FC Chess Tournament 4

[anvi]

The second round game between Midas and Person has come to a close.  A brief analysis follows.

A Person (W) vs. Minion of Midas (B)
Scotch Game, Schmidt Variation

1.    e4      e5
2.   Nf3    Nc6
3.    d4    exd4
4.  Nxd4   Nf6
5.   Nc3   Bb4
6.   Bd2?

Black's pin of the White Knight with 5...Bb4 has left White's e4 pawn vulnerable to capture.  It is easily protected in standard lines with moves such as Bg5 or f3, sometimes preceded by Nxc6, giving Black doubled c-pawns.  This just loses a piece for nothing.

6.              Nxd4
7.  Nd5?

Having lost a piece, White still needs to protect the e-pawn.  This just allows Black to put his material lead securely in the bank.  7. e5 is best, especially since it forces Black to undevelop his f6-Knight and move it back to its home square.

7.                 Nxd5
8.  Bc4?

Inexplicable.  White can at least remain only a piece and a pawn down by forking Black's two exposed pieces.  8. c3 Nf6 9. cxb4 Nxe4 and, though he is still pretty much busted, at least he doesn't give away the store.

8.                   c6?

But Black returns the favor.  He had the chance to extend his material lead to two whole pieces with the simple 8...Bxd2+ 9. Qxd2 Nb4 10. O-O (either Knight is immune from capture because both advanced horses threaten ...Nxc2+ and a royal fork!) Nbc6.

9.   cxd5        Qe7+
10.  Be2        cxd5?

The blunderfest continues.  I have noticed that Midas, in certain situations where he has clearly won positions, has the habit of not just failing to convert them easily, but even letting his opponents back in the game.  Castling and then trading the Queens off gives Black a decisive endgame advantage.  White now jumps right back into the fight.

11.    Bxb4     Qxb4
12.      c3       Qxb2
13.    cxd3      Qc3+
14.     Kf1        O-O
15.     Rc1       Qb2

15...Qa5 is more accurate, as it also attacks the pawn on a2 and prevents the White Rook from infiltrating his position on c7.

16.     Rc2       Qb4

Both moves are again slightly inaccuracies.  White could have protected his a-pawn with 16 Qd2, reserving his Rook's right to barrel down the c-file, and Black should probably get his remaining pieces in play quickly with 16...d6 instead of making more Queen moves that don't accomplish anything.

17.      h4            d6
18.     Rh3??

Hard to know what Person had in mind here, but now the game goes permanently downhill.

18.                     Bxh3
19.     gxh3         Qa3
20.      Bg4            f5
21.      Bf3          Rac8
22.     Bxd5+       Kh8
23.      Qe2?

Why not defend the h pawns?

23.                       Rxc2
24.      Qxc2        Qxh3+
25.      Bg2          Qxh4
26.       d5            Re8
27.      Qc7          Qd4?

27...b5, and now that White has boxed himself in on the c-file, 28...Qc4+ will get the Queens off the board and leave Black, again, with a simple win.

28.       Qxd6?

White doesn't take notice of the fact that Black has placed him in a potential mating net.  It can be easily sidestepped by 28. Bf3.  But his game is quite lost anyway, so perhaps it's for the best to move on to the next round.

28.                         Qd1#

0-1                 

[minionofmidas]

But Black returns the favor.  He had the chance to extend his material lead to two whole pieces with the simple 8...Bxd2+ 9. Qxd2 Nb4 10. O-O (either Knight is immune from capture because both advanced horses threaten ...Nxc2+ and a royal fork!) Nbc6.

Beautifully simple and simply beautiful, but I did not see it.

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Only if white castles as well, no?
10. ... 0-0
11. Bxb4 Qxe2+ (or Nxe2)
12. Qxe2 Nxe2 (or Qxe2+)
13. Kxe2

And all I got is my king's castled and his is exposed, the material's even. I believe - I felt even as it played out - that there must have been a better way to play the situation but I don't think this is it.

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He just completely overlooked that I'd freed my bishop the move before, somehow. (I know this because I asked him.)

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I know, but figured I had reason to hope that

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and thought there was in this case nothing lost with testing the hypothesis - I could still switch to a long drawn out advance-pawns-and-trade-the-queens-at-some-point endgame if he freed his King (or moved the Queen to the baseline, yet another way to escape.)

[anvi]

Castling and then trading the Queens off gives Black a decisive endgame advantage.  

Only if white castles as well, no?
10. ... 0-0
11. Bxb4 Qxe2+ (or Nxe2)
12. Qxe2 Nxe2 (or Qxe2+)
13. Kxe2

And all I got is my king's castled and his is exposed, the material's even. I believe - I felt even as it played out - that there must have been a better way to play the situation but I don't think this is it.

It looks to me like it works either way, Lewis.  If 10. O-O 11. Bxb4 then 11...Qxb4+ 12, c3 Qxb2 13. cxd4 Re8 and now, since Black's Queen on b2 attacks the e2 square from its present position and the White Bishop is pinned, Black will on the next move be able to play ...Qxe2 and be a piece up no matter what White does.  Pins can be such convenient and beautiful things. 

[minionofmidas]

That's better!

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Can I get in on the next one of these, I would've liked to have participated in this one had I known about it.

[anvi]

Can I get in on the next one of these, I would've liked to have participated in this one had I known about it.

Sure jdb, stay tuned and we'll get you in next time.  Have you played a lot?

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Can I get in on the next one of these, I would've liked to have participated in this one had I known about it.

Sure jdb, stay tuned and we'll get you in next time.  Have you played a lot?

I'd say a decent amount, but I'm probably a bit rusty.

[homelycooking]

Congratulations, bore. Bad chess doesn't pay.

[anvi]

A two-post analysis of the fascinating second-round game between bore and homelycooking follows.  After I post it, I'll get standings and third-round pairings up so we can move on.

This game is highly valuable for instructional purposes, so I encourage those who want to become better at chess to play through it using the notes below.  It is an object lesson in three very crucial strategic respects.  It demonstrates, firstly, in the preferability of rapid minor-piece development to moving the mighty Queen around too many times in the opening.  But it also demonstrates the preferability of using the heavy pieces, Queen and Rook, at the right time when the opponent is most vulnerable.  Finally, the importance of finding the right vulnerable square in the opponent's position, and the willingness to do whatever it takes, including material sacrifice, in order to take optimal advantage of the weakness, also plays a crucial role at several points.  In short, this game is a good benchmark for how not to and how best to use minor and heavy pieces as well as how to spot weak squares.  White in this game gets himself into trouble by not observing the principles of development, and then Black blows many chances to win by not rightly exploiting a series of weak squares.  So take some time with this fascinating contest and internalize these principles, as they're very important for improving your game. 

However, there is yet another lesson from this game, more of a psychological one, that is well-worth learning, and that is the lesson of perseverance.  Perseverance is a crucial character trait in chess, whether you are at a present moment winning or losing.  Of course, if a position is hopelessly lost, one should usually gracefully concede.  But if you're down but not yet out, keep fighting!  On the other hand, if you're up, don't become complacent; keep concentrating until you actually execute the winning maneuver.  In the present game, bore, to his great credit, hangs in there long enough to dramatically turn the tables, while homelycooking, after missing a few obvious wins, appears to become dejected and stops paying careful attention to the board.  Chess is a game for fighters, and in this one, bore proved himself a fighter.

Senator Bore (W) vs. homelycooking (B)
Sicilian Defense, Smith-Morra Gambit

1,     e4           c5
2.     d4          cxd4
3.   Qxd4

This is no longer technically a gambit line, which would arise if White played the position like a number of other White gambits in 1. e4 lines, following up with 3. c3 or 3. Nf3.  The text move enables Black to equalize without difficulty by using tempo-gaining piece-developing moves attacking the White Queen.

3.                  Nc6
4.     Qd3       Nf6
5.     Nf3        e5!

I can't find this move in any opening database I have access to, but it certainly is the right one, and proves why this is such an easy line for Black to equalize in.  He takes command of the center.

6.     Be2?

Worth some consideration would seem to me 6. c4, attempting to lock down the d5-square in a Maroxcy Bind anti-Sicilian approach that would at least prevent Black from advancing his d-pawn.  But even the standard defense 6. Nc3 Bb4 7. Bg5 would protect White's vital e-pawn  The presence of the Bishop on the e2 square now however also enables Black to make the following annoying Knight advance.

6.                  Nb4
7.     Qd2?

A poor defense that loses material with no counterplay.  7. Qb3 Nxe4 8. O-O and now Black has his own e-pawn to worry about, since the Knight foray on move 6 left it without protection.

                    Nxe4
8.     Qd1       Bc5

Few variations could more successfully illustrate why too many Queen moves in the opening can spell big trouble for the player who makes them!

9,     O-O      Qb6

The same effect could have been accomplished with 9...Nxf2 10. Kxf2 Qb6 11. Nc3 Bxf2+ 12. Kf1, but, either way, Black is firmly in the driver's seat.

10.     g3?

The game so far, once again, is becoming a lesson in the importance of quick development.  White must get his queenside pieces into the game as quickly as possible with something like 10. Nc3.  The g-pawn advance serves no purpose.

10.                Bxf2+?

More forcing and worth more material is 10...Nxf2 11. Rxf2 Bxf2+ 12. Kg2 and now Black has, in addition to his already-won pawn, a rook and a pawn for a Knight.

11.     Kg2      d5?
12.     c3?

White misses a golden opportunity to get back in the game.  He can regain the pawn here with 12. Nc3 Bf5 13. Nxd5 Nxd5 14. Qxd5.

12.                   Nc6

The position has unexpectedly become very dynamic and interesting.  White, who was in such trouble a few moves ago, has been given a new lease on life with Black's last two inaccuracies, and now the straightforward 13. Qxd5 or positional 13. c4 are both options.

13.     Qa4?

A mistake, as now Black can liquidate with 13...Be3! 14. Qc2 Bxc1 followed by 15...O-O and Black is again comfortably ahead.

13.                   Bd7
14.      Bb5?

Again, developing the queenside needs to get underway.

14.                   Nc5
15.      Qc2      Ne4?

The positional hand has been won, so there is no reason not to cash in the chips with 15...Qxb5 16. Rxf2 Nd3 17. Na3 Qa6

16.      Bxc6      Bxc6
17.      Rxf2       Nxf2
18.      Qxf2       d4?

Black has excellent endgame prospects with 18...Qxf2+ 19, Kxf2 and now he has two connected passed pawns in the middle of the board.  Connected passed pawns are far more mobile and thus much more dangerous than single isolated passers for the simple reason that, in their advance, they can protect one another.  In my view, the text move makes the win much harder with correct play from White, because it banks on the possibility that, instead of two connected passed pawns,  a single isolated passer can't be blockaded and perhaps ultimately won by the opponent's pieces. 

19.      cxd4       cxd4?

This is more dangerous for Black than recapturing with the Queen instead, since White, if allowed to keep his Queen, can complicate the position, restrict Black's endgame development and have more chances to blockade Black's passer with, say, 20. Qe2+ Kf8 21. Nd2 and he retains reasonable drawing chances.  However, a few missteps over the next several moves suddenly makes Black's Queen quite dangerous again.

20.        b3?         O-O-O
21.        h4?

We are effectively in an endgame with Queens on the board, but with one of his pieces, the King's Knight, pinned, White absolutely has to get his queenside forces into the game.  Hard to say what this move is about.

21.                        Rhe8

[anvi]

senator bore (W) vs. homelycooking (B) Part II

22.      Bg5

Not a good choice, but on the other hand it's hard to recommend good moves for White now, particularly given the threats Black has just created with his 21st move and the utterly undeveloped state of White's queenside forces.  We shall see, in a moment, why White's position is now so dire, but we will also learn what is the right and wrong way for Black to capitalize on it.

22.                      f6
23.      Bf4

Now, take a moment and just look at this position!  Don't calculate, don't strategize, just take a look at the board and ask yourself what is going on.  Though the nominal material difference between the players is only one pawn in Black's favor, White, it turns out, is here completely busted.  His only active piece, the dark-squared Bishop, attacks nothing.  One of his Knights is pinned and the other is undeveloped and could only possibly blockade a passed pawn.  His Queen's Rook is still stuck on its home square and is doing nothing.  His Queen is in a meagre defensive role and, if she is not careful, may get pinned next to her King by an invading Black Rook on e2.  By contrast, Black's Bishop is active and pinning one of the opponent's pieces, his centralized Rooks are defending a passed pawn and dominating an open file, and his Queen stands ready to make dangerous tactical threats against White from a6.  Furthermore, almost all of his pieces are working to restrict the scope and potential of White's pieces, and his King's Rook and passed d-pawn help to, as we say in chess, split White's forces on different sides of the board where they cannot easily coordinate with one another.  There is such power coiled up in the Black position, and such complete inactivity in the White position, that, for a chess player, looking at the board right now is like looking at a situation the moment before a hapless victim gets killed.  I am dwelling on this position, not to show off my sadism, but for a specific strategic reason that everyone learning how to play should attend to.  White's is the kind of position you can end up with if you move the Queen too often in the opening instead of developing your minor pieces.  Knowing how to handle minor pieces effectively is what makes a good chess player.  The forced win for Black now is 23. Qa6 (threatening ...Re2, pinning White's Queen against her King) 24. Qf1 Re2 25. Kg1 Bxf3 (to force White's Queen off of the first rank so that Black can invade it) 26. Qxf3 Re1+ 27. Kh2 Rxb1! (a temporary exchange sacrifice that will in two moves be converted to a material advantage) 28. Rxb1 Qxa2+ 29. Qg2 Qxb1 and now Black is up an exchange (Rook for Bishop) plus three pawns and White is toast.  This variation is six and a half moves deep, but it's not hard to calculate at all because the effects of each move and the threats they create when played are so obvious.  Black has the right idea in targeting the vulnerable e2 square, but he uses light artillery to attack it, when the big guns the Queen and Rook are carrying are what is needed.  In this respect, this game is also an object lesson in how to use and not use your heavy pieces too!

23.                   d3?

Most unfortunate.  Allowing White to trade the Queens off the board now virtually relieves all the pressure on his position.  Moreover, it allows White to firmly blockade the passer Black is relying on to win the game.  24. Qxb6 axb6 25. Nbd2 and the position has suddenly become level.  Knights are the best blockaders of passed pawns too. If a passed pawn is blockaded by a Queen or a Rook or a Bishop, for example, the passer being blocked usually also reduces the activity of these pieces by mere virtue of being in front of them or restricting the diagonals that they can effect.  But, since a Knight can jump over pieces, it can blockade a passed pawn and still influence all the other squares that it would normally influence from its blockading position.  If White plays correctly now, for all his troubles, he could still draw!  He gets the first step right, but not the second.

24.      Qxb6      axb6
25.        g4?

White does not take the passed pawn quite seriously enough, and a little imagination, with a view to removing the White pieces currently defending the advance squares of his passed pawn, from Black will give him a decisive advantage now again.  25...Rd4 26. Kg3 (not just defending the Bishop but in-pinning his King's Knight--but now too late) Bxf3 27. Kxf3 Rxf4+! (removing another defender of d2!) 28. Kxf4 Re1 (pinning the last defender of d2!) 29. a4 d2 and now White will have to sacrifice his Rook for the passer lest it become a Queen) 30. Nxd2 Rxa1 and Black is up an exchange and a pawn and will get the full point.  Notice here that White's Queen's Knight only is developed in this line on move 29 and his Queen's Rook dies on its home square on move 30--yet again a sign of bad development.  But this is not the easiest line in the world to see because it involves a temporary sacrifice of material, and being ahead nominally by only a pawn, one can perhaps understand Black's inclination not to look for it.  But sometimes positions are all about finding the right square, a square that is a fundamental soft spot in the opponent's position.  On move 23 it was e2, and on move 25 it is d2, and both opportunities required temporary material sacrifices in order to capitalize on them.  But passed pawns can be used for two purposes.  The obvious goal is to promote them to Queens or other needed pieces.  But the other way to use them is to make them so dangerous that their presence forces the opponent to sac valuable wood for them.  You can't always Queen a pawn--but sometimes the threat is more powerful than the achievement--and here, Black can win with the second approach.

25.                    Re4
26.      Kg3       Rde8?

The sac idea above still could have worked.  26...Rxf4! 27. Kxf4 Bxf3 28. Kxf3 d2 29. Nxd2 Rxd2.  However, now that Black has removed the Queen's Rook support from his passed d-pawn, it is no longer a threat to advance, and White can simply blockade it and at long last finish his development.  At this instant, again, because of Black's missteps on moves 23 and 26, White is no longer in danger of losing with correct play.

27.      Nfd2?

Right idea, but wrong Knight!  It is the Knight on b1 that needs to go to this square, as the text move could have led to a disaster.  Black could now play 27...Re1 (creating a possible mating net with his Rooks and Bishop) 28. Nf3 Rf1 29. Nd4 Rg1+ 30. Kh3 Ree1 and the Rooks will soon chase White's King into the middle of the board, from where they will win material.

27.                        Re2?
28.       Nc4?        Re8-e6??

This should have been the end of White; 28...Rg2+ 29. Kh3 Re1 and White will soon lose the whole house (30. Nc3 Rxa1 31. Ne4 Bxe4 32. Nd6+ Kd8 33. Nxe4 Re2 33. Nd2 Rxa2 and White is completely lost).  But now White regains material equality and fights his way back to an equal position.  He got some gifts in the form of mistaken moves from Black, but White has demonstrated some great perseverance here, a credit to him.

29.         Nxb6+      Kd8
30.         Nc3          Rc2?

30...Rg2+ is still better, as it keeps Black's pieces more active.  Black is still trying to find a way to capitalize on his passer, but the chances for that appear to have passed him by, and now that he is in an almost even endgame, he must ensure that his pieces retain more influence over the board than White's.

31.         Nbd5         h6?

It was time to bite the bullet here and play 31...d2, with an eventual draw as the likely result, but the variation ensuing from this choice is fairly complex, so I'll forgo it for the purposes of this already long lesson.  With Black's text move, White, with correct play, gets to activate his last remaining piece with tempo and whatever winning chances remain on the board are suddenly his!  Even with an overwhelming advantage, only a few missteps can completely turn the tables if your opponent hangs in there.  On the other hand, Black has to be very careful, because White's pieces, now that they are active and coordinated (see his connected Knights and the potential of his Rook if moved to d1) threaten both to win material and put the Black King in some distress.

32.         Rd1              b5?
33.        Rxd3             b4??

A blunder that loses on the spot.  Perhaps worth a try was 33...Bxd5 34. Nxd5 Kc8 with a view toward building some kind of fortress that White cannot penetrate.  

34.         Nxb4+      Kc8
35.          Nxc2        g5
36.          Nd4?       Black Resigns
 
White's last move was not especially accurate, but even after 36...gxf4+ 37. Kxf4 Rd6 38. Ne4 Bxe4 39. Nxe4 Ra6 White's extra piece and two connected queenside passers will win him the game easily.  Black graciously concedes.  Though he was objectively lost for about ten moves between 20 and 30, bore persevered, survived through a series of missteps by Black, and walks away with a full point.  Well-done, Senator!

[anvi]

Standings

                                  R1   R2    R3     R4     R5     Total
1. anvi                         1     1                                  2
2. Oakvale                    1     0                                  1
3. Minion of Midas         1     1                                  2
4. Senator Bore             0     1                                  1
5. A Person                   0     0                                  0
6. homelycooking          0     0                                  0

Round 3 Pairings

homelycooking (W) vs. Oakvale (B)
Minion of Midas (W) vs, anvi (B)
A Person (W) vs. Senator Bore (B)

Once again, White players, please send challenges to the players of the Black pieces.  Set your games to the time control of 2 days per move.  Please post links to your games here once they've begun so others can follow them.

3 points are still to be decided in the tournament, gentleman.  The fight begins now.  Good luck!

[bore]

Thanks to homely for a great game, and thanks to anvi for your analysis. As always, it was a fascinating read!

[anvi]

3rd round game between Midas and me can be followed here.

http://gameknot.com/chess.pl?bd=20419797

[minionofmidas]

What about the other two games, though?

[minionofmidas]

http://gameknot.com/chess.pl?bd=20416126 is homely vs oakvale; a person vs bore seems not to be up yet.

[SUSAN CRUSHBONE]

here

Since I'm leaving, can someone notify me of later rounds by PM?

[anvi]

Since I'm leaving, can someone notify me of later rounds by PM?

I can do that.  Do you want the pm-s to go through this site?  if not, please pm me a private email address where I can reach you.

[minionofmidas]

here

Since I'm leaving, can someone notify me of later rounds by PM?

Correct link

[homelycooking]

Erm, my game with Oakvale timed out in my favor on the 3d move.

[Oakvale]

Erm, my game with Oakvale timed out in my favor on the 3d move.

Oh no, I'd made a mental note to move before I left the house last night but it must have completely slipped my mind. Sorry homely - we were only in the opening too.

[minionofmidas]

World Championship has begun.

1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 g6 3.Bg2 Lg7 4.d4 c6 5.O-O Nf6 6.b3 O-O 7.Bb2 Bf5 8.c4 Nd7 9.Nc3 dxc4 10.bxc4 Nb6 11.c5 Nc4 12.Bc1 Nd5 13.Qb3 Na5 14.Qa3


and is already over.

15.Qb3 Na5 16.Qa3 Nc4, draw.

[anvi]

That's a good result for Anand in game 1 of the FIDE World Chess Championship.  He transposed into a Grünfeld and then equalized easily.  By the way, I posted on my Facebook page last week the prediction that Anand would retain his title against Carlson by a final match score of 6.5-5.5, so I might as well put that prediction on the line here as well.  

International GM Daniel King always offers great analysis of world championship matches, so I will post his analysis of the games here after they happen, since we might as well watch the world championship match while we're having our own tournament.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwVcHN_ZS2c&feature=youtu.be

[anvi]

I'm afraid I can't do anything about that result, Oakvale.  Tournament directors can't do anything about flagfalls so long as the clock was working properly.  Too bad, too.  I love the Ruy Lopez opening you were into--every great chessplayer has at least a dozen great Ruy Lopez games--as either White or Black--in their histories.  I was looking forward to see what you guys would do with it.

[Oakvale]

I'm afraid I can't do anything about that result, Oakvale.  Tournament directors can't do anything about flagfalls so long as the clock was working properly.  Too bad, too.  I love the Ruy Lopez opening you were into--every great chessplayer has at least a dozen great Ruy Lopez games--as either White or Black--in their histories.  I was looking forward to see what you guys would do with it.

I understand completely anvi, it was my own fault. I was looking forward to playing homely but I'll obviously accept the result.

[homelycooking]

I'm afraid I can't do anything about that result, Oakvale.  Tournament directors can't do anything about flagfalls so long as the clock was working properly.  Too bad, too.  I love the Ruy Lopez opening you were into--every great chessplayer has at least a dozen great Ruy Lopez games--as either White or Black--in their histories.  I was looking forward to see what you guys would do with it.

I understand completely anvi, it was my own fault. I was looking forward to playing homely but I'll obviously accept the result.

I'm open to an off-the-tournament-record game with you, Oakvale, if you'd like to see how things would have played out.