don't call it a comeback

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

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

March match (3)

C-K
C02 - French : Advance variation

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



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

2-1 for Kirk

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sunday Afternoon G/60

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

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

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

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

March (2)

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

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

standing on the shoulders of giants

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

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

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