A Fun Miniature By Fauber

     The winner of today’s game was Richard E. Fauber (March 22, 1936 – March 2, 2013, 76 years old). Originally from Wisconsin, he was a longtime Sacramento, California master-strength player, director, chess journalist and author who was active primarily during the 1970s and 1980s. 

     He possessed a masters degree in Economic History from the University of California, Berkeley. Although he briefly served as a part-time instructor in the History Dept. at Sacramento State College, he was primarily an investor in the stock market. His area of expertise was puts and calls. If anybody is interested, Motley Fool explains what they are HERE. 

     From 1971 to 1989 he was the chess editor for the Sacramento Bee. He was the author of a book that was published in 1992, Impact of Genius: 500 years of Grandmaster Chess. It’s a biography of the game’s greatest players and how they shaped the of culture in Europe and America. 

     Fauber also enjoyed classical music, the opera literature and he was a wine connoisseur and dog lover. He drove a Porsche. He died of a heart attack on Saturday morning, March 2, 2013.

[Event "Capitol City Open, Sacramento"] [Site "Sacramento, CA USA"] [Date "1991.12.29"] [Round "?"] [White "Richard Fauber"] [Black "David Oppedal"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A65"] [Annotator "Komodo 14"] [PlyCount "47"] [EventDate "1991.??.??"] {Modern Benoni} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 e6 {The Modern Benoni is less of a defense and more mof a counterattacking system.} 4. Nc3 exd5 {By capturing on d5 black creating a Q-side P-majority.} 5. cxd5 d6 6. e4 g6 7. Bd3 Bg7 8. Nge2 O-O 9. O-O Na6 {The idea of this move is to reposition the N on c7 from where it supports the advance of the b-Pawn.} 10. h3 Nc7 11. Ng3 Re8 12. f4 Nd7 { This is inconsistent.} (12... b5 {is best. The P should not be taken because it would leave white's e-Pawn unguarded.} 13. Nxb5 (13. Bxb5 {is much worse because after} Nxb5 14. Nxb5 Nxe4 15. Nxe4 Rxe4 16. Nc3 Rb4 {black has a lot of play.}) 13... Nxe4 14. Nxc7 Bd4+ 15. Kh2 Nxg3 16. Nxe8 Nxf1+ 17. Qxf1 Qxe8 { with a slight advantage.}) (12... b5 13. Qf3 {is the correct reply. After} c4 14. Bc2 b4 15. Nce2 a5 {Black has the initiative, but white should be able to hold his own.}) 13. Qf3 a6 {Over-preparing, but noiw the advance of the b-Pawn is not quite as strong as it would have been last move.} (13... b5 14. e5 c4 ( 14... dxe5 15. d6 {snags a R}) 15. Bc2 Bb7 16. Nge4 {with the initiative because black is clearly on the defensive.}) (13... b5 14. Nxb5 {is also now playable.} c4 15. Nxc7 Qxc7 16. Bc2 Rb8 {but here, too, white is quite well off.}) 14. a4 {He could also have played 14.e5 immediately.} Rb8 15. e5 dxe5 16. f5 {White has the makings of a strong attack mostly because black's has been dawdling on the Q-side.} e4 {technically the best defense would have been 16...Rf8. Practically black's move is a good choice because rather than hunkering down and trying to defend, he seeks counterplay in the center.} 17. Bxe4 {A partial success for black because although white still remains better he misses the best line.} (17. Ngxe4 Ne5 18. Qg3 Nxd5 19. fxg6 hxg6 20. Bg5 { Black has to surrender his Q.} Qd7 (20... Qc7 21. Nxd5 Qd7 22. Nef6+) (20... Nxc3) 21. Rad1 Nxc3 22. bxc3 b5 23. Nf6+ Bxf6 24. Bxf6 Rb6 25. Bxe5 Qe7 26. Bc7 {White has won a piece.}) 17... Bd4+ {Oddly, up to here this line was repeated many years later.} (17... Ne5 18. Qf2 (18. Qd1 Bf8 19. Bf4 Bd6 20. Bc2 Nc4 21. fxg6 fxg6 22. Bxd6 Nxd6 23. Qf3 {and white went on to win in Barrios,H (2075) -Sanz Alonso,F (2350) Bogota 2014}) 18... Nd3 19. Qc2 Nxc1 20. Raxc1 Qd6 21. Ra1 Qd8 22. Rac1 Qd6 {Black resigned. Denderski,P (2246)-Cajbel,M (2196) Jastrzebia Gora POL 2022}) 18. Kh1 Ne5 {It mat not look like it, but white's position is crushing.} 19. Qf4 b5 {This thematic move has come way too late to be of any benefit!} 20. Qh6 {[%mdl 128] The game is over!} Qd6 21. Nh5 { [%mdl 512] A nice finishing touch.} Nc4 {Inviting white to get careless and play 22.f6} (21... gxh5 22. f6 {Giving up the Q with 22...Qxf6 results in black getting mated in at most 12 moves.}) 22. fxg6 (22. f6 {But this merits a string of question marks!} Qf8 {and black has equalized!} 23. Ng7 b4 24. Nxe8 Qxh6 25. Bxh6 Nxe8 26. Nd1 Nxf6 {and black is even a little better!}) 22... hxg6 {White now has flashy finish that results in a mate in 7!} 23. Rxf7 { [%mdl 512]} Kxf7 (23... Qh2+ {prolongs the agony.} 24. Kxh2 Be5+ 25. Kh1 Kxf7 26. Qh7+ Kf8 27. Bh6+ Bg7 28. Qxg7#) 24. Qh7+ {Facing mate in 2 black resigned. A powerful game by Fauber.} 1-0