We made a quick stop for some groceries before heading home and on the way back to the car, when we were about 50 feet away, it was like a fire hose was turned on...wind blew the rain horizontally and stinging ice pellets the size of peas pelted us. It only lasted a few minutes before settling into a light drizzle. Later came winds that could have blown the hair off a dog.
It was a cold front in the form of an Alberta Clipper, a fast-moving low-pressure system that originates in Alberta, Canada just east of the Rocky Mountains.
Clippers are major winter storms that take 2-3 days to track east-southeastward across southern Canada and the northern United States to the North Atlantic Ocean.
They are associated with cold, dry air masses and generate small-scale, short-lived weather events typically producing 3-6 inches of snow in a 3-6 hour period. However, they can precipitate sudden temperature drops and sharp winds leading to local blizzard conditions, especially when interacting with moisture from the Great Lakes. It's not supposed to be that bad today...just some light snow accumulation.
It's a good day to look over some games by Alexey Vyzmanavin (December 4, 1960 - January 6, 2000), a Soviet GM. To be honest I never heard of him, but there is a book of his games that is scheduled to be released in May: Speed Demon: The Fascinating Games and Tragic Life of Alexey Vyzhmanavin by Dmitry Kryakvin.
Vyzhmanavin learned to play at the rather late age of 14. His mother died early and his father was a street cleaner. Vyzmanavin was enrolled in a class at the Stadium of Young Pioneers taught by the famous trainer Luydmila Belavenets.
He honed his skills at the famous Sokolniki Park in Moscow, a gathering place for hustlers and blitz players. At the park, he would give himself 30 seconds on the clock while his opponents got 5 minutes.
He first gained attention as an unrated 20 year-old in the strong Moscow championship of 1981 where he finished in 6th place and earned a 2490 rating. Although there is no direct comparison, as a general idea, on the USCF rating list that rating would have placed him 28th and in the company of players like John Peters, Victor Frias, Jeremy Silman, Larry Kaufman and John Watsom. Larry Christiansen (2630) and James Tarjan (2623) were the top players.
Vyzhmanavin won Soviet Armed Forces champion in 1987, a participant in several finals of the Soviet championship, the winner of the Chigorin Memorial in 1989 and a champion of RSFSR.
He participated in the zonal tournaments of 1990 and 1993 and the Intel Grand Prix series in 1994-1995 in which he defeated the likes of Shirov and Korchnoi. His highest rating FIDE rating was 2620.
In 1996, his results quickly deteriorated considerably and by 1997 he had virtually stopped playing. He died in his apartment on January 6, 2000, officially of a heart attack, but his body was not discovered until some six days later. It had been reported that he had financial difficulties, drinking problems and that he was depressed following the breakdown of his marriage.
In the following game we see Vyzmanavin generated his own version of an Alberta Clipper that quickly took out black's King.
Alexey Vyzmanavin–Jaan Ehlvest1–0A45USSR Championship, Lvov91984Stockfish 15.1
Trompowsky Attack 1.d4 f6 2.g5 Though named after Brazilian champion
Octavio Trompowsky (1897–1984) who played it in the 1930s and 1940s, the
Czech master Karel Opocenský (1892–1975) also played it in the 1930s. White
is prepared to exchange Bxf6 inflicting doubled Ps on black, but doing so is
not a threat that should cause black any great alarm.. e4 Of the three
popular replies this is the least favorable. Black gets the best results with
2...d4 although 2...e6 is not too bad a choice. 3.f4 c5 4.d5 b6 White
must now decide how to defend the b-Pawn and his B on f4 is also vulnerable. 5.c1 This is actually the best move even though is renders his 2nd move
pointless. That said, white is at no disadvantage. 5.f3 b4+ 6.bd2 xf2 7.xf2 xf4 is good for black. 5.d2 xb2 6.xe4 b4+ 7.c3 xe4 8.e3
is at least equal. 8...e5 is solid, but most interesting is g5 9.xg5 e5 10.f3 xc3+ 11.d2 e5 and white is best advised to repeat moves with 12.Nf3
Qc3+ etc 5.c3 xb2 6.xe4 b4+ as after 5.Nd2 5...e6 6.f3 White
elects to drive out the annoying N. a5+ 7.c3 f6 Returning the
tempo white lost with the retreat of his B. 8.e4 d6 9.d2 b6 Another
tempo lost so white has a space advantage, but for his part, black can
consider that he has equal chances. 10.c4 Offering the b-Pawn...an offer
black should refuse and play 10...g6 and 11...Bg7 xb2 11.c3 b6 Even
though this wastes time, it's his best course. 11...bd7 12.b1 a3 13.b5 wins 11...d7 12.b1 a3 and white has a nice choice between 13.Rxb7 or
13.f4 12.f4 bd7 While this inhibits e5, it's not black's
best line of defense. 12...e5 This was tried in Szymanski,M (2327)-Ni,H
(2369) Artek UKR 1999, but after 13.f5 d8 14.f3 g6 15.d3 e7 16.0-0
White is better although in the game he could not manage to score the point
and eventually agreed to a draw, 12...g6 is black's best defense. 13.f3 g7 14.d3 0-0 13.f3 At least as good was 13.dxe6 first. e5 14.f5 g6 15.d3 d8 16.0-0 This position is similar to the Szymanski-Ni game. gxf5
A surprising lapse from a player as strong as Ehlvest; white now gains the
upper hand. Better would have been 16...Bg7. Ehlvest's K is going to get
caught in the center...almost always a bad thing. 17.exf5 h6 18.h1 e7 19.c1 b5 Realizing he is in danger Ehlvest, himself a dangerous attacking
player, decides to mix things up tactically. 20.xb5 20.xh6 is not so
good because after b4 21.e4 xe4 22.xe4 f6 23.g7 g8 24.xf6 xf6
the position is roughly equal. 20...e4 21.f4 b6 taking either piece
fails. 21...exf3 22.xd6+ xd6 23.xd6 fxg2+ 24.xg2 b6 25.e1+ d7 26.xc5 and black is in trouble. 21...exd3 22.xd6+ f8 22...xd6 23.xd6 xd5 24.e1+ e7 25.xe7 23.xh6+ xh6 24.xh6+ 22.b1 Excellent. Now
the threat of Nxd6+ attacking the Q is too much for black to handle. exf3
The game is over no matter which piece black takes. 23.e1 23.xd6+
is much less strong. Black surrenders his Q with xd6 24.xd6 fxg2+ 25.xg2 xd6 26.c3 g8+ and, believe it or not, black has full compensation.
Shootouts resulted in five draws. 23...fxg2+ 24.g1 There is a storm
brewing over black's K and his next move is an attempt to get out of the
deadly pin on the e-file, but it's no use. d8 25.xe7 xe7
Interesting! The game is over, but black still has a chance! If white goes for
a check with the B when he takes on d6 black gets the advantage. 26.xd6 26.xd6+ xd6 27.xd6 27.e1+ e5 and black is clearly winning. 27...xd6
and black's position is actually the more promising. 26...a5 26...xd6
doesn't work now. 27.e1+ 27.xd6+ xd6 is, of course, favorable for
black. 27...e5 28.xe5 a6 29.xf6+ xf6 30.c3+ is winning easily. 27.e3+ f8 28.e1 g7 The K is running, but there's no hiding. 29.g3+ h7 30.e7 g8 31.xf7+ h8 32.h4 g4 White now has a problem like finish.
..mate in 5. 33.f8+ xf8 34.xf6+ h7 35.f7+ Black
resigned. Stockfish described white's play as "flawless." 1–0
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