C's Chess

Actually went to a tournament

2011-09-18T19:32:00.002-04:00

2.5/5...didn't play very well, but played well enough to win some points. the only "clean" win was my round 3 game...ahven't thrown them into fritz or looked at the book yet. the losses were against a master and an expert so i can't be disappointed in that. The VD game was weak but it was the 5th G/40 in a day and i haven't played a tournament since 2008 so i was tired by the end...

ZK(2252) - C [B12]
September Active London, ON (1), 17.09.2011

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Nf3 e6 5.Be3 Nd7 6.Nbd2 Ne7 7.Nb3 c5 8.dxc5 Nc6 9.Nfd4 Nxd4 10.Nxd4 Bg6 11.c6 bxc6 12.Nxc6 Qc7 13.Bb5 a6 14.Ba4 Be7 15.0-0 Kf8 16.Nxe7 Kxe7 17.f4 Nc5 18.Bxc5+ Qxc5+ 19.Kh1 h5 20.c3 h4 21.h3 Be4 22.Bc2 Qe3 [ 22...Bxc2 23.Qxc2] 23.Bxe4 Qxe4 24.Qe1 Qc4 [ 24...Qf5] 25.f5 g5 26.fxg6 fxg6 27.Qe3 Raf8 28.Qa7+ Ke8 29.Qb8+ Ke7 30.Qd6+ Ke8 31.Qxe6+ Kd8 32.Qd6+ Ke8 33.Qxg6+ Kd8 34.Qd6+ Ke8 35.Rfd1 1-0

C - LM (1402) [D26]
September Active London, ON (2), 17.09.2011

1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Bxc4 a6 6.0-0 b5 7.Bd3 [ 7.Bb3] 7...Bb7 8.Nbd2 c5 9.dxc5?? The "real" queen's gambit :) 9...Qxd3 10.Ne5 Qd8 11.b4 Nbd7 12.Bb2 Nxe5 13.Bxe5 Be7 14.Qe2 0-0 15.Rfd1 Qc8 16.Rac1 Qc6 17.Nf3 h6 18.Bxf6 Bxf6 19.Rd6 Qe4 20.c6 Rac8 21.Nd2 Qxb4 22.Qd3 Ba8 23.Nb3 Be5 24.Rd4 Bxd4 25.Nxd4 Rfd8 26.Qe4 Rc7 27.h3 Rdc8 28.Qd3 Qd6 29.Qe4 Bxc6 30.Qg4 Bd5 31.Rd1 Qf8 32.Kh2 Rc1 33.Rd2 Ra1 34.e4 Bxa2 35.f4 Rcc1 36.Nf3 Rh1+ 37.Kg3 Bc4 38.Qh4 Ra3 39.Rd8 Qxd8 40.Qxd8+ Kh7 41.Qh4 Be2 42.Kf2 Bc4 43.Ne5 Ra2+ 44.Kg3 g5 45.fxg5 1-0

DA (1405) - C [A48]
September Active London, ON (3), 17.09.2011

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.Bg5 Bg7 4.Nbd2 d6 5.e4 0-0 6.Bc4 Bg4 7.h3 Bxf3 8.Qxf3 Nbd7 9.0-0-0 e5 10.c3 c6 11.h4 h6 12.Be3 b5 13.Bb3 a5 14.g4 a4 15.Bc2 h5 16.gxh5 Nxh5 17.Rdg1 Qa5 18.Bd1 a3 19.b4 Qd8 20.Qg2 Ndf6 21.Bb3 d5 22.exd5 Nxd5 23.Bg5 Qd6 24.Ne4 Qd7 25.Bd2 exd4 26.Nc5 Qf5 27.Bc2 Qc8 28.Bxg6 fxg6 29.Qxg6 Ndf6 30.Rg5 Qe8 31.Qd3 Rd8 32.cxd4 Rd5 33.Rhg1 Rxg5 34.Rxg5 -- 35.Rg2 Qf7 36.Kb1 Qd5 37.Bh6 Rf7 38.Rg5 Qh1+ 39.Kc2 Qa1 40.Bxg7 Qxa2+ 41.Kd1 Rxg7 42.Qf5 Qa1+ 43.Ke2 Qxd4 44.Ne6 Qe4+ 45.Qxe4 Nxe4 46.Rxh5 Re7 47.Re5 a2 48.Rxe4 a1Q 49.Rg4+ Kf7 0-1

i messed up third round game because i missed a move somewhere, but anyways...

RG (1625) - C [B14]
September Active London, ON (4), 17.09.2011

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.c4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6 6.Nf3 Bb4 7.Qb3 Bxc3+ 8.bxc3 0-0 9.Bd3 dxc4 10.Qxc4 b6 11.Bf4 Ba6 12.Qb3 Bxd3 13.Ne5 Ba6 14.Rd1 Bb7 15.0-0 Nbd7 16.Rfe1 Qc8 17.Re3 Nd5 18.Rf3 Nxf4 19.Rxf4 Bd5 20.Qc2 Qc7 21.Rh4 Nf6 22.g4 Be4 23.Qe2 Qe7 24.Qe3 [ 24.g5] 24...Bg6 25.Nxg6 fxg6 26.g5 Nd5 27.Qg3 Rf5 28.f4 Raf8 29.Rf1 Qc7 30.Qe1 Qd6 31.c4 Rxf4 32.Rfxf4 Rxf4?? [ 32...Nxf4] 33.cxd5 Rxh4 34.Qxh4 Qxd5 35.Qf4 Qd7 36.Qb8+ Kf7 37.Qf4+= Ke7 38.Qe5 Kd8 39.Qb8+ Ke7 40.Qe5 a5 41.Qxg7+ Kd6 42.Qe5+ Kc6 43.h4 Qd5 44.Qg7 Qd7 45.Qe5= 1/2-1/2

C - VD(1945) [D86]
September Active London, ON (5), 17.09.2011

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Bc4 c5 8.Be3 Qc7 9.Bb5+ [ 9.Rc1] 9...Bd7 10.Bxd7+ Nxd7 11.Ne2 0-0 12.0-0 Rad8 13.Rc1 Nf6 14.f3 e5 15.d5 Ne8 16.Qd2 Nd6 17.Bh6 Nc4 18.Qg5 f6 19.Qh4 Qa5 20.f4 Nd2 21.Rfe1 Bxh6 22.Qxh6 Nxe4 23.c4 Qd2 24.h4 Qe3+ 25.Kh2 Nf2 26.Rc3 Ng4+ 27.Kh1 Qxc3 28.Qxf8+ Kxf8 29.Nxc3 exf4 30.Ne4 Re8 31.Re2 Rxe4 0-1

Hide the Women and Children

2011-07-22T22:47:00.002-04:00

C - K
G/20 Owen Sound, 22.07.2011
D47 - Semi-Slav, Meran Variation

K owned me in this game. I thought I was winning after 14.f4 and i bet i was completely losing. We'll see. 1.d4 e6 2.c4 d5 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 c6 Thematic. He wanted a Meran or Anti-Meran. Because he doesn't play the Botwinnik, and the Meran has intrigued me and terrified me on both sides, i decided to play it 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Bd3 dxc4 7.Bxc4 b5 8.Bd3 Bd6 [Mainlines are either 8...a6 ;
or 8...Bb7 but the text is playable] 9.0-0 0-0 10.Qc2

a6 11.e4? Wrong idea. I shouldn't have tried to open lines as i wasn't quite set to attack [11.a4 b4 12.Ne4 Nxe4 13.Bxe4] 11...e5 12.dxe5 Nxe5 13.Nxe5 Bxe5 14.f4? [I didn't even look at his next move. I thought I was winning. Something like 14.Ne2 -- 15.f4 may have been the proper way to do this, as his bishop ended up very strong on d4] 14...Bd4+ 15.Kh1 Ng4 16.Nd1?? [Again, Smyslov would never have played the text. 16.h3 giving up the exchange was better 16...Nf2+ 17.Rxf2 Bxf2 18.e5 Qh4 19.Bxh7+ Kh8 (19...Qxh7 20.Qxf2) but i have no compensation ] 16...Qh4 [16...Nxh2! 17.Kxh2 Qh4#] 17.h3?? [17.g3 was much better as my queen was covering mate] 17...c5 [17...Qg3 18.hxg4 Qh4# an unusual mate, but if Kirk missed it the first time, not surprising he missed it the second time.] 18.Be2 Nf6 19.Be3 [19.Kh2] 19...Bb7 [19...Bxh3 20.gxh3 (20.Bxd4 Bg4+ 21.Kg1 cxd4) 20...Qxh3+] 20.Bxd4 Bxe4 21.Bxf6?? [21.Bd3 Qxh3+ 22.Kg1 Qxd3 23.Qxc5] 21...Qxh3+ 22.Kg1 Qxg2# Brutal by me, opened too many lines. No sense of fear. 1-0 He laid a good beating on me

Warmup for London tournament

2011-07-18T19:40:00.003-04:00

K - C
G/20 Owen Sound, 18.07.2011
A57 - Benko Gambit

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5 I had been going through Benko's autobiography so it was natural i would try this eventually. this was a good choice for a move in a "tune-up" game for the upcoming tournament as it would get us into relatively unfamiliar positions 4.Bg5 New to me. 4...d6? [Too passive. After playing both sides of the Tromp for years I should have suspected that 4...Ne4 was good;
I wanted to play 4...e6 but I was terrified about something like 5.d6] 5.Nf3 e6 I was trying to transpose into some sort of Blumenfeld, but basically I was floating 6.e4 Be7 7.Qc2 bxc4 8.Bxc4 Nxd5 [This was fine, but realistically if I wasn't going to win a pawn I should've just closed it down with 8...e5 ] 9.Bxd5 [9.exd5 Bxg5 10.dxe6 Bxe6 11.Bxe6 fxe6 with sharp play would have suited Kirk more] 9...exd5 10.Bxe7 Qxe7 11.0-0 0-0? [and Fritz says I can get away with 11...dxe4 12.Re1 f5 13.Nc3 0-0 not greedy enough.] 12.exd5 Bg4 [Another way to go was 12...Na6 ] 13.Nbd2 Nd7 14.Rfe1 Qd8 [afterwards we took a quick look at 14...Qf6 15.Ne4 Qg6 amd Kirk thought that 16.Nh4 was good but after 16...Qh5 17.f3 (17.g3 Qxd5) 17...Qxh4 18.fxg4 Qxg4 it's all good] 15.Qe4 Nf6 [I liked the idea of 15...Bxf3 16.Qxf3 Nb6 instead of knight on f6 but i guess i have the same problem with the knight on e4 as i had on c4] 16.Qf4 Bxf3? [Shouldn't have been so quick to exchange 16...Qd7 put more pressure on White as the queen does two things at once] 17.Qxf3 Qc7 18.Nc4 Rfe8 19.b3 a5 [Fritz liked forcing the action on the e-file with 19...Re7 ] 20.Qf4 Red8 21.Rad1 a4 22.Qe3 axb3 23.axb3 Re8 [23...Qb7 put more pressure on with the rook defending. i wonder if i should've played 20. ...Rad8 instead or would i have run out of room] 24.Qf3 Rxe1+ [Again Fritz liked 24...Re7 ] 25.Rxe1 h6 to watch for backrank mates 26.h3 Rb8 27.Nd2 Qb7 28.Ne4 Nxe4 29.Rxe4 Qd7 [29...Kf8 was better, keeping the threat on] 30.Qe3 Kf8 [I was worried about checks on the diagonals and i guess this would have done two things...attackd d5 and stopped the checks 30...Qf5 ] 31.Qd3 Re8 32.Rxe8+ Qxe8 33.Kf1 Qe5 34.Qe3? f6? we both blunder in time pressure. i think i imagined by king being on e7 (i wanted him guarding the d-pawn not the queen) [34...Qxd5 wins] 35.Qxe5 fxe5 36.Ke2 g5? [I think that something like 36...g6 would have allowed me to try to get at the queenside, because he couldn't come through on f5] 37.Ke3 Kf7= his flag fell somewhere around here. i started the clocks back up to 5 minutes and i pressed too hard and he ended up winning in blitz. so we'll call it a draw. interesting game...lots of poor decisions (as opposed to blunders) by me. nice tune up ½-½

kirk got into time trouble but i would be happy with that game over the board. i felt like i was the one with the initiative and didn't give him very much. i didn't play perfectly, but i was happy enough with it as a warmup.

G/25 w K

2011-06-04T23:45:00.002-04:00

C - K [D35]
G/25 04.06.2011

In preparation for a summer tournament we decided to get together and play a QGD G/25 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 c6 5.cxd5 [I know I could play but he plays the Cambridge Springs and I don't like it 5.Nf3 ] 5...exd5 6.e3 Be7 7.Bd3 0-0 8.Qc2 h6 9.Bh4 Be6 10.Nf3 Nbd7 11.0-0 Rc8 [I thought I had the exact same position as in a current correspondence game that I have but my memory is obviously faulty. 11...Re8 12.Bg3 Nh5 13.Be5 Bg4 14.Ne1 Nhf6 15.h3 Be6 16.f4 etc] 12.Ne5 [If I wanted to try something like this maybe 12.h3 Re8 13.Ne5 Nxe5 14.dxe5 Nd7 15.Bg3 Nc5] 12...Nxe5 13.dxe5 Ng4 The first of many oversights this game...dropping a pawn 14.Bg3 Qc7 [Fritz liked 14...Bh4 better, stopping anything funny] 15.Qe2? [15.Be2! was better. I didn't even look at this because I didn't realize my Bd3 was attacked;
After the game we looked at 15.Bf5 Nxe5 but it had the same problems] 15...Nxe5 16.Bc2 [Shoudl have put some pressure on him 16.Rac1 ] 16...Bd6 17.f4 Bg4! Not sure if it was the best move but i definitely overlooked it 18.Qf2 [18.fxe5 Bxe2 19.exd6 Qb6 20.Nxe2] 18...Nc4 19.b3 Na3 Despite the material (and looming pin) I thought I was still good mainly because of this awful knight. 20.Bd3 Rfe8 21.Ne2? [K thought that 21.Kh1 was good] 21...Bxe2 22.Bxe2? [22.Qxe2 Bc5 23.Bf2 etc] 22...Bc5 23.f5 Qb6 24.Kh1 Nc2 25.f6 Nxe3 26.Qf3 Nxf1 27.Rxf1 g6 28.Bd3 Re3 29.Qf4?? [Short on time I missed 29.Qg4! saving the game as it gains me a tempo since the rook is attacked] 29...Rxd3 30.Qxh6 Bf8! 31.Qf4 Qd4 32.Qg5 Rd1 yes i got run over (badly) but it was nice to play. i'm impressed how much effort K has put into this 0-1

any ideas on a good line v. mainlain Scandinavian? That was something else that came up in conversation...let me know :)

I'm flattered

2011-05-23T19:48:00.002-04:00

I was flattered to receive this email today

Gentlemen

Hope you are well! I've been informed that the 10th Pan/Am Team Tournament is being organized this year, by CADAP (the South American CC zone). I'm contacting all those players who played for Canada on our two teams in the 9th Pan/Amm TT, plus have extended invitations to all those that seem to be most of our other top players and that are still relatively active. It seems the start date is some time in July, but I believe if more time is needed this will be pushed up to August or September. Also, Canada, once again has been given the opportunity to form two teams if we wish. This is in case, however, they need more teams in order to put together the event. This event will be played on the ICCF Webserver, like last time.

Naturally I will try to put together the strongest team(s) possible. I also realize that some of you already have heavy commitments in other events. And I understand this. If you're interested in playing, please let me know one way or the other, asap! Thanks.

Best wishes

we'll see if anything comes of it. i'm very excited and honoured to even be mentioned. i am planning on playing a tournament with K this summer (dusting off my OTB "skillz") hopefully in London but we'll see

2 more G/15s

2011-02-16T00:39:00.004-05:00

C - K
C31 - King's Gambit Declined
G/15 Owen Sound (1), 16.02.2011

We played 2 more G/15s tonight 1.e4 e5 2.f4 d5 I was hoping for this 3.exd5 Bc5 [3...e4 4.d3] 4.d3 [I played the passive text, worrying about ...e4 instead of the aggressive 4.Nf3 ] 4...Bxg1? Positional mistake. If he really wanted a pawn he could have grabbed the d-pawn with less trouble 5.Rxg1 Qh4+ 6.g3 Qxh2 7.Rg2 Qh1 8.Qe2 Bh3 9.Qxe5+ Ne7 10.Rf2 f6?? [10...Bxf1 and Fritz doesn't mind his position after 11.Rxf1 Qxd5 of course...the knight isn't pinned when the queen moves.] 11.Qh5+ with a double attack. Not a real interesting game. 1-0

K - C
A88 - Dutch : Leningrad Variation
G/15 Owen Sound (2), 16.02.2011

1.g3 I figured he was ticked off so I'd try and transpose into something interesting as opposed to grinding him in a symmetrical KIA/KID 1...f5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 d6 4.Bg2 g6 5.Nc3 Bg7 6.Nf3 0-0 7.0-0 c6 8.e3? [Teh text was passive 8.Qc2 aiming for 8...-- 9.e4 was better] 8...Nbd7 9.Ng5 I didn't see this at all 9...Nb6 10.b3 h6 [Fritz recommended the immediate 10...e5 ] 11.Nf3 Nbd7 12.Ba3 Qa5 13.Bb2 e5 14.Nh4 Kh7 15.Qc2 e4 16.Bh3 g5?? [I should have continued with locking down everything with 16...d5 like I had been planning, but I got impatient] 17.Nxf5? [17.Bxf5+ Kg8 (17...Kh8 18.Ng6+) 18.Be6+ Kh8 19.Ng6+] 17...g4 18.Bg2 Qxf5 19.Nxe4 Kh8 avoiding all the checks [19...d5 Fritz says would work as well 20.Nxf6+ Nxf6] 20.Rac1 Nxe4 21.Bxe4 Qa5 22.Bc3 Qd8 23.d5 c5 24.Qb2 Ne5! blocking up everything 25.f4 gxf3 26.Rxf3 Nxf3+ 27.Bxf3 Bxc3 28.Qxc3+ Qf6 we both used a chunk of time but missed some big tactics 0-1

not a particularly memorable evening of chess but we did get to play which is important...

2 games

2011-01-14T22:06:00.002-05:00

C - K
C78 - Ruy Lopez
G/15 Owen Sound (1), 14.01.2011

We played a couple of games at his house tonight (G/15) in preparation for the tourney on January 29th. 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 He asked for a Ruy Lopez 3...a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 [If I had known that he was going to avoid the mainline I would have just played 5.d3 ] 5...Bc5 6.d3 [I chickened out. I shoudl have just played my usual 6.Nxe5 ] 6...b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.Bg5 d6 9.Nc3 [9.Bd5] 9...Nd4 10.Nd5 [Fritz thinks I should have played 10.Nxd4 Bxd4 11.Nd5] 10...c6 11.Nxf6+ gxf6 12.Bh6 Re8 [He had the intermezzo 12...Nxb3 He should have been looking hader at this point] 13.Nxd4 exd4 14.Qf3 Kh8 15.Bxf7 for instance. And he resigned.

Not a great game by him. I was happy enough...yes I didn't see anything, but I saw what little was there and played sensibly. 1-0

K - C
A40 - Owens Defense
G/15 Owen Sound (2), 14.01.2011

In return I asked him to play 1.d4 e6 I had been thinking about playing this for a while so figured...why n ot? 2.e4 [If 2.c4 I could always transpose to a Queen's Indian. I was thikning about doing this from 1.e4 e6 and if 2.d4 then b6 and if 2.Nf3 or other, going to a Sicilian] 2...b6?! Unusual but I wanted to get K out of his comfort zone 3.c4 Bb7 4.Nc3 [4.Qc2 Qh4 was in Silman's book based on a Korchnoi Candidates game (!)] 4...Bb4 Pressure on the e-pawn 5.Bd3 f5 6.f3 and I think I'm already better 6...fxe4 7.fxe4 Bxe4? [7...Nf6 is better] 8.Qg4? [and he blinked first 8.Bxe4 Qh4+ 9.Kf1 and he's better because Bxc3 is no longer check and my rook is hanging] 8...Bxd3 9.Qxg7 Qf6 10.Qxf6 Nxf6 11.Bg5 Rf8 [11...Ne4] 12.0-0-0 Bxc4 13.Kb1 Bxc3 14.bxc3 Ne4 Another easy win and we had a couple beers, but neither one of us saw very much! 0-1

2011 Chess Goals

2010-12-30T10:33:00.002-05:00

it has been a busy year with the arrival of our twins in May. I have 2 goals for 2011 (chess wise)

firstly, is to play in 2 tournaments. The first one me and K are aiming for is at the end of January (good start). If I can get an active in or something before end of year my goal will be complete

secondly, is to get up to 2300 in correspondence. i am over 2200 but i think the next 100 points will be a lot harder than the last 100 :)

happy new year everyone!

big center QID

2010-11-28T21:36:00.003-05:00

so me and K have decided to try and go to a chess tournament at the end of January since K is going to have a little k running around in the spring. so i've started playing less DDO and more chess again :) I went through a couple of Rubinstein games and I saw an interesting transposition in the QGD

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 b6 giving either the option of the Dutch or the Queen's Indian or something completely different. i tried it in blitz, for what it's worth, and it went okay. the way i play the Queen's Indian i go for the big center anyways. the idea with this though is that after 2.Nf3 e6 3.e3 b6 etc. it's something i'd normaly play. anyways, there's my theory for the month :)

correspondence chess master

2010-11-17T22:17:00.003-05:00

so as of today at ICCF i am a correspondence master

Rating Forecast Jan 2011 Rating 2206
Games 67
Calculation 90585 C 2189 from 63 games

very exciting...now i just need to get there OTB :)

also i've figured out how not to get upset when i start losing in blitz...if i tell myself i'm going through nerdrage that appears to calm me...we'll see how it goes

hopefully more chess in the new year...i'd like to play a "real" tournament...time will tell

hot theory and 1.e4 e5

2010-09-01T22:11:00.002-04:00

i'm quite impressed with 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.f3 Qb6 as a sharp line for Black

i used to play 3. ...dxe4 4.fxe4 e5 and get checkmated horrifically. Thank you Ivanchuk for bringing it to my attention.

Also, isn't it always a good idea to play 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 and not 2.f4! until they play the Petroff or the Philidor? :)

I'm also interested in 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 g5?! as a lethal blitz weapon...can i use it v. 3.Bc4? likely not :)

am i a boring player?

2010-08-19T07:18:00.001-04:00

in a fit of rage, i played about 25 3+0 games until 2am last night...and 2 players commented that i had a boring style or something along those lines (funny how when i lose no one ever comments). they said that i just exchanged everything off...i mentioned that it was 3+0 but that wasn't enough for them :) maybe i am boring...will have to look at my games...

Tournament in September?

2010-08-08T09:04:00.002-04:00

K mentioned the idea of going to play an Active tournament in September. I am the new parent of a set of twins who were born in May and K has a baby on the way due in March 2011, so there is the chorus of "last chance for a long time". Critics will note that I haven't played a tournament since 2008 even with no kids. In any case, I think this will actually happen.

Which leads to the inevitable question of "What to play?" Since playing Correspondence my knowledge is deeper than it is wide, and playing my tax bracket at a rated tournament it would have to be wide. I'm toying with the idea of playing 1.g3 as White and the King's Indian and Modern as Black. It's active...not much time to refute...and I've become relatively battle hardened as these have been my blitz openings (more or less) since I read Suttle's books

i`m sure i will flip flop...if i`m playing in a section where there will be people rated lower than me, i could always play 1.e4, Sicilian. I will likely play King`s INdian v. everything else. In any case...more to come (hopefully!)

A correspondence game I'm happy with

2010-07-19T22:46:00.003-04:00

here's a game v. a strong opponent in ICCF that i'm happy that my prep stood up

NN (C's rating + 400) - C
Slovenia (2) ICCF 2010

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.Nf3 Nd7 7.h4 h6 8.h5 Bh7 9.Bd3 Bxd3 10.Qxd3 Qc7 11.Rh4 e6 12.Bf4 Bd6 13.Bxd6 Qxd6 14.Ne4 Qe7 15.Qa3 Qxa3 16.bxa3

he had played this position in a previous game and I hadn't intended to play the Caro-Kann in this tournament, but I thought that, despite the fact that White has a *huge* score in this line, with the queens off Black had to be as good if not better.

16. ...Ke7

of course around this time the Anand-Topalov game took place where Anand had the doubled a-pawns and won a nice game and i was second guessing my positional judgement. Anand vs Topalov, 2010

17.Rb1 b6 18.Ne5 Nxe5 19.dxe5 f6 20.Nd2 fxe5 21.Rg4 g5 22.hxg6 h5 23.Rc4 c5 24.Nf3 Kf6 25.Re4 Ne7 26.Nxe5 Rhd8 27.Rb3 Rd4 28.Rf3+ Nf5 29.Rff4 Rd5 30.Nd3 Rg8 31.Rf3 Rd4 ½-½

i held it pretty easily and may have even been better in the final position. he was the correspondence champion of Poland a couple of years ago so I was very happy with this game.

draw v. a SIM

2010-04-15T22:04:00.002-04:00

C - NN
D14
Slovenia's 15 years of ICCF (2) 2010

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 a6 is going to an exchange slav here so bad? unfortunately i can't get any of the Bb5 lines where there is play, but I am outrated by 400 points.

5.cxd5 cxd5 6.Bf4 Nc6 7.Rc1 [A finesse because if 7.e3 Bg4 actually works] 7...Bf5 8.e3 Rc8 9.Be2 e6 10.0-0 Bd6 11.Bxd6 Qxd6 12.Na4 0-0 13.Nc5 Rc7 14.Qb3 Qe7 15.Rc3 Bg4 16.Rfc1

i wonder if i shouldn't have played sharper. i was going for equality and trying to follow Khenkin vs Karjakin, 2008 Khenkin ended up drawing.

16...e5 17.dxe5 Nxe5 18.Nxe5 Bxe2 19.Na4 Rfc8 20.Rxc7 Rxc7 21.Rxc7 Qxc7 22.Qc3 Bc4 23.Nxc4 dxc4

transforming the IQP into a 3 v. 2 on the queenside. i thought if his king was a little closer he'd have some winning chances. luckily i was wrong :)

24.Qd4 Nd7 25.Nc3 b5 26.b3 = and i offered a draw which he took ½-½ not a real glorious game but hey it was a titled player. it's a very strong tournament where i'm outrated by almost 400 points in every game...we'll see if i surprise some people. ir is cowardly to play the slav exchange, but hey if he just would've played a semi-slav the best i could've had was the QGD Exchange :)

Chessbase 8 and self-improvement

2010-04-11T11:07:00.004-04:00

I am showing my age ;) but I still use Chessbase 8 for my chess database. One of my favourite features is the Dossier where it shows your repertoire and what the percentages are and what your performance rating is. Last year for instance it showed that I scored 18% with 1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 (rated purely on games from 2001). i had played 1.g3 the odd time so I decided that if, over the year i got either 1.g3 d5 or 1.Nf3 d5 i would go for the King's Indian Attack just to raise my score. And I did :) So in the interest of scientific research I decided to do the same thing...this is from my personal database of over 11000 correspondence, OTB, and blitz games.

My lowest two as white are two of my most hated lines as White :

1.e4 e5 2.f4 d5 3.exd5 e4 and 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5 5.a3 Bxc3 6.bxc3 Ne7 7.Qg4

(in the interest of putting some positivity my best numbers are against 1.e4 e5 2.d4 d6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6)

As Black my best is surprisingly the Queen's Indian 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 and my worst is the Colle 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.e3

maybe for 2010 I'll go back to playing 1.d4 d5...i enjoy the Queen's Gambit Accepted, the Tarrasch and the Semi-Slav. And if I happen to beat some Colle's too...so be it :)

Slovenia's 15 years at ICCF

2010-03-03T18:05:00.002-05:00

i'm playing in my first Norm tournament. granted it's correspondence not OTB chess, but here it is. Starts March 30, 2010. I need 6.5/10 for a norm which will be quite the performance I think. i'm quite outclassed and am taking on 2 SIMs and one IM. will be interesting.

Slovenia's 15 Years Membership of ICCF - Semif. 13 TD Pheby, Ian M.
Category 5 SIM=7 IM=6½ LGM=4½ LM=2½ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Score SB R Place
1 GER 85172 Laube, Bernd 2376 . . . . . . . . . . 0 0 10 1
2 SWE 451180 Colin, Sonny 2322 . . . . . . . . . . 0 0 10 1
3 GER 83546 Starke, Heiko 2365 . . . . . . . . . . 0 0 10 1
4 NED 370381 Panman, Henryk J. 2361 . . . . . . . . . . 0 0 10 1
5 SLO 480115 Jemec, Viktor 2376 . . . . . . . . . . 0 0 10 1
6 GER 81252 SM Sielaff, Rudolf 2456 . . . . . . . . . . 0 0 10 1
7 POL 429125 Slawinski, Tomasz 2470 . . . . . . . . . . 0 0 10 1
8 DEN 150184 SM Nørrelykke, Svend G. J. 2408 . . . . . . . . . . 0 0 10 1
9 POL 421428 Szymanski, Robert 2325 . . . . . . . . . . 0 0 10 1
10 CAN 90585 C 2012 . . . . . . . . . . 0 0 10 1
11 ENG 211154 IM Shaw, Sidney S. 2398 . . . . . . . . . . 0 0 10 1

since the first round of this tournament i have only lost 3 games in ICCF. (8 wins, 3 losses, 12 draws) but the losses have been in the King's Indian and a Trompowsky where I grabbed a pawn prematurely and got beaten quite badly. The King's Indian losses were quite bad...i bet i get quite a few 1.d4s :) It is going to be fun. I have enrolled K as my "second" we'll see how it goes.

Fischer's 60 Memorable Games

2010-01-23T21:54:00.003-05:00

Today I finished Fischer's 60 Memorable Games, 2008 edition, redone by Batsford in algebraic with no editorial changes. Fabulous book...highly recommended.

Here's one of my favourite games from it...there were a lot of fabulous games, Byrne-Fischer, etc. but here's one v. Smyslov that I quite liked as it gave me a new idea as White in the Lopez if, for instance, the guy plays a line i'm not too fond of

Fischer - Smyslov
Capablanca Memorial 1965
C77 - Ruy Lopez

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. c3 Be7
7. Nbd2 O-O 8. Nf1 b5 9. Bb3 d5 10. Qe2 dxe4 11. dxe4 Be6
12. Bxe6 fxe6 13. Ng3 Qd7 14. O-O Rad8 15. a4 Qd3 16. Qxd3
Rxd3 17. axb5 axb5 18. Ra6 Rd6 19. Kh1 Nd7 20. Be3 Rd8 21. h3
h6 22. Rfa1 Ndb8 23. Ra8 Rd1+ 24. Kh2 Rxa1 25. Rxa1 Nd7 26. b4
Kf7 27. Nf1 Bd6 28. g3 Nf6 29. N1d2 Ke7 30. Ra6 Nb8 31. Ra5 c6
32. Kg2 Nbd7 33. Kf1 Rc8 34. Ne1 Ne8 35. Nd3 Nc7 36. c4 bxc4
37. Nxc4 Nb5 38. Ra6 Kf6 39. Bc1 Bb8 40. Bb2 c5 41. Nb6 Nxb6
42. Rxb6 c4 43. Nc5 c3 1-0

the concept of playing d3, Nbd2, Nf1 before castling is a great one! How often when playing the White side of a closed Lopez, could you have used the rook on f1 (behind the mobile f-pawn) instead of on e1?

Next book is Benko...this could take years ladies and gentlemen...lots of games and me and Mrs. C are going to be parents in May to twins!

pawn pushing

2009-09-13T14:41:00.003-04:00

i showed my brother a couple of games that i have recently won (blitz, correspondence etc) and he mentioned that a lot of my nice wins involved pawn breaks. i have never made a special effort to do that (except on the queenside when the situation presents itself) but it's interesting to have someone else look at your games now and then.

How to play the English Opening (Karpov)

2009-08-09T23:06:00.000-04:00

When we were in London a few months ago my lovely wife picked up this great book by Karpov for me. It is 30 games annotated by him, mostly on the King's English but also has a great section on the Hedgehog. The games are instructive, and many are quite spectacular. I have learned alot about the English and already some of the lessons learned in the games of the 12th World Champion (and others) have been used by me.

Here is one of the most spectacular

Karpov-Topalov 1994

Karpov - Topalov, Linares 1994

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. Nf3 cxd4 4. Nxd4 e6 5. g3 Nc6 6. Bg2 Bc5
7. Nb3 Be7 8. Nc3 O-O 9. O-O d6 10. Bf4 Nh5 11. e3 Nxf4
12. exf4 Bd7 13. Qd2 Qb8 14. Rfe1 g6 15. h4 a6 16. h5 b5
17. hxg6 hxg6 18. Nc5 dxc5 19. Qxd7 Rc8 20. Rxe6 Ra7 21. Rxg6+
fxg6 22. Qe6+ Kg7 23. Bxc6 Rd8 24. cxb5 Bf6 25. Ne4 Bd4
26. bxa6 Qb6 27. Rd1 Qxa6 28. Rxd4 Rxd4 29. Qf6+ Kg8 30. Qxg6+
Kf8 31. Qe8+ Kg7 32. Qe5+ Kg8 33. Nf6+ Kf7 34. Be8+ Kf8
35. Qxc5+ Qd6 36. Qxa7 Qxf6 37. Bh5 Rd2 38. b3 Rb2 39. Kg2 1-0

We were in Ottawa a couple of weeks ago and stopped at Chess and Math and picked up Fischer's 60 Memorable Games...the 2008 edition in algebraic and unadulterated :) I'm gonna fly through this one...i'm feeling my urge to play chess coming back, maybe I'll get a tournament in during the year 2009. Cross your fingers! I've been playing all sorts of things as White...I started the English because I felt that 1.g3 d5 was strong for Black :) As Black I'm mostly playing the Caro again, but I will be trying out the hedgehog v. the English and I've partially returned to the Nimzo. I suspect after playing over Fischer's games I will be playing the Najdorf and KID again :) We'll see

Winning Pawn Structures - Alexander Baburin

2009-03-01T09:01:00.002-05:00

This is a good book on playing both sides of the IQP. There was some issues between Baburin and the publisher and for a while Baburin even advised people not to buy this book, but I believe it has been resolved. There are some interesting games. One idea that definitely stuck in my head was attacking the IQP by moving the knight from f3, then instead of pushing the f-pawn (after being brought up playing all kinds of 1.e4 e5 gambits and the KID) moving the bishop to f3 and attacking the long diagonal that way. it sounds silly, but i had never thought about playing like that before. funny what "thinking" does for you

in any case, highly recommended! next post won't be for a (long) while, i'm dusting off Kasparov Volume 2 - Euwe, Smyslov, Botwinnik, Tal.

Volume 2 finished (finally)

2009-01-17T23:35:00.003-05:00

2 down one to go (but not immediately i need something different). i did enjoy this version quite a bit. going through his Averbakh games inspired me to try and save two tempi on the King's Indian by either playing the Leningrad Dutch or the Averbakh. I also learned about defending tough positions. If nothing else, Suttles was a fighter. The other nice thing is that, because this includes all his games, good, bad and ugly, it's okay to get run over playing these king fianchetto games. Case in point

Gordon - Suttles

1.d4 d6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 Nd7 5.Nf3 e5 6.Be2 Ne7 7.d5 O-O
8.g4 h6 9.Rg1 Nf6 10.h3 c6 11.Be3 cxd5 12.cxd5 g5 13.Qd2 Ng6
14.h4 Nxg4 15.hxg5 Nxe3 16.fxe3 hxg5 17.Nxg5 Bh6 18.Nf3 Kg7
19.Bd3 Bd7 20.O-O-O Rc8 21.Kb1 Rh8 22.Rdf1 Bh3 23.Re1 a6
24.Ne2 Qf6 25.Rg3 Bd7 26.Rf1 b5 27.Rgg1 Qd8 28.Ng3 Kf8 29.Qf2
Qe7 30.Nf5 Bxf5 31.exf5 e4 32.fxg6 exd3 33.Nd4 Ke8 34.gxf7+
Kd7 35.Qf5+ Kc7 36.Qe6 Bg5 37.Rxg5 Qxg5 38.Rc1+ Kb7 39.Qd7+
Kb6 40.Qxd6+ Kb7 41.Qd7+ Kb6 42.Qe6+ Kb7 43.Rxc8 1-0

These things happen :) Again, highly recommended book.

First loss of 2009 :)

2009-01-02T22:44:00.002-05:00

K - C
Game 25 Owen Sound, 02.01.2009
E97 - King's Indian : Bayonet Attack

1.e4 g6 [I almost played the Sicilian 1...c5 but then I remembered he played 2.c3 Maybe next time :)] 2.d4 d6 3.c4 Very nice 3...Nf6 4.Nc3 Bg7 5.Be2 0-0 6.Nf3 [I really thought he was going to play 6.Bg5 ] 6...e5 7.0-0 Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 9.b4 Nh5 10.Re1 f5 11.Ng5 Nf6 12.Bf3 c6 13.Ba3 a5? [13. ...cxd5;
or even 13...h6 14.Ne6 Bxe6 was fine. Instead of thinking of Bxe6 as a developing move, i thought of it as a "victory" for K because he was happy with this position] 14.dxc6 bxc6? [I didn't really look at 14...Nxc6 although this was good as I could block off the d-file] 15.b5 c5 [15...Ne8 was about the only move not to lose a pawn and it's ugly;
my idea was along the lines of 15...h6 16.Nh3 g5 17.-- etc. 17...g4 Of course with the d-pawn hanging it would never get to that] 16.exf5 Rb8 17.fxg6 h6? not a great post-opening by me 18.Nf7! Rxf7 19.gxf7+ Kxf7 20.Rxe5 [20.Bxc5 may have been cleaner] 20...Ng4 21.Rxe7+ [21.Re4 Bxc3 22.Rc1] 21...Qxe7 22.Bxg4 Bxc3 23.Qf3+ Qf6 24.Bh5+ i missed this 24...Kf8 25.Re1 Bf5 26.Rd1 Be5 27.g4 Be6 28.Qxf6+ Bxf6 29.Rxd6 Ke7 30.Bxc5 Nicely played game by K. He overwhelmed me and didn't allow me back into the game at all. 1-0

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T08:34:00.002-05:00

Same as every year this time I'm going to talk about 2009 and give my "Game of 2008" and "Worst Game of 2008"

I didn't play very much rated chess this year, but when I did play it was of high quality (for me). I would like to play some more this year. In 2009, I'm going to talk K into playing some more and bringing back the King's Gambit or the Scotch Gambit. Players at my level can't defend so why not make them?

Game of the Year

I went over my games this morning and I had some fun games in 2008. My favourite though, for strength of opponent was the Panov v. MS in the Active Tournament in Kitchener, despite the error on move 31.

C - MS
B13 - Panov
Active Kitchener, ON (3), 06.09.2008

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.c4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Nf3 Bg4 7.Be3 e6 8.cxd5 exd5 9.Be2 Bd6 10.0-0 0-0 11.a3 a6 12.h3 Bh5 13.Rc1 Rc8 14.Na4 Re8 15.Nc5 Bxc5 16.dxc5 Ne4 17.Re1 Ng3 18.Bxa6 bxa6 19.fxg3 d4 20.Bf4 Rxe1+ 21.Qxe1 Bxf3 22.gxf3 Qd5 23.Qe4 Qxe4 24.fxe4 f6 25.Kf2 Kf7 26.b4 Ne5 27.Bxe5 fxe5 28.Ke2 Ke6 29.Kd3 Rf8 30.Ke2 g6 31.Rf1 Rb8 32.Kd3 a5 33.Kc4 axb4 34.axb4 Rd8 35.b5 d3 36.b6 d2 37.Rd1 Rd4+ 38.Kb5 Kd7 39.c6+ Kc8 40.Kc5 Kb8 41.Rf1 42.Rf8+ Rd8 43.b7+ Kb8 44.Rxd8+
"The MS game showed mature play on your part considering it was an active. Nicely played endgame." (HJ) 1-0

The worst game of the year was probably my first loss v. K in our match. He played quite well, but I played terribly...no plan and he manhandled me...although the same could be said of the last game of the match where he transposed a c3-sicilian into a French Advance and I fell apart

C - K
D36 - QGD : Exchange
Match Owen Sound, ON (1), 03.05.2008

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bg5 c6 6.Qc2 Be7 7.e3 g6 8.Bd3 0-0 9.Nge2 Nh5 10.Bxe7 Qxe7 11.Ng3 Nxg3 12.hxg3 Bg4 13.Ne2 Nd7 14.f3 Qxe3 15.fxg4 Rfe8 16.Qd2 Qxg3+ 17.Kd1 Qxg4 18.Kc2 Nf6 19.Raf1 Ne4 20.Qh6 Ng5 21.Kc3 c5 22.Rf4 cxd4+ 23.Rxd4 Rac8+ 24.Kd2 Rxe2+ 25.Bxe2 Qxd4+ 26.Ke1 Rc1+ 0-1

KW Active 2008

2008-09-07T07:28:00.009-04:00

I played 4 round of the Kitchener Active yesterday and score 2/4. leave any comments please! (too many Caros) i am glad i got another Panov after completely mishandling the position in round one. the guy in the first round was rated about 100 points lower than me, the second guy was around the same, the last two were experts in "normal" chess, but only about 300-400 points higher than me in active

C - SS
Active Kitchener, ON (1), 06.09.2008
B13 - Caro-Kann : Panov Variation

This is the tournament I've played in the most over the years. It's a one day active in a city about an hour and a half from where I live. My opponent was a 13 year old kid. 1.e4 [I think if I could do it all over again I would've played 1.g3 and tried to mix it up a bit] 1...c6 What 13 year old kid plays the Caro-Kann? Come on! 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.c4 Nf6 5.Nc3 dxc4!? Generally speaking Black should wait until I've used a tempo developing my light-square bishop before doing this. 6.Bxc4 e6 7.Nf3 Be7 Of course playing it this way like a QGD and sadding me with the IQP isn't terrible either. [I generally develop my bishop here 7...Bb4 ;
or 7...Bd6 ] 8.0-0 0-0 9.Be3 [If I would've thought for a second I would've played something like 9.Qe2 allowing me to play 9...-- 10.Rd1 -- 11.Be3 or somewhere else 11...-- 12.Rac1 and be able to just play a "normal" IQP position. My mind was blank and watch what I decided on instead] 9...Nbd7 10.Qc2? Start of my bad plans. Not sure why I put my queen on the only open file. [10.Qe2 was playable again, with ideas similar to above] 10...Nb6 11.Bd3 h6 12.Rad1 Wrong rook [12.Rfd1 -- 13.Rac1 and then move my queen should've been my plan] 12...Nbd5 13.h3? [13.Nxd5;
or if i wanted to move a pawn 13.a3 ] 13...Nb4! Nice move 14.Qe2 Nxd3 15.Rxd3? [again 15.Qxd3 is better. unless i was trying to get the other rook to the c-file. my plans were muddled and i didn't see much of what he was doing] 15...b6 16.Rd2 [Threatening 16.-- Ba6] 16...Bb7 17.Rfd1 Okay great! I've got a setup now (for better or worse), doubled rooks on the d-file, open up the file come up the middle it's gonna be great. 17...Rc8 18.a3? [admitting my mistake with 18.Rc1 was better] 18...Nd5 [18...Bxa3 was simple enough and then I have to start calculating lines like 19.Ra1 (19.bxa3 Rxc3) 19. ...Bxb2 20.Rxb2 Rxc3 21.Rxa7 and I'm down material. I saw 18. ...Bxa3 during the game right after I moved it and I realized I had to hunker down and dig my heels in.] 19.Nxd5 Qxd5 Now I'm in big trouble because of my toing and froing. He has opened up the c-file and has complete control. In addition, I'm stuck with my stupid knight not able to move against his two bishops because of mate on g2. I tried to hunker down 20.Qf1 Rfd8 21.Rc1 Bf6 22.Rdc2 [Maybe just 22.Rxc8 was better] 22...Rxc2 23.Rxc2 Rc8? giving away most of his advantage [23...Qf5 and pressuring my d-pawn (and rook) was better] 24.Rxc8+ Bxc8 25.b4 Trying to stake out some space [25.Qc1 was better 25...Bb7 26.Qc7 and get on with it.] 25...Bb7 26.Qc1 Qc6? Again trading off pieces helps me 27.Qxc6 Bxc6 28.Ne5 Bxe5? Now it's tough for him because he gets rid of my IQP and makes it opposite coloured bishops. We were in some time pressure here, so let's see if Fritz finds some flaws in my endgame "technique" [28...Bd5 was a better move] 29.dxe5 Kf8 30.f4 Be4 31.Kf2 Trying to get the active king. My plan was to try and win on the kingside because my bishop could take care of my part of the queenside 31...Ke7 32.g4 Kd7 33.Kg3 Bg6 34.h4 h5! This was a good move by him. Taking care of everything 35.gxh5 [I could've played 35.a4 here because his bishop was on the other side but I think it's still a draw] 35...Bxh5 36.Kf2 Kc6 37.Bc1 b5 38.Ke3 Kd5 39.Bb2 g6 40.Bc1 Bg4 41.Bb2= I kept my composure and defended a tough position, but didn't get much play at all as White. ½-½

JD - C
Active Kitchener, ON (2), 06.09.2008
A85 - Dutch Defense

I'm a control freak in chess...I want to impose my will on the position. After my opponent took it to me (when I was White) last game, I decided I was going to play a little more aggressively this round. 1.c4 f5 I was going to play the King's Indian against 1.d4 this tournament, but the Dutch is okay against 1.c4 because not only does it takes up space, but also White can't play a lot of the gambit lines having moved his c-pawn already. 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 Not as strong without White playing g3 4.Bf4 d6 5.Nf3 Bg7 6.Bg3 [6.e3 first was probably better. Although he did suck me in] 6...Nh5 [Fritz likes 6...Ne4 better. My idea was that I thought that either he had to move his h-pawn or else I would play ...f4 and win material. I know he wanted me to trade off his bishop and open the h-file, but with him playing h3 (or h4) that wasn't a possibility. Of course I missed that 7.e3 stopped ...f4. I got a little nervous that I was completely chess blind. Also my idea of not losing tempos by jumping my knight all around have gone out the window 7.e3 c5] 7.e3 [7.Bh4 h6 8.e3 g5 9.Nd2 Nf6 10.Bg3 is okay for White. I'm not going to castle into that mess am I?] 7...Nxg3 8.hxg3 e5 [8...Nc6 first was likely better. 9.Qb3 e5 10.0-0-0 e4 11.Nd2 but he still had good pressure] 9.Be2 [9.dxe5 dxe5 10.Qxd8+ Kxd8 was okay in my books. If i don't kingside castle, he has no attack.] 9...e4 [9...Nc6 10.d5 Ne7] 10.Nd2 Nd7 [I either had to fight back on the kingside 10...h5 ;
10...c5 or the center. I should've been trying to get him to push his d-pawn to activate my dark-square bishop] 11.g4 Nf6 12.gxf5 Bxf5 [I know that "every Russian schoolboy knows that you capture back with the g-pawn" but the holes were getting bigger in my position 12...gxf5 ] 13.Qc2 [I thought he was just going to play 13.g4 and run over me] 13...Qd7 wanted to stop g4. I had already mentally gambitted the e-pawn. 14.Ndxe4 Nxe4 15.Nxe4 0-0 [Fritz liked 15...0-0-0 but without trying to work on the f-pawn, I was just a pawn down] 16.Bd3 Rae8 17.Ng5 Bxd3 18.Qxd3 Qg4 Now it starts getting a little messy 19.Nxh7 Qxg2 [19...Rf5! was better, threatening to pick off the knight] 20.0-0-0 Rxf2 21.Rdg1 Qe4 This is all I had. I knew with the "two hogs on the seventh" I should be able to draw 22.Qxe4 Rxe4 23.Rxg6 [The text gives a draw but 23.Re1? Rg2 and I'm better. His pieces are overloaded and his knight is the worst piece on the board. Was that pawn worth it?] 23...Rxe3 24.Ng5 [I was worried about him trying 24.Rhg1 Kxh7 (24...Ree2 25.Rxg7+ Kh8 26.Nf6 Rc2+=) 25.Rxg7+ Kh6 26.Rxc7 and he's better] 24...Ree2 25.Ne6 Rc2+ 26.Kd1 Rcd2+ [26...Rfd2+ 27.Ke1 Fritz liked 27...Kf7 28.Rxg7+ Kxe6 29.b3 Rxa2 but that's a lot to hope for after defending for the better part of the hour...better part of two hours counting last game] 27.Ke1 Rde2+ 28.Kd1 Rd2+ 29.Ke1 Rde2+= ½-½

C - MS
Active Kitchener, ON (3), 06.09.2008
B13 - Caro-Kann : Panov Variation

Okay so I've played basically terribly the first two games and still ended up with two hard fought draws. I knew I could play better. I got paired with the second highest rated guy in the tournament. 1.e4 c6 On the inside I was happy about this. I had thought about everything I had done wrong in the first round and decided to play the IQP by the book, rooks on the c- and d-file, play to push the pawn, etc. 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.c4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 Personally I hate this line. I always feel like he's gonna pick off the d-pawn. 6.Nf3 [Maybe I should avoid the pin and just play 6.Bg5 but even still 6...dxc4 7.Bxc4 (7.d5 Ne5 8.Qd4 Nd3+ 9.Bxd3 cxd3 10.Qxd3 is okay too. It's got good pedigree too, going all the way back to Botwinnik-Flohr match 1933) 7...Nxd4 8.Nf3 Nxf3+ 9.Qxf3 Qc7 10.Bb5+ Bd7 11.0-0 is not an easy line to find if you've never seen it. Maybe i will look at 6.Bg5 further] 6...Bg4 7.Be3 e6 8.cxd5?! Taking the starch out of the position [8.h3 or;
8.Be2] 8...exd5? [If he played 8...Nxd5 he would have been better] 9.Be2 [Could've tried 9.h3 here too] 9...Bd6 [9...Qb6 would have been pretty annoying] 10.0-0 0-0 11.a3 Trying to start up a minority attack 11...a6 12.h3 Bh5 13.Rc1 Rc8 14.Na4 My idea is to trade off the dark-squared bishop for my knight, give him the IQP and give me a queenside majority 14...Re8 15.Nc5 Bxc5? [A positional error. Moving the queen was better, although after 15...Qb6 16.b4 i would be happy with my position] 16.dxc5 Ne4 17.Re1 [Played becuase of variations like 17.-- d4 18.Nxd4 Bxe2 19.Qxe2 (Of course 19.Nxe2 is playable, but just the idea of the queen being overloaded because of the piece on e2 ) 19...Nxd4] 17...Ng3? 18.Bxa6! winning a pawn [His idea was 18.fxg3 Rxe3 19.Kf2 and he's good...again with pressure on the piece on e2. I thought about the tactic that my opponent missed in round one when i played 18.Bxa6] 18...bxa6 Now I've got 3 v. 1 on the queenside. The rest should basically take care of itself. 19.fxg3 d4 20.Bf4 Rxe1+ 21.Qxe1 Bxf3 22.gxf3 Qd5 23.Qe4 Qxe4 [I thought he would have done better to keep the pieces on with something like 23...Qb3 ] 24.fxe4 f6 [Something like 24...Re8 25.Re1 f5 would've put some pressure on my position] 25.Kf2 Kf7 26.b4 Ne5 27.Bxe5 Even though this protected his passer, I figured that the 3 v. 1 would take care of everything. 27...fxe5 28.Ke2 Ke6 29.Kd3 Rf8 30.Ke2 Oops 29.Kd3 was a mistake 30...g6 31.Rf1?? Rb8?? [I thought this was trouble but he didn't look at it 31...d3+ 32.Ke1 d2+ 33.Ke2 Rxf1 34.Kxf1 I would've been ticked and beaten] 32.Kd3 a5 33.Kc4 axb4 34.axb4 Rd8 35.b5 d3 36.b6 d2 37.Rd1 Rd4+ 38.Kb5 [38.Kc3 and just getting rid of the d-pawn was probably cleaner] 38...Kd7 39.c6+ Kc8 40.Kc5 Kb8

41.Rf1! [I thought 41.Rf1 was a great move, but it turns out that 41.Ra1 was mate 41...d1Q 42.c7+ Kb7 43.Ra7+ Kc8 44.Ra8+ Kd7 45.c8Q+ Ke7 46.Qf8+ Ke6 47.Re8+ Kd7 48.Re7# I was happy enough with 41.Rf1 anyways] 41...Kc8 [41...d1Q 42.Rf8+ Rd8 43.c7+ Kc8 44.Rxd8+ Qxd8 45.cxd8Q+ Kxd8] 42.Rf8+ Rd8 43.b7+ Kb8 44.Rxd8+ He tried to take my rook with his pawn, not realizing he hadn't had time to promote. unfortunately, he had that d-pawn move, but i was still happy with the game. it was a nice win v. a strong opponent and i had a nice finish to it1-0

DR - C
Active Kitchener, ON (4), 06.09.2008
B12 - Caro-Kann : Advance

1.e4 c6 [I was gonna try something different against him, but I saw in round one he played the exchange Lopez against 1...e5 and I didn't want to take on a stronger player in that line] 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Nf3 e6 5.Be2 Ne7 6.0-0 Nd7 The Karpov knights. 7.b3!? c5 8.c4 I think this is too ambitious a plan. 8...dxc4 9.Bxc4 Nc6 [9...cxd4 10.Qxd4 (10.Nxd4 Nxe5) 10...Nc6 would've worked as well.] 10.Ba3? Qa5 [10...Bg4 11.dxc5 (11.d5 Ncxe5 12.Nbd2 Nxc4 13.bxc4) 11...Ncxe5 His e-pawn was weak;
Giving up my castling could've worked as well 10...cxd4 11.Bxf8 Kxf8 12.Nxd4 Ndxe5 13.Nxf5 Qxd1 14.Rxd1 exf5] 11.Bb2 cxd4 12.Nxd4 Nxd4 [Could I have grabbed a pawn? It's tough, but I guess it works of the unprotected bishop 12...Qxe5 13.Re1 (13.Nb5 Qxb2 14.Nc7+ Kd8 15.Nxa8 Qxa1; 13.Nxc6 Qxb2) 13...Qf6 14.Bb5 Bc5 15.Bxc6 bxc6 16.Nxe6 Bxf2+ 17.Kxf2 Qxb2+ 18.Re2 Qxa1 oh man it's ugly] 13.Qxd4 Bc5 14.Qd2 Bb4? [After having the position ugly and him having lots of weaknesses, I was too ambitious to play for equality just with 14...Qxd2 15.Nxd2 Ke7 etc.] 15.Qe2 0-0 16.a3 Be7 17.Nd2 Rfe8? [I had grandiose ideas with overprotecting e6 so i could push ...f6 and get rid of the e-pawn, but why would I? isn't there a saying about the threat being stronger than the execution? 17...Rfd8 was better ] 18.b4 Qb6 19.Nb3 a6 [19...Rad8 would be better so if the position continued as it did, my rook wouldn't be stuck where he was] 20.Rfd1 Nf8?! [Playing over too many Suttles games. 20...Rad8 was better. Again I had idea of overprotecting e6 for no good reason] 21.Bd4 Qc7 22.Rac1 Qb8

This deserves a diagram and not for a good reason. I'm squeezed. The only thing I could see that wasn't bad was me playing ...b5, trading off light square bishops, and letting my queen get some air on the light squares. 23.Bb6 Bd8 [23...Bg5 would be okay putting some pressure on the c1-square, as that rook is probably his best piece. Any exchanges would make me a little easier to defend 24.Be3 Bxe3 25.Qxe3 and so on] 24.Bc5 b5? [I played out of order 24...Bc7 25.f4 b5 for instance 26.Bd3 Bxd3 27.Qxd3 and again I'm short on space, but it's playable] 25.Bd6 Bc7?? all excited about trading on d3 and missing the pin. [25...Qb6 26.Bd3 Bxd3 27.Rxd3] 26.Bxc7 Not the best end to the tournament...i made some bad decisions but all in all I didn't play so badly. I defended hard in the two games, i made the most of the tactical chances in the third game and then i was just outclassed in this game which isn't the end of the world. 1-0

Volume 1 completed

2008-07-17T21:33:00.002-04:00

As of today I have finished Volume 1 of the Duncan Suttles biography by Bruce Harper and Yasser Seirawan. The annotations are fabulous, the games are mindblowing...i am really enjoying it. if you are going to buy one volume, buy the first, it is more heavily annotated. Volume 2 is ECO A and Volume 3 is ECO B-E. I am going to start working on Volume 2 tomorrow likely. It's a nice combiation of Suttles' OTB games as well as his correspondence games. Here is Suttles' masterpiece

Bilek-Suttles, Venice 1974

1.c4 g6 2.g3 Bg7 3.Bg2 d6 4.Nc3 Nc6 5.d3 Nh6 6.e3 Bd7 7.Nge2
Qc8 8.h3 a6 9.b3 b5 10.Rb1 Rb8 11.Bb2 f6 12.Qd2 Nf7 13.Rc1
bxc4 14.dxc4 Nb4 15.f4 c5 16.Rd1 h5 17.Nd5 Nxd5 18.Qxd5 a5
19.Qd3 Rh7 20.Bc3 a4 21.Qc2 Kf8 22.Rb1 axb3 23.axb3 f5
24.Bxg7+ Kxg7 25.Kf2 h4 26.gxh4 Rxh4 27.Ng1 Bc6 28.Rh2 e5
29.Kg3 g5 30.fxg5 Re4 31.Kf2 Qh8 32.Nf3 Nxg5 33.Nxg5 Qh4+
34.Kg1 Qxg5 35.Kh1 Qxe3 36.Rg1 Kf6 37.Qb1 Qd4 38.Qc1 Rxb3
39.Qh6+ Ke7 40.Qg7+ Kd8 0-1

double-bishop sack

2008-06-28T13:22:00.002-04:00

yes it was a blitz game and yes he had a save (a couple likely, including anything else after 21.f5) but i did get off the double-bishop sack and win

[Event "ICS rated blitz match"]
[Site "freechess.org"]
[Date "2008.06.28"]
[Round "-"]
[White "C"]
[Black "NN"]
[Result "1-0"]
[TimeControl "180"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 Qc7 6. Ndb5 Qb8 7. Bd3 a6 8. Na3 b5 9. Ne2 Bxa3 10. bxa3 Nge7 11. Bb2 O-O 12. f4 d5 13. exd5 exd5 14. O-O Bg4 15. h3 Bxe2 16. Qxe2 Re8 17. Bxh7+ Kxh7 18. Qh5+ Kg8 19. Bxg7 Kxg7 20. Qg5+ Ng6 21. f5 Ne5 22. fxg6 Nxg6 23. Qf6+ Kg8 24. Qxf7+ Kh8 25. Qxg6 Qa7+ 26. Kh1 Qg7 27. Qh5+ Qh7 28. Qxd5 Qxc2 29. Rf7 Qc3 30. Qh5+ Kg8 31. Qh7# 1-0

Final Score - 3.5-2.5

2008-05-22T21:08:00.005-04:00

Even though I got back-doored into a French and checkmated horribly, it just felt good to play...i need a weekend tournament of 5 games in 2 days to get me out of this mood :)

K-C
C02 - French : Advance Variation
Match Owen Sound (6), 22.05.2008

1.e4 c5 I figured I'd give him another crack at the Sicilian 2.d4 Unexpected 2...e6 3.c3! This is the downfall of my move order. White can basically force an Advanced French v. 2. ...e6. 3...d5 4.e5 Nc6 5.Nf3 Qb6 6.a3 c4 7.Be2 [7.Nbd2 is theory. I should be working on b3 since he didn't get there before m] 7...Nge7 [7...Na5 8.Nbd2 Bd7 is a more sensible set up for me] 8.Nh4 g5!? 9.Bxg5 [I won a pawn because Kirk thought that 9.Nf3 g4 10.Nfd2 h5 I was happy with the position because with the b- and c-pawns gone it's just a matter of marching my passed c-pawn in right?] 9...Qxb2 10.Nd2 Qxc3 11.0-0 Nxd4 12.Bh5 Rg8? 13.Bxf7+! Kxf7 14.Qh5+ Ng6 15.Qxh7+ Rg7 16.Qh5 Nf5 [16...Qd3] 17.Ndf3 Nfxh4 18.Nxh4 Qxe5 19.f4 Qd6 [19...Qb2 20.f5 exf5] 20.Rae1 Be7?? [20...Qc5+ 21.Kh1 d4 protecting the 5th rank although it's still ugly 22.Re5! Qxa3 23.Nxg6 (23.f5 exf5 24.Bh6 (24.Rfxf5+) ; 23...Rxg6 24.f5 exf5 25.Rexf5+ Bxf5 26.Rxf5+ Kg8 27.Qxg6+ Bg7 28.Qe6+ (28.Qf7+=) 28...Kh7 29.Bd2 protecting mate by me. The position is still won for Kirk, but there were a lot of exact moves he would have had to find...i certainly didn't see it over the board :)] 21.f5 Bxg5 22.fxe6+ Kg8 23.Nxg6 Rh7 24.Qxg5 Qxh2+ 25.Kf2 Rg7 26.Rh1 Rxg6 27.Qxg6+ Kf8 1-0

Game 5

2008-05-20T21:24:00.003-04:00

C - K
D35 - Queen's Gambit Declined : Exchange
Match Owen Sound (5), 20.05.2008

1.c4 Nf6 This was surprising. I played 2.d4 because he mentioned he was thinking about playing the Queen's Indian 2...c6 I don't believe there's a way to punish this move order, can't stop him from playing ...d5. Anand has played it. Kirk may have just allowed me to start playing the Semi-Slav again (without allowing the Colle) :) 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 e6 5.cxd5!? [Not the best move but I didn't want to play v. the Cambridge Springs after 5.Bg5 ;
I didn't know the Shirov-Shabalov Gambit and I would feel funny playing the Meran for the first time in my life 5.e3. I had thought about this eventuality before the match started and decided to stick to my prep and play the exchange ] 5...exd5 [5...cxd5 is a bad Slav Exchange] 6.Bg5 Bf5? [6...Be7;
or 6...Nbd7 transpose to a normal QGD Exchange, but Kirk wanted to try and punish my move order, by getting the bishop out before his knight] 7.e3 [I knew that 7.Qb3 was probably stronger as moving the b-pawn was forced because he can't move his queen, but I wasn't interested in refuting. I wanted to try and push on the queenside] 7...Nbd7 [He could've tried 7...Qb6 here] 8.Bd3 Bxd3 9.Qxd3 g6

I had a couple of ideas here. I could've played on the queenside, pushed the e-pawn and played with the IQP or pushed h4 and went for the kingside attack. I thought I'd castle and decide between b4 and e4 10.0-0 Bg7 11.b4 [Kirk seemed to think that 11.e4 dxe4 12.Nxe4 0-0 13.Rfe1 was something fabulous, but I saw nothing great about it and I gave myself an isolated pawn for him to beat up on after something like 13...Qb6 14.Nxf6+ Nxf6 15.-- Nd5] 11...0-0 12.b5 [I could've tried 12.Rab1 ] 12...Qc7 Getting out of the pin 13.bxc6?! [13.Rab1 -- 14.Rfc1 was better 14...--;
I could've also tempoed his queen to a worse square 13.Bf4 ] 13...bxc6 14.Rfc1 Leaving the option of Rab1 open. I intended to protect the Rb8 by Bf4 eventually 14...Qd6 15.Bf4 Qe6 16.Na4 Ne4 [Fritz preferred getting rid of my bishop with 16...Nh5 ] 17.Nd2? [17.Rab1 -- 18.Rb7] 17...f5 [17...g5 would have traded off the bishop in all likelihood;
17...c5 was good as well] 18.Nxe4 fxe4 I wasn't worried about the position here because of the pressure on the backward c-pawn and he can't easily attack down the f-file. The one tactic I have to look out for is Bxd4, exd4, Rxf4 19.Qc3 Rac8 20.Nc5 Nxc5 21.Qxc5 Rf7! An obvious move but now can use Alekhine's Gun up the f-file and he also protects the a-pawn. I lost the thread here somewhere. I was going to try and trade off one pair of rooks and win either the c- or a-pawn 22.Rab1 Bf8 23.Qa5 Bd6 [23...Bg7 Renewing the threat of Bxd4 was okay] 24.Bxd6 Qxd6 25.Qa6 Qf6?? Big blunder. Kirk played pretty good up to this point [25...Rcc7 was decent, but I am bringing up pressure and that c-pawn is going to be hard to hold] 26.Qxc8+ So I'm up 3½-1½. Kirk hasn't played that well but like he said he hasn't looked at much chess lately 1-0

C 2½-1½ K

2008-05-11T17:34:00.004-04:00

C - K
A16 - English Defense
Match Owen Sound, ON (3), 11.05.2008

Game 3. I had to start playing better 1.c4 [I wanted to play the QGD Exchange again but went for the English move order instead of 1.d4 because I was worried about tranposing to the Slav. ] 1...d5?! [I expected 1...e6 ;
If 1...c6 I can just play 2.e4 and tranpose into a Panov] 2.cxd5 [Kirk said after that he was hoping for 2.d4 ] 2...Nf6 3.Nc3 [3.e4 was probably better as 3...Nxe4 4.Qa4+ loses] 3...Nxd5 This tranposes to a line i play as Black. 1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 d5 3.cxd5 Nxd5 4.e4 [Hoping to tranpose to a Grünfeld. 4.g3 is playable as well] 4...Nb4 [I thought he'd go for 4...Nxc3 5.bxc3 g6 6.d4 and get a Grünfeld] 5.d4? [5.Nf3 was better. I was worried about him playing Nd3+] 5...e5? [Shit 5...Qxd4 6.Qxd4 Nc2+ and he's better] 6.dxe5 Qxd1+ 7.Kxd1 Bc5 Now I'm better 8.a3 N4c6 9.f4 [9.Nd5 Kd7 10.f4 was better] 9...0-0 10.Nf3 [I could've pulled the trigger with 10.Nd5 as well 10...Rd8 11.Kc2] 10...Bg4 11.Be2 Bxf3 12.Bxf3 Nd4 13.Be3 c6 [I thought that 13...Nbc6 was better but after 14.Nd5 Kirk may have been right to stop my knight from getting to d5] 14.Na4 Rd8 15.Nxc5 Nb3+ 16.Kc2 Nxa1+ 17.Rxa1 b6 18.Nb7 Rd7 19.Nd6 c5

20.Nxf7!? [20.e6 Rxd6 21.e5 Rxe6 22.Bxa8] 20...Rxf7 21.e6 Re7? [21...Rc7 I thought that 22.e7 was good but (22.Rd1 Nc6 23.Rd7 Rxd7 24.exd7 Rd8 25.e5 and now I have a won endgame but it is hard to prove 25...Nb8 26.e6 looks good) 22...Nc6! makes it almost even 23.e5 Kf7 24.Rd1] 22.e5 Nc6 23.Bxc6 he thought that he would be able to pick off the e-pawn and hopefully make a game of it but since i'm attacking his rook 23...Rd8 24.Bd7 and defending the e-pawn he resigned 1-0

K - C
E97 - King's Indian : Bayonet Attack
Match Owen Sound, ON (4), 11.05.2008

In between games I asked him if he wanted to take a break (sometimes we do that) he said no, so I thought I'd use my bit of "prep" (Bayonet attack) and try and wipe him off the board as he fell apart at the beginning of the last game 1.e4 g6 He thought quite a long time 2.d4 d6 3.Nf3 Bg7 4.c4 Nf6 [I was trying to make ...f5 work but I couldn't 4...Bg4 ;
or 4...c5 would be playable, but of course I was aiming for the King's Indian] 5.Nc3 0-0 6.Be2 e5 7.0-0 Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 9.b4 Nh5 [9...a5 is the other main line] 10.Re1 f5 [There were three lines I was looking at before the game...the text 10...a5 ;
and 10...Nf4 the mainline going 11.Bf1 f5 (or 11...a5 I couldn't remember the theory and this was the mainline) 12.g3 Nh5] 11.Ng5 Nf6 12.Ne6?! [The mainline is 12.f3 c6 13.Be3 and then i can play (13.b5 c5 14.a4) 13...Bh6 because if 14.h4 (14.Ne6 Bxe3+) 14...cxd5 taking away the threat of b5 (14...f4 15.Bf2 Bg7) 15.cxd5 Bd7;
or 12.Bf3 and I think I can play 12...c6 here too. The idea being that he should guard the e-pawn before he plunks his d-pawn on e6] 12...Bxe6 13.dxe6 Nxe4 [Maybe I should've played 13...fxe4 ] 14.Nxe4 fxe4 15.Bg4 Nf5 [I wanted to play 15...Nc6 aiming to d4, but after 16.Qd5 Qe7 (Of course I missed 16...Qh4! 17.e7+ Rf7 18.Qd1) ] 16.Qd5 c6 17.Qxe4 [17.e7+ cxd5 18.exd8Q Raxd8 19.cxd5 and so on] 17...Qe7 [17...d5 18.cxd5 cxd5 was okay too. I wanted to keep the d-pawn protected by a pawn though so I could eventually play Qe7] 18.Rb1 Nd4?! [Not sure why I didn't just play 18...Qxe6 ] 19.b5 Rab8?! [19...Rad8 was better in every way...took the tactics off the b-file and also protected the d-pawn with something besides the queen] 20.Ba3? [20.bxc6 bxc6 21.Be3 (or even the same idea as the text with 21.Rxb8 Rxb8 22.Ba3 was better. The text falls to tactics) ] 20...Rf4 21.Qe3 Rxg4 22.bxc6 Qxe6?! [I could've removed what little drama was left with 22...Nxc6! and I'm just up a piece] 23.Rxb7 Nxc6 [I could've also tried 23...Rf8 ] 24.Rxb8+ Nxb8 25.Qxa7 Nd7 [Of course 25...Nc6 26.Qa8+ Bf8 27.Qxc6] 26.Rd1 Rd4? [Missing the tactic of 26...Rxg2+ 27.Kxg2 Qg4+;
He's playing for tricks. I could've just played 26...Rxc4 and he couln't have done anything because of back rank tricks] 27.Qa8+ Bf8 28.Re1 Qxc4 29.Rc1 Qa4 funnily seeing the double attack on d1 but not the mate in 2.

Kirk didn't play that well but I played better. Will have to think how I will play the last 2 games[29...Qxc1+ 30.Bxc1 Rd1# Man I wasn't very sharp] 0-1

Match v. K.

2008-05-04T13:21:00.005-04:00

Me and K decided to have a 6-game rated active match. It didn't start off too good for me. I will annotate the games after the match lest i give away some ideas

C - K
D36 - Queen's Gambit Declined : Exchange, 6.Qc2
Match Owen Sound (1), 03.05.2008

This was my favourite game of the match, despite the result 1.d4 d5 A good choice by Kirk, avoiding the French. He was pretty sure I wasn't going to allow him to play the Cambridge Springs, so he could count on the QGD 2.c4 e6 [If he tried to get into the Semi-Slav via 2...c6 I was going to play 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.cxd5 and either get a great Slav Exchange or play a QGD Exchange with Nf3] 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bg5 c6 6.Qc2 Be7 7.e3 g6?! Normally this is played with the inclusion of Nf3 so after [7...g6 8.Nf3 Black can play 8...Bf5 9.Bd3 Bxd3 10.Qxd3 etc.;
7...Nbd7;
or 7...0-0 are theory. The position almost ends up like a Grünfeld with Bg5, e3 etc. It's interesting. I wonder if Kirk will try to improve him move order next time.] 8.Bd3 0-0 [8...Nbd7 has been played by a couple of people including Tom O'Donnell;
The immediate 8...Nh5 is not good because of 9.Bxe7 Kxe7 (9...Qxe7 10.Nxd5 cxd5 11.Qxc8+) 10.Nf3 and so on] 9.Nge2 Played with the wrong intentions. This should have been played with the intention of castling kingside, playing f3 and e4 etc. Instead I wanted to keep the option of kingside castling open. [9.Nf3 was just as good. I don't have to play the QGD EXchange without Nf3] 9...Nh5 10.Bxe7 Qxe7 11.Ng3? [Not the best move in the world. King safety should have been higher on my list 11.0-0 ] 11...Nxg3 [During the game I thought that 11...Nf4 was good with something along the lines of 12.0-0 Nxd3 13.Qxd3 sure it takes a few moves, but his position is okay] 12.hxg3 Bg4 13.Ne2 Again with the intention of castling, but I get greedy [13.Kd2 may have been okay, not worrying about castling at all, but i was worried about an eventual ...c5 and opening all the lines to my king] 13...Nd7 14.f3 Qxe3!? [I thought that getting tempo with 14...Be6 ;
or something like 14...Qb4+ 15.Qd2 Qxd2+ 16.Kxd2 was forced. I've got to look wider] 15.fxg4 Rfe8 16.Qd2 [16.Kd1 getting rid of the pin was good] 16...Qxg3+ [16...Qxd4 was probably as good, gettign rid of a central pawn and leaving me with the Irish pawns

Now my king being in the center (and the queen being on the king's safest square d2) i'm in trouble. But so is his king, it's a race to see who gets mated first] 17.Kd1 Qxg4 18.Kc2? [To connect rooks but 18.Qh6 allowing my king to get to d2 (which i missed) was a lot better 18...Nf6 19.Kd2] 18...Nf6 19.Raf1 I thought I was in good shape here 19...Ne4 20.Qh6 Ng5 21.Kc3? [21.Rf2! was the move because it overprotected everything allowing me to trap his queen. the threat is 21...-- 22.Rh4 Qe6 23.Qxg5 and so on. I didn't even look for quiet moves. I wasn't ready for this game] 21...c5 22.Rf4 cxd4+ 23.Rxd4 Rac8+ 24.Kd2?? [I was in time trouble, but this was still exactly the wrong move 24.Kb3 because my rook controlled the entry file 24...Qxg2 25.Rh2 and I'm set 25...Qf1 (25...Rxe2 26.Rxg2 Rxg2 is best according to Fritz) 26.Qxg5] 24...Rxe2+ 25.Bxe2 Qxd4+ 26.Ke1 Rc1+ Nicely played game by Kirk. Taking advantage of what I gave him. I had a bit of time trouble but didn't look hard enough when it needed looking. I thought far too hard (and long) about responding to 9. ...Nh5. I didn't realize that d2 was the safest spot for my king until i looked at the game after

In the next game I am going to start with 1.c4 and transpose back into the same line. I won't be so worried about playing Nf4 and will probably play 9.Nf3 this time 0-1

K - C [B22]
B22 - Sicilian : Alapin variation
Match Owen Sound (2), 03.05.2008

1.e4 c5 2.c3!? [A big surprise. I got cautious. Normally he had played (and I had readied myself for) 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be2 e5 7.Nb3 Be6 et al. I knew I had to be careful because he normally sticks to his repertoire] 2...d5 [Because I was nervous I decided to play this instead of my usual 2...Nf6 3.e5 Nd5 4.d4 cxd4 5.cxd4 thinking something was up. Something was up but unfortunately it was in this line 5...Nc6 6.Nf3 d6 7.Bc4 Nb6 8.Bb3 d5 is a line. i will check out others] 3.exd5 Qxd5 4.d4 e6 5.Nf3 Nf6 6.Na3! This was something specially prepared by Kirk. Good for him I said. 6...cxd4 [6...Qd8 is the main line, but I didn't want to waste a tempo. This actually looks better for White. Crazy. It tranposes back to a 1.e4 c5 2.Na3 game with 7.Nc2 Tiviakov has made a living out of this line. Do I look for an improvement earlier?] 7.Nb5 Na6 8.Qa4!? Another interesting move by Kirk. He brought his creativity if nothing else 8...Qe4+? [I couldn't make this work after something like 8...Bd7 9.Qxd4 (9.Qxa6 Qe4+ Of course! Intermezzo. Dammit) 9...Bc5 was much better] 9.Be2 Bd7 10.Qxd4 Bc5 11.Nc7+ [11.Qxc5 Nxc5 12.Nd6+ may have been good if he really wanted to get the queens off] 11...Nxc7 12.Qxc5 Na6 [A more active move was 12...Ncd5 ] 13.Qe5 0-0 14.0-0 Qc6 15.Bh6 Qd5 I'll have to look at this move order after 16.Qxd5 Nxd5 17.Bxa6 bxa6 and he's better 18.Bd2 Rab8 19.b3 Rfc8 20.c4 I was mentally defeated here, playing stupid moves, but i couldn't find any play. 20...Nf6 21.Rfe1?! [21.Rfd1 would've taken care of what few chances i have] 21...Bc6 22.Ne5 Be4 23.Bg5 Bg6 24.Bxf6 gxf6 25.Nd7 i missed this. Now in addition to a terrible, passive position i am down a pawn 25...Rb7 26.Nxf6+ Kg7 27.Ne4 Rd8 28.f3 [28.Nc5 would've made doubling up on the d-file impossible 28...Rb6 29.Rad1 looks good] 28...Rbd7 29.Rac1 [29.Kf2 would've saved the day] 29...Bxe4= [29...Bxe4= Kirk offered a draw but Fritz thinks overwise. Let's see 30.fxe4 Rd2 31.Ra1 Rb2 32.Red1 works. darn it 32...Rxd1+ 33.Rxd1 Rxa2 34.Rd7 Rb2 35.Rxa7 Rxb3 36.Rxa6 Rc3 37.Rc6 Kf6 even still this would have taken some finesse.

For next game I will have to decide whether to try this line again, or to play the Alekhine-esque 2. ...Nf6.

But the real question is do i find a line of the Bayonet which I think i will like? That's probably the best thing i can do for round 4.] ½-½

Application of Chess Theory

2008-03-29T22:26:00.002-04:00

One of my Christmas gifts has been completed

It is an autobiography of Efim Geller's greatest games. The games are beautiful and organized by opening which I enjoyed. He was great in the Ruy Lopez, Be2 Sicilian v. Najdorf and King's Indian Defense among others. It was organized into his 64 best games, and then his 36 wins v. World Champions including Euwe, Botwinnik, Smyslov, Petrosian, Tal, Spassky, Fischer and Karpov. The games are excellent, I enjoyed his writing style...a very enjoyable book to go through

i purchased a three volume set called "Chess on the Edge" on Canadian Grandmaster Duncan Suttles by Bruce Harper and Yasser Seirawan. It has the two author's signatures as well as Suttles. I'm real excited about getting into those. The first volume is Suttles' 100 greatest games and the second volume is his ECO-A games and the third volume is his ECO B-E games.

3.5/5 in Guelph

2008-02-03T21:41:00.000-05:00

I just got back from Guelph, scored 3.5/5 in the U1800 division being paired up every round. i gained almost 100 points. i didn't play that great but i played "better than my opponent" three times, as the saying goes. i'll add the annotations as i do them.

i do need to calculate better and i need to work on my caro repetoire a little bit, but basically i got good positions out of the opening in any games. i didn't calculate nearly enough and i ran out of gas and fighting spirit in rounds 4 and 5. just need to play more

we'll see what fritz and my coach say

FS - C
Guelph Pro-Am U1800 (1), 02.02.2008
A05 - King's Indian Attack

This was a game against the second highest player in the tourney. The first round started an hour later than originally anticipated so we didn't need to leave OS at 5am(!) 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 g6 3.Bg2 Bg7 4.b3 0-0 5.Bb2 c6 I had decided to play ...c6, ...d6 and ...e5 against his King's Indian attack 6.c4 d6 7.Nc3 e5 8.0-0 Bg4 9.h3 Bxf3 I'm sure this isn't the strongest, but this was inspired by Lawrence Day's book on Nickoloff and his opinion that the King's Indian lines with ...Bg4 were underrated. 10.Bxf3 Nbd7 11.Rc1 Re8 Again I'm playing with a plan. He refuse to take his share of the center with pawns, so I'm going to try to take mine and his 12.d3 Nf8! He was playing quicker than me before this move, but thought for almost 15-20 minutes on this move, which is a lot considering the time control was G/50+50 seconds. From e6 my knight will be able to hit e4 and also come at the kingside if necessary 13.Rc2 Ne6 14.e3 Qd7 15.Bg2 Nh5 Trying to induce g4 and open up holes in his kingside 16.Kh2 f5 17.g4!? Strange that he would play it here and not the previous move 17...fxg4 18.hxg4 Nf6 19.Ne4 Qe7 Being able to get at h4 to check and also allowing my other rook to go over and guard d6 20.Kg3 Strange that he tries to move his king of all pieces into the fray [20.Nxf6+ Qxf6 21.Rh1 seems a little better] 20...h5 [Maybe too ambitious 20...Nxe4+ 21.dxe4 Rf8 same position without the inclusion of h5 was better] 21.f3 [21.Nxf6+ Qxf6 22.gxh5 was better according to Fritz] 21...Nxe4+ 22.dxe4 h4+ 23.Kh2!? [I really thought he was going to play 23.Kf2 and run to the center/queenside where all his pieces were. I would have to reorganize my attack after something like 23...h3 24.Bh1 Qh4+ 25.Ke2] 23...Bh6= and I offered a draw somewhere around here. I had most of the active play and he was rated higher, but he refused kinda arrogantly so we continued... 24.Bc1 Rf8 25.b4 Rad8 26.b5 c5 [Fritz preferred 26...Nc5 to blocking up the queenside] 27.Kh3 [27.Qd5 was Fritz's reasoning about the weakness of giving up d5] 27...Ng5+

28.Kxh4?? [28.Kh2 was what i expected either a repetition of moves or me allowing my pieces to try and come up the h-file. Instead he walked into a mate in 2] 28...Nxf3+ 29.Kg3 I think when he grabbed the pawn he missed that my rook was on f8 29...Qh4# Nice start to the tourney. The mate was lucky but I held my own regardless 0-1

C - DG
Guelph Pro-Am U1800 (2), 02.02.2008
E73 - King's Indian : Averbakh Variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 g6 3.c4 Bg7 4.Nc3 0-0 5.e4 d6 6.Be2 [One other option instead of dedicating my bishop to e2 is to play 6.f3 and go in for more of a Samisch type thing but with the option of the bishop on d3 and the knight on e2] 6...e5? Textbook trap taken from Averbakh's "Tactics". This move is the reason that I started playing the Averbakh in the first place. Obvious moves lose :) 7.dxe5 dxe5 8.Qxd8 Rxd8 9.Nd5 Nbd7 10.Nxc7 Rb8 11.0-0-0 h6 12.Bxf6 Bxf6 13.Nd5 Bg7 14.Nf3 Kf8 15.h4 Nc5 16.Nd2 f5 17.f3 [The text was unnecessary as he couldn't really open up the f-file and give me lines for my rook 17.b4 was probably better 17...Nxe4 18.Nxe4 fxe4 19.h5] 17...f4 18.Nb1 Ne6! i missed that he had an outpost as well 19.Na3 Nd4= and I offered a draw around here. I'm a pawn to the good but I'm also exhausted. He declined but i bet he wishes he wouldn't have :) 20.Rhe1 Bd7 21.Bd3 [The immediate 21.Nc2 was better as my light squared bishop was the worst piece on the board] 21...Rdc8 22.Kb1 Rc5 23.Nc2 Ne6 24.Bf1 Protecting one of my few weak points (g2) but h4 was weak as well, luckily he had no quick/decent way to get at it 24...Ba4?! I didn't like this move but I can't find a decent plan for him. 25.b3 Be8 26.Kb2 b5? The question mark is because it gets rid of my light squared bishop 27.cxb5 Bxb5 28.Bxb5 Rcxb5 29.Na3 R5b7 30.Nc4 Nd4 He gets back to d4 but he can't do anything. My knights are great 31.Rc1 [31.Rxd4 exd4 Fritz liked 32.Nxf4 but why complicate the position when I'm doing quite well] 31...Kg8 32.Na5 to trade off the knight 32...Rd7 33.Nc6 Nxc6 34.Rxc6 Rbd8 35.Rxg6 Kh7 36.Rc6 Rxd5 37.exd5 Rxd5 38.Re4 [38.Kc2 may have been better...getting out of the line of fire] 38...Rd2+ 39.Rc2 Rxc2+? keeping material onthe board was likely better 40.Kxc2 Kg6 41.Ra4 Kh5 42.Kd2 Kxh4 43.Ke2 Kg3 44.Kf1 h5 45.Rxa7 Bf8 46.Rf7 Bc5 47.Rf5 Bd4? 48.Rxh5 e4 49.Rh3# Not the greatest game, but it was a win v a player ranked almost 200 points higher than me. I busted him out of the opening and calculated when I needed to 1-0

C - KW
Guelph Pro-Am U1800(3), 02.02.2008
E73 - King's Indian : Averbakh Variation

An exciting game, but I'm sure that Fritz will blow holes in it. Better to let the computer analyze the games you lose than the ones you win :) I'll give some thoughts 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 g6 3.c4 Bg7 [I imagine going into some sort of Benoni might be good for Black here 3...c5 4.d5 (4.Bxf6 exf6 is almost forced) 4...Ne4 looks good for Black] 4.Nc3 0-0 5.e4 d6 6.Be2 Nbd7 [No 6...e5 this time.] 7.Qd2 Re8 [I would think it would be better to try to induce d5 with 7...c5 ;
or here 7...e5 ] 8.0-0-0 b6? [8...e5 would have been playable here after setting up the rook and the knight to defend it] 9.h4 [Oh man! I had this one won in 9 moves as well 9.e5! dxe5 (9...Bb7 10.Bf3 Bxf3 11.Nxf3 Ng4 12.h3) 10.dxe5 Bb7 11.exf6 exf6 12.Qxd7 Qxd7 13.Rxd7 Bxg2 14.Bf3 That's what I like about the Averbakh King's Indian. Obvious moves lose :) I will have to push the e5 pawn. Again I didn't calculate enough...I just wanted to get developed. I played h4 because I thought if he was wasting time on the queenside I would go for the king] 9...Bb7 10.f3 h5 11.Nh3 a6 12.Nf2 I was happy with this move 12...c5 Well played. Making his dark squared bishop more valuable 13.d5 a5 14.g4 Ba6 15.gxh5 Nxh5 16.f4? [An interesting idea but not quite right 16.Rdg1 ] 16...f6 17.f5 I figured with all the open files and a passed pawn on g6 he couldn't last long. His queenside attack wasn't coming too quickly 17...fxg5 18.Bxh5? [Fritz preferred 18.Qxg5 coming up the g-file, but the pushing of the e-pawn caused the same sort of issues as in the game] 18...gxh5 19.hxg5 Ne5 20.g6 [20.Qe2 may have been better, eyeing the h-pawn and not getting tempo-ed to g5] 20...Nxc4 21.Qg5 b5?! [He had to see that I was building up my forces 21...e6 22.Qxh5 (So I probably would have had to play 22.Qxd8 Raxd8 23.dxe6 but it's hard to take the brakes off sometimes) 22...exf5 opens up lines to my king] 22.Rxh5 b4? Let the fireworks start [22...e5 23.Qg4 b4 24.Rdh1 bxc3 works in this line 25.Rh8+ Bxh8 26.Rxh8+ Kxh8 (26...Kg7 27.Rh7+ Kg8=) 27.Qh5+ Kg7= because i check from h5 instead of h6;
22...e6 was stronger because if i don't trade off the queens he can open up the e-file 23.Qg4 (23.Qxd8 Raxd8 24.dxe6 and he has the attack) 23...exf5 24.Qh3 Qe7 25.Rh8+] 23.Rdh1 bxc3 24.Rh8+ Bxh8 25.Rxh8+ Kg7 [25...Kxh8 26.Qh6+ Kg8 27.Qh7+ Kf8 28.Qf7#] 26.Qh6+ Kf6 27.Ng4#

Not a perfect game, but I was given a straightforward plan (Fischer's sac-sac-mate) and I was able to make due. I have done that a couple of times in this line and I am 4-0 playing the Averbakh line v. the King's Indian in CFC games 1-0

MCL - C
Guelph Pro-Am U1800(4), 03.02.2008
B12 - Caro-Kann ; Advanced Variation

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Bd3 Bxd3 5.Qxd3 e6 6.f4 Qa5+ 7.Bd2 Qa6 8.Qxa6 Nxa6 I don't want to spend too much time on the opening, but this is an idea of Nimzowitsch's that i have played over the years. It takes most of the juice out of White's position, but it's not easy to play for Black and he has to work hard to get anything out of the position. 9.a3 c5 10.Nf3 cxd4 [10...Nh6 is a better idea to get at d4 from f5. It never even crossed my mind. It will cross my mind next time.] 11.b4 [I missed this inbetween move and was counting on 11.Nxd4 Bc5 to solve my dark-squared bishop problems] 11...f5? An anti-positional move, but i had a tough time developing. I guess the ...Nh6 idea was the best spot to go. [if i really wanted to push the f-pawn, one square forward probably would have been better. 11...f6 I should've spent more time at this point in the game. My development was tough. I couldn't fianchetto very well with the pawns the way they were and e7 didn't appear to be any better than f8 for the bishop (except that it would allow me to castle or connect my rooks)] 12.Nxd4 Kd7 [12...Nc7 was playable here, although i think my king wasn't in a terrible spot] 13.Nc3 Hans recommended a plan along the lines of 13. Be3 -- 14.c4 -- 15. Nc3 -- 16.Rd1 for her and said the ending "should have led to a draw" 13. ... Nc7 14.0-0 Ne7 15.Na4 b6 [K's recommendation 15...Nc6 16.Nb3 (16.Nxc6 Kxc6 is fine) 16...b5 17.Nac5+ Bxc5+ 18.Nxc5+ Ke7 and I'm fine. This position is much better than what happened in the game] 16.Be3 Nc6 17.Rfc1 Nxd4 [I could've also played 17...b5 18.Nc5+ (18.Nxc6 Kxc6 19.Nc5 Bxc5 20.Bxc5 a5) 18...Bxc5 19.bxc5 and I'm good too] 18.Bxd4 Be7? [18...b5 getting rid of my stupid bishop was better, but i wanted to unite my rooks before she got c4 in. this protects v. c4 as well though] 19.Bxb6 axb6 20.Nxb6+ Kc6 21.Nxa8 Rxa8 22.c4 dxc4 23.Rxc4+ Kb6 24.Rac1 and i resigned.

She told me that I should've played on. She was right...I was dead tired at that point and I had mentally resigned once I saw she could take the e-pawn (which I thought was holding the position together) 24...-- [Some of the lines which held were 24...Nd5 25.Rc6+ (25.g3 Rxa3 26.Rc6+ Kb5 27.Rxe6 Rd3 (27...Kxb4) ; 25...Kb5 26.Rxe6 Nxf4 27.Rxe7 Ne2+ 28.Kf2 Nxc1 29.Rxg7 Rxa3 30.Rxh7 Nd3+ 31.Ke3 Nxe5+ 32.Kf4 Nd3+ 33.Kxf5 Kxb4 34.h4 Ra5+ I think I'm going to play this position out a couple of times (from both sides) against my brother at a decent time (30 min plus a piece) to get used to unbalanced material positions.] 1-0

MP - C
Guelph Pro-Am U1800(5), 03.02.2008
E32 - Nimzo-Indian : Classical Variation

This was the last round, I was a little burned out and wanted to go home 1.e4 [This game has an interesting transposition into 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 0-0 5.Bg5 c5 6.e3 cxd4 7.exd4 d5 8.Nf3] 1...c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.c4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6 6.Nf3 Bb4 7.Bg5 [7.cxd5 is the main line 7...Nxd5 8.Bd2 Nc6] 7...0-0 8.Qc2?! I think this wasn't the best move at this point. [He wanted to avoid losing a tempo by 8.Bd3 and also he wanted to work on h7, but the idea of castling queenside wasn't so good] 8...b6 [Maybe trying to work on the isolated pawn with 8...Nc6 was better. I had a development scheme in mind (that i played) with ...b6, ...Nbd7 and ...Bb7] 9.Bd3 h6 [I missed his 9th move. I thought I could just play 9...dxc4 but i think that 10.Bxh7+ Kh8 11.Be4 is great for White] 10.Bf4? I think this was another bad move. He should've either kept the pin on or exchanged. 10...dxc4 11.Bxc4 Bb7 12.0-0-0?! Nbd7 13.Ne5 Rc8 Piling up on the knight 14.Bb3 Bd5= and I was much better (and i knew it) but i offered a draw to go home. A great tournament (results wise) for me. My next goal is to get above 1700 so i can play in the U2100 next time. ½-½

Pre-Guelph (1 and 2)

2008-01-29T06:45:00.001-05:00

K - C
Pre-Guelph Owen Sound (1), 28.01.2008
E91 - King's Indian

I am going to a tournament in Guelph this weekend so K decided to challenge me to a couple of quick games (G/10+20 seconds) to warm up. I asked him to play up to move 6 this game 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 Bg4 [Mainline is 6...Nc6 7.0-0 e5 8.d5 etc. but I was inspired by Lawrence Day's book on Bryon Nickoloff and Nickoloff's use of this move order. Spassky has also used it as well as Ivanov] 7.0-0 [7.Be3 is the main line. Normally White can't get away with this becaue of ...Ng4] 7...Nc6 [Continuing in a normal KID way. 7...Nbd7 was playable as well] 8.Re1 [8.Be3] 8...e5 9.Be3 [9.d5 Bxf3 10.Bxf3 Nd4] 9...exd4 [9...Bxf3 10.Bxf3 exd4 was stronger because then I got the dark squared bishop off for sure 11.Bxd4 Nxd4 12.Qxd4] 10.Nxd4 Bxe2 11.Ndxe2 Ne5 I'm happy with my position. 12.b3 This was forced and opens up the diagonal for my dark squared bishop 12...Nfg4 13.Nf4? [I thought 13.Bf4 taking away the queen idea as he can retreat to g3 if necessary] 13...Nxc4? [13...Qh4 immediately was better 14.Nh3 Nxh2 15.Kxh2 Ng4+ 16.Kg1 Bxc3] 14.bxc4 [14.Qxg4 Bxc3 15.bxc4 Bxa1 16.Rxa1 was better for K] 14...Bxc3 [same idea 14...Qh4 I had the right idea but all in the wrong order] 15.Qc2? [15.Qxg4 i thought] 15...Nxe3? [A comedy of errors. I should've just grabbed the exchange 15...Bxe1 ] 16.Qxc3 Ng4 17.Nd5 Qh4 18.f3? [18.Qg3] 18...Qxh2+ 19.Kf1 Qh1+ 20.Ke2 Qxg2+ 21.Kd1 Ne5 [21...Nf2+ 22.Kc1 Qg5+ 23.Kb1] 22.f4 Qf3+ Three pawns up I have to trade 23.Qxf3 Nxf3 24.Rf1 Nd4 25.Nxc7 Rac8 26.Nb5 Nxb5 27.cxb5 Rc5 28.a4 Re8 29.Re1 Rc4 30.e5 dxe5 0-1and he resigned.

Not the greatest game, but he made the last error

C - K
Sadler_C - Sadler_K
Pre-Guelph Owen Sound (2), 28.01.2008
C18 - French : Winawer

1.d4 e6 So after the first game I was feeling pretty good, so I decided to play 2.e4 and give the French a go. It has been my nemesis over the years, but I've been reading over some stuff and the Winawer doesn't seem so scary anymore. 2...d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5 5.a3 Bxc3+ [I was worried for a second he would play 5...Ba5 my mind went blank on what to play v. this] 6.bxc3 Qc7 7.Qg4 f5!? [Botwinnik played this against Tal. The main line of the Poisoned Pawn is 7...Ne7 8.Qxg7 Rg8 9.Qxh7 cxd4 10.Ne2] 8.Qg3 [8.Qh5+ g6 (but Black can also go for the endgame after 8...Qf7 9.Qxf7+ Kxf7) 9.Qd1] 8...cxd4 9.Ne2? [Being too "brilliant" 9.cxd4 was good enough] 9...dxc3 10.Nxc3 I thought I was better here, Fritz disagrees 10...f4? [Dropping a pawn 10...a6 was better] 11.Bxf4 d4? [Again 11...a6 was better] 12.Nb5 Qa5+ 13.Kd1 [Again trying to be brilliant 13.Bd2 was much better (and winning) 13...Qd8 (13...Qb6 14.Qxg7) 14.Qxg7 +- ] 13...Ne7 14.Nd6+ [14.Qxg7 Rg8 15.Qxh7] 14...Kd7 15.Bb5+ [I was losing the thread here, and should have taken my time 15.Qxg7 is good enough] 15...Nbc6 16.Bd2 Qb6 17.Rb1 a6 18.Bxc6+ Qxc6 19.Ba5 b5 20.Qd3 Qd5 [I thought I was good with 20...Qxg2 21.Re1 but of course 21...Nc6 guarding everything saved the day] 21.a4 Qxe5 22.Nxb5? [Brutal. I should've just bit the proverbial bullet and played 22.Nxc8 ] 22...axb5 23.Rxb5 Qf4 24.Re1 Ba6 25.Re4 [25.Qb3 was better 25...Bxb5?? 26.Qxe6+ Ke8 27.Qxe7#] 25...Qxe4? [25...Qxf2 was much better as his queen guards d4 26.Qxd4+ (26.Rxd4+) 26...Qxd4+ 27.Rxd4+ Nd5] 26.Qxe4 Bxb5 27.Qxd4+? [We both missed a lot of tactics 27.Qb7+! Ke8 (27...Kd6 28.Bc7+ Kd7 29.Be5+ Kd8 30.Qxa8+ Nc8 31.axb5) 28.Qxa8+] 27...Nd5 28.axb5 Rhg8 [28...Rxa5 29.Qxg7+] 29.Bd2 Ke7 30.c4 Nf6 31.Qc5+ Kf7 32.Kc2? [Something like 32.Bb4 was better. I walked into a tactic] 32...Ra2+! 33.Kc1 [33.Kc3 Ne4+] 33...Rxd2 34.b6 [34.Qc7+ Rd7;
34.Kxd2 Ne4+] 34...Rgd8 35.b7? Should've moved my queen...the position of it took a bunch of squares away because of forking possibilities. My game is still in a shambles 35...Rd1+ 36.Kb2 R8d2+ 37.Ka3 Ra1+ 38.Kb4 Rb1+ 39.Ka5?? [39.Ka3 Rxb7 wasn't still terrible for me] 39...Ra2+ Comedy of errors. At least it was an interesting game :) I wasn't happy with the quality of play, but i was happy with the style of play (if that makes sense)? 0-1

Botwinnik-Tal 1961

2008-01-06T20:07:00.000-05:00

Today I finished Botwinnik-Tal 1961. There were some very interesting games played by both players, I think the turning point was game 11 where Botwinnik beat him in a prepared variation of the Slav exchange (!) It was a very short book...21 games lightly annotated. The interesting part was the interviews with Botwinnik as well as his "opening notebooks" for the matches. He even prepared for the King's Gambit ;)

I'm playing in a tournament the first weekend in February so it's tactics for a month

Happy New Year

a final book completed in 2007

2007-12-11T22:51:00.001-05:00

My brother gave me this book for Christmas probably 5 years ago and i finally got around to tackling it and am I glad that i did. it is one of the few chessbooks that i've read that i can really say i've learned from it. it tackles all sorts of middlegame positions including isolated pawns, minority attack, maroczy bind and so on. fascinating reading and a lot of excellent games.

merry christmas everyone! not sure if i'm going to do a "Best game of 2007" and "worst game of 2007" this year because i only played one tournament this year, so i only had a handful of CFC rated games to choose from...next year maybe :)

cheers

tournament for 2008

2007-11-26T20:42:00.000-05:00

so i didn't play much chess in 2007, i mean CFC-rated chess as i still did my blitz and correspondence thing, but didn't actually play that much OTB

i got a pleasant email today from my friend CL who was wondering if i wanted to go to Guelph in February

i think i might...CL is very enthusiastic which is a bonus because if left to my own devices i probably wouldn't play OTB at all :) time to start thinking about openings...

Are you interested in this tournament? Weather permitting!

Guelph Winter Pro-Am

Date: February 2-3, 2008
Location:Room 442, Guelph University Centre, Guelph, ON
Rounds: 5
Type: Regular Swiss
Times: Saturday 10:00am, 1:30pm, 5:00pm, and Sunday 10:00am, 1:30pm
Time Control: Game in 50 minutes + 50 Second Increment.
Entry Fee: Pro Section $50; Others $30
Prizes: 100% of Pro Section Entries returned as prizes.
Trophies awarded in U1500, U1800, U2100 Sections.
Sections: Open, U2100, U1800, U1500
Registration: -by mail: Make Cheques payable to:
Hal Bond
6 Wildwood Place
Guelph, Ontario
N1H 7X9
Cash only at the site. Register Saturday from 8:30am to 9:30am.
Players who register after 9:30am will not receive a swiss pairing in round 1.
E-mail: halbond@rogers.com
Miscellaneous: Maximum of 2 half point byes (rds 1 - 4) if requested with entry.
No smoking
Ramada Inn (2 minute walk)519-836-1240
Days Inn (8 minute walk)519-822-9112
NB: Coffee, Water, Snacks and Equipment provided by organizer.

An SWOCL Grand Prix event.

lol

2007-11-05T22:40:00.000-05:00

i googled "C's Chess" this evening and found that in 2006 i won "Best Canadian Chess Blog by Someone Named C."

Makes me laugh

well now that i know that i have an award winning blog i will have to update it a little more

Nick's best

2007-10-10T21:26:00.000-04:00

Finished IM Lawrence Day's labour of love "Nick's Best" and I highly recommend it. The games are interesting, the annotations enjoyable and the stories are fabulous! It's a nice biography

I actually played a tournament

2007-09-23T08:54:00.000-04:00

it was active and U1600 and i scored 3½/5 despite being the top seed. But still...

same old, same old. i don't calculate enough...i lose confidence in positions and collapse. let's take a look at the games though just to be sure

SN - C
E27 - Nimzo-Indian : Samisch Variation
Active Kitchener, ON (1), 22.09.2007

First game of rated chess in almost a year. It's been too long. This was a good game by me, of course Fritz may rip it apart but so be it.

I had played this guy in Kitchener before and I know it was a Caro-Kann but i couldn't remember if I was White or Black in the game. Need to work on my memory 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 I was very happy with this. [My 3.Nf3 line was transposing into the Semi-Tarrasch 3...d5 (Or I was thinking about the Blumenfeld but I don't understand it at all so I'm sure I'd just be down a pawn and not understanding the compensation 3...c5 4.d5 b5) 4.Nc3 c5] 3...Bb4 4.Qc2 I was happy with this too. This is one of my "pet" lines as Black [4.a3 Bxc3+ 5.bxc3 0-0 6.Qc2 is the transposition that happened..is it a Samisch after all?] 4...0-0 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3?! [I had never seen that before as Black. The mainline is 6.Qxc3 with the idea of being able to push b4 eventually.

Of course Black has lots of options (as does White) 6...b6 (6...Ne4 7.Qc2 f5; even 6...b5!? ) 7.Bg5 Bb7 etc.

I did a little research and I see this (6.bxc3?!) has been played by Euwe, Winter, Ludek Pachman (in an interzonal) among others. I will have to check, I imagine it was via the Samisch move order but it's interesting that this is playable] 6...d5 7.e3 [I would have played 7.Bg5 to develop the bishop before pushing e3] 7...b6 [7...c5 is a transposition via 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 d5 5.e3 c5 6.a3 Bxc3+ 7.bxc3 O-O which is interesting in itself] 8.Nf3 Ba6 I thought this was kinda clever 9.Ne5 [9.Nd2 has been played twice. 9...c5 (9...Nc6 which I would never play. I'm dogmatic enough to believe that the c-pawn should be pushed before i move that knight 10.e4 Na5 11.e5 Ne8 12.Bd3 f5 13.cxd5 Bxd3 14.Qxd3 Qxd5 and in my opinion Black has a terrible position. Black did eventually win Zegada-Udovcic Tel Aviv oly 1964) 10.Bd3 Nbd7 11.0-0 Qc7 12.h3 Bb7 13.Bb2 dxc4 14.Be2 cxd4 15.cxd4 Rac8 16.Qxc4 Qxc4 17.Nxc4 Ne4 18.Rfc1 b5 19.Na5 Bd5 20.Bxb5 Ndf6 21.Bc6 Nd2 22.Rc2 Nfe4 23.Rac1 Bb3 24.Nxb3 Nxb3 25.Rd1 f5 26.d5 Rfd8 27.Rd3 Nec5 28.Rd1 Rxc6 29.dxc6 Rxd1+ 30.Kh2 Rd8 and Black eventually won Asten-Salonen, Finland cr 1972] 9...Nbd7 [Would the immediate 9...c5 be better?] 10.Nc6? all these knight moves can't be great. 10...Qe8 [10...Qc8?? 11.Ne7+] 11.Qa4 Bb7? [Of course 11...Nb8! wins immediately. Totally missed it because I was looking to develop not win material] 12.cxd5 exd5 13.Nb4 c5 14.Nd3 c4 Was this push any good? 15.Nb4 a5 Again I'm not too sure about this. The backward b-pawn on the open b-file is likely weak, but look at his pieces 16.Na2 [16.Nc2 allows me to try and trap his queen because the queen does not have many escape squares] 16...Qd8 17.Be2 Ne4 18.0-0 Ndf6 19.f3 Nd6 Again not so bad 20.Qc2 Re8 Hitting his backward pawn 21.a4?! Not sure why he played that...all the action is happening in the middle. 21...Bc8 22.Qd2 Nf5 He's so far behind in development, it's time to put pressure on his position. His rook and dark squared bishop haven't even moved. His pawn structure is a mess and his knight is on a2 23.e4 dxe4 24.Bxc4 exf3 [K liked 24...e3 and he was probably right, but I was just trying to open lines. Should have probably looked at this] 25.Rxf3 Ng4 26.Qf4 Re1+ 27.Rf1 Rxf1+ 28.Kxf1 [I totally missed that he could have played 28.Bxf1 in which case I would've been on the defense.] 28...Qh4 29.h3 g5!! I was quite happy with this move. The idea is that he has to guard f2 because of mate 30.Qxg5+ Qxg5 31.Bxg5 Nge3+ 32.Kf2 Nxc4 33.Re1 Be6 34.g4 Nfd6 35.Bh6 Nb2 36.Re3? Nd1+ 37.Kf3 Nxe3 38.Kxe3 Bxa2 and he resigned. I was happy enough with that game. Good energy from me! 0-1

GD - C
B19 - Caro-Kann : Classical, Spassky Variation
Active Kitchener, ON (2), 22.09.2007

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.Nf3 Nd7 He started taking gobs of time around here. 7.h4 h6 8.h5 Bh7 9.Bd3 Bxd3 10.Qxd3 Qc7 All theory up to here. I wouldn't be lying if I said I had this position from the black side 300 times in my life 11.Be3 [Mainline is 11.Bd2 . The problem with White's move is that is allows me to get in Qa5 eventually] 11...Ngf6 12.0-0-0 e6 and he's still taking loads of time. I'm playing from script almost as the setup that Black normally plays in this line isn't much affected by his bishop being on e3 instead of d2. One thing he does get from this is with the d5-push my a-pawn is hanging (after I castle) but as long as I'm aware of it... 13.Ne4 0-0-0 [Could've tried 13...Nxe4 14.Qxe4 Nf6 but i think that d3 is a good square for the queen. After I castle queenside the d-pawn is pinned] 14.Nxf6 Nxf6 15.Kb1 Bd6 16.c4 Qa5 Hitting the h5-pawn 17.Bd2 Qc7 18.c5? Terrible but he was down below 5 minutes [18.Qe2 Bf4 maybe?] 18...Bxc5 19.Qb3 Bb6 [19...Bxd4 20.Bxh6 Rxh6 21.Nxd4 looked messier than it had to be. I was up a pawn and he was down to like 2 minutes] 20.g3 Nd5 To blockade the pawn and to trade off the bishop when he tries to go to f4 to hit the queen 21.Rh4 Rhe8 22.Bf4 Nxf4 23.Rxf4 Rd5 Now I just pile up on the isolated pawn and win eventually... 24.Rd3 Red8 [I guess I could've grabbed the pawn 24...Rxh5 ] 25.Qd1 Qe7 26.Ne5 f6 27.Nc4 and he flagged

I would've liked to win the game outright instead of on time, but 2/2 is pretty good 0-1

C - MMV
A45 - Trompowsky Attack
Active Kitchener, ON (3), 22.09.2007

Second highest rated guy in the tournament (I was the highest)...we're both 2-0. 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 I was quite happy about this. I had started playing the Tromp about a year ago and I really like it, even despite my score of 0.5/2 with it this tournament :) 2...Ne4 3.Bf4 g5? This move only works after 4.Bh4 because Black is forced to retreat to g3 and trade off the bishop 4.Bc1! Kasparov played this once in a simul so it can't be terrible. Despite my undevelopment he has weakened his kingside and f3 and e4 are coming 4...h6 5.f3 Nf6 6.e4 c5 7.c3 cxd4 8.cxd4 Bg7 9.Be3 [Maybe 9.Nc3 was better to take away the threats of checks (from Qa5)] 9...0-0 10.h4!? I'm sure this move was all kinds of unpositional, but he castled into a pawn structure of ...g5, ...h6 and he has none of his queenside pieces developed. Not that I'm much better, but I think the pawn storm was called for 10...Nh7 11.hxg5 hxg5 12.f4 To allow the Queen to get to the f-file. I can always kick the knight from f6 with a later e5 12...Nc6 13.fxg5 Qa5+ 14.Bd2! I think he missed this move 14...Qb6 15.Qh5 Nxg5 16.Qxg5 [Not even paying attntion. I was so happy with the idea of playing Bc3 after Qxb2 that I didn't even look at the capture by the bishop 16.Bxg5 f6 17.Qh7+ Kf7 18.Bh6 Rg8 19.Bc4+ For instance.] 16...Nxd4 17.Bd3 Qxb2 18.Bc3! Again I don't think he saw this 18...Nc2+

19.Kd1?? [Unless I wrote the game score wrong I overlooked that 19.Bxc2 wins because he can't get off the diagonal because of threat of mate. Instead] 19...Ne3+ 20.Ke1 [20.Qxe3 Bxc3 21.Qh6 again won] 20...Nxg2+ 21.Kf1 Ne3+ 22.Ke1= Oh man.

I played so good but i was nervous that I had missed something and he would mate me. It was active but that's no excuse.

Well played game by me right up to the draw offer :( ½-½

C - SL
A45 - Trompowsky Attack
Active Kitchener, ON (4), 22.09.2007

As much as missing the (relatively) easy win in the last game. This game really freaked me. 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 e6 3.e4 Be7 4.Nc3?! I had played this move at least 30 times according to my blitz database [and even more likely considering the idea is to transpose to the French after 4.Nc3 d5 5.e5 Nfd7 6.h4 I never had even considered that Black's next move could work (disclaimer : i checked my blitz database and I did get 4. ...Nxe4 once).

So if that gives "Fritz-equality" and being up a pawn, what else can I play?;
4.Nd2 does the same sort of thing except the queen isn't a target;
4.Bd3 is a move I would consider...It's the sort of thing I would play.;
In a simul Topalov played 4.e5 Nd5 5.Bxe7 Nxe7 6.Nf3 0-0 I could probably get away with that as well. I'll have to think about it] 4...Nxe4! I do like this move 5.Bxe7 Nxc3 6.Bxd8 [A move to hold material is 6.Qg4 Qxe7 7.Qxg7 Qf8 8.Qxf8+ Rxf8 9.bxc3 I'll have to think about that one too] 6...Nxd1 7.Bxc7 [In my Blitz game I played 7.Rxd1 Kxd8 8.Nf3 f6 9.Bc4 d5 10.Bb3 Nc6 =+ but this looks a lot more comfortable to me v. the stuff that happened in the game] 7...Nxb2 8.Rb1?! [8.Bd6 Hodgson 8...Na4 9.c4 (9.Kd2 Nc6 10.Nf3 f6 11.Rb1 Nb6 12.c4 Nd8 13.a4 Nf7 14.Bc7 d6 15.a5 Nd7 16.Bd3 Nf8 17.Be4 Ng6 18.a6 b6 19.Bxa8 Kd7 20.Bxb6 Bxa6 21.Ra1 Rxa8 22.Rxa6 1-0 was Rogers-Hoffmann, Canberra 2005) 9...Nc6 10.Nf3 Ne7 11.Bd3 Nb2 12.Be2 Nf5 13.Ba3 Na4 14.Kd2 Nb6 15.Rab1 f6 16.g4 Ne7 17.Bd6 Nc6 18.Rb5 Nd8 19.Ra5 h5 20.Rg1 Nc6 21.Ra3 hxg4 22.Rxg4 Kf7 23.Bc7 Nxc4+ 24.Bxc4 d5 25.Bb3 b5 26.Rg1 a5 27.Bc2 g5 28.Bd6 Bd7 29.h4 b4 30.Re3 a4 31.hxg5 Na5 32.Bd3 b3 33.gxf6 1-0 was Hodgson-Gluckman London 1992

In any case I was busted out of the opening. Let's see what tactics there are] 8...Na4 9.Bd6 Nc6 10.Nf3 Nc3 Again if I had played Bd6 right away then he wouldn't get a tempo and if i had played Kd2 then he wouldn't have been able to play this 11.Rb3 Ne4 12.Ba3 [12.Bf4 but I was quite keen on stopping him from castling] 12...b6 13.Bd3 Nf6 [13...f5] 14.c4 Na5 15.Rb1? [Terrible oversight. 15.Rc3 was playable. Here goes a second pawn] 15...Ba6 16.Kd2 Bxc4 17.Ne5 Bxd3 [17...Bxa2 was even stronger] 18.Kxd3 Nc6 19.Nc4 d5 20.Nd6+ Kd7 21.Nxf7 Rhg8 [Of course 21...Rhf8 22.Bxf8 Rxf8] 22.f3 h6 23.Rhc1 Na5 24.Ne5+ Kd8 25.Bd6 I don't think Smyslov or Capa would have ever played this move [25.Bb4 was probably better 25...Nc4 26.Nxc4 dxc4+ 27.Rxc4 and I'm fine. I have my pawn back] 25...Nd7 26.Ng6 [Again keeping the c-file open should have been key 26.Nc6+ Nxc6 27.Rxc6 Rc8 28.Rxc8+ Kxc8 29.Rc1+ Kd8 30.Rc7] 26...Nc4 Now I'm just in trouble 27.Bg3 Nf8 28.Bh4+ [28.Ne5 Same idea 28...Nxe5+ 29.Bxe5] 28...Kd7 becuase I end up playing Ne5+ a move later and have to recapture with the pawn while my bishop is still unprotected on h4 and his diagonal is closed. Not good 29.Ne5+ Nxe5+ 30.dxe5 Ng6 31.Bg3 Rgc8 32.Re1 Rc4 33.Rb2 Rac8 34.h4? Brutal in time trouble 34...Nxh4 35.Bf2 Rc3+ 36.Kd2 Nf5 37.Bg1 R8c4 38.a4 Ra3 39.Bf2 Raxa4 40.g4 Nd4 41.Re3 Rc2+! I liked ths shot by him 42.Rxc2 Nxc2 43.Kxc2 Ra2+ 44.Kb3 Rxf2 45.Kb4 Kc7 46.Kb5 Rc2 47.Ra3 Rc5+ 48.Kb4 [48.Ka6] 48...a5+ and he eventually won

Not the greatest game. I had chances in the middlegame to get equality back, but was freaked out by being busted 4 moves into the opening

I hate playing kids :) 0-1

DS - C
B10 - Caro-Kann
Active Kitchener, ON (5), 22.09.2007

Another 7 year old kid. For the first 15 moves he asked me if I would let him win, then after I won his queen he gave a draw offer after every move 1.e4 c6 2.Nf3 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.Bb5+ Bd7 5.Bxd7+ Nxd7 6.0-0 Ngf6 7.Nc3 e6 8.d4 Bd6 9.Bg5 h6 10.Bxf6 Nxf6 11.Re1 0-0 12.Qd3 a6 13.Ne5 Nd7 14.Ng4 Qg5 15.h3 h5 16.Ne3 Nf6 17.Re2 h4 18.Rae1 Nh5 19.Qd1 Nf4 20.Rd2 Nxh3+ 21.Kf1 Nf4 22.Qc1 h3 23.gxh3 Nxh3 24.Qd1 Qg1+ 25.Ke2 Nf4+ and I announced mate. But of course it wasn't mate. I had seen [25...Qxf2+ 26.Kd3 but of course that wasn't on the board 26...Nf4# ] so he says "It isn't mate" and plays 26.Kf3 so again my brain turns off and I play 26...Qh2?? [instead of something like 26...Qg6 ] 27.Rh1 Ng6 28.Rxh2 Bxh2 29.Qh1 Bd6 30.Rd1 f6 31.Qg2?? and I get my queen back 31...Nh4+ 32.Kg4 Nxg2 33.Nxg2 Kf7 34.f4 Rh8 35.f5 exf5+ 36.Kxf5 Rh5+ 37.Kg4 Rah8 38.Rf1 Rg5+ 39.Kf3 Rf5+ 40.Ke2 Rxf1 41.Kxf1 g5 42.Kf2 Rh2 43.Kg1 f5 44.Nxd5 Ke6 45.Nde3 Rh3 and I eventually won a knight v. four pawns ending

Terrible horrible game, I obviously ran out of energy.

Not a great tournament. I won the first game nicely, won the second on time, drew the third in a dominant position, lost the fourth in the opening and beat a 7 year old kid who blundered his queen after he blundered mine. Maybe I'll have to go back into hiding for another year :) Or i'll have to keep on coming out. 0-1

need a tune-up

2007-09-09T19:24:00.000-04:00

K-C
E97 - Bayonnet Attack
08.09.2007

We played a fun game today in prep for the Active tournament we're playing in 2 weeks. It was half heated, K was drinking wine and I made some *dumb* decisions 1.e4 d6? Forgetting that he always tries to transpose to King's Indian. I don't play the King's Indian. I wanted to avoid the Caro for some unknown reason, didn't want to play the Najdorf, was worried he'd suspect something if i played 1.e4 e5 and didn't really feel like playing the Alekhine. 2.c4 Nf6 [ In a recent correspondence game I tried this move order and my opponent replied 2...c5 and transposed to an Accelerated Dragon which was interesting (of course the first move was ...g6)] 3.Nc3 g6 4.d4 Bg7 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 e5? [ Second big mistake. I should've went for a Benoni instead of going for a mainline King's Indian...of course I forgot the line he played... 6...c5 ] 7.0-0 Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 9.b4 Of course. I had forgotten he played this. I was on my own at this point 9...a5 10.Ba3 axb4 11.Bxb4 c5? [ 11...Nh5 is better aiming for the f4-square, trading off the light -squared bishop and being able to play ...f5. my move drops material because i couldn't see one move ahead ;)] 12.dxc6 Qb6 [ 12...Nxc6 may have been better but i needed piece play] 13.Qxd6? [ 13.Bxd6 was much better. He missed that the bishop covered e8 as well] 13...Nxc6 14.Bc5? Qb2? [ Close 14...Qa5! was much better double attacking c3 and c5, making him move the knight and allowing me to capture the e4-pawn then] 15.Qd2 Qxd2 Forced 16.Nxd2 Rd8 17.Nd5! I would have never gone in for this line at all had i seen that he could block the d-file. i have no counterplay and i am down material. of course he has two isolated pawns, but is there any way to take advantage 17...Be6 18.f3 Ra5?? [ 18...Nd7 was much better, allowing me to mobilize my pieces and attacking his hanging bishop] 19.Bb6 Not the greatest game by me. Oh well, stuff happens. hopefully this doesn't carry on :) 1-0

Karlsbad 1929

2007-08-16T00:01:00.000-04:00

Finished a short, but very interesting book on the 1929 Carlsbad tournament which was won by the author, Aaron Nimzowitsch. His writing style is interesting...he judges his compatriots on how their style has evolved towards "neo-Romanticism" and, in an appeal to get a match with Alekhine, implores that he has the divine right to play a match with him, or else the chess world will revolt! All in all a highly recommended book, and very short with Nimzowitsch fully annotating 30 games by himself, Capablanca, Rubinstein, Tartakower, Bogoljubow, Spielmann and other greats from the time.

Finished Petrosian

2007-08-06T12:51:00.000-04:00

Despite getting married, buying a house, etc. i have still finished another book :)

I was so excited I made a
Collection on chessgames

repetoire fine-tuning

2007-06-02T10:12:00.000-04:00

i need to get some lines v. the slav proper (1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 dxc4) and the Queen's Gambit Accepted (1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4). They are things that are rare enough in blitz (and i'm probably making the same mistakes over and over) but i would get over the board

107 Great Chess Battles 1939-1945 by Alexander Alekhine

2007-05-16T21:11:00.000-04:00

i've been working on this book on and off for years...and i finished it today. been a very monumental week...finished another book, wrote my 4000th post on chessgames.com, bought a house (!) and having bachelor party this weekend. very interesting annotations by alekhine, including writeups on capablanca and reshevsky...and in algebraic. i really enjoyed it

new high at ICC

2007-04-24T07:19:00.000-04:00

Blitz 1833 2505 2689 513 5707 1833 (24-Apr-2007)

i told myself i wasn't going to play any CFC-rated chess until I got to a new high...showing that I am improving, even if only at moving the little pieces quickly ;)

one more notch...

2007-04-15T20:18:00.000-04:00

;)

The Life and Games of Mikhail Tal is complete

i almost forgot...

2007-04-03T07:08:00.000-04:00

my/janowski's defense to the queen's gambit

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 a6!? (or 3. ...Nf6 4.Nf3 a6)

the idea is to get an improved Slav where Black can play ...c5 in one move. It's very interesting I think. I was going through my old blitz database this morning and found a couple of games from 2006 from me in this line (+1, =2, -0)

Match With Chris

2007-03-27T06:25:00.000-04:00

My buddy Chris accepted a challenge for a 4-game match with me. We haven't worked out the details yet, I proposed 2 games here, 2 where he lives.

here are the ratings based on the score

Match
Chris		Craig
1515	4-0	1484
1492	3½-½	1496
1468	3-1	1509
1445	2½-1½	1521
1421	2-2	1533
1398	1½-2½	1545
1374	1-3	1557
1351	½-3½	1571
1327	0-4	1586

so basically i have to score 3/4 in order to keep my rating which is approximately where we stand if you were to ask me how strong we were. should be interesting...i've got a couple of opening ideas i want to try out :)

game 4 on the bike

2007-03-12T20:41:00.000-04:00

C - K
Sadler_C - Sadler_K
G20 On The Bike Owen Sound (4), 12.03.2007
D35 - Queen's Gambit Declined : Exchange Variation

1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.Nc3 c6 5.Bg5 Unlike last game I had decided I was going to give a crack at the Botvinnik 5...Nbd7 [5...dxc4] 6.cxd5 exd5 7.e3 Bb4 [The opening books say that the text is too loose and 7...Be7 is better here] 8.Qc2 [I was going to try 8.a3 here and see if I could get a bad Nimzo (he has played ...c6) but decided against it 8...Bxc3+ 9.bxc3] 8...Qa5 This probably transposes into what he wanted (Cambridge Springs) 9.Bd3 0-0 10.0-0 c5? [10...Re8 has been played here;
I don't see a good move for him to free his light squared bishop 10...h6 but i can just play 11.Bh4 Re8 12.a3 etc.] 11.Nxd5 i'm just happy i saw this...normally i don't see anything 11...Nxd5 12.Bxh7+ Kh8 13.a3 g6 14.axb4 Qxb4 15.Bxg6 [My original idea was to play somethign like 15.Be7 and then 16.Ng5 but of course with the knight on d5 that is no good] 15...fxg6 16.Qxg6 N5f6 17.Ne5 Qxb2 [17...Ng8 stopping mate is best] 18.Nf7+ [18.Bh6! was best forcing immeditate resignation. I should have been sharper] 18...Rxf7 19.Qxf7 cxd4 [19...Ng8 was a little better, but it's still all white] 20.Bxf6+ Nxf6 21.Qxf6+ Kg8 22.exd4 [I could've tried 22.Ra5 but the text was good enough] 22...Bg4 1-0

game 3

2007-03-09T07:02:00.000-05:00

K - C
G20 On The Bike Owen Sound, 09.03.2007
B40 - Sicilian Defense

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Bg5? wins a pawn [I had the pin variation in mind 5.Nc3 Bb4] 5...Qa5+ 6.Bd2 Qe5 [6...Qb6 7.Nb3 Nxe4] 0-1

"I don't love endgames"

2007-03-06T19:01:00.000-05:00

C - K

C - K
G20 On The Bike Owen Sound (2), 06.03.2007
D36 - Queen's Gambit Declined : Exchange Variation

Game two 1.d4 e6 2.c4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 c6 [4...c6 Last night when I was thinking about this game I was pretty sure I would get this variation. He doesn't play the Botwinnik any more so really there were only a couple of choices 5.Bg5 (5.e3 Bd6 6.Qc2 Nbd7 7.g4 Shabalov-Shirov) 5...Nbd7 6.Qc2 Qa5 Cambridge Springs, and a third option.] 5.cxd5 For a while I've been looking at some minority attack games. This should transpose into the main line of the QGD Exchange. If he plays ...cxd5 it's a horrid Slav Exchange (...e6 without freeing the bishop) 5...exd5 6.Bg5 Be7 7.Qc2 0-0 [The "main line" is 7...g6 After 8.e3 Bf5 9.Bd3 Bxd3 10.Qxd3 Nbd7 11.0-0 0-0 I was looking at this yesterday and apparently Black wins more according to chessgames, but this looks like a "Grandmaster opening" to me, e.g. I have no idea what's going on and how the dark squares aren't weak around the king. I assume he will move his rook to e8 and reroute his bishop on the long diagonal] 8.e3 Be6 [Theory is 8...Nbd7 but Kirk had a plan in mind. He wanted to advance his c-pawn.] 9.Bd3 Nbd7 10.0-0 Rc8 11.Rab1?! Probably not the most accurate move, but again I wanted to do the minority attack 11...c5?! Giving himself the isolated pawn. Sure it opens up my queen for attack, but ends up hurting himself long term with the isolated pawn. 12.dxc5 Nxc5 13.Bf5? [Better was giving up the bishop pair with 13.Bxf6 Bxf6 14.Bxh7+ Kh8 15.Bf5 I had looked at something like that on the bike, but I was worried about ideas like 15...Bxf5 16.Qxf5 Bxc3 17.bxc3 and now I have an easily attackable isolated pawn as well. Not necessarily in this position, maybe later, but I didn't necesssarily want to have the isolated c-pawn. I guess the difference is that the king wasn't exposed because I never grabbed the h-pawn] 13...Nfe4 [13...Nce4 may have been better, now I'm pinned] 14.Bxe7 Qxe7 15.Nd4? [I totally missed a chance to sharpen it up 15.Nxd5! Bxd5 16.Bxc8 Bxa2 (16...Rxc8 17.b4 Ng5 18.Nxg5 Qxg5 19.f4 Qe7 20.bxc5 Be4) ] 15...Nxc3 16.Qxc3 [Again not wanting the isolated c-pawn 16.bxc3 ] 16...Qf6 17.Bxe6 [Again 17.Nxe6 Qxc3 but I didn't look hard enough 18.Bxh7+ Kh8 (18...Kxh7 19.Nxf8+ Rxf8 20.bxc3) 19.bxc3 fxe6 20.Bc2 and I have a pawn] 17...Nxe6 18.Qd3 [18.Qd2 was probably better although my move allowed him to tempo me] 18...Nc5 [18...Nxd4 19.exd4 Rc4 looked good] 19.Qe2 [Should've went for the queen trade 19.Qf5 ] 19...Ne6 20.Rfd1 Rfe8 21.Qf3 Nxd4 22.Rxd4 [I thought this was forced but of course 22.Qxf6 Ne2+ 23.Kf1 and I'm good 23...gxf6 24.Kxe2 Rc2+ 25.Rd2] 22...Qxf3 23.gxf3 Red8 [I thought 23...Rcd8 24.Rbd1 Re5 25.f4 Rf5 was better] 24.Rbd1 f6? [24...Rc2 was better] 25.Rxd5 Rxd5 26.Rxd5 Rc7 27.b4 Kf7 At this point we were both down to around 7 minutes and played with almost blitz speed 28.b5 b6 29.a4 Ke6 30.Rd4 g5 31.Kg2 h5 32.h4 Ke5 33.Kg3 Kf5 34.hxg5 fxg5 35.e4+ Ke5 36.Rd5+ Kf6 37.f4 gxf4+ 38.Kxf4 Rc4 39.Rxh5 Rxa4 40.Rh6+ Kg7 41.Rc6 Ra2 42.f3 Rb2 43.Rc7+ Kf6 44.Rxa7 Rxb5= He offered a draw around here somewhere but I have connected passed pawns and my rook behind his passer 45.Rb7 Ke6 46.Kg4 Kf6 47.f4 Ke6 48.e5 [48.f5+ Kf6 49.Kf4 Rb4 50.Rc7] 48...Rb4 49.Kg5 Rb5 50.Kg6 Rb1 [50...Rb4 51.f5+ Kxe5 52.f6 Rg4+ 53.Kf7] 51.f5+ Kxe5 52.f6 Rg1+ 53.Kf7 Rb1 54.Ke7 Rh1 55.f7 Rh7 56.Rxb6 Rxf7+ 57.Kxf7 1-0

After the game Kirk said he wasn't ready for tournament chess becuase he didn't "love endgames". I don't particularly ever but since that's the brunt of my study i should probably aim for them periodically ;) we'll see what happens tomorrow

20 minutes on the bike

2007-03-05T20:40:00.000-05:00

K - C
G20 On The Bike Owen Sound (1), 05.03.2007
D85 - Grünfeld

I'm getting married :)

So as a training program me and Kirk decided to ride the bike for a G/20 in the morning. We used the Chessmaster program from Playstation. The problem I'm going to have is that it's always from White's POV. I could use that as an excuse but really I didn't look very hard this game at all. 1.d4 First surprise. 1...Nf6 2.Nf3 Second surprise. I go for a Grünfeld, but I'm not sure what I'm going to do in the future if he keeps this up 2...g6 3.c4 Bg7 4.Nc3 d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.e4 Nxc3 7.bxc3 c5 8.Bc4?! Spassky line isn't as strong with Nf3 as I can play Bg4 and put pressure on the d-pawn [8.Rb1] 8...Nc6 [8...0-0] 9.Be3 Bg4!? [9...0-0] 10.e5? [10.Bxf7+! Kxf7 11.Ng5+] 10...cxd4 [Maybe something like 10...Qc7 would have been better] 11.cxd4 0-0 12.0-0 Bxf3 13.Qxf3 Nxd4 14.Qxb7 Bxe5 15.Rfd1 Qb6?? [15...Qd6 16.f4 Bg7 17.Rac1 Rfd8 18.Rd2 Qa3 and I'm okay] 16.Qxe7? [16.Qxb6 axb6 17.Bxd4 just grabs a piece] 16...Bf6 17.Qe4 Rfe8 18.Qf4 Qc6?? [18...Rad8 was much better] 19.Bxd4 Not particularly well played by either. Better chess to come (I promise) 1-0

woot

2007-02-11T15:43:00.000-05:00

i have finished another book Analysing the Endgame by Jonathon Speelman

i think i'm tackling Tal : My LIfe and Games next :) going through these speelman books i can honestly say that i've learned something, which is nice for a change :)

quick draw

2007-01-30T10:49:00.000-05:00

here's a quick draw for people who don't like playing against the queen's gambit accepted

[Event "5th Gibraltar Chess Festival"]
[Site "Gibraltar Gibraltar"]
[Date "2007.01.29"]
[EventDate "2007.01.23"]
[Round "6.1"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[White "Yuriy Kuzubov"]
[Black "Ivan Sokolov"]
[ECO "?"]
[WhiteElo "2554"]
[BlackElo "2632"]
[PlyCount "20"]
1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 Be6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Ng5 Bg4 7. Bxc4 Bxd1 8.
Bxf7+ Kd7 9. Be6+ Ke8 10. Bf7+ 1/2-1/2

not that 4. ...Be6 is that common, but I can recall some computers playing it against me. if you're ever looking for a 10 move draw v. one of your buddies in a tournament where you don't want to be paired, here's an easy option ;)

Christmas book - done

2007-01-14T20:04:00.000-05:00

Today I finished Timman's "Curacao 1962 : Battle of Minds that shook the Chess world"

about half the games were annotated and there were lots of pictures. interesting games though. i prefer tournament books to game collections as you get to see the good the bad, and the ugly, so to speak, of the top players. Curacao 1962 was famous for Fischer's allegations of cheating in Sports Illustrated. Every game between Keres, Petrosian and Geller was a short draw, but the one that really got Fischer's goat was this one.

Black is winning in the final position and Timman does some analysis on it. Also I learned that openings are almost pointless, as Benko opened 1.g3 in all of his games and scored +4-2=6, which is as good as anyone and also Filip played 1. Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 g6 3.Bg2 Bg7 4.O-O O-O 5.d4 c5 6.c3 v. Tal, one year removed from facing Botwinnik for the world championship and was doing well up to move 33. 33.Rxe5 instead of the blunder 33.Nxe5? and he had Tal beat with a passive terrible system.

i don't think i'm gonna play in kitchener. with who knows what's happening in the future (house? marriage?) i'm gonna make work a priority. with all the overtime i'm working my energy levels are low, so i'm gonna keep working on chess, tactics, and working out a little bit and then see what happens. i'm exhausted so i need to relax on the weekends and i don't find going and playing 5 rounds in 2 days relaxing anymore. if i take an (extended) break, maybe the love will come back, or maybe i'll just realize that i like going through games and playing blitz. sadly, i don't think i'll be playing in Canadian Open either (sorry Neil). Chrystelle at work is going for training the week of the Canadian open so i can't go.

I've got on a good system with this past book...history has shown that i like going through annotated games and I hate doing tactics, so I did the logical thing and combined them. 10 tactics for every game I go through. It's not a lot, but I've done about 1522 tactics since I started doing this book which is pretty damn good as far as I'm concerned.

Candidates Tournament 1959

2007-01-11T07:05:00.001-05:00

Here's a cool video from a game between Tal and Fischer from the Candidates Tournament 1959

Last Book in 2006 - Chess For Tigers

2006-12-25T08:41:00.000-05:00

my buddy Chuck dropped that off a week ago and i hadn't read it for years, so i went and annotated all the games. Merry Christmas Chuck!

Not sure what my next book will be, my goal was to get this done by Christmas (we're leaving for xmas breakfast in about 20 minutes) in case a got a book for christmas i could start with no guilt ;)

My first book...done

2006-12-17T14:35:00.000-05:00

i have finsihed going through my original Caro-Kann bible

I can't find a picture of it, i was going to scan it but K seems to be at school, so here's the game from the cover

Hort-Seirawan

Now the problem is selecting which book to work on now? I assume I will get one for Christmas...

Free Rating Points at the CFC

2006-12-08T06:35:00.000-05:00

I gained 51 rating points for doing absolutely nothing! Well not quite nothing, i did play 51 games from the period between July 1, 2004 and September 6, 2006. According to one of the Governor's Letters

"There is news on the Ratings front as well. The Ratings committee has made a decision on an interim measure to combat recent deflation while a more permanent solution is worked on.

Based on tournament reports for all events which ended between July 1, 2004 and September 6, 2006, all players will receive points for games played as follows:

<2200 : 1 point per game played
2200-2400 : ½ point per game played
2400+ : ¼ point per game played

Ratings used will be as of the September 6, 2006. If a player crosses a threshold in the process, points will be applied above that threshold at the new rate"

some people ended up gaining as many as 200 points. i will have to go to kitchener in february and try and scoop some points now ;)

one more book done...

2006-11-27T20:26:00.000-05:00

maybe i should follow my coach's advice and do nothing but tactics for the next four months...the books don't seem to help me from dropping material ;)

November London Open

2006-11-26T15:37:00.000-05:00

EH - CS
November Open London, ON (1), 25.11.2006
B03 - Alekhine : Four Pawns Attack

Not the greatest game for me. My excuse is that I was tired from the "long drive" but realistically I spent too much time going through books and not enough time doing tactics 1.e4 Nf6 [I had played the Caro against this guy at a previous tournament but I noticed in a later round he had the Caro and played 1...c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Bd3?! I tried the Alekhine for a few reasons. One, it always gives an interesting game. Two, Kirk wasn't there and he's the arch-duke of the Alekhine. Three, Hans said that I needed a couple of "must-win" lines so I decided that the Alekhine would be that. Ironically, Kirk pointed out that when I really needed a win in the third round I played the Caro] 2.e5 Nd5 3.c4 Nb6 4.d4 d6 5.f4 dxe5 6.fxe5 Bf5 [A line that me and Kirk (and others on chessgames.com) had looked at previously was 6...c5 7.d5 g6 I wasn't too sure, and the mainline gives Black good play;
6...Nc6 is the main line so if 7.Nf3 , 7...Bg4 can be played in one move] 7.Nc3 Nc6 [I ended up transposing back to the mainline but 7...e6 was playable as well] 8.Nf3 [8.Be3 is the normal move] 8...e6 [I was worried about getting developed, so I didn't even look at the strong 8...Nb4! This puts him in a tough spot, but I wonder if it's worth it without any development 9.Kf2 Nc2 10.Rb1 Nb4 11.Ra1 e6 and I always have the perpetual if I want it] 9.Be3 Be7 10.Bd3!? [10.Be2 is the mainline] 10...Bg4 [I had 10...Nb4 again 11.Bxf5 Nxc4! with the same idea as Hans' below] 11.Qe2? Qd7 [11...Nxd4! wins a pawn. My excuse is that I didn't want to go pawn grabbing and wanted to castle, but really I missed it;
11...Bxf3 12.Qxf3 Nxe5 13.dxe5 Qxd3 14.Bxb6 Qxf3 15.gxf3 axb6 was also good for me] 12.h3 Bh4+! I was happy with this after all the junk, so I decided to (finally) grab a pawn 13.Bf2 Nxd4 14.Qe3

14. ... Bxf2+?! [I'm so better here. I need to take a closer look at this position here 14...Bxf3 15.gxf3 Nxc4 16.Qe4 (16.Bxc4 Nc2+) 16...Nxe5 17.Qxe5 (17.Rd1 0-0-0) 17...Nxf3+] 15.Qxf2 Bxf3 Very strong line by Hans. I think that I overestimated the strength of the knight on d4 - ["In the first game I would have rubbed him out with 15...Nxf3+ 16.gxf3 Qxd3 17.hxg4 Nxc4 but even so what you probably missed is the effects of Ne4 and you got confused." (HJ)] 16.gxf3 c5? [Why not 16...0-0-0 first? Now I'm just a pawn up.] 17.0-0-0 0-0-0 18.Ne4 Nf5 ["But even so 18...Qa4! and the queen and two knights should do well against the white king position. " (HJ);
18...Kb8 19.Nxc5 Qc7 20.Ne4 Qxe5 and I'm fine. My opponent did a nice finish] 19.Nxc5 Qc6?? [19...Qc7 20.Be4 Qxe5 21.Bxb7+ Kb8] 20.Be4 Qc7 21.Bxb7+ Not a strong performance practically, but I did have a great position. Maybe I won't bury the Alekhine 1-0

CS - KG
November Open London, ON (2), 25.11.2006
A22 - English Opening

I wanted to try the English before the game because I wanted to avoid the QGD for some reason. Plus I wanted to try something different 1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.g3?! [3.Nf3 is the strongest move, which I wanted to avoid because of 3...e4 but afterwards I took a look and 4.Ng5! seems okay to me because he can't protect the pawn with 4...d5 (I was flipping through Simon Webb's "Chess for Tigers" at the World's Biggest Bookstore in Toronto this weekend and noticed the gambit 4...b5 as played by Polugayevsky-Esteves-Morales as an example of mixing up the position v. a stronger player ) ] 3...Bc5 [3.g3 isn't that strong because of 3...c6! ] 4.Bg2 0-0 5.d3 [5.e3;
5.Nf3 were also options] 5...Ng4? 6.Ne4 Bb6 7.c5 f5 8.cxb6 fxe4 9.Nh3 [9.bxc7 was better 9...Qxc7 10.Nh3 and so forth] 9...axb6 10.0-0 [10.Qb3+] 10...exd3 11.Qxd3 Nf6 12.Bg5 d6 13.f4 Nc6 14.Bxf6 Rxf6 15.Ng5 i have threats too ;) 15...Bf5? [15...g6 16.Qc4+ Kg7 17.Bxc6 bxc6 18.Qxc6] 16.Qc4+ Kh8 [16...Kf8 17.Bxc6 bxc6 18.fxe5+-] 17.Nf7+ Rxf7 18.Qxf7 Nd4 19.e3 [19.fxe5 Be6] 19...Nc2? [19...Bg6! and i have to fight for equality as all his things he had previously are still there] 20.Qxf5 Nxe3 21.Qe4 [21.Qf7 Nxf1 22.Rxf1] 21...Nxf1 22.Bxf1 exf4 23.Qxf4 d5 24.a3 [to try and free up my rook but I probably should have took immediate action 24.Re1 ] 24...d4 25.Bd3 c5 26.Qe4 g6 [26...Qg8 27.Qxb7 Rb8 28.Qc7] 27.Qxb7? [I missed a mate 27.Qe5+ Kg8 28.Bc4+ Kf8 29.Rf1+] 27...Rb8 28.Qe4 b5 29.Qe5+ Kg8 30.Qxc5 [The idea is to get his king to the f-file...I missed this idea again with 30.Be4! ] 30...Qb6 31.Qxb6 Rxb6 32.b4 Kf7 33.Re1 Ra6 34.Bxb5 Rxa3 35.Rd1 Ke6 36.Rxd4 Ke5 37.Rd3 Ra1+ 38.Kg2 Rb1 I missed this actually 39.Be8 Rxb4 40.Rd7 Rb8 41.Rd1 Kf6 42.Rf1+ Kg5 43.h4+ Kh6 44.Bc6 Rb2+ 45.Kh3 Rb3 46.Kg4 Rb4+ 47.Rf4 Rxf4+ 48.Kxf4 [48.gxf4] 48...Kh5 49.g4+?! Kh6 [49...Kxh4 50.g5 and i just go get him] 50.Bf3 Kg7 51.Ke5 Kh6? 52.Kf6! g5 53.hxg5# Again not a great game, but I took what he gave me. Before the tournament I wanted to take things slow, but I think I took things *too* slow this game 1-0

CL - CS
November Open London, ON (3), 25.11.2006
B10 - Caro-Kann : Breyer Variation

An interesting game, probably the best one I played at this tournament. I had a little extra incentive here, me and Chris both drove down together and he was rated lower than me. My tournament was going not so great because of the first round, so in order to get a tough matchup the last round I had to win. I mentioned to the TD that we were from the same club could he change the pairings (there were many people there) and he said something along the lines of "it works for the computer". I just assumed he was a moron and went from there 1.e4 c6 [THe night before the game I was going through some of his books and he had the Voronezh line highlighted v. the Alekhine which is strong 1...Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.c4 Nb6 5.exd6 cxd6 6.Nc3 g6 7.Be3 Bg7 8.Rc1 etc. I couldn't remember what he played against the Caro-Kann, so I figured I'd trot out the old reliable] 2.d3 d5 3.Nd2 e5 4.Ngf3 Bg4 5.g3 [McClelland-C.Sadler 2005 went 5.c3 Nf6 6.Qb3 Qc7 but Christian wanted to play it closer to a King's Indian Attack than a Colle] 5...Nd7 6.Bg2 Ngf6 7.0-0 Bd6 [7...dxe4 8.Nxe4 Nxe4 9.dxe4] 8.b3?! [8.h3 trying me to get away from the pin instead of trying to move the bishop on the other diagonal] 8...0-0 9.Bb2 Re8 [I could've played 9...d4 but I didn't want to encourage him to play c3] 10.Qe1 a5 I wanted to play d4 and keep him from trying to outflank me with a b-pawn push if i tried something like ...d4, ...c5 11.a4 d4 12.c3 c5 13.c4 [I wasn't so sure about my move after I made it becae of 13.Nc4 but he avoided that 13...Nb6 14.Nfd2 (14.Nxd6 Qxd6 and his bishop is not the strongest) ] 13...Nb8 Aiming for b4 14.Nh4 Qd7 15.f4 [15.f3] 15...Nc6 16.Ba3 Prophylactic as he will be happy to trade off his crappy bishop for my strong knight on b4 (if i put it there) 16...b6?! [I had to play 16...exf4 here] 17.f5! I didn't see how strong this was until he played it 17...Be7 18.h3 Bh5 [18...Bxh3 19.Bxh3 g5! 20.Nhf3 (20.fxg6 Qxh3) 20...g4] 19.Bf3? [This move lets me out 19.g4 Bxg4 20.hxg4 Nxg4 would have been stronger for him] 19...Bxf3 20.Ndxf3 Bd8 I can't remember what the idea was here. Probably to let the rook cover the e-pawn. 21.g4 h6 22.Qg3 Nh7 23.Ng6? Not a good sacrifice. Just drops material in my opinion 23...fxg6 24.fxg6 Ng5 [24...Nf8 just grabbed the pawn. I don't know why I just didn't play that. I guess i missed that the h4 was guarded by the bishop 25.Nh4 Bxh4] 25.Nh4 Ne6 26.Rf7? [He missed the tactic. The line he played traded material. Probably something like 26.Bc1 would have been better] 26...Bxh4 27.Qxh4 [27.Rxd7?? Bxg3] 27...Re7 28.Raf1 Rf8 [The computer liked 28...Nf4! disconnecting the rooks, attacking g6 and d3] 29.R7f5 Nf4 Better late than never ;) 30.Rxf8+ Kxf8 31.Bc1 Kg8 [31...Qd6 32.Qh5 Kg8] 32.Bxf4 exf4 33.Rxf4= he offered a draw. I couldn't in good conscience take it, even though we're friends and he gave me a ride down. His pawns are weak and I'm up material. He is going to drop the g-pawn and likely the d-pawn as well. Once his d-pawn falls the game is over 33...Nb4 34.Rf3 Qe8 35.Qh5 Re6 [35...Re5 36.Qh4 Qxg6 But i wanted to tie up all loose ends and defend the b-pawn] 36.Qh4 Qxg6 37.Qg3 Rf6! 38.Qb8+ Kh7 39.Rf5 Nxd3 It's tough now 40.Rd5 Qxe4 41.Qg3 Qe1+ [41...Rf3 42.Qxf3 or mate] 42.Qxe1 Nxe1 43.Rf5?! Funny decision trading off rooks 43...Nf3+ 44.Kf2 Rxf5 45.gxf5 Nd2 46.Ke2 Nxb3 47.h4 Kg8 48.h5 Kf7 49.Kd3 Kf6 50.Kc2 at this point i don't care about the knight 50...Kxf5 51.Kxb3 Kg5 52.Kc2 Kxh5 The most interesting game I played all tournament 0-1

CS - HO
November Open London, ON (4), 25.11.2006
D15 - Slav Defense

And now for my worst game of the tournament. I can give the usual excuses, but once again, I just missed something obvious. Tactical training is what I need 1.c4 c6 2.d4 [For about two seconds I thought about going for the Panov after 2.e4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.d4 but really if I wanted to play 1.e4 i should've played it on the first move] 2...d5 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 b6?! NEver seen this before. It doesn't make much sense with the pawn on c6 unless he goes to a6. Was he worried about me playing cxd? 5.Bg5 e6 [5...dxc4 6.e4 b5] 6.e3 Be7 [6...Ba6 was interesting here] 7.Bd3 dxc4 8.Bxc4 Ba6 9.Bxa6 Nxa6 I'm very happy with my position here. I could always tempo the knight, but there was no need to make him move to a better square. There was always the threat of a double attack as well 10.0-0 0-0 11.Rc1 Rc8? 12.a3? Missing a free pawn. [12.Qa4 Nb8 13.Qxa7;
12.Bxf6 Bxf6 13.Qa4 Nc7 14.Qxc6] 12...c5 13.Qe2 [13.Qa4 may have been more to the point] 13...Nb8 14.dxc5 Rxc5 15.Rfd1 Qc7 16.Nb5 [16.Bf4] 16...Qb7 17.Rxc5 Bxc5 18.Bxf6 gxf6 Now again I have a better position. Notice that the only thing I have to worry about it mate on g2 19.Nbd4 ["Interestingly in the last game you also had the queen and two knights and your opponents weakened king position. Instead of 19.Nbd4 quite quickly I came up with 19.Qc4 with the idea of first swinging the queen over to the h or g file and then after b4 the rook to d4 and h4. It makes me wonder if you are still doing problems (this is what problems do for you - help you zero in on the target - in this position the BC5 and the weakened black kingside are targets;
A positional player would concentrate on owning the c-file with perhaps 19.Rc1 first, and then pawn to b4 to kick the bishop but the queen is much more active on c4" (HJ);
I wasthinking about maybe 19.Nd6 Bxd6 20.Rxd6 and again his knight is not the best piece on the board] 19...Kh8 20.b4 Be7 21.Qb2 Rg8 The threat now is ...e5. White to play and lose

22.Ne2?? [Probably even 22.Kh1 would have been sufficient] 22...Qxf3 A poor ending to an indifferent tournament 0-1

i did relearn a lesson this tournament - if they go out of theory, normally it's not theory for a tactical reason. i need to look harder all the way through, but just as much once they go out of theory as any. also i need to look at the board (see games 1 and 4)

wilt v. bobby

2006-11-13T19:44:00.000-05:00

i read this on Uschess.org

Wilt & Bobby: Not a Random Encounter

NBAE Getty Images.by David Friedman

Chess is a matter of delicate judgment, knowing when to punch and how to duck."—Bobby Fischer
“Not unlike Mike Tyson, a later world champion from Brooklyn, Bobby Fischer loved to intimidate.”—Dick Schaap

“Where there’s a Wilt, there’s a way.”—Wilt Chamberlain

In his memoir Flashing Before My Eyes, Dick Schaap recounts having dinner with Wilt Chamberlain at the Hall of Fame center’s palatial Bel Air home. Schaap, the only person ever to serve as a voter for both the Heisman Trophy and the Tony Awards, loved to bring together eminent people from different fields and watch the sparks fly. He became acquainted with Bobby Fischer in the late 1950s and knew that the World Chess Champion was in the area, so he asked Chamberlain to invite him over. Schaap writes that Fischer expressed a great interest in seeing Chamberlain’s house but ultimately declined the invitation. Of course, much of Fischer’s post-1972 activities are shrouded in secrecy. At least one account suggests that he did in fact join Chamberlain that evening, just after Schaap had left…

Wilt Chamberlain was known to the general public as “Wilt the Stilt,” a nickname that only an unimaginative hack could love (or write). His friends called him “Big Dipper,” or “Dipper,” or even “Dippy” in reference to how the 7-foot, 300 pound basketball playing legend had to dip his head to go through doorways that were only designed to accommodate mere mortals.

Like the Greek gods who lived atop Mt. Olympus, Chamberlain resided in a sprawling pleasure palace with a majestic view. While the Olympians took their name from the mountain where they dwelled, Chamberlain named his house after himself: Ursa Major, the constellation containing the group of stars called the Big Dipper.

Ursa Major sat on a hilltop overlooking Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley. The house’s most famous feature was the 10-foot long, triangular section of the roof that was retractable, providing an impressive view of the sparkling California sky. Bobby Fischer once dreamed of living in a house shaped like a rook and containing spiral staircases, so how could he resist an invitation to Chamberlain’s house, with its chrome spiral staircase, 20-foot high ceiling and one of a kind furnishings?

Chamberlain, who favored comfort over formality—particularly when he was at home—was barefoot and wearing only shorts and a tank top when he greeted Fischer. The World Chess Champion, clad in a tailor made suit from Argentina that had seen better days, gripped Chamberlain’s huge, outstretched hand a bit tentatively, his eyes guardedly taking in the mammoth basketball legend and the elegantly decorated home. They walked inside. Fischer looked around the house in silent appreciation.

"Hey, my man,” Chamberlain said enthusiastically. “Check this out.” Chamberlain directed Fischer’s attention to a one of a kind chess set: handcrafted pieces made out of real ivory sitting atop a gorgeous wooden board. Fischer picked up one of the pieces, delicately held it with his long, pianist-like fingers and nodded approvingly: “This is really first class.”

Chamberlain—an avid chess and backgammon player—challenged Fischer to a game. Fischer was reluctant but Chamberlain, whose eagerness to master new challenges was only exceeded by his boastfulness about his prowess, persisted: “I’m undefeated here. I never lose at cards or backgammon and I’ve yet to find a good challenge in chess.”

Fischer agreed to play, but said that to make things fair he would turn his back and announce his moves without sight of the board. He took white and played his customary e4. Chamberlain responded with d5, employing the Center Counter, his favorite defense.

The game unfolded rhythmically, a dance of the minds punctuated by each player calling out his move. Fischer declared his moves quickly and with great self assurance. Chamberlain was equally self assured, but deliberated over each move like a gourmand reading a restaurant menu*.

White: Fischer, Bobby
Black: Chamberlain, Wilt

1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qd8 4.d4 g6 5.Bf4 Bg7 6.Qd2 Nf6 7.O-O-O c6 8.Bh6 O-O 9.h4 Qa5 10.h5 Nxh5 11.Be2 Nf6 12.Bxg7 Kxg7 13.Qh6+ Kg8 14.g4 Rd8 15.g5 Nh5 16.Bxh5 gxh5 17.Rxh5 Bf5 18.g6 fxg6 19.Re1 e6 20.Qxh7+ Kf8 21.Qh8+ Ke7 22.Rh7+ Kd6 23.Nb5+ cxb5 24.Qe5+ Kc6 25.Qc5# 1-0

Chamberlain shook his head. “I’ve never lost so quickly at anything.”

“You didn’t have a chance against me with that line,” Fischer replied. “I refuted that whole variation more than 10 years ago. One guy tried 10…gxh5 against me, but he didn’t last any longer than you did.”

Chamberlain, never one to either easily accept defeat or avoid a debate, considered this for a moment and said, “You just played this whole game from memory. You didn’t really outthink me. If we set the pieces up at random, I’ll bet I could beat you because you couldn’t use any of your pet lines.” Granted, that might not sound logical to an outside observer, but if you spent your whole life doing outsized things that nobody else could come close to doing then you might be able to convince yourself that beating Bobby Fischer can be accomplished by changing the starting position of the pieces.

Chamberlain set up the board to start another game, but after putting the pawns on their usual squares he put the rooks where the knights should go, put the bishops on the rooks’ home squares, placed each knight on bishop one and transposed the king and queen. “Let’s play again.” Fischer looked at the new formation for about 10 seconds, then turned his back and announced his first move. Within minutes Chamberlain’s position looked more bedraggled than the New York Knicks did when he scored 100 points against them. Chamberlain looked at the board silently. Chamberlain knew what Schaap would say: “Maybe you should play blindfolded. Then at least you won’t have to see the carnage.”

Undaunted, Chamberlain set up the board with yet another different starting alignment and the two men resumed combat. What happens when two stubborn insomniacs are determined to prove that they are right? In this case, an all night session of a variant form of chess. Chamberlain was right that shifting the starting formation rendered Fischer’s knowledge of book openings useless—but that actually increased Fischer’s advantage, because he could fully utilize his well honed creativity and positional understanding. Chamberlain, on the other hand, could neither play the opening lines that he knew nor could he devise suitable alternatives.

Chamberlain grew more and more frustrated but Fischer saw the light—and it wasn’t just the rays of the early morning sun shining through the retractable roof: this type of “shuffle chess” had real possibilities. Chamberlain never did win a game, so he shifted the contest to a different level: what the new game should be called. Chamberlain favored “Dipper Chess” or “Ursa Major Chess.” Fischer retorted, “Who is going to play something called ‘Dipper Chess’? Besides, I’m the World Champion and I won every game, so it should be named after me.”

When Fischer left Chamberlain’s house, no one knew that—other than an unscheduled engagement in a Pasadena jailhouse—he would not be seen in public for nearly two decades. When he came back, he was heavier, had more facial hair and was a little more (ahem) eccentric and he also spoke of a new version of chess that would stump computers, eliminate pre-arranged draws and revitalize the sport: Fischer Random Chess.

So how come Chamberlain’s autobiography didn’t mention his role in creating Fischer Random Chess? The answer is simple: he did mention it in the first draft but one all-nighter of chess versus Bobby Fischer inexplicably did not make the cut over 20,000 other “nights” that Chamberlain enjoyed. Oh, one more thing--that digital clock that Fischer patented and has become standard fare at chess tournaments—there is a great story about its creation, but that will have to wait for later…

one win, one loss

2006-10-21T09:04:00.000-04:00

C - CL
October G30 Owen Sound (3), 18.10.2006
D45 - Semi-Slav

This was just at the end of the Kramnik-Topalov match so I wanted to try the move order that they did 1.c4 c6 2.d4 [I did think about turning it into a Panov, but next time maybe 2.e4 ] 2...d5 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 a la Kramnik-Topalov 4...e6 5.Nc3 Bb4?! This is just a bad Nimzo I would think (...c5 in two moves instead of one). Grob, Szabo, Ratmir Kholmov and Hubner have all played it. 6.Qc2 [Apparently 6.Bd3 is the closest to a "book" move but I was playing my nimzo line. I guess I would get e4 in two moves instead of one here though)] 6...dxc4 [6...Nbd7 is the "book" move as well] 7.Bxc4 0-0 8.0-0 Bxc3 I'm very happy here. Not only did he let me develop my light squared bishop. He voluntarily gave up the bishop pair as well 9.Qxc3 b6 10.Rd1 c5 11.Bd3 Nc6 12.dxc5 Ne4 13.Qc2 Nb4 14.Bxe4 [14.Qc4! is stronger 14...Nxd3 (14...bxc5 15.Qxe4 Nxd3 16.Rxd3) 15.Rxd3] 14...Nxc2 15.Rxd8 Rxd8 16.Bxc2 Bb7 17.cxb6 axb6 18.e4? Not the greatest, but it just drops a pawn [18.Kf1 was better ;
18.Ne1 Rac8 19.f3 Rd6 20.Kf2] 18...Bxe4 [18...Bxe4 and I resign ??? 19.Bb3 was not great, but I still have two pieces for the rook. Not fabulous by me] 0-1

second game of the night...

CL - C
October G30 Owen Sound (4), 18.10.2006
A07 - King's Indian Attack

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 [I half expected 2.b3 after advising him on ways to stop 1. ...e5 last week. We played this line up to move 7 in our "match"] 2...g6 3.Bg2 Bg7 4.0-0 c6 5.d3 d5 6.Nbd2 0-0 7.e4 Bg4 [In the previous game I played 7...dxe4 and this was good enough] 8.Qe1 Nbd7 9.e5 Bxf3?? [9...Ne8 was better] 10.Nxf3?? [10.exf6 Bxg2 11.fxg7 Bxf1 doesn't work be because 12.gxf8Q+ is check so he's up a piece] 10...Ng4 11.d4 e6 Now I'm just playing a funky Caro-Kann Advanced 12.h3 Nh6 13.Nh2 Qb6 [I wanted to stop him from developing quite so easily but maybe reentering my knight into the game with 13...Nf5 was better] 14.c3 c5 15.Be3 Nf5 16.dxc5? [16.Nf3] 16...Nxc5 [16...Qxb2 and lots is gonna fall 17.Ng4 Nxe3] 17.b4? [This was weak, making the c-pawn a backwards pawn and a big target for me 17.f4 protecting the hanging e-pawn may have been better 17...Nxe3 18.Qxe3 Rac8] 17...Nxe3 18.Qxe3 Na4 19.Qxb6 Nxb6 20.f4 Rac8 21.Rac1 Na4?! [21...f6 to try and activate the bishop;
or 21...Rc4 to try and double up on the c-pawn and then eventually win it] 22.c4! dxc4 [22...Rxc4 23.Rxc4 dxc4 24.Bxb7 f6 (24...Rb8!? 25.Bc6 Rxb4 26.a3 Rb3 27.Bxa4 Rxg3+ 28.Kf2 Rxa3) ] 23.Bxb7 Rc7 [23...Rb8 24.Bc6 Rxb4 25.a3 Rb3 26.Bxa4 Rxg3+ 27.Kf2 Rxa3 28.Rxc4 Rxh3 is similar to the line above] 24.Ba6 Nb2 [The simple 24...c3 as White can't easily get at my knight. If he tries something like 25.Bb5 Nb6 26.Nf3 Rfc8 27.a3 Nd5 and I'm set] 25.Ng4 Nd3 [25...Rb8 26.b5 h5 27.Ne3 c3 28.Nd1 Nxd1 29.Rfxd1 f6 and my dark square bishop is better than his terrible light squared bishop, which does nothing except keep a rook out of c3] 26.Rxc4 Rxc4 27.Bxc4 Nxb4 It's pretty equal here without my c-pawn 28.a4 Rc8 29.Ne3 a5 [I could've tried my 29...Bf8 move here.] 30.g4 [30.Kf2] 30...Bf8 31.Rc1 Bc5 32.Kf2 Nd3+

Aagaard says you should record three things you learn from each game...instead of each game I'm going to do for each session

1) Aagard has said in his books to focus on improving your worst piece. For the longest time, my worst piece was my dark squared bishop and (funnilly enough) once I got it activated I won the game. So I need to consciously involved improving my worst piece versus forcing play like what I was doing with my knight in the second game

2) I need to work harder over the board and calculate. In the first game I just kinda closed my eyes, instead of sitting there for 5 minutes. Also I resigned when it wasn't even lost. I need to make myself calculate. General principles can only do so much for you

3) If I'm going to do this, I need to take it more seriously. Yes I have a lot of stress at work but neither one of us took more than 15 minutes per and I even wanted to skip the whole session and play blitz. These games are the only serious games i get per week, so I should take them seriously. 0-1

October 4th 2-0

2006-10-05T07:53:00.000-04:00

CL - C
October G30 Owen Sound (1), 04.10.2006
A01 - Nimzo-Larsen

First game v. Chris at my place. He will be coming by a couple of times per month for games. My goal is to have him beat me 2/3 so I can get stronger :) 1.b3 e5 [Normally I would play 1...f5 but he said he would play 2.e4 the other day so I bite the bullet and play] 2.e4 f5!? 3.f3?? Just terrible 3...fxe4 4.fxe4 Qh4+ 5.g3 Qxe4+ 6.Qe2 Qxh1 7.Nf3 [He can try and take the pawn but 7.Qxe5+ Ne7 8.Ne2 Nbc6 is tough] 7...d6 8.Bb2 Bg4! 9.Kf2 Forced 9...Qxf3+ 10.Qxf3 Bxf3 11.Kxf3 Nf6 12.Bc4 d5 13.Bf1 Nbd7 14.Bh3 e4+ 15.Ke2 Bc5 16.Nc3 c6 17.Rd1 0-0 18.a3 Rae8 19.Bc1 Ne5 20.Na4 Bd6 21.d3? exd3+ 22.cxd3 Neg4+ 23.Kd2 Nxh2 24.Nc3 d4 25.Ne2? Nf3+ Not much to say. I was basically better throughout 0-1

C - CL
October G30 Owen Sound (2), 04.10.2006
D15 - Slav

Second game (we're gonna try and play two actives a night). I was gonna try some anti-Sicilian, but I thought why not see what he has v. the Slav 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bf5?! 5.Qb3! is the strongest in positions like this or after [5.cxd5 cxd5 6.Qb3] 5...Qd7? an inaccuracy [5...Qb6;
or even the pedestrian 5...b6 6.cxd5 cxd5 7.Bf4] 6.Bg5? [6.cxd5 cxd5 7.Ne5 Qc7 8.Bf4 is strong] 6...dxc4 7.Qxc4 b5 8.Qb3 Ne4? Too ambitious when he's undeveloped. 9.Nxe4 [9.Ne5! was better 9...Qe6 (9...Qc8 10.Nxe4 Bxe4 11.Qxf7+) 10.Qxe6 fxe6 (10...Bxe6 11.Nxe4) 11.Nxe4 Bxe4 12.f3] 9...Bxe4 10.Ne5 Not as strong now 10...Qd5 11.Qxd5 cxd5? [11...Bxd5 and I'm better but he's fine 12.Nd3 e6 13.f3] 12.Rc1 Na6? [12...Nd7 was better, but he didn't want to corrupt his king position. The truth is that he's underveloped and the kings are off] 13.e3 Rb8? 14.Bxb5+ Kd8 15.Nxf7# a nice finish by me, terrible by him 1-0

london fall open 2/4

2006-10-01T21:06:00.000-04:00

it was a one section tournament. i scored 2/4 with poor play generally. i was upset that demmery played 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e5 v. me and i resigned prematurely in that game, and then in round 3 he played an advanced caro and ended up with an isolated pawn on d6, so i mentally resigned for him, figuring that my king would get to d6 first to help and i'd just be a pawn up. i ended up getting into a tough position and just made a horrible, terrible blunder (this was v. a 1359 kid). my two wins were non-games v. a 1220 and a 821 (!)

C - TW
Fall Open London, ON (1), 30.09.2006
E74 - King's Indian : Averbakh Variation, ...c5

First game of the London Fall Open. It was a one-section tournament. My buddy and me drove down. It was nice to have someone to talk to...once he starts to think over the board and play less stereotypically he will be strong. He wants to go to Guelph this summer and get a FIDE rating with me...i'll have to get stronger but i'm in ;) This guy was a kid who didn't play too strongly 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Be2 0-0 6.Bg5 Nbd7 7.Qd2 c5 8.d5 Ne5? [This is all kinds of horrible. 8...a6 has been played in this position] 9.f4 [Fritz likes 9.Nf3 as well, but I think my move is just as good.] 9...Neg4? [9...Ned7 is completely playable] 10.h3 Nh6 [10...h6 11.Bh4 g5 is good for me] 11.0-0-0 [I didn't want to play forced moves, and he couldn't really get out of it so I held off on f5 but 11.g4! was even better! 11...Bd7 12.f5 gxf5 13.Bxh6 Bxh6 14.Qxh6 fxe4 is a tempo ahead] 11...Bd7 12.f5 gxf5 13.Bxh6 Bxh6 14.Qxh6 fxe4 15.g4 Kh8 16.g5 Ng8 17.Qh4 e6 18.Nxe4 exd5 19.Nf6 Nxf6 20.gxf6 Qe8 21.Bd3 Qe3+ 22.Kb1 h6 23.Nf3 dxc4 [23...Qxf3 24.Qxh6+ Kg8 25.Qg7#] 24.Rhe1 Qxd3+ 25.Rxd3 Bf5 26.Qxh6+ Bh7 27.Qg7# Not great by him, but it was nice to get a checkmate 1-0

C-SD
Fall Open London, ON (2), 30.09.2006
A51 - Budapest : Fajarowicz variation

Taking on the top seed in the tournament. Expert level is what I'm aiming for long term, so this is the level I want to be playing at. Unfortunately I got two whites in a row, it would have been nice to *waste* a black v. this guy :) 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e5!? Ga! There's a reason why I used to play Nf3 before d4 and this is one of them 3.dxe5 Ne4 Ga! Ga! [I had gotten 3...Ng4 semi-regularly online, so now (unfortunately) I'm on my own. I remembered that historically, Bisguier had played it but that's about it] 4.Qc2?! [Alekhine has had this played against him by Tartakower and he played 4.Nd2 and if 4...Bb4 (4...Nc5 5.Ngf3 Nc6 6.g3 Qe7 7.Bg2 g6 8.Nb1 Nxe5 9.0-0 Nxf3+ 10.exf3 Bg7 11.Re1 Ne6 12.Nc3 0-0 13.Nd5 Qd8 14.f4 c6 15.Nc3 d6 16.Be3 Qc7 17.Rc1 Bd7 18.Qd2 Rad8 19.Red1 Bc8 20.Ne4 Nc5 21.Nxd6 Na4 22.c5 Nxb2 23.Re1 b5 24.cxb6 Qxd6 25.Qxd6 Rxd6 26.bxa7 Bb7 27.Bc5 Rdd8 28.Bxf8 Kxf8 29.Bxc6 Bxc6 30.Rxc6 Ra8 31.Rb6 Rxa7 32.Rb8# Alekhine-Tartakower 1932. This is a better line than what I played, definitely ;)) 5.Ngf3 -- 6.a3 "getting the two bishops". I definitely won't be so unprepared in the future. ] 4...d5 5.exd6 Bf5 6.Qb3 [In the past I have had 6.Nc3 Ng3 played against me and the computer claims that 7.Qa4+ Bd7 8.Nb5 is better for White, but it's definitely tricky. I need to work harder over the board] 6...Nc6 7.Nf3 [I wanted to play something like 7.g4 to kick the bishop by 7...Bxg4 8.Qxb7 Bd7] 7...Bxd6 8.e3 Bb4+ 9.Nc3 a5! A strong idea that I didn't see. Even after he played it I underestimated it's strength 10.Bd2 Nxd2 11.Nxd2 a4 12.Qd1 a3 13.Qb3 axb2 14.Qxb2 Qf6 15.Nd1 [15.Rc1 Ba3 16.Qxb7 Ra7 17.Nd5 Qg6 -+] 15...Bxd2+ 16.Kxd2 0-0-0+ and I resigned, probably prematurely. It was gonna be tough though. My rook is completely out of play and it's gonna be tough to get him in. Plus I was tired from defending etc. etc. 0-1

EH - C
Fall Open London, ON (3), 30.09.2006
B12 - Caro-Kann : Advanced Variation

1.e4 c6 2.Nf3 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.d4 e6 5.c4 Nd7 6.Nc3 Ne7 [6...h6 7.a3 Ne7 8.c5 a5 9.Bd2 Bg4 10.Be2 Nf5 11.Bc1 b6 12.cxb6 Qxb6 13.Na4 Qa7 14.Be3 c5 15.dxc5 Nxe3 16.fxe3 Bxc5 17.Nxc5 Qxc5 18.Rc1 Qxe3 19.h3 Bxf3 20.gxf3 Qxe5 21.Rg1 0-0 22.Qd2 Rfb8 23.Rb1 d4 24.Kf2 Rb3 25.Rxg7+ Kxg7 26.Rg1+ Kf8 27.Qxh6+ Ke7 28.Qh4+ Nf6 29.Rg5 Qe3+ 30.Kf1 Rxb2 31.Rg2 Rb1+ Alne-Hersvik NOR-ch Junior 2001 0-1;
I wonder if I shouldn't have played relatively "normally" and played this 6...Bb4 7.Bd2 dxc4 8.Bxc4] 7.Be3 [7.Be2 dxc4 8.Bxc4 Nb6 9.Be2 Ned5 10.0-0 Be7 11.a4 a5 12.Re1 Nb4 13.Rf1 Nc2 14.Ra2 0-0 15.b3 Nb4 16.Rd2 N4d5 17.Bb2 Nxc3 18.Bxc3 Nd5 19.Bb2 Bb4 Nicholson-Medvegy Cork Congress 2005 0-1] 7...Qc7? [7...dxc4;
or 7...Qb6 was better. My queen is exposed to harassment from the knight on c7] 8.Bd3 dxc4 [After waiting so long for him to move his bishop I didn't even look (at the strong) 8...Bxd3 9.Qxd3 dxc4 10.Qxc4 Nb6 11.Qb3 for instance 11...Ned5 and I'm better] 9.Bxc4 c5?? [9...Nb6 was better. I didn't even notice that d5 was mine for the taking;
"You were obviously affected still in your 3rd game. Instead of playing solid as you started to do - you uncorked the howler 9. ...c5? which would have allowed 10.Nb5 winning if your opponent had seen it. You had a great position with just 9...a6 preparing 10.-- c5 (or even 10...0-0-0 before playing ...c5" (HJ)) ] 10.0-0 [10.Nb5!] 10...cxd4 [you further compounded your troubled by playing cxd4 before you were properly set up. (again just 10...a6 " (HJ)] 11.Qxd4 [11.Nb5!] 11...Nc6 12.Nb5 finally, but it is not as strong now 12...Qd8 13.Qd2 a6? "You finally played a6 when it was too late goading him into Nd6+ which was great for him (all his pieces were active) Instead of finding counterplay you traded off pieces and allowed him to come in. Obviously you were not yourself in that game." (HJ) [13...Ncxe5! and I'm better 14.Nxe5 Nxe5 15.Qc3 (15.Qxd8+ Rxd8 16.Be2 a6 17.Nc7+ Kd7) 15...Nxc4;
13...Ndxe5 14.Qxd8+ Rxd8 15.Nxe5 Nxe5] 14.Nd6+ Bxd6 15.exd6 0-0 16.Nd4 Nxd4 17.Qxd4 Rc8 18.Rac1 Nf6 [18...e5 19.Qd2 b5 20.Bb3 Qf6 (20...Rxc1 21.Rxc1 Nf6 22.Qc3) ] 19.Rfd1 Qd7 20.Bb3 Rxc1 21.Rxc1 Rc8? [21...Rd8 22.Rc7 Qxd6 23.Qxd6;
21...Nd5 22.Bxd5 exd5 23.Qxd5 Be6 24.Qd1 Rd8 25.Bb6] 22.Rxc8+ Qxc8 23.Qb6 Nd7 [23...Nd5 24.Bxd5 exd5 25.Qc7 and now my bishop is guarding that diagonal] 24.Qd4 b5 25.Qa7 h6 [25...Be4 and again making my bishop useful] 26.Qc7 Qe8 27.Bd1 e5 [27...Be4 again] 28.Qc6 Nb8?? [28...a5 29.Qxb5 Qe6 30.Qxa5 Qxd6 Not a great game at all] 1-0

DD - C
Fall Open London, ON (4), 30.09.2006
B11 - Caro-Kann : Two Knights Variation

Not much to say about this one. The guy was an elderly gentleman and he said his rating was 821 "and he earned every point of it" 1.e4 c6 2.Nf3 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bg4 5.Be2 Nd7 6.Neg5 h6 7.d4 hxg5 8.Nxg5 Bxe2 9.Qxe2 Ngf6 10.Qc4 e6 11.0-0 Qc7 12.Bd2?? Qxh2# 0-1

excelling at chess

2006-09-24T19:56:00.000-04:00

i just finished Jacob Aagaard's excellent book Excelling at Chess this evening. i've been putting a ton of time in working on chess and hopefully it will pay off this weekend in London

"Pretend It's For Fun"

2006-09-24T06:26:00.000-04:00

All summer Bev Turner ran an unrated active "Grand Prix" with kids and adults. This was the last (I played in the first one as well). Before the tournament, a little girl started crying and said she just wanted to play for fun, not a tournament and my opponent said to her "Just pretend it's for fun". It made me chuckle.

KP - C
September Grand Prix Owen Sound, ON (1), 23.09.2006
B12 - Caro-Kann : Advanced Variation

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.c3 e6 5.Bd3 Bxd3 6.Qxd3 Ne7 7.Nf3 Nd7 8.Nbd2 c5 9.0-0 Nc6 10.Re1 Be7 11.Rb1 0-0 12.b4? cxd4 13.b5 Na5 14.cxd4 Rc8 15.Nb3 Nc4 16.Nfd2 Ndb6 17.Nxc4 dxc4 18.Qe4 cxb3 19.Rxb3 Nd5 [There's not much to be said about this game. I wanted to put the knight on d5 (best square on the board) but maybe I should've played 19...Qd5 if 20.Qxd5 (and if 20.Qg4 Rfd8 21.Bh6 g6 i'm just a piece up and maybe even more) 20...Nxd5 and I have the same positiona s the game except no queens] 20.Rh3 g6 21.Bh6 Re8 22.Rh5 Bf8 [22...gxh5 Of course! I missed that he couldn't check me on the g-file. The silliest things you miss. I need to focus] 23.Qf3 gxh5 24.Qg3+ Kh8 25.h4 Bxh6 0-1

C - K
September Grand Prix Owen Sound, ON (2), 23.09.2006
D80 - Grünfeld : Stockholm Variation

I always hate playing K in tournaments. Luckily that was an unrated so we could "really" play (normally we just play like a Slav Exchange or a Zaitsev Ruy Lopez or a Larsen Alekhine and get a repetition of moves or a lifeless draw). This was not the greatest game by me, but I did win due to a huge blunder. K mentioned just before the game that he wanted this to be our next game of the match. 1.d4 d5 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nc3?! [I can try and punish him for the funny move order with 3.cxd5 Nxd5 4.Nf3 -- 5.e4 etc., but I was curious to see what he had in mind.] 3...g6 I was kinda surprised because he mentioned playing the King's Indian before. 4.Bg5 Ne4 5.Bh4 Bg7 6.e3 [I couldn't have grabbed the pawn here as the king is still guarding the e-pawn 6.cxd5 Nxc3 7.bxc3 Qxd5 8.Nf3;
and 6.Nxd5 g5 is fine for Black] 6...c6 7.cxd5?! [A more natural plan would have been something like 7.Nge2 then f3 so i could kick the knight and (eventually) move my bishop off the d8-h4 diagonal as he has done his job there] 7...Qa5 8.Qc2 [Again 8.Nge2 was better] 8...Nxc3 9.bxc3 [9.Qxc3 was better, as if he avoids the queen trade 9...Qxd5 10.Nf3 Bg4 11.Bc4 and I get a tempo on his queen as well as I can develop 11...Qd6 (11...Qd7 12.Ne5!) 12.Qb3! of course all this is easier to see at home. Again I need to try and work harder over the board] 9...cxd5 10.Nf3 Bf5! I'm in a tough position here. I wanted to recapture on c4 with the bishop but I never was able to play c4 11.Bd3 [11.Qd2 was stronger allowing me to play c4 and if 11...-- 12.c4 Qxd2+ 13.Nxd2 allowing me to play f3 again. Going over this game has really opened my eyes to what I've been doing wrong in this line (v. blitz games and others where I don't analyze)] 11...Bxd3 12.Qxd3 Nd7 13.0-0 e5! I found this move to be strong...maybe at a higher level this would be weak, but I missed this altogether. Now, possibly, my bishop is the weakest piece on the board once he castles and he threatens e4. Also, a capture with the pawn would isolate my c-pawn, which will drop once the bishop gets involved. This is my reasoning for 14.e4 [Fritz likes 14.dxe5 Nxe5 15.Nxe5 Bxe5 16.Rad1! of course! I missed that the d-pawn would be hanging and the "useless" (to paraphrase myself) bishop is guarding d8 so it's just a trade. I need to look deeper. 16...Bxc3 17.Qxd5 Qxd5 18.Rxd5] 14...0-0 15.Be7? I want him to make the first move in the center, but this "idea" by me is just horrible. My reasoning is that I want to get the bishop to a better diagonal, so my idea was to play Be7 then Bb4 "tempoing" his rook and queen. The main point was to tempo the queen as I didn't like defending that c-pawn. The problem with my idea is that it moves my bishop to a weaker square (what happens when he plays ...a5) *and* moves his rook and queen to more aggressive positions. Again, it was an active game, but I should have had enough time to figure that out [15.Nd2 dxe4 (15...f5 16.exd5 e4 17.Qe3) 16.Nxe4 with the idea of f3] 15...Rfe8 16.Bb4? Just brutal 16...dxe4! 17.Qxe4 Qc7 18.Nxe5 [What do I play here? 18.Rac1 maybe 18...a5 19.Ba3 exd4 (19...Nf6 20.Qc2) 20.cxd4 Qxc1 (20...Qxh2+ 21.Kxh2 Rxe4) 21.Qxe8+ Rxe8 22.Rxc1] 18...f6?? [18...Nxe5 19.dxe5 Bxe5 20.Qf3 and I lose something (h-pawn or c-pawn);
18...a5 19.Ba3 and the same sort of thing] 19.Qd5+ [and he resigns not allowing the smothered mate. 19.Qd5+ Kh8 20.Nf7+ Kg8 21.Nh6+ Kh8 22.Qg8+ Rxg8 23.Nf7# Not a strong game by me, I mixed it up where I shouldn't necessarily have and got a horrid position. But I learned a lot about playing the 4.Bg5 line in the Grünfeld so it was worth it.] 1-0

SP - C
September Grand Prix Owen Sound, ON (3), 23.09.2006
B18 - Caro-Kann : Classical Variation

1.e4 c6 2.Nc3 d5 3.d4 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.Nf3 Nd7 7.Nh4 Ngf6 8.Nxg6 hxg6 9.Be3 e6 10.Bg5 Qb6 11.Bc1 Bd6 12.b3 Bxg3 [12...Bb4+ 13.Bd2 Qxd4] 13.fxg3 Ne4 14.Qd3 Qb4+ The reason why I did this was that I wanted to aim for some endgames this tournament... 15.Bd2 Nxd2 16.Qxd2 Qxd2+ 17.Kxd2 Nf6 18.Bd3 0-0-0 19.c3 Ng4 20.h3 Nf2 21.Rhf1 Nxd3 22.Kxd3 f6 23.Rae1 e5 24.Ke4 exd4 25.cxd4 Rhe8+ 26.Kd3 Rxe1 27.Rxe1 c5 28.Re4 f5 29.Re7 Rxd4+ 30.Kc3 Rd7 31.Re6 Kc7 32.Rxg6 b6 33.Rg5 Rf7 34.h4 Kd6 35.h5 Ke5 36.g4 Kf4?? [36...Ke6 37.gxf5+ (37.Rg6+ Ke5 38.g5) 37...Kf6 38.Rg6+ Kxf5] 37.Rg6? [37.Rxf5+! Rxf5 38.gxf5 Kxf5 39.Kc4 1-0] 37...fxg4 38.h6 gxh6 39.Rxh6 Rg7 40.Rf6+ Kg3 41.Kc4 Kxg2 42.Kb5 g3 43.Rh6 Kg1 44.Rf6 g2 45.Ka6 Rh7 46.a4 Kh1 47.b4 cxb4 What can I take from this game? I won but he absolutely blundered after I blundered. 0-1

JL - C
September Grand Prix Owen Sound, ON (4), 23.09.2006
B10 - Caro-Kann : Hillbilly Variation

This was the other guy who was 3/3 at the tournament 1.e4 c6 2.Bc4 Hillbilly Variation 2...d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.Bb3 Nf6 5.d3 h6?! Not helping my development, but I wanted to end up protecting my d-pawn with ...e6, so i was hoping for something like [5...h6 6.Nf3 Bg4 7.-- e6;
Realistically I should've punished him for not playing d4 and just responded with 5...e5 ] 6.h3 Bf5 7.Qf3 Bg6 [Maybe 7...e6 instead?] 8.Bf4 e6 9.Ne2 Nc6 10.Nd2 Bd6 11.d4 Bxf4 12.Qxf4 0-0 13.c3 Rc8 Slowly improving my pieces. 14.g4 Ne4 15.Nxe4 Bxe4 16.f3 Qh4+ 17.Kd2 Bg6 18.Qg3 Why trade? Look at his position? 18...Qe7 19.h4 e5 20.Rae1 Na5 [I totally "forgot" that the d-pawn was hanging. I should've just carried on with 20...Rfd8 After 20. ...Na5 I figured I would trade off the bishop or he'd have to play Be1 and his king is stuck in the middle of the board.] 21.Bxd5 Rcd8 22.Qxe5?? Qxe5?? [22...Nc4+! won on the spot. ] 23.dxe5 Rxd5+ 24.Nd4 Nc4+ 25.Kc1 Nxe5 26.h5 Nd3+ 27.Kd2 Nxe1 28.Rxe1 Bh7 29.Re7 Rb8 30.f4 Kf8 31.Rc7 Bb1 32.a3 a6 33.Kc1 Ba2? Again like I said in all the other games, I won but I didn't particularly play well 34.b3 Rxd4 35.cxd4 Bxb3 36.Rd7 Be6 37.Rd6 Bxg4 38.Rd5 Ke7 39.Kd2 Rd8 40.Re5+ Kf6 41.Ke3 Rd6 42.d5 b5 43.Kd4 Bf3 44.Kc5 Rd8 [44...Rxd5+ 45.Rxd5 Bxd5 46.Kxd5 Kf5 47.Kc6 Kxf4 48.Kb6 Kg5 49.Kxa6 f5 50.Kxb5 and I win the race] 45.d6 g6 46.hxg6 fxg6 47.Re7 h5 48.Ra7 Be2 49.Rxa6 h4 50.d7+ Kf5 51.Kd6 h3 52.Ke7 Rxd7+ 53.Kxd7 h2 and Black eventually won. 0-1

C - BT
September Grand Prix Owen Sound, ON (5), 23.09.2006
E33 - Nimzo-Indian : Classical

1.d4 [Kirk had White against him earlier in the tournament and played 1.e4 d6 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.d4 against him, so I was hoping for a King's Indian] 1...d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 [I realize that 4.Nf3 is the "mainline" but Qc2 is what I play v. Nimzo so I wanted to try and transpose if possible] 4...Nc6 5.Nf3 Nf6 6.cxd5 Bxc3+ 7.Qxc3!? [I missed that he could tempo my queen with ...Nxd5 (I only saw he could tempo it from ...Ne4). If I was awake and saw ...Nxd5 I would've just played 7.bxc3 and got on with it. I guess the idea is that with the knight on d5 I can push e4 in one move with little preparation] 7...Nxd5 [7...Ne4 8.Qc2 exd5] 8.Qc2 Qd6 9.a3 [I was worried about 9.e4 Ndb4] 9...Bd7 10.e3?! 0-0-0 11.Bd3 h6 12.b4 e5? 13.b5! Nce7 14.Nxe5 Be6 15.0-0 f6 16.Ng6 Nxg6 17.Bxg6 h5 18.Bd2 h4 19.Bf5 g5 20.Rac1 b6 21.Bxe6+ Qxe6 22.e4 Rd7 23.exd5 Qxd5 24.Qc6 Qxc6 25.bxc6 [25.Rxc6] 25...Rxd4 26.Bc3 Rd6 27.Bb4 Rd3 28.Rfd1 Rhd8 29.Rxd3 Rxd3 30.Be7 h3 31.Bxf6 hxg2 32.Kxg2 Rxa3 33.Rd1

So I ended up with 5/5. I guess I need to work on tactics? 1-0

ICC 15+2

2006-09-21T22:42:00.000-04:00

C - NN [C's rating-40]
E73 - King's Indian : Averbakh Variation
ICC 15 2 Internet Chess Club, 21.09.2006

The closest thing I've played to a "real" game in a while. 15 minutes + 2 seconds on ICC. 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 c6!? Interesting. Never seen this before 4.e4 d6 [Kamsky played this once v. Kasparov and I figured my opponent would too 4...d5 ] 5.Be2 [5.Nf3 was "theoretically" stronger but I wanted to practice the Averbakh] 5...Bg7 6.Bg5 0-0 7.Qd2 This transposes to a relatively common line of the Averbakh (3. ...d6 4.e4 Bg7 5.Be2 O-O 6.Bg5 c6 7.Qd2) 7...e5 8.d5 Qb6 couldn't make the tactics work so I just played 9.f3 maybe I'll take up the Samisch in the future...this kind of setup (against the castled king mind you) works fairly well ;) I'm happy with Qd2 actually because now I don't have to worry about the b-pawn [9.dxc6 bxc6 10.Nf3 was recommended by Fritz, but that opens up the b-file for him to attack. Again I'm looking for a position that I'm able to play more than a theoretically advantageous one] 9...Nbd7 10.0-0-0 Threatening to play dxc6 now and win the d-pawn. 10...c5 11.h4 a5? Giving up a big hole on b4 for my knight, but how can he free himself? [11...Ne8 12.-- Ndf6 13.-- Bd7 is slow. It's time for me to attack;
11...Nh5 12.g4 Ng3 13.Rh3 Nxe2+ 14.Ngxe2 f6 may have been tougher] 12.g4 Qb4 13.Bh6 Nb6 [13...Bxh6 14.Qxh6 Nb6 15.h5 Nxc4 16.Bxc4 Qxc4 looks pretty similar to the game] 14.Bxg7 Kxg7 15.h5! I don't care about the pawn. Checkmate ends the game 15...Nxc4 16.Bxc4

Trading off his best piece which he moves three times, for my crappy bishop (look at all my pawns on the white squares) 16...Qxc4 17.hxg6 fxg6 [17...hxg6 18.Qh6+ Kg8 19.Qh8#;
17...h5 18.gxh5 looked tough too. The game's basically over now that I have the h-file open] 18.Qh6+ Kf7 [18...Kg8 19.g5 Nh5 20.Rxh5 gxh5 21.g6] 19.g5 Nxd5 [19...Nd7 20.Qxh7+ Ke8 21.Qxg6+ Kd8] 20.Qxh7+ Ke8 21.Qxg6+ Rf7 22.Rxd5 [22.Rh8+ doesn't work quite yet.] 22...Qf1+ 23.Rd1 Qc4 24.Rh8+ Black resigns It's kinda poor form to put a nice easy win up on the site, but normally I'm negative about my chess so here's a nice win ;) I have a tournament in 2 days as well so I want to keep positive. 1-0

best...day...ever...

2006-09-08T10:31:00.000-04:00

well it's not over yet so i can't tell if it's going to be the BEST day ever, but it's not even 10:30 and it's pretty damn good...

take a look at what came in the mail today 4 days early (!)!11!!11!!!1!!!!

oh yeah! oh fuckin' yeah!

so i'm curling up with some rum and 22 episodes of smallville this weekend :)

i love you Chapters, i love you Canada Post

non-chess related

2006-09-08T08:37:00.000-04:00

well i guess this is kinda chess related. a couple years ago on ICC i won second prize in the U1400 Marshall Attack tournament or something, so i wanted to put an ASCII belt on my profile. i googled and googled but nothign was to be found.

today i have fixed that problem.

here is my belt

the original picture is here

i think it turned out pretty good. the original website was www.asciiconvert.com and you can link or upload a picture and they will convert it to an ASCII image.

in a related note, i have found that they make an ASCII version of quake that can be played on dumb terminals. a link is here and here's a screenshot

i think it looks cool

one more down...two (or three) to go?

2006-09-05T09:23:00.000-04:00

today i finished Averbakh's Tactics for Advanced Players

i picked up Tal's life and games, but Hans said "Well you are allowed to enjoy yourself and there is nothing more fascinating than Tal's life and games - highest class of chess entertainment - but dont expect to learn much - however do read and enjoy!

I expect you are ready for Aagaard - try his Excelling at Chess first and then when you are done that try: Excelling at Positional Chess - those two books should take you well into the New Year."

so i might just work on Aagaard till 2007. that's why i'm paying him the big bucks ;)

Rounds 4 and 5

2006-08-26T11:20:00.000-04:00

C - K
G45 Owen Sound (4), 19.08.2006
B03 - Alekhine's Defense : Exchange Variation

1.e4 Nf6 The Alekhine from the Arch-Duke himself :) 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.c4 Nb6 5.exd6 cxd6 6.Nc3 g6 7.Be3 Bg7 8.Nf3 0-0 9.Bd3 Nc6 10.b3= [10.b3= and I offered a draw here because I had burned my hand on coffee and Jane was stomping around making noise, but Kirk showed me his idea of 10...f5 11.Qd2 and it looks strong. here's a line 11...e5 12.Bg5 Qc7 (12...Qe8 13.dxe5 dxe5 14.0-0 e4 15.c5 Nd7 (15...Nd5 16.Nxd5 exd3 17.Nc7 Qf7 18.Nxa8 Bxa1 19.Rxa1 Be6 20.Re1 Rxa8 21.Qxd3 Bd5 22.Bc1) 16.Bc4+ Kh8 17.Nb5 exf3 18.Rae1 Nde5 19.Nc7 fxg2 20.Kxg2 Nxc4 21.bxc4 Qf7 22.Nxa8; 13.c5 dxc5 14.dxc5 Nd7 15.Bc4+ Kh8 16.0-0 e4 17.Nd5 Qa5 18.b4 Nxb4 19.Be7 Re8 20.Ng5] ½-½

K - C
G45 Owen Sound (5), 26.08.2006
B12 - Caro-Kann : Advanced Variation

Game 5 and I hadn't been playing well v. Kirk. 1.e4 c6 We had just gone live with Cerner stuff at work so I figured it would be best to get into a comfortable position 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Nf3 e6 5.Be2 Kirk's regular.

I can see why so many beginners think this is the greatest line v. the Caro-Kann. When i was looking at this during the game, I cursed myself for not playing something more active. Of course it's not bad, just passive 5...Nd7 going for my regular...the Karpov knights at e7and d7, then push c5 and Nc6 [is the mainline 5...c5 ] 6.0-0 Ne7 7.Nh4 Qb6 [7...c5 is the mainline and;
7...Be4 has been tried by Adams v. Shirov. After all these years of telling Kirk to play Nh4 he has recently been listening ;);
7...Bg6] 8.c3 [in my Caro book the stem line was Short-Adams, English Championship 1991. It went 8.Nxf5 Nxf5 9.c3 c5 10.Bd3 Ne7 (10...g6 Nunn-Adams, Brussells 1992 11.Re1 Nb8 12.Bxf5 gxf5 13.c4 dxc4 14.d5 Nd7 15.Na3 0-0-0 16.Bg5 Re8 17.Nxc4) ] 8...Bxb1?! the book says "gives White a comfortable edge". I figured that the knight would have to move still, and I wouldn't have to worry about the capture. Of course, that was just laziness on my part. Now he can easily develop his bishop and it didn't go in well with my Qb6 move. Oh well, live and learn. Also I wanted to be able to play Nc6 after c5. [8...c5 9.Nxf5 Nxf5 10.Na3] 9.Rxb1 c5 10.Be3! Showing the stupidity (well stupidity is too harsh)...weakness of my last move 10...Nc6 11.f4?! I think this was premature becaue it almost forces me to stop from castlign kingside [11.Nf3 I was thinking about this sort of thing (of course also after i moved Be7). 11...Be7 12.a3 and then lockign up the center and queenside and only then coming in for the kill on the kingside 12...0-0 13.b4 c4] 11...Be7 12.Nf3 f5!? Spectacularly unsound ;) My plan in all of these is to avoid castling, but i think the weakening of the e-pawn might have told. He can double up on the e-file. fairly easily 13.dxc5?! Now I'm fine [13.exf6 Nxf6 was stronger 14.Ng5 Kd7 15.Bg4 and he's better. I wouldn't feel comfortable defendign this position] 13...Bxc5 14.Bxc5 Qxc5+ 15.Kh1 Ke7!? This was a good move. It allowed me to kick the kngiht and move over to c7 eventually. [15...h6 was slow] 16.Ng5 [16.Qd2] 16...h6 17.Nh3 Rag8 [They said 17...g5 right away] 18.g4? I thought it was weak too ;) at least my king can run away if all the pawns come off 18...g5 [18...fxg4 19.Bxg4 then 19...g5] 19.gxf5 exf5 20.fxg5?! [20.Bf3! g4 (20...Nb6 21.Qd3 (21.Bg2 g4 22.Ng1 h5 23.Qd3 Ke6 24.Rbd1 (24.Rfc1 h4 25.b4 Qc4) 24...Rd8; 21...g4 22.b4 Qc4 23.Qxc4 dxc4 24.Bxc6 bxc6 25.Nf2; 21.Bxd5 attacks the rook] 20...hxg5 21.Rxf5? but it's still tough 21...Rxh3 22.Bg4 Rh4 23.e6 Nf6 24.Rxf6 Ne5? [24...Kxf6! still held 25.Qf3+ Kg7! (but i only saw 25...Ke7?? 26.Qf7+ Kd6 27.Qd7+ Ke5 28.Qc7+ Ke4 29.Re1+ Kd3 30.Qg3+ bitch 30...Kc4 (30...Kc2 31.Qg2+ Qf2 32.Qxf2+ Kd3 33.Qe2#) 31.Be2#; 26.Qf7+ Kh8 and it holds] 25.Rf5 [Stronger was 25.Rf7+ Nxf7 26.exf7 Kxf7 and it's just the exchange and his cornered king ;)] 25...Nxg4 26.Qe2 Rxh2+ an interesting game. Even if I got mated I would've enjoyed this one...of course I won so that's a different story completely ;) 0-1

Round Three

2006-08-15T21:06:00.000-04:00

K - C
G45 Owen Sound (3), 14.08.2006
C55 - Two Knights Game

Kirk got some revenge this game 1.e4 e5 I was gonna play the Caro and stop him from playing 1.e4 eventually but I really had some decent ideas in the Ruy. Next time maybe 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Be7?! [I should've played 4...Nxe4 but I wanted not to mix it up;
or even something less passive like 4...Bc5 ] 5.0-0 0-0 6.d3 d6 7.h3 Kirk chooses a passive line so I choose to get the bishop pair 7...Na5 8.Bb3 Nxb3 9.axb3 h6 Our opening play is at the level of the U16 girls Arctic Championship
[9...c5 was stronger, making him work for his d4-push] 10.d4 exd4 11.Nxd4 a6 [I could even play 11...c5 now] 12.Nd5 Nxd5 [12...Nxe4 13.Re1 f5 14.Nxe7+ Qxe7 15.f3 c5;
12...c6] 13.exd5 Bd7 14.Qf3 Rc8 [14...Bg5 may have been better] 15.Bf4 c5 [15...Bf6] 16.dxc6 Bxc6 17.Nxc6 Rxc6 18.Rfd1 Rxc2 [18...Bg5] 19.Qxb7 Rxb2 20.Rxa6 Qe8?? A brutal move [20...Qc8! 21.Qxe7 Qxa6 22.Bxd6 Rc8] 21.Re1 Qb8 22.Rxe7 Rxb3 23.Qxb8 Rfxb8 24.Raa7 Rf8 25.Bxd6 Rd3 26.Red7 Re8 27.Rxf7 Rxd6 28.Rxg7+ Kh8 29.Rgf7 Rc6 30.Rf5 Rg8 31.Raf7 Rd6 32.g4 Re6 33.Kg2 Rg7 34.Kg3 Kg8 35.Rxg7+ Kxg7 36.Kh4 Re2 [36...Kg6] 37.Kh5 Re6 38.h4 Rd6 39.g5 hxg5 40.hxg5 Re6 41.f4 Re1 42.Re5 Rh1+ 43.Kg4 Rg1+ 44.Kf5 Kf7 45.Re6 [45.g6+ Rxg6 46.Re7+ Kxe7 47.Kxg6] 45...Rf1 46.Ra6 Kg7 47.Ra7+ Kf8 48.g6 Kg8 49.Kg5 Rf2 50.f5 Rf1 51.Kf6 I could've resigned 30 moves ago but our thing was to play on till mate 1-0

Game Two

2006-08-12T10:12:00.000-04:00

C - K
G45 Owen Sound (2), 12.08.2006
C19 - French: Winawer, advance, positional main line

A bit of a miniature today 1.e4 e6 [I was hoping he'd play 1...e5 but I suspected he'd play the French] 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 [I had been avoiding the Winawer for years with 3.e5 but I figured what the hell ] 3...Bb4 4.e5 [Of course there's a lot of decent ways to play this 4.Qg4 ;
4.a3;
Even 4.Bd2 ] 4...c5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 Ne7 7.Nf3 [Avoiding the Poisoned Pawn 7.Qg4 which I know Kirk likes] 7...Qc7 8.Bd3?! [8.a4 is the mainline but I wanted to castle...I've dropped a c-pawn too many times in the Winawer...this also contains a trap] 8...0-0? [8...b6 is the mainline;
Botwinnik tried 8...Nd7 ] 9.Bxh7+ Kxh7 10.Ng5+ Kg8 11.Qh5 [11.Qh5 and he resigns. I imagine he could play on a little longer but it looks tough 11...Rd8 12.Qh7+ Kf8 13.Qh8+ Ng8 14.Nh7+ Ke7 15.Bg5+ Kd7 16.Bxd8 Qxd8 17.Qxg7 I was happy enough with my play. I could never have been set up better for the h7-sack ever] 1-0

Game 1

2006-08-11T19:49:00.000-04:00

me and K decided to have a match over the rest of the summer, with the first to win 4 games. here's game one

K - C
G45 Owen Sound (1), 10.08.2006
D40 - QGD: Semi-Tarrasch defense, Pillsbury variation

First game. First half serious game I've played since Canadian Open 1.d4 I expected 1.e4. Now I have to rethink everything ;) 1...d5 [I also considered 1...c6 ;
1...Nf6;
1...f5] 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.Nc3 c5 A surprise for Kirk I'm sure [I also considered 4...c6 but avoided it because 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Qc2 Bd6 7.g4;
4...Bb4 may be in the future] 5.Bg5 Pillsbury variation [5.cxd5 Nxd5 is the mainline semi-Tarrasch(5...exd5 6.g3 Be7 7.Bg2 0-0 8.0-0 Nc6 is the Tarrasch) ;
5.e3] 5...Nc6? [5...cxd4 6.Nxd4 (6.Qxd4 Be7= MCO) 6...e5! 7.Nf3 d4 Euwe-Alekhine] 6.cxd5 Nxd4 [6...exd5 7.Bxf6 gxf6 looks good for White. I tried to mix it up] 7.Nxd4 cxd4 8.Qxd4 Be7 9.e4 0-0 [9...Nxd5 can't be played until after castled because of both 10.Bb5+ (10.Qxg7) ] 10.Bxf6 I missed this 10...Bxf6 11.e5 Bg5 [11...Be7 12.d6 Bg5] 12.f4 Bh6 13.d6 a6 [To stop Bb5 but 13...f6 14.Bb5 wouldn't necessarily be so bad] 14.Bc4 Bd7 15.0-0 Bc6 16.g4 Qh4 17.Qd1 b5 18.Bd3 f6 19.Be4 Bxe4 20.Nxe4 f5? [20...fxe5 21.g5 Rxf4 22.Rxf4 Qxf4] 21.Nc5 fxg4 22.Nxe6 g3 23.Qd2 [I thought that 23.Qe2 was better but after 23...Bxf4] 23...gxh2+ 24.Qxh2?? [This is painful but necessary 24.Kh1 Rfc8 25.d7] 24...Qg4+ 25.Kh1 Qxe6 26.Rac1 [26.Rad1] 26...Qd5+ 27.Kg1 Qd4+ 28.Qf2 Qxf2+ 29.Rxf2 Bxf4 and I win the first game. He probably could've played on but we'll learn to play harder 0-1

in an unrelated note, Neil Frarey is planning on bidding on the Canadian Open at the University of Carleton in 2007. Good luck Neil!

Cdn Open 2006 Rounds 7-9

2006-07-25T21:33:00.000-04:00

CS - DM
Canadian Open U2000 Kitchener (7), 21.07.2006
D67 - QGD : Orthodox, 8.Bd3

Before this tournament I told myself that how well (or how poorly) I was doing, every round i would be playing someone who was doing as well (as poorly) as I was. This isn't necessarily the case in a local tournament, but in a section with 80 people it definitely is. My opponent lived in Sault Ste. Marie and this was his yearly tournament. 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 Nbd7 5.Bg5 Be7 6.e3 0-0 7.Rc1 c6 8.Bd3 [Who says that an old dog can't learn new tricks? I analyzed my previous White game and learned what the main line was so I went for it here. 8.cxd5 exd5 was the previous game] 8...dxc4 9.Bxc4 Nd5 10.Bxe7 Qxe7 11.0-0 N7f6 12.Bd3 Nxc3 13.Rxc3= And I offered a draw here. He declined it. For some reason I thought the "mainline" included a ...h6 and a Bh4 by me so I thought I was a tempo up on the mainline. ;) 13...Nd5 14.Rc1 Rd8 15.a3 I wanted to take b4 away from his knight, but more importantly his queen. Also I threatened expansion. I could get away with this because I have a huge advantage in development. 15...a5 16.Ne5 [Of course after 16.e4 Nf4 is strong.;
Maybe keeping on both the c-file and h7 with 16.Qc2 was better? It's unclear. I decided to play for e4 again.] 16...Bd7 17.Qb3 Be8 18.h3 I couldn't figure out how I wanted to continue, so I decided to go for some luft. 18...f6 19.Nf3 [Maybe 19.Nc4 was better and allow me to play on the queenside, but I was itching to go at his king] 19...Bf7 20.Qc2! I was happy with this move, forcing more weaknesses on the kingside 20...g6 [Maybe 20...h6 is more bearable, but my light square battery looks strong there] 21.Rfe1 e5 22.e4 Nf4 23.Bc4 exd4 24.Rcd1 c5 25.Bxf7+ Kxf7 26.e5!=

The exclam isn't for the quality of the move as much as it is for increasing the sharpness of the position. At this level in particular a little bit of pressure can do wonders. I offered a draw here on his time and he said "the position sure is tense" and then played... 26...Kf8? [A much tougher move would have been 26...f5 and there's no easy way for me to proceed. 27.Qc1 Nd5 28.Nd2 b6 29.Nc4 and I'm just down a pawn;
26...fxe5 Gives me a free shot at his queen but can I do anything with is the question 27.Nxe5+ Kg7 is forced as most moves to a dark square win the queen and(27...Kg8 28.Nxg6 is strong) ] 27.exf6 Qxf6 [27...Qd6 28.Re5 b6 29.Qe4 Qxf6 30.Ng5 Kg8 looks strong but I don't see a mate 31.g3 Nh5 32.Nxh7 Kxh7 33.Rxh5+] 28.Qxc5+ Qd6 29.Qxd6+ Rxd6= Of course here he says "I'll take that draw" but I'm substantially better and have all the winning chances. 30.Rxd4 Rxd4 31.Nxd4 Rd8? I would have thought that he would be trying to avoid any trade 32.Ne6+ Nxe6 33.Rxe6 Rd7 34.Rb6 Ke8 35.Rb5 Winning a pawn 35...Rd1+ 36.Kh2 Rd2 37.Kg3 Rd4 38.Rxb7 [I figured taking the b-pawn would keep defending my b-pawn and let me made a passer easier than 38.Rxa5 Kd7 39.Rb5 Kc6] 38...h5 39.h4 Rg4+ 40.Kh3 Kd8 41.b4 Rd4 42.Rb5 Rd3+ 43.f3 axb4 44.Rxb4 [Probably I should have just played 44.axb4 and then played 44...-- 45.Rg5 and tried to pick off the g-pawn and if not get behind the b-pawn instead of in front of it like in the game 45...Rd6 46.b5 Rb6 47.g4 Rf6 48.gxh5 gxh5 49.Rxh5 Rxf3+ 50.Kg4] 44...Rd6 [44...Rxa3 45.Rb6 is tough] 45.Ra4 [Perhaps 45.Rb5 to get at the g-pawn was better 45...Ra6 46.Rg5 Ke7 47.a4 Kf6 48.a5] 45...Ke7 46.Kg3 Ke8 47.Ra7 Kf8 48.a4 Ke8 49.a5 Kf8 50.a6 Kg8 51.Ra8+? Probably better is to go after the g-pawn with my king and keep his king from going to the 7th [51.Kf4 Kf8 (51...Rd5 52.Rb7 Ra5 53.a7 Rf5+ 54.Ke4 Ra5 55.Rb8+ Kf7 56.a8Q Rxa8 57.Rxa8) 52.Kg5 and it's almost over] 51...Kh7 52.a7 Ra6 53.Kf4 Trying to get an active king. Now I couldn't figure out how to win this. 53...Ra5 54.g4 hxg4 55.fxg4 g5+ 56.hxg5 Kg7 57.Kg3 Ra3+ 58.Kh4 Ra2 59.g6 Ra3 60.Kg5 Ra5+ 61.Kf4 Ra6 62.Ke5 Ra5+ 63.Kd6 Ra6+ 64.Kc7 Ra2 65.Kc6 Rc2+ 66.Kd5 I couldn't see a way to avoid the checks (he had too many squares to move vertically with his rook) so I decided to try and win it over here 66...Ra2 67.Ke4 Ra4+ 68.Kf5 Ra5+ 69.Kf4 Ra4+ 70.Kg3 Ra3+ 71.Kh4 Ra2 72.Rd8 Rxa7 73.Rd6 Ra5 74.Kg3 Ra3+ 75.Kh4 Ra5 76.Re6 Rb5 77.g5 Rb1 78.Kg4 Rg1+ 79.Kh5 Kg8? I'm not sure why he played this 80.Re7 Rb1 81.g7 Rh1+ 82.Kg6 This was all I could hope for 82...Rh6+ 83.Kf5 [83.gxh6 stalemate;
83.Kxh6 stalemate] 83...Rh1 84.Ra7? [84.Kf6! Rf1+ (84...Rh6+ 85.gxh6 Kh7 wins) 85.Kg6 Re1 86.Rf7 Rf1 87.Rf8+ similar to the game] 84...Rf1+ 85.Kg6 Ra1 86.Rf7 Ra6+ 87.Rf6 Rb6

88.Kh5?? [I have no idea why I didn't see this. After the game of course it's obvious 88.Kh6! ] 88...Rb1 89.Re6 I was drained and upset that I had spoiled a perfectly won endgame. 89...Kxg7 90.Re4 Rh1+ 91.Rh4 Rxh4+ 92.Kxh4 Kg6 93.Kg4 Kg7 94.Kf5 Kf7 95.g6+ Kg7 96.Kg5 Kg8 97.Kf6 Kf8 Not the greatest game, but I consoled myself by the fact that it would've been the same result if he had taken the draw on move 13 or move 26 ½-½

CS - KC
Canadian Open U2000 Kitchener (8), 22.07.2006
D18 - Slav : Dutch Variation

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.a4 Bf5 6.e3 [I have previous tried 6.Nh4 but it is painful to the eyes] 6...e6 7.Bxc4 Bb4 8.0-0 0-0 9.Qb3 [Theory (D19) is 9.Qe2 my friend Armando Valdizon told me that the only opening theory he knew was memorizing the ECO codes. It sort of made me laugh at the time, but I would've gotten a better position this game if I knew that Qe2 was the move for D19 ;);
Kirk plays the Slav but I had never actually gotten this deep. I wanted to play 9.Nh4 but I saw ghosts and wanted to protect the "c-pawn" after the exchange with my queen and also threaten the b-pawn behind the bishop etc. 9...Bxc3 10.bxc3 Ne4 11.Nxf5 exf5] 9...a5?! [9...Qe7;
or 9...Qb6 are better] 10.Nh4 Bg6 [10...Bg4 11.f3 Bh5] 11.Nxg6 hxg6 12.Ne2 [I wondered if I could win a pawn here with 12.Na2 Na6 (I was worried about something like 12...Bd6 giving up the pawn but leaving my knight stuck on a2 for a while) 13.Nxb4 Nxb4 14.Bd2 holds the pawn but makes thing unpleasant for him 14...Qd6 ] 12...Qc7 Playing for development here and to connect my rooks 13.Rd1 Nbd7 14.Bd2 Bd6 15.Ng3 PLaying for e4 like every 1.d4 game I play it seems ;) 15...Nd5? [15...Rfd8] 16.e4 Nb4 17.e5 I had to go for it now 17...Be7

18.Bxe6= I offered a draw here, and since he was like 200 points higher he refused it. He also saw my horrible play the previous game (buddy of the guy I drew) so I figured he would play on to mate hoping I'd mess up 18...Nxe5? [18...fxe6 19.Qxe6+ Rf7 (19...Kh7 20.Qxe7) 20.Qxg6 Nf8 21.Qg4 and it's going to be an interesting middlegame] 19.dxe5 Qxe5? Thinking he can pick off my piece regardless [19...fxe6 20.Qxe6+ Rf7 was better] 20.Re1 Qd6 21.Bxb4 axb4 22.Rad1 Qc5 23.Bg4 and I'm ujp a healthy piece for a pawn and he has some weak pawns 23...Bh4 24.Bf3 Rac8 25.Rc1 Qb6 26.Rc4 Winning something 26...c5?? and he drops a piece. The rest is uneventful and he just played on, not because he is a poor sport but because he thought I'd play as poorly as I did the previous round 27.Rxh4 c4 28.Rxc4 Rce8 29.Rcc1 Qd4 30.h3 Qd2 31.Red1 Qg5 32.Qxb4 Re5 33.Qxb7 Rfe8 34.b4 Qf4 35.a5 R5e7 36.Qc6 Qxb4 37.Qc3 Qf4 38.Re1 Kh7 39.Rxe7 Rxe7 40.a6 Ra7 41.Ra1 f5 42.Bb7 I was particularly happy with the position here 42...Qd6 43.Qc6 Qd4 44.Qc1 Qe5 45.Ra3 f4 46.Qc3 Qd6 47.Qd3 Qc5 48.Ne4 Qc1+ 49.Kh2 Qc7 50.f3 Kh6 51.Rc3 Qe5 52.Rc8 Kh7 53.Qd8 g5 54.Qxg5 Qxg5 55.Nxg5+ Kg6 56.Ne6 Kf5 57.Nxg7+ Ke5 58.Rf8 Kd4 59.Ne6+ Ke3 60.Nxf4 Kf2 61.Nd5 Ke2 62.Nb4 Ke3 63.Nc6 1-0

If i had my druthers I would've been able to refuse his resignation and promote all my pawns to queens and checkmate him, but unfortunately that is not in the rules.

KS - CS
Canadian Open U2000 Kitchener (9), 23.07.2006
B20 - Sicilian

Last round of a long tournament. This was a nice guy from Toronto who was in the family prize with his dad, who Kirk took on earlier in the tournament. 1.e4 Nf6 I lost every game I played with the Caro, the opening had nothing to do with it, but I needed a change regardless. Since my brother is the archduke of the Alekhine and he dropped out of the tournament I thought I would keep his tournament alive, so to speak, and play an Alekhine 2.d3 Drats. I decided to go into a Closed Sicilian 2...d6 3.Nf3 g6 4.g3 Bg7 5.Bg2 0-0 6.0-0 c5 Equality after 6 moves, just like every other game ;) 7.Re1 [Better to develop 7.Nc3 ] 7...Nc6 8.c3 Qb6 Maybe this wasn't best, but I wanted to make his development as difficult as possible, and try my best to stop the d4 push 9.Nbd2 Bg4 10.h3 Bd7? [Not paying attention to his possibilities. Although 10...Be6 blocks the e-pawn, it shuts down his options with his knight] 11.Nc4! Qc7 12.Ne3 [I thought he was going to start the assault on my position with something like 12.e5 ] 12...Rac8 13.Nh2 b5 Trying to make some aggressive intentions on the queenside. 14.Nd5 Because of this, 11. ...Qd8 was probably better 14...Qd8 15.Nxf6+ Bxf6 16.Bh6 Bg7 17.Qd2 e6 18.Ng4 Ne5 [A tough move to make, but I didn't like the look of 18...e5 19.Bxg7 Kxg7 20.Qh6+ Kh8 even though it was probably better] 19.Bxg7 Kxg7 20.Qh6+ [Paraphrasing Lasker annotating Morphy-Count Isouard, I'm more of a butcher than an artist. (He was talking about the position after 1.e4 e5 2.nf3 d6 3.d4 Bg4 4.dxe5 Bxf3 5.Qxf3 dxe5 6.Bc4 Nf6 7.Qb3 Qe7 saying that 8.Qxb7 would be the butcher's method) I would've played 20.Nxe5 dxe5 here and then something like 21.Rad1] 20...Kh8 [The way the game ended up 20...Kg8 would have been much better, but I wanted to get my queen to g7 and trade off. I offered a draw somewhere before this and he mentioned that he would have taken the draw, but he had to play to the end as him and his dad had an 'outside shot' at the family prize] 21.d4 [21.Nxe5 I believe 21...dxe5 22.Rad1 is preferable] 21...Nxg4 22.hxg4 Qf6? aiming for g7 [Taking control of the c-file with 22...cxd4 23.cxd4 Rc2 was better I think] 23.e5 dxe5 24.Bb7 Rc7?? [He sat for a long time thinking about this move. I didn't want to play 24...Rb8 and wanted to threaten something, missing that the only thing defending my rook was the rook. Another moment of blindness this one resulting in mate] 25.Qxf8# An appropriate finish to an uneven tournament 1-0

so i learned a few things. one, bring a sweater...those hotels were air conditioned so powerfully that i found myself literally shivering and had to go outside to warm myself up. two, play more slow chess before hand. i wasn't used to being able to think for 30 minutes for a move. this sounds like it would be an advantage, but unfortunately i found myself antsy and making instinctive and reactive moves. and three, i made a whole whack of one move blunders. i don't know if playing more slow games will help that, but if i did a better "idiot check" before i move i could've scored a few more points relatively easily. i really enjoyed myself, the tournament site was the best i've been in, and i'm going back next year. rumor has it, it's gonna be in kitchener again, but i imagine they'll announce that in the near future

Cdn Open 2006 Rounds 4-6

2006-07-25T21:31:00.000-04:00

BT - CS
Canadian Open U2000 Kitchener (4), 18.07.2006
B18 - Caro-Kann : Classical Variation

Taking on a gentleman from Toronto 1.e4 c6 I was surprised at the number of e4s I got at this tournament...I'll have to look for something different for next year...it's tiring to defend for 4 hours 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.h4 h6 7.h5 Bh7 8.Bd3?!

[All theory so far. Mainline is 8.Nf3 Nd7 9.Bd3 Bxd3 10.Qxd3 Qc7 . I calculated for a few minutes and didn't see any reason why I couldn't grab the d-pawn. Obviously the hard lessons from Rounds 2 and 3 didn't sink in ;) ] 8...Qxd4 [Hort had the same position v. Geller in Skopje 1968 and continued 8...Bxd3 9.Qxd3 Nd7 10.Nf3 Qc7 transposing to the line given above] 9.N1e2 [I would've tried 9.Nf3 ;
9.Be3 just tempted me to grab some more pawns 9...Qxb2 10.Rb1 Qc3+ 11.Bd2 Qe5+ 12.N1e2 Bxd3 13.cxd3] 9...Qd8 Keeping d7 for my knight 10.Be3 [10.Bxh7 Qxd1+ 11.Kxd1 Rxh7 may have looked uglier but he doesn't want to take the queens off] 10...Bxd3 11.cxd3 Nf6 12.0-0 e6 13.Qb3 b6 [I could've tried 13...Qd7 but again i'm worried about my knight] 14.Rac1 Qd5 [14...Bd6 and castle may have been better] 15.Nd4 Qxb3 [I wanted to try 15...c5 16.Nb5 (but 16.Qa4+ Qd7 17.Nb5 keeps the queens on so why not force the exchange of queens while i'm a pawn up and close to completing my development) 16...Qxb3 17.axb3 Nd5] 16.Nxb3 Bd6 17.Ne4 Nxe4 [17...Be7 18.Nxf6+ Bxf6 19.d4 wasn't as appealing as the line I chose where I actually pushed ...c5] 18.dxe4 c5 19.Rfd1 Ke7 20.Rc2 Nc6 Now I'm caught up in development, and I have a better king and I am a pawn up. What's not to like? 21.a3 Rhd8 22.Rcd2 Be5 23.Rxd8 ...and he's trading off the rooks. From here on it is a matter of technique ;) 23...Rxd8 24.Rxd8 Kxd8 [24...Nxd8 my knight was doing decent things on c6] 25.Bc1 Nd4 and then I trade it off. Again I was happy with this because my opponent was stuck guarding that b-pawn with his bishop 26.Nxd4 Bxd4 27.Kf1 e5 [Another option was freezing the b-pawn with 27...c4 ;
or starting the march 27...Kc7 ] 28.Ke2 Kc7 [again 28...c4 ] 29.f3 Kc6 30.Kd3 Kb5 31.b3 a5 32.Bd2 a4 I was worried about 32.a4+ so I figured I'd go for the win here on the queenside. The idea being I trade off the bishops and then run over with my king and pick off the kingside pawns and promote. Ironically that's exactly how I lost 33.Kc2 axb3+ 34.Kxb3 c4+ 35.Kc2 Ka4 [35...Bc5 beats him to the spot forcing 36.Bc1 Ka4] 36.Bb4

36. ...Bc5?? A terrible decision [36...b5 was a million times better. Now the queenside pawns take care of themselves] 37.Bxc5 bxc5 38.Kc3 I totally missed that this move was possible when I "calculated" this line. It's just a loss from here 38...Kxa3 [My opponent told me after the game he thought there was a zugzwang after 38...Kb5 but 39.a4+ looks strong to me, as it did during the game. If I had known he thought it was a draw I probably would've offered one.] 39.Kxc4 Kb2 40.Kxc5 Kc3 41.Kd5 f6 42.Ke6 Kd3 43.Kf7 Ke3 44.Kxg7 Kf2 45.Kxh6 Kxg2 46.Kg6 Kxf3 47.Kxf6 Kxe4 48.h6 Kd4 49.h7 e4 50.h8Q Kd3 51.Qd8+ Ke2 52.Kf5 e3 53.Kf4 Kf2 54.Qd4 A pity that one bad move ruined 35 good ones, but that's the nature of chess. At this point I was sick of "moral" victories and dammit I wanted a real one! 1-0

CS - GW
Canadian Open U2000 Kitchener (5), 19.07.2006
D63 - QGD : Orthodox

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 Nbd7 5.Bg5 Be7 6.e3 0-0 7.Rc1 c6 8.cxd5 [8.Bd3 dxc4 9.Bxc4 Nd5 10.Bxe7 Qxe7 11.0-0 Nxc3 12.Rxc3 is the main line;
8.Qc2 is the Rubinstein attack. Both are interesting and will get further review in the future. The problem is that in my online play I have never gotten this far in the Queen's Gambit (theory-wise) and I got two games with this position in this tournament. Opening preparation will be different next year I believe.] 8...exd5 [8...Nxd5 9.Bxe7 Qxe7] 9.Bd3 h6 [9...Ne4 10.Bxe7 Qxe7 (10...Nxc3 11.Bxd8 Nxd1 12.Rxd1 Rxd8 13.0-0) 11.0-0] 10.Bh4 Ne8?! [I understand the motivation for this move, but that doesn't make it a good one. He is running out of decent squares for his pieces. Better would likely be 10...Nb6 ] 11.Bxe7 Qxe7 12.0-0 Nd6 [12...f5 I wonder if he could try and play something more aggressive like;
or even 12...Nef6 ] 13.Qc2 Ne8 [This made no sense to me. He must've realized I was hoping to play e4 so something like 13...Re8 ;
or even 13...Nf6 was better than dancing the knight back and forth] 14.Rfe1 Ndf6 15.e4 [It was time to open up the position. There would still be time for something like 15.Ne5 ] 15...dxe4 16.Nxe4 Nxe4 17.Bxe4 Be6 18.Ne5 [of course without me sweating at the board 18.d5! is a much better move 18...cxd5 (18...Bxd5? 19.Bxd5) 19.Bxd5 Rd8 20.Bxe6 fxe6 21.Qe4 and work on the pawn] 18...Nf6 19.Bf5 Not the greatest move, but it forces him to make decisions 19...Qd6 [19...Bxf5 20.Qxf5 is probably better and after 20...Qb4 i'm not sure what I'd do. I made some very significant moves in the past 10 or so, with respect to the way the game is going to go with pawn structure, etc.] 20.Bxe6 fxe6 21.Qg6 Again making him calculate. Anybody can make a mistake with a tactic 21...Rae8 [21...Qxd4 22.Rcd1 Qxb2 was better] 22.Rcd1 Nd5 23.g3 Not forcing but I was in no rush. It keeps his knight out of f4 and gives my king some luft 23...Qe7 24.Ng4 Qg5 25.Rxe6 [25.Qxg5 hxg5 26.Ne5] 25...Qxg6 26.Rxg6 Kh7 27.Rd6 Re7 28.Ne5 Rf6 29.Rd7 [Of course not 29.Rxf6 gxf6 giving up my beautiful square for the knight] 29...Rfe6 30.Rxe7 Rxe7 31.f4 g6 32.Kf2 Kg7 33.Re1 h5 34.a3 [34.a4 was probably more accurate] 34...Kf6 35.Nc4 Rxe1 36.Kxe1 h4 37.Kf2 hxg3+ 38.hxg3 g5 39.fxg5+ Kxg5 40.Kf3 Nc7 41.Na5 Nb5 42.Nb3 [Too cautious 42.Ke4 Nd6+ 43.Ke5 Nf7+ 44.Ke6 Nh6 45.Nxb7 Nf5 was probably stronger as my king has better position if he manages to grab a pawn back] 42...b6 43.a4 Nd6 44.Nd2 Kg6? [44...Nf5 45.Nb3 Nd6 would have made me "start from scratch" so to speak] 45.Kf4 Nf5 46.Nf3 It felt good to get back to -1 after the travesty from the day before. Kirk lost a tough Ruy Lopez today and took a bye the next round 1-0

JS - CS
Canadian Open U2000 Kitchener (6), 20.07.2006
B12 - Caro-Kann : Advance Variation

I got another 1700 player which was where I was hoping to do my feeding with regards to points. My opponent was a soft spoken gentleman from Fort Erie. He was playing this game with a Monroi device and in fact this game is probably online if somebody were to search hard enough 1.e4 Another 1.e4 1...c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Now I'm in familiar waters. I absolutely *love* defending the Caro-Kann Advanced 3...Bf5 4.Nf3 e6 5.Bd3 Bxd3 6.Qxd3 Ne7 [Apparently I can get away with 6...Qa5+ here. I read in a book that Nimzo recommended this move after 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Bd3 Bxd3 5.Qxd3 e6 6.f4 but didn't know about this move here. Interesting. Instead I go for the stereotypical "Karpov Knights" setup as you will see, and don't think for the next 10 moves or so.] 7.c3 Nd7 [7...Ng6 to switch gears and stop 8.Bf4 may have been better] 8.Bf4 c5 9.Nbd2 cxd4 10.cxd4 Ng6 11.Bg3 [I honestly thought he was going to play 11.Be3 ] 11...Bb4 12.0-0 Bxd2 13.Qxd2 0-0 14.h3 Rc8 So like I was saying, stereotypical play so far with equality. ...nd7, ...ne7, ...c5, ...cxd4, ...Rc8 15.Rfc1 Qb6 [15...Qe7 may have been better] 16.h4 Rc6? [At this point my sense of fear was gone 16...h6 ;
or even 16...Ne7 17.h5 Nf5 was better] 17.h5 Ne7 18.b3 [I would have continued 18.h6 and pushed the pressure a little further] 18...h6 [I didn't want to give him a second shot at h6 but after 18...Rfc8 19.h6 Rxc1+ 20.Rxc1 Rxc1+ 21.Qxc1 Nf5 I'm okay, and the rooks are off ;)] 19.Bf4 Kh7 [I wanted to avoid 19...Rfc8 20.Bxh6 gxh6 21.Qxh6 but I should've realized that this isn't ICC ;)] 20.Qd3+ g6 [Too bold 20...Kh8 was good enough] 21.Qd2 g5 22.Be3 f5 23.Rxc6 [23.exf6 Nxf6 24.Rxc6 Nxc6] 23...Qxc6 [I thought that the text was forced but making him sacrifice would have been better I think 23...Nxc6 24.Bxg5 hxg5 25.Nxg5+ Kg8 (25...Kh8 26.Nxe6 Rf7) 26.Nxe6;
23...bxc6 24.Bxg5 hxg5 25.Nxg5+] 24.Qb4! A strong move by him. I now see that I'm in trouble 24...Re8? [At this point I was tired and missed 24...Nc8 25.Rc1 Qb6] 25.Rc1 Qb6 26.Qxb6 Nxb6 27.Rc7 Kg8 28.g3 [Of course he's in no rush. 28.Rxb7 At this point I was exhausted from defending all game. ] 28...Nc6 29.Rxb7 Re7? [Probably a bad idea but I should've avoided the rook trade 29...Rf8 ] 30.Rxe7 Nxe7 31.Ne1 Nc6 [31...Kf7] 32.Nc2 Nd7 I decided I was going for the h-pawn 33.Kf1 Ndb8 34.Ke2 Na6 35.Bd2 Nc7 36.Kd3 Ne8 37.f3 Kf7 [My opponent the next day thought I should've tried 37...g4 but this loses after 38.fxg4 fxg4 39.Ne3!] 38.g4 f4 So I was totally happy with this position...figuring that my king could guard the kingside pawns and my knights could blockade the queenside...until I realized in horror that my king would always have to defend the f8 square as his bishop can munch the pawns. also if my king gets too far away, he can play the classic Bxf4 gxf4 g5 hxg5 h6! and promote 39.b4 Nc7 40.a4 a6 41.Na1 Nd8 42.Nb3 Ke7 43.Nc5 Kf7 44.Bc3 [44.b5 axb5 45.Ba5!;
44.Nxa6 Nxa6 45.b5 Nb8 46.a5] 44...Ke7 45.Kc2 [Again 45.b5 wins] 45...Nc6 46.Kb3 Na7 47.Nd3 Kf7 [He threatens 47...-- 48.Nxf4 gxf4 49.g5 hxg5 50.h6 if I move away] 48.Nc5 Ke7 49.Nb7 Nc8 50.Bd2 Nb6 51.Nd6 [Of course hoping he'll play 51.a5 ] 51...Nd7 52.b5 Finally 52...axb5 53.axb5 Nb6 54.Bb4 Kd7 55.Bc5 Nxb5 56.Bxb6 Nxd6 57.exd6 Kc6 58.Bc5 A tough game, but one I can learn from 1-0

Cdn Open 2006 Rounds 1-3

2006-07-25T21:27:00.000-04:00

CS - ET (1429)
Canadian Open U2000 Kitchener (1), 15.07.2006
E73 - King's Indian : Averbakh Variation

This was my first ever Canadian Open game. I was the lowest rated player in the section so I got a first round bye, but luckily they paired me up against one of the organizers which was cool. Clinton had beaten him at the Team Tournament in Kitchener, so I knew that this was an excellent opportunity to start off at 1/1 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 This made me happy. I figured he would play the King's Indian because I recall seeing him reading "King's Indian Battle Plans" at the 2005 Active Tournament in Kitchener. 3.Nc3 Bg7 [I never got a chance to try out my Grünfeld idea of 3...d5 4.Bg5 Not the strongest, but lower chances of counterplay by Black. My goal was to limit my opponent's counterplay and win square by square] 4.e4 d6 5.Be2 0-0 6.Bg5 My newest anti-King's Indian system. I was inspired by Averbakh's play in "Tactics for Advanced Chess Players". The advantage as far as I'm concerned is that Black can't play stereotypically and I can actually get some advantage on the kingside 6...Nbd7 [Main line is a Benoni-esque 6...c5 7.d5 e6 which maybe my opponent would have picked if he had seen my third round game ;)] 7.Qd2 e5 8.d5 Nc5 I wonder if this wasn't best. Space is at a premium for Black and this encourages me to take more of it with an eventual b4 [Is 8...a5 first to stop b4 better?] 9.f3 [I could've played 9.b4 I missed that if 9...Ncxe4 10.Nxe4 Nxe4 11.Bxd8 Nxd2 I can play 12.Bxc7 and be up a pawn] 9...a6 10.Bd3 [Kirk thought I should play 10.b4 immediately. My idea was to trade off my light squared bishop and dominate on the light squares as his bishop was already his worst piece. Maybe a little ambitious] 10...Nxd3+ 11.Qxd3 h6 12.Be3 [I could've played 12.Bh4 and exit via f2 but I wanted to go at his king. My pieces are facing his king and he is a ways from being developed] 12...Bd7 13.Nge2 Kh7 [Maybe now was the time to play for f5 with 13...Ne8 14.0-0-0 let's say 14...f5 15.exf5 Bxf5 etc.] 14.h4 [I wasn't sure what to do with my king. If 14.Kd2 I can't continue the way I did because once he moves the bishop to h6 it pins] 14...h5 15.Bg5 Qc8 16.Kf2!? [I wanted to unify my rooks and come up the h-file. 16.0-0-0 didn't work for the same reason as;
16.Kd2;
16.0-0 brings pressure up the f-file instead. Maybe this was better] 16...Ne8 17.g4 f6 [I was more concerned with the concrete 17...hxg4 18.h5 gxf3 19.hxg6+ Kxg6 20.Be7 but he thinks he has an zwischenzug]

18.gxh5! If I would have retreated 17. ...f6 would have been a wonderful move. The exclam is not for the quality of the move, but for bravery. i was here to play chess and win, not to drop a pawn and suffer for 5 hours 18...fxg5 19.hxg5 Another important move. If I was playing blitz [I would've just played 19.hxg6+ Kxg6 20.hxg5 and been down material] 19...Bg4 20.f4 Bxh5?> [If 20...exf4 it looks tough for me 21.hxg6+ Kg8 22.Rh7 f3 23.Ng3]

21.Rxh5+ The logical continuation 21...gxh5= And here h3 offered a draw. I figured that Fritz would have him ahead (I am down a whole rook for a pawn) but I couldn't justify to myself accepting a draw when I have all the winning chances, he has no protection around his king and all his pieces are out of play 22.f5 Qd8 23.Rg1 Rg8 24.Qh3 Bf6? 25.Qxh5+ Kg7 26.gxf6+ A nice start, and an aggressive game which I was aiming for. 1-0

KG - CS
Canadian Open U2000 Kitchener (2), 16.07.2006
B18 - Caro-Kann : Classical Variation

Round Two. My opponent was a pleasant gentleman who had driven down the previous day from Winnipeg (!). I joked with him before the game that I was glad to face him in this round because he was likely tired and would be my best chance to beat him. It was tongue in cheek but probably true 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 [If I'm going to keep on playing the Caro, I need a more active line v. the mainline like 4...Nf6 5.Nxf6+ gxf6;
or 4...Nd7 ] 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.Nf3 Nd7 7.Bd3 [More regular here is 7.h4 h6 8.h5 Bh7 9.Bd3 Bxd3 10.Qxd3 Qc7 My opponent told me he avoided that line because he had some nice wins in the line he played 50 years ago (!)] 7...Ngf6 8.0-0 e6 9.Re1 Bd6 [9...Be7 is more popular theoretically as it avoids the pin by the rook.] 10.Nf5!? [10.c3;
and 10.c4 have been played at Grandmaster level before and I've faced;
10.Ne5 in blitz. The problem with this move is that he has to retreat his bishop after I castle. ] 10...Bxf5 Yes I undervalue the bishop pair, but I didn' t have much choice here 11.Bxf5 0-0 12.Bd3 [My opponent told me he thought about 12.Bh3 after the game.] 12...h6 [Kirk suggested the immediate 12...c5 here. I wanted to limit the scope of his dark squared bishop.] 13.c4 c5 14.Be3?! Maybe not the strongest move, but where was his dark squared bishop going to go? Is either Bd2 or pushing the b-pawn and fianchettoing any better than giving it up? 14...Ng4 I was happy here and have achieved my equality as Black...now time to play for a win ;) 15.g3 Nxe3 16.fxe3 [16.Rxe3 cxd4 17.Nxd4 Bc5] 16...cxd4 17.exd4 This is where I knew that i had an advantage but didn't know how to increase it. 17...b6 18.a3 Re8? [Probably 18...a5 was better, but I incorrectly thought that I could play ...a5 a move later and strike in the center with ...e5. The plan was too slow. In reality this was the losing move.] 19.b4 a5= I offered a draw here, but he is better 20.c5 bxc5 21.dxc5 Be7 [Kirk wondered why I wouldn't play 21...Bc7 here, but I wanted to get my bishop outside of the pawn chain and control the long diagonal from f6] 22.Rc1 [22.Bb5 Ra7 was tougher] 22...axb4 23.axb4 Rb8 [This rook went to b8 instead of 23...Rc8 because I wanted to pressure the pawn duo with rooks on b8 and c8] 24.Qd2 Qc7 25.Kg2 Red8 26.Bb1 Nxc5? [26...Nf6! of course did the same thign without giving up material and now I actually threaten something. There was a couple of games where I grabbed material without looking close enough to what my opponent was threatening. I got more out of the "sacrifice" than I deserved though] 27.Qc2 g6 [I wonder if 27...Bf6 was better. Saving me a tempo and not weakening my pawns 28.Qh7+ (Although I guess in this line he can play 28.Qxc5 ) 28...Kf8 29.Qh8+ Ke7] 28.bxc5 Bf6 29.Qe2?! [Allowing me to actually threaten something. If moved his queen off the second rank to somewhere like 29.Qe4 I probably could've resigned right away] 29...Rb2 30.Rc2 Rdb8 31.Nd2 [31.Qf1 Qxc5 may have been stronger for White but I still have some pressure] 31...Rxc2? [31...Bg5! looks strong. If 32.Qd3 (32.c6! is recommended by Fritz but I don't see why 32...Bxd2 33.Qxd2 Rxb1 34.Qd7! of course. Nice) 32...Qa5] 32.Bxc2 Qxc5 33.Ne4 Qc6 34.Kh3 Be7 [34...Bg7 was stronger because then I can try and pin a piece to his queen again] 35.Bd3 Qd7 36.Nf2 h5 37.Rd1 Qa7 Played solely to threaten to capture something if he moves his queen. It seemed like forever since I had put any pressure on him.

38.Bxg6! A nice move I overlooked 38...fxg6 39.Qxe6+ Kh7? [39...Kh8 and I'm still losing but I have some threats. At this point I was too tired to calculate all of this. 40.Rd7 Qxf2 41.Qe5+ (41.Qxe7 Qf5+ 42.Kg2 Rb2+ 43.Kg1 Qb1+ 44.Rd1 Qxd1+ 45.Qe1 Qxe1# It's checkmate arsehole) 41...Kh7 (41...Qf6 42.Qxb8+ Kg7 43.Qb5 (43.Qb4 Qf1#) 43...Qe6+ 44.Kg2 Qe4+; 42.Rxe7+ Kh6 43.Qg7+ (43.Qxb8 Qf1+ 44.Kh4 g5#) ] 40.Rd7 Qxf2 41.Qxe7+ Kh6 42.Qg7+ and even I could see that was mate. I ran out of gas and missed his giant mass of pawns coming on the queenside 1-0

CS - JP
Canadian Open U2000 Kitchener (3), 17.07.2006
A65 - Benoni

I knew I would get move ordered once this tournament and this was it 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 So I was happy...ready for a Nimzo, or maybe at worst a Queen's Gambit but instead he unleashed 3...c5 4.d5 [In my limited pre-tournament prep I decided I was going to avoid the Benoni-Benko phalanx and just play 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.Nf3. I couldn't decide whether 4.Nf3 was good enough here. ; A combination of chessgames.com and talking to Hans over lunch made me decide to try 4.e3 and aim for a Semi-Tarrasch-esque position next time this happens] 4...exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.e4 Even though the only thing I know about the Benoni is that it's important to control e5, I decide to aim for the Taimanov attack 6...a6 Now I'm totally out of book. The Taimanov goes [6...g6 7.f4 Bg7 8.Bb5+ Nfd7 etc.] 7.a4 g6 8.f4? Exposing my position unnecessarily and making Bf4 impossible for a while and not helping me castle or get my rooks connected [8.Nf3 would've helped me develop and allowed my king some protection and covered e5, even though chessgames.com says that Black has a good winning percentage vs. 8...Bg4 . Maybe something to think about myself as Black (!) 9.Bf4 Qe7 10.Bd3 Bg7 11.0-0 looks good enough for me] 8...Bg7 9.Nf3 0-0 10.Bd3 Re8 11.0-0 Nbd7 12.Re1 Again, still playing for the e5 push 12...Ng4 13.h3 Missing what he was really threatening 13...c4

14.Bxc4?? [You would think that after yesterday I would've learned my lesson about sham sacrifices and pawn grabbing etc. If I didn't intend to take the knight on g4 I should never have played h3. My position was so exposed around my king it was just a matter of time regardless. 14.hxg4 cxd3 15.Qxd3 (15.Be3 Nc5 16.Bxc5 dxc5 17.Qxd3 Bxg4) 15...Nc5 16.Qc2 Bxg4] 14...Qb6+ and I'm just lost 0-1

whenever i need a laugh...

2006-06-27T18:40:00.000-04:00

i go here

HOstess Comic book

it kills me

match 1½-½

2006-05-31T22:45:00.000-04:00

CS - LC
Match Owen Sound, ON (1), 31.05.2006
B23 - Sicilian : Grand Prix Attack

1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 d6 3.f4 Nc6 4.Nf3 g6 5.Bc4 Bg7 6.0-0 a6 7.a4 Bg4 8.Bxf7+ Kxf7 9.Ng5+ Ke8 10.Qxg4 Nd4 11.Nd5 [11.Nxh7! Rxh7 12.Qxg6+] 11...Nf6 This is where the game started going downhill. I should've started thinking a little bit here. previously i was just looking ways to mate him or win material. I missed that he actually had a few threats. 12.Nxf6+ Bxf6 [I thought he could only play 12...exf6 13.Ne6 Nxe6 14.Qxe6+ Qe7 15.Qxe7+ Kxe7 because after 13.c3 he has to retreat his knight and I'm better] 13.c3 [13.Nxh7 was an interesting try again 13...Rxh7 14.Qxg6+ Rf7 15.e5 Bh8 (15...dxe5 16.fxe5 Bxe5) 16.e6] but I missed he could keep on threatening 13...h5 14.Qh3? [I wanted to keep the pressure up missing that 14.Qh3 dropped a pawn 14.Qd1 forced him to retreat or play 14...Bxg5 (14...Nc6) 15.fxg5 Ne6 in either case i can develop with d3 and have a much better position] 14...Ne2+ 15.Kh1 Nxf4 16.Rxf4 Bxg5 17.Rf3 [17.Rf1 would have gave me more opportunities to keep the queens on] 17...Qd7 18.Qg3 Qg4 19.Qxg4 [If I would've seen 20. ...Bf4, I probably would've played 19.Qe1 ] 19...hxg4 20.Rg3? [20.Rf1] 20...Bf4 21.Rxg4 Bxh2 22.g3 I thought that giving up the g-pawn and being able to go to g2 would have been better [22.d3 may have been okay 22...Be5+ (22...Bg3+ 23.Kg1) 23.Kg1;
22.Rxg6 Kf7 23.Rg4] 22...Bxg3+ 23.Kg2 Be5 24.Rxg6 Kf7 25.Rg4 Rag8 26.Rxg8 Rxg8+ 27.Kf3 [27.Kf2 c4 wouldn't have changed much] 27...Rg3+ 28.Ke2 c4! A good move by him. Now it's tough for me to get any development 29.b3 cxb3 30.Kf2 Trying to threaten a tactic with d4 [30.Ra3 trying to pick off the b-pawn was likely better] 30...Rh3 31.Rb1?? Now for the 10th time I'm lost again 31...Rh1 32.Ke2 Bf4 [32...b2 looks strong] 33.Ra1 a5? [He was up a bunch and I was running out of moves. 33...b6 34.Bb2 Rh2+ 35.Kf3 looked good] 34.Bb2 Rh2+ 35.Kf3 Bxd2 36.Kg3 Bf4+ 37.Kxf4 Rxb2 38.Ke3 Rc2 39.Kd3 Ke6 40.Rb1 Now I thought I had swindle chances 40...Ra2 41.Rxb3 Rxa4 42.Rxb7 Ra3 43.Kd4 a4 44.Rb5 Rb3 45.Ra5 Ra3 46.e5 dxe5+ 47.Rxe5+ Kd6 48.Rd5+ Kc6 49.Rc5+ Kd6 50.Rd5+= He had no idea how to try and win this so he offered a draw. After this I realized I should try and play simpler next time. ½-½

CL - CS
Match Owen Sound, ON (2), 31.05.2006
A07 - King's Indian Attack

My goal this game was to grab a pawn and slowly dominate. 1.Nf3 I was kinda surprised by this, but I figured he'd go for something straightforward. I was kinda hoping for 1.e4 though 1...Nf6 2.g3 g6 3.Bg2 Bg7 4.0-0 0-0 5.d3 [I think d3 is too slow in this position. I realize that he wants to play the King's Indian attack and play e4 in one move but 5.c4 ;
or 5.d4 would be better. He gives away the advantage of the first move here.] 5...d5 6.Nbd2 c6 [I should have tried to take control with 6...c5. The text was okay but too passive when I need to win] 7.e4 dxe4 8.dxe4 Bg4 [8...Nbd7] 9.Re1 Nbd7 10.h3 Bxf3 11.Qxf3 Ne5 [11...Qc7 developing the pieces was tried in Planinc-Vukic YUG-ch 1972 ] 12.Qe2 Qb6 Trying a double-attack on b3 and on f3 13.b3 [13.Nb3 was better...the e-pawn has enough protectors] 13...Nh5! Trying to open up the diagonal and hit the g-pawn 14.Rb1 [14.Nf1 Nf3+ 15.Bxf3 Bxa1 16.Bxh5 gxh5 17.Be3 Bd4 18.Qxh5 may not have been "better" but it was definitely messier and that's worth something in my books ;)] 14...Nxg3 15.Qe3 Qxe3 With queens off, I'm happy with this position, even not being up a pawn 16.Rxe3 Nh5 17.Bb2 Nf4 18.Nf3 Nxf3+ 19.Rxf3 Nxg2 [Maybe 19...Bxb2 was better as the king doesn't necessarily gain a square, but I wanted to get the bishops off. I guess though if 20.Rxb2 e5 looks okay as that is a great outpost] 20.Bxg7 Kxg7 21.Kxg2 Rfd8 22.Rd3 Rxd3 23.cxd3 Rd8 24.Rd1 e5 25.Kg3 f5 26.exf5 gxf5 27.f4? Making things tough on himself. 27...e4 28.d4 [28.Kf2] 28...Kf6 29.b4 a5 [29...Ke6] 30.a3 [30.bxa5 c5 31.d5 c4 32.Rb1 Rxd5 33.Rxb7 Rxa5 34.Rxh7 Rxa2 looks tougher for me. Sure i'm still winning, but not as easily] 30...axb4 31.axb4 Ke6 32.Kf2 b6 33.Ke3 [I thought maybe 33.Ke2 but even still it's not any better after 33...c5 34.bxc5 bxc5 35.dxc5 Rxd1 36.Kxd1 Kd5] 33...c5 34.bxc5 bxc5 35.d5+ [35.Rd2 cxd4+ 36.Rxd4 Rxd4 37.Kxd4 was possibly better but still lost] 35...Rxd5 36.Rxd5 Kxd5 37.h4 c4 38.h5 c3 39.h6 Kc4 40.Ke2 Kb3 41.Ke3 c2 42.Kd4 c1Q 43.Ke5 Qc5+ 44.Kf6 Qd6+ 45.Kg5 Qg6+ 1½/2 i should get enough points to get to 1500. 0-1

May Grand Prix

2006-05-28T19:14:00.000-04:00

CS - JD
May Grand Prix Owen Sound, ON (1), 28.05.2006
D31 - QGD : Semi-Slav

First round of the Grand Prix. An interesting setup by Bev. Your top 3 tournaments (out of 5) count towards the Grand Prix title, and they have round robins. Top 6, next 6 etc. and the Grand Prix winner is based on top 3 performances, regardless of division. Kinda neat. 1.d4 I wasn't sure what to play. I remember he was looking at the Queen's Indian previously so I was hoping he'd play a Nimzo. Unfortunately he played the Queen's Gambit (still my bane after all these years) 1...d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 c6 4.Nf3 b6? [I figured either the Noteboom 4...dxc4 ;
the Semi-Slav 4...Nf6 ;
or the Dutch 4...f5 . I asked him after the game what his idea was and he wanted to play ...Bd6 without allowing c5] 5.Bf4 I stop that 5...Nf6 6.e3 Bb4 [6...Bd6 was still playable] 7.Bd3 Ne4 8.Bxe4 dxe4 9.Nd2 c5? [9...f5 was pretty much forced 10.Qh5+ g6 11.Qh6 looks pretty tough though] 10.Ndxe4 Bb7? Dropping a piece? or a deep sacrifice 11.Nd6+ Ke7 12.Nxb7 Qd7 13.Nd6? [13.Qf3 was stronger] 13...cxd4 14.Qxd4 Bxd6 15.Bxd6+? [15.Qxg7 was better as 15...Rd8 (15...Bxf4 16.Qxh8) 16.Bg5+ I didn't calculate at all. This should be a lesson for the near future] 15...Qxd6 16.Qxg7 Rd8 17.0-0 Rd7 18.Rad1 [18.Ne4 Qd3 19.Qxh7] 18...Qb4 19.Rxd7+ [19.Qg5+ f6 20.Qg8 Qxb2 21.Qxh7+ Ke8 22.Qg8+ Ke7 23.Nb5] 19...Nxd7 20.Rd1 Qxc4 21.Qxh7 Rd8 22.Qd3 Qc6 23.Qe4 Qc5 24.h3 Maybe I had better but I was up two pawns so I'd get rid of his one threat (back rank) 24...Nf6 25.Qb7+ Rd7 26.Rxd7+ Nxd7 27.Qxa7 Qb4 28.Qa3 1-0

VR - CS
May Grand Prix Owen Sound, ON (2), 28.05.2006
B12 - Caro-Kann : Advanced Variation

1.e4 c6 The inevitable return of the Caro! How long before I retire it again 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Bd3 An old favourite. I love the Advanced Variation when White has no clue how to proceed 4...Bxd3 5.Qxd3 e6 6.f4 Qa5+! Nimzowitsch's suggestion. 7.Bd2 [Courtney-C.Sadler, Barrie 2003 went 7.c3 Qa6 8.Qxa6 Nxa6 9.Nf3 c5 and I ended up drawing] 7...Qa6 8.Qxa6 Nxa6 I'm more than happy with my position. His good bishop is off, the queens are off and he has weakened his position with f4 9.Nf3 Ne7 10.Nc3 c5 [I got impatient. I should've seen where his king was going before deciding whether pushing c5 was good at this time or not. and whether the knight on e7 belongs on g6 or c5 or f5 potentially 10...h6 ] 11.Nb5! An excellent square for his knight. 11...Nc6 Now my knight is not as good on a6 as i thought he was 5 moves ago 12.c3 [12.Be3;
12.a3 was another prophylactic try] 12...cxd4 13.cxd4 Kd7 14.Ng5 [Again 14.a3 might be okay] 14...f6 15.Nf3?! [15.Nf7 was much better] 15...Nab4 16.Ke2 a6 17.Nc3 [17.Na3 was better, this drops a pawn] 17...Nc2 18.Rab1 N2xd4+ 19.Nxd4 Nxd4+ 20.Kd3 fxe5 21.fxe5 Nc6 22.Bf4 Bc5 [22...g5 was trickier but being up material simpler was better 23.Bxg5 Nxe5+ although the g-pawn hangs after 24.Ke3 (24.Ke2 Rg8 25.Bf4 Nc4 (25...Rxg2+ 26.Kf1 is good for White 26...Nd3 27.Kxg2 Nxf4+ 28.Kf3 Bd6) ; 24...Rg8 25.Bf4 Bc5+ 26.Kd2 Rxg2+] 23.Na4 Ba7 24.Be3? Nxe5+ [24...d4 25.Bf4 b5] 25.Ke2 Bxe3 26.Kxe3 Kd6 27.Rhf1 b5 28.Nc3 Nc4+ [28...b4 29.Na4 Rac8 30.Rbc1] 29.Kd3 Rhf8 30.b3 Rxf1 31.Rxf1 Ne5+ 32.Kd4 Ra7 33.Rf8 Rf7 34.Rd8+ Nd7 35.Ra8 e5+ 36.Kd3 Nc5+ 37.Ke2 Kc6 38.Rc8+ Rc7 39.Rf8 b4 0-1

- AB
May Grand Prix Owen Sound, ON (3), 28.05.2006
D34 - QGD: Tarrasch, Prague variation, 9.Bg5

1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 c5 3.c4 e6 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Nc3 Nf6 6.g3"Against Both I don't understand your opening choice. If you wanted to play positionally against him, then create the isolated pawn and develop your pieces to better squares. For example 6.Bg5 Be7 7.dxc5 " (HJ);
Hans' advice makes good sense even at a less lofty level like mine 6.Bg5 is the reason why Black plays Nc6 before Nf6] 6...Nc6 7.Bg5 Be7 8.Bg2 0-0 9.0-0 [" 9.dxc5 d4 10.Bxf6 Bxf6 11.Ne4 with good play." (HJ)] 9...b6 10.dxc5 bxc5 11.Bxf6 Bxf6 12.Qxd5 [12.Nxd5 Bxb2 13.Rb1 Rb8 14.Nd2 Ba6 15.Ne4 Qa5 +- Sveshnikov-Filipenko, SSSR 1978;
"However creating the hanging pawns was not an advantage for you. Even the better 12.Nxd5 keeping the queens on which gives you more play is not clearly better. Even best case scenario if you win the isolated c-pawn this is an almost impossible position to convert" (HJ)] 12...Qxd5 13.Nxd5 Bxb2 14.Rab1 Rb8 Of course I missed this move 15.Nd2 Ba6 16.Rfe1 [16.Nc7 Bxe2 17.Bxc6 Bxf1 18.Kxf1 is an interesting try but I would never have looked for it although it does give me lots of play 18...Be5 19.Rxb8 Rxb8 20.Nd5] 16...Rfd8 17.Nb3 [17.Nc7 Rxd2 18.Nxa6 Rc8 19.Nxc5 was good as well] 17...Be5 18.Nxc5 Rxb1 19.Rxb1 Bxe2 20.Re1 Nd4 21.Rb1 ["Later on you missed 21.f4 (a nice pawn shot!) and its complicated but I like your chances after say 21...Nf3+ 22.Bxf3 Bd4+ 23.Kg2 Bxf3+ 24.Kxf3 Bxc5 25.Rd1! and you are a bit better because of your king placement but not enough to win" (HJ)] 21...Nf3+ 22.Bxf3 Bxf3 23.Ne3= g6 24.h4 Rd2 25.Nc4 Re2 26.Nxe5 Rxe5 27.Nd3 Ra5 28.Ne1 [28.Nb4 Ra4 29.Rb3 is better] 28...Bd5 29.Nd3 Kg7 30.Nb4 Be6 31.Ra1 Ra4 32.a3 Kf6 33.f4 ["You should have never lost this game. You didn't use your king until it was too late. You should have left your pawn on f2 and played 33.Kf1 -- 34.Ke1 -- 35.Kd2 and just tried to hold the position (he's better). Those half points end up costly in the long run" (HJ)] 33...Kf5 34.Kf2 Ke4 35.Nc2 Kd3 36.Nb4+ Kc3 37.Ke3 Kb2 38.Rd1 Rxa3+ 39.Nd3+ Kb3 40.Kd4 Kc2 Of course he was right. I'm paying the guy I should start listening to him :( 0-1

LR - CS
May Grand Prix Owen Sound, ON (4), 28.05.2006
B12 - Caro-Kann : Advanced Variation

1.e4 My opponent is the father of the kid I played in the second round 1...c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Like father like son 3...Bf5 4.Nf3 e6 After the game he mentioned that "after you played ...e6 it transposed into a French" ;) He must've missed the fact my bishop was outside the pawn chain 5.Nc3 [5.Be2 is mainline, keeping the option of pushing the c-pawn. again White was playing without a plan] 5...Nd7 6.Bd3 Bxd3 7.Qxd3 Ne7 8.0-0 c5 [Fritz said that 8...Nf5 might be worth a try, to put pressure on the d-pawn, but I like the tried and true ...c5 push] 9.dxc5 Nc6! I was happy with this move. It's thematic, but I'm happy nonetheless. I grab the c-pawn with my bishop then go after the e-pawn 10.a3 Bxc5 11.Bf4 a6 To stop Nb4 12.Ne2 Qc7 now I'm going for the pawn 13.c4 dxc4 14.Qxc4 Ncxe5 i have no problem grabbing either as 15.Nxe5 Nxe5 16.Qc3 [16.Bxe5 Qxe5 is good or(16...Bxf2+ 17.Rxf2 Qxc4) ] 16...Bd6 17.Qxc7 Bxc7 18.Rfd1 Rd8 and for some reason he trades down into a lost pawn endgame 19.Bxe5? Bxe5 20.Rxd8+ Kxd8 interestingly enough I didn't castle in either Caro this tournament 21.Rd1+ Ke7 22.Nc3 Bxc3 23.bxc3 Rd8 24.Rxd8? Kxd8 and it's a walkover from here 25.Kf1 b5 26.Ke2 Kd7 27.Kd3 Kc6 28.Kd4 f6 29.f4 h5 30.h3 g6 31.c4 bxc4 32.Kxc4 Kd6 33.a4 e5 34.fxe5+ fxe5 35.a5 g5 36.Kd3 Kd5 0-1 surprising he didn't put up more of a fight...he beat Aaron Both in the previous round

CS - KVA[D01]
May Grand Prix Owen Sound, ON (5), 28.05.2006
D01 - Veresov

1.Nc3 [This game was a sign from God not to play the Veresov anymore. I didn't want to play 1.d4 against Kees because he plays 1...d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 (forgetting that I could always have played 3.Nf3 c5 4.cxd5 avoiding his line) 3...c5 4.cxd5 cxd4] 1...Nf6 2.d4 d5 3.Bg5 g6 [Secretly hoping for 3...e6 4.e4] 4.Bxf6 [A different (better if you will) idea is 4.Qd2 with castling queenside] 4...exf6 5.e4 [5.e3 may be better as well] 5...dxe4 6.Nxe4 Bg7 7.c3 [7.Nf3 0-0 8.Be2 f5 9.Nc5 b6 10.Nb3 Bb7 11.0-0 Nd7 12.c3 Nf6 13.Re1 a6 14.a4 Re8 15.a5 Nd5 16.Bf1 Alburt-Marjanovic, Bucharest 1978] 7...0-0 I came back from the bathroom and played the usual and horrifying 8.Nf3?? missing that he had a threat 8...Re8 and it's over. I was going to play on only one piece down but after 9.Bd3?? f5 10.0-0 fxe4 it's two pieces.

A sad end to a not bad day 0-1

yet another one bites the dust

2006-05-25T21:50:00.000-04:00

today i finished

not sure what i'm going for next.

May (2)

2006-05-22T15:44:00.000-04:00

K - C
May Match Internet Chess Club (2), 22.05.2006
B19 - Caro-Kann : 4. ...Bf5 main line

1.e4 c6 [After reading through Weeramantry's "Lessons of a Chess Coach" I wanted to play 1...d6 since that's what basically every game was in there, but unfortunately I remembered that Kirk tried to get into the KID with 2.c4 and of course i can't get into the Grünfeld if he already has e4 in] 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Mildly surprising 3...dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 [I kinda wanted to try 4...Nf6 5.Nxf6+ gxf6 but I wanted a longish game and was curious to see what he had in mind] 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.h4 h6 7.Nf3 Nd7 8.Bc4?! Looking for a Tal-esque sacrifice on e6 (which he tried later) 8...e6 9.0-0 [9.Qe2 may be stronger if he wants to work on e6; During the game I thought he may try 9.Bf4 to limit me on the dark squares] 9...Bd6 looking for tactics involving taking out the knight on g3...plus I didn't want to give him a second shot at Bf4 10.c3 Ngf6 11.Qb3 Nb6 [Fritz preferred 11...Qc7 actually threatening something but i was happy enough with this position] 12.Bxe6? I think he needed to play [12.Re1 to try and get this line but even then, it's tough because i'm attacking his bishop;
12.Be2 was another try but I'm happy with this position. Kirk wanted to try and take advantage of my king being stuck in the center] 12...fxe6 13.Qxe6+ Qe7 14.Re1 Qxe6 of course i'm looking for any middlegame with queens off in a position like this 15.Rxe6+ Kd7 16.Re1 Rhe8 17.Be3 [Fritz liked 17.Ne5+ Bxe5 18.dxe5 Nfd5 but I think i'm as good here as he is 19.h5 Bh7 20.f4 looks more aggressive for him...] 17...Ng4 18.Nf1 Nc4 19.b3 Ncxe3 [Fritz wanted to try 19...Na3 20.Rac1 Rad8 but I was happy enough getting the pieces off. Maybe I shouldn't have been though...even with the pieces off he had no mobility...I likely should have *not* traded off the bishop pair and tried to squeeze him anymore, but this way I got the bishop pair against nothing and his pieces were cramped] 20.fxe3 Bd3 21.N3d2 Be4! Whether this was actually the strongest move or not I'm not sure, all I know is that I was happy with this move which made it tough for him to find any active plans. His only active move was e4. 22.Nc4 Bc7 23.Ncd2 Re7 24.c4 [Of course anywhere around here 24.Nxe4 Rxe4 followed by 25.-- Rae8 and I win the e-pawn.] 24...Rae8 25.c5 Bd3 White resigns 0-1

may (1)

2006-05-14T16:44:00.000-04:00

C - K
May Match (1) Internet Chess Club, 14.05.2006
C42 - Petroff Defense

1.e4 [I am planning on playing 1.d4 at the Canadian Open, but for some reason I got nostalgic and wanted to play the Ruy Lopez. Unfortunately, I forgot that Kirk only allows the RUy Lopez when he's White and plays the Petroff as Black. I didn't feel like playing the King's Gambit so here we go] 1...e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 [I never felt comfortable playing 4.Nxf7 ] 4...Nxe4 5.d4 d5 6.Bd3 Be7 [When I played the Petroff my choice was Marshall's. Kirk's line is more complicated 6...Bd6 ] 7.0-0 Nc6 8.c4 Nb4 I knew this was theory but I also thought it couldn't be good. How could I try to get an advantage 9.cxd5 Qxd5 [Theory is 9...Nxd3 10.Qxd3 Qxd5 11.Nc3 Nxc3 12.Qxc3 but with the isolated pawn i prefer this for Black] 10.Bxe4? A bad idea here. I was hoping to take advantage of all the knight and queen moves by Black [10.Re1 was probably better] 10...Qxe4 11.Re1? I didn't see Qc2 until I played this [11.Nc3 was probably better. 11...Qc2 12.Bg5] 11...Qc2! 12.Nc3 Bg4 13.Rxe7+? [Another terrible idea. I had played over Steinitz and von Bardeleben before this game and it clouded my judgement. Even 13.Bf4 was okay for Black as he can't castle because of the pin and 13...Qxd1 14.Raxd1 is good for White. Terrible decision by me] 13...Kxe7 14.Nd5+ Kd8 15.Qxc2 Nxc2 16.Ne5 Be6 White resigns 0-1

did i get to 1500?

2006-04-29T23:14:00.000-04:00

i played in a four rounder at London today. me and kirk drove down, rented a very nice Matrix. i'm a fan. in any case, i scored 1/4 against dramatically higher competition. we'll see if it was enough...i need to get to 1500 so i can play the U2000 section at the Canadian Open. i scored 0/3 with 1.Nc3 as white

C - NN(1615)
London Open London, ON (1), 29.04.2006
B07 - Pirc Defense : Byrne variation

Playing in the first round of the London open. I was hoping to gain 16 points so I could get up to 1500 and be able to play in the U2000 at the Canadian Open. The first round was against a kid who said he hadn't played a tournament game in a couple of years, thus 1615 didn't mean very much to me. 1.Nc3?! My new idea for this tournament. I was hoping to transpose back to most of the 1.e4 openings while avoiding a bunch of the stuff I don't like (Winawer, Scandinavian). The negatives of course are that they don't have to transpose back to a 1.e4 opening (see my next two white games) and of course I avoid the mainline of the Alekhine and I'm forced to play the 3.Nc3 line v. the Caro 1...Nf6 2.d4 d6 I was terribly happy with this 3.e4 g6 Okay so here I am I decided to play 4.Bg5 the Byrne variation, which I had dabbled with before but didn't really decide beforehand what to play. I will have to decide before the Canadian Open. Probably just the [mainline 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Be3 and go for it] 4...Bg7 5.Qd2 Nbd7 6.Nf3?! [Theory doesn't show this at all. Better is 6.0-0-0 or; 6.f4] 6...0-0 7.Bd3 [I was stuck for a plan here. Probably best was 7.0-0-0 but I was worried about him coming with the queenside pawns; I also thought about playing 7.Bc4 hoping for 7...Nb6 8.Bb3 avoiding the pawn storm on the queenside and allowing me to castle safely on the queenside; 7.Bh6 c5 8.Bxg7 Kxg7 9.0-0-0 was also a possibility] 7...c5 8.e5? [Too ambitious. I should have probably solidified the center with 8.d5 a6 9.a4; Even 8.0-0 cxd4 9.Nxd4 may have been okay as well] 8...cxd4! I missed this in my calculations. Well didn't really miss it, I miscounted in my calculation that they captured a pawn here [Something like 8...dxe5 9.dxe5 Ng4 was okay for me] 9.exf6 dxc3 10.Qxc3 [Now I'm just down a pawn. 10.bxc3 gave me double isolated pawns and being down material.] 10...Nxf6 11.Qb3 Forced because of the discovered attack 11...b6 12.0-0-0 [I had decided to do a kingside attack but practically 12.0-0 may have been better] 12...Be6 13.Qa4 Qc7 14.h4 [Maybe strengthening the center instead of going for his king was better. But I fear that something like 14.Rhe1 was more the slow kill as well] 14...Ng4 15.Rdf1 [I wanted to make 15.h5 work but I thought it just loses a whack of material because after 15...Nxf2 16.hxg6 I thought that Black can just take back the pawn, whereas after something like 16...fxg6 (16...hxg6 17.Qh4 Nxd3+ 18.Rxd3 Rfc8) 17.Qh4 Nxh1 (17...Nxd1 18.Qxh7+ Kf7 19.Bxg6#) 18.Rxh1 h5 But I'm okay here 19.Bxg6 ] 15...h5 16.Nd2 [I wonder if closing off the long diagonal with 16.c3 may have been a better try; or even 16.Kb1 ] 16...Ne5 17.Kb1 Nxd3 18.cxd3 b5! A strong move by him 19.Qa6 [19.Qxb5 Rab8 wins for Black; 19.Qb4 a5 20.Qe4 looks strong for him as well] 19...Bf5 20.Rc1 [I don't know why I didn't look at 20.Qa3 sure it would have put the capture on d3 off a move. Looking back, the Nd2 hurt me more than it should have] 20...Bxd3+ 21.Ka1 Qd7 22.Rhd1 [I think I mentally blocked the move 22.Qa3 because I wanted to keep the a-pawn backward and eventually try to pick off the b-pawn to even the material. As a result though I got a passive, terrible position] 22...Bf5 23.Nb3 Rac8 24.f3 Qe6 25.Rxc8 [At this point I was able to grab the b-pawn 25.Qxb5 Rxc1+ 26.Rxc1 Rc8 27.Rxc8+ Qxc8 28.Qe2] 25...Rxc8 26.Qxb5 Rc2 27.Bc1 Qc8 28.Qf1 Be6 [Fritz found a mate 28...Qc3 29.bxc3 (29.Qb5 Rxc1+ 30.Nxc1 Qc2 31.Qe8+ Kh7 32.Qh8+ Bxh8 33.Nd3 Qxd1+ 34.Nc1 Qxc1#) 29...Bxc3+ 30.Bb2 Bxb2+ 31.Kb1 Re2+ 32.Rd3 Bxd3#] 29.Kb1 Bf5 30.Ka1 Qa8 Again Hans, this was because I offered a draw in his time trouble, not because I thought it was even 31.Rd2= a5 32.Rxc2 Bxc2 33.Qc4 Bf5 34.Qa4 Qd5 35.Qxa5 Qd3 36.Nd2 Bh6 37.Qc3 and I eventually lost in a bishop v. knight ending 0-1

NN (1701) - C
London Open London, ON (2), 29.04.2006
A03 - Bird's Opening

1.f4 A bit of a surprise, but a pleasant one. I used to play this as White and was comfortable with the reversed-Dutch positions. Also I wasn't sure if I was going to play a Sicilian or something else v. 1.e4 1...d5 2.e3 [2.Nf3 is more common, but the text transposes] 2...Nf6 3.Nf3 g6 [As someone who has played this as White at a lowly level I wanted to avoid playing 3...c5 ;
or 3...Nc6 as it allows him to develop his bishop easier] 4.Be2 [4.b3 is another way to kill a tempo to try and develop his bishop to c4 or b5] 4...Bg7 5.0-0 0-0 6.d3 c5 I'm very happy with my position here, a reversed Dutch 7.Nc3 [7.Qe1 like in the Ilyin-Genevsky Dutch is the mainline.] 7...d4!? I'm not sure whether this was good or not, but my reasoning was this. I was developed enough to make a second pawn move that would force his knight to move eventually. He will have trouble developing his bishop, and this will potentially open up the diagonal for my darksquared bishop. In addition, he was a little bit older than me and looked like he was banging out his moves like he'd played them a million times. I figured an aggressive move like ...d4 would make him think a little bit 8.exd4 [The text is exactly what I was hoping for but after 8.Ne4 Qb6 would not have worked as well because there is no pin(8...Nc6 9.Nxc5 dxe3 10.Bxe3 Nd5; 8...Nxe4 9.dxe4 Nc6) ] 8...cxd4 9.Ne4 Nc6 10.Qe1 [I wonder if 10.Nxf6+ may have been better. I would have been happy with this position as well. His development is going to be tough, probably best being b3 and Bb2, and if he plays c3 or c4, he ends up with the isolated pawn 10...Bxf6 ] 10...Qb6 11.Qh4?? Terrible and a "pawn tactic" actually wins it for me, ironically enough ;) 11...Nxe4 12.dxe4 d3+ 13.Kh1 dxe2 14.Re1 Bf6 15.Qg3 Nd4 16.Nxd4 Qxd4 17.Rxe2 Qd1+ 18.Re1 Qg4 19.Qf2 Bd7 20.e5 Bh4 21.g3 Bc6+ 22.Kg1 e6 23.Be3 Be7 24.Bxa7 Rxa7 25.Qxa7 Qf3 26.Rf1 [I was honestly hoping for 26.Re2 Qxe2 27.Qf2 Bc5!] 26...Qg2# 0-1

C - NN (2053)
London Open London, ON (3), 29.04.2006
D01 - Richter-Veresov Attack

1.Nc3 I was paired up against an expert. He really blitzed me this game and I tried to slow down but I found it tough 1...d5 2.d4 Bf5! Realizing that I was playing for either e4 or a terribly passive position 3.Nf3 [Chessgames said I should've stuck to my goal of e4 in one move and played 3.f3 ] 3...Nf6 4.Bg5 e6 Now he has a good position 5.e3 [I wonder if I should've played for the bishop pair, as in similar lines in the Caro-Kann advance and the Slav with 5.Nh4 ] 5...c6 6.Bd3 Bb4 7.Bxf5 exf5 8.0-0 Nbd7 9.Ne2 I was happy enough with my position. Obviously I won't be able to break with f3 but I can come up the queenside (hopefully) 9...h6 10.Bxf6 [In my game I won the bishops dominated and in the games I lost the bishops dominated. I've already realized that I undervalue the bishop pair but it was dramatically shown this tournament 10.Bf4 g5 11.Be5 is okay] 10...Nxf6 11.c3 [A little slow maybe. If I was going to play c4 I should've played it in one move 11.c4 particularly because the bishop is doing nothing on b4] 11...Bd6 12.Rc1 ["You should have played 12.g3 and opportunities to play for many moves more. Instead you played h3. If you understood that concept you should not have lost that game. Also you played the queenside pawn attack but never followed through (planning). " (HJ)

I absolutely agree. I can't recall why I decided against it] 12...0-0 13.c4 Re8 [13...dxc4 14.Rxc4 may have been better for me, because it would have been more difficult for a patzer like me to do a queenside attack] 14.c5 Bc7 15.h3? [Obviously once i have c5 in 15.g3 is good as he literally has no squares for his bishop. As sad as this is, I trusted his expert opinion in that if it was good he wouldn't allow it.] 15...Ne4 16.b4 a6 [I thought 16...a5 was good] 17.Nd2 I didn't want to be reactive, but I figured this gave me the option of f3 as well 17...Qf6 18.Nxe4 fxe4 19.Qd2 Re7 20.a4 Rae8 21.Nc3 I was happy about this move, because later on I threaten Nxd5 21...Qh4 22.b5 axb5 23.axb5 I'm happy now that I have a bit of a threat now. 23...Re6 24.f4?! [24.b6 Bb8 25.Ra1 and now I am really threatening coming through on the queenside] 24...exf3 25.Rxf3 Rg6 26.Qf2= [As you said I should have tried 26.b6 Bg3 (26...Bb8 27.Rcf1) 27.Rcf1] 26...Bg3 Honestly I missed this move 27.Qc2 Rge6 28.Qd3 Qg5 [28...Rxe3 29.Rxe3 Bf2+!] 29.Nd1 Very passive 29...Bc7 30.Kf2? My opponent called this move "suicidal" after the game. My play should have been on the queenside [30.Ra1] 30...Rg6 31.g4 [31.Qf1 may have been better] 31...h5 32.Qf5 Qh4+ 33.Kg2? [I didn't want to play 33.Ke2 because of the potential pin but this was much better as he can't really win a pawn here 33...hxg4 (33...Qe7 34.Qxh5 and I'm at least as good) 34.Qxf7+ Kh7 35.hxg4] 33...hxg4 34.Qxf7+ Kh7 35.Qxe8?? I missed Black's next 35...gxf3+ 36.Kxf3 Qh5+ [I only saw 36...Qxh3+ which is bad as well. I lost the flow of the game with Kf2 and then i was just out of it moving my king into the field of attack instead of away from it.] 0-1

C - NN (1845)
London Open London, ON (4), 29.04.2006
D01 - Richter-Veresov attack

Once again... 1.Nc3 Nf6 2.d4 d5 3.Bg5 c6 [I was hoping for 3...e6 4.e4 going into a French. This line doesn't transpose into the Caro quite as nicely] 4.Bxf6 exf6 5.e4?! [5.e3 may be better] 5...dxe4 6.Nxe4 Be7 7.Nf3 0-0 8.Be2 Bf5 9.Ng3 Be6 [If 9...Bg6 I may have tried 10.h4 h6 11.h5 Bh7 12.Bd3 similar to the mainline of the Caro] 10.0-0 Nd7 11.c3 Nb6 12.b3?! [Missing that he was going to d5 not to c4. Maybe 12.Re1 Nd5 13.Qc2 Nf4 14.Nf5 Nxe2+ 15.Rxe2 Re8] 12...Nd5 13.Qd2 Qc7 14.c4 [Again not necessary because I think that he was happy going to f4 regardless. I liked the idea of the big pawn center and trying to push through 14.Bd3 Qa5 15.c4 Qxd2 16.Nxd2 Nf4 17.Bf5] 14...Nf4 15.Bd1 [I didn't want to give up the bishops altogether, but activity trumps bishop pairs. 15.Bd3 ;
15.Rfe1 Nxe2+ 16.Rxe2 Rfe8 17.Rae1] 15...Rfd8 16.Bc2 g6 17.h3 [17.Rfe1 may have been better. Again I was playing too quickly and didn't have a plan and was playing reactively. Luft is generally good, but I wonder if the rook move, then 17...-- 18.Ne2 Nxe2+ 19.Rxe2 same idea as before 19...-- 20.Rae1] 17...a5! Strong move. Paralyzing most of my pawns 18.Rad1 Bf8 19.Ne2 [19.Ne4 may have been better. Luck favours the aggressor 19...f5 (19...Kg7) 20.Neg5 Bc8 21.g3 Nh5 (21...Ne6 22.Nxe6 Bxe6) ] 19...Bh6 [19...Nxe2+ 20.Qxe2] 20.Nxf4 Bxf4 21.Qc3 Hoping to pick off the f-pawn eventually 21...Bd6 22.Qb2 [Fritz wanted me to try 22.c5 but I was worried about the backward d-pawn. Unfairly? Can you comment on this please?] 22...a4 23.d5 Bd7 24.Qxf6 Grabbing my pawn. At the end of a long day, my goal was just to grab a pawn, offer a draw and go home. 24...cxd5 25.Rxd5 Bc6 26.Rdd1= There's my draw offer 26...Be7 27.Qc3 Qf4 28.Qe3 Hoping to go into a pawn up endgame 28...Qxe3 29.fxe3 Bc5 30.Nd4 axb3 31.Bxb3? [I have no idea what I was thinking 31.axb3 seemed better with hindsight. My excuse (for what it's worth) was that I was a little upset that he didn't respect me enough to accept my draw offer (of course the 400 rating point differential and the fact my opponent had a tough tournament had nothing to do with it) and also that 8 hours is a lot of chess for a day 31...Ra2 32.Rf2] 31...Ba4 32.Kf2 Bxb3 33.Nxb3? [Again 33.axb3 was better here as well.] 33...Rxa2+ 34.Kf3 Rc8 35.Nxc5? [35.Rd7 was stronger 35...Bf8 36.Rxb7 Rxc4 37.Nd4] 35...Rxc5 36.g4 [36.Rd4 held onto things as you mentioned previously 36...Rc2 (36...Ra4 37.Rb1 Rcxc4 38.Rxc4 Rxc4 39.Rxb7) 37.Rb1 R5xc4 38.Rxc4 Rxc4 39.Rxb7] 36...Rxc4 37.Rd7 Hoping to double the rooks and get a draw. Despite the fact I went from a double rook ending a pawn up into a double rook ending a pawn down, my sense of danger had disappeared. 37...Rb2 38.Rfd1 [38.Kg3! was also recommended by you. It's unclear why I missed this. My plan was much slower. I should've took a deep breath and went for a walk between the middlegame and the endgame. I have no chance of doubling the rooks with the text move] 38...Rcc2 39.Re7 Rf2+ 40.Ke4 Rb4+ 41.Ke5 [My only chance was 41.Rd4 and if 41...Rxd4+ (41...Rb1 42.Rdd7 and go for the b-pawn?) 42.Kxd4] 41...Rf3 42.Kd6 [42.e4 was better. 42...Rxh3 (42...Kf8 43.Rdd7) 43.Rf1 Re3 44.Kd5] 42...Rb3 43.Re1 b5 The game is pretty much over here 44.Kc5 Rb2 45.Rd1 b4 46.Rb7 b3 47.Kb4 [47.Rd3 Rxh3 48.Rdxb3 Rxb3 49.Rxb3 Rg3 and I'm still worse as 3 beats 1] 47...Rh2 48.Kxb3 Rxe3+ 49.Kc4 Rhxh3 50.Rf1 Rhf3 I could safely resign here. 51.Rg1 Kg7 52.Kd4 Ra3 53.Ke4 Rfb3 54.Rb1 Rxb1 55.Rxb1 g5 56.Rb5 h6 57.Kf5 Rf3+ 58.Ke4 Rf4+ I was outmatched in the open section but I think I'm heading in the right direction 0-1

1-3

2006-04-18T22:23:00.000-04:00

C - K
April Match (4), 18.04.2006
C25 - Vienna gambit

1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.f4 exf4 4.Nf3 Bc5 5.d4 Bb6 6.Na4 Nf6 7.Nxb6 axb6 8.Bd3 d6 9.Bxf4 Bg4 10.c3 0-0 11.0-0 Re8 12.Re1 Ne7 13.e5 Nfd5 14.Bxh7+ Kh8 15.Bd2 Bxf3 16.Qxf3 Kxh7 17.c4 dxe5 18.cxd5 [18.dxe5 c5 19.Qxf7 Nc7 20.Bg5 Qd4+ 21.Kh1] 18...Qxd5 19.Qh3+ [19.Qh5+ Kg8 20.Qxe5] 19...Kg8 20.Rad1 [20.Rxe5 Qxd4+ 21.Qe3 Nf5 22.Rxe8+ Rxe8 23.Qxd4 Nxd4] 20...Qxd4+ 21.Kh1 Qxb2 22.Bc3 Qa3 23.Rxe5 Ng6 24.Rxe8+ Rxe8 25.Qd7 Re7 26.Qd8+ [26.Qd4 f6 27.Qd5+ Rf7 28.Qxb7] 26...Kh7 27.Qd4 f6 28.Qd3 [28.Bb4 Qxa2 29.Bxe7 Nxe7] 28...b5 29.Qh3+ [29.Qf5 Qxc3 30.Qh5+ Kg8 31.Rd8+ Nf8 32.Qd5+ Kh7 33.Qh5+] 29...Kg8 30.Qc8+ Kf7 31.Ba1 Qxa2 32.Qxb7 Qe2 33.Qd5+ Re6 34.h3 Nf4 35.Qf3 Qxf3 36.gxf3 Nxh3 White resigns 0-1

game

2006-04-17T21:25:00.000-04:00

K - C
April Match (3), 17.04.2006
E68 - King's Indian: fianchetto, classical variation, 8.e4

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 I thought he was really trying to win here since he played 2.Nf3 which he knows I have a tough time against. 2...g6 I decided not to play a Grunny and go for a KID. To digress for a second, this kind of thing happens to me *all* the time. I play something OTB that I've never actually played before. I've started working with a FM and I hope he points me in the right direction opening wise. 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 0-0 5.c4 d6 [5...d5;
or 5...c6 will transpose to a Grünfeld] 6.0-0 Nbd7 7.Nc3 e5 8.e4 c6 9.Bg5 [9.h3 is the mainline 9...Qb6 is the mainline. I'm not sure I like this position] 9...Qc7 10.Qd2 exd4 11.Nxd4 Ne5 12.b3 c5? [12...c5 I only saw 13.Nf3 after which 13...Bh3 with the threat of 14.Bxh3 (But unfortunately (for me) it falls to 14.Nxe5 Bxg2 15.Bxf6 Bxf6 16.Ng4 Bxf1 17.Nxf6+ Kg7 18.Nfd5) 14...Nxf3+] 13.Ndb5 Qb6 [13...Qd7 14.Qxd6 Qxd6 15.Nxd6 Neg4] 14.f4 Nc6 15.Nxd6 Rd8 16.e5 Ne8 17.Nd5 Kirk got greedy 17...Rxd6 18.exd6 [I really wanted to give up the exchange 18.Nxb6 Rxd2 19.Nxa8 Rxg2+ (19...h6 20.Bh4 g5 21.fxg5 Bxe5) 20.Kxg2 b6] 18...Qa6 19.Rae1 Bd4+ 20.Kh1 [Kirk missed the winning 20.Qxd4!! but of course the finish is not easy Be6 (20...cxd4 21.Rxe8+ Kg7 22.Bf6+ Kh6 23.Rg8 Kh5 24.Bf3+ Bg4 25.Bg5 Rxg8 26.Nf6#; 20...Nxd4 21.Rxe8+ Kg7 22.Nf6 Ne2+ 23.Kf2 Bh3 24.Rxa8 Bc8 25.Rxc8 Qxd6 26.Rg8#) 21.Nf6+] 20...Bd7 21.Rxe8+ Rxe8 22.Nf6+? [22.Nc7 Qb6 23.Nxe8 Bxe8 was winning] 22...Bxf6 23.Bxf6 Re6 Kirk said he missed this move 24.Qc3 Nd4= I offered a draw here, for some reason mentally I thought the queen was on d3 so that after 25.Bxd4 cxd4 [I could pin the queen with 25...Rxd6 ] 26.Qxd4 Rxd6 27.Qb2 Qa5 28.Bxb7 [28.Qe5 Qa6 29.Kg1] 28...Rd2 29.Qf6 Qxa2 I didn't see a mate for him so I wanted to make him prove it 30.Bd5? Rxh2+? [30...Rxd5 31.cxd5 Bh3 32.Rg1;
Anything else won 30...Be6 31.Bc6 Bh3 32.Re1 Rxh2+ 33.Kg1 Qf2#] 31.Kg1 Be6 32.f5 Again I saw no mate 32...Bxd5 33.Qd8+ Kg7 34.f6+ Kh6 35.Qxd5 Qe2 36.Qa8 Kg5 37.Qd5+ Kh6 38.Qb7 Rh5 39.Rf2 Qe3 40.Qxf7 Qxg3+? [40...Qe1+ 41.Rf1 (41.Kg2 Qh1#) 41...Qxg3#] 41.Kf1 Qd3+ 42.Kg1 Qg3+ 43.Kf1 Rh1+ 44.Ke2 Qe5+ 45.Kd2 Qe1+ [45...Qd4+ 46.Ke2 Qd1+ 47.Ke3 Rh3+ 48.Rf3 Rxf3+ 49.Ke4 Qd3+] 46.Kd3 Rh3+ White resigns I fought back but he was better for quite a bit. I missed quite a few things defensively (and a bit offensively) but i guess so did he 0-1

what a mess

2006-04-08T15:54:00.000-04:00

C - K
April Match (2), 08.04.2006
C29 - Vienna Gambit

This was a funny game. I'm sure Fritz will jump all over it. 1.e4 [I decided to play 1.Nc3 , but I suspected that Kirk wouldn't transpose into something proper, so I decided to invite 1.e4 e5 and play the Vienna] 1...e5 2.Nc3!? Nf6 3.f4 The Vienna Gambit 3...d5! The strongest move at this point. I had thought about this previously and I decided to play it as a "bad" Falkbeer with Nc3 and Nf6 thrown in 4.exd5? [4.fxe5 Nxe4 5.Nf3 is the mainline and is better than what happened;
4.d3 is also playable] 4...Bc5? [4...Nxd5;
4...exf4;
4...e4 were all better I think. Chessgames.com didn't have ...Bc5 listed] 5.Bb5+!? following Tchigorin's example, but it threw a real wrench into the proceedings [5.fxe5 Nxd5 6.Nf3 may have been okay] 5...c6 6.dxc6 bxc6 7.fxe5 and Fritz agreed with me. let's see what happens 7...Ng4 8.Ne4? [I had thought about 8.Qf3! , but I couldn't makee it work as I still thought that 8...Nf2 was good for Black but I guess after 9.Bxc6+ Nxc6 10.Qxc6+ Bd7 11.Qxc5 Nxh1 I'm better. That's disappointing] 8...Bxg1 and Now I'm down a piece 9.Nd6+ Ke7? [9...Kf8 was much better. Avoiding the check when I take with the knight] 10.Qf3? [10.Rxg1 was much better as the bishop could not be taken 10...cxb5 11.Qf3] 10...Nxe5 I thought I was screwed but luckily 11.Nxc8+ was there getting the queen off the d-file 11...Qxc8 12.Qa3+ Ke8 13.Rxg1 cxb5 14.d4 Nc4 I missed this move 15.Qf3 Qe6+ 16.Kd1 [16.Kf2 Qf6 and he's better] 16...Nc6?? [16...Qc6 would have been better. I was worse the whole game but missed a lot of tactics] 17.Re1= and I offered a draw but he resigned. We both missed quite a lot. I think it's good that we played an open game like this. It really showed me what I need to work on 1-0

April Game One

2006-04-02T21:28:00.000-04:00

K - C
April Match Internet Chess Club (1), 02.04.2006
E43 - Nimzo-Indian : Fischer variation

I was looking to get back into my winning ways. 1.d4 This was a bit of a surprise. Kirk hadn't played anything but [1.e4 for quite a while. It probably worked out better for him though because I had the unpleasant (for him) 1...c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 planned which he doesn't like] 1...Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 b6 Fischer Variation. He said after the game that if he remembered that I played this he would have played 4.Qb3 or something. I wonder what he was expecting 5.Bd3 Bb7 [I was thinking about 5...Ba6 but for some reason that would be a novelty in the Chessgames database. It doesn't look terrible to me] 6.f3 when I saw him play this I thought maybe I should've played ...Ba6 6...d5 [I forgot that he had already played e3, so i could play 6...0-0 successfully as if he really wanted to play 7.e4 it wouldn't be so good as he took way too long to get it accomplished 7...d5 8.e5 dxc4 9.exf6 cxd3 10.fxg7 Kxg7 11.Qxd3] 7.Nge2 [7.cxd5 is a little more regular] 7...0-0 8.0-0 c5 I didn't really want to end up with this pawn formation but after 9.a3 I saw that I might be able to give him an IQP which would work out. Recently I've been hoping to try the pawn center of ...e6, ...d6, ...c5, ...b6 but it was tough when he played f3 and I was worried about the big pawn center. 9...cxd4! Thank you David Bronstein 10.exd4 [10.axb4 dxc3 11.bxc3 dxc4 12.Bxc4 Qc7 is okay] 10...dxc4 I was happy with this move as now 11.Bxc4 [11.axb4 cxd3 12.Qxd3 is much better for Black, so the IQP is forced] 11...Be7 12.Bf4 I missed that he was threatening a few things here, so I quickly played 12...Nc6 13.d5?! I was worried about ...Na5 14.d6 Nxc4 15.dxe7 Qxe7 16.Bd6 but then saw that Nxd6 was better. But what about 16.b3 for instance? 13...Na5! 14.d6 [I had only thought about 14.Ba2 but then I just win the pawn] 14...Nxc4 15.dxe7 Qxe7 16.Qb3 [16.b3 Rfd8 Made it work(16...e5 was a little more complicated, but worked as well) ] 16...Ba6 17.Rfd1 [17.Qa4 I thought about 17...Na5 and if (but 17...Qc5+ 18.Kh1 Bb7 works just as well; or 17...Qb7 ) 18.b4 Bxe2 19.Nxe2 Nc4] 17...Rfd8 18.Bg5?? [18.Bg5?? White resigns before I could play 18...Qc5+ , which is frankly a bad idea at mine and Kirk's level. I could have missed the free bishop and, sad to say, we shouldn't resign at Canadian Open until the material is off the board. Kirk got into a position where he couldn't find a clear plan, he was frustrated that he dropped a pawn and overlooked a tactic.] 0-1

out like a lamb

2006-04-01T07:59:00.000-05:00

C - K
March Match Internet Chess Club (5), 31.03.2006
D17 - Slav : Czech Variation

I wasn't really into the mood to play, but I needed to be. It reminds me of the quote from Geller - "When a player is not in a good mood and loses it means his technique is not on a high level". i fancy that my technique is at a passable level, but this game shows otherwise 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.a4 Bf5 6.Nh4!?

But the reason I decided to play (and avoid the Slav Exchange) was this move here. I saw this move in Onischuk-Shirov and thought that it would be a nice try v. the Slav 6...e6 [The strongest theoretical move was 6...Bd7! but I didn't think that (never having seen this before) Kirk would play a retreating move like that. In Kirk's favor, SHirov also played ...e6] 7.Nxf5 exf5 8.e3 Bb4 9.Bxc4 0-0 10.0-0 Nbd7 11.Qb3?! [The Onischuk-Shirov game continued 11.Qc2 g6 12.f3 Rc8 13.Rd1 Qe7 14.e4 fxe4 15.Nxe4 Nxe4 16.fxe4 and a plan like this with f3 and trying to get e4 in would have been better for me 16...c5 17.d5 Qd6 18.a5 a6 19.Rf1 Rce8 20.Bh6 Ne5 21.g3 f6 22.Bxf8 Rxf8 23.Rf4 Kg7 24.Kh1 Rf7 25.b3 Qd8 26.Be2 h5 27.Qc1 Bxa5 28.Qxc5 Bc7 29.Rc1 Bd6 30.Qe3 a5 31.Rff1 b6 32.Rfd1 Ba3 33.Rc6 Nxc6 34.dxc6 Qc7 35.Bb5 Qe5 36.Bc4 Re7 37.Qf4 Rc7 38.Bb5 Kf7 39.Rd5 Qxf4 40.gxf4 Ke6 41.f5+ gxf5 42.Rxf5 Bb2 43.Rxh5 Be5 44.Rh8 Kd6 45.Rd8+ Kc5 46.Rd5+ Kb4 47.Ba4 Rh7 48.Kg2 Rxh2+ 49.Kf3 Ka3 50.Rd7 b5 51.Bxb5 Kxb3 52.Rb7 Rh3+ 53.Kg4 Rc3 54.Kf5 a4 55.c7 Rxc7 56.Rxc7 Bxc7 57.Bxa4+ Kxa4 58.Kxf6 ½-½ Even though he got a worse position in the opening/middlegame Shirov's strength showed] 11...a5 12.Ne2?! [Not the best plan. Kirk's idea with ...a5 was to lock up my dark squared bishop. I could have either tried something like 12.Na2 Bd6 13.Qxb7 etc.;
or 12.Qc2 attacking the f-pawn 12...g6 13.b3 (or 13.Bd2 ) ] 12...Nb6 13.Bd3 Ne4 14.Ng3 [One of Fritz's recommendations was 14.f3 Nd6 15.Qc2 Re8 16.e4 but i'm not so sure about it. I guess it's good enough. His bishop is just a big pawn over there] 14...Nxg3 15.hxg3 Now I wanted to come up the h-file and try and checkmate him 15...f4! A creative move allowing *him* to come in and attack me on the kingside and also mobilize his pawns 16.gxf4 I had to take 16...Qh4 17.Qd1 [I was hoping for something like 17.g3 -- 18.Kg2 -- 19.Rh1 but of course 17.g3 is answered by 17. ...Qh3. so i had to work around that] 17...f5! He blocks the diagonal to h7, threatens to double up on the h-file and mate me, and my pieces are still out of play. I was worried about falling into a losing position really quick here. So I decided to try and exchange queens and make my extra pawn count 18.Qf3 Rae8 19.Qg3?! [Fritz preferred 19.Qh3 Qxh3 20.gxh3 I guess my king is good on h2 and I can use the g-file to attack. My move gave equality] 19...Qxg3 20.fxg3 Nd5 21.Bc4 [21.Kf2 was another option. ] 21...Kh8 22.Bxd5? Giving up the bishop pair with no compensation. Actually I did have some compensation...getting rid of his queenside majority and giving him an isolated pawn. I doubt it was worth it though. 22...cxd5 23.Kf2 Rc8 [23...Re4 24.-- Rfe8 may have ben better] 24.b3? Should have been losing. My prior idea of playing b3, Ba3 Bxa3, Rxa3 may have been workable 10 moves ago but not now. This gave his rooks dominance 24...Rc2+ 25.Kf3 Rfc8 26.Ba3 Bxa3? [26...Bd2! and then get a rook to the third rank and it's impossibly tough for me. I know I wouldn' thave been able to defend] 27.Rxa3 Rb2 [27...Re8 working on the e-pawn may have been better. In any case my a3-rook is the worst piece on the board bar none] 28.Rf2 Rcc2 29.Rxc2 Rxc2 30.b4!

I was very happy with this move (hence the diagram), it actually gave me winning chances. He cannot make a passed pawn while I can. Also if he doesn't want to give back the pawns *he* will be the one with the passive rook. 30...axb4 31.Rb3 Rc4 32.g4 g6 33.gxf5 gxf5 34.g4 and the game should take care of itself from here on in. 34...Kg7 35.g5? [I have no idea what I was thinking 35.gxf5 Kf6 36.Kg4 and I'm much better. He will be in zugzwang eventually] 35...b6 36.Kg3 [I wonder if trying to go on the queenside was better. 36.Ke2 ] 36...Kg6 37.Kh4 h6 38.gxh6 Kxh6 39.Rb2 Kg6 40.Kg3 Kh5 41.Rh2+= Kg6 42.Rb2 Game drawn by mutual agreement Not the greatest game by me (my technique needs some work) but I was creatively happy with it, and I got a chance to unleash my opening idea I've been sitting on for two weeks, which for someone with ADD like me, seems like forever ;) March final score - Craig 3½ - Kirk 1½ ½-½

don't call it a comeback

2006-03-26T21:32:00.000-05:00

K - C
March match (4) 03/26/2006
E91 - King's Indian, 6.Be2

1.e4 g6 Kirk may think this is new for me, but actually the record will show that this was the first opening I ever played in a CFC rated game. 2.d4 Bg7 3.c4 This is what I was hoping for. I was secretly trying to backdoor into a Benoni while avoiding the Taimanov attack. 3...d6 4.Nc3 Nf6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 c5 [6...e5 is the King's Indian proper. Not only did I want to play the Benoni, I firmly believe that blocking the long diagonal (after a d5 by White) is not strongest for a player at my level, what do I know though?] 7.dxc5 [Kirk claims this is his "refutation to the ...c5 line". 7.d5 of course leads to a benoni.] 7...Qa5!? [I know this works in other lines, but probably 7...dxc5 and trading off the queens was better here. Kirk mentioned that he liked 8.0-0 Qxd1 (but I wonder if 8...Qb6 was better) 9.Rxd1 . I think my line was too slow as I am already down in development] 8.0-0 Qxc5 9.Be3 Qc7 [I missed Kirk's next move. If I would've thought about it I may have tried 9...Qa5 ;
the only one I half-calculated was 9...Qb4 but that wasn't going to be pretty] 10.Nd5?! I knew there was stronger than this [The stereotyped plan of 10.Qd2 -- 11.Bh6 was probably good here, but would have allowed me to catch up in development. Kirk's idea was more dynamic if not as strong] 10...Nxd5 11.cxd5 Bxb2 12.Rb1 Bg7 13.Nd4 e5? [I missed Kirk's next move. After 13...Nd7 14.Nb5 is not as good because of (14.Rc1 Nc5 works good as well) 14...Qa5] 14.Rc1 Qe7 15.Nb5 Nd7? [15...Na6! was much better as 16.Nxa7 Nc5 blocks up the position again and minimizes losses. ] 16.Nxa7? [16.Nc7 Rb8 17.Bxa7 wins immediately] 16...Nf6 [16...Nc5 was better. I get on with it] 17.f3 Bd7 [17...Nh5 trying to create some counterplay may have been better.] 18.Qb3 Rfb8 19.Rc7 Bh6? I thought this was genius and freed everything. 20.Bxh6 Rxa7 21.Bg5! but i missed this. The game is pretty much over here 21...Kg7 22.Bb5 Rd8 23.f4 Too much pressure, I'm busted at this point 23...Qe8 24.fxe5 Nxe4 25.Bxd8 Nd2 26.Bf6+ Kg8 27.Bxd7 Qxd7 28.Rxd7 Nxb3 I figured I'd let him checkmate me 29.Rd8# Black checkmated Much better play by Kirk. Again I was overoptimistic and ignored any threats, like I do in most of my losses. 1-0

March match (3)

2006-03-22T21:27:00.000-05:00

C-K
C02 - French : Advance variation

1.e4 e6! [A nice choice from Kirk. I was hoping for 1...e5 and playing a Ruy Lopez] 2.d4 d5 3.e5 [I had a feeling that Kirk was hoping for 3.Nc3 Bb4 but I still don' thave a good line] 3...c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Nf3 Qb6 6.a3 c4 7.Nbd2 Nge7?

8.Bxc4! The only trap I know in the French 8...dxc4 9.Nxc4 Qa6 [Kirk claimed after the game that he was lost at move 8 but I disagree. I liked his ...Qa6 better than 9...Qc7 ] 10.Nd6+ Kd7 11.Nxf7 Rg8 12.Qb3 [Sveshnikov-Milos went 12.Qc2 h6] 12...Nf5 [The subtle 12...Qd3 was an interesting try, but it was counterintuitive after all the tempi i gained] 13.d5!? I figured that forcing play would have been better. I may have been wrong 13...Na5 14.dxe6+?! [14.Qa4+ was better] 14...Ke8 [Believe it or not ,because of the way the pieces are set up 14...Kc7! is safer for Black] 15.Qa4+ Nc6 16.Qxa6 bxa6 17.g4 Again I wanted to be forcing and keep the threat of Nd6+ available [17.Bf4 protecting e5 may be better] 17...Nh6 18.Nxh6 [Protecting g4 was probably better, but I am down a piece after all and I was hoping to open lines. Kirk was blitzing moves at this point and had almost given up 18.h3 ] 18...gxh6 19.g5? Bxe6 20.gxh6? [20.Rg1 was better but even still... ] 20...Bg4? [Kirk missed 20...Bd5! after which 21.Rg1 Rxg1+ 22.Nxg1 Nxe5 he is just better] 21.Rg1 Kf7? 22.Ng5+ Black resigns I wonder if Kirk didn't really want to play. There is still some play left. 1-0

2-1 for Kirk

2006-03-20T18:13:00.000-05:00

[Event "G/60"]
[Date "2006.03.19"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Jung, Hans (FM)"]
[Black "K"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C49"]
[WhiteElo "2229"]
[BlackElo "1398"]
[PlyCount "63"]
[EventDate "2006.03.19"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bb5 Bb4 5. O-O O-O 6. d3 h6 7. Bxc6 bxc6 8. Nxe5 Re8 9. Nf3 d5 10. e5 Nd7 11. Bf4 Nf8 12. h3 d4 13. Ne4 Bf5 14. Ned2 Ng6 15. Bg3 Be7 16. Nb3 c5 17. Qd2 Qd5 18. Kh2 c6 19. a4 Bd8 20. Na5 Bc7 21. Nc4 Re6 22. a5 Rae8 23. Rfe1 Bb8 24. Re2 f6 25. Rae1 fxe5 26. b3 e4 27. Bxb8 exf3 28. Rxe6 Rxe6 29. g4 Rxe1 30. Qxe1 Be6 31. Bxa7 Nf4 32. Qe5 1-0

[Event "G/60"]
[Date "2006.03.19"]
[Round "2"]
[White "K"]
[Black "NN"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B12"]
[WhiteElo "1398"]
[BlackElo "1382"]
[PlyCount "61"]
[EventDate "2006.03.19"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Nf3 e6 5. Be2 h6 6. O-O Bb4 7. c3 Ba5 8. Be3 Ne7 9. Nh4 O-O 10. Nxf5 Nxf5 11. Bd3 Nd7 12. Bxf5 exf5 13. Qh5 Re8 14. Nd2 Re6 15. Qxf5 c5 16. dxc5 Rxe5 17. Qh3 Qe7 18. Rae1 Nxc5 19. Bxc5 Qxc5 20. Rxe5 Bc7 21. Qe3 Qd6 22. Nf3 Rf8 23. Rd1 Bb6 24. Qd3 Qc5 25. Nd4 f6 26. Re3 Qc8 27. Nf5 Kh8 28. Re7 Qc5 29. Qg3 g5 30. Rd4 Qc8 31. Qh3 1-0

[Event "G/60"]
[Date "2006.03.19"]
[Round "3"]
[White "NN"]
[Black "K"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D02"]
[WhiteElo "1679"]
[BlackElo "1398"]
[PlyCount "70"]
[EventDate "2006.03.19"]

1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bf4 Bf5 4. e3 e6 5. c4 c6 6. Nc3 Bb4 7. Rc1 O-O 8. Be2 Nbd7 9. O-O Rc8 10. Nh4 Bg6 11. Nxg6 hxg6 12. a3 Be7 13. cxd5 cxd5 14. Bd3 a6 15. h3 Nh5 16. Bh2 Nb6 17. Qe2 Bd6 18. Bxd6 Qxd6 19. Rfd1 Rc6 20. e4 Nf4 21. Qe3 Nxd3 22. Qxd3 Nc4 23. Qe2 Rfc8 24. exd5 exd5 25. Qc2 Nxa3 26. Qb3 Nb5 27. Nxb5 axb5 28. Ra1 b4 29. Ra7 Qb8 30. Ra4 Qd6 31. Rxb4 Rc1 32. Rxb7 Qf4 33. Rf1 R8c2 34. Qe3 Rxf1+ 35. Kxf1 Qh2 0-1

Sunday Afternoon G/60

2006-03-19T19:15:00.000-05:00

NN - C.
Sunday Afternoon G/60 (1), 19.03.2006
D94 - Grünfeld, 5.e3

We threw a three-round tournament on the weekend. We had 17(!) people show up so it was a little crowded at the Farmer's Market. I shouldn't have gone into such a sharp position but I decided to regardless. We played this game between the first and second rounds because I had a bye the first game and his mother said they had to leave at 12:30 so we tried to get a game in between. 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d5 [Hoping for a Slav or something. Not sure why I didn't just play 2...b6 ] 3.e3 g6 4.c4 Transposing to a quiet Grünfeld 4...Bg7 [Another option is 4...c6 ] 5.Nc3 0-0 [I could've played 5...c6 here as well, but I wanted to get ...c5 in one move (thank you Jonathon Rowson)] 6.cxd5 Nxd5 7.e4?! [So I'm in an exchange Grünfeld (which doesn't exactly make me feel warm and fuzzy) but a tempo up. 7.Bc4 may be better ] 7...Nxc3 8.bxc3 c5 9.Be2 Nc6 10.Be3 Bg4 11.e5 I've always wondered about pushing this pawn instead of the d-pawn in the Grünfeld. 11...cxd4[11...Qa5 was also playable, but after 12.Bd2 ah of course (Stronger is probably 12.0-0 Qxc3 13.Rc1 Qa3) 12...Rad8 , trying to take advantage of the fact he hasn't castled.] 12.cxd4 Rc8 13.0-0 b6? The beginning of a bad plan. I should have either tried to lever his pawn chain with [13...f6;
or allowed the rooks to be connected 13...Qd7 . My idea was that I wanted to get my knight to d5 for some reason] 14.h3 Bxf3? [Giving up the bishop pair. 14...Be6 was stronger, but I'm dogmatic and i don't like having my bishop in front of my pawns. I know, I know, if I'm dogmatic why am I playing the Grünfeld?] 15.Bxf3 e6 To allow my knight to get to d5 via e7 16.Qa4 This seemed strong to me 16...Na5? [16...b5! was a strong rejoinder because of 17.Qxb5 Nxd4 18.Bxd4 Qxd4 19.Rad1 Qxe5 20.Qxe5 Bxe5 and I'm up a clean pawn;
16...Qd7 was okay too] 17.Rfc1 Qe7 Not immediately losing, but setting up a tactic 18.Bd2 Rxc1+? [18...Qh4 may have been better, then i'm actually threatening something] 19.Rxc1 Rd8 20.Bb4 Qg5 21.Qa3 Rxd4? [I probably shouldn't have gone after the pawn and played 21...Bf8 22.Bxf8 Rxf8 instead, but my opinion is that if I can't see the immediate loss i'm taking the pawn so...] 22.Be7! Qxe5 23.Rc8+ Bf8 24.Rxf8+ [24.Bxf8! was better] 24...Kg7 25.Qe3? [25.Qe3? and I resigned even though 25...Qxe3 26.fxe3 Rd7 is playable, i do have 2 pawns for the piece and the e-pawn is hanging. Not a very good game by me.] 1-0

C - NN
Sunday Afternoon G/60 (2), 19.03.2006
E24 - Nimzo-Indian : Samisch Variation

1.d4 I had planned on playing 1.e4 before this tournament, but last time we had a tournament my opponent had this "how-to" openings book and it recommended a bad line against my f3 Nimzo, so I figured I'd try it against him. 1...d5!? A surprise already 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4!? Theoretically this is not as good as other moves because it transposes into a bad Samisch variation (as what I play). I realize that it was even played by Vallejo in Linares this year but I don't care for it 4.a3 [4.Nf3 would transpose to the Ragozin variation instead] 4...Bxc3+ 5.bxc3 Nf6 6.cxd5 [The Bacrot-Vallejo game continued 6.e3 0-0 7.cxd5 exd5 8.Bd3 c5 9.Ne2 Bg4 10.f3 Bh5 11.Nf4 Bg6 12.Be2 Nc6 13.h4 h5 14.0-0 Ne7 15.dxc5 Qa5 16.Nxg6 fxg6 17.Rb1 Qxc5 18.c4 dxc4 = ½-½, but I found e3 to be a difficult development of the bishop, particularly with the pawn on a3. In my line I get the bishop pair and get rid of the doubled pawns;
6.f3 would transpose to my f3 line] 6...exd5 [6...Nxd5 7.Qc2 f5 looks interesting] 7.Bg5 [7.e3 again is playable] 7...0-0 [7...c5 was Botwinnik-Kotov in which Kotov had a nice finish 8.f3 h6 9.Bxf6 Qxf6 10.e3 0-0 11.Ne2 Re8 12.Kf2 Qe7 13.Qd2 Nd7 14.Nf4 Nf6 15.Bd3 Bd7 16.h3 Qd6 17.Rhb1 b6 18.Bf1 Re7 19.a4 Rae8 20.Re1 c4 21.g4 g5 22.Ne2 Rxe3 23.Ng3 Qxg3+ 24.Kxg3 Ne4+ 0-1. I decide to go on a mad hunt for a pawn which I probably should have been punished for] 8.e3 Bf5 9.Qb3 Trying to exploit the undefended b-pawn and the underdefended d-pawn. 9...b6 [9...Nbd7 10.Qxb7 c5 may be better, trying to take advantage of my lack of development] 10.Bxf6 Qxf6 [This loses a pawn but I wonder if 10...gxf6 was better? I doubt i] 11.Qxd5 So now I'm up a pawn but he is almost fully developed. If Fritz played Fritz it would probably be a draw, at club level pawn grabbing can pay off (I didn't learn my lesson from last game) 11...Nc6 [I wonder if kicking the queen with 11...c6 was better] 12.Bb5 Ne7! Gaining tempo on the queen 13.Qb3 a6 [Takign up space with 13...c5 may have been better] 14.Be2 Qg5 15.Bf3 This is still gonna be awkward development for me. 15...Bg4? [An unsound exchange sack. I wonder if tempoing my queen (again) with 15...Be6 16.Qc2 Rad8 would have been better] 16.Bxa8 Rxa8 17.Nf3! I was happy with this move 17...Qd5? [Terrible, down material and wanting to trade off queens. Better was 17...Bxf3 18.gxf3 Qh5 and I could've either tried 19.Ke2 (or 19.f4 . Being down material he has to try to keep as much wood on the board as possible) ] 18.Qxd5 Nxd5 19.Ne5 Bf5 I wouldn't figure out a way to get e4 in 20.c4 [20.g4 was something else I was thinking about, and as dangerous as his pieces got after c4, this was probably the better choice] 20...Nc3 21.Kd2 Ne4+ 22.Ke2 Nc3+ 23.Kf3?! Not as strong as going back to the back rank, but the idea of Kd2 in the first place was to unite my rooks...plus i'm up material ;) 23...Be4+ 24.Kg3 f5? I think he pushed the f-pawn one square too far, my knight is the best piece on the board easily. 25.f3 Rf8? [It's hard to suggest good moves here. 25...Bb7 may have been better, but I can understand why he didn't want to play passively] 26.fxe4 Nxe4+ 27.Kf3 g5 28.h3 [28.g4! was better] 28...h5 29.g4 h4 30.gxf5 Ng3 31.Kg4 Sure I'm running out of squres, but I'm up a whole rook so I can sack back the exchange and grab his pawn. 31...Rxf5 32.Ng6 [Too transparent a threat. Maybe 32.Rhg1 was better] 32...Kg7 33.Ne5 Kf6 34.Rhg1 Ne4 Now he's actually threatening something 35.Nd3 Nd2 36.c5 Kg6 37.Rad1 Nf3 38.Ne5+ Stopping the mating net. It's just mop up from here 38...Nxe5+ 39.dxe5 Rxe5 40.cxb6 cxb6 41.Rd6+ Kf7 42.Rxb6 Rxe3 43.Rxa6 Kg8 44.Rb1 Re7 45.Kxg5 Kh8 46.Rbb6 Rg7+ 47.Kxh4 Kg8 48.Rg6 So I ended up 1-1. Lost some points. Kirk scored 2/3 with his only loss v. FM Hans Jung so he was pretty satisfied. 1-0

March (2)

2006-03-08T06:48:00.000-05:00

K - C
March Match (2) 3/7/2006
C55 - Two Knights Defense - Modern Bishops Opening

1.e4 e5 I wanted to try the same Tchigorin line as Kirk played last week against him, but he didn't want a theoretical battle. 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 grrr. I *knew* there was a reason I don't play 1.e4 e5 ;) 3...Nf6 [Playing over Morphy games have made me refuse to play 3...Bc5 because of 4.b4! I do a meaner NN impersonation than a Morphy impersonation] 4.d3 h6 [4...Be7;
and 4...Bc5 are also tried here. I figure I'll try and make it a little tougher for him to develop his bishop] 5.0-0 Bc5?! [Stronger is 5...d6 and my position has no weaknesses to attack. I was more ambitious though] 6.Be3 [6.Nc3;
or the immediate 6.c3 were more popular in the 1800s] 6...Bb6 not wanting to allow him to open the f-file but [6...Bxe3 7.fxe3 d6 wasn't so bad either] 7.Nbd2 [wanting to play c3, but i wonder if 7.Nc3 overprotecting d5 might be better] 7...0-0 8.c3 d5 I was happy enough with this move. I calculated that it didn't immediately lose and i figured i could get away with it, as it allowed me to play ...Bg4 (because of the lack of h3), which allows me to put more pressure on the center. 9.Bb3 [I think he should have simplified in the center and went after my e-pawn 9.exd5 Nxd5 10.Bxb6 axb6 11.Re1 for instance] 9...Bg4 10.Qc2 Re8 [10...d4 immediately was better. I was worried about dropping the e-pawn thogh] 11.Rfe1 d4! 12.cxd4 exd4 13.Nxd4?? [13.Bf4 was better. I missed this in my calculations as i missed that the e-pawn had already captured on d4] 13...Bxd4 I was happy with this, allowing Nd5 on the next move 14.Qc4 Be6 Even though I won, I was uncomfortable with my position and I think if Kirk would've took some pieces off and slowly crept at me, I would've suffered quite a bit (Bxb6 for instance). In any case... 0-1

standing on the shoulders of giants

2006-03-04T11:23:00.000-05:00

this humorous quote, attributed to Sir Isaac Newton was partially about how he saw further because he was "standing" on the knowledge passed on by past generations, and partially a slight to his short-statured rival Robert Hooke. our game i titled standing on the shoulders of giants as we both blitzed out about 13 moves of ruy lopez theory

C - K
March match (1) 3/3/2006
C99 - Ruy Lopez : Tchigorin variation, 12. ...cxd4

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 [I haven't found an antidote for the Falkbeer yet (still playing 2.f4 d5 3.Nf3 unsuccessfully online) so I decided to see what he had in store for the Ruy Lopez.] 2...Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.c3! [The exclam was for bravery. I have been diligently working on tactics for the past couple of weeks so felt comfortable allowing the Marshall. If I go back to an Anti-Marshall it will probably be 8.a4 ;
as i haven't figured out the weakpoints of 8.h3 d5 9.exd5 Nxd5 10.Nxe5 Nxe5 11.Rxe5 Nf6 compared to the mainline] 8...d6 9.h3 Na5! This was a surprise. Kirk probably expected me to vary earlier, but I have never seen him play the Tchigorin before. [Kirk said afterwards he couldn't remember the line that "the Russians used against Fischer" so he decided to play the Tchigorin. I assume he meant 9...Nd7 as in Fischer-Tal ] 10.Bc2 c5 As I got this position, as so many times before, instead of the usual Ng3 and go at the king, I was gonna try and play Nbd2-Nf1-e3 and dominate the weak d5-square 11.d4 Qc7 12.Nbd2 cxd4 13.cxd4 Nc6 14.Nf1? [The mainline is 14.Nb3 ;
14.a3 is also played to take squares away from the knight.] 14...Nb4?! [Much stronger is 14...exd4 and White can't play 15.Nxd4 because of 15...Nxd4 16.Qxd4 Qxc2;
14...exd4 there are lots of moves for White but I think Black has better play. I may try this as Black from now on 15.Bb1 (15.Bf4; 15.Bg5; 15.Bb3) ] 15.Bb3 a5 16.a3 Na6 17.Bg5 trying to work on e5 and d5 17...h6 18.Bxf6 Bxf6 19.Ne3 keeping with my plan 19...Be6 20.Bd5? Giving him a tempo to mobilize his pieces [I should've just played 20.Bxe6 fxe6 21.d5 right away] 20...Rac8 21.Bxe6 fxe6 22.d5 [22.dxe5 dxe5 23.Rc1 was another try] 22...Nc5 23.Rc1 [I liked this move but 23.dxe6 Nxe6 24.Qd5 Qd7 25.Rad1 was another attempt] 23...Qd7 24.dxe6 Nxe6 [24...Qxe6 25.Nd5 would've been okay as far as i was concerned too] 25.Nd5 Rxc1 26.Qxc1 Rc8 27.Qd2? [I had Kirk's tactic that didn't work 3 moves later 27.Qxh6 . I should've been looking for things like this.] 27...Bg5? I wonder if Kirk just slowly felt himself get smothered and wanted to force something [27...Qd8 28.Nxf6+ gxf6 29.Qxh6 was still good for me though. HIs position was falling apart] 28.Nxg5 Nxg5 29.Nb6 Qxh3 An interesting try that almost worked 30.Qd5+ Black resigns 1-0

2006-02-28T21:13:00.000-05:00

Black to move and win. This is the position I had after I played 10.g3?? at the tournament. Note the glass knight on c3...when i crossed over to Cerner in Kansas a couple of months ago, I brought my chess tube with me and it opened up during the ride (or crossing the border) and when i opened my suitcase all my pieces were all over...and i was missing a knight :( now that's the one i always sack in blitz ;)

February Round 2

2006-02-26T08:43:00.000-05:00

K - C
February (2) 02-26-2006
B41 - Sicilian : Kan Variation

Okay this was the second (and final) game of February 2006. Kirk had moved to Walkerton earlier in the month and his internet didn't get hooked up until Friday. I wanted to play two games this weekend but unfortunately I went into work at 2:30am on Friday night/Saturday morning so I was in no shape to play. 1.e4 This was to be expected 1...c5 I'm still not sure what my "main" 1.e4 weapon is. I got smucked horribly in blitz last night v. my own weapon (the Grand Prix) where I tried to castle queenside and he rebuffed that idea. Kirk had mentioned in the past that he does not have a good line v. the Kan, so in a "must-win" game (match tied, last game) I decided to play the Kan v. him 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Be3!? Of course I have not played the Kan for months and months so could not remember what to play v. this (if anything). I think the problem is that it leaves the e-pawn unprotected, so probably ...Nf6 was the best, but I just wanted to get into a comfortable situation where he couldn't really attack me with his usual Be2, f4, O-O line. e.g. get comfortable, get him out of his comfort zone 5...Nc6 [5...Nf6] 6.Bd3 Nge7 [Again 6...Nf6 probably was better here. Again, like so many times before, I had decided in my mind what I was going to play regardless (or irregardless) of what my opponent did (see any of my Caro-Kann Advances historically)] 7.0-0 Nxd4 8.Bxd4 Nc6 this is the idea. It wastes a tempo for White. A similar idea is possible when the bishop is *not* on e3, except I tempo the queen. 9.c3?! [9.Be3 is better;
9.Bc3 has also been played, trying to stay on the long diagonal, but i imagine his pieces would be falling over top of each other trying to get his knight developed] 9...Nxd4 10.cxd4 d5? [10...Qb6 wins a pawn, but I thought with symmetrical pawn structures (both open c-file) i had equality] 11.e5 [I think he wanted to avoid the isolated pawn after 11.exd5 Qxd5 but that may have been best. The advantage to his move is that he wants to limit the scope of my bishops. The disadvantage is that with the blocked center he can't take advantage of his advantage in development. ] 11...Be7 [Again Qb6 wins a pawn here again 11...Qb6] 12.Nd2 0-0 [I could've finally tried 12...Qb6 13.Nb3 but I figured I should probably castle eventually. Although I could've took my time with the blocked center. I think he should've took a little longer here and tried to get an attacking plan.] 13.Rc1 f5! I don't know if this was an exclam, but at this point, I'm thinking two things. One, get my pieces into play. Two, about the only threat he has is Bxh7+ so why not try and solve both. He chooses to give up Bxh7+ 14.f4 [I wonder if uniting his rooks with 14.Qe2 was any better. Rashid Ziatdinov must be rolling in his grave about our patzer development ;);
or even 14.Nf3 guarding his d-pawn] 14...Qa5! I was happy with this move, trying to get him to play a3, because his d-pawn and b-pawn are still hanging and without the a-pawn guarding b3, Nb3 is not so strong 15.a3? [Falling into my plan 15.Qc2 may have been better, doubling up on h7 after an eventual g4 and stopping 15...Qxa2?? because of 16.Ra1;
Another idea was 15.Bb1 which looks funny but may be good as it guards a2 and takes one piece off the d-file.] 15...Bd7 [Maybe I screwed up the move order 15...Qb6 16.Nb3 Bd7 was forced, whereas he didn' thave to play 16.Nb3 in this line] 16.Nb3 [16.Qe2 Qb6 17.Nf3;
or even 16.Nf3 may have been better. ] 16...Qb6 17.Kh1? [Maybe the immediate overprotection by 17.Rc3 was better, but my position is better here and i'm getting some material] 17...Ba4 18.Bc2 Rac8

White to move

19.Rf2? [This loses material but what was better. I liked 19.Nc5 Bxc2 (Fritz found 19. ..Bb5 winning a pawn) 20.Qxc2 Bxc5 (20...Qb5!) 21.dxc5 Qc6] 19...Bxb3 20.Bxb3 Rxc1 [Perhaps 20...Qxb3! would have been more in the style of Morphy] 21.Qxc1 Qxb3 Not a great start by Kirk, but I was happy enough to win. I built up the pressure and finished it. 0-1

Weekend tourney Round 3

2006-02-22T17:20:00.000-05:00

NN - C
B02 - Alekhine's Defense, Maroczy Variation

I forgot to mention in my other game that the time control was the unusual G/110+30 seconds. My opponent was a 40-ish gentleman who was rated lower than me, just what I was hoping for. Originally I was paired with a guy who was rated 1900 who was having a crappy tournament. I picked up a King's Gambit book from Chuck's bookstore and also let Kirk in on my little opening secret for this game so I was fired up to play. 1.e4 Nf6! The exclam is not for the quality of the move (I'm sure there are better) but for me actually playing it. I told myself, partially as a tribute to Kirk's excellent site, that I was going to play the Alekhine's at least in my life OTB. 2.d3 I knew it. [This or 2.Nc3 were inevitable] 2...d6? [The question mark is for going against my preparation. I had a miniscule debate with Eric Schiller about the merits of this move on Chessgames.com and he was happy enough with 2.d3 because 2. ...e5 allowed a reversed Philidor. Considering I had just gotten smacked around in 10 moves against the Philidor a couple hours previously you can understand my reasoning against playing 2...e5 . I'm sure it was stronger though] 3.Nf3 g6 4.h3 [Slow, probably 4.g3 was better] 4...c5 Now we have transposed into a Closed Sicilian. I have played positions like this quite often so I was relatively comfortable with it. 5.Be3 Bg7 [Fritz preferred 5...Qb6 making him either weaken his queenside, return his bishop, move his queen or sacrifice a pawn. ] 6.Nbd2 [He had to move either the pawn or the knight as after something like 6.Be2 Nxe4 7.dxe4 Bxb2 8.Nbd2 Bxa1 9.Qxa1 I felt better. Whether that was true or not, I'm not sure] 6...0-0 7.c3 Nc6 8.d4! I underestimated this move, however obvious it was 8...cxd4 9.cxd4 He has the easier position here, as it's tough to find a good square for my bishop and if he gets d5 in where does the knight go. I did some calculatin' and decided to play 9...d5 myself 10.e5 This was the line I was calculating. [Of course 10.exd5 Nxd5 is fine for Black] 10...Ne4 11.Nxe4 dxe4 12.Ng5 [This move did not come into my calculations, surprisingly. I had only looked at 12.Nd2 Nxd4 with a better position] 12...f5? [Of course 12...Qd5 is better. I don't know what I was thinking. Actually that's not true. I know exactly what happened. Mentally I had resigned myself to the fact that (because of the d3-pawn) he could only play Be2.] 13.Bc4+ Kh8 [13...e6 14.Bxe6+ Bxe6 15.Nxe6 Qa5+ looks like it might almost work but after 16.Bd2 what do i do?] 14.Nf7+ Rxf7 15.Bxf7 e6! This move totally saves my bacon. He now has to work to get his bishop out. 16.d5? [Trying to attack my precarious position 16.h4 Qe7 17.Bxg6 hxg6 was better, particularly with his rook still on h1] 16...Nxe5 The only thing I had was his precarious king position. This is the only try at getting an advantage for Black 17.dxe6 Qa5+ 18.Qd2 [18.Kf1 Bxe6 19.Bxe6 Qa6+;
18.Bd2 Nd3+ 19.Kf1 Qa6] 18...Nd3+ 19.Ke2 [19.Kd1 Nxb2+ 20.Ke1 Nd3+ 21.Kd1 Qxd2+ 22.Kxd2 f4 (22...Bxa1 23.e7 Bd7 24.Rxa1 Kg7 25.Bd5 Re8 26.Bxa7 Rxe7) ] 19...Qa6 20.Kf1 Bxe6!? [20...f4 was better, but i thought i had that move whenever I wanted] 21.Bxe6 Qxe6 22.g3 Trying to give room for his king. 22...Nxb2 23.Rb1 Nc4? [I should've grabbed the pawn. But just like 20. ...f4 I thought I could always grab the a-pawn whenever. 23...Qxa2 ] 24.Qe2 Nxe3+ 25.fxe3 [Only imagining that 25.Qxe3 Qxa2 was forced. I made some strange decisions in this game.] 25...b6 26.Rc1 g5!? I realized it was time to get one of my majorities rolling. Maybe it was premature, who knows 27.Qc4 wanting to trade queens off. UNderstandable. I missed the second part of his move though 27...Qe5 28.Qa6 An interesting idea. Threatening checkmate. 28...h5 [Maybe better was 28...Rf8 ;
28...Qxg3 29.Rc8+ Bf8 30.Rxa8 Qf3+ with perpetual] 29.Rc8+ Rxc8 30.Qxc8+ Kh7 31.Ke2

Black to play and lose

31...Qxg3?? Horrible. Obviously better was [31...Qb2+ as i can capture the a-pawn with check, as because of the e-pawn, he can't make any progress with his king and he can't leave the rook 32.Kf1 Qa1+ 33.Kg2 Qxa2+ 34.Kg1 Qa5 looks pretty good to me.] 32.Qxf5+! This was the (obvious) move i missed 32...Kh6? Allowing him to capture the e-pawn with check. Better was [32...Kh8] 33.Qe6+ Kh7 34.Qxe4+ Kh6 35.h4 g4? [35...gxh4 36.Rxh4 (36.Qxh4 Qg2+ 37.Kd1 Qf3+= allows perpetual) 36...Be5 is playable. I'm still up a pawn. I was mentally defeated and I really thought that h4 was a strong move. Now I'm just screwed] 36.Qe6+ Kh7 37.Qf5+ Kh6 38.Qg5+ Kh7 39.Qxh5+ Kg8 40.Qe8+ Kh7 41.Qe4+ Kg8 42.h5 Qe5 43.Qxe5 Bxe5 44.e4 Kh7 45.Rg1 g3= and I offered a draw because I only saw... 46.Kf3 Kh6 but i missed 47.Kg4! [47.Rxg3 and I thought maybe I could sneak out a draw but it looks losing 47...Bxg3 48.Kxg3 Kxh5 49.Kf4 Kg6 50.Ke5 Kf7 51.Kd6 Ke8 52.Kc7 Ke7 53.Kb7 Ke6 54.Kxa7 Ke5 55.Kxb6 Kxe4 56.a4 Kd5 57.a5 Kd6 58.a6] 47...a5 48.Kf5 Bd6 49.e5 and I resigned. That was an interesting game, but I needed to relax after making the blunder. Relaxation is important. I was much too stressed about this tournament. I will try to change that in the future.

I'm probably dropped below 1500 after this tournament. My main problem is that since I've beaten experts I expect to play at that level all the time, which just isn't true. I need to be more consistent, nothing more nothing less. 1-0