Let's Take A Look

Let's Take A Look...

Nigel Davies

We invite you to submit games to be considered by Nigel in this column. For all games submitted, please provide the following information: (1) Names of both players; (2) Ratings of both players; (3) When and where the game was played; (4) The time control used in the game; and (5) Any other information you think would be helpful for us to know. Please submit the games (in PGN or CBV format if possible) to: nigeldavies@chesscafe.com . Who knows, perhaps you will see the game in an upcoming column, as Nigel says to you, "Let's take a look..."

Those Promising Juniors...

The words 'promising junior' are something of a catch phrase in the UK but I've yet to figure out what they mean. When a player is called 'promising' is he being tipped as a potential Grandmaster, someone who will go on to enjoy international success? If this is the case then very few of those 'promising juniors' make the grade. Sometimes it's just life that gets in the way with people moving out of chess as their time is eaten up by academic, career and family responsibilities. But it can also be because they just don't enjoy playing and studying chess and are therefore unable to improve their game beyond a certain level. In junior chess you often find that a player with a quick eye, early competitive experience and tricky openings will do very well for a while. The problems start if they don't move on and learn some new stuff. As they face increasingly experienced opponents their trick lines dont work and tactics tricks are side stepped. The once-promising juniors can suddenly find themselves without any real weapons with which to win their

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games and often fail to understand why success suddenly eludes him. On the other hand you often see lesser lights come powering through the field in their late teens and twenties, long after they've been written off as potential stars. The fact is that most of todays Grandmasters were not child prodigies. Most of us just loved chess and our continued involvement in the game, through thick and thin, meant that we never stop learning and improving. This is why fostering the talent of young players is such a delicate job. In my experience pushy parents (who never seem to see themselves as pushy parents) and junior organisers usually end up killing the enthusiasm of the players they're supposed to be trying to help. For a while the kid sees that being good at chess is a way to gain attention. But then one day he or she realises that they're just being used as a means to reflect glory on some adult whose own ambitions were frustrated. At this stage I can't resist quoting the poet, Kahlil Gibran; FIDE, the World Chess Federation, should make this required reading for all chess parents:
"Your children are not your children. They are the sons and daughters of life's longing for itself. They come through you but not from you. And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

"You may give them your love but not your thoughts. For they have their own thoughts. You may house their bodies but not their souls. For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams. You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you. For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday." This month's game is a very interesting battle between a
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former 'promising junior' and a very late developer. Twentyfive years ago Stuart Fancy a teenage chess star in England, but he gave up chess and emigrated to Papua New Guinea. He came back to chess in the early 1980s and won a gold medal in the Olympiads. But he never fulfilled his early promise. His opponent is Joselito Marcus whose win against Siban was featured in an earlier column. Very much a late developer the game featured here enabled him to win the Championship of Papua New Guinea for the first time. Ill let Mr. Marcus set the scene himself: "From the outset the competition gradually developed into a race between ex-champion Stuart Fancy and me - the only pair of internationally rated active Papual New Guinea players. While he routinely beat upstarts in the early rounds, I have to overcome more formidable and experienced opponents that included Olympians Allan Luga (Manila 1992, Istanbul 2000, Bled 2002) and Mark Aiio (Manila 1992). "Fancy and I had a perfect score of 5 points apiece before we faced off in the crucial sixth round. Our exciting duel of wits arising from a French Defense
provided the tournaments highlight as we appeared to be evenly

matched. But in middle-game skirmishes, I decided to jettison two pawns to unleash a ferocious king side attack that the defending champion was unable
to fend off."

Fancy,S (2195) - Marcos,J (2200) French Defence Papua New Guinea Championship, Port Moresby 2003 1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 e5 c5 4 c3 Nc6 5 Nf3 Bd7 6 Bd3!? An old-fashioned line with violent intent. The usual preference these days is 6 Be2.

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6...Qb6 Fancy was no doubt hoping for 6...cxd4 7 cxd4 Qb6 when I'm quite sure he'd offer the Milner-Barry Gambit with 8 Nc3 Nxd4 9 Nxd4 Qxd4 10 0-0. This was all the rage in Britain in our junior days, the leading young exponent being Michael Stone from Cheshire. Now I wonder what happened to him... 7 dxc5 Bxc5 8 0-0 a5!? This is quite a sensible move, preventing b2-b4 and leaving White tied to the defence of his b2 pawn. This position has been widely used to show that one can also control of the centre with pieces. In the classic encounter, Nimzowitsch - Salwe, Karlsbad 1911, Black played 8...f6 but after 9 b4 Be7 10 Bf4 fxe5 11 Nxe5 Nxe5 12 Bxe5 Nf6 13 Nd2 0-0 14 Nf3 Bd6 15 Qe2 Rac8 16 Bd4 Qc7 17 Ne5, White had a clear advantage because of his grip on the d4 and e5 squares. 9 Qe2 'Overprotecting' the e5 square is the correct strategy in such positions according to Nimzowitsch. White's main alternative is 9 Nbd2 after which play might continue 9...f6 (9...a4!? is also interesting as it stops White's knight on d2 going to b3 and then d4) 10 Qe2 (The adventurous 10 b4!? axb4 11 c4 was tried in Yukhtman - Vaganian, USSR 1971) 10...fxe5 11 Nxe5 Nxe5 12 Qxe5 Nf6 13 Nf3 0-0 14 Qe2 Bd6 15 Ne5 Qc7 16 Re1 Rae8 17 Bg5 Bc8 18 Bh4 Nd7 (Kaidanov - Suetin, Dubna 1979), and now 19 Bg3 still seems slightly better for White because of his continuing control of the e5 square. The best way for White to develop might well be 9.Na3!? after which 9...Nge7 (9...Bxa3 10 bxa3 shatters White's
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queenside pawn structure but leaves Black very weak on the dark squares.) 10 Qe2 Ng6 11 h4 (11 Nc2 is also possible here) 11 f6 12 exf6 gxf6 13 Nc2 0-0-0 14 b4!? axb4?! (14...Bd6 is better) 15 cxb4 Nxb4? 16 Rb1 led to a quick victory for White in Farago,S - Mullner, Hungary 1999. 9...Nge7 Black concentrates on development for the time being, rather than trying to undermine White's pawn centre straight away. The immediate 9...f6 was played in the game Rubinetti Ivkov, Palma de Mallorca (izt) 1970, with Black getting a reasonable game after 10 Bf4 (10 c4!? has also been tried, but Black is doing well after 10...Nge7 11 Nc3 Nxe5 12 Nxe5 fxe5 13 cxd5 exd5 14 Qxe5 0-0 because of the pressure against f2) 10...Nge7 11 Nbd2 Ng6 12 Bg3 0-0 etc. 10 Bf4 At this point White stopped to think for the first time but had still only used 5 minutes on the clock. Actually I don't like this move as it results in White's bishop being committed to a passive square; it seems better to play either 10 Nbd2 or 10 Na3. 10...Ng6 11 Bg3 Nce7!? Temporarily delaying the undermining of e5, though carrying this out more directly seems like quite a good plan. The game Nun - Kupreichik, Germany 1991 went 11...0-0 12 h4 f6 13 Bxg6 hxg6 14 exf6 Rxf6 15 Nbd2 Qxb2 16 Rab1 Qxc3 17 Nb3 Ba3 18 Rfd1 Raf8 19 Rd3 Qc4 and White was struggling to justify his 'sacrifice' of two pawns. 12 Rd1 0-0 13 h4!? Apparently White played this with an air of confidence but he was probably overestimating his chances. Even at this stage I would prefer 13 Na3.

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13...f5 14 exf6 Rxf6 Suddenly White started thinking. With Black's knight about to land on f4 it turns out that his 13th move has achieved little apart from weakening his king side. 15 c4 Nf4 16 Bxf4 Rxf4 17 Nc3 Raf8 18 Rac1 e5!? An aggressive and enterprising way to play the position; Black hadn't calculated everything when he played this move, but his 'instinct' turns out to be right. He had a good alternative in 18...Rxh4 which wins a pawn (19 Nxh4? Rxf2 wins on the spot). 19 Nxd5 Nxd5 20 cxd5 Bg4 21 Bxh7+ Black had missed this tactic, and maybe White should have missed it too. It was probably worth trying 21 Qc2 as then Black has to find 21Bxf3 22 gxf3 Be3!! 23 fxe3 Qxe3+ 24 Qf2 (24 Kg2 Qxf3+ leads to mate) 24...Rg4+! which wins White's queen. 21...Kh8? This looks like the safe option but in fact it misses a win. Black should take the bishop with 21...Kxh7 after which 22 Qc2+ e4! 23 Qxc5 (23 Ng5+ Kg8 24 Qxc5 Qxc5 25 Rxc5 Bxd1 wins a whole rook) 23...Qxc5 24 Rxc5 exf3 leaves him a piece up. 22 Qc2? White thought for some 15 minutes over this move, but chooses the wrong path. He should play 22 Bb1 after which 22...Bxf3 23 gxf3 Rxf3 can be met by 24 Qxe5 Bxf2+ 25 Kg2 Rg3+ 26 Kh1 Rh3+ 27 Kg2 Rg3+ with a draw.
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22...Bxf3 23 gxf3 Bd4?! Once again the surprising 23...Be3! looks like the best, as after 24 fxe3 Qxe3+ 25 Qf2 (25 Kg2 Qxf3+) 25...Rg4+ White loses his queen. 24 Be4 24Qh6!! 25 Qc8!? Played after a long think, but possibly not the best. In his notes to the game Mr. Marcos pointed out that 25 Rxd4 is met by 25...Rxh4 26 Kf1 Rh1+ 27 Ke2 Rxc1 and that after 25 h5 White would find it difficult to meet 25...Rh4! (for example, 26 Bg6 is met by Qf4 27 Rxd4 Qh2+ 28 Kf1 Qh1+ 29 Ke2 Qxf3+ etc). White's best practical chance might be to head for the hills with 25 Kf1. 25...g6 And not 25...Rxc8?? 26 Rxc8+ followed by mate. But Black had a strong alternative in 25...Qxh4. 26 Qh3 Rxh4 27 Qg2 After 27 Qg3 there follows 27...Rh3 28 Qg4 (Or 28 Qg2 Rh5) 28 Rh1+ 29 Kg2 Qh2 mate. The rest of the game was played in mutual time-trouble, but Black doesn't let it slip. 27...Rh5! 28.Rc7 Rg5 Winning the queen.
29 Rxb7 Rxg2+ 30 Kxg2 Qg5+ 31 Kf1 Qh4 32 Rd2 Rc8 33 Rxd4 exd4 34 d6 Rc1+ 35 Ke2 Qh1 0-1

Further Reading
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The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran (Heinemann, 1970) A Treasury of Kahlil Gibran (Citadell Press, 1951) Chess in the Fast Lane by Michael Adams (Everyman, 1996) Queen of the King's Game by Zsuzsa Polgar and Jacob Shutzman (Atlantic Books, 1997)
Copyright 2003 Nigel Davies. All rights reserved.

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