Action From Schenectady Prelim A

This is not a misprint. Connors and LeCours are playing in both the Schenectady and the Saratoga Championships. Sells and Little of the Schenectady Club are also playing in the Saratoga event. The pioneers of doing this multiple club championship thing are Lee Battes and Peter Michelman. At least those were the fellows that gave me the idea of trying to play in more than a single Championship. If you have enough time and don’t mind the occasional long drive it is possible to do the multiple club tournaments. When the Albany Club was active. I played Albany, Schenectady and Saratoga for a couple of years, that is the luxury of retirement.

Today’s post presents their game from Schenectady. It is an upset win for Mr. Connors. Alan shared with me and others at Ronen Har-Zvi’s training session that he and Connors have played about thirty games over the years, for the most part at the Saratoga Club. He thinks, with this game included the score stands 27-3 in his favor. That may be a little better than the rating formula predicts. We are reminded by the subject game, that statistically, the higher rated player can lose even if it is not very frequently.

Event: SCC Ch Prelim A
Site: SCC
Date: 1-22-2010
White: Connors, D
Black: LeCours, A

1. Nf3 Nf6
2. b3 d5
3. Bb2 e6
4. e3 Be7
5. c4 c6
Usual here is 5..., b6; or 5..., c5. Developing the Bishop on b7 counts on being able to clear the a8-h1 diagonal with …, dxc4; at some point, and advancing the c-pawn to the 5th anticipates putting a Knight on the natural square c6 and an eventual …, e6-e5. Alan seems to be taking up a hedgehog type formation while waiting for his lower rated opponent to make an error. A workable plan sometimes but dangerous here. Connors has been playing often against stronger players this year and getting a half point every once in awhile. His progress, while not spectacular like the youngsters Deepak Aaron or Qu, has been steady.

6. Nc3 O-O
7. d4 Nbd7
8. Qc2 Re8
9. Bd3 h6
10. O-O Bd6
Alan has a change of heart and decides this cleric is better placed on d6. The computer suggests 10..., b6; for Black. Of more interest is that after seemingly normal moves we can find virtually no games with this exact position in the databases.

11. cxd5 …..
It is very likely too soon to release tension in the center. Why not continue to complete the development of the entire army with 11 Rfd1; and later Rac1; before trading any pawns? The game now enters a phase of jockeying and maneuvering without either side establishing a strong edge.

11.… exd5
12. h3 Qe7
13. Nd2 Nf8
14. Rae1 Be6
15. e4 dxe4
16. Ndxe4 Bb4
Worth consideration is 16..., Bc7; keeping both Bishops pointed in the direction of the White King. LeCours possibly wants to slow down the doubling of the White Rooks on the e-file.

17. Re2 Rad8
18. Nxf6+ Qxf6
19. Ne4 Qh4
20. Nc5 Bc8
21. Rxe8 Rxe8
22. a3 Ba5
23. Ne4!? …..
The natural positional move is 23 Rd1, reinforcing the isolated d-pawn. The most principled try is 23 b4, risking forcing the Black Bishops into what is called the Lasker formation; two Bishops on adjacent diagonals bearing on the opponent’s King. A situation ripe for the sacrifice of the Bishops leading to mate. For White to take this route he would have to have great confidence in his ability to calculate accurately. I suspect the text was motivated by the wish not to face such without some White pieces nearby the King. That is a good decision. Recognizing danger early is the aspect of his game that Connors has improved upon this year.

23.… Rd8!?
I like 23.…, Bc7; setting up the raking Bishop battery. A period of difficult, sharp maneuvering would unfold testing David’s calculating ability. The game move signals a positional battle; pressure on the isolated d-pawn and all that.

24. Bc3!? ….
A move that will likely lose the d-pawn, but there is compensation to be had. White must have looked at 24 Nd2, and calculated 24..., Bxh3; 25 gxh3, Qg5+; recovering the piece and keeping the pawn snatched. David may have also looked at 25 Nc4, then 25..., Bxg2; sends the game spinning off into complications. This would be a better choice than surrendering a pawn. There may well be compensation in those complications. As played he will drop a pawn with a forced exchange of Queens thrown in. Without the Queens on tactical tricks will be harder to create.

24.… Bxc3
Why give up the better of his Bishops for one that is not so promising? Probably because Alan did not want to worry about d4-d5 opening White’s own raking Bishop formation. Being up a pawn with a pair of Bishops off the board against a lower rated opponent, what’s not to like?

25. Qxc3 Ne6
Black bears down on the glaring weakness; the pawn on d4.

26. Ng3 …..
The sacrifice 26 d5, does not work either. The computer likes the pawn move, but when you play down the lines suggested after five or six moves the opinion changes. The weight of the extra pawn swings the advantage to Black.

26.… Nxd4?!
Overconfidence perhaps. Simpler and better technique is 26..., Qxd4; forcing off the Queens and maintaining a comfortable edge.

27. Re1? ….
Setting up a tactical strike for Black. Better 27 Bc4, or 27 Rd1.

27.… Ne6?
Which for some reason Alan misses or does not take. Winning is 27..., Bxh3!; for if 28 gxh3, Nf3+; 29 Kf1, Qxh3+; 30 Ke2, Qg4; 31 Kf1, Qd4; forcing off the Queens leaving Black with three pawns and a Rook against the two minor pieces, a winning edge. If David does not fall in with that tactic, he will be down two pawns with for no compensation. Either Alan was not seeing things clearly or, he thought keeping material on would give him an opportunity later to win with less work. An alternative notion is Alan was as the Russians say "dizzy with success" and thought the game could be won at will.

28. Nf5 Qg5
29. Bb1 Nf4
30. Ng3 Be6
31. Bc2? ….
Now David runs out inspiration. The move 31 Qe3, does not obtain full compensation for the pawn. It does grab some initiative by threatening the a7-pawn and a push by the Queen to e4 which requires Black to think carefully. The text is almost a "pass".

31.…. Qd5
32. Ne4 Qd4
33. Qf3 Nd5
34. b4 b6?
A single careless move with the Queens on can let slip away hours of work. It does so here. By playing 34..., Qb2; Black would retain the pawn advantage.

35. Ba4 c5
Black is unwilling to give up control of c5 and so avoids 35..., b5. If 35..., b5; the extra pawn is not looking like much of an advantage. The resulting more or less forced sequence from the push of the c-pawn to the 5th equalizes material.

36. Rd1 …..
It could be Alan just did not take in to account this simple move, or if he did, he did not calculate far enough.

36.… Qe5
37. bxc5 bxc5
38. Nxc5 Rc8
39. Nxe6 fxe6
40. Bd7 Rc3
41. Bxe6+ Qxe6
42. Qxd5 Qxd5
43. Rxd5 Rxa3
Black has the outside passed pawn. In our Saturday session with GM Har-Zvi, Alan said he thought at the time there might be a win in this endgame. I suppose given Alan’s record of success against David the hope would be there. Objectively it seems unlikely there is a theoretical win in the this position. Black’s Rook is in the worst possible place. It is hard to visualize a method of making the a-pawn into a danger without losing it.

44. Rd8+ Kf7
45. Ra8 g5
46. g4 ….
Weakening the h-pawn for no good reason except tempting Black to bailout by giving up the a-pawn for the h-pawn..

46.… Kf6
47. Kg2 Ke5
48. Rh8 Ra6
49. Rh7 Kd5
Black has thrashed about and made his Rook immobile and cut his King off from the K-side pawns. These are not good things to do.

50. Kg1 Ke4
51. Kg2 Kd4
Black must be thinking of getting his King over to help the a-pawn. The notion is wishful thinking. Actually carrying out the idea will cost both of the Black K-side pawns after which White uses his Rook to slow down the advance of the a-pawn as much as is possible while pushing his own mass of pawns. Worst case for White is he has to give up the Rook for the a-pawn. He wants in that event to have his pawns so far advanced that Black will be unable to prevent one from becoming a Queen.

52. Kg3 Ra3+
53. Kg2 a5
With 53.…, Ra6; Black could have signaled a peaceful; end to hostilities. The desire for the full point is a hot wind at Alan’s back now. There is not a great deal of time left on either clock and LeCours gambles that Connors will fumble.

54. Rxh6 Rb3
55. h4 gxh4
56. Rxh4 ….
This is just the kind of finesse that White has to spot to make life difficult for Black.

56.… Ke4
57. g5+ Kf5
58. Ra4 Rb5?
If not the fatal error, it is nearly so.

59. f4 Kg6
It is hard to be critical of this move giving up the fight for f5. However, trickier is 59..., Rd5; making White take the more dangerous appearing path 60 Kh5. White wins in this line also, but Black gets to make threats. In situations with the clocks running down such an approach challenges the lower rated player to the utmost.

60. Kg3 Kf5
61. Kh4 Kg6
62. Kg4 Rc5
63. Rd4 Rb5
64. Rd6+ Kg7
65. Ra6 ….
A quickly played sequence by both sides that had done nothing more than improve the position of the White Rook. Now there are no serious threats Black can make and the win for White is clear.

65.… Rc5
66. f5 Rc4+
67. Kh5 Rc5
68. f6+ Kf7
69. Ra7+ Kf8
70. Kg6 Re5
71. Ra8+ Re8
72. Rxe8+ ….
Not wasting time taking off the a-pawn, White finishes efficiently.

72.… Kxe8
73. Kg7 a4
74. f7+ Resigns
David made the most of his chances in this game. Alan made no outrageous blunders, and other than passing on opportunities to trade down to technically simple wins, he kept his chances alive for quite some time. Time pressure, although not terrible, had some effect on his judgment when the move count got very high in a technical ending.