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
Showing posts with label Sicilian. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sicilian. Show all posts
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Sunday, May 04, 2008
Match v. K.
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
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
Friday, March 09, 2007
game 3
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
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
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
Cdn Open 2006 Rounds 7-9
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
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
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
match 1½-½
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
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
Sunday, February 26, 2006
February Round 2
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
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
Sunday, January 08, 2006
january match (3)
C-K
January Match Internet Chess Club (3), 08.01.2006
B90 - Sicilian : Najdorf, Kasparov Variation
1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 d6 [I tried to move order him here 2...Nc6 3.Nf3 and he either has to go into an unfamiliar (non-Najdorf) Sicilian with 3...Nf6 (or avoid a "normal" Sicilian altogether with 3...e5 ) ] 3.Nf3 [I didn't have the bollocks to try 3.f4 , but maybe next time] 3...Nf6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 a6 and so after a little to-ing and fro-ing we come to the tabiya of the Najdorf. Me and Kirk played some blitz the other day and he went for the mainline v. Bg5 so I decided to go for 6.Be3 again and, not surpisingly, he went for 6...Ng4 again 7.Bg5 h6 8.Bh4 g5 9.Bg3 Bg7! [Last time he played 9...h5 and got a bad position. The text is theory] 10.Bc4 [Other moves are 10.Be2 ;
10.h3;
and 10.Qd2 . I figured that Bc4 put pressure on f7 and also would tempt him to play ...b5 and then both his kingside and queenside would be exposed] 10...0-0 [10...Qb6 looks interesting as well as Kirk's 10...h5;
or just develop 10...Nc6 ] 11.Ne6?! fxe6?! [11...Bxc3+ 12.bxc3 Qa5 was better according to Fritz] 12.Qxg4 This worked out exactly the way I wanted. My queen is on the kingside, there's pins and once i castle queenside there will be another pin on his queen. 12...Qd7 13.0-0-0 [The immediate 13.h4! may be better] 13...b5! 14.Bb3 Bxc3 [A better plan may have been 14...a5 15.a3 a4 16.Ba2 with his own pawn storm] 15.bxc3 Nc6? [Maybe 15...Qe8 trying to get some other pieces on the kingside, but I understand Kirk's rationale. For the third game in a row (or maybe more even) he's severely underdeveloped.] 16.h4! Na5 King safety should be at a premium at this point but I wonder if there's anything he can do? [16...Rf6] 17.hxg5 Nxb3+ 18.cxb3 e5 19.Qh5 hxg5? Losing immediately, but even after[19...Qe6 20.g6 it's pretty tough.
Kirk got himself in trouble with too many pawn moves and not enough development. He said after the game that he needed to learn to defend v. kingside pawn pushes. Maybe in a line like this it would have been better not to castle at all, since pawn-wise, he was strongest in the center. It's hard to say.] 1-0
January Match Internet Chess Club (3), 08.01.2006
B90 - Sicilian : Najdorf, Kasparov Variation
1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 d6 [I tried to move order him here 2...Nc6 3.Nf3 and he either has to go into an unfamiliar (non-Najdorf) Sicilian with 3...Nf6 (or avoid a "normal" Sicilian altogether with 3...e5 ) ] 3.Nf3 [I didn't have the bollocks to try 3.f4 , but maybe next time] 3...Nf6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 a6 and so after a little to-ing and fro-ing we come to the tabiya of the Najdorf. Me and Kirk played some blitz the other day and he went for the mainline v. Bg5 so I decided to go for 6.Be3 again and, not surpisingly, he went for 6...Ng4 again 7.Bg5 h6 8.Bh4 g5 9.Bg3 Bg7! [Last time he played 9...h5 and got a bad position. The text is theory] 10.Bc4 [Other moves are 10.Be2 ;
10.h3;
and 10.Qd2 . I figured that Bc4 put pressure on f7 and also would tempt him to play ...b5 and then both his kingside and queenside would be exposed] 10...0-0 [10...Qb6 looks interesting as well as Kirk's 10...h5;
or just develop 10...Nc6 ] 11.Ne6?! fxe6?! [11...Bxc3+ 12.bxc3 Qa5 was better according to Fritz] 12.Qxg4 This worked out exactly the way I wanted. My queen is on the kingside, there's pins and once i castle queenside there will be another pin on his queen. 12...Qd7 13.0-0-0 [The immediate 13.h4! may be better] 13...b5! 14.Bb3 Bxc3 [A better plan may have been 14...a5 15.a3 a4 16.Ba2 with his own pawn storm] 15.bxc3 Nc6? [Maybe 15...Qe8 trying to get some other pieces on the kingside, but I understand Kirk's rationale. For the third game in a row (or maybe more even) he's severely underdeveloped.] 16.h4! Na5 King safety should be at a premium at this point but I wonder if there's anything he can do? [16...Rf6] 17.hxg5 Nxb3+ 18.cxb3 e5 19.Qh5 hxg5? Losing immediately, but even after[19...Qe6 20.g6 it's pretty tough.
Kirk got himself in trouble with too many pawn moves and not enough development. He said after the game that he needed to learn to defend v. kingside pawn pushes. Maybe in a line like this it would have been better not to castle at all, since pawn-wise, he was strongest in the center. It's hard to say.] 1-0
Saturday, January 07, 2006
Black is OK
K - C
January Match Internet Chess Club (2), 07.01.2006
B92 - Sicilian : Najdorf, Opocensky Variation
Game two. This one was Saturday night. We are aiming for one more tomorrow morning, before I go back to work and Kirk goes back to school. 1.e4 c5 [I had thought about playing the Marshall attack against Kirk or maybe the Tchigorin and aim for a middlegame. Then I was finishing up my Karpov book today and I decided to try the Najdorf based on an interesting idea he had in there. 1...e5 ] 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be2 e5 7.Nb3 Be7 8.0-0 0-0 9.a4 [The line in the Karpov book was 9.Be3 Be6 10.Qd2 Nc6 11.Rfd1 a5! in Ehlvest-Georgadze Spartakiade 1983.
I didn't imagine that Kirk would play Qd2 and Rfd1 but it was an interesting idea taking up more space on the queenside. Of course with Kirk's 9.a4 it is silly to try to expand on the queenside with 9. ...a5] 9...Be6 10.Be3 I knew this was the mainline but I figured I had to try to "punish" him for the text. I also realized that one of the goals of the Najdorf is to play ...d5. I knew I wasn't fully developed, but I took a couple minutes, saw it wasn't immediately losing and thought what the hell ;) 10...d5!? [Theory gives 10...Nc6 ] 11.exd5 Nxd5 12.Nxd5 Qxd5 I figured that if Kirk wanted to trade off queens I at least had equality. Kirk mentioned after the game that he didn't want another 20 move draw :) 13.Nd2?! An interesting idea, giving the bishop some protection when it tries to kick my queen. 13...Nc6 14.Bb6 [I didn't count on this move at all, although it makes sense keeping me from doubling up on the d-file. I was looking at both 14.c4 and;
14.Bf3] 14...Nd4 15.Bc4 Qd6 16.a5 Qc6?! [If I wanted to play here I should've done it a move earlier. Better is likely 16...Rac8 doing the same thing. The idea behind ...Qc6 was to get the queen off the d-file.] 17.Bd3 [Fritz said that 17.Bxd4 exd4 giving an isolated pawn was better, although now that I can back it up with a rook on d8 (or a pawn after the bishop exchange) it doesn't look so bad.] 17...Bc5 Trading off the bishop, freeing my game quite a bit 18.Qh5!? Interesting but I think he got impatient, trying to force the issue. 18...f5! I was hoping to do this a move earlier actually, hoping to push ...e4, and try and keep Kirk from getting his knight to f3. 19.c3? [Trying to complicate things 19.Bxc5 Qxc5 20.c3 was probably better.] 19...Bxb6 20.axb6 Nb5 [20...Nb3 Forcing off the exchange of the knights may have been better.] 21.Rfe1 [21.Nf3 threatening Nxe5 21...e4 22.Ng5 h6 23.Nxe6 Qxe6 24.Bxb5 axb5 may have been better] 21...g6 [The immediate 21...e4 was better but i was worried about something like 22.Nxe4 fxe4 23.Bxe4 (but of course I had the intermezzo of 22...g6! I wonder if I would've played it) ] 22.Qd1 e4 Now I have a big space advantage. 23.Bc2 Rad8 [I was going to try 23...Qxb6 but I figured why rush? I'll always be able to grab that.] 24.Ba4 Qxb6 25.Qc2 So now I decided to try and get my knight to d3 25...Nd6 26.Rad1 Nf7 27.Qc1? [Better to defend with the knight than the bishop 27.Nb3 Ne5 28.Nd4 (28.Nc1 is okay as well. Kirk was in time trouble (a little over 5 minutes left) and was probably tired from apartment hunting and driving back home today and it looked like the position was busted, so I can understand why he might have missed this) ] 27...Ne5 28.Bc2 Ng4! While trying to keep my knight from d3, he exposes his kingside a little more. 29.Re2 e3 [I was looking at 29...Nxf2 30.Rxf2 e3 as well but it was a little trickier. The text was still winning but a little more straightforward] 30.Rxe3 Nxe3 31.fxe3 Qxe3+ 32.Kh1 Rd7 Kirk resigned here as I am going to double up rooks and win more material. I was happy with my game, and even if the ...d5 wasn't perfect, it was an interesting idea that worked out. I'm definitely getting more comfortable in the Najdorf. Interesting that this was the first win as Black since we started playing weekly in October (!)0-1
January Match Internet Chess Club (2), 07.01.2006
B92 - Sicilian : Najdorf, Opocensky Variation
Game two. This one was Saturday night. We are aiming for one more tomorrow morning, before I go back to work and Kirk goes back to school. 1.e4 c5 [I had thought about playing the Marshall attack against Kirk or maybe the Tchigorin and aim for a middlegame. Then I was finishing up my Karpov book today and I decided to try the Najdorf based on an interesting idea he had in there. 1...e5 ] 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be2 e5 7.Nb3 Be7 8.0-0 0-0 9.a4 [The line in the Karpov book was 9.Be3 Be6 10.Qd2 Nc6 11.Rfd1 a5! in Ehlvest-Georgadze Spartakiade 1983.
I didn't imagine that Kirk would play Qd2 and Rfd1 but it was an interesting idea taking up more space on the queenside. Of course with Kirk's 9.a4 it is silly to try to expand on the queenside with 9. ...a5] 9...Be6 10.Be3 I knew this was the mainline but I figured I had to try to "punish" him for the text. I also realized that one of the goals of the Najdorf is to play ...d5. I knew I wasn't fully developed, but I took a couple minutes, saw it wasn't immediately losing and thought what the hell ;) 10...d5!? [Theory gives 10...Nc6 ] 11.exd5 Nxd5 12.Nxd5 Qxd5 I figured that if Kirk wanted to trade off queens I at least had equality. Kirk mentioned after the game that he didn't want another 20 move draw :) 13.Nd2?! An interesting idea, giving the bishop some protection when it tries to kick my queen. 13...Nc6 14.Bb6 [I didn't count on this move at all, although it makes sense keeping me from doubling up on the d-file. I was looking at both 14.c4 and;
14.Bf3] 14...Nd4 15.Bc4 Qd6 16.a5 Qc6?! [If I wanted to play here I should've done it a move earlier. Better is likely 16...Rac8 doing the same thing. The idea behind ...Qc6 was to get the queen off the d-file.] 17.Bd3 [Fritz said that 17.Bxd4 exd4 giving an isolated pawn was better, although now that I can back it up with a rook on d8 (or a pawn after the bishop exchange) it doesn't look so bad.] 17...Bc5 Trading off the bishop, freeing my game quite a bit 18.Qh5!? Interesting but I think he got impatient, trying to force the issue. 18...f5! I was hoping to do this a move earlier actually, hoping to push ...e4, and try and keep Kirk from getting his knight to f3. 19.c3? [Trying to complicate things 19.Bxc5 Qxc5 20.c3 was probably better.] 19...Bxb6 20.axb6 Nb5 [20...Nb3 Forcing off the exchange of the knights may have been better.] 21.Rfe1 [21.Nf3 threatening Nxe5 21...e4 22.Ng5 h6 23.Nxe6 Qxe6 24.Bxb5 axb5 may have been better] 21...g6 [The immediate 21...e4 was better but i was worried about something like 22.Nxe4 fxe4 23.Bxe4 (but of course I had the intermezzo of 22...g6! I wonder if I would've played it) ] 22.Qd1 e4 Now I have a big space advantage. 23.Bc2 Rad8 [I was going to try 23...Qxb6 but I figured why rush? I'll always be able to grab that.] 24.Ba4 Qxb6 25.Qc2 So now I decided to try and get my knight to d3 25...Nd6 26.Rad1 Nf7 27.Qc1? [Better to defend with the knight than the bishop 27.Nb3 Ne5 28.Nd4 (28.Nc1 is okay as well. Kirk was in time trouble (a little over 5 minutes left) and was probably tired from apartment hunting and driving back home today and it looked like the position was busted, so I can understand why he might have missed this) ] 27...Ne5 28.Bc2 Ng4! While trying to keep my knight from d3, he exposes his kingside a little more. 29.Re2 e3 [I was looking at 29...Nxf2 30.Rxf2 e3 as well but it was a little trickier. The text was still winning but a little more straightforward] 30.Rxe3 Nxe3 31.fxe3 Qxe3+ 32.Kh1 Rd7 Kirk resigned here as I am going to double up rooks and win more material. I was happy with my game, and even if the ...d5 wasn't perfect, it was an interesting idea that worked out. I'm definitely getting more comfortable in the Najdorf. Interesting that this was the first win as Black since we started playing weekly in October (!)0-1
Thursday, January 05, 2006
move orders
i got move ordered a couple of times lately by 1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Nf3
which is fine for most people but for a card-carrying najdorf player like myself? no thanks. i ended up playing the Classical Sicilian, or the Accelerated Dragon, I didn't like it. then it hit me...why not play what the Super G's play?
3. ...e5!
sure it's ugly as all hell, but it does keep white from playing d4, and if it's good enough for Ivanchuk, Morozevich, Leko (v. Kasparov btw), Shirov and Krammy it's good enough for me.
also i was thinking about recommending Spassky's Qe2 v. the Petroff
white has no losing chances at all, what's not to like?
play continues 5. ...Qe7 6.d3 Nf6 7.Bg5 and White has a lead in development. if i played 1.e4?! and allowed the Petroff i would play it
which is fine for most people but for a card-carrying najdorf player like myself? no thanks. i ended up playing the Classical Sicilian, or the Accelerated Dragon, I didn't like it. then it hit me...why not play what the Super G's play?
3. ...e5!
sure it's ugly as all hell, but it does keep white from playing d4, and if it's good enough for Ivanchuk, Morozevich, Leko (v. Kasparov btw), Shirov and Krammy it's good enough for me.
also i was thinking about recommending Spassky's Qe2 v. the Petroff
white has no losing chances at all, what's not to like?
play continues 5. ...Qe7 6.d3 Nf6 7.Bg5 and White has a lead in development. if i played 1.e4?! and allowed the Petroff i would play it
Friday, December 30, 2005
C 2½-1½ K and a blindfold win too
Sadler_C - Sadler_K
December Match Internet Chess Club (4), 29.12.2005
B90 - Najdorf : Kasparov Variation
We had just previously played a blindfold game, so I felt more focused. In reality this is probably the worst game (more double question marks) that we have played since we started doing this weekly thing. 1.e4 [The blindfold game K - C went 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 Bb4+ 4.Bd2 Bxd2+ (The paradoxical 4...Be7 is the main move in this line. The benefit being that the d-pawn is unguarded because the bishop blocks everything.) 5.Nxd2 (5.Qxd2 the knight's best square is c3) 5...0-0 6.e4! d6 7.Bg2 e5 8.Ngf3 Bg4 9.Qb3 Bxf3 10.Nxf3 exd4 11.Nxd4 Nc6 12.Nxc6 bxc6 13.0-0 Rb8 14.Qc2 c5 15.Rfd1 Qe7 16.Re1 Nd7 17.f4 Rbd8 18.Re3 h5 19.Rae1 h4 20.e5 hxg3 21.Bd5 gxh2+ 22.Qxh2 Kirk actually played 18.Re2 but announced 22.Qxh2 on this move, and i agreed with it, so to make it work we listed 18.Re3 22...dxe5 23.Rxe5 Nxe5 24.Rxe5 Qf6 25.f5 Rde8 0-1 Not the greatest game but it got us both thinking] 1...c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 [I half expected 5...g6 , but instead of trying to blow him off the board with the Yugoslav attack I was going to try and punish him instead with Korchnoi's 6.Bb5+] 6.Be3 Ng4!? [This was a big surprise! I had planned on going for a Keres attack with 6...e6 7.g4 etc.] 7.Bg5 [The alternative is 7.Bc1 Nf6 but I wanted to try this line and see if he had something planned] 7...h6 8.Bh4 g5 9.Bg3 h5? [A dubious novelty. Developing with 9...Bg7! was much stronger. Kirk said it was a "grandmasterly" move, and if by grandmasterly he means "ugly" then yes, yes it was a grandmasterly move] 10.h3 Nf6 11.Qd2 Bh6N [I apologize to Kirk. This line was actually played between two grandmasters Kachian-Shneider EUCup 1997 where it continued 11...h4 12.Bh2 e5 13.Nf3 g4 with an eventual draw. Kirk's idea was to try to pressure me into not castling queenside.] 12.f4? [Dubious. 12.f3 was much better.] 12...Rg8 13.fxg5 [13.f5 was the move. I was thinking about doing this (this move was my longest think) but then i thought why don't i just exchange his one active piece (bishop) and get on with it? look at his queenside pieces.] 13...Bxg5 14.Bf4?? [Of course 14.Qe2 was necessary and he has a good position] 14...Bh4+?? [14...Bxf4! 15.Qxf4 e5 and it's curtains] 15.g3 [15.Kd1 may have been better] 15...Bxg3+ 16.Bxg3 Rxg3 17.0-0-0 Rxc3?! Dubious but interesting sac. It is unplayable here because of his lack of development. 18.Qxc3 Nxe4 This is worth a diagram.
Morphy would eat this position alive 19.Qf3 [19.Qe3 is a better diagonal for White. I won't be able to get an attack on f7] 19...e5?? 20.Qxe4 Qg5+ 21.Kb1 f5 22.Nxf5?? [absolutely idiotic. I was wondering why Kirk didn't resign and he would have if i would've played the correct 22.Qe2 ] 22...Qxf5 23.Qxf5 Bxf5 24.Rxd6 Ke7 25.Rb6 [25.Rh6 was obviously better] 25...Be4! 26.Rg1 Nd7 27.Rb4? [27.Rg7+! Kd8 28.Rd6 Bf5 29.Rg8+! wins;
Even 27.Rh6 was better as well, giving me a second chance. But if I missed it the first time I will miss it the second time too] 27...Nc5 28.Rg5 [The way the game went, I missed his threat of Bf3. 28.Be2 was a much better move. Guarding the back rank and freeing up my bishop] 28...Kf6 29.Rxh5 Rd8 30.Kc1 Bf3! Threatening something for the first time. I thought that I was busted. Luckily I saw a move 31.Rb6+ Kg7 32.Rg5+ Kh7 33.Bd3+! Clearance sacrifice 33...e4 [33...Nxd3+ may have been better but I'm still winning] 34.Rxc5 exd3 35.cxd3 Rxd3 36.Rc7+ Kg8 37.Re6 Rd8 38.Ree7 Rb8 [38...Bd5 i would've tried 39.Rxb7 Bxb7 40.Rxb7 and won the rook endgame since his king is stuck on the 8th rank] 39.Rg7+ Kf8 [39...Kh8 40.h4 -- 41.h5 -- 42.h6 etc.] 40.Rgf7+ Kirk said that he wanted to do two weekly games (Saturday and Sunday). i think it's a good idea. we'll play one more game tomorrow to finish off 2005. 1-0
December Match Internet Chess Club (4), 29.12.2005
B90 - Najdorf : Kasparov Variation
We had just previously played a blindfold game, so I felt more focused. In reality this is probably the worst game (more double question marks) that we have played since we started doing this weekly thing. 1.e4 [The blindfold game K - C went 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 Bb4+ 4.Bd2 Bxd2+ (The paradoxical 4...Be7 is the main move in this line. The benefit being that the d-pawn is unguarded because the bishop blocks everything.) 5.Nxd2 (5.Qxd2 the knight's best square is c3) 5...0-0 6.e4! d6 7.Bg2 e5 8.Ngf3 Bg4 9.Qb3 Bxf3 10.Nxf3 exd4 11.Nxd4 Nc6 12.Nxc6 bxc6 13.0-0 Rb8 14.Qc2 c5 15.Rfd1 Qe7 16.Re1 Nd7 17.f4 Rbd8 18.Re3 h5 19.Rae1 h4 20.e5 hxg3 21.Bd5 gxh2+ 22.Qxh2 Kirk actually played 18.Re2 but announced 22.Qxh2 on this move, and i agreed with it, so to make it work we listed 18.Re3 22...dxe5 23.Rxe5 Nxe5 24.Rxe5 Qf6 25.f5 Rde8 0-1 Not the greatest game but it got us both thinking] 1...c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 [I half expected 5...g6 , but instead of trying to blow him off the board with the Yugoslav attack I was going to try and punish him instead with Korchnoi's 6.Bb5+] 6.Be3 Ng4!? [This was a big surprise! I had planned on going for a Keres attack with 6...e6 7.g4 etc.] 7.Bg5 [The alternative is 7.Bc1 Nf6 but I wanted to try this line and see if he had something planned] 7...h6 8.Bh4 g5 9.Bg3 h5? [A dubious novelty. Developing with 9...Bg7! was much stronger. Kirk said it was a "grandmasterly" move, and if by grandmasterly he means "ugly" then yes, yes it was a grandmasterly move] 10.h3 Nf6 11.Qd2 Bh6N [I apologize to Kirk. This line was actually played between two grandmasters Kachian-Shneider EUCup 1997 where it continued 11...h4 12.Bh2 e5 13.Nf3 g4 with an eventual draw. Kirk's idea was to try to pressure me into not castling queenside.] 12.f4? [Dubious. 12.f3 was much better.] 12...Rg8 13.fxg5 [13.f5 was the move. I was thinking about doing this (this move was my longest think) but then i thought why don't i just exchange his one active piece (bishop) and get on with it? look at his queenside pieces.] 13...Bxg5 14.Bf4?? [Of course 14.Qe2 was necessary and he has a good position] 14...Bh4+?? [14...Bxf4! 15.Qxf4 e5 and it's curtains] 15.g3 [15.Kd1 may have been better] 15...Bxg3+ 16.Bxg3 Rxg3 17.0-0-0 Rxc3?! Dubious but interesting sac. It is unplayable here because of his lack of development. 18.Qxc3 Nxe4 This is worth a diagram.
Morphy would eat this position alive 19.Qf3 [19.Qe3 is a better diagonal for White. I won't be able to get an attack on f7] 19...e5?? 20.Qxe4 Qg5+ 21.Kb1 f5 22.Nxf5?? [absolutely idiotic. I was wondering why Kirk didn't resign and he would have if i would've played the correct 22.Qe2 ] 22...Qxf5 23.Qxf5 Bxf5 24.Rxd6 Ke7 25.Rb6 [25.Rh6 was obviously better] 25...Be4! 26.Rg1 Nd7 27.Rb4? [27.Rg7+! Kd8 28.Rd6 Bf5 29.Rg8+! wins;
Even 27.Rh6 was better as well, giving me a second chance. But if I missed it the first time I will miss it the second time too] 27...Nc5 28.Rg5 [The way the game went, I missed his threat of Bf3. 28.Be2 was a much better move. Guarding the back rank and freeing up my bishop] 28...Kf6 29.Rxh5 Rd8 30.Kc1 Bf3! Threatening something for the first time. I thought that I was busted. Luckily I saw a move 31.Rb6+ Kg7 32.Rg5+ Kh7 33.Bd3+! Clearance sacrifice 33...e4 [33...Nxd3+ may have been better but I'm still winning] 34.Rxc5 exd3 35.cxd3 Rxd3 36.Rc7+ Kg8 37.Re6 Rd8 38.Ree7 Rb8 [38...Bd5 i would've tried 39.Rxb7 Bxb7 40.Rxb7 and won the rook endgame since his king is stuck on the 8th rank] 39.Rg7+ Kf8 [39...Kh8 40.h4 -- 41.h5 -- 42.h6 etc.] 40.Rgf7+ Kirk said that he wanted to do two weekly games (Saturday and Sunday). i think it's a good idea. we'll play one more game tomorrow to finish off 2005. 1-0
Sunday, December 11, 2005
December Match (2)
Sadler_C - Sadler_K (1672)
December Match Internet Chess Club (2), 11.12.2005
B97 - Sicilian : Najdorf, Poisoned Pawn variation
Before the game Kirk mentioned that he wanted me to play the Poisoned Pawn v. him. I had already decided to play 1.e4 but i was thinking more of the English attack lines, but if he wanted it... 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 [Again my pregame plans included stuff like 6.Be3 e6 7.f3 -- 8.Qd2 -- 9.g4 -- 10.0-0-0] 6...e6 7.f4 Qb6 8.Nb3 is something I will try in the future. It definitely gives a different game, as is played by GMs including Bluvshtein and more recently in the FIDE World Cup Kamsky. 8.Qd2 Qxb2 9.Rb1 Qa3 10.Bxf6?! [I got the move order screwed up 10.f5 Nc6 11.fxe6 fxe6 12.Nxc6 bxc6 13.e5! Vallejo-Pons - Kasparov, Armenia - ROW 2004] 10...gxf6 11.f5 [Thinking I was following theory. 11.Be2 probably was better at this point] 11...Nc6
[I was hoping he'd play something like ...e5, that way i can attack f7 with Bc4 and he'd really have to fight to get d5 in. An interesting line in this variation is 11...e5 12.Nd5 (Another interesting idea in this line (and others) is 12.Rb3 with the idea of comign over to the kingside on the 3rd rank.) 12...Kd8 13.Nb3 with lots of play for White.] 12.Bc4?? dropping a piece. [12.Nxc6 bxc6 was better, but i can't easily get the bishop to c4 with the pawn on e6.] 12...d5? [12...Bh6! 13.Qd3 Ne5 and I'm sunk. That Ne5 idea (in general in this line) is a good one and impotant to remember.] 13.exd5 I was moving too quickly around here. [13.Bb3 as ugly as it was, had to be played.] 13...Nxd4? [Again 13...Bh6 was playable.] 14.Qxd4 Bc5 15.Qd3 [I totally missed 14. ...Bc5 in my calculations, but again I was moving too quickly. For whatever reason I was blind to that bishop, between here and the Bh6 idea a couple moves previous. 15.Qxf6! was much better. Sure I can't castle, but he has to spend a tempo saving the rook.] 15...exd5 [15...Bb4 was better.] 16.Nxd5! Know he's in trouble. The knight is easily the best piece on the board. and causes a lot of threats. 16...0-0 17.Qxa3 Black resigns[I have a much better position, even with the queens off, but I think he should have played on. One of the lines we were looking at after the game was 17.Qxa3 Bxa3 18.Nxf6+ (18.Nb6) 18...Kg7 19.Nh5+ Kh6 (19...Kh8 was another idea. THe trick is that he has to stay on the dark squares.) 20.g4 b5 (20...Bxf5 21.gxf5 Kxh5 22.Rxb7) 21.Be2 and I'm better but it's tough.
I thought Kirk would want to give up the Poisoned Pawn after this game because i know he hates positions like this with wild play and no king safety. Surprisingly he said right after the game that he wants me to book up with White in this line and we'd play it again in two weeks. I mentioned that we could always play the Alekhine :) It should be an interesting run up to the Canadian Open.] 1-0
December Match Internet Chess Club (2), 11.12.2005
B97 - Sicilian : Najdorf, Poisoned Pawn variation
Before the game Kirk mentioned that he wanted me to play the Poisoned Pawn v. him. I had already decided to play 1.e4 but i was thinking more of the English attack lines, but if he wanted it... 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 [Again my pregame plans included stuff like 6.Be3 e6 7.f3 -- 8.Qd2 -- 9.g4 -- 10.0-0-0] 6...e6 7.f4 Qb6 8.Nb3 is something I will try in the future. It definitely gives a different game, as is played by GMs including Bluvshtein and more recently in the FIDE World Cup Kamsky. 8.Qd2 Qxb2 9.Rb1 Qa3 10.Bxf6?! [I got the move order screwed up 10.f5 Nc6 11.fxe6 fxe6 12.Nxc6 bxc6 13.e5! Vallejo-Pons - Kasparov, Armenia - ROW 2004] 10...gxf6 11.f5 [Thinking I was following theory. 11.Be2 probably was better at this point] 11...Nc6
[I was hoping he'd play something like ...e5, that way i can attack f7 with Bc4 and he'd really have to fight to get d5 in. An interesting line in this variation is 11...e5 12.Nd5 (Another interesting idea in this line (and others) is 12.Rb3 with the idea of comign over to the kingside on the 3rd rank.) 12...Kd8 13.Nb3 with lots of play for White.] 12.Bc4?? dropping a piece. [12.Nxc6 bxc6 was better, but i can't easily get the bishop to c4 with the pawn on e6.] 12...d5? [12...Bh6! 13.Qd3 Ne5 and I'm sunk. That Ne5 idea (in general in this line) is a good one and impotant to remember.] 13.exd5 I was moving too quickly around here. [13.Bb3 as ugly as it was, had to be played.] 13...Nxd4? [Again 13...Bh6 was playable.] 14.Qxd4 Bc5 15.Qd3 [I totally missed 14. ...Bc5 in my calculations, but again I was moving too quickly. For whatever reason I was blind to that bishop, between here and the Bh6 idea a couple moves previous. 15.Qxf6! was much better. Sure I can't castle, but he has to spend a tempo saving the rook.] 15...exd5 [15...Bb4 was better.] 16.Nxd5! Know he's in trouble. The knight is easily the best piece on the board. and causes a lot of threats. 16...0-0 17.Qxa3 Black resigns[I have a much better position, even with the queens off, but I think he should have played on. One of the lines we were looking at after the game was 17.Qxa3 Bxa3 18.Nxf6+ (18.Nb6) 18...Kg7 19.Nh5+ Kh6 (19...Kh8 was another idea. THe trick is that he has to stay on the dark squares.) 20.g4 b5 (20...Bxf5 21.gxf5 Kxh5 22.Rxb7) 21.Be2 and I'm better but it's tough.
I thought Kirk would want to give up the Poisoned Pawn after this game because i know he hates positions like this with wild play and no king safety. Surprisingly he said right after the game that he wants me to book up with White in this line and we'd play it again in two weeks. I mentioned that we could always play the Alekhine :) It should be an interesting run up to the Canadian Open.] 1-0
Sunday, November 27, 2005
3½/5 for Kirk
Sadler,K (1507) - Lachapelle,C
OS Winter Active Owen Sound, Ontario (1), 27.11.2005
B38 : Accelerated Dragon, Maroczy Bind, 6.Be3
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.c4 Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Nc3 0-0 8.Be2 e5 9.Ndb5 a6 10.Nd6 Ne8 11.0-0 b6 12.c5 Nd4 13.Nd5 bxc5 14.Nxc8 Nxe2+ 15.Qxe2 Qxc8 16.Ne7+ Kh8 17.Nxc8 1-0
Sadler,C (1547) - Sadler,K (1507)
OS Winter Active Owen Sound, Ontario (2), 27.11.2005
D14 : Slav Exchange, 6.Bf4 Bf5
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.cxd5 cxd5 5.Nc3 Bf5 6.Bf4 e6 7.e3 a6 8.Bd3 Bxd3 9.Qxd3 Nc6 10.0-0 Be7 11.h3 0-0 12.Rac1 Rc8 13.a3 Na5 14.Nd2 Nc4 15.Nxc4 dxc4 16.Qd1 Nd5 17.Bg3 b5 18.e4 Nf6 19.Be5 Nd7 20.Bg3 Nf6 21.Bh4 Re8 22.Bxf6 Bxf6 23.e5 Be7 24.f4 Qb6 25.Kh1 Red8 26.d5 exd5 27.Nxd5 Qc5 28.Nxe7+ Qxe7 29.Qf3 Rd3 30.Qg4 Rcd8 31.Rcd1 g6 32.Rxd3 Rxd3 33.Qc8+ Kg7 34.Qxa6 Qh4 35.Kh2 Qg3+ 36.Kh1 Qh4 37.Qxb5 1/2-1/2
Van Aalst,K (1235) - Sadler,K (1507)
OS Winter Active Owen Sound, Ontario (3), 27.11.2005
A40 - Queen's Pawn
1.d4 e6 2.e3 c5 3.c3 cxd4 4.cxd4 Nf6 5.Bd3 Be7 6.Nc3 b6 7.Nf3 Bb7 8.0-0 d6 9.h3 Nbd7 10.Re1 0-0 11.e4 e5 12.Bc4 Rc8 13.Bb3 exd4 14.Nxd4 Nc5 15.Bc2 a6 16.Qf3 b5 17.a3 Qb6 18.Nf5 Rfe8 19.Qg3 Nh5 20.Nxe7+ Rxe7 21.Qh4 Nf6 22.Bg5 Re6 23.Bxf6 Rxf6 24.e5 Rh6 25.Qg4 Re8 26.exd6 Rhe6 27.Rxe6 Rxe6 28.Bf5 Rxd6 29.Re1 Ne6 30.Qh4 g6 31.Be4 Kg7 32.Bxb7 Qxb7 33.Ne4 g5?? 34.Nxg5 Nxg5 35.Qxg5+ Rg6 36.Qe5+ f6 37.Qe7+ Qxe7 38.Rxe7+ Kh6 39.Ra7 f5 40.b4 Re6 41.Rd7 Kg6 42.Rd8 Re5 0-1
Sadler,K (1507) - Both,A (1618)
OS Winter Active Owen Sound, Ontario (4), 27.11.2005
B42 - Sicilian : Kan
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Bd3 Nf6 6.0-0 Qc7 7.c4 Bc5 8.Nb3 Be7 9.Be3 d6 10.N1d2 b6 11.f4 Nbd7 12.Rc1 Bb7 13.Nd4 Nc5 14.Be2 Ncxe4 15.Bf3 0-0 16.Qc2 Nc5 17.b4 Ncd7 18.f5 e5 19.Ne2 Rac8 20.Qb2 e4 0-1
Sadler,K (1507) - Cook,E (1256)
OS Winter Active Owen Sound, Ontario (5), 27.11.2005
C79 - Ruy Lopez : Steinitz Defense Deferred
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Nc6 4.Bb5 Bd7 5.0-0 a6 6.Ba4 Nf6 7.Re1 h6 8.c3 Bg4 9.Nbd2 exd4 10.cxd4 b5 11.Qc2 Nb4 12.Qc3 bxa4 13.Qxb4 Bd7 14.e5 dxe5 15.Rxe5+ Be6 16.Qxa4+ Nd7 17.d5 Bd6 18.dxe6 fxe6 19.Rxe6+ Kf7 20.Nd4 Ne5 21.Ne4 Qh4 22.Nf5 Nf3+ 23.gxf3 Qxh2+ 24.Kf1 Qh3+ 25.Ke2 Kxe6 26.Nxg7+ Kf7 27.Qc4+ Kxg7 28.Qd4+ Kg6 29.Qf6+ Kh7 30.Qf7# 1-0
OS Winter Active Owen Sound, Ontario (1), 27.11.2005
B38 : Accelerated Dragon, Maroczy Bind, 6.Be3
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.c4 Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Nc3 0-0 8.Be2 e5 9.Ndb5 a6 10.Nd6 Ne8 11.0-0 b6 12.c5 Nd4 13.Nd5 bxc5 14.Nxc8 Nxe2+ 15.Qxe2 Qxc8 16.Ne7+ Kh8 17.Nxc8 1-0
Sadler,C (1547) - Sadler,K (1507)
OS Winter Active Owen Sound, Ontario (2), 27.11.2005
D14 : Slav Exchange, 6.Bf4 Bf5
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.cxd5 cxd5 5.Nc3 Bf5 6.Bf4 e6 7.e3 a6 8.Bd3 Bxd3 9.Qxd3 Nc6 10.0-0 Be7 11.h3 0-0 12.Rac1 Rc8 13.a3 Na5 14.Nd2 Nc4 15.Nxc4 dxc4 16.Qd1 Nd5 17.Bg3 b5 18.e4 Nf6 19.Be5 Nd7 20.Bg3 Nf6 21.Bh4 Re8 22.Bxf6 Bxf6 23.e5 Be7 24.f4 Qb6 25.Kh1 Red8 26.d5 exd5 27.Nxd5 Qc5 28.Nxe7+ Qxe7 29.Qf3 Rd3 30.Qg4 Rcd8 31.Rcd1 g6 32.Rxd3 Rxd3 33.Qc8+ Kg7 34.Qxa6 Qh4 35.Kh2 Qg3+ 36.Kh1 Qh4 37.Qxb5 1/2-1/2
Van Aalst,K (1235) - Sadler,K (1507)
OS Winter Active Owen Sound, Ontario (3), 27.11.2005
A40 - Queen's Pawn
1.d4 e6 2.e3 c5 3.c3 cxd4 4.cxd4 Nf6 5.Bd3 Be7 6.Nc3 b6 7.Nf3 Bb7 8.0-0 d6 9.h3 Nbd7 10.Re1 0-0 11.e4 e5 12.Bc4 Rc8 13.Bb3 exd4 14.Nxd4 Nc5 15.Bc2 a6 16.Qf3 b5 17.a3 Qb6 18.Nf5 Rfe8 19.Qg3 Nh5 20.Nxe7+ Rxe7 21.Qh4 Nf6 22.Bg5 Re6 23.Bxf6 Rxf6 24.e5 Rh6 25.Qg4 Re8 26.exd6 Rhe6 27.Rxe6 Rxe6 28.Bf5 Rxd6 29.Re1 Ne6 30.Qh4 g6 31.Be4 Kg7 32.Bxb7 Qxb7 33.Ne4 g5?? 34.Nxg5 Nxg5 35.Qxg5+ Rg6 36.Qe5+ f6 37.Qe7+ Qxe7 38.Rxe7+ Kh6 39.Ra7 f5 40.b4 Re6 41.Rd7 Kg6 42.Rd8 Re5 0-1
Sadler,K (1507) - Both,A (1618)
OS Winter Active Owen Sound, Ontario (4), 27.11.2005
B42 - Sicilian : Kan
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Bd3 Nf6 6.0-0 Qc7 7.c4 Bc5 8.Nb3 Be7 9.Be3 d6 10.N1d2 b6 11.f4 Nbd7 12.Rc1 Bb7 13.Nd4 Nc5 14.Be2 Ncxe4 15.Bf3 0-0 16.Qc2 Nc5 17.b4 Ncd7 18.f5 e5 19.Ne2 Rac8 20.Qb2 e4 0-1
Sadler,K (1507) - Cook,E (1256)
OS Winter Active Owen Sound, Ontario (5), 27.11.2005
C79 - Ruy Lopez : Steinitz Defense Deferred
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Nc6 4.Bb5 Bd7 5.0-0 a6 6.Ba4 Nf6 7.Re1 h6 8.c3 Bg4 9.Nbd2 exd4 10.cxd4 b5 11.Qc2 Nb4 12.Qc3 bxa4 13.Qxb4 Bd7 14.e5 dxe5 15.Rxe5+ Be6 16.Qxa4+ Nd7 17.d5 Bd6 18.dxe6 fxe6 19.Rxe6+ Kf7 20.Nd4 Ne5 21.Ne4 Qh4 22.Nf5 Nf3+ 23.gxf3 Qxh2+ 24.Kf1 Qh3+ 25.Ke2 Kxe6 26.Nxg7+ Kf7 27.Qc4+ Kxg7 28.Qd4+ Kg6 29.Qf6+ Kh7 30.Qf7# 1-0
4½/5 ain't bad
I just got back from the Owen Sound Winter Active. I scored 4½/5 securing first place...the opposition wasn't top notch, only gained approximately 20 points, but still. my only draw was v. kirk. here are the games.
Drimmie,J - Sadler,C (1547)
Winter Active Owen Sound, ON(1), 27.11.2005
B40 - Sicilian Defense
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.Nc3 a6 4.Bc4 b5 5.Be2 Nc6 6.0-0 Qc7 7.d3 Nf6 8.Bg5 Be7 9.Qd2 0-0 10.Rfe1 Bb7 11.d4 b4 12.e5 bxc3 13.Qxc3 Nd5 14.Qd3 Nxd4 15.Bxe7 Nxf3+ 16.Bxf3 Nxe7 17.Bxb7 Qxb7 18.Red1 Rfd8 19.Re1 Qd5 20.Qa3 Nf5 21.Rad1 Qc6 22.Qd3 Nh4 23.Qg3 Nf5 24.Re3 Nxg3 25.Rxg3 d5 26.Re3 d4 27.Ree1 c4 28.Kf1 Rab8 29.b3 cxb3 30.axb3 Qxc2 31.Rc1 Qxc1 32.Rxc1 Rxb3 33.Rc4 h6 34.Ke2 a5 35.Kd2 Ra8 36.Kc2 Rc3+ 37.Kb2 Rxc4 38.h3 d3 39.Kb3 Rac8 40.h4 d2 41.Ka3 d1Q 42.g4 Rb8 0-1
Sadler,C (1547) - Sadler,K (1507)
Winter Active Owen Sound, ON (2), 27.11.2005
D14 - Slav : Exchange 6.Bf4 Bf5
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.cxd5 cxd5 5.Nc3 Bf5 6.Bf4 e6 7.e3 a6 8.Bd3 Bxd3 9.Qxd3 Nc6 10.0-0 Be7 11.h3 0-0 12.Rac1 Rc8 13.a3 Na5 14.Nd2 Nc4 15.Nxc4 dxc4 16.Qd1 Nd5 17.Bg3 b5 18.e4 Nf6 19.Be5 Nd7 20.Bg3= Nf6 21.Bh4 Re8 22.Bxf6 Bxf6 23.e5 Be7 24.f4 Qb6 25.Kh1 Red8 26.d5 exd5 27.Nxd5 Qc5 28.Nxe7+ Qxe7 29.Qf3 Rd3 30.Qg4 Rcd8 31.Rcd1 g6 32.Rxd3 Rxd3 33.Qc8+ Kg7 34.Qxa6 Qh4 35.Kh2 Qg3+ 36.Kh1 Qh4 37.Qxb5= ½-½
yes i know i missed 30.Qxd3
Cook,E (1256) - Sadler,C (1547)
Winter Active Owen Sound, ON (3), 27.11.2005
B34 - Sicilian : Accelerated Dragon
1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Nf3 g6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Qd2 0-0 8.Nxc6 dxc6 9.Bd3 Ng4 10.0-0 Nxe3 11.Qxe3 Bd4 12.Qc1 Qa5 13.Ne2 Bb6 14.Bc4 Qe5 15.Ng3 Be6 16.Bd3 Rad8 17.Kh1 Qc5 18.a3 Bc4 19.b4 Qb5 20.Bxc4 Qxc4 21.Rb1 h5 22.f3 Rd7 23.Rd1 Rxd1+ 24.Qxd1 Rd8 25.Qc1 h4 26.Nf1 Qe2 27.h3 Qf2 28.Nh2 Rd2 29.Qg1 Qxg1+ 30.Rxg1 Bxg1 31.Kxg1 Rxc2 32.Nf1 Rc3 33.a4 Rc4 34.b5 cxb5 35.axb5 Rb4 0-1
Sadler,C (1547) - Pucak,S (1011)
Winter Active Owen Sound, ON (4), 27.11.2005
D13 - Slav : Exchange Variation
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.cxd5 cxd5 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.Bf4 h6 6.e3 Nf6 7.Nc3 Nh5 8.Ne2 Nxf4 9.Nxf4 Bg4 10.Be2 Bxf3 11.Bxf3 e5 12.dxe5 Bb4+ 13.Ke2 Nxe5 14.Qa4+ Nc6 15.Bxd5 0-0 16.Bxc6 Qd2+ 17.Kf3 bxc6 18.Rhd1 c5 19.Rxd2 Bxd2 20.Rd1 Bb4 21.Nd5 a5 22.a3 Rfc8 23.Ne7+ Kh7 24.Nxc8 1-0
Both,A (1618) - Sadler,C (1547) [B21]
Winter Active Owen Sound, ON (5), 27.11.2005
B21 : Sicilian : Grand Prix attack
1.e4 c5 2.f4 d5 3.exd5 Qxd5 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.Nc3 Qd8 6.Bc4 e6 7.b3 Bd6 8.0-0 Bxf4 9.Bb2 0-0 10.Nh4 Qxd2 11.Qf3 Qe3+ 12.Kh1 Qxf3 13.Rxf3 Be5 14.Re1 Nc6 15.Bb5 Bd4 16.Rd3 Ng4 17.Rd2 Nf2+ 18.Rxf2 Bxf2 19.Re4 Bxh4 20.Rxh4 Nd4 21.Bd3 h6 22.Ne4 e5 23.g4 Nf3 24.Rh3 Bxg4 25.Rxh6 gxh6 26.Nf6+ Kg7 27.Nxg4 f6 28.Bc1 Rh8 29.Be4 Nd4 30.Ne3 Rab8 31.c3 Ne6 32.Nf5+ Kf7 33.b4 cxb4 34.cxb4 Nf4 35.b5 Rhd8 36.Bf3 Rd3 37.Nh4 Rg8 38.Bxf4 exf4 0-1
Drimmie,J - Sadler,C (1547)
Winter Active Owen Sound, ON(1), 27.11.2005
B40 - Sicilian Defense
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.Nc3 a6 4.Bc4 b5 5.Be2 Nc6 6.0-0 Qc7 7.d3 Nf6 8.Bg5 Be7 9.Qd2 0-0 10.Rfe1 Bb7 11.d4 b4 12.e5 bxc3 13.Qxc3 Nd5 14.Qd3 Nxd4 15.Bxe7 Nxf3+ 16.Bxf3 Nxe7 17.Bxb7 Qxb7 18.Red1 Rfd8 19.Re1 Qd5 20.Qa3 Nf5 21.Rad1 Qc6 22.Qd3 Nh4 23.Qg3 Nf5 24.Re3 Nxg3 25.Rxg3 d5 26.Re3 d4 27.Ree1 c4 28.Kf1 Rab8 29.b3 cxb3 30.axb3 Qxc2 31.Rc1 Qxc1 32.Rxc1 Rxb3 33.Rc4 h6 34.Ke2 a5 35.Kd2 Ra8 36.Kc2 Rc3+ 37.Kb2 Rxc4 38.h3 d3 39.Kb3 Rac8 40.h4 d2 41.Ka3 d1Q 42.g4 Rb8 0-1
Sadler,C (1547) - Sadler,K (1507)
Winter Active Owen Sound, ON (2), 27.11.2005
D14 - Slav : Exchange 6.Bf4 Bf5
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.cxd5 cxd5 5.Nc3 Bf5 6.Bf4 e6 7.e3 a6 8.Bd3 Bxd3 9.Qxd3 Nc6 10.0-0 Be7 11.h3 0-0 12.Rac1 Rc8 13.a3 Na5 14.Nd2 Nc4 15.Nxc4 dxc4 16.Qd1 Nd5 17.Bg3 b5 18.e4 Nf6 19.Be5 Nd7 20.Bg3= Nf6 21.Bh4 Re8 22.Bxf6 Bxf6 23.e5 Be7 24.f4 Qb6 25.Kh1 Red8 26.d5 exd5 27.Nxd5 Qc5 28.Nxe7+ Qxe7 29.Qf3 Rd3 30.Qg4 Rcd8 31.Rcd1 g6 32.Rxd3 Rxd3 33.Qc8+ Kg7 34.Qxa6 Qh4 35.Kh2 Qg3+ 36.Kh1 Qh4 37.Qxb5= ½-½
yes i know i missed 30.Qxd3
Cook,E (1256) - Sadler,C (1547)
Winter Active Owen Sound, ON (3), 27.11.2005
B34 - Sicilian : Accelerated Dragon
1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Nf3 g6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Qd2 0-0 8.Nxc6 dxc6 9.Bd3 Ng4 10.0-0 Nxe3 11.Qxe3 Bd4 12.Qc1 Qa5 13.Ne2 Bb6 14.Bc4 Qe5 15.Ng3 Be6 16.Bd3 Rad8 17.Kh1 Qc5 18.a3 Bc4 19.b4 Qb5 20.Bxc4 Qxc4 21.Rb1 h5 22.f3 Rd7 23.Rd1 Rxd1+ 24.Qxd1 Rd8 25.Qc1 h4 26.Nf1 Qe2 27.h3 Qf2 28.Nh2 Rd2 29.Qg1 Qxg1+ 30.Rxg1 Bxg1 31.Kxg1 Rxc2 32.Nf1 Rc3 33.a4 Rc4 34.b5 cxb5 35.axb5 Rb4 0-1
Sadler,C (1547) - Pucak,S (1011)
Winter Active Owen Sound, ON (4), 27.11.2005
D13 - Slav : Exchange Variation
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.cxd5 cxd5 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.Bf4 h6 6.e3 Nf6 7.Nc3 Nh5 8.Ne2 Nxf4 9.Nxf4 Bg4 10.Be2 Bxf3 11.Bxf3 e5 12.dxe5 Bb4+ 13.Ke2 Nxe5 14.Qa4+ Nc6 15.Bxd5 0-0 16.Bxc6 Qd2+ 17.Kf3 bxc6 18.Rhd1 c5 19.Rxd2 Bxd2 20.Rd1 Bb4 21.Nd5 a5 22.a3 Rfc8 23.Ne7+ Kh7 24.Nxc8 1-0
Both,A (1618) - Sadler,C (1547) [B21]
Winter Active Owen Sound, ON (5), 27.11.2005
B21 : Sicilian : Grand Prix attack
1.e4 c5 2.f4 d5 3.exd5 Qxd5 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.Nc3 Qd8 6.Bc4 e6 7.b3 Bd6 8.0-0 Bxf4 9.Bb2 0-0 10.Nh4 Qxd2 11.Qf3 Qe3+ 12.Kh1 Qxf3 13.Rxf3 Be5 14.Re1 Nc6 15.Bb5 Bd4 16.Rd3 Ng4 17.Rd2 Nf2+ 18.Rxf2 Bxf2 19.Re4 Bxh4 20.Rxh4 Nd4 21.Bd3 h6 22.Ne4 e5 23.g4 Nf3 24.Rh3 Bxg4 25.Rxh6 gxh6 26.Nf6+ Kg7 27.Nxg4 f6 28.Bc1 Rh8 29.Be4 Nd4 30.Ne3 Rab8 31.c3 Ne6 32.Nf5+ Kf7 33.b4 cxb4 34.cxb4 Nf4 35.b5 Rhd8 36.Bf3 Rd3 37.Nh4 Rg8 38.Bxf4 exf4 0-1
Saturday, November 05, 2005
K 2½ - 1½ C
K.Sadler - C.Sadler
B41 - Sicilian : Kan
Week four. Who thought we'd get this far? I really hadn't put much thought into prepping for this game. 1.e4 c5 I didn't decide what I was going to play until I walked and picked up a coffee before the game. Kirk has a pretty tight repetoire and normally plays a Be2/Be3/f4 system v. the Sicilian. With the Taimanov, ...b5, ...Bb7 I can take advantage of that. Better than getting into a relatively theoretical duel in the Dragon where he obviously would be more comfortable. 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Be3 [This was unexpected. I figured on something like 5.Nc3 Qc7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Be2 b5 and a decent position. Now I was left to my own devices] 5...Nc6 [Theory says that 5...Nf6 is better, putting the question to the e-pawn.] 6.c4!
Going into a Maroczy bind position. i should've thought more here. Ironically, I didn't play the Accelerated Dragon because I didn't want to face the Maroczy Bind. As an aside, in the Kan/Taimanov/whatever it's not as easy to stop ...d5 with the Maroczy Bind because of ...e6, whereas in the Accelerated Dragon, Black rarely is able to support the d5 push with ...e6 because of the weakness of the dark squares. Even the "Dragon" bishop usually isn't enough to defend those squares, especially if White gets in Bh6 or something. 6...Nf6 7.Bd3 Qc7 [7...Ne5! is much stronger.; 7...d5 was played by Miguel Quinteros in a game v. Ljubojevic which was similar to our game 8.exd5 exd5 9.Nxc6 bxc6 10.0–0 d4 11.Bg5 Be7 12.Nd2 c5 except I think that Black's position was stronger without the inclusion of ...Qc7. I think I should've went with ...d5 right away. White eventually won the Ljubojevic-Quinteros game btw] 8.0–0 d5 9.Nxc6 [9.exd5 exd5 10.Re1 was stronger] 9...bxc6? [9...dxe4! was much stronger, winning a pawn for me. I didn't even pay attention] 10.exd5 cxd5 11.Nd2! I didn't see how strong this was at the time. Not only developing, but gaining a tempo on the queen. Not that we're grandmasters, but Quinteros' idea was much better playing d5 with my queen still on d8 (to support d5) and not allowing the rook move. 11...Be7 12.Rc1 Qd8 [Fritz said that the developing gambit of 12...Bb7 13.cxd5 Qd7 was okay because it doesn't give up a pawn 14.Nf3 (14.dxe6? Qxd3) 14...Qxd5 etc.] 13.f4?! This may have been okay but I didnt like it because it opened up just as many lines on his king as at my king 13...0–0 [I was gonna try 13...d4 right away, but decided against it.] 14.f5 d4?! [I picked the wrong pawn. 14...e5! makes everything better for me. Now I am threatening to push both e4 and d4 and if 15.cxd5 Nxd5 I'm great.] 15.Bf4 Bd6 [15...exf5 may have been stronger but i was all horny over the d4, e5 pawn duo] 16.Bxd6 Qxd6 17.Ne4 [I was worried about 17.c5 because I was having a tough time finding a good place for my pieces] 17...Nxe4 18.Bxe4 Rb8 19.fxe6 fxe6? [Obviously 19...Bxe6 was better. After 19. ...fxe6+ I saw the Qf3+ but i thought that there was no mate, so my connected passers would be worth the h-pawn that dropped or whatever.] 20.Rxf8+ Kxf8 21.Qf3+ [21.Qh5! was even stronger. Once the queen gets to h7 I'm screwed and if 21...h6 22.Rf1+ Ke7 23.c5! I didn't see that OTB though] 21...Kg8 22.Rf1 Bd7 [Maybe 22...Qe7 was stronger but i'm still screwed after 23.Qh5] 23.Qf7+ Kh8 24.Bxh7 [24.Qh5 again was terribly strong. If 24...h6 (24...g6 25.Bxg6) 25.Qg6] 24...Kxh7?? [I should've continued with my "idea" of 24...e5 . This stops the rook from coming to f4 anyways.] 25.Qh5+ Kg8 26.Qf7+ Kh7 27.Rf4 and it's over 27...Qxf4 28.Qxf4 Rxb2 29.Qxd4 Rb1+ 30.Kf2 Bc6? 31.Qd3+ Black resigns Nicely played by Kirk. Overly optimistic by me. I have some stuff to think about as Black before the next time we play again. 1–0
I learned a couple of things from this game
1) i'm lazy tactically...i totally trusted kirk and didn't try and look for anything, especially in the early middlegame/opening
2) i didn't look hard enough at his threats
3) i had one idea (...d4, ...e5) and assumed it was fabulous and didn't look at anything else
we'll see how it goes next week.
B41 - Sicilian : Kan
Week four. Who thought we'd get this far? I really hadn't put much thought into prepping for this game. 1.e4 c5 I didn't decide what I was going to play until I walked and picked up a coffee before the game. Kirk has a pretty tight repetoire and normally plays a Be2/Be3/f4 system v. the Sicilian. With the Taimanov, ...b5, ...Bb7 I can take advantage of that. Better than getting into a relatively theoretical duel in the Dragon where he obviously would be more comfortable. 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Be3 [This was unexpected. I figured on something like 5.Nc3 Qc7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Be2 b5 and a decent position. Now I was left to my own devices] 5...Nc6 [Theory says that 5...Nf6 is better, putting the question to the e-pawn.] 6.c4!
Going into a Maroczy bind position. i should've thought more here. Ironically, I didn't play the Accelerated Dragon because I didn't want to face the Maroczy Bind. As an aside, in the Kan/Taimanov/whatever it's not as easy to stop ...d5 with the Maroczy Bind because of ...e6, whereas in the Accelerated Dragon, Black rarely is able to support the d5 push with ...e6 because of the weakness of the dark squares. Even the "Dragon" bishop usually isn't enough to defend those squares, especially if White gets in Bh6 or something. 6...Nf6 7.Bd3 Qc7 [7...Ne5! is much stronger.; 7...d5 was played by Miguel Quinteros in a game v. Ljubojevic which was similar to our game 8.exd5 exd5 9.Nxc6 bxc6 10.0–0 d4 11.Bg5 Be7 12.Nd2 c5 except I think that Black's position was stronger without the inclusion of ...Qc7. I think I should've went with ...d5 right away. White eventually won the Ljubojevic-Quinteros game btw] 8.0–0 d5 9.Nxc6 [9.exd5 exd5 10.Re1 was stronger] 9...bxc6? [9...dxe4! was much stronger, winning a pawn for me. I didn't even pay attention] 10.exd5 cxd5 11.Nd2! I didn't see how strong this was at the time. Not only developing, but gaining a tempo on the queen. Not that we're grandmasters, but Quinteros' idea was much better playing d5 with my queen still on d8 (to support d5) and not allowing the rook move. 11...Be7 12.Rc1 Qd8 [Fritz said that the developing gambit of 12...Bb7 13.cxd5 Qd7 was okay because it doesn't give up a pawn 14.Nf3 (14.dxe6? Qxd3) 14...Qxd5 etc.] 13.f4?! This may have been okay but I didnt like it because it opened up just as many lines on his king as at my king 13...0–0 [I was gonna try 13...d4 right away, but decided against it.] 14.f5 d4?! [I picked the wrong pawn. 14...e5! makes everything better for me. Now I am threatening to push both e4 and d4 and if 15.cxd5 Nxd5 I'm great.] 15.Bf4 Bd6 [15...exf5 may have been stronger but i was all horny over the d4, e5 pawn duo] 16.Bxd6 Qxd6 17.Ne4 [I was worried about 17.c5 because I was having a tough time finding a good place for my pieces] 17...Nxe4 18.Bxe4 Rb8 19.fxe6 fxe6? [Obviously 19...Bxe6 was better. After 19. ...fxe6+ I saw the Qf3+ but i thought that there was no mate, so my connected passers would be worth the h-pawn that dropped or whatever.] 20.Rxf8+ Kxf8 21.Qf3+ [21.Qh5! was even stronger. Once the queen gets to h7 I'm screwed and if 21...h6 22.Rf1+ Ke7 23.c5! I didn't see that OTB though] 21...Kg8 22.Rf1 Bd7 [Maybe 22...Qe7 was stronger but i'm still screwed after 23.Qh5] 23.Qf7+ Kh8 24.Bxh7 [24.Qh5 again was terribly strong. If 24...h6 (24...g6 25.Bxg6) 25.Qg6] 24...Kxh7?? [I should've continued with my "idea" of 24...e5 . This stops the rook from coming to f4 anyways.] 25.Qh5+ Kg8 26.Qf7+ Kh7 27.Rf4 and it's over 27...Qxf4 28.Qxf4 Rxb2 29.Qxd4 Rb1+ 30.Kf2 Bc6? 31.Qd3+ Black resigns Nicely played by Kirk. Overly optimistic by me. I have some stuff to think about as Black before the next time we play again. 1–0
I learned a couple of things from this game
1) i'm lazy tactically...i totally trusted kirk and didn't try and look for anything, especially in the early middlegame/opening
2) i didn't look hard enough at his threats
3) i had one idea (...d4, ...e5) and assumed it was fabulous and didn't look at anything else
we'll see how it goes next week.
Saturday, July 30, 2005
will the match ever finish?
me and chris were supposed to play games 3 and 4 tomorrow, but that's not gonna happen. i'm going to ottawa next weekend so it won't happen then either...grrr
i was reading through Winning with the Sicilian by Mark Taimanov and trying to play the Kan/Paulsen/Taimanov Sicilian. It's very interesting, i like the opening and i'm learning alot. There's also a new tabiya for me
it's interesting, i'm gonna play a bunch of games v. kirk with both sides. the idea is that with 1.e4 c5 2.nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be2 Qc7 7.O-O Nf6 8.Be3 Bb4 there is a hole on b6, so the move 9.Na4?! tries to take advantage of that. It's an interesting line and an idea I can use as White.
i was reading through Winning with the Sicilian by Mark Taimanov and trying to play the Kan/Paulsen/Taimanov Sicilian. It's very interesting, i like the opening and i'm learning alot. There's also a new tabiya for me
it's interesting, i'm gonna play a bunch of games v. kirk with both sides. the idea is that with 1.e4 c5 2.nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be2 Qc7 7.O-O Nf6 8.Be3 Bb4 there is a hole on b6, so the move 9.Na4?! tries to take advantage of that. It's an interesting line and an idea I can use as White.
Friday, December 24, 2004
2004 in review (2)
and of course my win v. JM would go in my good games from the year
ironically, all my "good games" were with white, and 3/4 i opened 1.f4. interesting :) and all my "bad games" were with black. and here i was always worried about my white openings instead of black :)
now for the bad games
COS - CS
Owen Sound Spring (4) 2004
B53 - Sicilian, Chekhover variation
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Qxd4 Nc6 5. Bb5 a6 6. Bxc6+ bxc6 7. O-O Nf6 8. Nc3 g6 9. Bg5 Bg7 10. Qd3 O-O 11. Rad1 Bb7 12. e5 dxe5 13. Qxd8 Rfxd8 14. Rxd8+ Rxd8 15. Nxe5 {Black to move and lose} 15... Rd2 ?? 16. Bxd2 1-0
terrible
another bad one was against "fridge" who is rated about 1000...even though i won i played terribly
Fridge - CS
Owen Sound Summer (1.2)
A07 - Réti
1. g3 Nf6 2. Bg2 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. Nc3 d5 5. d3 O-O 6. O-O c6 7. b3 Qa5 8. Bb2 Ne8 9. Qd2 Bg4 10. e4 Bxf3 11. Bxf3 d4 12. Nb1 Qxd2 13. Nxd2 c5 14. Rac1 e5 15. Nc4 b5 16. Nd2 Nd6 17. c3 f5 18. cxd4 cxd4 19. Rc2 Nd7 20. exf5 Nxf5 21. Bxa8 Rxa8 22. Rfc1 Nb6 23. Ba3 h6 24. Bc5 Nd5 25. f4 Nc3 26. Nf3 exf4 27. gxf4 Re8 28. Bxd4 Ne2+ 29. Rxe2 Rxe2 30. Rc8+ Kh7 31. Rc7 Nxd4 32. Nxd4 Re3 33. f5 Kg8 34. Ne6 Be5 35. Rc8+ Kf7 36. Rf8+ Ke7 37. Rg8 gxf5 38. Nc5 Bd4 39. Rg7+ Bxg7 0-1
my final terrible game was against TK at the london tournament (see below). other than these three games my play was relatively consistent in 2004. here's hoping i crack 1600 in 2005. there's two ways i can do that. one, play well enough to gain enough points to 1600 at kitchener (not likely). work on stuff and go down to london in the summer or something and get them (more likely). hans jung said in en passant that people should play 100 tournament games a year. i played 26 this year and my all time high was 39. i need to play more often.
merry christmas everyone.
ironically, all my "good games" were with white, and 3/4 i opened 1.f4. interesting :) and all my "bad games" were with black. and here i was always worried about my white openings instead of black :)
now for the bad games
COS - CS
Owen Sound Spring (4) 2004
B53 - Sicilian, Chekhover variation
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Qxd4 Nc6 5. Bb5 a6 6. Bxc6+ bxc6 7. O-O Nf6 8. Nc3 g6 9. Bg5 Bg7 10. Qd3 O-O 11. Rad1 Bb7 12. e5 dxe5 13. Qxd8 Rfxd8 14. Rxd8+ Rxd8 15. Nxe5 {Black to move and lose} 15... Rd2 ?? 16. Bxd2 1-0
terrible
another bad one was against "fridge" who is rated about 1000...even though i won i played terribly
Fridge - CS
Owen Sound Summer (1.2)
A07 - Réti
1. g3 Nf6 2. Bg2 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. Nc3 d5 5. d3 O-O 6. O-O c6 7. b3 Qa5 8. Bb2 Ne8 9. Qd2 Bg4 10. e4 Bxf3 11. Bxf3 d4 12. Nb1 Qxd2 13. Nxd2 c5 14. Rac1 e5 15. Nc4 b5 16. Nd2 Nd6 17. c3 f5 18. cxd4 cxd4 19. Rc2 Nd7 20. exf5 Nxf5 21. Bxa8 Rxa8 22. Rfc1 Nb6 23. Ba3 h6 24. Bc5 Nd5 25. f4 Nc3 26. Nf3 exf4 27. gxf4 Re8 28. Bxd4 Ne2+ 29. Rxe2 Rxe2 30. Rc8+ Kh7 31. Rc7 Nxd4 32. Nxd4 Re3 33. f5 Kg8 34. Ne6 Be5 35. Rc8+ Kf7 36. Rf8+ Ke7 37. Rg8 gxf5 38. Nc5 Bd4 39. Rg7+ Bxg7 0-1
my final terrible game was against TK at the london tournament (see below). other than these three games my play was relatively consistent in 2004. here's hoping i crack 1600 in 2005. there's two ways i can do that. one, play well enough to gain enough points to 1600 at kitchener (not likely). work on stuff and go down to london in the summer or something and get them (more likely). hans jung said in en passant that people should play 100 tournament games a year. i played 26 this year and my all time high was 39. i need to play more often.
merry christmas everyone.
Thursday, December 23, 2004
2004 in review
(to start, i am only doing this now because hopefully on saturday i will get some chess books and start devouring them. what's happened since i last wrote...i finished Chernev's Capablanca book, i played some blitz. me and kirk are going to the february Kitchener tournament and i'm likely going to barrie in january for a warm up. we've decided on 1.Nf3 and the accelerated dragon as our main weapons. i'm gonna play U2000 and he's gonna play U1600...you can play within 200 points of your rating so i'm playing up...don't like playing millions of kids. i'm likely gonna get my ass handed to me, but it's gonna be a barometer)
so now on to my best (and worst) games of 2004.
Here was one of my favorite games from last year's Kitchener tournament. I was playing in the U1700 and I was at 2-0...
C.Sadler - CT
Kitchener Winter U1700 2004
B78 - Sicilian : Dragon, Yugoslav variation
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be3 Bg7 7. f3 d6 (7...
O-O 8. Qd2 O-O 9. O-O-O Bd7 10. Bc4 Rc8 11. Bb3 a6 12. h4 = Na5 13. Bh6 Nxb3+ 14. Nxb3 Ne8 15. Bxg7 Kxg7 16. h5 Rh8 17. hxg6 fxg6 18. e5 Be6 19. Nd4 Bg8 20. Qh6+ Kf7 21. e6+ Kf6 22. Ne4+ Ke5 23. Qg5# 1-0
a fun little miniature. i lost my next game in round 4, mostly because i was hungover and then drew in round 5 to finish with 3½/5 and get some prize money.
This next one wasn't the greatest game, but i really enjoyed it. He could've improved all over the place
C.Sadler - AC
Owen Sound Summer Active (2.2) 2004
B09 - Pirc : Austrian Attack
1. f4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d6 3. Nc3 g6 4. e4 Bg7 5. d4 b6 6. Bb5+ Nbd7 7. e5 dxe5 8. fxe5 Nh5 9. O-O f5 10. e6 Nhf6 11. Bg5 a6 12. exd7+ Nxd7 13. Bxd7+ Bxd7 14. Re1 Bf8
15. Nd5 h6 16. Nxe7 Bxe7 17. Rxe7+ Qxe7 18. Bxe7 Kxe7 19. Ne5 g5 20. Ng6+ 1-0
A third game was also from that tournament, vs. a visitor from Kitchener. I had improvements all over the place, but I basically led from pillar to post.
C.Sadler - TK
Owen Sound Summer Active (5.1) 2004
B06 - Modern : Pseudo-Austrian attack
1. f4 g6 2. e4 Bg7 3. d4 d6 4. Nc3 Nd7 5. Nf3 e5 6. dxe5 dxe5 7. Bc4 Ne7 8. O-O O-O 9.fxe5 Nxe5 10. Qxd8 Rxd8 11. Nxe5 Bxe5 12. Rxf7 Nc6 13. Bg5 Rd4 14. Raf1 Bf5 15. exf5 Rxc4 16. fxg6 Bd4+ 17. Kh1 hxg6 18. Rxc7 Re8 19. Nd5 Rc5 20. Nf6+ Bxf6 21. Bxf6 Rf5 22. Kg1 Rxf1+ 23. Kxf1 Rf8 24. Rg7+ Kh8 25. Rf7+ Kg8 26. Rxf8+ Kxf8 27. Ke2 Kf7 28. Bc3 Ke6 29. Kf3 b5 30. h4 b4 31. Bd2 Nd4+ 32. Ke3 Nxc2+ 33. Kd3 b3 34. axb3 Na1 35. g4 Nxb3 36. Kc3 Nc5 37. Kc4 Ne4 38. Be3 a6 39. b4 Nf6 40. Kc5 Nxg4 41. Bc1 Ne5 42. Kb6 Nd3 43. Bd2 Kf5 44. Kxa6 Kg4 45. b5 Kxh4 46. Be3 Nb4+ 47. Kb6 Nd5+ 48. Kc5
Nc7 49. b6 Na6+ 50. Kb5 Nb8 51. b7 Nd7 52. Kc6 1-0
oops gotta get ready for work
more good and bad to follow
so now on to my best (and worst) games of 2004.
Here was one of my favorite games from last year's Kitchener tournament. I was playing in the U1700 and I was at 2-0...
C.Sadler - CT
Kitchener Winter U1700 2004
B78 - Sicilian : Dragon, Yugoslav variation
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be3 Bg7 7. f3 d6 (7...
O-O 8. Qd2 O-O 9. O-O-O Bd7 10. Bc4 Rc8 11. Bb3 a6 12. h4 = Na5 13. Bh6 Nxb3+ 14. Nxb3 Ne8 15. Bxg7 Kxg7 16. h5 Rh8 17. hxg6 fxg6 18. e5 Be6 19. Nd4 Bg8 20. Qh6+ Kf7 21. e6+ Kf6 22. Ne4+ Ke5 23. Qg5# 1-0
a fun little miniature. i lost my next game in round 4, mostly because i was hungover and then drew in round 5 to finish with 3½/5 and get some prize money.
This next one wasn't the greatest game, but i really enjoyed it. He could've improved all over the place
C.Sadler - AC
Owen Sound Summer Active (2.2) 2004
B09 - Pirc : Austrian Attack
1. f4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d6 3. Nc3 g6 4. e4 Bg7 5. d4 b6 6. Bb5+ Nbd7 7. e5 dxe5 8. fxe5 Nh5 9. O-O f5 10. e6 Nhf6 11. Bg5 a6 12. exd7+ Nxd7 13. Bxd7+ Bxd7 14. Re1 Bf8
15. Nd5 h6 16. Nxe7 Bxe7 17. Rxe7+ Qxe7 18. Bxe7 Kxe7 19. Ne5 g5 20. Ng6+ 1-0
A third game was also from that tournament, vs. a visitor from Kitchener. I had improvements all over the place, but I basically led from pillar to post.
C.Sadler - TK
Owen Sound Summer Active (5.1) 2004
B06 - Modern : Pseudo-Austrian attack
1. f4 g6 2. e4 Bg7 3. d4 d6 4. Nc3 Nd7 5. Nf3 e5 6. dxe5 dxe5 7. Bc4 Ne7 8. O-O O-O 9.fxe5 Nxe5 10. Qxd8 Rxd8 11. Nxe5 Bxe5 12. Rxf7 Nc6 13. Bg5 Rd4 14. Raf1 Bf5 15. exf5 Rxc4 16. fxg6 Bd4+ 17. Kh1 hxg6 18. Rxc7 Re8 19. Nd5 Rc5 20. Nf6+ Bxf6 21. Bxf6 Rf5 22. Kg1 Rxf1+ 23. Kxf1 Rf8 24. Rg7+ Kh8 25. Rf7+ Kg8 26. Rxf8+ Kxf8 27. Ke2 Kf7 28. Bc3 Ke6 29. Kf3 b5 30. h4 b4 31. Bd2 Nd4+ 32. Ke3 Nxc2+ 33. Kd3 b3 34. axb3 Na1 35. g4 Nxb3 36. Kc3 Nc5 37. Kc4 Ne4 38. Be3 a6 39. b4 Nf6 40. Kc5 Nxg4 41. Bc1 Ne5 42. Kb6 Nd3 43. Bd2 Kf5 44. Kxa6 Kg4 45. b5 Kxh4 46. Be3 Nb4+ 47. Kb6 Nd5+ 48. Kc5
Nc7 49. b6 Na6+ 50. Kb5 Nb8 51. b7 Nd7 52. Kc6 1-0
oops gotta get ready for work
more good and bad to follow
Saturday, December 04, 2004
ultra accelerated dragon
why not just try 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 i was always worried about 3.c3 but Capablanca gave a good try with 3. ...d5! in Merenyi-Capablanca. I'll have to try it out. 4.exd5 Qxd5 gets into a position i don't necessarily like to be in, but Hamdouchi and Kudrin gave it a couple goes in the FIDE Championship (1 win WHite, 1 win Black, 1 draw) so i'll have to take a look at that as well
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