Next Wednesday, March 30 the second lecture for new players will be held at the Union Presbyterian Church on Route 20, Guilderland, NY for the Albany Area Chess Club. Doors open at 7:00pm and the lecture will get underway at 7:30. The plan is to do a few position memory exercises and to examine one or more interesting positions. Last month we ended up with eight folks attending. All are welcome.
On Wednesday, March 23, the RPI team played a CDCL match with the AACC team at the at the AACC site. The Albany Club won 4 - 0. In contrast to their match with the Schenectady Geezers, RPI did not have near as many winning chances in this contest. That makes sense as the AACC team is more highly rated than are the Geezers.
I am not sure of the board numbers other than that Dean Howard and Carlos Varela were on the first board.
Howard, Dean - Varela, Carlos [B22]
AACC v RPI CDCL Match Guilderland, NY, 23.03.2011
This was a game that appeared more exciting while it was played than it is when checked over with the computer.
1.e4 c5 2.c3 g6 3.d4 b6
White is already looking a bit better. If Black wants to avoid trouble 3..., cxd4; is the move to play.
4.Be3 d6?
This is too much provocation. Better 4..., Qc7; or 4..., Bb7.
5.dxc5 bxc5?
Losing significant material. Making the best of a bad situation with 5..., dxc5; is correct. After 6 Qxd8+, White is clearly better but the game is not lost.
6.Qd5 Qb6
Carlos is a creative player with the ability to find moves in tough positions. My guess is he did not know quite enough about the line played and now was improvising. He thought long about this move. Watching I was uncertain here about whether just what is going on. Was this whole line some slightly offbeat trap, or had Mr. Varela just erred when capturing with the b-pawn?
7.Qxa8,..
Dean did spend some time calculating here but not so much as to indicate he worked out all the lines to a finish. I am sure one factor made going for the material reasonably easy was after he gets the Rook, the worst case is White might have to let his Queen go for a minor piece. With a Rook and a minor piece for the Queen he’d have close to full compensation, and there is every reason to believe White will be ahead in effective development.
7..., e6
I expected 7..., Qxb2; here. Then 8 Bb5+ Qxb5 9 Nd2, threatens 10 Rb1, and Black’s game is wrecked because 9..., Qd7 10 Qxb8, when White has a full Rook for a mere pawn.
8.a4 Ne7 9.Bb5+ Kd8 10.Na3 Nec6 11.Bg5+,..
Also good is 11 Nc4, straight away. Then 11..., Qc7 12 Bxc6 Nxc6 13 Rd1, with ideas similar to the game as well as threatening to capture on c5 with the Bishop. I was now certain
11..., Be7 12.Nc4 Qc7 13.Rd1!,..
Offering the Bg5 to gain time. The pitiful huddle of Black minor pieces on the Q-side and the complete absence of any conceivable role for the Rh8 tell a tale of an opening gone wrong.
13..., Bb7 14.Rxd6+ Qxd6 15.Nxd6,..
White has more than one way to win. Good also is 15 Qxb7 Qc7 16 Qxc7+ Kxc7 17 Bf4+, safely keeping the extra piece.
15..., Bxa8 16.Nxf7+ Ke8 17.Bxe7 Kxf7 18.Bxc5,..
There is nothing more to say. The game ran on for some more moves but the issue was not in doubt.
18..., Nd7 19.Be3 Nde5 20.Nf3 Kf6 21.Nxe5 Nxe5 22.Bd4 Bxe4 23.f4 Kf5 24.Bxe5 Rd8 [25.Ke2 Bxg2 26.Rg1 Bh3 27.Bd3+ 1–0
I am not certain if Lack - Katz was Board 2 or Board 3 for this match.
Lack, Jonathan - Katz, Max [B24]
RPI v AACC CDCL Match Guilderland, NY, 23.03.2011
Jon Lack has some firm convictions about openings. As I said to Max after the game, Lack has one plan only, and then Jon added “But it works!” This game is an example of the truth of that statement.
1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 e6 3.Nge2 Nc6 4.g3 Nf6 5.Bg2 Be7 6.0–0 0–0 7.d3 d6 8.f4,..
Lack meets the Sicilian with a closed treatment almost always. He subscribes to the wisdom of Bent Larson: Why trade the center d-pawn for a flank pawn? Most often Jonathan’s games in the Sicilian take on the flavor of the Grand Prix Attack; the White f-pawn heads for f5 leading an expansion on the K-side with a mating attack to follow.
A bit of hard won knowledge; if you play the Sicilian and your opponent puts his Knight on e2 and fianchettos the light squared Bishop, one good way to play is to fianchetto your own K-side Biishop and put a pawn on e6. The e6 and g6-pawns backed up by the Bc8 make the advance f4-f5 difficult. If no f4-f5 for White, the whole K-side pawn rush scheme is slowed down. This not to say the general idea of the Grand Prix is stopped cold, rather Black can make carrying out the scheme difficult, and while doing so he can find active play elsewhere.
8..., Qc7 9.h3 a6
Objectively Black has equalized at this point. There is a caveat however; White intends a pawn storm on the home of the Black King. That much is clear from the deployment of the White forces. Black has to be prepared to take timely action to meet the assault. It is also clear that counter-play for Black; advance on the Q-side, or a push in the center is not quite so forceful as the direct attack on his King. This imbalance of threat levels requires Black to be very accurate in assessment and calculation as the coming attack develops.
10.g4 b5 11.Ng3 Bb7 12.f5 e5?
One error and the balance swings in favor of White. The text gives up control of d5, closes out any opportunity for a central pawn push to break open the center - one of the standard methods of meeting a flank attack, and grants White too much latitude on the K-side. Better is 12..., h6; if then 13 h4!? Nh7 14 g5 hxg5 15 hxg5, and Black can chose from the options 15..., Nxg5; 15..., b4; 15..., Bxg5; and 15..., Nd4; all of which are equal or slightly better for Black. After the game move, Black has permitted White to isolate the K-side theater from the rest of the board and there White enjoys a preponderance of force.
13.g5 Ne8 14.Nd5 Qd8 15.Qg4 Bc8 16.h4 f6?
The threats on the K-side have made Black retreat over the last few moves. The move played concedes another critical point to White. Offering some small hope is 16..., Nb4; looking to trade off the annoying Nd5 thereby cutting down the number of attacking pieces hovering near the Black King. The end now comes quickly.
17.g6 hxg6
If 17..., h6 18 Qh5, (threatening the Bishop sac on h6) 18..., Qd7 19 Bxh6 gxh6 20 Nb6 Qa7 21 Qxh6 Bd8 22 Nxa8 Qd7 23 Qd2 Bb7 24 h5 Bxa8 25 h6, when although Black has some material compensation, two minor pieces for a Rook and two pawns, the pawns being connected on the sixth rank ensure an advantage for White. After the game move, White controls the light squares around the Black King. It is interesting to see the helplessness of the Black pieces near the Black King to prevent the shuffle of the White Queen and Bishop that finishes the game.
\18.Qxg6 Rf7 19.Bf3 Bf8 20.Bh5 Raa7 21.Qg4 Rfd7 22.Bg6 1–0
Checkmate comes soon after 23 Qh5. Simple direct ideas forcefully executed. The defender was not aware of some of the standard ideas necessary to make successful defense, and that makes the game a useful example of the ideas underlying the Closed Sicilian.
The other games from this match will be covered in my next post.
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