Fluke win against GM Rogers from 1994

[Sheroff]

Many thanks to Stevenaus for unearthing the score of this game, from the 1994 Noosa Open. I had actually lost the scoresheet (due to time pressure it was largely scribbles anyway) and assumed it was lost forever. Amazing what turns up on a chess database these days...

I played the opening very dubiously (17...Nb8?!) and was getting scrunched. I wondered how I was still treading water for the first half of the game. Once Ian planted his knight on e6 I should have been dead, but managed to grovel on in a precarious and joyless position. On move 37 he sacced the exchange (instead of moving his king and allowing my queen to possibly get to f5, and my rook perhaps to h6), but the defense was still difficult. I didn't really exhale until 46...Rxc5, when I felt I was perhaps equal (haven't checked Fritz with any of this game, so the computer might have a different assessment). From then on I would have accepted a draw until he made the horrible move 61.Kh5?? (we were both short of time, and pretty much playing blitz by then - if he just goes back to h3 I don't know how either player can really make much progress without getting into trouble). I could have of course played 61...Qxg3 as well, but blitzed out ...Rf8 in half a second, with the idea of getting to h6 to deliver mate. In the final position, if the rook is taken Black mates with ...Qg6.

Despite being a win against a GM, I'm not especially proud of this one. I played the opening like a goob, spent much of the game squirming defensively with a succession of 'only moves', and only scored the point because Ian blundered at the end. It should be noted that the other 3 or so times Ian and I have played, he thrashed me with typical merciless precision. I was, in fact, much happier with my previous round's game: M. Craven - K. Casey (see 'Joy in Mudville' at chessgames.com), in which a unique queen sac occurred right out of the opening.

Any comments or analysis on this game are welcome!
Abyssmal squirming or tenacious defense? You be the judge...

GM Ian Rogers - Kevin Casey Noosa, 1994

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Be2 O-O 6.O-O Nc6 7.d5 Ne5 8.Nd4 c5 9.dxc6 Nxc6 10.Be3 Bd7 11.Nb3 a6 12.a4 Be6 13.f3 Rc8 14.Nd5 Nd7 15.c3 Bxd5 16.exd5 Nce5 17.Nd2 Nb8 The knight at e5 needs a retreat square, but this is downright ugly 18.Qb3 Qc7 19.Bb6 Qd7 20.Rae1 Bh6 21.Ne5 Rce8 Black's play is the exact opposite of 'fluid'. 22.f4 Ng4 23.Bd4 f5 Yes, Kevin, let's weaken a few more squares around the king... 24.Bxg4 fxg4 25.g3 Bg7? 26.Bxg7 Kxg7 27.Ng5! ouch ...Rf5 28.Ne6+ Kg8 29.c4 Qc8 30.Qc3 Rf6 31.f5 Nd7 32.fxg6 Rxg6 33.Nf4 Rf6 34.Nh5 Rg6 35.b4 Ne5 36.c5 Nf3+ 37.Rxf3 gxf3 38.Re6! f2+ 39.Kxf2 Rf8+ 40.Kg2 Rf7 41.Qe3 Rxe6 42.dxe6 Rf5 43.Nf4 dxc5 44.Qe2 Qf8 45.Qg4+ Kh8 46.bxc5 Rxc5 47.Qd1 Rc8 48.Nh5 Qh6 49.Qd4+ Kg8 50.Qg4+ Kh8 Black is happy for a draw here, but Ian is still trying to win 51.h4 Rc2+ 52.Kh3 Rc6 53.Qd4+ Kg8 54.Nf4 Qf6 55.Qd8+ Qf8 Black must still make very precise defensive moves here 56.Qd5 Rd6 I'm obviously happy to give up my b-pawn in exchange for getting my queen to f5 and going after Ian's king 57.Qe5 Rd8 58.a5 Qg7 59.Qe4 Qf8 60.Kg4 Qg7+ 61.Kh5?? Rf8 62.g4 To protect the hanging g-pawn and answer ...Rf6 with 63.g5. However, Black had another threat ... 62...Rxf4! 0-1

I don't have Fritz on my computer, and would be curious to know if (a) at any point I was simply dead lost (sure felt like it), (b) whether saccing the exchange was Ian's best option, and (c) who is actually better if White had just played 61.Kh3.

Cheers,

Kevin Casey

www.remoteriverman.com

[Bill Gletsos]

21. Ne4 not Ne5
and some suitably placed []

PGN Viewer

 

[Bill Gletsos]

Hi Bill -

When I initially posted it I put 12....b6 instead of the correct ...12...Be6. Does that all work now, or have I mis-typed an additional move as well?

Cheers, Kevin

Yes white's move 21 should be Ne4.

[Sheroff]

Bill - Thanks heaps for putting the moves up and correcting my typos. Much appreciated - it's all good now.

Cheers,

Kevin Casey

www.remoteriverman.com

[Agent Smith]

Here's a crosstable i have of the tournament, and your other game.
I found them in Dan Corbit's Junkbase. The round and site tags vary a little but i think all these games were from the same tournament.

Noosa Open
Noosa, 1993
                            Age Nat    Score     R R C M M S L O M S S P H M C S C B C
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1: Rogers, Ian              33 AUS   6.0 /  7   X . 0 . 1 . . . . . 1 1 . . 1 . 1 1 .
 2: Rogers, Catherine        36 AUS   4.5 /  7   . X . . 0 = = . . = . . 1 1 . 1 . . .
 3: Casey, Kevin             38 AUS   2.0 /  2   1 . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
 4: McColl, Kevin                     1.5 /  2   . . . X . . . = . 1 . . . . . . . . .
 5: Myers, John              47 AUS   1.0 /  2   0 1 . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
 6: Szabo Michael                     0.5 /  1   . = . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . . .
 7: Leskiewicz, Maksymilian  14 AUS   0.5 /  1   . = . . . . X . . . . . . . . . . . .
 8: Ostrowski, Leszek        32 POL   0.5 /  1   . . . = . . . X . . . . . . . . . . .
 9: McColl Kevin                      0.5 /  1   . . . . . . . . X . = . . . . . . . .
10: Stephson, David          32 AUS   0.5 /  2   . = . 0 . . . . . X . . . . . . . . .
11: Solomon, Stephen J       30 AUS   0.5 /  2   0 . . . . . . . = . X . . . . . . . .
12: Pizzato, Charles         13 AUS   0.0 /  1   0 . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . . .
13: Hamilton Don                      0.0 /  1   . 0 . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . . .
14: Muller, Hans                      0.0 /  1   . 0 . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . . .
15: Canfell, Gregory         23 AUS   0.0 /  1   0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . . .
16: Smith Geoff                       0.0 /  1   . 0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . . .
17: Craven, Mark                      0.0 /  1   0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X . .
18: Blackman, David                   0.0 /  1   0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X .
19: Craven Mark                       0.0 /  1   . . 0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . X
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
18 games: +4 =5 -9

[Event "Noosa Open"]
[Site "Noosa"]
[Date "1993.??.??"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Craven Mark"]
[Black "Casey, Kevin"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C45p"]
[Variation "Scotch: 4.Nxd4 Bc5 5.Nb3 Bb6"]

PGN Viewer

 

[that Caesar guy]

Now that last game...was delicious.

[Sheroff]

Thanks. It's not often one gets to offer a knight sac on move 13, then a queen sac on move 14. I distinctly remember David Stephson ( a strong Qld player back then, who happened to be playing on the board next to me when I played ...Qxg3!!) pretty much ignoring his own game and staring at mine until the end, after this move. Good fun...

Cheers,
Kevin Casey

[Kevin Bonham]

Although the queen sac is sound and winning and the most fun and so on, it is not objectively the "strongest" move since white could decline it with Rxe3 and battle on exchange down with a pretty miserable game. If 14...h4 even that doesn't work (15.Rxe3 hxg3 and black is totally winning).

[Sheroff]

Correct. My original idea when I played 13...Ne3 was to play 14...h4 next move. Then I noticed the queen sac possibility, and of course couldn't resist.

Now, back to that Rogers game...

Kevin Casey

[antichrist]

I seen GM Ian play simul againt juniors, he had moved well past a player who then accidently knocked his pieces over, about 30 games later Ian was able to reconstruct the game without realising beforehand that he had to remember it??????????? wow

[Agent Smith]

Any comments or analysis on this game are welcome!

I don't have Fritz on my computer

Below is a score graph by Critter/Scid vs. PC at 10 seconds a move, and a detailed PGN analysis.

In case you've not seen it, Scid vs. PC is a free chess toolkit comparable to any commercial product.

Critter marginally prefers 61. Kf3, but i've included it's analysis of Kh3 too. Kh5 certainly loses.

[MichaelBaron]

21. Ne4 not Ne5
and some suitably placed []

PGN Viewer

 

well fought though! Great resistance in difficult position