Another Trip to Troy for the Geezers

The Schenectady Geezers traveled to Troy Sunday and had less success that they did on their last trip to the Collar City. Although out-rating the RPI team on every board, the Geezers were only able to draw the match, and more than a little luck was involved.

It is becoming usual for the Geezers’ fourth board to lead the way. Mr. Chu began our efforts with the miniature below.

CDCL Match RPI v Sch'dy Geezers
Site: RPI
Date: 5-9-2010
White: Chu, R
Black: Fartado, B

1. d4 d5
2. Nf3 e6
3. e3 Nf6
4. Bd3 c5
5. b3 cxd4
6. exd4 Nc6
7. O-O Bd6
8. Re1 O-O
9. c3 Re8
10. Ne5 Bxe5?
Both sides have stayed away from any real testing lines of a theoretical kind. Until this move the game was dead level. Why does Black give up his best Bishop? Better 10..., Qc7; if he wants to pressure the Ne5. What is worse is the Knight is pushed off f6.

11. dxe5 Nd7
Black could have tried to complicate things with 11..., Ne4; and after 12 Bxe4, dxe4; it is not so easy for White to capture once more on e4. The White pawn on e5 is just as vulnerable as the Black pawn on e4.

12. f4 f6?
Black does not recognize a standard attacking pattern is shaping up on the board. A Bishop on the b1-h7, no defending Knight at f6 or f8 and no obstacle keeping the White Queen from going to h5, not to mention an easy route for the Re1 via e3 to add pressure on the g or h-files. The last thing a defender needs to do in such circumstances is to weaken the pawns around his King.

13. Qh5 ….
White now has a definite pull

13.… g6?
If the f-pawn were still at home this move is fine. With the f-pawn making impertinent gestures towards the White center, the game move loses quickly. Better are 13..., Nc5; threatening the Bd3 and a jump to e4, or 13..., Nf8; reinforcing h7 and g6 to prepare an eventual …, f6. Simpler than these is 13..., f5; after which it is true the Bc8 is no great shakes as an active participant, but White will have to get more troops off the back line to make his attacking dreams real with the key diagonal closed..

14. Bxg6! ….
Richard obviously knows the attacking pattern and gets right to work.

14.… hxg6
15. Qxg6+ Kf8
16. f5!? ….
It may be this move is a trick missed by Brian, and he does not react correctly. The Bc1 now has an open road into relevance, but the move gives Black opportunity to counter strongly. The best continuation for White is 16 Ba3+, Ne7; 17 exf6, Black then must give up some material. A somewhat trickier try is 16 Re3, with two branches; a) 16..., Qb6; 17 exf6, threatens mate and wins material, or b) 16..., Ndxe5; 17 fxe5, Nxe5; 18 Ba3+, again winning material.

16.… Re7??
Loses instantly. Worth trying is 16..., Ncxe5!?; and while Black might lose material in some lines he escapes immediate mate. White’s best seems to be 17 Qh7, Nf7; 18 Ba3+, Re7; 19 fxe6, Qb6+; 20 Kf1, Nc5; 21 exf7, Re1+; 22 Ke1, Qxf7; 23 Kd2, and the Nc5 falls or some other ruinous loss is taken. If Black plays the best moves he comes out down a piece and a pawn but alive. The line cited has chances for White to make a misstep, for example; after 16..., Ncxd5; 17 Bh6+?, Ke7; 18 Qh7+, Kd6; and d6 is as an unlikely place for one’s King to be safe, but the Black King seems to be so. After the text White has a forced mate which Richard finds quickly.
17. Bh6+ Rg7
18. Qxg7+ Ke8
19. Qg8+ Ke7
20. Qxe6# Mate.
The entire game tool just twelve or thirteen minutes. The rest of the team except John Phillips, were just getting comfortable in the first few moves of out games and Richard was packing up ready to go home! Phillips had arranged to begin his game an hour after the rest of us.

CDCL Match RPI v Sch'dy Geezers
Site: RPI
Date: 5-10-2010
White: Gao, Tian
Black: Mockler, M

1. d4 d5
2. c4 c6
3. Nf3 Nf6
4. Nc3 a6
Michael’s favorite line in the Slav. He advocated for this line in a months long survey by GM Har-Zvi’s Saturday group when the GM took us through a comprehensive review of the Slav. While it is not a choice for the 2700-2800 guys often, Shirov and Gelfand have taken it up on occasion as well many GM’s in the 2500- 2600 group.

5. Bg5 dxc4
Much more popular is 5..., Ne4. The text has in my databases nine examples with Black scoring 5 wins to 3 losses and a single draw. The games are all between FIDE titled players averaging about 2500.

6. a4 Nd5
Successful was 6..., Bf5; in Lautier (2645) - Van der Doel (2485) Antwerp, 1998. They got into some complicated play in the center after 7 Ne5, Ne4; 8 Ne4, Be4; 9 f3, f6; 10 fxe4, fxe5; and the strong GM lost in 40 moves! The game move shows only even results in the two games where it was tried, one win, one loss.

7. e4 ….
One example only in the databases; Kinsman - Guido, Cannes, 1995, and White won in 28 moves. In the cited game Black problems with the vulnerability of his QR just as Mockler has in this game.

7.… Nxc3
8. bxc3 Be6!?
There are lines in the Slav where putting the Bishop on e6 is possible. Here it looks ugly,, but trying out the alternatives, 8..., h6; and 8..., b5; on the computer do not let Black have an easy time either.

9. a5 ….
A nice touch leaving Black to deal long term with tough choices on the Q-side; advance the b-pawn accepting a clutch of weak pawns, or don’t and face problems getting the Ra8 out while worrying about the weak b7 point. White has a definite edge now.

9.… f6
10. Bf4 Bf7
11. Qa4?! ….
Offering Black some chances. More controlled is 11 Qb1. Black will get to play …, c5; true enough, but the c-pawn is effectively isolated and will fall soon after; 11..., Qd7; 12 Be2, c5; 13 0-0, cxd4; 14 cxd4. The central dominance White has gives him a solid advantage.

11.… Qd7
12. Bxc4 Bxc4
13. Qxc4 Qg4
14. Bg3 Qxe4+
15. Qe2 Qxe2+
16. Kxe2 Kd8
Black has weathered the opening difficulties and picked up a pawn. A price has been paid in the positional coin; Black’s development lags, b7 screams for protection and the b6 hole beckons the White Knight. Maybe a worse problem is; where do the Black minor pieces go if they do get out? I see no natural posts for them that offer much activity.

17. Rab1 Kc8
18. Nd2 Nd7
19. Nc4 Ra7
My computer suggests an advance on the K-side beginning with 19..., h5; to find a way to get the Rh8 and the Bf8 into play.

20. Rhe1 h5
21. h4 g6
Either 21..., g5; right away, or first 21..., Rg8; then 22..., g5; offers the chance to equalize. The text is a decision to take on a “hedgehog” like passive defense waiting for the lower rated opponent to err. This time the error does not happen.

22. Kf1 Rh7
23. Re2 Rf7
24. Re6 Bh6
25. Rbe1 Kd8
26. f3 Nf8
27. R6e2 Nd7
28. Rd1 Bf8
29. d5 c5
What else? If 29.…, cxd5; 30 Rxd5, and it is obvious bad things will happen on the d-file when the White Rooks are doubled.

30. Re6 Ra8
31. Nb6 Nxb6
32. Rxb6 Kc8
And next few moves were very hard to read on the score sheet. Several tries made no sense and I concluded my analysis here. The situation is grim for Black. His Ra8 is locked away. The square b7 is about to be put under siege. His pawn on c5 is hard to defend. Most tries for Black have good chances of opening up the sixth rank when the White Rb6 can attack the Black K-side laterally. In other words, White had a big advantage. White won the game on move 49. Mockler was unable to find a point at which to breakout of his huddle and Gao kept his head not taking any unnecessary risks.

Mr. Mockler’s desire to play interesting and difficult chess positions has had a negative effect on his results in recent months. In the past he and I have talked about what those of us that can not aspire to play at a professional level should take as a standard of performance. When we both studied with GM Har-Zvi, the GM believed striving for correctness to the professional level was the best way forward for such us. Michael took the opposing view; interesting chess positions was the most important aim for us, the non-masters. I come down somewhere in between, the difficult, interesting, if you will, wild positions are certainly more fun than 20+ moves of GM theory memorized and rolled out by a pair of Class A players who both may miss the point when they are on their own. I say at a minimum adhere to the main principles, fight for the center, development, etc., and when you go for the wild side avoid the strange just for the sake of making an odd move.

Recently I published here a game of mine with Alan Le Cours, from the Schenectady Consolation Swiss. I was Black and caught Alan in a QGA line at somewhere around move ten or twelve in an off-beat variation where Black sends his Nf6 to g4 lighting up a flurry of tactics around h2, d4 and c4. Alan was unfamiliar with the line, picked the wrong move and was down the Exchange shortly. All the play up to getting the Exchange in my pocket was not very exciting for me. It was the final stage, where turning the Exchange into an actual win and I was on my own without a GM tutorial explaining what to do, that was exciting. With a winning material advantage in hand, I then had to use imagination, careful calculation and sound technique to bring home the full point. I guess that feeling of excitement and engagement is what Mr. Mockler is searching for.

There two more games from the Geezers v RPI match. They will be in tomorrow’s post.
Good chess!