I didn’t play well lately and really wanted to get back on track. I had White and my opponent chose Philidor defense, which I actually prepared for another player. Here is the game. After his c5 I decided to play Ne2 to let my “f” pawn free, DB recommends Nf5. Instead of f4 computer recommends Nf4, taking d5 under control.
I missed f6 on move 21, saw it a move later, when it didn’t force exchange on g7. Then after 23. h4 h5 I wanted to play g4, so I started to move my queen. I think he saw it, so he prevented it by Qe6. It seemed me that I have an attack, but I didn’t. I think he realized it, because he started a counterattack on the queenside. I underestimated it, then it was late. It was kind of a psychological shock, when his rooks suddenly doubled on “b”. I didn’t find right defensive moves, which could hold the position and in two moves the game was basically over. I prolonged it until he got 2 queens and then lost on time.
I was very upset after this game. A little consolation was a fine shootout game that Houdini won against Fritz, which started after 25. h4 h5. Houdini knew that it has to exchange the bishops, I thought about it after the game. Then it implemented Rf5 idea, I thought about it a lot, but didn’t find the right moment. Then it just outmaneuvered Fritz using an advantage in space, the thing I also considered.
April 21, 2012 at 4:26 pm
RollingPawns, here are some notes I made about this game:
A stronger player will play 3.Nd7 rather than 3…exd4.
6. a6, right away I am thinking this is a weak move, and your 7.a4! refutes it in a rather heavy-handed way.
I would have played 10.Nf4 and it is +- IMO because 10..Nd4 is looking like a sad joke, since ..b5 is not happening due to his hanging ..Ra8. For example, if Black plays a ..Be6 move, you can play Nf4-d5 and load up on the d-file, striking once development is complete, and can even play f3. Plus it allows White to play the Be2 retreat, when f4 could be a threat. That’s okay though, you don’t normally play this system as White, so you wouldn’t have known, and still got a practically winning position.
I didn’t like 15.Nc3, although I realize you are probably doing it to hold the balance and keep up some pressure on board and clock (practical chances). I would play 15.f5 here, and I mean that I saw it right away and maybe spend 3-4 minutes max looking at it before just going ahead with it, particularly considering we are talking about 1600 rated opponent. For example, 15.f5 BxB, 16.e4xBd5 Ne5, 17.f6. Now that Bh6, Nf4, Rf3, queen, it’s a house-party. 😀
22. Bg5! 23.f6! Very nice resource of you to find! Now you are back onto the win. 🙂
I saw the Rf5 idea right away, and particularly after his pieces went queenside, but then he saw it too, which explained all of his next moves, preventing it. But what about 26.Rd3 with the idea of 26.Rf5 gxR, 27.Bh6, 28.Rg3 BxR, 29.Qxf looks mating unless Black sacs his queen on f8. Like I say, Black has at least one free move in there, so you could take your time to falsify this line OTB if you like, but I would consider it strongly since it’s forced in terms of how quickly that Black can get back to defend. I just did one move falsification, noting that White should play 26.Bh6 first, and then 27.Rf5, so that Black doesn’t have the opportunity to play Be5xf6.
move 30.Rd5, obviously a sort of quick-move, but just imagine if this rook had been on f1, then a 30.Rf5 idea is something to look at again. 30..gxR, 31.Qxh. Black can stop mate by sacking the queen for the two rooks, but then White can still play for the mate via queen and h-pawn in conjunction.
34. After Bh6 (I probably would have played this, too) Black has reached “goon-control” (kind of like time-control for weaker players), which means that the player who can whip out obvious-looking moves the fastest will probably win (even if those moves contain major holes, since it would be too complex to expose them while blitzing). Even at the end, the game is still in doubt, so further blitzing must have decided it.
Nice game! 🙂 I was falling apart badly in my last few games; your game was much more exciting than any of mine. 😉
April 21, 2012 at 4:29 pm
Also, that endgame shootout is nice consolation as well! I was thinking before I read that that White would have an advantage with bishops off of the board, too.
April 22, 2012 at 10:53 am
Tongue-in-cheek comments aside, I do tell everyone at my club who asks why I lost that I get outplayed with queens on the board in time-pressure – this has been a running theme for me for many games now, and goes back to when I first started playing chess and would trade queens early because I could calculate better with them not on the board.
You ask why your style is not working against lower-rated (but does work against higher-rated!). It’s actually kind of simple, though may not be exactly the answer you want to hear. You do play pretty positional games, and I notice that most of your analysis covers late long-line positional responses, but you shouldn’t really want to win against lower-rated with positional wins normally.
Play correct positional chess up to a point, but then go for complications. In my Thursday game, I knew that recapturing on e4 with a pawn was not positionally correct, but I knew that such a minor positional oversight, combined with lots of pieces still on the board at G/90, against a weaker opponent, practically suggests that that was the correct move for me to make.
Here is another nice little continuation. After Black played 27..Qe8 (still trying to get into position in time), instead of 28.Qe2 (which was a sort of “eventuality” move which didn’t quite lead to anything tangible, attacking-wise, you could have introduced complications with 28.Bf4.
For example, 28.Bf4 Bxf6, 29.Bxd6 Bxh4, 30.e5 Be7?, 31.e6! +-, and if instead 30..Bd8 or 30..Bg5, well then you can threaten to play a move like Re3 or Rf3 to g3, then Rxg6. So 30..B6, 31.Rd3 Qe6, 32.QxQ fxQe6, and now the game should be at least equal, active equality rather than passive equality in the game, this is key. BTW, I haven’t computer-checked any of these suggestions, so they may or may not be out of reach at G/90, but they are possible for us to find.
Once you reached the endgame, I think you had this “Why am I not winning?” moment when you played Bh6, thinking that there must have been some positive reason for all of your previous play/effort. Really, instead of the win it’s already time to play for the draw with 33.axb (33.a4? is a mistake; it not only loses a tempo but that that is a move which an attacker plays, not a defender). If those pawns had been traded, Black would have had to spend an extra tempo with …Rb7 because otherwise you could have gotten behind his pawn with cxb4…cxb4, Rb5.
Yes, it was those two back-to-back moves 33.a4? and 34.Bh6? where you were probably thinking to yourself “What the bloody h*ll is going on here?” that you tossed your game into the brink. You lost the sense of a turning point, which usually only happens to strong players at slower time-controls, to your credit, as you were playing very solid otherwise. 😉
April 22, 2012 at 2:32 pm
linuxguy – thanks for the comments. I am not sure about 17.f6 after 15.f5 BxB, 16.e4xBd5 Ne5 if he takes Bxf6, but Bh6 instead looks interesting.
Your Rf5 after Bh6 looks good, but he doesn’t have to take it, that’s the problem.
I liked your expression “goon-control”, it’s exactly that. 🙂
Your line 28.Bf4 Bxf6, 29.Bxd6 Bxh4, 30.e5 is really, really good, this is what I would like to play, I would never lose this position.
Yeah, you are absolutely right, I shouldn’t be too positional with these guys, as I remember I was winning my games in the past with them due to some tactics.
It’s like one expert guy, that played positional games against me, once I got a draw, another time I resigned in drawn position, just didn’t see the line.
I simply could handle it.
April 27, 2012 at 12:05 am
RollingPawns, I got your last note, and I gotta say I am happy about my coming shift change at work. I think it was making me old to go to work so early, and then drink a couple cups of coffee before tournament games, just so that I could play some horrible chess, which was usually over in < 90 minutes, and I come home not tired at the wrong time, and tired all morning and afternoon.
I am so glad this will be over one way or the other. No more playing chess after work anymore, I'll probably get swing shift.
I understand where you are coming from, having to play these up and coming kids after a day of work, in particular. It is what it is, but I don't feel that chess is geared toward older generations, and probably one reason why we gradually drop out. At G/90, talent prevails over hard-work, mainly because there is only so much work one can accomplish OTB in such a short time frame. The De la Maza, tactics emphasis, becomes critical at shorter time-controls – this is consistent with my experience over the past year.
May 4, 2012 at 12:17 pm
I played yesterday. Admittedly I’ve never lost against this opponent and only drawn once against him, but it was still a satisfying game.
It’s good to know that you won your last game too (even if you haven’t posted it). 🙂