Portsmouth Chess Congress 2013: Game 6

Here is my sixth and final game in the Portsmouth Chess Congress 2013 - possibly a Reti? (will check with Fritz). I always dread it when my opponent plays 1.d4 and follows with 2.Nf3, the reason being that I can't play my favourite opening - the Budapest ... :( My opponent employed a very solid opening arrangement and simply managed to grind me down until I had nothing on the queen-side - no attacking chances whatsoever! I tried an early double-bishop attack but didn't appreciate that my opponent need not worry about such crude bishop manoeuvres, using a clever knight move to snuff out the assault. As the game progressed I threw everything at the queen-side (including the kitchen sink) but couldn't penetrate his defence.

I have to admit that although the game was unexciting for me, my opponent's strategy was sublime. With the queen-side taken care of he began a pawn skirmish on the king-side! All my pieces were on the wrong side of the board and it was too late to stem the flow of attackers ... A sound win for my opponent!

As usual, any comments welcome ...

Game 6 - Queens pawn Reti?

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 Be7 5. O-O c6 6. c3 Nbd7 7. Nbd2 b6 8. Qc2 Bb7 9. Re1 O-O 10. Ne5 Rc8 11. e4 Nxe5 12. dxe5 Nd7 13. f4 Bc5+ 14. Kh1 Ba6 15. Nf3 Be7 16. exd5 cxd5 17. Be3 Bc5 18. Nd4 Bxd4 19. Bxd4 Nc5 20. Rad1 Qd7 21. g4 Rc7 22. Re3 b5 23. a3 Rfc8 24. f5 Nb7 25. Rh3 exf5 26. gxf5 g6 27. e6 Qe7 28. exf7 Qxf7 29. fxg6 hxg6 30. Rh8# 1-0

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Portsmouth Chess Congress 2013: Game 5

Here is my fifth game in the Portsmouth Chess Congress 2013 - a Sicilian Grand Prix Attack. I was on the Black side this time, and wanted to make up for my failure on the previous evening. Fortunately, I have had plenty of GP attack games lately and seen the best way for Black to approach 2.Nc3 ...

On move 25 I managed to fork my opponents Rooks, which meant I'd won a piece for a pawn! In the final position I was a whole piece up and my opponent duly resigned ...

As usual, any comments welcome ...

Game 5 - Sicilian Grand Prix Attack

1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 e6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. d3 Nc6 6. f4 Nge7 7. Nf3 O-O 8. O-O d5 9. exd5 Nxd5 10. Nxd5 exd5 11. Rb1 Bg4 12. c3 d4 13. c4 Qd7 14. b4 Nxb4 15. Qb3 Bf5 16. Rd1 Rfe8 17. Ne1 Re2 18. a3 Na2 19. Bd2 Nc3 20. Bxc3 dxc3 21. Kf1 Rae8 22. Be4 Rxh2 23. Nf3 Bh3+ 24. Kg1 Rg2+ 25. Kh1 c2 26. Ne5 cxd1+ 27. Qxd1 Bxe5 28. Bxg2 Bxg2+ 29. Kxg2 Bd4 0-1

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Portsmouth Chess Congress 2013: Game 4

Here is my fourth game in the Portsmouth Chess Congress 2013 - a Sicilian Grand Prix Attack. I was banking on my opponent not knowing enough about this type of attack to deal with it - but I was naive. My attack never got going, he played 2...e6 and my heart sank :( I am always disappointed when players play 2...e6 because it usually means that they have played against the GP attack before and that they know that this is by far the strongest reply. For instance 2...d6 is often considered inferior and tempo losing.

Finally on move 26, I blundered dues to fatigue and it was all over ... :)

As usual, any comments welcome ...

Game 4 - Sicilian Grand Prix Attack

1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 e6 3. f4 Nc6 4. Nf3 d5 5. e5 Be7 6. d3 Qc7 7. Bd2 a6 8. Be2 f6 9. exf6 Nxf6 10. O-O O-O 11. a3 Bd7 12. Re1 Bd6 13. g3 Rae8 14. Bf1 e5 15. fxe5 Nxe5 16. Nxe5 Bxe5 17. Bg2 Bd4 18. Kh1 Bc6 19. Bf4 Qd7 20. Bf3 Rxe1 21. Qxe1 Re8 22. Qd2 Ng4 23. Bxg4 Qxg4 24. Qd1 Qf5 25. Rb1 Bf2 26. h3?? fatigue! ( 26. Kg2 ) 0-1

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Portsmouth Chess Congress 2013: Game 3

Here is my third game in the Portsmouth Chess Congress 2013 - a Sicilian Moscow variation 3. Bb5+ I'm never sure what to do when faced with this, so will have to look this up on YouTube :)

Finally on move 27, both of us unsure of how to continue, a draw was agreed :)

As usual, any comments welcome ...

Game 3 - Sicilian Moscow Variation

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Bd7 4. Bxd7 interesting is 4.a4 Nc6 4...  Qxd7 being careful not to commit the Knight too early 5. O-O Nf6 6. Qe2 Nc6 7. c3 e6 8. d4 cxd4 9. cxd4 Be7 10. Rd1 Qc7 11. Nc3 a6 12. Bg5 O-O 13. Rac1 Qd7 14. e5 Nd5 15. Nxd5 exd5 16. Bf4 Rfe8 17. Qd2 Rac8 18. h3 Rcd8 19. a3 Rc8 20. Rc3 Na7 21. Rdc1 Rxc3 22. Rxc3 Nc6 23. b4 Na7 24. Qc2 Nb5 25. Re3 Rc8 26. Qd2 Qc7 27. Rd3 Qd7 0.5-0.5

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Portsmouth Chess Congress 2013: Game 2

Here is my second game in the Portsmouth Chess Congress 2013 - a Qh4 terrorist attack !!!

I think that after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Qh4 !? ... the Queen somehow looks misplaced and has surely committed herself too early? Sadly I was about to find out just how WELL placed the Queen is if White tries to hold on to the pawn ... I have added a sub-variation which David Ross pointed out to me after the game is far sharper and much better for White ...

As usual, any comments welcome ...

Game 2 - Scotch Game

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Qh4 5. Nc3 protecting pawn 5...  Bb4 6. Qd3 ( 6. Ndb5! Qxe4 7. Be2 Qxg2 greed! 8. Bf3! Qg6 black is losing now 9. Nxc7+ Kd8 10. Nxa8! ) 6...  Nf6 7. Nxc6 Bxc3 8. bxc3 dxc6 9. e5 Qe4+ 10. Qxe4 Nxe4 11. Bb2 Be6 12. Be2 O-O-O 13. f3 Nd2 14. Bd3 Nc4 15. Bc1 Nxe5 16. Be2 Rhe8 17. O-O Bc4 18. Bxc4 Nxc4 19. Rb1 Nd2 20. Bxd2 Rxd2 21. Rf2 Ree2 22. Rxe2 Rxe2 23. Rb2 b6 24. Kf1 Re5 25. Kf2 Rb5 26. Rxb5 cxb5 27. Ke3 Kd7 28. Kd4 Kd6 29. f4 f5 30. a3 c5 31. Kd3 Kd5 32. Ke3 Kc4 33. Kd2 a5 34. h3 b4 35. cxb4 cxb4 36. axb4 Kxb4 37. g4 g6 38. c3+ Kb3 0-1

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Portsmouth Chess Congress 2013: Game 1

I played the major section of the 5th Portsmouth Chess Congress this year. I scored 2.5 out of 6, an improvement of 0.5 over last year which is pleasing. I have decided to Blog all six games. On my first game I was able to play the Budapest. Fortunately for me, my opponent thought for a good 10-15 mins on move 3!? Surely this is a no-no!!! I once read that it is essential to play the first series of opening moves as quickly as possible, especially in a tournament. Once the opening is over it is only THEN that you should take time to find a) the right plan and b) perhaps look to make the game tactical?

I have to admit that I got lucky in this game and managed to win a piece for a pawn with a simple fork. Anyway, here is the game that I managed to win ...

As usual, any comments welcome ...

Game 1 - Budapest Defense

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e5 3. e3 exd4 4. exd4 Bb4+ 5. Bd2 Bxd2+ 6. Nxd2 O-O 7. Ngf3 d6 8. Bd3 Re8+ 9. Kf1 Nc6 10. h3 Ne7 11. Qc2 g6 12. g4 Nc6 13. a3 Bd7 14. Kg2 Qe7 15. d5 Ne5 16. Rae1 Qf8 17. Nxe5 Rxe5 18. Rxe5 dxe5 19. Re1 Re8 20. Nf3 Qd6 21. Qe2 e4 22. Bxe4 Rxe4 23. Qd3 Rxe1 24. Nxe1 Qe5 25. Nf3 Qe4 26. Qb3 b6 27. Kg3 a5 28. Ng5 Qe5+ 29. Kh4 h6 ( 29... h6 30. Nf3 g5+ 31. Nxg5 hxg5# ) 0-1

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Tactical shot leads to uncertain ending

In my last club game I had the White pieces and played e4. My opponent elected to play the sicilian ... I played the closed variation with 2.Nc3, hoping to get a Grand Prix Attack. Interestingly my opponent elected to play 4...Nf6? which although not a blunder, seems not to be a 'book move'? I'm not sure what his intention was but I will be putting the game through Fritz at some stage ...

As the game progressed it it turned into a classic fight for the center and the e5 pawn became the focus. After some analysis in the curry house afterwards an IM colleague had a look at the game and noticed that Black can actually win a pawn but I can't see where? Another candidate game for Fritz!!

(I found out after the game that my opponent was graded almost 300 Elo points above me at 1840 Elo. This game had a sharp conclusion which led to uncertainty and served me well!)

As usual, any comments welcome ...

Chess Diagram 1 - Closed Sicilian - 2.Nc3

1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. f4 e6 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. e5 Nd5 6. Nxd5 exd5 7. Be2 Be7 8. O-O O-O 9. b3 d6 10. Bb2 Bf5 11. c3 f6 12. d4 Qd7 13. Bd3 Be4 14. Re1 Qf5 15. Bxe4 dxe4 16. Nd2 d5 17. Rf1 fxe5 18. fxe5 Qe6 19. Qe2 a6 20. Rad1 Rae8 21. Rxf8+ Rxf8 22. Nxe4 ( 22. Nxe4 dxe4 23. d5 ) 0.5-0.5

Note: I offered a draw in this position and it was duly accepted.

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