I mentioned briefly in a post here that I was in training for the Ohio Chess Congress, which is the state championship for the state. I played in the U2000 Section, and tied for first with a few other with 4.5/6. I also won the U1800 prize alone, pocketing a smooth 500$. So thanks to all that sent me games. It's funny, because I asked for KID games as black, and only had to play two games as black, both Pircs! Here are two interesting games I played, one a win, the other my only loss. I will include brief comments. The games were played with a 40/2 SD 1 time control.
[Event "Ohio Chess Congress"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Rotella, Tony"]
[Black "Dennis, Gittrich"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A21"]
1. c4 e5 2. g3 d6 3. Bg2 f5 4. Nc3
I couldn't remember OTB whether or not white is supposed to play d4 or play for e4, since in the Dynamic English I remembered d4 being played in similiar positions, but White striving for e4 against Dutch set-ups, anyway, I was wrong, and I suffered a bit during the opening, giving black an edge.
Nf6 5. d3 c6 6. e4 Be7 7. Nge2 O-O 8. O-O Qe8 9. Rb1
This move hasn't been played before. I don't know why I didn't play f4 immediately. I think I was waiting to see if he played ..Qg6 or ..Qh5, but I can't remember why.
Qh5 10. f4 fxe4 11. dxe4 Bh3 12. b4 Bxg2 13. Kxg2 Nbd7
I think black is probably a little better here. White looks like he is doing a couple things at once, is behind in development, and his king is less safe.
14. Qd3 a5
Fighting for the c5 square.
15. a3 axb4 16. axb4 exf4 17. gxf4
I thought for a long time about this move, although it's clearly best. Anything else allows black to put a piece on e5, blocking the weak e-pawn. Also, white can use the g-file.
h6 18. Ng3
Now I think white's better. Black's lack of a real plan let white sort out his position. Now I turned my attention to the kingside.
Qg6 19. Kh1 Kh8 20. Rg1 Ng4
This move looks risky after my reply.
21.Qe2 Bf6 22. Nd1 Bd4?
I think he may have thought I would put a piece in the way, but after 23. Rg2 I think white's winning.
23. Rg2 Rae8?? 24. f5!
I told you it was risky!
Qf7 25. Qxg4 Qxc4 26. Ne3 Bxe3 27. Bxe3 Nf6 28. Qg6 Re7
The game starts to get sloppy around here. I was in pretty big time trouble, only about 7 minutes to get to 40 moves. I am not gonna lie, I spent alot of time walking over to the open section to watch all the strong players and friends play.
29. Bf4 Nxe4 30. Bxd6 Rf6? 31. Bxe7 Rxg6 32. fxg6 Qd3? 33. Ra1
Nf6 34. Nh5 Qd4 35. Bxf6 1-0
White mates in 4. Booyah!
[Event "Ohio Chess Congress"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Rotella, Tony"]
[Black "Neumeier, Michael"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A25"]
1. c4 e5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 Nc6 4. Nc3 d6 5. e4 Be7
I think if you are going to play ..e5 and ..d6, you should play ..g6 and ..Bg7, but this looks really solid.
6. Nge2 O-O 7. f4N
This is my new move. It's pretty crazy, but it looks ok for white, and certainly interesting.
exf4 8. gxf4 Bg4 9. d4 Nh5 10. Be3
I was scared to castle here, but looking back on my plan, it looks slightly better.
Bh4+ 11. Kd2
The idea behind Be3.
g5
This move took me by surprise, but I like the line I played against it alot.
12. f5
Duh.
Nf4 13. Bxf4 gxf4 14. Qf1 f3?
My play makes this move look better than it is.
15. Bxf3 Qg5+ 16. Kc2 Nb4+ 17. Kb3! Qd2?
This move is terrible, but I fall right into the only line that loses.
18.Kxb4????
Terrible!!! The Simple 18.Rb1 still wins a piece. 18..Bxf3 19. Qxf3 Nc6 20. Qg4. Geez oh man. I hate myself for playing this move. Even 18. Qg1 or Bxf3 was better. At least in the latter I get mated two pieces up!
Qxb2+ 19. Ka4 a6!
This is the move that I missed actually. The only ideas I considered were ..c6 and ..b5, or ..b5 and then ..a6, sacrifing another pawn to open up lines. Both looked good for me, so I took his knight on b4. Mate is forced from here, but he misses it and allows me to play on for a while.
20. Qc1 b5+ 21. Ka5 c5
*I think* ..Bd8 mates!
22. Kb6 Qb4 23. Nd5!
This move draws! But I screw it up in time trouble. There is a recurring pattern here.....
Rab8+ 24. Kc7?
Kc6 is much better, and obviously so too.
Qa5+ 25. Kxd6 Qd8+ 26. Ke5 Re8+ 27. Kf4 Qg5# 0-1
And I go down in flames. If you looked at the games, thanks for doing so , and once again, if you sent over some games, thanks again. Any comments on the games are appreciated. Certainly the second is interesting and good just for entertainment value! 🙂 It's not everyday you see a king literally circle the board. If I could have survived, it would have been epic! 🙂