Badger Open - Finished 3-way second place with 4/5 points

Played in Badger Open, this weekend. Finished 3-way second place with 4/5 points and won the class A prize solely. The only loss was against David Jin in rd 2 where I couldn't find right moves in time pressure in an highly unclear material up position. The loss cost me net 7 points even though I won 4 other games.

Paul Fricano won the even clear first with 4.5/5. Congratulations to Paul ! Garvin won the Class B as clear first. Thanks a lot to Ashish, Gregory Reese and others for offereing a chance to play in Milwaukee after a long time. Very well organized. It deserved even higher participation. Games from the event to follow.

Link to the results

http://www.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?200809218591-12916036

Won First Correspondence Tournament 6-0

I started playing correspondence chess this summer. The first tournament was Walter Muir (08WM16). Played following players two games each. I won the event 6-0.

Christopher A. Bastin
White: Slav defense, Bg4 variation
Black: Nimzo-Indian, Samisch variation
Patrick A. Walsh
White: Trompowsky, Ne4-d5 variation
Black: Bogo-Indian, Nbd2 variation
Daniel L. Johnson
White: Trompowsky, Unusual (Nc6) variation
Black: Ruy Lopez, Anti-Marshall variation

Overall I really liked it. I could play Ruy Lopez from black side after a long time ! I used to play e5 to e4 when I started playing chess (before moving to Sicilian). I actually played the variations I play over the board. The best thing is I could analyze some positions for days which is different from normal tournaments. I hope when these positions will come up in live events, I would make use of this experience.



In summary, Corr chess is more like searching the truth in the position. If you love chess and like analysing the position, bringing the deep secrets out, Correspondence chess is the way to go. Following are the games from the event.

Roychoudhury,Souvik - Walsh,Patrick
1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 Ne4 3.Bf4 d5 4.e3 e6 5.Bd3 b6 6.Bxe4 dxe4 7.Nc3 f5?! [7...Bb7 8.Qg4; 7...Bb4 8.Qg4 0-0 9.Bh6 Qf6 10.Qxe4] 8.Qh5+ g6 9.Qh3 Nc6 [9...Bd6 10.0-0-0 Bxf4 11.exf4 0-0 12.Qe3 Nd7 13.f3 Bb7 14.fxe4 fxe4 15.Nh3 Nf6 16.Ng5 Qe7 17.h4 (17.Ncxe4 Bxe4 18.Nxe4 Nd5 19.Qg3 Nxf4 20.Rhe1) 17...h6 18.Ngxe4 Bxe4 19.Nxe4 Nd5] 10.0-0-0 Ba6 11.d5



exd5 12.Nxd5
1-0

Walsh,Patrick - Roychoudhury,Souvik
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.d4 e6 3.c4 Bb4+ 4.Nbd2 b6 5.a3 Bxd2+ 6.Bxd2 h6 7.g3 Bb7 8.Bg2 0-0 9.0-0 d6 10.Qc2 Nbd7 11.e4 Bxe4 12.Qc3 c5
0-1

Roychoudhury,Souvik - Bastin,Christopher
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 Bg4 5.Qb3 Qc7 6.Ne5 Bh5 7.cxd5 cxd5 8.Bd2 Nc6 9.Na3 e6 [9...Nxe5 10.dxe5 Nd7 (10...Qxe5 11.Qxb7 Rd8 (11...Rb8 12.Bb5+) 12.Nb5+-; 11.Rc1 Qb6 (11...Qd8 12.Qxb7; 11...Qb8 12.Nb5) 12.Nb5+-] 10.Rc1 Bd6 11.Nb5 Qd8



12.Nxd6+ Qxd6 13.Qxb7 0-0 14.Nxc6 Nd7 15.Bb4
1-0

Bastin,Christopher - Roychoudhury,Souvik
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.a3 Bxc3+ 5.bxc3 c5 6.Bg5 Qa5 7.Qb3 [7.Qd3 cxd4 (7...Ne4 8.Bd2) 8.Bxf6 gxf6 9.Qxd4 e5] 7...cxd4 8.Bxf6 gxf6 9.Qb4 Nc6 10.Qxa5 Nxa5 11.cxd4 b6 12.e4 Bb7 13.Bd3 f5 14.f3 fxe4 15.fxe4 f5



16.Nf3 fxe4 17.Bxe4 Bxe4 18.0-0 Bxf3 19.Rxf3 Nxc4 20.Rc3 d5 21.Ra2 Kd7 22.Kf1 Raf8+ 23.Ke1 Rf4 24.Rd3 Rhf8 25.Kd1 Rf1+ 26.Kc2 R8f2+ 27.Kb3 Rb1+
0-1

Roychoudhury,Souvik - Johnson,Daniel
1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 Nc6 3.Nc3 e6 4.e4 Be7 5.Qd2 b6 6.Nf3 Bb7 7.d5 exd5 8.exd5 Nb4 9.0-0-0 [9.Bc4 0-0 10.0-0] 9...Nbxd5 10.Nxd5 Nxd5 11.Bc4 Nf6 [11...Bxg5 12.Nxg5 Nf6; 11...h6] 12.Bxf6 Bxf6 [12...gxf6 13.Qh6] 13.Rhe1+ Be7 14.Qg5 Kf8 15.Qf5 d5 16.Bxd5 Bxd5 17.Rxd5 Bd6 18.Ne5 f6 19.Nd7+ Kf7 20.Qe6+ Kg6 21.Ne5+



1-0

Johnson,Daniel - Roychoudhury,Souvik
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.h3 Na5 9.d3 0-0 10.Nc3 Bb7



11.Bd2 Nxb3 12.axb3 c5 13.Ne2 Nh5 14.Ng3 Nxg3 15.fxg3 f5 16.exf5 Rxf5 17.Rf1 Qb6 18.Kh2 Raf8 19.Rb1 d5 20.Be3 Bd6 [20...Qe6 21.Qe2 e4 22.dxe4 dxe4 23.Nd2 Bd6; 20...e4 21.dxe4 (21.Nd2 Rxf1 22.Nxf1 d4 23.Bg1 e3) 21...dxe4 22.Nd2 Qe6 (22...Qg6 23.Bf4 h5 24.Qe2 h4) 23.Qe2 Bd6 24.Rxf5 Rxf5 25.Rf1; 20...Qe6 21.Qe2 (21.Nd2 Rxf1 22.Nxf1 d4 23.Bg1 e4 24.dxe4) 21...e4 22.dxe4 dxe4 23.Nd2 Bd6 24.Rxf5 Rxf5 25.Rf1 Rxf1 26.Nxf1] 21.Qe2 Qc7 22.Nh4 Rxf1 23.Rxf1 Rxf1 24.Qxf1 d4 25.Bd2 [25.Bf2 e4 26.Nf5 (26.dxe4 Bxe4) ] 25...e4 26.Nf5 Bf8 27.Bf4 Qf7 28.g4 g6 29.Ng3 exd3 30.cxd3 Qxb3 31.Qe2 Qf7 32.Bd2 c4 33.dxc4 bxc4 34.Be1 d3 35.Qd2 Qd5 36.Nf1 Bb4
0-1

The new Kid in town

We are blessed with a baby boy on 19-Aug (Tuesday) morning at 8:54 am. He weighs 8 lbs and measures 20 inches. His good name is "Souriddha"..... (pronounce like sou-rid-dha) and nick name is "Titas". Boy and his mom are both doing well.

Chess is a CRUEL game !

Albert Einstein once said, he never liked Chess because it is a Cruel Game. You play good-better-best moves for 3 hours, outplay your opponent and then make one error; just one error and you lose. There is no credit that the 30-40 moves before the error, you played so well.
Compare that with say Football. You play better 3 quarters and scored a lot of points. Nobody can take back those points from you. Alas, Chess is a different sport.

I still love it. Love it and Hate it. That it does not pay back for all the hard work before and during the game, so often. Following are some of my recent games where I was winning clearly and then came the villain move and I had to go back empty handed, with a lot of emotional pain along with.



This is against Erik Santarious (2220) in Midwest team championship. I had a fotress and with draw secured. Bu I saced a piece as I wanted to win. And was winning as well. Simple Ne3+ followed by cxb4 and then Bxd5 (if needed) wins clearly. I saw that, thought for 10 mins and do not know why, played fxg6. Now my pawns on kingside are broken and lost their mobility. Erik blocked them and then in my time trouble won.




Against William Williams (2200) from a closed position, I outplayed him and got a winning position. g5 traps the Rook.. Ne5 will be answered by de when his Queen is attacked. After Rh3, Bg4 wins the exchange with the threat of mate. I saw it when I played earlier Bf3+ but when the moment came, I just played Rg5 and then lost due to in time trouble. I would have crossed 2000 if I would have won this game.



Again from Midwest team championship. Frist round against Yeng (1800). My team lost as I lost. If I would have won, we would have won (Sorry Parker, Paul, Cardenas). I outplayed my opponent in Nimzo India defense. Wanted to play Ra8 to exchange and simplify. But suddenly the flash buld (wrong one) was fired and I played c4 to avoid any check on light squared only to see Nf5 with Rg7 threat wins a Rook. Still I was very much on the game as his Bishop was bad, I have a pawn for exchange and all prospects to get through the closed queenside. But there followed the aftershock and lost as I opened the kingside to get back teh exchange.



Latest one. Against Paul Fricano (1968) in ongoing SWCC club championship. I have a clear winning position. I planned to play Bc5 pinning the Knight, ensuring exchange of one (or more) pieces and then safely getting home with 2 connected, unobstructed pawns on queenside. But suddenly my hand went for Rook and I played Rxc3 to allow his Queen back to game. It was still okay and I got the following position



Just needed to play Qc8 and black still wins. But It was not to be this way. Played exf and some more errors in time toruble cost me the game which I felt I played better 98 mins but the last 2 mins shadowed the same. One consolation is Paul didn't lose the pawn, he saced it. So in one way, he deserved the same.



Recent loss from Waukesh tournament against Ivan Wijetunga (1830). I do not think I will lose another game again with 2 pawns up and exchange up position ! Have you ever done anything similar ? Black is winning and it does not need any expert analysis. When I went for this position, i planned c5 to free the Bishop. In case of dxc Rc8 or Qa3 gets the pawn back. When the position came, I felt Rc8 is even better. Bxc4 is met by Na3 when one pair of pieces exchanged leaving white not much stuff to justify an attacke for still pawn down and exchange down position. I saw castle allows Ng5 etc for a kingiside attack. White had nothing at this position and giving him something was meaningless, especially when black had some many options. But I still castle and do not still know why.



But an exchange and pawn is a lot of material. So I still had teh chance. I could still have played c5 or even the dumb Bc8 to avoid the Nxe6 sac. But I played Nd6 - Second Blunder .He took on g6 and saced on e6. It was still an equal position but I managed to lose.



Finally this one also from the nightmareish team tournament where I lost 3 game in 5 round, all from winning position. His queen is overloaded, defending both d5 Rook and G4 Bishop. Simple g6 followed by Rxd5 gets the piece. This way I get an escape route for my King. I thought for a while but again for unknown reasons, play Rxd5 directly. Won the piece but he had mate threats and eventually in time trouble I managed to lose.


Whom, if not me or God, shall I blame for this ? May be nobody. This is the name of the game. Chess is indeed a Cruel game.

I know it must have happended to all of you. Do share your thoughts....

Tromp against Veech - Close escape

I could have lost the game ! Missed a knight fork and had terribly bad position - passive and underdeveloped. I was committed to try my best. My young opponent played a very good game and missed his chance narrowly. Well played Veech !

Following is the link to the game in JavaScript window (you can play through the game)

http://www.geocities.com/saubhikr/veech.htm

Roychoudhury,Souvik (1976) - Veech,John (1813) [A45]

SWCC Club Championship, Hales Corner (3.3), 24.07.2008

1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 Ne4 The most common response 3.Bf4 c5 Sharpest variation....can be said the main line 4.f3 Qa5+ 5.c3 Nf6 6.Nd2 I liked to play d5 here which is a complex, tactical game and have won a convincing game again Fricano on this line. But against a young player, wanted to play positionally. 6...cxd4 7.Nb3 Qb6 8.Qxd4 cxd is just bad. White's kingside is cluttered and black gets a free game 8...Nc6 9.Qxb6 axb6 10.Nd4 e5 11.Nxc6 exf4 12.Nd4 This is all theory and we played it within 1 min. One funny point is if you put this position to Fritz or Rybk, it wl show aslight advantage to black. I must repeat white has NO ADVANTAGE in Tromp. Then why do I play this ? I play this because the positions are complex enough and one can play for win. My 70+% score in Tromp is because I played the middle gamm better than my opponent. When they were better (like Amanov, Santarious), I lost. 12...d5 Few other common response here are Nd5 (which I feel best) and Bc5. d5 is also comon. It frees the c8 Bishop and stops white's Nh3 move. 13.e3!?

Not a pawn sac as white will get this back in two moves 13...fxe3 Ke2 is the main move. But over the board I felt Bb5+ with a tempo is better as a later Ne2 does not block the bishop.Plus exchanging pieces will help white to exploit the Black's bad pawn structure in end game. I mised the point. 14.Bb5+?! Bd7 15.Ke2 Bc5 16.Bxd7+ Kxd7 17.Kxe3 Rhe8+ 18.Kd3 Bxd4!? I was shocked to see this move. Black has a bad pawn structure which is compensated by his better development and having the good bishop. But this move made me think for a long as my King in center can be subjected to a lot of attack. Plus I have to waste a tempo to play Kd3 to develop my knight on best square e2. 19.Kxd4 [19.cxd4 Shredder thinks this is better. Because black has bad queenside pawns and white can play Ne2-Nc3 and then either play for Rc1-c7 (after Nb5 or attack the d5 square. I felt I can not win this unless black really playes bad. ] 19...Kd6 [19...Re7 I was really worried about this move and this made me think for almost 15 mins to evaluate the subsequent position. 20.Kd3 Rae8 21.Rd1! This is the key defense. 21...Re1 22.Kd2 R1e3 23.Kc1 (23.Kc2 Re1 24.Kd2 R1e3 White can not free the knight.) 23...Kc6 24.Nh3 Nh5 25.Rd4 Position is still equal but black with bad pawn stucture has more to worry.; 19...Nh5 20.g3 This variation is also good as it weakens the f3 pawn.] 20.Kd3 This is the catch. If I would not have played Bb5+, I had controll on e2 square and could have pplayed Ne2. Now I had to waste a tempo to play that. This is why Bb5+ check is not played. Black bishop had no good square as after Bf5+ Kd3, I can kick it with Nd4 and then exchange it favorably with Bd3. 20...Nd7 21.b3?? Too clever and outright blunder ! I was afraid that after Ne2, black can play Ne5+ followed by Nc4+ and get a good position. This was a profilactic move move to stop that. I missed one point. [21.Kd2! This was the right profilactic move in anticipation on Ne5 or Nc5.] 21...Nc5+

Here I planned Kd2 followed by Nd2. But suddenly saw that I am losing an exchange and a pawn and the game by a knight fork on b3 !! The a1 rook is undefended. 22.Kc2 Black is clearly winning here. Fritz assessment is black is 3 pawns up ! HOWEVER, I recently realizzed that I generally did not lose games with just one blunder. I always had another shot and when I lost, I lost for the second blunder. I was committed to apply that lesson and try hard and wait for my chance. 22...b5? Unnecessary waste of time. Ra3 wins easily. 23.b4 I was desparate to complicate the position 23...Nd7? Na4 attacking c3 is much simpler. Black gave few tempo to white. Black has slight advantage only now. 24.Kd2? Counter favor. Kd1 was better as on d2, white gets into the knight check from c4. Black has again clear plus 24...Ne5 25.Ne2 Nc4+ 26.Kd1 Ne3+ 27.Kd2 Nc2!! I saw it is coming few moves back but could do nothing to stop it. If Veech played very well in this game. Excellent move.

28.Nd4!? White sacs the exchange but stays in the game as he will get the b5 pawn back and has a fortress in center. Maaaaay beee some complication can bring him back to the game. [28.Kxc2 Rxe2+ 29.Kb3 Rxg2 Black is a pawn up and white has nothing to show in return. Passive and bad.; 28.Rac1 Rxa2 29.Rxc2 Rxc2+ 30.Kxc2 Rxe2+ 31.Kd3 Rxg2-+] 28...Nxd4?! Too smart [28...Nxa1 29.Nxb5+ Kd7 30.Rxa1 Re6 Black should have played this line. Soften the kingside and open the lines for rook.] 29.cxd4 Ra3 I personally felt Rc8-c4 is better 30.Rhc1 Though now I see black is still clearly better but at this point I was much relieved over the board 30...Ree3 31.Rc5 I was thinking I am getting the b5 pawn back. I missed something. 31...Rad3+?! [31...b6! My rook will be trapped if I take on b5 ! neither of us saw it over the board.] 32.Kc2 Rxd4 33.Rxb5 Re2+ 34.Kc3 Rc4+ 35.Kd3 I was thinking Kb3-followed by Rd1 to get the d-pawn but black will take on king side pawns and win 35...Rxg2 36.Rxb7 White is very close to being saved here. Rook endings are easier to defend for losing side. 36...Rxh2?! Rf4 defending the f7 while attacking the f3 was better. 37.Rxf7 I was thinking whether to play a4-a5 trying to get the pawns first. They say, in Rook ending the activity is more important than material. But today I had enough for trying subtle moves. Played simple. Actually a4-a5 or b5 ideas loses as black will also roll with h5-h4 and might get some mating attack for the cut off king with f5-f4. 37...Rxb4 38.Rxg7

Here I offered draw. a, c, f, h pawns dow not win rook endgame. So I realized I had no chance to win unless he blunders big time. I had just 20 mins vs 60 misn for Veech. With equal pawn and free passer to each, draw is the likely solution. And who knows that better than Veech who just offered a lecture that evening on Rook Endgames. After a short thought, he accepted. I saved from a close defeat! 1/2-1/2

SWCC Championship - Colle from black side against Pokoroski

Following is the analysis of my last round win against Jeff Pokorsoski. I played for fun, took a a lot of risk and won eventually. My opponent played very solid but allowed himself to go to time trouble when he made a few bad moves to loose. Anyway, good game.

Click the following link to play through the game

http://www.geocities.com/saubhikr/pokorski.htm

Pokorski,Jeff (1652) - Roychoudhury,Souvik (1976) [A45]

SWCC Club Championship Waukesh (2.4), 17.07.2008

1.d4 Nf6 2.e3?! c5!?

2.e3 was premature and discloses white plan too early. Colle is ineffective against g6 set up. I should have played 2....g6 here. 3.Bd3 d5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Nf3 Bg4 c4 followed by Bf5/Bg4 was also good. I wanted to keep the tension in the center. 6.h3 Bxf3 [6...Bh5 I was afraid in this case white can take the c5 pawn and keep the same. Analyzed for some time but I was wrong in my assessment. 7.dxc5 e5 8.g4 Bg6 9.Bb5 This is the move I was worried 9...Bxc5 10.Nxe5 0-0 11.Nxc6 bxc6 12.Bxc6 Rc8 13.Bb5 Ne4

Black is down a pawn but fully developed. White's queenside is jammed and not developed. His kingside is loose due to extended pawn moves. Queen can jump to h4, pawn breaks line h5 or f5, bringing Rooks to action, sac on f2/e3 - black has a lot of play. Actually black has an advantage here.] 7.Qxf3 e6 [7...e5 I wanted to play this move but felt it would simplify things for white. May be a6 was a better profileactic move. 8.dxe5 Nxe5 9.Bb5+ Nc6 10.c4=] 8.0-0 a6 Too clever...playing for tempo so that if white takes on c5, I can take in one move. a6 is an useful move stopping Bb5/Nb5 and weakness of b6 can not be exploited given the current position. I was also thinking of cxd but that would allow white to play Bc1 first before developing the Knight on d2. 9.Nd2 Now ehite plans to take on c5 and play e4 when he can take with Knight. He has a Bishop pair with no weakness. It would be very difficult for black to extract win. 9...cxd4?! Bad move as it hands over a good structure to White. I took a risk to sharpen the game. What is my plan to win if I play the right move like Bd6 ? Here I have changed the structure to match Queen's gambit exchange variation and can play for minority attack. Since Knight is blocking the Bishop on c1, I'll be able to play Bd6 and h6 to ensure C1 bishop does not get a good square. But mu assessment was wrong as I found later. 10.exd4 cxd is bad as Bc1 will be locked and black will be the first to use the c-file. 10...Bd6 11.Re1 Here I realized something. I was thinking th Knight had no good squares but it can now go to f1-g3-h5. White has two bishops and open diagonals. The rook can be lifted. This is like Caro Kann exchange variation. This types of positions I play a lot and know there are a lot of attack white can generate. 11...0-0 12.Bc2!? Too blant. 12...Qc7?! I was also equally crude. The threat was to play Nd4 when c2 Bishop is hangling. later I realized white can also get a pawn by intermediate Bxh7+. I should have played for counterplay before white completes his development through b5-b4 [12...e5 This was found to be best move considerinbg the counterplay black gets in return of the isolated pawn. Saw a recent game by Eugene Perelstyne like this. 13.dxe5 Nxe5 14.Qd1 Re8 I was not comfortable to go for this. Not my strength.] 13.Nb3! Missed this move ! This little move defends d4, opens up Bc1 and keeps the queenside tight. I was also worried about Nc5 followed by b4 to close the queenside. 13...Rfc8 Here I realized that h6 to stop Bg5 allows white to sac the Bishop. Thought he can not do that immediately. It also makes difficult to play a later imminent g6 when white plays Qd3 as h6 will be loose. The purpose of my move was to respond Qd3 with Nb4! when I get the powerful c2 Bishop and can safely got for minority attack. 14.Bg5! White is clear better here. If I get this position, 60-70% chance I would win. 14...Be7 15.Bf4 Bd6 16.Bg5 Claer he is happy with draw. But I can not. So I took a big risk here. 16...Nd7! I would defend from trenches. This avoids exchanging one piece. I plan to play Nf8 later. This also controls e5 & c5. Just see, I have no piece in my kingside and everything is jammed on queenside. But I knew I could bring them back quickly and some of them can controlling kingside from distance. I was also thinking of Ne8 when it covers g7 square and can be activated via Nd6. This also keeps 7th rank free for Queen to cover the key kingside squares. But somehow I felt Nd7 is a better defensive move. 17.Qd3 g6 Blunts the d3 Bishop. Nf8 would locked the knight for protection. 18.Rac1! I liked this move as now my Nb4 trick does not work! 18...b5 [18...Bf4 I thought for this move or after intermediate Bh2+. This forces exschange of the Bishop but I was not sure whose Bishop was better. All my pawns were on light squares and this bishop was defending the dark squares. Plus exchanging on f4 white gets a tempo to play Re3-f3 and may be Qd2-f4/h6 etc. I felt I should start my counterplay quickly.] 19.h4! Good move. This position with g4 begs for this move. 19...b4 20.h5 Nf8?! I was afraid of hxg followed by Re6 sac. Last week only I lost a game to Ivan from a clear winning position by missing the Ne6 sac. [20...bxc3 21.hxg6 hxg6 22.Rxe6

22...Bh2+ 23.Kh1 Nf8! 24.Rxc6 (24.Re2 cxb2 25.Rb1 Nb4 26.Qh3 Re8!!-/+ A lot of analysis still needs to be done.) ] 21.Qh3 Bf4 Now it is clear that Bf6 is a big threat with Queen aiming the h8 and I must exchange this powerful Bishop before it is too late (say allows him to sac the exchange) 22.Bxf4 [22.hxg6? Bxg5 23.gxh7+ Kh8 24.Qg4 Qf4 25.Qh5 bxc3 26.bxc3 Qf6-/+] 22...Qxf4 23.hxg6 hxg6 I thought for a long for Ng6 but that isolates my pawns and the Knight remains pinned to h7. White still has an advantage. 24.g3 Aiming as Kg2 followed by Rh1. 24...Qf6 The Queen defends the kingside very well and can not be forced out from her trench (f6 or g7). 25.Kg2 bxc3 26.bxc3 After a long forced moves, I got a breathing time. Thought for a long here. e5 was one idea and same is Rb8. Recently I lost a few games by trying to be over aggressive. Today I wanted to play like Petrosian and win through accurate defense. I felt I must move the Nc6 to open the Rc8 to c3 pawn. After all the key is to have a counterplay. I can't just defend and win. White has not sacrificed anything (yet). 26...Nb8 Not the best move but practical choice. The knight heading to d7 controlling the c5 square in case white plays Nc5 to block the c-file. But this is too slow. 27.Rh1? At last the blunder comes. I was hoping for a false step from my opponent from a long time. He was taking a lot of time but was playing solid. Here He had less than 10 mins. But I think Bb1 first to keep the c3 pawn was better. Position is again becomes unclear. 27...Rxc3! I thought for a long time here as white has a strong threat of Bg6 when my Rc3 is undefended. But eventually I saw I could defend the position. 28.f4 Prevents the Qf3+ [28.Bxg6? Qf3+! Black queen abandones the kingisde to get counterplay. Leaves the defensive duty to the brave knight on f8 alone. All other move loses. 29.Kg1 Rxc1+ 30.Nxc1 Nxg6 was better but I planned this move. 30...fxg6 31.Qh8+ Kf7 32.Rh7+ Ke8 Nh7 was better but in the trees analysis I was this move though really risky but wins. I am sure I would have played otherwise when the position would have come on board.] 28...Rc4 Qg7 was better but somehow I was anxious to not keep my Rook loose for long. 29.Rh2? Bad move. Nd2 was better. [29.Nd2 Rxd4? White gets a tempo on Nf3. Rc8 was better. 30.Nf3] 29...Nc6 I was anxious to develop my queenside and here I needed to bring the knight back on c6 toi attack the d4. Note c6 is a loose square but my opponent was in time trouble and I wanted to complicate things more for him. 30.Nd2 Here I felt Nd2-Nf3-Ng5 is a strong concept. May be white could have gone for this earlier. 30...Rxd4 White gets a tempo on Nf3. Rc3 was better. 31.Nf3 Rc4 32.Ne5 Bad move again as it losses a pawn and opens the f-file for Queen. White lost a tempo on Rh which allowed me to play Nc6. If he would have gone for Nd2 straight away, Ne5 could have been a strong move. 32...Nxe5 33.fxe5 Qxe5 34.Bxg6 Allows mate with 1 sec on clock. 34...Qe2+ 35.Kg1 Rxc1+ 0-1 MATE

Upcoming Waukesh Club Tournaments

Following are upcoming Waukesh Club Tournaments. I'll play some of them. Exact plan depends on my next kid who is due in late August.

Spring Swiss (G/90): Jun 4 to Jun 25 >> Playing (1.5/2) with one bye
Team Tournament (G/90): July 2 to Sep 3 >> Will play
Summer Action (G/29): Sep 10 to Sep 17>> Will not
Summer Swiss (G/90): Sep 24 to Oct 15 >> Depends

Waukesha Spring Swiss - Started with a win

Playing in a tournament after almost one month gap. Wanted to play a long game so that "engines start running again" and long game it was (60 moves). I played pretty average, finding second best moves but anyway managing to win. My opponent (Gregory Reese Senior - 1346 rated) played well, didn't make any blunder but did miss his chance in the early middle game where I played a few "not so good" moves.

Waukesha Spring Swiss has drawn 26 players and following players are with 1 point after first round

Williams, Souvik, Kohlenberg, Coons, Iva, Ryan, Krause, Hetzell, Anderson, Hartig, G Reese Junior, Ruel, Lawrence

Here is my game....a Colle - fitting to my blog

Reese, Sr,Gregory (1346) - Roychoudhury,Souvik (1985) [D05]Waukesh Spring Swiss Waukesh (1.2), 04.06.2008

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.e3 c5 4.Bd3 d5 5.b3 Nc6

6.c3 Bd6 7.Na3 cxd4 8.exd4 Qa5 9.Nb5 Bb8 10.b4 Qd8 11.0-0 Ne4 12.Qc2 a6 13.Na3 f5 14.Re1 0-0 15.Nb1 Bd7 [15...e5] 16.a4 Bd6 17.Ba3 Qc7 18.b5 axb5 19.Bxb5 Rfc8 20.Bxd6 Qxd6 21.Qd3 Nb8 22.Bxd7 Nxd7 23.Rc1 Rc4 24.a5 Qc7 25.Nfd2 Rc6 26.Nxe4 fxe4 27.Qb5 Rca6 28.Nd2 Rxa5 29.Qb2 Rxa1 30.Rxa1 Rxa1+ 31.Qxa1 h6 32.Nf1 Nb6 33.Qa5 Qc6 34.Ne3 Na4 35.Nd1 Qc4

36.Ne3 Qb3 37.Qb4 Qxb4 38.cxb4 Nc3 39.f3 exf3 40.gxf3 Ne2+ 41.Kf2 Nxd4 42.Nd1 Kf7 43.Nc3 Kf6 44.Ke3 Nf5+ 45.Kd3 Kg5 46.Ne2 e5 47.b5 Nd6 48.Nc3 d4 49.Ne4+ Nxe4 50.Kxe4 h5 51.b6 Kh4 52.f4 exf4 53.Kxf4 Kh3 54.Ke4 Kxh2 55.Kxd4 Kg3 56.Kd5 h4 57.Kd6 h3 58.Kc7 h2 59.Kxb7 h1Q+ 0-1

Back to 1985 - My highest rating

Waukesha event is rated...I gained 24 points to reach 1985.

http://www.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?200805140671.1-12916036

I was 1985 on December last year (2007) after SWCC HOLIDAY LEFTOVER SWISS (WI) and also on May 2006 after M ROHLAND MEMORIAL/WI CLOSED C (WI). The funny thing is in the last 3 years I have moved between 1935 to 1985. Wish one day I will break into upper limits beyond the 1985 !

Link to my rated tournaments

http://www.uschess.org/msa/MbrDtlTnmtHst.php?12916036

At last beat Coons in mainline Slav !! 5/6 in Waukesha championship.

I lost 2 games trying to win from drawn positions and drew 2 more against Coons in the mainline of Slav in last 1.5 years. Last time time I had white against him, I played 1.Nf3 2.b3 and won. Incidentally our first game (3 years back) was also a mainline slav which I won. This time was planning 1.a3 but then just before the game he was mentioning how much he prepared the Slav lines for this game and I couldn't resist me from taking the challenge and played the mainline. Typically he plays 20 moves from his memory but here i could take him out of main line. Got a double edged position and then won the game with two bishops. It feels good ! It confirms the belief that if you can play the middle game and ending better, it doesn't matter if you come out of the opening with no advantage.

Williams leading the tourney with 6/7. Both i and Sasha have a chance to catch him with a score 5/6. And next round (last game) we are playing each other. Lets see what happens !

Won with Tango! - 4/5 in Waukesha Championship

I won against Stanley Garvin yesterday from the black side of Tango! opening (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 Nc6). I have 4/5 score in Tango with only loss against Williams from an advantageous position in time trouble (instead of winning the exchange, I blundered mine with 20 secs in the clock).

I'll play Coons next week and then the potential decider with Sasha on the week following. If I win both the games, I'll at least jointly win the Waukesha Club Championship. Easier said than done considering what Sasha is playing off late and avoiding Coon's 30 move home preparation in Slav! I need to play something really unusual against Coons. Last time I played 1.b3 and won. Any suggestion for this time ?

Win against Ivan - Original opening play or simply a bluff that worked ?

Roychoudhury,Souvik (1961) - Wijetunga,Ivan (1823) [D00]

Waukesha Championship Waukesha (5.3), 16.04.2008

Click here to play over the game

1.d4 c6 2.e3 Wanted to play somehing different so that Ivan can not use his slav experience against me and has to play a middlegame position not known before. 2...d5 3.Bd3 Nf6 4.Nd2 Diagram

The night before, I watched the Bill Pascall video on playing creatively in your game where he played 1.d4 d5 2.a3 and won later as his opponent could not solve the new types of position. I wanted to try the same rule here. 4...Bg4 5.f3 Bh5 6.Ne2 Well an original position indeed. You may call it provocative but I felt I have better middle game chance than my opponent and chess is after all a fun sports. It does feel good to play new things (especially if you win !). 6...e6 Diagram

I was expcting Nbd7-e5 when I planned to play c4 7.Nf4 Bg6 8.Nxg6 hxg6 A critical moment. I got two bishops but black now has open h-file for his rook. I like knight more. So recently I am forcing myself to play the bishop games more and watching a lot of videos/games to make better use of two bishops. I felt its a good chance for me here. 9.Qe2 May be c4 was better 9...Bd6 10.f4 Modern chess is more of concrete variation than general theory. I watched a Topalov vs Kramnik game where Topa had dark square bishop but he still played e3-f4-g4/g5 etc with all pawns on dark square. Here black is objectively better as his pawns ar in the light square and Bishop is of dark square. But I have good center control and two bishops. The computer did prefer whiete here. 10...Nbd7 11.Nf3!? I think c4 might be better. 11...c5 12.c3 c4 13.Bc2 I somewhat liked this position though it may seem black is doing alright. White is cramped but has a lot if venom in teh coiled spring. 13...b5 14.Ng5! Diagram

Idea is to play e4 and after dxe, capture with the knight. 14...Nh7 I saw the mobve and felt the best. However black could play Qe7 and have a solid position. I think Ivan was thinking he had advantage. 15.Nxh7 Rxh7 16.e4! I get the break, my dark square bishop is back in the game. 16...Nb6!? Qh4+-Qh5 keeps the balance. 17.a4! Diagram

I love this move. For the first time in the game, I have advantage. Black was playing well, but I kept on posing the new issues and eventually get the return. White is threatening the a5. The odd looking Qe2 move played earlier is showing the strength - pinning the King and attackign eh c4 pawn. 17...bxa4 [17...Nxa4 18.exd5+-] 18.exd5 Nxd5 19.Bxa4+ The position has opened up for my bishops and his king is caught in the center. 19...Kf8 20.0-0 [20.Qxc4 Nxf4 21.g3 Nd5 22.0-0 Rxh2 23.Qd3+/-] 20...Qh4 21.g3 Qh5 22.Qxh5 Rxh5 23.Bc6 The a7 pawn is now lost. 23...Rc8 24.Bxd5 Rxd5 [24...exd5 I was actually thinking Ivan will play this line. 25.Rxa7 Re8 26.h4+/- (Initially I didn't see the idea on how to stop the Re8-Re2 and wa splanninjg h4 but then planned to the Bd2-Re1 idea missing that after Re1 he can play Rhh2! May be when the position would come I could see it and stop the blunder ! 26.Bd2 Re2 27.Re1 Rhxh2-/+) ] 25.Rxa7 Rb5 26.Kg2 Rc7?! Not sure exchanging the rooks was a good idea. 27.Rxc7 Bxc7 Okay, we reached a same color bishop where all my pawns are on the same color of my bishop. The bishop has not moved yet and most part of the game was locked by e3-f4 chain. Its a poetic justice that this piece delivers the winning blow for white. 28.Kf3 Ke7 29.h4 Gaining space on the kingside and putting a pawn on h5 and freeing my bishop was the idea. But I think simple King to c2, Bd2, Rb1 and b3 might be easier. 29...Bb6 30.Re1 Kd6 31.g4 Bd8 32.Re5! Diagram

I spent good amount of time on this move, this moves anothert pawn to dark square but I was right in my plan. 32...Rd5 I didn't see this candidate move....not sure why. I was thinking if he move his rook, I will play Rc5 and get the c4 pawn for the h4 pawn and the win with the queenside passers. [32...Rxe5 33.fxe5+ Kd5 34.Bg5!! f6 (34...Bxg5 35.hxg5+- Black is in Zugzwang and must move his king back when white will play Ke4-d5 and win easily.) 35.exf6 gxf6 36.Be3 f5 37.g5 e5 38.h5 e4+ 39.Kg3+-] 33.h5?! [33.g5! was better] 33...gxh5 34.gxh5 Bf6 35.Rxd5+ Kxd5 Diagram

I was planning the b3 followed by Ke3-c4 idea but was not sure what is the best piece set up for that. So played some random moves while thinking. 36.Bd2 Be7 37.Be1 Bf6 38.Bg3 Be7 39.Ke3 f5 40.Be1 Bd8 41.Kf3 Kc6 42.Ke3 Kd5 43.Kf3 Kc6 44.Bf2 Kd5 45.Bg3 Be7 46.Ke3 Bd8 47.Be1 Be7 48.Bf2 Bd8 49.b3 Diagram

49...cxb3 50.Kd3 Ba5 51.Bh4! Diagram

Well this bishop is now a real powerhouse 51...Kd6 Funny thing is that Rybka can not see the strength of the Bf6 move at this point.. It evaluates this only as equal. White is clearly winning here which is immediately found by Shredder. [51...Kc6 In his excellent Blog site, Ivan mentioned this is drawing. However, what I feel is it is just an interesting position where with accurate play black may hold. However, in many lines it is very easy to go wrong for black. I can't guarantee I could hold this position against a player like Santarious with less than 1 min on my clock. 52.c4 (52.Bf6 gxf6 53.h6 e5 54.fxe5 fxe5 55.h7 e4+ 56.Kc4 b2 57.h8Q b1Q) 52...Bb4 53.c5 Kd7 (53...b2 54.Kc2 Bc3 55.Bf6 gxf6 56.h6 Bxd4 57.h7 Kxc5 White is winning here with +- 5.00 evaluation. It would have been fun to play this position.; 53...Kb5 54.Be7! Wins in all lines) 54.Bf6 gxf6 55.h6 e5 56.h7 e4+ 57.Kc4 b2 58.h8Q b1Q White has at least a perpetual and is safe inspite of being a pawn down. But with less than a minutes on the clock, black has to be careful. 59.Qg7+ Kd8 (59...Kc6 60.d5#; 59...Ke6 60.d5#) 60.Qxf6+ Kc7 Not an easy move to play as it allows Qb6 getting the piece back.(60...Ke8 61.Qe5+ Kd8 (61...Kf7 62.Qxf5++/-) 62.Qb8+ Kd7 63.Qb7+ Ke6 (63...Ke8 64.Qxb4 White pushes the black king to last rank and then takes the bishop back.) 64.d5+ (64.Qb6+ Kf7 65.Qxb4 Qd3+ 66.Kd5 e3 67.Qb7+) 64...Kf6 65.Qc6+ Kf7 66.Qe6+ Kg7 67.Qe7+ Kg8 68.Qg5+ Kh8 69.Qd8+ Kh7 70.Qe7+ Kg8 (70...Kh8 71.Qf8+ Kh7 72.Qxf5++/-) ) ] 52.Bf6 Diagram

52...b2 53.Kc2 b1Q+? [53...Bxc3 This is what I was expecting and informed Informed Ivan on our way back (we went in the same car). I saw teh d5 vreak but was not sure whethert it wins. 54.Bxg7 Ke7 55.h6 Kf7 56.Be5 Kg6 57.d5! Diagram

57...Bxe5 58.fxe5 exd5 59.e6+- Diagram

One pawn queens ! Quality not quantity is what matters !] 54.Kxb1 gxf6 55.h6 Bxc3 56.h7 Bxd4 57.h8Q e5 58.Qxf6+ Kd5 59.Qxf5 Kd6 60.Qg6+ Kd5 61.f5 e4 62.f6?! [62.Qe6+ Kc5 63.Qxe4 is easier] 62...e3 63.f7 e2 64.Qg3 Bc5 65.Qf3+ Kc4 66.Qxe2+ It was a good game. I wish to spend more time on the same color bishop ending and try to see whwther it is win for white in all variations ! 1-0

I score 72% in Trompowsky with 2022 rating performance

I scored 72% in Trompowsky with 2022 rating performance. This is much better than any mainline opening, I bet. Lost only 6 games - 2 to Jeremy Lynch due to blundering pieces in pawn up winning positions, 1 to Santarious again by blunder in winning position, 2 clear losses to Allen Becker and 1 to IM Amanov. I do not expect anything better than this from any opening lines !! See the statistics below.

What do you think ? Inspired to give it a try ?

Good start (2-0-0) in Waukesha Club Championship

I started with wins (with white) against Peter Velikanov (1900) and Raymond Hayes (2100). Two back to back wins against strong players gives good motivation. Next round I am playing with Williams with black. My game (with black) with Sasha (the only other undefeated player till now) is postponed till end.

The game with Peter (two weeks back) was a QGD and yesterday's game with Hays was Trompowsky. Now I have wins with Trompowsky against a master (Williams), three experts (Becker, Hayes, Fricano) and at least a dozen of Class A players (not including a draw with Ashish).

Coons beat Williams yesterday for a major upset. I was joking that he draws with 1100 and beats 2200 within a month ! Not an easy task !

Some important mements from the game with Hayes, all white to play....
In following position, Qd5 was an interesting plan

In following position, I played the Nd5 which was correct and winning. After ...Qxc6 bxc6...Re8, the critical move is Nc3.

Finally, in following position, Ng3 and if required then Rg1 wins easily. With 1.42 mins on clock I was for some reasons was not finding any move, played inaccurate Rh1 when Black could play Rc2 prolonging the struggle. But then Hayes made an illegal move which gave me 2 mins and I then manage to with that time, offering the rook and then allowing him to queen the b-pawn when my (c8=) queen forces a mate with Qd7+ ... Kh8 (same for Kh6), Qh7 mate.

Started Correspondence Chess !

I started playing the correspondence chess ! Its 10 moves in 50 days. I am playing in a quad and two other tournaments will start soon. I have already won the 2 games, clearly winning one and pawn up with better position in another. Two other games just started. Must say..its fun. Everyday I come back from office and play one or two moves ! Enjoying it a lot !

Waukesha Club Championship - Started with a win

I am playing in the Waukesha Club Championship. On last Wednesday, I played against Peter Velikanov with white, won a pawn in the opening as he missed a tactics and then used that pawn in the endgame to win the game.

I played very safe through out the game and missed a good tactic in the next move. White can play e4 here. Try to calculate the variations, its fun ......




Other results are Garvin vs Hayes draw, Ivan lost to Williams, Coons lost to Sasa. Next round I am playing Sasa with black.

What is the best move (1) ?

From time to time, I will be publishing the positions from my games and will ask readers to suggest the best move. Here is the first one from the recently completed MCA Fide Futurity event against Leon Ding.



Black mishandled the exchange Slav position and stands clearly worse. I was very excited to see the move g4-g5 to win a pawn. But later while analyzing at home, realized that this is not the best move. Suggest what do you think is the best move in this position.

FIDE Round Robin June 7-8

I saw in Chris' blog that the entry fee for this event is lowered to $50 for non-Fide players. Its a round robin where 2 non-Fide players play with 3 other Fide players. This means, if you can score 1 point from these three games, you will get a rating. I can't think of any better opportunity to get Fide rating. The only reason we won't get it will be, we didn't score 1 point and in that case I must say that we are not there yet !

I am surely playing in this !


http://mcafidetournaments.blogspot.com/2008/03/fide-round-robin-june-7-8-2008.html

FIDE Round Robin June 7 & 8, 2008
Format: 6-player round robin, 2 sections, 12 players total (Masters section & Experts/A/B players section) 3 games Saturday, 2 Sunday (The best part of a round robin is you will play everyone in your section and you will know what color you have against each opponent before the tournament begins)

Time Control: G/90 + 30 Sec increment
Players: 4 FIDE, 2 Non-FIDE per section
Entry: $30 FIDE players, $50 Non-FIDE players (+$25 deposit for all players)
Prizes: $150 each section, winner takes all

Analysis of Souvik v IM Mesgen Amanov Game

Following link will replay my game with IM Mesgen Amanov from MCA Fide Futurity event. Amanov has played in Olympiad for Turkmenistan and is 2405 rated in Fide. He recently won the Winter open and also jointly won the MCA Fide Futurity event with IM Angelo Young.

http://www.geocities.com/saubhikr/souvikamanov.htm

Back in winning form !!

Well, first thanks to all of you who gave me the support after my 32 point losing, 3 losses in 5 games performance in the team tournament. I almost thought of quitting ! I am happy that I didn't !

I scored 4/5 in the MCA Fide Futurity event on 8-9 March in Hales CCorner and gained back 17 points to reach 1961. The only loss was to IM Mesgen Amanov in a tough fought 45 move game where I lost my rook in a knight fork in a pawn down endgame while in time trouble.

None of the wins were a gift as I had to fight till 30-40 moves to earn it and though I missed moves but I also saw a lot of tactics - from both ends. I am happy that I continued to play...I really do love this this game of chess. Yes, I do !

Will put the games once done with the analysis.

If I can play Tromp against an IM and survive till 50 moves, it must be sound !

Yesterday I played Mesgen Amanov in round 3 of MCA Fide Futurity event. I had white and I played Trompowski after 1.d4 Nf6. While analysisng I found he was the one who made the first slight inaccuracy. I saw white's move but somehow couldn't calculate till the end and settled for safer option where I had to literally defend for a long time. At the end, I had around 5 mins, exhausted with long calculation and missed a knight fork to lose my rook at move 45 and resigned. Will publish the game tonight.

Anybody from WI is playing in St. Louis this weekend ?

Anybody from WI is playing in St. Louis this weekend ?

Feb. 29-Mar. 2 or Mar. 1-2 12th annual Mid-America Open GPP: 100

Didn's play in winter open, Will play in Fide tournament

I am following the advice of strong players and decided not to play tournaments back to back weekends. So skipped the winter open. Used this time to analyze the games (read losses) from team tournaments. I was extremely unhappy on me for losing 3 games but now I feel, I played good games except a few misses. All these games were very rich and I could get some important lessons. I'll play in the Fide tournament on 8-9 March in Milwaukee.

Good Knight - Bad Bishop !

Following was the position in Karpov-Kasparov match in 1985. Karpov won the game. Following link has the details.

http://www.chesscafe.com/chessok/chessok.htm

I had very similar position in team tournament against Gavin Mclanahan. Thought I could win, but just could not make it happen.



In fact the following position was very close to Karpov's game. I wish....

My latest loss with Eric

Following is my game with Eric in Team tournament. I saced a piece for 3 pawns (another Allen Becker inspiration), had a winning position and then just played badly to lose !

http://www.geocities.com/saubhikr/souvikvseric.htm

Following was the position just before Nf7 sac

Following was the position just before the blunder fxg. Ne3+ wins.

Catastrophe !!

Catastrophe !! By all means !

I have lost 3 games, 2 to lower rated players. All from winning positions ! Drew with another lower rated player. Lost 32 points !!

Never in my life I lost 3 games in a tournament, never in my life I had such a poor outing ! I can't say I played badly as in the opening and middle games, I outplayed my opponents. But in the ending, the technique (calculating long variations consistently ) and lack of stamina let me fall apart.

Don't know what to say.....

Team Championship - Parker, Fricano, Cardenas & Souvik

In Team Championship, I am playing in the team of Parker, Fricano and Cardenas. This a very good team to be a part of. However, all of us are so entertaining and unpredictable, I am expecting we will surely offer a lot of surprises. Following are our December 2007 rating.

ANTHONY LEE PARKER 1982 (Current 2009)

PAUL ROYAL FRICANO 1960 (Current 1939)

SOUVIK ROYCHOUDHURY 1936 (Current 1976)

DAVID R CARDENAS 1916 (Current 1930)

IM Mesgen Amanov will be in Milwaukee for chess camp

IM Mesgen Amanov will be in Milwaukee for chess camp this Sunday. Ashish's academy is arranging this. Following link will give you more information.

http://www.vajachess.com/id5.html

Joseph Anthony Kellam (Unrated->1998) - A sensational pereformance

Cardenas won another tournament in SWCC, this time game in 29, Winter Blitzzard III with 3/3. However, there is a joint winner, named Joseph Anthony Kellam who started the tournament as Unrated and finished with 3/3 with sensational 1998 end rating (quick) ! Only time will tell whether this is an exception or the rule. However, I wish him all the best. It seems that all the 6:00 pm training sessions and other initiatives of SWCC folks to draw new people to chess is paying off.

I had a funny tournament - arrived late and missed the first round, then blundered and lost second round and finally won the last round. No regret as this won't affect the main rating and I wanted to play chess for fun which I did.

Click here for the full details SWCC WINTER BLITZZARD III

Cardenas, Kellam 3.0
Geder, Fricano, Munoz, Sagunsky, Bruce 2.0
Souvik, Andrew, Zimmermann 1.5

Souvik vs Fricano (ICICLE Swiss) - A roller coaster game

White is a pawn up but lost after simple d6! by black followed by Bxc4 (missed in the game)




Does the Bxh5 works ? (Actualy played in the game)


Link to Souvik vs Fricano (ICICLE Swiss)