Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Mike Serovey Draws Richard Booher

I have found what appears to be the very first correspondence chess game in which I played the Blackmar-Diemer gambit. This is the last of the old correspondence chess games that I will publish here. All things considered, it is doubtful that I will play this gambit ever again unless I chose to transpose into it from the Scandinavian defense and use it as a surprise weapon. The complete game, with analysis and diagrams, can be found at http://www.mikeseroveyonchess.com/RichardBooher-Blackmar-Diemer-Gambit.html. Here is the game in PGN.

[Event "89CC390"]
[Site "USCF Correspondence Chess"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "Game A"]
[White "Mike Serovey"]
[Black "Richard Booher"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nc3 d5 3. e4 dxe4 4. f3 Bf5 5. Bf4 e6 6. g4 Bg6 7. g5 Nd5 8. Nxd5Qxd5 9. Bg2 c5 10. c3 cxd4 11. Qxd4 Qxd4 12. cxd4 Bb4+ 13. Kf2 exf3 14. Bxf3 Nc615. Ne2 O-O 16. Rac1 Rac8 17. d5 exd5 18. Bxd5 Rfe8 19. Ng3 Bd3 20. a3 Ba5 21.Be3 Re5 22. Bxc6 bxc6 23. Rhd1 Bb5 24. h4 a6 25. b3 c5 26. a4 Be8 27. Rd6 Bc728. Rxa6 Rxe3 29. Kxe3 Bxg3 30. Rc4 Rb8 31. Rxc5 Rxb3+ 32. Ke4 Rb8 33. h5 f6 34.gxf6 gxf6 35. Rxf6 Bh4 36. Ra6 Rb4+ 37. Ke5 Bg3+ 38. Kf6 Bh4+ 39. Ke6 Re4+ 40.Kf5 Rxa4 41. Rxa4 Bxa4 42. Kg4 Be7 43. Rc8+ Kf7 44. Rc3 Bd1+ 45. Rf3+ Kg7 46.Kg3 {Draw agreed} 1/2-1/2

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Mike Serovey Defeats John I. Bean

Here is another win from section 99SS7. I have yet to find a game from this section that I haven't won. The opening resembles a closed Sicilian so that is what I am calling it. White sacrificed a lot of material for a Kingside attack that failed. He was still down material after my Queen sacrifice so he resigned. The complete game, with analysis and diagrams, can be found at http://www.mikeseroveyonchess.com/JohnIBean-Sicilian.html. Here is the game in PGN.

[Event "90SS7"]
[Site "USCF Correspondence Chess"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "John I. Bean"]
[Black "Mike serovey"]
[Result "0-1"]

1. e4 g6 2. Nc3 Bg7 3. Bc4 c5 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. O-O d6 6. d3 Nf6 7. Ng5 O-O 8. Bxf7+Rxf7 9. Nxf7 Kxf7 10. Be3 Bg4 11. f3 Be6 12. Bg5 Qb6 13. b3 c4+ 14. Rf2 cxb3 15.cxb3 Nd7 16. f4 Bxc3 17. f5 gxf5 18. Qh5+ Kg8 19. exf5 Bxa1 20. Bh6 Bf7 21. Qg5+Kh8 22. Kf1 Qxf2+ {White resigns} 0-1

Mike Serovey Defeats Michael T. McCloskey

Here is another old correspondence chess game. This time I beat a lower rated player with the Benko Gambit. My opponent declined the gambit in an unusual way and I managed to get a good position with even material as a result. So far, it still looks like I won every game in this section. The complete game, with analysis and diagrams, can be found at http://www.mikeseroveyonchess.com/MichaelTMcCloskey-BenkoGambitDeclined.html. Here is the game in PGN.

[Event "90SS7"]
[Site "USCF Correspondence Chess"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Michael T. McCloskey"]
[Black "Mike Serovey"]
[Result "0-1"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5 4. b3 d6 5. Bb2 Nbd7 6. e3 bxc4 7. bxc4 g6 8. Nf3Bg7 9. Bd3 Rb8 10. Bc3 Nb6 11. O-O O-O 12. Nbd2 Bd7 13. a4 Nxa4 14. Rxa4 Bxa415. Qxa4 Qc7 16. Ba5 Qd7 17. Qxd7 Nxd7 18. Rb1 Rxb1+ 19. Nxb1 Rb8 20. g3 Rb3 21.Bc2 Rb2 22. Bd3 Ra2 23. Bd8 Kf8 24. h3 Ne5 25. Nxe5 Bxe5 26. f4 Bf6 {White resigns}0-1

Saturday, December 22, 2007

Mike Serovey Defeats Robert L. Eisert

I found an old correspondence chess game in which I deliberately chose to play the Black side of the French defense. Although the French has a reputation for being drawish I did manage to win this one. Even so, I rarely play the Black side of the French because I think that I have better winning chances with the Sicilian or Modern defense. The complete game, with analysis and diagrams, can be found at http://www.mikeseroveyonchess.com/RobertLEisert-French.html. So far, it looks like I won every game in this section. Here is the game in PGN.

[Event "90SS7"]
[Site "USCF Correspondence Chess"]
[Date "1991.10.04"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Robert L. Eisert"]
[Black "Mike Serovey"]
[Result "0-1"]

1. e4 e6 2. Nc3 d5 3. d4 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. Bd3 c5 6. dxc5 Nc6 7. Nf3 d4 8. Ne2Qa5+ 9. Qd2 Qxc5 10. O-O O-O 11. Rac1 e5 12. c3 Qd6 13. cxd4 exd4 14. Bf4 Qd815. e5 Nd5 16. a3 Be6 17. Bg3 Nb6 18. Nexd4 Nxd4 19. Nxd4 Bg5 20. f4 Qxd4+ 21.Rf2 Rad8 22. Rd1 Be7 23. Kh1 g6 24. h3 Bc4 25. Rf3 Bxd3 26. Rxd3 Qxd3 27. Qxd3Rxd3 28. Rxd3 Rd8 {White resigns} 0-1

Mike Serovey Defeats Mark J. McClaughry

I finally found an old correspondence chess game that I won playing the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit. This game was also a Teichmann defense. That seems to be the most popular reply to the gambit so far. In this game a low rated player freaked out over my kingside attack and resigned prematurely. Oh, well. I'll take a win any way that I can get one! The complete game, with analysis and diagrams, can be found at http://www.mikeseroveyonchess.com/MarkJMcClaughry-Blackmar-Diemer-Gambit.html. Here is the game in PGN.

[Event "90SS7"]
[Site "USCF Correspondence Chess"]
[Date "1991.09.09"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Mike Serovey"]
[Black "Mark J. McClaughry"]
[Result "1-0"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. f3 d5 3. e4 dxe4 4. Nc3 exf3 5. Nxf3 Bg4 6. h3 Bxf3 7. Qxf3 c6 8.Be3 e6 9. Bd3 Nbd7 10. O-O Be7 11. Rf2 Qa5 12. Raf1 O-O 13. Qg3 Nh5 14. Qf3 Nhf615. Ne4 e5 16. Bg5 {Black resigns} 1-0

Friday, December 21, 2007

Mike Serovey Loses To William R. Killion

This is the third loss in a correspondence chess game using the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit that I have found so far. In this one I again lost to a lower rated player. So far, it looks like I lost every game that I played in this section. This game can be found at http://www.mikeseroveyonchess.com/WilliamRKillion-Blackmar-Diemer-Gambit.html. Here is is in PGN.

[Event "96RT25"]
[Site "USCF Correspondence Chess"]
[Date "1996.10.28"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Mike Serovey"]
[Black "William R. Killion"]
[Result "0-1"]

1. e4 d5 2. d4 dxe4 3. f3 e5 4. Be3 exd4 5. Qxd4 Qxd4 6. Bxd4 Nc6 7. Bb5 Bd7 8.Bxc6 Bxc6 9. Nc3 Nf6 10. O-O-O O-O-O 11. Nxe4 Nxe4 12. fxe4 f6 13. Nf3 Bxe4 14.Rhe1 Bxf3 15. gxf3 Bd6 16. h4 Rhe8 17. c3 c5 18. Rxe8 Rxe8 19. Bg1 Bf4+ 20. Kc2b6 21. a4 Bg3 22. h5 Re5 23. h6 gxh6 24. b4 h5 25. Kb3 Re1 {White resigns} 0-1

Mike Serovey Loses To Lawrence D. Gladding

Here is another old correspondence chess game played in 1996. After looking over this game I am amazed that I was able to obtain a 1940 rating playing this badly! Obviously, I had better games than this one! This is another Blackmar-Diemer Gambit, Teichmann defense. I had a couple of missed opportunities in this game, but my loss was due mainly to the strong kingside attack that Black mounted against me. My opponent had a higher OTB rating than I did at the start of this but I had the higher correspondence chess rating. The complete game, with analysis and diagrams, can be found at http://www.mikeseroveyonchess.com/LawrenceDGladding-Blackmar-Diemer-Gambit.html. Here is the game in PGN.

[Event "96RT25"]
[Site "USCF Correspondence Chess"]
[Date "1996.10.28"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Mike Serovey"]
[Black "Lawrence D. Gladding"]
[Result "0-1"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nc3 d5 3. e4 dxe4 4. f3 exf3 5. Nxf3 Bg4 6. Be3 e6 7. Bd3 Bb4 8.O-O O-O 9. Qe1 Nbd7 10. Qh4 Be7 11. Bxh7+ Nxh7 12. Qxg4 f5 13. Qg3 g5 14. Ne5Nxe5 15. dxe5 Qe8 16. Ne2 Kh8 17. Bf2 c5 18. Be1 b6 19. Bc3 Qb5 20. Nc1 Kg7 21.a4 Qe8 22. b3 Qh5 23. Nd3 Kh8 24. Rf3 Rac8 25. Nb2 g4 26. Rd3 Rcd8 27. Rad1 f428. Qf2 Rxd3 29. Rxd3 Ng5 30. Rd7 Ne4 31. Qe1 f3 32. Nd1 fxg2 33. Kxg2 Qh3+ 34.Kg1 Bh4 35. Qe2 Nxc3 36. Nxc3 Bf2+ 37. Kh1 Bd4 {White resigned} 0-1

Mike Serovey Loses To David Buckley

This is yet another old correspondence chess game from 1996. In this one I lost to a 1909 rated player with the White side of a Blackmar-Diemer Gambit. This game is a perfect example of how not to play the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit. The entire fiasco, complete with analysis and diagrams, can be found at http://www.mikeseroveyonchess.com/DavidBuckley-Blackmar-Diemer-Gambit.html. Here is the game in PGN

[Event "96UA15"]
[Site "USCF Correspondence Chess"]
[Date "1996.10.28"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Mike Serovey"]
[Black "David Buckley"]
[Result "0-1"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nc3 d5 3. e4 dxe4 4. f3 exf3 5. Qxf3 Qxd4 6. Be3 Qd6 7. h3 Nc6 8.Bd3 Ne5 9. Qe2 Nxd3+ 10. Qxd3 Qxd3 11. cxd3 Bf5 12. O-O-O O-O-O 13. d4 e6 14.Nf3 Bb4 15. Ne5 Bxc3 16. bxc3 Rhf8 17. Rhf1 Nd5 18. Bd2 f6 19. Nf3 Rd6 20. Kb2Bd3 21. Rf2 Rb6+ 22. Ka1 Rd8 23. Ne1 Bc4 24. Rb1 Rxb1+ 25. Kxb1 e5 26. dxe5 fxe527. Nc2 Nf6 28. Bg5 Rd6 29. Ne3 Bd3+ 30. Ka1 h6 31. Bh4 g5 32. Bg3 Rb6 33. Rb2Re6 34. Rb4 Nh5 35. Be1 Nf4 36. h4 Bg6 37. Rb3 Be4 38. hxg5 hxg5 39. g4 Rh6 40. Bd2 Rh1+ 41. Kb2 Nd3+ 42. Ka3 Rh6 43. Rb5 Ra6+ 44. Kb3 c6 {White resigned} 0-1

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Mike Serovey Defeats Timothy A. Nalepa

Here is another one of my old correspondence chess games from 1996. My opponent was about 100 points higher rated than I was and he resigned on move 20 for reasons that I have no clue about. The complete game, with analysis and diagrams, can be found at http://www.mikeseroveyonchess.com/TimothyANalepa-English.html. Here is the game in PGN.

[Event "96UA15"]
[Site "USCF Correspondence Chess"
][Date "1996.10.28"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Timothy A. Nalepa"]
[Black "Mike Serovey"]
[Result "1-0"]

1. c4 Nf6 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Ne2 c5 6. O-O O-O 7. Nbc3 Nc6 8. f4Be6 9. Nd5 Qd7 10. d3 Bh3 11. Nxf6+ Bxf6 12. Bxh3 Qxh3 13. f5 g5 14. Nc3 Bd4+15. Kh1 h6 16. Qe2 Be5 17. Qg2 Qxg2+ 18. Kxg2 Nb4 19. Rd1 e6 20. h4 {Black resigned} 1-0

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Mike Serovey Loses To Fanevil Adams Jr.

Here is another old correspondence chess game played in 1996 to 1997. I lost this game by misplaying a Benko Gambit Accepted. We transposed into this from an Old Benoni Defense. The complete game, with analysis and diagrams, can be found at http://www.mikeseroveyonchess.com/FanevilAdams-BenkoGambitAccepted.html. Here is the game in PGN. After analysing this game some I realized that my resignation was premature. I had winning and drawing chances in this game that I failed to see at the time I resigned. Oh well, live and learn!

[Event "96CA283"]
[Site "USCF Correspondence Chess"]
[Date "1996.11.04"]
[Round "Game A"]
[White "Fanevil Adams Jr."]
[Black "Mike Serovey"]
[Result "1-0"]

1. d4 c5 2. d5 Nf6 3. c4 b5 4. cxb5 a6 5. bxa6 g6 6. Nc3 Bxa6 7. Nf3 d6 8. g3Bg7 9. Bg2 Nbd7 10. O-O Nb6 11. Re1 O-O 12. Bf4 Nh5 13. Bg5 h6 14. Bd2 Nc4 15.Qc2 Qa5 16. Rac1 Nxd2 17. Qxd2 Nf6 18. e4 Nd7 19. b3 Rfc8 20. Bf1 Bxf1 21. Kxf1Bxc3 22. Rxc3 Qxa2 23. Qxh6 Qb2 24. Ng5 Nf8 25. Ree3 f6 26. Ne6 Nxe6 27. dxe6 {Black Resigns} 1-0

Mike Serovey Draws Tom G. Schrade Again

Here is my second game with Tom G. Schrade. This one also ended in a draw despite my many errors. I feel lucky to have drawn this game all things considered. Drawing this game brought my USCF correspondence rating down to 1903. The game was a Queen pawn opening that transposed into a Pirc defense, Byrne variation. The complete game, with analysis and diagrams, can be found at http://www.mikeseroveyonchess.com/TomGSchrade-Pirc.html. Here is the game in PGN.

[Event "96CA283"]
[Site "Correspondence Chess"]
[Date "1996.11.04"]
[Round "Game B"]
[White "Tom G. Schrade"]
[Black "Mike Serovey"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nc3 g6 3. e4 d6 4. Bg5 Bg7 5. f4 h6 6. Bxf6 Bxf6 7. Nf3 O-O 8. Bd3Bg4 9. e5 Bg7 10. Be4 c6 11. O-O d5 12. Bd3 e6 13. Qe1 Bxf3 14. Rxf3 Nd7 15. g4c5 16. dxc5 Nxc5 17. Rd1 Qb6 18. Kg2 d4 19. Ne4 Nxe4 20. Qxe4 f5 21. exf6 Rxf622. g5 hxg5 23. fxg5 Rxf3 24. Kxf3 Rf8+ 25. Kg2 Rf5 26. h4 Qd6 27. Rf1 Rxf1 28.Kxf1 Qf8+ 29. Kg2 Qf5 30. Qxf5 {Draw agreed} 1/2-1/2

Sunday, December 09, 2007

Mike Serovey Defeats Stephen D. Cohle

I just finished another correspondence chess game at ICC. This win leaves me with 2 wins, 0 losses and 2 draws in this section. I don't know how I placed in this section because ICC hasn't updated the cross table in quite a while. At the start of this section my opponent was rated 1622 and he dropped to 1596 as a result of this game. My rating increased to 1580. It is very unlikely that I will finish my remaining correspondence chess game by the end of the year so I still won't make my goal of getting my rating over 1600 by the end of the year.

The complete game, with analysis and diagrams, can be found at http://www.mikeseroveyonchess.com/sdcohle-Sicilian.html. Here is the game in PGN.

[Event "ICC correspondence 2007Class.01.08"]
[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "2007.07.14"]
[Round "-"]
[White "sdcohle"]
[Black "OnGoldenPawn"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ICCResult "White resigns"]
[Opening "Sicilian defense"]
[ECO "B30"]
[NIC "SI.31"]
[Time "19:40:17"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. g3 d5 4. exd5 Qxd5 5. Nc3 Qe6+ 6. Qe2 Qxe2+ 7. Nxe2g6 8. Bg2 Bg7 9. O-O Nf6 10. c3 O-O 11. b3 Bd7 12. Bb2 b6 13. c4 Rac8 14.Rfe1 e6 15. Rad1 Rfd8 16. Ne5 Nxe5 17. Bxe5 Bc6 18. Bh3 Ne8 19. Bxg7 Kxg720. Nf4 Bf3 21. Ne2 Rd6 22. Bg2 Bxg2 23. Kxg2 Rcd8 24. d4 cxd4 25. Rd3 e526. Red1 Nc7 27. f4 f6 28. fxe5 fxe5 29. g4 Ne6 30. Kf3 Nc5 31. R3d2 e4+ 32.Kg2 d3 33. Nc3 e3 34. Rb2 e2 35. Nxe2 dxe2 36. Rxd6 Rxd6 37. Rxe2 Re6 38.Rc2 a5 39. g5 h6 40. gxh6+ Kxh6 41. h3 Kh5 42. Rf2 g5 43. Rb2 Kh4 44. b4 Nd345. Rb3 Nxb4 46. a3 Na6 47. Rd3 Nc5 48. Rd4+ Kh5 49. Kf3 Rc6 50. Ke3 Ne6 51.Re4 Nf4 52. h4 Kxh4 53. Kd4 Rd6+ 54. Kc3 Rd3+ 55. Kb2 Kg3 56. Re5 g4 57. Rb5Rd6 58. Rb3+ Kf2 59. Kc2 g3 {White resigns} 0-1

Saturday, December 08, 2007

Chess Goals For 2008

Upon reviewing my chess goals for 2007 I see that I failed to meet all of them! I only played in one USCF rated chess tournament in 2007 and I went 2.5 out of 4. That brought my USCF regular rating up to 1537. My goal was to get over 1600 by the end of the year. I won't make that goal. I did manage to win my class prize in that one tournament, though. My current rating at Stan's Net Chess is 2162. My goal was to get over 2200 by the end of the year. I have one game in progress now, but even if I do manage to win this game by the end of the year, that won't put my rating over 2200. I haven't played in any quick chess tournaments, so that rating remains 1588. I haven't played in any USCF rated correspondence chess tournaments, so that rating remains 1893. I had a goal to get both my standard rating and my correspondence chess rating over 1600 at ICC. I still have two correspondence chess games going at ICC, but unless I win both of them by the end of the year my correspondence chess rating will not go over 1600. Currently, it is at 1562. My standard rating at ICC is 1540. I would have to start playing a whole bunch of rated games at ICC and win most of them in order to get my standard rating over 1600 by the end of the year. I don't see that happening right now.

So, what are my chess goals for 2008? I will be starting back to college in January to finish my masters degree in information systems management. Because classes are only 8 weeks long I cannot afford to get behind in my homework or to miss any classes. That may not leave me with enough time for chess. Even so, I do plan to play in some rated tournaments and thus get my USCF standard rating over 1600 by the end of 2008. I also want to win at least one more class prize. I plan to enter into an USCF rated correspondence chess tournament and to get that rating over 1900 by the end of the year. That may not happen because of how long it can take to complete correspondence chess games. I plan on getting my rating at Stan's Net Chess over 2200 by the end of 2008.

I am owed some money by the VA. Eventually, I will receive that money. When I do, I want to buy the latest version of Fritz so that I can really train and improve my game.

Saturday, December 01, 2007

I Am Unhappy With ICC

As mentioned in a previous post I still have 2 correspondence chess games going on at ICC. In Game #23 my opponent went over the time limit on move number 11. I complained about this twice and it took about 3 weeks for the tournament director to issue a warning! What I don't get is why ICC issues warnings when players exceed the time limit! Why have a time limit if you are not going to enforce it? My opponent was warned and given an extra 20 days to play the game! I really do not believe that this is fair! Why let someone get away with cheating? I wasn't given an extra 20 days to play the game! Why let a cheater have extra time? If this was an over the board game my opponent would have lost! There would have been no warning and extra time given. Why allow this bull shit in a correspondence game?

My ICC membership expires on December 23 if I remember correctly. I have no intention of renewing it if I can finish these 2 games by then. I am up a knight and a pawn in one game, so I know my opponent will accept a draw if I offer one just to get the game over with. In the other game I am down material but about to get it back. With even material I may be able to get a draw out of that game too. I would like to win that one on time forfeit, but we will see.

Stan's Net Chess has the server keep track of time used just like ICC does. However, at Stan's Net Chess the server will award a time forfeit win if one player exceeds the time control. It is done automatically and thus there is no need for me to submit a time complaint. I will us Stan's Net Chess for correspondence games and let my ICC membership expire. Again, this is contingent upon my being able to finish these 2 games in time.

Monday, November 26, 2007

Mike Serovey Loses To Hakka

Here is a non rated game played at ICC. This game was my very first attempt at playing the Dutch Defense. I lost because I misplayed the opening. That often happens when I don't have a good feel for the opening that I am playing. With more practice and study I should start winning some games with this opening. The game started off as an English opening and transposed into a standard Dutch Defense. I am glad that this game was not rated because I got some practice without losing my rating points. The entire game, complete with analysis and diagrams, can be found at http://www.mikeseroveyonchess.com/Hakka-DutchDefense.html. Here is the game in PGN.

[Event "ICC 15 12 u"]
[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "2007.11.25"]
[Round "-"]
[White "Hakka"]
[Black "OnGoldenPawn"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ICCResult "Black resigns"]
[WhiteElo "1624"]
[BlackElo "1540"]
[Opening "Dutch with c4 & Nc3"]
[ECO "A85"]
[NIC "HD.05"]
[Time "18:30:02"]
[TimeControl "900+12"]

1. c4 f5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. d4 e6 4. e3 d5 5. cxd5 exd5 6. Nf3 Be6 7. Bb5+ c6 8.Bd3 g6 9. a3 Bg7 10. b4 a6 11. Na4 O-O 12. Bd2 Nbd7 13. O-O h6 14. Nc5 Nxc515. bxc5 Ne4 16. Rb1 Rb8 17. Rb6 Nxd2 18. Qxd2 Qc7 19. Rfb1 g5 20. Qb2 f421. Rxb7 Rxb7 22. Qxb7 Qxb7 23. Rxb7 fxe3 24. fxe3 Ra8 25. Rb6 Bd7 26. Bxa6Kf7 27. Ne1 h5 28. Nc2 Bc8 29. Bxc8 Rxc8 30. Nb4 {Black resigns} 1-0

Friday, November 09, 2007

Mike Serovey Draws GrandPoobah069 Again

This is my third game with GrandPoobah069 and the third time that he has overstepped the initial time control and got off with just a warning! Why have a time control if you are not going to enforce it? Why let a repeat offender off with just a warning and more time to play the game? I am really irritated by this and have decided that when I finish the last two correspondence games that I am still playing I will not play any more correspondence games at ICC! I am quite tired of them letting people get away with cheating! This is my second draw with GrandPoobah069 and the second time that I got robbed of a win on time forfeit! With this draw I now have 1 win, 0 losses, and 2 draws in this section. The complete game, with analysis and diagrams, can be found at http://www.mikeseroveyonchess.com/GrandPoobah069-English2.html. Here is the game in PGN.

[Event "ICC correspondence 2007Class.01.06"]
[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "2007.07.14"]
[Round "-"]
[White "OnGoldenPawn"]
[Black "GrandPoobah069"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ICCResult "Game drawn by mutual agreement"]
[Opening "English opening"]
[ECO "A20"]
[NIC "EO.18"]
[Time "19:40:17"]

1. c4 e5 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4. Nc3 d6 5. e4 Nc6 6. Nge2 Nge7 7. O-O O-O 8.d3 Be6 9. Bg5 h6 10. Be3 Qd7 11. Nd5 Kh7 12. Rb1 f5 13. f4 Rab8 14. b4 a615. a4 Bxd5 16. cxd5 Nd8 17. b5 axb5 18. axb5 Nf7 19. b6 c6 20. dxc6 Nxc621. d4 Rfd8 22. fxe5 dxe5 23. d5 Ne7 24. Nc3 Nd6 25. Qd3 Rbc8 26. Rfc1 fxe427. Nxe4 Nxe4 28. Bxe4 Rxc1+ 29. Rxc1 Nxd5 30. Rd1 Nf6 31. Qxd7 Rxd7 32.Rxd7 Nxd7 33. Bxb7 Bf8 34. Be4 {Game drawn by mutual agreement} 1/2-1/2

Sunday, November 04, 2007

Mike Serovey Loses To Antonio Mendonca Silveira

I just finished another ICC correspondence game. I lost and this now makes me 1-4 in this section. I have been playing in chess tournaments off and on since November of 1974. That is a total of 33 years! Not once during that time have I played the Black side of a Catalan, until now. I used MCO 14 as my guide and tried a line that should have given White only a slight advantage. He varied from the "book" line on move 13 when he captured the pawn on c6. MCO 14 says that he should have played 13. Qc2 with a slight advantage. I was curious about what would happen if White took that pawn and I found out. I thought that I would get a decent position, but it didn't work out that way. His 16th and 17th moves surprised me and thus were not in my analysis of this position after recapturing my pawn on b6. I thought that I effectively countered White's threats but I overlooked a Knight fork and went down the exchange on move 22. After that my plan was to keep my remaining Rook on the board and to trade off the queenside pawns. That plan failed. On move 33 I considered playing Kf6 but then found an interesting line with a trap. My original analysis failed to find the one move that saved White from this trap! It was only after playing 33... b4 that I found the one move that saves White from either checkmate or a Knight fork on his King and Rook that won the Rook and blockaded his passed pawn. White found his saving move on move 36 and played it leaving me down the exchange and a passed pawn. I resigned shortly afterward. My ICC correspondence rating dropped to 1557 after this loss. White's rating went from 1670 to 1681. This is yet another chess game in which I intended to play the Cambridge Springs defense and White avoided it! I'm giving up on that and will be looking at the Gruenfeld defense. I'm not posting this game to my chess site because I don't plan on playing the Catalan as White but may find myself transposing into it from an English opening or Reti. I shouldn't see it again as Black because I don't intend to answer 1. d4 with 1... d5 again. Here is the game in PGN.

[Event "ICC correspondence 2007Seven.02.18"]
[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "2007.08.25"]
[Round "-"]
[White "AntonioMendonca"]
[Black "OnGoldenPawn"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ICCResult "Black resigns"]
[Opening "Catalan: closed, main line"]
[ECO "E09"]
[NIC "CA.04"]
[Time "18:02:53"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. g3 Be7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O Nbd7 7. Qc2 c6 8.Nbd2 b5 9. c5 a5 10. e4 Nxe4 11. Nxe4 dxe4 12. Qxe4 Nf6 13. Qxc6 Bd7 14. Qb6Qxb6 15. cxb6 Rab8 16. Bg5 Rxb6 17. Rac1 Bc6 18. Ne5 Bxg2 19. Kxg2 Nd5 20.Bxe7 Nxe7 21. Nd7 Rc6 22. Nxf8 Kxf8 23. Kf3 g6 24. Ke4 Rb6 25. Rc5 a4 26.Rfc1 Nd5 27. Rc8+ Kg7 28. Ra8 Nb4 29. a3 Nc6 30. f4 h5 31. Rc8 Ne7 32. R8c7Nd5 33. Ra7 b4 34. Rxa4 bxa3 35. bxa3 Rb3 36. Ke5 Re3+ 37. Kd6 Re2 38. Ra7{Black resigns}1-0

Thursday, November 01, 2007

Mike Serovey Defeats Stahlberg

Here is another one of my ICC correspondence chess games. When I realized that my opponent wanted to go into the Alekhine's defense I had a choice of allowing this or transposing into something else. Because this was a correspondence game I was able to use MCO 14 as a guide to this opening. I have been wanting to learn Alekhine's defense because I may play it as Black as a surprise weapon. Playing the White side of it gave me a chance to look at one line in that defense. I got a slight positional advantage out of the opening, but definitely not enough of an advantage to win. My opponent blundered away a Bishop on move 29 and resigned. Stahlberg's rating at the start of this game was 1626 and it dropped to 1589 at the end of it. My ICC correspondence chess rating went up to 1568 as a result of this win. My score in this section is now 1 - 3. I need a couple of more wins to reach my goal of going over 1600 by the end of the year. I also need 2 more wins to even up my overall score in ICC correspondence chess. I'm not posting this game to my chess site because I don't plan on playing either side of the Alekhine's defense any time soon. Here is the game in PGN.

[Event "ICC correspondence 2007Seven.02.20"]
[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "2007.08.25"]
[Round "-"]
[White "OnGoldenPawn"]
[Black "Stahlberg"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ICCResult "Black resigns"]
[Opening "Alekhine's defense: modern, Larsen variation"]
[ECO "B04"]
[NIC "AL.05"]
[Time "18:02:54"]

1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 d6 4. Nf3 dxe5 5. Nxe5 g6 6. Bc4 c6 7. O-O Bg7 8.Re1 O-O 9. Bb3 a5 10. a3 a4 11. Bxd5 cxd5 12. Nc3 Be6 13. Bf4 Qc8 14. Qf3Rd8 15. Rad1 Nc6 16. Qe3 Nxe5 17. Bxe5 Bxe5 18. Qxe5 Qd7 19. h4 Bg4 20. f3Be6 21. Na2 Qd6 22. Nb4 Qxe5 23. Rxe5 Rac8 24. c3 Rd6 25. Rde1 Kf8 26. g4Rc7 27. Kg2 Kg8 28. Kg3 Kf8 29. f4 f5 {Black resigns} 1-0

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Mike Serovey Defeats Renato Dacany

Here is Round 3 of the tornado played on 14 October 2007. This is my longest game of the tournament and the highest rated player that I beat in that tournament. I made a blunder on move 32 and got away with it. Time pressure caused my oponent to make some weak moves and I was able to easily win the endgame. The complete game, with analysis and diagrams, can be found at http://www.mikeseroveyonchess.com/RevatoDacany-QueensGambitDeclined.html. The opening was D37 QGD: 4.Nf3. Here is the game in PGN.

[Event "Tampa Chess Club Tornados"]
[Site "Tampa Chess Club"]
[Date "2007.10.14"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Renato Dacany"]
[Black "Mike Serovey"]
[Result "0-1"]

1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 d5 3. d4 e6 4. Nf3 Nbd7 5. a3 c6 6. e3 dxc4 7. Bxc4 b5 8. Bd3b4 9. axb4 Bxb4 10. O-O O-O 11. Qc2 a5 12. Ne2 Ba6 13. Bd2 Bxd3 14. Qxd3 c5 15.Bxb4 cxb4 16. b3 Qb6 17. h3 Rfc8 18. g4 Qc6 19. Ne5 Qc2 20. Rfc1 Qxd3 21. Nxd3Rxc1+ 22. Ndxc1 h6 23. Nd3 Nb6 24. Nc5 Kf8 25. Kf1 Ke7 26. f3 Kd6 27. e4 Nfd728. e5+ Kd5 29. Nxd7 Nxd7 30. Kf2 Kc6 31. Ke3 Nb6 32. Kd3 a4 33. Rc1+ Kb7 34.Rb1 a3 35. Ra1 Nd5 36. Kc4 Rc8+ 37. Kd3 Nc3 38. Nc1 Kb6 39. Kd2 Kb5 40. Nd3 Nd541. Nc5 Rxc5 42. dxc5 Kxc5 43. h4 Kd4 44. g5 hxg5 45. hxg5 Kxe5 46. Kd3 Kf4 47.Ke2 Kxg5 48. Kf2 Nc3 49. Ke3 f5 50. f4+ Kf6 51. Kd3 g5 52. fxg5+ Kxg5 53. Ke3 e554. Rg1+ Kf6 55. Kd2 e4 56. Ke3 Ke5 57. Kd2 a2 58. Ra1 f4 59. Ke1 e3 60. Kf1 f361. Ke1 Kd4 62. Rc1 Kd3 63. Kf1 Kd2 64. Ra1 Kc2 65. Re1 Kb2 66. Rxe3 a1=Q+ 67.Re1 Qxe1+ 68. Kxe1 Kxb3 69. Kf2 Ka2 70. Kxf3 b3 {White resigns} 0-1

Sunday, October 21, 2007

Mike Serovey Defeats Ankit Aggarwal

This game is from Round 2 of the Tampa Chess Club Tornado played on 14 October 2007. My opponent played much better than his rating of only 723. He made some minor errors that lead to my having connected passed pawns on the Queenside. That was enough to win the endgame. The complete game, with analysis and diagrams, can be found at http://www.mikeseroveyonchess.com/AnkitAggarwal-English.html. Here is the game in PGN.

[Event "Tampa Chess Club Tornados"]
[Site "Tampa Chess Club"]
[Date "2007.10.14"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Mike Serovey"]
[Black "Ankit Aggarwal"]
[Result "1-0"]

1. c4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3 Nf6 4. Bg2 e6 5. e4 Be7 6. Nge2 O-O 7. O-O b6 8. d3Bb7 9. h3 Nd4 10. Be3 Nxe2+ 11. Qxe2 Bd6 12. f4 e5 13. Nd5 Nxd5 14. cxd5 exf415. Bxf4 Bxf4 16. Rxf4 Qg5 17. Qf3 Rac8 18. Rf1 Qg6 19. b3 Ba6 20. Qe3 b5 21.Rg4 Qd6 22. e5 Qe7 23. d6 Qe8 24. Rc1 f6 25. Rxc5 Rxc5 26. Qxc5 fxe5 27. Qxa7Bc8 28. Qb6 Qe6 29. Qxb5 Qxd6 30. Qd5+ Qxd5 31. Bxd5+ Kh8 32. Kg2 d6 33. Rc4 Ba634. Rc3 g6 35. Be4 Rb8 36. Rc6 Bb7 37. Rxd6 Bxe4+ 38. dxe4 Ra8 39. a4 Rb8 40.Rd3 Kg8 41. Rf3 Kg7 42. Kf2 Kg8 43. Ke2 Kg7 44. Kd2 Kg8 45. Kc2 Kg7 46. Kb2 Kg847. Ka3 Kg7 48. b4 Kg8 49. b5 Kg7 50. Kb4 Kg8 51. a5 Kg7 52. b6 Kg8 53. Kb5 Rb754. a6 Rxb6+ 55. Kxb6 Kg7 56. a7 Kg8 57. a8=Q+ Kg7 58. Qf8# 1-0

Saturday, October 20, 2007

Mike Serovey Loses To Radek Laburda

Here is my game from Round 1 of the tornado played on 14 October 2007. This was my only loss in the tournament. My opponent was rated 2009 and was the second highest rated player in the tornado. So far I have lost every time that I have played an expert in OTB tournaments! I need to find a better strategy for playing the Black side of both the Réti and the Kings Indian Attack. The complete game, with analysis and diagrams, can be found at http://www.mikeseroveyonchess.com/Radek-Laburda-Kings-Indian-Attack.html. Here is the game in PGN.

[Event "Tampa Chess Club Tornados"]
[Site "Tampa Chess Club"]
[Date "2007.10.14"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Radek Laburda"]
[Black "Mike Serovey"]
[Result "1-0"]

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4. O-O O-O 5. d3 d6 6. c4 e5 7. Nc3 c6 8. Rb1 h69. b4 b6 10. b5 Bb7 11. Nd2 Qc7 12. Nde4 Nxe4 13. Nxe4 cxb5 14. Ba3 Rd8 15. cxb5d5 16. Rc1 Qd7 17. Nd6 Bf8 18. Nxb7 Qxb7 19. Bxf8 Kxf8 20. Qb3 Rd6 21. Qb4 Qe722. Rc8+ {Black resigns} 1-0

Mike Serovey Draws Robert Franz

Here is Round 4 of the Tampa Chess Club Tornado that I played on 14 October 2007. This game ended in a draw after a wild time scramble. See my previous post to see how I did in each round of this tournament. The opening is a Réti (ECO A04). I don't like playing the Black side of the Réti or the English and I faced both in this tournament. In this game I decided to play the Botvinnik system a tempo down. I got outplayed in the middle game but was able to come back in the time scramble. The complete game, with analysis and diagrams, can be found at http://www.mikeseroveyonchess.com/Robert-Franz-Reti.html. Actually, the game on that page is only as far as I can remember it because I stopped recording moves at move 51. Here is most of the game in PGN.

[Event "Tampa Chess Club Tornado"]
[Site "Tampa Chess Club"]
[Date "2007.10.14"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Robert Franz"]
[Black "Mike Serovey"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]

1. Nf3 c5 2. c4 Nc6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. O-O e5 6. d3 d6 7. Nc3 Nge7 8. a3 O-O9. Qc2 h6 10. Bd2 Be6 11. Rfb1 Qd7 12. b4 Rab8 13. b5 Nd4 14. Nxd4 cxd4 15. Na2b6 16. Nb4 Bh3 17. Bh1 f5 18. Nc6 Nxc6 19. Bxc6 Qe7 20. Bd5+ Kh8 21. Bg2 Bxg222. Kxg2 g5 23. Rh1 f4 24. f3 Rf6 25. g4 Kg8 26. a4 Kf7 27. a5 Rb7 28. axb6 axb629. Ra6 Kg6 30. h4 gxh4 31. Rxh4 Rf8 32. Rh5 Qc7 33. Bb4 Rd8 34. Qa2Bf8 35. c5 dxc5 36. Qe6+ Kh7 37. Be1 Qd6 38. Qf5+ Kg8 39. Bh4 Rf7 40. Qe4 Rc841. Rxe5 Kg7 42. Re6 Qd7 43. Qg6+ Kh8 44. Raxb6 c4 45. Bf6+ Rxf6 46. Qxf6+ Bg747. Qe7 Qxe7 48. Rxe7 c3 49. Ree6 c2 50. Rec6 c1=Q 51. Rxc1 Rxc1 52. Rc6 Rxc653. bxc6 Be5 {Draw agreed} 1/2-1/2

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Mike Serovey Loses To John3v16

I just finished another one of my correspondence chess games played at ICC. This loss makes me 0-3 in this section. My overall score for correspondence chess games played at ICC is 10 wins, 13 losses and 4 draws. I need to start playing much better than I have been if I want to get this record back to even! As a result of this loss my ICC correspondence chess rating dropped to 1549. The complete game, with analysis and diagrams, can be found at http://www.mikeseroveyonchess.com/John3v16-English.html. Here is the game in PGN.

[Event "ICC correspondence 2007Seven.02.11"]
[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "2007.08.25"]
[Round "-"]
[White "John3v16"]
[Black "OnGoldenPawn"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ICCResult "Black resigns"]
[Opening "English: Carls' Bremen system"]
[ECO "A22"]
[NIC "EO.10"]
[Time "18:02:53"]

1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. g3 Be7 4. Bg2 O-O 5. Nf3 d6 6. d4 Nbd7 7. b4 c6 8.O-O exd4 9. Qxd4 Qb6 10. b5 c5 11. Qd1 Qc7 12. Bb2 Rb8 13. Qc2 b6 14. Rfd1Bb7 15. Ng5 Bxg2 16. Kxg2 h6 17. Nge4 Rbd8 18. f4 Rfe8 19. h3 Bf8 20. Nd5Nxd5 21. Rxd5 Re6 22. f5 Ree8 23. g4 f6 24. Bc1 Ne5 25. Bf4 Be7 26. Rad1 Kf727. Kg3 Rg8 28. h4 Rh8 29. g5 hxg5 30. hxg5 fxg5 31. Nxg5+ Bxg5 32. Bxg5 Rd733. Qe4 Re8 34. Qh4 Kg8 35. Rh1 Nf7 36. Qh7+ Kf8 37. f6 Nxg5 38. Rxg5 d5+39. Kf3 dxc4 40. fxg7+ Rxg7 41. Qh8+ {Black resigns} 1-0

Monday, October 15, 2007

My First OTB Tournament In Over a Year

Yesterday, Sunday, 14 October, 2007 I played my first OTB tournament in about a year and a half. Fortunately, because I have been playing online I wasn't that rusty. In Round 1 I got paired against a guy rated 2009 and had Black. I lost in 22 moves. In Round 2 I got paired against a kid that looked like he was 8 years old. I was told that he was from India and he looked like he was. His rating was 723. I haven't played someone rated that low since I was in high school! Obviously, I won but it took me 58 moves to mate him. In all fairness to my opponent he played more like a 1300 than a 723. I am guessing that he is provisionally rated and that his rating will go up just from having played me. Unfortunately, I wasted my only White on him. In Rounds 3 and 4 I got Black both games. In Round 3 I got paired against a guy I kind of know and won in 71 moves. Normally, if I have a game go that long I believe that I missed a win earlier in the game. This game would have lasted another 20 moves if he had made me play it out to checkmate.

My opponent from Round 2 was about to lose on time when I checkmated him. He had about a minute left on his clock in a sudden death time control. Part of the reason that he ended up in time trouble is because he kept forgetting to punch his clock after making his moves. I let the clock run on some obvious moves and it cost him about 10 minutes. His lack of experience showed in his forgetting to punch the clock and in how he played the endgame.

My opponent from Round 3 also got into some time trouble and had less than 5 minutes remaining when he resigned. In the final round I got Black again against a guy rated 1654. I kept score of the game up to move 50. I got outplayed and was down material when my opponent had about a minute left on his clock. I knew that if I could avoid checkmate I could run him out of time. In the time scramble he let me win back some material and it ended up with him having four pawns versus my Bishop and pawn. If I remember right, he had 8 seconds left on his clock when he offered me a draw. I accepted the draw because we were playing with a 5 second delay on the clock. As long as he moved instantly he would never run out of time. I was saved from losing by the blunders he made during the time scramble and he was saved from time forfeit by the 5 second delay. I ended up with 2.5 out of 4 and won the Under 1600 prize. I got my entry fee and gas money back, but that was about it.

I will post the actual games from this tournament in the near future.

Friday, October 12, 2007

Miscellaneous Thoughts On Chess

I just found out that there is a chess club in Brandon, Florida and it meets on Wednesday nights at the library on Vonderberg Road. I plan to start attending now that I know about it. Also, there is a chess club in Tampa that is on North 56th Street. So, now I can play chess without having to drive all the way to St. Pete.

The October issue of Chess Life has a picture of Irina Krush on the cover and a few more of her inside. I think that she is pretty and if I figured her age out right she is 23 years old. She is an international master (IM) and the current US Womens Champion. I will probably never get to meet her but I would definitely like to date her if I could. Or, I would pay her for chess lessons just to get to spend some time with her. I suppose that most people think that chess masters are big nerds and that the women who play chess are ugly and nerdy. I have seen pictures of Irina Krush and Susan Polgar and I think that both of them are good looking. I also think that some of the other women masters that I have seen in Chess Life are pretty. Over the past 21 years I have seen a few attractive young girls and women at various tournaments in Florida. Back in 1986 Carla Sutphin was a 1700 rated player and a very good looking young woman. She stated back then that she would not marry a chess player because they don't earn enough money. I haven't seen here since then so I have no idea whom she married. I met a girl from the Miami area named Sashi Luna. She was 11 or 12 when I first met her and really cute. The last time I saw her she was 15 and gorgeous. I believe that her rating was only around 1300 then. Her father and brother are much better players than she is. At the state championship of 2006 I saw 4 rather pretty girls there. One I knew from the St. Pete Chess Club and her name is Christina Fuller. I have only played her once and lost because I was trying to force a win out of a dead drawn endgame and walked into a checkmate. I won't underestimate her again! I am looking forward to a rematch with her. The last time that I saw her was over a year ago and she was really cute back then. Another cute girl that I saw at the State Championship was a 1600 rated teenage girl named Rita Merchandani. She was with someone I believe to be her older sister. Both were gorgeous. I saw a rather pretty blond that didn't appear to be in the tournament, just there to watch. My hope is that these pretty teen aged girls will continue to play chess as adults and after they turn 18 years old I might be able to get a date with one of them. My main point in all of this is that there are a few good looking girls and women who play chess and some of them are even good at chess!

Friday, October 05, 2007

Mike Serovey Loses To sdo1

Here is another one of my correspondence chess games played at ICC. I just resigned today because the only way to avoid checkmate was to sacrifice my Queen for a Rook. I am now 0-2 in this section. My new correspondence chess rating is 1551 and my opponent's is 1959. I ended up in an opening that I don't know against a much higher rated player. I used MCO 14 as my guide to the opening but my opponent got me out of book early when he prevented my Knight from going to b5. My opponent's first name is Steve. I don't know his last name. He lives in TN. I am not posting this game to my chess site because I don't normally play either side of the Caro-Kann. Here is the game in PGN.

[Event "ICC correspondence 2007Seven.02.06"]
[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "2007.08.25"]
[Round "-"]
[White "OnGoldenPawn"]
[Black "sdo1"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ICCResult "White resigns"]
[Opening "Caro-Kann: anti-anti-Caro-Kann defense"]
[ECO "B10"]
[NIC "CK.01"]
[Time "18:02:52"]

1. e4 c6 2. c4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. cxd5 Qxd5 5. Nc3 Qd6 6. d4 Nf6 7. Bc4 e68. Nf3 a6 9. O-O Be7 10. d5 b5 11. Bb3 b4 12. Ne2 Nxd5 13. Bg5 Bb7 14. Bxe7Qxe7 15. Ned4 O-O 16. Re1 Rd8 17. Qc1 Nd7 18. Qd2 Rac8 19. Nxe6 fxe6 20.Bxd5 Nc5 21. Bxe6+ Nxe6 22. Qe3 Bxf3 23. Qxf3 Qf7 24. Qe2 Nf4 25. Qxa6 Nxg226. Kxg2 Qd5+ 27. Kg1 Rc6 {White resigns} 0-1

Tuesday, October 02, 2007

Mike Serovey Defeats Okie901 Again

I just got my third win against Okie901 at Stan's Net Chess. This is my second win on time forfeit against him. I was down a passed pawn at the point where I won. This game brought my rating up to 2162, so I am getting closer to my goal of getting my rating over 2200 by the end of the year. The complete game, with analysis and diagrams, can be found at http://www.mikeseroveyonchess.com/okie901-English.html. Here is the game in PGN.

[Event "Game 402696"]
[Site "Stan's NetChess"]
[Date "2007.06.18"]
[Round "?"]
[White "mserovey"]
[Black "okie901"]
[Result "1-0"]

1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. d3 Bb4 4. Bd2 O-O 5. a3 Bxc3 6. Bxc3 d6 7. g3 Nc6 8. Bg2Re8 9. e3 Bg4 10. f3 Bh5 11. Ne2 d5 12. b4 d4 13. exd4 exd4 14. Bd2 Ne5 15. O-ONxd3 16. Nf4 Nxf4 17. Bxf4 b6 18. c5 d3 19. cxb6 cxb6 20. Re1 Rxe1+ 21. Qxe1 Bg622. Qd2 1-0

Saturday, September 29, 2007

Mike Serovey Defeats uncle-dummy

Here is on of my games that I recently finished at Stan's Net Chess . My opponent had a rating over 2300 at the start of the game and dropped to 2240 after losing this game. This game brought my rating up to 2155. I played the English opening and got into the Botvinnik system. I was winning by move 30 but my opponent made me play this game out all the way to checkmate! I felt somewhat insulted by this fact. The complete game, with analysis and diagrams, can be found at http://www.mikeseroveyonchess.com/uncle-dummy-English.html. Here is the game in PGN.

[Event "Game 402695"]
[Site "Stan's NetChess"]
[Date "2007.06.18"]
[Round "?"]
[White "mserovey"]
[Black "*uncle-dummy*"]
[Result "1-0"]

1. c4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3 Nf6 4. Bg2 g6 5. e4 Bg7 6. Nge2 Ne5 7. d3 d6 8. O-OO-O 9. f4 Nc6 10. h3 e5 11. Nd5 Nxd5 12. cxd5 Ne7 13. fxe5 Bxe5 14. Rb1 f5 15.Bf4 Bf6 16. b3 Kg7 17. Qd2 Ng8 18. h4 h6 19. Rf2 Kh7 20. Rbf1 Bg7 21. d4 cxd422. Nxd4 Qb6 23. Be3 Qd8 24. exf5 Bxf5 25. Nxf5 gxf5 26. Rxf5 Qe7 27. Rxf8 Rxf828. Rxf8 Qxf8 29. Bxa7 Qf6 30. Bf2 Ne7 31. a4 Kg8 32. Qe3 Nf5 33. Qe6+ Qxe6 34.dxe6 Kf8 35. Bxb7 Bc3 36. g4 Ng7 37. Bd5 Ke7 38. Be3 Bb4 39. Bxh6 Ne8 40. Bg5+Kf8 41. e7+ Kg7 42. Bc6 Kf7 43. Bxe8+ Kxe8 44. Kf2 d5 45. Ke3 Bc5+ 46. Kd3 Kf747. h5 Bb6 48. b4 Ba7 49. h6 Bb8 50. Kd4 Kg6 51. e8=Q+ Kxg5 52. h7 Ba7+ 53. Kxd5Kxg4 54. h8=Q Kg5 55. Qf7 Kg4 56. Qhg8+ Kh4 57. Qfh7# 1-0

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

Mike Serovey Defeats t-hobbes

Here is another one of my ICC correspondence chess games. This win leaves me with one win, no losses, and one draw in this section. My opponent made several errors in this game which allowed me to win material. The complete game, with analysis and diagrams, can be found at http://www.mikeseroveyonchess.com/t-hobbes-English.html. Here is the game in PGN.

[Event "ICC correspondence 2007Class.01.10"]
[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "2007.07.14"]
[Round "-"]
[White "OnGoldenPawn"]
[Black "t-hobbes"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ICCResult "Black resigns"]
[Opening "English opening"]
[ECO "A20"]
[NIC "EO.24"]
[Time "19:40:17"]

1. c4 e5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 Nc6 4. Nc3 Bc5 5. e3 O-O 6. Nge2 d6 7. O-O Bf5 8.d4 exd4 9. exd4 Bb6 10. Be3 Qc8 11. Re1 Ne7 12. a3 Ng6 13. b4 c5 14. bxc5dxc5 15. dxc5 Ba5 16. Qa4 b6 17. cxb6 axb6 18. Qc6 Qd8 19. Qxa8 Qd3 20. Qc6Bxc3 21. Nxc3 Qxc3 22. Rec1 Qe5 23. Qxb6 Rc8 24. Qd4 Qe6 25. a4 Be4 26. Bxe4Nxe4 27. Qd5 Qg4 28. h3 Qf3 29. Qd1 Qf5 30. Qg4 Qxg4 31. hxg4 Ne5 32. c5Nxg4 33. Kg2 h5 34. c6 g5 35. Bb6 Nd2 36. Ra2 Ne4 37. f3 {Black resigns} 1-0

Sunday, September 16, 2007

Mike Serovey Loses To jonesey

Here is another one of my ICC correspondence chess games. This is my first game finished in this section so my score in this section is 0-1. I tried some stuff that didn't work and need to come up with some better ways to play for White if I ever face what Black played again. The complete game, with analysis and diagrams, can be found at http://www.mikeseroveyonchess.com/jonesey-English.html. Here is the game in PGN.

[Event "ICC correspondence 2007Seven.02.15"]
[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "2007.08.25"]
[Round "-"]
[White "OnGoldenPawn"]
[Black "jonesey"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ICCResult "White resigns"]
[Opening "English: symmetrical, Rubinstein system"]
[ECO "A16"]
[NIC "EO.36"]
[Time "18:02:53"]

1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 d5 3. cxd5 Nxd5 4. g3 c5 5. Bg2 Nc7 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. O-O e5 8.d3 Be7 9. Be3 O-O 10. Na4 b6 11. Nxe5 Nxe5 12. Bxa8 Nxa8 13. d4 Ng4 14. dxc5Nxe3 15. fxe3 Qe8 16. cxb6 Bg5 17. bxa7 Qxe3+ 18. Rf2 Rd8 19. Qc2 Qxa7 20.Kf1 Bh3+ 21. Rg2 Qb7 22. e4 Rd2 {White resigns} 0-1

Thursday, September 13, 2007

Mike Serovey Draws David Smith

I played an online correspondence chess game with Fegary, a.k.a David Smith. The game was played at ICC. I played the Modern defense a.k.a the Robatsch defense: two knights variation. I have listed all of my games that started off as Modern defenses under the Pirc because they usually transpose into the Pirc. This game can be found at http://www.mikeseroveyonchess.com/David-Smith-Pirc.html and is complete with diagrams and analysis. This is my first game finished in this section. Here is the game in PGN.

[Event "ICC correspondence 2007Class.01.03"]
[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "2007.07.14"]
[Round "-"]
[White "Fegary"]
[Black "OnGoldenPawn"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ICCResult "Game drawn by mutual agreement"]
[Opening "Robatsch defense: two knights variation"]
[ECO "B06"
][NIC "KF.05"]
[Time "19:40:17"]

1. e4 g6 2. d4 Bg7 3. Nf3 d6 4. Nc3 Bg4 5. Be3 Nc6 6. Bb5 Bd7 7. e5 dxe5 8.Nxe5 Nxe5 9. dxe5 Bxb5 10. Nxb5 Qxd1+ 11. Rxd1 Bxe5 12. f4 Bd6 13. Bd4 f614. O-O a6 15. Nxd6+ cxd6 16. Rfe1 O-O-O 17. Bb6 Rd7 18. Re6 h5 19. Rde1 Rh720. R1e3 Kb8 21. c4 Rf7 22. Rg3 Rg7 23. Rd3 Kc8 24. b3 Nh6 25. Rd5 Nf5 26.g3 Rf7 27. Kf2 Ng7 28. Re1 e5 29. Kf3 Ne8 30. Red1 Rfe7 31. R5d2 e4+ 32. Ke3f5 33. Ke2 Rh7 34. h4 Rhe7 {Game drawn by mutual agreement} 1/2-1/2

Sunday, September 09, 2007

Mike Serovey Defeats Edward L. Addis II

I see that I need to correct my previous post. I won both games against Edward L. Addis II and thus my score in this section is 2 wins, 2 losses and 2 draws. I got an even score. This game here brought my USCF Correspondence rating up to 1940, and I believe that is my highest ever USCF rating in any kind of chess. My win against Ed in Game "A" can be found at http://www.mikeseroveyonchess.com/Edward-Addis-Italian.html. This is Game "B" and can be found at http://www.mikeseroveyonchess.com/EdwardLAddis-Pirc.html. Here is the game in PGN.

[Event "96CA283"]
[Site "USCF Correspondence Chess"]
[Date "1996.11.04"]
[Round "Game B"]
[White "Edward L. Addis II"]
[Black "Mike Serovey"]
[Result "0-1"]

1. c4 g6 2. e4 Bg7 3. d4 d6 4. f4 c5 5. Nf3 cxd4 6. Nxd4 Nc6 7. Nb3 Qb6 8. Nc3Nf6 9. Be2 O-O 10. Nd5 Nxd5 11. cxd5 Na5 12. Nxa5 Qxa5+ 13. Bd2 Qb6 14. Rb1 f515. Bd3 fxe4 16. Bxe4 Bf5 17. Qe2 Bxe4 18. Qxe4 Rae8 19. g4 e6 20. dxe6 d5 21.Qb4 Qxe6+ 22. Kf2 Qe2+ 23. Kg3 Qd3+ 24. Kh4 Bf6+ 25. g5 Bxg5+ 26. Kxg5 Rf5+ 27.Kh4 Rh5+ 28. Kg4 Qh3# 0-1

Saturday, September 08, 2007

Mike Serovey Draws Tom G. Schrade

Here is an old USCF correspondence chess game. This is one of two games that I played against Tom in this section. It appears that I ended up with 2 losses and 2 draws in this section. This game is one of my correspondence games in which I played the White side of the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit. I no longer play this gambit because I no longer remember how to. If I were to play it now it would be as a surprise weapon against someone who does not know it. The complete game, with analysis and diagrams, can be found at http://www.mikeseroveyonchess.com/TomGSchrade-Blackmar-Diemer-Gambit.html. Here is the game in PGN.

[Event "96CA283"]
[Site "USCF Correspondence Chess"]
[Date "1996.11.04"]
[Round "Game A"]
[White "Mike Serovey"]
[Black "Tom G. Schrade"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nc3 d5 3. e4 dxe4 4. f3 exf3 5. Nxf3 Bg4 6. Be3 e6 7. Bd3 Bb4 8.O-O Bxc3 9. bxc3 Nbd7 10. c4 e5 11. dxe5 Nxe5 12. Be2 Qxd1 13. Raxd1 Nxf3+ 14.Bxf3 Bxf3 15. Rxf3 O-O 16. Bf4 c6 17. Bd6 Rfe8 18. Rb3 b6 19. a4 Re4 20. c5 bxc521. Rb7 Rxa4 22. Bxc5 a5 23. Ra7 Re8 24. Rb1 Rc4 25. Rxa5 Rxc2 26. Bd4 Ree2 27.Rg5 Kf8 28. h3 h6 29. Rb8+ Re8 30. Rxe8+ Nxe8 31. Bc5+ Kg8 32. Re5 Nc7 33. Bd6Ne6 34. Ra5 c5 35. Ra8+ Kh7 36. Rc8 c4 37. Be5 Ng5 38. Rc7 Kg6 39. Rc6+ f6 40.Bd4 Ne4 41. Kh2 c3 42. Rc7 Re2 43. Bxc3 {Draw agreed} 1/2-1/2

Monday, September 03, 2007

A Couple of Quick Wins

Last night I decided to play a couple of games at ICC. It just so happened that both of my opponents had the exact same rating! I beat both of them in under 20 moves each. In the first game I was actually planning to throw the game in order to get my rating under 1500 because I wanted to play in the under 1500 section this month at ICC. However, when my opponent dropped his Queen I just had to take it! Game over. That is the only time that I have ever played the White side of a Center Counter Gambit. In the second one I played an English opening and my opponent dropped a Rook for a Bishop. A few moves later he resigned. I am not posting either game to my chess site, just here. Here are the games in PGN.

[Event "ICC 20 0"]
[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "2007.09.02"]
[Round "-"]
[White "OnGoldenPawn"]
[Black "us54186606"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ICCResult "Black resigns"]
[WhiteElo "1515"]
[BlackElo "1449"]
[Opening "Scandinavian (center counter) defense"]
[ECO "B01"]
[NIC "SD.01"]
[Time "21:19:17"]
[TimeControl "1200+0"]

1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5 4. Nf3 Bg4 5. Be2 Nf6 6. O-O Nc6 7. d3O-O-O 8. Bd2 Bxf3 9. Bxf3 Nd4 10. Ne4 e6 11. Bxa5 {Black resigns} 1-0

[Event "ICC 15 12"]
[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "2007.09.02"]
[Round "-"]
[White "OnGoldenPawn"]
[Black "dkinla"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ICCResult "Black resigns"]
[WhiteElo "1528"]
[BlackElo "1449"]
[Opening "English opening"]
[ECO "A13"]
[NIC "EO.64"]
[Time "21:23:58"]
[TimeControl "900+12"]

1. c4 e6 2. g3 Nc6 3. Bg2 Nf6 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. Nf3 Bxc3 6. bxc3 d6 7. O-O O-O8. d4 b6 9. e3 Ba6 10. Nd2 Na5 11. Bxa8 Qxa8 12. Qa4 {Black resigns} 1-0

Saturday, August 25, 2007

Mike Serovey Draws GrandPoobah069

Here is Game #2 from my ICC correspondence quad. This is a game that I should have won on time forfeit. My opponent overstepped the time control on move #9 and I am sure that I complained about it. However, it appears that he was never warned about it. When he overstepped the second time control on move 36 I complained again and tried to claim the win on time forfeit. The TD said that my opponent was not warned before and thus no win on time forfeit! I had to settle for a draw in a game that I should have won! Why have time limits if you are not going to enforce them? Why let a repeat offender off with just a warning each time he oversteps the time control? My record at ICC for correspondence chess is 9 wins, 10 losses, and 3 draws. This win that I was robbed of would have had me at an even score!

The complete game, with analysis and diagrams, can be found at http://www.mikeseroveyonchess.com/GrandPoobah069-English.html. Here is the game in PGN.

[Event "ICC correspondence 2007Quad.04.02"]
[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "2007.03.07"]
[Round "-"]
[White "OnGoldenPawn"]
[Black "GrandPoobah069"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ICCResult "Game drawn by mutual agreement"]
[Opening "English: symmetrical, Botvinnik system"]
[ECO "B20"]
[NIC "EO.30"]
[Time "20:54:28"]

1. e4 c5 2. c4 Nc6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. Nc3 d6 6. Nge2 e6 7. d3 Nge7 8.O-O O-O 9. Be3 Bd7 10. f4 f5 11. Rb1 Rb8 12. d4 b6 13. Nb5 Bc8 14. dxc5 dxc515. e5 Nxe5 16. fxe5 Bxe5 17. Nxa7 Bd7 18. a4 Qc7 19. Nb5 Bxb5 20. axb5 Rfd821. Qc2 Bg7 22. Nf4 Kf7 23. Rfd1 Bd4 24. Qe2 Rd6 25. b3 Rbd8 26. Bxd4 cxd427. Rxd4 Rxd4 28. Nxe6 Rd2 29. Qxd2 Kxe6 30. Re1+ Kf7 31. Qc3 Nd5 32. Qe5Qxe5 33. Rxe5 Nf6 34. c5 bxc5 35. Rxc5 Rd1+ 36. Kf2 Rd2+ 37. Kg1 Rd1+ 38.Kf2 {Game drawn by mutual agreement} 1/2-1/2

Thursday, August 23, 2007

Mike Serovey Defeats GrandPoobah069

Here is one of my games from a correspondence chess game played at ICC. It was part of a quad and one of three games in which I got paired against GrandPoobah069. In all three games he overstepped the time control and was warned about that! I am tired of repeat offenders getting off with just warnings! Why have time controls if you don't enforce them? In this game, however, he overstepped the time control a second time and I got the win on time forfeit. I got lucky in this game because my opponent missed a blunder that I made. I also got lucky to win on time. The complete game, with analysis and diagrams, can be found at http://www.mikeseroveyonchess.com/GrandPoobah069-Sicilian.html. Here is the game in PGN. This win, and my subsequent draw with GrandPoobah069 should have me in second place in this quad.

[Event "ICC correspondence 2007Quad.04.01"]
[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "2007.03.07"]
[Round "-"]
[White "GrandPoobah069"]
[Black "OnGoldenPawn"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ICCResult "Black declared winner by adjudication"]
[Opening "Sicilian: Alapin's variation (2.c3)"]
[ECO "B22"]
[NIC "SI.46"]
[Time "20:54:28"]

1. e4 c5 2. c3 d5 3. exd5 Qxd5 4. d4 Nf6 5. Nf3 Bg4 6. Be2 e6 7. O-O Nc6 8.Be3 cxd4 9. cxd4 Bb4 10. Nc3 Qd6 11. Nb5 Qd8 12. a3 Ba5 13. h3 Bh5 14. Qa4O-O 15. Rfd1 a6 16. Nc3 b5 17. Qb3 Bxc3 18. bxc3 Ne7 19. a4 bxa4 20. Rxa4 a521. Rda1 Qc7 22. Qa3 Rfc8 23. c4 Nc6 24. Qa2 Ne4 25. Bd2 Nxd2 26. Qxd2 Nb427. g4 Bg6 28. Ne5 Be4 29. f3 Bb7 30. Kg2 Rd8 31. Qc3 f6 32. Nd3 Nc6 33. d5exd5 34. cxd5 Rxd5 35. Nb4 Rd4 36. Bc4+ Kf8 37. Nd5 Qd8 38. Qa3+ Ne7{Black declared winner by adjudication} 0-1

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Mike Serovey Draws Bobby Fisher

Here is one of my games played at Stan's Net Chess. My opponent is going by the name of Bobby Fisher. He is rated about 300 points below me and plays nothing like the former world champion. I outplayed him in the opening and was up a Knight and 2 pawns but blundered by grabbing a third pawn. I had to sacrifice a rook in order to get out of checkmate and that left me with a knight and 3 pawns versus a rook. I couldn't figure out how to win that endgame and had to settle for a draw. The complete game, with analysis and diagrams, can be found at http://www.mikeseroveyonchess.com/BobbyFisher-Benkos-Opening.html. Here is the game in PGN.

[Event "Game 402718"]
[Site "Stan's NetChess"]
[Date "2007.06.19"]
[Round "?"]
[White "mserovey"]
[Black "BobbyFisher"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]

1. g3 d5 2. Bg2 e5 3. d3 d4 4. c4 c5 5. b4 cxb4 6. a3 bxa3 7. Bxa3 Bxa3 8. Rxa3Nf6 9. Nd2 Nc6 10. Ngf3 O-O 11. O-O a5 12. Qb3 Re8 13. Ne1 Be6 14. Qxb7 Qd6 15.Nc2 Reb8 16. Qxc6 Qxc6 17. Bxc6 Ra7 18. Rfa1 Ra6 19. Bb5 Ra7 20. Rxa5 Rxa5 21.Rxa5 Ne8 22. Bxe8 Rxe8 23. Rxe5 Rd8 24. Nf3 Ra8 25. Ncxd4 Bh3 26. Re8+ Rxe8 27.Ng5 Bg4 28. e3 f6 29. Ngf3 Bxf3 30. Nxf3 Rd8 31. d4 g5 32. h4 gxh4 33. Nxh4 Ra834. c5 Kg7 35. c6 Rd8 36. Kg2 Kf7 37. Nf3 Ke7 38. e4 Kd6 39. d5 f5 40. exf5 Kxd541. Ng5 Kxc6 42. Nxh7 Rh8 43. Ng5 Rh5 44. f4 Rh6 45. g4 Kd5 46. Kg3 Rf6 1/2-1/2

Saturday, August 18, 2007

Mike Serovey Loses To HaraldP

I am getting tired of posting loses to this blog and my chess site! This is yet another game in which I resigned when I had an OK position! I outplayed my opponent in the opening and was up two passed pawns at one point. I sacrificed one of those passed pawns when I had a better move and then got surprised by a couple of my opponent's moves. The trick is to stay calm when things look bad and to find the saving move or moves.

I don't know what my win/loss recored is at ICC, but I believe that it is on the minus side and that is what is keeping my rating in the 1500 range. I seem to be doing better at Stan's Net Chess. I very recently submitted two games for adjudication at ICC. I claimed the win on time forfeit in both games and I am waiting for the tournament director to adjudicate the games in my favor. This same opponent is about to overstep the initial time control in my third game with him. This is a habit with him and he keeps getting off with warnings each time he does this! I can only claim the win on time forfeit if he violates the time control twice in a game and that irritates me! In an OTB game he would lose the second he overstepped the time control, so why not in a correspondence game? Whey give anybody a warning, especially when they do it in more than one game?

Anyway, here is the game against HaraldP. The complete game, with analysis and diagrams, can be found at http://www.mikeseroveyonchess.com/HaraldP-English.html.

[Event "ICC 30 0"]
[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "2007.08.12"]
[Round "-"]
[White "OnGoldenPawn"]
[Black "HaraldP"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ICCResult "White resigns"]
[WhiteElo "1536"]
[BlackElo "1431"]
[Opening "English opening"]
[ECO "A20"]
[NIC "EO.24"]
[Time "18:03:31"]
[TimeControl "1800+0"]

1. c4 e5 2. g3 Bc5 3. Bg2 h6 4. e3 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Nge2 O-O 7. O-O c6 8. a3a6 9. b4 Ba7 10. d4 exd4 11. exd4 Nbd7 12. Bf4 Bb8 13. d5 c5 14. Na4 b5 15.cxb5 axb5 16. Nac3 cxb4 17. axb4 Rxa1 18. Qxa1 Qb6 19. Be3 Qb7 20. Qa5 Bc721. Qxb5 Qxb5 22. Nxb5 Ba6 23. Nxc7 Bxe2 24. Rb1 Rb8 25. Rb2 Bc4 26. Bf4 Rb627. b5 Rb8 28. Bxd6 Rb7 29. b6 Nxb6 30. Bc5 Ra7 31. Bxb6 Ra1+ {Whiteresigns} 0-1

Sunday, August 12, 2007

Mike Serovey Loses To rayz

Here is a game from a correspondence quad I played at ICC last year. I didn't do well in that quad and lost more games than I won. So far my recored at ICC isn't very good and that is why both my standard rating and my correspondence rating are in the 1500 range. I still have some correspondence games going at ICC and at Stan's Net Chess. I will post them here as I finish them. One of the problems that I am having in my correspondence games is that I still tend to move too quickly and thus miss things.

In this game with rayz I played the English opening, Botvinnik system and got into trouble early. I dropped the Rook for a Knight and pawn and got an attack going against Black's King. I had the lead in development but my attack fizzled out and Black eventually caught up in development. I ended up trading down into a lost endgame and resigned. The entire game, with analysis and diagrams, can be found at http://www.mikeseroveyonchess.com/Rayz-English.html. Here is the game in PGN.

[Event "ICC correspondence 2006Quad.30.10"]
[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "2006.08.05"]
[Round "-"]
[White "OnGoldenPawn"]
[Black "rayz"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ICCResult "White resigns"]
[Opening "English opening"]
[ECO "A21"]
[NIC "EO.23"]
[Time "21:08:44"]

1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 d6 5. e4 c6 6. Nge2 f5 7. d3 Nf6 8. f4Nbd7 9. O-O fxe4 10. dxe4 Qb6+ 11. Kh1 Ng4 12. Qxd6 Nf2+ 13. Rxf2 Qxf2 14.fxe5 Bxe5 15. Qe6+ Kd8 16. Bg5+ Kc7 17. Rf1 Qc5 18. Be7 Bd6 19. Na4 Qe5 20.Bxd6+ Qxd6 21. Qxd6+ Kxd6 22. Rd1+ Kc7 23. c5 Ne5 24. Nf4 Bg4 25. Re1 Rad826. h3 Bc8 27. Nc3 Rd2 28. Re2 Rhd8 29. b3 g5 30. Rxd2 Rxd2 31. Nfe2 h5 32.Kg1 b6 33. cxb6+ axb6 34. Kf2 Ba6 {White resigns} 0-1

Thursday, August 02, 2007

Mike Serovey Loses To jks2000

In Round 4 of the Tuesday night Standard tournament for July, 11 PM Open section, I lost to jks2000. This game is the second time that I lost a game at ICC because of a mouse slip. On move 10 I moved the King over to g8 to castle kingside and the software moved the King to f8 instead! Unfortunately, I could not remember how to ask for a take back of that move. By the time I had figured out how to ask for a take back several moves had transpired and it was too late. Even if I had remembered how to ask for a take back, my opponent could have been a jerk about it and said, "No". He does not have to allow the take back. I wasted so much time trying to get my King into a castled position that my opponent was able to get a strong queenside attack going before I could get my kingside attack going. In the future, I will ask for a take back if I have another mouse slip like that. I have decided not to post this game to my chess site but I will post it here. Here is the game in PGN.

[Event "ICC 60 0"]
[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "2007.07.31"]
[Round "4"]
[White "jks2000"]
[Black "OnGoldenPawn"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ICCResult "Black resigns"]
[WhiteElo "1666"]
[BlackElo "1547"]
[Opening "English: ultra-symmetrical variation"]
[ECO "A36"]
[NIC "EO.31"]
[Time "23:04:15"]
[TimeControl "3600+0"]

1. c4 c5 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4. Nc3 Nc6 5. a3 d6 6. Rb1 e5 7. b4 cxb4 8.axb4 a6 9. d3 Nge7 10. Nf3 Kf8 11. O-O f5 12. e4 Kf7 13. Qb3 Rf8 14. Bg5 h615. Bd2 Be6 16. Nd5 Kg8 17. b5 Nd4 18. Nxd4 exd4 19. Nf4 Bf7 20. exf5 Nxf521. Bxb7 Rb8 {Black resigns} 1-0

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Mike Serovey Defeats diegogac

I won Round 3 of the 11 PM Open section of the July Standard tournament at ICC. That makes my current score 1-2. If I win the last round I may get a prize for the best score under 1600. Either way, it would be nice to break even in an open tournament. I played the Kings Indian Attack for a change of pace from the usual Reti and English openings. My opponent last a pawn in a combination and then walked into a fork on his King and Queen. That is when he resigned making this my fastest win in a very long time. However, he still had a defensible position if he had chosen to play it out. The complete game, with analysis and diagrams, can be found at http://www.mikeseroveyonchess.com/diegogac-KIA.html. Here is the game in PGN.

[Event "ICC 60 0"]
[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "2007.07.24"]
[Round "3"]
[White "OnGoldenPawn"]
[Black "diegogac"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ICCResult "Black resigns"]
[WhiteElo "1533"]
[BlackElo "1488"]
[Opening "Réti: King's Indian attack (Barcza system)"]
[ECO "A07"]
[NIC "QP.09"]
[Time "23:01:47"]
[TimeControl "3600+0"]

1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 Nc6 3. Bg2 Bf5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3 e5 6. Nbd2 Bc5 7. Nh4 Be6 8.e4 O-O 9. exd5 Bxd5 10. Nb3 Bb6 11. Be3 Nd4 12. Nxd4 exd4 13. Bg5 Qd6 14.Bxf6 Bxg2 15. Bxg7 Kxg7 16. Nf5+ {Black resigns} 1-0

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Mike Serovey Defeats BOD1969

I just completed a game at Stan's Net Chess yesterday. I played the Black side of a Sicilian Four Knights variation and got lucky. My opponent dropped the exchange and a pawn and then I caught him napping and won his Rook for free! That is when he resigned. After this win BOD1969 is still rated higher than I am. The complete game, with analysis and diagrams, can be found at http://www.mikeseroveyonchess.com/BOD1969-Sicilian.html. Here is the game in PGN.

[Event "Game 402755"]
[Site "Stan's NetChess"]
[Date "2007.06.19"]
[Round "?"]
[White "BOD1969"]
[Black "mserovey"]
[Result "0-1"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Nb3 Bb4 7. Bd3 d5 8.exd5 Nxd5 9. Bd2 Nxc3 10. Bxc3 Bxc3+ 11. bxc3 O-O 12. Qd2 b6 13. O-O-O Bb7 14.Qe2 Qf6 15. Nd4 Nxd4 16. cxd4 Bxg2 17. Rhg1 Bf3 18. Qe3 Bxd1 19. Rxd1 g6 20. Be4Rad8 21. c3 Qe7 22. Kb2 Qc7 23. h4 e5 24. d5 f5 25. Bc2 e4 26. f4 exf3 27. Qxf3Rd6 28. Rg1 Qc5 29. h5 Qxg1 0-1

Sunday, July 22, 2007

Mike Serovey Loses To tsia68

Here is an old game played at ICC. I do not know the date of this game or the ratings of the two players at the time of the game. This is an interesting game because I was losing even though up material! At the point where I resigned I was up a Queen, Rook, Knight, and pawn! I had to resign because White was threatening a mate in one and I had no way to stop it. This game is a Closed Sicilian defense. The complete game, with analysis and diagrams, can be found at http://www.mikeseroveyonchess.com/tsia68-Sicilian.html. Here is the game in PGN.

[Event "ICC Correspondence"]
[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "tsia68"]
[Black "OnGoldenPawn"]
[Result "1-0"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. d3 d6 6. f4 e6 7. Be3 Nge7 8. Nf3 O-O9. O-O a6 10. Rb1 Rb8 11. Ne2 b5 12. g4 Qa5 13. a3 c4 14. f5 exf5 15. gxf5 gxf516. Ng3 fxe4 17. Ng5 exd3 18. Qh5 h6 19. Nxf7 dxc2 20. Nxh6+ Bxh6 21. Bxh6 Qb6+22. Kh1 cxb1=Q 23. Bd5+ Nxd5 24. Qg6+ {Black resigned} 1-0

Saturday, July 21, 2007

Mike Serovey Defeats Okie901

Here is an old game from 2004 played at Stan's Net Chess. This is my second game against Okie901 and my second win. I currently have a game still going with Okie901 and the material is even, but my position is difficult. This old game, complete with analysis and diagrams, can be found at http://www.mikeseroveyonchess.com/okie901-Sicilian.html. I played Black against the Nimzovich-Rossolimo attack (with...g6, without...d6) and transposed into a Botvinnik system as Black. I won on time forfeit in a position that I believe that I was winning. You can play over the game and decide for yourself on that one. Here is the game in PGN.

[Event "Game 236435"]
[Site "Stan's NetChess"]
[Date "2004.02.28"]
[Round "?"]
[White "okie901"]
[Black "mserovey"]
[Result "0-1"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6 4. O-O Bg7 5. d3 e5 6. Nc3 Nge7 7. Be3 Nd4 8. Bxd4cxd4 9. Ne2 O-O 10. c3 dxc3 11. Nxc3 d5 12. exd5 Nxd5 13. Nxd5 Qxd5 14. Bc4 Qc615. Rc1 Qd6 16. a3 e4 17. dxe4 Qxd1 18. Rfxd1 Bxb2 19. Rc2 Bxa3 20. Rcd2 b6 21.h3 Bb7 22. Ng5 Bc6 23. Nxf7 Rxf7 24. Bxf7+ Kxf7 25. f3 Bc5+ 26. Kh1 Ke7 27. g3a5 28. Kh2 h5 29. f4 a4 30. e5 a3 0-1

Thursday, July 19, 2007

Mike Serovey Loses To winerum Again

Here is the game from from Round 2 of the July Standard Tournament played at ICC. I am in the 11 PM Open section. This is my second game against winerum and my second loss to him. I resigned when I was a pawn down and thought that I was going to lose a second one. I had a move that would save the pawn but I missed it and resigned. That is one of the hazards of playing late at night. I get tired and miss things. The entire game, with analysis and diagrams, can be found at http://www.mikeseroveyonchess.com/winerum-English.html. Here is the game in PGN.

[Event "ICC 60 0"]
[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "2007.07.17"]
[Round "2"]
[White "OnGoldenPawn"]
[Black "winerum"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ICCResult "White resigns"]
[WhiteElo "1543"]
[BlackElo "1691"]
[Opening "English opening"]
[ECO "A13"]
[NIC "EO.64"]
[Time "23:02:26"]
[TimeControl "3600+0"]

1. c4 e6 2. g3 d5 3. Bg2 c6 4. b3 Bb4 5. Nf3 Qf6 6. Nc3 Ne7 7. Bb2 Nd7 8.O-O Bxc3 9. Bxc3 e5 10. d3 d4 11. Bd2 h6 12. Ne1 Qd6 13. f4 O-O 14. fxe5Nxe5 15. Nf3 N7g6 16. a3 Rb8 17. b4 Nxf3+ 18. Rxf3 Bg4 19. Rf2 Rbe8 20. Bf3Qd7 21. Bxg4 Qxg4 22. Qf1 Re7 23. Re1 Rfe8 24. Qg2 Qd7 25. c5 Ne5 26. h3Nxd3 27. exd3 Rxe1+ 28. Bxe1 Rxe1+ 29. Rf1 Re3 30. Rd1 Qc7 31. Kf2 Qe5 32.Rd2 Re1 33. Qf3 Re3 {White resigns} 0-1

Saturday, July 14, 2007

Mike Serovey Loses To touchthis

I entered the July Standard tournament played at ICC. I am in the 11 PM Open section. Here is the game from Round 1. I played the Black side of a closed Sicilian defense and made several positional errors that eventually led to the loss of a Knight. That is when I resigned. The entire game, with analysis and diagrams, can be found at http://www.mikeseroveyonchess.com/touchthis-Sicilian.html. Here is the game in PGN.

[Event "ICC 60 0"]
[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "2007.07.10"]
[Round "1"]
[White "touchthis"]
[Black "OnGoldenPawn"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ICCResult "Black resigns"]
[WhiteElo "1787"]
[BlackElo "1550"]
[Opening "Sicilian defense"]
[ECO "B40"]
[NIC "SI.43"]
[Time "23:03:29"]
[TimeControl "3600+0"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d3 g6 4. g3 Bg7 5. c3 Ne7 6. Bg2 Nbc6 7. O-O O-O 8.Nbd2 d5 9. Re1 b5 10. e5 d4 11. c4 bxc4 12. Nxc4 Ba6 13. Nfd2 Qc7 14. f4Bxc4 15. Nxc4 Rab8 16. Nd6 Nc8 17. Ne4 Nb4 18. Nf6+ Kh8 19. a3 Na6 20. Qa4Bxf6 21. Qxa6 Bg7 22. Qa4 Nb6 23. Qc2 Rfc8 24. b3 Nd7 25. a4 a5 26. Ba3 Bf827. Rec1 Qb6 28. Rab1 Rc7 29. h4 h5 30. Qe2 Kg7 31. g4 hxg4 32. Qxg4 Be7 33.h5 Rh8 34. hxg6 fxg6 35. Be4 Nf8 36. Rc2 Kf7 37. Rg2 Rg8 38. f5 exf5 39.Bxf5 Rc6 40. Be4 Rc7 41. Bd5+ Ne6 42. Rf1+ {Black resigns} 1-0

Sunday, July 08, 2007

Mike Serovey Defeats Donnell6909 Again

Here is the second win against Donnell6909. This time I played the White side of an English opening, Botvinnik system. Again, my opponent blundered away material and then he walked into a checkmate. The complete game, with analysis and diagrams, can be found at http://www.mikeseroveyonchess.com/Donnell6909-English.html. Here is the game in PGN.

[Event "ICC 20 12"]
[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "2007.07.07"]
[Round "-"]
[White "OnGoldenPawn"]
[Black "Donnell6909"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ICCResult "Black checkmated"]
[WhiteElo "1550"]
[BlackElo "1501"]
[Opening "English opening"]
[ECO "A16"]
[NIC "EO.64"]
[Time "20:44:22"]
[TimeControl "1200+12"]

1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 O-O 5. d3 d6 6. e4 Re8 7. Nge2 Nbd7 8.O-O e5 9. h3 Nc5 10. b4 Ne6 11. Be3 h5 12. f4 exf4 13. gxf4 Nf8 14. Rc1 N8h715. Nd5 c6 16. Ndc3 Nd7 17. Qe1 f5 18. Qg3 Ndf6 19. Qxg6 fxe4 20. dxe4 Re721. Bd4 Kh8 22. e5 dxe5 23. fxe5 Nf8 24. Qg3 Ne4 25. Nxe4 Ne6 26. Ba1 Qb6+27. c5 Qd8 28. Nf6 Qf8 29. Qg6 Bd7 30. Qh7# {Black checkmated} 1-0

Mike Serovey Defeats Donnell6909

Here is the first game that I played against Donnell6909 at ICC. I had Black in this game and played the Four Knights variation of the Sicilian Defense. My opponent made several mistakes in this game and made me play it out all the way to mate. I would normally resign when down a Queen, Bishop and 2 pawns but Donnell6909 made me play it out anyway! I get insulted when that happens. The complete game, with analysis and diagrams, can be found at http://www.mikeseroveyonchess.com/Donnell6909-Sicilian.html. Here is the game in PGN.

[Event "ICC 20 12"]
[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "2007.07.07"]
[Round "-"]
[White "Donnell6909"]
[Black "OnGoldenPawn"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ICCResult "White checkmated"]
[WhiteElo "1516"]
[BlackElo "1535"]
[Opening "Sicilian defense"]
[ECO "B33"]
[NIC "SI.34"]
[Time "20:29:20"]
[TimeControl "1200+12"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e6 6. Be2 Bb4 7. Bg5 Qa58. Bxf6 gxf6 9. O-O Bxc3 10. bxc3 Qxc3 11. Nb3 Ke7 12. Rb1 b6 13. Bb5 Bb714. Bxc6 Bxc6 15. Nd4 Bxe4 16. Nb5 Qxc2 17. Qd6+ Kd8 18. Rbc1 Qd3 19. Qc7+Ke7 20. Nxa7 Qd6 21. Qxd6+ Kxd6 22. Nb5+ Ke7 23. Nc3 Bc6 24. Rfe1 Rhg8 25.g3 h5 26. h4 Rgc8 27. Kf1 Bb7 28. Ke2 d5 29. Ke3 Rc4 30. Nxd5+ Bxd5 31. Rxc4Bxc4 32. Ra1 Rxa2 33. Rxa2 Bxa2 34. Kd4 Kd6 35. Kc3 Kc5 36. g4 hxg4 37. h5Bb1 38. Kb2 Bh7 39. Kc3 b5 40. Kb3 b4 41. Kb2 Kc4 42. h6 b3 43. Kc1 Kc3 44.Kd1 b2 45. Ke2 b1=Q 46. Ke3 Qe1+ 47. Kf4 Qxf2+ 48. Kxg4 Qf5+ 49. Kh4 Qg6 50.Kh3 Kd3 51. Kh4 Ke3 52. Kh3 Kf3 53. Kh4 Qg4# {White checkmated} 0-1

Sunday, July 01, 2007

Mike Serovey Loses To monitaChe

Here is a game played back in 2005 at Stan's Net Chess. I played the Kings Indian Attack and miscalculated a combination. Instead of winning a pawn I lost my Queen for a Knight and 2 pawns. I resigned when I was about to lose another Knight. The entire game, with analysis and diagrams, can be found at http://www.mikeseroveyonchess.com/monitaChe-KIA.html. Here is the game in PGN.

[Event "Game 294042"]
[Site "Stan's NetChess"]
[Date "2005.02.05"]
[Round "?"]
[White "mserovey"]
[Black "monitaChe"]
[Result "0-1"]

1. Nf3 Nc6 2. g3 d6 3. Bg2 e5 4. d3 h6 5. O-O Be7 6. e4 Be6 7. Nbd2 Nf6 8. b3Nh5 9. Bb2 Qd7 10. Nxe5 Nxe5 11. Qxh5 Bg4 12. Bxe5 Bxh5 13. Bxg7 Rh7 14. Bd4 f615. f4 c6 16. a4 a6 17. Nc4 Qg4 18. Bc3 Bf7 19. Nb6 Rb8 20. e5 dxe5 21. fxe5Bc5+ 0-1

Sunday, June 24, 2007

Mike Serovey Loses To Stano

Here is one of my games against Stano, aka Stanislav Szabo. This game was played at Stan's Net Chess back in 2005. This game is one of several losses to Stano. This time I played the English Opening, Botvinnik System and moved too quickly when Stano offered a Bishop sacrifice. Oh, well. Live and learn! The complete game, with analysis and diagrams, can be found at http://www.mikeseroveyonchess.com/Stano-English.html. Here is the game in PGN.

[Event "Game 311864"]
[Site "Stan's NetChess"]
[Date "2005.06.10"]
[Round "?"]
[White "mserovey"]
[Black "Stano"]
[Result "0-1"]

1. e4 d6 2. c4 Nc6 3. h3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. g3 Be7 6. Bg2 O-O 7. Nge2 e5 8. O-OBe6 9. d3 Qd7 10. Kh2 a6 11. f4 exf4 12. gxf4 g6 13. Be3 Bg4 14. hxg4 Nxg4+ 15.Kh1 Nxe3 16. Qd2 Nxf1 17. Rxf1 Qg4 18. Nd5 Bd8 19. Rf3 Re8 20. f5 Ne5 21. Rg3Qh4+ 22. Rh3 Nf3 23. Rxh4 Nxd2 24. Rg4 c6 25. Ndf4 g5 26. Nh5 d5 27. cxd5 cxd528. Nc3 dxe4 29. Nxe4 Nxe4 30. Bxe4 Rc8 31. Bxb7 Rc1+ 32. Rg1 Ree1 33. Rxe1Rxe1+ 34. Kg2 Re2+ 35. Kf3 Rxb2 36. Bxa6 Rxa2 37. Bc4 Rh2 38. Ng3 Rh4 39. Bd5 h540. Be4 Rh2 41. Nf1 g4+ 0-1

Monday, June 18, 2007

Mike Serovey Defeats Okie901

Here is one of my games played at Stan's Net Chess. It was played back in 2004 and was my first win against Okie901. The second one I won on forfeit and may post later. I need to take a look at that second game and see if it is worth posting. This game is one in which I played the White side of the Réti Opening and won when I was about to go up my third pawn in an endgame. The entire game, with analysis and diagrams, can be found at http://www.mikeseroveyonchess.com/Okie901-Reti.html. Here is the game in PGN.

[Event "Game 233154"]
[Site "Stan's NetChess"]
[Date "2004.02.11"]
[Round "?"]
[White "mserovey"]
[Black "okie901"]
[Result "1-0"]

1. Nf3 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Qa4+ Nc6 4. Qxc4 Nf6 5. g3 e6 6. Bg2 Bd6 7. O-O O-O 8.d3 Bd7 9. Bg5 Rc8 10. Nbd2 h6 11. Bxf6 Qxf6 12. Ne4 Qe7 13. a3 Ne5 14. Nxe5 Bxe515. Rab1 Bc6 16. b4 f5 17. Nc5 Bxg2 18. Kxg2 Rf6 19. Nxb7 Rg6 20. f4 Bd6 21.Nxd6 Qxd6 22. Qc5 Qd5+ 23. Qxd5 exd5 24. Rbc1 h5 25. Rc5 c6 26. Rfc1 Re6 27. Kf3Rce8 28. R1c2 Re3+ 29. Kf2 h4 30. Rxc6 hxg3+ 31. hxg3 R3e7 32. Rc8 Rxc8 33.Rxc8+ Kf7 34. Rc5 Rd7 35. b5 Ke6 36. d4 Rb7 37. a4 g6 38. Rc6+ Kf7 39. Rd6 1-0

Sunday, June 10, 2007

Some Random Thoughts on Chess

I don't have any games to post at this time. I still have two correspondence chess games going at ICC, but otherwise I haven't been playing lately. Other things have taken higher priority. I got to thinking about the chess goals that I posted back in December or January and I realize that I am not making much progress toward them. My recent losses have pulled my correspondence chess rating down, so I need to win both of my remaining games just to make up the points. I haven't played any games at Stan's Net Chess so I'm not making any progress toward getting a 2200 rating there. I would probably need to win 6 or 7 games in a row without any losses in order to reach 2200 points. I'm not sure that I can do that the way that I have been playing lately. I tend to move too quickly, even in correspondence chess games. As a result I tend to blunder. Almost every single game that I have lost was due to my missing something that I should have seen. On occasion, I lose because my opponent played a brilliant move. Most of the time, I just blunder away a piece or too many pawns.

I haven't been playing any OTB chess lately because I can't afford to. There are no chess clubs in my county that I know of and all of the tournaments are an hour away by car. I have to drive to either St. Petersburg or Orlando in order to play in an OTB tournament. That means gas at about $3 per gallon and the entry fees. Unfortunately, I just can't afford to play now. So, I play online because it is cheaper. However, I do miss the human contact that I get with OTB play. I also miss being part of a chess team like I was in high school.

Back in high school I was part of a team that dominated Hillsborough County and even the state of Florida. We won the state high school championship 6 years in a row if I am correct about this. We won the Region 4 (Southeastern) High School Championship 3 years in a row. We didn't fair so well at nationals, though. I miss going over my games with my teammates, especially when I won. I miss the fun things that we did between rounds at tournaments and the non chess things that we did together. Now, when I play I am on my own.

Sunday, June 03, 2007

Mike Serovey Loses To McNiff Again

This is my second correspondence game against McNiff played at ICC. This time I had White and played the Botvinnik system. I transposed into it from a Sicilian defense. McNiff now has a 4-0 record in correspondence chess at ICC. My record after 20 games is nowhere near as good! The complete game, with analysis and diagrams, can be found at http://www.mikeseroveyonchess.com/McNiff-English.html. Here is the game in PGN.

[Event "ICC correspondence 2007Quad.04.09"]
[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "2007.03.07"]
[Round "-"]
[White "OnGoldenPawn"]
[Black "McNiff"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ICCResult "White resigns"]
[Opening "English: symmetrical, Botvinnik system"]
[ECO "B20"]
[NIC "EO.30"]
[Time "20:54:28"]

1. e4 c5 2. c4 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 Nc6 5. Nc3 Nf6 6. d3 O-O 7. Nge2 d6 8.O-O Bg4 9. h3 Bxe2 10. Nxe2 Qb6 11. Nc3 e6 12. Rb1 Nd7 13. Be3 Bd4 14. Bxd4cxd4 15. Ne2 a5 16. f4 Nc5 17. a3 Qb3 18. Nc1 Qxd1 19. Rxd1 a4 20. g4 e5 21.f5 Rfb8 22. g5 b5 23. cxb5 Rxb5 24. f6 h6 25. h4 hxg5 26. hxg5 Rab8 27. Rd2Na5 28. Na2 Nab3 29. Rdd1 Na6 30. Bf1 Rc5 31. Nc1 Rc2 32. Nxb3 axb3 33. Rdc1Nc5 34. Re1 Na4 35. Re2 Rbc8 {White resigns} 0-1

Sunday, May 27, 2007

Mike Serovey Draws Chien Ming

Here is my second game against Chien Ming (fhunfi) at ICC. This time I played White and got a draw. I am pleased with this draw because Chien is rated 500 points above me! Too bad for me that this was a non rated practice game! My rating would have gone up quite a bit from this draw if it had been rated. The entire game, with analysis and diagrams, can be found at http://www.mikeseroveyonchess.com/fhunfi-English2.html. Here is the game in PGN.

[Event "ICC 30 30 u"]
[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "2007.05.27"]
[Round "-"]
[White "OnGoldenPawn"]
[Black "fhunfi"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ICCResult "Game drawn by repetition"]
[WhiteElo "1518"]
[BlackElo "2037"]
[Opening "English: Neo-Catalan declined"]
[ECO "A14"]
[NIC "RE.09"]
[Time "00:16:31"]
[TimeControl "1800+30"]

1. g3 d5 2. Bg2 Nf6 3. c4 e6 4. Nf3 Be7 5. O-O O-O 6. b3 b6 7. Bb2 Bb7 8. d4Nbd7 9. cxd5 exd5 10. Nbd2 Rc8 11. e3 c5 12. Rc1 Re8 13. Re1 Rc7 14. dxc5bxc5 15. Ne5 Nxe5 16. Bxe5 Bd6 17. Bxd6 Qxd6 18. Rc2 Qe7 19. Nf3 Ne4 20. Nd2Nf6 21. Nf3 Ne4 22. Nd2 Nf6 23. Nf3 Ne4 {Game drawn by repetition} 1/2-1/2

Saturday, May 26, 2007

Mike Serovey Defeats Jordan Ivanov!

Here is on of my first games played at Stan's NetChess. My opponent was rated 2402 at the start of the game and is currently rated 2615. Ratings at Stan's NetChess tend to run much higher than those at ICC or the USCF. Consider that my rating at Stan's NetChess is over 2100 while my ratings at both ICC and USCF are in the 1500's. This game was played back in 2004. I was somewhat intimidated by my opponent's rating and was hoping for a draw. If my opponent hadn't gotten careless on move 47 and dropped his Bishop, the game most likely would have ended in a draw. Rook versus Bishop and pawn endgames are hard to win. The complete game, with analysis and diagrams, can be found at http://www.mikeseroveyonchess.com/JordanIvanov-FrenchDefense.html. Here is the game in PGN.

[Event "Game 231050"]
[Site "Stan's NetChess"]
[Date "2004.01.30"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Jordan Ivanov"]
[Black "mserovey"]
[Result "0-1"]

1. e4 c5 2. c3 e6 3. d4 d5 4. exd5 exd5 5. Nf3 Nf6 6. Bb5+ Bd7 7. Bxd7+ Nbxd7 8.O-O Bd6 9. Re1+ Ne4 10. Bg5 Qc7 11. dxc5 Ndxc5 12. Qxd5 O-O 13. Rxe4 Nxe4 14.Qxe4 Rae8 15. Qg4 Qb6 16. b4 f5 17. Qc4+ Kh8 18. Nbd2 Rc8 19. Qd5 Rxc3 20. Ne5Bxe5 21. Qxe5 Qc7 22. Qxc7 Rxc7 23. Nb3 h6 24. Bf4 Rc2 25. g3 Kh7 26. h4 g6 27.a4 Rb2 28. Na5 Rf7 29. b5 a6 30. Nc4 Rb3 31. Ne5 Rg7 32. bxa6 bxa6 33. Kg2 g534. hxg5 hxg5 35. Rh1+ Kg8 36. Bd2 Ra3 37. a5 Ra2 38. Nc4 Rc2 39. Rc1 Rxc1 40.Bxc1 Rc7 41. Bxg5 Rxc4 42. Bd8 Ra4 43. Kh3 Kg7 44. f3 Kg6 45. g4 fxg4+ 46. fxg4Rd4 47. Kh4 Rxd8 0-1

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Mike Serovey Defeats PrincePawn

Here is an old game played at ICC. I played and English opening and Black played something resembling the Dutch defense. At one point I was down a pawn but still managed to win this endgame. The entire game, with analysis and diagrams, can be found at http://www.mikeseroveyonchess.com/PrincePawn-English.html. Here is the game in PGN.

[Event "ICC Game #317"]
[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "OnGoldenPawn"]
[Black "PrincePawn"]
[Result "1-0"]

1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 f5 3. d3 Nf6 4. g3 g6 5. Bg2 Bg7 6. e4 fxe4 7. dxe4 O-O 8. Nge2d6 9. O-O c6 10. f4 exf4 11. Bxf4 Qb6+ 12. Kh1 Bg4 13. Qb3 Qxb3 14. axb3 Na6 15.Bxd6 Rfd8 16. e5 Nd7 17. Be7 Re8 18. Bf6 Nxf6 19. exf6 Bxf6 20. Rxf6 Bxe2 21.Nxe2 Rxe2 22. Rb1 Nb4 23. Kg1 Re3 24. Rf3 Re2 25. Bf1 Rd2 26. Rf2 Rxf2 27. Kxf2Rd8 28. Ke3 Nc2+ 29. Ke4 Rd2 30. h4 Rd4+ 31. Kf3 Nb4 32. Be2 h5 33. Rd1 Rxd1 34.Bxd1 Kf7 35. Ke4 Kf6 36. g4 hxg4 37. Bxg4 b6 38. Kd4 c5+ 39. Ke4 Nc6 40. h5 Na541. hxg6 Nxb3 42. Kd5 Na5 43. Bd1 Kxg6 44. b3 Kf6 45. Kd6 Kf5 46. Kc7 Ke4 47.Kb8 Kd4 48. Kxa7 Kc3 49. Kxb6 Nxb3 50. Bxb3 Kxb3 51. Kxc5 Ka4 52. Kc6 Ka5 53. c5Ka6 54. Kc7 Ka7 55. c6 Ka8 56. Kc8 Ka7 57. c7 Ka8 58. Kd8 Kb7 59. c8=Q+ {Black resigns} 1-0

Saturday, May 05, 2007

Mike Serovey Defeats Slop

Here is another old correspondence game played at ICC. This game is one of the few times that I have played the Black side of the French Defense and the only time I can remember playing the Black side of the Advanced variation. I transposed into the French from a closed Sicilian Defense. The complete game, with analysis and diagrams, can be found at http://www.mikeseroveyonchess.com/Slop-FrenchDefense.html. Here is the game in PGN.

[Event "ICC correspondence 2004SC18QF.06.03"]
[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "2004.04.18"]
[Round "-"]
[White "Slop"]
[Black "OnGoldenPawn"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ICCResult "White resigns"]
[Opening "French: advance, Milner-Barry gambit"]
[ECO "B22"]
[NIC "SI.46"]
[Time "13:46:48"]

1. e4 c5 2. c3 e6 3. d4 d5 4. e5 Nc6 5. Nf3 Qb6 6. Bd3 cxd4 7. cxd4 Bd7 8.Bc2 Bb4+ 9. Nc3 Nge7 10. O-O O-O 11. Bg5 h6 12. Bh4 Bxc3 13. bxc3 Qa5 14.Qd3 Ng6 15. Bg3 Nce7 16. Nh4 Bb5 17. Qf3 Bxf1 18. Rxf1 Rac8 19. Qh5 Qxc3 20.Nxg6 fxg6 21. Bxg6 Nxg6 22. Qxg6 Rc6 23. Bh4 Qxd4 24. Be7 Rf7 {White resigns} 0-1

Mike Serovey Loses To naj-rsc playing the English Opening

Here is an old correspondence game played at ICC. I played the English Opening, Botvinick System, but misplayed it and got a positional disadvantage. I resigned at the point where I would have been down two pawns. The complete game, with analysis and diagrams, can be found at http://www.mikeseroveyonchess.com/naj-rsc-English.html. Here is the game in PGN.

[Event "ICC correspondence 2004SC18QF.06.07"]
[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "2004.04.18"]
[Round "-"]
[White "OnGoldenPawn"]
[Black "naj-rsc"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ICCResult "White resigns"]
[Opening "English opening"]
[ECO "A10"]
[NIC "EO.22"]
[Time "13:46:48"]

1. c4 d6 2. Nc3 e5 3. e4 Nf6 4. d3 Nc6 5. g3 Bg4 6. f3 Be6 7. Bg2 g6 8. Nge2Bg7 9. O-O Nd4 10. Nxd4 exd4 11. Ne2 c5 12. Bd2 O-O 13. b4 Nd7 14. f4 f5 15.b5 fxe4 16. Bxe4 Qc7 17. a4 Nf6 18. Bg2 Rae8 19. a5 d5 20. cxd5 Nxd5 21. a6b6 22. Bxd5 Bxd5 23. g4 Qd7 24. Ng3 Qxb5 25. Qb1 Qxb1 26. Raxb1 Be6 27. f5Bc8 28. Ra1 gxf5 29. Nxf5 Bxf5 30. gxf5 Re5 {White resigns} 0-1

Thursday, May 03, 2007

Mike Serovey Loses To McNiff

I recently completed another correspondence chess game at ICC. This is the first time that I have played McNiff and his first completed correspondence chess game. I tried to play the Cambridge Springs defense but my opponent avoided it by not playing Bg5. So, I transposed into a Queens Gambit Declined, semi-Slav: Meran, Reynolds' variation. I used MCO - 14 to guide me through the opening but my opponent got me out of my book on move 10. It didn't take me long to get into trouble in an opening that I don't know and then to lose! The complete game, with analysis and diagrams, can be found at http://www.mikeseroveyonchess.com/McNiff-QueensGambitDeclined.html. Here is the game in PGN.

[Event "ICC correspondence 2007Quad.04.10"]
[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "2007.03.07"]
[Round "-"]
[White "McNiff"]
[Black "OnGoldenPawn"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ICCResult "Black resigns"]
[Opening "QGD semi-Slav: Meran, Reynolds' variation"]
[ECO "D48"]
[NIC "SL.09"]
[Time "20:54:28"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 c6 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Bd3 dxc4 7. Bxc4 b5 8.Bd3 a6 9. e4 c5 10. d5 exd5 11. e5 Ng4 12. Bg5 f6 13. exf6 Ndxf6 14. h3 Nh615. O-O Be7 16. Re1 O-O 17. Nxd5 Nxd5 18. Be4 Bb7 19. Bxe7 Nxe7 20. Bxb7Qxd1 21. Raxd1 Rae8 22. Bxa6 b4 23. Bb5 {Black resigns} 1-0

Sunday, April 29, 2007

Mike Serovey Loses to ThreeofSeven

Here is my third correspondence game with ThreeofSeven at ICC. I won the first two games in which I had White and lost the game in which I had Black. Although I can't prove it I think that my opponent got help in this game from either a computer or a stronger player because his play suddenly improved and he found moves that I missed. If you look at his two losses versus his one win you will see quite an improvement in his play in just two weeks! The entire game, with analysis and diagrams, can be found at http://www.mikeseroveyonchess.com/ThreeofSeven-Sicilian2.html. Here is the game in PGN.

[Event "ICC correspondence 2007Quad.04.08"]
[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "2007.03.07"]
[Round "-"]
[White "ThreeofSeven"]
[Black "OnGoldenPawn"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ICCResult "Black resigns"]
[Opening "Sicilian defense"]
[ECO "B33"]
[NIC "SI.34"]
[Time "20:54:28"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e6 6. a3 d5 7. exd5 Nxd58. Nxd5 Qxd5 9. Nxc6 Qxd1+ 10. Kxd1 bxc6 11. b3 Bc5 12. f3 O-O 13. Bd3 Rd814. Ke2 Bd4 15. Rb1 c5 16. Be3 e5 17. Rhc1 Bxe3 18. Kxe3 f5 19. c3 Be6 20.b4 c4 21. Be2 a6 22. Rd1 Kf8 23. Rxd8+ Rxd8 24. Rd1 Rxd1 25. Bxd1 Ke7 26. g3g5 27. f4 gxf4+ 28. gxf4 e4 29. Kd4 Kd6 30. Be2 h6 31. Bxc4 Bxc4 32. Kxc4Kc6 33. a4 h5 34. Kd4 h4 35. h3 Kb6 36. c4 Kc6 37. c5 Kc7 38. b5 axb5 39.axb5 Kb7 40. b6 Kc6 41. Kc4 Kb7 42. Kb5 e3 43. c6+ Kb8 44. Ka6 e2 45. c7+Kc8 46. Ka7 e1=Q 47. b7+ Kxc7 48. b8=Q+ Kd7 49. Qb5+ Ke6 50. Qe8+{Black resigns}1-0

Saturday, April 28, 2007

Mike Serovey Draws Stanislav Szabo

Here is a game that I played at Stan's Net Chess back in 2004. This is my only non loss to Stanislav Szabo. This game ended in a draw even though I was up a pawn at the time. Stanislav played the Nimzovich-Rossolimo attack against my Sicilian defense. The complete game, with analysis and diagrams, can be found at http://www.mikeseroveyonchess.com/Stano-Sicilian.html. Here is the game in PGN.

[Event "Game #239965"]
[Site "Stan's Net Chess"]
[Date "2004.03.29"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Stanislav Szabo"]
[Black "Mike Serovey"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Bxc6 bxc6 5. d3 d5 6. O-O Bg4 7. h3 Bxf3 8.Qxf3 e6 9. exd5 cxd5 10. c4 Nf6 11. Bg5 Be7 12. a3 O-O 13. Nc3 Rb8 14. Rab1 d415. Ne4 Nxe4 16. Bxe7 Qxe7 17. Qxe4 Qb7 18. Qxb7 Rxb7 19. f4 Rfb8 20. Rf2 Rb321. Rd2 Rxa3 22. Rdd1 Ra2 23. Rd2 h6 24. Kf1 a5 25. Ke1 a4 26. g3 a3 27. b3 Rxd228. Kxd2 Kf8 29. Kc2 Ke7 30. g4 g5 31. fxg5 hxg5 32. Rh1 e5 33. Rb1 Ke6 {Draw agreed} 1/2-1/2

Friday, April 20, 2007

Mike Serovey Defeats Mark Tork

Here is one of my games against Mark Tork. It was played a couple of years ago at Stan's Net Chess. I called this opening the Benoni Defense even though it started off as a Reti and transposed into a Pirc. The reason for that was mainly because of Black's setup and queenside attack. Black played a sacrifice that won material and White later played a sacrifice of his own that lost material. The complete game, with analysis and diagrams, can be found at http://www.mikeseroveyonchess.com/Mark-Tork-Benoni.html. Here is the game in PGN:

[Event "Game 236436"]
[Site "Stan's Net Chess"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Mark Tork"]
[Black "Mike Serovey"]
[Result "0-1"]

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. d4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. g3 O-O 6. d5 c5 7. Bg2 a6 8. O-O b59. a3 Nbd7 10. b4 Nxe4 11. Bb2 Nxc3 12. Qd2 cxb4 13. Rae1 Bb7 14. axb4 Nxd5 15.Bxg7 Kxg7 16. Ng5 N7f6 17. Re2 e6 18. Qd4 h6 19. Rxe6 hxg5 20. Ree1 Rb8 21. f4gxf4 22. gxf4 Qb6 23. Qxb6 Nxb6 24. Rd1 Bxg2 25. Kxg2 d5 {White resigned} 0-1

Saturday, April 14, 2007

Mike Serovey Defeats ThreeofSeven Again

Here is the second win against ThreeofSeven played at ICC. This was also a correspondence game. In both games I had White. I am still playing a game against ThreeofSeven on ICC and I have Black in that game. The entire game, with analysis and diagrams, can be found at http://www.mikeseroveyonchess.com/ThreeofSeven-Sicilian.html. Here is the game in PGN.

[Event "ICC correspondence 2007Quad.04.07"]
[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "2007.03.07"]
[Round "-"]
[White "OnGoldenPawn"]
[Black "ThreeofSeven"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ICCResult "Black checkmated"]
[Opening "Sicilian defense"]
[ECO "B20"]
[NIC "SI.48"]
[Time "20:54:28"]

1. e4 c5 2. c4 d6 3. g3 Nc6 4. Bg2 g6 5. Nc3 Bg7 6. Nge2 Bg4 7. h3 Bxe2 8.Nxe2 e6 9. O-O Nge7 10. d3 O-O 11. Rb1 Nd4 12. Be3 Nec6 13. a3 a5 14. Nxd4Bxd4 15. Bxd4 Nxd4 16. b4 axb4 17. axb4 b6 18. bxc5 bxc5 19. Qd2 Qc7 20. f4Rfb8 21. g4 Ra3 22. Rxb8+ Qxb8 23. f5 e5 24. f6 Qa8 25. Qh6 Qf8 26. Qxf8+Kxf8 27. Rb1 Ke8 28. Rb8+ Kd7 29. Rb7+ Ke6 30. g5 Rxd3 31. Re7#{Black checkmated} 1-0

Mike Serovey Defeats Ned Ludd

This is my second win against Ned Ludd posted to my chess site. In this game I played the Black side of a Sicilian Four Knights Defense. Both this game, and the one where I beat Ned Ludd playing the White side of the Reti opening, were played at Stan's Net Chess. The complete game, with analysis and diagrams, can be found at http://www.mikeseroveyonchess.com/Nedd-Ludd-Sicilian.html. Here is the game in PGN.

[Event "Online Game"]
[Site "Stan's Net Chess"]
[Date "2004.03.28"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Ned Ludd"]
[Black "Mike Serovey"]
[Result "0-1"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e6 6. Nxc6 bxc6 7. Bc4 d5 8.exd5 cxd5 9. Bb5+ Bd7 10. Bxd7+ Qxd7 11. O-O Bc5 12. h3 O-O 13. Bg5 Ne8 14. Ne4Be7 15. Bxe7 Qxe7 16. Ng3 Nf6 17. Re1 Qb4 18. Rb1 Rfc8 19. c3 Qc4 20. Nf1 Qxa221. Nd2 Qa6 22. f3 Rab8 23. Kh1 Rc6 24. Nb3 Rcb6 25. Ra1 Qb5 26. Nd4 Qxb2 27.Rxa7 Qxc3 28. Ra1 g6 29. Rc1 Qb2 30. Re2 Qxc1 31. Qxc1 Rb1 32. Qxb1 Rxb1+ 33.Kh2 Rd1 34. Nc2 d4 35. Re1 Rxe1 36. Nxe1 Nd5 37. Kg1 Nf4 38. Kf2 e5 39. Nc2 f540. Kf1 d3 41. Ne3 e4 42. Kf2 Kf7 43. Kg3 Ne2+ 44. Kf2 Nc3 45. Ke1 f4 46. Kd2fxe3+ 47. Kxc3 exf3 48. gxf3 e2 {White resigns} 0-1

Saturday, March 31, 2007

Mike Serovey Loses To Thomas Cook

Here is another old game from 1993. It is against a strong expert. I played the Black side of a Benko Gambit and failed to play the best moves in the opening. I traded a Bishop and Knight for a Rook and pawn which turned out to be an error because I was already down a pawn before this exchange. The bigger problem was that I weakened my Kingside by trading off the Bishop and I put White's Queen on the long diagonal from a1 to h8. I was able to stop White's mate threats but is shattered my pawn structure and led to the loss of two pawns. In the final position I was down two connected passed pawns so I resigned. The entire game, complete with analysis and diagrams, can be found at http://www.mikeseroveyonchess.com/ThomasCook-Benko-Gambit-Declined.html. This was Round 1. I lost Round 2, drew Round 3, and I don't have any further rounds in my score book. Here is the game in PGN.

[Event "Cheapo Class"]
[Site "Florida"]
[Date "1993.06.26"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Thomas Cook"]
[Black "Mike Serovey"]
[Result "1-0"]

1. d4 c5 2. c4 Nf6 3. d5 b5 4. cxb5 a6 5. f3 g6 6. e4 d6 7. Nc3 Bg7 8. a4 axb59. Bxb5+ Bd7 10. Nge2 O-O 11. O-O Na6 12. Bg5 Nc7 13. Bc4 Ra7 14. Nc1 Qa8 15. b3Re8 16. Nd3 Nfxd5 17. Nxd5 Bxa1 18. Qxa1 Nxd5 19. exd5 Bf5 20. Bh6 f6 21. Nf2Kf7 22. g4 Bc8 23. Ne4 Ba6 24. Bxa6 Rxa6 25. g5 Qxd5 26. gxf6 Qd4+ 27. Qxd4 cxd428. fxe7 Rxe7 29. Rd1 Rb7 30. Rd3 Ke6 31. Bf4 Kd5 32. Nc3+ Ke6 33. Nb5 Rf7 34.Bg3 Kd7 35. Kf2 Rf6 36. Rxd4 h5 37. Bxd6 Rfxd6 38. Rxd6+ Rxd6 39. Nxd6 Kxd6 40.Ke3 {Black resigned} 1-0

Sunday, March 25, 2007

Mike Serovey Loses To Nirio Basallo

Here is an old game played back in 1993. I was playing White against an expert who was only a few rating points away from master. I got my Rook trapped by a Bishop and lost the exchange. I was unable to hold the endgame down material and resigned. The complete game, with analysis and diagrams, can be found at http://www.mikeseroveyonchess.com/Nirio-Basallo-English.html. Here is the game in PGN.

[Event "Sunshine State open"]
[Site "Florida"]
[Date "1993.06.11"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Mike Serovey"]
[Black "Nirio Basallo"]
[Result "0-1"]

1. c4 e5 2. g3 Nc6 3. Bg2 Nf6 4. d3 g6 5. Nc3 Bg7 6. e4 d6 7. Nge2 O-O 8. O-ONh5 9. f4 exf4 10. Nxf4 Nxf4 11. Bxf4 Nd4 12. Qd2 c6 13. Rf2 Bg4 14. Raf1 Qe715. Bg5 Qe5 16. Qf4 Qxf4 17. Bxf4 Rad8 18. h3 Bc8 19. Bg5 Rd7 20. Bf6 Bxf6 21.Rxf6 Kg7 22. g4 h6 23. b4 Rdd8 24. a4 Bf5 25. exf5 Kxf6 26. Ne4+ Kg7 27. f6+ Kh728. b5 Rfe8 29. h4 d5 30. cxd5 cxd5 31. Nc3 Re5 32. Rf4 Ne6 33. Rf1 g5 34. hxg5hxg5 35. Rd1 Nf4 36. Bh1 Kg6 37. Kf2 Kxf6 38. d4 Ree8 39. Rd2 Rh8 40. Kg1 Rh441. Bf3 Rh3 42. Rf2 Rg3+ 43. Kf1 Ke6 44. Ne2 Nxe2 45. Rxe2+ Kf6 46. Kf2 Rh3 47.Re5 Rh2+ 48. Kg1 Rd2 49. Rf5+ Kg6 50. Bxd5 Rxd4 51. Bxf7+ Kg7 52. Bh5 Rxa4 53.Rxg5+ Kh7 54. Rf5 Rd2 55. g5 Ra1+ 56. Rf1 Rxf1+ 57. Kxf1 Rd5 58. b6 a5 59. Bf3Rf5 60. Ke2 Rxf3 61. Kxf3 a4 {White resigned} 0-1

Saturday, March 17, 2007

Mike Serovey Loses To K. Pascucci

Here is an old game played back in 1992. I had Black and attempted to play the Benko Gambit. White sidestepped this by declining the gambit pawn. I still ended up with a slight lead in development and was doing OK until I started to make a series of mistakes around move 27. My final mistake was one that dropped a Rook due to a Knight fork on my King and Rook and that lead to my resignation. The complete game, with analysis and diagrams, can be found at http://www.mikeseroveyonchess.com/Pascucci-Benko-Gambit-Declined.html. This game was Round 3 and I don't remember how I did in the rest of the tournament. This game's score sheet got separated from the rest of the ones for this tournament and I don't feel like looking through all of my old score books just to find out how I did in this tournament! Here is the game in PGN.

[Event "Southern Class Championships"]
[Site "Florida"]
[Date "1992.10.17"]
[Round "3"]
[White "K. Pascucci"]
[Black "Mike Serovey"]
[Result "1-0"]

1. d4 c5 2. d5 Nf6 3. c4 b5 4. b3 bxc4 5. bxc4 d6 6. Nc3 Nbd7 7. e4 g6 8. Bd3Bg7 9. Bd2 Rb8 10. Rb1 Rxb1 11. Qxb1 Qb6 12. f3 Qxb1+ 13. Nxb1 O-O 14. Bc3 Ba615. Ne2 Nb6 16. Na3 Nfd7 17. Nb5 Bxc3+ 18. Nexc3 Ne5 19. Ke2 Nbxc4 20. Bxc4 Nxc421. Nxa7 Na3+ 22. Ke3 Ra8 23. Nc6 Kf8 24. Kd2 Ke8 25. Nb1 Nc4+ 26. Kc3 Kd7 27.Re1 Ne5 28. Nxe5+ dxe5 29. Nd2 Bc8 30. Ra1 Ra4 31. Nc4 f6 32. Nb6+ {Black resigns} 1-0

Tuesday, March 06, 2007

Mike Serovey Defeats Bob Magabulos

I found another old game played back in 1985 when I was stationed in Giessen, Germany. I called the opening an odd variation of the Pirc Defense but some may disagree on what to call the opening. I won this game in 17 moves against an 1800 rated player when I was only a 1400 rated player myself. This, I believe, was my first win against an 1800, but not my last. The complete game, with analysis and diagrams, can be found at http://www.mikeseroveyonchess.com/BobMagabulos-Pirc.html. This was from Round one of the tournament and I don't know right now how well I did in the remaining rounds. Here is the game in PGN.

[Event "Rhine Main November Open"]
[Site "Rhine Main AFB"]
[Date "1985.11.16"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Bob Magabulos"]
[Black "Mike Serovey"]
[Result "0-1"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. Nf3 cxd4 4. Nxd4 d6 5. Nc3 Qc7 6. b3 a6 7. Bb2 g6 8. e3Bg7 9. Be2 O-O 10. O-O Nc6 11. Nxc6 bxc6 12. f4 Qa7 13. Rf3 Bg4 14. Rg3 Bxe2 15.Nxe2 Nh5 16. Bxg7 Nxg3 17. Bxf8 Qxe3# 0-1