CCLA Portraits

The following column was originally published in the November-December 1997 issue of The Chess Correspondent, Vol. 70, No. 6.

Mark Laboda Co-winner of the 1991 North American Class B Championship, Mark Laboda shares with us his personal story and an annotated game. "I am 49, happily married, and the father of two. Professionally I was trained as a chemist, receiving a BSc (chemistry) from Wayne State University of Minnesota. I have been working for General motors for the past 18 years; currently at the Powertrain plant in Toledo, Ohio, where I manage two laboratories. "I started playing chess at age 10, but I didn't really have a firm grasp of the fundamentals of the game until some twenty years later, largely the result of studying the proper chess literature. The books which I found the most valuable were Winning Chess by Chernev & Reinfield, Basic Chess Endings by R. Fine, and The Ideas Behind the Openings by R. Fine. "My Postal chess career began with my participation in the 1979 USCF Golden Knights Tournament. Since then I have competed in a variety of tournaments sponsored by several different correspondence chess organizations. "I first joined and began competition in CCLA about seven years ago, largely as the result of the organization's 10/30 rule. At that time I was experiencing problems with my opponents dropping out of existing games, or not making their moves in a timely fashion. Having played my games in the CCLA exclusively since that time, I have been pleasantly surprised by the CCLA members' commitment to all their games. I believe that the level of competition in the CCLA is significantly higher than that of other postal chess organizations in which I had previously competed. Even though, I initially lost some ratings points in CCLA play, this phenomenon, has actually become a primary factor in the improvement of my playing ability. "I feel that achievement of any measure of success in chess (as well as most other endeavors in life) requires the proper balance between theory and practice. I would recommend that other CCLA players adopt the practice of writing down the analysis of their opponent's best replies after each move. This practice will enable the postal competitor to immediately return to the rhythm of the game, even though, a significant period of time may have elapsed since the previous move. "The following game with co-finalist, Shawn Clark, helped me to win the 1991 North Class B-Championship."

White: Shawn Clark Black: Mark Laboda Grunfeld Defense/5.Qb3 Line/Hungarian System D97 Notes by Ralph P. Marconi, unless indicated by ML 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Qb3 dxc4 6.Qxc4 0-0 7.e4 a6!? (Andras Adorjan & Jeno Dory write in their book Winning with The Grunfeld: "In the early 1970s, the theory of the Qb3 system was enriched by a new possibility, namely 7...a6, which was elaborated and played mainly by Hungarian masters....This is the so-called Hungarian system. It is characterized by a lively and complicated game and, occasionally, a pawn sacrifice by Black in the spirit of gambit play.") 8.Qb3 (8.a4 would be bad as the game, Hybl-Barczay, corr. 1971 illustrates: 8...b5! 9.Qb3 {of course not 9.axb5?? axb5! and the White loses a Rook.} c5! 10.dxc4 Be6 11.Qa3 b4! 12.Qxb4 Nc6 13.Qb7 Qe8 14.Ng5 Rb8 15.Qc7 Nb4 16.Nxe6 fxe6 17.Rb1 Ng4! 18.Bc4 Bxc3+ 19.bxc3 Nc2+ 20.Kd1 Nce3+ 21.fxe3 Qa4+ 0-1.) 8...b5 9.e5 Nfd7!? (The main line now, which has superseded 9...Ng4, and is now the move of choice. 9...Be6? gives White a winning game after:10.exf6! Bxb3 11.fxg7 Kxg7 12.axb3 Nc6 13.Be3 Nb4 14.Rc1 Qd7 15.Be2 +/- and eventually won in Bronstein-Poutianinen, Tallinin. White's three minor pieces proved too strong. With the text, Black threatens to play c5, breaking open the center to his advantage. ) 10.h4!? (An apparent improvement upon: 10.e6?; 10.Be3. The idea is to generate a direct attack against the King by e6 and h5.) 10...Nb6! (10...c5? The text prevents White from playing the intended e6 pawn push.) 11.h5 Nc6 12.Be3 Be6 (ECO gives: 12...Ng5 13.Qc2 Nac4 14.hxg6 hxg6 15.Bg5 +/=. ) 13.Qd1 Nb4 (Finally out of book on move 12. My immediate plan was to post a Knight on d5. ML) 14.a3 N(b4)d5 15.hxg6 hxg6 16.Nxd5 Nxd5 17.Bg5 Bg4 18.Be2 Qd7 19.Qd2 f6 20.Bh6!? (With the idea of 21.Bxg7 Kxg7 22.Qh6+ with mate next move. So Black's next move appears forced. ) 20...Rf7 21.Bxg7 Rxg7 22.Rc1 c6 23.Nh2? Bxe2 24.Qxe2 Rh7!? 25.Qc2 (?)

Clark decides to go after my weak c-pawn now, but be careful what you want, you might just get it, ML. Perhaps White's game is still salvageable after 25.0-0!? RPM.) 25...Kf7 (Setting up the winning pin, ML) 26.Qxc6 Qxc6 27.Rxc6 fxe5 (Diagram) (Zwishenzug, ML) 28.dxe5 Rah8! 29.e6+ Kg7 30.Rc5 Nf6 31.Rc7 Ng8 32.Ra7 Rxh2 33.Rxh2 Rxh2 34.g3 Rh5 35.Rxa6 Nf6 36.Rb6 Ne4 37.g4 Rd5 38.a4 bxa4 0-1

Clark - Laboda After: 27. ... fxe5

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