Thanksgiving is now a memory and we turn our attention to the next big holiday, Christmas! I have to admit that I am not one to go *all-out* in celebrating Christmas, but there is a significant amount of nostalgia associated with the holiday that I enjoy. Furthermore, it is a wonderful time to indulge with the children and go back to a simpler time when the worst thing I had to worry about was my early bedtime. As Christmas approaches, my university studies are winding down for the end of the year. Seminary work typically ends in the middle of December and resumes in January, so there will (fortunately) be some extra time to complete the *OMC Yearbook* as well as finish some books I am reading and spend more time with the family.
In the world of chess, the Qatar Masters Series is dominating headlines this week and there are live streams available on a multitude of sites including [Chessbase](http://www.chessbase.com) and [Chess.com](http://www.chess.com). For me, giving up blitz chess has been a godsend like nothing I could have ever imagined. I have been playing a series of correspondence (turn-based) chess games and have been playing well into the Class E and D categories! My best win came recently against a 1400 ELO player, which is something I never would have fathomed when I began this site earlier in the year.
Today I want to show you a correspondence game I played over about a week’s timespan. I am convinced that this game could have been finished much quicker than it was, but my opponent chose to wait for 20-22 of the 24 hours allowed for each move whenever he was placed in a precarious situation. This became more of an issue as we entered the final stages of the endgame. In the end, I think that this is an exceptional little game and demonstrates how far I really have come over the last few months in my knowledge and execution of chess theory and practice.
[pgn]
[Event “Let’s Play!”]
[Site “Chess.com”]
[Date “2014.11.20”]
[Round “?”]
[White “1092”]
[Black “AmishHacker”]
[Result “0-1”]
[WhiteElo “1092”]
[BlackElo “1156”]
[PlyCount “94”]
[EventDate “2014.??.??”]
[TimeControl “1”]
1. c4 d5 2. cxd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5 4. b4 Qg5 5. Nf3 Qf6 {At this point, White’s
chase around the board is developing his pieces faster than mine, so I needed
a way to engage in counterplay. The best option in this situation was to
skewer the Rook on a1 and hope that my opponent did not see the maneuver over
the tempting 6.Nd5.} 6. Nd5 {White chooses to continue his assault on my Queen
and loses his a1 Rook in the process.} Qxa1 7. Nxc7+ {A fork of the King and
Rook wins White back some material, but Black emerges with a greater material
and positional advantage with his Queen deep in enemy territory.} Kd8 8. Nxa8
Qxa2 9. d4 Nf6 10. e3 e6 11. Bd3 Nc6 12. O-O Nxb4 13. Be4 {Obviously an
oversight on White’s part.} Nxe4 14. Ne5 Ke8 15. f3 Nc3 16. Nc7+ Ke7 17. Qe1
Ne2+ 18. Kh1 Nd3 19. Qh4+ {Black has to be very careful how he proceeds from
this point because he is in danger of walking into a smothered mate.} f6 20.
Ng6+ hxg6 21. Qxh8 {I was willing to give up the Rook for continued positional
advantage in White’s territory.} Nexc1 22. Qg8 Nf2+ 23. Rxf2 Qxf2 24. Nd5+ exd5
25. h4 {This was White’s only saving move. Qf1# was next.} Qxh4+ 26. Kg1 Ne2+
27. Kf1 Ng3+ {This is where the game became very interesting and played out
over several days. White’s King is doomed, but White has counterplay if he
can keep Black’s King busy enough to stall the Rook and Queen combo.} 28. Kg1
Ne2+ 29. Kf1 Ng3+ 30. Kg1 b6 31. Qxd5 Ba6 32. f4 Qh1+ 33. Kf2 Nf1 {After this
move, I realized that the Queen is now pinned to its h1 position because it
must defend the Knight. Great complications arose from this position.} 34.
Qe4+ Kf7 35. Qd5+ Ke8 36. Qe6+ Be7 37. Qg8+ Kd7 38. Qxg7 Bb7 {Setting up for
Qxg2+.} 39. Qxg6 a5 40. Qf5+ Ke8 41. d5 Bc5 {Adding more pressure to the White
King’s position. The e3 pawn is now restricted to defending the e3 diagonal.}
42. Qe6+ Kd8 43. Qxf6+ Be7 44. Qxb6+ Kc8 45. d6 {A costly move for White
because his King is vulnerable to a key 45…Bh4+!} Bh4+ $1 46. Ke2 Qxg2+ {
White has options in this situation that could prolong the game.} 47. Kd1 {The
move that sealed White’s fate.} ({Perhaps better was:} 47. Kd3 Qd2+ 48. Kc4
Qd5+ 49. Kc3) 47… Qd2# 0-1
[/pgn]