Monday, September 17, 2012
Live Blog from Week 3
9:52 Alec draws to secure the match. Sarah is winning. I am out. Good job Dallasites!
9:38 2-0! Ino and his crazy games.
9:33 Games cleared up a bit. Alec is clearly in control now as well as Ino. Sarah still has a bit of work to do to convert her advantage.
9:23 Slow times...games making little progress except Sarah letting the game go on longer than it should.
9:09 Everything now looks great for us. Ino up 35 minutes with Perez having 1 minute to find perfect moves. Alec kinda playing too passive with his unstoppable passed pawn but it's still better. Sarah just up a piece for nothing.
9:03 Board 4 is toying with my opinion. It's just flip flopping from "better for white to lost for white to hang a bishop for no reason". I give up trying to predict it.
9:01 Nevermind...just got a glimpse of Sarah's position. Ino CANNOT lose anymore.
9:00 My early prediction is simple: if Ino doesn't lose, we should take this match. If that happens, then it's a coin toss.
8:55 Ino's horsey is now on f3. Lots of pressure on e4 but just as much pressure from white with his knights.
Alec is trying to trade queens now that he has the passed a-pawn but his opponent is correctly clinging to his king side attack...or lack of it. Not entirely sure how black can break white's fortress in time.
8:48 Ino's games are never done getting more complicated. It's unbelievable.
8:43 If Alec can somehow trade queens off the board and take on a6 and put bishop on d5...daydreaming again. Sorry.
8:37 Sarah's position is very complicated. Still better but needs to find correct moves.
8:25 Jeffrey just finished his game. I looked away for a sec then couldn't find his game. I assumed he disconnected again but good news everybody! 1-0 Dallas.
I am not liking Ino's position but I never like Ino's positions.
Sarah seems to be on the right path to a victory while Getz has a Sveshnikov set up...so...don't ask me.
Season's Successful Debut
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Destiny Excommunicates Archbishops
4.Nf3 Nbd7 5.Bc4 Be7 6.0-0 0-0 7.Bb3 exd4 I'm not sure if this is how the opening is supposed to go or not, but it did not work out in the game due to White's spatial advantage. More common is 7.c6 with ideas to leave the position closed and play on the Queenside.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
New Season
Moving on to week 2, we got our good partners from SF. Interesting fact: every season I debut vs SF. Anyway, I'll go over my game with GM Wolff.
Wolff-SF (2623) - Bercys-DAL (2576) [C06]
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 Be7 4.Ngf3 didn't really expect this move. Wolff hasn't played a lot recently but from his past his move was mainly Bd3.
4...Nf6 5.e5 Nfd7 6.Bd3 c5 7.c3 Nc6 8.0-0 a5 9.a4!? Tough move to judge. White locks up the queen side but gives up a really strong outpost on b4. After the game I saw that Mickey Adams played it before as well but I doubt white has anything.
9...b6 I think better than what Adams' opponents did by playing cxd4 early. This move order does not allow for Nd2-b1-c3 repositioning.
10.Re1 Ba6 11.Bb1 cxd4 12.cxd4 Nb4 13.Nf1 Rc8 14.h4?!
I was taken aback by this move. I didn't know why white had to rush anything. I expected Ra3.
14...Bxh4 NOM 15.Nxh4 Qxh4 16.Nh2 h6 I like this prophylaxis. Dark squared bishop cannot annoy as easily now.
17.Ra3 Rc4 Only move to prevent a serious initiative from taking over.
18.Nf3 Qe7? This is where I started losing it. Correct placement for the queen was on g4. It protects e6 from there and allows safer castling...but I didn't want to castle so the whole idea was just bad.
19.Rae3 Kd8? Following through with the wrong plan. Advantage is almost gone without Kd8...and with it, white puts out tremendous pressure. Correct was the simply Nf8! White has no h pawn to harass the knight on g6. h4-h5 is the main weakness to all g6 knights. Really should have seen this move.
20.Bd2 Rc6 21.Nh2 Kc7 22.Rg3 f5?! This move is technically a "?" move but the reason I played it was to keep some hope alive for a swindle. Our boards 2-4 were not looking so hot so I couldn't force myself to play a correct move g6 which basically gave my opponent permanent initiative.
23.exf6 gxf6 24.Ng4 h5? The stretch from 18th to 24th move is just terrible. Here the simple Qf8! held the balance and was gonna kick out the knight with h5 afterwards.
25.Nh6! I severely underestimated this move. The knight simply cannot be touched.
25...h4? Mistakes will NOT stop. Houdini likes Qf8 Qxh5 e5...but I am not houdini and opening up the position like that as a human is a suicide mission.
26.Rh3? White lets one go. I had no idea that 26. Nf5! Qf8 27. Rg7! was just crushing. Black has no way to survive the onslaught.
Position after 27. Rg7!
Kb7 27.Rxh4 Qf8 The main idea was 27...Nd3 but after recalculating this mess I realized I overlooked some stuff: 28. Nf5 Qf8 29. Rxh8 Qxh8
30. Bxd3 Bxd3 31. Ne7! with a strong attack.
28.Qf3 Ka7 Repositioning for the fight to draw.
29.Qh3 Bc8 30.Nf5 Rg8? Overlooking white's
possible finisher next move...
31.Ng3? Wrong again! 31. Rh7! was similar to 27. Rg7! idea. Game is practically over. With this last error, we enter the endgame phase. I will skip to it... f5 32.Nh5 Nf6 33.Nxf6 Qxf6 34.Rh7+ Ka8 35.Bc3 Qd8 36.Re3 Rc7 37.Rxc7 Qxc7 38.Qh4 Qd7 39.b3 Qc7 40.Qh2 Kb7 41.Rh3 Rg7 42.Qxc7+ Kxc7 43.f3 Kd6?
Overlooking a not so hard drawing resource. 43...Ba6! with the idea of Bd3 was basically forcing white to exchange on b4. Which is very drawish afterwards.
44.Kf2 Bd7 45.Bd2 b5 46.Bf4+ Kc6 47.axb5+ Kxb5 48.Rh8 Nc6 49.Bd6! Oh the trickery...
49...Kb6 50.Bd3 Kb7 51.Be2 Rf7 52.Ke3 Rg7 53.Bf1 Kb6 54.Kf4 Kb7 55.Bc5?! Not sure if white should have allowed my king to get c7. It protects better from there.
55...Kc7 56.g3 Rf7 57.Be2 Kb7 58.Kg5 Rg7+ 59.Kf4 Rf7 60.Ke3 f4+! Only chance to draw.
61.gxf4 Ne7 62.Bxe7 Rxe7 63.Bd3 Rg7 64.Rh7 Rxh7 65.Bxh7 Kc6 66.Bd3 Kd6 67.f5 e5?? I won't post a diagram here as it's not hard to click a link above...but this move. Wow. Leads to a lost endgame. 67...Ke7! followed by Kf6 fortress should hold it...but I thought he could put me in a zug somewhere. Bad, bad, bad.
68.f6! Be8 69.Bf5 Bf7 70.Kd3 Be8 71.Kc3 Bh5 72.Kd3 Be8 73.Ke3 Bf7 74.Bc8 Bh5 75.f4
Game drawn by mutual agreement ?????????????????????????
White is winning. I am sure of it. 75...exd4 76. Kxd4 Bd1 77. Kc3 and black will eventually be put in a zug with black bishop on h5 and white bishop on c8 with white king on c3. It's sometimes better to be lucky than to be good!
1/2-1/2
Tomorrow, we play Hikaru-less (PHEW!) St. Louis. Let's do this!
Friday, October 29, 2010
The Destiny Unfulfilled.
The ride is over. The flight has landed. Our king is in a checkmate. Ok, enough of the metaphors!
Season is over so let's go over the deciding match top games.
(GM) Gurevich, Dmity - (IM)Bercys, Salvijus
Pre-game facts: I love KID. I do. But I also feel pragmatic enough to know playing KID as black against a player of Gurevich's caliber (especially with his skill to eat KID alive) was not right. I eventually found Dutch and was satisfied with his opening lines for black.
1. d4 f5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bg5!?
This has been played (with my opponent having a good chunk of the games in this line) before but to be honest this is no way to play against Dutch. I don't see how giving up a bishop compensated for anything. Temporary discomfort? Maybe.
e6 4. Nbd2 Be7 5. Bxf6 Bxf6 6. e4 O-O 7. e5 ?!
A bit surprised is an understatement. And after I check the databases after my game I realized why - only 3 games played.
Be7 8. Bc4 c5 Computer, amazingly like 8...d5 9. cxd6 cxd6 with 10...d5. I understand the position but I think I was right to not go into a positionally damaged position against one of the better positional players.
9. c3 9. d5 is a bit premature as 9...b5! is there. For example, 10. d6 bxc4 11. dxe7 Qxe7 12. Nxc4 Ba6 with Nc6 coming. Or: 10. Bxb5 cxd5 with Bb7 and d6 coming. Bishops will get freaky...
cxd4 10. cxd4 Nc6 Rybka still likes d5...that fish lost its marbles IMO. Also, Nc6 was bad before cxd4 as 11. d5! would have given white a nice comfortable edge.
11. a3? Definitely a mistake. White had to play 11. d5 for any chance to win. 11...Na5 would have followed...
12. d6 Bg5 13. 0-0 {13. Nxg5 Qxg5 14. 0-0 f4 with complicated play} Bh6 !? with b6 and Bb7 coming. Two bishops should suffice.
12. 0-0 !? Nxc4 13. Nxc4 b5! and I felt that black was fine.
11...d5! At least equalizing. Now my knight on c6 will be attacking pawn on d4 after the exchanges and suddenly black is very active.
12. exd6 Qxd6 13. Nb3 a6 very important to kick the bishop out. In the variations without Nc6 and a3 included, a6 was never a threat because white didn't have to defend pawn on d4 with the d2 knight. Now if a4, black has Qb4+.
14. O-O b5 15. Be2 Qd5? I realized this was a mistake when I showed the game to UTD coach Rade Milovanovic. During the game I thought it pressured Nb3, allowed more coverage for c5 through Be7, defended b5 pawn if a4 was ever played and had some tricks after Bb7 on the big diagonal. Useless, useless move! Rd8 followed with Bf6 was the correct choice.
16. Rc1 Rd8 17. Re1 Bf6 I ended up doing the same...with a tempo down. That can't be right.
18. Bf1 Nxd4 I missed some things in the long run when I went for this line. But I am no longer sure if black can fight for advantage here.
19. Nbxd4 Bxd4 20. Nxd4 Qxd4 21. Qf3 Rb8 22.Red1 Qf6 23. Qc6 Rxd1 24. Rxd1 Qe7 25. g3!
Last accuracy. Trading bishops is vital because even the rook endgame with white rook on 7th rank is a draw it seems.
Bb7 26. Qb6 Ra8 27. Rd6 Bd5 No Kf7 as 28. Rxe6 and white is suddenly winning!
28. Bg2 Bxg2 29. Kxg2 Kf7 30. Rc6 Ra7 31. Rxe6 Qxe6 32. Qxa7+ Kg6 { Game drawn by mutual agreement} 1/2-1/2
Not too shabby. Could have definitely played better though.
(IM) Sadorra, Julio - (GM) Amanov, Mesgen
1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 dxc4 5. e4 A very interesting move that has gained
popularity.White basically gives up a pawn b2 for a very
pressuring position.5...Bb4
6. Bxc4 Nxe4 7. O-O Nxc3 8. bxc3 Be7 Black can't take the pawn because of the following line - 9. Rb1 0-0 10. Qd3 Ba5 11. Ng5 g6 12. Qh3 h5 13. g4! with a strong attack.
9. Qe2 O-O 10. Re1 Nc6 This move felt a bit too passive...10...c5 was definitely worth a look.
11. Qe4 Bf6 12. h4 Ne7 Black is simply too passive!
13. Bd3 g6 14. Bg5 Bxg5 15. hxg5 It sure looks like white is gaining quite a bit of initiative, don't you think?
15...Bd7 16. Ne5 Bc6 17. Qh4 Nf5 18. Qf4 Qd6 19.g4?! Risky looking but we had to win the match.
Ne7 20. c4 Be8 21. Rad1 Nc6 22. Be4 Nxd4 23.Kg2! Ba4 24. c5 Qxc5 25. Rh1! (The exclamations are for gutsiness itself.)
Ne2? Loses! Does anyone remember the game "Simpson - Sadorra" where white could have sacrificed a queen and be winning! If you don't remember, check the game out here. 19. Qxd7! is what I am talking about. Now coming back to this game...you won't believe but black is winning again! By sac'ing a queen...again! I don't know if this is Ino's effect where his opponents must sac a queen to win...but check this out. 25...Bxd1 seems to lose to 26. Nd7! but suddenly 26...f5!! and complications arise where the computer likes black. Astounding...
26. Qh2 h5 27. Rd2 Bb5 28. gxh5 gxh5 29. Bf3 Rfd8 30. Rxe2 Bxe2 31. Bxe2 Rd2?? Loses instantly. 32.Qf4!
Rf8 33. Qxd2 Qxe5 34. Bf3 b5 35. Rxh5 Qg7 Here comes the circus! Why else would black clown around? Ino's opponent's hobby perhaps? I look forward to more performances. I left the room around here for an instant.
36. Qd7 c5 37. Qxb5 Qd4 38. Qb1 Rd8 39. Qh7+ I came back and still playing. As coach Rade says, if he enjoys playing a lost position, you should enjoy winning it!
39...Kf8 40. g6 fxg6 41. Qxg6 Rd7 42. Qxe6 Rg7+ 43. Kh3 Rf7 44. Qc8+ Ke7 45. Qc7+ Oh no! White is going for a perpetual!
45...Kf8 46. Qb8+ Ke7 47. Qxa7+ Kf8 48. Qb8+ Ke7 49. Qe5+ Or not...
49...Qxe5 50. Rxe5+ Kd6 51. Rd5+ Ke6 52. Rd3 Ke5 53. Kg3 Rg7+ 54. Bg4 c4 C-pawn reaching dangerous levels...it has only three more moves until promotion!
55. Rd7 Rg6 56. f4+ Ke4 57. Rc7 Kd3 58. f5 Ra6 59. Rxc4 Oops. No more C-pawn.
59...Rxa2 60. Rf4 Ke3 61. f6 Ra8 62. f7 Rf8 ! Only move! What great defensive efforts!
63. Bh5... tick tock...
{Black forfeits on time} 1-0
Gutsy game by IM Julio Catalino Sadorra! I hope that Amanov's clowning around does not skew the greatness of this game in the GOTW voting.
Ino was definitely a bright star during this bleak season. If I remember correctly, 4.5 out of 6 for Board 2 was 2nd All-Star team so 5 out of 6 is a clear clinch for sure. Team record does not help much though.
Overall note about the league - I don't follow baseball or football trends, but I was told that in baseball is West is crowded and East is stacked up at top with weaker bottom half. I know the same is in the NBA so it makes you wonder why is USCL the same way too. Anyway, playing in the super competitive west was a blast. Thanks to manager Keaton Kiewra, ass. manager Igor "Freshmans" Schneider, our TDs Tautvydas Vedrickas and Chaitanya Vaidya for their time, and of course our loyal fans. We will see you next season. In the playoffs hopefully!