More Games From AACC

Thursday last saw nearly a full schedule played at the Schenectady Chess Club. One game from Section A, Jeff Capitummino - Mike Stanley, was postponed. The other games were; Carlos Varela won from Zack Calderone and Dilip Aaron won from Cory Northrup. All scheduled games were played in Section B. Richard Chu lost to Ahkil Kamma, Herman Calderone and David Connors played to a draw and John Phillips won his game against Matt Clough.

The only mathematically certain qualifier in Section B is Ahkil Kamma with a 4 - 1 score and only one game to play. John Phillips with a score of 4 - 0 and two games to play looks to be pretty sure of making the Finals also. With delayed and postponed games it is hard to say who will be the third qualifier there. My bet is on Alan Le Cours but he has a number of games to make up.

In Section A things are somewhat more clear. Zack Calderone, Philip Sells and Carlos Varela are all at 3 - 1 with Dilip Aaron just behind at 2 - 2. It appears the three qualifiers from this Section will come from these four barring some shocking break down in form.

Returning to the Albany Area Chess Club event, here are two more games;

Howard, Dean - Denham, Jason [C10]

AACC Championship Guilderland, NY, 09.11.2011

Jason Denham can play some pretty good chess when the mood takes him. In this game he sets some problems for last year’s title holder, and those problems use up a lot of time leaving Mr. Howard with just seconds on his clock at the end.

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bd7 5.Nf3 Bc6

Long ago Capablanca as Black used these moves to win a casual game in 1902 from Corzo y Prinzipe, the father of Juan Corzo, the Champion of Cuba that Capablance defeated in 1900 to burst on the world stage at just twelve years old. At the still chronologically youthful age of fourteen, the future World Champion might have been still experimenting, but in later years we see a number of distinguished Grandmasters play the Rubinstein variation of the French against equally well known opponents. True enough most of the time it seems their intention is to obtain a safe and sane draw when needed. A short and incomplete list of these Grandmasters is; Pelikan, Matulovic, Kholmov, Suba, Kirov, Luputian, Hodgson, Epishin, Khalifman, Korchnoi, Kamnick, Karpov on more than one occasion, Speelman, Dreev, and so on. We can conclude it is not a particularly fighting defense but is considered a solid drawing possibility by the some of the best players.

6.Bd3 Nd7 7.c4 Ngf6 8.Nc3 Bxf3 9.Qxf3 c6

Bringing the game to an interesting theoretical position. In some lines of the Slav and the Scandinavian as well as the Rubinstein French, Black sets up a “pawn fence” on the light squares b7, c6, e6 and f7, to blunt the action of White’s light squared Bishop. Black often wants to trade off his own light squared Bishop along the way typically for a Knight. The set up does not have a lot of bite. It has however proven to be a solid way to hold the draw.

10.0–0 Bd6 11.Bg5,..

Ambitious but it gives Black a chance for activity. The game has reached the far border of theory. In databases with abut five million games in them I found only one example of this position. We see White taking a different tack at this point and winning. In our game White used a chunk of time hereabouts looking for a way to obtain the advantage no doubt.

Van Riemsdijk, Herman C (2392) - Carbonell, Marcelo [C10]

Sao Paulo Interclubes Paulista Sao Paulo (2), 25.02.2007

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bd7 5.Nf3 Bc6 6.Bd3 Nd7 7.c4 Ngf6 8.Nc3 Bxf3 9.Qxf3 c6 10.0–0 Bd6 11.Rb1 0–0 12.b4 e5 13.d5 cxd5 14.Nxd5 Nxd5 15.Qxd5 Qc7 16.c5 Be7 17.Bb2 Bf6 18.Rfd1 Rad8 19.Be4 b5 20.Qc6 Qxc6 21.Bxc6 Nb8 22.Bxb5 e4 23.Bxf6 gxf6 24.Kf1 Rc8 25.Rd6 Kg7 26.Rc1 Rfd8 27.Rxd8 Rxd8 28.c6 1–0

So it seems White can play a little more slowly and still create dangers for Black. That points up a characteristic of these very technical and refined lines we come across in chess where a GM plays confidently heading towards a drawn position; to use them there is required a comprehensive understanding of the position, or the memorization of an large number of variations. Absent these the chances to go wrong are many.

11..., Qc7 12.Qh3,..

Another long think for White. This time probably was used on the line 12 c5 Bxh2+ 13 Kh1 h6 14 Bd2 h5 15 g3 Ng4; when Rybka says White is comfortably ahead. It is one thing for a computer program to cold-bloodedly reach such a conclusion and entirely another for a human player

to do likewise. Dean was likely weighing up the pluses and minuses of having the Black minor pieces so close to his King. He avoids that with the text.

12..., Bf4!

Fitting in with the general concept of the variation, Black ruthlessly forces simplification.

13.Qh4,..

White again used a good deal of time on this move. Dean likely looked at 13 Bxf4 Qxf4 14 Qe3 Qxe3 15 fxe3, and White has some advantage. He has a bit more control in the center and the half open f-file on which to work. The position has no glaring weaknesses for Black and he has every chance to hold. And that maybe the motivation for Mr. Howard using a lot of time thinking. Mr. Denham is rated 1446 and Howard over 2000. The six hundred rating point difference suggests strongly that Howard should win the game. The position resulting from the above line is fine for White but by no means winning, so he looks for more with some maneuvering.

13..., Bxg5 14.Qxg5 0–0

Also playable are 14..., Qb6; and 14..., Qd6.

15.Rfd1 Rad8 16.Qh4 Rfe8 17.Rac1 Qa5 18.a3 Qh5

White is preparing to expand on the Q-side, and Black pursues his plan of working towards trading down. Both are logical operations.

19.Qg3 Nb6 20.b4 Qg4 21.Qe3 Kf8!?

The King edges closer to the center anticipating the endgame. Not a bad idea but there things that have to be calculated. Moving the King away from a square where the Bd3 can check by capturing on h7 increases the tension around the center squares, but Black is not immediately ready to break with .., e6-e5.

22.Be2 Qh4 23.a4 Re7?

This is an error. A timely repositioning of forces is called for with 23..., Nc8 24 b5 Ne7 25 bxc6 bxc6 26 Qe5, when the Black Q-side pawns are beginning to look frail.

24.a5 Nc8 25.g3 Qh3 26.Bf1 Qg4 27.h3 Qh5 28.Kg2?,..

Time was getting short for both players. Dean had about seven minutes and Jason a much more comfortable twenty-four minutes remaining. Here the logical continuation of White’s plan is 28 a6, then Black has unpalatable choices; a) 28..., bxa6 29 Ra1, increasing pressure on the Black Q-side with good chances to collect a pawn soon, b) 28..., b6 29 b5 cxb5 30 Nxb5, with a slightly different pressure on the Black Q-side, or seeking salvation in tactics with 28..., Nd6?!; which leads to 29 g4, when Black can sacrifice a Knight on g4 for very limited compensation, or keep the material balance with 29..., Qh4 30 c5 Nde8 31 b5, increasing the tension while the Black pieces are not well situated to deal with it. Time trouble looms for White and he hits upon an operation threatening the Black Queen as a way to get some moves played quickly.

28..., Red7 29.Ne2 Qg6 30.Nf4 Qe4+

Pointing up the problem for White; d4 is not well defended forcing the exchange of Queens.

31.Qxe4 Nxe4 32.Bd3?,..

Giving up the pawn without a fight. I suspect that Dean relied on his many years of experience telling him the d-pawn can not be successfully defended by 32 Ne2 Ne7 33 f3 Nf6 34 g4 e5. He therefore goes for the opening of the d-file and simplification.

32..., Rxd4 33.Bc2 ½–½

Jason was down to four minutes here while Dean had just about a minute left. The draw was offered and accepted. Black is of course better, maybe even winning here, but the clock is part of the game. Denham was obviously not completely certain he could execute the moves needed to win the game in the time remaining, and Howard had to be happy to escape with only dropping a half-point. A nice result for Mr. Denham.

Magat, Gordon - Northrup, Cory [A29]

AACC Championship Guilderland, NY, 09.11.2011

The English Four Knights is a positional debut that can turn tactical in a flash.

1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.g3 d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.Bg2 Be6 7.a3,..

A normal looking move but not mainstream theory. Normal here is 7 0-0. The text is probably a good alternative. Here is a game where Black tries to exploit his chances against 7 a3, but things don’t work out in the long run.

(592176) Hoffman,Alejandro (2491) - Bertona,Fernando (2405) [A20]

ARG-ch Buenos Aires (10), 20.10.2000

1.c4 e5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 Nc6 4.a3 d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.Nc3 Be6 7.Nf3 Nxc3 8.bxc3 e4 9.Ng1 Bd5 10.f3 f5 11.Qa4 Bc5 12.fxe4 fxe4 13.Bxe4 Bxg1 14.Rxg1 0–0 15.Bb2 Re8 16.Bc2 Qe7 17.e3 Ne5 18.0–0–0 Bc4 19.Bb3 Qe6

With 19..., b5; Black could have extended his advantage.

20.Bxc4 Nxc4 21.Rgf1 Rad8

Again the advance of the b-pawn to b5 offers Black chances to win.

22.Rf4 Ne5 23.d4 b5

Too late to make a difference.

24.Qc2 Nc4 25.Re1 c5 26.Qf5 cxd4 27.Qxe6+ Rxe6 28.cxd4 Rxe3 29.Rxe3 Nxe3 30.Re4 Nd5 31.Re5 Kf7 32.Kd2 a6 33.Kd3 Rd7 34.Bc1 h6 35.Bd2 Rd8 36.g4 Nf6 37.h3 Rd5 38.Re1 Ng8 39.Bf4 Ne7 40.Rc1 h5?

Black never quite gets his head around the ending and shortly allows White a favorable opportunity to trade the Rooks. After that the passed d-pawn and the active Bishop are too much for the Knight and King.

41.Ke4 Ke6 42.Rc7 Rd7 43.Rxd7 Kxd7 44.gxh5 Ke6 45.Be5 Kf7 46.d5 Nc8 47.Bc7 Ke7 48.Kf5 Nd6+ 49.Kg6 Ne8 50.Ba5 Kd6 51.Kf7 1–0

7..., Be7 8.0–0 0–0 9.Qc2 Qd7 10.Rd1 f5

Black harbors serious intentions on the K-side; pieces and pawns against a sturdy looking King’s field. White seems to be counting on obtaining something from getting to play d2-d4, instead of the more restrained d2-d3. The game is about equal now.

11.d4 Nxc3?!

More in line with the layout of the Black pieces is 11..., e4 12 Ne5 Nxe5 13 dxe5 Qc6. Then Black still can think about .., f5-f4; at some point in the future. He may have been worried about 14 f6, but then tactics break out with 14..., Rad8 15 fxe4 Qc5+ 16 Kh1 fxe4 17 Bxe4 Nxc3 18 bxc3 Rxd1+ 19 Qxd1 Qxe5; and if 20 Bxb7? c6! 21 Bxc6 Qxc3 22 Bd5 Rf1+; wins for Black. As Philip Sells mentioned a week or two ago, there are times when local club players just don’t calculate lines out far enough to see the real outcome. I guess that is the case here for Cory. After the text White obtains free play for his pieces and some advantage. Black, on the other hand gives up most of his designs on the K-side.

12.bxc3 exd4 13.Nxd4 Nxd4 14.Rxd4 Qc8 15.Rb1 c6 16.a4 a5 17.Qb2 Bc5 18.Rd1 Rf7 19.Bg5 h6?

Losing material with a too casual move. Black must have assumed the back rank is well guarded so pushing back the adventurous Bishop is no big deal. It cost him his Queen for a Bishop and a Rook. Not quite enough to call the game won for White. Although Mr. Northrup did manage to gin up some counter-play, eventually the power of the Queen to do double attacks carried the day.

20.Rd8+ Qxd8 21.Bxd8 Rxd8 1–0

More soon.