My first appearance at the Green Bay Open did not begin on a good note. First of all, I arrived 50 minutes late for my first round game having been caught behind a slow moving semi on a "short cut" up to Green Bay. Then I proceeded to blunder a piece away early. Fortunately, my unrated opponent missed two simple tactical maneuvers which would have allowed him to retain the piece and the game. Nevertheless, he ended up with a pawn and I had to play sharply in order to turn the game to my advantage. I managed to win a long endgame with opposite colored bishops. I had two passed pawns on opposite sides of the board, but they were not the same color as my bishop. This game went into triple time control and left me with a bad feeling about the rest of the tournament.

My second game against Kelly Borman went better, but still I was beginning to go crazy because this game also went to triple time control! I ended up in a Rook vs. Bishop ending where I had the exchange, but neither side had any pawns and Kelly's king was not trapped on the back rank. In the end, I set a trap in which one variation loses outright, one traps the king on the back rank and which requires extremely patient handling and good technique to win, and one which draws by maintaining the freedom of both king and bishop. Unfortunately, Kelly chose the first variation and had to resign because he would lose his bishop by force.

White to move

1. Ra2!? Kc5?? 2. Rg2! 1-0

My third round game against Alex was another long game in which Alex had a lot of pressure on my center, but by tactics, I managed to create complications and I developed strong counterplay. In the end, I rejected a sure draw because I thought I had calculated a winning line in which I would win the exchange. Alex awakened me out of my dream with a very simple move. I quickly succumbed after Alex got the two bishops against my rook and trapped my king.

In the fourth round game, I had to win in order to retain any hope of receiving prize money. It was also a new day and I resolved to win and win quickly. I had gotten sick of long game after long game. I have rarely played a game in which I have used more than 30 minutes and hence, my games are resolved relatively quickly, even if I encounter a slow opponent. So you must realize my shock when all of my games on Saturday went over 3 hours!

Green Bay Open 1996-07-21

Round: 4 White: Don Hwang (1773) Black : Doug Younkle (2000)

ECO : C02

1. e4 e6
2. d4 d5
3. e5 c5
4. c3 Nc6
5. Nf3 Qb6
6. Bd3 cxd4
7. cxd4 Bd7

(7... Nxd4 ?? 8.Nxd4 Qxd4 9.Bb5+ The Queen is lost. )

8. 0-0 Nxd4
9. Nxd4 Qxd4
10. Nc3 a6

{ 10... Qxe5 11.Re1 Qd6 12.Nb5 Qb8 ( 12... Bxb5 13.Bxb5+ Kd8 14.Qh5 ! g6 15.Qf3 f6 16.Bf4 e5 17.Rxe5 fxe5 18.Bxe5 Qxe5 19.Qxf8+ Kc7 20.Rc1+ 1-0 Moyer-Kozmarek, corr. 1969. ) 13.Qf3 Bd6 14.Qxd5 Bxh2+ 15.Kh1 Bc6 16.Qg5 Nf6 17.f4 h6 18.Qxg7 Rg8 19.Rxe6+ fxe6 20.Bg6+ Kd8 21.Qxf6+ 1-0 Tal-Nei, USSR 1958. }

11. Re1

{This older move is inferior to 11. Qe2. Black got a slight advantage in McDonald-McKay, Scotland 1988, after 11...Qb6 12. Qe2 (12 Qg4 !?) 12...Ne7 13 Bg5 Nc6 14 Rad1 Be7 15 Bc1 0-0-0 16 a3 f6 17 ef6 gf6 18 b4 =+ } ( 11.Qe2 Ne7 12.Kh1 Nc6 13.f4 Nb4 14.Rd1 Nxd3 15.Rxd3 Qc4 16.b3 Qc7 17.Bb2 Bc6 18.Rc1 Rd8 19.Qf2 Be7 20.Ne2 0-0 21.Nd4 Qd7 22.f5 exf5 23.Rg3 g6 24.Qf4 Rfe8 25.Nxf5 Bf8 26.Bd4 Re6 27.Nh6+ Bxh6 28.Qxh6 Rde8 29.Rf1 Qc7 30.Rh3 f5 31.exf6ep Qf7 32.Qxh7+ {Sveshnikov-Razuvaev, Belgrade 1988. 1-0}

11.... Bb4 ?

( 11... Qb6 12.Qe2 ( 12.Qg4 !? ) Ne7 13.Bg5 Nc6 14.Rad1 Be7 15.Bc1 0-0-0 16.a3 f6 17.exf6 gxf6 18.b4 =+ McDonald-McKay, Scotland 1988.)

12. Be3 Qh4 ?!

( 12... Qxe5 13.Bc5 Qf4 14.Nxd5 +- With a winning advantage. )

13. Bb6 ! Nh6
14. g3 !? Qe7
15. a3 Bc5
16. Bxc5 Qxc5
17. Rc1 Qe7
18. Ne2 Bc6
19. Nd4 Qd7
20. Qh5 ! Rc8
21. g4 !! Ba4 ?
22. g5 Rxc1
23. Rxc1 Nf5
24. Bxf5 g6
25. Bxg6 fxg6
26. Qh3 Ke7
27. Rc3 ! ...

(Supporting the Queen with threats of a rook lift.)

27... Bd1 !?
28. Nxe6 !! Rc8
29. Qxh7+ Kxe6
30. Qxg6+ Ke7

(30...Kxe5?? 31. Qf6+ Ke4 32.Re3#)

31. Qf6+ Ke8
32. Qh8+ Ke7
33. Qxc8
1-0

Short and sweet, but unfortunately, the long game just would not die! My last game of the day was against Mike Nietman. It was drawn, but not before 3+ hours had elapsed. This was by far the longest tournament of my chess career! Every opponent I drew, with the notable exception of Doug Younkle, used up prodigious amounts of time. Hopefully, this will be the last tournament in which I will face the terrifying "sitzkrieg!"