Round 4 Results

Slive-Williams 1-0 A42: Modern Defense - Averbakh Variation

Chase-Mac Intyre adjourned A05: Reti - Double Fianchetto

Martirosov-Glickman 1-0 C00: French Defense - King's Indian Attack

Riordan-Cherniack 0-1 A45: Trompowsky Attack

Best Game of Round 3

I wish the readers of this weblog showed more interest in voting on the best games so I could avoid the awkward position I find myself in. But alas, 'tis not to be.

Cherniack's relentless squeeze of Slive is certainly a worthy contender. However, while Charles will rightly point out that he did not play his best, I am selecting my win over Riordan - the first major upset of the 2004 Championship - as the best game of Round 3.

As always, please feel free to comment if you agree or disagree.

Round 3: Cherniack-Slive 1-0

A game which evokes the image of a boa constrictor. Black never seems to get anything going though he doesn’t appear to be at a significant disadvantage until he drops the exchange on move 26. From then on White slowly but surely improves his position; Black squirms and wriggles but inevitably capitulates.

[Event "BCC Championship"]
[Site "Somerville, MA USA"]
[Date "2004.09.22"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Cherniack, Alex"]
[Black "Slive, Alex”]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteUSCF "2228"]
[BlackUSCF "2039"]
[ECO "A18"]
[Opening "English"]
[Variation "Flohr-Mikenas System"]

1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e6 3.e4 d5 4.e5 Nfd7 5.cxd5 Nxe5 6.d4 Ng6 7.Bb5+ c6 8.dxc6 bxc6 9.Bc4 Be7 10.Nf3 0-0 11.h4 Bf6 12.Ne4 Ba6 13.Bxa6 Nxa6 14.h5 Ne7 15.Nxf6+ gxf6 16.Kf1 Kh8 17.Qe2 Nb4 18.Bh6 Rg8 19.Ne5 Qe8 20.Ng4 Nbd5 21.Ne3 Qd7 22.Qf3 Rgd8 23.Nxd5 Nxd5 24.Rc1 Rab8?

[Fritz prefers 24...Rg8 stopping White's next]

25.Qg3

25...Rg8 26.Bg7+ Rxg7 27.Qxb8+ Rg8 28.Qb3 h6 29.Qf3 Qd6 30.a3 Rg5 31.g3 Rf5 32.Qd3 Kg7 33.Rh4 Ne7 34.Qe4 Rd5 35.Qf4 Qxf4 36.Rxf4 Rxh5 37.Rc5 Rh1+ 38.Ke2 Rb1 39.b4 Ra1 40.Ra5 Nd5 41.Rg4+

[sealed move]

41...Kf8 42.Rxa7 f5 43.Ra8+ Ke7 44.Rgg8 Ra2+ 45.Kf1 Rd2 46.Rgb8 Rxd4 47.a4 Rd1+ 48.Kg2 f4 49.a5 fxg3 50.Kxg3 Nc7 51.Ra7 Rd7 52.Rab7 f6 53.Rb6 Rd3+ 54.f3 Kd7 55.Rh8 Rb3 56.Rb7 1-0

Tonight on BCC1...

With the Championship crossing over its midway point, tonight's 4th round offers two intriguing pairings at opposite ends of the leader board.

1. The two top-rated competitors and current co-leaders, Mac Intyre and Chase, face off in a game which, if decisive, could go a long way to determining the 2004 BCC Champion. Chris has the advantage of the first move.
   
   
2. At the other end of the leader board, Slive and Williams will do battle with each having a good chance to score their first points of the tournament. Alex has the white pieces.

Round 3: Glickman-Riordan 1-0

Glickman scores the first big upset of the tournament. Black makes an imprecise move in the opening – which allows White to disrupt his development – and is never able to recover.

[Event "BCC Championship"]
[Site "Somerville, MA USA"]
[Date "2004.09.22"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Glickman, David"]
[Black "Riordan, Charles"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteUSCF "1937"]
[BlackUSCF "2258"]
[ECO "B22"]
[Opening "Sicilian"]
[Variation "2.c3"]

1.e4 c5 2.c3 Nf6 3.e5 Nd5 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.Bc4 Nb6 6.Bb3 g6 7.0-0 Bg7 8.Re1 0-0 9.Na3 d5 10.exd6 exd6!?

[A move not found in the ChessBase on-line database. The two games which reached this position continued 10...Qxd6 11.d4 cxd4 12.Nb5]

11.d4 cxd4?

[Quite possibly the losing move. 11...Bg4 (Riordan) 12.dxc5 dxc5 13.h3 Qxd1 14.Bxd1 +/= Fritz]

12.Bg5

12...Qd7 13.Nxd4 d5 14.Qd2 Nxd4 15.cxd4 Nc4

[Charles considered 15...Qg4 but was concerned about 16.Nb5 e.g., 16...Nc4 (16...Bd7?? allows White to trap the queen with 17.h3 Qh5 18.Bd1) 17.Bxc4 dxc4 18.Be7 +/-. With the text move, he offered a draw]

16.Nxc4

[At this point psychology came into play. In our most recent encounter, I offered Charles a draw in a dead even rook ending; he refused and subsequently outplayed me to win. From this I concluded that he was highly unlikely to offer me a draw if he thought the position was simply equal. Therefore, I surmised that he must have believed that he was losing. After a long think, I finally summoned the courage to play on]

16...dxc4

[During the post-mortem, Charles confirmed my suspicions. "I tell my friends never to accept my draw offers, since I make them only when I'm losing," he said]

17.Bxc4 Qxd4 18.Qxd4 Bxd4 19.Be7 Bxb2 20.Bxf8 Kxf8 21.Rab1 Bf6 22.Rb3 b5

[22...Rb8!? (Fritz) and 22...Bd8!? (Riordan) are alternative tries in search of drawing chances]

23.Rxb5 Ba6 24.Rc5 Bxc4 25.Rxc4 Rb8 26.Rec1 Rb2 27.R4c2 Rb5 28.g3 Bd4 29.Rd1 Bb6 30.Re2 h5 31.h4 Rf5 32.Kg2 Kg7 33.Rd7 Kf8 34.a4 Rf6 35.f3 Bc5 36.Rc7 Bb6 37.Rb7 Bc5 38.Rc2 Bb6 39.Re2

[Repeating moves to reach time control and adjournment. 39.Rd2 on the way to d5 and/or d7 is the quickest way forward]

39...Bc5 40.Rc2 Bb6 41.Rc8+

[sealed move]

41...Kg7 42.Re8 Rf5 43.Ree7 Rf6 44.Red7 Rf5 45.g4 hxg4 46.fxg4 Rf6 47.g5 Rf5 48.Kg3 Rf1 49.Rd3 Rg1+ 50.Kh3 Rh1+ 51.Kg4 Bf2 52.Rdd7 1-0

Standings (after Round 3) - preliminary

As a reminder Round 2 is still incomplete awaiting the rescheduled Martirosov-Williams game on October 1st. Here are the current standings after Round 3:

2.5 Mac Intyre, Chase, Glickman

1.5 Cherniack

1.0 Martirosov(2), Riordan

0.0 Williams(2), Slive

(#) - # of rounds completed for players who have completed fewer than 3 rounds

An opening preparation anecdote

Since most of the players in the Championship are active readers of this weblog, discussing opening preparation prior to the rounds wouldn't be prudent (nor would posting adjournment analysis, for that matter). As a result, when I post something like this after the fact you'll just have to believe me (or not).

In preparing for my Round 3 encounter with Charles I found the following game of his:

[Event "Northeast Spring Getaway"]

[Site "Lowell"]

[Date "2003.??.??"]

[Round "2"]

[White "Kelleher,William"]

[Black "Riordan,Charles"]

[Result "1/2"]

[Eco "B22"]

1.e4 c5 2.c3 Nf6 3.e5 Nd5 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.Bc4 Nb6 7.Bb3 g6 8.Ng5 d5 9.exd6 e6 10.Qf3 Ne5 11.Qe4 Qxd6 12.0-0 Bg7 13.Rd1 h6 14.Nf3 Bd7 15.Bf4 Qc6 16.Qxc6 Nxc6 17.cxd4 Ne7 18.Nc3 Bc6 19.Ne5 Bd5 20.Nxd5 Nexd5 21.Bd2 0-0 22.a4 Rfd8 23.Ba5 Rac8 24.g3 Ne7 25.Nf3 Nc6 26.Bxb6 axb6 27.d5 exd5 28.Bxd5 Bxb2 29.Rab1 Ba3 30.Rxb6 Ne7 31.Rb5 Nxd5 32.Rdxd5 Rxd5 33.Rxd5 Rc2 34.Nd4 Ra2 35.Rd8+ Bf8 36.Nb3 1/2

I wasn't planning on playing this exact move order, but instead the line 4.Nf3 delaying d2-d4. After 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.Bc4 Nb6 6.Bb3 Black has several reasonable moves, including 6...g6. I thought there was a good chance that Charles might choose g6 since after 7.d4 cxd4 the position transposes to the game above. This is a perfectly acceptable line, but not one I have studied extensively. So I decided I would play the alternative 7.O-O and reviewed the following game:

[Event "Bucharest Strange Badger"]

[Site "Bucharest"]

[Date "2001.08.05"]

[Round "11"]

[White "Gheng,Josef"]

[Black "Jianu,Vlad Cristian"]

[Result "1-0"]

[Eco "B22"]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.c3 Nf6 4.e5 Nd5 5.Bc4 Nb6 6.Bb3 g6 7.0-0 Bg7 8.Re1 0-0 9.Na3 d6 10.exd6 Qxd6 11.d4 cxd4 12.Nb5 Qd8 13.Nbxd4 Nxd4 14.Nxd4 e6 15.Qf3 Nd7 16.Be3 Qe7 17.Rad1 a6 18.Qg3 Nf6 19.Qg5 h6 20.Qa5 Qd8 21.Nc6 Qxa5 22.Nxa5 b5 23.Rd3 e5 24.Rd6 Ng4 25.Bd5 Bf5 26.Bxa8 Rxa8 27.Red1 Bf6 28.Bc5 Rc8 29.Rc6 Rxc6 30.Nxc6 Bc2 31.Rd6 Bg5 32.h3 Nf6 33.Rd8+ Kh7 34.Nxe5 Ne4 35.Rc8 Nxc5 36.Rxc5 Bc1 37.c4 b4 38.b3 Bb1 39.Ra5 Ba3 40.Nc6 1-0

Glickman-Riordan Round 3 did, in fact, follow this course; Charles deviated at move 10.

The Boston Globe covers the BCC Championship (Thanks Harold!)

The BCC Championship (including this weblog) was the main topic of the Boston Globe's Chess Notes article on Monday, September 27. The relevant paragraphs follow:

CHESS NOTES
By Harold Dondis and Patrick Wolff
GLOBE CORRESPONDENTS

The Boylston Chess Club Championship has commenced on Wednes­day nights at the Somerville headquarters of the club and will continue through October. Readers who want to follow the elite matches can find games and reports at http://2004-bcc-championship.blogspot.com/. The club championship is an annual affair held by qualification of the club's most successful players. A secondary tournament called the Haup[t]turnier runs along with the championship itself for other members, some not quite strong enough to qualify for the championship competition. Elev­en players are in the Haup[t]turnier from [the] bottom of the chess ratings to the top.

A large picture of the deceased chess saint Harry Lyman beams down from the walls of the playing room. The players in the championship are Christopher Chase, Alex Cherniack, David Glickman (who operates the website), Charles Riordan, Paul MacIntyre, Vadim Martirosov, Alex Slive, and youngster Christopher Williams. At this writing we only have reports on two of the seven rounds, MacIntyre (club president) leading with two wins. It is interesting that adjournments are still allowed in the Boylston Championship, probably because of the late hours. This prac­tice lends itself to computer assistance, but if there are adjournments, this cannot be helped.

Recent past Boylston Club champions include: Bill Kelleher: 1979, 1980, 1881, 1983, 1984, 1987; Jacob Rasin: 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1997; Maclntyre: 2000, 2001, 2003; Chase: 1990, 1994, 1998; and Cherniack: 1987, 1995, 1999.

The club's new location is an opportunity for people near Davis Square. The club reports that it set up six chess tables in late July at Art­Beat, a festival in which the entire square was closed to traffic for a little merriment. The tables were fully occupied for hours with many waiting in line to play. Also, scholastic instruction is available from 3 to 4:30 at the club on Wednesday and Friday afternoons, at least until November, courtesy of international master Satea al Husari, a club member.

Round 3: Mac Intyre-Martirosov 1/2

Paul and Vadim go deep into theory and play a game which seems equal throughout.

[Event "BCC Championship"]
[Site "Somerville, MA USA"]
[Date "2004.09.22"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Mac Intyre, Paul"]
[Black "Martirosov, Vadim"]
[Result "1/2"]
[WhiteUSCF "2303"]
[BlackUSCF "2198"]
[ECO "B45"]
[Opening "Sicilian"]
[Variation "Taimanov"]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3

[perhaps we should call this the Sicilian Four Adventurers variation :)]

5...e6 6.Ndb5 Bb4 7.a3 Bxc3+ 8.Nxc3 d5 9.exd5 exd5 10.Bd3 0-0 11.0-0 d4 12.Ne2 Bg4 13.Bg5 Qd6 14.Qd2 Bxe2 15.Bf4 Qd5 16.Bxe2 Ne4 17.Qd3 Qf5 18.Bf3

18...Qxf4 19.Qxe4 Qxe4 20.Bxe4 Rfe8 21.Rfe1 Rac8 22.Bxc6 bxc6 23.Rxe8+ Rxe8 24.Kf1 Kf8 25.Rd1 c5 26.b3 Re6 27.a4 Ke7 28.Re1 Rxe1+ 29.Kxe1 Ke6 30.Ke2 a5 31.Kd3 Kd5 32.f3 f6 33.g3 g6 34.h3 g5 35.g4 h6 36.c3 dxc3 37.Kxc3 Kd6 38.Kd2 Ke5 39.Kc3 Kd6 40.Kd2 ½-½

Results of Round 3 adjourned games

Glickman-Riordan 1-0

Cherniack-Slive 1-0

Hauptturnier literary controversy

Will the chaos on the junior circuit ever cease? Paul posted the following:

A controversy has arisen at the Hauptturnier. It revolves around the meaning and usage of "Hauptturnier." An ex-participant in the tournament (who is well-versed in German) has informed me that Hauptturnier means "main tournament". This would put the championship itself in a subordinate position. My response was to point out that the great international tournament of New York, 1924 had a simultaneous Hauptturnier with players of lesser stature. This would seem to indicate that a Hauptturnier was a tournament held alongside a higher level invitational tournament. Would anyone be able to shed any light on this subject?

Round 3: Williams-Chase 0-1

An up and down affair where the last blunder loses. White sacrifices a pawn early for little to no compensation, but Chase plays a few imprecise moves which allows Williams first, counterplay and then a material advantage. However, White never successfully coordinates his two rooks against Black's queen and/or king and eventually drifts into a losing position. The sequence between moves 41-42 would seem to indicate that both sides were blitzing past the time control at move 40 (though I don't know for sure that this was the case).

[Event "BCC Championship"]
[Site "Somerville, MA USA"]
[Date "2004.09.22"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Williams, Chris"]
[Black "Chase, Chris”]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteUSCF "2053"]
[BlackUSCF "2289"]
[ECO "A04"]
[Opening "Reti/King’s Indian Attack"]

1.Nf3 g6 2.g3 Bg7 3.Bg2 d6 4.0-0 e5 5.d3 Ne7 6.Nc3 0-0 7.e4 h6 8.Be3 f5 9.Qd2 g5 10.exf5 Nxf5 11.h4?!

[White plays aggressively - sacrificing a pawn - but Black looks to be better prepared to take advantage of the open lines on the kingside. 11.h3 seems more sensible]

11...gxh4 12.Nxh4 Nxh4 13.gxh4 Qxh4 14.Nd5?!

[After this Fritz believes that Black is winning. The computer preferred 14.f4 exf4 15.Rxf4 Rxf4 16.Bxf4 though Black retains a substantial advantage]

14...Nc6?!

[Why not 14...Na6 ?]

15.Nxc7 Bh3 16.f3 Rac8 17.Nd5 Nd4?!

[This move allows White to turn the tables]

18.Bf2 Qh5 19.Bxd4 Bxg2 20.Qxg2 exd4 21.Ne7+ Kh7 22.Nxc8 Bf6 23.Nxd6

[Fritz prefers 23.Qh2! and assesses the position as winning for White]

23...Rg8 24.Qxg8+ Kxg8 25.Ne4 Bh4 26.Rad1 Kf7 27.Rd2 Bg5 28.Nxg5+ Qxg5+ 29.Rg2 Qe3+ 30.Kh1 Kf6 31.a4 h5 32.b3 Kf5 33.Rff2 Qf4 34.Rg8 Ke5 35.Kg2 Kd5 36.Re2 Kc5 37.Rg7

[At the cost of a pawn 37.Re4 would have activated the other rook and made the Black king position more precarious]

37...b6 38.Rxa7 h4 39.Rf2?!

[39.Rg7 was better]

39...Qg3+ 40.Kf1 Qf4 41.Rg7?

[41.Re7 h3 42.Re4 Qc1+ 43.Re1 would have defended]

41...h3?

[Letting White off the hook. 41...Qc1+ is winning]

42.Ke2??

[But White fails to take advantage. Again 42.Re7 should hold the balance]

42...Qe3+?!

[42...Qe5+ winning the rook would have been quicker]

43.Kf1 Qc1+ 44.Ke2 h2 45.Rh7 Qxc2+ 46.Kf1 Qd1+ 0-1

Championship Wall Chart

With Bernardo's help, the 2004 BCC Championship Wall Chart is now available. You will find a link to the current Wall Chart under "key posts" on the left side of the page. We will endeavour to keep it up-to-date as the tournament progresses.

Playing in traffic

For those interested in such things, clicking on the site meter at the bottom of the page will provide a wealth of information on visitors to this weblog.

One of my favorites is the chart of the last 100 visitors by time zone. Not surprisingly, about 70-80% of the visitors are from EST(GMT-5), e.g., the east coast of the United States. Second place (with ~5-8%) has drifted between CST (GMT-6); PST (GMT-8); AST (GMT-4) e.g., Brazil, Eastern Canada; and WAST (GMT+7) e.g., Western Australia, Singapore, Taiwan.

Round 3 adjourned positions

Glickman-Riordan:

White sealed his 41st move

White: Kg2; Rc2; Rb7; Pawns on a4, f3, g3 and h4

Black: Kf8; Rf6; Bb6; Pawns on a7, f7, g6 and h5

FEN "5k2/pR3p2/1b3rp1/7p/P6P/5PP1/2R3K1/8 w - - 0 41"

Cherniack-Slive:

White sealed his 41st move

White: Ke2; Rf4; Ra5; pawns on f2, g3, d4, a3 and b4

Black: Kg7; Ra1; Nd5; pawns on h6, f7, f6, e6, c6 and a7

FEN "8/p4pkp/2p1pp2/R2n4/1P1P1R2/P5P1/4KP2/r7 w - - 0 41"

Take me to the Haup ... oh, baby

While everything has been calm at the Championship so far, the same cannot be said for the Hauptturnier. Since the first week Christiansen and Theil are no longer participating and Edward Dean (1698) has been added. So now the Haup is a 10-person, 9 round-robin affair. However, it looks like there is a lot of scrambling going on to make up games from the byes in earlier rounds.

I don't know anything about the circumstances of the withdrawals and it is certainly not my intention to cast aspersions; nevertheless, it is worth pointing out that unlike swiss-system tournaments, withdrawals from round-robins are much more problematic.

Round 3 Results

Cherniack-Slive adjourned A18: English Opening - Flohr-Mikenas System

Glickman-Riordan adjourned B22: Sicilian - 2.c3

Mac Intyre-Martirosov 1/2 B45: Sicilian Taimanov

Williams-Chase 0-1 A04: King's Indian Attack

Best Game of Round 2? Not yet!

After last night's round I had an impromptu discussion with Mac Intyre, Riordan, Cherniack and Iglesias regarding the best game of round 2. The consensus was that none of the games were particularly deserving. Since the Martirosov-Williams game is yet to be played, here's hoping that it might be a worthy contender.

For the record, Martirosov-Williams has been rescheduled to October 1st.

...a matter of technique?

In my overview of Slive-Chase (Round 2), I concluded by saying, "From then on it is simply a matter of technique". I came across an article by Steve Lopez where he takes exception to this phrase:

Another cop-out shortcut that chess writers use is to stop annotating a game someplace in the late middlegame and wrap it up by saying, "The rest is a matter of technique". Ripoff!!!! Be honest -- say that you haven't a clue why the endgame played out as it did. But don't just truncate the game by saying "the rest is a matter of technique"!

The sad part is that a lot of the best-played and best-annotated games end up this way. You're playing through a game from a book -- it's a real see-saw battle between the players and you're hanging on every move, riveted by each word of the expertly annotated game. Black offers a pawn on move 33, you turn the page for the next move...and see "The rest is a matter of technique". That's just plain wrong, man. It'd be like going to an X-rated cinema, watching a really great foreplay scene, seeing the screen go black with the phrase "The rest is a matter of technique" superimposed, and then it's straight on to the next scene. That'd be enough to make you just button up your raincoat and go home.

"Better is..." by Steve Lopez, ChessBase News (web), July 31, 2004

BCC Champions 1975-Present

Bob Oresick (with Bernardo's help) has put together this fantastic photo essay of Boylston Chess Club Champions back to 1975.

Thanks to Bob I finally have a second photo of Alex Cherniack to use, much to his chagrin I suspect.

Reubens-Landey rating report

The USCF rating report for the Reubens-Landey (the BCC Championship qualifying tournament for non-masters) is available here.

See also my previous post "News item on Reubens-Landey Qualifying Tournament results".

Standings (after Round 2) - preliminary

...still have not heard anything regarding the rescheduling of the Martirosov-Williams Round 2 game. So here are the current standings sans that encounter:

2.0 Mac Intyre

1.5 Chase, Glickman

1.0 Riordan

0.5 Martirosov(1), Cherniack

0.0 Williams(1), Slive

(#) - # of rounds completed for players who have completed fewer than 2 rounds

...on any given Wednesday

"

Jeff Sonas I'm not; but if ratings do have predictive value then one can statistically derive the "expected" score for each player in the tournament. Using this table I found at Chessville.com, I did just that based on 8/04 published USCF ratings. It will be interesting to compare these calculations to the final results:

5.0 Mac Intyre

4.8 Chase

4.6 Riordan

4.2 Cherniack

3.9 Martirosov

2.3 Williams

2.2 Slive

1.3 Glickman

Round 2: Cherniack-Glickman 1/2

This draw must be considered an upset of sorts. Black throws away a tempo in the opening, but White fails to find a way to take advantage. In spite of the two bishops, White gradually falls into a slightly inferior position. This enables Black to win a pawn, but rather than seek winning chances by retaining the tension David sues for peace.

[Event "BCC Championship"]
[Site "Somerville, MA USA"]
[Date "2004.09.14"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Cherniack, Alex"]
[Black "Glickman, David”]
[Result "1/2"]
[WhiteUSCF "2228"]
[BlackUSCF "1937"]
[ECO "D30"]
[Opening "Queen’s Gambit"]
[Variation "Declined"]
[Sub-Variation "Systems without Nc3"]

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Nbd2 Bd6 6.Bd3 Nbd7 7.0-0 0-0 8.e4 e5

[Alex thought this move wasn't correct. However, it is in Fritz's opening book and there are 148 games in the ChessBase On-Line Database with it including several high profile encounters: Korchnoi-Fressinet 2003, Karpov-Shirov 1995, Salov-Anand 1992, Reti-Vidmar 1926]

9.cxd5 cxd5 10.exd5 exd4 11.Nxd4

[11.Ne4 or 11.Nc4 is much more common]

11...Nb6

[And here 11...Ne5 is the typical move of choice. Karpov-Shirov, Monte-Carlo 1996 (via transposition) continued 12.Bf5 Bc5 13.N2b3 Bxd4 14.Nxd4 Qxd5 =]

12.Nf5 Bb4?!

[A nonsensical move which simply loses a tempo, Black should just get on with 12...Bxf5 13.Bxf5 Nbxd5]

13.d6 Bxf5 14.Bxf5 Bxd6 15.Nf3 Nbd5 16.g3

[In the postmortem, Alex wasn't happy with this move]

16...Qb6 17.Nd2 Qb5 18.Ne4 Be5 19.Nxf6+ Nxf6 20.Qf3 Rad8 21.Rb1 Qd5

[Alex thought Black might have more of an advantage in the middle game. He suggested 21...Rd5; Fritz likes 21...Rfe8]

22.Qxd5 Rxd5 23.Be3 b6 24.Bh3 Rfd8 25.Bg2 Rd3 26.Rfe1 Ng4

27.Bf1 R3d6 28.Bg5 f6 29.Bc4+ Kf8 30.h3 fxg5 31.hxg4 Bf6 32.a4 Rd4 33.b3 Rxg4 34.Re6 Rgd4 35.Rbe1 Rd1

[If Black wants to play for more than a draw, he needs to try 35...g4!? here or on the next few moves before the rooks are all traded off]

36.Rxd1 Rxd1+ 37.Kg2 Rd2 38.Kf1 Bd4 39.Re2 Rxe2 40.Kxe2 Ke7 ½-½

[White should have little difficulty setting up a blockade on the kingside light squares]

Round 2: Slive-Chase 0-1

This is a strange game. White manages to win a pawn but ends up with his knight stuck behind enemy lines with no escape squares. As additional compensation, Black has a strong fianchettoed bishop patrolling the a1-h8 diagonal. Eventually, an imprecise move by White allows Black to round up the wayward equine adventurer. From then on it is simply a matter of technique.

[Event "BCC Championship"]
[Site "Somerville, MA USA"]
[Date "2004.09.15"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Slive, Alex"]
[Black "Chase, Chris”]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteUSCF "2039"]
[BlackUSCF "2289"]
[ECO "E91"]
[Opening "King’s Indian"]
[Variation "Classical"]

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.c4 Bg7 4.Nc3 0-0 5.e4 d6 6.Be2 Nc6 7.0-0 Re8 8.d5 Nb8 9.Be3 e6 10.Qc2 exd5 11.cxd5 Nbd7 12.Nb5 Nc5 13.Bxc5 dxc5 14.Qxc5 Nxe4 15.Qxc7 a6 16.Qxd8 Rxd8 17.Nc7

[How is the knight planning to get out?]

17…Rb8 18.Rfe1 Bf5 19.Bd3 Nd6 20.Bxf5 Nxf5 21.g4 Nd6 22.Rac1 Bxb2 23.Rc2 Bg7 24.Ng5?

[According to Fritz, 24.g5!? = would have kept White in the game. Now, however, Black should win a piece and that’s enough to decide it]

24.Rbc8 25.Ne4 Be5 26.Ng5 Bd4?!

[This may be imprecise]

27.Nf3

[White could have saved the piece with 27.Ne4!? Nxe4 28.Rxe4 Bb6 29.d6 e.g., 29…Rxd6 30.Re8+ Rxe8 31.Nxe8 and though Black is probably still winning, at least there is something to play for]

27…Bb6 28.Rec1 Rd7 29.Nxa6 Rxc2 30.Rxc2 bxa6 31.Rc6 Ba7 32.Rxa6 Ne4 33.Ne5 Bxf2+ 34.Kg2 Rxd5 35.Nxf7 Kxf7 36.Kf3 Re5 37.Ra4 Bg1 38.Rxe4 Rxe4 39.Kxe4 Bxh2 40.a4 Bc7 0-1

Round 2: Riordan-Mac Intyre 0-1

Paul was kind enough to post an annotated version of his 2^nd round game. Perhaps he was not looking forward to having another of his games annotated by the lowest rated player in the tournament. In any case, I appreciate the help. My quick take on the game -- fairly even throughout until white runs out of time.

I made a few edits to the PGN tags to make them consistent with the others on the site and added a couple of comments in italics. And now, without further ado, Paul Mac Intyre:

Mac Intyre whipped out 9...Bc5 which disconcerted Riordan, and further threw Charles for a loop with a somewhat rare variation of the Dilworth sacrifice of two pieces for rook on f2. Nonetheless, Charles kept his head: while not finding the best moves, he was able to play sufficiently good ones to hold the balance. This took a lot of time, however, and eventually Riordan lost the thread in time pressure. Mac Intyre's patient and solid play with heavy pieces was perhaps notable.

[Event "BCC Championship"]
[Site "Somerville, MA USA"]
[Date "2004.09.15"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Riordan, Charles"]
[Black "Mac Intyre, Paul"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteUSCF "2258"]
[BlackUSCF "2303"]
[ECO "C82"]
[Opening "Ruy Lopez"]
[Variation "Open"]
[Sub-Variation "9.c3 without 9...Be7"]
[Annotator "Mac Intyre"]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Nxe4 6.d4 b5 7.Bb3 d5 8.dxe5 Be6 9.c3 Bc5 10.Nbd2 O-O 11.Bc2 Bf5 12.Nb3 Bxf2+

["good surprise value" – Glenn Flear]

13.Rxf2 Nxf2 14.Kxf2 Bxc2 15.Qxc2 f6 16.e6 Qd6 17. Be3 Qxe6 18. Nbd4 Qd6 19.Nxc6 Qxc6 20.Rd1 Rfe8 21.Qd3 Rad8 22.b4 Qd7 23.Bc5 Re6 24.Re1 Rxe1 25.Nxe1 Ra8 26.Nc2 a5 27.a3 axb4 28.cxb4 c6 29.h3 Qc7 30.Kg1 Qf4 31.Nd4 Re8 32.Qc3

[? zeitnot]
[Fritz suggests 32.Qd1!? Qg3 33.Nf3 =]

32…Re3 33.Qc1 Qg3 34.Nc2 0-1

[?? zeitnot and 0-1 on time]

Round 2 Results

Slive-Chase 0-1 E91: King's Indian - Classical Variation

Martirosov-Williams rescheduled

Riordan-Mac Intyre 0-1 C82: Open Ruy Lopez - 9.c3 without 9...Be7

Cherniack-Glickman 1/2 D30: Queen's Gambit Declined - Systems without Nc3

Best Game of Round 1

IMHO, of course.

For the first round I'm giving the best game award to Paul Mac Intyre's win over Alex Cherniack -- several sacrifices (apparently sound) stripping the king of protection and leading to mate.

Agree or disagree? Leave a comment to let me know. If there is enough interest, I may open up the best game selection to you (the weblog readers) in future rounds.

Round 1: Chase-Martirosov 1/2

This is one of those slow maneuvering games that I really don't understand. It looks to me as though black was somewhat better throughout, though Fritz suggests a strong alternative for white at move 20. The fireworks started just prior to adjournment; while black emerged up a pawn in the endgame, it was not enough to win.

[Event "BCC Championship"]
[Site "Somerville, MA USA"]
[Date "2004.09.08"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Chase, Chris"]
[Black "Martirosov, Vadim"]
[Result "1/2"]
[WhiteUSCF "2289"]
[BlackUSCF "2198"]
[ECO "B30"]
[Opening "Sicilian"]
[Variation "Rossolimo Variation"]
[Sub-Variation "Lines without ...g6"]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 e6 4.0-0 Nge7 5.c3 a6 6.Ba4 b5 7.Bc2 Bb7 8.Re1 d5 9.a3 d4 10.d3 Ng6 11.Nbd2 Bd6 12.cxd4 cxd4 13.Nb3 e5 14.Nbd2 Nf4 15.Nf1 Ne6 16.Bb3 Nc5 17.Ba2 0-0 18.Ng3 Ne7 19.Nh5 Bc8

20.Bg5

[Fritz suggests 20.Bh6! Ne6 (20...gxh6? 21.Qd2 +-) 21.Qd2 with an advantage for white]

20...Bg4 21.Ng3 Qd7 22.Bxe7 Qxe7 23.h3 Be6 24.Nf5 Bxf5 25.exf5 Qf6 26.g4 g6 27.Bd5 Rac8 28.fxg6 hxg6 29.Nd2 Qf4 30.Ne4 Nxe4 31.Rxe4 Qg5 32.Qf3 Kg7 33.Qg3 Rc2 34.h4 Qf6

[34...Qd2!? 35.Kg2 Rxb2 36.h5 Qg5 -+ Fritz]

35.g5 Qf5 36.Rb1 f6 37.Rg4 e4 38.dxe4 Bxg3 39.exf5 Bxf2+ 40.Kf1 fxg5 41.Rxg5 Rxf5 42.Be4

[sealed move]

42...Rf6

[42...Rxg5 43.hxg5 Rd2 44.Rc1 with the idea of Rc6 is sufficient to draw (Martirosov via Riordan)]

43.Rxg6+ Rxg6 44.Bxc2 Rf6 45.Ke2!

[Martirosov via Riordan]

45...Bxh4 46.Be4

[46.Rg1+ draws immediately (Martirosov via Riordan)]

46...Rf2+ 47.Kd3 Bf6 48.Bb7 a5 49.Bc6 Rf5 50.Rc1 Rg5 51.Rf1 a4 52.Be4 Kf7 53.Rf5 Rxf5 54.Bxf5 Ke7 55.Kc2 Kd6 56.b3 b4 57.bxa4 bxa3 58.Kb3 Kd5 59.Bd3 ½-½