Sunday, January 13, 2008

Score Another One For King Kong

It's another Friday night in Rye doing battle with the killer kidz. However unlike some recent battles with the under 13 crowd, I came out with a plus score. Polly 2 Kidz 1. In round 1 I continued my tight rivalry with Mike from my Thursday chess class. He was ahead with 3 wins, 1 draw and 2 losses. However I evened out our series with a nice queen skewer late in the game. In the second round I beat Ethan in the game I posted yesterday. This set up another 3rd round encounter with King Kong. So now we have the battle of 1 vs 2 in the top quad. Both of us are 2-0.

Going into the tournament I made peace with myself regarding my crappy record against him. He's recently broken 1800, so I no longer feel the pressure of losing to some kid lower rated then me. I'm at the stage that I can look at him as another A player who's on his way up. I can beat A players sometimes, but there's a chance I'll also lose. Even though on paper it's only a 100 point difference, I've been performing below 1700. The rating floor is the only between me and Class C. You've heard of the glass ceiling? I'm sitting on the glass floor. I'd rather not break through that.

Since it's the last round we toss for color. I flip and he calls heads. Heads it is. Damn! Where's that two tailed quarter when I need it? The last time I played him, I played a different opening in the hopes of getting an early queen trade. This time I decided to stick with my Accelerated Dragon and see what he threw at me. It was a wild one with some crappy moves on both sides.



Towards the end I think I let my head get in the way. I was annoyed at myself for allowing Ba4+ and Bh6+, and couldn't get past the idea that I was totally boxed in by the bishop pair. I don't know if I just gave up because I was playing King Kong. I'm not sure if against another player I would have played g5. It's not like I didn't see the move at all. I considered it, but for what ever reason I chickened out since I was sac-ing a pawn. Maybe after defending so well in the previous round, I thought I could defend again. Coulda, woulda, shoulda....

Of my 11 games against King Kong this was the only one where I've had good winning chances. I just couldn't quite pull the trigger. Unfortunately the next time I have Black against him the element of surprise will be gone, and he won't walk into that line again. I may have to come up with something new and interesting just in case I play him again in a few weeks.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

So how's Chess Publisher 2?

This game was a lot of fun to watch, probably a big part because of the unusual material imbalance.

It's really strange--it doesn't seem that the difference in skill between you and King Kong is that much for such lopsided results.

Anonymous said...

lep: Shirov and Kasparov had a pretty small ratings difference, yet Kasparov consistently beat him.

It is a nemesis who just psychologically knows how to push those buttons. Not uncommon.

polly: Hopefully he doesn't discover the maroczy bind, which makes it very hard for black to get an early attack going in the accelerated, IMHO. Then again, White also has to maneuver patiently for a while before getting an attack, which may not suit the temperament of your opponents.

Polly said...

LEP: This was my first game with v2. I have play around with it a little more. It doesn't pick up the Fritz analysis. I think I have to take the analysis and stick it in as a new variation so one can play through it.

anon: I see more Maroczy Binds then this sort of stuff. Drunken Knight just recently posted about that on his blog. It's a pain in the butt line that usually leads to long drawn out struggles.

Chessaholic said...

Interesting game... I think if you manage one win against this kid it will go a long way in "curing" you from this nemesis, and more wins will follow. There's no reason why you shouldn't be able to win games against him.

Anonymous said...

Polly not Qa5 Qb6!

Polly said...

Anon: Qb6 is not good for Black. Nf5! is very strong for white. Here is one of the "better continuations for black.

7...Qb6 8. Nf5 Qxb2 9. Nxg7+ Kf8 10. Kd2 Kxg7 11. a3 Na5 12. Ra2 Nb3+ 13. Kd3 Nc1+ 14. Bxc1 Qb6. Fritz gives white +1 2.25. Even my misplaying the Qa5 line was better then this.