Today I was kibitzing with GM Ronen Har-Zvi while watching the World Championship match from Sofia. If you haven't heard Anand is leading Topalov 2 to 1 with some draws. GM Ronen is thinking Anand will cruise to victory, he is very impressed with his play in all games except the first. You can watch the moves more or less as they are played on TWIC, The Week In Chess web site for free. It is more entertaining to listen to commentary by GMs on ICC, the Internet Chess Club. That however costs. Either way, following the games is most interesting.

With good reason Richard Chu is proud of this win against one the rising stars on the local scholastic scene. I had promised to get this game in a week or two ago. It kept being shuffled to the bottom of the stack as other games came to my attention. I had not played the game over, once that was done, it was clear why Richard wanted to see the game published. He spotted the lad 50+ years in age and a hundred ratings points and carried off the palm of victory in fine style.

Consolation Swiss
Date: 4/8/2010
White: Chu, R
Black: Qu, Chen

1. c4 c6
2. Nc3 Nf6
3. g3 d5
4. cxd5 cxd5
5. d4 Nc6
6. Bg2 Bf5
7. Bg5 e6
8. Nf3 h6?!
All of this has been played before. Black can play 8..., Qb6; obtaining a promising position and snagging the Bishop pair after; 8..., Qb6; 9 Na4, Qa5+; 10 Nc3, Ne4; 11 Bd2, Nxd2; 12 Qxd2, Be7. Now if White goes after the Bf5 right away with 9 Nh4, Black captures on h4 inflicting serious damage on the White pawn structure.

9. Bf4?! ….
This is an hard post on which to maintain the Bishop. White will have to be careful about playing e2-e3 closing off the Bishop’s line of retreat and it is not easy to find other safe ways to secure an untroubled life for the Bf4. White can offer a pawn here with 9 Bxf6, Qxf6; 10 Ne5, Nxe5; 11 dxe5, Qxe5; 12 Qa4+, Kd7; and he has a reasonable amount of play for the pawn. The Black King will be an awkward fellow getting underfoot until Black can engineer some safe haven. To do so will take a minimum of three moves; …, Kc7; …, Rc8;/…., Rd8; and …, Kb8; that is unless White finds some stick to put in the spokes. The chess writers tell us three tempi are worth about one pawn. Work over this position and see if you can prove that true.

9.…. Bd6?
This move is a very unlikely try. It trades off the slightly better of Black’s Bishops for the White Bishop that has no great promise. As long as the Bishop is hanging around on f4 White has to be careful about playing e2-e3 cutting off the natural line of retreat for the Bishop because …, g7-g5; wins material. That wrinkle might have been basis around which Black could have shaped his play. Better is 9.…, Qb6; with play similar to that in the note to Black’s previous move. The way both sides play the next several moves emphasize the symmetrical nature of the position. If you disregard the different the placement of the Bishops, the sides do the same things with their pieces.

10. Bxd6 Qxd6
11. O-O O-O
12. Re1 Rac8
13. a3 a6
14. Rc1 Rfd8
15. Na4 Na5
16. Nc5 Qb6
17. b4 Nc4
18. Qb3 Nd7
19. e4 ….
Symmetry ends and the game has become a IQP struggle. By being willing to take on the isolated center pawn, White has obtained the Bishop versus Knight imbalance. It favors the side with the Bishop when there are pawns on the both sides of the board as a general rule.

19.… Bxe4
20. Nxe4 dxe4
21. Rxc4 Rxc4
22. Qxc4 exf3
23. Bxf3 Nf6
24. Rd1 Rd7
25. Qc8+ Kh7
26. Qc2+ g6
With a firm blockade of the White d-pawn, Black is entirely equal. I suspect Qu did not really appreciate all the dangers in the B v N imbalance. If he had, there is no reason not to divide the point now.

27. Qc5 Qxc5?
This game illustrates how to convert an entirely balanced situation into a loss. By simply retiring the Queen to d8 Black keeps everything level. Black should be ready to trade Queens if White tries to penetrate to the 8th rank. The game move eliminates the IQP and forces a trade of the Rooks leading to a pure B v N and pawns ending.

28. dxc5 Rxd1+
29. Bxd1 Kg7
30. Bf3 Nd5
31. Kf1 Kf6
32. Ke2 Ke7?
Much better is 32..., Ke5. Black has a difficult situation to manage. The pawn on b7 is a natural target for the White Bishop and there is a danger of Black running out of moves that don’t compromise his position. The game move concedes some space to White. This game is an illustration of Steinitz’s accumulation of small advantages notion. White does nothing earth shaking. He has gathered in a distant pawn majority, the better minor piece and now extra space. True it was with the unwitting cooperation of his opponent, but that takes nothing away from sound impression that Richard’s play makes.

33. Kd3 Kd7
34. Kd4 Kc6
35. Kc4?! …..
White should play 35 a4, now taking advantage of the pin of the Knight. After 35 a4, White is clearly winning. After the more or less forced sequence; 35 a4, h5; 36 h4, f6; 37 Kc4, g5; 38 b5+, White picks up a pawn and the path to the win is clear.

35.… b6
36. cxb6 Kxb6
37. a4 ….
Now taking the pawn lets the Black King slip through to a4 via b5 leading to a longish calculation. White still is winning after 37 Bxd5, exd5; 38 Kxd5, Kb5; 39 f4, Ka4; 40 Ke5, Kxa3; 41 Kf6, Kxb4; 42 Kxf7, a5; 43 Kxg6, a4; 44 f5. White will Queen with check and take off the Black h-pawn one way or the other. The two connected passed pawns are enough to win. My guess is Richard saw this idea in some sort of outline form, was unsure of how many checks with his Queen Black could make and decided a slower method was safer. That decision was not completely correct but understandable.

37.… Ne7
A little better is 37..., Nc7; White still has the advantage.

38. a5+ Kc7
39. b5 axb5+
40. Kxb5 ….
White has proceeded in a workmanlike fashion to create an outside passed pawn. The “passer” is like a giant magnet to the Black pieces drawing them to the Q-side. This is especially true while the White King is in close convoy to the pawn, thus both the Black King and Knight will be needed to restrain and eventually win the a-pawn. These circumstances open opportunities for the White King to enter on the K-side and attack the Black pawns.

40... g5
41. a6 Kb8
42. Kb6 Nc8+
43. Kc6 Ka7
44. Kd7 Nb6+
45. Ke7 Kxa6
46. Kxf7 Kb5
47. Kg6 ….
White correctly goes for the h-pawn. Getting greedy for the d-pawn just slows down progress.

47.… Kc5
48. Kxh6 Kd4
49. Kxg5 Nd5
50. h4 …..
The h-pawn is just too fast to Queen. The poor position of the Black King makes the winning process easy. Knights always have a hard time with Rook pawns. Here the Black Knight has the White King to deal with as well. It is a doomed task.

50.… Ke5
51. h5 Nf6
52. h6 Nh7+
53. Kg6 Nf6
54. Bb7 Ng8
55. h7 Ne7+
56. Kf7 Ng6
57. Kxg6 Resigns.
Two observations about what this games tells us; Richard can play sound positional chess when he has a mind to do so. It was an impressive performance. Chen Qu is still more dangerous tactically than he is in a positional struggle. That is normal for young players, first they learn tactics, then they learn positional play.

To close a short note on recent developments in the Schenectady Finals. At last Thursday’s meeting, Bill Townsend, the Tournament Dierector announced that Bobby Rotter had to withdraw from the competition. A change in his work schedule made completing his un-played games impossible. Sad and unfortunate for Bobby and those of us looking forward to more Finals games. It was good news for Philip Sells. He is now the Champion of the Schenectady Club and the Saratoga Club in the same competition year. Congratulations Philip Sells!! A remarkable achievement against strong opponents in both venues.