By Grant Hodson, President UCA (Utah Chess Association)
Jeff has been a strong competitor from his youth and has especially been a powerhouse in blitz games (games played in 5 minutes per side or less). After the death last year of Grandmaster Igor Ivanov, Jeff became the highest rated player in the State. The last few years Jeff has been in and out of Utah due to military service when his unit was activated. He served two tours of duty in Afghanistan, but he expects to remain home this year and play more chess.
Before looking at one of Jeff’s games from the Utah
Closed, here’s a quick review of algebraic chess notation for any new comers or
those coming out or retirement who may still use descriptive English notation.
The horizontal ranks are numbered 1 through 8, and the vertical files from left
to right are a through h as shown in the diagram below. That way every square
has a unique name. For brevity, N stands for knight, B for bishop, R for Rook,
K for King, Q for Queen and pawns are just identified by the square to which
they move. For example, Scholar’s mate is 1. e4 e5 (move both king pawns up two
squares), 2. Bc4 Bc5 (Bishops to c4 and c5), 3. Qh5 Nf6. Now where does White
move?
Right! 4. Qxf7 mate (“x” means captures, so Queen captures the pawn on f7 and checkmates the Black king).
Now you’re equipped to play through Jeff’s game against Vinh Tran, another great local player.
Board 1 Jeff Phillips vs Vinh Tran December 2005 Utah Closed
Benko Opening
1. g3 e5
2. d3 d5 [2. Nf3, 2. Bg2 or 2. d4 are more common, but Jeff doesn’t always lean
toward the common. 1. g3, of course, can transpose into numerous other solid opening lines. This is actually resembles the Modern Defence with colors reversed.]
3. c3 c5
4. Bg2 Nf6
5. Nf3 Nc6
6. 0-0 Be7
7. Nbd2 0-0 [Excellent play on both sides through the opening.]
8. Qc2 h6 [Perhaps Qc7 or other developing move was better, since Ng5 wasn’t a threat.]
9.e4 Be6 10.Re1 dxe4 11.dxe4 Qd7 12.Nf1 Bh3 13.Ne3 Bxg2 14.Kxg2 Rfd8 15.Nf5 Bf8 16.Re2 Qd1 This seemingly aggressive move actually favors White who had no advantage to this point. 16...Qe6 would have been better, retaining Black's active queen. 17.Ne1 Why not simply 17. Qxd1 Rxd1 18. Nd2 trapping the rook? After the two weaker moves (Qd1 and 17 Ne1), the game remains even. 17...Rd7 18.f3 Rad8 19.Ne3 Qd6 20.Nf5 Qe6 21.b3 b5 22.Rd2 a5 23.Rxd7 Qxd7 24.Be3 Kh7 25.g4 g6 26.Ng3 Ne8 27.Qe2 Nc7 28.Rc1 b4 29.cxb4 axb4 30.Rc2 Ne6 Black's position is solid. 31.Qc4 Qd1 32.Rc1 Qd7 33.Rc2 Ncd4 34.Rd2 Qe7 35.Nd3 Qf6 36.Ne1 Kg7 37.h3 Nf4+ 38.Bxf4 Qxf4 39.Rf2 Qe3 At this point you may be wondering how Vinh lost. 40.Nc2 Qc1 Vinh considered Qc3, which is much better and may have changed the outcome of the game. 41.Nxd4 Qxc4 42.Ndf5+ gxf5 43.Nxf5+ Kg6 44.bxc4 Moving the knight before recapturing the Queen gave Jeff a pawn and the advantage. Rd3 45.Rc2 h5 46.Kf2 Rd1 47.h4 hxg4 48.fxg4 Bh6 49.g5 Bf8 50.Kf3 Kh5 51.Ke3 Re1+ 52.Kf3 Rd1 53.Ke2 Rg1 54.Kf2 Rd1 55.Ke2 Rg1 56.Rd2 Rc1 57.Rd8 White is clearly winning, finally. 57...Be7 58.Nxe7 Kxh4 59.g6 fxg6 60.Nxg6+ Kg5 After 61. Nxe5 White's advantage is decisive, so Vinh resigned.
The Scholar’s mate was the easy problem, now see if you can find mate in two in the following position submitted by Damian Nash of Moab and composed by Vladimir Nobakov. There’s only one solution that forces mate in all variations. Hint, the first move is not a check, so, for instance, 1.Qc4 + (“+” means check) which forces Black to move pawn to d4, doesn’t work, nor does 1.b8(Q)+. Good luck.
