Saturday, November 12, 2016

2016 Pink Floyd Open Round 3 Anton Taylor, 1846 - Eddie Ray Wood, 1718 Ruy Lopez (C70)

Anton Taylor, 1846 - Eddie Ray Wood, 1718
Ruy Lopez (C70)
http://chessmicrobase.com/microbases/9425/games/918667

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Bc5 4. c3 Nge7 5. d4 exd4 6. cxd4 Bb4+ 7. Nc3 a6
8. Ba4 d6 This position is perhaps the most interesting to me in this game for a number of reasons. Firstly, d5 gives white a very clear advantage after the minor pieces are captured and Black's queenside is in horrible disarray. Secondly, I do not know why Black players would volunteer into this position today. This is definitely not a double-edged concession of the center. White is just better here. And lastly and MOST importantly I have played against Eddie dozens of times and never lost a game in this variation. I know for a fact we have reached this position a half dozen times. Remembering those games and the tactical shootouts Eddie likes I play this slow a methodical reducing his counterplay. 9. h3 d5 is a crusher but I wanted to have fun and watch an "attacking" player sweat a losing positional battle. Cruel? Yes. Fun? Also, yes. 9. ... O-O 10. O-O Bd7 11. Bg5 Provoking a weakness in the light suares. After 11. ... f6 12.Be3 white is still better. 11. ... Qe8 12. Qd3 Bxc3 13. bxc3 Nxd4 And here it is. My opponent, not content to lose positionally, strikes out with a tactical trick that fails to a simple tactic of my own. White is clearly winning after this. 14. Qxd4 Bxa4 15. Bxe7 Bc6 16. Bxf8 Kxf8 17. Rfe1 f6 18. Re3 Qg6 19. Rae1 Re8 20. Nd2 Re5 21. Rg3 Qf7 22. Nc4 Rc5 This looks like Black may try to mop up some pawns but he's a rook down. the compensation is just not there and there is no time for an endgame. This half knight-wheel wins the game. 23. Ne3 Re5 24. Ng4 Rg5 25. Rf3 h5 26. Nxf6 Rxg2+ 27. Kxg2 Qg6+ 28. Kh2 Ke7 29. Rg1 Qf7 30. Nd5+ Bxd5 31. Rxf7+ Bxf7 32. Rxg7 Kf8 33. Qf6 1-0

This game makes me proud. I know that's the wrong attitude but let me finish. As I said, I have played against Eddie many times in the past. I can remember as a basic learner losing hundreds of club games to him. His lifetime plus score against me is enormous. When this game was played I had been on a six year break from tournament chess and had not seen eddie in probably eight years. So, what I'm really proud of was my memory. I remembered a game I played that many years prior and was able to use that to score a nice win against an old friend. It makes you feel like a real chess professional to do something like that. It's the fledgling dream of that steal trap memory that the pros seem to have.

2016 Pink Floyd Open Round 2 Anton Taylor, 1846 - Darrel P. Griffin, 1496 Petrov Defense (C42)

Anton Taylor, 1846 - Darrel P. Griffin, 1496
Petrov Defense (C42)
http://chessmicrobase.com/microbases/9425/games/918666

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Bf5 7. Qe2 Qe7
8. O-O Nd7 This is a novelty. the book move is Nd6. It leads to disaster in this game (and that's probably why it isn't played). 9. Bf4 O-O-O Castling into the difficulties. It's an unhappy choice to solve the issue but Komodo gives it as the best for black and white retains his advantage. 10. Na3 this move intrigues me as it seemed the absolute best move for this knight. I assumed it was just a flight of fancy on my part but Komodo likes it as well (it's the top line of kibitz for the machine.) Nd6 11. Qd2 Bxd3 12. cxd3 My opponent told me afterwards that he did not expect this recapture. Black is simply lost after this. h6 13. Qa5 Kb8 14. Rac1 Nb6 15. Bxd6 Rxd6 16. Nb5 c6 17. Qxa7+ Kc8 18. Qxb6 Qd8 19. Nxd6+ Qxd6 20. Ne5 Qb4 21. Qa7 Bd6 22. Nxc6 1-0

2016 Pink Floyd Open Round 1 Stephen Francis Miller, 1578 - Anton Taylor, 1846 Dutch Defense (A85)

Stephen Francis Miller, 1578 - Anton Taylor, 1846
Dutch Defense (A85)
http://chessmicrobase.com/microbases/9425/games/918665

1. d4 f5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. h3 This move turns out to be a passive novelty. According to Chessbase there are only five games with this move (and none of them master games) 5. ... d6 Here is where I begin to go wrong. Komodo give 5. ... Ne4 with the common Dutch themed Bishop trade. I'm not a fan of that and instead might have played 0-0 or g6 instead6. Nf3 Nbd7 This move seemed a logical way to support the e5 advance (or even c5) but it presents problems for the c8 bishop and would rather be on c6 anyway. 7. e3 c6 I think 0-0 is the better option here retaining the potential for e5 or c5 and getting the king squared away before committing to a central operation. This c8 bishop looks worse and worse here. I did not notice its poor prospects in this game when it was played. 8. Bd3 d5 This was the point of c6 on the previous move. I still like the look and potential in White's pieces far better than Black's here. Very poor positional play by me in this game. 9. cxd5 cxd5 Now my opponent falters. This exchange gives my Queenside less contention and more potential to unravel my pieces there. Notice how Nb6 is met by b3 and the knight wishes it was somewhere else. Also the maneuver Nf8 Ng6 seems equally strange here. 10. O-O O-O 11. Rc1 Bd6 Komodo recommends Nb8 here. This un-development this early in the game proves that Nbd7 was a mistake. I begin to see the sadness of this knight at this point and find a different solution. 12. Nb5 Bb8 13. Nc3 (13. Qc2 h6 14. Bf4 Bxf4 15. exf4 Nb6 +-) The Qc2 plan pointed out by Komodo is crushing for white. At the time I did see the move but determined that the position was defensible but I now think Qc2 creates problems that in order for black to solve he has to give concessions. 13... Qe8 I regretted immediately making this "cute" move. The plan was to push e5 to bust open things and expand the scope of my c8 bishop aiming at the white king. That plan is possible and even understandable but needs prepared with a6 first to keep c7 and c8 from being conquered by white. (13... a6 14. Ne2 ) 14. Nb5 Qd8 15. Qc2 h6 As it turns out this move helps me when white trades but Komodo recommend Bf4 in reply and that's harder to solve than the text. 16. Bxf6 Nxf6 Unravelling helps black but I'm not by any means saved yet. White has won the c7 square and that's a difficult hurdle for black to overcome. 17. Nc7 Bxc7 18. Qxc7 Qxc7 19. Rxc7 Rf7 Here I came up with an interesting idea. I either evict the rook from c7 (which komodo correctly assesses as just fine for white and the preferred move is Rc3 with a !?) OR I get a trade and set a little trap. My opponent was repeatedly leaving the board to check the score of a college basketball game and was moving quickly. Here was my chance to save this trainwreck. 20. Rfc1 Rxc7 21. Rxc7 Ne8 22. Re7?? throwing away the advantage Kf8-+ The rest of the game is interesiting and instructive but I have analyzed to the point I am satisfied that I will not play the opening like this again and that is the main thing for me here. 23. Rxe8+ Kxe8 24. Ne5 Bd7 25. g4 fxg4 26. hxg4 Rc8 27. Kg2 a6 28. Bg6+ Ke7 29. Kg3 Rc1 30. a3 Bb5 31. Bh7 Be2 32. Kg2 Kf6 33. f3 Bd1 34. Kg3 Rc8 35. f4 Bc2 36. f5 exf5 37. gxf5 Bxf5 38. Bxf5 Kxf5 39. Nf7 Rc2 40. Nd6+ Kf6 41. Nxb7 Rxb2 42. Nc5 Ra2 43. Nxa6 Rxa3 44. Nc7 Rxe3+ 45. Kf4 Re4+ 46. Kf3 Rxd4 47. Ne8+ Kf7 48. Nd6+ Ke6 49. Ne8 g6 50. Nc7+ Kd7 51. Nb5 Rb4 0-1