Long weekend tournament

My first classical tournament in Canada was exactly 16 years ago, it was a Labor Day one. My Mondays club decided to revive that tradition and organized such a tournament, I registered for it. Finally the time came and a long weekend tournament started on Saturday, there were more than 200 people. It was happening near my home, in the church, half a hour walk. It was hot and I wanted to take my laptop there, so I intended to take a public transportation as parking there would be a headache.

Saturday. Morning, round 1. I come early and talk to a few acquaintances. Then parings appear, my opponent is a girl rated about 1700. I drew her with Black half a year ago, I got Black this time too. She unexpectedly starts with Nf3, I transpose into Queen’s Indian Accelerated. I think the unusual order of moves throws me off my regular plans, I don’t play my usual Bb4+ though she could just play c3.

The move 13… Na6 was the one I later regretted, I am just not accustomed to have it there, not on c6. After 20 moves I decide to attack on the kingside. Computer doesn’t like my 21… Bg4 and prefers immediate g5. On move 26 computer evaluates the position as ~1, so it looks like my attack is going nowhere. After a few moves I lose a pawn, also it is clear that her queenside attack is becoming dangerous.

My 34… Kh7 is a big mistake, 34… Qe8 would give White a hard time figuring out how to make a progress. On move 35 I am practically forced to sacrifice my bishop on h3, her 37. f3 takes my last hope away. I resist for some time, then resign when I see that the mate is unavoidable.

Round 2. I get an aged man rated about 1685, he is late. I has White, we play Ruy Lopez. I have to play Anti-Marshall, then we get Zaitsev variation. His 10… exd4 is not considered good by the book, on move 14 he deviates from it. Instead of my 15. Nf1 computer likes 15. a4 c6 16. Bb2 with 0.78 estimate.

It is difficult now to explain the reason for 19. Qd3, Qd2 is better. After his 19… c5 I get an excellent opportunity, 20. dxc5 dxc5 21. Rxd8 Raxd8 22. Bc7 wins an exchange. I do not see it and play 20. Rad1. My 23. d5 is a bad idea, I got tired of defending e4 pawn, but this just gives c5 square for his knight.

He doesn’t do it, the position is equal, but I feel that am losing the initiative. On move 28 I miss Nxd5 strike, Qe3 would be almost equal. After taking on a6 I feel like I am OK, but the position actually is not easy. On move 33 I have to play Ne1 instead of playing it on the next move. In 2 moves I make a mistake by playing a4 instead of immediate Nf1, another knight move that should be played one move earlier.

My 37. Nh1 allows his Nxg2 which practically finishes the game, I resign two moves later.

Sunday. Round 3. My opponent is a young man rated about 1600, he has White. I learn that he played recently Scotch Game, Schmidt variation transposing from Petroff and prepare for the line he played. The same happens, he transposes, but then plays a different line, I am familiar very well with it.

We follow the book, on move 12 I decide to experiment and play Rb8 instead of playing usual Re8 or Be6. On the next move I play regular h6 and out of the blue he plays Bxh6. A few moments I don’t even see what is a motif for that, then notice that after 14… gxh6 15. Qg3+ Kh8 he takes the rook on b8 which is unprotected due to a lack of Bc8-e6 move.

I don’t want just to give up a pawn with weakening of my king’s position and start to think. I find 14… gxh6 15. Qg3+ Bg4, which defends the rook. Of course I will lose that bishop later due to a pin, but will get a pawn back. So I play it and computer thinks I am even better after his 16. h3 and prefers 16. Qe3 with following Qxh6 and perpetual. After the game I found that Bxh6 is actually a book sacrifice that leads to a draw.

The move 17… h5 looks a bit dangerous to me, but was actually the best. His 18. Ne2 is a mistake, I could win an exchange after 18… Re8 19. hxg4 Ne4 20. Qh3 Bc5+ 21. Kh2 Nf2 22. Qh5 Nxd3 23. cxd3 Bf2. On move 21 I spend quite some time deciding how to take on g4. My experience tells me that in such positions after queens exchange I sometimes get a worse endgame.

I still like 21… Qxg4 more and play it, computer says both moves are equal. I miss 25… Nh5 winning the f4 pawn, computer evaluates the position as only -0.39. After his 27. Rc1 I get a bad feeling that it is now a situation from the past with worse endgame, then intensify my thinking and find Re2 with following Ne4.

I spend some time deciding how to respond to 29. Nxe4 and find the right dxe4. After 33 moves the position is equal, but then he starts to go the wrong way I think. His Kf1 shows that he realizes the dangerousness of “e” pawn, but the right move would be 34. Re4 putting the rook behind the pawn.

His 36. d5 is another mistake, Re4 or Rh3 would be the right move. After a few moves we end up in R+2P vs R endgame. I play carefully, checking every move. On move 55 I see that I have a pawn sacrifice, f2 and after spending some time to check it I play it. We get into K+R vs K ending, strangely he continues to play until the mate is on the horizon, then he resigns.

Round 4. The pairings come and I see that I got a boy rated 1641, I have White. He plays French Defense, the line with Qxd5, I feel comfortable in this line. After the opening the position is equal, then he makes a strange move 13… a5. I see that after 14… a4 there is a possibility of Nf5 with the idea of Bxf6 and Rxd7. I carefully check it spending quite some time, then play it.

He takes on f5, everything goes as expected. I see that there is a combination, 15. Rxf7 Rxf7 16. Qe8+ Rxe8 17. Re8#. It looks like he sees that too as he plays 17… g6. It is actually a mistake, the best was 17… a3 allowing to take on f7, but not taking the rook. My Qc2 shows that I thought he defended, but there was 18. Rxf7 Rxf7 19. Qe6 Raf8 20. Qxf6 getting the bishop and then getting the exchange back with advantage.

My pieces are active, I try to pressure him. Eventually I win a pawn, but computer still evaluates the position as ~0.4. His desire to get into an opposite-colored bishops endgame is understandable, but actually is a mistake. I have to say here that after drawing the opposite-colored bishops endgame being up 2 pawns in the last big tournament and computer showing there was a win there I had my work cut out for me. I studied the analysis and looked at some theory.

It greatly helps me here. I find a way to penetrate with my king on the kingside and win his . So I win his “h” pawn while his wins my “a” pawn. The position with 2 split passed pawns far away from each other is won for White. In the end he is torn up between the pawns and resigns in a lost position.

Monday. Last day is unexpectedly full of drama.

Round 5. I get a small boy, later I learn that he is Canadian 2023 U8 champion. I get White again, he plays Sicilian d6. On move 8 I don’t feel like playing d4 and play quiet d3. After the opening there is some struggle in the center. I play f3 on move 21 missing to play f4, my hesitation to play it because of e4 is not right, e4 simply doesn’t work at all.

I feel uncomfortable after his 21… d5 and play 22. Rfc1 to prevent Rc3, but computer says that 22. cxb5 Rc3 23. Rbd1 would give better, as Rdc8 could be met with f4. I go for the rooks exchanges believing that I can hold that queen endgame. After the game I remembered that I had a similar game 4 months ago where I drew.

On move 34 I sacrifice the “h” pawn to open his king for checks, computer approves that. One thing that bothers me is the boy’s behavior, he goes downstairs, where the restrooms are, pretty often, every 10-15 minutes. I saw his father when the round was about to start and I am sure that he is downstairs where are the rooms for the spectators/parents.

His 36… Kd6 makes me nervous, I see that the king can escape to the queenside. I start to doubt if he could find such a good move himself. When I play 37. Qg6+ he suddenly goes downstairs again, on his move, that is against the rules. It is the last straw, I go to the arbiter and explain the situation, then say the same to TD. They listen carefully. I go back and when the boy comes back tell him that he can’t leave the board on his move as well as can’t go downstairs as often as he does. The arbiter comes and tells me, that I can’t talk to my opponent, only to the arbiter, I nod.

I try to calm down, then find 38. Qf5 and 38… Kb4 39. Qf8+ follows. I see that the only way for him to avoid checks is to play Qc5, but if I exchange the queens I have a3 and his king can’t penetrate on the queenside. I evaluate the arising pawn endgame as at least not worse. He plays Qc5 and suddenly offers a draw. I say that I will play more, exchange the queens and then play 41. a3. He replies 41… Kd6 and suddenly I see that I don’t have time to capture the pawns on “h” vertical, if I try his king goes to f4 and then to e3.

So the pawn endgame down a pawn doesn’t look very good to me and I think maybe I should ask him if he still wants a draw. He reads my mind and offers a draw again, this time I agree. He says something like he thinks my position was better because of his weak pawns on the kingside. It looks like a typical kid’s trick to offer a draw in a worse position hoping that opponent doesn’t know it.

Nevertheless I feel good, go to the arbiter and tell him: “Forget about it. We drew.”, then say the same to TD. I go downstairs to run the game through computer. By the way there I meet one of the officials and he tells me that he followed the kid when he left and he really went to the restroom and he thinks the kid just was nervous. I agreed.

I run the game through Houdini and I am shocked with the results. Houdini says that 39… Qc5 was a crucial mistake and I could win by playing 40. a3+!!, before the queens exchange. He only has 40… Kb5, then I exchange the queens like in the game, but I won a tempo! So 42. Kg3 Kd5 43. Kh4 Ke6 44. Kxh5 Kf5 45. g3! Kf6 46. Kxh4 and White wins. In opposite in the game’s continuation of play after 41… Kd6 I see that 42. Kg3 Ke6 43. Kh4 Kf5 leads to 44. g3 Kg6 45. Kh3 Kg5 46. Kg2 h4 47. gxh4+ Kxh4 and Black wins. Just another example how careful you should be in the pawn endgame and you always have to calculate here.

Round 6. Before the previous round the organizers announced that they moved the time of the last round one hour earlier, I am not sure everybody heard it. So when the round starts and my opponent is not there, I think maybe he will be essentially late. I wait and after 10-12 minutes he appears.

It is an adult, his rating is about 1750, he has White. He plays 1. e4 and I again play Petrov’s Defense. This time it goes that way, he plays Italian variation, developing his bishop on c4. It is a kind of a gambit that is considered dubious. Then he castles and plays 5. Re1. I feel like it is not a good move and try to remember what the book says. First Bc5 comes to mind, but I don’t like his d4 and I am right, it is only equal. Then I remember that I saw 5… Nxf2 somewhere. I later found a sentence in the book from the library on Petroff that “Nxf2 crushes”, so I remembered right.

So I play it. He quickly replies by 6. Rxe5. I have to say that all the game he played very fast and aggressively, like a rapid if not a blitz game. Probably it somewhat intimidated me. So 6… Be6 7. Bb5+ c6 follows. I see that I have an advantage, computer evaluates the position as ~-1.5. Later I found that 6… Be7 is a tiny bit better.

On move 8 he takes the the pawn on f2 with the king and I see Qb6+, I wish I would never see it. The idea is to take on b5 with a queen keeping the pawns connected. I think the sense of danger completely left me, I am in euphoria after getting advantage right in the opening. Of course the fact that I never played that line with 5. Re1 Nxf2, even online, also plays a role.

So 9… Qxb5 is a mistake giving back all the advantage. When I play 10… Bd6 he quickly takes on e6 with the knight. It is actually a mistake, Rxe6 leads to equality. I start to think what piece to take. Taking the rook doesn’t look promising because of Nxg7+, then Bh6. Too bad I miss that the bishop is already on e5 and protects g7, my old “chronic disease”. So I take the knight.

I believe that Rxe6 can be met with Kc7 and if Qg4 then Rf1+ with a mate or big advantage for Black, it is actually not as 13. Qg4 Rf8+ is met with Rf6+. Suddenly he sacrifices the rook on d6 and I see that I lost. It seems me that taking a rook would lead to a mate. It actually doesn’t, but White still has ~5.5 advantage.

My next moves look like agony and on move 17 I resign. I am upset of course to finish the tournament that way. Many years ago I learned on Morphy’s games that fast development and safety of your king are very important, here I forgot it. Also “the first pancake is always spoiled”.

 

Following the beaten track

It was a 4th round in the Mondays club. I got a young man, never played him before. He had White and transposed into Giuoco Pianissimo, Italian four knight variation. On move 10 he deviated from the book by castling kingside. The position became very familiar to me, I played a lot of online games of that type.

My plan was to put my knight on f4 and my heavy pieces on “f” vertical. Already on move 14 I could sacrifice the rook on f3, I didn’t see it. The key move here would be Nd4, attacking/distracting the knight on e2 controlling the crucial square f4. So 14… Rxf3 15. gxf3 Qh4 16. Kg2 Nd4! and after 17. Nxd4 Nf4 White has to give up the queen to avoid the mate.

Instead I put my knight on f4 and to my surprise he played 15. b4 letting me to sacrifice the knight on h3. Then also unexpectedly he played 16. b5 instead of Nh2 or Qe3. At that moment I remembered the game I played with one 2100+ rated woman exactly 15 years ago. After sacrificing the knight on h3 she sacrificed the rook for the knight on f3 and eventually won.

So I started to look at it, but didn’t see how I can win. But after 16… Rxf3 17. gxf3 Qh4 Black was winning exactly the same way as described above by playing Nd4. The moves 17. gxh3 or 17. bxc6 were losing as well. Anyway I played 16… Na5 which I regretted later from the pure positional point of view as the knight has no moves there. Computer is less critical thinking that Na7 was almost the same.

After exchanging the knights I continued my attack, his 22. Rg1 was a mistake. Then he suddenly played 23. g4. I saw his idea, exchange the pawns and the rooks on g5 and g6 and pin my queen. Still I believed that his knight sacrifice wasn’t sound and decided to play a safe 24… Rg6, 24… Rxf3 was somewhat better.

After a few moves his position became very difficult. I decided not to give him any chances, not to take on h6 and use that pawn as a cover for my king. On move 32 he took his queen, then put it back showing me that he knows he has to move it. Then after a short thinking he resigned.

 

Phantom

After a 3 weeks break caused by a holiday and a big blitz tournament I returned to the OTB classical play. By the way I played in that blitz tournament, there were about 100 people. There were 7 double (with both colors) rounds, time control was 3 minutes plus 2 seconds increment. I started very well making two draws with a FIDE master, it’s good that I didn’t know it before the games. With Black I played Budapest gambit, in both games I repeated the moves in the simple, equal positions in the endgame. Then I beat twice the guy rated 1450, then got another FIDE master. It didn’t go well with him, lost both games.

Then I got a coffee and had +1, =1 with an unrated guy. In round 9 with ~1500 rated boy I blundered, lost, drew in round 10. Then the same happened with a guy rated about 1200 in rounds 11 and 12. I probably got tired and definitely needed another coffee, unfortunately decided that I will be OK. Then I lost last 2 games to unrated, who got 1500 performance rating.

Back to the classical tournament. I got an old foe, I have 4.5-1.5 record with him. Last time I lost to him was 4 years ago when I went for a wrong combination in a won endgame. I got White, he unexpectedly played Modern Defense that became Old Benoni later. The best reply to his 3… c5 would be dxc5, I played conservative d5. After his 7… Nd7 I didn’t want his knight to go to e5, so played Bb5, the best was just Be2.

After the opening he had a weak pawn on d6. On move 17 I played Bf4, I thought that in a compensation for b2 pawn I would get his d6 pawn as well as get my rook on semi-open “b” vertical. After 18. Rb1 he could play 18… Qxa4 and I couldn’t take his bishop because of Qa1+, I didn’t see that line.

I spent some time deciding how to take on d6, Rxc5 was the same strong as Rxd6, Bxd6 was worse. While thinking on taking on b7 I got an idea about following it with Rb8+, then winning the pinned bishop on f8. I realized that with my bishop on h6 he would have his queen on e7 defending, but with the bishop on d6 he wouldn’t have that move.

When he took on e4 I realized that his rook on a8 is defended now, so after the check he doesn’t have to exchange the rooks, just play Bf8. I didn’t like that line, so after some thinking moved my queen to c7. Only at home computer told me that there were no Bf8, it would be a mate in 1, as my queen would take it. I was in a complete shock, how I could not see that. I think in my mind his rook was still defending the bishop on f8. So everything I counted on was right, I was winning the queen for the rook after 22. Rb8+ Qe8 or it was a mate in 21 after 22. Rb8+ Rxb8 23. Qxb8+ Bf8 24. Bd6.

After 22. Qc7 the things started to go downhill. The time factor also affected my play as I spent a lot of time previously. I missed 23. c4 giving me a draw and in a few moves allowed him to exchange the queens and got into a worse bishop endgame. My 40. h4 was a really bad move that costed me dearly later. After several moves I resigned in a lost position.

 

Missed chances

It was a second round of a new tournament in the Mondays club. I got an old foe, an aged guy with whom I recently drew in English Opening. I got Black again and we had the same variation of English Opening. I deviated from the book on move 8.

My 9… a5 was unnecessary, computer recommends Qd7 or d5. When I took on d5 on move 11 I thought that pawn on d5 will restrict his light colored bishop, but computer doesn’t like this move. Then I got an idea to get some initiative on the kingside. I put the bishop on f6 to prevent his knight getting to e6 or c6 squares after e4, then provoked him to exchange his knight for my bishop.

After he played 23. e3 I had to decide if I still want to play f4, eventually I played it. He didn’t take the f4 pawn with the bishop on move 26, probably saw Ng4+. After his 26. Qc4 the knight check was still playable leading to a draw after 26… Ng4+ 27. hxg4 Qh4+ 28. Kg1 f3, I didn’t see that line.

Then a crucial moment of the game came. He played 28. Bg4 instead of just taking on h5, what I would do. I moved my knight to g5 seeing that he can’t take on c8, that would leave h3 without defense. His next move, Be8, was a big mistake, but I didn’t realize that. My response, 29… Nf6, was much weaker that I could do here. Computer says 29… Rce8!! was winning the game.

The best reply 30. Rc2 was still losing due to 30… Nxh3! 31. Bxh3 Nf6 32. Kg1 Qxh3 33. Qxf4 Ng4 34. Qg3 Qxg3+ 35. fxg3 Rxf1+ 36. Kxf1 Ne3+. If White replies 30. Qxc7 then 30… Nf6 31. f3 Nxg4+ 32. fxg4 Re2+ 33. Kg1 Nxh3+ Kh1 Nf2+ 35. Kg1 Qg3#, etc. In some lines Black sacrifices the exchange on e1.

In the game after exchange on g4 and the knight check on f3 I still had some advantage, but then I went the wrong way exchanging the light pieces on e1 and then the queens. My hope was that 2 rooks vs 2 rooks endgame will have a drawing chances, but it didn’t quite work that way.

There was a moment when I could save the game. On move 45 and on 46 too I had to play b5! That would restrict his rook from getting to c4 and any rook activity would cost the queenside pawns for him, it was a clear draw. Instead I made a game losing check on f1 and after a several moves resigned.

 

A strange tournament

I had to wait quite some time for this tournament as the early registration opened in May. It was 2023 Ontario Closed Championship, it was actually open for all residents of Ontario, one section. It was 7 rounds, starting from Friday and continuing on Canada Day long weekend. I decided not to play on Friday and took a bye, late games sometimes cost me a bad night and I didn’t want that. On Saturday in the morning I looked at the first round results and was surprised by a few draws and 1 loss in the pairs with 400-500 rating difference.

Round 2. I get a boy rated 2000+, I have Black, he plays Ruy Lopez. On move 6 he plays d3, Martinez variation, I didn’t have it OTB, but had quite a few times online. So I play d6, a second choice with a good stats. The position is equal after the opening. Computer doesn’t like my 17… Rab8 and prefers 17… axb4 18. axb4 Rxa1 19. Rxa1 Nxb4. I didn’t play 17… axb4 because of 18. Nxb5, but after 18… Qxb7 19. a4 it is ~-0.5.

My 20… b4 looks like a natural move, but later I regret playing it because it opened the play for his bishop. On move 28 I can play Ne5 instead of Rd8. In a few moves I get annoyed by his pressure on d6 and decide to sacrifice “d” pawn in order to get a free play. It is a mistake, he gets ~1.5 advantage.

The position eventually simplifies and on move 41 I get my queen on b6 with the idea of checking his king. I have only 2 minutes left at that moment, he has essentially more. Unfortunately the right idea is followed with a bad execution when I put my queen on b1. I see right away that he can exchange the queens now and he does it.

The rook endgame is lost, it takes only a few moves to make it obvious and I resign. We played for 4 hours and I am very tired after the game. It is probably not a good idea having only two hours break to record a 68 moves game in my DB and run it through the computer instead of getting some rest.

Round 3. I get another boy rated ~1200. I have Black, he plays French and we get Tarrasch, closed variation. He closes the center on move 10, computer evaluates the position as 1.20. I develop an attack on the kingside, it goes smoothly, my goal is sacrifice on g6. After his 20… Nd7 the evaluation is +4.14.

Then I go the wrong way. I see 24. Qg5, but after 26. Bxg6 hxg6 27. Qxg6+ Kh8 do not see how I can threaten his king. So I decide “to prepare” for it and play Re3. He plays Qd8, evaluation goes down to 3.00. What I miss is that after queen goes to g5, it frees the square e5 for the rook. The best for him is to play e5, it is still losing after White doubles the rooks on “e” vertical.

Then I make a “natural” move Rbe1 and to my horror see right away Qh4 threat. The best move I find is 26. Rf3. On move 31 I miss Qc7, if 31… Qe8 32. f5 the evaluation is 0.00. I play f5 later, but in a worse position. Then I miss the last chance to survive by playing 40. Qe5 instead of h5!. His rook finally comes to play and in few moves I resign.

Round 4. I check the pairings at home in the morning, another low rated boy. My DBs show him playing Ponziani Opening. I played only one game against Ponziani with high rated opponent and lost. So I prepare a variation that looks safe and simple enough. At the board we play this variation, now maybe I would play d6 instead of d5.

On move 11 I create light complications, computer says after 14… axb6 15. Bxc4 I would get ~0.5 advantage. So I get two bishops and in a few moves exchange both rooks, hoping that I have better chances. My advantage is very small, about a quarter of a pawn.

He offers a draw at some point, I refuse. Then after some maneuvering I finally force him to exchange on f6. I still do not see how I can win and when he again offers a draw, I agree. Computer says the position is equal and 2 shootouts end up both in a draw.

Round 5. During the break I learn that my opponent is another low rated boy, can’t find his games. I have White, he plays Caro-Kann. I am not in a mood for Fantasy variation, so play regular Nc3, on move 4 he plays Nf6. I played against this line 2 times, with high rated, lost both games. Last time I played Nb3, so I decide to play Nxf6.

After his 12… Qd7 I decide to stay on the safe side and play Bf1. I have an impression that I am under some pressure, but after exchange on f4 the position is equal. Computer doesn’t like my 20. Nc4. After his 21… Bh6 I am ready to answer his f4 with Ng4 and it happens.

By move 30 the position is equal, but on the next move he makes a mistake playing Qe3+. On move 45 he makes a very serious mistake by playing g5. Unfortunately I just take his pawn instead of f5 which wins, the plan is to move the king to the queenside and win his bishop.

Then for some reason I allow him to play h4. From this point it is a draw, it was still winnable after 48. g3. I am a bit upset. Next morning at home looking at the analysis I realize that my knowledge of opposite-colored bishops endgame has big gaps.

Round 6. I learn in the morning that my opponent is a boy, my namesake, funny. His rating is about 1660, finally not another low rated. He plays e4, it is the only information I can find. The game starts and we have Ruy Lopez, Chigorin variation. We go along the book line, then I play 14… Rac8 instead of 14… Rfc8. Computer doesn’t like my 16… Nc4.

After he plays 21. Nh4, I see, of course, Nxd5. But then I start to think and see that after 21… Nxd5 22. exd5 Bxh4 he has 23. Qe4 Bxg3 24. Qxh7 Kf8 25. fxg3. It doesn’t look very exciting, so I play instead Kh7. Next 4 moves he pressures me and I defend. Then in a few moves he wins a pawn, but I am optimistic as it won’t be easy to use that advantage, my pieces are located very well.

We transfer into R+B vs R+B endgame, I try to keep a balance. On move 50 he misses h5 with some chances. He moves his king to the queenside, it looks very dangerous, so I play f5. It works and we end up in a opposite-colored bishops endgame. From this point it is a clear draw, as my bishop holds h5 pawn and my king doesn’t let his king to penetrate through f5 or b5. I offer a draw, he refuses.

I mark the next move after the rooks exchange and calmly continue to play. He makes meaningless moves with his bishop unless we agree to a draw. In this game I was on another side of the opposite-colored bishops endgame and my modest knowledge was enough for a draw.

Round 7. The pairings come and I see that my opponent is a man rated 1716. I beat him with Black in Budapest Gambit in January, then he won in a rapid (rated) game playing Pirc Defense. I have White, so I go through the last game and look at the book moves. We start, he plays Pirc, the same line. I play a waiting game with the castle, wanting him to show his intentions.

On move 13 I feel that I have to defend my e4 pawn, so I play Nh2. After we both castle queenside the position is equal. Computer doesn’t like his 24… b4. On move 33 I consider Qxd3, but it looks too risky. Actually this is a best move, leading to equality.

After my 34. Nc3 he suddenly plays Kd7. I immediately play f4. Then I play 39. Nc3 instead of Qf2 that could give me some winning chances as Rf1 will follow. Then a have a brain cramp. I play 40. Rd2 with the intention to put it on f2, but when the time comes, I suddenly start to consider 41… Nb3. It looks like after I play Rxf8 he follows up with the fork on d2. So I play g2, which is an inferior move. There was is a clear draw after 41. Rf2 Rxf2 42. Qxf2 Qb3 43. Qf8 and he has to force a perpetual.

He repays the favor by playing 41… Qb3 instead of a4. On move 43 I have an excellent move Qf1 which would force him to give up a rook on f8 and then force a perpetual. But I am obsessed with Nd5 idea and play it. He makes a few checks winning my c4 in the process, then suddenly looks at me smiling and says something like “I do not know what to do”… then repeats it in a couple of moves. I perfectly understand him, he means my threat Rf6+ with then my queen joining. I smile back. He finally decides and forces a draw.

We look at the game afterwards. My fresh acquaintance, 2000 rated guy joins us and criticizes my Qg2, I agree. Then he tries to find a win for Black, he can’t, so he says Black did the right thing. I smile and agree. Something funny happens at home, he Houdini tells me that the Black had a win in the end of the long, forcing line.

It was a strange tournament in a sense that there were many unexpected results which some young players showed, winning and drawing with a much higher rated older opponents. It is what I called before a “Covid generation”, youngsters that set at the basements, played online and studied chess for two years, then they came…

 

Queen’s Indian Accelerated

It was a 2nd round of the Thursdays tournament, played 3 weeks ago, before my vacation break. I got a high rated boy, lost to him half a year ago and as I found later also 5 years ago. I had Black and played Queen’s Indian Accelerated. We followed the book until the move 10, then book recommends 10… Qh4, I didn’t know that.

The move is a bit tricky, as it contains a trap, inviting White play 11. g3 instead of the right f3, then 11… Nxd2 and if 12. gxh4 then 12… Nf3+ 13. Kg2 Nxd4+ 14. Be4 Bxe4 15. Qxe4 cxd4 and Black has an advantage. He prepared and executed e4 and then played 18. Rf2 which looked somewhat scary to me, but in reality was an inaccuracy. I really didn’t like the perspective of him pressing on f6 and thought that I have to play g5, noticing that I will have Nh5 after it.

After a few moves the position simplified, I started to feel comfortable. Then he offered the queens exchange and right after it he suddenly offered a draw. I agreed right away, though on the way back home I thought that maybe I had some advantage. To the contrary computer said that the position was only -0.30 and all the shootouts ended up in a draw.

 

Two Giuoco Piano games

These two games that I played last week shared some similarities, that’s why I decided to put them together in one post.

Game 1. It was a 2nd round in Mondays club and my opponent was a girl, I lost to her 4 months ago blundering in the time trouble in the drawn endgame. She again had White and we played the same Giuoco Piano line. I thought what to do after the first 10 moves and a “Spanish” plan with Na5 and c5 came to my mind. I wasn’t sure how my bishop on a7 would look in this position, still decided to play it.

It actually started my attack on the queenside, a thing I am not very accustomed to. I liked my position after 20. Bxd4 and after some thinking replied cxd4. After playing 22… Bc5 I noticed that she has 23. f4, but saw that after 23… e4 she can’t take the pawn because of discovered check winning the piece. Nevertheless she played 23. f4, so I just followed up with e4 and on the next move got protected passed pawn on e3.

Then some maneuvering followed, it ended up with a queens exchange. When I played 33… Nd5 I saw that she can’t take on d6 because of 34… Rc1, still she took the pawn, it was a big mistake. After she defended her bishop I played 35… Nc3 and followed her 36. Ree1 with an exchange sacrifice and a pawn fork. As a result on move 39 I had a piece for two pawns and dominating position, computer evaluates it as -5.25.

So I started to think that I won and even thought about the title of the post under which I would post this game. That was a huge mistake, it reflected already on my next move. Instead of playing 39… Bc7 which after 40. Nc4 would give me a pawn on b3, I played a weak 39… Rd8. I still had an advantage, but then 44… Ne3 was another inaccuracy. I thought I can’t play 44… Nxf4 because of 45. Nxa5, but it was refuted by 45… Re3+ and Black loses the knight.

My 45… Nxf5 was another mistake, 45… Bxf4 was better, she couldn’t take on f4 because of the knight fork. On move 48 I took on g5, I would never do that if I would know what will happen. Instead simple 48… Nxc4 49. gxh6 gxh6 50. bxc4 Bxf4 was still winning. In a few moves we transferred into a knight vs pawns endgame. Computer evaluates this position as equal, but it is not easy to play for Black.

She had a very little time by then, I had more, but was feeling nervous, seeing that I lost all my advantage and got into a very difficult endgame. My 58… Ne3+ was a game losing mistake, but she didn’t use it. Then instead of lifesaving 59… Ng4 I played f5. As I remember for some reason I thought that I still can hold the “h” pawn, it was a brain cramp. After her 60. gxf6 I saw that I lost. I was very upset.

At home I found a video on YouTube about what should you do if you have a material advantage. The first item said that you should not give your opponent any counterplay. Also I read that knight is not a piece you want to have against the pawns, as I noticed above the endgame with the bishop was won easily.

Game 2. It was a penultimate round in the Thursdays club. My opponent was an old man, never played him before. I had Black and we played Giuoco Piano. His 10. d4 was not the best move, 10. Bxe6 would be better. I thought that I can get the pawn on e4 and calculated taking on a3, then played it. When he played 14. d5 it took me off guard. I hesitated to play 15… d5 thinking that I would give him e5 square and then his knight will get to f7, but it was wrong. It would give me actually the possibility to win e6 pawn.

On move 20 I had to play 20… Ne4, it would let me to win e6 pawn. After a few moves my queen settled on d6, then I organized some counterplay in the center. His 21. Kg3 was a big mistake, but I didn’t see 31… N7xf5 32. gxf5 Nxf5, winning. It is not that I completely didn’t see Nxf5, I just had a different idea. I played it on the next move, but it was wrong to take with the rook after gxf5. I think I saw my knight “pinned” to e7 square as well as actually pre-moved Rxf5 not stopping after gxf5.

It was an equal game afterwards until I got another right idea with a wrong execution. It looked like I can win a rook on c5 as after Qxg3 I had a check on c2. So I played 41… Rxc5, then suddenly after Rxc2+ his queen moved to g2 square and I found myself in a lost endgame. The thing is I had to take on f3, not c5. After 41… Rxf3 42. Qxg6 Nxg6 43. Rxf3 Rxf3 44. Rxh5 the position was equal.

We eventually came to a R+N+P vs R endgame which was completely lost. Luckily for me he couldn’t find a quick win. On moves 77 and 79 the position repeated, I thought it could be repeated again in the future, but I screwed up my scoresheet and later couldn’t see anything. There was actually a third repetition on move 83, but I didn’t see it. There was a few times a mate in 13, but he couldn’t coordinate his pieces. I have to say that I had a few minutes and was playing on 15 seconds increment at that time.

On move 108 he suddenly played Ng3 and I saw right away an exchange sacrifice with a draw. He was in a kind of a shock, it looked like he was sure he will win. He said something about the wrong clock and TD explained him that the clock is OK, it is an increment. He started to ask what is that, TD had to clear the premises, so just told him to read about Fisher increment.

I found later that the guy had a long break from chess, so didn’t know about it. I was happy and thanked Fisher for his invention. I also found that it was a longest classical game I ever played OTB, 109 moves.

 

With a little help from my friend

This is a “paraphrase” of the Beatles song title and relates to the variation played in the game. When I came to the club our TD told me that due to the fact that our Crown section is decimated by the ongoing city championship it will be merged with the middle section in the new tournament. As a result I was paired with the young man rated 1403, never played him before. I got White, he played Sicilian and we ended up with my favorite Rossolimo variation.

I didn’t hurry to play h3 as I would usually do as I had a feeling that he will play Bg4 and then will exchange on f3 after h3, which suited me. This is exactly what happened. Computer says that 23… exf5 was a mistake, I saw a knight sacrifice on f5, he would lose if he would accept it. He found the best defending move Ne8 pretty quickly, so I had to find how to continue my attack.

I realized that my knight will have good perspectives on g4 and it was there in two moves. His 25… Qd5 was a major mistake, as I could play the planned e5 with a tempo. After winning a pawn my attack continued, a crucial moment came on move 32. I saw a knight sacrifice on g6, checked the lines and played it. Computer says it was a mate in 11 after 32. f7. I saw f7, but it looked like his knight just goes to g7. I missed that the same knight sacrifice on g6 after 32. f7 Ng7 will lead to a mate.

On move 36 I planned first Rg3+, but noticed that his king escapes through f7 square. I didn’t see the move 37. Re1! after which he has no escape from the mate. Anyway I played 36. Rf4 and in a few moves won his rook. So we transformed into Q+R vs Q+N endgame that definitely looked won for me, but I had to demonstrate some technique. It took time to find a g3, h4 pawn structure covering my king from his checks, also I thought I have to take care of the queenside first.

Eventually the action switched back to the kingside, where the openness of his king was a critical factor. All that time he resisted like hell and we played already for 3.5 hours, so I was glad to put it to rest with 71. Rf7#.

 

Queens duel

I had a dilemma before the game – to go to the club or watch the playoff hockey. I thought that I will be too upset if my team loses and I miss the club as well, so decided to play. My opponent was a father of 2 boys I played before in that club, that was funny. He chose the same Bxd7 line in Canal-Sokolsky attack in Sicilian as his son, but then played a more quiet line.

I played 9. Bd2 in an expectation that his knight will get to d4, so my hands would be free (in case I want to exchange it). This is exactly what happened, then he played b5. I decided not to play Rc1, then take on c4 with the rook as I did some time ago and just played b3. His 17… f5 was clearly not the best move and I liked the pawn structure that appeared as a result of the exchanges.

After he took on f5 with the rook I had to decide where to move my bishop. It was a critical moment, I thought that on d2 it has more attacking opportunities. It was a wrong decision, as it allowed him to activate his bishop. He could actually get better after doubling his rooks, as the f2 square was not well covered, computer evaluates it as -0.91. At the same time if I would play 21. Bg3 White would be 1.02. Luckily he played 21… Bf6.

After his 23… Qg6 I realized that he can create a battery with the bishop on e5 and queen on g3, so Bf4 was basically forced, computer approves that as well as bishops exchange. I had a small, ~0.3 advantage before the rooks exchange, then it went to zero. I tried to distract distract/push away his queen that looked too active to me with 30. c5 and 31. g3.

When he played Qe3+ I saw that the pawn endgame should be alright. He queened right after me and did it with the check. I was optimistic, maybe too much, as I played 44. Kg4 without much thinking. Then suddenly I saw 44… Qe4+, it looked very scary, like I can get mated. But when I checked the lines, my king was escaping. At that moment I told myself: “Never again I play such a move”.

Right after that moment he got both my pawns. But one I was getting back right away and my king was too close to another one and his king was far away. In a few moves I won the remaining pawn, we exchanged the queens and shook the hands.

 

Wrong way

It was a last round in the Mondays club. My opponent was a young man to whom I lost a few times, he had White in all of the games. This time I got White, we played Caro-Kann, Fantasy variation. Last time I played that variation it was more than 8 months ago. My 5. Nge2 was a second book choice, as well as computer one, the first is Bf4, they are almost equivalent.

I deviated from the book on move 9 with Be2, now I think Be3 or a3 was better. He definitely underestimated my 12. Bf2 when played 12… Nc5, it was a mistake. Of course I jumped at Nf5 idea. I expected him to play 13… Qf4, but he played 13… Qg5?. It was a big mistake. I started to look at the lines, my two motifs were catching his queen (or forcing it to go back and forth) or depraving him from castling. It looked like the first idea didn’t work, so I considered the second one. That moment reminds me driving on a nice road in a nice weather and suddenly missing the “Wrong way” sign.

My 14. Nd6+ was still keeping some advantage, but when I saw at home that I missed 14. Bh4 or almost the same strong 14. Be3 I started to swear. I missed that after 14. Bh4 the knight on f6 is basically attacked by two pieces and after Nxg7+ I eliminate one of its defenders. So after 14… Qf4 I win the knight and after 14… Qg6 the exchange with the dominating position and evaluation about +5. After 14. Be3 White wins as well, though it is not that forced as in the lines above.

The next bad idea was to take on c8, it gave up the rest of the advantage. I continued to drive the wrong way, but it was not all. My next move became a game losing mistake, I played 16. Bd3. I expected him to take on d3 and then to exchange on c3 winning a pawn. Suddenly out of the blue I saw his rook on c3. I quickly realized that things are really bad. After his 18… Bxc3+ I thought that I have Ke2, but then saw Qd2+ and had to go to f1.

I could just resign, my resistance was all to no avail. It looks like my calculation training didn’t bring the fruit yet, I have no choice but to continue and maybe intensify it.