C - K [D35]
G/25 04.06.2011
In preparation for a summer tournament we decided to get together and play a QGD G/25 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 c6 5.cxd5 [I know I could play but he plays the Cambridge Springs and I don't like it 5.Nf3 ] 5...exd5 6.e3 Be7 7.Bd3 0-0 8.Qc2 h6 9.Bh4 Be6 10.Nf3 Nbd7 11.0-0 Rc8 [I thought I had the exact same position as in a current correspondence game that I have but my memory is obviously faulty. 11...Re8 12.Bg3 Nh5 13.Be5 Bg4 14.Ne1 Nhf6 15.h3 Be6 16.f4 etc] 12.Ne5 [If I wanted to try something like this maybe 12.h3 Re8 13.Ne5 Nxe5 14.dxe5 Nd7 15.Bg3 Nc5] 12...Nxe5 13.dxe5 Ng4 The first of many oversights this game...dropping a pawn 14.Bg3 Qc7 [Fritz liked 14...Bh4 better, stopping anything funny] 15.Qe2? [15.Be2! was better. I didn't even look at this because I didn't realize my Bd3 was attacked;
After the game we looked at 15.Bf5 Nxe5 but it had the same problems] 15...Nxe5 16.Bc2 [Shoudl have put some pressure on him 16.Rac1 ] 16...Bd6 17.f4 Bg4! Not sure if it was the best move but i definitely overlooked it 18.Qf2 [18.fxe5 Bxe2 19.exd6 Qb6 20.Nxe2] 18...Nc4 19.b3 Na3 Despite the material (and looming pin) I thought I was still good mainly because of this awful knight. 20.Bd3 Rfe8 21.Ne2? [K thought that 21.Kh1 was good] 21...Bxe2 22.Bxe2? [22.Qxe2 Bc5 23.Bf2 etc] 22...Bc5 23.f5 Qb6 24.Kh1 Nc2 25.f6 Nxe3 26.Qf3 Nxf1 27.Rxf1 g6 28.Bd3 Re3 29.Qf4?? [Short on time I missed 29.Qg4! saving the game as it gains me a tempo since the rook is attacked] 29...Rxd3 30.Qxh6 Bf8! 31.Qf4 Qd4 32.Qg5 Rd1 yes i got run over (badly) but it was nice to play. i'm impressed how much effort K has put into this 0-1
any ideas on a good line v. mainlain Scandinavian? That was something else that came up in conversation...let me know :)
Showing posts with label Queen's Gambit Declined. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Queen's Gambit Declined. Show all posts
Saturday, June 04, 2011
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Game 5
C - K
D35 - Queen's Gambit Declined : Exchange
Match Owen Sound (5), 20.05.2008
1.c4 Nf6 This was surprising. I played 2.d4 because he mentioned he was thinking about playing the Queen's Indian 2...c6 I don't believe there's a way to punish this move order, can't stop him from playing ...d5. Anand has played it. Kirk may have just allowed me to start playing the Semi-Slav again (without allowing the Colle) :) 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 e6 5.cxd5!? [Not the best move but I didn't want to play v. the Cambridge Springs after 5.Bg5 ;
I didn't know the Shirov-Shabalov Gambit and I would feel funny playing the Meran for the first time in my life 5.e3. I had thought about this eventuality before the match started and decided to stick to my prep and play the exchange ] 5...exd5 [5...cxd5 is a bad Slav Exchange] 6.Bg5 Bf5? [6...Be7;
or 6...Nbd7 transpose to a normal QGD Exchange, but Kirk wanted to try and punish my move order, by getting the bishop out before his knight] 7.e3 [I knew that 7.Qb3 was probably stronger as moving the b-pawn was forced because he can't move his queen, but I wasn't interested in refuting. I wanted to try and push on the queenside] 7...Nbd7 [He could've tried 7...Qb6 here] 8.Bd3 Bxd3 9.Qxd3 g6
I had a couple of ideas here. I could've played on the queenside, pushed the e-pawn and played with the IQP or pushed h4 and went for the kingside attack. I thought I'd castle and decide between b4 and e4 10.0-0 Bg7 11.b4 [Kirk seemed to think that 11.e4 dxe4 12.Nxe4 0-0 13.Rfe1 was something fabulous, but I saw nothing great about it and I gave myself an isolated pawn for him to beat up on after something like 13...Qb6 14.Nxf6+ Nxf6 15.-- Nd5] 11...0-0 12.b5 [I could've tried 12.Rab1 ] 12...Qc7 Getting out of the pin 13.bxc6?! [13.Rab1 -- 14.Rfc1 was better 14...--;
I could've also tempoed his queen to a worse square 13.Bf4 ] 13...bxc6 14.Rfc1 Leaving the option of Rab1 open. I intended to protect the Rb8 by Bf4 eventually 14...Qd6 15.Bf4 Qe6 16.Na4 Ne4 [Fritz preferred getting rid of my bishop with 16...Nh5 ] 17.Nd2? [17.Rab1 -- 18.Rb7] 17...f5 [17...g5 would have traded off the bishop in all likelihood;
17...c5 was good as well] 18.Nxe4 fxe4 I wasn't worried about the position here because of the pressure on the backward c-pawn and he can't easily attack down the f-file. The one tactic I have to look out for is Bxd4, exd4, Rxf4 19.Qc3 Rac8 20.Nc5 Nxc5 21.Qxc5 Rf7! An obvious move but now can use Alekhine's Gun up the f-file and he also protects the a-pawn. I lost the thread here somewhere. I was going to try and trade off one pair of rooks and win either the c- or a-pawn 22.Rab1 Bf8 23.Qa5 Bd6 [23...Bg7 Renewing the threat of Bxd4 was okay] 24.Bxd6 Qxd6 25.Qa6 Qf6?? Big blunder. Kirk played pretty good up to this point [25...Rcc7 was decent, but I am bringing up pressure and that c-pawn is going to be hard to hold] 26.Qxc8+ So I'm up 3½-1½. Kirk hasn't played that well but like he said he hasn't looked at much chess lately 1-0
D35 - Queen's Gambit Declined : Exchange
Match Owen Sound (5), 20.05.2008
1.c4 Nf6 This was surprising. I played 2.d4 because he mentioned he was thinking about playing the Queen's Indian 2...c6 I don't believe there's a way to punish this move order, can't stop him from playing ...d5. Anand has played it. Kirk may have just allowed me to start playing the Semi-Slav again (without allowing the Colle) :) 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 e6 5.cxd5!? [Not the best move but I didn't want to play v. the Cambridge Springs after 5.Bg5 ;
I didn't know the Shirov-Shabalov Gambit and I would feel funny playing the Meran for the first time in my life 5.e3. I had thought about this eventuality before the match started and decided to stick to my prep and play the exchange ] 5...exd5 [5...cxd5 is a bad Slav Exchange] 6.Bg5 Bf5? [6...Be7;
or 6...Nbd7 transpose to a normal QGD Exchange, but Kirk wanted to try and punish my move order, by getting the bishop out before his knight] 7.e3 [I knew that 7.Qb3 was probably stronger as moving the b-pawn was forced because he can't move his queen, but I wasn't interested in refuting. I wanted to try and push on the queenside] 7...Nbd7 [He could've tried 7...Qb6 here] 8.Bd3 Bxd3 9.Qxd3 g6
I had a couple of ideas here. I could've played on the queenside, pushed the e-pawn and played with the IQP or pushed h4 and went for the kingside attack. I thought I'd castle and decide between b4 and e4 10.0-0 Bg7 11.b4 [Kirk seemed to think that 11.e4 dxe4 12.Nxe4 0-0 13.Rfe1 was something fabulous, but I saw nothing great about it and I gave myself an isolated pawn for him to beat up on after something like 13...Qb6 14.Nxf6+ Nxf6 15.-- Nd5] 11...0-0 12.b5 [I could've tried 12.Rab1 ] 12...Qc7 Getting out of the pin 13.bxc6?! [13.Rab1 -- 14.Rfc1 was better 14...--;
I could've also tempoed his queen to a worse square 13.Bf4 ] 13...bxc6 14.Rfc1 Leaving the option of Rab1 open. I intended to protect the Rb8 by Bf4 eventually 14...Qd6 15.Bf4 Qe6 16.Na4 Ne4 [Fritz preferred getting rid of my bishop with 16...Nh5 ] 17.Nd2? [17.Rab1 -- 18.Rb7] 17...f5 [17...g5 would have traded off the bishop in all likelihood;
17...c5 was good as well] 18.Nxe4 fxe4 I wasn't worried about the position here because of the pressure on the backward c-pawn and he can't easily attack down the f-file. The one tactic I have to look out for is Bxd4, exd4, Rxf4 19.Qc3 Rac8 20.Nc5 Nxc5 21.Qxc5 Rf7! An obvious move but now can use Alekhine's Gun up the f-file and he also protects the a-pawn. I lost the thread here somewhere. I was going to try and trade off one pair of rooks and win either the c- or a-pawn 22.Rab1 Bf8 23.Qa5 Bd6 [23...Bg7 Renewing the threat of Bxd4 was okay] 24.Bxd6 Qxd6 25.Qa6 Qf6?? Big blunder. Kirk played pretty good up to this point [25...Rcc7 was decent, but I am bringing up pressure and that c-pawn is going to be hard to hold] 26.Qxc8+ So I'm up 3½-1½. Kirk hasn't played that well but like he said he hasn't looked at much chess lately 1-0
Sunday, May 04, 2008
Match v. K.
Me and K decided to have a 6-game rated active match. It didn't start off too good for me. I will annotate the games after the match lest i give away some ideas
C - K
D36 - Queen's Gambit Declined : Exchange, 6.Qc2
Match Owen Sound (1), 03.05.2008
This was my favourite game of the match, despite the result 1.d4 d5 A good choice by Kirk, avoiding the French. He was pretty sure I wasn't going to allow him to play the Cambridge Springs, so he could count on the QGD 2.c4 e6 [If he tried to get into the Semi-Slav via 2...c6 I was going to play 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.cxd5 and either get a great Slav Exchange or play a QGD Exchange with Nf3] 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bg5 c6 6.Qc2 Be7 7.e3 g6?! Normally this is played with the inclusion of Nf3 so after [7...g6 8.Nf3 Black can play 8...Bf5 9.Bd3 Bxd3 10.Qxd3 etc.;
7...Nbd7;
or 7...0-0 are theory. The position almost ends up like a Grünfeld with Bg5, e3 etc. It's interesting. I wonder if Kirk will try to improve him move order next time.] 8.Bd3 0-0 [8...Nbd7 has been played by a couple of people including Tom O'Donnell;
The immediate 8...Nh5 is not good because of 9.Bxe7 Kxe7 (9...Qxe7 10.Nxd5 cxd5 11.Qxc8+) 10.Nf3 and so on] 9.Nge2 Played with the wrong intentions. This should have been played with the intention of castling kingside, playing f3 and e4 etc. Instead I wanted to keep the option of kingside castling open. [9.Nf3 was just as good. I don't have to play the QGD EXchange without Nf3] 9...Nh5 10.Bxe7 Qxe7 11.Ng3? [Not the best move in the world. King safety should have been higher on my list 11.0-0 ] 11...Nxg3 [During the game I thought that 11...Nf4 was good with something along the lines of 12.0-0 Nxd3 13.Qxd3 sure it takes a few moves, but his position is okay] 12.hxg3 Bg4 13.Ne2 Again with the intention of castling, but I get greedy [13.Kd2 may have been okay, not worrying about castling at all, but i was worried about an eventual ...c5 and opening all the lines to my king] 13...Nd7 14.f3 Qxe3!? [I thought that getting tempo with 14...Be6 ;
or something like 14...Qb4+ 15.Qd2 Qxd2+ 16.Kxd2 was forced. I've got to look wider] 15.fxg4 Rfe8 16.Qd2 [16.Kd1 getting rid of the pin was good] 16...Qxg3+ [16...Qxd4 was probably as good, gettign rid of a central pawn and leaving me with the Irish pawns
Now my king being in the center (and the queen being on the king's safest square d2) i'm in trouble. But so is his king, it's a race to see who gets mated first] 17.Kd1 Qxg4 18.Kc2? [To connect rooks but 18.Qh6 allowing my king to get to d2 (which i missed) was a lot better 18...Nf6 19.Kd2] 18...Nf6 19.Raf1 I thought I was in good shape here 19...Ne4 20.Qh6 Ng5 21.Kc3? [21.Rf2! was the move because it overprotected everything allowing me to trap his queen. the threat is 21...-- 22.Rh4 Qe6 23.Qxg5 and so on. I didn't even look for quiet moves. I wasn't ready for this game] 21...c5 22.Rf4 cxd4+ 23.Rxd4 Rac8+ 24.Kd2?? [I was in time trouble, but this was still exactly the wrong move 24.Kb3 because my rook controlled the entry file 24...Qxg2 25.Rh2 and I'm set 25...Qf1 (25...Rxe2 26.Rxg2 Rxg2 is best according to Fritz) 26.Qxg5] 24...Rxe2+ 25.Bxe2 Qxd4+ 26.Ke1 Rc1+ Nicely played game by Kirk. Taking advantage of what I gave him. I had a bit of time trouble but didn't look hard enough when it needed looking. I thought far too hard (and long) about responding to 9. ...Nh5. I didn't realize that d2 was the safest spot for my king until i looked at the game after
In the next game I am going to start with 1.c4 and transpose back into the same line. I won't be so worried about playing Nf4 and will probably play 9.Nf3 this time 0-1
K - C [B22]
B22 - Sicilian : Alapin variation
Match Owen Sound (2), 03.05.2008
1.e4 c5 2.c3!? [A big surprise. I got cautious. Normally he had played (and I had readied myself for) 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be2 e5 7.Nb3 Be6 et al. I knew I had to be careful because he normally sticks to his repertoire] 2...d5 [Because I was nervous I decided to play this instead of my usual 2...Nf6 3.e5 Nd5 4.d4 cxd4 5.cxd4 thinking something was up. Something was up but unfortunately it was in this line 5...Nc6 6.Nf3 d6 7.Bc4 Nb6 8.Bb3 d5 is a line. i will check out others] 3.exd5 Qxd5 4.d4 e6 5.Nf3 Nf6 6.Na3! This was something specially prepared by Kirk. Good for him I said. 6...cxd4 [6...Qd8 is the main line, but I didn't want to waste a tempo. This actually looks better for White. Crazy. It tranposes back to a 1.e4 c5 2.Na3 game with 7.Nc2 Tiviakov has made a living out of this line. Do I look for an improvement earlier?] 7.Nb5 Na6 8.Qa4!? Another interesting move by Kirk. He brought his creativity if nothing else 8...Qe4+? [I couldn't make this work after something like 8...Bd7 9.Qxd4 (9.Qxa6 Qe4+ Of course! Intermezzo. Dammit) 9...Bc5 was much better] 9.Be2 Bd7 10.Qxd4 Bc5 11.Nc7+ [11.Qxc5 Nxc5 12.Nd6+ may have been good if he really wanted to get the queens off] 11...Nxc7 12.Qxc5 Na6 [A more active move was 12...Ncd5 ] 13.Qe5 0-0 14.0-0 Qc6 15.Bh6 Qd5 I'll have to look at this move order after 16.Qxd5 Nxd5 17.Bxa6 bxa6 and he's better 18.Bd2 Rab8 19.b3 Rfc8 20.c4 I was mentally defeated here, playing stupid moves, but i couldn't find any play. 20...Nf6 21.Rfe1?! [21.Rfd1 would've taken care of what few chances i have] 21...Bc6 22.Ne5 Be4 23.Bg5 Bg6 24.Bxf6 gxf6 25.Nd7 i missed this. Now in addition to a terrible, passive position i am down a pawn 25...Rb7 26.Nxf6+ Kg7 27.Ne4 Rd8 28.f3 [28.Nc5 would've made doubling up on the d-file impossible 28...Rb6 29.Rad1 looks good] 28...Rbd7 29.Rac1 [29.Kf2 would've saved the day] 29...Bxe4= [29...Bxe4= Kirk offered a draw but Fritz thinks overwise. Let's see 30.fxe4 Rd2 31.Ra1 Rb2 32.Red1 works. darn it 32...Rxd1+ 33.Rxd1 Rxa2 34.Rd7 Rb2 35.Rxa7 Rxb3 36.Rxa6 Rc3 37.Rc6 Kf6 even still this would have taken some finesse.
For next game I will have to decide whether to try this line again, or to play the Alekhine-esque 2. ...Nf6.
But the real question is do i find a line of the Bayonet which I think i will like? That's probably the best thing i can do for round 4.] ½-½
C - K
D36 - Queen's Gambit Declined : Exchange, 6.Qc2
Match Owen Sound (1), 03.05.2008
This was my favourite game of the match, despite the result 1.d4 d5 A good choice by Kirk, avoiding the French. He was pretty sure I wasn't going to allow him to play the Cambridge Springs, so he could count on the QGD 2.c4 e6 [If he tried to get into the Semi-Slav via 2...c6 I was going to play 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.cxd5 and either get a great Slav Exchange or play a QGD Exchange with Nf3] 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bg5 c6 6.Qc2 Be7 7.e3 g6?! Normally this is played with the inclusion of Nf3 so after [7...g6 8.Nf3 Black can play 8...Bf5 9.Bd3 Bxd3 10.Qxd3 etc.;
7...Nbd7;
or 7...0-0 are theory. The position almost ends up like a Grünfeld with Bg5, e3 etc. It's interesting. I wonder if Kirk will try to improve him move order next time.] 8.Bd3 0-0 [8...Nbd7 has been played by a couple of people including Tom O'Donnell;
The immediate 8...Nh5 is not good because of 9.Bxe7 Kxe7 (9...Qxe7 10.Nxd5 cxd5 11.Qxc8+) 10.Nf3 and so on] 9.Nge2 Played with the wrong intentions. This should have been played with the intention of castling kingside, playing f3 and e4 etc. Instead I wanted to keep the option of kingside castling open. [9.Nf3 was just as good. I don't have to play the QGD EXchange without Nf3] 9...Nh5 10.Bxe7 Qxe7 11.Ng3? [Not the best move in the world. King safety should have been higher on my list 11.0-0 ] 11...Nxg3 [During the game I thought that 11...Nf4 was good with something along the lines of 12.0-0 Nxd3 13.Qxd3 sure it takes a few moves, but his position is okay] 12.hxg3 Bg4 13.Ne2 Again with the intention of castling, but I get greedy [13.Kd2 may have been okay, not worrying about castling at all, but i was worried about an eventual ...c5 and opening all the lines to my king] 13...Nd7 14.f3 Qxe3!? [I thought that getting tempo with 14...Be6 ;
or something like 14...Qb4+ 15.Qd2 Qxd2+ 16.Kxd2 was forced. I've got to look wider] 15.fxg4 Rfe8 16.Qd2 [16.Kd1 getting rid of the pin was good] 16...Qxg3+ [16...Qxd4 was probably as good, gettign rid of a central pawn and leaving me with the Irish pawns
Now my king being in the center (and the queen being on the king's safest square d2) i'm in trouble. But so is his king, it's a race to see who gets mated first] 17.Kd1 Qxg4 18.Kc2? [To connect rooks but 18.Qh6 allowing my king to get to d2 (which i missed) was a lot better 18...Nf6 19.Kd2] 18...Nf6 19.Raf1 I thought I was in good shape here 19...Ne4 20.Qh6 Ng5 21.Kc3? [21.Rf2! was the move because it overprotected everything allowing me to trap his queen. the threat is 21...-- 22.Rh4 Qe6 23.Qxg5 and so on. I didn't even look for quiet moves. I wasn't ready for this game] 21...c5 22.Rf4 cxd4+ 23.Rxd4 Rac8+ 24.Kd2?? [I was in time trouble, but this was still exactly the wrong move 24.Kb3 because my rook controlled the entry file 24...Qxg2 25.Rh2 and I'm set 25...Qf1 (25...Rxe2 26.Rxg2 Rxg2 is best according to Fritz) 26.Qxg5] 24...Rxe2+ 25.Bxe2 Qxd4+ 26.Ke1 Rc1+ Nicely played game by Kirk. Taking advantage of what I gave him. I had a bit of time trouble but didn't look hard enough when it needed looking. I thought far too hard (and long) about responding to 9. ...Nh5. I didn't realize that d2 was the safest spot for my king until i looked at the game after
In the next game I am going to start with 1.c4 and transpose back into the same line. I won't be so worried about playing Nf4 and will probably play 9.Nf3 this time 0-1
K - C [B22]
B22 - Sicilian : Alapin variation
Match Owen Sound (2), 03.05.2008
1.e4 c5 2.c3!? [A big surprise. I got cautious. Normally he had played (and I had readied myself for) 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be2 e5 7.Nb3 Be6 et al. I knew I had to be careful because he normally sticks to his repertoire] 2...d5 [Because I was nervous I decided to play this instead of my usual 2...Nf6 3.e5 Nd5 4.d4 cxd4 5.cxd4 thinking something was up. Something was up but unfortunately it was in this line 5...Nc6 6.Nf3 d6 7.Bc4 Nb6 8.Bb3 d5 is a line. i will check out others] 3.exd5 Qxd5 4.d4 e6 5.Nf3 Nf6 6.Na3! This was something specially prepared by Kirk. Good for him I said. 6...cxd4 [6...Qd8 is the main line, but I didn't want to waste a tempo. This actually looks better for White. Crazy. It tranposes back to a 1.e4 c5 2.Na3 game with 7.Nc2 Tiviakov has made a living out of this line. Do I look for an improvement earlier?] 7.Nb5 Na6 8.Qa4!? Another interesting move by Kirk. He brought his creativity if nothing else 8...Qe4+? [I couldn't make this work after something like 8...Bd7 9.Qxd4 (9.Qxa6 Qe4+ Of course! Intermezzo. Dammit) 9...Bc5 was much better] 9.Be2 Bd7 10.Qxd4 Bc5 11.Nc7+ [11.Qxc5 Nxc5 12.Nd6+ may have been good if he really wanted to get the queens off] 11...Nxc7 12.Qxc5 Na6 [A more active move was 12...Ncd5 ] 13.Qe5 0-0 14.0-0 Qc6 15.Bh6 Qd5 I'll have to look at this move order after 16.Qxd5 Nxd5 17.Bxa6 bxa6 and he's better 18.Bd2 Rab8 19.b3 Rfc8 20.c4 I was mentally defeated here, playing stupid moves, but i couldn't find any play. 20...Nf6 21.Rfe1?! [21.Rfd1 would've taken care of what few chances i have] 21...Bc6 22.Ne5 Be4 23.Bg5 Bg6 24.Bxf6 gxf6 25.Nd7 i missed this. Now in addition to a terrible, passive position i am down a pawn 25...Rb7 26.Nxf6+ Kg7 27.Ne4 Rd8 28.f3 [28.Nc5 would've made doubling up on the d-file impossible 28...Rb6 29.Rad1 looks good] 28...Rbd7 29.Rac1 [29.Kf2 would've saved the day] 29...Bxe4= [29...Bxe4= Kirk offered a draw but Fritz thinks overwise. Let's see 30.fxe4 Rd2 31.Ra1 Rb2 32.Red1 works. darn it 32...Rxd1+ 33.Rxd1 Rxa2 34.Rd7 Rb2 35.Rxa7 Rxb3 36.Rxa6 Rc3 37.Rc6 Kf6 even still this would have taken some finesse.
For next game I will have to decide whether to try this line again, or to play the Alekhine-esque 2. ...Nf6.
But the real question is do i find a line of the Bayonet which I think i will like? That's probably the best thing i can do for round 4.] ½-½
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
i almost forgot...
my/janowski's defense to the queen's gambit
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 a6!? (or 3. ...Nf6 4.Nf3 a6)
the idea is to get an improved Slav where Black can play ...c5 in one move. It's very interesting I think. I was going through my old blitz database this morning and found a couple of games from 2006 from me in this line (+1, =2, -0)
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 a6!? (or 3. ...Nf6 4.Nf3 a6)
the idea is to get an improved Slav where Black can play ...c5 in one move. It's very interesting I think. I was going through my old blitz database this morning and found a couple of games from 2006 from me in this line (+1, =2, -0)
Monday, March 12, 2007
game 4 on the bike
C - K
Sadler_C - Sadler_K
G20 On The Bike Owen Sound (4), 12.03.2007
D35 - Queen's Gambit Declined : Exchange Variation
1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.Nc3 c6 5.Bg5 Unlike last game I had decided I was going to give a crack at the Botvinnik 5...Nbd7 [5...dxc4] 6.cxd5 exd5 7.e3 Bb4 [The opening books say that the text is too loose and 7...Be7 is better here] 8.Qc2 [I was going to try 8.a3 here and see if I could get a bad Nimzo (he has played ...c6) but decided against it 8...Bxc3+ 9.bxc3] 8...Qa5 This probably transposes into what he wanted (Cambridge Springs) 9.Bd3 0-0 10.0-0 c5? [10...Re8 has been played here;
I don't see a good move for him to free his light squared bishop 10...h6 but i can just play 11.Bh4 Re8 12.a3 etc.] 11.Nxd5 i'm just happy i saw this...normally i don't see anything 11...Nxd5 12.Bxh7+ Kh8 13.a3 g6 14.axb4 Qxb4 15.Bxg6 [My original idea was to play somethign like 15.Be7 and then 16.Ng5 but of course with the knight on d5 that is no good] 15...fxg6 16.Qxg6 N5f6 17.Ne5 Qxb2 [17...Ng8 stopping mate is best] 18.Nf7+ [18.Bh6! was best forcing immeditate resignation. I should have been sharper] 18...Rxf7 19.Qxf7 cxd4 [19...Ng8 was a little better, but it's still all white] 20.Bxf6+ Nxf6 21.Qxf6+ Kg8 22.exd4 [I could've tried 22.Ra5 but the text was good enough] 22...Bg4 1-0
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
"I don't love endgames"
C - K
C - K
G20 On The Bike Owen Sound (2), 06.03.2007
D36 - Queen's Gambit Declined : Exchange Variation
Game two 1.d4 e6 2.c4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 c6 [4...c6 Last night when I was thinking about this game I was pretty sure I would get this variation. He doesn't play the Botwinnik any more so really there were only a couple of choices 5.Bg5 (5.e3 Bd6 6.Qc2 Nbd7 7.g4 Shabalov-Shirov) 5...Nbd7 6.Qc2 Qa5 Cambridge Springs, and a third option.] 5.cxd5 For a while I've been looking at some minority attack games. This should transpose into the main line of the QGD Exchange. If he plays ...cxd5 it's a horrid Slav Exchange (...e6 without freeing the bishop) 5...exd5 6.Bg5 Be7 7.Qc2 0-0 [The "main line" is 7...g6 After 8.e3 Bf5 9.Bd3 Bxd3 10.Qxd3 Nbd7 11.0-0 0-0 I was looking at this yesterday and apparently Black wins more according to chessgames, but this looks like a "Grandmaster opening" to me, e.g. I have no idea what's going on and how the dark squares aren't weak around the king. I assume he will move his rook to e8 and reroute his bishop on the long diagonal] 8.e3 Be6 [Theory is 8...Nbd7 but Kirk had a plan in mind. He wanted to advance his c-pawn.] 9.Bd3 Nbd7 10.0-0 Rc8 11.Rab1?! Probably not the most accurate move, but again I wanted to do the minority attack 11...c5?! Giving himself the isolated pawn. Sure it opens up my queen for attack, but ends up hurting himself long term with the isolated pawn. 12.dxc5 Nxc5 13.Bf5? [Better was giving up the bishop pair with 13.Bxf6 Bxf6 14.Bxh7+ Kh8 15.Bf5 I had looked at something like that on the bike, but I was worried about ideas like 15...Bxf5 16.Qxf5 Bxc3 17.bxc3 and now I have an easily attackable isolated pawn as well. Not necessarily in this position, maybe later, but I didn't necesssarily want to have the isolated c-pawn. I guess the difference is that the king wasn't exposed because I never grabbed the h-pawn] 13...Nfe4 [13...Nce4 may have been better, now I'm pinned] 14.Bxe7 Qxe7 15.Nd4? [I totally missed a chance to sharpen it up 15.Nxd5! Bxd5 16.Bxc8 Bxa2 (16...Rxc8 17.b4 Ng5 18.Nxg5 Qxg5 19.f4 Qe7 20.bxc5 Be4) ] 15...Nxc3 16.Qxc3 [Again not wanting the isolated c-pawn 16.bxc3 ] 16...Qf6 17.Bxe6 [Again 17.Nxe6 Qxc3 but I didn't look hard enough 18.Bxh7+ Kh8 (18...Kxh7 19.Nxf8+ Rxf8 20.bxc3) 19.bxc3 fxe6 20.Bc2 and I have a pawn] 17...Nxe6 18.Qd3 [18.Qd2 was probably better although my move allowed him to tempo me] 18...Nc5 [18...Nxd4 19.exd4 Rc4 looked good] 19.Qe2 [Should've went for the queen trade 19.Qf5 ] 19...Ne6 20.Rfd1 Rfe8 21.Qf3 Nxd4 22.Rxd4 [I thought this was forced but of course 22.Qxf6 Ne2+ 23.Kf1 and I'm good 23...gxf6 24.Kxe2 Rc2+ 25.Rd2] 22...Qxf3 23.gxf3 Red8 [I thought 23...Rcd8 24.Rbd1 Re5 25.f4 Rf5 was better] 24.Rbd1 f6? [24...Rc2 was better] 25.Rxd5 Rxd5 26.Rxd5 Rc7 27.b4 Kf7 At this point we were both down to around 7 minutes and played with almost blitz speed 28.b5 b6 29.a4 Ke6 30.Rd4 g5 31.Kg2 h5 32.h4 Ke5 33.Kg3 Kf5 34.hxg5 fxg5 35.e4+ Ke5 36.Rd5+ Kf6 37.f4 gxf4+ 38.Kxf4 Rc4 39.Rxh5 Rxa4 40.Rh6+ Kg7 41.Rc6 Ra2 42.f3 Rb2 43.Rc7+ Kf6 44.Rxa7 Rxb5= He offered a draw around here somewhere but I have connected passed pawns and my rook behind his passer 45.Rb7 Ke6 46.Kg4 Kf6 47.f4 Ke6 48.e5 [48.f5+ Kf6 49.Kf4 Rb4 50.Rc7] 48...Rb4 49.Kg5 Rb5 50.Kg6 Rb1 [50...Rb4 51.f5+ Kxe5 52.f6 Rg4+ 53.Kf7] 51.f5+ Kxe5 52.f6 Rg1+ 53.Kf7 Rb1 54.Ke7 Rh1 55.f7 Rh7 56.Rxb6 Rxf7+ 57.Kxf7 1-0
After the game Kirk said he wasn't ready for tournament chess becuase he didn't "love endgames". I don't particularly ever but since that's the brunt of my study i should probably aim for them periodically ;) we'll see what happens tomorrow
C - K
G20 On The Bike Owen Sound (2), 06.03.2007
D36 - Queen's Gambit Declined : Exchange Variation
Game two 1.d4 e6 2.c4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 c6 [4...c6 Last night when I was thinking about this game I was pretty sure I would get this variation. He doesn't play the Botwinnik any more so really there were only a couple of choices 5.Bg5 (5.e3 Bd6 6.Qc2 Nbd7 7.g4 Shabalov-Shirov) 5...Nbd7 6.Qc2 Qa5 Cambridge Springs, and a third option.] 5.cxd5 For a while I've been looking at some minority attack games. This should transpose into the main line of the QGD Exchange. If he plays ...cxd5 it's a horrid Slav Exchange (...e6 without freeing the bishop) 5...exd5 6.Bg5 Be7 7.Qc2 0-0 [The "main line" is 7...g6 After 8.e3 Bf5 9.Bd3 Bxd3 10.Qxd3 Nbd7 11.0-0 0-0 I was looking at this yesterday and apparently Black wins more according to chessgames, but this looks like a "Grandmaster opening" to me, e.g. I have no idea what's going on and how the dark squares aren't weak around the king. I assume he will move his rook to e8 and reroute his bishop on the long diagonal] 8.e3 Be6 [Theory is 8...Nbd7 but Kirk had a plan in mind. He wanted to advance his c-pawn.] 9.Bd3 Nbd7 10.0-0 Rc8 11.Rab1?! Probably not the most accurate move, but again I wanted to do the minority attack 11...c5?! Giving himself the isolated pawn. Sure it opens up my queen for attack, but ends up hurting himself long term with the isolated pawn. 12.dxc5 Nxc5 13.Bf5? [Better was giving up the bishop pair with 13.Bxf6 Bxf6 14.Bxh7+ Kh8 15.Bf5 I had looked at something like that on the bike, but I was worried about ideas like 15...Bxf5 16.Qxf5 Bxc3 17.bxc3 and now I have an easily attackable isolated pawn as well. Not necessarily in this position, maybe later, but I didn't necesssarily want to have the isolated c-pawn. I guess the difference is that the king wasn't exposed because I never grabbed the h-pawn] 13...Nfe4 [13...Nce4 may have been better, now I'm pinned] 14.Bxe7 Qxe7 15.Nd4? [I totally missed a chance to sharpen it up 15.Nxd5! Bxd5 16.Bxc8 Bxa2 (16...Rxc8 17.b4 Ng5 18.Nxg5 Qxg5 19.f4 Qe7 20.bxc5 Be4) ] 15...Nxc3 16.Qxc3 [Again not wanting the isolated c-pawn 16.bxc3 ] 16...Qf6 17.Bxe6 [Again 17.Nxe6 Qxc3 but I didn't look hard enough 18.Bxh7+ Kh8 (18...Kxh7 19.Nxf8+ Rxf8 20.bxc3) 19.bxc3 fxe6 20.Bc2 and I have a pawn] 17...Nxe6 18.Qd3 [18.Qd2 was probably better although my move allowed him to tempo me] 18...Nc5 [18...Nxd4 19.exd4 Rc4 looked good] 19.Qe2 [Should've went for the queen trade 19.Qf5 ] 19...Ne6 20.Rfd1 Rfe8 21.Qf3 Nxd4 22.Rxd4 [I thought this was forced but of course 22.Qxf6 Ne2+ 23.Kf1 and I'm good 23...gxf6 24.Kxe2 Rc2+ 25.Rd2] 22...Qxf3 23.gxf3 Red8 [I thought 23...Rcd8 24.Rbd1 Re5 25.f4 Rf5 was better] 24.Rbd1 f6? [24...Rc2 was better] 25.Rxd5 Rxd5 26.Rxd5 Rc7 27.b4 Kf7 At this point we were both down to around 7 minutes and played with almost blitz speed 28.b5 b6 29.a4 Ke6 30.Rd4 g5 31.Kg2 h5 32.h4 Ke5 33.Kg3 Kf5 34.hxg5 fxg5 35.e4+ Ke5 36.Rd5+ Kf6 37.f4 gxf4+ 38.Kxf4 Rc4 39.Rxh5 Rxa4 40.Rh6+ Kg7 41.Rc6 Ra2 42.f3 Rb2 43.Rc7+ Kf6 44.Rxa7 Rxb5= He offered a draw around here somewhere but I have connected passed pawns and my rook behind his passer 45.Rb7 Ke6 46.Kg4 Kf6 47.f4 Ke6 48.e5 [48.f5+ Kf6 49.Kf4 Rb4 50.Rc7] 48...Rb4 49.Kg5 Rb5 50.Kg6 Rb1 [50...Rb4 51.f5+ Kxe5 52.f6 Rg4+ 53.Kf7] 51.f5+ Kxe5 52.f6 Rg1+ 53.Kf7 Rb1 54.Ke7 Rh1 55.f7 Rh7 56.Rxb6 Rxf7+ 57.Kxf7 1-0
After the game Kirk said he wasn't ready for tournament chess becuase he didn't "love endgames". I don't particularly ever but since that's the brunt of my study i should probably aim for them periodically ;) we'll see what happens tomorrow
Friday, August 11, 2006
Game 1
me and K decided to have a match over the rest of the summer, with the first to win 4 games. here's game one
K - C
G45 Owen Sound (1), 10.08.2006
D40 - QGD: Semi-Tarrasch defense, Pillsbury variation
First game. First half serious game I've played since Canadian Open 1.d4 I expected 1.e4. Now I have to rethink everything ;) 1...d5 [I also considered 1...c6 ;
1...Nf6;
1...f5] 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.Nc3 c5 A surprise for Kirk I'm sure [I also considered 4...c6 but avoided it because 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Qc2 Bd6 7.g4;
4...Bb4 may be in the future] 5.Bg5 Pillsbury variation [5.cxd5 Nxd5 is the mainline semi-Tarrasch(5...exd5 6.g3 Be7 7.Bg2 0-0 8.0-0 Nc6 is the Tarrasch) ;
5.e3] 5...Nc6? [5...cxd4 6.Nxd4 (6.Qxd4 Be7= MCO) 6...e5! 7.Nf3 d4 Euwe-Alekhine] 6.cxd5 Nxd4 [6...exd5 7.Bxf6 gxf6 looks good for White. I tried to mix it up] 7.Nxd4 cxd4 8.Qxd4 Be7 9.e4 0-0 [9...Nxd5 can't be played until after castled because of both 10.Bb5+ (10.Qxg7) ] 10.Bxf6 I missed this 10...Bxf6 11.e5 Bg5 [11...Be7 12.d6 Bg5] 12.f4 Bh6 13.d6 a6 [To stop Bb5 but 13...f6 14.Bb5 wouldn't necessarily be so bad] 14.Bc4 Bd7 15.0-0 Bc6 16.g4 Qh4 17.Qd1 b5 18.Bd3 f6 19.Be4 Bxe4 20.Nxe4 f5? [20...fxe5 21.g5 Rxf4 22.Rxf4 Qxf4] 21.Nc5 fxg4 22.Nxe6 g3 23.Qd2 [I thought that 23.Qe2 was better but after 23...Bxf4] 23...gxh2+ 24.Qxh2?? [This is painful but necessary 24.Kh1 Rfc8 25.d7] 24...Qg4+ 25.Kh1 Qxe6 26.Rac1 [26.Rad1] 26...Qd5+ 27.Kg1 Qd4+ 28.Qf2 Qxf2+ 29.Rxf2 Bxf4 and I win the first game. He probably could've played on but we'll learn to play harder 0-1
in an unrelated note, Neil Frarey is planning on bidding on the Canadian Open at the University of Carleton in 2007. Good luck Neil!
K - C
G45 Owen Sound (1), 10.08.2006
D40 - QGD: Semi-Tarrasch defense, Pillsbury variation
First game. First half serious game I've played since Canadian Open 1.d4 I expected 1.e4. Now I have to rethink everything ;) 1...d5 [I also considered 1...c6 ;
1...Nf6;
1...f5] 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.Nc3 c5 A surprise for Kirk I'm sure [I also considered 4...c6 but avoided it because 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Qc2 Bd6 7.g4;
4...Bb4 may be in the future] 5.Bg5 Pillsbury variation [5.cxd5 Nxd5 is the mainline semi-Tarrasch(5...exd5 6.g3 Be7 7.Bg2 0-0 8.0-0 Nc6 is the Tarrasch) ;
5.e3] 5...Nc6? [5...cxd4 6.Nxd4 (6.Qxd4 Be7= MCO) 6...e5! 7.Nf3 d4 Euwe-Alekhine] 6.cxd5 Nxd4 [6...exd5 7.Bxf6 gxf6 looks good for White. I tried to mix it up] 7.Nxd4 cxd4 8.Qxd4 Be7 9.e4 0-0 [9...Nxd5 can't be played until after castled because of both 10.Bb5+ (10.Qxg7) ] 10.Bxf6 I missed this 10...Bxf6 11.e5 Bg5 [11...Be7 12.d6 Bg5] 12.f4 Bh6 13.d6 a6 [To stop Bb5 but 13...f6 14.Bb5 wouldn't necessarily be so bad] 14.Bc4 Bd7 15.0-0 Bc6 16.g4 Qh4 17.Qd1 b5 18.Bd3 f6 19.Be4 Bxe4 20.Nxe4 f5? [20...fxe5 21.g5 Rxf4 22.Rxf4 Qxf4] 21.Nc5 fxg4 22.Nxe6 g3 23.Qd2 [I thought that 23.Qe2 was better but after 23...Bxf4] 23...gxh2+ 24.Qxh2?? [This is painful but necessary 24.Kh1 Rfc8 25.d7] 24...Qg4+ 25.Kh1 Qxe6 26.Rac1 [26.Rad1] 26...Qd5+ 27.Kg1 Qd4+ 28.Qf2 Qxf2+ 29.Rxf2 Bxf4 and I win the first game. He probably could've played on but we'll learn to play harder 0-1
in an unrelated note, Neil Frarey is planning on bidding on the Canadian Open at the University of Carleton in 2007. Good luck Neil!
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
Cdn Open 2006 Rounds 7-9
CS - DM
Canadian Open U2000 Kitchener (7), 21.07.2006
D67 - QGD : Orthodox, 8.Bd3
Before this tournament I told myself that how well (or how poorly) I was doing, every round i would be playing someone who was doing as well (as poorly) as I was. This isn't necessarily the case in a local tournament, but in a section with 80 people it definitely is. My opponent lived in Sault Ste. Marie and this was his yearly tournament. 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 Nbd7 5.Bg5 Be7 6.e3 0-0 7.Rc1 c6 8.Bd3 [Who says that an old dog can't learn new tricks? I analyzed my previous White game and learned what the main line was so I went for it here. 8.cxd5 exd5 was the previous game] 8...dxc4 9.Bxc4 Nd5 10.Bxe7 Qxe7 11.0-0 N7f6 12.Bd3 Nxc3 13.Rxc3= And I offered a draw here. He declined it. For some reason I thought the "mainline" included a ...h6 and a Bh4 by me so I thought I was a tempo up on the mainline. ;) 13...Nd5 14.Rc1 Rd8 15.a3 I wanted to take b4 away from his knight, but more importantly his queen. Also I threatened expansion. I could get away with this because I have a huge advantage in development. 15...a5 16.Ne5 [Of course after 16.e4 Nf4 is strong.;
Maybe keeping on both the c-file and h7 with 16.Qc2 was better? It's unclear. I decided to play for e4 again.] 16...Bd7 17.Qb3 Be8 18.h3 I couldn't figure out how I wanted to continue, so I decided to go for some luft. 18...f6 19.Nf3 [Maybe 19.Nc4 was better and allow me to play on the queenside, but I was itching to go at his king] 19...Bf7 20.Qc2! I was happy with this move, forcing more weaknesses on the kingside 20...g6 [Maybe 20...h6 is more bearable, but my light square battery looks strong there] 21.Rfe1 e5 22.e4 Nf4 23.Bc4 exd4 24.Rcd1 c5 25.Bxf7+ Kxf7 26.e5!=
The exclam isn't for the quality of the move as much as it is for increasing the sharpness of the position. At this level in particular a little bit of pressure can do wonders. I offered a draw here on his time and he said "the position sure is tense" and then played... 26...Kf8? [A much tougher move would have been 26...f5 and there's no easy way for me to proceed. 27.Qc1 Nd5 28.Nd2 b6 29.Nc4 and I'm just down a pawn;
26...fxe5 Gives me a free shot at his queen but can I do anything with is the question 27.Nxe5+ Kg7 is forced as most moves to a dark square win the queen and(27...Kg8 28.Nxg6 is strong) ] 27.exf6 Qxf6 [27...Qd6 28.Re5 b6 29.Qe4 Qxf6 30.Ng5 Kg8 looks strong but I don't see a mate 31.g3 Nh5 32.Nxh7 Kxh7 33.Rxh5+] 28.Qxc5+ Qd6 29.Qxd6+ Rxd6= Of course here he says "I'll take that draw" but I'm substantially better and have all the winning chances. 30.Rxd4 Rxd4 31.Nxd4 Rd8? I would have thought that he would be trying to avoid any trade 32.Ne6+ Nxe6 33.Rxe6 Rd7 34.Rb6 Ke8 35.Rb5 Winning a pawn 35...Rd1+ 36.Kh2 Rd2 37.Kg3 Rd4 38.Rxb7 [I figured taking the b-pawn would keep defending my b-pawn and let me made a passer easier than 38.Rxa5 Kd7 39.Rb5 Kc6] 38...h5 39.h4 Rg4+ 40.Kh3 Kd8 41.b4 Rd4 42.Rb5 Rd3+ 43.f3 axb4 44.Rxb4 [Probably I should have just played 44.axb4 and then played 44...-- 45.Rg5 and tried to pick off the g-pawn and if not get behind the b-pawn instead of in front of it like in the game 45...Rd6 46.b5 Rb6 47.g4 Rf6 48.gxh5 gxh5 49.Rxh5 Rxf3+ 50.Kg4] 44...Rd6 [44...Rxa3 45.Rb6 is tough] 45.Ra4 [Perhaps 45.Rb5 to get at the g-pawn was better 45...Ra6 46.Rg5 Ke7 47.a4 Kf6 48.a5] 45...Ke7 46.Kg3 Ke8 47.Ra7 Kf8 48.a4 Ke8 49.a5 Kf8 50.a6 Kg8 51.Ra8+? Probably better is to go after the g-pawn with my king and keep his king from going to the 7th [51.Kf4 Kf8 (51...Rd5 52.Rb7 Ra5 53.a7 Rf5+ 54.Ke4 Ra5 55.Rb8+ Kf7 56.a8Q Rxa8 57.Rxa8) 52.Kg5 and it's almost over] 51...Kh7 52.a7 Ra6 53.Kf4 Trying to get an active king. Now I couldn't figure out how to win this. 53...Ra5 54.g4 hxg4 55.fxg4 g5+ 56.hxg5 Kg7 57.Kg3 Ra3+ 58.Kh4 Ra2 59.g6 Ra3 60.Kg5 Ra5+ 61.Kf4 Ra6 62.Ke5 Ra5+ 63.Kd6 Ra6+ 64.Kc7 Ra2 65.Kc6 Rc2+ 66.Kd5 I couldn't see a way to avoid the checks (he had too many squares to move vertically with his rook) so I decided to try and win it over here 66...Ra2 67.Ke4 Ra4+ 68.Kf5 Ra5+ 69.Kf4 Ra4+ 70.Kg3 Ra3+ 71.Kh4 Ra2 72.Rd8 Rxa7 73.Rd6 Ra5 74.Kg3 Ra3+ 75.Kh4 Ra5 76.Re6 Rb5 77.g5 Rb1 78.Kg4 Rg1+ 79.Kh5 Kg8? I'm not sure why he played this 80.Re7 Rb1 81.g7 Rh1+ 82.Kg6 This was all I could hope for 82...Rh6+ 83.Kf5 [83.gxh6 stalemate;
83.Kxh6 stalemate] 83...Rh1 84.Ra7? [84.Kf6! Rf1+ (84...Rh6+ 85.gxh6 Kh7 wins) 85.Kg6 Re1 86.Rf7 Rf1 87.Rf8+ similar to the game] 84...Rf1+ 85.Kg6 Ra1 86.Rf7 Ra6+ 87.Rf6 Rb6
88.Kh5?? [I have no idea why I didn't see this. After the game of course it's obvious 88.Kh6! ] 88...Rb1 89.Re6 I was drained and upset that I had spoiled a perfectly won endgame. 89...Kxg7 90.Re4 Rh1+ 91.Rh4 Rxh4+ 92.Kxh4 Kg6 93.Kg4 Kg7 94.Kf5 Kf7 95.g6+ Kg7 96.Kg5 Kg8 97.Kf6 Kf8 Not the greatest game, but I consoled myself by the fact that it would've been the same result if he had taken the draw on move 13 or move 26 ½-½
CS - KC
Canadian Open U2000 Kitchener (8), 22.07.2006
D18 - Slav : Dutch Variation
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.a4 Bf5 6.e3 [I have previous tried 6.Nh4 but it is painful to the eyes] 6...e6 7.Bxc4 Bb4 8.0-0 0-0 9.Qb3 [Theory (D19) is 9.Qe2 my friend Armando Valdizon told me that the only opening theory he knew was memorizing the ECO codes. It sort of made me laugh at the time, but I would've gotten a better position this game if I knew that Qe2 was the move for D19 ;);
Kirk plays the Slav but I had never actually gotten this deep. I wanted to play 9.Nh4 but I saw ghosts and wanted to protect the "c-pawn" after the exchange with my queen and also threaten the b-pawn behind the bishop etc. 9...Bxc3 10.bxc3 Ne4 11.Nxf5 exf5] 9...a5?! [9...Qe7;
or 9...Qb6 are better] 10.Nh4 Bg6 [10...Bg4 11.f3 Bh5] 11.Nxg6 hxg6 12.Ne2 [I wondered if I could win a pawn here with 12.Na2 Na6 (I was worried about something like 12...Bd6 giving up the pawn but leaving my knight stuck on a2 for a while) 13.Nxb4 Nxb4 14.Bd2 holds the pawn but makes thing unpleasant for him 14...Qd6 ] 12...Qc7 Playing for development here and to connect my rooks 13.Rd1 Nbd7 14.Bd2 Bd6 15.Ng3 PLaying for e4 like every 1.d4 game I play it seems ;) 15...Nd5? [15...Rfd8] 16.e4 Nb4 17.e5 I had to go for it now 17...Be7
18.Bxe6= I offered a draw here, and since he was like 200 points higher he refused it. He also saw my horrible play the previous game (buddy of the guy I drew) so I figured he would play on to mate hoping I'd mess up 18...Nxe5? [18...fxe6 19.Qxe6+ Rf7 (19...Kh7 20.Qxe7) 20.Qxg6 Nf8 21.Qg4 and it's going to be an interesting middlegame] 19.dxe5 Qxe5? Thinking he can pick off my piece regardless [19...fxe6 20.Qxe6+ Rf7 was better] 20.Re1 Qd6 21.Bxb4 axb4 22.Rad1 Qc5 23.Bg4 and I'm ujp a healthy piece for a pawn and he has some weak pawns 23...Bh4 24.Bf3 Rac8 25.Rc1 Qb6 26.Rc4 Winning something 26...c5?? and he drops a piece. The rest is uneventful and he just played on, not because he is a poor sport but because he thought I'd play as poorly as I did the previous round 27.Rxh4 c4 28.Rxc4 Rce8 29.Rcc1 Qd4 30.h3 Qd2 31.Red1 Qg5 32.Qxb4 Re5 33.Qxb7 Rfe8 34.b4 Qf4 35.a5 R5e7 36.Qc6 Qxb4 37.Qc3 Qf4 38.Re1 Kh7 39.Rxe7 Rxe7 40.a6 Ra7 41.Ra1 f5 42.Bb7 I was particularly happy with the position here 42...Qd6 43.Qc6 Qd4 44.Qc1 Qe5 45.Ra3 f4 46.Qc3 Qd6 47.Qd3 Qc5 48.Ne4 Qc1+ 49.Kh2 Qc7 50.f3 Kh6 51.Rc3 Qe5 52.Rc8 Kh7 53.Qd8 g5 54.Qxg5 Qxg5 55.Nxg5+ Kg6 56.Ne6 Kf5 57.Nxg7+ Ke5 58.Rf8 Kd4 59.Ne6+ Ke3 60.Nxf4 Kf2 61.Nd5 Ke2 62.Nb4 Ke3 63.Nc6 1-0
If i had my druthers I would've been able to refuse his resignation and promote all my pawns to queens and checkmate him, but unfortunately that is not in the rules.
KS - CS
Canadian Open U2000 Kitchener (9), 23.07.2006
B20 - Sicilian
Last round of a long tournament. This was a nice guy from Toronto who was in the family prize with his dad, who Kirk took on earlier in the tournament. 1.e4 Nf6 I lost every game I played with the Caro, the opening had nothing to do with it, but I needed a change regardless. Since my brother is the archduke of the Alekhine and he dropped out of the tournament I thought I would keep his tournament alive, so to speak, and play an Alekhine 2.d3 Drats. I decided to go into a Closed Sicilian 2...d6 3.Nf3 g6 4.g3 Bg7 5.Bg2 0-0 6.0-0 c5 Equality after 6 moves, just like every other game ;) 7.Re1 [Better to develop 7.Nc3 ] 7...Nc6 8.c3 Qb6 Maybe this wasn't best, but I wanted to make his development as difficult as possible, and try my best to stop the d4 push 9.Nbd2 Bg4 10.h3 Bd7? [Not paying attention to his possibilities. Although 10...Be6 blocks the e-pawn, it shuts down his options with his knight] 11.Nc4! Qc7 12.Ne3 [I thought he was going to start the assault on my position with something like 12.e5 ] 12...Rac8 13.Nh2 b5 Trying to make some aggressive intentions on the queenside. 14.Nd5 Because of this, 11. ...Qd8 was probably better 14...Qd8 15.Nxf6+ Bxf6 16.Bh6 Bg7 17.Qd2 e6 18.Ng4 Ne5 [A tough move to make, but I didn't like the look of 18...e5 19.Bxg7 Kxg7 20.Qh6+ Kh8 even though it was probably better] 19.Bxg7 Kxg7 20.Qh6+ [Paraphrasing Lasker annotating Morphy-Count Isouard, I'm more of a butcher than an artist. (He was talking about the position after 1.e4 e5 2.nf3 d6 3.d4 Bg4 4.dxe5 Bxf3 5.Qxf3 dxe5 6.Bc4 Nf6 7.Qb3 Qe7 saying that 8.Qxb7 would be the butcher's method) I would've played 20.Nxe5 dxe5 here and then something like 21.Rad1] 20...Kh8 [The way the game ended up 20...Kg8 would have been much better, but I wanted to get my queen to g7 and trade off. I offered a draw somewhere before this and he mentioned that he would have taken the draw, but he had to play to the end as him and his dad had an 'outside shot' at the family prize] 21.d4 [21.Nxe5 I believe 21...dxe5 22.Rad1 is preferable] 21...Nxg4 22.hxg4 Qf6? aiming for g7 [Taking control of the c-file with 22...cxd4 23.cxd4 Rc2 was better I think] 23.e5 dxe5 24.Bb7 Rc7?? [He sat for a long time thinking about this move. I didn't want to play 24...Rb8 and wanted to threaten something, missing that the only thing defending my rook was the rook. Another moment of blindness this one resulting in mate] 25.Qxf8# An appropriate finish to an uneven tournament 1-0
so i learned a few things. one, bring a sweater...those hotels were air conditioned so powerfully that i found myself literally shivering and had to go outside to warm myself up. two, play more slow chess before hand. i wasn't used to being able to think for 30 minutes for a move. this sounds like it would be an advantage, but unfortunately i found myself antsy and making instinctive and reactive moves. and three, i made a whole whack of one move blunders. i don't know if playing more slow games will help that, but if i did a better "idiot check" before i move i could've scored a few more points relatively easily. i really enjoyed myself, the tournament site was the best i've been in, and i'm going back next year. rumor has it, it's gonna be in kitchener again, but i imagine they'll announce that in the near future
Canadian Open U2000 Kitchener (7), 21.07.2006
D67 - QGD : Orthodox, 8.Bd3
Before this tournament I told myself that how well (or how poorly) I was doing, every round i would be playing someone who was doing as well (as poorly) as I was. This isn't necessarily the case in a local tournament, but in a section with 80 people it definitely is. My opponent lived in Sault Ste. Marie and this was his yearly tournament. 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 Nbd7 5.Bg5 Be7 6.e3 0-0 7.Rc1 c6 8.Bd3 [Who says that an old dog can't learn new tricks? I analyzed my previous White game and learned what the main line was so I went for it here. 8.cxd5 exd5 was the previous game] 8...dxc4 9.Bxc4 Nd5 10.Bxe7 Qxe7 11.0-0 N7f6 12.Bd3 Nxc3 13.Rxc3= And I offered a draw here. He declined it. For some reason I thought the "mainline" included a ...h6 and a Bh4 by me so I thought I was a tempo up on the mainline. ;) 13...Nd5 14.Rc1 Rd8 15.a3 I wanted to take b4 away from his knight, but more importantly his queen. Also I threatened expansion. I could get away with this because I have a huge advantage in development. 15...a5 16.Ne5 [Of course after 16.e4 Nf4 is strong.;
Maybe keeping on both the c-file and h7 with 16.Qc2 was better? It's unclear. I decided to play for e4 again.] 16...Bd7 17.Qb3 Be8 18.h3 I couldn't figure out how I wanted to continue, so I decided to go for some luft. 18...f6 19.Nf3 [Maybe 19.Nc4 was better and allow me to play on the queenside, but I was itching to go at his king] 19...Bf7 20.Qc2! I was happy with this move, forcing more weaknesses on the kingside 20...g6 [Maybe 20...h6 is more bearable, but my light square battery looks strong there] 21.Rfe1 e5 22.e4 Nf4 23.Bc4 exd4 24.Rcd1 c5 25.Bxf7+ Kxf7 26.e5!=
The exclam isn't for the quality of the move as much as it is for increasing the sharpness of the position. At this level in particular a little bit of pressure can do wonders. I offered a draw here on his time and he said "the position sure is tense" and then played... 26...Kf8? [A much tougher move would have been 26...f5 and there's no easy way for me to proceed. 27.Qc1 Nd5 28.Nd2 b6 29.Nc4 and I'm just down a pawn;
26...fxe5 Gives me a free shot at his queen but can I do anything with is the question 27.Nxe5+ Kg7 is forced as most moves to a dark square win the queen and(27...Kg8 28.Nxg6 is strong) ] 27.exf6 Qxf6 [27...Qd6 28.Re5 b6 29.Qe4 Qxf6 30.Ng5 Kg8 looks strong but I don't see a mate 31.g3 Nh5 32.Nxh7 Kxh7 33.Rxh5+] 28.Qxc5+ Qd6 29.Qxd6+ Rxd6= Of course here he says "I'll take that draw" but I'm substantially better and have all the winning chances. 30.Rxd4 Rxd4 31.Nxd4 Rd8? I would have thought that he would be trying to avoid any trade 32.Ne6+ Nxe6 33.Rxe6 Rd7 34.Rb6 Ke8 35.Rb5 Winning a pawn 35...Rd1+ 36.Kh2 Rd2 37.Kg3 Rd4 38.Rxb7 [I figured taking the b-pawn would keep defending my b-pawn and let me made a passer easier than 38.Rxa5 Kd7 39.Rb5 Kc6] 38...h5 39.h4 Rg4+ 40.Kh3 Kd8 41.b4 Rd4 42.Rb5 Rd3+ 43.f3 axb4 44.Rxb4 [Probably I should have just played 44.axb4 and then played 44...-- 45.Rg5 and tried to pick off the g-pawn and if not get behind the b-pawn instead of in front of it like in the game 45...Rd6 46.b5 Rb6 47.g4 Rf6 48.gxh5 gxh5 49.Rxh5 Rxf3+ 50.Kg4] 44...Rd6 [44...Rxa3 45.Rb6 is tough] 45.Ra4 [Perhaps 45.Rb5 to get at the g-pawn was better 45...Ra6 46.Rg5 Ke7 47.a4 Kf6 48.a5] 45...Ke7 46.Kg3 Ke8 47.Ra7 Kf8 48.a4 Ke8 49.a5 Kf8 50.a6 Kg8 51.Ra8+? Probably better is to go after the g-pawn with my king and keep his king from going to the 7th [51.Kf4 Kf8 (51...Rd5 52.Rb7 Ra5 53.a7 Rf5+ 54.Ke4 Ra5 55.Rb8+ Kf7 56.a8Q Rxa8 57.Rxa8) 52.Kg5 and it's almost over] 51...Kh7 52.a7 Ra6 53.Kf4 Trying to get an active king. Now I couldn't figure out how to win this. 53...Ra5 54.g4 hxg4 55.fxg4 g5+ 56.hxg5 Kg7 57.Kg3 Ra3+ 58.Kh4 Ra2 59.g6 Ra3 60.Kg5 Ra5+ 61.Kf4 Ra6 62.Ke5 Ra5+ 63.Kd6 Ra6+ 64.Kc7 Ra2 65.Kc6 Rc2+ 66.Kd5 I couldn't see a way to avoid the checks (he had too many squares to move vertically with his rook) so I decided to try and win it over here 66...Ra2 67.Ke4 Ra4+ 68.Kf5 Ra5+ 69.Kf4 Ra4+ 70.Kg3 Ra3+ 71.Kh4 Ra2 72.Rd8 Rxa7 73.Rd6 Ra5 74.Kg3 Ra3+ 75.Kh4 Ra5 76.Re6 Rb5 77.g5 Rb1 78.Kg4 Rg1+ 79.Kh5 Kg8? I'm not sure why he played this 80.Re7 Rb1 81.g7 Rh1+ 82.Kg6 This was all I could hope for 82...Rh6+ 83.Kf5 [83.gxh6 stalemate;
83.Kxh6 stalemate] 83...Rh1 84.Ra7? [84.Kf6! Rf1+ (84...Rh6+ 85.gxh6 Kh7 wins) 85.Kg6 Re1 86.Rf7 Rf1 87.Rf8+ similar to the game] 84...Rf1+ 85.Kg6 Ra1 86.Rf7 Ra6+ 87.Rf6 Rb6
88.Kh5?? [I have no idea why I didn't see this. After the game of course it's obvious 88.Kh6! ] 88...Rb1 89.Re6 I was drained and upset that I had spoiled a perfectly won endgame. 89...Kxg7 90.Re4 Rh1+ 91.Rh4 Rxh4+ 92.Kxh4 Kg6 93.Kg4 Kg7 94.Kf5 Kf7 95.g6+ Kg7 96.Kg5 Kg8 97.Kf6 Kf8 Not the greatest game, but I consoled myself by the fact that it would've been the same result if he had taken the draw on move 13 or move 26 ½-½
CS - KC
Canadian Open U2000 Kitchener (8), 22.07.2006
D18 - Slav : Dutch Variation
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.a4 Bf5 6.e3 [I have previous tried 6.Nh4 but it is painful to the eyes] 6...e6 7.Bxc4 Bb4 8.0-0 0-0 9.Qb3 [Theory (D19) is 9.Qe2 my friend Armando Valdizon told me that the only opening theory he knew was memorizing the ECO codes. It sort of made me laugh at the time, but I would've gotten a better position this game if I knew that Qe2 was the move for D19 ;);
Kirk plays the Slav but I had never actually gotten this deep. I wanted to play 9.Nh4 but I saw ghosts and wanted to protect the "c-pawn" after the exchange with my queen and also threaten the b-pawn behind the bishop etc. 9...Bxc3 10.bxc3 Ne4 11.Nxf5 exf5] 9...a5?! [9...Qe7;
or 9...Qb6 are better] 10.Nh4 Bg6 [10...Bg4 11.f3 Bh5] 11.Nxg6 hxg6 12.Ne2 [I wondered if I could win a pawn here with 12.Na2 Na6 (I was worried about something like 12...Bd6 giving up the pawn but leaving my knight stuck on a2 for a while) 13.Nxb4 Nxb4 14.Bd2 holds the pawn but makes thing unpleasant for him 14...Qd6 ] 12...Qc7 Playing for development here and to connect my rooks 13.Rd1 Nbd7 14.Bd2 Bd6 15.Ng3 PLaying for e4 like every 1.d4 game I play it seems ;) 15...Nd5? [15...Rfd8] 16.e4 Nb4 17.e5 I had to go for it now 17...Be7
18.Bxe6= I offered a draw here, and since he was like 200 points higher he refused it. He also saw my horrible play the previous game (buddy of the guy I drew) so I figured he would play on to mate hoping I'd mess up 18...Nxe5? [18...fxe6 19.Qxe6+ Rf7 (19...Kh7 20.Qxe7) 20.Qxg6 Nf8 21.Qg4 and it's going to be an interesting middlegame] 19.dxe5 Qxe5? Thinking he can pick off my piece regardless [19...fxe6 20.Qxe6+ Rf7 was better] 20.Re1 Qd6 21.Bxb4 axb4 22.Rad1 Qc5 23.Bg4 and I'm ujp a healthy piece for a pawn and he has some weak pawns 23...Bh4 24.Bf3 Rac8 25.Rc1 Qb6 26.Rc4 Winning something 26...c5?? and he drops a piece. The rest is uneventful and he just played on, not because he is a poor sport but because he thought I'd play as poorly as I did the previous round 27.Rxh4 c4 28.Rxc4 Rce8 29.Rcc1 Qd4 30.h3 Qd2 31.Red1 Qg5 32.Qxb4 Re5 33.Qxb7 Rfe8 34.b4 Qf4 35.a5 R5e7 36.Qc6 Qxb4 37.Qc3 Qf4 38.Re1 Kh7 39.Rxe7 Rxe7 40.a6 Ra7 41.Ra1 f5 42.Bb7 I was particularly happy with the position here 42...Qd6 43.Qc6 Qd4 44.Qc1 Qe5 45.Ra3 f4 46.Qc3 Qd6 47.Qd3 Qc5 48.Ne4 Qc1+ 49.Kh2 Qc7 50.f3 Kh6 51.Rc3 Qe5 52.Rc8 Kh7 53.Qd8 g5 54.Qxg5 Qxg5 55.Nxg5+ Kg6 56.Ne6 Kf5 57.Nxg7+ Ke5 58.Rf8 Kd4 59.Ne6+ Ke3 60.Nxf4 Kf2 61.Nd5 Ke2 62.Nb4 Ke3 63.Nc6 1-0
If i had my druthers I would've been able to refuse his resignation and promote all my pawns to queens and checkmate him, but unfortunately that is not in the rules.
KS - CS
Canadian Open U2000 Kitchener (9), 23.07.2006
B20 - Sicilian
Last round of a long tournament. This was a nice guy from Toronto who was in the family prize with his dad, who Kirk took on earlier in the tournament. 1.e4 Nf6 I lost every game I played with the Caro, the opening had nothing to do with it, but I needed a change regardless. Since my brother is the archduke of the Alekhine and he dropped out of the tournament I thought I would keep his tournament alive, so to speak, and play an Alekhine 2.d3 Drats. I decided to go into a Closed Sicilian 2...d6 3.Nf3 g6 4.g3 Bg7 5.Bg2 0-0 6.0-0 c5 Equality after 6 moves, just like every other game ;) 7.Re1 [Better to develop 7.Nc3 ] 7...Nc6 8.c3 Qb6 Maybe this wasn't best, but I wanted to make his development as difficult as possible, and try my best to stop the d4 push 9.Nbd2 Bg4 10.h3 Bd7? [Not paying attention to his possibilities. Although 10...Be6 blocks the e-pawn, it shuts down his options with his knight] 11.Nc4! Qc7 12.Ne3 [I thought he was going to start the assault on my position with something like 12.e5 ] 12...Rac8 13.Nh2 b5 Trying to make some aggressive intentions on the queenside. 14.Nd5 Because of this, 11. ...Qd8 was probably better 14...Qd8 15.Nxf6+ Bxf6 16.Bh6 Bg7 17.Qd2 e6 18.Ng4 Ne5 [A tough move to make, but I didn't like the look of 18...e5 19.Bxg7 Kxg7 20.Qh6+ Kh8 even though it was probably better] 19.Bxg7 Kxg7 20.Qh6+ [Paraphrasing Lasker annotating Morphy-Count Isouard, I'm more of a butcher than an artist. (He was talking about the position after 1.e4 e5 2.nf3 d6 3.d4 Bg4 4.dxe5 Bxf3 5.Qxf3 dxe5 6.Bc4 Nf6 7.Qb3 Qe7 saying that 8.Qxb7 would be the butcher's method) I would've played 20.Nxe5 dxe5 here and then something like 21.Rad1] 20...Kh8 [The way the game ended up 20...Kg8 would have been much better, but I wanted to get my queen to g7 and trade off. I offered a draw somewhere before this and he mentioned that he would have taken the draw, but he had to play to the end as him and his dad had an 'outside shot' at the family prize] 21.d4 [21.Nxe5 I believe 21...dxe5 22.Rad1 is preferable] 21...Nxg4 22.hxg4 Qf6? aiming for g7 [Taking control of the c-file with 22...cxd4 23.cxd4 Rc2 was better I think] 23.e5 dxe5 24.Bb7 Rc7?? [He sat for a long time thinking about this move. I didn't want to play 24...Rb8 and wanted to threaten something, missing that the only thing defending my rook was the rook. Another moment of blindness this one resulting in mate] 25.Qxf8# An appropriate finish to an uneven tournament 1-0
so i learned a few things. one, bring a sweater...those hotels were air conditioned so powerfully that i found myself literally shivering and had to go outside to warm myself up. two, play more slow chess before hand. i wasn't used to being able to think for 30 minutes for a move. this sounds like it would be an advantage, but unfortunately i found myself antsy and making instinctive and reactive moves. and three, i made a whole whack of one move blunders. i don't know if playing more slow games will help that, but if i did a better "idiot check" before i move i could've scored a few more points relatively easily. i really enjoyed myself, the tournament site was the best i've been in, and i'm going back next year. rumor has it, it's gonna be in kitchener again, but i imagine they'll announce that in the near future
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
Sunday, May 28, 2006
May Grand Prix
CS - JD
May Grand Prix Owen Sound, ON (1), 28.05.2006
D31 - QGD : Semi-Slav
First round of the Grand Prix. An interesting setup by Bev. Your top 3 tournaments (out of 5) count towards the Grand Prix title, and they have round robins. Top 6, next 6 etc. and the Grand Prix winner is based on top 3 performances, regardless of division. Kinda neat. 1.d4 I wasn't sure what to play. I remember he was looking at the Queen's Indian previously so I was hoping he'd play a Nimzo. Unfortunately he played the Queen's Gambit (still my bane after all these years) 1...d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 c6 4.Nf3 b6? [I figured either the Noteboom 4...dxc4 ;
the Semi-Slav 4...Nf6 ;
or the Dutch 4...f5 . I asked him after the game what his idea was and he wanted to play ...Bd6 without allowing c5] 5.Bf4 I stop that 5...Nf6 6.e3 Bb4 [6...Bd6 was still playable] 7.Bd3 Ne4 8.Bxe4 dxe4 9.Nd2 c5? [9...f5 was pretty much forced 10.Qh5+ g6 11.Qh6 looks pretty tough though] 10.Ndxe4 Bb7? Dropping a piece? or a deep sacrifice 11.Nd6+ Ke7 12.Nxb7 Qd7 13.Nd6? [13.Qf3 was stronger] 13...cxd4 14.Qxd4 Bxd6 15.Bxd6+? [15.Qxg7 was better as 15...Rd8 (15...Bxf4 16.Qxh8) 16.Bg5+ I didn't calculate at all. This should be a lesson for the near future] 15...Qxd6 16.Qxg7 Rd8 17.0-0 Rd7 18.Rad1 [18.Ne4 Qd3 19.Qxh7] 18...Qb4 19.Rxd7+ [19.Qg5+ f6 20.Qg8 Qxb2 21.Qxh7+ Ke8 22.Qg8+ Ke7 23.Nb5] 19...Nxd7 20.Rd1 Qxc4 21.Qxh7 Rd8 22.Qd3 Qc6 23.Qe4 Qc5 24.h3 Maybe I had better but I was up two pawns so I'd get rid of his one threat (back rank) 24...Nf6 25.Qb7+ Rd7 26.Rxd7+ Nxd7 27.Qxa7 Qb4 28.Qa3 1-0
VR - CS
May Grand Prix Owen Sound, ON (2), 28.05.2006
B12 - Caro-Kann : Advanced Variation
1.e4 c6 The inevitable return of the Caro! How long before I retire it again 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Bd3 An old favourite. I love the Advanced Variation when White has no clue how to proceed 4...Bxd3 5.Qxd3 e6 6.f4 Qa5+! Nimzowitsch's suggestion. 7.Bd2 [Courtney-C.Sadler, Barrie 2003 went 7.c3 Qa6 8.Qxa6 Nxa6 9.Nf3 c5 and I ended up drawing] 7...Qa6 8.Qxa6 Nxa6 I'm more than happy with my position. His good bishop is off, the queens are off and he has weakened his position with f4 9.Nf3 Ne7 10.Nc3 c5 [I got impatient. I should've seen where his king was going before deciding whether pushing c5 was good at this time or not. and whether the knight on e7 belongs on g6 or c5 or f5 potentially 10...h6 ] 11.Nb5! An excellent square for his knight. 11...Nc6 Now my knight is not as good on a6 as i thought he was 5 moves ago 12.c3 [12.Be3;
12.a3 was another prophylactic try] 12...cxd4 13.cxd4 Kd7 14.Ng5 [Again 14.a3 might be okay] 14...f6 15.Nf3?! [15.Nf7 was much better] 15...Nab4 16.Ke2 a6 17.Nc3 [17.Na3 was better, this drops a pawn] 17...Nc2 18.Rab1 N2xd4+ 19.Nxd4 Nxd4+ 20.Kd3 fxe5 21.fxe5 Nc6 22.Bf4 Bc5 [22...g5 was trickier but being up material simpler was better 23.Bxg5 Nxe5+ although the g-pawn hangs after 24.Ke3 (24.Ke2 Rg8 25.Bf4 Nc4 (25...Rxg2+ 26.Kf1 is good for White 26...Nd3 27.Kxg2 Nxf4+ 28.Kf3 Bd6) ; 24...Rg8 25.Bf4 Bc5+ 26.Kd2 Rxg2+] 23.Na4 Ba7 24.Be3? Nxe5+ [24...d4 25.Bf4 b5] 25.Ke2 Bxe3 26.Kxe3 Kd6 27.Rhf1 b5 28.Nc3 Nc4+ [28...b4 29.Na4 Rac8 30.Rbc1] 29.Kd3 Rhf8 30.b3 Rxf1 31.Rxf1 Ne5+ 32.Kd4 Ra7 33.Rf8 Rf7 34.Rd8+ Nd7 35.Ra8 e5+ 36.Kd3 Nc5+ 37.Ke2 Kc6 38.Rc8+ Rc7 39.Rf8 b4 0-1
- AB
May Grand Prix Owen Sound, ON (3), 28.05.2006
D34 - QGD: Tarrasch, Prague variation, 9.Bg5
1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 c5 3.c4 e6 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Nc3 Nf6 6.g3"Against Both I don't understand your opening choice. If you wanted to play positionally against him, then create the isolated pawn and develop your pieces to better squares. For example 6.Bg5 Be7 7.dxc5 " (HJ);
Hans' advice makes good sense even at a less lofty level like mine 6.Bg5 is the reason why Black plays Nc6 before Nf6] 6...Nc6 7.Bg5 Be7 8.Bg2 0-0 9.0-0 [" 9.dxc5 d4 10.Bxf6 Bxf6 11.Ne4 with good play." (HJ)] 9...b6 10.dxc5 bxc5 11.Bxf6 Bxf6 12.Qxd5 [12.Nxd5 Bxb2 13.Rb1 Rb8 14.Nd2 Ba6 15.Ne4 Qa5 +- Sveshnikov-Filipenko, SSSR 1978;
"However creating the hanging pawns was not an advantage for you. Even the better 12.Nxd5 keeping the queens on which gives you more play is not clearly better. Even best case scenario if you win the isolated c-pawn this is an almost impossible position to convert" (HJ)] 12...Qxd5 13.Nxd5 Bxb2 14.Rab1 Rb8 Of course I missed this move 15.Nd2 Ba6 16.Rfe1 [16.Nc7 Bxe2 17.Bxc6 Bxf1 18.Kxf1 is an interesting try but I would never have looked for it although it does give me lots of play 18...Be5 19.Rxb8 Rxb8 20.Nd5] 16...Rfd8 17.Nb3 [17.Nc7 Rxd2 18.Nxa6 Rc8 19.Nxc5 was good as well] 17...Be5 18.Nxc5 Rxb1 19.Rxb1 Bxe2 20.Re1 Nd4 21.Rb1 ["Later on you missed 21.f4 (a nice pawn shot!) and its complicated but I like your chances after say 21...Nf3+ 22.Bxf3 Bd4+ 23.Kg2 Bxf3+ 24.Kxf3 Bxc5 25.Rd1! and you are a bit better because of your king placement but not enough to win" (HJ)] 21...Nf3+ 22.Bxf3 Bxf3 23.Ne3= g6 24.h4 Rd2 25.Nc4 Re2 26.Nxe5 Rxe5 27.Nd3 Ra5 28.Ne1 [28.Nb4 Ra4 29.Rb3 is better] 28...Bd5 29.Nd3 Kg7 30.Nb4 Be6 31.Ra1 Ra4 32.a3 Kf6 33.f4 ["You should have never lost this game. You didn't use your king until it was too late. You should have left your pawn on f2 and played 33.Kf1 -- 34.Ke1 -- 35.Kd2 and just tried to hold the position (he's better). Those half points end up costly in the long run" (HJ)] 33...Kf5 34.Kf2 Ke4 35.Nc2 Kd3 36.Nb4+ Kc3 37.Ke3 Kb2 38.Rd1 Rxa3+ 39.Nd3+ Kb3 40.Kd4 Kc2 Of course he was right. I'm paying the guy I should start listening to him :( 0-1
LR - CS
May Grand Prix Owen Sound, ON (4), 28.05.2006
B12 - Caro-Kann : Advanced Variation
1.e4 My opponent is the father of the kid I played in the second round 1...c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Like father like son 3...Bf5 4.Nf3 e6 After the game he mentioned that "after you played ...e6 it transposed into a French" ;) He must've missed the fact my bishop was outside the pawn chain 5.Nc3 [5.Be2 is mainline, keeping the option of pushing the c-pawn. again White was playing without a plan] 5...Nd7 6.Bd3 Bxd3 7.Qxd3 Ne7 8.0-0 c5 [Fritz said that 8...Nf5 might be worth a try, to put pressure on the d-pawn, but I like the tried and true ...c5 push] 9.dxc5 Nc6! I was happy with this move. It's thematic, but I'm happy nonetheless. I grab the c-pawn with my bishop then go after the e-pawn 10.a3 Bxc5 11.Bf4 a6 To stop Nb4 12.Ne2 Qc7 now I'm going for the pawn 13.c4 dxc4 14.Qxc4 Ncxe5 i have no problem grabbing either as 15.Nxe5 Nxe5 16.Qc3 [16.Bxe5 Qxe5 is good or(16...Bxf2+ 17.Rxf2 Qxc4) ] 16...Bd6 17.Qxc7 Bxc7 18.Rfd1 Rd8 and for some reason he trades down into a lost pawn endgame 19.Bxe5? Bxe5 20.Rxd8+ Kxd8 interestingly enough I didn't castle in either Caro this tournament 21.Rd1+ Ke7 22.Nc3 Bxc3 23.bxc3 Rd8 24.Rxd8? Kxd8 and it's a walkover from here 25.Kf1 b5 26.Ke2 Kd7 27.Kd3 Kc6 28.Kd4 f6 29.f4 h5 30.h3 g6 31.c4 bxc4 32.Kxc4 Kd6 33.a4 e5 34.fxe5+ fxe5 35.a5 g5 36.Kd3 Kd5 0-1 surprising he didn't put up more of a fight...he beat Aaron Both in the previous round
CS - KVA[D01]
May Grand Prix Owen Sound, ON (5), 28.05.2006
D01 - Veresov
1.Nc3 [This game was a sign from God not to play the Veresov anymore. I didn't want to play 1.d4 against Kees because he plays 1...d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 (forgetting that I could always have played 3.Nf3 c5 4.cxd5 avoiding his line) 3...c5 4.cxd5 cxd4] 1...Nf6 2.d4 d5 3.Bg5 g6 [Secretly hoping for 3...e6 4.e4] 4.Bxf6 [A different (better if you will) idea is 4.Qd2 with castling queenside] 4...exf6 5.e4 [5.e3 may be better as well] 5...dxe4 6.Nxe4 Bg7 7.c3 [7.Nf3 0-0 8.Be2 f5 9.Nc5 b6 10.Nb3 Bb7 11.0-0 Nd7 12.c3 Nf6 13.Re1 a6 14.a4 Re8 15.a5 Nd5 16.Bf1 Alburt-Marjanovic, Bucharest 1978] 7...0-0 I came back from the bathroom and played the usual and horrifying 8.Nf3?? missing that he had a threat 8...Re8 and it's over. I was going to play on only one piece down but after 9.Bd3?? f5 10.0-0 fxe4 it's two pieces.
A sad end to a not bad day 0-1
May Grand Prix Owen Sound, ON (1), 28.05.2006
D31 - QGD : Semi-Slav
First round of the Grand Prix. An interesting setup by Bev. Your top 3 tournaments (out of 5) count towards the Grand Prix title, and they have round robins. Top 6, next 6 etc. and the Grand Prix winner is based on top 3 performances, regardless of division. Kinda neat. 1.d4 I wasn't sure what to play. I remember he was looking at the Queen's Indian previously so I was hoping he'd play a Nimzo. Unfortunately he played the Queen's Gambit (still my bane after all these years) 1...d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 c6 4.Nf3 b6? [I figured either the Noteboom 4...dxc4 ;
the Semi-Slav 4...Nf6 ;
or the Dutch 4...f5 . I asked him after the game what his idea was and he wanted to play ...Bd6 without allowing c5] 5.Bf4 I stop that 5...Nf6 6.e3 Bb4 [6...Bd6 was still playable] 7.Bd3 Ne4 8.Bxe4 dxe4 9.Nd2 c5? [9...f5 was pretty much forced 10.Qh5+ g6 11.Qh6 looks pretty tough though] 10.Ndxe4 Bb7? Dropping a piece? or a deep sacrifice 11.Nd6+ Ke7 12.Nxb7 Qd7 13.Nd6? [13.Qf3 was stronger] 13...cxd4 14.Qxd4 Bxd6 15.Bxd6+? [15.Qxg7 was better as 15...Rd8 (15...Bxf4 16.Qxh8) 16.Bg5+ I didn't calculate at all. This should be a lesson for the near future] 15...Qxd6 16.Qxg7 Rd8 17.0-0 Rd7 18.Rad1 [18.Ne4 Qd3 19.Qxh7] 18...Qb4 19.Rxd7+ [19.Qg5+ f6 20.Qg8 Qxb2 21.Qxh7+ Ke8 22.Qg8+ Ke7 23.Nb5] 19...Nxd7 20.Rd1 Qxc4 21.Qxh7 Rd8 22.Qd3 Qc6 23.Qe4 Qc5 24.h3 Maybe I had better but I was up two pawns so I'd get rid of his one threat (back rank) 24...Nf6 25.Qb7+ Rd7 26.Rxd7+ Nxd7 27.Qxa7 Qb4 28.Qa3 1-0
VR - CS
May Grand Prix Owen Sound, ON (2), 28.05.2006
B12 - Caro-Kann : Advanced Variation
1.e4 c6 The inevitable return of the Caro! How long before I retire it again 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Bd3 An old favourite. I love the Advanced Variation when White has no clue how to proceed 4...Bxd3 5.Qxd3 e6 6.f4 Qa5+! Nimzowitsch's suggestion. 7.Bd2 [Courtney-C.Sadler, Barrie 2003 went 7.c3 Qa6 8.Qxa6 Nxa6 9.Nf3 c5 and I ended up drawing] 7...Qa6 8.Qxa6 Nxa6 I'm more than happy with my position. His good bishop is off, the queens are off and he has weakened his position with f4 9.Nf3 Ne7 10.Nc3 c5 [I got impatient. I should've seen where his king was going before deciding whether pushing c5 was good at this time or not. and whether the knight on e7 belongs on g6 or c5 or f5 potentially 10...h6 ] 11.Nb5! An excellent square for his knight. 11...Nc6 Now my knight is not as good on a6 as i thought he was 5 moves ago 12.c3 [12.Be3;
12.a3 was another prophylactic try] 12...cxd4 13.cxd4 Kd7 14.Ng5 [Again 14.a3 might be okay] 14...f6 15.Nf3?! [15.Nf7 was much better] 15...Nab4 16.Ke2 a6 17.Nc3 [17.Na3 was better, this drops a pawn] 17...Nc2 18.Rab1 N2xd4+ 19.Nxd4 Nxd4+ 20.Kd3 fxe5 21.fxe5 Nc6 22.Bf4 Bc5 [22...g5 was trickier but being up material simpler was better 23.Bxg5 Nxe5+ although the g-pawn hangs after 24.Ke3 (24.Ke2 Rg8 25.Bf4 Nc4 (25...Rxg2+ 26.Kf1 is good for White 26...Nd3 27.Kxg2 Nxf4+ 28.Kf3 Bd6) ; 24...Rg8 25.Bf4 Bc5+ 26.Kd2 Rxg2+] 23.Na4 Ba7 24.Be3? Nxe5+ [24...d4 25.Bf4 b5] 25.Ke2 Bxe3 26.Kxe3 Kd6 27.Rhf1 b5 28.Nc3 Nc4+ [28...b4 29.Na4 Rac8 30.Rbc1] 29.Kd3 Rhf8 30.b3 Rxf1 31.Rxf1 Ne5+ 32.Kd4 Ra7 33.Rf8 Rf7 34.Rd8+ Nd7 35.Ra8 e5+ 36.Kd3 Nc5+ 37.Ke2 Kc6 38.Rc8+ Rc7 39.Rf8 b4 0-1
- AB
May Grand Prix Owen Sound, ON (3), 28.05.2006
D34 - QGD: Tarrasch, Prague variation, 9.Bg5
1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 c5 3.c4 e6 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Nc3 Nf6 6.g3"Against Both I don't understand your opening choice. If you wanted to play positionally against him, then create the isolated pawn and develop your pieces to better squares. For example 6.Bg5 Be7 7.dxc5 " (HJ);
Hans' advice makes good sense even at a less lofty level like mine 6.Bg5 is the reason why Black plays Nc6 before Nf6] 6...Nc6 7.Bg5 Be7 8.Bg2 0-0 9.0-0 [" 9.dxc5 d4 10.Bxf6 Bxf6 11.Ne4 with good play." (HJ)] 9...b6 10.dxc5 bxc5 11.Bxf6 Bxf6 12.Qxd5 [12.Nxd5 Bxb2 13.Rb1 Rb8 14.Nd2 Ba6 15.Ne4 Qa5 +- Sveshnikov-Filipenko, SSSR 1978;
"However creating the hanging pawns was not an advantage for you. Even the better 12.Nxd5 keeping the queens on which gives you more play is not clearly better. Even best case scenario if you win the isolated c-pawn this is an almost impossible position to convert" (HJ)] 12...Qxd5 13.Nxd5 Bxb2 14.Rab1 Rb8 Of course I missed this move 15.Nd2 Ba6 16.Rfe1 [16.Nc7 Bxe2 17.Bxc6 Bxf1 18.Kxf1 is an interesting try but I would never have looked for it although it does give me lots of play 18...Be5 19.Rxb8 Rxb8 20.Nd5] 16...Rfd8 17.Nb3 [17.Nc7 Rxd2 18.Nxa6 Rc8 19.Nxc5 was good as well] 17...Be5 18.Nxc5 Rxb1 19.Rxb1 Bxe2 20.Re1 Nd4 21.Rb1 ["Later on you missed 21.f4 (a nice pawn shot!) and its complicated but I like your chances after say 21...Nf3+ 22.Bxf3 Bd4+ 23.Kg2 Bxf3+ 24.Kxf3 Bxc5 25.Rd1! and you are a bit better because of your king placement but not enough to win" (HJ)] 21...Nf3+ 22.Bxf3 Bxf3 23.Ne3= g6 24.h4 Rd2 25.Nc4 Re2 26.Nxe5 Rxe5 27.Nd3 Ra5 28.Ne1 [28.Nb4 Ra4 29.Rb3 is better] 28...Bd5 29.Nd3 Kg7 30.Nb4 Be6 31.Ra1 Ra4 32.a3 Kf6 33.f4 ["You should have never lost this game. You didn't use your king until it was too late. You should have left your pawn on f2 and played 33.Kf1 -- 34.Ke1 -- 35.Kd2 and just tried to hold the position (he's better). Those half points end up costly in the long run" (HJ)] 33...Kf5 34.Kf2 Ke4 35.Nc2 Kd3 36.Nb4+ Kc3 37.Ke3 Kb2 38.Rd1 Rxa3+ 39.Nd3+ Kb3 40.Kd4 Kc2 Of course he was right. I'm paying the guy I should start listening to him :( 0-1
LR - CS
May Grand Prix Owen Sound, ON (4), 28.05.2006
B12 - Caro-Kann : Advanced Variation
1.e4 My opponent is the father of the kid I played in the second round 1...c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Like father like son 3...Bf5 4.Nf3 e6 After the game he mentioned that "after you played ...e6 it transposed into a French" ;) He must've missed the fact my bishop was outside the pawn chain 5.Nc3 [5.Be2 is mainline, keeping the option of pushing the c-pawn. again White was playing without a plan] 5...Nd7 6.Bd3 Bxd3 7.Qxd3 Ne7 8.0-0 c5 [Fritz said that 8...Nf5 might be worth a try, to put pressure on the d-pawn, but I like the tried and true ...c5 push] 9.dxc5 Nc6! I was happy with this move. It's thematic, but I'm happy nonetheless. I grab the c-pawn with my bishop then go after the e-pawn 10.a3 Bxc5 11.Bf4 a6 To stop Nb4 12.Ne2 Qc7 now I'm going for the pawn 13.c4 dxc4 14.Qxc4 Ncxe5 i have no problem grabbing either as 15.Nxe5 Nxe5 16.Qc3 [16.Bxe5 Qxe5 is good or(16...Bxf2+ 17.Rxf2 Qxc4) ] 16...Bd6 17.Qxc7 Bxc7 18.Rfd1 Rd8 and for some reason he trades down into a lost pawn endgame 19.Bxe5? Bxe5 20.Rxd8+ Kxd8 interestingly enough I didn't castle in either Caro this tournament 21.Rd1+ Ke7 22.Nc3 Bxc3 23.bxc3 Rd8 24.Rxd8? Kxd8 and it's a walkover from here 25.Kf1 b5 26.Ke2 Kd7 27.Kd3 Kc6 28.Kd4 f6 29.f4 h5 30.h3 g6 31.c4 bxc4 32.Kxc4 Kd6 33.a4 e5 34.fxe5+ fxe5 35.a5 g5 36.Kd3 Kd5 0-1 surprising he didn't put up more of a fight...he beat Aaron Both in the previous round
CS - KVA[D01]
May Grand Prix Owen Sound, ON (5), 28.05.2006
D01 - Veresov
1.Nc3 [This game was a sign from God not to play the Veresov anymore. I didn't want to play 1.d4 against Kees because he plays 1...d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 (forgetting that I could always have played 3.Nf3 c5 4.cxd5 avoiding his line) 3...c5 4.cxd5 cxd4] 1...Nf6 2.d4 d5 3.Bg5 g6 [Secretly hoping for 3...e6 4.e4] 4.Bxf6 [A different (better if you will) idea is 4.Qd2 with castling queenside] 4...exf6 5.e4 [5.e3 may be better as well] 5...dxe4 6.Nxe4 Bg7 7.c3 [7.Nf3 0-0 8.Be2 f5 9.Nc5 b6 10.Nb3 Bb7 11.0-0 Nd7 12.c3 Nf6 13.Re1 a6 14.a4 Re8 15.a5 Nd5 16.Bf1 Alburt-Marjanovic, Bucharest 1978] 7...0-0 I came back from the bathroom and played the usual and horrifying 8.Nf3?? missing that he had a threat 8...Re8 and it's over. I was going to play on only one piece down but after 9.Bd3?? f5 10.0-0 fxe4 it's two pieces.
A sad end to a not bad day 0-1
Monday, February 06, 2006
February Round 1
C - K
February Match(1) Internet Chess Club (1), 06.02.2006
QGD: Tarrasch, Prague variation, 9.Bg5
First new game of February. Kirk has just moved to a new place and was "borrowing" a wireless connection from a neighbour so there were long periods with no connection. Finally, after about 15 moves I got frustrated and just offered a draw. 1.c4 Something new for me in my quest to avoid the Queen's Gambit and still allow the Nimzo ;) Of course Black can play stuff like [1.c4 e5 (and 1...c5 but it will give me a chance to think over the board since these positions are all new to me.) ] 1...c5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 e6 [I was hoping for something like 3...Nc6 4.g3 g6 5.Bg2 Bg7 6.0-0 0-0 7.d4!] 4.g3 [I could've tried 4.d4 here;
but I was thinking about 4.e4 and a Mikenas-Carls. The problem with trying to get a Nimzo out of 1.c4 is that I can't play the Mikenas-Carls.] 4...d5 5.cxd5 exd5 [The text allows me to transpose into the Tarrasch Defense. If he would've tried 5...Nxd5 I don't think I would've been quite so comfortable going into a Semi-Tarrasch 6.d4] 6.d4 Nc6 7.Bg2 Be7 8.0-0 0-0 9.Bg5 Be6
And after some to-ing and fro-ing we actually made it to the mainline of the Tarrasch Defense. A Queen's Gambit, which I was hoping to avoid with 1.c4, but the Tarrasch, at our patzer level, is easier to play as White. [The mainline is 9...cxd4 10.Nxd4 h6 11.Be3 Re8] 10.Rc1 [10.dxc5 Bxc5 11.Bxf6 Qxf6 12.Nxd5 Qxb2 13.Nc7 was another interesting choice] 10...Nd7?! [No mention of 10. ...Nd7 in any book on the Tarrasch I have, but it seems an interesting choice. Similar to the idea of 10...Ne4 11.Bxe7 Qxe7 with the knight guarding the c5-pawn, but i think the knight may be more influential on e4 than d7.] 11.Bxe7 Qxe7 12.dxc5 Qxc5 13.Ng5! d4 14.Nxe6 fxe6 15.Bxc6? Throwing away advantage by looking for tricks [15.e3! was much better, with the idea of attacking the queen with tempo before exchanging the bishop 15...Rad8 16.Ne2 Qb6 17.Bxc6 bxc6 18.Qxd4] 15...bxc6 16.Ne4 [16.e3 Ne5 17.exd4 Qxd4 18.Qxd4 Nf3+ may have been better.] 16...Qe5= Again i offered a draw because i was fed up with the connection[I had only thought about 16...Qd5 17.Qc2 . I threw away a White, but there's lots more opportunity. Plus maybe I have a future option as White with 1.c4 :)] ½-½
February Match(1) Internet Chess Club (1), 06.02.2006
QGD: Tarrasch, Prague variation, 9.Bg5
First new game of February. Kirk has just moved to a new place and was "borrowing" a wireless connection from a neighbour so there were long periods with no connection. Finally, after about 15 moves I got frustrated and just offered a draw. 1.c4 Something new for me in my quest to avoid the Queen's Gambit and still allow the Nimzo ;) Of course Black can play stuff like [1.c4 e5 (and 1...c5 but it will give me a chance to think over the board since these positions are all new to me.) ] 1...c5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 e6 [I was hoping for something like 3...Nc6 4.g3 g6 5.Bg2 Bg7 6.0-0 0-0 7.d4!] 4.g3 [I could've tried 4.d4 here;
but I was thinking about 4.e4 and a Mikenas-Carls. The problem with trying to get a Nimzo out of 1.c4 is that I can't play the Mikenas-Carls.] 4...d5 5.cxd5 exd5 [The text allows me to transpose into the Tarrasch Defense. If he would've tried 5...Nxd5 I don't think I would've been quite so comfortable going into a Semi-Tarrasch 6.d4] 6.d4 Nc6 7.Bg2 Be7 8.0-0 0-0 9.Bg5 Be6
And after some to-ing and fro-ing we actually made it to the mainline of the Tarrasch Defense. A Queen's Gambit, which I was hoping to avoid with 1.c4, but the Tarrasch, at our patzer level, is easier to play as White. [The mainline is 9...cxd4 10.Nxd4 h6 11.Be3 Re8] 10.Rc1 [10.dxc5 Bxc5 11.Bxf6 Qxf6 12.Nxd5 Qxb2 13.Nc7 was another interesting choice] 10...Nd7?! [No mention of 10. ...Nd7 in any book on the Tarrasch I have, but it seems an interesting choice. Similar to the idea of 10...Ne4 11.Bxe7 Qxe7 with the knight guarding the c5-pawn, but i think the knight may be more influential on e4 than d7.] 11.Bxe7 Qxe7 12.dxc5 Qxc5 13.Ng5! d4 14.Nxe6 fxe6 15.Bxc6? Throwing away advantage by looking for tricks [15.e3! was much better, with the idea of attacking the queen with tempo before exchanging the bishop 15...Rad8 16.Ne2 Qb6 17.Bxc6 bxc6 18.Qxd4] 15...bxc6 16.Ne4 [16.e3 Ne5 17.exd4 Qxd4 18.Qxd4 Nf3+ may have been better.] 16...Qe5= Again i offered a draw because i was fed up with the connection[I had only thought about 16...Qd5 17.Qc2 . I threw away a White, but there's lots more opportunity. Plus maybe I have a future option as White with 1.c4 :)] ½-½
Sunday, July 10, 2005
1-1 after the first set of games
the first game i won neatly and the second i lost in a terrible blunder. my excuse is that a bunch of people came into the restaurant and was noisy. the proper response would be to get ragozin to turn up the radio and blow smoke in my face ;) here are the games, mostly proper, from memory...i haven't annofritzed it yet...maybe two sets of moves are out of order...
CS - CO
1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 Nf6 3. c4 Bg4 4. Nc3 Bxf3 5. exf3 e6 6. Bg5 Be7 7. Be2 Nbd7 8.
O-O O-O 9. Qb3 Nb6 10. c5 Nc4 11. Bxc4 dxc4 12. Qxc4 b6 13. b4 Qd7 14. c6 Qd6
15. b5 Rad8 16. Rad1 h6 17. Be3 Nd5 18. Ne4 Qb4 19. Qxb4 Bxb4 20. a4 a5 21. Bd2
Be7 22. Nc3 Bf6 23. Nxd5 Rxd5 24. Bf4 Rc8 25. Rd3 Rxd4 26. Rxd4 Bxd4 27. Rd1 e5
28. Be3 Rd8 29. Bxd4 exd4 30. Kf1 Kf8 31. Ke2 Ke7 32. Kd3 Ke6 33. Kc4 Ke5 34.
Rd3 g5 35. g3 f5 36. Rd1 f4 37. Kd3 Kd5 38. Re1 Kc5 39. Re7 Rc8 40. Rd7 1-0
CO - CS
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. Bg5 e6 6. Bd3 Be7 7. c3 Nbd7 8. O-O O-O 9. Nbd2 b6 10. Qc2 h6 11. Bf4 Re8 12. Ne5 Nxe5 13. Bxe5 Nd7 14. f4 Nxe5 15. fxe5 f5 16. exf6 Bxf6 17. Bh7+ Kh8 18. Nf3 e5 19. dxe5 Bxe5 20. Rae1 Qd6?? 21. Nxe5 1-0
there are a couple adjustments i will make for the next two games...apparently he likes to pin the knight on f3/f6 ;) off to search for some pepsi
CS - CO
1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 Nf6 3. c4 Bg4 4. Nc3 Bxf3 5. exf3 e6 6. Bg5 Be7 7. Be2 Nbd7 8.
O-O O-O 9. Qb3 Nb6 10. c5 Nc4 11. Bxc4 dxc4 12. Qxc4 b6 13. b4 Qd7 14. c6 Qd6
15. b5 Rad8 16. Rad1 h6 17. Be3 Nd5 18. Ne4 Qb4 19. Qxb4 Bxb4 20. a4 a5 21. Bd2
Be7 22. Nc3 Bf6 23. Nxd5 Rxd5 24. Bf4 Rc8 25. Rd3 Rxd4 26. Rxd4 Bxd4 27. Rd1 e5
28. Be3 Rd8 29. Bxd4 exd4 30. Kf1 Kf8 31. Ke2 Ke7 32. Kd3 Ke6 33. Kc4 Ke5 34.
Rd3 g5 35. g3 f5 36. Rd1 f4 37. Kd3 Kd5 38. Re1 Kc5 39. Re7 Rc8 40. Rd7 1-0
CO - CS
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. Bg5 e6 6. Bd3 Be7 7. c3 Nbd7 8. O-O O-O 9. Nbd2 b6 10. Qc2 h6 11. Bf4 Re8 12. Ne5 Nxe5 13. Bxe5 Nd7 14. f4 Nxe5 15. fxe5 f5 16. exf6 Bxf6 17. Bh7+ Kh8 18. Nf3 e5 19. dxe5 Bxe5 20. Rae1 Qd6?? 21. Nxe5 1-0
there are a couple adjustments i will make for the next two games...apparently he likes to pin the knight on f3/f6 ;) off to search for some pepsi
Wednesday, March 02, 2005
you'll find me at the club...
went down to the chess club tonight and i was thinking about playing the kan, but i might not because i got a tough position, even though i won the game. also i tried the QGD exchange, but was pleasantly surprised to find it transpose into a nimzo
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.cxd5 exd5 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.Qc2 Nf6 6.Bg5 Be6 7.e3 Nbd7 8.Bd3
as in Riumin-Botwinnik 1932
interesting transposition
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.cxd5 exd5 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.Qc2 Nf6 6.Bg5 Be6 7.e3 Nbd7 8.Bd3
as in Riumin-Botwinnik 1932
interesting transposition
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