PCC November Swiss

My first good result in a PCC Swiss tournament. I beat two lower-rated players and drew with two higher-rated players. (I was lucky not to have to play the Master or the Expert.) Here are the two draws. In each of these games I blundered in the opening, but recovered to achieve the draw.

Steve Surak(1955) - chessart(1825), Round 3, Veresof Opening, A45

1 d4 Nf6 2 Nc3


The Veresof Opening, which already hands the advantage to black.

2...c5

Gives black a healthy 5.6% advantage. 2...d5 and 2...c6 also retain black's advantage in the unenterprising opening white has played.


3 dc

Black's advantage is now at 5.7%.

3...Qa5

3...e6 is played slightly more often. My advantage is now at 7.2%. I have always been loathe to develop my queen so soon, but in recent weeks I have been studying openings in which one player does this. Oddly, I prematurely developed my queen in both this game and the next one, an experiment which I am not likely to repeat!

4 Nf3 Qxc5 5 e4 d6 6 Be2 g6

Only game in the 365chess database continued 7. O-O Bg7 8. Be3 Qa5 9. Nd4 O-O 10. Nb3 Qc7 11. f4 Nc6 12. Kh1 Be6 13. Qe1 Na5 14. Nxa5 Qxa5 15. Bd3 Rfc8 16. f5 Bc4 17. Qh4 Bxd3 18. cxd3 Qb4 19. Rab1 d5 20. a3 Qa5 21. e5 Nd7 22. d4 Re8 23. Bh6 Bh8 24. fxg6 hxg6 25. Qf4 f5 26. Qg5 1-0

7 Be3 Qc7 8 0-0 Bg7 9  Bd4 0-0 Bg7 9 Bd4

Here I should have asked myself, "Why did he make that move?" Had I asked myself this basic question, I would have readily seen his follow up.

0-0 10 BxN BxB

10...ef loses the d-pawn immediately to 11 Nb5.

11 Nd5 Qd8 12 NxB+ ef 13 Qd2 Qe7 14 Rfe1 Nc6

Snatching the e-pwn just looked too dangerous. The computer agrees.

15 Rad1 Rd8 16 Bb5 Bg4 17 BxN bc 18 Re3 BxN 19 RxB d5 20 Rd3 Qxe4

This "win" of a pawn is only temporary.

21 Rd4 Qe7 22 c4 Re8

The computer thinks 22...Rd6 gives me an advantage.

23 cd cd 24 Rxd5 Qe2 25 QxQ RxQ 26 R5d2 R8d8

A double rook ending is now in full swing.

27 Kf1 R2e7 28 Rd8 RxR 29 RxR+ Kg7 30 Rd2 f5 31 Re2 Rc7 32 Ke1 Kf6 33 Kd1 g5 34 b3 h5 35 Rc2 Rd7+ 36 Kc1 Ke5 37 Re2+ Kf4 38 Rd2 Rc7+ 39 Rc2 Rd7 40 b4 Ke4 41 a4 Rb7?

I could have equalized completely with 41...Rd4!

42 Rb2 Ke3 43 b5 Kc3? (43...Kc4!=)

44 a5 Kc4 45 b6 Kc5 46 Rc2+ Kb5 47 Rc7 Ka6 48 Rc5 drawn by agreement

White was quite low on time and offered the draw. After the game the top players pointed out that white has an easy win by trading rooks and then going after black's king-side pawns with his king.

                                                              ***
Steven Witt(1894) - chessart(1825), Round 4, Catalan

1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 g3 d5 4 Bg2 dc 5 Qa4+?

5 Nf3 is much better. A sample game runs 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 dxc4 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. Qa4 Bb4+ 7. Bd2 Nd5 8. Bxb4 Nxb4 9. O-O Rb8 10. Nc3 a6 11. Ne5 O-O 12. Nxc6 Nxc6 13. Bxc6 bxc6 14. Qxc4 Qd6 15. Ne4 Qd5 16. Qxd5 exd5 17. Nc5 Rxb2 18. e3 Bf5 19. f3 a5 20. g4 Bg6 21. Rf2 Rfb8 22. Raf1 f6 23. Kg2 Kf7 24. Kg3 Ke7 25. Rxb2 Rxb2 26. Rf2 Rb1 27. Rg2 h5 28. h3 Bf7 29. h4 hxg4 30. Kxg4 g6 31. a4 Re1 32. Kf4 Rh1 33. Kg3 Re1 34. Kf4 Rh1 35. Kg3 Re1 36. Kf2 Rh1 37. Rg1 Rxh4 38. Rb1 Rh2+ 39. Kg3 Re2 40. Rb7 Kd6 41. Rb3 g5 42. Nb7+ Kd7 43. Nxa5 c5 44. dxc5 d4 45. Rd3 Rxe3 46. Rxd4+ Kc8 47. Nc6 Be8 48. Kf2 Re6 49. Rd8+ Kb7 50. Nd4 Re5 51. a5 Ka6 52. Ra8+ Kb7 53. Rd8 Ka6 54. Ra8+ Kb7 55. Rd8 Ka6 1/2-1/2

Another game runs (from 22nd move)  22. Re1 f6 23. Kg2 h5 24. gxh5 Bxh5 25. Nd3 Rxf2+ 26. Kxf2 a4 27. e4 dxe4 28. fxe4 a3 29. Ke3 Bf7 30. Re2 Rb1 31. Rc2 Ra1 32. Nc1 f5 33. exf5 Bd5 34. Rc3 Rb1 35. Nd3 Rb2 36. Rxa3 Rxh2 37. Ra8+ Kh7 38. Nf4 Rxa2 39. Rxa2 Bxa2 40. Ke4 Kh6 41. Ke5 Kg5 42. Nh3+ Kg4 43. Nf2+ Kf3 44. Ne4 Kg4 1/2-1/2

5...Nbd7 6 Qxc4 Nb6

I can't find any games with this move, but it seems to be good for black.

7 Qc2?

7 Qd3 seems better, though it still looks awkward.

Qxd4 8 Qxc7 Nfd5 9 Qc2 Nb4 10 Qe4

Had black played the other knight to d5 on move 8, I would not have this defense.

10...QxQ 11 BxQ f5 12 a3 PxB 13 PxN Bxb4+ 14 Bd2 BxB+

The computer thinks 14...Bc5 gives black a 1.95 edge.

15 NxB e3

Black could not save his pawn, so he gives it to me under advantageous conditions.

16 fe Nd5 17 Kf6 Nf6 18 h3 Bd7 19 Ngf3 Ke7 20 Rhc1 Rhc8 21 Ne5 RxR 22 RxR Kd6 23 Ndf3 a6 24 NxB KxB 25 Ne5+ Kd6 26 Nf7+ Kd7 27 Ne5+ drawn