Arkansas Championship - Computer Aided Humility
It used to be that, after a good tournament, one could congratulate oneself on playing pretty well, on the whole. Nowadays, I feed my game to my computer, and it instantly tells me what an idiot I am, and how imbecilically I played. Call it AH - Artificial Humility. Luckily, I played humans.
In my first game I tried a (ahem) speculative type of Benoni as black, the Umbarger variation of the Fayetteville Countergambit.
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5 4. cxb5 Qa5+ 5. Nc3 Bb7!? 6. Bd2 Qb6 7. e4 e6 8. Bc4?! (8. Qb3; 8. Qe2) 8... Nxe4 9. dxe6 dxe6 10. Nxe4 Bxe4 11. Nf3 Nd7 12. O-O Qb7 13. Be2 Be7 14. Bc3 Nf6 15. Ne1 (15. Qa4) 15... O-O =/+ 16. a4 Rfd8 17. Qc1 Nd5 18. Bf3 Nxc3 19. bxc3 Bf6 20. Bxe4 Qxe4 21. Ra2? Qc4 22. Ra3 h6 23. Qc2? (23. Nc2) 23... Rd6!9 24. Qb3 Qxb3 25. Rxb3 c4 26. Ra3 a6 27. b6 Rxb6 28. Nc2 Rb3 29. Rc1 Bxc3 30. Ra2 Bb2 31. Rxb2 Rxb2 32. Ne3 Rc8 33. Rc3 Rb1+ 34. Nf1 Rd8 0-1
Paul Hill shouldn't have given up the center with ... exd4 in his Pirc Defense. His idea of castling on the queenside was ... wrong, especially since he had played ...a6 making it easy for white to open lines with b4-b5. White's attack crashed through before black could get a hint of counterplay.
1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Bd3 g6 4. c3 e5 5. f4 exd4? 6. cxd4? Bg4 7. Nf3 Bg7
8. Nc3 Nc6 9. Be3 a6 10. O-O Qd7 11. h3 Bxf3 12. Qxf3 O-O-O 13. Rac1 Kb8 14. d5
Na7 15. Rc2 Rhe8 16. Rfc1 Re7 17. b4 Ne8 18. Qf2 Nc8 19. Bd4 Bxd4 20. Qxd4 Nb6
21. a4! Nc8 22. a5! Na7 23. Rb1 c6 24. dxc6 Nxc6 25. Qb6 Qc7 26. Qf2 Nf6 27.
Nd5 Nxd5 28. exd5 Qd7 29. dxc6 bxc6 30. Qb6+ 1-0
In my next game, I was doing okay in a Sicilian Kan, when my opponent delivered a wonderful (for him) bolt from the blue. I had totally overlooked it. I thought about resigning on the spot, but I played on a few moves and then resigned. See if you can find it. White to move and win.
I just grabbed a pawn with ...Bxf2 instead of calmly trading queens with ...Qf4ch with an equal game. Oh, well. If you play the Sicilian, these things happen.
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 5. Bd3 Bc5 6. Nb3 Ba7 7. Nc3 Nc6 8.
Qg4 Nf6 9. Qh4 d6 10. Bg5 Ne5 11. O-O-O Ng6 (11... h6! 12. Qh3 O-O=/+) 12.
Qg3 h6 (12... Nh5 13. Qg4 (13. Bxd8? Nxg3 14. hxg3 Kxd8=/+) 13... Nf6 14.
Qf3 h6) 13. Bxf6 Qxf6 14. Qxd6 Bxf2?? (14... Qf4+ 15. Qxf4 Nxf4 16. e5
Nxg2 17. Rhg1 Nh4 18. Rxg7 Nf3 19. Ne4 Nxe5=) 15. Nb5! Qe7 16. Nc7+ Kf8
17. Qxe7+ Kxe7 18. Nxa8 Bd7 19. Nc7 Rc8 20. Nxa6 bxa6 21. Kb1 Rc6 22. Rhf1 Ba7
23. Be2 Ne5 24. Nd4 Rb6 25. Nf3 Bb8 26. b3 Nxf3 27. Rxf3 Bxh2 28. g3 1-0
In my game with She, I played the Fayetteville Countergambit ( 4 ...Qa5) again. This time, instead of Lance Umbarger's favorite line, I played the normal Benko Gambit move ...a6. I think this is safer and quite okay for black. I haven't played the Benko much, so I tried not to worry about being a pawn down, and kept on asking myself, "What would Benko play here?" I did miss a better continuation in the middle game (18 ...Qa6) and actually had a worse game for a while, but I managed to outplay my opponent in the endgame, getting my king active sooner. I reached this position. How did I win it? Black to move.
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5 4. cxb5 Qa5+ 5. Nc3 a6 6. bxa6 Bxa6 7. Bd2 Qb6 8.
Qc2 d6 9. e4 Bxf1 10. Kxf1 g6 11. g3 Bg7 12. Kg2 O-O 13. Nf3 Nbd7 14. h3 Rfb8
15. Rhb1 Ne8 16. Be3 Qb4 (16... Qa6!) 17. Nd2 Nc7 18. a3 Qa5 19. Ra2 Qa6 20.
b4 Nb5 21. Nxb5 Rxb5 22. bxc5 Nxc5 23. Rxb5 Qxb5 24. Bxc5 dxc5 25. a4 Qb4 26.
Qc4 Bc3 27. Qxb4 cxb4 28. Nb3 f5 29. f3 (29. Kf3! Kf7 30. a5 Kf6 31. Ke3 Ke5
32. f3+/-) 29... Kf7 30. Kf2 fxe4 31. fxe4 Kf6 32. a5 Ke5 33. Re2? (33.
Ke3+/-) 33... Bd4+ -/+ 34. Kg2 Rc8 (34... Ba7) 35. a6 Ra8 36. Na5 Bc3 37. a7
Kd4 38. Rf2 Kd3 39. Nc6 b3 40. Rf3+ Kc4 41. Nxe7 Rxa7 42. d6 Ra2+ 43. Rf2 Bd4
44. Rxa2 bxa2 45. d7 Bb6 (45... a1=Q 46. d8=Q Qg1+ 47. Kf3 Qe3+ 48. Kg4 h5+ 49.
Kh4 Bf6#) 46. Nc8 Bc7 47. Nd6+ Kb4 0-1
Steven Bellesario's early 4 ...Nc6 in the Sicilian Alapin is probably not best. Most players play 4 ...Nf6 instead, since that allows black to maintain the center pressure. After Steven's ...Nc6, the threat of c4 and d5 almost forces Black to play c5xd4 clarifying the center as an IQP game. He missed the c4 + d5 threat, and got a bad game out of the opening. I missed a shot on move 11. See if you can find it. The darn computer makes me look like a dimwit! Why didn't I see that?
As it turned out, he missed a threat a few moves later and let me win that silly-looking knight on e5 - trapped in broad daylight!
1. e4 c5 2. c3 d5 3. exd5 Qxd5 4. d4 Nc6 5. Nf3 Bg4 6. Be2 Nf6 7. h3 Bh5 8. c4
Qd6 9. d5 Ne5? 10. Nc3+/- (10. O-O Bxf3 11. Bxf3 O-O-O 12. Bf4 +/- e6 13.
Re1 Nfd7 14. Bg3 f6 15. dxe6 Qxd1 16. Bxd1 Nb6 17. b3 +-; 10. Nxe5 Qxe5 11. g4
Bg6 12. f4 Qe4 13. Rf1 e6 14. Qa4+ Kd8 15. Nc3 Qg2 16. dxe6 fxe6 17. Be3 Kc8
18. O-O-O +-) 10... a6? (10... Bxf3 11. Bxf3 Qa6 12. b3 +/-) 11. O-O (11.
Nxe5! Qxe5 12. f4 Bxe2 13. Qa4+ b5 14. Nxb5 +- Bxc4+ 15. fxe5 Bxb5 16. Qb3)
11... Bxf3 12. Bxf3 g6 13. Bf4 Bg7 14. Re1 Nfd7 15. Rc1 (15. Be2! Nf3+ 16.
Bxf3 Qxf4 17. d6 e6 18. Nd5) 15... O-O 16. Bh2 Rfe8 17. Be2 Rad8? (17... f5
18. Bf1 +/- Qf6 19. Rb1) 18. f4 Nxc4 19. Bxc4 b5 20. Bf1 (20. Be2!) 20... Nb6
21. f5 Qd7 22. fxg6 hxg6 23. b3 Bd4+ 24. Kh1 Nxd5 25. Nxd5 Qxd5 26. a4 Qb7 27.
Qf3 Qb6 28. Be5 bxa4 29. bxa4 Qa5 30. Bc4 e6 31. Bxd4 (31. Qf6! Bxe5 32. Rxe5
Qc7 33. Rf1 Rd6 34. Rxc5) 31... cxd4 32. Rf1 (32. Re4! Qh5 33. Rd1 Qxf3 34.
gxf3 e5 35. f4 exf4 36. Rxf4) 32... Rd7 33. Qc6 (33. Bd3 Qxa4 34. Be4) 33...
Red8 34. Qxa6 (34. Bxe6! fxe6 35. Rc5 Qd2 36. Qxe6+ Kh7 37. Rf7+ Rxf7 38.
Qxf7+ Kh6 39. Qe7 Qd1+ 40. Kh2 +-) 34... Qxa6 35. Bxa6 d3 36. Rfd1 e5 37. Kg1
f5 38. Kf2 Kg7 39. Ke3 e4 40. h4 Kf6 41. Bb5 Rd5 42. Rc6+ Ke5 43. g3 Rb8 44.
Rxg6 (44. Rf1! d2 45. Rd1 Rbd8 46. Rxg6) 44... Rc8 45. Rc6 Rg8 46. Kf2 Rg4
47. Bc4 Ra5 48. Bb5 Ra7 49. Rc5+ Kf6 50. h5 Re7 51. Rc6+ (51. Rh1 e3+ 52. Kf3
e2 53. Bxd3) 51... Kg7 52. Rg6+ Rxg6 53. hxg6 e3+ 54. Ke1 d2+ 55. Ke2 Kxg6 56.
Bd3 Kg5 57. Rf1 Kg4 58. Bxf5+ Kxg3 59. Bc2 Rc7 60. Bd1 Rc1 61. Kxe3 Ra1 62.
Kxd2 1-0
Going into the last round, Tony Davis was leading by a half point. And I had black. Fortunately, the pairings turned out perfect for determining the Arkansas champion - the top contenders were playing in the last round for all the marbles! I was happy when Tony went into a sharp line where he grabbed my king knight pawn with his queen, but I get an attack. Someone's going to win this game! No worries about getting into a drawish position here. Tony chose the wrong queen retreat, and it looked like my attack would score a quick victory. But ... I missed a cruncher - that the computer found instantly, of course. See if you can find it. Black to move and consumate his brilliant attack.
But I missed that, and after Tony made some great defensive moves, like 15. Kh1 and 20. d4, he got the better game, being a pawn up. He messed it up with 25. Bxf6, when the game was about equal again. I missed 27 ...Qf5, and Tony was on top again. Once the queen's came off, the game was about equal, but as in my game with She, my endgame technique proved better. In this position, it is black to move and win.
This Sicilian Kan was annotated by Stockfish, which is very good at showing us humans how weakly we play.
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 5. Bd3 Bc5 6. Nb3 Ba7 7. O-O Nc6 8.
Qg4 Nf6 9. Qxg7 Rg8 10. Qh6 Rg6 11. Qd2? (11. Qh4 {0.92 v -0.80} 11... Ne5
12. Be2 d6 13. a4 Bd7 14. Nc3 Bc6 15. Bg5) 11... Ne5 12. Qe2 Nfg4 13. Bf4 (13.
g3 {-0.68 v -5.84} 13... Nxf2 14. Kg2 Nfg4 15. Nc3 d6 16. h3 Nf6 17. Bf4) 13...
Qf6 14. Bg3 (14. Be3 {-6.09 v -12.03} 14... Bxe3 15. fxe3 Qh4 16. h3 Qg3 17.
hxg4 Nxg4 18. Qxg4) 14... h5 (14... Nxh2 {-12.03 v -0.07} 15. Bxh2 Nf3+ 16. Kh1
Nxh2 17. g3 Nxf1 18. Kg2 Nxg3) 15. Kh1 (15. N1d2 {-0.07 v -1.12} 15... Rg8 16.
Kh1 Nxd3 17. cxd3 h4 18. e5 Qh6) 15... Nxd3 16. cxd3 h4 17. e5 Qh8 (17... Qf5
{-1.09 v 0.47} 18. Bxh4 Rh6 19. g3 Nxf2+ 20. Rxf2 Qxf2 21. Qxf2) 18. Bf4 h3
(18... d6 {0.40 v 2.22} 19. exd6 Qf6) 19. g3 b5 20. d4 Bb7+ 21. f3 Rc8 (21...
Nh6 {2.25 v 3.23} 22. Nc3 Nf5 23. Qd3 Bb6 24. Rfd1 Rd8 25. Ne4 Bd5) 22. Nc3 f5
23. exf6 (23. a4 {3.78 v 2.18} 23... b4 24. Na5 Ba8 25. Qxa6 Rc7) 23... Nxf6
24. Be5 Qh5 25. Bxf6? (25. Rae1 {2.29 v 0.31} 25... Rd8 26. Qd3) 25... Rxf6
26. Ne4 (26. Nd2 {0.40 v 0.00} 26... Bxd4 27. Nce4) 26... Bxe4 27. Qxe4 d5
(27... Qf5 {0.00 v 1.37} 28. Nd2 d5 29. Qh4 Rc7 30. Nb3 Rc2 31. Rad1 Rxb2) 28.
Qd3 (28. Qe3 {1.37 v 0.56} 28... Rc2 29. Rae1 Qg6 30. Rf2 Rxf2 31. Qxf2) 28...
Rc4 (28... Qf5 {0.56 v 1.40} 29. Qe3 Rc2 30. Rab1 Bb6 31. f4 Rg2) 29. Rae1 Kd7
30. Re5 (30. Na5 {1.40 v 0.15} 30... Rc7 31. Rf2 Qf5 32. Qd1 Bb6 33. Nb3 Rg6
34. f4) 30... Qg6 31. Qxg6 Rxg6 32. Rd1 Rc2 33. Rh5 Bb6 34. Rd2 (34. Rxh3 {0.00
v -0.31} 34... a5 35. Rh7+ Kd6 36. f4 a4 37. Nc5 Bxc5 38. dxc5+) 34... Rxd2 35.
Nxd2 Bxd4 36. Rxh3 Bxb2 37. Kg2 Kd6 (37... Rg7 {-0.95 v -0.63} 38. Kf1 Kd6 39.
f4 Rc7 40. Rh6 Bg7 41. Rg6) 38. Rh7 e5 (38... a5 {-0.47 v 0.00} 39. Rb7 Kc6 40.
Rb8 Be5 41. Rc8+ Kb7 42. Rc2 a4) 39. h4 Bc3 40. Nb1 (40. Ra7 {0.11 v -0.98}
40... Kc5) 40... d4 (40... b4 {-0.98 v 0.00}) 41. h5 Rg8 42. Rh6+ Kd5 43. Rxa6
e4 44. fxe4+ Kxe4 45. Kh3 (45. h6 {0.00 v -0.54} 45... Rh8 46. g4 Kf4 47. Kf2
Kxg4 48. Nxc3 dxc3 49. Ke2) 45... b4 46. Ra7 (46. g4 {-0.46 v -2.98} 46... Kd3
47. Rd6) 46... Kd3 (46... Rf8 {-2.98 v -2.33} 47. h6 Kd3) 47. a3 (47. Rd7
{-2.33 v -10.77} 47... Rf8 48. h6 Rh8 49. Rd6 Kc2 50. Nxc3 bxc3 51. Rxd4) 47...
b3 (47... Kc2 {-10.77 v -6.69} 48. axb4 Kxb1 49. Rd7 Kc2 50. g4 d3 51. h6 d2)
48. Rb7 (48. a4 {-6.69 v -13.73} 48... Rc8 49. Na3 b2 50. Rb7 Kd2 51. Rf7 d3
52. Kg2) 48... Kc2 49. h6 (49. a4 {-19.70 v -23.75} 49... Kxb1 50. Rxb3+ Kc2
51. Rb5 d3 52. Rf5 d2 53. Rf2) 49... Rh8 (49... b2 {-23.75 v -21.93} 50. Rg7
Rh8 51. Rf7 Kxb1 52. Rf1+ Kc2 53. Rf2+ Bd2) 50. h7 (50. Kg2 {-21.93 v -39.65}
50... b2 51. Nxc3 dxc3 52. h7 b1=Q 53. Rf7 Qd1 54. Rf2+) 50... Kxb1 51. Rxb3+
Kc2 0-1
Alex, Bill, Bhaju, and Les. Bill Orton won the championship for the third straight time.
[Event "Arkansas ch"]
[Site "Conway"]
[Date "2017.08.18"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Hunt, Daniel"]
[Black "Orton, Bill"]
[Result "0-1"]
[PlyCount "68"]
[Event "Arkansas ch"]
[Site "Conway"]
[Date "2017.08.19"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Orton, Bill"]
[Black "Hill, Paul"]
[Result "1-0"]
[PlyCount "59"]
[Event "Arkansas ch"]
[Site "Conway"]
[Date "2017.08.19"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Holmes, Joseph"]
[Black "Orton, Bill"]
[Result "1-0"]
[PlyCount "55"]
[Event "Arkansas ch"]
[Site "Conway"]
[Date "2017.08.19"]
[Round "4"]
[White "She, Chengyue"]
[Black "Orton, Bill"]
[Result "0-1"]
[PlyCount "94"]
[Event "Arkansas ch"]
[Site "Conway"]
[Date "2017.08.20"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Orton, Bill"]
[Black "Bellesario, Steven"]
[Result "1-0"]
[PlyCount "123"]
[Event "Arkansas ch"]
[Site "Conway"]
[Date "2017.08.20"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Davis, Tony"]
[Black "Orton, Bill"]
[Result "0-1"]
[PlyCount "102"]
