Last night, Wednesday saw the AACC B team played Saratoga B team in the CDCL. This Albany B team is certainly pretty strong. It is led by John Morse and Peter Henner on the top two boards. Albany B won the match 3 - 1. Jason Denham scored the lone point for Saratoga B. I will have more details on the match in the future, I think.
Jason Denham helpfully provided me with this game of his from the recent Empire State Open. It was played in the Under 1610 Section of the tournament.
Clough, Matthew - Denham, Jason [C18]
Empire State Open Saratoga Springs, NY, 17.04.2011
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 Ne7 7.f4!?,..
Jason wrote this was a surprise to him. Rightly so. More common is 7 Nf3. Another common try is 7 Qg4. The game is in the heart of the venerable Winawer variation; land of my youth. It is a line I played as Black from 1950 to about 1980. White typically is scheming to find useful employment for his Bc1. To that end he often considers a3-a4 without too much concern about the a-pawn falling if he can put the Bishop on the a3-f8 diagonal. If it gets there before the Black King castles short great, if not, there usually is a Black Knight pinned over the Rf8. At the same time as action on the a3-f8 diagonal is undertaken, White may begin piece play frontally on the Black King and won’t shrink at advancing his h-pawn to add fat to the fire.
The whole of Winawer complex is rife with long well analyzed lines reaching as deep as move 20 or more. The text takes the game out of those and makes for something that is a cross between the Advanced and the Winawer variations. Not necessarily bad, but certainly less than usual.
7..., Nbc6!?
When confronted by this position, Black very often plays 7..., Qa5; then 8 Bd2 Qa4; satisfied the White dark squared Bishop will not see activity for sometime. He frequently follows up with .., c5-c4; effectively cutting the board in to two parts. This all leads to a heavy duty positional battle where Black should not castle short early, if at all. White may substitute 8 Qd2, for 8 Bd2, leaving the Bc1 to guard the a-pawn and putting the Rook on b1.
8.Nf3 0–0 9.Bd3 Ng6
A more standard scheme is 9..., h6; to keep the Knight out of g5 and 10..., Qa5; is seen often.
10.0–0 Qc7 11.Be3 c4 12.Be2 Nce7 13.g4 Bd7
Without the Queen going to a5, Black has a less dynamic set-up than is ideal. Still-in-all, he has no problems that can not be handled. White has to make something aggressive happen on the K-side soon.
14.Qe1 f5 15.g5 Kf7?!
Mr. Denham wrote about the game that it was interesting that both players undertook journeys of their Kings to the Q-side. It is interesting, but the Black King made a much longer journey, and that trip was not well advised. In this specific case, the need for running away does not appear to be any immediate threatened sequence, rather just a general feeling of unease because White is advancing pawns. When the opponent undertakes some kind of long-winded maneuver and you have resources at hand to meet the threat, why use time to run away? The move 15..., Ba4; would have given White a great deal to think about. Worrying about the loss of the c2-pawn will require White to use time in defense delaying even further the terribly slow moving offensive he is beginning.
16.h4 Rh8?
More useful is 16..., Nc6; clearing a retreat for the Nf6 and keeping the Rooks connected.
17.Qg3?,..
If you are going to attack time is always important, therefore 17 h5, makes sense to spoil the coordination of the Black pieces.
17..., Rag8 18.Kf2 h5!
So much for the slow motion assault. White will either agree to locking the K-side tight, or he will open up lines where Black is well placed to meet any incursion.
19.gxh6 gxh6 20.Qh3 Ke8?
The King has a role on f7 helping to guard entry squares along the b-file. What he will do on the other side of the board never becomes clear.
21.Rg1?,..
The bold advance 21 h5, makes more sense. Advancing the h-pawn frees h4 for the Knight traveling to g6 in some eventualities, it stuffs the Black minor pieces into a cluster that will take time to unwind.
21..., Kd8 22.Nh2?,..
Again 22 h5, is called for.
22..., Be8?
Allowing White to play 23 a4, reliving some of his cramp on the Q-side.
23.a4 Nc6 24.Nf3 Nge7 25.h5 Kc8 26.Rgb1 Rg7 27.Bc1?,..
Very late White begins to think about making something out of the dark squared Bishop. Seems unlikely this Bishop will come out on a3 because f4 can be brought under some threat with .., Rg4; whenever Black desires.
27..., Rhg8 28.Ba3 b6 29.Qh4 Rg4?!
Neither side has well prepared the battlefield, and both are determined to have the tactical clash right now. A drop of caution with 29..., Qd7; would make 30 Qf6, very dangerous after 30..., Bxa5 31 Qxh6 Ng6 32 Qxh5? (32 Rh1) 32..., Nxf4 33 Qh6 Rg2+ 34 Kf1 Nxe2; recovering the piece and remaining a pawn ahead. The worst of it is Black still has strong attacking possibilities in hand.
30.Qf6 Bxh5 31.Qxe6+ Qd7 32.Qxh6 Be8?
Black gets cautious too late. Having enter wild complications it is not often you can slip into the safety of quiet maneuver. The right move is 32..., Ng6; again with play similar to the previous note. White now has a significant edge.
33.a5,..
Perhaps 33 Nh4, to push back the Rook and cover g2 before advancing the a-pawn would be better.
33..., R8g6 34.Qh8 Rg8 35.Qh6 R8g6 36.Qh1 Nxa5 37.e6?,..
After some back and forth White lashes out. More circumspect is 37 Qh2, willingly giving up the Queen for two Rooks. One condition that helps Rooks battle a Queen is having several minor pieces on the board according to Soltis. In addition, with Black Rooks off the White King is much safer. The text is an error that loses material.
37..., Qc7?!
There is nothing wrong with the simple 37..., Qxe6. The passed pawn is eliminated, and White is much worse.
38.Ne5 Rxf4+ 39.Bf3 Rxe6 40.Kg3 Ng6!
This may be the move White did not foresee. The Rook at f4 is well secured. If 41 Nxg6, even the materialistic 41..., Rxg6+; is winning. If Black wants to combined a little he can play 42..., Rxd4+ 43 Kg2 Rd2+, and it is mate very soon.
41.Bxd5 Rg4+?!
A clean finish come after 41..., Rxe5.
42.Kf2 Rf4+ 43.Ke3 Rxe5+ 44.dxe5 Qxe5+ 45.Kd2 Rf2+ 46.Kc1 Qe2?
Missing the natural stroke 46..., Qe3+ 47 Kb2 Rxc2+ 48 Kxc2 Ba4+ 49 Kb2 Qd2 mate. The game thrashes on for a few more moves, but the exposed King is too much of problem for White to survive.
47.Be6+ Qxe6 48.Qa8+ Kc7 49.Qxa7+ Nb7 50.Bc5 Rf1+ 51.Kd2 Qd5+ 52.Bd4 Qg2+ 0–1
An up and down tussle between two team mates from the Saratoga B team. Neither side quite has a handle on the standard ideas in the French. That is a subject worth their time to study. The French comes up often in games locally, and mastering the theory will pay off in full and half points.
More soon.
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