Catching Up on Some Games

Wednesday evening the Albany Club held a thematic tourney, unrated, game/15. The theme was the Benko Gambit Accepted. Jonathan Lack won the event scoring 3 ½ - ½. Dean Howard was 2nd at 3 - 1, and Cory Northrup proved his growing strength by finishing 3rd with 2 ½ - 1 ½. Behind these top fishers were; Tim Wright, Peter Henner and Chris Caravaty all with 2 - 2. Trailing the field was Bill Little at 1 - 3 and Charles Eson at 0 - 4. There are more fun events planned for this year. Stay tuned and I will announce them as they come up.

Here is a game from last month that I didn’t get to publish in the rush of news of the Schenectady and Albany Championships closing on their finishes. Every so often Mr. Chu rises up and defeats an Expert. This was not one of those occasions. Alan Le Cours does a workmanlike job of keeping control of the game, doesn’t overreach and brings home the full point.

Chu, Richard - Le Cours, Alan [A24]
SCC Finals Schenectady, NY, 19.01.2012

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.g3 0–0 5.Bg2 d6 6.0–0 e5 7.d3 Nbd7

The books and the Grandmasters have a preference for this Knight going to c6. Deep Rybka likes the Knight on c6 as well. I understand the explanations given by the GM’s, the words that is. The chess concepts are far less clear to me. To me, and I guess to Alan, going through d7 with this Knight is OK, at least. The game move keeps c6 clear for a possible .., c7-c6.

8.Rb1 a5 9.a3?!,..

Doubtful because development is almost always more important than pawn moves. This is particularly true when development is not complete. In the present case; White has not deployed his Bc1. It has three likely stopping places; d2, e3 and g5. Stopping early on d2 looks too quiet. The adventurous jump to g5 is met by .., h7-h6; and White has to chose a retreat or surrendering the Bishop pair. The move really worth thought is 9 Be3. Then if 9..., Ng4 10 Bg5, causing Black some slight inconvenience. The Knight hanging out on g4 will get pushed back by the h-pawn, so no matter what, White will not be losing a tempo. White seemingly could not decide about a Bishop move, and made an unnecessary pawn move in its place. I suspect this pawn move leads White to make more harmful to his cause pawn moves later on.

9..., c6

Black has set the stage for the push of the d-pawn

10.Bd2 d5

Black could also play 10..., Nc5. White should not try 11 d4 exd4; and Black will play to double the c-pawns and recover the lead c-pawn if White goes forward to capture the d-pawn. The complications favor Black. Mr. Le Cours opts for central control. The problem with that idea is, if White is careful, he can put a great deal of pressure on the pawn duo e5 and d5 with a move that is not immediately obvious.


11.cxd5 cxd5 12.b4?,..

The better move is 12 Bg5! The danger to Black’s center pawns is real, for example; 12..., Qe8 13 Nb5, or 12..., Qb6 13 Bxf6, and a pawn falls. If 12..., d4 13 Nb5 a4 14 Nd6 Qe7 15 Nxc8, and White is doing OK. The text leaves White not so well off as he might have been. The resulting position, with the b-pawn advanced, requires care not to see it lost. The next several moves do not really shift the balance too much one way or the other.


12..., axb4 13.axb4 Re8 14.Qc2 Nb6 15.Nb5 Re7 16.Ra1

A creative idea was put forward by Michael Mockler. The idea shows how Michael’s chess imagination works. He proposed 16 Nxe4?! Rxe5 17 Bf4, Re7 18 Nc7 Ra3 19 Nb5 Ra6; and probably White can’t run the Rook out of moves. If I am correct, the piece for a pawn sacrifice is difficult to justify. In a game Mr. Mockler likely would have not played the suggested move. A calm look at the situation would have rejected it as a choice.

16...Rxa1 17.Rxa1 Bf5 18.Rc1,..

I am uncertain this is a good try.

18..., h6 19.Nh4?!,..

Mr. Chu has nothing more in mind than chasing the Bf5 which leads to only equality. That is not so bad, is it? Disturbing is the absence of a more constructive purpose. It sends a message to your opponent that you have run out of ideas.

19...,Be6 20.Nf3 Ne8 21.Qb1?,..

Better 21 Qc5, keeping Black constrained. The text allows Black to begin to take over the initiative. The old, old adage about if you don’t use your advantages they will go away is true. It is very hard to just sit on the position.

21..., Nd6 22.Nxd6 Qxd6 23.b5 Rc7 24.Rxc7 Qxc7 25.Ba5 Qc5

It is now clear the White b-pawn is very hard to defend. Mr. Le Cours showed patience in the run up to this point. He did not try to force the issue allowing his opponent to do what he wanted and then exploiting the result.

26.e4?,..

After this White is in trouble. Better 26 Qb4, then if 26..., Qc1+ 27 Qe1 Qxe1+ 28 Nxe1 Na4; the siege of the b-pawn is more difficult for Black to carry out, but it is still possible. In such situations, the more time White can buy, the greater are the chances of finding some trick or stratagem to balance the potential lost pawn. The conversion to a Bishop pair ending down a pawn does not help the White cause.

26..., dxe4 27.dxe4 Nc4 28.Qb4 Qc8 29.Qc3 Qd7 30.Nd2 Qxb5 31.Nxc4 Qxc4 32.Qxc4 Bxc4

33.Bb6 Kf8 34.Bf1 Be6 35.Bb5 f5 36.f3 Kf7 37.Kf2 Bf8 38.Ke2 Bd6 39.Kd3 Ke7

I guess White hoped he could excluded the Black King from the neighborhood of the b-pawn and in someway delay, or prevent, its advance. The difficulty is Black can open a second front on the other side of the board making the defensive task harder yet.

40.Ke3 Bd7 41.Bxd7,..

If 41 Bc4 Ba3; opens the route for the King. All Black must do is not rush things.

41..., Kxd7 42.Kd3 Kc6 43.Be3 Bf8 44.f4 exf4 45.Bxf4 fxe4+ 46.Kxe4 Bg7!

A nice touch. The Bg7 forces the White King to give ground.

47.Kd3 Kd5 48.h4,..

The game is lost, but this move makes the technical task easier. The pawn on g3 is terribly weak.

48..., h5 49.Kc2 Be5 50.Bg5 Bxg3 0–1

With the b-pawn as a distant bait, the White King will not have enough speed or range to cover all the problems. The Black King Bishop will combine to win the last remaining White pawn. Three pawns supported by a Bishop will win soon enough. A nice win over an opponent who can be a problem for higher rated players.

More soon.