NJ Knockouts vs Seattle
US Chess League 2008, Round 3
By Michael Goeller
The New Jersey Knockouts let the Seattle Sluggers slip a headlock and escape with a draw in Round 3 of US Chess League action on Wednesday night, September 10, 2008. I think it can be argued that New Jersey had an edge on every board at some point and likely a decisive one on bottom board, where Jayson Lian walked into a three-fold repetition that sealed the match.
On Board One, GM Joel Benjamin appeared to have a solid game out of the opening — an odd sort of Benko from GM Nakamura, which could also be described as a Vienna by transposition. Perhaps there were better ways for Black to pursue an edge early on, but a series of small inaccuracies by Benjamin let White gain a decisive space and then material advantage. On Board Two, Boris Gulko put on a truly superb seminar on how to pursue a positional advantage and squeeze your opponent off the board. This was the best game for New Jersey. NJ Champ Mackenzie Molner, meanwhile, gained a pawn advantage out of the opening but decided to surrender material to pursue an elusive kingside initiative which only neeted a draw. Likley there was a better way for him to pursue the full point by just hanging onto the material edge. But the real heartbreaker had to be Lian’s draw on Board 4, where he had a decisive material advantage and a pawn on the 7th. Likely he just needed a little more time on the clock to get the point — which is why he walked into the draw by repetition.
New Jersey showed that it has the power to hold its own with even a tough team. They have to do more to get the full points. We return to even, however, and are 1.5-1.5 over the three rounds of play. We can still pull into the lead, where we belong, with some wins.
Nakamura-SEA (2742) – Benjamin-NJ (2644) [A00]
ICC 60 30 u/Internet Chess Club 2008
5. e4
The position now could have derived from a Vienna Game move order. Canadian GM Spraggett once used this line as an anti-computer strategy, continuing 5. Bg5 Be6 6. Nf3 Nbd7 7. O-O h6 8. Bxf6 Qxf6 9. e4 d4 10. Ne2 Bd6 11. Nd2 g5 12. c3 dxc3 13. bxc3 O-O-O 14. d4 Qg6 15. Qa4 Kb8 16. Rab1 Nb6 17. Qa5 Bc7 18. Qb4 Bxa2 19. Rb2 Be6 20. Ra1 Qh5 21. Nb3 Bc4 22. Nc5 Bb5 23. Bf1 exd4 24. cxd4 Rhe8 25. Nc3 Bxf1 26. Rxf1 Qg4 27. Ra1 Qf3 28. Qa5 a6 29. Rxb6 Kc8 30. Rxc6 Qf4 31. gxf4 Rd7 32. Nd5 Re6 33. Rxc7+ Kb8 34. Nxd7+ Ka8 35. Qc5 Rc6 36. Qf8+ Ka7 37. Qb8# 1-0 Spraggett-Deep Thought.
5… Bg4
5… Bb4! seems more to the point, indirectly fighting for control of light squares, and leading to positions that resemble the Two Knights Variation of the Caro Kann: 6. Bd2 d4 7. Nce2 Qb6 8. Rb1 Bxd2+ 9. Qxd2 Be6 10. Nc1 h6 11. Nf3 Nbd7 12. O-O O-O-O
13. c4?! dxc3 14. bxc3? Qxb1! 15. Nb3 Nxe4!! (The shot White missed — now Black’s Queen is not trapped after all) 16. dxe4 Qxe4
0-1 Vulevic,V-Solomunovic,I/Sozina 2004 (33).
6. f3
6. Nge2 dxe4 7. Nxe4 Nxe4 8. Bxe4 Bc5 9. Bg2 f5!? 10. f3?! Bh5 11. Nc3 a5 12. Qe2 O-O 13. Be3= 0-1 Blackburne,J-Von Bardeleben,C/London 1895 (60).
6… Be6 7. Nh3!?
7. h3?! Bc5 8. f4 exf4 9. Bxf4 Qb6 10. Na4 Qa5+ 11. c3 Bxg1 12. Rxg1 dxe4 13. dxe4 O-O 14. Kf2 Na6 15. Re1 b5 16. b4 Qxa4 0-1 Narva,A-Rysbayeva,K/Kemer TUR 2007.
7… Bc5 8. Qe2 dxe4 9. dxe4 Qd4
Black is at least equal if not better here.
10. Nd1!
Black is developing some initiative, but Naka gets ready for counterplay.
10. Bd2?! Bc4!
10… Bc4
Safer was 10… O-O 11. Be3 Qb4+ 12. c3 Qb6 13. Bxc5 Qxc5 14. Ne3=
11. c3! Qd3 12. Bf1 Qxe2+ 13. Bxe2 Be6?!
Black probably is fine after simply 13… Bxe2 14. Kxe2 Nbd7
. Now Black’s Bishops become targets to White pawn pushes gaining space.
14. Nhf2 Nbd7 15. f4 exf4 16. gxf4 Nb6 17. b4! Bxf2+?!
17… Be7 18. Nb2 O-O-O 19. f5 Black is pushed back and White’s space advantage comes to the fore, but it is still a game.
18. Nxf2 Bc4 19. Rg1
O-O-O 20. Rxg7 Rhe8?
GM Benjamin points out the incisive 20…Bxe2 21.Kxe2 Nxe4!! 22.Nxe4 Rhe8 when “Black recoups the piece with an unclear position.” This was probably his last chance to save the game.
21. e5 Nfd5
Black need not move the Knight yet due to the pin on the e-file, but there is no productive way for Black to use the tempo.
22. Rxf7 Nxc3 23. Bg4+ Kb8 24. Rxh7
White’s material edge is simply winning.
24… Nbd5 25. a3 Nf6 26. Rh3 Nxg4 27. Rxc3 Nxf2 28. Rxc4 Nd3+ 29. Kf1 Rf8 30. e6 Rde8 31. Re4 Rf6 32. Ke2 Rfxe6 33. Rxe6 Nxc1+ 34. Rxc1 Rxe6+ 35. Kf3 Rh6 36. Rh1 Kc7 37. h4 Kd7 38. Kg4 Ke6 39. h5 Kf6 40. Rd1 Rh8 41. Rd6+ Ke7 42. Rg6 Kf7 43. Kg5
Black resigns
1-0
Gulko-NJ (2618) – Tangborn-SEA (2455) [E11]
ICC 60 30 u/Internet Chess Club 2008
Readey-SEA (2296) – Molner-NJ (2397) [A34]
ICC 60 30 u/Internet Chess Club 2008
Lian-NJ (2142) – Sinanan-SEA (2180) [A61]
ICC 60 30 u/Internet Chess Club 2008

Games in PGN
See also: GM Joel Annotates from the NJ-Seattle Match