THE RED KNIGHTS FAILED AGAIN

 

For the umpteenth time The Red Knights (TRK) have failed to land their hands on the eluded National Closed Championship trophy and nobody except one Kelantanese has the National Master title in front of his name. I am not in the position to condemn any of TRK because I myself is not a National Master, but I can only comment according to their performance in the UMT.

TWO RED KNIGHTS

The Kelantan Closed 2012 had successfully ended. Nik Ahmad Farouqi had defended his title brilliantly, which include a win against our IM Mas Hafizulhelmi and of course, against Yours Truly. Our game was the highlight of Round 6, where most of the games had already finished.

Kelantan Closed 2012
Date: 28.01.2012
Round 6

White: Nik Ahmad Farouqi
Black: Yours Truly

1.e4 d6

I took 5 minutes to register this move, merely because I wanted to surprise Nik Ahmad Farouqi (NAF). It was not prepared specially for him, just that I nearly lost many of my games in this 45-minutes-to-the-finish tournament that I chose The Pirc to test his attacking ability.

2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 c6

Not a true Pirc with a Kingside Bishop fianchetto, where NAF would probably storm my castled position with his foot soldiers like many of his wins in this tournament.

4.h3 Nbd7 5.Nf3 e5 6.Be2 Be7 7.O-O O-O

Both sides had castled. The centre was still fluid as White did not state his intention of either to close the position or to open it up, yet.

8.Be3 Qc7 9.Re1 Rd8 10.Bf1 Nf8 11.a3 Ng6 12.Qc1 Nh5 13.dxe5 dxe5 14.g3

White stopped Black from infiltrating with a Knight at f4 square.

14... Be6 15.Rd1 f6 16.Rxd8+ Rxd8 17.Qe1 b6 18.Rd1

It was clear that White's intention was to simplify the game by exchanging the heavy pieces. Therefore, I tried to find something to play with the minor pieces after the imminent exchanges.

18... Bf8 19.Rd2 Ne7 20.Qd1 Rxd2 21.Bxd2 g6 22.Kh2 Nc8 23.Be3 Nd6

My plan was easy. Exchange as many pieces as I could, starting with the Bishops. This Knight jump was to exchange a pair of Bishops at c4 square.

24.Nd2 Nf7 25.Bc4 Qd7 26.Bxe6 Qxe6 27.Qe2 Bh6 28.Nc4 Bxe3 29.Nxe3 Ng5

After swapping all the Bishops, Black started the attack with his Queen and Knights. However, this plan was short lived as the King position was dreadful where White managed to tame the attacking Queen.

30.Qc4 Ng7 31.Kg2 Kf7 32.h4 Qxc4 33.Nxc4 N5e6 34.Nd6+ Kf8 35.Nc8 Ke8

NAF told me after the game that he did not want to calculate the consequence of taking a pawn at a7 where his marauding Knight might be trapped.

36.Nd6+ Kd7 37.Nc4 Nd4 38.Ne3 Nge6

Black Knights started to take centre positions to influence the game.

39.Na2 h5 40.Nc1 Nc5 41.f3 Kd6 42.Kf2 b5 43.c3 Nde6

44.g4 Nf4 45.gxh5 Nxh5 46.b4 Na4 47.c4 a6 48.Nb3 Nf4 49.c5+ Ke6 50.Na5 Kd7 51.Ng4 Nh5 52.f4

NAF started to play aggressively after seeing that I had not much time left. True enough, this move forced me to pause and think even though I was already in severe time trouble.

52... exf4 53.e5 fxe5 54.Nxe5+ Ke6 55.Nxg6 Kd5 56.Ne7+ Kd4 57.Naxc6+ Ke4 1-0

The game actually went on for some more moves before my flag was up.

Final top 10 standing (Open Category):

1		Nik Ahmad Farouqi	MAS	2069	7.5	42.5	39.75	35.5
2		IM Mas Hafizulhelmi	MAS	2388	7.0	41.0	34.00	31.0
3		Nik Mohd Nazri	MAS	1835	6.0	43.0	28.50	27.0
4		Yours Truly	MAS	2068	6.0	37.5	25.00	26.0
5		Muhd Al Firdaus Md Nazir	MAS	1505	5.5	39.0	24.75	24.5
6		Mohd Ezmi Mahmood	MAS	1805	5.5	28.0	19.50	22.0
7		Wan Mohamad Amirul	MAS	1435	5.0	38.5	24.00	23.5
8		Mohd Amin Mohd Noor	MAS	1835	5.0	38.0	17.50	29.0
9		Azudin Abdullah	MAS	1466	5.0	35.0	18.00	23.0
10		Norazlin Juarih	MAS	1521	5.0	34.5	17.00	22.0

You can read the full results at PCNK website or chessresults.com

MSSM GAME ANALYSIS : TAY YI WEN vs SITI NUR AFIQAH

White: Tay Yi Wen (Sarawak)
Black: Siti Nur Afiqah (Kelantan)
Event: MSSM Perlis 2010

1. d4 d6 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 g6 4. g3 Bg7


Siti Nur Afiqah played the Pirc and won in the previous round against Pahang, so it is understandable she tried it again in this round. Likewise, her opponent did not choose the best defense by playing the g3 setup.

5. Bg2 b6


Afiqah wanted to put her Bishop at the long diagonal, but this is not the correct way to do it. It is not recommended to succumb oneself to open attacks, especially when the opponent's Bishop is pointing straight at our Rook! Luckily, her opponent did not find the best move, or else Afiqah would be in a big trouble. Here, Afiqah should continue with castling and only after that play c6, Qc7, b6 and Bb7.

6. Ng5

Better is 6.Ne5 when the best black can do is push 6... d5 or lose a pawn. 6... dxe5 is messy when 7.dxe5 leaves Black an exchange and a pawn down. 7... Qxd1+, 8.Nxd1 Ng4, 9.Bxa8 c6, 10.f4

6... c6 7. d5 Bb7 8. dxc6 Bxc6 9. Nge4 O-O 10. Nxf6+ Bxf6 11. Bxc6 Nxc6

White should have not made wholesale simplifications which made life easier for Black. There is no weakness in Black's fortress; her Bishop is still guarding the fort whereas White's Bishop had been exchanged with its counterpart.

12. O-O Bg7 13. e4 Rc8 14. a3 f5

A good move, opening up an attacking line towards White's King.

15. Re1 Qd7 16. Rb1 Rf7 17. Be3 Ne5 18. Bd4 fxe4


By hook or by crook, White has to part ways with her Bishop with absolutely no chance to exchange Black's g7 Bishop with its demise.

19. Rxe4 Nf3+ 20. Kg2 Nxd4 21.h4?


A mistake. White should take the Knight and accept the material deficit. 21.Rxd4 Bxd4, 22.Qxd4

21...Ne6 22. Qg4 Nc5

Now all Black has to do is exchanging off all the pieces.

23. Qxd7 Nxd7 24. Nd5 e5 25. f4

Another mistake, but it is understandable when White is on the verge of resigning.

25...Rxc2+ 26. Kh3 Nf6 27. Nxf6+ Bxf6 28. fxe5 Bxe5 29. b4 Rc3 30. Rg4 Rxa3 31. h5 Kg7 32. Rg1 Rf5 33. hxg6 hxg634. Kg2 Ra2+ 35. Kh1??


The final mistake. Black mates in three.

35...Rh5+ 36. Rh4 Rxh4+ 37. gxh4 Rh2# 0-1

Final position

ROOK ENDGAME

White to move

White: iiumchessmaster (2294)
Black: mariomar (2346)
online game

Rook endgames are the most common type of chess endgames played in chess literature. Every chess players need to know how to play the rook endgames correctly to achieve victory. Even when you are a pawn up, there is no guarantee that you will win the game. Here, my opponent is a pawn up, but his rook position is passively guarding the passed d-pawn which I promptly block with my rook.

1.Rd5
Blocking the passed pawn and at the same time attacking the queenside pawns.

1.... Kf7
Trying to bring the King to more aggressive squares in the middle. The King also likes to replace the rook as the guardian of the passed pawn.

2.a4!
Giving Black no time to regroup by attacking the pawns.

2... bxa4 3.bxa4 Ke7 4.Ra5

Now Black has to choose between guarding the a-pawn or trying his luck with the passed d-pawn. He chose the latter.

4... f4 5.Rxa6 Re3 6.b4
Starting the passed pawns rolling.

6... Rb3 7.b5 Rb2+ 8.Kf1 Ke6

The Black King tries to cross over through the middle to help in delivering checkmate. In the meantime, White is banking on crowning one of his pawns to win the game.

9.Rb6 Ke5 10.a5 Kd4

Black throws away his passed pawn in his haste to checkmate White's King, which White duly accepts.

11.Rxd6+ Ke3 12.b6 Kxf3

Here Black should have take the draw with 12... Rb1+, but with his rating at stake, he tried to find a win. A quick glance at the board shows an ugly sight for White, but he has defensive resources.

13.Rd3+! Ke4 14.Ra3
Rook behind passed pawn, a basic rook endgame theory.

14... Kd5?
Again Black tries for a win, but this time there is no saving the game. He should have took the draw with 14... Rb1+.

15.a6 Rxb6 16.a7 1-0

Final position

CONGRATULATIONS, ALIZA!

Remember the girl in my drawing in my previous post? Well, recently I visited her at her new house in Bandar Sunway, Semenyih with my wife. We went to see her newborn baby, Aqif Naufal. He is a healthy boy, born 3.1 kg, three months ago. Aliza was a chess player for IIUM team. She is still actively involve in chess, albeit only as a coach at school level. I hope her students will one day become good chess players also, representing their states in MSSM tournaments.

Some of her pictures while still playing for IIUM:


Here is a game I played against her in one of our training sessions:

Yours Truly - Aliza
Training, 03.12.1997

1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.Bc4 e5 5.Nge2 Be6 6.d5 Na5 7.dxe6 Nxc4 8.exf7+ Kxf7 9.Bg5 Nb6 10.f3 Be7 11.Qd2 Nfd7 12.Bxe7 Qxe7 13.0-0-0 Rad8 14.Nb5 Nc5 15.Ng3 g6 16.h4 h5 17.Nf1 a6 18.Nc3 Nba4 19.Nd5 Qe6 20.Nxc7 Qxa2 21.Qd5+ Qxd5 22.Nxd5 Nd7 23.Nfe3 Rc8 24.Rd2 Rhd8 25.c4 Ke6 26.b3 Nac5 27.Kb2 Rf8 28.b4 Na4+ 29.Kb3 b5 30.Rhd1 Rfd8 31.cxb5 axb5 32.Rd3 Nac5+ 33.bxc5 Nxc5+ 34.Kb4 Nxd3+ 35.Rxd3 Rb8 36.Nc7+ Kd7 37.Ned5 Rf8 38.Ra3 Rb7 39.Ra6 Rfb8 40.Ra1 Kc6 41.Ne6 Kd7 42.Nec7 ½-½

MEMORABLE COMBINATIONS

Yours Truly - Lim Yeang Khee
GACC III (Round 6), 28.10.1998

This position arose from the Pirc Defense, and both sides were attacking their opponents King vigorously. Black has just played 26...Nd5, attacking my Queen. Do I run away, or do I plot another move?

27.Rxh7+
My first coach was an ex-National player who drills everybody into sacrificing, sacrificing and sacrificing your pieces in order to gain an advantage, or to burn your opponent's castle. Moves like this were filling my head during that time due to many exercises he gave us during the training sessions. Actually, if you really look into the position deeply, you can see that there is a possibility of a King hunt. You only have to pry open the castle's door by sacrificing a piece.

27...Kxh7 28.Qf7+ Kh6 29.Rh1+ Kg5 30.f4+ Nxf4
Even 30...Kg4 cannot help in view of 31.Qxg6+ Kxf4 32.Rh5 and mate is not that far away. I cannot help but smiled when he moved the Knight and captured the sacrificed (yes, another sacrifice, and its called 'clearance sacrifice' - according to some books) little pawn. It only made my task easier. By now there were many spectators gathering around our table; our teammates included.

31.Nf3+ Kg4 32.Rh4+ Kg3 33.Qxf4+ Kf2 34.Nd4+ 1-0
Boy, what a great feeling to come out victorious after the see-saw battle! Black surely had nightmares afterward, I know I will after being defeated by a junior like me (I was still in matriculation when summoned to play for the University team).

Final position