A Game From Saratoga

A game with some useful learning points from Saratoga two weeks ago.
Alguire has won the under-1800 prize at Saratoga several times. He has done so by picking up half and full points from the top seeds if they don't pat attention when facing him. Here is Ray attempt to do so against Alan Le Cours this year. It comes-a-cropper when Ray dosen't quite see enough.

Saratoga Championship
Site: Saratoga Springs, NY
Date: 2010
White: Le Cours, A
Black: "Alguire, R

1. Nf3 d5
2. d4 Bg4
Ray must have been looking for ways to jerk the game out of the usual channels. Some of the British GM’s; Arkell and Hodgson primarily, experimented with this move in the 90’s. They had no particular success, neither did Tsetlin and Efimov in Russia and Georgia around the same time. That said, there is nothing intrinsically wrong with the move. Black wants to solve the problem of the c-Bishop right away. He will set up a fence of pawns on light squares; c6,d5,e6, defying White to show that his Bishop pair has meaning.

In the 2007 Saratoga Championship Alguire took a different path playing a KID that morphed into a Benoni-like structure. It is true Ray opted for the same trade of Bishop for the Knight on f3. In that case the central pawn structure; White pawns on c4 and d5, Black pawns on c5 and d6 with an open e-file gave the Knights equal chances. The game, in fact, ended in a draw after forty-some moves.

3. e3 Bxf3
4. Qxf3 e6
5. c4 c6
6. Nc3 Qf6?!
A willing offer to go into a Queenless middle game to fight against the Bishop pair. Ray was feeling very confident or very fearful. Watching his play this year, I am not sure that confidence was the motivation.

7. Qd1 …..
Alan reasonably decides to leave the Qf6 in the odd post and to proceed to test out how well Black can defend the weaknesses there. A rational alternative is 7 Be2, offering the c-pawn if 7..., Qxf3; 8 Bxf3, leading to a Slav Gambit position without Queens. The Bishop posted on f3 will keep Black from quickly advancing the b-pawn to support the c-pawn because of threats down the long diagonal. I don’t know if having no Queens helps or hurts either cause, but the struggle looks interesting.

7.…. Bd6
8. Qb3 b6
9. c5 Bc7
10. cxb6 axb6
11. Bd2 …..
White is reluctant to move his Bf1 worried that Black is mustering forces to make an attack on the White King as soon as he castles short. The Bc7, the Qf6 and after …, Ne7/g6 or f5 indicates a gathering storm near the White King’s future home.

11.…. Qd8?
The question mark is not for some tactical error. One could quibble about the perfect soundness of the way Ray laid out his game, but it was a rational plan with chances for success. The text abandons the piece attack on the King idea for no compensation that I can see. This retreat confirms to me that Ray had settled on a scheme of holding solidly and trading material down to a peaceful draw. Two things argue against such a choice; one the pawn formation is not particularly favorable for such ideas - the a and b-pawns White has are faced by a b-pawn that could well be by-passed,, and two; Alan is sharper at the small tactics of pins, forks, etc, than Ray is. In the 2007 game Ray kept the game more in balance with only a single open file and after the inevitable trades of heavy pieces a draw was reached without too much drama. In the current game, continuing with the threat of a piece storm on the White King offers good chances to keep the game even. Voluntarily giving up the struggle for the initiative is a bad choice.

12. Rc1 Ne7
13. Be2 O-O
14. f4?! …..
Black is not the only one in this game that is showing caution. A jump by the Black Queen to d6 would justify this move, but absent the jump, why fix the pawns in this way? It makes the Bd2 an even poorer piece than it is. Alternatives are; 14 0-0, not so good as it provokes 14..., Qd6; and f2-f4 has to be played anyway. What about 14 Na4, intending 15 Bb4? Would Black find 15..., b5; with idea of trading White’s supposedly bad Bishop for Black’s apparently better Bishop? Black would be left with a Knight that has a future via …, Ng6; and …, e6-e5; and the good looking White Be2 really does not that have much promise. If Black does not find 15..., b5; and say chooses 15..., f5; 16 Bb4, then an unpromising piece begins to have an effect.

14.… f5
Possibly 14..., Nd7; is better.

15. O-O Nd7
16. Be1 ….
White is making threats towards the pawn setting on the half-open c-file by the Be1, Bh4 and Bxe7 maneuver. Black has the resources to defend c3 if he is alert. Thus far Ray has kept the game even.

16.… c5?
Black needed to leave the pawn formation on the Q-side strictly alone. His pieces are not well placed to deal with lines opening there. This is an example of a subject Jacob Aagaard has written about; Seeing. Aagaard’s thesis is chess players have problems seeing possibilities just a move or two deep in the position. He put together a book, “Excellence in Calculation” that uses a good portion of the work to illustrate the seeing problem had by IM’s and some pretty good GM’s. He says the problem is the same for more average players also. The same problem is just more acute as you drop down the ratings. Here, Ray just does not see how the coming change in formation will leave White opportunity to penetrate.
Most of what Aagaard goes on about has to do with shorter moves sequences and specific tactics. He does, however touch on the changing of pawn structures unfavorably. Thus is the kind “Seeing” error Ray makes here.

17. Bh4 Nf6
18. a4 c4
19. Qd1 Ng6
20. Bxf6 Rxf6
21. Nb5 Bd6
22. b3 ….
Ray did not take this move into consideration when entering the line, or he undervalued the effect. White has a small edge with the possibility of making it greater. Black can not avoid trading on b3.

22.… cxb3
23. Qxb3 Rf8??
Missing the chance to keep the fight going. Necessary is 23..., Ne7 to guard c6. It is accurate to say White has an advantage after the better Knight move, but no immediate harm has been done. White will likely try to double on the c-file. Black’s best chance is to oppose the doubling by trading off one pair of Rooks. His game is still worse, but it is not lost.

This is the type of “Seeing” error that Aagaard makes an important issue in the first part of his book, small tactics. Aagaard argues for looking wide not deep in positions first. Before you can go off searching for sequences many moves in length, you have to have confidence that the immediate obvious moves are not dangerous, or if dangerous you have some preventive measure to apply. Without the “Seeing” skill, sudden shifts in fortune are our lot as chess players, and we lament about missing a key threat.

Another way of approaching positions such as this one is to use John Morse's suggestion that you ask yourself right after your oppenent moves; "What is the threat?" John, one the stronger local Experts, made this point frequently when giving informal tuition at the Albany club. It is a more concise expression of Aagaard's recommendation; "Look widw not deep."

24. Rc6 Resigns.
Now the pawn at e6 will fall and the rest of Black’s pawns become targets. Ray was not in the mood for a long defense in a losing cause where White can play the most natural moves to pick off the various buttons.