The first round of a new tournament is usually chaotic but this went better than most. As Dave King and I are the two Tournament Directors, we are always scrambling at the start of the first round to enter new players, take their money and make the pairings. They are typically a bunch of people who show up at the last second (in fact, often after our announced 6:30pm start time) and then get in a snit if they have to wait to be paired. Sorry, if you turn up late you can't expect us to re-do all the pairings, when half the players are already at their boards, just to suit you!
Getting back to my first round encounter, I was paired against Carlos Luna, rated 1611. He was not one of the latecomers to the tournament so my rant above was not directed at him! Carlos is a curious character who seems to be much stronger at blitz than he is at standard time controls. He had a provisional rating of over 1900 at one stage and beat some strong players. He then had a very mixed run of form where he would have a good win one week only to then undo the hard work the following week by losing to a class D player. As a result, his rating has now settled at 1611, which still isn't too shabby for his first non-provisional rating. Given his patchy results, I wasn't sure what to expect from him. As it turns out, it was quite a hard fought game and the last one of the night to finish.
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d6 3. f4 Qc7
I honestly had no idea what was going on here. I thought at first he might be trying to transpose into some sort of Pirc structure, where c6 is quite commonly played by black, but if he wanted a Pirc why not play the standard Nf6 and g6 moves? After the game, I asked Carlos what the opening was and he called it the "Star Defense." I was still none the wiser until I Googled it and realized he might be referring to the S.T.A.R. Chess book by Paul Motwani. I haven't read the book but had heard of it. I am not sure if this opening is covered in there or if it's something else. Either way, it was a good way to get me out of book early.
4. Nf3 Bg4 5. h3 Bxf3 6. Qxf3 Nd7 7. Nc3 e5 8. fxe5?!
Fritz says that this is okay for white but I was chastising myself a few moves later. Even now, I think the computer's top choice of 8. Be3 looks good. I probably rejected it automatically because it loses a tempo if black plays either 8. ... exd4 or 8. ... exf4. In reality, this was short sighted on my part and I should have kept the tension. White is already up a couple of tempi, so it shouldn't be a big deal if black captures either the d or f pawns and I have to take back with the dark squared bishop I have just moved. Additionally, one problem black has in this position is that his bishop on f8 isn't very good and might have a hard time getting into the game. By playing 8. fxe5, I am just helping black because now his bishop can get out. Finally, black has already given me the bishop pair and the position will definitely open sooner or later, whether it's because black makes a pawn capture or white does. There is no need to rush this.
8. ... dxe5 9. d5 Ngf6 10. dxc6 bxc6 11. Be3 Bb4
I was already less than thrilled with my position. Fritz says the position is already a bit better for black, an assessment I agree with. It's much easier for black to play.
12. Bd3 O-O 13. O-O Rab8 14. Ne2 Bc5! 15. b3
I wasn't sure what else to play here. I thought black's 14th move was excellent because he is going to exchange off the dark squared bishops, thus removing my best piece from the board. My light squared bishop on d3 is not happy with life either, so I thought this position had to be better for black.
15. ... Qb6 16. Bxc5 Qxc5+ 17. Kh2 Qd6 18. Rad1 Qa3 19. Ng3 g6
Of course, capturing on a2 would run into Ra1 and I think white would then be better.
20. Qe3 Ne8?
He we arrived at an interesting position. Black is still threatening the pawn on a2 but it's again not a true problem yet because his a7 pawn would hang after I play Ra1. I could see that black might be trying to get a knight to e6 and, from there, to either f4 or d4. Those are both juicy looking squares. In the meantime, I still have an isolated pawn on e4 but right now it's not much of a weakness (black isn't even attacking it once). The big problem white has in this position is that all of his pawns are on light squares, making the d3 bishop just plain miserable. The bishop has very little scope in this type of structure and I felt like I was almost playing down a piece. Therefore, I came up with a radical solution that would either win a pawn or at least trade off my bishop for one of black's knights. Either way, this would put me right back in the game. Fritz thinks my 21st move is the best too, so I was pleased to have found it.
21. Bb5!
This wins the c6 pawn because black's knight on d7 is hanging. Black can capture the bishop (which actually would solve the problem of his isolated c pawn) but then he would drop the d7 knight. At least then he wouldn't be down material but I figured white would have dramatically improved his position by getting rid of his worst piece (the light squared bishop) and by getting a rook to the 7th rank, where it also conveniently hits the a7 pawn.
21. ... Nc5 22. Bxc6 Ng7 23. Bd5 Nce6 24. c3 Qe7 25. Bxe6 Nxe6 26. Rd5 Nf4 27. Ra5 Rb6 28. Ne2 Nxe2 29. Qxe2 Qc7 30. Qd2? Rc6?
A tale of mutual blunders. Black should have played 30. ... Rxb3, a move I saw immediately after I played 30. Qd2. It just wins his pawn back and I would have had nothing. After the game, Carlos said he saw this but thought he would still be down a pawn because his a7 pawn would hang. I told him that was true but, as consequence of putting a pawn on c3 and my queen on d2, my c pawn would then hang too. He said he just missed that.
31. c4 Rc5 32. Rxc5 Qxc5 33. Qd5 Qe7 34. Rf3 Rd8??
A blunder in what was already a very bad position. Carlos missed a tactic that picks up a second pawn and wins the game. The rest of the game is uninteresting (I had quicker mates and, for some reason, Carlos kept playing on despite being down a queen), so I just give the moves below without notation.
35. Rxf7! Qxf7 36. Qxd8+ Kg7 37. Qg5 Qc7 38. Qd2 Kf6 39. Qd5 Ke7 40. Qg8 Kd6 41. Qd5+ Ke7 42. c5 a6 43. b4 Qb8 44. c6 Qc7 45. a4 h6 46. Qc5+ Ke6 47. b5 axb5 48. axb5 Qd6 49. Qc4+ Ke7 50. c7 Qd2 51. Qc5+ Kf6 52. c8=Q Qf4+ 53. Kg1 Qxe4 54. Qf2+ Qf4 55. Qxf4+ exf4 56. b6 Ke5 57. b7 g5 58. b8=Q+ Ke4 59. Qe6+ Kd4 60. Qd8+ Kc3 61. Qc6+ 1-0
Here is the complete PGN:
Hayes,Matthew (2124) - Luna,Carlos (1611) [B12]
Arcadia Fall Challenge Arcadia (1), 20.10.2014
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d6 3.f4 Qc7 4.Nf3 Bg4 5.h3 Bxf3 6.Qxf3 Nd7 7.Nc3 e5 8.fxe5 dxe5 9.d5 Ngf6 10.dxc6 bxc6 11.Be3 Bb4 12.Bd3 0–0 13.0–0 Rab8 14.Ne2 Bc5 15.b3 Qb6 16.Bxc5 Qxc5+ 17.Kh2 Qd6 18.Rad1 Qa3 19.Ng3 g6 20.Qe3 Ne8 21.Bb5 Nc5 22.Bxc6 Ng7 23.Bd5 Nce6 24.c3 Qe7 25.Bxe6 Nxe6 26.Rd5 Nf4 27.Ra5 Rb6 28.Ne2 Nxe2 29.Qxe2 Qc7 30.Qd2 Rc6 31.c4 Rc5 32.Rxc5 Qxc5 33.Qd5 Qe7 34.Rf3 Rd8 35.Rxf7 Qxf7 36.Qxd8+ Kg7 37.Qg5 Qc7 38.Qd2 Kf6 39.Qd5 Ke7 40.Qg8 Kd6 41.Qd5+ Ke7 42.c5 a6 43.b4 Qb8 44.c6 Qc7 45.a4 h6 46.Qc5+ Ke6 47.b5 axb5 48.axb5 Qd6 49.Qc4+ Ke7 50.c7 Qd2 51.Qc5+ Kf6 52.c8Q Qf4+ 53.Kg1 Qxe4 54.Qf2+ Qf4 55.Qxf4+ exf4 56.b6 Ke5 57.b7 g5 58.b8Q+ Ke4 59.Qe6+ Kd4 60.Qd8+ Kc3 61.Qc6+ 1–0
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