Action From Schenectady

Thursday night saw the race for qualifying spots in Section A of the Preliminaries become more complex. Mike Mockler won his game as Black against Dean Howard. To add to the bunching of contenders there was something of an upset also when David Connors defeated Alan LeCours. Those results leave us with Mockler leading at minus - 1, Little in second at minus - 2 with LeCours, Howard and Rotter in a bunch at minus - 2 ½. Last year’s tourney went on for some time past its completion date as a result of the need for playoffs in the Finals. Bill Townsend’s fear we may set a record this year for duration with playoffs in the Prelims seems well founded.

Well there is lots of chess to play even if we don’t get done until Spring Break is past.

SCC Ch Prelim A
Date: 1-22-2010
White: Howard, D
Black: Mockler, M

1. e4 e6
2. d4 d5
3. e5 c5
4. c3 Nc6
5. Nf3 Qb6
6. a3 Nh6
7. b4 ….
Mike showed the Saturday study group with GM Har-Zvi a game he and Howard played a couple of years ago where Dean captured the Nh6 here. Apparently it is a well known error and Mike won the game handily. Dean took that lesson to heart and has learned the theoretically recommended moves.

7.… cxd4
8. cxd4 Nf5
9. Bb2 ….
All this is known theory. The contestants in this game are the only two opponents I have remaining to play in this event. Their match up gave me a free night and the leisure to watch their battle without distraction.

Shirov used this line against Kramnik’s French in Monaco, 1997. Shirov led the Whites pieces to victory in 45 moves. Svidler and Short among others of the elite have used the line as White, and they tried it out against the best competition such as Korchnoi, Belisvsky and Lputian and the aforementioned Kramnik. None of the above take this as their main weapon against the French. However they, the GM’s, must see the line has some bite and soundness given the opponents.

9.… Bd7
Mike mentioned at GM Har-Zvi’s group lesson Saturday this is a known finesse for Black.

10. Be2 Be7
11. O-O ….
This move maybe tells us Dean has come to the end of his recollection of the line. Most the GM games saw White advance the h-pawn and then the g-pawn to grab space on the K-side as well as hustle back the Nf5 to a less aggressive placement. White occasionally offered the h-pawn after pushing it to h4 if Black elects to castle short early. It also is not clear that White wants to castle at all. His King may be better placed staying in the center in some lines. Foregoing routine castling keeps Black guessing about some kind of pawn charge if he hurries his own King to safety (?) on the K-side.

11.… O-O
Without the threat of K-side pawns advancing supported by a Rook, Black is comfortable putting his King in its natural fortress. Castling also prepares the push …, f7-f6; attacking the head of the White pawn chain.

12. Qd3 ….
Although White is developing more or less normally, the somewhat offbeat placement of his pieces and the slowness of them getting to squares where they can threaten Black make me doubt this is the correct way to go. I certainly could not see the problems coming for White, but I had a queasy feeling about the position. Mockler said during the review of the game at the Saturday group he was pretty confident about his game hereabouts. That confidence is evidenced by the quickness of his play. Howard’s responses were slower perhaps showing some discomfort with the way things were developing.

12.… Rac8
13. Nbd2 f6
Standard play. The computer has called the game even for several moves.

14. exf6!? …..
Voluntarily bringing another Black piece to bear on d4 seems ill-advised. Taking some risk with 14 b5, to free up his game is the alternative idea here. True the protected passed d-pawn after 14..., fxe5; will be a problem in the endgame, but there is a nicely complicated middle game to be played before that is faced. When he is on form, Dean is very good at making choices such as the one before us here. In this case Dean’s form is not at the top. He decides to play routinely hoping to find chances later in the game.

14.…. Bxf6
15. Nb3 Be8
Black’s usually useless light squared Bishop heads for green pastures.

16. Nc5 Nd8
Black chooses d8 for this Knight because he wants to re-deploy the Nf5 through d6 and e6 needs protection. After the game I made some gentle fun about the minor pieces collecting on the back rank. Mike answered the comments with something to the effect there is logic behind the placement of the pieces. Black has a plan to use the f-file as his road to victory. The next few moves are about carrying out this plan.

17. Rac1 Nd6
18. Qd2 Rc7
19. Bd3 Nc4
20. Bxc4 dxc4
21. Qe2? …..
More logical is 21 Rfe1, eliminating threats of …, Be7-b5. The text makes this vague possibility a real factor for the next few moves. Time trouble has arrived for Dean. My notes indicate he was down to six minutes and some few seconds now.

21.… Bc6?!
Mockler did not give serious consideration to what may have been a better chance; 21..., c3!?; 22 Rxc3, Bb5; 23 Nd3, Rxc3; 24 Bxc3, Qa6; recovering the pawn with an extra pawn on the far side of the board. It may be he didn’t like the look of the isolated e-pawn on an open file.

22. Ne5 Bxe5
23. dxe5 Bd5
24. Rc3?! ….
White wants to get another piece into an aggressive post. His Knight standing on c5 is so far his only really active piece. Dean may have thought using the Rook along the third rank just could be dangerous enough to balance the game. He did not give much consideration to the risky nature of the Nc5 outpost. The natural move …, Qb6-c6; can cut off the retreat squares for the Nc5, then …, b7-b6; may lead to trapping the Knight.

The clock problem was worsening for Howard. Mockler had nearly one hour remaining.

24.… Qc6
25. Rg3? ….
The natural follow-up to the previous move. It is probably an incorrect idea. Pressure down the f-file is likely to force f2-f3 blocking an easy route back into the central part of the board. GM Har-Zvi thinks this move is seriously wrong.

25.… Rf5?!
Mike follows his plan intently. There is an advantage to be had by threatening the Nc5 with 25..., b6; but White could make things interesting with 26 Na6, Rcf7; 27 b4, and for a pawn White has some chances. Rather than go into a situation where much calculation is required, Mockler sticks with the plan. The plan is tempting, but there is a hole in the idea.

26. Re1 Rcf7
27. f3 b6
After having kept the idea of threatening the Nc5 in reserve for some time, Black launches a somewhat forced sequence he believes leads to a marked advantage. The central idea underlying this judgment is the strength of the pawn on c4.

28. Ne4 Bxe4
29. Qxe4 Qxe4
30. Rxe4 Rd7
31. Bc3? ….
Missing nearly the last chance. With 31 Rgg4, White will put serious obstacles in the way of Black making a win out of the c-pawn. Play could continue; 31 Rgg4, b5; 32 Rd4, and the question of which Rook on the K-side is more out-of-play needs answering. Now if 32..., Rd5; 33 Kf1, Rfxe5?; 34 Rxd5, Rxd5; 35 Rxg7+, leaving White pretty well off. Dean was at 2:09 on the clock here. Not enough time for an exhaustive search for alternatives. He probably worried about Rook checks on the back rank and then the 7th and decided to move the Bishop out of harm’s way earlier in the sequence.

31.… b5
This was Mike’s "ace-in-the-hole" right along. As strong as it appears to be, the move does not win the game right away.

32. Kf2? ….
Dean had set himself a near impossible task; searching for difficult to find moves in deep time trouble. Some better clock management might have given him the minutes to discover 32 a4, a move that confuses things for a moment or two, although Black certainly has a solid advantage. The move chosen heads towards a cute little trap.

32.… Nc6
33. f4 Ne7
34. Rd4? …..
With only 22 seconds remaining, Dean jumps at chance to trade some material hoping to buy the chance to play on at the cost of a single pawn and falls to a neat tactic. Better here is 34 a4, again trying to make things murky. Black is winning, but there are some chances to go wrong after; 34..., a6; 35 Rf3, Nd5; 37 Rd4. Black’s best here is 37..., Rc7; not a hard to find move. Black’s edge is significant but not clearly winning as yet. After the game move the fight is over.

34.… Rxd4
35. Bxd4 Rxf4+
36. Ke3 Nd5+
Resigns. Demonstrating the Bishop is lost as well as the pawn.
　
More tomorrow on the Connors - LeCours from Schenectady.