Bahamas National Championship 2016 - part 1

Of course this was the first time I ever got to play in a national championship, given that in most countries a player of my level couldn't get anywhere close to it, not to mention that usually a country only allows one of their own citizens to win the title. The Bahamas has a small enough chess community that they allow outsiders the chance to win. I thought it would be a fascinating footnote to add to my chess 'career'.

Strangely, most of those who qualified for the championships didn't show up to play in them, so there were only four of us playing and thus a double-round robin of six games.

One always wants to start well, and in the last tournament I had messed up the first time I had played white against WCM Polina Karelina and only drew, so this first round was a chance to rectify that result.

Photo by Andre White. Playing against Polina Karlina.

Cross,Ted (2031) - Karelina,Polina (1650) [B07]
2016 Bahamas National Championship Nassau (1), 19.11.2016

1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.f3 e5 4.d5 Be7 5.c4 c6 6.Be3 0-0 7.Nc3 a5 8.Nge2 Bd7 9.g4 Na6 10.Ng3 cxd5
Polina is young and talented and shooting up the rating list (just a year after this tournament she is already threatening to hit 1900), but thus far she sticks to her same opening lines, making it easier for me to prepare. She will mix up the lines, so I always end up on my own fairly soon, and this was the point where I was out of my preparation in this game.
11.cxd5 Ne8 12.Qd2 Nec7 13.Be2?!
This move gives away most of white's advantage. Far better was 13.Nf5 with a strong edge for white.
13...b5
Not a bad move, but slightly better was 13...g6 14.f4 exf4 15.Bxf4 b5 16.0-0 b4 17.Nd1+/=
14.0-0
A little more accurate was 14.Nf5 b4 15.Nd1+/=
14...b4 15.Nd1 Bb5?
15... g6 would have been equal.
16.Nf5 Bd7 17.Nf2 Bxf5 18.gxf5 Nc5 19.Kh1 Kh8 20.Rg1
Nothing wrong with my move, though the computer slightly prefers 20.Ng4 Nd7 21.a3 bxa3 22.Rxa3+/-
20...Ne8 21.Nd3 Rc8 22.Rac1 Nxd3 23.Bxd3 Rxc1 24.Qxc1 Nf6 25.Qc6 Qa8?
Now I am winning, as it's impossible for black to hold all the weak pawns. Even without this mistake I had felt during the game that I was winning by this point. The computer thinks that with long, hard defense black could have held white to a small edge [25...g6 26.Bb6 Qb8 27.fxg6 fxg6 28.Bc7 Qc8 29.Kg2 Rg8 30.Bxa5 Qf8 31.Qc2 g5 32.Bxb4 g4 33.Kh1 gxf3 34.Rxg8+ Qxg8 35.Qf2 Qg4 36.Qg3 Qh5 37.Be1+/=]
26.Rc1 h6 27.Kg2 Nh5 28.Qxa8 Rxa8 29.Rc7 Bg5 30.Bxg5 hxg5 31.Bc4 Nf6 32.Rxf7 g4 33.Rc7 gxf3+ 34.Kxf3 Kg8 35.Rc6 Ne8 36.Bb5 Rb8 37.Ba4 Kf7 38.Ra6 Rc8 39.Rxa5 g6 40.Ra7+
[40.Bd7!]
40...Kf6 41.Bxe8 Rxe8 42.fxg6 Kxg6 43.Ra6 Rf8+ 44.Kg3 Rf6
[44...Rf4 45.Rxd6+ Kf7 46.h4 Rxe4 47.h5+-]
45.Rb6 Kh5 46.Rxb4 1-0


So, it was a good way to begin the championships. The next round made me nervous, as I had to face the top Bahamian player, FIDE Master Cecil 'Carver' Moncur. I hadn't met him before and wondered just how underrated he might be given his title (gained in the Olympiads).

Cross,Ted (2031) - Moncur,FM Cecil (1894) [B45]
2016 Bahamas National Championship Nassau (2), 19.11.2016

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Ndb5 Bb4 7.a3 Bxc3+ 8.Nxc3 d5 9.exd5 exd5 10.Bd3 0-0 11.0-0 d4 12.Ne2 Qd6?!
I was able to relax a bit since he played a line I knew somewhat well. Qd6 was the first new move for me. [12...Bg4 13.Bg5 Qd6 14.Qd2 Bxe2 15.Bf4 Qd5 16.Bxe2+/=]
13.Bf4 
My move is the most common, but the computer prefers 13.c3!+/=
13...Qd5 14.Re1
This move allows black equality, so better was 14.Ng3 Ne5 15.Bxe5 Qxe5 16.h3+/=
14...Bg4
Luckily black didn't see the path to equality and allowed me to regain my slight edge. [14...Bf5 15.Bg3 Bxd3 16.Qxd3=]
15.f3 Be6 16.Bg3 Nh5 17.Be4 Qc5 18.Bf2 Qb5?!
I had a strong edge here no matter what, but this move grants me a nearly winning position. [18...Rad8 19.Bxc6+/-]
19.Nxd4 Nxd4 20.Qxd4 Nf6 21.Bd3 Qg5?
This blunder allows me to trap his queen and thus force the win of the exchange as well as damaging black's pawn structure.
22.Re5 Qh6 23.Be3 Rfd8 24.Qxd8+ Rxd8 25.Bxh6 gxh6 26.Rd1 Kh8 27.Kf2 h5 28.Ke1
My move was about trying to trade off the rooks, while more accurate was 28.Ra5 a6 29.Rc5+-
28...Rg8 29.Rd2 h4 30.h3 a6 31.Be4 Nxe4 32.Rxe4 Bf5 33.Rxh4
I went after the less important pawn, so better was 33.Re7+-
33...Re8+ 34.Kd1 Rc8 35.Rhd4 Kg7 36.c3 Be6 37.Rf2 b5 38.g4 a5 39.f4 a4 40.f5 Bb3+ 41.Kd2 Bc4 42.Rf3
Knowing that I was winning made me play very cautiously, so I had lots of better ways to proceed throughout this endgame. [42.Ke3 h6 43.Rfd2+-]
42...Rc5 43.h4 h5 44.g5 Re5 45.f6+
[45.Rf2+-]
45...Kg6 46.Rxc4!?
I sacced the exchange back because I felt the endgame should be fairly straightforward to win. And it wasn't so bad, but perhaps it was better to hold on to the rook. [46.Rd8! Re2+ 47.Kd1 Re5 (47...Rxb2 48.Rg8+ Kh7 49.Rg7+ Kh8 50.Re3 Be6 51.Kc1 Rf2 52.Rd3+-) 48.Rg8+ Kh7 49.Rg7+ Kh8 50.Rf4+-]
46...bxc4 47.Rf4 Rd5+ 48.Rd4 Rc5 49.Ke3 Re5+ 50.Re4 Rc5 51.Kd4 Rb5 52.Re2 Rf5 53.Rh2
A bit passive, forcing me to be more accurate to finish things off, while easier would have been 53.Ke4
53...Rf4+ 54.Kc5 Kf5 55.Kd6 Re4 56.Kc5 Rf4 57.Kb4 Kg4 58.Rg2+ Kh3 59.Rg1 Kxh4 60.g6 fxg6 61.Rxg6 Kh3 62.Kc5 h4 63.Kd6 Kh2 64.Ke7 Re4+ 65.Kf8 h3 66.f7 Kh1 67.Kg8 Rf4 68.f8Q h2 69.Qa8+ 1-0


It felt so great to get a first victory against the best Bahamian player and start the championships 2-0. But now in round three I had to play Kendrick Knowles, and I knew from experience how difficult he would be.

Knowles,Kendrick (1846) - Cross,Ted (2031) [A05]
2016 Bahamas National Championship Nassau (3), 20.11.2016

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d3 d6 4.g3 g6 5.Bg2 Bg7 6.Nbd2 Nf6 7.0-0 0-0 8.h3 h6 9.c3 e5 10.Re1 Be6 11.Nf1 Qd7 12.Kh2 Rfe8?!=
I had played the opening on instinct rather than any real knowledge of how it should go, and I gained a tiny edge by this point, but my move messes it up and allows equality. Better was [12...d5 13.exd5 Nxd5 14.Ne3 g5 15.a3 Rad8 16.Nxd5 Bxd5 17.b4 f5-/+]
13.Be3?!
Fortunately for me he didn't find the move for equality [13.Ne3=]
13...Qe7
These types of positions are tough if you don't happen to know the opening lines well, so it's no surprise that we keep making small inaccuracies. Slightly better here was 13... b6.
14.Qd2 Kh7 15.g4 g5?
This was a real mistake, going from a significant edge for black to a small edge for white. [15...d5 16.Qc2 d4 17.Bd2 a5-/+]
16.Ng3 Rad8 17.Qc2 Rh8?
17...Kg8 would have brought me equality here.
18.Rad1
White missed his shot with [18.d4! cxd4 19.cxd4 Nb4 20.Qc3 a5 21.d5+/-]
18...Kg8 19.Nf5 Bxf5 20.gxf5 d5?!
I'm still trying to play for a win. Safer was to play for equality with 20...Nh5
21.exd5 Nxd5 22.Nd2 Nxe3?
This is a very complex position, so not so surprising that I would make this mistake. [22...Qc7=]
23.Rxe3?!
And white returns the favor. [23.fxe3+/-]
23...f6?!
And back and forth we go with our slight inaccuracies. [23...Qd7 24.Qa4 Ne7 25.Qxd7 Rxd7 26.f6 Bxf6 27.Ne4=]
24.Qb3+ Kh7 25.Bxc6 bxc6 26.Nc4?
26.Ne4 gives white a strong edge.
26...Qd7 27.Rd2?!
White could have had equality with [27.Rf3 h5 28.Rh1 Qd5 29.Nd2=]. Now black gets a big edge.
27...Qxf5 28.Qa3 Rd7
My move is logical and not bad, but even better was [28...h5! 29.Qxa7 g4 30.Rg3 Rd7 31.Qxc5 Bh6 32.hxg4 hxg4 33.Ne3 Qe6 34.Kg1 f5 35.Rg2 Bf4-/+]
29.Qxc5 Rhd8?!
During the game I felt this was the way to a nearly winning advantage. Turns out it was better to play [29...Qe6=/+]
30.d4
[30.Qxc6=]
30...Qf4+
A better winning try was [30...g4]
31.Kg2 g4 32.Qxc6 gxh3+ 33.Kxh3 Rd5 34.Rg3!
I had still felt I was winning until this strong defensive move.
34... exd4 35.Rxd4 Rxd4
Other tries don't work any better [35...Rh5+ 36.Kg2 Rxd4 37.cxd4 Qh4 38.Kg1 (38.Kf3 Qh1+ 39.Rg2 Qd1+ 40.Ke3 Rh3+ 41.Rg3 Qe1+ 42.Kd3 Rxg3+ 43.fxg3 Qxg3+ 44.Ne3 f5=; 38.Kf1 Qxd4 39.Ne3=) 38...Qxd4 39.Ne3 Qxb2=]
36.cxd4 Rxd4 37.Qb7 Qf5+ 38.Kg2 Rd7?!
I underestimated the danger of white's two queenside pawns in the coming endgame and didn't play accurately enough for a simple draw. [38...Qe4+ 39.Qxe4+ Rxe4 40.b3 Re2 41.a3 h5=]
39.Qf3 Qxf3+ 40.Kxf3 Rd3+?!
[40...Bf8=]
41.Ke4 Rxg3?! 42.fxg3 Kg6 43.b4 Bf8?
I'm really trying hard to find a way to lose this. [43...f5+ 44.Kf4 Kf6 45.b5 Ke6 46.a4 Bd4=]
44.a3?
[44.b5 Bc5 45.a4 f5+ 46.Kd5 Bf2 47.a5 Kf6 48.a6+-]
44...Kg5 45.Ne3 Bd6 46.Nf5 Bf8 47.Ne3 Bd6 48.Kf3 f5 49.Nc4 Bc7 50.a4 h5 51.a5 a6 52.Nb6 f4??
Just when I had finally ensured I could get a draw I played this howler of a move. [52...Bd6 53.b5 axb5 54.Nd7 b4 55.a6 b3 56.a7 b2 57.a8Q b1Q 58.Qg8+ Kh6 59.Qe6+ Kg7 60.Qxd6 Qf1+ 61.Ke3 Qe1+ 62.Kd4 Qd2+ 63.Ke5 Qxd6+ 64.Kxd6 Kg6 65.Ke5 Kg5=]
53.gxf4+
Thank goodness he didn't see the easiest way to win! [53.Nd7! fxg3 54.b5+-]
53...Bxf4 54.Nd5??
And then here he threw the win away for good. [54.Nd7!+-]
54...Bd6 55.b5 axb5 56.a6 Bc5 57.Nf4 Bb6 58.Ne6+ Kf5 59.Nc7 1/2-1/2

So, I got lucky in this last game, and what a relief. I finished the first half of the tournament in first place with 2.5/3.