Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Vortex, September 2013, Round 3 "Lack of knowledge, followed by confusion, and blunders"






Summary:
Vortex September 2013, Round 3: Kaprielian v Reed (1-0)
G/30, d5, lose - Black with Bogo-Indian, 5.g3, just enough confusion to go astray

Settling in. I'm awake, just had a very exciting game in Round 2, only to realize I resigned too early. I had only 4 seconds left on the clock (delay not increment), but still. Ok, time to focus, and keep up determination. However due to logistics of round times, and eating times, lunch fell in the middle of this round, Chinese takeout, we ask for no MSG, but we know better... Not using that as an excuse just context. We all we under equal MSG duress, lol.
A bit of background on my opponent. Kaprielian is the President of the MetroWest CHess Club (largest in New England), and I am the Marketing Dir. He is a fastidious student of openings, and used to take lessons from Rizzitano, a player in our Club who also happens to be a renowned chess author, for example on Queen's Gambit Declined (shown below). Kaprielian organizes his study lines in Chessbase, and without getting into way too much detail, has a number of sample "games" in the database where he stores his repertoire so he can quickly review before a tournament game.
On the other hand my opening knowledge is sketchy (that is being kind), although lately I am trying to learn the Black side of Sicilan (esp. Najdorf), White side Closed Sicilian Grand Prix Attack, and White side Scotch Gambit a bit. Other than that it is a mixed bag.















Being in the same Club we have played each other but not a lot, because of our rating difference. Usually I lose. He is higher rated, prepared for his openings like few I've known (ok so I don't know that many upper rated folks...) and generally crushes me. However every know and then I surprise him, like in this chess.com online game (draw)
However most of our our online games I end up caving at some point due to tactics I should have seen coming, like here where the tactics starting on move 32 take their toll:
Nonetheless, he considers only OTB to be "real" chess, and there I have a mostly dismal record, with one exception. In summer of 2012 I got a draw with him at another Vortext event, as shown in the game below. That made an impression on him, and he was not happy! However, in our next 2012 Vortex encounter he was careful to make sure he crushed me. 



Here we are in 2013, and we are again paired. He is playing White, I know for a fact he will play 1.d4. Further, since I use the Lev Alburt "Chess Openings for Black, Explained", and we have played this online at chess.com, I was confident we would play: 1.d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3.Nf3 Bb4 4. Bd2 Qe7 which we did. Ok four moves out of the way without a major mishap! However, now confusion sets in...
Then Kaprielian plays 5.g3, ok I know he is going to do that, but "what should my response be? Hmmm..." The Lev Alburt book, which I said I am trying to learn gives a line: 5...Nc6 6.Bg2 Bxd2+ 7.Nbxd2 O-O 8.O-O. Instead of 5...Nc6 above I play 5...O-O, thinking King safety, and the game continues 6.Bg2 d5 7.a3 Bxd2+ 8.Nbxd2, see the game below.
Keep in mind up to the game 8.Nbxd2 its all considered book, so there is nothing bad. However, it sets the stage for confusion creep. Which is what happens next.




So, even though we are "in book" it doesn't matter. If you don't know what your goals are, let alone the right move sequence, then you will be working against plans you didn't know you should have.
That is what happend. I play ...d5 instead of ...d6 then ...e5, "little" things like that, which add up to wrong plan, moves that don't make sense, and soon we are in trouble. But like I said, so far we are in book, but look how quickly the wheels come off, and the game takes a nose dive into a blunderiffic concolusion.
8...dxc4. Not even close. We are now officially going in several directions at once. Still not in major trouble, but the clouds are forming on the horizon. 9.Nxc4 Nc6 10.O-O, so except for the closed KID structure that was supposed to happen, everything is ok? Maybe not because that closed KID structure is what gives Black immunity from lack of development. 
And this is what cost the game. Well, not exactly, it was the blunders due to panicing over the lack of development from confusion that cost the game. After 10.O-O we have:
Note that Black's Queenside is largely undeveloped. Here is what's wrong. The KID structure to slow White down is missing. Oops. So lack of development, which wasn't a huge issue, is now of paramount importance. Where should the LS Bishop go? This is an important question, since the development of the Rook hangs in the balance. 
10...Rb8, why? Because White decides to fianchetto instead of a simple Bd7. Fianchettoing takes more moves and weakens the QS pawn structure agtainst an opponent who is better developed. More trouble brewing. And take note that White doesn't do anything except to respond and take advantage of Black's misplaced moves. White never had to due a build "Carlson-like build-up" to overwhelm his opponent. White simply had to take all the advantages that were handed to him.
11.Rc1, perhaps mechanically thinking Minority Attack, also thematic from KID structures. 11...Rd8 12.e3, nothing spectacular, just slowing improving his position. 12...b6, and the Big Weaknesses start. 13.Qc2, see below.

Well, the patterns repeat. Black creates self imposed weaknesses, hands them over to White, and White aims his guns at them. Truely "simple chess" for White, and exasperating for Black, who is slowly realizing what he is doing to himself. Move 13 and Black already wants to have a good cry. But no time for that, this is G/30 OTB!
13...Ba6 a bad plan executed well is often times beter than switching too many times. In this case Black realizes he has to evacuate the c-file in a hurry! However... in order to put up better resistance 13...Bb7 might be even better, as it protects the hapless Knight on c6. 14.Rfe1 Rbc8 15.Ncd2, the "big reveal" showing off the White Queen-Rook battery on the c-file, and making it a point to highlight Black's weaknesses.
The gravity of the situation really sinks in for Black.
15...Nb8, no two ways about it, White's position is better. However White's Queen is in the lead, so he can't nab the c7 pawn just yet. What is Black going to do? 16.b4! Continue to expand on the Queenside, and increase pressure and that "cramped feeling" for Black. Remember, if you are uncoordinated, the last thing you want is to be so cramped you can't maneuver around to be able to exchange pieces and relieve the cramped position...
16...c5, what else?, 17.bxc5 bxc5 18.dxc5, and presto! White has a passed pawn, on the fifth rank. It is officially dangerous. Really. Black shouln't fool around. What does Nimzovitsch say about passed pawns? Blockade them! Especially with a Knight. Even if it takes a minor maneuver to enable a Knight to blocade, as shown here (second example in article).
So, with that background, which Black knew about, what did he do? Figure out a way to block with a Knight? No... Instead 18...Bb5? with the reasoning that the Bishop will make a great blockader. But it doesn't. The Knight is better in general because if threatened, the Knight can move anywhere, and still exert control over the target square. However if the Bishop is attacked, there is a problem of two diagonals. The Bishop has to either sit on the target square, or stay on a particular diagonal (the one with the target square on it) or else give up trying to blockade.
The weakness with the Bishop on b5 performing blockading duties is that a simple 19.Nd4 as in the game forces the Bishop off the board. 19...Bc6, sitting on the target blockade square. 20.Nxc6 Nxc6 21. Nb3 Nd7, of which 18...Nfd7 would have been preferrable to 18...Bb5.
The rest is mop up, 22.Red1 Nb6?? devastating blunder, 22...Rc7 is preferrable. Black was (erroneously) thinking he would be "tricky" (a.k.a. "hope chess" which is not the way to play "real chess") and if 23...cxb6, then a discovered attack on the Queen. However, 23.Rxd8+ and que the "sad trombones" (actually a simple 23.cxb6 might be better, but then again that is like trying to choose between Five Guys and Red Robin for tasty burgers in the U.S. They both do the job nicely). Nonetheless, Black perseveres, 23...Qxd8?? but captures with the wrong piece, ouch! Better is 23...Nxd8 pinning the White Queen. 24.Rd1 Qe7 25. Rd6, pressure! 25...Nd4?? Black cracks, better is 25...Na5 and if NxNa5, then ...QxRd6 exploiting the pin. 
26.Rxd4, and Black finally throws in the towel... 

Remember, try to avoid MSG while playing chess. But it is not an excuse! My lack of opening knowledge, plus (and even more important) my insistence on creating weaknesses, then inviting White to pick on them is the reason for this loss. 
Things took a turn for the better in Round 4.


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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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