Alan Lasser’s Game of the Week… May 17, 2009
I
played three rook endings on Thursday night , I'm combining them for the game
of the week.
The
first position it's black to move; black has the king on c8, the rook on d8,
and pawns on a7, b7, c7, g7, and h7.
White
has the king on c1, the rook on d7, and pawns on a2, b2, c3, c2, b2, and a2.
Ryan's
mistake was to leave the rook ending and go into the pawn ending. The passive
rook defense, Rb8, is the only way to survive. There are another 30 or 40
moves left to be played in the rook and pawn ending. At the right moment,
the black rook sacrifices the b pawn to get to an active position, hopefully
picking up pawns on the other side of the board to complicate matters.
White has the advantage, but there are going to many moves where
something could go wrong before this ending is actually won.
In
contrast, with the rooks off the board, these pawn endings are always lost.
White makes a passed pawn on the side where he has a majority and at the right
moment sacrifices the pawn to black to gain some tempos to be used wiping out
the pawns on the other side of the board, sometimes gaining a two pawn majority
or one pawn along with control of the queening square. This pawn ending
didn't last long when I found the push of the c pawn to clear the path and block
black's king from the pursuit of the a pawn.
CLICK
HERE to VIEW THIS GAME and ANIMATE THE MOVES
White Alan Lasser
Black Ryan Young
Event game/30
Site
Date 2009.05.14
Result 1-0
1 . . . Re7
2 Rxe7 Kxe7
3 Ke2 Ke6
4 Kd3 Kd5
5 a4 Kc5
6 b4+ Kd5
7 c4+ Ke5
8 a5 f5
9 f3 . . .
9.f4 is quicker, after 9...Kf4 10.Kd4 the Black king is cut off
from the queenside, where the white pawns will break through and queen first.
9 . . . g5
10 g3 h5
11 b5 h4
12 Ke3 f4+
13 gxf4+ gxf4+
14 Kd3 h3
15 Kc3 a6
16 c5 Kd5
17 c6
Resignation is appropriate, if 17...bc then 18.ba and the pawn
will queen on the a file because the black pawn on c6 is now an obstacle to his
king's pursuit.
The
position Alex Gleason could have played better starts with the king
on g2, the rook on f2, and pawns on h4, g4, g5, and c3. Black has the
king on c8, the rook on d7, the bishop on f6 and pawns on h7, f7, e6, c6 and
b7. It's White's to move and he captures the bishop with the pawn, when
the rook capture would have kept him in the game as both sides try to race their
passed pawns to be queens.
CLICK
HERE to VIEW THIS GAME and ANIMATE THE MOVES
White Alex Gleason
Black AL
Event skittles
Site
Date 2009.05.14
Result 0-1
1 gxf6 . . .
White's best is 1.Rf6 b5 2.Rh6 c5 3.Rh7 b4 4.bc bc 5.Rh6 b3 6.Rf6
b2 7.Rf2 Rb7 8.Rb1, I think black has a small advantage here, but any position
where your opponent has an advanced passed pawn is dangerous and double- edged.
1 . . . Rd3
2 Rc2 b5
3 g5 Kd7
An inaccuracy that gives White a drawing chance. Correct was 3...Kc7,
to answer 4.Ra2 with Kb7 to keep out the white rook.
4 h5 . . .
4.Ra2 now draws, 4...Rc3 5.Ra7+ Ke8 6.Re7 Kf8 7.Rb7 Ke8 8.Re7+ Kf8
9.Rc7 uses the mate threat to repeat the position. The alternative in this
line, 5...Kd6 6.Rf7 gives white the more dangerous passed pawn.
4 . . . Rd5
5 Kh3 Rxg5
6 Kh4 Rf5
Jonathon
Gleason played a very good game against me, until he missed a subtle way
to defend a crucial pawn. White has the king on e2, rooks on a1 and g3, a
bishop on d3 and pawns on h3, f3, e3, c2, b2, and a2. Black has the king
on c8, rooks on h4 and h8, a knight on f6, and pawns on h7, g6, f7, e6, c7, b7,
and a7
White Jonathon Gleason
Black AL
Event skittles
Site
Date 2009.05.14
Result 0-1
CLICK
HERE to VIEW THIS GAME and ANIMATE THE MOVES
1 e4 . . .
The fatal bunder. The h pawn has to be protected. 1.Rh1 is one way
to do that, but then both white rooks will be in passive positions, Black's
more active rooks will give him the advantage. The better, sneakier defense is
1.Kf2! where 1...Nh5 2.Rg4 Rh3 3.Kg2 costs Black a rook.
1 . . . Nh5
2 Rg4 Rxh3
3 f4 f5
4 exf5 exf5
5 Rg5 Nxf4+
6 Kd2 Nxd3
7 cxd3 Rd8
8 b4 Rdxd3+
9 Kc2 Rxa3
10 Rd1 Rh2+
11 Rd2 . . .
If 11.Kc1 then 11...Rc3 12.Kb1 Rb3 will pick up the last queenside
pawn
11 . . . Ra2+
Alan Lasser
email:
blacklightalanlasser@blacklightmazes.com
web
sites:
http://web.me.com/blacklightmazes
Connecticut Chess
Magazine is http://www.robroy8.com/chess.htm
Alan Lasser’s Game
of the Week is http://www.robroy8.com/AlanLasser.htm
Greetings, fellow
chess players of
Last evening, May 14
at 8:00 p.m., the New Britain Chess Club appeared on the "Inside-Out"
segment of Connecticut Public Television's "All Things
Connecticut", a new series hosted by Diane Smith. The NBCC's
appearance on local television makes this by far the greatest moment in our
club's sixty-plus year history. I truly want to take this opportunity to extend
my appreciation to those individuals who volunteered to be
interviewed - Treasurer Andris Strazdins, David Aldi and USCF National
Master Ted McHugh. During our five minute segment, the producer, Eric
Clemons, captured the heart and soul of our club with many excellent
photos. My personal favorite was the excitement captured on the faces of
Expert Derek Meredith and Danny Pascetta, our club's youngest member,
during their Blitz game.
An opportunity for
the NBCC to receive this outstanding publicity could never have happened
if it was not for the efforts of
I am forwarding you
a message that was sent to Rob from Jerry Franklin, President and Chief
Executive Officer of the Connecticut Public Broadcasting
Network. If you have seen the NBCC's segment on CPTV, Mr. Franklin
explains how you can do so.
To all members,
thank you for your continued support. Excellent job, guys! You make us
Best regards,
Bob Kozlowski
===========================================================================
Dear Mr. Roy,
Connecticut
Public Television is proud to present its latest original production, All Things
As
you know, CPTV recently worked with the New Britain Chess Club to create a
remarkable segment for All Things Connecticut: Inside Out on the game of chess,
which will air
tonight at 8:00 p.m. on CPTV.
To view tonight’s
segment visit http://www.cptv2.org/allthingsct/inside-out/chess I encourage you to alert your members,
friends and family of tonight’s broadcast and share the associated link. On behalf of CPTV and All Things Connecticut contributing producers,
thank you for being part of this original and innovative new series.
Sincerely,
Jerry
Franklin