Last night, Wednesday, saw the RPI team meet Saratoga’s B team at the AACC for their CDCL match. The site was agreed between the teams as a convenient location to minimize travel.
Jason Denham won his game against Yonathan Naamad on board 4 early on giving Saratoga the lead. The fights on the other boards continued for some time. On board 2 Brian Furtado defeated Matt Clough after appearing to be in trouble for some time. This evened up the score. Shortly thereafter Cory Northrup won his game from Max Katz on board 3 and Saratoga took the lead 2 - 1 again.
The decisive game on board 1 between Carlos Varela for RPI and David Finnerman of Saratoga went on for a good while longer. Finnerman entered a risky line. He displayed great energy carrying out a direct attack on Varela’s King. Unfortunately for Mr. Finnerman, too much of his army was unavailable to reinforce the assault. Mr. Varela admirably maintained his calmness is the presence of great tension countering the aggression effectively. When the attack petered out for a lack of reinforcement, Finnerman’s position became critical. In time trouble, David had to resign before move 40. The match ended drawn, 2 - 2.
Today’s game is the Varela - Finnerman on board 1 of the match.
Varela, Carlos - Finnerman, David [E90]
RPI v Saratoga B CDCL Match Guilderland, NY, 13.04.2011
Board 1
1.d4 d6 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Bf4 0–0 6.e4,..
To find an example of elite players contesting this position we have to go back to 1923. Then Bogolubov, as White, defeated Tarrasch in the great Karlsbad tournament in 28 moves. Since then very few top players of the White pieces have put their Bishops on f4 in the Classical King’s Indian Defense. They may delay a decision about the Bc1, first getting the Bf1 to e2 and castling, before making a choice of a post for the Bc1. The squares; d2 and e3 are most often where the very best lodge the dark squared Bishop.
6..., c5!? 7.d5!?
Varela closes the center when he could have made some progress with 5 dxc5 dxc5 6 Be2, and White may gain some time if Black ever tries to bother the Bf4 with .., Nh5. The cleric retreats to e3 attacking the unguarded pawn on c5 as well as covering the d4 square where Black wants to post his dark squared Bishop.
7..., Qa5 8.Bd3 Nbd7
An alternative idea is 8..., Bg4. It uses a notion from the Pirc Defense. Because White has made a strong fence of pawns on the light squares, the Bc8 will find small scope for activity along the c8-h3 diagonal. Rather than have it in the way, Black can trade the Bishop for the Nf3. Such an exchange would also increase the influence Black has on d4.
9.0–0 Nh5 10.Bd2 Ne5 11.Nxe5 Bxe5 12.f4 Bd4+
Black has won the lodgment he sought for his dark squared Bishop. Now, what to do with it? The operation has caused Black’s development to lag.
13.Kh1 Qd8 14.Qf3 e6 15.Rae1,..
If White wanted to raise the tension immediately he could try 15 f5. The Nh5 is not well positioned and a pawn push to f5 points that up. Play might continue; 15 f5 Be5 16 g3 Ng7 17 f6 Ne8 18 Bg5, with an uncomfortable bind on the K-side by White. It is true White will have to do a rather long-winded shuffle of pieces to exploit the bind, and Black will have to react violently on the Q-side to have counter-chances - a remarkable reversal of how play usually goes in the Classical KID!
The game move avoids all that complicated play. It brings the last un-deployed unit to the field and the slow development of the Black army is obvious.
15..., exd5 16.cxd5 a6
Possible right now is 16..., Qh4; threatening 17..., Bg4. Then White pretty much has to play 17 Be3 Bg4 18 Qf2 Qxf2 19 Rxf2. Black then has not a very promising position. With this natural sequence not working well, Mr. Finnerman decides to grab some Q-side space.
17.b3 b5 18.f5 Qh4?1
Better is 18..., Be5; anticipating Nc3-e2, and Black has certainly fully equalized the game. The text is energetic, but the well supported pawn on f5 prevents the Bc8 from participating in the attack. Without that added force, the Black Queen, Bishop and Knight just don’t have enough of a superiority over the White defenders to break through.
19.Ne2 Be5 20.g3,..
One characteristic I admire greatly in a chess player is the ability to keep composure when under attack. Carlos Varela has that trait. It is something I always thought was a deficit in my chess, maybe that is why it impresses me in others.
Mr. Finnerman has proceeded with lots of energy to prosecute the risky assault. Carlos has calmly and carefully rallied his troops to meet the onslaught. Now the inevitable reaction to an under strength attack takes place.
20..., Nxg3+?!
Afterwards David said he had watched how the other games had gone and knew if he lost the result was a drawn match. The retreat 20..., Qe7; did not promise much in the way of winning chances for Black after 21 g4 Nf6 22 g5, and he wanted to try for a victory, and so the text.
21.Nxg3 g5!
This the only way to keep the pressure on.
22.Rg1,..
Getting a Rook on the g-file is a good idea. It gives Black something to consider, danger to his own King, as the Black pawns push forward. Deep Rybka prefers 22 Re2, preparing Re2-g2 as well as defending h2.
22..., g4 23.Qe2?!,..
Simpler is 23 Qe3. The threat is Qe3-h6 forcing an exchange of Queens. White may have not have seen clearly enough the line 23 Qe3 Kh8 24 Qh6, when the threat 25 Qxf8 mate, prevents 24..., Bxg6. After the Queens are off, Black has nothing to show for the piece sacrificed. The pawn on g4 cannot be defended leaving White with only some technical problems to solve in a piece up ending.
23..., Kh8 24.Ref1 Rg8 25.Bf4 Bd4 26.Rg2 h5
Adding fuel to the fire, but what else is there to do? If 26..., Qe7 27 Be3 Be5 28 f6! Bxf6 29 Rgf2 Rg6 30 Rxf6! Rxf6 31 Qb2, and the pin backed up by the Knight fork on h5 wins more material.
27.Bxd6 Qh3
Potentially more useful may be 27..., Bb7; trying to discourage White from advancing the e-pawn.
28.Qd2 Kh7 29.e5,..
The threats on the Black King are so strong there is little to suggest as alternatives.
29..., f6 30.exf6 Bxf6 31.Ne4 Bd4
Marginally better is 31..., Qh4; but 32 Bg3 is devastating.
32.f6 Be3 33.Qe2?,..
With only a bit more thought Carlos could have found 33 Ng5++!, and mate the next move. That would have been a pretty finish. The White advantage is so large the miss has no effect on the outcome.
33..., Kh6 34.f7,..
A faster finish I thought was 34 Rg3, but 34..., Qxf1+; probably lets Black hold out longer than the text.
34..., Bb7 35.fxg8Q Rxg8 36.Rf6+ Kg7 37.Be5 Bd4 1–0
Black resigned here. There are just too many ways for White to win. One such is; 38 Rg6+ Kxg6 39 Nd6+ Kg5 40 Nf7+ Kh4 41 Qf2+ g3 42 Qf6+ Kg4 43 Nh6 mate. A good performance by Mr. Varela that got RPI a draw for the match.
One late note to add: Thursday night Saratoga B played Schenectady A at Schenectady in the CDCL. Schenectady A won 3 ½ - ½. The match was a closer run affair than the score suggests. Saratoga had chances for a better score and even a split of the match point late in the contest.
More on that match in the next post.
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