$2 with Full Tilt Pro Andy Bloch!

Yes, the title is right ... I am currently playing a $2 PLO8 tourney with Andy Bloch seated to my direct left!

*Edit* He's been moved to another table, but still both in with about half the field already gone.

The Zonal Summary ... Part 3

Round 8

Black v CM Manoj Kumar (2017)

This was another game where I played a horrible opening (perhaps I need something better against 1.e4?) and found myself in a bad position after only a dozen moves. At the time I was thinking a lot about the idea of undevelopment, where you move a piece back to its original square, so that it can then be repositioned on a better square (I read about it somewhere, but I'm not sure where) ... and by move 12 I had already made two such 'undeveloping' moves. I managed to somehow survive the initial onslaught and found myself in a tricky middlegame. I managed to steal a pawn and swap off into an ending as Manoj was heading into time trouble. Unfortunately for him, he blundered a piece, which gave me a not-so-well-deserved win.

1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nc3 c6 4.Be3 d5 5.f3 h5 6.Qd2 Nh6 7.h3 e6 8.0-0-0 Nd7 9.Be2 b6 10.g4 Ng8 11.gxh5 Rxh5 12.f4 Rh8 13.f5 gxf5 14.exf5 (D1)

14...Ndf6 15.Nf3 exf5 16.Ne5 Qc7 17.Rdg1 Bh6 18.Bxh6 Nxh6 19.Nxc6 Ne4 20.Qe3 Be6 21.Ne5 a6 22.Bf3 0-0-0 23.Be2 Kb7 24.Nd1 Rc8 25.Bd3 Ng8 26.Qe2 Ra8 27.Ne3 Ne7 28.Nd1 Nc6 29.Nxc6 Qxc6 30.h4 Qa4 31.Kb1 Qxd4 32.h5 Rh6 33.c3 Qh8 34.Ne3 Nc5 35.Bxf5 Qe5 36.Bc2 Re8 37.Qd2 Rxh5 38.Rxh5 Qxh5 39.Bd1 Qe5 40.Bf3 Ne4 41.Qd3 f5 42.Nc2 Re7 (D2)

43.Nb4 b5 44.Re1 Qg3 45.Rd1 Qe5 46.Re1 Rc7 47.a4 Rc4 48.Rc1 a5 49.Nc2 Nc5 50.Qe2 Qxe2 51.Bxe2 Rxa4 52.Bxb5 Re4 53.Nd4 Kb6 54.b4 (D3)

54...axb4 55.cxb4 Rxd4 0-1

Round 9

White v FM Greg Canfell (2327)

This was an interesting, although rather flawed, last round game. Obviously I would have preferred an easier pairing for the last round, however I have had a few decent results against Greg in the past, so a win was not entirely out of the question. I got what I thought was a reasonable opening position, until it occurred to me that my bishops really didn't do much at all in the position. Greg sacrificed an exchange to increase the power of his bishop pair and give himself some dangerous central pawns. I thought I might have been winning at one point in the rook & bishop v bishop pair ending, though Fritz disagrees. I almost missed the mating net Greg was trying to set up near the end, but found that I could give the exchange back for a drawn ending. However, the silicon monster also thinks that the final position is better for black, rather than simply the clear draw it actually is.

1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.f4 g6 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Bc4 d6 6.0-0 Nf6 7.d3 0-0 8.a4 Nd4 9.Nxd4 cxd4 10.Nd5 Nxd5 11.Bxd5 e6 12.Bb3 Bd7 13.Bd2 Kh8 14.Qe2 f5 15.Bb4 Qb6 16.Ba3 Rfe8 17.a5 Qc7 18.Rae1 Rad8 (D1)

19.e5 dxe5 20.fxe5 Qxa5 21.Bd6 Bc6 22.Ra1 Qb6 23.Qd2 a6 24.Qg5 Rd7 25.h4 Qd8 26.Qf4 Rxd6 27.exd6 e5 28.Qh2 Qxd6 29.h5 Rf8 30.hxg6 Qxg6 31.c3 dxc3 32.bxc3 f4 33.Bc2 f3 34.Rae1 Rf4 35.Rf2 Qg5 36.Qh3 Qg4 37.Qxg4 Rxg4 38.Bd1 Rxg2+ 39.Rxg2 fxg2 40.Bg4 Bf8 41.d4 exd4 42.cxd4 Kg7 43.Be6 Bb4 44.Re2 Bf3 45.Re3 Kf6 46.Bg8 Bc6 47.Bxh7 a5 48.Bb1 a4 49.Ba2 Kf5 50.Re2 Bf3 51.Rf2 Ke4 (D2)

52.Rxf3 Kxf3 53.Bd5+ Kf4 54.Kxg2 b5 55.Kf2 Bc3 56.Ke2 Bxd4 57.Kd3 Ke5 58.Bf7 b4 59.Be8 a3 60.Bf7 1/2-1/2

Overall, a reasonable performance, winning against two untitled players under 2000, losing to two IMs, drawing with two FMs (one from a better position), beating two CMs ... and the topsy-turvy draw with Tristan Stevens!

The Zonal Summary ... Part 2

Round 4

White v FM Endre Ambrus (2375)

I was surprised to be able to win a pawn so early against a 2300-rated opponent and have a much better to winning position. I managed to keep the pressure on, and although the silicon-chip friend didn't like my plan to win an exchange, I thought it improved my position further. I came up with what I think was a good plan, trying to get the king to f2 once black had played Bh3 & g4 (blocking the retreat for the bishop), however I didn't execute it in the best manner and found myself in a position I didn't want to be in, and eventually bailed out with a repetition of position for a draw.

1.d4 d6 2.e4 Nc6 3.Be3 Nf6 4.f3 g6 5.Qd2 Bg7 6.Nc3 a6 7.Nge2 e5 8.0-0-0 exd4 9.Nxd4 Nxd4 10.Bxd4 Be6 11.g4 c5 12.Be3 Qa5 13.Qxd6 Nd7 14.Bg5 Bf8 15.Qd2 h6 (D1)

16.Bh4 g5 17.Bg3 0-0-0 18.Nd5 Qxd2+ 19.Rxd2 h5 20.gxh5 Rxh5 21.Be2 Rh6 22.Rhd1 Bh3 23.Ne3 Re8 24.Bc4 Rf6 25.Nd5 Rxf3 26.Be2 Rxg3 27.hxg3 Rxe4 28.Bf3 Re8 29.Nc3 Bg7 30.Ne4 Rg8 31.Nd6+ Kc7 32.Bd5 Bd4 33.Nc4 Rf8 34.c3 Bg7 35.Ne3 Nb6 36.Rh2 g4 37.Nf5 Be5 38.Re2 f6 (D2)

39.Kc2 Nc8 40.Rg1 Nd6 41.Ng7 Rh8 42.a3 b5 43.Kd2 Kb6 44.Ke3 Rd8 45.Ne6 Nf5+ 46.Ke4 Nd6+ 47.Kd3 Rd7 48.Nf8 Rd8 49.Ne6 Rd7 50.Nf8 Rd8 51.Ne6 (D3) 1/2-1/2


Round 5

Black v CM Calvin Prasad (1912)

I was very happy with this game, as it gave me a lot of confidence that I was playing well. I achieved a good position from the opening and won a pawn in the middlegame. I converted this to being an exchange up in the ending and was very happy with my technique to push this small advantage to a win.

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 c5 3.c3 d5 4.e3 Nc6 5.Bd3 Bg4 6.Nbd2 e6 7.0-0 Bd6 8.h3 Bf5 9.Qc2 Bxd3 10.Qxd3 0-0 11.a3 e5 12.dxe5 Nxe5 13.Nxe5 Bxe5 14.Nf3 Bc7 15.c4 Qe7 16.cxd5 (D1)

16...Rad8 17.e4 Qxe4 18.Qxe4 Nxe4 19.Re1 Rfe8 20.Be3 Rxd5 21.b4 cxb4 22.Bxa7 bxa3 23.Rxa3 Ra5 24.Rxa5 Bxa5 25.Re2 Nd6 26.Rb2 b6 27.Nd2 Ra8 28.Bxb6 Rb8 29.Bxa5 Rxb2 30.Bc3 Rc2 31.Bb4 Nb5 32.Nf3 f6 33.g4 Rc4 34.Bd2 h6 35.Kg2 Kf7 36.Kg3 Nc3 37.Kg2 Nd5 38.Kg3 Nc3 39.Kg2 Ke6 40.Bxc3 Rxc3 41.Nd4+ Kf7 42.Nf5 Kg6 43.f3 Rc5 44.Nh4+ Kf7 45.Kg3 g6 46.Ng2 Rc3 47.Nf4 Rc2 48.Ng2 Rd2 49.Nf4 Rd8 50.Ng2 Rg8 51.Ne3 Ke6 52.Kf4 Rc8 53.Ng2 Rc4+ 54.Kg3 Ke5 55.Nh4 g5 56.Ng2 Kd4 57.Kf2 Rc2+ 58.Kg3 Ra2 59.f4 Ra3+ 60.Kh2 Ke4 61.fxg5 hxg5 62.h4 (D2)

62...Kf3 63.Kh3 Kf2+ 64.Kh2 Rg3 0-1

Round 6

Black v IM Mirko Rujevic (2282)

I was very disappointed with this game as I played horribly in the opening and was never really in the game. Although I tried to keep the game alive in the most creative manner I could, it was ultimately in vain, and I lost fairly easily.

1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.f4 d5 4.e5 c5 5.c3 Nc6 6.Nf3 Bg4 7.dxc5 a5 8.Be3 e6 9.Nbd2 Nge7 10.h3 Nf5 11.Bf2 Bxf3 12.Nxf3 h5 13.Bd3 Bh6 14.g4 hxg4 15.hxg4 Nfe7 16.Qa4 Rc8 17.0-0-0 (D)

17...Kd7 18.Kb1 Kc7 19.g5 Bg7 20.Nd4 Kb8 21.Nb5 Nxe5 22.fxe5 Bxe5 23.Rxh8 Qxh8 24.Qxa5 Nc6 25.Qa4 Qh2 26.Bd4 Bf4 27.Rf1 Qg3 28.Bc2 e5 29.Bg1 Qxg5 30.Nd6 Rc7 31.b4 e4 32.b5 Qg2 33.Rd1 Nd8 34.b6 Bxd6 35.cxd6 Rxc3 36.Bd4 Rc4 37.Qa7+ Kc8 38.Bb3 Qe2 39.Bf6 Nc6 40.Qa8+ Kd7 41.Qxb7+ Kxd6 42.Qxf7 Nb4 43.b7 1-0


Round 7

White v Tristan Stevens (2006)

This was a very up-and-down game, with my attempts to avoid playing a BDG (and hence avoid Tristan's preparation - of which he said he spent a few hours doing) leading to a position very similar to a side-line of the Caro-Kann. The differences, however did not favour me, and I should have lost a clear exchange in the opening, were it not for Tristan's blunder (he said he picked up the wrong knight!). This lead to what should have been a winning position for me, however I missed a check Tristan had and lost a piece for a mere pawn! This put the game back to fairly even, and I managed to find a promising line, that seemed to almost be mate, with only an ingenious defence stopping me from taking the full point. Ultimately the game ended in a Queen ending, where I was able to keep checking Tristan, and draw the game as a result.

1.e4 d5 2.e5 Bf5 3.c3 c5 4.g4 Bg6 5.Ne2 Nc6 6.d4 e6 7.Be3 cxd4 8.cxd4 Nb4 (D1)

9.Nf4 Nc2+ 10.Kd2 Bb4+ 11.Nc3 Nxa1 12.Qa4+ Kf8 13.Qxb4+ Ne7 14.Bd3 Kg8 15.Rxa1 Nc6 16.Qa4 Qh4 17.h3 Bxd3 18.Kxd3 g5 19.Nh5 Qxh3 20.Rg1 f5 21.Nf6+ Kf7 (D2)

22.Rg3 Qf1+ 23.Kd2 f4 24.Rf3 fxe3+ 25.Kxe3 Qc1+ 26.Ke2 Qxb2+ 27.Kf1 Rad8 28.Qd1 Ke7 29.Ne2 Qxa2 (D3)

30.Qc1 h6 31.Qc5+ Kf7 32.Nh5+ Ke8 33.Ng7+ Kd7 34.Rf7+ Kc8 35.Nxe6 Qc4 36.Qa3 Kb8 37.Qb2 b5 38.Qa1 a5 39.Qb1 Rde8 40.Qg6 (D4)

40...Rxe6 41.Qxe6 Qxe2+ 42.Kg2 Rc8 43.Qd7 (D5)

43...Ne7 44.Rf6 Qe4+ 45.Kh2 Qxd4 46.Qxe7 Qc5 47.Qe4 Rf8 48.Kg2 b4 49.Qa6 Rxf6 50.exf6 b3 51.Qe2 d4 52.Qe8+ Kc7 53.Qf7+ Kc8 54.Qg8+ Kc7 55.Qf7+ Kc8 56.Qg8+ Kc7 57.Qf7+ (D6)

1/2-1/2

Zonal games - the highs & the lows

I thought I'd put up the games that I played in the zonal, as well as relevant interesting positions from the games.

Round 1
White v Zachary Searle (1791)

I decided before the game that I should try to change up my openings & put the BDG in the bag for this event. Not only would it help avoid walking into any preparation and suit a more positional style that I have had success with on occasion, but it would also make things easier for me as I was without a laptop for the event (the cable for my laptop power pack was frayed and I couldn't find a replacement, so I was essentially without a 'digital second'). Anyway, back to the game:

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4. c4 O-O 5. Nc3 c6 6. d4 d5 7. O-O Ne4 8. e3 Nxc3 9. bxc3 dxc4 10. a4 Bg4 11. Qe2 Nd7 12. Qxc4 Nb6 13. Qb4 Qd6 14. Qb1 Qd7 15. Nd2 e5 16. Ba3 Rfe8 17. a5 Nd5 18. Rc1 Rad8 19. Nc4 (D)

I had looked briefly at the idea of opening up the diagonal for the g7 bishop, but didn't give it too much thought until the position was actually on the board. I think the sacrifice isn't sound (Fritz 6 gives me a slight advantage up until 24...Qc7?), but the blunder on move 24 helped make it easier for me.

19...Nxc3 20. Rxc3 exd4 21.Rb3 dxe3 22. Nxe3 Bxa1 23. Qxa1 Be2 24. h4 Qc7 25. Qb2 Bb5 26. Ng4 Re1+ 27. Kh2 f5 28. Nh6# 1-0

Round 2

Black v IM Gary Lane (2371)

I played a dodgy opening, but managed to get a reasonable, though vulnerable position. Lane played a number of inaccurate moves in his attack, which allowed me to consilidate and win a pawn. Then I threw it all away!

1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nc3 c6 4.Bc4 b5 5.Bb3 b4 6.Nce2 d5 7.exd5 cxd5 8.Bd2 a5 9.a3 bxa3 10.Rxa3 Nc6 11.Nf3 e6 12.Ba4 Nge7 13.Ne5 Bd7 14.Nxd7 Qxd7 15.h4 0-0 16.h5 Nf5 17.Rah3 Rfc8 18.hxg6 hxg6 19.g4 Nfxd4 20.Nxd4 Bxd4 21.Bg5 Bg7 22.Qf3 f5 23.Rh7 Qd6 24.Qh3 Qe5+ 25.Kf1 Nd4 26.Be3 (D)

Of course I completely missed the idea of sacrificing the rook on h8 (I had really only considered positions after a sacrifice on g7) and had assumed that my queen could cover any problems that might arise. If I play a move like 26...f4, I think I have a position where I am a pawn to the good and just need to consolidate my king position to have a good chance of winning, or at least drawing the position.

26...Nxc2 27.Bxc2 Rxc2 28.Rh8+ Bxh8 29.Qh7+ Kf8 30.Qxh8+ Qxh8 31.Rxh8+ Ke7 32.Rxa8 Rxb2 33.gxf5 gxf5 34.Rxa5 Rc2 35.Ra7+ Kf6 36.Bd4+ Kg5 37.Be5 f4 38.Rf7 Rc4 39.f3 Ra4 40.Kg2 Rc4 41.Kh3 Ra4 42.Bd6 Rc4 43.Be7+ Kh5 44.Rf6 Kg5 45.Rxe6+ Kf5 46.Rf6+ Ke5 47.Kg4 Rc1 48.Rf5+ Ke6 49.Ba3 Rc3 50.Bb2 1-0

Round 3

White v Kevin Tan (1956)

Kevin was a player who I was not familiar with, and being a junior who seemed relatively new to chess, I thought that he might have been a good candidate for a BDG. He chose to avoid the BDG, and found himself on the wrong side of a Pirc defence, which is a position I have played many times before, and is one where the attack seems to play itself (something that makes chess a bit easier). Kevin never got an attack going & the game was over fairly quickly.

1.d4 Nf6 2.f3 g6 3.e4 d6 4.Be3 Bg7 5.Qd2 Nc6 6.Nc3 0-0 7.0-0-0 a6 8.g4 e5 9.Nge2 b5 10.d5 Na5 11.Ng3 Bd7 12.h4 Rb8 13.h5 g5 14.Bxg5 b4 15.Nb1 Bb5 16.Nf5 Bxf1 17.Rdxf1 c5 18.Qh2 Nc4 (D)

After 13...g5, the attack is winning fairly easily. Find the win from the diagrammed position:

19.Nxg7 Kxg7 20.h6+ Kg6 21.Qh4 1-0

Think I'll make it a 3-part post ... its getting kind of long!

A belated zonal summary

Its a bit late, but I have eventually managed to get around to doing something of a summary of the zonal, which finished a few weeks ago at Tweed Heads.
Congratulations to the overall winners: David Smerdon in the Open (7.5/9) & Arianne Caoili in the Womens (8/9). Both seemed to be just that little bit better than the rest of the field, and managed to gain those extra half points that others might have let slip. David in particular had a very good result (his first since crossing the unofficial 2500 barrier and becoming a GM), and showed that his newly gained title is well deserved.
As far as my own performance is concerned, I was reasonably happy with how the tournament went. I came into the event as the 27th seed in a field of 73 & finished in =14th on 5.5/9, with a performance rating of 2195. Going strictly by the numbers, that's a good result, however many of the games suggested otherwise.
I'll go into details of the games in another post (so that this one doesn't become too big), however I will say that about half the games were in some way disappointing for me. Against IM Lane I was a pawn up and missed a simple tactic to go from a close game to losing. I threw away a winning position against FM Ambrus, but at least managed a draw. IM rujevic has always been a problem player for me, though in round 5 I really just gifted him a point as I played horribly & lost, only making him think when he was well ahead in the game. My game against Tristan Stevens was a strange one that went from losing to winning, to losing, back to winning & probably losing at the end, with the final result being a draw. I was disappointed that I managed to get myself into a poorp position to start, and then that I couldn't finish it off, but again, a draw is better than a loss. Against Fiji's CM Kumar, I played horrendously & was never in the game until very late, when Manoj found himself in time trouble. Conveniently for me, he missed a few moves that I thought were winning or close to winning, and eventually lost a piece when short of time. In the last round against FM Canfell I again found my way into a poor position, but somehow wriggled out of it into what may have been a winning ending, only to realise that Greg had quite a few threats which could have proved deadly, and I decided to take the 'lets bail out and have a draw' line, which left me on 5.5/9.
One of the reasons for playing in this event was to try to gain a title of some description, and even though I qualified for the FIDE Master (50%+) again, the limit of 2 titles meant that I missed out. A similar thing had happened back at the 2001 zonal, where I finished on 5/9 & missed out on the FM title on countback to Lee Jones. There may be a chance that I am eligible for the CM (Candidate Master) title, as there is nothing in the FIDE Handbook about being a limit on the number of CM titles, so I might be able to grab one of those titles.
Why would I want such a 'crappy' title anyway? Well it is a title that shows some kind of level of achievement in chess, and I really don't have any further aspirations in chess (which has returned to its 'hobby' status in my mind again), so why not take the title? Yes, its 50 Euros to apply for the title, but it is something to add to the resume that looks impressive, and very few prospective employers would see it as a 'cheap' or 'worthless' title. I see it like a course or seminar that people attend for their professional development - many of them do little to change or improve what you actually do in the workplace, but completion of the course is something to be acknowledged.

Frustration & Online Poker

Just heard one of the funniest things ever on the June 17th edition of Poker Road Radio. A caller complaining about bad beats online ... and of course you have Gavin Smith chuckling in the background (with Joe Stapleton as host of the show trying to maintain order of sorts). Reminds me of some guys I know! They know who they are!