This week I annotate my penultimate round clash with Alan Aldridge. Alan took control of the game early on, despite having the Black pieces. He missed winning chances, had me under time pressure, but finally succumbed in the endgame.
The real merit in sharing this game is it shows what happens when you don't put your opponent away. Alan was left with misplaced pieces when his attack ran out.
Alan managed his time quite well, but this is a good opportunity to consider how to play when the opponent is short of time (to the uninitiated, running out of time results in a forfeit):
- Unless your opponent has a very strong position, don't try to blitz him/her. I'm always amazed, and have been the beneficiary, when a player ahead on time throws the game away by trying to run down the opponent's clock.
- Play as you would normally. Don't indulge in tactics unless they are at least as strong as any other option. Players in time trouble will calculate forcing lines when it's your turn to move, so by indulging in tactics for their own sake you are playing into their hands. Strong players calculate quickly and cleanly - positional factors take longer to assess.
- If you have plenty of time use it to find the strongest moves. In addition to improving your position, your opponent who is likely to be running on adrenalin will have difficulty maintaining concentration.
- Don't play 'safe' moves simply to get the opponent's clock running. Strive to play a good move, even if you consume some of your time advantage. Mediocre play can quickly send your own position downhill and result in...time trouble.
Nijman, Brian - Aldridge, Alan
22 April 2008 , Wellington
Fischer Random
Rapid (25’+5” per move)
Chess960 starting position 943
It’s difficult to play the opening phase in Fischer random accurately, particularly in a rapid game. A technique that served me well in this tournament was to check which pawn if any in the starting position was undefended – in most random positions there is one. I would then focus on this weakness.
In this starting position, as is the case with the classical chess set up, there was no undefended pawn, so I had to find another plan. Opening a diagonal for my white-square bishop seemed as good as any…
1. g3 f5 2. e4 g6 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. f4 e5 5. Qf2?! Ne6?!
(5... exf4 6. Qxf4 (6. gxf4?! {(the intended move)} fxe4 7. Nxe4 Qe7 {(Black is better)})
6... Ne6 7. Qf2 fxe4 8. Bxe4 Qe7 {(Black is slightly better)})
6. Ne3?!
(6. exf5 gxf5 7. fxe5 Bxe5 8. Qxf5 Ned4 9. Qd3 {(White has the advantage)})
6... Ned4
(6... exf4 {(again, the best move)})
7. Ned5 Qf8! 8. a3 a5!? 9. Re1 exf4 {(at last, but now the position is only equal)} 10. gxf4?!
({better is} 10. Qxf4 Be5 11. Qf1!=)
10... Ra6!?
(better is 10... fxe4 11. Bxe4 a4 {(Black has the advantage)})
11. e5 {(I thought I was slightly better here, but Alan's turns the tables with his next move, after which I'm defending)} d6! 12. Nf6 {(sacrificing a pawn, but the alternatives just left me worse – at least I've eliminated his black-square bishop that was bearing down on my King)} Bxf6 13. exf6 Qxf6 {(objectively speaking, Black has the advantage)} 14. Nd5 Bxd5 15. Bxd5 Rb6
White to move
(15... a4 {(perhaps a little more accurate - however the rook move played is principled)})
16. Bxc6?! Nxc6 {(Alan spent some time over this move, although he still had more time than me - about 7 minutes to my 4 minutes - we were playing with a 5 second per move increment)}
(16... Nf3!? 17. Bb5 {(forced)} Nxe1 18. a4 Re8!? 19. Qg3 c5 20. Ra3 Re4 21. Rc3 Qe6 22. Be3 d5 23. Bf2 (23. Rxc5 Rd6 24. Bf2 b6 25. Rc3 d4 26. Rc4 Re2 27. Bxd4 Nf3 28. Qxf3 Rxd4 29. Ba6 Ree4 30. d3 Rxc4 31. Bxc4 Re3 {(Black has a big advantage)}) 23... Rd6! 24. Bxc5 d4 25. Bxd6+ Qxd6 26. Rb3 Ka7 27. c3 Qxf4 28. cxd4 Qxg3 29. hxg3 Rxd4 30. Kc1 f4 {(and Black has a big advantage)})
(16... Nxc2? {(I was trying to tempt Alan to play this - Black gets an attack that runs out of steam)} 17. Kxc2 Qxb2+ 18. Kd3 Qb3+ 19. Ke2 Qc4+ 20. Kf3 Qxc6+ 21. Kg3 Rb3+ 22. Re3)
17. d4 a4
(17...d5 {(this move blocks in my bishop and simply leaves Black a pawn up)} 18. O-O-O a4 19. Qd2 Ra6 20. Qg2 Qd6 21. Qg3 Na5 {(Black has a won game)})
18. 0-0-0 Qf7?
(18... Na5 19. Re2 Nc4 20. c3 d5 21. Rde1 Qc6 {(and Black wins quite easily)})
19. Qd2? {(tempting Qf7-a2, not quite appreciating how strong it was)}
(19. d5 Na5 20.Qd2 {(unclear)})
19... Rb5? {(I have managed to confuse Alan in mutual time pressure – this is the wrong moment to play a ‘safe’ move)}
(19... Qa2 20. Qc3 d5 {(Black is won)})
20. Qd3 Na7?! 21. d5 {(unclear)} Ra5 22. c4?!
(22. Re6 {(equal)})
22... Re8 23. Qd2 Ra6 24. Rxe8+ Qxe8 25. Re1 Qd7 26. Qd4
(26. Bxa7+!? Kxa7 27. Qd4+ Rb6 28. Qh8 c6 29. Re8 Rb3 30. Ra8+ Kb6 31. Qb8 {(equal)})
26... Nc8 27. Qh8
Black to move
27... b6
(27... c6 {(and Black is better)})
28. Re8 Kb7 29. Rd8 Qe7 30. Qe8!?
(objectively better is 30. Rxc8 Qe1+ 31. Kc2 Qe4+ 32. Kc3 Qe1+ 33. Kc2 Qe4+ {(equal)})
30... Qxe8 31. Rxe8 {(despite being a pawn up, Black has to play very carefully, as White will soon create a passed h-pawn)} Ra8
(31... b5!? 32. cxb5 Ra5 33. Rh8 Rxb5 34. Rxh7 Nb6 35. Bxb6 Kxb6 36. Rg7 Rxd5 37. Rxg6 Rd4 38. h4 Rxf4 39. h5 Rh4 40. Rg5 f4 41. Rf5 c5 {(and Black retains winning chances)})
32. Rh8 (White’s gamble is paying off, however I now have only about 40 seconds left plus my 5 second per move increment) Na7
(32... b5!?)
33. Rxh7 Re8 34. Kd2 Re4 35. Be3 Rxc4 36. Rg7 Re4 37. Rxg6
Black to move
Nb5? {(and Black is lost)}
(37... Nc8 38. h4 Ne7 39. Re6 Rxe6 40. dxe6 c5 41. h5 Kc6 42. Bf2 Kd5 43. Bh4 Kxe6 44. h6 Ng6 45. Bd8 Kf7 (45... b5 46. h7 Kf7 47. Bc7 Ke6 48. Ba5 Kd5 49. Bc7!=) 46. Bxb6 Nxf4 47. Bc7 Ne6 48. Bxd6 Kg6 49. Kc3 Kxh6 50. Kc4!=)
38. h4 Nd4 39. h5 {(and after some knight checks in the mutual time scramble, my h-pawn reached h7 and my bishop went to c3 covering the queening square h8, after which Alan resigned)}
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