I see my match against Jamin was rated and my rating has dropped to 1787. This is the exact rating that made me quit chess 15 years ago.
A long time ago, as a scrawny teenager, I wandered into the Charlottetown chess club at the YMCA and joined their monthly tournament. I wasn’t used to playing with a clock but over the course of the month I won a couple of games and threw a couple away and I got my first rating. I think it was around 1300, but I knew I could do better. I joined the club and started playing regularly every Tuesday evening. I improved quickly and started winning most of the club tournaments. My rating seemed to climb naturally but I developed some bad habits. I relied mainly on tactics to win games and I didn’t concentrate on my own game. That worked against the other players in the club but when I left the Island to play my first big tournament I found that I wasn’t as good as I thought. The players in Ontario had much more opening knowledge than me, and I had no tactical advantage. When I got back home I started studying a bit more and concentrating on just a few openings. My rating continued to climb to a peak of just over 1900 but then fell back and settled in the 1800’s and stalled there. I needed more games against higher rated opponents to improve, but there was no internet then and I couldn’t afford to travel to far off tournaments. As other things in life took over my time, I stopped playing regular weekly games and when I did play a tournament my rating started to tumble. I remember my last tournament falling into the Blackbourne Gambit trap to a young kid and and seeing my rating drop below 1787. I decided then that I wasn’t going to play another tournament unless I was prepared and studied my openings.
Years passed, I moved to Alberta, I got married and had children and had not thought about chess much until my kids started playing. After re-entering tournament chess, I have now played ten events and though I think I have improved over the last two years, my rating has now dropped back below 1800 again. Some of my bad habits have changed and some are the same. On the positive side, I do concentrate on my own game now and I don’t have the same desire to wander around the room to try to find a more interesting game. On the negative side, I find I can sometimes have very little enthusiasm when I’m playing a game especially if it is against a lower rated player or if I think I should be doing something else that day. I’m missing a lot when looking at tactics now compared to before. These may be things that go along with getting older, but my weak openings are just a result of my lack of useful studying. The question is now, what to do about my chess?
Option 1. Quit again. I f I do this it will probably not be a conscious decision, but rather a gradual lowering of interest until I find I haven’t played for a long, long, time.
Option 2. Play less regularly probably at a 1700 level. Maybe play in one out of town tournament a year plus the Battle at the Border. The question is, would I get enough enjoyment out of this to continue playing without falling into option 1.
Option 3. Really start studying and see if I can improve to 2000. The problem with this is that there is not enough time in the day to balance work, family, and an obsessive hobby like chess.
I hope I don’t end up choosing option 1, as I still get enjoyment out of playing a good game whether it’s a win or a loss. Plus I haven’t really played a complete tournament yet and I feel there is one inside me waiting to come out. Right now I have no definitive plans to play in an upcoming event. Maybe in the new year.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
The End of the Match
Well today the championship match is finished. Really it was over after the champion went up three wins without losing but the players continued to play on until the finish. A couple of poor games in the middle of the match did the challenger in. You might be thinking that I am discussing Anands victory today in the Anands-Kramnik world championship, but actually I’m talking about the slightly less prestigious Gluckie-Chaisson Match .
Going into the match I had planned out my goals and opening strategy for each game. Since I haven’t beaten anyone over 2000 in a rated game yet, my main goal was to win one of the games, secondly to try some new openings, and finally to try to get 1.5/4 points. Before the match Jamin and I agreed that the loser would pay the rating fee and that he had to get 3 points to claim the win. Here is a summary of my pre-match plans and how they worked out.
Game 1 – I expected to go into my new favorite French Defence line but Jamin spoiled my plans by playing the Sicilian. I feel comfortably in most Sicilian lines and aside from a couple of lapses I played fairly well but eventually succumbed in a pawn down endgame.
Game 2 – I planned to surprise Jamin with the Dutch, but I didn’t know the opening well enough to play a good game when he strayed from my studied line.
Game 3 – I originally planned to play a Kings Indian Attack against his French, but after he had played the Sicilian in game 1, I had to prepare for that again. When he played the French, I went back to what I had prepared for game 1, but I couldn’t remember the correct move order and lost a piece in the opening.
Game 4 – Was supposed to be either a Benko Gambit if I needed to win or a Queen’s gambit Accepted if I was hoping for a draw. When I found out Jamin played the Benko as black I decided that I shouldn’t play that opening, but I still needed a win, so I tried the King’s Indian. Here’s game 4 for you viewing pleasure.
Game 4
Going into the final game, I felt I had nothing to lose, so I planned on playing for a win at all costs. Before the game I went for a couple of after work drinks with co-workers and managed to get a few warm-up games in. One of my fellow engineers from Calgary had been talking about playing a game against me since he found out I played chess, so I laid my board on the table and promptly beat him four games in a row while munching on wings, ribs and beer. I left him there to drown his sorrows and headed over to Jamin’s house full of confidence, to finish our epic battle/masacre.
Gluckie,Jamin (2054) - Chaisson,Terry (1807) [E81]
Match Lloydminster (4), 28.10.2008
2008-10-28 Gluckie-Chaisson.pgn
Overall I have to say I'm very disapointed with this result. Before the match started I would have said the chance that I would lose all 4 games was very slim. Even though if you do the calculations based on our rating difference it works out to a 25-40% chance of a 4-0 shut-out, I honestly felt that if I played to the best of my ability there was no way I would lose every game. In fact, in my last 6 games against expert rated players I have only 1 loss and 5 draws! Two draws against Roy Yearwood (2158 & 2098), one draw each against Anastasia Kazakevich (2156), Sardul Purewal (2094), and Jamin Gluckie (2114) and the lone loss against Keith MacKinnon (2058). The performance rating for just those games is an impressive 2054. I expected to score somewhere between 0.5-1.5/4. But when you throw away a couple of the games the chances of a shut-out rapidly increases. The good thing about playing someone that much higher though is that you are not risking alot of points and I will will only drop maybe 24 points.
Going into the match I had planned out my goals and opening strategy for each game. Since I haven’t beaten anyone over 2000 in a rated game yet, my main goal was to win one of the games, secondly to try some new openings, and finally to try to get 1.5/4 points. Before the match Jamin and I agreed that the loser would pay the rating fee and that he had to get 3 points to claim the win. Here is a summary of my pre-match plans and how they worked out.
Game 1 – I expected to go into my new favorite French Defence line but Jamin spoiled my plans by playing the Sicilian. I feel comfortably in most Sicilian lines and aside from a couple of lapses I played fairly well but eventually succumbed in a pawn down endgame.
Game 2 – I planned to surprise Jamin with the Dutch, but I didn’t know the opening well enough to play a good game when he strayed from my studied line.
Game 3 – I originally planned to play a Kings Indian Attack against his French, but after he had played the Sicilian in game 1, I had to prepare for that again. When he played the French, I went back to what I had prepared for game 1, but I couldn’t remember the correct move order and lost a piece in the opening.
Game 4 – Was supposed to be either a Benko Gambit if I needed to win or a Queen’s gambit Accepted if I was hoping for a draw. When I found out Jamin played the Benko as black I decided that I shouldn’t play that opening, but I still needed a win, so I tried the King’s Indian. Here’s game 4 for you viewing pleasure.
Game 4
Going into the final game, I felt I had nothing to lose, so I planned on playing for a win at all costs. Before the game I went for a couple of after work drinks with co-workers and managed to get a few warm-up games in. One of my fellow engineers from Calgary had been talking about playing a game against me since he found out I played chess, so I laid my board on the table and promptly beat him four games in a row while munching on wings, ribs and beer. I left him there to drown his sorrows and headed over to Jamin’s house full of confidence, to finish our epic battle/masacre.
Gluckie,Jamin (2054) - Chaisson,Terry (1807) [E81]
Match Lloydminster (4), 28.10.2008
2008-10-28 Gluckie-Chaisson.pgn
Overall I have to say I'm very disapointed with this result. Before the match started I would have said the chance that I would lose all 4 games was very slim. Even though if you do the calculations based on our rating difference it works out to a 25-40% chance of a 4-0 shut-out, I honestly felt that if I played to the best of my ability there was no way I would lose every game. In fact, in my last 6 games against expert rated players I have only 1 loss and 5 draws! Two draws against Roy Yearwood (2158 & 2098), one draw each against Anastasia Kazakevich (2156), Sardul Purewal (2094), and Jamin Gluckie (2114) and the lone loss against Keith MacKinnon (2058). The performance rating for just those games is an impressive 2054. I expected to score somewhere between 0.5-1.5/4. But when you throw away a couple of the games the chances of a shut-out rapidly increases. The good thing about playing someone that much higher though is that you are not risking alot of points and I will will only drop maybe 24 points.
Another of my goals for this match was to try new openings, especially as black. The Dutch I played in game 2 was a flop and I didn't learn anything other than don't play what you don't know. In game four I did try out a new stratagy for me in the KID and I think I did learn something from that game.
This was the first time I have ever played a match. Would I play another----Yes, but hopefully perform better.
Friday, October 3, 2008
Jamin Gluckie Match Part 2
Or I like to call it now the "Massacre at the Border" (MATB for short)
Jamin has come to the board each time better prepared than me and has definitely won the psychological battle.
Game 3
2008-10-03 Chaisson-Gluckie French.pgn
One Game left, where I will have black.
Game 4: To Follow
Jamin has come to the board each time better prepared than me and has definitely won the psychological battle.
Game 3
2008-10-03 Chaisson-Gluckie French.pgn
One Game left, where I will have black.
Game 4: To Follow
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Medicine Hat Open
Round 1
Paired against an unrated junior Jordan Schibler. He is in grade 10 and came second at the Alberta chess challenge. I now dread playing juniors. I had a strong advantage (+2.8) and an attack against his king but I erred on my 20th move. I got distractred from my attack when I thought I could fork his rook and then pick off his center pawns.
Paired against an unrated junior Jordan Schibler. He is in grade 10 and came second at the Alberta chess challenge. I now dread playing juniors. I had a strong advantage (+2.8) and an attack against his king but I erred on my 20th move. I got distractred from my attack when I thought I could fork his rook and then pick off his center pawns.
Right after I played 20.Be7 I saw that If I took the d6 pawn my bishop could be trapped, but I didn't retreat the bishop and hoped that my opponent wouldn't see that. He didn't, but after that we traded down to a rook ending where I was at best equal. We played until all the pawns were gone and then admitted the draw. The correct move in the diagram is of course 20. h6. A disappointing result.
Round 2
Stan Longson (1378). I played too conservatively in the opening and gave him an advantage. Fritz says it was not as much an advantage as I thought. Position after 18...Qe7
He made the following interesting tactical play 19. Nxg6. I was worried about my weak king but luckily he started to tire and made a string of small blunders that I took advantage of to capture a full point. He had this problem in all the games I saw him play. After concentrating so hard for a few hours, sometimes you just go blank for a while, and in chess that when it all falls apart. I won but was still not very happy with my play.
Round 3
John Quiring (1817). He played a line of the Petroff where he sacs a knight on f7. I had not seen this exact line before but I was pretty sure I should be able to take the knight and come out with the advantage. I missed a very simple queen check in my calculations allowing him to recapture a knight and come away with two free pawns and a strong attack on my open king.
8.g6?? (Nd6 was needed). I played well enough from then on to last to move 48, but there was no way to save the game. This was the one move of the tournament that really bothers me. At this point I had 1.5/3 and had not played a good game.
Round 4.
A very interesting round. On board 1 Keith MacKinnon was playing John Quiring and had a winning position but overlooked a devastating tactic. John missed the winning move and then shortly after flagged and withdrew from the tournament. On another board, Don MacKinnon sacked his queen and then missed a mate in one, which his opponent also didn't see, and then went on to lose. My opponent was Roy Yearwood (2174). He is probably my favorite strong player to play against because I enjoy going over the game with him afterwards, plus in my two previous games against him I played reasonably well.
Chaisson,Terry (1811) - Yearwood,Roy (2174) [B00]
Med Hat Open Hewlett (4), 28.09.2008
B00: Queen's Fianchetto Defence, Nimzowitsch Defence
1.e4 Nc6 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3 d5 last book move according to Fritz 4.e5 Nd7 5.d4² Black has a cramped position. Black's pieces can't move: c8+f8 5...Nb6 6.Be2 At first Roy thought that this was a novelty but he opened up his book "Play The 1...Nc6" and found a game from 1994. I liked this more than Bb5 because I think it leaves more flexibility 6...Bf5 7.Nh4 e6 This looks weakening to me but Roy didn't like the idea of retreating the bishop [7...Be6!?² should be considered-Fritz] 8.Nxf5± exf5 9.0–0 Be7 10.Bb5 Qd7 11.Qf3 g6 [11...0–0!? 12.Qg3 Rfd8±]
12.a4!+- A strong move that takes advantage of the placement of the black knights. Fritzs gives me a plus 1.4 12...a6 13.Bxc6 bxc6 Black has to double another set of pawns or lose a pawn after a5. The structural weakness make any endgame dangerous for black 14.Bh6 Played to prevent castling [14.Ne2 0–0+-] 14...Bf8 [14...Qe6!?±] 15.Qf4 I wanted to keep pressure on but fritz sees [15.Bxf8 Rxf8 16.a5 Nc4 17.Qd1 Nxb2 18.Qb1 Nc4 19.Qb7 Ke7 20.Qb4+ Ke6 21.Na4 Rfb8 22.Nc5+ Ke7] 15...Bxh6 16.Qxh6 Qe7 17.b3 Nd7 18.Rfe1 0–0–0 19.Qe3 Nf8? [19...Nb8 20.Ne2+-]
20.a5? [20.Qd3+- and White has triumphed 20...Kb7 21.b4 Ne6 22.b5 Qd7 23.Reb1 c5 24.bxa6+ Ka8 25.Rb7 Rb8 26.Rab1 c4 27.Qf3 Rxb7 28.axb7+ Ka7 ¹] 20...Ne6± 21.Na4 Kb8 22.b4! Ka7 23.Nc5 Nxc5 24.bxc5 [24.dxc5?! g5=] 24...Rb8 Here my cell phone rang. Although I hadn't heard any announcement about cell phones, I believed that Roy could have claimed a win. The funny thing is that the exact same thing happened to Roy the day before. During that game Roy told his opponent that he could claim a win but his opponent declined and they played on. In the spirit of giving back, Roy did the same for me. He made his next move and then offered a draw. Although I still have the advantage, I gladly took the draw because I would not have felt right about continuing to try to win. 25.Reb1 Rb5 ½–½
Round 5
There was now an uneven number of players in the tournament and I knew I had a long 5 hr drive so I withdrew. Plus with only 2/4 I was pretty sure I wasn't in the running for a prize. Keith had 4/4, another unrated junior (Ben ???, an exchange student from Europe) had 3, and three others had 2.5/4.
Overall another so-so tourney with some good moments balanced with some bad play. Because I played an unrated player, I'm not sure what my ratings will be but I'm expecting an Rp=1750?? and I will lose a few points I'm sure.
ps. I guess I ended up winning a class prize with 2.5/5. The TD gave me a half point bye for my last round.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Jamin Gluckie Match : Part I
Game 1
A titanic back and forth struggle. Jamin surprised me with his opening and made any preparation I had done moot. I missed a bishop move in the late opening that cost me a pawn. After taking a long time I came up with a good plan to fight back. I managed to equalize and actually had an advantage for a brief time. Jamin fought back and regained the advantage. It came down to a Queens and pawns ending that I think I should of been able to draw but I made a beginner mistake when I allowed him to trade Queens.
A titanic back and forth struggle. Jamin surprised me with his opening and made any preparation I had done moot. I missed a bishop move in the late opening that cost me a pawn. After taking a long time I came up with a good plan to fight back. I managed to equalize and actually had an advantage for a brief time. Jamin fought back and regained the advantage. It came down to a Queens and pawns ending that I think I should of been able to draw but I made a beginner mistake when I allowed him to trade Queens.
I played 53. Qf4?? and let him trade queens into a won ending. Argh... My only explanation for this horrible move is that it had come down to 2 mins on both of our clocks and I don't seem to play very well in time pressure. I'll post more of the game later.
Game 2
A very disappointing game. The only good thing about it was that I managed to surprise Jamin by playing the Dutch. He's never seen me play this before, mainly because I never played it in anything other than a blitz game online. I quickly lost my way in the opening when Jamin didn't follow the same line he played in the Canadian Open. I was hallucinating some phantom counter tactical move and walked into dropping a piece. I didn't want to lose in less than 25 moves so I played another 10 moves before I resigned. I don't really want to post anything from this game because I don't think there much to learn from it but this was my last chance to save the piece with a6 but instead I played 13. O-O-O??
At this moment I'm still planning on playing in the Med Hat Open this weekend.
Monday, August 11, 2008
Next Events
It looks like my next chess event will be a match against Jamin Gluckie. He proposed the match and I gladly accepted. I know it will be a tough challenge for me as he is a couple hundred points above me in the ratings but it will be a good opportunity for me to spend some time on chess and hopefully learn something new and improve. We haven't decided when we will start the match as we both are fairly busy this month but I expect it will be closer to the end of the month. If anyone has any suggestions as to what to play against Jamin don't be shy about passing them along.
Also, next month I might try to play in the Medicine Hat Open if work and family commitments allow.
Also, next month I might try to play in the Medicine Hat Open if work and family commitments allow.
Friday, August 1, 2008
Chess On Prince Edward Island
I just returned from vacation with my family on PEI, which is where I grew up. We had a wonderful time plus I did get some chess activities in. First, I was looking through my parents attic hoping to find my old scorebooks with all my games from the 80’s and early 90’s but unfortunately they were all thrown out the same way my old hockey cards and comic books had been thrown out years earlier. At least this time the monetary value was not as much, but there was some sentimental value of these old games for me. I know I had some good games against Peter MacKean, Joe Horton and others that I hoped to analyse now with Fritz. I did find my old chess set and three old books. “An Experts Guide to Chess Strategy”, “Grandmaster Chess (Lone Pine 1975)”, and “Learn Chess Quickly”, which gave me something to read during the vacation. “Learn Chess Quickly” was actually an unreturned library book from my old High School. Oops, I wonder what the late fee is now? Reminds me of a Seinfield episode.
Also while on vacation, I decided to play a few rounds in the UPEI Open. I knew that IM Tom O'Donnell was playing and with only a dozen or so players registered I figured my chance to play him was good. There was a good mix of masters, experts and A players plus a few young kids.
Round 1
Game 1 was Friday night and my opponent was none other then IM Tom O'Donnell. Here is the game
O'Donnell,Tom (2458) - Chaisson,Terry (1822) [C42]
UPEI Open PEI (1), 25.07.2008
C42: Petroff Defence: 3 Nxe5 and unusual White 3rd moves
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 I have been playing the petroff against all my higher rated opponents mainly because it annoys many players and I know it as good as any of my other opening but my results have been horrible 0–7 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.Nc3 Nxc3 6.dxc3 Be7 7.Bf4 last book move 7...Be6 my opening knowledge in this line is now over as my last move shows [normal is 7...0–0 8.Qd2 Nd7 9.0–0–0 Nc5] 8.Nd4 0–0 offering the bishop for a knight and a strong center 9.Bd3 [9.Nxe6 fxe6 10.Qg4 Nd7±] 9...g6 protects the diagonal and makes room for the B at g7 [9...Nd7!?² is interesting] 10.Nxe6± fxe6
11.Bh6 Rf6 [11...Rf7 12.Qg4 Bf8 13.Be3±] 12.Qg4 [12.h4 c6 13.h5 g5 14.Bxg5 Rf7+-] 12...Nd7± 13.f4 Nc5 14.0–0–0 [14.h4 Nxd3+ 15.cxd3 e5±] 14...Nxd3+² 15.Rxd3 [15.cxd3 Rf5 16.h4²] 15...Qd7 [15...Rf5 16.h4 Bf8 17.Bxf8 Qxf8 18.h5²] 16.Re1 now the e6 pawn becomes a point for attack [¹16.h4!?±] 16...Bf8 17.Bg5 Rf5 the only way to protect e6 18.Qh3 [18.Rh3 Re8²] 18...Re8 [18...h6 19.Bh4³ (‹19.Bxh6 Rh5 20.Qg4 Rxh6µ) ] 19.g4 Rf7 20.Rde3 Bg7 finally develop my bishop to a useful diagonal but it won't be around much longer to be any benefit 21.Bh6 Ree7 At this point white has 60 min and black has 52 min until the time control at move 40 22.Qh4 Bxh6 23.Qxh6
23...Rf6 [I thought about 23...Qa4 but was worried about an attack on the open king 24.f5 e5 25.Kb1 (25.fxg6 the move that scared me but then I would have 25...Rf2! after this move I think all white has is a draw) 25...gxf5 26.gxf5 Rxf5 27.Qh3=] 24.h4 [24.f5 e5²] 24...Ref7 Tom said that after I doubled my rooks on the f file he didn't see much of an advantage for white. Still [¹24...Qa4!? must definitely be considered 25.Rf3 Qxa2=] 25.h5 gxh5 26.Qxh5 Rxf4 [26...Qa4 27.f5 Qf4 28.Kb1± (28.fxe6 Rxe6 29.Kd2 d5–+) ] 27.Qg5+ Kh8 28.Rxe6 Rf1! only move 29.R6e2 [29.Qh6 Rf8²] 29...Rxe1+ [Fritz still suggests 29...Qa4!?² ] 30.Rxe1± Rg7 31.Qf6 Qf7 32.Qd4 b6 33.b3 creates a nice spot to place the king and be safe from any checks
33...Kg8 [should have played 33...a5 and solidified my queenside 34.a4±] 34.Kb2 Qd7 35.Qd5+ Kh8 36.g5 this move was stronger than I had anticipated 36...Qf7 Now was the last chance for a5 37.Qd2 Qg6 Both of us have 14 min to make 3 more moves 38.Rf1 Rf7 [38...Rg8 39.Rg1±] 39.Qd4++- Kg8 40.Re1 Rg7 1st time control reached with 9 min to spare for white and 3 min for black. Next time control is remainder of game in 1 hour with no increments. [40...c6 41.Qc4 d5 42.Re8+ Rf8 43.Rxf8+ Kxf8 44.Qf4+ Qf7 45.Qd6+ Kg8 46.Qxc6±] 41.Qd5+ [41.Qg4!? Kh8 42.Qc8+ Rg8 43.Qxc7 Qxg5+-] 41...Kh8 42.Qa8+ too late for a5 now 42...Rg8 43.Qxa7 Qf7 44.Rg1 h6 I thought this solved my problems but [44...d5 45.Qa4+-] 45.Rh1 h5 [45...Rxg5 46.Rxh6+ Kg7 47.Rh4+-] 46.g6 Rxg6 [46...Qxg6 47.Qxc7 b5+-] 47.Rxh5+ Kg7 48.Qa8 Rh6 49.Qg2+ Kh7 50.Qe4+ Kg7 51.Qg4+ [¹51.Rf5 and White can already relax 51...Qe6 52.Rg5+ Kf7+-] 51...Kh7 52.Qf5+?? hands over the advantage to the opponent [¹52.Rg5 and White wins 52...c5 53.a3+-] 52...Qxf5± 53.Rxf5 Kg6 54.Rf2 Rh5 55.a4
55...Rf5?? This is where I quickly decided that I had to get my king over to the queenside even if it allowed him to exchange rooks otherwise he was just going to cut off my king from the action while he improved his queenside position. Plus with a SD time control I was worried about running out of time. In the two minute review I had with Tom after the game I think he agreed with me. [Fritz recomends ¹55...Rh7± ] 56.Rxf5+- Kxf5 57.b4 Ke5 58.c4 Ke6 59.c3 Kd7 [59...d5 does not save the day 60.a5 bxa5 61.bxa5+-] 60.Kc2 Kc6 61.Kd3 d5 [61...Kd7 is not the saving move 62.Ke4+-] 62.Kd4 dxc4 63.Kxc4 Kb7 64.Kd5 Kc8 If Black now would get b5 in, he might survive 65.Kc6 Kb8 66.c4 Kc8 67.a5 bxa5 68.bxa5 Kb8 69.a6 Ka7 70.Kxc7 Kxa6 71.c5 Black resigns. I think I played reasonably well but what do you guys think? The game didn't finish until after 12:30 and I didn't have a chance to go over it with Tom unfortunately.[71.c5 Kb5 72.c6+-] 1–0
Round 2
I was paired against one of the young kids and took him way too lightly. I knew he was rated 1613 and beat a master in round one but the master said he hung a piece. Just before the game started I noticed that the pairings were wrong because another player had joined the tournament and that should have affected who my opponent was. The TD said he knew that but he didn’t want to change it because he wanted to allow my young opponent to have tougher competition during this tournament. I didn’t argue the point and I won’t complain now just because my result was not good. I played foolishly in the opening and was down two pawns for nothing before I settled down and couldn't recover. This is my first loss against a lower rated opponent and as I expected it happened against a junior – they always seem to be under-rated. I found out after the game that he had only just completed grade 4!!! and has won the Canadian scholastic championship every year. I guess I need to say "I am not smarter than a Fifth Grader." He was an extremely sharp kid and more importantly he was nice and polite and did not seem to suffer from some of the ego problems some other child prodigys seem to have. He had an outstanding tournament beating a master, then beating me, losing to IM O’Donnell, and he was winning against a 1950 junior when I left during round four. If I had beat him, I’m sure in 15 years I would be telling everyone how I beat “GM Dorrance” without mentioning that he was 10 at the time.
Position after 12...Nc6
Also while on vacation, I decided to play a few rounds in the UPEI Open. I knew that IM Tom O'Donnell was playing and with only a dozen or so players registered I figured my chance to play him was good. There was a good mix of masters, experts and A players plus a few young kids.
Round 1
Game 1 was Friday night and my opponent was none other then IM Tom O'Donnell. Here is the game
O'Donnell,Tom (2458) - Chaisson,Terry (1822) [C42]
UPEI Open PEI (1), 25.07.2008
C42: Petroff Defence: 3 Nxe5 and unusual White 3rd moves
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 I have been playing the petroff against all my higher rated opponents mainly because it annoys many players and I know it as good as any of my other opening but my results have been horrible 0–7 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.Nc3 Nxc3 6.dxc3 Be7 7.Bf4 last book move 7...Be6 my opening knowledge in this line is now over as my last move shows [normal is 7...0–0 8.Qd2 Nd7 9.0–0–0 Nc5] 8.Nd4 0–0 offering the bishop for a knight and a strong center 9.Bd3 [9.Nxe6 fxe6 10.Qg4 Nd7±] 9...g6 protects the diagonal and makes room for the B at g7 [9...Nd7!?² is interesting] 10.Nxe6± fxe6
11.Bh6 Rf6 [11...Rf7 12.Qg4 Bf8 13.Be3±] 12.Qg4 [12.h4 c6 13.h5 g5 14.Bxg5 Rf7+-] 12...Nd7± 13.f4 Nc5 14.0–0–0 [14.h4 Nxd3+ 15.cxd3 e5±] 14...Nxd3+² 15.Rxd3 [15.cxd3 Rf5 16.h4²] 15...Qd7 [15...Rf5 16.h4 Bf8 17.Bxf8 Qxf8 18.h5²] 16.Re1 now the e6 pawn becomes a point for attack [¹16.h4!?±] 16...Bf8 17.Bg5 Rf5 the only way to protect e6 18.Qh3 [18.Rh3 Re8²] 18...Re8 [18...h6 19.Bh4³ (‹19.Bxh6 Rh5 20.Qg4 Rxh6µ) ] 19.g4 Rf7 20.Rde3 Bg7 finally develop my bishop to a useful diagonal but it won't be around much longer to be any benefit 21.Bh6 Ree7 At this point white has 60 min and black has 52 min until the time control at move 40 22.Qh4 Bxh6 23.Qxh6
23...Rf6 [I thought about 23...Qa4 but was worried about an attack on the open king 24.f5 e5 25.Kb1 (25.fxg6 the move that scared me but then I would have 25...Rf2! after this move I think all white has is a draw) 25...gxf5 26.gxf5 Rxf5 27.Qh3=] 24.h4 [24.f5 e5²] 24...Ref7 Tom said that after I doubled my rooks on the f file he didn't see much of an advantage for white. Still [¹24...Qa4!? must definitely be considered 25.Rf3 Qxa2=] 25.h5 gxh5 26.Qxh5 Rxf4 [26...Qa4 27.f5 Qf4 28.Kb1± (28.fxe6 Rxe6 29.Kd2 d5–+) ] 27.Qg5+ Kh8 28.Rxe6 Rf1! only move 29.R6e2 [29.Qh6 Rf8²] 29...Rxe1+ [Fritz still suggests 29...Qa4!?² ] 30.Rxe1± Rg7 31.Qf6 Qf7 32.Qd4 b6 33.b3 creates a nice spot to place the king and be safe from any checks
33...Kg8 [should have played 33...a5 and solidified my queenside 34.a4±] 34.Kb2 Qd7 35.Qd5+ Kh8 36.g5 this move was stronger than I had anticipated 36...Qf7 Now was the last chance for a5 37.Qd2 Qg6 Both of us have 14 min to make 3 more moves 38.Rf1 Rf7 [38...Rg8 39.Rg1±] 39.Qd4++- Kg8 40.Re1 Rg7 1st time control reached with 9 min to spare for white and 3 min for black. Next time control is remainder of game in 1 hour with no increments. [40...c6 41.Qc4 d5 42.Re8+ Rf8 43.Rxf8+ Kxf8 44.Qf4+ Qf7 45.Qd6+ Kg8 46.Qxc6±] 41.Qd5+ [41.Qg4!? Kh8 42.Qc8+ Rg8 43.Qxc7 Qxg5+-] 41...Kh8 42.Qa8+ too late for a5 now 42...Rg8 43.Qxa7 Qf7 44.Rg1 h6 I thought this solved my problems but [44...d5 45.Qa4+-] 45.Rh1 h5 [45...Rxg5 46.Rxh6+ Kg7 47.Rh4+-] 46.g6 Rxg6 [46...Qxg6 47.Qxc7 b5+-] 47.Rxh5+ Kg7 48.Qa8 Rh6 49.Qg2+ Kh7 50.Qe4+ Kg7 51.Qg4+ [¹51.Rf5 and White can already relax 51...Qe6 52.Rg5+ Kf7+-] 51...Kh7 52.Qf5+?? hands over the advantage to the opponent [¹52.Rg5 and White wins 52...c5 53.a3+-] 52...Qxf5± 53.Rxf5 Kg6 54.Rf2 Rh5 55.a4
55...Rf5?? This is where I quickly decided that I had to get my king over to the queenside even if it allowed him to exchange rooks otherwise he was just going to cut off my king from the action while he improved his queenside position. Plus with a SD time control I was worried about running out of time. In the two minute review I had with Tom after the game I think he agreed with me. [Fritz recomends ¹55...Rh7± ] 56.Rxf5+- Kxf5 57.b4 Ke5 58.c4 Ke6 59.c3 Kd7 [59...d5 does not save the day 60.a5 bxa5 61.bxa5+-] 60.Kc2 Kc6 61.Kd3 d5 [61...Kd7 is not the saving move 62.Ke4+-] 62.Kd4 dxc4 63.Kxc4 Kb7 64.Kd5 Kc8 If Black now would get b5 in, he might survive 65.Kc6 Kb8 66.c4 Kc8 67.a5 bxa5 68.bxa5 Kb8 69.a6 Ka7 70.Kxc7 Kxa6 71.c5 Black resigns. I think I played reasonably well but what do you guys think? The game didn't finish until after 12:30 and I didn't have a chance to go over it with Tom unfortunately.[71.c5 Kb5 72.c6+-] 1–0
Round 2
I was paired against one of the young kids and took him way too lightly. I knew he was rated 1613 and beat a master in round one but the master said he hung a piece. Just before the game started I noticed that the pairings were wrong because another player had joined the tournament and that should have affected who my opponent was. The TD said he knew that but he didn’t want to change it because he wanted to allow my young opponent to have tougher competition during this tournament. I didn’t argue the point and I won’t complain now just because my result was not good. I played foolishly in the opening and was down two pawns for nothing before I settled down and couldn't recover. This is my first loss against a lower rated opponent and as I expected it happened against a junior – they always seem to be under-rated. I found out after the game that he had only just completed grade 4!!! and has won the Canadian scholastic championship every year. I guess I need to say "I am not smarter than a Fifth Grader." He was an extremely sharp kid and more importantly he was nice and polite and did not seem to suffer from some of the ego problems some other child prodigys seem to have. He had an outstanding tournament beating a master, then beating me, losing to IM O’Donnell, and he was winning against a 1950 junior when I left during round four. If I had beat him, I’m sure in 15 years I would be telling everyone how I beat “GM Dorrance” without mentioning that he was 10 at the time.
Position after 12...Nc6
13. Qb2?? Completely the wrong idea in this position and totally forgeting about the hanging pawn on e5. 13. Qe3 was necessary. From then on I was able to win back one pawn but young Adam made great decisions and was deserving of the win.
Round 3
This was a planned bye as I had some partying to do.
Round 4.
I only had 0.5 points and was expecting a very low rated opponent but was happy to find out I was paired against a 1785 player. By move 15 we both had 50 min left to the time control at move 40 but then he started taking alot of time to make his moves.
Chaisson,Terry (1822) - Enman,Jim (1783)
Chaisson - Enman2.pgn
Round 5.
I could see that I would probably be playing someone lower rated and it was a beautiful sunny day. I decided that I would rather spend the afternoon on the beach and I know that's what my wife wanted, so I withdrew. Overall 1/3 with 2 good games and one bad/humiliating game. Rp = 1818 but I lost 11 points to drop to 1811.
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