MCC Holiday Swiss (Round 4)

Victory! I met Venkata Vutukuri over the board for the second time last night and played what I feel was a pretty reasonable game of chess. For the first time in a while I didn't make any overt, material losing, blunders. I developed, got a good position, attacked a weak spot, and eventually his position fell apart. For his part my opponent didn't make any material losing blunders either. This game had relatively equal material right to the end, save for some pawns here and there.

Once again I was victorious in second meetings (+4 =0 -0 now) and I won my U1300 section. Sadly, given that many of the other U1300 players in my skill range played up this month, it's not that much of an accomplishment. As I said 3 weeks ago, I would have been a little upset if I _didn't_ win this section. But still, it is an accomplishment and I'm proud of it.

I think with the winnings ($40) I'll become a member of the MetroWest Chess Club.

Next week: Adventures in U1450 Land.

Venkata Vutukuri    --    Steve Wollkind (1120)
MCC Holiday Swiss (2006)  (4)   MetroWest Chess Club
2006.12.26     0-1     B01t

1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Nf6 3.c4 c6 (D)

I haven't yet learned enough about the Icelandic gambit to play it, but someday I will. For now I play it safe with c6 and let white choose whether I'll be playing a gambit line or not.

( 3...e6 The Icelandic gambit. On my short list of "unsound openings I plan to learn." )

4.dxc6

The Scandinavian gambit accepted. White's other primary option is to transpose into the Panov-Botvinnik Attack line in the Caro Kann. I'm glad no one tends to do this against me since I haven't learned anything about it yet.

( 4.d4 Transposing to the Panov-Botvinnik 4...cxd5 5.Nf3 e6 6.Nc3 Bb4 )

4...Nxc6

Black's plan here is to clamp down on the d4 square with moves like e5 and Bc5 and to prevent white from ever playing d4. The d pawn becomes weak and a target of attack.

5.Nf3 e5 6.Nc3 Bc5

( 6...e4!? )

7.Na4 (D)

With Na4 I'm officially out of my "book' such as it is, though I don't even know what white's typical moves are in this line. My plan, such as it is, has been accomplished.

7...b6

This looks reasonable to me. After the exchange it will allow me to continue to control d4, at the cost of the bishop pair and an isolated pawn. This may be too much to give up, and it seems clear to me that after the exchange on c5 white's plan must be to attack my weak a and c pawns and push his majority up the board.

8.Nxc5 bxc5 9.d3 O-O 10.Bg5 (D)

Here I considered h6 to force the issue with the bishop, but decided there was no reason: if he wants to exchange, he'll exchange. No need to weaken my pawn structure in the process. I also considered Qd6 to break the pin, continue to defend f6 and bring defense to my hanging pieces on c5 and c6. I opted against this, however, as on d6 the queen has very limited mobility and I'm asking her to do an awful lot of work there as well.

10...Re8

I opted for the safe, developing Re8. In my recent games I've started to notice that if you put rooks on lines with enemy kings and queens, good things just seem to happen.

11.Be2

Getting another piece between my rook and his king, and preparing to castle.

11...Bf5

Developing and attacking the weak d3 pawn.

12.O-O

( 12.Nh4 Nd4 )

12...Nb4

Adding a 3rd attack to d3. White can bring no more defense to the square unless he plays Ne1, which looks a little awkward. His only other option is to exchange on f6 and then kick the knight.

13.Bxf6 Qxf6 14.a3 Nc6 15.h3 (D)

My opponent told me that he made this move because he didn't want my bishop going to g4, but that was never in my plan. I'm still going after the d3 pawn with everything I have, with added threats of Qg6 and Bh3.

15...Rad8

Again, just getting a rook on a line with an enemy queen. Now the threat is e4, forcing an awkward knight retreat to d2 or h2.

16.Qc2

Sensibly moving the queen off of the d file.

16...Nd4

The white knight on f3 is preventing moves that I would like to make, specifically Qg6. This move more or less forces Nxd4.

17.Nxd4 Rxd4 (D)

I'm not sure if this is the right recapture, but I liked it a lot. The rook is impossible to dislodge now that white's only minor piece is the light squared bishop. This keeps the pressure on d3, with the possibility of two more attackers being piled on, and opens new threats for rook moves along the 4th rank as part of an attack on white's king. The downside is that I pass up an option to shore up my pawns on the queenside with exd4. Still, I think the rook move is the stronger option.

18.b4

My opponent told me that he felt b4 was a blunder. He thinks that he should have played Rad8, and after Qg6 Kh2. I think he is still in trouble as after Red8 the d3 pawn still falls.

18...Qg6

I wasn't particularly worried about the b pawn going anywhere. Yes, I'm giving him the chance to just pick off my c pawn, but this would significantly weaken his structure and I think that I wouldn't have too much trouble winning one or both of his c pawns, especially once the pawn on d3 is gone.

19.g4

My opponent again labeled this as a blunder, saying that even here he should have preferred Kh2. The d pawn still falls, though.

19...Bxd3 20.Bxd3 Rxd3 (D)

White has several ways to go wrong here. My opponent played f3, preventing the rook check and indirectly guarding h3. Stronger seems to be Rac1, defending the queen.

21.f3

( 21.bxc5?? Rg3+! )

( 21.Qe2 Rxh3 )

( 21.Rac1 e4 22.Kg2 f5 )

21...e4

My opponent told me after the game that on this move "I was terrified, because nothing happened. I expected f5 or h5, but when I saw e4 I just thought 'well, there goes the game'" I was highly entertained.

22.Qe2 h5 23.Rad1 Rxa3 24.Kh2 (D)



24...hxg4 25.hxg4 cxb4 26.Kg3 f5 27.c5 (D)

Every remaining black move in the game is a check.

27...Qxg4+ 28.Kf2

( 28.Kh2 Kh2 fares no better. 28...Qh5+ 29.Kg1 exf3 30.Qc4+ Kh7 31.Rf2 Re4 32.Qd5 Rg4+ 33.Rg2 Rxg2+ 34.Kf1 Qh1# )

28...Rxf3+ 29.Ke1 Qg3+ 30.Kd2 Rd8+ 31.Kc1 Rc3+ 32.Kb1 Rb3+ (D)

Here white must give up his queen to avoid mate, but is lost in any case.

33.Kc1

This and Ka1 lose fastest. Qb2 prolongs it a bit.

( 33.Ka1 Qc3+ 34.Ka2 Ra3+ 35.Kb1 Ra1# )

( 33.Qb2 Rxb2+ 34.Kxb2 Qc3+ 35.Kb1 Rxd1+ 36.Rxd1 b3 )

33...Qc3+

With mate in 2 staring him in the face, my opponent resigned.

( 33...Qc3+ 34.Qc2 Qa1+ 35.Qb1 Qxb1# )

0-1

---

Diagrams generated using Steve Eddins' Chess Imager http://www.eddins.net/steve/chess/chessimager

MCC Holiday Swiss (Round 3)

Well, as I so often find myself saying, a win is a win. My opponent played some reasonable moves, and I made some bad errors. I gave up an exchange, but she didn't take it. I'm not sure why, but it was a gift. I missed a number of mating ideas at the end, but found others, so I'm not sure what to make of that. I have a terrible time finishing games cleanly and efficiently.

Now I'm sitting on +3, half a point ahead of the field. There are two people at 2.5, but one is taking a bye next week, so I'll be playing Venkata Vutukuri, whom I defeated at the Harold Nelson Pillsbury Memorial tournament a few weeks ago, but he's dangerous, and will definitely be the toughest game of this tournament. I hope I keep my perfect record in second meetings (+3 =0 -0 as of this writing) and win this U1300 section.

Steve Wollkind (1120)    --    Sabrina Zhang (747)
MCC Holiday Swiss (2006)  (3)   MetroWest Chess Club
2006.12.19     1-0     C24
1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d3 d5!? (D)

"Just about playable, but probably a bit too ambitious," says Emms.

4.exd5 Nxd5 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.O-O Bc5 (D)

With this move, black leaves the main lines as they are described in Emms' book. He gives Be7 and Bg4 as likely moves at this point, instead of Bc5.

( 6...Be7 7.Re1 )

( 6...Bg4 )

7.Re1 Bg4 8.h3 Be6 9.Nxe5 Nxe5 10.Rxe5 Qf6 (D)

I had thought this far ahead, and knew that I had moves that would protect both f2 and the R on e5. However, my brain wasn't working at all, as I didn't even consider the possibility of Bxf2. I was totally focused on Qxf2 ideas.

11.Qe1?

( 11.d4! I never even looked at this move, but it's clearly the best on the board here. Attacks the bishop and cuts the connection to f2 as well as defending the rook. )

11...Bxf2+

Oops. Now I realized my folly and started the mental process of telling myself that being down the exchange here didn't mean I had to lose.

12.Qxf2 Qxf2+?

An undeserved gift. For some reason she didn't take my hanging rook.

( 12...Qxe5 )

13.Kxf2 (D)


13...O-O

It seems that castling long here would have been the better call, as that would save the knight.

( 13...O-O-O )

14.Bxd5 Bxd5 15.Rxd5 +/-

The game is basically over at this point, I just have to figure out how to win it. Winning simply and efficiently once I have a winning position is not my strong suit (as will become quite clear at the end of this game).

15...c6 16.Rd7 Rfe8 17.Rxb7 Re5 18.Bf4 (D)

I think this may have been a mistake. The bishop needed to be developed, and developing with the attack was good, but setting myself up for a pin was dangerous, and is asking for trouble.

18...Re6 19.Nc3 Rf6 20.Ke3 (D)

Escaping the pin and inviting the check, but I wasn't worried.

20...Re8+ 21.Ne4 a5 22.Rb8 (D)

Over the board I thought this was a strong move and forced the game continuation. Now I see that black had a better move at her disposal in Re6.

22...Rxb8

( 22...Re6 )

23.Nxf6+ gxf6 24.Bxb8 Kg7 25.a4 (D)

Freezing the pawn on black for later collection by my bishop.

25...h5 26.Bc7 Kg6 27.Bxa5 Kg5 28.Bc7 (D)

A mistake...I had meant to play Bd8 to attack the f6 pawn and strike at the king on g5. At this point I found myself thinking "Am I really going to have to play this out to mate?" and wasn't playing as precisely as I could have.

28...h4 29.a5 Kf5 30.a6 Ke6 31.Bd8 (D)

Maybe a waste of time, but I wanted to be able to do something useful with the bishop once the king came closer. Really the bishop doesn't matter at this point, but why not?

31...Kd7 32.Bxf6 Kc8 33.a7 Kb7 34.a8=Q+ Kb6 35.Ra4

( 35.Qb8+ Kc5 36.Ra5# )

35...Kb5 (D)


36.d4

Oops! I was all excited about my mate in 2 threats (c5 Qa6# or Kb6 Ab8#) that I completely missed mate in 1.

( 36.Qa5# )

36...c5

( 36...Kb6 37.Qb8# )

37.Qa6# 1-0

---

MCC Holiday Swiss (Round 2)

Round two of the Holiday Swiss wasn't destined to be any more educational than round 1. My opponent: Jack Hulton whom I beat with the black pieces in round 1 of the MCC Thanksgiving swiss in a game that opened 1. e4 e5 2. Bd3? I thought about playing e5 just to see if he'd play Bd3 again, but stuck to my new Scandinavian. As I told a friend earlier in the day "I bet this game starts 1. e4 d5 2. e5"

Maybe I should be a prophet.

Online replay game at http://www.njord.org/~steve/mychess/mcc1206.htm

Jack Hulton (509)    --    Steve Wollkind (1120)
MCC Holiday Swiss (2006)  (2)   MetroWest Chess Club
2006.12.12     0-1     B01

1.e4 d5 2.e5

I have a feeling I'm going to see e5 a lot at the lower levels. I know that it is better for black, but I'm not yet comfortable against it.

2...c5 3.Nc3

( 3.d4 I think this is my least favorite move to play against here. )

3...Bf5 (D)

After e5, black can pretty much get this position if he wants it, though the question of how to proceed is one I haven't solved yet.

4.Bb5+ Nc6 5.Na4?!

I don't understand this move. Any simple developing move would be better.

5...e6 (D)



6.Nxc5?? Bxc5 7.g4 (D)

I thought for a while about Qh4 here, but it ultimately didn't seem worth it to complicate the position. I'm already a piece ahead, so why play it sharper than I have to?

7...Bg6

( 7...Qh4 8.d4 Bxg4 9.Qd3 )

8.h4 h6 9.h5 Bh7 10.Ba4 (D)

I wasn't really sure what the point of this move was...it prevents Qb6 with a double attack on the bishop and the f2 pawn. I'm not sure if that was his plan or if he had a plan at all...

10...Ne7 11.b3 Qb6 12.Rb1 O-O 13.b4 (D)



13...Nxb4

I looked at Bxf2 but didn't see where to go with it. Turns out it wins a piece!

( 13...Bxf2+ 14.Kf1 Bxg1 15.Rxg1 Qa6+ Snagging the bishop on a4 )

14.Ba3 Qa5 15.Bxb4 Bxb4 (D)



16.Bd7??

Losing a bishop.

( 16.Bb3 )

16...Rfd8 17.Bb5 Qxb5 18.a3 Bxd2+ 19.Kxd2 Qc6 20.Ke1? (D)

Leaving only one defender on c2 and allowing the fork.

20...Bxc2 21.Rc1 Bxd1 22.Rxc6 bxc6 23.Kxd1 (D)



23...Rab8 24.Kc1 c5 25.g5 Nc6 26.gxh6 (D)



26...gxh6 27.Nf3 Rb3 28.Rg1+ Kh7 29.Rg3 (D)



29...Rxa3?

Oops. I'd like to say that I meant to drop the exchange here in a simplifying move, but that's not how it went down. I just didn't see the knight move to give check with a discovered attack on my rook. Fortunately I am so far ahead that dropping an exchange doesn't hurt, and the simplification is actually ok.

( 29...c4 )

30.Ng5+ hxg5 31.Rxa3 d4 (D)

White has no way to defend the e pawn.

32.Rf3 Nxe5 0-1

Diagrams generated using Steve Eddins' Chess Imager http://www.eddins.net/steve/chess/chessimager

After 2 rounds of the MCC Holiday Swiss, I'm sitting on 2 points, tied with two other players. One of those other players is listed as having byes for the rest of the tournament, so he basically doesn't count. This Tuesday I'll be playing Sabrina Zhang for sole possession of 1st. I haven't seen any of her games, so I don't really know what to expect. She's rated in the 7 or 800 range and has beaten a few 1050's in the past couple of months.

In other news, a player that I beat and a player that I drew in the Thanksgiving Swiss both have perfect scores in the U1600 section at this point, so I'm still kicking myself for not playing up. On the bright side, after this game (#37 in my USCF career) I finally have a plus score overall (+18 =2 -17). I'm actually +3 with white and -2 with black. Hopefully I can close out the month with another pair of wins and get to +3 overall. I guess it's only going to get harder as the weeks go by.

MCC Holiday Swiss (Round 1)

Ok, so this post is a little late (round 3 is going to go down on Tuesday) but I just haven't had the time.

In round 1 I was paired against Laurie Chen, rated 707, but you never can tell with these kids. I ended up winning easily, but wasted a number of moves screwing around rather than making any good use of my opening setup. She eventually blundered and in the process handed me some moves to pry her kingside wide open. Online replay at http://www.njord.org/~steve/mychess/mcc1206.htm

In other news it turns out that I am definitely playing in the wrong section this month. The section breaks at the MCC vary slightly from month to month to keep the player pools from getting too stagnant. This month has the lowest low section (U1300). Most of the other players rated under 1300 that are of a similar strength to me played up into the U1600 section (and are doing quite well there). I look at them knocking off these 1300 and 1400 level players and think that should be me. Now I'm down here in this U1300 section with no one within 100 official rating points of me, but it's worse than that since I'm unofficially 1231 after the Pillsbury Memorial tournament (more on that later). At this point I'll be a little disappointed if I _don't_ win this section, but I'm fearing it's going to be a lost month in terms of playing any games that are actually teaching me something.

Steve Wollkind (1120)    --    Laurie Chen (707)
MCC Holiday Swiss (2006)  (1)   MetroWest Chess Club
2006.12.05     1-0     C28i
1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d3 Bc5 4.Nc3 Nc6 5.f4 O-O 6.Nf3 d6 (D)

7.f5 b6

( 7...h6 8.Nd5 Nd4 9.Nxf6+ Qxf6 10.Nxd4 Bxd4 11.c3 Bb6 12.Qh5 John Emms, Attacking with 1 e4 )

8.Na4

Following white's normal plan of exchanging off the dark squared bishop to castle, but I think that I should have played Nd5 and planned to not castle. Nd5 helps get rid of the annoying knight on f6. Bg5 is also an option, as black hasn't yet played h6.

( 8.Nd5 )

8...Bb7 9.Nxc5 dxc5 10.O-O Re8 (D)



11.h3

Trying to start my pawn storm, but it is premature. Again, Bg5 to exchange off the f6 knight would have been better.

11...h6 12.a4

To prevent an annoying b5 and to give the bishop a flight square if black tries to exchange it with Na5. Probably the wrong idea here, but seems ok to try to prevent annoyances on the queenside before proceeding elsewhere.

12...Qe7 13.Nh2 (D)

My third iffy move in a row. I'm wasting a lot of time here and getting away with it since black isn't doing much of anything. The idea was to get the knight to help out with the pawn pushes so that a pawn on g4 will be defended and allow h4 to be played. If there is any use to this move, it probably lies in Ng4 to exchange away the f6 knight.

13...Rad8

Pinning the d pawn.

14.Qe2

( 14.g4? Nxe4! )

14...Nd4 15.Qf2 Ne6?? (D)

I don't know what black's plan was here. This move just drops a knight.

16.fxe6 fxe6 17.Bxh6 gxh6 18.Qxf6 Qd6?? (D)

This allows a forced mate. Better, but still losing, is Qxf6 Rxf6 Kg7

( 18...Qxf6 19.Rxf6 Kg7 20.Raf1 +/- )

19.Qg6+ Kh8 20.Rf7 Qd4+ 21.Kh1 Rg8 22.Qh7# 1-0

---

Diagrams generated using Steve Eddins' Chess Imager http://www.eddins.net/steve/chess/chessimager

l33t h4X0r!

Ok, not really, but sometimes it's nice to be able to program.

Shane's Chess Information Database, or SCID, is a freeware program that lets you store games, do analysis, etc. It has a feature that will export a game with comments to HTML, but makes diagrams that refer to a couple of bitmap image sets the program comes with. This is fine, but means that you must post the game html files in a directory with those bitmaps. This isn't very handy if I want to post those games in this space.

So, I made some minor changes to the source code to make SCID export its HTML games using Steve Eddins' Chess Imager. It's going to make my life easier and allow me to post games right here instead of having to link to them.

If anyone else uses SCID and wants this feature, I can help you, unless you use it on Windows and downloaded your own binary, because I don't have access to a way to compile on a Windows box. My solution will work for Linux and Mac users.

Maybe I'll have time later today to comment and post my last few games, about which I've been kind of lazy.

Now, however, I must go bake.