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Time: Your Untapped Resource
Attempting to save time by playing quickly in the opening is a fool’s errand. By GM LEV ALBURT
FINALLY, A GAME WITH TIME SPENT/ left after each move! David Lutzewitz, the winner of this month’s award, writes: (My further comments are in italics.) This game ended in a draw due to my
time trouble and the opposite-colored bish- ops. I indicated the time left on the clock so you can see my time problems. After the game, I analyzed it with Fritz 10.
Sicilian Defense (B30) Morris Tirimacco (1380) David Lutzewitz (1315) 49th Northeastern Open (5), 01.12.2014
1. e4 c5 (89:41) 2. c4 (89) Nc6 (88:50) Facing a rare 2. c4, David thinks for just
one(!) minute; this time making a good move. (Not all quick decisions are bad, or well-deliberated ones good—but statisti- cally, they are bad.)
3. Nf3 d6 (87:51) Another one-minute decision, this time a
wrong one, as White is clearly better after 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4, with a favorable Maroczy- type game. Two good alternatives: 3. ... g6 or 3. ... e5, closing the game—as David did on the next move, after two minutes’ thought. Wasn’t it better to spend those extra two minutes on moves two and three? (Of course, White so far plays faster, but this is not a reason to follow his bad example).
4. Nc3 e5 (85:30) 5. Be2 Nf6
This move took Black less than a minute —under a time control where you’re given almost three minutes per move! Playing 5. ... Nf6, Black settles for symmetry a tempo down—a reasonable, but hardly the only, choice. Why not at least consider, for six- eight minutes, how to take advantage of your yet unblocked f-pawn, e.g. to fianchetto your f8-bishop, and then perhaps ... Ng8- e7 and later ... f7-f5, fighting for the initiative?
6. d3 (88) Nd4 (81:47)
Strong knight on an outpost square. Yes—at the price of kingside development.
20 June 2014 | Chess Life
20. Bxd4 White’s super-fast play finally begins to
show flaws. Rather than exchanging his best bishop, White should start the above- mentioned (note to 17. Bg5) typical attack with g2-g4-g5—after removing the knight from g4, of course—with an attack and ad - vantage now, too.
I spent too much time figuring out a
way to play ... d6-d5 to break up the posi- tion, but White’s position is solid. Note how Black began to think for longer
chunks of time: three, three, four, five, five, and 15(!!) minutes on moves 11-16. Wasn’t
20. ... cxd4 (26:33) 21. Nd5 Bxd5 (26:18) 22. exd5
(see diagram top of next page)
22. ... Bf8 (25:16) 23. Rf2 (66) (23. b4!—L.A.) 23. ... a5
10. ... b5 (74:24) I’d prefer 10. ... exf4. After 11. f5 (as in
the game), White’s space advantage and the potential for a kingside attack are threatening.
11. f5 bxc4 (71:02) 12. dxc4 (84) Bb7 (68.36) 13. Bd3 (79) Qb6 (64:29) 14. b3 Rfd8 (59:09) 15. Be3 Rac8 (54:01) 16. Qd2 Rd7 (38:48)
7. 0-0 (87) Be7 (79:49) 8. h3 0-0 (76) 9. Nh2 a6
I assumed White would play either 10.
Ng4 or 10. f4. While White plays on the kingside, I would play on the queenside and attack his pawn center.
Alas, White’s attack is more promising. 10. f4 (86)
it wiser to use this time earlier, when the character of the game was being deter- mined, rather than later, when little can be changed?
17. Bg5
Better was the simple 17. g4, with a typ- ical, and very strong, attack. 17. ... Ne8! (30:05) This move allows, after 18. Bxe7 Rxe7
19. f6! Nxf6, a promising Exchange sacri- fice, 20. Rxf6. More accurate thus was 17. ... Qd8, preparing ... Ne8.
18. Ng4 f6! (29:25) Good move, since it avoids a bunch of
problems if White plays f6 and attacks my position. True, but I’d first exchange my bad bishop: 18. ... Bxg5 19. Qxg5 f6.
19. Be3 (68) Kh8 (27:07)
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