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

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

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

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

Mike Serovey Defeats Nolan J. Denson

Here is one of my games in which I beat a 1900 rated player with White. I played the English Opening and fell victim to a brilliant Knight sacrifice. Unfortunately for Nolan, he got greedy and grabbed a pawn which gave me time to get a Rook back over to the Kingside in order to defend against a mate threat. As a result Nolan was down on material and then got into time trouble. I was still up material when he ran out of time and lost on time forfeit. This was Round 1 of the tournament. I lost rounds 2 and 3 and drew Round 4. This result pulled my rating up a little bit but I didn't score well enough to get a class prize. There was no prize for the biggest upset. I was playing in a game 60 time control which meant that I didn't have to continue to keep score once either player got below 5 minutes remaining on the clock. I stopped keeping score when Nolan got down to about 2 minutes remaining. I have posted the game as far as I kept score and included analysis and diagrams on my website at http://www.mikeseroveyonchess.com/NolanDenson-English.html. Here is the game in PGN.

[Event "SPCC July Tornado"]
[Site "St. Petersburg Chess Club"]
[Date "2005.07.30"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Mike Serovey"]
[Black "Nolan J. Denson"]
[Result "1-0"]

1. c4 e6 2. Nc3 b6 3. d3 Bb7 4. Nf3 c5 5. g3 Ne7 6. Bg2 Ng6 7. O-O Nc6 8. Be3 h59. h4 Qc7 10. a3 a6 11. d4 cxd4 12. Nxd4 Nce5 13. b3 Ng4 14. Qd2 Bxg2 15. Kxg2Nxh4+ 16. gxh4 Qh2+ 17. Kf3 Qxh4 18. Rh1 Ne5+ 19. Kg2 Qg4+ 20. Kf1 Be7 21. f3Qg6 22. Qc2 f5 23. Bf4 Qf6 24. Bxe5 Qxe5 25. Qd3 Bf6 26. Rd1 g6 27. e4 O-O 28.Nde2 fxe4 29. Qxe4 Qxe4 30. Nxe4 Bb2 31. Kg2 d5 32. cxd5 exd5 33. Rxd5 Bxa3 34.N2g3 Rad8 35. Rhd1 Rxd5 36. Rxd5 h4 37. Nh1 h3+ 38. Kg3 Bb4 39. Rd3 Kg7 40. Kxh3Rf5 41. Kg4 Be7 42. Nhg3 Rb5 43. Ne2 {And White eventually won on time forfeit.} 1-0

Mike Serovey Loses to Jerome Lindsey

Here is a game that I played back in 1985 when I was stationed in Giessen, Germany. The game was played at the air force base in Frankfurt. In that tournament I lost the first 3 rounds and finally won Round 4. I don't show a Round 5 in my notebook, but I thought that these tournaments went 5 rounds back then. Anyway, the complete game with analysis and diagrams can be found at http://www.mikeseroveyonchess.com/Lindsey1.html. This was my first loss to Jerome Lindsey and the very first time that I had played the Milner-Berry Gambit in a regular OTB tournament. My second loss to Jerome can be found at http://www.mikeseroveyonchess.com/Lindsey2.html. Here is the game in PGN.

[Event "Rhine Main August Open"]
[Site "Rhine Main Air Force Base"]
[Date "1986.08.17"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Mike Serovey"]
[Black "Jerome Lindsey"]
[Result "0-1"]

1. e4 d5 2. e5 e6 3. d4 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nf3 Qb6 6. Bd3 Bd7 7. O-O cxd4 8. cxd4Nxd4 9. Nxd4 Qxd4 10. Nc3 Qxe5 11. Re1 Qb8 12. Nxd5 Bd6 13. Qg4 g6 14. Qg5 Qd815. Qxd8+ Rxd8 16. Bg5 Rc8 17. Rad1 Bc6 18. Nf6+ Nxf6 19. Bxf6 O-O 20. Bg5 Bb421. Re2 Bd5 22. a3 Bb3 23. Rc1 Rxc1+ 24. Bxc1 Rd8 25. axb4 Rxd3 26. Kf1 Rd1+ 27.Re1 Bc4+ {White resigned} 0-1