Burns v. Jansuaitis 2009

John has annotated this fascinating game for us. It starts with the King’s Indian, turning into an extremely complex middlegame. A dubious black attack backfires as white takes tons of material and control of the game. But then white loses his way in the time scramble and black finds an incredible escape.  Most club members watching were wondering why black had not gracefully resigned by move 45 or so. Now we can see why…

Burns, John – Janusaitis, Mindaugus [E85]
REPLAY
Club Championship (2), 29.04.2009

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f3 0–0 6.Be3 e5 7.Nge2 Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 9.Qd2 a5 10.Nc1 Nd7 11.Be2 f5 12.0–0 f4 13.Bf2 g5 14.Nd3 b6 15.b4 axb4 16.Nxb4 Qe8 17.Nb5 Qh5? fundamentally unsound

18.Nxc7 Rf6 19.Kh1 initiating a defence that Black didn’t “see”. A h3 defence is risky but perhaps possible [19.Nxa8 Rh6 20.h3 Nc5 21.h4!! (21.Nc6 Nxc6 22.dxc6 Bxh3 23.c7 Be6 24.Bh4 Qxh4 25.c8Q+ Bxc8 26.Nxb6 Qh2+ 27.Kf2 Qg3+ 28.Kg1 Rh2 29.Rf2 Qh4 30.Qd5+ Kh8 31.g3 Qxg3+ 32.Rg2 Qxg2#) 21...gxh4 22.Nxb6 h3 23.g3 fxg3 24.Bxg3 Rg6 25.Kh2 Rxg3 26.Kxg3 Bh6 27.Nxc8 Bxd2 28.Nxe7+ Kh8 29.Nf5]

19…Rh6 20.Bg1 Ra3 21.Nc6! Ng6 22.Nb5! Re3 23.Nxd6 white has a huge advantage and Black ‘s attack hasn’t got going

23…Nc5 24.Rae1 [24.Nxc8 probably better 24...Nxe4 threatening ....Ng3++ 25.fxe4 Rxe2 26.Qd3 Nh4 27.Rf2+-] 24…Bd7 25.Qb4 Nh4 26.Qxb6 Rxd6 27.Qb8+ white had better choices here [27.Ne7+ Kf7 28.Qxd6 Nxg2 29.Bxe3 Nxe3 30.Qxc5] 27…Bf8 28.Ne7+ Kf7 29.Qxd6 [29.Bxe3! Nxg2 30.Bxc5 Rh6 31.Qxf8+ Kxf8 32.Nf5+ Kg8 33.Nxh6+ Qxh6 34.Kxg2 Bh3+ 35.Kg1 Bxf1 36.Bxf1+-]

29…Bxe7 30.Qxe5 Ng6 [30...Nxg2 31.Bxe3 (31.Kxg2? Rxe2+ 32.Rxe2 Qh3+ 33.Kh1 (33.Kf2 Nd3#) 33...Qxf1 34.Rf2 Qxc4) 31...Nxe3 32.d6] 31.Qd4

White is not finding the best moves anymore. 31. Qc7 is far superior. The text gives Black a chance 31…Bd6 which he doesn’t take [31...Nxe4 threatening ...Ng3++ 32.fxe4 Rxe2 33.Rxe2 Qxe2 34.Rf2 Qe1 35.c5 Bf6 when White should win, but Black may be able to create complications]

32.Bd1 wrongly fearing 32. Bxe3 [32.Bxe3 fxe3 33.f4 and the threat on the queen means Black cannot play something like ..Bxf4 33...Bg4 34.Bxg4 Qxg4 35.h3 winning easily] 32…Rd3 33.Qb2 Qh6 34.Bxc5 Bxc5 35.e5 [35.Qb7 Nf8 36.Ba4] 35…Nxe5 36.Qxe5 [36.Rxe5 Bd4 37.Qb7 Bxe5 38.Qxd7+ Kg8 39.Qe8+ Qf8 40.Qxe5] 36…Re3 37.Qc7 Qd6 38.Qxd6 Bxd6 39.Rxe3 fxe3 40.Be2 [40.Re1 Bc5 41.Bc2 h6 42.a4 Kf6 43.Kg1 Ke5 (43...e2+? 44.Kh1 Ke5 45.Rxe2+ Kd4 46.Re4+) 44.Kf1 Kd4 45.Rc1 Ba3 46.Rd1+ Kxc4 47.Ke2 Bc5 48.d6]

40…Kf6 41.g3 Ke5 42.Rb1 Kd4 43.Rb7 Bc8 44.Rxh7 Kc3 45.Kg2 Kd2 46.Kf1 Bf5

White is still winning but needs to be careful in this hugely complicated position, in which even Fritz has trouble finding his way 47.Rh5?? [47.Rh6 Bf8 48.Rh8 Bg7 49.g4 Bd3 50.Bxd3 Bxh8 51.Be2 is one likely path to victory; 47.Rh8 Be5 (47...Bg6 48.Rh6) 48.Rh6 Bg7 49.g4 Bxh6 50.gxf5 may be another. none of which is easy to calculate with about 4 mins on the clock] 47…Bb4? [47...Bd3! 48.Rh6 (48.Bxd3? Kxd3 wins for black) 48...Bxe2+ 49.Kg2 Bc5 50.Re6 Bxc4 and Black has turned the tables]

48.Rxg5? And after Black’s last error, failing to take advantage, White throws it away again. Proving the old adage that whoever blunders second last wins.. [48.Rh8 Bg6 49.Rb8 Bc3 50.c5 Bf5 51.g4 Bd3 52.Bxd3 Kxd3 53.Re8] 48…Bh3+ 49.Kg1 Kxe2 50.g4 [50.Rh5 Kxf3 51.Rxh3 e2 52.g4+ Ke4 53.Kg2 e1Q] 50…Be1 with a forced mate 51.Re5 [51.Rh5 Bf2+ 52.Kh1 Kf1 53.Rxh3 e2 54.Rg3 Bxg3 55.hxg3 e1Q 56.c5 Qxg3 57.d6 Qg2#] 51…Bf2+ 52.Kh1 Kf1 White resigns 0–1

National Championships

Rathmines competed in last weekend’s National Chess Championships. Normally, only teams topping their provincial club competitions would be eligible. This year, the format was for all clubs capable of entering a team with an average rating exceeding 1600 ELO to be eligible. However, this made some teams unhappy, so the final entry was just six: Kilkenny, Galway, Ennis, Rathmines, Dublin University, and Limerick (in seeding order). DU turned up without Karl McPhilips, which was bound to totally destroy their chances, but also meant that Rathmines were bumped up to become fourth seeds and a first round tie with Kilkenny!

The full results are on the ICU website in a report by Gerry Graham. He also shows two first round games from Kilkenny-Rathmines, namely Baburin vs. J. Delaney and Quinn vs. K. Delaney, both losses for the Rathmines players. We lost 4.5-1.5 to Kilkenny (Michael scoring our only win). We followed that with a tough tie against Ennis, eventually losing 4-2 (this time, Mindaugaus scoring our only win). Next up were the weakened Dublin University and we secured a 3.5-2.5 win (Mindaugaus again, and Jack scoring wins, Michael with a walk-over). We finished strongly against the lowest seeds Limerick, with a 5-1 win.

In terms of players, Mindaugaus and Jack were the stars, both with 3/4. Michael also scored 3/4, but one was a walk-over. He was unbeaten on 2/3 in games played.

Final Standings followed the seedings very closely: Kilkenny 18, Ennis 16, Galway 15½, Rathmines 12, Dublin University 6 and Limerick 3½.  Kilkenny and Ennis go forward to represent Ireland in the Europeans.

Second Rnd Draw Club Championships

Seniors
Second Round Draw
1 BURNS, J (7) : JANUSAITIS, M (3)
2 CROWLEY, J (10) : SCANNELL, T (6)
3 KILLANE, J (4) : McCABE, D (2)
4 KENNEDY, M (5) : KALAM, A (1)
5 DOYLE, P (8) : McEVOY, P (12)
6 LYNCH, P (11) : BURKE, J (9)

Intermediates
Second Round Draw
1 BYRNE, C (7) : O’CONNELL, J (1)
2 OSBORNE, J (8) : PIERCE, N (2)
3 GAFFNEY, J (10) : FREER, P (3)
4 MAHER, J (5) : BISHOP, P (6)
5 FLOOD, J (9) : KOUHTEV, A (4)

Juniors
Second Round Draw
1 WILSON, R (4) : O’BOYLE, U (1)
2 MOWLDS, D (7) : McGRATH, A (2)
3 O’BRIEN, P (3) : HALL, S (6)
4 LOWRY-O’REILLY, J (9) : O’RAW, M (10)
5 COOKE, F (5) : COOKE, P (8)

Is chess nerdy or sexy?

So asks Dave Fanning, temporary host of today’s Ryan Turbidy RTE radio show (broadcast from 9am to 10am, but available on their website…News: they’ve posted it as a podcast, so it’ll be available for longer: http://www.rte.ie/podcasts/2009/pc/pod-v-220409-18m20s-tts.mp3)

Here’s the intro:
“And Chess!” Fanning said with a mixture of astonishment and bewilderment, as if not wanting to scare off his listeners. “Not the musical, perish the thought, but the people who play the game, is it for nerds or anoraks? Well we meet two people who want to make the game more appealing, even sexy!” 
This cheeky intro is from the Nerd-in-Chief himself, Mr. Dave “Anorak” Fanning!! Like a kettle calling a pot black.
And the two people? Our very own Una O’Boyle (“Kate Bush meets Enya with a sense of humour”) and Kilkenny and ex-Rathmines player, Mark Quinn. Nothing nerdy or anoraky about those two…

On the podcast, available at http://www.rte.ie/podcasts/2009/pc/pod-v-220409-18m20s-tts.mp3, Una calls chess “acrobatics going on in my head”. Mark talks a bit about his PhD thesis on Gravity’s Rainbow, by Thomas Pynchon, before chatting about how he started in chess. You’ll also get to learn about Mark’s time in Armenia, during the political insurrection there, and his time cosying up to Italian porn stars in Cafe Mozart, Salzburg. They wouldn’t let the porn star join the chess club! (Rathmines are open to offers…:-))

And as Una explains, she now has a title, just like the Queen!

Una says at one point, “You don’t play chess, do you Dave?” to laughs. We also get to hear from Ronan Bennett, who’s written a new book called Zugswang, a crime thriller based on chess.

The whole interview is very funny and well worth a listen.

Irish Juniors

Lukascs sends me this message:  Peter Cooke (11), representing Rathmines, came 6th (joint 4th) in Irish Junior Chess Championship 2009 Under 12 held last weekend in Kilkenny.

Well done Peter!

Sam Osbourne, also a member of Rathmines, won the U19 championship. Congratulations!

Club Championships Start Tuesday 21st April

National Club Championships – teams

Teams are top seeds Kilkenny, followed by Galway, Ennis, Dublin University (Trinity), Rathmines, and Limerick.  

 

Board No.	Kilkenny	Rating
1	Alexander Baburin	2536
2	Mark Heidenfeld	2391
3	Mark Quinn	2349
4	Ryan Rhys Griffiths	2145
5	Eamon Keogh	2025
6	Sean Bradley	1755
Sub 1	Maurice Buckley	1670
Sub 2	No Substitute
Board No.	Galway	Rating
1	Yury Rochev	2385
2	Marek Goban	2111
3	Dave Path	1984
4	Pete Morriss	1881
5	Lorcan O’Toole	1830
6	Ronan Duke	1702
Sub 1	Marek Maslonka	1700
Sub 2	Indy Banerjee	1674
Board No.	Ennis	Rating
1	Petr Neuman	2458
2	Jan Sodoma	2360
3	Rory Quinn	2065
4	Kieran O’Brien	1643
5	John Cassidy	1683
6	Nick Larter	1668
Sub 1	David Moreno	1700
Sub 2	Gerry Casey	1583
Board No.	Trinity College	Rating
1	Karl McPhillips	2297
2	Andrew Green	2044
3	Colin Menzies	1919
4	Stephen Moran	1912
5	Rory Delaney	1827
6	Paul O’ Flaherty	1678
Sub 1	Kevin Barry	1606
Sub 2	No Substitute
Board No.	Rathmines	Rating
1	John Delaney	2244
2	Peter Cafolla	1987
3	Killian Delaney	1922
4	Mindaugas Janusaitis	1857
5	Jack Killane	1829
6	Michael J. Kennedy	1796
Sub 1	No Substitute
Sub 2	No Substitute
Board No.	Limerick	Rating
1	Ernie Manzanilla	2133
2	Lasha Tsabolisha	2038
3	John Alfred	1730
4	Kevin O’Flaherty	1705
5	Gabriel Mirza	1656
6	Cezary Glegolski	1538
Sub 1	Stephen Cowpar	1559
Sub 2	Pat Coleman	1496

 

Branagan Cup vs. Benildus

Rathmines played Benildus on Wednesday night in the second round of the Branagan Cup and scored a good 3-2 victory over a largely higher-rated team.

Rathmines vs. St Benildus
(Played Wed 15th April 2009, in St Benildus)

1. Delaney, John 2244 1 – 0 Madynski, Pawel 2143
2. Cafolla, Peter 1927 0 – 1 O’Connell, Gerry 2056
3. Delaney, Killian 1950 1/2 – 1/2 Benson, Oisin 1922
4. Kennedy, Michael 1796 1/2 – 1/2 McCarthy, Tim 1886
5. Scannell, Tony 1790 1 – 0 Lyons, Brendan 1874

Unfortunately, my recall of the games other than my own are quite hazy. I will try and relate what I could remember!

Position from Cafolla vs. O’Connell. This started as a Chigorin defence (1. d4 d5 2. c4 Nc6 )

Black is about to lose the cornered rook. It looks like the only chance is to play for a perpetual. White went on to consolidate and win the game after 1…Rd8 2. Rd1 Rxd1+ 3. Kxd1 f5 4. Qxf5 Qg1 5. Ke1 Qg3+ 6. Kd2 etc. I cannot remember the rest…

John started his game, a Centre-counter, with 1.e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5 4. a4?! which is something I personally have never seen before. He followed up with a quick b4, which black declined to take, preferring Qh5. They entered a queenless endgame which John managed to win.

Killian ended his game with a queen against a rook, bishop, and knight. He eventually settled for a draw in a position he thought he might be losing. I cannot remember the exact position I saw, but it very closely resembled the following:

Oisin’s dangerous c pawn means that white has to act with haste to secure a draw.

Michael entered a rook and pawn endgame which looked to be dead drawn. I cannot recall the sequence that led to this position, but only that it was a queen’s pawn opening:

Scannell, Tony vs. Lyons, Brendan
Poisoned Pawn Sicilian

Replay Game Here

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 Qb6

The Poisoned Pawn Variation of the Sicilian. A favourite of Bobby Fischer, of course, and still played today. Black grabs the b-pawn and loses time in development, but if he can survive the middle game, then he should win the ending.

8. Qd2 Qxb2 9. Rb1 Qa3 10. f5 Nc6 11. fxe6 fxe6 12. Nxc6 bxc6 13. Bxf6 gxf6 14. e5 dxe5 15. Ne4 Be7 16. Be2 h5

We are still in theory! But around about now, we both couldn’t remember the book lines, so were playing a little more slowly. White has to choose between Rb3 (the normal book line), 0-0, or Rf1. I estimated that my king was slightly safer in the middle of the board and that I would save a tempo from a check on c5 by the queen or bishop. Rf1 has been played before in slightly different positions, but is not the main move.
Alternatively 17. 0-0 f5 18. Bf3 fxe4 19. Bxe4 Bd7 20. Bg6+ Kd8 21. Rb7 has been played before in several games and resembles the game continuation very closely.

17. Rf1 f5 18. Bf3?!

Peter asked me after the game if this was “sound”. I had no idea when I played it! I thought it has to be OK on general principles, simply because it generates so many threats for black to have to deal with. But I am sure the computer can find a way to defend and make the game safe.
In the end, this is probably not a sound sacrifice, but I figured that it would be hard for black to defend white’s coming initiative. White gets threats over c6 and g6, opens the f-file, and still controls the b and d files. But black remains a piece and pawn up, so if he could only consolidate, then would be winning.

18… fxe4 Brendan mused over this for around 40 minutes. He is probably right to take it, objectively. 19. Bxe4 Bd7 20. Rf3 Qc5 21. Bg6+ Kd8 22. Rb7

This is very similar to the “book” line, after castling, mentioned above. Indeed, this is a very natural sequence of moves. White threatens d7 with immediate mate, which black must protect against. However, he has one excellent move that completely saves the day…Bd6! After this, white should be busted. Instead, he played the hasty…

22…Qg1+?? 23. Rf1 Bh4+? Insufficient 24. g3 Bxg3+ 25. hxg3 Qxg3+ 26. Kd1 Qg4+ 27. Kc1 Qd4 28. Qa5+ Ke7 29. Rf7+ Ke8 30. Rfxd7+ 1-0

National CC – News and Team

Rathmines have entered a team for the National Club Championships, to be held on the weekend of Saturday 25th April – Sunday 26th April 2009, in Ballinasloe. The top two placed teams qualify for the European Club Cup. Full list of rules available on the ICU website: http://www.icu.ie/icu/national_club_championships.php

The team captain, Jack Killane, tells me the Rathmines team will be:

1. John DelaneyFM 2244
2. Peter Cafolla 1987
3. Killian Delaney 1922
4. Mindaugaus Janusaitis 1857
5. Jack Killane 1827
6. Michael Kennedy 1796

I believe that the other teams, only five in total, are to be:

1. Ennis
2. Galway
3. Kilkenny (Baburin, Quinn, Heidenfeld et al)
4. Limerick
5. Dublin University

I also understand that they’ve decided to reduce it to three rounds only (I’m not 100% certain about this). It will be FIDE rated. Good luck to the team!

Rathmines out of William Brennan Cup

 

Rathmines				Bray
Board	Player	Rating	Result	Player	Rating
1	Atanas Kouhtev	1436	0/1	G Cahill	1499
2	John O’Connell	1494	1/0	T Malone	1438
3	Nicholas Pierce	1432	0/1	A White	1352
4	Patrick Freer	1431	0/1	F Holohan	1368
5	Peter Bishop	1400	1/0	H Taylor	1335
		Score	2/3

Philip Hogarty Memorial Results

Results of the Philip Hogarty Memorial Rapid, held on Saturday 4th April 2009. Thanks to Darren McCabe for organising such an excellent event and to Rory Delaney for a very efficient administration.

Best U18 – Sam Osborne
David & Goliath – William Ffrench
Best U1200 – Thomas Gruel
Best U1600 – Terry Creighton
Best U2000 – Oisin Benson
First
1 McPhillips, Karl 2297 5 5:W 10:W 9:W 4:W 6:W

Second
2 Osborne, Sam C. 2055 4.5 27:W 33:D 26:W 8:W 7:W

Joint Third
3 Fitzsimons, David 2176 4 18:W 16:W 11:W 6:L 13:W
4 Quinn, Mark 2349 4 23:W 25:W 14:W 1:L 10:W
5 O’Donnell, Kieran C. 1576 4 1:L 30:W 28:W 25:W 11:W

6 Freeman, Gordon 2112 3.5 32:W 26:D 33:W 3:W 1:L
7 Murray, David B. 2021 3.5 0:D 34:W 21:W 14:W 2:L
8 Smith, Derek 2033 3.5 34:D 36:W 12:W 2:L 21:W
9 Benson, Oisin P. 1951 3 20:W 15:W 1:L 13:L 22:W
10 Janusaitis, Mindaugas 1857 3 30:W 1:L 29:W 18:W 4:L
11 Moran, Stephen 1912 3 28:W 22:W 3:L 15:W 5:L
12 MacElligott, Gerard 1970 3 17:D 19:W 8:L 24:W 16:D
13 Burns, John 1774 3 37:W 14:L 17:W 9:W 3:L
14 Quinn, Rory 2065 3 29:W 13:W 4:L 7:L 27:W
15 Soikkeli, Raino 1686 3 39:W 9:L 20:W 11:L 29:W
16 Killane, Jack 1829 3 40:W 3:L 27:W 0:D 12:D
17 Ffrench, William 1326 3 12:D 23:D 13:L 41:W 25:W
18 Creighton, Terry 1545 3 3:L 35:W 31:W 10:L 26:W
19 Jackson, Carl 1672 3 0:D 12:L 34:D 36:W 28:W
20 Osborne, James 1306 3 9:L 37:W 15:L 38:W 33:W
21 Quinn, Ciaran 1934 2.5 31:W 24:D 7:L 33:W 8:L
22 Grul, Thomas 2.5 0:W 11:L 32:W 26:D 9:L
23 Roe, Stephen W. 1600 2.5 4:L 17:D 36:L 40:W 35:W
24 Crowley, John 1634 2.5 38:W 21:D 25:L 12:L 34:W
25 Collins, Mark A. 1857 2 35:W 4:L 24:W 5:L 17:L
26 Scannell, Tony 1790 2 41:W 6:D 2:L 22:D 18:L
27 Kouhtev, Atanas 1405 2 2:L 42:W 16:L 30:W 14:L
28 Stokes-Martin, Kyle 1235 2 11:L 39:W 5:L 32:W 19:L
29 Vaughan, James 1489 2 14:L 40:W 10:L 31:W 15:L
30 Howley, Kieran 1028 2 10:L 5:L 37:W 27:L 38:W
31 Honner, Mervyn 1290 2 21:L 38:W 18:L 29:L 39:W
32 Collins, Alan 1519 2 6:L 41:W 22:L 28:L 42:W
33 Loughran, John 1728 1.5 42:W 2:D 6:L 21:L 20:L
34 Whelan, Niall P. 1388 1.5 8:D 7:L 19:D 35:D 24:L
35 McPartlan, John 1156 1.5 25:L 18:L 42:W 34:D 23:L
36 Daly, Justin 1895 1.5 0:D 8:L 23:W 19:L 0:
37 Hall, Shane 726 1 13:L 20:L 30:L 42:L 0:W
38 Stokes, Bernadette 615 1 24:L 31:L 40:W 20:L 30:L
39 Mowlds, Dee 622 1 15:L 28:L 41:L 0:W 31:L
40 Benson, Nicola 813 1 16:L 29:L 38:L 23:L 41:W
41 Bellew, Paul 787 1 26:L 32:L 39:W 17:L 40:L
42 Lowry-O’Reilly, Johanna 663 1 33:L 27:L 35:L 37:W 32:L
43 Flynn, Jamie 1597 .5 0:D 0: 0: 0: 0:

Philip Hogarty Memorial – This Saturday

Philip’s Memorial rapid-play tournament is happening this Saturday, April 4th, 2009, in the Teacher’s Club in Parnell Square. Entry fee is 25 euro and be there for 9.30am to register. Darren McCabe tells me that he expects a very good turnout. philip-hogarty-memorial-event