The Absolute Correspondence Championship of the United States Chess Federation, 1976-2010

349 Pages·2012·1.55 MB·English

by  Alex Dunne

The Absolute Correspondence
Championship of the United States
Chess Federation, 1976–2010
ALSO BY ALEX DUNNE
Great Chess Books of the Twentieth Century
in English (McFarland, 2005)
The Absolute
Correspondence Championship
of the United States
Chess Federation, 1976–2010
ALEX DUNNE
McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Jefferson, North Carolina, and London
LIBRARYOFCONGRESSCATALOGUING-IN-PUBLICATIONDATA
Dunne, Alex, 1942–
The absolute correspondence championship of the United States
Chess Federation, 1976–2010 / Alex Dunne.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and indexes.
ISBN 978-0-7864-7294-9
softcover : acid free paper
1. Chess—Tournaments—United States—History. 2. United States
Chess Federation—History. I. Title.
GV1455.D86 2012 794.1—dc23 2012031526
BRITISHLIBRARYCATALOGUINGDATAAREAVAILABLE
© 2012 Alex Dunne. All rights reserved
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying
or recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,
without permission in writing from the publisher.
Edited by Robert Franklin
Designed by Robert Franklin and Susan Ham
Typeset by Susan Ham
Cover images © 2012 Shutterstock
Manufactured in the United States of America
McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Box 611, Jefferson, North Carolina 28640
www.mcfarlandpub.com
To Colleen: my best wife ever
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T C
ABLE OF ONTENTS
Introduction ix
Abbreviations xi
The Inauguration of the Absolute Correspondence Championship xii
Absolute Directors xiii
Statistics for the 1976 to 2010 Participants xv
The Tournaments, 1976–2010
The 1976 Absolute 1 The 1994 Absolute 156
The 1977 Absolute 8 The 1995 Absolute 164
The 1978 Absolute 14 The 1996 Absolute 173
The 1979 Absolute 23 The 1997 Absolute 180
The 1980 Absolute 31 The 1998 Absolute 190
The 1981 Absolute 39 The 1999 Absolute 205
The 1982 Absolute 49 The 2000 Absolute 215
The 1983 Absolute 60 The 2001 Absolute 223
The 1984 Absolute 66 The 2002 Absolute 232
The 1985 Absolute 74 The 2003 Absolute 243
The 1986 Absolute 78 The 2004 Absolute 254
The 1987 Absolute 87 The 2005 Absolute 263
The 1988 Absolute 95 The 2006 Absolute 274
The 1989 Absolute 105 The 2007 Absolute 288
The 1990 Absolute 114 The 2008 Absolute 296
The 1991 Absolute 124 The 2009 Absolute 307
The 1992 Absolute 133 The 2010 Absolute 317
The 1993 Absolute 146
Index of Openings (Traditional Names) 325
Index of Openings (ECO Codes) 326
Player Index 328
vii
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I
NTRODUCTION
The Absolute Correspondence Championship of the United States Chess Feder-
ation is an annual event. Once a year the top available correspondence players are
invited to submit their bids for entry into the tournament. The top players are then
assigned. The number of players varies somewhat—from seven in the first, 1976 Absolute,
to 14 in the 2005 event—but the usual number was 13 players.
As correspondence chess columnist for Chess Lifefrom 1981to 2006 and editor of
the electronic “The Check Is in the Mail” for USCF from 2006 to the present, I have
had the duty and pleasure of writing about these postcard warriors and electronic tac-
ticians from nearly the beginning. One of the striking features I have enjoyed is the
wide variety of styles these players show and I have endeavored to present their games
with their styles in mind.
These tournaments have been arranged in this book in chronological order from
1976 to 2010. Each year constitutes a separate chapter. At the start of each chapter the
winner (or co- winners in case of a tie result) is given a brief biographical sketch and an
annotated game. Some of the games have been annotated by the winner (with a credit
line in the game heading) but most of the annotations have been provided (uncredited)
by me. All the annotations are original for this book, in either case.
After the winner’s game is presented, some of the other games of the tournament
are presented, including the second and third place finishers with one of their best
decisive games. More than 2600 games have been played in these Absolutes, with nearly
2000 of them preserved. I have selected from those preserved games what I believe are
the best, the most important, the most exciting, and the most instructive games of as
many participants as possible.
I have tried to represent so many of the Absolute players because just to be in an
Absolute is a rare accomplishment: The participant has to rank above several thousand
USCF correspondence players.
There are a few players who unfortunately are not included in any way in this book.
Many of the early games are lost despite the efforts of Robert Rizzo and myself to collect
as many of them as possible. The most prolific of all Absolute players has barely half
his games saved.
When I took over as USCF Correspondence Chess Director in 2005, I made it
mandatory for the games to be turned in and so the later records are more complete.
ix