Thursday, May 14, 2009

Game Analysis

I recently played in the Foxwoods Open and just finished going over my last game yesterday. Below is my game against IM Emory Tate, which I won in what I thought was a relatively clean fashion. It turns out there was a critical moment in which I failed to understand what the position called for and made a bad move. Mr. Tate missed the oppertunity to get back into the game, I challange you to find whites major mistake and where black had a serious improvement. First correct answer gets $50, my be posted by a blogger user, anonymous will not be accepted.

** The serious mistake is after white gets an advantage out the of the opening after black plays 9...Ne7.**

Click to see game.

15 comments:

  1. 10.Rh3 is too slow. 10.g4 achieves the goal of attacking the king side by opening up the G file for the rook and queen. Example 10.g4 fxg4 11.Nf4 0-0 12.Qxg4 with Be3 and Rg1 soon to come. 10.g4 0-0 12.g5 get sick really fast...12...hxg5 13.Bxg5 and Nf4 is also crazy awesome for white. Moves like 10...Nd7 also fall to g5. Black pieces are too far away from the defense. R.I.P.

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  2. 11.Rg3 was the move!

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  3. So, I am confused... has this been solved?

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  4. I think Ashish is waiting for more answers to come in....or at least the correct one :)

    I still think 10.g4 is good.
    Thanks for posting this game Ashish. I was wondering how you went about beating Tate.

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  5. I meant 17.Rg3. I posted the wrong move number.

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  6. If 10. g4 then, ... c5 11. Rg1 (11. gxf5 ...Nxf5=; 11. g5 ...Qa5=) ...Qa5+=. I think 10. Rh3 was better.

    13. Rb1 is a possible improvement. Possible lines being ...Nbc6 14. Rb5 ...Qc7 15. Rxc5 ...b6 16. Rb5 ...Na5+-

    16. g4= may be premature. A possible alternative being 16. Qb1. For example: 16. Qb1 ...0-0-0 17. Qb2 ...Rde8 18. a4 ...Kb8 19. Qa3 ...Ka8+=.

    20. ... Qc7+= may be better then Nf7 for Tate... maybe.

    27. Bf3 has the stronger alternative 27. h6 (27 ...g5 28. Rxg5 ...Rxg5 29. Rxg5 ...Nf7+-).

    That's all I can see for now, I'll continue looking.

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  7. 14.Rh4 is white's critical mistake. A more effective plan would be the improvement of the d2 bishop by 14.a4 with the idea of... Bc1-Ba3 and white will hold the edge due to his active pieces and blacks passive, cramped position. Black can stay in the game by NOT playing 19...Nd8. This move blocks the queen from its important route to f7 (Qd8 Qe8 Qf7) where it guards black's problem of the g7 pawn. Better is perhaps 19...Kb8 and it appears black has enough to defend and perhaps will soon build up some play.

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  8. I think 16. g4 is definitely white's major mistake, relinquishing whites advantage completely. Although, Tate's responses ...0-0-0 followed by ...Rdf8(Rgf8 might be slightly stronger), and ...hxg5 (Kb8, Qd8, and Kc7!? are also good alternatives) seem correct. Tate begins to surrender equality with 19. ...Nd8 (Kc7, Kb8, and Qd8 still being good alternatives), 20. ...Nf7 (returning the Knight to c6 with Ndc6 is probably better then my previously mentioned Qc7), 21. ...Re8 (Qd8, Kb8, and Nh6 are improvements), and after Qc7+-, the largest inaccuracy of the series (Qd8+= would have been better), black is, suddenly, desperate.

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  9. Did you guys see my post? I'm new here and didn't activate my account when I posted my answer. Didn't know if it mattered... Hey Zeeshaun it's Justin from the tourney.

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  10. Obviously blindeadsun means 14.Rh3. The question is phrazed weird so it is hard to understand what is asked for, but 14.Rh3 does indeed look to be the mistake. Opens the g file for white's heavy pieces but if black doesn't blunder with nd8 nf7 the queen can easily guard the g pawn and maybe black can build up pressure on the queenside. Also Intead of the first Rh3, Qd3 deserves attention. Threat is Qg3 on g7 and guarding e5. When black plays c5, white can take (in most cases, or prepare the capture) followed by Nd4 and possibly Nb5 Nd6.

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  11. 14. Rh3 is not white's tactical best move, but.. white still maintains a small edge and gains the strategic value of playing g4 in the future. After 14. a4 or 14. Qb1 white's positional edge is slightly greater. However, I believe after 16. g4 white's edge is completely diminished, making it the worse of the 2 moves, there are many alternatives for white to employ that maintain his edge the best two still being 16. Qb1 and 16. a4.

    Hey, how's it going Justin :p.

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  12. "after white gets an advantage out the of the opening" and "there was a critical moment"

    ok, so I think we all agree Rh3 Rg3 Nf4 is a logical plan that still keeps white with a slight edge (there may be more accurate lines but that is not the point) Black plays ...Qa5 Bd2 not so much forced, but is definitely not a "blunder", over protects the c3 pawn so Rg3 is not stuck defending it and also has threats by c4 on the queen so black's reply c4 is most logical.

    Now this is the definition of a CRITICAL position(moment). White has secured the edge by the nice g file control (Rg3 and Nf4) as planned by h4 h5 and has taken care of the c3 pawn. White must now decide how to play from here. I'm not sure if the poster was meaning this as his "critical moment" but this is what I understand it to be.

    Then... "I failed to understand what the position called for and made a bad move". Usually you fail to understand the position at a critical position, not in the middle of an idea. So everything seems right here. What did the position call for? Well, from here it is the principal of two weaknesses. White has nice control on the g file with Rg3 and Nf4, but this one advantage will not win alone. Therefore white must also step up the pressure on the queenside. How? A rook or queen on the b file would be nice. How does a bishop look on d6 now? Where is black's king going to go? Some tough questions to answer. So by this I think a4 with Bc1 Ba3 is a good start to this idea probably Qb1 sometime too. Notice now that black closed the center with c4 it is worth white's time putting the bishop on a more effective diagonal.

    By the awkward 14.Rh3 white is abandoning his whole plan of holding control of the g file. If white wanted g4 and a rook BEHIND the pawn why not play g4 EARLIER and THEN Rg1? That would take only 2 moves, instead it took white 5 moves with the rook and pawn to get in g4 and Rg3. True Zeeshaun, white might be able to keep a bit of an edge even after Rh3 without playing g4 but what is the point of Rh3? white will probably move it back soon and white just lost 2 moves for nothing. You can take either Rh4 or g4 to be the "bad move". Rh3 is the start of the wrong plan and g4 seals the deal. But after Rh3 with or without g4, your advantage is already shrinking, if not almost gone.

    "missed the opportunity to get back into the game" is the only confusing part to my theory. It seems after Rh3 and g4 black was already back into the game and all he has to do is not blunder by blocking the queen to f7. What is the point to your 19...Kc7 Zeeshaun? To me 19...Kb8 looks best, keeping the queen on a5 until it is needed elsewhere. The immediate 19...Qd8 seems too commital. Can white prove an advantage after 19...Kb8? I see ideas, but black seems to have enough to at least hold to a draw, if not get his own winning chances.

    Perhaps the poster could enlighten us to his thoughts on this, or perhaps one of us is just missing something. That is the way I understood this puzzle anyways.

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  13. Interesting analysis so far guys. I will post the answer and tell you who the winner is on the 25th. I will be posting the games from the Arpad Elo I think are worthy of best game prize and let everyone vote for the best game.

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  14. Yes Rh3 Andy thanks for correcting. :) Hope I don't forfeit.

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  15. Where is the answer? Seems I can't find it :(

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