Saturday, July 10, 2010

53rd Quest Annotated Game


By Jeff Caveney

The Open section of the May Knights Quest came to an exciting conclusion with the game between Kent Cen and Jordan Cohen on Board 1 in the final round. Both players went all-out to attack the opposing king -- in fact, both players sacrificed their queens during their attacks! Play out the game below and enjoy:
White: Kent Cen (1940)
Black: Jordan Cohen (2022)

Renaissance Knights Quest
May 16, 2010

Round 4, Board 1

1.e4 c5
2.c3 g6
3.d4 cxd4
4.cxd4 d5
This is a good answer to the 2.c3 line against the Sicilian.
5.exd5 Nf6
6.Nc3 Bg7
7.Bb5+ Bd7
I prefer 7...Nbd7 here. Black will castle next, then move the knight on d7, then win back the pawn on d5 with a good position.
8.Bc4
Now Black's bishop on d7 and knight on b8 are misplaced, and it is more difficult to win back the pawn on d5.
8...O-O
9.Qb3 Qb6
10.Nf3

I would have just exchanged queens, and Black has a difficult position. But as spectators we can all be grateful the queen exchange did not happen, which made possible the exciting attacking game that follows.
10...Rd8
11.O-O Na6
12.Re1 Kf8
13.Qa3
The chance to attack the e7 pawn and the king behind it on f8 tempt the white queen to step away from the queen trade.
13...Nb4
14.Bf4 Rac8
15.Ne5 Be8
16.Qb3
The queen comes back to give extra protection to the bishop on c4 under attack.
16...Qxd4
17.Ne2
It looks like there should be some way for White to punish Black for his queen's pawn grab in the middle of the board surrounded by white pieces, but Black's attacks on the bishops on f4 and c4 seem to save him. For example 17.Qxb4 Qxf4 18.Nxg6+ hxg6 and after White captures on e7 the black king just steps away back to g8, or 17.Qxb4 Qxf4 18.Qxe7+ Kxe7 19.Nxg6+ Kd7 20.Nxf4 and the hanging bishop on c4 comes back to haunt White after 20...Rxc4.

17...Qc5
18.Be3 Qd6
19.Bf4 Qc5
If Black tried 19...Nh5 with the idea 20.Nxg6+ Qxg6 21.Qxb4 (unclear), White had the answer 20.Nxf7! with an unusual double attack on the queen, followed by 21.Nxd8 winning material.
20.Be3 Qc7
Black doesn't want a draw by repetition of moves. But this daring refusal to draw is also very risky. Again, as spectators we can be thankful for it!
21.Bf4 Qa5
22.Bd2
By avoiding the repetitions the black queen has gotten the knight on b4 caught in a nasty pin.

22...Nfxd5
23.a3 Ba4
24.Qf3 Bxe5
25.axb4 Rxc4
Black sacrifices his queen for just one bishop! But he has some attacking chances that are tricky for White to deal with, and both players were running very low on time by this point in the game. The players had to stop writing down their moves, but thanks to the DGT electronic display board Renaissance Knights used on Board 1, we were able to record all the rest of the moves too.
26.bxa5 Bc6
27.Qh3 Nf6
28.Qh6+ Kg8
29.Bc3 Ng4
30.Qc1 Bxh2+
31.Kh1 Rd5
31...Rd5 is a beautiful and powerful attacking move! The rook moves up on the open d-file with the idea of next moving over to the h-file to attack the exposed white king. This "up and over" move by a rook on an open file is an important attacking strategy to remember.
32.Nf4 Bxf4
33.Qc2 Rh5+
34.Kg1 Rh2
Now Black has a bishop and knight for the queen, and his attack is still going strong.
35.f3 Bxf3
36.Rxe7
Setting up the counter-attacking threat of Re8 checkmate!
36...Rxg2+
In time trouble Black doesn't find a way to deal with the counter-attacking threat. After the game Master Ken Wallach, whose two young sons played in the Knights Quest tournament, pointed out Black's winning move 36...Be3+! After 37.Rxe3 Nxe3 Black is attacking White's queen and the attack on the white king is still going. I tried to find some more counter-attacking tricks for White, but Wallach showed Black can at least get to a winning endgame: 38.Re1 (still trying for Re8 checkmate!) Rxc3! (with no bishop on c3, there's no checkmate!) 39.Qxc3 Rxg2+ 40.Kh1 Rc2+ 41.Kg1 Rxc3 42.bxc3 and the knight, bishop and many pawns will easily beat the rook.
37.Qxg2 Bxg2
38.Re8 checkmate 1-0.
A disappointing conclusion for Black, but in an exciting back-and-forth game that ends decisively, there's always one player who's disappointed with the result. We should all thank both players for giving us such an enjoyable game to watch, analyze, and play over!

Monday, July 5, 2010

JEFF CAVENEY WINS 1st PLACE at the CICL Individual Championship

JEFF CAVENEY Wins 1st Place at the CICL Individual Championship
RKCF would like to congratulate, Expert Jeff Caveney. for winning 1st Place at the 'Chicago Industrial Chess League Individual Championship' on May 8, 2010. Jeff is an excellent chess teacher and an incredibly strong player. Jeff told us all his opponents played well, and he annotated his game against Expert Andrew Hubbard for the 'Knights News'. Thank you Jeff.

CICL Individual Championship
Round 2, Board 1
White: Andrew Hubbard
Black: Jeff Caveney

1.e4 e5
2.Nf3 Nc6
3.Bb5 a6
4.Ba4 Nf6
5.O-O Be7
6.Re1 b5
7.Bb3 d6
8.c3 O-O
9.h3 Na5
10.Bc2 c5
11.d4 Qc7
12.Nbd2

This is the main line of the Ruy Lopez, and this position was just as familiar to chess players in 1910 as it is in 2010.

12...Rd8
13.Nf1 cxd4
14.cxd4 exd4
15.Nxd4

White also could have delayed this recapture and played 15.Bf4 first.

15...d5
16.e5 Ne4
17.Nd2

This is a mistake because it blocks in the bishop on c1.

17...Bc5
18.Bxe4 dxe4
19.N4b3 Nxb3
20.Qxb3 Rd3!

Activating the rook and pushing the queen back.
21.Qd1 Bxf2+!
With a big lead in development, White's pieces tied up, and no protection for his king, now is the time to sacrifice the bishop to expose and attack the king.
22.Kxf2 Qb6+
23.Kf1
23.Ke2 could have led to the same position as the game after 23...Re3+ 24.Kf1.
23...Rxh3!!
Temporarily sacrificing a rook too to strip away all the pawns in front of the king. Black will soon start getting his material back with interest.
24.Nf3
Hubbard fights hard to stay alive in a lost position. The main lines were 24.Nxe4 Rh1+ 25.Ke2 Bg4+ winning the queen and 24.gxh3 Bxh3+ 25.Ke2 Bg4+ 26.Kf1 Bxd1 27.Rxd1. White has a rook, bishop and knight for the queen, but Black also has 3 extra pawns, and most important all White's pieces are undeveloped and tied up doing nothing. A move like 27...Qh6 looks strong, threatening to harass the king with checks, the tactical point being 28.Nxe4 Qh1+ 29.Ke2 Qxe4+.
24...Rh1+
25.Ke2 exf3+
26.Kxf3 Bb7+
27.Ke2 Rh2
28.Rg1 Qg6
29.Qd4 Rxg2+
30.Rxg2 Qxg2+
31.Ke1
Amazingly White isn't dead yet, but the endgame will eventually be winning for Black if he plays accurately. The two extra passed pawns on the kingside are too much, even with opposite colored bishops.
31...Bf3
32.Qf2 Qh1+
33.Qf1 Qh4+
34.Qf2 Qe4+
35.Qe3 Rd8
36.Qxe4 Rd1+
37.Kf2 Bxe4
38.b3 h5
39.Ke3 Bd5
40.Bb2 Rxa1
41.Bxa1 g5
Here with under 5 minutes on the clock I stopped writing the moves down. The following are the rest of the moves as best I can remember them.
42.Bc3 Kh7
43.Kd4 Be6
44.Kc5 Kg6
45.Kb6 h4
46.Be1 Kf5
47.Kxa6 Bd7
Black didn't bother to protect the a6 pawn, since the king could drive the bishop away from that diagonal. But Black does bother to protect the b5 pawn, because the bishop has more room on this diagonal, and because two pawns would be much more dangerous counter play for White than one pawn on the queenside.
48.Kb6 Kg4
49.Bf2 Kf3
50.Bc5 Be6
Now Black can give up the b5 pawn because his own h-pawn is so close to queening. 50...Be6 stops White from playing e6 himself and then Bd6 covering h2.
51.a4 bxa4
52.bxa4 h3 White resigns 0-1.

52nd KNIGHTS QUEST TOURNAMENT


On the Road Trip with RK…2010 All Girls' National Championship, Columbus, Ohio



by Sheila Heiser
The drive to Columbus, Ohio was pleasant and not too long. As always, on a road trip everyone is happy when arriving at their destination. The Hyatt was very accommodating and enjoyable; bustling with enthusiastic chess players of all ages. After check in and unpacking, it was time to acclimate to the venue and meet up with the other players.

Everyone was excited to be there. This was Georgia’s Wolf’s first National, and Shayna Provine, who is more seasoned on traveling and participating in out of state tournaments, was happy to share in Georgia’s joy of this experience. The girls’ combined friendship and chess made it an exceptionally pleasant time for all.

Georgia did very well; she played in ‘U10 and under’ winning half her games, 3 wins out of 6 games, placing 26th out of 55. She was constantly alert, always ready to do analysis of her games with RK Coach FIDE Expert Eric Heiser, was a wonderful good sport no matter how her games went, plus she had a lot of fun and loved the experience. Georgia was an absolute pleasure to be with at all times. RK would love to take her on all our "On the Road Trips"!

Shayna Provine played up in the ‘U18 and under' the only 4th grader in this section. Shayna is 10 years old and has been playing at tournaments for only 1 year, her first tournament was the Knights Quest in March '09. Her performance was amazing, winning 3 ½ games out of 6, and placing 7th out of 16. Winning two trophies! (One in the main tournament and one in the blitz tournament). Watch out, Shayna may be the first home grown female chess master from Illinois! She was also a pleasure to be with all weekend; RK is very fortunate to have such fantastic girls!

Huge congratulations to Shayna and Georgia, plus big thank you to the great parents of the girls, everyone made this trip a big success!

Click here: 2010 All Girls' National Championship
Annotated Game analysis by Jeff Cavaney:

White: Shayna Provine (1489)
Black: Janel Diaz (1368)
1.e4 d5
2.exd5 Qxd5
3.Nc3 Qa5
4.d4 c6
5.Nf3 Nf6
6.Bc4 Bg4
7.O-O e6
8.Bf4 Nbd7
9.Re1 Bxf3
10.Qxf3 Qb4
11.b3 Qb6
11...b5 doesn't work because it leaves the c6 pawn pinned: 12.Nxb5! cxb5 13.Qxa8+.
12.d5 cxd5
13.Bxd5 Rc8
14.Bc4

14.Bxb7 doesn't work because 14...Rxc3! 15.Qxc3 Qxb7 wins the bishop and knight for the rook, and Black still has the threat of ...Bb4 skewering the queen and the rook.
14...Bb4
15.Re3 O-O
16.Qg3 Nh5
17.Qh4 Nxf4
18.Qxf4 Bxc3
19.Rxc3 e5
20.Qf5 Qd4!

Surprisingly White has no good defense to this move. Black exploits the two unprotected white rooks on the same diagonal, as well as the pin on the white bishop on the c-file. On the last move White needed to keep her queen controlling d4 to stop this move.
21.Qh3

21.Qd3 wasn't any better after 21...b5! 22.Qxd4 exd4 23.Bxb5 Rxc3 24.Bxd7 Rxc2 and Black is winning.
21...Nf6

Black misses her chance: 21...b5! was the winning move. Even after the mate threat 22.Bd3, the block 22...g6 is still winning for Black because of the deadly attack on the white rooks. After 23.Rxc8 Qxa1+ 24.Bf1 Rxc8 25.Qxd7 Rxc2 the black king hides on g7 and Black is winning. This is simpler than 22...f5 23.Bxf5 Rxc3 and Black has to calculate all the ways the queen and bishop can chase her king around.
22.Rf1

Whew! With one rook safe, Shayna can get her other rook and bishop out of the sticky situation on the c-file, or do even better...
22...b5
23.Bxf7+!

Shayna turns the tables on the c-file: instead of a pin, now it's a discovered attack by her rook and queen on the black rook on c8! And just like that, White is winning. When two good players compete, one move can be the difference between victory and defeat
23...Kxf7
24.Rxc8 Rxc8
25.Qxc8 Ne4
26.Qf5+ Kg8
27.Re1 Nd6
28.Qxe5 Qxe5
29.Rxe5
With the queens exchanged Black has no chance to save the game anymore: in this kind of endgame with pawns on both sides of the board, the knight cannot compete against the rook.
29...Kf7
30.f4 Nc8
31.Rxb5 Nd6
32.Rd5 Ke6
33.c4 Nf5
34.Kf2 h6
35.g4 Ne7
36.f5+ Kf6
37.Rd6+ Kg5
38.Kg3

The sudden threat of h4 mate! forces Black to give up her knight for just a couple pawns.
38...Nxf5+
39.gxf5 Kxf5
40.c5 Ke5
41.b4 h5
42.h4 a6
43.Rxa6 Kd5
44.c6 Kd6
45.b5 g6
46.Ra7 Kc5
47.c7 Kb6
48.c8=Q Kxa7
49.Qc6 g5
50.b6+ Kb8
51.Qc7+ Ka8
52.Qa7 mate 1-0.

Friday, July 2, 2010

CHESS BLOOMS in CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Chess Blooms in Chicago Public Schools by David Heiser

As the end of winter was approaching, 643 Chicago Public Schools students in Grades K-8 competed at the district’s Elementary Schools Sports Program (ESSP) Regional Chess Playoffs to determine which schools and individuals will compete on the first day of spring (March 20, 2010) at the City-Wide Championship to be held at King High School.

Over the past three years chess has blossomed within CPS Sports Program. In 2007 fewer than 200 students in grades K-8 participated in the City-Wide Chess Championship. Due to problems with the tournament, Calvin Davis, Director of Sports Administration, decided to hold another chess tournament, and choose the Renaissance Knights Chess Foundation to organize and run the event. RK and CPS Sports Department ran the ‘CPS All Grade Tournament’ and it was such a huge success that everyone was enthusiastic for more organized chess for the CPS students. Also, RK had recently partnered with CPS and the City of Chicago to make chess a part of the annual Chicago Sports Festival held annually in December, resulting in continued grow with apparent positive results for the CPS chess programs.



Working closely with the Sports Administration and the school chess coaches, RK continued its involvement with CPS Chess which saw a tremendous growth in just the first year. Chess is a recognized sport in CPS and is a part of the Winter Sports Season which runs from December through April. At the conclusion of the 2007/2008 season we introduced the North and South Regional Playoff tournaments, in our first year participation increased to 427 students, and the growth continued the 2nd year with 567 students. 3rd year, we are happy to report, 643 players from 68 schools competed in the Regional Playoff’s!

The Regional Playoffs are individual/team competition with team awards based on the top 5 scores in 4 divisions: K-2, K-4, K-6 & K-8. The top three teams and top 4 individuals (not part of the top three teams) advance to the City-Wide Championship. At the championship the top three teams are limited to 5 players making a move even playing field for smaller schools.

This year’s South-Side Regional Playoff was held on March 6 at Phillips High School where 243 students from 29 Schools competed. The top schools in advancing to the ‘CPS Championship’ are: K-8 Gunsaulus, Beasley Academic Center & Seward Academy; K-6 Beasley Academic Center, Keller & Lenart; K-4 Deenen, Coles Academy & Tarkington; and K-2 Keller, Turner-Drew & Deneen. Due to an ineligible player on the Keller team they were disqualified from advancement paving the way for the 4th place team from Metcalfe to advance.

The North-Side Regional Playoff was held at Northwest Middle School where 400 students from 39 schools competed. The top schools in advancing to the championship are: K-8 Burbank, Bateman & Goudy; K-6 Bell, Edgebrook & Edison Regional Gifted; K-4 Edgebrook, Decatur & Burbank; and K-2 Decatur, Burbank & Walt Disney. My Congratulations to all who made the ‘CPS Championship’.
Not only has chess grown at these events but during the past year there has been a dramatic increase in the number of CPS students and schools participating in weekend tournament in the city. I credit this growth to one of the first changes I made to the program that required all schools and individuals to participate in at least one tournament to be eligible to compete in the Regional Playoffs.

As a Co-Founder and President of the Renaissance Knights Chess Foundation it has been a privilege working with and supporting chess in Chicago Public Schools for the last several years, and I was honored to be asked to serve as the ESSP Chess Coordinator this year and look forward to the growth of Chess in Chicago.

More information about Chicago Public Schools Chess program can be found at www.cpschess.com