Games From the Match

This is the first of several posts about the recently completed contest between Albany and Schenectady.

An interesting game important to the final drawn result of the match was the contest between Richard Chu and Jon Lack. Per the usual scenario where a player faces an opponent a class or two lower in the ratings, the higher rated Lack grabbed and extra pawn early on and in the process wrecked Chu’s pawn formation. Chu then called on his alternative persona; Richard the Giant Killer, and fought back stubbornly for forty moves to salvage a draw.

Chu, Richard - Lack, Jonathan [D02]

Albany - Schenectady Match

SCC, August 19, 2010

1.Nf3 e6 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 d5 4.d4 c5 5.0–0 Nc6 6.c3 Bd6

There are a fair number of games in this opening in the databases by top level players. Deep Rybka sees this position as equal, and the databases report White winning 75, losing 41 with 46 drawn. All this indicates it is a reasonable approach for Black to take in this slightly off-beat position.

7.Bg5 h6 8.dxc5 Bxc5 9.Bf4 0–0 10.Nbd2?,..

A move that is just too routine and has potentially serious positional consequences. It closes off the retreat of the Bf4 presenting Black with opportunities to damage the White pawn formation. White could have considered 10 b4, or even 10 a4!?, intending to grab space on the Q-side while leaving open the possibility of dropping the Bf4 back to d2 or even c1.

10..., Nh5?1

Better is 10..., g5; with complex play. White would then have to be ready to play sharply with 11 Be5.

11.Be3?,..

Which evidently he is not ready to do so. After 11 Be5 Nxe5 12 Nxe5, White may have been concerned that he conceded the Bishop pair. In general it is not a good thing to give your opponent the two Bishops. In this case there are several factors telling us doing so is not bad but in fact a good idea; the Nh5 is loose and is a target, the Bc8 will require a minimum of two moves to find an active post, preparing to push in the center with .., f2-f6; to support .., e6-e5; leaves the Nh5 without an escape route which will lead to a further loosening of the pawns around the Black King at the least, or loss of the Knight in worst case. If the center-push sequence is not possible, the development of the Black pieces will be slow. The Russian School taught to the chess players at large the cardinal rule; every position must be evaluated with concrete analysis because moves played “on general principles” are often incorrect. This moment in the game demonstrates the rule.

11..., Bxe3 12.fxe3 Qb6 13.Nd4 Qxb2

Black has a full pawn in the bag, but more importantly, the doubled e-pawns and the isolated c-pawn are very weak. White has to find a way the get his pieces active or the game will be short.

14.Nxc6?..,

This is not best move here. Better 14 Qc1, then 14..., Qxc1 15 Rfxc1 Nf6 16 c4 eliminates the weak c-pawn.

14..., bxc6 15.c4 Qa3?

Jon let down his guard here. The attack along the third rank is better executed with the move 15..., Qc3; then 16 e4 Rb8!, preparing to let the center dissolve and the weak pawns eliminate themselves to get the Black Rook to b2. There then is opportunity for the Bc8 to come into the game effectively on a6, or if White decides not to win the pawn on d5, on e6 supporting the d-pawn. An important concept in chess is the conversion of one kind of advantage to another kind; in this case, a superior pawn formation to more active piece placement.

16.Qb3 Qxb3?

Better 16.., Qa5 17 Qb2 Ba6, and Black retains a solid edge.

17.axb3 f5!?

Jonathan must have decided his advantage depends on controlling the center with this light squared pawn fence. More logical is 17.., Nf6 and 18.., Re8; preparing an eventual .., e6-e5.

18.Ra5..,

Black helpfully made his a-pawn available as a target earlier, and White reasonably turns his attention to the weak pawn.

18..., Nf6 19.cxd5?..,

Richard helps his opponent here. Better choices are 19 Rc1, 19 Ra1 and 19 Nf3. The last option offers a pawn (e3), maybe temporarily, to generate counter-play. Play in the pawn offer goes; 19 Nf3 Ng4 20 Rc1 Nxe3 21 Ne5 Bb7 22 cxd5 cxd5 23 Rc7, leading to equality. There are alternatives in this line for Black, for example; 22..., exd5; is met by 23 Nxc6 Nxg2 24 Ne7+ Kf7 25 Rc7, and the either the Bb7 or the Ng2 is lost. After the piece is recovered, the extra pawn Black holds is more than balanced by the aggressive posting of all the White pieces.

19..., cxd5 20.b4 Bb7 21.Nb3 Ne4

Through many ups and downs Black has had the advantage to a greater or lesser degree from move 11. At first look I thought 21..., Ng4; hitting e3 is a better move. Playing out the alternative lines with the computer indicates there are chances for both sides no matter which Knight move is chosen. So, the game just may be dynamically balanced now even though the White pawns still look sickly.

22.Bxe4 dxe4 23.Nd4 Bd5?

A better try is 23.., Kf7; but White has worked his way out of serious trouble.

24.Rfa1?..,

A tactical error. With 24 Nxf5!, White gets to equality after 24.., Rxf5 25 Rxf5 exf5 26 Rxd5, although after 26..., Rf8; White will have to exercise some care to obtain the half-point.

24..., Rf7 25.b5 Rb7 26.Rc1,..

Rather than reliving pressure on a7, White should continue to improve the position of his pieces with 26 Kf2, and then follow up with 27 b6, eliminating the a-pawn and trading off one pair of Rooks.

26..., g6 27.Rd1

White appears to be swimming just a bit. That is a bad thing against someone as strong as Lack. Again 27 Kf2, getting the King off the back rant to avoid annoying checks while inching him closer to the e-pawns is better.

27...Re8 28.Rda1 Ree7

The upshot of the last sequence is Black no longer has to worry about the b-pawn going to the sixth eliminating the outside pawns and a Rook pair.

29.Nc6 Bxc6 30.bxc6 Rbc7

Perhaps it would be better to play 30..., Rb6; heading for a somewhat different, but still very technical Rook and pawns ending.

31.Ra6 Kf7 32.Rd1 Kf6?

Black has not recognized the advance of his central pawn mass must be carefully prepared. In similar fashion White has not realized his King would be better off on f2. Good for Black here is 32..., Re8; denying access for the White Rook to the eighth rank. A doubling of the White Rooks on the a-file is no real threat because Black’s next move is 33..., Kf6; and the c-pawn falls if White captures on the seventh.

33.h3?..,

Much better 33 Rd8. The White Rook running backwards and forwards along the eighth rank would be great distraction for Black. The text move made more sense on move 26 than it does here.

33..., e5?

Mr. Lack’s tactical intuition or sense of danger was not the best in this game. This is a miss similar to that on move 23. Here a forcing move for White is 34 Rd7!, then is 34..., Rexd7 35 cxd7+ and two Black pawns will fall on the K-side. White will then have his own defended passed pawn meaning both sides must be very accurate if they want to avoid losing.

34.Kf1? 34 Re6 35.Rd7 Rexc6 36.Rxc6+ Rxc6 37.Rxa7 Kg5 38.Ra5 Re6

Chances were missed by both sides, but White has made some substantial progress; the distant passers are no more, a pair of Rooks traded and the White King is not too badly placed for defense whilst the Black Rook is occupied guarding his trailing e-pawn and the White Rook has greater freedom of action. Rybka likes Black better (-+ 0.78). That numerical evaluation might be summed up in words as; possibly won for a GM/IM, but most likely drawn for club level players.

39.Rd5 h5 40.h4+ Kg4 41.Kg2 g5 42.hxg5 Kxg5 43.Rd8 Rg6 44.Kh3 f4

Black runs out of patience. He also may have been getting low on time. If he wanted bother White for a bit he could try 44..., Rg7; but in the end the game is drawn.

45.exf4+ exf4 46.Rd5+ Kf6 47.gxf4 Rg4 48.e3 Rg1 49.Rxh5 Rh1+ 50.Kg4 ½–½

An important result for the Schenectady side. On paper Schenectady expected to drop the full point, Richard did well to divide it.