Aaron Drops a Point

While Deepak labors away to get to the plus side of the scores, other things of interest have happened. Deepak’s opponent from round one has taken the lead with two wins. The other 2600+ Grandmasters have not had smooth sailing; the top rated player, Maxim Matiakov, 2639 was held to a draw by V A V Rajesh of India in the first round, and the second seeded player, Sanan Sjugirov, 2632 was defeated by FM Nicolai Getz, 2385. The official US entrant, GM Ray Robson, 2560 was held to a draw in the second round by IM Firat Burak, 2373. It is always well to keep in mind these are young players, who can tell which is breaking through to a new high level of understanding and who is just having a bad day.

Here is the round two loss by Sjugirov:

FM Getz, Nicolia (2385) - GM Sjugirov, Sanan (2639) [D38]

50th World Junior Ch Chennai, India (2), 03.08.2011

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.Qb3 c5 6.cxd5 exd5 7.dxc5 Nc6 8.Bg5 Be6 9.0–0–0 0–0 10.e4 dxe4 11.Bc4 Qc7 [11...Qd7] 12.Nd4 Nxd4 13.Qxb4 Nc6 14.Qa4 Nd7 15.Be3 Nb6 16.cxb6 axb6 17.Qb3 Na5 18.Bxe6 Nxb3+ 19.Bxb3 Rad8 20.Kb1 Rxd1+ 21.Rxd1 Qxh2 22.g3 Qh5 23.Nxe4 Qf5 24.Bc2 Rc8 25.Nc3 Qe6 26.Bb3 Qf5+ 27.Ka1 b5 28.Nd5 Qe4 29.a3 h5 30.Ka2 h4 31.Rd4 Qe5 32.Rxh4 Rd8 33.Bd4 Qg5 34.Be3 Qe5 35.Rd4 b4 36.Rd2 bxa3 37.Bf4 [37.bxa3] 37...Qe8 38.bxa3 Qf8 39.Rc2 Ra8 40.Bc1 Qd6 41.Bb2 Rd8 42.f4 Re8 43.g4 Qg6 44.f5 Qd6 45.g5 Kf8 46.Bc3 Kg8 47.Bb2 Kf8 48.Bc3 1–0

Today in round three Deepak Aaron back another step with a defeat by Dutta Debashish. 2127 of India:

Aaron, Deepak(2288) - Debashish, Dutta (2127) [B35]

50th World Junior Chennai, India, 04.08.2011

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6 5.Nc3 Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Bc4 0–0 8.Bb3,..

Very much mainstream theory. Rybka labels this the Accelerated Dragon, main line. Some very impressive names have played the White side; Fischer and Tal in the 1960s right down to Magnus Carlsen in 2006.

8..., a5

Known but not the first choice among the elite. They like 8..., d6. Here is a game in which an up-and-coming Topalov defeats Bent Larsen to illustrate one way to play against the text:

Topalov, Veselin (2460) - Larsen, Bent (2535) [B35]

Mesa op Mesa, 1992

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6 5.Nc3 Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Bc4 0–0 8.Bb3 a5 9.a4 Ng4 10.Qxg4 Nxd4 11.Qh4 Nxb3 12.cxb3 Ra6 13.0–0 Re6 14.Rfe1 b6 15.Bh6 Bb7 16.Bxg7 Kxg7 17.Re3 f5 18.Rae1 fxe4 19.Nxe4 h6 20.Nd2 Rxe3 21.Qd4+ e5 22.Qxe3 d6 23.Nc4 Rf4 24.Rd1 Re4 25.Qc3 Qg5 26.g3 Rd4 27.Rxd4 exd4 28.Qxd4+ Kh7 29.Ne3 Qe7 30.f4 h5 31.Kf2 Qe6 32.Qc4 Qd7 33.Ke1 Bc6 34.Kd2 b5 35.axb5 Bxb5 36.Qd5 a4 37.bxa4 Bc4 38.Nxc4 Qh3 39.Qh1 Qe6 40.Qb7+ Kg8 41.Qb8+ Kh7 42.Qa7+ 1–0

9.0–0 d6

Also possible is 9..., a4 10 Nxa4 Nxe4 11 Nb5 d6.

10.h3 Bd7 11.a4 Rc8 12.Qd2 Nxd4 13.Bxd4 Bc6 14.Qe3,..

This move could be called a “time waster”. The obvious threat; 15 Bb6, is easily met. What is accomplished is the dark squared Bishops are traded. I don’t know if that is good or bad for White. My suspicion is the Bb3 is not as good as the Bc6, so the trade helps Black. A suggested improvement is 14 Rad1, continuing to get the entire White army on active posts before undertaking any action.

14..., Nd7 15.Bxg7 Kxg7 16.Rad1 Qb6

Black has equalized the game. White either trades Queens or he will have to worry about the Bb3 and the b2 square.

17.Qg5 f6 18.Qg4 Nc5 19.Nd5 Bxd5 20.exd5 Rc7

The result of White’s choice is; the Bb3 is the worse minor piece on the board, but he can put considerable pressure on e7. Rybka says Black is a little bit better here.

21.Qf3!?,..

Agreeing to some damage being done to his Q-side pawns. This could have been prevented with 21 Qd4.

21..., Rf7 22.Rfe1 Nxb3 23.cxb3 Rc2 24.Re3 Rxb2 25.Rde1 Qc7

Black picks up a pawn, but this extra “button” is no picture of glowing health. It is a target on the open e-file, and White piles all his heavy pieces on the file.

26.Re6 Rc2 27.R1e3 Rc5 28.h4,..

Following Botvinnik’s prescription; after piling on the weak pawn and tying down the opponent’s pieces, try to open a second front and produce a weakness there. Unfortunately for White, the weakness induced is just not enough to sway the balance, and Black can apply the same principle.

28..., b5

The principle of two weaknesses cuts both ways. Black plays to worry White about his d and a-pawns.

29.h5 bxa4 30.hxg6?!,..

Keeping tension in the game with 30 bxa4 Qb7 31 Qe2 Kf8 32 h6, and the disadvantage is minimized may be better.

30..., hxg6 31.Qe4?,..

White apparently did not care for the position after 31 bxa4 Qb7. He gambles rather than accept an inferior position.

31...,Rc1+

Also good is 31..., a3 32 Qa4 Rxd5 33 Qxa3 Qc2; and Black is close to winning.

32.Kh2 Qc2 33.Qg4 Qd1

Everything is about the pawn formations left after trades of the Queens and a pair of Rooks. White avoids the Queen trade and is quickly mated by the active Black heavy pieces. The mating possibilities should have motivated the Queen trade.

34.Qxa4? Qh1+ 35.Kg3 Rg1 36.Qe4?,..

Superior but hardly enough to save the game is; 36 Kf3, then 36..., Qxg2+ 37 Ke2 Qxd5 38 b4 Qc4+; and Black has too many pawns in the long run. Nevertheless, this line holds some hope for White; Black would have to stay alert with all the major pieces on the board and calculate accurately. After the game move, Black needs only to seeing clearly for a move of two to end the party.

36..., f5 37.Qd4+ Kf8 38.Rf3,..

Stepping into destruction. Stringing things out a bit with 38 Kf3 Qh5+ 39 Kg3 Rh7 40 Rd3 Qh6+ delays the inevitable but can not change the result. The clock may have been a problem for White considering the number of moves played. A painful loss Deepak but it was a pretty finish.

38..., f4+ 1-0

Note when I published this post first in the early afternoon I had the colors reversed and thought Deepak took the point. Double checking an hour later I found my blunder and corrected it.

More tomorrow.

A Game From India

The web site at the World Junior Championship is working better today than it was yesterday. The promised PGN download is still not available, but they have all boards posting complete games. That is an improvement.

Zulfic, Fedja 2098 Australia - Aaron, Deepak USA 2288 [D13]

50th World Junior Ch Chennai, India, 03.08.2011

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.cxd5 cxd5

The Exchange Slav is one way for White to strive for an even game. It is often a subtle early draw offer. In the couple of thousand games with these move in my databases show the vast majority were point splits. In the comparatively few decisive games neither side had a strong edge.

4.Nc3 Nf6 5.Bf4 Nc6 6.e3 e6 7.Bd3 a6 8.Rc1 Be7 9.Nf3 0–0 10.0–0 Bd7 11.Ne5 Rc8 12.a3 Na5 13.e4,..

Back in 1934 Vidmar, a pretty strong Yugoslav GM, lost this position quickly as Black to a relatively unknown opponent:

Frydman, Paulino - Vidmar, Milan Sr [D13]

Ujpest Ujpest, 1934

1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 c6 4.cxd5 cxd5 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Bf4 e6 7.e3 Be7 8.Bd3 0–0 9.0–0 a6 10.Rc1 Bd7 11.Ne5 Rc8 12.a3 Na5 13.Qf3 b5 14.Qh3 Nc4 15.Nxd5 g6 16.Nxe7+ Qxe7 17.Bxc4 Rxc4 18.Rxc4 bxc4 19.Bg5 1–0

Frydman’s 13 Qf3, is more dangerous than the game move I think. Rybka suggests preparations should be made before pushing the e-pawn; 13 h3, or 13 Qe2.

13..., dxe4 14.Nxe4 Rxc1 15.Nxf6+ Bxf6 16.Qxc1 Bb5 17.Bxb5 axb5 18.Qc3,..

Black may have been of two minds here. He has taken some risks with his pawn structure. I assume this was done to eliminate the better of the White Bishops seeking the favorable imbalance of minor pieces. Now he embarks on a tactical interlude simplifying to a heavy piece endgame where the pawn structure for Black is not very favorable.

A couple of lines are worth examining are: a) 18..., Nc6 19 Nxc6 bxc6 20 Qxc6 Qxd4 21 Be3 Qc4 22 Qxc4 bxc4 23 Rc1 Bxb2 24 Rxc4 Bxa3; nets a pawn but is not so easy to win for Black, and b) 18..., Nc6 19 Nxc6 bxc6 20 Be5 Bxe5 21 dxe5 Qd5 22 Rc1 h6 23 Qxc6 Qxe5; leaving White with the potential outside passed pawn.

Not finding clarity in the alternatives, Deepak decided to shift gears taking the game in another direction.

18..., Bxe5 19.Bxe5 Nc6

Black can avoid the tactic with 19..., Nc4; leading to a balanced position after 20 b3 Nxe5 21 dxe5 Qd5. Note, if 20..., Nxa3 21 Qg3, favors White after 21..., f6 22 Bd6.

20.Bxg7 Kxg7 21.d5+ Qf6 22.Qg3+ Kh8 23.dxc6 bxc6 24.b4 Rg8 25.Qe3 Rd8 26.Qc5 e5

Black has a little more say in the center, and he has repaired the doubled b-pawns. White has targets on c6 and h7. Splitting the point looks likely, but first both sides have to satisfy themselves the opponent is tactically alert enough not to fall into some trap.

27.g3 Kg8 28.Qc3 Rd4 29.Rc1 Rc4

Not strictly necessary. Black could try 29..., Qh6; and other than keeping the Rooks on for awhile longer not much would change. If 30 Qxc6?, Rd1+; wins.

30.Qe3 Rxc1+ 31.Qxc1 Qd6 32.Qg5+ Kf8 33.Qf5 h6 34.Qf3 Ke7 35.Qe3 f5 36.Qa7+ Qd7 37.Qc5+ Qd6 38.Qa7+ Qd7 39.Qc5+ Qd6 40.Qa7+ Ke6

Reluctant to call it a day, Deepak makes a last gesture. With 40..., Qd7; a three-fold repetition will occur.

41.Qh7 Qd1+

Safer may be 41..., Qf8.

42.Kg2 Qh5 43.Qc7,..

A dance similar to the proceeding one just on different squares.

43..., Qe8 44.Qh7 Qf8 ½–½

A professional draw between two guys trying to right their boats after first round losses.

More tomorrow, I hope.

The World Junior Championship

Just some news of the World Junior Championship. The Schenectady Chess Club’s own Deepak Aaron is playing in this event in Chennai (Madras to those stuck in the days of the Raj). Opening ceremonies were held yesterday, August 1st. The WC Anand spoke at the ceremony, and Deepak’s grandfather, Manual Aaron is in attendance as an honorary member of the organizing committee.

The first round was today. Deepak is seeded 65 in field of 124 with a rating of 2288. His opponent in the first round was GM Salgado Lopez, Ivan 2626 from Spain. A big hurtle to face right off the bat. Things ended as expected with the GM winning the game. Problems on the web site, so far, have prevented me getting a game score with more than the first three of four moves. The site promises a PGN download. When that will happen is a question without an answer as yet.

The only rest day scheduled is next Monday. If the downloads start working or the live games show up for the lower boards, we may have some games from Deepak to look at. I hope so.

More soon.

Just for Fun Last Thursday

Thursday last the Schenectady Club held another in the series of casual summer events. This time out it was a Game in 10 round robin of six players. Overall, this may have been the strongest of all. We had leading the seeding list Philip Sells, followed by Peter Henner and Tim Wright from the Albany Club. Joining them were Richard Chu and Cory Northrup of Schenectady and a visitor, Tom Clark of Voorheesville.

Henner and Sells began by winning their games in rounds one and two. They met in the third round and Sells won that game. He handily took his points in rounds four and five finishing with a perfect 5 - 0 score. This was the first time the highest rated player prevailed in one of our Just for Fun events. An excellent result in which Mr. Sells demonstrated his skill at speed chess.

Following was Peter Henner, just back from several weeks in Mongolia, scoring 3 - 2. Besides his loss to Sells, Peter was upset by Tom Clark in a last minute fumble. This kept alive the pattern of upsets of higher rated players in the summer series. The aforementioned Mr. Clark and Tim Wright were next at even 2 ½ - 2 ½ scores. Our president, Richard Chu came next at 1 ½ - 3 ½. Cory Northrup this week was the tail ender getting to just ½ - 4 ½. This half-point was important. It came in his game with Chu. These two have been battling all summer with Cory holding a significant lead in the score between them. This time Richard held the draw. These summer events have not had many draws in them. Mr. Chu set the record this week by notching three(!) in one tourney.

When I saw Peter Henner at the Albany Club on Wednesday evening and had the opportunity to invite him to the doings on Thursday, there was the chance to say something I never imagined getting to say: How are things in Mongolia? Look for Peter’s comments, maybe about Mongolia and certainly about chess in his column in the Altamont Enterprise, a weekly newspaper for the Hilltowns of Albany County.

This Thursday’s event is the last one planned for the summer. Despair not, because John Barnes is directing a Game 5 Minute tournament on August 18 at the Schenectady Club. Details, registration, prizes, etc., will probably be in one of Bill Townsend’s Saturday columns in the Schenectady Gazette. And, if you haven’t heard, there is casual chess under the Arcade at Proctor’s Mondays during the lunch hour just in case you need a midday chess fix.

The little local boom of chess opportunity continues to roll along. All clubs welcome visitors and are happy to find new members. There are opportunities to play at Albany on Wednesdays, Schenectady on Thursdays, the Guilderland Public Library on Fridays, in Saratoga Sunday nights, Troy, the Uncle Sam Chess Club, Wednesday evenings. Those I am sure of. There are couple of more. The East Greenbush Club meets on Wednesdays and the Greenwich Club meets Thursdays. Details, addresses and contact information is set out under the title “Clubs” at this web site. So, other than a dark day on Tuesdays and having Saturdays free for lawn mowing or the occasional weekend Swiss, you can find chess around the Capital District. Go out and play!

More soon.

Wrapping up the 2002 Cap Dist Invitational

The fifth round of the 2002 Capital District Invitational saw the clash of leaders on the first board that we have recently chronicled, Battes versus Spraggett, which Grant Spraggett won in dashing style, and with the game he also won the tournament by a wide margin. At the beginning of the last round the status of the tournament leaders was: Spraggett had 3 ½ points, three wins and a draw. Battes had 3 - 1, two wins, two draws. Tied with Battes in second place was Mitchell Goldberg also with 3 - 1 points, two wins and two draws. These three had clearly out distanced the trailing group; Morse, 1 ½ - 2 ½ Michelman, 1 - 3, and Steffek, 0 - 4.

The “star” game of the round was Battes - Spraggett. The onus was on Battes to get at least a draw to tighten up the standings. If he could win, Battes might have had a piece of first place. We’ve seen that was not to be. But what of Goldberg? His opponent in this round had not done terribly well so far. Time trouble had cost Michelman important points, and he had not won since the first round. Mitchell Goldberg was the second highest rated in the seeding and he had only conceded draws to Spraggett and the surging Battes. The informal handicapping before play began said Goldberg would probably win the game mostly because of Michelman’s tendency to fall into time difficulties, particularly against tough opponents. Time trouble did come about for Peter, but this time it did not cost Peter as dearly as in the past.

Michelman, Peter - Goldberg, Mitchell [A87]

Capital District Invitational Albany, NY, 21.04.2002

1.d4 f5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 g6 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.c4 0–0 6.Nc3 d6 7.0–0 Qe8

The mainline Dutch was Goldberg’s weapon of choice in 2002 against 1 d4. The databases have many games in this line between strong Grandmasters. That is an indication of the soundness of the ideas for Black.

8.d5 Na6

Still we are in the mainstream of theory. Here is a GM game showing how they play the position:

Salov, Valery (2665) - Gurevich, Mikhail (2630) [A87]

Reggio Emilia 9192 Reggio Emilia (9), 1992

1.d4 d6 2.Nf3 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 f5 5.0–0 Nf6 6.c4 0–0 7.Nc3 Qe8 8.d5 Na6 9.Rb1 e5 10.dxe6 Bxe6 11.Nd4 c6 12.b4 Bxc4 13.b5 cxb5 14.Ndxb5 Rd8 15.Ba3 d5 16.Nd6 Qe5 17.Nxc4 dxc4 18.Qc2 Nc5 19.Bxc5 Qxc5 20.Rb5 Qd6 21.Rxb7 Kh8 22.Nb5 Qc5 23.a4 a6 24.Nc3 Ng4 25.h3 Ne3 26.fxe3 Qxe3+ 27.Kh2 f4 28.Rf3 fxg3+ 29.Rxg3 Be5 30.Rxh7+ 1–0

9.Rb1 Nc5

Rybka values a number of moves here near equally; 9..., Nc5; 9..., Rb8; 9..., e5; 9..., c5; and 9..., Bd7. I like 9..., Nc5; getting the Knight back into the battle immediately.

10.b4 Nce4 11.Bb2 a5

This move was tried only once before that I could find:

Davenport, Darcy (2200) - Reinemer, Frank (2275) [A87]

Dortmund op-A Dortmund (3), 1993

1.d4 f5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 g6 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.c4 0–0 6.0–0 d6 7.Nc3 Qe8 8.d5 Na6 9.Rb1 Nc5 10.b4 Nce4 11.Bb2 a5 12.a3 axb4 13.axb4 e5 14.dxe6 Bxe6 15.Nd2 Nxc3 16.Bxc3 c6 17.Qc2 Qf7 18.Ra1 Rxa1 19.Rxa1 Bxc4 20.Ra7 Bd5 21.Bxd5 Nxd5 22.Bxg7 Qxg7 23.Nc4 Qc7 24.Qb3 Qb8 25.Ra1 Kg7 26.Qb2+ Nf6 27.Qd4 d5 28.Ne5 Kg8 29.Rc1 Qd6 30.Ra1 Nd7 31.Nxd7 Qxd7 32.Ra7 Rc8 33.Qb6 Rb8 34.Ra3 Kf7 35.Rc3 Ra8 36.Qd4 Re8 37.e3 Qd6 38.Ra3 h5 [38...Re4] 39.Ra7 Qd7 40.Qb6 Re7 41.Qd4 Qd8 42.Qa1 Qb8 43.Ra8 Qe5 44.Qa5 Rd7 45.Qc5 Qe7 46.Qd4 Rd8 47.Ra7 Ke6 48.Qb6 Rd7 49.b5 Kf7 50.bxc6 bxc6 51.Ra6 Rc7 52.h4 Kg7 53.Ra8 Kh7 54.Qd4 Qg7 55.Qc5 Qe7 ½–½

12.b5 e5 13.dxe6 Bxe6 14.Nd5,..

White might have tried the tactic from the Darcy - Reinemer game and played 14 Nd2. The game now tilts just slightly in the favor of Black.

14..., Qf7 15.Nxf6+ Bxf6 16.Bxf6 Qxf6 17.Rc1 d5?

Townsend wrote in his tournament notes: “This rather provocative move gives White a big initiative.” True then and true now. Better 17..., Rae8; or even 17..., b6; when, if 18 Nd4 Rae8; not fearing the Knight for Bishop trade on e6. Black’s remaining Knight will have a home on e4 until White surrenders the Bishop for the horseman. That ensures equal play for Black at the least.

18.cxd5 Rfd8 19.Rxc7 Nc3 20.Qd2 Nxd5 21.Rc5!?,..

Passing on the chance to enter a tactical melee with 21 Rxb7 Bc8 22 Rxh7! Kxh7 23 Ng5+ Kg7 24 Bxd5 Ra7 25 e4! fxe4 26 Nxe4 Qe5 27 Qe3 Rc7; and White has a substantial advantage. After the game was over, Peter thought this was a better choice. With the benefit of even more distant hindsight, and the help of my trusty electronic assistant Rybka, things are not so clear after 28 Bc6 Bd7 29 Ng5 Re8 30 Qb6. White is certainly fully compensated for the Exchange, and Black is in danger of dropping another pawn. There is a but however; seeing all that in critical game and calculating all the side variations is a huge task. The text retains much of the advantage without “rolling the dice” by investing an Exchange in a line challenges human calculation. A sound decision from a practical perspective.

21..., Nb4?

A benefit from White’s last move is Black has to find the best answer. White is thinking about h6, g5 and c7 as posts for his Queen, Knight and Rook heralding a direct attack on the Black King. Goldberg is seduced by a chance to uncover an attack on the White Queen with the associated opportunity to threaten the White a-pawn. It is not often we see a master getting distracted from the main threat by a dangling pawn. This game illustrates the dangers of such distraction. White would still have a substantial edge after the better 21..., Nb6 22 Qh6 Rd7 23 a3 Rad8; when Rybka sees White still ahead, but it is by no means clear to this human being just how he will carry the day. After say, 24 Ne5 (Rybka’s suggestion) 24..., Re7 25 Rfc1 Bb3; White will likely have to give up on the immediate K-side attack and retreat the Queen to f4 or e3.

22.Qh6 Qe7 23.Ng5 Bxa2 24.Rfc1 Nd5 25.e4!,..

This move must have been undervalued by Mr. Goldberg when he was evaluating the position at move 21. He said after the game that he knew it was coming. The Knight and Queen combination on h6 and g5 are powerful force. Combined with the potential penetration of the White Rook to the 7th rank, it wrings all the defensive strength out of the Black position.

25..., fxe4?!

Things are bad for Black so he tries a trick, and it works, at least it works a little bit. Best, but not saving the game is; 25..., Nf6 26 exf5 Ng4 27 Qh4 gxf5 28 Rxf5 Ne3! 29 fxe3 Qxf3+ 30 Rf2 Qxc1+ 31 Bf1 Rd7; muddying up the position to the maximum. White retains the winning advantage, however there are several places in which to go wrong.

26.Bxe4?!,..

Falling in with Black hopes. More principled is; 26 Bh3. With that move White, having gotten much from his threats to the Black King shifts his focus to the other side of the board. The moves; 26..., Nf6 27 Rc7 Qf8 28 Qh4 Nh5 29 Be6+, likely winning material and leading the game to simplification and big plus in the ending. By capturing on e4, White gives Black a glimmer of a chance.

26..., Nf6 27.Bf3 Bd5?

Nearly blasting his own chances. Black had to play 27..., Rd7; although he is still lost if White finds the exact 28 R5c2. Mr. Michelman was now deep into his not unusual problems with the clock. Criticism of his moves is pointless. He is running on intuition and the understanding of the position gained while using so much of the available time. Thinking has no part in his move choices now.

28.Rc7 Rd7 29.Bxd5+?,..

The wages of using great chunks of minutes to understand a position is missing simple wins. With 29 Rc8 +, Peter could have brought on a Rook and pawn ending that is won for White. Two things got in the way of that decision; no time to think and the number of moves that would have to be played in such an ending. White only five minutes for the rest of his moves, and he no doubt wanted something more sooner.

29..., Nxd5 30.Rxd7 Qxd7 31.Rd1,..

The advantage White had has dwindled away to not much more than an initiative.

31..., Rc8?!

More resistance can be found with 31..., Rd8; then 32 h4 Qe7 33 h5 Rd6 34 Rc1 Nb6; leaves White with the edge but many, many more moves to play.

32.Nxh7?!,..

Bill T. said of this move: “Instead of wasting more time tying to find a quick win, White decides to go for a promising ending where he is up a pawn.” It is true White will ahead by a pawn but how promising the ending will be is not at all clear. The time had gone down to 2:34 for Michelman. Mr. Goldberg had 30 minutes remaining.

32..., Ne3??

With oodles of time Mitchell Goldberg must have been caught up in his opponent’s pressure. Better is 32..., Qxh7; accepting what appears to be a somewhat worse endgame. Play might continue; 33 Qxh7+ Kxh7 34 Rxd5 Kh6 35 Rd7 Rb8 36 f3 a4 37 Rd2 Ra8 38 Kf2 Ra5 39 Rb2 a3 40 Ra2 Rxb5 41 Rxa3 Rb2+; and Black has gone a long way towards equalizing the game. If White gives up the h-pawn for the Black b-pawn, we reach a position that Levenfish and Smyslov in their book; Rook Endings, Batsfford, London,1971, hold is drawn if the superior side does not have a passed pawn. Fine, in Basic Chess Endings, Makay, NYC, 1941, has a similar opinion excepting only special cases where the superior King can penetrate to the opposing pawn. I don’t know what the table bases say about the matter. Very probably they reach the same conclusion while spelling out the best ways to make the inferior side suffer.

That theoretical background leads me to believe Mr. Goldberg’s judgment was clouded for a moment by Mr. Michelman’s time trouble. I have observed the phenomenon in the games of Michelman and Sells, the other local time trouble specialist. It is so, so easy to fall into the trap of quick tactical moves to “punish” your time troubled opponent. I have done so against Michelman and Sells and regretted the lost points bitterly. Goldberg spoils what could have been a case of inspired defense with his hasty trick.

33.Nf6+! 1-0

Mr. Goldberg resigned in face of; 33..., Kf7 34 Rxd7+ Kxf6 35 Qxe3, when even with only a minute or two left there is no doubt Peter will mate soon.

A disappointment for Goldberg and some vindication for Michelman’s efforts at this event.

More soon.

More on the Cap Dist Invitational and this Thursday's Event

The fourth round saw Grant Spraggett cement his lead in the standings with a win from John Morse who used his own patented opening idea; advance the d and f-pawns, play the c-file Bishop to the e-file and back to the f2/f7 square and then take up a stonewall formation. Morse uses this approach with both White and Black to essentially bypass opening theory and reach a playable middle game no matter what his opponent has in mind. John tried this idea in every game in the Invitational. While he finished with a respectable 2 ½ - 2 ½ score, it can not be said to have been wildly successful.

With White he missed a win versus Battes in the first round and drew, the most promising game he had with the system. In round two Goldberg defeated Morse playing Black winning in 47 moves. Playing White against Michelman Morse was outplayed in the opening but held on grimly until Peter’s time trouble gave him a win on the last move before time control. Morse position was utterly lost however. In the final round, as White against Bruce Steffek, Morse obtained the advantage against an opponent having a crisis of form - four straight losses and no wins or draws. This time John did not slip up as against Battes, and he brought home the full point.

This brings us to today’s game. The master, Spraggett, demonstrates one method for dealing with Mr. Morse’s innovation; eliminate the Black light squared Bishop, make light square weaknesses in the Black camp and exploit them ruthlessly. There are other effective ways to deal with Mr. Morse’s idea, but there does not seem to be any immediate tactical refutation.

Spraggett, Grant - Morse, John [A10]

Capoital District Invitational Albany, NY, 21.04.2002

1.c4 f5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 c6 4.b3 g6 5.Bb2 Bg7 6.Nf3 0–0 7.0–0,..

Spraggett had been here before in the game Spraggett - Kanani, Toronto, 1992. That game continued 7..., d3 8 d4 Na6 9 Nbd2 Bd7 10 Ne1 Qa5; and was drawn in 48 moves.

7..., d5

I have not found any games with this position in my databases.

8.d3 Be6 9.Nbd2 Bf7 10.Qc2 Nbd7 11.Rae1 e6 12.Ne5 Rc8 13.Ndf3 Re8 14.Qb1 Nxe5 15.Nxe5 Nd7 16.Nxf7,..

Operations have been straight forward so far and easy to understand. In some of Morse’s games, both Bill Townsend and I have doubted the efficiency of White in capturing this hopeless Bishop with a Knight. In this contest Spraggett illustrates there is a dynamic idea behind the exchange.

16...,Kxf7 17.Bxg7 Kxg7 18.b4,..

I can’t say this is the best try. Possible also is 18 e4, motivated by a similar notion; breakdown the obstructions on the h1-a8 diagonal.

19..., Nf6 19.Qb2 Kf7?!

A natural move getting out of the pin along the long diagonal. Potentially more effective approach is; 19..., dxc4 20 dxc4 e5 21 Rd1 Qe7; and Black is angling for trades taking the game towards an ending he may be able to hold. The text is just a little slow so White gets to add a tempo gained to the small advantage of the Bishop versus a Knight.

20.Rc1,..

White undertakes an operation to mass firepower on the c-file and prepares an advance of the Q-side pawns. The game is entering a phase where subtle differences will weigh heavy on the outcome.

20..., Re7 21.Rc2 Rd7 22.Rfc1 d4 23.c5 a6 24.a4 e5 25.b5 axb5 26.axb5 Nd5!?

Black must think the Knight for Bishop trade helps him. I am not so certain this is true. While the minor pieces are on the board the potential advance of the e-pawn has greater support. White will therefore have to take that into consideration in his machinations. With the minor pieces off, the battle scene shifts to the a and b-files where White can generate more activity. Black is also be burdened with a weak pawn at c6. Activity on an open file and a weak pawn to threaten may not seem to add up to any great advantage, but such things give White a solid initiative. One would need the stubborn defensive skills of a Grandmaster to be confident of holding that kind of position.

27.Ra1?!,..

Better first 27 Bxd5.

27..., Ra8?

Missing a chance to play 27..., Nc3; and from c3 the Knight supports the push .., e5-e4; with equality looming. White now takes off the Knight preventing such from happening. The White Rook and Queen are significantly more active than the Black counterparts. Black is not lost according to Rybka, but he must be very precise from here on.

28.Bxd5+ Rxd5 29.Rxa8 Qxa8 30.bxc6 bxc6 31.Qb6 Ke6 32.Rb2 h5

Black would like not to have to move his pieces That means pawns moves will have to be played and they will eventually run out. It is very likely better to play 32..., Rd7; leaving the pawn move until it is needed.

33.h4 Rd7 34.Qb3+ Kf6 35.Qc2 Rb7 36.Rb6 Qa1+?!

Black sees passive defense as unappealing and chooses to seek activity for his Queen planning to defend c6 with the Rook. More sturdy is 36..., Rc7 37 Qb3 Qe8. I can sympathize with Morse; who wants to give a strong FIDE master what appears to be a permanent initiative? The try 36..., Rxb6? Is utterly lost after 37 cxb6, when the passed b-pawn either goes through to Queen, or the White Queen finds a way into the rear of the Black position.

37.Kg2 Rc7 38.Qb3,..

The weak light squares combined with the weaknesses of the 7th and 8th ranks are now highlighted. Grant’s move demonstrates the Queen check on a1 was terribly wrong.

38..., Qa8

If 38..., Kg7; to relieve the pin on the c-pawn, 39 Qe6, begins to collect material.

39.Qd5?!,..

A pretty move, but 39 Rb8, leads to a quicker finish; Black likely has to play 39..., Qa7; and then 40 Qg8, and mate is very near. A sample line is; 40..., Qxc5? 41 Rf8+ Ke7 42 Re8+ and it’s mate in a few moves or ruinous material loss. The more stubborn 40..., Rg7; is met by 41 Rf8+ Rf7 42 Qh8+ Ke6 43 Re8+ Re7 44 Qg8+ Kf6 45 Rd8, threatening 46 Rd6+, winning. This line is particularly hard to calculate because the back-and-forth along the 8th rank makes it difficult to keep details clear in your mind’s eye. Also, it is possible Spraggett had worked out a win in this line and didn’t want to go back Keres-like, again and again, searching for improvements on the method of victory. As it turns out, the line chosen is far less clear than the line beginning 39 Rb8.

39..., Qc8 40.Qd6+ Kf7 41.Qxe5 Re7 42.Qxd4 Rxe2 43.Qd6?!,..

White would have retained his full advantage with 43 Qa4. The question that must have occupied Mr. Spraggett thoughts now; how to attack the c6-pawn? My first reaction during the game was the text move is natural, maybe the only way forward. Much later Rybka pointed out that 43 Qa4, coordinates the White heavy pieces better after 43..., Re6 44 Qb3 Kf6 45 Qb2+ Kf7 46 Rb8 Re2 47 Qb6, and ruinous material loss is at hand.

43..., Re6 44.Qf4 Qd7 45.Qh6 Qd5+ 46.Kh2 Qxc5

After having missed a couple of knockout blows, White finishes off the game with a flourish.

47.Qh7+ Kf6 48.Qh8+ Kf7 49.Rb7+ Re7 50.d4!,..

I wonder how long Spraggett had this neat resource in mind? It masks f2 and drives the Black Queen to win a tempo. The White Queen and Rook show remarkable agility rounding up the Black monarch now.

50..., Qd6 51.Rb8 Qc7 52.Rc8 Qd7 53.Rf8+ Ke6 54.Qe5# 1–0

There are several choices for Black on where to put his Queen on move 50. All lead to mates of one flavor or another. Have some fun and work them out.

This Thursday, at the Schenectady Chess Club there will another of the summer just-for-fun quick tourneys. This time it will be Game in 10. As always; no prizes, no entry fee, no ratings. Come on down to SCC to get ready for John Barnes’ Game in five much more formal events - he gives prizes. John plans a five minute tournament for August 18 at Schenectady with the usual starting time. John also has the SCC Annual five minute championship in early September on the schedule. This Thursday will be a warm-up for those more serious events.

More soon.

The Invitational Continued

The second round game between Peter Michelman and Grant Spraggett was an exciting affair, maybe the most dramatic of all the games in this tournament. Peter obtained an advantage in the kind of position GM Har-Zvi liked to describe as; “messy and both sides are losing“. Spraggett then just kept upping the ante by piling on more and more tension until Michelman slipped.

Michelman, Peter - Spraggett, Grant [A57]

Capital Dsitrict Invitational Albany, NY, 20.04.2002

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5 4.cxb5 a6

The Benko Gambit, one of my all time favorite openings. Black offers pawns for development and pressure on the Q-side. For the material given he usually obtains good development with both Rooks and the Bg7 pressing down on b2 and the surrounding squares, that is if the game continues in the usual way.

5.f3,..

Known but not usual when the Benko first caught on as a dynamic try for Black.

5..., e6!?

The alternative is 5..., axb5; and if 6 e4 Qa5+. Hans Berliner, the 5th Correspondence World Champion published some analysis of this variation in 1999. Berliner held 5..., e6; leads to a good game for White after; 6 e4 exd5 7 exd5 Qe7+?! 8 Kf2 c4 9 Nc3 axb5 10 d6! Qxd6 11 Qxd6 Bxd6 12 Nxb5 Bc5+ 13 Be3 Bxe3+ 14 Kxe3 0-0 15 Bxc4. Up to the 10th move for White, the variation was played at the top level in 1997. Berliner claims his 10 d6, is a significant improvement. Black has a better move on his 7th turn; 7..., Qc7; in place of 7..., Qe7+. Then play continues; 8 Nc3 Bd6 9 Qe2+ Be7 10 Kf2, and Black is close to equalizing in another messy position. I have a great deal of admiration for GM Berliner. Why he did not share what he may have found to deal with 7..., Qc7; I don’t know. It seems to me that the 5..., e6; line is playable for Black until someone comes up with an improvement for White after 7..., Qc7.

This analysis of the variation 5..., e6; was preliminary to an examination of the line beginning 5..., axb5. There Berliner offers these comments; “ If the aggressive 5..., e6; fails, as it apparently does, then Black has nothing better than 5..., axb5; 6 e4 Qa5+ Black dare not play 6..., b4; 6..., Ba6; or 6..., Qb6; as the reply 7 e5 is too strong.” He sees the line 7 Bd2 b4 8 Na3 d6 9 Nc4 Qd8; as very good for White. Berliner goes on to say; 10 a3, is the right move for White, and if 10..., e6; 11 Ne3, is correct for White. Berliner explains as follows; “It moves a well placed piece for a third time; however, in the process it makes the deployment of White’s kingside forces much easier. Also, the transgression is not so bad, as Black has moved his Queen twice and arrived back at its original square.” Berliner added; “The important point is that, if White can maintain the d5-pawn, he will have split the Black forces into two camps and will not be able to coordinate on anything offensive, while White can operate on both wings.”

Interestingly, there are a fair number of games in these lines in my databases, but relatively few between 2500+ players. In those games the most common move for Black in the 5..., e6; line is 6..., exd5. This leads to every bit as complicated positions as those Berliner cited and in the game under discussion. My conclusion is the move 3 f3, and 5..., e6; will give you tough, fighting game for both sides with positions difficult to evaluate and roaring tactics just to add spice to the problem. Spraggett takes the game down another path.

6.e4 c4 7.Nc3,..

Possible is 7 Bxc4, but one would have to be very confident about the theory of the position to agree to; 7..., Qc7 8 Bb3 axb5 9 Ne2 Bc5 10 Nbc3 Ba6; when White will have a hard time finding a safe haven for his King, especially against a solid FIDE master.

7..., Bc5

Mr. Spraggett hurries to occupy the diagonal g1-a7. Also possible is 7..., axb5; then 8 Be3 Qa5 9 a4 exd5 10 exd5 Bb4 11 Kf2, and here are examples of how that plays out at the hands of some GM’s:

Notkin is something of a specialist in the 5 f3 line. This time he makes a mistake in the middle game after coming out of the opening in good shape.

Notkin, Maksim (2515) - Nisipeanu, Liviu Dieter (2545) [A57]

Ciocaltea mem Bucharest (8), 1997

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5 4.cxb5 a6 5.f3 e6 6.e4 c4 7.Nc3 axb5 8.Be3 Bb4 9.Kf2 0–0 10.Nge2 d6 11.a3 Ba5 12.b4 cxb3 13.Qxb3 Na6 14.Rd1 Bb6 15.Nd4 e5 16.Nc2 Nc5 17.Qb2 Nh5 18.Bxb5 f5 19.exf5 Bxf5 20.Rhe1 Nf4 21.Kg1 Rf6 22.Bf1 Rh6 23.Nb4 Qg5 24.Nc6? [Better is: 24.g3 Ne4 25.Nxe4 Bxe3+ 26.Rxe3 Nh3+ 27.Bxh3 Qxe3+ 28.Qf2 Qxf2+ 29.Nxf2 Bxh3] 24...Na4 25.Qd2 Nxc3 26.Bxb6 Nxd1 27.Rxd1 Rxa3 28.Qb2 Ra8 29.g3 Nh3+ 30.Kh1 Kh8 31.Qe2 Ra3 32.Nd8 Qf6 33.Ne6 Bxe6 34.dxe6 Qxe6 35.Bc5 Ra2 36.Qb5 Rxh2+ 37.Kxh2 Nf2+ 38.Kg1 Nxd1 39.Bc4 Qc8 40.Bb6 Nc3 41.Qb4 d5 42.Ba6 Qb8 43.Bb7 Rf6 0–1

White castles long in this game, but with some timely trades he is able to diminish the Black forces enough that no devastating attack crashes through there.

Volkov, Sergey (2634) - Iljushin, Alexei (2543) [A57]

RUS-chT Sochi (9), 27.04.2005

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5 4.cxb5 a6 5.f3 e6 6.e4 c4 7.Bxc4 axb5 8.Bxb5 Bc5 9.Ne2 0–0 10.Nbc3 Qb6 11.Qb3 Na6 12.Bg5 Nc7 13.Bc4 Qa7 14.0–0–0 Ba6 15.Bxa6 Qxa6 16.Qc2 Rfb8 17.Rd2 Nfe8 18.Qd3 Qa7 19.Nd4 e5 20.Nb3 Rxb3 21.axb3 f6 22.Bh4 Nd6 23.Kd1 Qa1+ 24.Qb1 Ncb5 25.Ke2 Qa6 26.Qd3 Nd4+ 27.Kf1 Nxb3 28.Qxa6 Nxd2+ 29.Ke2 Rxa6 30.Kxd2 Nc4+ 31.Ke2 Nxb2 32.Rb1 Rb6 33.Nd1 Nxd1 34.Rxb6 Bxb6 35.Kxd1 h5 36.Ke2 Kf7 37.Kd3 Bg1 38.h3 Ke7 39.Kc4 g5 40.Be1 h4 41.Kb5 Be3 42.Bb4+ Ke8 43.Bd6 Bd2 44.Kb6 Bc3 45.Kc7 Ba5+ 46.Kc8 Bd8 47.Ba3 Bb6 [47...Be7 48.Bxe7 Kxe7 49.Kc7] 48.Bb4 Bd8 [48...Be3 49.Ba5 Bc5; 48...Bd4 49.Ba5] 49.Bd6 Bb6 50.Bc7 Bxc7 51.Kxc7 Ke7 52.Kc8 1–0

8.Bxc4 Qb6 9.Nge2 0–0?!

Very probably it is better to play 9..., axb5; before castling.

10.Qb3,..

Also strong is 10 Na4. Either way White has a healthy advantage according to Rybka.

10..., axb5 11.Qxb5 Qa7 12.Bg5 exd5 13.exd5 Na6?!

Better 13..., d6; or 13..., Ba6.

14.Bxf6 Rb8 15.Qa5 gxf6 16.0–0–0?,..

And in one fell swoop Mr. Michelman gives up just about all of his advantage. The correct move is 16 Nb5, then White can return the Exchange after; 16..., Rxb5 17 Qxb5 Nb4 18 a3 Nc2+ 19 Kd2 Nxa1 20 Rxa1 d6; and the passed a and b-pawns leave white with a solid edge. It can’t be said White has a won game in suggested variation. Black, however, faces a challenging task to demonstrate the Bishop pair is worth the investment of two pawns

16..., Bb6?

This looks good but isn’t. Better is 16..., Bb4. This is because 16..., Bb4; allows Black to rip open the defenses around the White King after 17 Qa4 Qd3+ 18 Rd2 Bxc3 19 bxc3 Nc5 20 Qa3 d6; and the White King is exposed to some very chilly winds. The text allows White to keep things closed up around his King.

17.Nb5 Be3+ 18.Kb1 Qc5 19.Qc3,..

Bill Townsend wrote: “During the game I wasn’t so hot on this move, but it seems to be the best.” I had the same feeling thinking 19 b3 was right. White is OK after 19 b3, but the text is stronger.

19..., Re8 20.Bd3?,..

White has made to most of his chances since the slip on move 16, and Black’s failure to find the right way to make progress has given White a significant plus. My guess is Peter hoped for a Queen trade on c3 with the pleasant prospect of torturing a master for some long time with his passed pawns. That was not to be. Mr. Townsend gave this move a double query in his notes and blamed it for the troubles coming. It is not even the next move that proves to be the final coffin nail however.

20..., Rxb5!? 21.Qxf6?!,..

If calmly 21 Bxb5 Qxb5 22 Ng3, threatening 23 Nh5, with the glimmerings of his own attack on the Black King, White retains some advantage. Now Black gets to carryout the classic Benko strategy; attack down the b-file. This attack is made more virulent by the presence of the White King right where the Black pieces are aiming. Now White has no choice but to try for the draw.

21..., Qb6 22.Qh4??

The final mistake throws away the draw to be had with 22 Bxh7+ Kxh7 23 Qxf7+ Kh6 24 Qxe8 Rxb2+ 25 Ka1 Rxe2 26 Qh8+; and the Black King will not be able to avoid the perpetual because when the King goes to f5 the immediate g2-g4+ closes out vital escape squares. Michelman may have shied away from this line because the alternative line 25..., Rxa2+ 26 Kxa2 Nb4+; had to be evaluated at the same time, and he was in some time trouble as usual. He also may have just missed Black’s move 23.

Rxb2+ 23.Ka1 Bh6

Masking h7 neatly and it is now clear White is lost.

24.Nd4 Bg7 25.Bxh7+ Kf8 26.Rd3 Ree2; 0–1

If 27 Nxe2 Rb1 double check and mate. White can only delay mate with silly sacrifices such as checking on d8 with his Queen. After almost Shakespearian “Alarums and Excursions”, the game is decided by typical a typical Benko attack down the b-file by Black.

The game was not very long. It had in a short span plenty of fireworks for the players and the spectators. Most unfortunate for Peter Michelman that he missed the chance for a spectacular upset. It is not so hard to find tactics with my trusty electronic companion Rybka to help out and with unlimited time to search. It is a much different and more difficult task to, unaided, find good moves in a game. In chess, at our less than exalted level, fortune follows the bold. Grant Spraggett was bold in his choice of opening and in the path he pursued in the game. For this he was rewarded with the win.

More soon.