A Neat Little Win

Richard Chu, the long time President of the Schenectady Club, made it to the Championship Finals this year. Up to Thursday’s round it has not been a successful participation, three games, three losses. But Thursday evening he switched on his “giant killer” mode and won a neat little game from Carlos Varela. Casting my mind back over the years, several occasions are recalled where Mr. Chu defeated Experts and Class A players in the Club Championships. He has never gotten to the title, but his upset wins have influenced the final results on more than one occasion.

Carlos Varela is a new face to SCC. He has played regularly for the RPI team in the Capital District Chess League for the past few years, so he is not a complete stranger. I thought he would have good chances of qualifying from his preliminary section, and he did comfortably. He and I had played each other in past CDCL matches once or twice. Although I managed to win my encounters with Varela, my impression was he played stronger than his rating.

So we have a contest between two guys who on the right day can be creative and dangerous. This time Mr. Chu was on his game while Mr. Varela seemed not quite there.

Chu, Richard - Varela, Carlos [D05]
SCC Finals 2012 Schenectady, NY, 02.02.2012

1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 e6 3.e3 c5 4.b3 Nc6

A variation of the venerable Colle System that Jim Troyan, a Schenectady Champion from the early years of this new century, took as his specialty. He won some good games with this line, in particular this one from Philip Sells in 2004-05:

SCC Championship 04-05, 2-17-2005
Troyan, J - Sells, P

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. e3 Nbd7 4. Bd3 c5 5. b3 cxd4 6. exd4 e6 7. O-O Bd6 8. Re1 Qc7 9. Bb2 O-O 10. Nbd2 Bf4 11. Ne5 Re8 12. Nf1 a6 13. Qf3 Bh6 14. h4 Nxe5 15. dxe5 Nd7 16. Ng3 Nc5 17. Nh5 Kh8 18. g4 Bd2 19.Re2 Nxd3 20. cxd3 Bb4 21. Rc1 Qd8 22. Qxf7 Re7 23. Qf4 Ba5 24. Ba3 Rd7 25.Rec2 b5 26. Bc5 Bb7 27. d4 Qxh4 28. Kg2 Re8 29. Rh1 Qd8 30. g5 Kg8 31. b4 Rf7 32. Qg4 Bc7 33. g6 Rd7 34. gxh7+ Kh8 35. Nf4 g5 36. Ng6+ 1-0

This form of the Colle has more bite than the usual c3/d4/e4 setup, with a later e3-e4. Troyan won games from strong local players frequently because it was just enough off-beat to foil their opening preparation.

5.Bd3 Nf6 6.0–0 Bd6 7.Nbd2 0–0

At some point in the opening Black should capture on d4 with the c-pawn. Doing so aims to leave a White pawn on d4 to minimize the effect of at Bb2. In case White recaptures with his Knight from f3 when Black plays .., cxd4; Black obtains a broad center with a quick .., e6-e5. Either way Black obtains equality and perhaps a bit more.

8.Bb2 a6

Again the transaction on d4 is the right way forward. Black seems to have a plan in mind of expanding on the Q-side. An aside; in this line White is not too concerned about Black’s Knight jumping to b4 to harass the Bd3. The Bishop can slip back to e2, and eventually the Nb4 will be kicked out of b4 by the a-pawn making d3 useable by the Bishop again with a net improvement to the White formation.

9.e4?!,..

Premature according to Rybka but with a certain logic. White seems to have concluded that with a lead in development it must be time to break open the center. The computer suggests 9 dxc5 Bxc5 10 c4, and the game is equal.

9..., dxe4?!

Justifying the break White initiated. Correct is 9..., cxd4; when there are some subtle tricks hiding underneath the surface of the position. If, for example, play continues; 10 Nxd4 Nxd4 11 Bxd4 e5 12 Bb2 d4 13 c3, all pretty straight forward, then Black has 13..., Bg4; and if White reacts thoughtlessly with 14 f3? Bc5+; wins material. White probably has to play 14 Nf3, and after 14..., dxc3 15 Bxc3 Rc8; Black has a entirely acceptable and equal game. Now Black has to concede the Bishop pair or risk losing a pawn.

10.Nxe4 cxd4 11.Nxd6 Qxd6 12.Nxd4 Rd8?

Before this move White had some annoying pluses; the pair of Bishops and a better development, and Black some equally annoying minuses; difficulty finding a way to get the Q-side pieces into action and an awkwardly placed Queen. In this kind of situation, Black has to calculate even simple moves carefully. Things can take a turn for the worse suddenly when fundamentals are poor. The text move is a glaring exemplar. Rybka suggest; 12..., Nb4; when White can just retreat the Bishop to e2 keeping his slight edge, or kick things up a notch with 13 Nb5 Qe7 14 Nc7!? Qxc7 15 Bxf6, and if 15..., gxf6 16 Qg4+, gets the Nb4, with some advantage. The result in this line is the Black pawns are weakened, and White will have the couple of moves Black needs to complete his development to further improve the White position.

With the text Black tries to deal with the exposed placement of the Queen.
The move fails its intention for both tactical and positional reasons.

13.Nxc6 Qxc6?

Black does not want to make the positional concession of recapturing with the b-pawn weakening his pawns. If 13..., cxc6; White expands on the theme with 14 Bxf6 gxf6 15 Qg4+ Kf8 16 Rad1, leaving Black with a bevy of weak pawns to be defended in the middle and endgames. Black’s purpose is a worthy desire but there is a tactical problem.

14.Bxf6 gxf6 15.Bxh7+ Kxh7 16.Qxd8,..

White has collected the Exchange because of Black’s oversight. Mr. Varela would usually catch this level of tactic, but seemed distracted this evening. Richard Chu does a very neat job of wrapping up matters efficiently.

16..., b5 17.Qxf6 Kg8 18.Rae1,..

The Rook is routed to e5/h5 and on to Black’s back rank. There is no way to stop the journey and it spells the end for Black.

18..., Bb7 19.f3 Qxc2 20.Re5 Kf8 21.Rh5 Ke8 22.Rh8+ Kd7 23.Qxf7+ Kc6

The Black King is hunted down in slightly different way if 23..., Kd6. The outcome is the same even if the details vary. The essential problem is the Black King has been winkled out of his home, and with a Queen and Rooks having lines upon which to work, his life will e short, ugly and unhappy.

24.Qxe6+ 1–0

Black resigned here. Mate or ruinous material loss is inevitable. A very nice effort from Mr. Chu. He plays Zack Calderone next week. If Richard comes to the board at his best, Zack will be facing a serious test.

More soon.