| Oct-11-08 | | jerseybob: 22.Bxc5 certainly backfired. Since white was so hard-pressed anyway, why not 22.g4!? |
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| Oct-11-08 | | crwynn: why not 22.Bb5 here, where I don't see that White is so hard-pressed at all. Black can try to push on the q-side with 22...Bd7 23.Bc4 Rdf8 (23...Rhf8 24.f5) 24.Rd1 b5 25.Bc5, but this should even favor White. |
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| Oct-11-08 | | jerseybob: I only suggested 22.g4 as a way of mobilizing white's 5-3 kingside majority for an eventual f5(the immediate 22.f5,gf 23.ef,Bd5 looks decent for black). What does 22.Bb5 threaten? 22..Kc7 frees c8 for a bishop retreat and guards the c6 square for a knight retreat. And if 23.Bxc5,bc 24.Rxc5ch.,Kb6. Black doesn't need to immediately move his queenside pawns; in their current configuration, they serve lots of purposes. But even after 22.g4, I think I'd still prefer black here; his game just seems sounder. I've no computer analysis to back that up, just a gut feeling. |
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Oct-11-08
 | | Pawn and Two: <crwynn & jerseybob> A review by Fritz indicated White's best choice at move 22 was: (.37) (20 ply) 22.f5 gxf5 23.exf5 Bd5 24.Bh5 Kb7 25.h3. An approximately equal position resulted after: (.11) (20 ply) 22.Bb5 Kb7 23.Kf2 h5; or (.19) (20 ply) 22.g4 Bd7 23.Kg2 Bc6 24.Kf3 Rhe8 25.Bc4 f5 26.exf6 Bxe4+. The move Kashdan selected, 22.Bxc5, resulted in an equal position after: 22.Bxc5 bxc5 23.Rxc5+ (.00) (21 ply) 23...Kb7 or Kb8 24.Rb5+ Kc7 25.Rc1+ Kd7, and now: (.00) (20 ply) 26.Rb7+ Ke8 27.Rcc7 Kf8 28.f5 gxf5 29.exf5 Nd5 30.fxe6 Nxc7 31.Rxc7 fxe6 32.Bh5; or (.00) (20 ply) 26.g4 Rc8 27.Rb7+ Kd8 28.Rd1+ Ke8 29.f5 gxf5 30.gxf5; or (-.16) (20 ply) 26.Rxa5 Ke7 27.Ra7+ Rd7 28.Rxd7 Bxd7 29.Rc7 Rb8 30.Bg4 Rd8 31.Be2. Based on this analysis, neither player had any serious winning chances in these variations. However, after 22.Bxc5 bxc5 23.Rxc5+, Marshall committed a serious error by playing 23...Kd7?. White then had a significant advantage. |
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| Oct-11-08 | | jerseybob: Hmmm. Nice work Pawn & 2, but you leave us hanging as to why, if 23..Kd7 is such a lemon, white doesn't win the game. I don't have a chess program, but let me guess: 27.Rd1ch(instead of Bxc6ch),Kc7 28.Rdc seems to snag the pinned bishop. So Kash's bishop sac was sound after all. |
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Oct-12-08
| | Pawn and Two: <jerseybob> Kashdan's Bishop sac 22.Bxc5 was good enough for an equal position. Fritz verified that 22.Bxc5 bxc5 23.Rxc5+ Kb7, or 23...Kb8, would result in an equal position (see my last post). However, after 23...Kd7?, White could have gained a significant advantage by: (.98) (22 ply) 24.f5 gxf5 25.Bb5+ Ke7 26.Rxc7+ Kf8 27.exf5 Rc8 28.Rc3 Ke7 29.fxe6 Kxe6 30.Bc4+ Kxe5; (1.08) (25 ply) 31.Re1+ Kd6 32.Rd1+ Ke7 33.Rf1. White will now soon win one of Black's Pawns. Here are some possible variations after 33.Rf1: 33...Rc5 34.Rxf7+ Kd6 35.b3 h5; or 33...Kd6 34.b3 Rc5 35.Rxf7 h5; or 33...Rhf8 34.Rf5 Nc6 35.Rc5 Nd4 36.Rxa5 Rc7 37.Re3+ Kf6 38.b3. Kashdan missed his chance by not playing 25.Bb5+!. However, his position after 25.exf5 was still good enough for a draw, had he not slipped later, allowing Marshall to score the win. |
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Oct-12-08
| | Pawn and Two: At move 29, the game was approximately equal and Kashdan should have continued: (-.03) (23 ply) 29.f6+ Ke8 30.Ra1 Nb4 31.Rcxa5 Rg8 32.Ra7 Nc6 33.Rc7 Rd2 34.g3 Nd8 35.Re7+ Kf8 36.Raa7. Instead, Kashdan selected: (-.33) (23 ply) 29.Rxd8 Nxd8. Fritz indicates White can still draw: (-.30) (22 ply) 30.Rc7+ Kf8 31.Kf2 h5 32.h3 h4 33.g4 hxg3+ 34.Kxg3 Rg8+ 35.Kf4 Rg2 36.b3 Rb2 37.Rc3, with an equal position. Instead of playing 30.Rc7+, Kashdan erred slightly with: (-.49) (22 ply) 30.Rxa5 Nc6. Fritz indicates the best continuation then is: (-.44) (24 ply) 31.Rb5 Rb8 32.Rxb8 Nxb8 33.Kf2 Nc6 34.e6 fxe6 35.fxe6 Kxe6 36.Kf3 Kf5 37.g4+ Kf6 38.Kg3 Nb4. Fritz indicates that White can still draw this ending. After 31.Rb5 Re8 32.Rb7+ Kf8, Kashdan could have obtained a draw by playing: (-.39) (27 ply) 33.e6! fxe6 34.Rh7 Nd4 35.Rh8+ Kf7 36.Rxe8 Kxe8 37.fxe6 Ke7 38.Kf2. Instead of playing 33.e6!, Kashdan selected the inferior 33.Rb6?. Fritz provides the following evaluation: (-.65) (27 ply) 33.Rb6? Nxe5! 34.Rxh6 Kg7 35.Rb6 Ng4 36.g3 Rd8 37.h3 Rd1+ 38.Kg2 Ne3+ 39.Kf2 Nxf5 40.g4 Nh4 41.Kg3 Ng6 42.Rb3. Further analysis by Fritz indicates the position after 42.Rb3 provides good winning chances for Black. Now it was Marshall's turn to err. Instead of playing 33...Nxe5! with winning chances, he played 33...Rc8+?. Fritz indicates White can now draw by playing: (-.35) (25 ply) 34.e6! fxe6 35.fxe6 Ne5 36.h3 Ke7 37.b4 Rh8 38.g4 Nc4 39.Rc6 Nd6 40.h4 Kxe6 41.Rc7. Fritz indicates this line will likely result in a drawn Rook vs Rook + Knight ending. Kashdan then made his final and fatal error, 34.b4??. Considering his e-Pawn can now be captured by the simple 34...Nxe5, it is surprising Kashdan did not try the correct and drawing move 34.e6! |
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Oct-13-08
| | Pawn and Two: At his 12th move, Marshall had an interesting choice whether to play 12...Bxc3+ or 12...Nxc3. Here is the position after 12.a3: 
click for larger viewPractical Chess Openings by R. Fine (1948), indicates Black obtains a slight advantage after: 12...Nxc3 13.Qxb4 Qxb4 14.axb4 Na2 15.Rd1 Nxb4. R. Fine indicates that less convincing for Black is 12...Bxc3+ 13.bxc3 0-0 14.Qb2. Fritz indicates 12...Nxc3 will give White a small advantage: (.49) (24 ply) 12...Nxc3 13.Qxb4 Qxb4 14.axb4 Na2 15.Rd1 h6 16.Bh4 g5 17.Bg3 Nxb4; (.54) (20 ply) 18.Rd6, or (.50) (20 ply) 18.h4, or (.47) (20 ply) 18.Be2. If 12...Bxc3+, Fritz indicates the position is almost equal: (.15) (24 ply) 12...Bxc3+ 13.bxc3 Qc7 14.c4 Qa5+ 15.Ke2 Nb6 16.Qb4 Qxb4 17.axb4 Bxc4+ 18.Kf3 Bxf1 19.Rhxf1. |
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