Originally posted by ArrakisYou mean the Great Lakes Open in Michigan? I almost went to that but I had a school project to do. 🙁
I played in this tournament over the weekend and did quite well, playing 4 games in the top section against 3 masters and 1 expert. I beat Aaron Kahn, a young enterprizing master, in the 1st round. Aaron went on to tie for 2nd place overall with an IM from Italy.
Here's the final position:
[fen]1rb3k1/5rb1/p1p4p/3p1p2/N4R2/2P5/PPK1B1QP/4q1R1 w - - 0 1[/fen]
and Black resigned. Any comments?
Originally posted by ArrakisA few thoughts on this game...
Great Lakes Open, Round 2
Since I beat a master in the 1st round I got paired up against a higher rated master.
Date: 2007.04.28
White: Chris Nienart (2221)
Black: Don Vandivier (1850)
[fen]8/5p2/6p1/5kP1/5P2/4K3/8/8 w - - 0 1[/fen]
I didn't like much 14...b5 because it leaves the a pawn weak. After 17. Bxc4, white has a 2 vs. 1 Qside pawn majority that almost proved decisive 20 moves later. True, the game line was ok, but I do not see the merits of ...b5 for Black.
24...e6 frees the the backward e pawn.
I am not sure what the winning technique was in the endgame but ...d5 likely is not optimal, as that pawn on that square is a target for white.
Nice games, thanks for sharing. 🙂 That Nsac in that one game, played by Manis, definitely looked unsound. 🙁 I don't see compensation for white; he didn't get any open lines! You played very well to secure the draw in the end; well done.
I thought you might take small consolation from a game I've just played on playchess.com against Chris Nienart - I won on time!
[Event "Rated game, 8m + 0s"]
[Date "2007.05.15"]
[White "Chris Nienart"]
[Black "Fat Lady"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C14"]
[WhiteElo "2008"]
[BlackElo "1793"]
1. e4 e6 2. Nc3 d5 3. d4 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e5 Nfd7 6. Bxe7 Qxe7 7. f4 a6 8. Nf3 c5 9. Be2 Nc6 10. Qd2 O-O 11. O-O f6 12. exf6 Nxf6 13. Kh1 cxd4 14. Nxd4 e5 15. fxe5 Qxe5 16. Nxc6 bxc6 17. Qf4 Qxf4 18. Rxf4 Nd7 19. Raf1 Rxf4 20. Rxf4 a5 21. Kg1 Nf6 22. Na4 Rb8 23. Kf2 Bd7 24. b3 Ne4+ 25. Ke3 c5 26. Rxe4 dxe4 27. Nxc5 Bc6 28. Nxe4 Bxe4 29. Bc4+ Kf8 30. Kxe4 Ke7 31. a3 Rd8 32. Ke3 Kd6 33. b4 axb4 34. axb4 Rb8 35. c3 Re8+ 36. Kd4 Re1 37. Bd3 h6 38. c4 Re8 39. c5+ Kc6 40. b5+ Kc7 41. b6+ Kc6 42. Be4+ Kb5 43. b7 Rd8+ 44. Bd5 Re8 45. c6 Kb6 46. Be4 Kc7 47. Kd5 Re7 48. Bf5 Re2 49. Be4 Rd2+ 50. Ke5 Rf2 51. Bf3 Rd2 52. Kf5 Rd6 53. h4 g6+ 54. Ke5 Rd8 55. Kf6 g5 56. hxg5 hxg5 57. Kxg5 Rg8+ 58. Kf6 Rf8+ 59. Ke7 Rh8 60. g4 Rg8 61. Kf7 Rh8 62. Kg7 Rd8 0-1 (Time)
My lowly rating is mostly due to getting disconnected eight times tonight.