The most important game from last Thursday’s first round of the Schenectady Finals was the battle between Patrick Chi and Philip Sells.
It had drama; a not quite mainstream opening variation, a middle game miscalculation by Mr. Sells - unusual, and at the end, a blunder by Mr. Chi in his opponent’s time pressure.
Chi, Patrick - Sells, Philip [E24]
SCC Ch Finals 2011 Schenectady, NY, 03.02.2011
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.f3,..
Szabo, L., the Hungarian GM from the post-WWII period was the first notable player I can find who championed 4. f3. Both Botvinnik and Bronstein tried it out in the 60’s with out any great success. In later years GM Victor Moskalenko has taken up the move and won several games with it. Not exactly theoretically approved, but with a logical intention - building a broad center, the move has surprise value without taking great risks.
4..., d5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 0–0 7.e3,..
As much as White might want to play 7 e2-e4, right away, it is too dangerous after 7..., dxe4; for then the White King will be in a cold draft. White has to bide his time preparing an eventual e3-e4 push after he has developed his forces and made a comfortable home for his King.
7..., c5
While the game is not in the mainstream of the Nimzo-Indian, Black’s methods are typical of the Nimzo; pressure against the center with an eye to weakening it in the long run.
8.Bd3 Nc6 9.Ne2 b6 10.cxd5 exd5 11.0–0 Bb7 12.Rb1 Qe7 13.Ng3 Rac8 14.Qe1!?,..
I am uncertain about this move. It is possible 14 Nf5, first might be better. It follows Ficher’s standard prescription; get your Knights close to the enemy King, if nothing else, such may provoke a weakening pawn move. There is however, another idea here for White; granting Black’s wish and giving up the center. In this case, White’s motivation is to transform his presence in the center into a more favorable and active piece placement. This comes about after 14 Nf5 Qd7 15 dxc5! Bxc5 16 e4 dxe4 17 Bxe4 Qxd1 18 Rxd1 Nxe4 19 fxe4, when the White pieces are more aggressively placed, the pawn on c5 will take some looking after and Black will have to be on guard for there are a number of threats; Nd6 attacking c8 and b7, Be3 attacking c5 and a7, Bf4 keeping the Black Rooks from opposing on the b-file, as well as Rd1-d5 preparing to double Rooks on the d-file.
14...,Qc7 15.Bd2 Rfe8 16.Qf2 Na5 17.Nf5,..
Playing over the Szabo, Botvinnik, Bronstein and Moslalenko games this Knight landing on f5 is seen often. That frequency indicates this is one of the natural moves in the position.
Nc4?! 18.Bc1?!,..
A decision that is difficult to take is 18 Bxc4, but it is a way to make use of the Nf5. Play could go; 18 Bxc4 dxc4 19 e4 cxd4 20 cxd4 c3 21 Bg5, when according to Rybka, Black may have to return the piece by sacrificing the Bishop on e4 to keep the fight going.
18..., Nd6 19.e4 Nxf5?
With plenty of time on the clock, the complications get the better of Philip. Here 19..., dxe4; promises more for Black. Play continues 20 Bf4 exd3 21 dxc5 Nxf5 22 Bxc7 Re2!; and the Queen has no moves permitting Black to bring the material imbalance closer to even. More importantly, after 23 cxb6 Rxf2 24 Rxf2 axb6 25 Bxb6 Ba6; Black has two Knights for the Rook and a well supported passed pawn on d3 with which to bedevil White. According to some observations by Soltis in Rethinking the Chess Pieces, Batsford, London, 2004, the pawn on d3 that will make the difference. It keeps the Rooks from behaving as Rooks should. Also, the Knights have several squares in the center through which they can maneuver to harass any blockader on d2. That will make serious problems for White. In all truthfulness, going into this complicated line is a challenge for any of us playing locally. To do so requires a very accurate calculation of complicated positions and considerable self-confidence.
20.e5!?,..
This leads to even more complications. They seem to favor White, but Black certainly obtains some practical chances. Simpler is 20 exf5, leaving Black to chose between 20..., c4; taking up a stubborn and more passive defensive stance, or 20..., cxd4; opting for a more open kind of struggle. Either way Black’s minor pieces are not quite as good as the White Bishop pair. The text elects to mix things up tactically.
20..., Ne4!?
One has to admire these two warriors. Neither shrinks from raising the level of tension in the position, both are willing to risk material loss if they can get activity for their pieces. The main alternative for Black is 20..., Nxd4; then a standard continuation is; 21 cxd4 Nd7 22 Bf4 Qd8 23 Rfd1 cxd4 24 Qxd4 Nc5 25 Bb5 Re6; when the immediate middle game may be slightly in favor of Black. White can try for better with 21 exf6 Ne6 22 fxg7, and in exchange for the pawn he has broken up the shield of the Black King with the potential to bring the Bishop pair into action on the K-side.
The game move risks material for piece activity.
21.fxe4 dxe4 22.Bb5 g6 23.Bxe8 Rxe8
An Exchange is gone, but in return Black has a pawn and his unpromising Bb7 is much stronger than it has been for several moves. A lesson here for the less experienced players; chess is not a mechanical toting up of relative piece values. In fact, as Botvinnik appreciated long ago, a good deal of the beauty of the game is when imagination turns upside down the value of one piece to another.
24.Be3 cxd4
I rather like 24..., Ba6 25 Rfd1 Bd3; securing the pawn on e4 and making the Bishop a player in the center of the board. My guess is Philip wanted to maintain the Bishop on b7 as the basis for threats along the long diagonal, another worthy goal.
25.cxd4 Qc3 26.Rfe1 Bd5 27.g4 Nxe3 28.Qxe3 Rc8 29.Qxc3 Rxc3 30.Ra1?,..
White misses, or passes on the opportunity to steer to a safe have with 30 a4, then 30..., Rc4 31 a5 bxa5 32 Rb5 Rxd4 33 Rxa5, and the active try 33..., Rd2 is met by 34 Re3. The last Q-side pawn will fall, and the White King has just enough breathing room to avoid any tactics. As important is that one of the White Rooks will have activity to offset the extra Black pawns. I say “misses or passes” because there was no time to discuss with Patrick what he was thinking when taking this decision. It could very well be Mr. Chi harbored the wish to take the full point and looked for a way to do so.
30..., Rd3 31.Red1 Bb3!
The game was now about to become a “time pressure cooker” as is often the case with Mr. Sells. White had about 35 minutes at this point, pretty comfortable, and Black about 12 minutes. That would be tough for many players but is only mild time pressure for Sells.
The move played may have been overlooked by Patrick, or he did not value it highly. Rybka, saya White is fine after the forced line 32 Rxd3 exd3 33 Kf2 d2 34 Ke2 d8 (Q) 35 Rxd8 Bxd8+ 36 Kxd8. However, after 36..., f5; 37 gxf5 gxf5; Rybka says Black is winning! That seemed to me to be a very sudden change by the machine. What is going on? My error was not looking hard enough at each and every move. After 36..., f5; White has to play the unnatural looking 37 exf6 e.p., then he brings his King up to b5. Black has to make a couple of moves; ..,h7-h6; to prevent g4-g5; and .., Kf7; to prepare to capture the pawn on f6. That is just enough time for the White King to get to b5. Then if Black tries to make a race out of it, the White King will get the pawns on a7 and b6 while the Black King wins the pawns on d4 and a3. The White King is then just enough closer to the K-side than is the Black King to win the game in the final race back across the board. What a huge piece of calculation to be done in the fast fleeing minutes left. Patrick used many of his remaining minutes and did not find en passant capture on move 37, or at least he could not see the picture clearly enough to decide to go that way. In defense of Patrick’s decision, things become murky when there is a very long line to calculate. In this case there are several points where more than one option has to be considered making the task even more perplexing. The move played is a nicely creative way to keep the game going.
32 Rdb1?!,..
As creative as it is, White’s move gives Black one more pawn shifting the balance clearly in favor of Black.
32..., Be6 33.Rb4,..
It is not to late to repeat moves with 33 Rd1, to test Philip’s resolve about winning. If 33 Rd1 Bxg4 34 Rxd3 exd3 35 Ra2, leaves White with an edge, not clearly winning but with greater chances than Black. Of course, Black can repeat the position with 33..., Bb3. I believe Patrick was unwilling to agree the draw as long as there is fight left in the position because that is his nature.
32..., Bxg4 34.d5 Rxd5 35.Rxe4 Bf5 36.Re3 Kf8 37.Rc1 Ke7 38.Kf2 Bd7 39.Rc7 a5 40.Kg3 Ke6 41.Rb7 b5 42.Rb6+ Ke7
Now things have become clear; White has one Rook well and truly activated, the other, with his King, guards the scattered pawns and the game is entirely level. Sells’ time dropped below five minutes remaining about here. This was the likely moment for Patrick to offer a draw. Instead he wagers on time pressure to help his cause.
43.Ra6 b4 44.axb4 axb4 45.Rb6 Rd4 46.Rb3 Re4 47.Rd3,..
A little tactical interlude threatening to pin and win the Bd7. Black is as alert as always when he is in time pressure and avoids the mistake.
47..., Be6 48.Kf3 Rxe5 49.Rxb4 h5
White has eliminated the Q-side pawns and has his King well placed for defense. The game is about even, nevertheless, the side with the extra pawns has the winning chances, even if they are not huge.
50.Rc3 g5 51.Rb8 Bd5+ 52.Kf2 Be6 53.Rg8 Kf6 54.Rd8 g4 55.Kg3 Kg5 56.Rg8+ Kf6 57.Rd8 Kg5 58.Rh8?,..
More sensible is checking on g8 once again just to see if Sells is willing to draw. Mr. sells was under 11 seconds by now, and Mr. Chi had something over ten minutes. Mr. Chi falls into an error I have watched Steve Taylor and others make with Mr. Sells; underestimating just how well he can play quickly. Philip Sells uses much time in his games, but he seems to use it effectively to understand the ins and outs of the position. It is not often Sells will slip up even when he is down to not much more than the five second delay for his moves.
58..., Rf5 59.Re3 Ra5 60.Re1 Rb5 61.Re3 Ra5 62.Rg8+ Kf6 63.Re4 Ra3+ 64.Kg2??,..
This costs a piece and the game. The only move is 64 Kf2, then 64..., h4; and Black is making progress
64..., Bd5 65.Rge8 Ra4 0–1
The game rolled on for some more moves. Sells had just a few seconds on the clock and Chi was under five minutes. There was no doubt, with the piece soon to be picked up and the advance of the extra pawns, Black was going to win.
More soon.
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