[BrianWall-ChessList] 2008 North American Open - Round 4 - Allan Johnson ( Utah ) - Wall

[Brian Wall]

Larry L. Johnson flew in from Salt Lake City, Utah.
Any Chessplayer I meet from Utah mentions Josh Smith
( former Utah State Chess Champ, 3 time consecutive Colorado Bullet Champion )
is a nice guy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exGSXjvKej0
Fishing Pole, First Blood, pt 1
455  hits

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgqVkqrNH_4&feature=related
Fishing Pole, First Blood, pt 2
305 hits

After the game Larry mentioned he had seen my Fishing Pole youtube video.
I was puzzled because Larry wasn't on any email list. I don't have many
Utah guys on there. Hence the lack of Grandmasters there.

Larry -
" Oh, I was actually looking for Rambo stuff and stumbled onto yours. "

I explained to Larry why I allowed a draw and how I would
have played for a win from his position. We had a long
discussion about how Shirov's courage transferred over to me.

I found out today the whole game had been played
and drawn 15 years ago at the 1993 Paris Open.

[Event "2008 North American Open"]
[Site "Bally's Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada"]
[Date "2008.12.28"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Allan L. Johnson"]
[Black "Brian Wall"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ICCResult "White resigns"]
[WhiteElo "1915"]
[BlackElo "2229"]
[Opening "Nimzovich-Larsen attack: modern variation"]
[ECO "A01"]
[NIC "VO.08"]
[Time "10  AM"]
[TimeControl "40/2, Game/1, 5 second delay"]

North American Open
Bally's Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada

December 28, 2008
10 AM

Round 4

40/2 hours
Game/1 hour
5 second delay

Larsen's Opening

White - Allan L. Johnson
1915

Black - Brian Wall
2229


1. b3 e5 2. Bb2 d6!  3. e3 Nd7

An old time Colorado Champ Jack Hursch, now deceased, was a frequent blitz
partner in college. Chess Life had a big article by Gligoric on the Larsen's
Opening with some Fischer games added in soon after Bobby beat Larsen in
Denver.
I watched two of those games and also met Larsen at Watson's Chess House in
1974.

In a slow rated game Jack answered my Larsen's Opening with a King's Indian
setup and I could get no advantage. I have often copied his system setup since.


4. d4 g6 5. dxe5 dxe5!  6. Bc4

Allan posts his bishops on Danish Gambit squares,
which seemed odd to me

6 ... Bg7!  7. Nf3!  Ne7!?

I struggled on this move for half an hour.
My problem was I hated any line involving
Ba3  c5  leaving a gash on d5.
Fritz 9 prefers White whatever I do -
7 ...   Nh6
7 ...   Qe7
7 ...   Ne7
7 ...   Ngf6
7 ...   c6
7 ...   h6
7 ...   Qf6
7 ...   a6

I considered all those moves but didn't like them.
I almost played most of them.
I finally decided to allow a forced draw.
I did not see any sacrificial win for White.
I decided to gamble -
maybe White won't see the combo or if he does,
maybe he will play for the win.
I felt foolish after the game explaining
my decision to myself or David Lucky.


8. Bxf7+!!

Allan goes for the draw in view of
the 315 point rating difference.
Allan also has an edge with normal moves.


8 ... Kxf7!  9. Ng5+!  Kf6!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Anything else allows the deadly Ne6.
I told David as White I would have played
10  f4!!!!, h4!!!  or Qg4!!
whether it won or not.

Here's a line I considered before playing  7 ... Ne7!?
10  Qf3+  K:g5!  11 h4+  Kh6!  12 g4!  Bf6!!
13 g5+  Kg7!  14  gf+  N:f6!  15  B:e5  Nc6!
and I should win.
Allan has many improvements
10  Qf3+  K:g5!  11  e4!  Nf5!
to give my King some room
12  g4
to recover the piece
12 ...  Kf6   Run!
13  gf  gf  14 Q:f5+  Ke7
Allan has definite compensation for the
piece but I can hope to outplay him here.

Allan has even better than this.
9. Ng5+!  Kf6!  10 Qg4!  gives White some advantage after
10 ... Nf5, ... Nd5, ... h5  or ... Qg8
9. Ng5+!  Kf6!  10 h4!  is a little better for Allan  after
10 ... h6!!  and even stronger after  10 ... Nf5!

Allan should have gone for the win with the best of all
9. Ng5+!  Kf6!  10 f4!!  Nf5!, ... Qg8!  or ... Nc6!
any other Black reply gets crushed

Best play might be
9. Ng5+!  Kf6!  10 f4!!  Nf5!  11  g4!!, e4!!, Nc3!, 0-0!

9. Ng5+!  Kf6!  10 f4!!  Nf5!  11  g4!!  h6!  12 Ne4+
Allan gets his piece back with an attack  but
9. Ng5+!  Kf6!  10 f4!!  Nf5!  11  g4!!  Nh6  12 Ba3!!!
is even worse for me

Bottom Line:
Allan could have successfully played for a win
instead of grabbing the draw. He could have
entered the "cave of shadows".

Black improvements: 4 ... Ngf6, ... e4, ... Be7, ... c6
----------------------------------------------------------------------------


10. Ne4+?=   Kf7

10 ... Kf7  or ... Ke6 are equivalent and I try them both


11. Ng5+!  Kf6!  12. Ne4+?=

There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
than are dreamt of in your philosophy


The famous and oh-so-quotable line said by Hamlet to Horatio
in Act I, Scene V when Horatio whines about the ghost.


12 ... Ke6

12 ... Kf7  or ... Ke6 are equivalent and I try them both


13. Ng5+=

I keep trying to goad White into playing for a win/loss
but he won't be budged by any temptations -
As White I would have tried to win with
13 Nbc3!!, Na3!, Qf3, 0-0, Qe2, Qg4+, Nbd2, a3, h4, f4
and so on.
Allan would have a big edge after
13 Nbc3!!  Bf6   14 Qf3!!
13 Nbc3!!  Bh6!  14 Qf3!!
but I would have the advantage after
13 Nbc3!!  h6!!  14 Qe2  Nb6!  or
13 Nbc3!!  h6!!  14 Qf3  Rf8!

13 ... h6!, ... Nf5! or ...Nd5!
would be the answer to most White tries.
The show would go on.


13 ...  Kf6!?

Defiant to the end -
Instead of claiming the draw I risk losing with
14   f4!!!!, h4!!!  or Qg4!!



14. Ne4+?=

1/2-1/2

3 fold repetition claimed by White

Allan got his raing points but he missed the chance
to beat a Chessmaster in a spectacular way.
What would you have done?

I was the King's dog at Queue
Pray, tell me, sir, whose dog are you?

A commissioned tombstone by Alexander Pope,
the second most quoted man in the English language,
next to Shakespeare

The Vegas Curse continues but I think I am getting a
handle on it. Chess is a quiet intellectual game and
Las Vegas throws life, big, brassy and bold, right in
your face. If you are serious about your Chess, then
the whole town is a giant distraction.

David Lucky thought I shouldn't have allowed all this against
a lower rated player. I have to agree with him but the middle
game complications fascinated me and I couldn't resist the
temptation to get involved. Allan didn't consider his options
for a second, just kept instantly repeating the position,
fully satisfied with a draw. If he slowed down, I could easily have lost.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
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[Event "2008 North American Open"]
[Site "Bally's Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada"]
[Date "2009.12.28"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Allan L. Johnson"]
[Black "Brian Wall"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ICCResult "White resigns"]
[WhiteElo "1915"]
[BlackElo "2229"]
[Opening "Nimzovich-Larsen attack: modern variation"]
[ECO "A01"]
[NIC "VO.08"]
[Time "10  AM"]
[TimeControl "40/2, Game/1, 5 second delay"]

1. b3 e5 2. Bb2 d6 3. e3 Nd7 4. d4 g6 5. dxe5 dxe5 6. Bc4 Bg7 7. Nf3 Ne7 8.
Bxf7+ Kxf7 9. Ng5+ Kf6 10. Ne4+ Kf7 11. Ng5+ Kf6 12. Ne4+ Ke6 13. Ng5+ Kf6
14. Ne4+

1/2-1/2

3 fold repetition claimed by White
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

[Event "Paris op"]
[Site "Paris"]
[Date "1993.??.??"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Barreteau,C"]
[Black "Riazuelo,Gilles"]
[Result "1/2"]
[Eco "A01"]

1.b3 d6 2.Bb2 e5 3.e3 g6 4.d4 Nd7 5.dxe5 dxe5 6.Nf3 Bg7
7.Bc4 Ne7 8.Bxf7+ Kxf7 9.Ng5+ Kf6 10.Ne4+ Kf7 11.Ng5+ Kf6

1/2
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