22 February 2015

Annotated Game #141: A long struggle

This second-round tournament game is not particularly long in terms of the total number of moves, but the struggle involved certainly felt long-lasting and intense.  As the middlegame kicks off on move 16 with White and Black playing on opposite wings, my opponent and I engage in a tense maneuvering battle which builds to a flurry of tactics around the move 40 time control.

This game is a good illustration of how important it is to spot key ideas and play them in a timely fashion.  In my case, spotting the idea of using an exchange sacrifice to clear the way for my advanced a-pawn should have been the winning one, but it was initiated one tempo later than ideal, a fact which gave Black his own advanced pawn on d3 that eventually won the game for him.

Despite the eventual disappointing result, I still felt that this type of game, which revolved around an exciting strategic struggle and tactical clashes, was a great experience and central to why I play chess.

[Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "????.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "ChessAdmin"] [Black "Class B"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A26"] [Annotator "ChessAdmin/Houdini/Komodo 8"] [PlyCount "92"] [EventDate "2013.01.19"] [EventRounds "7"] {A26: English Opening vs King's Indian with ...Nc6 and d3} 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. d3 d6 {the Closed variation} 6. Nf3 h6 {a bit unusual, designed to keep the bishop out of g5. Might be a waste of a tempo.} 7. O-O Be6 8. Rb1 Qd7 {clearly intending to trade off the Bg2.} 9. b4 Nge7 10. Re1 { I make the strategic decision to keep the light-square bishops on the board, with far-reaching consequences.} Bh3 {a rare move at this point, as Black typically castles first; see the below game featuring Yasser Seirawan as White from the classic Lone Pine tournament.} (10... O-O 11. Nd2 Bh3 12. Bh1 Rab8 13. b5 Nd4 14. Qa4 a6 15. bxa6 Qxa4 16. Nxa4 bxa6 17. Nc3 Rxb1 18. Ndxb1 Rb8 19. e3 Kf8 20. Na3 Ne6 21. Nc2 Nc5 22. Rd1 Bg4 23. f3 Bf5 24. Ne1 e4 25. d4 exf3 26. Bxf3 Nd7 27. Ba3 Ke8 28. Be2 h5 29. Nf3 Bh6 30. e4 Bg4 31. Kg2 Nc6 32. Nd5 Kd8 33. c5 dxc5 34. dxc5 Bg7 35. Bc1 Bxf3+ 36. Bxf3 a5 37. Be2 f6 38. Bf4 Nce5 39. c6 Rb2 40. Kf1 Nxc6 41. Nxc7 g5 42. Bd6 Bf8 43. Ne6+ Ke8 44. Bxh5# {1-0 (44) Seirawan,Y (2405)-Tarjan,J (2510) Lone Pine 1978}) 11. Bh1 {although this is the immediate logical follow-up to the rook move and was my reason for it, it may not be best. The rook is better placed on e1 regardless of what the bishop does and retreating the bishop takes a tempo that could be used to pursue White's queenside play (b4-b5).} (11. b5 Nd8 12. Bxh3 Qxh3 13. e4 {is an alternative way of playing on the light squares for White. Although the Qh3 looks threatening, Black's pieces are not in a position to assist it on the kingside.}) 11... O-O $11 12. b5 Nd8 13. a4 f5 {the opposite-wings race begins. } 14. Qb3 Kh8 {moving off the queen's diagonal and preventing the c4-c5 break.} 15. Ba3 {renewing the idea of pushing the c-pawn.} Ne6 16. Nd5 {this is the first major decision by White in the middlegame. Here I would be willing to accept doubled d-pawns in return for the advanced, supported d5 pawn and the half-open c-file that would result from an exchange. In the game, Black declines to go down this road.} g5 17. e3 {this weakens d3, which is important in a number of variations, but also strengthens f4, prevents the Black knight from entering d4, and offers the chance of opening the e-file for White if the e-pawn is exchanged.} Ng6 18. Nd2 {this could have been played earlier as well. It's necessary to activate the bishop on the corner and eventually do something useful with the knight.} c6 {a surprise from my opponent, as I did not think he would want to allow the opening of the b-file.} 19. bxc6 (19. Nb4 $5 {is a more sophisticated idea, retaining pressure on c6.}) 19... bxc6 { now it's clear that the open b-file does not in fact give White anything. In fact, the pawn exchange has simplified the queenside structure and thereby reduced White's potential for active play.} 20. Nc3 {Nb4 is still best here.} Rac8 (20... e4 {interestingly is possible and the engine considers it best, as the pawn sacrifice gives Black the initiative. For example} 21. dxe4 f4 22. exf4 Nd4 $15) 21. Qc2 Rf7 22. a5 {the idea occurs to me of using the a-pawn to try and pressure Black further.} h5 $6 {Black continues single-mindedly with the kingside pawn advance.} (22... e4 $5 $11 {is still possible here, although there is no real advantage now as a result.} 23. a6 $11) 23. a6 $14 h4 24. Rb7 {the point of the plan. The rook is established in Black's back ranks.} Rc7 25. Reb1 Nd8 26. Rxc7 {this is not bad, but not ideal either. At the time, I didn't see the advantage of keeping the rook as an irritant to Black.} (26. Rb8 Rf8 27. Qd1 $16) 26... Qxc7 27. Ne2 {I felt I needed to get this knight back into active play and shore up the kingside.} (27. Qb3 {would be better, continuing to exploit White's advantage on the b-file.}) 27... Bf6 {getting out of the way of the rook on the 7th rank.} 28. Qa4 {pressures c6 and prevents ...Qa5, by my original thinking. It is still better placed on b3, however.} Ne7 (28... Kg7 29. Bb4 Qd7 30. Ba5 $14) 29. Qb4 {the other point behind the queen maneuver, targeting the d6 pawn. However, the idea would be even better if the B+Q battery were reversed.} (29. Bb4 Rf8 30. Qa3 $16 { with central pressure and again the idea of Rb7 after playing Ba5.}) 29... Nc8 {Black covers the weak point and I must again think about how to make progress. } 30. Nb3 c5 31. Qe1 {Qa5 was the other option I considered.} Nb6 32. Bc1 { the idea was to redeploy the bishop to a more useful square.} (32. Nc3 $5 { improving the knight, however, looks more effective at the moment. This would take control of the key d5 square.}) 32... Nc6 (32... hxg3 {would be more to the point of Black's kingside strategy, posing White more problems.}) 33. Bd2 { a useful maneuver. However, I was not adequately considering the threat to the isolated a-pawn, which leads to trouble.} Qc8 {the threat to the pawn is not real (see below variation), but I was disheartened during the game by the prospect of being a pawn down. Both my opponent and I were feeling time pressure as well.} (33... Bg4 34. Na5 e4 35. Nxc6 Qxc6 36. Bc3 $11) 34. Ba5 $6 (34. Na5 {is a possibility that I did not look at sufficiently. The knight was essentially dead on b3; this activates it and the a-pawn is tactically defended.} Nxa5 (34... e4 35. Nxc6 Qxc6 36. Bc3) 35. Bxa5 Bd8 $14 (35... Qxa6 $4 {the pawn is safe and cannot be captured without dire consequences} 36. Bxb6 axb6 37. Ra1 Qc8 38. Ra8 $18)) 34... Bd8 $6 (34... Nxa5 35. Nxa5 Qxa6 {in this variation, White cannot punish Black for pawn-grabbing.} 36. Qd2 $15) 35. Ra1 { simply thinking of protecting the a-pawn.} (35. Nc3 $11 {is a much more active move, centralizing the knight to good effect.}) 35... Nxa5 36. Nxa5 Qe6 { Black plans e4. My opponent was very low on time by this point and I was getting down to my final minutes.} (36... f4 $5 37. Bb7 Qd7) (36... Qxa6 $2 37. Nb7 {trapping the queen.}) 37. Nc6 {Nb7 was the other option I was looking at. I was not able to clearly calculate them, so went with the variation that seemed on the surface more active.} Bf6 (37... Qd7 38. Nxd8 Qxd8 39. Nc3 $11) 38. Nc3 {played without a clear intent.} (38. Rb1 {is the key idea here, threatening an exchange sacrifice on b6 in order to allow the a-pawn to advance. I should have played it immediately.} Qc8 39. Rxb6 axb6 $16) 38... e4 $14 {this was a surprising and challenging move from my opponent at this point, which shows my lack of awareness of his threats.} 39. Rb1 {now I saw the idea of sacrificing the exchange with the idea of promoting the a-pawn.} exd3 { this would not have been available to Black a move earlier.} 40. Rxb6 {perhaps this could have been delayed. It offered my opponent an obvious recapture in order to make the time control.} (40. Bd5 $5 Qe8 41. Bxf7 Qxf7 42. Qd1 Qxc4 43. Rxb6 $11) 40... axb6 $11 41. Bd5 {at the time I debated between this and immediately pushing a7.} (41. a7 $2 Rxa7 42. Nxa7 Qxc4 43. Nb1 Qa2 $19 { and White cannot stop the Black pawns.}) 41... Qc8 $2 (41... Qe8 42. Bxf7 Qxf7 $11) 42. Nb5 $4 {played under the assumption that Qxa6 would not occur due to the hanging rook and missing the subsequent tactic. The idea was to better prepare the a7 push.} (42. a7 $1 Rb7 43. Qd2 Rxa7 44. Nxa7 $18) 42... Qxa6 $19 43. Bxf7 (43. Nc3 {is no salvation, comments Houdini via the Fritz interface.} Rh7 44. Qc1 hxg3 45. hxg3 Kg7 $19) 43... Qa1 {the tactical shot that I had missed. I had looked at some similar moves by Black in earlier variations, when they were with check, but failed to consider the possibility of this forcing line with the back rank problem. Now the d-pawn is unstoppable, the key element that I missed.} 44. Qxa1 Bxa1 45. Ne7 (45. Bd5 {is not much help} g4 46. Bg2 d2 47. Bxh3 gxh3 48. f4 d1=Q+ 49. Kf2 hxg3+ 50. hxg3 Qd2+ 51. Kf1 h2 52. Nc3 h1=Q#) 45... d2 46. Bh5 g4 (46... g4 47. Bxg4 fxg4 48. Nc3 Bxc3 49. Ng6+ Kg7 50. f4 d1=Q+ 51. Kf2 Qe1#) 0-1

17 February 2015

Annotated Game #140: The lessons of drawing twice in one game

After the disappointing results of the previous tournament (which finished with Annotated Game #139), for my last OTB tournament I was looking more to stabilize my results rather than hoping for a big breakthrough.

In this first round game, as Black I successfully neutralize my opponent's play out of the opening, a Classical Caro-Kann.  My opponent commits a touch-move fault on move 21, which however I offset by not pushing my (correct) claim for a draw by repetition a few moves later.  I play some sub-par rook moves and allow a small advantage and some pressure, but my opponent overpresses and nearly gets his rook trapped (which it should have been, with a neat little tactic).  Finally material is exchanged off into a drawn rook endgame.

Despite the goofs, I ended up feeling psychologically strengthened by the game.  The failure of my opponent to acknowledge the early threefold repetition I took as an opportunity to play out the position, in keeping with the "no draws" mentality I try to foster.  I was also able to learn more about the concepts involved in trapping a piece, through the missed sequence on move 37, which in this case would have involved sacrificing a pawn to lure the White rook to its doom.  In practice, this was not a bad result and I felt better about my play in general than I had in the previous tournament.

[Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "????.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Class A"] [Black "ChessAdmin"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B18"] [Annotator "ChessAdmin/Houdini/Komodo 8"] [PlyCount "116"] [EventDate "2013.01.18"] [EventRounds "7"] {B18: Classical Caro-Kann: 4...Bf5 sidelines} 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 { my opponent took longer than normal to make his moves in the opening, which led me to believe he was trying to remember the line.} dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bf5 5. Ng3 Bg6 6. Nf3 Nf6 {an important alternative to the standard ...Nd7, as we shall see on the next move.} 7. h4 {my opponent had remembered the book line this far, but now I prevent him from executing the standard plan with h4-h5.} Nh5 8. Ne5 Nxg3 9. Nxg6 hxg6 10. fxg3 e6 {the game is now firmly off the main line track, although generally equal. The spectacle of no pieces developed as of move 10 is unusual.} 11. Bf4 $146 (11. c3 Bd6 12. Qf3 Nd7 13. Bg5 Qxg5 14. hxg5 Rxh1 15. O-O-O Rh5 16. d5 Ne5 17. Qe3 cxd5 18. Be2 Rh2 19. Qg1 Rh7 20. c4 Nxc4 21. Bxc4 Rc8 22. Qxa7 Rxc4+ 23. Kb1 Rh5 24. Qxb7 Rxg5 25. a4 Rxg3 {Vasylius,K (2105)-Kaunas,K (2275) Vilnius 2009 1-0 (37)}) (11. Be3 Bd6 12. Bf2 Nd7 13. Qf3 Qa5+ 14. c3 e5 15. Bc4 O-O-O 16. O-O-O f5 17. dxe5 Nxe5 18. Be6+ Kb8 19. Qe2 Rhe8 20. Bb3 Ng4 21. Qf3 Qc7 22. Bd4 Bxg3 23. Kb1 Be5 24. Bc5 Nf6 25. Bc2 Bg3 26. Rxd8+ Rxd8 27. Be7 Qxe7 28. Qxg3+ Rd6 29. Re1 Qd7 30. Qxg6 Ne4 31. Qh7 Rd2 32. Qg8+ Kc7 33. Qb3 Rxg2 34. Bxe4 fxe4 35. a3 Rd2 36. Ka1 Qd5 37. Qa4 Kb8 38. c4 Qd3 39. Ka2 Rxb2+ 40. Kxb2 Qd2+ 41. Qc2 Qxe1 42. Qh2+ Kc8 43. Qe5 Qe2+ 44. Kb3 Qd3+ 45. Kb2 Qd2+ 46. Kb3 Qe3+ 47. Kc2 Qf2+ 48. Kb3 Qxh4 49. Qxg7 Qh3+ 50. Ka4 Qe6 51. Qf8+ Kc7 52. Qg7+ Kb6 53. Qc3 a6 54. c5+ Ka7 55. Qb4 Ka8 56. Ka5 e3 57. Qh4 Qe8 58. a4 {0-1 (58) Diaz,J (2134)-Kjartansson,G (2385) San Cristobal 2012}) 11... Bd6 {challenging on the diagonal seemed best to me, which also results in White losing the (slight) positional advantage of the two bishops.} 12. Qd2 Bxf4 13. Qxf4 Qa5+ 14. c3 Nd7 {leaving the way open for queenside castling.} 15. Bc4 Nf6 {blocking a potential attack down the f-file.} 16. Rf1 O-O-O (16... O-O {castling kingside is perfectly fine here as well. Optically White may look threatening, but he cannot get anything going on either the h- or f-files and does not have enough material to sacrifice for a breakthrough.}) 17. O-O-O Rd7 {at this point it is hard to see where either side can make real progress. White's light-square bishop is restricted by Black's pawn structure, while Black's knight is relatively mobile, making it at least equal in worth.} 18. Kb1 Qf5+ {I decide to force the queens off, ending any possible attacking chances for White.} 19. Bd3 Qxf4 20. Rxf4 Rf8 {this is somewhat counterproductive and limiting for the rook. If I want to activate it, h5 is a much better square, with lateral dominance on the 5th rank. Moving it off the h-file only aids White's prospects, as we'll soon see.} (20... Kc7 $11) 21. Rf3 {my opponent had a touch-move fault here, intending to play g4, which is his best chance at an advantage.} (21. g4 Nd5 22. Rf3 $14 {in this configuration, White can put some pressure on the kingside by concentrating all of his pieces on supporting a pawn advance, while Black has no real counterplay. However, I doubt it would be enough to win.}) 21... Kc7 22. Rf4 Nd5 23. Rf3 Nf6 24. Rf4 Nd5 25. Rf3 {Twofold repetition} Nf6 {Draw by threefold repetition, notes Houdini via the Fritz interface. I was not 100 percent clear in my mind on this so only halfheartedly claimed the draw (in advance of the move, as required by the rules) and my opponent asserted that it was only a twofold repetition. Rather than challenge him, which would require stopping the clocks, calling a TD and replaying the whole game, I decided to play on.} 26. Re1 Re8 27. Re5 Ree7 28. Be2 Rd5 29. Rfe3 Rxe5 30. Rxe5 Rd7 (30... Nd7 $5 {is an idea that could have been played effectively now or later. For example} 31. Re3 c5 32. Bf3 cxd4 33. cxd4 Nb6 $11) 31. Bf3 Rd8 32. g4 Rh8 {by this point it was clear to me that White had nothing, but might overpress.} 33. g3 Rg8 $6 { this does nothing for the rook and removes it (again) from the more useful h-file. The position is still balanced, however.} 34. Kc2 Kb6 {controlling the queenside squares on the 5th rank. This is a little dubious, taking the king further away from the action on the kingside, but I had in mind trying to trap White's rook.} (34... Kd6) 35. c4 {my opponent continues to press for winning chances.} Rd8 36. Kc3 Nd7 {here I spot the basic idea behind trapping the rook, but fail to calculate it properly while close to the time control, so it escapes.} 37. Rg5 $2 {far too cavalier a move, although my opponent gets away with it.} (37. Re2 Kc7 $14) 37... Nf8 $2 (37... f6 $1 38. Rxg6 Rg8 $17 { the rook will now fall prey to the knight and Black gains the exchange. Ironically the last move which I fail to spot involves moving the rook to an otherwise passive square, something which I had been previously doing without such a worthy goal.}) 38. Re5 Nd7 {Twofold repetition} 39. Rg5 {giving me the chance again.} Nf8 {having missed the tactic, I was simply focused on sealing the draw.} 40. b4 {this finally gives White's rook a protected square on a5.} a6 41. Re5 Nd7 42. Ra5 (42. Re2 $5) 42... Nf6 (42... e5 43. d5 c5 $11) 43. Rg5 Rg8 44. a4 (44. Re5 $5 {White's only chance to maintain a slight edge would be to transfer his rook back behind his pawns, where it belongs.}) 44... Nd7 $11 45. Ra5 Kc7 46. d5 exd5 47. cxd5 Ne5 48. Bg2 Re8 ({Worse is} 48... Nxg4 49. dxc6 bxc6 50. Rxa6 $16) 49. dxc6 Nxc6 50. Bxc6 Kxc6 {and the endgame is elementary from here on.} 51. Rc5+ Kd6 52. Kd4 Kd7 53. Rd5+ Kc6 54. b5+ axb5 55. Rc5+ Kb6 56. Rxb5+ Kc6 57. Rc5+ Kd6 58. Rg5 Kc6 1/2-1/2

16 February 2015

Still playing after all these years


I've always been entertained by Viktor Kortchnoi as well as learning from his games (with a lot of learning still left to do).  He's currently playing in the Zurich Legends event, in this case a rapid match against fellow legend Wolfgang Uhlmann.  As noted in this ChessBase article, Kortchnoi also has the most recorded games in the ChessBase database, a testament to his staying power and love of the game.

Viktor Kortchnoi: My Life for Chess, Volume 1

Viktor Kortchnoi: My Life for Chess, Volume 2

01 February 2015

Improvement Program list - February 2015

In keeping with the eclectic training program format I am following, here is the list of chess resources that I am currently working on.  Once they are all completed, I'll generate a new list.  As I finish them, I'll be posting my "completed" thoughts for each, as I have in the past with other books and DVDs.

The Diamond Dutch by Viktor Moskalenko (openings) - completed

Improve your chess with Tania Sachdev (Fritztrainer DVD) (middlegame strategy) - completed

Improve your tactics with Tania Sachdev (Fritztrainer DVD) (tactics) - completed

Essential Endgame Knowledge with IM Dr. Danny Kopec (DVD) (endgames) - completed