FIDE Master (FM) Alex E. Dunne (January 3, 1942 - January 16, 2023, age 81) passed away at his home in Sayre, Pennsylvania on Monday, January 16, 2023, following an extended illness.
Born in Sayre, he graduated from Mansfield University and taught English in the local school district for 30 years.
In his personal life Dunne loved Monty Python comedies, The Simpsons, trivia games, puns, Dr. Pepper soda, Friday evening Chinese dinners and taking walks around the Sayre Pond with his dog.
Tragedy struck Dunne’s life in February, 2003, when his first wife and grandson died in a fire in Sayre while he was away playing in a tournament. A 4 am fire ripped through the Dunne home on a Sunday, claiming the lives of his 62-year-old wife and a 2-year-old grandson.
Dunne fell in love with chess at an early age and for many years he wrote a long-running column for Chess Life on correspondence chess. He also authored How to Become a Candidate Master (i.e. a USCF Expert, 2000-2199 Elo), a book that uses illustrative games between Experts and Class A (1800-1999 Elo) players.
Dunne was the US Chess Correspondence Director from 2005 until retiring in 2020. His Check is in the Mail column (the printed magazine edition and later online)ran from December 1981 through February, 2021.
In the following game Dunne takes out William J. Adam (1962-1982, 19 years old) in a brilliant finish.
Adam had achieved a rating of over 2400 when he died after a brief illness. He competed in the US Junior Invitational on three occasions with his best result being a tie for second in 1981. He was also a strong correspondence player.
Adam was from Syracuse, New York had a huge natural talent. He was a student at State University New York in Stony Brook, New York during which time he appears to gave mostly abandoned competitive chess.
[Event "Rochesterm NY"]
[Site ""]
[Date "1978.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "William Adam"]
[Black "Alex Dunne"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B90"]
[Annotator "Stockfish 16"]
[PlyCount "88"]
[EventDate "1978.??.??"]
[Source "Alex Dunne"]
{B87: Sicilian Defense} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6.
Bc4 e6 7. Qe2 Be7 8. Be3 b5 9. Bb3 O-O 10. O-O-O b4 11. Na4 Nxe4 {So far this
is all book. The usually move here is 11...Qa5} 12. f3 {After this black gets
the better of it. More exact was 12.Nb6!} (12. Nb6 Qxb6 (12... Ra7 13. Nxc8
Qxc8 14. Nxe6 fxe6 15. Bxa7 {wins}) 13. Nxe6 Nc5 14. Bxc5 dxc5 15. Nxf8 Bxf8
16. Bxf7+ Kxf7 17. Qf3+ Kg8 18. Qxa8 {with the advantage. Aldokhin,I (2413)
-Gadimbayli,A (2507) chess.com INT 2023}) (12. Nxe6 {fails to} Bxe6 13. Bb6 Qe8
14. Qxe4 Bxb3 15. Qxa8 Bxa4 16. Rhe1 (16. Qd5 Qc8 17. b3 Bc6 18. Qd2 Qf5 19. f3
Nd7 {with a decisive advantage. Varga,Z (2400)-Pedzich,D (2405) Santiago
wch-jr 1990}) 16... Qd7 17. Qe4 Nc6 {Black's advantage proved decisive in
Ozolin,M (2510)-Dvoirys,S (2585) Omsk/Perm 1998}) (12. f4 {was tried in
Cozianu,C (2420)-Suba,M (2535) Timisu de Sus 1998 which continued} d5 13. f5 {
Black is better, but after mistakes by both sides the game was soon drawn.})
12... Nf6 {The threat is 13...e5 trapping the N on the open board.} 13. g4 {
So that is 13...e5 14.Nf5, If black captures the N then white has the
semi-open g-file.} Bd7 14. Rhg1 Nc6 15. g5 Nh5 16. f4 g6 {A pass to
demonstrate the threat.} 17. Nf3 (17. Kb1 Nxd4 18. Rxd4 (18. Bxd4 Nxf4 19. Qe3
Bxa4 20. Bxa4 (20. Qxf4 Bxb3 21. axb3 e5) 20... Bxg5 21. Bb3 {Black is better.}
) 18... Qa5 {Wgite must lose a piece.}) 17... Na5 $19 18. Kb1 Nxb3 19. axb3 Bb5
20. Qf2 Qc7 21. Nb6 Rab8 22. f5 exf5 (22... Bd8 {has better winning chances.}
23. Nc4 Bxc4 24. bxc4 {and now both 24...Qc4 and 24...exf5 leave black with a
modest advantage.}) 23. Nd5 Qb7 24. Nxe7+ {A natural move, but not the best.
It's surprising how quickly white's game now collapses.} (24. Nh4 {and White
has nothing to worry.} Bc6 25. Nxf5 {Equally playable wasd 25.Nf6+, but this
is flashier!} gxf5 26. Qh4 Bxd5 27. Qxh5 {White has sufficient compensation.
The best line is} Bg2 28. Bd4 Rfe8 29. Qh6 Bf8 30. Qf6 Re5 31. Bxe5 dxe5 32.
Rxg2 Qxg2 33. Rd7 {with about equal chance.}) 24... Qxe7 25. Rge1 {[Black must
now prevent 26.Bf4} Qc7 (25... a5 26. Bf4 Qb7 27. Bxd6) 26. Rd4 {Somewhat
better would have been 26.Nd4} Bc6 27. Rh4 {This move leads nowhere, but
white's position is already critical.} Be4 28. Nd4 Rfc8 29. Re2 Ng7 30. Rh3 a5
31. Bf4 Ne6 32. Qh4 Nf8 (32... Nxd4 {lands black in trouble after} 33. Qxh7+
Kf8 34. Qh8+ Ke7 35. Qxd4 {with the more promising position.}) 33. Rd2 a4 {
Threatening 34...axb3} 34. bxa4 b3 {The attack on c2 has been sudden and it's
decisive.} 35. Kc1 bxc2 36. Ne2 {This allows a brilliant mate in 8, but he was
lost in any case.} (36. Nxc2 Bxc2 37. Rc3 Qb7 38. Rdxc2 Rxc3 39. bxc3 Qh1+ 40.
Kd2 Rb1 41. Bxd6 Qg2+ 42. Kd3 Rd1+ 43. Ke3 Qxc2) 36... Rxb2 {[%mdl 512] Black
mates.} 37. Kxb2 (37. Rxd6 Rb1+ 38. Kd2 c1=Q+ 39. Nxc1 Qxc1+ 40. Ke2 Qf1+ 41.
Ke3 Rb3+ 42. Kd4 Qa1+ 43. Rc3 Qxc3#) 37... c1=Q+ 38. Nxc1 Qxc1+ 39. Ka2 Bb1+
40. Ka1 Bc2+ {A move quicker was 40...Bd3+} 41. Ka2 Rb8 {41...Qb1+ was one
move quicker.} 42. Qxh7+ Nxh7 43. Be5 Qb1+ 44. Ka3 Rb3+ {White resigned...it's
mate next move.} 0-1
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