The bright spot for the Albany B team was board 1. There John Morse notched a victory over Michael Mockler using an opening sequence on which he holds the patent.
Morse, John - Mockler, Michael [A45]
Alb B v Geezers CDCL Match Guilderland, NY, 11.05.2011
1.d4 e6 2.f4 Nf6 3.Nf3 b6 4.Be3!?,..
You will search long to find any examples of this kind of development by anyone but John Morse. Its rarity has the advantage of putting both sides on their own. They can’t rely on theory and decades of GM practice to guide them through to a playable middle game. All that is true, but the idea is suspect. Taking a couple of moves to “develop” the dark squared Bishop to the unpromising post on f2 should not give White any advantage. Nevertheless, Morse has won a number of games from strong opponents with his invention.
4..., Bb7 5.Bf2 Be7 6.e3 c5 7.Bd3 cxd4 8.exd4 Qc7 9.g3 Nc6 10.c3 Rc8
Black is equal and maybe slightly better. The Bf2 does not strike one as particularly impressive.
11.0–0 0–0 12.Nbd2 Na5 13.Qe2 d6 14.f5 exf5 15.Bxf5 Rce8 16.Rfe1 Bd8 17.Qd3 g6 18.Bh3 Bd5 19.b3 Be6
Everything has been straight forward. Both sides have gone about carrying out their plans. White has caused Black to accept the worse pawn formation. The Bf2 may have a future if White gets to play c3-c4, and d4-d5. The Bishop can then go to d4, a pretty good post and quite a resurrection for that piece.
Black has to be aware that White has a resource in the constrained situation of the Black Rf8. The possibility of Bf2/e3/h6 needs to be addressed. This suggests 19..., Rxe1+; to take care of the problem. Then Black has to concern himself about the c3-c4 and d4-d5 plan mentioned. To deal with the potential breakout by White a line of play for Black maybe: 19..., Rxe1+ 20 Rxe1 b5 21 Bf1 Bc6; and the balance is held. If White snaps up the b-pawn; 21 Qxb5 Qxc3 22 Bg2 Bb6; gives Black some advantage.
After the game move White has a solid edge. Black will have to be very accurate to avoid bigger problems. Coming pressure down the e-file threatens to win material.
20.Bxe6 fxe6 21.Re2 Ng4?
In many games where Morse uses his invention, we see the opponent spending time to trade off this effectively placed Knight for the Bf2. In a broad sense the temptation is gambit-like. Black gets a Bishop for a Knight and removes any chance of the c&d-pawn advance creating the dangerous d4 outpost for the Bishop. For White; he is happy Black uses time to remove the Bf2, and the time granted will be used to improve the position of his remaining pieces. Mr. Mockler has in mind some idea of gaining a chance to advance the e-pawn successfully dissolving the weakness. A reasonable notion that just falls short.
I believe Black should attend to the weakness at e3 with 21..., Qd7; waiting for White to move the Nf3 to g5 before uncovering his own threat with .., Ng4. Play could continue; 21..., Qd7 22 Rae1 Nc6 23 Ng5 ng4 24 Ndf3 Bxg5 25 Nxg5 Rf5; when Black is well on his way to getting in the .., e6-e5; advance that sets his game to rights.
22.Rae1 e5?
Completing the error. Here there is good chance to keep the game closer to level with 22..., Nc6! Then if 23 Rxe6 Nce5 24 Nxe5 Nxe5 25 R6xe5 dxe5 26 d5, and Black has the Exchange for a pawn. This line favors White notwithstanding the material plus for Black. The strong passed d-pawn and the very strong e4 outpost for the Knight in support suggests White has good winning possibilities. And, if White takes another path ignoring the e-pawn for the moment say with 23 Be3, a complicated mess in the center results after 23..., e5. It gives up the pawn but keeps more material on the board than in the game. More material on the board the greater are the technical problems for the side with the extra pawn. The text allows simplification along with the win of material.
23.dxe5 Nxf2 24.Kxf2 dxe5 25.Qd5+,..
This maybe the resource that Black overlooked in his calculations. Without it Black is not so bad. The loss of a whole healthy pawn in a game between these two experienced opponents usually means the loss of the game also.
25..., Kg7 26.Rxe5 Rxe5 27.Qxe5+ Qxe5 28.Rxe5 Bf6 29.Re3 Bg5 30.Rd3 1–0
White has a substantial advantage. He will make good use of his active Rook to help engineer the exchange of a pair of minor pieces or the Rooks. Either way advances the cause of the extra pawn. Faced with a long and hopeless task of defense Black resigned.
Just before the Morse - Mockler game ended, I was able to win my game with Alowitz. So early in the match the score was even. We had to wait for a bit, then surprisingly Montross won what had, at one moment, appeared to be a bad game against Eson and the Geezers led! There was another ninety minutes of anxiety, including some extreme time trouble, before John Phillips brought home the third point to win the match.
More soon.
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