The Wednesday session at the AACC saw nice turnout. Better than a half dozen players played skittles while Dean Howard and Peter Henner contended for the Club Championship title. After reaching the late middle game a pawn down and in danger of losing the game, Dean Howard once more demonstrated his prowess at speed chess. He found a tactical resource in the time scramble and won the game with just over 20 seconds on his clock. This victory won the Albany Area Chess Club title for Mr. Howard for the second year in a row. It was a decisive victory in the match over Mr. Henner 2 - 0. The game will be the subject of my next post.
This result ends this year’s round of local club title events. Jonathan Feinberg took the Saratoga title, John Phillips won going away in Schenectady, and Dean Howard is the Albany Champion. Kudos and congratulations to these very worthy Champions!
From last week: In the Consolation Tourney at the SCC Dilip Aaron started off with a series wins. As the highest rated entrant this was not surprising. His loss to Isaiah Glessner a round or two ago changed a runaway victory into a possibly closer contest. I anticipated this game with Caravaty being a test for Dilip. Today’s game with its errors indicates both players saw it as critical contest also.
(384) Aaron, Dilip - Caravaty, Chris [C02]
SCC Consolation Tourney Schenectady, NY, 08.03.2012
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Nf3 Bd7 6.Bb5?,..
Too casual! This is a fundamental oversight. If Black is attentive, he will find 6..., Nxe5!; winning a vital center pawn. White then faces a long and thankless task trying to create counter-play when there few opportunities available.
6..., Qb6?
And, Black returns the favor. Puzzling, it is.
7.Bxc6 bxc6
In the typical French Black usually thinks carefully about weakening his pawn formation. This game has become an unusual French. Here the open b-file and having two pawns on the c-file with which to challenge the d4-pawn is no bad thing.
Finding master games for this way of treating the French Advanced variation is difficult. Here is the only one that turned up in the Rybka database:
(761213) Urban, Andrey (2347) - Boricsev, Oleg (2330) [C02]
Alushta, 05.2003
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Bb5 e6 6.Nf3 Bd7 7.Be2 cxd4 8.cxd4 Nge7 9.Na3 Nf5 10.Nc2 Nb4 11.0–0 Nxc2 12.Qxc2 Qb6 13.Qd1 Bb5 14.Bxb5+ Qxb5 15.b3 Rc8 16.g4 Ne7 17.Ba3 h5 18.h3 Ng6 19.Bxf8 Kxf8 20.Qd2 hxg4 21.hxg4 Ke7 22.Rfc1 Qb6 23.Kg2 Kd7 24.Kg3 f6 25.Rxc8 Rxc8 26.Rc1 Rh8 27.Qc2 Ne7 28.Qd3 f5 29.g5 Nc6 30.Rc5 a6 31.Rc1 Qd8 32.Qc3 Qf8 33.Kg2 f4 34.Rh1 Rxh1 35.Kxh1 Qf5 36.Kg2 Ne7 37.b4 Qe4 38.Kh3 Qe2 39.Kg2 Nf5 40.Kg1 Qxa2 41.Qc5 Qb1+ 42.Kh2 Qe4 43.Qb6 Qxf3 44.Qxb7+ Ke8 45.Qc8+ Kf7 46.Qd7+ Kg6 47.Qxe6+ Kxg5 48.Qxa6 Qxf2+ 49.Kh3 Qg3# 0–1
Every once in a while a place name for a tournament is obscure. This is once such, so I investigated. Alusta is a port on the Black Sea coast on the Crimea Peninsula not far from the city of Sevastopol, the sight of the Charge of the Light Brigade. This is just a note for the geographically curious out there.
From a chess point of view, in the cited game notice the retreat on move 7 by White to avoid the potential loss of a pawn. The move order used by Dilip would have been superior to Urban’s if he had just stopped the Bishop on e2 instead of going all the way to b5.
8.0–0 Ne7 9.dxc5 Qxc5
The game now has taken on an interesting form. White has his usual K-side space advantage in the French. Absent the light squared Bishop, creating a serious attack is not easy for White. On the other side of the issue; Black can carry out the standard idea of using his c-pawn against d4. As is frequent in the French, the position says Black plays on the Q-side and White on the K-side. Finding attacking moves for White on the K-side defeated both me and Rybka. Given there is no good way forward on the K-side for White, one has to conclude Black has the better game.
10.b4 Qb5 11.Be3 Nf5 12.Nd4 Nxe3?!
As natural as this move appears to be, it is not quite right. Better 12..., Nxd4 13 Qxd4 a5 14 a3 Be7; giving Black frontal pressure on the White Q-side pawns and equality. The game move heralds a plan of diagonal pressure on the White King by the Black Bishop pair and the Queen. This is an interesting concept with a flaw; the transactions used to implement the idea allow White to attack just where the position says he must; the K-side.
13.fxe3 Qb7 14.Qf3 Bc8
Black has been forced to undeveloped this Bishop. That is not a good sign for his plan. White now has the f-file on which to operate against the Black King. In the likely event of the short castling by Black, the f-file is also a pathway for a White Rook to the g-file increasing pressure on the Black King’s abode. The time used to contemplate the position and his body language suggested to me Mr. Caravaty had not fully appreciated the dangers coming after the capture on e3.
15.Nd2?!,..
More prudent is 15 Nb3. It effectively prevents the c5 break because the threat to f7 is strong. The Black Queen has a full time job guarding f7 and she will not be able to work with the Bf8 to enforce .., c6-c5. When you fully understand that piece of information, the problems for Black become clearer. The Bf8 lacks squares on the a3-f8 diagonal. Black will have to make a couple more moves before he castles. His Queen, Bc8 and the Ra8 have trouble untangling. In sum; while he has just enough resources to prevent and immediate breakthrough, Black is not well placed for routine development.
White has his own difficulties, but he does seem to have some initiative. For White; this small initiative does not yield immediate opportunities. To get the most from his position White has to play very well mixing patience with guile. The most likely path for Black is giving up the idea of castling at all and developing the K-side with 15..., g6. Then play might continue; 16 Qf6 Rg8 17 Qf4 Qc7 18 N1d2 g5 19 Qd4 Bg7 20 Nf3 Bh8 21 Qg4 Bxe5 22 Qh5 Rg7 23 Nbd4, and for the pawn lost White has made a position full of tension. For example; if Black plays the natural 23..., c5?; White obtains the advantage with 24 Nb5 Qb8 25 bxc5, and the complex tactical operations that ensue all favor White. Playing through the lines unfolds a series of positions that are more like studies and problems than normal chess positions; the oddly broken White center pawns, the un-castled Black King, etc. After 15 Nb3, both sides would have a tough time finding the best moves.
15..., c5 16.bxc5?!,..
This move allows Black to get the position he wants with diagonal pressure on the White King’s home. Better I think is 16 Nc2, continuing to deny the Black dark squared Bishop access to the a3-f8 diagonal. Note Black really can’t capture on b4 with the pawn and then the Bishop because of the weakness of f7.
16..., Bxc5 17.N4b3 Bb6 18.c4 dxc4?
Reasonable is 18..., 0-0; ending much of the danger to f7 and any opening of the center has to favor the Bishop pair. After the text, White has chances to get his Knights to active posts.
19.Nxc4 0–0 20.Qf4 Qc6 21.Rf3 Bb7 22.Nd6 Qd7 23.Rg3 f6?
Strategically the Bishops look dangerous. Tactically the White heavy pieces and Knight on the sixth are dangerous. The text must result from not fully appreciating how well Knights and Queens work together. The move converts a tension filled but even game into a lost cause immediately.
24.exf6 Rxf6?
Even the somewhat better move, 24..., Rad8; is no more than a marginal improvement. At the end of any transaction where Black captures the Nd6, the White Rook on g3 captures on g7 with check and then takes off the Bb7.
25.Qxf6 Bxe3+ 26.Kh1 Rf8 27.Qc3,..
While watching the game I thought this an error. My preferred line was 27 Rxg7+ Qxg7 28 Qxg7+ Kxg7 29 Nxb7, leaving White up a piece for a pawn. Since the Bishop pair is gone in this line of play my judgment was it is the simplest way to take the point. Actually the game move is superior properly followed up.
27..., Bf4
This is the resource upon which Black is counting. There is nothing much better.
28.Rd3?,..
White in his turn fails to find the correct rejoinder. The right move is; 28 Nc5!, and then 28..., Qc7 29 Ncxb7 the Black Queen moves and White saves the Rg3 staying a full Rook ahead. After the game move Black alertly sees there is a way out of the pin on the d-file. Not only does he keep the material deficit to the minimum of an Exchange for a pawn, the pair of Bishops combined with the great activity of the Black Queen and Rook working together give better than decent winning chances. That is a quite a swing in fortunes in a single move.
28..., Bxd6 29.Rad1 Qf7
Mate on the back rank and threats to mate at g2 restrict White’s choices over the next few moves.
30.Qe1 Qg6 31.Qg1 Bc7 32.R3d2 Bb6 33.Qe1 Ba6 34.Qe5 Qf7 35.Qe1 Qg6 36.Qh4 Qf5 37.h3!?,..
White, disappointed in the outcome of the complications, still wants to win. Possibly safer is 37 Qe1, but such passive defense allows Black to continue improving placement of the Bishops and who knows where that would end. The text ends the mate threat. Black now has to find the best way forward. That seems to be 37..., Bc7; renewing the mate threat. Then 38 Qe1 Bb7; with a very tense situation on the board and any outcome possible.
37..., Qf1+?
Impatience I guess, or a miscalculation.
38.Rxf1 Rxf1+ 39.Kh2 Bc7+ 40.g3 Bb7
Black may have thought this was a winner when he sacrificed the Queen. Chris made that decision in time trouble. He was down to just six minutes to finish the game. It took him a minute to find the “sac” and without a reserve of time he did not check the details as thoroughly as such a decision required. Again, 40..., Bc7; is much better. The mate threat would have made White pull in his horns.
41.Rd8+,..
Either this move, or 41 Rg2, ends any realistic chance for Black to hold the game.
41..., Kf7 42.Qh5+ Ke7 43.Qe8+ Kf6 44.Qf8+ 1-0
As active as two Bishops can be, holding out against a Queen and Knight is not possible unless circumstances are exceptional. Here for example; 44..., Kg6 45 Qxf1 Bxd8 46 Qd3+, ends the life of the Bishop pair. There is nothing exceptional in the position, and Black correctly resigns.
Both sides made forthright efforts to win, and both failed in their calculations and assessments at various points in the game. That is not to condemn their efforts. Lessons are there to be learned particularly about digging to understand the position. Mr. Caravaty spent a great deal of time on his moves and got to a time problem. My observation is he calculated a lot but did not search for the truth of the position enough. Mr. Aaron played quickly, a trait I admire, but did not calculate widely enough. He’d find a move that looked OK, calculate some to avoid immediate loss and play the move. The game ended as the pre-game ratings predicted, and these two improving players did well to come up with interesting and challenging ideas. Improvement for both guys lies in greater attention to details of the each position as it comes up.
More soon.
3.15.2012
3.12.2012
An Update on Last Week's Activity
At the Albany Area Chess Club last Wednesday evening there was a nice turnout although nothing more than casual games were on the docket. The Under 1800 title was decided last week during an evening of bad whether. Chris Cacaraty winning from Cory Northrup. The last game of the Championship title match between Dean Howard and Peter Henner is to be played next Wednesday. Most of the usual suspects showed up and a great many skittles games took place.
Thursday evening at the Schenectady Chess Club saw the continuation of the Consolation Tourney and some make-up games from the Finals of the Schenectady championship.
In the Consolation event; Dilip Aaron defeated Chris Caravaty, a potential challenger to Dilip’s run for first place in an up and down game. Mike Stanley lost to Matt Clough in what was looked to be an interesting contest.
In the Finals; Richard Chu lost to Zack Calderon on a blunder just when it seemed Richard was about to obtain an advantage. The game completed Mr. Chu’s schedule. He scored 2-4. The win raised Mr. Calderon’s score to 1 ½ points with one game to play. Alan Le Cours stood off a spirited assault by Carlos Varela to take the full point. The game completed Mr. Varela’s schedule and gave him a final score of 1-4. The closeness of this contest makes it today’s game. Herman Calderon won a tough fight from David Connors to complete the list of results.
Varela, Carlos - Le Cours, Alan [A48]
SCC Finals 2012 Schenectady, NY, 08.03.2012
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.Bf4 Bg7 4.e3 d6 5.h3 0–0 6.Bd3 c5
Until this move to played the game was in the realm of known theory. There are not tons of games between elite players in the databases. From the few found it seems that Black does pretty well if he undertakes a plan focused on striking back with .., e7-e5. Here are a couple of examples:
(58671) Morosova, Tatiana V - Ergle, A [A48]
Ussr Team Championship, Leningrad, 1962
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.Bf4 Bg7 4.e3 d6 5.h3 0–0 6.Bd3 Nc6 7.c3 Re8 8.Bc4 Na5 9.Bb5 Bd7 10.Bxd7 Qxd7 11.0–0 Nc4 12.Qb3 Nb6 13.Na3 Nh5 14.Bh2 e5 15.dxe5 dxe5 16.Rad1 Qe7 17.Rd2 Rad8 18.Rfd1 Rxd2 19.Rxd2 c6 20.Nc4 Nxc4 21.Qxc4 e4 22.Nd4 Be5 23.Bxe5 Qxe5 24.Nb3 Nf6 25.Qc5 Qxc5 26.Nxc5 b6 27.Nd7 Kg7 28.Rd6 Nxd7 29.Rxd7 a5 30.Kf1 Kf6 31.Rb7 b5 32.b3 Rd8 33.Ra7 Rd3 34.c4 bxc4 35.bxc4 Ra3 36.Ra6 Rxa2 37.Rxc6+ Ke7 38.Rc7+ Ke8 39.Ra7 Rc2 40.Rxa5 Rxc4 41.Kg1 Ke7 42.Kh2 Kf6 43.Kg3 h6 44.Ra6+ Kg7 45.h4 h5 46.Kf4 Rb4 47.Ra2 Rc4 48.Rd2 Rb4 49.Ke5 Ra4 ½–½
(745084) Galinsky, Timofey (2375) - Shishkin, Vadim (2404) [A48]
Kiev Championship (4), 20.01.2003
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.Bf4 Bg7 4.h3 0–0 5.e3 d6 6.Bd3 b6 7.0–0 Bb7 8.a4 Nbd7 9.Qe2 e5 10.dxe5 dxe5 11.Nxe5 Nxe5 12.Bxe5 Bxg2 13.Kxg2 Qd5+ 14.Qf3 Qxe5 15.c3 Rad8 16.Rd1 Qg5+ 17.Qg3 Qd5+ 18.Qf3 Qb3 19.Qe2 Qe6 20.Nd2 Rd5 21.Nf3 Rh5 22.Rh1 Nd7 23.Nd4 Qd5+ 24.Qf3 c5 25.Nc6 Rg5+ 0–1
I can find no particular reason that makes the push to e5 better than the c5 break. Deep Rybka says Black is doing fine after 6..., c5.
7.c3 Qb6
I wondered during the game if this move was correct. My friend Rybka says yes it is.
8.Qc2 Nc6 9.Nbd2 cxd4 10.exd4 Be6 11.0–0 Rac8 12.a3 Nd5 13.Nc4 Qc7!?
The computer agreed with these moves as being best until this last one. Here it thought 13..., Qd8; is slightly better, and the game is about equal. Reaching equality by move 13 is a success for Black. Nevertheless, White has more space at the moment. That is not an unusual outcome in the KID type positions. Notwithstanding the computer calculation of equality, White should have an easier time playing the position having extra space with which to work. Black has to find a workable scheme to balance the White space advantage.
14.Bg5!?,..
Retreating the Bishop to g3 gives a dead even game. Black would then have time to try 14..., b4!?; looking for his own space on the Q-side. Play could continue; 15 Ne3 b4 16 c4 Nxe3 17 fxe3 bxa3 18 bxa3 Na5 19 c5 Qb6; with plenty of pressure for the pawn invested. All this supposes both sides are playing with only logical technical chess in mind. What must be added to our understanding of decisions made is the sporting aspect of the contest. Alan likely sees this a must win game for rating reasons at least. Giving up a draw to an opponent 300 rating points behind him will negate what has been decent performances in the Saratoga and SCC title events so far. For Carlos, with nothing intrinsically wrong with his position, there is an opportunity to upset a highly rated player and cap qualification to the Finals with a notable victory. Perhaps these thoughts inspired Mr. Varela to take some risks on the K-side.
14..., h6 15.Bh4!?,..
The question put to the Bg5 is answered again with provocation. Safe and sane is 15 Bd2, aiming to complete development and to maneuver for a bit.
15..., Nf4
Black is beginning to see some compensation for the space he gave up. The Bd3 can be taken off acquiring the long term plus of the Bishop pair for Black, although rushing to do that may not be the best choice. A possible line of play is; 16 Ne3 Qb6 17 Bg3 Nxd3 18 Qxd3 Na5; when Black is well placed to control the light squares on the Q-side. At that point, an advantage for Black is beginning to emerge. It may well be this, and similar other possibilities motivated Varela to stake everything on an attack on the Black King.
16.Ne3 Nxd3 17.Qxd3 d5 18.Rfe1 a6 19.Re2 Qd7!?
If Black was worried about an eventual Bh4-g3, he could have played 19..., f5; to prevent it. A subject that the Correspondence World Champion Hans Berliner, and before him Weaver Adams, wrote about often is board control. Here 19..., f5; would have given Black near absolute control of e4, an important square in the White camp. Both Weaver and Berliner said if your play as White yields e4 or d4, then something is wrong. They held White needs to have some say over those two squares above all others, otherwise there was an error in the opening. I don’t know if they are right. In this case however, 19..., f5; does present obstacles to the attack White gins up shortly.
20.Rae1 Rcd8 21.Ng4 g5?
This is an interesting error at a critical moment. It seems the natural 21..., Bf5; will give Black good play and maybe even an advantage after; 22 Qe3 g5 23 Bg3 Bxg4 24 hxg4 Qxg4. Black has a pawn, and after the further continuation; 25 Ne5 Bxe5 26 Bxe5 Rd7 27 Qd3 e6; White has some, but not full compensation for it. The game move presents White with the opportunity to go for victory with a sacrificial attack. It is a similar situation to his game against Philip Sells two weeks ago. There Mr. Varela launched a sacrificial assault because it was the best practical chance though not completely sound. This time the ambitious aggression is both the best practical chance and sound.
22.Rxe6!,..
This move and 22 Nxh6+, lead to similar play favoring White. This is an inspired idea. The sacrifice effectively splits the Black forces in two with the Rd8 shut out of quick participation in the defense of the Black King.
22..., fxe6 23.Bxg5?,..
And, this move lets Black off the hook. Continuing with; 23 Nxh6+ Bxh6 24 Nxg5 Rf5 (Just about the only move that offers hope of survival.), 25 Nxe6 Rdf8 26 g4 R5f7 27 Qg6+ Rg7 28 Nxf8 Kxf8 29 Qxh6, and White is winning. This is a fairly long line to calculate. It is however more or less forced making the calculation task somewhat easier. Mr. Varela had about 30 minutes remaining on his clock. Perhaps the recollection of how time trouble in the game with Sells caused Carlos to make a hasty decision here.
23..., Rxf3!
A neat counter-sacrifice reducing the attacking forces is the best move for Black now.
24.Nxh6+ Bxh6 25.Qg6+?,..
Mr. Varela played the last few moves reasonably quickly leading me to believe the game was going as he planned. This move is an error however. Better 25 Qxf3, preserving his pawn structure. With 25..., Bxg5 26 Qg4, White will have two pawns for the piece and chances to hold the game because of Black’s less than inspiring pawn formation. I believe White decided when capturing on e6 with the Rook to go for a win at all costs. He was determined to carry the attack forward, and switching to another plan was no option in his thinking, and so, the text.
25..., Bg7 26.gxf3 Rf8 27.Bh6 Rf7 28.Rxe6 Kf8!?
This move is not quite as good as 28..., Nd8; forcing back the Rook from e6, to be followed by 29..., Qc6; forcing an exchange of Queens. Without his Queen to give weight to threats against the Black King, White has small compensation for the piece minus.
29.Qg4?!,..
White has made a determined, if slightly inaccurate effort to drive home his attack to this point in the game. Now his determination wavers. Keeping some hope of cashing in on the attack with 29 Qh7, is better. The threat is 30 Qh8#, and 29..., Ke8 30 Qg8+ Bf8 31 Qg4 Bxh6 32 Rxh6 Qxg4+ 33 fxg4, repairs the White pawn formation. Black still has the piece, but the White K-side pawns have the potential to become dangerous. There is much play left in the position notwithstanding Black’s advantage.
29..., Bxh6 30.Rxh6 Rg7 31.Rg6 Rxg6 32.Qxg6 Qxh3 33.Qg4 Qxg4+
The dust of battle has cleared and Black has a won game. Arguing that White might have tried something other than 33 Qg4, is fruitless a few moments of reflection shows.
34.fxg4 Na5 35.f4 Nc4 36.Kf2 Nxb2 37.Kf3 b5 38.f5 Nc4
White’s only idea, and the only practical one, is to trying to create some passed pawns to distract Black from Queening one or another of his Q-side pawns. The text move covers e5 the readily available route for the White King to travel to win another pawn. The Black Knight prevents the King’s entry until Black has all things ready on the Q-side. Once the stage is set, calculating the dozen or so moves required to finish the game is not difficult for a player of Mr. Le Cours’ experience.
39.Kf4 a5 40.Kg5 Kg7 41.Kf4 a4 42.g5 Nxa3 43.Ke5 Nb1 44.Kxd5 a3 45.Ke6 a2 46.Kxe7 a1Q 47.f6+ Kg6 48.d5 Qa7+ 0–1
With the Queen to help out, there is no feasible way for the White pawns to advance further without loss.
Carlos Varela has been a part of some of the most interesting games of this year’s Finals. Twice he took highly rated opponents, Sells and Le Cours, under attack that was only frustrated with difficulty. His one win in this event over the talented Zack Calderon was a neat miniature where he turned unwarranted aggression into victory in a sharp fight. Mr. Varela’s performance has to be called very good with promise of future improvement. I hope to see him in next year’s tournament.
More soon.
Thursday evening at the Schenectady Chess Club saw the continuation of the Consolation Tourney and some make-up games from the Finals of the Schenectady championship.
In the Consolation event; Dilip Aaron defeated Chris Caravaty, a potential challenger to Dilip’s run for first place in an up and down game. Mike Stanley lost to Matt Clough in what was looked to be an interesting contest.
In the Finals; Richard Chu lost to Zack Calderon on a blunder just when it seemed Richard was about to obtain an advantage. The game completed Mr. Chu’s schedule. He scored 2-4. The win raised Mr. Calderon’s score to 1 ½ points with one game to play. Alan Le Cours stood off a spirited assault by Carlos Varela to take the full point. The game completed Mr. Varela’s schedule and gave him a final score of 1-4. The closeness of this contest makes it today’s game. Herman Calderon won a tough fight from David Connors to complete the list of results.
Varela, Carlos - Le Cours, Alan [A48]
SCC Finals 2012 Schenectady, NY, 08.03.2012
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.Bf4 Bg7 4.e3 d6 5.h3 0–0 6.Bd3 c5
Until this move to played the game was in the realm of known theory. There are not tons of games between elite players in the databases. From the few found it seems that Black does pretty well if he undertakes a plan focused on striking back with .., e7-e5. Here are a couple of examples:
(58671) Morosova, Tatiana V - Ergle, A [A48]
Ussr Team Championship, Leningrad, 1962
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.Bf4 Bg7 4.e3 d6 5.h3 0–0 6.Bd3 Nc6 7.c3 Re8 8.Bc4 Na5 9.Bb5 Bd7 10.Bxd7 Qxd7 11.0–0 Nc4 12.Qb3 Nb6 13.Na3 Nh5 14.Bh2 e5 15.dxe5 dxe5 16.Rad1 Qe7 17.Rd2 Rad8 18.Rfd1 Rxd2 19.Rxd2 c6 20.Nc4 Nxc4 21.Qxc4 e4 22.Nd4 Be5 23.Bxe5 Qxe5 24.Nb3 Nf6 25.Qc5 Qxc5 26.Nxc5 b6 27.Nd7 Kg7 28.Rd6 Nxd7 29.Rxd7 a5 30.Kf1 Kf6 31.Rb7 b5 32.b3 Rd8 33.Ra7 Rd3 34.c4 bxc4 35.bxc4 Ra3 36.Ra6 Rxa2 37.Rxc6+ Ke7 38.Rc7+ Ke8 39.Ra7 Rc2 40.Rxa5 Rxc4 41.Kg1 Ke7 42.Kh2 Kf6 43.Kg3 h6 44.Ra6+ Kg7 45.h4 h5 46.Kf4 Rb4 47.Ra2 Rc4 48.Rd2 Rb4 49.Ke5 Ra4 ½–½
(745084) Galinsky, Timofey (2375) - Shishkin, Vadim (2404) [A48]
Kiev Championship (4), 20.01.2003
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.Bf4 Bg7 4.h3 0–0 5.e3 d6 6.Bd3 b6 7.0–0 Bb7 8.a4 Nbd7 9.Qe2 e5 10.dxe5 dxe5 11.Nxe5 Nxe5 12.Bxe5 Bxg2 13.Kxg2 Qd5+ 14.Qf3 Qxe5 15.c3 Rad8 16.Rd1 Qg5+ 17.Qg3 Qd5+ 18.Qf3 Qb3 19.Qe2 Qe6 20.Nd2 Rd5 21.Nf3 Rh5 22.Rh1 Nd7 23.Nd4 Qd5+ 24.Qf3 c5 25.Nc6 Rg5+ 0–1
I can find no particular reason that makes the push to e5 better than the c5 break. Deep Rybka says Black is doing fine after 6..., c5.
7.c3 Qb6
I wondered during the game if this move was correct. My friend Rybka says yes it is.
8.Qc2 Nc6 9.Nbd2 cxd4 10.exd4 Be6 11.0–0 Rac8 12.a3 Nd5 13.Nc4 Qc7!?
The computer agreed with these moves as being best until this last one. Here it thought 13..., Qd8; is slightly better, and the game is about equal. Reaching equality by move 13 is a success for Black. Nevertheless, White has more space at the moment. That is not an unusual outcome in the KID type positions. Notwithstanding the computer calculation of equality, White should have an easier time playing the position having extra space with which to work. Black has to find a workable scheme to balance the White space advantage.
14.Bg5!?,..
Retreating the Bishop to g3 gives a dead even game. Black would then have time to try 14..., b4!?; looking for his own space on the Q-side. Play could continue; 15 Ne3 b4 16 c4 Nxe3 17 fxe3 bxa3 18 bxa3 Na5 19 c5 Qb6; with plenty of pressure for the pawn invested. All this supposes both sides are playing with only logical technical chess in mind. What must be added to our understanding of decisions made is the sporting aspect of the contest. Alan likely sees this a must win game for rating reasons at least. Giving up a draw to an opponent 300 rating points behind him will negate what has been decent performances in the Saratoga and SCC title events so far. For Carlos, with nothing intrinsically wrong with his position, there is an opportunity to upset a highly rated player and cap qualification to the Finals with a notable victory. Perhaps these thoughts inspired Mr. Varela to take some risks on the K-side.
14..., h6 15.Bh4!?,..
The question put to the Bg5 is answered again with provocation. Safe and sane is 15 Bd2, aiming to complete development and to maneuver for a bit.
15..., Nf4
Black is beginning to see some compensation for the space he gave up. The Bd3 can be taken off acquiring the long term plus of the Bishop pair for Black, although rushing to do that may not be the best choice. A possible line of play is; 16 Ne3 Qb6 17 Bg3 Nxd3 18 Qxd3 Na5; when Black is well placed to control the light squares on the Q-side. At that point, an advantage for Black is beginning to emerge. It may well be this, and similar other possibilities motivated Varela to stake everything on an attack on the Black King.
16.Ne3 Nxd3 17.Qxd3 d5 18.Rfe1 a6 19.Re2 Qd7!?
If Black was worried about an eventual Bh4-g3, he could have played 19..., f5; to prevent it. A subject that the Correspondence World Champion Hans Berliner, and before him Weaver Adams, wrote about often is board control. Here 19..., f5; would have given Black near absolute control of e4, an important square in the White camp. Both Weaver and Berliner said if your play as White yields e4 or d4, then something is wrong. They held White needs to have some say over those two squares above all others, otherwise there was an error in the opening. I don’t know if they are right. In this case however, 19..., f5; does present obstacles to the attack White gins up shortly.
20.Rae1 Rcd8 21.Ng4 g5?
This is an interesting error at a critical moment. It seems the natural 21..., Bf5; will give Black good play and maybe even an advantage after; 22 Qe3 g5 23 Bg3 Bxg4 24 hxg4 Qxg4. Black has a pawn, and after the further continuation; 25 Ne5 Bxe5 26 Bxe5 Rd7 27 Qd3 e6; White has some, but not full compensation for it. The game move presents White with the opportunity to go for victory with a sacrificial attack. It is a similar situation to his game against Philip Sells two weeks ago. There Mr. Varela launched a sacrificial assault because it was the best practical chance though not completely sound. This time the ambitious aggression is both the best practical chance and sound.
22.Rxe6!,..
This move and 22 Nxh6+, lead to similar play favoring White. This is an inspired idea. The sacrifice effectively splits the Black forces in two with the Rd8 shut out of quick participation in the defense of the Black King.
22..., fxe6 23.Bxg5?,..
And, this move lets Black off the hook. Continuing with; 23 Nxh6+ Bxh6 24 Nxg5 Rf5 (Just about the only move that offers hope of survival.), 25 Nxe6 Rdf8 26 g4 R5f7 27 Qg6+ Rg7 28 Nxf8 Kxf8 29 Qxh6, and White is winning. This is a fairly long line to calculate. It is however more or less forced making the calculation task somewhat easier. Mr. Varela had about 30 minutes remaining on his clock. Perhaps the recollection of how time trouble in the game with Sells caused Carlos to make a hasty decision here.
23..., Rxf3!
A neat counter-sacrifice reducing the attacking forces is the best move for Black now.
24.Nxh6+ Bxh6 25.Qg6+?,..
Mr. Varela played the last few moves reasonably quickly leading me to believe the game was going as he planned. This move is an error however. Better 25 Qxf3, preserving his pawn structure. With 25..., Bxg5 26 Qg4, White will have two pawns for the piece and chances to hold the game because of Black’s less than inspiring pawn formation. I believe White decided when capturing on e6 with the Rook to go for a win at all costs. He was determined to carry the attack forward, and switching to another plan was no option in his thinking, and so, the text.
25..., Bg7 26.gxf3 Rf8 27.Bh6 Rf7 28.Rxe6 Kf8!?
This move is not quite as good as 28..., Nd8; forcing back the Rook from e6, to be followed by 29..., Qc6; forcing an exchange of Queens. Without his Queen to give weight to threats against the Black King, White has small compensation for the piece minus.
29.Qg4?!,..
White has made a determined, if slightly inaccurate effort to drive home his attack to this point in the game. Now his determination wavers. Keeping some hope of cashing in on the attack with 29 Qh7, is better. The threat is 30 Qh8#, and 29..., Ke8 30 Qg8+ Bf8 31 Qg4 Bxh6 32 Rxh6 Qxg4+ 33 fxg4, repairs the White pawn formation. Black still has the piece, but the White K-side pawns have the potential to become dangerous. There is much play left in the position notwithstanding Black’s advantage.
29..., Bxh6 30.Rxh6 Rg7 31.Rg6 Rxg6 32.Qxg6 Qxh3 33.Qg4 Qxg4+
The dust of battle has cleared and Black has a won game. Arguing that White might have tried something other than 33 Qg4, is fruitless a few moments of reflection shows.
34.fxg4 Na5 35.f4 Nc4 36.Kf2 Nxb2 37.Kf3 b5 38.f5 Nc4
White’s only idea, and the only practical one, is to trying to create some passed pawns to distract Black from Queening one or another of his Q-side pawns. The text move covers e5 the readily available route for the White King to travel to win another pawn. The Black Knight prevents the King’s entry until Black has all things ready on the Q-side. Once the stage is set, calculating the dozen or so moves required to finish the game is not difficult for a player of Mr. Le Cours’ experience.
39.Kf4 a5 40.Kg5 Kg7 41.Kf4 a4 42.g5 Nxa3 43.Ke5 Nb1 44.Kxd5 a3 45.Ke6 a2 46.Kxe7 a1Q 47.f6+ Kg6 48.d5 Qa7+ 0–1
With the Queen to help out, there is no feasible way for the White pawns to advance further without loss.
Carlos Varela has been a part of some of the most interesting games of this year’s Finals. Twice he took highly rated opponents, Sells and Le Cours, under attack that was only frustrated with difficulty. His one win in this event over the talented Zack Calderon was a neat miniature where he turned unwarranted aggression into victory in a sharp fight. Mr. Varela’s performance has to be called very good with promise of future improvement. I hope to see him in next year’s tournament.
More soon.
3.08.2012
Missed Shots and Good Play
The week before this game was played Mr. Glessner won very handily from the tournament leader Dilip Aaron. This week is quite different. David Connors had not been doing well this event up to this game. This time out he plays nearer to his true strength and wins. Glessner missed a shot that would have given him a second victory in a row.
Connors, David - Glessner, Isaiah [A08]
SCC Consolation Tourney Schenectady, NY, 01.03.2012
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 d5 3.Bg2 c5 4.0–0 Bf5 5.d3 Nc6 6.Nbd2 e6
The King’s Indian Attack was known sometimes in my youth as the Reti Opening, Barcza System. It became popular in the decade after the end of WWII. It faded as Soviet players showed their wares from the long war years; new lines in the Sicilian and the double edged play of the King’s Indian Defense. Larsen gave this way of playing a late resurgence in the 1970s as an occasional weapon, and then it went out of style once more. There is nothing fundamentally wrong with it other than granting Black more space than he deserves.
Black does something similar in the KID is because he doesn’t want to defend the very slightly inferior positions that come about from the QGD. The KID is a risky attempt to get White into a difficult game where Black has chances to win. The KID player knows he is playing for one of three results; win lose or draw. All the Queen’s Gambit positions offer decent chances for White where he does not have to give up space, and he is playing for just two results; a win or a draw, and so the KID tries to drag White into something complicated.
So why the King’s Indian Attack? The thought process for White I imagine is; if the KID can be played by Black, playing the same moves for White must be as good because of the extra tempo and maybe even better. Two specific reasons for choosing the KIA are; 1), White thinks the first few moves are easy to remember and easy to play. Because he does not engage closely with his opponent’s pieces he can get to the latter part of the opening or the early middle game without much drama. 2) The long range plan is clear; attack the Black center from the flanks and perhaps keep opportunities open to push the f-pawn through to f5 in preparation for a direct attack on the Black King.
The problem with all this is space. Black obtains more room in which to maneuver, and White accepts being somewhat crowded. Taking up such a restrained position when there are the rich fields of the Queen’s Gambit lines are available is not logical. I quote GM Har-Zvi; modern Grandmasters value space highly. With more space winning or drawing are easier. Cramped and lacking space makes defending difficult and losing more likely. I don’t always understand everything Grandmasters write in their notes or say in their lectures. The comments about space however make a lot of sense to me.
7.Re1?!,..
Sometimes a necessary preparation for the advance of the e-pawn but not so here. White can play 7 e4, right away, then; 7..., dxe4 8 dxe4 Nxe4 9 Nh4 Nd6 10 Nxf5 Nxf5 11 c6, and for the pawn White has the Bishop pair, a clear diagonal for the Bg2, with easy development of his pieces; the Queen goes to a4, the Knight goes to c4 then on to e3 to eliminate the Nf5, and eventually the Bishop goes to e3, and finally bringing the Rooks come to the center. It is not at all clear that the e-file is the best place for the Rook at this moment.
W.W. Adams, a strong but variable American player from the 40s and 50s, and Hans Berliner, the fifth Correspondence World Champion wrote and said much about the Options principle in chess. Shortened they defined the principle as; choose moves that leave as many options for your next move as possible. This will make things as hard as possible for your opponent. Remember f2-f4, f5, is a possibility White may want to use. Once the Rf1 is placed on e1 that possibility is unlikely to be available. The text move violates the Option principle for no great benefit.
If White does not care to give up a pawn, he can continue in the reversed KID mode and play; 7 c4, then if 7..., dcxc4 8 Nxc4, and begin to think about trading a Knight for the Bf5 obtaining the two Bishops advantage.
7..., Bd6?!
An interesting slip. In positions where a Bishop is on f5, putting minor pieces on f6 and d6 invites e2-e4 because the continuing threat of e4-e5 makes the pawn charge dangerous to Black. When the White e-pawn advances, Black will have to give up one of his Bishops at the least to avoid worse.
8.a3?!,..
When played in the game, this move struck me as off the mark. My thought was 8 e4 Bg4 9 h3 Bxf3 10 Nxf3, when Black must either submit to the ugly 10..., e5; or the Bishop retreat to e7. In either case White has a pleasant game and the advantage of the two Bishops. My objection to this move is it grants Black a tempo he may use to correct the problematical disposition of minor pieces in the center making the pawn push to e4 less effective.
8..., 0–0?!
And Black ignores the opportunity.
9.e4 dxe4 10.dxe4 Bg4 11.c3?,..
Anxious about a Black Knight coming to d4, White takes time out to prevent that possibility. A good intention poorly timed. White either is unable to calculate the complications in the lines; 11 h3, and a) 11..., Bxf3 12 Nxf3, or b) 11..., Bh5 12 g4 Nxg4; or he did not reach a correct conclusion about them. Both alternatives lead to a significant advantage for White. It is true the alternative b) has to carried out for a number of moves to reach a conclusion, but in the long run, the piece sacrificed is too large a weight for the initiative Black gains to offset. Once more White hands over a tempo letting Black off the hook.
11..., Qc7 12.Nc4 Be7 13.Qc2?!,..
Slow playing when activity is required. Here 13 Bf4, would force Black to make an unpleasant choice: Agree to simplification with 13..., Bxf3 14 Bxc7 Bxd1 15 Raxd1 Rac8 16 Bd6 Bxd6 17 Nxd6 Rc7 18 e5, with threats. Or, accept a retarded development with 13..., Qc8; and after 14 Qe2 b5 15 Nd6, the Black game looks shaky. Either way Whites has the better position.
13..., e5
Getting closer to equality with 13..., Bxf3; is better. Two things seemed to get in the way of making that choice; Black wants to win the game, and too great of a reliance on the sometimes overstated principle that Bishops are always better than Knights. It is generally true, but tactics can always modify that truth. Black can obtain a favorable position with 13..., Bxf3 14 Bxf3 b5 15 Ne3 c4; when Black’s pawns well placed to cover a great many light squares, White is crowded in by the Black pawns, something still needs to be done with the Bc1, and the Black dark square Bishop has reasonable prospects. Many times we see players sacrificing a pawn for a tempo or two and increased activity. It is much rarer to find these same players giving up the Bishop pair to obtain the better game. Such is the effect of the drumbeat about the power of two Bishops by chess authors. Remember the admonition of the Russian School; concrete calculation should trump reliance on general principles.
14.Ne3 Be6 15.c4?,..
After using a valuable tempo on move 11 to keep a Black Knight out of d4, White now changes his mind. A litany of moves are better; 15 b4, 15 Ng5 15 Bd2, 15 Rd1, and even 15 b3. They all have some point. The point of the text move text move is far less clear. After the Black Knight lands on d4, White will have to trade creating a protected passed pawn or risk having his Queen awkwardly placed.
15..., Nd4 16.Nxd4 cxd4 17.Nd5 Bxd5 18.exd5 Rac8
All logical and good for Black. He is concentrating pressure on the c4-pawn. The lagging White development makes defending this point not easy. It is however defensible by indirect means reminiscent of the famous game from Zurich, 1953; Averbakh - Gligoric, in a King’s Indian where the Yugoslav was burdened with a backward d-pawn on an open file, and White concentrated his fire there. In a lovely series of tactical operations Black made taking the d-pawn so risky that survived a long time.
When it was finally liquidated, Black got full value for it, and additionally, White was forced to weaken several points in his position. Black capped this performance by winning the game. If you have not seen this game, here it is:
(36584) Averbakh, Yuri L - Gligoric, Svetozar [E68]
Candidates Tournament Zurich (5), 06.09.1953
1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 0–0 5.d4 d6 6.Nf3 Nbd7 7.0–0 e5 8.e4 exd4 9.Nxd4 Nc5 10.f3 a5 11.Be3 a4 12.Rf2 c6 13.Nc2 Qe7 14.Rd2 Nfd7 15.Rc1 Be5 16.Bf2 Re8 17.Ne3 Nf8 18.Ne2 Qc7 19.Rb1 a3 20.b3 h5 21.Qc2 Be6 22.Nc3 Nh7 23.b4 Na6 24.f4 Bg7 25.f5 Bd7 26.Qb3 Nf6 27.fxg6 fxg6 28.c5+ Be6 29.cxd6 Bxb3 30.dxc7 Bf7 31.b5 Nxc7 32.bxc6 bxc6 33.Rb7 Rac8 34.Rc2 Na6 35.Bf1 Nc5 36.Rxf7 Kxf7 37.Bc4+ Kf8 38.Nf5 Ncxe4 39.Nxg7 Kxg7 40.Nxe4 Rxe4 41.Ba6 Rd8 42.h3 Rb4 43.Rxc6 Ne4 44.Rc7+ Kh8 45.Be3 Rb2 0–1
While this GM game does not speak directly to the positions we see in today’s game, Mr. Connors undertakes a similar kind of defense of the c-pawn.
19.f4 Bd6 20.fxe5 Bxe5 21.Bh3?!,..
Getting it exactly right in such play is hard. Here White could play 21 Qd3, slipping out of the nasty pin on the c-file. As long as the Be5 has no other defender other than the Qc7, White can make repairs to his position.
21..., Rce8 22.Qd3?,..
White fails to appreciate what is going on. Now the Be5 is defended twice and the Re1 is loose on an open file. This is a prescription for tactics.
22..., Re7?
And Black does not see the possibility. Now is the moment for; 22..., Bxg3!; and then White is lost after 23 Rxe8 Bxh2+ 24 Kg2 Rxe8 25 Bg5 Re3! 26 Bxe3 Qg3+ 27 Kh1 Qxh3; and if 28 Qxd4 Bf4+; wins, or 28 Qf1 Qh5 29 Bf2 Bd6+ 30 Kg2 Ne4 31 Qh1 Qg4+ 32 Kf1 d3; and so on leading to a win for Black. The lines are on the longish side and maybe Isaiah just did not carry out his calculations quite far enough. It would not so bad just missing a tactical shot, but Black more or less writes off his d-pawn in subsequent play. White then has a large mass of Q-side pawns, some protected and passed. They are inadequately opposed by only two Black foot soldiers.
23.Bd2 Rfe8 24.Bb4 Bd6 25.Rxe7 Qxe7 26.Bxd6 Qxd6 27.Qxd4 Re4 28.Qxa7 Qe5?!
In this last segment, up this move, play was pretty much as Rybka recommends. The most obvious move, and the recommended move is 28..., Rxc4. This line of play did not appeal to Mr. Glessner, I think. It could go; 28..., Rxc4 29 Qa8+ Qf8 (forced) 30 Qxf8 Kxf8 31 Rd1 Rc2 32 d6 Ke8 33 b4 Rc3 34 Re1+ Kd8 35 Re7, and while all is not completely clear, White has a big edge. Black must have judged that positions without the Queens on the board offered him few chances to hold the game. He therefore pins his hopes on direct action against the White King.
29.Qa8+ Ne8
This is the only way to keep the Queens on. With Knight stuck and the back rank, Black has just his Rook and Queen with which to engineer threats. White has his Rook and Bishop immediately available for defense. They seem sufficient for the task.
30.Qxb7 Re1+?
Black gives up on making mating threats with this move. He must have hoped a perpetual checking opportunity would present itself, for without a piece to support the Queen, mate will be impossible. I’d prefer 30..., Qd4+ 31 Kh1 Re2 32 d6 Nxd6 33 Qb8+ Ne8 34 Bg2 Qf2 35 Rg1 Re1 36 Bf1 Qf3+; and the game is drawn by repetition. White can try to improve with 34 Rf1, in this line. Then play continues; 34..., Qe4+ 35 Kg1 Qe3+; with a perpetual.
White would have to be willing to offer one of his many Q-side pawns to make headway with; 30..., Qd4+ 31 Kh1 Re2 32 d6 Nxd6 33 Qa8+ (The Queen will be useful on the long diagonal.) 33,.. Ne8 34 Bf1 Re7 35 Rb1, consolidates White’s advantage
31.Rxe1 Qxe1+ 32.Bf1 Qe3+
Black’s problem is unless he can keep checking the White King, the opportunities for picking off more than a single White pawn are nonexistent. Making things even tougher is the nascent back rank mating threats White has in hand. To deal with those Black must take a tempo to move the King or make a luft. It is a classic predicament from studies and problems; the need to keep checking and at the same time defend against a potential mate.
33.Kg2 Qe4+ 34.Kf2 Qd4+ 35.Kf3 Qf6+ 36.Kg2,..
White had worked out this maneuver while evaluating the position somewhere around move 30. He played the subsequent moves with no hesitation and confidently. There are no more checks and White has time to consolidate.
36..., Qe5 37.Qb3 1–0
With the White Queen back home to shore up defenses, the four passed pawns are too big a problem for Black to solve. Resignation is reasonable and appropriate.
Both sides slipped as the game transitioned from the opening to the middle game, and both sides also showed creative flair in the complications. They both brought ideas to the fight making the game interesting.
More soon.
Connors, David - Glessner, Isaiah [A08]
SCC Consolation Tourney Schenectady, NY, 01.03.2012
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 d5 3.Bg2 c5 4.0–0 Bf5 5.d3 Nc6 6.Nbd2 e6
The King’s Indian Attack was known sometimes in my youth as the Reti Opening, Barcza System. It became popular in the decade after the end of WWII. It faded as Soviet players showed their wares from the long war years; new lines in the Sicilian and the double edged play of the King’s Indian Defense. Larsen gave this way of playing a late resurgence in the 1970s as an occasional weapon, and then it went out of style once more. There is nothing fundamentally wrong with it other than granting Black more space than he deserves.
Black does something similar in the KID is because he doesn’t want to defend the very slightly inferior positions that come about from the QGD. The KID is a risky attempt to get White into a difficult game where Black has chances to win. The KID player knows he is playing for one of three results; win lose or draw. All the Queen’s Gambit positions offer decent chances for White where he does not have to give up space, and he is playing for just two results; a win or a draw, and so the KID tries to drag White into something complicated.
So why the King’s Indian Attack? The thought process for White I imagine is; if the KID can be played by Black, playing the same moves for White must be as good because of the extra tempo and maybe even better. Two specific reasons for choosing the KIA are; 1), White thinks the first few moves are easy to remember and easy to play. Because he does not engage closely with his opponent’s pieces he can get to the latter part of the opening or the early middle game without much drama. 2) The long range plan is clear; attack the Black center from the flanks and perhaps keep opportunities open to push the f-pawn through to f5 in preparation for a direct attack on the Black King.
The problem with all this is space. Black obtains more room in which to maneuver, and White accepts being somewhat crowded. Taking up such a restrained position when there are the rich fields of the Queen’s Gambit lines are available is not logical. I quote GM Har-Zvi; modern Grandmasters value space highly. With more space winning or drawing are easier. Cramped and lacking space makes defending difficult and losing more likely. I don’t always understand everything Grandmasters write in their notes or say in their lectures. The comments about space however make a lot of sense to me.
7.Re1?!,..
Sometimes a necessary preparation for the advance of the e-pawn but not so here. White can play 7 e4, right away, then; 7..., dxe4 8 dxe4 Nxe4 9 Nh4 Nd6 10 Nxf5 Nxf5 11 c6, and for the pawn White has the Bishop pair, a clear diagonal for the Bg2, with easy development of his pieces; the Queen goes to a4, the Knight goes to c4 then on to e3 to eliminate the Nf5, and eventually the Bishop goes to e3, and finally bringing the Rooks come to the center. It is not at all clear that the e-file is the best place for the Rook at this moment.
W.W. Adams, a strong but variable American player from the 40s and 50s, and Hans Berliner, the fifth Correspondence World Champion wrote and said much about the Options principle in chess. Shortened they defined the principle as; choose moves that leave as many options for your next move as possible. This will make things as hard as possible for your opponent. Remember f2-f4, f5, is a possibility White may want to use. Once the Rf1 is placed on e1 that possibility is unlikely to be available. The text move violates the Option principle for no great benefit.
If White does not care to give up a pawn, he can continue in the reversed KID mode and play; 7 c4, then if 7..., dcxc4 8 Nxc4, and begin to think about trading a Knight for the Bf5 obtaining the two Bishops advantage.
7..., Bd6?!
An interesting slip. In positions where a Bishop is on f5, putting minor pieces on f6 and d6 invites e2-e4 because the continuing threat of e4-e5 makes the pawn charge dangerous to Black. When the White e-pawn advances, Black will have to give up one of his Bishops at the least to avoid worse.
8.a3?!,..
When played in the game, this move struck me as off the mark. My thought was 8 e4 Bg4 9 h3 Bxf3 10 Nxf3, when Black must either submit to the ugly 10..., e5; or the Bishop retreat to e7. In either case White has a pleasant game and the advantage of the two Bishops. My objection to this move is it grants Black a tempo he may use to correct the problematical disposition of minor pieces in the center making the pawn push to e4 less effective.
8..., 0–0?!
And Black ignores the opportunity.
9.e4 dxe4 10.dxe4 Bg4 11.c3?,..
Anxious about a Black Knight coming to d4, White takes time out to prevent that possibility. A good intention poorly timed. White either is unable to calculate the complications in the lines; 11 h3, and a) 11..., Bxf3 12 Nxf3, or b) 11..., Bh5 12 g4 Nxg4; or he did not reach a correct conclusion about them. Both alternatives lead to a significant advantage for White. It is true the alternative b) has to carried out for a number of moves to reach a conclusion, but in the long run, the piece sacrificed is too large a weight for the initiative Black gains to offset. Once more White hands over a tempo letting Black off the hook.
11..., Qc7 12.Nc4 Be7 13.Qc2?!,..
Slow playing when activity is required. Here 13 Bf4, would force Black to make an unpleasant choice: Agree to simplification with 13..., Bxf3 14 Bxc7 Bxd1 15 Raxd1 Rac8 16 Bd6 Bxd6 17 Nxd6 Rc7 18 e5, with threats. Or, accept a retarded development with 13..., Qc8; and after 14 Qe2 b5 15 Nd6, the Black game looks shaky. Either way Whites has the better position.
13..., e5
Getting closer to equality with 13..., Bxf3; is better. Two things seemed to get in the way of making that choice; Black wants to win the game, and too great of a reliance on the sometimes overstated principle that Bishops are always better than Knights. It is generally true, but tactics can always modify that truth. Black can obtain a favorable position with 13..., Bxf3 14 Bxf3 b5 15 Ne3 c4; when Black’s pawns well placed to cover a great many light squares, White is crowded in by the Black pawns, something still needs to be done with the Bc1, and the Black dark square Bishop has reasonable prospects. Many times we see players sacrificing a pawn for a tempo or two and increased activity. It is much rarer to find these same players giving up the Bishop pair to obtain the better game. Such is the effect of the drumbeat about the power of two Bishops by chess authors. Remember the admonition of the Russian School; concrete calculation should trump reliance on general principles.
14.Ne3 Be6 15.c4?,..
After using a valuable tempo on move 11 to keep a Black Knight out of d4, White now changes his mind. A litany of moves are better; 15 b4, 15 Ng5 15 Bd2, 15 Rd1, and even 15 b3. They all have some point. The point of the text move text move is far less clear. After the Black Knight lands on d4, White will have to trade creating a protected passed pawn or risk having his Queen awkwardly placed.
15..., Nd4 16.Nxd4 cxd4 17.Nd5 Bxd5 18.exd5 Rac8
All logical and good for Black. He is concentrating pressure on the c4-pawn. The lagging White development makes defending this point not easy. It is however defensible by indirect means reminiscent of the famous game from Zurich, 1953; Averbakh - Gligoric, in a King’s Indian where the Yugoslav was burdened with a backward d-pawn on an open file, and White concentrated his fire there. In a lovely series of tactical operations Black made taking the d-pawn so risky that survived a long time.
When it was finally liquidated, Black got full value for it, and additionally, White was forced to weaken several points in his position. Black capped this performance by winning the game. If you have not seen this game, here it is:
(36584) Averbakh, Yuri L - Gligoric, Svetozar [E68]
Candidates Tournament Zurich (5), 06.09.1953
1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 0–0 5.d4 d6 6.Nf3 Nbd7 7.0–0 e5 8.e4 exd4 9.Nxd4 Nc5 10.f3 a5 11.Be3 a4 12.Rf2 c6 13.Nc2 Qe7 14.Rd2 Nfd7 15.Rc1 Be5 16.Bf2 Re8 17.Ne3 Nf8 18.Ne2 Qc7 19.Rb1 a3 20.b3 h5 21.Qc2 Be6 22.Nc3 Nh7 23.b4 Na6 24.f4 Bg7 25.f5 Bd7 26.Qb3 Nf6 27.fxg6 fxg6 28.c5+ Be6 29.cxd6 Bxb3 30.dxc7 Bf7 31.b5 Nxc7 32.bxc6 bxc6 33.Rb7 Rac8 34.Rc2 Na6 35.Bf1 Nc5 36.Rxf7 Kxf7 37.Bc4+ Kf8 38.Nf5 Ncxe4 39.Nxg7 Kxg7 40.Nxe4 Rxe4 41.Ba6 Rd8 42.h3 Rb4 43.Rxc6 Ne4 44.Rc7+ Kh8 45.Be3 Rb2 0–1
While this GM game does not speak directly to the positions we see in today’s game, Mr. Connors undertakes a similar kind of defense of the c-pawn.
19.f4 Bd6 20.fxe5 Bxe5 21.Bh3?!,..
Getting it exactly right in such play is hard. Here White could play 21 Qd3, slipping out of the nasty pin on the c-file. As long as the Be5 has no other defender other than the Qc7, White can make repairs to his position.
21..., Rce8 22.Qd3?,..
White fails to appreciate what is going on. Now the Be5 is defended twice and the Re1 is loose on an open file. This is a prescription for tactics.
22..., Re7?
And Black does not see the possibility. Now is the moment for; 22..., Bxg3!; and then White is lost after 23 Rxe8 Bxh2+ 24 Kg2 Rxe8 25 Bg5 Re3! 26 Bxe3 Qg3+ 27 Kh1 Qxh3; and if 28 Qxd4 Bf4+; wins, or 28 Qf1 Qh5 29 Bf2 Bd6+ 30 Kg2 Ne4 31 Qh1 Qg4+ 32 Kf1 d3; and so on leading to a win for Black. The lines are on the longish side and maybe Isaiah just did not carry out his calculations quite far enough. It would not so bad just missing a tactical shot, but Black more or less writes off his d-pawn in subsequent play. White then has a large mass of Q-side pawns, some protected and passed. They are inadequately opposed by only two Black foot soldiers.
23.Bd2 Rfe8 24.Bb4 Bd6 25.Rxe7 Qxe7 26.Bxd6 Qxd6 27.Qxd4 Re4 28.Qxa7 Qe5?!
In this last segment, up this move, play was pretty much as Rybka recommends. The most obvious move, and the recommended move is 28..., Rxc4. This line of play did not appeal to Mr. Glessner, I think. It could go; 28..., Rxc4 29 Qa8+ Qf8 (forced) 30 Qxf8 Kxf8 31 Rd1 Rc2 32 d6 Ke8 33 b4 Rc3 34 Re1+ Kd8 35 Re7, and while all is not completely clear, White has a big edge. Black must have judged that positions without the Queens on the board offered him few chances to hold the game. He therefore pins his hopes on direct action against the White King.
29.Qa8+ Ne8
This is the only way to keep the Queens on. With Knight stuck and the back rank, Black has just his Rook and Queen with which to engineer threats. White has his Rook and Bishop immediately available for defense. They seem sufficient for the task.
30.Qxb7 Re1+?
Black gives up on making mating threats with this move. He must have hoped a perpetual checking opportunity would present itself, for without a piece to support the Queen, mate will be impossible. I’d prefer 30..., Qd4+ 31 Kh1 Re2 32 d6 Nxd6 33 Qb8+ Ne8 34 Bg2 Qf2 35 Rg1 Re1 36 Bf1 Qf3+; and the game is drawn by repetition. White can try to improve with 34 Rf1, in this line. Then play continues; 34..., Qe4+ 35 Kg1 Qe3+; with a perpetual.
White would have to be willing to offer one of his many Q-side pawns to make headway with; 30..., Qd4+ 31 Kh1 Re2 32 d6 Nxd6 33 Qa8+ (The Queen will be useful on the long diagonal.) 33,.. Ne8 34 Bf1 Re7 35 Rb1, consolidates White’s advantage
31.Rxe1 Qxe1+ 32.Bf1 Qe3+
Black’s problem is unless he can keep checking the White King, the opportunities for picking off more than a single White pawn are nonexistent. Making things even tougher is the nascent back rank mating threats White has in hand. To deal with those Black must take a tempo to move the King or make a luft. It is a classic predicament from studies and problems; the need to keep checking and at the same time defend against a potential mate.
33.Kg2 Qe4+ 34.Kf2 Qd4+ 35.Kf3 Qf6+ 36.Kg2,..
White had worked out this maneuver while evaluating the position somewhere around move 30. He played the subsequent moves with no hesitation and confidently. There are no more checks and White has time to consolidate.
36..., Qe5 37.Qb3 1–0
With the White Queen back home to shore up defenses, the four passed pawns are too big a problem for Black to solve. Resignation is reasonable and appropriate.
Both sides slipped as the game transitioned from the opening to the middle game, and both sides also showed creative flair in the complications. They both brought ideas to the fight making the game interesting.
More soon.
3.06.2012
My last post featured Mr. Varela narrowing losing to Philip Sells. Continuing the saga of Carlos Varela’s play for the first time in the Schenectady Finals, here is a neat win from the rising scholastic player, Zack Calderone.
If you missed the two recent posts to this blog by Philip Sells on the NYS Scholastic Championship and the Eastern Team Tourney, page back and give them a read. They are timely and excellent reports of important chess events.
Zack loves the tactical side of chess. It is not often he gets caught misunderstanding the tactical tricks that come up when playing on the ragged edge of safety. This time he does. Carlos Varela has had three losses in a row going into this game in the Championship Finals. He did not allow previous results to dampen his ardor, and he maintain his calm demeanor, met aggression with active play and took the full point. Short though it is, today’s game is interesting.
Varela, Carlos - Calderone, Zack [A80]
SCC Finals, Schenectady, NY, 01.03.2012
1.d4 e6 2.Nf3 f5 3.Bf4 Nf6 4.e3,..
Here are three games from the databases showing the ideas the masters have about how to play this line of the Dutch. In the first Franz, against Tal no less, tries the natural idea of finachettoing his light squared Bishop. That’s not such a bad notion, but Tal is Tal and finds a way to win.
(49812) Tal, Mihail - Franz, Joachim [A80]
Riga (4), 08.12.1959
1.d4 e6 2.Nf3 f5 3.Bf4 Nf6 4.e3 b6 5.Nbd2 Bb7 6.c3 Be7 7.Bd3 c5 8.h3 cxd4 9.exd4 Nc6 10.0–0 0–0 11.Re1 Rc8 12.Nc4 Ne4 13.Nfd2 b5 14.Ne3 Nxd2 15.Qxd2 Bg5 16.Nc2 Bxf4 17.Qxf4 Ne7 18.Bxb5 Ng6 19.Qd6 Qg5 20.Qg3 Qd2 21.Rac1 Rf6 22.Bxd7 Rd8 23.Qc7 Rxd7 24.Qxd7 Bxg2 25.Kxg2 Nf4+ 26.Kh1 Qxf2 27.Qe8+ Rf8 28.Qc6 g5 29.Rf1 Qh4 30.Rxf4 Qxh3+ 31.Kg1 Qg3+ 32.Qg2 Qxf4 33.Rf1 Qh4 34.d5 exd5 35.Nd4 1–0
In the second two strong Grandmasters do a careful dance keeping things in balance and trading off material until a draw was certain. Vladimir Kramnik, the former World Champion, in an article he contributed to book by Dvoretsky and Yusupov; Positional Play, Henry Holt, NYC, 1996; said in exchange for weakening his dark squares, Black obtains a space advantage in the Dutch. Kramnik went on to say Black has an easier time playing the positions of the Stonewall Dutch than does White mostly because of the difficulty White has in choosing a plan. His ultimate conclusion was the Stonewall is an entirely useful defense at even the top levels of chess.
(295629) Piket, Jeroen (2615) - Nikolic, Predrag (2635) [A80]
Hoogovens Wijk aan Zee (1), 01.1992
1.Nf3 e6 2.d4 f5 3.Bf4 Nf6 4.e3 Be7 5.h3 0–0 6.c4 d6 7.Nc3 Ne4 8.Nxe4 fxe4 9.Nd2 d5 10.Be2 Nc6 11.Bh2 Bd6 12.Bxd6 Qxd6 13.Rc1 Ne7 14.Qb3 c6 15.0–0 Nf5 16.cxd5 cxd5 17.Rc3 Bd7 18.Rfc1 Bc6 19.Bb5 Bxb5 20.Qxb5 Qe7 21.Rc7 Qg5 22.Qe2 Nd6 23.Qg4 Qxg4 24.hxg4 Rac8 25.Nb3 Rxc7 26.Rxc7 Rf7 27.Rc2 Kf8 28.Kh2 b6 29.Kg3 Ke8 30.Nd2 h6 ½–½
In the third we see some of the ideas from the Varela - Calderone game with the addition of the Q-side fianchetto for Black. Once again that natural idea does not help the Black cause.
(808115) Miltner, Arndt (2380) - Gschwendtner, Michael (2245) [A80]
BL2-Sued 0304 Germany, 2003
1.d4 f5 2.Nf3 e6 3.Bf4 Nf6 4.e3 b6 5.Bd3 Bb7 6.Nbd2 Be7 7.h3 Ne4 8.Qe2 Nxd2 9.Nxd2 c5 10.0–0–0 0–0 11.Rhg1 Nc6 12.c3 cxd4 13.exd4 Bg5 14.Bxg5 Qxg5 15.g4 fxg4 16.Rxg4 Qh6 17.Rdg1 Rf7 18.Rg5 Kh8 19.Rh5 Nxd4 20.cxd4 Bf3 21.Qxf3 Rxf3 22.Rxh6 Rxd3 23.Rh4 Rc8+ 24.Kd1 Rc4 25.Rgg4 g5 26.Rxg5 Rcxd4 27.Rxd4 Rxd4 28.Ke2 Rb4 29.b3 Rh4 30.Rg3 b5 31.Nf3 Re4+ 32.Kd3 Rf4 33.Ke3 Rf6 34.Ne5 1–0
Kramnik’s Stonewall article sets out the conditions where Black is justified in breaking open the K-side with an advance of his g-pawn. One of the key elements is a Bishop trade occurring on f4 with the resulting recapture there by a White pawn. Without that sort of slight weakening of the White formation, the advance of the g-pawn not to work well for Black. It is always interesting to see, or hear Grandmasters explain specific ideas underlying their planning. This is particularly true when the ideas are not widely known.
Another point Kramnik makes is rote play is not the order of the day in the Dutch for either side. First generally, the opening is quite strategic where both sides have to adjust plans in response to the opponent’s disposition of forces. Second and more specifically, White usually thinks about trading off the Black Nb8 when it develops. That is so even if he has to do it with a Knight he took time to get to e5, or giving up his dark squared Bishop. Kramnik believes giving Black the Bishop pair is not a bad idea if Black’s pawns are kept on the light squares.
Most of Kramnik’s remarks were made about lines where White developed his light squares Bishop to g2. He did mention that much of what he said applies to other Dutch lines as well.
All the foregoing is a tremendous amount of palaver to get us to move 4 for Black! However this game goes wrong for Zack pretty quickly. If we are to understand why, some serious thought has to be given to the fundamental schemes for each side.
4..., d5 5.Bd3 c6 6.c3!?,..
I have a liking for this move also and play it frequently against the Dutch. Igor Khenkin, another Russian GM also contributed comments on the Dutch for the Dvoretsky book. His story began with his infatuation with the c2-c3 move combined with the Knight tour g1/h3/f4/d3 in conjunction with Bc1-f4-e5, and the Nb1 traveling to f3 via d2. Khenkin recounts games that led him to concluded c2-c3 can be adequately met by Black’s Stonewall. Khenkin remains devoted to the Knight tour idea. Kramnik takes issue with that in an editorial aside. Kramink believes the Ng1 should go to f3 directly and submit’s a variation or two to back his claim.
Good alternatives here for Varela are; 6 h3, securing the Bf4 from harassment, 6 c4, to create pressure on the Black center, castling now, or 6 Nbd2, keeping open the option of where the c-pawn will go.
6..., Bd6 7.Ne5,..
Superficially the development of the Black Bishop to d6 looks odd. To offer to trade a good Bishop for one that is theoretically not so good runs counter to the general principles set out by Tarrasch and his successors over the last one hundred plus years. The Stonewall Dutch is something of a special case. There are a number of factors to consider: The White Bf4 can go to e5 if unopposed and give itself up for a valuable Black Knight As good as the light squared White Bishop may appear to be, the “stonewall” of pawns; b7, c6, d5, e6, f2, makes problematical its chances for great activity. And, mechanisms exist to improve the usefulness of the ..,Bc8; ..,b7-b6 & ..,Bc8-a6; or the known maneuver; ..,Bc8-d7;..,Bd7-e8; .., Be8-h5. Taken all together, these factors must have motivated White’s 7th move.
Carlos Varela has played rated chess since 1999, but until the last year or two not very frequently. Once he got to play regularly in early 2010, his rating began a steady climb from 1300 to the present 1740 high. I have watched several of his games and played him a time or two in that span. It seemed to me he was under rated. The published numbers did not accurately reflect the skill shown in his over the board performance. Today’s game fits that observation.
7..., 0–0 8.Nd2 Ne4?!
One more of the oddities of the Dutch. Obviously both sides have designs on planting a Knight on an advanced post on the e-file. However timing that move is important. Although both sides want to put a Knight in an advanced e-file outpost, they must consider, and calculate carefully, the advanced Knight being captured by the nearby Bishop. Taking the Knight with the adjacent Bishop turns the dynamic outpost into a static point. Play then can turn to file opening schemes, primarily the f-file, and positional maneuvering becomes a tactical clash.
The most pointed criticism of the text is there’s no immediate reason to rush this occupation. Black can do other useful things; 8..., Qc7; so that the eventual .., Nbd7; will result in pressure against the Bf4, or 8..., c5; obtaining space on the Q-side. The text move is a harbinger of an attack before all the Black pieces are developed. Something that is usually not a good idea.
9.Ndf3 g5?!
And so it comes. There is no immediate tactical refutation, but all of the Black Q-side forces are still in their tents. Even if Black obtains some concession from White with this violent action, he must lose momentum completing his development. The useful moves noted in the previous note are still valid alternatives.
10.Bxe4 gxf4 11.Bd3 Bxe5?!
Somewhat better is 11..., fxe3; damaging the White pawn formation a little.
12.Nxe5 Qg5?
The point that Black must have believed justified the risky play leading to this position.
13.Qf3!?,..
Possible is 13 h4!, and 13..., Qxg2? 14 Ke2 Kh8 15 Rg1 Qh2 16 Nf3 Qh3 17 exf4, gives White a large, almost winning advantage. If Black does not take the g-pawn, then 13..., Qh6 14 exf4 Qxf4? 15 Qh5, is very promising for White. And finally, 14..., Nd7 15 Qf3, with an excellent game for White. The game move allows White to claim some advantage but not as significant as after 13 h4.
13..., fxe3 14.fxe3 Nd7 15.h4 Qg7 16.Nxd7 Bxd7 17.Rh3 Kh8 18.0–0–0?!,..
Black has really not done so badly after White did not go for the best line on move 13. Logical, and conforming to those general principles we have all heard repeatedly, as this move appears, it is not quite as good as the forcing 18 Rg3.
18..., e5 19.Rg3 Qh6?
A puzzling choice. By playing 19..., Qf6; defending the pawn on e5, Black keeps his chances alive after; 20 dxe5 Qxe5 21 Rg5 h6; and the slight advantage White enjoys is not very threatening. The text give up a pawn for complications that turn out to favor White. The affection Mr. Calderone has for tactical play led him astray here. He should have been satisfied with the equality available.
20.dxe5 f4?
This was the point of the Black scheme. It unfortunately is flawed.
21.Rg5 fxe3 22.Qxe3 Qxh4 23.e6! 1–0
This move must have been the one overlooked by Black. After some thought Zack resigned here. The decision was forced by the lines; 23..., Be8 24 Qe5+, with mate the next move, and 23..., Qf4 24 Qxf4 Rxf4 25 Rh1, will require Black to give up a Rook to avoid mate.
It is true that tactics are some huge part of chess, however, the thing Morphy taught the chess world 150 years ago; getting all your pieces involved in the game is the requirement for successful tactical solutions. In this game Zack Calderone forgot the lesson.
More soon.
If you missed the two recent posts to this blog by Philip Sells on the NYS Scholastic Championship and the Eastern Team Tourney, page back and give them a read. They are timely and excellent reports of important chess events.
Zack loves the tactical side of chess. It is not often he gets caught misunderstanding the tactical tricks that come up when playing on the ragged edge of safety. This time he does. Carlos Varela has had three losses in a row going into this game in the Championship Finals. He did not allow previous results to dampen his ardor, and he maintain his calm demeanor, met aggression with active play and took the full point. Short though it is, today’s game is interesting.
Varela, Carlos - Calderone, Zack [A80]
SCC Finals, Schenectady, NY, 01.03.2012
1.d4 e6 2.Nf3 f5 3.Bf4 Nf6 4.e3,..
Here are three games from the databases showing the ideas the masters have about how to play this line of the Dutch. In the first Franz, against Tal no less, tries the natural idea of finachettoing his light squared Bishop. That’s not such a bad notion, but Tal is Tal and finds a way to win.
(49812) Tal, Mihail - Franz, Joachim [A80]
Riga (4), 08.12.1959
1.d4 e6 2.Nf3 f5 3.Bf4 Nf6 4.e3 b6 5.Nbd2 Bb7 6.c3 Be7 7.Bd3 c5 8.h3 cxd4 9.exd4 Nc6 10.0–0 0–0 11.Re1 Rc8 12.Nc4 Ne4 13.Nfd2 b5 14.Ne3 Nxd2 15.Qxd2 Bg5 16.Nc2 Bxf4 17.Qxf4 Ne7 18.Bxb5 Ng6 19.Qd6 Qg5 20.Qg3 Qd2 21.Rac1 Rf6 22.Bxd7 Rd8 23.Qc7 Rxd7 24.Qxd7 Bxg2 25.Kxg2 Nf4+ 26.Kh1 Qxf2 27.Qe8+ Rf8 28.Qc6 g5 29.Rf1 Qh4 30.Rxf4 Qxh3+ 31.Kg1 Qg3+ 32.Qg2 Qxf4 33.Rf1 Qh4 34.d5 exd5 35.Nd4 1–0
In the second two strong Grandmasters do a careful dance keeping things in balance and trading off material until a draw was certain. Vladimir Kramnik, the former World Champion, in an article he contributed to book by Dvoretsky and Yusupov; Positional Play, Henry Holt, NYC, 1996; said in exchange for weakening his dark squares, Black obtains a space advantage in the Dutch. Kramnik went on to say Black has an easier time playing the positions of the Stonewall Dutch than does White mostly because of the difficulty White has in choosing a plan. His ultimate conclusion was the Stonewall is an entirely useful defense at even the top levels of chess.
(295629) Piket, Jeroen (2615) - Nikolic, Predrag (2635) [A80]
Hoogovens Wijk aan Zee (1), 01.1992
1.Nf3 e6 2.d4 f5 3.Bf4 Nf6 4.e3 Be7 5.h3 0–0 6.c4 d6 7.Nc3 Ne4 8.Nxe4 fxe4 9.Nd2 d5 10.Be2 Nc6 11.Bh2 Bd6 12.Bxd6 Qxd6 13.Rc1 Ne7 14.Qb3 c6 15.0–0 Nf5 16.cxd5 cxd5 17.Rc3 Bd7 18.Rfc1 Bc6 19.Bb5 Bxb5 20.Qxb5 Qe7 21.Rc7 Qg5 22.Qe2 Nd6 23.Qg4 Qxg4 24.hxg4 Rac8 25.Nb3 Rxc7 26.Rxc7 Rf7 27.Rc2 Kf8 28.Kh2 b6 29.Kg3 Ke8 30.Nd2 h6 ½–½
In the third we see some of the ideas from the Varela - Calderone game with the addition of the Q-side fianchetto for Black. Once again that natural idea does not help the Black cause.
(808115) Miltner, Arndt (2380) - Gschwendtner, Michael (2245) [A80]
BL2-Sued 0304 Germany, 2003
1.d4 f5 2.Nf3 e6 3.Bf4 Nf6 4.e3 b6 5.Bd3 Bb7 6.Nbd2 Be7 7.h3 Ne4 8.Qe2 Nxd2 9.Nxd2 c5 10.0–0–0 0–0 11.Rhg1 Nc6 12.c3 cxd4 13.exd4 Bg5 14.Bxg5 Qxg5 15.g4 fxg4 16.Rxg4 Qh6 17.Rdg1 Rf7 18.Rg5 Kh8 19.Rh5 Nxd4 20.cxd4 Bf3 21.Qxf3 Rxf3 22.Rxh6 Rxd3 23.Rh4 Rc8+ 24.Kd1 Rc4 25.Rgg4 g5 26.Rxg5 Rcxd4 27.Rxd4 Rxd4 28.Ke2 Rb4 29.b3 Rh4 30.Rg3 b5 31.Nf3 Re4+ 32.Kd3 Rf4 33.Ke3 Rf6 34.Ne5 1–0
Kramnik’s Stonewall article sets out the conditions where Black is justified in breaking open the K-side with an advance of his g-pawn. One of the key elements is a Bishop trade occurring on f4 with the resulting recapture there by a White pawn. Without that sort of slight weakening of the White formation, the advance of the g-pawn not to work well for Black. It is always interesting to see, or hear Grandmasters explain specific ideas underlying their planning. This is particularly true when the ideas are not widely known.
Another point Kramnik makes is rote play is not the order of the day in the Dutch for either side. First generally, the opening is quite strategic where both sides have to adjust plans in response to the opponent’s disposition of forces. Second and more specifically, White usually thinks about trading off the Black Nb8 when it develops. That is so even if he has to do it with a Knight he took time to get to e5, or giving up his dark squared Bishop. Kramnik believes giving Black the Bishop pair is not a bad idea if Black’s pawns are kept on the light squares.
Most of Kramnik’s remarks were made about lines where White developed his light squares Bishop to g2. He did mention that much of what he said applies to other Dutch lines as well.
All the foregoing is a tremendous amount of palaver to get us to move 4 for Black! However this game goes wrong for Zack pretty quickly. If we are to understand why, some serious thought has to be given to the fundamental schemes for each side.
4..., d5 5.Bd3 c6 6.c3!?,..
I have a liking for this move also and play it frequently against the Dutch. Igor Khenkin, another Russian GM also contributed comments on the Dutch for the Dvoretsky book. His story began with his infatuation with the c2-c3 move combined with the Knight tour g1/h3/f4/d3 in conjunction with Bc1-f4-e5, and the Nb1 traveling to f3 via d2. Khenkin recounts games that led him to concluded c2-c3 can be adequately met by Black’s Stonewall. Khenkin remains devoted to the Knight tour idea. Kramnik takes issue with that in an editorial aside. Kramink believes the Ng1 should go to f3 directly and submit’s a variation or two to back his claim.
Good alternatives here for Varela are; 6 h3, securing the Bf4 from harassment, 6 c4, to create pressure on the Black center, castling now, or 6 Nbd2, keeping open the option of where the c-pawn will go.
6..., Bd6 7.Ne5,..
Superficially the development of the Black Bishop to d6 looks odd. To offer to trade a good Bishop for one that is theoretically not so good runs counter to the general principles set out by Tarrasch and his successors over the last one hundred plus years. The Stonewall Dutch is something of a special case. There are a number of factors to consider: The White Bf4 can go to e5 if unopposed and give itself up for a valuable Black Knight As good as the light squared White Bishop may appear to be, the “stonewall” of pawns; b7, c6, d5, e6, f2, makes problematical its chances for great activity. And, mechanisms exist to improve the usefulness of the ..,Bc8; ..,b7-b6 & ..,Bc8-a6; or the known maneuver; ..,Bc8-d7;..,Bd7-e8; .., Be8-h5. Taken all together, these factors must have motivated White’s 7th move.
Carlos Varela has played rated chess since 1999, but until the last year or two not very frequently. Once he got to play regularly in early 2010, his rating began a steady climb from 1300 to the present 1740 high. I have watched several of his games and played him a time or two in that span. It seemed to me he was under rated. The published numbers did not accurately reflect the skill shown in his over the board performance. Today’s game fits that observation.
7..., 0–0 8.Nd2 Ne4?!
One more of the oddities of the Dutch. Obviously both sides have designs on planting a Knight on an advanced post on the e-file. However timing that move is important. Although both sides want to put a Knight in an advanced e-file outpost, they must consider, and calculate carefully, the advanced Knight being captured by the nearby Bishop. Taking the Knight with the adjacent Bishop turns the dynamic outpost into a static point. Play then can turn to file opening schemes, primarily the f-file, and positional maneuvering becomes a tactical clash.
The most pointed criticism of the text is there’s no immediate reason to rush this occupation. Black can do other useful things; 8..., Qc7; so that the eventual .., Nbd7; will result in pressure against the Bf4, or 8..., c5; obtaining space on the Q-side. The text move is a harbinger of an attack before all the Black pieces are developed. Something that is usually not a good idea.
9.Ndf3 g5?!
And so it comes. There is no immediate tactical refutation, but all of the Black Q-side forces are still in their tents. Even if Black obtains some concession from White with this violent action, he must lose momentum completing his development. The useful moves noted in the previous note are still valid alternatives.
10.Bxe4 gxf4 11.Bd3 Bxe5?!
Somewhat better is 11..., fxe3; damaging the White pawn formation a little.
12.Nxe5 Qg5?
The point that Black must have believed justified the risky play leading to this position.
13.Qf3!?,..
Possible is 13 h4!, and 13..., Qxg2? 14 Ke2 Kh8 15 Rg1 Qh2 16 Nf3 Qh3 17 exf4, gives White a large, almost winning advantage. If Black does not take the g-pawn, then 13..., Qh6 14 exf4 Qxf4? 15 Qh5, is very promising for White. And finally, 14..., Nd7 15 Qf3, with an excellent game for White. The game move allows White to claim some advantage but not as significant as after 13 h4.
13..., fxe3 14.fxe3 Nd7 15.h4 Qg7 16.Nxd7 Bxd7 17.Rh3 Kh8 18.0–0–0?!,..
Black has really not done so badly after White did not go for the best line on move 13. Logical, and conforming to those general principles we have all heard repeatedly, as this move appears, it is not quite as good as the forcing 18 Rg3.
18..., e5 19.Rg3 Qh6?
A puzzling choice. By playing 19..., Qf6; defending the pawn on e5, Black keeps his chances alive after; 20 dxe5 Qxe5 21 Rg5 h6; and the slight advantage White enjoys is not very threatening. The text give up a pawn for complications that turn out to favor White. The affection Mr. Calderone has for tactical play led him astray here. He should have been satisfied with the equality available.
20.dxe5 f4?
This was the point of the Black scheme. It unfortunately is flawed.
21.Rg5 fxe3 22.Qxe3 Qxh4 23.e6! 1–0
This move must have been the one overlooked by Black. After some thought Zack resigned here. The decision was forced by the lines; 23..., Be8 24 Qe5+, with mate the next move, and 23..., Qf4 24 Qxf4 Rxf4 25 Rh1, will require Black to give up a Rook to avoid mate.
It is true that tactics are some huge part of chess, however, the thing Morphy taught the chess world 150 years ago; getting all your pieces involved in the game is the requirement for successful tactical solutions. In this game Zack Calderone forgot the lesson.
More soon.
3.05.2012
Quick News: Deepak Aaron 2012 New York State Scholastic Champion!
Good morning, world! I happened to be at the state Scholastic Championships in Saratoga Springs over the weekend of March 3rd & 4th just past, and even though I wasn't there as a reporter in any real sense, it occurred to me just now that I could spread some news of interest to the Eastern New York area. It was a tough tournament all around. It seemed as if every section had at least a couple of unexpectedly strong players, given the ages involved. In the Primary Section, for example, the top seed was rated in the 1600s [I incorrectly said this was in the Elementary Reserve in the first version of this post], and in the Elementary Championship section, there were two 1800-rated boys! That's not beyond sixth grade, mind you!
The High School Championship was loaded up with no less than seven masters, a couple of whom were unfamiliar to me. But it's interesting to note that, of those seven, the top two seeds, James Black Jr. and Justus Williams, could have played in the Junior High section--eighth grade and seeded top in the entire tournament! My goodness. Also among the masters present were our well-known local favorite Deepak Aaron and the reigning overall state champion, Michael Chiang. The top three boards from each of the High School and Junior High Championships were given a separate small, quiet room, far from the scrum found everywhere else.
It was a large tournament, with 450 or so pre-registrants and a considerable number of youths who registered at the site. As a matter of fact, because of the number of the latter sort, the first round was delayed by nearly an hour. I don't know the final attendance figures, but suffice it to say that the entire building seemed to have been taken over by young chessplayers and their associates. (There were at least a few of those associates that I never even saw until the awards ceremony--Grandmasters Giorgi Kacheishvili and Joel Benjamin appeared to watch their charges receive trophies!)
Well, not to make a big dissertation of this, because I have to get to work, but the news flash is this: Deepak Aaron is this year's New York State Scholastic (High School) Champion! I watched him dispatch Williams, the defending titleholder, in the final round with a nice game. Mr. Aaron scored six wins from six games! I believe James Black finished second a point back, having himself faced the tournament winner in round four. [Update 3/6/12: Now that I've seen the official crosstable, I find that Mr. Black's actual score was 4 1/2 points.] This means that our friend Mr. Aaron has won the state scholastic title at the high-school level in three years out of four! He'll no longer be eligible to compete for it, since this is his senior year. But what a great run! And this year especially, to notch a perfect score from such a strong field! Deepak will probably get tired of being congratulated by us, but do it anyway the next time you see him. It's well earned!
The High School Championship was loaded up with no less than seven masters, a couple of whom were unfamiliar to me. But it's interesting to note that, of those seven, the top two seeds, James Black Jr. and Justus Williams, could have played in the Junior High section--eighth grade and seeded top in the entire tournament! My goodness. Also among the masters present were our well-known local favorite Deepak Aaron and the reigning overall state champion, Michael Chiang. The top three boards from each of the High School and Junior High Championships were given a separate small, quiet room, far from the scrum found everywhere else.
It was a large tournament, with 450 or so pre-registrants and a considerable number of youths who registered at the site. As a matter of fact, because of the number of the latter sort, the first round was delayed by nearly an hour. I don't know the final attendance figures, but suffice it to say that the entire building seemed to have been taken over by young chessplayers and their associates. (There were at least a few of those associates that I never even saw until the awards ceremony--Grandmasters Giorgi Kacheishvili and Joel Benjamin appeared to watch their charges receive trophies!)
Well, not to make a big dissertation of this, because I have to get to work, but the news flash is this: Deepak Aaron is this year's New York State Scholastic (High School) Champion! I watched him dispatch Williams, the defending titleholder, in the final round with a nice game. Mr. Aaron scored six wins from six games! I believe James Black finished second a point back, having himself faced the tournament winner in round four. [Update 3/6/12: Now that I've seen the official crosstable, I find that Mr. Black's actual score was 4 1/2 points.] This means that our friend Mr. Aaron has won the state scholastic title at the high-school level in three years out of four! He'll no longer be eligible to compete for it, since this is his senior year. But what a great run! And this year especially, to notch a perfect score from such a strong field! Deepak will probably get tired of being congratulated by us, but do it anyway the next time you see him. It's well earned!
3.03.2012
A Second Exciting Game From the SCC Finals
As I mentioned earlier, a close contender for the first game published from the latest round in the Schenectady contests was this exciting battle between a new finalist and a past Champion. Carlos Varela, a teacher from RPI and a stalwart of the RPI team, makes a determined effort to take the full point from Philip Sells. Bill Townsend and I were watching the game and both of us were silently hoping Carlos would play 25 Bxh6. We just wanted to see what would happen. He did and we did. It was an interesting game before and after the 25th move and worth the late night it took to see it to a finish. Enjoy!
Varela, Carlos - Sells, Philip [A46]
SCC Championship Finals Schenectady, NY, 23.02.2012
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.Bf4 c5 4.e3 cxd4
A not uncommon position from the Torre/London/Colle Systems. Opportunities to transpose into positions from other lines are many. There few games in the databases with strong players on both sides, however here is one with Topalov handling Black against Gata Kamsky from not too long ago. Kamsky had to call on his very considerable skill on the defense hold off Topalov who was challenging then for the number one spot on the FIDE rating list.
(1177976) Kamsky,Gata (2705) - Topalov,Veselin (2772) [A46]
3rd MTel Masters, Sofia (9), 19.05.2007
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.Bf4 c5 4.e3 cxd4 5.exd4 b6 6.Nbd2 Be7 7.h3 0–0 8.Bd3 Ba6 9.Bxa6 Nxa6 10.0–0 b5 11.c3 Nc7 12.a4 Ncd5 13.Bh2 a6 14.Qb3 Qb6 15.Ra2 d6 16.Rfa1 Rab8 17.axb5 axb5 18.Ra6 Qd8 19.Ra7 Nc7 20.Ne1 Nfd5 21.Nd3 Qd7 22.Nb4 Nxb4 23.Qxb4 Qc6 24.c4 Rfc8 25.cxb5 Qc2 26.Nf1 Nd5 27.Qd2 Qb3 28.Ne3 Bf8 29.Bg3 Nxe3 30.Qxe3 Qxb5 31.Qf3 f6 32.R1a6 Rb6 33.Ra1 Qxb2 34.Bf4 d5 35.Be3 Qc2 36.Kh2 Qg6 37.g3 h5 38.Ra8 Rbc6 39.R1a6 Qf7 40.Bf4 Rc3 41.Qe2 Rc2 42.Qe1 Rxa8 43.Rxa8 Qd7 44.Qb1 Rc8 45.Rxc8 Qxc8 46.Qg6 Qc4 47.Be3 e5 48.dxe5 d4 49.e6 dxe3 50.Qf7+ Kh7 51.Qxh5+ ½–½
5.exd4 Nc6
Mr. Sells takes a different road from Topalov. Also possible is 5..., Qb6; a natural sort move often played when White develops the Bishop to f4. Black has a number of choices here; 5..., h6; 5..., Be7; and others. Which way he goes depends on taste and his future intentions.
6.c3 Be7 7.Bd3 0–0 8.Nbd2 d6 9.Qc2 h6 10.0–0 b6
A feature of the London System is the dark squared White Bishop on f4 outside of his pawn s on dark squares. An idea that is often used by Black is gain time by threatening this actively placed piece. In that vein, Black could have played; 10..., Nh5 11 Be3 f5; when White would almost have to toss a pawn into the pot with 12 d5 exd5 13 Qb6, giving rise to the question; was the harassment of the Bf4 worth the damage to the Black pawn structure? Fischer, who always thought a pawn was worth some trouble, might have said yes, but Mr. Sells wanted to win this game to take clear second in the Championship. He decides to keep any transformation of the position for the future wanting to be fully prepared before opening uo the position.
11.Rfe1 Bb7 12.h3 Rc8 13.a3 Re8 14.Rad1 Bf8
Both sides have bided their time mustering forces to logical squares without really tipping their hands about future intentions. Assessing the position using Silman’s imbalances idea gives the following:
White has a bit more space due to the d-pawn on the 4th rank, but Black has two center pawns to White’s one offsetting that advantage to some extent.
Both sides are pretty much developed. The only difference here is the White Queen has more active possibilities than the Black Queen whose future prospects will be determined by how the game opens up. Initiative is undecided. White has available Nd2-e4, an energetic move that does not seem to lead anywhere right away. The White pieces and pawns point towards an attack on the K-side. This is something Black will have take into consideration when choosing a plan. If a call has to be made regard initiative, White may have greater chances to obtain it.
The pawn formation has taken on the approximate outlines of the Hedgehog formation. In such, Black counts on quietly forming up his forces to make a later break in the center or flank to open the game to his advantage. White has a barrier of pawns which he hopes will fend off the Q-side machinations Black has in mind while White attacks the King
On minor piece placement and the worst piece; the White Bishops are aimed at the Black King. Black will have to detail some units to meet any sudden sacrificial assault. They naturally are the Nf6 and the Bf8. So what is the worst piece? White’s is the Nd2, where can it go to contribute more? Black’s is s toss up between the Re8 and the Bishop and Knight guardians of the K-side. I don’t see a clear path the break up the White attacking formation, so the guardians will have stay on the defensive. This judgment leaves the Re8 as the piece needing improvement.
A look at lines and files reveals both sides have a Rook appropriately on the half-open file in their positions. White has clear diagonals for his Bishops pointing towards the Black King. The Black Bb7 is not too much a factor regards the K-side It has no supporting unit to make threats to g2 real in the face of White’s superiority there. The placement of the White Queen and the Black Rook do offer Black a great deal of control over d5. It is conceivable Black can make something interesting out of the light central squares to distract White from his obvious K-side attack. The center is not clearly defined as yet leaving the possibility open that the character of the game could change dramatically.
In sum: White must attack on the K-side. Black is somewhat constrained the need to hold back reserves to meet the attack. Black has play on the Q-side and the light central squares. This is no great revelation and very common in the Torre/London/Colle Systems complex.
15.Nf1?!,..
Mr. Varela himself was critical of this move. He thought why not go right away to e4. It is more direct but seems to lead to nothing after 15 Ne4 Nxe4 16 Bxe4 Na5; and the likely trade of Bishops has eliminated a good deals of White’s attacking potential. An idea that was not looked at in the post mortem was; 15 Nc4, intending to post the Knight at e3 fighting against the scheme Black carried out in the game of putting a Bishop on d5 and bringing the Knight to c4 via a5. White can get away with it as long as the Black Queen is on the d-file because the counter-stroke .., e6-e5; could leave her exposed to a discovered attack by Bd3-h7+ after a pawn exchange on e5. A downside to the idea is the Knight on e3 obstructs the action of the Rook on the e-file. Carlos may have been too critical of his own choice in the game. Nothing remarkably better is available.
15..., Rc7!?,..
A strange kind of move. The course of the game shows Black intends pressure on the c-file and playing on the light squares c4 and d5, but it looks awkward. White has in hand the counter 16 Ne3, fighting back over the central light squares.
16.Ng3 Kh8
Philip Sells methodically eliminates the h7 checking possibility. That told me he was thinking of the e-pawn advance making any later discovery by a move of the Bd3 far less worrisome.
17.Re2 Qc8 18.Rde1 Ba6
A change of direction. It appears now Black may want to instigate some trades to defang the potential K-side attack.
19.Ne4 Nxe4 20.Rxe4 Bb7
Black changes his mind. The line of play; 20..., Bxd3 21 Qxd3 d5 22 R4e3 Rd7; certainly reduces the chances of a successful K-side attack, but the Black Rooks look very much worse the doubled White Rooks on the e-file. Black can hold, however, winning from that position is doubtful.
White has a choice to make here; with 21 Qa4, he can offer Black a transition to the ending after 21..., Nc4; and a bunch of trades on and near c4 which result in White having a passed a-pawn with a problematical future because of the activity of the Black Rooks, or as in the game, direct K-side attack.
21.R4e3 Na5 22.Nd2 Bd5 23.Rg3,..
Everyone can see now Mr. Varela intends an assault on the Black King. One of the designated defends, the Nf6, is gone, and another attacking unit, the Rg3, has appeared on the scene. White has done a good job of bringing units to the field of battle. The only problem is the coordination of these units
23..., Nc4 24.Ne4!?,..
Superficially, one more piece to participate in the assault, but where does the Knight go from here? While watching the game, I thought something like 24 Bxc4 Bxc4 25 Qd1, or 24 Qd1?, which is unfortunately immediately countered by 24..., Nxb2; might have bettered coordinated the White units for the attack and gotten the Queen into the action.
24..., e5
Just so. Quite like how things happen from the Hedgehop formation. This time it is a center break just as White is in the midst of kicking off the direct assault.
25.Bxh6?!,..
Rybka recommends 25 dxe5, but concludes Black is better after; 25..., dxe5 26 Bxh6 f5 27 Nf6 gxh6 28 Nxd5 Rf7 29 Qb3 b5! This is a line only a computer could love. For a human being to plunge into this morass of tactics would take great confidence in his calculating ability and board sight.
I think White had played up to this point in the game intending such a sacrifice to begin the attack Playing the sacrifice is probably his best chance from a practical point of view . Other Bishop moves give Black a significant edge according to my trusty computer. Bill Townsend and I both were very interested in seeing this move played. Mr. Varela came through for us, although I’m sure not to just to please us.
The advantage now swings back and forth wildly over the next moves. When White’s 25th move was played both players had under twenty minutes remaining on their clocks with the situation on the board becoming more, not less, complicated. That is not much time for either party to calculate in the complications that follow.
25..., exd4?
Ambitious, but it should lead to trouble for Black. Better 25..., f5; and after 26 Nf6 gxf6 27 Bxf8 Rxf8 28 Bxf5 Bd6 29 Bg6 Bf7; and notwithstanding the extra piece, Black probably has to agree to a draw by repeating the dance of the Bishops. If he tries to vary creatively with 29..., Nb2? 30 Re4 Nd3 31 Rh4+ Kg8 32 Qxd3 f5 33 Be8+ Rg7 34 Rxg7+ Kxg7 35 Qg3+ Kf6 36 Qg6+ Ke7 37 Rh7+, and regardless of the material Black will have to offer up the mate is not far distant. I leave it to the readers to work along with several other variations for the alternatives to 32..., f5.
26.Qd1,..
The Queen prepares to add her heavy weight to the assault. Now point counts of material are less meaningful. What is important is the full throated attack and the devil take the straggler.
26..., Bxe4?
Bringing his game very close to dead lost. Black had to try the here the unlikely looking 26..., Qf5; The text allows; 27 Bxg7+ Bxg7 28 Qh5 Kg8 29 Bxe4 Rxe4 30 Rxe4 Ne5 31 Rh4 Ng6 32 Qh7+ Kf8 33 Rf4!, and so on with a winning attack for White. If there were plenty of time finding one’s way through that difficult line is a challenge. Mr. Varela had but fifteen minutes remaining for the entire game and Mr. Sells less. The better move; 26..., Qf5; leads to nothing easy for Black after; 27 Bxc4 Rxe4 28 Bxd5 Qxd5 29 Rxe4 Qxe4 30 Rg4 Qe6; when Black is looking at a pawn down end game with a ragged pawn formation. There is a but here. With 31 Qxd4 Qe1+ 32 Kh2 Qe5; and White probably has to play 33 Qxe5 dxe5; repairing the Black pawns and giving him hopes of holding the game. Of course time is shortening, and these rather involved lines have plenty of scope for errors.
27.Qh5,..
Pretty near winning is 27 Bxg7!+. Then 27..., Bxg7 28 Qh5+ Kg8 29 Bxe4, and White dominates the light squares around the Black King. To play this line White had to be prepared to ignore being down a piece and correctly evaluate the tactics arising out of the powerful position he created on the K-side, Amazingly the text swings the advantage to Black even though on its face the move looks very strong.
27..., gxh6
Also good is 27..., g6. Having two really good replies to the Queen’s jump to h5 indicates just how difficult the game has become. The players gave it their best shot running the clocks down to right around five minutes or less each calculating the ramifications.
28.Rxe4 Rxe4 29.Bxe4 Bg7 30.Bf5 Qe8
During the game I thought it would be better to play 30..., Qf8; right away. Rybka differs and says the text is to be preferred on the slender grounds that at e8 the Black Queen prevents the White Queen from retreating to e2. Mighty Rybka is likely correct. Under circumstances with no time pressure I am not sure a human being would make that judgment unless he was of a very high standard of play. In time pressure, my guess is Philips Sells’ intuition guided him correctly.
The players were now down to two minutes each on the clocks. The final moves were played, perforce, quickly.
31.Qg4 Qf8 32.Be4 Ne5
Critical comments about moves made in great time pressure are not useful. Blitz and time pressure play is about ideas and nerve. If you have some idea that keeps you in the game, play it. Looking for the better move easily can cost the point on time. Sells sees a way to strengthen his King’s house and takes it. Here 32..., Nd2; renders harmless 33 Qf5, by taking off the Bishop. But what if 32..., Nd2 33 Bc2? Black then has to calculate; 33..., Re7 34 Qf5 Re1+ 35 Kh2 Nf1+ 36 Kg1 Ng3+; winning. Not so hard with lots of time, and nearly impossible with seconds left. Side lines and in-between moves would have to be checked. It all takes time that is not available. I know from the conversation after the game the Rook check on e8 and the Knight check on f8 was a piece of the ideas Mr. Sells was pursuing. It’s my guess he went for what he could see clearly with out much calculation.
33.Qf5 Ng6 34.h4,..
There is not much to be done to save the game. Mr. Varela continues his direct assault by threatening 35 h5. Unfortunately for Carlos, Sells has a straight forward finish in mind.
34..., Rc5 35.Qg4 h5 36.Qd7 Qe7 37.Qh3 Qxe4 38.f3 Qe1+ 39.Kh2 Be5 0–1
A near thing for the former Champion, and by no means a bad effort for the new finalist. Carlos Varela had the right idea with the piece sacrifice. It may not have been precisely correct. It was, however, the best practical chance. While I subscribe to Har-Zv1’s rule; play the best moves you can find, don’t go in for swindles. To that rule I’ll add Little’s corollary; if all your choices are bad, take the most active option. Mr. Varela did so here giving us an entertaining game to look at, and he came very close to winning.
Varela, Carlos - Sells, Philip [A46]
SCC Championship Finals Schenectady, NY, 23.02.2012
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.Bf4 c5 4.e3 cxd4
A not uncommon position from the Torre/London/Colle Systems. Opportunities to transpose into positions from other lines are many. There few games in the databases with strong players on both sides, however here is one with Topalov handling Black against Gata Kamsky from not too long ago. Kamsky had to call on his very considerable skill on the defense hold off Topalov who was challenging then for the number one spot on the FIDE rating list.
(1177976) Kamsky,Gata (2705) - Topalov,Veselin (2772) [A46]
3rd MTel Masters, Sofia (9), 19.05.2007
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.Bf4 c5 4.e3 cxd4 5.exd4 b6 6.Nbd2 Be7 7.h3 0–0 8.Bd3 Ba6 9.Bxa6 Nxa6 10.0–0 b5 11.c3 Nc7 12.a4 Ncd5 13.Bh2 a6 14.Qb3 Qb6 15.Ra2 d6 16.Rfa1 Rab8 17.axb5 axb5 18.Ra6 Qd8 19.Ra7 Nc7 20.Ne1 Nfd5 21.Nd3 Qd7 22.Nb4 Nxb4 23.Qxb4 Qc6 24.c4 Rfc8 25.cxb5 Qc2 26.Nf1 Nd5 27.Qd2 Qb3 28.Ne3 Bf8 29.Bg3 Nxe3 30.Qxe3 Qxb5 31.Qf3 f6 32.R1a6 Rb6 33.Ra1 Qxb2 34.Bf4 d5 35.Be3 Qc2 36.Kh2 Qg6 37.g3 h5 38.Ra8 Rbc6 39.R1a6 Qf7 40.Bf4 Rc3 41.Qe2 Rc2 42.Qe1 Rxa8 43.Rxa8 Qd7 44.Qb1 Rc8 45.Rxc8 Qxc8 46.Qg6 Qc4 47.Be3 e5 48.dxe5 d4 49.e6 dxe3 50.Qf7+ Kh7 51.Qxh5+ ½–½
5.exd4 Nc6
Mr. Sells takes a different road from Topalov. Also possible is 5..., Qb6; a natural sort move often played when White develops the Bishop to f4. Black has a number of choices here; 5..., h6; 5..., Be7; and others. Which way he goes depends on taste and his future intentions.
6.c3 Be7 7.Bd3 0–0 8.Nbd2 d6 9.Qc2 h6 10.0–0 b6
A feature of the London System is the dark squared White Bishop on f4 outside of his pawn s on dark squares. An idea that is often used by Black is gain time by threatening this actively placed piece. In that vein, Black could have played; 10..., Nh5 11 Be3 f5; when White would almost have to toss a pawn into the pot with 12 d5 exd5 13 Qb6, giving rise to the question; was the harassment of the Bf4 worth the damage to the Black pawn structure? Fischer, who always thought a pawn was worth some trouble, might have said yes, but Mr. Sells wanted to win this game to take clear second in the Championship. He decides to keep any transformation of the position for the future wanting to be fully prepared before opening uo the position.
11.Rfe1 Bb7 12.h3 Rc8 13.a3 Re8 14.Rad1 Bf8
Both sides have bided their time mustering forces to logical squares without really tipping their hands about future intentions. Assessing the position using Silman’s imbalances idea gives the following:
White has a bit more space due to the d-pawn on the 4th rank, but Black has two center pawns to White’s one offsetting that advantage to some extent.
Both sides are pretty much developed. The only difference here is the White Queen has more active possibilities than the Black Queen whose future prospects will be determined by how the game opens up. Initiative is undecided. White has available Nd2-e4, an energetic move that does not seem to lead anywhere right away. The White pieces and pawns point towards an attack on the K-side. This is something Black will have take into consideration when choosing a plan. If a call has to be made regard initiative, White may have greater chances to obtain it.
The pawn formation has taken on the approximate outlines of the Hedgehog formation. In such, Black counts on quietly forming up his forces to make a later break in the center or flank to open the game to his advantage. White has a barrier of pawns which he hopes will fend off the Q-side machinations Black has in mind while White attacks the King
On minor piece placement and the worst piece; the White Bishops are aimed at the Black King. Black will have to detail some units to meet any sudden sacrificial assault. They naturally are the Nf6 and the Bf8. So what is the worst piece? White’s is the Nd2, where can it go to contribute more? Black’s is s toss up between the Re8 and the Bishop and Knight guardians of the K-side. I don’t see a clear path the break up the White attacking formation, so the guardians will have stay on the defensive. This judgment leaves the Re8 as the piece needing improvement.
A look at lines and files reveals both sides have a Rook appropriately on the half-open file in their positions. White has clear diagonals for his Bishops pointing towards the Black King. The Black Bb7 is not too much a factor regards the K-side It has no supporting unit to make threats to g2 real in the face of White’s superiority there. The placement of the White Queen and the Black Rook do offer Black a great deal of control over d5. It is conceivable Black can make something interesting out of the light central squares to distract White from his obvious K-side attack. The center is not clearly defined as yet leaving the possibility open that the character of the game could change dramatically.
In sum: White must attack on the K-side. Black is somewhat constrained the need to hold back reserves to meet the attack. Black has play on the Q-side and the light central squares. This is no great revelation and very common in the Torre/London/Colle Systems complex.
15.Nf1?!,..
Mr. Varela himself was critical of this move. He thought why not go right away to e4. It is more direct but seems to lead to nothing after 15 Ne4 Nxe4 16 Bxe4 Na5; and the likely trade of Bishops has eliminated a good deals of White’s attacking potential. An idea that was not looked at in the post mortem was; 15 Nc4, intending to post the Knight at e3 fighting against the scheme Black carried out in the game of putting a Bishop on d5 and bringing the Knight to c4 via a5. White can get away with it as long as the Black Queen is on the d-file because the counter-stroke .., e6-e5; could leave her exposed to a discovered attack by Bd3-h7+ after a pawn exchange on e5. A downside to the idea is the Knight on e3 obstructs the action of the Rook on the e-file. Carlos may have been too critical of his own choice in the game. Nothing remarkably better is available.
15..., Rc7!?,..
A strange kind of move. The course of the game shows Black intends pressure on the c-file and playing on the light squares c4 and d5, but it looks awkward. White has in hand the counter 16 Ne3, fighting back over the central light squares.
16.Ng3 Kh8
Philip Sells methodically eliminates the h7 checking possibility. That told me he was thinking of the e-pawn advance making any later discovery by a move of the Bd3 far less worrisome.
17.Re2 Qc8 18.Rde1 Ba6
A change of direction. It appears now Black may want to instigate some trades to defang the potential K-side attack.
19.Ne4 Nxe4 20.Rxe4 Bb7
Black changes his mind. The line of play; 20..., Bxd3 21 Qxd3 d5 22 R4e3 Rd7; certainly reduces the chances of a successful K-side attack, but the Black Rooks look very much worse the doubled White Rooks on the e-file. Black can hold, however, winning from that position is doubtful.
White has a choice to make here; with 21 Qa4, he can offer Black a transition to the ending after 21..., Nc4; and a bunch of trades on and near c4 which result in White having a passed a-pawn with a problematical future because of the activity of the Black Rooks, or as in the game, direct K-side attack.
21.R4e3 Na5 22.Nd2 Bd5 23.Rg3,..
Everyone can see now Mr. Varela intends an assault on the Black King. One of the designated defends, the Nf6, is gone, and another attacking unit, the Rg3, has appeared on the scene. White has done a good job of bringing units to the field of battle. The only problem is the coordination of these units
23..., Nc4 24.Ne4!?,..
Superficially, one more piece to participate in the assault, but where does the Knight go from here? While watching the game, I thought something like 24 Bxc4 Bxc4 25 Qd1, or 24 Qd1?, which is unfortunately immediately countered by 24..., Nxb2; might have bettered coordinated the White units for the attack and gotten the Queen into the action.
24..., e5
Just so. Quite like how things happen from the Hedgehop formation. This time it is a center break just as White is in the midst of kicking off the direct assault.
25.Bxh6?!,..
Rybka recommends 25 dxe5, but concludes Black is better after; 25..., dxe5 26 Bxh6 f5 27 Nf6 gxh6 28 Nxd5 Rf7 29 Qb3 b5! This is a line only a computer could love. For a human being to plunge into this morass of tactics would take great confidence in his calculating ability and board sight.
I think White had played up to this point in the game intending such a sacrifice to begin the attack Playing the sacrifice is probably his best chance from a practical point of view . Other Bishop moves give Black a significant edge according to my trusty computer. Bill Townsend and I both were very interested in seeing this move played. Mr. Varela came through for us, although I’m sure not to just to please us.
The advantage now swings back and forth wildly over the next moves. When White’s 25th move was played both players had under twenty minutes remaining on their clocks with the situation on the board becoming more, not less, complicated. That is not much time for either party to calculate in the complications that follow.
25..., exd4?
Ambitious, but it should lead to trouble for Black. Better 25..., f5; and after 26 Nf6 gxf6 27 Bxf8 Rxf8 28 Bxf5 Bd6 29 Bg6 Bf7; and notwithstanding the extra piece, Black probably has to agree to a draw by repeating the dance of the Bishops. If he tries to vary creatively with 29..., Nb2? 30 Re4 Nd3 31 Rh4+ Kg8 32 Qxd3 f5 33 Be8+ Rg7 34 Rxg7+ Kxg7 35 Qg3+ Kf6 36 Qg6+ Ke7 37 Rh7+, and regardless of the material Black will have to offer up the mate is not far distant. I leave it to the readers to work along with several other variations for the alternatives to 32..., f5.
26.Qd1,..
The Queen prepares to add her heavy weight to the assault. Now point counts of material are less meaningful. What is important is the full throated attack and the devil take the straggler.
26..., Bxe4?
Bringing his game very close to dead lost. Black had to try the here the unlikely looking 26..., Qf5; The text allows; 27 Bxg7+ Bxg7 28 Qh5 Kg8 29 Bxe4 Rxe4 30 Rxe4 Ne5 31 Rh4 Ng6 32 Qh7+ Kf8 33 Rf4!, and so on with a winning attack for White. If there were plenty of time finding one’s way through that difficult line is a challenge. Mr. Varela had but fifteen minutes remaining for the entire game and Mr. Sells less. The better move; 26..., Qf5; leads to nothing easy for Black after; 27 Bxc4 Rxe4 28 Bxd5 Qxd5 29 Rxe4 Qxe4 30 Rg4 Qe6; when Black is looking at a pawn down end game with a ragged pawn formation. There is a but here. With 31 Qxd4 Qe1+ 32 Kh2 Qe5; and White probably has to play 33 Qxe5 dxe5; repairing the Black pawns and giving him hopes of holding the game. Of course time is shortening, and these rather involved lines have plenty of scope for errors.
27.Qh5,..
Pretty near winning is 27 Bxg7!+. Then 27..., Bxg7 28 Qh5+ Kg8 29 Bxe4, and White dominates the light squares around the Black King. To play this line White had to be prepared to ignore being down a piece and correctly evaluate the tactics arising out of the powerful position he created on the K-side, Amazingly the text swings the advantage to Black even though on its face the move looks very strong.
27..., gxh6
Also good is 27..., g6. Having two really good replies to the Queen’s jump to h5 indicates just how difficult the game has become. The players gave it their best shot running the clocks down to right around five minutes or less each calculating the ramifications.
28.Rxe4 Rxe4 29.Bxe4 Bg7 30.Bf5 Qe8
During the game I thought it would be better to play 30..., Qf8; right away. Rybka differs and says the text is to be preferred on the slender grounds that at e8 the Black Queen prevents the White Queen from retreating to e2. Mighty Rybka is likely correct. Under circumstances with no time pressure I am not sure a human being would make that judgment unless he was of a very high standard of play. In time pressure, my guess is Philips Sells’ intuition guided him correctly.
The players were now down to two minutes each on the clocks. The final moves were played, perforce, quickly.
31.Qg4 Qf8 32.Be4 Ne5
Critical comments about moves made in great time pressure are not useful. Blitz and time pressure play is about ideas and nerve. If you have some idea that keeps you in the game, play it. Looking for the better move easily can cost the point on time. Sells sees a way to strengthen his King’s house and takes it. Here 32..., Nd2; renders harmless 33 Qf5, by taking off the Bishop. But what if 32..., Nd2 33 Bc2? Black then has to calculate; 33..., Re7 34 Qf5 Re1+ 35 Kh2 Nf1+ 36 Kg1 Ng3+; winning. Not so hard with lots of time, and nearly impossible with seconds left. Side lines and in-between moves would have to be checked. It all takes time that is not available. I know from the conversation after the game the Rook check on e8 and the Knight check on f8 was a piece of the ideas Mr. Sells was pursuing. It’s my guess he went for what he could see clearly with out much calculation.
33.Qf5 Ng6 34.h4,..
There is not much to be done to save the game. Mr. Varela continues his direct assault by threatening 35 h5. Unfortunately for Carlos, Sells has a straight forward finish in mind.
34..., Rc5 35.Qg4 h5 36.Qd7 Qe7 37.Qh3 Qxe4 38.f3 Qe1+ 39.Kh2 Be5 0–1
A near thing for the former Champion, and by no means a bad effort for the new finalist. Carlos Varela had the right idea with the piece sacrifice. It may not have been precisely correct. It was, however, the best practical chance. While I subscribe to Har-Zv1’s rule; play the best moves you can find, don’t go in for swindles. To that rule I’ll add Little’s corollary; if all your choices are bad, take the most active option. Mr. Varela did so here giving us an entertaining game to look at, and he came very close to winning.
3.02.2012
An Upset From the SCC Consolation
Picking a game for today was not easy. Both the Varela - Sells game and this one were full of interest. My prejudice for upsets drove the choice.
Mr. Glessner is very new to serious chess. Before this event he’d played in just nine events in the mid-West and South Carolina and only seventeen rated games! I suspect he has done very much more playing on the internet and maybe had some excellent coaching. The games of his I have watched in this event show much more sophistication than a 1378 rating suggests.
In the contest we will examine, Dilip Aaron uses his special weapon against 1 e4, the Scandinavian Defense. Recently this defense has seen its reputation improve from being very much a secondary kind of tool to an almost fully fledged mainstream debut.
Glessner, Isaiah - Aaron, Dilip [B01]
SCC Consolation Tourney Schenectady, NY, 23.02.2012
1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.c4 Qa5
White tries an offbeat line, and Black decides to try to bring play back to more standard lines. There is not much in the way of theory here. Emms in his book; The Scandinavian, Everyman, London, 2004, makes no mention of the move 3 c4. Deep Rybka suggests 3..., Qe4+ 4 Qe2 Qxe2 5 Bxe2 Nc6; gives Black a modest edge after 6 Nf3 e5; because White has some difficulties in getting the d-pawn up to the 4th rank. If you have access to a chess engine, or just like to analyze, try out lines with 6 Nc3 Nd4 7 Nd5. Lots of fun to be had there. My look at these lines have Black coming out on top after some interesting turns. Before moving on, here is some background:
In the old days games such this led folks to doubt the usefulness of the Scandinavian Defense against first-rate opposition.
(5294) Chigorin, Mikhail - Znosko Borovsky, Eugene [B01]
DSB–15.Kongress Nuremberg (14), 1906
1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qa5 4.Nf3 Bg4 5.Be2 Nf6 6.0–0 e6 7.d4 Bd6 8.Nb5 Be7 9.Bf4 Na6 10.c4 c6 11.Nd6+ Bxd6 12.Bxd6 Ne4 13.Ba3 Bxf3 14.Bxf3 Nd2 15.d5 cxd5 16.cxd5 0–0–0 17.Re1 Nc7 18.dxe6 fxe6 19.Bg4 Rhe8 20.Qe2 Kb8 21.Rac1 Rd5 22.Qe3 g6 23.Bc5 e5 24.a3 Nb5 25.Bb4 Qd8 26.Bxd2 Rxd2 27.Rc8+ 1–0
In recent years high level games like this one showed the old Center-Counter Gambit has some bite.
(441878) Barua, Dibyendu (2520) - Speelman, Jonathan S (2625) [B01]
7th Goodricke Open, Calcutta (4), 1996
1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qa5 4.d4 Nf6 5.Nf3 c6 6.Bc4 Bf5 7.Bd2 e6 8.Qe2 Bb4 9.0–0–0 Nbd7 10.Nh4 Bg4 11.f3 Bxc3 12.bxc3 Bh5 13.g4 Bg6 14.Nxg6 hxg6 15.Bb3 Qa3+ 16.Kb1 a5 17.Bc1 Qd6 18.a3 Nd5 19.Qd3 b5 20.c4 bxc4 21.Qxc4 0–0 22.Ka1 Rfb8 23.Ba2 N7b6 24.Qc5 Qxc5 25.dxc5 Na4 26.Rd4 Nac3 27.Bd2 e5 28.Rd3 Nxa2 29.Kxa2 e4 30.fxe4 Nf6 31.Re1 Nxg4 32.Rd6 Rb5 33.Rxc6 Ne5 34.a4 Rbb8 35.Rb6 Rc8 36.Be3 Re8 37.Rb5 Nf3 38.Reb1 Kh7 39.c6 Rac8 40.Rc5 Rxe4 41.Rb3 Ne5 42.c7 Rxa4+ 43.Ra3 Re4 44.Bf2 f5 45.Raxa5 Ng4 46.Bg1 f4 47.h3 Nf6 48.Rab5 Re7 49.Rb4 Rexc7 50.Rxc7 Rxc7 51.Rxf4 Rxc2+ 52.Kb1 Re2 53.Bd4 g5 54.Rf3 Kg6 55.Kc1 Nd5 56.Kd1 Re4 57.Bb2 Ne3+ 58.Kd2 Nc4+ 59.Kd3 Rf4 0–1
There are virtually no master games in the sub-variation used in our game. Here are a couple almost FIDE masters exploring the line in a correspondence game. Notice how the adventurous Black Queen get into trouble here as in Glessner-Aaron game .
(583356) Silveira,Marcos (2215) - Carvalho,Carlos Alberto (2105) [B01]
4th Taca Brasilia Correspondence Championship, Brasilia (8), 24.08.2000
1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.c4 Qa5 4.Nc3 c6 5.d3 Nf6 6.Be2 Bf5 7.Nf3 Nbd7 8.Bf4 e6 9.0–0 Bb4 10.Nd4 Bxc3 11.bxc3 0–0 12.Nb3 Qxc3 13.Bd6 c5 14.Bxf8 Rxf8 15.Rc1 Qe5 16.Re1 Qc7 17.d4 Rd8 18.Bf3 h6 19.d5 Ne5 20.Rc3 Nxf3+ 21.Qxf3 Bg4 22.Qg3 Qxg3 23.hxg3 exd5 24.f3 Bc8 25.Nxc5 b6 26.Nb3 d4 27.Rd3 Be6 28.Rxd4 Rxd4 29.Nxd4 Bxc4 30.a3 Nd5 31.Nc6 a5 32.Ne7+ Nxe7 33.Rxe7 a4 34.Kf2 g6 35.g4 g5 36.g3 Kg7 37.f4 b5 38.Ke3 Kf6 39.Rc7 Bf1 40.Kd4 Be2 41.Rc6+ Kg7 42.Rb6 gxf4 43.gxf4 Bxg4 44.Rxb5 h5 45.Ke3 Kg6 46.Rg5+ Kf6 47.Ra5 Bd1 48.Kd2 Bb3 49.Rxh5 Kg6 50.Rb5 f6 51.Rxb3 axb3 52.a4 b2 53.Kc2 Kf5 54.a5 Kxf4 55.a6 Ke3 56.a7 f5 57.a8Q f4 58.Qa7+ 1–0
4.Nf3 Nf6 5.Be2 Bf5
The main attraction for using the Scandinavian for non-professional players is the relatively few lines that need to be studied in preparation for a contest. Compared to the Sicilian, or the double e-pawn defenses, the amount of work is small to achieve a playable middle game position. The downside to specializing in a more-or-less uncomplicated opening such as the Scandinavian is opponents can search out off-beat lines from opening manuals, or dredge up surprises from the internet or their computer engines. One hopes he understands enough about a pet opening to be able to counter such surprises. That is not always the case. Here for example it is better to get in ..,e7-e5; before developing the Bc8. The pawn on e5 will be able exchange itself for the d-pawn leaving a completely open center with equality near at hand.
6.0–0 Bxb1?!
Black falls for a bit of trickery that comes up every so often in many guises; grabbing a poisoned pawn. With only some of his forces developed and his King several moves from castling, Dilip decides to grab a Q-side pawn with his Queen. This a-pawn is just as poisonous as the notorious b-pawn is in the Sicilian Defense.
7.Rxb1 Qxa2 8.Qc2 Nc6 9.d4 e6?
Once more we see a player try ordinary positional methods in a position he provoked requiring dynamic treatment. In the standard Scandinavian positions Black has a shopping list of things to accomplish; Bf5, e6, c6 and Bb4 are all on the list. In most cases positions based on the list work well enough for Black. It is not so much the 3 c5, move that made the position radical, it is the Queen sortie to snatch the a-pawn. Herein is a lesson for the developing and the experienced player; getting so little as a pawn for the time used is fraught with danger. The danger is even greater if your development lags and your King not yet castled.
For good or ill Black should tried; 9..., Nb4!? 10 Qf5, Qa6 11 Ne5 Qd6; when White is still better, but Black has extracted the Queen from the swamp on the Q-side. After 9... Nc4 10 Qf5, Black should not be tempted by the shinny trinket 10..., e6?! Things get interesting in a flash with 11 Qb5+! After that move, all the routine piece values we learn early as chess players, go out the window. Then, 11..., Nd7 12 Qxb7 Rb8 13 Qxc7 Qxb1? (Better 13..., Na6.) 14 Ne5 Rd8 15 Bg5, winning. When the smell of mate is on wind thinking like an accountant is not the way to go.
10.Bd2 Na5
The difficult situation of the Black Queen is forcing him to take measures to get her out of trouble. Doing so prevents dealing with castling and development.
11.Ra1 Qb3 12.Qc1,..
Trading Queens lets Black off the hook.
12..., Nc6 13.d5 Nd8?
If 13..., exd5 14 c5!, points up the absence of squares available to the Black Queen. Mr. Aaron would likely have to try 14..., Bxc5; when 15 Qxc5 Ne4 16 Qe3 Qxb2 17 Rab1 Qf6 18 Rxb7; when the three pawns Black has gotten for his piece are offset by the great activity of the White pieces. This maybe the best try for Black
Some, or all, of the foregoing had to be going through Dilip’s mind to explain this move which leads to annihilation. Another way to try to clarify the situation is; 13..., Nxd5 14 cxd5 Qxd5 15 Bc4 Qh5. This keeps the material balance. What does Black do after 16 Ba6? Then 16..., Bd617 h3 Nd8 18 Ra5, and activity of the White pieces is alarming, but Black is trying to complicate matters. Unfortunately for Black, at this point if White keeps his head clear, the sequence; 18..., f5 19 Bxb7 Nxb7 20 Qc6+ Kf7 21 Ng5+ Kg6 22 Re1, is very strong. Grabbing the a-pawn has sent the Black Queen wandering from pillar to post allowing White to gain time again and again. All that time won turns into a devastating attack.
14.Bd1?!
After sprightly and inspired play, White slips a little bit. The move 14 Ba5!, crowns the work done by White on the theme of surrounding the Black Queen. It is hard to fault a Class C player for not finding the line; 14 Ba5 Bc5 15 Nd2 Be3! 16 Ra3, when the Queen is lost for a Rook. There are not many local club players that would such stuff over the board. The Black Queen’s sad lack of squares is little changed by this slip so White retains a good piece of his advantage after the text.
14...Qb6 15.Ba4+!?,..
Missing the a bit faster finish than in the game; 15 Ba5 Qc5 16 Ba4+ c6 17 b4 Qd6 18 dxc6, and if a) 18..., Nxc6 19 Rd1 Qb1 20 Nd4, wins; or b) 18..., bxc6 19 Rd1, wins; or finally c) 18..., b6 19 c5 Qc7 20 Bxb6 Qxb6 21 c7+ Ke7 22 c8 (Q), wins. White still is winning.
15..., Nd7
No better is 15..., c6; then 16 Ba5 Qc5 17 b4, as in the previous note.
16.Ne5,..
16 Ba5, is still good also.
16..., c6 17.Nxd7 Kxd7
Black’s King is driven out into the cold environs of the middle of the board when all the White heavy pieces, to say nothing of the Bishop pair, are waiting to wrap things up. Further comment is not necessary.
18.Ba5 Qd4 19.Rd1 Qe4 20.dxe6+ Ke7 21.Rd7+ Kf6 [21...Kxe6 22 Qd2, threatening 23 Re1.] 22.Bxd8+ Ke5 23.Qc3+ Kf5 24.Rxf7+ Kg4 25.Qh3# 1–0
Whatever preparation Mr. Glessner put into the game paid off. His coach, if he has one, should be proud. If no coach, then some of our leading players have to worry. There is another “giant killer” coming on from the ranks of the lower rated. A very nice win for Isaiah Glessner!
I have said elsewhere, Dilip sometimes displays over-confidence. So it was in the game. On familiar ground, he thought some risky play can be gotten away with. He had skated on thin ice before against Northrup coming within a hair’s breath of losing late in the game. Here things went out control much earlier, and he was unable overcome the self-created problems. This is not unexpected in young developing players. They’re trying out the limits of their chess imaginations. Sometimes the fantasy of the imagination is just that, fantasy and not the inspiration for creative success.
The good part ff this result is the next couple of rounds of the Consolation event will see several players making serious efforts to; either establish their new reputations, or to repair damage their scores and standings. This will make for interesting chess I am sure.
More soon.
Mr. Glessner is very new to serious chess. Before this event he’d played in just nine events in the mid-West and South Carolina and only seventeen rated games! I suspect he has done very much more playing on the internet and maybe had some excellent coaching. The games of his I have watched in this event show much more sophistication than a 1378 rating suggests.
In the contest we will examine, Dilip Aaron uses his special weapon against 1 e4, the Scandinavian Defense. Recently this defense has seen its reputation improve from being very much a secondary kind of tool to an almost fully fledged mainstream debut.
Glessner, Isaiah - Aaron, Dilip [B01]
SCC Consolation Tourney Schenectady, NY, 23.02.2012
1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.c4 Qa5
White tries an offbeat line, and Black decides to try to bring play back to more standard lines. There is not much in the way of theory here. Emms in his book; The Scandinavian, Everyman, London, 2004, makes no mention of the move 3 c4. Deep Rybka suggests 3..., Qe4+ 4 Qe2 Qxe2 5 Bxe2 Nc6; gives Black a modest edge after 6 Nf3 e5; because White has some difficulties in getting the d-pawn up to the 4th rank. If you have access to a chess engine, or just like to analyze, try out lines with 6 Nc3 Nd4 7 Nd5. Lots of fun to be had there. My look at these lines have Black coming out on top after some interesting turns. Before moving on, here is some background:
In the old days games such this led folks to doubt the usefulness of the Scandinavian Defense against first-rate opposition.
(5294) Chigorin, Mikhail - Znosko Borovsky, Eugene [B01]
DSB–15.Kongress Nuremberg (14), 1906
1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qa5 4.Nf3 Bg4 5.Be2 Nf6 6.0–0 e6 7.d4 Bd6 8.Nb5 Be7 9.Bf4 Na6 10.c4 c6 11.Nd6+ Bxd6 12.Bxd6 Ne4 13.Ba3 Bxf3 14.Bxf3 Nd2 15.d5 cxd5 16.cxd5 0–0–0 17.Re1 Nc7 18.dxe6 fxe6 19.Bg4 Rhe8 20.Qe2 Kb8 21.Rac1 Rd5 22.Qe3 g6 23.Bc5 e5 24.a3 Nb5 25.Bb4 Qd8 26.Bxd2 Rxd2 27.Rc8+ 1–0
In recent years high level games like this one showed the old Center-Counter Gambit has some bite.
(441878) Barua, Dibyendu (2520) - Speelman, Jonathan S (2625) [B01]
7th Goodricke Open, Calcutta (4), 1996
1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qa5 4.d4 Nf6 5.Nf3 c6 6.Bc4 Bf5 7.Bd2 e6 8.Qe2 Bb4 9.0–0–0 Nbd7 10.Nh4 Bg4 11.f3 Bxc3 12.bxc3 Bh5 13.g4 Bg6 14.Nxg6 hxg6 15.Bb3 Qa3+ 16.Kb1 a5 17.Bc1 Qd6 18.a3 Nd5 19.Qd3 b5 20.c4 bxc4 21.Qxc4 0–0 22.Ka1 Rfb8 23.Ba2 N7b6 24.Qc5 Qxc5 25.dxc5 Na4 26.Rd4 Nac3 27.Bd2 e5 28.Rd3 Nxa2 29.Kxa2 e4 30.fxe4 Nf6 31.Re1 Nxg4 32.Rd6 Rb5 33.Rxc6 Ne5 34.a4 Rbb8 35.Rb6 Rc8 36.Be3 Re8 37.Rb5 Nf3 38.Reb1 Kh7 39.c6 Rac8 40.Rc5 Rxe4 41.Rb3 Ne5 42.c7 Rxa4+ 43.Ra3 Re4 44.Bf2 f5 45.Raxa5 Ng4 46.Bg1 f4 47.h3 Nf6 48.Rab5 Re7 49.Rb4 Rexc7 50.Rxc7 Rxc7 51.Rxf4 Rxc2+ 52.Kb1 Re2 53.Bd4 g5 54.Rf3 Kg6 55.Kc1 Nd5 56.Kd1 Re4 57.Bb2 Ne3+ 58.Kd2 Nc4+ 59.Kd3 Rf4 0–1
There are virtually no master games in the sub-variation used in our game. Here are a couple almost FIDE masters exploring the line in a correspondence game. Notice how the adventurous Black Queen get into trouble here as in Glessner-Aaron game .
(583356) Silveira,Marcos (2215) - Carvalho,Carlos Alberto (2105) [B01]
4th Taca Brasilia Correspondence Championship, Brasilia (8), 24.08.2000
1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.c4 Qa5 4.Nc3 c6 5.d3 Nf6 6.Be2 Bf5 7.Nf3 Nbd7 8.Bf4 e6 9.0–0 Bb4 10.Nd4 Bxc3 11.bxc3 0–0 12.Nb3 Qxc3 13.Bd6 c5 14.Bxf8 Rxf8 15.Rc1 Qe5 16.Re1 Qc7 17.d4 Rd8 18.Bf3 h6 19.d5 Ne5 20.Rc3 Nxf3+ 21.Qxf3 Bg4 22.Qg3 Qxg3 23.hxg3 exd5 24.f3 Bc8 25.Nxc5 b6 26.Nb3 d4 27.Rd3 Be6 28.Rxd4 Rxd4 29.Nxd4 Bxc4 30.a3 Nd5 31.Nc6 a5 32.Ne7+ Nxe7 33.Rxe7 a4 34.Kf2 g6 35.g4 g5 36.g3 Kg7 37.f4 b5 38.Ke3 Kf6 39.Rc7 Bf1 40.Kd4 Be2 41.Rc6+ Kg7 42.Rb6 gxf4 43.gxf4 Bxg4 44.Rxb5 h5 45.Ke3 Kg6 46.Rg5+ Kf6 47.Ra5 Bd1 48.Kd2 Bb3 49.Rxh5 Kg6 50.Rb5 f6 51.Rxb3 axb3 52.a4 b2 53.Kc2 Kf5 54.a5 Kxf4 55.a6 Ke3 56.a7 f5 57.a8Q f4 58.Qa7+ 1–0
4.Nf3 Nf6 5.Be2 Bf5
The main attraction for using the Scandinavian for non-professional players is the relatively few lines that need to be studied in preparation for a contest. Compared to the Sicilian, or the double e-pawn defenses, the amount of work is small to achieve a playable middle game position. The downside to specializing in a more-or-less uncomplicated opening such as the Scandinavian is opponents can search out off-beat lines from opening manuals, or dredge up surprises from the internet or their computer engines. One hopes he understands enough about a pet opening to be able to counter such surprises. That is not always the case. Here for example it is better to get in ..,e7-e5; before developing the Bc8. The pawn on e5 will be able exchange itself for the d-pawn leaving a completely open center with equality near at hand.
6.0–0 Bxb1?!
Black falls for a bit of trickery that comes up every so often in many guises; grabbing a poisoned pawn. With only some of his forces developed and his King several moves from castling, Dilip decides to grab a Q-side pawn with his Queen. This a-pawn is just as poisonous as the notorious b-pawn is in the Sicilian Defense.
7.Rxb1 Qxa2 8.Qc2 Nc6 9.d4 e6?
Once more we see a player try ordinary positional methods in a position he provoked requiring dynamic treatment. In the standard Scandinavian positions Black has a shopping list of things to accomplish; Bf5, e6, c6 and Bb4 are all on the list. In most cases positions based on the list work well enough for Black. It is not so much the 3 c5, move that made the position radical, it is the Queen sortie to snatch the a-pawn. Herein is a lesson for the developing and the experienced player; getting so little as a pawn for the time used is fraught with danger. The danger is even greater if your development lags and your King not yet castled.
For good or ill Black should tried; 9..., Nb4!? 10 Qf5, Qa6 11 Ne5 Qd6; when White is still better, but Black has extracted the Queen from the swamp on the Q-side. After 9... Nc4 10 Qf5, Black should not be tempted by the shinny trinket 10..., e6?! Things get interesting in a flash with 11 Qb5+! After that move, all the routine piece values we learn early as chess players, go out the window. Then, 11..., Nd7 12 Qxb7 Rb8 13 Qxc7 Qxb1? (Better 13..., Na6.) 14 Ne5 Rd8 15 Bg5, winning. When the smell of mate is on wind thinking like an accountant is not the way to go.
10.Bd2 Na5
The difficult situation of the Black Queen is forcing him to take measures to get her out of trouble. Doing so prevents dealing with castling and development.
11.Ra1 Qb3 12.Qc1,..
Trading Queens lets Black off the hook.
12..., Nc6 13.d5 Nd8?
If 13..., exd5 14 c5!, points up the absence of squares available to the Black Queen. Mr. Aaron would likely have to try 14..., Bxc5; when 15 Qxc5 Ne4 16 Qe3 Qxb2 17 Rab1 Qf6 18 Rxb7; when the three pawns Black has gotten for his piece are offset by the great activity of the White pieces. This maybe the best try for Black
Some, or all, of the foregoing had to be going through Dilip’s mind to explain this move which leads to annihilation. Another way to try to clarify the situation is; 13..., Nxd5 14 cxd5 Qxd5 15 Bc4 Qh5. This keeps the material balance. What does Black do after 16 Ba6? Then 16..., Bd617 h3 Nd8 18 Ra5, and activity of the White pieces is alarming, but Black is trying to complicate matters. Unfortunately for Black, at this point if White keeps his head clear, the sequence; 18..., f5 19 Bxb7 Nxb7 20 Qc6+ Kf7 21 Ng5+ Kg6 22 Re1, is very strong. Grabbing the a-pawn has sent the Black Queen wandering from pillar to post allowing White to gain time again and again. All that time won turns into a devastating attack.
14.Bd1?!
After sprightly and inspired play, White slips a little bit. The move 14 Ba5!, crowns the work done by White on the theme of surrounding the Black Queen. It is hard to fault a Class C player for not finding the line; 14 Ba5 Bc5 15 Nd2 Be3! 16 Ra3, when the Queen is lost for a Rook. There are not many local club players that would such stuff over the board. The Black Queen’s sad lack of squares is little changed by this slip so White retains a good piece of his advantage after the text.
14...Qb6 15.Ba4+!?,..
Missing the a bit faster finish than in the game; 15 Ba5 Qc5 16 Ba4+ c6 17 b4 Qd6 18 dxc6, and if a) 18..., Nxc6 19 Rd1 Qb1 20 Nd4, wins; or b) 18..., bxc6 19 Rd1, wins; or finally c) 18..., b6 19 c5 Qc7 20 Bxb6 Qxb6 21 c7+ Ke7 22 c8 (Q), wins. White still is winning.
15..., Nd7
No better is 15..., c6; then 16 Ba5 Qc5 17 b4, as in the previous note.
16.Ne5,..
16 Ba5, is still good also.
16..., c6 17.Nxd7 Kxd7
Black’s King is driven out into the cold environs of the middle of the board when all the White heavy pieces, to say nothing of the Bishop pair, are waiting to wrap things up. Further comment is not necessary.
18.Ba5 Qd4 19.Rd1 Qe4 20.dxe6+ Ke7 21.Rd7+ Kf6 [21...Kxe6 22 Qd2, threatening 23 Re1.] 22.Bxd8+ Ke5 23.Qc3+ Kf5 24.Rxf7+ Kg4 25.Qh3# 1–0
Whatever preparation Mr. Glessner put into the game paid off. His coach, if he has one, should be proud. If no coach, then some of our leading players have to worry. There is another “giant killer” coming on from the ranks of the lower rated. A very nice win for Isaiah Glessner!
I have said elsewhere, Dilip sometimes displays over-confidence. So it was in the game. On familiar ground, he thought some risky play can be gotten away with. He had skated on thin ice before against Northrup coming within a hair’s breath of losing late in the game. Here things went out control much earlier, and he was unable overcome the self-created problems. This is not unexpected in young developing players. They’re trying out the limits of their chess imaginations. Sometimes the fantasy of the imagination is just that, fantasy and not the inspiration for creative success.
The good part ff this result is the next couple of rounds of the Consolation event will see several players making serious efforts to; either establish their new reputations, or to repair damage their scores and standings. This will make for interesting chess I am sure.
More soon.
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