Thursday activity at the Schenectady Club was less than expected. Three games were played in the Consolation Tournament and none of the make-up games from the Championship. Illness and other scheduling problems are stretching out both events.
Dilip Aaron continued his undefeated run for the Consolation title by winning from Mike Stanley. Another new face, Isaiah Glessner played a tense draw with Herman Calderone. And, two aspiring players; Chris Caravaty and Cory Northrup, made an interesting fight. That is the game for today.
Caravaty, Chris - Northrup, Cory [A53]
SCC Consolation, Schenectady, NY, 16.02.2012
1.Nf3 d6 2.d4 Bg4 3.c4 e6 4.e4 Nf6 5.Nc3 c6 6.Be2 Be7 7.0–0 d5
Those of us watching games played by Cory have seen formations like this before. Very Hyper-modern and difficult for both sides since it is out of the mainstream. Such an approach tries to make a profit from the fact that local club level players treat the opening in a routine fashion most often and can be bamboozled by a non-standard position. Mr. Northrup has won some games with his approach, and lost some. If he is going to complete his march towards Class A status, Cory may have to add another level of sophistication to his opening arsenal.
8.e5?!,..
Turing the game into a kind of French Defense. Theory says Black is OK because he has gotten his light squared Bishop outside his pawn chain. So, maybe Cory’s scheme worked?
8..., Nfd7 9.c5 b6 10.b4 a5 11.Qa4 b5
Black has reached equality with chances to get more as the tension will be released pretty soon. Black has to be watchful in these French Defense type formations for a sudden attack on his K-side. That is so because of the large space advantage White has there. Mr. Caravaty ignores the ancient wisdom; you attack where your pawns point; in this case the pawns on d4 and e5 point at the Black K-side. With White distracted by nebulous adventures on the Q-side, Black can look to the future with confidence. The downside in this situation for Black is he has to be very accurate in his calculation.
12.Bxb5?!,..
An inspired and flawed attempt to wrest control of the game. The mighty Rybka says White should be satisfied with 12 Qb3 axb4 13 Qxb4 Na6 14 Qb3, keeping the Q-side damage to a bare minimum, and then turn his attention to the K-side where there are opportunities to attack.
12..., cxb5 13.Nxb5 0–0 14.Nd6 Bxd6 15.exd6 Bxf3 16.gxf3 Qc8?
The provocative methods used by Mr. Northrup carries with it the need for a complete understanding of the resulting positions. At this point, Black must be prepared to risk all with 16..., Qf6! He hits the several tender points in the White position; f3, d4 and the general situation around the White King. The intention should be to find compensation for the problematic Q-side position by active operations elsewhere. Going over to the defensive gives up any hope for victory.
Provocative methods bring about critical situations. Critical situations require dynamic ideas and moves. When you are in such situations, the moment you shift to routine, positional maneuvering often signals the end for you. Here is a sample line illustrating active play; 16..., Qf6! 17 Be3 Qxf6 18 Rfc1 Qg4+ 19 Kf1 f4; 20 b5 f4 21 Bd2 f3 22 Be3 Nxc5 23 Rxc5 Qg2+ 24 Ke1 Qg1+ 25 Kd2 Qx1 26 Rc1 Qb2+ 27 Rc2 Qb4+; forces off the Queens leaving Black up a Rook with very doubtful compensation for White in shape of pair of isolated passed pawns.
17.Be3 Qb7 18.b5 Rc8?
Continuing routinely is costly. Black is going to have to return the piece. A good way to do so is; 18..., Nb6. If 19 cxb6 Nd7; with a later jump to c5. The pawn on b6 falls and the pawn on d6 will hard to defend. White will have a protected passed pawn on b5, but the nearly unassailable Knight posted on c5 will make it hard to exploit. Compare also the situation that comes about after the Knight captures the pawn on c5; White’s not too useful Bishop suddenly has opportunities spreading out before it.
19.Rfc1 Nxc5?
The culmination of the mistaken defensive notion. The White pawns have been constraining Black’s choices for awhile. Now they change into monsters.
20.dxc5 Qd7 21.Qb3 Qd8 22.a4 Nd7 23.c6 Ne5 24.Bc5 Qg5+
Too late to the party. Only after making terrible concessions on the Q-side does Cory see the K-side chances. The pawns are too, too dangerous now for this forlorn hope to succeed.
25.Kf1 Nc4 26.Rxc4!,..
I watched with some concern while Chris mulled this move. If he did not capture the Knight, the game would have been less interesting for publication I thought. White would still be winning but the finish might be less pleasing to the reader.
26..., dxc4 27.Qxc4 Qe5 28.Rd1 Rd8 29.d7 Qf6 30.c7 Rxd7
Resignation is also possible.
31.Rxd7 Qa1+ 32.Kg2 Qf6 33.Be7 1–0
Neither side played the position as theory tells us it must be played. That being said they treated us to a tense battle. Chris went off on a Q-side adventure as White in a French Defense kind of position. I can attest from many sorrowful experiences that ends in tears for White most of the time. Cory provoked great tension and at the crucial moment went on the defensive just when great activity was demanded. Many times I have failed to grasp the need to pursue activity under tension letting slip the some well earned advantage. The failings in this game are typical of our play in the clubs, the struggle however was very interesting and maybe a little educational.
More soon.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment