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[Richard Cribb]

Originally Posted by Panzar75

Yes, I'm sure you are thinking of the same guy. He's still pretty good but more often coaching juniors then playing himself.

Good man indeed. I remember him playing in a tournament in Norway as far back as in 1981, where he among other things had a forced draw with Black against no less a player than Anthony Miles, but went astray in time trouble. That was a King's Indian too...

I am an e4 player normally but I sometimes play the King's Indian as black against d4 and have had problems against this line with f3 so I figured I'd see what he plays against it. I had not seen 5...Nc6 before and didn't know what to do after that move.

The systems with ...Nc6 are complicated ones and requires some study to master. While the most popular approach for White is castling long and attacking on the king side, there is also an interesting line with a3 and b4.

I came up with 8. Nd5 over the board. Funnily enough he asked me the same question after the game, "is that theory?". I have no clue, I don't know any theory in this line. I had no grander ideas than to open the c3 square for the other knight so I could develop the bishop. Since Nf4 and Ng3 didn't look that hot to me I could not come up with another way to get the bishop out.

You shouldn't have any hurry in getting that bishop out - there are more urgent business. Actually the bishop is just fine where it is. However, castling long, pushing your kingside pawns and exchanging the black squared bishops, that is a good way to go. Then it is not without importance in many lines that your knight on e2 protects d4. later, according to what Black does, you can play Ng3, Nf4 or even Nc1-b3.

Originally Posted by Blue Emu

How about just ignoring the fork on c2?

After (for example) 14. Qe7 Nc2+ 15. Kd2 Nxa1 16. Bd3 Bh6+ 17. Kc3 (or Ke2)

... the Knight is trapped and lost (which means that you've succeeded in sacrificing an exchange to get rid of it, without giving Black a passed Pawn on d4) and the Pawn on c7 is indefensible.

Yes that would work splendid if Black were obliged to check on c2. it seems, however, to underestimate the dynamic potential Black has to his avail.
14.Qe7 f5 15.0-0-0 (15.Qxd6 fxe4 16.fxe4 Nc2+ 17.Kd1 Rf2 looks dangerous for White) fxe4 16.fxe4 (16.Qxc7 exf3) Bg4 looks good for Black. This is just a two minutes analyse, and there might be alternatives for both White and Black, but in general I consider this approach to be more risky for White and less in accordance to the demands of the position.
Therefore, I prefer 14.0-0-0 after which I can meet 14...f5 with 15.Rxd4 exd4 16.Bd3 keeping control and preparing to push the king side pawns. white should be better here.

Originally Posted by Panzar75

That looks like a pretty good idea. If I had only known at the time how hard it would be for me to open lines for trades later on. Still, if any strong players have an idea if the actual position before the blunder is likely to win it would be interesting to know.

At this point, with your king on the wrong side of the board, winning would be a real pull. After for instance 21.Re1 (directed against ...e4)Black can play 21...f4 and I fail to see how White should achieve a decisive breakthrough.

[Panzar75]

Guess it would have been good to know before the game that the King is supposed to go queenside. Given that I see why the bishop might not be in as much hurry to get out.

[Blue Emu]

If I had only known at the time how hard it would be for me to open lines for trades later on.

After 16. 0-0, Bd7; did you consider playing 17. b4 to open lines for trades?

You can always respond to 17. ... ab; 18. Qxb4, b6 by pushing the a-Pawn to a5... and if Black doesn't do this, it's hard to see how he can prevent the line-opening by c5.

Naturally, you would have been better off with holding back the Q-side pawns, playing 0-0-0 and an attack on the K-side instead.

[Richard Cribb]

Originally Posted by Panzar75

Guess it would have been good to know before the game that the King is supposed to go queenside. Given that I see why the bishop might not be in as much hurry to get out.

As a rule, nay a law it always pays off with huge dividends to play through some games with the variation one wants before actually employing it. Especially in the case of something as complicated as this line.

Originally Posted by Blue Emu

After 16. 0-0, Bd7; did you consider playing 17. b4 to open lines for trades?

You can always respond to 17. ... ab; 18. Qxb4, b6 by pushing the a-Pawn to a5... and if Black doesn't do this, it's hard to see how he can prevent the line-opening by c5.

I don't think this is correct. I can't possibly see how White is going to get in c5 or a5 in this variation. Black's structure is sound, and he can double his rooks on the a-file attacking White's isolated pawn. I wonder if not Black is better here. And how dearly I would have loved to have a knight at my disposal, they can be terrific in this type of position.
That said, b4 is an idea worth considering, Perhaps White should try 17.b3 with the idea 18,Qb2, 19.a3 and then b4. The difference is then that White will retake on b4 with his pawn and be both prepared for c5 and opposing Black in the a-file.
A possible continuation could be 17.b3 f5 18.Qb2 Bh6 19.Rfe1 (White must prevent ...Be3+ ) fxe4 (19...f4 is rather worse here,) 20.Bxe4 Bf5 ( Can't see anything else for Black, if 20...Nf5 21.Qc3 ) 21.a3 (Possibly 21.a4!? ) Bxe4 22.fxe4 with Qc3 and Rad1 to follow. White should have chances here.
Being an admirer of Petrosian I have also considered 18.Rc3!? with the idea of bringing the king over to the Queen side before undertaking some King side action. While looking cumbersome, it might be quite good. Might be...

[Panzar75]

Originally Posted by Richard Cribb

As a rule, nay a law it always pays off with huge dividends to play through some games with the variation one wants before actually employing it. Especially in the case of something as complicated as this line.

But I don't want to play this. As I said before I'm an e4 player. Only reason I played this now is because I couldn't win this game anyway and wanted to see what black plays in this line. That said, if a 2250 player finds it neccessary to sacriface the Queen maybe I should take another look at d4 and this line in particular...

Thanks for all the ideas, I'll look at them next week when I don't work 16 hour days.

[Richard Cribb]

Originally Posted by Panzar75

But I don't want to play this. As I said before I'm an e4 player. Only reason I played this now is because I couldn't win this game anyway and wanted to see what black plays in this line. That said, if a 2250 player finds it neccessary to sacriface the Queen maybe I should take another look at d4 and this line in particular...

I understand what you say. Still it can't hurt to know what one is doing, but never mind that, to each his own.
Actually I start to wonder if White should have taken the queen at all. If you just recapture on e2, it seems to me that you have a nice advantage. The absence of knights are here to your absence, and you are ready to play c5. for instance 12.Be2 Qe7 13.b4. Now on 13...b6 14.c5 comes anyway, while on 14...f5 you just play 15.0-0 and then c5. The absence of the knights on c3 and f6 works to your advantage here, since you will open the lines on the queen side anyway while Black has one attacking piece less than in similar lines of the classical variations.
Anyway whether Black blundered or sacrificed his queen 11...Nxe2 is not good. Simply 11...h6 holds, since 12.Nxd4 exd4 13.Bxh6 fails to 13...Qh4+. After 12.0-0-0 Nxe2+ 13.Qxe2 Kh7 White is slightly better, but that is all.

Thanks for all the ideas, I'll look at them next week when I don't work 16 hour days.

You're welcome. The intention with publishing games should be to get feedback, and I have been too neglectful with providing that recently, I will try to increase my activity on this particular part of the forum.
And 16 hours a day?? Moses...

[Narz]

Some sloppy rapid games (G-45) from today.

[Event "W-field Quads"]
[Date "2012.02.12"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Norris, Tony"]
[Black "Kovar, Jordan"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B22"]
[WhiteElo "1927"]
[BlackElo "1928"]
[Annotator "Norris,Tony"]

1. e4 c5 2. c3 Nf6 3. e5 Nd5 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nf3 e6
6. cxd4 Nc6 7. Bc4 d6 8. O-O Be7 9. Qe2 O-O 10. Nc3 Nxc3 11. bxc3 dxe5 12. dxe5
Qc7 13. Bd2 b6 14. Rfe1 Rd8 15. Rac1 Bb7 16. Bd3 Rd7 17. Bf4 Rad8 18. Bb1 Na5
19. Ng5 h6 20. Qh5 Ba3 21. Nh7 Bxc1 22. Rxc1 f5 23. Qg6 Rd1+ 0-1 {not much redeeming to my play in this game }

[Event "W-field Quads"]
[Date "2012.02.12"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Chen, Andy"]
[Black "Norris, Tony"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B36"]
[WhiteElo "1863"]
[BlackElo "1927"]
[Annotator "Norris,Tony"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 g6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. c4
Nf6 6. Nc3 d6 7. Be2 Nxd4 8. Qxd4 Bg7 9. O-O O-O 10. Rd1 a6 11. Bg5 Qc7 12. Qd2
Be6 13. Nd5 Bxd5 14. Bxf6 Bxf6 15. exd5 a5 16. Rab1 Qc5 17. Qc1 a4 18. b4 axb3
19. axb3 Ra2 20. b4 Qc7 21. Bf1 Rfa8 22. Rd2 R8a3 23. Rxa2 Rxa2 24. Qf4 Qd7 25.
c5 dxc5 26. bxc5 Ra4 27. Qb8+ (27. c6 $1) 27... Kg7 28. Qxb7 Qf5 29. Rb3 Rf4
30. f3 Bd4+ 31. Kh1 Bxc5 32. Bd3 Rxf3 33. Qb5 Qxd5 34. Rc3 Qxd3 (34... Rf2 35.
Bf1 Qd1 36. Rf3 Rxf3 37. gxf3 Qd4 38. Qxc5 Qxc5) 35. Qxd3 Rxd3 36. Rxd3 e5
1/2-1/2 {sad I baled out into a draw when I has Rf2 with the win , another time pressure collapse}

[Event "W-field Quads"]
[Date "2012.02.12"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Dong, Alice"]
[Black "Norris, Tony"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B35"]
[WhiteElo "1971"]
[BlackElo "1927"]
[Annotator "Norris,Tony"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 g6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3
Bg7 6. Be3 Nf6 7. Bc4 O-O 8. Bb3 a5 9. f3 d5 10. Nxc6 bxc6 11. O-O e6 12. Qd2
Qc7 13. Bf4 e5 14. Bg5 d4 (14... a4 15. Bxf6 Bxf6 16. Nxa4 Rxa4 17. Bxa4 Qa7+
18. Rf2 Qxa4 19. exd5 cxd5 20. Qxd5 {I considered this line, the computer says
black is much better but those three passed white pawns made me nervous}) 15.
Ne2 Ba6 16. Rfe1 c5 $4 (16... a4 $1 {
wins a piece outright, I saw it seconds after I played the mundane c5 }) 17.
Bxf6 Bxf6 18. Bd5 Rab8 19. c4 a4 20. b3 Rb4 21. Nc1 a3 22. Nd3 Rb6 23. Qa5 Be7
24. Qxa3 Kg7 25. Qc1 h6 26. Qc2 {my opponent exclaimed here she wasn't sure
what was going on, I reassured her I didn't either} Bg5 27. a3 Rfb8 28. b4 Be7
29. b5 Bb7 30. a4 Ra8 31. a5 Rf6 32. a6 Bxd5 33. exd5 Bd6 34. Qb3 e4 {
desperation} 35. b6 $4 {my opponent falls apart under the pressure (and having
only a couple of minutes left)} Bxh2+ 36. Kh1 Rxb6 37. Qc2 exd3 38. Qxd3 Qg3
39. a7 Rb2 40. Re2 Rxe2 41. Qxe2 Qh4 42. Qd3 Bg3+ 43. Kg1 Qh2+ 44. Kf1 Qh1+ (
44... Re8 {faster but everything works}) 0-1

PGN Viewer.

Nothing really prideworthy but I felt like sharing anyway. I'm starting to find G-45 (and G-30 ) more & more exhausting, looking forward to Amateur Team East this weekend with classic time controls, hopefully I will make a better show.

[Richard Cribb]

I have only had time to look superficially on the first one, but 13.Bd2 doesn't seem to meet the requirements of the position. Instead 13.Qe4 (13.Bd3 with the same ideas can perhaps be met by 13...f5 in which case it is less precise) with ideas like Bd3, h4 and Bg5 with good attacking prospects is what one should expect. One doesn't usually wreck one's own pawn structure and then passively defend the weakest pawn.
Anyway you got a nice position - I don't think 14...Rd8 is so good, why not 14...Na5 followed by ...b6, and 19...h6 probably a mistake. If you had played 20.Ne4, you would still have good attacking chances. The queen can go to g4 and in some variations Nf6+ can be highly unpleasant for Black, there might even be an opportunity for a bishop sacrifice on h6.
I must confess am sceptical to the virtues of 10.Nc3. It used to be the main line in this variation, but if Black plays 12...Qa5 (With the idea 13.Qe4 Qa4!) he has very little to fear. Instead Sveshnikov's idea 10.Re1 should, in my opinion, be preferable and promising for White.
I will have a closer look on this as well as those other two games of yours later.

[Pacifist46]

Played my first OTB games for a while yesterday evening, here's the first game. Dropped a pawn in the opening, but hit back and scored a nice win. I went 4-0-0 that night as well - although all the other games were against considerably weaker opposition.
Setting: in my student bar, pint in hand. Quite a bit of background noise from people watching darts (how can people bear to watch darts! It's so boring!) but few interruptions.
Opponent: a guy who I knew had experience playing in county/local leagues. He had no indication of my skill level before the game it should be noted.

[Date "????.??.??"]
[Result "1-0"]
[FEN "rnbqkbnr/pppppppp/8/8/8/8/PPPPPPPP/RNBQKBNR w KQkq - 0 1"]
[White "Me"]
[Black "Him"]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 { Here I went up to the bar and ordered my Guinness. When I returned my opponent had not moved, but soon he played ... } 4...g6 { The Accelerated Dragon - the game transposes into the main line of the Hyper-Accelerated Dragon, a line I know some theory in. } 5.Be3 Bg7 6.Nc3 Nf6 7.Bc4 O-O 8.Bb3 { White's only good try here. Other tries such as 0-0 allow equalisation for Black eg. } ( 8.O-O Nxe4! 9.Nxe4 d5 { And Black often gets the better game here. } ) 8...Qa5 { A decent move and it deviates from the main line, which was 8...a5. Now I have to think a bit more. } 9.O-O { Defending the e pawn. } 9...d6 10.h3 { Stopping Bg4. } 10...Bd7 11.f4 Rac8 12.Nce2? { Ok, so my lack of practice came into call here. It's just a pawn blunder. } 12...Nxe4 13.c3 { This was my idea with Nce2 - shoring up the long diagonal and the c-file. } 13...d5 { Ok, so Black is doing alright for himself here. I have to create complications. } 14.f5 { The queen is shut off across the 5-th rank, so I played f5 to get some stuff happening. } 14...e5 { Not sure about this. } 15.fxe6 fxe6 16.Nf4 { Notice e5 isn't possible here because of Nxd5! in reply. } 16...Rce8? { Defending the pawn? Actually it allows a nice combination starting with a sacrifice! } 17.Ndxe6! { Right back in the game. I've been playing well since that stupid pawn blunder and now I seize some initiative. } 17...Bxe6 18.Nxe6 { The point is after 18...Rxe6 19.Bxd5! keeps me in the driving seat. } 18...Rxf1+ ( 18...Rxe6 19.Bxd5 { And I think White is better. } ) 19.Kxf1 { Of course not 19.Qxf1? Rxe6. } 19...Ng3+ 20.Kg1 Nf5 { Fair play, the knight forces the bishop to move here really. I decide just to keep it on the king's diagonal. } 21.Bf2 Be5 { Probably a good move, keeping his strong dark square bishop on the board. } 22.Bxd5 Kh8 { Sidestepping the discovery. } 23.Ng5 { The knight moves to safety, and stops the Rd8 pin by a fork threat. } 23...Kg7 { Removes the fork threat. } 24.Qb3 { I like this move. It clears the back rank for the rook to enter the game, attacks b7, sets up a bishop and queen battery - it does a lot of things! } 24...Re7 { He defends b7. } 25.Re1 { Bringing my rook into the action. } 25...Nd8 { He might have played Nd8 and then Re7 - I can't remember. This is retreat, but what else is there - here the knight stops a myriad of threats. } 26.g4! { Keeping the attack going! The knight must move ... } 26...Nh6 27.Rxe5 { ...after which the d4 square becomes available! Unfortunately the pretty Bd4 first failed as Bxd4 in reply was check, but this option is still inviting. } 27...Rxe5 28.Bd4 { My position is strong. } 28...Qc7 29.Bxb7 { A pawn grab which is probably not that good an idea. Still, a pawn is a pawn. } 29...Kf8 { Not trying to grab the bishop with 29...Nxb7? 30.Ne6+ } ( 29...Nxb7 30.Ne6+ ) 30.Nxh7+ { The best way I could see to continue the attack! } 30...Ke7 31.Qb4+ Kf7 32.Qf8+ { I go on a king hunt, but his knights control a lot of squares! } 32...Ke6 33.Qf6+ Kd7 { Thought I had mate here with Nf8 but it is not. } 34.Bxe5 { It's finally time to take the rook. } 34...Qxb7 { Now this should be a won game. I tried to find a way to force queens off, but could not see anything. If Qg7+ Nhf7 defends it (for a while). } 35.Qd6+ { So I stuck with a safer option. } 35...Kc8 36.Qc5+ Kd7 { Maybe Nc6 was a better try. } ( 36...Nc6 { And Black can still hope for counterplay perhaps. } ) 37.Nf6+ Ke6 38.Qd6+ Kf7 39.Qxd8 { This I thought was a sure win. He has no safe checks and I am a piece up. } 39...Qxb2? { He just goes for counterplay, but it is losing immediately. I found a forced mate in 3. } 40.Qe8+ Kg7 41.Nh5+ Kh7 42.Qh8# { A great win for me. At least some of this internet chess has translated into actual chess skill. }
1-0

Analysis is pretty cursory to be fair, still haven't had time to look at it properly yet.

[Narz]

That's my line (as black), you certainly have to be careful in it (as you showed), not for the faint of heart!

Nice finish.

I just finished up with Amateur Team East. It was a blast, I posted some pics here and will post some games shortly.

[Narz]

My two nicest games from the event (I got 4.5 of 6 overall) :

First was a misplayed, ultra-passive opening, penetrated by a double sacrifice & then blundered away to a loss followed by a miracle perpetual check!

[Event "Amatuer Team East 2012"]
[Site "Parsippany, NJ"]
[Date "2012.02.18"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Norris, Tony"]
[Black "Richman, Jonathan"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B11"]
[WhiteElo "1951"]
[BlackElo "2125"]

1. e4 c6 2. Nc3 d5 3. Nf3 Bg4 4. h3 Bxf3 5. Qxf3
e6 6. d4 Nf6 7. e5 Nfd7 8. Qg3 a6 9. Be3 Qb6 10. O-O-O g6 11. h4 h5 12. Bd3 c5
13. Bxg6 cxd4 14. Bxd4 Qb4 15. Nxd5 Qc4 16. Ne3 Qxa2 17. Bxf7+ Kxf7 18. Qf3+
Kg8 19. Qxb7 Qa1+ 20. Kd2 Qa4 21. Qxa8 Qxd4+ 22. Kc1 Qxe5 23. Rh3
23... Kh7 24. Qb7 Bg7 25. Rg3 Nc5 26. Qb4 Nc6 27. Qa3 Rb8 28. Nc4 Qf4+ 29. Qe3
Qxc4 30. Rxg7+ Kxg7 31. Qg5+ Kf7 32. Qxh5+ 1/2-1/2


[Event "Amatuer Team East 2012"]
[Site "Parsippany, NJ"]
[Date "2012.02.19"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Grasso, David"]
[Black "Norris, Tony"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D30"]
[WhiteElo "2227"]
[BlackElo "1951"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 c6 4. e3 Nf6 5. b3 Nbd7
6. Nbd2 dxc4 7. bxc4 c5 8. Bd3 b6 9. O-O Bb7 10. Qe2 Qc7 11. Bb2 Bd6 12. h3 h6
13. Rad1 Rg8 14. Bc2 g5 15. dxc5 Bxc5 16. Nd4 g4 17. h4 a6 18. Ba4 O-O-O 19.
Bxd7+ Nxd7 20. f4 gxf3 21. N4xf3 Rg4 22. Rf2 Rdg8 23. Nf1 Bd6 24. Rd2 Nc5 25.
Ba3 Bg3 26. Nxg3 Rxg3 27. Bxc5 bxc5 28. Qd1 Rh3 29. Ng5 Qh2+ 30. Kf1 Rxe3 31.
Rxf7 hxg5 32. Rxb7 Rf8+ 0-1

The guy should've played e4 before it was too late.


Comments welcome. Oh also here's my one loss :

[Event "Amatuer Team East 2012"]
[Site "Parsippany, NJ"]
[Date "2012.02.20"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Trubman, Anatoly"]
[Black "Norris, Tony"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A04"]
[WhiteElo "2125"]
[BlackElo "1917"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 g6 3. g3 Nc6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. O-O d6
6. c3 e5 7. Na3 Nge7 8. d3 O-O 9. Be3 Bg4 10. h3 Bxf3 11. Bxf3 Qd7 12. Bg2 Rad8
13. f4 Kh8 14. Nc4 f5 15. h4 fxe4 16. dxe4 b5 17. Nd2 b4 18. f5 gxf5 19. Bh3
bxc3 20. bxc3 Qe8 21. exf5 Nd5 22. Bg5 Bf6 (22... Nxc3 23. Qf3 Nd4) 23. Ne4
Bxg5 24. Qxd5 Be3+ 25. Kh2 Ne7 26. Qd3 Bh6 27. f6 Nc8 28. Bxc8 Rxc8 29. Qxd6
Rc6 30. Qd5 Qc8 31. Rad1 Rc7 32. Nd6 Qg4 33. Qxe5 Rd7 34. Nf5 Rxd1 35. Rxd1 Qg6 36. Rd6 Rf7 37. Nxh6 Qxh6 38. Rd8+ Rf8 39. f7+ {At this point I moved my king to "i7", off the board, as a joke and then tipped my king. I saw what was coming but played on for my team's sake until mate was inevitable} 1-0

PGN Viewer

Strangely enough I had no technical endgames at all, every game was over before 40 moves.

[Pacifist46]

I bet you've never encountered anyone playing 12.Nce2 against your line

You played some awesome games, they all seemed to be dominated by piece play, it was a real complicated battle out there!
The first game was just hectic, you really went for him. Can't help feel you might have missed some chances there.
Awesome take-down of the 2200+ dude in the second - with Black as well! Had him on the defensive straight from the off, just tied him up. You made it look easy!
The third game was a clean finish from him, what can be said - I was surprised by that f5 counter-break from him - don't think I would ever have looked at something like that. I guess your mistake was that your d5 square just became too weak after you exchanged off your lsb, then opened the d-file for him. Your bracketed continuation would have been nice, controlling the centre and shutting d5 off again. But I guess you can't win every round! (That said it was still a good fight )

Cool pictures too, the 8 year old dude must be a tough opponent with such powers of concentration for that age.

[Narz]

Originally Posted by Pacifist46

I bet you've never encountered anyone playing 12.Nce2 against your line

Well I don't play Qa5, if I did I play enough blitz that I'd be sure to see it sooner or later (and maybe slip up just like your opponent, I get very nervous with my queen "off sides" and try to be extra careful about it, usually it's safe in Marcozy bind situations).

Originally Posted by Pacifist46

You played some awesome games, they all seemed to be dominated by piece play, it was a real complicated battle out there!
The first game was just hectic, you really went for him. Can't help feel you might have missed some chances there.

I definitely did (miss some chances). 16. Ne3 was not what the doctor ordered, passive & not in the spirit with my attack up until then, I thought forever about this move too but there were a half dozen better than it (Bc3, Nf6, Nf4 to name a few). Even after my move though I was still quite a bit better but slowly started losing my edge & I'm not really sure how (the computer gives various lines that would have maintained an edge but I can't say I fully understand them, I do understand my letting both his knights come back at me with vengeance wasn't a good idea). Fortunately the struggle was so intense & I was so (genuinely) crestfallen over blundering my position & my knight that my opponent greedily gobbled it up, missed the stalemating possibility. Believe it or not I didn't even notice that I had that chance until after I sacced the rook (I just figured that was the best move to hope for counterplay, maybe with some hope of perpetual check if he messed up). After he takes back though there is no way to escape the checks. I immediately offered him a draw at that point (which seemed to have surprised some of his teammates but being a good sport and in the interest of conserving energy he immediately accepted).

Originally Posted by Pacifist46

Awesome take-down of the 2200+ dude in the second - with Black as well! Had him on the defensive straight from the off, just tied him up. You made it look easy!

Thanks! It's funny, I didn't have much confidence my attack would work, I felt almost embarrassed playing h6 and Rg8, like "this is so obvious, there's no way it will work" but I knew I had to play aggressively as even a draw wouldn't cut it since my team was outgunned 300-400 points on every board (my only complaint about the Amateur Team tournament is you tend to play up & down, 300 points down one match, 300 up the next).

Originally Posted by Pacifist46

The third game was a clean finish from him, what can be said - I was surprised by that f5 counter-break from him - don't think I would ever have looked at something like that. I guess your mistake was that your d5 square just became too weak after you exchanged off your lsb, then opened the d-file for him. Your bracketed continuation would have been nice, controlling the centre and shutting d5 off again. But I guess you can't win every round! (That said it was still a good fight )

Yeah, I felt like I was toe to toe with him until the passive 22. ... Bf6. Nxc3 would've been cute but I wasn't up to the task of calculating all the possible queen retreats. A good lesson though, it's always fun when two knights can work together, I have trouble enough calculating one sometimes.

Originally Posted by Pacifist46

Cool pictures too, the 8 year old dude must be a tough opponent with such powers of concentration for that age.

Yeah, he had a level game with me a few months back actually. I couldn't get any edge in the opening & was perhaps worse before he slipped up in the endgame.

Just dug up the game, looks like I blundered terribly on move 22 with Qe7 (which allows Re8 and it's all over) but fortunately for me he missed it.

Spoiler:

[Event "ATKM 4th Sun Sept. Quads"]
[Site "Pitman, NJ"]
[Date "2011.09.25"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Norris, Tony"]
[Black "Ganthapodi, Maanav"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C01"]
[WhiteElo "1879"]
[BlackElo "1629"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. exd5 exd5 5. Bd3 Nf6 6.
Bg5 c6 7. Nge2 Nbd7 8. O-O O-O 9. a3 Bd6 10. Ng3 Nb6 11. Nf5 (11. Re1) 11...
Bxf5 12. Bxf5 h6 13. Bh4 Be7 14. Re1 Re8 15. Qf3 Nfd7 16. Bg3 Nf6 17. Re2 Bd6
18. Rae1 Qc7 19. Bd3 Bxg3 20. hxg3 Rxe2 21. Qxe2 Qd7 22. Qe7 Qxe7 23. Rxe7 Nbd7
24. Bf5 Rd8 25. Ne2 Kf8 26. Re3 Nb6 27. b3 g6 28. Bd3 Ng4 29. Rf3 Kg7 30. Rf4
Nf6 31. Rh4 g5 32. Rh1 Re8 33. f3 a6 34. Kf2 Nbd7 35. g4 c5 36. Ng3 Ng8 37.
Nf5+ Kf8 38. Nxh6 Nxh6 39. Rxh6 cxd4 40. Rd6 Nc5 41. Rxd5 Ne6 42. g3 f6 43. Bf5
Kf7 44. Bxe6+ Rxe6 45. Rxd4 Kg6 46. f4 gxf4 47. gxf4 Rc6 48. c4 b5 49. Ke3 bxc4
50. Rxc4 Re6+ 51. Kd4 Rd6+ 52. Kc5 Rd3 53. Kb4 Rg3 54. g5 fxg5 55. Rc6+ Kf5 56.
fxg5 Kxg5 57. Rxa6 Rg4+ 58. Kc5 1-0

[Panzar75]

This weekend I had to play in our first team due to several of our other players not being able to make it. So this game is from the Swedish Division 2. I was white on board 7. They had an unusually weak team as well so I was actually a few points higher rated than my opponent. A little tired after the 3 hour drive I still felt motivated to play and thought I played my best game for quite some time. Of course I still lost but then again I always lose.

I got a fantastic position after the opening but failed to make anything of it. As an exercise you can try to find where I missed an oppertunity to win a pawn and then a little later a piece. 19. Nxg6 was the wrong decision and on 21. bxc5 I captured the pawn too fast. I should have waited before taking it. Maybe I could have saved my b-pawn by taking the rook and then playing b5 but I didn't think I could hang on to it for long. Maybe I was wrong, not sure. Still, I didn't think my play was bad enough to deserve a loss.

Spoiler:

[Event "Swedish Division 2"]
[Site "http://www.schack.se/"]
[Date "2012.02.26"]
[White "Jan Persson"]
[Black "Lars Axelsson"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "1675"]
[BlackElo "1609"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Nbd7 5. e3 c6 6. Nf3 dxc4 7. Bxc4 Qa5
8. O-O Nd5 9. Ne2 Bd6 10. a3 Qc7 11. Rc1 N7f6 12. Qd3 e5 13. e4 Nb6 14. Ba2
Bg4 15. h3 Bh5 16. Ng3 Bg6 17. Nh4 O-O-O 18. d5 c5 19. Nxg6 hxg6 20. b4
Nbd7 21. bxc5 Nxc5 22. Qc4 Kb8 23. f3 Rc8 24. Be3 Qa5 25. Qb4 Qxb4 26. axb4
Nd3 27. Ra1 Nxb4 28. Bb3 a6 29. Bd1 Nc2 30. Bxc2 Rxc2 31. Rfb1 Ka8 32. Rb6
Bc5 33. Bxc5 Rxc5 34. Rab1 Rc7 35. Nf1 Nd7 36. R6b2 Nc5 37. Rb6 Rhc8 38.
Kh2 Na4 39. Rd6 Ka7 40. Nd2 b5 41. Nb3 Nb6 42. Na5 Nc4 43. Nxc4 Rxc4 44.
Ra1 Ra4 45. Rd1 Rc7 46. Rd8 Rd4 47. Ra1 Kb7 48. Re8 f6 49. Re6 Ra4 50. Rd1
a5 51. g3 Ra2+ 52. Kg1 Rac2 53. f4 exf4 54. gxf4 b4 55. Rb1 Rc1+ 56. Rxc1
Rxc1+ 57. Kf2 b3 58. Re7+ Kc8 59. Re8+ Kc7 60. d6+ Kxd6 61. Rb8 Rc2+ 62.
Ke3 a4 63. Kd3 Rh2 64. Kc3 Rxh3+ 65. Kb2 Rh2+ 66. Kb1 Kc5 67. e5 fxe5 68.
fxe5 Kd5 69. Rb4 Ra2 70. Rb5+ Ke6 71. Kc1 g5 72. Kb1 g4 73. Rb4 g3 74. Rg4
g2 75. Rxg7 Rf2 0-1

(Copy and paste the text to a pgn viewer.)

[Panzar75]

My results in the league so far has been pretty poor. I am however doing well in my club championship. After the loss I posted above against a 2250 player I have won three games so far. The last one in particular is one where I played pretty well I think. While his current rating is only 1738 he was over 1900 only a while back and I think he is very under-rated. This was my first win against him in a game with longer time control (This was a game 60 with a 30 second increment per move).

He always play the King's Indian Attack so I spent some 6 hours looking for the best position I could get as black. I settled for the one in the game where the computer gives me about -0.40 after 7. Re8. Good thing I knew he wouldn't go into the Caro-Kann since I would have had no idea what to do there I thought I had looked at everything he could play but it turned out I had not looked enough at c3. In most lines I was planning Nc5 but I could never get it to work out after exd5 followed by d4.

10..Qb6 immediately followed by Qc7 next move might look funny and I guess Qb6 wasn't that great of a move. Still, I think getting the Queen to c2, not that he HAD to go there but still, was good for black as the Queen usually belongs on e2 in the KIA. Also it was only after playing Qb6 that I found the plan b6 and Ba6. Then we had some manouvering going on. He is a very aggressive player and he WILL attack you with everything he can throw at you. I was pleased with not allowing him too much play against my King and pretty much preventing the move f4 throughout the game. With my a- and b-pawns against his b- and c-pawns I figured I had some chances for an outside passed pawn in the endgame.

35. Nf1 was bad, allowing my knight to go to f4 and things sort of went downhill for him from there. I missed 40...Qe2 with a massive -10.00 I think it was. I was happy to grab a second pawn with a solid -4.00 or so. I managed to play it out with the best moves after that and get the point. While I did let my advantage slip away to 0.00 in the middle of the game I was never worse and was able to capitalize on his mistake on move 35. (He was getting a bit low on time at this point and in the end he was down to less than a minute playing with his 30-second increment.)

I was very happy with this game and I'm very rarely happy with my games regardless of the result.

Spoiler:

[Event "Ervalla SS Club Championship"]
[Date "2012.03.05"]
[Round "4"]
[White "J.A."]
[Black "Jan Persson"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "1738"]
[BlackElo "1675"]

1. e4 c6 2. d3 d5 3. Nd2 e5 4. Ngf3 Bd6 5. g3 Nf6 6. Bg2 O-O 7. O-O Re8 8.
h3 Nbd7 9. c3 a5 10. a4 Qb6 11. Qc2 Qc7 12. Re1 b6 13. Nf1 Ba6 14. Bg5 h6
15. Bxf6 Nxf6 16. Rad1 Rad8 17. g4 dxe4 18. dxe4 Bc5 19. Ng3 g6 20. g5 hxg5
21. Nxg5 Rxd1 22. Rxd1 Rd8 23. Bf3 Rxd1+ 24. Bxd1 Qd7 25. Be2 Bxe2 26. Qxe2
Kg7 27. Kg2 Be7 28. Qc4 Bd8 29. Nf3 Bc7 30. Qe2 b5 31. axb5 cxb5 32. Qe3
Qc6 33. Ng5 Bb6 34. Qf3 Qd7 35. Nf1 Nh5 36. Qg4 Nf4+ 37. Kg3 Qd3+ 38. Ne3
Bxe3 39. fxe3 Qxe3+ 40. Nf3 Qxe4 41. Kh2 Qe2+ 42. Kh1 Qxb2 43. Nxe5 Qc1+
44. Kh2 Qd2+ 45. Kg3 Nh5+ 46. Kf3 Qxc3+ 47. Ke4 f5+ 0-1

(Copy and paste the text to a PGN Viewer)

[Millman]

Chess is a tricky business. One wrong move and you're in for it no matter how well you've prepared.

You know I play positionally more often so don't expect a brillant sacrifice if I post a game again.

[dusters]

Originally Posted by Millman

Chess is a tricky business. One wrong move and you're in for it no matter how well you've prepared.

You know I play positionally more often so don't expect a brillant sacrifice if I post a game again.

That's why I enjoy playing versus computer more. You finally get this good ELO player who plays decently first 30 moves, and then bam, he makes a mistake and your satisfaction with game goes down.

In real life you can be sure that people prepare for their games - they have studied your openings, they have a chess coach who has told how badass player you are etc, but in online play you can't be sure if opponent is a Master trolling newbs playing blitz, or an aspiring young player who will dominate his age group given few years.

[Panzar75]

Originally Posted by dusters

That's why I enjoy playing versus computer more. You finally get this good ELO player who plays decently first 30 moves, and then bam, he makes a mistake and your satisfaction with game goes down.

I dislike playing the computer for that very reason. In my experience it plays the opening perfectly and then makes one or more major mistakes to compensate for it.



In the end I came third in our club championship with a 5/7 score. I lost to the two highest rated players (2251 and 1902 respectively). Here is the last round game where I won against an 1836 player. During the opening I wasn't very happy with my position but the computer seems to think I had a good game all along. Then he made that mistake you were talking about in the quote and handed me the game.

Spoiler:

[Event "Ervalla SS Club Championship"]
[Date "2012.04.16"]
[Round "7"]
[White "H.S"]
[Black "Jan Persson"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "1836"]
[BlackElo "1675"]

1. e4 e6 2. d3 d5 3. Nd2 Ne7 4. Ngf3 Nbc6 5. g3 b6 6. Bg2 dxe4 7. Nxe4 Bb7
8. O-O h5 9. Re1 Qd7 10. Neg5 Ng6 11. Bh3 Nd8 12. Qe2 Be7 13. Bg2 c5 14. h4
Rc8 15. c3 Bd5 16. Ne5 Nxe5 17. Qxe5 f6 18. Qe2 fxg5 19. hxg5 Bxg2 20. Kxg2
Qd5+ 21. Kg1 Bxg5 22. f4 Bf6 23. Be3 Kf7 24. Rad1 Nc6 25. Kf2 g6 26. Rh1
Qf5 27. Qf3 Qg4 28. Qe4 h4 29. Rdg1 hxg3+ 30. Rxg3 Qf5 31. Rxh8 Bxh8 32.
Qh1 Bg7 33. Qf1 Bf6 34. Qh1 Ne7 35. d4 Rh8 36. Qb7 Rh2+ 37. Rg2 Qc2+ 38.
Kg3 Qxg2+ 39. Qxg2 Rxg2+ 40. Kxg2 cxd4 0-1

(Copy and paste the text to a PGN Viewer)

This is the game I lost to the 1902 player. I'm not quite sure where I went astray but somewhere around move 20 things started to go horribly wrong. He missed a lot of faster wins so even if it might look sort of close until the end it really wasn't.

Spoiler:

[Event "Ervalla SS Club Championship"]
[Date "2012.03.12"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Jan Persson"]
[Black "M.E"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "1675"]
[BlackElo "1902"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 g6 5. Bg5 Ne4 6. Bh4 Bg7 7. e3 O-O 8.
Qb3 h6 9. Bd3 Nxc3 10. bxc3 dxc4 11. Bxc4 b5 12. Be2 Be6 13. Qc2 Nd7 14.
O-O a6 15. a4 Nb6 16. axb5 cxb5 17. Rfc1 Bf6 18. Bg3 Qd5 19. Nd2 Qd7 20. e4
Rfc8 21. Nb3 Bxb3 22. Qxb3 Nc4 23. f3 e5 24. d5 Qd6 25. Bf2 Bg5 26. Rc2 Be3
27. Qb4 Bxf2+ 28. Kxf2 Qb6+ 29. Kg3 Qe3 30. Bxc4 Rxc4 31. Qb2 Rxe4 32. d6
h5 33. h3 Qf4+ 34. Kf2 Rc4 35. Kg1 e4 36. d7 exf3 37. Rxa6 Qe3+ 38. Rf2 Rd8
39. gxf3 Rxd7 40. Qxb5 Rd1+ 41. Kg2 Rc5 42. Qb8+ Kg7 43. h4 Qe1 44. Qh2
Rxc3 45. Ra4 Rd2 46. Rxd2 Qxd2+ 47. Kg3 Qd6+ 48. Rf4 Rc4 49. Qb2+ Kh7 50.
Qf6 Qxf4+ 51. Qxf4 Rxf4 52. Kxf4 f6 53. Kg3 g5 54. hxg5 fxg5 55. f4 g4 56.
Kf2 Kg6 57. Kg2 h4 0-1

(Copy and paste the text to a PGN Viewer)

This third game is from last round in the the league. He tried a speculative sacriface that didn't work out in the end.

Spoiler:

[Event "Swedish Division 3"]
[Date "2012.03.18"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Jan Persson"]
[Black "Peter Kruuse"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "1675"]
[BlackElo "1894"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 d5 4. e3 e6 5. Nf3 Bd6 6. Bd3 O-O 7. O-O Nbd7 8.
b3 e5 9. dxe5 Nxe5 10. Nxe5 Bxe5 11. Qc2 Bxh2+ 12. Kxh2 Ng4+ 13. Kg3 Qg5
14. f4 Qh5 15. Bd2 Qh2+ 16. Kf3 Qh4 17. Ke2 f5 18. cxd5 Qg3 19. Rae1 Kh8
20. dxc6 Qxg2+ 21. Kd1 Nf2+ 22. Kc1 Nxd3+ 23. Qxd3 Qxc6 24. Qd5 Qc7 25. Qe5
Qc6 26. Kb2 Be6 27. Ne2 Qd5 28. Bc3 Qxe5 29. Bxe5 Kg8 30. Rc1 Rac8 31. Nd4
Bd7 32. b4 Kf7 33. Rg1 g6 34. a3 Rxc1 35. Rxc1 Rc8 36. Rxc8 Bxc8 37. Kc3
Bd7 38. Nf3 h6 39. Bb8 Bc6 40. Ne5+ Kf6 41. Nxc6 bxc6 42. Bxa7 g5 43. fxg5+
hxg5 44. Kd3 Ke6 45. a4 Kd7 46. a5 Kc7 47. Bc5 Kb7 48. Ke2 Ka6 49. Kf2 Kb5
50. Kg3 1-0

(Copy and paste the text to a PGN Viewer)

[dusters]

To be honest, in master level everyone plays opening perfectly from the heart. And to sound even more arrogant, I started playing when I was 4 and devoted all my childhood to chess, and teens too.

[Panzar75]

Originally Posted by dusters

To be honest, in master level everyone plays opening perfectly from the heart. And to sound even more arrogant, I started playing when I was 4 and devoted all my childhood to chess, and teens too.

As you can see from my games I'm very far from master level. I guess I can see the computer giving a more even performance at that level. I started playing chess at age 9 but unfortunately I have no talent at all.