Auckland Chess Centre

Featured games from 22/3/2010

Tuesday, March 30th, 2010 | News | Comments Off

Feature games from the last round of the Summer Cup. First is the game of the Week between Dr John Tseung and William Li.

[Event "ACC Summer Cup 2010 B-Grade"]
[Site "ACC"]
[Date "2010.03.22"]
[Round "7.3"]
[White "Tseung, John"]
[Black "Li, William"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B21"]
[PlyCount "43"]
[JsCom "startply 0"]

1. e4 c5 2. d4 cxd4 3. c3 dxc3 4. Nxc3 Nc6 5. Nf3 e6 6. Bc4 Bb4 {One of the
less popular defences to the Morra-Smith gambit, but not at all a bad one.
About 1 in 10 games goes this way, and the overall score is almost even. White
plays rather passively now and Black is under no immediate pressure. However,
there is a long-term question mark over the Bb4's absence from the kingside.}
7. Bd2 Nge7 8. O-O O-O 9. a3 Ba5 {This is new...and not at all bad. All
earlier games have seen Black capture on c3, when it is hard to believe any
claim that the gambit has been refuted.} 10. Qe2 Re8 ({Immediately} 10... d5 $5
{is better - when Black can recapture with his e6-pawn safely if White plays
exd5.}) 11. Rfd1 $1 d5 {Rather unusually for this gambit, Black gets his
central break in early ( or at all ).} 12. exd5 Nxd5 {Now White has some
pressure on the c-and d-files, thanks to his better development and the
blocked-in Bc8, so chances are about equal. The other possibility -  ...exd5 -
was more in line with breaking out, but there is a tactical problem which
gives White the better chances, namely the unexpected Nxd5!} 13. b4 Bb6 14. Be1
$5 Bd7 15. Qd2 Nxc3 16. Qxc3 Qc7 17. Rac1 Rac8 18. Qb2 $1 {Another clever
strategic retreat, lining up the Qc7, while preparing a battery aimed at
Black's kingside ( Bc3 ).} e5 $2 {This attempt at fixing the Bd7's problems
leaves her majesty on c7 completely in the lurch. Both b5 and Ng5 are now
winning material for White. Black needed to contain the threat of b5 with ...
a6.} 19. Ng5 Nd8 20. Bxf7+ Nxf7 21. Rxc7 Rxc7 22. Qb3 {Black resigns} 1-0

from C grade Moktar Chin-Foo vs Cathy Fan

[Event "ACC Summer Cup 2010 C-Grade"]
[Site "ACC"]
[Date "2010.03.22"]
[Round "7.3"]
[White "Chin-Foo, Moktar"]
[Black "Fan, Cathy"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B86"]
[PlyCount "96"]
[JsCom "startply 0"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 {The Najdorf} 6. Bc4 {The
Fischer-Sozin Variation - life on the razor's edge.} e6 7. Bb3 Be7 8. O-O O-O
9. Qe1 {Very unusual...the queen is no doubt expecting to go to g3 later. This
manoeuvre is usually seen in the Scheveningen.} b5 10. f4 Bb7 11. Bxe6 $6 {A
very typical "sacrifice" of B+N for R+2P in this variation. Material is very
unbalanced but about equal if Black accepts this offer - but it is not usually
a happy proposition for White if Black's king is castled, though there are
always practical chances.} Nc6 $2 {This loses an important central pawn for
almost nothing. Black should capture on e6 and make White prove his point.} 12.
Nxc6 Bxc6 13. Bd5 Qb6+ 14. Be3 Qb7 15. Bxc6 Qxc6 16. Bd4 Rfe8 {Black is doing
well to make the most of her missing pawn - White's centre is under pressure.
However, this weakens the defence of the f7-pawn and is the wrong rook to be
using - the difference will be seen shortly.} 17. e5 $2 {Pushing forward -
into trouble.} (17. Qg3 $1 {pins the Nf6 and leaves Black in trouble.}) 17...
dxe5 18. fxe5 Nd5 $6 (18... Bc5 $1 {pins everything within sight, and wins the
e5-pawn with a very good position.}) 19. Qg3 $6 (19. Qf2 $1 {stops all Black's
threats and creates some of his own, leaving time to bring the Ra1 into the
game to protect his extra pawn.}) 19... Nxc3 20. bxc3 Bc5 21. Rac1 $6 {Too
passive - once again Qf2! saves/protects everything and allows the Ra1 to be
used actively. White has one more pawn than Black, to be sure - but he also
has four more isolated pawns! That is a lot of potential weaknesses, and more
or less requires active pieces to ( indirectly ) protect them.} Bxd4+ $6 {This
repairs White's pawn structure.} (21... Qd5 $1 {regains the pawn with a good
position - and Black even has some advantage.}) 22. cxd4 Rad8 23. Rf4 Re7 24.
Qg5 Ree8 25. Rf6 Qd5 26. c3 Qxa2 {Black regains her lost pawn and should be
okay now. White's kingside threats can be managed.} 27. Rcf1 Rd7 28. Qg4 Re6
29. Qxe6 $6 {A queen sacrifice - hard to resist. This nice-looking tactical
shot unfortunately only simplifies the position and removes all danger to
Black, provided that she...} Qxe6 $1 {counter-sacrifices her own queen rather
than allowing mate in one.} 30. Rxe6 fxe6 31. Ra1 Ra7 32. Kf2 Kf7 33. h4 $6 {
Moving pawns on the kingside is hardly a priority.} Ke7 $6 34. Ke3 Kd7 35. g4
Kc6 36. Kd3 Kd5 37. Ra5 Kc6 38. c4 $5 bxc4+ $6 {Allowing White's king and rook
a little more activity than they should achieve.  Black should play ...Kb6
here.} 39. Kxc4 Kb6 40. Ra1 $6 {With the WK near enough to control the a-pawn,
White actually has a chance for a slight advantage with Rc5, intending to
attack the e6-pawn. It is knife-edged in many lines though.} Rc7+ 41. Kd3 a5
42. Ke4 Kb5 43. Rb1+ Kc6 44. Rc1+ Kd7 45. Ra1 Ra7 46. d5 $6 exd5+ 47. Kxd5 Ke7
$6 (47... a4 $5 {allows Black's rook to attack the e-pawn from the side.}) 48.
Ra4 g6 {White seems to think he is caught in a very curious form of zugzwang(!)
- but did he really resign just here? The position is still drawn.} 0-1

and also from C Grade Mike Steiner vs Johnson Chen.

[Event "ACC Summer Cup 2010 C-Grade"]
[Site "ACC"]
[Date "2010.03.22"]
[Round "7.6"]
[White "Steiner, Mike"]
[Black "Chen, Johnson"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C30"]
[PlyCount "80"]
[EventDate "2010.02.09"]
[SourceDate "2010.02.09"]
[JsCom "startply 0"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. f4 Nc6 ? {There is only one good move for Black here -
3...d5.} 4. Nf3 ?! {fxe5 is even better...White will take over the centre.} d6
5. Bc4 !? {Good - but Bb5 is even better.} Bg4 6. h3 Bh5 ? 7. g4 Nxg4 8. hxg4
Bxg4 {Yes, White is winning easily. Now he gets too clever...} 9. Bxf7+ ? Kd7
? (9... Kxf7 ! 10. Ng5+ Qxg5 ! {and Black slightly better(!!)}) 10. d3 Be7
11. Be3 ? {And now White gets too lazy, thinking he has only to develop and
prevent ...Nd4 ( which is NOT a threat - White would play Nxe5+ ), while
missing Black's other threat, which really is a threat.} exf4 12. Bxf4 Rf8 {
And Black has three insufficiently protected white minor pieces lined up on
the f-file, so he will regain his lost piece. But despite being a pawn down,
White is better.} 13. Rg1 ! Bxf3 14. Qxf3 Rxf7 15. Qg4+ Ke8 16. O-O-O Qd7 {
Around here, White should remember that Black is NOT allowed to castle (
queenside ), as he has already moved his king. Keeping the big pieces on the
board with, say, Qg3 ensures some advantage for White, with the Ra8 out of
play.} 17. Nd5 ? Kd8 ? (17... Qxg4 18. Rxg4 Kd7 {saves everything and allows
the Ra8 to be developed - Black has big advantage then.}) 18. Nxe7 ? Nxe7 ?!
19. Bg5 Qxg4 20. Rxg4 Kd7 21. Bxe7 ?! Kxe7 22. Rdg1 g6 23. Rh1 Raf8 24. Rgh4
Rh8 $6 25. Rg1 (25. Rh6 !? {should be tried - jamming Black's kingside pawns.})
25... Rhf8 26. Rgh1 Rf1+ {Black gets it right at the second opportunity...} 27.
Kd2 Rxh1 28. Rxh1 h5 29. Ke3 Ke6 30. d4 c6 31. c4 Kf6 32. Rf1+ Ke7 33. Rxf8 ?
{No rook on the board means no chance for White.} Kxf8 34. Kf4 Kf7 35. Kg5 Kg7
36. e5 dxe5 37. dxe5 Kf7 38. b4 Ke6 39. Kf4 h4 40. Kg4 {Johnson is about to
collect a big scalp!} g5 {White resigns} 0-1

29 Entries so far in this Easter Weekend’s Auckland Open

Tuesday, March 30th, 2010 | News | Comments Off

Current entries in rating order

Leonard McLaren 2258
Gino Thornton 2230
Bruce Wheeler 2187
Mario Krstev 2123
Nathan Goodhue 2030
Edward Tanoi 2007
Hans Gao 1916
Richard Taylor 1901
Don Eade 1883
Daniel Runcan 1870
Jim Cater 1815
Andrew Michael 1796
Jason Bryan 1783
Luke Li 1776
Bob Mitchell 1770
Phillip Mukkattu 1742
Nicole Tsoi 1730
Karl Holdo 1687
Simon Lyall 1629
Xiang Wei Li 1588
Stefan Kolev 1436
David Rong 1272
Hrsto Kolev 1148
Johnson Chen 1039
Rodney Li 750
Ajit Phendarkar unrated
Leo Zhang unrated
Adrian Ng unrated
Alphaeus Ang unrated

March 2010 NZCF Ratings

Saturday, March 20th, 2010 | News | Comments Off

The New Zealand Chess Federation ratings for March 2010 have been published. The full list is available from New Zealand Chess but ratings for current club members are as follows:

Ranking  Name            Standard  (Change)  Rapid  (Change)
                         Rating              Rating

9        Mike Steadman     2335 ( -2 )      2223 ( 9 )
12       Bruce Watson      2311 ( 14 )      2252 ( 0 )
24       Bruce Wheeler     2187 ( 0 )       2073 ( 0 )
66       Edward Tanoi      2007 ( 31 )      1880 ( -10 )
71       Mark Brimble      1976 ( 0 )       unr  ( 0 )
90       Ian McNally       1934 ( -49 )     unr  ( 0 )
97       Hans Gao          1916 ( 73 )      1754 ( 165 )
102      Keith Ward        1905 ( 0 )       unr  ( 0 )
104      Richard Taylor    1901 ( -12 )     1894 ( -12 )
109      Eachen Chen       1887 ( -41 )     1788 ( 0 )
112      Don Eade          1883 ( -22 )     1613 ( -86 )
115      Shirley Wu        1871 ( 201 )     1598 ( -7 )
138      Andrew Michael    1796 ( -33 )     1669 ( 316 )
154      Luke Li           1776 ( 278 )     1618 ( 239 )
175      Sharon Wu         1722 ( 51 )      1648 ( 0 )
228      Mike Steiner      1631 ( 0 )       1421 ( 0 )
230      Simon Lyall       1629 ( 3 )       1426 ( 26 )
248      William Li        1588 ( 9 )       1590 ( -33 )
260      John Tseung       1556 ( 0 )       unr  ( 0 )
324      Jiapeng Li        1400 ( -10 )     1294 ( -16 )
332      Paul Zhang        1377 ( 0 )       1468 ( 113 )
339      Sean Tang         1354 ( -1 )      1319 ( 0 )
379      Andrew Li         1262 ( 103 )     1201 ( 223 )
380      Lawrence Leow     1259 ( 0 )       983  ( 27 )
386      Cathy Fan         1250 ( -35 )     1075 ( 60 )
400      Paul Heaslip      1214 ( 0 )       unr  ( 0 )
449      Johnson Chen      1039 ( 0 )       1163 ( 123 )
462      Gavin Holm         989 ( 0 )       1130 ( 0 )
750      Allen Fan          unr ( 0 )       839  ( 0 )
835      Jennifer Chen      unr ( 0 )       581  ( 79 )
-        Leo Zhang          unr ( 0 )       631  ( 631 )

Weekender and Easter Tournaments

Thursday, March 11th, 2010 | News | Comments Off

The ACC Weekender tournaments held between the 5th and 7th of March attracted around 35 players and saw some good results from ACC players.

Full results and photos are on the 2010 Weekender page.

Following the success of the Weekender tournament the ACC is taking advantage of a gap in the Calender and organising a 7 Round Swiss Open Tournament over the Easter Weekend. The entry form provides some details and further information will be posted soon.

ACC Weekender: Rnd 1 results, Rnd 2 draw

Saturday, March 6th, 2010 | Results | Comments Off

Results from Round 1

Open

1 Robert Smith (1)        1:0   Richard Taylor (12)
2 Eachen Chen (13)       .5:.5  Daniel Han (2)
3 Lindsay Cornford (3)    +:-   Don Eade (14)
4 Ingo-Carsten Kurre (15) 0:1   Bruce Wheeler (4)
5 Andrea Rivas (7)        0:1   Andrew Michael (16)
6 Luke Li (18)            0:1   Jeremy Browne (8)
7 Edward Tanoi (9)        1:0   Phillip Mukkattu (20)
8 Daniel-Ioan Runcan (21) 0:1   Caleb Wright (10)
9 Hans Gao (11)           1:0   Nicole Tsoi (22)
10 John Duneas (5)       .5:0   BYE
11 Helen Milligan (6)    .5:0   BYE
12 Jason Bryan (17)      .5:0   BYE
13 Robert Mitchell (19)  .5:0   BYE

U-1700

10 Simon Lyall (1)        1:0   David Rong (8)
11 Andrew ( Geng ) Li (9) 0:1   Ajit Pendharkar (2)
12 William Li (3)         -:+   Hristo Kolev (11)
13 Jason Hoseason (12)    0:1   Michael Budd (5)
14 Stefan Kolev (6)       1:0   Johnson Chen (13)
15 Eric Han (14)          0:1   William Zhang (10)
16 Moktar Chin Foo (7)   .5:0   BYE
17 Pat Young (4)         .5:0   BYE

Draw for Round 2

Open

1 Caleb Wright (10)     : Robert Smith (1)
2 Andrew Michael (16)   : Lindsay Cornford (3)
3 Bruce Wheeler (4)     : Edward Tanoi (9)
4 Jeremy Browne (8)     : Hans Gao (11)
5 Daniel Han (2)        : Jason Bryan (17)
6 John Duneas (5)       : Eachen Chen (13)
7 Helen Milligan (6)    : Robert Mitchell (19)
8 Phillip Mukkattu (20) : Andrea Rivas (7)
9 Richard Taylor (12)   : Luke Li (18)
10 Don Eade (14)        : Daniel-Ioan Runcan (21)
11 Nicole Tsoi (22)     : Ingo-Carsten Kurre (15)

U-1700

10 William Zhang (10)   : Simon Lyall (1)
11 Ajit Pendharkar (2)  : Stefan Kolev (6)
12 Michael Budd (5)     : Hristo Kolev (11)
13 Pat Young (4)        : Moktar Chin Foo (7)
14 William Li (3)       : Jason Hoseason (12)
15 David Rong (8)       : Eric Han (14)
16 Johnson Chen (13)    : Andrew ( Geng ) Li (9)

Summer Cup Rnd 4 Results and A & B Grades Rnd 5 Draw

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010 | News | Comments Off

Results from Monday 1st March

A-Grade
Keith Ward 0 – 1 Eachen Chen
Don Eade 0 – 1 Bruce Wheeler
Richard Taylor 1 – 0 Mark Brimble
Bill Wu 1 – 0 Edward Tanoi

B-Grade
Pat Young 0.5 – 0.5 Dr John Tseung
Hans Gao 0 – 1 Simon Lyall
Karl Holdo 0 – 1 Luke Li
William Li 1 – 0 Andrew Michael

C-Grade
Ajit Pendharkar 1 – 0 Chin Fu Mokiar
Alan Merry 0.5 – 0.5 Mike Steiner
Lawrence Leow 0 – 1 Paul Zhang
George Chen 1 – 0 Tom Powlesland
Peiwin Du 1 – 0 Kevin Lu
Cathy Fan 1 – 0 Leon Zhang
Sean Tang 0.5 – 0.5 Andrew (Geng) Li
Paul Heaslip 1 – 0 Gavin Holm
Mike Foley 1 – 0 Mike Merry
Leo Zhang 1 – 0 Alan Fan
Brogan Powelsland 1 – 0 Harrison Zhang (default)
Jennifer Chen BYE
Scott Butland BYE
David Merry BYE

Round 5 Draw Monday 8th March

A-Grade
M. Brimble vs B. Wu
B. Wheeler vs  R. Taylor
E. Chen vs D. Eade
E. Tanoi vs K. Ward

B-Grade
A. Michael vs P. Young
L. Li vs W. Li
S. Lyall vs K. Holdo
J. Tseung vs H. Gao

Auckland Open

Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010 | News | Comments Off

The following players have committed to the Auckland Open tournament over Easter Weekend (April 2 – 5). Players are welcome to enter up until the cut-off (9.30am on Good Friday).

Leonard McLaren
Gino Thornton
Edward Tanoi
Eachen Chen
Richard Taylor
Daniel Runcan
Andrew Michael
Jason Bryan
Luke Li
Simon Lyall
Karl Holdo
David Rong
Ajit Phendarkar
Allen Fan

ACC Bulletin – 1 March 2010

Monday, March 1st, 2010 | News | Comments Off

The bulletin features games played during Round 3 of the Summer Cup on February 22nd

A reminder that the ACC Weekender tournament is coming up on the weekend of the 5th-7th of March.

Game of the week

Luke Li vs Hans Gao in B grade. Annotated by Ewen Green

(7) Li,Luke – Gao,Hans [D08]

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e5 3.dxe5 d4 4.Nf3 Nc6 Now the “official” moves are g3, Nbd2, or a3. Luke chooses a rarely-played sideline. 5.Bg5 f6!? The most effective move in practice – White has a minus score from 13 games. 6.exf6 Nxf6 7.e3 Never been played before… 7…Bb4+ 8.Nbd2 dxe3?! Allowing White’s dark-squared bishop a safe retreat. [8...0–0!? 9.a3 Be7!?] 9.Bxe3 Bg4?! 10.Be2 Qd7?! Black should be castling short here – trying use his space and extra file to create a weakness or to dominate. His hoped-for kingside pawnstorm is nowhere near as fast as White’s on the queenside. 11.0–0 0–0–0 12.a3 Be7 13.Ng5 This forces some exchanges, but is not actually necessary. [13.b4!? is direct and very dangerous for Black.] 13…Bxe2 14.Qxe2 Rhg8 Ehhh? 15.Rad1 Qf5 16.Ndf3?! This should lose most of White’s advantage – Qf3 or b4 are both very good. 16…Rde8?! Avoiding exchanges is sensible when behind in material – provided it does not cost too much in time or co-ordination. Here it costs time and misses an opportunity to mess with White’s co-ordination. Part of the trouble with being behind in material is that the side with the extra material has an extra type of threat available – namely, offering equal exchanges of pieces. This explains a lot of Black’s later moves in the game – he simply has to keep pieces on the board. [16...h6!? is natural - pushing White's minor pieces onto unnatural squares. Black needs to find an unexpected move to make this work, though. 17.Nh4 Qg4! Unexpected and very useful. 18.Qxg4+ Nxg4 19.Ngf3 Nxe3 20.fxe3 Bf6 21.b4 Bb2! equalising. This is actually a typical Albin Counter Gambit scenario - White's queenside pawns becoming exposed and harassed.] 17.b4 From here, White dominates completely. 17…Nd7? Trying to create a threat…better was …h6 anyway. 18.Nh4! Qf6 19.Rxd7! Well spotted – a very nasty shot! White is now winning. 19…h6 Now White can gain two minor pieces for his rook, or support it in its dominating position. 20.Rfd1!? hxg5 21.Qg4 Kb8 22.Nf3 Ne5 23.Nxe5 Qxe5 24.R7d5 Qc3 25.R5d3 Qf6 26.Qd4 Qa6 27.Qd7 Bf6 28.Qd5 Qa4 29.Bxg5 Bxg5 30.Qxg5 a6 31.h3 Qc6 32.Qd5 Qf6 33.b5 g5 34.bxa6 Qxa6 35.Qb5 Qf6 Black avoids exchanges – but his King may object. 36.Rb1 b6 37.c5 Ka7 Black’s king is severely at risk here. Not surprisingly, there is a tactical killer available to White – but he does not need it, with all his other advantages. 38.cxb6+!? [38.Rd6! wins directly] 38…Qxb6 39.Qxb6+ cxb6 40.Rd6 Rb8 Black’s rooks are sorry fellows – but he must hang on to his pawns somehow, because White does not yet have a passed pawn. 41.Rb5 Rg7 42.Rf5 Rc8 43.Rdd5 Rcg8 44.Rd4 Rc8 45.Rdd5 Rcg8 46.Rd4 Rc8 47.Rg4 Rcg8 48.Rf3 Rc8 49.Rfg3 Rc1+ 50.Kh2 Rc2 51.Rxg5 Rxg5 52.Rxg5 Rxf2 53.h4 Rf8 54.h5 Rh8 55.g4 Kb7 56.Kg3 Kc7 57.Rg6 Ra8 58.h6 Rxa3+ 59.Kh4 Ra8 60.h7 Rh8 61.Rg7+ Kd6 62.g5 Ke6 63.g6 Black resigns 1–0

Highlighted games

(1) Taylor,Richard – Wu,Bill [C91]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 Be7 6.Re1 d6 7.d4 b5 8.Bb3 Bg4 9.c3 0–0 10.d5 Na5 11.Bc2 c6 12.dxc6 Nxc6 13.Be3 £d7 14.Nbd2 Rfb8 15.Rc1 Bd8 16.Nf1 h6 17.Re2 Bxf3 18.gxf3 Bb6 19.Rd2 Bxe3 20.fxe3 Rd8 21.Ng3 Ne7 22.Kh1 Rac8 23.Bb3 Rc6 24.£g1 a5 25.a3 g6 26.Rcd1 Rb6 27.Nf5 Nxf5 28.Qxg6+ Ng7 29.Qxf6 Kh7 30.Bxf7 Black resigns 1–0

(6) Michael,Andrew – Holdo,Karl [B50]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bc4 Nc6 4.c3 Nf6 5.£e2 a6 6.0–0 e6 7.d4 cxd4 8.cxd4 d5 9.exd5 Nxd5 10.Nc3 Nxc3 11.bxc3 Be7 12.Bf4 0–0 13.Rfd1 Bf6 14.Qe4 Re8 15.Ne5 Bd7 16.Bd3 g6 17.Ng4 Bg5 18.Qe3 Bxf4 19.Qxf4 Kg7 20.Re1 g5 21.Qg3 h5 22.Ne5 Nxe5 23.Qxe5+ Qf6 24.Qe4 Qf5 25.Qe2 Qg4 26.Qe5+ f6 27.Qc7 e5 28.dxe5 fxe5 29.Rxe5 Rxe5 30.Qxe5+ Kf7 31.Re1 Re8 32.Qd5+ Be6 33.Qxb7+ Re7 34.Qe4 Qxe4 35.Rxe4 Rc7 36.Re3 Bxa2 37.Bxa6 Ra7 38.Be2 Bd5 39.Bxh5+ Kf6 40.h3 Black resigns 1–0