Friday, 6 March 2015

Singapore Masters Blitz Invitational 2015 - Best games of the tourney

Olimpiu Urcan had placed 25 games from the above-mentioned event on the sgchess.net blog. I went through the lot and decided to showcase the best games from that lot here. First up, the 'Caveman Attack Award' goes to Andrean Susilodinata for a barnstormer of an attack.

[Event "S'pore Masters Blitz 2015"] [Site "?"] [Date "2015.03.01"] [Round "8"] [White "Susilodinata, Andrean"] [Black "Neubronner, Jarred"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B42"] [Annotator "Junior Tay"] [PlyCount "72"] [EventDate "2015.03.02"] [SourceDate "2015.03.02"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 5. Bd3 Bc5 6. Nb3 Be7 7. c4 d6 8. O-O Nf6 9. Be3 O-O 10. Nc3 b6 11. f4 Nbd7 {All these are pretty standard in the Sicilian Kan though Black usually delays castling until necessary.} 12. g4 $5 { According to my database, this bayonet stab was first played by Polish GM Jacek Tomscak in 2009.} (12. Qf3 {is the main line.}) 12... Bb7 $2 {A natural reaction to complete development. The way Andrean brutally conducted the attack showed that this move which completes development is the key to Black's problems!} ({The age old adage - meeting a flank attack with action in the centre applies here. Black cannot allow White to fully concentrate on the kingside attack unimpeded.} 12... Nc5 $1 13. Nxc5 (13. Bc2 Nxb3 14. axb3 Bb7 15. g5 Nd7 16. Qh5 g6 17. Qh6 Re8 18. Rf3 Bf8 19. Qh4 Bg7 20. Rd1 Qc7 21. Rh3 Nf8 {and Black is holding firm, Miranda Rodriguez,T (2167)-Borges Feria,Y (2406)/Havana 2011.}) (13. g5 Nfd7 14. Bc2 {was Lhotka,J (2082)-Suchomel,A (2044)/Prague 2012. Now,} e5 $1 {looks like an appropriate counter as} 15. Nd5 $6 exf4 16. Bxf4 Ne5 {gives Black good play.}) 13... dxc5 14. h3 (14. g5 $6 { is met by} Ng4) 14... Bb7 15. e5 Nd7 16. Qc2 g6 17. Be4 Qc7 {and the action has been transferred to the centre, Tomczak,J (2465)-Miton,K (2595)/Chotowa 2009}) (12... e5 {, jabbing at the centre, is another move to consider.}) 13. g5 Ne8 14. Qh5 $1 {White goes for the jugular.} g6 15. Qh6 Ng7 16. f5 $1 ({ Another demolition job follows} 16. Rf3 $1 Re8 17. Rh3 Nh5 18. Rxh5 gxh5 19. Qxh5 {when resistance is futile. For example,} Nf8 20. f5 $1 {followed by Rf1 and f5-f6 wins hands down.}) 16... Nh5 (16... exf5 17. exf5 Nxf5 {and after} 18. Rxf5 {, the rook cannot be taken.}) 17. Be2 $1 ({Black gets a good chance to hold out, especially in blitz after} 17. f6 Nhxf6 18. gxf6 Bxf6) 17... Re8 { Seeking to trap the queen with ...Bf8 but Andrean had everything worked out.} 18. fxg6 hxg6 19. Rxf7 $3 {This hammer blow ends all discussion. The band can start playing 'Bohemian Rhapsody' and start 'calling momma!'. The rest do not require annotation as White just picks off copious amount of material and more. ..} Kxf7 20. Bxh5 Rg8 21. Qh7+ Rg7 22. Bxg6+ Kf8 23. Qh8+ Rg8 24. Qh6+ Rg7 25. Qh8+ Rg8 26. Rf1+ Bf6 27. Qh6+ Rg7 28. gxf6 Nxf6 29. Bg5 Kg8 30. Bxf6 Qf8 31. Bxg7 Qxg7 32. Qxg7+ Kxg7 33. Rf7+ Kxg6 34. Rxb7 Rc8 35. Rxb6 Rxc4 36. Rxd6 Kf6 1-0
Olimpiu and I agreed that the following was the best game of the event. Wei Ming wins the 'Carlsen Chokehold' award for this asphyxiation demonstration.
[Event "S'pore Masters Blitz 2015"] [Site "?"] [Date "2015.03.01"] [Round "10"] [White "Goh, Wei Ming"] [Black "Suelo, Robert Jr"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B40"] [Annotator "Junior Tay"] [PlyCount "123"] [EventDate "2015.03.02"] [SourceDate "2015.03.02"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Bg5 $5 {The scumbag opening - Aussie Attack.} Qb6 ({In bullet or blitz play, a common move would be} 4... a6 $4 5. Bxd8 { followed by an opponent disconnect or a litany of profanity...}) ({Personally, I find} 4... Nf6 {to be the hardest to meet.}) 5. Qxd4 Qxd4 6. Nxd4 a6 7. Nd2 $1 {Already, White is eyeing the juicy b6-square for the knight.} Nc6 8. Nxc6 dxc6 9. a4 {Clamping down on Black's ...b5.} ({I've always preferred} 9. Nc4 Bc5 10. O-O-O {in online blitz.}) 9... Nf6 10. f3 Bc5 11. c3 h6 $6 {Wei Ming is more than happy to see this move as he seeks to remove Black's only active piece- the dark-squared bishop.} 12. Bh4 g5 13. Bf2 Bxf2+ 14. Kxf2 Ke7 15. Nc4 {White starts to pull his weight on the queenside dark squares.} Bd7 16. Nb6 Rad8 17. b4 Bc8 18. Ke3 Nd7 19. Nc4 f6 20. Be2 Ne5 21. Nb6 Nd7 22. Nc4 Ne5 23. Na5 $1 {No repetition!} Rd7 24. Rhd1 {It would seem strange to trade a pair of rooks but once Black doubles rooks on the d-file, he can play for ...f5-f4 with a ...Rd2 invasion.} ({Opening another front with} 24. h4 {looks good also. }) 24... Rhd8 25. Rxd7+ Rxd7 {I like the reorganising that Wei Ming embarks on. He first gives himself more options with his knight and kingside pawns.} 26. Nb3 Rd8 27. g3 Nd7 28. b5 $5 {Finally, a commital move.} axb5 29. axb5 cxb5 30. Bxb5 e5 {Black seems to have almost unravelled from the squeeze but the position still requires accuracy.} 31. c4 b6 $6 {Finally, a concession. Perhaps Suelo was concerned about Ra7 followed by Na5 hitting the b7-pawn.} ({ The Black king belongs on c7 but that's very hard to see in blitz.} 31... Kd6 32. c5+ Kc7 {and Black is ok after ...Nb8-c6 or ...Nf8-e6.}) 32. Ra7 {After the patient manouvering, Wei Ming finally has a clear weakness to latch onto, the 7th rank.} Kd6 33. Nc1 $1 {Re-routing the knight to d5 where it hits the b6- and f6-pawns.} Rh8 $2 ({Black must not remain passive and he has to try for activity with} 33... Nc5 {and now} 34. Rh7 Be6 35. Rxh6 Ra8 {, Black gets sufficient counterplay. It's easy to see this of course, with an engine in the background but over the board, it's only natural to cover the weakness (the h6-pawn).}) 34. Nd3 h5 {Suelo is systematically trying to eradicate his h-pawn weakness.} 35. Nb4 h4 (35... Nc5 36. Nd5 f5 37. Ra8 $1 $18 {and Black is in zugzwang.}) 36. g4 (36. Nd5 {is also very strong.}) 36... Rf8 {Now he covers his f-pawn. Black's plan is just to hold firm and ...hope White does not have a tactical breakthrough, as the kingside is closed up and everything seems guarded staunchly.} 37. Nd5 Rd8 38. Ra8 $1 {Well, it only took Wei Ming 1 move to set up a tactical solution. It dawned on Black that White will just set up Bxd7 and trade the whole house leading to a winning king and pawns ending for White.} Nc5 {There is no choice but to give up the b-pawn.} (38... Rf8 39. Bxd7 Kxd7 40. Nxb6+ Kc7 41. Rxc8+ Rxc8 42. Nxc8 Kxc8 43. c5 Kc7 44. Kd3 Kd7 45. Kc4 Kc6 46. h3 {and White will invade into the Black camp.}) 39. Nxb6 Kc7 40. Nd5+ ({Most definitely not a minor piece ending with} 40. Rxc8+ $2 Rxc8 41. Nxc8 Kxc8 {as White's king cannot get in once the Black king sits on the d6-square.} ) 40... Kb7 41. Ra1 Rd6 ({Also futile is} 41... Be6 42. Rb1 Bxd5 43. exd5 Kc7 44. Bc6) 42. Rb1 {Wicked! Now Black now has to worry about the plight of his king as well.} Ka7 43. Ra1+ Kb7 44. Be8 Bd7 45. Rb1+ Ka7 46. Bxd7 Nxd7 47. Rb5 $1 {Supporting the c4-c5 push.} Ka6 $2 {This allows White to win more quickly but Suelo must have been worn out by the big squeeze.} ({In any case,} 47... Ra6 48. Nb4 Ra3+ 49. Kd2 $1 Rxf3 50. c5 $1 {wins.}) 48. Nb4+ Ka7 49. c5 Rd1 50. c6 Nb6 51. Nd5 Nc8 52. Rb7+ Ka6 53. Nxf6 Rc1 54. Rc7 Nd6 55. Nd5 Nc4+ 56. Ke2 Nd6 $4 57. Rd7 Nb5 58. Re7 Rxc6 {Walking into a fork. However, the game has already been lost for quite a while.} 59. Nb4+ Kb6 60. Nxc6 Kxc6 61. Rxe5 Kb6 62. Rxg5 1-0
I was very impressed by the way Benjamin handled the opening against the acknowledged expert of the ...Nc6 Centre Counter. Before the event, I wanted to prepare against those strong opponents I would be facing but gave up after 5 minutes, realising that it would be too much work. But I did click on some of Nelson's Centre counter games where he (as well as his elder brother and sister) outplayed many masters with it by constantly combining central pressure with slick piece play. Here, Benjamin Foo gets the 'Take the bull by the horns' award by entering into Nelson's main line and coming out with a powerful idea to blast the queenside open. With this, we've come to the end of my annotated series for this event. Thank you for viewing!
[Event "S'pore Masters Blitz 2015"] [Site "?"] [Date "2015.03.01"] [Round "8"] [White "Foo, Benjamin"] [Black "Mariano, Nelson III"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B01"] [Annotator "Junior Tay"] [PlyCount "85"] [EventDate "2015.03.02"] [SourceDate "2015.03.02"] 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5 4. d4 Nf6 5. Nf3 Nc6 $5 {The ...Nc6 Centre counter is a specialty of American IM Alexander Reprintsev. Other experts in this line are French GM Etienne Bacrot and ...the Mariano family! Both brother GM Nelson Mariano II and sister WIM Cristine have utilized this line frequently too with success.} 6. Bd2 $1 (6. d5 Nb4 7. Bb5+ c6 8. dxc6 Nxc6 9. Ne5 Bd7 10. Nxd7 Nxd7 11. O-O e6 12. Re1 Be7 13. Bf4 Nf6 14. a3 O-O 15. Bxc6 bxc6 16. Qf3 Rac8 17. Rad1 Qf5 18. h4 Nd5 19. Nxd5 cxd5 {and Mariano's elder sibling has gained the edge, Chong,C (2127)-Mariano,N (2466)/Kuala Lumpur 2005} ) ({The theoretical continuation is supposed to be} 6. Bb5 {but that doesn't faze Nelson.} Nd5 7. a4 Nxc3 8. bxc3 a6 9. Bxc6+ bxc6 10. O-O Bg4 11. Qd3 Bf5 12. Qd2 e6 13. Ne5 Bd6 $1 14. Ba3 Bxe5 15. dxe5 c5 16. Rfd1 O-O {and the future World Junior Champion agreed to a draw against Nelson, Lu,S (2538) -Mariano,N (2292)/Kuala Lumpur 2013.}) 6... a6 ({I've studied many years ago that} 6... Bg4 7. Nb5 Qb6 8. c4 Bxf3 9. Qxf3 Nxd4 10. Nxd4 Qxd4 11. Qxb7 Qe4+ 12. Qxe4 Nxe4 13. Be3 {gives White a big plus in the ending.}) 7. Bc4 Qh5 { Black's plan is to put as much pressure as possible on the d4-pawn with ...Bg4 and ...0-0-0.} 8. O-O Bg4 9. Be2 O-O-O 10. h3 $1 {With natural moves, White has seized the edge and Black has no time to threaten the d4-weakie.} Bxf3 11. Bxf3 Qf5 12. Bxc6 {The point of White's trade. He gets to damage the Black queenside and the tempo to defend the d4-pawn.} bxc6 {This position has been encountered by Nelson in tournament praxis!} 13. Qe2 $1 {Gaining more time to set up his own offensive plan.} (13. Ne2 e6 14. c4 Qd3 $1 15. Rc1 Ne4 16. Be3 Qxd1 17. Rfxd1 Bd6 18. a3 Rhg8 {White has a structural edge though Nelson eventuallly ecked out a win, Dela Cruz,N (2371) -Mariano,N (2251)/Manila 2013}) 13... Kb7 14. Be3 e6 $146 {This is Nelson's improvement over a prior game.} ({ Black has attempted to straighten his pawns after} 14... Nd5 $2 15. Nxd5 cxd5 { but this gave White time to pummel down the queenside with} 16. c4 $1 e6 17. c5 Ra8 18. Rfc1 c6 19. Rc3 Be7 20. Rb3+ Kc7 21. Qd2 Rhc8 22. Bf4+ Kd7 23. Rb7+ $18 {Fomichenko,E (2492)-Scheblykin,S (2348)/Anapa 2008}) 15. b4 $3 {Benjamin gives him no rest and demonstrates the sustained initiative play that has earned him scalps over IMs in recent months.} Bd6 16. Rfb1 {Bringing the whole chain gang into the attack.} e5 {Black meets the flank action with central activity but it's too little too late.} ({After} 16... Nd5 17. Nxd5 exd5 18. a4 {is also daunting for Black.}) 17. b5 $3 {The king's cover is blown away just like that.} cxb5 18. Nxb5 $1 axb5 19. Rxb5+ ({Even more incisive is} 19. Qxb5+ Kc8 20. c4 {with the idea of c5-c6.}) 19... Kc8 20. dxe5 {The Rb5 also helps to set up a horizontal pin.} Bxe5 21. f4 Rhe8 $2 ({Black must bail out into an ending a pawn down with} 21... Rd5 $5 22. Rxd5 Nxd5 23. fxe5 Nxe3 24. Qxe3) 22. fxe5 $18 {The rest is a clinical mop-up by Ben and he never relinquished his sustained initiative thanks to the floundering Black king.} Rxe5 23. Rxe5 Qxe5 24. Qa6+ Kd7 25. Rd1+ Ke7 26. Qa3+ Ke8 27. Qa4+ Rd7 28. Re1 Kf8 29. Qa8+ Ke7 30. Bf2 Qxe1+ 31. Bxe1 Nd5 32. Qc6 Rd6 33. Qc5 Kd7 34. Bg3 Re6 35. Qxd5+ Kc8 36. a4 c6 37. Qb3 Kd7 38. a5 c5 39. a6 Re8 40. a7 Kc6 41. Bb8 Re1+ 42. Kf2 Re6 43. a8=Q+ 1-0


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