Bad Wiessee

THE best-known town on the Tegernsee is Bad Wiessee, a settlement dating back to 850.

From small beginnings it took until the 1400s to reach "proper village" status, according to the tourist board.

Wiessee, as it was originally called, became famous all over Germany after engineers, who were drilling for oil, found a hot spring.

It turned out to have a very potent combination of iodine, sulphur and sodium chloride.

The prefix Bad, meaning Spa, was officially added in 1922, and the town received many notable visitors, especially in the 1930s.

Catholicism is still strong

Former venue of the springtime seniors' tournament, which is now held further along the shore in Rottach-Egern

Combined fountain and sundial

Farmhouse in the centre of town

Lake view

What Should The Result Be?

WHITE to make his 75th move in Spanton (1880) - Hubert Stephan (1802), Bad Wiessee Senioren-Cup round nine.

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The game saw: 75.d8=Q+?? Kxd8 76.Kxd5 Kc7 - a simple draw.
Winning was 75.Kxd5 Kxd7 76.b6 Kd8 (76...Kc7 loses a move quicker) 77.Kd6 Kc8 78.Kc6 etc.
This pathetic finish meant I ended the tournament on +3=3-3 for a thoroughly undeserved Fide rating gain of 4.4 elo.
Turning to more pleasant things, I walked yesterday afternoon around the lake from Bad Wiessee to Gmund.
Many of the larger houses in this area have murals on their outside walls in a similar manner to the famous ones at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, which is less than 40 miles away.

Mural between Bad Wiessee and Gmund

The one in the photo above, which shows an old man journeying with an infant on his shoulder,  seems to be an allegory for how an old year gives way to the new.

Same Old Story

PLAYED much too quickly - see posts passim - and blundered horribly today against a 1984 in round eight of the Bad Wiessee Senioren-Cup.
Still, the sun is again shining today, so I can feel another walk coming on.
The walk I promised myself yesterday started as a modest affair in that I intended to just head up to Bad Wiessee's panoramaweg.
But when I got there I saw a sign pointing in the opposite direction to Bauer in der Au at 704m.
Since it was gone lunchtime, and Bauer in der Au was shown as having somewhere to eat, I decided to head that way.
However, subsequent signs had the eating symbol covered, so I switched plans again and headed further up to Aueralm at 1270m.
I knew Aueralm consisted of a single "mountain cabin," as I passed it last year while ascending the Fockenstein (1564m).
Fortunately the cabin was still there, and it only closes on Mondays, so I was able to enjoy lentil soup and a large slice of blueberry cheesecake.
The route I took to Aueralm was different from the one I used last year. This was just as well as, when I tried to go back down via last year's route, I quickly found there was too much snow to be safely traversed when wearing walking shoes without ankle support and having left my walking pole in my hotel room.
Anyway, here are some photos showing scenes on the way up:

Passing under my hotel (behind the copper-coloured tree), the Landhaus am Bergwald

A shrine in the mountains

Last cafe before Aueralm, and it was abandoned

The weather grew threatening at times but I trusted (correctly) in the forecast of no rain

Much of the walk was between close-growing pines, but it opened up on approaching Aueralm

I had to retrace my steps along this bit after taking a 'shortcut' that finished in a dead end

Three Pawns Or A Piece?

WHICH is stronger?
As with most things in chess, a lot depends on the position.
But generally the consensus is that a piece is worth more than three pawns in the opening and much of the middlegame, but the pawns become stronger in an ending.
The situation arose today as early as the 20th move in my round-seven game from the Bad Wiessee Senioren-Cup.

Black to make his 20th move in Spanton (1880) - Werner Mattgey (1766)

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While it is true to say White has three pawns for a piece, it is more precise to say White has three pawns and a dark-square bishop for a pair of knights.
White also has the bishop-pair in a position with diagonals for them to work on, and more space.
Both players have an isolani, and White has doubled c pawns.
Komodo9 gives White a slight edge; Stockfish10 at first gives Black a slight edge, but soon changes to dead-eye equality.
20...Ng6
This prevents the annoying 21.Bf4, but the knight will become a target for White's kingside pawn-advance. The engines suggest 20...Na5 or 20...Kf7.
21.Kf2 Nce7
Stockfish10 much prefers 21...Nd8, but Komodo9 comes to prefer the text, and also 21...Na5. I guess it shows just how difficult these unbalanced positions are to assess, and to play.
22.Bg5 Kg7 23.h4 Ng8 24.h5 N6e7
Black has not done anything so very wrong, apparently, but by now both engines reckon White has the upper hand.
25.Bf4?
Careless. It was better to bring up the king, which will almost certainly be needed anyway to force home a pawn.
25...c6?
An automatic reply, but it makes his bishop bad and, more importantly, misses a chance to get rid of one of White's pair of connected passed pawns. Correct was 25...Nf6, when 26.Bd3 (or 26.Kh3) Nxh5 27.Bxc7 greatly reduces White's advantage. Worse is 26.Be2? Nxe4+, while 26.h6+ only preserves the h pawn in the short term.
26.g4 Kh7
This hardly helps, but it seems Black is lost whatever he plays.
27.Kg3 Nf6 28.Kh4 e5?
No better is 28...Nxg4? 29.Bg5.
The text hopes for 29.Bxe5? Nxg4 (although White is still better).
29.dxe5 1-0
On a brighter note, the sun came out this morning. It is starting to cloud over this afternoon (it has just gone noon Berlin-time as I type), so if I intend to go walking, which I do, I need to get started asap.

The venue-hotel early this morning, with snow-capped Bavarian alps in the background

White To Play And Win

GOT crushed today in one of those games where for a long time I was fairly sure I was losing, but felt I was somehow holding on … and then The Bomb dropped.

White to make his 28th move in Peng Kong Chan (IM2129) - Spanton (1880), Bad Wiessee Senioren-Cup round six

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28.Qe2
Simple. White's queen steps aside, and there is no way to save Black's queen.
The remaining moves were:
28...Bxf7 29.exf7+ Kh8 30.Be7 1-0
On a more cheerful note, the weather took a turn for the better, with the sun coming out from behind the clouds, and the temperatures creeping into double figures.
I took the chance to walk around part of the Tegernsee lake (yes, I know that strictly speaking "Tegernsee lake" translates as Tegernlake lake) to Rottach, where I am enjoying an espresso and a mineralwasser mit gas (am still off the alcohol after my scare last month: https://beauchess.blogspot.com/2019/04/emergency-board-10.html).
Two photos from the walk (both, alas, without the benefit of the sun being visible):

Missed Wins?

ENDINGS with opposite-coloured bishops and no other pieces (apart from kings) are notoriously drawish, but it seems very much as if I missed a win in such an ending today.

White to make his 56th move in Spanton (1880) - Fernando De Andres Gonalons (2030), Bad Wiessee Senioren-Cup round five

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56.h5?
This gives White a second passed pawn, but the pawns are too close together to win, although the text is analysis engine Komodo9's second choice, and both Komodo9 and Stockfish10 reckon White is winning.
Best is 56.Bf8, but you need to see White's next move (and evaluate it correctly) after Black 'passes' with a move such as 56...Bc2.
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Winning after 56.Bf8 Bc2 is 57.f5+! I rejected it because after 57...Bxf5 (57...gxf5 58.h5 wins for White because his passers are far apart) 58.h5 gxh5 59.d7 Kxd7 60.Kxf5, White's bishop is the wrong colour for promoting his a pawn. What I failed to realise is that although Black's king can get to a8 easily enough, it will eventually run out of moves, eg black king on a8, white king on c8 and white bishop on b8. Black will then be forced to play ...b4, after which White captures axb4, and the rest is easy (it is not stalemate as Black has a second pawn he will have to move, giving White time to 'unstalemate' Black).
The game continued:
56...gxh5 57.Kxh5 Bf5 58.Kg5 Bh3 59.Kh4
The engines reckon I missed another win here, eg 59.Bf8 Kf7 60.Bh6 Bd7 (not 60...Ke6?, as the engines suggest at first, since 61.f5+! forces Black to give up his bishop, and we get similar lines to the previous note) 61.f5 Be8 62.Kf4 Bd7 63.Ke5 Be8 64.Bf4 Bd7 65.Be3 Be8 66.Bg5 - the engines continue to mess around with bishop moves like this, convinced White is winning, but never make progress, so here at least I did not miss a win.
59...Bf5 60.Kg3
Again the engines want to play on the kingside, with 60.Kg5 or 60.Kh5. They reckon White is still winning, but are unable to improve White's position.
60...Kd5 61.Kf3 Kd4 62.Ke2
This hardly helps, but by now the win has well and truly gone.
62...Ke4 ½–½

Another Long R+P Ending

FOLLOWED up yesterday's 64-move rook-and-pawn ending with one today that lasted 31 moves.
The main difference is that this time I was fighting for a draw rather than trying to win. The ending started in the following position:

White has just captured on d4 in Michael Bohnstorff (2044) - Spanton (1880), Bad Wiessee Senioren-Cup round four

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White is clearly better thanks to his superior pawn-structure. The question is: how much better? My main analysis engines, Komodo9 and Stockfish10, reckon White's advantage is worth about half a pawn.
22...f5
White was threatening 23.e4 as 23...dxe4?? loses instantly to 24.Rxd7.
23.h4 h5?!
The engines are not very keen on this. My idea was to prevent White from distracting my f pawn with g4, and to stop White gaining space on the kingside with h5. But it seems neither move is much of a threat, so the main effect of 23...h5?! is to weaken my kingside. Sensible was 23...Kf7.
24.Kg2 Kf7 25.Kf3 Kf6
The problem with 25...Ke6?! is that 26.Kf4 threatens 27.Kg5.
26.Rc6+ Rd6!?
This looks like a blunder, but 26...Ke5 is no bed of roses either as Black is very passive after 27.Rg6. The engines' mainline runs 27...Re8 28.Rf4 Rf7 29.Rg5 Rh8 30.e4! dxe4+ 31.Rxe4+ Kf6 32.Rc4.

Analysis position after 32.Rc4

Black has restored material equality, at least for the moment, but is clearly worse. One line given by the engines runs 32...Rd8 33.Rc6+ Ke5 34.Rcg6 Rd2 35.Rxg7 Rxg7 36.Rxg7 Rxb2 37.Rxa7 with a position similar, but inferior for Black, to one reached in the game after White's 30th move.
27.Rxd5 Rxc6 28.Rxd8 Rc2 29.Rd7 Rxb2 30.Rxa7 g6 31.a4 Ra2 32.Ra6 Kf7 33.e4
This seems to be the only way for White to make progress.
33...fxe4+ 34.Kxe4 Rxf2 35.Rxb6 Ra2 36.Ra6 Ra3 37.Kf4 Kg7 38.Ra7+ Kf6 39.Ra6+ Kf7 40.g4 hxg4 41.Kxg4

What would you play as Black?

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41...Ra1!?
The engines strongly dislike this, much preferring 41...Rc3 or 41...Rd3 (but not 41...Rb3?! as Black cannot check when White's king goes to g5). However, I am fairly sure the engines are wrong about the text.
42.Ra5
The engines give 42.a5 Rg1+ 43.Kf3 Rh1 44.Kg3 Rg1+ 45.Kh2 Ra1 46.Ra8, but this is not dangerous for Black, as they come to see after the continuation 46...Kf6 47.a6 Kf5. Black has three main tries here, but none works:
a) 48.a7 Kg4 49.Kg2 Ra3 (not 49...Kxh4?? 50.Rh8+) 50.Kf2 Rf3+ 51.Ke2 Rf7 52.Ke3 Rh7 etc.
b) 48.Kg3 Ra3+ 49.Kf2 Kg4 50.a7 Rf3+, transposing to the previous line.
c) 48.h5 Ra2+ (48...gxh5?? 49.a7 wins for White) 49.Kg3 Ra3+ 50.Kf2 Ra2+ 51.Ke3 Ra3+ 52.Kd4 Ra4+ 53.Kc5. Now it is safe for Black to take the pawn: 53...gxh5 54.a7 h4 55.Rf8+ Kg4 56.a8=Q Rxa8 57.Rxa8 h3 etc.
42...Rg1+ 43.Kf4 Rh1 44.Kg5 Rg1+ 45.Kh6 Rg4 46.h5 gxh5 47.Kxh1 Rg1
The remaining moves were:
48.Rc5 Ra1 49.a5 Ke7 50.Kg5 Kd6 51.Rf5 Rg1+ 52.Kf6 Ra1 53.Kf7 Kc7 ½–½

Did Black Miss A Draw?

HAD a 64-move rook-and-pawn ending in round three of the Bad Wiessee Senioren-Cup today … and it seems my opponent missed instructive draws on consecutive moves.

The rook-and-pawn ending began with White to make his 28th move in Spanton (1880) - Elof Cordts (1701)

White is about to go a pawn up, leaving Black with four isolated pawns, including two that are doubled.
I certainly thought I was winning, and the analysis engine Stockfish10 agrees. But another very strong engine, Komodo9, 'merely' gives White plus-over-equals - after all, it is a rook-and-pawn ending!
The critical position came 50 moves later:

White has just played 78.Kf4-f5

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78...Ra6
I thought Black had to play 78...Kg7. After 79.Rd7+ Kh6, the first point is that White cannot play 80.Kxf6 as Black draws with 80...Ra4 81.Kf5 Rf4+! (81...Rxg4! also draws). If instead of 81.Kf5, White tries 81.g5+, then 81...Kxh5 is a tablebase draw.
Since 80.Kxf6 does not work, White is more-or-less obliged to try 80.Rf7. Then comes 80...Ra5+ 81.Kf4 (81.Kxf6 is met by 81...Ra4 with a draw as before) Ra4+ 82.Kg3 Ra3+ 83.Kh4 Rf3 84.Rb7 (84.Rxf6+? Rxf6 85.g5+ Kg7 is a trivial draw) Rf1, and there does not seem to be any way for White to make progress.
One line given by the engines after 84...Rf1 goes 85.Rb4 Rh1+ 86.Kg3 f5! 87.Kg2 (87.gxf5 is the notorious drawn ending of f+h pawns) Ra1, and the best White can get is again the drawn f+h pawn-ending.
Where possible I have confirmed the engines' conclusions with the Nalimov endgame tablebase, so it does seem Black missed a draw. It is perhaps needless to say that neither player was aware of virtually any of this during the game.
Going back to the second diagram and the game continuation of 78...Ra6, there followed …
79.Re4 Kg7?
It seems Black still had a draw with 79...Ra1! (or 79...Ra2! or 79...Ra3!). Here the point is that, after 79...Ra1!, White has nothing better than 80.Kxf6, but then Black has a tablebase draw with 80...Rf1+ as the White king has to let its counterpart into g5, after which the draw is relatively simple. No wonder Tartakower (or was it Tarrasch?) quipped that all rook endings are drawn.
After Black's second missed drawing chance, the game finished:
80.Re7 Kf8 81.Re6 Ra4 82.Rxf6+ Kg7 83.h6+ Kh7 84.Rf7+ Kh8
Black meets a swifter end after 84...Kxh6? 85.g5+ Kh5 86.Rh7#
85.g5 Ra8 86.Re7 Kg8 87.g6 Ra5+ 88.Kf6 Ra6+ 89.Re6 Ra8 90.Rd6 Rb8 91.Ke7 1-0

Painful Instruction

SUFFERED a painful but instructive loss today in round two of the Bad Wiessee Senioren-Cup.
Werner Kugelmann (2046) - Spanton (1880)
Sicilian Grand Prix Attack
1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 g6 3.Bc4
3.f4 is the normal GPA move-order, but we soon transpose to a mainline of White's system.
3...Nc6 4.f4 Bg7 5.Nf3 e6 6.0-0 Nge7 7.f5!?
The pawn-thrust f5 is a main idea in the Grand Prix Attack, although in this move-order it is more popular at move six.
7...d5
Not the only move, but probably the safest.
8.exd5?!
The second-most popular move in ChessBase's 2019 Mega database, but it may be a mistake.
Slightly-more popular is 8.Bb5, as played by Juan Bellon Lopez and Lev Gutman, although my main analysis engines Stockfish10 and Komodo9 give a reply that is not in the database in this particular position, namely 8...gxf5!?, claiming a clear advantage for Black after 9.d3 or 9.exd5.
Going back to the position after 7...d5, Stockfish10 suggests 8.fxg6!?, and if 8...dxc4 then 9.gxf7+ with  a messy position, although both engines prefer Black.
8...exd5 9.Bb3
This appears to be a novelty, or at least is not in Mega19. Stockfish10 prefers the most-popular continuation, 9.Bb5. This time it is Komodo9 that suggests the speculative 9.fxg6!? In both cases Black seems to be better.
9...Bxf5 10.d3 0-0 11.Bg5 Qd7 12.Qe1 h6 13.Bh4
I was a bit concerned about 13.Qh4!? hxg5 14.Nxg5 but decided Black is doing well after 14...Rfe8. The engines reckon a simpler solution is 13...Be6, which is possible as 14.Bxh6?? loses to 14...Nf5.

WK's decision to retreat with 13.Bh4 is effectively an admission that he has no compensation for his pawn-minus

13...Rae8 14.Qd2 Kh7 15.Rae1 Be6 16.Bf2 b6 17.Kg1 Nf5 18.Ne2 Na5 19.Nf4 Nxb3 20.axb3 d4 21.Ne5 Qd6 22.Nc4 Bxc4 23.bxc4 Be5 24.Nd5 Kg7 25.g4

I faced a key decision at move 25

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25...Ne3?
I rejected 25...Ne7 because of 26.Rxe5 Qxe5 27.Bg3, missing that after 27...Qe6 28.Nc7 Black has 28.Qc6+ with a large advantage.
26.Nxe3?
26.Bxe3, preserving White's unchallengeable knight on d5, is a much better decision from a positional viewpoint, and, as it happens, the text is tactically bad too.
26...dxe3?
Tamely giving the pawn back. The engines point out 26...Bf4.
27.Bxe3 Qc6+ 28.Kg1 Bd4?
Now Black gets a weak d pawn. Correct was 28...Kh7! as 29.Bxh6?? fails to 29...Bd4+ 30.Be3 Rxe3! 31.Rxe3 Re8, which wins for Black, eg 32.Re1 Rxe3 33.Rxe3 Qf3.
29.Bxd4+ cxd4 30.Rxe8 Qxe8?
Another mistake. Correct was 30...Rxe8 as 31.Qf4 e6 32.Qxd4 leads to a perpetual by 32...Re2 33.Rf2 Rf1+ etc.
31.Qf4 Qe3+?
A hallucination. Somehow I thought my rook was supporting the queen from e8.
32.Qxe3 dxe3 33.Rf3 Re8 34.Kf1 e2+ 35.Ke1 Re5 36.Rf2 Rg5 37.Rf4 h5 38.h3 Re5 39.d4
39.Re4 may also be winning, but is more committal by White.
39...Re3 40.gxh5 gxh5 41.h4 Kg6
I could see no way to save this ending, so I thought I should at least play actively, and hope for the best.
42.d5
Even stronger seems to be 42.c5.
42...f5?!
The f pawn is weak here, so almost certainly better was 42...f6.
43.d6 Re8
Not 43...Kf6? 44.Rxf5+!
44.b4 Kf6 45.Rd4?!
45.c5 is more clear-cut.
45...Ke5?
45...Ke6 makes White's task more difficult, eg 46.Kxe2 Kd7+ 47.Kf3 a5 48.bxa5 bxa5, when Black has counterplay.
46.Rd2?
46.Rd3 was correct, as will become clear.
46...Kf6??
Black has drawing chances after 46...Ke6. I rejected it because of 47.Rxe2+?? Kd7 48.Rxe8 Kxe8 as somehow I thought 49.b5? won for White, but the position is an easy win for Black. Even after the better 49.Ke2, Black wins, eg 49...Kd7 50.c5 bxc5 51.bxc5 a5 as White's protected passed pawn is no match for Black's two distant passed pawns.
After 46...Ke6 play should proceed 47.c5 bxc5 48.bxc5 Kd7 with what seem to be good drawing chances for Black. However, if White's rook were on d3 (as a result of playing the more-active 46.Rd3 instead of 46.Rd2?), he would be winning with 49.Ra3.
The game finished:
47.c5 bxc5 48.bxc5 Ke6 49.c6 Ra8 50.d7 1-0

Better Be Lucky Than Good

I BLUNDERED a pawn on move 17 of my first-round game today at the Bad Wiessee Senioren-Cup, and as you can see from the photos below, I can hardly blame the quality of the playing conditions.

The tournament hall at the Hotel Gasthof zur Post 

The one thing I would say is that it was much too warm - but we will probably appreciate that tomorrow as cold and snow are forecast.


Plenty of space in the analysis room too

Fortunately, although I gave away a pawn for nothing, I already had the bishop-pair, which now afforded me some compensation for my material deficit.
Some 14 moves later we reached the following position, after which the game only lasted one more move for each side.

Black to make his 31st move in Spanton (1880) - Carlo Traversi (1554)

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31...Kd7
32.fxg7 Resigns
Just for fun, annotate the finish of the game, and then compare your annotations with mine below.
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31...Kd7?
Better is 31...gxf6, after which 32.exf6 Kd7 is clearly much better for Black.
32.fxg7!?
This seems to be strong, but not for the reason we both thought at the time.
More straightforward is 32.Bc5 Ke8 (not 32...Bxc5?? 33.fxg7) 33.fxg7 Bxg7 34.Bb6 Kd7 35.Bxd8 Kxd8 36.Bxc6 with what is surely a drawn opposite-coloured bishops ending.
32...Resigns??
Black is winning easily after 32...Bxg7 33.e6+?? Nxe6 (the move we both missed). However White has the possibility of 33.f5 or 33.Bb6, both of which give White a slight edge, according to the analysis engines Komodo9 and Stockfish10. The position is unclear - Black has an extra pawn, and his queenside majority could become very threatening, but Black, despite the small amount of material left on the board, is cramped. Meanwhile White still has the bishop-pair and now has play against Black's kingside weaknesses.
In any event, on this occasion at least, luck-in-chess played its part. It was only when I came to put the game into ChessBase that the engines showed me just how premature Black was in resigning.

Good News, Bad News

THE good news is also the 'bad' news as I am back beside the Tegernsee in north Bavaria for my second visit to the Bad Wiessee Senioren-Cup.
Last year I found a nice hotel, but it was a bit too far from the centre of town, and specifically from the Hotel Gasthof zur Post, which is where the tournament is held.
This year I have found what seems to be another nice hotel, but less than a 10-minute walk from the venue. It is also cheaper, and has nice views of the lake and the Bavarian Alps.

Balcony-view looking east towards the Tegernsee and mountains beyond

Balcony-view looking south to Mount Wallberg, which has a cable car (making it easier to ascend than the Fockenstein, which I summitted last year)

Bad Wiessee street-view of the Wallberg

Here is the entry list for the tournament, which starts tomorrow  - no superstars, and most
players have an elo lower than their year of birth.

Teilnehmerliste: (Sortiert nach Startrangliste)
LfdNr	Teilnehmer	Titel	TWZ	Attr	Verein/Ort	Land	Geburt
1.	Oechslein,Rainer		2207	M	SK Schweinfurt	GER	1941
2.	Prüfer,Friedbert,Pro		2196	M	TSG Taucha	GER	1953
3.	Schumacher,Gottfried	FM	2187	M	HTC Bad Neuenahr	GER	1949
4.	Baum,Bernd,Dr.	FM	2183	M	SC Fulda	GER	1945
5.	Bade,Uwe		2179	M	SC Friesen Lichtenbe	GER	1940
6.	Krulich,Roman	CM	2173	M	MSA Zugzwang	MNC	1963
7.	Köhler,Gerhard,Dr.		2153	M	USV Halle	GER	1956
8.	Schatz,Christian	CM	2147	M	SV Würzburg	GER	1961
9.	Chan,Peng Kong	IM	2129	M	SINGAPORE	SGP	1956
10.	Großhans,Ralf-Michae		2128	M	SK Weidhausen	GER	1963
11.	Van Voorthuijsen,Pee	FM	2126	M	NIEDERLANDE	NED	1955
12.	Weinwurm,Wolfgang		2119	M	Österreich	AUT	1940
13.	Fuchs,Michael		2113	M	DJK SF Haselbach	GER	1954
14.	Astengo,Corrado		2084	M	ITALIEN	ITA	1959
15.	Lodes,Hermann		2083	M	SF Burgsinn	GER	1960
16.	Schulz,Michael		2073	M	SC Unterhaching	GER	1958
17.	Miskevicer,Boris		2064	M	SG Schwabing München	GER	1935
18.	Loos,Udo		2063	M	PSV Neustadt	GER	1957
19.	Hofene,Dieter		2049	M	SF Beelen	GER	1962
20.	Pfitzer,Norbert,Prof		2047	M	SV Backnang	GER	1953
21.	Kugelmann,Werner		2046	M	TSV Wertingen	GER	1946
22.	Taube,Hubertus		2045	M	SK Neuperlach	GER	1950
23.	Bohnstorff,Michael		2044	M	SC Lüneburg	GER	1956
24.	Marschall,Josef		2042	M	Münchener SC	GER	1932
25.	Wimmer,Alfred		2042	M	SC Moosburg	GER	1967
26.	Walther,Reinhard		2042	M	SK Herzogenaurach	GER	1947
27.	Wüst,Klaus,Prof. Dr.		2038	M	Sfr. Wieseck	GER	1955
28.	Ferrari,Josef		2034	M	Österreich	AUT	1948
29.	Valenti,Giuseppe	FM	2033	M	ITALIEN	ITA	1950
30.	Krilova,Marina	WFM	2030	W	RUSSLAND	RUS	1946
31.	De Andres Gonalons,F		2030	M	SPANIEN	ESP	1947
32.	Battistella,Stefano		2026	M	ITALIEN	ITA	1960
33.	Stern,Geoffrey		2015	M	LUXENBURG	LUX	1960
34.	Greul,Hans		2014	M	SK Schwabach	GER	1953
35.	Kümpers,Ulrich		2003	M	SK Tarrasch München	GER	1952
36.	Haserodt,Jan		2001	M	SC Fehmarn	GER	1959
37.	Kripp,Wolfgang		1989	M	SG Dietzenbach	GER	1929
38.	Neubauer,Jaroslaus		1985	M	SK Schweinfurt	GER	1950
39.	Dürr,Rainer,Dr.		1984	M	SC Prien	GER	1949
40.	Remensberger,Hansuli		1981	M	SCHWEIZ	SUI	1952
41.	Brettschneider,Karl		1962	M	SC Leinfelden	GER	1953
42.	Teichmeister,Sven		1956	M	Österreich	AUT	1940
43.	Santl,Anton		1952	M	SU München	GER	1944
44.	Lehnhoff,Heinz-Georg		1949	M	FC Bayern München	GER	1952
45.	Vögerl,Ronald		1943	M	SC Beilngries	GER	1958
46.	Zerweck,Christoph		1942	M	SV Herrenberg	GER	1955
47.	Hönnekes,Klaus		1939	M	SK München Südost	GER	1938
48.	Bumes,Konrad		1936	M	SC Haar	GER	1955
49.	Klein,Klaus		1936	M	SF Heidelberg	GER	1936
50.	Gutt,Oswald		1932	M	Bergische SF	GER	1959
51.	Thieme,Wolfgang		1929	M	SC Bayer Uerdingen	GER	1949
52.	Ahrends,Norbert		1927	M	SV Groß-Gerau	GER	1964
53.	Choong,Liong-On Mark	CM	1923	M	SINGAPORE	SGP	1947
54.	Wittkugel,Friedhelm		1920	M	SV Kamen	GER	1933
55.	Wolke,Reimund		1916	M	Hamburger SK	GER	1954
56.	Kalkmann,Hans		1915	M	SC Springer St.Tönis	GER	1936
57.	McAndrew,Robert		1910	M	Schottland	SCO	1953
58.	Mack,Thomas,Dr.		1904	M	SK Tarrasch München	GER	1943
59.	Walter,Mario		1901	M	SV Ilmmünster	GER	1960
60.	Winter,Bernd		1890	M	Münchener SC	GER	1941
61.	Streiter,Manfred		1886	M	SC Leinfelden	GER	1941
62.	Schulz,Wilfried		1884	M	SGem Fürth	GER	1948
63.	Schmitzer,Peter		1883	M	SC Roter Turm Altsta	GER	1951
64.	Aigner,Georg		1882	M	SC Taufkirchen	GER	1940
65.	Eschle,Hubert		1880	M	SR Spaichingen	GER	1955
66.	Spanton,Tim R		1880	M	ENGLAND	ENG	1957
67.	Reinhardt,Joachim		1874	M	USV TU Dresden	GER	1948
68.	Ries,Berthold		1874	M	vereinslos	GER	1950
69.	Willin,Bernhard		1873	M	SC Horben	GER	1951
70.	Kleinhenz,Hans-Georg		1873	M	Stolberger SV	GER	1954
71.	Gousseinov,Aguif		1868	M	FRANKREICH	FRA	1941
72.	Klein,Reinhard		1863	M	Münchener SC	GER	1953
73.	Titz,Herbert		1863	M	Österreich	AUT	1937
74.	Urban,Rudolf		1862	M	SC Roter Turm Altsta	GER	1939
75.	Keeve,Martin		1860	M	USV TU Dresden	GER	1954
76.	Di Lazzaro,Gabriele		1850	M	ITALIEN	ITA	1944
77.	Schröder,Klaus		1848	M	SC Karlsdorf	GER	1947
78.	Sukatsch,Manfred		1848	M	SC Böblingen	GER	1943
79.	Bräu,Ludwig		1847	M	SK Marktoberdorf	GER	1931
80.	Huhn,Ulrich		1842	M	SF Siemensstadt	GER	1943
81.	Förster,Rudi		1836	M	SF Braunfels	GER	1962
82.	Mehlhorn,Dieter		1834	M	PSV Crimmitschau	GER	1931
83.	Borries,Barbara		1830	W	SC Taufkirchen	GER	1946
84.	Botvinnik,Alexey		1830	M	SG Porz	GER	1956
85.	Schattmann,Alfred		1827	M	SK Tarrasch München	GER	1934
86.	Ranker,Klemens		1826	M	SC Hauptstuhl	GER	1952
87.	Hirstel,Serge		1822	M	Frankreich	FRA	1962
88.	Roth,Heinz Georg		1822	M	SC Lindau	GER	1951
89.	Abel,Hans-Peter		1819	M	SC Leinfelden	GER	1947
90.	Lubberich,Alfred,Dr.		1816	M	SG Nettetal	GER	1941
91.	Gardi,Giuseppe		1813	M	ITALIEN	ITA	1942
92.	Kreie,Günter		1809	M	TuS Eichholz-Remmigh	GER	1931
93.	Bade,Heidrun		1808	W	USV Potsdam	GER	1945
94.	Siewert,Wolfgang		1807	M	SV Eiche Reichenbran	GER	1951
95.	Cavatorta,Fosco		1804	M	ITALIEN	ITA	1944
96.	Hansult,Manfred		1803	M	SF Bad Herrenalb	GER	1957
97.	Stephan,Hubert		1802	M	SC Prien	GER	1948
98.	Bartsch,Winfried		1798	M	MSA Zugzwang	GER	1950
99.	Kohlmeyer,Klaus		1792	M	SF Braunfels	GER	1962
100.	Radinger,Rudolf		1792	M	SF Beelen	GER	1958
101.	Antoniacci,Riccardo		1786	M	ITALIEN	ITA	1954
102.	Suligoj,Alois		1779		SK Neuperlach	SLO	1948
103.	Bergerhoff,Wilfried		1771	M	SK Bruckmühl	GER	1958
104.	Paul,Dietmar		1766	M	SK Bruckmühl	GER	1956
105.	Emser,Heinrich		1766	M	SG Altenkessel	GER	1954
106.	Mattgey,Werner		1766	M	SK Neuperlach	GER	1948
107.	Graw,Rolf		1757	M	VfR-SC Koblenz	GER	1948
108.	Bausch,Jean		1755	M	SC Unterhaching	GER	1959
109.	Hager,Eberhard		1732	M	SC Friedberg Gehörl.	GER	1948
110.	Löhr,Hans-Gerd,Dr.		1724	M	Turm Kandel	GER	1952
111.	Moser,Andreas		1724	M	SC Pasing	GER	1955
112.	Häfele,Torsten		1723	M	SF Illingen	GER	1961
113.	Buciu,Aurel-John	CM	1722	M	AUSTRALIEN	AUS	1965
114.	Flockerzi,Armin		1721	M	VfR-SC Koblenz	GER	1940
115.	Wraga,Hermann		1715	M	SG Osnabrück	GER	1948
116.	Ryseck,Werner		1701	M	SC Lohhof	GER	1947
117.	Cordts,Elof		1701	M	SC Erlangen	GER	1956
118.	Wichmann,Bernhard Ro		1693	M	SG Pang-Rosenheim	AUT	1948
119.	Rosskopf,Max		1689	M	SK Denzlingen	GER	1946
120.	Schnell,Franz		1687	M	SV Trossingen	GER	1948
121.	Wawrinsky,Ludwig		1676	M	SK Neuperlach	GER	1934
122.	Ewald,Rüdiger		1669	M	SC Beilngries	GER	1944
123.	Papa,Angelo		1668	M	ITALIEN	ITA	1938
124.	Alefs,Heinz		1664	M	SC Eichenau	GER	1938
125.	Alicke,Manfred		1655	M	SG Kaarst	GER	1937
126.	Basener,Wolfgang		1646	M	SC Miesbach	GER	1953
127.	Lischka,Joachim		1644	M	SF Markgräflerland	GER	1959
128.	Auterhoff,Jürgen,Dr.		1644	M	SC Pasing	GER	1954
129.	Wraga,Teresa		1644	W	SG Osnabrück	GER	1955
130.	Schoknecht,Sabine		1643	W	FC ST.Pauli	GER	1966
131.	Roth,Willi		1638	M	SK Weilheim	GER	1948
132.	Simmon,Norbert		1637	M	SG Schwabing München	GER	1946
133.	Redeker,Frank,Dr.		1636	M	SF Brand	GER	1951
134.	Wegener,Wilfried		1627	M	SC Miesbach	GER	1931
135.	Gulinelli,Euro		1624	M	ITALIEN	ITA	1950
136.	Komeinda,Josef		1618	M	Elberfelder SG	GER	1936
137.	Bondielli,Giorgio		1618	M	ITALIEN	ITA	1936
138.	Giacchino,Claudio		1591	M	ITALIEN	ITA	1945
139.	Carrozza,Gregorio		1585	M	ITALIEN	ITA	1946
140.	Bardin,Christian		1583	M	FRANKREICH	FRA	1940
141.	Marcus,Rainer		1574	M	SK Neuperlach	GER	1958
142.	Hunklinger,Harald		1572	M	ASV J'Adoube Grassau	GER	1959
143.	Jovi,Klaus		1565	M	SV Grevenbroich	GER	1937
144.	Thonig,Manfred		1564	M	vereinslos	GER	1940
145.	Traversi,Carlo		1554	M	ITALIEN	ITA	1947
146.	Catalfamo,Santo		1554	M	ITALIEN	ITA	1943
147.	Rosinus,Karl		1551	M	SC Bann	GER	1955
148.	Grandl,Klaus		1538	M	SF Windach	GER	1950
149.	De Polzer,Manfredi		1536	M	ITALIEN	ITA	1936
150.	Berger,Siegfried		1521	M	SK Neuperlach	GER	1951
151.	Schumacher,Ursula		1518	W	HTC Bad Neuenahr	GER	1941
152.	Lübbers,Doris,Dr.		1511	W	SF Taunus	GER	1934
153.	Payen,Gerard		1505	M	FRANKREICH	FRA	1946
154.	Bräu,Emmi		1504	W	SK Marktoberdorf	GER	1936
155.	Kirchhof,Manfred		1483	M	SC Unterhaching	GER	1940
156.	Krivoborodov,Vasily		1460	M	RUSSLAND	GER	1955
157.	Stegmaier,Erika		1431	W	SK Neuperlach	GER	1935
158.	Walther,Renate		1127	W	SK Herzogenaurach	GER	1950
159.	Meroni,Alberto		1012	M	ITALIEN	ITA	1937
160.	Leckner,Horst		1893		TV Tegernsee	GER	1946
161.	Quendro,Liambi				Albanien	ALB	1953

Good News, Bad News: aka Bad Wiessee (final part)

THE bad news is that I lost my last-round game rather horribly, to a 2148 in 32 moves.
The good news is that the tournament will, after all, count for international ratings, or so the arbiter told me (I cannot find Bad Wiessee registered at Fide, but then again the Fide site is saying that the Jersey tournament, which finished on April 7, has still not been submitted for rating purposes).
Anyway, assuming Bad Wiessee is rated, my elo should go up 46.2pts. [Correction 7/5/18: having worked out the numbers myself, the right figure seems to be +42.8 rather than +46.2]
For those a little less rating obsessed, here is a final pic:

View from the front door of the tournament venue, the Hotel Gasthof zur Post

Middlegame or Ending? aka Bad Wiessee (part seven)

SOME positions are obviously in the middlegame and others have clearly reached the ending, but inevitably there is a grey area where arguments can be made on both sides.
I have found a useful rule-of-thumb is what I call the 13pt Rule.
I cannot recall where I first saw it, but the basic idea is this: a game has reached the ending when the points value of each side's pieces (not pawns) is under 13, using the traditional scale (ie queen-9, rook-5, bishop/knight-3).
Not everyone agrees - chess is too complicated for a strict dividing line to hold complete loyalty - but over the years I have found the 13pt Rule to be a useful guide.
Take a look at this position, which arose today in round eight.

Boris Miskevicer (2074) - Spanton (1878), after White's 17th move

Would you call this a middlegame or an ending?
Under the 13pt Rule, it is clearly the former as each player has two rooks and a bishop - exactly 13pts.
But I can well understand many people reckoning the position has all the characteristics of an ending, with the possible exception that there are six pawns aside.
Anyway, see how the game proceeded and make your own mind up.
17...Bc5 18.Re1 f6
Playable is 18...Bxf2 19.Rxe5+ Kd7, but I felt it accelerated White's development while leaving my pieces less-well coordinated.
19.f4 Kd7!?
I rejected 19...Bd6 because of 20.Be3, which forced, so I thought, 20...b6 or 20...a6. But the analysis engine Stockfish9 gives 20...Kd7!, and if 21.Bxa7, then 21...Ra8 22.fxe5 Bxe5, with compensating pressure.
20.fxe5 fxe5 21.Bh6!?
This is Stockfish9's choice. The point is that after 21.Rxe5, Black has 21...Rhe8, with lots of activity based on Black's superior development. Even so, it is far from clear that Black has full compensation for the pawn sac.
21...Rhe8 22.Re4?!
I was concerned about 22.Rf1, when 22...Rc7, 22...e4 and 22...Bf8 are all serious candidates.
The problem with the text is that White's e4-rook is rather inflexibly placed, which in turn makes his passed d5-pawn more of a weakness than a strength.
22...Kd6 23.c4?
I expected 23.Rd1, which my main analysis engines reckon is equal. The text leaves White vulnerable to, believe it or not, a middlegame king-hunt.
23...Bd4 24.Rae1 b5! 25.cxb5
Engines prefer 25.Be3, but still reckon Black is winning after the obvious 25...bxc4+.
25...Kxd5
Even more convincing is the immediate 25...Rc3+.
26.R4e2
26.Bd2 covers the c3 square, but after 26...Re6 White's queenside quickly collapses, and White is unable to muster any meaningful counterplay.
The game finished:
26...Rc3+ 27.Kb4 Rec8 28.a4 28...R8c4+ 29.Ka5 Ra3 30.Ka6 Raxa4+ 31.Kb7 Rcb4 32.Bg7 Rxb5+ 33.Kc7 33...Rc4+ 34.Kd8 Rb8+ 0-1
Meanwhile, here is a puzzle from outside of the tournament hall that I have not been able to figure out:

An impressive carving by the Tegernsee in Bad Wiessee, but is it an effeminate god or a butch goddess?