Weekend tourney Round 2

C - NN
C41 - Philidor Defense : Nimzowitsch Variation

This is the first I've touched a chessboard (Tuesday) since the tournament (Saturday). It was a very unpleasant tournament for me and I'm not sure what caused it. Too much quickplay no doubt. I forgot to bring my clock that should have been a warning. I had decided beforehand to play 1.e4, the Alekhine and the Nimzo/QGD. I had White the first game

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 As everytime Black avoids the Ruy, I wonder why I didn't just push my f-pawn on the second move 3.d4 Nf6 Interesting move order. Regular is [3...exd4;
and of course every White player v. the Philidor is looking for 3...Bg4 ;) ] 4.Bg5?! [I had to protect the pawn. Kirk recommended 4.dxe5 but after 4...Nxe4 i wonder if i would've found 5.Qd5!;
The mainline is 4.Nc3 and after 4...Nbd7 it is the Hanham Variation] 4...h6 [Schwartz-Paulsen continued 4...exd4 but I like the idea of him putting the question to my bishop. 5.Nxd4 Be7 6.Bd3 0-0 7.Nc3 c6 and eventually White won. I think I would play 4.Bg5 again though] 5.Bxf6? [Better was 5.Bh4 but I couldn't see what to play after 5...g5 6.dxe5 (not 6.Bg3? Nxe4) 6...Nxe4 7.Bd3 and it's messy but i doubt he wants his pawn on h4;
Even better was the immediate 5.dxe5 hxg5 6.exf6 g4 7.Nd4 Qxf6 I thought about it, but I realized why complicate things unnecessarily and just gave up the bishop pair, which I was loath to do before the game started.] 5...Qxf6 6.Nc3 c6 7.d5!? [I probably should have got on with it 7.Qd2 or;
7.Be2 but I thought that with all his pawn moves, I could try one too. In addition, this indirectly stopped him from playing ...b5] 7...Be7?



White to play and win

8.Qd2? [I missed that the bishop on e7 stopped the queen from coming back to d8 and stopping the fork 8.dxc6! bxc6 (8...Nxc6 9.Nd5 Qg6 10.Nc7+ is pretty obvious) 9.Nd5 Qg6 (9...cxd5 10.Qxd5 and wins the rook) 10.Nc7+] 8...0-0 9.0-0-0[9.dxc6 bxc6 (9...Nxc6 10.Nd5) 10.Nd5 cxd5 11.Qxd5 still worked, but if I missed it the first time, i was sure to miss it again. Of course it's not as strong this time because in the other line 11...Nc6 12.Qxc6 was check] 9...Nd7



White to play and lose horribly

10.g3?? Believe it or not there was some thought behind this move. [I wanted to put my knight on h4 and get to f5 but of course I couldn't do it immediately because of Qxh4, so I played 10.g3 losing the knight immediately. 10...-- 11.Nh4;
Of course something like 10.Be2 was better.

] 10...Qxf3

Why did I miss that the knight was defended only by the g-pawn? I wanted to play g3 while I could because I didn't want him to be able to pin. Kirk gave a more realistic excuse...not being used to playing with "real pieces". I had too much time to think, so I was making these deep knight inflitration ideas instead of looking at the board like I would in a blitz or active game. My opponent felt terrible and even apologized after the game.

So what's the solution? I want to play at the Canadian Open but I' m not real good at losing. Should I go back to playing things like the Caro? Should I give up chess? Should I analyze with a real board? I have given up correspondence. I'm thinking about just playing chess as a social activity, but I think I need a break. I may go to play more passive things as Black and just play 1.f4 as White and actually go through GM-RAM and endings books and sit at a board instead of this idiot box. We'll see 0-1

analyze this

AB - C
Grey Bruce Chess Club 2006
B09 - Pirc : Austrian Attack

1.e4 d6!? not something i'm gonna play next weekend but i wanted to try something different and move the struggle to the middlegame. also it's poor to get your opening busted by a stronger player before you go to a tournament. so i play something that i will never actually play OTB 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.f4 Bg7 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be3 c6? [I haven't played this system very much before, but better than the "Rat" was 6...Nc6 ;
or the double-fianchetto 6...b6 i fell in love with the idea though of 6. ...c6 7.Bc4? Nxe4! ] 7.Qd2 Bg4 [7...Ng4 was another option] 8.Be2 b5 Trying to make him think twice about queenside castling 9.h3 Bxf3 [9...b4! 10.hxg4 bxc3 11.Qxc3 Nxe4 12.Qd3 was a more interesting try] 10.Bxf3 a5 11.0-0?! My threats worked. I think it would have been a better plan for him to push g4 etc. instead of castling kingside, but what do i know? ;) 11...Qc7? [11...d5 To stop the threat of e5] 12.Nxb5? [12.e5! b4 13.Nb5 won immediately] 12...cxb5 13.e5 Nc6 14.exf6 Bxf6 Now I feel I'm better with the c- for e-pawn trade 15.Rac1 [Maybe 15.c3 ] 15...Rac8 16.c4 b4 17.c5 dxc5 18.Rxc5 Qd6 19.d5? [Asking for too much out of the position. Maybe 19.Rd5 was better] 19...Nd4 20.Rxc8 [20.Rxa5 Rc2 21.Qd3 Nxf3+ 22.Rxf3 Rxb2] 20...Nxf3+ 21.Rxf3 Rxc8 22.Bf2 Rd8 23.Rd3 e6 I win a pawn by unbearably shoddy technique does me in. if you can believe it, i actually lose this game 24.a3 exd5 25.axb4 Qxb4 26.Qxb4 axb4 27.Bd4



Bxd4+? [What a silly mistake by me. I realized that only his king would be able to help him, but missed that his king would be closer to my pawn. 27...Be7 was decided to be best afterwards.] 28.Rxd4 Kg7 29.Kf2 Kf6 [29...b3 may have been better 30.Rb4 d4 31.Ke2 Re8+ 32.Kd3 Re3+ 33.Kxd4 Rg3] 30.Rxb4 d4?? [Probably the losing move 30...h5 was much better allowing my king to stay near my pawn. Why did I make such terrible blunders? I was mentally defeated after the 27. ...Bxd4. i needed to take a breath and think. THIS GAME WAS NOT LOST AT THIS POINT] 31.Ke2 h5 [31...Re8+ 32.Kd3 Re3+ 33.Kxd4 Rg3] 32.Kd3 Kf5 33.Rxd4 Rb8 34.b4 Rb7 35.g3 Ke6 36.Rc4 Kd5= 37.Rc5+ Kd6 38.Kc4 f5 39.b5 Rb6 40.Kd4 and I stopped recording and eventually lost. It was good to play some strong opposition but I made some strange moves in the middlegame. 1-0

there were some good things to take from that. i won a pawn and had an excellent middlegame v. a relatively strong player. that is the level of player i will play in kitchener. the problem is that when he put a bit of pressure on me i crumbled. i need to focus more. Kirk, if you wouldn't mind doing a bit of analysis on this, i'd appreciate it ;)

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

yet another one bites the dust

bye bye art of attack

hello SOVIET CHESS - 1917-1991

i actually learned something from the last book...i feel stronger

return of the caro

K-C
January Match Internet Chess Club (8), 24.01.2006
B12 - Caro-Kann : Advanced Variation

We decided to have a midweek game. 1.e4 c6 I wanted to move the battle to the late middlegame/endgame. Over the board there won't be as many miniatures for and against I hope 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Nf3 e6 5.Be2 c5!? [I tried something different today. Normally I play the Karpov-esque 5...Ne7 6.-- Nd7 and only then 7.-- c5 and 8.-- Nc6 . ] 6.0-0 Nc6 7.c3 Nge7 [The main line is 7...cxd4 8.cxd4 then 8...Nge7 but I didn't want to open any lines for him. I can't understand why someone would play this way v. the old Karpov Knights way. Development is awkward at best and painful at worst.] 8.Bg5!? [The mainline is 8.dxc5! Ng6 9.b4 Ngxe5 . I wa happy with his move because it allowed me to develop a little bit] 8...Qb6 9.Qb3?! giving himself doubled isolated pawns [9.Qd2 may have been better] 9...Qxb3 10.axb3 Bxb1 11.Rfxb1 cxd4 12.cxd4 Nf5



Whether I'm better or worse here I'm happy with my position. I missed Kirk's next move, but I wanted just to trade off the bishops and my two queenside pawns are better than his. 13.Bb5! Be7 14.Rd1 Bxg5 15.Nxg5 h6 [I wanted to play 15...Ke7 to break the pin, but after an eventual 16.Nf3 -- and 17.g4 the knight is out of play] 16.Nf3 0-0 [Now 16...Ke7 17.Bxc6 bxc6 18.g4 loses] 17.Bxc6 bxc6 Now it comes down to whether the backwards c-pawn is weaker than the doubled isolated b-pawns. 18.g4 Ne7 19.Rdc1 [Fritz liked 19.Ra3 and I think that's okay as well. Easier for him to get at the a-pawn, since my knight is guarding the c-pawn. ] 19...Rfc8 20.Ne1 Ng6?! [Fritz wanted me to go after the b-pawn, but my idea was to play 20...Rc7 defending the a-pawn 21.-- Rac8 and freelance with my knight. With this setup of rooks if he decided to go after my a-pawn, i can always play 22.-- Ra8] 21.Ra6? [I think 21.Nd3! was better, limiting my knight.] 21...c5! 22.Nd3? [22.Rxc5 Rxc5 23.dxc5 Nxe5 24.h3;
or 22.dxc5 Nxe5 23.h3 was better] 22...cxd4 23.Rxc8+ Rxc8 24.Rxa7 Rc2 25.f4 Rd2 26.f5 Rxd3 [Fritz said that 26...exf5 was stronger but I thought my line was winning as well] 27.fxg6 fxg6 28.Rb7 Re3 29.b4? [29.Rb4 may have been a bit better, but it's a win now] 29...d3 30.Kf2 Re2+? [a blunder by me 30...d2! was instantly winning] 31.Kf1 Rxb2 32.b5 Rxh2? [Again not paying attention. I got lazy 32...Rb1+ 33.Kf2 d2] 33.Ke1 Rb2 34.b6 h5 Trying to make a second weakness 35.gxh5 gxh5 36.Rb8+ Kh7 37.b7 h4 38.Kd1 h3 39.Kc1 Rb3 40.Kd2 h2 White resigns 0-1

game 7

C-K
January Match Internet Chess Club (7), 22.01.2006
C92 - Ruy Lopez : Closed, Kholmov Variation

This was not the best of games. 1.e4 Kirk mentioned that he had started playing 1.e4 so I wanted to see what he played v. the Ruy 1...e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 [I had actually thought about playing 4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.0-0 because of the crazy (unsound) line I saw 5...f6 6.Nxe5!? fxe5 7.Qh5+ Kd7 (7...g6 8.Qxe5+ +-) 8.Qxe5 and it will be difficult for Black to free himself. Unfortunately, Black doesn't have to play that line.] 4...Nf6 5.0-0 [I also thought about trying this 5.Qe2 to avoid the Open Lopez, as favored by Tiviakov and Tpstar But then I thought about it and realized that I wanted to see what he would play.] 5...Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.c3! What the heck, I thought. I'm gonna go for it. 8...d6 9.h3 [Again I had thoughts of playing 9.d4 Bg4 10.Be3 but was curious to see what his Closed Lopez line was] 9...Be6!? The Kholmov variation. Tough enough in practice, but not the greatest theoretically. A nice choice 10.d4 Bxb3 11.Qxb3 [11.axb3 is played as well but that isolated pawns after 11...exd4 12.cxd4 weren't very appealing to me(12.Nxd4 Nxd4 13.Qxd4 was another option, but I think the tempi on the queen makes it easier to roll the queenside pawns.) ] 11...exd4 [11...Qd7 is main line, but the text is theory as well] 12.cxd4 Nxd4?? [12...Na5;
or 12...d5 were better. I assume that Kirk thought I played 12.Nxd4 and trade that way. ] 13.Nxd4 c5 14.Nc6 Qc7 15.Nxe7+ Qxe7 16.Bg5 1-0

2nd endgame in a row

K-C
January Match Internet Chess Club (6), 21.01.2006
C99 - Ruy Lopez : Closed, Tchigorin Variation, 12 ...cxd4

1.e4 e5 [I wanted revenge for our game last week, no doubt about it. I wasn't in the mood for another Opocensky Najdorf 1...c5 ;
didn't want a passive position with 1...c6 ;
and don't have the bollocks to try 1...Nf6 vs. the arch-duke of the Alekhine himself (but will in the future even if it's just blitz). So 1.e4 e5 it is] 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 [Of course there's always other options. I had to think at this point whether I wanted to play something "normal" or get him thinking on move 3 with something like 3...f5 ] 4.Ba4 [A less classy player would probably have played 4.Bxc6 ] 4...b5 a little finesse to stop a later Bxc6 5.Bb3 Nf6 6.0-0 [They say that 6.d4 is good here on chessgames.com (12 wins for White v. 2 losses, most of them miniatures). Interesting. Although after 6...exd4 7.e5 Ne4 I don't see what the big deal is as in Menke-Rellstab 1947(or even 7...Ng4 ) ] 6...Be7 7.Re1 0-0 The only reason I offered the Marshall, was not because I wanted him to play 8.c3 and allow it, but was to kill some time and let him decide whether or not to allow it. He didn't 8.h3 [The odd time where I do play the Closed Lopez I play this move order because the anti-Marshalls (IMHO) aren't as good for White as the mainline Closed Lopezes. 8.a4 Bb7 for instance] 8...d6 [I recalled that the grandmaster refutation to this line is 8...Bb7, but I couldn't remember why :) if 9.c3 (9.d3 is normally played by the Linares crowd) 9...d5! allows a better Marshall. 10.exd5 Nxd5 11.Nxe5 Nxe5 12.Rxe5 Black doesn't have to waste a tempo with ...c6 and can play something like 12...Bf6 (or even 12...Nf4! ) ] 9.c3 Na5 10.Bc2 c5 11.d4 Qc7 12.Nbd2 cxd4 13.cxd4 exd4?! [13...-- Releasing the tension in the center, which as a certain Mr. Frarey tought me the hard way, whomever released the central tension in the Lopez loses. I wanted to mix it up though. Kirk has made me suffer on the Black side of the Tchigorin too many times with the 14.Nf1 -- 15.Ng3 -- 16.Nh4 -- 17.Nhf5 plan and checkmated me horribly. So I wanted him to have to think for a change, plus I figured it would be easier to develop my knight if he didn' thave d5 kickign it from c6 and where was my bishop gonna go. Hell, maybe I'll have to try a different Lopez next time ;)] 14.Nxd4 Nc6 [I was thinking about moves like 14...Be6 for a while, trying to get him to trade off the bishop and get rid of my isolated pawns. The problem with this thinking (although it does develop my bishop) is that I'm making a conscious effort not to trade bishops for knights if I can help it (although that will be shown laughable later on in this game)] 15.N2f3 Ne5 Again to get my pawn away from d6 [15...Nxd4 16.Nxd4 d5 17.exd5 Bb4 18.Re2 Bb7 may have been an easier way to open up the game. History has shown (me) that Black's game gets easier the more open it is in the Tchigorin] 16.Bf4 Rd8!? not the greatest move but I had to free my pieces. [16...Nh5!? 17.Nxe5? (but 17.Bh2 basically refutes it) 17...Nxf4 may have been decent;
Probably just developing with 16...Bd7 was the strongest.] 17.Rc1! Yes! Taking advantage of my weaknesses in development. I had to decide where to put my queen. Fitz likes Qb6, but I was worried about tactics on the e7 bishop 17...Nxf3+ 18.Qxf3 Qb7 19.Bb3 Bd7 Now I wanted to trade off a pair of rooks. I don't think he will be able to put sufficient pressure on my d-pawn. 20.Qd3?! [20.e5! Qxf3 21.Nxf3 dxe5 22.Nxe5 and the weakness of my bishop on e7 tell] 20...Rac8 21.Nf3? [21.Rxc8 Rxc8 22.Nf3 because the rook is guarding the e-pawn.] 21...Rxc1 22.Rxc1 Qxe4 23.Bxf7+! I totally missed this. I had flashbacks to the previously mentioned game where he checkmated me horribly. I didn't see anything terrible though with... 23...Kf8 24.Qxe4 [The exchange was forced as 24.Qd2 Bxh3 is good for Black (and i even saw that)] 24...Nxe4 25.Bd5 Nc5 Aiming to fork 26.Bg3 [I wasn't sure what to try with 26.Rd1 Be6 was recommended by Fritz but 27.b4 looked good to me, stopping my queenside and leaving me with an isolated pawn] 26...Be6= I offered a draw here. Kirk took about 2 minutes before deciding on 27.Rxc5! Fritz likes it as two bishops for a rook is pretty good. The only problem with it, positionally, is that it gives me winning chances on the queenside and gets rid of my isolated pawn. 27...dxc5 28.Bxe6 Rd1+?! 29.Kh2 Bd6 This was the idea behind my odd 28th move. I wanted to trade off the bishops and go knight and light squred bishop v. rook. Unfortunately, Kirk was not so accomodating 30.Ne5 [30.Bc8 was probably better, because I'm impatient so I likely wouldn't have seen the error of my ways and played 30...Bxg3+? probably losing b/c of the active king] 30...Ke7 [I couldn't make 30...Re1 work but after 31.f4 Re2 Fritz says it's all good. My move was based on the active king. Kirk's king is more of a bystander than anything.] 31.Bc8 Bxe5? Giving up the bishop pair for no compensation, plus he grabs a couple of pawns. I was counting on 3 being better than 2 on the queenside, but honestly I was very lucky it worked out so well. [31...Re1 didn't work here as 32.Nc6+ won a piece but;
31...Rd2 32.Bxa6 Rxb2 was pretty good] 32.Bxe5 a5 33.Bxg7 a4 34.Bh6? [34.f4 was better] 34...b4 [I thought about 34...Rb1 35.b3 axb3 36.axb3 Rxb3 but that gets rid of my most advanced pawn 37.Bf5 c4 38.Bxh7 and now what?] 35.Bf5 Ra1 36.Bxh7 Rxa2 37.Bg7 [Defending the other way 37.Bc1 was likely better.] 37...a3 38.Bg8? [38.bxa3 bxa3 (38...Rxa3 to keep the pawns together loses to 39.Bg8) 39.f4 will be tough for me.] 38...Rxb2! 39.Bxb2? [He's gotta go for his own with 39.f4 ] 39...axb2 40.Ba2 c4 41.h4 c3 42.Bb3 b1Q He blundered in the endgame. As the last two games have shown, we *both* need to work on technique. We're both victims of bad decisions as much as anything 0-1

black is back y'all

C - K
January Match Internet Chess Club (5), 15.01.2006
C31 - King's Gambit Declined : Falkbeer, Tartakower Variation

I decided before this game to play a King's Gambit. I had found a new idea v. the Falkbeer which Kirk plays and wanted to try it out 1.f4 e5 [I go through this move order for a couple of reasons. I didn't believe that Kirk would play 1...d5 because history has shown that he doesn't like the closed positions that follow. Also, Kirk never plays 1.e4 e5] 2.e4 [And also history has shown that I don't like From's Gambit 2.fxe5 . Lasker's defense is my antidote (as Black) to From's 2...d6 3.exd6 Bxd6 4.Nf3 g5! with equality] 2...d5 3.Nf3 And here's mine (and Tartakower's idea).



I've been looking for an alternative line to [3.exd5 because I just don't like the positions after 3...e4 I like Tchigorin's 4.Bb5+ but the positions aren't particularly good and the mainlines i don't find any better, so hence the text] 3...Bg4! [and of course I don't even consider this move. It looks strong to me. I had looked at 3...exf4 transposing back to C36. ;
and the position after 3...dxe4 4.Nxe5 is fairly good as far as I'm concerned with lines like 4...Bd6 5.d4 exd3 6.Nxd3] 4.Be2 This was the only move I saw that didn't immediately lose material or ruin my position [4.exd5 e4 5.Qe2 is more in line with the falkbeer lines;
4.Nc3 d4 looks much better for Black;
4.h3 dxe4 5.hxg4 exf3 6.Qxf3 gives me a mangled kingside;
4.Qe2 was another option but i think Kirk would have ended up way ahead in development after something like 4...Nc6] 4...Bc5?! [This is a novelty as far as I can tell 4...exf4 has been played a number of times.] 5.Nxe5 Bxe2 [5...Bh3! was a possible move, threatening 6.gxh3 (6.Kf1 may be better for White according to Fritz, but i think it sucks to play as White) 6...Qh4+ 7.Kf1 Qf2#] 6.Qxe2 Nf6 [6...Nd7 7.exd5 Qh4+ 8.g3 Qe7] 7.Qb5+ Nbd7 8.exd5 [8.Nxd7 Nxd7 9.Qxb7 and 9...d4 with an ugly position is almost forced(9...Rb8 for instance 10.Qxd5 and i'm better; 9...dxe4 10.Qxe4+ Be7 11.0-0 looks better for me as well) The immediate 8.Qxb7?! isn't as good because after 8. ...Rb8 I can't capture the d-pawn. That tactical point is what I missed ] 8...0-0 9.b4? [Brutal. SOmething like 9.Nxd7 Nxd7 10.Kd1 would have been better. I'm way behind in development at this point, i just wanted to get the bishop off the diagonal so i can castle but i missed that...] 9...Bd4! attacks my rook 10.c3 [10.Nc3 doesn't really help me. At this point I wasn't counting on castling, so if I'm not going to castle trading off pieces is probably my best idea] 10...Bxe5 11.fxe5 Nxe5 12.0-0 [Plans change. Maybe 12.d4 first was better.] 12...Qxd5 i'm definitely worse here....i'm going to have to trade off queens without picking off the b-pawn which was the point of my queen excursion in the first place. 13.Qxd5 Nxd5 14.Rf5!? Nd3 [I was counting on this move. If he would've played something like 14...Rfe8 ;
or 14...f6 , but the text actually half gives me a chance to get back in the game, and catch up in development] 15.Rxd5 Nxc1 Trading off one of my undeveloped pieces 16.Na3?! A forcing move but [16.Rd7 was likely better] 16...Ne2+ 17.Kf2 [In the big picture 17.Kf1 would've been better. When I made this move i didn't picture him picking off the d-pawn (with check, hence Kf1 being better than Kf2). I imagined something grand like me pushing the d-pawn to d4 and all the way to victory or something like that. Delroy rides again! Unfortunately the continuation wasn't quite so dramatic...] 17...Nf4 18.Rd7 Rfd8 19.Rxc7 Ne6? [I imagine he played this because he was afraid of 19...Rxd2+ 20.Ke3 but 20...Rxa2! 21.Rxa2 Nd5+] 20.Rxb7 Rxd2+ 21.Kf1 two moves to get to f1, instead of one. an extra tempo here would've likely really helped me out. [21.Kf1 -- 22.Nc4 Rc2 23.Nd6 Rxc3 24.Rd1 i dunno if it's really better] 21...Nf4 22.Re1 Rxa2? [Allowing a tactic because of back rank mate. 22...h6 was likely better winning him a pawn. One of Kirk's "chess weaknesses" is refusing to slow down things to give his king some breathing room.] 23.Rxa7 Rd8 [23...Rxa7?? 24.Re8#] 24.Nb5 this is the key here. 24...Rxg2 [24...Rxa7 may have been better 25.Nxa7] 25.Nd6? not calculating hard enough [I thought about 25.Rd7 again with but if 25...Rb8 (25...Rxd7 26.Re8#) (not 26.Rb7 with a repetition but) 26.Re4! g5 27.Rxf4! gxf4 28.Kxg2 Rxb5 29.Kf3 and I think i'm better in in this endgame.] 25...Rxh2 26.Re8+?! [I think now was the time to go for the repetition by 26.Rd7 Ra8 27.Ra7 and if 27...Rf8 28.Ree7] 26...Rxe8 27.Nxe8 Rc2 28.Nd6 h6 29.Rxf7 Nd5 30.Rf3 [30.Rd7 Rxc3 31.b5 was pretty close to what happened] 30...Nxc3 [Of course hoping for 30...Rxc3 31.Rxc3 Nxc3] 31.b5 Nd5 32.Rb3 Nb6 33.Ne4 Kf7 34.Rf3+ Ke6 35.Rg3 g5 36.Nxg5+? [36.Rh3! was much better, but i figured that even I could draw R+N v. R] 36...hxg5 37.Rxg5= and I offered a draw which Kirk initially declined. He did offer a draw afterwards, but I don't know if it was at this point or when it was. I didn't see it (or hear it on ICC) so I continued playing and... 37...Kd6 38.Rf5 Rb2 39.Ke1 Nd5 40.Rg5 Rxb5



41.Ke2?? This is an unbelievable blunder. My excuse is that I was tired. A more realistic excuse is that (similar to my game in Kitchener last year where I dropped my queen on the sunny side of Q+P v. RR) I had already mentally chalked this up as a draw and the only thing i was trying to avoid was a fork. I wasn't even looking for my rook to be captured. Yes I feel he should have accepted my draw, but I should've opened my eyes. Sub-masterly play by me ;) 41...Nc3+ 42.Kd3 Rxg5 43.Kxc3 Rg4 44.Kd3 White resigns 0-1

i still need to learn focus. sneaky's recommendation of writing down the moves has startd but i totally played from about move 21 on too fast and was hardly paying attention at the end. oh well live and learn.

in response to my terrible tournament last year, i read an interesting article today about "Why We Have Disaster Tournaments". I'm just glad I'm not the only one ;)

a quickie

K - C
January Match Internet Chess Club (4), 14.01.2006
D07 - Tchigorin Defense

1.d4!? Highly unexpected. I guess he wanted a break from the Najdorf, but I was going to try a Caro regardless. 1...d5 2.Nf3 [2.c4 I had been thikning about trying 2...e5 since Kasim played it successively (1½/2) at the Keres Memorial including a draw v. Karpov. I woke up this morning and tried to figure out how I would play this v. 2.Nf3. So ] 2...Nc6 3.c4 e5?! [Maybe 3...Bg4 is better, but I wanted to try and get ...e5 in and see how it worked] 4.Nxe5 [4.dxe5 d4 transposes to the main line of the Albin] 4...Nxe5 5.dxe5 d4 6.Bf4 Be6 [6...Ne7 7.-- Ng6 may have been better] 7.e3 [7.Qb3 Ne7 again going to g6] 7...dxe3 [7...g5! Similar to the game today at Corus Topalov-Kamsky 8.Bg3 h5 9.h4 dxe3] 8.Qxd8+ Rxd8 9.Bxe3 Bb4+ [9...f6 10.exf6 Nxf6 and it's a real gambit] 10.Bd2 Bxd2+ 11.Nxd2 Ne7 12.f4 Nf5 13.Be2? [13.Rc1 was likely better, protecting his c-pawn and getting rid of all fork options.] 13...Ne3 White resigns[13...Ne3 some of the lines are 14.Kf2 (14.Bf3 Nc2+ 15.Ke2 Nxa1 16.Rxa1) 14...Nxg2 15.Kxg2 Rxd2 Kirk may have resigned early but the position was getting ugly and I don't think he was really in the mood to play this morning] 0-1

january match (3)

C-K
January Match Internet Chess Club (3), 08.01.2006
B90 - Sicilian : Najdorf, Kasparov Variation

1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 d6 [I tried to move order him here 2...Nc6 3.Nf3 and he either has to go into an unfamiliar (non-Najdorf) Sicilian with 3...Nf6 (or avoid a "normal" Sicilian altogether with 3...e5 ) ] 3.Nf3 [I didn't have the bollocks to try 3.f4 , but maybe next time] 3...Nf6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 a6 and so after a little to-ing and fro-ing we come to the tabiya of the Najdorf. Me and Kirk played some blitz the other day and he went for the mainline v. Bg5 so I decided to go for 6.Be3 again and, not surpisingly, he went for 6...Ng4 again 7.Bg5 h6 8.Bh4 g5 9.Bg3 Bg7! [Last time he played 9...h5 and got a bad position. The text is theory] 10.Bc4 [Other moves are 10.Be2 ;
10.h3;
and 10.Qd2 . I figured that Bc4 put pressure on f7 and also would tempt him to play ...b5 and then both his kingside and queenside would be exposed] 10...0-0 [10...Qb6 looks interesting as well as Kirk's 10...h5;
or just develop 10...Nc6 ] 11.Ne6?! fxe6?! [11...Bxc3+ 12.bxc3 Qa5 was better according to Fritz] 12.Qxg4 This worked out exactly the way I wanted. My queen is on the kingside, there's pins and once i castle queenside there will be another pin on his queen. 12...Qd7 13.0-0-0 [The immediate 13.h4! may be better] 13...b5! 14.Bb3 Bxc3 [A better plan may have been 14...a5 15.a3 a4 16.Ba2 with his own pawn storm] 15.bxc3 Nc6? [Maybe 15...Qe8 trying to get some other pieces on the kingside, but I understand Kirk's rationale. For the third game in a row (or maybe more even) he's severely underdeveloped.] 16.h4! Na5 King safety should be at a premium at this point but I wonder if there's anything he can do? [16...Rf6] 17.hxg5 Nxb3+ 18.cxb3 e5 19.Qh5 hxg5? Losing immediately, but even after[19...Qe6 20.g6 it's pretty tough.

Kirk got himself in trouble with too many pawn moves and not enough development. He said after the game that he needed to learn to defend v. kingside pawn pushes. Maybe in a line like this it would have been better not to castle at all, since pawn-wise, he was strongest in the center. It's hard to say.] 1-0

Black is OK

K - C
January Match Internet Chess Club (2), 07.01.2006
B92 - Sicilian : Najdorf, Opocensky Variation

Game two. This one was Saturday night. We are aiming for one more tomorrow morning, before I go back to work and Kirk goes back to school. 1.e4 c5 [I had thought about playing the Marshall attack against Kirk or maybe the Tchigorin and aim for a middlegame. Then I was finishing up my Karpov book today and I decided to try the Najdorf based on an interesting idea he had in there. 1...e5 ] 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be2 e5 7.Nb3 Be7 8.0-0 0-0 9.a4 [The line in the Karpov book was 9.Be3 Be6 10.Qd2 Nc6 11.Rfd1 a5! in Ehlvest-Georgadze Spartakiade 1983.



I didn't imagine that Kirk would play Qd2 and Rfd1 but it was an interesting idea taking up more space on the queenside. Of course with Kirk's 9.a4 it is silly to try to expand on the queenside with 9. ...a5] 9...Be6 10.Be3 I knew this was the mainline but I figured I had to try to "punish" him for the text. I also realized that one of the goals of the Najdorf is to play ...d5. I knew I wasn't fully developed, but I took a couple minutes, saw it wasn't immediately losing and thought what the hell ;) 10...d5!? [Theory gives 10...Nc6 ] 11.exd5 Nxd5 12.Nxd5 Qxd5 I figured that if Kirk wanted to trade off queens I at least had equality. Kirk mentioned after the game that he didn't want another 20 move draw :) 13.Nd2?! An interesting idea, giving the bishop some protection when it tries to kick my queen. 13...Nc6 14.Bb6 [I didn't count on this move at all, although it makes sense keeping me from doubling up on the d-file. I was looking at both 14.c4 and;
14.Bf3] 14...Nd4 15.Bc4 Qd6 16.a5 Qc6?! [If I wanted to play here I should've done it a move earlier. Better is likely 16...Rac8 doing the same thing. The idea behind ...Qc6 was to get the queen off the d-file.] 17.Bd3 [Fritz said that 17.Bxd4 exd4 giving an isolated pawn was better, although now that I can back it up with a rook on d8 (or a pawn after the bishop exchange) it doesn't look so bad.] 17...Bc5 Trading off the bishop, freeing my game quite a bit 18.Qh5!? Interesting but I think he got impatient, trying to force the issue. 18...f5! I was hoping to do this a move earlier actually, hoping to push ...e4, and try and keep Kirk from getting his knight to f3. 19.c3? [Trying to complicate things 19.Bxc5 Qxc5 20.c3 was probably better.] 19...Bxb6 20.axb6 Nb5 [20...Nb3 Forcing off the exchange of the knights may have been better.] 21.Rfe1 [21.Nf3 threatening Nxe5 21...e4 22.Ng5 h6 23.Nxe6 Qxe6 24.Bxb5 axb5 may have been better] 21...g6 [The immediate 21...e4 was better but i was worried about something like 22.Nxe4 fxe4 23.Bxe4 (but of course I had the intermezzo of 22...g6! I wonder if I would've played it) ] 22.Qd1 e4 Now I have a big space advantage. 23.Bc2 Rad8 [I was going to try 23...Qxb6 but I figured why rush? I'll always be able to grab that.] 24.Ba4 Qxb6 25.Qc2 So now I decided to try and get my knight to d3 25...Nd6 26.Rad1 Nf7 27.Qc1? [Better to defend with the knight than the bishop 27.Nb3 Ne5 28.Nd4 (28.Nc1 is okay as well. Kirk was in time trouble (a little over 5 minutes left) and was probably tired from apartment hunting and driving back home today and it looked like the position was busted, so I can understand why he might have missed this) ] 27...Ne5 28.Bc2 Ng4! While trying to keep my knight from d3, he exposes his kingside a little more. 29.Re2 e3 [I was looking at 29...Nxf2 30.Rxf2 e3 as well but it was a little trickier. The text was still winning but a little more straightforward] 30.Rxe3 Nxe3 31.fxe3 Qxe3+ 32.Kh1 Rd7 Kirk resigned here as I am going to double up rooks and win more material. I was happy with my game, and even if the ...d5 wasn't perfect, it was an interesting idea that worked out. I'm definitely getting more comfortable in the Najdorf. Interesting that this was the first win as Black since we started playing weekly in October (!)0-1

January Match (1)

C-K
January Match Internet Chess Club (1), 05.01.2006
D15 - Slav : Geller Gambit

First game of the New Year. Happy new year to everybody. 1.d4 I was sick of playing Najdorfs and I had a little bit of preparation here 1...d5 This was unexpected. He almost never plays 1.d4 d5 or 1.d4 Nf6 because he wants to avoid the Colle and the Tromp respectively. I was counting on him playing the Slav so I was hoping for [1...c6 . I had looked at 2.e4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Nc3 e6 5.g4 Bg6 6.Nge2 c5 7.h4 but it was wild. On the other hand, Kirk likely isn't comfortable in these types of positions (as Black). It's irrelevant though because he played the 1.d4 d5 move order] 2.c4 When I played this I had a horrible feeling that he would play the QGA (which I hadn't looked at for weeks and weeks) but he played the expected 2...c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 dxc4 I think he was a little surprised that I didn't play the Slav exchange. 5.e4!? This is my preparation. I was thinking about trying [5.a4 Bf5 6.Ne5 e6 7.f3 but he had actually got that line before, and I don't imagine he got the Geller Gambit] 5...b5 6.e5 Nd5 7.a4 e6 8.Be2!? All theory up to here. The "mainline" is either [8.axb5;
or 8.Ng5 -- with the idea of 9.Nge4 . The line I was following was one of the first Geller gambits by Geller himself ] 8...Bb4!?



A novelty according to Chessgames.com but not the Megabase. [The mainline is developing with 8...Bb7 and then playing for opening the diagonal was ...c5 etc.] 9.0-0? Playing in gambit style but losing. [9.Bd2 was playable;
or even 9.Qc2 as in Annakov-Dolinskij, Moscow Open 1995 9...Qa5 10.Bd2 Bxc3 11.bxc3 Bb7 12.0-0 Qc7 13.Ng5 Nd7 14.Nxh7 a6 15.Ng5 N7b6 (15...Nxe5 16.dxe5 Qxe5 17.Nf3 -+) 16.Ne4 0-0-0 17.Nc5 1-0] 9...Bxc3 10.bxc3 Nxc3 11.Qc2 Nxa4?? [Horrible blunder. I have little/no compensation for my troubles after 11...Nxe2+ 12.Qxe2] 12.Bxc4 He obviously overlooked this. His queenside is going to fall apart pretty quickly. Even if I didn't pick up a pawn there, he can't be happy with his position. Sure he's got a couple pawns, but look at his development, and all the lines are open to his king 12...0-0 [12...bxc4 13.Rxa4 may have been better. The text leaves his crappy knight on the rim away from the action] 13.Bd3 h6 [If 13...g6 I was going to try 14.h4] 14.Be3 Fritz didn't like this particularly, but I'm happy enough, freeing up the knight from defending the d-pawn. The trouble is that how are my rooks going to come into the attack? The third rank is pretty clogged, so i was going to move the knight (not sure where yet) and then push f4 and come in that way. [14.Ba3 Re8 15.Bd6 was Fritz's idea. I guess this guards the d-pawn by blocking the queen's access to it.] 14...Bb7 15.Rfb1 c5? [Maybe even 15...Nb6 was stronger, now that the c-pawn was defended. I have to prove my attack is worth two pawns. Maybe his position holds up tactically etc, but he should be worried about developing and not forcing the issue with moves like c5 for now.] 16.Bxb5 Bxf3!? [16...cxd4 17.Nxd4 Nb6 was stronger. Sure the a-pawn will possibly fall, but my e-pawn is weak, and after 18.-- N8d7 i think his position is good] 17.Rxa4! I found out where my rook is going to invade, along the fourth rank 17...cxd4?! [17...Bc6 was stronger I think. Maybe not, his position is just about ready to fall apart.] 18.Rxd4 Bd5 19.Rg4 Nd7? 20.Bxd7? [Kirk resigned but the immediate 20.Bxh6 was better 20...Kh8 (20...g6 21.Rxg6+) 21.Bxg7+ Kg8 22.Bf6#;
20.Bxd7 Apparently after 20...h5 21.Rg3 h4 22.Rg4 Qxd7 23.Bh6 f5 the position is defendable but 24.Rxg7+ Qxg7 25.Bxg7 Kxg7 looks better for White to me.

Anyways I was glad to get some preparation in and get a good aggressive gambit. Of course if he would've played properly after 9.O-O? it would have been a different story. Oh well, maybe next time] 1-0

move orders

i got move ordered a couple of times lately by 1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Nf3



which is fine for most people but for a card-carrying najdorf player like myself? no thanks. i ended up playing the Classical Sicilian, or the Accelerated Dragon, I didn't like it. then it hit me...why not play what the Super G's play?

3. ...e5!



sure it's ugly as all hell, but it does keep white from playing d4, and if it's good enough for Ivanchuk, Morozevich, Leko (v. Kasparov btw), Shirov and Krammy it's good enough for me.

also i was thinking about recommending Spassky's Qe2 v. the Petroff



white has no losing chances at all, what's not to like?

play continues 5. ...Qe7 6.d3 Nf6 7.Bg5 and White has a lead in development. if i played 1.e4?! and allowed the Petroff i would play it

2005 was a draw

Sadler_K - Sadler_C
December Match Internet Chess Club (5), 31.12.2005
C82 - Ruy Lopez : Open, St. Petersburg Variation

1.e4 The fifth (and deciding) game of our December match. All i needed was a draw 1...e5? The question mark was purely for non-chessical things. Sure I had been studying the Karpov-Korchnoi match (hence the Open Lopez) but I had been working on the Sicilian for weeks and weeks and this is supposed to be my main weapon. 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Nxe4 6.d4 [One of the main reasons I don't play this OTB is 6.Re1 where I can't find a really good respone for it. 6...Nc5 7.Bxc6 dxc6 8.Nxe5 and White is good enough to me.] 6...b5 [An interesting line here is the Riga Variation (which allegedly was refuted by Capablanca). It continues 6...exd4 7.Re1 d5 8.Nxd4 Bd6 9.Nxc6 Bxh2+ and if 10.Kxh2 (Capablanca's variation was 10.Kh1 Qh4 11.Rxe4+ dxe4 12.Qd8+ Qxd8 13.Nxd8+ Kxd8 14.Kxh2 with an interesting game. Maybe I'll try it sometime ;)) 10...Qh4+ 11.Kg1 Qxf2+= with perpetual]



7.Bb3 d5 8.dxe5 Be6 9.c3 Bc5 [The other line is 9...Be7 allowing the knight to retreat to 10.-- Nc5 , but i preferred to try and go for the throat. maybe not the best idea in a match where a draw will suffice, but i had fire in the belly today] 10.Nbd2 0-0 11.Nxe4? [11.Bc2 is the main line when I can either play 11...Bf5 (or 11...f5 ; or the Dilworth Variation (a favourite of mine) with 11...Nxf2 12.Rxf2 f6 13.exf6 Bxf2+ 14.Kxf2 Qxf6 and sharp play) which was Korchnoi's choice in the game I was currently studying 12.Nb3 Bg6 13.Nfd4 Bxd4 14.cxd4 a5 with an interesting game.] 11...dxe4 12.Ng5 Bxb3 13.Qxb3 Nxe5? [Much better was the blocking of his forces with 13...e3! 14.Nxf7 (14.Nf3 exf2+ 15.Kh1; 14.Ne4) 14...exf2+ 15.Rxf2 (15.Kh1 Rxf7 16.e6 Rf5 17.e7+ Qd5 18.Qxd5+ Rxd5 19.b4 Bxe7 20.Rxf2 Rd1+) 15...Bxf2+ 16.Kxf2 Qh4+ 17.g3 Qxh2+ 18.Ke1 Qxg3+ 19.Ke2 Rxf7] 14.Nxe4 Bb6 15.Bf4 Nd3 16.Rad1 Nxf4? [Much, much better was 16...Qe7! threatening something. 17.Rxd3 Qxe4 and then after 18.Rf3 his pieces are tied up and I'm definitely better. Not sure why I missed that relatively easy move] 17.Rxd8 Raxd8 18.Rd1 Rde8 19.Ng5 Nd3? [I made some strange decisions this game. Obviously I wanted to attack f7 but something like 19...h6 first was much better. 20.Nf3 Re2] 20.Kf1? [20.Qc2! threatening mate on h7 was best. What do I have? 20...h6 21.Qxd3 hxg5 for instance? I'm not particularly happy with my position.] 20...Nxf2 Rook+bishop+pawn = queen right? I was happy enough with my position, but I definitely wanted to keep the rooks on if possible 21.Rd7 Ne4 [21...Ng4 was better, actually threatening something. The idea of Ne4 was the fork on c5. He almost had to exchange now;
I was planning on holding off on the knight move hoping for something like 21...-- 22.Nxf7 Ne4! etc.] 22.Nxe4 [22.Rxf7 Nd2#] 22...Rxe4 23.Qd5 Rf4+ To guard f7, freeing up the other rook. 24.Ke2 Re8+ [24...Rf2+ instead, winning a pawn?] 25.Kd3 Re3+ 26.Kc2 Re8? Allowing him to trade off rooks. [26...Rf2+ 27.Kb3 g6 giving myself some luft.] 27.Rd8 Rfe4 28.Qxe4 I almost resigned here, but Kirk said he wanted to play on 28...Rxd8 29.Qe7 Rf8 [Too passive. More active was something like 29...Rb8 ] 30.Kb3 g6 31.h4?! Kirk got impatient I think. His advantage would turn out to be on the queenside in the upcoming endgame. [31.c4 was better in my patzer opinion] 31...c5? [And again, my advantage was on the kingside so I should've played to my advantage with 31...f5 ;
31...c5 32.g4 I of course was hoping for something like 32...c4+ 33.Kb4 a5+ missing that it wasn't mate and he could just play 34.Kxb5] 32.Qb7 c4+ 33.Kc2 Bc5? Hoping for some kind of perpetual. My play was ridiculous [33...Bf2 was better aiming for the h-pawn.] 34.Qxa6 Re8 35.Qxb5 Re2+= and I offered a draw which Kirk smartly declined 36.Kd1 Re5 Nicely played game by Kirk, I basically threw myself on his sword. Hopefully I can play stronger with Black in 2006, neither one of us had more than a draw in our weekly matches. 1-0

so my training schedule for 2006 is firstly to finish off the Karpov book and then to go through tactics and art of attack. my new policy is not to buy a new book until i have finished two.

C 2½-1½ K and a blindfold win too

Sadler_C - Sadler_K
December Match Internet Chess Club (4), 29.12.2005
B90 - Najdorf : Kasparov Variation

We had just previously played a blindfold game, so I felt more focused. In reality this is probably the worst game (more double question marks) that we have played since we started doing this weekly thing. 1.e4 [The blindfold game K - C went 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 Bb4+ 4.Bd2 Bxd2+ (The paradoxical 4...Be7 is the main move in this line. The benefit being that the d-pawn is unguarded because the bishop blocks everything.) 5.Nxd2 (5.Qxd2 the knight's best square is c3) 5...0-0 6.e4! d6 7.Bg2 e5 8.Ngf3 Bg4 9.Qb3 Bxf3 10.Nxf3 exd4 11.Nxd4 Nc6 12.Nxc6 bxc6 13.0-0 Rb8 14.Qc2 c5 15.Rfd1 Qe7 16.Re1 Nd7 17.f4 Rbd8 18.Re3 h5 19.Rae1 h4 20.e5 hxg3 21.Bd5 gxh2+ 22.Qxh2 Kirk actually played 18.Re2 but announced 22.Qxh2 on this move, and i agreed with it, so to make it work we listed 18.Re3 22...dxe5 23.Rxe5 Nxe5 24.Rxe5 Qf6 25.f5 Rde8 0-1 Not the greatest game but it got us both thinking] 1...c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 [I half expected 5...g6 , but instead of trying to blow him off the board with the Yugoslav attack I was going to try and punish him instead with Korchnoi's 6.Bb5+] 6.Be3 Ng4!? [This was a big surprise! I had planned on going for a Keres attack with 6...e6 7.g4 etc.] 7.Bg5 [The alternative is 7.Bc1 Nf6 but I wanted to try this line and see if he had something planned] 7...h6 8.Bh4 g5 9.Bg3 h5? [A dubious novelty. Developing with 9...Bg7! was much stronger. Kirk said it was a "grandmasterly" move, and if by grandmasterly he means "ugly" then yes, yes it was a grandmasterly move] 10.h3 Nf6 11.Qd2 Bh6N [I apologize to Kirk. This line was actually played between two grandmasters Kachian-Shneider EUCup 1997 where it continued 11...h4 12.Bh2 e5 13.Nf3 g4 with an eventual draw. Kirk's idea was to try to pressure me into not castling queenside.] 12.f4? [Dubious. 12.f3 was much better.] 12...Rg8 13.fxg5 [13.f5 was the move. I was thinking about doing this (this move was my longest think) but then i thought why don't i just exchange his one active piece (bishop) and get on with it? look at his queenside pieces.] 13...Bxg5 14.Bf4?? [Of course 14.Qe2 was necessary and he has a good position] 14...Bh4+?? [14...Bxf4! 15.Qxf4 e5 and it's curtains] 15.g3 [15.Kd1 may have been better] 15...Bxg3+ 16.Bxg3 Rxg3 17.0-0-0 Rxc3?! Dubious but interesting sac. It is unplayable here because of his lack of development. 18.Qxc3 Nxe4 This is worth a diagram.



Morphy would eat this position alive 19.Qf3 [19.Qe3 is a better diagonal for White. I won't be able to get an attack on f7] 19...e5?? 20.Qxe4 Qg5+ 21.Kb1 f5 22.Nxf5?? [absolutely idiotic. I was wondering why Kirk didn't resign and he would have if i would've played the correct 22.Qe2 ] 22...Qxf5 23.Qxf5 Bxf5 24.Rxd6 Ke7 25.Rb6 [25.Rh6 was obviously better] 25...Be4! 26.Rg1 Nd7 27.Rb4? [27.Rg7+! Kd8 28.Rd6 Bf5 29.Rg8+! wins;
Even 27.Rh6 was better as well, giving me a second chance. But if I missed it the first time I will miss it the second time too] 27...Nc5 28.Rg5 [The way the game went, I missed his threat of Bf3. 28.Be2 was a much better move. Guarding the back rank and freeing up my bishop] 28...Kf6 29.Rxh5 Rd8 30.Kc1 Bf3! Threatening something for the first time. I thought that I was busted. Luckily I saw a move 31.Rb6+ Kg7 32.Rg5+ Kh7 33.Bd3+! Clearance sacrifice 33...e4 [33...Nxd3+ may have been better but I'm still winning] 34.Rxc5 exd3 35.cxd3 Rxd3 36.Rc7+ Kg8 37.Re6 Rd8 38.Ree7 Rb8 [38...Bd5 i would've tried 39.Rxb7 Bxb7 40.Rxb7 and won the rook endgame since his king is stuck on the 8th rank] 39.Rg7+ Kf8 [39...Kh8 40.h4 -- 41.h5 -- 42.h6 etc.] 40.Rgf7+ Kirk said that he wanted to do two weekly games (Saturday and Sunday). i think it's a good idea. we'll play one more game tomorrow to finish off 2005. 1-0

merry christmas

i made out well chess-book wise for christmas.

kirk got me The System by former World Correspondence Champion Hans Berliner. It's an interesting idea for White, mostly based on 1.d4, 2.c4, 3.Nc3, 4.f3, 5.e4, 6.Nge2 etc. there's some interesting criticism on Silman's website, but like the original My System it makes you think.

he also got me a used Karpov book on his games from 1979-1984 called Chess at the Top : 1979-1984. It's a great find! 49 annotated games from Karpov in that period (when he was on the top) including all of the 1981 Merano match with Korchnoi. it was a fabulous gift.

chuck got me the algebraic version of Art of Attack so i have no excuse not to go through it because it's algebraic. also he got me and kirk The Chess Players' Battle Manual which will be helpful because it gives good ideas for practical play and plans v. the colle and the tromp and the f4 sicilian which are literally my three worst chess enemies ;) he also got us reshevsky's Art of Positional Play which i've already read and annotated and kotov's Think Like a Grandmaster which is a must have for any chess library. so we made out pretty good

also jane got me a $20 gift certificate which i'm pretty sure i'll put towards Soviet Chess

merry christmas y'all

2nd annual Game of the Year

well folks it's coming up on Christmas, and i doubt i'll play any more CFC games, so here's the nicest game i played all year, even though it ended up a draw, i was happy with it artistically

Olheiser,G (2080) - Sadler,C (1557) [B12]
KW Team Challenge Kitchener, ON (1), 11.06.2005

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Ne2 e6 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.h4 h6 7.h5 Bh7 8.Bd3 Bxd3 9.cxd3 Nd7 10.Qg4 c5 11.0-0 Ne7 12.Nc3 cxd4 13.Nb5 Nxe5 14.Qe2 N7c6 15.f4 Qb6 16.a4 a6 17.Na3 Bxa3 18.bxa3 Nd7 19.Bd2 0-0 20.f5 Nce5 21.Bf4 Nxd3 22.Qxd3 e5 23.Rab1 Qa7 24.Bd2 e4 25.Qb3 Nf6 26.Qxb7 Qc5 27.Bb4 Qc2 28.Bxf8 Rxf8 29.Qb3 Qc7 30.Ne2 Ng4 31.Qg3 Qxg3 32.Nxg3 Ne3 33.Rf2 Rc8 34.Nf1 Ng4 35.Rf4 Nf6 36.g4 d3 37.Rd1 Rc3 38.Kf2 Rxa3 39.Ne3 Rxa4 40.Kg3 Ra2 41.Rf2 ½-½

i stopped recording at move 41 but the final position was



i'm not going to do a worst game of the year because this year was blunderific (refer to any tournament in KW for more details)

merry christmas y'all

K 1½ - 1½ C

K - C
December Match Internet Chess Club (3), 17.12.2005
D45 - Semi-Slav : Stoltz Variation

1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 c6 [I woke up about 10 minutes before 8 o'clock and didn't really feel like another QGA 3...dxc4 . I decided on the Semi-Slav last night actually because I'm sure it will be something we both will face v. the 1.d4, 2.Nf3 setup] 4.Nc3 e6 5.e3 [I know Kirk has no class as a chess player but I still thought he might try 5.Bg5 the Botwinnik system. I was flipping through an old TWIC and from 2000 i found a couple of games by Senff that went 5...dxc4 (5...dxc4 6.e4 b5 7.e5 b4?! 8.Ne4 Qd5 9.Ned2 c3 10.exf6 cxd2+ 11.Qxd2 gxf6 12.Bxf6 Rg8 13.Qc2 Nd7 14.Bh4 b3 15.axb3 Bb4+ 16.Kd1 c5 17.Bc4 Qh5 18.Qe4 Nb6 19.Qc6+ Bd7 20.Qxb6 Rg4 21.Rxa7 1-0 Gershon - Senff W Jun 2000) 6.e4 b5 7.e5 b4?! An inspired try! He scored ½/2 with it, but that's v. 2400 competition. I might give it a punt in blitz sometime. 8.exf6 gxf6 9.Bh4 bxc3 10.bxc3 Ba6 11.Nd2 Qd5 12.Bxf6 Rg8 13.Be5 Bh6 14.Bg3 Nd7 15.Be2 Bxd2+ 16.Qxd2 Qxg2 17.0-0-0 Qd5 18.Rhe1 Nb6 19.Qc2 Qa5 20.Bf3 Nd5 21.Bxd5 cxd5 22.Bd6 Bb5 23.Bb4 Qc7 24.Qxh7 Qf4+ 25.Rd2 0-0-0 26.Bc5 Rg2 27.Qh3 Rxh2 28.Qe3 Qxe3 29.fxe3 Rxd2 30.Kxd2 a6 31.Rf1 f5 32.Rg1 Rh8 33.Bd6 Kd7 34.Bf4 Rh7 35.Kc2 Kc6 36.Kb2 Kb6 37.Ka3 Rb7 38.Bd6 Bd7 39.Rg8 Kc6 40.Bc5 Rb1 41.Ra8 Re1 42.Rxa6+ Kb7 43.Ra7+ Kc6 44.Kb4 Rxe3 45.a4 f4 46.Ra6+ Kb7 47.Rb6+ Kc7 48.a5 Bc6 49.Ra6 Re1 50.Bb6+ Kd6 51.Ra7 Rb1+ 52.Ka3 Bd7 53.Bc7+ Kc6 54.Bxf4 Rb7 55.Ra6+ Kb5 56.Ra8 Bc6 57.Rc8 Bd7 58.Ra8 Bc6 59.Bg5 Rg7 60.Rb8+ Rb7 61.Rc8 Ra7 62.Bd8 Ra8 63.Rxa8 Bxa8 ½-½ Lopez Martinez - Senff W Jun 2000.

It may not be sound but it might be a switch from the usual Botwinnik stuff.] 5...Nbd7 6.Qc2 dxc4?! [Played because 6...Bd6 7.g4 is the Shirov-Shabalov Gambit which I have never liked from the Black side (or the White side particularly). I've never analyzed it. One of my Semi-Slav books gives 7...Bb4 as played by Kramnik against Gelfand with a nice game. The text was played back in the 1940s which is funny because after the game I commented that I was playing like a 1930s grandmaster.] 7.Bxc4 Be7 [Now I'm out of book. They have played 7...Bd6 ;
and the natural 7...b5 before. I had resigned myself to a quiet opening and wanted to see if Kirk could breach the defenses] 8.0-0 [8.g4 was maybe playable here if he had his heart set on a Shirov-Shabalov type position, but i think g4 is weaker with the pawn on e7 v. d6] 8...0-0 9.e4 c5!? I played this because in similar positions in the Meran proper e4 can be answered by c5. Unfortunately it wasn't an exact tranposition so i missed something 10.e5 Nd5 11.Bxd5 exd5 [11...cxd4 was okay here] 12.Nxd5 cxd4 13.Nxd4?! [The preparatory 13.Bf4 (holding on to the pawn AND developing) was required here] 13...Nb6 [I was worried about the position after 13...Nxe5 14.Nxe7+ Qxe7 15.Re1 but missed that after 15...Re8 16.f4 Qd7 His knight was hanging as well. I had resigned myself to the fact that I was going down material and didn't look hard enough. honestly though i was happy enough with my position. with the e-pawn gone i can actually get my pieces into play 17.Be3 Ng4] 14.Nxb6 [14.Nxe7+ the time here? 14...Qxe7 15.Nf3 looks pretty solid to me] 14...Qxb6 15.Be3 Bc5 16.Ne6! [I almost resigned on the spot, seeing that the rook was attacked by the bishop on the other end of the exchanges. I expected the pressure to build with 16.Rad1 . Then i collected myself and realized that it was just an exchange of pieces.] 16...Qxe6 [16...Bxe6 17.Bxc5 Rfc8 worked just as well. I knew he was gaining initiative and just wanted to hang on 18.Bxb6 Rxc2] 17.Bxc5 Re8 18.f4?! [I thought I was busted after 18.Bd6 ] 18...Qd5 19.Rfd1 Qc6 20.Rac1 Be6 Necessary because there was always an eventual threat of ...Rc8, ...b6 21.Rd6 [If 21.f5 Bxa2 22.b3 Rxe5! I missed that. I thought that I couldn't grab the pawn] 21...Qb5 22.f5 Bxa2 23.e6? [We both missed that 23.b4! was strong 23...b6 24.Qxa2 (24.Bd4 Bd5) 24...bxc5 25.e6 caused some troubles.] 23...fxe6 24.fxe6 [Fritz said that 24.f6 was better opening up the king] 24...Rxe6 25.Rxe6 [25.b4 was tricky again 25...Re2 26.Rd2 Rxd2 27.Qxd2 Be6] 25...Bxe6 26.Qe4 Qc6 27.Qf4 [I, of course, was hoping for 27.Qxc6 bxc6 and trying to ground him down on the sunny side of a (probably drawn) endgame. He, of course, wanted to keep as much material on the board] 27...Rc8 28.Be3 Qe8? Throwing away any slight advantage I had 29.Rxc8 Qxc8 30.Bxa7 I totally missed, like Kirk 10 moves earlier, that this pawn was hanging. 30...Qd7= Game drawn by mutual agreement That was a quick draw in the big picture, but it seemed like more than 30 moves to me. Opposite colored bishops, symmetrical pawn structures...it's a draw. And I think it's the first half point I've nicked off Kirk as Black since we started. ½-½

here's one from the dubious novelty department...

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 f5?!

it's so horrifying that i absolutely have to try it once at blitz

December Match (2)

Sadler_C - Sadler_K (1672)
December Match Internet Chess Club (2), 11.12.2005
B97 - Sicilian : Najdorf, Poisoned Pawn variation

Before the game Kirk mentioned that he wanted me to play the Poisoned Pawn v. him. I had already decided to play 1.e4 but i was thinking more of the English attack lines, but if he wanted it... 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 [Again my pregame plans included stuff like 6.Be3 e6 7.f3 -- 8.Qd2 -- 9.g4 -- 10.0-0-0] 6...e6 7.f4 Qb6 8.Nb3 is something I will try in the future. It definitely gives a different game, as is played by GMs including Bluvshtein and more recently in the FIDE World Cup Kamsky. 8.Qd2 Qxb2 9.Rb1 Qa3 10.Bxf6?! [I got the move order screwed up 10.f5 Nc6 11.fxe6 fxe6 12.Nxc6 bxc6 13.e5! Vallejo-Pons - Kasparov, Armenia - ROW 2004] 10...gxf6 11.f5 [Thinking I was following theory. 11.Be2 probably was better at this point] 11...Nc6



[I was hoping he'd play something like ...e5, that way i can attack f7 with Bc4 and he'd really have to fight to get d5 in. An interesting line in this variation is 11...e5 12.Nd5 (Another interesting idea in this line (and others) is 12.Rb3 with the idea of comign over to the kingside on the 3rd rank.) 12...Kd8 13.Nb3 with lots of play for White.] 12.Bc4?? dropping a piece. [12.Nxc6 bxc6 was better, but i can't easily get the bishop to c4 with the pawn on e6.] 12...d5? [12...Bh6! 13.Qd3 Ne5 and I'm sunk. That Ne5 idea (in general in this line) is a good one and impotant to remember.] 13.exd5 I was moving too quickly around here. [13.Bb3 as ugly as it was, had to be played.] 13...Nxd4? [Again 13...Bh6 was playable.] 14.Qxd4 Bc5 15.Qd3 [I totally missed 14. ...Bc5 in my calculations, but again I was moving too quickly. For whatever reason I was blind to that bishop, between here and the Bh6 idea a couple moves previous. 15.Qxf6! was much better. Sure I can't castle, but he has to spend a tempo saving the rook.] 15...exd5 [15...Bb4 was better.] 16.Nxd5! Know he's in trouble. The knight is easily the best piece on the board. and causes a lot of threats. 16...0-0 17.Qxa3 Black resigns[I have a much better position, even with the queens off, but I think he should have played on. One of the lines we were looking at after the game was 17.Qxa3 Bxa3 18.Nxf6+ (18.Nb6) 18...Kg7 19.Nh5+ Kh6 (19...Kh8 was another idea. THe trick is that he has to stay on the dark squares.) 20.g4 b5 (20...Bxf5 21.gxf5 Kxh5 22.Rxb7) 21.Be2 and I'm better but it's tough.

I thought Kirk would want to give up the Poisoned Pawn after this game because i know he hates positions like this with wild play and no king safety. Surprisingly he said right after the game that he wants me to book up with White in this line and we'd play it again in two weeks. I mentioned that we could always play the Alekhine :) It should be an interesting run up to the Canadian Open.] 1-0

December Match (1)

K - C
December match Internet Chess Club (1), 03.12.2005
D28 - Queen's Gambit Accepted

Me and Kirk have decided to play the same things and have the same repetoire, which includes 1.Nf3 as White. Najdorf v. 1.e4 and QGA v. 1.d4. 1.d4 [I believe he avoided 1.Nf3 today because we agreed to play 1...c5 v. it] 1...d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 dxc4 4.e3 e6 5.Bxc4 c5 6.0-0 a6 7.Qe2 b5 8.Bb3 cxd4 THe immediate 8. ...Bb7 was better. I was hoping to give him an IQP though 9.Rd1 Be7 10.a4 Qb6 [10...bxa4 was Reshevsky-Fine I think I'm in good company. His move was definitely stronger.] 11.axb5 0-0 12.Nxd4 Bb7 13.Nc3 axb5 14.Rxa8 Bxa8 15.Qxb5 Qc7 16.Bxe6 Bc6? [16...Bd6 17.f4 fxe6 18.Nxe6 Qe7 19.Nxf8 Qxf8;
16...fxe6 17.Nxe6 Qc8 18.Nxf8 Kxf8 19.f3] 17.Nxc6 Nxc6 18.Nd5 Nxd5 19.Bxd5 Nb4 20.Qb7 Nxd5 [20...Qc2] 21.Qxd5 Rd8 22.Qb3 Rb8 23.Qc3 Qb7 24.Qd4 Bf6 25.Qd7 Qb6 26.Rd6 Qb3 27.Rd3 Qc2 28.Rd1 h6 29.Qd2 Qc7 30.g3 Qb6 31.Qe2 Bxb2 32.Bxb2 Qxb2 33.Rd8+ Black resigns[33.Rd8+ Of course I could've played 33...Kh7 but i was shocked when he found that and i went braindead. I guess I should've played on. Oh well. Despite my tactical oversights, I think the QGA held up pretty well and i was pretty happy with it.; 1-0

3½/5 for Kirk

Sadler,K (1507) - Lachapelle,C
OS Winter Active Owen Sound, Ontario (1), 27.11.2005
B38 : Accelerated Dragon, Maroczy Bind, 6.Be3

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.c4 Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Nc3 0-0 8.Be2 e5 9.Ndb5 a6 10.Nd6 Ne8 11.0-0 b6 12.c5 Nd4 13.Nd5 bxc5 14.Nxc8 Nxe2+ 15.Qxe2 Qxc8 16.Ne7+ Kh8 17.Nxc8 1-0

Sadler,C (1547) - Sadler,K (1507)
OS Winter Active Owen Sound, Ontario (2), 27.11.2005
D14 : Slav Exchange, 6.Bf4 Bf5

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.cxd5 cxd5 5.Nc3 Bf5 6.Bf4 e6 7.e3 a6 8.Bd3 Bxd3 9.Qxd3 Nc6 10.0-0 Be7 11.h3 0-0 12.Rac1 Rc8 13.a3 Na5 14.Nd2 Nc4 15.Nxc4 dxc4 16.Qd1 Nd5 17.Bg3 b5 18.e4 Nf6 19.Be5 Nd7 20.Bg3 Nf6 21.Bh4 Re8 22.Bxf6 Bxf6 23.e5 Be7 24.f4 Qb6 25.Kh1 Red8 26.d5 exd5 27.Nxd5 Qc5 28.Nxe7+ Qxe7 29.Qf3 Rd3 30.Qg4 Rcd8 31.Rcd1 g6 32.Rxd3 Rxd3 33.Qc8+ Kg7 34.Qxa6 Qh4 35.Kh2 Qg3+ 36.Kh1 Qh4 37.Qxb5 1/2-1/2

Van Aalst,K (1235) - Sadler,K (1507)
OS Winter Active Owen Sound, Ontario (3), 27.11.2005
A40 - Queen's Pawn

1.d4 e6 2.e3 c5 3.c3 cxd4 4.cxd4 Nf6 5.Bd3 Be7 6.Nc3 b6 7.Nf3 Bb7 8.0-0 d6 9.h3 Nbd7 10.Re1 0-0 11.e4 e5 12.Bc4 Rc8 13.Bb3 exd4 14.Nxd4 Nc5 15.Bc2 a6 16.Qf3 b5 17.a3 Qb6 18.Nf5 Rfe8 19.Qg3 Nh5 20.Nxe7+ Rxe7 21.Qh4 Nf6 22.Bg5 Re6 23.Bxf6 Rxf6 24.e5 Rh6 25.Qg4 Re8 26.exd6 Rhe6 27.Rxe6 Rxe6 28.Bf5 Rxd6 29.Re1 Ne6 30.Qh4 g6 31.Be4 Kg7 32.Bxb7 Qxb7 33.Ne4 g5?? 34.Nxg5 Nxg5 35.Qxg5+ Rg6 36.Qe5+ f6 37.Qe7+ Qxe7 38.Rxe7+ Kh6 39.Ra7 f5 40.b4 Re6 41.Rd7 Kg6 42.Rd8 Re5 0-1

Sadler,K (1507) - Both,A (1618)
OS Winter Active Owen Sound, Ontario (4), 27.11.2005
B42 - Sicilian : Kan

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Bd3 Nf6 6.0-0 Qc7 7.c4 Bc5 8.Nb3 Be7 9.Be3 d6 10.N1d2 b6 11.f4 Nbd7 12.Rc1 Bb7 13.Nd4 Nc5 14.Be2 Ncxe4 15.Bf3 0-0 16.Qc2 Nc5 17.b4 Ncd7 18.f5 e5 19.Ne2 Rac8 20.Qb2 e4 0-1

Sadler,K (1507) - Cook,E (1256)
OS Winter Active Owen Sound, Ontario (5), 27.11.2005
C79 - Ruy Lopez : Steinitz Defense Deferred

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Nc6 4.Bb5 Bd7 5.0-0 a6 6.Ba4 Nf6 7.Re1 h6 8.c3 Bg4 9.Nbd2 exd4 10.cxd4 b5 11.Qc2 Nb4 12.Qc3 bxa4 13.Qxb4 Bd7 14.e5 dxe5 15.Rxe5+ Be6 16.Qxa4+ Nd7 17.d5 Bd6 18.dxe6 fxe6 19.Rxe6+ Kf7 20.Nd4 Ne5 21.Ne4 Qh4 22.Nf5 Nf3+ 23.gxf3 Qxh2+ 24.Kf1 Qh3+ 25.Ke2 Kxe6 26.Nxg7+ Kf7 27.Qc4+ Kxg7 28.Qd4+ Kg6 29.Qf6+ Kh7 30.Qf7# 1-0

4½/5 ain't bad

I just got back from the Owen Sound Winter Active. I scored 4½/5 securing first place...the opposition wasn't top notch, only gained approximately 20 points, but still. my only draw was v. kirk. here are the games.



Drimmie,J - Sadler,C (1547)
Winter Active Owen Sound, ON(1), 27.11.2005
B40 - Sicilian Defense

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.Nc3 a6 4.Bc4 b5 5.Be2 Nc6 6.0-0 Qc7 7.d3 Nf6 8.Bg5 Be7 9.Qd2 0-0 10.Rfe1 Bb7 11.d4 b4 12.e5 bxc3 13.Qxc3 Nd5 14.Qd3 Nxd4 15.Bxe7 Nxf3+ 16.Bxf3 Nxe7 17.Bxb7 Qxb7 18.Red1 Rfd8 19.Re1 Qd5 20.Qa3 Nf5 21.Rad1 Qc6 22.Qd3 Nh4 23.Qg3 Nf5 24.Re3 Nxg3 25.Rxg3 d5 26.Re3 d4 27.Ree1 c4 28.Kf1 Rab8 29.b3 cxb3 30.axb3 Qxc2 31.Rc1 Qxc1 32.Rxc1 Rxb3 33.Rc4 h6 34.Ke2 a5 35.Kd2 Ra8 36.Kc2 Rc3+ 37.Kb2 Rxc4 38.h3 d3 39.Kb3 Rac8 40.h4 d2 41.Ka3 d1Q 42.g4 Rb8 0-1

Sadler,C (1547) - Sadler,K (1507)
Winter Active Owen Sound, ON (2), 27.11.2005
D14 - Slav : Exchange 6.Bf4 Bf5

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.cxd5 cxd5 5.Nc3 Bf5 6.Bf4 e6 7.e3 a6 8.Bd3 Bxd3 9.Qxd3 Nc6 10.0-0 Be7 11.h3 0-0 12.Rac1 Rc8 13.a3 Na5 14.Nd2 Nc4 15.Nxc4 dxc4 16.Qd1 Nd5 17.Bg3 b5 18.e4 Nf6 19.Be5 Nd7 20.Bg3= Nf6 21.Bh4 Re8 22.Bxf6 Bxf6 23.e5 Be7 24.f4 Qb6 25.Kh1 Red8 26.d5 exd5 27.Nxd5 Qc5 28.Nxe7+ Qxe7 29.Qf3 Rd3 30.Qg4 Rcd8 31.Rcd1 g6 32.Rxd3 Rxd3 33.Qc8+ Kg7 34.Qxa6 Qh4 35.Kh2 Qg3+ 36.Kh1 Qh4 37.Qxb5= ½-½

yes i know i missed 30.Qxd3

Cook,E (1256) - Sadler,C (1547)
Winter Active Owen Sound, ON (3), 27.11.2005
B34 - Sicilian : Accelerated Dragon

1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Nf3 g6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Qd2 0-0 8.Nxc6 dxc6 9.Bd3 Ng4 10.0-0 Nxe3 11.Qxe3 Bd4 12.Qc1 Qa5 13.Ne2 Bb6 14.Bc4 Qe5 15.Ng3 Be6 16.Bd3 Rad8 17.Kh1 Qc5 18.a3 Bc4 19.b4 Qb5 20.Bxc4 Qxc4 21.Rb1 h5 22.f3 Rd7 23.Rd1 Rxd1+ 24.Qxd1 Rd8 25.Qc1 h4 26.Nf1 Qe2 27.h3 Qf2 28.Nh2 Rd2 29.Qg1 Qxg1+ 30.Rxg1 Bxg1 31.Kxg1 Rxc2 32.Nf1 Rc3 33.a4 Rc4 34.b5 cxb5 35.axb5 Rb4 0-1

Sadler,C (1547) - Pucak,S (1011)
Winter Active Owen Sound, ON (4), 27.11.2005
D13 - Slav : Exchange Variation

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.cxd5 cxd5 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.Bf4 h6 6.e3 Nf6 7.Nc3 Nh5 8.Ne2 Nxf4 9.Nxf4 Bg4 10.Be2 Bxf3 11.Bxf3 e5 12.dxe5 Bb4+ 13.Ke2 Nxe5 14.Qa4+ Nc6 15.Bxd5 0-0 16.Bxc6 Qd2+ 17.Kf3 bxc6 18.Rhd1 c5 19.Rxd2 Bxd2 20.Rd1 Bb4 21.Nd5 a5 22.a3 Rfc8 23.Ne7+ Kh7 24.Nxc8 1-0

Both,A (1618) - Sadler,C (1547) [B21]
Winter Active Owen Sound, ON (5), 27.11.2005
B21 : Sicilian : Grand Prix attack

1.e4 c5 2.f4 d5 3.exd5 Qxd5 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.Nc3 Qd8 6.Bc4 e6 7.b3 Bd6 8.0-0 Bxf4 9.Bb2 0-0 10.Nh4 Qxd2 11.Qf3 Qe3+ 12.Kh1 Qxf3 13.Rxf3 Be5 14.Re1 Nc6 15.Bb5 Bd4 16.Rd3 Ng4 17.Rd2 Nf2+ 18.Rxf2 Bxf2 19.Re4 Bxh4 20.Rxh4 Nd4 21.Bd3 h6 22.Ne4 e5 23.g4 Nf3 24.Rh3 Bxg4 25.Rxh6 gxh6 26.Nf6+ Kg7 27.Nxg4 f6 28.Bc1 Rh8 29.Be4 Nd4 30.Ne3 Rab8 31.c3 Ne6 32.Nf5+ Kf7 33.b4 cxb4 34.cxb4 Nf4 35.b5 Rhd8 36.Bf3 Rd3 37.Nh4 Rg8 38.Bxf4 exf4 0-1

for the record...

the most annoying things to play against as black are the ruy lopez exchange and the slav exchange. i decided today i was gonna try 1.d4 c6 to try and avoid the tromp and stuff and maybe backdoor into a caro or two. i got it twice today and twice they played 2.c4 which was grand and then twice they played the slav exchange. man i hate playing it as black. same goes for the lopez exchange. and also the Fantasy variation of the Caro. shudder...

White wins again

K-C
Training G/30 Internet Chess Club (6), 19.11.2005
B00 - Owen Defense

Before the game, I told Kirk that I was gonna beat him because I was like Korchnoi and eating oatmeal everyday. He said I was probably right because he was like Botwinnik and out drinking in the woods for two weeks. 1.d4 I wanted to play the Owens all along, since I am from Owen Sound and also the other stuff hadn't gotten me much. So I was frustrated that he played this. 1...e6 I figured that Kirk would play 2.e4 here. My best chance to actually transpose into an Owens2.e4 [If 2.c4 I probably would've gone to a Nimzo] 2...b6 My plan 3.g3?! [Kirk said he played this because he thought I was pissed off that he transposed into a French. If I wanted to avoid the position of 1.e4 e6 2.d4 altogether I wouldn't have played ...e6 in the first place. More regular is 3.Nc3 ;
or 3.Bd3 . This position had actually already been played by Amos Burn v. John Owen in their Liverpool match in 1874;
In a previous game this year OTB actually, Kirk got this position and played 3.c4 Qh4 similar to the Steinitz defense to the Scotch. (I wonder if 3...Bb7 was better) 4.Bd3 Bb7 5.Nf3 Qg4 6.0-0 h5? 7.Ne5 Qxe4?? 1-0 Sadler_K-Page,S/Barrie, ON 2005 (28) and White eventually won. ] 3...Bb7 4.Bg2 f5 Inspired by Miles! [Owen continued in a more controlled style with 4...Nf6 5.Nd2 c5 6.c3 cxd4 7.cxd4 Bb4 8.f3 The position is much better for Black. Look at his light squared bishop. If Black can ever force White (or vice versa) to play f3 and g3 within the first 8 moves, they've done something right. 8...Nc6 9.Ne2 0-0 10.0-0 Ba6 11.Nb3 e5 12.d5 Nd4 13.Nexd4 Bxf1 14.Bxf1 exd4 15.Qxd4 a5 16.a3 Bd6 17.Bb5 Qe7 18.Kh1 a4 19.Bxa4 Be5 20.Qc4 Ne8 21.f4 Nd6 22.Qb4 Qf6 23.Kg1 Nxe4 24.Qxe4 Bxb2 25.Bxb2 Qxb2 26.Rb1 Rxa4 0-1 Burn,A-Owen,J/Liverpool 1874 (26)] 5.Qd3? At this point I'm just better [Fritz likes 5.f3 but I'm not a big fan.;
I looked at 5.Qh5+ g6 6.Qe2 but i don't think White's position is anything special] 5...Bxe4 [I didn't want to play 5...Nf6 because of 6.Bg5 but after 6...fxe4 7.Bxe4 Bxe4 8.Bxf6 (8.Qxe4? Nxe4 9.Bxd8 Kxd8 I'm up a piece) 8...Bxd3 9.Bxd8 Nc6 10.cxd3 Nxd4! 11.Kd1 Rxd8 I stand better. Note that I saw none of the following sidelines during the game. My tactical vision is weak.] 6.Bxe4 fxe4 7.Qxe4 Nc6 A forced developing move, but in all honestly, until he made the move, I didn't even see that the a-rook was hanging. With all the open lines, I just wanted to continue with the attack. Even so I'm better developed, have the f-pawn for the e-pawn and his queen is in the middle of the board. 8.Bf4 [freeing the queen from the defense of the d-pawn may have been better. 8.Be3 ] 8...Nf6 9.Qe2? [He said this was a mouseslip, but where was he aiming? 9.Qe3 is not much better with 9...Nd5] 9...Nxd4 10.Qc4 Bc5 11.Nd2 0-0 12.b4 d5 Now this is where the position gets hairy. 13.Qc3? [Best is 13.Qd3 Nxc2+ 14.Qxc2 Bxb4 and I have three pawns for the piece. If 15.Bxc7? Rc8 16.Bxd8 Rxc2 17.Bxf6 Rxd2 and I'm better or 15.Qxc7 Qxc7 16.Bxc7 Ne4 17.Rd1 (17.Bf4 Bxd2+ 18.Bxd2 Nxf2) 17...Nxf2!;So he's forced to play something like 15.Ngf3 and I can free my c-pawn with something like 15...c5 and it's an interesting game.; ] 13...Nb5? [13...Ne4! 14.Nxe4 (14.Qb2 Bxb4 15.Qxd4 Bxd2+ 16.Bxd2 c5 17.Qe5) 14...Bxb4] 14.Qd3 Bxf2+? [<14...Bd4 15.0-0-0 a6 would've done. I admit I never even saw that and that was simple. This game was far from pretty or well-played.] 15.Kxf2 Ng4+? [Maybe 15...e5 now instead 16.Bxe5 (16.Qxb5 exf4 17.gxf4) 16...Ng4+ 17.Ke1 and I'm in the game in both lines] 16.Kg2 e5 17.Bxe5?? [17.h3 Nf2 18.Kxf2 exf4 was better for White] 17...Nxe5? [17...Rf2+! 18.Kh3 Nxe5 and he has to give up his queen else 19.Qxb5 Qc8+ 20.Kh4 Qg4#] 18.Qxb5 Qf6? [18...Ng4 threatening 19.-- Rf2+ was much better.] 19.Qxd5+ Kh8 20.Ngf3? Ng4? [20...Rad8! 21.Qe4 Nxf3 22.Nxf3 Qxf3+ 23.Qxf3 Rd2+ 24.Kh3 Rxf3 and we're even] 21.Qd4? [21.Qe4 was much better] 21...Qg6? [21...Qxd4 22.Nxd4 Rf2+ 23.Kh3 Rxd2 I overlooked the threat of Rf2+ the whole game.] 22.Raf1 Rad8 23.Qe4 Qxe4? [23...Rxd2+ 24.Nxd2 Qxe4+ 25.Nxe4 Ne3+ was better] 24.Nxe4 Ne3+ The fork was not as good here without getting all the pieces off (see previous note) 25.Kh3 Nxf1 26.Rxf1 h6 27.Rf2 g5 28.Kg4 Rd4 29.Re2 Black resigns What a terrible effort by both sides. Neither one of us paid attention and lots was missed. I like the fact that I can get an interesting middlegame with this opening, but I wonder if an interesting, painfully tactical middlegame is what i'm looking for vs. these ham and eggers at the tournament. Should I just play the Caro? 1-0

Game 5 - C 1-0 K

both of us really need to play better with black. the series is at 2½-2½ and white is scoring 4½-½ (the only blemish, my QID the first game)

C.Sadler-K.Sadler
E25 - Nimzo-Indian : Samisch Variation

This game wasn't really fair. It was supposed to start at 8 a.m. and Kirk basically slept in, woke up at 9 and started making coffee and stuff. My plan was to slowly build up a position rather than do the usual 20-30 game finish that happens in our games. God forbid me and Kirk ever get an endgame! 1.d4 e6 I had a bad premonition of him going into a Slav and me having to decide whether to play the Slav Exchange or go into the Botwinnik. 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.f3 I'm gonna keep on playing this until he finds an antidote. 4...d5 [I seriously thought he was going to benoni me 4...c5. After the game he said that he didn't even remember the line and thought that he beat me last time I played 4.f3 ] 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 c5 7.cxd5 exd5 White has to be better here on general principles alone. He has traded his b-pawn for White's glorious e-pawn and has the bishop pair. In annotating the game Junge-Bogoljubov, Alekhine gave this move an exclam and thought Black was better after 8.e3 Bf5! [7...Nxd5 is the main main line. 8.dxc5 (but I likely would've went for 8.c4 and gotten on with it) 8...Qa5 and this is butt ugly]



after 8.e4 Alekhine commented that White has an "excellent game". 8.Bg5 [8.e3 was theory, but i was confused on how i would get any of my pieces developed. Seriously, how many moves is it gonna take to get my dark squared bishop developed? plus he's gonna castle and then my lack of development is gonna screw me. One of these games my lack of development is gonna get me regardless.] 8...0-0 [8...h6 was played in Botwinnik-Kotov 9.Bxf6 Qxf6 10.e3 0-0 11.Ne2 Re8 12.Kf2 Qe7 13.Qd2 Nd7 14.Nf4 Nf6 15.Bd3 Bd7 16.h3 Qd6 17.Rhb1 b6 18.Bf1 Re7 19.a4 Rae8 20.Re1 c4 21.g4 g5 22.Ne2 Rxe3 23.Ng3 Qxg3+ 24.Kxg3 Ne4+ 0-1 Nice finish by Kotov.] 9.e3 Qa5?! [A little too ambitious by Kirk, but I think he had the right idea. I am a few moves from castling so why not try to put the screws to me. 9...c4 immediately may be better. 10.e4 dxe4 11.fxe4 looks pretty good though 11...Re8 12.e5 Qa5 and there's lots of messy play. I was hoping to keep the position relatively closed, that's why i hung back and avoided e4.] 10.Qc2 [I was thinking about 10.Bxf6 Qxc3+ 11.Kf2 gxf6 with play similar to the game, but i think this line is better as after 12.Ne2 I get a tempo on the queen 12...Qa5 13.dxc5 Qxc5 14.Qd4 and i'm good i think] 10...Re8 11.Bd3? [The immediate 11.Bxf6 was better but i was worried about 11...Rxe3+ although after 12.Kd2! I'm solid gold] (Best for Kirk would be 11...gxf6 12.Kf2 that square again 12...c4 13.Ne2 with play similar to the game.) 11...h6? [11...cxd4! was much better. Look at all the pins!] 12.Bxf6 gxf6 13.Kf2! I was happy with this move. WIth all the Bc4 King's Gambit's I've been playing I'm happy enough with the uncastled king, and it's necessary in this position. Notice how in most of the sidelines, and this line, how the king was safest on f2 of all places. 13...c4 14.Bf5? [I had perpetual with 14.Bg6 fxg6 (14...f5 15.Bxf5 Bxf5 16.Qxf5 Qxc3 17.Re1) 15.Qxg6+ Kf8 16.Qxf6+ Kg8 17.Qg6+;
Fritz liked 14.Bf1 but i'm a bit clausterphobic.] 14...Bxf5 15.Qxf5 Qxc3 16.Re1 Qxa3 17.Qxf6? [17.Qxd5 was stronger. That passer is gonna be strong. My idea was that I would always have the draw in hand by perpetual with that f-pawn gone.] 17...Qb2+ 18.Re2 [18.Ne2 may have been better] 18...c3?? Going for the glory without calculating anything. A terrible blunder. [18...Qb6 was likely better and he's got a lot of queenside pawns after 19.Qxb6 axb6] 19.Rxb2 cxb2 20.Nh3 Black resigns Not the best game by Kirk but I did my little part and won. 1-0

maybe next week we'll get an endgame!

Oh my God I'm so happy for them. Amanda sent me an email today. I tried to get them to call the baby "Craig" if it's a boy but she wasn't so sure. that's fabulous, happy news.

i love katamari

Katamari

i rented it and it's really cool

also i was thinking about taking up the Owen's Defense for the next tournament, seeing i live in owen sound and all, but considering i can't justify playing 1.b3 i can't see how 1.e4 b6 is playable ;)

K 2½ - 1½ C

K.Sadler - C.Sadler
B41 - Sicilian : Kan

Week four. Who thought we'd get this far? I really hadn't put much thought into prepping for this game. 1.e4 c5 I didn't decide what I was going to play until I walked and picked up a coffee before the game. Kirk has a pretty tight repetoire and normally plays a Be2/Be3/f4 system v. the Sicilian. With the Taimanov, ...b5, ...Bb7 I can take advantage of that. Better than getting into a relatively theoretical duel in the Dragon where he obviously would be more comfortable. 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Be3 [This was unexpected. I figured on something like 5.Nc3 Qc7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Be2 b5 and a decent position. Now I was left to my own devices] 5...Nc6 [Theory says that 5...Nf6 is better, putting the question to the e-pawn.] 6.c4!



Going into a Maroczy bind position. i should've thought more here. Ironically, I didn't play the Accelerated Dragon because I didn't want to face the Maroczy Bind. As an aside, in the Kan/Taimanov/whatever it's not as easy to stop ...d5 with the Maroczy Bind because of ...e6, whereas in the Accelerated Dragon, Black rarely is able to support the d5 push with ...e6 because of the weakness of the dark squares. Even the "Dragon" bishop usually isn't enough to defend those squares, especially if White gets in Bh6 or something. 6...Nf6 7.Bd3 Qc7 [7...Ne5! is much stronger.; 7...d5 was played by Miguel Quinteros in a game v. Ljubojevic which was similar to our game 8.exd5 exd5 9.Nxc6 bxc6 10.0–0 d4 11.Bg5 Be7 12.Nd2 c5 except I think that Black's position was stronger without the inclusion of ...Qc7. I think I should've went with ...d5 right away. White eventually won the Ljubojevic-Quinteros game btw] 8.0–0 d5 9.Nxc6 [9.exd5 exd5 10.Re1 was stronger] 9...bxc6? [9...dxe4! was much stronger, winning a pawn for me. I didn't even pay attention] 10.exd5 cxd5 11.Nd2! I didn't see how strong this was at the time. Not only developing, but gaining a tempo on the queen. Not that we're grandmasters, but Quinteros' idea was much better playing d5 with my queen still on d8 (to support d5) and not allowing the rook move. 11...Be7 12.Rc1 Qd8 [Fritz said that the developing gambit of 12...Bb7 13.cxd5 Qd7 was okay because it doesn't give up a pawn 14.Nf3 (14.dxe6? Qxd3) 14...Qxd5 etc.] 13.f4?! This may have been okay but I didnt like it because it opened up just as many lines on his king as at my king 13...0–0 [I was gonna try 13...d4 right away, but decided against it.] 14.f5 d4?! [I picked the wrong pawn. 14...e5! makes everything better for me. Now I am threatening to push both e4 and d4 and if 15.cxd5 Nxd5 I'm great.] 15.Bf4 Bd6 [15...exf5 may have been stronger but i was all horny over the d4, e5 pawn duo] 16.Bxd6 Qxd6 17.Ne4 [I was worried about 17.c5 because I was having a tough time finding a good place for my pieces] 17...Nxe4 18.Bxe4 Rb8 19.fxe6 fxe6? [Obviously 19...Bxe6 was better. After 19. ...fxe6+ I saw the Qf3+ but i thought that there was no mate, so my connected passers would be worth the h-pawn that dropped or whatever.] 20.Rxf8+ Kxf8 21.Qf3+ [21.Qh5! was even stronger. Once the queen gets to h7 I'm screwed and if 21...h6 22.Rf1+ Ke7 23.c5! I didn't see that OTB though] 21...Kg8 22.Rf1 Bd7 [Maybe 22...Qe7 was stronger but i'm still screwed after 23.Qh5] 23.Qf7+ Kh8 24.Bxh7 [24.Qh5 again was terribly strong. If 24...h6 (24...g6 25.Bxg6) 25.Qg6] 24...Kxh7?? [I should've continued with my "idea" of 24...e5 . This stops the rook from coming to f4 anyways.] 25.Qh5+ Kg8 26.Qf7+ Kh7 27.Rf4 and it's over 27...Qxf4 28.Qxf4 Rxb2 29.Qxd4 Rb1+ 30.Kf2 Bc6? 31.Qd3+ Black resigns Nicely played by Kirk. Overly optimistic by me. I have some stuff to think about as Black before the next time we play again. 1–0

I learned a couple of things from this game

1) i'm lazy tactically...i totally trusted kirk and didn't try and look for anything, especially in the early middlegame/opening
2) i didn't look hard enough at his threats
3) i had one idea (...d4, ...e5) and assumed it was fabulous and didn't look at anything else

we'll see how it goes next week.

my first win

so i went to http://www.chesslive.de and entered my name and low and behold they had games for me. from all over the place. this is my first email game i won back in 1999

[Event "TG.1999.0.13363"]
[Site "IECG email"]
[Date "1999.??.??"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Wood,Mike"]
[Black "refutor"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Eco "E11"]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Bb4+ 4.Bd2 a5 5.e3 Qe7 6.Be2 Nc6 7.0-0 0-0 8.a3 Bxd2 9.Nbxd2 d5 10.Qc2 b6 11.Bd3 Ba6 12.b4 axb4 13.axb4 Qxb4 14.Ra4 Qd6 15.Ng5 Nb4 16.Bxh7+ Kh8 17.Qb1 c5 18.Bg8 Kxg8 19.cxd5 Nbxd5 20.Nc4 Qc6 21.Ne5 Qxa4 22.Re1 Nc3 23.Qxb6 Ne2+ 24.Kh1 cxd4 25.Nc6 d3 26.Ne7+ Kh8 27.Nxf7+ Rxf7 28.Qxe6 Bc4 29.Ng6+ Kh7 30.Qg4 Qa1 31.Qh3+ Kxg6 32.g4 Qxe1+ 0-1

Week Three - Victory for C.

i finally won this week...kirk had just been working at his school so that is a bit of an excuse...i did win though.

C.Sadler - K.Sadler
E27 - Nimzo-Indian : Samisch variation

Game three. I had a new idea to play for the tournament coming up in four weeks now. 1.d4 e6 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nc3 Bb4 In all fairness, I did ask him to play the Nimzo against me this week over a few beers at the bar. 4.f3 and this is it. The Kmoch variation, transposing to the Samisch in most cases (like this case). I had been doing a little bit of studying, but I figured with the positional idiocy of the people at the club this is the way to go. Surprisingly a lot of them play the Nimzo 4...d5 This is basically the only move. Over the board though I was worried about Kirk playing [ 4...c5 for a couple reasons. For starters, he plays ...c5 v. every Nimzo. Secondly, I wasn't sure how to continue. 5.dxc5 is obviously bad.( 5.d5 I guess is the main line, but i'm not sure if that's any good or not. Theory gives 5...Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 d6 7.e4 e5 with a mutated Benoni Wall. i don't thikn my bishops would like this. This may be better for Black. Who knows.) ( or the Benko-esque 5...b5 ; but Kirk likes his Benoni so he probably would've tried 5...exd5 and after 6.cxd5 d6 7.e4 I have a pretty good Benoni. Maybe I have nothing to fear after all ;)) Over the board on Wednesday I got 4...0-0 5.e4 Ne8 6.a3 Bxc3+ 7.bxc3 and I duly punished my opponent with a kingside attack.]



5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 0-0 [ I expected 6...c5 after which there is an ugly line including 7.cxd5 Nxd5 8.dxc5 Qa5 9.e4 Ne7 10.Be3 ( 10.Bd2 0-0 has never been played at the GM level, but feels easier to play than the mainline AFAIC) 10...Qxc3+ 11.Kf2] 7.Bg5 [ 7.cxd5 is the mainline 7...exd5 ( 7...Nxd5? 8.e4 Ne7 ( 8...Nxc3 9.Qb3 Qxd4 10.Bb2 Qe3+ 11.Be2 Nd5 12.Qxe3 Nxe3 13.Kf2 Nd5 14.exd5 with a better position for White. Komarov-Panchenko 1994) ) ] 7...Nbd7 [ I wasn't too concerned about 7...h6 because I was aiming to go to f2 with this bishop eventually anyways. The main idea of the Bg5 was to get him on a different diagonal because I am going to have to work to get e4 in, play e3 first etc.] 8.cxd5 exd5 Now I am happy with the position as if he plays ...c5 in one move he will isolate his pawn and i'm gonna have a huge center...once I get castled. 9.e3 Re8! A strong move. Now I have to fight to survive. 10.Qd2 [ Fritz liked 10.Qd3 equal to 10.Qd2, but I wanted to keep my options open for my bishop] 10...h6 11.Bh4 b6 12.Bb5! I actually was able to put some pressure on him this way. I was gonna play something like [ 12.Bd3 and 12...-- 13.Nh3 and get on with it, but I have to force myself to look a little deeper.] 12...c6? [ 12...Re6 was the only way to hang on to things, but then i can keep on developing, but at least this doesn't lose. The key is the pin on the queen and the hanging d-pawn.] 13.Bxc6 Rb8 [ I was worried about saccing the exchange 13...Ba6 but i mean i'm better in all variations 14.Bxf6 ( 14.Bxa8 Qxa8 15.Ne2) 14...Nxf6 15.Bxe8 Qxe8] 14.Bxd5? [ Pathetic. I didn't even look at 14.Bg3 winning the exchange. I thought a pawn was enough] A comedy of errors. 14...Ne4? [ I totally overlooked 14...g5 15.Bg3 Nxd5 16.Bxb8 Nxb8 but even still I'm pretty good after 17.e4] 15.Bxf7+ Kxf7 [ 15...Kh8 16.Bxd8 Nxd2 17.Bxe8 and i'm winning easily.] 16.Qa2+ Black resigns Not the greatest game by either side. We both need to work on tactics. I definitely needed to look deeper after 13. ...Rb8 The opening wasn't necessarily a success, but I got some interesting tactical patterns with the Bg5. I'll give er a go some other time. 1-0

week two

actually the way that our chess history has gone, i'm rather surprised that there is a week two. we decided to do our analysis on here. here's the moves with my notes

K.Sadler - C.Sadler

1.e4 e5 Okay i got black this time. I wanted to play an open game so I decided on this 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 But I didn't expect this! At all! I thought he played the Scotch. But I'm sure I would've complained if I got that as well :) 3...a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 b5 I took a lot of time around here because I wasn't sure whether to play the Tchigorin, the Open Lopez or the Marshall. I decided on the Tchigorin 6.Bb3 Be7 7.Re1 d6 [I was thinking about playing 7...0–0 and then transposing to the Tchigorin but I didn't] 8.h3?! 0–0 [I should've move ordered him and played 8...Na5! with advantage] 9.c3 Na5 10.Bc2 c5 11.d4 Qc7 12.Nbd2 cxd4 13.cxd4 Nc6 [All theory. Usually I play 13...Bb7 . I was trying to induce d5] 14.a4 Now I started thinking for real. It's a little joke between me and Kirk that once you're "out of theory" in the Ruy Lopez, just play a4, because it's normally good. [The main line is 14.Nb3 overprotecting d4] 14...b4?! [14...Bd7 was likely better; Spassky continued 14...Nxd4 15.Nxd4 exd4 16.Nf3 Bb7 17.Bg5 (17.Nxd4! looks better) 17...Rfe8 18.Rc1 Qb6 19.Qxd4 Qxd4 20.Nxd4 ½–½ Ljuboejvic-Spassky but I imagine this was a prearranged draw because White looks better to me.] 15.d5 Nb8 I was happy enough with this position. I wanted to keep the c8-h3 diagonal open for some unknown reason, actually to stop Nf1–g3-f5, as the dark squared bishop is the most important piece for me at this point. 16.Nf1 Nbd7 17.Bg5 [I was a little worried about 17.a5 for him, as he'll get to my b-pawn faster than I'll get to his a-pawn.] 17...a5 [Fritz preferred 17...Nc5 ] 18.Rc1 Nc5 19.Be3 [I kinda liked 19.Bxf6 Bxf6 but I guess the weakness at d6 is hard to get at.] 19...Ba6?! [19...Bd7 may have been better. I thought that the space on the a6-f1 diagonal was better, but controlling the diagonal that the light squared bishop was originally on was a better idea. Poor judgement by me] 20.Bxc5 [I wonder if 20.Bb1 was better. Of course! 20...Nfd7 doesn't immediately lose material, but where are my kingside defenders?] 20...Qxc5 [Fritz thought that 20...dxc5 was better, but i was worried about pushing the d-pawn, and my weak e-pawn.] 21.Ng3 g6 [Admitting my mistake and coming back over to this diagonal was better. 21...Bc8 ] 22.Bb3 Qb6 23.Rc6 Qb7 [23...Qd8 brings more pieces over to the kingside] 24.Qd2 Rfc8 [The way things worked out 24...Rac8 was likely better as this way the f-pawn is protected] 25.Ng5 Rxc6? [25...Nd7! with the idea of 26.-- Nc5 was better as then the c-file is closed. I wasn't worried enough, I thought my position was solid. I should've looked a little deeper because this was the only tactical point of the game. The game falls apart from here] 26.dxc6 Qxc6 27.Nxf7 Kg7?? [27...Kf8 28.Qh6+ Ke8 and White is still better] 28.Qh6+ Black resigns. A nicely played attack by Kirk. He built up the pressure slowly and I crumbled. My sense of danger let me down, I absolutely missed that he could even check at Qh6 1–0

the training has actually started

me and kirk are going to have weekly G/30s and actually analyze and send the analysis back and forth. i think it's pretty cool. here is the first game (a draw) with light notes by me

C.Sadler - K.Sadler
Training G/30 Internet Chess Club, 16.10.2005

We have decided to have weekly G/30s which I think is a good thing. I had only thought about playing 1.e4 e5 v. him and not even what to play as White. 1.d4 e6 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nf3 I could've played the Nimzo, but I wanted to see what he played v. Nf3. I had a feeling it was the Queen's Indian, that's why I played this. I went through some of my blitz games from 2003 and I realized how much I had played the QID... 3...b6 4.a3 ...particularly the Petrosian variation 4...Ba6! [The usual move is 4...Bb7 , in fact I had never seen the text. The idea is to hinder White from pushing his e-pawn, and putting pressure on the c-pawn.] 5.e3 [The main line is 5.Qc2 Bb7 6.Nc3 c5 and Black seems better. Interesting] 5...d5 6.Qc2? [Positionally a terrible move. My position is passive because my queen is stuck on c4 eventually. 6.Nbd2 is theory and stronger because if 6...-- 7.cxd5 (for instance). White can still play 7...Bxf1 8.Nxf1 -- 9.Ng3 and eventually castle. (Theory is 6...Be7 7.b4 0–0 8.Bb2 . I'd be comfortable enough with this.) ] 6...Bb7 7.Be2 dxc4 8.Qxc4 [I was gonna try and gambit here with 8.Nc3 knowing that Kirk wouldn't try and hold on to the pawn regardless. The trouble is that I can never recapture with the bishop because of; 8.Bxc4 Bxf3 and my king is exposed. LIke I said, my position became passive because of the queen on c4.] 8...Bd6 9.0–0 0–0 10.h3? [Too slow. I could have played 10.Nc3 immediately. I was worried about something along the lines of 10...Bxf3 11.Bxf3 Bxh2+ 12.Kxh2 Ng4+ forgetting of course, that in order for that sack to work properly, the pawn has to be on e5 (or in this case e4) to keep a piece from being on f6. The text was a waste of time with two queenside pieces undeveloped.; Maybe I could've even tried 10.b4 ] 10...c5 Stopping b4 and taking up space. I prefer his position. Kirk gave me lots of opportunity to both give up the bishop pair and choices for releasing tension in the center this game. I told him those were two things I was working on. I was kinda hoping he'd play ...cxd4 because after exd4, Be3, Rd1, i can protect the isolated pawn and be fully developed. 11.Nc3 Nbd7 [11...cxd4 12.exd4 Nbd7 13.Be3] 12.Rd1 Rc8 13.dxc5 I finally threaten something 13...Bxc5 [Fritz liked 13...Nxc5 14.Nb5 of course 14...Bd5 makes Black better] 14.Qa4 [Was there an alternative? My priority at this point was to get my queen to a safer square. I could never actually grab the a-pawn safely I don't think. 14.Qh4 ; 14.Qf4] 14...Bc6 15.Bb5 Qc7 16.b4 Bd6 In my calculations I missed that this was even possible (thinking it hung to the rook). 17.Bxc6 Qxc6 18.Qxc6 Rxc6 19.Nb5?! [Instead of sending the bishop to a better square, Fritz recommended 19.Bb2 +/- and I'm better.] 19...Bb8 20.Bb2 Rc2 21.Rd2 [21.Bxf6 Nxf6 22.Nbd4 and my position is slightly better.] 21...Rfc8 22.Nbd4 [22.Rxc2 Rxc2 23.Bxf6 Nxf6 24.Rd1 Is this better? At least I get a file. The a-pawn looks weak though. I guess the bishop hangs. 24...Rc8 Forced 25.Nbd4] 22...Rxd2 23.Nxd2 Be5? [I think his bishop was fine there. Progressing with his pawns either by 23...a6 ; or 23...e5 may have been slightly better. 24.N4f3 (24.Nf5 Kf8 25.Rc1 and if the rooks come off it looks drawish) 24...Rc2 25.Bc1] 24.N2f3 Bxd4 25.Nxd4 [Fritz says that this 25.Bxd4 was just as good, but I'm old fashioned, I like a centralized knight. ] 25...Ne4 26.Rc1= and this was an implicit draw offer, as with the rooks off and the symmetrical pawn structure it's quite even [Maybe almost threaten something with 26.Rd1 was better?] 26...Rxc1+= Game drawn by mutual agreement In any case a decent start. I should play more aggressively next game. I defended an inferior position as White. That's unacceptable. ½–½

maybe i'll get us to post on here with comments. the media isn't as good as sending the pgn back and forth but we'll see how it goes