Chess.com 2024, 2nd round, E09 - Roads that lead nowhere
31st of March 2024
07-30: No new results in my group.
In the main game, I said yesterday “I trust my opponent’s ability to come up again with something that I haven’t even considered”, and so he did. Black played Bf6, which is another shining example of a move that was out of my viewzone by a mile.
I see two ideas here: (i) generate counterplay on the kingside with g5, h4, and (ii) re-route the bishop to e7 or d8 to dislodge my knight.
Side point: this is also the engine’s top line. Not a very intuitive move, as it puts an unprotected piece on the same file as the rook.
From my side, Nc4 is now on the agenda big-time, and d5 also merits calculation. I also have a way of exchanging both his bishops. Though I don’t think it’s a good idea. I put it up for curiosity’s sake.
So, the options are: Nc4, h4 (to stop one of black’s ideas), and d5 – in that order.
The engine also likes Ne5 which is an entirely counterintuitive move that gives up a pawn.
A lot of calculations happen on Nc4, since I’d rather follow my plans than prevent his. And it looks favourable; I get to exchange his black-squared bishop and end up with an extra pawn in most lines. Of course, there must be again something I’m missing, but at this point I’ll just let it flow.
The main omission here was in the 23…Bc6 24. Nfe5 Bxe5 line – I missed a couple of black options a couple of moves later. Hard to blame oneself of course, as the position is complex. However, that’s the main reason the eval drops all the way to -0.45 with my move.
Enough chess for one morning; will come back later today to think about the other games. (Fabio is now venturing outside the opening book).
10-30: One visit to the gym later, I have time to look at another game. My choice is the black Fabio game, where we have just one predecessor left, though that’s by 2500+ players, with the black side being played by a McCutcheon specialist. The problem is that said game ended in a draw, so somewhere, sometime, I’ll have to deviate.
In that game, Glek went Rg8 in order to prepare f5, and then did an exchange sacrifice. Even if he would have won that, it’s really not my style, so I feel it’s time to find something new.
The other path here is just play Qe7, complete development with 0-0-0, and then either counterattack on the kingside, or find a way to freeze things there, and go after the abandoned queenside. The question is whether h5 is going to crash through? (Perhaps Glek was _forced_ to do the exchange sacrifice…)
I didn’t calculate deeply enough. Qe7 _does_ work, and white does _not_ crash through in the 16..g5 line. Perhaps the bias of a GM predecessor game blinded me again. This was a severe mistake, which is especially annoying since I had the right idea.
Analysis shows that h5 is going to be a problem, so I should look at the next move as the option to deviate:
And that was the other mistake – again poor calculations. I missed the en passant on move 18.
Ok, Rg8 it is, and I’ll go g5 on the next move rather than f5.
12-30: I collect my second point in the knockout tournament: https://www.chess.com/game/daily/636060933 . Not as important as the main tournament, but still a nice bonus. Plus, I won’t be distracted by that event for a while. The engine does not rate my play too highly, but then I wasn’t pushing hard in that game – as I was in the next round anyway.
True to form, Tautzies pulls out another surprising move – this time it’s b7-b5. I looked at it a couple of moves ago; this was one of the reasons I went Rf2. However, I did not (and should have) calculate it before playing Rf2.
I’m doing the calculations after a hike round the park, and things seem to work, though at this point I don’t trust my abilities too much. I’m sure he’ll find a way to surprise me again on the next move:
b5 is the second best move according to the engine. In the 25…Nd3 branch, I surprisingly calculated the top line all the way to move 31. I also saw 25…Rc8 which is black’s best option, though I missed a few things there.
Going to the black fabio game – he uncharacteristically quickly played h5, and I notice that all my hopes and dreams related to the g5 deviation have a big hole in them, which is the en passant of exf6:
g5 still looks remotely possible, but also incredibly risky. In fact, correction – it’s losing after Nh3. So, I have no choice but to follow Glek’s game for at least another couple of moves.
19-10: And another Mavs win. They are playing on another planet these days.
Now, to the black Tautzies game:
I’m a pawn up, but the actual eval must be very close to 0.00. The knight will be at least as good as the bishop if all the pawn are on the same flank. Exchanges are certainly in my favour, including removal of the a-pawn. White probably played h4 to gain space, and maybe go g4-g5. White might also go e2-e4 to gain space, and threaten e5 (in fact, I expected him to do that on the last move).
Indeed, e4 was the stronger option. The eval is actually -0.34, so I wasn't miles off in my assessment.
So, d7-d5 is the natural move. Perhaps then Qd6, if white lets me.
The only question is what do I do if he decides to go with the kingside pawn storm?
At the first glance, it doesn’t look too scary, though I’m sure on the second glance something will be found. d7-d5 it is.
That was the right decision. Sometimes the most natural move is also the best one.
And, finally, to the white Fabio game, which is still deep in the opening book of the Alapin Sicilian.
The position is very complicated, with a ton of calculations. So far, I was focusing on the other games, and leaned on the opening book to take me up to here. I’m sure the same applies to my opponent too. The question is whether now is the time to take him off the main path. I’m leaning toward not doing that since I have my hands full with the other three games. On the other hand, the main line is d5, which is burning a few bridges. At the very least, I should convince myself that there’s no immediate draw hiding behind the innocent façade.
However, the more I stare at the main line behind d5, the more forced it looks, and indeed, it feels there is a draw or even a black advantage at the end of that road. My favourite at this point is g3, which wasn’t as much played, but it will force black to start thinking.
This wasn’t such a bad choice (2nd line), as the real issues came later. There might have been a way to look for less complicated positions though; just playing out the opening book without understanding the position is like following a random car on the road. Sure, it will take you somewhere, but at some point the car in front will stop driving, while you’ll end up in an unfamiliar place.
1st of April 2024
MissionaryKyle finally finished his journey in the group:
These two games don’t give much useful intel on Tautzies, since MissionaryKyle (with all due respect) has given him both games on a plate.
In the white Tautzies game, he finally played a move that I was expecting, which is re-taking the pawn. At this point, I was making no assumptions:
Yesterday, I calculated many variations following Nxa5. I’ll do a final check before plunging ahead. This time I calculate a bit deeper, but can’t see any reason to avoid:
Nxa5 is indeed the right move. Also, the Nd3 line was calculated correctly all the way until move 32 (it’s mostly forced), where the eval stays close to zero. The Rc8 line is a bit more patchy, but it’s also a decent move from black, leading to a different kind of equality.
9-30: After following the line above for a bit, Tautzies finally pulls another unexpected move with Nf4:
The good news is that I’m a pawn up. The bad news is that there’s going to be fresh analysis – and a lot of it. The immediate observation is that black is threatening Ne2+, so I have to either go Kf2 or e5. From the first glance, I like Kf2 a bit more, as it gets the king toward the action, while e5 nudges the bishop where it wants to go anyway, and gives black the d5 outpost. However, the truth will belong to the calculations.
Nf4 was an inaccuracy from black; Bxd4+ led down the same semi-forced line I calculated earlier on. Now white starts getting some chances.
Correction: Bc4 and Nc4 are also options. For Kf2, I’m worried about a kingside pawn storm with g5-g4 – currently don’t see a good antidote.
d5 also merited a look; not sure why I passed on, considering it helps creating a passer.
Kf2 _may_ work, but some lines look very dicey. I’m inclined more towards Bc4 or Nc4.
The lines were off as usual, but I was right not to go here, as Bc4 needs to be played anyway. Black's bishop on b5 casts too much shadow on white’s plans.
Initial calculations show that both moves can work, but I need to spend more time looking for holes:
A long calculation later, I decide on Bc4.
A few interesting points here. 1) The engine highlights Ra8 as black’s strongest response. It did not even occur to me. 2) All of my calculations and considerations between moves 27 to 29 white are correct. 3) Underestimated g5 on black’s 29th move. I did see it, but have not analyzed much. 4) Decent job in calculating 29…Rb6, which is also black’s top line. It starts fading away as I get deeper into moves 31-32, but the main ideas are there.
The knight can hold out on c6, and I stand a chance of generating a d-passer.
Now moving on to the black game, where he, true to form, played another unexpected move with e2-e3:
Looks like white is already gearing up for the end game by putting the pawns on the right coloured squares. My plan was to exchange queens, rooks and the a-pawn. The starting move was going to be Qd6, so I’ll analyze that first.
After a bit of analysis, I see a better plan – just generate a d-passer.
Stockfish adds a couple of observations into the thought process above. Firstly, it recommends exchanging the queens with Qb6 or Qb8. I did not like the pawn’s position on b6, however, it makes sense there as the bishop cannot get to it. This also fits the exchanges plan I outlined earlier on. Secondly, while the engine supports my d-passer plan, it believes that white can create active counterplay against my a-pawn and equalize.
I’ll leave the Fabio games until the late evening (no surprise there; he diligently follows the opening book – whatever there is left of it). I now have some cause for optimism in my Tautzies games; unless I’m missing something big, I have a solid pawn advantage in both games. Long way to conversion of course…
“Solid advantage” is indeed overly optimistic. I had only 0.3 advantage in both games. Both have extra pawns, and both have decent compensation from the other party.
20-20: In the Fabio black game, I know my next move (g5 is forced), but I can’t figure out how to play for a win. (Mental note – start deviating from the main lines in McCutcheon).
In the predecessor game, Glek sacrificed an exchange on g5, closed the position, and navigated the game to a draw. Considering he was playing black against a 2500+ pro, he was undoubtedly satisfied. I certainly wouldn’t be, hence I’m thinking of deviating by taking on g5 with the queen, but then what?
Maybe go Qxg5, and then take with the rook, to leave at least the g-file open? Taking with the pawn will lead to very similar positions as the predecessor game, as per the lines above.
If I take with the rook, things open up a bit. White cannot get at my h6 pawn, but he can prep a g4 push, and maybe get with the knight to g6 to open things up even more. I can try navigating my knight to g5 or e4 and double the rooks on the g-file. Either way, I have a day more to think, since my next move has to be g5.
While the position is still equal according to the engine, the seeds of trouble are sown. I was correct in suspecting my GM predecessor – he could have lost that game, and his choice was inferior to the path I’ve eventually selected. However, my main problem was optimism: I was looking for a win with no justification, apart from the rating difference. That optimism haunted my later choices.
In the white game, there’s only one sensible move (Qa2). I’ll play both of Fabio moves tomorrow morning to buy some time.
Continued here: https://www.chess.com/blog/romank66/chess-com-2024-2nd-round-e10-when-the-going-gets-tough