Chess Game

[Event "Quick"]
[Site "SLC CC"]
[Date "Jul 21, 2012"]
[Round "2"]
[White "David Catalini"]
[Black "John Coffey"]
[Result "1-0"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Be3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. c3 Nc6 7. Nf3 Qb6 8. Qc2
cxd4 9. Nxd4 Nxd4 10. Bxd4 Bc5 11. Qf2 O-O 12. Bd3 f6 13. exf6 Bxd4 14. cxd4
Nxf6 15. O-O Ng4 16. Qd2 Qxd4+ 17. Kh1 e5 18. h3 Ne3 19. Rf3 Nxg2 20. Kxg2 e4
21. Kg3 exd3 22. Rxd3 Qg1+ 23. Qg2 Qxg2+ 24. Kxg2 Bf5 25. Rxd5 Be4+ 26. Kg3
Bxd5 27. Nc3 Rad8 28. Re1 Kf7 29. Re5 Bc6 30. b4 Rd3+
0-1

Chess Game

[Event "Quick"]
[Site "SLC CC"]
[Date "Jul 21, 2012"]
[Round "1"]
[White "John Coffey"]
[Black "Isaac Balter"]
[Result "1-0"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Be2 Na6 7. Be3 c6 8. Qd2
Re8 9. O-O e5 10. d5 cxd5 11. cxd5 Qa5 12. a3 Bd7 13. b4 Qd8 14. Rfc1 Nc7 15.
a4 Nh5 16. b5 f5 17. exf5 gxf5 18. Bxa7 e4 19. Nd4 Nf6 20. b6 Ncxd5 21. Nxd5
Nxd5 22. Bc4 Re5 23. Qa2 Bc6 24. Nxc6 bxc6 25. Bxd5+ cxd5 26. b7 e3 27. fxe3 h5
28. bxa8=Q Qxa8 29. Rc7 Kh7 30. Bd4 Qa5 31. Ra7 Qb4 32. Qb2 Qc4 33. Qb7
1-0

Outstanding (?) Chess Game. This one is well worth looking at.

From: John Coffey

A fire alarm went off during the tournament. Because of the time lost, we had to reduce the time control to G/20;D4

[Event "Quick Tournament"]
[Site "SLC CC"]
[Date "Jul 14, 2012"]
[Round "3"]
[White "John Coffey"]

[Black "Alex Gustafsson"]

[Result "1-0"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. Bg5 dxc4 6. e4 b5 7. e5 h6 8. Bh4 g5
9. Nxg5 hxg5 10. Bxg5 Nbd7 11. exf6 Bb7 12. g3 Qb6 13. Bg2 O-O-O 14. Qg4 Bd6
15. O-O-O Bc7 16. Ne4 c5 17. dxc5 Nxc5 18. Be3 Qa5 19. Bxc5 Qxa2 20. Nd6+ Bxd6
21. Bxb7+ Kxb7 22. Bxd6 Rc8 (Predicted Rxd6!, Qe4+ Kc7, Rxd6 and I hoped that I could attack his king.)  23. Qf3+ Rc6 24. Be5 Rc8 25. Rd7+ Ka8 26. Rd8 Qa6
27. Rxc8+ Qxc8 28. Rd1 c3 29. Rd8
1-0

Chess Game

[Event "Quick"]
[Site "SLCCC"]
[Date "Jul 14, 2012"]
[Round "1"]
[White "John Coffey"]
[Black "Eric Hon"]
[Result "1-0"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 d5 3. cxd5 Nxd5 4. e4 Nb6 5. Be3 e6 6. Nc3 Bb4 7. Nf3 Bd7 8.
Ne5 Na4 9. Bd2 Nxb2 10. Qb3 Bxc3 11. Bxc3 Qh4 12. Bxb2 Qxe4+ 13. Be2 b6 14. f3
Qd5 15. Qxd5 exd5 16. Rc1 c6 17. O-O f6 18. Nxd7 Kxd7 19. Rfe1 a5 20. Bd3 g6
21. Ba3 b5 22. Re7+ Kd8 23. Rf7 f5 24. Re1 b4 25. Bc1 Na6 26. Bg5+ Kc8 27. Ree7
c5 28. Rb7 c4 29. Bc2 h6 30. Bf6 Re8 31. Ba4 Re3 32. Bc6 Re8 33. Bxe8 c3 34.
Bc6 Nc7 35. Rfxc7#
1-0

Re: Mate in 3

Nice problem.  Took me about 15 minutes to solve.

On Sun, Jul 8, 2012 at 11:13 AM, Steve Hoisington wrote:

John,

Do you know the following problem (another mate in three – with White to move) that is a bit artificial?  Mates in four abound in the position below, but there is only one (fairly tricky) way to mate in three:

 White to move

 

 

Mate in Three

In case the diagram doesn't transmit clearly, the position is: White: K/c2; B/f8; N/b4; P/b3,g7; and Black: K/a3; P/b6.

 Best regards,

Steve

Mate in 3

Speed Chess game played tonight at the Coffee Club.

This was a very interesting speed chess game that I played at our club tonight.   Of course, the computer found better moves.  I give some analysis and side variations, but the actual game I am pretty happy with.

[Event "Speed game."]

[Site "Coffee Club coffee shop.  Taylorsville, Utah"]

[Date "2012.07.06"]

[White "Coffey, John"]

[Black "Keyes, Kevin"]

[Result "1-0"]

[ECO "D87"]

[WhiteElo "1995"]

[BlackElo "1630 but really 1800 to 1900"]

[Annotator "Coffey,John"]

[Time Control "G/5 D2"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6.

bxc3 Bg7 7. Bc4 c5 8. Ne2 Nc6 9. Be3 (Our friend Shahram likes to play 9. d5 And now I like to play Na5 (

Better is 9... Ne5 10. Bb5+ Bd7 11. Qa4 Nd3+ 12. Kf1 a6!) 10. Bb5+ Bd7 11.

Qa4 b6 12. O-O  Bxb5 13. Qxb5+ Qd7 14. a4 Qxb5 15. axb5

Kd7=) (Shahram experimented with 9. O-O cxd4 10. cxd4 Nxd4 11. Nxd4 Qxd4

12. Bb5+ Bd7 13. Bxd7+ Qxd7 14. Rb1 =/+ b6 This is tricky for black.) 9... O-O 10. O-O Qc7 (

A third game went 10... cxd4 11. cxd4 Na5 12. Bd3 b6 13. f4 Bb7 14. e5 Qd5

15. Rf2 Nc4 16. Nc3?! Nxe3 17. Nxd5 Nxd1 18. Nxe7+ Kh8 19. Rxd1 Rfe8 20. f5

Rxe7 21. f6 Bxf6 22. Rxf6 Rc8 23. d5? Bxd5 24. Ba6? (24. Bxg6) 24... Bb7 25.

Bxb7 Rxb7 26. Rfd6 Rbc7 27. Kf2 Rc2+ 28. R1d2 R8c5 29. Rxc2 Rxc2+ -/+ 

And somehow white lucked out and got a draw.) 11. Rb1 Rd8 12. Qc1 Na5 13. Bd3

c4 14. Bc2 Bd7 15. f4 b5 16. f5 a6 (A second game went ... 16... Nb7 17. e5 (

17. Bh6! Nd6 18. Bxg7 Kxg7 19. Qg5 h6 20. Qg3 g5 21. e5 Ne8 22. h4 f6 23. Nf4

Qb7 24. Ne6+ Bxe6 25. fxe6 +- According to Houdini) 17... Bc6 18. f6? (18.

Bh6 Bh8 19. fxg6 fxg6 20. Qg5 +-) 18... exf6 19. exf6 Bf8 20. Bf4 = 

and somehow White won.) 17. Ng3 Bc6 18. e5 Qb7 19. f6 exf6 20. exf6 Bf8 21.

Bh6 Bd6 22. Nf5 (22. Bxg6!! fxg6 (22... hxg6 23. Bg7!) 23. f7+ Kh8 24. Qg5)

22... Bxg2 23. Ne7+ (23. Bg7!!) 23... Bxe7 24. fxe7 Re8 25. Re1 Bh3 26. Be4

Nc6 27. Qg5 Rxe7 (Qxe7 +-) 28. Qf6 1-0

Chess Game French

[Event "Quick Tournament"]
[Site "SLCC"]
[Date "Jun 23, 2012"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Ben Balter"]
[Black "John Coffey"]
[Result "0-1"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 exd5 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. Be2 Bd6 6. Nc3 Ne4?? 7.
Nxd5 c6 Eventually after a tough struggle, black won.
0-1

Chess game French

[Event "Quick Tournament"]
[Site "Salt Lake Community College"]
[Date "Jun 23, 2012"]
[Round "1"]
[White "David Catalini"]
[Black "John Coffey"]
[Result "0-1"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 exd5 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. Be2 Bd6 6. O-O O-O 7. h3 Re8 8.
Re1 Ne4 9. Bg5?? Nxg5 10. Nxg5 Qxg5 11. Nd2 Bxh3 12. Bf3 Rxe1+ 13. Qxe1 Nc6 14.
c3 Ne7 15. Qe2 Ng6 16. Kh1 Nf4 17. Qf1 Bxg2+ 18. Bxg2 Qh4+? (Qh5!) 19.
Kg1 Re8 20. Re1
Ne2+ (Stockfish: Re1 Qe1 Qg4) 21. Qxe2 Rxe2 22. Rxe2 g6 23. Nf3 Qh6
24. Nd2 c6 25. Re8+ Kg7 26. Rd8 Bh2+
27. Kh1 Bc7+ 28. Kg1 Bxd8 29. Nb3 Qh5 30. Nc5 b6 31. Nd7 Bc7 32. b3 Bh2+ 33.
Kh1 Bg3+ 34. Kg1 Bxf2+ 35. Kxf2 Qf5+
0-1
Sent from my iPhone

Chess Game English

[Event "Quick Tournament"]
[Site "Salt Lake Community College"]
[Date "Jun 23, 2012"]
[Round "2"]
[White "John Coffey"]
[Black "David Vasquez"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]

1. c4 Nf6 2. g3 e6 3. Bg2 d5 4. Nf3 c5 5. O-O Nc6 6. cxd5 Nxd5 7. d4 Be7 8. Nc3
O-O 9. e4 Nf6 10. dxc5 Bxc5 11. Bg5 Be7 12. Qxd8
1/2-1/2
Sent from my iPhone

Tinker, Tailor

A similar rhyme has been noted in William Caxton's, The Game and Playe of the Chesse (c. 1475), in which pawns are named: "Labourer, Smith, Clerk, Merchant, Physician, Taverner, Guard and Ribald."

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tinker,_Tailor

Utah Senior Championship

[Event "Utah Senior Championship"]
[Site "U of U"]
[Date "2012.06.09"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Hodson, Grant"]
[Black "Coffey, John"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E21"]
[WhiteElo "1769"]
[BlackElo "1967"]
[Annotator "Coffey,John"]

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. g3 b6 5. Bg2 Bb7 6. O-O
O-O 7. d4 Bxc3 8. bxc3 d6 9. a4 a5 10. Rb1 Nbd7 11. Ba3 Ne4 12. Qc2 Qe7 13. Ne1
f5 14. f3 Nef6 15. Nd3 Ba6 16. Qa2 c5 17. Rfe1 Rac8 18. Rbc1 e5 19. d5 Qf7 =+
(19... e4! 20. Nb2 (20. Nf4?! Ne5 21. Ne6 Bxc4 22. Qd2 exf3 23. Bxf3 Rfe8
-+) 20... h5 21. f4 h4-/+ 22. Bh3 Nh5 -/+) 20. Bh3 Qg6 = (20... Qh5 =+ 21.
Bg2 e4 22. Nf4 Qh6 =+ 23. Ne6? Ne5 24. Nxf8 Bxc4 25. Qc2 Rxf8 26. Rf1 Nxd5
-+ 27. fxe4?? Ng4 28. h3 Qe3+ 29. Kh1 Qxg3 30. hxg4 Ne3 31. Bf3 Rf6 32. g5
Rg6 33. Rf2 Qxf2 34. exf5 Qh4+ 35. Kg1 Rxg5+) 21. Nf2 Rce8 = {
Later in a time scramble, Black  dropped major material but on won on time.} (
21... e4 =+) 0-1

Utah Senior Championship

[Event "Utah Senior Championship"]
[Site "U of U"]
[Date "2012.06.09"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Hoisington, Steve"]
[Black "Coffey, John"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E16"]
[WhiteElo "1904"]
[BlackElo "1967"]
[Annotator "Coffey,John"]


1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. c4 Bb4+ 4. Bd2 Bxd2+ 5. Nbxd2 b6 6.
g3 Bb7 7. Bg2 O-O 8. O-O d6 9. Re1 Nbd7 10. e4 e5 11. Qc2 Qe7 12. Rad1 a5 13.
b3 Rfd8 14. Nh4 Qf8 15. Nf1 exd4 16. Rxd4 Nc5 17. Nd2 Re8 18. Qb1 g6 19. f4 Qg7
20. e5 dxe5 21. fxe5 Ng4?? 22. Rxg4 Bxg2 23. Nxg2 Rxe5 24. Rxe5 Qxe5 25. Qe1 Qb2
26. Rf4?? Nd3 27. Qe3 Nxf4 28. Nxf4 Rd8 29. Nf1 Rd1 30. Nd5 Ra1 31. Nc3 Rc1 32.
Qe8+ Kg7 33. Qe5+ Kg8 34. Qe8+ Kg7 1/2-1/2

Utah Senior Championship

[Event "Utah Senior Championship"]

[Site "U of U"]

[Date "2012.06.09"]

[Round "4"]

[White "Coffey, John"]

[Black "Morrow, Hans"]

[Result "1-0"]

[ECO "E90"]

[WhiteElo "1967"]

[BlackElo "1900"]

[Annotator "Coffey,John"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 d6 4. Nc3 g6 5. e4 Nbd7 6. Nf3

Bg7 7. h3 O-O 8. Bf4 = (8. Be2 +=) 8... Nh5 9. Bh2 a6 10. a4 Re8 11. Bd3 Ne5 12.

Nxe5 dxe5 13. Qd2 Qd6 14. Ne2 e6 15. g4 Nf6 16. O-O exd5 17. cxd5 c4 18. Bc2

Bd7 19. a5 Bb5 20. Nc3 Nd7 21. Ba4 Qc5 22. Kg2 b6 23. f3 (23. axb6 Qxb6 (23...

Nxb6 24. Bc2 +=) 24. Bg1 Bf8 25. f4 Bc5 26. Bxc5 Nxc5 27. Qf2 += Nxa4 28.

Nxa4 Qxf2+ 29. Rxf2 exf4 30. Rxf4 += g5 31. Rf5 +=) 23... bxa5 (23... Bxa4

24. Nxa4 Qxa5 25. Qxa5 bxa5 +=) 24. Bg1 (24. Nxb5 axb5 25. Bg1 +/-) 24... Qb4

25. Rfd1 (Be3 +=) Nc5 26. Nxb5 Qxd2+ +/- (26... Nxa4 27. Nc7 +=) 27. Rxd2 Nxa4 +- (

27... axb5 +/-) 28. Nc7 c3? +- (28... Nxb2 29. Rxb2 Rab8 +-) 29. bxc3 Nxc3 30.

Nxe8 Rxe8 31. Rxa5 Ra8 32. Rc2 Nb5 33. Rc6 Nd4 34. Rcxa6 Rb8 (34... Rf8 +-)

35. Ra8 1-0  Won the Senior Championship

Chess Game Approximate

[Event "Quick Tournament"]
[Site "SLC CC"]
[Date "Jun 2, 2012"]
[Round "3"]
[White "John Coffey"]
[Black "Alex Gustafsson"]
[Result "0-1"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Bc4 c5 8.
Ne2 O-O 9. Be3 Nc6 10. O-O Na5 11. Bd3 b6 12. f4 f5 13. e5 c4 14. Bc2 Bb7 15.
Kh1 e6 16. Ng1 Nc6 17. Qd2 Ne7 18. Bd1 Nd5 19. Bf3 Rf7 20. Rab1 Bf8 21. Qe2
Nxc3 22. Qxc4 Bxf3 23. Qxc3 Rc8 24. Qd2 Bd5 25. Nf3 Rfc7 26. Rb2 Ba3 27. Rbb1
Rc2 28. Qd3 R8c3 29. Qa6 Rxe3 30. Qxa7 Ree2
0-1

Chess game

[Event "Quick Tournament"]
[Site "Salt Lake Community College"]
[Date "Jun 2, 2012"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Ben Balter"]
[Black "John Coffey"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. exd5 exd5 5. Nf3 Bd6 6. Bd3 O-O 7. O-O Re8 8.
h3 c6 9. Bg5 h6 10. Bh4 g5 11. Bg3 Bxg3 12. fxg3 Ne4 13. Ne5 f5 14. Qh5 Rxe5
15. Qg6+ Kh8 16. Qxh6+ Kg8 17. Nxe4 Rxe4 18. Qg6+ (Rae1 is winning)
1/2-1/2


Sent from my iPhone

Amazing position. Took me maybe 15 minutes to find the right move

--
Best wishes,

John Coffey

http://www.entertainmentjourney.com

My Chess Tactics Trainer on iPad Progress

Tactical Motifs

http://chesstempo.com/tactical-motifs.html

Fwd: what is the answer? Black to move.

--
Best wishes,

John Coffey

http://www.entertainmentjourney.com

Chess Game Semi-Slav

[Event "Utah Class Championship"]
[Site "Episcopal Center"]
[Date "May 12, 2012"]
[Round "4"]
[White "John Coffey 1965"]
[Black "Steve Hoisington 1934"]
[Result "1-0"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. Bg5 dxc4 6. e4 b5 7. e5 h6 8. Bh4 g5
9. Nxg5 hxg5 10. Bxg5 Nbd7 11. exf6 Bb7 12. g3 Qb6 13. Bg2 O-O-O 14. Qg4 Bh6
15. h4 a6 (Engine now says White is winning) 16. O-O-O c5 17. Bxb7+
Qxb7 (Engine gives Kxb7, Bxh6 Rxh6, dxc5 Nxc5, Qf3+ Ka7, Nxb5+ axb5,
Qa3+ Kb7, Rxd8 Nd3+, Rxd3) 18. Ne4 (Bxh6 Rxh6, dxc5 and now if Nxc5
Rxd8+ and Qg8+) cxd4 19. Nd6+
1-0 Got 4th place in the top section and the class A trophy.

Narrow escape. Amazing chess game.

[Event "Utah Class Championship"]
[Site "Episcopal Center"]
[Date "May 12, 2012"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Allen Bolen 1670 "]
[Black "John Coffey 1965"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 d5 3. Bg2 c5 4. d3 Nc6 5. O-O e5 6. Nbd2 Bd6 7. e4 d4 8. Nc4
Bc7 9. a4 a6 10. Bg5 Rb8 11. Ne1 b5 12. axb5 axb5 13. Nd2 h6 14. Bxf6 Qxf6 15.
c3 O-O 16. Ndf3 dxc3 17. bxc3 Rd8 18. Nc2 Ba5 19. Qd2 Bg4 20. Nfe1 Qd6 21. Ne3
Be6 22. Nd5 Bxd5? 23. exd5 Nd4 24. Rxa5 Nb3 25. Qa2 Nxa5 26. Qxa5 b4 27. Qa1 b3
28. c4 Ra8 29. Qc3 Rdb8 30. Nf3 f6 31. Rb1 Qb6 32. Bh3 Ra2 33. Bd7 Rc2 34. Qe1
Qa7 35. Bb5 Qa2 36. Ra1 Qxa1 37. Qxa1 b2 38. Qa7 b1=Q+ 39. Kg2 Rxb5 40. cxb5
Qb2 41. b6 Rxf2+ 42. Kh3 Qe2 43. Qa8+ Kh7 44. d6 Rxf3? (Qf1+ Kg4 Qxd3)
45. Qe4+ Qxe4 46. dxe4
Rd3 47. b7 Rxd6 48. b8=Q Rd4 49. Qb7 c4 50. Qc6 Kg6 51. Qb7 h5 52. Qc6 Kf7 53.
g4 hxg4+ 54. Kxg4 g6 55. h4 Rxe4+ 56. Kg3 Rf4
1/2-1/2

Interesting Chess Game

[Event "Utah Class Championship"]
[Site "Episcopal Center of Utah"]
[Date "May 12, 2012"]
[Round "2"]
[White "John Coffey 1965"]
[Black "David Catalini 1837"]
[Result "1-0"]

1. d4 e5 2. dxe5 Nc6 3. Nf3 h6 4. e4 g5 5. Nc3 d6 6. exd6 Bxd6 7. Be3 Be6 8.
Nd4 Qd7 9. Nxc6 bxc6 10. Qd4 f6 11. Be2 Rh7 12. Bh5+ Bf7 13. Bxf7+ Rxf7 14.
O-O-O Ne7 15. h4 c5 16. Qc4 Nc6 17. hxg5 hxg5 18. Rh8+ Rf8 19. Rxf8+ Kxf8 20.
Bxc5 Rd8 21. Bxd6+ cxd6 22. Nb5 Ne5 23. Qc7 Qxc7 24. Nxc7 Kf7 25. Nb5 Ke7 26.
Rh1 Rd7 27. Rh7+ Nf7 28. f3 Ke6 29. Nd4+ Ke5 30. Nf5 Ke6 (Unclear to
me is Kf4) 31. c4 Rc7 32. b3 d5
33. Nh6 dxc4 34. Rxf7 Rc8 35. Rxa7 cxb3+ 36. Kb2 Rc2+ 37. Kxb3 Rxg2 38. Nf5 Ke5
39. Ra5+ Kf4 40. Nd4 Ke3 41. Nc2+ Kd2 42. Rf5 Rg1 43. Na3 Rf1 44. Rxf6 g4 45.
Rd6+ Ke3 (Many potential knight forks ahead) 46. Nc4+ Kf4 47. fxg4 Rg1
48. e5 Rxg4 49. Rd4+
1-0

French Classical

[Event "Utah Quick Championship"]
[Site "SLCC"]
[Date "Apr 21, 2012"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Eric Hong 1700?"]
[Black "John Coffey 1998"]
[Result "0-1"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. Be3 Qb6 8. Na4
Qa5+ 9. c3? cxd4 10. Nxd4 Nxd4 11. Bxd4 b5 12. b4 Qxa4
0-1 eventually after a surprisingly tough battle.

Things to be afraid of when you sit down at the chessboard...

#6. Your opponent is named Kasparov. (This actually happened to me at
the National Open. I lost.)

#5. Your opponent is Israeli.

#4. Your opponent is Russian.

#3. Your opponent is Russian and Jewish.

#2. Your opponent is 12.

#1. Your opponent is 9.

French Classical

[Event "Utah Quick Championship"]
[Site "SLCC"]
[Date "Apr 21, 2012"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Isaac Balter 1600+"]
[Black "John Coffey 2000"]
[Result "1-0"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. Be3 cxd4 8. Nxd4
Bc5 9. Qd2 O-O 10. Be2 Qa5 11. a3 Bb4 12. O-O Bxc3 13. bxc3 Nc5 14. Nb3 Nxb3
15. cxb3 Rd8 16. b4 Qc7 17. Bc5 b6 18. Bd6 Qd7 19. Rf3 Ne7 20. Bxe7 Qxe7 21.
Rh3 a5 22. Rd1 Ba6?? 23. Bd3?! Bxd3 24. Qxd3 g6 25. Rh6 Kg7 26. Rh3
axb4 27. axb4
Ra2 28. Qe3 Qc7 29. f5! exf5 30. Qh6+ Kg8 31. Qxh7+ Kf8 32. e6 Raa8 33. exf7
Qxf7 34. Qh8+ Ke7 35. Qe5+ Kd7 36. Rxd5+ Kc6 37. Rxd8 Rxd8 38. Qe2 Re8 39. Re3
Rxe3 40. Qxe3 Qc4 41. Qe8+ Kb7 42. Qd7+ Kb8 43. Qe8+ Kc7 44. Qe5+ Kb7 45. b5
Qc7 46. Qxc7+ Kxc7 47. Kf2 Kd6 48. Ke3 Kc5 49. Kf4 Kxb5 50. Kg5 Kc4 51. Kxg6
Kxc3 52. h4 b5 53. h5 b4 54. h6 b3 55. h7 b2 56. h8=Q+ Kc2 57. Qxb2+ Kxb2 58.
Kxf5
1-0

Sent from my iPhone

Semi Slav

[Event "Utah Quick Championship"]
[Site "SLCC"]
[Date "Apr 21, 2012"]
[Round "4"]
[White "John Coffey 2000"]
[Black "Petro. 1770"]
[Result "1-0"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Be7 4. Nc3 Nf6 5. Bg5 c6 6. e3 O-O 7. Bd3 Nbd7 8. O-O
dxc4 9. Bxc4 Nd5 10. Bxe7 Qxe7 11. e4 N5f6 12. e5 Nd5 13. Re1 Qb4 14. Qb3 Qxb3
15. Bxb3 N7b6 16. Ne4 Nf4 17. Nd6 h6 18. g3 Nfd5 19. Nd2 Rb8 20. N2e4 f5 21.
exf6 gxf6 22. Nc5 Rd8 23. Nxc8 Rdxc8 24. Rxe6 Kf7 25. Rae1 Rd8 26. Re7+ Kg8 27.
Rxb7 Rxb7 28. Nxb7 Rd7 29. Na5 Rc7 30. Rc1 Kg7 31. Rxc6 Re7 32. Rd6 Nb4 33. Re6
Rd7 34. Nc6 Nxc6 35. Rxc6 Rxd4 36. Rc7+ Rd7 37. Rxd7+ Nxd7 38. f4 Kf8 39. Kf2
Ke7 40. Ke3 Nc5 41. Kd4 Kd6 42. g4 Kc6 43. h4 Kd6 44. g5 fxg5 45. fxg5 hxg5 46.
hxg5 Nd7 47. g6
1-0

Tied for 3rd and A class.

Interesting knight sacrifice

[Event "Speed Game"]
[Site "Coffee Club"]
[Date "Apr 17, 2012"]
[Round ""]
[White "Kent Putnam"]
[Black "John Coffey"]
[Result "0-1"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 exd5 4. Bd3 Nf6 5. Ne2 c5 6. c3 c4 7. Bc2 Bd6 8. O-O
O-O 9. Bg5 Nbd7 10. Nd2 Qc7 11. h3 Re8 12. Nf3 Ne4 13. Be3 Ndf6 14. Bxe4 Nxe4
15. Qc1 Bf5 16. Bf4 Ng3!? (iPhone engine likes Ng5!?) 17. Nxg3 Bxf4
0-1 eventually

Bogo-Indian

[Event "Utah Championship"]

[Site "Salt Lake City"]

[Date "2011.12.04"]

[Round "1"]

[White "Coffey, John"]

[Black "Olsen-Mills, Jamie"]

[Result "1-0"]

[ECO "E11"]

[WhiteElo "1968"]

[BlackElo "1723"]

 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Bb4+ 4. Bd2 a5 5. a3 Bxd2+ 6.

Nbxd2 O-O 7. e4 c5 8. e5 Ne8 9. dxc5 Qc7 10. b4 Nc6 11. Rb1 Nxe5 12. Be2 Nf6

13. O-O Nc6 14. Qc2 d5 15. cxd6 Qxd6 16. c5 Qc7 17. Nc4 e5 18. b5 e4 19. bxc6

exf3 20. cxb7 Ng4 21. Nd6 Ra6 22. b8=Q 1-0

English

[Event "Quick tournament"]
[Site "Salt Lake Community College"]
[Date "Apr 14, 2012"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Calvin Sant"]
[Black "John Coffey"]
[Result "0-1"]

1. c4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3 Nf6 4. Bg2 g6 5. e4 d6 6. Nge2 Bg7 7. d3 O-O 8. Be3
Ng4 9. Bd2 Nge5 10. Bf4 Bg4 11. O-O Nf3+ 12. Kh1 Ncd4 13. Nxd4 cxd4 14. Nd5
Nxh2 15. f3 Nxf1 16. fxg4 Ne3 17. Nxe3 dxe3 18. Bxe3 Bxb2 19. Rb1 Be5 20. Kh2
b6 21. Qf3 Qd7 22. Rh1 b5 23. Kg1 bxc4 24. d4 Bg7 25. g5 e6 26. g4 d5 27. e5
Rab8 28. Qh3 Rb1+ 29. Bf1 Rfb8 30. Qxh7+ Kf8
0-1

Queen's Indian

[Event "Quick Tournament"]
[Site "Salt Lake Community College"]
[Date "Apr 14, 2012"]
[Round "2"]
[White "John Coffey"]
[Black "Ben Balter"]
[Result "1-0"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Bb4+ 4. Bd2 Qe7 5. e3 Bxd2+ 6. Qxd2 Nc6 7. Nc3 O-O 8.
Bd3 e5 9. dxe5 Nxe5 10. Nxe5 Qxe5 11. O-O-O d6 12. e4 Bd7 13. f4 Qa5 14. Nd5
Qxd2+ 15. Rxd2 Nxd5 16. cxd5 Rac8 17. Re1 f6 18. e5 fxe5 19. fxe5 dxe5 20. Rxe5
Rce8 21. Rde2 Rxe5 22. Rxe5 Re8 23. Rxe8+ Bxe8 24. Kd2 Bg6 25. Bxg6 hxg6 26.
Ke3 Kf7 27. Kf4 Kf6 28. h4 b6 29. b3 a5 30. a4 Ke7 31. Kg5 Kf7 32. g3 Ke7 33.
Kxg6 Kd6 34. Kxg7 Kxd5 35. h5
1-0

Mate in 2

Chess game

[Event "West Valley CC Quick"]
[Site "Salt Lake Community College"]
[Date "2012.02.04"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Petro"]
[Black "John Coffey"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C07"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 c5 4. c3 Nf6 5. e5 Nfd7 6. Ne2 Nc6 7. a3 Qb6
8. Nf3 c4 9. Ng3 Na5 10. Nd2 f6 11. exf6 Nxf6 12. Be2 Bd7 13. O-O Bd6
14. Rb1 Nb3 15. Nxb3 Ba4 16. Bg5 Qxb3 17. Bh5+ Nxh5 18. Qxh5+ g6 19.
Qh6 Bf8 20. Qh3 Bd7 21. Bf6 1-0

Chess game

[Event "Salt Lake Community College Quick"]
[Site ""]
[Date "2012.02.04"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Daniel Carpenter"]
[Black "John Coffey"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C07"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 c5 4. c3 Nf6 5. exd5 exd5 6. dxc5 Bxc5 7.
Bb5+ Nc6 8. Nb3 Qe7+ 9. Qe2 Bd6 10. Nd4 Bd7 11. Qxe7+ Bxe7 12. Bxc6
bxc6 13. Ngf3 c5 14. Nb3 Bb5 15. Be3 Rc8 16. h3 O-O 17. Rd1 Rfe8 18.
Kd2 d4 19. cxd4 cxd4 20. Nbxd4 Bb4# 0-1

Sent from my iPhone

The review that I wrote for the iPhone program "Chess Tactics Trainer"

> I bought this for the large number of problems.
>
> Gripes...
>
> 1. Pieces are too small on squares. Shadows don't help. I know
> that there are problems with the graphics because I miss obvious
> captures. tChess and Shredder have much better graphics.
>
> 2. Annoying delay between problems. What is it doing?
>
> 3. I have seen a number of repeat problems. I don't know if that is
> deliberate because Shredder will repeat problems that you miss, which
> is actually a good thing.
>
> 4. Many of the problems are obscure. I find myself completely
> missing the point on at least a third of the problems and I am an 1980
> rated player. (The program rates me at 1860.) Some of the
> continuations are too lengthy to be practical, and the analysis
> feature revealed one problem where the solver gets mated.
>
> When it comes to problem solving positions from real games, there are
> two approaches: One is to have really difficult problems that might
> take several minutes to solve so as to practice analysis, which is
> what you get from this program. I much prefer to have less difficult
> problems *and* have the ability to move very quickly from one problem
> to the next, which builds pattern recognition.
>
> I think that the program needs a way to select level of difficulty.
> i.e. 1, 2, 3 etc.

Queen to Play * * *

Just watched "Queen to play".  The movie is a metaphor about chess representing both social mobility and seduction.   Check out the trailer here:   http://www.zeitgeistfilms.com/queentoplay/ 

One pleasant surprise is how accurate the chess games are in the movie.  Some of the chess moves are brilliant but only on screen for a couple of seconds.  You have to have a sharp chess eye to follow the chess games.  

 However, some of the actors move the chess pieces like they are afraid of them.  Real chess players move with confidence.

Kevin Kline is an English actor, but in this movie he speaks nothing but French.

4 Action Chess tournaments in Louisville, Kentucky

I am on a return flight from Louisville Kentucky to Minneapolis where
I will board another flight back to Salt Lake City. During my 2 week
family visit in North Vernon, Indiana, I also played in 4 G/30 chess
tournaments in Louisville.

I managed to win the top section of one of these tournaments. The
other 3 were won by rated experts who I failed to beat, but I nearly
won every game against the experts. One of the games was a draw, and
I lost the other two. Overall my scores were not that impressive, but
I was quite happy with the quality of my play.

The last game of the last tourney did not go so well. I succumbed to
a kingside attack by a teenage 1850, in the black side of a French
variation that I was not comfortable with. Had I won I could have
pushed both of my ratings over 2000. Instead I will end up with about
the same ratings that I started with before coming to Louisville.

Sent from my iPhone

Re: Louisville Chess Tournament

I also won round 1 against a 1700's player.    I wasn't happy with this game.  My opponent gave me a great position and I didn't know what to do with it.  I barely produced a win with 5 seconds left.  Maybe I can learn something from computer analysis. 

 Finally in round 3 I beat an 1800's player who made me play on a big wooden set that I didn't like.   He played an Albin Counter and it was a tough struggle that went down to  about 25 seconds for both players.  

So I won the top section of a 39 person tournament.  The usual Experts were a no show but there were 4 Class A players. 

[Event "Louisville G/30"]
[Site "Meijers"]
[Date "Dec 26, 2011"]
[Round "1"]
[White "John Coffey "]
[Black "Raysean Whitney"]
[Result "1-0"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 Nf6 3. cxd5 Qxd5 4. Nc3 Qd8 5. e4 e6 6. Nf3 Nbd7 7. Bc4?! c6 8.
O-O Be7 9. Bg5 O-O 10. Qd3?! (e5) h6 11. Bh4 Nh7 12. Bxe7 Qxe7 13. Rfe1 e5 14. d5 c5
15. Rac1?! b6 16. Ba6?! Ng5 17. Bxc8? Raxc8? (c4!) 18. Nd2! Nf6 19. Nc4 Rfe8 20. h4 Ngh7 21.
Qg3?!?! (was considering f4!? but chickened out) Nh5 22. Qg4 N7f6 23. Qf3 Nf4 24. g3 Ng6 25. Rcd1 Qd7 26. Qf5 Rcd8 27. h5
Qxf5 28. exf5 Ne7 29. Rxe5 Nxh5 30. Ne3 eventually
1-0

Colle System

[Event "Louisville G/30"]
[Site "Meijers"]
[Date "Dec 26, 2011"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Ian Gilchridt 1600+"]
[Black "John Coffey 1970"]
[Result "0-1"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. e3 c5 4. Bd3 Nc6 5. c3 d5 6. Nbd2 Bd6 7. O-O O-O 8. dxc5
Bxc5 9. e4 Qc7 10. Re1 Ng4 11. Rf1 Nce5 12. Bc2 dxe4 13. Bxe4 Rd8 14. Qe2 Rxd2
15. Bxd2 Nxf3+ 16. Qxf3 Qxh2#
0-1

Exciting Game

This game was exceptionally exciting and if I may say so, very well played on my part.  I was down to 3 seconds toward the end, which is why maybe I was going for a perpetual and not realizing that I was winning, nor did I bother to count the material on the board.  A few moves before the end I was totally winning but didn't realize it. Earlier I made a sacrifice at a time when there was a great deal of conversation around me, so I was distracted and the sack was not totally sound, but according to computer I was not that bad off and I was definitely winning toward the end.

This is the kind of game that needs serious computer analysis.  I have the computer working on it now, but as I entered the game it seemed to agree with many of my moves.

My opponent thought that my 16. Na3 was brilliant, with the idea being 16.  ... Qd7 17. Nb5, and as I entered the game into Fritz, the computer agreed with this move as well.

[Event "Louisville Action g/30"]

[Site "Bluegrass Magic Game Shop"]

[Date "2011.12.22"]

[Round "3"]

[White "Coffey, John"]

[Black "Busch , Chris"]

[Result "0-1"]

[ECO "D08"]

[WhiteElo "1971"]

[BlackElo "2090"]

 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e5 3. dxe5 d4 4. Nf3 c5 5.

e3 Nc6 6. exd4 cxd4 7. Bd3 Nge7 8. O-O Bg4 9. Re1 Ng6 10. h3 Be6 11. Ng5 Ngxe5

12. Nxe6 fxe6 13. Qh5+ g6 14. Bxg6+ Nxg6 15. Rxe6+ Nce7 16. Na3 Kf7 17. Re4 h6

18. f4 (Bd2 is winning) Qd7 19. f5 Nxf5 (As Qxf5 loses) 20. Rf4 Kf6 21. Rf1 d3 22. g4 Bc5+ 23. Kh2 Qd6+ 24. Kh1

Qc6+ 25. Kh2 Bd6+ 26. Kg1 Qc5+ 27. Kh1 Nge7 28. gxf5 Qd4 29. Bd2 Qe4+ 30. Rf3

Qe2 31. Bc3+ Be5 32. Bxe5+ Qxe5 33. Rg1 Rag8 34. Rxg8 Rxg8 35. Qxh6+ Kf7 36.

Qh7+ Kf8 37. Qh6+ Rg7 38. f6 Qe1+ 39. Kh2 Qe2+ (Missing Qg1#) 0-1

In the previous round I turned a pawn down king and pawn ending into a win because my 1951 opponent was a little unclear on how to play it.

Chess game

[Event "Quick Tournameny"]

[Site "Salt Lake Community College"]
[Date "2011.11.05"]
[Round "3"]
[White "John Coffey"]

[Black "Ben Balter"]
[Result "1-0"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Bb4+ 4. Bd2 Qe7 5. e3 Bxd2+ 6. Nbxd2 d6 7.
e4 e5 8. d5 Bg4 9. Qb3 c6 10. Be2 Na6 11. dxc6 bxc6 12. Qa4 Qb7 13.
Qc2 d5 14. cxd5 cxd5 15. exd5 Qxd5 16. Bxa6 Rd8 17. Bc4 Qd6 18. Ne4 1-0

Chess game

[Event "Quick Tournameny"]
[Site "Salt Lake Community College"]
[Date "2011.11.05"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Vishwa"]
[Black "John Coffey"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E20"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. f3 Bxc3+ 5. bxc3 d5 6. cxd5 exd5 7.
e3 O-O 8. Bd3 Re8 9. Ne2 c5 10. dxc5 Nbd7 11. O-O Nxc5 12. Bc2 Bd7 13.
Nf4 Bb5 14. Re1 Rc8 15. Bb3 Nxb3 16. axb3 Qb6 17. Bb2 Rxe3 18. Kh1
Rxe1+ 19. Qxe1 Re8 20. Qd2 Bc6 21. b4 Qe3 22. Qxe3 Rxe3 23. h3 g5 24.
c4 gxf4 25. Bxf6 dxc4 26. Rxa7 h6 27. Ra8+ Kh7 28. h4 Kg6 29. Bd4 Rb3
30. Rg8+ Kf5 31. Rh8 c3 32. Rxh6 c2 33. Rf6#

Chess game

[Event "Utah Open"]
[Site "University of Utah"]
[Date "2011.10.30"]
[Round "5"]
[White "John Coffey 1975"]
[Black "Craig Hughes 1673"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A51"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e5 3. dxe5 Ne4 4. Nf3 d6 5. Nbd2 Nc5 6. Nb3 Nc6 7.
Nxc5 dxc5 8. Qxd8+ Nxd8 9. Bf4 Ne6 10. e3 b6 11. O-O-O Bb7 12. Be2 g6
13. Rd2 Nxf4 14. exf4 Bh6 15. g3 g5 16. Rhd1 gxf4 17. g4 Bc6 18. h4
Bg7 19. e6 h6 20. exf7+ Kxf7 21. Ne1 Bd4 22. Bf3 Bxf3 23. Nxf3 Bf6 24.
Rd7+ Ke6 25. Rxc7 Rhc8 26. Rcd7 Be7 27. R7d5 Re8 28. Re1+ Kf7 29. Rf5+
Kg7 30. Rfe5 Kf7 31. Kc2 Bd6 32. Rxe8 Rxe8 33. Rxe8 Kxe8 34. Kd3 Ke7
35. Ke4 Ke6 36. b3 Bc7 37. Ne1 Be5 38. Nd3 Bd4 39. Nxf4+ Kf7 40. f3 a6
41. Nd5 b5 42. cxb5 axb5 43. a4 bxa4 44. bxa4 Bf2 45. a5 Bxh4 46. a6
1-0

Sent from my iPhone

Bogo Indian

[Event "Utah Open"]
[Site "University of Utah"]
[Date "2011.10.30"]
[Round "4"]
[White "David Vasquez 1922"]
[Black "John Coffey 1975"]
[Result "1/2 - 1/2"]
[ECO "E11"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Bb4+ 4. Bd2 Qe7 5. g3 b6 6. Bg2 Bb7 7. O-O
O-O 8. Nc3 Bxc3 9. Bxc3 Ne4 10. Qc2 Nxc3 11. Qxc3 d6 12. Rfd1 Nd7 13.
Rd2 Nf6 14. Qb3 Ne4 15. Rdd1 f5 16. Nd2 Nxd2 17. Rxd2 Bxg2 18. Kxg2 c5
19. Rad1 Rad8 20. dxc5 dxc5 21. Qc2 g6 1/2 - 1/2

Chess game

[Event "Utah Open"]
[Site "University of Utah"]
[Date "2011.10.29"]
[Round "2"]
[White "John Coffey 1970"]
[Black "Jamie Olsen Mills 1612"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A52"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e5 3. dxe5 Ng4 4. Bf4 Nc6 5. Nf3 Bb4+ 6. Nc3 Qe7 7.
Qb3 Bc5 8. e3 Ngxe5 9. Nxe5 Nxe5 10. Nd5 Qd6 11. Qc3 f6 12. O-O-O O-O
13. b4 c6 14. bxc5 Qxc5 15. Qb4 Qxb4 16. Nxb4 Ng4 17. Rd2 a5 18. Nd3
f5 19. Ne5 Nf6 20. Bd3 d5 21. Rb2 Kh8 22. Rd1 dxc4 23. Bxc4 b5 24. Bd3
Be6 25. Nxc6 Rac8 26. Rc2 b4 27. Ba6 b3 28. axb3 Bxb3 29. Bxc8 Bxc2
30. Kxc2 Rxc8 31. Rd8+ Rxd8 32. Nxd8 Kg8 33. Nc6 a4 34. Ne7+ 1-0

Bobby Fischer - Documentary Part 1 of 5

Check out this video on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y2dL-TdHRBE&feature=youtube_gdata_player

A great opening for beating sub-2000 players

Check out this video on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOZLHeKWhTQ&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Karpov on Fischer Game 3 match with Spasky.

Check out this video on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwYiVYRPLr0&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Bobby Fischer travelling from Japan to Iceland 2/3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XnDiFNjSaw&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Traps in the Englund Gambit (1.d4 e5?!)

Check out this video on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FO2cIlD9Rs&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Salt Lake City teen sets wheelchair wheelie record | The Salt Lake Tribune

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/52695549-78/record-wheelchair-team-mcintosh.html.csp

Eliza also competes in Utah chess tournaments.

Awards Ceremony Utah State Team Championship

Me at the team championship, far left back to camera. :-)

Handy Chess Online

Check out this application:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/handy-chess-online/id447193543?mt=8

Chess game

>> [Event "WVCC Quick"]
>> [Site "Coffee Club"]
>> [Date "2011.10.01"]
>> [Round "1"]
>> [White "David Catalini 1780"]
>> [Black "John Coffey 2014"]
>> [Result "0-1"]
>> [ECO "E11"]
>>
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 c5 4. dxc5 dxe4 5. Bb5+ Bd7 6. Bxd7+ Qxd7 7.
Qe2 f5 8. Nb3 Na6 9. Be3 Rc8 10. Rd1 Qc7 11. Qc4 Nxc5 12. Nxc5 Bxc5
13. Qxe6+ Ne7 14. Bxc5 Qxc5 15. c3 b5 16. Rd2 Rc6 0-1 eventually

Chess game

[Event "WVCC Quick"]
[Site "Coffee Club"]
[Date "2011.10.01"]
[Round "2"]
[White "John Coffey 2014"]
[Black "Shahram Nazarinia 1820"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E10"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. Bg5 O-O 6. Qb3 Be7 7. e3 c6
8. Rc1 Nbd7 9. Bd3 h6 10. Bh4 dxc4 11. Bxc4 b5 12. Bd3 a5 13. Ne4 Bb7
14. Nxf6+ Bxf6 15. Bxf6 Nxf6 16. O-O a4 17. Qc2 Rc8 18. Ne5 Qb6 19. f4
Rfd8 20. f5 Nd5 21. fxe6 f6 22. Bh7+ Kf8 23. Qg6 Rc7 24. Nd7+ Rcxd7
25. exd7 Rxd7 26. Qg3 Ba8 27. Rc5 Qc7 28. Qf3 Qd6 29. Be4 Ne7 30. Qf4
Qe6 31. Bf3 Kf7 32. Bg4 f5 33. Bxf5 Nxf5 34. Qxf5+ Qxf5 35. Rfxf5+ Kg6
36. Rf8 Bb7 37. Kf2 Re7 38. Rb8 Kf6 39. e4 Ke6 40. Re5+ 1-0

Chess game

[Event "WVCC Quick"]
[Site "Coffee Club"]
[Date "2011.10.01"]
[Round "3"]
[White "David Vasquez 1930"]
[Black "John Coffey 2014"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E11"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Bb4+ 4. Bd2 Qe7 5. g3 Bxd2+ 6. Qxd2 b6 7.
Bg2 Bb7 8. O-O c5 9. Nc3 cxd4 10. Nxd4 Bxg2 11. Kxg2 Qc5 12. b3 d5
1/2-1/2

Utah Team Championship. Damian Nash, state champion, on far right.

Utah Team Championship. Kayden Troff on right.

Utah Team Championship

Chess game

[Event "Utah Team Championship"]
[Site "Salt Lake City"]
[Date "2011.09.24"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Damian Nash 2034"]
[Black "John Coffey 1962"]
[Result "1/2-1/12"]
[ECO ""]

1. Nc3 d5 2. e4 d4 3. Nce2 e5 4. d3 c5 5. g3 Nc6 6. Bg2 Bd6 7. a3 Nge7
8. f4 exf4 9. Bxf4 Ng6 10. Nf3 Nxf4 11. gxf4 Be6 12. Qd2 O-O 13. f5
Bd7 14. h4 Qc7 15. h5 Bg3+ 16. Kf1 h6 17. Nxg3 Qxg3 18. Rh3 Qd6 19.
Kf2 Ne5 20. Rg3 Nxf3 21. Bxf3 Kh7 22. Rag1 Rg8 23. Ke1 f6 24. Qg2 Qe7
25. Kd1 Bc6 26. Rg6 Rae8 27. Qd2 Qf7 28. b3 Re5 1/2-1/12 eventually.

Chess game

[Event "Utah Team Championship"]
[Site "Salt Lake City"]
[Date "2011.09.24"]
[Round "4"]
[White "John Coffey 1962"]
[Black "Tim Stackland 1800"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A48"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. c4 Bg7 4. Nc3 d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. e4 Nxc3 7.
bxc3 c5 8. Bc4 Nc6 9. Be3 O-O 10. O-O Bg4 11. Rb1 cxd4 12. cxd4 Qc7
13. Qc1 Bxf3 14. gxf3 e6 15. Bf4 e5 16. dxe5 Bxe5 17. Bxe5 Nxe5 18.
Be2 Rfc8 19. f4 Nc4 20. Rd1 Nb6 21. Bg4 Qxc1 22. Rbxc1 Rxc1 23. Rxc1
Rd8 24. Rd1 Rxd1+ 25. Bxd1 Nc8 26. f3 Nd6 27. Kf2 Kf8 28. Ke3 Ke7 29.
Kd4 f6 30. Bc2 h6 31. a4 b5 32. e5 fxe5+ 33. fxe5 Nc4 34. axb5 Na3 35.
Bd3 Ke6 36. f4 g5 37. fxg5 hxg5 38. h3 Ke7 39. Kd5 Kd7 40. e6+ Ke7 41.
Ke5 Ke8 42. Kd6 1-0

This is interesting: My chess record.

http://main.uschess.org/datapage/gamestats.php?memid=11080847

Chess game

[Event "Utah Team Championship"]
[Site "Salt Lake City"]
[Date "2011.09.24"]
[Round "4"]
[White "John Coffey"]
[Black "Tim Stackland 1800"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A48"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. c4 Bg7 4. Nc3 d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. e4 Nxc3 7.
bxc3 c5 8. Bc4 O-O 9. O-O Nc6 10. Be3 Bg4 11. Rb1 cxd4 12. cxd4 Qc7
13. Qc1 Bxf3 14. gxf3 e6 15. Bf4 e5 16. dxe5 Bxe5 17. Bxe5 Nxe5 18.
Be2 Rfc8 19. f4 Nc4 20. Rd1 Nb6 21. Bg4 Qxc1 22. Rbxc1 Rxc1 23. Rxc1
Rd8 24. Rd1 Rxd1+ 25. Bxd1 Nc8 26. f3 Nd6 27. Kf2 Kf8 28. Ke3 Ke7 29.
Kd4 f6 30. Bc2 h6 31. a4 b5 32. e5 fxe5+ 33. fxe5 Nc4 34. axb5 Na3 35.
Bd3 Ke6 36. f4 g5 37. fxg5 hxg5 38. h3 Ke7 39. Kd5 Kd7 40. e6+ Ke7 41.
Ke5 Ke8 42. Kd6 1-0

Re: Xtable Louisville Thursday

Thanks.   (-:

I think that a combination of Roman videos, including memorizing some of the games that he presents, and more consistency in my tactics study that I previously neglected have improved my game.  

One problem that I have had as of late is my ability to analyze.   This may or may not be related to my vision being slightly off due to a cataract that will eventually have to be operated on.  The cataract causes my prescription to change rapidly where I might need new glasses every few months.  

I am so confident in my ability to spot shallow tactics almost instantly that I sometimes would fail to analyze tactics in a position unless I thought there was reason to do so.  I don't know if this is mental laziness or other factors like vision, discipline, or age.  One thing that has happened is that I make myself play more positional openings, so I devote more mental resources to positional ideas.  It becomes tricky to balance position and tactics.  

The expert that I beat in Louisville played an offbeat aggressive open game.  I thought that he gave me a positional advantage, so I tried to maximize that and I won without much difficulty.  I am not sure if my scoresheet is correct, but I may have missed an obvious tactic (but low on time) which concerns me. 

In the final game I had a much better position in a French against a super strong A player, but couldn't find the win as I got low on time.  I opted for the draw, but I was really proud of the game that I played. 

I think that if I more often practice analyzing or longer games that I can consistently play at the expert level.  

On Sep 10, 2011, at 11:27 <granthodson> wrote:

John,

At this rate you've got a good chance of becoming our next state champion.

Louisville G/30

Played 3 games in top section Louisville g/30.  Was losing all 3 against all 1800's but got two draws and a win.  First round draw was against a 14 year old Indian kid who beat an Expert in round 2.   Meijer's is also a pretty noisy environment.  

Also was a bit jet lagged and groggy today.  Went to two Reunions in two days which were exercises in gluttony.  People always bring too much food.  BBQ ribs and chicken today.  

The most interesting game by far is the one where I got my queen trapped and  still won with passed pawns.   It is not without tactical errors.  I played move 40 Bxd5! with 5 seconds remaining.  

[Event "Louisville Meijer's g/30"]

[Date "2011.09.05"]

[Round "3"]

[White "Cabav, Gelvic"]

[Black "Coffey, John"]

[Result "0-1"]

[ECO "A02"]

[WhiteElo "1810"]

[BlackElo "1948"]

[PlyCount "86"]

1. f4 c5 2. e3 g6 3. b3 Bg7 4. Nc3 Nc6 5. Bb2 d6 6. Nf3 e6 7. Bd3 Nge7 8. O-O

O-O 9. Qe1 Nb4 10. Rb1 Bd7 11. a3 Nxd3 12. cxd3 Qb6 13. Ne4 f5 14. Ng3 Bxb2 15.

Rxb2 Qa6 16. Qb1 Bb5 17. Ne1 Qxa3 18. b4 a6 19. Nc2 Qxd3 20. Rb3 Qd5 21. Rf2

Bc6 22. Na3 b5 23. Rd3 cxb4 24. Rxd5 Nxd5 25. Nc2 a5 26. Ne2 e5 27. d4 e4 28.

Qb2 Nb6 29. Nc1 Nc4 30. Qb1 Bd5 31. Nb3 a4 32. Nd2 b3 33. Nb4 Nxd2 34. Rxd2 Bc4

35. d5 a3 36. Rd4 a2 37. Nxa2 bxa2 38. Qa1 Rfb8 39. Rd1 b4 40. Qf6 Bxd5! 41.

Qxd6 Bf7 42. Qe5 b3 43. Kf2 b2 0-1

Sent from my iPhone

Chess game

[Event "Quick Chess Tournament"]
[Site "Coffee Club. Salt Lake City"]
[Date "2011.08.20"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Coffey, John"]
[Black "Balter, Ben "]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A40"]

1. d4 e5 2. dxe5 Nc6 3. Nf3 Nge7 4. e4 Ng6 5. Qd5 Qe7 6. Bg5 Qb4+ 7.
Nbd2 Qxb2 8. Rb1 Qxc2 9. Bc4 Ncxe5 10. Nxe5 Nxe5 11. Qxe5+ 1-0

Sent from my iPhone

Chess game

[Event "Quick Chess Tournament"]
[Site "Coffee Club. Salt Lake City"]
[Date "2011.08.20"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Hodson, Grant 1650"]
[Black "Coffey John 2012"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A05"]

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 b6 4. g3 Bb7 5. Bg2 Bb4 6. O-O d6 7. Qa4+
Nc6 8. Nd4 Bxc3 9. Bxc6+ Ke7 10. bxc3 Qc8 11. d3 h6 12. e4 e5 13. Nf5+
Kf8 14. d4 Rb8 15. dxe5 dxe5 16. Ba3+ 1-0

Sent from my iPhone

Chess game

[Event "Quick Chess Tournament"]
[Site "Coffee Club. Salt Lake City"]
[Date "2011.08.20"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Coffey John 2012"]
[Black "Case Aaron 1500"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A50"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 d5 3. cxd5 Nxd5 4. e4 Nf6 5. Bd3 e6 6. Nc3 c6 7. Nf3
Be7 8. O-O O-O 9. Bg5 Nbd7 10. e5 Nd5 11. Bxe7 Nxe7 12. Qc2 g6 13. b4
Nb6 14. Rac1 Nbd5 15. a3 a5 16. Rb1 Bd7 17. Ne4 Qc7 18. Rfd1 axb4 19.
axb4 Ra3 20. Qd2 Rfa8 21. Qh6 Nf5 22. Nf6+ Nxf6 23. Bxf5 Nh5 24. Ng5
Ng7 25. Qxh7+ Kf8 26. Qh8+ Ke7 27. Qxg7 exf5 28. Qxf7+ Kd8 29. Qf8+
Be8 30. Ne6+ Kd7 31. Nxc7 Kxc7 32. Qe7+ Bd7 33. e6 1-0

Sent from my iPhone

Chess game

[Event "Quick Tournament"]
[Site "Coffee Club"]
[Date "2011.08.13"]
[Round "1"]
[White "John Coffey"]
[Black "Shaham Nazarinia"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A52"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e5 3. dxe5 Ng4 4. Bf4 Nc6 5. Nf3 Bb4+ 6. Nc3 Qe7 7.
Qb3 Na5 8. Qc2 Nxc4 9. a3 Ba5 10. b4 Bb6 11. e3 Ngxe5 12. Bxc4 Nxc4
13. Nd5 Qe6 14. Qxc4 c6 15. Nxb6 axb6 16. Qxe6+ fxe6 17. Bd6 h5 18. h4
Rh6 19. Ng5 Rg6 20. f4 c5 21. b5 Ra4 22. Ke2 e5 23. fxe5 Rg4 24. Rhf1
Rxd6 25. exd6 Rxg2+ 26. Rf2 1-0

Sent from my iPhone

Fwd: Won Quick Tournament

Sent from my iPhone

Begin forwarded message:

From: John Coffey <john2001plus@gmail.com>
Date: August 6, 2011 6:04:52 PM MDT
To: John Coffey <john2001plus@gmail.com>
Subject: Won Quick Tournament

[Event "Quick Tournament"]
[Site "Salt Lake Community College"]
[Date "Aug 6, 2011"]
[Round "3"]
[White "John Coffey"]
[Black "Alex Gustafsson"]
[Result "1-0"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. c4 b6 4. a3 Be7 5. Nc3 d5 6. cxd5 exd5 7. Bg5 h6 8. Bxf6
Bxf6 9. e3 O-O 10. Rc1 Ba6 11. Bxa6 Nxa6 12. Qb3 c5 13. Nxd5 cxd4 14. Nxf6+
Qxf6 15. Nxd4 Nc5 16. Qc2 Rfe8 17. O-O Ne4 18. Qc6 Qg5 19. Qb5 Re5 20. Qc6 Ree8
21. Qb5 Re5 22. Qd7 Re7 23. Rc8+ Kh7 24. Qd8 Rxc8 25. Qxc8 Qc5 26. Rc1 Qxc8 27.
Rxc8 Nd6 28. Rc6 Rd7 29. f3 f5 30. Kf2 g6 31. Ke2 Kg7 32. a4 h5 33. b3 Nb7 34.
b4 Kf7 35. Rc8 Nd8 36. Nc6 Nxc6 37. Rxc6 Kg7 38. h4 Kf7 39. e4 fxe4 40. fxe4
Rd4 41. Ke3 Rxb4 42. Rc7+ Ke6 43. Rxa7 Rb1 44. Ra6 Kd7 45. Ra7+ Ke6 46. Rb7 Rb2
47. g3 Rb3+ 48. Kf4 Rb1 49. Kg5 Kd6 50. Kxg6 Ke5 51. Kxh5 Kxe4 52. g4 Kf4 53.
g5 Ra1 54. Rxb6 Rxa4 55. Rf6+ Kg3 56. g6 Ra5+ 57. Kh6 Kxh4 58. Rf4+ Kg3 59. Rc4
1-0. Final 20 moves are approximate since I had to pull the game from memory.    This should put me over 2000 Quick Rating.




Sent from my iPhone

[Event "Quick Tornament"]
[Site "Salt Lake Community College "]
[Date "Aug 6, 2011"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Greg Lee"]
[Black "John Coffey"]
[Result "0-1"]

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. d4 e6 3. Bf4 c5 4. e3 cxd4 5. Nxd4?? e5 6. Bg5 exd4 7.
Qxd4 Nc6?? (Qa5) 8.Bxf6 Qxf6 9. Qxf6 gxf6
0-1 eventually

Think and Play Like a GM, 1/9

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_CAAgI-mz4&feature=related

Chess game

[Event "Quick Tournamen"]
[Site "Salt Lake Community College"]
[Date "2011.06.11"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Chuck 1618"]
[Black "Coffey 1954"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A46"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. e3 c5 4. c4 e6 5. cxd5 exd5 6. Nc3 Nc6 7. Be2
Bd6 8. O-O O-O 9. a3 cxd4 10. Nxd4 Nxd4 11. exd4 Bf5 12. Bd3 Qd7 13.
Bg5 Ne4 14. Be3 Nxc3 15. bxc3 Rac8 16. Bxf5 Qxf5 17. Qb3 b6 18. a4 Qd3
19. Rfc1 Qc4 20. Qb5 Rc7 21. g3 Rfc8 22. Bd2 h6 23. Qxc4 Rxc4 24. a5
b5 25. a6 b4 26. Ra5 bxc3 27. Be3 c2 28. Rxd5 Ba3 29. Rd7 Bxc1 30.
Bxc1 Ra4 0-1. Some of black's moves could have been better.

French

Budapest

Play online chess

Click here for the continuation!

Chess game

[Event "Quick Tournament"]
[Site "Target"]
[Date "2011.05.07"]
[Round "2"]
[White IsaacBalter"]
[Black "John Coffey"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO ""]

1. Nc3 d5 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nf3 c5 4. e3 Bg4 5. Be2 e6 6. h3 Bxf3 7. Bb5+
Nc6 8. Qxf3 cxd4 9. exd4 Bb4 10. Bg5 O-O 11. a3 Nxd4 12. Qd3 Bxc3+ 13.
bxc3 Nxb5 14. Qxb5 Qd7 15. Qd3 Ne4 16. Bd2 Qc7 17. f3 Qg3+ 18. Ke2
Qxg2+ 19. Ke3 Qf2+ 20. Kf4 Qxd2+ 21. Qxd2 Nxd2 22. Rh2 e5+ 23. Kxe5
Nxf3+ 24. Kf4 Nxh2 25. Kg3 Rac8 26. Kxh2 Rxc3 27. Rd1 Re8 28. Rxd5
Re2+ 29. Kg1 g6 30. Kf1 Rcxc2 31. h4 Rf2+ 32. Ke1 Rce2+ 33. Kd1 Ra2
34. h5 Rh2 0-1

Bogo Indian

Play online chess

Chess Metrics

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chessmetrics

Queen to Play

http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110504/REVIEWS/110509997

Chess game

[Event "Speed tournament"]
[Site ""]
[Date "2011.04.30"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Chuck"]
[Black "John Coffey"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A06"]

1. Nf3 d5 2. e3 c5 3. d4 Nf6 4. c4 e6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. cxd5 exd5 7. Be2
Bd6 8. O-O O-O 9. a3 Ne4 10. Qc2 cxd4 11. Nxe4 dxe4 12. Qxe4 Re8 13.
Qc2 Bg4 14. Rd1 Rc8 15. Qd3 Bc5 16. b4 Bb6 17. exd4 Bxf3 18. Bxf3 Bxd4
19. Rb1 Re1+ 20. Rxe1 Bxf2+ 21. Kxf2 Qxd3 22. Bb2 Qc2+ 23. Kg3 Rd8 0-1
eventually

Sent from my iPhone

Chess game

[Event "Quick Chess"]
[Site "Salt Lake Community College"]
[Date "2011.04.16"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Ed Hartley"]
[Black "John Coffey"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C11"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. Be3
cxd4 8. Nxd4 Bc5 9. Qd2 O-O 10. Nce2 Qb6 11. c3 Nxd4 12. Bxd4 f6 13.
O-O-O fxe5 14. Bxc5 Qxc5 15. fxe5 Nxe5 16. Nd4 Ng4 17. Re1 e5 18. Nb3
Qb6?!?! (I was trying to give up a pawn for activity.) 19. Be2? Nf6
20. Rhf1 Be6 21. Qg5 Ne4 (ditto) 22. Qxe5 Qe3+ 23. Kb1 Nd2+ 0-1

Sent from my iPhone

chess game

[Event "Quick tournament"]
[Site "Salt Lake Community College"]
[Date "2011.03.05"]
[Round "1"]
[White "John Coffey"]
[Black "Grant Hodson"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D30"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 c6 5. Bg5 Nbd7 6. Rc1 Qa5 7. cxd5
Nxd5 8. Qb3 Bb4 9. e4 Nxc3 10. bxc3 Ba3 11. Rb1 1-0 eventually. I
don't have the rest of the game.

Chess game

[Event "Quick Tournament"]
[Site "Salt Lake Community College"]
[Date "2011.03.05"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Val Bradshaw"]
[Black "John Coffey"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E20"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Bd2 b6 5. Nf3 Bb7 6. a3 Bxc3 7. Bxc3
Ne4 8. e3 Nxc3 9. bxc3 d6 10. Be2 Nd7 11. O-O O-O 12. Qc2 f5 13. d5 e5
14. g3 Qf6 15. Rab1 Nc5 16. Rfd1 Rae8 17. a4 Bc8 18. Nd2 f4 19. Ne4
Qg6 20. Bd3 Nxd3 21. Qxd3 f3 22. Nxd6 Qxd3 23. Rxd3 cxd6 24. e4 Ba6
0-1 eventually. I am unsure about the accuracy of white's moves
since I pulled the game from memory.
Sent from my iPhone

Chess game

[Event "Quick Tournament"]
[Site "Salt Lake Community College"]
[Date "2011.03.05"]
[Round "3"]
[White "John Coffey"]
[Black "NADEW Haile"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A53"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 d6 3. Nc3 g6 4. e4 Bg7 5. h3 O-O 6. Nf3 e5 7. Be3 Nc6
8. d5 Ne7 9. Bd3 Nd7 10. Qd2 f5 11. Bh6 Nc5 12. Bc2 fxe4 13. Bxg7 Kxg7
14. Nxe4 Nxe4 15. Bxe4 Rf4 16. Qd3 a6 17. O-O Qf8 18. Rac1 Bd7 19.
Rfe1 b6 20. Qc3 a5 21. Nxe5 dxe5 22. Qxe5+ Qf6 23. Qxc7 Rf8 (Bh3!?)
24. Qxd7 Rf7 25. Qe6 (b4!?) Qxb2 26. Rc2 Qd4 27. Bf3 R4f6 28. Qe5 Qc5
29. Qe3 Qb4 1-0 eventually.

In Defense of Speed Chess

There might be some debate, and even question in my mind, as to what constitutes “chess skill.”  The two areas of the game that I have studied the most are tactics and endgames, especially king and pawn endings, and consequently I can pick up on ideas in these areas very quickly.   These two areas are “intuitive” for me in the sense that they are more automatic.  Someone who spends a couple minutes thinking about their move might make the same move that I would, but for some of these positions I would only need a few seconds.
 
From my perspective, a speed game is more of a measure of a person’s chess skill because it shows what they know intuitively.   From my perspective, someone who is good at analyzing can compensate for less intuition in a longer game.   I see the flip side argument to this, where you could say that in a longer game, chess skill consists of a person’s intuition and knowledge combined with an ability to analyze the game well.
 
Maybe I take this position because I get my best results at faster time controls.
 
Speed chess may make some people more impulsive, but it also helps for tournament time scrambles.  I think that people who don’t play speed chess negatively impact their tournament chess results.
 
There is also the enjoyment factor.  Given the choice between more rounds at a faster time control or fewer rounds with a longer time control, I think that I would have much more fun with the faster time control.
 
I think that about 4 weeks ago I was playing my best chess that I ever played.  Then I got sick, so now I feel that my chess skill is a little off.
 
Best wishes,
John Coffey 


Sent from my iPhone

I find these studies to be an intellectual curiosity

http://www.entertainmentjourney.com/g0211.htm
http://www.entertainmentjourney.com/g0212.htm

I think that I found a winning move here ...

Chess Tactics #2

Check out this video on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0f3z21ciaKg&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Chess Tactics #1

Check out this video on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FUQDCXDnoQ&feature=youtube_gdata_player

iPod/iPhone chess tactics problems

I saw an app for $2.99 that had 1200 tactics problems.   I can no longer find this app.  I am thinking that it was removed from the app store.  I also read online about an app with the same description, but I could not find the app name in the app store.

 

I am thinking of paying $7.99 for the full shredder to get the extra 1100 tactics problems, so that I can have them on my trip.

John Coffey

 

Great Quote

Chess is an example of something that is just beyond human mental abilities, but not so far beyond them that we cannot make a decent stab at it. We’re very good at language, no better than rats at mazes, and somewhere in between at chess.

– Noam Chomsky

The Kings of iPhone Chess

http://blog.chess.com/DeepGreene/the-kings-of-iphone-chess

Chess Lessons

Message:

Hi John: I live in Brigham City and was wondering if you ever give chess lessons? Let me know. Thanks, Kevin.

I give chess lessons at my club (Coffee Club, 4879 South Redwood road, Salt Lake City, Utah), one on one, for free, on Tuesday and Thursday nights, usually for just 15 minutes at a time.  I want to spend most of my time playing.

My blog page at http://www.entertainmentjourney.com has a link to my free online chess lessons at http://www.entertainmentjourney.com/index1.htm

Best wishes,

John Coffey

More GameKnot chess puzzles

This problem only took me about 20 seconds to solve ...

It took me about 30 seconds to solve this one ...
http://gameknot.com/chess-puzzle.pl?pz=4115

This one was about a minute.  It seemed impossible at first.
http://gameknot.com/chess-puzzle.pl?pz=2473

This one took a little over a minute.  I failed to get the main idea at first ...
http://gameknot.com/chess-puzzle.pl?pz=4114

Chess game

 [Event "Quick Tournament"]
 [Site "Salt Lake Community College"]
 [Date "2010.11.13"]
 [Round "1"]
[White "John Coffey 1930"]
 [Black "Charles Rasmussen 1640"]
 [Result "1-0"]
 [ECO "D38"]

 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 Bb4 5. cxd5 exd5 6. Qb3 Bxc3+ 7.
 bxc3 h6 8. Ba3 c6 9. e3 Qb6 10. Rb1 Nbd7 11. Bd3 Qxb3 12. Rxb3 Nb6 13. O-O Be6 14. Rfb1 Kd8 15. Ne5 Kc7 16. Bc5 Rhb8 17. Ra3 Nc8 18. c4 b6
 19. Bf8 Ne8 20. cxd5 Bxd5 21. e4 Be6 22. d5 cxd5 23. Rc1+ Kd8 24. Nc6+
 Kd7 25. Bb5 1-0

 This is a good one.   Click here for diagrams and analysis.
 Sent from my iPhone

Chess Game

[Event "Quick Tournament"]
[Site "Salt Lake Community College"]
[Date "2010.11.13"]
[Round "2"]
[White "David Catalini ~1700 "]
[Black "John Coffey 1930]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C00"]

1. e4 e6 2. c3 d5 3. e5 c5 4. Na3 Nc6 5. Bb5 Bd7 6. Bxc6 Bxc6 7. Ne2
Qg5 8. O-O Qxe5 (d4!) 9. d4 Qh5 10. Qd3 Bd6 11. Bf4 Bxf4 12. Nxf4 Qg4
13. Qe3 cxd4 14. Qxd4 Nf6 15. Rae1 O-O 16. Re3 Qf5 17. f3 Nd7 18. Nd3
Rfe8 19. Ne5 Nxe5 20. Rxe5 Qf6 21. f4 Qg6 22. Rf3 f5 23. Rg3 Qf7 24.
Nc2 Re7 25. Qf2 Rc8 26. Nd4 Ba4 27. Rge3 Rce8 28. Qh4 Bd7 29. Nxf5 Kf8
30. Qxh7 Bb5 31. Qh8+ Qg8 32. Qxg8+ Kxg8 33. Nxe7+ Rxe7 34. Rxe6 Rf7
1/2-1/2 because black eventually swindled a stalemate. The score
toward the end is not totally accurate. It is as close as I can get.

Sent from my iPhone

Chess Game

[Event "Quick Tournament"]
[Site "Salt Lake Community College"]
[Date "2010.11.13"]
[Round "3"]
[White "John Coffey 1930"]
[Black "Vishwa Srinivasan 1332"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E71"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. h3 O-O 6. Nf3 e5 7. dxe5
dxe5 8. Qxd8 Rxd8 9. Bg5 Rd6 10. Nb5 Rc6 11. Nxe5 Rc5 12. O-O-O Rxe5
13. Rd8+ Re8 14. Bxf6 Rxd8 15. Bxd8 Nc6 16. Bxc7 Be6 17. Be2 Bh6+ 18.
Kb1 Rc8 19. Bg3 a6 20. Nd6 Rc7 21. Nf5 gxf5 22. Bxc7 fxe4 23. b3 e3
24. fxe3 Bxe3 25. Bg4 f5 26. Re1 fxg4 27. hxg4 Bxg4 28. Rxe3 Nd4 29.
Re8+ Kf7 30. Rb8 Bf5+ 31. Kb2 1-0

Sent from my iPhone

Chess game

[Event "Utah Championship"]
[Site ""]
[Date "2010.11.06"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Harold Stevens 2267"]
[Black "John Coffey 1905"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C02"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. Qg4 cxd4 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. h4 h5 7. Qg3 Nh6
8. Bd3 Nf5 9. Bxf5 exf5 10. a3 Be6 11. O-O Rc8 12. b4 a5 13. b5 Na7
14. Nxd4 Qd7 15. a4 g6 16. Be3 Bc5 17. Nb3 Bxe3 18. Qxe3 Ra8 19. N1d2
Nc8 20. Nc5 Qc7 21. Nf3 b6 22. Nxe6 fxe6 23. Qg5 Qf7 24. c4 Ne7 25.
Rac1 O-O 26. Qh6 Qh7 27. Qxh7+ Kxh7 28. Ng5+ Kg8 29. Nxe6 Rfc8 30. c5
bxc5 31. Nxc5 Rcb8 32. Nd7 Rb7 33. Nf6+ Kf7 34. Rc5 Ke6 35. f4 Rc8 36.
Rxc8 Nxc8 37. Rc1 Nb6 38. Rc6+ Kf7 39. Kf2 Nxa4 40. Nxd5 Rxb5? 41. e6+
1-0

Sent from my iPhone

Chess game

[Event "Utah Championship"]
[Site ""]
[Date "2010.11.05"]
[Round "1"]
[White "John Coffey 1905"]
[Black "Brenda Ahlemann 1670"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A57"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5 4. cxb5 a6 5. b6 d6 6. Nc3 Nbd7 7. e4 g6
8. Nf3 Bg7 9. Be2 O-O 10. O-O Qxb6 11. Nd2 Bb7 12. Nc4 Qc7 13. Bf4
Rfd8 14. a4 Ne8 15. a5 Rdb8 16. Qc2 Bc8 17. Na4 Ra7 18. Rfc1 Bd4 19.
Nab6 Nef6 20. Ra3 Rab7 21. Rd3 Nxb6 22. Nxb6 Rxb6 23. axb6 Qxb6 24. b3
Qb4 25. Bd2 Qb6 26. Be3 Nxe4 27. Bxd4 cxd4 28. Qc4 Bf5 29. Rxd4 Nxf2
30. Kxf2 Rc8 31. Qxc8+ Bxc8 32. Rxc8+ Kg7 33. Rc4 e5 34. dxe6 fxe6 35.
Rb4 Qc5 36. Kf1 e5 37. Rdc4 Qe3 38. Rc7+ Kf6 39. Bxa6 Qd2 40. Rbb7
Qd1+ 41. Kf2 Qd2+ 42. Be2 e4 43. Rf7+ Kg5 44. Rb5+ d5 45. Rd7?? Qf4+
46. Ke1 Qc1+ 47. Bd1 Qe3+ 48. Kf1 1/2-1/2

Sent from my iPhone

Chess game.

 [Event "Utah Championship"]
 [Site ""]
 [Date "2010.11.06"]
 [Round "2"]
 [White "Steve Hoisington 1887"]
 [Black "John Coffey 1905"]
 [Result "1/2-1/2"]
 [ECO "A46"]

 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. c4 Bb4+ 4. Bd2 Bxd2+ 5. Nbxd2 b6 6. e3 Bb7 7.
 Bd3 O-O 8. O-O d6 9. Qc2 Nbd7 10. Rac1 Qe7 11. Ne4 Nxe4 12. Bxe4 Bxe4
 13. Qxe4 Nf6 14. Qc2 Nd7 15. b4 a5 16. b5 f5 17. Ne1 f4 18. Qe4 fxe3
 19. Qxe3 Qf6 20. Nd3 Rae8 21. c5 e5 22. dxe5 Nxe5 23. Nxe5 Rxe5 24.
 Qb3+ Qf7 25. Qxf7+ Rxf7 26. cxb6 cxb6 27. a4 Rf4 28. Rc6 Rxa4 29. Rxb6
 Rb4 30. Rxd6 Rexb5 31. Ra6 a4 32. g3 Rb6 33. Ra7 Rb7 34. Ra6 R7b6 35.
 Ra7 Rb7 36. Ra6 R7b6 1/2-1/2

 Sent from my iPhone

Want To Be A Chess Master?

http://lascruceschessclub.com/us-chess/2009/want-to-be-a-chess-master/

RE: 12-year-old Utahn #2 chess player in the world (for his age group)

Yes.  I know.  I am on the board of directors of the Utah Chess Association that donated money to help him go to Greece.

I have played him in tournaments a number of times.

From: Witmer, Robert C.

http://www.abc4.com/content/news/slc/story/12-year-old-Utahn-2-chess-player-in-the-world/v8rD-QNpfk6o2x9q5YaQ0Q.cspx

Fire chess engine

On Oct 21, 2010, at 8:53 AM, <granthodson wrote:

John,

Q:  What's this cool new chess program you mentioned that is free?  Do you need to be a programmer to know how to use it?

The Fire chess engine is a separate download from the UCI front end.  I recommend using a commercial program as the front end.   From Fritz you click on "Add UCI engine" and then "Change main engine". 

 If the Fire download is a .zip or .tar file then you might want to download the free 7zip utility to extract the files.  

Best wishes,

John Coffey

Interesting game

Click here for a tricky mate in 3!

Playing a guy in Belgium

I am playing a chess game on itsyourturn.com.  I was able to find a picture of my opponent on the internet.

GEICO - Soccer meets Chess

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ixwKBwfT38&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Re: Chess Rating

From: John 
Subject: Re: Chess Rating

Glicko is enough.   The Glicko weights recent results more based on how infrequently you compete.  

Best wishes,

John Coffey

http://www.entertainmentjourney.com

Sent from my iPhone

Larry wrote:

Do you think the Glicko system is good enough, or could you design a better one?

Chess Rating

From: larry.r.trout@
Date: September 22, 2010 6:50:39 

'The Elo rating system was invented half a century ago by Hungarian-born physicist and chess master Arpad Elo. It is the most famous technique for rating chess players and is used throughout the chess world. It has been applied to many other contests as well, including other board games, sports, and video games.  However, it has never really been demonstrated that the Elo approach to calculating chess ratings is superior.  Elo's formula was derived theoretically, in an era without large amounts of historical data or significant computing power.  With the benefit of powerful computers and large game databases, we can easily investigate approaches that might do better than Elo at predicting chess results.

There are several alternatives to the Elo approach. Professor Mark Glickman developed the Glicko and Glicko-2 systems, which extend the Elo system by introducing additional parameters to represent the reliability and volatility of player ratings.  Ken Thompson uses a linearly weighted average of a player's last 100 results to calculate a weighted performance rating.  Jeff Sonas (who put together this competition) developed Chessmetrics ratings to maximize predictive power. More details are available on the hints page.

We want to see if somebody out there can do even better.  Competitors train their rating systems using a training dataset of over 65,000 recent results for 8,631 top players. Participants then use their method to predict the outcome of a further 7,809 games.'

http://kaggle.com/chess

Halfway point:

'We have just passed the halfway mark of the "Elo vs the Rest of the World" contest, scheduled to end on November 14th. The contest is based upon the premise that a primary purpose of any chess rating system is to accurately assess the current strength of players, and we can measure the accuracy of a rating system by seeing how well the ratings do at predicting players' results in upcoming events. The winner of the contest will be the one whose rating system does the best job at predicting the results of a set of 7,800 games played recently among players rated 2200+.

So far we have had an unprecedented level of participation, with 162 different teams submitting entries to the contest! There is also a very active discussion forum to promote the free flow of ideas, although many teams are still hesitant to share too many details about their approach (especially considering that the winner will receive a copy of Fritz signed by Garry Kasparov, Viswanathan Anand, Anatoly Karpov, and Viktor Korchnoi). Both Chessbase and Kaggle have donated generous prizes, to be awarded to top-performing participants who are willing to share their methodology publicly.

A wide range of approaches have been tried, including almost every known chess rating system as well as other tries involving neural networks, machine learning, data mining, business intelligence tools, and artificial intelligence. In fact over 1,600 different tries have been submitted so far, and we anticipate far more submissions as the competition heats up over the final seven weeks.

The #1 spot is currently held by Portuguese physicist Filipe Maia, who confesses to little knowledge about statistics or chess ratings, but is nevertheless managing to lead the competition! He is also the author of El Turco, the first-ever Portuguese chess engine. Out of the current top ten teams on the leaderboard, seven use variants of the Chessmetrics rating system, two are modified Elo systems, and one is a "home-grown variant of ensemble recursive binary partitioning". That last approach belongs to the #3 team on the public leaderboard, a team known as "Old Dogs With New Tricks". This team is a collaborative effort between Dave Slate and Peter Frey, both prominent leaders in computer chess for many years.

Although the "Old Dogs With New Tricks" team clearly has a lot of chess expertise, and the #2 spot is held by Israeli mathematician and chess player Uri Blass (FIDE rating 2051), the top ten or twenty teams are primarily comprised of mathematicians, data miners, and other scientists having minimal direct experience with chess or chess ratings. This suggests that experts on chess rating theory might still have a lot to learn from experts in other fields, which of course is one of the desired outcomes of this contest. We have attracted interest from around the globe, with the top twenty comprised of participants from Portugal, Israel, USA, Germany, Australia, UK, Singapore, Denmark, and Ecuador.'

http://kaggle.com/blog/2010/09/21/elo-vs-the-rest-of-the-world-at-the-halfway-mark/

Do you think you either have, or could come up with a good rating system?

Chess Engine Controversy

http://www.chessvibes.com/reports/chess-engine-controversy/

Nathan Chen wins national figure skating championship

See the link below.  In chess tournaments going back many years I have played with almost all of the Chen siblings...

John Coffey

                       http://www.goldenskate.com/articles/2010/081510.shtml

 

Chess game

[Event Utah Team""]
[Site "U of U"]
[Date "2010.09.18"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Tim Stacklin 1730 (BYU)"]
[Black "John Coffey 1920 (coffee club A Team) "]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO ""]

1. d3 d5 2. Nd2 e5 3. Ngf3 Nc6 4. e4 Nf6 5. Be2 Bc5 6. c3 O-O 7. b4
Bb6 8. b5 dxe4 9. dxe4 Ng4 10. O-O Ne7 11. h3 Nxf2 12. Rxf2 Ng6 13.
Nc4 Bxf2+ 14. Kxf2 Qe7?? 15. Ba3 Qf6 16. Bxf8 Kxf8 17. Ne3 Nf4 18. Nd5
Nxd5 19. Qxd5 Qb6+ 20. Kf1 f6?? 21. Bc4 1-0

A fine example of how not to play chess.

Utah Team Championship

> [Event "Utah Team"]
> [Site "U of U"]
> [Date "2010.09.18"]
> [Round "1"]
> [White "Isaac Balter (Coffee club B team) "]
> [Black "John Coffey (Coffee Club A Team)"]
> [Result "0-1"]
> [ECO "B23"]
>
> 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. f4 e6 4. Nf3 d5 5. Bb5 Nf6 6. d3 dxe4 7. Bxc6+
> bxc6 8. dxe4 Qxd1+ 9. Kxd1 Be7 10. Ke2 Ba6+ 11. Kf2 O-O 12. Be3 Ng4+ 0-1

Utah Team Championship

> [Event "Utah Team Championship"]
> [Site " U of U"]
> [Date "2010.09.18"]
> [Round "2"]
> [White "John Coffey 1920"]
> [Black "David Vasquez 1906"]
> [Result "1-0"]
> [ECO "C29"]
>
> 1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. f4 d5 4. fxe5 Nxe4 5. d3 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Nc6 7.
> Nf3 d4 8. cxd4 Nxd4 9. c3 Nxf3+ 10. Qxf3 Be7 11. Be2 O-O 12. O-O c6
> 13. d4 Qd5 14. Qg3 Rd8 15. Bg5 Bxg5 16. Qxg5 Be6 17. Rf4 Qa5 18. Qg3
> Qa3 19. Bd3 b5 20. Rh4 g6 21. Rf1 Qxc3 22. Bxg6 Qxg3 23. Bxh7+ Kg7 24.
> hxg3 Bxa2 25. Rg4+ Kxh7 26. Kf2 Be6 27. Rh1# 1-0

I was lucky.