Chou Mein: Carving up the Alapin

Monday saw the second round of the Fall Challenge in Arcadia. I was paired with the black pieces against Jeffrey Chou on board 3. Jeffrey is another one of those "Alapin Kids", which I alluded to a couple of posts ago, although I didn't know that until the game got underway. I had played Jeffrey before but only with white, so I wasn't 100% sure what to expect from him. As it turned out, he played in almost exactly the same way as Anthony Ge had against me in the last round of the Istvanyi Open tournament.

Jeffrey was recently rated as high as 1915 but has apparently had a bad run of results that saw his rating slump to 1781. In a similar vein to Anthony Ge, he is always getting up and playing with his friends. He's a kid, so it's somewhat understandable, but I do wonder if he would improve his consistency and get his rating back up if he spent more time at the board.

Here is the game:

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 g6

Against Anthony Ge, I had played 2. ... d6  but 2. ... g6  is my normal response. I only played that way against Anthony because I knew he would go into an Alapin type of structure.

3. c3 Bg7 4. Be2 Nf6 5. e5 Ng4?!

This was not the best. I had intended to play 5. ... Nd5, which is Fritz's top choice, but I changed my mind on move and decided to mix things up. Actually, the knight is okay on g4 but white will be able to harass it and force me to take several moves to bring it to a meaningful square. Of course, the idea is for black to put pressure on white's e5 pawn.

6. d4 O-O 7. O-O d6 8. h3 Nh6 9. exd6 Qxd6

Not an easy decision. I knew that white was going to have to relieve the tension in the center somehow by playing either 9. exd6  or 9. dxc5. There's just too much pressure building up on his pawns. However, I had assumed I would play 9. ... Qxd6  (which indeed I did end up playing) but seriously considered 9. ... exd6. Yes, it gives me an isolated pawn if white doesn't capture my c5 pawn but the d6 pawn could be useful as it controls e5, a potential outpost for white's knight on f3. Also, once the pawn is gone from e7, I do have the e7 square for my knight via f5 if necessary. Fritz prefers 9. ... Qxd6  and I think ultimately this is correct because I can always play e6 at some point if I desperately need e7 for the knight. Plus, I would prefer to keep my pawn structure as intact as possible!

10. dxc5 Qxc5 11. Be3 Qc7 12. Na3 a6

Despite appearances, Fritz rates this position as only a bit better for white (+0.78). True, black is lagging behind in development whereas white has basically completed his. However, I thought I would have good long term play against white's queenside, something that is a common theme in many Sicilians.

13. Nc4 Nd7 14. a4 Nf5 15. Nd4?

This is a poor move and Fritz's evaluation swings from +0.09 to -0.37 in black's favor because now black will have the bishop pair in a position that is quite open.

15. ... Nxe3 16. Nxe3 Nf6 17. Qc2 e5

Fritz's top choice. It gains space in the center and denies white's knights some important squares.

18. Nf3 h6

I played this because I wanted to play Be6 but didn't want the annoyance of white sticking a knight on g4. Fritz thinks that 18. ... Bh6  is best but I'm not sure why. I don't think black really wants to swap off his dark squared bishop (why give up the bishop pair?). I suppose the idea is to just give the bishop more scope along the c1-h6 diagonal but I think the bishop is just as good on g7. True, it is temporarily blocked by the e5 pawn but that pawn can move later.

19. Rad1 Be6 20. Nd2 Rfd8 21. Ne4 Nd5

The computer prefers 21. ... Nxe4, although the text move is its second choice. The knight is tricky on d5 where obviously I will capture on e3 if white lets me. There are also possibilities of the knight going to f4, which white won't be able to stomach so he swaps it off immediately.

22. Nxd5 Bxd5 23. c4 Rac8 24. Qb1 Be6 25. b3 Bf5 26. Bg4??

A blunder that costs white a piece and the game. He does get two pawns for it but it's just not enough.

26. ... Bxe4 27. Qxe4 f5

Oops!

28. Bxf5 gxf5 29. Qxf5 Qf7 30. Qe4 Rd4 31. Qe3 Rcd8 32. Rxd4

I thought this was a bad move at the time but it's Fritz's number one choice! I didn't think white could afford to give me such a huge passed pawn.

32. ... exd4 33. Qe4 d3 34. Rd1 d2 35. Qc2 Qe6 36. Kf1 Qd6 37. Ke2 Re8+ 38. Kf1??

This loses on the spot to a nice forced mate.

38. ... Qh2 39. f3 Qh1+ 40. Kf2 Qe1+ 41. Rxe1 dxe1=Q# 0-1

All in all, I was reasonably happy with how I played. It wasn't amazing but it was okay. I didn't miss anything major and took advantage of my opponent's two big blunders, plus a couple of other less serious inaccuracies, to push home the win. Next week I am paired against Eren Karadayi but it's not clear yet if the pairings will change. I have played Eren three times and, although I have won every game, I had black and have never faced him with the white pieces. Therefore, I won't really do much of any preparation, at least not specifically for Eren, and will look forward to a good game on Monday.

Here is the full PGN of my second round game against Jeffrey Chou:

Chou,Jeffrey (1781) - Hayes,Matthew (2124) [B27]

Arcadia Fall Challenge Arcadia (2), 27.10.2014

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.c3 Bg7 4.Be2 Nf6 5.e5 Ng4 6.d4 0–0 7.0–0 d6 8.h3 Nh6 9.exd6 Qxd6 10.dxc5 Qxc5 11.Be3 Qc7 12.Na3 a6 13.Nc4 Nd7 14.a4 Nf5 15.Nd4 Nxe3 16.Nxe3 Nf6 17.Qc2 e5 18.Nf3 h6 19.Rad1 Be6 20.Nd2 Rfd8 21.Ne4 Nd5 22.Nxd5 Bxd5 23.c4 Rac8 24.Qb1 Be6 25.b3 Bf5 26.Bg4 Bxe4 27.Qxe4 f5 28.Bxf5 gxf5 29.Qxf5 Qf7 30.Qe4 Rd4 31.Qe3 Rcd8 32.Rxd4 exd4 33.Qe4 d3 34.Rd1 d2 35.Qc2 Qe6 36.Kf1 Qd6 37.Ke2 Re8+ 38.Kf1 Qh2 39.f3 Qh1+ 40.Kf2 Qe1+ 41.Rxe1 dxe1Q# 0–1