Through the good offices of Dean Howard and Bill Townsend I received updates on the most recent CDCL action. Sunday evening Saratoga A hosted the Albany A team. The outcome was not what the Geezers hoped for. Albany A notched another victory, 2 ½ - 1 ½. Albany A has only the Schenectady A team yet to play. The Geezers are pretty much in a must win situation with Saratoga A, a very tall order, that is if the Geezers want to control their own destiny. There are other permutations of various results that might give the Geezers the title this year, but winning the match with Saratoga on 23 June gives them decent chances without reliance on luck and other team’s performance.
Bill Townsend forwarded to me the complete, so far, results of League play. The information includes the board by board results of the 26 matches played to this point. There are but two left; Schenectady A versus Albany A and the Geezers versus Saratoga A. Both matches will take place on 23 June at the Schenectady club. By the close of business Thursday the 23d we will know the outcome of this year’s League battles.
Leading right now are Albany A with 5 match points and 17 game points, and Schenectady’s own Geezers with 5 match points and 15 ½ game points. If Schenectady A defeats Albany A and the Geezers defeat Saratoga, the Geezers have the title. Otherwise, the race can turn out quite different. Say both the Geezers and Albany A both lose, then Schenectady A slips into first place. I could go on throwing up scenarios with various results, but the bottom line is Schenectady A, Albany A, or the Geezers will take the first spot.
Returning to my report on the Albany A - Geezers match. The match got off to a bad start for the Geezers right away. Michael Mockler carried the heavy weight of facing the best players of the League teams and did it creditably this year. Mr. Mockler enjoys exploring opening lines where mainstream theory is not on the agenda. Many times this approach leads to sparkling wins, on other occasions it can be bring sharp rebuffs. Today’s game is one where Mockler does not get to set the tune, and his opponent directs the play into the land of chess fantasy. This time Michael was unable to find his way through difficult complications.
Howard, Dean - Mockler, Michael [C00]
Albany A v Geezers CDCL Match Schenectady, NY, 02.06.2011
Board 1
1.e4 e6 2.Nf3 d5 3.e5 c5 4.b4?!,..
Mr. Howard seems to have decided to take things into the lesser known regions of opening theory before Michael can do so. Not a bad plan versus an experimenter such as Mockler. Nevertheless, this pawn offer is best described as questionable. Interestingly, Dean Howard often sticks to proven theoretical lines. For example he plays the Tartakower System against the Queen’s Gambit and does very well indeed in the classical kinds of positions arising from that choice. I guess in this game he wanted to steer for something known and comfortable if the game was going get strange at all.
4..., cxb4 5.a3 bxa3?!
Theory says 5..., Nc6; is best. Some masters have played 5..., Qa5; here. The text makes things too simple for White.
6.d4 Nc6 7.c3 a6!?
It is a close decision to mark this move (?), (?!) or (!?). While the position under consideration, and the path by which it was reached, appears to be well-off the beaten track, it does have a good many characteristics of the Advanced French. Barring specific tactical concerns, the normal procedure for Black in the Advanced French is to challenge the massive pawn fence White has constructed on c3-d4-e5. To that end, the move 7..., f6; is obvious, almost demanded by the position, right now. Rybka, my electronic helper, assigns near equal value to the text move and to 7..., f6. I can’t quite get my head around the notion that doing something about the big White center can be delayed even for a move or two.
White has invested a pawn to obtain the better Bishop and some attacking chances on the Black King when he castles short. After thirty years of playing the French exclusively, 1950 to 1980, some things I know. One is; don’t hurry to castle short and maybe don’t castle at all. The Black King in the center in the French can be very hard to get to.
8.Bxa3 Bxa3 9.Nxa3 Bd7 10.Bd3 Nh6?
This move is wrong. Better 10..., Nge7; soon followed by .., h6; and only then, after making things snug and secure, can Black think about short castling. If play goes; 10..., Nge7 11 0-0 h6 12 Qb1 b5; Black has slightly the better game immediately, and the extra pawn can be offered for a more substantial positional advantage as the game progresses. By playing in this fashion, Black can make White rue the reckless investment of a pawn for some time to come.
11.g4!?
White has to undertake something active. If the game develops normally, the extra pawn will tell, and so another pawn is dangled.
11..., g6
Bill Townsend passed on the info that Dean Howard thought this was the fatal error. I don’t think that is quite right.
12.Qd2 Ng8?
This is probably a first step to the loss. Better 12..., Nxg4; then 13 h3 Ngxe5! 14 dxe5 0-0; when Black has three pawns for the piece, sufficient compensation. Black’s pawn structure is ever so much sounder than is White’s, and one of the four isolated White pawns may well fall at any moment.
13.h4 f6
In a first glance Bill Townsend thought this might be the villain of the piece. Again I don’t agree.
14.h5 gxh5?
This is the culprit. It is not easy to see that the best move is 14..., g5!, then a) 15 exf6 Nxf6 16 Nxg5 Qe7 17 f3 e5 18 0-0 0-0-0; and Rybka sees Black with a plus in a very tricky position; the sacrifice of the White Bishop at a6 in air so Black must tread very carefully. If b) 15 h6 Rc8 16 exf6 Nxf6 17 Nxg5 Qc7 18 Nc2 Na5; and White is just a fraction better than Black, but the fight is in full swing and predicting who wins is impossible for me. After the text White has a solid advantage. There seems to be nowhere in the next few moves for Black to strike back.
15.Rxh5 Qe7?
This move makes matters worse by un-defending the Ra8. Better, but hardly equalizing is 15..., h6. White then continues; 16 Bg6+ Ke7 17 Qb2, and the Black position is very unappetizing.
16.Nb5 0–0–0
Sadly for Black there is nothing better.
17.Nd6+ Kb8 18.Bxa6 fxe5
Resistance can be dragged out a little longer with 18..., Bc8; but after 19 Bd3 Rf8 20 Nb5 b6 21 Qf4 fxe4? 22 Nxe5, wins soon.
19.Nxb7 Nf6 20.Nxd8 Qd6 21.Qb2+ 1–0
Resigns because 21..., Nb4 22 Nf7 Qf8 23 Nxh8 Nxh5 24 Nxe5, and White is a Rook up as the dust clears. An interesting clash. Dean took the game off into the high weeds before Michael had opportunity to do so, and Mr. Howard carried off the adventure in high style.
More soon.
No comments:
Post a Comment