23rd Space Coast Open Second Place Brilliancy Prize [Corrected]

[Notes have been corrected somewhat for spelling and grammar, and a few additional notes have been made. Plus, it's now published with the fancy ChessBase viewer.]

In the new edition of Florida CHESS, the FCA's quarterly magazine, the three 'brilliancy prize'* games from the 23rd Space Coast Open are reproduced. The first and third place games are provided with notes, but not the second place game. That seems wrong to me, so I've made an attempt at providing an analysis of the game. With all due apologies to Mr. Andretta and Mr. Dawley, here is my effort. 

(The game can be replayed either at the link above, or below the fold within the webpage. Does anyone have an opinion on which they prefer?)

* I agree with Paul Leggett that these would be more properly called 'best game' prizes. 'Brilliancy' is a lot to live up to!

 

[Event "23rd Space Coast Open"] [Site "Cocoa Beach, Florida"] [Date "2016.04.23"] [Round "2"] [White "Andretta, Carlos"] [Black "Dawley, Dennis"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A12"] [WhiteElo "2204"] [BlackElo "2012"] [Annotator "Durham,Todd"] [PlyCount "139"] [EventDate "2016.04.24"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventRounds "5"] [EventCountry "USA"] [SourceDate "2016.04.25"] {This game won the second brilliancy prize at the 23rd Space Coast Open, - TD; An almost textbook endgame. Very nice technique, very instructive. Unfortunately White made an inaccuracy toward the very end giving Black a real chance to escape after all the hard work was practically done, but overall the game deserves a prize. - IM Javad Maharramzade, the judge} 1. Nf3 {This game was provided without notes, making it the only game of the three not annotated. I'm going to try to correct that! - TD} d5 2. c4 c6 3. g3 Nf6 4. Bg2 Bg4 5. b3 Nbd7 6. Bb2 e6 7. O-O Be7 8. d3 O-O 9. Nbd2 {Basically a level position. Interestingly, the first five times this position occurs in my database, White lost. The first time White won, the player of the Black pieces was one Hans Mueller - who was one of the players that had previously lost the position as White!} Nc5 $146 {I've got over five hundred examples of the previous position, but this is a novelty. 2500+ players have preferred 9...a5 in recent years, a move first played by Erno Gereben (Who?!) way back in 1947 - against Hans Mueller.} 10. b4 (10. h3 Bh5 11. g4 Bg6 12. Ne5 {followed by eventually taking the B@g6 with the N@e5 is preferred by The Fish, which evaluates the game move as equal. That said, the difference is, in the computer's jargon, only 0.3, so who cares? It's largely a matter of preference. Generally I favor grabbing the two bishops, but queenside expansion has definite appeal. Flip a coin, take yer chances!}) 10... Ncd7 $11 {Now we're very briefly back into theory, but no Hans Mueller this time! This position occurred after Black's ninth move in Poley (2334) - Dube (2121) in the 2002 Avione Open, with Black winning.} 11. cxd5 {I confess I don't quite get this. I'd prefer Poley's a3 here, or The Fish's suggestion of Qb3. (I love bringing my queen out behind the b-pawn in these positions. No particular reason, it's just what I like doing.) I just don't like resolving the central tension this soon. That said, Andretta outrates me by 400 point, undoubtedly for a reason.} cxd5 12. a3 a5 13. Bc3 axb4 14. axb4 Qb6 15. Qb3 Rfc8 16. h3 Bh5 17. Rfc1 Ne8 {We're in the middle of a long maneuvering stage. The position is pretty much even at this point - but not dry! The problem, for each side, is to come up with some sort of plan. Black would like to win White's b-pawn, but how? It is too easily defended. Both sides want to hold onto at least a piece of the open a- and c-files, but there are only so many rooks to go around, and most of the entry points are easily defended as well. Holding the files is more positional habit than necessity at this point. Black's pawns are better, but his pieces are worse; neither situation is really that far out of balance, however. Even 17...Ne8 doesn't really do any damage to his position, other than esthetically.} 18. Qb2 Bf6 ({Another try could be} 18... Rxa1 19. Rxa1 Qc7 20. Ra3 {when the battle can move to the center with} f6 21. Nd4 Bf7 22. e4) 19. Bxf6 Ndxf6 20. Rxc8 Rxc8 21. g4 ({White seems to have missed some favorable tactics. Stockfish finds} 21. Ne5 {which starts putting White's knights to better use. Black should probably play 21...Nd6 here, as} Bxe2 $2 {goes poorly for Black.} 22. g4 $1 Qc7 23. Re1 Bxg4 24. hxg4 Qc2 25. Ndc4 Qxb2 26. Nxb2 Nd6 {Incredibly, Stockfish only evaluates this as about +1.0 for White! One thing we've learned from computers is that the defensive resources are much deeper in many positions than humans would expect. (Another reason to play positions out, in my opinion.) But it's hard to believe that White isn't going to consolidate his extra bishop and win this game eventually. White's greatest problem here is that he has to avoid pawn exchanges, which could prove difficult.}) 21... Bg6 22. Qd4 ({"} 22. Ne5 {deserved consideration," wrote the weaselly annotator. The less weaselly, computer-assisted annotator notes that this position requires a lot of calculation. For example} Qc7 23. Qd4 (23. Nxg6 hxg6 {gives away White's small but hard won advantage.}) 23... Qc2 24. Ndf3 Qxe2 25. h4 Qc2 26. h5 {26 Bh3 and 26 Bf1 are both slightly better - according to Stockfish.} Nxh5 27. gxh5 Bxh5 {and incredibly, the demon that is the computer gives this position as only slightly better for White! But I've got to believe that this position will be easier to play for White, especially given the rating gap.}) 22... Qxd4 $6 {Exchanging the queens is bad for Black. Essentially, his queen was his best piece, and now she's gone. The situation reminds me of Znosko-Borovsky's analysis of Nimzovitch-Capablanca, St. Petersburg, 1914. He wrote, "A player at a disadvantage in point of time [essentially, developement - ed.] should keep up any available threat." Here, as long as Black has his Queen he can threaten to infiltrate White's position and create some havoc. With her majesty gone, he's got no real prospects of threatening White with anything.} 23. Nxd4 $14 {Black now has a lot of vulnerable squares to defend, and not much space in which to do so. Additionally, the g6 bishop is largely out of play.} Nd6 (23... e5 {would have been a more active attempt at defense.}) 24. f4 h6 25. Kf2 Re8 {25...Kf8 would have been better. Black's position is starting to deteriorate.} 26. Ra7 h5 27. Bf3 ({A practical decision, I'm guessing.} 27. f5 {is another fun possibility, and objectively probably best. But you've got to calculate the line} exf5 28. g5 Nh7 29. h4 f6 30. Bxd5+ Bf7 $18 {and be able to evaluate this position to know that. Now White has a choice of Bxf7, Bxc7 or my favorite, Nc4. But this game seems like it would have already been a demanding game mentally, and this isn't the easiest position to evaluate.}) 27... hxg4 28. hxg4 Rb8 29. Nf1 Nc8 30. Ra5 Ne7 31. Ke3 $6 ({Giving away a good chunk of his advantage, it seems.} 31. Ne3 Nc6 32. Nxc6 bxc6 33. Nc2 {is better. At first blush it appears that White has improved Black's pawn structure, and left himself with an isolated pawn already under attack. But Black can only bring his rook to bear on the b-pawn, so the knight is more than enough defense. Additionally, Black's c-pawn is vulnerable, for if Black plays} Rb6 34. Ra8+ Kh7 {leaves Black in a very tight spot - losing, in fact, as his pieces are getting worse and worse.}) 31... Nd7 $6 (31... Nc6 {would be much better, as White can't get his knight to c2 to defend the b-pawn following 32 Nxc6. White is still better, but Black is putting himself in a better position to fight.}) 32. Ra7 Nc8 33. Ra1 Ne7 34. Rc1 e5 ({Black missed an opportunity to simplify.} 34... Nc6 35. b5 (35. Nxc6 bxc6 36. Rxc6 Rxb4) 35... Nxd4 36. Kxd4 Kf8 {and Black is practicing the ancient art of addition by subtraction.}) 35. fxe5 Nxe5 36. b5 Nxf3 {A tiny inaccuracy, according to the silicon devils. 36...Kf8 was a touch better, but it's hard to resist grabbing the bishop. The difference between the resulting position here and those in the note to Black's 34 move is easy to see: Black retained a solid pawn chain in those variations - the isolated d-pawn is et another weakness to defend. It's also easy to think both players were getting a little short of time here, though I can't know that either way. The time control was G/100 with a 30 second increment.} 37. Kxf3 Rc8 38. Ra1 f6 {Will the bishop finally become active?} 39. Ra7 Rb8 40. Ne3 Bf7 {No, it won't! Another small inaccuracy by Black. The bishop belonged on e8, hitting a White pawn instead of a Black pawn.} 41. Nef5 Nc8 $18 (41... Nxf5 {looks better initially.} 42. Nxf5 Be6 (42... Kf8 43. Nd6 Ke7 {gets nowhere fast.}) 43. Nd6 { And} Bd7 {is better than The Fish's suggestion.} (43... d4 {is only slightly better than the game, in reality.}) 44. Ke3 Kf8 45. Kd4 Bxg4 46. Nxb7 Bxe2 { But at the end of the variation it looks about as bad as the game.} 47. b6 Bg4 48. Kc5 Rc8+ 49. Kb4 Rc6 50. Kb5 Rc1 51. Na5 {And it's becoming clear how much trouble Black is in.} Rb1+ 52. Kc5 Be2 53. b7 Bxd3 54. Nc6 Rxb7 55. Rxb7) 42. Ra1 g6 43. Nh6+ {Simple and best.} Kg7 44. Nxf7 Kxf7 45. Rc1 ({White's turn for a small slip.} 45. Rh1 {and if ...Ke7, the rook snaps up the g-pawn, and if ...Kg8, Black has lost a tempo with his king and now Rc1 is more effective.} Kg8 46. Rc1) 45... Ne7 $2 ({But Black gives it all back.} 45... Ke7 46. Rc7+ Kd6 47. Rf7 Ne7 48. Rxf6+ Ke5 {follows the endgame maxim that piece activity, both king and rook, is paramount in rook endings. White still has a significant plus, but Black can put up more of a fight. For example} 49. Re6+ Kxd4 50. Rxe7 Kc5 51. Rg7 Kxb5 52. Rxg6 Kc5 {and Black's active king and b-pawn give good hopes of salvaging a draw.}) 46. Rc7 Ke8 47. Ne6 Kf7 48. Rxb7 Rxb7 49. Nd8+ Ke8 50. Nxb7 Kd7 51. Nc5+ Kc7 52. Na4 Nc8 53. Kf4 Nd6 $18 54. b6+ $2 $16 Kc6 55. g5 $2 {The second small error, but the two of them (moves 54 & 55) mostly let Black off the hook. These would be the errors that IM Maharramzade referred to in his comment.} fxg5+ 56. Kxg5 d4 57. Kf6 Kb5 $4 ({ Black gives it all back with interest!} 57... g5 58. b7 Kxb7 59. Kxg5 Kc6 60. Kf4 Kd5 {White would have a tough time winning.}) 58. Ke6 {White is simply winning. Or winning simply, if you prefer.} Nb7 59. Nb2 Kxb6 60. Kd5 Kc7 61. Nc4 Nd8 62. Kxd4 Ne6+ 63. Ke5 Kd7 64. d4 g5 65. d5 Nf4 66. e4 Ne2 67. Ne3 Ng1 68. Kf6 Nf3 69. e5 Nh2 70. Kxg5 1-0