Cross,Ted (1998) -
Whyms,Chappell (1557) [B19]
Old Fort Bay Invitational Nassau (2), 23.02.2019
1.e4 c6 I have always liked facing the Caro-Kann, as I seem to do well against it for some reason.
2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.h4 h6 7.Nf3 Nd7 8.Bd3 Bxd3 9.Qxd3 e6 10.Bf4 Qa5+ 11.Bd2 Bb4
This was the first new move for me. I had always seen black play the queen back to c7. This move seems like a loss of time to me.
12.c3 Be7 13.0-0
Perhaps my choice to castle kingside is a bit odd, with the weakening due to the pawn on h4. The computer prefers some rather strange-looking moves that I don't think a human would play, especially the Nh5 move. [13.c4 Qc7 14.Nh5 0-0-0 15.Bc3 Kb8 16.0-0-0 Ngf6 17.Nxf6 Bxf6=]
13...Ngf6 14.Rfe1 0-0 15.Nf5
This was a dangerous choice. I probably should have opted to keep more material on the board and play for complications over the long term. I suspected Chappell would choose to go into the endgame. It was dangerous because I get only the barest of advantages--a pawn majority on the queenside and a bishop against a knight. That's not necessarily enough to win, and I really needed to win this game to kick off the event.
15... Qxf5 16.Qxf5 exf5 17.Rxe7 Rfe8 18.Rae1 Rxe7 19.Rxe7 Re8 20.Rxe8+ Nxe8
So this was pretty much forced, and here is the endgame I mentioned. Not so simple to win.
21.Kf1 Kf8 22.Ke2 Ke7 23.Bf4 Nef6 24.Ne5 Ke6
I was happy he didn't play the knight to d5, as I felt that made it harder. [24...Nd5 25.Bh2+/=]
25.Nxd7 Nxd7 26.Kd3 h5 27.c4 a6 28.g3 b5 29.b3 a5?
Black's queenside pawn expansion is wrong and makes my job much easier. Better was for him to sit back and force me to develop a plan.
30.Bc7
I didn't notice the quicker idea here of d5+, but it's not a big deal since the plan I did see works fine. [30.d5+! cxd5 31.cxb5+-]
30...a4 31.bxa4 bxa4 32.Kc3 Nf6 33.f3
Better was to go straight after the a pawn, but I hadn't wanted to give black any counterplay at all if I could help it. [>=33.Kb4 Ne4 34.Kxa4 Nxf2 35.Ka5 Kd7 36.Kb6 Nd1 37.c5 Nc3 38.Kb7 g5 (38...Nxa2 39.Ba5 Nc1 40.d5+-) 39.hxg5 Nd5 40.Bd6 f4 41.Bxf4+-]
33...Ne8?
It's hard to see this line, but here was black's shot at making a win difficult for me. [33...Nh7! 34.Kb4 g5 35.Kxa4 Kd7 36.Bb8 f4 37.Kb4 Kc8 38.Bd6 Kd7 39.c5 fxg3 40.Bxg3 gxh4 41.Bxh4 Kc8 42.a4 Nf8 43.d5 cxd5 44.c6 Ne6 45.Bg3 h4 46.Bxh4 Kc7 47.Kb5 Nd4+ 48.Kc5 Ne6+ 49.Kxd5 Nf4+ 50.Ke4 Ng6 51.Bg5 Kxc6 52.Kf5 Nf8 53.Be7 Nd7 54.Ke4 Nb6 55.a5 Nd7 56.Bb4+/=]
34.Bf4 g6 35.Kb4 f6 36.Kxa4 Kd7 37.Kb4 Ng7 38.d5 cxd5 39.cxd5 Ne8 40.Kc5 Nc7 41.Bxc7 Kxc7 42.f4 1-0
It's always good to start well in any chess event! This goes especially so when I had what I consider my toughest test in the very next round. Black against the sole Fide Master of the Bahamas is never going to be easy. Below is a pic of me playing Carver in round 2.
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| photo by Gurth Smith |
Moncur,FM Cecil
(1826) - Cross,Ted (1998) [D87]
Old Fort Bay Invitational Nassau (3), 23.02.2019
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 I haven't played the Gruenfeld in many years, and even back then I only played it a couple of times. I chose it this time to avoid Carver's preparation, plus I liked the line he played in the Olympiad this year and thought it could give me a tiny edge or at least a type of equality that I felt was playable for me. I liked the idea of having done computer prep in the line while Carver wouldn't have had the same opportunity.
4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Bc4 c5 8.Ne2 Nc6 9.Be3 0-0 10.h4
This was the line Carver played in the Olympiad, and I liked all the lines I saw in my preparation.
10...cxd4 11.cxd4 Qa5+ 12.Kf1 h5
This was my deviation from the game Carver played in the Olympiad.
13.Qb3?!
The computer never showed me this move, so I had to assume it wasn't the best.
13...Qb4?!
However, I failed to fully understand the reason why it wasn't great. I did briefly look at moving the queen back to threaten knight to a5, but it felt wrong to me somehow. But it was correct. [13...Qd8 14.Qd1 Na5 15.Bd3=]
14.Rd1 Qxb3 15.Bxb3 Na5 16.Bd5?
This was a waste of time that just gives black some free development. [16.Ba4 Nc4 17.Bc1 a6 18.f3 b5 19.Bb3 Bd7=]
16...e6 17.Bb3 Nxb3 18.axb3 Rd8
Not a bad move, but not the best either. The rook really wants to be on c8, so it was best to develop the bishop first. [>=18...Bd7 19.f3 Rfc8 20.Kf2 a5 21.Rd2 b5=/+]
19.f3 Bd7 20.Kf2 a5 21.Bg5 Rdc8 22.Rc1 b5 23.Rxc8+ Rxc8 24.Rc1 Rxc1
The computer says I could have had a significant advantage here with [24...a4 25.Rxc8+ Bxc8 26.Bc1 Ba6 27.b4 f5 28.g3 Bb7 29.Ke3-/+]
25.Bxc1 Kf8
And again here with [25...a4 26.bxa4 bxa4 27.Ke3 Bf8 28.Nc3 Be7 29.g3 f6-/+]
26.Ke1 Ke7 27.Kd1 Bc6 28.Kc2 b4 29.Be3 Kd6 30.Kd2 Bb5=/+
I offered the draw because I knew the advantage I had was very minimal here, and I didn't see any clear plan to actually win the game without taking risks I wasn't prepared to take. Getting by my most feared opponent as black with a draw was completely acceptable to me.
1/2-1/2
What a fascinating game round 3 turned out to be!
Cross,Ted (1998) -
Karelina,Polina (1678) [C54]
Old Fort Bay Invitational Nassau (4), 24.02.2019
1.e4 e5
Already we see something new. Polina has always played the Pirc, so I suspected she had opted to book up on lines she had seen in my database games. I just didn't know which lines yet.
2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5
But now I knew! The Giuoco Piano. See, my database games all show me playing the ultrasolid 7. Bd2 line, because that is what I have taken to playing over the last thirty years.
4.c3 Nf6 5.d4 exd4 6.cxd4 Bb4+ 7.Nc3
So I threw Polina a curveball by playing this crazy line that I used to play more than thirty years ago. I knew she may not have looked at the lines, and playing a highly tactical variation with no prior knowledge is dangerous. I have to give her credit for how well she did.
7...Nxe4 8.0-0 Nxc3?!
Now this is a known mistake. The reason I gave up playing this line is because after the correct 8...Bxc3, there is a long line where black ends up better. [>=8...Bxc3 9.d5 Bf6 10.Re1 Ne7 11.Rxe4 d6 with a wild game that if played perfectly should favor black in the end.]
9.bxc3 Bxc3?
Here is the first true mistake, though. Black could still gain close to equality with [9...d5 10.cxb4 dxc4 11.Re1+ Ne7 12.Qa4+ Bd7 13.b5 0-0 14.Qxc4=]
10.Qb3
I was aware that Ba3 immediately is considered to be even stronger, but I simply couldn't remember all the lines, so I chose the line that still wins and is generally easier to remember. [10.Ba3! d5 a) 10...d6 11.Rc1 Ba5 (11...Bb4 12.Bxb4 Nxb4 13.Qe1+ Qe7 14.Qxb4+-) 12.Qa4 Bd7 (12...a6 13.Bd5+-; 12...0-0 13.d5+-) 13.d5 Ne5 14.Qxa5 Nxf3+ 15.gxf3 0-0 16.Kh1+-; b) 10...Bxa1 11.Re1+ Ne7 12.Bxe7 Qxe7 13.Rxe7+ Kxe7 14.Qxa1+-; 11.Bb5 Bxa1 12.Re1+ Be6 13.Qc2 Qd7 (13...Qf6 14.Bxc6+ Kd8 15.Bxb7 Rb8 16.Bxd5+-) 14.Ne5 Bxd4 15.Nxd7 Kxd7 16.Rc1+-]
10...Bxd4
A good choice by Polina. Taking the rook leads to quick disaster, plus I had more trouble remembering the complicated lines in this variation. [10...Bxa1 11.Bxf7+ Kf8 12.Bg5 Ne7 13.Ne5 Bxd4 14.Bg6 d5 15.Qf3+ Bf5 16.Bxf5 Bxe5 17.Be6+ Bf6 18.Bxf6+-]
11.Bxf7+ Kf8 12.Bg5?!
See what thirty years will do to your memory. I just couldn't recall the lines. White should win easily here, but instead I made it much harder than it needed to be. [12.Bh5 d5 (12...g6 13.Nxd4 Nxd4 14.Qb4+ Kf7 15.Qxd4 gxh5 16.Bb2 Rg8 17.Qd5+ Kg6 18.Rae1+-) 13.Nxd4 Nxd4 14.Qb4+ Qd6 15.Qxd4+-]
12...Bf6 13.Rae1 Ne7 14.Re2?!
My slight inaccuracies don't throw away the win, luckily, but they do make it progressively harder. [14.Bh5 d5 15.Re3 Ng6 16.Rfe1 Bd7 17.Bxf6 gxf6 18.Nh4 Ne5 19.Rxe5 fxe5 20.Qf3+ Kg7 21.Qg3+ Kf8 22.Re3 e4 23.Qf4+ Ke7 24.Qe5+ Be6 25.Bg4 Qd7 26.Bxe6 Qxe6 27.Nf5+ Kd7 28.Qg7++-]
14...d5 15.Rfe1?
Now I make a real mistake that turns this into a difficult endgame. I didn't think I had the time to play what the computer says is the right move. [15.Bh5+-]
15...Kxf7 16.Bxf6?!
I missed that taking with the rook on e7 right away would lead to a better version of the endgame. [16.Rxe7+! Qxe7 17.Rxe7+ Kxe7 18.Qxd5 Re8 19.h3+/-]
16...gxf6 17.Rxe7+ Qxe7 18.Rxe7+ Kxe7 19.Qxd5 c6 20.Qe4+ Kf7 21.h3 Be6 22.Qf4
I hit upon the correct plan!
22...Rad8?
This mistake makes my job a bit easier. [22...Rhg8 23.Qc7+ Ke8 24.Nd4 Bd7 25.Qxb7 Rc8+-]
23.Ng5+ Ke7 24.Qb4+
I know that Polina saw the knight check on g5, but I believe she missed this follow up.
24...Rd6
Avoiding giving up the exchange doesn't help. [24...Kd7 25.Qxb7+ Kd6 26.Ne4+ Ke5 27.f3 Rhf8 28.Qc7+ Kf5 29.Qxh7++-]
25.Ne4 Rhd8 26.Nxd6 Rxd6 27.Qxb7+ Rd7 28.Qxc6 Bxa2 29.Qe4+ Kd8 30.Qa8+
I didn't notice the simplicity of Qf3 here. Black is amazingly helpless. [>=30.Qf3] My line was fine but takes more time.
30...Ke7 31.Qh8 Bb1 32.Qg7+ Ke6 33.Qg4+ Bf5 34.Qc4+ Kd6 35.g4 Be6 36.Qb4+ Kd5 37.f4 Rc7 38.f5 Bc8 39.Qa5+ Kd6 40.Kf2 Bd7 41.Ke3 Bc6 42.Kd4 Bg2 43.h4
I'm winning anyway, but what an amazing move there was here! [43.g5!! fxg5 44.Qa2]
43...Bf1 44.Qd5+ Ke7 45.Qe6+ Kd8 46.Qxf6+ Kc8 47.Qe6+ Kb7 48.f6 1-0
Not recalling my old lines was worrisome, and Polina played very well, so it was great to grind it out successfully.
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