This coming Sunday, June 12th, there is a chess tournament in Schenectady! The Schenectady Open is being run by the Continental Chess Association and held at the Studio of Bridge and Games on Eastern Parkway. It is a four round Swiss, Game in 40 minutes. The event will have three section; Open, Under 1700 and Under 1100. We have not had a tournament in Schenectady since Noma Skelley ended her long running and much lamented Quad series. If you want more chess, come out and play. That is the way to encourage organizers. I’ll be there collecting games for the blog. I hope to see you all there too.
Board 4 of the Albany A - Geezers match had some odd opening play, missed chances and finally a peaceful splitting of the point.
Chu, Richard - Perry, Glen [D00]
Albany A v Geezers CDCL Match Schenectady, NY, 05.06.2011
1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3 h6 4.Bf4 a6
I was reading in a book Michael Mockler lent me just the other day about a line GM Kogan calls the Tarzan Attack. It features the opening moves that White just played. Nowhere in Kogan’s article did he mention Black making something out of 3..., h6; and 4..., a6. In these offbeat openings it is hard to be sure of what should be done. As Kogan says; White makes generally logical moves advancing development, but if Black does not fianchetto the Bishop to g7 the game goes into fairly unexplored territory. A diligent search of my databases found no examples. The two odd moves for Black do have their own logic; preventing some sudden lurch forward to b5 or g5 by White initiating something tactical.
5.e3 e6 6.Bd3 c5 7.dxc5 Bxc5 8.0–0 Nc6 9.Na4?!,..
This seems just a bit wasteful of time. Why not 9 h3, securing the fate of the Bf4; or 9 Ne2, heading for d4 with this Knight and clearing a path for and eventual c2-c4? Both ideas are more standard play than chasing off the Bc5. Even 9 e4?!, logical but dangerous, looks more normal.
9..., Be7 10.Nc3,..
Since there is nothing obvious or hidden for the Knight to do out there on the rim, White brings him home. Could it be a subtle offer of an early draw?
10..., b5!?
Black wants no part of early peace negotiations. I am not certain this space grab on the Q-side is not without risks. Securing the two Bishop advantage with 10..., Nh5; suggests itself as a reasonable try.
11.a3 Bb7 12.b4?,..
Making a weakness on the c-file that may bedevil White for sometime to come. White again passes on the chance to keep his Bf4 on the board. That looks to be a better idea.
12..., Rc8 13.Ne2 Bd6?!
This move is suspicious. Black trades the better of his Bishops for a Bishop that has boldly hung around on f4 offering himself for Knight. Just why Black turned down the offer is not clear to me, and now this trade at first sight lacks purpose.
14.Bxd6 Qxd6 15.Nfd4 e5?!
The purpose is now revealed. Black wanted to mobilize his center pawns. More measured would be first 15..., 0-0; then the Black Queen would not be required to take up an awkward post shortly. If Black castled here, he would have a small but persistent edge.
16.Nf5 Qf8?!
Black apparently saw something that bothered him in his calculations. I am sure Glen did not carelessly shove his e-pawn forward without thought. I expect he saw a way to deal with 16 Nf5, other than putting the Queen on f8 where she is just in the way of natural development. It seems 16..., Qd7; is possible. Play could go; 16..., Qd7 17 Ng7+ Kf8 18 Bf5 Qd6 19 Bxc8 Bxc8; and the White Ng7 is lost giving Black two minor pieces for a Rook and a pawn. That was not too hard to calculate, so I conclude there was something in the resulting position that Mr. Perry didn’t like. The resources Black has in hand seem to be enough to keep the advantage. After 20 Nh5 Nxh5 21 Nd4 exd4 22 Qxh5, Black is under no obligation to capture on e3 opening the f-file. Then 22..., Rg8; and Black has a nice plus confirmed by 23 Kh1 Bg4; and the c8-Bishop enters the lists. White will have a hard time finding effective counter-play.
17.f3?,..
This move is wrong on a fundamental level. A survey of the position highlights one very important feature; the Black King is stuck in the center. Anything White considers ought to take that factor into account. Two moves stand out of White; 17 e4, and 17 a4. The first is direct action to open central lines. If 17 e4 d4 18 f4, and Black will sweat bullets to get his King away to safety before something bad happens. Alternatively, 17 e4 dxe4 18 Bxb5 axb5 19 Nd6+ restores the material balance and the Black King is now a wanderer. Less direct is 17 a4, but it is equally strong. For example after 17 a4 e4 18 axb5 Nxb4 19 bxa6 Bc6 20 Bxe4 Nxe4 21 c3, the Nb4 has nowhere to hide and the material balance is again restored. Worse for Black is that his King remains in a very awkward situation. By ignoring the facts on the board, White takes big risks for small reward.
17..., g6 18.Nfg3 Qe7 19.c3 0–0
The opportunity is gone just that quickly. Black’s King is now tucked away, while White still has a weakness on the c-file to defend and is inferior on the central squares. His problems are not are not overwhelming, but it is hard to see how White can do more than undertake the near thankless task of holding on for a draw.
20.Rc1 Rfd8 21.Qc2 Re8?
Both players in this game are better than the uncertainty they have shown in the last series of operations. Here the position demands the logical 21..., e4. Play then goes; 22 fxe4 dxe4 23 Bxe4 Nxb4 24 axb4 Nxe4; when Black is clearly much better; the weakness at c3 is laid bare, the White pawn formation is not great and the Bb7 has a clear path aimed at the White King. The game is almost a technical win for Black.
22.Qb1?,..
A mistake in return. All I can say is that the sporting tension of this a critical match in League competition has had its effect on both sides. Mr. Chu does not see how thin his resources are here. Required is 22 Bxg6! fxg6 23 Qxg6+ Qg7 24 Qxg7+ Kxg7 25 Nf5+, when he emerges with two pawns and a Rook for two minor pieces, and the advantage for Black is reduced to a minimal level.
22..., e4 23.fxe4 dxe4 24.Bc2 Ne5 25.Nxe4!?,..
This operation should not work. It is, however, a good practical try. Objectively, 25 Rce1, is better according to Rybka. A human being trying to find his way through the tough complications that come about after the suggested move can be forgiven for trying something else. Both sides were starting to feel the pinch of the clock now. Rybka’s move, 25 Rce1, and play continues; 25..., Neg4 26 Qc1 Nd5 27 Bxe4 Qh4 28 h3 Ngxe3 29 Bxd5 Bxd5; when Black is winning.
25..., Nxe4?
A subtle refinement is missed by Mr. Perry. Time pressure has its effect. In this particular case preserving the Bishop is not as good as keeping the two Knights. The Knights are well placed for the next little tactical interlude. Winning is 25..., Bxe4 26 Bxe4 Neg4!, and Black recovers the pawn at e3. The Black Queen and Knights are then swarming around the White King and it can not be long before something evil happens to White. Here is a line; 27 Bd3 Qxe6+ 28 Kh1 Nf2+ 29 Rxf2 Qxf2 30 Rf1 Qb6 31 h3 Nd5; when Black has the Exchange in his pocket, the initiative is firmly in hand and the his pieces are all very active. After the text the game simplifies quickly.
26.Bxe4 Bxe4 27.Qxe4 Nc4 28.Qxe7 Rxe7 29.Nd4 Rxe3 30.Rf6 Nxa3 31.Rxa6 Rexc3 32.Rf1!?,..
There are alternatives that each side could have tried in this last sequence. Time was dwindling and nit picking about this or that supposed improvement fails to recognize that both were playing ventre a terre as the French say, that is “with the belly to the ground“, meaning very fast. White here could have played 32 Rxc3, and then 32..., Rxc3 33 Ra5, attacking the b-pawn from the side not from the rear is a safer way to get to the splitting of the point. Black has had all the winning chances in the Rook endgame. Now Black allows further simplification, and those chances slip away.
32..., R3c4 33.Rxa3 Rxd4 34.Ra7 f5 35.Re1 Re4?
No time to think carefully and maybe an unfortunate assumption that all double Rook endings are drawn conspire to cause Black to miss a last chance. Keeping many more winning chances is 35..., Rxb4. White will have to make provision for his King with 36 h3. If White tries 36 Ree7, immediately, there are excellent losing opportunities, for example; 36..., Rc1+ 37 Kf2 Rc2+ 38 Kf3 Rb3+ 39 Kf4 Rc4+ 40 Ke5 Re3+ 41 Kd6 Rd3+ 42 Ke5 Re4+ 43 Kf6 Rd6+ and mate the next move. If somewhere along the line White brings his Re7 back to block one of the flank checks, Black trades Rooks. He is then left with a single Rook endgame up at least two pawns, one of which is an outside passer. That is very likely won for Black.
36.Rd1 Kf8 37.Rdd7 ½–½
Potential back rank mates leave Black with no opportunity remaining to win, and so the game was agreed drawn.
More soon
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