Michael Jackson Overshadows Chess

     Last week was wretched. After the furnace malfunctioned and required repairing, the refrigerator malfunctioned and required repairing. Naturally, there was a 3 day wait on parts for both. 

     Then there was the weather...it went from bright and sunny with temperatures in the mid-70s to the remnants of hurricane Nicole with rain followed by a cold front with temperatures in the 30s and snow flurries. 

     Besides that, two old laptops running Windows 8.1 had to be updated which took hours. As a reminder to any readers who use ChessBase products (which can be installed on up to three computers), before you make any system changes you must deactivate the chess program. Not doing does not render the programs totally useless, but when they launch there are some very annoying problems and, at least on ChessBase 16, some important functionality will be lost. 

     Chess has been on the back burner, but while doing the last post on Kasparov's Gambit, I ran across a report on a little known event, the Marshall Chess Club Winter International tournament that was held in February of 1993.

     On March 26, 1993, the legendary Reuben Fine died, but the big news that year had to be about Michael Jackson being investigated on accusations of child molestation that broke in late August. The resulting spectacle lasted for years. 

     At a press conference in Tel Aviv in December, La Toya, Michael's estranged sister, alleged that the accusations were true. She also repeated her earlier claim that she and her siblings were abused, including sexual abuse, by their parents. In 2011, she retracted all her allegations saying that she was forced to make them by her husband at the time, whom she accused of being abusive. 

     It wasn't until November of 2003, after raiding Jackson's famous ranch in California that the sheriff arrested Jackson on charges of child molestation. After posting $3 million bail the same day and surrendering his passport, Jackson was allowed to go free as he awaited trial. 

     Finally, in June of 2003, he was acquitted of all charges. But, wait! There's more! Within months, prosecutors charged Janet Arvizo (whose son Jackson allegedly molested) with fraud and perjury related to statements she made at Jackson's trial; she accepted a plea agreement the following year. 

     On June 25, 2009. Michael Jackson was found dead at the age of 50. It wasn't until November of 2011 that Dr. Conrad Murray was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in Jackson's death for having administered a deadly dose of the anesthetic Propofol. 

     Back to the tournament. IM Alexander LeSiege, the 17-year-old champion of Canada, ran away with first place, finishing ahead of Chilean IM Victor Frias (February 10, 1956 - January 15, 2005, 48 years old). Frias was one of Chile's leading players from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s. He passed away after a brief illness. 

     IM-elect Maurice Ashley tied Frias. Those three players were the only ones who achieved the IM norm of 8.0 points, but they no longer needed the norm.

     Alexandre Le Siege (born August 18, 1975) went on to earn the GM title and ia all he won three Canadian championships. Born in Montreal, he was first introduced to chess at age six and by the age of 11 he had an Expert (2000-2199) rating. His first important success was winning the Canadian Junior Championship in 1989, at age 14. At age 16, won the 1992 Canadian Championship, defeating GM Kevin Spraggett in the key game. He earned his GM title in 1999, but then virtually retired from competitive chess from 2004 to 2015 when he started playing again. His opponent was Pierre Moulin (born April 19, 1963), a Belgian FM.

[Event "Marshall CC Winter International"] [Site "?"] [Date "1993.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Pierre Moulin"] [Black "Alexandre Le Siege"] [Result "*"] [ECO "B80"] [Annotator "Stockfish 15"] [PlyCount "66"] [EventDate "1993.??.??"] [SourceVersionDate "2022.11.11"] {Sicilian Scheveningen} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 { Black's P-formation (Ps on d6 and e6) constitutes the Scheveningen.} 6. Be3 { The aggressuve Keres Attack (6.g4) and the classical 6.Be2 are most often seen. The text, like 6.Be2, is a more conservative approach. In my database half the games are drawn and the other half are evenly divided between white and black.} a6 7. f3 Nc6 8. Qd2 Be7 9. g4 O-O 10. O-O-O Nd7 11. h4 Nde5 12. Qf2 Qc7 (12... Bd7 13. Nxc6 Bxc6 14. Bb6 Qb8 15. Rg1 Nd7 16. Be3 b5 {white is slightly better. Kovacevic,A (2536)-Stevic,H (2550) Jahorina 2003}) 13. g5 {Now bad, but the surprising 13.Nf5 packed a stronger punch.} (13. Nf5 exf5 14. gxf5 Qd8 15. Nd5 Nd7 16. Rg1 Kh8 17. h5 Bh4 18. Qd2 {White has a dangerous attack brewing.}) 13... b5 14. Nxc6 Qxc6 15. Kb1 (15. Ne2 {was less forceful as played in Slobodjan,R (2500)-Schirm,F (2315) Binz 1995} Nc4 16. Nd4 Qc7 17. Bxc4 bxc4 18. Bd2 {and with 18...e5 black could have equalized.}) 15... Bd7 16. Ne2 {At this point the two sides' ideas are quite clear. White is attacking on the K-side, black on the Q-side, but white's attack develops much faster. Watch!} b4 17. Nd4 Qb7 18. h5 a5 19. g6 {This P cannot be taken.} Bf6 {[%mdl 8192] Black's situation is highly critical and his best chance was to press on with his counterplay and try 19...b3...for what it's worth.} (19... fxg6 20. hxg6 Nxg6 21. Qh2 Nh4 22. Bd3 a4 23. Bf2 {White is winning.}) (19... b3 20. gxh7+ Kxh7 21. Nxb3 a4 22. Nd4 Rab8 23. Bc1 f5 {This lunge in the center represents black's best try.} 24. exf5 exf5 25. Qg2 Bf6 {and at least black is still fighting.}) 20. h6 {This is the wrong P move and it should have allowed black to equalize.} (20. gxh7+ {This cannot be adequately met.} Kxh7 21. Rg1 b3 22. cxb3 a4 23. f4 {wins} Nc6 24. e5 dxe5 25. Bd3+ Kg8 26. fxe5 Bxe5 27. h6 g6 { There is nothing better; the weakness of g7 is fatal.} 28. Nf3 Bd6 29. Bd4 Nxd4 30. Qxd4 e5 31. Nxe5) 20... fxg6 21. hxg7 Rf7 (21... Bxg7 {After the text black has equalized, but this would have been even better.} 22. Be2 (22. Qh2 h5 23. Qg2 a4 24. f4 Ng4 {and black is actually winning.}) 22... a4 23. Qh4 h5 24. Rhg1 b3 {Black's counterplay has taken over!}) 22. Be2 a4 23. f4 b3 {Offering the N on e4 which white unwisely takes. After 24.axb3 he would have been OK.} 24. fxe5 {[%mdl 8192]} (24. axb3 axb3 25. Nxb3 Bxg7 26. Rxd6 Bf8 27. Nc5 Qc7 28. Ra6 Rxa6 29. Nxa6 Qb7 {with equal chances.}) (24. axb3 Nc6 {is also playable.} 25. e5 Bxg7 26. Qg2 (26. Qh2 {This looks more potent, but after} Nxd4 27. Qxh7+ Kf8 28. Bxd4 axb3 29. Bd3 Bc6 {Black is better after} 30. Bxg6 Qa6 31. Kc1 bxc2 {Black's advantage is decisive. Just one possible continuation is...} 32. Bxf7 cxd1=Q+ 33. Rxd1 Qc4+ 34. Kd2 Qxd4+ {etc.}) 26... dxe5 27. fxe5 axb3 28. Nxb3 Bxe5 29. Bd3 Na5 30. Qxb7 Nxb7 31. Be4 Rb8 32. Ba7 Ra8 {with a draw by repetition.}) 24... bxc2+ (24... Bxe5 {is the wrong way.} 25. Qh4 bxc2+ 26. Kxc2 Rxg7 {with equal chances.}) 25. Kxc2 (25. Nxc2 {had to be rejected on account of} Bxe5 {and white loses his Q.}) 25... dxe5 (25... Bxe5 26. Qh4 Rxg7 {is equal.}) 26. Nf3 Rb8 27. Bc1 Bc6 {Much stronger than taking on e4} (27... Qxe4+ 28. Bd3 Rc8+ 29. Kb1 {and black must find the only road to equality which is} Rxc1+ (29... Qb7 {loses after} 30. Rxh7 Kxh7 31. Ng5+ Kxg7 32. Nxf7 Rxc1+ 33. Rxc1 Qd5 34. Qc2 Bc6 35. Bxg6 a3 36. Qxc6 axb2 37. Rg1 Qxc6 38. Be4+ Kxf7 39. Bxc6 {and white should win.}) 30. Kxc1 Qxf3 31. Qxf3 Bg5+ 32. Kb1 Rxf3 33. Bxg6 Bc6 34. Rxh7 Rg3 {and black may be able to hold the draw.}) 28. Nd2 Rc7 {The finish is only matter of technique.} 29. b3 (29. Kb1 Bxe4+ 30. Nxe4 Rxc1+ {mate next move.}) 29... Bxe4+ 30. Kb2 axb3 31. Bc4 bxa2+ 32. Kxa2 Bb1+ 33. Nxb1 Qxb1+ {Facing mate in 3 white resigned. A sharply played game by both sides.} *