On an all too typical wet and cold Thursday night, the 27th O October, the third round of the preliminaries of the SCC Championship were held. Well let’s say some games were played. Schedule conflicts and maybe the nasty weather caused four out the six games to be delayed to later dates. The two game that took place carried plenty of excitement.
One of the new faces at the Schenectady Chess Club is Akhil Kamma. Going into the third round he was tied with John Phillips for first place in the Preliminary Section B. Watching the game, I thought John obtained an edge out of the opening. Sober reflection with the help of Rybka and referencing notes from the old Saturday group sessions with GM Har-Zvi changed my opinion. White did OK but really did not have any big advantage. A hasty decision by White to trade off pieces in the center led to Black having a big plus. This grew until a blunder turned the tables completely. The remainder of the game was a series of oversights that spoiled the game as an artistic effort but certainly kept the spectators on the edge of their seats.
Phillips, John - Kamma, Akhil [D15]
SCC Prelim B Schenectady, NY, 27.10.2011
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 dxc4
A few years ago several of us local players met most Saturdays with GM Ronen Har-Zvi for group lessons. The first eight or nine such sessions focused on the Slav in all its many flavors. The Saturday lessons ran for two to three hours each giving us twenty to thirty hours of high level insight to the theory of the Slav. The exposure was interesting and had an effect; I took up the Slav as Black and even began some games with 1 d4, after near sixty years of devotion to 1 e4. Ronen’s departure for Brownsville, Texas and my mixed results with trying to change a lifetime’s habits have seen me revert to 1 e4. I still find the Slav useful as an alternative to my favorite KID in answer to 1 d4.
I can claim no great expertise in the Slav; there was just not enough practice accumulated late in my career to reach some serious understanding of all the factors of this defense. This was made clear to me while watching today’s game.
5.e4,..
A moment where White has a choice; he can try 5 a4, the most popular line, or 5 e3, 5 Ne5, 5 g3, and 5 Bg5. Each option comes with a whole bag of theory and GM games galore. The text is the most immediately aggressive.
The Slav has been know for a very long time. It came to the attention of the chess public in the World Championship matches; Alekhine - Bolgoubov 1934, Alekhine - Euwe 1935 and Alekhine - Euwe 1937 where it was explored in great detail.
Alekhine held that 3 Nc3, was the most testing line for White to play. He said that then 3..., dxc4 4 4 e4, gave White an edge in development that is significant. The way this game went, 3..., Nf6 4 Nf3 dxc4; is more sedate but only relatively so. The line as played is styled the Geller Gambit.
Glenn Flear in his book The Slav for the Tournament Player, Batsford, London 1988 wrote: “So with 5 e4 White occupies the center immediately and with a further e5 will engineer attacking chances quickly - this has the drawback of gambiting a pawn on a near permanent basis - so the Geller is a true gambit!”
5..., b5 6.e5 Nd5 7.a4 b4?!
The game now leaves the well trodden paths of theory. The move looks normal doesn’t it? In the game Bondarevski-Kalantar USSR 1947 play went; 7..., b4 8 Ne4 e6 9 Bxc4 Nd7 10 0-0 Bb7 11 Nfg5 N7b6 12 Bd3 a5 13 Qh5 Qd7 15 Nc5, with a big advantage for White. There are a couple of attacking ideas for White in this position; Ng5 as in the cited game and the pawn push e5-e6 whenever Black’s Bishop leaves the c8-h3 diagonal. This why the move .., e7-e6; happens early rather than late in the GM games. Standard play is; 7..., e6 8 axb5 Nxc3 9 bxc3 cxb5; when White frequently launches into serious tactics with 10 Ng5, and 11 Qh5. The extra pawns Black has on the Q-side and the wonderful a8-h1 diagonal favor his cause if he can survive whatever attack White whips up on the Black King.
8.Ne4 Bf5 9.Ng3 Bg6 10.Bxc4,..
Safe and sound but White could have also continued in true gambit fashion with 10 e6!?, then things become really interesting after a) 10..., fxe6 11 Bxc4, and Black has a real mess of a position, or b) 10..., c3; 11 Bd3 cxb2 12 Bxg6 hxg6 13 exf7+ Kxf7 14 Bb2, when Black has two pawns and many weaknesses while White has the attacking chances.
10..., e6 11.h4?!,..
During the game I thought this was a pretty good idea reminding me of similar ideas from the Caro-Kann. What I misunderstood was the significance of the White e-pawn remaining on the board. In the Caro position there is no e-pawn and the e-file is available to White with sacrifices at e6 possible. Here such is foreclosed and the h-pawn push distracts White from the things he should be about. The more promising line of play is; 11 Bg5 Qa5 12 0-0 h6 13 Bh4 Bh7 15 Nh5, and White has made short castling unappealing for Black setting him a long term worry about where to put his King.
11..., h6 12.h5 Bh7 13.Qb3?,..
White undertakes an operation that does not improve his position. Making lemonade from the h-pawn push with 13 Rh4 Be7 14 Rg4, keeps the pressure on the K-side. The theory as I recall GM Har-Zvi telling us is for White to attack, and even sacrifice, on the K-side while keeping any advantage Black has on the Q-side to a minimum.
13..., Be7 14.Bxd5 Qxd5 15.Qxd5 cxd5
The position is very favorable for Black; the White pieces gathered on the K-side don’t look to be able to make much headway while Black has promising possibilities on the Q-side. We can only guess at what was in Mr. Phillips’ mind when he chose this line. An experienced tournament player with many years in the trenches I don’t believe the choice John was but a whim. My surmise is he had evaluated the position after Black’s 12th move as favoring Black and believed clearing off the Queens and a set of minor pieces was the best way towards reaching an endgame that White can hold. The result of this mistake is White has the worse minor piece - the Bishop, Black has both of his clerics and they have squares, and c2 is a weakness in the White camp that can become terrible.
As I looked in on the game from time to time, my opinion was that White had the better chances. Objectivity was lost on my part. Influenced by the great difference in experience between the players, I believed White was doing better that he was.
It is not uncommon for non-masters to misread a position. This game had at least three players fail to grasp what was really going on at different points in the game; me here as the game transitioned from the opening to middle game and the to participants later. As a rule I don’t publish games of my colleagues when mistakes come in bunches. This game is an exception. Here two pretty experienced players, Phillips and I, as well as a talented newcomer failed to understand what was happening on the board at different points in the game. It is worth considering why this was so.
This phenomenon, the failure to see facts when they are immediately in front of your eyes, is often labeled chess blindness. All the local players seemed to have stories of their own moments of blindness at the board. Usually the blindness is acute and a short lived incident where a piece is lost or a mate missed. Rarer are the occasions where the position is misread by both sides for a number of moves. This emphasizes the need to look objectively at each position as it comes up on the board and not make assumptions about positions.
16.Be3 Nc6 17.Rc1 Rc8!?
Building tension in to the position, not a bad thing if you really want to try for the win. The problem here is tactics. More testing is the positional approach 17..., Na5; if then White recklessly sends the Rook into the lion’s den with 18 Rc7 Kd8 19 Rc1 Nb3 20 Rd1, Black will control the c-file and pick up the Exchange with 20..., Bc2. White may have to concede a pawn with 18 Nd3 Kd7 19 0-0 Rac8 20 Rfd1 Rxc1 21 Rxc1 Rc8 22 Rxc8 Kxc8 23 Ne2 Bc2; collecting the a-pawn. The resulting position is very nearly won for Black, but some technique is required.
18.Nd2 Bd3!?
A most interesting move. Black had to weigh up the difference between holding up White from castling and the option of getting all of his own pieces coordinated before undertaking any action. He went for holding the White King in the center. Castling is the more principled move. With both sides lagging in development so late in the game, the chances of some kind of tactical surprise is certainly afoot.
19.f4?!,..
White obviously did not like how the situation was developing. It had gradually dawned on me that White was in serious trouble. His next operation grows out of the need to change the course of the game lest the Black Knight ends up on a5 giving Black all the say on the Q-side of the board, and obviously White has no balancing tactics on the K-side.
19..., 0–0 20.f5 exf5 21.Ne2 Rc7?
The game now enters a phase where error rules the day. Why do both sides suddenly lose the ability to see? Jacob Aagaard, the Danish GM living and working in Scotland now, wrote Excelling at Chess Calculation, Everyman Chess, London, 2004, where in part he discusses assumptions, blunders and other sins. He says: “You can’t see a theme and then make assumptions about it. Chess is too complicated for us to guess our way through it.” Another of his comments is we sometimes trust our opponent too much. Chess games are won by mistakes and examining each and every move by the opponent for error is the correct path. Aagaard goes on to say it is better to calculate wide rather than deep and one must force oneself to be concrete in calculation to identify mistakes. All of that wisdom would have been useful to both sides for the balance of the game.
Now 21..., Bg5; would have avoided White’s intentions and cemented a material advantage for Black after 22 Kf2 Bxe3+ 23 Kxe3 Bxe2 24 Kxe2 Nxd4+ 25 Kd3 Ne6; and Black is up two pawns. Time is not yet a problem for either side.
22.Nf4 Be4?
Black could have kept things about even with 22..., Bg5. He just does not see what White intends.
23.Nxe4 dxe4 24.d5!,..
The point of the operation beginning 19 f4. A Black piece now falls.
24..., Rfc8 25.dxc6?!,..
Of three possible continuations White elects to take the least promising. Better is 25 Rxc6, removing one pair of Rooks right away reducing chances of Black getting a Rook on the second rank. Also possible is 25 d6!?, again eliminating one pair of Rooks for the same result.
25..., Rxc6 26.Ke2?,..
Permitting the invasion of the second rank. Trading now with 26 Rxc6, simplifies the technical problems White will have exploiting his extra piece. Black now obtains enough counter-play to offset the missing piece.
26..., Rc2+ 27.Kd1 b3
Maybe White overlooked this resource.
28.Ne2?!,..
White passes on the reasonable 28 Rxc2 Rxc2 29 Bc1 Bg5 30 g3 a6 31 Re1 Bxg4 32 gxf4 Rh2; when the lone Black Rook is so active that the many Black pawns balance the game. After earlier gaining the piece White is reluctant to steer towards calmer waters, he assumes after gaining material he must play for the victory.
28..., Rd8+ 29.Ke1 Rxb2 30.Kf2 Rd3 31.Rb1?,..
White has no choice but to keep things confused. This way unfortunately gives Black the chance to redress the material imbalance. White could have tried here 31 Rc8+, then Black would have to find work through lines difficult to calculate: a) 31..., Bd8; and b) 31..., Kh7. Both lines probably favor Black in the long run and require some calculation. Each side was now approaching time trouble. White had used seven minutes to pick 30 Kf2, and had thirteen minutes remaining. Black had about twenty minutes left.
31..., Ra2?
A second best move that leaves the advantage with Black, but it misses a strong shot; 31..., Bh4! Now if 32 Rxh4 Rxb1 33 Nf4 Rxe3; and Black b-pawn can not be stopped after 34 Kxe4 b2. Alternatively, 32 g3 Bxg3+ 33 Kxg3 Rxe3+; and since 34 Kf4??, is impossible because 34..., Rf3; is mate, White has to lose the Ne2 with check leaving him without a defense to the further advance of b-pawn.
32.Bxa7 Rdd2?
Second best again. Black assumes that two Rooks on the second must be worth leaving unguarded the b-pawn to its fate. I remember similarly dropping a passed pawn to a young lady from Serbia in the Saratoga Championship a few years ago. There it turned a win in to a draw. Ultimately this error is more costly. Best here is; 32..., f4; then if 33 Rhd1 f3 34 Rxd3 Rxe2+ 35 Kf1 exd3 36 gxf3 b2 37 Bd4 Ba3 38 a5 Rc2; and Black is winning in all lines.
33.Rhe1 f4 34.Kf1 Bh4 35.Bf2 Bxf2 36.Kxf2 g5!?
By now time trouble had appeared for Black. His clock showed 4 ½ minutes remaining. White had played quickly over the past several moves and had about 10 minutes on his clock. I was impressed by the text. In the complicated position, overlaid with the tension of the leaders striving to take over the unchallenged first place in the section, Mr. Kamma goes all out to win. It is a brave decision, but misguided. He could maintain some advantage with 36..., b2.
37.hxg6 fxg6 38.Rxb3 g5
After many “Alarums and Excursions” White emerges with some advantage. The dangerous b-pawn is gone, and if the on-rushing Black K-side pawns can’t win something, White can well bring home the point.
39.Rb7!?,..
Trying to set up his own threats on the Black King. Both sides were now having to take in to account the dwindling time available. A more secure path for White was 39 Rb4, guarding the a-pawn and forcing Black make provision for the defense of his pawn mass. White assumes holding on to the Knight is necessary if he wants to win. Letting go of the piece would ease his task; after 39 Rb4 e3+ 40 Kf3 g4+ 41 Kxg4 Rxe2 42 Rxe2 Rxe2 43 Kxf4 Rxg2 44 Kxe3, or 43..., Re1 44 Kf3, leave White with good winning chances.
39..., g4 40.Kf1 f3 41.gxf3?,..
An instinctive reaction, there is almost no time to think now for either side. With 41 Nf4, White could have set up perpetual checking possibilities after 41..., e3 42 gxf3 exf3 43 Reb1! The clocks were now drifting towards just a couple of minutes each.
41..., exf3 42.Nf4 Rh2!
A move that should win the game.
43.Kg1 g3?
Akhil, after some very energetic play, just misses the chance to close out the game in fine style with 43..., f7+ 44 Kxh7 fxe8 (Q)+; when White can only give up his Rook on b2 to delay the mate for a move.
44.Rb8+ Kh7 45.Rb7+ Kg8 46.Rb8+ Kg7 47.Rb7+ Kf8
After a little hesitation, Black starts his King towards the annoying Rook. Once the Black King is safe from harassment, two Rooks on the second with two pawns on the third in close support should win for Black.
48.Ng6+,..
What else to do? Continuing to check with the Rook and the Black King will close with his harasser ending the checks, then the threat of ..,f3-f2+ wins handily.
48..., Ke8 49.Re7+ Kd8 50.Rd1+ Kc8?
Mr. Kamma is either under the incorrect assumption that maintaining the Rooks on the second is utterly essential for his game, or he just forgets these Rooks can block the check. With 50..., Rad2; the game is over. After 51 Rxd2 Rxd2; mate is threatened and sacrificing the remaining Rook only buys a move or two at most. If 51 Rb1, threatening his own mate, 51..., Rdg2+ and 52..., Rh1; is mate.
51.Re8+ Kc7 52.Rc1+ Kd7?
Again blocking with a Rook wins for Black. Worse than missing a killer move, the text gives White the whip hand. I am pretty sure Mr. Phillips, even in serious time trouble, knew that Black had the Rook move resource. There are times when your game is so bad and you can’t resign all there is to do is keep a “poker face” and play the best you can find. A game with mutual time problems is such a case.
53.Re7+?,..
Both clocks were approaching one minute now. White misses a neat finish; 53 e6+!, and 53..., Kxe8 54 Rc8 mate, or 53..., Kd6 54 Rd8 mate. When your chess life has been dangling by a thread for some while in a game, it is difficult to recognize and take advantage of a sudden opportunity. That is one trait the masters and Grandmasters seem all to have; if they play on in poor position their alertness to tactical chances remains very high. They rarely miss such opportunities. Us lesser lights too often see them pass by finding them only in the post mortem.
53..., Kd8 54.Rd1+ Kc8?
In the waning seconds of the game I kept asking myself why not block the check with a Rook? Aagaard’s assumption thesis is the only answer. Somewhere along the line Akhil determined maintaining the doubled Rooks on the second was the key for him. Sticking with that assumption costs him the game.
55.Re8+ Kb7 56.Re7+!?,..
Maybe signaling a draw would be acceptable, if 56..., Kc8 57 Re8+, etc. Forcing is 56 Rd7+, but a drawn outcome is likely. Black now fixes on a3 as sanctuary for his King. A natural idea. If there had been more time Black may have realized that it is a false hope.
56..., Kc6 57.Rd6+ Kc5 58.Rc7+ Kb4 59.Rd4+ Ka3?
Shelter that provides no succor. Keeping the balance with 59..., Ka5; maybe best. The Black King does not want to be checked on the third rank. Such a check clips the pawn on f3 eliminating some of mating prospects Black has had for awhile.
60.Rd3+? Kb2?
Continuing the fight with 60..., Kb4 is possible which is why 60 Rc3+, is a better choice for White.
61.Rxf3,..
The tables have now turned with a vengeance. If a pair of Rooks come off; 61..., Ra1+ 62 Rf1 Rxf1 63 Kxf1, the two separated but advanced passed pawns give White all the winning chances. Alternatively, 62..., Rxa4 63 e6, is no picnic for Black either.
61..., Rxa4 62.Rxg3,..
The extra piece and the passed e-pawn are sufficient for White to win.
62..., Re2 63.Rg2 Rxg2+ 64.Kxg2 Re4?
During play several of us thought 64..., Rg4+ tips the game back towards a draw. That is probably not true. After 64..., Rg4+ 65 Kf3, the Black King is cut off from the White passed pawn, and The White King is close enough to effectively escort the e-pawn forward. The Black h-pawn is just not far enough advanced to make much of a difference.
65.Kf3 Re1 1–0
The game went on for a few more moves but was effectively over. Both players seemed to have at different points illustrated the ideas behind Aagaard’s comments about assumptions in chess. Talking with Philip Sells while this game was going on about positions from his game last week against Dilip Aaron brought the comment regards the several chances Sells had to sacrifice on e6; “I saw it but just didn’t calculate the line far enough.” Such may have occurred in today’s game also, in particular White’s decision to trade Queens moves, 13 through 15, and not getting rid of a pair Rooks around move 25.
There is one of the paradoxical aspects of chess wisdom on display here. Aagaard says calculate wide not deep, and Sells comments about not looking far enough to see the point in a sacrifice. Aagaard’s advice focuses on finding more of the resources in a given position. Sells’ comment, Aagaard touches on a similar idea later in his work, highlights the art of a chess player; when you grasp most or all of what a position offers, you have to chose a path to follow. When calculating the moves to be played down a particular line it behooves the player to see it through to the end. Judging where to break off the calculation is a measure of chess skill. Grandmasters do this very well, the rest of us not nearly so well consistently.
The standings after the partial round three are:
Section A
1&2 Zach Calderone 2 - 0
1&2 Carlos Vaerla 2 - 0
3 Philip Sells 2 - 1
4 Jeff Capitummino 1 - 1
5 Mike Stanley 0 - 1
6&7 Dilip Aaron 0 - 2
6&7 Cory Northrup 0- 2
Section B
1 John Phillips 3 - 0
2 Ahkil Kamma 2 - 1
3 Alan Le cours 1 - 1
4 Herman Calderone ½ - ½
5 Richard Chu ½ - 1 ½
6 David Connors 0 - 1
7 Matt Clough 0 - 2
More soon.
No comments:
Post a Comment