Sometimes You Get Lucky

More on the Capital Region Team - Geezers match: John Phillips won his first Schenectady title this year. On his way to the victory there, John said he was the beneficiary of some of his opponents trying too hard to win their games against him. In this game Mr. Phillips overreaches himself in an effort to win the game and comes close to losing. The sporting need for a win can cause chess players to disregard that which the actual position requires. Sometimes this done knowingly, and on other occasions the desire for a result blind us to objective truth.

Phillips, John - Caravaty, Chris [E20]
CDCL Match Cap Region v Geezers Schenectady, NY, 29.03.2012

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.f3 Nc6

A move that does not come up very often in local games. When it was played in this game, I first thought it an error. Looking at the game as the next couple of moves were played led me to doubt this quick conclusion. According to Deep Rybka’s opening book it is a perfectly acceptable alternative, not as popular as 4..., d5; but played by some of the best. Here is Speelman holding a draw against Shirov in a very complicated affair:

(279026) Shirov, Alexei (2610) - Speelman, Jonathan S (2630) [E20]
Hastings (12), 1991

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.f3 Nc6 5.e4 b6 6.Bg5 h6 7.Bh4 e5 8.Nge2 Qe7 9.d5 g5 10.Bf2 Nb8 11.a3 Bc5 12.Bxc5 bxc5 13.d6 Qxd6 14.Qxd6 cxd6 15.Nb5 Kd8 16.Nxd6 Rh7 17.b4 Na6 18.b5 Nc7 19.h4 g4 20.f4 Nce8 21.Nxe8 Kxe8 22.fxe5 Nxe4 23.g3 Bb7 24.Bg2 Rb8 25.Rd1 f5 26.exf6 Rf7 27.0–0 Rxf6 28.Rfe1 Kd8 29.Nf4 Nd6 30.Nh5 Rg6 31.Nf4 Rf6 32.Bxb7 Rxb7 33.Rd5 Nxc4 34.Ne6+ Rxe6 35.Rxe6 Rxb5 36.Rxh6 Rb3 37.Rh8+ Kc7 38.Rh7 Kc6 39.Rdxd7 Rxg3+ 40.Kf2 Rf3+ 41.Ke2 Re3+ 42.Kf2 ½–½

Another example is this game. It illustrates the middle game dangers that can be conjured up by a slip by Black:

(863773) Volkov, Sergey (2629) - Ionov, Sergey (2538) [E20]
57th Russian Ch Qualification Tournament, St Petersburg (8), 29.05.2004

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.f3 Nc6 5.e4 d5 6.cxd5 exd5 7.e5 Ng8 8.Be3 Nge7 9.f4 Ba5 10.Qd2 0–0 11.0–0–0 f6 12.Bd3 fxe5 13.fxe5 Bf5 14.Nf3 Qd7 15.Bxf5 Rxf5 16.Kb1 Nd8 17.Rc1 Ne6 18.Qd3 c6 19.Ne2 Raf8 20.h4 Ng6? (Better 20..., Qe8) 21.Ng3 R5f7 22.Ng5 Nxg5 23.hxg5 Qe6 24.Rh3 Bb6 25.Rch1 Rd7 26.Rxh7 Rff7 27.Nh5 Rf5 28.g4 Rf3 29.Nf6+ Kf7 30.Qe2 Nxe5 31.Nxd7 Qxd7 32.g6+ Kxg6 33.Qc2+ Kf7 34.dxe5 Bxe3 35.Rxg7+ Kxg7 36.Qh7+ 1–0

5.e4 d5 6.e5!?,..

Capturing on d5 seems to be a sounder approach. It is more often played than the text, but there are not that many games in the databases. With little master practice in the hopper, it is hard to come to a firm conclusion about what is best here.

6..., Ng8 7.a3 Bxc3+ 8.bxc3 dxc4

The game has arrived at a crossroads. White needs to chose a plan. The natural looking 9 Bxc4, is met strongly by 9..., Nxe5!; and if 10 dxe5? Qh4+; recovers the piece giving Black the better game. If White tries to vary with 10 Ba2, then 10..., Ng6; and it is questionable the Bishop pair won at the cost of a pawn is sufficient compensation. The remaining Black Bishop will come out on b7, after .., b7-b6; and White will be looking for drawing chances down a pawn. My guess is Mr. Phillips thought going in the c-pawn could be taken.

Since the Bishop can’t safely take the pawn, a reasonable alternative is 9 Qa4, and recapturing with the Queen. Also possible is 10 Nh3, intending to answer 10..., Qd5; with 11 Nf4. The game then begins to look something like an Advanced or Winawer French Defense except the Black pawn d5 has disappeared. Altogether it is not a bad outcome for Black from the opening.

9.f4?,..

Reasoning from analogy, White decides to treat the position as he would a French Defense. There supporting the center with a pawn on f4 is established wisdom. With d5 open to occupation this is an error.

9..., Qd5!

Exactly played. Black can now obtain a small but persistent advantage after; 10 Nf3 Nge7 11 Be2 Na5 12 Rb1 Bd7 13 0-0 Bc6. Recovery of the pawn remains just out of reach for White.

10.Qg4?,..

Continuing to reason from analogy, White puts his Queen on g4. This fine in the Winawer French but poison here. Black could now play; 10..., Qe4+ 11 Kf2 Qc7+ 12 Be2 Nge7; and have a fine game. The move he played in the game is equally good.

10..., Nge7 11.Qxg7 Rg8?!

This is not quite the best. First 11..., Qe4+; then 12 Ne2 Rg8 13 Qh6 Na5; extends Black’s advantage. With the Black Queen lording it over the center, the possibility of a Knight landing on b3, and pressure on g2 tying up White, it is hard to imagine Mr. Phillips avoiding some significant loss soon.

12.Qxh7 Rxg2 13.Qh3?,..

The reprieve granted by Black is wasted by this move. With 13 Nh3 Rg6 14 Nf2, White some hope of struggling on even though Black has maintained the advantage.

13..., Rc2 14.Qf3 Qxf3

Also worth consideration is; 14..., Rxc3. This move can lead to a prosaic looking ending where Black has an extra two pawns that are isolated and doubled on the c-file. The unusual thing is this supposedly weak duo, because they support the Black minor pieces so well, prove to be the decisive factor for Black in this ending.

15.Nxf3 Rxc3 16.Be2 Nf5 17.Bd2 Rb3 18.Bd1 Rd3 19.Rc1 Ncxd4 20.Nxd4 Rxd4 21.Rg1,..

Both sides had to calculate the Winawer-like line beginning 21 h4. The pawn racing to Queen is not speedy enough, and with 21..., Bd7 22 h5 Bc6 23 Rh2 0-0-0; Black has no major worries. The text is the best move in a tough situation.

21..., b5?!

After 21 moves of pretty high level play, Mr. Caravaty begins slipping. The g-file Rook is a dangerous piece made more so by the presence of two White Bishops aching to find diagonals on which to work. I suspect that Mr. Phillips allowed the Black Rook access to the center in hopes of snagging the Exchange through the cooperation of the Bishops. It probably wasn’t a full blown calculation, rather it was an idea waiting for detailed work as the position evolved. The text move allows the Bishops to begin their work. With this single move the balance swings from heavily favoring Black according to Rybka to a dead even game. Best here seems to be 21..., c5; securing the King against diagonal embarrassments, or 21..., Kd7; avoiding the lateral check by the Rook. Black’s proper task is to get his Q-side mobilized quickly while not letting White gain valuable time with threats. Failure to do so leads to a quick defeat.

22.Bf3 Rb8 23.Bc6+ Kf8 24.Bb4+ Ne7 25.Bc5 Rd8?

When Black took his Rook on an adventure to the center of the board, he should have realized there was a good chance it would have to be given up for a minor piece, preferably one of the Bishops. Now is the moment for that to happen. White has some advantage, the passed h-pawn, after 25..., Bd7 26 Bxd4 Bxc6 27 Bxa7, but Black then has some counter-chances. The text move was made without due consideration of a mating pattern present in the position.

26.Rc2 Bd7?

A forlorn hope is 26..., Rd5 27 Bxd5 exd5 28 Rcg2, and White is clearly winning, but Black might play on for a few more moves.

27.Rcg2 1–0

There is no defense to the Rooks mating. The pinned Knight on e7 is utterly ineffective and it is in the way to boot. Chris may have thought for a moment that 27..., Ke8; freeing the Knight was possible, but 28 Rg8+!, anyway with mate after; 28..., Nxg8 29 Rxg8# finishes the contest. A pretty and inspired conclusion to a game where White took huge chances in the opening. Winning from these club champions requires not only creative opening play but also seriously creative work right through to the ending.
If you falter, they often exact a painful revenge as in today’s game.

A late note: Wednesday evening the Capital Region team played a match with the Albany A team. The Capital Region team kept up their good play, and this time they carried away a draw from one of the historical leaders in the Capital District Chess League. The final score was 2 - 2. The results by board were: 1 Finnerman - Howard 1-0, 2 Magat - Cavaraty 1-0, 3 Northrup - Henner 1-0, and 4 Perry - Denham 1-0.

Jason Denham erred in the opening and had a hopeless position early in the session. Mr. Perry collected the point without allowing him any counter-play. As non-playing Captain of the Albany team I started out the evening feeling pretty confident after that win. The other three boards all were close struggles.

On board 2 Gordon Magat dealt with Chris Caravaty’s complicated play effectively. So, about an hour and a half after the board 4 game ended, the Albany team was up 2 - 0, and my confidence soared. And then, things began to go right for the Capital Region team and wrong for the Albany team.

On board 3 Cory Northrup did not handle the White pieces terribly well in the opening. This provoked Peter Henner into risky play from the Black side of a Pirc. As some readers may recall, I am a devotee of the Pirc, but, as good as the Pirc may be, it requires careful handling. Because of the big advantage in central space Black grants White, he has to be accurate about how the attack on the White center is carried out. Mr. Henner was not, and the release of central tension worked to White’s advantage eventually costing Black a piece and the game not long after.

Suddenly the match was becoming a close contest. The board 1 game between David Finnerman and Dean Howard was to be the decider. This battle went slowly with Dean, as usual, taking quite a bit of time for each move in the transition from opening to middle game. My estimate was Howard had no real advantage, and I expected a draw giving the Albany team a narrow victory. Such was not to be. My judgment of the position was wrong, and Mr. Finnerman demonstrated the correct path to victory. His win was helped by the difficult time situation Mr. Howard was in over the final 16 moves. He had less than a minute and one-half in which to make them!

This win was the first win for David Finnerman, playing first board for the team now called the Capital Region team. Last year it was the Saratoga B team. This year it could have been designated Albany B with three of its boards filled AACC members. By whatever name, these guys are dangerous. Their play last week against the Geezers was better than the score indicated. Buoyed by this result, who knows what they may do against their remaining opponents.

Thus Cap’n Bill’s first outing leading the Albany A team was not very successful. Nevertheless, it was a good night for chess; along with the CDCL match, four or five skittles players showed up and quietly kept themselves entertained while occasionally looking in on the ongoing match. That was not a bad turnout for a small club.

More soon.