I have already reported that Patrick Chi won the top section of the recently completed Schenectady Open. Following Patrick were Louis Petithory, Stanislav Busygin, Chen Qu and Peter Zaas all at 3 - 1. Gordon Magat was the highest of the other local finishers at 2 ½ - 1 ½. There were 16 players in the Open section.
In the Under 1700 section George La Duouceur was first at 4 - 0. Following him were Schenectady players Matt Clough and Cory Northrup at 3 - 1. There were 13 players in this section.
With 19 contestants, the Under 1100 section was the largest on the day. Scott Zdunczyk won the Under 1100 prize with a 4 - 0 score. Following Scott wee Michael Zhou, Yogi Kanakamedala, Jonathan D’Alonzo and Jovanna D’Alonzo all with 3 - 1 scores. I think the last two named are brother and sister. I missed getting to ask them about that in the flurry of the games finishing.
The Under 1100 section benefited no doubt from the good work Brother John is doing with his Make the Right Move program. In a year or two or three we are going to see some of these players filling up the higher sections I am sure.
Although Chi defeated Qu in the very first round, Chen fought his way back into contention by winning games from Michael Corrigan and Michael Mockler(!) for the honor of facing Mark Cote, a Western Massachusetts Expert. Both players conducted the game up to the inevitable time pressure with care and skill. This time the Expert was not able to hold off the rapidly improving new guy.
Qu, Chen - Cote, Mark [B01]
Schenectady Open Schenectady, NY, 12.06.2011
1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qd6
An interesting alternative to the more usual move; 3..., Qa5; or the oddly retrograde 3..., Qd8. Risky but playable, just, is the Patzer variation; 3..., Qe5+!?, according to Emms in his book The Scandinavian. The Black
Queen plans to retire to c7, after .., c7-c6. That takes the same number of moves as the more usual route for the lady via a5. This variation would be the most popular answer for Black if all things were equal. But, in an opening where Black is working very hard not to fall too far behind in development in the main lines, the Patzer variation is just too risky for Black.
4.d4 Nf6 5.Nf3 c6
A point of divergence. The most common move here is 5..., a6; thinking of a later .., b7-b5; and development of the Bishop on b7. The text is a viable option.
6.Bc4 Bf5 7.Be3!?,..
There is some questions around this move. I can’t find any tactical problem with it. The more standard approach is 7 Ne5 e6 8 g4 Bg6 9 Bf4, and castling long as in the game. The approach taken by Chen Qu has a similar idea behind it but is somewhat slower in execution.
7..., Nbd7 8.Qd2 e6 9.0–0–0 Be7 10.h3 0–0–0
This is an interesting choice. The White Bc4 presents a target if Black wants a “war to the knife, and the knife to the hilt” kind of fight with opposite side castling, that is if White is recklessly inclined. White can eliminate a good deal of the danger if he wants to do so. Play could go: 10..., 0-0 11 Bf4 Qb4 12 Bb3 Nd5 13 Nxd5 Qxd2+ 14 Rxd2 cxd5; when Black has a very slight edge because the White King is uncomfortable. Without the Queens on the initiative Black has is annoying but not fatally dangerous. Of course, as is common in the Scandinavian, all the promise of bloody battle often resolves itself into a transition to an ending that is relatively balanced. The move played renounces active operations aimed at the White King for the moment.
11.Rhe1 Qb4 12.Qe2 Rhe8 13.a3 Qa5 14.g4 Bg6
Another equally interesting choice. Here Black could try some typical Scandinavian tactics with 14..., Ne4?!; when the game reaches an interesting material imbalance after: 15 gxf5!? Nxc3 16 Bxc3 Bxa3+ 17 Kb1 (If 17 Kd2 Bb2; gives Black the advantage.) 17..., Nb6 18 Bd2 Na4 19 Qd3 Nc5 20 dxc5 Rxd3 21 cxd3 Qxc5; when Rybka says the position is about even. This whole line of play requires imagination and strong nerves from both players. The text defers the tactical clash that has been hovering in the background for the last few moves.
15.Bd2 Qc7 16.Ne5 Nxe5 17.dxe5 Nd5 18.f4 f6
Mr. Cote decides it is time to do something. He could have continued to keep the balance with 18..., h6; but 19 Ne4, would require Black to capture on e4 with the Bishop. Then, White has the Bishop pair and a space advantage, not enough to claim a winning plus, but it does promise Black a long struggle. That is not a pleasant prospect in a fast time control such as Game in 40.
19.h4 fxe5 20.h5 Bf7 21.fxe5 Nxc3 22.Bxc3 Bg5+ 23.Bd2?!,..
This choice lets Black off the hook. If 23 Kb1, notwithstanding both sides having Bishops, White’s are somewhat more active. Black will have a hard time finding good work for the Bf7.
23..., Qe7?
The rating difference between Cote and Qu may have played a role in this decision. Mark is a well establish Expert and the young Qu just beginning to knock on the door to Class A status. The choice to not head for the safety of a level ending likely turned on a doubt that the youngster has enough technique to handle the late middle game maneuvering. The endgame after; 23..., Rxd2 24 Rxd2 Rd8 25 Rd1 Rxd2 26 Rxd2 Qb6; is dead even.
24.Kb1 Kb8 25.Qf2?,..
A mistake that is nearly fatal. Mr. Cote’s judgment vindicated? Maybe yes; the young man made a very hasty move. Correct is; 25 Bxg5 Qxg5+ 26 Kb1, and White has a persistent edge; the e6-pawn will be a worry and the space advantage may be a problem deep into the ending. The game move overlooks a skewer.
25..., Bh4 26.Qe3 Bxe1 27.Rxe1 Rd7?
Carelessly returning the favor. With 27..., c5; preventing the Bishop from seizing the dominant point d6 Black has solid winning chances.
28.Bb4 Qd8 29.Bd6+ Rxd6
Probably the best practical choice. In theory 29..., Ka8; keeps some edge, but time is dwindling for both sides, and the Bishop entrenched on d6 has a whiff of danger about it for the Black King confined to a8. The extra Black pawn is about to become mobile so Black is willing to wager it will give him more winning chances than long winded maneuvering to create activity for his Exchange plus.
30.exd6 Qxd6 31.Qg5?,..
Up to this point in the game, both players have done reasonably well. There was an exchange of over-hasty moves 25 - 27, but other than that momentary lapse, it has been a well-fought game. Now the clock bites hard and the game becomes irrational. If White wants to threaten b7, then 31 Qc3, works better than the text.
31..., Qd4 32.Bd3 h6 33.Qd2?,..
The last operation gives Black a clear edge. This move allows the edge to become greater than need be. Better is 22 Qh4, then 22..., e5 23 Bf5, and while Black is for choice, White can make a stand.
33..., e5!?
Also good is 33..., Qxg4!?; but the answering move 34 Ba6!?, makes for a messy position where Black would have to calculate much. The text is certainly a simpler road to follow.
34.Rf1 Qd5 35.b3 e4?
Just as the palm of victory was in his grasp, Black slips. Mark Cote may have thought the rush of the e-pawn is just too strong for anything to interfere. He is now penalized for not checking for tactics.
36.Qf4+?!,..
Chen Qu was not at all sure what he wanted to do here. He picked up the Queen made a gesture towards checking from h2, then at the last moment settled on f4. Actually better is 36 Rf5 Qd6 37 Rxf7 exd3 38 Qxe3 Qxa3 39 Qg3+ Ka8 40 Rxg7, when White has solid advantage, but Black is not without hope.
36..., Re5?
A final error that spells doom. By playing 36..., Qe5!; Black could have kept real drawing chances after 37 Bxe4 Qxf4 38 Qxf4 Bg8. The text drops decisive material and the game can not be saved.
37.Bc4 1–0
After the Queen captures on f7, the Bishop controls e2 with the aid of the Queen and Rook so there is no hope for the e-pawn to Queen. Game in 40 is an odd kind of time control, neither fish nor fowl. It is slow enough to keep a score sheet for the bulk of the game. There is, however, an almost guaranteed time scramble in it when near equal players meet as we have seen here. Mr. Qu is improving very quickly, another Schenectady player to keep our eye upon.
The decisive game saw Patrick Chi, highest rated player in the event meet Lou Petithory, rated number two. Lou is a veteran of the chess battles of the last forty years. We played each other several times in the 1980s at Norma Skelly’s Quads. I won a couple but lost more. Mr. Petithory was once one of the highest rated correspondence players in New England. I haven’t noticed his name in the news of correspondence play in recent years. He may have restricted his participation in chess to OTB contests, a gain for OTB chess and a loss for the correspondence world.
Chi, Patrick - Petithory, Louis [A53]
Schenectady Open Schenectady, NY, 12.06.2011
1.d4 d6 2.c4 Nd7 3.Nc3 e5 4.d5 Ngf6 5.e4 Be7 6.f3 0–0 7.Be3 Nh5
The Old Indian Defense. It is not wildly popular today. Invented in the first blush of the Hyper-Modern revolution in the 1920s, the Old Indian had a brief time of frequent use between the end of WWII and the early 1950s. It still pops up every so often in international play.
Mr. Petithory took a “long think” before making this move. A more standard plan is 7.., a5; with the Knight going to c5 later just to make White worry a little about castling long. The text seems to be an innovation made at the board.
Here are three examples illustrating some of the ideas seen in master games:
In this game White takes the space Black volunteers in the Old Indian and converts it to advanced passed pawns versus a piece. The kicker is the Black pieces are poorly placed to hold back the passers.
Vaisser, Anatoli (2564) - Apicella, Manuel (2501) [A53]
FRA-ch Final stage Besancon (2.5), 28.08.1999
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 d6 3.Nc3 Nbd7 4.e4 e5 5.d5 Be7 6.Be3 0–0 7.f3 Nh5 8.Qd2 h6 9.Nh3 Nc5 10.g4 Bh4+ 11.Kd1 Nf6 12.b4 Na6 13.a3 Nh7 14.Bd3 Ng5 15.Nxg5 Bxg5 16.h4 Bxe3 17.Qxe3 Bd7 18.Kd2 c6 19.g5 h5 20.f4 exf4 21.Qxf4 Qe7 22.Be2 g6 23.Rhf1 Nc7 24.Qf6 Rae8 25.Rf2 cxd5 26.cxd5 Qe5 27.Qxe5 Rxe5 28.Rf4 Kg7 29.Raf1 Ne8 30.Bb5 Bh3 31.Rh1 Bg4 32.Bxe8 Rfxe8 33.Rhf1 R8e7 34.Kd3 a6 35.Kd4 Rd7 36.Rf6 Re8 37.Na4 Rde7 38.R1f4 b5 39.Nc5 dxc5+ 40.bxc5 Rd8 41.Rxa6 Bd1 42.c6 Bc2 43.Rb6 Ra7 44.Rxb5 Ra4+ 45.Rb4 Rxb4+ 46.axb4 Kf8 47.b5 Ke7 48.b6 Ba4 49.Kc5 1–0
This is a complex game that has, momentarily, some similarity to the Chi - Petithory contest and we see now great activity by White on the K-side plays out.
Razuvaev, Yuri S (2555) - Saltaev, Mihail (2480) [A53]
Tiraspol Tiraspol (4), 1994
1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 d6 3.d4 Nbd7 4.e4 e5 5.d5 Be7 6.Be3 0–0 7.f3 Nh5 8.Qd2 g6 9.0–0–0 a6 10.Kb1 c5 11.Bh6 Ng7 12.g4 f6 13.h4 Rf7 14.Nge2 Rb8 15.Nc1 Nf8 16.Be3 Ne8 17.h5 Bd7 18.a3 b5 19.cxb5 axb5 20.b4 c4 21.N1a2 Qc8 22.Ka1 Bd8 23.a4 Nc7 24.Be2 bxa4 25.Bxc4 Na6 26.Bxa6 Qxa6 27.hxg6 Nxg6 28.Qd3 Qb7 29.Rb1 Nf4 30.Qd2 Bb6 31.b5 Ba5 32.Qb2 Nd3 33.Qe2 Nc5 34.Bxc5 dxc5 35.Qc4 Ra8 36.d6 Kf8 37.Rh6 Qc8 38.Qd5 Be6 39.d7 Bxd7 40.Qd6+ Kg8 41.Nd5 Bd8 42.Nxf6+ Bxf6 43.Rxf6 Rxf6 44.Qxf6 Qf8 45.Qxe5 1–0
The next game shows again the typical play by White down the f-file.
Schmid, Manfred - Chuchelov, Vladimir (2420) [A53]
Triberg Triberg (8), 1991
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 d6 3.Nc3 Nbd7 4.e4 e5 5.d5 Be7 6.f3 0–0 7.Be3 Nh5 8.Qd2 h6 9.0–0–0 Bg5 10.Nge2 a6 11.g4 Bxe3 12.Qxe3 Nhf6 13.h4 Nh7 14.Ng3 Re8 15.Bd3 Ndf8 16.Rdg1 Ng6 17.Nf5 Nf4 18.g5 h5 19.Ne2 Nxe2+ 20.Qxe2 g6 21.Ne3 Bd7 22.Rh2 c6 23.Rf2 cxd5 24.cxd5 Nf8 25.f4 exf4 26.Rxf4 Re7 27.Rgf1 Be8 28.Kb1 Nd7 29.Nc4 Nb6 30.Rf6 Nxc4 31.Bxc4 Kh7 32.Bd3 Re5 33.Qf2 Qe7 34.Rxf7+ Qxf7 35.Qxf7+ Bxf7 36.Rxf7+ Kg8 37.Rf6 Kg7 38.Rxd6 Rf8 39.Rd7+ Rf7 0–1
This was the only win Black notched. The final position is dead even. My guess is it was a time forfeit.
8.Qd2,..
Mr. Chi has a liking for the Samisch sort of set-up, and he plays this kind of position very well indeed.
8..., Nf4!?
This can be risky as the sequel demonstrates. Alternatives for Black are; 8..., a5; thinking of making c5 a home for a Knight, and 8..., Nc5; immediately hoping to tempt White into an early b2-b4 reducing the appeal of Q-side castling a little bit for White.
9.g3,..
The Knight needs to be pushed back. White is happy enough do it with a pawn that prepares for the advance of the h-pawn.
9..., Ng6?
Much safer is to admit the error and send the Knight back to h5.
10.0–0–0 f5?
This must be the idea behind the Black operation. Moving the pawns in front of the King when opposite side castling has taken place always makes me nervous. My guess is Lou had a notion that piece pressure could hold up the standard K-side pawn storm in such positions.
11.exf5 Rxf5 12.h4 Rh5 13.Nh3 Ndf8?!
Another “long think”. Lou was calculating just how bad the position was becoming I guess. The Knight going to f8 just takes away a square that might be useful for the Rh5 or the Ng6. Adding another Knight to the King’s guardians congests things more than it helps, now the Ng6 has no square other than h8 for retreat should the h-pawn advance to h5.
14.Be2 h6
Desperate times call for desperate measures, but moving another pawn in front of the King truly does not help matters. Trying to distract White with 14..., a5; might be better. One operation for Black that makes some sense is 14..., Bxh3 15 Rxh3 Nd7; but White has a substantial advantage.
15.f4!?,..
A bit of impatience shows. White can leave the very awkwardly posted Rook on h5 to be a problem for Black if wants to. The tangle of pieces that Black has created on the K-side will need several moves to unravel. A possible line of play is; 15 Nf2 a5 16 Qc2 Bd7 17 Bd2 Rf5 18 h5 Nh8 19 f4, and White is better according to Rybka. I can see why Patrick opts for something concrete, it is a pretty quick time control, and by now Lou has used up a very large chunk of his allotted time. Perhaps it is time to take material that looks to be on offer.
15..., exf4!?
Black does not want to undertake the task of defending his K-side after 15..., Rf5 16 Bd3, Rook moves and 17 h5.
16.Bxh5 fxe3 17.Qxe3 Ne5
Black willingly gave up material to ease the pressure on his K-side. I believe Black used a big part of his thinking time to plot the following operation. Lou may well have concluded his game was compromised, and If he can create some murky complications on the Q-side salvation might be found.
18.Be2 c6 19.Nf4 Bf5 20.c5!,..
Obvious it may be but White has the correct idea in mind. The Black Bishops look potentially menacing, but the charging center pawns are menacing right now. Sorting out the difference is the stuff of being a good chess player. Some of my students would cite all kinds of worries about what Black might do in a move or two with the Bishops. Patrick sees a couple of pawns on the 6th ready to go to the 7th rank will negate much of the potential danger.
20..., b5 21.dxc6 Qa5 22.cxd6 Bf6
Black has reached the position he wanted. It looks scary but is it really? Not if White finds the best move.
23.Qc5?!,..
Which he does not. Black is by no means out of the woods after this move but some chances are starting to appear. Best is 23 Rd5, then if 23..., Nxc6? 24 Rxf5, increases the material imbalance to a full Rook plus a pawns worth. The Black alternatives all seem to lose quickly. It is much easier to see this clearly at leisure in my study than it would be with a clock ticking at my elbow with first place on the line. It must be noted however, that Patrick Chi had a substantial cushion in clock time. At one point it was thirty minutes. Even at this point in the game, the time remaining was great enough to allow Patrick to work out the details. Here he may have underestimated the number of tricks left in the position and Mr. Petithory’s ability to make trouble.
23..., Nxc6?! 24.Qxc6 Rc8 25.Qxc8?!,..
Everything wins, or nearly so. A less complicated path is 25 Qd5+ Kh8 26 Qxf5 Rxc3+ 27 Kb1, and Black down a Rook has few tricks left to try. The text keeps things more interesting than is strictly necessary.
25..., Bxc8 26.Nfd5 Nd7
Almost working is 26..., b4; then 27 Ne4, keeps the pressure on Black and things are no quite clear. Then, after 27..., Be6 28 Nexf6+ gxf6 29 Bc4 Qc5 30 b3 Kg7 31 Rhe1, the win is not clear yet. White has a substantial advantage in this line, but Black is not without resources. Unfortunately for Lou there was no time on his clock to calculate and compare lines, he was under two minutes remaining from move 18. A virtue for a Black move now is it can be found almost instantly.
27.Nxf6+ Nxf6 28.Bxb5 Bd7 29.Bxd7 Nxd7 30.Rhe1,.. 1-0
Now the issue is decided and can be seen. Likely Mr. Petithory would have resigned if he had time to consider the position objectively, but with his flag hanging moves have to be made.
A few more moves were blitzed out and the end then came. A game with the flaws of fast chess. Petithory used too much of his clock in an effort to find a solution to the opening problems. Fascinating was watching him gin up dangerous counter-play just when the situation looked very bad and most of his time was gone. Equally interesting was to see Patrick take the surprises Lou conjured up and ruthlessly eliminate dangerous units of the enemy forces to make the win obvious. A very creditable effort by both sides in a fast game.
More soon.
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