Finishing tied for 3rd was Gene McClure and Mike Nikitin.
Congratulations to Paul and Vince!
Here
is a 960 game from the Final Round of the 2015 LCCC Fischer Random Tournament.
The game was between your humble scribe Mike N with White and Gene M with
Black. The winner would finish tied for 1st or 2nd,
depending on the outcome of the Board 1 game between Paul M and Vince V.
With
that as the situation, neither Gene nor I had any reason to play for a draw. So
both players would be looking for knockout tactics.
Readers,
you are in for a treat. Not only do you have my thoughts and Fritz13’s opinion,
you will also get [Gene’s notes and Rybka4’s opinion].
Enjoy
playing thru this game and think about what you might have played.
The
pieces were placed like this (from left to right): NRBKQBRN- almost a normal set up!
[The
first thing I noticed was that only the (1)Knights and Rooks and (2)King and
Queen had switched squares, so I thought there wouldn't be as much difference
from "normal chess" as in most other 960 positions. - Gene]
Mike N Gene M
1. e4 d6
2. Bc4 Nb6
[This
tempo allowed me to equalize quickly.]
Playing
White is suppose to be a bigger advantage than usual in a 960 chess game. Playing
this standard opening move in a 960 without thinking it thru, throws away my
advantage and gave it to Gene by him gaining the tempo. (-.4).
Gene was last year's 960 Champion, so I knew I would have my hands full the rest of the way.
Gene was last year's 960 Champion, so I knew I would have my hands full the rest of the way.
3. Bb3 e5
4. c3 Be6
5. Nc2 Bxb3
6. ab Qe6 ?!
[Rybka
gives 6...Qb5 or Ng6]
7. c4 Ng6
8. d3 Be7
9. Ng3 O-O
10. Ne3 Nf4
 |
| Position after 10. .....Nf4 |
I
was OK with my position here. But do I make what looks like the ‘grandmaster
move’ of Kc2 because the center is closed and I can keep my pieces active – or
– do I take the ‘usual’ option and keep my castling option? I choose
incorrectly (-1).
11. Qf1 c6
[Rybka
gave 11. Kc2 (-.2)]
12, Nf5 g6
13. Nxe7 Qxe7
14. Be3? Qh4?
[Black
had a (-0.9) advantage, but embarked on an unwise Queen adventure.]
Taking
the knight was better for me. So was 14. Bd2 or the never popular Kc2 (-.6).
Instead, the text move hurts me after either 14…..a5 or Nd7-Nc5 as my queenside
is now in trouble (-1.2). But Gene tries the king-side (-.3).
15. h3? Nh5?
[The
game is now even according to Rybka. 15. …..Nd7 or d5 would've maintained a (-0.6)
advantage.]
I
was happy to remove that pesky knight. Now I liked my position because I think
Gene’s queen is in trouble. But it isn’t really (+.2). Igor3000 says I now
enjoy a tiny lead in position.
16. Nxh5 Qxh5
17. g4 Qh4
18. g5 f6
19. gf Qxf6
20. O-O-O d5
21. ed cd
I
was not worried, but Igor3000 says I opened the center before supporting my
center pawns with 21. Qg2 (-.3).
22. Rd2 d4
23. Bg5 Qd6
24. Qe2 a5
25. h4 Rfe8
 |
| Position after 25. .....Rfe8 |
I
saw this as a race of side pawns – and I liked my chances better. Not only can
I knock a hole in Gene’s King’s defense before he can hurt my queen-side, but I
will be able to get my queen and rooks into the attack quicker than Gene can
attack my queen-side or return to defend the king-side. My analysis of the
position is right (+.8), but my execution is slow. I add my queen to the mix
instead of hitting with my h-pawn right away (-1). Igor says I lost almost 2
pawns with that error. I lose one for real, and lost my advantage positionally.
That’s
why we love chess! One little thing changes a lot.
26. Qe4 a4?
The
move 26….h5 is needed to help with the king side defense (+.3). Another switch
in momentum.
27. ba? Nxa4
Another
switch (-.5)! Instead 27. b4! The b-pawn
is kind of untouchable as it will move the Black Queen out of play from the
king-side defense (+1.1). But I missed it.
28. Rc2? Nc5
I
had visions of using my queen-side pawns to cramp my opponent’s space. But I
missed Gene’s reply, which forces me to trade queens, lose a pawn and give
myself four pawn islands. Not good.
I am surprised Igor3000 only has me down
(-1.2). But as you will see, I did have all the play.
29. Qd5+ Qxd5
30. cd Nxd3
31. Kb1 Nb4
32. Rc5 Rfc8
33. Rgc1 Rxc5
Playing
‘hope chess’, I was hoping for 38. …Nd5+??, 39. Rxc8+, Rxc8 40. Rxc8.
34. Rxc5 Nd3?
[Rybka
shows this as a turning point. 34. ……Nd3? gives White a (+0.6) advantage, while
keeping the Knight closer to White's d-pawn with Na6! would've clung to a
(-0.4) advantage. Now both sides make "all the right moves" through
40.]
35. Rc7 Nf4
36. d6 Ne6
 |
| Position after 36. .....Ne6 |
Passed
pawns must be pushed. Although being a pawn down, with a shattered pawn
structure of my own and being low on time, I still felt I had all the play.
Igor3000
says it is EVEN here. But what does he know? He’s only rated 3000, so who
cares?
37. Re7 Nxg5
38. hg Rd8
39. d7 Kf8
40. Rxh7 b5?
This
gives White the advantage by bringing his isolated pawn closer to my King where
it can be attacked quicker. Black’s rook won’t be much help as it is a little busy
stopping my advanced pawn (+1).
41. Kc2 b4
42. Kd2?! e5
43. Ke2?! Kg8
[Draw
agreed. Both Mike and I had a little over a minute on our clocks.
Rybka indicates White had a +2.4 advantage, and could have gone up a pawn if he'd taken the e-pawn, abandoning the d-pawn:]
Rybka indicates White had a +2.4 advantage, and could have gone up a pawn if he'd taken the e-pawn, abandoning the d-pawn:]
45.
Rxe4, Rxd7
46. Re5, Rf7
47. Rxb5, Rxf2+
48. Kxd3, Rf4
46. Re5, Rf7
47. Rxb5, Rxf2+
48. Kxd3, Rf4
Yes,
but you need time on the clock and confidence to squeeze out a win. I didn’t
feel I had enough of either one. Igor3000 gives White only a (+1) advantage.
A very close game all the way thru.
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