Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Pearson-Harrington, Reno CC Summer Swiss, 1-0

I won my game in the first round of the "Reno CC Summer Blockbuster" last Thursday, (a tournament for those of us who didn't make the Elite Eight Club championship play-offs).

Impressions: My opponent, Chris Harrington, is a young, upcoming player, second in the club Class C championship earlier this year and provisionally rated in the 144o range. As White I trotted out 1. e4 again and when he looked to go into the Marshall Attack in the Ruy Lopez I avoided it with 9. d3, which in this particular position probably isn't good for any advantage--better to do it on move 8, I think. My strategy was to outplay him in a quiet position or endgame and that worked in the long run--with a couple of sticky points along the way...

Good points: I saw his idea to win my f-pawn far ahead and that his Knight would be trapped, and when he went in for it I was in great shape.

Bad points: Instead of 29. Bf2, going into Rook+Bishop v. Rook, why not Ra8 forcing a position with two Bishops v. one? Much easier to win, I'm sure! And the thing is, I saw the possibility and didn't play it anyway; sloppiness that against a more experienced opponent could have blown the win. Also, I saw the final trap several moves in advance that forced his resignation--except that by 39. ... Re5+ and then Rxe4 he could have won my last pawn and forced R+B v. R with a theoretical draw, though I would have had good winning chances, since I know the winning formations--but once again, a mistake that might have cost half a point!

It's nice to win, but I will learn some lessons from this one.

[Event "Reno CC Summer Swiss"]
[Site "Reno, NV"]
[Date "2007.05.24"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Pearson, Robert"]
[Black "Harrington, Chris"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "1614"]
[BlackElo "1443"]
[ECO "C89"]
[Annotator "Pearson"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. c3 d5 9. d3 dxe4 10. dxe4 Bg4 11. Nbd2 Na5 12. Bc2 c5 13. a4 c4 14. b3 cxb3 15. Nxb3 Qxd1 16. Bxd1 Nxb3 17. Bxb3 Bxf3 18. gxf3 Bc5 19. axb5 axb5 20. Bb2 Rxa1 21. Rxa1 Nh5 22. c4 bxc4 23. Bxc4 Nf4 24. Bxe5 Nh3+ 25. Kg2 Nxf2 26. Bg3 Nxe4 27. fxe4 h6 28. Bd5 Kh7 29. Bf2 Bxf2 30. Kxf2 Re8 31. Ra7 f6 32. Kf3 Re5 33. h4 h5 34. Ra6 Re7 35. Kf4 Re8 36. Bf7 Re7 37. Bxh5 g5+ 38. hxg5 fxg5+ 39. Kxg5 Rxe4 40. Bg6+ 1-0

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Hi Robert, fairly good game, but I think it's better to commit a line to memory against the "Marshall Attack." The Declining of it isn't so hot and 8. a4 isn't very impressive. Black has to prove his attack is worth the pawn.

Anonymous said...

good game, and good strategy, going for the endgame, especially if you are strong at it. i find i can learn as much from my won games as my lost games, even though there are far fewer won games for me...