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Greetings!

This is Larrys last The Check is in the Mail. He has ably carried the good work of former editor Alex Dunne forward. As Larry writes ...at a point where there are a lot of things I want to do with my life (including getting better at this crazy game we share!) and I'm not maximizing my time to do those things if I'm doing other stuff, albeit stuff I also like.

We wish Larry all the best as he moves onward.

If there is someone interested in compiling, editing, and preparing The Check is in the Mail, send us an email - correspondence@uschess.org. Please include a short narrative of your qualifications.

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After reporting on the 2015 Golden Knights Championship won by Gary Adams in our June issue, I recently received a few games from that tourney from Mr. Adams and Mr. Abe Wilson, another former GK champion. So, this month I thought Id center the article on some interesting games from that event, along with some notes from the champion.

From Garys notes: My first game is from the preliminaries. It is between (John) Menke and myself. I dreaded drawing this guy in the first round. I had seen articles of him clobbering Michael Buss in Chess Life. I mentioned to one of the guys in the section that it was like putting a large muskie into a small pond. It just eats everything in the pond! He had lost only one game in 2003. This is another of his masterpieces only this time it is me on the receiving end. (Editors note: From the April 2019 The Check is in the Mail - Correspondence chess lost one of its great ones in March of this year with the death of John Menke of Mt. Vernon, Illinois. John had an amazing record, losing only a single game in 167 US Chess contests. He was the 2004 and 2005 CCLA Champion, the 2003 Golden Knights Champion, first in the 2004 Electronic Knights, third in 2005, and second in 2006. In the Absolute Championships he finished first in 2011 and 2012 and tied for second in 2013. Along the way in 2010 he picked up his ICCM title.)

I was very lucky to end up with 4 points in the preliminary. However, I still got placed in the semifinals, most likely to fill out a section. I made up for my weak showing in the prelims with winning all 6 games in the semifinals. (In) the finals section I got 4 wins and 2 draws, enough to win the tournament.

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Even a Golden Knights champion can get run over in the right (or wrong) circumstances. Regarding game 2 Adams writes: The second game from this section is from the finals with (David) Porter. It was a very even game until a blunder at the end. It shows that in correspondence chess all that is required to lose is one weak move.

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Although game 3 was not played by the champion, the game had a big impact on the final standings as Mr. Millett finished third (and fourth!) by a small margin. Mr. Wilson holding Millett to a draw, along with other results, were key to Adams edging him out for the championship.

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For the finale, Ill dispense with my comments and leave the notes to Mr. Adams: The last game is what I call the $400 game. This was probably the last game in the finals to get completed in the tournament. Wilson and I were pushing up against the time deadline for tournament closeout even with a COVID time extension. I was very surprised to get the last card in the mail indicating resignation.

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In Passing:

A few more members of our correspondence chess family have passed.

US Chess was recently informed that Jeffrey Dahl of Saint Cloud, Minnesota passed away on October 13, 2016. He carried a correspondence rating of 2084.

John Phythyon Sr. of Kennebunk, Maine passed away on February 11, 2022. Mr. Phythyon was no longer an active player but carried a 2054 rating.

David Moody (CC rating of 1458) of Dearborn, Michigan passed away on June 24, 2022. David was a member of the Michigan Chess Hall of Fame and the longtime editor of the Michigan Chess Associations magazine in the 1980s and 1990s.

2019 Electronic Knights Finals

The 2019 Electronic Knights tournament has concluded. The winner is Michael Buss of Indianapolis, Indiana. This is Buss first Electronic Knights championship. Seventy-eight players entered competition which consisted of 11 preliminary sections, followed by three semi-final sections, and one finals section.

News From the Front Office

Recent Event Winners

John W. Collins20C02, Jason Wright, 6-020C09, Jason Hoefferle, 6-022C02, Daniel Brenneman, 6-0

Walter Muir E-Quad21W37, Richard Perry, 5.5-0.522W05, Patrick Gordon-Davis, 6-022W08, Eric Brink & Timothy Steck, 5-122W11, Paul Shannon, 6-0

Victor Palciauskas21VP05, Jeffrey Reger, 6-0

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Check Is In The Mail: August 2022 | US Chess.org - uschess.org