: 15.12.2000 Starts: 01.02.20001 1. 5254 7866

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3. Ruy Lopez, Cordel Defence, C64: Last Dt:15.01.2001 Starts:15.03.2001 1. 5254 5755 2. 7163 2836 3. 6125 6835 4. French Defence, C11: Last Date:15.01.2001 Starts:15.03.2001 1. 5254 5756 2. 4244 4745 3. 2133 7866 4. 5455 6647 5. 6264 3735 6. 7163 5. Trompowski Opening, A45: Last Date: 01.03.2001 Starts:01.05.2001 1. 4244 7866 2. 3175 6654 6. Sicilian Defence, Moscow Variation, B51: Last Dt: 01.03.2001 Starts:01.05.2001 1. 5254 3735 2. 7163 4746 3. 6125 7. Bishop’s Opening, C23: Last Date: 15.04.2001 Starts: 15.06.2001 1. 5254 5755 2. 6134 6835 3. 3233 4745 8. Dutch Defence, Korchnoi Variation, A80: Last Date: 15.04.2001 Starts: 15.06.2001 1. 4244 6765 2. 8283 7866 3. 7274 6574 4. 8374 6674 5. 5254 9. Marshall Attack, C89: Last Date: 01.06.2001 Starts: 15.08.2001 1. 5254 5755 2. 7163 2836 3. 6125 1716 4. 2514 7866 5. 5171 6857 6. 6151 2725 7. 1423 5878 8.3233 4745 10. Sicilian Sveshnikov, B32: Last Date: 01.08.2001 Starts: 01.10.2001 1. 5254 3735 2. 7163 2836 3. 4244 3544 4. 6344 5755 11. Dada Opening, A00: Last Date: 01.08.2001 Starts: 01.10.2001 1. 7273 5755 2. 6172 4745 3. 2224 12. French Defence Chatard-Alekhine Attack, C13: Last Date: 15.09.2001 Starts: 15.11.2001 1. 5254 5756 2. 4244 4745 3. 2133 7866 4. 3175 6857 5. 5455 6647 6. 8284 13. Grünfeld Defence Seville Gambit, D87: Last Date: 15.09.2001 Starts: 15.11.2001 1. 4244 7866 2. 3234 7776 3.2133 4745 4. 3445 6645 5. 5254 4533 6..2233 6877 7. 6134 3735 8. 7152 2836 9. 3153 5878 10. 5171 3874 11. 6263 3615 12. 3467 14. Lisitsin Opening, A04: Last Date: 15.10.2001 Starts: 15.12.2001 1. 7163 6765 2. 5254 6554 3. 6375 4745 15. Sicilian Defence Wing Gambit, B20: Last Date: 15.10.2001 Starts: 15.12.2001 1. 5254 3735 2. 2224

While starting a new ICCF tournament, please send a Xerox copy of the start list to Shri E.G.Meherhomji. When an ICCF game is completed, please send the result to the ICCF Tournament Secretary and also to Dr. Prabhakar.

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ICCF RATINGS The new ICCF Ratings list (1 October 2000) has been published at the ICCF web site. The list of names of AICCF players on the list is as follows (the last column gives the number of rated games):

Name Satheesan, M. Anilkumar, N.R. Neelakatan, N. Lhouvum, K. De, Gautam Dalvi, P.M. Mohan, C.S. Santhosh, M. Paul Saxena, R.G.D. Chatterjee, Dr. A. Lakshminarayana, K.V. Vaithianathan, V. Nagaradjane, A.G. Chauhan, R.K. Prabhakar, Dr.K. Ganapathi, Cdr R. Chole, Vikrant H. Mulla, Mehli B. Patil, A.A. Sharma, Manish K. Samtani, Haresh J. Chandran, T. Bajpai, N.K. Mehta, Bikram Pathak, P.B. Nayak, Satya S. Pandit, V.D. Salgaocar, S.A. Sukumaran, K.C. Valsan, K. Aindley, Dr.B.N. Ramanamurthi,Dr.KV Jadhav, DineshV. Padhi, PremPrakash Upadhyay, Satyendra

Rating

Games

2476 2471 2450 2433 2423 2385 2376 2362 2350 2348 2342 2340 2337 2332 2330 2308 2284 2259 2244 2227 2216 2216 2194 2158 2157 2152 2131 2114 2095 2082 1992 1960 1949 1915 1881

14 57 22 52 31 52 40 23 24 73 15 15 47 29 50 25 23 14 14 15 19 29 34 12 14 15 44 78 32 29 12 22 15 30 15

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In addition, the names of the following players who have yet to complete 12 games have been included without a rating:

Name Trehan, Anirudh Aleem, S.M. Gala K.L. Reddy, Mookiah Gupta Anuj Kutty, Sankaran M. Kumar, P.R. Mandviwala, Pervez G.

Games 11 2 11 6 1 9 2 4

We have noticed some anomalies in the ICCF Rating List which will need to be rectified. For example, a name Krishna, P. appears without a rating, showing 6 games … but this is the same as Prabhakar Dr. K. The names of P.S.Dabholkar and E.G.Meherhomji do not appear on the list of rated/un-rated players at all. In fact P.S.Dabholkar has completed more than 12 games already. Other members who are members of our International Section should carefully go through the Rating Chart and point out any anomalies to Dr. K.Prabhakar.

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