DD Den Haag Open Kampioenschap 2024, II round

 

II Round

I vs Van der Velden, Rens

 

The day before I took a long walk during the daylight to finally establish the itinerer by foot. I lost the way again on the easiest part – on the way back. But I memorized the streets. My path was much longer but memorable. I lost again and this defeat hurts, it's so patzerish to lose won position. But it wasn't won since I didn't won, was it? Again and again I say: playing chess, my unreqited love, is torturinf if I can't arrange to play 3 tournaments in a row with little or no space between them, plus that I have a little Subotica torunament in pesnionists' home with tim control of 60 minutes+30 sec for a game, as a prep-tournament, like Ivkov before he won World Junior Championship. Otherways it's of no avail to humiliate myself like I am being doing now. Yes, I have oher things to do, to edit 4 Danish and one 1 Norwegian book and to translate 1 Danish book, and to write a novel and short story collection of my own. But during last week it seems that one antique dream of mine – containing Bor, father and cousins – with green pond and impossibility to find home and pay bus ticket for return is now coming true. My days are finished, only important things are books, so why this despair over lost chess games? Because this is an obsession, bad repetitive dream like in one of David Lynch's movies.

Before this round I walked around and practisd tai chi kung breathing. The weather was nice. On the first floor of a building I saw small figure with a head of a wolf in the wall window. The wolf looked at me. I stopped uncertain if I see right. Then the apparition tool the head of: it was a girl masked.

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. b4

Santasiere's Folly Opening, which used to bring me moderate success. Leonid Stein could apply it when playing against stooges in Capablanca's memorials during sixties. A correspondence player Pavao Keglević also used this opening. „Indians“ – that is pracitioners of King's Indian Defense – loath this opening and reckon it's just a balloon which will explode sooner or later.

2. ...g6 3. Bb2 Bg7 4. c4 O-O 5. Qb3?! (6. g3 was normal and white has no reasons to fear.) d6 6. d4 c5!

As I mentioned in the comment of previous game, Lev Polugaevsky once said: „My most difficult opponent is myself. When I am playing I often involuntarily make a world champion out of a candidate master!“ So the exclamation mark is mine. Better was 6. ...a5. (Of course 7. b5 is then good.) Now I should have played 7. bxc5 bxc5 8. d5 with equalish game.

7. e3 cxb4 8. Qxb4 (?)

Here I should've played reversed Benko opening and sacrifice this pawn. But... In shaken state after first round I wasn't in the mood of giving up anything. As Serbian GM Dragoljub Ćirić had said once, when he was earning his bread and butter as chess instructor in USA for a brief time: „I try to teach my students to sacrifice a pawn or even a piece sometime, but they simply can't. It's capitalistic spirit in them, they are not used to give, they want to receive. We Slavs are more inclined to a romantic chess...!“ Or as in an old joke about Serbian priests – which is not so peculiar, having in mind that we adopted Christianity in years 1989/1990 – million years after Armenians – when Serbian Communist Party changed its name into Socialist Party and took premises of Socijalistički Savez Radnog Naroda – well, the joke about Serbian priests is as follows: „Peasants minding their own business go by the river when they see, o Gee, a priest drowning in this river. They come to the shore and yell 'Give us a hand, father, damn it!' But priest strangely enough didn't gove them his hand and died in cruel river. The explanation is that priests are used only to receive, not to give. Naive peasants should have yelled. 'Take the hand, father, fuck it!'“ So I adhered to my pawn as American public atorney to the law, or a drunken to a picket fence.

 8. ...Nc6 9. Qb3 (I spent many minutes considering 8. Qa3) 9. ...a5

This move is from a schoolbook but it isn't that good as I – in Polugaevsky's spirit – thought of it during the game. Now I thought 20 minutes or more, after I made a „tree“ of options:: 10. Nc3, 10. d5, 10. Nbd2, 10. a4 and 10. Be2  Ever since I didn't dare played reversed Benko, I suffer from lack of tempi in order to castle. I calculated and calculated, but only managed to see ghosts and good sides of my opponent's position. Amazing, but I tried to calculate such ridicilous variation as „10. Nc3 e5 11. Nd5?“ At least I evaluated well that 10. d5 would have literaly chased black knight to good field on c5.

10. a4 Nb4 11. Nbd2?

 

Really lame move, crying with stupidity. Both 11. Be2 and 11. Nc3 were better, since white king must castle and white must engage in the central fields and not sniffing flowers in a XIX century countryside.

 

11. ...Bf5 12. Rc1 Ne4?

A-ha, black isn't capable to evaluate position propperly either. 12. ...e5!! would have given huge advantage. After 13. dxe5 Nd7! White doesn't have a good move. 

13. Nxe4 Bxe4 14. Nd2?

 

Better was 14. Be2 and I return the advantage. As I said, castling is a priority. Now black again has comfortable game and is positionally winning.

14. ...Bc6 15. f3 Qd7 16. Ra1 d5!

Again a schoolbook move. It is obvious that my opponent attended training classes in his club. Black is ruining white center and also preparing better endgame. (17. c5? e5!) Strategically, white is lost.

17. Bc3?! Rfe8!

 

Here I spent 20 minutes again. I realized I am doomed. Threat is 18. ...e5 and my king will be exposed and center is just a prop. In a ridiculous „analysis“ I saw 18. cxd5 Nxd5 19. Bb2 e5 20. e4?! but black can sacrifice that knight.

18. cxd5 Bxd5? 19. Bb5?

 

As soon I played this move, I saw that I lose exchange after 19. ...Qxb5. But I wanted at any price to move my king to reasonable safeness. And – black even didn't have to play 19. ...Qxb5: after 19. ...Qe6! I can resign. My Queen is attacked and pawn on e3 is undefended.   

 

19. ...Qxb5? 20. axb5 Nd3+??

Blunder. Black should have taken exchange after 20. ...Bxb3 etc.

Now I have won position. The tables turned. But the series of mistakes is just beginning!

 

21. Ke2 Bxb3 22. Nxb3 Nb4 

23. Nxa5?
 When you have material advantage than you prefer exchanges. 23. Rxa5 was therefore much better. 

23. ...Nd5 24. Bd2

 

Here black – who was visibly downhearted after having advantage during the game – made a terrible blunder and played 24. ...Ra7 instead of 24. ...e5! He should open the position and again try to exploit exposed white king.

 24. ...Ra7?? 25. Nc4 Rea8 26. Rxa7 Rxa7 27. e4 Nf6 28. Rc1 Nd7 29. Be3 Ra2+ 30. Kf1? Kf8??

 

Just look at this position. Black almost killed himself on last rank. I thought of 31. Ne5, I swear, but in euphoria over having winning position and in zeitnot (to be hoenest we both were) I calculated wrongly, I didn't see that after 31. Ne5!! Nb6 I can play 32. Nd7+ and won a knight. I am such a fool.

31. Na5?? Nb6?? 32. d5? Rxa5 33. Bxb6 Ra8 34. Rc7 Be5 35. Rxb7 Ra1+ 36. Kf2?! Ra2+ 37. Ke3 Bxh2 38. Bc7 Bg1+ 39. Kd3 Rxg2

 

After this sequence of moves – of which are almost all blunders or mistakes – now I had chance to win the game with 40. Rb8+ Kg7 41. Re8 and I will capture pawn on e7 and will be able to defend b pawn.

40. Be5? f6

Here I played:::::

41. d6!! exd6 42. Bxd6+ Kg8

But then immediatelly ruined everything. 

In this position 43. f4 is good and my 43. b6?? is bad, very bad.

43. b6?? Rb2 44. Bc7 h5 45. Rb8+ Kf7 46. Kc3 Rb1

And so the time came that I should lose again. Now 47. Rb7 was good for  a draw, but with 47. b7 I am a pawn less.

 47. b7?? Ba7 48. Rh8 Rxb7 49. Bd6 Kg7? 50. Re8 h4 51. e5!?

 Last chance to muddy the water.

 51. ...fxe5?? (51. ...Rd7 is keeping the advantage.) 52. Bxe5+ (It's a draw. I mean, draw for a normal chess player.)  53. Bf4+ (53. Kd3!?  ) Kh7 (Of course: 53. ...Kh6 54. Rh8+ Rh7 55. R:h7 #; I expected only 53. ...Kg7 and tripple repetition --> what a blindness from me...)

 And here my flag fell. Am I lost or it's a draw?

P.S.

53. Kd3 is a draw.