Meet America’s latest CC-IM, John Mousessian!
Interview by Junior Tay
SM John Mousessian, a top US CC player has finally clinched his IM title with a convincing final game win in the Arne Henriksen Memorial. What is so special about this performance is not just the IM norm feat per se but the circumstances surrounding it. John had agreed to share all his games with the Internet public and the majority of them were broadcast live on the Internet. (one opponent requested that the game not be displayed while two others were featured with a 3-move delay). The live display was set up and updated done on the Campbell Report, courtesy of the indefatigable Franklin Campbell. For the past 5 months, Moussesian’s Arne Henriksen Diary has been averaging 2340 hits per month, so we can safely say that the total number of hits is in excess of 22000(!) over the last 11 months!
Biography
Name: John Mousessian
Age:37
Residence:Glendale California
(Other) Hobbies:Deep sea fishing
CC Rating: ELO 2466
CC Career Highlights: 12th US CC Championships Gp 8 - 1st
12th US CC Championships Finals - 4th
14th US CC Championships Gp 4 - 1st
1994 USCF Correspondence Chess Team Champion member and captain
Representing USA on Bd 1 against England (BPCF)
IM title performance in Arne Henriken Memorial
Representing USA on Bd 1 in NATT5
After congratulating John for his feat, I asked him for an exclusive
interview with CCN. Here's what transpired.
Do tell us a bit about yourself . What is your profession?
I’m self employed in the automotive field
And your family members? Do they play chess?
I am married and have 2 daughters ages: 3yrs old and 10 months old. The only other chess player in our family is my father. He taught me the fundamentals.
How do they view your chess activity?
From my wife’s and kids’ standpoint, they hate it. To them chess is an obstacle, which takes me away from them for a couple of hours per day, depending on my game load.
How did you start playing chess?
I was 5 years old when I started playing chess and was taught by my father. Of course, for the first two years, It was quite difficult for him to teach a 5 year old. I recall that I did not play correctly and did not follow the rules properly. Approximately at the age of 9, I was enrolled in the Ararat club for youth for Armenian community in Teheran , Iran which had a chess program for kids. My first correspondence chess experience started when I migrated to US in 1979 at the age of 15, settling in the Detroit Michigan area. I attempted to remain in contact with a school mate, Alec Safarian, who migrated to London England and that was how my first postal game began. Unfortunately our match was not completed and lost contact with good friend but I am certain he still plays chess competitively. I was determined to play postal chess , complete games and with a little luck, win a few. In high school I was introduced to USCF while playing for Bishop Foley High School's chess team. Our team became 4th in Michigan in 1980 and 1981 as me playing 4th board in 1980 and 1st board in 1981. In 1980 I entered a Golden Knight event and manage to win the section.My opposition was not easy one of the games played was against an OTB master Morris Leveson whom I defeated convincingly. In mid 1981 my family and I moved to Los Angeles area and chess became a secondary issue again. In late 1980's, out of college, I decided to play CC once again and have not stopped since.
When did CC start to figure in your chess career?
In 1980, I entered a Golden Knight section, during a cold winter in Detroit Michigan, where I resided. If memory serves me correctly I won that section with 6-0 score and stopped playing cc chess, due to my move to California as senior in High School.
In 1988, I restarted playing cc quite actively and my quest continuesFranklin Campbell's site as well as TCCMB
OK. Let's move on to CC proper.
How did you happen to become the choice of Franklin Campbell's live
game display?
Franklin and I became acquainted from 14th USCCC Preliminary Round and we remained in contact ever since
Did having to publish your every move affect your game?
Posting my games, probable cost me about a point or two. This is especially so because I did not want to duplicate openings, therefore I had to play some unfamiliar lines, for example, in my games against IM Chorfi, Duncan Chambers (I hate playing against French, but I was playing c3 exchange against Hidalgo), and SIM Ove Sogaard.
Aren't you worried about the possibility of your opponents' friends ganging up on you, seeing that your games are so accessible?
I would not call it ganging up. I am certain that all competitors did follow the guidelines of the honor system.
The majority of completed games are readily accessible. However, the games that are in progress, may create discomfort to some, but how certain can one be that the rendered advice was indeed proper? Assuming it was and you won, what have you accomplished? The majority of us play chess because we enjoy it. There will always be a small percentage of people that would value winning more than actually playing the game and they will always be there, so we just have to live with it.
It looks like you are relatively new to email chess. How was the
experience?
I learned that 14 e-mail games are too many. Initially I did not think it would matter. At this point I am glad it's over.
What was your initial strategy upon starting the Arne Henriken tournament? How did you prepare for your opponents?
The only preparation that I had was against Pribyl. I would like to thank to John Jordan who sent me a database of some 2300+ games played by him. Pribyl had played this line as black and won. This was my best opportunity to take advantage of it in his own backyard. I introduced 17.Qd3! which I felt was the turning point.
Position after 17.Qd1-d3!
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The games Christiansen vs Mousessian as well as Mousessian vs Kharitonov was agreed drawn just when the situation was turning critical. Can you comment on that?
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.e3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.Nf3 Nbd7 6.Qc2 Bd6 7.Bd3 0-0 8.0-0 dxc4 9.Bxc4 e5 10.h3 Qe7 11.a3 a6 12.Ba2 Bb8 13.Bd2 h6 14.Nh4 exd4 15.Nf5 Qe5 16.f4 Qc7 17.Nxd4 Ba7 18.Nf5 Kh8 19.b4 Rd8 20.Rad1 Nf8 21.Kh1 Re8 22.Rf3 Bxf5 23.Qxf5 Ng6 24.Qc2 Nh4 25.Rg3
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1/2-1/2
Mr. Christiansen and I agreed to split the point based on his draw offer and I was glad he did so.
1.e4 c5 2.c3 Nf6 3.e5 Nd5 4.g3 d6 5.exd6 Qxd6 6.Bg2 Nc6 7.Ne2 Bf5 8.d4 0-0-0 9.0-0 e5 10.dxe5 Qxe5 11.Nd2 Be7 12.Re1 Qc7 13.Qb3 Be6 14.Qc2 g5 15.Nc4 Rhe8 16.a4 Kb8 17.b3 h6 18.Bb2 h5 19.Rad1 h4 20.Na3 hxg3 21.hxg3 Bf6 22.Nb5 Qc8 23.Qc1 Rg8
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1/2-1/2
Mr. Kharitonov offered draw as well after initially declining my draw offer earlier. My game seemed to be difficult but so was his, we could not find any sound way to simplify to a favorable ending.
I think you pretty much enjoyed the win in Larsen-Mousessian, even giving your final move an exclam!. Can you describe the turning point in the game?
Actually,28......Re6 was the missing key, which took me a while to find 34.....Qe7! which eliminated the last hope for white to draw
Mousessian vs Picoli looks like a good advantage for White. Did you declare truce to secure the title?
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.Nbd2 Bf8 12.d5 Nb8 13.Nf1 Nbd7 14.Ng3 g6 15.Nh2 Nc5 16.Bc2 a5 17.Qf3 h5 18.Be3 Nfd7 19.Rad1 Qe7 20.Ngf1 Bg7 21.b4 Na6 22.Qe2 axb4 23.Qxb5 Reb8 24.cxb4 Bc8 25.Qc4 Nxb4 26.Rb1 Ba6 27.Qc3 Nxa2 28.Rxb8+ Rxb8 29.Qxc7 Rb7 30.Qa5 Nb4 31.Rc1 Nc5 32.Nf3 Nxc2 33.Bxc5 Bxf1 34.Kxf1 dxc5 35.Rxc2 Rb1+ 36.Ke2 Bf8 37.Qa8 Rb4 38.Nd2
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1/2-1/2
I felt our position was unbalanced and Mr. Picoli had the edge not me.
Earlier on, I was hoping that Piccoli try to force the draw by:23.Qxb5 Nac5 24.cxb4 Ba6 25.Qc6 Bb7 thinking to have the draw. But I had other plans for him.26.Qxc7?! Rec8 27.Qxc8 Bxc8 28.bxc5 Nxc5 29.Bxc5 dxc5 30.Bb3 now black has an unbalanced game.You certainly cut it very close, leaving it to the last game. Were you
worried about not making the norm and disappointing a whole bunch of
Campbell Report readers? What were your feelings as the tournament
progressed?
Indeed I did cut it close,even being up a pawn against Pribyl was no guarantee of victory.
By 45th move, my mind had gone blank and seemed I was going in circles. It was a weird feeling.The SIM title is very attractive, that is probably my next goal.
What is your ultimate aim in CC? Are you planning to scale the World Championships trek?
I would not even remotely consider becoming a player of that level. My realistic ultimate goals are to attain the SIM title and to have the opportunity to play against the top 5 and quit CC (!!).
What!? Quit CC? But why?
Time is the greatest problem. Having two small children require a lot of time. For my wife alone, it is an uphill battle and chess becomes her biggest enemy .The question is when to stop. I think the SIM title is just like an IM norm . I’m 30 more rating points away and it is a realistic goal. I feel this should be done as soon as possible. I am aware that taking time out from CC for 5-10 years would bring me back down to square one and at that point, I would just play at club level and my dream of making GM would be lost forever but so be it.
The Mousessian vs Morse controversy had ended amicably with both parties "mending the tear" in their chess friendship (Mark's words). Did the hullabaloo surrounding the issue affect your games? In retrospect, how do you feel about the whole issue? Have you been in contact with Mark since?
Mark and I remain friends and we do keep in touch occasionally. The "hullabaloo" did attract quite a few spectators to TCCMB.
In TCCMB, you were somehow disappointed at the 55 strong turnout of the 1st US CC Email Championships. Why was that so? What kind of entry figures were you expecting?
I was hoping for twice as many entrants…
What is your favourite chess book and why?
There are many excellent chess books, I own 500+ good chess books(not including ECO,Informants,NIC) and the majority of them are good from what’s provided by the author and bad from what's not provided
How about your favourite player? Who do you consider the world's
greatest chess player? Can you provide some reasons for your choices?
I would put my money on the top 5 in the cc arena. Their style, skills, excitement is one of a kind.
What is your greatest CC achievement?
The opportunity to have the acquaintance with other cc players world-wide, to me; is considered to be a very rewarding achievement.
CC GM Tunc Hamarat in Chessmail 7/2000 stated that OTB IMs stand no chance against CC-GMs in CC. Do you share his view on this? Can you tell us why?
I think my game against Mr. Pribyl should answer that question. He is a highly decorated FIDE IM.
The Steve Ham-Fritz/Nimzo match is drawing to a close. What is your opinion about the match?
Steve got the short end of the stick. The machines got lucky. Steve spent tremendous amount of time annotating those games and the software walk away with glory.
Do you have any advice for the aspiring CC player?
1.Ignore your opponents rating and just play the board.
2.Take on only a few games at a time, do not overload.
CCN would like to thank John for a forthright interview and we hope that John will continue to entertain us with more live games on his SIM quest!
And now, for John’s violent attacking win over Larsen.
1.Nc3 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nxe4 e5 4.Bb5+
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One would be tempted to deem this as a waste of a tempo but even Ukrainian OTB GM Mikhail Brodsky gives it a fling... [4.Bc4 main line...if there is such a thing in the Van Geet] 4...c6 so Black is denied the c6 square for his Queen knight but c7-c6 is a useful move as John's Queen is apt to agree [4...Bd7 5.a4 Nc6 6.Nf3 Nge7 7.d4 exd4 8.Nxd4 Nxd4 9.Qxd4 Nc6 10.Bxc6 Bxc6 11.Bg5 Qxd4 12.0-0 Bxe4 13.Rfe1 Be7 14.Be3 Qxb2 15.Rab1 Qxc2 16.Rxb7 Bxb7 17.Rc1 Qg6 18.f3 Bxf3 19.g3 0-0-0 20.Bxa7 Rd1+ 21.Rxd1 Bxd1 22.Kf2 Qf6+ 23.Ke1 Bb4+ 24.Kxd1 Rd8+ 25.Kc2 Qc3+ 26.Kb1 Rd1+ 27.Ka2 Ra1# 0-1 Skipworth,B-Henson,J/Winnipeg 1997/EXT 99 (27)] 5.Bc4 Nf6 [5...f5 6.Qf3 Nf6 7.Nxf6+ Qxf6 8.Qb3 Nd7 9.Ne2 b5 10.Bxb5 cxb5 11.Qxb5 Ba6 12.Qa4 Rc8 13.d3 Qc6 14.Qxc6 Rxc6 15.Nc3 Kf7 16.Be3 Bb4 17.Rb1 Bxc3+ 18.bxc3 Rxc3 19.0-0 Rxc2 20.Rb4 Rxa2 21.g3 e4 0-1 Kluge,K-Fernandez,J/IECG CUP2-PR.022 1997/Megacorr (21)] 6.Qe2 Nxe4 [6...Be7 7.Nf3 Nbd7 8.d4 Nxe4 9.Qxe4 exd4 10.Qxd4 0-0 11.0-0 Nb6 12.Qxd8 Rxd8 13.Bb3 Bf5 14.Bg5 Bxg5 15.Nxg5 Nd5 16.Rfe1 h6 17.Nf3 Kf8 18.Re5 Bg6 19.Bxd5 Rxd5 20.Rxd5 cxd5 21.Nd4 Re8 22.f3 a6 23.Kf2 Re5 24.Rd1 Ke7 25.c3 Kd6 26.Ne2 Kc5 27.Rd4 b6 28.Nc1 a5 29.h4 Bc2 30.Rd2 Bb1 31.Nb3+ Kd6 32.a4 Bf5 33.Nd4 Bd7 34.b3 Kc5 35.Nc2 Re8 36.Ne3 Be6 37.Rd4 Rb8 38.Nc2 b5 39.axb5 Rxb5 40.b4+ axb4 41.cxb4+ Kd6 42.Ke3 Rb8 43.Rd1 ½-½ Brodsky,M-Raetsky,A/Rostov 1993/TD (43)] 7.Qxe4 Bd6 8.Nf3 [8.d4 0-0 9.Nf3 exd4 10.0-0=] 8...0-0 9.d3 Nd7 10.Bg5 Qb6 11.0-0-0?!
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White sharpens the game by offering the f2 pawn which is quite unpalatable. [11.Rb1 Nc5 12.Qh4 is more prudent...] 11...Nc5 [11...Qxf2?? 12.Be3 Qxg2 13.Rhg1 Qh3 14.Ng5+-] 12.Qe2 Qc7!
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Commencing a queenside pawn storm which is difficult to meet 13.d4! exd4 14.Nxd4 b5 15.Bd3 a5 16.Qf3 Nxd3+ 17.Rxd3 Ra6!
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The light squared bishop must keep watch over the dangerous Ng5 idea. [17...Bb7 18.Nf5 c5?? (18...Be5 19.Be7 Rfe8 20.Bd6 Bxd6 21.Nxd6 Re7 22.Rhd1±) 19.Qg4+-] 18.h4 [18.Nf5 Bxf5 19.Qxf5 c5 paving the rank for the Ra6 to defend the king!] 18...a4 19.Nf5 Bxf5 20.Qxf5 a3!
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creating dark squared weaknesses 21.b3 c5 22.Rd5 c4!
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who needs pawns when you have open lines towards your opponent's king? 23.Rxb5 cxb3 24.Rxb3 Rc8 25.Rd1 [25.Kb1 Ra5 26.Qd3 Be5 27.Re1 Rc5 28.Re2 Rc3 29.Rxc3 Bxc3 30.Qb5 h6-+ 31.Bc1 Kh7!] 25...g6 26.Qd3 Be5 27.Kb1 Rd6 28.Qe2 Re6
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the key move - according to John 29.Rdd3 Bg7 30.Be3 Rc6
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with forceful play, John renders c2 indefensible 31.Qd1 Rxc2 32.Rd7 Qe5 33.Rd8+ Bf8 34.Qd4 [The ICCF Game Archives had erroneusly recorded Larsen as having played 34.Qd5 which John would undoubtably finish off with 34...Qxe3!! with a mate in 5.] 34...Qe7!
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White resigns 0-1
Details of the
Arne Henriksen Memorial - Diary of John Mousessian
can be found at:- http://correspondencechess.com/campbell/_diaryjm.htm
and the: USCF Absolute Game - John Mousessian vs. Mark Morss at
http://correspondencechess.com/campbell/0_diary.htm
courtesy of Franklin Campbell
http//:correspondencechess.com/campbell/index.htm
