A Cute Miniature Corres[ondence Game

    The 1974 U.S. Correspondence Championship ended in 1976 and was won by Anthony Cayford (1939-2005, 65 years old). He was 1962 Canadian CC champion, US Golden Knights champion 1972 and shared first and winner of first Anglo-Pacific Tournament Bureau Championship (1992). 

    The following miniature was played in the 1974 U.S. Correspondence Championship.  No information is available on the winner, Rudolf G. Katzl (1934-2014), but that such a disaster should befall the loser, a strong and experienced correspondence player, is surprising. 

    Orlando A. "Bud" Lester, Jr. (1921-2012, 90 years old) was born in Cumberland, Maine and lived for many years in West Newbury, Massachusetts. He was considered one of the strongest players in New England in the 1940s and '50s. He wrote a chess column for the Haverhill Gazette in Massachusetts before later becoming the chess columnist for the Boston Herald in the 1980s. 

    Lester He was a three-time New Hampshire state champion and was known as a blindfold simultaneous exhibition player. He holds the record in New England for playing22 blindfold games in an exhibition. In 955 his USCF rating was 2089 making him an Expert.

[Event "US Cirres Cho Final"] [Site ""] [Date "1974.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Rudolf G. Katzl"] [Black "Orlando A. Lester"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B00"] [Annotator "Stockfish 18"] [PlyCount "29"] [EventDate "1974.??.??"] {B00: Nimzovich Defense} 1. e4 Nc6 {A Hypermodern defense that invites white to occupy the center after which black intends to block or restrain it and eventually undermine it. British GM Raymond Keene wrote that it "has never been fully accepted as a dependable opening. Nevertheless it is sound and offers the maverick spirit a great deal of foreign territory to explore."} 2. d4 {Most popular is 2.Nf3 hoping black will play 2...e5 transposing into normal e-Pawn openpngs.} (2. Nf3 d6 {I fblack doesn't want to transpose this is about his only reasonable alternative, After} 3. d4 Nf6 4. Nc3 {Here instead of the popular 4...Bg5 black's berst line is} e5 5. Bb5 exd4 6. Nxd4 Bd7 7. Bxc6 bxc6 8. Qf3 {White is slightly better.}) 2... d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. c3 e6 {Here white often play 5.Bd3 to exchange black's B, but because it trades off his good B the move does not serve him well in practice.} 5. Ne2 h5 {It is usual to attack white;s center with 5.f5, but the text move is also quite playable.} 6. Ng3 Bg6 7. h4 {Prevents 7...h4 driving the N back/} Be7 (7... f6 $1 {is best when even though black's K-side is in shambles there does not seem to be any way for white to take advantage of it.} 8. Bb5 (8. exf6 gxf6 9. Be2 Qd7 {and after ...O-O-O chances are equal.}) 8... Qd7 9. O-O a6 10. Bxc6 bxc6 {with about equal chances.}) 8. Be2 {White is a bit better.} Bxb1 {Played with the idea of strengthening his K-side which os not a bad idea, but attacking the cebter with 8...f6 is liekly to prove more productive.} 9. Rxb1 g6 10. b4 (10. Bb5 Qd7 11. Qa4 O-O-O 12. Bxc6 Qxc6 13. Qxa7 Kd7 $1 {Schalkwijk,P (1536)-D'Emilia,J (1011) LSS correspondence 2006. Here white misplayed the game with 14.O-O? when he should have played} 14. b4 Qxc3+ 15. Bd2 Qc6 16. Rb3 {with equal chances.}) 10... Bxh4 11. b5 {This position turns out to be much more complicated than it looks!} Nb8 $2 (11... Na5 12. Nxh5 {as in the game doesn't quite work and the complications keep growing.} gxh5 13. Bxh5 Kd7 (13... Kf8 14. Qg4 Bf6 (14... Be7 15. Rh3 {gives white a winning attack.}) 15. exf6 Qxf6 16. Rh3 Ne7 17. Bf4 Nc4 {with equal chances.}) 14. Qg4 Be7 15. Qg7 Nh6 16. Bxh6 Qg8 17. Qxg8 Raxg8 18. Be3 Rxg2 {with equal chances.}) 12. Nxh5 $1 {[%mdl 512]} gxh5 13. Bxh5 {Threatens to win with Qg4.} Kf8 $4 {This loses outright, but there was nothing that would save the game.} (13... Nh6 14. Bxh6 Rxh6 15. Qg4 Qg5 16. Qxh4 Qxh4 17. Rxh4 Ke7 {White is only a Pup and his B is pinned, but he still has a substantial advantage. Tje main line runs} 18. g3 Nd7 19. Be2 Rah8 20. Rxh6 Rxh6 21. Kd2 f6 22. exf6+ Nxf6 23. Ke3 {White has a favorable ending, but whether or not he could have scored the point is open to question.}) 14. Qg4 Nf6 (14... Be7 15. Rh3 Nh6 (15... Nd7 16. Bxf7 {wins}) 16. Bxh6+ Rxh6 17. Bxf7 {still wins}) 15. Ba3+ {Black resigned. This mice finishing blow was clearly overlooked by Lester.} (15. Ba3+ Ke8 (15... Qd6 {is clearly hopeless.} 16. Bxd6+ cxd6 17. exf6 Bxf6 18. Bxf7 Rxh1+ 19. Ke2 Rh8 (19... Rxb1 20. Qg8+) 20. Bxe6) 16. Qxe6+ Qe7 17. Qxe7#) 1-0