Schenectady CDCL Matches

Schenectady on Thursday was as busy as AACC was Wednesday. The two Schenectady teams played CDCL matches. Schenectady A faced the very busy RPI team, and Schenectady’s second team - the Geezers - met the Uncle Sam Club from Troy. As predicted by the ratings, both Schenectady teams won; the A Team 4 - 0 over RPI and the Geezers 3 - 1 over the Uncle Sam team. There were also a couple of drop-ins and some skittles took place while the serious contests went on. Carl Adamec was one of the visitors. He and I got to skittle for a game or two. It was good to see the many-times Schenectady Club Champion in the club rooms again.

Both Troy teams, RPI and the Uncle Sam Club, have been the most ambitious in the League this year. RPI has played six of their seven scheduled matches. The Uncle Sam Club has played five of the scheduled seven. The other teams in the League have only gotten in one or two matches so far, except the Saratoga B team - they have yet to play a match. There was some organizational confusion and a change of team captains for Saratoga B due to work conflicts. With their new captain, David Finnerman, Saratoga B will soon getting their matches done I am sure.

The League standings, including the two most recent matches from Schenectady, are:

Team Match Points Game Points

1 Uncle Sam 2.0 9.0

2 Schenectady Geezers 2.0 6.5

3 Albany B 2.0 5.5

4 Schenectady A 1.5 6.0

5 Saratoga A 1.5 4.5

6 Albany A 1.0 4.0

7 RPI 0.0 4.5

8 Saratoga B 0.0 0.0

Notwithstanding the rating differences on most boards, there were several interesting games. One that caught my eye was the contest between Brian Furtado and Philip Sells in the RPI - Schenectady A match.

Brian began his chess career in 2002 playing in scholastic events in New England. After a couple of years he fell out of competition retuning in 2010 as a member of the RPI team. Since then his rating has increased about 500 points in about one year to 1563, a pretty spectacular rise. In this game he is faced by one of the Capital District’s most successful players, Philip Sells. Sells has won both the Saratoga and Schenectady club titles, Schenectady more than once, and for the last several years, Philip has been a definite contender for first in any local event in which he participates. A talented younger player meeting an established strong competitor is always a good story!

Furtado, Brian - Sells, Philip [E30]

RPI v SCC A CDCL Match Schenectady, NY, 31.03.2011

Board 2

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4

Mr. Sells’ standard defense to 1 d4, openings. It is one of the more positional of the so-called Hyper-Modern debuts. Black is willing to give up his dark squared Bishop to double the White c-pawns in hopes of working against them, and often there is a battle about the control of e4.

4.Bg5,..

The Leningrad Variation. In earlier days this was quite popular with the top flight players. Boris Spassky used it as a main weapon against the Nimzo-Indian all through the 1960s along with such lights as Keres, Korchnoi, Portisch and Donner. Some time in the 1980s it became less seen at the very top. During the 1990s Bareev played it frequently, but not too many of the other elite players took the Leningrad up. They favored the 4 e3, 4 Nf3, and 4 f3, lines. That is not to say the line disappeared altogether, Ivanchuk rolled it out versus Topalov at Wijk ann Zee, 2001 for example, and Spassky used it against Short in a rapid event in Zurich the same year. Since 2000 this line seems to be played by the 2500 and down crowd against lesser players a lot but seldom, if at all, against better opponents.

So what does that all mean? The few examples we have of the best playing both sides in recent years most often are drawn. It is likely they have worked out the paths to equality and that knowledge is widely known to the 2500/2600+ players. Until some GM works out a new set of ideas to revitalize the line we will not see 4 Bg5, much at the Super-GM events. It is entirely playable at the club level however offering White chances to get away from Black’s preparation perhaps.

4..., h6 5.Bh4 d5

Possibly 5..., c5; is more potent for Black. The text essentially renounces playing against the doubled pawns because it is easy for White to dissolve them.

6.e3 0–0 7.a3,..

Getting on with development with 7 Nf3, is somewhat better. When a Knight is pinned by a Bishop, the pinned side needs to weight desire to break the pin by a pawn push against the time used to do so. Unless there is some firm tactical justification, time is better spent in developing your pieces. If Black has his heart set on capturing on c3, he will do so soon or late, there is no need to force it right away.

7..., Bxc3+ 8.bxc3 b6 9.cxd5 exd5 10.Bd3 c5 11.Qf3?!,..

One has to admire the creative flair Mr. Furtado brings to the game. Both 11 Nf3, and 11 Ne2, are better moves. They are reasonable steps in completing development. Even 11 h3, is logical. It puts prevents 11..., Bg4; when Black is looking to trade that less than sterling light squared Bishop, and the move makes a place at h2 for his Bh4 if it is chased by .., g5.

Brian has visions of direct attack on the Black King, and creates considerable tension quickly. Long ago Paul Morphy taught the chess world attacks without all your forces mustered and working together fail most often. Jeremy Silman has written a great deal of good advice about judging when you should undertake an attack on the enemy King. The most pertinent piece of Silman’s wisdom is; making an attack without a clear superiority in the critical zone will fail far more often than succeed. He also comments about the amateur’s general penchant for going in for such attacks regardless of objective justification. This is the case here. White does not have a large enough superiority on the K-side for a direct attack to work. Lacking the power to drive home the attack, White’s game becomes worse.

11..., g5 12.Qg3 Ne4 13.Bxe4 dxe4 14.f4 f6 15.Nh3,..

White has massed all available forces to press on g5 and the Black King sheltering behind it. This must be the position Furtado foresaw when bringing his Queen to f3.

15..., Rf7!?

Black keeps a decent advantage after this move. He could have tried for more with 15..., Bxh3; and then 16 Qxh3 gxh4; takes the piece for two pawns. However, 16 gxh3, is not at all clear after, 16..., cxd4 17 cxd4 Qc7 18 0-0, or 17..., Nc6 18 Qg2 Qd5; or even 17..., Kh7 18 fxg5 hxg5 19 Qg4 Qd5 20 Bg3 Qa5+; and so forth. Thus in the face of uncertainty, Mr. Sells picks a move that threatens most directly; 16..., Rg7; winning the Bishop.

16.fxg5 fxg5 17.Nxg5?1,..

White decides to keep the Bishop on the board disregarding the well-known wisdom about Queens and Knights working well together. If he had played 17 Bxg5 hxg5 18 Nxg5 Rg7 19 h4, White would have the Queen and Knight close to the bare Black King and would not be too much worse than Black because he has the initiative. There are good chances for a perpetual check if Black plays well and more if he errs.

17..., hxg5 18.Bxg5 Qd7 19.Bf6+?,..

Choosing the wrong minor piece to trade on the 17th turn let go of the initiative. This move allows the game to get out of hand. Black is somewhat better; an extra piece counts for something. When you are down material, every effort has to made to get the absolute most out of the pieces left to you. In that light, why not 19 0-0-0? Black could go wrong with 19..., Qa4?! 20 Bf6+, leaving White with many threats indeed. Or he might try his game move here, 19..., Qg4; then 20 dxc5 Qxg3 21 hxg3 bxc5? 22 Rd8+ Rf8 23 Rxf8+ Kxf8 24 Rh8+, recovering the piece.

19..., Qg4 20.Qd6 Ba6

I have an impression this was a move Mr. Furtado had not considered. He took some while thinking about his reply. The mate threat on e2 has to be met, but 20 Qd8+ Rf8 21 Qd5+, before playing 22 Ra2, is somewhat more active than the game move. After the move in the game Black has the tempo he needs to bring up the reserves waiting on the Q-side. That makes a successful defense a forlorn hope.

21.Ra2 Nd7 22.Be5?,..

Missing one last chance to muddy the waters with 22 h3. If then 22..., Qg6 23 Be7 Qxd6 23 Bxd6, and Black is certainly winning, however the connected passed pawns could take awhile to neutralize. After the text, Philip Sells gets the full point without much difficulty.

22..., Nxe5 23.Qxe5 Raf8 24.Qd5 Kh7 25.Rc2? Rf1+ 0–1

Furtatdo made excellent progress over the past year. This game shows he has the proper fighting attitude. A bit more experience and Brian could hold his own with the Class A players and Experts around here. Mr. Sells once again demonstrated the calm self-control he brings to the chess board. That certainly is one of the important aspects of his success.

There were other games of interest in these matches. They will be featured on this blog in the next few days.