A New and Dangerous Opponent for Local Players and a Summary Update of NYS Quick and Action Events

For the last few years Karl Heck has staged the NYS Action and Quick tournament in Latham, NY in November. I can’t say the turnouts have been record setting. This year’s edition had only eight contestants in the Open section, but some interesting and tough chess was played. Patrick Chi, a Schenectady Club member had a very good result. He tied for first with another scholastic star, Deepak Aaron also of Schenectady. Neither went undefeated. Chi defeated Deepak and lost to Lenny Chipkin, an Expert from Long Island. Both Chi and Aaron defeated Gordon Magat of the Saratoga Club who only recently slipped below the Expert rating he held for some time.

This result certainly sets Patrick out a new dangerous opponent for aspiring local Experts to treat carefully in future events. Here is his game with Gordon Magat.

NYS Action
Game in 25
Latham, NY
Date: 11-13-2009
White: Magat, G
Black: Chi, P
　
1. c4 c6
2. Nf3 d5
3. b3 Nf6
4. Bb2 Bf5
Tisdal, Ftacnik, Seirawan and Matulovic are some GM’s that have play so with the Black pieces.

5. g3 e6
6. Bg2 Nbd7
7. O-O Bd6
8. d3 O-O
Tal as Black, lost (!) this position to the Bulgarian IM Toshkov in Yumala in 1987! While not exactly main lines, these guys are somewhere in theory so far.

9. Nh4?! ….
The natural 9 Nc3, is the logical continuation here. White used quite a bit of his allotted 25 minutes to get here. Gordon probably used the time to work out the coming aggression towards the Black King. The way the game goes he came to regret using the time to create the attack. The lack of development of his Q-side pieces causes heartache later.

9.… Bg4
10. Qe1 ….
More fiddling I think. The direct 10 h3, suggests itself as more to the point.

10.… e5
11. f4? ….
The point of Gordon’s plan which gives Black a significant edge! The urge to bowl over one’s opponent must be tempered with recognition of the facts on the board. White has not mustered all of his forces yet. Attacking is premature, and so it is natural that pushing forward should give Black an advantage.

11... exf4
12. gxf4 Re8
Getting more pieces into action. I rather like 12..., Qb6+; then a move such as 23 d4?, is risky for White: 23..., Rae8!; 24 c5?, Nxc5; 25 dxc5, Bxc5+; with the e-pawn to be gathered in also, now Black has two pawns for the piece along and lots of play for his other forces. After either the game move or my preference Black has a solid edge.

13. e3 Qc7?
The text hands back all of the advantage and is a mistake. Now 13..., Qb6; keeps up the pressure. It is the natural continuation. By this point in the game White has used fourteen minutes and Black only four minutes.

14. h3? ….
Magat makes a return gift. Gordon missed that 14 Qf2, strengthening f4 and e3, getting out of the pin on the e-file and covering the Bb2, was just about the only move to play.

14.…. Bxf4
Neatly taking advantage of the vulnerable situation of the Nh4 and the pin on the e-file to win material. This sort of possibility was no doubt in Chi’s thoughts when putting the Queen on c7.

15. hxg4 Bg3
16. Qe2 Bxh4
17. Rf5 …
Down a pawn and trailing on time, White is trying to make every immediately available piece maximally active. The trouble with his game is the QR and QN are sitting at home and not readily available. An under-funded attack should not work. Patrick challenge is to find the correct move to refute White’s ambitions.

17.… dxc4?
This move is not it. The simple 17..., Qg3; attacking e3 and g4 wins one more pawn.

The time difference had now become; eight minutes remaining for White and fourteen for Black. The time difference had narrowed and that maybe buoyed Gordon’s spirits some. The advantage is not swinging back to White, but Patrick’s pace of play slowed leaving the difference five minutes to eight minutes.

18. g5 …..
White follows a mirage thinking unbridled aggression will cause young Patrick to fold.

18.… cxd3
19. Qxd3 Nh5?
Gordon’s mirage may just become real. This inaccuracy gives up most, if not all of Black’s advantage. By not taking the simpler path with 17..., Qg3; Chi pays a price-a small error loses the advantage. Best and perhaps the only way to keep the advantage is 19... Ng4; then if 20 Rf4, Bf2+; 21 Rxf2, and Black has at least two ways drive home the win: a) 21..., Rxe3+; b) 21..., Nc5. The keys are the Black Queen will check on h2 and the Ng4 will capture with check on e3 Both moves drive the White King into more and more trouble. Then either White gives up the ruinous material or his King will be left bare in the middle of the board. In all fairness it must be noted that very few players would be confident of finding these ideas in the almost blitz conditions that will soon prevail.

20. Qc4 Bf2+
Shaken by the sudden turn of fortune Patrick gives up the Bishop. With a bit more time in hand he might have found 20..., Rxe3; then if 21 Qxh4, Ng3; and the tactical winds are roaring. But if 21 Qxf7+, Kh8; 22 Qxh5, Re1+; 23 Rf1, Qg3; leaves White well ahead. Also, the move 21 Rxf7, leaves White headaches after 21..., Ne5; and Black just might draw in this line. With just under five minutes on the clock Gordon would have been hard pressed to make a choice among the three options mentioned.

21. Rxf2 Ne5
22. Qh4 g6
23. Bf3? …..
Neither player wants to take the simpler path. That is not good for great results but it does make for interesting chess. Why not either 23 Rd2, or 23 Bc3, avoiding any tricks?

23.… Nxf3+
24. Rxf3 Rad8
Now Black has all of his forces active. White has a chance to do something with his Q-side pieces at long last.

25. Qe1? ….
Covering the back rank with 25 Na3, is more reasonable. The game move has just about finished off any claim White had to the advantage. The clock now is a serious problem for Gordon. There are only a few ticks left for him, and the mirage has faded away completely.

25.… Qc8
With a bit more time to think, Patrick makes a threat. True enough it is not too serious a threat but it is concrete, the Queen would like to go to g4 and maybe take off the g-pawn.

26. Rf2 ….
White reacts to the simple threat. This move is wrong, but such a reaction is common when time is short. Either 26 Na3, getting more forces into the fray, or even 26 Qb4, covering g4 make more sense.

26.… Rd3
27. Bd4 ….
For the final time Gordon fails to make a move to get some pieces in play. In fairness it has to be said it is too late for moves such as 27 Nc3, to make much of a difference. The advantage has gone to Black.

27.… c5
Both players are feeling the pangs of time trouble. The game move appears tempting; a direct threat, but better is 27..., Qg4+; then any legal move, and 28...,Qxd4; wins.

28. Qf1 Qg4+ ?
Black can keep his attack going with 28..., Rxd4; or 28.…, exd4. The move played hands Gordon one last chance to salvage the game.

29. Rg2 Qe4
30. Nc3? ….
Finally White’s Q-side pieces enter the game. Ironically the Knight move is wrong. Better is 30 Bxc5, and White just might be OK after 30..., b6; 31 Nd2, and things are leveling out. Now Black finishes up strongly.

30.… Rxc3
31. Bxc3 Qxe3+
32. Rf2 Qxc3
Having three pawns for the Exchange is plenty of compensation. If there were lots of time on the clocks, it might take many moves for Black to actually collect the full point. This is a "Sudden Death" time control and neither side will have to wait long for the finish.

33. Rxf7 ….
Better 33 Rd1. Black still retains the edge, but White has gotten all pieces out where they can be used. There is no time to think, and I believe this move an instinctive reaction; grab back one pawn and hope. The problem is not that it is a bad thing to recover a pawn, it is the Rf7 requires the Qf1 to stay in contact with it limiting White’s defensive choices.

33.… Qg3+
And this move puts "a finger on the bruise" so to speak. Black will pick off the g-pawn with check, and when all is right; his Queen on the g-file and the White King on the h-file, the Re8 comes to e4 threatening mate that can’t be stopped short of giving up the White Queen.

34. Kh1 0-1
White lost on time.

If I were writing a Sherlock Holmes type mystery story about this game it could be titled the Case of the Forgotten Development. Gordon is a strong player with bunches of experience. How can you explain him passing repeatedly on opportunities to bring out his Q-side pieces? Interestingly, right after the game finished Gordon and I were talking about the play and why he lost. My focus was on all the time he used in the early going. Gordon was a bit mystified saying: "I was seeing all the moves, but…". Only when I ran through the game the next day did the forgotten development of the Q-side hit home. Were we both hypnotized by the direct K-side attack?

At a fast time control reading too much into this victory for Patrick is a mistake. However, taken together with his win from Deepak Aaron in the preceding round, it surely tells us Patrick is rapidly improving. Given another year of development and the great tuition he gets from GM Har-Zvi, he can certainly expect to follow the path Deepak blazed into appearances at some national events. Who knows, there maybe even a chance to play internationally for the United States. Tying for first place honors was well deserved. Good job, Patrick!

The day Saturday wrapped up with a very fast tourney; the NYS Quick, games in ten minutes. Long ago I used to enjoy speed chess even more than games at more reasonable time controls. But now my head doesn’t work quite so well any more and watching such activity is pretty much my involvement with fast chess. This event had its own share of surprises. In a field of pretty strong players, Phil Thomas of the Uncle Sam Club in Troy came first ahead of Deepak Aaron, Ashok Aaron, Peter Henner, Lenny Chipkin, Jon Leisner and others. Phil had a 5-1 score. Deepak and his father tied for second at 4 ½ - 1 ½. Phil was well down the seeding list with a pre-tournament rating in the 1700s, a B-Class player. Coming out ahead of the group mentioned above, all rated right around 2000, has to count as a very big success indeed. Phil got to that fine result by going undefeated, drawing with Henner and Ashok Aaron and winning from Deepak Aaron and Lenny Chipkin. A terrific job Phil. Congratulations!