Saturday, October 21, 2006

one win, one loss

C - CL
October G30 Owen Sound (3), 18.10.2006
D45 - Semi-Slav


This was just at the end of the Kramnik-Topalov match so I wanted to try the move order that they did 1.c4 c6 2.d4 [I did think about turning it into a Panov, but next time maybe 2.e4 ] 2...d5 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 a la Kramnik-Topalov 4...e6 5.Nc3 Bb4?! This is just a bad Nimzo I would think (...c5 in two moves instead of one). Grob, Szabo, Ratmir Kholmov and Hubner have all played it. 6.Qc2 [Apparently 6.Bd3 is the closest to a "book" move but I was playing my nimzo line. I guess I would get e4 in two moves instead of one here though)] 6...dxc4 [6...Nbd7 is the "book" move as well] 7.Bxc4 0-0 8.0-0 Bxc3 I'm very happy here. Not only did he let me develop my light squared bishop. He voluntarily gave up the bishop pair as well 9.Qxc3 b6 10.Rd1 c5 11.Bd3 Nc6 12.dxc5 Ne4 13.Qc2 Nb4 14.Bxe4 [14.Qc4! is stronger 14...Nxd3 (14...bxc5 15.Qxe4 Nxd3 16.Rxd3) 15.Rxd3] 14...Nxc2 15.Rxd8 Rxd8 16.Bxc2 Bb7 17.cxb6 axb6 18.e4? Not the greatest, but it just drops a pawn [18.Kf1 was better ;
18.Ne1 Rac8 19.f3 Rd6 20.Kf2] 18...Bxe4 [18...Bxe4 and I resign ??? 19.Bb3 was not great, but I still have two pieces for the rook. Not fabulous by me] 0-1

second game of the night...

CL - C
October G30 Owen Sound (4), 18.10.2006
A07 - King's Indian Attack

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3
[I half expected 2.b3 after advising him on ways to stop 1. ...e5 last week. We played this line up to move 7 in our "match"] 2...g6 3.Bg2 Bg7 4.0-0 c6 5.d3 d5 6.Nbd2 0-0 7.e4 Bg4 [In the previous game I played 7...dxe4 and this was good enough] 8.Qe1 Nbd7 9.e5 Bxf3?? [9...Ne8 was better] 10.Nxf3?? [10.exf6 Bxg2 11.fxg7 Bxf1 doesn't work be because 12.gxf8Q+ is check so he's up a piece] 10...Ng4 11.d4 e6 Now I'm just playing a funky Caro-Kann Advanced 12.h3 Nh6 13.Nh2 Qb6 [I wanted to stop him from developing quite so easily but maybe reentering my knight into the game with 13...Nf5 was better] 14.c3 c5 15.Be3 Nf5 16.dxc5? [16.Nf3] 16...Nxc5 [16...Qxb2 and lots is gonna fall 17.Ng4 Nxe3] 17.b4? [This was weak, making the c-pawn a backwards pawn and a big target for me 17.f4 protecting the hanging e-pawn may have been better 17...Nxe3 18.Qxe3 Rac8] 17...Nxe3 18.Qxe3 Na4 19.Qxb6 Nxb6 20.f4 Rac8 21.Rac1 Na4?! [21...f6 to try and activate the bishop;
or 21...Rc4 to try and double up on the c-pawn and then eventually win it] 22.c4! dxc4 [22...Rxc4 23.Rxc4 dxc4 24.Bxb7 f6 (24...Rb8!? 25.Bc6 Rxb4 26.a3 Rb3 27.Bxa4 Rxg3+ 28.Kf2 Rxa3) ] 23.Bxb7 Rc7 [23...Rb8 24.Bc6 Rxb4 25.a3 Rb3 26.Bxa4 Rxg3+ 27.Kf2 Rxa3 28.Rxc4 Rxh3 is similar to the line above] 24.Ba6 Nb2 [The simple 24...c3 as White can't easily get at my knight. If he tries something like 25.Bb5 Nb6 26.Nf3 Rfc8 27.a3 Nd5 and I'm set] 25.Ng4 Nd3 [25...Rb8 26.b5 h5 27.Ne3 c3 28.Nd1 Nxd1 29.Rfxd1 f6 and my dark square bishop is better than his terrible light squared bishop, which does nothing except keep a rook out of c3] 26.Rxc4 Rxc4 27.Bxc4 Nxb4 It's pretty equal here without my c-pawn 28.a4 Rc8 29.Ne3 a5 [I could've tried my 29...Bf8 move here.] 30.g4 [30.Kf2] 30...Bf8 31.Rc1 Bc5 32.Kf2 Nd3+

Aagaard says you should record three things you learn from each game...instead of each game I'm going to do for each session

1) Aagard has said in his books to focus on improving your worst piece. For the longest time, my worst piece was my dark squared bishop and (funnilly enough) once I got it activated I won the game. So I need to consciously involved improving my worst piece versus forcing play like what I was doing with my knight in the second game

2) I need to work harder over the board and calculate. In the first game I just kinda closed my eyes, instead of sitting there for 5 minutes. Also I resigned when it wasn't even lost. I need to make myself calculate. General principles can only do so much for you

3) If I'm going to do this, I need to take it more seriously. Yes I have a lot of stress at work but neither one of us took more than 15 minutes per and I even wanted to skip the whole session and play blitz. These games are the only serious games i get per week, so I should take them seriously. 0-1

Thursday, October 05, 2006

October 4th 2-0

CL - C
October G30 Owen Sound (1), 04.10.2006
A01 - Nimzo-Larsen

First game v. Chris at my place. He will be coming by a couple of times per month for games. My goal is to have him beat me 2/3 so I can get stronger :) 1.b3 e5 [Normally I would play 1...f5 but he said he would play 2.e4 the other day so I bite the bullet and play] 2.e4 f5!? 3.f3?? Just terrible 3...fxe4 4.fxe4 Qh4+ 5.g3 Qxe4+ 6.Qe2 Qxh1 7.Nf3 [He can try and take the pawn but 7.Qxe5+ Ne7 8.Ne2 Nbc6 is tough] 7...d6 8.Bb2 Bg4! 9.Kf2 Forced 9...Qxf3+ 10.Qxf3 Bxf3 11.Kxf3 Nf6 12.Bc4 d5 13.Bf1 Nbd7 14.Bh3 e4+ 15.Ke2 Bc5 16.Nc3 c6 17.Rd1 0-0 18.a3 Rae8 19.Bc1 Ne5 20.Na4 Bd6 21.d3? exd3+ 22.cxd3 Neg4+ 23.Kd2 Nxh2 24.Nc3 d4 25.Ne2? Nf3+ Not much to say. I was basically better throughout 0-1

C - CL
October G30 Owen Sound (2), 04.10.2006
D15 - Slav

Second game (we're gonna try and play two actives a night). I was gonna try some anti-Sicilian, but I thought why not see what he has v. the Slav 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bf5?! 5.Qb3! is the strongest in positions like this or after [5.cxd5 cxd5 6.Qb3] 5...Qd7? an inaccuracy [5...Qb6;
or even the pedestrian 5...b6 6.cxd5 cxd5 7.Bf4] 6.Bg5? [6.cxd5 cxd5 7.Ne5 Qc7 8.Bf4 is strong] 6...dxc4 7.Qxc4 b5 8.Qb3 Ne4? Too ambitious when he's undeveloped. 9.Nxe4 [9.Ne5! was better 9...Qe6 (9...Qc8 10.Nxe4 Bxe4 11.Qxf7+) 10.Qxe6 fxe6 (10...Bxe6 11.Nxe4) 11.Nxe4 Bxe4 12.f3] 9...Bxe4 10.Ne5 Not as strong now 10...Qd5 11.Qxd5 cxd5? [11...Bxd5 and I'm better but he's fine 12.Nd3 e6 13.f3] 12.Rc1 Na6? [12...Nd7 was better, but he didn't want to corrupt his king position. The truth is that he's underveloped and the kings are off] 13.e3 Rb8? 14.Bxb5+ Kd8 15.Nxf7# a nice finish by me, terrible by him 1-0

Sunday, October 01, 2006

london fall open 2/4

it was a one section tournament. i scored 2/4 with poor play generally. i was upset that demmery played 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e5 v. me and i resigned prematurely in that game, and then in round 3 he played an advanced caro and ended up with an isolated pawn on d6, so i mentally resigned for him, figuring that my king would get to d6 first to help and i'd just be a pawn up. i ended up getting into a tough position and just made a horrible, terrible blunder (this was v. a 1359 kid). my two wins were non-games v. a 1220 and a 821 (!)

C - TW
Fall Open London, ON (1), 30.09.2006
E74 - King's Indian : Averbakh Variation, ...c5


First game of the London Fall Open. It was a one-section tournament. My buddy and me drove down. It was nice to have someone to talk to...once he starts to think over the board and play less stereotypically he will be strong. He wants to go to Guelph this summer and get a FIDE rating with me...i'll have to get stronger but i'm in ;) This guy was a kid who didn't play too strongly 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Be2 0-0 6.Bg5 Nbd7 7.Qd2 c5 8.d5 Ne5? [This is all kinds of horrible. 8...a6 has been played in this position] 9.f4 [Fritz likes 9.Nf3 as well, but I think my move is just as good.] 9...Neg4? [9...Ned7 is completely playable] 10.h3 Nh6 [10...h6 11.Bh4 g5 is good for me] 11.0-0-0 [I didn't want to play forced moves, and he couldn't really get out of it so I held off on f5 but 11.g4! was even better! 11...Bd7 12.f5 gxf5 13.Bxh6 Bxh6 14.Qxh6 fxe4 is a tempo ahead] 11...Bd7 12.f5 gxf5 13.Bxh6 Bxh6 14.Qxh6 fxe4 15.g4 Kh8 16.g5 Ng8 17.Qh4 e6 18.Nxe4 exd5 19.Nf6 Nxf6 20.gxf6 Qe8 21.Bd3 Qe3+ 22.Kb1 h6 23.Nf3 dxc4 [23...Qxf3 24.Qxh6+ Kg8 25.Qg7#] 24.Rhe1 Qxd3+ 25.Rxd3 Bf5 26.Qxh6+ Bh7 27.Qg7# Not great by him, but it was nice to get a checkmate 1-0

C-SD
Fall Open London, ON (2), 30.09.2006
A51 - Budapest : Fajarowicz variation


Taking on the top seed in the tournament. Expert level is what I'm aiming for long term, so this is the level I want to be playing at. Unfortunately I got two whites in a row, it would have been nice to *waste* a black v. this guy :) 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e5!? Ga! There's a reason why I used to play Nf3 before d4 and this is one of them 3.dxe5 Ne4 Ga! Ga! [I had gotten 3...Ng4 semi-regularly online, so now (unfortunately) I'm on my own. I remembered that historically, Bisguier had played it but that's about it] 4.Qc2?! [Alekhine has had this played against him by Tartakower and he played 4.Nd2 and if 4...Bb4 (4...Nc5 5.Ngf3 Nc6 6.g3 Qe7 7.Bg2 g6 8.Nb1 Nxe5 9.0-0 Nxf3+ 10.exf3 Bg7 11.Re1 Ne6 12.Nc3 0-0 13.Nd5 Qd8 14.f4 c6 15.Nc3 d6 16.Be3 Qc7 17.Rc1 Bd7 18.Qd2 Rad8 19.Red1 Bc8 20.Ne4 Nc5 21.Nxd6 Na4 22.c5 Nxb2 23.Re1 b5 24.cxb6 Qxd6 25.Qxd6 Rxd6 26.bxa7 Bb7 27.Bc5 Rdd8 28.Bxf8 Kxf8 29.Bxc6 Bxc6 30.Rxc6 Ra8 31.Rb6 Rxa7 32.Rb8# Alekhine-Tartakower 1932. This is a better line than what I played, definitely ;)) 5.Ngf3 -- 6.a3 "getting the two bishops". I definitely won't be so unprepared in the future. ] 4...d5 5.exd6 Bf5 6.Qb3 [In the past I have had 6.Nc3 Ng3 played against me and the computer claims that 7.Qa4+ Bd7 8.Nb5 is better for White, but it's definitely tricky. I need to work harder over the board] 6...Nc6 7.Nf3 [I wanted to play something like 7.g4 to kick the bishop by 7...Bxg4 8.Qxb7 Bd7] 7...Bxd6 8.e3 Bb4+ 9.Nc3 a5! A strong idea that I didn't see. Even after he played it I underestimated it's strength 10.Bd2 Nxd2 11.Nxd2 a4 12.Qd1 a3 13.Qb3 axb2 14.Qxb2 Qf6 15.Nd1 [15.Rc1 Ba3 16.Qxb7 Ra7 17.Nd5 Qg6 -+] 15...Bxd2+ 16.Kxd2 0-0-0+ and I resigned, probably prematurely. It was gonna be tough though. My rook is completely out of play and it's gonna be tough to get him in. Plus I was tired from defending etc. etc. 0-1

EH - C
Fall Open London, ON (3), 30.09.2006
B12 - Caro-Kann : Advanced Variation

1.e4 c6 2.Nf3 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.d4 e6 5.c4 Nd7 6.Nc3 Ne7
[6...h6 7.a3 Ne7 8.c5 a5 9.Bd2 Bg4 10.Be2 Nf5 11.Bc1 b6 12.cxb6 Qxb6 13.Na4 Qa7 14.Be3 c5 15.dxc5 Nxe3 16.fxe3 Bxc5 17.Nxc5 Qxc5 18.Rc1 Qxe3 19.h3 Bxf3 20.gxf3 Qxe5 21.Rg1 0-0 22.Qd2 Rfb8 23.Rb1 d4 24.Kf2 Rb3 25.Rxg7+ Kxg7 26.Rg1+ Kf8 27.Qxh6+ Ke7 28.Qh4+ Nf6 29.Rg5 Qe3+ 30.Kf1 Rxb2 31.Rg2 Rb1+ Alne-Hersvik NOR-ch Junior 2001 0-1;
I wonder if I shouldn't have played relatively "normally" and played this 6...Bb4 7.Bd2 dxc4 8.Bxc4] 7.Be3 [7.Be2 dxc4 8.Bxc4 Nb6 9.Be2 Ned5 10.0-0 Be7 11.a4 a5 12.Re1 Nb4 13.Rf1 Nc2 14.Ra2 0-0 15.b3 Nb4 16.Rd2 N4d5 17.Bb2 Nxc3 18.Bxc3 Nd5 19.Bb2 Bb4 Nicholson-Medvegy Cork Congress 2005 0-1] 7...Qc7? [7...dxc4;
or 7...Qb6 was better. My queen is exposed to harassment from the knight on c7] 8.Bd3 dxc4 [After waiting so long for him to move his bishop I didn't even look (at the strong) 8...Bxd3 9.Qxd3 dxc4 10.Qxc4 Nb6 11.Qb3 for instance 11...Ned5 and I'm better] 9.Bxc4 c5?? [9...Nb6 was better. I didn't even notice that d5 was mine for the taking;
"You were obviously affected still in your 3rd game. Instead of playing solid as you started to do - you uncorked the howler 9. ...c5? which would have allowed 10.Nb5 winning if your opponent had seen it. You had a great position with just 9...a6 preparing 10.-- c5 (or even 10...0-0-0 before playing ...c5" (HJ)) ] 10.0-0 [10.Nb5!] 10...cxd4 [you further compounded your troubled by playing cxd4 before you were properly set up. (again just 10...a6 " (HJ)] 11.Qxd4 [11.Nb5!] 11...Nc6 12.Nb5 finally, but it is not as strong now 12...Qd8 13.Qd2 a6? "You finally played a6 when it was too late goading him into Nd6+ which was great for him (all his pieces were active) Instead of finding counterplay you traded off pieces and allowed him to come in. Obviously you were not yourself in that game." (HJ) [13...Ncxe5! and I'm better 14.Nxe5 Nxe5 15.Qc3 (15.Qxd8+ Rxd8 16.Be2 a6 17.Nc7+ Kd7) 15...Nxc4;
13...Ndxe5 14.Qxd8+ Rxd8 15.Nxe5 Nxe5
] 14.Nd6+ Bxd6 15.exd6 0-0 16.Nd4 Nxd4 17.Qxd4 Rc8 18.Rac1 Nf6 [18...e5 19.Qd2 b5 20.Bb3 Qf6 (20...Rxc1 21.Rxc1 Nf6 22.Qc3) ] 19.Rfd1 Qd7 20.Bb3 Rxc1 21.Rxc1 Rc8? [21...Rd8 22.Rc7 Qxd6 23.Qxd6;
21...Nd5 22.Bxd5 exd5 23.Qxd5 Be6 24.Qd1 Rd8 25.Bb6
] 22.Rxc8+ Qxc8 23.Qb6 Nd7 [23...Nd5 24.Bxd5 exd5 25.Qc7 and now my bishop is guarding that diagonal] 24.Qd4 b5 25.Qa7 h6 [25...Be4 and again making my bishop useful] 26.Qc7 Qe8 27.Bd1 e5 [27...Be4 again] 28.Qc6 Nb8?? [28...a5 29.Qxb5 Qe6 30.Qxa5 Qxd6 Not a great game at all] 1-0

DD - C
Fall Open London, ON (4), 30.09.2006
B11 - Caro-Kann : Two Knights Variation


Not much to say about this one. The guy was an elderly gentleman and he said his rating was 821 "and he earned every point of it" 1.e4 c6 2.Nf3 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bg4 5.Be2 Nd7 6.Neg5 h6 7.d4 hxg5 8.Nxg5 Bxe2 9.Qxe2 Ngf6 10.Qc4 e6 11.0-0 Qc7 12.Bd2?? Qxh2# 0-1