by Pfc. Austin Goacher

Seated at tables positioned throughout a room inside the Consolidated Bachelors' Quarters aboard Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, 21 Marines, soldiers, airmen and sailors participated in the Swiss-style chess tournament for a chance to represent the United States in the NATO chess championship June 11 through 15.

The tournament served as the interservice championship and qualifying round for players on the United States armed forces chess team. The winners will attend the NATO Chess Championship scheduled for September 2 through 8 in Beytepe, Ankara, Turkey.

The Army, Air Force and Navy had full six-man teams, but the Marine Corps only had three participants in this year's tournament. The Marines Corps didn't have a full team because of deployments and lack of participation from its active chess players, explained Capt. Barron Taylor, the Marine Corps' service representative for the event.

"Unfortunately, since we had such a small team, we didn't qualify for the team trophy this year," said Taylor. "But our players still qualify for the individual accolades."

According to Sgt. Sema Sebwe, the top Marine participant and a qualifier for the NATO team, it was disappointing the team couldn't compete for the newly-refurbished team trophy, but it's an honor to represent the U.S. at the international NATO tournament.

Each service was guaranteed to have at least one representative on the NATO team. That player was the top finisher from their service. The last two members of the team were the next best overall players.

Each service hosts the tournament every four years and pays the registration fees, billeting, and travel costs for the NATO team, said Capt. Barron Taylor, the Marine Corps' service representative for the event. Next year the Air Force will be hosting the tournament, he added.

Players stationed around the world and throughout the ranks, from Kosovo to Germany to Camp Lejeune to Los Angeles, converged to play in the weeklong tournament.

The Air Force team won the tournament by 1½ points. Solidifying the dominance of the Air Force in the tournament, the team has taken the top prize in the tournament in five of the last six years.

The members of the NATO team were announced June 15 during a dinner served at the Officer's Club here. Lt. Col. Keith Cutler, the commanding officer of Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron, Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, presented awards to the tournament's top team and finishers. Members of the NATO team are: Air Force Lt. Col. Douglas D. Taffinder, stationed at Los Angeles Air Force Base, Los Angeles, California; Air Force Tech Sgt. Nathaniel D. Ola, stationed at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Lompoc, California; Air Force Col. Samuel Echaure, stationed at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico; Army Spc. Jhonel B. Baniel, Ramstein Air Base, Landstuhl, Germany; Marine Sgt. Sema Sebwe, Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, San Diego, California; and Petty Officer First Class Benjamin B. Barquin, stationed aboard the USS Ronald Reagan, San Diego, California.

Lt. Col. Taffinder has provided Chess Life with notes to two of his wins:



King's Gambit Declined (C30)
Douglas Taffinder (2041)
Jhonel Baniel (1890)
2007 Interservice Championship MCAS Miramar, CA (1.3), 06.11.2007

1. e4 e5 2. f4 Bc5 3. Nf3 d6 4. Nc3 Nf6 5. Bc4 Nc6 6. d3 Bg4

6. ... Ng4 7. Ng5 exf4 8. Bxf4 (8. Nxf7?? the pawn is safe and cannot be captured without dire consequences: 8. ... Qh4+ 9. g3 Bf2+ 10. Kd2 Be3+ 11. Ke1 fxg3 12. Bxe3 Nxe3) 8. ... Bf2+ 9. Ke2.

7. Na4 0-0 8. Nxc5 dxc5 9. h3 Bxf3 10. Qxf3 Nd4 11. Qf2 b5 12. fxe5 Nxe4 13. dxe4 bxc4 14. 0-0 Rb8

14. ... f5!? is an interesting idea; 15. Bd2 Qe7.

15. c3 Ne6 16. Be3 Qe7 17. Qe2 Rfd8 18. Qxc4 Rxb2 19. Rab1 Rb6 20. Rb5

The pressure on the isolated pawn grows: 20. Rbd1 Rxd1 21. Rxd1 Qh4.

20. ... Rxb5 21. Qxb5 Qd7 22. Qxd7 Rxd7 23. Rb1 h5 24. Kf2 c6 25. Rb8+ Kh7 26. Ke2 Kg6 27. Rc8 Rc7 28. Rxc7 Nxc7 29. Bxc5 a6 30. a4 Ne6 31. Be3 f6 32. exf6 Kxf6 33. Bd4+ Ke7 34. Be3 Kd6 35. g3 g6 36. Kd3 Kc7 37. Kc4 a5 38. Kd3 Kd6 39. Bb6 Ke5 40. Ke3 Kd6 41. Bxa5 c5

41. ... Kc5 42. e5 does not win a prize.

42. c4 Ng5 43. h4 Nf7

43. ... Ne6 is not the saving move due to 44. Bc3.

44. Bc3 g5

44. ... Kd7 45. e5 does not help much.

45. hxg5 Nxg5 46. a5

46. e5+ Kd7 might be the shorter path.

46. ... Nf7

46. ... Ne6 47. e5+ Kc6 48. Ke4 doesn't get the bull off the ice.

47. Kf4

White prepares e4-e5.

47. ... Kc6 48. e5, Black resigned.

48. ... Nd8 does not solve anything 49. Kg5.



Sicilian Defense, Alapin Variation (B22)
Tim Hanke (1980)
Douglas Taffinder (2041)
2007 Interservice Championship MCAS Miramar, CA (2.3), 06.11.2007

1. e4 c5 2. c3 Nf6 3. e5 Nd5 4. d4 cxd4 5. cxd4 e6 6. Nc3 Nxc3 7. bxc3 Qc7 8. Bd2 d6 9. f4 b6 10. Nf3 Bb7 11. Bd3 Nc6 12. 0-0 0-0-0 13. a4 Kb8 14. Qe2 d5 15. c4??

A transit from better to worse, better is 15. Rab1.

15. ... dxc4 16. Bxc4 Nxd4

Black gets strong play along the open c-file and creates threats along the open d-file.

17. Nxd4 Rxd4 18. Rfc1 Bc5 19. Kh1 h5 20. a5 Qc6 21. axb6 axb6 22. Ba6 Qxg2+!

Demolishing the pawn shield.

23. Qxg2

A pinning theme.

23. ... Bxg2+ 24. Kxg2 Rxd2+ 25. Kh3 Rhd8 26. Rab1 Kc7 27. Rb3 Ra2 28. Bd3 Rd4 29. Rf1 g6

29. ... Kc6 30. Bb1 Re2 31. Rg3 makes it even easier for Black.

30. Rf3 Bb4 31. Kh4 Rxh2+ 32. Kg5

White prepares f5.

32. ... Be7+ 33. Kh6 Rh4 34. f5

34. Rc3+ Bc5 does not improve anything.

34. ... exf5 35. Kg7 Rd5 36. Kxf7 Rxe5 37. Kxg6 f4

37. ... Rg4+!? seems even better.

38. Bf5 Kc6

38. ... Rc5 39. Rbd3 Rc6+ 40. Kf7 keeps an even firmer grip.

39. Rbd3

39. Rbc3+ Kb5 cannot undo what has already been done.

39. ... b5 40. Rd4 Kc5 41. Rfxf4 Rxf4 42. Rxf4 h4 43. Re4

43. Kf7 hardly improves anything as 43. ... Bg5 44. Rf3 b4 shows.

43. ... Kd5

Black takes home the point after 43. ... Rxe4 44. Bxe4 h3.

44. Rf4 b4

A possible shorter path is 44. ... Re3 45. Rf1.

45. Rf3 Kd4 46. Kf7 Re3 47. Rxe3

47. Rf1 is hoping against hope in a losing position.

47. ... Kxe3 48. Kxe7 b3, White resigned.

All-Army Championship

The All-Army Championships were held at Fort Myer in Arlington, Virginia from May 13-18. Staff Sergeant Rudy Tia, Jr. won clear first with 9½ points, a full point ahead of second place finisher Arthur Macaspac.

Tia accomplished this, his seventh win in the event, while on leave from his deployment in Iraq. He is based in Camp Speicher, Iraq, and his home station is Fort Hood, Texas.

He told Army reporter Tim Hipps that he keeps playing in this event, "... not because I keep winning the tournament. I have fun. It breaks me off a bit from a stressful job. It's relaxing to play chess again."

Here, Tia annotates his game against Darryl West, who finished with 3½ points.



French Defense (C00)
SSG Rudy Tia, Jr. (2130)
Darryl West (1732)
2007 All Army Chess Championship, 05.15.2007

1. e4 e6 2. d3 d5 3. Nd2 Nf6 4. g3 c5 5. Bg2 Nc6 6. Ngf3 Be7 7. 0-0 Qc7 8. Re1 0-0 9. e5 Nd7 10. Qe2 f6?

I thought this was a mistake as it weakens e6. Probably better was 10. … b5 with the idea of … a7-a5, … b5-b4, … a5-a4 attacking the queenside. Another possible variation is 11. c3 a5 12. Nf1 b4 13. Bf4 a4.

11. exf6 Nxf6 12. c3

I made this natural move quickly, but afterwards I thought I had made a mistake. It looks like the e6 pawn is weak and I have to prevent … e6-e5 which will give Black breathing space. What would happen if I attacked e6 right away, say with Ng5 then Bh3? Lets see some variations: 12. Ng5 e5 won't work. How about 12. Bh3? Then after 12. … e5 13. Bxc8 Raxc8 14. Nxe5 Nd4 15. Qd1 White has just won a pawn, so Black is forced to defend e6 with 12. … Nd8 13. Ng5. I cannot see how Black will defend e6, so 12. Bh3 is the best move.

12. ... Bd6

I saw that … e6-e5 is coming, freeing his position. I felt like kicking myself for not winning the e6-pawn right away, but during the game I said to myself that I should not lose my composure and should keep on fighting. I kept in mind the Warrior Ethos-Soldier's Creed: I will never quit.

13. d4 cxd4 14. Nxd4

14. cxd4 Ng4 15. h3 Nh6 with the idea of … Nf7 then … e6-e5.

14. ... e5 15. Nb5 Qe7 16. c4

The typical plan when you have a fianchettoed bishop is to attack the center, in this case d5, reducing the "clamping" effect of this bishop.

16. ... Bb8?

Why give up a pawn? I thought a better plan was 16. … d4 (16. … dxc4 17. Nxd6 Qxd6 18. Nxc4 Qc7 19. Nxe5 Nxe5 20. Qxe5 Qxe5 21. Rxe5 Ng4 22. Re2 and White is a pawn up) 17. Ne4 Nxe4 18. Bxe4 Bf5 with equal chances for both sides.

17. cxd5 Nb4 18. Qc4

White has an advantage here in material and in position. The threat is 19. d6+ trying to win material.

18. ... Kh8 19. a3 Na6 20. b4

The idea is to paralyze his queen knight and follow up with Bb2, putting pressure on e5.

20. ... Bd6 21. Bb2

With the threat of 22. f4, I do not see how Black will save his e-pawn.

21. ... Re8 22. f4 e4

22. … Nd7 23. Ne4 Bb8 24. Ng5 h6 25. d6 Qf8 26. Nf7+ Kh7 27. fxe5 and White is winning.

23. Nxe4 Bb8 24. Nxf6 Qxe1+ 25. Rxe1 Rxe1+ 26. Kf2, Black resigned.

Lessons Learned

I. 12. c3? Why I was in a rush to make this move? I thought at the time that after d4 I will have control of e5, but the problem is I cannot control it with a piece and he can defend e6. Next time, if there is a backward pawn, I will not only think of controlling the square in front of it but also look to see if the pawn can be immediately attacked.

II. Readers should take note that I constantly ask questions when analyzing a position. My answer might not be correct, but at least you can formulate a lesson of your own, like the lesson I learned in I. above.

III. Control of your emotions is important during the game. Do not allow fear, anxiety, anger, or excitement ruin your game. A relaxed and calm attitude can help you find killer moves.

Finally, as an American soldier and chess player currently deployed in Iraq, this is what I can say: "I can leave my wife, my children, and my dog but never will I leave my rifle and my chessboard."

Sets for Vets

The USCF's Sets for Vets program has reached 146 veteran's hospitals as well as active duty personnel in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Africa with sets and supplies. See uschess.org/setsforvets. php for details.