|
Continue from Part I
|
| We all have embarrassing games and this has to be one of my worst.
Someone once said, “Show me a man who doesn’t mind losing and I’ll show
you a loser.” Well, I don’t like losing but I sure messed this
one up. |
| Robert Herndon (1817) |
|
| Don Vandivier (1837) |
|
| Round 4 |
|
| [B71] Sicilian: Dragon (Levenfish) |
|
|
Notes by Don Vandivier
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.f4
| Okay, so my opponent is threatening e5, but I remember a line where
the advance leaves White with a weak e-pawn… or so I thought. |
6...Bg7?!
| Advance that pawn Sucker! I’ll show you how weak it will become! |
| I actually thought I was in a line where this won a pawn. |
| I’ve never been so crushed before <sigh>. |
|
| For revealing that horrible crush to the world I get to show you one
of my wins. Leading the Class A section with 3 points were Greg Bailey,
Jeff Aldrich and Thomas Evans. None of them made it thru with a full
point. |
| Don Vandivier (1837) |
|
| Thomas Evans (1823) |
|
| Round 5 |
|
| [C51] Evans Gambit |
|
|
Notes by Don Vandivier
1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nc6 3.Nf3 h6?! 4.O-O Bc5
You’ll never guess the next move
5.b4!?
| I find it interesting that Thomas Evans has never studied the Evans
Gambit. If he had, he would have known that it is not sound because
Black can develop quick enough to muster the attack… but not after playing
3…h6?! |
| Not the best square to put the bishop on. I was prepared for
a sharp game where I eventually won the pawn back with the better position.
Now I get it back immediately. |
| Note that the only reasons I get the pawn back immediately are because
1) there’s a big black ugly pawn occupying the square at h6 so the knight
can’t go there, and 2) there’s a somewhat confused bishop at e7 which has
moved 3 times and now happens to be in the way of his fellow brethren. |
| Also good is 9.Nh4 d5 10.Bxd5 Qe8 11.Ba3 |
| Yes, it’s an ugly looking move, but 9...d6 runs into 10.Bg6 when the
only thing Black can do is play 10...d5 and White is winning. A sample
line could run 11.Nxe5 Nxe5 12.dxe5 Ng4 13.Bf4 Bg5 14.Bg3 Qe7 15.h3
Nxe5 16.Bxe5 Qxe5 17.f4 |
| Black could try 12...g5 keeping the knight out. |
| Of course I don’t take the silly thing... |
| Now I’ll snap up the bishop. |
|
| Eric Fischvogt (2230) |
|
| Bob Ciaffone (2100) |
|
| Round 1 |
|
| [D00] Queen's Pawn |
|
|
Notes by Bob Ciaffone
1.d4
| This game shows it is possible to make some less-than-optimum moves
with White and still escape with a draw. Tournament winner Eric Fischvogt
selects an offbeat opening line, and then makes some inferior moves that
give his opponent the initiative. But at the end, Fischvogt fines
a clever way to hold the draw. The game shows that White, unlike
his opponent, can get away with making less than optimum moves if he avoids
blundering and is resourseful at the key moments. Such is the nature
of chess. |
| The right move-order. If White plays 3.e3 then Black has 3...Qb6
4.Qc1 h6, and now 5.Bh4? loses a piece to 5...Qb4+. |
| A strange idea. White should prefer 7.c4, as Black will have
to help White's development by 7...dxc4 if he wants to prevent his queen
being hit with 8.c5 and a bind. (7.c4 dxc4 8.Bxc4 e6 9.O-O Nbd7 10.Nc3!) |
| Keeps the rooks connected and anticipates queenside expansion with
c5. |
| This lemon takes the pressure off d5, allowing Black a fast c5. |
| Taking with the bishop leaves Black open to a possible sac on h6. |
18...d4!
| A strong pawn sacrifice that White would be better advised to decline. |
| Declining the gambit probably gives White an even position. By
taking the pawn he tries for more and gets less. |
| The right idea, securing c7 for the knight and freeing d5 for it as
well. |
| I thought I was winning here. |
| An excellent resource that saves the game for White. |
| The position is now level. |
| A draw was agreed. Fischvogt recovered from this near-disaster
and went on to win the tournament. |
|
| Alan Gregg (2190) |
|
| Bob Ciaffone (2100) |
|
| Round 2 |
|
| [B40] Sicilian: Closed |
|
|
Notes by Bob Ciaffone
1.e4
| This is an excellent game to illustrate the key chess principle,
"See what moves you would like to make positionally, then look for tactics
to achieve them." Twice in this game, White knew what he should play,
but thought the tactics worked against him, whereas the move he wanted
to play actually had a tactic that made it work. |
| White wants to play a Closed Sicilian without facing a fianchetto,
so he uses the two knights move-order. The move 3...a6 is one way
to counter this idea; 3...d6 is another. But not 3...g6?, as White
still has the option of d4 in one go, which would be strong in the g6-e6
pawn formation owing to the weakness at d6. |
| Going for d4 was another option, but much sharper and deeply analyzed.
White, an Englishman who winters in Michigan, is not a theory buff, and
prefers a quiet positional game. |
| Played by Kasparov, but I have the feeling it is not best; perhaps
7...Be7. The Nb8 is better placed on c6. |
| The correct positional idea is f4. White realized this, but did
not think it playable because of 17...exf4. The truth is after 17...exf4
White need not take back right away, but has the in-between move 18.Nf5
threatening mate on g7 to make the idea work. This was mistake number
one of the genre "Making the obvious positional idea work by using a tactic." |
What should White play?
20.Nh2?!
| Of course, e3 is the more desirable square for the horse, but it looks
like the text is necessary to avoid having the other knight trapped by
20...g6. However, the f5 knight can be offered as an unacceptable sacrifice
to make Nge3 work. This was mistake number two of the genre "Making
the obvious positional idea work by using a tactic." (20.Nge3! g6 21.Nd5
gxf5? [Better is Ncd4; the piece is poisoned.] 22.exf5 Ned4 23.f6). |
| White would be totally without any play if he allows Black to get in
b4. |
| White offered a draw, and Black accepted, as the position is even and
drawish now. |
|
|
