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T. Spanton - V. Rajlich
[B44/03] Sicilian: Barnes
World Open (1)
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| 1.e4 c5 2.c4 Nc6 3.Ne2 e6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Nf6 6.Nxc6
bxc6 7.Bd3 d5 8.cxd5 cxd5 9.e5 Nd7 10.Bf4 Qb6 11.Qe2 Bb4+ 12.Nd2 Qd4 13.Be3
Qxb2 14.0-0 Qxe5 15.Nf3 Qh5 16.Qb2 Be7 17.Rac1 0-0 18.Rc7 Bf6 19.Qc2 a5
20.Rc1 d4 21.Bxd4 Bxd4 22.Nxd4 g6 23.Qc6 Rb8 24.Qd6 Qg5 25.f4 Qf6 26.Nc6
Rb6 27.Rxc8 Rxc8 28.Qxd7 Rbxc6 29.Rxc6 Rxc6 30.Qe8+ Kg7 31.Qxc6 Qd4+ 32.Kf1
Qxd3+ 33.Kf2 Qd2+ 34.Kf3 Qd5+ 35.Qxd5 exd5 36.Ke3 Kf6 37.Kd4 Ke6 38.Kc5
f6 39.a4 g5 40.Kb5 Kd6 41.fxg5 fxg5 42.Kxa5 Kc5 0-1. |
| Worst game ever. 23.Be4 [+-]. At least
I dominated in Tetris on the ride over. |
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V. Rajlich - E. Sevilliano
[B33/35] Sicilian: Pelikán (Chelyabinsk)
World Open (2)
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| 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Ndb5
d6 7.Bg5 a6 8.Na3 b5 9.Bxf6 gxf6 10.Nd5 Bg7 11.Bd3 Ne7 12.Nxe7 Qxe7 13.0-0
f5 14.c3 d5 15.exd5 0-0 16.Nc2 Rd8 17.Nb4 Qf6 18.a4 Bb7 19.axb5 a5 20.Nc6
Rxd5 21.Qe2 Bxc6 22.bxc6 e4 23.Bc4 Rc5 24.b4 Re5 25.Rfd1 Qxc6 26.Rxa5 Rexa5
27.bxa5 Rxa5 28.Qh5 Qg6 29.Rd8+ Bf8 30.Qd1 Qf6 31.g3 Rc5 32.Ba2 Rxc3 33.Rb8
Ra3 34.Qd5 Kg7 35.Bc4 Ra7 36.Rc8 Bd6 37.Rc6 Rd7 38.Ra6 Qe5 39.Qd2 h6 40.Ra5
Qf6 41.Qd5 Bb4 42.Qxf5 Bxa5 43.Qxd7 Bb6 44.Qg4+ Kf8 45.Qc8+ Kg7 46.Qg4+
Kf8 ½-½. |
| This was a really interesting game. 14...d5 is new
and logical, but it doesn’t seem to give Black enough for equality.
The critical position from the opening, at least for White, arises after
24...Re5. (Black could also have tried 17...Qc5 instead of 17...Qf6,
I’ll look at this later.) White would stand much better after either
25.b5 or 25.Bb5. I rejected the latter because of 25...f4 26.Rxa5
Rxa5 27.bxa5 f3, but White wins there with 28.c7. 27...Qg5 is no
help either due to 28.Qc4. So, Black would have to go for something
lame like 25...Qd8, when White clearly has a huge edge. 25.b5 is
also very good for White. I again didn’t like 25...f4, and I didn’t
like giving Black’s rook access to c5 again, but White just plays 26.f3
and Black’s attack is pretty weak. |
| During the game, I was sure that the queen, rook
and opposite colored bishops middlegame arising after 28.Qh5 would be excellent
for White, since in these sorts of positions the key factor is supposed
to be the ability to attack those squares around the opponent’s king covered
by your bishop, and White seeems to have a huge advantage in this department.
Furthermore, Black’s kingside is already weakened, while White’s is still
solid. However, in fact, after 30.Qd1, it is Black that stands better (after
28.Qh5 Qg6 it is hard to claim that Black stands any better, since 29.Qxg6
would just be a draw.), the reason being that his advanced central pawns
give him the chance to break things open at a favorable moment with ...e3. |
| The most favorable moment for ...e3 would have been
33...e3. 34.fxe3 Qe5 would then be very difficult, for example 35.Rb3
Qxe3+ 36.Kf1 (36.Kg2 Qe4+ 37.Kh3 Rc6 [-+]) when White is struggling to
draw. The best defense seems to be 34.Rb7, since 34...Be7 35.fxe3
Qe5 can then be met with 36.Qd4 with an easy draw. Black would instead
play 34...exf2+ 35.Kxf2 and then maybe 35...Be7. White should be
able to hold this, but clearly Black has the chances. |
| One move later, ...e3 (ie. 34...e3) would no longer
be as effective, since White can just play 35.fxe3 and Black must take
with the rook. Note that 35.Rb6 here would lose to 35...Qa1+.
After 35.Bc4, White threatens Rb6, tying Black's rook to defending the
second rank, so White no longer has any problems. Possibly 39...f4
was worth trying, but White won’t lose. |
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V. Rajlich - G. Serper
[B42/14] Sicilian: Paulsen
World Open (3)
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| 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Bd3 Nf6 6.0-0
Qc7 7.Qe2 d6 8.Kh1 g6 9.f4 Bg7 10.b3 0-0 11.Bb2 Nbd7 12.Nd2 Nc5 13.a4 Bd7
14.e5 Nd5 15.exd6 Qxd6 16.Nc4 Qc7 17.Qf3 Nxf4 18.Qxf4 Qxf4 19.Rxf4 Nxd3
20.cxd3 e5 21.Rf2 exd4 22.Ba3 Rfe8 23.Nd6 Re3 24.Rxf7 Bc6 25.Rc7 Be5 26.Re7
Bf6 27.Rxe3 dxe3 28.Bc5 Bxa1 0-1. |
| His opening play was a little strange, instead of
...Nc5 and ...Bd7, why not ...b6 and ...Bb7? I guess he wanted the
two bishops. At any rate, I thought that White should stand at least
a little better after something normal such as 14.Rae1. |
| White’s first error was 14.e5. I was counting
on 14...Nd5 15.Nc4 forcing 15...dxe5, so I concentrated on the more forcing
line 14...dxe5 15.fxe5 Nd5 16.Nc4 when White has a great game. I
missed 14...Nd5 15.Nc4 Nxf4 when White is lost. So, 15.exd6 was forced. |
| Next, White should also refrain from 16.Nc4.
Black is much better after the ensuing complications - he will have two
awesome bishops and better pawns. Instead, White should play 16.Ne4
with rough equality, though Black is probably a bit better in this case
as well. |
| Finally, perhaps White should avoid going for the
ending with 24.Rxf7 to which 21.Rf2 commits him. This ending is probably
just lost - the lone active rook just gets harassed, and black targets
both d3 and g2.Probably 21.Nxe5 was best, but this is ugly. |
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A. Reeder - V. Rajlich
[A45/16] Indian: Trompowsky
World Open (4)
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| 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 Ne4 3.Bf4 c5 4.d5 Qb6 5.Bc1 e6 6.f3
Nf6 7.c4 exd5 8.cxd5 c4 9.Nc3 Bc5 10.Nh3 d6 11.Na4 Bb4+ 12.Bd2 Qa5 13.Nc3
Bxh3 14.gxh3 Nbd7 15.e4 Qc5 16.a3 Ba5 17.Na4 Qe3+ 18.Be2 Ne5 0-1. |
| I missed 11.Qa4+ when White is probably better.
This would have been pretty sad. |
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V. Rajlich - M. Mulyar
[B03/05] Alekhine: Four Pawns (Fianchetto)
World Open (5)
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| 1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.c4 Nb6 5.f4 g6 6.Nc3 Bg7
7.Be3 0-0 8.Be2 Na6 9.Nf3 Be6 10.Nd2 dxe5 11.fxe5 c5 12.d5 Bf5 13.Bf4 Nb4
14.Nce4 Nd7 15.Qb3 a5 16.a3 a4 17.Qc3 Na6 18.Ng3 e6 19.Nxf5 exf5 20.Nf3
Re8 21.Rd1 Nxe5 22.Nxe5 Bxe5 23.Bxe5 Qe7 24.d6 Qxe5 25.Qxe5 Rxe5 26.Kf2
Rd8 27.Bf3 Re6 28.Bxb7 Rexd6 29.Rd5 Nc7 30.Rxc5 Rd2+ 31.Kg3 Ne6 32.Ra5
R8d4 33.Rxa4 f4+ 34.Kg4 f3+ 35.Kg3 fxg2 36.Bxg2 Rxb2 (...) 0-1. |
| The computer hasn’t been that useful with the first
four games - just a shot here and there. (23.Be4 in game 1, the 25.Bb5
line against Sevilliano with c7 at the end, nothing in the Serper game,
11.Qa4+ in game 4) In this game, though, it is in its element. |
| First of all, this opening is really interesting.
7...0-0 was the end of my opening knowledge. I just knew that in
this opening Black tries to play ...Bg7, ...dxe5 and ...c5, so White’s
first two developing moves should be 6.Nc3 and 7.Be3 so that 7...dxe5 is
met with 8.dxe5 with a large edge for White. I saw a lot of interesting
stuff. |
| First of all, I had trouble finding the correct
9.Nf3, since I was concerned about 9...Bg4, but then I saw that 10.c5 forces
10...Nc8 since 10...Nd7 loses to 11.c6. After 9...Be6, however, I
made an inaccuracy. I should just play 10.b3. I didn’t want
to rule out moving the e-pawn after 10...c5 11.d5 and I didn’t see any
drawbacks to 10.Nd2, but there is in fact a drawback. The drawback
is that Black plays 10...dxe5 and White is no longer well-poised to play
11.dxe5 since in those lines he wants the knight on f3 to hold e5.
In fact, dxe5 is so important in this position that White could play it
anyway in the game after 10...dxe5. The resulting position should
just be roughly equal. |
After 11.fxe5, however, White may still have a slight
edge. 13.Bf4 is definitely correct, and after 13...Nb4 the critical position
arises. 14.0-0 is impossible due to 14...Nd3, i.e.15.g4 Nxf4 16.gxf5 Bxe5,
while 14.Nde4 just loses the e-pawn to 14...Nd7 since a2-a3 will not threaten
the queen’s
knight, i.e. a2-a3xb4 and then cxb4 and either e4 or c3 falls. 14.Nce4,
as played in the game, favors Black. However, White has the strange
14.Rc1, with the idea of 14...Nd3+ 15.Bxd3 Bxd3 16.b3. I prefer White
here. |
| After 14.Nce4, the game got sloppy. My opponent
claimed afterwards that his 14...Nd7 was inaccurate and that 14...N6xd5
would have given him an edge. 14...N6xd5, however, seems pretty speculative
after 15.cxd5 Qxd5 16.Qb1, though perhaps Black has equality. However,
14...Nd7 is excellent for Black. |
| 15.Qb3 is probably White's best try, but we both
missed 15...Qb6 with the idea of 16.Qc3 g5 and if 17.Bg3 Qg6. Furthermore,
we both missed 15...Qb8 when if White wants to avoid giving up a pawn (16.Ng3
might offer some comp) he must play d5-d6 when Black is clearly better.
I’m not sure what I was thinking, 15...Qb8 is an obvious move. |
My opponent thought that after 17...Na6 he stood
better, but that’s wrong. For starters, after 18.Ng3 e6, I need not
play as in the game. I can also play 19.Bf3 and defend the e-pawn
with 0-0 and Rfe1. At some point, I might harass Black’s a-pawn.
Furthermore, in the game continuation, 21.Rd1 is just a stupid move, maybe
instead 21.0-0 and Rfe1 and Bd1. I missed 21...Nxe5. Even after
21...Nxe5, however, it seems that White stands better. Instead of
24.d6,
when the advantage finally passes to Black, White should just play
24.0-0 Qxe5 25.Qxe5 Rxe5 26.Bf3. He'll challenge the e-file, play
Bd1, and only much later run the d-pawn. This ending seems very good
for White. |
| Incidentally, 22.Bxe5 would have been a more accurate
move order than 22.Nxe5, since in the game my opponent had the additional
choice of 22...Qd6, which perhaps in light of the above assessment he should
have played. |
| Even after 27...Re6, White can make Black’s task
very difficult with 28.Rhe1 Rexd6 29.Rxd6 Rxd6 30.Re7 Rb2+ 31.Kf1 Rxb2
32.Bd5. This ending needs more work, the best that I can find for
Black is 32...Nb4 33.axb4 cxb4 34.Rxf7 b3 35.Rxb7+ Kh8 36.c5 a3 37.Bxb3
leading to a R+3 vs R+2 which is a just a draw. There are several
alternatives for Black to try, however. I’d expect that White can
draw this. |
| Obviously, I underestimated 29...Nc7, which seems
to just win. 35.Kf3 would lose to 35...h5 36.h4 g5, so the nasty
25.Kg3 is forced. We played another twenty moves or so in a two pawn
down rook ending, but I don’t have my scoresheet. |
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V. Rajlich - O. Segalchik
[B81/21] Sicilian: Scheveningen (Keres)
World Open (6)
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| 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6 6.g4
h6 7.h4 h5 8.gxh5 Nxh5 9.Bg5 Qb6 10.Qd2 a6 11.0-0-0 Bd7 12.Nf5 exf5 13.Nd5
Qc5 14.Rh3 Bc6 15.Be3 (...) 1-0. |
| Black could have continued the game with 14...Nf6,
the point being that 15.Rc3 Qa7 16.Be3 Nxd5 would be playable. |
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A. Young - V. Rajlich
[E97/09] King’s Indian: Yugoslav (Normal)
World Open (7)
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| 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Be2 0-0 6.Nf3
e5 7.0-0 Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 9.Bg5 Nh5 10.Re1 Nf4 11.Bxf4 exf4 12.Qd2 Bh6 13.Bd3
g5 14.e5 g4 15.Nd4 Ng6 16.Bxg6 hxg6 17.e6 Qh4 18.Qd3 Kg7 19.g3 Qh3 20.Qf1
Qxf1+ 21.Kxf1 a6 22.Kg1 fxg3 23.hxg3 Re8 24.Re2 b6 25.Rae1 Bb7 26.exf7
Rxe2 27.Rxe2 Kxf7 28.Ne6 Rc8 29.Ne4 b5 30.b3 a5 31.Nc3 bxc4 32.bxc4 Re8
33.Nxc7 Rxe2 34.Nxe2 Kf6 (55) 1-0. |
His opening was a strange variation on the 9.b4
Nh5 10.Re1 line. It seems that Black would be at least very comfortable
in the case of 10...h6 11.Be3 Bf4 12.Bf1 g5, since in the 9.b4 Bh5 10.Re1
he often plays ...h6 voluntarily, for example the line 10...Nf4 11.Bf1
h6. My 10...Nf4 is
more ambitious - White will just be forced to give up the dark-squared
bishop. On the other hand, Black is a little awkward on the kingside
with ...Bh6. Just about everybody I talked to liked White’s position
in the early middlegame, since White plays in the center while Black just
plays on the wing, but I am not so sure. Still, I'd probably play
10...h6 next time. |
| 15...Ng6 was a sweet move, my best in the tournament.
15...dxe5 16.Rxe5 Ng6 doesn’t work due to 17.Rh5, so how to continue the
attack? The answer is 15...Ng6.If 16.e6 then 16...Ne5 and Black is
rock solid in the center and will just attack on the kingside, while 16.Bxg6,
which seems best, gives Black the open h-file, and it also eliminates pieces
coming into f5. 18...Kg7, however, was a mistake. Better was 18...a6.
I was concerned about 19.exf7 Kxf7 20.Ne6, but instead Black just plays
19.Kh8 when he is happy that White gave up his e6 pawn. Possibly
17...Qh4 was premature, too. |
After 18...Kg7, White has two very critical tries,
19.Ndb5 and 19.g3 Qh3 20.Ndb5. I thought that I had adequate resources
against both, for example 19.Ndb5 Bg5, but Fritz just laughs at this: 20.Nxc7
Rh8 21.Nxa8 and what’s up now? Or: 19.g3 Qh3 20.Ndb5 Bg5 21.Qf1 and
Black still can’t defend c7, i.e. 21...Qxf1+ 22.Kxf1 Bd8 23.e7. I
really can’t even remember what exactly I
was banking on here, it all looks so weak. He was low on time,
though, so he just went for the ending, which may also be good for him.
If it is, then I should rethink the immediate ...Qh4 or perhaps even the
entire 10...Nf4 idea. However, even if the ending is good for White,
Black shouldn’t lose. 30...a5 was a mistake, I missed the simple
31.Nc3. I was tempted to play 23...c5
24.dxc5 bxc5 forcing him to find 25.e7 Re8 26.Ne4 since 25.Nxc6 Bb7
would be good for Black, but this would be too easy, in my opinion, even
with just a few minutes. |
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J. Hanken - V. Rajlich
[A15/02] English: Anglo-Indian (King’s Fianchetto)
World Open (8)
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| 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 g6 3.Bg2 Bg7 4.c4 0-0 5.e3 c6 6.Nc3
d5 7.Qe2 Na6 8.0-0 Qa5 9.d4 dxc4 10.Ne5 Be6 11.Nxc4 Qb4 12.Ne5 Nc7 13.Bd2
Qd6 14.Rfd1 Rfd8 15.Be1 Ncd5 16.e4 Nxc3 17.Bxc3 Ne8 18.f4 f5 19.d5 cxd5
20.exd5 Bf7 21.Rac1 Kf8 22.Qe3 Bg8 23.Ba5 b6 24.Be1 Rac8 25.Rxc8 Rxc8 26.Bb4
Qd8 27.Re1 Bf6 28.Bc3 Bxd5 29.Rd1 e6 30.Bxd5 exd5 31.Kh1 Qd6 32.Qf3 Rd8
33.Bd4 Be7 34.g4 Ng7 35.Qh3 Kg8 36.Qh6 Bf8 37.Qh4 Re8 38.Qh3 fxg4 39.Nxg4
Nh5 40.Be5 Qe6 41.Rf1 d4 42.Nf2 Qxa2 43.Nd3 Qd5+ 44.Kg1 Ng7 45.Rc1 Nf5
46.Rc7 Re7 47.Nb4 Qf7 48.Rc8 Rd7 49.Qd3 a5 50.Nc6 Qd5 51.Qa3 Qc5 52.Qb3+
Qd5 53.Qa3 Rf7 54.Qa4 Ne3 0-1. |
| Obviously I misplayed the opening, the idea was
to play ...Qa5 and ...Qh5 and rough up his king. I was never completely
lost though, except maybe just positionally, there were no combinations
White missed. I saw everything too, 24.Rc6 Bxe5 25.Rxd6 Bxd6 for
example, and 28.Nc6 Rxc6 29.dxc6 Bd4 30.Bxe7+ Qxe7. |
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V. Rajlich - A. Goldin
[B60/06] Sicilian: Richter (Larsen)
World Open (9)
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| 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.Bg5
Bd7 7.Bxf6 gxf6 8.Nf5 Qa5 9.g4 h5 10.f3 hxg4 11.fxg4 Qe5 12.Qe2 e6 13.Ne3
d5 14.exd5 Nd4 15.Nc4 Qxe2+ 16.Bxe2 Nxc2+ 17.Kd2 Nxa1 18.h4 0-0-0 19.Ne4
Bc6 0-1. |
| I guess I don’t have much to say about this. |
