As promised here are the other games from last week’s Schenectady A v Saratoga A CDCL Match.
Aaron, Deepak - Taylor, Steve [B38] Board 1
Schenectady A v Saratoga A
6.10.2010 at Schenectady
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6 5.c4 Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Nc3 d6 8.Be2 0–0
The game is moving in the mainstream of theory. The databases have many 2500, 2600, and 2700 Grandmasters playing both sides.
9.0–0 Bd7 10.Qd2 ..
White will capture the Knight if 10... Ng4; then play f2-f3 happy to have the Maroczy Bind position with his poor light squared Bishop gone.
10...,Nxd4 11.Bxd4 Bc6 12.f3 a5 13.Nd5 ..
This move is not popular with the 2500+ set. More usual is 13 b3. Topalov defeated Reindeman Wijk aan Zee, 1999 and Gelfand won over Anand, Manila, 1990 with 13 b3. The text move tends towards equality.
13...,Bxd5 14.cxd5 Nd7 15.Bxg7 Kxg7 16.Qd4+ f6 17.Rac1 Nc5
The game has gone well away from GM practice. There a few examples in the databases by untitled players. Rybka says the game is near equal. Black has some advantage in space on the
Q-side and the White Bishop does not look too imposing. White has space in the center and may hope to do something aggressive on the K-side, in fact he will have to do so to find an active role for the Bishop.
18.f4 a4 19.Rf3 Qa5 20.Rfc3 b5 21.f5 b4 22.Rh3 Rac8 23.Qe3 ..
White spots a tactic.
23..., g5 24.Qf3 Qb6
If Black wants to make a fight he has to play Rh8 now. Steve may have been satisfied to make a draw with the Black pieces against a fast improving young Master.
25.Rxh7+ and the game was agreed drawn. There is no way to avoid the perpetual after 25... Kxh7 26 Qh5+. If 25..., Kg8 26 Rh8+ draws similarly, but not 26 Qh5?? which loses instantly to 26... Nxe4+!
Battes, Lee - Sells, Philip [B31]
Schenectady A v Saratoga A
6.10.2010 at Schenectady Board 2
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 g6 4.0–0 Bg7 5.Re1 Nf6
Another Sicilian in the theoretical vein. The 2600+ crowd play both sides equally.
6.Nc3 a6 7.Bf1 ..
I have played so myself and have seen the Bishop retreat in games by good players.
7..., 0–0 8.a4 ..
The game is more or less equal. Rybka sees the situation as very, very slightly in favor of Black.
8..., d6 9.d3 h6 10.Nd5 e6
A standard approach is 10..., Nxd5 11 exd5 Nb4 12 c4 e6; with a position looking a bit like something from a Benoni. Either way the game is favoring Black by some small amount.
11.Nxf6+ Qxf6 12.c3 e5 13.Bd2 Qd8 14.g3 Be6 15.b4 cxb4 16.cxb4 Qd7 17.h4!?..
After a period of maneuvering where neither side came up with a plan to shake the position out of equality, White unbalances the game. Trying to maintain the balance and continuing in the same manner as the previous half dozen moves would be 17 Qb1.
Lee probably recognized that .., f7-f5 was coming soon, and after .., fxe4 the open f-file gives Black a highway down which a dangerous attack on the White King can be made. Putting the pawn on h4 may have been done with the idea that if Black decides to bring up the g-pawn to help out, it can be traded off. This somewhat a gamble because g3 is weakened by the advance of the h-pawn.
17..., f5 18.Bh3?
White should now play 18 b5 then the likely line is 18..., Ne7 19 Rb1 axb5 20 Rxb5 which maintains equality in a complex position.
18..., Qf7
Black is clearly better now. He has gotten another major piece onto the f-file making White begin to consider using moves to reinforce f3 and f2. That is the very definition of seizing the initiative.
19.Rb1 Ba2 20.Rb2 fxe4 21.dxe4 Bc4 22.Bg2 Nd4 23.Re3 Be6 24.Nxd4?
After getting the initiative, Black made a clever maneuver (19..., Ba2; 21.., Bc4; and 23..., Be6) to avoid the exchange of light squared Bishops and maintain tension. Prolonging tension in such a fashion often provokes errors even from good players at the club level. Such is the case here. White had to play 24 Qf1, guarding f2. Black initiative continues after 24..., Rc8, but there is no clear advantage. The text leads to a win of material.
Qxf2+ 25.Kh1 exd4 26.Rd3 Qf7 27.Bf4 Qd7
Rybka sees 27..., Qe7 as markedly better than this move. I confess to not really understanding why. The computer also is firm in the conviction that the best chance for White is to sacrifice the Exchange on d4 recovering the lost pawn and opening lines for his Bishop pair. As subsequent play shows, absent the Exchange sacrifice, the White position is rather fragile.
28.Rbd2 Bg4 29.Qb3+ Be6 30.Qd1 Bg4 31.Qb3+ Be6 32.Qd1 Kh7 33.Qb1?
White does not believe the Exchange sacrifice is justified. It is the only way to hold the game. The game move offers Black the opportunity to cement his advantage with 33..., Qe7.
33...Be5 34.Rf3?
This was one more chance to sacrifice the Exchange to keep the struggle going. Without the sacrifice, the White position crumbles.
34..., Qxa4 35.Qb2 Rf7 36.Rc2?
Almost anything is better. The move sets up a simple discovered attack that ends the contest in short order. White could have tried 36 Rxd4, but even offering the Exchange would not have set his house in order. Black will make his Q-side pawns very big problems for White in this line of play.
36..., d3 37.Bxe5 Qxc2 38.Rxf7+ Bxf7 39.Qxc2 dxc2 40.Bf4 Rc8 41.Bc1 Rc4 42.e5 dxe5 43.h5 Rxb4 44.Kh2 gxh5 45.Be3 Bg6 and White resigned.
The late and awkward surrender of the Exchange may have been the result of a flawed calculation at end of a long day and two and a half hours of hard mental work. As we age seeing combinations at 10:00 o’clock in the evening gets harder and harder. Winning this game gave the Schenectady A a real chance of taking the match. That was not to be as we have already seen in the previous post about the Chi - Magat game.
LeCours, Alan - Rotter, Bobby [A17]
Schenectady A v Saratoga A
6.10.2010 at Schenectady Board 4
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 0–0 5.a3 Be7 6.b4 d5 7.e3 c5 8.bxc5 Bxc5 9.d4 Be7
After an offbeat line in the English the game reached a position that favors White slightly.
10.cxd5 exd5 11.Bd3 Be6 12.0–0 Nbd7 13.Bd2 Re8 14.Qb3 Nb6 15.Rfc1 Ne4 16.Be1 Bd6 17.h3 Qf6 18.Qd1 Qg6 19.Kh1 Nc4 20.Bxc4 Nxc3 21.Bxc3 dxc4
Rotter has maneuvered to aim his Bishops at the White King, put his Queen on the K-side where she can support a sacrificial assault and obtained a three to one pawn majority on the Q-side. To get these advantages he gave up the center. White now uses the central space given to rally forces to prevent the looming attack on his King.
22.d5 Bd7 23.Qd4 Bc5 24.Qf4 Qf5 25.Qg3 f6 26.Rd1 Ba4
During the game I wondered if 26..., Qc2; might be a more forcing try. After 27 Bb4 Bxb4 28 axb4 c3 the Black position looks threatening. Rybka does not agree claiming equality based on the line 29 Nd4 Qe4 30 Rxa7 Qxd5 31 Qf3. Playing over the positions with the computer bears out the conclusion that the position is about equal.
27.Rd2 Red8 28.Nh4 Qg5 29.Qxg5 fxg5 30.Nf3 h6 31.Kg1 Re8 32.Nd4 Bxd4 33.Rxd4 Bc2 34.Ra2 Bd3 35.Rb2 Rc7 36 a4 b6 37 d6 Rb6?!
Better 37..., Rd7.
38 a5?! ..
White misses his chance to press Black with the tricky 38 e4! Now capturing either with the Re8 or the Bishop lets White win a piece. The resulting positions with the Bishop versus the three to one Black pawn majority on the Q-side are theoretical wins for White requiring accurate play. The best for Black is 38..., Kf7 and 39..., Ke6; with a position full of possibilities. White plays instead to pull the fangs of the Q-side Black majority. This leads to equality.
38..., Rd8 39 axb6 axb6 40 d7 Rc7
The players agreed to a draw here. If Black clips the d-pawn right away, the White Rook and Bishop are well placed to attack the g-pawn should the Black Rook leave the 7th rank. The White Rook and Bishop combo are well placed after the Bishop captures the g-pawn to hold up the Black c-pawn by simply putting the Rook on c7. It then looks unlikely the c-pawn would have a chance to advance unless the Black King finds a way to come up to support it. Such tries leave the Black K-side majority to its fate, and when White gets these pawns off, all winning chances are gone for Black; the White Bishop can be given up for the c-pawn. It is well known a R+B v R is drawn.
And so Saratoga A is out of the running for the title. Schenectady A has a hope, but to realize that hope means defeating Albany A. A drawn match will give Albany the title. The Albany team has used five strong players in their matches this year; Matt Katrien, Dean Howard, Peter Michelman, Jon Leisner and Tim Wright. The Schenectady A team has used Deepak Aaron, Sells, Chi, Rotter, John Barnes, Bill Townsend and Cory Northrup. If Schenectady can bring their top players; Aaron, Sells, Chi and Rotter there is a real chance they may win the match. In any event the match should be well worth watching. I have not heard when and where the contest will take place.
No comments:
Post a Comment