[BrianWall-ChessList] Steven C Zierk, Bay Area ( ICC Zkid ), the $100 game
Brian Wall
brianwallchess3 at taom.com
Sat Jul 11 11:59:23 MDT 2009
I've been hammered the last two years by talented kids. Part of the problem is
playing out of state. I've never heard of these guys that are killing me. I had
to laugh when I saw 75 year old GM Anatoly Lein playing what appeared to be a 12
year old in the World Open. Sometimes I even win the game but the game is such a
tough struggle I feel like I am facing a hopeless battle with Father Time. When
babies are giving you the battle of your life, it's time to invest in Depends.
I asked Tyler Hughes about this and he
thought younger players calculated better.
I was proud to start the last round half a point ahead of Jonathan Hilton,
Renard Anderson and GM Anatoly Lein and tied with Tyler Hughes and Norman
Rodgers. I was happy at the end that IM Angelo Young, Emory Tate and Carl B.
Boor won money because I like those guys and/or admire their Chess. Tyler was
keeping an eye on his young competitor Conrad Holt although he kept referring
to him by his backwards ICC handle, Darnoc. Conrad lost his last game but still
won $1500.00. I was just glad to feel I belonged there. Even playing Aardvarks
and Fishing Poles I finished ahead of about 54 Chessmasters, roughly one for
every year of my life. I tied for 32nd out of 129.
To really win money I needed two more points. Is that feasible? I want to
examine my losses with the idea of how I could improve. Treading water never
appealed to me although that's all I've done rating wise for 30 years.
The 4 guys who beat me followed some predictable patterns.
Three turned down my draw offers. All of them felt like a bulldog was chomped
onto my leg and I couldn't shake them off. They squeezed small advantages for
hours relentlessly. They kept finding good moves time after time after time.
I couldn't outcalculate them, I couldn't distract them, I couldn't bluff them,
I couldn't intimidate them. The only way to beat these guys is to work harder on
and off the board.
After beating 18 year old Jonathan Hilton, I was paired with a 16 year old with
a 2300 rating I had never heard of in the last Round 9. Chris Zierk turned out
to be a Michael Aigner ( ICC f-pawn ) student. Michael and I had already
tangled before when his students were giving Tyler fits in Scholastic Chess. NM
Gregory Young is only about 14 years old but he was leading Tyler by half a
point in the 2008 US Junior. Tyler barely beat Gregory in the last round to win
the title which led to invitations to the World Junior in Turkey and the 2009
US Championship in Saint Louis, Missouri. I could no longer send Bruce Lee (
Tyler Hughes ) to represent my Martial Arts School. I had to face another
Aigner monster alone.
http://fpawn.blogspot.com/2008/03/steven-zierk-wins-reno-blitz-tournament.html
http://fpawn.blogspot.com/
I was training Danielle Rice to win the 2009 World Open
Under-1400 section which Steven Zierk had won at age 7!
My first thought when I have to play these wunderkinds:
" Where do you people come from? "
Sheriff Brian Dennehy, Rambo, First Blood
It turns out I missed some awesome shots in the opening including one move
that looks to me like a one in a thousand or one in 10,000 type shot.
To me one man is worth ten thousand if he is first-rate.
Heraclitus
I honestly believe at least 90% of Grandmasters would miss this killer move.
OK, maybe Bobby Fischer or Kasparov or Alekhine or Kramnik or Shirov or Ivanchuk
might find it but I think the ordinary Grandmaster would miss it.
I missed another move like that against Renteria in Round 1.
[Event "World Open, Under 2400 section"]
[Site "Philadelphia Sheraton, 17th and Race"]
[Date "2009.07.02" ]
[Round "3"]
[White "Brian Wall"]
[Black "Jorge Renteria"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ICCResult "Black resigns"]
[WhiteElo "2202"]
[BlackElo "2361"]
[Opening "Sicilian: Najdorf, Lipnitzky attack"]
[ECO "B86"]
[NIC "SI.13"]
[Time "12:02:40"]
[TimeControl "40/1:55, G/55, 5 second delay throughout"]
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bc4 e6 7. Bg5 Be7 8.
Qf3 Qa5 9. Bh4 Nbd7 10. Bb3 Nc5 11. O-O-O Bd7 12. Kb1 Rc8 13. Rhe1 b5 14.
Nf5 exf5 15. exf5 Nxb3 16. Bxf6 gxf6 17. Qe3 Qd8 18. Nd5
1-0 Black resigns
My 17 Qe3! was good enough to win but
17 Qf4!! stunned even the titled players I showed it to.
I believe 90% of Grandmasters would miss that too.
The main idea is 18 R:e7+ and 19 Q:d6+
My problem was not that I wasn't thinking hard or trying to win, the
Zierk opening was so strange to me I couldn't orient myself. I felt
like I had a good position but I didn't know how to proceed. My evaluation
functions felt lost in a jungle. All the tactics seemed odd and unknown.
I had no landmarks to go by, I was swinging in the dark. I should have
taken more time but I didn't really even understand the nature of the problem.
A poisonous thought entered my head and wouldn't leave me alone.
I thought that I was playing someone better than me, that somehow,
NO TACTICS WERE GOING TO WORK OUT. I PLAYED LIKE A MAN DOOMED TO DIE.
I couldn't shake that idea but later when the engines
revealed all I had missed I felt like a proper fool.
Another idea that bothered me was I had no idea what was at stake.
I even asked my 16 year old opponent in the middle of the game,
" Do you have any idea how much money we are playing for? "
Steven had no more idea than I did.
It turns out it was $100 but it could easily have been $2,000 for all I knew.
Two people faced the tag team of Brian Wall and Tyler Hughes. In both cases I
lost and Tyler won. In the first case I claimed to have tired out Norman
Rogers by dragging the game out 100 moves and then Tyler beat up a "softened "
Norman. After suffering for 5.5 hours against Cal Pete I was shocked to see
Tyler's Knight anchored on e6, his Rook on d6, another Rook bearing down on the
open h-file Fishing Pole style on Norman's King in the early middle game.
" You taught him well, he killed me in the Opening. "
Norman " Cal Pete " Rodgers
" I grabbed a pawn on f5 but it was much more then a pawn. He couldn't develop.
I got a bishop on c4 and the rest of my pieces flowed in. "
Tyler Hughes
Hughes,T (2377) - Rogers (FM),N (2290) [E61]
2009 World Open Philadelphia, PN (7), 04.07.2009
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.Bg5 d6 5.e3 0-0 6.Nf3 Nbd7 7.Be2 h6
8.Bh4 g5 9.Bg3 Nh5 10.Qc2 Nxg3 11.hxg3 e5 12.dxe5 dxe5 13.Rd1 f5
14.e4 c6 15.exf5 Qe7 16.g4 Nf6 17.Nd2 Bd7 18.Nde4 Nh7 19.c5 Be8
20.Bc4+ Kh8 21.Rd6 b6 22.Re6 Qd8 23.Rd6 Qe7 24.Re6 Qd8 25.Nd6 Bd7
26.Rg6 Qe7 27.Nce4 bxc5 28.f6 Nxf6 29.Nxf6 e4 30.Nxd7 Qxd7 31.Nf5 Rxf5
32.gxf5 Qxf5 33.Re6 Rf8 34.0-0 Be5 35.Rxe5 Qxe5 36.Qc3 Qd4
37.Rd1 Qxc3 38.bxc3 Rb8 39.Re1 Kg7 40.Rxe4 Rb1+ 41.Kh2 Rc1
1-0
Checkmates ( Tyler ) tells you: I think my only good
games were against Rogers and the last round -
my other wins were pretty bumpy.
I did an email on Tyler's games with Grandmaster Sharavdorj Dashzeveg and
Grandmaster Boris Gulko which were similar to the Tyler Hughes - Norman Rogers
opening. Tyler also did his own annotations this month on beating Gulko and I
think he compared our annotations. Tyler has also played some blitz games in
this line and discussed it with his trainer, GM Peter Kiriakov. Essentially
Norman Rodgers ran into a buzzsaw. When I played over the game I couldn't help
feeling that Tyler beat Rodgers the way Gulko should have beaten him.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
In the second case Tyler played Steven Zierk first. Tyler was doing well
but messed up in time pressure and ended up swindling Zierk. In this case
I claimed that Tyler's lucky win put Chris on High Alert. Even though I
lost both games and Tyler won, I still cast myself in the role of hero.
Zierk,S (2312) - Hughes,T (2377) [B47]
2009 World Open Philadelphia, PA (4), 03.07.2009
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Qc7 6.g3 a6 7.a3 Nf6 8.Bg2 Nxd4
9.Qxd4 Bc5 10.Bf4 d6 11.Qd2 Ng4 12.f3 Ne5 13.Na4 Ba7 14.0-0-0 b5 15.Qxd6 Qxd6
16.Rxd6 Nc4 17.Rc6 e5 18.Rxc4 exf4 19.Rxc8+ Rxc8 20.Nc3 Be3+ 21.Kb1 fxg3
22.hxg3 h5 23.Nd5 Bf2 24.g4 h4 25.f4 f6 26.e5 fxe5 27.fxe5 Rc4 28.Rf1 Rf8 29.g5
Bg3 30.Bf3 Kd8 31.Ne3 Rcf4 32.Rd1+ Kc8 33.Bg2 Rf2 34.e6 Re8 35.Bc6 Rff8 36.Bd7+
Kb8 37.Nd5 h3 38.e7 Rh8 39.Bxe8 Rxe8 40.Ne3 Rxe7 41.Nf5 Re1 42.Kc1 Bf4+ 0-1
40 Ne3??? was played because Zierk had a lot of time and Tyler was very low on
time. Steven tried to blitz Tyler, in Colorado, we know not to test the Iceman.
Fritz 11 gives Tyler +4 after 31 ... Rd4!! so Tyler did mess up his advantage
in the last 10 moves. Even 34 ... Rd8! is +1.5 for Tyler. 35 Bc6! gave
Steven Zierk equality for 5 moves until his big new blunder on move 40. Even
without 40 Ne3?? Tyler's h-pawn gives him more then enough for the missing
pawn. In the opening 15 Qc3 is equal, 15 Q:d6? is tricky but ultimately a big
mistake.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tyler Hughes and Steven Zierk facebook talk about the game
Steven Zierk
Angry that I managed to lose a good game against Tyler Hughes
... easily one of my worst blunders.
Tyler Hughes at 10:32pm July 10
Yeah, sorry man, I think 40.b3, 41.c4, and king goes to center is pretty bad for
me. I can trap your rook on h1 but my king is too far away. Bumpy game, I really
should manage my time better :)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
My game with Zierk was like a mirror image of Zierk's game with Tyler. Steven
had a few chances in the opening but Tyler with Black was winning 90% of that
game with Black. I had a few chances in the opening against Zierk but Steven
was winning with Black 90% of that game.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Statistics for Zkid(DM) On for: 1:23 Idle: 1
rating [need] win loss draw total best
Wild 1766 37 28 1 66 1838 (25-Jun-2009)
Loser's 1681 27 31 2 60 1681 (09-Jul-2009)
Bughouse 1698 [6] 7 16 0 23 1708 (06-Mar-2009)
Crazyhouse 1677 10 8 0 18
Bullet 2262 791 307 43 1141 2357 (28-Feb-2009)
Blitz 2604 [8] 744 334 54 1132 2604 (09-Jun-2009)
Standard 2261 [5] 343 123 44 510 2289 (24-Jan-2008)
5-minute 2250 [6] 70 63 11 144 2349 (05-Aug-2008)
1-minute 2251 [7] 779 652 79 1510 2370 (18-Feb-2009)
15-minute 1983 [4] 2 0 0 2
1: Steven Zierk, 2319 USCF, 2306 FIDE
2: Check out http://www.chess.com to improve your chess.
3: I recommend the Team4545 League to anyone attempting to improve their
standard play
4: Thanks to this great chess club and the people who keep it alive
5: Light travels faster than sound... isn't that why some people appear bright
until you hear them speak?
6: fpawn kibitzes: you LOST this? fpawn kibitzes: my cat couldn't lose this
7: Besides chess my interests are chess, chess, and chess :) (and math/martial
arts)
8: There are 10 types of people in the world; those that understand binary,
and those that do not.
9: There are 3 kinds of people in the world; those that can do math, and those
that can't.
10: There are 2 kinds of people in the world; those that believe that there are
2 kinds of people in the world and those that don't.
Groups : STC NorthCA SouthCA Atomic Helpers Losers Team4545League Broadcast
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zierk's ICC finger notes reminded me of a T-shirt at
the World Open that made me laugh every time I saw it.
" Math illiteracy affects 7 out of every 5 people. "
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Main Entry: talkative
Part of Speech: adjective
Definition: excessively communicative
Synonyms: articulate, big-mouthed, chattering, chatty, effusive, eloquent,
fluent, full of hot air, gabby, garrulous, glib, gossipy, long-winded,
loose-lipped, loquacious, loudmouthed, mouthy, multiloquent, prolix, rattling,
slick*, smooth*, talky, verbal, verbose, vocal, voluble, windy, wordy
Antonyms: quiet, reserved, silent, uncommunicative
Part of Speech: adjective
Related
Adjectives:
talkative, aeolistic, chattering, chatty, declamatory, flippant, fluent,
garrulous, glib, largiloquent, linguacious, long-tongued, long-winded,
loquacious, multiloquent, open-mouthed, voluble
Main Entry: communicative
Part of Speech: adjective
Definition: informative
Synonyms: candid, chatty, communicable, conversable, conversational,
demonstrative, effusive, enlightening, expansive, forthcoming, frank,
garrulous, gushing, loquacious, open, outgoing, talkative, unreserved, voluble
Antonyms: close-mouthed, reserved, reticent, unfriendly, uninformative,
unsociable
Main Entry: effusive
Part of Speech: adjective
Definition: gushing, profuse
Synonyms: all jaw, big mouthed, demonstrative, ebullient, enthusiastic,
expansive, extravagant, exuberant, free-flowing, fulsome, gabby, gushy, lavish,
outpouring, overflowing, prolix, talkative, unconstrained, unreserved,
unrestrained, verbose, windbag, windy, wordy
Part of Speech: adjective
Definition: articulate
Synonyms: chatty, cogent, copious, cursive, declamatory, disputatious, easy,
effortless, effusive, eloquent, facile, flowing, garrulous, glib, liquid,
loquacious, mellifluent, mellifluous, natural, persuasive, prompt, quick,
ready, running, silver-tongued, smooth, smooth-spoken, talkative, verbose,
vocal, voluble, well-versed, wordy
Antonyms: effortful, hesitant, inarticulate, unfluent, unprepared
Main Entry: glib
Part of Speech: adjective
Definition: slick, smooth-talking
Synonyms: artful, articulate, easy, eloquent, facile, fast-talking, flip,
fluent, garrulous, hot-air, insincere, loquacious, plausible, quick, ready,
silver-tongued, slippery*, smooth operator, smooth-spoken, smooth-tongued,
suave, talkative, urbane, vocal, vocative, voluble
Antonyms: inarticulate, quiet, stuttering, tongue-tied, uncommunicative
Main Entry: long-winded
Part of Speech: adjective
Definition: wordy
Synonyms: bombastic, chatty, gabby, garrulous, loquacious, palaverous, prolix,
rambling, talkative, verbose, voluble
Main Entry: verbose
Part of Speech: adjective
Definition: wordy, long-winded
Synonyms: bombastic, circumlocutory, diffuse, flowery, full of air, fustian,
gabby, garrulous, grandiloquent, involved, loquacious, magniloquent,
palaverous, periphrastic, pleonastic, prolix, redundant, repeating,
repetitious, repetitive, rhetorical, talkative, talky, tautological,
tautologous, tedious, tortuous, windy, yacking
Antonyms: concise, succinct
Adjectives:
talkative, affected, alieniloquent, alliterative, altiloquent, antithetical,
babblative, blandiloquent, bombastic, breviloquent, chrysostomatic, colloquial,
communicate, communicative, concionative, declamatory, demegoric,
diversiloquent, doctiloquent, drawling, elocutionary, eloquent, enunciative,
euphuistic, explicit, expressive, facund, fallaciloquent, fatiloquent, flaming,
flexiloquent, frothy, fustian, glossal, glossoepiglottic, gnomologic,
grandiloquent, grandiose, high, inaniloquent, johnsonian, lingual,
longiloquent, magniloquent, melliloquent, mendaciloquent, meropic, mincing,
mouthy, multiloquent, not written, nuncupatory, omniloquent, oral, oratorical,
orotund, outspoken, parrhesiastic, peripatetic, periphrastic, phatic, phemic,
phonetic, phoniatric, plain, platitudinarian, pleniloquent, polyloquent,
procacious, published, renable, rhetorical, sanctiloquent, sententious,
sesquipedalian, sialoquent, singsong, slangous, soliloquacious, soliloqual,
soliloquizing, somniloquacious, sonorous, spadish, speaking, spoken,
stammering, stilted, stultiloquent, stuttering, suaviloquent, talkable,
telepheme, totutiloquent, tremulous, tub, unlarded, unwritten, vaniloquent,
ventose, veriloquent
Main Entry: talkative
Part of Speech: adjective
Related
Adjectives:
talkative, aeolistic, chattering, chatty, declamatory, flippant, fluent,
garrulous, glib, largiloquent, linguacious, long-tongued, long-winded,
loquacious, multiloquent, open-mouthed, voluble
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Finally, here is my game with Zierk.
On the 4th of July, 2009 Saturday Sheryl Crow gave a free performance
for thousands of people by the Rocky statue at the Art Museum.
In the morning on Sunday the round started earlier than usual at 10 A.M. to give
people a chance to catch late plane flights. At 10 the tournament hall looked
half deserted. Sitting right next to me, Alejandro Fernandez ( 2196 ) from
Mexico was 59.5 minutes late to his game with Norman Rogers. Norman called over
a TD but since Alejandro's clock still showed 60 minutes left, they ruled that
Fernandez had made it just in time. If Norman had started the clock a tiny bit
earlier, he would have gotten the forfeit. Alejandro apologized for making
Rogers wait. This is the kind of incident that spurred FIDE's new policy of no
tolerance for being late, even 1 second. I think that rule will be amended soon
due to absurd forfeitures both in the 2008 Dresden Olympiad and the 2009 Chinese
Championship where famous players lost the game because they were a
few feet away getting a pen.
I played Jonathan Hilton Sunday morning. While Hilton was dining on our
scoresheet, Susan Grumer, Danielle Rice and I enjoyed a sumptious Kosher
Chinese platter for 3-5 people.
Then it was time for the money round.
[Event "World Open Under-2400 section"]
[Site "17th and Race, Sheraton Hotel, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania"]
[Date "2009.07.05"]
[Round "9"]
[White "B-Wall"]
[Black "Steven C. Zierk"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ICCResult "White resigns"]
[WhiteElo "2312"]
[BlackElo "2202"]
[Opening "Sicilian: Nimzovich-Rossolimo attack (with ...g6, without ...d6)"]
[ECO "B31"]
[NIC "SI.31"]
[Time "17:00:00"]
[TimeControl "5 second delay, 40/1:55, Game/55"]
2009 World Open
Under 2400 section
17th and Race,
Sheraton Hotel
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Board 53
Last money Round 9
July 5, 2009
5 second delay
40/1:55
Game/55 minutes
White -
Brian Wall, 2
the Kosher Irishman,
Thornton, Colorado
Black -
Steven C. Zierk,
Bay Area, California
Michael Aigner student
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6
I am probably looking at a Bay Area IM Sam Shankland Dragon clone here,
not that the Sveshnikov is any fun either.
3. Bb5
Hoping for 3 ... Na5 which looked ridiculous in
Bloomer-Wall 2007 Colorado Closed or
ICC Game of the Day video
Joel Benjamin - Tyler Hughes
2009 US Championship
Saint Louis, Missouri
3 ... g6
More proof of my Shankland Dragon theory
4. O-O! Nf6!
What I am interested here is how many good
moves am I capable of finding in the future.
5. Re1
I know why I played this,
the idea of Re1, Bf1, c3, d4 is cool
so I ignored other options
5 e5 Ng4 6 B:c6 dc 7 h3 Nh6
5 Nc3 Bg7 6 e5 Ng4 7 B:c6 dc 8 Re1
5 ... Bg7
Fritz 11 prefers 6 ... a6
but I think White would love
the extra tempo to play B:c6
6. c3?
This bad move took one minute.
Fritz 11 prefers 6 e5! or Nc3! here.
The idea of turning a Sicilian into a Ruy Lopez is old,
the Kopeck system with c3, Bd3 or I see Joel Benjamin
and Yudasin play 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 Bc4 and retreat
the light-square Bishop like a Ruy Lopez.
6 ... a6! 7. Bf1?
This bad move took 4 minutes.
I like this idea but 7 B:c6 is better.
A Bishop on the back rank that does not restrict the rooks is developed -
Tal
Joel Benjamin also mentioned in an ICC video he used to play this idea.
Fritz 11 is screaming at me but the maneuver always aesthetically pleased me.
7 ... e5?
The subtleties are too much for us and the game is swinging back and forth.
6 c3? handed the ball to Black and now 7 ... e5? hands the ball back to me.
7 ... 0-0!! is much better
8. d4!! cxd4
8 ... d6! 9 dc dc 10 Q:d8+
is not going to appeal to any
teenager who needs a $100 win
9. cxd4! exd4
9 ... d6! has not increased its appeal to the Twilight demographic.
10. e5!!
I sensed that things might be going my way.
This was my chance to beat two Columbine kids in one day.
10 ... Nd5!
10 ... Ng8 looks silly and
10 ... Ng4 11 h3 Ng:e5?
obviously loses a piece
11. Bg5!!
2 minutes spent.
played partially because I thought Steven might mess up where to play
his Queen given a choice and I was right. The best approach is
counterintuitive -
11 N:d4!!! 0-0, ... Nde7, ... h6 or ... Qe7 12 Nf3!!!
going back to support my extended e5-pawn
My move is almost as good
11 ... Qc7?
Just a target for a c1-Rook now.
I am still better after 11 ... Qb6/a5 12 Nbd2
and the hassling the Queen with Nc4/b3
12. Bf6?
This bad move took 8 minutes.
The idea is to weaken the dark squares forever.
I had lots of juicy options here which is why
I was upset the rest of the game. I knew I
was doing well at some point.
12 Qb3!!! Nde7 13 Nbd2!! 0-0 14 Ne4!!
is very strong. Taking on e5 is out of the question
and I can increase the pressure with Rac1 and Nd6.
I totally underestimated this line.
12 Nbd2!! is a normal developing move
12 Bc4! is inconsistent but good.
12 Na3! is also promising.
I spent a lot of time on 12 N:d4!
which was my second choice.
I abandoned all obvious continuations in favor
of my tricky move and even that should have worked.
In the immortal words of Zierk's teacher, Michael Aigner
fpawn kibitzes: You LOST this? My cat couldn't lose this!
12 ... Bxf6?
12 ... 0-0!! or ... Kf8!!
13 B:g7+ K:g7 14 Na3 d6
is about equal
Triskaidekaphobia (from Greek tris meaning "3", kai meaning
"and", and deka meaning "10") is fear of the number 13
13. exf6+?
Honestly do you know anyone who wouldn't play this check-capture in a twinkling?
It turns out its better to lure the d5-knight away from ... Nd5:f6 with the
amazing 13 Nc3!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What percentage of GMs do you think would find that move?
This is the move that is 1 in a 1,000 or 1 in 10,000.
It still seems incredible. The idea is to disturb the
complacent d5-Knight.
13 Nc3!! Bg7, ... Bd8 or ... Be7 14 N:d5
is very good for me
13 Nc3!! dc, ... Nde7, ... Ne3, ... N:c3 or... Nf4 14 ef!
is also good for me.
13 Nc3!! dc 14 Q:d5??
is a major blunder due to
14 ... 0-0 15 ef cb!
I missed a great chance to finish the 2009 World Open with a bang.
13 ... Kf8! 14. Nxd4!!
I've missed my great Nc3 chance -
14 Nc3! N:f6!!
a convenient retreat
14 ... Nxf6!
I went for this because every dark square on the board looks
like an invasion square - I must have great comp for the pawn.
15. Nc3! d5 16. Rc1!! Bg4
Steven thought for 15 minutes and made this not particularly good move.
This is the point where for no good reason, I got psyched out. I was
so frustrated, maybe exhausted from a long tournament, that I started
getting this feeling that I was destined to lose this game and nothing
I did mattered, like Hillary running against Obama. Even here, where
my delusion began, I have 17 N:d5!! Qd6 18 f3!! Q:d5
and here I inexplicably missed the simple 19 N:c6! bc 20 fg!
with a slightly better game. No voice told me to play 13 Nc3!!
but I immediately thought 17 N:d5!! must be good but talked myself
out of it because Zierk thought so long on the move. I don't understand
why I would miss so many good moves in an important game, maybe because
I am not used to this opening at all. The rest of the game is quite dreary
for me as Steven slowly improves his position step by step and I just
hang out with no real plan or targets. If I learn the lessons of this game
perhaps I can be a prize winner next time.
17. Qd2? Kg7! 18. Nxc6?
Just missing everything. What was wrong with me?
18 h3!! Bd7 19 N:d5 N:d5 20 N:c6 B:c6 21 Q:d5
looks equal and I even saw this line and somehow forgot it.
18 ... bxc6! 19. Na4
Now 19 N:d5? Qd6!
punishes that stupid 17 Qd2 move.
19 ... a5 20. f3 Bd7! 21. Rc5 Rhb8 22. b3 Rb4 23. Rec1 Qd6
24. Nb2 Kg8 25. Nd3 Rb5! 26. R5c2 Nh5 27. Nc5!
I offered a draw somewhere around here.
Fritz 11 confirms it's about equal.
" I don't know what's going on either but I have a pawn. "
Bobby Fischer refusing Hort's draw offer
27 ... Rb6! 28. Na4 Rbb8 29. Nc5 Be8 30. Na6 Rb6 31. Nc5!
I didn't trust 31 Q:a5 Qd8
with ideas of ... Qc8 or ... Nc7
This was part of my
" Woe is me, the tactics only work out for Steven somehow."
mentality.
I think I was right on this move.
31 ... Nf4 32. Na4 Rb4! 33. Nc5 Ne6! 34. Nd3! Rh4!! 35. g3! Nd4!!
Here I muttered the most common grafitti word
found at Steven Zierk's Los Gatos High School.
36. Qf2! Nxc2! 37. gxh4! Na3!
So now in addition to being a pawn
down my Kingside is messed up.
38. Kh1 Nb5! 39. Qg3 Qf6 40. h5
Ridding myself of one weakness.
40 ... Nd4 41. hxg6 fxg6 42. f4 Bd7 43. Qg5 Rf8 44. Qxf6! Rxf6!
45. Kg2 Bf5! 46. Kg3 Be4 47. Ne5 Kg7 48. Rc5?
I was weary of being a pawn down but this is a bad time to go active.
48 ... g5!! 49. Rxa5? Rxf4!!
It's all over with pieces hanging and mating nets forming.
50. Ra7+! Kh6!
There is no good defense to
51 ... Nf5+ 52 Kh3 Rh4 checkmate
51. Rf7! Nf5+! 52. Rxf5! Rxf5! 53. Ng4+! Kg6!
54. Be2 h5!! 55. Ne3? h4+!!
Mating
56. Kh3 Rf2
mating
0-1 Brian resigns
It wouldn't be hard to improve on this game,
in fact, it would be tough to play worse.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Event "World Open Under-2400 section"]
[Site "17th and Race, Sheraton Hotel, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania"]
[Date "2009.07.05"]
[Round "9"]
[White "B-Wall"]
[Black "Steven C. Zierk"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ICCResult "White resigns"]
[WhiteElo "2312"]
[BlackElo "2202"]
[Opening "Sicilian: Nimzovich-Rossolimo attack (with ...g6, without ...d6)"]
[ECO "B31"]
[NIC "SI.31"]
[Time "17:00:00"]
[TimeControl "5 second delay, 40/1:55, Game/55"]
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6 4. O-O Nf6 5. Re1 Bg7 6. c3 a6 7. Bf1 e5 8. d4
cxd4 9. cxd4 exd4 10. e5 Nd5 11. Bg5 Qc7 12. Bf6 Bxf6 13. exf6+ Kf8 14. Nxd4
Nxf6 15. Nc3 d5 16. Rc1 Bg4 17. Qd2 Kg7 18. Nxc6 bxc6 19. Na4 a5 20. f3 Bd7
21. Rc5 Rhb8 22. b3 Rb4 23. Rec1 Qd6 24. Nb2 Kg8 25. Nd3 Rb5 26. R5c2 Nh5
27. Nc5 Rb6 28. Na4 Rbb8 29. Nc5 Be8 30. Na6 Rb6 31. Nc5 Nf4 32. Na4 Rb4 33.
Nc5 Ne6 34. Nd3 Rh4 35. g3 Nd4 36. Qf2 Nxc2 37. gxh4 Na3 38. Kh1 Nb5 39. Qg3
Qf6 40. h5 Nd4 41. hxg6 fxg6 42. f4 Bd7 43. Qg5 Rf8 44. Qxf6 Rxf6 45. Kg2
Bf5 46. Kg3 Be4 47. Ne5 Kg7 48. Rc5 g5 49. Rxa5 Rxf4 50. Ra7+ Kh6 51. Rf7
Nf5+ 52. Rxf5 Rxf5 53. Ng4+ Kg6 54. Be2 h5 55. Ne3 h4+ 56. Kh3 Rf2
0-1 Brian resigns
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
More information about the BrianWall-ChessList
mailing list