Chess.com 2024, 3rd round, E07 - An undeserved win
19th of June
Making a few quick pre-planned moves this morning. A couple of games are still in the opening book, which makes things temporarily easier. There was a second draw in the group last night:
First game to analyze today:
I was planning h2-h4 here to prepare knight’s move to f6 and gain more space. If black does not stop my intentions, I might also go with the pawn all the way to h6, which can be important in the endgame.
Black can put up resistance with Qc5, Qc4, or a5, with the idea of exchanging the b6 pawn for c3. That’s probably why he played Rc8. I don’t see a strong reason to delay h4 because of that based on the lines above.
The lines are a bit off, but the move and the general thinking are correct. The eval is +0.34
Second game of the day:
White has finally castled. Should I follow his example, or continue playing on the queenside with moves like b4, or a5? Castling seems like the more natural move, since Rh1 is no longer there, while I need to get Rh8 into the game. The only question is whether white can develop an attack.
The answer is that he can – either exchanging my better bishop, or forcing a draw:
This means that I should play h6 before castling. The question is whether I should play it now or go for a5 first. I don’t see anything too forcing for white; he’s likely to play Rfe1, which will just transpose once I play h6. It’s decided for a5 then, as it gives him slightly more chances to go wrong.
I need to thank the gods that he did not play Nxd5 on the previous move. Also, Bc5 does work since black has 19…f6 in the Bc5 line. Lastly, a5 was a mistake for the same reasons – it still allows white to play Nxd5.
This player is a dark horse. He has the lowest rating in the group, but so far, he’s playing at a very decent level, and is one of only 3 players yet to concede any points (I’m not one of them, as I dropped that half point against Artem a few days ago). All his wins so far are timeouts, so I don’t have a lot to work with in terms of actual chess material, but I suspect he’ll be a contender. On the other hand, I just checked a couple of his draws from past rounds, and one of them looks like a comedy of errors. Weird.
Going to my other game against him:
We’re in Caro-Kann, almost out of the opening book. There’s just one predecessor game, although played at 2500+ level. It happened on chess.com, which is a nice coincidence.
I evaluate this at about +0.4, with a slight advantage for white due to better development. Nd5 is the immediate candidate here. Sutovsky played Kg2, likely to prevent Bh3. He also routed the knight to d6 rather than d5. I’d rather not retrace his steps, as that game ended in a draw, and that’s not the result I’m shooting for here. So, let’s use the working assumption of Nd5, and see what can happen.
This bishop on h3 really cramps my style, so I’m inclined to wait with Nd5 and agree with Sutovsky here.
The eval is +0.32, so I wasn’t far off. The moves I considered were equivalent, but stylistically it made sense to wait Kg2 and pass the ball to the opponent.
Continuing with the more complicated game:
With both Bc5 and Ne5 unprotected, I feel like there must be some tactics here, but can’t see anything useful. f4 looks very dodgy with Nc6, but I’ll check it anyway. In the end, I decide on Na4, as it gets Bc5 off that diagonal (or off the board altogether) and allows me to proceed with f4.
A decent move. f4 also worked, but perhaps was too complex, so I’m happy with the decision.
The other game against him is also heating up:
The threat is clear: b2-b4. Qa5 fails to the same move. Of course, I can go b5-b4 myself, which is a way to remove the threat, and create hiding place for the queen on b5 or a5. Qc7 is another option, but white will just go Rc1, renewing his threats. I’ll calculate b4 after the next meeting. Side point – I didn’t pay Nf3 enough attention. I saw it in some of the lines, but don’t recall evaluating it here.
The more I stare at b4, the more I like it. It solves many problems at once. I think white’s best option would be Ng5, exchanging bishop for a knight – letting me keep my extra pawn. The position is complicated though, so hopefully I’m not missing some sneaky resource for white.
I was too quick to discard 18…Qc7, since Rc1 can be responded with Qb8. This was my best option in this position. b4 is not bad as such, but I again missed a tactical trick from white.
The last game for today is the Draqlek black:
He continues playing passively; I was more concerned about Ra1. My plan here was to play e5. White can:
- Try to desynchronize my pawn pair with f4.
- Counterattack the a6 pawn with Ra1 (a bit unlikely since he passed on that last move).
- Go after the d5 pawn with Rd1.
- Continue playing passively by bringing the king over to d2 via f1.
I’m too tired to do proper calculations, so a few ideas:
- If white plays f4, I always have the option of Bg4, to exchange the knight on e3 and win a pawn. It’s a big question of whether that pawn is enough for a win, and whether white won’t be winning some pawns back, but the option is there.
- If I don’t play e5, white may play f4 which limits my options. I can try playing Bb5 and R4c6 to finally win that c3 pawn.
Looks like (a) is more promising than (b). I’ll go e5 – could be the decision that makes or breaks this game.
I should have played Bb5 and allowed f2-f4; it creates as many problems for white as it solves. Black can then bring the king over, play g5 and so on.
Exactly half of the games in round 3 are finished, so I’m somewhat behind the curve – there are still 14 games left for me. It looks more and more likely that I’ll be playing after moving to the UK – which might disrupt things with the jet flag and the 11 hour flight.
20th of June
The only result since last night is another timeout by Dumblecore against AndyH:
This is a bit annoying since he steadily refuses to time out against me. Later in the day, eyeblinks spreads a few timeouts around. Again, he continues playing against me, though we are getting close to a mate (I already pre-moved almost all the way to the X mark):
First game of the day:
The natural moves here are Rd1, Nf5. Be3 is also a consideration, since black’s bishop is a piece worth exchanging. However, I’d rather do it after Nf5, so that I can take on e3 with the knight rather than the queen.
The eval is +0.9, so I’m doing well. However, there were more promising moves in this position, namely the h-pawn could be pushed to h5, and the knight can go to g4 via h2 to organize a small attack on the black king.
Next game is this one:
There are two very annoying aspects about this one: (a) I shouldn’t be playing it, considering this player times out against everyone else, and (b) I accidentally played d2-d4 as my first move, and find myself now in a completely unfamiliar opening. There is just one predecessor game, which Cramling lost against a much lower rated player – not reassuring.
Last move from black, Nb7, prepares e6, as now white can take on e6 without consequences. Nd4 is a tempting move as it prevents e6, opens a way for white queen to f3, and prepares a potential landing spot for the knight at c6. Black is likely to play on the queenside with a5. Time to analyze.
The move seems to work:
Stamp of approval from the comp. Sometimes the most natural moves also turn out to be the best ones.
The white game with Draqlek stays interesting:
Black’s last move seems like the strongest option. White queen is excellently placed, and black probably regrets now not exchanging it a few moves before. From further away, I was considering the very creative option of Nh2: to win a tempo in knight’s transition to f6.
However, this is just too creative – both Ba4 and h6 will derail my plans:
My alternative was Rf2, as the sa(f/n)er option. The conclusion is though that if I don’t exchange myself, he’ll force me to do so with Ba4. That leaves only two alternatives: Qxc4 and Nd2. The more I stare at this, the less I like it. I clearly underestimated the Qc4 resource and should’ve played Kd2 last move. In the end, I decide to exchange, and go for a setup with Nd4. It’s the lesser of all evils I explored.
I discarded Nh2 for the wrong reasons, but again stumbled upon the right move. Another reason not to calculate too deeply.
Next game is against the leader, where I also stare at a nasty surprise. I was planning on Qe3, Bd4, c3 setup, but now I see a trick with Bc5:
However, it was just a mirage – a bit of a weird one, since usually I see things that aren’t there when they benefit me, not my opponent:
It’s been almost a week since I got my last result – the draw with Artem. Hopefully, I’ll get my next one today.
I expected this move, with Bc5 planned as the response. White clearly wants to go after Ra6 and its flimsy protection of Nb6. Bc5 should add extra protection for the knight and hold on to that c4 pawn a while longer.
Looks good from every direction. Black already has decent advantage here – I evaluate this at -0.5.
The engine disagrees, quoting -0.03, as he sees a narrow path to getting the pawn back. Fortunately, my opponent didn’t.
I'll do a puzzle here. What surprising sacrifice did white play to equalize the game?
I didn’t even see or consider white's move, which came to me as a small shock. At a closer glance, I’m not losing the game, as I’ve got options such as Bf6 or Rc7, but it is a very worrying signal.
Rc7 looks like a decent option – at least I can’t see anything too concerning for black. I don’t feel confident though considering what just happened.
Bxf3 was the only way to hold on to the advantage. I simply underestimated some of the happenings in the main line following Rxe7. This is despite seeing all the moves, which is a bit disappointing: I was very close to cracking the code here.
Watched the England-Denmark game and it was quite a disappointment. England looked unconvincing, the 1-1 draw being a bit of a lucky result for them.
Time for the evening chess session.
White’s last move, Ne2, makes sense. I suspect he wants to re-route one of the knights to d4 and play c3 to stop my queenside plans. The question is whether I finally prepare castling with h6 or continue with b4. The one problem I see is that b4 can now be countered with a3-a4.
Actually, on closer reflection, I think a3-a4 doesn’t work for white:
Which brings back the question whether I can take it slow with h6 or have to play b4 immediately.
After due consideration, I think immediate b4 is required, otherwise he can freeze the queenside.
The engine is less thrilled about the minority attack and thinks my other option, h6, was the way to go.
In the white game, he played Bg4, which is a bit surprising, considering I just played Kg2 to defang it:
Is there any reason not to play h3? I can’t see it, since Bh5 runs into Rd7+.
Last game for today:
Looks like black wants to keep his bishop pair. There’s a couple of tempting moves here – the main one being f4. I just don’t see good alternatives to this move if I have any aspirations for advantage. I’ll likely have to continue f5 to imprison the bishop on h7 and give him back the e5 square.
And this is another mistake. I again failed to see a natural response for black. To be saved for a puzzle in the next installment.
Before the day is over, I finally get my resignation against eyeblinks. 13 games left.
I didn’t play it that well though.
I didn’t react well to black’s 10…Bg4, with the opening clearly being done much better by black. The tactics in the mid-game were iffy as well, and a stronger opponent would have taken the game. The main lesson here is exercising more caution with unfamiliar openings and trying to avoid situations like that against 1900+ players.
Furiously fast scores another point – this time against andyh. Not a timeout for a change, just a regular win against a player who seemingly gave up.
Continued here: https://www.chess.com/blog/RomanKleiner/chess-com-2024-3rd-round-e08-wading-through-complications