Sunday, November 27, 2005

4½/5 ain't bad

I just got back from the Owen Sound Winter Active. I scored 4½/5 securing first place...the opposition wasn't top notch, only gained approximately 20 points, but still. my only draw was v. kirk. here are the games.



Drimmie,J - Sadler,C (1547)
Winter Active Owen Sound, ON(1), 27.11.2005
B40 - Sicilian Defense


1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.Nc3 a6 4.Bc4 b5 5.Be2 Nc6 6.0-0 Qc7 7.d3 Nf6 8.Bg5 Be7 9.Qd2 0-0 10.Rfe1 Bb7 11.d4 b4 12.e5 bxc3 13.Qxc3 Nd5 14.Qd3 Nxd4 15.Bxe7 Nxf3+ 16.Bxf3 Nxe7 17.Bxb7 Qxb7 18.Red1 Rfd8 19.Re1 Qd5 20.Qa3 Nf5 21.Rad1 Qc6 22.Qd3 Nh4 23.Qg3 Nf5 24.Re3 Nxg3 25.Rxg3 d5 26.Re3 d4 27.Ree1 c4 28.Kf1 Rab8 29.b3 cxb3 30.axb3 Qxc2 31.Rc1 Qxc1 32.Rxc1 Rxb3 33.Rc4 h6 34.Ke2 a5 35.Kd2 Ra8 36.Kc2 Rc3+ 37.Kb2 Rxc4 38.h3 d3 39.Kb3 Rac8 40.h4 d2 41.Ka3 d1Q 42.g4 Rb8 0-1

Sadler,C (1547) - Sadler,K (1507)
Winter Active Owen Sound, ON (2), 27.11.2005
D14 - Slav : Exchange 6.Bf4 Bf5


1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.cxd5 cxd5 5.Nc3 Bf5 6.Bf4 e6 7.e3 a6 8.Bd3 Bxd3 9.Qxd3 Nc6 10.0-0 Be7 11.h3 0-0 12.Rac1 Rc8 13.a3 Na5 14.Nd2 Nc4 15.Nxc4 dxc4 16.Qd1 Nd5 17.Bg3 b5 18.e4 Nf6 19.Be5 Nd7 20.Bg3= Nf6 21.Bh4 Re8 22.Bxf6 Bxf6 23.e5 Be7 24.f4 Qb6 25.Kh1 Red8 26.d5 exd5 27.Nxd5 Qc5 28.Nxe7+ Qxe7 29.Qf3 Rd3 30.Qg4 Rcd8 31.Rcd1 g6 32.Rxd3 Rxd3 33.Qc8+ Kg7 34.Qxa6 Qh4 35.Kh2 Qg3+ 36.Kh1 Qh4 37.Qxb5= ½-½

yes i know i missed 30.Qxd3

Cook,E (1256) - Sadler,C (1547)
Winter Active Owen Sound, ON (3), 27.11.2005
B34 - Sicilian : Accelerated Dragon


1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Nf3 g6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Qd2 0-0 8.Nxc6 dxc6 9.Bd3 Ng4 10.0-0 Nxe3 11.Qxe3 Bd4 12.Qc1 Qa5 13.Ne2 Bb6 14.Bc4 Qe5 15.Ng3 Be6 16.Bd3 Rad8 17.Kh1 Qc5 18.a3 Bc4 19.b4 Qb5 20.Bxc4 Qxc4 21.Rb1 h5 22.f3 Rd7 23.Rd1 Rxd1+ 24.Qxd1 Rd8 25.Qc1 h4 26.Nf1 Qe2 27.h3 Qf2 28.Nh2 Rd2 29.Qg1 Qxg1+ 30.Rxg1 Bxg1 31.Kxg1 Rxc2 32.Nf1 Rc3 33.a4 Rc4 34.b5 cxb5 35.axb5 Rb4 0-1

Sadler,C (1547) - Pucak,S (1011)
Winter Active Owen Sound, ON (4), 27.11.2005
D13 - Slav : Exchange Variation


1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.cxd5 cxd5 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.Bf4 h6 6.e3 Nf6 7.Nc3 Nh5 8.Ne2 Nxf4 9.Nxf4 Bg4 10.Be2 Bxf3 11.Bxf3 e5 12.dxe5 Bb4+ 13.Ke2 Nxe5 14.Qa4+ Nc6 15.Bxd5 0-0 16.Bxc6 Qd2+ 17.Kf3 bxc6 18.Rhd1 c5 19.Rxd2 Bxd2 20.Rd1 Bb4 21.Nd5 a5 22.a3 Rfc8 23.Ne7+ Kh7 24.Nxc8 1-0

Both,A (1618) - Sadler,C (1547) [B21]
Winter Active Owen Sound, ON (5), 27.11.2005
B21 : Sicilian : Grand Prix attack


1.e4 c5 2.f4 d5 3.exd5 Qxd5 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.Nc3 Qd8 6.Bc4 e6 7.b3 Bd6 8.0-0 Bxf4 9.Bb2 0-0 10.Nh4 Qxd2 11.Qf3 Qe3+ 12.Kh1 Qxf3 13.Rxf3 Be5 14.Re1 Nc6 15.Bb5 Bd4 16.Rd3 Ng4 17.Rd2 Nf2+ 18.Rxf2 Bxf2 19.Re4 Bxh4 20.Rxh4 Nd4 21.Bd3 h6 22.Ne4 e5 23.g4 Nf3 24.Rh3 Bxg4 25.Rxh6 gxh6 26.Nf6+ Kg7 27.Nxg4 f6 28.Bc1 Rh8 29.Be4 Nd4 30.Ne3 Rab8 31.c3 Ne6 32.Nf5+ Kf7 33.b4 cxb4 34.cxb4 Nf4 35.b5 Rhd8 36.Bf3 Rd3 37.Nh4 Rg8 38.Bxf4 exf4 0-1

6 comments:

Craig said...

Drimmie,J - Sadler,C (1547)
Winter Active Owen Sound, ON (1), 27.11.2005


First round of the tournament. In preparation for this I had been playing weekly G/30s, semi-regularly doing tactics for half an hour a day and eating oatmeal every day like Korchnoi. Also me and Kirk drank beers and played wrestling for 2 days before so it was a combination of the Korchnoi training and the Botwinnik training. I figured it was win-win ;) 1.e4 c5 [I had toyed with 1...b6 ;
and 1...c6 before the tournament. I decided v. an unrated junior it was probably better to play the Kan and dominate the center.] 2.Nf3 e6 3.Nc3 a6 [A move order to avoid stuff like 3...Nc6 4.Bb5;
and 3...d6 4.Bb5+] 4.Bc4? Wasting a tempo and getting me to do what I wanted to do when I played ...a6 [4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 would transpose to the mainline] 4...b5 5.Be2 Nc6 [Fritz says I could play 5...b4 immediately, but I figured I should develop some pieces.] 6.0-0 Qc7 7.d3 A good move protecting e4 7...Nf6 8.Bg5 [8.a3 to prevent b4] 8...Be7 9.Qd2 0-0 10.Rfe1 Bb7 [I was gonna play something like 10...d6 to stop e5 altogether, but in Ziatdinov's GM-RAM the only opening advice he gave was "get your Rooks into the game within ten moves". I figured if I played 10. ...Bb7 the rooks would be united and development can't hurt, especially when he's not playing with a plan.] 11.d4? b4! Winning a pawn. 12.e5? [I talked to John after the game and he said that he didn't want to move backwards. Dogmatic. 12.Na4 is much better ] 12...bxc3 13.Qxc3 Nd5 14.Qd3 Nxd4 15.Bxe7 Nxf3+ 16.Bxf3 Nxe7 17.Bxb7 Qxb7 18.Red1 Rfd8 19.Re1 Qd5 20.Qa3 Nf5 21.Rad1 Qc6 22.Qd3 Nh4 23.Qg3 Nf5 24.Re3?? Nxg3 25.Rxg3 d5 26.Re3 d4 27.Ree1 c4 28.Kf1 Rab8 29.b3 cxb3 30.axb3 Qxc2 31.Rc1 Qxc1 32.Rxc1 Rxb3 33.Rc4 h6 34.Ke2 a5 35.Kd2 Ra8 36.Kc2 Rc3+ 37.Kb2 Rxc4 38.h3 d3 39.Kb3 Rac8 40.h4 d2 41.Ka3 d1Q 42.g4 Rb8 Wasn't much of a game. I won material and kept it. 0-1

Craig said...

Sadler,C (1547) - Sadler,K (1507)
Winter Active Owen Sound, ON (2), 27.11.2005


Before this tournament, me and Kirk hadn't really decided whether we wanted to play or not. I didn't really want to, but this was the easiest for the pairings. Also after the cakewalk I had the first round, I figured it would be better to take on someone tougher and actually have to think rather than steamroll someone again and then get smucked this afternoon. 1.d4 d5!? [This was a definite surprise. Kirk has played 1...e6 since 2003. I figured he had something in mind...] 2.c4 c6 ...I thought at this point it was the Semi-Slav and he wanted a Botwinnik. 3.Nf3 Nf6 Then I had a horrible realization that if he wanted to play the Semi-Slav he would have gone through the QGD move order. He had mentioned before the game that he had something planned for me. I assume that the Slav Proper [3...Nf6 4.Nc3 dxc4 was what he had in mind. Turns out he had an idea in the Slav Exchange I did too.] 4.cxd5 cxd5 5.Nc3 Bf5?! 6.Bf4 [6.Qb3! was stronger. Black is forced to play 6...b6 7.Bf4 which is weakening. (or 6...Qb6 7.Qxb6 axb6 8.Bf4 and I'm better.) 6...e6 7.e3 a6!? [An interesting try by Kirk. Almost reading my mind actually. If he did 7...Nc6 instead of the usual "Wuss variation" 8.Bd3 Bxd3 9.Qxd3 Bd6 10.Bxd6 Qxd6 etc.(My intention was 8.Bb5 . I have done some study in the past couple months and this line is the only way to play for any advantage for White in this line. Since Kirk played ...a6, I assume he knew this as well.) ] 8.Bd3 [I wonder if it was the time to play 8.Qb3 . Me and Kirk used to joke that whoever got Qb3/Qb6 in first, in the Slav Exchange, would win.] 8...Bxd3 9.Qxd3 Nc6 10.0-0 Be7 11.h3?! [(DIAGRAM) The idea of this move v. 11.Rac1 for instance, is to be able to keep my bishop if he plays something like Nh5] 11...0-0 12.Rac1 Rc8 13.a3 [Fritz and Chessgames.com recommended 13.Ne5 instead. The reason I played 13.a3 was i didn't want him to gain a tempo with ...Nb4] 13...Na5 14.Nd2 Nc4 15.Nxc4 dxc4 I have gotten nothing out of the open, which I guess is par for the Slav Exchange. 16.Qd1 [I wonder if is stronger. 16.Qe2 ] 16...Nd5! I thought this was strong 17.Bg3 [One of my longer thinks of the game. I thought about 17.Be5 but passed because I didn't want 17...f6 with the eventual ...e5. I wanted to keep him on the queenside and i'd get a pawn storm in first. I couldn't decide whether I wanted to get g4 in and use the h3.;
I passed on 17.Bh2 because I wanted to keep the option of going on the h4-d8 available.] 17...b5 18.e4 Nf6?! [I thought he was going to try 18...Nxc3 19.Rxc3 I think he's definitely better.] 19.Be5 Nd7 20.Bg3= [Maybe 20.Bf4 to get on a different diagonal. I declined the draw not because of the position on the board, but in fact that I wanted to play. I figured I'd get 2 or 3 easy games (which is what happened) and me and Kirk never got endgames in our training match, so why not play it out.] 20...Nf6 21.Bh4? Dropping a pawn after [21.Bh4 Nxe4 22.Bxe7 Nxc3 He missed that the knight attacked my queen. I thought that I was busted. History has had a bunch of examples where a player turns down a draw and then blunders immediately.] 21...Re8? I felt a lot better about the game. Sure the position wasn't great, but if Kirk missed that tactic I felt I'd have chances later on. 22.Bxf6 Bxf6 23.e5 I was aiming for this position and I was happy with the pawns. 23...Be7 24.f4 Time to go for it. 24...Qb6 25.Kh1 Even though Fritz doesn't like the position, I can even theoretically play g4 eventually now. I was happy. I am getting some play. Sure if God played God Black would win this position, but in my world, if the queens and rooks are off...all my key pawns are on dark squares and his king is a long ways from the queenside. 25...Red8 26.d5 This was the time to do it. I had to make him think. Maybe it was better to wait though and make him think for a while [If 26.Ne2 though he stops it forever by 26...Rd5] 26...exd5 27.Nxd5 Qc5 28.Nxe7+ Qxe7 29.Qf3 Again I'm happy with this position too. 29...Rd3?? Because I was satisfied with my position and satisfied with a potentially winning endgame, I missed that he blundered a rook! 30.Qg4? [Of course 30.Qxd3 wins 30...cxd3 31.Rxc8+ Qf8 32.Rxf8+ Kxf8 and anything other than the capture just gives me a rook. What ticked me off was that Kirk mentioned this immediately after the game. Oh well. My idea was to trade off the rooks and then check on c8 with the queen. His a-pawn is weak.] 30...Rcd8 31.Rcd1 g6?! [Kirk mentioned 31...Qb7 as an improvement.] 32.Rxd3 Rxd3? [32...cxd3 was better, but Kirk shied away from it because he thought I would be able to pick off the isolated pawn in the endgame. Who knows.] 33.Qc8+ Kg7 34.Qxa6 Qh4 I had no idea how to continue here. Obviously he has a perpetual if I'm not careful. The trick, which Fritz saw immediately, was to get on the long diagonal so i'm protecting the g2-square. 35.Kh2 [Kirk thought I should try 35.Qf6+ Qxf6 36.exf6+ Kxf6 and then beat him on time. That isn't what Adolf Anderssen would do to Kieseritzky at the Café de la Régence in 1880.] 35...Qg3+ 36.Kh1 Qh4 I couldn't find the long diagonal idea so I played 37.Qxb5= and offered a draw. I thought I did okay that game except for the missed rook. ½-½

Craig said...

Cook,E (1256) - Sadler,C (1547)
Winter Active Owen Sound, ON (3), 27.11.2005


Before the game I said to Elmer "This is for revenge". I thought that he had beat me before, but it turns out it was his brother in 2003. 1.e4 c5 Again I wasn't sure what to play. I decided to play the Kan again 2.Nc3 Now I wasn't sure either. I didn't expect the Closed SIcilian. 2...Nc6 [I was gonna try 2...e6 to tranpose back into a Kan-type structure, but I figured I'd try the "main line"] 3.Nf3 Now I really wasn't sure what to play 3...g6 I decided to go for an Accelerated Dragon kinda thing. If [3...d6 it goes to a Classical Sicilian;
3...e6 may have transposed to a Kan/taimanov. I think I made the right choice, considering I didn't know if he'd play d4 or not.] 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Bg7 Transposing into an Accelerated Dragon. One of my sidelines I play along with the Dragon and Najdorf. 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Qd2 [The mainline is 7.Bc4 ] 7...0-0 8.Nxc6?! [I wonder what's better. Either 8.Be2 ;
or 8.f3 allow 8...d5! and I ended up recapturing with the d-pawn so maybe 8.Nxc6 *is* best! It actually made my job a little easier because I was trying to figure out whether it was better to transpose to the Dragon or try to get ...d5 in in one move] 8...dxc6 [8...bxc6 and I think it's hard for Black to develop on practical grounds. With the text I was hoping to trade off queens and beat him in the endgame.] 9.Bd3 I didn't expect this [9.0-0-0 may have been strongest, with the idea of pushing the kingside pawns.] 9...Ng4 10.0-0?! [I wanted to stop him from playing Bh6 and/or get the bishop pair, but I don't know what I would've played after this 10.Bg5 Qb6 11.Bxe7 (11.Na4 Qd4) 11...Qxb2 is better for Black, but I wonder if I would've played Qb6.] 10...Nxe3 11.Qxe3 Bd4 [Maybe better than tradng off queens with 11...Qd4 12.Qxd4 Bxd4 etc.] 12.Qc1 Qa5 [I wonder what my idea was. Just trying to put some pressure on. 12...e5 may have been better, or;
12...Qb6] 13.Ne2 Bb6? [This was a bad move, better may have been 13...Be5 freeing up that diagonal for my queen.] 14.Bc4 Qe5! Now I get a chance to trade off bishops 15.Ng3 Be6 16.Bd3 Rad8 17.Kh1 Maybe this was weak. I understand why he played this though...wanted to push the f-pawn. 17...Qc5 Again to trade off the bishop 18.a3 Bc4 19.b4 Qb5 20.Bxc4 Qxc4 21.Rb1 h5 [The seventh rank was there so I couldn't decide between the text and 21...Rd7 . I knew I had to attack regardless.] 22.f3? Rd7 [I thought afterwards I could play 22...h4!? but it turned into a perpetual after 23.Nh5 gxh5 24.Qg5+ Kh7 25.Qxh5+ Kg7 etc,] 23.Rd1 [Believe it or not White could've gotten away with 23.Nxh5 because again if 23...gxh5 24.Qg5+ but this time 24...Kh7 25.Qxh5+ Kg7 26.Qg4+ picks off the rook.] 23...Rxd1+ 24.Qxd1 Rd8 25.Qc1 h4 Now it's just tough. 26.Nf1 Qe2 [26...Qd4 winning the knight (under threat of mate) may have been stronger. I saw a win regardless, does that make my choice inferior?] 27.h3 Qf2 28.Nh2 Rd2 29.Qg1? [Huge blunder. 29.Qf1 was an improvement but I'm still better. 29...Rxc2 30.Qxf2 Rxf2 etc.] 29...Qxg1+ and I'm better. 30.Rxg1 Bxg1 31.Kxg1 Rxc2 32.Nf1 Rc3 33.a4 Rc4 34.b5 cxb5 35.axb5 Rb4 again I just outclassed him. I just turned up the pressure and he cracked. 0-1

Craig said...

Sadler,C (1547) - Pucak,S (1011)
Winter Active Owen Sound, ON (4), 27.11.2005


1.d4 [Not too much to say about this game. In the previous round Aaron Both played 1.e4 e5 2.f4 v. him and Pucak replied with 2...f6? so I was tempted to add to my win totals in the King's Gambit but I decided to stick to my 1.d4 guns.] 1...d5 2.c4 c6 3.cxd5 cxd5 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.Bf4 h6 Not sure what the idea is here. I guess he wanted to play ...Nf6, ...Nh4 without allowing Bg5. Preventing Bg5 makes less sense (to me anyways) when White has already moved the bishop to f4. 6.e3 Nf6 7.Nc3 Nh5 [I wonder if 7...g5 may have been better.] 8.Ne2? [8.Be5 was better] 8...Nxf4 [8...Qb6 was better.;
or even with screwing up the pawns. 8...Bg4 ] 9.Nxf4 Bg4 10.Be2 [10.Qb3 Bxf3 11.gxf3 Qa5+] 10...Bxf3 11.Bxf3 e5!? 12.dxe5 [An interesting gambit to open things up and keep me from castling. 12.Nxd5 Qa5+ 13.Qd2 Qxd2+ 14.Kxd2 Bd6 just drops a pawn as well...tricky position if nothing else.] 12...Bb4+ 13.Ke2 Nxe5 14.Qa4+ [Fritz said that 14.Qxd5 was simpler.] 14...Nc6 15.Bxd5 0-0 16.Bxc6 Qd2+ 17.Kf3 My king is perfectly safe on f3 and he's down material. 17...bxc6 18.Rhd1 c5?? 19.Rxd2 Bxd2 20.Rd1 Bb4 21.Nd5 a5 22.a3 Rfc8 23.Ne7+ Kh7 24.Nxc8 1-0

Craig said...

Both,A (1618) - Sadler,C (1547)
Winter Active Owen Sound, ON (5), 27.11.2005


Okay here is what I had been waiting for. I had 3½/4 and Aaron had 4/4. I paired up Kirk the previous round where he had White v. Aaron because I thought that he wanted White. He made some comment about being undefeated for years as White or something. So I let him play White and he got beat. I would've enjoyed playing White v. Aaron. He plays the Slav so I would've gotten a chance to play the Slav Exchange and I have a feeling he would've over extended for "counterplay". So I get Black v. Aaron. I thought about playing the Caro, the Alekhine or even the Owens but I decided to play the Dragon. I told Kirk I'd go down swinging. 1.e4 [Interesting little tidbit here. The board was setup backwards (h8 where a1 should be) and Aaron pushed the pawn that was on the e-file...the d-pawn. 1.d4 He asked after he made the move if we could switch the board around. We did and he played 1.e4] 1...c5 2.f4!? This was definitely unexpected. I have a terrible record in both blitz and OTB v. this. I had confidence though by Aaron's aggressive second move that he would try and run me over. 2...d5 3.exd5 Qxd5 [Better is 3...Nf6 with play similar to the Icelandic Gambit 4.c4 e6] 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.Nc3 Qd8 6.Bc4 [The mainlines according to ECO are 6.Ne5 ;
Or 6.Bb5+ ] 6...e6 7.b3? [Positional mistake by Aaron. He's going to have to move his d-pawn eventually so why not now? 7.d3 is much better. He wanted the "raking bishops" but ended up just with a tough position.] 7...Bd6 8.0-0?!Bad gambit. It may have been good in some situations, but it just looks like a free pawn to me. 8...Bxf4 9.Bb2 [It's a tough situation because if something like 9.d4 Bxc1 10.Rxc1 cxd4 is still good for me.] 9...0-0 10.Nh4?? Aaron said that he would be better after 10.d4 but by my watch 10. ...Be3+ 11.Kh1 Bxd4 is another pawn Qxd2 I am just better. 11.Qf3 Qe3+ [11...Be3+ 12.Kh1 Qxc2 may have been better, but I wanted to get the queens off.] 12.Kh1 Qxf3 I couldn't be happier. Up two pawns and have the queens off. It's just a mop up from here. 13.Rxf3 Be5 [13...Bg5 wins the game basically. If 14.g3 b5! 15.Nxb5 Bxh4 16.gxh4 Bb7] 14.Re1 Nc6 15.Bb5 Bd4 16.Rd3 Ng4 [16...Bf2 also wins the exchange] 17.Rd2 Nf2+ 18.Rxf2 [18.Kg1 Ne4+ 19.Kf1 Nxd2+] 18...Bxf2 19.Re4 Bxh4 20.Rxh4 Nd4 [20...Ne7 21.Bd3 f5 may have been better.] 21.Bd3 h6 22.Ne4 e5? [I went for a walk and quickly played 22. ...e5 out of boredom. Something like 22...b6 would have been better. It was a caution to me to take this seriously because it's still a game.] 23.g4? [I think he was unsure of himself at this point, else he would've grabbed the pawn. 23.Nxc5 ] 23...Nf3 24.Rh3 Bxg4 25.Rxh6? [There's not much else. Maybe 25.Rg3 is better but after 25...Nd4 26.Rxg4 f5 27.Rg1 fxe4 28.Bxe4 Rab8 I'm still better.] 25...gxh6 26.Nf6+ Kg7 27.Nxg4 f6 28.Bc1 Rh8 29.Be4 My goal at this point is to trade off as many pieces as possible. 29...Nd4 30.Ne3 Rab8 31.c3 Ne6 32.Nf5+ Kf7 33.b4 [I wonder why not 33.Nxh6+ ] 33...cxb4 34.cxb4 Nf4 I won't give him two chances 35.b5 Rhd8 36.Bf3 Rd3 37.Nh4 Rg8 38.Bxf4 exf4 Even though he handed me the game within 10 moves, I was fairly happy with my play this tournament. The worst game I played was probably v. Kirk, and even then I got a draw and realistically should've won it. I gained about 20 points by my calculation. This last game was no indication of our relative strengths. I still have a lot to work on, particularly tactically. 0-1

Craig said...

The crosstable is up for this tourney Owen Sound Snow Active