One Foot in Front of the Other
So I had my big "breaking out of the slump" tournament, and since then, haven't found much time to play, what with my annual September move. It's been fascinating watching the World Championship tournament in Mexico of course, and I have had a few games through the Boylston Chess Club Hauptturnier, but not much to write about. Here's a little something though, and hopefully there will be a lot more to say over the next few weeks as October rolls in.
White: Joshua Haunstrup (1889)
Black: David Glickman (2027)
Event: BCC Hauptturnier (3)
Date: 2007-09-25
(C12 French MacCutcheon)
1 e4 e6
2 d4 d5
3 Nc3 Nf6
4 Bg5 Bb4
5 e5 h6
6 Be3 Ne4
7 Qg4 g6
8 a3 Ba5!?
An interesting and rather paradoxical choice. White offers black the chance to win a pawn in return for somewhat misplacing his pieces, and black eschews the opportunity, indicating that the aggressive placement of his pieces is mostly just bluff. My opponent seemingly did not want to absorb the kingside pressure that often ensues in the mainlines.
9 Ne2 c5
10 dxc5 Bxc3+
My first instinct was that black really shouldn't be able to get away with the inconsistency of this move, retreating and then taking anyway. More logical would have been 10...Nc6 11.b4 Nxe5 12.Qh3 Bc7 13.Nb5 with an interesting and complex game. Now I think that I played out the position pretty logically, but there's not a whole lot there even so.
11 Nxc3 Nxc3
12 bxc3 Nc6
13 Bd4 Qa5
14 Bd3 Nxd4
15 Qxd4 Bd7
16 Qb4 Qc7
17 0-0
I felt that 17...Qxe5 would be far too risky for black with his queenside collapsing, but I did wonder if perhaps I should avoid castling in anticipation of some kind of liquidation. Fritz thinks that the more flexible 17.Qd4 was probably best, but I wondered how I would then counter the simple 17...Rc8, as it become a little more difficult to gain counterplay once the c-pawns start falling.
17... Bc6
18 Rfe1 Rc8
19 Rab1 1/2
Now, feeling that there weren't a lot of options for either of us and that my extra pawn was not all that useful, I offered a draw, which he accepted. Not the most exciting game, but a reasonable little tussle, I thought, and a good sign for the future if I can somehow continue to put my game back together.
White: Joshua Haunstrup (1889)
Black: David Glickman (2027)
Event: BCC Hauptturnier (3)
Date: 2007-09-25
(C12 French MacCutcheon)
1 e4 e6
2 d4 d5
3 Nc3 Nf6
4 Bg5 Bb4
5 e5 h6
6 Be3 Ne4
7 Qg4 g6
8 a3 Ba5!?
An interesting and rather paradoxical choice. White offers black the chance to win a pawn in return for somewhat misplacing his pieces, and black eschews the opportunity, indicating that the aggressive placement of his pieces is mostly just bluff. My opponent seemingly did not want to absorb the kingside pressure that often ensues in the mainlines.9 Ne2 c5
10 dxc5 Bxc3+
My first instinct was that black really shouldn't be able to get away with the inconsistency of this move, retreating and then taking anyway. More logical would have been 10...Nc6 11.b4 Nxe5 12.Qh3 Bc7 13.Nb5 with an interesting and complex game. Now I think that I played out the position pretty logically, but there's not a whole lot there even so.11 Nxc3 Nxc3
12 bxc3 Nc6
13 Bd4 Qa5
14 Bd3 Nxd4
15 Qxd4 Bd7
16 Qb4 Qc7
17 0-0
I felt that 17...Qxe5 would be far too risky for black with his queenside collapsing, but I did wonder if perhaps I should avoid castling in anticipation of some kind of liquidation. Fritz thinks that the more flexible 17.Qd4 was probably best, but I wondered how I would then counter the simple 17...Rc8, as it become a little more difficult to gain counterplay once the c-pawns start falling.17... Bc6
18 Rfe1 Rc8
19 Rab1 1/2
Now, feeling that there weren't a lot of options for either of us and that my extra pawn was not all that useful, I offered a draw, which he accepted. Not the most exciting game, but a reasonable little tussle, I thought, and a good sign for the future if I can somehow continue to put my game back together.
posted by Joshua at 9:01 AM
1 Comments:
I think 13. Bb5 Bd7 14. Bxc6 Bxc6 15. 0-0 is the way to go for white. The important thing is not the extra tripled pawn - it is the color complexes. In positions where the big pieces are on the board, and there are bishops of opposite color like this, a draw is the least likely result. This is because somebody can usually mount an attack on the color controlled by his bishop - and the other guy can't really defend.
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