Nassau Cup Invitational 2017 part 1

A new sponsor suddenly appeared in The Bahamas -- the real estate developer Orjan Lindroth. This is a terrific development for Bahamas chess and I hope it continues for a long time. This invitation came out of the blue, and I was happy to accept. The best six players in The Bahamas were invited to play a double round robin with a first prize of $1000. With so many good players, I was nervous since I had showed my rust in both of my first tournaments here and had lost a lot of rating points. Getting off to a good start was a must.

Playing Elton Joseph in round 1. Photo by Andre White

Cross,Ted (1995) - Joseph,Elton (1808) [B57]
Nassau Cup Invitational 2017 Nassau (1), 04.03.2017

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Bc4 e5 7.Nf3 Be6 8.Qe2 Be7 9.Bg5 0-0 10.0-0-0 a6 11.Kb1 Qc7 12.Bxf6 Bxf6 13.Nd5 Qd8 14.Nxf6+
This Sicilian opening felt pretty standard until now. I had thought I was winning a pawn and played Nf6 almost immediately, only to realize it didn't work. So better was [14.Qd2+/=]
14...Qxf6 15.Bxe6 Qxe6 16.Nd2?!
This move gives black equality. Better was [16.Rd2 Rfd8 17.Rhd1 Rac8 18.Qe3+/=]
16...d5?!
Black misses the equalizing move [16...Rac8=]
17.exd5 Qxd5 18.Ne4 Nd4 19.c3 Qxa2+?
Black doesn't realize how dangerous this line is for his knight. Better was [19...f5 20.Ng5 Qxg2 21.cxd4 Qxg5 22.dxe5+/=]
20.Kxa2 Nxe2 21.g3 Rfd8 22.Rxd8+ Rxd8 23.Re1 f5 24.Nc5 Rd2 25.Kb1?
I overlooked the tactics available to black here. Correct was [25.Ka1 Rc2 26.Kb1 Rd2 27.Nb3 Nxc3+ 28.bxc3 Rxf2 29.Rxe5+/-]
25...Rd5?
Luckily black didn't see the tactic either. [25...e4! 26.Nxb7 (26.Nb3? Nxc3+ 27.bxc3 Rxf2 28.c4 Kf7 29.c5 Ke6 30.Na5 Kd5 31.Nxb7 Kc6 32.Nd8+ Kxc5 33.Ne6+ Kd5 34.Nxg7 Ke5 35.Kc1=) ] Now the rest of the game was simply a matter of not messing up.
26.Nb3 Rb5 27.Kc2 Nxc3 28.bxc3 e4 29.Rd1 Kf7 30.c4 Rb6 31.c5 Rb5 32.Rd7+ Kf6 33.Rd6+ Ke7 34.Rb6 Kd7 35.Rxb5 axb5 36.Kc3 g5 37.Nd4 f4 38.Nxb5 e3 39.fxe3 fxg3 40.hxg3 h5 41.Nd4 h4 42.Nf3 hxg3 43.Nxg5 g2 44.Nf3 Ke7 45.e4 Kd7 46.Kd3 Kc6 47.Kd4 Kc7 48.Ke5 Kc6 49.Kf6 Kxc5 50.e5 Kd5 51.e6 1-0


It felt great to start off the tournament with a win.

Cox,Valentine (1846) - Cross,Ted (1995) [B92]
Nassau Cup Invitational 2017 Nassau (2), 04.03.2017

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be2 e5 7.Nb3 Be7 8.Be3 Be6 9.Qd2 Nbd7 10.0-0-0 0-0 11.f3 b5 12.g4 Nb6 13.g5 Nh5 14.Nd5 Nxd5 15.exd5 Bf5 16.Na5 Bd7?!
Gives white a little edge, when it could have remained equal with [16...f6 17.Nc6 Qd7 18.gxf6 Nxf6=]
17.Rhg1 g6 18.Bd3 Ng7?
I allow white a strong attack. Still equal was [18...Qc7=]
19.Be4 f5 20.gxf6 Bxf6 21.Nc6 Qc7 22.Bg5?!
White gives up some of his edge. [22.Kb1+/-]
22...Nf5?
And I make things worse instead of better! [22...Bf5 23.Bh6+/=]
23.Bxf6 
Each of us keeps missing the best moves, but to be fair, in positions with lots of options it isn't always easy to understand the very best move. [23.h4!+-]
23...Rxf6 24.Qg5?
Now black may be even a tiny bit better. White was still nearly winning after [24.h4 Raf8 25.h5 Be8 26.hxg6 Bxg6+/-]
24...Raf8 25.h4 R8f7 
More accurate was [25...Kg7 26.h5 h6 27.Qd2 g5=/+]
26.h5?!
This allows me to seal up the kingside. [26.f4=]
26...h6 27.Qd2 g5 28.f4 exf4 29.Qxf4 Nd4!?
Not a terrible idea, but it leads only to equality, while I could have retained a slight advantage with [29...Qb6! 30.Rde1 Kg7=/+]
30.Qe3 Nxc6 31.dxc6 Bxc6 32.Bg6 Rf8 33.Qb3+ d5 34.Kb1 Qf4?! 
I develop a bad plan. Two other moves were better: [34...Rf3 35.c3 R3f6 36.Rge1 Qd6 37.Be4 Kg7 38.Bxd5 Be8-/+; 34...Qd6=/+]
35.Rge1 Qc4??
And here is where my bad plan goes completely astray, giving white a bid advantage. [35...Qd6=/+]
36.Qe3 Qg4 37.Qe7?
White fails to spot the winning idea. [37.Qc5! a5 38.Rc1 d4 39.Re7 Rf1 40.Bh7+ Kh8 41.Qe5+ R1f6 42.Bg6+-]
37...Qd7 38.Qa3 [38.Qxd7? Bxd7 39.Rxd5 Rf1 40.Rdd1 Rxe1 41.Rxe1 Bf5-/+] 38...Qd6?! 
I failed to see the equalizing idea of [38...d4! 39.Qc5 Qd5=]
39.Qxa6 Qc5 40.Qa5 Ra8 41.Qc7 Qa7 42.Qxa7? 
I was so relieved to see this! [42.Qe5 Raf8 43.a3+/-]
42...Rxa7 43.Rd4 Kf8 44.a3 Re7 45.Rxe7? 
Black's advantage builds. [45.Rg1=/+]
45...Kxe7 46.Rb4 Rf4?
Not such a good idea, allowing drawing chances. [46...Rf1+ 47.Ka2 Bd7 48.Bd3 Rf2 49.Bxb5 Be6! 50.Bd3 g4 51.Rb7+ Kf6 52.Rh7 d4+ 53.b3 Kg5 54.Re7 Bf5 55.Bxf5 Rxf5-+]
47.Kc1?? 
Luckily white didn't see the right path. [47.Rxf4 gxf4 48.Kc1 Kd6 49.Kd2 Ke5 50.Kd3=]
47...Rxb4 48.axb4 Be8 
More accurate was [48...Kf6]
49.Bd3 Kd6 
Again, more accurate was [49...Kf6 50.Be2 Kf5 51.Kd2 g4 52.Ke3 d4+-+]
50.Kd2 Ke5 
I could also have played [50...Bxh5]
51.Ke3 d4+ 52.Kf2 Kf4? 
Trying hard to throw away the win. [52...Bxh5-+]
53.Bg6 Bc6 54.c3 Ke5 55.Bd3 Be8 56.Kg3? 
White goes astray. [56.Bg6 dxc3 57.bxc3 Bxg6 58.hxg6 Kf6 59.c4 bxc4 60.b5 c3 61.Ke2 g4 62.b6=]
56...Bxh5 57.Bxb5 Bg6 58.cxd4+ Kxd4 59.Be2??
White had a path to a draw still with [59.Kg4! Bf7 60.Be2 Ke5 61.b5 Kd6 62.Bf3 Kc5 63.Kf5 Kxb5 64.Kf6 Be8 65.Kg7 h5 66.Kf8=]
59...Bf5? 
It's an ugly game! We trade mistakes. [59...h5-+]
60.Bf1?? 
And the final big mistake. [60.b5 Kc5 61.b4+ Kb6 62.Kf2=]
60...h5 61.Be2 h4+ 62.Kf3 g4+? 
More accurate was [62...Ke5!-+]
63.Kf2? 
White makes it easier on me. [63.Kf4 g3 64.Bf1 Bd7-+]
63...g3+ 64.Kg1 h3 65.Bf1 h2+ 66.Kh1 Be4+ 67.Bg2 Bxg2+ 68.Kxg2 Kc4 69.b5 Kxb5 70.b4 Kxb4 71.Kh1 Kc4 72.Kg2 Kd3 73.Kh1 Ke3 74.Kg2 h1Q+ 75.Kxh1 Kf3 0-1

What a relief to survive that and even pull out a victory! I had to thank my lucky stars.

Now, being white against Kendrick Knowles is no picnic, as anyone would know if they had seen my last two events, where he played the center counter against me and won both games. So having just been very shaky in round 2, I was extra nervous going into this one.

Cross,Ted (1995) - Knowles,Kendrick (1891) [B01]
Nassau Cup Invitational 2017 Nassau (3), 04.03.2017

1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Nf6 3.Bb5+ Bd7 4.Be2
So, this was my change from the last time we played, hoping that I could be in preparation more so than him.
4... Nxd5 5.d4 c6?! 
He goes a little astray right away. The main line here goes [5...Bf5 6.Nf3 e6 7.0-0 Be7]
6.c4 Nf6 7.Nc3 g6 8.Nf3 Bg7 9.0-0 0-0 10.Re1 Na6 11.Ne5 Be6 12.Be3 
White would have a large edge after [12.Bf4+/-]
12...Qc8 13.a3
The right path was [13.d5! Bf5 14.dxc6 Ne4 15.Nd5 Re8 16.cxb7 Qxb7 17.Nd3+/-]
13...Nc7 14.Qc2?!
[14.Qb3]
14...Rd8 15.Rad1 Nce8?! 
Black could have minimized white's edge with [15...Ng4 16.Bxg4 Bxg4 17.Nxg4 Qxg4 18.h3 Qd7 19.a4+/=]
16.Qb3
A little better was [16.h3+/=]
16...Nd6 17.d5! Bd7?
[17...cxd5 18.cxd5 Bg4 19.f3 Bd7+/=]
18.dxc6!? 
I looked at the right move but missed all the nuances. [18.c5! Nf5 19.dxc6 Bxc6 (19...Be6 20.Rxd8+ Qxd8 21.Bc4 Bxc4 22.Qxc4+-) 20.Nxf7+-]
18...bxc6 19.c5 Be6 20.Qa4 Nf5 21.Nxc6 
My move isn't bad, but even better was [21.Rxd8+ Qxd8 22.Nxc6 Bd7 23.Nxd8 Bxa4 24.Nxf7+-]
21...Rxd1 22.Rxd1 Qc7? 
Now white's advantage becomes huge. [22...Bd7 23.Bb5 Bxc6 24.Bxc6 Nxe3 25.fxe3 Rb8 26.Qxa7 Bh6 (26...Rxb2 27.Qxe7 Rb8 28.Bf3+-) 27.Kh1 Bxe3 28.h3+/-]
23.Bf4! Qb7 24.b4! Rc8 25.Bf3?! 
I missed his Nh4 idea. Better was [25.Na5! Ne4 (25...Qa8 26.Bf3+-) 26.Nxb7 Nxc3 27.Qa6+-]
25...Nh4 26.Ne5 
Better was [26.b5! Nxf3+ 27.gxf3+-]
26...Nxf3+ 27.Nxf3 Nd5? 
[27...Bd7 28.Qa5+/-]
28.c6! Rxc6 29.Nxd5 Bxd5 30.Rxd5 Rc1+ 31.Rd1 Qd7 32.Qxd7 1-0

Three games in one day was tough, but I couldn't have started better, winning all three!