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St.Benildus Senior Club Championships 2014 — Comments Off on St.Benildus Club Championships 2014, Round 5
27
Aug 14

St.Benildus Club Championships 2014, Round 5

Rounding out the championships and providing an unexpected degree of symmetry (because now I’ve drawn against the entire clan!), I drew against Anastasija Manojlovic for the final round. At 1224, I was only outrated by 200 points on paper — in practice however, Anastasija is just back from the Gilbert cup where she beat England in one of the best results of the cup and that was after becoming the Leinster Junior Champion, so it might be fair to assume she’s stronger than her rating suggests 😀

Ready to go...

I had in mind the idea from the start that I should play conservatively; even a draw would be fine for me in this round. And for the most part, that plan worked; I avoided certain options that gave lines of attack for ones that kept things even and right through to the endgame we were level. But then in the endgame I fluffed a rook and pawn ending and in the space of one bad choice and two moves, lost the whole thing. The analysis graph tells its own sad sad tale:

Round 5 analysis graph

And here’s the game in full:

[pgn eo=t autoplayMode=none pieceFont=alpha ss=64 ps=64 h=800 commentsDisplay=newline]
[Event “St.Benildus Senior Club Championships 2014”]
[Site “St.Benildus”]
[Date “2014.08.28”]
[Round “5”]
[White “Anastasija Manojlovic”]
[Black “Mark Dennehy”]
[Result “1-0”]
[WhiteElo “1224”]
[BlackElo “1019”]
[EventDate “2014.08.28”]
[Annotator “Stockfish 210214 64”]

1. e4
{+0.31

So it’ll be a caro-kann}
1. … c6
{+0.64}

2. d4
{+0.59}
2. … d5
{+0.53}

3. exd5
{+0.32

Exchange variation. Sod.}
3. … cxd5
{+0.24}

4. Bd3
{+0.21
Ach. That rules out Bf5. }
4. … Nf6
{+0.36

Probably should have given up on Bf5 completely and gone with Nd7, but ever the optimist…}

5. Nf3
{+0.24}
5. … e6
{+0.24

Well, poop, no choice now unless I want to be way behind on castling.}

6. O-O
{+0.31}
6. … Be7
{+0.41}

7. c3
{+0.39

Letting the queen out or just backing up d4?}
7. … O-O
{+0.33}

8. Nbd2
{+0.16}
8. … b6
{+0.32

Occurs to me that that white bishop is pretty strong and that if I could swap it for mine, I’d be better off since my central pawns are on white and Anastajia’s are on black. }

9. Ne5
{+0.17}
9. … Ba6
{+0.14}

10. Bxa6
{+0.14}
10. … Nxa6
{+0.18

Well, stockfish disagrees, but I felt better about it in the game :D}

11. Qf3
{-0.06

Y’know, there’s a nasty hole there on h6. if Qg3, move that N out of the way and Bh6, I’d have some trouble…}
11. … Rc8
{+0.00

There’s a file open so stick a rook on it.}

12. Qd3
{-0.21}
12. … Nb8
{-0.15}

13. Re1
{-0.15}
13. … Nbd7
{-0.11

Casting about looking for a plan here. Qc7 was a planned response to that knight coming into the queenside; maybe if Qc7 now and then Ndc5, dxN, Qxc5 I’d have a line of attack? But it’s sacing a piece and I can’t really see the full line yet. }

14. Ndf3
{-0.04}
14. … Qc7
{+0.12

Prep moves till I do see the line.}

15. Bg5
{+0.00

Hm. I wonder if I could try Ng4 instead of Nc5? It’s not as aggressive, but it’d let me swap off pieces and try to keep the game drawish, which might be my best plan against her.}
15. … Rfe8
{+0.14}

16. Nxd7
{+0.10}
16. … Qxd7
{+0.15}

17. Ne5
{+0.11}
17. … Qc7
{+0.15

Okay, that works for me too, looks like it’s the play-for-a-draw plan so.}

18. Qh3
{+0.00}
18. … Ne4
{-0.08}

19. Bxe7
{+0.00}
19. … Qxe7
{+0.00}

20. Qd3
{+0.00

Well, that’s fairly drawish :D}
20. … Qf6
{+0.09}

21. Qf3
{-0.37}
21. … Qxf3
{-0.38}

22. Nxf3
{-0.38}
22. … a5
{-0.16

Probably a mistake and a6 would have been better.}

23. a4
{-0.21}
23. … Re7
{-0.04

Planning Rb7 to help push the pawns or at least stop the oncoming ones}

24. Rac1
{-0.35}
24. … Nd6
{-0.21

Thinking Nc4 and attacking the pawns}

25. Ne5
{-0.20

Hm. Well, we could trade off knights…}
25. … Ree8
{-0.06
Have to do this or Nc4, NxN, dxN, d5 and now I can’t exd or RxR}

26. Rc2
{-0.23}
26. … Nc4 $201
{+0.00}

27. Rec1 $6
{-0.83 / +0.00}

( 27. Nxc4 Rxc4 28. b3 Rc7 29. f4 Rb8 30. c4 dxc4 31. bxc4 Rd8 32. Rd1 Rcd7 33. Rcd2 Rc7 34. Rc2 $10 )

27. … Nxe5
{-0.92}

28. dxe5
{-0.73}
28. … Red8
{-0.30

Well, no point playing the lets-everyone-double-up-rooks game, not with a passed central pawn around.}

29. Rd2
{-0.34}
29. … Rc4
{-0.35

Expecting b3, Re4}

30. Rd4
{-0.34

Okay, lets swap rooks so.}
30. … Rxd4
{-0.05}

31. cxd4
{-0.05}
31. … Kf8
{+0.00

No point hiding away anymore. Also, if I can get to d7, then Rc8 and the rooks are gone.}

32. Kf1
{+0.00}
32. … Ke8
{+0.07}

33. Rc7
{+0.00

Okay, but we can still swap…}
33. … Rd7
{+0.17}

34. Rc6
{+0.00}
34. … Rb7
{+0.00}

35. Rc8+
{+0.00}
35. … Kd7
{+0.00}

36. Rh8
{+0.00

Yoink! Where’d you go?}
36. … Rc7
{+0.00

Well, if you’re going to nab my pawns, I can return the favour, even if I need to do a bit of checking to stop you just eating all the pawns first.}

37. Rxh7
{+0.00}
37. … Rc1+
{+0.00}

38. Ke2
{+0.00}
38. … Rc2+
{+0.00}

39. Kd3
{+0.00}
39. … Rxb2
{+0.00}

40. Kc3
{+0.00}
40. … Rb4
{+0.00}

41. Rxg7
{+0.30}
41. … Ke7
{+0.46

That’s enough of that for now, thanks…}

42. Rg8 $201
{+0.53}
42. … b5 $6 $16
{+1.90 / +0.53

And here’s where it starts to go all wrong. }

( 42. … Rc4+ 43. Kd3 Rxa4 44. h4 Ra1 45. h5 a4 46. Ra8 b5 47. g4 Ra3+ 48. Ke2 Rb3 49. h6 Rh3 50. g5 a3 51. g6 fxg6 52. h7 a2 53. Rxa2 b4 54. Ra7+ Kf8 55. Rb7 $14 )

43. axb5
{+2.06}
43. … Rxb5
{+2.12}

44. h4
{+2.14}
44. … a4
{+2.58}

45. h5 $201
{+2.47}
45. … Rb3+ $4 $18
{+11.47 / +2.47

And this is where I blew it. The idea was to throw in a few checks to tie up the other rook to stop Ra8 ruining that pawn’s day, but Ra5 would have been a better tactic.}

( 45. … Rb1 46. g4 Rb3+ 47. Kc2 Rh3 48. Kb2 f5 49. gxf5 exf5 50. Rg7+ Kf8 51. Ra7 Rxh5 52. Kc3 Rh2 53. Rxa4 Rxf2 54. Ra5 Rf3+ 55. Kb4 f4 56. Kc5 Rf1 57. Kxd5 f3 58. Ke4 f2 59. Kf5 $16 )

46. Kc2
{+13.45}
46. … Rb4
{+15.41

Planning to go across to the h file and kill that pawn}

47. h6
{+15.78}
47. … Rxd4
{+17.54}

48. h7
{+23.06

Can’t make it in time. And can’t queen even if I sac the rook. Gah!}

( 48. h7 { 26:+23.06} 48. … Rh4 49. h8=Q Rxh8 50. Rxh8 Kd7 51. Ra8 Ke7 52. Rxa4 Ke8 53. Ra8+ Kd7 54. Kd3 Ke7 55. Ra7+ Kf8 56. g4 Kg8 57. f4 Kg7 58. f5 Kg8 59. f6 Kh7 60. Rxf7+ Kg6 61. Rg7+ Kh6 62. g5+ Kh5 63. f7 d4 )

1-0
[/pgn]

I’m more or less okay with that game; it was fairly solid play through to the fluffed endgame (and I really really have to work through more Silman before the Bodley starts up again in a few weeks). Not terribly happy at the tournament as a whole – some good play in there, but I kept getting crushed by players rated several hundred points higher than me. I guess that’s par for the course for now, but it does make you wish for a larger pool of players to get a more even matching every so often.

The overall winners were no huge shock, Gerry took first place as expected:

2014 Benildus Senior Champions

And the club report on this round and the championships is up here.

Competition / St.Benildus Senior Club Championships 2014 — Comments Off on St.Benildus Club Championships 2014, Round 4
13
Aug 14

St.Benildus Club Championships 2014, Round 4

Round four of the Club Championships was drawn as a bye for me, but with an arranged friendly match just for fun. And it was a fun match actually, lots of moments of balancing stuff, a few predictions that held up, a tactic or two that worked out, and a decent midgame, but I fluffed the ending and of course there were missed moves and imperfect choices. Plus, I completely missed a step in the endgame and handed the game to Luke-Andrew, who promptly missed it himself and handed it right back and then we wound up in a dead draw for fifteen moves before calling it quits. Back to reading more Silman and playing more on chessendgames.com again I guess…

Oh, and I learnt firsthand why we say “draw” explicitly instead of assuming the other person knows what we mean by “well, it’s just tablebase from here” when looking at a textbook draw 😀

Here’s the game with annotations:

[pgn eo=t autoplayMode=none pieceFont=alpha ss=64 ps=64 h=800 commentsDisplay=newline]
[Event “St.Benildus Senior Club Championships 2014”]
[Site “St.Benildus”]
[Date “2014.08.13”]
[Round “4 (friendly)”]
[White “Mark Dennehy”]
[Black “Luke-Andrew Feeney”]
[Result “1/2-1/2”]
[WhiteElo “1019”]
[BlackElo “911”]
[EventDate “2014.08.13”]
[Annotator “Stockfish 210214 64”]

1. c4
{+0.12 And with John at the next table too. Bravery!}
1. … e5
{+0.16}

2. Nc3
{+0.14}
2. … Nf6
{+0.14 No Botvinnik for me today!}

3. g3
{-0.05}
3. … Bc5 $201
{+0.10}

4. e3 $6 $10 $201
{-0.45 / +0.10 Maybe he wouldn’t sac his bishop to keep my king from castling, but just in case…}

( 4. Bg2 Bb6 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. d3 d6 7. Bd2 O-O 8. O-O Bg4 9. a3 a5 10. e3 Qd7 11. Qc2 Rad8 12. Ng5 Qf5 13. Nge4 Nxe4 14. Bxe4 Qh5 15. Rac1 $10 )

4. … Qe7 $6 $10
{+0.43 / -0.45 Unexpected, but done to stop the exchange of d4 from kicking the bishop I guess}

( 4. … d5 $10 )

5. Bg2
{+0.45}
5. … d6
{+0.50}

6. Nge2
{+0.45}
6. … c6
{+0.54 He’s prepping to push d4 now}

7. O-O $201
{+0.44 Tabia complete…}
7. … Be6 $6 $14 $201
{+0.95 / +0.44 Pushing quite hard on d4}

( 7. … O-O 8. d4 Bb6 9. b3 Na6 10. Ba3 Rd8 11. Qd2 Bf5 12. Rad1 e4 13. h3 h5 14. Qb2 c5 15. f3 cxd4 16. Nxd4 Bxd4 17. Rxd4 Nc5 18. fxe4 Bxe4 19. Nxe4 Nfxe4 20. Bxc5 Nxc5 $10 )

8. d3 $6 $10 $201
{+0.34 / +0.95 Yeah, it’s a little meek, but I don’t trust Luke to back off with Bb6 if I push d4}

( 8. d4 Bb6 9. b3 Nbd7 10. Qd2 Bg4 11. f3 Be6 12. Ba3 O-O 13. Rad1 Bf5 14. e4 Bg6 15. Na4 Rfd8 16. Nxb6 axb6 17. Qc1 c5 18. d5 $14 )

8. … d5 $6 $14 $201
{+1.20 / +0.34}

( 8. … O-O 9. d4 Bb4 10. d5 cxd5 11. cxd5 Bg4 12. Bd2 Nbd7 13. f3 Bh5 14. e4 Bc5+ 15. Kh1 Rac8 16. Rc1 Rfe8 17. g4 Bg6 18. g5 Nh5 19. Na4 Bd4 20. Nxd4 $10 )

9. b3 $6 $10 $201
{+0.17 / +1.20 Yeah, it’s a bit overcautious, but I’m not sufficiently swaphappy yet.}

( 9. d4 Bd6 10. cxd5 Nxd5 11. Nxd5 Bxd5 12. Bxd5 cxd5 13. Nc3 exd4 14. exd4 O-O 15. Nxd5 Qd7 16. Nc3 Re8 17. d5 Na6 18. Be3 Nc5 19. Rc1 Rad8 $14 )

9. … d4 $6 $16
{+1.55 / +0.17}

( 9. … dxc4 10. bxc4 Na6 11. Qb3 Rd8 12. Rd1 O-O 13. d4 exd4 $10 )

10. exd4
{+1.59}
10. … exd4 $201
{+1.47}

11. Ne4 $6 $10
{+0.32 / +1.47 Looked at Na4, thought of that Knights On The Rim guideline and dismissed it}

( 11. Na4 O-O 12. Bb2 Ba3 13. Bxa3 Qxa3 14. Nxd4 Bg4 15. Qd2 Qd6 16. Nc2 Na6 17. d4 Rad8 18. Rae1 Bf5 19. Ne3 Be4 20. Bxe4 Nxe4 21. Qc2 Rde8 22. Nf5 Qd7 23. Rxe4 Qxf5 $14 )

11. … Nxe4
{+0.16}

12. dxe4 $201
{+0.06}
12. … Qf6 $6 $14 $201
{+1.24 / +0.06 Now I’m thinking it’s a shame I can’t fork the bishop and queen and thinking of how to bring that about}

( 12. … O-O 13. Bb2 Rd8 14. Nf4 a5 15. Nd3 Bb6 16. Rc1 Na6 17. c5 Ba7 18. f4 Nxc5 19. Ba3 b6 20. f5 Bd7 21. f6 gxf6 22. Nxc5 bxc5 23. Qxd4 cxd4 $10 )

13. Nf4 $6 $14
{+0.70 / +1.24}

( 13. Bb2 Bg4 14. Kh1 Bxe2 15. Qxe2 O-O 16. Rad1 Rd8 17. e5 Qe7 18. f4 Na6 19. Qe4 Bb6 20. Bxd4 Bxd4 21. Rxd4 Nc5 22. Qe3 Rxd4 23. Qxd4 Rd8 24. Qf2 a5 25. Kg1 $14 )

13. … O-O $201
{+0.69}

14. e5 $6 $10
{+0.14 / +0.69}

( 14. Nd3 Qe7 15. Bb2 Rd8 16. f4 f6 17. Nxc5 Qxc5 18. Qd2 a5 19. Rad1 Bg4 20. Bxd4 Bxd1 21. Rxd1 Qb4 22. Qxb4 axb4 $14 )

14. … Qxe5
{+0.18}

15. Nd3 $201
{+0.00 Dammit! The move I like the most from the whole game and stockfish says it’s dead even? Gah!}
15. … Qf5 $2 $16 $201
{+2.19 / +0.00}

( 15. … Qd6 16. Qh5 Na6 17. Nxc5 Nxc5 18. Rd1 Rad8 19. Bb2 d3 20. b4 Na4 21. Bxg7 Kxg7 22. Qg5+ Kh8 23. Qf6+ Kg8 24. Qg5+ Kh8 $10 )

16. Nxc5 $2 $10
{-0.45 / +2.19 Mind you, this one’s all me. I didn’t want to break up the kingside pawns so I never even looked at g4, but it’s a nice move. I just wanted the black bishop gone to make it harder to put pressure on f2 so I could push on the f4-f5 line}

( 16. g4 Qg6 17. Nxc5 Bxg4 18. f3 Bh3 19. Rf2 b6 20. Nd3 Bxg2 21. Rxg2 Qe6 22. Qd2 Nd7 23. Qh6 g6 24. Bf4 Rfe8 25. h4 Qf5 26. Rd1 Kh8 27. h5 Rg8 28. hxg6 Rxg6 29. Rxg6 fxg6 30. Rd2 Re8 31. Rh2 g5 32. Qh5 Rg8 $16 )

16. … Qxc5
{-0.49}

17. Bb2
{-0.32 Also thinking about g7}
17. … Rd8
{-0.32}

18. Be4 $201
{-0.60 As soon as I push on f4, he’s going to push d3 disc.chk. to which Rf2 is my response, but I need some way to attack d4 too…}
18. … Qg5 $6 $14 $201
{+0.73 / -0.60 Did not expect that. Neither did stockfish though!}

( 18. … Na6 19. Re1 Rd7 20. a3 Re8 21. Qd3 g6 22. Rad1 Red8 23. Bc1 Nc7 24. Bb2 Bg4 25. Rd2 Ne6 26. b4 Qh5 27. f3 Bf5 28. Bxf5 Qxf5 )

19. f4 $6 $10
{-0.16 / +0.73 f4’s probably not the best for stockfish, but I wanted to do the f4-f5 push, and it was that or claim back the missing pawn and I thought sod it, d4’s not going far, I can get it later, meanwhile push!}

( 19. Bxd4 Bf5 20. Qd3 Bxe4 21. Qxe4 Nd7 22. Rae1 Nf6 23. Bxf6 Qxf6 24. Qe7 b5 25. Qxf6 gxf6 26. cxb5 cxb5 27. Re7 Rd2 28. Rc1 a5 29. Rcc7 Rxa2 30. Rxf7 a4 31. Rg7+ Kf8 32. Rcf7+ Ke8 33. bxa4 bxa4 $14 )

19. … Qc5
{+0.29}

20. f5
{+0.29}
20. … Bc8
{+0.31}

21. Qf3
{+0.38}
21. … Nd7
{+0.33}

22. Rad1
{+0.42}
22. … Nf6 $201
{+0.33}

23. a3 $6 $10 $201
{-0.48 / +0.33 Thought about saving that bishop alright, but this lets me grab d4 or he risks a backrank mate…}

( 23. Bb1 Qb6 24. c5 Qxc5 25. Bxd4 Rxd4 26. Qf2 Rxd1 27. Qxc5 Rd5 28. Qb4 h6 29. a4 b6 30. Be4 Nxe4 31. Qxe4 Ba6 32. Re1 Rad8 33. Qf4 c5 34. f6 g5 35. Qc7 Rd1 36. Rxd1 Rxd1+ 37. Kf2 Rd2+ 38. Ke3 Rd3+ 39. Ke4 $10 )

23. … Nxe4 $6 $10
{+0.12 / -0.48}

( 23. … h6 24. Rf2 a5 25. Bc2 Qb6 26. c5 Qxc5 27. Qf4 Nd5 28. Qh4 f6 29. Qxd4 Qe7 30. Qc4 Re8 31. Bd3 Bd7 32. a4 Rad8 33. Re2 Qb4 34. Qxb4 axb4 35. Rxe8+ Bxe8 36. Bd4 Bh5 37. Rd2 Bg4 38. Bc5 $10 )

24. Qxe4
{+0.13}
24. … d3+
{+0.14 Well, that took its time getting here…}

25. Rf2 $201
{+0.12}
25. … d2 $6 $14 $201
{+0.84 / +0.12}

( 25. … b5 26. cxb5 Bb7 27. a4 Qd5 28. Qxd5 Rxd5 29. bxc6 Bxc6 30. Rfd2 Rad8 31. f6 g6 32. Ba3 a5 33. Be7 R8d7 34. Rc1 Bb7 35. Rc3 h6 36. h3 Kh7 37. b4 axb4 38. Bxb4 Rd4 $10 )

26. f6 $6 $10 $201
{-0.23 / +0.84 I just didn’t see the point in kicking the queen with b4 here}

( 26. b4 Qf8 27. Rfxd2 Re8 28. Qg4 b6 29. Qf3 f6 30. b5 Qc5+ 31. Rf2 Qxc4 32. Qxc6 Qe4 33. Rd4 Qxc6 34. bxc6 Ba6 35. c7 Rac8 36. Rc2 $14 )

26. … Qh5 $6 $14
{+0.74 / -0.23}

( 26. … Bh3 27. Qh4 Be6 28. Kg2 Qe3 29. Qf4 Qxf4 30. gxf4 Bg4 31. Rdxd2 g6 32. Bd4 b6 33. Kg3 Bf5 34. Rfe2 c5 35. Be5 Rac8 36. Rd5 Re8 37. h4 Rcd8 $10 )

27. Rdxd2 $201
{+0.74 Damn, that’s scratching a hard-to-reach itch!}
27. … Bf5 $4 $18 $201
{+7.64 / +0.74 Whoopsie…}

( 27. … Bh3 28. Rfe2 gxf6 29. Bxf6 Qc5+ 30. Bd4 Qf5 31. Qxf5 Bxf5 32. Re5 Bg6 33. Re7 b6 34. b4 $14 )

28. Qxf5 $2 $18
{+5.16 / +7.64 Aw crap, I thought I had the order right there. Mind you, stockfish’s suggestion has a hairy moment or two in there with that Qf1+ move}

( 28. Rxf5 g5 29. Re5 h6 30. Bd4 b6 31. Re7 a5 32. Qxc6 Qg6 33. Be3 Rdc8 34. Rc7 Re8 35. Bxb6 Rab8 36. Bxa5 Re5 37. Bb4 Qb1+ 38. Kg2 Rf5 39. h3 Qf1+ 40. Kh2 Rxf6 41. Rc8+ Rxc8 42. Qxc8+ Kh7 43. Qb7 Re6 44. Bc5 Re1 $18 )

28. … Qxf5
{+5.08}

29. Rxd8+
{+5.29}
29. … Rxd8
{+5.32}

30. Rxf5
{+5.33 And things now looking distinctly happy for my side of the board, but not done yet}
30. … Rd1+
{+5.76}

31. Rf1
{+5.87}
31. … Rd3 $201
{+8.17}

32. Re1 $4 $18
{+4.93 / +8.17 Aw poop. Looked at both Re1 and fxg and chose wrong. Could have handled that endgame too.}

( 32. fxg7 Rd2 33. Rf2 Rd6 34. Kg2 b6 35. Kh3 Rg6 36. Rd2 f6 37. Rd8+ Kxg7 38. Ra8 a5 39. Rb8 a4 40. bxa4 Rg5 41. Rxb6 Rc5 42. a5 Rxc4 43. a6 Kf7 $18 )

32. … gxf6
{+4.93}

33. Bxf6 $201
{+4.90}
33. … Kf8 $6 $18 $201
{+5.86 / +4.90}

( 33. … h5 34. b4 Kh7 35. Re7 Kg6 36. Bh4 Rxa3 37. Rxb7 a5 38. bxa5 Rxa5 39. Rd7 Rc5 40. Rd4 f6 41. Kf2 Rf5+ 42. Ke2 Re5+ 43. Kf3 Rf5+ 44. Kg2 Rc5 45. Rf4 Rf5 46. Kf3 Rxf4+ 47. Kxf4 c5 48. h3 Kf7 $18 )

34. Be7+ $6 $18
{+4.61 / +5.86 Yeah, I wouldn’t have followed that stockfish line, it’s too odd for me}

( 34. b4 Rxa3 35. Rd1 Re3 36. Rd7 Re6 37. Bd4 Re1+ 38. Kg2 Re4 39. Bc5+ Kg7 40. Rxb7 Rxc4 41. Rxa7 Rc2+ 42. Kh3 Re2 43. Ra6 Re6 44. Kg4 Kg6 45. Kf4 h5 46. h3 Rf6+ 47. Ke3 $18 )

34. … Kg7
{+4.63}

35. Rb1
{+4.71 Time to start worrying about pawn nibbling…}
35. … b6
{+4.91}

36. a4 $201
{+4.97 That kindof jams up those three files I think}
36. … c5 $6 $18 $201
{+5.57 / +4.97}

( 36. … Rc3 37. Bb4 Rc2 38. Rb2 Rxb2 39. Bc3+ Kg6 40. Bxb2 Kf5 41. Kf2 Ke4 42. Ke2 f5 43. Bc1 Kd4 44. Bd2 a6 45. h3 b5 46. cxb5 cxb5 47. Kf3 Kd3 48. Ba5 Kc2 $18 )

37. g4 $6 $18
{+4.42 / +5.57 I probably should have moved Bg5 here, but I just wanted to push the g and h pawns past that rook}

( 37. Bg5 Kg6 38. Bf4 Rd4 39. Kf2 f6 40. Ke2 Re4+ 41. Be3 Re7 $18 )

37. … f6 $201
{+4.79}

38. h4 $4 $14
{+1.36 / +4.79 Awwwww, poop. Missed it. So busy saving pawns, dropped the piece…}

( 38. g5 f5 39. a5 Kf7 40. Re1 f4 41. Re4 Rxb3 42. axb6 axb6 43. h4 Re3 44. Rxe3 fxe3 45. Bd8 h6 46. Kf1 hxg5 47. Bxg5 $18 )

38. … Rd7
{+1.39}

39. Re1
{+1.31}
39. … Kf7
{+1.37}

40. Bxc5
{+1.30 Do we snarfle c5 or f6 is the only choice left now. At least stockfish thinks I made the right one…}
40. … bxc5
{+1.38}

41. Rf1 $201
{+1.32}
41. … Kg6 $6 $16
{+1.93 / +1.32}

( 41. … Ke6 42. Kg2 Rd4 43. Kg3 a5 44. Rf3 Rd1 45. Re3+ Kf7 46. Kf4 Rh1 47. h5 Rd1 48. Kg3 Rg1+ 49. Kf3 $14 )

42. Rf5 $201
{+1.86}
42. … Rc7 $6 $16
{+2.50 / +1.86}

( 42. … Rb7 43. Rxc5 Rxb3 44. Kf2 Ra3 45. a5 a6 46. h5+ Kh6 47. Rf5 Kg7 48. Rd5 Rc3 49. c5 Kf7 50. Rd6 Rc2+ 51. Kg3 Rxc5 52. Rxa6 h6 53. Kh4 Ke7 54. Ra8 Rc2 55. Kg3 Ra2 56. a6 Ra4 57. a7 $16 )

43. Kf2
{+2.50}
43. … Rb7 $201
{+2.78}

44. Rxc5 $6 $16
{+2.05 / +2.78 Oddly, I looked at h5+, but didn’t think it led anywhere…}

( 44. h5+ Kg7 45. Kf3 Rxb3+ 46. Kf4 Rc3 47. Rxc5 Kf7 48. g5 fxg5+ 49. Kxg5 Ke6 50. Kh6 Kd6 51. Ra5 Ke6 52. Rxa7 $16 )

44. … Rxb3 $201
{+2.21}

45. Ra5 $6 $14
{+1.05 / +2.21 Snarfling pawns now and hoping to push a4 to queen}

( 45. a5 $16 )

45. … Rb4 $201
{+1.25}

46. Rxa7 $6 $14
{+0.55 / +1.25 Too greedy. Need to spend more time on chessendgames.com and with Silman’s endgame course…}

( 46. c5 Rxg4 47. h5+ Kh6 48. Ke3 f5 49. Kd3 Rg3+ 50. Kc4 Rg4+ 51. Kd5 Rg7 52. c6 Kxh5 53. Rc5 $14 )

46. … Rxc4 $201
{+0.65}

47. Kf3 $6 $10
{+0.00 / +0.65 And that’s about it for that game…}

( 47. Ra8 Kg7 48. Kg3 $14 )

47. … h5
{+0.00}

48. a5
{-0.31}
48. … hxg4+
{-0.06}

49. Kg3
{-0.04}
49. … f5
{+0.00}

50. a6
{-0.25}
50. … Rc3+ $201
{-0.06}

51. Kf4 $4 $19 $201
{-96.96 / -0.06 Wow. Okay, that was awful. Was down to about 8 minutes here to Luke’s 40-odd though, so wasn’t thinking deep enough. This would have been the penalty for that…}

( 51. Kg2 Ra3 52. Ra8 Kg7 53. a7 f4 54. h5 Ra2+ 55. Kg1 f3 56. Re8 Rxa7 57. Re4 Ra1+ 58. Kf2 Ra2+ 59. Kf1 Rg2 60. Re6 Kf7 61. Rc6 Rh2 62. Rg6 Rh4 63. Kf2 Ke7 64. Ke3 Kf8 65. Kf2 Rh2+ 66. Kf1 Rxh5 67. Rxg4 Rh2 68. Rf4+ Ke7 $10 )

51. … g3 $4 $10
{+0.00 / -96.96 …except that Luke didn’t see it and threw it away. A lucky escape. }

( 51. … Kf6 52. Rf7+ Kxf7 53. a7 Ra3 54. h5 Kf6 55. a8=B Rxa8 56. Ke3 Ra3+ 57. Kd4 Rh3 58. h6 Rxh6 59. Ke3 Rg6 60. Kd3 g3 61. Kc2 g2 62. Kb3 g1=Q 63. Kc4 Ke5 64. Kb4 Kd4 65. Kb5 $19 )

52. Ra8
{+0.00 And that’s it, it’s flatlined from here on out and we eventually agreed a draw once we got to the textbook configuration – mental note, next time say “draw”, not “it’s tablebase from here”, because that’s very unclear and it looks for all the world like you’re resigning. Yeesh. And to think I thought that FIDE rule was silly when I first read it…}
52. … Kf7
{+0.00}

53. a7
{+0.00}
53. … Ra3
{+0.00}

54. Rb8
{+0.00}
54. … Rxa7
{+0.00}

55. Kxg3
{+0.00}
55. … Ra4
{+0.00}

56. h5
{+0.00}
56. … Rg4+
{+0.00}

57. Kf3
{+0.00}
57. … Kf6
{+0.00}

58. h6
{+0.00}
58. … Kg6
{+0.00}

59. Rb5
{+0.00}
59. … Rh4
{+0.00}

60. Rb6+
{+0.00}
60. … Kg5
{+0.00}

61. Kg3
{+0.00}
61. … Rxh6
{+0.00}

62. Rxh6
{+0.00}
62. … Kxh6
{+0.00}

63. Kf4
{+0.00 Well, there’s the textbook diagram. Played a move or two to refresh memory, but then we agreed a draw}
63. … Kg6
{+0.00}

64. Kf3
{+0.00}
64. … Kg5
{+0.00}

65. Kg3
{+0.00}
65. … f4+
{+0.00}

66. Kf3
{+0.00}
66. … Kf5
{+0.00}

(66. … Kf5 { 100:+0.00} 67. Ke2 f3+ {I think stockfish is being overly silly there} 68. Kxf3 )
1/2-1/2
[/pgn]

The graph tells the story well too:

Round 4 analysis graph

The club report is up here.

Not all the games from Round 4 got played because of various people being ill, so I won’t know the draw for the final round for sure until next wednesday, and that final round is scheduled for August 27…

Competition / St.Benildus Senior Club Championships 2014 — Comments Off on St.Benildus Club Championships 2014, Round 3
30
Jul 14

St.Benildus Club Championships 2014, Round 3

So after the aborted round one, and the pummeling of round two, I was hoping round three would at least give my opponent a decent game.

Yeah, right! If anything, this game was even worse than the one against Zvradko, not so much for the attack-neutering blunder in the middle, as for the utterly moronic ending. Here’s the game, with annotation:
[pgn eo=t autoplayMode=none pieceFont=alpha ss=64 ps=64 h=800 commentsDisplay=newline]
[Event “St.Benildus Club Championships”]
[Site “St.Benildus”]
[Date “2014.07.30”]
[Round “3”]
[White “Mark Dennehy”]
[Black “Eddie Gahan”]
[Result “0-1”]
[WhiteElo “1019”]
[BlackElo “1410”]
[EventDate “2014.07.30”]
[Annotator “Stockfish 210214 64”]

1. c4
{+0.10 John’s going to hate me for going back to the English instead of the d4 opening he was showing me, but I’m just not having any damn fun on d4 and I like this opening…}
1. … d6
{+0.36}

2. g3
{-0.10}
2. … g6
{+0.33 Huh. I might be able to play the Botvinnik system here. Haven’t been able to do that in a while…}

3. Bg2
{+0.19}
3. … Bg7
{+0.23}

4. Nc3
{+0.13}
4. … Nf6
{+0.29}

5. e4
{-0.14 Well, definitely not classical, but it might work…}
5. … O-O
{+0.00}

6. Nge2
{-0.03}
6. … e5
{+0.20}

7. d3
{+0.10}
7. … Nbd7
{+0.14 Well, that’s toasted the usual Botvinnik setup completely, but we’re not looking too horrible overall. f4 push should still work…}

8. O-O
{+0.14}
8. … Nc5
{+0.20}

9. Be3
{+0.00}
9. … Ne6
{+0.20}

10. Nd5
{-0.07 That should annoy his knight if nothing else.}
10. … Nh5
{+0.37 Well, now it’s still focussed on f4, but it’s also shunted out of the way a bit.}

11. f4
{+0.06 That’s about all the pieces I’m going to be able to bring to bear, and I’m probably starting this attack a tempo or three late as it is, so no more futzing about.}
11. … exf4
{+0.21}

12. Nexf4 $6 $10
{-0.45 / +0.21 Didn’t even consider gxf4 because I’m being over-protective of my king. Need to think about that for future games…}

( 12. gxf4 c6 13. Ndc3 f5 14. Qd2 Bd7 15. exf5 gxf5 16. Ng3 Nxg3 17. hxg3 Bd4 18. Rae1 Qb6 19. Bxd4 Qxd4+ 20. Re3 Rae8 21. Ne2 Qb6 22. d4 Nc7 23. Rff3 Qa6 24. Rxe8 Rxe8 $10 )

12. … Nhxf4
{-0.10}

13. Nxf4
{-0.30}
13. … Nxf4
{-0.25}

14. Bxf4 $6
{-0.83 / -0.25 Again, not gxf4 because of over-protectiveness}

( 14. gxf4 Bxb2 15. Rb1 Bg7 16. f5 b6 17. Qd2 Bd7 18. Qf2 Qf6 19. Bh3 gxf5 20. Bxf5 Bxf5 21. Qxf5 Qg6+ 22. Kh1 Rae8 23. Rf2 Qxf5 24. Rxf5 Be5 25. d4 $10 )

14. … Bxb2
{-0.85}

15. Bh6
{-0.92 Yeah, well, the rook he’s attacking is passive and his is fairly vital, right? Nope. And this was worse than it was. As in, the actual analysis says it’s not horrible, but the reason for doing it was all wrong, I was seeing BxR, BxR, QxB, QxB and now I’m still even and my Q is looking down that long diagonal at black’s king. Instead…}
15. … Bxa1 $2
{+1.46 / -0.92}

( 15. … Bd4+ 16. Kh1 Re8 17. Qf3 Be6 18. Rab1 Rb8 19. Be3 Bxe3 20. Qxe3 a6 21. a4 b6 22. Qf4 Qd7 23. Ra1 b5 24. cxb5 axb5 25. a5 b4 26. a6 b3 27. a7 Ra8 28. Kg1 c5 )

16. Bxf8 $4
{-7.09 / +1.46 Glork! And there’s the blunder that shatters the attack because I’ve completely missed the check on his next move. Even stockfish is crying here, if I’d just captured with my queen, I had that long diagonal and a nasty potential check or two lined up.}

( 16. Qxa1 f6 17. Bxf8 Qxf8 18. Rxf6 Qe7 19. e5 c6 20. Rxd6 Be6 21. Qc3 Rf8 22. a4 Rd8 23. Rxd8+ Qxd8 24. Be4 Qd7 25. d4 Qf7 26. c5 Bd5 27. Qe3 Bxe4 28. Qxe4 Qc4 $14 )

16. … Bd4+
{-7.11 And there it is. That’s the (limply) beating heart ripped right out of the chest of my game.}

17. Kh1
{-7.16}
17. … Qxf8
{-7.11}

18. Qf3
{-7.53 Now without a plan and flailing wildly to try to stop the counterattack. Out of ideas, the entire attack is destroyed, the momentum lost and I’m rather demoralised.}
18. … Be6
{-7.41}

19. e5
{-8.13 Wasted effort attacking b7}
19. … c6
{-7.73 And he easily counters}

20. exd6
{-7.79 No choice now but to do the exchange and in the process gift him a more useful square for his queen}
20. … Qxd6
{-7.84}

21. Qe4
{-8.58 Still no plan, just centralising the piece}
21. … Qe5
{-7.16 / -8.58 Feck. Forced queen exchange now, it’s just a matter of what end result we get.}

( 21. … Bb6 22. Qe2 Re8 23. a4 Qd4 24. a5 Bxa5 25. Rf4 Qc3 26. Re4 Kg7 27. Bf3 Bb6 28. Qd1 f5 29. Re1 Bf7 30. Rxe8 Bxe8 31. g4 Bd7 $19 )

22. h4
{-8.33 Pushing the pawn mainly to create some space.}
22. … Qxe4
{-7.79 / -8.33}

( 22. … Qd6 23. Kh2 Rd8 24. Rf4 f5 25. Qe1 Re8 26. Rf3 Bb6 27. Qc1 Bd7 28. Qf4 Qxf4 29. gxf4 Re2 30. Kg3 Rxa2 31. Rf1 Ra3 $19 )

23. Bxe4
{-8.06}
23. … Re8
{-8.06}

24. Rb1
{-8.26 Attacking b2 again but mainly to get a back rank rook position, because it’s doing me little good back here}
24. … Bxc4
{-7.95}

25. Rxb7
{-8.06}
25. … Bxa2
{-8.14}

26. Bxc6
{-8.59 We’re just pawn-nibbling now.}
26. … Re1+
{-8.21}

27. Kg2
{-8.27}
27. … Re2+
{-7.99 Here he comes…}

28. Kh3
{-327.44 Ironically, this felt like the safer option, but it’s a lost position here, stockfish just threw up its hands and gave up.}
28. … Be6+
{-327.45}

29. g4
{-327.45}
29. … Re3+
{-9.34 / -327.45 Oh wow. Talk about a lucky escape. Seriously, I was sure I was lost here. Be5 boxes me in and then it’s just a matter of not very much time at all.}

( 29. … Be5 30. Bg2 Bd5 31. Rb8+ Bxb8 32. h5 g5 33. Bxd5 Rh2# $19 )

30. Kg2
{-9.54}
30. … Bxg4
{-9.72}

31. Rb8+
{-10.01 I know how it looks, but honest, it’s not a spite check! 😀 I wanted to get across to attack the dark bishop and this was the best way to do that.}
31. … Kg7
{-10.24}

32. Rd8
{-11.29}
32. … Bh3+
{-11.26}

33. Kf2
{-11.41}
33. … Re8+
{-2.53 And I resigned. Yes, you read that right. He’s just hung the bishop I was attacking, and we’re facing into an even-ish endgame, but I was so demoralised by this point that my brain quit and went home instead of doing its job. What was I thinking? Nothing, that’s the point, I’d given up. This is the worst ending of any chess game I’ve played of late that I can think of.}

( 33. … Re8+ 34. Rxd4 Re6 35. Be4 Re5 36. Rd6 Bf5 37. Kf3 Bxe4+ 38. dxe4 a5 39. Ra6 Rb5 40. Kf4 Rh5 41. Kg3 Rc5 42. Ra7 Rb5 43. Kf3 h6 44. Ra6 Rh5 45. Kg3 Rb5 46. Kf3 )
0-1
[/pgn]

One major blunder in the middle of the attack, okay, I can live with that. Stupid mistakes happen, Eddie made one when he missed the 29…Be5 mate. But that ending… good fecking grief. That was worse than embarressing or bad, that was downright appalling. That was me letting my fustration over the blunder in the attack kill off my morale completely, leaving me just wanting out of the room at any cost. That’s the sort of thing I spent twenty years controlling for every single shot in target shooting; have I forgotten that much since going on hiatus to have Calum? Because that would be… worrying.

Even the graph is enough to make me bang my head off the desk in fustration:

Round 3 analysis graph

The club report on the night is here. I think the comments just about capture how I feel about this game.

Round 4’s draw is up and I’ve a bye for this round (but I’ll be playing a friendly match).

Postscript: the Round 4 draw was revised. I still have a bye, but for a moment there, it looked like I had to play John, which would have been about as even a match as Round 2 against Zvradko!

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