Scandinavian to Caro-Kann?

This game was played in the Alberta Active Championship. It was round 3 against Art Milne. We've played a previous game in the Calgary Team Chess Championship where I suffered a loss due to carelessness. It was some sort of Catalan where despite my lack of knowledge for theory, I would say my position was favourable for me until I declined the trading of queens. Anyway, we have now the same colors as in the previous game but since he was close to losing that game, he changed moves and challenged my favourite opening.

Alberta Active Championship
W: Art Milne June 6, 2009
B: Jan Edmund Lazo 25 mins.
Opening: Scandinavian Defense

1. e4 d5 (!) 2. Nc3!?

Transposing to the Dunst Opening instead of the main line. According to my readings and experience, I say that this is not the way to get an advantage out of this opening and will only give equality since this allows some sort of reversed King's Indian set-up if 2. ... d4 Nce2 (Nb1!?) e5 d3 c5 Nf3 (f4!?) Nc6 g3 f6 or 2. dxe4 Nxe4 Bf5 and get an improved version of the Classical variation of the Caro-Kann Defense because c5 can be played in one go. I can't recall the moves of my previous game against the Dunst and the critical position of it but all I can say is that I favour Black and checkmate was near.

2. ... dxe4 (!)

Best way to exploit White's move order. Having studied the Classical Variation of the Caro-Kann, I realized that this move order as said allows c7-c5 in one go instead of c5-c6-c5 as in the main line of the Caro-Kann. An alternative and unamed variation is 2. ...d4 allowing the given variation and a possibility to go for a Reversed King's Indian. Both variations are playable and are just a matter of taste.

3. Nxe4 Bf5 4. Ng3 (?!)

I'm don't think White should really play as if c6 and d4 were played and instead play 4. Qf3 because of Black's move order. Play can continue with 4. ... Bg6 5. Bc4 e6 6. Ne2 Nd7 7. d4 Bd6 etc. (4. ... Bxe4 5. Qxe4 c6 is a safer option) because 4 ... Qd5? 5. Nd6! Qxd6 6. Qxf5 gives up the bishop pair for nothing but a few tempi because of White's queen.

4. ... Bg6 5. Nf3 Nd7 6. d4 Nf6 7. h4 h6 8. h5 Bh7 9. Bd3 Bxd3 10. Qxd3 e6 11. Bd2 c5!

Attacking the center pawn and opening the a5-d8 diagonal for the queen. White isn't prepared to play d5 because there is no c4 yet. 11. ... c6?! gives up the opening advantage as 12. 0-0-0 Qc7 13. Ne4 0-0-0 14. g3 transposes to the normal lines of the Classical Caro-Kann

12. 0-0-0 Qc7 (Qb6!?) 13. Kb1 0-0-0 14. c3?

White weakens his queenside, removes the c3 square for the bishop, and wastes time for any kind of plan as d4 needs no reinforcement yet. Better was 14. Qa3 Kb8 15. Ba5! Nb6 16. Qc3 Bd6 which is equal in my opinon.

14. ... Bd6 15. Ne4 Nxe4 16. Qxe4 Nf6 17. Qd3 Qc6

Attempting to limit and control central light squares. 18. Ne5 is currently impossible due to the indirect pin in the d file. It seems to me that 17. ... c4 is the better move as this further prevents the movement of White's pieces especially White's bishop with tempo. Then after 18. Qe2 Nd5 or even b5, Black's control of light squares is obvious and a queenside pawnstorm with a5, b4, etc. is iminent.

18. Rhel?

Giving up a pawn for nothing. A better try is to play 18. Qc4 then 18. ... Qe4+ 19. Kal Kb8 20. Be3 but after 20. ... Rhe8 21. Rh4 Ng4, Black is slightly better .

18. ... Nxh5! 19. g3 Nf6 20. Qe2 Kb8 21. Ne5 Bxe5?

Black forgets that the his king on his b8 instead of c8. Because of this, Black's advantage becomes smaller. Better was 21. ... Qc7 with the idea of Bxe5 Qxe5 Qxe5 dxe5 Nd5 keeping the pawn advantage.

22. dxe5?

White forgets 22. Qxe5+ Kc8 23. Qxc5 Qxc5 24. dxc5 Rd5 25. Be3 Rhd8 Rd4 which will reduce Black's advantage from material to slight positional advantage. Now, Black's advantage of extra pawn is kept.

22. ... Nd5 23. Bc1 c4 24. Qg4 g6 25. Rd4 b5 26. Red1 Qb7 27. a4?

Trying to break the pawn chain and win the c-pawn but letting Black obtain the a-file if pawns are exchanged. Fisher's paradoxical idea of moving pawns at the side where your opponent pawnstorms is most likely applicable if that is the side where the king isn't there such as in KIA. Unfortunately for White, this does not apply because the a-file and/or b-file is/are just what Black's rooks need to infiltrate the enemy base as all files are closed as of the moment.

27. ... a6 28. axb5 axb5 29. Rh1??

White misguidedly aims on winning the h6 but pays a dear price. Explanation on the next move.

29. ...h5??

Black misses 29. ... Nxc3+!! 30. bxc3 Rxd4! 31. Qxd4 Qxh1 32. Qd6+ Ka7! 33. Qc7+ Qb7+!
34. Be3+ Ka8 and now White is an exchange down, 2 pawns down, and should resign.

30. Qe2??

White again misses Nxc3+. Qe4 is obviously better placing the queen in the h1-a8 diagonal or at least Qh4 controling the h4-d8 diagonal.

Rc8??

Threatening b4 with the idea of Rxc4 bxc3 Rxc8+ Rxc8 and a possible c2+ but missing Nxc3+ again.

31. g4?? hxg4?? 32. Rxh8!!

Finally, the threat Nxc3+ is no more!

32. ... Rxh8 33. Rxg4 b4?

Black plays as if his attack is decisive with threats on c3 but 34. cxb4 c3 35. Rc4! silences Black's attack. Better was the previous idea of b4 by playing 33. ... Rc8.

34. cxb4 c3 35. b3?

Since this is an active tournament, time seemed to be a factor to do this mistake other than series of mistakes committed by both sides for missing Nxc3+!! This move allows Black to continue his attack with no material loss whatsoever. Now, this should be a matter of technique but...

35. ... Nxb4 36. Qc4 Nd5 37. Kc2 Qa7?

Yes, the idea of attacking f2 with the queen instead of the rook first is indeed a mistake as this allows an exchange of queens and gives more time for White to defend.

38. Qb5+ Kc7?

Much better was to exchange queens with Qb7 because now White has his chances.

39. Be3??

This just saves Black's life. It was much better to attack with 39. Rc4+! Kd8 40. Bg5+ f6 41. Bxf6+! Nxf6 42. exf6 Qxf2+ 43. Kxc3 Rh3+ 44. Kb4 Qe1+ 45. Ka4 Qa1+ 46. Kb4 Qxf6 and Black's advantage is now just a pawn but his king is insecure. Now, it really is over.

39. ... Qa2+ 40. Kd3 Qb1+ 44. Kc4 Qf1+ 45. Kc5 Qxb5+ 0-1

Game Annotations and Tournaments

Hey all,

I'm sorry for not posting any games with/without game annotations for a long time. I've been busy studying for my finals and projects in school. So, during this month, I'll be posting my games with annotations. I'll be also in the club during weekdays to prepare for the CYCC and be of assistance to anyone. There will be two upcoming tournaments before the Canadian Open: Sicilian Theme Active Tournament and Stampede Open. The Sicilian Tournament will be on two Tuesdays, June 30 and July 7. The Stampede Open will be on July 4 and 5, Sat and Sun. I recommend that juniors participate in these two tournaments to warm-up for the Canadian Open and get exposure to tournament play.

Since the club will be open during weekdays and weekends and it's the summer, I also recommend that juniors take this opportunity to study openings, analyze games, play matches or tournaments, etc. for preparation, improving one's playing strength, etc. other than on Saturdays.

I would also like to remind all CJCC board members again that our meeting will be on Friday, July 3rd at around 7 pm. This would be about our plans for the summer and for future plans during the school year.

Hope to see you all in the club!!

- Jan Edmund Lazo
CJCC President

Open for juniors on June 20th

Hello everybody,

feel free to drop by this Saturday(June 20th) from 1 to 3 pm and have a group lesson and/or a game. The summer is here which means that the Canadian Junior in Victoria, BC is approaching as well as the Canadian Open in Edmonton. So it's preparation time!

See you all at the club,

Stephan

The CCC has a new Executive List...

Hello everybody,

on our Special Meeting this Tuesday we elected a new Board. Here are the new executives:

President: Stephan Vasilev

Vice-President: Ron Hinds

Treasurer: Bob Macfie

Secretary: Simon Ong

Directors: Roy Yearwood, Tony Ficzere, and Hubert Shi

Let's see what we can do and improve our club. We are ready to listen to all suggestions so feel free to come up with ideas. We will listen!

This Friday the club will be open for some casual play and game analysis and then on Saturday we will be open for our juniors from 1 pm to 3pm. Come in and have a game or two. :)

Stephan V.

Chess events this weekend

Hello everybody,

A few things I wanted to remind you because we have a chess weekend ahead of us:

1. Our club will be open on Friday evening for casual chess and game analysis.

2.  On Saturday, we will open at 9:00 am for the 2009 Alberta Active Championship. Here you can read more info: http://www.albertachess.org/Alberta_Active.html 

This tournament will be over by 4 pm so that means: no 1 o'clock meeting for our juniors!

3. On Sunday, Simon Ong will direct an invitational and an open tournament: Canadian Junior!?

He probably will post something in here soon, but as far as I understand, everybody can play because it's in 2 sections. 

See ya all in the club!

Stephan V.