Friday Update - Busy, Busy Week

I've been preoccupied with other chess activities all week and haven't been able to blog.

First up, I was appointed to the Forum Oversight Committee at the USCF Forums. I have spent about eight hours a day on those duties and getting up to speed with the other committee members. With the Executive Board election coming up in June, I think things will only get busier for the next several months. If you are a USCF member and are seeking information about the candidates, or would even wish to interact with the candidates, that is the place to be.

In ICCF WS/O/109 I finally resigned my game as Black versus Florian Potz. As I stated in an earlier blog, no more Kalashnikov in Correspondence Chess! There has been no appreciable change in the other games in this event so I stand at one win, one loss, and one draw.

In ICCF WS/O/120 several of the games are toward the end of the opening stage, but nothing of substance has changed there. ICC 2007 Quad 03 has seen little action since my two wins against Shijith. I'm confident of having the advantage in my remaining White games against both QwikE and Brian-E. As Black I am at least holding my own against both opponents.

Of note on the blog is the nice comment by FM Alex Dunne in my April 14th blog entry. FM Dunne also sent me an email regarding the Muir Quads, and yes, the Web Server at ICCF is used for play in the Muirs. As soon as possible I'll be signing up for that. Thanks again, FM Dunne!

ICCF Server Update

Two new Items announced at the ICCF Server:

Server upgrade
Friday, April 20, 2007: has been published, with many new interesting features
This is a list of the non-administration new features:
1- Live display area
2- Events are now listed by long(regular) and short(abreviated) names for easier identification
3- Improved rating list with more search options
4- Notification about 40-day rule violation is sent to both players, not just TD
5- TD may now participate in his own event
6- Players can take more than one board in a team event
7- Complete redesign of Game screen
8- Redesign of event index
9- Redesign of tournament crosstables
Some of these features will be subjected to minor changes in the near future, but we did not want to wait longer to publish the upgrade. Please give us your feedback or contact helpdesk for problems.
by helpdesk@iccf-webchess.com

And...

Few problems noticed after server update
Saturday, April 21, 2007: Please follow these steps to solve them
We have received reports of problems related to cached pages ("unhandled error) and /or scripts (cannot move pieces on the game screen).
These errors seem to happen mostly with Firefox and Netscape but they also occur in Internet Explorer depending on your cache settings in the browser's options.
To solve them please go to the server site and try to refresh the page. If this doesn't work please try clearing your browser cache.
by helpdesk@iccf-webchess.com

The improvements are nice. The ratings list is much easier to search. The playing area takes a little getting used to without the left side menu but is more functional after you get used to it. Looking up tournaments is a complete knew adventure, but allows more information which is always desirable. Great job ICCF!

[EDIT @ 0949]
This was just posted:
Sunday, April 22, 2007: Service Disruption, 22/04/07 - 01/05/07
The ICCF Website is currently being upgraded with new features and a modified design. During this time there may be a need to take the website 'off-line'. All disruption will be kept to an absolute minimum, but if you are unable to log-in to iccf.com, please try again in a short while.
by webmaster@iccf.com

Progress hurts...

Another ICC Win

Below is my initial annotation with some diagrams. The flash player is at the bottom.

[Event "ICC correspondence 2007Quad.03.04"]
[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "2007.02.22"]
[Round "-"]
[White "shijith"]
[Black "FortyShorty"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E62"]
[Opening "King's Indian: fianchetto with ...Nc6"]
[NIC "KI.73"]
[Time "09:38:27"]
[ICCResult "0-1"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. c4 Bg7 4. g3 O-O 5. Bg2 d6 6. Nc3 Nc6 7. d5
{I'm not enamored of the d5 push. He has d5 well controlled and I think a piece would be better placed there than the pawn. Also, I had forsaken the c5 push with Nc6 and he should have exploited that.}

7... Na5 8. Qd3 c5 9. O-O a6 10. e4 Bd7
{Perhaps b5 would have been better. I think this works though.}

11. a4 e5
{11...Nb3 12.Ra3 Nxc1 13.Rxc1 might have been better. It certainly is more forcing.}

12. Nd2
{Ne2 did not block the dark bishop.}

12... Rb8 13. b3 Qe7 14. Bb2 b6 15. Ne2

{Taking stock of the position at this point: His dark bishop is fairly blocked from useful play. His knights are on his second rank. One is tied to the defense of the b pawn. He has a very slight space advantage, but the center and q-side are locked down. My a5 knight, while on the rim, constantly threatens his q-side pawns and will be a force if allowed to settle on d4. My other pieces are poised for a k-side assault. I should be able to take the initiative with play on the k-side.}

15... Nh5 16. Rae1 f5 17. exf5

{I was more concerned about 17.f4. 17.exf5 allows me avenues of attack where I am strong.}

17... Bxf5 18. Qe3 Rbe8 19. f4

{I thought this was too late and bad strategy. He is opening up the position in the face of an attack.}

19... Qd7 20. fxe5 Bxe5 21. Bxe5 Rxe5

{This starts the Queen hunt.}

22. Qf2

{Was Ne4 better? It allows me to double rooks on the e file. Supporting the blocking knight with the other at c3 loses the b pawn and the q-side crumbles. Perhaps Qc3? Then the strongest piece for defense is out of the action. Be4 would elicit ...Qe8 and ...Nf6 piling pressure on the pinned piece.}

22... Nf6 23. Nf4 Ng4

{Continuing to harass a queen with no room to maneuver.}

24. Qf3 Rxe1

{The exchange is better here than on e5.}

25. Rxe1 Qg7
{Dual threats: Mate at g2 and an invasion of the q-side dark squares.}

26. Kh1 Qb2

{b3 is dead. The a5 knight will have little problems going to d4. White's pieces don't support each other. The back rank is threatened and his Queen still has little room and can be attacked and driven.}

27. Ne4

{Qe2 was worth a try, perhaps allowing White's Queen to make trouble at e7 after the exchange on b3.}

27... Nxb3 28. Nxd6 Nd4

{The knight finally arrives at d4 and White's Queen has only one square.}
29. Qf1

{There are no other alternatives.}

29... Bd3

{White Resigns. He does not care for the position after 30.Nxd3 Rxf1+ 31.Rxf1 Qc2 32.Nf4 g5 33.Nh3 Ne3 when his q-side pawns will fall and his King will be constantly harrassed.}
0-1

Saturday Addendum

Several items came up after the Friday Update.

- I have another victory on ICC Correspondence. Shijith resigned our second game on the 29th move. I'll post the game after I have had a chance to review it.

- Susan Polgar has posted another correspondence chess item on her blog. This is the third correspondence chess blog entry from GM Polgar in the last week or so. While this one is simply a promised update on links for correspondence chess, it and the other entries by GM Polgar serve to raise CorrChess's visibility.

Despite my disagreement with GM Polgar in the first instance, I am very grateful for her interest and promotion of this aspect of the royal game. I have become an avid reader of her blog and suggest it to anyone looking for enjoyable chess content.

- Anthony spoke of entering a Walter Muir E-Quad to be held on ICCF's web server by the USCF's Correspondence Chess Director Alex Dunne. That intrigued me, so I tried to register for a Muir quad on Friday for the web server as is advertised on the web page. The gentleman that answered the phone could not find a web server option, only email Muir quads... Joan DuBois was out of the office but the gentleman stated he would print out the web page (he saw the same thing I did) and place it on her desk for clarification. I'll let you know when I find out something definite. Playing USCF events on a web server would be wonderful!

- The ICCF web server appears to be down this morning. Hopefully it will be back up soon.
[EDIT] 7:15am Received the following from ICCF:

Dear Steve,

please go to www.iccf-webchess.com in your browser and try to refresh the
page.
There was the server update, and pages cached in your browser may no longer
be working.

Your browser may be caching an old version of a script on the game screen.
Please try to refresh the game screen in your browser. If that does not
help, you can try cleaning your browser cache. Let me know if this doesn't
help.

Sincerely, yours
Martin Bennedik

And it now works for me. I did have an old page in the cache that was not updating with the new server update.

Friday Update

The recently started ICCF WS/O/120 is in the very early stages. None of the games have proceeded past the first four moves. One game has not had a single move.

Nothing major has transpired in the other two events, either.

In Correspondence news, Susan Polgar has posted another entry about CC chess. GM Polgar is asking for CC web sites to list on that entry so be sure to see if there is a favorite of yours that has not yet been mentioned. Yours truly was linked (thanks to Anthony for the plug and GM Polgar for the link).

Mike Nolan posted on the USCF Forums on Thursday that Alex Dunne had completed all correspondence rating updates on Monday (April, 16th). This is welcome news and we all hope that the USCF will continue the recent improvements regarding CC chess. One thing I would like to see, failing a return of FM Dunne's column to the print Chess Life, is for his Chess Life Online column, Check Is In The Mail, to be made available via newsreader/blog protocol (RSS, Atom, etc...)

Discussion about a CC Server on the USCF Forum

Recently USCF Executive Board candidate Stephen L. Jones initiated a thread asking for ideas about "how the USCF, at this late hour, can become involved in internet play."

Your intrepid blogger piped in with the thought that almost unlimited growth was available if the USCF were to obtain a CorrChess web server or partner with someone like ICCF that has already established a successful server.

Mike Nolan and Hal Bogner posted notes regarding this idea with Hal Bogner stating, "I would like to add functions like this to the USCF web site at some point in the future, if Mike doesn't have it in his crosshairs first. I think it's an excellent idea, and I can imagine some very nice feautures for such a service above and beyond what I have seen already in other places."
One can sometimes not entirely finger where Mike Nolan stands on an issue, but he didn't say he was opposed!

Mike Nolan is the "catch all" tech consultant for the USCF which means he deals with the guts of the USCF internet data and processes. Hal Bogner's company is finishing the work left over on the USCF web site.

Could a CorrChess web server be in the future for the USCF?

New Event on ICCF Started

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