Alok Singh (1840) Mike Splane (2239)
Kolti Chess Club July
26, 2007
Not much to say about this game. Alok
was clearly having an off night. He’s a much better player than this game shows.
1. Nf3 Nf6
I’m comfortable with an English after 2. c4 c5, this was what I was aiming for.
I’m ok with a Benoni after 2. d4 c5 3. d5 d6, because the knight on f3 eliminates all of the dangerous lines where White plays f4 and e5.
I was also willing to play 1…. c5 2.e4 e6, aiming for an open Sicilian, but preferred one of the other two options.
In our last game we played 2. g3 g6.
I was prepared to play more aggressively this time with 2. g3
c5 3. c4 Nc6 4. 0-0 d5.
2. d4
c5 3. g3
After 3. dc? e6 4. e3 Bc5 Black is better because he controls the e4 square, with a bit more space, similar to the Queen’s gambit with colors reversed. If White advances the e-pawn the Black bishop on the b6 f2 diagonal becomes too strong. I looked this position up at ChessLab.com and Black was winning or drawing every game.
3. d5 is usual and sensible, but I have noticed Alok likes to fianchetto his king bishop and a pawn on d5 would block its diagonal. Maybe that’s why he rejected this move.
3. c3 and 3. e3 look too passive, During the game I was planning to play 3. e3 dc.4. ed I would not have exchanged on d4 after 3. c3, because the pawn on c3 blocks his pieces. I would have played 3.c3 b6 and 4 . … Bb7, taking control of the e4 square.
3. … cd 4. Nd4 e5 5. Nb5?
The knight is simply too exposed here. He had to go back to f3. I was planning to play 5. Nf3 e4 6. Nd4 d5, after which I can quickly pile up pressure along the b6-f2 diagonal with Bc5, Qb6 and Nc6.
5. … d5
Now the threat is 6. … Qa5+ 7. N1c3 d4. or 7. Ndc3 d4. Perhaps he thought he had time for 6. Bg5 Be7 7. Bf6 Bf6 8. Qd5 Qd5 9. Nc7+ when he played his previous move.
6. a4
?
If this move is forced he is already dead. The tournament bulletin recommends 6. e3 which weakens some kingside squares but prevents the catastrophe that follows.
6. … a6
7. Nc3
If 7. Na3 I was planning 7. .. Bd7 8. b3 b5 and the a-pawn is hard to
defend,. After 9. ab ab
Black threatens to win immediately with 10. … b4
7. … d4 8. Na2
Five tempos wasted to move the knight to this miserable square. No wonder White is busted.
8.
. … Qd5 9. f3 ?
9. Rg1 followed by Bg2 puts up better resistance, but his king is not going to fare too well in the center. 9. f3, weakening the f1-b6 diagonal, as well as the key e3 square, can not be good.
9. … Nc6
I saw a lot of ideas here, but nothing looked completely convincing. He can’t block the position with 10. e4, I’ll just take it with my knight. It wasn’t clear exactly where my bishops belonged, so I developed the knight to see how he tries to get untangled.
If he leaves the bishop on c1 he can’t get the a2 knight back into the game, so I thought he might play b3 to develop his bishop to b2 or a3, but that weakens both the c2 pawn and the e3 square. The weakness of the e3 square is fatal if he trades bishops; a knight posted there is worth at least a rook.
If he waits, I’m going to pile up on the c2 square with …Qc5, …Bf5, and …Rc8, so he has to play c3 to break out of the bind. 9…Nc6 prepares 10. c3 Bf5 11. cd Nd4 12. e4 Be4
10. Bg2
Preparing to castle and also preparing c3
by stopping the … Bf5 idea.
Qc5
Stopping castling, since 11. 0-0 d3+ 12. e3 dc wins a piece. This move also takes aim at the weak squares on the c file.
11. Nd2
I was analyzing 11. b3 when he threatens the annoying Ba3, but I can live with that. He can’t afford to trade bishops because my knight quickly reaches e3.
If 11. c3 Be6 12 cd Nd4 he can’t guard c2, and if he doesn’t play cd I’ll play …Rd8 and threaten to capture with a discovery on his queen.
His position would be vastly improved if he had time for Kf1, Bd2-e1-f2, but the weakness on c2 will prove fatal long before he can get regrouped.
11. … Be6 12. Nb1?
12. . Nb3 was forced. I hadn’t decided what I would play after that.
12
. …. Ba2 13. Ra2 Nb4
Perhaps when Alok retreated his knight to b1, he saw this far and thought he could play Na3 here to guard c2, not noticing that the rook would also be under attack. 14. Ra3 Nc2+ 15. Kf1 Na3 16. Na3 Rc8 17. Bd2 Qb6 with a complete bind.
0-1