I have a rating now! Well, actually, I think it will take several more days to show up online, but I am still officially a member of USCF! This is very exciting. How did I get a rating, you ask? Simple! I went to Binghamton for their monthly tourney, as the title suggests. It offers free 1-year membership in USCF with the $35 entry fee. Great deal, considering the membership's around $30/year by itself.
The chess was very fun, though not quite as intense as when I played Palatnik in the simultaneous match. I recorded the games, of course, and I present them here with extremely rudimentary analysis. I am the Unrated player in each game--I decided to leave out names, since there's no particular need to include them.
Game 1
White: Unrated
Black: 1476
E91 - King's Indian/Classical System with 7. ...d6
1.d4 Nf6
2.c4 g6
3.Nc3 Bg7
4.e4 d6
5.Be2 0-0
6.Nf3 Nc6
7.0-0 d6
8.Be3 Ng4
9.Bg5 Qd7
10.Ne1 Nf6
11.f4 h6
12.Bh4 Nh7
13.e5 dxe5
14.dxe5 Nd4
15.Bf3 Nf5
16.Bf2 Rd8
17.Nc2 Qe7
18.Qe2 c5
19.Rd1 Rxd1
20.Rxd1 Qc7
21.Nb5 Qe7
22.Ne3 a6
23.Nxf5 gxf5
24.Nd6 Qc7
25.Bh5 f6
26.Ne8 Qe7
27.Bh4 Bd7
28.exf6 Nxf6
29.Bxf6 Bxf6
30.Nxf6+ Qxf6
31.Rxd7 b5
32.cxb5 axb5
33.Qxb5 Qh4
34.Bf7+ Kh8
35.g3 Qf6
36.Qb7 Rd8
37.Bxe6 Rxe7
38.Qxe7 Qxb2
39.Qe8+ Kg7
40.Qf7+ 1-0
-------------------------------
Game 2
White: Unrated
Black: 2097
Opening: D08 - Queen's Gambit/Albin's Counter Gambit with 4. a3
1.d4 d5
2.c4 e5
3.dxe5 d4
4.a3 a5 (a3 is passive, but required. Perhaps better is 4. Nf3 immediately.)
5.e3 Nc6
6.Nf3 Bg4
7.Be2 dxe3
8.Bxe3? Qxd1 (8.Qxd8+ Rxd8 9.Bxe3 Ne7 10.Nbd2 Ng6 11.0-0-0 drawish)
9.Bxd1 Ne7
10.Nc3 0-0-0
11.h3? Bxf3 (11.0-0 Bxf3 12.Bxf3 Nxe5 13.Be2 Nf5 14.Bf4 Ng6 15.Bg4 Nxf4 16.Bxf5+ Kb8 17.Rad1 drawish, but I haven't thought about it much)
12.Bxf3 Nxe5
13.Be2 Nf5
14.Bf4 Ng6
15.Bh2 Nd4
16.Bg4+? f5 (16. 0-0 is far less bad)
17.Bd1 Re8+
18.Kf8 Ne5
19.b3 Nd3
20.Nd5?? Re1# (Anything else loses, but Nd5?? was fastest)
0-1
-------------------------------
Game 3
White: 1550
Black: Unrated
C02 - French/Advance Variation with 4. Bb5+?
1.e4 e6
2.d4 d5
3.e5 c5
4.Bb5+? Bd7
5.Bxd7+ Nxd7
6.c3 Ne7
7.Nf3 Nc6
8.0-0 cxd4
9.cxd4 Qb6
10.b3 Rc8
11.Ba3 Bb4!?
12.Bb2 Na5
13.Nd2 0-0
14.Qe2? Rc2
15.Rb1 Rc8
16.Rfc1 Qd8
17.Rxc2 Rxc2
18.Qd3 Rc7
19.Qb5 Nc6
20.a3 a6
21.Qd3 Be7
22.Rc1 f6
23.Qc3 fxe5
24.Nxe5 Nxe5
25.dxe5 Bg5
26.Rc2 Rf7
27.Nf3 d4!
28.Qd3 Rd7
29.Bc1? Bxc1
30.Rxc1 Rd5
31.Re1 Rc5
32.b4 Rc3
33.Qb1 Rxa3
34.Rd1 Qb3
35.Ng5 d3
36.Nxe6 Nxb4
37.Qb2 Ra2
38.Qb3 Qxf2+
39.0-1
-------------------------------
Game 4
White: 1784
Black: Unrated
Opening: King's Indian Attack vs. French Defense
1.e4 e6
2.d3 d5 (I actually expected him to play 2.d4 so much that I wrote down d4 on my record sheet, made my move, and then noticed his next move and realized, "Oh, right, he plays KIA.")
3.Nd2 Nf6
4.e5 Nd7
5.g3 Bb7
6.Bg2 c5
7.Nf3 b6
8.0-0 Nc6
9.Re1 Be7
10.Nb3 Qc7
11.Bf4 c4
12.Nd4 cxd3
13.Nb5 Qd8
14.Bg5 0-0
15.Bxe7 Qxe7
16.cxd3 Ba6? (I honestly didn't spot the next move. I got compensation, though.)
17.Nc7 Nc5
18.Nxa8 Nxd3
19.Re3 Nxb2
20.Rb1 Nc4
21.Rc3 Rxa8
22.Qf4 b5
23.Rc1 Nb4
24.Rb3 Nxa2
25.Ra1 Nb4
26.Rxb4 Qxb4
27.Rxa6 Qb1+
28.Bf1 b4
29.Ng5 Qg6
30.Bh3 b3
31.Rxe6 b2!
32.Bf5 b1=Q+
33.Bxb1 Qxb1+
34.Kg2 Qb7? (34.fxe6 and White cannot mate)
35.Qf5 g6 (if now ...fxe6, 36.Qxh7+ Kf7 37.Qh8+ Ke7 38.Qxg7+ and Black can resign)
36.Qf6 fxe6
37.Qxe6+ Kh8?? (37. ...Kf8 escapes, eventually)
38.Nf7+ Kg7
39.Qf6+ Kf8
40.Nd8+ 1-0
-------------------------------
I was...moderately happy with this outcome. I definitely should have won the last game, and probably could have drawn the second game with solid play. My play wasn't exactly ideal in the other two games, either. But overall I showed well, I think.
Oh, since I haven't put up my game against Palatnik on the blog, I'll do that now. It was a simultaneous game, so I don't read too much into it, but I was ecstatic to get the draw.
White: Semon Palatnik 2473
Black: Terry Drinkwater Unrated
E05 - Catalan Opening
1.d4 Nf6
2.c4 e6
3.g3 d5
4.Bg2 Be7
5.Nf3 0-0
6.0-0 dxc4
7.Ne5 c5
8.dxc5 Qc7
9.Nxc4 Rd8
10.Qb3 Bxc5
11.Nc3 e5
12.Bg5 Nc6
13.Bxf6 gxf6
14.Nd5 Rxd5
15.Bxd5 Nd4
16.Qd3 Bf5
17.Be4 Bg4
18.Bf3 Bf5
19.Be4 Bg4
20.Bf3 Bf5
21.1/2-1/2
Showing posts with label Chess. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chess. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Sicilian Defense, why hast thou forsaken me?
Chess has become a big part of my life since summer started. I began playing chess when I was six or thereabouts, but I had no idea what I was doing. I read a lot of books - my favorite was Hypermodern Chess, a commentary on Aron Nimzovich's famous games by Fred Reinfeld - but I'd just read the commentary and look at the pictures without figuring out what was actually going on. Then I spent about a decade forgetting how to play chess, until I found out that I was friends with the top two chess players at my school.
Now, I have a real competitive streak - anybody who's familiar with me is nodding knowingly right about now. It could even be argued that I started this blog because I wanted to keep up with Kelly and her blogging. So naturally I set out to catch up with a "nation's top 100" type (if anyone knows Jay Kumar at UC Berkeley, this is him) and someone who's been playing chess tournaments as long as I've been avoiding the game. One thing led to another, and soon I was the guy with his nose in an opening book and his free hand on a portable chessboard during a trip through Lamar Valley in Yellowstone. LAMAR VALLEY, f'chrissakes!
I'm actually pretty good at this chess thing, and I made the school team this year. I don't actually know how I match up with the other team members, because it's a ladder system: new members start at the bottom and work their way up with challenge matches. I DO know that I'm not in the top 3; there's a couple of CRAZY freshmen, plus one of the "two best at my school" people (he's not anymore, though - hee), occupying those slots. But for someone who's been playing chess for half a year, being in that nebulous area between 4th and 8th ain't half bad.
Anyway, I wrote this post pretty much for one reason, that being that I played my first game in an actual match today. We played French Defense (I need to study either that or Nimzoindian, since they're the two obvious openings after 1. d4 e6), and I was actually doing pretty well. I was winning positionally in the endgame - I had an unassailable pawn duo on the 5th rank - and my opponent only had 6 seconds left on the clock. But I lost! My opponent was moving really fast, in order to avoid losing time (if he moved within 5 seconds, he didn't lose any time), and instead of taking my time, I decided to give him less time to think by playing fast myself. BIG mistake. I broke my pawn line with an ill-timed advance, and his king tied my rook down, which allowed him to get a passed pawn and win. With 6 freakin' seconds left on the clock. Note to self: If you have 15 minutes left and your opponent has 15 seconds, you left that time there for a reason. USE IT. Blargh.
OTOH, I'm still happy that I outplayed my opponent to that point. And it's not like my loss killed our chances, since EVERYONE lost (except for Dittmer, and he only won on time after being down pieces). Monta Vista really is a strong team. I look forward to playing them again later this year; I bet I'll be stronger, and I definitely won't make the same rookie mistake I made this time. It's only the second time I've played a real-life timed match - I'll just have to get used to the fundamentals of time-constrained play.
So if that was the point, why the title, you ask? Simple: Sicilian was the opening I wanted to play as Black against e4. It was awesome and cool and complicated and...and...and I was horrible at it. I never really understood the rationale behind some of the common elements (like the e6-d6 pawn center) and I had no idea how to take advantage of the opponent's mistakes. Plus the kingside fianchetto always fell apart in ways that didn't happen when I played King's Indian Defense off d4 (though I wasn't great at that either). Although Sicilian is notable for being an aggressive counterattack on Black's part, I always got locked into certain positions and my mobility fell to zilch as White attacked my pawn structure (the e6-d6 pawn formation often left the d-pawn weak, plus White got to advance his f-pawn a lot, which didn't help my constricted formation). I might experiment with it a bit now, since it's been a month or so since I last seriously played it and I might have some new insights, but I'm still annoyed at how badly I played that opening. Any hints from any experienced chess players who happen to read this post would be appreciated (I'm looking at you, CEETTN of the pit of malice).
Now, I have a real competitive streak - anybody who's familiar with me is nodding knowingly right about now. It could even be argued that I started this blog because I wanted to keep up with Kelly and her blogging. So naturally I set out to catch up with a "nation's top 100" type (if anyone knows Jay Kumar at UC Berkeley, this is him) and someone who's been playing chess tournaments as long as I've been avoiding the game. One thing led to another, and soon I was the guy with his nose in an opening book and his free hand on a portable chessboard during a trip through Lamar Valley in Yellowstone. LAMAR VALLEY, f'chrissakes!
I'm actually pretty good at this chess thing, and I made the school team this year. I don't actually know how I match up with the other team members, because it's a ladder system: new members start at the bottom and work their way up with challenge matches. I DO know that I'm not in the top 3; there's a couple of CRAZY freshmen, plus one of the "two best at my school" people (he's not anymore, though - hee), occupying those slots. But for someone who's been playing chess for half a year, being in that nebulous area between 4th and 8th ain't half bad.
Anyway, I wrote this post pretty much for one reason, that being that I played my first game in an actual match today. We played French Defense (I need to study either that or Nimzoindian, since they're the two obvious openings after 1. d4 e6), and I was actually doing pretty well. I was winning positionally in the endgame - I had an unassailable pawn duo on the 5th rank - and my opponent only had 6 seconds left on the clock. But I lost! My opponent was moving really fast, in order to avoid losing time (if he moved within 5 seconds, he didn't lose any time), and instead of taking my time, I decided to give him less time to think by playing fast myself. BIG mistake. I broke my pawn line with an ill-timed advance, and his king tied my rook down, which allowed him to get a passed pawn and win. With 6 freakin' seconds left on the clock. Note to self: If you have 15 minutes left and your opponent has 15 seconds, you left that time there for a reason. USE IT. Blargh.
OTOH, I'm still happy that I outplayed my opponent to that point. And it's not like my loss killed our chances, since EVERYONE lost (except for Dittmer, and he only won on time after being down pieces). Monta Vista really is a strong team. I look forward to playing them again later this year; I bet I'll be stronger, and I definitely won't make the same rookie mistake I made this time. It's only the second time I've played a real-life timed match - I'll just have to get used to the fundamentals of time-constrained play.
So if that was the point, why the title, you ask? Simple: Sicilian was the opening I wanted to play as Black against e4. It was awesome and cool and complicated and...and...and I was horrible at it. I never really understood the rationale behind some of the common elements (like the e6-d6 pawn center) and I had no idea how to take advantage of the opponent's mistakes. Plus the kingside fianchetto always fell apart in ways that didn't happen when I played King's Indian Defense off d4 (though I wasn't great at that either). Although Sicilian is notable for being an aggressive counterattack on Black's part, I always got locked into certain positions and my mobility fell to zilch as White attacked my pawn structure (the e6-d6 pawn formation often left the d-pawn weak, plus White got to advance his f-pawn a lot, which didn't help my constricted formation). I might experiment with it a bit now, since it's been a month or so since I last seriously played it and I might have some new insights, but I'm still annoyed at how badly I played that opening. Any hints from any experienced chess players who happen to read this post would be appreciated (I'm looking at you, CEETTN of the pit of malice).
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