MAURICE ASHLEY
322 Park Place
Brooklyn, NY 11238
February 22, 1992
Dear Brother in Chess:
The First African‑American
Unity Chess Tournament, held on Saturday, February 22nd, was a success, in that
some interesting games were played and all the players who entered got at least
their money back. It could have been a greater success if there had been more
players involved. Details of the Second African-American Unity Chess
Tournament will appear later in this report. Please make it a point to be
there.
Four masters participated.
In addition, two teen alters with Class B ratings were allowed to enter the
competition, as part of the development program. Surprisingly, one of the
teenagers ‑ Charu Robinson ‑‑ tied for third, while the other ‑‑ Kasaun
Henry ‑‑ gave quite a scare to the second highest rated player, before
losing in the time scramble.
Although Maurice Ashley's
3.5‑0.5 score won the tournament, his only monetary reward was the return of his
$20 entry fee. The rest of the first prize money of $150 ($130) has gone into
the "Continue the Unity Fund". Jerald Times scored 2.5‑1.5 to take the $100
second place money, while three players scored 2‑2, to tie for 3rd‑5th and $30
each. They were Ronald Simpson, Mark Meeres and Charu
Robinson. Leon Munro and Willie Johnson filled in so that all
four masters would have played each other by the end of the day. Following is a
cross table of the tournament:
The Bulletin of the games of
the 1st African‑American Unity Tournament is printed on the following pages. It
was intended that all the games between the masters be printed. This was not
done because the score sheets were impossible to read in all cases. However, two
games by the youngest players were considered worthy of
inclusion.
First Thirteen Moves,
Leading to the Thematic Position
of the 1st
African‑American Unity Tournament, 1992
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7
4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0‑0 6.Be2 e5 7.0‑0 Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 9.Nd2 a5 10.Rb1 Nd7 11.a3 f5 12.b4
Kh8 13.Qc2 Ng8:
Times, J. W. (2216) vs.
Ashley, M. A. (2478): 14.f3 Ngf6 15.Nb5 Nh5 16.g3 Ndf6 17.c5 axb4 18.axb4 Bd7
19.Rb3 Nxg3 20.hxg3 Nh5 21.f4 Bxb5 22.Bxb5 exf4 23.gxf4 Nxf4 24.Nf3 fxe4 25.Qxe4
Qc8 26.Nh2 Nh3+ 27.Rxh3 Qxh3 28.Be3 Be5 29.Ng4 Rxf1+ 30.Bxf1 Ra1 31.Qg2 Bh2+
32.Nxh2 Qxe3+ 33.Qf2 Qxf2+ 34.Kxf2 dxc5 35.bxc5 Rc1 36.d6 cxd6 37.cxd6 Rd1
38.Ng4 Rxd6 39.Bc4 Rd4 40.Be2 Kg7 41.Ke3 Rb4 42.Ne5 h5 43.Nd3 Rb3 44.Bd1 Rb5
45.Nf4 Kh6 46.Kd4 Kg5 47.Nh3+ Kh4 48.Nf4 Rb6 49.Ke5 g5 50.Nxh5 Rb1 51.Bf3 Rf1
52.Bxb7 Kxh5 53.Ke4 Kh4 54.Ke3 Kg3 55.Ke2 Rf8 56.Bc6 g4
0‑1
Simpson, R. (2390) vs.
Henry, K. (1771): 14.Nb3 axb4 15.axb4 b6 16.c5 Ndf6 17.Bg5 bxc5 18.bxc5 h6
19.Bd2 Nxe4 20.Nxe4 fxe4 21.cxd6 Qxd6 22.Be3 Qxd5 23.Rfd1 Qf7 24.Bc4 Be6 25.Bxe6
Qxe6 26.Qxe4 Qf5 27.Qxf5 gxf5 28.Rd7 Nf6 29.Rxc7 Nd5 30.Rd7 Nxe3 31.fxe3 Rfb8
32.Nd2 Rxb1+ 33.Nxb1 Ra1 34.Rb7 f4 35.e4 Bf8 36.Kf2 Bc5+ 37.Kf3 h5 38.g3 Ra2
39.gxf4 Rf2+ 40.Kg3 exf4+ 41.Kh3 Time 1‑0
Ashley, M. (2478) vs.
Simpson, R. (2390): 14.exf5 axb4 15.axb4 gxf5 16.f4 exf4 17.Nf3 Ne5 18.Bxf4
Nxf3+ 19.Bxf3 Nf6 20.c5 Nd7 21.Nb5 Ne5 22.Rbd1 Bd7 23.Nd4 Ba4 24.Nb3 Qh4 25.Be2
Ng6 26.g3 Qe7 27.Bd3 dxc5 28.bxc5 Nxf4 29.Rxf4 Bxb3 30.Qxb3 Qxc5+ 31.Kg2 Ra3
32.Qc4 Qxc4 33.Rxc4 Be5 34.Rb4 ½-½
Ashley, M. (2478) vs.
Meeres, M. (2256): 14.f3 f4 15.c5 axb4 16.axb4 dxc5 17.bxc5 Nxc5 18.Nb5 b6
19.Ba3 Qe7 20.Rfc1 Ba6 21.Bxc5 bxc5 22.Nb3 c4 23.Qxc4 Rfb8 24.Nc5 Bxb5 25.Rxb5
Rxb5 26.Qxb5 Ra2 27.Qc4 Rd2 28.Ne6 Qa3 29.Bf1 Bf6 30.Qxc7 h5 31.Qf7 Qe7 32.Qxg6
Qh7 33.Qe8 Be7 34.Rc7 h4 35.Nf8 Qh6 36.Ng6+ Kg7 37.Qf8+ Kh7 38.Qf7+ Qg7 39.Qxg7+
Kxg7 40.Nxe7 1‑0
Simpson, R. (2390) vs.
Times, J. W. (2216): 14. exf5 gxf5 15. f4 Ne7 16.Nb5 Ng6 17.Nf3 exf4 18.c5 dxc5
19.bxc5 Nf6 20.d6 cxd6 21.Nxd6 Ne4 22.Bb2 Qe7 23.Rfd1 Ne5 24.Nxe5 Bxe5 25.Nxe4
fxe4 26.Qxe4 Qxc5+ 27 Bd4 Bxd4+ 28.Qxd4+ Qxd4+ 29.Rxd4 Rb8 30.Rb6 Kg7 31.Bf3 Rf6
32.Rxf6 Kxf6 33.Rd8 ½-½
Munro, L. (2146/7) vs. Robinson, C. (1768): 14.Nb3 axb4 15.axb4 Ndf6 16.f4 Nxe4 17.Nxe4 fxe4 18.Be3 Nh6 19.fxe5 Nf5 20.Qxe4 Nxe3 21.Rxf8+ Qxf8 22.Qxe3 Bxe5 23.Rf1 Qe7 24.Qf2 Kg7 25.Na5 Bf5 26.Nxb7 c5 27.dxc6 Ra2 28.g4 Rxe2 29.Qxe2 Bd4+ 30.Qf2 Bxf2+ 31.Kxf2 Bxg4 32.Re1 Qh4+ 33.Kf1 Qh3+ 34.Kf2 Qf3+ 35.Kg1 Bh3 0‑1.
March 7th. 2nd
African‑American Unity Chess Tournament: 4‑SS; G/45; open to 2100/above (OTB
or DOCUMENTED correspondence); St. Martin's Episcopal Church, 230 Malcolm X
Blvd. between 121st & 122nd Sts. (see below for directions); EF: $20. $$(400
gtd., but winnings of M. Ashley greater than his entry fee go into the "Continue
the Unity Fund") 150‑100‑50‑20‑20‑20‑20‑20; NOT USCF rated; Reg.
10:30‑10:45; Rds. 11:00‑12:45‑2:45‑4:30; please bring sets and clocks; it is
requested that you dress neatly. Info: (718) 498‑4268 or (914)
939‑5023.
Feel free to bring along any
other African‑American rated over 2100 whom you
know.
Thematic Position: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0‑0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0‑0 9.h3 Bb7 10.d4 Re8 11.a4 h6 12.Nbd2 Bf8 13.Bc2 exd4 14.cxd4 Nb4 15.Bb1 c5
