Chess Improvement

Chess Analysis Video: The Larimar of Laramie

April 25th, 2009

Brian Wall once wrote:

Max Euwe played so brilliantly against Alexander Alekhine in 1935 they called one game the Pearl of Zandvoort in Holland.

Chris Peterson beat yet another old man in 19 moves, his third time, in the 2006 Wyoming Open, a game I like to call, The Larimar of Laramie. Larimar is a pretty stone the color of a robin’s egg.

Chris Peterson – My eyes have a dark blue rim around the edge with lighter blue inside that with a green flower looking thing inside that with a brown flower inside.

James Kulbacki was in shock after the game and sat at the board for 2 hours analyzing. Jim had a bit of bad luck in January, he lost his taxi job for parking his car 2 inches too close to a train which nicked his car. No one was hurt but the cab company said- You need to take 6 months off. If you’re still alive, you can come back to work for us.

Jim and Chris and I hung out after the Wyoming Open and saw Mission Impossible 3 with Tom Cruise. Chris was imitating Tom in the parking lot after the movie, spitting out gravel with his fishtailing car. Later Jim and Chris played blitz at the Super-8 Motel in Cheyenne while I eagerly absorbed Kulbacki’s Chess Reviews from 1946-1948. It was great seeing pictures of all my childhood Chess heroes looking so young.
———————————————————————-
[Event "Wyoming Open"]
[Site "Laramie College"]
[Date "2006.05.06"]
[Round "3"]
[White "James Kulbacki"]
[Black "Chris Peterson"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ICCResult "Black resigns"]
[WhiteElo "1880"]
[BlackElo "1668"]
[Opening "Polish (Sokolsky) opening"]
[ECO "A00"]
[NIC "VO.10"]
[Time "17:04:33"]
[TimeControl "35/90 Game/1 5 second delay"]

2006 Wyoming Open
Round 3
35 moves/90 minutes
5 second delay
second time control-irrelevant
White – James Kulbacki 1880
Black – Chris Peterson 1668

What I love about James Kulbacki:

His love of Chess History, he leads a Yahoo group stemming from
www.chessgames.com.
His love of trees, he plants them all over Wyoming.
His love of food, he attends the Chugwater, Wyoming Chili cookout every year.
He is grumpy, sarcastic, judgemental and cantankerous with anyone not a Chessplayer. I wish I could be that way.
Non-Chessplayers make me nervous and jumpy too.
Jim looks like he wants to live in the era of his rating.
—————————————————————————-
What I love about Chris Peterson:
extremely funny.
examples – he claims
1 – he is hobophobic.
2- Brian gets exhausted from snoring.
Very brave Chessplayer. I have to give David Wallace credit here for teaching Chris how to attack. Chris is rising like a rocket over the backs of old men.
I asked Chris if he wasn’t afraid of losing?-
Chris – “Not during the game but after I lose I get afraid of it.”

This reminds me of women who cry after a traumatic experience is all over with. This may explain why old men sometimes play so safe – they have been traumatized by Chess losses thousands of times and can’t take the stress anymore.
—————————————————————————–

1. b4
Orangutan, Polish or Sokolsky’s Opening.
I lost to this in the 2005 HB Foundation Minnesota Tournament against a 2300. Mark Sherbring used to play this a lot, nowadays in Colorado J.C. MacNeiel plays it with both colors.

1 … e5 2. Bb2 Bxb4 3. f4!
Normally something like 3.Bxe5 Nf6 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.Bb2 0-0 6.e3 d5 7.Be2 Bg4 8.0-0 Re8 is played.
The great and powerful James Kulbacki invented this opening and then
found out later it had an obscure name which I can’t recall. The idea is
3 f4 ef 4 B:g7 Qh4+ 5 g3 fg 6 Bg2 gh+ 7 Kf1 hg+ 8 K:g1
with Black maybe a teensy bit better in a complex position.

The Owen’s Defense has the same idea -
1 e4 b6 2 d4 Bb7 3 Bd3 f5 4 ef B:g2 5 Qh5+ g6 6 fg Bg7
7 gh+ Kf8 8 hg(Q)+ K:g8 slightly better for White.

I think 1 e4 b6 2 d4 Bb7 3 Bd3 f5 4 ef B:g2 5 Qh5+ g6
6 fg Bg7 7 gh+ Kf8 8 Nf3!! is even better.

I vaguely recall a Chess Life and Review letter to Larry Evans claiming a White win after, I think 1 e4 b6 2 d4 Bb7 3 Bd3 f5 4 ef B:g2 5 Qh5+ g6 6 fg Bg7 7 gh+ Kf8 8 Nh3 but I don’t see anything after
8 Nh3 B:h1 9 Nf4 Nf6 10 Ng6+ Ke8 11 Qg5 e6= or … Kf7=
Not sure what I am missing here.

3 … Nc6!? 4. fxe5! f6!? 5. exf6! Nxf6!
Chris had great sucess with this idea the same week against Laxar at the Denver Chess Club so …

6. Nf3 O-O!
Black won both games in the database.

7. g3 TN Kulbacki
Theoretical Novelty by Kulbacki. The computers don’t like Jim’s opening. Fritz 8 prefers 7 e3 and 8 Be2 here. In human terms Chris is playing a Staunton Gambit Reversed and Jim is playing the Leningrad Dutch Reversed with a b4 pawn sac thrown in. Weird to say the least but Jim loves to surprise young whippersnappers with ancient Chess remedies, underscoring the teen player’s complete lack of Chess history.

The only problem is Chris has a great position with many good moves each turn.

7 … Ng4
In the similar Laxar-Peterson game, I had chided Chris in my notes for
not playing the Fishing Pole move … Ng4!! which was best at several
junctures. I smiled when he played this thinking – “He’s learning”, but thought maybe he was overdoing it – surely 7 … d5 is better first.

Fritz gives the best list as 7 … d5!!!, … Bc5!!! and … Ng4!!
Chris swears up and down Shredder likes 7 … Ng4 best.
Shredder says whatever Chris Wallace or David Peterson tells it to.

Chris did provide me with the most amazing, least guessable reason ever given for a Chess move. This goes way beyond the Reserve Section Mystery concept.

My Chessboard was missing from Table 2 when I arrived and I found out later David Wallace had given it to Chris to play Kulbacki. The white squares on my board are signed by Chessplayers as different as Natasha Deakins and Grandmaster Alexander Beliavsky. Chris Peterson had signed his name on the White square g2. Chris liked looking at his autograph and wondered if there was a way for his name to shine all game. Amazingly he actually found a way for his great name to remain unsoiled the whole game!!

His idea is that 8 Bg2?? sitting on Peterson’s signature is refuted by 8 .. Ne3!! That’s the strangest motivation for a move I’ve heard in 45 years of playing Chess.

Whatever the reason, very few Chessplayers would choose 7 … Ng4
over 7 … d5. It’s all part of the legend of the Larimar of Laramie.

8. c3 Bc5! 9. d4! Qe7!?
The top 6 moves are a fascinating, even mix of moving the c5-bishop and ignoring its plight. Since Peterson’s main goal is Vanity-g2 he picks up on this.

Whatever the reason, very few Chessplayers would choose 7 … Qe7
over 7 … Be7 or … Bb6. It’s all part of the legend of the Larimar of Laramie.

9 … Be7!!!, … Bb6!!, … Qe8!!, … Qe7!!, … Bd6! and … d5?

10. Qd3!
———————————————————————–

If 10 Nbd2 Chris could get an advantage by normal means – 10 Nbd2 Bb6! 11 Qb3+! Kh8! 12 e4! Ne3! 13 Kf2! Qg5!! 14 Ke2! Qh6! 15 c4! Ng4!! Fishing Pole or … N:f1!

10 Nbd2 Bb6 11 Qb3+ Kh8 12 e4 Ne3 13 Kf2 N:f1 14 Rh:f1 d6
15 Kg2 Bg4 16 Rae1 Rae8! or … Na5!

Jim has a better pawn structure in these lines but his King is hard to safety up.

If 10 Nbd2 Chris could try the same sacrifice 10 Nbd2 d5 11 dc Qe3!!, … Q:c5, … Ne3 or … Bf5

10 Nbd2 d5 11 dc Qe3!! 12 Qb3 Qf2+ 13 Kd1 Ne3+ 14 Kc1 Na5!! or … R:f3!

10 Nbd2 d5 11 dc Qe3!! 12 Qb3 Qf2+ 13 Kd1 Ne3+ 14 Kc1 Na5!!
Kulbacki’s Queen has nowhere to go due to 15 Qb5 or b4 or b4 or a3 then 15 … Nac4!! is too strong – 15 … Nac4 locks out the Queen
from the defense and continues the attack with moves like
16 … N:d2 or … Bg4. There is no good way out for Jim.

Kulbacki always looks like he’s ready for a poker game with Doc Holiday.

10 dc R:f3 11 Bg2 Rf7 12 Bd5 Nf2
wins for Chris. 13 Rf1 N:d1! 14 R:f7! Qe5!! 15 Rf5+! Q:d5!
16 R:d5! N:b2 17 Na3 a6, … Rb8, … Na4 or … b6 – two pieces for a rook for Chris should win 13 Rf1 N:d1! 14 B:f7+ … any legal move wins for Chris 13 Rf1 N:d1! 14 B:f7+ Kh8 15 K:d1 Rook and bishop are not enough for the Queen

After 12 … Nf2 almost any White move will be met by 13 … N:d1 or … N:f1 -
if 12 … Nf2 13 B:f7+ Q:f7 14 R:f1 N:d1 15 R:f7 N:b2 16 Rf4
trying to trap the b2 knight fails to many moves like 16 … b5, … g5, … d5 etc.

The basic idea of 9 … Qe7!? is if you take on c5 then I take on f3,
meanwhile, my knight is headed for e3.

Besides 10 Qd3, 10 Nbd2 10 dc or 10 Qb3+ Kh8 11 Nbd2 there is not much else to try – 10 h3 can be met by 10 … R:f3!!, … Bd6!, … Ne3!, … Nh6! or … Bb6

The last decent try is 10 Bh3 d5!!!, … d6!!, … Ne3!, … Nh6 or …R:f3? after 10 Bh3 d5!!! most moves are met by 11 … R:f3 or … Ne3 if 10 Bh3 d5!!! 11 B:g4 B:g4 12 0-0 Chris has huge positional advantages after 12 … Bb6! or 12 … Bd6!! or 12 … Qe3+!!! 13 Kh1 Bd6 14 Bc1 Qe6 Chris has the two bishops, better development and far superior pawn structure.
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10 … d5!!!!

I saw Chris walking around with a secret smile, almost a smirk and knew something was up. Chris – ” I just sacced a piece. ”

Chris could play 10 … Bb6!! like a normal chessplayer but not only does he make a brave decision it turns out to be right. 10 … Bd6! would be slightly better for Chris.

Brian – What made you play 10 … d5!!!!!

Chris – Development.

10 … Bb6 would give Chris a normal advantage but he wants that $10,000 Wyoming brilliancy prize. Whatever the reason, very few Chessplayers would choose 10 … d5!!!!! over 10 … Bb6.
It’s all part of the legend of the Larimar of Laramie.
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Thinking One Can. 1906 later developed into The Little Engine That Could

A little railroad engine was employed about a station yard for such work as it was built for, pulling a few cars on and off the switches. One morning it was waiting for the next call when a long train of freight-cars asked a large engine in the roundhouse to take it over the hill “I can’t; that is too much a pull for me,” said the the great engine built for hard work.

Then the train asked another engine, and another, only to hear excuses and be refused. At last in desperation the train asked the little switch engine to draw it up the grade and down on the other side. “I think I can,” puffed the little locomotive, and put itself in front of the great heavy train.

As is went on the little engine kept bravely puffing faster and faster, “I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.” Then as it near the top of the grade, that had so discouraged the larger engines, it went more slowly, but still kept saying, “I–think–I–can, I–think–I–can.” It reached the top by dint of brave effort and then went on down the grade, congratulating itself, “I thought I could, I thought I could.”

To think of hard things and say, “I can’t” is sure to mean “Nothing done.” To refuse to be daunted and insist on saying, “I think I can,” is to make sure of of being able to say triumphantly by and by, “I thought I could, I thought I could.”
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11. dxc5!!
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Chris is better whatever Kulbacki does – 11 Bc1! or 11 h3! are a little worse than 11 dc.

11 Bc1 Bf5!!!, … Bd6!!, … B:d4!, … Bb4!, Nce5!, … Kh8, … Qe4, … Bb6 or … Rf5?

11 Bc1 Bf5!!! 12 Qb5 Ne3!!!, … B:d4!!, … Bd6!!, … B:b1!!, … Bb6!, … Qe4! , … Bb4!, … Be4! or … Qe8!

11 Bc1 Bf5!!! 12 Qb5 Ne3!!! 13 B:e3 Q:e3
14 Q:c5 Be4!! ( 14 … Qc1+!) 15 Nbd2 R:f3!! ( 15 … B:f3! )
16 N:e4 de with even material but a much more active position for Chris. His basic plan here is … Rf2 and … Raf8

11 h3 Ne3!!, … Bf5! or Nce5!

11 h3 Ne3
12 dc Bf5 13 Qb5 a6!!!, … Ne5!!, … Rae8!!, … Bc2!, … Nc2! and … Bd7

11 h3 Ne3 12 dc Bf5 13 Qb5 a6!!! 14 Q:b7? Na5 15 Qb4 Nc2+
The Queen is trapped. After 11 h3 Ne3 12 dc Bf5 13 Qb5 a6!!! 14 Qb3 Chris has at least 15 wins-

14 … Na5!!!, … Bc2!!!, … Rae8!!!, … Nc2+!!, … Ne5!!,
… Be4!!,… Bd3!!, … Bg6!!, … B:b1, … Rfe8!,
… Bd7!, … Rad8!, … Kh8!, … Qe8!

After 11 h3 Ne3 12 dc Bf5 13 Qb5 a6!!! 14 Qb3 Na5!!!
15 Qa4 Nac4!!!, … Rae8!!!, … Nc2+!!, … Bd3!! and … B:b1!!
are all killers.

If 11 h3 Ne3 12 Bc1 N:f1!! or … R:f3!
12 Bc1 is better than 12 dc because it forces the ravenous octopus on e3 to eat now.
11 h3 Ne3 12 Bc1 N:f1!! 13 K:f1 Bd6!!, … Bf5! or … Qe4!
11 h3 Ne3 12 Bc1 N:f1!! 13 K:f1 Bd6!! 14 Kf2 or g2 Bf5!
11 h3 Ne3 12 Bc1 N:f1!! 13 dc N:g3! 14 Ng5! Nf5!
11 h3 Ne3 12 Bc1 N:f1!! 13 R:f1 Bf5!, … Bd6! or … B:h3!
11 h3 Ne3 12 Bc1 N:f1!! 13 R:f1 Bf5! 14 Qb5 Bd6!! or … B:h3!

Essentially after Peterson’s genius piece sac 10 … d5!!!! Jim was left with only bad options no matter how long he studied the position. Jim knew Chris’s sac was sound because he kept looking at it after the game and found nothing good for himself.
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11 … Bf5!!

Only move.

My suggestion of 11 … Ne3? is bad because of 12 Bc1!! slowing down the attack. Chris said, No, I need the d-file open.

12. Qxd5+! Kh8! 13. Nbd2!!

Peterson’s Shredder and my Fritz agree Kulbacki’s move is best here.
13 Bc1! Nce5!! 14 N:e5 N:e5 is crushing for Chris even though he
is a piece and a pawn down. The main threats are 15 … … Nd3+ 16 Kd2 N:c1 17 K:c1 Be4 or 15 … … Nd3+ 16 Kd1 Nf2+ or even 15 Bg2 Nd3+ 16 Kd2 N:c5!! catches Kulbacki’s King and Queen in a vicious crossfire.

13 … Rad8

Best moves – 13 … Qe3!!!, … Rad8!!, … Ne3! and … Rae8!

Chris picked the second best of four moves -
There are two ways to attack most positions -

1 – The Fire principle -

If your house is on fire you use whatever is handy to put it out -
In Chess that means attack with what you have in the area.

2- The Cavalry principle

This means waiting for the reserves to arrive. Try to practice these approaches until you get a feel for which positions call for which strategy. Or analyze both methods and see which one works for the one in front of you.

13 … Qe3!!! is the Fire principle move-
13 … Rad8!! is the Cavalry principle move.
Can you hear the bugle?

13 … Qe3!!! threatens 14 … Qf2+ 15 Kd1 Ne3+ 16 Kc1 N:d5 or … N:f1

The best way out of those threats is 13 … Qe3!!! 14 Qb3!!! Bc2!!!
(threatening Kulbacki’s Queen and King with immediate destruction )
15 Q:c2 Qf2+ 16 Kd1 Ne3+ 17 Kc1 N:c2 winning the Queen

or
13 … Qe3! 14 0-0-0 Nf2! wins
13 … Qe3 14 0-0-0 Nf2 15 Bg2 Q:e2!!
13 … Qe3 14 0-0-0 Nf2 15 Nh4 Be4!
13 … Qe3 14 0-0-0 Nf2 15 Qc4 N:h1!
13 … Qe3 14 0-0-0 Nf2 15 Qb3 N:h1!
13 … Qe3 14 0-0-0 Nf2
15 g4 Be6!!, … Rad8!, … Be4!, … Bg6! and … B:g4!

Q. What did 13 … Rad8 have to do with any of these variations?
A. Nothing.

That’s the Fire prinicple at work – when you have the opponent on the ropes knock him out now with what strength you have, don’t wait to feel refreshed later after the bell.

I should say that I have noticed many, many times in my games that Rook-to-Queen-one for White or Black has nothing to do with the position but I play it anyway because it feels good to just follow a simple rule like complete your development than to actually concretely work out the details of what should be played. This happens so often to me that I am suspicious of Rook-to-Queen-one, I call it the lazy man’s move. GM John Nunn says it is rarely wrong to put a rook on an open file. Nunn calls Kh1 in the Sicilian the lazy man’s move. GM Bronstein said he noticed by studying thousands of games that whoever plays Rook-to-Queen-one first wins.

As you get better in Chess and trust your analysis and judgement more and more, you rely less and less on general rules.

Chris made some fantastic moves this game based mostly on just
getting his pieces out as fast as possible so he is consistent. It is remarkable that one human thought, get the pieces out of the box first, almost equals a computer, the amazing abacus, the exalted bean counter.

Let’s see how the Cavalry are doing.

14. Qb3!

Only move – besides giving up the Queen for a rook or a piece,
Jim could try 14 Qc4 when … Nce5!!!, … R:d2!! or … Nge5!
are convincing.
14 Qc4 when … Nce5!!! 15 N:e5 N:e5
15 Qb5 c6!!!!!!!!, … a6!!!!!!!!, … Bc2!!!!!!, … Nd3+!!!!!!.
… R:d2!!!!!, … Bd7!!!, … Bd3!! or … Qg5!! or … Ng4! Fishing Pole

14 … Qe3!!!

Having satisfied his development sweet tooth, Chris gets back to finding best moves again.

14 … Ne3! is very visual, as they say in England, but a handsome, vain knight often blocks the view.

14 … Qe3!!! is more like sending in a specially bred daschund to pull a prairie dog or gopher from their underground tunnel system.

14 … Ne3! can be met by 15 Nd4 or c4

15. c4

The best chance now was 15 0-0-0 Nf2 16 c4 Q:b3
17 ab N:h1 18 Bg2 Nf2 Ng4 or … Ne4
and Chris has the small advantage of two rooks versus Rook, bishop and pawn.

In some positions making a second or third best move won’t kill you.
This is not one of those positions. You either castle queenside or die here.

15 …Qf2+
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Chris saw the finesse 15 … Rd3!!!!! but didn’t see what it accomplished. Wallace spotted it pretty quickly after the game. It drive Kulbacki’s Queen away from the defense, like knocking down the center in football or like Rambo knocking the lights out to the small town, leaving it defenseless.

If we ignore lines where Jim trades his Queen for the rook we have -
15 … Rd3 16 Qc2 Qf2+ 17 Kd1 R:f3!!! or … Ne3+!!!

15 … Rd3 16 Qa4 R:d2!!
( plus a dozen other wins like 16 … Rfd8, … Qf2+, … Re8 and … Bg6 )
17 N:d2 Qf2+ 18 Kd1 Ne3+ 19 Kc1 Qe1+ 20 Qd1 Q:d1 checkmate

15 … Rd3 16 ( Q:b7 or Qb5 ) Qf2+ mate in 7
17 Kd1 R:d2+ 18 K:d2 Rd8+ 19 Bd4 Qe3+ 20 Kd1 R:d4+
21 N:d4 Q:d4+ 22 Ke1 Qc3+ 23 Kd1 Nf2 checkmate

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16. Kd1 Rxd2+??

Emmanuel Lasker, World Champion for 30 years
- If you see a good move, wait, you might find a better one.

Chris Peterson, 18 – If you don’t see the solution in five minutes, it doesn’t exist.

Chris had two powerful continuations -
16 … Be4!!! with overwhelming central pressure
16 … Be4!!! 17 Kc1 B:f3
16 … Be4!!! 17 Qc3 Nce5
16 … Be4!!! 17 B:g7+ K:g7

Chris is clearly crushing all lines

Another great approach is
16 … Ne3+ 17 Kc1 R:d2! 18 K:d2 Rd8+ 19 Kc1 Na5!!!
driving the Queen away, even stronger than 19 … N:f1!

It is well known by De Groot’s work that amateurs see the same themes as the Grandmasters they just get the move order wrong, they miss the details. It reminds me of putting together bicycles, I see the parts, I see the blueprint and then I hand it over to Aiden to assemble and solve a mate in 3 to make myself feel better.

The reason that 16 … Ne3+! 17 Kc1 R:d2! 18 K:d2 Rd8+ 19 Kc1 Na5!!! 20 Qa4 N:f1 is much stronger than 16 … Ne3+! 17 Kc1 R:d2! 18 K:d2 Rd8+ 19 Kc1 N:f1 is because after 16 … Ne3+! 17 Kc1 R:d2! 18 K:d2 Rd8+ 19 Kc1 Na5!!! 20 Qa4 N:f1
we have the additional threat of 21 … Qe3+.

Kulbacki’s Queen had to go to a4 to keep an eye on … Rd1 checkmate.

So Chris made the same mistake twice, underestimating how critical
driving Jim’s Queen away was. It’s all very easy in the postmortem -
right after the game I was sure Fritz would tear the combo to shreds
and was very surprised to find out it was all sound. Chris simply missed better wins.

17. Kxd2!

It’s highway robbery after 17 N:d2 Ne3+ – your Queen or your Life.

17 … Rd8+!!

Only move

18. Kc1!

Only move

18 … Ne3!

Only move

19. Nd2??

The turgid troubadour tuckers out. If we add up the chances Chris missed – 13 … Qe3!!!, … 15 … Rd3!!!, 16 … Be4!!! and
16 … Ne3+! 17 Kc1 R:d2! 18 K:d2 Rd8+ 19 Kc1 Na5!!! 20 Qa4 N:f1 then we arrive at a position where Jim can finally fight back.

Jim had used a lot of time calculating all those threats, which must have been a depressing chore seeing Chris miss so many wins and now he is worn out.

Jim missed a golden opportunity to both save the game and wipe Peterson’s name off the Chessboard with 19 Bg2!!!!! covering up the autograph on g2 and making it a fair fight instead of 2 on 1.
19 B:g7+, g4 and Bh3 are somewhat inferior but 19 Bg2 holds the fort.

19 Bg2! Q:g2! 20 Re1! is a little better than
19 Bg2! Q:g2! 20 Q:e3 Q:h1+ 21 Qg1 Q:g1+ 22 N:g1

Danielle Rice in a lesson chose the same sequence for Black -
14 Qb3 Qe3 15 c4 Qf2+ 16 Kd1 R:d2+ 17 K:d2 Rd8+
18 Kc1 Ne3 19 Bg2 Q:g2 20 Q:e3 Q:h1+ 21 Qg1 Q:g1+ 22 N:g1
That’s important to me – that another Chessplayer followed
the same course as Chris – that means his moves have some kind
of aesthetic appeal. They look convincing.
The position after 22 N:g1 is better for Chris after
22 … Na5, … Be6, … Nb4 or … Nd4.

If Bg2 N:g2? Jim grabs the initiative with
20 Qc3!! or Rd1

The human mind does not declare itself tired and overworked, we only know it’s true by the hideous results an overwrought mind produces.

How would you have the story end, dear reader?
Young Chris wins the game, a just reward for a courageous attack?
Or would you punish impetuous youth by having the Grand Old Man of the Chugwater Chili cookouts make a comeback by sheer dogged determination?

Unfortunately for all the guys that rooted for George Foreman in his later career, Jim heard some sweet melodies far, far away.

I Love Toy Trains.
by James Coffey

Trains are fun but don’t be fooled
Safety first is a mighty fine rule
Keep your eyes open and promise that you’ll
Be sensible, be smart and be safe
Be sensible, be smart and be safe

Now look both ways at the crossing gate
If a train is comin,’ you’d better wait
Take a step back, don’t hesitate to
Be sensible, be smart and be safe
Be sensible, be smart and be safe

The railroad yard is not a playground
Not a good place to fool around
The best advice that I have found is to
Be sensible, be smart and be safe
Be sensible, be smart and be safe

Listen to this song

http://www.bluevisionmusic.com/james_coffey/be_sensible_be_smart.mp3
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Purple Train
Rachel Sumner

Chorus:
I’m gonna take a ride in a purple train with a polka dot caboose
I’ll be gone for a while in my purple train with a polka dot caboose
Woo-woo, chug-a-chug-a-chug-a-chug-a, woo-woo,
chug-a-chug-a-chug-a-chug-a
Woo-woo, chug-a-chug-a-chug-a-chug-a, woo-woo,
chug-a-chug-a-chug-a-chug-a
With a polka dot caboose

Verse: From Atlantic to Pacific, I’ll travel fast and far
It will be terrific, I’ll even visit Mars (Pennsylvania that is!)

Chorus:

Verse: Folks will come for miles to see me passing through
They will wave and smile and say, “Can I come too?” (All aboard!)

Chorus (last time): I’ll take all my friends on a purple train with a
polka dot caboose
We’ll be gone for a while in my purple train with a polka dot caboose
Woo-woo, chug-a-chug-a-chug-a-chug-a, woo-woo,
chug-a-chug-a-chug-a-chug-a
Woo-woo, chug-a-chug-a-chug-a-chug-a, woo-woo,
chug-a-chug-a-chug-a-chug-a
With a polka dot caboose
————————————————————————–
Signal Lights
James Coffey

Yeah, Those Signal Lights
Tell Me When It’s Safe To Go
Yeah, Those Signal Lights
Tell Me When It’s Time To Go Slow
Yeah, Those Signal Lights
They Help Control The Traffic Flow
Yeah, Those Signal Lights
Are There To Help The Trains Come And Go

There Are Lights Along The Railroad Track
Just For The Engineer
They Tell Him If He Needs To Stop
Or If Everything’s All Clear
They Might Be Along The Ground
Or Somewhere Way Up High
They Could Be Telling You To Stop
And Let Another Train Go By

Yeah, Those Signal Lights
Tell Me When It’s Safe To Go
Yeah, Those Signal Lights
Tell Me When It’s Time To Go Slow
Yeah, Those Signal Lights
They Help Control The Traffic Flow
Yeah, Those Signal Lights
Are There To Help The Trains Come And Go

And When The Light Is Green It Means Everything Is Clear Ahead
But Be Ready To Stop For A Little While
If The Light Is Red
Slow Down For The Yellow Light
And Take A Real Good Look Around
There Could Be Trouble On The Railroad Track
Like A Train That Has Broken Down

(Chorus)

listen to this song

http://www.bluevisionmusic.com/james_coffey/signal_lights.mp3
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Jim was too busy thinking about real trains to see the one coming down fast on the Chessboard. Ironically Jim made his worst mistake just at the point where he stood better than he had all game – equal at last. Jim’s high point and low point were on move 19, The unplayed 19 Bg2!! versus 19 Nd2?? Peterson’s high point and low point were also on the same move – The high point was the unplayed 16 … Rd3!!! ( +5 ) and his low point was 16 … R:d2+??=

John Milton:
The mind is its own place, and in itself,
can make heaven of Hell, and a hell of Heaven.

19 … Qe1+!!

mate in 1
———————————————————————–
————————————————————————
Casey Jones
Traditional
Adapted By James Coffey

Come all ye rounders, if you wanna hear
A story about a brave engineer
Casey Jones was the rounder’s name
On a big eight wheeler, he won his fame

Porter called Casey about half past four
Kissed his wife at the station door
Climb to the cab with his orders in his hand
As he took the final journey to the promise land

Chorus:
Casey Jones, mounted to the cabin
Casey Jones, with his orders in his hand
Casey Jones, mounted to the cabin
As he took his final journey to the promise land

Rain was comin’ down for five or six weeks
Track looked like the bed of a creek
It rated him down to a thirty mile gate
Made the southbound mail about eight hours late

Fireman says, “Casey you’re runnin’ too fast’
“You run the block board last station you passed”
Casey says, “Yes, but I think we’ll make it through”
“‘Cause this engine is a steamin’ better than I ever knew”

(Chorus)

Casey looked at the water and the water was low
He looked at his watch and his watch was slow
He looked at the fireman and then he said
“We’re gonna make it or end up dead”

Now Casey said,”Fireman don’t you fret”
“Keep knockin’ at the fire door and don’t give up yet”
“We’re gonna run her ’til she leaves the rail”
“Or make it on time with the southbound mail”

(Chorus)

Around the curb he spied a passenger train
Headlights shinin’ in his eyes through the rain
Casey blew his whistle, a mighty blast
But the other locomotive was comin’ fast

Casey says “Fireman you’d better jump”
“There’s two locomotives and their gonna bump”
The fireman hollered, “It’s just ahead!”
“We might jump and make it, but we’ll all be dead.”
—————————————————————————-

I would have preferred 19 … N:d4!
mating in 8, but that’s just me.

0-1 White resigns

Chris Peterson smiled at g2 and g2 smiled back – all game.

Jim’s life is a train wreck right now but larimars are good for stress so this game should help.

Bronstein was right.

————————————————————————

————————————————————————
[Event "Wyoming Open"]
[Site "Laramie College"]
[Date "2006.05.06"]
[Round "3"]
[White "James Kulbacki"]
[Black "Chris Peterson"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ICCResult "Black resigns"]
[WhiteElo "1880"]
[BlackElo "1668"]
[Opening "Polish (Sokolsky) opening"]
[ECO "A00"]
[NIC "VO.10"]
[Time "17:04:33"]
[TimeControl "35/90 Game/1 5 second delay"]

1. b4 e5 2. Bb2 Bxb4 3. f4 Nc6 4. fxe5 f6 5. exf6 Nxf6 6. Nf3 O-O 7. g3 Ng4
8. c3 Bc5 9. d4 Qe7 10. Qd3 d5 11. dxc5 Bf5 12. Qxd5+ Kh8 13. Nbd2 Rad8 14.
Qb3 Qe3 15. c4 Qf2+ 16. Kd1 Rxd2+ 17. Kxd2 Rd8+ 18. Kc1 Ne3 19. Nd2 Qe1+
0-1 White resigns

—————————————————————————
The Pearl of Zanvoort

[Event "Zandvoort-Wch"]
[Site "Zandvoort-Wch"]
[Date "1935.??.??"]
[EventDate "?"]
[Round "26"]
[Result "1-0"]
[White "Euwe Max"]
[Black "Alekhine Alexander"]
[ECO "A90"]
[WhiteElo "?"]
[BlackElo "?"]
[PlyCount "94"]

1. d4 e6 2. c4 f5 3. g3 Bb4+ 4. Bd2 Be7 5. Bg2 Nf6 6. Nc3 O-O 7. Nf3 Ne4
8. O-O b6 9. Qc2 Bb7 10. Ne5 Nxc3 11. Bxc3 Bxg2 12. Kxg2 Qc8 13. d5 d6
14. Nd3 e5 15. Kh1 c6 16. Qb3 Kh8 17. f4 e4 18. Nb4 c5 19. Nc2 Nd7
20. Ne3 Bf6 21. Nxf5 Bxc3 22. Nxd6 Qb8 23. Nxe4 Bf6 24. Nd2 g5 25. e4
gxf4 26. gxf4 Bd4 27. e5 Qe8 28. e6 Rg8 29. Nf3 Qg6 30. Rg1 Bxg1
31. Rxg1 Qf6 32. Ng5 Rg7 33. exd7 Rxd7 34. Qe3 Re7 35. Ne6 Rf8 36. Qe5
Qxe5 37. fxe5 Rf5 38. Re1 h6 39. Nd8 Rf2 40. e6 Rd2 41. Nc6 Re8 42. e7
b5 43. Nd8 Kg7 44. Nb7 Kf6 45. Re6+ Kg5 46. Nd6 Rxe7 47. Ne4+ 1-0
—————————————————————————
[Event "GER theme m"]
[Site "Germany"]
[Date "1988.??.??"]
[Round "0"]
[White "Gross,Wilhelm"]
[Black "Merten,Rainer"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Eco "A00"]

1.b4 e5 2.Bb2 Bxb4 3.f4 f6 4.fxe5 fxe5 5.Bxe5 Nf6 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Bb2 0-0 8.e3 d5
9.Be2 Bg4 10.0-0 Ne4 11.a3 Bd6 12.Nc3 Bxf3 13.Rxf3 Rxf3 14.Bxf3 Qh4
15.Nxe4 Bxh2+

0-1

[Event "DDR corr"]
[Site "DDR"]
[Date "1989.??.??"]
[Round "0"]
[White "Lemke,Duan R"]
[Black "Weissbrot,J"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Eco "A00"]

1.b4 e5 2.Bb2 Bxb4 3.f4 f6 4.fxe5 Nc6 5.exf6 Nxf6 6.Nf3 0-0 7.e3 d5 8.Bd3 Bg4
9.0-0 Bd6 10.h3 Bh5 11.Bf5 Ne4 12.g4 Ng3

0-1
————————————————————————–

[Event "SVE-chA G-453 corr9294"]
[Site "Sweden"]
[Date "1992.??.??"]
[Round "0"]
[White "Andersson,Lars H"]
[Black "Hedlund,Tony"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Eco "A00"]

1.b4 e5 2.Bb2 Bxb4 3.f4 Nc6 4.fxe5 f6 5.exf6 Nxf6 6.Nf3 d6 7.e3 Bg4 8.c3 Ba5
9.Qa4 Bb6 10.Na3 Bd7 11.Qh4 Qe7 12.Be2 a6 13.Nc2 0-0-0 14.a4 h6 15.Nb4 Rde8
16.Nc2 g5 17.Qf2 Ne4 18.Qg1 Rhf8 19.d3 Nc5 20.d4 Qh7 21.Kd1 Ne4 22.Nce1 Qf7
23.Nd3 Qb3+ 24.Kc1 Nxc3 25.Qe1 Nxd4

0-1
————————————————————————

[Event "corr"]
[Site "corr"]
[Date "1995.??.??"]
[Round "0"]
[White "Sternik,Ryszard"]
[Black "Zdrojewski"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Eco "A00"]

1.b4 e5 2.Bb2 Bxb4 3.f4 f6 4.fxe5 Nc6 5.exf6 Nxf6 6.Nf3 d5 7.e3 0-0 8.c4 Qe7
9.cxd5 Nxd5 10.Bc4 Be6 11.0-0 Nxe3 12.Bxe6+ Qxe6 13.dxe3 Qxe3+ 14.Kh1 Rad8
15.Qc1

1-0
————————————————————————-
[Event "OHRA op"]
[Site "Brussels"]
[Date "1987.12.??"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Fedorowicz,John P"]
[Black "Pein,Malcolm"]
[Result "1/2"]
[Eco "A00"]

1.b4 e5 2.Bb2 Bxb4 3.Bxe5 Nf6 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.Bb2 0-0 6.e3 d5
7.Be2 Bg4 8.0-0 Re8 9.h3 Bh5 10.d3 Qe7 11.Nbd2 1/2