Two important games were drawn last Wednesday evening in the second round of the AACC Preliminaries. Jonathan Lack and Glen Perry had a very even struggle in an offbeat Sicilian that ended with a split point after 42 moves. Tim Wright and Gordon Magat stayed more in the mainstream in a long fight drawing on move 63. Time was short in the end, and although Mr. Wright had the extra pawn in a Bishops of opposite color ending with chances to win, he did not find the path to victory. The last few moves were played very quickly and perhaps something was missed. Unfortunately, the game score I copied is incorrect after move 14 or 15, just when the play became really interesting. I will post what I have in hopes that one of the participants will send me a correct score and we can have the whole game for consideration.
The game Lack - Perry had two of the contenders for first place with the potential for one or the other to break to the front early in the tournament. Such was not to be; the opponents were too evenly matched.
Jonathan, Lack - Glen, Perry [B23]
AACC Prelim 2 Guilderland, NY, 01.12.2010
1.e4 c5 2.Nc3,..
Jonathan abhors the open Sicilian lines. Why give up a center pawn with 2 d4 for a wing pawn? The recently departed chess hero, Bent Larsen, was the most famous practitioner of that philosophy at a high level.
2..., a6
Taking the game into some kind of O’Kelly Variation. Database searches identify not many Grandmasters playing this way.
3.a4,..
And fewer still making this move. There some games between IM’s in this line with results about evenly split.
3..., Nc6 4.Nge2 Nf6 5.g3 d5!?
Lack, as is his habit, avoided opening the center against the Sicilian. I guess, Perry has a contrarian notion here; if White wants a closed center forcing an opening there will make him less comfortable. Either a) preparing the move .., d6-d5; with 5.., e6; or trying to force some weakening around the White King by playing 5..., h5; and even the usual theme when White rushes a pawn to a4, 5.., Nb4; occupying a not so well guarded square and maintaining some say over d5, all are alternatives that are less committal.
6.exd5 Nxd5 7.Bg2 Be6?!
Black is lagging in development. Strangely enough, another move with the Nd5 would work out better for Black: 7.., Nb4; and either 8 0-0, or 8 d3, can be answered by 8..., e5. Black then has set the stage for a fairly normal development with a minimum of tactical drama.
8.d4?!..,
An attempt to be active that is misses a chance to make something out of the momentary lack of coordination in the Black camp. The pawn on c5 is not defended and the Be6 is awkward there. To get at these small, niggling problems White should play 8 Ne4, hitting the c-pawn. If Black casually defends c5 with 8..., Qb6?! 9 Ng5, and game is entering a tactical maelstrom. White has a strong initiative that Black can only meet with very accurate play. Black probably would defend c5 with 8.., b6; then 9 0-0, and if Black continues 9..., g6? White obtains the advantage after 10 d4. Black, of course has options, but picking through the choices would require hard work; 9..., Bg4; 9..., Rc8; 9..., c4; and 9..., Bf5; none of which have clear tactical guideposts and need careful positional evaluation before choosing. The text passes by the opportunity to test Black’s positional judgment and enters a forcing sequence.
8..., Nxc3 9.bxc3 Bd5 10.0–0 e6 11.Be3 b6?
A small but telling mistake by Mr. Perry. Better is 11..., Bxg2 12 Kxg2 cxd4 13 cxd4 Qd5+ 14 f3 Qc4; when the game is equal. White has a bit more say in the center - the pawn on d4, while Black has pressure on the light squares on the Q-side - if ever the natural c2-c3, .., Nc6-a5.
12.Nf4!?..,
A normal way to continue is 12 Bxd5 Qxd5 13 Rb1, to be followed by 14 Nf4, leaving White with a lead in development and the makings of a strong initiative.
12...,Bxg2 13.Kxg2 g5?
This a more significant error by Glen. White now can have a marked advantage with the sacrificial line; 14 Nxe6! fxe6 15 Qh5+ Kd7 16 cxd5 Qe8 17 Rfd1+ Kc7 18 cxb6+ Kb7 19 Qxg5, netting four pawns for the piece and keeping the initiative.
14.Qf3!?,..
Not an altogether bad move. It is however, not as forcing as 14 Nxe6.
14..., Nxd4 15.Bxd4 cxd4 16.Qc6+?..,
Impatience. The calm and dangerous move is 16 Nh5 It just about forces 16..., Rc8; then 17 Rfe1!, and Black is in serious trouble. For example one possible continuation is: 17..., Be7 18 Ng7+ Kd7 19 Rad1, and White is better. Black can maybe defend this position, but it will require great accuracy. After the text, if Black is clear sighted enough, and brave, he can hold and maybe his own winning chances.
16..., Ke7 17.Qb7+ Kf6 18.Nh5+ Kg6
The White attack has run out of steam. The reward for the brave march of the Black King from e8 to g6 is the balance begins to swing his way.
19.g4 Qd5+ 20.Qxd5 exd5 21.cxd4 Bd6 22.Rab1 Rab8 23.f4?!..,
Maybe Lack still has faith in his attacking chances, but this way does not do the trick. Better 23 Rb3, apparently increasing pressure on the b-pawn, but really the Rook is to go to f3 - threat Rf6#. One line in this idea is 23..., Rhc8 24 Rf3 Be7 25 Re1 Bd8 28 Re8, pointing up the vulnerability of the Black King. A way Black can deal with 23 Rb3, is 23..., Rhc8 24 Rf3 Bf4; then 25 Nxf4+ gxf4 26 Rxf4 Rxc2; with equality.
23..., gxf4 24.Nxf4+ Bxf4 25.Rxf4 Rhc8 26.Rbf1 Rxc2+ 27.Kg3,..
The scheme White has hit upon illustrates the key feature of endings where all the Rooks are on the board: A pair of Rooks working together on a rank or a file can offset the loss of a pawn or two. This is especially true when the line of the cooperating Rooks is in close proximity to the opponent’s King.
27..., Rb7 28.Rf6+ Kg7 29.R6f5 Rd7
More urgent is 29..., b5; but White can defend by making the most of his Rooks cooperation. The balance of the game shows how even a supported past pawn is not quite enough to prevail over the drawn nature of double Rook endings.
30.Rg5+ Kf8 31.Rf6 Rc4 32.Rxb6 Rxa4 33.Rh5 Rxd4 34.Rxa6 Re4 35.Rxh7 d4 36.Kf3 Re5 37.Ra2 Re1 38.Kf2 Rd1 39.Ke2 Rg1 40.Kf3 Re1 41.Rd2 Re3+ 42.Kf2 ½–½
The other game I have is Wright - Magat.
Tim , Wright - Gordon, Magat [E94]
AACC Prelim 1 Guilderland, NY, 01.12.2010
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d6 4.e4 Bg7 5.Nf3 0–0 6.Be2,..
One of the very common positions of modern chess. Everyone who is anyone in the elite of chess has played this position from either or both sides.
6..., Nbd7
This is not quite so popular with all of the elite players. The guys who have used this move are no slouches. John Nunn seemed quite convinced that the text was the best move for a long time, and such stars as Svidler, Movesian, Ehlvest, Tal and Hort found it to be very useful many times. World Champions Fischer and Kasparov preferred a line that has become standard beginning, 6..., e5. This move is possible because of the tactic 7 dxe5 dxe5 8 Qxd8 Rxd8 9 Nxe5 Nxe4; and 10 Nxf7? Bxc3+ wins a piece, or 10 Nxe4 Bxe5 11 Bg5 Bxb2 12 Rb1 Re8. Black may eventually have to return the pawn to get a satisfactory development. Overall, GM practice favors Black chances. For this reason White at the top level does not capture on e5 and plays instead d4-d5, then Black has the choice of piece play and a tactical defense of d6 a la Averbakh in the Zurich Inter Zonal, 1953 after .., exd4; or ..Nbd7; transposing to the game.
7.0–0 e5 8.Bg5,..
Now the game is moving away from how the elite treat this position. The aforementioned 8 d5, is the most common move used by the best players. When they don’t advance the d-pawn; 8 Qc2, 8 Re1, and sometimes 8 Be3, are tried more often than the text.
8..., h6 9.Be3 exd4 10.Nxd4 Re8 11.f3 c6 12.Qd2 Kh7
While this position looks very normal, it is uncommon in my databases. Only two examples were found in 2.5 million games. The most recent game is Foigel - Lokasto, Moscow, 1991. White won in 54 moves. The other game is Casas - Cruz, Argentine Ch, 1963. There Black won in 45 moves.
13.Rac1,..
In both games White put this Rook on d1. Either way Deep Rybka favors White by about one-half pawn. In other words, White has the expected edge that goes with the first move.
13..., Nb6 14.Rfd1 ½–½ in 63 moves.
At this point my record of the game becomes confusing. Somehow moves were transposed and I did not catch the error at the time. Help! Tim or Gordon if you see this, send me the corrected game score if possible. The ending is most interesting. After the game, Tim and I had a brief discussion. He thought the Bishops of opposite color was won at some point. I was not so certain. Putting the moves of the ending through Ryka and perhaps the endgame table bases may give a definitive answer.
Thursday evening another round of the Schenectady Championship Preliminary tourneys was played. Three games of note were; a short draw between John Phillips and Michael Mockler, a French Defense in about 15 or 16 moves, and an upset loss by John Barnes to Matt Clough. Barnes was rated about five hundred points above Matt, and Matt has not had much success in this event until the game with Barnes. Richard Chu, who was among the leaders, lost to Brij Saran after trying too hard to win what was a drawn position.
More soon.
No comments:
Post a Comment