Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Woo Hoo! I Already Have 6 Wins in January This Year!

Last year, I won 5 games for the entire month of January. This year I'm only half way through the month, and I've matched my total for last year. I've played less this month then I did for the 1st two weeks of January 2007. Maybe there is hope for me yet.

I actually tied for first in our January G/40 event. I won my first two games last week. In round 3 I played up and sucked with the black pieces. This was one the instances where one doesn't want to be the higher ranked player and get her due color. We were both due black but because I had 2 points and Lonnie had 1.5 I got my black. I'm getting tired of getting crushed horribly when the opponent plays d4, but doesn't allow me to play my regular Nimzo-Indian. I'm sure that's one of the reasons why I beat Silvio last week, because he didn't play his usual garbage opening as white.

There was actually a silver lining to getting Black against Lonnie. The chances were I was going to lose to him regardless of what color I had. He's rated 2225, and my record against him is 2 wins, 1 draw and 30 losses. My win against him with the black pieces was at time when he played e4 as white. So by having black against Lonnie it put me in line to play White against Isaac Sherman, rated 1811.

Isaac is an older Russian player who did not start playing in rated tournaments until August of 2006. He has never played outside the two chess clubs in Scarsdale and White Plains so it's hard to say what his true strength is. It's small pool of players that he's played against. I ran the MSA History program on him. He has a very solid record, albeit against a small circle of players.

Current Official rating is 1811 Current UnOfficial rating is 1853
Best Unofficial rating = 1853 Best Official rating = 1851
Lowest rating on record = 1687

19 Opponents
Total Rated Games = 59 ---> 35 Wins 7 Draws 17 Losses


Best Upset = 279 points -- JOHN KELLY -- 2098 BOB PERETZ CC CHAMPIONSHIP 12-10-2007
Best Draw = 372 points -- LONNIE S KWARTLER -- 2223 BPCC JANUARY G40 01-14-2008
Worst Loss = -238 points -- SCOTT SHEFF -- 1588 WCC SEPTEMBER QUADS 10-03-2007

Highest Rated Opponent Win = JOHN KELLY -- 2098 BOB PERETZ CC CHAMPIONSHIP 12-10-2007
Highest Rated Opponent Draw = LONNIE S KWARTLER -- 2223 BPCC JANUARY G40 01-14-2008
Lowest Rated Opponent Loss to = JOHN KANG -- 1517 WCC QUADS 12-28-2006

Most Recent Wins in a row = 5 ending on 11-14-2007 at WCC AUTUMN SWISS
Most Recent Draws in a row = 1 ending on 01-14-2008 at BPCC JANUARY G40
Most Recent Losses in a row = 3 ending on 05-30-2007 at WESTCHESTER CHESS CLUB CHAMP

Results against 18 higher rated players: Wins = 10 Draws = 3 Losses = 5
Results against 0 equally rated players: Wins = 0 Draws = 0 Losses = 0
Results against 41 lower rated players: Wins = 25 Draws = 4 Losses = 12

Results against 9 players rated + 100 : Wins = 3 Draws = 2 Losses = 4
Results against 29 players rated +/-100: Wins = 17 Draws = 5 Losses = 7
Results against 21 players rated - 100 : Wins = 15 Draws = 0 Losses = 6

This would be my seventh game against him. Up to this point I had 1 win, 1 draw and 4 losses. We tend to have these positional grinders with long pawn chains. However I've been caught unaware at time when suddenly out of a very closed position he comes up with a shot. This game was very typical of our past games, except this time I was the one with the shot. For a good part of the game I'd been looking for ways to open up the h1-a8 diagonal. Earlier I had looked at sac-ing my b pawn, but after 22...Bd7 he made it easy for me.


23. Nxb5 Qa6 (He opted not to play cxb5 allowing me to win the exchange.) 24. Nxd4 Ree8 25. Bf4 Rac8 26. Nf3 Nxf3+ 27. Bxf3 Be6 28. a4 Bd529. Bxd5+ cxd5 30. b5 Qe6 31. d4 h6 32. c6 g5 33. Bc1 g4 34. Bf4 a6 35. Qd2axb5 36. axb5 Re7 37. Re1 Qf6 38. Rxe7 Qxe7 39. Re1 Qa7 40. Be5 Bf8 41. Rb1 Qb642. Qd3 Be7 43. Qxf5 Rxc6?? (I think he forgot that after Qxf5 I'm still protecting the rook on b1.) 44. bxc6 1-0

11 comments:

tanch said...

Well done, Polly!

Nice tactical shot with Nxb5. Congrats on your wins!

Robert Pearson said...

It's sure nice to read about this month so far, very good for you! Your fans love reading posts like this one.

Anonymous said...

I'm sure I'm missing something but after he played Qa6, why couldn't you family fork him with Nb5-c7?

Marty

damourax said...

Nice game! =]

Sure the physical training is important too =]
Thanks for the welcome!

Best of luck in your other games!
I'll add you to my sidebar :)

Anonymous said...

Ignore my comment (of course QxNe7 duh!)

marty

Polly said...

Marty: Your first comment was right. I could have played Nc7 forking all over the place. He has to Qb7 then I can pick a rook to capture. I think I had been so fixated on winning the two pawns I forgot about forking possibilities.

Fritz rated my move almost the same but only after the continuation of 24. Nd4 Ree8, 25. b5 cxb5, 26. c6 Be6 27. Nxe6 Rxe6, 28. Bf4 Re8.

I guess it just reenforces the old maxim of "If you find a good move, look for a better one."

Glenn Wilson said...

Nice shot! Congrats on your great start in the new year.

Anonymous said...

Oh, good. People are leaving encouraging comments. A few months ago, you had a post where you talked about winning some games and no one cared.

And, YES, there is hope for you. One of my new year's resolutions is to see you get a W against King Kong.

Polly said...

LEP: Thanks! Hopefully i can live up to that resolution. Damn! Hard enough when I have live up to my own. Now I have live up to my readers's resolutions for me too? Do I have to call the ACLU on this one? :-Þ

Anonymous said...

What makes it especially unfair is that I never make resolutions for myself. I'll rescind it if you promise not to run to the ACLU

Polly said...

LEP: Deal!!

Marty: Nice to meet you today. I must say I was surprised when you asked me if I was "castling queen side." Some of the kids and parents that I know read my blog, but I'm always surprised when someone I don't know figures out the connection. Though in my case how many chess players are named Polly?

I hope your kids had a good time at the tournament. I hope to see you again with the kids or on a Wednesday evening in Scarsdale.