Tournaments / Chicago Open In queen-less middlegames, the king
itself can sometimes help in defense of weak squares. Since in this position there are a lot of weaknesses on the dark squares in the queenside, it seemed wise to send the king over there to patch things up. Normal development does not help White, he must act now.
15. f4 Bc5 16. Kh1 Black has no problems after 16. Be3 Be6. 16. ... Be6 17. fxe5
was just better for Black, but I missed that White could follow up with: 21. d4 And though Black has an extra piece, the pawns are marching. The position is still extremely complicated. 18. Rxa6 bxc4 19. e3 Kb7 20. exd4
Kxa6 21. dxc5 Kb7 was another alterna- tive. Again with complex play, it seems like White has a lot of initiative.
18. ... Be7 19. e3 Nc2 19. ... Ne2 I was worried my knight
would find itself trapped after: 20. Ned6+ Bxd6 21. Nxd6+ Rxd6 22. exd6 Bxa2 23. Bd2 but simple counting reveals that after 23. ... Bd5 24. Re1 Bxg2+ 25. Kxg2 Nh6 26. Rxe2 Kd7 Black is up a solid pawn. White does have strong chances to draw though.
20. Ncd6+ 20. Rxa6 bxc4 21. Rxc6+ Kd7 22. exf6
Nxf6 is not so dangerous. White will have three pawns for the piece, but the piece should weigh more.
20. ... Bxd6 21. Rxa6 Kb7 A critical moment in the game. I played
the next move knowing that I was betting mostly on practical chances more than practical value. White still retains compen- sation for the pawn, and I didn’t want him the opportunity of getting a comfort- able position. Long story short, I played my next move because my opponent had less than a minute left!
17. ... b5
The start of complications which were impossible to calculate with the time we had remaining. 17. ... fxe5 18. Ne4 Be7 19. Ng5 Bxg5 20. Bxg5 Nf6 21. Bxf6 gxf6 22. Rxf6 Bxc4 23. dxc4 Nxe2 was still better for Black with an extra pawn, but White has strong files and a blockade on my passed pawn. The position is not so easy.
18. Ne4 18. e3 was an important intermezzo. I
missed this as a resource during the game—or rather I missed how strong it was. 18. ... Nb3 (White has excellent play after 18. ... bxc4 19. exd4 Bxd4 20. Rxa6 cxd3 21. Rxc6+ Kd7 22. Rd1) 19. Rxa6 bxc4 20. Rxc6+ Kd7 At first I thought this
At A Glance Also effective is 21. ... Nb4 22. Nxd6+ Rxd6
23. Ra8+ Kb7 24. Ra5 Rd5 25. Bxd5 Nxd5. 22. Ng5 A bad mistake due to time trouble. Now
Black has several winning moves, I chose the simplest in time trouble. 22. exd6 Kxa6 23. Nc5+ Kb6 24. Nxe6 Rxd6 25. Nxg7 Ne7 leaves Black up an Exchange. As usual, White has some compensation but I doubt it is enough in this position. The continuation I expected was 22.
Nc5+. 22. ... Bxc5 23. Rxc6 Bd5 (23. ... Bb4 24. Rxe6+ Ka7 looks scary, but Black is still up a a piece somehow. White should
The dust has almost settled. White’s
aggressive pieces have been eliminated and Black is up a piece. The last hope is to trap the stranded knight on c2, but I give him no chance.
26. ... Nf5 27. e4 Nfd4
27. ... Nxd6 28. Rc1 Nd4 29. Be3 is strangely scary. Black must be careful. 28. e5 fxe5 29. Rf7 Rd8 A dash of accuracy. White plays on in
time trouble inertia, but the game has been decided.
30. Bg5 Be6 31. Rxg7 Rxd6 32. Rxh7 Ne1 33. Be4 Bd5 34. Be7 Rd7 35. Bxd5 Rxd5 36. g4 Nxd3 37. h4 Nf2+ 38. Kg2 Nxg4 39. Kh3 Nf2+ 40. Kg3 Ne4+ 41. Kg4 Rd7 42. Rf7 Nd6 43. Rf6 Rxe7 44. Rxd6 Rg7+ 45. Kh3 Rh7 46. Rf6 e4, White resigned.
A wild, wild queen-less middlegame.
The tactics are unusual, as in a position with queens most checks would be lethal. In this game though, the king fended for himself on several occasions, and ended up victorious. Read more about the Chicago Open on Chess Life Online, May archives,
uschess.org.
21st Chicago Open
Date:May 24-28, 2012 | Location:Westin Chicago North Shore Hotel, Wheeling, Illinois | Top Finishers: Open, 1st, 7: Gabriel Sargissian; 2nd-8th, 61⁄2: Robert L. Hess, Tamaz Gelashvili, Alejandro Ramirez, Milos Perunovic, Nikola Mitkov, Mesgen Amanov, Daniel J. Ludwig; Under 2300, 1st, 6: Kevin Wasiluk; 2nd-4th, 51⁄2: William J. Aramil, Tenzing W. Shaw, Davis M. Whaley; Under 2100, 1st, 61⁄2: David Amate Petty; 2nd-3rd, 6: Mark Plotkin, Eldon Nakagawa; Under 1900, 1st-2nd, 6: Robert Hill, Juan Hernandez III; Under 1700, 1st, 7: Jeremy L. Ashley; 2nd-4th, 6: Sherwin S. Duke, Jason J. Clark, Siddharth Patel; Under 1500, 1st, 61⁄2: Talhah T. Chaudhry; 2nd-3rd, 6: David Vogel, Novica Kecojevic; Under 1300, 1st, 61⁄2: Walter Bourdaghs; 2nd, 6: Mark Ferguson; Under 1100, 1st, 61⁄2: Mark Reed; 2nd-3rd, 6: Ross Steinberg, Danny Feng; Under 900, 1st, 7: Segun Ryan Kamara; 2nd-4th, 6: Jim Alop, Lorenzo M. Sampson, Goran Cejvan. | Chief Tournament Director: William Goichberg
www.uschess.org 33
be OK at least though.) 24. Rxc5 Bxg2+ 25. Kxg2 Na1 is a sad necessity. White is bet- ter if they find the super computer move 26. e4!, otherwise the position is unclear.
22. ... Bd7 23. Nf7 23. Ra2 fxg5 24. exd6 Nf6 is techni-
cally better than what was played in the game, but White did not plan for this when playing Ng5.
23. ... Kxa6 24. exd6 Nh6 25. Nxh8 Rxh8 26. Bd2
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