Narz at the World Open 2008

[Narz]

Well, I was planning on doing the 3-day here but I miscalculated (hopefully got all of that out of my system ) and ended up getting here (Philadelphia, PA) two days early so I decided to do the 5-day instead. Which means only one game tomorrow instead of five , which is good. But it also means I'm going to be paying for my hotel room for 5 days also!! So it would be really, really nice is I get in the top-10 which will ensure I cover my expenses. In the top-3 and I'm nearly totally out of debt. #1 and I'm out of debt with a few thousand spending cash.

Anyway, my first round is tomorrow night at 7PM*. Wish me luck!!

* All Rounds :

7/2 at 7 pm
7/3, 7/4 & 7/5 rounds at 11 am & 6 pm
7/6 rounds at 10 am & 5 pm.

Nine rounds total!!

 

[Panzar75]

I count wrong on the chessboard all the time but I don't think I have ever gone somewhere on the wrong date. Anyway, seems like it meant more chess for you and that might be a good thing. Think of me who are paying for 8 days at a hotel.

I hope you have better luck than I have had so far.

 

[Narz]

In the google search last year's tourney comes up first and the three day there is the 2nd-4th. Anyway, perhaps I subconsciously wanted to do the three-day instead of the 5-day. In retrospect I'm glad I'm only playing one game today at 7PM instead of FIVE games!

Are you enjoying your hotel at least? Any cute girls at the tourney (statistically unlikely to be too many probably but possible)?

 

[Panzar75]

The hotel is about 4 on a scale from 1-10. Not so hot but not horrible either. The girls that are present look 12 or so. Not the one in my age group. I wish there were some then at least I could blame that as a distraction. The sad truth is that I am playing really badly. Oh, well. At least I don't have to work this week.

 

[Narz]

Well GL on your next game anyway.

 

[Narz]

My first round I played an older gentleman who'd been to the world open 7 years total (we chatted a bit pre-game). He was rated a hundred points below me though. Of course I know better than to underestimate my opponents!

I thought I played very well. Perhaps not with 100% perfect accuracy but perhaps as close as I've gotten.

It's already almost half-past midnight & I got another matchup at 11AM so I haven't analyzed with an engine. As always though, comments welcome!

Anyway, here it is (my comments are below) :

[Event "World Open"]
[Site "Philly"]
[Date "2008.07.02"]
[Round "1"]
[White "David J White"]
[Black "Narz"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B30"]
[WhiteElo "1444"]
[BlackElo "1552"]
[Annotator ",Narz"]
[PlyCount "70"]
[TimeControl "40/2 hours + 1 hr sudden death"]

1. e4 c5 2. c4 Nc6 3. Nf3 g6 4. Be2 Bg7 5. O-O d66. d3 f5 7. a3 Nf6 8. Qc2 O-O 9. h3 Bd7 10. Bd2 Nd4 11. Nxd4 cxd4 12. Bf3 Bc6 13. Bg5 Nd7 14. Qe2 Ne5 15. Nd2 Qd7 16. b4 b5 17. cxb5 Bxb5 18. Nc4 Bxc4 19. dxc4 f4 20. Rac1 h6 21. Bh4 g5 22. Bxg5 hxg5 23. Bh5 f3 24. Qd2 Rf4 25. Qxd4 Raf8 26. Rcd1 Rh4 27. Qd5+ Kh8 28. c5 Rxh5 29. cxd6 fxg2 30. dxe7 gxf1=Q+ 31. Kxf1 Qxh3+ 32. Ke1 Qc3+ 33. Ke2 Rxf2+ 34. Kxf2 Rh2+ 35. Kf1 Qf3+ 0-1

Notes : rather odd opening, I've only seen it in blitz online. The bishops lose scope & d3 can be a target. I decided to put my bishop on the long dialog to take advantage of white's potential dark square weakness.

With 7. ... f5 I wanted to gain some space & create some tension in the positon & hopefully have attacking possibilities later. Simply 7. ... Nf6 might have been "objectively better" (though I'm not even sure that's true) but it would lead to to the type of game I find dull so I tried the sharper move instead.

With a3 & h3 it seems my opponent is wasting time, trying to figure out what I am up to. I did my best to try to show him.

With 9 ... Bd7 I am planning to meet exf with gxf!? and try for a kingside assault.

I though about my tenth move for a while. Originally I had ideas of Rb8 and b5, breaking up the queenside but this also freed up white's position & created threats for him along the a2-g8 diagonal. So with 10 ... Nd4, I am just simply aiming to cramp white's position (if he takes & really he almost has to, his knight loses it's only square & white must waste more time).

12. ... Bc6 (again, I thought for a long time about this, considering e5 but decided ultimately that Bc6 is more active, I'd glad I made this choice.

13. ... Nd7 (with the idea of Ne5, a great square for "him")

14. Qe2 (I have to be careful, he's threatening exf and Bxe7)

14. ... Ne5 (my knight reaches a nice square where he will stay exerting pressure for a long time!)

15. Nd2 (seems like a most logical move but perhaps I missed... [see below])

15. ... Qd7 (another seemingly logical move, getting out of the way of the pin, linking my rooks & preparing f4 with the aim of trapping the bishop, maybe I'm just tired but I'm not seeing now why I couldn't have played f4 right away)

16. b4 b5 (white tries to strike back somehow)

17. cxb5? (mistake) Bxb5

19. ... f4 (I could have played d3 here with the idea of Nxf3+ and then Bxa1 but I didn't want to give the bishop a way out and I didn't care about the a1 rook anyway).

20. R(a)c1 (I didn't understand this move @ the time & I still don't )

22. Bxg5 hxg5 (I toyed with 22. ... d6 here but it didn't seem to do much)

23. ... f3 (if B takes then R takes & white gets mated or loses his queen, if g takes I think I still have a mating attack)

25. Qxd4 (nooo, my awesome d-pawn! Also, white is threating the highly embarsssing Qd5+ which I might have overlooked in my lust for blood even just a few months ago)

25. ... R(a)f8 (safety first)

26. R(c)d1 (when he touched the piece I figured he'd try Rc3)

27. Qd5+ (spite check)

28. c5 Rxh5 (taking the bishop was the best move I could see)

29. cxd6 fxg2 (the fancy Rxp was no good in my calculations unless white played into the mate)

30. dxe7 (threating my queen & to get a new one with check. I didn't see a forced mate here but I figured there had to be one. I avioded the "safe" pxR=Q and then Qxe7 and went all out for the kill!)

30. ... gxf1=Q+ 31. Kxf1 (Rxf1 probably better, then I might have nothing better than capturing e7 with the queen)

31. ... Qxh3+ 32. Ke1 Qc3+ (blocking with either the R or Q leads to Rh8+ followed by Qf6 mate)

33. Ke2 Rxf2+ (Rook sac!! )

34. Kxf2 Rh2+ 35. Kf1 Qf3+

Mate next move, white resigns.

Edit : on move 30 after dxe7 I missed a two move checkmate (Nf3+ Kxp and then Qxp mate )

 

[Panzar75]

Congratulations to the win. I'll take a look at it when I get back home (Saturday).

 

[Narz]

Thanks.

2nd game was somewhat of a heartbreaker (though my heart is pretty tough). I had a dominating position again out of the opening. I couldn't get a mate but traded down to a winning endgame and then... two significant blunders & my opponent managed to draw. I was moving too fast. It's all good though, one draw in nine games does not disqualify me for #1.

No time to post it now (next round starts 8 blocks away in 45 minutes) but I win soon.

 

[Narz]

Was white again in my third game. I won. My opponent resigned on move 27.

May post games later tonight or perhaps will wait and post them all at the end.

 

[Narz]

Ok, will post my last two games with minimal commentary.

Here's game #2 (from this morning)

Started off with an almost perfectly developed game. Thought I had a won queen but he wiggled out & I only won a pawn. Won another pawn in the endgame and then made some positional blunders which led me to a drawn position.

I was dissapointed but better a draw than a loss.

[Event "World Open"]
[Site "Philly"]
[Date "2008.07.03"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Narz"]
[Black "Carlston"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B01"]
[WhiteElo "1552"]
[BlackElo "1400"]
[PlyCount "103"]
[TimeControl "40 moves in 120, SD in 60"]

1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Nf6 3. d4 Bg4 4. Be2 Bxe2 5. Qxe2 Qxd5 6. Nf3 e6 7. O-O c6 8. c4 Qh5 9. Bf4 Be7 10. Nc3 O-O 11. Rfe1 Bb4 12. Rac1 Re8 13. a3 Bf8 14. Ne4 Nxe4 15. Qxe4 Nd7 16. Rc3 Nb6 17. Ne5 f6 18. g4 f5 19. gxh5 fxe4 20. Rxe4 Rad8 21. Bg5 Be7 22. h4 Nd7 23. Nxd7 Rxd7 24. Rxe6 h6 25. Rxe7 Rdxe7 26. Bxe7 Rxe7 27. Re3 Rd7 28. Re4 Kf7 29. Kg2? [should develop Kf1 to protect the central pawn] b6 30. Kf3 a6 31. Ke3 b5 32. Kd2?? bxc4 33. Kc3 Rb7 34. Re5 Rb3+ 35. Kxc4 Rxb2 36. Rf5+ Kg8 37. Rf3 Re2 38. Rf4 Ra2 39. Kb4 Rb2+ 40. Ka5 Rb3 41. Kxa6 Rxa3+ 42. Kb6 Rc3 43. Kc7 Rc4 44. Kd6 c5 45. Kd5 Rxd4+ 46. Rxd4 cxd4 47. Kxd4 Kf7 48. Ke5 Ke7 49. Kf5 Kf7 50. f3 Kg8 51. Kg6 Kf8 52. Kh7 1/2-1/2

[the game lasted 15 or so more moves & ended in a dead draw with my two rooks pawns & king vs. king. could I have won from the position shown? I don't think so, not forced anyway]

 

[Narz]

[Event "World Open"]
[Site "Philly"]
[Date "2008.07.03"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Narz"]
[Black "Glenn"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B07"]
[WhiteElo "1552"]
[BlackElo "1460"]
[TimeControl "40 in 120, SD in 60"]

1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 Nbd7 4. Bc4 c6 5. Qe2 e5 6. Nf3 h6 7. Be3 Be7 8. Rd1 Qc7 9. a4 Nh7 10. O-O Ndf6 11. h3 Bd7 12. Rd3 a6 13. dxe5 dxe5 14. Rfd1 Bb4 15. Bb3 Bxc3 16. bxc3 b5 17. Bc5 Ng5 18. Bd6 Nxf3+ 19. Qxf3 Qb7 20. Bxe5 O-O-O 21. axb5 axb5 22. Qe3 Be6 23. Bxe6+ fxe6 24. Ra1 Rxd3 25. cxd3 Nd7 26. Ra7 Qb6 27. Rxd7 1-0

[I was/am pretty proud of this one ]

 

[Narz]

I won game 4. One of, if not, my best. Of course my opponent making some significant opening blunders helped.

When I saw his name I thought immediately of Bill Lumburg from Office Space.

Really nice guy though, said he enjoyed the game alot (even though he lost). We both played at a fairly speedy clip so the game ended early and I had four & a half hours before the next round (still have 2:43 ).

[Event "World Open"]
[Site "Philly"]
[Date "2008.07.04"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Bill Langford"]
[Black "Narz"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B21"]
[WhiteElo "1587"]
[BlackElo "1552"]

1. e4 c5 2. f4 d5 3. Bb5+ Bd7 4. Bxd7+ Nxd7 5. e5 d4 6. d3 e6 7. Nf3 Ne7 8. Nbd2 Nd5 9. Ne4 Be7 10. O-O f5 11. Nd6+ Bxd6 12. exd6 N7f6 13. Qe2 Qxd6 14. c4 dxc3 15. bxc3 Nxc3 16. Qc2 Ncd5 17. Re1 O-O 18. Qb3 b6 19. h3 Rfe8 20. g3 Rad8 21. Bb2 Nb4 22. Ne5 Qd5 23. Qa4 Nxd3 24. Rad1 Nxb2 25. Qxe8+ Rxe8 26. Rxd5 exd5 27. Rb1 Nc4 28. Nc6 a6 29. a4 Kf7 30. Ne5+ Nxe5 31. fxe5 Nd7 0-1

 

[Narz]

Game 5 was a draw. I was totally busted but played on hard & pulled off a half-point. I might have even had a win with perfect play but I was very tired. And I am still very tired. Thus my thousands of clamoring fans will have to wait for me to post my last game.

4/5 total thus far (4 more to go)

 

[Narz]

Ok, here's the fifth game (no commentary, it's pretty easy to see where I went wrong... and then where I snatched a draw from the jaws of defeat).

[Event "World Open"]
[Site "Philly"]
[Date "2008.07.04"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Narz"]
[Black "Marty"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B22"]
[WhiteElo "1552"]
[BlackElo "1494"]

1. e4 c5 2. c3 d5 3. exd5 Qxd5 4. d4 Nf6 5. Nf3 Bg4 6. Be2 e6 7. Be3 cxd4 8. cxd4 Bb4+ 9. Nc3 Ne4 10. O-O Bxc3 11. bxc3 Nxc3 12. Qc2 Nxe2+ 13. Qxe2 Nc6 14. Rfd1 O-O 15. Rac1 Bxf3 16. gxf3 Rac8 17. Kg2 Ne7 18. Rc5 Rxc5 19. dxc5 Qc6 20. Rd6 Qc7 21. Qb5 Nc6 22. Qd3 Rd8 23. Bf4 Rxd6 24. Bxd6 Qd7 25. Qe4 Ne7 26. Kf1 Nd5 27. Ke1 Qb5 28. Qc2 Qb4+ 29. Ke2 Qb5+ 30. Kd2 Qf1 31. Bg3 Nb4 32. Qb3 Nd5 33. Qxb7 h6 34. c6 Qc4 35. c7 Qc3+ 36. Ke2 Qc4+ 37. Ke1 Qc1+ 38. Ke2 Qc4+ 39. Kd2 Qc3+ 40. Ke2 Qc4+ 1/2-1/2

 

[Panzar75]

Game 1

I would have played 6... Bg4 to exchange the bishop for his knight. This way he is left with his bad white squared bishop and you have 3 pieces able to control d4 while he only has 2 to do the same. The computer does indeed prefer Nf6.

For the longest time the best moves according to the computer was exf5 for him and fxe4 for you but both stubbornly refused to take.

Game 2

29. Kg2? [should develop Kf1 to protect the central pawn]

My software has a whole slew of non-king-moves rated ever so slightly higher than Kg2 wich is in turn ever so slightly better than Kf1. Personally I would also go with the Kf1-e2-d3 plan. At 9/15 depth my computer would go with a4.

I think 41. a4 might be the last attempt for a win. In the game continuation there seems to be a draw for black.

Game 3

Looks like you missed 15. Bxf7+ the computer goes wild with almost +3 pawns. And at move 17 Bxf7+ is like +4.50.

Game 4

I am starting to notice your opponents keep dropping off pawns to you. I wish mine did too.

Game 5

I cannot believe he let you get away with that. He looked absolutely lost for a plan in the end. I'm not sure what the best plan would be, I was thinking about 28. Qc6 followed by b5 perhaps. You managed to keep it difficult which is admireable. It didn't look like you had more than a draw in the end.

 

[Narz]

Game 3

Looks like you missed 15. Bxf7+ the computer goes wild with almost +3 pawns. And at move 17 Bxf7+ is like +4.50.

Fritz said that move was good too but it didn't say why.

My 6th game was my first loss.

I need to win the next three straight for any significant prize money.

 

[Narz]

This game started out as possible the weirdest tournament game I've ever played. He played my favorite (as white, not necessarily as black!) c3 Sicilian against me but from move 4 he started playing it really oddly.

By move 17, I was pretty pleased with my game. I thought I had a slight edge (which is always good for black out of the opening) but then I simplified the position for him (with trades) and allowed him to catch up in development and plant his bishop in the center. I played a trappy move (26. ... g6) and not even at the right time (should've played it a move earlier so it looked purely defensive) and wasted time maneuvering my bishop. My position went from bad to worse & then I tactically fell apart.

Not my finest moment, though of course, now more than ever, comments on the game welcome.

[Event "World Open"]
[Site "Philly"]
[Date "2008.07.05"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Dan Falcon"]
[Black "Narz"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B22"]
[WhiteElo "1587"]
[BlackElo "1552"]

1. e4 c5 2. c3 d5 3. exd5 Qxd5 4. Qf3 Nf6 5. Na3 a6 6. Nc4 Nbd7 7. d3 e5 8. g3 Be7 9. Qxd5 Nxd5 10. Bg2 N5b6 11. Ne3 O-O 12. a4 Nf6 13. a5 Nbd7 14. g4 Rd8 15. Nf5 Bf8 16. h3 Nb8 17. Ke2 Bxf5 18. gxf5 Nc6 19. Be3 Nd5 20. Nf3 Nf4+ 21. Bxf4 exf4 22. Nd2 Rd7 23. Nc4 Re8+ 24. Be4 Bd6 25. Rhg1 Bc7 26. Rg4 g6 27. h4 Kf8 28. Kf1 h5 29. Rg1 gxf5 30. Bxf5 Rde7 31. Rg5 Ne5 32. Nd2 Bd8 33. Rxh5 Ng6 34. Ne4 Re5 35. Nd6 R8e7 36. Bxg6 fxg6 37. Rh8+ Kg7 38. Rxd8 f3 39. Ne4 Rh5 40. Ng3 Rxh4 41. Re1 Rf7 42. Rde8 Ra4 43. Kg1 Rxa5 44. Ne4 Rd7 45. b4 cxb4 46. cxb4 Rh5 47. Ng3 Rhd5 48. R1e7+ Kf6 49. Ne4+ Kf5 50. Rf8+ 1-0

 

[Narz]

While the French Exchange may strike fear in Panzar, it certainly didn't help me much this game.

I now have 4.5 out of 7. To win $ I will need to win my last two matches.

Wish me luck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Event "World Open"]
[Site "Toshiba"]
[Date "2008.07.05"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Narz"]
[Black "Sean"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C01"]
[WhiteElo "1552"]
[BlackElo "1581"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 exd5 4. Bd3 Nf6 5. Nf3 Be7 6. O-O O-O 7. Bf4 Bg4 8. Nbd2 c6 9. c3 Nbd7 10. Qc2 Re8 11. Rfe1 Bh5 12. Ne5 Nf8 13. Ndf3 N6d7 14. Nxd7 Qxd7 15. Ne5 Qd8 16. Re3 f6 17. Nf3 Bd6 18. Rxe8 Bxe8 19. Bg3 Bxg3 20. hxg3 Bg6 21. Re1 Qd7 22. Bxg6 Nxg6 23. Qe2 Kf7 24. Nh4 Nxh4 25. gxh4 g6 26. f3 Re8 27. Qxe8+ Qxe8 28. Rxe8 Kxe8 29. Kf2 Ke7 30. Ke3 Ke6 31. g4 h6 32. f4 g5 33. hxg5 hxg5 34. f5+ Kd6 35. b3 b6 36. c4 a6 1/2-1/2

 

[Panzar75]

Fritz said that move was good too but it didn't say why.

15. Bxf7+ Kxf7 16. Rxd7+ Nxd7 17. Rxd7+ Qxd7 18. Nxe5+ is the main point.

Another line is 15. Bxf7+ Ke7 16. Rxd7+ Nxd7 17. Qc4 Nhf6 18. Qe6+ Kd8 19. Nxe5

Basically it looks winning for white whatever black plays. Not that easy to spot though. Good luck with the last games.

 

[Narz]

Despite being very tired I won my last two games today!

Will post both games later (probably tomorrow night).

Total score = 6.5

5 wins, 3 draws, 1 loss