Updates on SCC and Saratoga with game from AACC

Thursday some of the games needing to be made up in the Schenectady Preliminaries were played, specifically two games from the B Section; Connors - Phillips and Le Cous - Chu. Both ended with the higher rated player winning, but it didn’t have to be that way. Mr. Connors had quite a good position against Mr. Phillips but spoiled what could have been a significant upset with some undo haste. This win by Phillips gave him a perfect score, 6 - 0, and first place in Section B. As John Phillips said after the game; “No one was willing to take a draw from me when it was there to be had this year, they played on trying to win and lost.” That about sums up this event for him.

In the other game; somehow Richard Chu obtained a really bad French Defense versus Alan Le Cours. Richard said he didn’t intend to play the French, it just somehow happened. There seemed little question Le Cours had much the better position early on. Another slip cost Chu an Exchange. He made a determined defense in a lost position even creating some counter-play, but it was not enough and Alan forced resignation on move 47.

Going in, these games were important for determining the third place qualifier from Section B. If Chu had won he’d have the spot locked up. That was not to be. Connors very much needed a win or a draw from Phillips to pull even or ahead of Chu. With both losing, the decision falls to the game; Le Cours - Connors. A win for David Connors there will put him in the Finals, a draw and Connors and Chu will have to play-off, a loss and Richard Chu is into the Finals. I don’t recall if Richard Chu has made the Finals before. If he did it was some while ago. I am pretty sure David Connors has never qualified for the Finals at Schenectady. Success for David will be a first time qualification for him, a big step forward.

One game Bill Townsend, the tournament director, and I where hoping to see played Thursday, did not happen; Dilip Aaron - Zack Calderone. It will determine the third qualifier from Section A. Both have 3 - 2 scores. A drawn outcome and a play-off will have to be scheduled. The qualifiers from Section A so far are; Philip Sells (5 - 1) and Carlos Varela (4 - 1). Varela still has a game to play versus Mike Stanley. Even with a loss to Stanley, Varela will finish no worse than tied with Aaron or Calderone.

The qualifiers from Section B so far are; John Phillips (6 - 0) and Alan Le Cours (3 ½ - 1 ½). Le Cours still must play Connors as mentioned above. No matter the outcome Alan is through to the Finals.

Mr. Le Cours again helpfully provided an update for the Saratoga Championship. Since I last reported Jon Feinberg defeated David Connors. Feinberg has one game to play versus Alan Le Cours. Both have scored 5 - 2, and are a half-point behind Gary Farrell at 5 ½ - 2 ½. A win by either Feinberg or Le Cours brings them the title, a draw gives a three way tie for first! On Thursday Alan was not sure of the tie breaking rules for sorting out such a result.

The most significant game of this week’s round of the AACC event was Henner’s win over Magat. Gordon was poised to break free of the pack. Peter prevented that and tightened up the race for first. Not only was the game important from a sporting viewpoint, it was also one of the sharpest struggles of all the championship tournaments so far this year. Both players brought their imaginations to the board and let them run free.

Magat, Gordon - Henner, Peter [A34]
AACC Championship Guilderland, NY, 14.12.2011

1.c4 c5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e3 Nc6 6.Bb5,..

All this has been well known for sometime. Here are two examples of how the very best play the position:

(28341) Keres, Paul - Taimanov, Mark E [A34]
URS-ch16 Moscow (8), 1948
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e3 Nc6 6.Bb5 Nxc3 7.bxc3 Bd7 8.0–0 e6 9.d4 Be7 10.e4 0–0 11.Qe2 cxd4 12.cxd4 Rc8 13.Bb2 Nb4 14.Bc4 Bb5 15.Bxb5 Rc2 16.Qe3 Rxb2 17.Qa3 Rc2 18.Qxa7 Qc7 19.a3 Na2 20.Bd3 Rc3 21.Rxa2 Rxd3 22.Rb2 Rxa3 23.Qxb7 Qc3 24.Rbb1 Bf6 25.Rbc1 Qa5 26.Rc5 Qa4 27.e5 Bd8 28.Rc8 Rb3 29.Qe4 h6 30.h3 Be7 31.Rfc1 Rb8 32.Rxf8+ Bxf8 33.Rc7 Qa5 34.Qc6 Qa2 35.Qe4 Qa5 36.Rc2 Qa4 37.Kh2 Qa5 38.Qc6 Qd8 39.Qc7 Qxc7 40.Rxc7 Rd8 41.Kg3 Ra8 42.h4 Bb4 43.Rb7 Bc3 44.Rb3 Rc8 45.Kf4 Kf8 46.Ke3 Ke8 47.Ng1 Ba5 48.Ne2 Rc2 49.Rb8+ Bd8 50.g3 Ke7 51.Ra8 g5 52.hxg5 hxg5 53.Ra7+ Ke8 54.g4 Bb6 55.Ra6 Rb2 56.Kd3 Kd7 57.Nc3 Rb4 58.Ra4 Rxa4 59.Nxa4 Bd8 60.Nc5+ Ke7 61.d5 exd5 62.Kd4 Kf8 63.Kxd5 Kg7 64.Nb3 Kg6 65.Kc6 Be7 66.Nc5 Bf8 67.Nd3 Be7 68.Kd7 Bf8 69.Ke8 Ba3 70.Kd8 Kg7 71.Kc7 Kg6 72.Kc8 Kg7 73.Kd7 Kg6 74.Kc6 Be7 75.Kc7 Bf8 76.Kc8 Be7 77.Kd7 Ba3 78.Kc7 Be7 79.Kc6 Ba3 80.Kd5 Be7 81.e6 fxe6+ 82.Kxe6 Bd8 83.Ne5+ Kg7 84.f3 Bb6 85.Nc4 Bc7 86.Kf5 Bf4 87.Ne5 Bc1 88.Nd7 Be3 89.Nf6 Bc1 90.Ne8+ Kh6 91.Kf6 Bb2+ 92.Kf7 Kh7 93.Nd6 Kh6 94.Nc4 Bd4 95.Ke6 Kg6 96.Ne5+ Kg7 97.Kf5 Be3 98.Nd3 Kh6 99.Kf6 Bd4+ 100.Ne5 Bb2 101.Kf5 Kg7 102.Nd3 Bf6 103.Nb4 Bc3 104.Nc6 Bd2 105.Nd4 Bc1 ½–½

(241495) Polugaevsky, Lev (2610) - Andersson, Ulf (2630) [A34]
Biel (9), 1990
1.c4 c5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.e3 d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.Bb5 e6 7.Ne5 Bd7 8.Bxc6 Bxc6 9.Nxc6 bxc6 10.Qa4 Qd7 11.b3 Nb4 12.0–0 Be7 13.Ba3 Rb8 14.Rac1 Nd3 15.Rc2 0–0 16.Qc4 Rfd8 17.Na4 Rb5 18.Nb2 a5 19.Nxd3 Qxd3 20.Qxd3 Rxd3 21.Rfc1 Kf8 22.Kf1 a4 23.bxa4 Rb8 24.Bb2 Ra8 25.Ke2 Rd7 26.Rc4 Rda7 27.Ba3 Rxa4 28.Rxa4 Rxa4 29.Bxc5 Rxa2 30.Bxe7+ Kxe7 31.Rxc6 h5 32.f4 g6 33.Rc7+ Kf6 34.e4 Ra3 35.d3 Ra2+ 36.Kf3 Rd2 37.Rd7 Kg7 38.h3 h4 39.d4 Rd3+ 40.Ke2 Rg3 41.Kf2 Ra3 42.e5 Kf8 43.d5 exd5 44.Rxd5 Ke7 45.Rd6 Rb3 46.Rd4 Ra3 47.Rc4 Rb3 48.Rc8 Rb2+ 49.Kf3 Rb3+ 50.Ke4 Rb4+ ½–½

For reasons not clear this line has not come up in the games of the 2600+ crowd in recent years. I suspect that best play yields White so small an advantage, even if it includes an extra pawn, it is seen as not worthwhile for a player seeking to press with the White pieces. On the other hand, the resulting positions were rich enough in possibilities to attract the Grandmasters cited above, a rare group well recognized for their aggressive and adventurous approach to chess.

6..., a6?!

Parting company with the elite. This move should not work out as well as it does.

7.Bxc6+ bxc6 8.0–0 g6?

Planning to deploy the natural defender of c5 to another line. White’s normal plan now is to capture the pawn on c5.

9.Ne4 Qb6 10.b3?,..

Logical is 10 Qc2, focusing on c5. White may have not liked something in the line; 10 Qc2 Bg7 11 Nxc5 Nb4 12 Qc4 Qb5 13 d3 Qxc4 14 dxc4 a5. He may have been worried about the Ra1 having a hard time getting into action and the pressure down the a1-h8 diagonal. White does have a pawn for the those worries and he seems to have adequate resources to safeguard the Ra1.

10..., Bg7 11.Rb1 Bf5 12.Nfg5?!,..

And the concerns about the Q-side White Rook are manifest. If this kind of diagonal attack on the Rook was the worry, the path chosen did not avoid the problem. Here White could have given up the Exchange with 12 d3 Bxe4 13 dxe4 Nc3 14 Qc2, but that was hardly tempting because Black can continue right away with 14..., c4; not waiting around for White to plant a Knight on blockading square c4. The text opts to make things very tactical immediately in the hope that being alert may find a counter blow. The essential problem is taking this path White has put his King in the mix. Failure will not mean just a material deficit, mate may well be the result.

12...,h6 13.g4,..

White is pinning his hopes on Black retreating the Bishop. Even if he does, things are not so good for White; 13 g4 Bd7 14 Nh3 h5; and Black will open the h-file in any case with advantage.

13..., hxg5 14.gxf5 Qc7

The threat of mate on the move is powerful.

15.f4?,..

White elects further complications instead of the objectively better 15 Ng3, because the better move leads to; 15.., gxf5 16 Ba3 f4; with unpleasant prospects for White lacking even some of the fog of tactics in the text continuation. The game move at least creates some escape routes for the White King.

15..., gxf4 16.fxg6?!,..

Here White could have better continued his policy of seeking complications with 16 f6!?, and then 16..., fxe3 17 Qe2 exf6 18 Bb2, and White has more of his forces working although his position overall is still pretty poor. In this line, after 18..., 0-0-0; 19 dxe3 Bh6; Black’s two extra pawns don’t loom quite so large due to the broken nature of his pawns.

The text leads to a pair of open files bearing on the White King. We have seen this tactical feature in a couple of games recently. The example that springs to mind immediately was in Sells - Dilip Aaron from the Schenectady Prelims. There Dilip did not find the Queen sacrifice to open the files giving himself chances to hold or win the game. Spotting a Queen sacrifice due to the high value of the investment, and when it is not part of a short mating combination is a forgivable error. By contrast, in the present game, Black has a much lower marker at risk; only a Bishop, making the possibility easier to imagine.

16..., fxg6 17.Qg4 fxe3 18.Qxg6+ Kd8 19.Ng3 e2 20.Qxg7,..

What else? If 20 Re1 Bd4+ 21 Kh1 Qf4; when all of White’s options lead to mate shortly. Have some fun working out the finishes. I am sure both participants did so - they were both very focused calculating hard hereabouts.

20..., exf1Q+ 21.Nxf1,..

And if 21 Kxf1 Qf4+; with play not dissimilar to the game.

21..., Kd7 22.Qg4+ e6 23.Qg7+ Ne7 24.Ng3 Rag8 25.Qc3 Nf5

Black has admirably kept up the pressure on g3 and the White King sheltering behind that point. Often we see at the local level players wavering in their aim when the advantage is safe in hand. Mr. Henner finishes the game off without losing sight of his target.

26.Kg2 Rxh2+!

Simply the shortest route to the win. Fumbling is 26..., Rxg3+? 27 hxg3 Rg8; allowing White time to string out the game with 28 Qd3+, and 29 Kf2.

27.Kxh2 Rxg3 28.Qa1 Qf4 0–1

The players packed a lot of excitement into this short game reflecting credit on both. Neither shied away from undertaking tough calculating tasks, and they demonstrated fine chess imagination in the fight. I think it was the best game so far of all this years events at the big three clubs.

More soon.