(1) Salazar,Carlos (1567) - Berg,Mike (1495) [A46]
Game of the Month: January
North American Open Las Vegas (7), 30.12.2007
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While the new AmericanChess.net was under intense reconstruction here in hometown AZ, many of our regular Trekkers were competing against the Nation's best in Las Vegas, Nevada at the North American Open. The complete list of Arizona's participants can be found on the results pages of www.northamericanopen.com, but here are the better results by some familiar faces around the ACE tournament scene: Kaylan Burleigh and Andy Lin both finished with 5 out of 7 in the U2100 Section, which was good enough for 21st and 23rd place respectively. Also scoring well in the U2100 Section with 4 out of 7 was Joshua Zhu and, our Most Improved Player of 2007, David Adelberg. Amanda Mateer, Eric Qi and John Gurczak all finished with 3 and 1/2 out of 7, with Amanda playing in the U2100 while John and Eric competed in U1900 Section. Mr. Daniel Pecherski scored 4 and 1/2 out of 7 in the U1700, and "little Ritchie" (Richard Qi) finished with 5 of 7 in the U1200. But leading them all, with one of the most impressive results by any player, in any section from top to bottom, was Michael Berg! The Berginator had a perfect score after 7 rounds, finishing with 6 and 1/2 out of 7 in the U1500 section. In the hour preceding his final game, where he was paired with a player whom he had already beaten earlier in the tournament (Carlos Salazar had reentered), Mike called me for some last minute advice and opening preparation. Unfortunately, the Opening Prep. paid little dividends as his opponent deviated very early on; however, Mike's calm and confident approach kept his head cool even when things got rough. As you will see from ACE's Game of the Month, Mr. Berg did everything he needed to do in order to ensure the best tournament of his life... NOTE: Analysis and comments by Michael Berg are in all CAPS. BEFORE THE GAME, MY MIND WEIGHED HEAVILY WITH THE POSSIBILITY OF A DRAW. THEREFORE I OFFERED A DRAW EARIY IN THE GAME IN ORDER TO STOP THE DISTRACTING THOUGHTS, AND FOCUS ON THE WIN.
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.Bg5 This opening, the Torre Attack, is certainly on the more dangerous side of systems black might face when playing against 1.d4.
3...c5 4.e3 b6 As a Nimzo-Indian player, Mike has adopted a very good setup by choosing not to commit the d-pawn to d5. By keeping the center "flexible" black will later have the possibility to play d6, taking away white's favorite central post for the f3-knight: e5.
5.Bxf6?! I WAS SURPRISED THAT HE TOOK MY KNIGHT, BECAUSE EVEN THOUGH IT IS NOT A DREADFUL MOVE, IT CLEARLY DOES NOT HELP WHITE'S POSITION TO GIVE UP THE BISHOP-PAIR SO EARLY. Mike hits the nail on the head with this statement. In the Torre, most of white's attacking chances come from the pressure the bishop exerts on black's kingside with the pin of the f6-knight to the queen; furthermore, giving black the bishop-pair early should backfire as the center becomes more open.
5...Qxf6 6.Bd3 Bb7 7.Nbd2 Be7? I DIDN'T REALIZE THAT THIS WAS SUCH A BAD MOVE UNTIL MY REVIEW AFTER THE GAME. By trapping his own queen, Mike allows his opponent to recover from his earlier error. Now white not only wins one of the bishops back, but he perhaps is capturing black's most important bishop when you consider the queenside light-squares will now become weak. [7...Qd8 Despite losing some time with this retreat, black should be more than happy to play this move. When evaluating a position where one side has an advantage like the bishop-pair so early, one should not be so worried about small losses of time. The best way to recognize if a move like this (which breaks a basic opening rule of moving a piece twice) is going to backfire, is to try and evaulate whether or not your opponent can open the center quickly. I believe that young players can be a little too "dogmatic" when playing the opening stage of the game. For example, Mike probably doesn't really consider retreating the queen here because it would "be moving a piece twice" before the completion of development; however, more experience generally steers people to realize that unless your opponent can take advantage of a weakness, it isn't really weak! A small loss of time, like retreating a piece, is not something to worry about in the long run. In fact, allowing white the opportunity to open the center will favor black, as the bishop-pair will have a better chance of controlling the game. 8.0-0 Be7 9.c3 0-0 10.Qc2 h6 Followed by d6, Nd7, and either bishop or knight to f6, should give black good chances out of the opening and even better chances as the game progresses. ; 7...d5 was also possible.]
8.Ne4
8...Bxe4 9.Bxe4 Nc6 [9...d5 10.Bd3 c4 11.Be2 0-0 IS WHAT I SHOULD HAVE PLAYED. I agree that this was playable for black, but I would have suggested playing d5 before Ne4, as mentioned above.]
10.c4 [10.Ne5!? cxd4 11.exd4 Rc8 (11...d5 12.Nxc6 dxe4 13.Qe2 and black's e4-pawn will soon fall. ) 12.Bxc6 dxc6 13.0-0 Bd6 (13...0-0? 14.Nd7+- ) 14.f4 Qf5 where white's strong knight is not enough for any real advantage. Black will soon castle and place a rook on the d-file.; 10.c3 would have been a more traditional "Torre" idea. White will maintain the typical central stronghold while he completes his development. ]
10...Rc8 11.d5 THROUGH OUT THE ENTIRE GAME UP TO THIS POINT I WAS THINKING ABOUT OFFERING A DRAW, SO I DECIDED TO GET IT OUT OF THE WAY NOW; HOWEVER, WHEN HE DECLINED, IT CERTAINLY MADE ME REALIZE THAT I WOULD STILL HAVE TO PLAY MY BEST CHESS.
11...exd5 12.cxd5 Ne5 [12...Na5 was also possible. After which, the game might have continued: 13.Qc2 g6 14.0-0 0-0 with roughly equal chances and a possible draw on the horizon as the Opposite Colored Bishop ending approaches.]
13.Nxe5 Qxe5 14.Qc2 g6 If we were to stop and take stock of this position we might have this general evaluation: The position is roughly equal. The Opposite Colored Bishops (OCP's) give us a possibly dead equal ending in the future, but as attacking chances for both sides become more dangerous, we should not forget a basic rule about the OCP's: The first player to create an initiative on his bishop's color, will most likely be able to increase his attacking chances very quickly. This is due to the opponent's bishop's inability to challenge that color squares; furthermore, neither side has castled, and although king safety has not really been an issue up to this point, the disconnected rooks will make life even more difficult when trying to defend an open file. All these points and summaries may sound very general, but these thoughts are the "essence" of the position ("essence" is a word I am burrowing momentarily from GM Kaidanov. I have my own word for those more "abstract" features of chess positions, but we can talk about that in future lectures). In fact, strong players are constantly aware of those things and it obviously enables them to more accurately exploit and defend weaknesses!
15.f4!? An aggressive move that certainly says "I am playing for the win". [15.0-0 was also possible and still about equal.]
15...Qd6!? I KNEW I HAD TO PROTECT MY G6 PAWN SOME HOW, AS I WAS GETTING BOMBARDED THERE AND WAS AFRAID OF EVENTUAL MATE THREATS. [better was 15...Qf6 if for no other reason than the ability to put the pawn on d6 at some point. Also, black has the nice manouver of pawn to c4, Bc5, and Re8 with pressure on the e3-pawn. Recognizing the weaknesses behind a doubled edged thrust like 15.f4 is important for black here. ]
16.g4 White is definitely laying it all on the line with a move like 16.g4, but I believe Mike overreacted a little here. Surely we can see from his last comment that he was aware of white's potential attacking chances on g6; however, black's defense of the kingside is actually improved by castling. This is for two reasons: One, the king can come to g7 if need be, to help protect g6. Two, the rooks improved communication will enable attacking chances on the e-file against white's king! As the Suns have taught us, sometimes the best defense is a good offense! (Although they don't look that good right now do they?)
16...Bh4+ 17.Ke2
18.h4 [18.g5 first might have been a little more accurate.]
18...Rg8?! Is the final mistake made by Mike to put his king in the extremely tight spot it stayed in for the remainder of the game. Conceding the h-file will give white all the time in the world to prepare his attack. [18...0-0 now would have been too late. It is a little strange, but we see from the previous variation of 17...0-0 that the bishop played a good defensive role on h4: preventing white's pawns from storming! 19.h5 Rfe8 20.hxg6 fxg6 21.Bxg6 hxg6 22.Qxg6+ Kf8 23.Rh8+ Ke7 24.Rh6 Rg8 25.Rh7+ and white wins.; and interesting try was 18...Bg7 with the idea of preventing white from playing g5 with tempo and opening the queen's defense on the g6-pawn. If 19.h5 (19.g5 0-0 20.h5 Rfe8 and again we see the e-file becoming a potential problem for white. Also it should be noted that without the ability to eliminate the g7-bishop, white's attacking chances are almost a waste of time. Worst case scenario, the black king will hide from the h-file attacks on f8.) 19...0-0 ]
19.g5 Be7 20.h5 c4 I like this move as it frees black's queen to create a little more chaos, but if it had been played eariler with the ideas of bringning the bishop to c5 and exposing e3, black would have been much better off. As it is now, white is holding all the cards and should be able to increase pressure against black's king with the opening of the h-file. [20...Kd8 21.hxg6 hxg6 22.Rh7 Rf8 followed by Kc7 and again, black's king may be even more safe than white's.]
21.hxg6 hxg6 22.Rh7 Bf8 23.Qc3 Qb4 24.Qf6 [24.Qe5+ Qe7 (24...Be7 25.Rah1 followed by Rh8 at some point is catastrophic.) 25.Qd4 (25.Rf1 see 25...Qc5.) 25...Qc5 26.Qf6 Qe7 27.Qd4 Qc5 28.Rah1 Qxd4 29.exd4 Bd6 30.Kf3 Kf8 where black seems to be holding. Obviously he should be slightly worse given white's pressure on the h-file and potential breakthrough of f5, but the Opposite Colored Bishops give him good future drawing chances.]
24...Qe7 25.Qd4
26.Rxg7 Rxg7 IF HE HAD PLAYED 27. D6! IT WOULD HAVE BEEN GAME OVER.
27.Qxg7?? [27.d6! THANK GOD HE DIDN'T SEE THIS MOVE... Sure enough, Mike is right. 26.d6! would have trapped black's king for good. White's mating net is unstoppable, as the analysis below proves. 27...Qf8 28.Qe5+ Kd8 29.Qf6+ Ke8 30.Rh1 (30.Rd1 followed by Rd5-e5 should also be winning.) 30...Rg8 31.Bd5 and Rh7 with a big X on f7. 31...Rc5 32.Rd1 and again the idea of Rd4-e4 exposes black's dreadful king position. ]
27...Qxe4 28.Qh8+ [28.Kf2 is just one other try white had at his disposal. But after: 28...Kd8! 29.d6 Rc6 the position is quickly becoming very unclear. White's king may soon have just as many problems as black's, with a draw being the most likely result.]
28...Ke7 29.Qf6+ Ke8 30.Qh8+ Ke7 31.Qf6+ [Considering white's "must win" tournament scenario, I am a little surprised that he didn't push further with: 31.Qxc8 Qg2+ 32.Ke1 Qh1+ (32...Qg1+ 33.Kd2 Qxa1 34.Qxc4 Qxb2+= ) 33.Kd2 Qxa1 34.Qxc4 Qxb2+ 35.Kd3 and although white's winning chances are not any better than black's, at least the game continues...]
31...Ke8 HERE I WAS HOPING HE MIGHT JUST FORCE THE DRAW ON HIS OWN, BUT WHEN HE DIDN'T, I WAS FORCED TO FINISH THE GAME ON MY OWN TERMS.
32.d6 Qg2+ 33.Ke1 Qg1+ 34.Ke2 Qg2+ 35.Ke1 Qg1+ 36.Kd2 Qf2+ 37.Kd1 [It should be noted that if white tries to escape the perpetual net, he gets mated rather quickly after: 37.Kc3 Qxe3+ 38.Kb4 Qd2+! 39.Ka4 (39.Qc3 Qxd6+ 40.Ka4 b5+ 41.Ka5 (41.Kxb5 Rc5+ 42.Kb4 Qb6+ 43.Ka4 Qa6+ 44.Kb4 Qa5# ) 41...Qb6+ 42.Kb4 a5+ 43.Ka3 b4+ 44.Ka4 Qc6+ 45.Kxa5 Ra8+ 46.Kxb4 Ra4# ) 39...Qa5# ]
37...Qf1+ 38.Kd2 [38.Kc2 Qd3+ 39.Kc1 Qxe3+= ]
38...Qd3+ 39.Ke1 Qxe3+ 40.Kf1 Qf3+ NOW IT DIDN'T MATTER WHO WAS FORCING THE DRAW ON THE BOARD, BECAUSE WE AGREED TO END THE GAME PEACEFULLY RIGHT HERE. And so Mike was able to achieve the necessary result to clinch first and $7,200.00 in the process. The road was not without bumps, but any tournament where you finish undefeated is definitely something to be proud of. 1/2-1/2