2014 American Open - An Old Familiar Foe

I played in the American Open over the Thanksgiving weekend, a tournament I played in several times before. The full schedule would be a four day event with two rounds per day. I decided to take byes in the first two rounds so that I didn't have to play on Thanksgiving. True, I could have played in the three day schedule but the first few rounds were played at a faster time control. I have enough issues with time trouble as it is without tempting fate! Besides, I would prefer to play six longer games that are likely to be of a higher quality. Had I been desperate to win a prize then I would not have taken the byes but I didn't mind not winning any money. I was in for the experience, not the cash.

On the Friday after Thanksgiving, I turned up for round 3 (again, I took byes in rounds 1 and 2) to find I was paired against Randy Hough. I have known Randy since 2004, when we first locked horns in the Paso Robles Winter Open (a game that he won). Randy plays in Arcadia and we have played several times before. We also played earlier in 2014 in the Lina Grumette Memorial Day tournament.

Before the game, I got to meet Randy's brother and sister-in-law who were in town for the holidays. They were both very nice and seemed quite interested in the tournament and how it was run. They even insisted on taking photos before the game started! Actually, the pairings weren't up yet when I first started chatting with them and Randy and I joked how it would be funny if we had to play each other.

In our game earlier in the year I got the white pieces. This time, I had black.

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Nf3 h6 5. Bg2 Bd6 6. O-O O-O 7. Qc2 c6

So far we've had a fairly typical Catalan but my 7th move isn't best. 7. ... c5  would be more dynamic, challenging white's center, and is Fritz's preferred move.

8. Nbd2 Nbd7 9. e4 dxe4 10. Nxe4 Nxe4 11. Qxe4 Nf6 12. Qe2 c5?

I finally got the c5 break in that I should have played five moves ago. Unfortunately, it's not so good now. In fact, Fritz doesn't like it at all, probably because it's losing a tempo and also giving white's g2 bishop a nice looking diagonal.

13. Rd1 Qe7 14. dxc5 Bxc5 15. Ne5! a5!

The idea is to develop the queen's rook to a6, where it might be useful. Otherwise, I have no easy way to complete my development. Fritz needs a couple of minutes to see this move but eventually rates it as it's second choice. After the text move, the computer says the position is almost +1.5 in white's favor, which should be virtually winning. True, white is not up any material but he has all the positional trumps. My queenside is still not yet fully developed, he has a fantastic knight on e5 that is hard to kick away, and my light squared bishop is a particular problem that will take at least a couple of moves for me to solve.

White's plan should be to play 16. Be3  to try to exchange my "good" bishop. If I decline the exchange, it's another tempo lost for me and white will double rooks and I think I am just toast. The computer prefers Randy's move, namely 16. Bf4 which also makes sense because it develops the bishop and supports the knight on e5 at the same time. That can't be too bad.

16. Bf4 Ra6 17. Nd3 Bd6 18. Bd2?

This was a very strange move by Randy that smacks of not having a plan. The bishop was good on f4 so why move it? It was preventing me from playing the only decent break I have in the position, namely the e5 pawn push. I think perhaps Randy either missed my next move or underestimated it because he has now thrown away most of his advantage.

18. ... e5 19. h3?

Seeing ghosts. Fritz's evaluation now swings to -0.1, fractionally better for black.

19. ... Re8 20. Bc3 e4 21. Ne1?

Another very strange position. The knight is ineffective on e1, where it is dominated by black's e4 pawn, and instead belongs on f4. I can only conclude that Randy didn't play 21. Nf4  because he was afraid of me taking it and crippling his kingside pawns. However, it's not clear how good that is for black because I would have to give up my beautiful dark squared bishop. Fritz actually says the position is dead equal, a zero evaluation, if white puts the knight on f4 instead of e1.

21. ... e3 22. f4 Bf5 23. Nf3 Ne4 24. Qxe3 Nxg3 25. Qxe7 Rxe7 26. Be5 Bxe5 27. fxe5 Ne2+ 28. Kf2 Nf4 29. Kg3 Nxg2 30. Kxg2 Rg6+ 31. Kh2 Be4

This position is practically winning for black. White's king is cut off and the e5 pawn is doomed. The rest is a matter of technique.

32. Nh4 Rg5 33. Rg1 Rgxe5 34. Rad1 Bc6 35. Rg3 Re2+ 36. Kg1 R7e5 37. Nf3 R5e3 0-1

A good start to the tournament, despite my poor play in the opening. I felt I took advantage of white's slip ups very well and fully punished his mistakes after he had failed to punish me.

Here is the complete game score:

Hough,Randall D (2014) - Hayes,Matthew (2133) [E01]

American Open Orange (3), 28.11.2014

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Nf3 h6 5.Bg2 Bd6 6.0–0 0–0 7.Qc2 c6 8.Nbd2 Nbd7 9.e4 dxe4 10.Nxe4 Nxe4 11.Qxe4 Nf6 12.Qe2 c5 13.Rd1 Qe7 14.dxc5 Bxc5 15.Ne5 a5 16.Bf4 Ra6 17.Nd3 Bd6 18.Bd2 e5 19.h3 Re8 20.Bc3 e4 21.Ne1 e3 22.f4 Bf5 23.Nf3 Ne4 24.Qxe3 Nxg3 25.Qxe7 Rxe7 26.Be5 Bxe5 27.fxe5 Ne2+ 28.Kf2 Nf4 29.Kg3 Nxg2 30.Kxg2 Rg6+ 31.Kh2 Be4 32.Nh4 Rg5 33.Rg1 Rgxe5 34.Rad1 Bc6 35.Rg3 Re2+ 36.Kg1 R7e5 37.Nf3 R5e3 0–1

　

A Game of Many Blunders

I haven't made any blog posts for over a month, mostly because I have been extremely busy at work but also because I have been despondent about my recent poor play. Ironically, the next four games I will be posting (including this one) are all games that I won but I then lost two terrible games in December, both from positions that were clearly better, if not winning, for me.

On November 24, a few days before Thanksgiving, I played my friend Miguel Acosta (rated 1757) in the sixth and final round of the Fall Challenge in Arcadia. Miguel and I often play racquetball together on Friday mornings but we had never played chess against one another. As I had not played Miguel before, I wasn't sure which openings he played or even really his style of play. It turned out that we both played quite poorly, missing numerous "best" moves and opportunities, before Miguel finally hung a couple of pieces (though I accidentally gave one back at the end!). Miguel was white and I was black. I also showed parts of this game to GM Jesse Kraai and I have paraphrased some of his comments below.

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 c5 3.c3 g6 4.g3 b6?!

Not terrible but not the best either. Jesse said I should have just played 4. ... cxd4, a move Fritz agrees with.

 5.Bg2 Bb7 6.0–0 Bg7 7.Bf4 d6 8.Nbd2 0–0 9.Nh4?

This is rather dubious from white and effectively gives black a tempo. After a trade on g2, white is going to "owe" black a move (a tempo) in order to reactivate his knight.

9. ... Bxg2 10.Nxg2 cxd4 11.cxd4 Nc6 12.Nf3 Rc8 13.Rc1 Qd7 14.Qd2 Rfe8?!

For the last five or six moves I have, amazingly, been playing Fritz's first choices. Most of the moves were fairly obvious, though. Indeed, white has also played some nice, natural moves. The position before black's 14th move was slightly in black's favor but 14. ... Rfe8  was not the best. Jesse said I should have just played 14. ... Ne4  followed by 15. ... d5. Perfectly natural looking moves, right? I am not sure why I didn't play them. I know I saw 14. ... Ne4  and, remembering back to the game, I think I wanted to bring all my pieces into play first. However, it's not totally clear if my rook wants to be on d8 or e8 yet, so why commit it?

15.Bh6 Bh8

An interesting moment. Fritz says that this is a blunder by black and that I should have played 15. ... Bxh6 16. Qxh6 Qe6!, hitting two of white's pawns at once. However, I think allowing white's queen to get to h6 (and then potentially a knight to g5) looks very unnatural. A computer doesn't feel any nerves and will go into this type of position and grind out a win but, for a human, that is very difficult to do psychologically.

16.Qg5 Qg4 17.Qd2 Ne4 18.Qd3 Nf6 19.Nf4 e5!

Jesse said I could have played this earlier and it would have still been good. Indeed, Fritz says that e5 is black's best move on both moves 16 and 17. Better late than never!

20.dxe5 dxe5 21.Nd5??

A horrible blunder that costs Miguel a piece. White had to play 21. Qb5, hitting the knight on c6. Fritz puts black up more than half a pawn still after 21. Qb5 exf4 22. Rxc6 Rxc6 23. Qxc6 fxg3 24. hxg3 Rxe2  but that would have been better for white than tossing a piece.

21. ... e4 22.Qc3??

Another unfortunate blunder. Miguel must have just forgotten that his knight on d5 was en prise. The game is now over.

22. ... Nxd5 23.Qc4 Qh5 24.Ng5 Nce7 25.Qxe4 Qxh6 26.Rxc8 Rxc8 27.h4 Bxb2 28.Qf3 Qg7 29.e4 Nf6 30.Qf4 Nh5 31.Qd2 Qd4 32.Qe2 Qg7 33.Qd2 Bf6?

A blunder in time trouble. Now my knight has no escape square. Strangely, Fritz doesn't think my move was that bad and still rates the position as only half a pawn worse than if I hadn't trapped my own knight at -7.5.

34.g4 Bxg5 35.hxg5 Ng3 36.fxg3 Qe5 37.Kh2 Qxe4 38.Rc1 Rxc1 39.Qxc1 Qxg4 40.Qe3 Qe6 41.Qf4 Qxa2+ 42.Kh3 Qe6+ 43.Kh2 a5 44.Qb8+ Kg7 45.Qd8 Nf5 46.Qd3 Qe5 47.Kh3 Qxg3+ 0–1

Here is the full game score:

Acosta,Miguel (1757) - Hayes,Matthew (2133) [A49]

Arcadia Fall Challenge Arcadia (6), 24.11.2014

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 c5 3.c3 g6 4.g3 b6 5.Bg2 Bb7 6.0–0 Bg7 7.Bf4 d6 8.Nbd2 0–0 9.Nh4 Bxg2 10.Nxg2 cxd4 11.cxd4 Nc6 12.Nf3 Rc8 13.Rc1 Qd7 14.Qd2 Rfe8 15.Bh6 Bh8 16.Qg5 Qg4 17.Qd2 Ne4 18.Qd3 Nf6 19.Nf4 e5 20.dxe5 dxe5 21.Nd5 e4 22.Qc3 Nxd5 23.Qc4 Qh5 24.Ng5 Nce7 25.Qxe4 Qxh6 26.Rxc8 Rxc8 27.h4 Bxb2 28.Qf3 Qg7 29.e4 Nf6 30.Qf4 Nh5 31.Qd2 Qd4 32.Qe2 Qg7 33.Qd2 Bf6 34.g4 Bxg5 35.hxg5 Ng3 36.fxg3 Qe5 37.Kh2 Qxe4 38.Rc1 Rxc1 39.Qxc1 Qxg4 40.Qe3 Qe6 41.Qf4 Qxa2+ 42.Kh3 Qe6+ 43.Kh2 a5 44.Qb8+ Kg7 45.Qd8 Nf5 46.Qd3 Qe5 47.Kh3 Qxg3+ 0–1