Knowing When to Fold ‘Em

While watching the first board game during the last round of the Ga Open I noticed there was one other game still going and checked it out. This was the game:

Jason Robert Wright (1302) vs Rachel Doman (1139)

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Bc4 Bc5 5. c3 d6 6. cxd4 Nxd4 7. Nxd4 Qf6 8. Be3 Ne7 9. Nc3 c6 10. O-O O-O 11. Rc1 Ng6 12. Nc2 Bxe3 13. Nxe3 Ne5 14. Bb3 Rd8 15. Qd2 Be6 16. Bxe6 Qxe6 17. b3 Rd7 18. Rfd1 Rad8 19. Qc2 b5 20. Ne2 Rc7 21. Nd4 Qd7 22. Nxb5 Rdc8 23. Rxd6 Qe7 24. Nf5 Qe8 25. Nxc7 Rxc7 26. Rcd1 Rc8 27. f4 g6 28. fxe5 gxf5 29. exf5 Qxe5 30. Rd8 Rxd8 31. Rxd8 Kg7 32. Rd1 Qe3 33. Qf2 Qg5 34. Qg3 h6 35. Qxg5 hxg5 36. Rd7 Kf6 37. Rxa7 Kxf5 38. Rxf7 Kg6 39. Rc7 c5 40. a4 Kf6 41. a5 Ke6 42. Rxc5 Kd6 43. Rc1 Ke5 44. a6 Kf4 45. a7 Kf5 46. a8=Q Kg4 47. Qf3 Kh4 48. Qh3 1-0

When looking at the game the Queens had just been traded, leaving White up a Rook and a pawn. The game continued another dozen moves until it ended in checkmate. Granted, these were two lower rated players, but Rachel is a veteran at a young age, having played 174 USCF rated games since her first rated tournament since 2010.

What to make of this game?

Jhonel Baldago Baniel (1912) vs Damir Studen (2373)
Ga Open Rd 5

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 dxc4 5. g3 Bf5 6. Ne5 Nbd7 7. Nxc4 Nb6 8. Ne3 Bg6 9. Bg2 e6 10. O-O Qd7 11. Qd2 Rd8 12. Rd1 Bb4 13. a3 Ne4 14. Qe1 Nxc3 15. bxc3 Ba5 16. a4 Nd5 17. Nxd5 cxd5 18. Ba3 Rc8 19. Bb4 Bxb4 20. cxb4 O-O 21. b5 Rc4 22. e3 Rfc8 23. Rdc1 Qc7 24. Rxc4 Qxc4 25. Bf1 Qc3 26. Qxc3 Rxc3 27. Be2 Kf8 28. Kf1 Ke7 29. Ke1 Kd6 30. Bd1 f6 31. Kd2 Rd3 32. Ke2 e5 33. Bc2 Rc3 34. Bxg6 hxg6 35. Kd2 exd4 36. exd4 Rf3 37. Ke2 Rb3 38. Ra2 g5 39. h3 Rb1 40. Ra3 f5 41. f4 Rh1 42. fxg5 Rxh3 43. Kf3 Rh2 44. Kf4 g6 45. Ke3 Rh1 46. Ra2 Re1 47. Kf3 Re4 48. b6 axb6 49. Rb2 Kc7 50. Rc2 Kb8 51. Rb2 Ka7 52. Rb4 Ka6 53. Kf2 b5 54. Rxb5 Rxd4 55. Ke3 Rg4 56. Kf3 Rxg5 57. Rxd5 Rg4 58. a5 Ra4 59. Rd6 Kxa5 60. Rxg6 Rc4 61. Rg5 Rc5 62. Kf4 b5 63. Rxf5 Rxf5 64. Kxf5 b4 65. Kf6 b3 66. g4 b2 67. g5 b1=Q 68. g6 Qb6 69. Kf7 Qc7 70. Kf8 Qf4 71. Ke7 Qg5 72. Kf7 Qf5 73. Kg7 Kb6 74. Kh8 Qh5 75. Kg7 Kc7 76. Kf6 Kd7 77. Kf7 Qf5 78. Kg7 Ke7 79. Kh8 Qf8 80. Kh7 Kf6 0-1

Mr. Studen, a former Georgia state champion, needs no introduction. It is more than obvious this game should have been resigned far earlier, as a show of respect for such a strong player. Is it really possible a 1900 player did not know the game was beyond hope after, say, 63 Rxf5? I leave it to the reader to determine when these games should have been resigned.

One of the major changes to the Royal game since it has moved to ever faster time controls is that games are continued long after they should have been given up as lost. Damir Studen must have felt like Rodney “I don’t get no respect” Dangerfield. Is it any wonder stronger players have given up the game? How interesting can it be for the best players to be forced to sit at the board playing out a clearly won game? It was not always this way because “back in the day” it was frowned upon for a much lower player to force his much stronger opponent to demonstrate a simple checkmate. There was a time when the time control was move forty and then additional time was added to the clock. The vast majority of games were concluded around move forty because after reaching time control a player would have time to survey the ruins of his position, and would then resign.
What is being taught to the children? Maybe consideration should be given to teaching the of showing respect for ones opponent.

Kenny Rogers – The Gambler

Reece Thompson Battles the Restless Queens

In the fourth round of the move first, think later, Ga Open, Reece Thompson faced the veteran Senior Alan Piper and once again faced the Caro-Kann defense, and again drew his f3 sword. The Pipe responded with the currently poplar 3…Qb6, which has scored the best for Black recently, holding White to an astounding 41%! White has scored 56% versus the choice of both SF & Houey, 3…e6. The third most played move, 3…g6, has scored 57%, while the second most played move, 3…dxe4 has been hammers to the tune of 66%!

In his new book, “The Extreme Caro-Kann: Attacking Black with 3. f3,” Alexey Bezgodov titles chapter four, “3…Qb6: The Restless Queen Variation.” Reece answered with the most popular move, 4 Nc3, which has held White to only 41%. Houdini prefers the little played 4 c3, which has held White to an astoundingly low 31%, albeit in a limited number of games. I have previously seen the set-up with c3 used when Black opts for g6. Alan took a pawn with 4…dxe4. There is much disagreement about how to recapture. In the book Bezgodov writes about 5 Nxe4, “I think taking with the pawn is better.” That may be so, but Komodo takes with the Knight, after which White has scored 50% in practice. SF takes with the pawn, 5 fxe4, after which White has scored only 36%. The Pipe then plays 5…e5, about which Bezdodov says, “The whole of Black’s play is based n the possibility of this counterblow. Otherwise he is simply worse.” Reece played 6 Nf3, the most frequently played move, which also happens to be the choice of both SF & Houey, but it has only scored 32%! GM Larry Christiansen played 6 dxe5, a move not for the faint of heart, but possibly the best move, against GM Joel Benjamin at the 2010 US Championship. In a limited number of games Larry C’s move has scored far better, 54%, than 6 Nf3, which is not discussed in the book. After 6…exd4 one Stockfish plays 7 Nxd4, while the other SF plays 7 Qxd4. My antiquated Houdi plays the latter move. The Pipe responded with ‘s 7…Nf6. At this point Reece played a TN, 8 Bc4. The usual move, 8 e5, is also the choice of SF. Alan responded to the new move with 8…Bc5, with advantage. 8…Bg4 is the first choice of both Houdini & Komodo. After the young man checked the Queen with 9 Na4, the older veteran played 9…Qb4, when both Komodo & Houdini prefer 9…Qa5+. Like Lewis & Clark, the players were now exploring new territory.

Reece Thompson (2116) vs Alan Piper (2055)
Georgia Open Rd 4 Hurry up time control
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. f3 Qb6 4. Nc3 dxe4 5. fxe4 e5 6. Nf3 exd4 7. Nxd4 Nf6 8. Bc4 Bc5 9. Na4 Qb4 10. c3 Qxc4 11. b3 Qa6 12. Nxc5 Qb6 13. Na4 Qc7 14. O-O O-O 15. Bf4 Qa5 16. Bd6 Re8 17. e5 Ne4 18. Qf3 Nxd6 19. exd6 f6 20. Rae1 Rf8 21. Re7 c5 22. Qg3 g6 23. Qh4 h5 24. Rxf6 Bg4 25. Rxf8 1-0

Nikita Vitiugov (2555) – Lasha Janjgava (2479)
B12 Sevan Blue

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. f3 Qb6 4. Nc3 dxe4 5. fxe4 e5 6. Nf3 exd4 7. Nxd4 Bc5 8. Na4 Qa5+ 9. c3 Be7 10. b4 Qe5 11. Bd3 Nf6 12. O-O O-O 13. Bf4 Qh5 14. Qe1 Re8 15. Qg3 Nbd7 16. e5 Nd5 17. Nf5 Bf8 18. Bh6 g6 19. Bxf8 Nxf8 20. Nd6 Re7 21. Rae1 b6 22. Ne4 Qh6 23. Nb2 b5 24. Bc2 Be6 25. Bb3 a5 26. bxa5 Rxa5 27. Nd3 Kh8 28. Ndc5 Raa7 29. Nd6 Qg7 30. Qf2 Ra8 31. Qd4 Nc7 32. Qh4 g5 33. Qd4 Ng6 34. Nxe6 Nxe6 35. Qb6 1-0

Mr. Thompson faced yet another Caro-Kann in the sixth round and his opponent once again had a restless Queen. Neo chose the wrong color pill.

Reece Thompson (2116) vs Neo Zhu (1780)
Georgia Open Rd 6

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. f3 Qb6 4. Nc3 e6 5. a3 Nf6 6. Bf4 Be7 7. Nh3 h6 8. Be2 Nbd7 9. O-O Nh5 10. Be3 Nhf6 11. Qd2 Nf8 12. e5 N6d7 13. f4 c5 14. Kh1 a6 15. f5 cxd4 16. Bxd4 Qd8 17. Bh5 exf5 18. Nf4 Nb8 19. Ncxd5 Bg5 20. Bb6 Bxf4 21. Rxf4 Qd7 22. Nc7 Ke7 23. Qb4 Kd8 24. Ne6 Ke8 25. Nxg7 1-0

Once again Reese plays a TN with 6 Bf4. SF plays 6 e5, which could be considered the “normal” move.

Yangyi Yu ( 2585) vs Weiqi Zhou (2585)
Danzhou 1st 2010

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. f3 e6 4. Nc3 Nf6 5. Bf4 Qb6 6. a3 c5 7. Qd2 cxd4 8. Nb5 Na6 9. O-O-O Bd7 10. Nxd4 dxe4 11. fxe4 Nc5 12. Ngf3 Ncxe4 13. Qe1 Bc5 14. b4 Bd6 15. Bxd6 Nxd6 16. Ne5 Rd8 17. g4 h6 18. Bg2 Ba4 19. h4 Nb5 20. Nxb5 Rxd1+ 21. Qxd1 Bxb5 22. Kb1 Nd7 23. Nxd7 Bxd7 24. Rh3 Ke7 25. Rd3 Rd8 26. Qd2 Bc6 27. Bxc6 Rxd3 28. Qxd3 Qxc6 29. Qd4 Qh1+ 30. Kb2 b6 31. Qe5 Qd5 32. Qxg7 e5 33. g5 hxg5 34. Qxg5+ Ke6 35. Qg4+ Kf6 36. Qg5+ Ke6 37. Qg4+ Kf6 38. Qg5+ Ke6 39. Qg4+ 1/2-1/2

Yes – I’ve Seen All Good People

2014 Georgia Open Live Games on Chess Stream

I noticed this post on the forum of the NCCA:

Chess Stream Live Games: 2014 Georgia Open this weekend

Postby Chacha » Thu Oct 16, 2014 7:59 pm
Hi all,
Part of ChessStream going outside aboard, I will be helping Fun Fong to do live games from Georgia Open this weekend:

http://www.georgiachess.org/event-1755372
Live games will be on ChessStream.com as always during the rounds:

http://chessstream.com/livegames/
It is 7 rounds, starting Friday and Saturday options and ended Sunday. Open large group pairing. We have at least 6 players from NC! Watch them playing live! We may have 10+ live games, most from PC Tablets. Anyone wants to join? registration still open onsite before the tournament starts.
regards
Chacha

After firing off an email to the Legendary Georgia Ironman, I checked the website of the GCA (http://www.georgiachess.org/), since the tournament is being held in Georgia, but did not find anything about a live broadcast, so I surfed on over to the other, newer, GCA website, Georgia Chess News (http://georgiachessnews.com/), and again, found absolutely nothing concerning a live broadcast. I find this strange, indeed, and am flummoxed by the lack of any mention of the Chess Stream broadcast. What is the purpose of a broadcast if no one is aware the games are being shown?
In the event any reader wishes to check out the broadcast here are the round times:
Rounds: 3 day: Friday – 7:00pm, 9:00pm. Saturday – 1:00pm, 4:30pm, 8:30pm. Sunday – 9:00am, 1:00pm. 2-day: Saturday: 8:30am, 10:30am, then merges with 3-day.
Keep in mind the the time control varies considerably:
Rounds 1-2 are G-45, rounds 3-5 are G-90, and rounds 6-7 are G-120. (http://www.georgiachess.org/event-1755372)
The website shows there are 81 advance entries, most of whom are quite young. I do see that former Ga Champion, NM Damir Studen, is in the field, as is IM Ronald Burnett, who did battle at the $,$$$,$$$ Open, leaving Lost Wages with $20,000 after losing the last hurry-up match to FM Kazim Gulamali.

2014 Georgia Open: Another Debacle?

At one time the Georgia Open was one of the two premier chess tournaments in the state, with the State Championship being the other “Major” tournament. Because they were prestigious, these were the two tournaments for which players prepared. This year the Georgia Open has been transformed into what some have are calling a “gimmick” tournament. The format is, “7-Swiss System, in one large section similar to the US Open. Rounds 1-2 are G-45, rounds 3-5 are G-90, and rounds 6-7 are G-120.” (http://www.georgiachess.org/event-1755372)

The Legendary Georgia Ironman relates that a father of one of his students mentioned the possibility of entering his child to play in the GO next weekend. Tim asked if he had looked at the variable time controls. After checking out the TA, the chess dad said, “I do not think this is the kind of tournament for my child.”

Former GCA board member Michael Mulford writes, “I would have considered playing in the Georgia Open…I would have considered it. Then I would have looked at the structure of the event and said “thanks but no thanks”. I can see why entries are low, though it’s still 2 weeks away. I don’t mind it being an open. But rounds starting at 9:00 Friday night and 8:30 Saturday night? That’s insane! Especially with a 9am Sunday round after the late Saturday night round. Yes, there are half point byes but one can only take so many. The younger folk can have it. It is also unconscionable to have the second bye be zero point. If I were playing I would have had to take a bye Sunday morning, and a zero there eliminates me. Physical stamina would have forced me to take a bye Saturday night as well, and the only way I could play that late on Friday would have been by taking the day off work.
I applaud them for trying something new and for trying to provide more non-scholastic offerings to fill the void left by the ACC’s closure. But I don’t think they thought this one through very well.”

At this writing there are only twenty-six players registered, all of whom are young. The website shows a cap of 300. (http://www.georgiachess.org/Resources/Documents/2014-2015/GAOpen_asof_oct11.pdf)