A Belated Report From the North Country

A bout of pneumonia slowed me down for the passed few weeks. It seems to be over now and I hope to get back to regular posting beginning today.

Sunday evening two weeks ago continued the pattern we have seen in Saratoga from the beginning; three games played and one recorded as a forfeit. The match between Jonathan Fineberg and Ray Alguire was a forfeit win for Fineberg. The played games, for once, turned out to end about as the ratings predicted. Gary Farrell lost with the White pieces versus Steve Taylor. This was Taylor’s fifth consecutive victory. Black again won in the game between David Connors and Alan Le Cours where the participants created a rather odd kind of position. Up to a point in the middle game Connors conducted the White pieces successfully. Something then went wrong for David, and Alan won in short order. The game Bill Little - Jeff Hrebenach, a Hungarian Defense, was won by Little.

Today’s game is an up and down affair. Farrell rolls out his favorite Bird’s Opening and takes it into an unusual line. It is not a variation often seen at the top level. One exception is Maric, a Yugoslav IM tried it against Bobby Fischer no less at Skopje in 1967. The redoubtable Fischer won in 47 moves, but he had a near winning advantage by move twenty-five notwithstanding Bishops of opposite color. Altogether, from multiple databases I found only five games total in this line. White won four of the five. Fischer was author of the lone Black victory. Three of the four wins were masters butchering non-masters. The other game was from the championship of Argentina in 1955, Pelikan - Corte. Corte blundered a pawn on move 12 and was unable to muster any kind of counter-play. What can be concluded from this research? The approach used by Mr. Farrell can not be dismissed as unsound. It puts Black on his merits to find creative answers to the problems set without any large body of theory to fall back upon.

Farrell, Gary - Taylor, Steven [A02]

Saratoga Championship Saratoga Springs, NY, 24.10.2010

1.f4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.d3 Bg7 4.e4 c5 5.Be2 d5!?

Mr. Taylor decides on immediate, dramatic action to counter the White set up. Fischer had a different approach putting his Knight on c6, advancing the d-pawn to d6 and pushing his c-pawn to c4 to loosen the center.

6.e5 Nfd7 7.c4 Nb6 8.0–0 0–0 9.Be3 Qc7 10.Nc3 d4 11.Nb5...,

The players have taken the game into a position that is certainly not routine. While watching the game my first thought was White may want to, at some point in the future, want to transfer a Knight to e4. Finding a move order to make that possible is not easy.

11..., Qd7

Why put the Queen on d7 blocking the development of the c8-Bishop along the c8-h3 diagonal?

12.Bd2 a6 13.Na3 Na4 14.Rb1 b5

So the Queen went to d7 to support this thrust. Interesting.

15.Qe1...,

White plays his own slightly mysterious Queen move. During the game I thought 15.Be1, might be tried with the idea of a Knight tour Nc2/a1/b3/d2/e4. That is a great many moves with a considerable number of alternatives. Gary has a neat, creative idea that makes use of tactical chances in the center and on the K-side and is based on a forcing idea. Such is easier to calculate than some line filled with maneuvers and few tactical threats as the Knight tour.

15...b4 16.Nc2 Bb7 17.Ng5 h6?

The game has been even to here. Mr. Taylor now missed the tricky bit that Mr. Farrell had up his sleeve. Better is 17..., f6; pushing back the adventurous Knight, but it is quite difficult to see all the ramifications. For example one line is 17..., f6 18 e6 Qc8 19 Nxh7 Kxh7 20 f5! gxf5 21 Qh4+ Kg8 22 Bh6 Qxe6 23 Bxg7 Kxg7 24 Qg3+ and a draw by perpetual check can’t be avoided. Note there is no way out for Black with 24.., Kf7; because 25 Bh5 is mate.

18.e6 fxe6 19.Bg4,..

The point of Gary’s idea. Steve tries to make the best of a bad situation by giving up the Exchange. The alternative, giving up the Exchange on a8 with 19..., 19 Qe8; seems to allow White to have tremendous activity for his pieces after 20 Ne6 Rf6 21 Nc7 Qe8 22 Be6+ Kh7 23 Nxa8 Bxa8 24 Qe2 Nd7 25 f5 with dangerous threats to the home of the Black King. Superficially, surrendering the remote Exchange at a8 is tempting, but the White light squared Bishop is very useful in the attack, and preventing the advance of the f5-pawn aids the defense, two reasons for Taylor’s decision.

19..., Rf5 20.Bxf5,..

The alternative 20 Nxe6, leads to complex play where the computer says White has a marked advantage. Playing it out to move 51 however does not demonstrate a clear winning line even if White picks up the Exchange along the way.

20...exf5 21.Qe6+ Qxe6 22.Nxe6 Bf6

Black has weathered the worst. White still has a solid edge, but he has to solve the tangle on the Q-side and get his Rb1 into the game to make the material advantage count. This is no easy task.

23.b3 Nc3

Rybka suggests 23..., Bc8; trying to make something out of the lack of squares for the Ne6. After 24 Nxd5 Nc3 25 Bxc3 bxc3 26 Ne2 Nc6 27 b4 Nd4 28 Nexd4 cxd4 29 a4, Black has not much to balance the connected passed pawns. His own protected passer at c3 is not easy to get rolling. This time playing out the computer lines to move fifty-something show White winning by advancing the Q-side pawns. He does have to be careful that Black does not obtain counter-play by advancing the center pawns.

Both players had used most of their allotted time at this point in the game and time trouble was nearing.

24.Bxc3 dxc3 25.Nxc5 Bc8 26.Rfe1 Nc6 27.Kf1 Kf7 28.Rbd1 Nd4!?

Black is reluctant to give up the Bishop pair but that might be best. Taylor offers a pawn in hopes of activating the Ra8 and breaking up the White Q-side pawn mass.

29.Nxb4 e6 30.Na4?,..

While watching the game I did not see this move as an error. The first couple of passes with the computer helping did not identify it so either. After a fairly long consideration, it seems the clear path for White to take the point is to prepare to return the Exchange to keep the his pawns intact. Play goes as follows: 30 Rc1 Be7 31 Re5! (Not a move non-Grandmasters would give much thought, but GM’s and computers are not prisoners of the conventional.) 31..., Bd6 32 Nc2 Bxe5 33 fxe5 Nc6 34 d4 a5 35 Na4 Bb7 36 Nxc3, when White has two extra pawns and a dangerous pawn roller while Black lacks the resources to create effective counter-play.

30..., Rb8 31.a3?,..

A sterner test for Black would be 31 Nxa6, then 31..., Bxa6 32 Nxc3 Nxb3 33 Na4 Nd4 34 Rc1, and while my computer says Black is better by about three-quarters of a pawn, the White passed pawns on the Q-side have to be dealt with. Both players were short of time now. The text lets Black devalue the White pawn mass.

31..., a5 32.Na2 c2 33.Rd2 Rxb3

We now see the difference; instead of facing two White passed pawns, Black has retained his a-pawn, won the b-pawn and brought his Rook to a very active post. The balance is tilting towards Black clearly.

34.Nc1 Rxa3 35.Nc5?,..

Black has worked his way to a significant advantage. The text drops material. Better 35 Nb6, preserving the Knight and maintaining tension. After the text move the complications begin to be resolved and Black’s advantage becomes manifest.

35..., Be7 36.N5b3 Nxb3 37.Rxc2 Nd4 38.Ra2 a4 1-0

Both sides were well under five minutes on the clock and the remainder of the game was played at blitz speed. I was not able to write fast enough to capture the moves. About a dozen more moves were played and the game ended with less than a minute remaining on both clocks. Taylor took the point by maintaining his composure after a tactical surprise. Both participants have to be thanked for creating quite an entertaining game full of interesting moments. Bravo!

More soon.