Erik Bang of Denmark has been making a habit of winning over CC World Champions, and now he has done it again. June's game of the month features his fine win over the present and up till now only two-time World Champion Tonu Öim of Estonia. The setting for this classic Ruy Lopez is the Hans-Werner von Massow Memorial tournament which is reaching its final stages, but whose ultimate winner is still not known.

Erik is 56 years old, married, and has two boys. He lives in Horsens, Denmark, and works as an Electronics Technician. He began playing OTB chess at the age of thirteen, a common age when young people are captivated by chess, and it did not take him very long to attain success; a tie for first place in the '63 Danish Junior Championship. Erik continued to be active in OTB playing in the Danish Championships (taking 6th place in '73), playing on the Danish national team, and winning the Danish club championship more than 11 times.

Erik began Correspondence Chess in '68 and has an enviable record of consistent successes of which I list only a few. He placed third in EU/CH 8 after Sloth and Kosenkov scoring 101/2 of 14 and received the International Master title for this performance. Playing first board for the Danish team in Olympiad-VIII preliminaries and final, he scored 8 of 10 and 91/2 out of 12 respectively. For his excellent performance in the final he was awarded the GM title in '79.

There are several other CC performances that are quite noteworthy. As Erik notes "In '81 I started to play in CCCA-60 and I won the tournament making 111/2 of 14. I placed second in the Axelson Memorial tournament behind Tonu Öim with a score of 10 out of 14, and again finished second in the World Championship-XIII after Mikhail Umansky (Russia) with a score of 111/2 out of 16." Having participated in both the Axelson and WC-XIII final, I would like to point out that these were extremely strong tournaments, and if it were not for the superb performances by Öim and Umansky in these two events, Erik could possibly have two additional titles under his belt.

Having noticed that Erik is making a habit of winning against CC World Champions, I inquired about who else is on this list. "During my many years in CC I have played against many World Champions and have won against H. Rittner, Y. Estrin, F. Baumbach, M. Umansky, V. Zagorovsky, the author of this column, and T. Öim" was his reply. Not too many World Champions are missing from this list!

Presently, Erik is playing in the Hans-Werner von Massow Memorial and in the World Championship XVI Final. Having placed second in the WC-XIII Final, he appears poised for the WC title this time. In addition he is participating in the Millennium E-mail tournament that began this year. The progress of these games can be viewed on the ICCF Website.

The game between Erik and Tonu is a classic Ruy Lopez. Both players are content to close the Queenside and go after each other on the other wing. After prolonged maneuvering, White misses his opportunity and allows Black to sacrifice a piece for two pawns. It's a classic sacrifice giving Black control of the only open file leading to the White King. As Black brings his heavy artillery to bear on the Monarch, White's lack of space for his pieces makes the defensive task insurmountable. The final maneuvers by Erik are very instructive.

Öim, Tonu (Estonia) - Bang, Erik (Denmark)

Hans-Werner von Massow, 1994
C92
Annotated by Erik Bang (EB) and Vytas Palciauskas (VP)

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0

It has become popular to "threaten" the Marshall Gambit,often with no intention of playing it, hoping that White will play the Anti-Marshall 8.a4. (VVP)

8.c3 d6 9.h3 Nd7 10.d4 Bf6 11.a4 Bb7 12.d5 Ne7 13.Bc2

13.axb5 axb5 14.Rxa8 Qxa8 15.Na3 is a solid continuation

13...g6 14.Be3 Qb8 15.b3 Bg7 16.c4 b4 17.Nbd2 c5 18.Nf1

As often happens in the Ruy Lopez, both players are content in closing the center and Queenside and optimistically pursuing their Kingside play. After 18.dxc6 Nxc6 (18...Bxc6 19.Nf1 Nc5 20.Ng3 Qc7) 19.Nf1 Nc5 Black's pieces are well placed. (VVP)

18...f6 19.Ra2 Rf7 20.Bb1 Qf8 21.Qc1 Kh8 22.h4

Hoping this advance, with a potential h5, will loosen Black's compact pawn structure. (VVP)

22...h5 23.N3h2

White prepares for the advance of his pawns. But, which one(s) will it be? f3 and g4; g3 and f4; or simply g4? Black on the other hand only has f5, but this advance would now weaken his pawn on h5. (VVP)

23...Re8 24.f3 f5

This has to be played now before White plays g4. For example: 24...Ng8 25.g4 hxg4 26.fxg4 Bh6 27.g5 leaves White with a spatial advantage. (EB)

25.exf5 gxf5 26.Bg5 Nf6 27.Rae2 Bc8 28.g3 Nh7 29.Bd2 Bd7 30.Kh1 Ng6

Both players have brought their pieces to better positions and are looking for opportunities to open lines under favorable conditions. But, it's not easy to open the position. Black has the possibility of f4, but it requires more preparation. (VVP)

31.Bc2 Qe7 32.Ne3 Qf6 33.Ng2!

After 33.Ng2!, I thought White was better. I had regretted playing 32...Qf6 because now I had to look out for Bg5 in many variations. Perhaps 32....Rg8 was better? (EB)

33...Qd8 34.Rf2

With the idea of Qd1 and f4. (VVP)

34...Rg8 35.Qd1 Ngf8 36.Nf1?!

Tonu should have tried 36.f4!?. It's not the h5 pawn that is so important, but the prevention of 36.f4! (VVP) I think I have enough compensation after 36.f4!? e4 37.Qxh5 Bd4 but the position is very unclear. Perhaps the plan starting with 34.Rf2 was not the best continuation for White. (EB)

36...f4!

37.g4

Forced. 37.gxf4 exf4 38.Rfe2 Be5 With the threat of Bh3. (EB)

37...Bf6!

I looked at the complications following 37...hxg4 38.fxg4 f3 only for a few minutes, because I had the feeling that with 37...Bf6! Black would almost be winning. The sacrifice on the next move would leave White without any play and make the defense extremely difficult for him. (EB)

38.g5 Bxg5 39.hxg5 Qxg5 40.Bc1

The Knights on f1 and g2 are blocking the coordination of the defense, so White hopes to play Nd2 followed by Ne4. This is a major decision, because g3 becomes open to the Black Queen. (VVP)

40...Nf6 41.Nd2

I thought that 40.Bc1! was the best defense, but that it should have been followed up with 41.Bb2 instead of 41.Nd2. After Nd2 I felt secure that I only had to find the right moves to win the game. (EB) If the Knight doesn't move, the weakness on g1 eventually comes into play. Black can simply play h4 winning back the piece. Defending this type of position is less enjoyable than going to a dentist. (VVP)

41...Qg3 42.Qe2 Qh3+ 43.Kg1 Rfg7 44.Ne4 Nxe4 45.Bxe4

It looks like White's defensive plan has almost succeeded. g2 is well defended, and there seem to be no obvious entry points. But, (VVP)

45...Qh4!

Threatening Bh3.

46.Qd2 Bh3 47.Ree2 Rg3!

The final blow! The rook will be transferred to the h-file (VVP)

48.Qc2

White's King cannot move because of 48.Kf1 Bxg2+ and Mate in 2; If 48.Bb2 keeping e1 defended, then 48...R8g5! 49.Ba1 Bxg2 50.Rxg2 Rh3 and mate in 3 follows. Now the reason behind 48....R8g5! becomes clear, there is no check when the rook is captured. (EB)

48...Bd7 49.Re1 Rh3 50.Kf1 Rh1+ 51.Ke2 Rxg2

52.Rxg2 Qxe1+ 0-1

Dr. Fritz Baumbach is compiling the games from the Hans-Werner von Massow memorial tournament. The book will be published shortly after the completion of the tournament.