Speelman's Agony #84

by Jonathan Speelman
9/16/2018 – This week's lovely pair of games are by David Sprenkle an American who was 60 in April. A former Illinois champion, he now lives in Spokane, Washington. One game even reminded Jon of a classic Nezhmetdinov game. Jon can always use more material from readers. If your games are selected for the Agony column, not only will you get free detailed commentary of your games by one of chess’s great authors and instructors, and former world no. 4 player, but you also win a free three-month ChessBase Premium Account!
Fritz 16 is looking forward to playing with you, and you're certain to have a great deal of fun with him too. Tense games and even well-fought victories await you with "Easy play" and "Assisted analysis" modes.

Rare exclam

This week's lovely pair of games are by David Sprenkle an American who is a former Illinois champion and writes:

I'm 60, married with two daughters, and an Instructor of English at Northwestern Michigan College here in the wilds of Traverse City, Michigan. I'm pretty much retired from tournament chess these days — except to fend off pesky, talented young players in small local events (the photo I've attached shows one such encounter). But I like to follow the international chess scene on the internet — including ChessBase.com, of course!

Roupe and Sprenkle

Sprenkle, playing black against Gavin Roupe in 2016

In any case, on to the games. As a strong player, David sent just a few notes but in highly relevant places. I've left these untouched and added a few comments of my own as JS.

We begin with the Agony, in which near the end of the US Open, he conjured up a splendid attack but then imploded. David writes:

This is my agony submission, as much for the significance of the game as for the outcome. After a modest start to the tournament, one of the strongest U.S. Opens of that era, my 25-year old self had managed to conjure up a five-game win streak and after ten rounds I found myself tied for 3rd with Igor Ivanov and Fedorowicz at 8½-1½, sitting just behind Korchnoi (yes, that Korchnoi, #3 in the world at that time) and Christiansen at 9-1. As my reward, I was paired with the youthful Yasser Seirawan (then #10 in the world) on board 3. I was duly crushed, but, with one round left, there was still hope for a fine result.

Then this happened:

 
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1.d4 f5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bf4 d6 4.h3 g6 5.e3 Bg7 6.Nbd2 0-0 7.Bc4+ d5 8.Bd3 c5 9.c3 Nc6 10.Ne5 Nh5 11.Nxc6 bxc6
12.dxc5? Nxf4?! 12...e5 13.Bh2 e4 14.Be2 f4 I would play that now without a second thought. Did my 25-year old self love bishops that much? 3). I seemed to think the e5 pawn was diseased, 4). Why didn't Meyer take the opportunity to castle out of trouble on move 18?, and finally, 5). I don't think Meyer felt comfortable playing against an opponent with such a chaotic style.] JS Of course Bxh5 is awful now but the silicon monsters note that Nf1 isn't too bad: 15.Bxh5? 15.Nf1! fxe3 16.Nxe3 Nf4 15...fxe3 16.fxe3? 16.0-0 exd2 17.Be2 Bh6 16...Qh4+ 17.g3 Qxh3! JS splat! 13.exf4 Qc7 14.Qa4 Bh6 15.g3 e5 16.fxe5 f4 17.g4 f3!? 18.Nb3?! 18.0-0-0 JS was unclear 18...Rf4 19.Nd4 Rb8 20.Qxc6 Qxe5+ 21.Kf1 Rf6 22.Qa4 Rxb2 23.Re1 Qf4 24.Bc2 Qd2 25.Qe8+ Rf8 26.Qe5 Qxc3 27.Bb3 Bg7 28.Qxd5+ Kh8 29.Rd1
After the game I was so disappointed that I could never bring myself to analyze the game, or even look at it. All I can remember thinking at the time was something along the lines of "I was surely winning until 29...Rd2?, which carelessly allows 31.Nxf3! Then the tables turn. I should have played ...Re2." And oh yes, despite the loss, I was also rather proud at that moment of how "creative" my play was, but you can judge that for yourself.] So we get to my 29th move, the blunder, and to my memory of that moment. What does my 1983 memory move "... Re2" mean? I guess I was thinking 29...Ba6+ 30.Kg1 Re2!? was promising? And it probably is. But why not play 30...Be2! instead. Isn't that just winning? Drive the rook away and win the knight at d4. How did I miss that?] 29...Rd2? 29...Ba6+ 30.Kg1 Be2 JS is indeed completely winning and 30...Re2 is more than good enough though only -6 or so rather than -80ish. 30.Rxd2 Qxd2 31.Nxf3! Qc3 32.Kg2? [And there's one more small matter. I'm still in the game after 32.Kg2 if I see the skewer after 32...Qxf3+! 33.Qxf3 Rxf3 34. Kxf3 Bb7+. How did 25 year-old Dave miss that?! Sigh...] Be6?? 32...Qxf3+ 33.Qxf3 Rxf3 34.Kxf3 Bb7+ 35.Ke3 Bxh1 36.f3 JS In a game all you'd be certain of is that Black is completely okay and possibly much better. In fact after Be5 37.c6 Bg3 38.Ba4 g5 should be winning. 33.Qc6 Bxb3 34.axb3 Qxb3 35.Re1 a5 36.Re8 Qc3 37.Ng5 a4 38.Nf7+ Kg8 39.Qe6 Rxe8 40.Nh6+!
JS A real shame after such vigorous attacking play earlier. 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
John Meyer2419David Sprenkle23331–01983A80Pasadena12
Andrew Hood-David Sprenkle-0–11980B59Illinois Open
Polugaevsky,L-Nezhmetdinov,R-0–11958A53RSFSR-ch 18th

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David sent the games to the ChessBase drop box (see below) a while ago but I didn't get round to them because there was no email address and it was only when I looked properly that I realised how excellent the material is.

Please, if you have sent games to the drop box without an address then send it there now. There may be a problem with the formatting (people sometimes send a single .cbh ChessBase file rather than the .cbv archive or .pgn which is necessary) or I may want to clarify something.

"Simple yet aggressive!" Enjoy this new exciting DVD by Simon Williams. Let the famouns Grandmaster from England show you how to gain a very exciting yet well founded opening game with the London System (1.d4 d5 2.Bf4).

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Jonathan Speelman, born in 1956, studied mathematics but became a professional chess player in 1977. He was a member of the English Olympic team from 1980–2006 and three times British Champion. He played twice in Candidates Tournaments, reaching the semi-final in 1989. He twice seconded a World Championship challenger: Nigel Short and then Viswanathan Anand against Garry Kasparov in London 1993 and New York 1995.

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