2003 Best Games - MetroWest Chess Club

(1) Vishva Krishnamurthy (2055) - Jeff Penta (1845) [A68] MCC Winter Warmer Swiss (2), 14.01.2003 [jsc] Winner, MCC Best Games Contest, Opening Prize 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 c5 4.d5 Bg7 5.e4 d6 6.f4 0-0 7.Nf3 e6 8.Bd3 exd5 9.cxd5 b5!? A bold pawn sacrifice that exploits the weakness of White's e-pawn. 10.Bxb5 Nxe4 11.Nxe4 Qa5+ 12.Kf2 Qxb5 13.Nxd6 Qa6 14.Nxc8 Rxc8 The dust has settled and White is a passed pawn up, but his king is exposed. 15.Re1 [>=15.Qe2 ] 15...Nd7 16.Ne5? White loses his way. Getting the king to safety was the first priority. It's hard to believe but Black now actually has a forced win which he almost finds. [16.Kg1 ] 16...Nxe5 17.fxe5 Bxe5 18.Qe2 Bd4+ 19.Be3 Qf6+ 20.Kg1 Re8 21.Qf2 Rxe3 22.Rxe3 22...Qxf2+? [And now Black could have achieved a well-deserved victory with the following maneover: 22...Qg5! 23.Rae1 Rd8! 24.h3 Rxd5 25.b3 Rf5-+ ] 23.Kxf2 Re8 24.Rae1 Kf8 25.Kf3 Rxe3+ 26.Rxe3 Bxe3 27.Kxe3 Ke7 28.Ke4 Kd6 29.g4 h6 30.h4 a6 31.g5 hxg5 32.hxg5 a5 33.a4 Ke7 34.Ke5 Kd7 35.Kf6 1-0

(2) Henry Forber-Pratt (1173) - John McLaughlin (1425) [C50] MCC May Swiss (4), 27.05.2003 [jsc] Runner-Up, MCC Best Games Contest, Opening Prize 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6 4.0-0 Nf6 5.d3 Bc5 6.c3 d5 7.exd5 Nxd5 8.Re1! An excellent move hits at Black's Achilles' heel. Even masters playing this position have not found this move. 8...f6? [Black's best chance was to abandon the e-pawn and castle: 8...0-0 ] 9.d4! The winning move. White finds the right follow-up to Re1. Now the exposure of Black's king will prove fatal. 9...Bb6 10.dxe5 Nce7 11.h3 f5 12.Bxd5 Qxd5 13.Qxd5 Nxd5 14.b3 Be6 15.c4 Nb4 16.Ba3 Nc2 17.Re2 Nxa1 18.c5 Nxb3 19.axb3 Bxc5 20.Bxc5 b6 21.Nd4 Bd5 22.Ba3 c5 23.Nxf5 Bxb3 24.Nxg7+ Kf8 25.Nf5 Rd8 26.Bb2 Rd1+ 27.Kh2 Rxb1 28.e6 Bxe6 29.Nd6 Ke7 30.Nf7 Kd7 31.Bxh8 Bxf7 32.Ra2 a5 33.Ra4 Rb4 34.Ra3 c4 35.f3 Bd5 36.Kg3 Rb3 37.Ra4 c3 38.Rd4 Kc6 39.Rd3 b5 40.Rxc3+ Rxc3 41.Bxc3 b4 42.Bg7 a4 43.Kf2 a3 44.Ke2 b3 45.Kd2 Kb5 46.Kc3 Ka4 47.f4 a2 48.Kb2 Kb4 49.f5 Kc4 50.f6 a1Q+ 51.Kxa1 Kc3 52.f7+ Kc2 53.f8Q black resign 1-0

(3) Matt Phelps (1572) - Alan Beck (1749) [B01] MCC Winter Warmer Swiss (1), 07.01.2003 [jsc] Winner, MCC Best Games Contest, Middlegame Prize 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qd6 4.Nf3 a6 5.d4 b5 6.Bd3 Nf6 7.Be3 Bb7 8.Qe2 e6 9.0-0-0 Be7 10.Ne5 0-0 11.Rhg1 Qd8 12.g4 Nbd7 13.g5 Nd5 14.Nxd5 Bxd5 15.Bxh7+! Even Fritz could not find this move because the attack unfolds slowly. Matt's keen judgment tells him that his chances are excellent. In fact this move wins in all variations. 15...Kxh7 16.Qh5+ Kg8 17.Rg3! This rook lift is the key to victory. 17...Nxe5 [17...f5 18.Nxd7 Bxg5 (18...Qxd7 19.g6 Rfe8 20.Qh7+ Kf8 21.Qh8# ) 19.Nxf8 wins back a rook for the sacficed piece and is hopeless for Black] 18.Rh3? [Giving Black the chance to get away. The right move was to take the knight so that if f5/f6 then g6 is fatal. With the knight on e5 it can take the g6 pawn. 18.dxe5 g6 19.Qh6 And Black can only prevent mate by giving up his queen.] 18...f5? [Black returns the favor. After this move White misses no opportunities. A save was possible with the other pawn push: 18...f6 19.dxe5 fxg5 20.f4 Rf5 21.Qh7+ with a draw by perpetual check (21.Rg1 Qf8 ) ] 19.dxe5 Bxg5 20.Bxg5 Qe8 21.Qh7+ Kf7 22.Rh6! flashy 22...Rg8 23.Rxd5! Qc6 [23...exd5 24.Qxf5# ] 24.Rf6+ Ke7 25.Rxf5+ black resign 1-0

(4) David Martin (1629) - Lomer Cormier (1469) [C44] MCC Spring Swiss (1), 01.04.2003 [jsc] Memorial Prize Dedicated to Lomer Cormier, MCC Best Games Contest 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.c3 Nf6 4.d3 d5 5.Bg5 Be6 6.exd5 Qxd5 7.Nbd2 Bc5 8.Bxf6 gxf6 9.b4 Bb6 10.c4 Qd7 11.Ne4 Ke7 12.c5 Nxb4 13.cxb6 axb6 14.a4 Rhd8 15.Nc3 Nxd3+ 16.Bxd3 Qxd3 17.Qxd3 Rxd3 18.Nb5 Rc8 19.0-0 c6 20.Na3 Black has made the best of losing a piece earlier and now will attempt to mobilize his pawn majority. 20...Bb3! hitting the "weakling" as Fischer would call it 21.Nb1?! a waste of time, Rfb1 and Kf1-e2 was called for 21...Ra8! Black has developed so much potential that he even has the advantage now, even though a piece down. 22.Nbd2 Bxa4! White's Knight maneover has just made his pieces more vulnerable than ever 23.Nc4? Helping the pawns advanced. In Japanese they call this a "thank you move". [23.Rfb1 ] 23...b5 24.Nb6 Ra6 25.Nxa4 bxa4! Black has a winning position now. There is no way for the Knight to stop the pawns assisted by the rook. Note that Black's rooks are ideally posted: one behind the pawns and one to the side. 26.Rfb1 Rb3 27.Nd2 Rxb1+ 28.Nxb1 b5 29.Nc3 a3 30.Kf1 b4 31.Nb1 a2 32.Nd2 c5 33.Nc4 b3 34.Ke2 Ra4 35.Nb2 Rb4 36.Kd2 Kd6 37.Kc3 Kd5 38.Nd1 Kc6 39.Kb2 Kb5 40.Ne3 Ka4 41.Nd5 Rd4 42.Nc3+ Kb4 43.Rd1 a1Q+ 44.Rxa1 Rd2+ This game which was judged without knowledge of the player's identities won the vote for best endgame though Lomer had passed away a few weeks previously. The endgame prize is dedicated to his memory. 0-1

(5) Mary Murphy (1052) - Anthony Payne (998) [D02] MCC Winter Warmer Swiss (4), 28.01.2003 [jsc] Winner, MCC Best Games Contest, Ending Prize 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bd2 Bg4 4.Ne5 Nf6 5.h3 Be6 6.Nc3 Nxd4 7.e3 Nf5 8.Bd3 g6 9.0-0 Qd6 10.Nf3 Bh6 11.Nb5 Qd7 12.Re1 c6 13.Nbd4 Qc7 14.Nxf5 Bxf5 15.e4 dxe4 16.Nh4 exd3 17.Bxh6 dxc2 18.Qc1 Bd3 19.Bg7 Rg8 20.Bxf6 0-0-0 21.Rxe7 Rd7 22.Re3 Qd6 23.Nf3 Qxf6 24.Ne5 Rd6 25.Nxd3 Rgd8 26.Qxc2 Qf5 27.Rf3 Qd7 28.Ne5 Rd2 29.Nxd7 [29.Qb3 Qd4 30.Rxf7 Rxb2 31.Qe6+ Kb8 32.Nd7+ Ka8 33.Qe7 Qh8 34.Rd1 is fatal for Black] 29...Rxc2 30.Rxf7 Rxd7 31.Rxd7 Kxd7 White must try to generate enough activity to draw. 32.b4 b5 33.a4 33...Rc4 34.axb5! cxb5 35.Rxa7+ Kd6 36.Rxh7 Rxb4 Now Black is in trouble because White's rook has been allowed to run wild. 37.Rh6 Rb2 38.Rxg6+ Kc5 39.Rg5+? [Why chase the king to a better square? The h-pawn is unstoppable. 39.h4 b4 40.h5 Kc4 41.h6+- ] 39...Kc4 40.Rg8 b4 41.Rb8 Rb1+ 42.Kh2 b3 43.Kg3? [43.h4 Kd5 44.h5 wins because the king cannot reach the h-pawn in time] 43...Kc3 44.f4 [44.h4 The distant pawn was the one to mobilize first.] 44...Rd1 45.Rxb3+ Kxb3 46.Kg4 Rd8 47.Kg5 Rg8+ 48.Kf6 Rxg2 Black has salvaged the draw. 49.f5 Kc4 50.Ke6 Kd4 51.f6 Rf2 52.Ke7 Ke4 53.h4 Ke5 54.f7 Rxf7+ 55.Kxf7 Kf5 56.h5 Kg5 57.h6 Kxh6 1/2-1/2

(6) William Stein (1726) - Peter Karp (1648) [B30] MCC Spring Swiss (3), 15.04.2003 [jsc] Runner-up, MCC Best Games Contest, Middlegame Prize 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.c3 e5 4.Bd3 d6 5.h3 Be7 6.Bc2 a6 7.a4 b6 8.d3 Be6 9.Nbd2 h6 10.0-0 Nf6 11.Re1 0-0 12.Nf1 Qd7 13.Kh2 Nh7 14.Ng3 b5 15.d4 cxd4 16.cxd4 exd4 17.Nxd4 Nxd4 18.Qxd4 Bf6 19.Qd3 Bc4 20.Qd1 Rad8? Up to this point Black has consolidated a bit of an advantage due to his greater piece activity but this lackluster move throws it away. Necessary was b4! to keep White bottled up (notice that White cannot move the QB). 21.Ra3! A brilliant rook lift by White! 21...b4 too late for this now 22.Rf3 Ng5? In this position Black needed to sit tight with Rfe8 which activates the rook and gives the king some breathing room. [22...Rfe8 ] 23.Rxf6!! Material does not matter to White, it's all about exposing that enemy king! 23...gxf6 24.Nf5! White's passive knight becomes a monster. 24...Nh7 [Another futile attempt to defend is: 24...b3 25.Bb1 d5 26.Nxh6+! Kg7 27.Nf5+ Kg8 28.Qg4!+- breaks down all resistance] 25.Bxh6 Good move. White is not tempted by the less effective Nxh6+ just because it is a check. 25...Kh8 26.Qg4 Rg8 [26...Ng5 27.Bg7+ Kg8 28.Bxf6 leads to mate as well] 27.Bg7+ black resign 1-0