Openings sub 2000 continued

nimzo5

Ronin

Only Chess

10 Mar 12

greenpawn34

Joined: 06 May 08
Moves: 43363

12 Mar 12

1 edit

One of the great enigmas of chess.

This is a draw.

This is a White win.

I recall seeing an OTB game with this idea and putting it on the Blog.

http://www.redhotpawn.com/blog/blogread.php?blogpostid=62

To save you going there here it is.

Solomon - Steadman Australia 2011

I wondered if anyone on here had missed a chance to mate with the two Knights.
Sadly I found one……

ZorroTheFox - moma RHP 2008

Black here played Nf5 and Nxh4 and a draw was agreed.

It did not take long to find the mate, infact it was quite easy
because the White King is already hemmed in and it's a Rook's pawn
which throws up it's own unique mate.

nimzo5

Ronin

Hereford Boathouse

Joined: 08 Oct 09
Moves: 29575

12 Mar 12

Great post GP- one can only guess at all the missed opportunities hiding in RHP games.

greenpawn34

Joined: 06 May 08
Moves: 43363

12 Mar 12

I seem to have the knack of digging out the missed shots.
I am a magnet for bad moves 🙂

Russ has given me permission to post the games from the Championship
on a file sharing site. I have sent my latest lot (up to noon Sunday 11th March)
3783 games in PGN to maitkenhead who will hopefully soon post the link.

I'll add another lot of PGN's next month.

Just jump in, pick a game at random.
There is always 'something' in these games. Always.

Paul Leggett

Chess Librarian

The Stacks

Joined: 21 Aug 09
Moves: 114136

12 Mar 12

Originally posted by greenpawn34
Hi Nimzo.

Good. It can be hard to note up a game where nothing appears to happen but
at that level these games are more frequent that a chance to get in the bang
bang sac mate attack. Getting them off to pat and making it look wasy is in
itself an art form.

Now please don't take this as harsh criticism and please don't let it you
stop from p ...[text shortened]... not allowed.

You can go there and to get a cuddle, a blanket and hear some nice words.

You never upset anyone. The top dog just gets all the attention. Apathy is the worst forum disease- someone posts, and no one else cares or even bothers to read it.

nimzo5

Ronin

Hereford Boathouse

Joined: 08 Oct 09
Moves: 29575

12 Mar 12

The masses are too busy reading their openings books... clearly I needed a more accepted title...

"Crushing the Grunfeld with the Geller attack in the slow Grunfeld."

or
"Beat class A players using your Dover published chess books."

tharkesh

Joined: 04 Sep 10
Moves: 5716

16 Mar 12

thanks nimzo for going through the annotation process. love reading it, i know is quite a pain to get it posted...

kingshill

Mr Ring Rusty

Wales

Joined: 02 Jun 11
Moves: 28718

17 Mar 12

Originally posted by greenpawn34
One of the great enigmas of chess.

This is a draw.

[fen]6k1/8/4N1K1/8/8/8/4N3/8 w - - 0 1[/fen]

This is a White win.

[fen]6k1/8/4N1K1/8/8/4p3/4N3/8 w - - 0 1[/fen]

I recall seeing an OTB game with this idea and putting it on the Blog.

http://www.redhotpawn.com/blog/blogread.php?blogpostid=62

To save you going there here it is.

[b] ...[text shortened]... h7 Nf7 {I'd love to pull that one off in a game. Moma had the chance but......}[/pgn]

I've actually lost to 2 knights in the past. I did my best to sack my last pawn but my opponent R Taylor of Newport was wise to it. After the game he told me he'd won a couple of similar games previously. Knowing your endgames can help you pick up many valuable points.

nimzo5

Ronin

Hereford Boathouse

Joined: 08 Oct 09
Moves: 29575

17 Mar 12

Originally posted by tharkesh
[b]thanks nimzo for going through the annotation process. love reading it, i know is quite a pain to get it posted...[/b}

Happy to- although I do struggle with the pgn thingy for some reason. Much easier to do book style with fen...

nimzo5

Ronin

Hereford Boathouse

Joined: 08 Oct 09
Moves: 29575

17 Mar 12

Originally posted by kingshill
I've actually lost to 2 knights in the past. I did my best to sack my last pawn but my opponent R Taylor of Newport was wise to it. After the game he told me he'd won a couple of similar games previously. Knowing your endgames can help you pick up many valuable points.

Love to see the pgn if you have it Kingshill.

It's getting to the point now where all I want to work on is endings.

moon1969

Houston, Texas

Joined: 28 Sep 10
Moves: 14347

21 Mar 12

Originally posted by nimzo5
As an ongoing thing, I am tracking when in my otb games we leave anything resembling "theory" so far in 30 games we left book on average move 8....

last night's position.

[fen]rnbq1rk1/pp2ppbp/2p2np1/3p4/2PP1B2/1QN1PN2/PP3PPP/R3KB1R b KQ - 0 7[/fen]

I played an old 1930's move Qb3 played by Reshevsky, Fine and later Geller. My guess is they didn't ha ...[text shortened]... ely blundered playing Nbd7 and I slowly ground him down up a pawn into a winning endgame.

Interesting, what should black have done instead of Nbd7? Maybe e6 or dxc4 or something completely different -- some kind of counter play. I don't know. In CC, I would look at the games database but not sure OTB.

moon1969

Houston, Texas

Joined: 28 Sep 10
Moves: 14347

21 Mar 12

Originally posted by nimzo5
[pgn][Event "DCC Winter League"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5{Grunfeld for those less familiar with d4 openings.} 4. Bf4 {Classical variation, probably reached it's pinnacle when Karpov used it vs Kasparov in 86. Now considered a minor sideline to the Exchange variation and the recent popularity of the Fianchetto variation} Bg7 5. e3 O-O 6. Qb3 {This move we ...[text shortened]... sn't mean a whole lot when you drop a pawn the moment you are out of your comfort zone.

Nice annotations. Thanks for the presentation.

Winning with an extra pawn is common strategy for me. I know from hurtful experience, it is not a guaranteed win, but I just like to win a pawn and then simplify, even against much lower rated players, though I may not if there are opposite colored bishops, or my opponent is getting a good king position, or there is a drawish rook position evolving, etc.

moon1969

Houston, Texas

Joined: 28 Sep 10
Moves: 14347

21 Mar 12

Originally posted by greenpawn34
One of the great enigmas of chess.

This is a draw.

[fen]6k1/8/4N1K1/8/8/8/4N3/8 w - - 0 1[/fen]

This is a White win.

[fen]6k1/8/4N1K1/8/8/4p3/4N3/8 w - - 0 1[/fen]

I recall seeing an OTB game with this idea and putting it on the Blog.

http://www.redhotpawn.com/blog/blogread.php?blogpostid=62

To save you going there here it is.

[b] ...[text shortened]... h7 Nf7 {I'd love to pull that one off in a game. Moma had the chance but......}[/pgn]

Cool post.

moon1969

Houston, Texas

Joined: 28 Sep 10
Moves: 14347

22 Mar 12

1 edit

A RHP Feb 2011 game below against a strong player I had previously lost a few games without a win, and was craving a win against him. In this game below, I gained a pawn and intended to grind to the win but instead I did a grind to the draw. I am white and played 1.e4. He replied 1...c5.

A general question is what could I have done to avoid the draw. A more particular question is: was advancing my a-pawn down the a-file which I did, the thing to do.

[Event "February 2011 Banded Quartets I 1900+"]
[Site "http://www.redhotpawn.com"]
[Date "2011.03.03"]
[EndDate "2011.04.29"]
[Round "1"]
[White "moon1969"]
[Black "SteveWil"]
[WhiteRating "2135"]
[BlackRating "2067"]
[WhiteElo "2135"]
[BlackElo "2067"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[GameId "8237778"]

1. e4 c5 2. c3 {I have been playing 2.c3 exclusively against the Sicilian, just to learn the c3 Sicilian.} d5 {I like d5 here for black, and would do the same as black, a common variation.} 3. exd5 Qd8xd5 4. d4 Ng8f6 {4. . . cxd4 is more agressive. But I like better for black 4 . . . Nf6 which he did and is considered positional play, and black's most common choice.} 5. Ng1f3 Bc8g4 6. Bf1e2 {6.Be2 conservative, natural, and most common move here. I was tired of losing to this guy and wanted at least a draw. A popular alternative to 6.Be2 is 6.dxc4!?, and considered ok for white with decent possiblities for white even after black Qxd1+. 6.Nbd2 is also considered interesting.} e6 {Still in book.} 7. Nb1a3 {Contradictory to my conservative last move, I thought I would try a minor variation here with Na3 (arguably not generally a good move in any opening). More common here instead of 7.Na3 is 7.h3 to drive back the Black B to h5, or to castle 7.0-0 followed by 8.h3.} cxd4 8. Na3b5 {Nb5 is a reason for Na3.  Also, in other variations, Na3 sets up white Bc4 on the black Q.  I didn't necessarily like that he might do Bxa3, so now my N is at g5 and is in book} Qd5d8 9. Bc1f4 {By the way, a chess book I like is "starting out: the c3 Sicilian" by John Emms. First, I like the way he organizes the variations. Second, I like his simple explanation of the resulting pawn structures.} Nf6d5 {At some point here we're getting out of book though there is still book flavors.} 10. Bf4xb8 {Normally, I do not like exchanging a developed piece for an undeveloped piece, or giving up the bishop pair, but I guess I had reasons here} Qd8xb8 11. Nb5xd4 {Now take the pawn, but do not have an isolated queen pawn which can be common for white in the c3 Sicilian. I am still learning how to play with an isolated queen pawn and avoided it this game.} Nd5b6 12. O-O a6 13. h3 {Again, not in book but maybe some book "flavors."} Bg4h5 {In general, I like having my N at d4.} 14. Rf1e1 Bf8e7 15. Nf3h2 {I think I was working to deny him his bishop pair.} Bh5g6 16. Be2d3 Bg6xd3 17. Qd1xd3 {Now that the bishop pairs are gone, I usually like having two Ns to an opponent's N + B.} O-O 18. Ra1d1 Rf8d8 19. Qd3e4 Be7f6 20. Nd4xe6 {I thought about this move for a long time and use the analysis board extensively, thinking I could win his e-pawn, which I did.  A key is that his N is hanging at b6.} Rd8e8 21. Qe4b4 {In general, a common strategy for me to gain the pawn and then grind to the win. I was pretty happy here.} Bf6e5 {Doesn't work for him. I had considered that.} 22. Nh2f3 Re8xe6 23. Nf3xe5 Re6xe5 24. Re1xe5 {Love it. Trading material, and will be pawn up.} Qb8xe5 {Knowing all along I could grab his N at b6 to regain the piece.} 25. Qb4xb6 Qe5e7 26. Qb6d6 Kg8f8 {I made some awkward indecisive moves here but ultimately looking to trade Qs.  I think I didn't trade here because I didn't want his K to advance.} 27. Qd6d3 g6 28. Kg1f1 Ra8e8 29. Qd3d6 {Defintiely do not like him owning the e-file, and plus want to trade Qs anyway.} h5 30. c4 Qe7xd6 31. Rd1xd6 {Hoping it will not be a drawish rook end game.} Re8c8 32. b3 b5 33. Rd6xa6 {There were different ways to play this but I just kind of randomly chose this way with Rxa6.} bxc4 34. bxc4 Rc8xc4 35. g3 Rc4c2 36. a4 {My plan is to push my a-pawn down the file but there may have been a better plan. What do you think? I just like the pressure of an advanced pawn.} Kf8g7 37. h4 Rc2a2 38. a5 Kg7h6 39. Ra6a8 Kh6g7 40. a6 Kg7f6 41. a7 Kf6f5 42. f3 {Now I am becoming scared I will not win with the extra pawn?} f6 43. Kf1e1 {He is avoiding letting me get a check on his K with my R, which is not surprising because he is a good player.} Ra2a3 44. Ke1d2 {His rook is stuck to the a-file.} Ra3a2 45. Kd2c3 Ra2a1 46. Kc3d4 Ra1d1 {Unless of course he checks, but he has to go back to the a-file when he has no check to make.} 47. Kd4c5 Rd1c1 48. Kc5d6 Rc1d1 49. Kd6e7 {Out of somewhat desperation, I was thinking I would give up my advanced a-pawn in exchange for his g-pawn, and still be a pawn up.} Rd1a1 50. Ke7f7 Ra1a2 51. Kf7g7 Ra2a3 52. Kg7h6 Ra3a6 53. Ra8g8 {Going after his g-pawn.} Ra6xa7 {That probably felt good to him.} 54. Rg8xg6 Ra7a3 55. Kh6xh5 Ra3xf3 56. Kh5h6 {I kept thinking I could pull out the win.} Kf5e6 57. h5 {I think this pawn to h5 is my blunder. I should have instead Kb7 to get king position, or maybe go ahead and advance the g-pawn and not push the h-pawn, leaving he h-pawn at h5.} Ke6f7 58. Rg6g7 Kf7f8 59. Rg7g6 {Meaningless back and forth. Indecisive.} Kf8f7 60. g4 {I think I should have done this g4 move at some point earlier instead of h4, and maybe it would have been more dynamic and win instead of draw. At least that is what I have in my notes.} Rf3f4 61. Kh6h7 {Draw agreed.} 1/2-1/2

nimzo5

Ronin

Hereford Boathouse

Joined: 08 Oct 09
Moves: 29575

22 Mar 12

Originally posted by moon1969
Interesting, what should black have done instead of Nbd7? Maybe e6 or dxc4 or something completely different -- some kind of counter play. I don't know. In CC, I would look at the games database but not sure OTB.

I think Black has various choices. For example, he could opt for the fianchetto slav type positions with moves like a6 Ra7 Bf5 or g4 and e6.

Another possibility is to play c5?! going in for double edged play.

nimzo5

Ronin

Hereford Boathouse

Joined: 08 Oct 09
Moves: 29575

22 Mar 12

I think this moment is key. If White is going to opt for this endgame then you need a clear plan to create a second weakness that keeps the Black king from coming over and gobbling up the pawn.

That being said I don't like the position of the White rook. Rooks in front of your passed pawn is a disaster.

EVENT	February 2011 Banded Quartets I 1900+
SITE	http://www.redhotpawn.com
DATE	2011.03.03
ROUND	1
WHITE	moon1969
BLACK	SteveWil
RESULT	1/2-1/2
WHITEELO	2135
BLACKELO	2067