tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-65880591714282771242024-03-12T23:07:37.303-07:00Chess Ex-Pat FactoAn Englishman's Home is His Right to CastleMatt Hayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03057037670306051027noreply@blogger.comBlogger25125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6588059171428277124.post-63604233009007243242015-04-21T15:40:00.002-07:002015-04-21T15:42:47.102-07:00I Didn't Realize This Was a Blitz Tournament!I haven't made any blog posts for more than six weeks. I was already way behind, posting games from December when it was already March, and now my "time pressure" has intensified and I find myself with 21 games to post. Not good!<br />
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I will try to post two or three per week until I am caught up, although already this weekend is out because I will be playing in the Western Pacific Open in Irvine. Anyway, here goes nothing...<br />
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On December 15 I played the third round of the Richard Morris Open in Arcadia. My opponent was Tony Grauso (rated 1511), a very nice man who used to have the curious habit of referring to me by both my first and last names. He did it so often that I started doing the same to him, e.g. "Hello, Matthew Hayes!" followed by "Hello, Tony Grauso!" Tony also has some of the worst clock management I have ever seen. I get into time pressure all the time so, believe me, I know when someone else is <i>really</i> bad with it too. Sure enough, this was yet another game where Tony flagged and we had only reached move 24! I had the black pieces in this game.<br />
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<b>1. c4 e5 2. g3 Nc6 3. Bg2 f5 4. Nc3 Nf6 5. e3 d5!? </b><br />
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I knew Tony would play the English but I hadn't played this line against him before. It's very interesting and is not a true pawn sac because white can get into all sorts of trouble if he tries to hang on to it. I first saw this line in an excellent video on ChessLecture.com. Unfortunately, I can't remember which lecturer posted it but I think it was IM Bill Paschall. Had white played <b><i>5. d3</i></b>, then black should play <b><i>5. ... Bb4</i></b> intending to double white's pawns.<br />
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<b>6. cxd5 Nb4 7. d3 c6 </b><br />
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This is a slight inaccuracy. I remembered some c6 line from the video but it's better to just recapture the pawn right away. After <b><i>7. ... c6 8. e4 cxd5</i></b>, black is still doing okay but the computer gives white about a 0.7 pawn advantage. Fortunately, Tony did not find the right move.<br />
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<b>8. a3 Nbxd5 </b><br />
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I was tempted by <b><i>8. ... Qa5</i></b>, again because I recalled a line like this from the ChessLecture.com video, but it felt artificial here. Indeed, Fritz doesn't like it one bit and thinks the text move is by far the best and leads to an equal position.<br />
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<b>9. Nge2 Bd6 10. O-O O-O 11. b4 Be6 12. Bb2 f4 </b><br />
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<b><i>12. ... a5</i></b> was also possible.<br />
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<b>13. e4 Nxc3 14. Bxc3 Ng4 </b><br />
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Threatening to push to f3. Tony deals with the threat but not in a convincing way.<br />
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<b>15. Bf3? </b><br />
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Fritz doesn't like this at all and I didn't like it during the game for white either. The problem is that, after black plays <b><i>15. ... fxg3</i></b>, there is no good way to recapture. <b><i>16. fxg3 Ne3</i></b> drops the exchange, <b><i>16. hxg3</i></b> loses the bishop on f3, which leaves the text move of <b><i>16. Nxg3</i></b> but this creates horrible weaknesses around white's king.<br />
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<b>15. ... fxg3 16. Nxg3 Qh4 17. Bxg4 Bxg4 18. f3 Bh3 19. Rf2 Bc7! </b><br />
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Threatening to skewer the rook and king. The rook lift to f6 was also quite interesting.<br />
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<b>20. Nf5?</b><br />
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Tony now only had two minutes left on his clock and he has a meltdown. I already knew I was going to win. Even if he somehow made the 20 moves to reach the time control, there is no way he would play accurately. Besides, the position on the board was already crushing (Fritz has it as +3.4 in black's favor). It's a cliche I dislike, but the remaining few moves really were a matter of technique.<br />
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<b>20. ... Bxf5 21. exf5 Bb6 22. Raa2 Rxf5 23. Qb3+ Kh8 24. Be1 Rxf3 0-1</b><br />
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I believe this was the third time I have played Tony and he has lost on time in every game. That's something he really should try to rectify. He once told me he would prefer to lose on time and not spoil a nice game by having to blitz out moves. I suppose I can understand what he was saying but the competitive part of me finds that unacceptable. There is no point in playing well and then losing on time. Managing the clock is as important as managing one's pieces. I admit, it's still something I struggle with but I very rarely get into the kind of time pressure that Tony did in this game.<br />
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Here is the full PGN:<br />
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[Event "Richard Morris Open"]<br />
[Site "Arcadia"]<br />
[Date "2014.12.15"]<br />
[Round "3"]<br />
[White "Grauso, Tony"]<br />
[Black "Hayes, Matthew"]<br />
[Result "0-1"]<br />
[ECO "A25"]<br />
[WhiteElo "1511"]<br />
[BlackElo "2133"]<br />
[PlyCount "48"]<br />
[EventDate "2014.12.15"]<br />
[EventRounds "5"]<br />
[EventCountry "USA"]<br />
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1. c4 e5 2. g3 Nc6 3. Bg2 f5 4. Nc3 Nf6 5. e3 d5 6. cxd5 Nb4 7. d3 c6 8. a3<br />
Nbxd5 9. Nge2 Bd6 10. O-O O-O 11. b4 Be6 12. Bb2 f4 13. e4 Nxc3 14. Bxc3 Ng4<br />
15. Bf3 fxg3 16. Nxg3 Qh4 17. Bxg4 Bxg4 18. f3 Bh3 19. Rf2 Bc7 20. Nf5 Bxf5 21.<br />
exf5 Bb6 22. Raa2 Rxf5 23. Qb3+ Kh8 24. Be1 Rxf3 0-1<br />
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<br />Matt Hayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03057037670306051027noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6588059171428277124.post-83347430822920714812015-03-01T09:16:00.002-08:002015-03-01T09:16:14.781-08:00The Move Order Matters!In round 2 of the Richard Morris Open in Arcadia, I faced Jeffrey Chou, a talented youngster who was rated 1852. Unfortunately, after building up a promising position, I played the wrong move order and went from having a serious advantage to being basically lost in the space of just a couple of moves.<br />
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<strong>1. Nf3 Nf6 2. d4 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 O-O 5. O-O d5 6. c4 c6 7. Nc3 Nbd7?!</strong><br />
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I had decided before the game to play <strong><em>1. Nf3 </em></strong> instead of my usual <strong><em>1. e4</em></strong>. I felt that Chou would be less prepared for a positional battle vs what could be a more tactical fight with <strong><em>1. e4</em></strong>. Sure enough, my opponent makes an inferior move with <strong><em>7. ... Nbd7</em></strong>. It looks natural enough but <strong><em>7. ... dxc4</em></strong> is the only way for black to test white's mettle here. The text move, though hardly an outright blunder, signaled to me that Chou was in unfamiliar territory.<br />
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<strong>8. b3 Nb6 9. c5 Nbd7 10. b4?!</strong> <br />
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This is a poor move. Like Chou's <strong><em>7. ... Nbd7</em></strong>, it's hardly a blunder but it was not a necessary move for me to play. I ignored two of Jesse Kraai's rules here, namely not making unnecessary pawn moves and forgetting to first play the moves that <em>have</em> to be played. Therefore, I should have played <strong><em>10. Qc2 </em></strong> or <strong><em>10. Bb2</em></strong> which are both moves white wants to play anyway, whereas it's not clear yet if white will need to play b4. Perhaps I was afraid of black playing e5 at some point and, if I capture on e5, my c5 pawn would be undefended. However, that's a lot of "ifs and buts" and, if that does happen, white would always have the option of playing b4 after exchanging on e5 anyway.<br />
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<strong>10. ... Re8 11. Bf4 Nh5 12. Qd2? </strong><br />
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I have to put this down as an outright blunder but I didn't realize how serious it was at the time. My opponent correctly takes on f4 and then plays several decent moves in a row, leading to a position where black has a definite edge. Correct and necessary was <strong><em>12. Bg5</em></strong>.<br />
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<strong>12. ... Nxf4 13. gxf4 Nf6 14. Ne5 Bf5 15. a4 Ng4 16. f3 Nxe5 17. fxe5 Qd7 18. b5 Bh3?</strong> <br />
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Up to now, my opponent has played well and taken full advantage of my sloppy play but he now makes a serious slip that swings the computer's evaluation from -0.7 to about equal. The problem black will have is that white is going to neutralize black's kingside play and will then start to make serious threats on the queenside, which black will be ill equipped to deal with.<br />
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<strong>19. Bxh3 Qxh3 20. e3 Bh6 21. a5 Kh8? 22. a6! </strong><br />
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Black needed to play <strong><em>21. ... Qd7</em></strong> to help shore up the queenside pawns and reduce white's threats. The text move is a blunder that should have led to a virtually lost position for black.<br />
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<strong>22. ... cxb5 23. Nxb5 Qd7 24. Rfb1?!</strong><br />
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This is the start of me playing the wrong move order. Of course, I had looked at <strong><em>24. axb7 </em></strong> (which Fritz says is correct) and then figured the game would go something like <strong><em>24. ... Qxb7 25. Rfb1</em></strong> with a clear edge to white. Unfortunately, I played <strong><em>24. Rfb1</em></strong> first by moving too automatically and, while the text move is actually not a blunder (Fritz still gives white a very slight advantage), I realized at once that I had played the wrong move and became frazzled.<br />
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<strong>24. ... bxa6 25. Rxa6 Reb8 26. Nc3??</strong><br />
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There it is! Having played the wrong move order starting on move 24, I now become completely unglued and play a horrible move that, even if it didn't allow black his tactical shot on move 27, would have still put me on the back foot.<br />
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<strong>26. ... Rxb1+ 27. Nxb1 Qf5!</strong><br />
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I simply missed this. <strong><em>27. ... Qf5</em></strong> is the best move and now my position falls apart. Black is threatening both the knight on b1 and the pawn on f3. I can defend both with <strong><em>28. Qd1</em></strong> but that hangs my e3 pawn (and with check too).<br />
<br /><strong>28. e4 dxe4 29. Qxh6 exf3 30. Kf2 Qxb1 31. Qe3??</strong><br />
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The final blunder. The only saving try is <strong><em>31. Qd2</em></strong> followed by <strong><em>32 Ra2</em></strong> but black still has a winning position. However, at least white shouldn't be mated any time soon. The text move allows black to swoop in with the rook and crush me.<br />
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<strong>31. ... Rb8 32. Ra3 Rb2+ 33. Kxf3 Qh1+ 34. Kf4 Qf1+ 35. Kg3 Rg2+ 36. Kh4 Qf5 0-1</strong><br />
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This was obviously a disappointing defeat, especially as I had recovered from my suspicious 12th move and had reached a position that was close to winning for me. I then played the wrong move order and, even though my position was still more than tenable, I had a total meltdown and played two or three horrific blunders. Credit must go to Jeffrey who took full advantage of my carelessness and his <strong><em>27. ... Qf5!</em></strong> shot was very nice and a move I had completely overlooked.<br />
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Here is the game PGN:<br />
<br />
<b><div align="LEFT">
(596) Hayes,Matthew (2133) - Chou,Jeffrey (1852) [D78]</div>
</b><span style="font-size: x-small;"><div align="LEFT">
Richard Morris Open Arcadia (2), 08.12.2014</div>
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<div align="JUSTIFY">
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.d4 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 0–0 5.0–0 d5 6.c4 c6 7.Nc3 Nbd7 8.b3 Nb6 9.c5 Nbd7 10.b4 Re8 11.Bf4 Nh5 12.Qd2 Nxf4 13.gxf4 Nf6 14.Ne5 Bf5 15.a4 Ng4 16.f3 Nxe5 17.fxe5 Qd7 18.b5 Bh3 19.Bxh3 Qxh3 20.e3 Bh6 21.a5 Kh8 22.a6 cxb5 23.Nxb5 Qd7 24.Rfb1 bxa6 25.Rxa6 Reb8 26.Nc3 Rxb1+ 27.Nxb1 Qf5 28.e4 dxe4 29.Qxh6 exf3 30.Kf2 Qxb1 31.Qe3 Rb8 32.Ra3 Rb2+ 33.Kxf3 Qh1+ 34.Kf4 Qf1+ 35.Kg3 Rg2+ 36.Kh4 Qf5 0–1</div>
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</span>Matt Hayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03057037670306051027noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6588059171428277124.post-4555012928214780722015-03-01T08:32:00.002-08:002015-03-01T08:32:49.676-08:00Yu Can't Always Get What You WantAfter my success in the American Open, I gained enough rating points to go up to 2133, a new high for me (by one point!). On December 1st, the Richard Morris Open tournament started at the Arcadia Chess Club and I was paired against Gabriela Yu, rated 1536. This was the first time Gabriela and I had played so I wasn't sure of her style or opening repertoire. Typically, one would expect the rating difference to be the decisive factor sooner or later and that proved to be the case when it became clear that Gabriela was uncertain how to play the opening.<br />
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<strong>1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 g6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nb3 Nf6 6. Nc3 Bg7 7. f3?</strong> <br />
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This is already an inaccuracy because now white's light squared bishop doesn't have a good square to go to. If it ever goes to c4, it can be hit by a knight jump to e5. White's <strong><em>5. Nb3</em></strong> was also slightly unusual but still playable.<br />
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<strong>7. ... O-O 8. Be3 d6 9. Qd2 Re8 10. O-O-O a6</strong> <br />
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<strong><em></em></strong><br />
<strong><em>10. ... a5</em></strong> was more incisive, forcing white to make a concession with either <strong><em>11. a4</em></strong> or <strong><em>11. Na4</em></strong>. The former weakens the pawn structure around the white king and, sooner or later, black will get the b5 break in. The latter would put the knight on an awkward square and it would be doing nothing except preventing black from getting in a4.<br />
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<strong>11. g4 b5 12. h4 Ne5 13. Be2 Nc4 14. Bxc4 bxc4 15. Nc5?</strong> <br />
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Trying to be too clever. The simple <strong><em>15. Nd4</em></strong> was correct, not allowing the following tactical sequence.<br />
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<strong>15. ... Qa5 16. N5a4 Rb8 17. Kb1?? </strong><br />
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This is a blunder that just loses. <strong><em>17. Qf2</em></strong> was forced, allowing the knight on a4 to escape to b6 if necessary. The text move allows black to win two minor pieces for the rook and still with a nasty attack, or to "lose" the exchange but gain two pawns for it (and still with a virtually winning position).<br />
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<strong>17. ... Bd7 18. Bb6?</strong><br />
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White had to try <strong><em>18. e5! Nxg4 19. Bb6 Rxb6 20. Nxb6 Qxb6 21. fxg4 Bxg4</em></strong>. White can then force the queens off the board with <strong><em>22. Qd4</em></strong> and will be up the exchange but black has more than enough compensation. Indeed, the combination of the dangerous bishop pair and two pawn advantage should be winning for black (Fritz has it was more than +2 in black's favor).<br />
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<strong>18. ... Rxb6 19. Nxb6 Qxb6 20. h5 Rb8 21. b3 a5 22. a4??</strong> <br />
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This loses by force to a simple but pretty combination.<br />
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<strong>22. ... cxb3 23. cxb3 Qxb3+ 24. Ka1 Nxe4 0-1</strong><br />
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Here is the game PGN:<br />
<br />
<b><div align="LEFT">
(595) Yu,Gabriela (1536) - Hayes,Matthew (2133) [B76]</div>
</b><span style="font-size: x-small;"><div align="LEFT">
Richard Morris Open Arcadia (1), 01.12.2014</div>
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<div align="JUSTIFY">
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nb3 Nf6 6.Nc3 Bg7 7.f3 0–0 8.Be3 d6 9.Qd2 Re8 10.0–0–0 a6 11.g4 b5 12.h4 Ne5 13.Be2 Nc4 14.Bxc4 bxc4 15.Nc5 Qa5 16.N5a4 Rb8 17.Kb1 Bd7 18.Bb6 Rxb6 19.Nxb6 Qxb6 20.h5 Rb8 21.b3 a5 22.a4 cxb3 23.cxb3 Qxb3+ 24.Ka1 Nxe4 0–1</div>
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</span>Matt Hayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03057037670306051027noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6588059171428277124.post-24040180407496958152015-02-28T10:33:00.000-08:002015-02-28T10:33:05.837-08:00American Open Round 6: Austin Powers Past the MoscowIn round 6 of the American Open in November, I played Austin Hughes, rated 2195. Although I had the white pieces he was the clear favorite in my mind going into the game (actually, that's probably not a good state of mind to be in!). He has been rated over 2200 before and I had lost a game to him a number of years ago, albeit when we were both rated quite a bit lower.<br />
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<strong>1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Bd7 4. Bxd7+ Qxd7</strong><br />
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This is the Moscow Variation of the Sicilian, which I started playing years ago when Larry Kaufman recommended it in his interesting book <em>The Chess Advantage in Black and White</em>. I use it primarily as a way to avoid playing against the Najdorf but, like all of my openings, I don't necessarily play it against all opponents. It just depends on their rating and/or if I have a good idea of their opening repertoire.<br /><br />Black's third move is not forced. Both <strong><em>3. ... Nc6</em></strong> and, even better, <strong><em>3. ... Nd7</em></strong> are possible. Either way, it has to be said that white voluntarily giving up his light squared bishop in the Sicilian is a bit controversial. However, he does gain some time and note that none of black's kingside pieces have moved yet.<br />
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<strong>5. O-O Nf6 6. Re1</strong><br />
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Kaufman prefers to play <strong><em>6. Qe2</em></strong> followed by bringing the rook from f1 to d1, which I have also played many times. Both <strong><em>6. Re1</em></strong> and <strong><em>6. Qe2</em></strong> are the main lines here.<br />
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<strong>6. ... Nc6 7. c3 g6 8. d4 cxd4 9. cxd4 Bg7 10. Nc3 O-O 11. h3 Rad8 12. Bg5 h6 13. Be3</strong> <br />
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This look fairly natural but Fritz thinks that <strong><em>13. Bxf6 Bxf6 14. Nd5! Bg7 15. Rc1</em></strong> is best, with a half pawn advantage to white. However, giving up the dark squared bishop is hard for a human player to do and I think <strong><em>13. Be3</em></strong> is a reasonable practical choice.<br />
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<strong>13. ... d5 14. e5 Ne4 15. Nxe4?</strong> <br />
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So far, white has been ticking along nicely and had his usual slight advantage out of the opening. White's 15th move is a serious positional mistake, which will end up giving black a juicy square on f5 for his knight, control over the d file, and a central pawn majority. The simple <strong><em>15. Rc1</em></strong> was both natural and good, preserving a very minor edge for white. I am not sure why I didn't play this. True, it looks annoying to allow black's knight to sit on e4 but it's not the end of the world. White would still have plenty of reasonable ideas after <strong><em>15. Rc1</em></strong>, e.g. bringing the queen to b3 or d3 (after playing a3), or to c1 to target the h6 pawn.<br />
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<strong>15. ... dxe4 16. Nd2 Nxd4 17. Nxe4 Bxe5 18. Bxh6 Rfe8 19. Rc1 Nf5 20. Qxd7?</strong><br />
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Very careless. The position is unpleasant but still tenable for white after <strong><em>20. Qe2!</em></strong>, with the point that <strong><em>20. ... Nxh6</em></strong> doesn't win a piece because of <strong><em>21. Nc5!</em></strong> when white will pick up to loose bishop on e5. After the text move, white will simply end up down a pawn with a much worse position. The rest of the game is simple for Austin.<br />
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<strong>20. ... Rxd7 21. Bd2 Bxb2 22. Rc2 Bg7 23. Bg5 Red8 24. Kf1 b6 25. g4 Nd4 26. Rd2 Nf3 27. Rxd7 Rxd7 28. Re3 Nxg5 29. Nxg5 Bh6 0-1</strong><br />
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White can save the exchange with <strong><em>30. f4</em></strong> but, after black plays Rd4 and e5, everything is falling apart (and black is still up a healthy pawn anyway).<br />
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Although this was a disappointing game, the truth is it all stemmed from one bad decision (<strong><em>15. Nxe4</em></strong>) which gave me an uncomfortable, but still playable, position. As is common in chess, one poor move then led to another (<strong><em>20. Qxd7</em></strong>), after which black was just winning.<br />
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I decided to withdraw from the tournament after this loss. Having taken byes in the first two rounds, I would have been out of contention for any prizes and the venue was quite a commute from home. I have withdrawn from tournaments before the last round, or the last couple of rounds, quite often but it's a policy I may rethink. Perhaps it is better to play as many games as possible, particularly in a section like this one was (under 2200), when I get still get some good opponents in the last round or two.<br />
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Here is the full PGN of the game vs Austin Hughes:<br />
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<b><div align="LEFT">
(594) Hayes,Matthew (2133) - Hughes,Austin (2195) [B52]</div>
</b><span style="font-size: x-small;"><div align="LEFT">
American Open Orange (6), 29.11.2014</div>
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<div align="JUSTIFY">
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Bd7 4.Bxd7+ Qxd7 5.0–0 Nf6 6.Re1 Nc6 7.c3 g6 8.d4 cxd4 9.cxd4 Bg7 10.Nc3 0–0 11.h3 Rad8 12.Bg5 h6 13.Be3 d5 14.e5 Ne4 15.Nxe4 dxe4 16.Nd2 Nxd4 17.Nxe4 Bxe5 18.Bxh6 Rfe8 19.Rc1 Nf5 20.Qxd7 Rxd7 21.Bd2 Bxb2 22.Rc2 Bg7 23.Bg5 Red8 24.Kf1 b6 25.g4 Nd4 26.Rd2 Nf3 27.Rxd7 Rxd7 28.Re3 Nxg5 29.Nxg5 Bh6 0–1</div>
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</span><strong><em></em></strong>Matt Hayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03057037670306051027noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6588059171428277124.post-50537546926529648312015-02-21T09:37:00.002-08:002015-02-21T09:37:49.333-08:00An Interesting New Chess ClockI recently stumbled upon a terrific looking new chess clock that is in its final development stages. Developed by Shelby Lohrman, he recently trialed the clock at the Amateur Team East tournament. There is a thread on the USCF website about the clock which seems to have generated a slightly negative reaction, which surprised me. Some people said the clock didn't have enough presets, others said it was going to be too expensive. Well, for one the clock is still in the beta stages and it's possible more presets will be added. Secondly, you can always customize the time controls and save them as favorites. Finally, the suggested prices being thrown around were roughly comparable with the Chronos, which would be this clock's main competitor. As a Chronos owner myself, I know how hard it can be to set properly. I am now used to it but, every now and then, I have to consult the manual if I need to set it to an unusual time control.<br />
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Lohrman has three videos up on YouTube about the as yet unnamed clock. From what I can see, it offers several advantages over the Chronos:<br />
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1) Easier to set<br />
2) Larger display that includes a second line of text that shows information about the time control, can show a move counter, etc.<br />
3) The ability to copy settings and presets from one clock to another<br />
4) An external battery cover (us Chronos owners know what a hassle it is to have to carry a screwdriver in our chess bags!)<br />
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So far, I can see a few disadvantages to the Chronos as well:<br />
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1) It seems to have far fewer presets, as forum posters have noted, but my hope is that will change as the clock gets closer to its launch date<br />
2) The price is likely to be comparable to the Chronos but, as the Chronos price seems to have decreased in recent months, the new clock might end up being more expensive<br />
3) It uses the older Chronos style plunger buttons which are great for tactile feedback but wear out more easily<br />
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I should also note that I have no idea what the build quality will be like. Those who saw the clock at the Amateur Team East can perhaps attest to that. From the videos, however, it looks sturdy and it <em>very much</em> resembles the Chronos, just with a larger display.<br />
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I will be keeping an eye on developments with the clock with keen interest.<br />
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Here is a link to a YouTube video introducing the clock:<br />
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<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3huaFY0L9o">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3huaFY0L9o</a>Matt Hayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03057037670306051027noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6588059171428277124.post-49254142373827811712015-02-21T08:49:00.001-08:002015-02-21T08:50:34.717-08:00American Open Round 5 - Dual (or Duel?) AnalysisIn round 5 of the American Open in November, I faced off against Abhishek Handigol, an expert rated 2067. He'd had a terrific tournament so far, winning his first three games before coming unstuck against Agata Bykovtsev. Unfortunately for Abhishek, he made some risky, unsound moves against me, particularly leading up to the time control, which left him in a lost position.<br />
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Interestingly, Abhishek posted this game on a round-by-round analysis he did of his American Open tournament in his blog on chess.com. I have added some of his comments to mine below.<br />
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<strong>1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 g6 3. c3 Bg7 4. d4 cxd4 5. cxd4 d5 6. exd5 Nf6</strong> <br />
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Obviously, I attempted to go into the Accelerated Dragon but white had other ideas. The position has transposed into some sort of Grunfeld. Abhishek said that next time he will play <strong><em>6. e5</em></strong> in this position, a move that is certainly more aggressive but Fritz rates it about the same as <strong><em>6. exd5</em></strong>. A pawn being on e5 isn't as disruptive for black as one might think because the knight on g8 will come into the game via h6 or e7 to f5.<br />
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<strong>7. Nc3 Nxd5</strong> <br />
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Abhishek commented that this position now resembles a Caro-Kann, which I can see. The Panov-Botvninik Attack would have a similar structure.<br />
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<strong>8. Bc4 Nb6 9. Bb3 O-O 10. O-O Bg4 11. d5 N8d7 12. h3 Bxf3 13. Qxf3 Nc5</strong> <br />
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The computer prefers <strong><em>13. ... Ne5</em></strong>, with an equal position. After the text move, Fritz thinks white is at about +0.3 but there's not much in it. To my mind, Ne5 was a more natural human move because it attacks the queen, but actually putting the knight on c5 makes a lot of sense because it pressurizes a key defender of the d5 pawn. White would have to acquiesce to a trade of knight for bishop or put the bishop on the inferior c2 square where it's not clear what it is doing.<br />
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<strong>14. Bc2 Rc8 15. Rd1 Nc4 16. Qe2 Nd6</strong> <br />
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Blockading a pawn with a knight like this is a key motif, "in the style of Nimzovich" as Abhishek noted. The pawn on d5 isn't truly passed because of black's e7 pawn but the knight is useful on d6 because we don't want white to have any encouragement to push the pawn to d6 himself at some point. The knight may also have the option to come to f5 after a late Qd7 to support it.<br />
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<strong>17. Bg5 Re8 18. Rac1 a6 19. Na4 Nd7 20. Bb3 b5 21. Rxc8 Nxc8 22. Nc3 Nf6 23. Bxf6?</strong><br />
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For me, this is the first real questionable move of the game. I can see no justification for white exchanging off his dark squared bishop like this, at least not for a knight. Abhishek said, "I think it was more wise to avoid trades here. Even if the knight gets to d6 it's just a blockader." I agree it was wise to not trade bishop for knight but don't understand his comment about the knight getting to d6. Surely it's the knight on c8 that will just go to d6 in one move?<br />
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<strong>23. ... Bxf6 24. Ne4 Bg7 25. a4 Nd6 26. axb5 Nxe4 27. Qxe4 axb5 28. Qb4 Qb8</strong> <br />
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It looks like black is tied up but, at the time, I thought the position was equal. Fritz agrees, giving a slight advantage to black (about -0.2) but nothing too special. True, black's queen has to defend the pawn on b5 but it's hard for white to attack it with a second piece. White also has to contend with defending the b2 pawn.<br />
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<strong>29. Re1 Be5 30. f4??</strong><br />
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A blunder that essentially costs white the game. I think Abhishek just missed my next, simple move. White needs a plan and I think that was his problem; he wasn't sure what to do and so tried to make things tactical but it backfired. Abhishek said of this move, "Lesson learned: If I DON'T know what to do, just do nothing." Well, I'm not sure it's as easy as that because passing isn't an option in chess (if it was, stalemate and zugzwang wouldn't exist!) but white didn't need to lash out like this. Fritz thinks that both <strong><em>30. h4</em></strong> and <strong><em>30. g3 </em></strong> are reasonable, rating the position as a bit better for black but nothing that white shouldn't be able to handle.<br />
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<strong>30. ... Bd6! 31. Qe4 Bxf4 32. d6 Qxd6</strong> <br />
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White was already down a pawn but this just compounds the error. White gets some tactical shots in but still ends up in a lost position.<br />
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<strong>33. Bxf7+ Kxf7 34. Rf1 e5 35. g3 Re6 36. gxf4 exf4</strong> <br />
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Abhishek said, "Now I'm down a pawn. whoops. I should have just sat around in time pressure. He was also in pressure so it could have affected him also." True, I get into time trouble so often that, although I should be used to it, it does affect my play.<br />
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<strong>37. Qxf4+?</strong><br />
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Taking with the rook was better. Exchanging queens leads to an endgame that is likely just losing for white.<br />
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<strong>37. ... Qxf4 38. Rxf4+ Ke7 39. Rb4 Re5 40. Kf2 Kd6 41. Kf3 Kc5 42. Rg4 b4 43. b3 Re1 44. Rc4+ Kb5 45. Rd4?</strong><br />
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Now the position really is just winning for black.<br />
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<strong>45. ... Rc1 46. Rd7 Rc3+ 47. Kg4 h5+ 48. Kh4 Rxb3 49. Rb7+ Kc4 50. Rg7 Rd3 51. Rxg6 Rd5 52. Rc6+ Rc5 53. Rf6 b3 54. Rf4+ Kc3 55. Rf3+ Kb4 56. Rf1 b2 57. Rb1 Kb3 58. Rf1 Rc1 59. Rf3+ Rc3 60. Rf1 Ka2 61. Rf2 Ka1 62. Rf1+ b1=Q</strong> <br />
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White should resign but he plays on until the bitter end, trying for a couple of stalemate tricks. Ordinarily, I would say this was rather cheap but he had nothing to lose. The game was up anyway.<br />
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<strong>63. Rf5 Rxh3+ 64. Kg5 Qxf5+ 65. Kh6 Qf6+ 66. Kh7 Rc3 67. Kg8 Rc8+ 68. Kh7 Rh8# 0-1</strong><br />
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Here is PGN:<br />
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<b></b><div align="LEFT">
<b>(593) Handigol,Abhishek (2067) - Hayes,Matthew (2133) [D94]</b></div>
<b>
</b><span style="font-size: x-small;"><div align="LEFT">
American Open Orange (5), 29.11.2014</div>
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<div align="JUSTIFY">
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.c3 Bg7 4.d4 cxd4 5.cxd4 d5 6.exd5 Nf6 7.Nc3 Nxd5 8.Bc4 Nb6 9.Bb3 0–0 10.0–0 Bg4 11.d5 N8d7 12.h3 Bxf3 13.Qxf3 Nc5 14.Bc2 Rc8 15.Rd1 Nc4 16.Qe2 Nd6 17.Bg5 Re8 18.Rac1 a6 19.Na4 Nd7 20.Bb3 b5 21.Rxc8 Nxc8 22.Nc3 Nf6 23.Bxf6 Bxf6 24.Ne4 Bg7 25.a4 Nd6 26.axb5 Nxe4 27.Qxe4 axb5 28.Qb4 Qb8 29.Re1 Be5 30.f4 Bd6 31.Qe4 Bxf4 32.d6 Qxd6 33.Bxf7+ Kxf7 34.Rf1 e5 35.g3 Re6 36.gxf4 exf4 37.Qxf4+ Qxf4 38.Rxf4+ Ke7 39.Rb4 Re5 40.Kf2 Kd6 41.Kf3 Kc5 42.Rg4 b4 43.b3 Re1 44.Rc4+ Kb5 45.Rd4 Rc1 46.Rd7 Rc3+ 47.Kg4 h5+ 48.Kh4 Rxb3 49.Rb7+ Kc4 50.Rg7 Rd3 51.Rxg6 Rd5 52.Rc6+ Rc5 53.Rf6 b3 54.Rf4+ Kc3 55.Rf3+ Kb4 56.Rf1 b2 57.Rb1 Kb3 58.Rf1 Rc1 59.Rf3+ Rc3 60.Rf1 Ka2 61.Rf2 Ka1 62.Rf1+ b1Q 63.Rf5 Rxh3+ 64.Kg5 Qxf5+ 65.Kh6 Qf6+ 66.Kh7 Rc3 67.Kg8 Rc8+ 68.Kh7 Rh8# 0–1</div>
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</span><br />Matt Hayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03057037670306051027noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6588059171428277124.post-56954785242169142332015-02-20T23:04:00.002-08:002015-02-20T23:04:50.548-08:00American Open Round 4I haven't posted in a while, again having been busy with work and life in general. Continuing from where I left off in my last blog post, I played in the American Open in November 2014. After beating Randy Hough in round 3 (following byes in the first two rounds), I had white against Joseph Warhula, rated 1926. I had seen Joseph on the tournament scene for years but we had never played before. The game was a Scandinavian and one where I was always at least slightly better and in control for the entire game. It's always nice when that happens!<br />
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<strong>1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nf3 Bg4</strong> <br />
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This is probably the move I see most often in this line. I think it's a natural move but harmless enough. <strong><em>3. ... Bf5</em></strong> can also be played but is possibly less accurate.<br />
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<strong>4. Be2 Nf6 5. d4 c6 6. O-O e6 7. Bf4 Be7 8. Nc3</strong><br />
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Slightly unusual for me. I typically play c4, if not here than earlier. However, I was reminded of something Jesse Kraai said, namely that you don't want to make unnecessary pawn moves. That means that Nc3 is better on general principles because it develops a piece with tempo, although the c4 push is also good it has to be said. I wanted to do something a bit different here, hence <strong><em>8. Nc3</em></strong>.<br />
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<strong>8. ... Qa5 9. Re1 Nbd7 10. a3 Nd5 11. Nxd5 cxd5 12. Ne5 Bxe2 13. Qxe2 Nxe5 14. Bxe5 Bf6 15. Bxf6 gxf6 16. Qf3 Qd8 17. Re3 Rc8 18. Qh5</strong> <br />
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Black is already in serious trouble. There are mounting threats against the weak points on f7 and e6. White already threatens to play Rxe6+ which would be crushing.<br />
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<strong>18. Qh5 Qb6 19. Rae1 Ke7 20. Qh4?!</strong><br />
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Fritz isn't crazy about this move. The point is that, yes white is threatening to play Rf3 next move and hit the f6 pawn. Unfortunately, black can easily prevent this via <strong><em>20. ... h5</em></strong> and <strong><em>21. ... Rh6</em></strong>. It looks ugly but I can't see an immediate way for white to exploit the strange placement of black's kingside pieces. Luckily for me, my opponent panicked and blundered a pawn.<br />
<br /><strong>20. ... Rhg8? 21. Qxh7 Rh8??</strong> <br />
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Black is probably lost anyway but this move seals the deal. Black will have two rooks vs the queen but his pawns are vulnerable and scattered; just the kind of position a hungry queen enjoys.<br />
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<strong>22. Rxe6+ Qxe6 23. Rxe6+ Kxe6 24. Qd3 Rh4 25. c3 Rc6 26. f3 a6 27. g4 1-0</strong><br />
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Here is the complete PGN:<br />
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<b><div align="LEFT">
(592) Hayes,Matthew (2133) - Warhula,Joseph (1926) [B01]</div>
</b><span style="font-size: x-small;"><div align="LEFT">
American Open Orange (4), 28.11.2014</div>
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<div align="JUSTIFY">
1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nf3 Bg4 4.Be2 Nf6 5.d4 c6 6.0–0 e6 7.Bf4 Be7 8.Nc3 Qa5 9.Re1 Nbd7 10.a3 Nd5 11.Nxd5 cxd5 12.Ne5 Bxe2 13.Qxe2 Nxe5 14.Bxe5 Bf6 15.Bxf6 gxf6 16.Qf3 Qd8 17.Re3 Rc8 18.Qh5 Qb6 19.Rae1 Ke7 20.Qh4 Rhg8 21.Qxh7 Rh8 22.Rxe6+ Qxe6 23.Rxe6+ Kxe6 24.Qd3 Rh4 25.c3 Rc6 26.f3 a6 27.g4 1–0</div>
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</span>Matt Hayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03057037670306051027noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6588059171428277124.post-75757271699822818782015-01-04T00:32:00.000-08:002015-02-18T09:37:49.328-08:002014 American Open - An Old Familiar FoeI 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.<br />
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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.<br />
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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.<br />
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In our game earlier in the year I got the white pieces. This time, I had black.<br />
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<strong>1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Nf3 h6 5. Bg2 Bd6 6. O-O O-O 7. Qc2 c6</strong> <br />
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So far we've had a fairly typical Catalan but my 7th move isn't best. <strong><em>7. ... c5</em></strong> would be more dynamic, challenging white's center, and is Fritz's preferred move.<br />
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<strong>8. Nbd2 Nbd7 9. e4 dxe4 10. Nxe4 Nxe4 11. Qxe4 Nf6 12. Qe2 c5?</strong> <br />
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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. <br />
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<strong>13. Rd1 Qe7 14. dxc5 Bxc5 15. Ne5! a5!</strong><br />
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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. <br />
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White's plan should be to play <strong><em>16. Be3</em></strong> 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.<br />
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<strong>16. Bf4 Ra6 17. Nd3 Bd6 18. Bd2?</strong><br />
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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.<br />
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<strong>18. ... e5 19. h3?</strong> <br />
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Seeing ghosts. Fritz's evaluation now swings to -0.1, fractionally better for black.<br />
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<strong>19. ... Re8 20. Bc3 e4 21. Ne1?</strong><br />
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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 <strong><em>21. Nf4</em></strong> 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.<br />
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<strong>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</strong> <br />
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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.<br />
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<strong>32. Nh4 Rg5 33. Rg1 Rgxe5 34. Rad1 Bc6 35. Rg3 Re2+ 36. Kg1 R7e5 37. Nf3 R5e3 0-1</strong><br />
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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.<br />
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Here is the complete game score:<br />
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<b></b><br />
<div align="LEFT">
<b>Hough,Randall D (2014) - Hayes,Matthew (2133) [E01]</b></div>
<b>
</b><span style="font-size: x-small;"></span>
<div align="LEFT">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">American Open Orange (3), 28.11.2014</span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">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</span></div>
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</span>Matt Hayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03057037670306051027noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6588059171428277124.post-20269322673295321522015-01-03T12:13:00.003-08:002015-01-03T12:14:42.087-08:00A Game of Many BlundersI 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.<br />
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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.<br />
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<strong>1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 c5 3.c3 g6 4.g3 b6?!</strong><br />
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Not terrible but not the best either. Jesse said I should have just played 4. ... cxd4, a move Fritz agrees with.<br />
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<strong>5.Bg2 Bb7 6.0–0 Bg7 7.Bf4 d6 8.Nbd2 0–0 9.Nh4?</strong> <br />
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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.<br />
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<strong>9. ... Bxg2 10.Nxg2 cxd4 11.cxd4 Nc6 12.Nf3 Rc8 13.Rc1 Qd7 14.Qd2 Rfe8?!</strong> <br />
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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 <strong><em>14. ... Rfe8</em></strong> was not the best. Jesse said I should have just played <strong><em>14. ... Ne4 </em></strong> followed by <strong><em>15. ... d5</em></strong>. Perfectly natural looking moves, right? I am not sure why I didn't play them. I know I saw <strong><em>14. ... Ne4</em></strong> 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?<br />
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<strong>15.Bh6 Bh8</strong> <br />
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An interesting moment. Fritz says that this is a blunder by black and that I should have played <strong><em>15. ... Bxh6 16. Qxh6 Qe6!</em></strong>, 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.<br />
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<strong>16.Qg5 Qg4 17.Qd2 Ne4 18.Qd3 Nf6 19.Nf4 e5!</strong><br />
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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!<br />
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<strong>20.dxe5 dxe5 21.Nd5??</strong> <br />
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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 <strong><em>21. Qb5 exf4 22. Rxc6 Rxc6 23. Qxc6 fxg3 24. hxg3 Rxe2</em></strong> but that would have been better for white than tossing a piece.<br />
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<strong>21. ... e4 22.Qc3??</strong> <br />
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Another unfortunate blunder. Miguel must have just forgotten that his knight on d5 was en prise. The game is now over.<br />
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<strong>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?</strong><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fV2Hcx3dL6I/VKhNM11R6OI/AAAAAAAACaI/MRc0uf5Ehgg/s1600/7.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fV2Hcx3dL6I/VKhNM11R6OI/AAAAAAAACaI/MRc0uf5Ehgg/s1600/7.png" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br />
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.<br />
<br />
<strong>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</strong><br />
<br />
Here is the full game score:<br />
<br />
<b></b><br />
<div align="LEFT">
<b>Acosta,Miguel (1757) - Hayes,Matthew (2133) [A49]</b></div>
<b>
</b><span style="font-size: x-small;"></span><div align="LEFT">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Arcadia Fall Challenge Arcadia (6), 24.11.2014</span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
<br />
<div align="JUSTIFY">
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</div>
</span><br />Matt Hayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03057037670306051027noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6588059171428277124.post-22950768064916177452014-12-02T21:01:00.002-08:002014-12-02T21:01:45.510-08:00Paris Called and They Want Their French BackOn November 17, I played round of the Fall Challenge tournament in Arcadia. Having lost two games in a row (see my previous posts), I knew I would be paired way down and so it proved. I faced off against Kyle Li, rated 1592, and scored one of my quickest ever wins in rated play.<br />
<br />
I hadn't played Kyle before but, as a kid, one could assume he might be slightly underrated as many of them are. Also, many of the kids are quite tactical and revel in obtaining positions where there are opportunities for combinations. Funnily enough, Kyle, who had black, played the normally solid French Defense against me but came badly unstuck after barely more than a few moves.<br />
<br />
As the game only lasted 11 moves, there is only one diagram given below.<br />
<br />
<b>1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Bb4 5. e5 h6 </b><br />
<br />
We have a McCutcheon variation of the French, quite standard and nothing unusual yet.<br />
<br />
<b>6. Bd2 Nfd7 7. Qg4 g6 8. Bd3 Nc6?</b><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kuDdy13L5hw/VH6VI7HYpNI/AAAAAAAACXs/kmBoS8xdY5Y/s1600/li.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kuDdy13L5hw/VH6VI7HYpNI/AAAAAAAACXs/kmBoS8xdY5Y/s1600/li.png" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
This is a serious mistake. <b><i>8. ... c5</i></b> is the most common move and has been played a number of times by Grandmasters. In the position above, I had to decide whether to play it safe with something like <b>9. Nf3</b> or go for the kill by sacrificing on g6. I knew black had already made a mistake and decided he needed to be punished for it. The computer actually prefers <b><i>9. Nf3</i></b>, giving white a decent advantage (although the text move should also be a bit better for white with best play by black).<br />
<br />
<b>9. Bxg6</b><br />
<br />
It turns out that this wasn't as crushing as I thought at the time. Fritz says that black should sac a piece back in the following line: <b><i>9. ... Bxc3 10. bxc3 Ndxe5 11. dxe5 Nxe5 12. Bxf7+ Nxf7</i></b>. This is still better for white but not by much because black has equalized the material and it's not clear if white's king wants to be on the kingside (where black could exploit the half open g file) or the queenside (which has a shattered pawn structure). Note that <b><i>9. ... Bxc3 10. Qxe6+ Qe7 11. Bxf7+ Kf8 12. Bxh6+</i></b> is also interesting but costs white a piece, although he does get three pawns for it (and black's king would be very exposed).<br />
<br />
<b>9. ... Rg8?? 10. Qxe6+ Ne7?? 11. Qxf7# 1-0</b><br />
<br />
Here is the complete PGN:<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">[Event "Arcadia Fall Challenge"]</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">[Site "Arcadia"]</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">[Date "2014.11.17"]</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">[Round "5"]</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">[White "Hayes, Matthew"]</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">[Black "Li, Kyle"]</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">[Result "1-0"]</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">[ECO "C12"]</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">[WhiteElo "2133"]</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">[BlackElo "1592"]</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">[PlyCount "21"]</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">[EventDate "2014.11.17"]</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">[EventRounds "6"]</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">[EventCountry "USA"]</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Bb4 5. e5 h6 6. Bd2 Nfd7 7. Qg4 g6 8. Bd3 </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">Nc6 9. Bxg6 Rg8 10. Qxe6+ Ne7 11. Qxf7# 1-0</span>Matt Hayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03057037670306051027noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6588059171428277124.post-48721321372858443282014-11-30T22:27:00.002-08:002014-11-30T22:28:19.867-08:00Out of the Frying Pan...I rarely lose two games in a row. It's even rarer for it to happen at the Arcadia Chess Club. And surely pigs will fly before I lose games in a row, in Arcadia, to lower rated players, right? Wrong! In this case, defeats were like buses; none for a long time and then two came along at once.<br />
<br />
In round 3 of the Fall Challenge on November 10, I was paired with black against Russell Balcom, rated 1751. I try not to take any player lightly but, when you are rated nearly 400 points higher than your opponent, it's natural to think you will win one way or another. Unfortunately, my old nemesis time trouble got the best of me and I left myself the ridiculous task of having to play ten moves in barely five minutes in a position I should have been winning (or at least close to it). I also have to give Russell credit because he played the endgame very well after I miscalculated.<br />
<br />
<b>1. e4 c5 2. f4 d5 3. Nc3?</b><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qy53DbMm4_E/VHv_LxbcItI/AAAAAAAACWA/xyS8WTZnAvM/s1600/balcom1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qy53DbMm4_E/VHv_LxbcItI/AAAAAAAACWA/xyS8WTZnAvM/s1600/balcom1.png" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
This is already a mistake by white and just hands black the initiative.<br />
<br />
<b>3. ... d4 4. Bb5+ Bd7 5. Bxd7+ Qxd7 6. Nb1 Nf6 7. d3 Nc6 8. Nf3 g6 9. a4 Bg7?</b><br />
<b><br /></b>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TPWgoaZa86U/VHwA6jAwXJI/AAAAAAAACWU/APJ-ZW0Z1uA/s1600/balcom3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TPWgoaZa86U/VHwA6jAwXJI/AAAAAAAACWU/APJ-ZW0Z1uA/s1600/balcom3.png" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
I give this move a question mark because it was too routine. It looks perfectly natural (after all, why else did black play g6?) but Fritz correctly says that <b><i>9. ... Bh6!</i></b> is an improvement that maintains black's slight edge. The point is that the bishop really does nothing on g7 because my own pawn on e5 is limiting its scope. However, on h6 the bishop is much more useful, eyeing the f4 pawn. Black will later bring his queen to g4 to try to force white to play g3, creating light squared weaknesses on the kingside and making castling there a more risky proposition.<br />
<b><br /></b>
<b>10. Na3 O-O 11. O-O a6?</b><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nDI8lW8tE50/VHv_tbn_5bI/AAAAAAAACWI/uCAF5r6_av0/s1600/balcom2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nDI8lW8tE50/VHv_tbn_5bI/AAAAAAAACWI/uCAF5r6_av0/s1600/balcom2.png" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
A poor move by me that just invites white to infiltrate on b6. This is the start of many of my troubles in this game, although for a while I got away with it.<br />
<br />
<b>12. Nc4 Qc7 13. a5 Nd7 </b><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-L0P2uP6nSe4/VHwBftkFRBI/AAAAAAAACWc/Ldpzm2r4kpg/s1600/balcom4.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-L0P2uP6nSe4/VHwBftkFRBI/AAAAAAAACWc/Ldpzm2r4kpg/s1600/balcom4.png" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
I couldn't stomach white landing his knight on b6 but Fritz doesn't think it's such a big deal. The computer wants to play either <b><i>13. ... e6</i></b> or <b><i>13. ... Rae8</i></b> (it rates them both equally) and says that, while white does have an advantage, it's only minor at +0.59. I suppose the point is that, once black has played his pawn to e6 (either on move 13 or 14), even if white does stick his knight on b6 what is really doing there? It looks nice but has no targets.<br />
<br />
<b>14. Bd2 b5 15. axb6 Nxb6 16. Na5!</b><br />
<br />
I missed this when I played <b><i>14. ... b5</i></b>. At the time, I thought it was an excellent (and annoying, for me) move by Russell and Fritz says it is white's best.<br />
<br />
<b>16. ... Na7?</b><br />
<br />
The computer doesn't like this and thinks black should just play <b><i>16. ... Nxa5</i></b> but that's not a very human move to make. Most humans won't voluntarily walk into a position where a minor piece is pinned to their queen. Objectively, though, it shouldn't be anything to worry about because black can just move his queen to c6 or b7. After the text move, the knight is out of play on a7 and will take a while to bring back into the game in any meaningful way. White's pieces are coordinating nicely whereas black's are a bit of a mess.<br />
<br />
<b>17. c4 dxc3 18. Bxc3? Qxf4 </b><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-texoIDblWBQ/VHwDvgWFtXI/AAAAAAAACW4/oInUNX1PmiI/s1600/balcom6.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-texoIDblWBQ/VHwDvgWFtXI/AAAAAAAACW4/oInUNX1PmiI/s1600/balcom6.png" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
A very strange decision by white. I think he just blundered and forgot that my queen was hitting his f4 pawn, otherwise I can't really explain it. Even had white played the correct <b><i>18. bxc3</i></b>, I figured at least I could then put some pressure on his d3 pawn by playing <b><i>18. ... Rfd8</i></b> etc.<br />
<br />
<b>19. Qc1 Qxc1 20. Rfxc1 Bh6 21. Rc2 Rfd8 22. Ne1 </b><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kR9lEBvqUAs/VHwEbTp5gXI/AAAAAAAACXA/3AEykJrgeos/s1600/balcom7.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kR9lEBvqUAs/VHwEbTp5gXI/AAAAAAAACXA/3AEykJrgeos/s1600/balcom7.png" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
This position is close to winning for black. He is up a pawn for no compensation, has pressure against the d3 pawn and a beautiful bishop on h6. White's pieces, so coordinated just five moves ago, are now uncomfortably placed.<br />
<br />
<b>22. ... Rd7 23. Kf1 Nb5 24. Be5 f6 25. Bg3 Be3 26. Bf2 Bxf2 27. Kxf2 Rc7! 28. Nf3 e5 29. Ke3 Nd4!</b><br />
<br />
A move that looks obvious but I bizarrely spent 17 minutes on the clock deciding on whether to play it. That's an absurd thing to do because I now leave myself with only eight minutes to reach the first time control. As we will see, that's going to be what decides the game. I can't fully explain why I didn't play this move instantly, or at least after only a minute or two. I think I was afraid of pieces being traded but this should be in black's favor, not white's! As it turned out, white didn't even capture the knight so all my thinking was for nothing anyway.<br />
<br />
<b>30. Rc3 Rb8</b><br />
<br />
Now I only have five minutes to make ten moves. Not good.<br />
<br />
<b>31. b4 Nd7 32. bxc5 Nxf3 33. Kxf3 Rxc5 34. Nc4 Rc6 35. Raa3 h5 36. Ne3 Rxc3 37. Rxc3 Rb7 38. Rc6 Ra7 39. Nd5 Kg7</b><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VKmI8TAgIIM/VHwGarrWNXI/AAAAAAAACXM/JSAZsgClMgg/s1600/balcom9.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VKmI8TAgIIM/VHwGarrWNXI/AAAAAAAACXM/JSAZsgClMgg/s1600/balcom9.png" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
This is the move that I feel threw away the win, not because the move itself is bad but because I failed to spot Russell's response. I had less than a minute left on the clock, two moves to make, and I played the move that looked natural. I totally missed white's reply which frazzled me and caused me to panic, enter a mode of what NM Dana Mackenzie calls "wrong think", and miscalculate numerous proceeding moves. In reality, <b><i>39. ... Kg7</i></b> is totally fine (Fritz even says it's the best move along with <b><i>39. ... a5</i></b>!) but, when you miss your opponent's reply, it can really mess with your mind and that's what happens here.<br />
<br />
<b>40. Re6 a5??</b><br />
<br />
A terrible move that throws it all away. I had to bash this move out with virtually no time to think because it was the last move to make the first time control and I had only seconds left. The computer says that <b><i>40. ... Nc5</i></b> is practically winning.<br />
<br />
<b>41. Re7+ Kf8 42. Rh7 a4 43. Nxf6 </b><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5JjxsPdz68s/VHwInp36MlI/AAAAAAAACXc/JW1V8ENXHwQ/s1600/balcom10.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5JjxsPdz68s/VHwInp36MlI/AAAAAAAACXc/JW1V8ENXHwQ/s1600/balcom10.png" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Black has lost a pawn (though that just means the pawn count is now equal) and, on the surface, it looks like he has to lose a piece or the exchange. Not so! If I had played <b><i>43. ... Ra6!</i></b> the position would be roughly equal. The point is that <b><i>44. Rxd7??</i></b> would lose to <b><i>44. ... a3!</i></b> when white can't stop the pawn from promoting. White's best is <b><i>44. Nxd7+ Kg8 45. Re7 a3 46. Nc5 a2 47. Nb3 Rb6 48. Rxe5 Rxb3 49. Ra5 Ra5</i></b> when the position should be drawn.<br />
<br />
However, in keeping with my play over the last several moves, I naturally didn't play <b><i>43. ... Ra6</i></b> and promptly threw the game away in the following fashion:<br />
<br />
<b>43. ... Ra5?? 44. Nxd7+ Ke8 45. Nf6+ Kd8 46. Rb7 a3 47. Rb1 Ke7 48. Nd5+ Kd6 49. Ra1 Kc5 50. Ke3 Kb5 51. Rb1+ Kc5 52. Nc3 g5 53. Ra1 Kb4 54. Kd2 Kc5 55. Nb1 Kb4 56. Rxa3 Rxa3 57. Nxa3 Kxa3 58. Kc3 1-0</b><br />
<br />
That was a tough loss, especially coming off the defeat to Eren in the previous round. This time, I didn't feel quite so bad because I never quite felt in control of the game until I won the pawn. Even then, although I knew I was better, it wasn't totally clear how things would pan out. I also felt Russell played the last 15 or so moves very well and I can't have any complaints about that. I miscalculated, he took advantage, and just outplayed me (albeit in what was now a won position for him but you still have to find the moves!).<br />
<br />
Here is the complete PGN:<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">[Event "Arcadia Fall Challenge"]</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">[Site "Arcadia"]</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">[Date "2014.11.10"]</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">[Round "4"]</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">[White "Balcom, Russell"]</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">[Black "Hayes, Matthew"]</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">[Result "1-0"]</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">[ECO "B21"]</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">[WhiteElo "1751"]</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">[BlackElo "2133"]</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">[PlyCount "115"]</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">[EventDate "2014.11.10"]</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">[EventRounds "6"]</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">[EventCountry "USA"]</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">1. e4 c5 2. f4 d5 3. Nc3 d4 4. Bb5+ Bd7 5. Bxd7+ Qxd7 6. Nb1 Nf6 7. d3 Nc6 8.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Nf3 g6 9. a4 Bg7 10. Na3 O-O 11. O-O a6 12. Nc4 Qc7 13. a5 Nd7 14. Bd2 b5 15.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">axb6 Nxb6 16. Na5 Na7 17. c4 dxc3 18. Bxc3 Qxf4 19. Qc1 Qxc1 20. Rfxc1 Bh6 21.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Rc2 Rfd8 22. Ne1 Rd7 23. Kf1 Nb5 24. Be5 f6 25. Bg3 Be3 26. Bf2 Bxf2 27. Kxf2</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Rc7 28. Nf3 e5 29. Ke3 Nd4 30. Rc3 Rb8 31. b4 Nd7 32. bxc5 Nxf3 33. Kxf3 Rxc5</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">34. Nc4 Rc6 35. Raa3 h5 36. Ne3 Rxc3 37. Rxc3 Rb7 38. Rc6 Ra7 39. Nd5 Kg7 40.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Re6 a5 41. Re7+ Kf8 42. Rh7 a4 43. Nxf6 Ra5 44. Nxd7+ Ke8 45. Nf6+ Kd8 46. Rb7</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">a3 47. Rb1 Ke7 48. Nd5+ Kd6 49. Ra1 Kc5 50. Ke3 Kb5 51. Rb1+ Kc5 52. Nc3 g5 53.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Ra1 Kb4 54. Kd2 Kc5 55. Nb1 Kb4 56. Rxa3 Rxa3 57. Nxa3 Kxa3 58. Kc3 1-0</span><br />
<br />Matt Hayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03057037670306051027noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6588059171428277124.post-3419693129187514232014-11-07T22:00:00.000-08:002014-11-08T07:16:18.639-08:00Pressing the Self-Destruct ButtonNobody likes to lose a chess game but it's a lot easier to swallow if your opponent simply outplays you. The absolute worst kind of game to lose (aside from being mated in under ten moves or something equally absurd) is one where you have totally outplayed your opponent, only to then blow it with a one move blunder that throws the game away. You can probably see where I am going with this!<br />
<br />
On Monday in Arcadia, I was paired against Eren Karadayi, rated 1918. As I mentioned in my last blog post, I had played Eren three times before but never with the white pieces. I wasn't completely sure what to expect and assumed he might play a Sicilian, since I know he is quite an aggressive blitz player. The following game is quite tragic, as I built up a winning position and then played one of the most horrific blunders of my life that 99% of beginners wouldn't have even played.<br />
<br />
Tonight I showed the game to GM Jesse Kraai, who I sometimes have lessons with, and I have added his thoughts to my own.<br />
<br />
<b>1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 </b><br />
<br />
Already a slight surprise but the Scandinavian can be quite tactical, so perhaps it suits Eren's style of play.<br />
<br />
<b>3. Nf3 Nf6 </b><br />
<br />
I always used to play <b><i>3. Nc3</i></b> against the Scandinavian but started playing <b><i>3. Nf3</i></b> two or three years ago. I like the idea of being able to dislodge black's queen with a timely c4, with the knight being able to move to c3 later. White would then have hanging pawns on c4 and d4 which can be both a weakness (especially the pawn on d4) but can also give white some dynamic possibilities if he can achieve a d5 push.<br />
<br />
<b>4. d4 c6</b><br />
<br />
At the time, I didn't think this was so bad but Jesse already thought this was a mis-step by black. The point is that black usually plays c6 at some stage to give his queen a way to retreat from a5. On c6, the pawn also dominates white's knight on c3. However, in this position the queen is not on a5. Even worse, white hasn't put his knight on c3 yet, so <b><i>4. ... c6</i></b> is really a waste of a tempo.<br />
<br />
<b>5. c4 Qd8 </b><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
<br />
I thought this move was suspicious, which Jesse concurred with. True, the queen does often go back to d8 in the Scandinavian, either directly after white puts a knight on c3 or after some sort of Bd2 attack/discovery on the queen when she is on a5. Here, however, putting the queen back on d8 is really an undeveloping move and black now owes us at least two tempi.<br />
<br />
<b>6. Nc3?! </b><br />
<br />
I flagged this move as being slightly dubious. I didn't realize it at the time (in fact, it seemed perfectly normal) but Jesse said <b><i>6. Nc3</i></b> is an inaccuracy. When he explained why, it made perfect sense. It's inaccurate because I am not taking into account what black wants to do. What black should want in this position is to put his bishop on g4, then trade on f3 and play e6 (in either order). Since black is a bit cramped, this will help to free his position somewhat and he will be getting rid of arguably his worst piece. After he plays e6, black will have a good clamp on the d5 square and the d5 push is really white's only way to open up the middle of the board.<br />
<br />
Better would have been <b><i>6. Be3</i></b> or <b><i>6. h3</i></b>, preventing black's light squared bishop from reaching its ideal square on g4.<br />
<br />
<b>6. ... e6 7. g3 </b><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
This was an interesting moment. Although fianchettoing the light squared bishop is sometimes played by white against the Scandinavian, in my experience it isn't very common. The natural move would obviously be <b><i>7. Bd3</i></b>, which Jesse felt was best. Fritz actually thinks <b><i>7. Bf4</i></b> is best, with <b><i>7. Bd3</i></b> being its second choice. However, it says there is nothing wrong with <b><i>7. g3</i></b> and rates it only slightly less favorably than its top two moves.<br />
<br />
My rationale behind fianchettoing the bishop was that I felt Eren would be more comfortably in a tactical sort of game, whereas he would be less comfortable in a more strategic position. The position is going to loosely resemble a Catalan structure, which I thought he wouldn't be very familiar with, and I wanted to mix things up a bit.<br />
<br />
Jesse's rationale behind playing <b><i>7. Bd3</i></b> instead was that he is naturally suspicious of unnecessary pawn moves. Also, black is so far behind in development already that white should want to rapidly finish his own development. Jesse stressed how important time is in chess and he is right about that. If I had this position again, I would play Jesse's recommendation.<br />
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<b>7. ... Be7 8. Bg2 O-O 9. O-O Nbd7 10. Qc2</b><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
<br />
This is okay but Jesse thought that the queen would be better placed on e2. As we will see, he was right as usual!<br />
<br />
<b>10. ... g6 </b><br />
<br />
This is a serious positional mistake. Eren was obviously nervous about my queen exerting pressure along the b1-h7 diagonal but his fears were misplaced. True, the queen does eye some juicy squares but there are no immediate threats against h7. Black should play g6 if he absolutely has to (and here he doesn't have to) because it causes a whole host of weaknesses on the dark squares around his king.<br />
<br />
<b>11. b3 </b><br />
<br />
Again, Jesse wasn't thrilled with this because it's another pawn push that isn't strictly necessary. He said I should have been looking at how black intended to untangle himself and then I should have been trying to stop it. The most natural way for black to coordinate his pieces is to play Qc7, b6, Bb7 and then c5. Therefore, white should seriously consider playing <b><i>11. Bf4</i></b> because it keeps the queen off her best square (c7). White needn't fear <b><i>11. ... Nh5?!</i></b> because this just loses another tempo after 12. Bh6 and then the knight is horrible on h5 anyway.<br />
<br />
From my perspective, I had seen that black had severely weakened the dark squares around his king and I intended to fianchetto my other bishop, potentially putting pressure along the a1-h8 diagonal. True, to achieve much of anything along that diagonal I will eventually have to push with d5 but I was trying to think long term.<br />
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<b>11. ... Qc7 12. Bb2 Re8 13. Rfe1 b6 </b><br />
<br />
Here Jesse wryly noted that the queen would have been much better on e2 than c2 because then white could seriously consider playing Ng5 next move, threatening to capture on either e6 or f7. True, black can play his bishop back to f8 and that seems to put an end to most of the fun but at least it would cause black a little grief.<br />
<br />
<b>14. Ne5! Nxe5? 15. dxe5 Nd7 </b><br />
<br />
Here I felt that black was strategically lost. He has chronic problems with both the d6 and f6 squares.<br />
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<b>16. Rad1 Bb7 17. Ne4! Nxe5?? </b><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
A horrible move. It was knee jerk reaction from Eren, who was understandably very concerned about me planting my knight on d6 that he would have a hard time ever getting rid of. However, <b><i>17. ... Nxe5 </i></b> is an outright blunder that should have cost him the game. Fritz says black is totally busted here, giving white an almost four pawn advantage.<br />
<br />
<b>18. Qc3! f6 19. f4 Nd7 20. Rxd7!</b><br />
<br />
Of course. This was the reason why I played <b><i>16. Rad1</i></b> a few moves earlier. The exchange sac removes the knight that was holding black's position together.<br />
<br />
<b>20. ... Qxd7 21. Nxf6+ Bxf6 22. Qxf6 e5</b><br />
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Let's take a look at the position. Believe it or not, I am about to lose in one move.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
This position is crushing for white. Fritz rates it as +3.14 after <b><i>23. Rxe5</i></b>. Even if I had played the more natural looking <b><i>23. Bxe5</i></b>, the computer still says it's nearly two pawns better for white. I honestly thought Eren was going to resign on the previous move but he probably figured he might as well play on for a bit to see if I made a mistake. I more than obliged on my next move!<br />
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<b>23. Qh8+?? 0-1</b><br />
<br />
Tragic but let's talk about what happened here. Our last few moves had been played at a near blitz pace because they were all forcing. As a result, I had several moves to write down in order to catch up with the position on the board. On move 21, I had made a mental note that if my queen reached h8, black could not play e5 because he would lose his queen to a skewer after, for example, <b><i>22. ... Rf8 23. Qh8+ Kf7 24. Qxh7+ Ke6 25. Bh3+</i></b> and it's game over. After Eren made his 22nd move, I committed the cardinal sin of not looking at the board before I played my move. Consequently, I didn't check that <b><i>23. Qh8+</i></b> was playable (I just assumed it was) and, without so much of a glance at the board, I slammed my queen down on h8.<br />
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I won't go into too many details but I thought Eren's reaction was rather disrespectful. Instead of just meekly taking the queen, he pointed at the board, let out a loud guffaw (which naturally aroused the curiosity of various onlookers, only adding to my embarrassment), and then started loudly talking to Craig Faber behind him about the huge blunder I had just committed. I don't think he intended any malice with his reaction but he should have kept himself in check, especially since this game was nothing for him to be proud of given he had been outplayed and lost for many moves.<br />
<br />
After the game, I didn't beat myself up too much about what had happened. It was just one of those things. I felt that, despite a few inaccuracies (well pointed out by Jesse!), I had played well for the most part. I would almost prefer to play well and lose than to play poorly and win. Well, <i>almost</i>...!<br />
<br />
Jesse and I have scheduled another lesson two days before the start of the American Open, which takes place over the Thanksgiving weekend at the end of the month. Before then, I have another three games to play in Arcadia. Hopefully I have better results than in this one!<br />
<br />
Here is the complete game PGN:<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">[Event "Arcadia Fall Challenge"]</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">[Site "Arcadia"]</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">[Date "2014.11.03"]</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">[Round "3"]</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">[White "Hayes, Matthew"]</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">[Black "Karadayi, Eren"]</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">[Result "0-1"]</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">[ECO "B01"]</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">[WhiteElo "2133"]</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">[BlackElo "1918"]</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">[PlyCount "45"]</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">[EventDate "2014.11.03"]</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">[EventRounds "6"]</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">[EventCountry "USA"]</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. d4 c6 5. c4 Qd8 6. Nc3 e6 7. g3 Be7 8. Bg2</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">O-O 9. O-O Nbd7 10. Qc2 g6 11. b3 Qc7 12. Bb2 Re8 13. Rfe1 b6 14. Ne5 Nxe5 15.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">dxe5 Nd7 16. Rad1 Bb7 17. Ne4 Nxe5 18. Qc3 f6 19. f4 Nd7 20. Rxd7 Qxd7 21.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Nxf6+ Bxf6 22. Qxf6 e5 23. Qh8+ 0-1</span>Matt Hayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03057037670306051027noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6588059171428277124.post-25883375864084416982014-11-01T10:01:00.002-07:002014-11-01T10:01:26.239-07:00Chou Mein: Carving up the AlapinMonday 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.<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
Here is the game:<br />
<br />
<b>1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 g6</b><br />
<br />
Against Anthony Ge, I had played <b><i>2. ... d6</i></b> but <b><i>2. ... g6</i></b> is my normal response. I only played that way against Anthony because I knew he would go into an Alapin type of structure.<br />
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<b>3. c3 Bg7 4. Be2 Nf6 5. e5 Ng4?!</b><br />
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<br />
This was not the best. I had intended to play <b><i>5. ... Nd5</i></b>, 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.<br />
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<b>6. d4 O-O 7. O-O d6 8. h3 Nh6 9. exd6 Qxd6</b><br />
<br />
Not an easy decision. I knew that white was going to have to relieve the tension in the center somehow by playing either <b><i>9. exd6</i></b> or <b><i>9. dxc5</i></b>. There's just too much pressure building up on his pawns. However, I had assumed I would play <b><i>9. ... Qxd6</i></b> (which indeed I did end up playing) but seriously considered <b><i>9. ... exd6</i></b>. 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 <b><i>9. ... Qxd6</i></b> 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!<br />
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<b>10. dxc5 Qxc5 11. Be3 Qc7 12. Na3 a6</b><br />
<br />
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.<br />
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<b>13. Nc4 Nd7 14. a4 Nf5 15. Nd4?</b><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
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.<br />
<br />
<b>15. ... Nxe3 16. Nxe3 Nf6 17. Qc2 e5</b><br />
<br />
Fritz's top choice. It gains space in the center and denies white's knights some important squares.<br />
<br />
<b>18. Nf3 h6</b><br />
<br />
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 <b><i>18. ... Bh6</i></b> 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.<br />
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<b>19. Rad1 Be6 20. Nd2 Rfd8 21. Ne4 Nd5</b><br />
<br />
The computer prefers <b><i>21. ... Nxe4</i></b>, 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.<br />
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<b>22. Nxd5 Bxd5 23. c4 Rac8 24. Qb1 Be6 25. b3 Bf5 26. Bg4??</b><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
A blunder that costs white a piece and the game. He does get two pawns for it but it's just not enough.<br />
<br />
<b>26. ... Bxe4 27. Qxe4 f5</b><br />
<br />
Oops!<br />
<br />
<b>28. Bxf5 gxf5 29. Qxf5 Qf7 30. Qe4 Rd4 31. Qe3 Rcd8 32. Rxd4</b><br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
<b>32. ... exd4 33. Qe4 d3 34. Rd1 d2 35. Qc2 Qe6 36. Kf1 Qd6 37. Ke2 Re8+ 38. Kf1??</b><br />
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<br />
This loses on the spot to a nice forced mate.<br />
<br />
<b>38. ... Qh2 39. f3 Qh1+ 40. Kf2 Qe1+ 41. Rxe1 dxe1=Q# 0-1</b><br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
Here is the full PGN of my second round game against Jeffrey Chou:<br />
<br />
<b></b><br />
<div align="LEFT">
<b>Chou,Jeffrey (1781) - Hayes,Matthew (2124) [B27]</b></div>
<b>
</b><span style="font-size: x-small;"><div align="LEFT">
Arcadia Fall Challenge Arcadia (2), 27.10.2014</div>
<br />
<div align="JUSTIFY">
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</div>
<br />
<div align="JUSTIFY">
<br /></div>
<br />
</span>Matt Hayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03057037670306051027noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6588059171428277124.post-65019609145090944012014-10-30T09:33:00.001-07:002014-11-01T10:08:28.351-07:00Beating Carlos the JackalIt has been nearly three weeks since my last post because Arcadia Chess Club didn't meet on October 13 as it was Columbus Day. I was then too busy last week to post about my first round game in the Fall Challenge, so I present the game here now.<br />
<br />
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!<br />
<br />
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.<br />
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<b>1. e4 c6 2. d4 d6 3. f4 Qc7 </b><br />
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<br />
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 <i>S.T.A.R. Chess</i> 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.<br />
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<b>4. Nf3 Bg4 5. h3 Bxf3 6. Qxf3 Nd7 7. Nc3 e5 8. fxe5?!</b><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
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 <b><i>8. Be3</i></b> looks good. I probably rejected it automatically because it loses a tempo if black plays either <b><i>8. ... exd4</i></b> or <b><i>8. ... exf4</i></b>. 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 <b><i>8. fxe5</i></b>, 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.<br />
<br />
<b>8. ... dxe5 9. d5 Ngf6 10. dxc6 bxc6 11. Be3 Bb4 </b><br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
<b>12. Bd3 O-O 13. O-O Rab8 14. Ne2 Bc5! 15. b3</b><br />
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<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
<b>15. ... Qb6 16. Bxc5 Qxc5+ 17. Kh2 Qd6 18. Rad1 Qa3 19. Ng3 g6 </b><br />
<br />
Of course, capturing on a2 would run into Ra1 and I think white would then be better.<br />
<br />
<b>20. Qe3 Ne8?</b><br />
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<br />
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.<br />
<br />
<b>21. Bb5!</b><br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
<b>21. ... Nc5 22. Bxc6 Ng7 23. Bd5 Nce6 24. c3 Qe7 25. Bxe6 Nxe6 26. Rd5 Nf4 27. Ra5 </b><b>Rb6 28. Ne2 Nxe2 29. Qxe2 Qc7 30. Qd2? Rc6?</b><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
A tale of mutual blunders. Black should have played <b><i>30. ... Rxb3</i></b>, a move I saw immediately after I played <b><i>30. Qd2</i></b>. 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.<br />
<br />
<b>31. c4 Rc5 32. Rxc5 Qxc5 33. Qd5 Qe7 34. Rf3 Rd8??</b><br />
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<br />
<br />
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.<br />
<br />
<b>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</b><br />
<br />
<br />
Here is the complete PGN:<br />
<br />
<b></b><br />
<div align="LEFT">
<b>Hayes,Matthew (2124) - Luna,Carlos (1611) [B12]</b></div>
<b>
</b><span style="font-size: x-small;"></span>
<br />
<div align="LEFT">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Arcadia Fall Challenge Arcadia (1), 20.10.2014</span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
<br />
</span><br />
<div align="JUSTIFY">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">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</span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
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<div align="JUSTIFY">
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</span>Matt Hayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03057037670306051027noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6588059171428277124.post-26102534143976011252014-10-10T22:07:00.000-07:002014-10-10T22:07:13.511-07:00Ge WhizzThe final round of the Istvanyi Open took place on Monday and I had black against 12-year-old Anthony Ge, rated 1974. Anthony and I were the only two players on 4.5/5 going into the last round so we both knew the victor would win the tournament outright. Equally, we also knew that a draw would guarantee us both a tie for first.<br />
<br />
Although I was the favorite in theory, Anthony and I had drawn our last game (where he'd had a significantly better, if not winning, position at one point). Anthony had also beaten Raoul Crisologo, a high expert, in round 5 and had drawn Dave Bassett (2300) in round 4. Additionally, I had the black pieces again, which was unfortunate because it gave me four blacks out of six for the tournament. Normally, the higher rated player would get due color so I had initially expected to have the white pieces. However, this would have given Anthony three blacks in a row, so the WinTD pairing software correctly gave him white and me black.<br />
<br />
Last week, Raoul had lamented how Anthony was getting up and playing with his friends in the back room frequently during their game. He wasn't saying it was distracting; rather, it was just galling that Anthony had beaten him despite hardly being at the board! He would play with his friends, come back to the board, make a strong move quickly, and then go back to playing. It's quite impressive really and I wonder how much potential Anthony has, especially if he takes his games more seriously.<br />
<br />
I did some brief preparation for Anthony and I's game over the weekend but it was difficult because I'd only had black against him once. The other three times we had played I was white. Also, in our last game I had played the Scandinavian against him, which is not an opening I play too often. I had played this because I suspected he was one of those "Alapin kids", as I have started to call them. I have noticed that a number of the kids in Arcadia play the Alapin and I don't think it's a coincidence. Most all of them have been coached by WIM Sarah Lu and perhaps Sarah likes the Alapin. It's by no means bad for white but, equally, it's hardly the most testing response to the Sicilian either.<br />
<br />
Luckily, I knew that Dave Bassett was black against Anthony in their round 4 encounter, so I messaged him on Facebook to ask what Anthony had played. Dave was kind enough to send about the first 10 moves of their last two games and I determined that Anthony probably plays the exact same moves against almost any Sicilian move order. Sure enough, the first seven or eight moves of our game followed that trend.<br />
<br />
<strong>1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6</strong> <br />
<br />
I very rarely play <strong><em>2. ... d6</em></strong> in the Open Sicilian but was confident Anthony would avoid <strong><em>3. d4</em></strong> and would play the same way he had against Dave Bassett. Sure enough, he did. Even if he hadn't, I would have gone into a Najdorf or Dragon if needs be.<br />
<br />
<strong>3. c3 Nf6 4. Be2 g6 5. O-O</strong> <br />
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<br />
This was the same move order as the two games Dave had shown me. I don't think it's anything for black to worry about. In fact, Fritz thinks black is already slightly better after white's third move!<br />
<br />
<strong>5. ... Bg7 6. Re1 O-O 7. Bf1 Bg4 </strong><br />
<br />
This was a slight improvement over the way Dave had handled this against Anthony. Dave had played <strong><em>7. ... Nc6</em></strong> but Fritz prefers <strong><em>7. ... Bg4 </em></strong> (although it thinks <strong><em>7. ... Nc6</em></strong> is fine too).<br />
<br />
<strong>8. h3 Bxf3 9. Qxf3 Nc6 10. d3 Qb6</strong> <br />
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<br />
The computer thinks that <strong><em>10. ... d5!</em></strong> is better. This was what Dave had played against Anthony earlier this year, albeit in a slightly different position where black hadn't exchanged his bishop for the f3 knight. Certainly, the d5 pawn push is very thematic for black in a number of Sicilians (not least in my favorite Hyper-Accelerated Dragon!) but I felt <strong><em>10. ... Qb6 </em></strong> would keep white tied up for a bit. After the text move, Fritz says the position is equal.<br />
<br />
<strong>11. Nd2 a6 12. Nc4 Qc7 13. Bg5 b5 14. Ne3 Ne5 15. Qf4 Nh5 </strong><br />
<strong></strong><br />
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<br />
This was a tricky decision. I was slightly concerned about the activity of white's queen, knight and bishop over on the kingside. I felt I needed to take immediate action to deter white from any further nonsense. The main drawback of putting the knight on h5 is that it's a bit out of play. I also had to be sure that white couldn't somehow trap it. As it turns out, <strong><em>15. ... Nh5</em></strong> is a very good move and Fritz's number one choice.<br />
<br />
<strong>16. Nd5</strong> <br />
<br />
This caught me by surprise and here I had my only really long think of the game. The sequence I came up with seems to be just fine for black and even contains a nasty trap at the end if white isn't careful.<br />
<br />
<strong>16. ... Nxf4 17. Nxc7 Ra7 18. Bxf4</strong> <br />
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<br />
Probably best. Anthony looked as if he was reaching for the knight and then he saw the trap. If <strong><em>18. Nd5?</em></strong> there is a rude awakening after <strong><em>18. ... Nxh3+! 19. gxh3 Nf3+</em></strong> followed by capturing the bishop on f4 and suddenly black has won a pawn.<br />
<br />
White could try the desperado <strong><em>18. Nxb5</em></strong> but then black can play his own desperado with <strong><em>18. ... Nxh3+</em></strong> and then capture on b5. The position would be essentially equal.<br />
<br />
<strong>18. ... Rxc7 19. Bxe5 Bxe5 20. Rad1 Rb8 1/2-1/2</strong><br />
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<br />
Here I offered draw because I couldn't see how black could win against any reasonable play by white. True, I have the slightly better bishop but his rooks are as active as mine and swapping them would lead to an obviously drawn opposite colored bishop endgame. Anthony accepted the draw offer without hesitation, meaning we both finished on 5/6 and shared a five way tie for first place. Anthony's rating went over 2000 for the first time, so congratulations to him. My rating went from 2124 to 2133, my highest rating ever by one point.<br />
<br />
Here is the game PGN:<br />
<br />
<b><div align="LEFT">
Ge,Anthony (1974) - Hayes,Matthew (2124) [B50]</div>
</b><span style="font-size: x-small;"><div align="LEFT">
Istvanyi Open Arcadia (6), 06.10.2014</div>
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<div align="JUSTIFY">
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.c3 Nf6 4.Be2 g6 5.0–0 Bg7 6.Re1 0–0 7.Bf1 Bg4 8.h3 Bxf3 9.Qxf3 Nc6 10.d3 Qb6 11.Nd2 a6 12.Nc4 Qc7 13.Bg5 b5 14.Ne3 Ne5 15.Qf4 Nh5 16.Nd5 Nxf4 17.Nxc7 Ra7 18.Bxf4 Rxc7 19.Bxe5 Bxe5 20.Rad1 Rb8 ½–½</div>
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<div align="JUSTIFY">
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</span>Matt Hayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03057037670306051027noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6588059171428277124.post-11618446781011412342014-10-02T16:29:00.000-07:002014-10-03T11:11:01.266-07:00More Fire From the Hyper-Accelerated DragonMonday night in Arcadia saw the fifth of six rounds in the Istvanyi Open. The tournament is named after Gabor Istvanyi, a one time Arcadia Chess Club player who I believed last played in the 80s or 90s. The USCF website doesn't list him as being deceased but I thought he had passed away in the 90s and that's why the tournament was named after him. I never met him but there are several people at the club who remember him.<br />
<br />
On Monday I was paired against Tim Thompson, rated exactly 200 points below me. However, Tim has previously been rated over 2100 and had drawn expert Raoul Crisologo in round 4, so I definitely had to be on my guard.<br />
<br />
I had only played Tim once before, in a game I won earlier this year when Tim had a perfectly fine position only to walk into a bishop skewer on his king and rook. The first seven moves of our game on Monday were identical to our earlier game but Tim then deviated. Let's take a look...<br />
<br />
<strong>1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Bc4 0–0 8.Qd2</strong><br />
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In our previous game, Tim had played <strong><em>8. f3</em></strong> which should lose a pawn to <strong><em>8. ... Qb6</em></strong> but I had played <strong><em>8. ... d5</em></strong> instead, which is also playable but not as good.<br />
<br />
In this game, <strong><em>8. Qd2 </em></strong> is a mistake. I considered <strong><em>8. ... Ng4</em></strong> which Fritz likes but ultimately settled on a well known temporary piece sacrifice which essentially equalizes for black.<br />
<br />
<strong>8. ... Nxe4 9.Nxe4 d5 10.Nxc6 bxc6 11.Rd1 Qc7</strong><br />
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<br />
Here white should just retreat the bishop and accept that black has equalized. However, Tim would be the first to admit that opening knowledge is not his specialty (actually, he even mentioned that before the game!) and he unwisely grabbed a pawn that turned out to be extremely hot.<br />
<br />
<strong>12.Bxd5 cxd5 13.Qxd5 Be6 </strong><br />
<strong></strong><br />
Tempting was also <strong><em>13. ... Bb7 14. Qc5 Qxc5 15. Nxc5 Bxg2 16. Rg1 Bf3 Rb1</em></strong> where I thought black would have an excellent position but it wasn't as clear cut as putting the bishop on e6. After <strong><em>13. ... Be6</em></strong>, both of black's bishops are raking towards white's queenside pawns and it's hard to see how he can hold it all together.<br />
<strong></strong><br />
<strong>14.Qc5 Qb7 15.f3 Rfc8</strong><br />
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<br />
It's important to move the right rook. Psychologically, it was tempting to leave my f8 rook where it was and instead play <strong><em>15. ... Rac8</em></strong>. However, that wouldn't be in the spirit of the position. My rook is not needed on f8 (it's not as if white has a kingside attack going) and I want to keep my a8 rook where it is because it will defend my a7 pawn in some lines. It's already evident that play is going to revolve around the queenside.<br />
<br />
Here Tim had a decision to make. I thought he should have played <strong><em>16. Qa5</em></strong> but I think black is already in serious trouble. He is going to have to give the pawn back whatever he does and I can't see any good way for him to avoid dropping another pawn after that. It is also worth nothing that white still owes us a tempo when he castles too.<br />
<br />
Instead, Tim played a move that looked tempting but I think results in him having a lost position.<br />
<br />
<strong>16.Qa3 Bxb2 17.Rb1</strong><br />
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<br />
This was the point but there is nothing for black to fear. I seriously considered playing <strong><em>17. ... Rxc2</em></strong>, which indeed is Fritz's first choice, but I wondered if white could complicate matters with something like <strong><em>18. Kf1 Rxg2 19. Nf2</em></strong> when it's not clear if my rook is happy on g2 plus white is now threatening to capture my bishop on b2. With hindsight, I think I was probably seeing ghosts because black can always play Rb8, followed by Qd5+. Heck, even if white was somehow able to round up the bishop on b2 I think he would still be in serious trouble because black would have three pawns for the piece and white's king looks ripe for the mating out in the open.<br />
<br />
Instead, I decided to keep things simple, let the queens come off the board, and end up in a position where black is up two pawns and completely winning.<br />
<br />
<strong>17. ... Bxa3 18.Rxb7 Rxc2 19.0–0 a5</strong> <br />
<br />
There is no need to capture on a2 right away. The pawn isn't going anywhere. Fritz also says that <strong><em>19. ... a5 </em></strong> is the best move.<br />
<br />
<strong>20.Rfb1 Bxa2 21.Rb8+ Rxb8 22.Rxb8+ Kg7 23.Ra8 Bb4 24.Bb6 Bd5</strong> <br />
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<br />
I had spent some time trying to make something out of <strong><em>24. ... Rc1+ 25. Kf2 Be1+ 26. Ke2 Bc4+</em></strong> but couldn't find a way to make it work. Basically, I was seeing if I could skewer his king and bishop on the g1-a7 diagonal but there isn't anything there. Therefore, I decided to play more simply.<br />
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<strong>25.Ra7 Bxe4 26.fxe4 Re2 27.Bd4+ Kh6 28.e5 Rxe5 0–1</strong><br />
<br />
A final blunder. Tim resigned here as white will be down three pawns with a hopeless position after <strong><em>29. Bxe5 Bc5+</em></strong>.<br />
<br />
Next week I will face off against 12-year-old Anthony Ge to determine the winner of the tournament. As the only two players on 4.5/5, it will be winner takes all! Anthony is already guaranteed to move up to expert when the tournament is rated, even if he loses to me, and he has had a wonderful run of results including drawing a 2300 and beating a 2100. I know I will have my work cut out for me.<br />
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Here is the complete PGN:<br />
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<b></b><br />
<div align="LEFT">
<b>Thompson,Tim (1924) - Hayes,Matthew (2124) [B35]</b></div>
<b>
</b><span style="font-size: x-small;"></span><br />
<div align="LEFT">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Istvanyi Open Arcadia (5), 29.09.2014</span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
<br />
</span><div align="JUSTIFY">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Bc4 0–0 8.Qd2 Nxe4 9.Nxe4 d5 10.Nxc6 bxc6 11.Rd1 Qc7 12.Bxd5 cxd5 13.Qxd5 Be6 14.Qc5 Qb7 15.f3 Rfc8 16.Qa3 Bxb2 17.Rb1 Bxa3 18.Rxb7 Rxc2 19.0–0 a5 20.Rfb1 Bxa2 21.Rb8+ Rxb8 22.Rxb8+ Kg7 23.Ra8 Bb4 24.Bb6 Bd5 25.Ra7 Bxe4 26.fxe4 Re2 27.Bd4+ Kh6 28.e5 Rxe5 0–1</span></div>
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</span><br />Matt Hayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03057037670306051027noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6588059171428277124.post-68586022263275507652014-09-24T22:29:00.002-07:002014-09-25T07:48:41.810-07:00No Fabers From Craig in Interesting Draw<span id="goog_479632889">Round 4 of the Istvanyi Open tournament took place Monday night at the Arcadia Chess Club. I was paired against Craig Faber, who is literally rated one point lower than me at 2123. We had played three times before (+0 =2 -1) and on Monday, just like every other occasion, I had the white pieces.</span><br />
<br />
In a similar vein to my round 3 opponent, Gordon Brooks, Craig is very easy to prepare for because he always plays the same openings, namely the Scandinavian against 1. e4 and the Dutch against 1. d4. Again, this is helpful in terms of his opponent's preparation but, on the other hand, it means Craig is very well versed in Scandinavian and Dutch theory because he is exposed to so many games in those lines.<br />
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With white, Craig always plays the London System regardless of black's response. Therefore, I decided to be cheeky and play the London against him, just to see how he would react. In our previous games, I had opened with 1. e4 twice and 1. d4 once, where I fianchettoed my kingside bishop against his Dutch setup. This time, I had prepared an interesting pawn sacrifice recommended by Cyrus Lakdawala in his book, <em>Play the London System</em>. Lakdawala devotes an entire chapter to playing against the Dutch (incidentally, an opening he doesn't think too highly of) and, although I didn't have time to read it all, I had played through some of the sample games and had gleaned enough information to think I would be on solid enough ground.<br />
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The day after, I had my fourth lesson with GM Jesse Kraai and we went over this game. I have paraphrased some of his comments, adding them to my own below.<br />
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<strong>1.d4 f5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bf4 Nf6 4.h3 g6 5.e3 Bg7 6.Bc4 e6 7.g4 </strong><br />
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This is the pawn sacrifice. There are two main options for black if he wants to accept the sacrifice, both of which give him a virtually lost position already.<br />
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He can try <strong><em>7. ... fxg4 8. hxg4 Nxg4 9. Ng5!</em></strong> when the knight is attacked and the e pawn is falling.<br />
<br />
Alternatively, if black tries to shut down white's bishop on c4 so that it no longer attacks e6, things turn out even worse for him after <strong><em>7. ... d5 8. Bd3 fxg4 9. hxg4 Nxg4 10. Rxh7!</em></strong> when black's kingside is being carved apart.<br />
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Craig was either aware of the sac or intuitively knew it was dangerous, so he wisely declined it.<br />
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<strong>7.g4 Qe7 8.Rg1 fxg4 9.hxg4 Nc6 10.Nc3 Bd7</strong><br />
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After black's 10th move, we reached the position above. Here I was out of my book knowledge already. I knew that putting a rook on g1 was fairly standard, having seen it in one of the sample games in Lakdawala's book. After that, it made sense to put the knight on c3.<br />
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Jesse said that I should have seriously considered <strong><em>11. g5 </em></strong> here, which really puts black's knight in an awkward position. I instinctively didn't play g5 because I figured black would just play <strong><em>11. ... Nh5 </em></strong> but, although this move looks annoying, it's just an illusion. After <strong><em>12. Bh2</em></strong> the knight on h5 is horribly placed and black is virtually playing down a piece. He has no way to get the knight back into the game quickly and white still has all the trumps in the position.<br />
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As I had dismissed <strong><em>11. g5</em></strong>, I figured I needed to castle queenside and had to decide between <strong><em>11. Qd2</em></strong> and <strong><em>11. Qe2</em></strong>. Fritz says that both moves are equally good but, as Jesse said, it makes more sense to put the queen on e2 because there it defends the loose knight on f3. Therefore...<br />
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<strong>11.Qe2 0–0–0 12.0–0–0 Na5 13.Bb5</strong> <br />
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Jesse made some highly instructive comments here, both about <strong><em>12. ... Na5</em></strong> and also <strong><em>13. Bb5</em></strong>. I am a little embarrassed to admit that his way of looking at this position didn't even cross my mind during the game even though, with the benefit of hindsight, his comments make total sense. When Jesse and I were going over the game, I dismissed <strong><em>12. ... Na5</em></strong> as being suspicious and rather artificial looking. Jesse's exact words were that he had "some sympathy for Na5", the reason being that black is cramped and wants to trade pieces. By playing <strong><em>12. ... Na5</em></strong>, black is putting the question to white's bishop.<br />
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Equally, my assessment of <strong><em>13. Bb5</em></strong> was also incorrect because I felt b5 was a natural square for the bishop and there way no way black would capture it as it would bring my queen over towards the queenside where black is castled. However, as Jesse pointed out, there is an old rule in chess that the side with less space should try to trade. That way, he will free up space for his other pieces. In this position, black should want to exchange bishops for that very reason. Funnily enough, Craig obviously didn't appreciate this either because he didn't take on b5!<br />
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<strong>13. ... Rdf8 14.Bg5 </strong><br />
<strong></strong><br />
After the game, Craig and I briefly analyzed it and he said he thought I would play <strong><em>14. Bg5</em></strong>. Indeed, the computer thinks that white is still doing well here, giving a 0.4 pawn advantage. However, as Jesse pointed out, putting my bishop on g5 is another step in the wrong direction. I am basically offering to trade pieces again, which can only benefit black because he has less space.<br />
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Additionally, white has much better options such as <strong><em>14. Bh2!</em></strong>, a move Jesse suggested and actually something I did consider during the game. However, I was already getting a little low on time here and, through inertia, playing the more forcing Bg5.<br />
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<strong>14. ... Qe8 15.Bxd7+ Qxd7</strong><br />
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<br />
We reached the above position after black's 15th move. White is still better but it's not as good as it could have been. As Jesse said, "black owes us a tempo with his knight on a5" because it's so poorly placed. However, my next series of moves are a bit suspect. Not losing or anything but definitely not in the spirit of the position.<br />
<strong></strong><br />
<strong>16.Bxf6 Bxf6 17.Ne5</strong> <br />
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This move looks nice and flashy, the point being that <strong><em>17. ... dxe5 18. dxe5</em></strong> and black regains the piece with a slightly favorable position. The other main idea behind this move was to keep black's queen off the c6 square, which was I was a bit concerned about. However, black is not obligated to take on e5 and I am really starting to sour what had been a very promising position.<br />
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<strong>17. ... Qe8 18.Nc4</strong><br />
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Attempting to justify my knight sortie to e5 but why on earth would I want to trade my good knight for black's horrible knight on a5? This is a result of me not fully understanding the position and also my time trouble, which by this point was getting serious.<br />
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<strong>18.Nc4 Nc6 19.Ne4 Kb8 20.Nxf6 Rxf6 21.g5 Rf7 22.Nd2 e5 23.d5 Ne7 24.Ne4 Qa4</strong> <br />
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By now, things have gone badly awry for me. I knew that black would play <strong><em>24. ... Qa4</em></strong> but I couldn't see what else I could do except to take the plunge and play my Ne4 plan anyway.<br />
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<strong>25.Nc3 Qa5</strong><br />
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A huge surprise. I had assumed that black would play <strong><em>25. ... Qh4</em></strong> when I am going to have trouble holding both my f2 and g5 pawns. I'm not sure if Craig saw a ghost and perhaps thought his queen would be short of squares on h4, or if he just flat out missed it (he was also getting low on time by this point).<br />
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<strong>26.Kb1 Rhf8 27.f4 exf4 28.exf4 Nc8 29.Rh1 Qb4 30.Qd2 Nb6 31.a3 Qc4 32.Rde1 Rxf4 33.Rxh7 Rd4 34.Qe3 a6 35.Qe7 Rc8 36.Rg7</strong><br />
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The wrong piece! Correct was <strong><em>36. Qf7</em></strong>, as Jesse pointed out, because after I capture on g6 with the queen she will be guarding my c2 pawn. Also, my rook really doesn't want to be in front of the pawn. Jesse said it's something common we tell children, "rooks belong behind passed pawns!" He is quite right, of course, and my only excuse is that I had only a few minutes left on the clock. Indeed, I'd had only 4 minutes left to make 9 moves after making my 31st move.<br />
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<strong>36. ... Nxd5 37.Nxd5 Qxd5 38.Rxg6 Rd1+ 39.Rxd1 Qxd1+ 40.Ka2 Qd5+ 41.Kb1 Qd1+ ½–½</strong><br />
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I was surprised that Craig didn't capture my pawn on c2 and play on for a bit. He really has nothing to lose and can bail out into a perpetual check any time he wants it. During the post-game analysis he said he thought my g pawn was dangerous and he couldn't be sure if he was winning or losing if he didn't take the perpetual, so I suppose it was an understandable decision.<br />
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I thought this was a very interesting game. Looking back on it, with Jesse's comments still ringing in my ears, I think that neither my opponent or I fully grasped what was happening most of the time. I kept offering to trade pieces, despite having a big space advantage, and black kept declining despite the fact that this would have helped free up his position. On the other hand, I thought my opening preparation was pretty good and that both Craig and I fought well. A draw was the fair result in the end.<br />
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Here is the entire PGN of the game:<br />
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<b></b><br />
<div align="LEFT">
<b>Hayes,Matthew (2124) - Faber,Craig Allen (2123) [A80]</b></div>
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</b><span style="font-size: x-small;"></span><br />
<div align="LEFT">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Istvanyi Open Arcadia (4), 22.09.2014</span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
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<div align="JUSTIFY">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">1.d4 f5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bf4 Nf6 4.h3 g6 5.e3 Bg7 6.Bc4 e6 7.g4 Qe7 8.Rg1 fxg4 9.hxg4 Nc6 10.Nc3 Bd7 11.Qe2 0–0–0 12.0–0–0 Na5 13.Bb5 Rdf8 14.Bg5 Qe8 15.Bxd7+ Qxd7 16.Bxf6 Bxf6 17.Ne5 Qe8 18.Nc4 Nc6 19.Ne4 Kb8 20.Nxf6 Rxf6 21.g5 Rf7 22.Nd2 e5 23.d5 Ne7 24.Ne4 Qa4 25.Nc3 Qa5 26.Kb1 Rhf8 27.f4 exf4 28.exf4 Nc8 29.Rh1 Qb4 30.Qd2 Nb6 31.a3 Qc4 32.Rde1 Rxf4 33.Rxh7 Rd4 34.Qe3 a6 35.Qe7 Rc8 36.Rg7 Nxd5 37.Nxd5 Qxd5 38.Rxg6 Rd1+ 39.Rxd1 Qxd1+ 40.Ka2 Qd5+ 41.Kb1 Qd1+ ½–½</span></div>
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Matt Hayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03057037670306051027noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6588059171428277124.post-34344670265555726372014-09-18T23:17:00.000-07:002014-09-25T14:57:31.448-07:00How to Lose a Drawn (or Won!) PositionIt doesn't matter who you are, whether you are 600 rated junior, a 1500 rated club player, or World Champion Magnus Carlsen. At some point in your chess career, you have had an opponent totally crushed only to blunder in spectacular style and be left sitting with your head in your hands. I suspect it's happened to most of us more than we would care to admit and I know I have had my fair share of disasters where I have blown beautiful games by either overlooking simple tactics or, even worse, by relaxing and assuming a position will win itself.<br />
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I would like to share a few games of mine where this has happened and I had the black pieces in all four games. In the first two games, I was the one who ended up losing what should have been won or drawn games. In the final two games, I turned the tables on after my opponents blundered in vastly superior positions.<br />
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<strong><u>Game 1 - My First Swiss Game</u></strong><br />
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The first position is one I have reconstructed from memory as I no longer have the game score. This was my first ever game in a weekend Swiss tournament. It was played in Portsmouth, England in about 2001. I had completely outplayed my opponent and had been sat in my chair for some time wondering when he was going to resign. I was up a rook and three pawns and just couldn't understand why he was playing on. I had just pushed my c pawn and my opponent moved his queen to e7, threatening checkmate by <strong><em>Qh7#</em></strong> and <strong><em>Qf7#</em></strong>. I had foreseen this move and thought it was no big deal because I would just defend on the 7th rank. Surely then my opponent would call it quits!<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9Vqk_yae0Mc/VBulglyIaII/AAAAAAAAAh8/pAhRTDE4uzM/s1600/firsttourney.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9Vqk_yae0Mc/VBulglyIaII/AAAAAAAAAh8/pAhRTDE4uzM/s1600/firsttourney.png" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">NN - Hayes, Portsmouth 2001</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Thinking I had everything under control, I flicked out <strong>1. ... Rb7</strong>, which defended against both mating threats from white's queen. There is only one problem with this move, which I am sure you'll see. White was actually threatening a third checkmate and he slowly reached his hand towards the bishop on g6 and played <strong>2. Bh7#</strong>. <br />
<br />
Ouch! To make matters worse, my opponent even said, "I'm sorry" as he planted the bishop on h7. I sat there dumbfounded for a couple of minutes, wondering where it had all gone wrong. The truth was, it went wrong when I started to relax and didn't take white's threats seriously. I assumed I had a winning position, which was true, but I also assumed the game would win itself and that white would throw in the towel without making any effort. Big mistake!<br />
<strong><u></u></strong><br />
<strong><u>Game 2 - Singing the Wrong Song</u></strong><br />
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The position below was taken from a game I played earlier this year against NM Melandro Singson. I had comfortably equalized as black against his London System and we reached this position after white's 30th move:<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-O9xHERybB8M/VBuyLJqCzHI/AAAAAAAAAiM/pm3SJnT_4hc/s1600/singson-hayes.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-O9xHERybB8M/VBuyLJqCzHI/AAAAAAAAAiM/pm3SJnT_4hc/s1600/singson-hayes.png" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Singson - Hayes, Arcadia 2014</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Black should be completely fine here. In fact, Fritz thinks that black is just fractionally better (by less than 0.1 pawns). After the normal looking <strong><em>30. ... Qd6</em></strong>, white would have to be a little concerned about his king's safety. It's nothing special but should be easier to play for black. Instead, I had a meltdown in time trouble and played the horrible <strong>30. ... g5??</strong> which loses on the spot to <strong>31. Qxe7+</strong>. I had hallucinated that this move wasn't possible because of <strong>31. ... Rxe7</strong>, winning white's queen, but of course white just plays <strong>32. Rxe7+,</strong> which not only regains the queen but also picks up the a pawn to boot. Seeing that I would be down two pawns for zero compensation, I resigned right away and wished the game hadn't been on top board where so many people had crowded round!<br />
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<strong><u>Game 3 - Acon Artist</u></strong><br />
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The third game is one where I should have been totally busted but swindled a win. In the Pacific Southwest Open in July 2007, I had had a miserable tournament. Going into the last round, I had only won one game and that was against a 1600 player. I was paired against Jennifer Acon, rated 1856 but she had been around 2000 before. She had obviously had a similarly miserable tournament and was eager to finish on a high note. For a long while, it looked as though that would be the case as she outplayed me in the middlegame and I was forced to give up the exchange to stave off her mating threats.<br />
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After 29 moves we reached the position below. In the long term this will be winning for white, not only because of the exchange but also because her queen is beautifully centralized, her rook on f1 controls the only open file on the board, and her king is much safer than mine. I had kept my knight on e5 to play for the only trick I could potentially see in the position and, fortunately for me, Jennifer fell right into it. Most moves should be good for white here. The computer assesses that both <strong><em>30. Qd5 </em></strong> and <strong><em>30. Kh1 </em></strong> give white a two pawn advantage. My opponent got a little greedy and decided to pile up on my d6 pawn, presumably thinking of playing for b4 and then c5 afterwards. She played the natural looking <strong>30. Rd1</strong>. Try to work out why this is a terrible blunder.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GDhNJG5ZBLY/VBvEOR6KCbI/AAAAAAAAAic/Jt1wczzKy6w/s1600/acon.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GDhNJG5ZBLY/VBvEOR6KCbI/AAAAAAAAAic/Jt1wczzKy6w/s1600/acon.png" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Acon - Hayes, Burbank 2007</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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The answer is the surprising looking <strong>30. ... Qxh3!!</strong>, leading to a highly favorable (probably winning) rook endgame for black after <strong>31. gxf3 Nf3+</strong>, regaining the queen and leaving white with a shattered pawn structure. I eventually converted the ending without too many problems.<br />
<br />
<strong><u>Game 4 - A Tasty Skewer</u></strong><br />
<br />
David Argall has been a regular opponent of mine for a number of years. He won most of our early encounters, back when he was a strong expert and long before I was rated over 2000. Back then, I was content to scrap for the odd draw among the numerous losses David inflicted on me. In the last few years, however, the tables have turned somewhat and, out of the last five games we have played, I have won four and the other was a draw.<br />
<br />
In this game, I had suffered a catastrophe in the middlegame, had shed a pawn, and then bizarrely went into an endgame that was completely lost for me. I had just played <strong>46. ... Ke6</strong>, which is a total bluff. At a glance, it looks like I am threatening to play Ra5+, picking up the rook, but this is an illusion. White should just play <strong><em>47. c7</em></strong> and it's all over. Sure, I can win the rook but what am I going to do when he queens his c pawn? The position is resignable for black but, then again, it had been for some time and I was playing for a swindle.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oSnhi1jqhWE/VBvH5tWLP6I/AAAAAAAAAio/ZyoAkQZqfBI/s1600/argall1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oSnhi1jqhWE/VBvH5tWLP6I/AAAAAAAAAio/ZyoAkQZqfBI/s1600/argall1.png" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Argall - Hayes, Arcadia 2010</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
David obviously believed my bluff because he didn't play <strong><em>47. c7</em></strong>. He disregarded that move, probably saw that his a pawn was inconveniently hanging, and figured that trading his a pawn for my g pawn was a fair exchange. I could hardly believe my eyes when he flicked out <strong>47. Rxg5??</strong>, which lost on the spot to <strong>47. ... Ra5+</strong>, skewing the king and rook. There is no hope that white can queen his c pawn afterwards either; it's simply not advanced enough and black will have no problem stopping it with his king and rook.<br />
<br />
I hope you enjoyed these blunder-fests. It goes to show that we all make mistakes but, more importantly, that it's always worth playing on a while even in a bad position. I know some people will say it's disrespectful not to resign but let's take the first game for example. Yes, my opponent in Portsmouth was completely busted for a long time but who am I to tell him he should have resigned a game that he ended up winning? I don't believe in playing on until checkmate but I think one should at least make the opponent show that he knows how to win. Plus, you never know, he might overlook something and suddenly you have turned a lost game into a draw or win.Matt Hayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03057037670306051027noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6588059171428277124.post-36780467212895738462014-09-16T08:48:00.001-07:002014-09-16T10:26:14.735-07:00It's Better to be Lucky Than GoodLast night at the Arcadia Chess Club I faced off against long-time nemesis Gordon Brooks. Gordon and I had played each other ten times previously, with the score heavily in my favor (+5 =4 -1). However, I was extremely lucky in at least a couple of those games, taking advantage of Gordon's addiction to time trouble to turn lost or drawn positions into wins. Gordon has also been making a bit of a comeback lately; after hovering near his 1900 rating floor for a long time, he is back up to 1962. As he used to be rated over 2100, I couldn't take anything for granted.<br />
<br />
I knew I would have the black pieces and knew that Gordon would play the English Opening. He is one of those players who is easy to prepare for, because he usually plays the same thing, but what he does play he knows very well and this can make him a dangerous opponent. I had done some preparation over the weekend but, right up until I made my first move, I wasn't 100% sure if I would play 1. ... e5 or 1. ... c5. I had prepared something in both lines based on the moves Gordon had made in our earlier games. As it turned out, I opted for 1. ... e5 and obtained what I thought was a pleasant position out of the opening but Fritz disagrees completely.<br />
<br />
<strong>1.c4 e5 2.g3 Nc6 3.Bg2 f5 4.Nc3 Nf6 5.d3 Bb4</strong><br />
<br />
In a previous game of ours in this line, Gordon had played <strong><em>5. Nf3?!</em></strong> which is a bit dubious after <strong><em>5. ... e4</em></strong>. <strong><em>5. ... Bb4 </em></strong> is a standard response (Bc5 is also playable), looking to trade on c3 and double white's pawns.<br />
<br />
<strong>6.Bd2 0–0 7.Nf3 d6 8.0–0 Bxc3</strong> <br />
<br />
The first of several dubious decisions by me. Capturing on c3 makes more sense if white has spent a tempo by playing a3 first. I was concerned about the knight jumping into d5 but, with hindsight, I don't think this is particularly dangerous.<br />
<br />
<strong>9.Bxc3 Qe8 </strong><br />
<br />
A standard maneuver for black in the e5 English.<br />
<br />
<strong>10.Qd2 h6</strong> <br />
<br />
Probably OK but I should have seriously considered shoring up the queenside first by playing Rb8 and b6 at the earliest opportunity. <strong><em>10. ... h6</em></strong> does prevent black from playing his queen to g5 but I shouldn't have been so concerned about that. Black can either trade queens or drop his own queen back and play h6 later.<br />
<br />
<strong>11.b4 Qh5 12.b5 Ne7 13.a4 Ng4</strong> <br />
<br />
Fritz doesn't like this at all. White is starting to get some serious play on the queenside, the very side of the board I have been neglecting. Again, black would have still had decent attacking chances after securing the queenside first.<br />
<br />
<strong>14.h3 Nf6 15.Nh2</strong><br />
<br />
After white's 15th move, we reached this position:<br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3OFmHPTmCEU/VBg6Fg-5MGI/AAAAAAAAAg0/gyBl66yW-bQ/s1600/hayes-brooks1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3OFmHPTmCEU/VBg6Fg-5MGI/AAAAAAAAAg0/gyBl66yW-bQ/s1600/hayes-brooks1.png" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
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It's clear that white is counting on his queenside activity to distract black from his own play on the kingside. However, in addition to unleashing the bishop on g2, <strong><em>15. Nh2</em></strong> had another point: white wants to play f4. I knew Gordon wanted to play f4 and had to decide how to meet this. The computer says that black should play <strong><em>15. ... f4! </em></strong> himself and, even though white is slightly better, there's not too much in it. Unfortunately, I decided to be hyper-aggressive and banged out the scary looking but incorrect...<br />
<br />
<strong>15. ... g5 16.f4 gxf4 17.gxf4 Ng6 18.e3</strong><br />
<br />
Which lead us to this position:<br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oOOFnIXST24/VBg6F8G4BaI/AAAAAAAAAg8/T7vFnLerCmQ/s1600/hayes-brooks2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oOOFnIXST24/VBg6F8G4BaI/AAAAAAAAAg8/T7vFnLerCmQ/s1600/hayes-brooks2.png" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
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The position is now becoming critical and I realized I had committed one of GM Jesse Kraai's cardinal sins, namely playing with my "pretty pieces" before I had completed my development. True, the bishop on c8 does potentially play a role in the attack but my rook on a8 isn't too happy, especially with white's g2 bishop eyeing it. I should just bite the bullet and play <strong><em>18. ... Rb8</em></strong> and then develop the bishop to d7 or e6. Instead, I decided to be flashy but made a crucial miscalculation. I decided I would sac the exchange on a8 in return for winning white's h pawn. This wouldn't have won a pawn, since black would also win my b7 pawn, but I thought it would open his king up enough to give me some chances. This was really playing "hope chess" in many ways because, if we look at the force count over on the kingside, black will have at best four attackers (the queen, rook and both knights) but that won't happen immediately because I'm going to spend two tempi capturing the bishop on a8 once it takes my rook and then moving it back to f8. In the meantime, white already has queen, rook and knight defending his kingside and it's easy to get the other rook involved via a2. Watch what happens...</div>
<br />
<strong>18. ... Be6 19.Bxb7 Qxh3 </strong><br />
<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-koIjJyFfnQE/VBg6F9AWTgI/AAAAAAAAAg4/I55K0HjHlGY/s1600/hayes-brooks3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-koIjJyFfnQE/VBg6F9AWTgI/AAAAAAAAAg4/I55K0HjHlGY/s1600/hayes-brooks3.png" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Here I have missed my last chance to bail out and just accept being down a pawn and having a significantly worse position. If I had moved the a8 rook to safety instead of sacrificing the exchange, black is much worse but I can play on. Instead, I had played <strong><em>19. ... Qxh3</em></strong> thinking I would have reasonable compensation for the exchange due to white's insecure king and my dangerous looking knights. In reality, white's king would be perfectly safe tucked away on h1 and my king's safety isn't much better. It's nowhere near enough for the exchange.<br />
<br />
Here's what I had missed:<br />
<br />
<strong>20.Bxa8 Rxa8 21.Qg2!</strong><br />
<br />
And I have a major problem. I had hallucinated that this move wasn't possible because of <strong><em>21. ... Qxe3+</em></strong> but it doesn't work. White will just play <strong><em>22. Kh1 </em></strong> and suddenly my a8 rook and g6 knight are en prise. Black would be totally busted. This was another consequence of my dubious g5 pawn push earlier in the game; opening the g file has been to white's benefit, not black's.<br />
<br />
Funnily enough, Fritz says that <strong><em>20. Rf3</em></strong> is even better when black's queen is suddenly in danger of being trapped. The text move is still winning, however.<br />
<br />
After white's 21st move, I knew I was dead lost with the queens coming off the board but what to do? All I can do is play on and try to find some way to generate complications.<br />
<br />
<strong>21.... Qxg2+ 22.Kxg2 Kf7 23.fxe5 dxe5 24.Nf3 Ng4 </strong><br />
<br />
At least now I am finally following all of the computer's top recommended moves. Better late than never! After black's 24th move we reached the position below. Gordon was starting to get a bit low on time (as was I) and he had cracked in time pressure in some of our games in the past. White should play <strong><em>25. Rfe1</em></strong> but Gordon played <strong><em>25. Rae1 </em></strong> instead. At a glance, it looks natural to want to keep the rook on f1 where it is because it opposes black's king on f7. However, there is no real way to exploit that at the moment and we'll see in a moment why <strong><em>25. Rae1</em></strong> is a mistake.<br />
<br />
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<strong>25.Rae1 Rd8!</strong></div>
<br />
White suddenly has problems holding all of his pawns.<br />
<br />
<strong> 26.d4 Bxc4 27.Nxe5+ N4xe5 28.Rxf5+ Ke6</strong> <br />
<br />
Here Gordon's time pressure was getting severe and he had a total meltdown. He should just concede that things have gone awry and play <strong><em>29. Rxe5+ Nxe5 30. dxe5 </em></strong> and we reach an endgame where white is up a pawn but black has excellent drawing chances. Psychologically, that's a tough adjustment to make when white was winning only a few moves ago. Instead, Gordon opts to go into a position where black has two pieces for a rook and is much better.<br />
<br />
<strong>29.Rh5 Nd3 30.Rd1 </strong><br />
<br />
And we reached the position below. Black to play and win.<br />
<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JWh6gxcKBuQ/VBg6GpfsFTI/AAAAAAAAAhI/_Mr2czvLxa8/s1600/hayes-brooks5.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JWh6gxcKBuQ/VBg6GpfsFTI/AAAAAAAAAhI/_Mr2czvLxa8/s1600/hayes-brooks5.png" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<strong>30. ... Ndf4+ 31.Kf2 </strong><br />
<strong><br /></strong>Compounding the problem. White needs to play <strong><em>31. exf4</em></strong> so at least he is only dropping the exchange and not an entire rook.<br />
<br />
<strong>31. ... Nxh5 32.Rh1 Rf8+ 33.Ke1 Ng3 34.Rxh6 Rf1+ 35.Kd2 Ne4+ 36.Kc2 Rf2+ 0–1</strong><br />
<br />
Gordon resigned. Even though black isn't winning a piece immediately (if I take the c3 bishop my knight on g6 hangs), black can just play the calm <strong><em>37. ... Kf6 </em></strong> (after white's king moves out of check) and white is down two pieces, his bishop is still en prise, and is king is close to being in a mating net too.<br />
<br />
This was a very curious game, probably quite typical of amateurs where the advantage shifted dramatically from one side to the other in the space of a few moves. I was not at all happy with how I played up to move 22 but, once I had calmed down and realized that, yes, my position was objectively lost but I could still create some complications, I felt I played quite well. I was certainly aided by Gordon making a number of terrible blunders, which can at least partly be explained by his time trouble. The crowd of people that had gathered around to watch the game only increased the tension.<br />
<br />
I will look forward to my next encounter with Gordon. Our games are usually very interesting and this wasn't the first time I had gotten out of jail, so to speak. In fact, it was at least the third time (although ironically, in our last game it was the other way around where I had thrown the game away after absent mindedly walking into a pawn fork on my king and rook).<br />
<br />
Here is the complete PGN:<br />
<b><br />
</b><br />
<div align="LEFT">
<b>Brooks,L Gordon (1962) - Hayes,Matthew (2124) [A25]</b></div>
<b>
</b><span style="font-size: x-small;"></span><br />
<div align="LEFT">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Istvanyi Open Arcadia (3), 15.09.2014</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">1.c4 e5 2.g3 Nc6 3.Bg2 f5 4.Nc3 Nf6 5.d3 Bb4 6.Bd2 0–0 7.Nf3 d6 8.0–0 Bxc3 9.Bxc3 Qe8 10.Qd2 h6 11.b4 Qh5 12.b5 Ne7 13.a4 Ng4 14.h3 Nf6 15.Nh2 g5 16.f4 gxf4 17.gxf4 Ng6 18.e3 Be6 19.Bxb7 Qxh3 20.Bxa8 Rxa8 21.Qg2 Qxg2+ 22.Kxg2 Kf7 23.fxe5 dxe5 24.Nf3 Ng4 25.Rae1 Rd8 26.d4 Bxc4 27.Nxe5+ N4xe5 28.Rxf5+ Ke6 29.Rh5 Nd3 30.Rd1 Ndf4+ 31.Kf2 Nxh5 32.Rh1 Rf8+ 33.Ke1 Ng3 34.Rxh6 Rf1+ 35.Kd2 Ne4+ 36.Kc2 Rf2+ 0–1</span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
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</span><br />
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<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
<br />
</span>Matt Hayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03057037670306051027noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6588059171428277124.post-91678158440579411972014-09-15T09:17:00.002-07:002014-09-16T09:08:34.600-07:00Introduction Part 6: A Local to SoCalAfter the Blacknight Memorial Day event, I played in two more tournaments in 2004. In July I travelled six hours from the Monterey area to Los Angeles for the 44th Pacific Southwest Open. Here I made the mistake of getting very little sleep (a real killer for most people's chess creativity) and paying the price by losing the first two rounds. I did win the rest of my games after that but the damage was done and I finished outside the prizes. Regardless, I loved every minute of it because I stayed at the LAX Hilton, where the tournament was being held, and met several new chess friends. I may post a later blog on this tournament and the lessons I learned.<br />
<br />
In October 2004 I "played" in the Burlingame Open near San Jose. I hesitate to use the word "played" simply because I withdrew after the first round following a total debacle against a 1500. This would be the only time I would withdraw from a tournament after one bad game, although I have since withdrawn after a series of <em>good </em> games in order to protect my rating. I then played no further rated games for over a year.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gtOE340KUcg/VBcRrAuclPI/AAAAAAAAAgk/NBVbQaWzDw0/s1600/hayes-head-arcadia.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gtOE340KUcg/VBcRrAuclPI/AAAAAAAAAgk/NBVbQaWzDw0/s1600/hayes-head-arcadia.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Playing black against Bob Head at the<br />
Arcadia Chess Club.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
In August 2005 I moved to Southern California to start a new job. I quickly started looking around for a chess club and found that the chess scene in the Los Angeles area is quite vibrant. It's not on the same level as New York but there are many clubs and a lot of strong players. I soon settled on the <a href="http://www.arcadiachessclub.com/" target="_blank">Arcadia Chess Club</a>, where I have been playing ever since. The club meets on Mondays at 6:00pm and, because there are a number of strong experts and masters who have played there, my chess education grew in leaps in bounds. I was rated 1682 in my first tournament in Arcadia, the Richard Morris Memorial in December 2005, and went as high as 2132 (currently 2124). Admittedly, that 450 point jump came over a period of about eight years but, on the other hand, I was in my late 20's and early 30's and it is not easy to gain so many points when one is older. True, I was not old physically but, in chess years, most people make that kind of progress when they are a teenager and not well into adulthood. Oh to be one of those kids who gains hundreds of points and makes expert in their early teens or sooner!<br />
<br />
This marks the end of the introduction to my chess career thus far. My future blog posts will focus mostly on my current chess activities, analyzing recent games and so forth. I will also make some posts about past games but they won't follow any particular chronological order like the introduction has.Matt Hayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03057037670306051027noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6588059171428277124.post-76158404497449321842014-09-12T23:49:00.000-07:002014-09-15T07:47:17.630-07:00Introduction Part 5: The Schiller TestThe first round pairings of the Blacknight Memorial Day tournament had me as white against FM Eric Schiller. This would be the first titled player I had ever played and I was not optimistic about my chances. As it turned out, the game was much closer than I had anticipated and should have been drawn with best play. Indeed, Eric later admitted he completely missed my 13th move. Looking back over the game now through "expert eyes", I think I played exceptionally well given that I was rated under 1800 and my opponent was a well known FIDE Master.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qmmARCwW07s/VBPkFHiWBHI/AAAAAAAAAfw/ISKmniziztA/s1600/hayes_schiller2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qmmARCwW07s/VBPkFHiWBHI/AAAAAAAAAfw/ISKmniziztA/s1600/hayes_schiller2.png" /></a></div>
<br />
This is the first crucial position. Schiller has just played <strong>12. ... Qxd5</strong> and Fritz says that black is slightly better, probably because of his better development (the rook on c8) and white's isolated d pawn. There is also some uncomfortable pressure on the knight on f3 thanks to the pin from black's bishop.<br />
<br />
The move I played is the computer's first choice and equalizes for white. The computer's second choice, <em><strong>12. ... h3?!</strong></em>, gives black a 0.6 pawn advantage.<br />
<br />
In this position I played <strong>13. Ne5!</strong> which radically resolves the problem of the pinned knight. I am essentially offering a queen trade. At a glance it looks like black can win a pawn by playing <strong><em>13. ... Qxg2+ 14. Kxg2 Bxd1 15. Rfxd1 Nxe5 16. dxe5 Bxe5</em></strong> but black will have his a pawn en prise at the end of the combination. White is also not obliged to play <strong><em>15. Rfxd1</em></strong> and could flick in <strong><em>15. Nxc6</em></strong> instead. Schiller opted to play the first three moves of the combination but then played his knight to b4 instead of capturing the pawn on e5.<br />
<br />
As the game went on, more pieces were traded off and we ended up in a rook ending. Rook endings are notoriously tricky things, even for high rated players, and it's no surprise that I blundered.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-i3g1GM6kJ9Y/VBPmfUM63II/AAAAAAAAAf4/azJyjBenDjw/s1600/hayes_schiller3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-i3g1GM6kJ9Y/VBPmfUM63II/AAAAAAAAAf4/azJyjBenDjw/s1600/hayes_schiller3.png" /></a></div>
<br />
In the position above, I had already tried to be too flashy by temporarily sacrificing a pawn, figuring I would just pick off his a pawns. This was faulty logic for two reasons: 1) My b pawn is a potential target, and 2) I still need to spend a tempo to actually capture the sacrificed pawn and then another to grab the other a pawn.<br />
<br />
Consequently, the game is now in the balance and I had to decide between <strong><em>33. Kf2 </em></strong> and <strong><em>33. Kf3 </em></strong> (of course, taking either a pawn is out of the question because my g pawn is hanging). Unfortunately, I blundered by playing <strong>33. Kf2?</strong> and Eric banged out <strong>33. ... Rb1</strong> immediately. The reason the king should be on f3 is because, when black captures my b pawn, it won't be with check. I can't defend the pawn with my rook and I am still down a pawn. I resigned a few moves later, after trying a couple of cheapos.<br />
<br />
After the game, Eric and I had lunch at Denny's where he regaled me with tales of his dealings with Kasparov and Kramnik in their 2000 World Championship match. As I had been in the audience for two of the games, this was especially interesting to me.<br />
<br />
Here is the complete PGN of my game with Schiller:<br />
<strong>
</strong><br />
<div align="LEFT">
<b></b><br />
<div align="LEFT">
<b>Hayes,Matthew (1775) - Schiller,Eric (2223) [B14]</b></div>
<b>
</b><span style="font-size: x-small;"></span><br />
<div align="LEFT">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Blacknight Memorial Day San Jose (1), 29.05.2004</span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
<br />
</span><div align="JUSTIFY">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">1.d4 g6 2.Nf3 Bg7 3.e4 c5 4.c3 cxd4 5.cxd4 d5 6.exd5 Nf6 7.Nc3 0–0 8.g3 Nxd5 9.Bg2 Nc6 10.0–0 Bg4 11.Be3 Rc8 12.Nxd5 Qxd5 13.Ne5 Qxg2+ 14.Kxg2 Bxd1 15.Rfxd1 Nb4 16.Rac1 Rfd8 17.a3 Nd5 18.Nd3 Kf8 19.Kf3 Ke8 20.h3 b6 21.Ne5 Nxe3 22.Kxe3 f5 23.Nc6 Rd6 24.Ne5 Rxc1 25.Rxc1 Bxe5 26.dxe5 Rd5 27.f4 Kd7 28.Rc4 b5 29.Rc2 Rd1 30.Rc5 a6 31.a4 bxa4 32.Ra5 Rg1 33.Kf2 Rb1 34.Rxa6 Rxb2+ 35.Ke3 Rb3+ 36.Kd4 Rxg3 37.Rxa4 Rxh3 38.Ra7+ Ke6 39.Ra6+ Kf7 0–1</span></div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">
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<div align="JUSTIFY">
<br /></div>
<br />
</span><br /></div>
Matt Hayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03057037670306051027noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6588059171428277124.post-50315307427413896122014-09-12T13:43:00.000-07:002014-09-12T23:50:00.548-07:00Introduction Part 4: Provisionally RatedA few months after my success in the Paso Robles Winter Open, I signed up to play in their Spring Open tournament. The turnout was a little disappointing but not as discouraging as my play. In the first round, I took on Randy Hough but contrived to get my knight trapped in a drawish looking ending. After a couple of routine wins against lower rated players, I then lost horribly to a 1600 and finished on only 2/4. This took my provisional rating from 1772, earned after the Winter Open, to 1761. Hardly a huge drop but I was more annoyed by how I had played than any rating points lost.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Jt2GEJXDzmg/VBNX5NAuWVI/AAAAAAAAAe0/BjpUSD9-br4/s1600/paso_spring_open.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Jt2GEJXDzmg/VBNX5NAuWVI/AAAAAAAAAe0/BjpUSD9-br4/s1600/paso_spring_open.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chatting with Tim Forney at the<br />
2004 Paso Robles Spring Open tournament.</td></tr>
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On the plus side, I did make some new acquaintances, including the very amiable Tim Forney and strong expert John Williams (who I would finally get to play years later in the Amateur Team West). John tied for second with Arthur Wang (sadly now deceased), half a point behind winner Danyul Lawrence.<br />
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My appetite for tournament chess had been whetted and, just a couple of weeks later, I played in my first ever two day tournament (the Paso Robles tournaments had both started and finished the same day). The Blacknight Memorial Day tournament was held in San Jose, which was a bit of a distance so I stayed overnight at a hotel near the playing venue. It took me a while to find exactly where the playing room was because the tournament was at a large, sprawling school that had nobody around I could ask for directions.<br />
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When I finally found the playing room, I noticed that the top seed was FM Eric Schiller, famous (or infamous?) in chess circles for his prolific writing. I also recognized him from the Kasparov-Kramnik World Championship match in 2000, where Eric was the arbiter. I had attended two of the games in the match and Eric was always on stage when the games were starting and ending. I was secretly hoping I would get the chance to play him, despite the likelihood of being soundly beaten. Sure enough, when the pairings were posted, I had white against Eric. My first ever game against a titled player was about to be very interesting.Matt Hayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03057037670306051027noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6588059171428277124.post-28289326733488472782014-09-12T09:01:00.000-07:002014-09-13T09:42:24.376-07:00Introduction Part 3: California Dreamin'I moved to California in August 2002 but neglected chess for some time, not playing in any tournaments, until I found the Paso Robles Chess Club in 2003 which was about 45 minutes away. I got to know the club's President, Dennis Steele, a very pleasant but curious character who would later run for Governor of Vermont. I stayed over at Dennis' house after helping him with a scholastic tournament and he showed me the early work he had done on a new site he was launching called <a href="http://www.chessmaniac.com/" target="_blank">Chess Maniac</a>.<br />
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Another interesting character I came across was Warren Williamson, who mostly played in San Luis Obispo (which I had also begun to attend, albeit infrequently) but also played in Paso Robles from time to time. We travelled together to my first ever tournament in the U.S., the Central California Chess Congress in Stockton. Warren was rated around 1900 at the time so had to enter the Open section, whereas I was unrated and so played in the lower section.<br />
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Despite his rather distracting habit of bringing his own kettle with which to brew tea during games, Warren was a very nice and sporting player who I looked up to in my early chess days in California. He was good at blitz, had a keen eye for tactics, and had previously been an expert with a 2000 rating. This was something that seemed a long way off for me and I was very impressed to meet somebody with such a high rating!<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IE6xhxtLeJM/VBMYKAGhDAI/AAAAAAAAAec/Itu-Yhs76vo/s1600/paso_winter_open.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IE6xhxtLeJM/VBMYKAGhDAI/AAAAAAAAAec/Itu-Yhs76vo/s1600/paso_winter_open.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Paso Robles Winter Open, 2004. I am in the bottom left, <br />
engrossed in thought against expert Remy Le.</td></tr>
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The Central California Chess Congress turned out to be a successful proving ground and I finished tied for second place in my section. However, the player who actually finished first was ineligible for some reason (I forget why) and I won the trophy courtesy of a playoff against the other people who I had tied with. This first tournament gave me a provisional rating of 1619.<br />
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After this initial success, I continued to play in Paso Robles and San Luis Obispo but did not play any rated games for nearly a year. In early 2004, the Paso Robles Chess Club held its first ever tournament, the Winter Open, and I duly signed up. The tournament was a big success for me as I tied for first and had my first draw against an expert, an exchange student named Remy Le. He wasn't best pleased about conceding the draw and naturally had to point out the multitude of ways he could have won but for his carelessness. I won my other three games to finish with 3.5/4. Also tied for first was Randy Hough who, although I didn't know it yet, would become a friend and one of my regular opponents in Southern California.Matt Hayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03057037670306051027noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6588059171428277124.post-5205519922495804792014-09-12T00:06:00.002-07:002014-09-13T16:57:41.091-07:00Introduction Part 2: Hot StuffAfter a few months of studying and repeated viewings of <em>Searching for Bobby Fischer</em>, I felt confident enough to return to my childhood chess club. <a href="http://www.horshamchessclub.org.uk/" target="_blank">Horsham Chess Club</a> had been in existence since 1879 and was one of the oldest in Great Britain. As a kid, I had always attended the junior classes and hadn't been allowed to play against the adults. At the ripe old age of sixteen, I decided I was now ready to play in the "grown up" tournaments.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_IOKI4qu8tQ/VBPWZ1n0MGI/AAAAAAAAAfc/JHqVunXfo5U/s1600/IMG_1110.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-_IOKI4qu8tQ/VBPWZ1n0MGI/AAAAAAAAAfc/JHqVunXfo5U/s1600/IMG_1110.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">London Road Methodist Church where <br />
Horsham Chess Club played (and still plays to this day).</td></tr>
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I turned up at the club thinking I was hot stuff. All those weeks of studying my beginner level chess books would surely pay off, right? Wrong! I did manage to beat my brother, who accompanied to the club for a few weeks before calling it quits, but aside from that I lost game after game after game. In fact, it was a full two months before I even earned my first draw. That draw would be my reward for much perseverance. Even though I had a completely winning position, I was so grateful when my opponent offered a draw that I nearly snatched his hand off trying to shake it.<br />
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Eventually, I started to win games, at first infrequently but it soon became common place. To be sure, I was hardly one of the better plays at the club but there were plenty of players I could hold my own against. I remember defeating Peter Harbott, consistently one of the club's higher rated players at that time, and drawing club champion James Mansson in a cup game (even though he comfortably won the rematch). Yes, things seemed to be looking up and, after a year or two, I was representing the club in team matches and was asked to play for the county, West Sussex, in the U125 section. (For those who don't know, the English Chess Federation uses a different rating system than the USCF.)<br />
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There were still some comical moments, like the two times I missed a mate in one on my move (fortunately, I still won one of the games but lost the other) or the time I dropped a piece on move eight in a match against another club, but overall my play was improving. A real highlight was winning Horsham Chess Club's Rook Trophy, awarded for coming first in the club's lower level tournament. I also won the Knight Trophy, given out to the Horsham player who had the best % in team competition.<br />
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By this time I had turned 22 years of age and, in an inexplicable moment of folly for my glittering chess career, decided to move to the middle of nowhere in central California.Matt Hayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03057037670306051027noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6588059171428277124.post-64531262161041115292009-09-03T11:28:00.000-07:002014-09-12T22:26:26.055-07:00Introduction Part 1: Have Your Cake and Eat It<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3ulpN3i-CDQ/VBPSuKrIhLI/AAAAAAAAAfU/CrFL790_osg/s1600/chess_bday.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3ulpN3i-CDQ/VBPSuKrIhLI/AAAAAAAAAfU/CrFL790_osg/s1600/chess_bday.jpg" height="247" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Blowing out the candles on my chess cake<br />
on my ninth or tenth birthday.</td></tr>
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My neighbor's daughter introduced me to chess when I was about 8-years-old. I still remember sitting in their living room with Sarah showing me how the pieces moved. I don't recall if I was instantly hooked but I was motivated enough to participate in my school's annual chess tournament. My run to the final was mostly routine, except for having to replay a game when my opponent and I finally realized that having a bare king each didn't constitute mating material. In the final, I played a kid named Andrew who crushed me mercilessly, the coup de grâce being a knight fork on my king and queen.<br /><br />Despite being outclassed by Andrew, it was encouraging that I had reached the final. I joined the junior classes in Horsham, my home town in the South of England. The junior classes started an hour before the adult competitions and finished just as the grown ups were arriving. There I was taught by Peter Alford, a lovely man who needed both good teaching skills and a lot of patience when working with us kids! <br />
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I never had many goals in my adolescent chess "career". I suppose I wanted to be competitive, to play to win, and to some day beat the higher rated adults at Horsham Chess Club who viewed the junior players with suspicion. But these goals were all very vague and, when I was about 11 years old, soccer and video games came along and interfered with what was surely my rise to super-GM status. I didn't have a love of chess or any specific expectations of myself. I merely liked the game and, if you want to do well at anything in life, that's rarely enough.<br />
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Thus, I let go of chess and largely forgot about it during my early and mid teenage years. Caissa, the goddess of chess, had apparently not forgotten me, however. When I was 15 years old my parents bought a satellite dish and I thought all my dreams had come true. Live soccer, movies only a few months old, and poorly dubbed Scandinavian adult films were all available at the click of a remote.<br />
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Less than a year later, I was channel hopping and happened to stumble across one of the movie channels. They were showing <em>Searching for Bobby Fischer</em>, aka <em>Innocent Moves</em> in the UK. I was fascinated and had flashbacks to my childhood chess days. I watched the movie a second time, absorbing the old video footage of the Spassky-Fischer match of 1972, the manic speed chess duels in Washington Square Park, and the love of chess so evident in the characters. I dug up my old beginner's chess book and went through each game one by one that night, with an old chess board spread out on my bed, until I fell asleep long after midnight, pieces scattered all around. Chess, it seemed, had not let go of me after all.Matt Hayeshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03057037670306051027noreply@blogger.com0