Roundly six beaten

Round Six out of six concludes this series reporting my first chess tournament in half a lifetime. It has been quite the experience. This round was quite the rollercoaster, and considering there has been some rollypolly games it was rather fitting. 

The week before was a bit of a blur. It was according to my Fitbit my worst week of sleep. (Average of 5 hours 40 mins over the week, which I'm sure insomniacs and Margaret Thatcher would find a luxury but it took its toll.) I had thought I knew my opponent but barely had time to do much about it. I did my analysis practice but I had a pretty bad streak on that too that sunk my rating. The omens were not good. 

I walked in to find the hall relatively unpopulated and about half of the competitors "taking a bye". If you cannot come for any reason, you can the equivalent of a draw, 0.5 points but no rating change, etc. I don't really know why they did that, whether they were aiming for a good overall result and their previous rounds hadn't been ideal, or it was end of the year and they were busy. Either way, my predicted opponent was among the "byes". In his place was the slightly bigger brother of my Round 3 opponent, all 13 years of him. He approached the board with a face of utter distain and disinterest. I only knew later, but that is just him being him. He's a nice young man.  

Anyway, I had white; the clock struck 7pm and were off; my opponent played the Sicilian and I replied the way the Round One game should have gone: 

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3 - the Delayed Alapin; this is what I have played recently against the Sicilian, except in that first round game went when I was mesmerised into playing the Open Sicilian which I have no experience. 

We continued: 3. ... d5 4. exd5 Qxd5 5. d4 b6?! Despite his face of distain, up to this point he was immediately playing the main line of the Delayed Alapin - he knew his stuff. But with his last move he takes it into unknown seas for me. I've never seen this before and I didn't think it was good. It wasn't, but as he said after the game, he plays it because no-one else does and so have to figure it out over the board. Tricky little fella, huh.

6. Na3 Bb7 7. Bc4 Qd7? 8. d5! (?) For you Dearest Non-Chessplaying-But-Reading-Along-Anyway Reader, you will probably be tired of references to what the computer says. The computer will sometimes spit out the inhuman, impossible moves; but often it sheds a light on how best to play and can be quite instructive. The funniest thing about this game is that I played this move completely blind of his next move, which I inexplicably didn't see. I thought I was winning when I was clearly not. He played his next move, 8. ... O-O-O and I was plunged into cold water. I hadn't seen his obvious move at point blank range. And it was now a thorny position. I spent about 20 minutes peering at it. I saw some tricks but none of them forcing. It looked like I had just surrendered a pawn and would be on the back foot. 

Except, on returning home and looking for the best move, the computer again spat out: 8. d5! It is significantly stronger than anything else. When the computer evaluates a position, it will give a number positive is an advantage to white, negative to black, with 1.0 roughly equivalent to being a pawn up, 3 points for a bishop or knight, 5 points roughly for a rook, and 9 points for a queen. The move d5! in response to his Qd7 changes the evaluation from 1.0 to 4.5! Essentially the position is gives me about half a queen advantage. But I played it without knowing what the computer knew and I was the one sweating bullets in this "difficult" position. Not surprisingly, my moves were not what the computer thought were the best.

9. Bf4? Qf5 10. Qd2? - Now the computer evaluation dropped back to 1.0; I was still "winning" in bytes, but thinking I was losing. I spent another 20 minutes on Qd2. Remember I have 75 minutes to start the game (and 30 extra seconds for each move I play). So, my last two moves took half of my time for the whole game. And they weren't great moves. Meanwhile he was taking only a minute or two per move, still with over an hour on his clock.

My last move was a cunning move, though - there are plenty of ways for him to proceed that I thought would give him a strong advantage and one that does not. It is a trap which I am proud to say I had spotted and analysed. And after a minutes thought he played exactly that: 10. ... e5?? 11. dxc6 11. Rxd2 12. cxb7+ Kxb7 13. Bxd2

His e5 move looked strong but he allows me to "sacrifice" my queen. It isn't really because it will cost him two pieces and a rook for my queen and a pawn. Using that maths from above, I was taking 11 points of material and giving away 10 points. Generally speaking, if coordinated, three pieces including a rook would be much better than a queen. After the game he admitted that he hadn't even seen it. He saw that my 11th move would lose the queen so he didn't need to analyse any further. Now he was taking more time! I thought I was winning now, although the computer is a dick and only says I have a 2 point advantage.

Both of us now try consolidating after the aftermath of the massive material exchange: 13. ... e4 14. Ng5 Nh6 15. O-O Be7 It was here that I had another moment of blindness. It would be easy to explain it with the lack of sleep, but generally it is unforgiveable: I saw a combination that would win me a pawn. But it didn't - it simply lose a knight for the pawn: 16. Nxe4! (?) Qxe4 17. Rae1 Qh4. Somehow I missed his very obvious saving move. 

But, incredibly, and unbeknownst to all concerned. It wasn't a blunder. It isn't the best move but doesn't move the computer's needle much. It still had me with a 2 point advantage. Thinking I was losing, I started playing faster: 18. g3 Qf6 19. Nc2?

It's only now that the two players agree with the computer: Black is now winning. 

19. ... Nf5 20. Ne3 Nxe3 21. Bxe3 Rd8 22. h4 Qg6 23. Re2? Bxh4

And now I blunder a pawn. I didn't even see it before he snatched it from the board with glee.

24. Bf4 Bf6? 25. Rfe1 - out of the carnage finally my pieces are now all working together, though fewer in number than before. And what's more, I have my first real concrete threat. There is a checkmate in the position, which would get some weaker players. He spent a lot of time before settling on: 25. ... Rd7? - which apparently can lead to a draw, which I was not able to see. Instead, my calculation fails be again and I miss a significant point in my kamikaze attack: 26. Bb5 Rd8 27. Re7+? Bxe7 28. Rxe7+ Ka8! 

It must be said his analysis is pretty good. He found his way through the threats and probably both of us thought I was busted. But after some self-loathing I found one unexpected resource: 29. Be2!

29. ... Rd3! - There were only two moves to keep the advantage and this move was the best. It shut down my threats and offers me a chance to simplify. It might have been the tiredness but I thought that was the only realistic strategy and went for it, not seeing a more active continuation: 

30. Bxd3? Qxd3 31. Rxf7?? Qd1+ - and it was over. My 13 year old opponent took no time spotting an easy tactic which I again missed to win my rook. Child's play, in every sense of the word. Before he could, I offered my hand in resignation. 

With a disinterested look, he happily agreed to analyse the game with me. And with distain he shared his worries and his own heart-in-mouth moments. He got revenge for his brother; and even though they are numerically rated quite similarly, this one demonstrated with his understanding in analysis that he is the strongest at this time. I chatted a bit with his dad and I congratulated him on the new addition to the family, another daughter, or as he put it, another chessplayer.

So, the tournament is over: 2 wins, 2 draws, 2 losses, both with white. Almost all the games were full of intrigue, attack and possibility. All had things to learn and think about. I probably won't play another tournament till February but think I can try my best to discipline my thoughts, improve my openings and analysis and win more games in the future. 

Thank you for reading.

The Weekly Grind

Coming off my win against a young junior, I got served up with another in Round 5 (of 6). That means only one of my opponents have been over 14 years old. This week's 10 year old was a young Shanghainese speaking youth, completely unknown to me. I only found after the game that he was actually the highest rated opponent! And he appears to have shot ahead in rating in the last year, from 1600 to almost 1900. 

I had thought I was to play an even stronger opponent, a new friend, who played on the board next to me. One of the humorous things was the first few moves were the same, both his opponent and I went for the Caro-Kann, which makes that two weeks in a row for me, too, having been paired black.

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5

I had an interesting week of preparation. A new app has me hooked and I've barely played any online games. This app is really good for strengthening your mental calculation in chess, in other words, seeing moves ahead in your mind. The thing that hooked me is that I really felt the improvement - I could see things and get sequences right many moves ahead and was better at noticing some hidden resources. It has meant though that I haven't really spent much time on strengthening my opening knowledge. Despite it being my favourite line, I don't know much in the way of continuations, and after what was one of his longest thinks of the game, on move three, he chose the Tal Attack of the Advance Caro-Kann:  3. e5 Bf5 4. h4

Mikhail Tal was the populariser of this line, and quite incredible among World Chess Champions as an unorthodox, sacrificial player who was a true force of nature on the board, sweeping all aside to take the throne. He then lost the return match to his predecessor to have one of the shortest reigns in history. Though always dangerous, he never got back to challenging but remained a cult hero. 

My opponent was not Tal though. 4. ... h5 5. Bd3 Bxd3 6. Qxd3 e6 7. f4 

And with one move shows he knows even less opening theory than me. This isn't such a great move, although it has a few benefits. He told me after the game that he didn't play the Advance Caro-Kann and this was his first time over the board. Anyhow, it is playable so we played on: 7. ... Ne7 8. Ne2 Nf5 9. g3 c5 10. c3 Nc6 11. Nd2 Qb6? 

My calculation practice didn't serve me well here as I missed a beat, and a chance to get an advantage. I thought what I played had a better chance but 

12. Nf3 Rc8 13. Rh2!? cxd4 14. Nexd4 Ncxd4 15. Nxd4 Nxd4 16. Qxd4!?

Now, I did mention that this boy was the highest rated of my opponents, didn't I? Yet, his moves are extraordinarily drawish. He just wanted to exchange off all his pieces. Although the computer said I had an edge, he still had plenty of play. After the game, he said he was actually playing for a draw from the beginning and I don't really know why! Either way, I didn't know at that time that he was a higher rated opponent and refused to exchange more.

16. ... Bc5 17. Qd3 g6 18. Re2 a5 19. Be3 Ke7 20. Bxc5+ Rxc5 21. Kf1 Qc6

We'd exchanged off more pieces but I still have a lingering edge but I'd also muddled my way to a rather large time deficit again. These juniors don't um-and-ah. He still had 1 hour on his clock and I was down to 28 minutes. I picked up the pace a little but he didn't slow:

22. Rd1 b5 23. Qd4 Qc7 24. Rdd2 Rc4 25. Qe3 Re4 

Whether it be time or ability, I didn't exploit the edge and it started to go a bit level-ish. 

26. Qd3 Rxe2 27. Rxe2 Qc4? 28. Qe3

Now it's my turn to offer to exchange off more material. Now we're both down to just down to a queen and a rook each and a ton of pawns. He initially refuses before forcing queens off a few moves later:

28. ... Rc8 29. Qa7+ Qc7 30. Qxc7+ Rxc7 31. Rd2 b4 32. cxb4 axb4 33. Rd4 Rc1+

But now the tide began to turn a little bit. He had been going pretty hard at exchanging pieces but that brought us to the "endgame" - a phase of the game though apparently simpler actually gives very subtle moves a lot more power. A small mistake in the endgame can leave you in a world of pain. And young people tend to do worse in the endgames. Lucky for me it started to show:

34. Ke2 Rc2+ 35. Rd2 Rc4 36. Ke3 Re4+ 37. Kd3 Kd7 38. Rc2? Re1! 39. Rg2? Kc6 40.

Rc2+ Kb6 41. Rg2? Ra1 42. b3 Rc1 43. Kd2?

He played this move still with 50 minutes on his clock and me dipping below 10 minutes, and asked: "Draw?" It is acceptable to offer draws in chess and to be clear, for the last 20 or so moves, at best I had a small edge at times. But the last few moves were played poorly by him. I just replied: "I'd like to play on a bit more.

43. ... Rc3 44. Rg1 Kc5 45. g4?? 

And two moves after his draw offer, he "sold the farm". I could see victory in my sights! My clock was at 9 minutes so I was playing fast but pressuring him. 

45. ... hxg4 46. Rxg4 Rh3 47. Rg1 Rxh4 48. Ke3 Rh3+ 49. Kd2 After the game, he said he knew he was lost but could see one "trap". Though playing fast my time was still going down, and it just took two moves of mine to take his bait and grab a draw out of the jaws of victory.

48. ... Rh2+? 50. Kd3 Rxa2?? 51. Rc1+ 

It only dawned on me now that something had gone wrong. I had not seen the come back and thought myself safe. To be clear, I still had the edge, but to try winning now was risky and my time could catch me out if it got more complicated. 

51. ... Kb6 52. Rc8 Ra7 53. Rb8+ Kc5

And after 53 moves, I offered a draw, which he took in a heartbeat to be clear, even if he wanted to continue, his best would be just to repeat moves and in International Chess, repeating positions three times is a draw. And here is how it looked:

He was really great in the post-mortem. We both saw killer moves that the other didn't see, and both saw strong strategies in the opponent's position that our opponents didn't treat as viable options. Overall, a draw seemed the right result. So now that leaves me with two wins, two draws and a loss. In my two draws I have had outright wins that I've missed and a lot of that comes down to my time management. It's definitely something to work on. Also, with the computer at the end, I found again that I did not know that I had the edge for almost the whole game. There were times when I thought his position was better, very similar to last week. 

So, next round is the final round and I will have white. It may be possible for me to anticipate my opponent, who will be on three points but having played three whites, and two blacks previously and who has the highest rating (because I will have the lowest). Can't wait!

Yes, I kann!

Every chessplayer knows the rollercoaster of emotions and motivation around their play. After two rounds I was believing I could win them all, and then after my round three capitulation, I was wondering if I should even bother. Chess, especially classical chess, can a very long struggle for an eventual loss; and defeats can feel, well, defeating.

Round four I came twenty minutes early to find a car crash on the road outside and not many people inside the chess centre. It was a peculiar evening. There was no-one familiar so I just sat at a playing table and played chess on my phone until the pairings were announced. The arbiter was talking to some juniors and coincidentally raised my name, presumably because one of them, possibly my opponent, asked who I was, "unrated but strong, about 1700" was his summary. And it is probably accurate. 

Once the crowd disappeared I saw my pairing was another junior, different to my last two rounds though as he was from a Pasifika background. A little search found him and his family in the news with trophies galore. At 11 he was rated much stronger than my round two opponent, close to my "1700".

Fortunately, just like my previous round's opponent, he was mature and comfortable around adults and we could chat before the game. Then it was show time and I finally got to play the opening that defeated me in the last round, the Caro-Kann, this time from the black side. 

1. e4 c6 2. Nf3 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. Be2 Nf6 5. O-O Bg4 6. c3 e6 7. d3 Bd6 8. Bg5

O-O 9. Nbd2 Nbd7 

The game was not any usual start to the Caro-Kann. In fact, I've never had an opponent play like it: He just set up his pieces, seemingly without trying to have them interact much with mine. He said after the game that he hadn't played against the Caro-Kann before and was just really making it up as he went along. The moniker "All pawns and no hope" comes when people attack the Kann and this wasn't yet much of a challenge. But, the young man hadn't done anything wrong. And for what it's worth, I was just setting myself up without really trying to do too much either. But now he began to make moves against me.

10. c4 

I have never seen this move in the Kann. But the more I looked at it, the more I was unsure how to deal with it. After much hesitation, I played a nothing move that I had vague plans around. Immediately he showed he had solid plans:

10. ... Re8 11. Nd4 Bxe2 12. Qxe2 Rc8 13. Nb5 Bb8 14. Kh1 a6 15. Nc3

Now, I go through these games with an engine to understand my opportunities better and to be clear around this point I was having some dread that I was being outplayed. Perhaps this is the feeling I will always have. The computer thought I had a solid edge, but all I could see was his initiative.

And it was here that happened one of those sequences where I conceive of a line and then immediately regret it thinking it was losing:

15. ... dxc4 16. Nxc4 Qc7 17. f4 Nd5 18. Ne4!?

Now, he is really getting in my face. In fact, he has a really concrete threat of planting a knight in my throat and forking my rooks that were arranged perfectly for forking on account of that nothing move earlier on. I was burning through time. He already had about a thirty minute advantage in time and what I thought was a handy advantage on the board. The amazing thing is that the engine gives me a clear advantage. I spent a ton of time looking at a rash looking pawn grab and thought after a long time that it couldn't possibly work. (It did work.) Then looked at a banal move unenthused. (It was would keep my advantage.) Then there was a move right before me that I hadn't really wanted to think about and suddenly it looked a lot better than anything else, so I played it.  18. ... f6. Amazingly all three moves are the equal best moves, all with a strong advantage but I wasn't strong enough to realise it.

What I didn't see coming was that he would throw caution to the wind a throw a haymaker: 19. Ncd6 - he went for my throat and in doing so was sacrificing a bishop. I took it, 19. ... fxg5, and then he gave his follow-up: 20. Rac1??

After 20. Rac1?? - the beginning of the end for my young opponent.

 

It was a blunder - the kind that you have to stop and make sure it is not some elaborate trap. I'm not sure at what point he realised it was a mistake. He had attacked my queen with his rook not realising I could in fact take his attacker with impunity. If he recaptured, it would have been checkmate. So, scooting down the board my queen went to take his rook.

20. Qxc1 21. Nxe8, he moved quickly with almost the only move, and then I realised there was a possible trap. I almost moved to my logical follow up Rc2 without thought before I found an even better move: 21. ... Nxf4 

The game then went quickly downhill for him. His position to be clear had some dangerous elements but no time to stick them together: 22. Qf3 g4 23. Qf2 Rc2 24. g3 Qxb2 25. Qg1 Nh3, and he put his king on its side to indicate resignation, 0-1.

I am still amazed that the computer had me stronger for most of the game despite my intuition. I was clearly setting my pieces with a lot of latent power and that was also why, even in my middlegame frustration, almost any of the three moves were actually strong. 

He was astonishing though for his age. He could set up his forces to an opening that was unfamiliar to him and even in defeat you could see he was calculating accurately. For him, it was a one move blunder that meant I had an easier time. If he hadn't, what would have happened? The computer has me with an edge but his position would have had more life and the chance for me to make a mistake, especially since I was so far behind in time. 

Here is the game as it happened. Notice the tide turning.