ATTENTION CHESS FANS!

Over Labor Day weekend, the 133rd Annual New York State Chess Championship is happening at the Marriott Hotel on Wolf Rd in Albany. It is the premier chess event for New York State and the venue is top notch. And there will be chess materials for sale - books, DVDs, sets, clocks, and all sorts of other goodies.

Visitors are quite welcome - come check it out! Or come play! There are different schedules - 4 day, 3 day or 2 day options. Go to http://www.chesstour.com/ for all the information and to register if you like.

There will be games with start times of Friday 9/2 at 7pm, and on Sat 9/3 at 11am and 6pm. The most activity will be all day Sunday and Monday all all schedules come together. Enjoy!

Looking Back on CDCL Play

Last season’s Capital District Chess League competition had eight teams. With four boards making up each team and substitutions probably upwards of forty-five people took part. The first board players always get the bulk of the coverage it seems. Today we will take a look at a lower board game that was crucial to the outcome of the match between the Uncle Sam Chess Club of Troy and the Schenectady A team. The “Phils“, Ferguson and Thomas of Uncle Sam managed draws with Philip Sells and John Barnes, and Sylvester Canty of Troy defeated the rising scholastic player Dilip Aaron from the Schenectady team. To rescue a result Bill Townsend had to win his game from Elihue Hill. Both of these guys qualify as veterans, both have risen to Expert ratings in past years, and both have not played as often as they did in their salad days. Nevertheless, they still can make a fight when the opportunity presents itself.

Hill, Elihue - Townsend, William [A45]

CDCL Match Uncle Sam v Schenectady A, Troy, NY , 03.2011

1.d4 c5 2.c3 Nf6 3.e3 e6 4.Bd3,..

Rybka calls this the Trompowsky Attack, A45. I am not that familiar with the nomenclature of the off-beat lines to argue the point.

4..., b6 5.f4 Ba6 6.Bxa6 Nxa6 7.Qe2 Qc8 8.Nf3 Be7 9.Nbd2 0–0

Now the game seems to be some kind of Bird’s Opening. Black has equalized so it can’t be said White’s opening scheme was particularly successful.

10.Ne5?!,..

Straightaway castling is better. The text gives Black a chance to obtain an advantage.

10..., d6 11.Ng4?!,..

Better 11 Nd3, leading to a more rational layout of the White forces. Mr. Hill may have been motivated by a wish to make things as difficult as possible for his opponent in hopes of causing a mistake.

11..., Nc7!?

Too cautious. With 11..., Nxg4; and 12..., Qc6; retraining the e3-e4 push Black could have increased his edge.

12.Nxf6+ Bxf6 13.Ne4?,..

Ignoring the principle of development before maneuvering is incorrect. Better 13 0-0 d5 14 b3, keeping any disadvantage to a minimum.

13..., Be7 14.0–0 Nd5!?

The move 14..., f5; strongly suggests itself. I am not certain it is better than the text regardless of Rybka’s recommendation. The computer lines is; 14..., f5 15 Ng5 Bxg5 16 fxg5 e5; keeping a solid edge for Black. In a serious game, the Black dark squared Bishop looks to have some potential. Giving it up for the Ng5, even though some damage is done to the White pawn formation, takes careful consideration.

15.a3..,

By playing 15 c4, White could have tried to equalized after 15... Nf6 16 Nxf6 Bxf6, but 17 Rd1 d5; leaves Black with his advantage.

15..., Nf6 16.Ng3?!,..

White has consistently avoided simplification. He wants this Knight at hand to work with his Queen in making an attack on the Black King I guess. The logic of the position tells us such an attack is most unlikely to work, Black has too many defensive resources available. Best here is 16 Nxf6+, and aiming for equality.

16..., Qc7 17.Bd2 e5?!

Now Black is bitten by the bug of aggression in his turn. With the natural sequence 17..., d5; 18 Rac1 Qb7 19 c4 cxd4 20 exd4 dxc4; Black hangs on to his slight advantage even against 21 f5. To which Black answers coolly with 21..., Qd7; and then 22 fxe6 fxe6 23 Qxc4 Rac8. The advantage is not close to a winning one, but it is persistent. The game move could have allowed White to justify his maneuvering idea with the Knight after; 18 fxe5 dxe5 19 Nf5! Rae8 20 Qf3, and although there is no violent attack going to burst through on the Black King, the threat of such limits the choices for Black permitting White claim full equality and maybe a bit more.

18.fxe5 dxe5 19.dxe5? Qxe5

The upshot is Black has hung on to the edge which consists mostly of a sounder pawn formation.

20.e4 Qe6

Leaving before being pushed by 21 Rf5, or 21 Bf4. It is not clear that moving the Queen before she is attacked is entirely right. A case can be made for 20..., Rfe8; as a better use of this tempo.

21.Rae1 Rad8 22.Bf4?,..

This move is not tactically flawed, it is wrong on positional grounds. White has wanted to carry out an attack by pieces on the Black King for a long time. At least that is what his moves have indicated. Now when he has done much to achieve that end, his attention swings to other targets. The natural continuation is; 22 Nf5, then if 22..., Nd7 23 e5 Rfe8 24 Qf2, and if 24..., Nxe5 fearlessly 25 Nxg7 Kxg7 26 Qg3+ Qg6 27 Qxe5+ Bf6 28 Qxe8, Rxe8 29 Rxe8, and the two Rooks are as good as the Black Queen. Using the principle that two pieces are often more dangerous than is one piece, if the two pieces are coordinated, we can say that White has the better chances by playing as suggested.

22.., Nd7

Possibly better is 22..., g6; denying f5 to the White pieces.

23.Nf5 Ne5 24.Rd1 Rfe8 25.h3?..,

I don’t get this move at all. Capturing on e7, or on e5 are the principled tries. White apparently did not care for any endgame positions with his weak e-pawn on the board. The text seems to be a “pass” in hopes that something will develop. Such moves all too often make things worse.

25..., Bf8 26.Ne3 Ng6 27.Bc7 Rxd1 28.Nxd1 Qxe4 29.Qxe4 Rxe4

The weak e-pawn is gone leaving Black with all the winning chances. His Rook is far more active than its counterpart and the Bd7 is not entirely safe.

30.Nf2 Re2 31.b3 Re3 32.Nd1 Rd3 33.Re1 Bd6?

Much better is the logical 33..., f6; making a “luft” for his King and opening a path for the monarch to contribute to the game. Also useful is 33..., c4; weakening the White Q-side pawns, or 33..., b5; with the same intention. And finally, 33..., Rd2; putting the Rook on the natural square is sensible. All the alternative keep the winning edge. The text does not do so.

34.Re8+?!,..

Missing the opportunity. With 34 Nf2 Rd5 35 Re8+ Bf8 36 Ra8, White would have generated quite a lot of counter-play, maybe even enough to hold the game. The rush to check on e8 is understandable but wrong.

34..., Bf8 35.Rd8?,..

Compounding the error. White has nothing better than 35 Re1, when Black still has the options outlined above. The text leads to a bad position.

35..., Rxd8 36.Bxd8 Bd6

Setting up a nasty threat to the survival of the Bd8.

37.Kf2?,..

White misses it. He had to play 36 Bg5, then 36..., f6 37 Be3 Kf7; and Black is near winning but there are many moves to play. Now a piece is lost.

37..., f6 38.Ne3 Kf7

It is now clear to both players the Bd8 is doomed. Perhaps Mr. Hill thought going into this position he had something tricky with 39 Nf5. That turns out not to be the case. The one possibility of obtaining some compensation is 39 Nc4, planning to obtain two extra pawns on the distant Q-side for the piece by capturing on b6. Play could go; 39 Nc4 Bb8 40 Nxb6 axb6 41 Bxb6 Ne5 42 Ke3 (to avoid the fork at d3 if the Bishop captures at c5) 42..., Nd7. Black has a some technical problems to solve, but he should be able to keep the White Q-side pawns from becoming dangerous without too much difficulty and eventually will win.

39.Nf5 Be5

The threat to the pawn on c3 puts paid to all White’s hopes.

40.c4 Ke8 41.Bxb6 axb6 42.Nxg7+,..

White has his two pawns for the piece this way, but they are on opposite sides of the board and not passed. The technical problems are not great and the extra piece can easily deal with the pawns.

42..., Kf7 43.Nf5 Nf4 44.Kf3 Nd3 45.Ke4 Nf4 46.Ne3 Ke6 47.Kf3 f5 0–1

The game score after this move is unclear. The game went on to move 55 when Hill’s clock fell. The win leveled the match at 2 -2. The drawn result was an excellent accomplishment for the Uncle Sam team considering the rating difference between the teams. Holding the draw was not as terrible as a defeat would have been for the Schenectady team. Had they lost, it is possible they would not have come back to win the title this year.

More soon.

Some Upcoming Events

In response to some discussions at the Albany Club last night I am setting out some information on the early activities of the upcoming chess season.

The following chess events are scheduled:

29 August - Chess in the City special blitz event will be held under the marquee at Proctors in downtown Schenectady. It is a five round Swiss System event, game in five minutes. Entry is free. Many prizes offered. Registration begins at 11:00am. Play begins soon after. This is a fun event and I have had a great time every time I have played in it.

Of course the NYS Championship comes 2 - 5 September at the Albany Marriott, 189 Wolf Road. Registration begins 6:30pm on 2 Sept. for the early rounds. Details in Chess Life.

15 September - The Schenectady Chess Club Blitz Championship played at the club's rooms at the Niskayuna Rec Center, 2682 Aqueduct Road. It will be a multiple player round robin, gamer in five minutes event. The entry fee is five dollars with all fees being returned as prizes. Registration starts at 7:30pm. Play begins at 8:00pm.

The League MVP

Last Wednesday I had the honor of presenting to Dean Howard of the Albany Area chess Club the Most Valuable Player trophy for this year’s Capital District Chess League competition. I did this pleasurable task representing Bill Townsend and the CDCL to aid the League in getting all the awards delivered in a timely manner. The trophy goes to the player who scores the highest number of points on the highest average board in League play. Dean won scoring 6 - 1 playing board 1 for the AACC A Team in all matches. As it happened, Mr. Howard was assured of the MVP award before the final match was played and even a loss in that game could not effect the outcome.

An important step in his march to the trophy was this win from Jonathan Feinberg of the Saratoga A Team. Coming out of the opening White was ahead in development. Dean, with the Black pieces, found a way to overcome this deficit and reached a near equal position as the opening phase ended. The initial middle game maneuvering gave Black a slight edge. An ill-advised pawn hunt by White resulted in Black owning a passed pawn. Howard exploited that to win a pawn and the game.

Feinberg, Jonathan - Howard, Dean [A13]

CDCL Match Saratoga A v Albany A, Saratoga Springs, NY, 06.05.2011

Board 1

1.c4 e6 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2 c6 5.0–0 Nbd7 6.b3 Bd6 7.Ba3,..

This is not totally unknown to theory. For example here is a game from the 1950’s:

Szily, Jozsef - Kapu, Jeno [A13]

HUN-ch 07th Budapest, 1951

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 d5 3.Bg2 c6 4.c4 e6 5.0–0 Nbd7 6.b3 Bd6 7.Ba3 Qe7 8.Qc1 0–0 9.Bxd6 Qxd6 10.Qa3 Qxa3 11.Nxa3 b6 12.Rfc1 Bb7 13.cxd5 exd5 14.Nd4 Rfe8 15.Kf1 Rac8 16.Nf5 Re6 17.Rc2 Nb8 18.Rac1 Rd8 19.b4 g6 20.Nd4 Re7 21.d3 Ng4 22.h3 Nh6 23.Nb1 f5 24.Nd2 Nf7 25.N2b3 Rde8 26.a3 Kg7 27.Nd2 Nd8 28.N2f3 Nd7 29.Rb2 Rf8 30.Kg1 f4 31.g4 Ne5 32.Nxe5 Rxe5 33.Bf3 Kf7 34.a4 Ke7 35.a5 b5 36.a6 Ba8 37.Rbc2 Kd6 38.h4 h6 39.Kg2 h5 40.g5 Re7 41.Rc5 Ne6 42.Nxc6 Nxc5 43.Nxe7 Nb3 44.Nxg6 Nxc1 45.Nxf8 Na2 46.g6 Ke7 47.Nd7 Nxb4 48.Bxh5 d4+ 49.Bf3 Bxf3+ 50.Kxf3 Nxa6 51.h5 b4 52.g7 Kf7 53.h6 b3 54.Nf6 1–0

7...,Bxa3 8.Nxa3 0–0 9.d4 Qe7 10.Qc1,..

The path taken by White, keeping the Queens on the board, does not seem to be any more promising than Szily’s choice of heading for an endgame right out of the opening.

10..., e5

Black could have just as well played 10..., b6; taking the game into positions similar to those of the Tartakower variations that have been favored by Dean. He has had success with that kind of play this year. Maybe he just wanted something a little different here, and maybe he was concerned that Mr. Feinberg had prepared for the Tartakower type positions.

11.cxd5 Nxd5

Black could here try 11..., e4; leading to complications that are not unfavorable, but it is an important match versus a strong opponent, and Dean aims to keep things under control.

12.Nc4 exd4 13.Nxd4 N7f6 14.Qb2 Bd7

Both sides have proceeded carefully. White has some advantage. It lies primarily in that this Bishop really has no decent square from which to operate while its White counterpart is effectively posted.

15.Rae1!?,..

In chess we are very often “waiting or breaking”. That is waiting to get everything in order before making a game changing move, or breaking the pattern of maneuvering with a threat. Many times the breaking move is a pawn push in or around the center. Here it maybe time for 15 e4!?, dislodging the Nd5 and taking more control in the center. If 15 e4 Nxe4?! 16 Rfe1, favors White because it will be hard for Black to get away without a loss of material. But if, 15 e4 Nb6 16 e5 Nd5 17 Rac1 c5 18 Ne2 Bc6 19 Na5 Rae8 20 Nxc6 bxc6 21 Rfe1 Qxe5; White has some advantage in theory while Black has chances for counter-play. After the game move, Black breaks first.

15..., b5 16.Nd2 Rac8 17.a3 c5 18.e4 Nb6 19.Ne2 Bc6!?

It is possible that 19..., c4; is better.

20.Nc3 c4 21.bxc4 Nxc4 22.Nxc4 bxc4 23.Qb4?!,..

White is not entirely pleased with how things have gone. His Rook at f1 is not participating right now, and shifting his Rooks over to open files will take time. The Black Rooks are not particularly well placed, but it will take less time to improve their positions than their White counterparts. So the question arises, why take off on a pawn hunt that allows his opponent to make both Rooks active? It could be Mr. Feinberg believed Mr. Howard would agree to the removal of the Queens, and if not, the resulting activity of the White Queen might gain enough time to activate the White Rooks. A judgment call that turns out to be incorrect.

23..., Qe6 24.Qa5?!,..

Somewhat better is 24 Rd1. White hunts pawns and Black activates his Rooks

24..., Rfd8 25.Qxa7 Ra8 26.Qc5 Nd7 27.Qg5 f6 28.Qh5?,..

With 28 Qe3, White keeps his cause alive. The complicated play going; 28 Qe3 Rxa3 29 Qd4 Raa8 30 Nd5 Ne5 31 f4 Nd3 32 Ra1 Rac8; when 33 Qxc4 loses to 33..., Bxd5 34 exd5 Qe6+; or 34 Qxd3 Bc4; winning. It is much easier to measure this stuff in the quiet of my study with a computer cranking out variations than to do so over the board

28..., Rxa3 29.Nd5,..

Losing patience. More stubborn is 29 Rc1. In the long run, however, the passed pawn is too far along to be successfully stopped.

29...,Ne5 30.f4 Nd3 31.Bh3?,..

Weakening e4 and d5. This may be a sign of discouragement overtaking Mr. Feinberg, or time pressure perhaps.

31..., Qf7 32.Qxf7+ Kxf7 33.Rd1 Bxd5 34.exd5 Rxd5 35.Bg2 Rd4 36.Rb1,..

Trading off a pair of Rooks with 36 Ra1, does not offer much stiffer resistance after 36..., Rxa1 37 Rxa1 c3 38 Ra7+ Ke6 39 Rc7 Nc1; with the fork at e2 indirectly protecting the pawn.

36..., Ra2 37.Rfd1 c3 38.Ra1 Rxa1 39.Rxa1 c2 0–1

A nice win over the long time Expert Feinberg, and a worthy contributor to Dean Howard’s Most Valuable Player title.

Next Monday is the annual speed chess tourney at Proctors in Schenectady. Details and times can be found in Bill Townsend’s Gazette column on Sunday. I plan to be there. If we are lucky perhaps Deepak Aaron, just returned from his participation in the 50th World Junior Championship event will be there also. I hope so.

More soon.

Five Minute Chess at Schenectady

Thursday last the Game in Five Minute Warm-up tourney took place at the Schenectady Chess Club. John Barnes directed. The turn out was a bit thin, six players, including Barnes took part. The upside of having few entrants was the event could be run as a double round-robin so quite a lot of chess was played.

The results were:

1st Place - Jon Leisner 9 - 1. He defeated all of his opponents 2 - 0 except Little who broke even 1 - 1.

2d and 3d Place (tie) - Tim Wright and Bill Little 6 ½ - 3 ½. Wright defeated Chu and Laccetti 2 - 0, and Little 1 ½ - ½, broke even with Barnes 1 - 1 and lost to Leisner 0 - 2. Little defeated Chu and Laccetti 2 - 0, was equal with Barnes and Leisner 1 - 1 and lost to Wright ½ - 1 ½.

4th Place - John Barnes 6 - 4. He won from Chu and Laccetti 2 - 0, drew with Little and Wright 1 - 1 and lost to Leisner 0 - 2.

5th Place - Richard Chu 2 - 8. His win was from Laccetti 2 - 0

6th Place - Mike Laccetti 0 - 10. Mr. Laccetti had the toughest assignment by far. He was heavily out rated in every match up but made a fight of it in all his games.

In sum; an excellent result for Jon Leisner besting the field by 2 ½ points, and not so promising results for Wright, Barnes and Little not being able to stay close.

The small number of players who showed up was a bit of a surprise. I expected more. Still it is the tail-end of summer and nice weather does tempt one away from the chessboard. Mr. Barnes has plans for the annual Schenectady Chess Club Five Minute Championship for September. It is hoped for a much better turn out then. Also in the works is the annual “Big” match between Albany and Schenectady. This is the event where both clubs round up as many players as they can for the match. In past years we have had more than twenty a side. The last few years the sides have been smaller with a dozen or so players per side.

More soon.

Wrapping Up the 50th World Junior Championship

So much for prognostication, Dariusz Swiercz, the Polish GM, nosed out GM Robert Hovhannisyan of Armenia on tie-breaks after winning his game against FM Vladislav Kovalev. Swiercz finishes first, Hovhannisyan second, both with 10 ½ points and the Indian IM Sahaj Grover third with 9 ½ points. GM Ray Robson won his last round game against IM Kacper Piorun of Poland. This result had him finish in a bunch with GM Salgado, GM Durabeyli GM Sethuraman and IM Goganov all at 9 points. Robson was placed fourth on tie-breaks. That is slightly better than his rating predicted at the beginning but not all he wanted I am sure.

Here is the game that did it for Swiercz. There can be no question about determination for these guys, 90+ moves in the last round! The patient, solid and technically accurate work the young Polish GM put in belies the notion that all youngsters live only for tactics and attack.

Kovalev made an ill-considered pawn offer on move 16. Swiercz took what was given and made his opponent suffer long for the gift. He then demonstrated with moves 33 to 38 how to use a passed pawn to bring about simplification. The final phase, a Queen and minor piece ending was full of opportunities to make a hasty mistake. Swiercz avoided all the pitfalls and ground down Kovalev’s stubborn defense. A worthy game by which to take the title.

Swiercz, Dariusz (2553) - Kovalev, Vladislav (2439) [C88]

50th World Junior Ch Chennai, India, 15.08.2011

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 Be7 6.d3 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.a4 Bb7 9.Re1 0–0 10.Nbd2 Na5 11.Ba2 c5 12.Nf1 Re8 13.Ne3 h6 14.Bd2 Nc6 15.h3 Bf8 16.Nh2 Bc8 17.axb5 Nd4 18.bxa6 Rxa6 19.Nhg4 Nxg4 20.hxg4 Qb6 21.Bc4 Rxa1 22.Qxa1 Be6 23.Bc3 Be7 24.Qa4 Rb8 25.Qa2 Kh8 26.Bxe6 fxe6 27.Nc4 Qb7 28.b3 Ra8 29.Qb1 Qc7 30.Qd1 Ra2 31.Bxd4 cxd4 32.Qb1 Ra8 [32...Ra7] 33.b4 Bf6 34.b5 d5 35.b6 Qb8 36.exd5 exd5 37.b7 Ra7 38.Nd6 Be7 39.Nf7+ Kh7 40.Nxe5 Rxb7 41.Qd1 Bf6 42.Qf3 Re7 43.Qf5+ Kg8 44.Nf3 Rxe1+ 45.Nxe1 Qb7 46.g3 Kh8 47.Kg2 Qc6 48.Qh5 Kh7 49.Qf5+ Kh8 50.Qf3 Qe6 51.Kf1 Qc6 52.Qe2 Qb7 53.Nf3 Qc8 54.Ng1 g5 55.Kg2 Kg7 56.Qd1 Qd7 57.Qb1 Kg6 58.Qb3 Qc6 59.Nf3 Kg7 60.Qa2 Kg6 61.Kg1 Qe6 62.Qa8 Kg7 63.Kg2 Qd7 64.Qa5 Qxg4 65.Qxd5 h5 66.Qb7+ Kg6 67.Qe4+ Qf5 68.Nd2 g4 69.Nc4 Bg7 70.Nd6 Qxe4+ 71.dxe4 Bf8 72.Nc4 Kg5 73.Ne5 Bg7 74.Nd3 Bh8 75.Kf1 h4 76.gxh4+ Kxh4 77.Kg2 Kg5 78.Kg3 Bg7 79.f4+ gxf3 80.Kxf3 Bh8 81.Ke2 Kf6 82.Nb4 Ke6 83.Kd3 Kd6 84.Na2 Bg7 85.Nc1 Bh6 86.Nb3 Bf4 87.Nxd4 Bh2 88.Nf3 Bg3 89.Kc4 Bf2 90.e5+ Ke6 91.Kd3 Ba7 92.Ke4 1–0

Deepak played to a draw with Manigandan of India Monday. It was not a pro forma last-round-let’s-make-a-few-moves-and-go-home affair. They kept at it for nearly sixty moves.

Aaron, Deepak (2288) - Manigandan, SS (2109) [C15]

50th World Junior Ch Chennai, India, 15.08.2011

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Nge2,..

A favorite of Matt Katrine’s when he wanted to test a lower rated player’s understanding.

4..., dxe4 5.a3 Be7

Also possible is 5..., Bxc3+ 6 Nxc3 Nc6; then 7 d5, 7 Be3, and even 7 Bf4, are worth trying.

6.Nxe4 Nf6

The position now is very like a Rubinstein Variation but where White has developed a Knight to e2 rather than f3. According to GM Neil MacDonald and FM Andrew Harley this leaves White’s pieces tangled up and with little control of e5. For that temporary inconvenience he can bolster the Ne4 with either N2c3 or N2g3. The move played by Black gives White a bit more freedom of choice than necessary. Perhaps 6..., Nc6; should be considered. The text is however the most common choice by the Grandmasters.

7.Qd3 b6 8.Bf4,..

White wants to make things complicated as is his habit and is not rushing to straighten out the coordination of his pieces just yet.

8..., Bb7 9.f3 Ba6?!

And he is rewarded for the effort. Many other moves are available; 8..., 0-0; 8..., Nd5; and 8..., Nc6; all are reasonable. Why move a developed piece a second time?

10.Nxf6+ Bxf6 11.Qe4 c6 12.Bxb8 Rxb8 13.Qxc6+ Kf8 14.0–0–0 Bb7 15.Qa4 a6

So we see the idea behind the second move of the Bishop; a tempo or two used and a pawn given in return for which Black has an open c-file and the chance to make the White Queen, and eventually the King uncomfortable. That is probably not enough compensation.

16.Nc3,..

A thought should be given 16 Qb4+, bringing the Queen back towards home. Deepak is fearless of complications. Here he chooses to play in the front of his King’s home opening lines he believes he can cover one way or another.

16..., b5 17.Qb3 Qc7 18.a4?!,..

Safer is 18 Kb1. Mr. Aaron enjoys dragging his opponent into difficult positions, it his style. He is not afraid to take the game into situations requiring calculation. Such an approach works often in his favor.

18..., bxa4 19.Qxa4 Qb6 20.b3 Rd8 21.Na2?,..

Black is set to recover the invested pawn. On balance the awkward situation of the Black King and Rook at h8 is offset by the loosened fortress around the White King. Better 21 Bc4, then 21..., Rxd4 22 Rxd4 Bxd4 23 Ne4, leaves White with his pieces more coordinated than in the game.

21..., Rxd4 22.Bc4 g6

An improvement would be 22..., a5; keeping the Knight on the sideline for awhile. After the text White has a slightly inferior game; Bishop and Knight versus two Bishops, but the development problems for both sides are cleared up in the simplification coming.

23.Qb4+ Qxb4 24.Nxb4 a5 25.Rxd4 Bxd4 26.Nd3 Ke7 27.Kd2 Ra8 28.c3 Bb6 29.Ra1 Kd6 30.Nb2 Bc6 31.Bd3 Bc7 32.Be4 Bxe4 33.fxe4 Kc6 34.h3 Kb5 35.Kc2 Rd8 36.Rd1 Rxd1 37.Kxd1 Bg3

My guess both players concluded over the last several moves that keeping a draw in hand was necessary. There just does not seem to be enough in the position for either side to try for a win. The last phase of the game is a series of small operations by both sides testing the opponent’s alertness.

38.Kc2 Kc5 39.Kd3 Bf4 40.Nc4 Bc7 41.Nd2 Bf4 42.Nf3 h6 43.Nd4 Bh2 44.Nc2 Be5 45.Ne3 Bf4 46.Nc4 Bc7 47.Nb2 Be5 48.Kc2 Bf6 49.Nd3+ Kd6 50.b4,..

White makes an outside passed pawn. It is his only chance to advance his cause.

50..., axb4 51 cxb4 Kc6

Black moves immediately to hold back the “passer”.

52.Kb3 Kb5 53.Nf2 Be7

Black signals he is ready to end hostilities and White agrees.

54.Ng4 f5 55.Nxh6 Bxb4 56.Nf7 fxe4 57.Ng5 Bd2

If 57..., e3 58 Nxe6 e2? 59 Nd4+, leaves White with an advantage. Peace is now concluded.

58.Nxe4 Be1 ½–½

Deepak gained experience in this tournament even if he did not advance his rating. His final score, 6/13, was maybe less than he expected and he did not get to face very many titled players. Nevertheless, playing against his international contemporaries is an invaluable chance to measure his skill. If Mr. Aaron continues pursue his chess career, such experiences are necessary to advancing those skills.

I hope somewhere along the line to get Deepak to publish something about this tournament, maybe lessons learned. After looking closely at his play, albeit superficially in a hurry to get something online in a timely manner, hearing his insights about any of the games would be interesting and educational.

More soon.

The Penultimate Round at Chennai

GM Hovhannisyan got to 10 points with a win from GM Robson of the US. It was a battle from early on with Robson sacrificing the Exchange on move 17. Hovhannisyan returned the material soon enough taking the game into a Rook and Bishops ending where his scattered pawns look a bit suspicious. The Armenian GM saw the possibilities in his passed, isolated and doubled c-pawns turning them into to an effective counter-balance to Robson’s slightly slower connected passers on the K-side. Accurate play by Hovhannisyan forced Robson’s resignation on move 46. GM Hovhannisyan is favored to take first place with just one round to go and a lead over Polish GM Swiercz at 9 ½ points. There are four players tied for third with 8 ½ points.
Hovhannisyan, Robert (2556) - Robson, Ray (2560) [B66]
50th World Junior Ch Chennai, India, 14.08.2011
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Bg5 e6 7.Qd2 a6 8.0–0–0 h6 9.Nxc6 bxc6 10.Bf4 d5 11.Qe3 Bb4 12.a3 Ba5 13.exd5 cxd5 14.Be2 0–0 15.g4 Bb7 16.Rhg1 Rc8 17.g5 Rxc3 18.bxc3 Ne4 19.Qxe4 dxe4 20.Rxd8 Rxd8 21.gxh6 g6 22.c4 Bb6 23.Be3 Bxe3+ 24.fxe3 Kh7 25.Rd1 Rxd1+ 26.Kxd1 Kxh6 27.h4 f5 28.c5 e5 29.Bc4 Kh5 30.Be6 Bc6 31.c4 Kxh4 32.Bd5 Ba4+ 33.Ke2 Kg3 34.c6 g5 35.c7 Bd7 36.Bb7 f4 37.c8Q Bxc8 38.Bxc8 Kg2 39.c5 f3+ 40.Kd2 f2 41.Bxa6 g4 42.c6 g3 43.c7 Kh2 44.c8Q g2 45.Qh8+ Kg1 46.Qh3 1–0
GM Ray Robson plays Black against IM Piorun of Poland tomorrow. They both are in a mob of players at 8 points. Even a win will probably not push Robson high enough to garner one of the top three medals, but there is some small chance if all goes just so he could tie for third.
Deepak Aaron won a second game in row today. This score sets the stage for reaching a pretty good 50% result for what may be the toughest junior event Deepak has participated in so far in his career. Of course a great deal depends on tomorrow’s outcome.
There is a moment in the game when the play becomes irrational. I don’t know if there was some error in recording the moves or oversights by the players. It occurred at about the mid-point of the game making hard to believe it was caused by time trouble, but that is possible.
Aaron, Deepak (2288) - Karma, Pandya (2136) [C11]
50th World Junior Ch Chennai, India, 14.08.2011
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Be3 a6
The French Defense, Classical Variation often continues 7..., Qb6. The text is aimed at discouraging White from castling on the Q-side by using the Q-side pawns to make that uncomfortable.
8.Qd2 cxd4 9.Nxd4 Bc5 10.0–0–0 0–0 11.h4 Nxd4 12.Bxd4 b5 13.Rh3 Qc7
Everything up to here is well known theory. Three alternatives have been tried by Black; 13..., b4; in pursuit of the idea mentioned earlier - using the Q-side pawns to discomfort the White King - 13..., Bb7; developing pieces before deciding about how to proceed and 13..., Qb6; preparing exchanges at d4 before attacking the White center with .., f7-f6. The text seems to have some ideas behind it for action down the c-file.
14.Rg3!?,..
Deepak is already plotting to create complications. More common, but not better is; 14 Qe3 b4 15 Na4 Bxd4 16 Qxd4 a5 17 h5 h6; and I like Black’s position. No claim can be made that it is winning, or nearly so, but it looks easier to play than is White’s game. Probably better is 14 h5.
14..., b4 15.Nxd5?!,..
Very creative and the point of the Rook move. Black handles the flurry of tactics well. Sounder is 15 Na4, but I refer you back to the previous note. Our young man does not care to be on the defensive, and so he opts for mixing things up.
15..., exd5 16.e6 Bxd4 17.Qxd4 Nf6 18.Qxf6 fxe6 19.Qe5 Qxe5 20.fxe5 Rf4 21.h5 a5!?
Slow. There is no immediate threat to the b-pawn and no reason to defend it. Black still has an advantage but not much of one.
22.h6,..
Creating a potential weakness on h7 that plays an important part in the ending.
23..., g6 23.Rf3 Rxf3 24.gxf3 Kf7 25.Rd4 Bd7 26.Rf4+ Ke7 27.Kd2 Rb8 28.c3 bxc3+ 29.Kxc3 Rb5??
Based on move count it seems unlikely time trouble is present, but it is possible this is so. No time to think is the only justification for such a move, or a massive sudden failure of chess sense.
30.Kd2?,..
Mutual time trouble? There is no good reason I can find not to take the Rook. After doing so White will have no problem getting his King in among the Black pawns via d4 and c5 as well as creating an outside “passer” on the Q-side. That is more than enough to win the game.
30..., Rc5?
And why not 30..., Rxb2+? With time trouble unlikely, the suspicion is there has been some error in entering the moves. I have not the skill that Bill Townsend has mastered over his years of deciphering score sheets to find the other moves that might bring the game to this position. After the interlude of strangeness, the game returns to logical and level play.
31.Rd4 Rc8 32.Bd3 Rf8 33.Ke3 Re8 34.Kd2 Rf8 35.f4 Rg8 36.b4 axb4 37.Rxb4 g5?
The final mistake. Black had defended well up to here. He has however been worrying about the White Bishop capturing on g6 at any point when his Rook is otherwise occupied. Unfortunately, trying to fix that worry causes far greater problems. Black can still hold with 37..., Ra8 38 a4 Kd8 (Of course not 38..., Rxa4? 39 Rxa4 Bxa4 40 Bxg6, winning. Or, 38..., Bxa5 39 Rb7+ Bd7 40 Bb5 Rd8 41 Ke3 Ke8 42 Kd4 Bxb5 43 Rxh7, also wins.) 39 Bb5 Bxb5 40 Rxb5 Kc7 41 a5 Ra6. Black seems to have just enough counter-play to get the draw.
38.Bxh7 Rh8 39.fxg5!,..
Either Black did not see this move, or he undervalued it. White is now winning.
39..., Rxh7 40.Rb7,..
White treats us to a fine illustration of the power of the pin and skewer.
40..., Kd8 41.a4 Rh8 42.a5 Kc8 43.a6 Rh7 44.Rxd7,..
Cashing in and changing the theme to the strength of two connected passed pawns on the 6th rank.
44..., Kxd7 45.a7 Rh8 46.g6 Rxh6 47.g7 1–0
The last round is tomorrow. Mr. Aaron began the event ranked just about the middle of the field. He is now ranked 85th after 12 rounds of play. A win tomorrow can well leave him near his placing at the beginning of play. That would be not a bad result after gaining much experience on the international stage. Deepak’s opponent then is Manigandan, S, 2109, another strong under 16 player from India. Manigandan is ranked 21st in the country and stands just ahead of Deepak after the 12th round. Should be one more interesting battle.
More soon.