There was a noteworthy upset last Thursday night in Schenectady. Matthew Clough (1374) won a game from John Barnes (1842). The not quite 500 point rating difference qualifies this win as one of the bigger upsets for this year, almost equaling my loss to Zack Calderon two weeks ago. The most interesting feature of this upending of a favorite is how Matt conducted the White pieces. Many times upsets result from a momentary lapse and the stronger player hangs a piece or overlooks a tactic. In this game although there is a lapse by Barnes, it occurs more because White creates a difficult position by dangling material temptation while he has his pieces more actively placed.
Clough, Matthew - Barnes, John [B33]
SCC Ch Prelim B Schenectady, NY, 02.12.2010
Clough, Matthew - Barnes, John [B33]
SCC Ch Prelim B Schenectady, NY, 02.12.2010
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Bg5 a6
A very much mainline of theory opening in the Pelikan Variation, B33 in ECO. This line of play for Black has been a favorite of the former World Champion V. Krmnick. He, oddly enough, used it as a reliable drawing line. I say oddly, because to this club level player the position seems to be very complex with many places to go wrong and comfortable drawing lines are not at all evident.
8.Na3 b5
Both players are staying with how the very best players handle this position. Kasparov, Anand, Svidler, Leko and Shirov as White against Kramnik more than once reached this position. All these games ended drawn except one, Leko - Kramnik, Frankfort, 2000, 1-0 in 48 moves. Kramink dropped a couple of pawns while trying an attack on the White King, and then lost after Queens and a pair of Rooks came off in the general liquidation.
9.Bxf6 gxf6 10.Nd5 f5
Still in the mainstream, but here the database shows some variations. In the loss to Leko, Kramnik tried 10..., Bg7; leading to complicated play with both sides having attacks on the opposing King. White was attacking with pieces; the Queen, Knight and light squared Bishop, and Black tried to strike back with his pawns in the center and his heavy pieces down the g-file. With both Kings on the K-side, it was an intricate melee that worked out better for White.
11.Bd3 Be6
The game is now away from GM Kramnik’s practice, but the game continues to follow current theory. There are many games by Shirov, Sax, Krasenkov and Nunn with Black and doing well from against the likes of Short, Leko and Beliavsky.
12.c3 f4
Now we are away from the Super-grandmasters ideas. There are, nevertheless, many games by 2400 - 2500 players in the databases.
13.Nc2 Rb8!?
This move may be questionable. The strong players preferred 13..., Bg7; for the most part, with one or two trying 13..., Rg8. Deep Rybka sees nothing wrong with the text; it is the machine’s second choice after 13..., Bg7. There are no games in my databases with this position.
14.0–0 Rg8 15.f3,..
The ambitious try 15 Qh5 leads to problems for White after 15.., Bg4; the White Queen will be embarrassed and maybe lost for inadequate compensation. The text move closes out any later adventures by the Queen going to h5. White may have been worried about an eventual push of the f-pawn to f3 after Black brings his Queen to g5. White however has sufficient resources to defend the King’s house with moves such as Rf1-e1, g2-g3 and Bd3-f1. The board is now effectively divided into two parts. Black has control of the K-side. White must find activity for his pieces on the Q-side.
15...h5 16.Kh1 Be7
The most direct path for Black is to continue his play on the K-side with 16..., h4. The move will make White worry more about an assault on his King. The moves 15 f3, and 16 Kh1, indicate Matt was concerned about King safety. Giving him more to worry about is not a bad thing for Black as chess psychology, further, it is technically correct to be active where you are strongest. The game move is thinking about shifting the Bishop around to the g1-a7 diagonal, quite a long winded maneuver. Since, by the rules, White gets his turn, there is much that go wrong with that idea.
7.Ncb4 Nxb4 18.Nxb4 Qc8 19.a4,..
In a timely fashion Clough begins counter-play on the Q-side.
19..., h4 20.axb5 axb5 21.Rg1 Bd8 22.Ra7,..
It is possible 22 Ra6, attacking the pawn on d6 might be better. Black could then reply with the scary looking 22..., Qc5; but after 23 Rc6 Qf2; White has some choices: a) 24 Qe2, safe and sane keeping a very slight edge, b) 24 Rxd6, fishing the tactical waters where; b1) 24..., Bb6 25 Bxb5+ Kf8 and now; b1-1) 26 Rxb6 Rxb6 27 Nd3 Qe3 28 Nxe5 Rxb5 29 Qd8+ Kg7 30 Qg5+ is drawn. The alternative, b1-2) 26 Rxe6 fxe6 27 Qd6+ Kf7 28 Qd7+ Kf6 29 Nd5+!! exd5, (Note; other tries here lead to a loss for Black.) 30 Qf5+ Ke7 31 Qxe5+, and the game is drawn again by perpetual check. These are hard lines to calculate, but they have one virtue for White, just about all the moves are forced. As GM Har-Zvi said: “It is easier to calculate forced lines where most of the moves have a direct threat, than to work your way through positional maneuvering of similar length.” For us at the club level, lines such as those cited are daunting even with the guideposts of direct threats.
22..., Rb7
My game had ended quickly, a win from Cory Northrup, and I was watching this game and the Chu - Saran game nearby looking for news for the blog. My first thought after White played 22 Ra7, was Mr. Barnes would strike with 22..., Bb6; hitting both White Rooks. It’s possible John thought that also. When the position arose after 22 Ra7, he wisely recognized 22..., Bb6; is met by 23 Bxb5+, then the next few moves are without options for Black, 23..., Kf8 24 Qxd6+ Kg7 25 Qxe5+, when White can muster so many threats that Black will not be able to take either Rook before the Black King is mated or other sufficient compensation is accumulated by White. That is not to say things are easy for White. He will have to find powerful attacking moves, four or five at least, but they are all direct tactical threats.
Black can defend the position with 22..., Qc5; making 23..., Bb6; a threat. The game would then be in a very difficult phase with long lines of murky tactical tricks the points of which are trading down to a won ending for either side. Other schemes of defense are first 22..., Kf8; with a later .., Qc5; or secondly, 22..., Rg6; preparing to guard d6 from the flank, or thirdly, 22..., Bd7?!; which after 23 Nd5, leads to exchanges that let some of the tension out of the position.
Both participants had used about one-half of their allotted time by this point in the game. Given the complications it is a surprise they did not use more time.
23.Ra6 Rb6?
A mistake that turns a defendable position into a difficult one. Either 23.., Ke7; or 23..., Qd7; would have been better tries. White would still have a solid edge, but Black could hold on. The game move meets an immediate tactical refutation.
24.Rxb6 Bxb6 25.Bxb5+ Ke7 26.Nc6+ Kf6 27.Qxd6 and Black resigned.
It is true 27..., Bxg1; is brutally refuted by 28 Qxe5+ Kg6 29 Ne7+, a true “family check”. However, Black could have made an attempt to defend with 27..., Qc7. After 28 Qxc7 Bxc7 29 h3 Ra8 30 c4 Ra2 31 Rb1 Bb6 (keeping the White King from entering the fray) 32 b4 Bf2 33 Nb8, (heading towards d5, the best possible place for the Knight) 33..., Ra8 34 Na6 Ra7; and so on. The connected passed pawns are certainly an advantage that presents Black an unenviable defensive task for the long term, but he does have resources to make White play many moves to get the pawns rolling. There is the possibility of transitioning into an ending with Bishops of opposite color and Rooks on the board that is technically difficult. All these make a good argument for continuing the game. I believe Barnes, disappointed by his own misreading of the position at move 23, had no appetite for long, dour defense that is probably hopeless, and so resigned in the interest of getting a good night’s sleep.
Mr. Clough played the game with a verve and energy not commonly seen in players of his experience level. His performance thus far in the Preliminaries, one win and several losses, did not predict this kind of result. He is a competitor who will bear careful handling in the future lest he becomes another “giant killer” in the style of Richard Chu.
Speaking of Mr. Chu, our long serving Club President; he lost his game with Brij Saran. In position with equal pawns, Bishops of opposite color and all the heavy pieces on the board and virtually no measurable imbalances, Richard tried to win what was clearly a drawn position. He met the fate that all of us have experienced when we go against chess logic, defeat. Richard uncompromising fighting spirit is admirable but it depresses his results sometimes.
Sunday evening Gary Farrell and I played our delayed game in the Saratoga Championship. I was White and the opening was the 3 Bb5, Sicilian variation he and I have discussed before over the board. On the long ride home after the game I was feeling pretty good about a win over a strong opponent where we both seemed to have avoided any outright, glaring mistakes. Alas, going over the game Monday morning Rybka point out how both of us missed opportunities. It was an interesting battle and maybe the subject of my next blog.
More soon.
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