Brodsky wins the U1600 at the NYS Championship

The little ones, the kids, get better and better as the years go by. David Brodsky won the Under 1600 Section of the recent NYS Championship with a score of 5 ½ - ½. David began his chess career only in 2010. This down-state player made steady progress in his first year of serious play in Westchester and environs in local scholastic tourneys. In 2011 he expanded his participation entering some big open events in New York and Connecticut achieving reasonable results. His victory in the NYS championship tournament is the first big prize the young man has won. I expect to see him fighting for prizes in many more tourneys in the future.

Hardison, Terrance (1566) - Brodsky, David (1561) [E07]

133d NYS Championship U1600 Albany, NY, 05.09.2011

1.Nf3 d5 2.c4 e6 3.d4 Nf6 4.g3 c6 5.Bg2 Be7

A bland sort of move. More testing and critical is 5..., dxc5.

6.b3 0–0 7.0–0 Nbd7 8.Bb2 b6 9.Qc2 Bb7 10.a3?!,..

Why? Natural is 10 Nbd2, keeping pace with Black in development. This is the first indication that White is not fully up to speed on how to play in the Catalan positions.

10..., dxc4 11.bxc4?,..

The second indication; White accepts a pawn formation that may be weakened if Black proceeds with energy. Safer is 11 Qxc4.

11..., c5

And he does so. The game fully equalized now.

12.Nbd2 Qc7

Not as sharp as 12..., cxd4; or 12..., Rc8; but reasonable in any case.

13.dxc5?,..

Voluntarily accepting a weakened pawn formation. Better 13 e3. It is true White can eventually be saddled with “hanging pawns” after .., cxd4; but while such are suspect, White has space in the center and Black has to find the moves to pressure those pawns. After the text Black has the target on c4 upon which he can focus his pressure.

13..., Nxc5 14.Ng5 h6 15.Bxf6 hxg5!

Maybe White hoped for 15..., Bxf6?? 16 Qh7 mate. More probably he thought the simplification helps him. That’s not correct. The c-pawn will stand on the open c-file soon to be faced by the Black Rooks, and the Knight will go to b7 ready to jump to a5 or d6 adding to the c-pawn’s woes.

16.Bxe7 Qxe7 17.Bxb7 Nxb7 18.Rfb1?,..

A move lacking a point. There is no immediate tactical shot as punishment. Black just adds another useful tempo to his building positional plus.

18..., Rac8 19.Rb5,..

White must have had some idea of fighting for control of c5. He quickly finds this is not possible.

19..., Nd6 20.Rb4 Rc7 21.Rc1 Rfc8 22.Qb3?,..

Offering Black the chance to cash in on the tension on the c-file. While the move 22 Qd3, appears to be almost equivalent, it is a more active choice creating danger on the d-file after 22..., b5 23 c5 Rxc5 24 Rxc5 Rxc5 25 Rd4, when Black will have to calculate very accurately. From b3 the Queen contributes much less than she would have done from d3.

22..., Qf6?

The principled move is; 22..., b5. If White then tries 23 Qd3 bxc4 24 Nxc4 a5 25 Ra4 Qe8 26 Qb3 e5 27 Rc2 Qe6; gives Black a big advantage. Black retains some edge after the text but not as large as was possible.

23.Qd3 Rd8 24.Qc2?,..

White has been just a little bit wrong throughout this game. This move is one more instance. Here 24 Ne4, keeps the game from getting out of reach. Play could continue 24..., Nxe4 25 Qxe4 Rd4 26 Qe3 Qd8 27 Kf1, with Black keeping some advantage, but the game is not without hope for White. The next operations by both sides are not particularly incisive. My guess is White was beginning to have time trouble. His motivating idea is to liquidate the weak c-pawn, and he does not accurately weigh-up the alternatives.

24..., Nf5 25.Ne4 Qe7 26.c5?,..

Better is 26 e3, then 26.., Nd6 27 Rd1 Nxe4 28 Rxd8+ Qxd8 29 Qxe4; when the endgame with reduced material offers White chances to hold the draw. The text loses a pawn.

26..., Nd4 27.Qb2 bxc5 28.Rxd4?,..

It is this move, and the sequence leading up to it that suggests time trouble. The alternative 28 Ra4, is sensible even if it results in a poor position for White after 28..., f5 29 Nc3 Rb7 30 Qa2 Nb3 31 Rb1 Rd2 32 Rb2 Rxb2 33 Qxb2 g4 34 Qa2 Qd6. Black has the advantage but the winning process is not clear. Giving up the Exchange buys White almost nothing in the way of activity and must therefore be considered a blunder.

28..., Rxd4 29.Qc2 c4 30.e3 Rd8 31.Qa4 Rdc8 32.Rc3 0-1

The game ended after White’s last move. I don’t know if his clock fell, or if he took stock of the position and concluded the material deficit was too great to continue. This win gave David Brodsky first place in the Under 1600 Section by a half point.

More soon.