2.5/5...didn't play very well, but played well enough to win some points. the only "clean" win was my round 3 game...ahven't thrown them into fritz or looked at the book yet. the losses were against a master and an expert so i can't be disappointed in that. The VD game was weak but it was the 5th G/40 in a day and i haven't played a tournament since 2008 so i was tired by the end...
ZK(2252) - C [B12]
September Active London, ON (1), 17.09.2011
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Nf3 e6 5.Be3 Nd7 6.Nbd2 Ne7 7.Nb3 c5 8.dxc5 Nc6 9.Nfd4 Nxd4 10.Nxd4 Bg6 11.c6 bxc6 12.Nxc6 Qc7 13.Bb5 a6 14.Ba4 Be7 15.0-0 Kf8 16.Nxe7 Kxe7 17.f4 Nc5 18.Bxc5+ Qxc5+ 19.Kh1 h5 20.c3 h4 21.h3 Be4 22.Bc2 Qe3 [ 22...Bxc2 23.Qxc2] 23.Bxe4 Qxe4 24.Qe1 Qc4 [ 24...Qf5] 25.f5 g5 26.fxg6 fxg6 27.Qe3 Raf8 28.Qa7+ Ke8 29.Qb8+ Ke7 30.Qd6+ Ke8 31.Qxe6+ Kd8 32.Qd6+ Ke8 33.Qxg6+ Kd8 34.Qd6+ Ke8 35.Rfd1 1-0
C - LM (1402) [D26]
September Active London, ON (2), 17.09.2011
1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Bxc4 a6 6.0-0 b5 7.Bd3 [ 7.Bb3] 7...Bb7 8.Nbd2 c5 9.dxc5?? The "real" queen's gambit :) 9...Qxd3 10.Ne5 Qd8 11.b4 Nbd7 12.Bb2 Nxe5 13.Bxe5 Be7 14.Qe2 0-0 15.Rfd1 Qc8 16.Rac1 Qc6 17.Nf3 h6 18.Bxf6 Bxf6 19.Rd6 Qe4 20.c6 Rac8 21.Nd2 Qxb4 22.Qd3 Ba8 23.Nb3 Be5 24.Rd4 Bxd4 25.Nxd4 Rfd8 26.Qe4 Rc7 27.h3 Rdc8 28.Qd3 Qd6 29.Qe4 Bxc6 30.Qg4 Bd5 31.Rd1 Qf8 32.Kh2 Rc1 33.Rd2 Ra1 34.e4 Bxa2 35.f4 Rcc1 36.Nf3 Rh1+ 37.Kg3 Bc4 38.Qh4 Ra3 39.Rd8 Qxd8 40.Qxd8+ Kh7 41.Qh4 Be2 42.Kf2 Bc4 43.Ne5 Ra2+ 44.Kg3 g5 45.fxg5 1-0
DA (1405) - C [A48]
September Active London, ON (3), 17.09.2011
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.Bg5 Bg7 4.Nbd2 d6 5.e4 0-0 6.Bc4 Bg4 7.h3 Bxf3 8.Qxf3 Nbd7 9.0-0-0 e5 10.c3 c6 11.h4 h6 12.Be3 b5 13.Bb3 a5 14.g4 a4 15.Bc2 h5 16.gxh5 Nxh5 17.Rdg1 Qa5 18.Bd1 a3 19.b4 Qd8 20.Qg2 Ndf6 21.Bb3 d5 22.exd5 Nxd5 23.Bg5 Qd6 24.Ne4 Qd7 25.Bd2 exd4 26.Nc5 Qf5 27.Bc2 Qc8 28.Bxg6 fxg6 29.Qxg6 Ndf6 30.Rg5 Qe8 31.Qd3 Rd8 32.cxd4 Rd5 33.Rhg1 Rxg5 34.Rxg5 -- 35.Rg2 Qf7 36.Kb1 Qd5 37.Bh6 Rf7 38.Rg5 Qh1+ 39.Kc2 Qa1 40.Bxg7 Qxa2+ 41.Kd1 Rxg7 42.Qf5 Qa1+ 43.Ke2 Qxd4 44.Ne6 Qe4+ 45.Qxe4 Nxe4 46.Rxh5 Re7 47.Re5 a2 48.Rxe4 a1Q 49.Rg4+ Kf7 0-1
i messed up third round game because i missed a move somewhere, but anyways...
RG (1625) - C [B14]
September Active London, ON (4), 17.09.2011
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.c4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6 6.Nf3 Bb4 7.Qb3 Bxc3+ 8.bxc3 0-0 9.Bd3 dxc4 10.Qxc4 b6 11.Bf4 Ba6 12.Qb3 Bxd3 13.Ne5 Ba6 14.Rd1 Bb7 15.0-0 Nbd7 16.Rfe1 Qc8 17.Re3 Nd5 18.Rf3 Nxf4 19.Rxf4 Bd5 20.Qc2 Qc7 21.Rh4 Nf6 22.g4 Be4 23.Qe2 Qe7 24.Qe3 [ 24.g5] 24...Bg6 25.Nxg6 fxg6 26.g5 Nd5 27.Qg3 Rf5 28.f4 Raf8 29.Rf1 Qc7 30.Qe1 Qd6 31.c4 Rxf4 32.Rfxf4 Rxf4?? [ 32...Nxf4] 33.cxd5 Rxh4 34.Qxh4 Qxd5 35.Qf4 Qd7 36.Qb8+ Kf7 37.Qf4+= Ke7 38.Qe5 Kd8 39.Qb8+ Ke7 40.Qe5 a5 41.Qxg7+ Kd6 42.Qe5+ Kc6 43.h4 Qd5 44.Qg7 Qd7 45.Qe5= 1/2-1/2
C - VD(1945) [D86]
September Active London, ON (5), 17.09.2011
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Bc4 c5 8.Be3 Qc7 9.Bb5+ [ 9.Rc1] 9...Bd7 10.Bxd7+ Nxd7 11.Ne2 0-0 12.0-0 Rad8 13.Rc1 Nf6 14.f3 e5 15.d5 Ne8 16.Qd2 Nd6 17.Bh6 Nc4 18.Qg5 f6 19.Qh4 Qa5 20.f4 Nd2 21.Rfe1 Bxh6 22.Qxh6 Nxe4 23.c4 Qd2 24.h4 Qe3+ 25.Kh2 Nf2 26.Rc3 Ng4+ 27.Kh1 Qxc3 28.Qxf8+ Kxf8 29.Nxc3 exf4 30.Ne4 Re8 31.Re2 Rxe4 0-1
Showing posts with label Caro-Kann. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Caro-Kann. Show all posts
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Wednesday, September 01, 2010
hot theory and 1.e4 e5
i'm quite impressed with 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.f3 Qb6 as a sharp line for Black
i used to play 3. ...dxe4 4.fxe4 e5 and get checkmated horrifically. Thank you Ivanchuk for bringing it to my attention.
Also, isn't it always a good idea to play 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 and not 2.f4! until they play the Petroff or the Philidor? :)
I'm also interested in 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 g5?! as a lethal blitz weapon...can i use it v. 3.Bc4? likely not :)
i used to play 3. ...dxe4 4.fxe4 e5 and get checkmated horrifically. Thank you Ivanchuk for bringing it to my attention.
Also, isn't it always a good idea to play 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 and not 2.f4! until they play the Petroff or the Philidor? :)
I'm also interested in 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 g5?! as a lethal blitz weapon...can i use it v. 3.Bc4? likely not :)
Monday, July 19, 2010
A correspondence game I'm happy with
here's a game v. a strong opponent in ICCF that i'm happy that my prep stood up
NN (C's rating + 400) - C
Slovenia (2) ICCF 2010
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.Nf3 Nd7 7.h4 h6 8.h5 Bh7 9.Bd3 Bxd3 10.Qxd3 Qc7 11.Rh4 e6 12.Bf4 Bd6 13.Bxd6 Qxd6 14.Ne4 Qe7 15.Qa3 Qxa3 16.bxa3
he had played this position in a previous game and I hadn't intended to play the Caro-Kann in this tournament, but I thought that, despite the fact that White has a *huge* score in this line, with the queens off Black had to be as good if not better.
16. ...Ke7
of course around this time the Anand-Topalov game took place where Anand had the doubled a-pawns and won a nice game and i was second guessing my positional judgement. Anand vs Topalov, 2010
17.Rb1 b6 18.Ne5 Nxe5 19.dxe5 f6 20.Nd2 fxe5 21.Rg4 g5 22.hxg6 h5 23.Rc4 c5 24.Nf3 Kf6 25.Re4 Ne7 26.Nxe5 Rhd8 27.Rb3 Rd4 28.Rf3+ Nf5 29.Rff4 Rd5 30.Nd3 Rg8 31.Rf3 Rd4 ½-½
i held it pretty easily and may have even been better in the final position. he was the correspondence champion of Poland a couple of years ago so I was very happy with this game.
NN (C's rating + 400) - C
Slovenia (2) ICCF 2010
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.Nf3 Nd7 7.h4 h6 8.h5 Bh7 9.Bd3 Bxd3 10.Qxd3 Qc7 11.Rh4 e6 12.Bf4 Bd6 13.Bxd6 Qxd6 14.Ne4 Qe7 15.Qa3 Qxa3 16.bxa3
he had played this position in a previous game and I hadn't intended to play the Caro-Kann in this tournament, but I thought that, despite the fact that White has a *huge* score in this line, with the queens off Black had to be as good if not better.
16. ...Ke7
of course around this time the Anand-Topalov game took place where Anand had the doubled a-pawns and won a nice game and i was second guessing my positional judgement. Anand vs Topalov, 2010
17.Rb1 b6 18.Ne5 Nxe5 19.dxe5 f6 20.Nd2 fxe5 21.Rg4 g5 22.hxg6 h5 23.Rc4 c5 24.Nf3 Kf6 25.Re4 Ne7 26.Nxe5 Rhd8 27.Rb3 Rd4 28.Rf3+ Nf5 29.Rff4 Rd5 30.Nd3 Rg8 31.Rf3 Rd4 ½-½
i held it pretty easily and may have even been better in the final position. he was the correspondence champion of Poland a couple of years ago so I was very happy with this game.
Sunday, September 07, 2008
KW Active 2008
I played 4 round of the Kitchener Active yesterday and score 2/4. leave any comments please! (too many Caros) i am glad i got another Panov after completely mishandling the position in round one. the guy in the first round was rated about 100 points lower than me, the second guy was around the same, the last two were experts in "normal" chess, but only about 300-400 points higher than me in active
C - SS
Active Kitchener, ON (1), 06.09.2008
B13 - Caro-Kann : Panov Variation
This is the tournament I've played in the most over the years. It's a one day active in a city about an hour and a half from where I live. My opponent was a 13 year old kid. 1.e4 [I think if I could do it all over again I would've played 1.g3 and tried to mix it up a bit] 1...c6 What 13 year old kid plays the Caro-Kann? Come on! 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.c4 Nf6 5.Nc3 dxc4!? Generally speaking Black should wait until I've used a tempo developing my light-square bishop before doing this. 6.Bxc4 e6 7.Nf3 Be7 Of course playing it this way like a QGD and sadding me with the IQP isn't terrible either. [I generally develop my bishop here 7...Bb4 ;
or 7...Bd6 ] 8.0-0 0-0 9.Be3 [If I would've thought for a second I would've played something like 9.Qe2 allowing me to play 9...-- 10.Rd1 -- 11.Be3 or somewhere else 11...-- 12.Rac1 and be able to just play a "normal" IQP position. My mind was blank and watch what I decided on instead] 9...Nbd7 10.Qc2? Start of my bad plans. Not sure why I put my queen on the only open file. [10.Qe2 was playable again, with ideas similar to above] 10...Nb6 11.Bd3 h6 12.Rad1 Wrong rook [12.Rfd1 -- 13.Rac1 and then move my queen should've been my plan] 12...Nbd5 13.h3? [13.Nxd5;
or if i wanted to move a pawn 13.a3 ] 13...Nb4! Nice move 14.Qe2 Nxd3 15.Rxd3? [again 15.Qxd3 is better. unless i was trying to get the other rook to the c-file. my plans were muddled and i didn't see much of what he was doing] 15...b6 16.Rd2 [Threatening 16.-- Ba6] 16...Bb7 17.Rfd1 Okay great! I've got a setup now (for better or worse), doubled rooks on the d-file, open up the file come up the middle it's gonna be great. 17...Rc8 18.a3? [admitting my mistake with 18.Rc1 was better] 18...Nd5 [18...Bxa3 was simple enough and then I have to start calculating lines like 19.Ra1 (19.bxa3 Rxc3) 19. ...Bxb2 20.Rxb2 Rxc3 21.Rxa7 and I'm down material. I saw 18. ...Bxa3 during the game right after I moved it and I realized I had to hunker down and dig my heels in.] 19.Nxd5 Qxd5 Now I'm in big trouble because of my toing and froing. He has opened up the c-file and has complete control. In addition, I'm stuck with my stupid knight not able to move against his two bishops because of mate on g2. I tried to hunker down 20.Qf1 Rfd8 21.Rc1 Bf6 22.Rdc2 [Maybe just 22.Rxc8 was better] 22...Rxc2 23.Rxc2 Rc8? giving away most of his advantage [23...Qf5 and pressuring my d-pawn (and rook) was better] 24.Rxc8+ Bxc8 25.b4 Trying to stake out some space [25.Qc1 was better 25...Bb7 26.Qc7 and get on with it.] 25...Bb7 26.Qc1 Qc6? Again trading off pieces helps me 27.Qxc6 Bxc6 28.Ne5 Bxe5? Now it's tough for him because he gets rid of my IQP and makes it opposite coloured bishops. We were in some time pressure here, so let's see if Fritz finds some flaws in my endgame "technique" [28...Bd5 was a better move] 29.dxe5 Kf8 30.f4 Be4 31.Kf2 Trying to get the active king. My plan was to try and win on the kingside because my bishop could take care of my part of the queenside 31...Ke7 32.g4 Kd7 33.Kg3 Bg6 34.h4 h5! This was a good move by him. Taking care of everything 35.gxh5 [I could've played 35.a4 here because his bishop was on the other side but I think it's still a draw] 35...Bxh5 36.Kf2 Kc6 37.Bc1 b5 38.Ke3 Kd5 39.Bb2 g6 40.Bc1 Bg4 41.Bb2= I kept my composure and defended a tough position, but didn't get much play at all as White. ½-½
JD - C
Active Kitchener, ON (2), 06.09.2008
A85 - Dutch Defense
I'm a control freak in chess...I want to impose my will on the position. After my opponent took it to me (when I was White) last game, I decided I was going to play a little more aggressively this round. 1.c4 f5 I was going to play the King's Indian against 1.d4 this tournament, but the Dutch is okay against 1.c4 because not only does it takes up space, but also White can't play a lot of the gambit lines having moved his c-pawn already. 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 Not as strong without White playing g3 4.Bf4 d6 5.Nf3 Bg7 6.Bg3 [6.e3 first was probably better. Although he did suck me in] 6...Nh5 [Fritz likes 6...Ne4 better. My idea was that I thought that either he had to move his h-pawn or else I would play ...f4 and win material. I know he wanted me to trade off his bishop and open the h-file, but with him playing h3 (or h4) that wasn't a possibility. Of course I missed that 7.e3 stopped ...f4. I got a little nervous that I was completely chess blind. Also my idea of not losing tempos by jumping my knight all around have gone out the window 7.e3 c5] 7.e3 [7.Bh4 h6 8.e3 g5 9.Nd2 Nf6 10.Bg3 is okay for White. I'm not going to castle into that mess am I?] 7...Nxg3 8.hxg3 e5 [8...Nc6 first was likely better. 9.Qb3 e5 10.0-0-0 e4 11.Nd2 but he still had good pressure] 9.Be2 [9.dxe5 dxe5 10.Qxd8+ Kxd8 was okay in my books. If i don't kingside castle, he has no attack.] 9...e4 [9...Nc6 10.d5 Ne7] 10.Nd2 Nd7 [I either had to fight back on the kingside 10...h5 ;
10...c5 or the center. I should've been trying to get him to push his d-pawn to activate my dark-square bishop] 11.g4 Nf6 12.gxf5 Bxf5 [I know that "every Russian schoolboy knows that you capture back with the g-pawn" but the holes were getting bigger in my position 12...gxf5 ] 13.Qc2 [I thought he was just going to play 13.g4 and run over me] 13...Qd7 wanted to stop g4. I had already mentally gambitted the e-pawn. 14.Ndxe4 Nxe4 15.Nxe4 0-0 [Fritz liked 15...0-0-0 but without trying to work on the f-pawn, I was just a pawn down] 16.Bd3 Rae8 17.Ng5 Bxd3 18.Qxd3 Qg4 Now it starts getting a little messy 19.Nxh7 Qxg2 [19...Rf5! was better, threatening to pick off the knight] 20.0-0-0 Rxf2 21.Rdg1 Qe4 This is all I had. I knew with the "two hogs on the seventh" I should be able to draw 22.Qxe4 Rxe4 23.Rxg6 [The text gives a draw but 23.Re1? Rg2 and I'm better. His pieces are overloaded and his knight is the worst piece on the board. Was that pawn worth it?] 23...Rxe3 24.Ng5 [I was worried about him trying 24.Rhg1 Kxh7 (24...Ree2 25.Rxg7+ Kh8 26.Nf6 Rc2+=) 25.Rxg7+ Kh6 26.Rxc7 and he's better] 24...Ree2 25.Ne6 Rc2+ 26.Kd1 Rcd2+ [26...Rfd2+ 27.Ke1 Fritz liked 27...Kf7 28.Rxg7+ Kxe6 29.b3 Rxa2 but that's a lot to hope for after defending for the better part of the hour...better part of two hours counting last game] 27.Ke1 Rde2+ 28.Kd1 Rd2+ 29.Ke1 Rde2+= ½-½
C - MS
Active Kitchener, ON (3), 06.09.2008
B13 - Caro-Kann : Panov Variation
Okay so I've played basically terribly the first two games and still ended up with two hard fought draws. I knew I could play better. I got paired with the second highest rated guy in the tournament. 1.e4 c6 On the inside I was happy about this. I had thought about everything I had done wrong in the first round and decided to play the IQP by the book, rooks on the c- and d-file, play to push the pawn, etc. 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.c4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 Personally I hate this line. I always feel like he's gonna pick off the d-pawn. 6.Nf3 [Maybe I should avoid the pin and just play 6.Bg5 but even still 6...dxc4 7.Bxc4 (7.d5 Ne5 8.Qd4 Nd3+ 9.Bxd3 cxd3 10.Qxd3 is okay too. It's got good pedigree too, going all the way back to Botwinnik-Flohr match 1933) 7...Nxd4 8.Nf3 Nxf3+ 9.Qxf3 Qc7 10.Bb5+ Bd7 11.0-0 is not an easy line to find if you've never seen it. Maybe i will look at 6.Bg5 further] 6...Bg4 7.Be3 e6 8.cxd5?! Taking the starch out of the position [8.h3 or;
8.Be2] 8...exd5? [If he played 8...Nxd5 he would have been better] 9.Be2 [Could've tried 9.h3 here too] 9...Bd6 [9...Qb6 would have been pretty annoying] 10.0-0 0-0 11.a3 Trying to start up a minority attack 11...a6 12.h3 Bh5 13.Rc1 Rc8 14.Na4 My idea is to trade off the dark-squared bishop for my knight, give him the IQP and give me a queenside majority 14...Re8 15.Nc5 Bxc5? [A positional error. Moving the queen was better, although after 15...Qb6 16.b4 i would be happy with my position] 16.dxc5 Ne4 17.Re1 [Played becuase of variations like 17.-- d4 18.Nxd4 Bxe2 19.Qxe2 (Of course 19.Nxe2 is playable, but just the idea of the queen being overloaded because of the piece on e2 ) 19...Nxd4] 17...Ng3? 18.Bxa6! winning a pawn [His idea was 18.fxg3 Rxe3 19.Kf2 and he's good...again with pressure on the piece on e2. I thought about the tactic that my opponent missed in round one when i played 18.Bxa6] 18...bxa6 Now I've got 3 v. 1 on the queenside. The rest should basically take care of itself. 19.fxg3 d4 20.Bf4 Rxe1+ 21.Qxe1 Bxf3 22.gxf3 Qd5 23.Qe4 Qxe4 [I thought he would have done better to keep the pieces on with something like 23...Qb3 ] 24.fxe4 f6 [Something like 24...Re8 25.Re1 f5 would've put some pressure on my position] 25.Kf2 Kf7 26.b4 Ne5 27.Bxe5 Even though this protected his passer, I figured that the 3 v. 1 would take care of everything. 27...fxe5 28.Ke2 Ke6 29.Kd3 Rf8 30.Ke2 Oops 29.Kd3 was a mistake 30...g6 31.Rf1?? Rb8?? [I thought this was trouble but he didn't look at it 31...d3+ 32.Ke1 d2+ 33.Ke2 Rxf1 34.Kxf1 I would've been ticked and beaten] 32.Kd3 a5 33.Kc4 axb4 34.axb4 Rd8 35.b5 d3 36.b6 d2 37.Rd1 Rd4+ 38.Kb5 [38.Kc3 and just getting rid of the d-pawn was probably cleaner] 38...Kd7 39.c6+ Kc8 40.Kc5 Kb8
41.Rf1! [I thought 41.Rf1 was a great move, but it turns out that 41.Ra1 was mate 41...d1Q 42.c7+ Kb7 43.Ra7+ Kc8 44.Ra8+ Kd7 45.c8Q+ Ke7 46.Qf8+ Ke6 47.Re8+ Kd7 48.Re7# I was happy enough with 41.Rf1 anyways] 41...Kc8 [41...d1Q 42.Rf8+ Rd8 43.c7+ Kc8 44.Rxd8+ Qxd8 45.cxd8Q+ Kxd8] 42.Rf8+ Rd8 43.b7+ Kb8 44.Rxd8+ He tried to take my rook with his pawn, not realizing he hadn't had time to promote. unfortunately, he had that d-pawn move, but i was still happy with the game. it was a nice win v. a strong opponent and i had a nice finish to it1-0
DR - C
Active Kitchener, ON (4), 06.09.2008
B12 - Caro-Kann : Advance
1.e4 c6 [I was gonna try something different against him, but I saw in round one he played the exchange Lopez against 1...e5 and I didn't want to take on a stronger player in that line] 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Nf3 e6 5.Be2 Ne7 6.0-0 Nd7 The Karpov knights. 7.b3!? c5 8.c4 I think this is too ambitious a plan. 8...dxc4 9.Bxc4 Nc6 [9...cxd4 10.Qxd4 (10.Nxd4 Nxe5) 10...Nc6 would've worked as well.] 10.Ba3? Qa5 [10...Bg4 11.dxc5 (11.d5 Ncxe5 12.Nbd2 Nxc4 13.bxc4) 11...Ncxe5 His e-pawn was weak;
Giving up my castling could've worked as well 10...cxd4 11.Bxf8 Kxf8 12.Nxd4 Ndxe5 13.Nxf5 Qxd1 14.Rxd1 exf5] 11.Bb2 cxd4 12.Nxd4 Nxd4 [Could I have grabbed a pawn? It's tough, but I guess it works of the unprotected bishop 12...Qxe5 13.Re1 (13.Nb5 Qxb2 14.Nc7+ Kd8 15.Nxa8 Qxa1; 13.Nxc6 Qxb2) 13...Qf6 14.Bb5 Bc5 15.Bxc6 bxc6 16.Nxe6 Bxf2+ 17.Kxf2 Qxb2+ 18.Re2 Qxa1 oh man it's ugly] 13.Qxd4 Bc5 14.Qd2 Bb4? [After having the position ugly and him having lots of weaknesses, I was too ambitious to play for equality just with 14...Qxd2 15.Nxd2 Ke7 etc.] 15.Qe2 0-0 16.a3 Be7 17.Nd2 Rfe8? [I had grandiose ideas with overprotecting e6 so i could push ...f6 and get rid of the e-pawn, but why would I? isn't there a saying about the threat being stronger than the execution? 17...Rfd8 was better ] 18.b4 Qb6 19.Nb3 a6 [19...Rad8 would be better so if the position continued as it did, my rook wouldn't be stuck where he was] 20.Rfd1 Nf8?! [Playing over too many Suttles games. 20...Rad8 was better. Again I had idea of overprotecting e6 for no good reason] 21.Bd4 Qc7 22.Rac1 Qb8
This deserves a diagram and not for a good reason. I'm squeezed. The only thing I could see that wasn't bad was me playing ...b5, trading off light square bishops, and letting my queen get some air on the light squares. 23.Bb6 Bd8 [23...Bg5 would be okay putting some pressure on the c1-square, as that rook is probably his best piece. Any exchanges would make me a little easier to defend 24.Be3 Bxe3 25.Qxe3 and so on] 24.Bc5 b5? [I played out of order 24...Bc7 25.f4 b5 for instance 26.Bd3 Bxd3 27.Qxd3 and again I'm short on space, but it's playable] 25.Bd6 Bc7?? all excited about trading on d3 and missing the pin. [25...Qb6 26.Bd3 Bxd3 27.Rxd3] 26.Bxc7 Not the best end to the tournament...i made some bad decisions but all in all I didn't play so badly. I defended hard in the two games, i made the most of the tactical chances in the third game and then i was just outclassed in this game which isn't the end of the world. 1-0
C - SS
Active Kitchener, ON (1), 06.09.2008
B13 - Caro-Kann : Panov Variation
This is the tournament I've played in the most over the years. It's a one day active in a city about an hour and a half from where I live. My opponent was a 13 year old kid. 1.e4 [I think if I could do it all over again I would've played 1.g3 and tried to mix it up a bit] 1...c6 What 13 year old kid plays the Caro-Kann? Come on! 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.c4 Nf6 5.Nc3 dxc4!? Generally speaking Black should wait until I've used a tempo developing my light-square bishop before doing this. 6.Bxc4 e6 7.Nf3 Be7 Of course playing it this way like a QGD and sadding me with the IQP isn't terrible either. [I generally develop my bishop here 7...Bb4 ;
or 7...Bd6 ] 8.0-0 0-0 9.Be3 [If I would've thought for a second I would've played something like 9.Qe2 allowing me to play 9...-- 10.Rd1 -- 11.Be3 or somewhere else 11...-- 12.Rac1 and be able to just play a "normal" IQP position. My mind was blank and watch what I decided on instead] 9...Nbd7 10.Qc2? Start of my bad plans. Not sure why I put my queen on the only open file. [10.Qe2 was playable again, with ideas similar to above] 10...Nb6 11.Bd3 h6 12.Rad1 Wrong rook [12.Rfd1 -- 13.Rac1 and then move my queen should've been my plan] 12...Nbd5 13.h3? [13.Nxd5;
or if i wanted to move a pawn 13.a3 ] 13...Nb4! Nice move 14.Qe2 Nxd3 15.Rxd3? [again 15.Qxd3 is better. unless i was trying to get the other rook to the c-file. my plans were muddled and i didn't see much of what he was doing] 15...b6 16.Rd2 [Threatening 16.-- Ba6] 16...Bb7 17.Rfd1 Okay great! I've got a setup now (for better or worse), doubled rooks on the d-file, open up the file come up the middle it's gonna be great. 17...Rc8 18.a3? [admitting my mistake with 18.Rc1 was better] 18...Nd5 [18...Bxa3 was simple enough and then I have to start calculating lines like 19.Ra1 (19.bxa3 Rxc3) 19. ...Bxb2 20.Rxb2 Rxc3 21.Rxa7 and I'm down material. I saw 18. ...Bxa3 during the game right after I moved it and I realized I had to hunker down and dig my heels in.] 19.Nxd5 Qxd5 Now I'm in big trouble because of my toing and froing. He has opened up the c-file and has complete control. In addition, I'm stuck with my stupid knight not able to move against his two bishops because of mate on g2. I tried to hunker down 20.Qf1 Rfd8 21.Rc1 Bf6 22.Rdc2 [Maybe just 22.Rxc8 was better] 22...Rxc2 23.Rxc2 Rc8? giving away most of his advantage [23...Qf5 and pressuring my d-pawn (and rook) was better] 24.Rxc8+ Bxc8 25.b4 Trying to stake out some space [25.Qc1 was better 25...Bb7 26.Qc7 and get on with it.] 25...Bb7 26.Qc1 Qc6? Again trading off pieces helps me 27.Qxc6 Bxc6 28.Ne5 Bxe5? Now it's tough for him because he gets rid of my IQP and makes it opposite coloured bishops. We were in some time pressure here, so let's see if Fritz finds some flaws in my endgame "technique" [28...Bd5 was a better move] 29.dxe5 Kf8 30.f4 Be4 31.Kf2 Trying to get the active king. My plan was to try and win on the kingside because my bishop could take care of my part of the queenside 31...Ke7 32.g4 Kd7 33.Kg3 Bg6 34.h4 h5! This was a good move by him. Taking care of everything 35.gxh5 [I could've played 35.a4 here because his bishop was on the other side but I think it's still a draw] 35...Bxh5 36.Kf2 Kc6 37.Bc1 b5 38.Ke3 Kd5 39.Bb2 g6 40.Bc1 Bg4 41.Bb2= I kept my composure and defended a tough position, but didn't get much play at all as White. ½-½
JD - C
Active Kitchener, ON (2), 06.09.2008
A85 - Dutch Defense
I'm a control freak in chess...I want to impose my will on the position. After my opponent took it to me (when I was White) last game, I decided I was going to play a little more aggressively this round. 1.c4 f5 I was going to play the King's Indian against 1.d4 this tournament, but the Dutch is okay against 1.c4 because not only does it takes up space, but also White can't play a lot of the gambit lines having moved his c-pawn already. 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 Not as strong without White playing g3 4.Bf4 d6 5.Nf3 Bg7 6.Bg3 [6.e3 first was probably better. Although he did suck me in] 6...Nh5 [Fritz likes 6...Ne4 better. My idea was that I thought that either he had to move his h-pawn or else I would play ...f4 and win material. I know he wanted me to trade off his bishop and open the h-file, but with him playing h3 (or h4) that wasn't a possibility. Of course I missed that 7.e3 stopped ...f4. I got a little nervous that I was completely chess blind. Also my idea of not losing tempos by jumping my knight all around have gone out the window 7.e3 c5] 7.e3 [7.Bh4 h6 8.e3 g5 9.Nd2 Nf6 10.Bg3 is okay for White. I'm not going to castle into that mess am I?] 7...Nxg3 8.hxg3 e5 [8...Nc6 first was likely better. 9.Qb3 e5 10.0-0-0 e4 11.Nd2 but he still had good pressure] 9.Be2 [9.dxe5 dxe5 10.Qxd8+ Kxd8 was okay in my books. If i don't kingside castle, he has no attack.] 9...e4 [9...Nc6 10.d5 Ne7] 10.Nd2 Nd7 [I either had to fight back on the kingside 10...h5 ;
10...c5 or the center. I should've been trying to get him to push his d-pawn to activate my dark-square bishop] 11.g4 Nf6 12.gxf5 Bxf5 [I know that "every Russian schoolboy knows that you capture back with the g-pawn" but the holes were getting bigger in my position 12...gxf5 ] 13.Qc2 [I thought he was just going to play 13.g4 and run over me] 13...Qd7 wanted to stop g4. I had already mentally gambitted the e-pawn. 14.Ndxe4 Nxe4 15.Nxe4 0-0 [Fritz liked 15...0-0-0 but without trying to work on the f-pawn, I was just a pawn down] 16.Bd3 Rae8 17.Ng5 Bxd3 18.Qxd3 Qg4 Now it starts getting a little messy 19.Nxh7 Qxg2 [19...Rf5! was better, threatening to pick off the knight] 20.0-0-0 Rxf2 21.Rdg1 Qe4 This is all I had. I knew with the "two hogs on the seventh" I should be able to draw 22.Qxe4 Rxe4 23.Rxg6 [The text gives a draw but 23.Re1? Rg2 and I'm better. His pieces are overloaded and his knight is the worst piece on the board. Was that pawn worth it?] 23...Rxe3 24.Ng5 [I was worried about him trying 24.Rhg1 Kxh7 (24...Ree2 25.Rxg7+ Kh8 26.Nf6 Rc2+=) 25.Rxg7+ Kh6 26.Rxc7 and he's better] 24...Ree2 25.Ne6 Rc2+ 26.Kd1 Rcd2+ [26...Rfd2+ 27.Ke1 Fritz liked 27...Kf7 28.Rxg7+ Kxe6 29.b3 Rxa2 but that's a lot to hope for after defending for the better part of the hour...better part of two hours counting last game] 27.Ke1 Rde2+ 28.Kd1 Rd2+ 29.Ke1 Rde2+= ½-½
C - MS
Active Kitchener, ON (3), 06.09.2008
B13 - Caro-Kann : Panov Variation
Okay so I've played basically terribly the first two games and still ended up with two hard fought draws. I knew I could play better. I got paired with the second highest rated guy in the tournament. 1.e4 c6 On the inside I was happy about this. I had thought about everything I had done wrong in the first round and decided to play the IQP by the book, rooks on the c- and d-file, play to push the pawn, etc. 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.c4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 Personally I hate this line. I always feel like he's gonna pick off the d-pawn. 6.Nf3 [Maybe I should avoid the pin and just play 6.Bg5 but even still 6...dxc4 7.Bxc4 (7.d5 Ne5 8.Qd4 Nd3+ 9.Bxd3 cxd3 10.Qxd3 is okay too. It's got good pedigree too, going all the way back to Botwinnik-Flohr match 1933) 7...Nxd4 8.Nf3 Nxf3+ 9.Qxf3 Qc7 10.Bb5+ Bd7 11.0-0 is not an easy line to find if you've never seen it. Maybe i will look at 6.Bg5 further] 6...Bg4 7.Be3 e6 8.cxd5?! Taking the starch out of the position [8.h3 or;
8.Be2] 8...exd5? [If he played 8...Nxd5 he would have been better] 9.Be2 [Could've tried 9.h3 here too] 9...Bd6 [9...Qb6 would have been pretty annoying] 10.0-0 0-0 11.a3 Trying to start up a minority attack 11...a6 12.h3 Bh5 13.Rc1 Rc8 14.Na4 My idea is to trade off the dark-squared bishop for my knight, give him the IQP and give me a queenside majority 14...Re8 15.Nc5 Bxc5? [A positional error. Moving the queen was better, although after 15...Qb6 16.b4 i would be happy with my position] 16.dxc5 Ne4 17.Re1 [Played becuase of variations like 17.-- d4 18.Nxd4 Bxe2 19.Qxe2 (Of course 19.Nxe2 is playable, but just the idea of the queen being overloaded because of the piece on e2 ) 19...Nxd4] 17...Ng3? 18.Bxa6! winning a pawn [His idea was 18.fxg3 Rxe3 19.Kf2 and he's good...again with pressure on the piece on e2. I thought about the tactic that my opponent missed in round one when i played 18.Bxa6] 18...bxa6 Now I've got 3 v. 1 on the queenside. The rest should basically take care of itself. 19.fxg3 d4 20.Bf4 Rxe1+ 21.Qxe1 Bxf3 22.gxf3 Qd5 23.Qe4 Qxe4 [I thought he would have done better to keep the pieces on with something like 23...Qb3 ] 24.fxe4 f6 [Something like 24...Re8 25.Re1 f5 would've put some pressure on my position] 25.Kf2 Kf7 26.b4 Ne5 27.Bxe5 Even though this protected his passer, I figured that the 3 v. 1 would take care of everything. 27...fxe5 28.Ke2 Ke6 29.Kd3 Rf8 30.Ke2 Oops 29.Kd3 was a mistake 30...g6 31.Rf1?? Rb8?? [I thought this was trouble but he didn't look at it 31...d3+ 32.Ke1 d2+ 33.Ke2 Rxf1 34.Kxf1 I would've been ticked and beaten] 32.Kd3 a5 33.Kc4 axb4 34.axb4 Rd8 35.b5 d3 36.b6 d2 37.Rd1 Rd4+ 38.Kb5 [38.Kc3 and just getting rid of the d-pawn was probably cleaner] 38...Kd7 39.c6+ Kc8 40.Kc5 Kb8
41.Rf1! [I thought 41.Rf1 was a great move, but it turns out that 41.Ra1 was mate 41...d1Q 42.c7+ Kb7 43.Ra7+ Kc8 44.Ra8+ Kd7 45.c8Q+ Ke7 46.Qf8+ Ke6 47.Re8+ Kd7 48.Re7# I was happy enough with 41.Rf1 anyways] 41...Kc8 [41...d1Q 42.Rf8+ Rd8 43.c7+ Kc8 44.Rxd8+ Qxd8 45.cxd8Q+ Kxd8] 42.Rf8+ Rd8 43.b7+ Kb8 44.Rxd8+ He tried to take my rook with his pawn, not realizing he hadn't had time to promote. unfortunately, he had that d-pawn move, but i was still happy with the game. it was a nice win v. a strong opponent and i had a nice finish to it1-0
DR - C
Active Kitchener, ON (4), 06.09.2008
B12 - Caro-Kann : Advance
1.e4 c6 [I was gonna try something different against him, but I saw in round one he played the exchange Lopez against 1...e5 and I didn't want to take on a stronger player in that line] 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Nf3 e6 5.Be2 Ne7 6.0-0 Nd7 The Karpov knights. 7.b3!? c5 8.c4 I think this is too ambitious a plan. 8...dxc4 9.Bxc4 Nc6 [9...cxd4 10.Qxd4 (10.Nxd4 Nxe5) 10...Nc6 would've worked as well.] 10.Ba3? Qa5 [10...Bg4 11.dxc5 (11.d5 Ncxe5 12.Nbd2 Nxc4 13.bxc4) 11...Ncxe5 His e-pawn was weak;
Giving up my castling could've worked as well 10...cxd4 11.Bxf8 Kxf8 12.Nxd4 Ndxe5 13.Nxf5 Qxd1 14.Rxd1 exf5] 11.Bb2 cxd4 12.Nxd4 Nxd4 [Could I have grabbed a pawn? It's tough, but I guess it works of the unprotected bishop 12...Qxe5 13.Re1 (13.Nb5 Qxb2 14.Nc7+ Kd8 15.Nxa8 Qxa1; 13.Nxc6 Qxb2) 13...Qf6 14.Bb5 Bc5 15.Bxc6 bxc6 16.Nxe6 Bxf2+ 17.Kxf2 Qxb2+ 18.Re2 Qxa1 oh man it's ugly] 13.Qxd4 Bc5 14.Qd2 Bb4? [After having the position ugly and him having lots of weaknesses, I was too ambitious to play for equality just with 14...Qxd2 15.Nxd2 Ke7 etc.] 15.Qe2 0-0 16.a3 Be7 17.Nd2 Rfe8? [I had grandiose ideas with overprotecting e6 so i could push ...f6 and get rid of the e-pawn, but why would I? isn't there a saying about the threat being stronger than the execution? 17...Rfd8 was better ] 18.b4 Qb6 19.Nb3 a6 [19...Rad8 would be better so if the position continued as it did, my rook wouldn't be stuck where he was] 20.Rfd1 Nf8?! [Playing over too many Suttles games. 20...Rad8 was better. Again I had idea of overprotecting e6 for no good reason] 21.Bd4 Qc7 22.Rac1 Qb8
This deserves a diagram and not for a good reason. I'm squeezed. The only thing I could see that wasn't bad was me playing ...b5, trading off light square bishops, and letting my queen get some air on the light squares. 23.Bb6 Bd8 [23...Bg5 would be okay putting some pressure on the c1-square, as that rook is probably his best piece. Any exchanges would make me a little easier to defend 24.Be3 Bxe3 25.Qxe3 and so on] 24.Bc5 b5? [I played out of order 24...Bc7 25.f4 b5 for instance 26.Bd3 Bxd3 27.Qxd3 and again I'm short on space, but it's playable] 25.Bd6 Bc7?? all excited about trading on d3 and missing the pin. [25...Qb6 26.Bd3 Bxd3 27.Rxd3] 26.Bxc7 Not the best end to the tournament...i made some bad decisions but all in all I didn't play so badly. I defended hard in the two games, i made the most of the tactical chances in the third game and then i was just outclassed in this game which isn't the end of the world. 1-0
Sunday, February 03, 2008
3.5/5 in Guelph
I just got back from Guelph, scored 3.5/5 in the U1800 division being paired up every round. i gained almost 100 points. i didn't play that great but i played "better than my opponent" three times, as the saying goes. i'll add the annotations as i do them.
i do need to calculate better and i need to work on my caro repetoire a little bit, but basically i got good positions out of the opening in any games. i didn't calculate nearly enough and i ran out of gas and fighting spirit in rounds 4 and 5. just need to play more
we'll see what fritz and my coach say
FS - C
Guelph Pro-Am U1800 (1), 02.02.2008
A05 - King's Indian Attack
This was a game against the second highest player in the tourney. The first round started an hour later than originally anticipated so we didn't need to leave OS at 5am(!) 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 g6 3.Bg2 Bg7 4.b3 0-0 5.Bb2 c6 I had decided to play ...c6, ...d6 and ...e5 against his King's Indian attack 6.c4 d6 7.Nc3 e5 8.0-0 Bg4 9.h3 Bxf3 I'm sure this isn't the strongest, but this was inspired by Lawrence Day's book on Nickoloff and his opinion that the King's Indian lines with ...Bg4 were underrated. 10.Bxf3 Nbd7 11.Rc1 Re8 Again I'm playing with a plan. He refuse to take his share of the center with pawns, so I'm going to try to take mine and his 12.d3 Nf8! He was playing quicker than me before this move, but thought for almost 15-20 minutes on this move, which is a lot considering the time control was G/50+50 seconds. From e6 my knight will be able to hit e4 and also come at the kingside if necessary 13.Rc2 Ne6 14.e3 Qd7 15.Bg2 Nh5 Trying to induce g4 and open up holes in his kingside 16.Kh2 f5 17.g4!? Strange that he would play it here and not the previous move 17...fxg4 18.hxg4 Nf6 19.Ne4 Qe7 Being able to get at h4 to check and also allowing my other rook to go over and guard d6 20.Kg3 Strange that he tries to move his king of all pieces into the fray [20.Nxf6+ Qxf6 21.Rh1 seems a little better] 20...h5 [Maybe too ambitious 20...Nxe4+ 21.dxe4 Rf8 same position without the inclusion of h5 was better] 21.f3 [21.Nxf6+ Qxf6 22.gxh5 was better according to Fritz] 21...Nxe4+ 22.dxe4 h4+ 23.Kh2!? [I really thought he was going to play 23.Kf2 and run to the center/queenside where all his pieces were. I would have to reorganize my attack after something like 23...h3 24.Bh1 Qh4+ 25.Ke2] 23...Bh6= and I offered a draw somewhere around here. I had most of the active play and he was rated higher, but he refused kinda arrogantly so we continued... 24.Bc1 Rf8 25.b4 Rad8 26.b5 c5 [Fritz preferred 26...Nc5 to blocking up the queenside] 27.Kh3 [27.Qd5 was Fritz's reasoning about the weakness of giving up d5] 27...Ng5+
28.Kxh4?? [28.Kh2 was what i expected either a repetition of moves or me allowing my pieces to try and come up the h-file. Instead he walked into a mate in 2] 28...Nxf3+ 29.Kg3 I think when he grabbed the pawn he missed that my rook was on f8 29...Qh4# Nice start to the tourney. The mate was lucky but I held my own regardless 0-1
C - DG
Guelph Pro-Am U1800 (2), 02.02.2008
E73 - King's Indian : Averbakh Variation
1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 g6 3.c4 Bg7 4.Nc3 0-0 5.e4 d6 6.Be2 [One other option instead of dedicating my bishop to e2 is to play 6.f3 and go in for more of a Samisch type thing but with the option of the bishop on d3 and the knight on e2] 6...e5? Textbook trap taken from Averbakh's "Tactics". This move is the reason that I started playing the Averbakh in the first place. Obvious moves lose :) 7.dxe5 dxe5 8.Qxd8 Rxd8 9.Nd5 Nbd7 10.Nxc7 Rb8 11.0-0-0 h6 12.Bxf6 Bxf6 13.Nd5 Bg7 14.Nf3 Kf8 15.h4 Nc5 16.Nd2 f5 17.f3 [The text was unnecessary as he couldn't really open up the f-file and give me lines for my rook 17.b4 was probably better 17...Nxe4 18.Nxe4 fxe4 19.h5] 17...f4 18.Nb1 Ne6! i missed that he had an outpost as well 19.Na3 Nd4= and I offered a draw around here. I'm a pawn to the good but I'm also exhausted. He declined but i bet he wishes he wouldn't have :) 20.Rhe1 Bd7 21.Bd3 [The immediate 21.Nc2 was better as my light squared bishop was the worst piece on the board] 21...Rdc8 22.Kb1 Rc5 23.Nc2 Ne6 24.Bf1 Protecting one of my few weak points (g2) but h4 was weak as well, luckily he had no quick/decent way to get at it 24...Ba4?! I didn't like this move but I can't find a decent plan for him. 25.b3 Be8 26.Kb2 b5? The question mark is because it gets rid of my light squared bishop 27.cxb5 Bxb5 28.Bxb5 Rcxb5 29.Na3 R5b7 30.Nc4 Nd4 He gets back to d4 but he can't do anything. My knights are great 31.Rc1 [31.Rxd4 exd4 Fritz liked 32.Nxf4 but why complicate the position when I'm doing quite well] 31...Kg8 32.Na5 to trade off the knight 32...Rd7 33.Nc6 Nxc6 34.Rxc6 Rbd8 35.Rxg6 Kh7 36.Rc6 Rxd5 37.exd5 Rxd5 38.Re4 [38.Kc2 may have been better...getting out of the line of fire] 38...Rd2+ 39.Rc2 Rxc2+? keeping material onthe board was likely better 40.Kxc2 Kg6 41.Ra4 Kh5 42.Kd2 Kxh4 43.Ke2 Kg3 44.Kf1 h5 45.Rxa7 Bf8 46.Rf7 Bc5 47.Rf5 Bd4? 48.Rxh5 e4 49.Rh3# Not the greatest game, but it was a win v a player ranked almost 200 points higher than me. I busted him out of the opening and calculated when I needed to 1-0
C - KW
Guelph Pro-Am U1800(3), 02.02.2008
E73 - King's Indian : Averbakh Variation
An exciting game, but I'm sure that Fritz will blow holes in it. Better to let the computer analyze the games you lose than the ones you win :) I'll give some thoughts 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 g6 3.c4 Bg7 [I imagine going into some sort of Benoni might be good for Black here 3...c5 4.d5 (4.Bxf6 exf6 is almost forced) 4...Ne4 looks good for Black] 4.Nc3 0-0 5.e4 d6 6.Be2 Nbd7 [No 6...e5 this time.] 7.Qd2 Re8 [I would think it would be better to try to induce d5 with 7...c5 ;
or here 7...e5 ] 8.0-0-0 b6? [8...e5 would have been playable here after setting up the rook and the knight to defend it] 9.h4 [Oh man! I had this one won in 9 moves as well 9.e5! dxe5 (9...Bb7 10.Bf3 Bxf3 11.Nxf3 Ng4 12.h3) 10.dxe5 Bb7 11.exf6 exf6 12.Qxd7 Qxd7 13.Rxd7 Bxg2 14.Bf3 That's what I like about the Averbakh King's Indian. Obvious moves lose :) I will have to push the e5 pawn. Again I didn't calculate enough...I just wanted to get developed. I played h4 because I thought if he was wasting time on the queenside I would go for the king] 9...Bb7 10.f3 h5 11.Nh3 a6 12.Nf2 I was happy with this move 12...c5 Well played. Making his dark squared bishop more valuable 13.d5 a5 14.g4 Ba6 15.gxh5 Nxh5 16.f4? [An interesting idea but not quite right 16.Rdg1 ] 16...f6 17.f5 I figured with all the open files and a passed pawn on g6 he couldn't last long. His queenside attack wasn't coming too quickly 17...fxg5 18.Bxh5? [Fritz preferred 18.Qxg5 coming up the g-file, but the pushing of the e-pawn caused the same sort of issues as in the game] 18...gxh5 19.hxg5 Ne5 20.g6 [20.Qe2 may have been better, eyeing the h-pawn and not getting tempo-ed to g5] 20...Nxc4 21.Qg5 b5?! [He had to see that I was building up my forces 21...e6 22.Qxh5 (So I probably would have had to play 22.Qxd8 Raxd8 23.dxe6 but it's hard to take the brakes off sometimes) 22...exf5 opens up lines to my king] 22.Rxh5 b4? Let the fireworks start [22...e5 23.Qg4 b4 24.Rdh1 bxc3 works in this line 25.Rh8+ Bxh8 26.Rxh8+ Kxh8 (26...Kg7 27.Rh7+ Kg8=) 27.Qh5+ Kg7= because i check from h5 instead of h6;
22...e6 was stronger because if i don't trade off the queens he can open up the e-file 23.Qg4 (23.Qxd8 Raxd8 24.dxe6 and he has the attack) 23...exf5 24.Qh3 Qe7 25.Rh8+] 23.Rdh1 bxc3 24.Rh8+ Bxh8 25.Rxh8+ Kg7 [25...Kxh8 26.Qh6+ Kg8 27.Qh7+ Kf8 28.Qf7#] 26.Qh6+ Kf6 27.Ng4#
Not a perfect game, but I was given a straightforward plan (Fischer's sac-sac-mate) and I was able to make due. I have done that a couple of times in this line and I am 4-0 playing the Averbakh line v. the King's Indian in CFC games 1-0
MCL - C
Guelph Pro-Am U1800(4), 03.02.2008
B12 - Caro-Kann ; Advanced Variation
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Bd3 Bxd3 5.Qxd3 e6 6.f4 Qa5+ 7.Bd2 Qa6 8.Qxa6 Nxa6 I don't want to spend too much time on the opening, but this is an idea of Nimzowitsch's that i have played over the years. It takes most of the juice out of White's position, but it's not easy to play for Black and he has to work hard to get anything out of the position. 9.a3 c5 10.Nf3 cxd4 [10...Nh6 is a better idea to get at d4 from f5. It never even crossed my mind. It will cross my mind next time.] 11.b4 [I missed this inbetween move and was counting on 11.Nxd4 Bc5 to solve my dark-squared bishop problems] 11...f5? An anti-positional move, but i had a tough time developing. I guess the ...Nh6 idea was the best spot to go. [if i really wanted to push the f-pawn, one square forward probably would have been better. 11...f6 I should've spent more time at this point in the game. My development was tough. I couldn't fianchetto very well with the pawns the way they were and e7 didn't appear to be any better than f8 for the bishop (except that it would allow me to castle or connect my rooks)] 12.Nxd4 Kd7 [12...Nc7 was playable here, although i think my king wasn't in a terrible spot] 13.Nc3 Hans recommended a plan along the lines of 13. Be3 -- 14.c4 -- 15. Nc3 -- 16.Rd1 for her and said the ending "should have led to a draw" 13. ... Nc7 14.0-0 Ne7 15.Na4 b6 [K's recommendation 15...Nc6 16.Nb3 (16.Nxc6 Kxc6 is fine) 16...b5 17.Nac5+ Bxc5+ 18.Nxc5+ Ke7 and I'm fine. This position is much better than what happened in the game] 16.Be3 Nc6 17.Rfc1 Nxd4 [I could've also played 17...b5 18.Nc5+ (18.Nxc6 Kxc6 19.Nc5 Bxc5 20.Bxc5 a5) 18...Bxc5 19.bxc5 and I'm good too] 18.Bxd4 Be7? [18...b5 getting rid of my stupid bishop was better, but i wanted to unite my rooks before she got c4 in. this protects v. c4 as well though] 19.Bxb6 axb6 20.Nxb6+ Kc6 21.Nxa8 Rxa8 22.c4 dxc4 23.Rxc4+ Kb6 24.Rac1 and i resigned.
She told me that I should've played on. She was right...I was dead tired at that point and I had mentally resigned once I saw she could take the e-pawn (which I thought was holding the position together) 24...-- [Some of the lines which held were 24...Nd5 25.Rc6+ (25.g3 Rxa3 26.Rc6+ Kb5 27.Rxe6 Rd3 (27...Kxb4) ; 25...Kb5 26.Rxe6 Nxf4 27.Rxe7 Ne2+ 28.Kf2 Nxc1 29.Rxg7 Rxa3 30.Rxh7 Nd3+ 31.Ke3 Nxe5+ 32.Kf4 Nd3+ 33.Kxf5 Kxb4 34.h4 Ra5+ I think I'm going to play this position out a couple of times (from both sides) against my brother at a decent time (30 min plus a piece) to get used to unbalanced material positions.] 1-0
MP - C
Guelph Pro-Am U1800(5), 03.02.2008
E32 - Nimzo-Indian : Classical Variation
This was the last round, I was a little burned out and wanted to go home 1.e4 [This game has an interesting transposition into 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 0-0 5.Bg5 c5 6.e3 cxd4 7.exd4 d5 8.Nf3] 1...c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.c4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6 6.Nf3 Bb4 7.Bg5 [7.cxd5 is the main line 7...Nxd5 8.Bd2 Nc6] 7...0-0 8.Qc2?! I think this wasn't the best move at this point. [He wanted to avoid losing a tempo by 8.Bd3 and also he wanted to work on h7, but the idea of castling queenside wasn't so good] 8...b6 [Maybe trying to work on the isolated pawn with 8...Nc6 was better. I had a development scheme in mind (that i played) with ...b6, ...Nbd7 and ...Bb7] 9.Bd3 h6 [I missed his 9th move. I thought I could just play 9...dxc4 but i think that 10.Bxh7+ Kh8 11.Be4 is great for White] 10.Bf4? I think this was another bad move. He should've either kept the pin on or exchanged. 10...dxc4 11.Bxc4 Bb7 12.0-0-0?! Nbd7 13.Ne5 Rc8 Piling up on the knight 14.Bb3 Bd5= and I was much better (and i knew it) but i offered a draw to go home. A great tournament (results wise) for me. My next goal is to get above 1700 so i can play in the U2100 next time. ½-½
i do need to calculate better and i need to work on my caro repetoire a little bit, but basically i got good positions out of the opening in any games. i didn't calculate nearly enough and i ran out of gas and fighting spirit in rounds 4 and 5. just need to play more
we'll see what fritz and my coach say
FS - C
Guelph Pro-Am U1800 (1), 02.02.2008
A05 - King's Indian Attack
This was a game against the second highest player in the tourney. The first round started an hour later than originally anticipated so we didn't need to leave OS at 5am(!) 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 g6 3.Bg2 Bg7 4.b3 0-0 5.Bb2 c6 I had decided to play ...c6, ...d6 and ...e5 against his King's Indian attack 6.c4 d6 7.Nc3 e5 8.0-0 Bg4 9.h3 Bxf3 I'm sure this isn't the strongest, but this was inspired by Lawrence Day's book on Nickoloff and his opinion that the King's Indian lines with ...Bg4 were underrated. 10.Bxf3 Nbd7 11.Rc1 Re8 Again I'm playing with a plan. He refuse to take his share of the center with pawns, so I'm going to try to take mine and his 12.d3 Nf8! He was playing quicker than me before this move, but thought for almost 15-20 minutes on this move, which is a lot considering the time control was G/50+50 seconds. From e6 my knight will be able to hit e4 and also come at the kingside if necessary 13.Rc2 Ne6 14.e3 Qd7 15.Bg2 Nh5 Trying to induce g4 and open up holes in his kingside 16.Kh2 f5 17.g4!? Strange that he would play it here and not the previous move 17...fxg4 18.hxg4 Nf6 19.Ne4 Qe7 Being able to get at h4 to check and also allowing my other rook to go over and guard d6 20.Kg3 Strange that he tries to move his king of all pieces into the fray [20.Nxf6+ Qxf6 21.Rh1 seems a little better] 20...h5 [Maybe too ambitious 20...Nxe4+ 21.dxe4 Rf8 same position without the inclusion of h5 was better] 21.f3 [21.Nxf6+ Qxf6 22.gxh5 was better according to Fritz] 21...Nxe4+ 22.dxe4 h4+ 23.Kh2!? [I really thought he was going to play 23.Kf2 and run to the center/queenside where all his pieces were. I would have to reorganize my attack after something like 23...h3 24.Bh1 Qh4+ 25.Ke2] 23...Bh6= and I offered a draw somewhere around here. I had most of the active play and he was rated higher, but he refused kinda arrogantly so we continued... 24.Bc1 Rf8 25.b4 Rad8 26.b5 c5 [Fritz preferred 26...Nc5 to blocking up the queenside] 27.Kh3 [27.Qd5 was Fritz's reasoning about the weakness of giving up d5] 27...Ng5+
28.Kxh4?? [28.Kh2 was what i expected either a repetition of moves or me allowing my pieces to try and come up the h-file. Instead he walked into a mate in 2] 28...Nxf3+ 29.Kg3 I think when he grabbed the pawn he missed that my rook was on f8 29...Qh4# Nice start to the tourney. The mate was lucky but I held my own regardless 0-1
C - DG
Guelph Pro-Am U1800 (2), 02.02.2008
E73 - King's Indian : Averbakh Variation
1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 g6 3.c4 Bg7 4.Nc3 0-0 5.e4 d6 6.Be2 [One other option instead of dedicating my bishop to e2 is to play 6.f3 and go in for more of a Samisch type thing but with the option of the bishop on d3 and the knight on e2] 6...e5? Textbook trap taken from Averbakh's "Tactics". This move is the reason that I started playing the Averbakh in the first place. Obvious moves lose :) 7.dxe5 dxe5 8.Qxd8 Rxd8 9.Nd5 Nbd7 10.Nxc7 Rb8 11.0-0-0 h6 12.Bxf6 Bxf6 13.Nd5 Bg7 14.Nf3 Kf8 15.h4 Nc5 16.Nd2 f5 17.f3 [The text was unnecessary as he couldn't really open up the f-file and give me lines for my rook 17.b4 was probably better 17...Nxe4 18.Nxe4 fxe4 19.h5] 17...f4 18.Nb1 Ne6! i missed that he had an outpost as well 19.Na3 Nd4= and I offered a draw around here. I'm a pawn to the good but I'm also exhausted. He declined but i bet he wishes he wouldn't have :) 20.Rhe1 Bd7 21.Bd3 [The immediate 21.Nc2 was better as my light squared bishop was the worst piece on the board] 21...Rdc8 22.Kb1 Rc5 23.Nc2 Ne6 24.Bf1 Protecting one of my few weak points (g2) but h4 was weak as well, luckily he had no quick/decent way to get at it 24...Ba4?! I didn't like this move but I can't find a decent plan for him. 25.b3 Be8 26.Kb2 b5? The question mark is because it gets rid of my light squared bishop 27.cxb5 Bxb5 28.Bxb5 Rcxb5 29.Na3 R5b7 30.Nc4 Nd4 He gets back to d4 but he can't do anything. My knights are great 31.Rc1 [31.Rxd4 exd4 Fritz liked 32.Nxf4 but why complicate the position when I'm doing quite well] 31...Kg8 32.Na5 to trade off the knight 32...Rd7 33.Nc6 Nxc6 34.Rxc6 Rbd8 35.Rxg6 Kh7 36.Rc6 Rxd5 37.exd5 Rxd5 38.Re4 [38.Kc2 may have been better...getting out of the line of fire] 38...Rd2+ 39.Rc2 Rxc2+? keeping material onthe board was likely better 40.Kxc2 Kg6 41.Ra4 Kh5 42.Kd2 Kxh4 43.Ke2 Kg3 44.Kf1 h5 45.Rxa7 Bf8 46.Rf7 Bc5 47.Rf5 Bd4? 48.Rxh5 e4 49.Rh3# Not the greatest game, but it was a win v a player ranked almost 200 points higher than me. I busted him out of the opening and calculated when I needed to 1-0
C - KW
Guelph Pro-Am U1800(3), 02.02.2008
E73 - King's Indian : Averbakh Variation
An exciting game, but I'm sure that Fritz will blow holes in it. Better to let the computer analyze the games you lose than the ones you win :) I'll give some thoughts 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 g6 3.c4 Bg7 [I imagine going into some sort of Benoni might be good for Black here 3...c5 4.d5 (4.Bxf6 exf6 is almost forced) 4...Ne4 looks good for Black] 4.Nc3 0-0 5.e4 d6 6.Be2 Nbd7 [No 6...e5 this time.] 7.Qd2 Re8 [I would think it would be better to try to induce d5 with 7...c5 ;
or here 7...e5 ] 8.0-0-0 b6? [8...e5 would have been playable here after setting up the rook and the knight to defend it] 9.h4 [Oh man! I had this one won in 9 moves as well 9.e5! dxe5 (9...Bb7 10.Bf3 Bxf3 11.Nxf3 Ng4 12.h3) 10.dxe5 Bb7 11.exf6 exf6 12.Qxd7 Qxd7 13.Rxd7 Bxg2 14.Bf3 That's what I like about the Averbakh King's Indian. Obvious moves lose :) I will have to push the e5 pawn. Again I didn't calculate enough...I just wanted to get developed. I played h4 because I thought if he was wasting time on the queenside I would go for the king] 9...Bb7 10.f3 h5 11.Nh3 a6 12.Nf2 I was happy with this move 12...c5 Well played. Making his dark squared bishop more valuable 13.d5 a5 14.g4 Ba6 15.gxh5 Nxh5 16.f4? [An interesting idea but not quite right 16.Rdg1 ] 16...f6 17.f5 I figured with all the open files and a passed pawn on g6 he couldn't last long. His queenside attack wasn't coming too quickly 17...fxg5 18.Bxh5? [Fritz preferred 18.Qxg5 coming up the g-file, but the pushing of the e-pawn caused the same sort of issues as in the game] 18...gxh5 19.hxg5 Ne5 20.g6 [20.Qe2 may have been better, eyeing the h-pawn and not getting tempo-ed to g5] 20...Nxc4 21.Qg5 b5?! [He had to see that I was building up my forces 21...e6 22.Qxh5 (So I probably would have had to play 22.Qxd8 Raxd8 23.dxe6 but it's hard to take the brakes off sometimes) 22...exf5 opens up lines to my king] 22.Rxh5 b4? Let the fireworks start [22...e5 23.Qg4 b4 24.Rdh1 bxc3 works in this line 25.Rh8+ Bxh8 26.Rxh8+ Kxh8 (26...Kg7 27.Rh7+ Kg8=) 27.Qh5+ Kg7= because i check from h5 instead of h6;
22...e6 was stronger because if i don't trade off the queens he can open up the e-file 23.Qg4 (23.Qxd8 Raxd8 24.dxe6 and he has the attack) 23...exf5 24.Qh3 Qe7 25.Rh8+] 23.Rdh1 bxc3 24.Rh8+ Bxh8 25.Rxh8+ Kg7 [25...Kxh8 26.Qh6+ Kg8 27.Qh7+ Kf8 28.Qf7#] 26.Qh6+ Kf6 27.Ng4#
Not a perfect game, but I was given a straightforward plan (Fischer's sac-sac-mate) and I was able to make due. I have done that a couple of times in this line and I am 4-0 playing the Averbakh line v. the King's Indian in CFC games 1-0
MCL - C
Guelph Pro-Am U1800(4), 03.02.2008
B12 - Caro-Kann ; Advanced Variation
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Bd3 Bxd3 5.Qxd3 e6 6.f4 Qa5+ 7.Bd2 Qa6 8.Qxa6 Nxa6 I don't want to spend too much time on the opening, but this is an idea of Nimzowitsch's that i have played over the years. It takes most of the juice out of White's position, but it's not easy to play for Black and he has to work hard to get anything out of the position. 9.a3 c5 10.Nf3 cxd4 [10...Nh6 is a better idea to get at d4 from f5. It never even crossed my mind. It will cross my mind next time.] 11.b4 [I missed this inbetween move and was counting on 11.Nxd4 Bc5 to solve my dark-squared bishop problems] 11...f5? An anti-positional move, but i had a tough time developing. I guess the ...Nh6 idea was the best spot to go. [if i really wanted to push the f-pawn, one square forward probably would have been better. 11...f6 I should've spent more time at this point in the game. My development was tough. I couldn't fianchetto very well with the pawns the way they were and e7 didn't appear to be any better than f8 for the bishop (except that it would allow me to castle or connect my rooks)] 12.Nxd4 Kd7 [12...Nc7 was playable here, although i think my king wasn't in a terrible spot] 13.Nc3 Hans recommended a plan along the lines of 13. Be3 -- 14.c4 -- 15. Nc3 -- 16.Rd1 for her and said the ending "should have led to a draw" 13. ... Nc7 14.0-0 Ne7 15.Na4 b6 [K's recommendation 15...Nc6 16.Nb3 (16.Nxc6 Kxc6 is fine) 16...b5 17.Nac5+ Bxc5+ 18.Nxc5+ Ke7 and I'm fine. This position is much better than what happened in the game] 16.Be3 Nc6 17.Rfc1 Nxd4 [I could've also played 17...b5 18.Nc5+ (18.Nxc6 Kxc6 19.Nc5 Bxc5 20.Bxc5 a5) 18...Bxc5 19.bxc5 and I'm good too] 18.Bxd4 Be7? [18...b5 getting rid of my stupid bishop was better, but i wanted to unite my rooks before she got c4 in. this protects v. c4 as well though] 19.Bxb6 axb6 20.Nxb6+ Kc6 21.Nxa8 Rxa8 22.c4 dxc4 23.Rxc4+ Kb6 24.Rac1 and i resigned.
She told me that I should've played on. She was right...I was dead tired at that point and I had mentally resigned once I saw she could take the e-pawn (which I thought was holding the position together) 24...-- [Some of the lines which held were 24...Nd5 25.Rc6+ (25.g3 Rxa3 26.Rc6+ Kb5 27.Rxe6 Rd3 (27...Kxb4) ; 25...Kb5 26.Rxe6 Nxf4 27.Rxe7 Ne2+ 28.Kf2 Nxc1 29.Rxg7 Rxa3 30.Rxh7 Nd3+ 31.Ke3 Nxe5+ 32.Kf4 Nd3+ 33.Kxf5 Kxb4 34.h4 Ra5+ I think I'm going to play this position out a couple of times (from both sides) against my brother at a decent time (30 min plus a piece) to get used to unbalanced material positions.] 1-0
MP - C
Guelph Pro-Am U1800(5), 03.02.2008
E32 - Nimzo-Indian : Classical Variation
This was the last round, I was a little burned out and wanted to go home 1.e4 [This game has an interesting transposition into 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 0-0 5.Bg5 c5 6.e3 cxd4 7.exd4 d5 8.Nf3] 1...c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.c4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6 6.Nf3 Bb4 7.Bg5 [7.cxd5 is the main line 7...Nxd5 8.Bd2 Nc6] 7...0-0 8.Qc2?! I think this wasn't the best move at this point. [He wanted to avoid losing a tempo by 8.Bd3 and also he wanted to work on h7, but the idea of castling queenside wasn't so good] 8...b6 [Maybe trying to work on the isolated pawn with 8...Nc6 was better. I had a development scheme in mind (that i played) with ...b6, ...Nbd7 and ...Bb7] 9.Bd3 h6 [I missed his 9th move. I thought I could just play 9...dxc4 but i think that 10.Bxh7+ Kh8 11.Be4 is great for White] 10.Bf4? I think this was another bad move. He should've either kept the pin on or exchanged. 10...dxc4 11.Bxc4 Bb7 12.0-0-0?! Nbd7 13.Ne5 Rc8 Piling up on the knight 14.Bb3 Bd5= and I was much better (and i knew it) but i offered a draw to go home. A great tournament (results wise) for me. My next goal is to get above 1700 so i can play in the U2100 next time. ½-½
Sunday, September 23, 2007
I actually played a tournament
it was active and U1600 and i scored 3½/5 despite being the top seed. But still...
same old, same old. i don't calculate enough...i lose confidence in positions and collapse. let's take a look at the games though just to be sure
SN - C
E27 - Nimzo-Indian : Samisch Variation
Active Kitchener, ON (1), 22.09.2007
First game of rated chess in almost a year. It's been too long. This was a good game by me, of course Fritz may rip it apart but so be it.
I had played this guy in Kitchener before and I know it was a Caro-Kann but i couldn't remember if I was White or Black in the game. Need to work on my memory 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 I was very happy with this. [My 3.Nf3 line was transposing into the Semi-Tarrasch 3...d5 (Or I was thinking about the Blumenfeld but I don't understand it at all so I'm sure I'd just be down a pawn and not understanding the compensation 3...c5 4.d5 b5) 4.Nc3 c5] 3...Bb4 4.Qc2 I was happy with this too. This is one of my "pet" lines as Black [4.a3 Bxc3+ 5.bxc3 0-0 6.Qc2 is the transposition that happened..is it a Samisch after all?] 4...0-0 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3?! [I had never seen that before as Black. The mainline is 6.Qxc3 with the idea of being able to push b4 eventually.
Of course Black has lots of options (as does White) 6...b6 (6...Ne4 7.Qc2 f5; even 6...b5!? ) 7.Bg5 Bb7 etc.
I did a little research and I see this (6.bxc3?!) has been played by Euwe, Winter, Ludek Pachman (in an interzonal) among others. I will have to check, I imagine it was via the Samisch move order but it's interesting that this is playable] 6...d5 7.e3 [I would have played 7.Bg5 to develop the bishop before pushing e3] 7...b6 [7...c5 is a transposition via 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 d5 5.e3 c5 6.a3 Bxc3+ 7.bxc3 O-O which is interesting in itself] 8.Nf3 Ba6 I thought this was kinda clever 9.Ne5 [9.Nd2 has been played twice. 9...c5 (9...Nc6 which I would never play. I'm dogmatic enough to believe that the c-pawn should be pushed before i move that knight 10.e4 Na5 11.e5 Ne8 12.Bd3 f5 13.cxd5 Bxd3 14.Qxd3 Qxd5 and in my opinion Black has a terrible position. Black did eventually win Zegada-Udovcic Tel Aviv oly 1964) 10.Bd3 Nbd7 11.0-0 Qc7 12.h3 Bb7 13.Bb2 dxc4 14.Be2 cxd4 15.cxd4 Rac8 16.Qxc4 Qxc4 17.Nxc4 Ne4 18.Rfc1 b5 19.Na5 Bd5 20.Bxb5 Ndf6 21.Bc6 Nd2 22.Rc2 Nfe4 23.Rac1 Bb3 24.Nxb3 Nxb3 25.Rd1 f5 26.d5 Rfd8 27.Rd3 Nec5 28.Rd1 Rxc6 29.dxc6 Rxd1+ 30.Kh2 Rd8 and Black eventually won Asten-Salonen, Finland cr 1972] 9...Nbd7 [Would the immediate 9...c5 be better?] 10.Nc6? all these knight moves can't be great. 10...Qe8 [10...Qc8?? 11.Ne7+] 11.Qa4 Bb7? [Of course 11...Nb8! wins immediately. Totally missed it because I was looking to develop not win material] 12.cxd5 exd5 13.Nb4 c5 14.Nd3 c4 Was this push any good? 15.Nb4 a5 Again I'm not too sure about this. The backward b-pawn on the open b-file is likely weak, but look at his pieces 16.Na2 [16.Nc2 allows me to try and trap his queen because the queen does not have many escape squares] 16...Qd8 17.Be2 Ne4 18.0-0 Ndf6 19.f3 Nd6 Again not so bad 20.Qc2 Re8 Hitting his backward pawn 21.a4?! Not sure why he played that...all the action is happening in the middle. 21...Bc8 22.Qd2 Nf5 He's so far behind in development, it's time to put pressure on his position. His rook and dark squared bishop haven't even moved. His pawn structure is a mess and his knight is on a2 23.e4 dxe4 24.Bxc4 exf3 [K liked 24...e3 and he was probably right, but I was just trying to open lines. Should have probably looked at this] 25.Rxf3 Ng4 26.Qf4 Re1+ 27.Rf1 Rxf1+ 28.Kxf1 [I totally missed that he could have played 28.Bxf1 in which case I would've been on the defense.] 28...Qh4 29.h3 g5!! I was quite happy with this move. The idea is that he has to guard f2 because of mate 30.Qxg5+ Qxg5 31.Bxg5 Nge3+ 32.Kf2 Nxc4 33.Re1 Be6 34.g4 Nfd6 35.Bh6 Nb2 36.Re3? Nd1+ 37.Kf3 Nxe3 38.Kxe3 Bxa2 and he resigned. I was happy enough with that game. Good energy from me! 0-1
GD - C
B19 - Caro-Kann : Classical, Spassky Variation
Active Kitchener, ON (2), 22.09.2007
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.Nf3 Nd7 He started taking gobs of time around here. 7.h4 h6 8.h5 Bh7 9.Bd3 Bxd3 10.Qxd3 Qc7 All theory up to here. I wouldn't be lying if I said I had this position from the black side 300 times in my life 11.Be3 [Mainline is 11.Bd2 . The problem with White's move is that is allows me to get in Qa5 eventually] 11...Ngf6 12.0-0-0 e6 and he's still taking loads of time. I'm playing from script almost as the setup that Black normally plays in this line isn't much affected by his bishop being on e3 instead of d2. One thing he does get from this is with the d5-push my a-pawn is hanging (after I castle) but as long as I'm aware of it... 13.Ne4 0-0-0 [Could've tried 13...Nxe4 14.Qxe4 Nf6 but i think that d3 is a good square for the queen. After I castle queenside the d-pawn is pinned] 14.Nxf6 Nxf6 15.Kb1 Bd6 16.c4 Qa5 Hitting the h5-pawn 17.Bd2 Qc7 18.c5? Terrible but he was down below 5 minutes [18.Qe2 Bf4 maybe?] 18...Bxc5 19.Qb3 Bb6 [19...Bxd4 20.Bxh6 Rxh6 21.Nxd4 looked messier than it had to be. I was up a pawn and he was down to like 2 minutes] 20.g3 Nd5 To blockade the pawn and to trade off the bishop when he tries to go to f4 to hit the queen 21.Rh4 Rhe8 22.Bf4 Nxf4 23.Rxf4 Rd5 Now I just pile up on the isolated pawn and win eventually... 24.Rd3 Red8 [I guess I could've grabbed the pawn 24...Rxh5 ] 25.Qd1 Qe7 26.Ne5 f6 27.Nc4 and he flagged
I would've liked to win the game outright instead of on time, but 2/2 is pretty good 0-1
C - MMV
A45 - Trompowsky Attack
Active Kitchener, ON (3), 22.09.2007
Second highest rated guy in the tournament (I was the highest)...we're both 2-0. 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 I was quite happy about this. I had started playing the Tromp about a year ago and I really like it, even despite my score of 0.5/2 with it this tournament :) 2...Ne4 3.Bf4 g5? This move only works after 4.Bh4 because Black is forced to retreat to g3 and trade off the bishop 4.Bc1! Kasparov played this once in a simul so it can't be terrible. Despite my undevelopment he has weakened his kingside and f3 and e4 are coming 4...h6 5.f3 Nf6 6.e4 c5 7.c3 cxd4 8.cxd4 Bg7 9.Be3 [Maybe 9.Nc3 was better to take away the threats of checks (from Qa5)] 9...0-0 10.h4!? I'm sure this move was all kinds of unpositional, but he castled into a pawn structure of ...g5, ...h6 and he has none of his queenside pieces developed. Not that I'm much better, but I think the pawn storm was called for 10...Nh7 11.hxg5 hxg5 12.f4 To allow the Queen to get to the f-file. I can always kick the knight from f6 with a later e5 12...Nc6 13.fxg5 Qa5+ 14.Bd2! I think he missed this move 14...Qb6 15.Qh5 Nxg5 16.Qxg5 [Not even paying attntion. I was so happy with the idea of playing Bc3 after Qxb2 that I didn't even look at the capture by the bishop 16.Bxg5 f6 17.Qh7+ Kf7 18.Bh6 Rg8 19.Bc4+ For instance.] 16...Nxd4 17.Bd3 Qxb2 18.Bc3! Again I don't think he saw this 18...Nc2+
19.Kd1?? [Unless I wrote the game score wrong I overlooked that 19.Bxc2 wins because he can't get off the diagonal because of threat of mate. Instead] 19...Ne3+ 20.Ke1 [20.Qxe3 Bxc3 21.Qh6 again won] 20...Nxg2+ 21.Kf1 Ne3+ 22.Ke1= Oh man.
I played so good but i was nervous that I had missed something and he would mate me. It was active but that's no excuse.
Well played game by me right up to the draw offer :( ½-½
C - SL
A45 - Trompowsky Attack
Active Kitchener, ON (4), 22.09.2007
As much as missing the (relatively) easy win in the last game. This game really freaked me. 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 e6 3.e4 Be7 4.Nc3?! I had played this move at least 30 times according to my blitz database [and even more likely considering the idea is to transpose to the French after 4.Nc3 d5 5.e5 Nfd7 6.h4 I never had even considered that Black's next move could work (disclaimer : i checked my blitz database and I did get 4. ...Nxe4 once).
So if that gives "Fritz-equality" and being up a pawn, what else can I play?;
4.Nd2 does the same sort of thing except the queen isn't a target;
4.Bd3 is a move I would consider...It's the sort of thing I would play.;
In a simul Topalov played 4.e5 Nd5 5.Bxe7 Nxe7 6.Nf3 0-0 I could probably get away with that as well. I'll have to think about it] 4...Nxe4! I do like this move 5.Bxe7 Nxc3 6.Bxd8 [A move to hold material is 6.Qg4 Qxe7 7.Qxg7 Qf8 8.Qxf8+ Rxf8 9.bxc3 I'll have to think about that one too] 6...Nxd1 7.Bxc7 [In my Blitz game I played 7.Rxd1 Kxd8 8.Nf3 f6 9.Bc4 d5 10.Bb3 Nc6 =+ but this looks a lot more comfortable to me v. the stuff that happened in the game] 7...Nxb2 8.Rb1?! [8.Bd6 Hodgson 8...Na4 9.c4 (9.Kd2 Nc6 10.Nf3 f6 11.Rb1 Nb6 12.c4 Nd8 13.a4 Nf7 14.Bc7 d6 15.a5 Nd7 16.Bd3 Nf8 17.Be4 Ng6 18.a6 b6 19.Bxa8 Kd7 20.Bxb6 Bxa6 21.Ra1 Rxa8 22.Rxa6 1-0 was Rogers-Hoffmann, Canberra 2005) 9...Nc6 10.Nf3 Ne7 11.Bd3 Nb2 12.Be2 Nf5 13.Ba3 Na4 14.Kd2 Nb6 15.Rab1 f6 16.g4 Ne7 17.Bd6 Nc6 18.Rb5 Nd8 19.Ra5 h5 20.Rg1 Nc6 21.Ra3 hxg4 22.Rxg4 Kf7 23.Bc7 Nxc4+ 24.Bxc4 d5 25.Bb3 b5 26.Rg1 a5 27.Bc2 g5 28.Bd6 Bd7 29.h4 b4 30.Re3 a4 31.hxg5 Na5 32.Bd3 b3 33.gxf6 1-0 was Hodgson-Gluckman London 1992
In any case I was busted out of the opening. Let's see what tactics there are] 8...Na4 9.Bd6 Nc6 10.Nf3 Nc3 Again if I had played Bd6 right away then he wouldn't get a tempo and if i had played Kd2 then he wouldn't have been able to play this 11.Rb3 Ne4 12.Ba3 [12.Bf4 but I was quite keen on stopping him from castling] 12...b6 13.Bd3 Nf6 [13...f5] 14.c4 Na5 15.Rb1? [Terrible oversight. 15.Rc3 was playable. Here goes a second pawn] 15...Ba6 16.Kd2 Bxc4 17.Ne5 Bxd3 [17...Bxa2 was even stronger] 18.Kxd3 Nc6 19.Nc4 d5 20.Nd6+ Kd7 21.Nxf7 Rhg8 [Of course 21...Rhf8 22.Bxf8 Rxf8] 22.f3 h6 23.Rhc1 Na5 24.Ne5+ Kd8 25.Bd6 I don't think Smyslov or Capa would have ever played this move [25.Bb4 was probably better 25...Nc4 26.Nxc4 dxc4+ 27.Rxc4 and I'm fine. I have my pawn back] 25...Nd7 26.Ng6 [Again keeping the c-file open should have been key 26.Nc6+ Nxc6 27.Rxc6 Rc8 28.Rxc8+ Kxc8 29.Rc1+ Kd8 30.Rc7] 26...Nc4 Now I'm just in trouble 27.Bg3 Nf8 28.Bh4+ [28.Ne5 Same idea 28...Nxe5+ 29.Bxe5] 28...Kd7 becuase I end up playing Ne5+ a move later and have to recapture with the pawn while my bishop is still unprotected on h4 and his diagonal is closed. Not good 29.Ne5+ Nxe5+ 30.dxe5 Ng6 31.Bg3 Rgc8 32.Re1 Rc4 33.Rb2 Rac8 34.h4? Brutal in time trouble 34...Nxh4 35.Bf2 Rc3+ 36.Kd2 Nf5 37.Bg1 R8c4 38.a4 Ra3 39.Bf2 Raxa4 40.g4 Nd4 41.Re3 Rc2+! I liked ths shot by him 42.Rxc2 Nxc2 43.Kxc2 Ra2+ 44.Kb3 Rxf2 45.Kb4 Kc7 46.Kb5 Rc2 47.Ra3 Rc5+ 48.Kb4 [48.Ka6] 48...a5+ and he eventually won
Not the greatest game. I had chances in the middlegame to get equality back, but was freaked out by being busted 4 moves into the opening
I hate playing kids :) 0-1
DS - C
B10 - Caro-Kann
Active Kitchener, ON (5), 22.09.2007
Another 7 year old kid. For the first 15 moves he asked me if I would let him win, then after I won his queen he gave a draw offer after every move 1.e4 c6 2.Nf3 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.Bb5+ Bd7 5.Bxd7+ Nxd7 6.0-0 Ngf6 7.Nc3 e6 8.d4 Bd6 9.Bg5 h6 10.Bxf6 Nxf6 11.Re1 0-0 12.Qd3 a6 13.Ne5 Nd7 14.Ng4 Qg5 15.h3 h5 16.Ne3 Nf6 17.Re2 h4 18.Rae1 Nh5 19.Qd1 Nf4 20.Rd2 Nxh3+ 21.Kf1 Nf4 22.Qc1 h3 23.gxh3 Nxh3 24.Qd1 Qg1+ 25.Ke2 Nf4+ and I announced mate. But of course it wasn't mate. I had seen [25...Qxf2+ 26.Kd3 but of course that wasn't on the board 26...Nf4# ] so he says "It isn't mate" and plays 26.Kf3 so again my brain turns off and I play 26...Qh2?? [instead of something like 26...Qg6 ] 27.Rh1 Ng6 28.Rxh2 Bxh2 29.Qh1 Bd6 30.Rd1 f6 31.Qg2?? and I get my queen back 31...Nh4+ 32.Kg4 Nxg2 33.Nxg2 Kf7 34.f4 Rh8 35.f5 exf5+ 36.Kxf5 Rh5+ 37.Kg4 Rah8 38.Rf1 Rg5+ 39.Kf3 Rf5+ 40.Ke2 Rxf1 41.Kxf1 g5 42.Kf2 Rh2 43.Kg1 f5 44.Nxd5 Ke6 45.Nde3 Rh3 and I eventually won a knight v. four pawns ending
Terrible horrible game, I obviously ran out of energy.
Not a great tournament. I won the first game nicely, won the second on time, drew the third in a dominant position, lost the fourth in the opening and beat a 7 year old kid who blundered his queen after he blundered mine. Maybe I'll have to go back into hiding for another year :) Or i'll have to keep on coming out. 0-1
same old, same old. i don't calculate enough...i lose confidence in positions and collapse. let's take a look at the games though just to be sure
SN - C
E27 - Nimzo-Indian : Samisch Variation
Active Kitchener, ON (1), 22.09.2007
First game of rated chess in almost a year. It's been too long. This was a good game by me, of course Fritz may rip it apart but so be it.
I had played this guy in Kitchener before and I know it was a Caro-Kann but i couldn't remember if I was White or Black in the game. Need to work on my memory 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 I was very happy with this. [My 3.Nf3 line was transposing into the Semi-Tarrasch 3...d5 (Or I was thinking about the Blumenfeld but I don't understand it at all so I'm sure I'd just be down a pawn and not understanding the compensation 3...c5 4.d5 b5) 4.Nc3 c5] 3...Bb4 4.Qc2 I was happy with this too. This is one of my "pet" lines as Black [4.a3 Bxc3+ 5.bxc3 0-0 6.Qc2 is the transposition that happened..is it a Samisch after all?] 4...0-0 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3?! [I had never seen that before as Black. The mainline is 6.Qxc3 with the idea of being able to push b4 eventually.
Of course Black has lots of options (as does White) 6...b6 (6...Ne4 7.Qc2 f5; even 6...b5!? ) 7.Bg5 Bb7 etc.
I did a little research and I see this (6.bxc3?!) has been played by Euwe, Winter, Ludek Pachman (in an interzonal) among others. I will have to check, I imagine it was via the Samisch move order but it's interesting that this is playable] 6...d5 7.e3 [I would have played 7.Bg5 to develop the bishop before pushing e3] 7...b6 [7...c5 is a transposition via 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 d5 5.e3 c5 6.a3 Bxc3+ 7.bxc3 O-O which is interesting in itself] 8.Nf3 Ba6 I thought this was kinda clever 9.Ne5 [9.Nd2 has been played twice. 9...c5 (9...Nc6 which I would never play. I'm dogmatic enough to believe that the c-pawn should be pushed before i move that knight 10.e4 Na5 11.e5 Ne8 12.Bd3 f5 13.cxd5 Bxd3 14.Qxd3 Qxd5 and in my opinion Black has a terrible position. Black did eventually win Zegada-Udovcic Tel Aviv oly 1964) 10.Bd3 Nbd7 11.0-0 Qc7 12.h3 Bb7 13.Bb2 dxc4 14.Be2 cxd4 15.cxd4 Rac8 16.Qxc4 Qxc4 17.Nxc4 Ne4 18.Rfc1 b5 19.Na5 Bd5 20.Bxb5 Ndf6 21.Bc6 Nd2 22.Rc2 Nfe4 23.Rac1 Bb3 24.Nxb3 Nxb3 25.Rd1 f5 26.d5 Rfd8 27.Rd3 Nec5 28.Rd1 Rxc6 29.dxc6 Rxd1+ 30.Kh2 Rd8 and Black eventually won Asten-Salonen, Finland cr 1972] 9...Nbd7 [Would the immediate 9...c5 be better?] 10.Nc6? all these knight moves can't be great. 10...Qe8 [10...Qc8?? 11.Ne7+] 11.Qa4 Bb7? [Of course 11...Nb8! wins immediately. Totally missed it because I was looking to develop not win material] 12.cxd5 exd5 13.Nb4 c5 14.Nd3 c4 Was this push any good? 15.Nb4 a5 Again I'm not too sure about this. The backward b-pawn on the open b-file is likely weak, but look at his pieces 16.Na2 [16.Nc2 allows me to try and trap his queen because the queen does not have many escape squares] 16...Qd8 17.Be2 Ne4 18.0-0 Ndf6 19.f3 Nd6 Again not so bad 20.Qc2 Re8 Hitting his backward pawn 21.a4?! Not sure why he played that...all the action is happening in the middle. 21...Bc8 22.Qd2 Nf5 He's so far behind in development, it's time to put pressure on his position. His rook and dark squared bishop haven't even moved. His pawn structure is a mess and his knight is on a2 23.e4 dxe4 24.Bxc4 exf3 [K liked 24...e3 and he was probably right, but I was just trying to open lines. Should have probably looked at this] 25.Rxf3 Ng4 26.Qf4 Re1+ 27.Rf1 Rxf1+ 28.Kxf1 [I totally missed that he could have played 28.Bxf1 in which case I would've been on the defense.] 28...Qh4 29.h3 g5!! I was quite happy with this move. The idea is that he has to guard f2 because of mate 30.Qxg5+ Qxg5 31.Bxg5 Nge3+ 32.Kf2 Nxc4 33.Re1 Be6 34.g4 Nfd6 35.Bh6 Nb2 36.Re3? Nd1+ 37.Kf3 Nxe3 38.Kxe3 Bxa2 and he resigned. I was happy enough with that game. Good energy from me! 0-1
GD - C
B19 - Caro-Kann : Classical, Spassky Variation
Active Kitchener, ON (2), 22.09.2007
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.Nf3 Nd7 He started taking gobs of time around here. 7.h4 h6 8.h5 Bh7 9.Bd3 Bxd3 10.Qxd3 Qc7 All theory up to here. I wouldn't be lying if I said I had this position from the black side 300 times in my life 11.Be3 [Mainline is 11.Bd2 . The problem with White's move is that is allows me to get in Qa5 eventually] 11...Ngf6 12.0-0-0 e6 and he's still taking loads of time. I'm playing from script almost as the setup that Black normally plays in this line isn't much affected by his bishop being on e3 instead of d2. One thing he does get from this is with the d5-push my a-pawn is hanging (after I castle) but as long as I'm aware of it... 13.Ne4 0-0-0 [Could've tried 13...Nxe4 14.Qxe4 Nf6 but i think that d3 is a good square for the queen. After I castle queenside the d-pawn is pinned] 14.Nxf6 Nxf6 15.Kb1 Bd6 16.c4 Qa5 Hitting the h5-pawn 17.Bd2 Qc7 18.c5? Terrible but he was down below 5 minutes [18.Qe2 Bf4 maybe?] 18...Bxc5 19.Qb3 Bb6 [19...Bxd4 20.Bxh6 Rxh6 21.Nxd4 looked messier than it had to be. I was up a pawn and he was down to like 2 minutes] 20.g3 Nd5 To blockade the pawn and to trade off the bishop when he tries to go to f4 to hit the queen 21.Rh4 Rhe8 22.Bf4 Nxf4 23.Rxf4 Rd5 Now I just pile up on the isolated pawn and win eventually... 24.Rd3 Red8 [I guess I could've grabbed the pawn 24...Rxh5 ] 25.Qd1 Qe7 26.Ne5 f6 27.Nc4 and he flagged
I would've liked to win the game outright instead of on time, but 2/2 is pretty good 0-1
C - MMV
A45 - Trompowsky Attack
Active Kitchener, ON (3), 22.09.2007
Second highest rated guy in the tournament (I was the highest)...we're both 2-0. 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 I was quite happy about this. I had started playing the Tromp about a year ago and I really like it, even despite my score of 0.5/2 with it this tournament :) 2...Ne4 3.Bf4 g5? This move only works after 4.Bh4 because Black is forced to retreat to g3 and trade off the bishop 4.Bc1! Kasparov played this once in a simul so it can't be terrible. Despite my undevelopment he has weakened his kingside and f3 and e4 are coming 4...h6 5.f3 Nf6 6.e4 c5 7.c3 cxd4 8.cxd4 Bg7 9.Be3 [Maybe 9.Nc3 was better to take away the threats of checks (from Qa5)] 9...0-0 10.h4!? I'm sure this move was all kinds of unpositional, but he castled into a pawn structure of ...g5, ...h6 and he has none of his queenside pieces developed. Not that I'm much better, but I think the pawn storm was called for 10...Nh7 11.hxg5 hxg5 12.f4 To allow the Queen to get to the f-file. I can always kick the knight from f6 with a later e5 12...Nc6 13.fxg5 Qa5+ 14.Bd2! I think he missed this move 14...Qb6 15.Qh5 Nxg5 16.Qxg5 [Not even paying attntion. I was so happy with the idea of playing Bc3 after Qxb2 that I didn't even look at the capture by the bishop 16.Bxg5 f6 17.Qh7+ Kf7 18.Bh6 Rg8 19.Bc4+ For instance.] 16...Nxd4 17.Bd3 Qxb2 18.Bc3! Again I don't think he saw this 18...Nc2+
19.Kd1?? [Unless I wrote the game score wrong I overlooked that 19.Bxc2 wins because he can't get off the diagonal because of threat of mate. Instead] 19...Ne3+ 20.Ke1 [20.Qxe3 Bxc3 21.Qh6 again won] 20...Nxg2+ 21.Kf1 Ne3+ 22.Ke1= Oh man.
I played so good but i was nervous that I had missed something and he would mate me. It was active but that's no excuse.
Well played game by me right up to the draw offer :( ½-½
C - SL
A45 - Trompowsky Attack
Active Kitchener, ON (4), 22.09.2007
As much as missing the (relatively) easy win in the last game. This game really freaked me. 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 e6 3.e4 Be7 4.Nc3?! I had played this move at least 30 times according to my blitz database [and even more likely considering the idea is to transpose to the French after 4.Nc3 d5 5.e5 Nfd7 6.h4 I never had even considered that Black's next move could work (disclaimer : i checked my blitz database and I did get 4. ...Nxe4 once).
So if that gives "Fritz-equality" and being up a pawn, what else can I play?;
4.Nd2 does the same sort of thing except the queen isn't a target;
4.Bd3 is a move I would consider...It's the sort of thing I would play.;
In a simul Topalov played 4.e5 Nd5 5.Bxe7 Nxe7 6.Nf3 0-0 I could probably get away with that as well. I'll have to think about it] 4...Nxe4! I do like this move 5.Bxe7 Nxc3 6.Bxd8 [A move to hold material is 6.Qg4 Qxe7 7.Qxg7 Qf8 8.Qxf8+ Rxf8 9.bxc3 I'll have to think about that one too] 6...Nxd1 7.Bxc7 [In my Blitz game I played 7.Rxd1 Kxd8 8.Nf3 f6 9.Bc4 d5 10.Bb3 Nc6 =+ but this looks a lot more comfortable to me v. the stuff that happened in the game] 7...Nxb2 8.Rb1?! [8.Bd6 Hodgson 8...Na4 9.c4 (9.Kd2 Nc6 10.Nf3 f6 11.Rb1 Nb6 12.c4 Nd8 13.a4 Nf7 14.Bc7 d6 15.a5 Nd7 16.Bd3 Nf8 17.Be4 Ng6 18.a6 b6 19.Bxa8 Kd7 20.Bxb6 Bxa6 21.Ra1 Rxa8 22.Rxa6 1-0 was Rogers-Hoffmann, Canberra 2005) 9...Nc6 10.Nf3 Ne7 11.Bd3 Nb2 12.Be2 Nf5 13.Ba3 Na4 14.Kd2 Nb6 15.Rab1 f6 16.g4 Ne7 17.Bd6 Nc6 18.Rb5 Nd8 19.Ra5 h5 20.Rg1 Nc6 21.Ra3 hxg4 22.Rxg4 Kf7 23.Bc7 Nxc4+ 24.Bxc4 d5 25.Bb3 b5 26.Rg1 a5 27.Bc2 g5 28.Bd6 Bd7 29.h4 b4 30.Re3 a4 31.hxg5 Na5 32.Bd3 b3 33.gxf6 1-0 was Hodgson-Gluckman London 1992
In any case I was busted out of the opening. Let's see what tactics there are] 8...Na4 9.Bd6 Nc6 10.Nf3 Nc3 Again if I had played Bd6 right away then he wouldn't get a tempo and if i had played Kd2 then he wouldn't have been able to play this 11.Rb3 Ne4 12.Ba3 [12.Bf4 but I was quite keen on stopping him from castling] 12...b6 13.Bd3 Nf6 [13...f5] 14.c4 Na5 15.Rb1? [Terrible oversight. 15.Rc3 was playable. Here goes a second pawn] 15...Ba6 16.Kd2 Bxc4 17.Ne5 Bxd3 [17...Bxa2 was even stronger] 18.Kxd3 Nc6 19.Nc4 d5 20.Nd6+ Kd7 21.Nxf7 Rhg8 [Of course 21...Rhf8 22.Bxf8 Rxf8] 22.f3 h6 23.Rhc1 Na5 24.Ne5+ Kd8 25.Bd6 I don't think Smyslov or Capa would have ever played this move [25.Bb4 was probably better 25...Nc4 26.Nxc4 dxc4+ 27.Rxc4 and I'm fine. I have my pawn back] 25...Nd7 26.Ng6 [Again keeping the c-file open should have been key 26.Nc6+ Nxc6 27.Rxc6 Rc8 28.Rxc8+ Kxc8 29.Rc1+ Kd8 30.Rc7] 26...Nc4 Now I'm just in trouble 27.Bg3 Nf8 28.Bh4+ [28.Ne5 Same idea 28...Nxe5+ 29.Bxe5] 28...Kd7 becuase I end up playing Ne5+ a move later and have to recapture with the pawn while my bishop is still unprotected on h4 and his diagonal is closed. Not good 29.Ne5+ Nxe5+ 30.dxe5 Ng6 31.Bg3 Rgc8 32.Re1 Rc4 33.Rb2 Rac8 34.h4? Brutal in time trouble 34...Nxh4 35.Bf2 Rc3+ 36.Kd2 Nf5 37.Bg1 R8c4 38.a4 Ra3 39.Bf2 Raxa4 40.g4 Nd4 41.Re3 Rc2+! I liked ths shot by him 42.Rxc2 Nxc2 43.Kxc2 Ra2+ 44.Kb3 Rxf2 45.Kb4 Kc7 46.Kb5 Rc2 47.Ra3 Rc5+ 48.Kb4 [48.Ka6] 48...a5+ and he eventually won
Not the greatest game. I had chances in the middlegame to get equality back, but was freaked out by being busted 4 moves into the opening
I hate playing kids :) 0-1
DS - C
B10 - Caro-Kann
Active Kitchener, ON (5), 22.09.2007
Another 7 year old kid. For the first 15 moves he asked me if I would let him win, then after I won his queen he gave a draw offer after every move 1.e4 c6 2.Nf3 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.Bb5+ Bd7 5.Bxd7+ Nxd7 6.0-0 Ngf6 7.Nc3 e6 8.d4 Bd6 9.Bg5 h6 10.Bxf6 Nxf6 11.Re1 0-0 12.Qd3 a6 13.Ne5 Nd7 14.Ng4 Qg5 15.h3 h5 16.Ne3 Nf6 17.Re2 h4 18.Rae1 Nh5 19.Qd1 Nf4 20.Rd2 Nxh3+ 21.Kf1 Nf4 22.Qc1 h3 23.gxh3 Nxh3 24.Qd1 Qg1+ 25.Ke2 Nf4+ and I announced mate. But of course it wasn't mate. I had seen [25...Qxf2+ 26.Kd3 but of course that wasn't on the board 26...Nf4# ] so he says "It isn't mate" and plays 26.Kf3 so again my brain turns off and I play 26...Qh2?? [instead of something like 26...Qg6 ] 27.Rh1 Ng6 28.Rxh2 Bxh2 29.Qh1 Bd6 30.Rd1 f6 31.Qg2?? and I get my queen back 31...Nh4+ 32.Kg4 Nxg2 33.Nxg2 Kf7 34.f4 Rh8 35.f5 exf5+ 36.Kxf5 Rh5+ 37.Kg4 Rah8 38.Rf1 Rg5+ 39.Kf3 Rf5+ 40.Ke2 Rxf1 41.Kxf1 g5 42.Kf2 Rh2 43.Kg1 f5 44.Nxd5 Ke6 45.Nde3 Rh3 and I eventually won a knight v. four pawns ending
Terrible horrible game, I obviously ran out of energy.
Not a great tournament. I won the first game nicely, won the second on time, drew the third in a dominant position, lost the fourth in the opening and beat a 7 year old kid who blundered his queen after he blundered mine. Maybe I'll have to go back into hiding for another year :) Or i'll have to keep on coming out. 0-1
Sunday, November 26, 2006
November London Open
EH - CS
November Open London, ON (1), 25.11.2006
B03 - Alekhine : Four Pawns Attack
Not the greatest game for me. My excuse is that I was tired from the "long drive" but realistically I spent too much time going through books and not enough time doing tactics 1.e4 Nf6 [I had played the Caro against this guy at a previous tournament but I noticed in a later round he had the Caro and played 1...c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Bd3?! I tried the Alekhine for a few reasons. One, it always gives an interesting game. Two, Kirk wasn't there and he's the arch-duke of the Alekhine. Three, Hans said that I needed a couple of "must-win" lines so I decided that the Alekhine would be that. Ironically, Kirk pointed out that when I really needed a win in the third round I played the Caro] 2.e5 Nd5 3.c4 Nb6 4.d4 d6 5.f4 dxe5 6.fxe5 Bf5 [A line that me and Kirk (and others on chessgames.com) had looked at previously was 6...c5 7.d5 g6 I wasn't too sure, and the mainline gives Black good play;
6...Nc6 is the main line so if 7.Nf3 , 7...Bg4 can be played in one move] 7.Nc3 Nc6 [I ended up transposing back to the mainline but 7...e6 was playable as well] 8.Nf3 [8.Be3 is the normal move] 8...e6 [I was worried about getting developed, so I didn't even look at the strong 8...Nb4! This puts him in a tough spot, but I wonder if it's worth it without any development 9.Kf2 Nc2 10.Rb1 Nb4 11.Ra1 e6 and I always have the perpetual if I want it] 9.Be3 Be7 10.Bd3!? [10.Be2 is the mainline] 10...Bg4 [I had 10...Nb4 again 11.Bxf5 Nxc4! with the same idea as Hans' below] 11.Qe2? Qd7 [11...Nxd4! wins a pawn. My excuse is that I didn't want to go pawn grabbing and wanted to castle, but really I missed it;
11...Bxf3 12.Qxf3 Nxe5 13.dxe5 Qxd3 14.Bxb6 Qxf3 15.gxf3 axb6 was also good for me] 12.h3 Bh4+! I was happy with this after all the junk, so I decided to (finally) grab a pawn 13.Bf2 Nxd4 14.Qe3
14. ... Bxf2+?! [I'm so better here. I need to take a closer look at this position here 14...Bxf3 15.gxf3 Nxc4 16.Qe4 (16.Bxc4 Nc2+) 16...Nxe5 17.Qxe5 (17.Rd1 0-0-0) 17...Nxf3+] 15.Qxf2 Bxf3 Very strong line by Hans. I think that I overestimated the strength of the knight on d4 - ["In the first game I would have rubbed him out with 15...Nxf3+ 16.gxf3 Qxd3 17.hxg4 Nxc4 but even so what you probably missed is the effects of Ne4 and you got confused." (HJ)] 16.gxf3 c5? [Why not 16...0-0-0 first? Now I'm just a pawn up.] 17.0-0-0 0-0-0 18.Ne4 Nf5 ["But even so 18...Qa4! and the queen and two knights should do well against the white king position. " (HJ);
18...Kb8 19.Nxc5 Qc7 20.Ne4 Qxe5 and I'm fine. My opponent did a nice finish] 19.Nxc5 Qc6?? [19...Qc7 20.Be4 Qxe5 21.Bxb7+ Kb8] 20.Be4 Qc7 21.Bxb7+ Not a strong performance practically, but I did have a great position. Maybe I won't bury the Alekhine 1-0
CS - KG
November Open London, ON (2), 25.11.2006
A22 - English Opening
I wanted to try the English before the game because I wanted to avoid the QGD for some reason. Plus I wanted to try something different 1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.g3?! [3.Nf3 is the strongest move, which I wanted to avoid because of 3...e4 but afterwards I took a look and 4.Ng5! seems okay to me because he can't protect the pawn with 4...d5 (I was flipping through Simon Webb's "Chess for Tigers" at the World's Biggest Bookstore in Toronto this weekend and noticed the gambit 4...b5 as played by Polugayevsky-Esteves-Morales as an example of mixing up the position v. a stronger player ) ] 3...Bc5 [3.g3 isn't that strong because of 3...c6! ] 4.Bg2 0-0 5.d3 [5.e3;
5.Nf3 were also options] 5...Ng4? 6.Ne4 Bb6 7.c5 f5 8.cxb6 fxe4 9.Nh3 [9.bxc7 was better 9...Qxc7 10.Nh3 and so forth] 9...axb6 10.0-0 [10.Qb3+] 10...exd3 11.Qxd3 Nf6 12.Bg5 d6 13.f4 Nc6 14.Bxf6 Rxf6 15.Ng5 i have threats too ;) 15...Bf5? [15...g6 16.Qc4+ Kg7 17.Bxc6 bxc6 18.Qxc6] 16.Qc4+ Kh8 [16...Kf8 17.Bxc6 bxc6 18.fxe5+-] 17.Nf7+ Rxf7 18.Qxf7 Nd4 19.e3 [19.fxe5 Be6] 19...Nc2? [19...Bg6! and i have to fight for equality as all his things he had previously are still there] 20.Qxf5 Nxe3 21.Qe4 [21.Qf7 Nxf1 22.Rxf1] 21...Nxf1 22.Bxf1 exf4 23.Qxf4 d5 24.a3 [to try and free up my rook but I probably should have took immediate action 24.Re1 ] 24...d4 25.Bd3 c5 26.Qe4 g6 [26...Qg8 27.Qxb7 Rb8 28.Qc7] 27.Qxb7? [I missed a mate 27.Qe5+ Kg8 28.Bc4+ Kf8 29.Rf1+] 27...Rb8 28.Qe4 b5 29.Qe5+ Kg8 30.Qxc5 [The idea is to get his king to the f-file...I missed this idea again with 30.Be4! ] 30...Qb6 31.Qxb6 Rxb6 32.b4 Kf7 33.Re1 Ra6 34.Bxb5 Rxa3 35.Rd1 Ke6 36.Rxd4 Ke5 37.Rd3 Ra1+ 38.Kg2 Rb1 I missed this actually 39.Be8 Rxb4 40.Rd7 Rb8 41.Rd1 Kf6 42.Rf1+ Kg5 43.h4+ Kh6 44.Bc6 Rb2+ 45.Kh3 Rb3 46.Kg4 Rb4+ 47.Rf4 Rxf4+ 48.Kxf4 [48.gxf4] 48...Kh5 49.g4+?! Kh6 [49...Kxh4 50.g5 and i just go get him] 50.Bf3 Kg7 51.Ke5 Kh6? 52.Kf6! g5 53.hxg5# Again not a great game, but I took what he gave me. Before the tournament I wanted to take things slow, but I think I took things *too* slow this game 1-0
CL - CS
November Open London, ON (3), 25.11.2006
B10 - Caro-Kann : Breyer Variation
An interesting game, probably the best one I played at this tournament. I had a little extra incentive here, me and Chris both drove down together and he was rated lower than me. My tournament was going not so great because of the first round, so in order to get a tough matchup the last round I had to win. I mentioned to the TD that we were from the same club could he change the pairings (there were many people there) and he said something along the lines of "it works for the computer". I just assumed he was a moron and went from there 1.e4 c6 [THe night before the game I was going through some of his books and he had the Voronezh line highlighted v. the Alekhine which is strong 1...Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.c4 Nb6 5.exd6 cxd6 6.Nc3 g6 7.Be3 Bg7 8.Rc1 etc. I couldn't remember what he played against the Caro-Kann, so I figured I'd trot out the old reliable] 2.d3 d5 3.Nd2 e5 4.Ngf3 Bg4 5.g3 [McClelland-C.Sadler 2005 went 5.c3 Nf6 6.Qb3 Qc7 but Christian wanted to play it closer to a King's Indian Attack than a Colle] 5...Nd7 6.Bg2 Ngf6 7.0-0 Bd6 [7...dxe4 8.Nxe4 Nxe4 9.dxe4] 8.b3?! [8.h3 trying me to get away from the pin instead of trying to move the bishop on the other diagonal] 8...0-0 9.Bb2 Re8 [I could've played 9...d4 but I didn't want to encourage him to play c3] 10.Qe1 a5 I wanted to play d4 and keep him from trying to outflank me with a b-pawn push if i tried something like ...d4, ...c5 11.a4 d4 12.c3 c5 13.c4 [I wasn't so sure about my move after I made it becae of 13.Nc4 but he avoided that 13...Nb6 14.Nfd2 (14.Nxd6 Qxd6 and his bishop is not the strongest) ] 13...Nb8 Aiming for b4 14.Nh4 Qd7 15.f4 [15.f3] 15...Nc6 16.Ba3 Prophylactic as he will be happy to trade off his crappy bishop for my strong knight on b4 (if i put it there) 16...b6?! [I had to play 16...exf4 here] 17.f5! I didn't see how strong this was until he played it 17...Be7 18.h3 Bh5 [18...Bxh3 19.Bxh3 g5! 20.Nhf3 (20.fxg6 Qxh3) 20...g4] 19.Bf3? [This move lets me out 19.g4 Bxg4 20.hxg4 Nxg4 would have been stronger for him] 19...Bxf3 20.Ndxf3 Bd8 I can't remember what the idea was here. Probably to let the rook cover the e-pawn. 21.g4 h6 22.Qg3 Nh7 23.Ng6? Not a good sacrifice. Just drops material in my opinion 23...fxg6 24.fxg6 Ng5 [24...Nf8 just grabbed the pawn. I don't know why I just didn't play that. I guess i missed that the h4 was guarded by the bishop 25.Nh4 Bxh4] 25.Nh4 Ne6 26.Rf7? [He missed the tactic. The line he played traded material. Probably something like 26.Bc1 would have been better] 26...Bxh4 27.Qxh4 [27.Rxd7?? Bxg3] 27...Re7 28.Raf1 Rf8 [The computer liked 28...Nf4! disconnecting the rooks, attacking g6 and d3] 29.R7f5 Nf4 Better late than never ;) 30.Rxf8+ Kxf8 31.Bc1 Kg8 [31...Qd6 32.Qh5 Kg8] 32.Bxf4 exf4 33.Rxf4= he offered a draw. I couldn't in good conscience take it, even though we're friends and he gave me a ride down. His pawns are weak and I'm up material. He is going to drop the g-pawn and likely the d-pawn as well. Once his d-pawn falls the game is over 33...Nb4 34.Rf3 Qe8 35.Qh5 Re6 [35...Re5 36.Qh4 Qxg6 But i wanted to tie up all loose ends and defend the b-pawn] 36.Qh4 Qxg6 37.Qg3 Rf6! 38.Qb8+ Kh7 39.Rf5 Nxd3 It's tough now 40.Rd5 Qxe4 41.Qg3 Qe1+ [41...Rf3 42.Qxf3 or mate] 42.Qxe1 Nxe1 43.Rf5?! Funny decision trading off rooks 43...Nf3+ 44.Kf2 Rxf5 45.gxf5 Nd2 46.Ke2 Nxb3 47.h4 Kg8 48.h5 Kf7 49.Kd3 Kf6 50.Kc2 at this point i don't care about the knight 50...Kxf5 51.Kxb3 Kg5 52.Kc2 Kxh5 The most interesting game I played all tournament 0-1
CS - HO
November Open London, ON (4), 25.11.2006
D15 - Slav Defense
And now for my worst game of the tournament. I can give the usual excuses, but once again, I just missed something obvious. Tactical training is what I need 1.c4 c6 2.d4 [For about two seconds I thought about going for the Panov after 2.e4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.d4 but really if I wanted to play 1.e4 i should've played it on the first move] 2...d5 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 b6?! NEver seen this before. It doesn't make much sense with the pawn on c6 unless he goes to a6. Was he worried about me playing cxd? 5.Bg5 e6 [5...dxc4 6.e4 b5] 6.e3 Be7 [6...Ba6 was interesting here] 7.Bd3 dxc4 8.Bxc4 Ba6 9.Bxa6 Nxa6 I'm very happy with my position here. I could always tempo the knight, but there was no need to make him move to a better square. There was always the threat of a double attack as well 10.0-0 0-0 11.Rc1 Rc8? 12.a3? Missing a free pawn. [12.Qa4 Nb8 13.Qxa7;
12.Bxf6 Bxf6 13.Qa4 Nc7 14.Qxc6] 12...c5 13.Qe2 [13.Qa4 may have been more to the point] 13...Nb8 14.dxc5 Rxc5 15.Rfd1 Qc7 16.Nb5 [16.Bf4] 16...Qb7 17.Rxc5 Bxc5 18.Bxf6 gxf6 Now again I have a better position. Notice that the only thing I have to worry about it mate on g2 19.Nbd4 ["Interestingly in the last game you also had the queen and two knights and your opponents weakened king position. Instead of 19.Nbd4 quite quickly I came up with 19.Qc4 with the idea of first swinging the queen over to the h or g file and then after b4 the rook to d4 and h4. It makes me wonder if you are still doing problems (this is what problems do for you - help you zero in on the target - in this position the BC5 and the weakened black kingside are targets;
A positional player would concentrate on owning the c-file with perhaps 19.Rc1 first, and then pawn to b4 to kick the bishop but the queen is much more active on c4" (HJ);
I wasthinking about maybe 19.Nd6 Bxd6 20.Rxd6 and again his knight is not the best piece on the board] 19...Kh8 20.b4 Be7 21.Qb2 Rg8 The threat now is ...e5. White to play and lose
22.Ne2?? [Probably even 22.Kh1 would have been sufficient] 22...Qxf3 A poor ending to an indifferent tournament 0-1
i did relearn a lesson this tournament - if they go out of theory, normally it's not theory for a tactical reason. i need to look harder all the way through, but just as much once they go out of theory as any. also i need to look at the board (see games 1 and 4)
November Open London, ON (1), 25.11.2006
B03 - Alekhine : Four Pawns Attack
Not the greatest game for me. My excuse is that I was tired from the "long drive" but realistically I spent too much time going through books and not enough time doing tactics 1.e4 Nf6 [I had played the Caro against this guy at a previous tournament but I noticed in a later round he had the Caro and played 1...c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Bd3?! I tried the Alekhine for a few reasons. One, it always gives an interesting game. Two, Kirk wasn't there and he's the arch-duke of the Alekhine. Three, Hans said that I needed a couple of "must-win" lines so I decided that the Alekhine would be that. Ironically, Kirk pointed out that when I really needed a win in the third round I played the Caro] 2.e5 Nd5 3.c4 Nb6 4.d4 d6 5.f4 dxe5 6.fxe5 Bf5 [A line that me and Kirk (and others on chessgames.com) had looked at previously was 6...c5 7.d5 g6 I wasn't too sure, and the mainline gives Black good play;
6...Nc6 is the main line so if 7.Nf3 , 7...Bg4 can be played in one move] 7.Nc3 Nc6 [I ended up transposing back to the mainline but 7...e6 was playable as well] 8.Nf3 [8.Be3 is the normal move] 8...e6 [I was worried about getting developed, so I didn't even look at the strong 8...Nb4! This puts him in a tough spot, but I wonder if it's worth it without any development 9.Kf2 Nc2 10.Rb1 Nb4 11.Ra1 e6 and I always have the perpetual if I want it] 9.Be3 Be7 10.Bd3!? [10.Be2 is the mainline] 10...Bg4 [I had 10...Nb4 again 11.Bxf5 Nxc4! with the same idea as Hans' below] 11.Qe2? Qd7 [11...Nxd4! wins a pawn. My excuse is that I didn't want to go pawn grabbing and wanted to castle, but really I missed it;
11...Bxf3 12.Qxf3 Nxe5 13.dxe5 Qxd3 14.Bxb6 Qxf3 15.gxf3 axb6 was also good for me] 12.h3 Bh4+! I was happy with this after all the junk, so I decided to (finally) grab a pawn 13.Bf2 Nxd4 14.Qe3
14. ... Bxf2+?! [I'm so better here. I need to take a closer look at this position here 14...Bxf3 15.gxf3 Nxc4 16.Qe4 (16.Bxc4 Nc2+) 16...Nxe5 17.Qxe5 (17.Rd1 0-0-0) 17...Nxf3+] 15.Qxf2 Bxf3 Very strong line by Hans. I think that I overestimated the strength of the knight on d4 - ["In the first game I would have rubbed him out with 15...Nxf3+ 16.gxf3 Qxd3 17.hxg4 Nxc4 but even so what you probably missed is the effects of Ne4 and you got confused." (HJ)] 16.gxf3 c5? [Why not 16...0-0-0 first? Now I'm just a pawn up.] 17.0-0-0 0-0-0 18.Ne4 Nf5 ["But even so 18...Qa4! and the queen and two knights should do well against the white king position. " (HJ);
18...Kb8 19.Nxc5 Qc7 20.Ne4 Qxe5 and I'm fine. My opponent did a nice finish] 19.Nxc5 Qc6?? [19...Qc7 20.Be4 Qxe5 21.Bxb7+ Kb8] 20.Be4 Qc7 21.Bxb7+ Not a strong performance practically, but I did have a great position. Maybe I won't bury the Alekhine 1-0
CS - KG
November Open London, ON (2), 25.11.2006
A22 - English Opening
I wanted to try the English before the game because I wanted to avoid the QGD for some reason. Plus I wanted to try something different 1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.g3?! [3.Nf3 is the strongest move, which I wanted to avoid because of 3...e4 but afterwards I took a look and 4.Ng5! seems okay to me because he can't protect the pawn with 4...d5 (I was flipping through Simon Webb's "Chess for Tigers" at the World's Biggest Bookstore in Toronto this weekend and noticed the gambit 4...b5 as played by Polugayevsky-Esteves-Morales as an example of mixing up the position v. a stronger player ) ] 3...Bc5 [3.g3 isn't that strong because of 3...c6! ] 4.Bg2 0-0 5.d3 [5.e3;
5.Nf3 were also options] 5...Ng4? 6.Ne4 Bb6 7.c5 f5 8.cxb6 fxe4 9.Nh3 [9.bxc7 was better 9...Qxc7 10.Nh3 and so forth] 9...axb6 10.0-0 [10.Qb3+] 10...exd3 11.Qxd3 Nf6 12.Bg5 d6 13.f4 Nc6 14.Bxf6 Rxf6 15.Ng5 i have threats too ;) 15...Bf5? [15...g6 16.Qc4+ Kg7 17.Bxc6 bxc6 18.Qxc6] 16.Qc4+ Kh8 [16...Kf8 17.Bxc6 bxc6 18.fxe5+-] 17.Nf7+ Rxf7 18.Qxf7 Nd4 19.e3 [19.fxe5 Be6] 19...Nc2? [19...Bg6! and i have to fight for equality as all his things he had previously are still there] 20.Qxf5 Nxe3 21.Qe4 [21.Qf7 Nxf1 22.Rxf1] 21...Nxf1 22.Bxf1 exf4 23.Qxf4 d5 24.a3 [to try and free up my rook but I probably should have took immediate action 24.Re1 ] 24...d4 25.Bd3 c5 26.Qe4 g6 [26...Qg8 27.Qxb7 Rb8 28.Qc7] 27.Qxb7? [I missed a mate 27.Qe5+ Kg8 28.Bc4+ Kf8 29.Rf1+] 27...Rb8 28.Qe4 b5 29.Qe5+ Kg8 30.Qxc5 [The idea is to get his king to the f-file...I missed this idea again with 30.Be4! ] 30...Qb6 31.Qxb6 Rxb6 32.b4 Kf7 33.Re1 Ra6 34.Bxb5 Rxa3 35.Rd1 Ke6 36.Rxd4 Ke5 37.Rd3 Ra1+ 38.Kg2 Rb1 I missed this actually 39.Be8 Rxb4 40.Rd7 Rb8 41.Rd1 Kf6 42.Rf1+ Kg5 43.h4+ Kh6 44.Bc6 Rb2+ 45.Kh3 Rb3 46.Kg4 Rb4+ 47.Rf4 Rxf4+ 48.Kxf4 [48.gxf4] 48...Kh5 49.g4+?! Kh6 [49...Kxh4 50.g5 and i just go get him] 50.Bf3 Kg7 51.Ke5 Kh6? 52.Kf6! g5 53.hxg5# Again not a great game, but I took what he gave me. Before the tournament I wanted to take things slow, but I think I took things *too* slow this game 1-0
CL - CS
November Open London, ON (3), 25.11.2006
B10 - Caro-Kann : Breyer Variation
An interesting game, probably the best one I played at this tournament. I had a little extra incentive here, me and Chris both drove down together and he was rated lower than me. My tournament was going not so great because of the first round, so in order to get a tough matchup the last round I had to win. I mentioned to the TD that we were from the same club could he change the pairings (there were many people there) and he said something along the lines of "it works for the computer". I just assumed he was a moron and went from there 1.e4 c6 [THe night before the game I was going through some of his books and he had the Voronezh line highlighted v. the Alekhine which is strong 1...Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.c4 Nb6 5.exd6 cxd6 6.Nc3 g6 7.Be3 Bg7 8.Rc1 etc. I couldn't remember what he played against the Caro-Kann, so I figured I'd trot out the old reliable] 2.d3 d5 3.Nd2 e5 4.Ngf3 Bg4 5.g3 [McClelland-C.Sadler 2005 went 5.c3 Nf6 6.Qb3 Qc7 but Christian wanted to play it closer to a King's Indian Attack than a Colle] 5...Nd7 6.Bg2 Ngf6 7.0-0 Bd6 [7...dxe4 8.Nxe4 Nxe4 9.dxe4] 8.b3?! [8.h3 trying me to get away from the pin instead of trying to move the bishop on the other diagonal] 8...0-0 9.Bb2 Re8 [I could've played 9...d4 but I didn't want to encourage him to play c3] 10.Qe1 a5 I wanted to play d4 and keep him from trying to outflank me with a b-pawn push if i tried something like ...d4, ...c5 11.a4 d4 12.c3 c5 13.c4 [I wasn't so sure about my move after I made it becae of 13.Nc4 but he avoided that 13...Nb6 14.Nfd2 (14.Nxd6 Qxd6 and his bishop is not the strongest) ] 13...Nb8 Aiming for b4 14.Nh4 Qd7 15.f4 [15.f3] 15...Nc6 16.Ba3 Prophylactic as he will be happy to trade off his crappy bishop for my strong knight on b4 (if i put it there) 16...b6?! [I had to play 16...exf4 here] 17.f5! I didn't see how strong this was until he played it 17...Be7 18.h3 Bh5 [18...Bxh3 19.Bxh3 g5! 20.Nhf3 (20.fxg6 Qxh3) 20...g4] 19.Bf3? [This move lets me out 19.g4 Bxg4 20.hxg4 Nxg4 would have been stronger for him] 19...Bxf3 20.Ndxf3 Bd8 I can't remember what the idea was here. Probably to let the rook cover the e-pawn. 21.g4 h6 22.Qg3 Nh7 23.Ng6? Not a good sacrifice. Just drops material in my opinion 23...fxg6 24.fxg6 Ng5 [24...Nf8 just grabbed the pawn. I don't know why I just didn't play that. I guess i missed that the h4 was guarded by the bishop 25.Nh4 Bxh4] 25.Nh4 Ne6 26.Rf7? [He missed the tactic. The line he played traded material. Probably something like 26.Bc1 would have been better] 26...Bxh4 27.Qxh4 [27.Rxd7?? Bxg3] 27...Re7 28.Raf1 Rf8 [The computer liked 28...Nf4! disconnecting the rooks, attacking g6 and d3] 29.R7f5 Nf4 Better late than never ;) 30.Rxf8+ Kxf8 31.Bc1 Kg8 [31...Qd6 32.Qh5 Kg8] 32.Bxf4 exf4 33.Rxf4= he offered a draw. I couldn't in good conscience take it, even though we're friends and he gave me a ride down. His pawns are weak and I'm up material. He is going to drop the g-pawn and likely the d-pawn as well. Once his d-pawn falls the game is over 33...Nb4 34.Rf3 Qe8 35.Qh5 Re6 [35...Re5 36.Qh4 Qxg6 But i wanted to tie up all loose ends and defend the b-pawn] 36.Qh4 Qxg6 37.Qg3 Rf6! 38.Qb8+ Kh7 39.Rf5 Nxd3 It's tough now 40.Rd5 Qxe4 41.Qg3 Qe1+ [41...Rf3 42.Qxf3 or mate] 42.Qxe1 Nxe1 43.Rf5?! Funny decision trading off rooks 43...Nf3+ 44.Kf2 Rxf5 45.gxf5 Nd2 46.Ke2 Nxb3 47.h4 Kg8 48.h5 Kf7 49.Kd3 Kf6 50.Kc2 at this point i don't care about the knight 50...Kxf5 51.Kxb3 Kg5 52.Kc2 Kxh5 The most interesting game I played all tournament 0-1
CS - HO
November Open London, ON (4), 25.11.2006
D15 - Slav Defense
And now for my worst game of the tournament. I can give the usual excuses, but once again, I just missed something obvious. Tactical training is what I need 1.c4 c6 2.d4 [For about two seconds I thought about going for the Panov after 2.e4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.d4 but really if I wanted to play 1.e4 i should've played it on the first move] 2...d5 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 b6?! NEver seen this before. It doesn't make much sense with the pawn on c6 unless he goes to a6. Was he worried about me playing cxd? 5.Bg5 e6 [5...dxc4 6.e4 b5] 6.e3 Be7 [6...Ba6 was interesting here] 7.Bd3 dxc4 8.Bxc4 Ba6 9.Bxa6 Nxa6 I'm very happy with my position here. I could always tempo the knight, but there was no need to make him move to a better square. There was always the threat of a double attack as well 10.0-0 0-0 11.Rc1 Rc8? 12.a3? Missing a free pawn. [12.Qa4 Nb8 13.Qxa7;
12.Bxf6 Bxf6 13.Qa4 Nc7 14.Qxc6] 12...c5 13.Qe2 [13.Qa4 may have been more to the point] 13...Nb8 14.dxc5 Rxc5 15.Rfd1 Qc7 16.Nb5 [16.Bf4] 16...Qb7 17.Rxc5 Bxc5 18.Bxf6 gxf6 Now again I have a better position. Notice that the only thing I have to worry about it mate on g2 19.Nbd4 ["Interestingly in the last game you also had the queen and two knights and your opponents weakened king position. Instead of 19.Nbd4 quite quickly I came up with 19.Qc4 with the idea of first swinging the queen over to the h or g file and then after b4 the rook to d4 and h4. It makes me wonder if you are still doing problems (this is what problems do for you - help you zero in on the target - in this position the BC5 and the weakened black kingside are targets;
A positional player would concentrate on owning the c-file with perhaps 19.Rc1 first, and then pawn to b4 to kick the bishop but the queen is much more active on c4" (HJ);
I wasthinking about maybe 19.Nd6 Bxd6 20.Rxd6 and again his knight is not the best piece on the board] 19...Kh8 20.b4 Be7 21.Qb2 Rg8 The threat now is ...e5. White to play and lose
22.Ne2?? [Probably even 22.Kh1 would have been sufficient] 22...Qxf3 A poor ending to an indifferent tournament 0-1
i did relearn a lesson this tournament - if they go out of theory, normally it's not theory for a tactical reason. i need to look harder all the way through, but just as much once they go out of theory as any. also i need to look at the board (see games 1 and 4)
Sunday, October 01, 2006
london fall open 2/4
it was a one section tournament. i scored 2/4 with poor play generally. i was upset that demmery played 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e5 v. me and i resigned prematurely in that game, and then in round 3 he played an advanced caro and ended up with an isolated pawn on d6, so i mentally resigned for him, figuring that my king would get to d6 first to help and i'd just be a pawn up. i ended up getting into a tough position and just made a horrible, terrible blunder (this was v. a 1359 kid). my two wins were non-games v. a 1220 and a 821 (!)
C - TW
Fall Open London, ON (1), 30.09.2006
E74 - King's Indian : Averbakh Variation, ...c5
First game of the London Fall Open. It was a one-section tournament. My buddy and me drove down. It was nice to have someone to talk to...once he starts to think over the board and play less stereotypically he will be strong. He wants to go to Guelph this summer and get a FIDE rating with me...i'll have to get stronger but i'm in ;) This guy was a kid who didn't play too strongly 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Be2 0-0 6.Bg5 Nbd7 7.Qd2 c5 8.d5 Ne5? [This is all kinds of horrible. 8...a6 has been played in this position] 9.f4 [Fritz likes 9.Nf3 as well, but I think my move is just as good.] 9...Neg4? [9...Ned7 is completely playable] 10.h3 Nh6 [10...h6 11.Bh4 g5 is good for me] 11.0-0-0 [I didn't want to play forced moves, and he couldn't really get out of it so I held off on f5 but 11.g4! was even better! 11...Bd7 12.f5 gxf5 13.Bxh6 Bxh6 14.Qxh6 fxe4 is a tempo ahead] 11...Bd7 12.f5 gxf5 13.Bxh6 Bxh6 14.Qxh6 fxe4 15.g4 Kh8 16.g5 Ng8 17.Qh4 e6 18.Nxe4 exd5 19.Nf6 Nxf6 20.gxf6 Qe8 21.Bd3 Qe3+ 22.Kb1 h6 23.Nf3 dxc4 [23...Qxf3 24.Qxh6+ Kg8 25.Qg7#] 24.Rhe1 Qxd3+ 25.Rxd3 Bf5 26.Qxh6+ Bh7 27.Qg7# Not great by him, but it was nice to get a checkmate 1-0
C-SD
Fall Open London, ON (2), 30.09.2006
A51 - Budapest : Fajarowicz variation
Taking on the top seed in the tournament. Expert level is what I'm aiming for long term, so this is the level I want to be playing at. Unfortunately I got two whites in a row, it would have been nice to *waste* a black v. this guy :) 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e5!? Ga! There's a reason why I used to play Nf3 before d4 and this is one of them 3.dxe5 Ne4 Ga! Ga! [I had gotten 3...Ng4 semi-regularly online, so now (unfortunately) I'm on my own. I remembered that historically, Bisguier had played it but that's about it] 4.Qc2?! [Alekhine has had this played against him by Tartakower and he played 4.Nd2 and if 4...Bb4 (4...Nc5 5.Ngf3 Nc6 6.g3 Qe7 7.Bg2 g6 8.Nb1 Nxe5 9.0-0 Nxf3+ 10.exf3 Bg7 11.Re1 Ne6 12.Nc3 0-0 13.Nd5 Qd8 14.f4 c6 15.Nc3 d6 16.Be3 Qc7 17.Rc1 Bd7 18.Qd2 Rad8 19.Red1 Bc8 20.Ne4 Nc5 21.Nxd6 Na4 22.c5 Nxb2 23.Re1 b5 24.cxb6 Qxd6 25.Qxd6 Rxd6 26.bxa7 Bb7 27.Bc5 Rdd8 28.Bxf8 Kxf8 29.Bxc6 Bxc6 30.Rxc6 Ra8 31.Rb6 Rxa7 32.Rb8# Alekhine-Tartakower 1932. This is a better line than what I played, definitely ;)) 5.Ngf3 -- 6.a3 "getting the two bishops". I definitely won't be so unprepared in the future. ] 4...d5 5.exd6 Bf5 6.Qb3 [In the past I have had 6.Nc3 Ng3 played against me and the computer claims that 7.Qa4+ Bd7 8.Nb5 is better for White, but it's definitely tricky. I need to work harder over the board] 6...Nc6 7.Nf3 [I wanted to play something like 7.g4 to kick the bishop by 7...Bxg4 8.Qxb7 Bd7] 7...Bxd6 8.e3 Bb4+ 9.Nc3 a5! A strong idea that I didn't see. Even after he played it I underestimated it's strength 10.Bd2 Nxd2 11.Nxd2 a4 12.Qd1 a3 13.Qb3 axb2 14.Qxb2 Qf6 15.Nd1 [15.Rc1 Ba3 16.Qxb7 Ra7 17.Nd5 Qg6 -+] 15...Bxd2+ 16.Kxd2 0-0-0+ and I resigned, probably prematurely. It was gonna be tough though. My rook is completely out of play and it's gonna be tough to get him in. Plus I was tired from defending etc. etc. 0-1
EH - C
Fall Open London, ON (3), 30.09.2006
B12 - Caro-Kann : Advanced Variation
1.e4 c6 2.Nf3 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.d4 e6 5.c4 Nd7 6.Nc3 Ne7 [6...h6 7.a3 Ne7 8.c5 a5 9.Bd2 Bg4 10.Be2 Nf5 11.Bc1 b6 12.cxb6 Qxb6 13.Na4 Qa7 14.Be3 c5 15.dxc5 Nxe3 16.fxe3 Bxc5 17.Nxc5 Qxc5 18.Rc1 Qxe3 19.h3 Bxf3 20.gxf3 Qxe5 21.Rg1 0-0 22.Qd2 Rfb8 23.Rb1 d4 24.Kf2 Rb3 25.Rxg7+ Kxg7 26.Rg1+ Kf8 27.Qxh6+ Ke7 28.Qh4+ Nf6 29.Rg5 Qe3+ 30.Kf1 Rxb2 31.Rg2 Rb1+ Alne-Hersvik NOR-ch Junior 2001 0-1;
I wonder if I shouldn't have played relatively "normally" and played this 6...Bb4 7.Bd2 dxc4 8.Bxc4] 7.Be3 [7.Be2 dxc4 8.Bxc4 Nb6 9.Be2 Ned5 10.0-0 Be7 11.a4 a5 12.Re1 Nb4 13.Rf1 Nc2 14.Ra2 0-0 15.b3 Nb4 16.Rd2 N4d5 17.Bb2 Nxc3 18.Bxc3 Nd5 19.Bb2 Bb4 Nicholson-Medvegy Cork Congress 2005 0-1] 7...Qc7? [7...dxc4;
or 7...Qb6 was better. My queen is exposed to harassment from the knight on c7] 8.Bd3 dxc4 [After waiting so long for him to move his bishop I didn't even look (at the strong) 8...Bxd3 9.Qxd3 dxc4 10.Qxc4 Nb6 11.Qb3 for instance 11...Ned5 and I'm better] 9.Bxc4 c5?? [9...Nb6 was better. I didn't even notice that d5 was mine for the taking;
"You were obviously affected still in your 3rd game. Instead of playing solid as you started to do - you uncorked the howler 9. ...c5? which would have allowed 10.Nb5 winning if your opponent had seen it. You had a great position with just 9...a6 preparing 10.-- c5 (or even 10...0-0-0 before playing ...c5" (HJ)) ] 10.0-0 [10.Nb5!] 10...cxd4 [you further compounded your troubled by playing cxd4 before you were properly set up. (again just 10...a6 " (HJ)] 11.Qxd4 [11.Nb5!] 11...Nc6 12.Nb5 finally, but it is not as strong now 12...Qd8 13.Qd2 a6? "You finally played a6 when it was too late goading him into Nd6+ which was great for him (all his pieces were active) Instead of finding counterplay you traded off pieces and allowed him to come in. Obviously you were not yourself in that game." (HJ) [13...Ncxe5! and I'm better 14.Nxe5 Nxe5 15.Qc3 (15.Qxd8+ Rxd8 16.Be2 a6 17.Nc7+ Kd7) 15...Nxc4;
13...Ndxe5 14.Qxd8+ Rxd8 15.Nxe5 Nxe5] 14.Nd6+ Bxd6 15.exd6 0-0 16.Nd4 Nxd4 17.Qxd4 Rc8 18.Rac1 Nf6 [18...e5 19.Qd2 b5 20.Bb3 Qf6 (20...Rxc1 21.Rxc1 Nf6 22.Qc3) ] 19.Rfd1 Qd7 20.Bb3 Rxc1 21.Rxc1 Rc8? [21...Rd8 22.Rc7 Qxd6 23.Qxd6;
21...Nd5 22.Bxd5 exd5 23.Qxd5 Be6 24.Qd1 Rd8 25.Bb6] 22.Rxc8+ Qxc8 23.Qb6 Nd7 [23...Nd5 24.Bxd5 exd5 25.Qc7 and now my bishop is guarding that diagonal] 24.Qd4 b5 25.Qa7 h6 [25...Be4 and again making my bishop useful] 26.Qc7 Qe8 27.Bd1 e5 [27...Be4 again] 28.Qc6 Nb8?? [28...a5 29.Qxb5 Qe6 30.Qxa5 Qxd6 Not a great game at all] 1-0
DD - C
Fall Open London, ON (4), 30.09.2006
B11 - Caro-Kann : Two Knights Variation
Not much to say about this one. The guy was an elderly gentleman and he said his rating was 821 "and he earned every point of it" 1.e4 c6 2.Nf3 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bg4 5.Be2 Nd7 6.Neg5 h6 7.d4 hxg5 8.Nxg5 Bxe2 9.Qxe2 Ngf6 10.Qc4 e6 11.0-0 Qc7 12.Bd2?? Qxh2# 0-1
C - TW
Fall Open London, ON (1), 30.09.2006
E74 - King's Indian : Averbakh Variation, ...c5
First game of the London Fall Open. It was a one-section tournament. My buddy and me drove down. It was nice to have someone to talk to...once he starts to think over the board and play less stereotypically he will be strong. He wants to go to Guelph this summer and get a FIDE rating with me...i'll have to get stronger but i'm in ;) This guy was a kid who didn't play too strongly 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Be2 0-0 6.Bg5 Nbd7 7.Qd2 c5 8.d5 Ne5? [This is all kinds of horrible. 8...a6 has been played in this position] 9.f4 [Fritz likes 9.Nf3 as well, but I think my move is just as good.] 9...Neg4? [9...Ned7 is completely playable] 10.h3 Nh6 [10...h6 11.Bh4 g5 is good for me] 11.0-0-0 [I didn't want to play forced moves, and he couldn't really get out of it so I held off on f5 but 11.g4! was even better! 11...Bd7 12.f5 gxf5 13.Bxh6 Bxh6 14.Qxh6 fxe4 is a tempo ahead] 11...Bd7 12.f5 gxf5 13.Bxh6 Bxh6 14.Qxh6 fxe4 15.g4 Kh8 16.g5 Ng8 17.Qh4 e6 18.Nxe4 exd5 19.Nf6 Nxf6 20.gxf6 Qe8 21.Bd3 Qe3+ 22.Kb1 h6 23.Nf3 dxc4 [23...Qxf3 24.Qxh6+ Kg8 25.Qg7#] 24.Rhe1 Qxd3+ 25.Rxd3 Bf5 26.Qxh6+ Bh7 27.Qg7# Not great by him, but it was nice to get a checkmate 1-0
C-SD
Fall Open London, ON (2), 30.09.2006
A51 - Budapest : Fajarowicz variation
Taking on the top seed in the tournament. Expert level is what I'm aiming for long term, so this is the level I want to be playing at. Unfortunately I got two whites in a row, it would have been nice to *waste* a black v. this guy :) 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e5!? Ga! There's a reason why I used to play Nf3 before d4 and this is one of them 3.dxe5 Ne4 Ga! Ga! [I had gotten 3...Ng4 semi-regularly online, so now (unfortunately) I'm on my own. I remembered that historically, Bisguier had played it but that's about it] 4.Qc2?! [Alekhine has had this played against him by Tartakower and he played 4.Nd2 and if 4...Bb4 (4...Nc5 5.Ngf3 Nc6 6.g3 Qe7 7.Bg2 g6 8.Nb1 Nxe5 9.0-0 Nxf3+ 10.exf3 Bg7 11.Re1 Ne6 12.Nc3 0-0 13.Nd5 Qd8 14.f4 c6 15.Nc3 d6 16.Be3 Qc7 17.Rc1 Bd7 18.Qd2 Rad8 19.Red1 Bc8 20.Ne4 Nc5 21.Nxd6 Na4 22.c5 Nxb2 23.Re1 b5 24.cxb6 Qxd6 25.Qxd6 Rxd6 26.bxa7 Bb7 27.Bc5 Rdd8 28.Bxf8 Kxf8 29.Bxc6 Bxc6 30.Rxc6 Ra8 31.Rb6 Rxa7 32.Rb8# Alekhine-Tartakower 1932. This is a better line than what I played, definitely ;)) 5.Ngf3 -- 6.a3 "getting the two bishops". I definitely won't be so unprepared in the future. ] 4...d5 5.exd6 Bf5 6.Qb3 [In the past I have had 6.Nc3 Ng3 played against me and the computer claims that 7.Qa4+ Bd7 8.Nb5 is better for White, but it's definitely tricky. I need to work harder over the board] 6...Nc6 7.Nf3 [I wanted to play something like 7.g4 to kick the bishop by 7...Bxg4 8.Qxb7 Bd7] 7...Bxd6 8.e3 Bb4+ 9.Nc3 a5! A strong idea that I didn't see. Even after he played it I underestimated it's strength 10.Bd2 Nxd2 11.Nxd2 a4 12.Qd1 a3 13.Qb3 axb2 14.Qxb2 Qf6 15.Nd1 [15.Rc1 Ba3 16.Qxb7 Ra7 17.Nd5 Qg6 -+] 15...Bxd2+ 16.Kxd2 0-0-0+ and I resigned, probably prematurely. It was gonna be tough though. My rook is completely out of play and it's gonna be tough to get him in. Plus I was tired from defending etc. etc. 0-1
EH - C
Fall Open London, ON (3), 30.09.2006
B12 - Caro-Kann : Advanced Variation
1.e4 c6 2.Nf3 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.d4 e6 5.c4 Nd7 6.Nc3 Ne7 [6...h6 7.a3 Ne7 8.c5 a5 9.Bd2 Bg4 10.Be2 Nf5 11.Bc1 b6 12.cxb6 Qxb6 13.Na4 Qa7 14.Be3 c5 15.dxc5 Nxe3 16.fxe3 Bxc5 17.Nxc5 Qxc5 18.Rc1 Qxe3 19.h3 Bxf3 20.gxf3 Qxe5 21.Rg1 0-0 22.Qd2 Rfb8 23.Rb1 d4 24.Kf2 Rb3 25.Rxg7+ Kxg7 26.Rg1+ Kf8 27.Qxh6+ Ke7 28.Qh4+ Nf6 29.Rg5 Qe3+ 30.Kf1 Rxb2 31.Rg2 Rb1+ Alne-Hersvik NOR-ch Junior 2001 0-1;
I wonder if I shouldn't have played relatively "normally" and played this 6...Bb4 7.Bd2 dxc4 8.Bxc4] 7.Be3 [7.Be2 dxc4 8.Bxc4 Nb6 9.Be2 Ned5 10.0-0 Be7 11.a4 a5 12.Re1 Nb4 13.Rf1 Nc2 14.Ra2 0-0 15.b3 Nb4 16.Rd2 N4d5 17.Bb2 Nxc3 18.Bxc3 Nd5 19.Bb2 Bb4 Nicholson-Medvegy Cork Congress 2005 0-1] 7...Qc7? [7...dxc4;
or 7...Qb6 was better. My queen is exposed to harassment from the knight on c7] 8.Bd3 dxc4 [After waiting so long for him to move his bishop I didn't even look (at the strong) 8...Bxd3 9.Qxd3 dxc4 10.Qxc4 Nb6 11.Qb3 for instance 11...Ned5 and I'm better] 9.Bxc4 c5?? [9...Nb6 was better. I didn't even notice that d5 was mine for the taking;
"You were obviously affected still in your 3rd game. Instead of playing solid as you started to do - you uncorked the howler 9. ...c5? which would have allowed 10.Nb5 winning if your opponent had seen it. You had a great position with just 9...a6 preparing 10.-- c5 (or even 10...0-0-0 before playing ...c5" (HJ)) ] 10.0-0 [10.Nb5!] 10...cxd4 [you further compounded your troubled by playing cxd4 before you were properly set up. (again just 10...a6 " (HJ)] 11.Qxd4 [11.Nb5!] 11...Nc6 12.Nb5 finally, but it is not as strong now 12...Qd8 13.Qd2 a6? "You finally played a6 when it was too late goading him into Nd6+ which was great for him (all his pieces were active) Instead of finding counterplay you traded off pieces and allowed him to come in. Obviously you were not yourself in that game." (HJ) [13...Ncxe5! and I'm better 14.Nxe5 Nxe5 15.Qc3 (15.Qxd8+ Rxd8 16.Be2 a6 17.Nc7+ Kd7) 15...Nxc4;
13...Ndxe5 14.Qxd8+ Rxd8 15.Nxe5 Nxe5] 14.Nd6+ Bxd6 15.exd6 0-0 16.Nd4 Nxd4 17.Qxd4 Rc8 18.Rac1 Nf6 [18...e5 19.Qd2 b5 20.Bb3 Qf6 (20...Rxc1 21.Rxc1 Nf6 22.Qc3) ] 19.Rfd1 Qd7 20.Bb3 Rxc1 21.Rxc1 Rc8? [21...Rd8 22.Rc7 Qxd6 23.Qxd6;
21...Nd5 22.Bxd5 exd5 23.Qxd5 Be6 24.Qd1 Rd8 25.Bb6] 22.Rxc8+ Qxc8 23.Qb6 Nd7 [23...Nd5 24.Bxd5 exd5 25.Qc7 and now my bishop is guarding that diagonal] 24.Qd4 b5 25.Qa7 h6 [25...Be4 and again making my bishop useful] 26.Qc7 Qe8 27.Bd1 e5 [27...Be4 again] 28.Qc6 Nb8?? [28...a5 29.Qxb5 Qe6 30.Qxa5 Qxd6 Not a great game at all] 1-0
DD - C
Fall Open London, ON (4), 30.09.2006
B11 - Caro-Kann : Two Knights Variation
Not much to say about this one. The guy was an elderly gentleman and he said his rating was 821 "and he earned every point of it" 1.e4 c6 2.Nf3 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bg4 5.Be2 Nd7 6.Neg5 h6 7.d4 hxg5 8.Nxg5 Bxe2 9.Qxe2 Ngf6 10.Qc4 e6 11.0-0 Qc7 12.Bd2?? Qxh2# 0-1
Sunday, September 24, 2006
"Pretend It's For Fun"
All summer Bev Turner ran an unrated active "Grand Prix" with kids and adults. This was the last (I played in the first one as well). Before the tournament, a little girl started crying and said she just wanted to play for fun, not a tournament and my opponent said to her "Just pretend it's for fun". It made me chuckle.
KP - C
September Grand Prix Owen Sound, ON (1), 23.09.2006
B12 - Caro-Kann : Advanced Variation
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.c3 e6 5.Bd3 Bxd3 6.Qxd3 Ne7 7.Nf3 Nd7 8.Nbd2 c5 9.0-0 Nc6 10.Re1 Be7 11.Rb1 0-0 12.b4? cxd4 13.b5 Na5 14.cxd4 Rc8 15.Nb3 Nc4 16.Nfd2 Ndb6 17.Nxc4 dxc4 18.Qe4 cxb3 19.Rxb3 Nd5 [There's not much to be said about this game. I wanted to put the knight on d5 (best square on the board) but maybe I should've played 19...Qd5 if 20.Qxd5 (and if 20.Qg4 Rfd8 21.Bh6 g6 i'm just a piece up and maybe even more) 20...Nxd5 and I have the same positiona s the game except no queens] 20.Rh3 g6 21.Bh6 Re8 22.Rh5 Bf8 [22...gxh5 Of course! I missed that he couldn't check me on the g-file. The silliest things you miss. I need to focus] 23.Qf3 gxh5 24.Qg3+ Kh8 25.h4 Bxh6 0-1
C - K
September Grand Prix Owen Sound, ON (2), 23.09.2006
D80 - Grünfeld : Stockholm Variation
I always hate playing K in tournaments. Luckily that was an unrated so we could "really" play (normally we just play like a Slav Exchange or a Zaitsev Ruy Lopez or a Larsen Alekhine and get a repetition of moves or a lifeless draw). This was not the greatest game by me, but I did win due to a huge blunder. K mentioned just before the game that he wanted this to be our next game of the match. 1.d4 d5 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nc3?! [I can try and punish him for the funny move order with 3.cxd5 Nxd5 4.Nf3 -- 5.e4 etc., but I was curious to see what he had in mind.] 3...g6 I was kinda surprised because he mentioned playing the King's Indian before. 4.Bg5 Ne4 5.Bh4 Bg7 6.e3 [I couldn't have grabbed the pawn here as the king is still guarding the e-pawn 6.cxd5 Nxc3 7.bxc3 Qxd5 8.Nf3;
and 6.Nxd5 g5 is fine for Black] 6...c6 7.cxd5?! [A more natural plan would have been something like 7.Nge2 then f3 so i could kick the knight and (eventually) move my bishop off the d8-h4 diagonal as he has done his job there] 7...Qa5 8.Qc2 [Again 8.Nge2 was better] 8...Nxc3 9.bxc3 [9.Qxc3 was better, as if he avoids the queen trade 9...Qxd5 10.Nf3 Bg4 11.Bc4 and I get a tempo on his queen as well as I can develop 11...Qd6 (11...Qd7 12.Ne5!) 12.Qb3! of course all this is easier to see at home. Again I need to try and work harder over the board] 9...cxd5 10.Nf3 Bf5! I'm in a tough position here. I wanted to recapture on c4 with the bishop but I never was able to play c4 11.Bd3 [11.Qd2 was stronger allowing me to play c4 and if 11...-- 12.c4 Qxd2+ 13.Nxd2 allowing me to play f3 again. Going over this game has really opened my eyes to what I've been doing wrong in this line (v. blitz games and others where I don't analyze)] 11...Bxd3 12.Qxd3 Nd7 13.0-0 e5! I found this move to be strong...maybe at a higher level this would be weak, but I missed this altogether. Now, possibly, my bishop is the weakest piece on the board once he castles and he threatens e4. Also, a capture with the pawn would isolate my c-pawn, which will drop once the bishop gets involved. This is my reasoning for 14.e4 [Fritz likes 14.dxe5 Nxe5 15.Nxe5 Bxe5 16.Rad1! of course! I missed that the d-pawn would be hanging and the "useless" (to paraphrase myself) bishop is guarding d8 so it's just a trade. I need to look deeper. 16...Bxc3 17.Qxd5 Qxd5 18.Rxd5] 14...0-0 15.Be7? I want him to make the first move in the center, but this "idea" by me is just horrible. My reasoning is that I want to get the bishop to a better diagonal, so my idea was to play Be7 then Bb4 "tempoing" his rook and queen. The main point was to tempo the queen as I didn't like defending that c-pawn. The problem with my idea is that it moves my bishop to a weaker square (what happens when he plays ...a5) *and* moves his rook and queen to more aggressive positions. Again, it was an active game, but I should have had enough time to figure that out [15.Nd2 dxe4 (15...f5 16.exd5 e4 17.Qe3) 16.Nxe4 with the idea of f3] 15...Rfe8 16.Bb4? Just brutal 16...dxe4! 17.Qxe4 Qc7 18.Nxe5 [What do I play here? 18.Rac1 maybe 18...a5 19.Ba3 exd4 (19...Nf6 20.Qc2) 20.cxd4 Qxc1 (20...Qxh2+ 21.Kxh2 Rxe4) 21.Qxe8+ Rxe8 22.Rxc1] 18...f6?? [18...Nxe5 19.dxe5 Bxe5 20.Qf3 and I lose something (h-pawn or c-pawn);
18...a5 19.Ba3 and the same sort of thing] 19.Qd5+ [and he resigns not allowing the smothered mate. 19.Qd5+ Kh8 20.Nf7+ Kg8 21.Nh6+ Kh8 22.Qg8+ Rxg8 23.Nf7# Not a strong game by me, I mixed it up where I shouldn't necessarily have and got a horrid position. But I learned a lot about playing the 4.Bg5 line in the Grünfeld so it was worth it.] 1-0
SP - C
September Grand Prix Owen Sound, ON (3), 23.09.2006
B18 - Caro-Kann : Classical Variation
1.e4 c6 2.Nc3 d5 3.d4 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.Nf3 Nd7 7.Nh4 Ngf6 8.Nxg6 hxg6 9.Be3 e6 10.Bg5 Qb6 11.Bc1 Bd6 12.b3 Bxg3 [12...Bb4+ 13.Bd2 Qxd4] 13.fxg3 Ne4 14.Qd3 Qb4+ The reason why I did this was that I wanted to aim for some endgames this tournament... 15.Bd2 Nxd2 16.Qxd2 Qxd2+ 17.Kxd2 Nf6 18.Bd3 0-0-0 19.c3 Ng4 20.h3 Nf2 21.Rhf1 Nxd3 22.Kxd3 f6 23.Rae1 e5 24.Ke4 exd4 25.cxd4 Rhe8+ 26.Kd3 Rxe1 27.Rxe1 c5 28.Re4 f5 29.Re7 Rxd4+ 30.Kc3 Rd7 31.Re6 Kc7 32.Rxg6 b6 33.Rg5 Rf7 34.h4 Kd6 35.h5 Ke5 36.g4 Kf4?? [36...Ke6 37.gxf5+ (37.Rg6+ Ke5 38.g5) 37...Kf6 38.Rg6+ Kxf5] 37.Rg6? [37.Rxf5+! Rxf5 38.gxf5 Kxf5 39.Kc4 1-0] 37...fxg4 38.h6 gxh6 39.Rxh6 Rg7 40.Rf6+ Kg3 41.Kc4 Kxg2 42.Kb5 g3 43.Rh6 Kg1 44.Rf6 g2 45.Ka6 Rh7 46.a4 Kh1 47.b4 cxb4 What can I take from this game? I won but he absolutely blundered after I blundered. 0-1
JL - C
September Grand Prix Owen Sound, ON (4), 23.09.2006
B10 - Caro-Kann : Hillbilly Variation
This was the other guy who was 3/3 at the tournament 1.e4 c6 2.Bc4 Hillbilly Variation 2...d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.Bb3 Nf6 5.d3 h6?! Not helping my development, but I wanted to end up protecting my d-pawn with ...e6, so i was hoping for something like [5...h6 6.Nf3 Bg4 7.-- e6;
Realistically I should've punished him for not playing d4 and just responded with 5...e5 ] 6.h3 Bf5 7.Qf3 Bg6 [Maybe 7...e6 instead?] 8.Bf4 e6 9.Ne2 Nc6 10.Nd2 Bd6 11.d4 Bxf4 12.Qxf4 0-0 13.c3 Rc8 Slowly improving my pieces. 14.g4 Ne4 15.Nxe4 Bxe4 16.f3 Qh4+ 17.Kd2 Bg6 18.Qg3 Why trade? Look at his position? 18...Qe7 19.h4 e5 20.Rae1 Na5 [I totally "forgot" that the d-pawn was hanging. I should've just carried on with 20...Rfd8 After 20. ...Na5 I figured I would trade off the bishop or he'd have to play Be1 and his king is stuck in the middle of the board.] 21.Bxd5 Rcd8 22.Qxe5?? Qxe5?? [22...Nc4+! won on the spot. ] 23.dxe5 Rxd5+ 24.Nd4 Nc4+ 25.Kc1 Nxe5 26.h5 Nd3+ 27.Kd2 Nxe1 28.Rxe1 Bh7 29.Re7 Rb8 30.f4 Kf8 31.Rc7 Bb1 32.a3 a6 33.Kc1 Ba2? Again like I said in all the other games, I won but I didn't particularly play well 34.b3 Rxd4 35.cxd4 Bxb3 36.Rd7 Be6 37.Rd6 Bxg4 38.Rd5 Ke7 39.Kd2 Rd8 40.Re5+ Kf6 41.Ke3 Rd6 42.d5 b5 43.Kd4 Bf3 44.Kc5 Rd8 [44...Rxd5+ 45.Rxd5 Bxd5 46.Kxd5 Kf5 47.Kc6 Kxf4 48.Kb6 Kg5 49.Kxa6 f5 50.Kxb5 and I win the race] 45.d6 g6 46.hxg6 fxg6 47.Re7 h5 48.Ra7 Be2 49.Rxa6 h4 50.d7+ Kf5 51.Kd6 h3 52.Ke7 Rxd7+ 53.Kxd7 h2 and Black eventually won. 0-1
C - BT
September Grand Prix Owen Sound, ON (5), 23.09.2006
E33 - Nimzo-Indian : Classical
1.d4 [Kirk had White against him earlier in the tournament and played 1.e4 d6 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.d4 against him, so I was hoping for a King's Indian] 1...d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 [I realize that 4.Nf3 is the "mainline" but Qc2 is what I play v. Nimzo so I wanted to try and transpose if possible] 4...Nc6 5.Nf3 Nf6 6.cxd5 Bxc3+ 7.Qxc3!? [I missed that he could tempo my queen with ...Nxd5 (I only saw he could tempo it from ...Ne4). If I was awake and saw ...Nxd5 I would've just played 7.bxc3 and got on with it. I guess the idea is that with the knight on d5 I can push e4 in one move with little preparation] 7...Nxd5 [7...Ne4 8.Qc2 exd5] 8.Qc2 Qd6 9.a3 [I was worried about 9.e4 Ndb4] 9...Bd7 10.e3?! 0-0-0 11.Bd3 h6 12.b4 e5? 13.b5! Nce7 14.Nxe5 Be6 15.0-0 f6 16.Ng6 Nxg6 17.Bxg6 h5 18.Bd2 h4 19.Bf5 g5 20.Rac1 b6 21.Bxe6+ Qxe6 22.e4 Rd7 23.exd5 Qxd5 24.Qc6 Qxc6 25.bxc6 [25.Rxc6] 25...Rxd4 26.Bc3 Rd6 27.Bb4 Rd3 28.Rfd1 Rhd8 29.Rxd3 Rxd3 30.Be7 h3 31.Bxf6 hxg2 32.Kxg2 Rxa3 33.Rd1
So I ended up with 5/5. I guess I need to work on tactics? 1-0
KP - C
September Grand Prix Owen Sound, ON (1), 23.09.2006
B12 - Caro-Kann : Advanced Variation
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.c3 e6 5.Bd3 Bxd3 6.Qxd3 Ne7 7.Nf3 Nd7 8.Nbd2 c5 9.0-0 Nc6 10.Re1 Be7 11.Rb1 0-0 12.b4? cxd4 13.b5 Na5 14.cxd4 Rc8 15.Nb3 Nc4 16.Nfd2 Ndb6 17.Nxc4 dxc4 18.Qe4 cxb3 19.Rxb3 Nd5 [There's not much to be said about this game. I wanted to put the knight on d5 (best square on the board) but maybe I should've played 19...Qd5 if 20.Qxd5 (and if 20.Qg4 Rfd8 21.Bh6 g6 i'm just a piece up and maybe even more) 20...Nxd5 and I have the same positiona s the game except no queens] 20.Rh3 g6 21.Bh6 Re8 22.Rh5 Bf8 [22...gxh5 Of course! I missed that he couldn't check me on the g-file. The silliest things you miss. I need to focus] 23.Qf3 gxh5 24.Qg3+ Kh8 25.h4 Bxh6 0-1
C - K
September Grand Prix Owen Sound, ON (2), 23.09.2006
D80 - Grünfeld : Stockholm Variation
I always hate playing K in tournaments. Luckily that was an unrated so we could "really" play (normally we just play like a Slav Exchange or a Zaitsev Ruy Lopez or a Larsen Alekhine and get a repetition of moves or a lifeless draw). This was not the greatest game by me, but I did win due to a huge blunder. K mentioned just before the game that he wanted this to be our next game of the match. 1.d4 d5 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nc3?! [I can try and punish him for the funny move order with 3.cxd5 Nxd5 4.Nf3 -- 5.e4 etc., but I was curious to see what he had in mind.] 3...g6 I was kinda surprised because he mentioned playing the King's Indian before. 4.Bg5 Ne4 5.Bh4 Bg7 6.e3 [I couldn't have grabbed the pawn here as the king is still guarding the e-pawn 6.cxd5 Nxc3 7.bxc3 Qxd5 8.Nf3;
and 6.Nxd5 g5 is fine for Black] 6...c6 7.cxd5?! [A more natural plan would have been something like 7.Nge2 then f3 so i could kick the knight and (eventually) move my bishop off the d8-h4 diagonal as he has done his job there] 7...Qa5 8.Qc2 [Again 8.Nge2 was better] 8...Nxc3 9.bxc3 [9.Qxc3 was better, as if he avoids the queen trade 9...Qxd5 10.Nf3 Bg4 11.Bc4 and I get a tempo on his queen as well as I can develop 11...Qd6 (11...Qd7 12.Ne5!) 12.Qb3! of course all this is easier to see at home. Again I need to try and work harder over the board] 9...cxd5 10.Nf3 Bf5! I'm in a tough position here. I wanted to recapture on c4 with the bishop but I never was able to play c4 11.Bd3 [11.Qd2 was stronger allowing me to play c4 and if 11...-- 12.c4 Qxd2+ 13.Nxd2 allowing me to play f3 again. Going over this game has really opened my eyes to what I've been doing wrong in this line (v. blitz games and others where I don't analyze)] 11...Bxd3 12.Qxd3 Nd7 13.0-0 e5! I found this move to be strong...maybe at a higher level this would be weak, but I missed this altogether. Now, possibly, my bishop is the weakest piece on the board once he castles and he threatens e4. Also, a capture with the pawn would isolate my c-pawn, which will drop once the bishop gets involved. This is my reasoning for 14.e4 [Fritz likes 14.dxe5 Nxe5 15.Nxe5 Bxe5 16.Rad1! of course! I missed that the d-pawn would be hanging and the "useless" (to paraphrase myself) bishop is guarding d8 so it's just a trade. I need to look deeper. 16...Bxc3 17.Qxd5 Qxd5 18.Rxd5] 14...0-0 15.Be7? I want him to make the first move in the center, but this "idea" by me is just horrible. My reasoning is that I want to get the bishop to a better diagonal, so my idea was to play Be7 then Bb4 "tempoing" his rook and queen. The main point was to tempo the queen as I didn't like defending that c-pawn. The problem with my idea is that it moves my bishop to a weaker square (what happens when he plays ...a5) *and* moves his rook and queen to more aggressive positions. Again, it was an active game, but I should have had enough time to figure that out [15.Nd2 dxe4 (15...f5 16.exd5 e4 17.Qe3) 16.Nxe4 with the idea of f3] 15...Rfe8 16.Bb4? Just brutal 16...dxe4! 17.Qxe4 Qc7 18.Nxe5 [What do I play here? 18.Rac1 maybe 18...a5 19.Ba3 exd4 (19...Nf6 20.Qc2) 20.cxd4 Qxc1 (20...Qxh2+ 21.Kxh2 Rxe4) 21.Qxe8+ Rxe8 22.Rxc1] 18...f6?? [18...Nxe5 19.dxe5 Bxe5 20.Qf3 and I lose something (h-pawn or c-pawn);
18...a5 19.Ba3 and the same sort of thing] 19.Qd5+ [and he resigns not allowing the smothered mate. 19.Qd5+ Kh8 20.Nf7+ Kg8 21.Nh6+ Kh8 22.Qg8+ Rxg8 23.Nf7# Not a strong game by me, I mixed it up where I shouldn't necessarily have and got a horrid position. But I learned a lot about playing the 4.Bg5 line in the Grünfeld so it was worth it.] 1-0
SP - C
September Grand Prix Owen Sound, ON (3), 23.09.2006
B18 - Caro-Kann : Classical Variation
1.e4 c6 2.Nc3 d5 3.d4 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.Nf3 Nd7 7.Nh4 Ngf6 8.Nxg6 hxg6 9.Be3 e6 10.Bg5 Qb6 11.Bc1 Bd6 12.b3 Bxg3 [12...Bb4+ 13.Bd2 Qxd4] 13.fxg3 Ne4 14.Qd3 Qb4+ The reason why I did this was that I wanted to aim for some endgames this tournament... 15.Bd2 Nxd2 16.Qxd2 Qxd2+ 17.Kxd2 Nf6 18.Bd3 0-0-0 19.c3 Ng4 20.h3 Nf2 21.Rhf1 Nxd3 22.Kxd3 f6 23.Rae1 e5 24.Ke4 exd4 25.cxd4 Rhe8+ 26.Kd3 Rxe1 27.Rxe1 c5 28.Re4 f5 29.Re7 Rxd4+ 30.Kc3 Rd7 31.Re6 Kc7 32.Rxg6 b6 33.Rg5 Rf7 34.h4 Kd6 35.h5 Ke5 36.g4 Kf4?? [36...Ke6 37.gxf5+ (37.Rg6+ Ke5 38.g5) 37...Kf6 38.Rg6+ Kxf5] 37.Rg6? [37.Rxf5+! Rxf5 38.gxf5 Kxf5 39.Kc4 1-0] 37...fxg4 38.h6 gxh6 39.Rxh6 Rg7 40.Rf6+ Kg3 41.Kc4 Kxg2 42.Kb5 g3 43.Rh6 Kg1 44.Rf6 g2 45.Ka6 Rh7 46.a4 Kh1 47.b4 cxb4 What can I take from this game? I won but he absolutely blundered after I blundered. 0-1
JL - C
September Grand Prix Owen Sound, ON (4), 23.09.2006
B10 - Caro-Kann : Hillbilly Variation
This was the other guy who was 3/3 at the tournament 1.e4 c6 2.Bc4 Hillbilly Variation 2...d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.Bb3 Nf6 5.d3 h6?! Not helping my development, but I wanted to end up protecting my d-pawn with ...e6, so i was hoping for something like [5...h6 6.Nf3 Bg4 7.-- e6;
Realistically I should've punished him for not playing d4 and just responded with 5...e5 ] 6.h3 Bf5 7.Qf3 Bg6 [Maybe 7...e6 instead?] 8.Bf4 e6 9.Ne2 Nc6 10.Nd2 Bd6 11.d4 Bxf4 12.Qxf4 0-0 13.c3 Rc8 Slowly improving my pieces. 14.g4 Ne4 15.Nxe4 Bxe4 16.f3 Qh4+ 17.Kd2 Bg6 18.Qg3 Why trade? Look at his position? 18...Qe7 19.h4 e5 20.Rae1 Na5 [I totally "forgot" that the d-pawn was hanging. I should've just carried on with 20...Rfd8 After 20. ...Na5 I figured I would trade off the bishop or he'd have to play Be1 and his king is stuck in the middle of the board.] 21.Bxd5 Rcd8 22.Qxe5?? Qxe5?? [22...Nc4+! won on the spot. ] 23.dxe5 Rxd5+ 24.Nd4 Nc4+ 25.Kc1 Nxe5 26.h5 Nd3+ 27.Kd2 Nxe1 28.Rxe1 Bh7 29.Re7 Rb8 30.f4 Kf8 31.Rc7 Bb1 32.a3 a6 33.Kc1 Ba2? Again like I said in all the other games, I won but I didn't particularly play well 34.b3 Rxd4 35.cxd4 Bxb3 36.Rd7 Be6 37.Rd6 Bxg4 38.Rd5 Ke7 39.Kd2 Rd8 40.Re5+ Kf6 41.Ke3 Rd6 42.d5 b5 43.Kd4 Bf3 44.Kc5 Rd8 [44...Rxd5+ 45.Rxd5 Bxd5 46.Kxd5 Kf5 47.Kc6 Kxf4 48.Kb6 Kg5 49.Kxa6 f5 50.Kxb5 and I win the race] 45.d6 g6 46.hxg6 fxg6 47.Re7 h5 48.Ra7 Be2 49.Rxa6 h4 50.d7+ Kf5 51.Kd6 h3 52.Ke7 Rxd7+ 53.Kxd7 h2 and Black eventually won. 0-1
C - BT
September Grand Prix Owen Sound, ON (5), 23.09.2006
E33 - Nimzo-Indian : Classical
1.d4 [Kirk had White against him earlier in the tournament and played 1.e4 d6 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.d4 against him, so I was hoping for a King's Indian] 1...d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 [I realize that 4.Nf3 is the "mainline" but Qc2 is what I play v. Nimzo so I wanted to try and transpose if possible] 4...Nc6 5.Nf3 Nf6 6.cxd5 Bxc3+ 7.Qxc3!? [I missed that he could tempo my queen with ...Nxd5 (I only saw he could tempo it from ...Ne4). If I was awake and saw ...Nxd5 I would've just played 7.bxc3 and got on with it. I guess the idea is that with the knight on d5 I can push e4 in one move with little preparation] 7...Nxd5 [7...Ne4 8.Qc2 exd5] 8.Qc2 Qd6 9.a3 [I was worried about 9.e4 Ndb4] 9...Bd7 10.e3?! 0-0-0 11.Bd3 h6 12.b4 e5? 13.b5! Nce7 14.Nxe5 Be6 15.0-0 f6 16.Ng6 Nxg6 17.Bxg6 h5 18.Bd2 h4 19.Bf5 g5 20.Rac1 b6 21.Bxe6+ Qxe6 22.e4 Rd7 23.exd5 Qxd5 24.Qc6 Qxc6 25.bxc6 [25.Rxc6] 25...Rxd4 26.Bc3 Rd6 27.Bb4 Rd3 28.Rfd1 Rhd8 29.Rxd3 Rxd3 30.Be7 h3 31.Bxf6 hxg2 32.Kxg2 Rxa3 33.Rd1
So I ended up with 5/5. I guess I need to work on tactics? 1-0
Saturday, August 26, 2006
Rounds 4 and 5
C - K
G45 Owen Sound (4), 19.08.2006
B03 - Alekhine's Defense : Exchange Variation
1.e4 Nf6 The Alekhine from the Arch-Duke himself :) 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.c4 Nb6 5.exd6 cxd6 6.Nc3 g6 7.Be3 Bg7 8.Nf3 0-0 9.Bd3 Nc6 10.b3= [10.b3= and I offered a draw here because I had burned my hand on coffee and Jane was stomping around making noise, but Kirk showed me his idea of 10...f5 11.Qd2 and it looks strong. here's a line 11...e5 12.Bg5 Qc7 (12...Qe8 13.dxe5 dxe5 14.0-0 e4 15.c5 Nd7 (15...Nd5 16.Nxd5 exd3 17.Nc7 Qf7 18.Nxa8 Bxa1 19.Rxa1 Be6 20.Re1 Rxa8 21.Qxd3 Bd5 22.Bc1) 16.Bc4+ Kh8 17.Nb5 exf3 18.Rae1 Nde5 19.Nc7 fxg2 20.Kxg2 Nxc4 21.bxc4 Qf7 22.Nxa8; 13.c5 dxc5 14.dxc5 Nd7 15.Bc4+ Kh8 16.0-0 e4 17.Nd5 Qa5 18.b4 Nxb4 19.Be7 Re8 20.Ng5] ½-½
K - C
G45 Owen Sound (5), 26.08.2006
B12 - Caro-Kann : Advanced Variation
Game 5 and I hadn't been playing well v. Kirk. 1.e4 c6 We had just gone live with Cerner stuff at work so I figured it would be best to get into a comfortable position 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Nf3 e6 5.Be2 Kirk's regular.
I can see why so many beginners think this is the greatest line v. the Caro-Kann. When i was looking at this during the game, I cursed myself for not playing something more active. Of course it's not bad, just passive 5...Nd7 going for my regular...the Karpov knights at e7and d7, then push c5 and Nc6 [is the mainline 5...c5 ] 6.0-0 Ne7 7.Nh4 Qb6 [7...c5 is the mainline and;
7...Be4 has been tried by Adams v. Shirov. After all these years of telling Kirk to play Nh4 he has recently been listening ;);
7...Bg6] 8.c3 [in my Caro book the stem line was Short-Adams, English Championship 1991. It went 8.Nxf5 Nxf5 9.c3 c5 10.Bd3 Ne7 (10...g6 Nunn-Adams, Brussells 1992 11.Re1 Nb8 12.Bxf5 gxf5 13.c4 dxc4 14.d5 Nd7 15.Na3 0-0-0 16.Bg5 Re8 17.Nxc4) ] 8...Bxb1?! the book says "gives White a comfortable edge". I figured that the knight would have to move still, and I wouldn't have to worry about the capture. Of course, that was just laziness on my part. Now he can easily develop his bishop and it didn't go in well with my Qb6 move. Oh well, live and learn. Also I wanted to be able to play Nc6 after c5. [8...c5 9.Nxf5 Nxf5 10.Na3] 9.Rxb1 c5 10.Be3! Showing the stupidity (well stupidity is too harsh)...weakness of my last move 10...Nc6 11.f4?! I think this was premature becaue it almost forces me to stop from castlign kingside [11.Nf3 I was thinking about this sort of thing (of course also after i moved Be7). 11...Be7 12.a3 and then lockign up the center and queenside and only then coming in for the kill on the kingside 12...0-0 13.b4 c4] 11...Be7 12.Nf3 f5!? Spectacularly unsound ;) My plan in all of these is to avoid castling, but i think the weakening of the e-pawn might have told. He can double up on the e-file. fairly easily 13.dxc5?! Now I'm fine [13.exf6 Nxf6 was stronger 14.Ng5 Kd7 15.Bg4 and he's better. I wouldn't feel comfortable defendign this position] 13...Bxc5 14.Bxc5 Qxc5+ 15.Kh1 Ke7!? This was a good move. It allowed me to kick the kngiht and move over to c7 eventually. [15...h6 was slow] 16.Ng5 [16.Qd2] 16...h6 17.Nh3 Rag8 [They said 17...g5 right away] 18.g4? I thought it was weak too ;) at least my king can run away if all the pawns come off 18...g5 [18...fxg4 19.Bxg4 then 19...g5] 19.gxf5 exf5 20.fxg5?! [20.Bf3! g4 (20...Nb6 21.Qd3 (21.Bg2 g4 22.Ng1 h5 23.Qd3 Ke6 24.Rbd1 (24.Rfc1 h4 25.b4 Qc4) 24...Rd8; 21...g4 22.b4 Qc4 23.Qxc4 dxc4 24.Bxc6 bxc6 25.Nf2; 21.Bxd5 attacks the rook] 20...hxg5 21.Rxf5? but it's still tough 21...Rxh3 22.Bg4 Rh4 23.e6 Nf6 24.Rxf6 Ne5? [24...Kxf6! still held 25.Qf3+ Kg7! (but i only saw 25...Ke7?? 26.Qf7+ Kd6 27.Qd7+ Ke5 28.Qc7+ Ke4 29.Re1+ Kd3 30.Qg3+ bitch 30...Kc4 (30...Kc2 31.Qg2+ Qf2 32.Qxf2+ Kd3 33.Qe2#) 31.Be2#; 26.Qf7+ Kh8 and it holds] 25.Rf5 [Stronger was 25.Rf7+ Nxf7 26.exf7 Kxf7 and it's just the exchange and his cornered king ;)] 25...Nxg4 26.Qe2 Rxh2+ an interesting game. Even if I got mated I would've enjoyed this one...of course I won so that's a different story completely ;) 0-1
G45 Owen Sound (4), 19.08.2006
B03 - Alekhine's Defense : Exchange Variation
1.e4 Nf6 The Alekhine from the Arch-Duke himself :) 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.c4 Nb6 5.exd6 cxd6 6.Nc3 g6 7.Be3 Bg7 8.Nf3 0-0 9.Bd3 Nc6 10.b3= [10.b3= and I offered a draw here because I had burned my hand on coffee and Jane was stomping around making noise, but Kirk showed me his idea of 10...f5 11.Qd2 and it looks strong. here's a line 11...e5 12.Bg5 Qc7 (12...Qe8 13.dxe5 dxe5 14.0-0 e4 15.c5 Nd7 (15...Nd5 16.Nxd5 exd3 17.Nc7 Qf7 18.Nxa8 Bxa1 19.Rxa1 Be6 20.Re1 Rxa8 21.Qxd3 Bd5 22.Bc1) 16.Bc4+ Kh8 17.Nb5 exf3 18.Rae1 Nde5 19.Nc7 fxg2 20.Kxg2 Nxc4 21.bxc4 Qf7 22.Nxa8; 13.c5 dxc5 14.dxc5 Nd7 15.Bc4+ Kh8 16.0-0 e4 17.Nd5 Qa5 18.b4 Nxb4 19.Be7 Re8 20.Ng5] ½-½
K - C
G45 Owen Sound (5), 26.08.2006
B12 - Caro-Kann : Advanced Variation
Game 5 and I hadn't been playing well v. Kirk. 1.e4 c6 We had just gone live with Cerner stuff at work so I figured it would be best to get into a comfortable position 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Nf3 e6 5.Be2 Kirk's regular.
I can see why so many beginners think this is the greatest line v. the Caro-Kann. When i was looking at this during the game, I cursed myself for not playing something more active. Of course it's not bad, just passive 5...Nd7 going for my regular...the Karpov knights at e7and d7, then push c5 and Nc6 [is the mainline 5...c5 ] 6.0-0 Ne7 7.Nh4 Qb6 [7...c5 is the mainline and;
7...Be4 has been tried by Adams v. Shirov. After all these years of telling Kirk to play Nh4 he has recently been listening ;);
7...Bg6] 8.c3 [in my Caro book the stem line was Short-Adams, English Championship 1991. It went 8.Nxf5 Nxf5 9.c3 c5 10.Bd3 Ne7 (10...g6 Nunn-Adams, Brussells 1992 11.Re1 Nb8 12.Bxf5 gxf5 13.c4 dxc4 14.d5 Nd7 15.Na3 0-0-0 16.Bg5 Re8 17.Nxc4) ] 8...Bxb1?! the book says "gives White a comfortable edge". I figured that the knight would have to move still, and I wouldn't have to worry about the capture. Of course, that was just laziness on my part. Now he can easily develop his bishop and it didn't go in well with my Qb6 move. Oh well, live and learn. Also I wanted to be able to play Nc6 after c5. [8...c5 9.Nxf5 Nxf5 10.Na3] 9.Rxb1 c5 10.Be3! Showing the stupidity (well stupidity is too harsh)...weakness of my last move 10...Nc6 11.f4?! I think this was premature becaue it almost forces me to stop from castlign kingside [11.Nf3 I was thinking about this sort of thing (of course also after i moved Be7). 11...Be7 12.a3 and then lockign up the center and queenside and only then coming in for the kill on the kingside 12...0-0 13.b4 c4] 11...Be7 12.Nf3 f5!? Spectacularly unsound ;) My plan in all of these is to avoid castling, but i think the weakening of the e-pawn might have told. He can double up on the e-file. fairly easily 13.dxc5?! Now I'm fine [13.exf6 Nxf6 was stronger 14.Ng5 Kd7 15.Bg4 and he's better. I wouldn't feel comfortable defendign this position] 13...Bxc5 14.Bxc5 Qxc5+ 15.Kh1 Ke7!? This was a good move. It allowed me to kick the kngiht and move over to c7 eventually. [15...h6 was slow] 16.Ng5 [16.Qd2] 16...h6 17.Nh3 Rag8 [They said 17...g5 right away] 18.g4? I thought it was weak too ;) at least my king can run away if all the pawns come off 18...g5 [18...fxg4 19.Bxg4 then 19...g5] 19.gxf5 exf5 20.fxg5?! [20.Bf3! g4 (20...Nb6 21.Qd3 (21.Bg2 g4 22.Ng1 h5 23.Qd3 Ke6 24.Rbd1 (24.Rfc1 h4 25.b4 Qc4) 24...Rd8; 21...g4 22.b4 Qc4 23.Qxc4 dxc4 24.Bxc6 bxc6 25.Nf2; 21.Bxd5 attacks the rook] 20...hxg5 21.Rxf5? but it's still tough 21...Rxh3 22.Bg4 Rh4 23.e6 Nf6 24.Rxf6 Ne5? [24...Kxf6! still held 25.Qf3+ Kg7! (but i only saw 25...Ke7?? 26.Qf7+ Kd6 27.Qd7+ Ke5 28.Qc7+ Ke4 29.Re1+ Kd3 30.Qg3+ bitch 30...Kc4 (30...Kc2 31.Qg2+ Qf2 32.Qxf2+ Kd3 33.Qe2#) 31.Be2#; 26.Qf7+ Kh8 and it holds] 25.Rf5 [Stronger was 25.Rf7+ Nxf7 26.exf7 Kxf7 and it's just the exchange and his cornered king ;)] 25...Nxg4 26.Qe2 Rxh2+ an interesting game. Even if I got mated I would've enjoyed this one...of course I won so that's a different story completely ;) 0-1
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
Cdn Open 2006 Rounds 4-6
BT - CS
Canadian Open U2000 Kitchener (4), 18.07.2006
B18 - Caro-Kann : Classical Variation
Taking on a gentleman from Toronto 1.e4 c6 I was surprised at the number of e4s I got at this tournament...I'll have to look for something different for next year...it's tiring to defend for 4 hours 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.h4 h6 7.h5 Bh7 8.Bd3?!
[All theory so far. Mainline is 8.Nf3 Nd7 9.Bd3 Bxd3 10.Qxd3 Qc7 . I calculated for a few minutes and didn't see any reason why I couldn't grab the d-pawn. Obviously the hard lessons from Rounds 2 and 3 didn't sink in ;) ] 8...Qxd4 [Hort had the same position v. Geller in Skopje 1968 and continued 8...Bxd3 9.Qxd3 Nd7 10.Nf3 Qc7 transposing to the line given above] 9.N1e2 [I would've tried 9.Nf3 ;
9.Be3 just tempted me to grab some more pawns 9...Qxb2 10.Rb1 Qc3+ 11.Bd2 Qe5+ 12.N1e2 Bxd3 13.cxd3] 9...Qd8 Keeping d7 for my knight 10.Be3 [10.Bxh7 Qxd1+ 11.Kxd1 Rxh7 may have looked uglier but he doesn't want to take the queens off] 10...Bxd3 11.cxd3 Nf6 12.0-0 e6 13.Qb3 b6 [I could've tried 13...Qd7 but again i'm worried about my knight] 14.Rac1 Qd5 [14...Bd6 and castle may have been better] 15.Nd4 Qxb3 [I wanted to try 15...c5 16.Nb5 (but 16.Qa4+ Qd7 17.Nb5 keeps the queens on so why not force the exchange of queens while i'm a pawn up and close to completing my development) 16...Qxb3 17.axb3 Nd5] 16.Nxb3 Bd6 17.Ne4 Nxe4 [17...Be7 18.Nxf6+ Bxf6 19.d4 wasn't as appealing as the line I chose where I actually pushed ...c5] 18.dxe4 c5 19.Rfd1 Ke7 20.Rc2 Nc6 Now I'm caught up in development, and I have a better king and I am a pawn up. What's not to like? 21.a3 Rhd8 22.Rcd2 Be5 23.Rxd8 ...and he's trading off the rooks. From here on it is a matter of technique ;) 23...Rxd8 24.Rxd8 Kxd8 [24...Nxd8 my knight was doing decent things on c6] 25.Bc1 Nd4 and then I trade it off. Again I was happy with this because my opponent was stuck guarding that b-pawn with his bishop 26.Nxd4 Bxd4 27.Kf1 e5 [Another option was freezing the b-pawn with 27...c4 ;
or starting the march 27...Kc7 ] 28.Ke2 Kc7 [again 28...c4 ] 29.f3 Kc6 30.Kd3 Kb5 31.b3 a5 32.Bd2 a4 I was worried about 32.a4+ so I figured I'd go for the win here on the queenside. The idea being I trade off the bishops and then run over with my king and pick off the kingside pawns and promote. Ironically that's exactly how I lost 33.Kc2 axb3+ 34.Kxb3 c4+ 35.Kc2 Ka4 [35...Bc5 beats him to the spot forcing 36.Bc1 Ka4] 36.Bb4
36. ...Bc5?? A terrible decision [36...b5 was a million times better. Now the queenside pawns take care of themselves] 37.Bxc5 bxc5 38.Kc3 I totally missed that this move was possible when I "calculated" this line. It's just a loss from here 38...Kxa3 [My opponent told me after the game he thought there was a zugzwang after 38...Kb5 but 39.a4+ looks strong to me, as it did during the game. If I had known he thought it was a draw I probably would've offered one.] 39.Kxc4 Kb2 40.Kxc5 Kc3 41.Kd5 f6 42.Ke6 Kd3 43.Kf7 Ke3 44.Kxg7 Kf2 45.Kxh6 Kxg2 46.Kg6 Kxf3 47.Kxf6 Kxe4 48.h6 Kd4 49.h7 e4 50.h8Q Kd3 51.Qd8+ Ke2 52.Kf5 e3 53.Kf4 Kf2 54.Qd4 A pity that one bad move ruined 35 good ones, but that's the nature of chess. At this point I was sick of "moral" victories and dammit I wanted a real one! 1-0
CS - GW
Canadian Open U2000 Kitchener (5), 19.07.2006
D63 - QGD : Orthodox
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 Nbd7 5.Bg5 Be7 6.e3 0-0 7.Rc1 c6 8.cxd5 [8.Bd3 dxc4 9.Bxc4 Nd5 10.Bxe7 Qxe7 11.0-0 Nxc3 12.Rxc3 is the main line;
8.Qc2 is the Rubinstein attack. Both are interesting and will get further review in the future. The problem is that in my online play I have never gotten this far in the Queen's Gambit (theory-wise) and I got two games with this position in this tournament. Opening preparation will be different next year I believe.] 8...exd5 [8...Nxd5 9.Bxe7 Qxe7] 9.Bd3 h6 [9...Ne4 10.Bxe7 Qxe7 (10...Nxc3 11.Bxd8 Nxd1 12.Rxd1 Rxd8 13.0-0) 11.0-0] 10.Bh4 Ne8?! [I understand the motivation for this move, but that doesn't make it a good one. He is running out of decent squares for his pieces. Better would likely be 10...Nb6 ] 11.Bxe7 Qxe7 12.0-0 Nd6 [12...f5 I wonder if he could try and play something more aggressive like;
or even 12...Nef6 ] 13.Qc2 Ne8 [This made no sense to me. He must've realized I was hoping to play e4 so something like 13...Re8 ;
or even 13...Nf6 was better than dancing the knight back and forth] 14.Rfe1 Ndf6 15.e4 [It was time to open up the position. There would still be time for something like 15.Ne5 ] 15...dxe4 16.Nxe4 Nxe4 17.Bxe4 Be6 18.Ne5 [of course without me sweating at the board 18.d5! is a much better move 18...cxd5 (18...Bxd5? 19.Bxd5) 19.Bxd5 Rd8 20.Bxe6 fxe6 21.Qe4 and work on the pawn] 18...Nf6 19.Bf5 Not the greatest move, but it forces him to make decisions 19...Qd6 [19...Bxf5 20.Qxf5 is probably better and after 20...Qb4 i'm not sure what I'd do. I made some very significant moves in the past 10 or so, with respect to the way the game is going to go with pawn structure, etc.] 20.Bxe6 fxe6 21.Qg6 Again making him calculate. Anybody can make a mistake with a tactic 21...Rae8 [21...Qxd4 22.Rcd1 Qxb2 was better] 22.Rcd1 Nd5 23.g3 Not forcing but I was in no rush. It keeps his knight out of f4 and gives my king some luft 23...Qe7 24.Ng4 Qg5 25.Rxe6 [25.Qxg5 hxg5 26.Ne5] 25...Qxg6 26.Rxg6 Kh7 27.Rd6 Re7 28.Ne5 Rf6 29.Rd7 [Of course not 29.Rxf6 gxf6 giving up my beautiful square for the knight] 29...Rfe6 30.Rxe7 Rxe7 31.f4 g6 32.Kf2 Kg7 33.Re1 h5 34.a3 [34.a4 was probably more accurate] 34...Kf6 35.Nc4 Rxe1 36.Kxe1 h4 37.Kf2 hxg3+ 38.hxg3 g5 39.fxg5+ Kxg5 40.Kf3 Nc7 41.Na5 Nb5 42.Nb3 [Too cautious 42.Ke4 Nd6+ 43.Ke5 Nf7+ 44.Ke6 Nh6 45.Nxb7 Nf5 was probably stronger as my king has better position if he manages to grab a pawn back] 42...b6 43.a4 Nd6 44.Nd2 Kg6? [44...Nf5 45.Nb3 Nd6 would have made me "start from scratch" so to speak] 45.Kf4 Nf5 46.Nf3 It felt good to get back to -1 after the travesty from the day before. Kirk lost a tough Ruy Lopez today and took a bye the next round 1-0
JS - CS
Canadian Open U2000 Kitchener (6), 20.07.2006
B12 - Caro-Kann : Advance Variation
I got another 1700 player which was where I was hoping to do my feeding with regards to points. My opponent was a soft spoken gentleman from Fort Erie. He was playing this game with a Monroi device and in fact this game is probably online if somebody were to search hard enough 1.e4 Another 1.e4 1...c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Now I'm in familiar waters. I absolutely *love* defending the Caro-Kann Advanced 3...Bf5 4.Nf3 e6 5.Bd3 Bxd3 6.Qxd3 Ne7 [Apparently I can get away with 6...Qa5+ here. I read in a book that Nimzo recommended this move after 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Bd3 Bxd3 5.Qxd3 e6 6.f4 but didn't know about this move here. Interesting. Instead I go for the stereotypical "Karpov Knights" setup as you will see, and don't think for the next 10 moves or so.] 7.c3 Nd7 [7...Ng6 to switch gears and stop 8.Bf4 may have been better] 8.Bf4 c5 9.Nbd2 cxd4 10.cxd4 Ng6 11.Bg3 [I honestly thought he was going to play 11.Be3 ] 11...Bb4 12.0-0 Bxd2 13.Qxd2 0-0 14.h3 Rc8 So like I was saying, stereotypical play so far with equality. ...nd7, ...ne7, ...c5, ...cxd4, ...Rc8 15.Rfc1 Qb6 [15...Qe7 may have been better] 16.h4 Rc6? [At this point my sense of fear was gone 16...h6 ;
or even 16...Ne7 17.h5 Nf5 was better] 17.h5 Ne7 18.b3 [I would have continued 18.h6 and pushed the pressure a little further] 18...h6 [I didn't want to give him a second shot at h6 but after 18...Rfc8 19.h6 Rxc1+ 20.Rxc1 Rxc1+ 21.Qxc1 Nf5 I'm okay, and the rooks are off ;)] 19.Bf4 Kh7 [I wanted to avoid 19...Rfc8 20.Bxh6 gxh6 21.Qxh6 but I should've realized that this isn't ICC ;)] 20.Qd3+ g6 [Too bold 20...Kh8 was good enough] 21.Qd2 g5 22.Be3 f5 23.Rxc6 [23.exf6 Nxf6 24.Rxc6 Nxc6] 23...Qxc6 [I thought that the text was forced but making him sacrifice would have been better I think 23...Nxc6 24.Bxg5 hxg5 25.Nxg5+ Kg8 (25...Kh8 26.Nxe6 Rf7) 26.Nxe6;
23...bxc6 24.Bxg5 hxg5 25.Nxg5+] 24.Qb4! A strong move by him. I now see that I'm in trouble 24...Re8? [At this point I was tired and missed 24...Nc8 25.Rc1 Qb6] 25.Rc1 Qb6 26.Qxb6 Nxb6 27.Rc7 Kg8 28.g3 [Of course he's in no rush. 28.Rxb7 At this point I was exhausted from defending all game. ] 28...Nc6 29.Rxb7 Re7? [Probably a bad idea but I should've avoided the rook trade 29...Rf8 ] 30.Rxe7 Nxe7 31.Ne1 Nc6 [31...Kf7] 32.Nc2 Nd7 I decided I was going for the h-pawn 33.Kf1 Ndb8 34.Ke2 Na6 35.Bd2 Nc7 36.Kd3 Ne8 37.f3 Kf7 [My opponent the next day thought I should've tried 37...g4 but this loses after 38.fxg4 fxg4 39.Ne3!] 38.g4 f4 So I was totally happy with this position...figuring that my king could guard the kingside pawns and my knights could blockade the queenside...until I realized in horror that my king would always have to defend the f8 square as his bishop can munch the pawns. also if my king gets too far away, he can play the classic Bxf4 gxf4 g5 hxg5 h6! and promote 39.b4 Nc7 40.a4 a6 41.Na1 Nd8 42.Nb3 Ke7 43.Nc5 Kf7 44.Bc3 [44.b5 axb5 45.Ba5!;
44.Nxa6 Nxa6 45.b5 Nb8 46.a5] 44...Ke7 45.Kc2 [Again 45.b5 wins] 45...Nc6 46.Kb3 Na7 47.Nd3 Kf7 [He threatens 47...-- 48.Nxf4 gxf4 49.g5 hxg5 50.h6 if I move away] 48.Nc5 Ke7 49.Nb7 Nc8 50.Bd2 Nb6 51.Nd6 [Of course hoping he'll play 51.a5 ] 51...Nd7 52.b5 Finally 52...axb5 53.axb5 Nb6 54.Bb4 Kd7 55.Bc5 Nxb5 56.Bxb6 Nxd6 57.exd6 Kc6 58.Bc5 A tough game, but one I can learn from 1-0
Canadian Open U2000 Kitchener (4), 18.07.2006
B18 - Caro-Kann : Classical Variation
Taking on a gentleman from Toronto 1.e4 c6 I was surprised at the number of e4s I got at this tournament...I'll have to look for something different for next year...it's tiring to defend for 4 hours 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.h4 h6 7.h5 Bh7 8.Bd3?!
[All theory so far. Mainline is 8.Nf3 Nd7 9.Bd3 Bxd3 10.Qxd3 Qc7 . I calculated for a few minutes and didn't see any reason why I couldn't grab the d-pawn. Obviously the hard lessons from Rounds 2 and 3 didn't sink in ;) ] 8...Qxd4 [Hort had the same position v. Geller in Skopje 1968 and continued 8...Bxd3 9.Qxd3 Nd7 10.Nf3 Qc7 transposing to the line given above] 9.N1e2 [I would've tried 9.Nf3 ;
9.Be3 just tempted me to grab some more pawns 9...Qxb2 10.Rb1 Qc3+ 11.Bd2 Qe5+ 12.N1e2 Bxd3 13.cxd3] 9...Qd8 Keeping d7 for my knight 10.Be3 [10.Bxh7 Qxd1+ 11.Kxd1 Rxh7 may have looked uglier but he doesn't want to take the queens off] 10...Bxd3 11.cxd3 Nf6 12.0-0 e6 13.Qb3 b6 [I could've tried 13...Qd7 but again i'm worried about my knight] 14.Rac1 Qd5 [14...Bd6 and castle may have been better] 15.Nd4 Qxb3 [I wanted to try 15...c5 16.Nb5 (but 16.Qa4+ Qd7 17.Nb5 keeps the queens on so why not force the exchange of queens while i'm a pawn up and close to completing my development) 16...Qxb3 17.axb3 Nd5] 16.Nxb3 Bd6 17.Ne4 Nxe4 [17...Be7 18.Nxf6+ Bxf6 19.d4 wasn't as appealing as the line I chose where I actually pushed ...c5] 18.dxe4 c5 19.Rfd1 Ke7 20.Rc2 Nc6 Now I'm caught up in development, and I have a better king and I am a pawn up. What's not to like? 21.a3 Rhd8 22.Rcd2 Be5 23.Rxd8 ...and he's trading off the rooks. From here on it is a matter of technique ;) 23...Rxd8 24.Rxd8 Kxd8 [24...Nxd8 my knight was doing decent things on c6] 25.Bc1 Nd4 and then I trade it off. Again I was happy with this because my opponent was stuck guarding that b-pawn with his bishop 26.Nxd4 Bxd4 27.Kf1 e5 [Another option was freezing the b-pawn with 27...c4 ;
or starting the march 27...Kc7 ] 28.Ke2 Kc7 [again 28...c4 ] 29.f3 Kc6 30.Kd3 Kb5 31.b3 a5 32.Bd2 a4 I was worried about 32.a4+ so I figured I'd go for the win here on the queenside. The idea being I trade off the bishops and then run over with my king and pick off the kingside pawns and promote. Ironically that's exactly how I lost 33.Kc2 axb3+ 34.Kxb3 c4+ 35.Kc2 Ka4 [35...Bc5 beats him to the spot forcing 36.Bc1 Ka4] 36.Bb4
36. ...Bc5?? A terrible decision [36...b5 was a million times better. Now the queenside pawns take care of themselves] 37.Bxc5 bxc5 38.Kc3 I totally missed that this move was possible when I "calculated" this line. It's just a loss from here 38...Kxa3 [My opponent told me after the game he thought there was a zugzwang after 38...Kb5 but 39.a4+ looks strong to me, as it did during the game. If I had known he thought it was a draw I probably would've offered one.] 39.Kxc4 Kb2 40.Kxc5 Kc3 41.Kd5 f6 42.Ke6 Kd3 43.Kf7 Ke3 44.Kxg7 Kf2 45.Kxh6 Kxg2 46.Kg6 Kxf3 47.Kxf6 Kxe4 48.h6 Kd4 49.h7 e4 50.h8Q Kd3 51.Qd8+ Ke2 52.Kf5 e3 53.Kf4 Kf2 54.Qd4 A pity that one bad move ruined 35 good ones, but that's the nature of chess. At this point I was sick of "moral" victories and dammit I wanted a real one! 1-0
CS - GW
Canadian Open U2000 Kitchener (5), 19.07.2006
D63 - QGD : Orthodox
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 Nbd7 5.Bg5 Be7 6.e3 0-0 7.Rc1 c6 8.cxd5 [8.Bd3 dxc4 9.Bxc4 Nd5 10.Bxe7 Qxe7 11.0-0 Nxc3 12.Rxc3 is the main line;
8.Qc2 is the Rubinstein attack. Both are interesting and will get further review in the future. The problem is that in my online play I have never gotten this far in the Queen's Gambit (theory-wise) and I got two games with this position in this tournament. Opening preparation will be different next year I believe.] 8...exd5 [8...Nxd5 9.Bxe7 Qxe7] 9.Bd3 h6 [9...Ne4 10.Bxe7 Qxe7 (10...Nxc3 11.Bxd8 Nxd1 12.Rxd1 Rxd8 13.0-0) 11.0-0] 10.Bh4 Ne8?! [I understand the motivation for this move, but that doesn't make it a good one. He is running out of decent squares for his pieces. Better would likely be 10...Nb6 ] 11.Bxe7 Qxe7 12.0-0 Nd6 [12...f5 I wonder if he could try and play something more aggressive like;
or even 12...Nef6 ] 13.Qc2 Ne8 [This made no sense to me. He must've realized I was hoping to play e4 so something like 13...Re8 ;
or even 13...Nf6 was better than dancing the knight back and forth] 14.Rfe1 Ndf6 15.e4 [It was time to open up the position. There would still be time for something like 15.Ne5 ] 15...dxe4 16.Nxe4 Nxe4 17.Bxe4 Be6 18.Ne5 [of course without me sweating at the board 18.d5! is a much better move 18...cxd5 (18...Bxd5? 19.Bxd5) 19.Bxd5 Rd8 20.Bxe6 fxe6 21.Qe4 and work on the pawn] 18...Nf6 19.Bf5 Not the greatest move, but it forces him to make decisions 19...Qd6 [19...Bxf5 20.Qxf5 is probably better and after 20...Qb4 i'm not sure what I'd do. I made some very significant moves in the past 10 or so, with respect to the way the game is going to go with pawn structure, etc.] 20.Bxe6 fxe6 21.Qg6 Again making him calculate. Anybody can make a mistake with a tactic 21...Rae8 [21...Qxd4 22.Rcd1 Qxb2 was better] 22.Rcd1 Nd5 23.g3 Not forcing but I was in no rush. It keeps his knight out of f4 and gives my king some luft 23...Qe7 24.Ng4 Qg5 25.Rxe6 [25.Qxg5 hxg5 26.Ne5] 25...Qxg6 26.Rxg6 Kh7 27.Rd6 Re7 28.Ne5 Rf6 29.Rd7 [Of course not 29.Rxf6 gxf6 giving up my beautiful square for the knight] 29...Rfe6 30.Rxe7 Rxe7 31.f4 g6 32.Kf2 Kg7 33.Re1 h5 34.a3 [34.a4 was probably more accurate] 34...Kf6 35.Nc4 Rxe1 36.Kxe1 h4 37.Kf2 hxg3+ 38.hxg3 g5 39.fxg5+ Kxg5 40.Kf3 Nc7 41.Na5 Nb5 42.Nb3 [Too cautious 42.Ke4 Nd6+ 43.Ke5 Nf7+ 44.Ke6 Nh6 45.Nxb7 Nf5 was probably stronger as my king has better position if he manages to grab a pawn back] 42...b6 43.a4 Nd6 44.Nd2 Kg6? [44...Nf5 45.Nb3 Nd6 would have made me "start from scratch" so to speak] 45.Kf4 Nf5 46.Nf3 It felt good to get back to -1 after the travesty from the day before. Kirk lost a tough Ruy Lopez today and took a bye the next round 1-0
JS - CS
Canadian Open U2000 Kitchener (6), 20.07.2006
B12 - Caro-Kann : Advance Variation
I got another 1700 player which was where I was hoping to do my feeding with regards to points. My opponent was a soft spoken gentleman from Fort Erie. He was playing this game with a Monroi device and in fact this game is probably online if somebody were to search hard enough 1.e4 Another 1.e4 1...c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Now I'm in familiar waters. I absolutely *love* defending the Caro-Kann Advanced 3...Bf5 4.Nf3 e6 5.Bd3 Bxd3 6.Qxd3 Ne7 [Apparently I can get away with 6...Qa5+ here. I read in a book that Nimzo recommended this move after 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Bd3 Bxd3 5.Qxd3 e6 6.f4 but didn't know about this move here. Interesting. Instead I go for the stereotypical "Karpov Knights" setup as you will see, and don't think for the next 10 moves or so.] 7.c3 Nd7 [7...Ng6 to switch gears and stop 8.Bf4 may have been better] 8.Bf4 c5 9.Nbd2 cxd4 10.cxd4 Ng6 11.Bg3 [I honestly thought he was going to play 11.Be3 ] 11...Bb4 12.0-0 Bxd2 13.Qxd2 0-0 14.h3 Rc8 So like I was saying, stereotypical play so far with equality. ...nd7, ...ne7, ...c5, ...cxd4, ...Rc8 15.Rfc1 Qb6 [15...Qe7 may have been better] 16.h4 Rc6? [At this point my sense of fear was gone 16...h6 ;
or even 16...Ne7 17.h5 Nf5 was better] 17.h5 Ne7 18.b3 [I would have continued 18.h6 and pushed the pressure a little further] 18...h6 [I didn't want to give him a second shot at h6 but after 18...Rfc8 19.h6 Rxc1+ 20.Rxc1 Rxc1+ 21.Qxc1 Nf5 I'm okay, and the rooks are off ;)] 19.Bf4 Kh7 [I wanted to avoid 19...Rfc8 20.Bxh6 gxh6 21.Qxh6 but I should've realized that this isn't ICC ;)] 20.Qd3+ g6 [Too bold 20...Kh8 was good enough] 21.Qd2 g5 22.Be3 f5 23.Rxc6 [23.exf6 Nxf6 24.Rxc6 Nxc6] 23...Qxc6 [I thought that the text was forced but making him sacrifice would have been better I think 23...Nxc6 24.Bxg5 hxg5 25.Nxg5+ Kg8 (25...Kh8 26.Nxe6 Rf7) 26.Nxe6;
23...bxc6 24.Bxg5 hxg5 25.Nxg5+] 24.Qb4! A strong move by him. I now see that I'm in trouble 24...Re8? [At this point I was tired and missed 24...Nc8 25.Rc1 Qb6] 25.Rc1 Qb6 26.Qxb6 Nxb6 27.Rc7 Kg8 28.g3 [Of course he's in no rush. 28.Rxb7 At this point I was exhausted from defending all game. ] 28...Nc6 29.Rxb7 Re7? [Probably a bad idea but I should've avoided the rook trade 29...Rf8 ] 30.Rxe7 Nxe7 31.Ne1 Nc6 [31...Kf7] 32.Nc2 Nd7 I decided I was going for the h-pawn 33.Kf1 Ndb8 34.Ke2 Na6 35.Bd2 Nc7 36.Kd3 Ne8 37.f3 Kf7 [My opponent the next day thought I should've tried 37...g4 but this loses after 38.fxg4 fxg4 39.Ne3!] 38.g4 f4 So I was totally happy with this position...figuring that my king could guard the kingside pawns and my knights could blockade the queenside...until I realized in horror that my king would always have to defend the f8 square as his bishop can munch the pawns. also if my king gets too far away, he can play the classic Bxf4 gxf4 g5 hxg5 h6! and promote 39.b4 Nc7 40.a4 a6 41.Na1 Nd8 42.Nb3 Ke7 43.Nc5 Kf7 44.Bc3 [44.b5 axb5 45.Ba5!;
44.Nxa6 Nxa6 45.b5 Nb8 46.a5] 44...Ke7 45.Kc2 [Again 45.b5 wins] 45...Nc6 46.Kb3 Na7 47.Nd3 Kf7 [He threatens 47...-- 48.Nxf4 gxf4 49.g5 hxg5 50.h6 if I move away] 48.Nc5 Ke7 49.Nb7 Nc8 50.Bd2 Nb6 51.Nd6 [Of course hoping he'll play 51.a5 ] 51...Nd7 52.b5 Finally 52...axb5 53.axb5 Nb6 54.Bb4 Kd7 55.Bc5 Nxb5 56.Bxb6 Nxd6 57.exd6 Kc6 58.Bc5 A tough game, but one I can learn from 1-0
Cdn Open 2006 Rounds 1-3
CS - ET (1429)
Canadian Open U2000 Kitchener (1), 15.07.2006
E73 - King's Indian : Averbakh Variation
This was my first ever Canadian Open game. I was the lowest rated player in the section so I got a first round bye, but luckily they paired me up against one of the organizers which was cool. Clinton had beaten him at the Team Tournament in Kitchener, so I knew that this was an excellent opportunity to start off at 1/1 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 This made me happy. I figured he would play the King's Indian because I recall seeing him reading "King's Indian Battle Plans" at the 2005 Active Tournament in Kitchener. 3.Nc3 Bg7 [I never got a chance to try out my Grünfeld idea of 3...d5 4.Bg5 Not the strongest, but lower chances of counterplay by Black. My goal was to limit my opponent's counterplay and win square by square] 4.e4 d6 5.Be2 0-0 6.Bg5 My newest anti-King's Indian system. I was inspired by Averbakh's play in "Tactics for Advanced Chess Players". The advantage as far as I'm concerned is that Black can't play stereotypically and I can actually get some advantage on the kingside 6...Nbd7 [Main line is a Benoni-esque 6...c5 7.d5 e6 which maybe my opponent would have picked if he had seen my third round game ;)] 7.Qd2 e5 8.d5 Nc5 I wonder if this wasn't best. Space is at a premium for Black and this encourages me to take more of it with an eventual b4 [Is 8...a5 first to stop b4 better?] 9.f3 [I could've played 9.b4 I missed that if 9...Ncxe4 10.Nxe4 Nxe4 11.Bxd8 Nxd2 I can play 12.Bxc7 and be up a pawn] 9...a6 10.Bd3 [Kirk thought I should play 10.b4 immediately. My idea was to trade off my light squared bishop and dominate on the light squares as his bishop was already his worst piece. Maybe a little ambitious] 10...Nxd3+ 11.Qxd3 h6 12.Be3 [I could've played 12.Bh4 and exit via f2 but I wanted to go at his king. My pieces are facing his king and he is a ways from being developed] 12...Bd7 13.Nge2 Kh7 [Maybe now was the time to play for f5 with 13...Ne8 14.0-0-0 let's say 14...f5 15.exf5 Bxf5 etc.] 14.h4 [I wasn't sure what to do with my king. If 14.Kd2 I can't continue the way I did because once he moves the bishop to h6 it pins] 14...h5 15.Bg5 Qc8 16.Kf2!? [I wanted to unify my rooks and come up the h-file. 16.0-0-0 didn't work for the same reason as;
16.Kd2;
16.0-0 brings pressure up the f-file instead. Maybe this was better] 16...Ne8 17.g4 f6 [I was more concerned with the concrete 17...hxg4 18.h5 gxf3 19.hxg6+ Kxg6 20.Be7 but he thinks he has an zwischenzug]
18.gxh5! If I would have retreated 17. ...f6 would have been a wonderful move. The exclam is not for the quality of the move, but for bravery. i was here to play chess and win, not to drop a pawn and suffer for 5 hours 18...fxg5 19.hxg5 Another important move. If I was playing blitz [I would've just played 19.hxg6+ Kxg6 20.hxg5 and been down material] 19...Bg4 20.f4 Bxh5?> [If 20...exf4 it looks tough for me 21.hxg6+ Kg8 22.Rh7 f3 23.Ng3]
21.Rxh5+ The logical continuation 21...gxh5= And here h3 offered a draw. I figured that Fritz would have him ahead (I am down a whole rook for a pawn) but I couldn't justify to myself accepting a draw when I have all the winning chances, he has no protection around his king and all his pieces are out of play 22.f5 Qd8 23.Rg1 Rg8 24.Qh3 Bf6? 25.Qxh5+ Kg7 26.gxf6+ A nice start, and an aggressive game which I was aiming for. 1-0
KG - CS
Canadian Open U2000 Kitchener (2), 16.07.2006
B18 - Caro-Kann : Classical Variation
Round Two. My opponent was a pleasant gentleman who had driven down the previous day from Winnipeg (!). I joked with him before the game that I was glad to face him in this round because he was likely tired and would be my best chance to beat him. It was tongue in cheek but probably true 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 [If I'm going to keep on playing the Caro, I need a more active line v. the mainline like 4...Nf6 5.Nxf6+ gxf6;
or 4...Nd7 ] 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.Nf3 Nd7 7.Bd3 [More regular here is 7.h4 h6 8.h5 Bh7 9.Bd3 Bxd3 10.Qxd3 Qc7 My opponent told me he avoided that line because he had some nice wins in the line he played 50 years ago (!)] 7...Ngf6 8.0-0 e6 9.Re1 Bd6 [9...Be7 is more popular theoretically as it avoids the pin by the rook.] 10.Nf5!? [10.c3;
and 10.c4 have been played at Grandmaster level before and I've faced;
10.Ne5 in blitz. The problem with this move is that he has to retreat his bishop after I castle. ] 10...Bxf5 Yes I undervalue the bishop pair, but I didn' t have much choice here 11.Bxf5 0-0 12.Bd3 [My opponent told me he thought about 12.Bh3 after the game.] 12...h6 [Kirk suggested the immediate 12...c5 here. I wanted to limit the scope of his dark squared bishop.] 13.c4 c5 14.Be3?! Maybe not the strongest move, but where was his dark squared bishop going to go? Is either Bd2 or pushing the b-pawn and fianchettoing any better than giving it up? 14...Ng4 I was happy here and have achieved my equality as Black...now time to play for a win ;) 15.g3 Nxe3 16.fxe3 [16.Rxe3 cxd4 17.Nxd4 Bc5] 16...cxd4 17.exd4 This is where I knew that i had an advantage but didn't know how to increase it. 17...b6 18.a3 Re8? [Probably 18...a5 was better, but I incorrectly thought that I could play ...a5 a move later and strike in the center with ...e5. The plan was too slow. In reality this was the losing move.] 19.b4 a5= I offered a draw here, but he is better 20.c5 bxc5 21.dxc5 Be7 [Kirk wondered why I wouldn't play 21...Bc7 here, but I wanted to get my bishop outside of the pawn chain and control the long diagonal from f6] 22.Rc1 [22.Bb5 Ra7 was tougher] 22...axb4 23.axb4 Rb8 [This rook went to b8 instead of 23...Rc8 because I wanted to pressure the pawn duo with rooks on b8 and c8] 24.Qd2 Qc7 25.Kg2 Red8 26.Bb1 Nxc5? [26...Nf6! of course did the same thign without giving up material and now I actually threaten something. There was a couple of games where I grabbed material without looking close enough to what my opponent was threatening. I got more out of the "sacrifice" than I deserved though] 27.Qc2 g6 [I wonder if 27...Bf6 was better. Saving me a tempo and not weakening my pawns 28.Qh7+ (Although I guess in this line he can play 28.Qxc5 ) 28...Kf8 29.Qh8+ Ke7] 28.bxc5 Bf6 29.Qe2?! [Allowing me to actually threaten something. If moved his queen off the second rank to somewhere like 29.Qe4 I probably could've resigned right away] 29...Rb2 30.Rc2 Rdb8 31.Nd2 [31.Qf1 Qxc5 may have been stronger for White but I still have some pressure] 31...Rxc2? [31...Bg5! looks strong. If 32.Qd3 (32.c6! is recommended by Fritz but I don't see why 32...Bxd2 33.Qxd2 Rxb1 34.Qd7! of course. Nice) 32...Qa5] 32.Bxc2 Qxc5 33.Ne4 Qc6 34.Kh3 Be7 [34...Bg7 was stronger because then I can try and pin a piece to his queen again] 35.Bd3 Qd7 36.Nf2 h5 37.Rd1 Qa7 Played solely to threaten to capture something if he moves his queen. It seemed like forever since I had put any pressure on him.
38.Bxg6! A nice move I overlooked 38...fxg6 39.Qxe6+ Kh7? [39...Kh8 and I'm still losing but I have some threats. At this point I was too tired to calculate all of this. 40.Rd7 Qxf2 41.Qe5+ (41.Qxe7 Qf5+ 42.Kg2 Rb2+ 43.Kg1 Qb1+ 44.Rd1 Qxd1+ 45.Qe1 Qxe1# It's checkmate arsehole) 41...Kh7 (41...Qf6 42.Qxb8+ Kg7 43.Qb5 (43.Qb4 Qf1#) 43...Qe6+ 44.Kg2 Qe4+; 42.Rxe7+ Kh6 43.Qg7+ (43.Qxb8 Qf1+ 44.Kh4 g5#) ] 40.Rd7 Qxf2 41.Qxe7+ Kh6 42.Qg7+ and even I could see that was mate. I ran out of gas and missed his giant mass of pawns coming on the queenside 1-0
CS - JP
Canadian Open U2000 Kitchener (3), 17.07.2006
A65 - Benoni
I knew I would get move ordered once this tournament and this was it 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 So I was happy...ready for a Nimzo, or maybe at worst a Queen's Gambit but instead he unleashed 3...c5 4.d5 [In my limited pre-tournament prep I decided I was going to avoid the Benoni-Benko phalanx and just play 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.Nf3. I couldn't decide whether 4.Nf3 was good enough here. ; A combination of chessgames.com and talking to Hans over lunch made me decide to try 4.e3 and aim for a Semi-Tarrasch-esque position next time this happens] 4...exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.e4 Even though the only thing I know about the Benoni is that it's important to control e5, I decide to aim for the Taimanov attack 6...a6 Now I'm totally out of book. The Taimanov goes [6...g6 7.f4 Bg7 8.Bb5+ Nfd7 etc.] 7.a4 g6 8.f4? Exposing my position unnecessarily and making Bf4 impossible for a while and not helping me castle or get my rooks connected [8.Nf3 would've helped me develop and allowed my king some protection and covered e5, even though chessgames.com says that Black has a good winning percentage vs. 8...Bg4 . Maybe something to think about myself as Black (!) 9.Bf4 Qe7 10.Bd3 Bg7 11.0-0 looks good enough for me] 8...Bg7 9.Nf3 0-0 10.Bd3 Re8 11.0-0 Nbd7 12.Re1 Again, still playing for the e5 push 12...Ng4 13.h3 Missing what he was really threatening 13...c4
14.Bxc4?? [You would think that after yesterday I would've learned my lesson about sham sacrifices and pawn grabbing etc. If I didn't intend to take the knight on g4 I should never have played h3. My position was so exposed around my king it was just a matter of time regardless. 14.hxg4 cxd3 15.Qxd3 (15.Be3 Nc5 16.Bxc5 dxc5 17.Qxd3 Bxg4) 15...Nc5 16.Qc2 Bxg4] 14...Qb6+ and I'm just lost 0-1
Canadian Open U2000 Kitchener (1), 15.07.2006
E73 - King's Indian : Averbakh Variation
This was my first ever Canadian Open game. I was the lowest rated player in the section so I got a first round bye, but luckily they paired me up against one of the organizers which was cool. Clinton had beaten him at the Team Tournament in Kitchener, so I knew that this was an excellent opportunity to start off at 1/1 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 This made me happy. I figured he would play the King's Indian because I recall seeing him reading "King's Indian Battle Plans" at the 2005 Active Tournament in Kitchener. 3.Nc3 Bg7 [I never got a chance to try out my Grünfeld idea of 3...d5 4.Bg5 Not the strongest, but lower chances of counterplay by Black. My goal was to limit my opponent's counterplay and win square by square] 4.e4 d6 5.Be2 0-0 6.Bg5 My newest anti-King's Indian system. I was inspired by Averbakh's play in "Tactics for Advanced Chess Players". The advantage as far as I'm concerned is that Black can't play stereotypically and I can actually get some advantage on the kingside 6...Nbd7 [Main line is a Benoni-esque 6...c5 7.d5 e6 which maybe my opponent would have picked if he had seen my third round game ;)] 7.Qd2 e5 8.d5 Nc5 I wonder if this wasn't best. Space is at a premium for Black and this encourages me to take more of it with an eventual b4 [Is 8...a5 first to stop b4 better?] 9.f3 [I could've played 9.b4 I missed that if 9...Ncxe4 10.Nxe4 Nxe4 11.Bxd8 Nxd2 I can play 12.Bxc7 and be up a pawn] 9...a6 10.Bd3 [Kirk thought I should play 10.b4 immediately. My idea was to trade off my light squared bishop and dominate on the light squares as his bishop was already his worst piece. Maybe a little ambitious] 10...Nxd3+ 11.Qxd3 h6 12.Be3 [I could've played 12.Bh4 and exit via f2 but I wanted to go at his king. My pieces are facing his king and he is a ways from being developed] 12...Bd7 13.Nge2 Kh7 [Maybe now was the time to play for f5 with 13...Ne8 14.0-0-0 let's say 14...f5 15.exf5 Bxf5 etc.] 14.h4 [I wasn't sure what to do with my king. If 14.Kd2 I can't continue the way I did because once he moves the bishop to h6 it pins] 14...h5 15.Bg5 Qc8 16.Kf2!? [I wanted to unify my rooks and come up the h-file. 16.0-0-0 didn't work for the same reason as;
16.Kd2;
16.0-0 brings pressure up the f-file instead. Maybe this was better] 16...Ne8 17.g4 f6 [I was more concerned with the concrete 17...hxg4 18.h5 gxf3 19.hxg6+ Kxg6 20.Be7 but he thinks he has an zwischenzug]
18.gxh5! If I would have retreated 17. ...f6 would have been a wonderful move. The exclam is not for the quality of the move, but for bravery. i was here to play chess and win, not to drop a pawn and suffer for 5 hours 18...fxg5 19.hxg5 Another important move. If I was playing blitz [I would've just played 19.hxg6+ Kxg6 20.hxg5 and been down material] 19...Bg4 20.f4 Bxh5?> [If 20...exf4 it looks tough for me 21.hxg6+ Kg8 22.Rh7 f3 23.Ng3]
21.Rxh5+ The logical continuation 21...gxh5= And here h3 offered a draw. I figured that Fritz would have him ahead (I am down a whole rook for a pawn) but I couldn't justify to myself accepting a draw when I have all the winning chances, he has no protection around his king and all his pieces are out of play 22.f5 Qd8 23.Rg1 Rg8 24.Qh3 Bf6? 25.Qxh5+ Kg7 26.gxf6+ A nice start, and an aggressive game which I was aiming for. 1-0
KG - CS
Canadian Open U2000 Kitchener (2), 16.07.2006
B18 - Caro-Kann : Classical Variation
Round Two. My opponent was a pleasant gentleman who had driven down the previous day from Winnipeg (!). I joked with him before the game that I was glad to face him in this round because he was likely tired and would be my best chance to beat him. It was tongue in cheek but probably true 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 [If I'm going to keep on playing the Caro, I need a more active line v. the mainline like 4...Nf6 5.Nxf6+ gxf6;
or 4...Nd7 ] 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.Nf3 Nd7 7.Bd3 [More regular here is 7.h4 h6 8.h5 Bh7 9.Bd3 Bxd3 10.Qxd3 Qc7 My opponent told me he avoided that line because he had some nice wins in the line he played 50 years ago (!)] 7...Ngf6 8.0-0 e6 9.Re1 Bd6 [9...Be7 is more popular theoretically as it avoids the pin by the rook.] 10.Nf5!? [10.c3;
and 10.c4 have been played at Grandmaster level before and I've faced;
10.Ne5 in blitz. The problem with this move is that he has to retreat his bishop after I castle. ] 10...Bxf5 Yes I undervalue the bishop pair, but I didn' t have much choice here 11.Bxf5 0-0 12.Bd3 [My opponent told me he thought about 12.Bh3 after the game.] 12...h6 [Kirk suggested the immediate 12...c5 here. I wanted to limit the scope of his dark squared bishop.] 13.c4 c5 14.Be3?! Maybe not the strongest move, but where was his dark squared bishop going to go? Is either Bd2 or pushing the b-pawn and fianchettoing any better than giving it up? 14...Ng4 I was happy here and have achieved my equality as Black...now time to play for a win ;) 15.g3 Nxe3 16.fxe3 [16.Rxe3 cxd4 17.Nxd4 Bc5] 16...cxd4 17.exd4 This is where I knew that i had an advantage but didn't know how to increase it. 17...b6 18.a3 Re8? [Probably 18...a5 was better, but I incorrectly thought that I could play ...a5 a move later and strike in the center with ...e5. The plan was too slow. In reality this was the losing move.] 19.b4 a5= I offered a draw here, but he is better 20.c5 bxc5 21.dxc5 Be7 [Kirk wondered why I wouldn't play 21...Bc7 here, but I wanted to get my bishop outside of the pawn chain and control the long diagonal from f6] 22.Rc1 [22.Bb5 Ra7 was tougher] 22...axb4 23.axb4 Rb8 [This rook went to b8 instead of 23...Rc8 because I wanted to pressure the pawn duo with rooks on b8 and c8] 24.Qd2 Qc7 25.Kg2 Red8 26.Bb1 Nxc5? [26...Nf6! of course did the same thign without giving up material and now I actually threaten something. There was a couple of games where I grabbed material without looking close enough to what my opponent was threatening. I got more out of the "sacrifice" than I deserved though] 27.Qc2 g6 [I wonder if 27...Bf6 was better. Saving me a tempo and not weakening my pawns 28.Qh7+ (Although I guess in this line he can play 28.Qxc5 ) 28...Kf8 29.Qh8+ Ke7] 28.bxc5 Bf6 29.Qe2?! [Allowing me to actually threaten something. If moved his queen off the second rank to somewhere like 29.Qe4 I probably could've resigned right away] 29...Rb2 30.Rc2 Rdb8 31.Nd2 [31.Qf1 Qxc5 may have been stronger for White but I still have some pressure] 31...Rxc2? [31...Bg5! looks strong. If 32.Qd3 (32.c6! is recommended by Fritz but I don't see why 32...Bxd2 33.Qxd2 Rxb1 34.Qd7! of course. Nice) 32...Qa5] 32.Bxc2 Qxc5 33.Ne4 Qc6 34.Kh3 Be7 [34...Bg7 was stronger because then I can try and pin a piece to his queen again] 35.Bd3 Qd7 36.Nf2 h5 37.Rd1 Qa7 Played solely to threaten to capture something if he moves his queen. It seemed like forever since I had put any pressure on him.
38.Bxg6! A nice move I overlooked 38...fxg6 39.Qxe6+ Kh7? [39...Kh8 and I'm still losing but I have some threats. At this point I was too tired to calculate all of this. 40.Rd7 Qxf2 41.Qe5+ (41.Qxe7 Qf5+ 42.Kg2 Rb2+ 43.Kg1 Qb1+ 44.Rd1 Qxd1+ 45.Qe1 Qxe1# It's checkmate arsehole) 41...Kh7 (41...Qf6 42.Qxb8+ Kg7 43.Qb5 (43.Qb4 Qf1#) 43...Qe6+ 44.Kg2 Qe4+; 42.Rxe7+ Kh6 43.Qg7+ (43.Qxb8 Qf1+ 44.Kh4 g5#) ] 40.Rd7 Qxf2 41.Qxe7+ Kh6 42.Qg7+ and even I could see that was mate. I ran out of gas and missed his giant mass of pawns coming on the queenside 1-0
CS - JP
Canadian Open U2000 Kitchener (3), 17.07.2006
A65 - Benoni
I knew I would get move ordered once this tournament and this was it 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 So I was happy...ready for a Nimzo, or maybe at worst a Queen's Gambit but instead he unleashed 3...c5 4.d5 [In my limited pre-tournament prep I decided I was going to avoid the Benoni-Benko phalanx and just play 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.Nf3. I couldn't decide whether 4.Nf3 was good enough here. ; A combination of chessgames.com and talking to Hans over lunch made me decide to try 4.e3 and aim for a Semi-Tarrasch-esque position next time this happens] 4...exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.e4 Even though the only thing I know about the Benoni is that it's important to control e5, I decide to aim for the Taimanov attack 6...a6 Now I'm totally out of book. The Taimanov goes [6...g6 7.f4 Bg7 8.Bb5+ Nfd7 etc.] 7.a4 g6 8.f4? Exposing my position unnecessarily and making Bf4 impossible for a while and not helping me castle or get my rooks connected [8.Nf3 would've helped me develop and allowed my king some protection and covered e5, even though chessgames.com says that Black has a good winning percentage vs. 8...Bg4 . Maybe something to think about myself as Black (!) 9.Bf4 Qe7 10.Bd3 Bg7 11.0-0 looks good enough for me] 8...Bg7 9.Nf3 0-0 10.Bd3 Re8 11.0-0 Nbd7 12.Re1 Again, still playing for the e5 push 12...Ng4 13.h3 Missing what he was really threatening 13...c4
14.Bxc4?? [You would think that after yesterday I would've learned my lesson about sham sacrifices and pawn grabbing etc. If I didn't intend to take the knight on g4 I should never have played h3. My position was so exposed around my king it was just a matter of time regardless. 14.hxg4 cxd3 15.Qxd3 (15.Be3 Nc5 16.Bxc5 dxc5 17.Qxd3 Bxg4) 15...Nc5 16.Qc2 Bxg4] 14...Qb6+ and I'm just lost 0-1
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