Chess! the only game I'll ever love.

Ladder games 12/1

Written by Rob on 3 December 2011 — Leave a Comment

Three games this week:

-Dan v Jahson. Dan’s dangerous Smith-Morra gambit it the main reason I avoid the Sicilian defense against him. I’m just not interested in it. Jahson got a decent lesson first-hand of why that is here, resigning on move 10 when Dan can already choose between winning the queen or mating in 4. 1-0

-AC v Jason. AC adopted a non-confrontational setup with white, so Jason ended up with more space as black and an initiative on the queenside. Probably white’s position becomes badly compromised after 18. b4? (18. a4!? leaves AC some defensive options). After this move, only Jason can open the queenside whenever he wants, and is solid on the kingside also; so he has as much time as he wants to rearrange his pieces optimally. AC lashes out on the kingside as a last resort, but ultimately it is only his own king’s safety which is compromised and black goes up one, then two, then three, then ultimately six pawns…then a queen…and so on. 0-1

-Rob v Dan. I had white this time, so a French, Tarrasch was predictable. The weird 8. Bb1? was intended to meet 8. … Qb6 with 9. Nb3 shoring up d4, but instead it felt like it just lost a valuable tempo for black to gain counterchances in the center and on the kingside, which Dan did efficiently for a while. 20. … a5 nobly tries to swing the second black rook into the game via a6, but allows black 21. Bc5 as in the game, relieving some pressure on the f-file. Thus perhaps 20. … b6 is worthy of a try. Even so, there was no need to lose so quickly as in the game. I think Dan saw a ghost after 21. … Rd8, so he chose 21. … Re8 where he’s losing at least a pawn and the momentum he had gained. The double attack on move 24 ends the game. 1-0

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Ladder Games 11/17

Written by Rob on 20 November 2011 — Leave a Comment

There were two games this week. AC and Mike challenged each other somehow, and as far as I know Mike defended in this game, though at the end the game score couldn’t be found. Hopefully that game can be added later. With no one else around to involve in challenges with Dan or myself, Dan and I mixed it up, according to our several week-long tradition. Dan had white, and we played a Ruy Lopez. I opted for a closed line with 5. … Be7 instead of the more dashing 5. … Nxe4 which I’d been playing a bit recently. Also I opted for the quiet 8. … d6 instead of the more dashing Marshall Gambit with 8. … d5. Thus the nature of the battle was quiet and maneuvering, up until Dan made what he called an “AC-sac” with 26. Nxh5, opening up the king a bit and getting two pawns for a knight. I managed to consolidate okay, as the dark square bishop reroute to g7 helps in defense, but Dan pointed out after the game that his 31. Bc2? should have lost to 31. … Na4–the first of many missed opportunities to nail the coffin shut. Dan’s time trouble arrived around move 36 or so, and mine a little bit after that, so the game gets pretty sloppy toward the end. In the final position Dan is winning of course, but he flagged while I had 1 second remaining (with a 5 second delay). So, a defense…one way or another.

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Ladder Games 11/10

Written by Rob on 15 November 2011 — Leave a Comment

A few more games to add, from the most recent Thursday’s meeting.

Nick takes over AC. Nick had white, and the game entered an Alekhine’s Defense, as one might expect. Already on move 7 white won a pawn by throwing a knight on f7. In the resulting simplifications black ended up with the bishop pair, so at least there was some imbalance in his favor, although on move 22 a bishop was exchanged. I think black flagged in the final position, down a pawn and without active counterplay. 1-0

Rustle defended his position against Jason. Jason had white, and faced the English Opening, Rustle Variation. White had some pressure on the queenside dark squares early in the game, while black had thrown a pawn at the white king to open up lines. After black traded off the offending dark square bishop on the queenside, his problems there petered out and he expanded quickly on the kingside. Maybe both players missed 24. … f4 which wins the loose g5 knight on the spot, or maybe Rustle preferred to continue the attack than to win a loose piece and retreat. This move f4 was powerful enough when played in the game in any case and 29. … Qb7! bring the black army into full coordination to bring home the point. 0-1

Rob defended against Dan. I managed to improve a little over last time Dan and I played a French with 3. … Be7, and didn’t get a totally uncomfortable position right away this time. Instead we entered a classic IQP type position, where Dan mixed it up a little with 7. … Kf8. I decided to play normally against the Queen’s pawn in the hope that the uncastled king would end up being a bonus trump card later in the game, as I didn’t see any way to take immediate advantage. Already on move 12 I had a tough decision: to prevent b5 or prevent Ng4? I decided on a4 to prevent b5, and my penalty was to make five of my next six moves with the bishop on e3. Though I picked up some bonuses as well, since the throwing of kingside pawns denuded the black king. After winning the queen pawn in the resulting fracas, I became most concerned with the possibility of 21. … Bh2+ and 22. … Qxd5, when I would be a pawn up with opposite colored bishops left on the board (albeit still with all the heavy pieces remaining, and an open black king). Instead 21. … Ne5? is a blunder that turns the open black king into a losing trump card. 1-0

Enjoy!

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