I won two pawns earlier, but then we got down to this crazy rook and pawn ending. He just played 39...c4 Here's where it gets interesting. I see that he's getting a passed pawn, and it looks like it's going to cost me a rook to stop. The game continues, 40.dxc4 dxc4 41.Rxg6+ Kc5 (At first I thought it was a mistake to allow me the check on g5 picking up the h pawn, but if he goes to the 7th I still go Rg5, hitting the h pawn and threatening Rc5.) 42.Rg5+ Kb4 43.Rxh5 c3 44.Rh8 c2 45.Rb8+ Ka5 46.Rc8 c1/Q+ 47.Rxc1 Rxc1 (Now comes the fun!) 48.h4 Kb6 49.h5 Kc5 50.g4 Kd5 51.Kf4 Ke6 52.e4 Rg1 53.g5 Rh1 54.h6 Kf7 55.Kf5 Rh3 56.f4 Rf3 57.g6+ Kf8 58.e5 Rh3 59.Kg5 Rg3 60.Kf6 Kg8 61.e6 Re3 62.f5 Kh8 63.Kf7 Rg3 64.e7 Rxg6!? (The Hail Mary rook sac, hoping for fxg6. I play too many kids going for stalemate to fall for that) 65.Kxg6 Black resigns.
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
When 4 is Better Then 5
As annoying as it was walking into a mating net in a won position, last Thursday was not a total disaster. In fact I bounced back from that crushing loss by drawing in the third round. It seemed no matter what I did in the third round I'd get the bye in the last round if the number of players remained odd. As it turned out somebody dropped out making it even so I got to play the fourth round. Once again I played one of the usual suspects, Scot Mc Elheny. He's another one of those players that I seem play almost every week. Though for a change, I actually had white against him. Most of the time I seem to get black, he plays really annoying stuff against my Sicilian, and I get a sucky position and lose.
I won two pawns earlier, but then we got down to this crazy rook and pawn ending. He just played 39...c4 Here's where it gets interesting. I see that he's getting a passed pawn, and it looks like it's going to cost me a rook to stop. The game continues, 40.dxc4 dxc4 41.Rxg6+ Kc5 (At first I thought it was a mistake to allow me the check on g5 picking up the h pawn, but if he goes to the 7th I still go Rg5, hitting the h pawn and threatening Rc5.) 42.Rg5+ Kb4 43.Rxh5 c3 44.Rh8 c2 45.Rb8+ Ka5 46.Rc8 c1/Q+ 47.Rxc1 Rxc1 (Now comes the fun!) 48.h4 Kb6 49.h5 Kc5 50.g4 Kd5 51.Kf4 Ke6 52.e4 Rg1 53.g5 Rh1 54.h6 Kf7 55.Kf5 Rh3 56.f4 Rf3 57.g6+ Kf8 58.e5 Rh3 59.Kg5 Rg3 60.Kf6 Kg8 61.e6 Re3 62.f5 Kh8 63.Kf7 Rg3 64.e7 Rxg6!? (The Hail Mary rook sac, hoping for fxg6. I play too many kids going for stalemate to fall for that) 65.Kxg6 Black resigns.
I won two pawns earlier, but then we got down to this crazy rook and pawn ending. He just played 39...c4 Here's where it gets interesting. I see that he's getting a passed pawn, and it looks like it's going to cost me a rook to stop. The game continues, 40.dxc4 dxc4 41.Rxg6+ Kc5 (At first I thought it was a mistake to allow me the check on g5 picking up the h pawn, but if he goes to the 7th I still go Rg5, hitting the h pawn and threatening Rc5.) 42.Rg5+ Kb4 43.Rxh5 c3 44.Rh8 c2 45.Rb8+ Ka5 46.Rc8 c1/Q+ 47.Rxc1 Rxc1 (Now comes the fun!) 48.h4 Kb6 49.h5 Kc5 50.g4 Kd5 51.Kf4 Ke6 52.e4 Rg1 53.g5 Rh1 54.h6 Kf7 55.Kf5 Rh3 56.f4 Rf3 57.g6+ Kf8 58.e5 Rh3 59.Kg5 Rg3 60.Kf6 Kg8 61.e6 Re3 62.f5 Kh8 63.Kf7 Rg3 64.e7 Rxg6!? (The Hail Mary rook sac, hoping for fxg6. I play too many kids going for stalemate to fall for that) 65.Kxg6 Black resigns.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
10 comments:
So what does he play against your Sicilian?
Polly, I don't have time to analyze this out fully, but doesn't 40. Kd4 give White a better chance than the game continuation?
Greg:
Kd4 does look better since even if he plays Rc1 I can trade pawns and have my king close by when he pushes the pawn. I'll have to look at that closer.
ook: After 4...g6 He'd play 5. Nxc6, bc, 6. Qd4, Nf6, 7. e5. For some reason I'd get a really crappy position. Lately he's been playing the Maroczy Bind which also can be annoying.
So i take it you play the Accelerated Dragon? There's a great DVD on the Maroczy by Tiviakov. The Accelerated Dragon is a favourite of mine as well as can be viewed by what i'm studying.
Still, the variation 5.Nxc6 etc. usually favours Black.
I hate studying openings, so I tend to wing things at time.
Well i don't really study them. I study their principles. Their ideas. Their basics. I'm not a MCO kinda guy trying to catch up on the latest lines. That'll only improve my book knowledge. But what if your opponent gets out of book? The DVD also shows you ideas and such.
I'll leave the latest theory to the grandmasters ;-)
I love examples like this where 4 pawns beat a rook. It's a perfect proof for why the rigid piece values are not accurate. Sometimes I wonder if it's possible to teach someone to play chess without teaching the piece values. Just show them how to win, e.g. if you show them a rook beating a minor piece in the endgame, they learn the value of the exchange without learning the very rigid "rook = 5, bishop/knight = 3".
I play the accelerated dragon as well. I first learned it from Silman's very thin book from 1991 and a friend of mine who is an expert (2100-ish). Later I found that Silman had written a sequel in 1998 which is nearly 3 times as long as the first and in many cases he recommends different lines. The sequel is out of print and hard to find, but it is possible to find individuals selling the book.
In any case, there is a chapter on early Nxc6 lines. I think he does a good job of explaining why you take with which pawn. A big chunk of the book is dedicated to dealing with the Maroczy. If you were to ask Silman, he'd tell you the book is out of date -- and he's probably right above the master level -- but I think it's fine for class players.
By the way, I'm very jealous that you get to lose to high rated players on a weekly basis. There are zero chess tournaments within 3 hours of where I live.
Some weeks I can lose to higher rated players 4 days a week. Thta's the advantage (??) of living never a major chess center like NYC. I'm not sure what I'd do if I relocated. ICC? Ick. I hate internet chess. I like the feel of moving pieces, slapping the clock, and seeing my opponent's reactions. There's just something so stimulating to have a time scramble with pieces flying, hands moving a mile a minute, and the assorted contortions and facial ticks of a person under the clock gun.
Post a Comment