Club Championship: Pairings & Results

The Club Championship is the culmination of the 2009 "Knights" series tournaments, in which competitors played a series of G/90 games, once per week, over the course of a month. Each month a new contestant qualified to play in the Club Championship, which takes place each Wednesday night in March.

Round 1 saw some exciting action and round 2 pairings are a must-see. Check it out below!

On board one, Tony Rich drew reigning champ and top seed Richard Benjamin. 

Jim Voelker withstood a remarkable attack from Paul Goddard and made good on an advanced pawn to win a queen versus two rooks endgame.

Ken Thomas defeated Daniel Coryea with the black pieces, and Josh Frank won with white over William Nesham.

Paul Mecham won with white over Mike Kummer. Check back in at saintlouischessclub.org for more detailed analysis coming soon.

[pgn|pgn=<<<1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 {The Petroff is very popular nowadays.} 3. d4 Nxe4 4. Bd3 d5 5. Nxe5 Nd7 {This is the main move, with 5...Bd6 the alternative.} 6. Nxd7 Bxd7 7. O-O Qf6!? {A rare sideline. Most common is 7...Bd6 and a more aggressive option is 7...Qh4.} 8. c4!? {The move 8.Nc3 has done well at the top level. An example: 8. Nc3 Nxc3 9. bxc3 O-O-O 10. Qh5 Qe6 11. Bd2 g6 12. Qf3 f6 13. Rfe1 Qf7 14. c4 dxc4 15. Be4 c6 16. d5 Be8 17. dxc6 Rxd2 18. Qe3 Rd6 19. Qxa7 Rxc6 20. Qa8+ Kc7 21. Rab1 Rb6 22. Rxb6 Kxb6 23. Rb1+ Kc5 24. Qa3+ Kd4 25. Qe3+ Ke5 26. Bxg6+ 1-0 Kotronias,V (2440)-Atalik,S (2375)/Pucarevo 1987/ EXT 1997} 8...c6? {Black is fine if he plays 8...Qxd4 The point of 7... Qf6} 9. Qb3?! {9. cxd5! cxd5 10. Nc3±} 9...b6? {This is too slow. Now white has a clear advatage. 9...Qxd4 was necessary.} 10. cxd5 Qxd4 11. Bxe4 Qxe4 12. Nc3 Qg6 13. Re1+ Be7 14. Bf4 {White's position is great, due to the bad position of the black king.} 14...Kf8 15. Rad1 {White had the crushing, although difficult to find... 15. Rxe7!! Kxe7 16. dxc6! Qxc6 16... Bxc6 17. Qa3+ Kd8 18. Rd1+ Bd7 19. Nd5+- 17. Nd5+ Kd8 17... Kf8 18. Qa3+ Qc5 19. Bd6++-18. Rc1+-} 15...Bg4 16. Rd2 Bf3?! 17. Bg3 Bg5 18. Rc2 h5 19. gxf3 h4 20. dxc6 hxg3 21. fxg3 Bf4 22. Rg2 {22. Ne4+-} 22...Bd6 23. Qd5 Rd8 24. Rge2?? {White should have played ... 24. Kf1!+- {..as this gets his king off the dangerous "g" file and g1-a7 diagonal.} 24...Rxh2!! 25. Kxh2 Qxg3+ 26. Kh1 Qh4+ {Black is slightly better after.... 26... Qh3+! 27. Kg1 Bc5+ 28. Re3! 28. Qxc5+ bxc5-+ 28... Rxd5 29. Nxd5 Qxf3 30. c7 Qh3=/+} 27. Kg2 Qh2+ 28. Kf1 Qh1+ 29. Kf2 Qh4+ 30. Ke3!? {Still trying to win. The fighting spirit pays off, but only due to black's next move, which is a terrible blunder.} 30...Bf4+? {30... Bc5+! 31. Kd3 Rxd5+ 32. Nxd5 Qd4+ 33. Kc2 Qa4+! 34. Kb1 Qxc6=/+} 31. Kd3 Rxd5+ 32. Nxd5 g6? {32... g5 33. Re4!+-} 33. Re4! g5 34. Nxf4 gxf4 35. c7 Qh3 36. Re8+ {A great battle!}1-0>>>|white=Jim Voelker|black=Paul Goddard|white_rating=2105|black_rating=1813] Pairings for Round 2. Club Championship

SwissSys Wall Chart. Club Championship