Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Vortex, September 2013, Round 2 "Slow drip losing, and the panic of recovery, almost..."






Summary:
Vortex September 2013, Round 2: Hori v Reed (1-0)
G/30, d5, lose - Black with Sicilian Grand Prix Attack, with a very exciting finish, me with 4 seconds on the clock, and my opponent with 20 seconds

Coffee is waking me up, The full reality of playing the 2013 Class Champion of MetroWest Chess Club (largest in New England) is sinking in. I've played Calvin once before, he is an interesting opponent, very skilled obviously and with a few offbeat tools in his arsenal. 
For example against 1.d4, as in our game from two years ago, he will play the A51 Budapest Gambit. That was before I switched to 1.e4 as White. I figure I should learn to play chess with 1.e4 before trying the fancy 1.d4 openings, lol. Here is the game. I didn't let the 500 point rating difference deter me. In the game below from a couple of years ago, I charged ahead, and not knowing the gambit managed to give back the gambit pawn on move 8 (reasonable), but then surprised him by nabbing a pawn on move 13 and holding on to it for a while. Obviously he wasn't expecting this, and doubled down. I held on to this extra material, until move 31, where I gave it back plus extra in a blunder. At least I made him squirm. That is a good goal!

 



However in Vortex September 2013 Round 2, I am Black, and for some reason I had a hunch he would play 1.e4 as White, and he didn't disappoint. I was eager to play Sicilian, especially since I've started trying to learn it for real after my DHLC Art of War intramural game with JagdeepSingh. Of course I am still very new to Sicilian, and wasn't sure what (if any) offbeat variation he would toss at me.
On to the game:




1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 (B23, Closed Sicilian) d6. I've learned to get d6 in early and often otherwise I seem to have trouble developing my King Knight to f6, due to e4-e5 pushes. 3.f4 Nc6 transposes into a Sicilian Grand Prix Attack. 4.Nf3 Bg4 5.Bb5, I have not seen this before, but figured the move can't be too bad (trust my opponent?) plus the pin is bothersome, real, and so I decide to immediately rid myself of the pin with 5...a6. I probably should have ignored it and focused on developing my Kingside, and castle.
6.Bxc6, and so starts the steady drip of weakening my position. 











6...bxc6 7.O-O Nf6 8.d3 e6 9.Qe1 Be7, and I enter the zone of "Checks, Captures, and Threats". I see the e5 push coming. The position demands that he pushes e5. What will I as Black do? I have one move before the e5 push to get my affairs in order. Consider the diagram below. The red arrows show the e5 push, and my likely response (which I did play). Now when ever you move a piece, you leave behind a wake of disturbance in the form of removing protection and structure.GM Maurice Ashley has a great DVD "Secrets of Chess" that delves into understanding the drawbacks to moves as well as the positive aspects that most authors and players concentrate on. 
Here we can easily see that once e5 is played, and Black respondes with ...Nd7, the Black Bishop on g4 is undefended. This didn't seem important at the time, but later became the turning point of the game!
 
It is important for me to reflect on this so it can soak in. A simple "removal of the guard" tactic turned a slightly worse position into a bad, argueably losing position, down a pawn (we'll see why later). This isn't a complex four stage combination with a mind-blowing intermezzo which complicates "counting". No. This is removing (or really distracting) a guard of a piece, leaving the piece en prise. Then mischief can start. I had a full move to take care of the problem, perhaps with 9...Bxf3 instead, then I would be rid of the liability. Sure I give up two Bishops, but White did that himself long ago. No excuse.
10.e5 Nd7 11.exd6 Bxd6 12.Ne5 Nxe5 13.fxe5 Be7, relatively straightforward and somewhat forced. White has tons more space, is better developed, and has an obligation to attack. Yes, an obligation. Why? Because if he waits, then Black can regroup and equalize. 
14.Qg3, the attack. Actually the double attack. Actually the double attack which is the basis for forcing moves in chess, as described in detail by Averbakh in "Chess Tactics for Advanced Players". This book is a great breakdown of what tactics are and how to exploit them. If only I understood 10% of it... but that is a good topic for another blog.













With the White Queen on Qg3, it is performing an X-Ray attack on the pawn on g7. Black is obligated to make life as tough as possible on White, and to try and prevent the loss of a pawn. Chess.com has a good compendium of X-Ray Attack and other tactic definitions here.
Black can slow White down with 14...h5. The idea is to protect the Bishop with a pawn, blunting the attack with the Queen. And now the tactics get complicated. For example, 15.h3 trying to force the issue, 15...Bf5 16.Qxg7, so if White still gets the g7 pawn, why not just 14...Bf5 immediately as in the game? We will see shortly. After 15.Qxg7, Black has to evacuate the King, so fortunately, there is a tempo saving Queen move, 16...Qd4+ 17.Kh1 O-O-O and the King is safe, and the Rook on h8 is protected. But isn't the f7 pawn still loose? Not really because if 18.Qxf7 Rh7 and White loses material, and the position is better for Black. And this is the point of ...h5. Even though the Bishop can still get kicked with h3, the f7 pawn is implicitly protected. Plus now both Black Rooks are free to attack along the g-file, and the White Queen needs to be careful. 18.Rf4 attacks the Black Queen, 18...Rdg8 attacks the White Queen, and Black has some compensation for the lost pawn. 19.Rxd4 Rxg7 20.Rf4 c4, as the position is roughly equal despite Black being down a pawn.
Now, despite the fact it is theoretically possible to respond with amazing tactics above in a tight situation to try and compensate for material loss, consider the difference in level of difficulty between the above complex sequences and hidden resources, and Black's earlier opportunity to simply avoid having a piece en prise in the first place. 
Back to the game:
14...Bf5 15.Qxg7+ Qd4+ 16.Kh1 Kd7?? The "??" is from Houdini. 16...O-O-O does the same thing and more, and keeps the King safe. But no, instead I need to follow the rule that one mistake (losing the pawn) deserves another (leaving my King exposed in the center). See here for a compendium of typical chess mistakes.
17.Rf4 Qxf4, what else, the Black King is blocking the Black Queen's escape! 18.Bxf4 Rhg8??, should be 18...Rag8. 19.Qh6 and White has a huge advantage.
Black is wounded, in a panic, has little to lose, and in short is now desperate and dangerous.
























19...Rg4 looking to use the g-file. 20.Bd2 Rag8, threatening 21...Rxg2. 21.Rg1 Bg5 22. Bxg5 R8xg5 23.Ne4 Bxe4 24.dxe4 Rxe5 25.Rd1+ Ke7, the position is starting to stabilize. Pawn count is equal, but Blacks pawn structure is fractured, and then there is the not so small matter of White being up a Queen for a Rook. But then again a Rook has been known to draw against a QUeen, so all hope is not lost. 26.Rf1 Rgxe4 27.Qf6+ Kd7. Of course, now here White can finish Black off with 28.Qxf7+, but it takes a few moves, and I think White is very confident and is looking for safe and easy ways to finish Black off. 28.Rd1+ Kc7 29.Qf7+ Kb6.
Now White has back rank weaknesses that force him to spend time creating an "air hole" with 30.h3.













30...Re1+ anyway. Simplify and push the pawn! 31.Rxe1 Rxe1+ 32.Kh2 e5. I should point out that by this time I have around 30 seconds on the clock, and my opponent has around 2 minutes. We are playing with 5 sec delay, so the simplification helps my time management strategy.






30.Qb3+ Kc7 34.Qg3 Re2 35.Qg7 kb6 36.Qxh7 e4! 37.Qh5 Rxc2 38.Qe5, White is taking the pawn seriously now. 38...Re2 39.Qc3 e3! 40.Qb3+ Kc7 41.Qc4 Rxb2 42.Qqf7+ Kb6 43.Qe6 e2! 44.Qe3 Rxa2 45.Qb3+ resign.
What? What?? What???



















The Black Rook is immune from this double attack. Simply move the King, and if the White Queen takes, then ...e1=Q and the position is slightly in Blacks favor. Sure Black has only 20 sec left, but I should at least make him work for the point, rather than resign. Someone told me in blitz it takes around 20 seconds to mate, so even if you have a bare King against a Queen, you might be able to beat the clock. Now in this particular game, White is the Class Champion of the MetroWest CC, and he has 20 seconds to my 4 seconds... but still... it is the principle!
4 seconds, plenty of time!

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Vortex, September 2013, Round 1 "C'mon wake up!"






Summary:
Vortex September 2013, Round 1: Reed v Todhunter (0-1)
G/30, d5, loss - White with Caro-Kann, 3.Nc3, lack luster play, capped off by a blunder at the end
Long week, and this is OTB on a Saturday, bright and early in the morning. I was still getting my head wrapped around playing OTB at all, and focusing on this game. I don't think my play was too bad, and even Houdini said afterwards +/= for much of the game... but my play did lack verve and determination...
I drank coffee, but in a G/30, there just wasn't enough time for it to matter and wake me up. That would be the next round. I try not to let our 400 point rating difference affect my attitude, lol.

On to the game...

 


We open with Caro-Kann, and I play the classic 3.Nc3 variation. Lately I'm tired of obscure openings and variations, and have decided to play as mainstream as I can. If it is good enough for masters...
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Bf5 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.Nf3 e6 7. Bd3 Bxd3 8.Qxd3 Nf6. Here White is pleased with his development, and searching for a plan. Being a bit tired, White thinks to castle and pin the Nf6 Knight, a bit lightweight, but safe in this position.
9.O-O Bd6 10.Bg5 Nbd7 (counteract the pin). Play continues in a ho hum way... 11.Rfe1 O-O 12.Rad1 Qc7 13. Qe2 c5 14.c3 a6 15.Ne5 cxd4 16.cxd4. Keep the tension and Houdini thinks White's position is active. 16...Bb4.
17.Rc1 Qb6 18.Red1 Nxe5 19.dxe5 +/=
19...Nd5 20.Kh1 Rac8 21.a3 Be7 22.Bxe7 Nxe7 23.Rc2 Nd5 and the game wears on, and I'm still not waking up yet. Nonetheless, I figure if I can double my Rooks, and get some threats going, maybe I can hold out for a draw. 24.Rdc1 Rxc2 25.Qxc2, should I take with the Rook? 25...Qd4, by taking with the Queen, did I let his Queen in to easy? 26.Qe2, and since Black now "feels" like he is getting his way, I'm wondering if his 400 point rating difference is starting to show? 26...Nf4 27.Qe3 Qxe3 28.fxe3 Nd3, I'm starting to wake up but now I'm wondering if my play all along has been suspect (it hasn't), and what do I do about the fork, etc. I briefly considered Rc7, enhancing Rook activity, but then was thinking about saving the b2 pawn (wrong!), and forgot about the Rook.
29.b4?? Nxc1-+, Black is better, lol, duh.
Wake up!

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Vortex, September 2013, Summary

 




Last weekend I played in the Vortex CC monthly Round Robin in Framingham MA. As usual, my work travel and other commitments meant that I had little time for structured prep. However I have been studying the Sicilian Najdorf through the DHLC "Learn the Opening" online tournament, and intermittently doing tactics. The format of the tournament is Round Robin at G30 with 5 sec delay. The "seed" for the Round Robin is chosen at random, as part of the pairing process. Eight players, means each player has seven opponents. There are six rounds, so each player will play everyone but one player.
Crosstable:
Rounds:
  • Rd 1 - G/30, d5, lose - White with Caro-Kann, 3.Nc3, lack luster play, capped off by a blunder at the end
  • Rd 2 - G/30, d5, lose - Black with Sicilian Grand Prix Attack, with a very exciting finish, me with 4 seconds on the clock, and my opponent with 20 seconds
  • Rd 3 - G/30, d5, lose - Black with Bogo-Indian, 5.g3, just enough confusion to go astray
  • Rd 4 - G/30, d5, win - White with Scotch, 4.Bc4 Nf6 5.e5 resulted in a passed pawn that made a difference
  • Rd 5 - G/30, d5, lose - Black with Sicilian, failed to steer to Najdorf, fairly solid, this was against the strongest player in the tournament and he said he thought my performance level in the game was ~1600-1700
  • Rd 6 - G/30, d5, lose - White with Sicilian Grand Prix Attack, exciting attack, but not enough oomph to get the point, and this was a grudge match from Vortex Round 1 in June
It is worth pointing out that I am the "cannon fodder" for the group, meaning that I play when they need an even number of players. The bulk of the group is rated 200-500 points higher than me. Therefore even though I only won one game, my rating went up 10 points. Overall, I'm happy with my results. Of course I'd like to win more (who wouldn't?) but that will happen as I improve. I'm using the opportunity to blog about my games as part of my improvement strategy.
The next six blogs will give a brief description of each round's game, with some light analysis. 
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Thursday, October 10, 2013

DHLC Swiss 8 Round 3 "Nothing to see here, just blundering from a good attack to a loss!"







In my Art of War team game in Swiss 8 Round 3, I was paired with a very gracious opponent, romanic666. He won the game by being the most persistent and consistent. Despite the fact that I had a great attack going at one point, he persistently defended, and waited for the (almost) inevitable moment when I graciously give him the point. Well, actually I Blundered, actually blundered twice in a row. But I'm getting ahead of myself...
Sicilian Grand Prix
We can start with the Sicilian Grand Prix. I'm following the Lev Alburt book. Sort of. I need to devote more time to the openings, but my work schedule (especially through October) prevents me from any in depth study. Nonetheless, I can try and learn the opening somewhat, and apply myself.
An early experience with the Grand Prix, just after I got the book is from the Eastern Class (CCA) tournament in Sturbridge MA, in Spring 2012. Note the complete lack of knowledge of what I was supposed to do. I ended up in a fight over some center squares (not inherently bad, but still), instead of a fiery Kingside attack.

 
Later as I tried to understand the nature of the opening, I exhibited some signs of attacking. A good example is from the DHLC Medieval "Storm the Castle" competitions. I toss everything at Docterrific, trying to create some initiative for an attack. At times, my position was worse, much worse (due to sac'ing so much material), but by move 23.Rxf6 the position equalized, but it was hard for me to realize that. I just knew I needed to keep pressing. I was also short on time, and wanting to rush what shouldn't be rushed. 23...Reb8 24.Nxe7+ Kh8, and now simply 25.Ng6 is probably a good continuation, but no... I played 25.Rxb8+?? and the attack fizzled, and I ended up losing due to "positional debt". In the process of attacking, I left many dangling unanswered threats that ended up materializing, because now the game will go long instead of me checkmating my opponent. In this case the positional debt is a pawn that I could have taken, but instead it gets away and promotes. The point is that I build up a big attack, burn most of my time down, then the attack fizzles. Much of the time suck beforehand is due to unfamiliar positions. On the otherhand, if I try to speed up my play in openings, I end up crashing and burning. I have other blogs that detail those confused adventures, for example here.

  
 And now for today's game. Similar pattern. I take enough time so that I make it through the opening in half way decent shape, and can then coordinate for an effective attack. but then the lack of time weighs the game down. 

In this case but I had no time left, and had to use the water closet real bad... (true grit). Check out White's position after 24.Rxf7, not bad, actually pretty decent. I kept it up for  a few moves, through Black's 26...Kh8. Then, I had less than 2 min, and needed the water closet in a serious way. What to do? My choice was to make a move that looked great for 1 sec. 27.Nxg6+??
Objectively speaking, the sac fails, however the position is still ok for White because there are other resources, such as 28.Rf7 and try to regroup. However, after realizing I couldn't just play 28.Qh5+ followed by mate (pesky g-pawn), I was bummed out, still focused on the h-file and played a beauty of a move 28.Qe4?? My good position couldn't take two (??) moves in a row and survive. I was toast soon after. On the bright side, I got to eventually use the water closet... Sometimes I think chess is a diuretic...
Next chess goal: Now that I can make it through an opening, and even into a middlegame in halfway decent shape, I need to learn how to keep an attack from fizzling! Part of that is learning the openings better (recoup time), part of that is analyzing the art of attack. Wait, isn't there a book by that name?...

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DHLC Swiss 8, Round 2, "Help! I've fallen into a cul de sac, and can't get out!"






DHLC "Art of War" Swiss 8, Round 2 game MurkyLizard v hreedwork (1-0) and almost a miniature (26 moves) due to a game ending massive blunder by me. But the point of the game isn't really the blunder... I was trapped in a cul de sac and couldn't escape.
Oh no!
I didn't have a lot of time to prepare (work, travel, end of year, blah blah blah), but I did have about 30 min to review MurkyLizard's past games as White, and quickly discovered he plays 1.d4, while all my energy studying for Black has been against 1.e4 (doh!) where I use the Sicilian Najdorf. Or at least I try, see this amusing attempt at Najdorf, where I get everything mixed up with the Hyper-Accelerated Dragon, and hilarity ensues...
Back to the "I need to quickly get my bearings before the game" bit. I whip out my handy Black repertoire manual and look at the Nimzo-Indian 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bc4 4.a3 Bxc3+ 5.bxc3 b6 6.f3 Ba6 and we have an opening, and I at least understand the purpose of the ...b6 and ...Ba6 moves, to pick on the c4 pawn without a pawn defender. The book I use is the "Chess Openings for Black, Explained" by Lev Alburt.
In MurkyLizards games I notice that he doesn't quite follow that same line, but time is up, our game is about to start...
Show Time!
As further mental prep, I remind myself to give full attention to the game, use all my time and so on. I think I did reasonably well on the "you must concentrate" aspect, and I certainly did use all my time, as did MurkyLizard. So neither of those aspects of the game was the problem. So what was the problem, what happened?
The game starts!
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2, hmmm... not what I had time to read about. The Alburt book recommends 4...Nc6 5.Nf3 d6 6.Bd2 O-O, and we have a game. 
Uncertain, I play  4...O-O. 

My logic was to wait until my DSB was attacked before capturing the Knight. I didn't have to wait long, 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.Qxc3. Here I knew from other painful games with Black that I needed to make a freeing move. And it better be in the center, and I have to do it now, or maybe be shut out of that possibility for a long time. 6...d5.
After making this move, I was releived. I thought I made it through the first big decision in a decent fashion. I knew for now my LSB was blocked in, and I needed to bias toward a closed position, to make best use of my two Knights. However I had bigger issues on my hands, namely what type of pawn structure is my goal? Am I fighting on the Kingside or Queenside? Inquirying minds want to know!
7.e3, which (if I remember correctly from our post-mortem analysis) MurkyLizard thinks is a bit passive. Nonetheless, I am now confronted with the biggest decision of the game...
What now?
Yikes, I need to make another important decision, and it's only my seventh move. This really underscores the importance of knowing something about openings you play, a bit about typical structures, and the piece coordination and move order to get there. Gees, at this point, I would have been happy to know simply if I should focus on Queenside or Kingside... Below depicts what I considered, and didn't consider. Plan A contains two areas of interest. My Queenside pieces need to develop, and the center, which I knew was important. But couldn't decide if I needed the d5 pawn to be a "strongpoint", or if the d5 pawn should capture the c4 pawn, and one of my Knights take up post on d5.
My brain is a jumble.
But then I see something I can comprehend. A glimmer of hope. White's Queen is on c3 on the c-file. If there are pawn exchanges on the c file, then if I put a Rook there to threaten the Queen... and so it started. I worked out long tortuous routes for the QS Knight, was puzzling over how to activate the LS Bishop, all in the spirit of "threatening" MurkyLizard's Queen. It was all clear now. I had a purpose, and a goal. Life is good.
But deep down, I knew I was on shaky ground. Why am I threatening a piece so early, especially when she can simply move, or better yet close the file with a c4-c5 push? Why?...
The spirit of Valery Frenklakh...
I took some lessons from Valery back in the 90's (he is still an active coach in the Boston area) and among various things like admonishing me for being lazy and not calculating (true back then but lately I do tactics and calculate), said something amazing... "Chess is a Game of Squares not Pieces!" Well, amazing to me anyway. I used to spend so much time chasing and attacking pieces, only to have them move to an even much better position. Meanwhile I'm left holding the bag... full of piece uncoordination, multiple weaknesses, and so on. Then my opponent turns on me and I think to myself "what happened?" Sheesh!
But, here I am in search of a plan, I latch on to threatening the Queen while opening a file, all good rationalization. Not necessarily a good plan, but rationaization nonetheless. Since I can make sense this plan (plan A) I take it. However, I did not even consider play on the Kingside (plan B). Not even a hint. Nada. However, I did try to at least make a few moves which are "flexible and not too commital.
7...c6 8.Nf3 Nbd7 9.Bd3
White is getting ready to castle, I need to continue development, and I have to decide which side to play on and so forth. I stick with the original piece chasing plan. 9...Nc6.
Analysis of Plan B
However, consider if I decided even now to pursue a Kingside plan (plan B). The goal then is an e5 pawn push, which the Knight on d7 is already set up to support . If we take a different approach and add Rook and Queen support with 9...Re8 10. O-O Qc7 11.b4 e5 12.Nxe5 Nxe5 13.dxe5 Qxe5, we have a game, and can start middlegame operations.
Oh No! I have fallen into a cul de sac...
9.Nb6 signals the commital move to the plan around the c file and attacking the Queen. After 10.b3 Bd7 11.O-O Rc8 12.c5 Na8 13.Ne5 Nc7 14.a4, a sequence which I deliberately planned for and received, we arrive at the end of the cul de sac. Here is what it looks like:
End of the road. I still need to develop. I still need my "freeing move" to remove the cramp and allow for piece movement, and subsequent coordination. Interestingly the only way out that I can find is 14...Ne4, thus playing on the Kingside which earlier I didn't even consider. I don't mean look at and then reject... I mean just plain old didn't consider. And now I am on my knees looking for a way to acheive some play on the Kingside. Better late than never, but I was never able to escape the cul de sac in one piece...
15.Qc2 forms the Q and B battery I was concerned about off and on through the whole opening. ANd as a bonus my Knight is not on f6 which protects the potential h7 attack by the Q and B battery. 15...f5 15.f3 Ng5 17.Bd2 Ne8 (looking to make use of this hapless Knight) 18.e4, and this is where my escape from the cul de sac starts to sideways a bit. 18...fxe4 19.fxe4 Nxe4 20.Rxf8+ Kxf8 (drawing my KIng on to the open e file) 21.Bxe4 dxe4, and at a minimum my pawn structure is a big deficiency going into the endgame. 22.Qxe4 Kg8 23.Rf1 and I am becoming very concerned with all of the tactical possibilities.
23...Nf6 24.Qf4 Qf8 25.Qg3 and I am mentally very tired due to trying to fight my way out of the cul de sac. However I didn't "see" the Queen pin of the g pawn against my King. 25...Qe8?? 26.Rxf6 (1-0)
Kudos to MurkyLizard for (a) knowing his openings and sticking to them; (b) very consistent pressure, at times during post-mortem he wanted a little more activity from some of his moves, but ultimately he simply didn't make any stinker moves, and; (c) using all of his time!
On to Round 3...
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