AACC Thematic Benko Tournament

Wednesday evening the Albany Area Chess Club did not have any tournament games scheduled. We instead had a lecture by Peter Henner on the Benko Gambit Accepted. And next week an unrated game/15 thematic event will take place exploring the various plans for Black and White in the Benko. If you are free next Wednesday, come on over to the Union Presbyterian Church on Route 20 in Guilderland. The doors open at 7:00pm. If the turnout is large enough it will be a four round Swiss, otherwise some kind of round robin. The festivities should be done by 10:00pm. It will be an enjoyable evening I am sure.

Unfortunate news was shared with the club before the lecture. Arthur Alowitz will be unable to take up his place in the under 1800 playoff match.
He will not play in the match and will not be available for duty in the upcoming CDCL season. Arthur has some repair work scheduled for an ankle that been bothering him and won’t be getting out to play until recovery is complete. He will be missed. We all wish him a speedy recovery. Replacing Arthur in the under 1800 match will be Cory Northrup, the next placed finisher.

Just to stimulate the thinking of anyone participating in next week’s Benko thematic event, here are a couple of local games in that opening.

Two years ago the AACC was without a home. The Albany B Team played the Geezers at the home of Arthur Alowitz, and this very long game was played by our good host and I. It went on so long I had only seconds left at the finish. The only reason I won was years ago one of my chess teachers required me to learn how to carry out the B+N+K versus K mate. Much I learned about chess over the years has been forgotten because of rare usefulness. The B+N mate certainly did not come up often for me; this was only the second time in more than sixty years of play that the ending occurred in my serious games. Some quirk of memory worked in my favor that Spring evening two years ago, and I was able to bang out the moves in the ending with Sells-like speed and accuracy.

Little, Bill - Alowitz, Arthur [A57]
CDCL Match, Geezers v Albany B, Defreetsville, NY, 14.05.2010

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5 4.cxb5 a6 5.Nc3 axb5 6.Nxb5 Qa5+ 7.Nc3 d6

This is not a main line, but it is known theory. Probably better here is 7..., e6; with play against the White center.

8.g3 g6 9.Bg2 Bg7 10.Nh3 0–0 11.0–0 Na6 12.Bd2 Qb6 13.b3 Bg4?!

A sensible approach is 13..., Nb4; tempting the White a-pawn forward while keeping an eye on chances for tactics on the a1-h8 diagonal. In the 1980s I played the Benko as Black in several tough all-Expert events at the Studio of Bridge and Games. Based on that experience the play so far seemed to indicate Arthur was not 100% certain of exactly what to do in the Benko.

14.Nf4 Nb4 15.a3 Na6 16.h3 Bd7 17.Rb1 Bf5 18.e4 Bd7 19.Re1 Nc7 20.Qc1 Nb5 21.Nxb5 Bxb5 22.a4,..

White has a measurable advantage now; the extra pawn is secure for the moment and the Rook is no longer on a1 as a target for the Bg7.

23..., Bd7 23.a5 Qb7 24.b4 cxb4 25.Bxb4 Rfc8 26.Qd2 Rab8 27.Rec1 Rxc1+ 28.Qxc1 Rc8 29.Qe1 Bb5 30.Bc3 Qa6 31.Rc1 Rc5 32.e5?!,..

The e4-e5 break is often the point of White’s play in the Benko. Here it is not called for. Better is preparing to maneuver with 32 Bf3, reinforcing e2 to permit the safe retreat of the Nf4 through e2. Black now gets chances to level up the game.

32..., dxe5 33.Bxe5 Rxc1 34.Qxc1 Qxa5 35.d6,..

I had a vision that a sudden decent by my Queen on Black’s back rank would yield an advantage. What really was accomplished is my extra pawn is gone for no advantage.

35..., Qd8?

Luckily for me, my opponent mistakenly believed my threats are real. Just capturing on d6 would have given him equality.

36.Qc7 Qxc7 37.dxc7 Ba6

My far advanced passed pawn is a serious matter for Black. If he is not very precise, it could well cost material.

38.Bc6 Bc8 39.Bxf6 Bxf6 40.Nd5 Bxh3 41.Bb7!?,..

Here I was very worried. Winning a piece for the c-pawn is easy enough, but Black has four pawns. If he can engineer a trade of my two pawns for his four, the lone Bishop only draws.

41..., Kf8 42.c8Q+ Bxc8 43.Bxc8 Bd4 44.Kg2 Bc5 45.Bd7 Ba3 46.f4 f6 47.Be6 Bc5 48.Kf3 Bd6 49.g4 Ba3 50.Nb6 Kg7 51.Nc4 Bb4 52.Nb6 Bd6 53.Nc4 Bb4 54.f5 Bc5 55.Ne3 Ba3 56.Ng2 Bd6 57.Nh4 Ba3 58.Bd5 Bd6 59.Ng2 Ba3 60.Nf4 Bd6 61.Be4 gxf5 62.gxf5 Bb4 63.Kg4,..

After wasting time I will shortly need, I begin to get an idea of how to make something out of my extra piece.

63..., Bd6 64.Ne6+ Kh6

My notion is freeze all Black’s forces except his Bishop. My King will then be free to go on a “long march” all around the board to get after the Black e&f-pawns. It will take a lot of moves, but it is easy to see all the way through.

65.Bf3 Ba3 66.Kg3 Bd6+ 67.Kf2 Ba3 68.Ke2 Bb4 69.Kd3 Ba3 70.Ke4 Bb4 71.Kd5 Bd6 72.Kc6 Ba3 73.Kd7 Bd6 74.Ke8 Ba3 75.Kf8 Bd6 76.Kg8 Bb4 77.Be4 Bd6 78.Nf8,..

All that to get the h-pawn.

78..., Kg5 79.Nxh7+ Kf4 80.Bc2 Ke5 81.Kf7 Bb4 82.Nf8 Kd6

The next time consuming phase is the winning of the remaining Black pawns. To do so requires forcing the Black King away from helping the Black Bishop defend them.

83.Ng6 Kd7 84.Ba4+ Kd8 85.Nf4 Ba3 86.Ne6+ Kc8 87.Ke8 Bd6 88.Bd7+ Kb7 89.Kd8 Ba3 90.Nf4 Bb4 91.Nd5 Ba3 92.Nxe7 Bc5 93.Nd5 Bd4 94.Ke7 Bb2 95.Nxf6 Kc7 96.Nd5+ Kb7 97.f6 Bxf6+ 98.Kxf6,..

As this position was developing, memories of the mechanics of mating with the Bishop and Knight came bubbling back to the forefront of my mind. There are several key positions to know if you are to carry off such a mate. One of the important positions showing up towards the end of the mating process is; a White Bishop on d7 and a White Knight on d5 confining the Black King to the a8 corner as they are here. Note how the two minor pieces lock in the Black King, there is no way out. The finish is easy to play once you see the fencing in of the Black King. That was fortunate for me as I was under two minutes on the clock.

98..., Ka6 99.Ke6 Ka5 100.Kd6 Ka6 101.Kc5 Ka7 102.Kb5 Kb8 103.Kb6 Ka8 104.Nc7+ Kb8 105.Na6+ Ka8 106.Bc6# 1–0

With no doubt this was the longest calculation I ever made in chess. From the surrounding the Black h-pawn to the end pretty much everything was calculated. Long though it was, the task was not difficult because of the lack of alternatives for Black.

In the Preliminary B Section in the 2010 Championship Patrick Chi defeated John Phillips in a Benko. Some of the simple tactical dangers for Black show up in this game.

Chi, Patrick - Phillips, John [A58]
SCC Prelim B Schenectady, NY, 09.11.2010
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5 4.cxb5 a6 5.bxa6 g6 6.Nc3 Bxa6 7.e4 d6!?

I don’t know why John did not play 7..., Bxf1; the most common move. The text is known to theory but hasn’t had much success. Here is a game from a recent US Championship illustrating the problems for Black;

(1178700) Shulman, Yuri (2600) - Sevillano, Enrico (2493) [A57]
US championship, Stillwater (5), 19.05.2007
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5 4.cxb5 d6 5.Nc3 a6 6.e4 g6 7.bxa6 Bxa6 8.Bxa6 Nxa6 9.Nge2 Bg7 10.0–0 0–0 11.Rb1 Qc7 12.h3 Rfb8 13.Be3 Rb4 14.Qc2 Rb7 15.Qd2 Rb4 16.f3 Ne8 17.b3 Qb7 18.Nc1 Nac7 19.Nd3 Rb6 20.Rbc1 Rba6 21.Na4 Rxa4 22.bxa4 Rxa4 23.Rb1 Qa8 24.Rf2 f5 25.exf5 Nxd5 26.fxg6 hxg6 27.Nf4 Nxf4 28.Bxf4 Nc7 29.Bh6 Bd4 30.Be3 Bg7 31.Qc2 Kh7 32.Rd2 Ne6 33.Re1 Bf6 34.Bf2 Ng7 35.Re4 Ra3 36.Rg4 Nf5 37.Qc4 Nh6 38.Re4 Rc3 39.Qe6 Kg7 40.Bh4 Rc1+ 41.Kh2 g5 42.Bg3 Kg6 43.h4 Qh8 44.Rd5 Nf7 45.Rg4 Kg7 46.f4 Nd8 47.Rdxg5+ Bxg5 48.Qxe7+ 1–0

Mr. Phillips usually prepares his opening carefully. I wonder what his idea was in this line?

8.Bxa6 Rxa6

Taking with the Knight as in Shulman - Sevillano is better.

9.Nf3 Nbd7 10.0–0 Bg7 11.Qe2 Qa8 12.Nb5,..

And this is why. The fork threat should stop the Black King from castling at the least. Black either blunders, or he decides giving up an Exchange to keep the right to castle is his best chance.

12..., Qb7 13.Nc7+ Qxc7 14.Qxa6 0–0?!

Black is now down the Exchange and a passed pawn. The only try for some compensation is 14..., Nxe4; but after 15 Re1 f5 16 Qc6 Qb6 17 Re2, White has all the makings for a win also.

15.Qc4 Rb8 16.Qc2 Ng4 17.Rb1 Nge5 18.Nxe5 Nxe5 19.b4 Qb6 20.b5,..

White has established his connected passed pawns on the Q-side as real threats. There is little left for Black to do except to wait for the axe to fall.

20..., Qa5 21.a4 Ra8 22.Bd2 Qxa4 23.Qxa4 Rxa4 24.b6 Nd7 25.b7 Nb8 26.Rb6 Ra2 27.Be3 Bc3 28.Rc6!,..

Connected passed pawns on the 6th and 7th ranks are impossible for a Rook to stop. A neat performance by Mr. Chi.

28..., Kg7 29.Rc8 Na6 30.b8Q 1–0

The Benko leads to interesting play. I gave it up in the 1990s. My usual opponents had begun to learn many of the alternative choices White has, and I got tired of always being a pawn down. Careful play by White seemed to me to give him an advantage. I switched to the King’s Indian where I might be crushed on the Q-side, but there were sparkling attacks to be had against the White King to compensate.

I hope these games from the archives spur some readers to come out to play in the Benko thematic next Wednesday. It may well be fun!

More soon.