There was one section of the recent NYS Championship that I did not cover and it was the section where local players did very well indeed. In the Under 1800 Section Dave Finnerman took first with a 5 - 1 score, Dilip Aaron and Richard Moody tied with Daniel Brule at 4 ½ - 1 ½ for second through fourth places.
Today’s game is the fifth round match-up of Finnerman and the latest Aaron to make his mark on the local chess scene. This win made the difference for Dave. He stopped the hard charging scholastic star making his chances for the title very good with one round to play.
Finnerman, David - Aaron, Dilip [A13]
133d NYS Championship Albany, NY, 03.09.2011
1.c4 e6 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 d5 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.0–0 dxc4!?
This is the English Opening (A13) with .., e6. The opening books recommend 5..., 0-0; here. Black usually tries to keep the h1-a8 diagonal closed later moving the Nc6 and playing .., c7-c6; if possible. White typically does not worry too much about recovering the pawn counting on the open Q-side files to allow him to pressure Black seeking a tactical solution. Here is an example from recent times:
(1176424) Lushenkov, Mikhail M (2387) - Ivanov,Alexey2 (2425) [A13]
RUS-chT2 Sochi (3), 05.05.2007
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2 dxc4 5.0–0 Nc6 6.Qa4 Qd5 7.Nc3 Qc5 8.b3 cxb3 9.Qxb3 Qb6 10.Qc2 Bb4 11.a3 Bxc3 12.Qxc3 Qa5 13.Qe3 0–0 14.Bb2 Nd5 15.Qe4 f6 16.Rfc1 Bd7 17.d4 Rfe8 18.Rc5 Qb6 19.Rb1 a5 20.h4 a4 21.Bc1 Qa6 22.Bd2 Rab8 23.e3 Nce7 24.h5 b6 25.Rcc1 b5 26.Qd3 c6 27.h6 g6 28.e4 Nb6 29.Nh2 Nc4 30.Bb4 e5 31.dxe5 Nxe5 32.Qd6 1–0
6.Qa4 Be7 7.Ne5!,..
A nice move emphasizing the dangers on the long diagonal for Black.
7..., Bd7 8.Nxc6 bxc6 9.Bxc6 0–0 10.Qxc4 Rb8
It may be better to rid the position of light squared Bishops with 10..., Bxc6. The upshot of the operation beginning 6 Qa4, is White has the better pawn formation while Black is ahead in development. Neither side has staked out anything in the way of pawn control of the center squares. Silman’s theory of imbalances says; evaluate the pluses and minuses and work to increase the pluses and repair the minuses in your position. White needs to get on with development, and Black wants to find a way gin up something from the lead in development. The problem for White is he must watch for tactics where Black obtains compensation for his weakened pawn structure.
11.Bf3,..
Defending e2.
11..., Bb5 12.Qc2 Bd6?!
Reasonable but wrong. Not much is threatened by posting the Bishop on d6. Better is 12..., Nd5. White won’t take the Nd5 giving up his light squared Bishop, and the Knight clears f6 for the Be7. The Knight may go on to b4 to further harass the White Queen. All this is not enough to claim the advantage for Black, however this sort of operation that makes a little something out of that most transient of pluses; a lead in development. The text guards c7; but it also grants time for White to catch up in development.
13.Nc3 Bd7 14.b3 Qe7 15.Bb2 Rfe8?
Apparently Black wants to advance the e-pawn at some point in the future. The Rook behind the Queen is a questionable support for such a plan. The operation 15..., c5 16 Rac1 Be5 17 Ne4 Bxb2 18 Qxb2 Nxe4 19 Bxe4 Rbc8; etc. holds hopes for Black to equalize, or at least keep the disadvantage to a minimum.
16.Rfe1?,..
Both players are suddenly overtaken with the urge to advance the e-pawns. Why now? Good is emphasizing the Bishops’ play with 16 Ne4 Nxe4 17 Bxe4 g6 18 Rac1, and if 18..., e5 19 Bc6, when the Black a-pawn looks vulnerable.
16..., e5 17.e4 Bg4?!
The last operations have reduced the effectiveness of White’s light squared Bishop. Black now makes a trade of this less than prepossessing piece for his now pretty good counterpart.
18.Nd5?..,
Instigating a tactical interlude that does not help his game. The positional continuation 18 Bxg4, getting rid of potentially active Bg4 right away looks better. Then 18..., Nxg4 19 Nd5, retains the advantage for White.
18..., Nxd5 19.Bxg4 Nb4
In the space of just few moves the solid edge White has enjoyed is seriously reduced. It happened not so much because Black found some resource, rather White may have just miss-judged the position.
20.Qc3 Bc5 21.Qc4?,..
Necessary is 21 Be2, to defend d3. The text overlooks that d2 is undefended.
21..., Red8 22.Re2,..
The cold-blooded 22 Be2 Rxd2 23 Bc3 Rxa2; pins White’s hopes on using his two Bishops to offset the extra pawn Black has. Would such a plan work? It has the virtue of keeping lots of play in the position, but a pawn is a pawn.
22..., Nd3
And the worm has turned. From a worse position, Black emerges with some advantage.
23.Bc3 Qg5 24.Bf3 Qf6 25.Kg2 Rd6?
The wrong Rook if Black is considering using it for some kind of frontal attack on the White King. This Rook defends the Nd3 and is not free for extra duties. Better 25..., Rb6.
26.b4 Bb6 27.a4 Rbd8 28.Rf1 Rc6 29.Qb3 Qg6 30.Kh1 Rf6 1-0
Here my copy of the score runs out, or at least the intelligible portion of it. The game ultimately ended with White winning. My record says 31 g4 was played but that move seems hugely wrong. Conversations with Mr. Finnerman, both email and faced-to-face, told me the position from my score was not quite right. David does not yet have the game transcribed to his computer so we have not been able to nail down the actual moves.
If, and it is a big if, White plays 31 Kg2?, in the this position, Black has the pretty resource 31..., Rxf3!; which wins after 32 Kxf3 Qh5+; gaining decisive material. After Black’s 30th move, Deep Rybka evaluates the position as favoring Black by about three-quarters of a pawn (0.73). If White plays Rybka’s suggested move, 31 a5, then 31..., Rxf3 32 axb6 cxb6; leaves Black with the better position, not quite winning for sure but better. With some luck we will obtain the correct moves and I will publish the actual finish of this game.
More soon.
No comments:
Post a Comment