Monday, November 10, 2008
My Best Game From The Marshall Championship
To start clearing my backlog, here's my most fun game from the Marshall Championship. My opponent was a pleasant young fellow who recently wrote an engaging article for Chess Life about his struggle to get his rating over 2200. (Here's a popup javascript viewer of the game.)
White: NM Evan Rosenberg
Black: NM Ed Gaillard
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Be7 5.g4?!
after 5. g4?!
Surprise!
I think this is advocated in one of those books on surprise lines- _Secrets of Opening Stupidity_ or _Dangerous Boomerangs: 1.d4 d5_ or something of that ilk.
5...c5
9 minutes. It seemed right to play a Semi-Tarrasch with g4 in for White.
6.g5 Ne4 7.cxd5 Nxc3 8.bxc3 Qxd5 9.Rg1?!
Despite the airyness of the Kingside, White should probably play 9.Bg2 and O-O. Then Black is only slightly better.
9...cxd4
16 minutes. Decided I wanted as many open lines as possible with his King permanently in the center; 9...Nc6 10.Bg2 cxd4 11.Nxd4! is not exactly "good" for White, but seems less awful. However, there may have been a slight flaw in my reasoning.
10.cxd4
10.Qxd4 was probably an improvement (though still -/+); this is why 9...Nc6 was possibly more accurate.
10...Nc6 11.Bg2 O-O 12.h4?
He spent 12 minutes, and was only 5 minutes ahead of me on the clock. This is "pseudo-agressive"; what is White going to do, deliver mate on the g-file? Developing some pieces might be a good idea.
12...Rd8 13.e3 Qf5
10 minutes. 13...Qc4 14.Bf1 didn't seem to lead anywhere special.
14.Qe2
after 14.Qe2
Wait a second...
14...Nb4
9 minutes, leaving 58. I had a sudden turn--I realized I hadn't considered 15.Ne5 in response (only e4 and Bd2), so I had to work that out (decided on 15...Qc2 in that case)
15.e4 (15 minutes, leaving 1 hr 5 minutes.) 15...Qa5 16.Bd2 b6
only 3 minutes on this move. 16...Nc2+ is also very strong, perhaps better than this.
17.Rc1 (24 minutes, leaving 41.) 17...Ba6 (6 minutes. I think I was, ah, away from the board.) 18.Qe3 Qxa2
11 minutes, ...Rac8 being the main alternative.
19.Bf1 (7 minutes, 34 left.) 19...Rac8 (4 minutes, 34 left.) 20.Rxc8 Rxc8
Played quickly; Crafty really likes ...Bxc8., which never crossed my mind.
21.Bxa6
after 21.Bxa6
Time to work it out
Ah, I had forgotten that the Rook was going to be loose if I won the Queen. I took 18 minutes, leaving 16, and worked out what I thought was a clearer win. Gratifyingly, Crafty seems to agree with my analysis.
21...Qa1+ 22.Ke2 Qxa6+ 23.Kd1 Qa4+ 24.Ke2 Qb5+ 25.Kd1 Nc2 26.Qf4 Qb1+ 27.Ke2 (6 minutes for him, leaving 19.) 27...Qb5+ 28.Kd1 Qb1+ 29.Ke2 Nxd4+ 30.Nxd4 Qxg1
after 30...Qxg1
Aftermath
And there we are. (I calculated this before 21...Qa1+.)
31.Nf3 Qa1 32.Ne5 Rf8
32....f6 is simpler.
33.Nd7 Rd8 (3 minutes, leaving 7.) 34.Ne5 Rf8 35.Nd7 e5
This pretty much ends White's counterplay.
36.Qg3 Rd8 37.Nxe5 Bd6 38.Bc3
I was actually rocked by this, but it appears it only took me a minute (of my 4 remaining) to work it out. (If the mating line weren't there, 38...Qa4 is also easily winning.)
38...Bxe5 39.Qxe5 Qd1+ 40.Ke3 Rd3+ 0-1
