2008 Battle at the Border

Round 1
Paired as white against Roy Yearwood (2158). Just before the game Tyler Janzen warned me to beware 1…Nc6 because Roy will play it against anything and sure enough 1.e4 Nc6. I never played the Nimzo before and chose to avoid theory with 2.g3?! I misplaced my knight early in the opening and Roy immediately attacked my king with h5!? I should have been down a pawn but Roy missed his chance and I then started to play more solid. He tried to create an advantage that wasn't there and I ended up 2 pawns ahead in a 2 rook ending. He offered a draw which I declined but then a few moves later after losing my weak front "b" pawn and trading a set of rooks I took the draw. I'm a little upset that I didn't continue playing because I think I still had good winning chances with very little risk.


Chaisson,Terry (1817) - Yearwood,Roy (2158)
2008 BATB Lloydminster, Alberta, 28.06.2008
1.e4 Nc6 2.g3 e5 3.Bg2 Bc5 4.Ne2 h5 5.d4 Nxd4 6.Be3



6...h4? ( lost all advantage, Qf6 was the correct play) 7.Nxd4 exd4 8.Bxd4 Bxd4 9.Qxd4 Qf6 10.Qxf6 Nxf6 11.h3 d5 12.exd5 hxg3 13.fxg3 Bf5 14.c4 0–0–0 15.Nc3 Rhe8+ 16.Kf2 Bd3 17.b3 b5? (giving away a second pawn for no reason)




18.cxb5? (18. Nxb5 is better since 18...Re2+ 19.Kg1 is not a great threat) Ne4+ 19.Bxe4 Bxe4 20.Nxe4 Rxe4 21.Rad1 Rb4 22.Rhe1 Rxb5 23.Re7 Rd7 24.Rxd7 Kxd7 ½–½

Round 2
Paired as black against Jamin Gluckie (2114). I played the unusual, but playable Budapest Gambit to avoid my normal openings that Jamin knows and has had no difficulty crushing. Although I didn’t have realistic winning chances for most of the game I think I defended with my N+B against his 2B’s very well. I created a passed “b” pawn and Jamin was forced to trade his passed “e” pawn in order to capture it. I hoped that I could race over and capture his g and h pawns and win but Jamin knew I would be one tempo short. Result another draw but very satisfying.

Gluckie,Jamin (2114) - Chaisson,Terry (1817) [A52]
2008 BATB Lloydminster, Alberta, 28.06.2008
A52: Budapest Gambit 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e5 3.dxe5 Ng4 4.Bf4 Bb4+ 5.Nd2 Qe7 6.Ngf3 Nc6 (e5 is the focus of attention) 7.e3 Ngxe5 8.Nxe5 Nxe5 9.Be2 0–0 10.0–0 Bxd2 11.Qxd2 d6 12.Rac1 Bf5 13.Qc3 Ng6 14.Bg3 Rac8 15.Rfd1 [15.c5 Rfd8 16.cxd6 cxd6±] 15...Rfe8 16.c5± dxc5 17.Qxc5 Qxc5 18.Rxc5 Be6

19.Rxc7 [19.Bxc7 Bxa2 20.Bb5 Re4±] 19...Rxc7± 20.Bxc7 Rc8 21.Rd8+ Rxd8 22.Bxd8 Bxa2 23.Bf3 b5 24.Bc6 Bc4 25.f4 f6 26.Kf2 Kf7 27.g3 Ke6 28.b4 Ne7 29.Bxe7 Kxe7 30.e4 Kd6 31.Be8 g6 32.Ke3± Ke7 33.Bc6 Kd6 34.Bb7 Kc7 35.Ba8 Kb6 36.Kd4 White prepares e5

36...a5 37.bxa5+ Kxa5 38.e5 [¹38.Kc5!? Bb3 39.Bd5±] 38...fxe5+= 39.fxe5 Kb6 40.Bd5 Bxd5 41.Kxd5 Kc7 42.Kc5 Kd7 43.Kxb5 Ke6 44.Kc4 Kxe5 45.Kd3 Kf5 46.h3 g5 47.Ke3 g4 48.hxg4+ Kxg4 49.Kf2 h5 50.Kg2 ½–½

So far so good. Two draws against 2136 average opponents. Tomorrow morning I'm paired against Micah Hughey (2210). I need to continue to play steady.

Day 2
After a very good day yesterday, today was a huge disappointment.

Round 3.
Paired as black against Micah Hughey (2187). We ended up in a tactical line of the four knights that I had seen once before in a book but I played some unnecessary moves to try to chase his queen of a diagonal and missed my chance to castle safely. I ended up in a lost position and then moved into a mate in one. I didn’t give Micah much of a challenge today. As an aside, I think Micah is the first person to beat me twice in regular rated games, which only shows that I haven’t played many rated games.
Game:
Hughey,Micah (2210) - Chaisson,Terry (1817) [C55]
2008 BATB Lloydminster, Alberta (3), 29.06.2008
position after 10.Qxd4 here I should have played the simple O-O

Qe7 11.0–0 Be5 12.Qd3 Qd6 13.Re1 Kf8 14.Qb3 Bxh2+ 15.Kh1 Bf4 16.Bxf4 Qxf4 17.Bxb7 Rb8? (17...Bxb7 18.Qxb7 Qh4+ 19.Kg1 Qe8 was the only slim hope) 18.Qa3+ Kg8? 19.Re8# 1–0

Round 4
I was paired as white against Josh Timm (1152). Obviously this kid was underrated as he had just drawn his game against Rick Pederson (1921). I was not happy with the pairing because so far I had a performance rating of 2020 and was hoping to finish the tournament with a Rp>2000 but now it was impossible - even if I won. I needed a pairing against someone over 1540 but those are the breaks – you get what you get. I don't think I played with the same enthusiasm that I did yesterday and we reached a very drawn looking closed position with an open e file that allowed for the exchange of all the major pieces. I tried to press for a bit with two B’s vs a B + N but I couldn't break through without improving his knight so end result - draw. He played very well. I kept expecting him to make a mistake that I could capitalise on, but he never did.

Chaisson,Terry (1817) - Timm,Josh (1152)
2008 BATB, 29.06.2008

17... Rxe1+ 18.Rxe1 Re8 19.Bh4 Rxe1+ 20.Qxe1 Qe8 21.f4 Qxe1+ 22.Bxe1 Nd7 23.Kf2 Kf8 24.b4 b6 25.b5 h6 26.h4 f6 27.Bd2 Kf7 28.Bh3 Ke7 29.Kf3 Kf7 30.g5 f5 31.gxh6 Bxh6 32.Bf1 Kg7 33.Kg3 Kf7 34.a4 Kg7 35.Bh3 Nf6 36.Kf3 Kf7 37.Bf1 Kg7 38.Bh3 Kf7 ½–½


Overall it was an OK result that could have been a lot better if I had kept my focus today. Rp = ~1800 and I will probably gain a half dozen CFC points. I might have had three games against FIDE rated players, but I’m not sure if Jamin is FIDE rated or not. As usual Jamin ran a smooth, well organized, and professional event.

Warm-Up for BATB

Tonight I played 4 rapid games against Jamin to warm up for the Battle at the Border. I thought I'd try out different openings and concentrate on just making solid moves. In the past I've had a tendency to be overly aggresive when I've played Jamin. The first game went according to plan. Although I got lost in the opening I made solid moves and managed to draw the game. I'm not convinced that I remembered it correctly (I may have transposed some moves out of order) but here it is.

Gluckie,Jamin (2114) - Chaisson,Terry (1817) [D26]
Friendly game 30 min 25.06.2008
D26: Queen's Gambit Accepted: 4 e3 e6 5 Bxc5 c5 sidelines
1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Bxc4 c5 6.0–0 Bd7 7.Nc3 Nc6 8.Bd2 Be7 9.Bb3 cxd4 10.exd4 0–0 11.Bg5 Nd5 12.Bxe7 Ncxe7 13.Ne5 Rc8 14.Qh5 Nf6 15.Qf3 Bc6 16.Nxc6 Nxc6 17.Rad1 Qb6 18.d5



18...Nd4 19.Qe3 Nxb3 20.Qxb6 axb6 21.axb3 Nxd5 22.Nxd5 exd5 23.Rxd5 Rfd8 24.Rxd8+ Rxd8 25.Rc1 Kf8 26.Kf1 Rd2 27.Rc8+ Ke7 28.Rc7+ Rd7 ½–½

In game 2 Jamin surprised me by not playing the French. I think he's played the French against me every game as black. Instead 1.e4 c5!? I blundered my queen in the middle game when I didn't see his knight was still covering h6 but I was lost anyway as I made the mistake of castling queenside into a strong attack.

In game 3 I planned on playing a Nimzo-Indian but Jamin surprised me with his move order and we transposed into a KID. I blundered an exchange and he gave the exchange back to get passed pawns on the a, b, and c files. I was able to blockade his passed pawns for a while but while I was running out of time he eventually pushed through.

Game 4 was another Sicilian!? I didn't follow may plan of making solid moves. I played a wild (unsound) pawn rush on the king side and was eventually made to pay for my folly.

I'm looking forward to the Battle at the Border this weekend although as usual I don't feel prepared.

Lunchtime Blitz

Don't know why I'm posting a blitz game. I'll probably delete this post later, but I liked the Rook sac at the end.

Me - Guest1261760 [A00]
Friendly Game, 3m + 3s Café, 11.06.2008
1.e3?? (Oops! I meant to play e4!! winning - now I'm lost) Nf6 2.g3 c6 3.Bg2 d5 4.f4 Ne4 5.Bxe4 dxe4 6.Ne2 f5 7.d4 e6 8.c4 g6 9.b4 Bxb4+ 10.Bd2 Be7 11.Nbc3 0–0 12.h4 h5 13.Ng1 Kg7 14.Nh3 Bf6 15.Ng5 Bxg5 16.hxg5 Nd7 17.Rb1 Nb6 18.Qe2 Qe7 19.c5 Nd5 20.Kf2 Nxc3 21.Bxc3 Kf7?

22.Rxh5! gxh5 23.Qxh5+ Kg8 24.Rh1 Qg7 25.d5! (mate is coming) 1–0

Former Canadian World Chess Champion Re-appears

While I am at a business conference this week I had some spare time last evening and was browsing the internet and came across some info about former under 10 Canadian world Chess champion Jeff Sarwer. Most people don't know Canada had world chess champions. Jeff had a meteoric rise in chess as a 7, 8, and 9 year old in the late 1980's and then disappeared of the face of the earth for 20 years. At the time there were many who questioned his father’s home schooling methods and his chess vagabond lifestyle. The family went into hiding after Jeff and his sister (who won the world under 10 girls) were seized by Ontario’s child protective services. They stopped playing chess and hid out in Europe.

I hadn't known that he was the real life model for the character Jonathan Poe, Josh Waitzkin's nemesis, in "Searching for Bobby Fischer". Unlike the movie version, in real life Jeff was two years younger and their final game was a draw and they tied for the championship. In the movie version Josh sees he has a win but offers a draw to his opponent who refuses.
Here is the real game:
[Event "US Primary Championship"]
[Date "1986.??.??"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[White "Jeff Sarwer"]
[Black "Joshua Waitzkin"]
[ECO "E76"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. f4 O-O 6. Nf3 Nbd7 7. e5 Ne8 8. Bd3 c5 9. dxc5 Nxc5 10. Bc2 a5 11. O-O b6 12. Be3 Bb7 13. Qd4 dxe5 14. Nxe5 Qxd4 15. Bxd4 Rd8 16. Bxc5 bxc5 17. Na4 Bxe5 18. fxe5 Rd2 19. Rf2 Rxf2 20. Kxf2 f6 21. e6 Nd6 22. Nxc5 Rc8 23. Nxb7 Nxb7 24. b3 Nc5 25. Re1 Rc6 26. Be4 Ra6

27. Bc2? (27. Kf3) Rxe6 28. Rxe6 Nxe6 29. Ke3 Kf8 30. Ke4 Ke8 31. g3 Kd7 32. Kd5 f5 33. a3 h6 34. b4 axb4 35. axb4 Nc7+ 36. Kc5 e5 37. Ba4+ Kc8 38. Bc6 e4 39. b5 e3 40. Bf3 Ne6+ 41. Kd5 Ng5 42. Be2 Kc7 43. Ke5 Ne4 44. Kd4 Kd6 45. Kxe3 Kc5 46. g4 Nd6 47. Kf4 g5+ 48. Ke5 fxg4 49. Kf6 g3 50. hxg3 Ne4+ 51. Kg6 Nxg3 52. Bd3 Nh1 53. Kxh6 g4 54. Kg5 g3 55. Be4 Nf2 56. Bd5 Nd1 57. Kf4 Nc3 58. Bc6 Ne2+ 59. Kf3 Nd4+ 60. Kxg3 Nxc6 61. bxc6 Kxc6 62. Kf3 Kc5 63. Ke3 Kxc4 1/2-1/2
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1473029&kpage=2


Last October Jeff, now nearly thirty, played in a tournament for the first time in twenty years. It was an open rapid event in Poland with 4 GM's and two IM's and Jeff tied for second with only one loss to one of the GM's. Here’s one of the games that shows his attacking style.
[Event "Malbork Castle, Poland semi-rapid"]
[Site "Poland"]
[Date "2007.10.02"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[White "Jeff Sarwer"]
[Black "Radoslaw Jedynak"]
[ECO "E22"]
[WhiteElo "?"]
[BlackElo "2559"]
1. d4 e6 2. c4 Nf6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qb3 c5 5. e3 O-O 6. Nf3 b6 7. a3 Bxc3+ 8. Qxc3 Bb7 9. Be2 d6 10. O-O Nbd7 11. b3 Rc8 12. Nd2 Qe7 13. f3 d5 14. Bb2 Rfd8 15. Rac1 Ba6 16. Rfe1 cxd4 17. exd4 Rc7 18. Qe3 Rdc8 19. Bd3 Nf8 20. f4 Qd7 21. h3 Ng6 22. g3 Ne7 23. Nf3 Qd8 24. Ne5 Nd7?
25. Bxh7+ Kxh7 26. Nxf7 Qg8 27. Qxe6 Nf6 28. Ng5+ Kh8 29. Nf7+ Kh7 30. Ng5+ Kg6 31. Qe3 dxc4 32. bxc4 Bxc4 33. g4 Qd5 34. f5+ Nxf5 35. gxf5+ Qxf5 36. Nf3 Kh7 37. Ne5 Bd5 38. Rxc7 Rxc7 39. Rf1 Qe4 40. Qxe4+ Nxe4 41. Rc1 Rxc1+ 42. Bxc1 b5 43. Nd7 Kg6 44. Nc5 Ng5 45. Nd3 Nxh3+ 46. Kh2 Be6 47. Nc5 Bf5 48. d5 Kf6 49. d6 Nf2 50. d7 Ng4+ 51. Kg3 Ke7 52. Kf4 Bxd7 53. Nxd7 Kxd7 54. Kxg4 Kc6 55. Bb2 g6 56. Kg5 Kd5 57. Kxg6 Kc4 58. Bg7 Kb3 59. Bf8 a5 60. Kf5 1/2-1/2

I remember back when I was a chess playing university student reading about him in the Canadian chess magazine (whatever it was called at the time) and also seeing him being interviewed by Barbra Frum on CBC News. The interview left a bad taste in my mouth at the time - mainly because of the condescending tone from the interviewer - and from the 9 year old. Jeff has set up a website http://jeffsarwer.com/ and has posted many old news clips and interviews. It is a very interesting site. He has also posted some of his games at http://www.chessgames.com/ with comments which is where I found these two games.

It's good to know that you can come back to chess after a long hiatus and enjoy it and have some success. I hope he plays some more.