A Star is Born...

My name is Daniel Fernandez, IM from Texas. I am an ex-UTD student and still maintain close contacts with several of my ex-teammates from Dallas. This is the main reason I decided to join the team this year. I always closely watch the Destiny matches while they are played on ICC and this time I decided to share some thoughts from a particular game played by our new star, IM Julio Sadorra from Philippines.

Julio has been one of the few bright spots on the Destiny this year and following is his week 5 victory. Since joining the team Julio has provided a great spark (going 2-0 the past two weeks) and has proven to be a great addition to our team.

IM Sadorra,Julio (2471) - IM Brooks,Michael (2411) [E00]

Week 5, 20.09.2010

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 A move order that is becoming more and more popular. White is avoiding the Queen's and Nimzo Indians (considered two of Black's best chances for equality against 1.d4) and instead opting to play a Catalan against 3...d5 or against Bogo-Indian (3...Bb4). Also, it is worth mentioning that if White uses this move order he is limiting himself to playing the fianchetto variation against the Benoni (not necessarily a bad thing) or 4.Nf3 in response to 3...c5, which has been a battleground for many top level games over the past few years 3...Bb4+ 4.Bd2 Bxd2+ 5.Qxd2 d6 6.Bg2 0-0 7.e4 e5 8.Ne2!? A novelty proposed by Avrukh in Volume II of his Opening repertoire for White.

8...c5 9.d5 b5? This move looks far from sound. Black attempts to get a Benko-style position but with a few significant drawbacks. First, e5 is occupied by a pawn so Nbd7-e5-c4 ideas are nonexistent. This makes Black's only viable option for his b8 knight the more passive Nb8-a6-c7 route, which is not aesthetically pleasing. Secondly, White is able to construct a 'fortress' to neutralize Black's play on the a- and b-files by being able to have in a4 and knights on c3 and b5, limiting the scope of Black's rooks on the a- and b-files [Better is 9...Na6 10.Nbc3 Nc7 11.0-0 Rb8 12.a4 b6 13.Nc1 a6 14.Nd3 b5 15.b3 (Worse is 15.cxb5 axb5 16.b4 c4 17.Nb2 bxa4 18.Ncxa4 c3 19.Qxc3 Nb5 20.Qd2 Nd4 with compensation -Avrukh) 15...Nd7 16.cxb5!N axb5 17.b4 c4 18.Nb2 += Avrukh] 10.cxb5 a6 11.Nbc3 axb5 12.Nxb5 Ba6 13.Nec3 Qb6 14.a4 Nbd7?

This normal-looking move is wrong. Black's pieces get bundled up because of his lack of space. The d7 knight's only shot of getting into the game will be via b6, but that would require moving the queen and even so, White can easily stop any ...Nc4 intrusions by simply playing b3 or moving Bf1 at some point. Being down a pawn, Black was hesitant to trade pieces but in Benko-type positions, trading is never too bad unless it involves one of your rooks (your main compensation for the sacrificed pawn) [Better is 14...Bxb5 15.Nxb5 Na6 16.0-0 Nc7 17.Nxc7 Qxc7 after this series of trades, Black now clears the a- and b-files in order to allow his rooks free movement along these files. It is not so easy for White to deal with this. For example: 18.b4 cxb4 19.Qxb4 Rfb8 20.Qa3 Nd7 21.Rfb1 Nc5 22.a5 h6 23.Rxb8+ Qxb8; Black does not have enough compensation for the pawn but he is definitely doing better than he was before the trades]

15.0-0 Rfb8 16.Rfb1 Ne8 Black finally gets the idea but it would have been more efficient to use the other knight to begin with 17.a5?

White's first mistake of the game. This move seems too committal. It softens up both the knight on b5 as well as the a5 pawn, giving Black unnecessary hope.

17...Qd8 18.Bf1 Ndf6 Black correctly puts the d7 knight on f6 to pressure e4. Also, and more importantly, d6 is now defended by someone other than the e8 knight making ...Nc7 possible next move 19.Bd3 Its hard to find a better move, for example: [19.f3 Nc7 20.Nxc7 Qxc7 when Black seems to have taken care of most of his problems; 19.b4 cxb4 20.Rxb4 Bxb5 21.Nxb5 Rxa5 22.Rxa5 Qxa5=] 19...Bc8 [Trying to win his pawn back by using tactical means doesn't work, for example: 19...Bxb5 20.Nxb5 Nxe4 21.Bxe4 Rxb5 22.Bxh7+! Kf8 23.a6±; Better is 19...Nc7]

20.f4 Nd7 [I am still not sure why Black didn't play 20...Rxa5 after 21.fxe5 (21.Rxa5 Qxa5 22.Na3 exf4 23.Nc4 Qc7 24.gxf4 Ba6 25.b3 +=) 21...dxe5 22.Qe3 Rxa1 23.Rxa1 Qb6 24.Bc4 += Where in both cases White still has a positional advantage but at least Black is not losing by any material] 21.Qe1 Ba6 With this move again Black prefers to keep the tension. Maybe he is holding out for a more opportune time to take on a5? [21...Rxa5 22.Rxa5 Qxa5 23.Ra1 Qb6 24.Bc4 +=] 22.Qe3? The queen was playing a great role on e1 (keeping both e4 as well as a5 defended). I did not see the point of moving her from there except to defend the d3 bishop to avoid ...Nc7 tactics. If that was the problem then why not just move the d3 bishop? [Better is 22.Bf1] 22...Ndf6!

Taking advantage of the poor position of White's queen because now 23.fe5 is met by ...Ng4! Also, now the knight on d7 is no longer undefended once the queen leaves d8, therefore, Black is now threatening to take on b5 and recover his pawn on a5

23.Be2 Bxb5 24.Nxb5 Rxa5 25.Rxa5 Qxa5 26.Na3 Qa4 27.Nc4 Qa2?! Overextending the queen. It would have been wise to keep her on a4 from where she can still assist operations on the queenside but simultaneously be able to swing to the kingside via d7 in case things open up on that side of the board [Better is 27...Rb3 28.Qc1 exf4 29.gxf4 Qd7! unclear] 28.Qd3 Rb3?

Smothering his own queen, losing a tempo, and giving White strong counterplay along the a-file all with one move. After this move Sadorra is relentless in bringing home the point finding one precise move after another.

29.Qd1 Qa4 30.fxe5 dxe5 31.Ra1 Qb4 32.d6 Nd7 33.Ra8 Kf8 34.Nxe5! g6 [34...Nxe5 doesn't help: 35.d7 Nxd7 36.Qd6+! Kg8 37.Rxe8+ Nf8 38.Rxf8#] 35.Nxd7+ Kg7 36.Rxe8 Rxb2 37.Rb8 1-0

First half review

Hola!

Arun promised a very easy season in 2011 if I blogged. Who I am to say no to that?

So far it's been like a bad, bad dream. Seems like nothing is going our way (I am not helping).

Let's quickly review first 5 weeks.

Week 1

San Francisco - Dallas

Great start! Got bashed. I over pressed a position where I was up a pawn but basically had no advantage. I remember thinking I had chances but Danya found a precise equalizer with 24...Qd7. At the same time I saw Nelson was suffering greatly and I was very unsure about Keaton's craziness. Puchen seemed like the only one holding his own. Seeing that, I decided I had to win to have a chance for a draw even and pushed. Denied!

Week 2

LA - Dallas

I didn't play but I remember our Blizzardeer held his own against Melik in the same opening that they played just 3 weeks ago in US Open. Keaton held his ground and drew as well. Nelson delivered a nice win while Tyler won a rollercoaster game with time pressure. Dallas on board!

Week 3

Dallas-St. Louis

Wasn't playing once again, but I was in the playing area after my class. I remember seeing Alejandro going for the sac but I was unsure if he could consolidate his position before GM of the year regrouped. Sadly, latter happened. Meanwhile, Keaton held his own but Tyler was getting positionally outplayed. Soon it was all over and Nelson was last playing for tiebreaks. Setback.

Week 4

Dallas-Arizona

Very, very painful loss. It was a must win match and everything went wrong. I won a pawn rather easily but missed a breakthrough with d5 that would have basically finished the game. Later I also messed up an endgame. Shameful game.

Ino made his USCL debut and rocked with his usual crazy position. Bottom 2 boards lost 2 close games and that was all she wrote.

Week 5

St. Louis-Dallas Part II: Revenge of the Nerds (should have been anyway!)

If there was a single match that we should have won it was this. However, as tragedy struck again, 4 white wins later it was 2-2. I (for who knows what reason) decided sacking a pawn would be fun.

I remember looking at 18. Bxc6 bxc6 19. Rx6 Be4 but 20. Nd4 left black hopeless. Once again, I don't know why I sacked. Rf3 was just a follow through that offered some chances and I almost made them work. But I completely missed a tactic associated with h3. Oh well.

Really tough part was when Tyler let a pretty nice position slip with his 36...g4? I am not sure as to what he saw but I was very confused why he went for such complication when Bayaraa was up a queen. Team matches make people do crazy things. I won't even mention the really unfortunate end to this match.

So here we are...1.5-3.5. The universe is conspiring against us...or maybe it's all Arun's fault. Somehow. Do you know he enjoys torturing his calculus students? Pure evil!

Tomorrow vs Carolina. I won't be predicting anything because there is nothing to predict. Every match we come expecting a win. Whether board 1 is "Why did you keep playing after your team lost?" GM or IM Schroer.

I'll review other matches sometime soon too. Maybe tomorrow.

Dallas Destiny recap

Hello All,

My name is Keaton Kiewra. I am a member of the Dallas Destiny, and also happen to be the mangager. We have had a disappointing start to our season with a record of 1-3. Our first 3 weeks we played the toughest schedule of anyone in the league, and started 1-2 which was not terrible, however our loss last week to the Arizona Scorpions was very disappointing.

It was a match that we needed to win, and definitely could have won. Our new board 2 stud, IM Julio Sadorra, made quick work of FM Warren Harper (who is a very strong player!) with black. At that point my game with FM Robby Adamson, as well as Bayarra Zorigt's game with David Adelberg, were unclear. IM Sal Bercys had a big advantage vs IM Levon Altounian, so we appeared to be in very good shape. As fate would have it Bayarra and I lost our games, and Sal was held to a draw.

I take our week 4 loss entirely upon my shoulders. It was my responsibility to find a way to beat Robby with white, or at least to not lose the game. I chose a bad opening, made positional inaccuracies throughout the game, and played too aggressively in an equal position. These mistakes cost me the game and ultimately cost our team the match. I promise my team that I will play better the rest of the season, and I guarantee that we will bounce back from this rough start. The Dallas Destiny has a lot of heart, and we are also way too strong to continue to be held back. Look for us to bounce back Monday with a win over a depleted St Louis lineup.

FM Kiewra Blogs

FM Keaton Kiewra shares his games with us this week. With a 2009 USCL record of 3-1, Keaton has been one of the bright spots on the Destiny this season.

Hi, my name is Keaton Kiewra. I am a recent graduate of UTD and co-manager of the Dallas Destiny. I am a Fide Master with one GM norm. I am going to try to analyze my USCL games and post them on the Dallas Destiny blog for your entertainment, and who knows, you might actually learn something about chessJ Here are my games from weeks 1, 3, 4, and 5. I did not analyze these games with an engine for a couple reasons. First, my analysis engine is not workingJ and second, I feel that anyone can analyze a game with a strong computer. My goal is to convey to you what I was thinking during the games and my own thoughts after I analyzed the games, not Rybka’s. I hope you enjoy…

Game 1: Rodriguez-Kiewra

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Bg5 This opening came as a complete surprise since Eric usually plays g3 systems against the King’s Indian. I can only remember playing against this opening once before and that was a game I lost to Felix Barrios (2350) but I was familiar enough with the plans for black to feel comfortable. h6 6.Be3 c5 Eric thought for a while after this move which made me feel more comfortable. It is always a nice feeling when my opponent stops moving quickly and I realize that I am no longer playing against preparation. 7.dxc5 Qa5 8.Qd2 dxc5 9.0-0 0 Nc6 10.Nd5 Qxd2+ 11.Rxd2 Nxd5 12.cxd5 Nd4 13.Nf3 I was expecting the less ambitious 13.Ne2 which keeps white’s pawn structure in tact after which the position is probably dead even. The text is more double-edged. 13.Nf3 weakens white’s pawn structure but it also opens up key lines for white’s pieces. 13…Nxf3 14.gxf3 b615.Bb5+ Bd7 16.Bxd7+?! I was very happy to trade the light square bishops since I could not think of a good square to put this bishop on. From a positional point of view this is a bad trade for white. White would be better off putting this Bishop on g2 and using it to create complications in the center. 16…Kxd7 17.f4 Kc7 18.Rg1 Rhg8 19.f3 Rad8 20.f5 gxf5?? This was a horrible oversight on my part. After the game was over I was racking my brain trying to figure out how I could make such a move, and I think I figured it out. When white’s pawn moved from f2 to f3 I didn’t make the connection in my mind that the rooks were now able to double. When I had spent some time analyzing the position a few moves ago when white’s pawn was on f2, I never considered the idea of white doubling his rooks on the g-file because it wasn’t possible, so rather than reanalyzing the new position I relied on analysis that I had done earlier in the game. This is not the first time I’ve made this error and this time it was costly. 21.Rdg2 fxe4 22.fxe4 Bxb2+ 23.Kxb2 Rxg2+ 24.Rxg2 f5 25.exf5?! This move is slightly inaccurate and gives black better chances than he should have. I prefer 25.Bxh6 giving up the e4 pawn because I feel that the most efficient way for white to win is to turn his h-pawn into a weapon and run it as quickly as possible. This will force black’s rook into a passive position and White should have no problems cleaning up. 25…Rxd5 26.Bxh6 Rxf5 27.Bg5 Rf3 28.h4 Rh3! Now black is able to stop White’s h-pawn with his rook in an active position which gives black some hope. Activating the black rook is much more important than saving the weak e-pawn which will fall anyway. 29.Bxe7 Kc6 30.Rd2 c4 31.Kc2 Re3 32.Bg5 Rh3 33.Re2 b5 34.Re3 Rh2+ 35.Kc3 Rxa2 White should have been able to find a way to proceed without giving up this pawn but Eric was low on time and this position was no longer nearly as easy to win as it was when I initially blundered the piece. Still, I cannot believe that giving up this a-pawn was in white’s best interest. Black now has 3 connected passed pawns and all three results are now possible. 36.h5 Rh2 37.h6 Rh5 38.Bf4 Rh4 39.Re6+ Kd540.Re5+ Kc6 41.Rf5 a5 42.Kd4 a4 43.Rf6+ Kd7 44.Kd5 c3 45.Rd6+ Ke8 46.Be3 b4 47.Rc6 a3 48.Bg5 a2 49.Ra6 Rh2 50.Ke6 Re2+ 51.Kf6 b3 52.h7 Rh2 53.h8Q+!! A brilliant resource and the only way that White could win. White sacrifices the pawn that was one square away from queening in order to form an inescapable mating net. 53…Rxh8 54.Ke6 Rh6+ 55.Bxh6 Kd8 56.Bf4 a1Q 57.Rxa1 Kc8 58.Ra3 Black resigns 1-0

After the game: My colleague John Bartholomew mentioned earlier in the Dallas Destiny Blog that I missed a draw a few moves ago so I won’t go into it. I felt that this was a very interesting game which contained a couple of lessons:

1. It is important to analyze each position on its own rather than relying on analysis that you did earlier in the game to ensure that you don’t miss a nuance and then blunder.

2. Even when your position looks bad it is important to fight and try to defend your position as well as possible. I’m sure that there were several armchair chess players watching this game on ICC and in the moment when I blundered a piece, kibitzing things such as “looks like this one is over” or “time for black to resign”. I remember my coach GM Miron Sher telling me that GM Gata Kamsky is known for resigning a game much later than any of his colleagues and because of this he saves roughly 10% of games that he wouldn’t have saved had he resigned “on time”. This seems like a worthwhile proposition to me.

Game 2: Kiewra-Martirosov

1.e4 c5 I was expecting this game to be a Ruy Lopez, but I had been busy the last few days and had not had time to prepare, so to see black’s pawn on c5 was a welcome sight. 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 e6 Ah, now I saw the method behind Martirosov’s madness. He was heading for a line in which I had a few unglamorous losses in the database to the likes of strong players such as GM Alejandro Ramirez and IM Davorin Kuljasevic. I wasn’t worried though because I had prepared an improvement in this line and I wanted to see how it worked.4.0-0 Nge7 5.c3 a6 6.Ba4 b5 7.Bc2 Bb7 8.a4 Never before had I played this move so early. White immediately puts pressure on black’s pawn structure and forces him to make a decision. Most GM’s whose games I have seen in the database meet this a4 thrust with an immediate b4. 8…d5 9.exd5 Nxd5 10.d4 Be7 11.axb5 axb5 12.Rxa8 Bxa8 13.dxc5 Bxc5 We have arrived at a wide open position where both white’s and black’s pieces have a lot of scope. Black’s bishop looks good on c5 but it actually does not belong there since white’s night can now head to e4 with gain of time and create problems for black. 14.Nbd2 0-015.Ne4 Be7 16.Qd3 Black cannot protect both the mate threat on h7 and the pawn on b5. 16…f5 is met nicely by Neg5 capitalizing on black’s weak e6 pawn. 16…Qb8 17.Nc5 g6 18.Nd7 Qb7 19.Nxf8 Bxf8 20.Qe2 Nce7 21.Re1 Nf5 22.Bxf5 gxf5 23.Rd1 Qc6 24.Qe5 Bd6 25.Qd4 Be7 26.Bh6 Bf6 26…e5 can also be met by Qa7. 27.Qa7 Qe8 I was hoping for 27…Nc7 when I could finish the game with 28.Qb8+ Ne8 29.Rd6! 28.Ra1 Bc6 29.Nd4 Bg7 30.Nxc6 Bxh6 31.Qb7 White’s rook comes decisively to a8 next move. Black resigns 1-0

Game 3: Kiewra-Lee

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 g6 Another Rossolimo. I was happy with the preparation I had against 3…g6 and to my knowledge I had no games in the database in the line that I was prepared to play… 4.0-0 Bg7 5.c3 Nf6 6.e5 In the past I had played 6.Re1 so Michael probably was not expecting this. Nd5 7.d4 cxd4 8.cxd4 0-0 9.Nc3 Nc7 9…Nxc3 is also possible 10.Bg5 h6 11.Bh4 Nxb5 12.Nxb5 Qa5 A possible crazy continuation would have been 12…a6 13.Nd6 g5 14.Bxg5 hxg5 15.Nxg5 exd6 16.Qh5 Re8 Qxf7+ which should lead to a draw. If white wants to try to win he can sidestep this line and just play 13.Nc3. 13.Nc3 d5 14.exd6 exd6 15.d5 Ne516.Nxe5! 16.Be7? would have been a disaster after 16…Re8 17.Bxd6 Nc4. At first glance the position looks equal after the text, but white has a few things to play for. I knew that if I could ever capture black’s week d6 pawn my d5 pawn would become a monster. Black also is a little bit weak on the dark squares which are protected only by his dark squared bishop. 16…Bxe5 17.Qd2 Kh7 18.Rae1 Bf5 Daring me to sac on e5! This had been my plan when I played Rae1 so I quickly accepted the challenge. 19.Rxe5 dxe5 20.Be7 Rfe8 21.d6 This is an interesting, double edged position. I was not sure white was better, but I knew I definitely was not worse. My strong passed pawn on d6 and dominance of the dark squares provide sufficient compensation for the exchange. 21…Rxe7 22.dxe7 Re8 23.Qd6 Qb6 24.Qxe5 IM Jacek Stopa told me after the game that he thought my best continuation was 24. Qxb6 axb6 25.Nd5 Kg7 26.Re1 Be6 27.Nxb6 Rxe7 28.a4 with a slight edge for white. I thought I would be comfortable in this endgame but I liked the chances that the middlegame offered me a little bit better. 24…Qe6 25.Qd4 Rxe7 26.h3! 26.Nd5 offers white nothing after 26…Qe5 and 26.Qxa7 is met by Bd3! The text creates luft for White’s king and threatens to play g4 attacking black’s bishop which has no satisfactory squares. Black is forced to sacrifice his a-pawn.Qe5 27.Qxa7 Bxh3? Black’s best chance is to try to hold this endgame a pawn down, although I don’t like black’s chances. If white simply centralizes his Queen and trades the Queens I don’t think black can hold this ending after the white rook transfers to the b-file pressuring black’s b-pawn. The text, however, offers little hope to black.28.gxh3 Qg5+ 29.Kh1 Qf4 Michael probably thought that he could play Qh4 and force a perpetual, however after 30.Qb8! Qxh3+ 31.Kg1 Qg4+ 32.Qg3 white’s queen makes it back in the nick of time. 30.f3 Qg3 31.Qf2 Qxh3+ 32.Kg1 Re5 33.Ne4 Qe6 34.Qd4 g5 35.Qd6 Rxe4 I didn’t blunder this J 36.Qd3 f5 37.fxe4 fxe4 38.Qe2 Qe5 39.Qh5 Qd4+ 40.Kh1 Black resigns 1-0

Game 4: Adamson-Kiewra

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Nf6 4.Nc3 cxd4 5.Nxd4 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 Nc6 8.Qd2 0-0 9.0-0-0 Nxd4 I normally play 9…d5 here but I figured that Robby was expecting this and had something prepared. I hadn’t played this position after the text in a couple of years, but I still felt fairly comfortable. 10.Bxd4 Be6 11.Kb1 Qc7 12.Nd5 When I made my GM norm in Kavala 2008 my only loss of the tournament came to GM Mircea Parligras who is a well known “Dragon Slayer”. I was looking over his games the morning of the match and I saw that he plays 12.h4 in this position with very good results. I didn’t feel like I could prepare something good against this h4 line in such a short time, so I made up my mind that I was going to play a different Sicilian. However when we started the game I was shocked to see him play d4 on move 1! Perhaps Parligras was more afraid of me in the Dragon than I was of himJ 12…Bxd5 13.exd5 Rfc8 14.Rc1 Nd715.Bxg7 Kxg7 16.h4 h5 17.g4 Nf6 18.gxh5 Nxh5 19.Bh3 Rh8 20.Bg4 Qc4 21.Rce1 Qf4! If I did not have this resource white’s position would probably be better. My idea is that after 22.Qxf4 Nxf4 23.Rxe7 Rae8! 24.Rxb7 I have 24…Rxh4! However after 25…Rd1 the position is double edged. This is probably the best way for white to go.22.Qc3+ Qf6 I was expecting 23.Rxe7 here. The game would probably have continued 23…Qxc3 24.bxc3 Nf4 with a sharp and probably roughly equal ending. 23.Qc7 Nf4 24.Qxe7 Rae8 I could have swapped the queens first and then played Rae8 with the same ending I mentioned before, but I thought that it was in my best interest to get my rook on e8 right away. Now if Robby swaps the queens I don’t think I have anything to worry about in this ending despite being a pawn down. All of my pieces would be active and White’s bishop on g4 is very bad. 25.Qc7 Qxh4! This is stronger and more forcing than 25…Rxh4 26.Qc3+ An interesting resource white has is 26.Be6 threatening mate, but I can play 26…Nxe6 since the Knight attacks white’s Queen and after 27.fxe6 Rxe6 28.Qc3+ Qf6 black is better. Qf6 27.Rxh8 Rxe1+ 27…Qxc3 was a tempting alternative but I felt that my chances were better of winning the ending with a Queen and Knight vs a Queen and Bishop. My long time coach, Tom O’Connor, taught me early on that a Queen and Knight have better chemistry than do a Queen and Bishop because they can create threats on any color of square. This one was for you Tom! 28.Qxe1 Kxh8 29.Bc8 b6 30.Qe4 Kg7 31.a3 Ng2 32.c4 32.Bh3 dislodging my Knight is probably necessary, however Robby was low on time. 32…Qf4 33.Qxf4 Nxf4 Now my King comes to e5 to control the center and I can reroute my Knight any square it needs to get to to create threats. 34.Kc2 Kf6 35.Kc3 Ke5 36.b4 f5 37.Bd7 g5 38.Bc8 Ng2 39.Kd3 Nh440.Ke2 f4 41.Ba6 Kd4 42.c5 bxc5 43.b5 c4 44.a4 Kxd5 45.Bc8 Kc5 46.Bd7 Kb4 No need to allow white to create winning chances (!) with a5. 47.Bc6 Nf5 48.Kd2 Ne3 49.a5 Kxa5 50.Kc3 Kb6 White resigns 0-1