A certain win

 

V round

 

I vs Kokush, Darikhan

 

So again without any preparation I walked to the venue, cute old school chess club. Itinerer consists of Z-forming streets, about 45 minutes of slow walk, during which I practised tai chu kung breathing. Weather was hot, almost tropical, in sharp contrast with melancholic rainy and windy Tuesday, that like on Irish coast with deserted beach chairs and gray sea, almost as we were expecting cement tsunami. Healing soul music was pouring from eateries on the promenade, offering fish&chips with 7 sauces and retro cocktails from seventies. I decided I will play 1. g3. and then c4 as soon as possible.

 1. g3

 

Hungarian Opening

 1. ...d5 2. Bg2 e5

Here I was considering three moves. Larsen's invention 3. Nf3, 3. d4!? and 3. c4. Larsen wrote a book about this Alekhine reversed (3. Nf3) during sixties. Then he admitted: „My ideas were stupid, so I had to return to more normal openings...“ 3. d4 practically forces black to captuere on d4, since 3. ...e4 4. c4! c6 5. a3 gives white initiative. 3. ...exd4 4. Qxd4 gives nice lively game. I eventually played 3. c4, and I calculated what if 3. ...d4 – reversed Ben Oni. 4. d3 c5 5. Nf3 Bd6 and can I play 6. e3 here? I was afraid of 6. ...dxe3, but in fact 6. ...Nc6 would've been the best.

3. c4 c6

Nothing of reversed Ben Oni. Here I came to crazy idea to play 4. Qb3. I calculated 4. ...Nf6 5. Nc3 and now what if 5. ...d4 – I „saw“ 6. Qb5+ Nc6 7. Bxc6+ bxc6 and now I cannot play 8. Qxc6+ Bd7! and I lose knight on c3, but 8. Qxe5+ and I estimitad the position as "equalish".

Look:

No, comrades, I am here almost lost. (Says who? A public free engine for Third World in libraries and bars.)

4. cxd5 cxd5 5. Qb3 Nf6 6. Nc3 e4?

 

So, instead 6. ...d4 – which wasn't that bad as I thought, and instead of 6. ...Nc6! which gives advantage to him, he made a big mistake. Believe it or not, but 6. ...Nc6 was best move, and black should happily sacrifice a pawn. 7. Nxd5 Nxd5 8. Qxd5 Bd6! 9. Nf3 Nb4! 10. Qe4 f5 and black has initative (=my king is too late for castling, my pieces are undeveloped...)

7. f3?!

I never considered 7. d3, but that was better. After 7. ...exd3 I was supposed to play 8. Bg5!

 7. ...exf3 8. Nxf3 b6?

Bad move. Black has no time for that. 8. ...Nc6 was better and then I would play 9. d4.

 9. O-O Bb7 10. e4??

 

Now look at the position! Public engine for Third World says I blundered here. I was however proud of the move and was sure I am winning.

Engine says I should've played 10. d4 with next 11. Nh4 and Nf5.

But I „calculated“ 10. ...Nxe4 11. Nxe4 dxe4 12. Ng5 and I win. But I couldn't play 12. Ng5 because my pawn blocks bishop on c1 and black queen can capture my knight! Would I have found 12. d4! or 12. Ne5 – I doubt it. Also 10. ...dxe4 11. Ng5 isn't winning on the spot due 11. ...Bc5+ 12. Kh1 O-O. I thought now that „the best way out for black is to give some pawns with 10. ...Be7". And when he played it, I thought – tough game it will be again...! Lev Polugaevsky came to my mind once again.

10. ...Be7?? 11. e5?

Here 11. exd5 was better. Black cannot recapture 11. ...Nxd5  because of 12. Ne5!

11. ...Ne4 12. d4 O-O 13. Be3 f5??

Well, I still have advantage, but I felt disappointed.

 14. Bh3??

14. exf6! Nxf6 (there is no other move) 15. Ng5! and I win material.

My idea was now to play 15. Nxe4 fxe4 16. Be6+ Kh8 17. Ng5 Nxf1+ 18. Nxf1 Bxg6 19. Bxg5! and black queen cannot recapture bishop due checkmate in next move.

 14. ...Kh8 15. Rad1 Na6 16. Nd2 Nc7??

Black overlooked a pawn on f5. 16. ...Nxc3 17. bxc3 Nc7 was better.

 17. Bxf5 Ba6!?

 

Suddenly I realized that I am going to lose exchange. Was it a trap?! Yes, he was thinking long, but perhaps it was part of the trap. Like John Nunn wrote in his book that when he prepared a novelty for Gheorghiu in a variation of Sicilian opening, he deliberately waited  long to make certain  moves so as to deceive Gheorghiu.

I saw I must give an exchange but I will capture another pawn. 2 pawns for an exchange – it must be good! And not just any pawns: 2 central chained pawns!

18. Ncxe4 Bxf1 19. Rxf1 dxe4 20. Bxe4 Rxf1+ 21. Nxf1

21. ...Rc8 22. d5 Na6 23. d6 Bxd6 24. exd6 Qxd6 25. Qf7!

Here I saw that if black plays 25. ...Nc5 I win immediately. I thought black would play 25. ...Rf8 26. Qh5?! h6 and then I would've exchanged queens 27. Qg6. Then it would've followed a long ending and knowing me, I doubt I could manage to convert material advantage.

15. ...Nc5?? 26. Qf5 Nxe4 27. Qxc8+

Black resigned   

We don't deserve to play chess!

IV round

 

Is it post-covid or post-mortem? My chess capacities are obviously deteriorating from one tournament to another. Why do I ever play this game of chess? It’s like pursuing a girl („of my life“) who is treating me as a Conchita treats Mathieu in last Luis Buñuel's film „That Obscure Object of Desire“ (and I was wondering if the director had read Buzzati's Un amour, but no, Buñuel's film was based on a novel from XIX century), I am Fernando Ray (Mathieu) and Chessess(es) aka Conchita, ah Conchita, are Carole Bouquet & Ángela Molina. This yesterday game was tragedy of comedies, comedy of tragedies and misconceptions; immediately after the game I thought it was similar to that I played against Dragoljub Savić (Belgrade Trophy ’23): first struggling, then my opponent blundered, and then I ruined winning position. Only now after 24 hours I collected strength to analyze the game. My heart is bleeding, my soul aches.

I vs Arends, Herman

 

1. e4 d6 2. g3

Pirc Defense

I had no idea what my opponent usually plays. I prepared only fleetingly for 1. ...e5: Ponziani Opening and Russian Game, few lines of each. But I was met with Pirc Defense. The line 4. Bg5 I could do here, but alas, I didn’t refresh my memory and tried to find some traps. So, I decided to play timid game, waiting for his hyperactivity. Before I played 2. g3, I calculated what if 2. ...e5 – I planned 3. d4 exd4 4. Qxd4 Nc6 5. Qd3 and then hope to prevail in this lively open position.

2. ...g6 3. Bg2 Bg7

I was waiting for 3. ...e5 again, and I was ready for early queen exchange: 4. d4 exd4 5. Qxd4 Qf6 6. Nf3. Now I decided I shouldn’t allow ...e5, so I played 4. d4

 4. d4 c6 5. Ne2 Nf6 6. Nbc3 (Public engine recommends 6. c4. I was tempted to play so /Nge2 is in fact advantage in such positions as showed by famous Peruvian GM Julio Granda/ 6. c4 O-O 7. Nbc3 Nbd7 8. O-O e5 and now 9. d5! And after 9. ...cxd5 10 Nxd5!

This is type of position which was played hundred of times by Petrosian. And that I should study in the future preparations.

6. ... O-O 7. Bg5

7. a4 was a necessity. But I wanted to provoke black ballooning on queen flank. I had a feeling I would be better in such complications.  

7. ...Nbd7 8. Qd2?! Qc7?!

Black as my previous opponent prefers waiting moves. Here he had 8. ...b5 and counterattack on queen flank. In fact, my 8. Qd2 was too slow. I was fantasizing about 9. Bh6 bxh6 10. Qxh6 and quick attack on black king. I calculated: 10. ...Ng4? and ...h5 as „impenetrable fortress“(??), although it was winning for me, and 10. ...b5 11. a3 Bb7 12. h4 and hoping to utilitize Rook on h1. 12. ...c5 13. h5 etc. Wooly brain again. Instead of 11. ...Bb7 better is 11. ...a5 and if I play 12. h4 Ba6 13. h5 black can defend, says engine. Or cannot??! Look at it:

Cowardly I played next move „in order to prevent ...Ng4“. A pensionist’s move in a park on a bench.

   

9. h3? b5 10. a3 e5?!

 

Here I have already begun to hate myself and my play. I didn’t have guts for c4, and for Bh6 and attack with h4 and h5, and now I felt I am slowly going into trouble. I played exactly like GMs play against me: waiting for mistake. I was counting on my opponents chablons. I also noticed that several of my pieces are in awkward positions and predicted that I will soon have to move my queen on a safer place. In fact, black had a significant advantage here. He should have advanced with pawns on a queen flank 10. ...a5 and after 11. O-O Bb7 12. b3 and We3 I will have to withdraw Knight on b1 and be happy if I survive ...c5 in convenient moment for black.

 11. O-O Nb6?

That allows rests of advantage to evaporate.

12. b3 Bb7 13. Rfd1 Rad8 14. Qe3 a5

I thought I was lost. Again, Polugaevsky: „My most difficult opponent is myself. When I am playing I often involuntarily make a world champion out of a candidate master!“  I was thinking of 15. d5 (recommended by engine in fact) and after 15. ...cxd5 I was convinced that I have to play 16. exd5, since „I wouldn’t have time for 16. Nxb5 because of 16. ...Qc6" and I was afraid I would lose the Knight if I played 17. Na7.

15. dxe5?! dxe5 16. Qc5?!

I was proud of that move, but in fact 16. Rf1 was better and would give me equal position. Who would have played this except Hal 900? Petrosian perhaps. Here 16. ...Nbd7! gives black advantage. I then must play 17. Qd6 and black doesn’t have to exchange queens. My queen is in offside. I would have to try with h4, Bh3 etc.

16. ...Ba6? 17. Nd5!

 

I am proud of this move. Not the sacrifice of the century, in fact not sacrifice at all, but cute tactical idea. Now I knew I won a pawn.   

 17. ...Nbxd5 18. exd5 Rd6?!

 During the game I thought it was an ingenious defense, but engine says 18. ...h6 was better. Why? I suppose because black then either takes bishops pair or (more important) has ...e4 with tempo.

19. dxc6 Rfd8 20. Rxd6 Rxd6 21. Nc3 e4

Here I almost blundered (like I haven’t, and many times!?) calcualating which is safer and most comfortable win. (hahaha) and I „saw“: 22. Nxe4 Nxe4 23. Bxe4 and aftere 23. ...Bxa1, I thought I could play 24. Bf4 and capture black rook back. Then I „realized“ that my rook wouldn’t be any more on a1, so that black could play 24. ...Rd1+. And I congratulated to myself on good thinking, but it was all wrong. Black wouldn’t have to take my rook on a1, he had 23. ...Bd4!

22. Nxb5 Bxb5 23. Qxb5 Rxc6 24. Bf4 Qc8 25. Rd1 Rc5 26. Qb6 Rd5 27. Rxd5 Nxd5 28. Qb8 Qxb8 29. Bxb8 f5 30. Bf1 Kf7 31. Bc4 Ke6 32. Bc7 Bc3 33. Kf1 Kd7

One thing I wanted badly to avoid: oposite colored bishops (hahaha). I calculated that I can easily win if I put bishop on d2, and either force balck on bishop exchange or if he retreats his bishops move my pawns slowly c3, b4 etc. Here I had 34. Bxa5! How could I miss that? I even saw my opponent played just so to fill the score sheet until 40th move...

 

34. Bb8? Kc6 35. Ke2 Bb2 36. Bxd5+ Kxd5 37. a4 Kd4 38. Bc7?! Bc3

I am still winning here. Although I am now not so sure and beginning to panic. Somehow I „saw“ that I cannot exchange bishops or if I can, that black king would be on c3 and after I defend pawn with Kd1, I ama lost due activity od enemy’s king. Mirage. I don’t have to exchange the bishops while black king is on d4, I have a tempo move.

38. Bf4!

Or later, just look at this:  

39. Bf4 Bc3 40. Bd2 and I win.

 

 39. Bd8? Ke5 40. Bg5 Kd5 41. Be3?

 

I was afraid if I played 41. Bd2 – which was a winning method as I thought – that after 41. ...Kd4 I have no good move. But I had indeed. h4 or Kd1 and black will eventually have to accept bishop exchange under my terms. It's a zugzwang, 

Now my opponent realized that I lost the thread.

 41. ...Ke5 42. f4+??

 Here I desperately calculated 42. ...exf3 e.p. 43. Kd3?! Be1 44. Bf4+ so as I can chase black bishop from field c3. I couldn't evaluate position.

 42. ...Kd5 43. Bb6 Kc6 44. Bd8 Kd7 45. Bh4 Ke6 46. g4 Kd5

 

And now I was so angry at myself that I tried to lose on purpose! Rather than accept or offer the draw. Here I played 47. Be1?? I am still winning with 47. g5 or with some other moves. 47. g5 Bb4 48. Be1 Bxe1 49. Kxe1 Kd4 and no fear is needed now, since 50. c4!! Kc5 51. Kd1 and I get my king up, because black has no other moves but with his king. What was I thinking?? I hadn't realized that black is in zugzwang!

  

47. Be1?? Bxe1 48. Kxe1

 

It is still a draw. But I don’t know that. And neither does my opponent.

 48. ...h5??

Now I am again winning. If I only knew it... Black had a draw:

 48. ...fxg4 49. hxg4 h5 50. c4+ and in this race of pawns we will reach perpetual check. 50. ...Ke6 51. f5+! Ke7 52. gxh5 gxh5 53. c5 h4 54. Kf2 h3 55. c6 Everyone knows that in elementary chess schools...

 

49. gxh5 gxh5 50. c3 Kc5 51. Ke2 h4 52. Ke3 Kd5 53. b4 axb4??

 

Even another mistake, black gives me totally won position. How come I lost it? Hahaha.

 54. cxb4 Kc4 55. a5 Kb5?

 

Now I was sure I was winning. I calculate:

56. Kd4 Kb6 57. Kc4 Kb7 58. b5 Ka7 59. Kc5 and here my wooly brain saw I can manage to checkmate him even if he first converts pawn in a Queen.  But...

  

 56. Kd4 Kc6 57. Kc4 Kb7 58. b5 Ka7

But no, 59. Kc5 was a blunder. 59. b6+ is winning.

59. ...Ka6 60. Kb4 Kb7 61. Kb5 e3 62. a6+ Kc8 and then 63. Kc6. Point is in zugzwang, black either must gove his pawn on e3, or allow himself to be chocked by my chained pawns. So simple.

 

59. Kc5 e3 60. Kc6 e2 61. Kc7 e1=Q 62. b6+ Ka6

White resigned. Everyone around the table was surprised by the result.

Pinčonov Herbert Stensil

Pinčon (Pynchon) je u romanu »V.« još kao mlad čova opisao sebe starog, umornog čiču koji putovanjem pokušava da prevari Smrt, jer ova mu neće imati poštanski broj. Herbet Stensil (Stencil) je umoran čika koji kontemplira o starim kostima. On žica za sitnu lovu tokom svog lutanja (a kaobajagi ima samonametnuti detektivski zadatak da otkrije ko je V. iz očevih dnevnika). To kako je opisan njegov umor u sumraku severnoafričke selendre, dok on sedi u raspalom kafiću i jednom bar ne uzme novčanicu koju mu neki slučajni turista daje, predstavlja jedno od najdirljivijih mesta u svetskoj književnosti. Sol Belou (Bellow) je svoju starost optimiatički prikazao u »Planeti gospodina Samlera«, Bertoluči (Bertolucci) je sebe kao sredovečnog kešu opisao u »Poslednjem tangu u Parizu«, ali se ulepio Marlonom Brandom, kao kada bi Veljka Mandića igrao Tom Kruz. Ali to je sve muška starost, u kojoj su žene kako reče Dado Đurić, "kao mladi sir i stara rakija, lijek za Konfučija", žene su kao krv dece Amhersta za šefa Kenedijevog klana. Jedino žena pisac može o ženskoj starosti, odnosno požudi, i tu se takvo delo susreće s navikom koja se ruga. U jednom trenutku i muško se oklembesi, kao u »Everyman«-u Filipa Rota (Roth), ali to je u 70-i-nekoj. Žene su na prekretnici oko 40-te, kada ostaje ili udadba za plastičnog hirurga ili zubara, ili, pak, odlazak u manastir. Inače – lolobriđidovske naočare za sunce i gretagarbovština.   

Lev Polugaevsky part III „My most difficult opponent is myself..."

One round a week, and not only that: the one of national holidays fell on Wednesday, so we had an extra evening off. 

III round

Schraets, Mark vs I

 

1. Nf3 g6

With next move white chooses Zukerort's opening (which cannot be discerned from Reti's opening at this early stage). Non of my opponnets so far had a single game in any of data bases. For some reasons I prepared Modern opening, and played 1. ...g6 rather quickly. (By the way I am experiencing again a sort of brutal pairing for outsiders and ugly ducklings /like in Malta in 2022/. In first round I should've played with Auke de Vries, and now I am the only of „potato owners“ who is playing with ½ point owner...).   

 

Zukertort opening

 2. e3 Bg7 3. d4 d6

Habit and taste drew me toward 3. ...c5. I was pretty sure he wasn't going to play 4. d5 which would've led to Ben Oni with few tempi less for white. But it is a committal choice. I wanted something more open, livelier.

 4. c4 Nf6

4. ...c5 again was tempting, and after 5. dxc5 I would've played 5. ...Qa5+. But again, white could enter Ben Oni.

 5. Nc3

 

Here I pondered over 5. ...Bf5 and after 6. Bd3 Bxd3 7. Qxd3 I reckoned white would miss white bishop more than me. 7. ...O-O 8. e4 e5!

But I spent more time on this crazy line:

5. ...c5 6. dxc5 (like in one game from Spassky–Fischer 1972 in which Fischer used Pirc Defense) 6. ...Qa5?! 7. cxd6 Ne4 8. Bd2 and I tried and tried im my wooly brain to calculate if I am good here after 8. ...Nxc3. I didn't see 9. Qb3!, but white is better even after ordinary 9. bxc3...

 

5. ...Nbd7 6. Bd3 O-O 7. Qc2

Here it became clear to me, that white has no big plan in the game. I was expecting 7. e4 after which I would have to choose between 7. ...e5 and 7. ...c5.  

7. ...c6 8. Bd2?!

Well, this is only seemingly „development“, but it shows that white doesn't know what to do. Or that he has huge respect for me. Fear? I was expecting 8. b4, which would force me to play exclusively on King flank. I imagined 8. ...e5 and later Ne8 and ...f5 etc. In fact, the best would've been 8. ...d5! which gives black some edge because of weaknesses on white Queen flank. I considered ...d5 even earlier in the game, but I didn't want to decide character of the game so soon.  

At the same time, I was afraid – again, as Polugaevsky said: „My most difficult opponent is myself. When I am playing I often involuntarily make a world champion out of a candidate master!“ – well, I was afraid that white could castle queenside, and then all of his pieces will be pointing to my king, and after h4 I saw myself under the fire. So I played my next move instantly, in order to discourage my oponent from idea of long castling.

8. ...a6 9. h3 b5

At the time I loathed 9. h3 as one more waiting move, fit for pensionists' game on a park bench. Publice engine for Third World says, however, that it was a good move. 9. a4 would also have been good. I played 9. ...b5 because I thought I am getting a lively, half-open game now, I already thought of ...c5 later and saw my knight on that field. 10. e4 now was sharp continuation, and after principal 10. ...e5 we would've had typical King' Indian game like from the fifties, in Bronstein's style from his book which was early and secretly translated by Larry Evans and which enabled young Bobby Fischer to become only Western player at the time who could play Indian strucuters as Boleslavsky and Bronstein.

10. cxb5?! axb5 11. Ne4?!

Better was 11. O-O or 11. b4, since white should try to stop my ...c5. But it seems he was tempted by short-lasting threat to capture pawn on c6.

 11. ...Qb6 12. O-O Nd5?

I thought of good ideas: 12. ...c5! or 12. ...Bb7, but, as usual, I saw something „better“. I tried to avoid, listen now – „simplification“ (haha). 12. ...c5! 13. Nxf6+ Bxf6 and now white is facing ...c4 and space disadvantage, or he has to find Staunton-like positional move 14. b4!

Also 12. ...Nxe4 (!) 13. Bxe4 Bb7 gives black advantage.   

13. a3 Bb7 14. Rfe1?

As I said, white at some point had to play 14. b4, and it was his last chance to prevent my atack on queen flank. Rfe1 was another waiting or better say half-hearted move. My answer wasn't the bravest one, neither. 14. ...c5! would've given me advantage. I was afraid of Nc3 and after Nxc3, I thought I would "help white improve his pawn structure". But after 14. ...c5! 15. Nc3 Nxc3 16. Bxc3 Bxf3 19. gxf3 cxd4! I am much better. I reached only that feeble estimation that I now have 1 pawn island and white all 2 of them. Really lame thinking from my side.  

14. ...b4?! 15. axb4 Nxb4 16. Bxb4 Qxb4 17. Qc3 Qb6

And again::: white had a new chance to put his pawn on b4. He played 18. Nfd2?:

 18. Nfd2? c5! 19. Nf3? cxd4

 

I calculated that I am winning a pawn and was very happy. At the same time, I couldn't evaluate position correctly in respect of it is better to keep all rooks on the table.

20. exd4 Rac8?

I thought in a chablon, that white will have a-file if I changed a pair of rooks, but 20. ...Rxa1 21. Rxa1 Rc8 22. Qd2 Bxd4 23. Nxd4 Qxd4 gives me solid pawn up. (And I would also avoid oposit colored bishops.)

 21. Qa5 Bxd4 22. Nxd4 Qxd4 23. Red1? Ra8?

I couldn't calculate that after 23. ...Bxe4! I shouldn't be afraid of discovery 24. Bb5 because I have 24. ...Qxb2 and after 25. Bxd7 I can play 25. ...Ra8! and I am 2 pawns up.  

 24. Qb5? Rxa1 25. Rxa1 Bxe4 26. Bxe4 Nc5 27. Bf3 Nd3 28. Rf1 Nxb2 29. Qg5

 

I have a pawn extra, and I am keeping it like Daffy Duck a diamond in episode „Aqua Duck“. I was again afraid of h4, h5 etc. Now the best was 29. ...e6! in order to keep my pawns firm, and after h4, I have ...h6, and later ...g5. I put the win in jeopardy.

 19. ...e5? 30. h4 Kg7 31. h5 h6 32. Qg3

 

Now I started panicking. I didn't really calculate anything, just wanted to exchange queens as soon as possible, and at the same time, I was trying to avoid that exchange happens on f4, so that I get doubled pawns. In an impressionistic way, I reckoned that Rc8-Rc3 will help me to win quickly. 

However, 32. ...g5! was good, and then  forwarding my central pawns should win comfortably.

 

32. ...Rc8?? 33. hxg6 fxg6 34. Bh5 Qd3

 

And now I saw 35. Qh4 (!!, my undeserved exclamation marks) and was terrified. White has perpetual check, I thought. I saw only 35. ...Rc7 and then I saw a mirage in form of 36. Qd8+, although my king was on g7, so no check would be possible. After 36. Qd8 Rf7 white would've had good chances for a draw with 37. Bg4! and threat is Be6! Would I find 37. ...Qc7! - ? I doubt it. Instead of 35. Qg4?, white had 35. Bf3! and then I don't know what I would play.

 

35. Qg4? Qf5 36. Qxf5 gxf5 37. Rb1 Rc2 38. Kf1 Nd3 39. Rb7+ Kf6 40. Rf7+ Kg5 41. Be2 Rc1+ 42. Bd1 Nb2 43. Rg7+ Kf6 44. Rb7 Nxd1 45. Ke2 Nc3+ 46. Kd2 Rb1 47. Rd7 Ne4+ 48. Ke3 Re1+ 49. Kf3 Ke6 50. Rh7 Ng5+

White resigned.