White:Tyler Larsen Rating:1268
Black:Varun Bajaj Rating 1241
Round 4 time control:40 with 5 sec. delay
1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 Nc6 3.Bg2 Nf6 4.O-O e5 5.d3 Be6 6.Nbd2<deviated from OE>6...Qd7<Varun is a very aggresive player and I wasn't surprised by this move.>7.a4<planning if he castle queenside to get my attack started.>7...Bc5 8.e4<thrust in the center>8...dxe4 9.dxe4 O-O<Now my 7th move looks foolish.>10.c3<preventing 10...Nd4 and planning to thrust on the queenside>10...Rfd8?<Black doesn't see the danger>11.b4 Be7 12.b5<Now the e5 pawn is a goner.>12...Na5 13.Nxe5 Qd6<I took a long time and the best move I can come up with was...>14.Ba3!<This move attacks the queen and develops the bishop at the same time.>14...Qxe5 15.Bxe7 Rd7<I took another hard think and finally played...> 16.Bb4 Nb3 17.f4!<the only move to keep the advantage for White.I was thinking I was crazy for going into such a tactical line because my opponent is very tactical also.>17...Rxd2<17...Qh5? 18.Qxh5 Nxh5 19.Nxb3.Now White walks a thin line.>18.Qxd2!<only move>18...Nxd2 19.fxe5 Nxf1 20.exf6 Ne3 21.fxg7<The dust has cleared and White has still held on to his pawn.He also made a whole bunch of trade to help his pawn out.>21...Nc2 22.Rb1<I don't want to have my queenside pawns doubled>22...Ba2 23.Rb2 Nxb4 24.Rxb4 Rd8 25.Rd4<This game is getting better for White>25...Rxd4 26.cxd4 Kxg7 27.e5<opening the long diagonal for the bishop and getting my pawns off the light squares.>27...f6? 28.exf6+ Kxf6 29.Bxb7 Ke6 30.Kf2<The king must get active in the endgame.I had about 10 minutes left on my clock.>30...Kf5 31.Kf3<Opposition!>31...Bb3 32.a5 Bc4 33.Bc6 Ke6 34.Ke4<Opposition!>34...Kd6 35.h4?<my first mistake of the game.I had a wish to advance my kingside pawns,but this loses a pawn>35...a6 36.Bb7<I decide to set a trap>36...axb5??<and Black falls right into it!>37.a6 Black resigns.

This game made me a point ahead going into the last round.

<Niels>!

Well I noticed that <Pyrrhic Victory> guy was needling you so I had to lower the <Boomie>.

Sadly, due to being banned <twice> in the last six months from <Live Games Pages>,

<Pyrhhic Victory> was the best I could do.

(I think I got away with it though)...

They told me I couldn't make fun of people's user names. That was over a year ago.

heh..

Vintage <Open Defiance>....

BTW I wish I hadn't posted my first ever Spanish game on your player page.

That was selfish and inappropriate, I think-- it's been bugging me for a few days now.

Could you please delete the post?

I don't know why we aren't allowed to delete all of our posts.

I have the post and game saved and it was discussed already in <The Euwe Center>.

Which is where I should have put it in the first place.

I just wanted to "Look Mommy! I played the Spanish Game too!"

But your player page is not the right spot for that.

OK!

> why so ? i didnt see anything innappropriate....

I cant delete as I dont have admin rights over my own page lol

If only for altering game scores and re-writing history!

But that's yet another reason to think before posting on a friend's player page.

Thanks for your kind and easy going ness!!

<<Niels>!

My favoriet WWII movie is now a member!>

It was bound to happen, sooner or later!

What a game by <Kamka>, no?

Yes, I especially am fond of moves 25 - all the way to the first timecontrol; Topa could hardly move and was just forced into an inferior endgame, and quite some good calculus to take back with the pawn on <d5> - and the "re-routing" of the Rook from f6 to f3 to c3, with a tempo on the way, was just delightful.

Wheeehaaa!

A little anecdote (true story):

I've been a Kamsky fan all the way back to the late eighties, when I remember sleeping over at my teammate's house, and he had gotten the newspaper out early, and read me a chess column about GATA - as he pronounced it in a certain, deliberate way.

I knew of the new kid on the block, but we analysed that game from the paper together, and I've been following him ever since.

heh

Yes- it's difficult to resist the sheer romance of this bona fide prodigy- especially given the stormy relationship with his father and Gata's almost unbelievable aptitude for the game.

Also, because <Fred Waitzkin> famously rendered this father-son relationship in the most stark and appalling way.

Due to the popularity of Fred's <Searching for Bobby Fischer>, the Gata-father story is among the most well known even among casual chess fans.

For him to overcome this giant obstacle-- and to make a comeback like he has-

This is perhaps unprecedented in boxing history, certainly.

And, I believe, in chess history as well.

Much as I want to see <Anand-Topalov>- been waiting three years for that now--

If <Kamchakta> beats <Topsy Turvy> then it will also be a great WC match, by definition.

Also, nice to see the ever-touchy Bulgarians mouthing off, especially on the <non-preemy page>....

What is it with these Eastern Europeans?

Is it an ancient "touchiness" that comes from invading each other for the last 2000 years?

Maybe they should cut back on the invasions for a while and try to relax a bit.

Yeah, we (Rein Roelof and me) were of course sports buffs, and had been watching the Father-Daughter off beat relationships in Tennis, and since we both were into the psychological aspects in Sports, GATA's prodigious talents, and a father pushing him towards the brink, was a hot topic with us.

Yeah, definitely a difference with North western Europeans.... Must also be something in the genes, the "touchiness-gene" and the stolen pride, over and over again, they have experienced...

And a little farther out east:

Let's take Kirsan Ilyum@#$%@ for example; I mean the guy is really a bona fide nutcase, delusional, touchy, had this "vision" to build a CHESS CITY for the 1998 Olympiad, has by now ruined the country's economical and human resources, (Btw - Chess City has become a ghost town, completely desolate state...), while mister smartypants drives around in one of his eleventy Rolls Royces, erects these insanely expensive worship places, while the educated young men AND women, can not make a living there, and are forced to move to Moscow, and hustle like gangsters to get to earn some money there, while being heavily discriminated because of theis very Eastern, Asian looks... Live endangering situations there...

Yet the idiot actually believed, or so it seemed, as he was interviewed by a very clever crew from Holland, that he is doing what is best for the country.

OK - they teach Chess at every school in Kalmykia, but the prospects for valuable education and job opportunities are an absolute disgrace!

Well - I don't really understand what is going on in all those Putin little satellite republics there, but it smells fishy, ot should I say OILY. Gassy.

I have trouble even keeping an eye on what happens in my own country.

heh...

Well he has few supporters at this site, or anywhere else for that matter.

I mentioned this before- but one of the best chess books I ever read- in print and you can order it--

<The Chess Artist>

Written by a journalist who travels to <Kalmykia> with his pal, an African American <IM> whose real identity you can figure out if you read the book.

One of the best scenes is where the <IM> spends a happy evening of <1/0 Blitz> with none other than <Batchimeg Tuvshintugs>, who was a buddy of his.

I figured the names out by a little research at this site and looking closely at the time frame of the book.

Anyhoo, our heroes arrive in <Kalmykia> and actually get a kind of abortive "interview" with <Kirsan>--

Who is portrayed as worse than <Idi Amin> by the author--

And the most chilling part was that the journalist discovered that virtually all the "common folk" he spoke to there were convinced that <Kirsan> had assassinated a female journalist and had her buried under a lake.

He actually tries to find the lake.

Anyways I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this book- Although it's much more a "story" than a responsibly written piece of journalism.

In the end, it's really a story about guys like his friend- who are on the verge of "breaking through" to become full time chess professionals, but who get stuck on that marginal terrain...

It's a cautionary tale about all chess addicts.

Well as my friend <Colin> told me, "It's the healthiest addiction you've ever had- you should keep this one".

You see, I can't play chess at all if I'm "on" any substances--

So it's been very easy to be "clean" these past three years.

I love chess and everything about it even if I don't get any better.

See <Boomie's> house for a great point about "healthy chess psychology" with regard to <GM Gat O' Nine Tails>.

You've really wetted my appetite for <The Chess Artist> - and I will be going into town shortly, and see if the gigantic Liberry has it in their possession (lost in translation there...).

Yep - I also learned about the likely assassination of that journalist.

And please keep realisiing how right your friend <Colin> is.

Good Show!

...and...

...they...

HAVE IT!

HA!

I've been on the job as ordered. Some details at <the Center>...

I just finished practicing some K+R against lone K mates to start at the beginning again.

To see how many moves I can do it in the fastest.

Also, I played out a <Polgar> game tonight from the resigned position and it took me three tries to understand how to convert the touchdown.

2 with White and 2 with Black that I am now reasonably familiar with from playing them 90000 times on <Yahoo>.

<English/Scotch> and <KID/Sicilian>

But I will be exploring the <Kangarooy Lopez> for the next six months just for the pleasure of the historical and theoretical research.

IVAN CHOOOOK!!