Chess.com 2024, 3rd round, E09 - Meeting 007
23rd of June
Dumblecore keeps doing his moves against me.
I’m playing with the idea of Nc7 to go after another pawn, but it seems too greedy. Back to d4 we go.
This is my main game at the moment:
I was planning Re7 here for piece coordination. Rb8 just seems too passive; I’m also concerned about white parking on the 7th rank with Qd7/Rc7. My plan is to play g6 and Kg7. I don’t think white can go f4 without compromising his own king’s position.
Seems to work. If white tries Rc8+, I should just play Re8 rather than Kf7 which leads to a rook ending without a pawn. Should be able to hold, but that’s too much hassle.
Still doing well. The problem is that black is doing most of the hard work here with me having to keep finding good options. The eval is +0.33.
Last white’s move, g4, is a bit unexpected. I guess his idea is to go Ng3-f5 and get counterplay. This is a very good way to put up resistance, since it seems like getting the king to e6 won’t be enough.
I see some fairly thin lines to keep up the pressure, but it feels more and more like he’ll be able to squeeze out a draw here:
The engine doesn’t see many options either – the eval has slid all the way to -0.06.
Quick mid-tournament status check. On the positive side, I’m not losing in any of the games and haven’t made any serious mistakes. On the opposite side, I’m playing average at best, staring at quite a few draws in the ongoing games. Also, I never expected to have 13 active and time-demanding games almost three weeks into the tournament. This has turned out to be quite a slog.
Quick visit to the British pub just to see Scotland lose at the very last minute.
White continues going after the c4 pawn, though there is the benefit of removing his unwanted attention from the pawn on e5. This makes Qb4 possible. Rd8 is also now an option. I see two interesting setups:
- Qb4 and Nfd7-c5
- Rd8-d4
White may also go b3 now with the knight on d2.
Qb4 seems to work quite well. It prevents b3 and opens up the c5 square. I don’t see great options for white at the moment, though I’m surely missing something (been reading the biography on the Airplane! Movie, so the “surely” word is on my mind).
The last move was a serious inaccuracy from white, dropping the eval all the way from -0.15 to -0.9. Qb4 is indeed one of the reasons, though the engine for reasons unknown is keener on Ra7.
White played a tamer move than expected. Can I just go g6 here, as per my plan? This also buys a small insurance policy in case queens get exchanged; the pawn on f5 was lost in some of the lines above.
I really don’t see what he can do here. I have options for perpetual here if he decides to go on full blown offense and all my pawns are well protected.
I used the word “tame”, but white’s last move was again the engine’s top line, as it secures c4 for the rook and removes any hints of black counterplay. I have played the right plan so far, but I was too confident in assuming white’s out of options.
Start the afternoon session with a mild headache. Continuing with the game above to start with:
I didn’t analyze Rc8+ in depth, but it was obviously on my naughty list. I originally planned Kg7 here, but could he plan for something like Ra8 to aim for exchanging the queens under favourable conditions and then grab the pawn? If so, Re8 might be the safer option here.
After more calculations, it looks like the position is trickier than it seemed from far away. I understand now why he rejected the draw. He can attack the a5 pawn and evade perpetuals with the right setup. I find a good idea: play Qc3 at an opportune moment and move to a drawish rook ending.
Also, now that I see how he can evade a perpetual. I must not play Kg7, as he’ll go Qd8 and I’ll be in trouble. So, Re8 is the only move.
I missed a very thin path to a draw after Kg7:
I find it hard to reproach myself for that, as it was far from obvious. The important part (which did not occur to me at the time) is that the black king can also hide on the h-file. My choice, Re8, is still not spoiling the game.
Moving to the white VFK game:
Bf1 or Be3 are the moves here and I feel they’re interchangeable. I’d rather hold the bishop on d4 a while longer, so let’s go Bf1.
I overestimated the power of the black’s battery on the a8-h1 diagonal and missed a golden chance to play a2-a4, equalizing the game.
Last game for the afternoon session:
Everything is as expected. Two moves here: Bd3 and fxg6. I was obviously banking on the former, but it opens complicated lines – which is the symptom of this entire game. I’m going to stick with Bd3, as fxg6 just looks too sad. Black with his bishop pair is going to decimate me.
The comp is immune to generic thinking and suggests fxg6: either before or after exchanging the rooks. I still find it hard to agree, as it’s going to be very difficult for a human to defend. After my Bd3 decision, the eval further slides down to -0.46.
Going back to the endgame:
Again, he pulls out an unexpected move. I guess the idea is to prevent Qe4+ and Qc3 moves, freeing up the queen to do all kinds of nasty business. What happens if I just hold my position with Kf7 and Re7-e8?
I think it’s just barely possible. Kf7 seems to be the only move.
Re6, Re7 and such were also possible, with a similar “wait for the blow” mentality. What I did not see is that white can gradually build up with h4, Kh2 and so on.
24th of June
One more result last night: Draqlek scores an easy win against chess_lover. The latter is clearly a target, though my games with him are equal at best; I was slowing those down to focus elsewhere.
First game of the day:
At first glance, this looks pleasant for white. The position of the black rook on f7 is also suspect. My initial plan is Qc4, Be3, fxe3, Rfd1 – let’s see if that works.
There are many nice ideas there, but if black goes Qe6, he should have everything covered. However, I don’t see another option to fight for advantage.
I missed a trick here. White should have pushed the h-pawn forward, while the queen has a better home at g4. These rook pawn marches are a consistent blind spot for me.
This game is getting very interesting. He obviously wants to break my wall on c3+d4. Given enough time, I would go after the pawn on h7, but I don’t have that time until I quell the uprising on the queenside. Ideally, I want to get the king on b2 and the pawn on a3 to strengthen the fortifications (am in a medieval mood this morning).
As always, the endgame is much sneakier than it looked from further away.
Everything is correct, apart from me not seeing black’s idea of marching the king to the kingside pawns. According to the engine, it’s still a draw, but I would’ve felt differently if I saw it.
I’m fighting for a draw rather than a win here.
My other game with him also has an interesting endgame. No surprises here. I also don’t see any reason to avoid mirroring him with Kf7, my king needs to start earning his keep.
The eval now is a precise 0.00. It’s interesting how white brought it all the way there from a -1 a few moves ago without me doing any serious mistakes.
Several groups have closed or almost closed. My group is one of the slowest; perhaps a reflection of how evenly the forces are matched. I also wishfully think that we’re lucky and there’s no cheater in the group (there were several detected in this round elsewhere). This can also be a factor as players are slower and more cautious.
Next is the game I shouldn’t be playing:
Seems like another no-brainer. I obviously don’t want to let his rook into b2, so Rb1 is mandatory.
Having a first proper look at the game above. This has been so far played by the book (figuratively and literally) along the French Advance with c4. Last white’s move, Bd1, clearly intends to break open the queenside with b4, so it feels like Ba4 is needed. This also gives me a change to exchange my semi-imprisoned white squared bishop. If white chickens out with Be2, I’ll get a tempo to think about my masterplan to break open in the centre.
The 10. h4 line from white is much more poisonous than I thought. I haven’t encountered it before despite playing the 6…c4 Advance French line for years.
Every single white move has been top line, and the eval is already +0.8 despite me playing correctly throughout. I should’ve started thinking about switching to a defence/draw mode.
Also, a first look at another game with the same chess lover:
By the way, chess_lover_007 is a confusing nick. If someone has 007 in their name, I’d imagine a martini-shaken-not-stirred manly type, not someone who is spending a lot of time at the chess board. Stereotypes are hard to shake, I know.
Going back to the chess board: it’s nice of him to offer an exchange of my inferior bishop; I certainly intend to take him up on that. I see a nice little tactic with Nf5. It just gains a tempo, but every little helps.
On reflection, I think this trick is too dangerous, as black is getting massive compensation for the very little material I gain. Bxd7 it is; let’s save tricks for another day.
7…a5 is another top engine sideline. 13. c4 was a massive positional mistake. Not sure what I was thinking there since keeping the tension is the only way for white to have a counterplay. On the other hand, my choice creates a passive, sad position for white.
16. a3 is another bad move. I should have exchanged on c6 when I had the chance.
In short, I completely messed up the opening, and the eval is now – 1 for black. I must say he completely outplayed me in the opening in both games, which was unexpected considering his level of play elsewhere.
After this move, I have a very special moment – for the first time in weeks, I don’t have any moves in my queue.
That situation indeed didn’t last long, as VFK made his move:
This position is about pure calculation. He’s obviously going after that survivor on c4, which isn’t going to survive for much longer. However, I have an interesting resource with Rd8 which might keep his life difficult. The lines get very complicated very fast, so I’ll leave this until later in the day.
The position is massively complicated. I gravitate toward Rb8, to counterattack the pawn on b2 once all the exchanges on c4 take place. If white takes on c4, I want to exchange as much as possible and make sure that the knight does not stay there; otherwise, he’ll go on a rampage with e5/c6 pawns. To be completed later this afternoon; this is one of the most complicated and important moves of the entire tournament, so I want to take my time.
For now, I’ll switch to the endgame I’m desperately trying to hold with furiously fast:
He wants to break my defensive stance with h5. That move does look problematic. I’ll need to let the pawn go to h6 and that might be decisive after queens or rooks exchange. Rc7 is one option; h5 is another. Looks like Rc7 gets me nowhere if he plays Rd4. So, h5 seems like the only option. The main downside is that the g6 pawn might now become a liability.
Several ideas here.
- I must go h5 to prevent him doing the same.
- If white plays Rd4 to threaten Rd5, I must have the Qe2 resource available. I can’t play it immediately because of Qd5+.
- My defensive stance is Kg7-f7. If white tries doubling on the 8th rank, I now have perpetual.
This was a mistake, and unfortunately, one mistake is enough to send me into trouble in this game. h5 was not as scary as it looked like. On the other hand, I had a great chance to equalize with Rc7.
Going back to the VFK game, I feel like I’m going about it all wrong. I try calculating it head on, while this game has just too many options at single move. I should rather have potential insertions to the main line and see if they change it. Even better, play out the main line with exchanges and see what kind of better placement of my pieces would make the difference.
Many lines later, I feel like Rb8 still does the job. White’s strongest attempt would be Na3 to insist on having a knight occupy c4.
Yep, a lot went into calculating that. The engine disagrees, showing intricate ways to equalize for white. It prefers Raa8, which I ended up playing as well, so it’s mostly a matter of order. I don’t even know what kind of retrospective to derive from here, as with calculations like these it’s next impossible to go right. Perhaps I shouldn’t have gone as deep as I did.
In the meantime, furiously fast scores another point, this time against one of the stronger players. The level of play there is truly concerning: both guys played at 2100+.
In the jaljr white game, he played Qe8 which is very similar to Qd7 which I’ve been calculating:
The ideas are the same: protect Rf7 and plan Qe6 to diffuse the a2-g8 diagonal. The only difference is that now I have the option of Rd1. Be3 seems like the only plausible option here, same as I was calculating earlier today. If I take fxe3, there is a chance to build up a kingside attack with Qg4, Rf3-g3, perhaps throwing a march of the h-pawn into the mix.
Last game for today:
I face a difficult choice here: take with the pawn or the bishop? Originally, I planned with the pawn to keep the black bishop imprisoned, but I’m concerned about the exchange sacrifice:
Black has the bishop pair in a wide-open position, which more than compensates the minor material advantage.
I overestimated the exchange sacrifice for black. White has better ways to defend than the ones I looked at, with the eval going to +0.1. Should have spent more time on it before discarding the gxf5 option.
Let’s check the alternative:
Black has slight advantage here due to the bishop over knight in an open position and white’s open king, but it’s playable. I’d evaluate it at -0.5. Will play Bxf5 tomorrow.
Still the right decision, despite me overestimated that exchange sacrifice. The eval is still surprisingly spot on – the engine thinks -0.56.
It’s been three weeks since the start of the round and I’m still with 13 active games, none of them being close to done. This is an absolute record in terms of chess involvement.
Continued here: https://www.chess.com/blog/RomanKleiner/chess-com-2024-3rd-round-e10-under-pressure