There were a few major differences between The New Hampshire Open and The Charlottesville Open. First off, the attendance at the Charlottesville Open was roughly half that of The New Hampshire Open (53 versus 104) and had two sections, Open and Under 1700, versus six sections in New Hampshire where the next section below the open section was Under 2000. Another major difference was the time control. While The New Hampshire Open saw a time control of 40 moves in 100 minutes followed by the rest of the game in 60 minutes with a five second delay per move, The Charlottesville Open saw a more rapid time control of game in 90 minutes with a five second delay. So with a larger disparity in rating between players combined with the significantly shorter time control, the games you will see below will feature more errors than that of The New Hampshire Open. While there were mistakes made in the games in New Hampshire - see White's play in Game 1 or Black's play in Games 3 and 4 - there was never really big swings in position assessment, and that article became a good source of seeing how to win the won game, and all games were decisive.
Here, on the other hand, you will see errors that completely change the assessment of the position. Probably the most significant one is in the final round, seeing Black play a very strong game including a pawn sacrifice just to botch the won endgame, and the clock did play a factor in that game. To go along with four draws, of which I'd say the two games that I had White were legitimate, but wins were missed in the other games. That said, the one decisive game, Round 3, was by far the best game I played in the entire road trip, and is also visually appealing, and that says a lot after seeing a strong positional performance by Black in the second round of New Hampshire and two very strong attacks by White in rounds three and four, the former of which was also executed by me while I was the victim in the case of the latter.
So without further ado, let's start with the first round of The Charlottesville Open.
Round 1
W: Sudars Sriniayer (1824)
B: Patrick McCartney (2054)
King's Indian Defense, Fianchetto Variation
1.c4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.g3 d6 5.Bg2 O-O 6.O-O c6 7.d4 Qa5
So through transposition from the English Opening, we now have what is known as the Kavalek Variation of the Fianchetto King's Indian. Black's idea is simple. He wants to move the Queen to h5 and then play ...Bh3 and trade light-squared bishops. White has two ways to avoid it and pretty much any other move poses no challenge to Blaack. One of the two is the move played below. The other is to play 8.h3, with the idea that if Black plays 8...Qh5, then 9.g4 and Black is nowhere near ready to sacrifice a piece. With the move played in the game, White goes for complete control of the center as his way of countering any ...Bh3 ideas.
8.e4 Bg4
Black's idea is very crude. He is out to dominate the dark squares, and particularly d4. Black figures to give up the one piece that can't control d4 directly, and take one of the White Knights off the board, giving Black a one-piece advantage when it comes to controlling the dark squares. After trading on f3, the idea is to play ...e5, which does multiple things for Black. From the attacking perspective, it takes over control of the d4-square. From the defensive perspective, it will keep the e-pawn locked on e4, blocking the Bishop from dominating the entire long diagonal (h1-a8).
9.Qb3
This move is quite unusual. More common is 9.h3, forcing Black to make a decision of what to do with the Bishop. As mentioned prior, Black would take and play ...e5.
9...Bxf3 10.Bxf3 Qc7 11.Be3 e5 12.d5 Na6 13.Rac1 Nd7 14.Qa3 c5 15.Nb5
Now Black has a critical decision to make. He can keep the Queen active at the cost of a pawn, or he can place the Queen very passively on b8. After 15...Qb8 16.Bg5, White's advantage would be significant, and so Black goes for the pawn sacrifice.
15...Qb6 16.Bd2
With the major threat of trapping the Queen. 16...Nc7 drops a piece and 16...Nb8 gives the Rook no escape after 17.Ba5 and 18.Nc7, and so Black's next move is totally forced.
16...Nb4 17.Bxb4 cxb4 18.Qxb4
This works and doesn't fail to a pin because the d6-pawn is loose.
18...Nc5 19.Qd2 a6 20.Nc3 f5 21.Bg2 Rf6 22.Kh1 f4 23.Qe2 Raf8 24.Bf3 g5 25.g4 R8f7 26.Kg2 h5 27.h3 h4 28.Qc2 Kh7 29.Rb1 Qb4 30.Qe2 Bf8 31.Rfc1 Be7 32.b3 Bd8 33.Rc2
We now have a critical position. With the correct move by Black, the position remains for the most part balanced with White maybe having a miniscule advantage, but not enough to win the game with correct play by Black. Do you see the correct move?
33...Kh6??
This move should cost Black the game. The only move is 33...Ba5, but that move is enough to balance the position. White, however, fails to see the idea, which I actually saw but failed to realize that 33...Ba5 actually stops it. Time was not severe at this point, but it was getting low, and rushing analysis leads to mistakes and missed opportunities.
34.Rcc1 1/2-1/2
White offered the draw while returning the Rook to where it came from. However, White was winning and this idea was a total mistake by White and it cost him half the point. After 34.a3!! Qxa3 35.b4!, Black's Queen gets trapped. Therefore, Black would be forced to retreat, and White can just continue to expand and roll the pawns on the Queenside where he has the majority. Had Black played 33...Ba5, this idea wouldn't work as 34.a3 Qxa3! 35.b4 would simply be answered by 35...Bxb4.
In round 2, we see the first of two games that were legitimately drawn, and admittedly, neither of the games that I had White in this tournament featured much in the means of fireworks. Some ideas can be learned from them, but they won't be quite as exciting as the three games where I had Black, especially rounds 3 and 5.
Round 2
W: Patrick McCartney (2054)
B: Nathan Lohr (1966)
Modern Defense
1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.c4 d6 4.Nc3 Nc6
20 years ago, this move was extremely popular amongst those that played the Averbakh (or Modern Defense with c4, or the "d4-Modern"). However, shortly after the turn of the century, it was determined that this line is very dubious for Black because of 5.d5!. That said, White's follow-up must be very exact and precise if he wants to take advantage of Black's theoretical error, and because I hadn't played this line as White or Black in over 15 years, I wasn't prepared to play that line, and played the other main line. These days, in order to avoid the issues with 4...Nc6 5.d5 Nd4, those that don't want to transpose to the King's Indian Defense will typically play 4...e5, the idea being to answer 5.Be3 with 5...Nc6 transposing to the line played in the game.
5.Be3 e5 6.Nge2 Nxd4 7.Nxd4 exd4 8.Bxd4 Bxd4 9.Qxd4 Qf6
So White has a lead in development, and under normal circumstances, letting your opponent initiate trades is a good thing because, in theory, the person that initiates the trade loses a tempo, which in essence is true, but the problem here is with how much that has been traded already, trading Queens leads to very few problems for Black because the space advantage and lead in development are typically less relevant when many of the pieces have been traded off and the player with less space ends up being no longer at risk of suffocation. Therefore, the right idea here for White is to play 10.Qe3, keeping the Queens on the board. That said, White allows the trade of Queens.
10.Rd1 Qxd4 11.Rxd4 Bd7 12.Be2 Ne7 13.O-O Nc6 14.Rd2 O-O-O
The position is completely equal, and a couple more trades will make the draw inevitable.
15.Rfd1 Rhe8 16.f3 f5 17.Kf2 a6 18.Bf1 Rf8 19.Kg3 f4+ 20.Kf2 g5 21.h3 Be6 22.Nd5 h5 23.Be2 Ne5 24.b3 g4 25.hxg4 hxg4 26.Rh1 Bxd5 27.cxd5 g3+
With the total blockade of the dark squares and White having a light-squared Bishop, he realizes that a win is not going to happen, and makes sure that Black can't invade via the h-file. With correct play, neither side has a breakthrough, and both players realize and acknowledge this just a few moves later.
28.Kg1 Rh8 29.Rxh8 Rxh8 30.Rc2 Rh7 31.Rc3 Kb8 1/2-1/2
The next game was by far my best game of the entire road trip.
Round 3
W: David Hulvey (1900)
B: Patrick McCartney (2054)
French Steinitz
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Be3 a6 8.Qd2 b5 9.Qf2
While this move has been played before, it is slightly unusual, and far more common is to trade twice on c5 before doing this: 9.dxc5 Bxc5 10.Bxc5 Nxc5 11.Qf2 and White retains the slight advantage that he gets for going first.
9...Qa5 10.Bd2 b4 11.Ne2 cxd4 12.Nexd4 Nxd4 13.Qxd4?
13.Nxd4 would have retained a level position. Instead, via taking with the Queen, White has gone from an early attempt at dominating the g1-a7 diagonal to losing complete control of it in a mere matter of 5 moves! Black is already better.
13...Bc5 14.Qd3 Qb6 15.O-O-O Bf2
WHAT? Some drunk must have thought up this crazy move! No, actually, it serves a purpose. Black is attempting to paralyze White's development and at the same time, open up the c5-square for the Knight where it is headed for e4.
16.Ng5
The point behind Black's last move is that 16.Be1 doesn't make things any easier for White. After 16...Nc5 17.Qe2 Ne4 18.Nd2 Be3 19.Kb1 Nc3+ 20.bxc3 Bxd2 21.c4 Bc3 and White's position is a total mess. After something like 22.cxd5, Black could even consider ignoring the pawn and playing 22...O-O. For example, after 23.d6 Bb7 24.Bh4 Bd5 25.Rxd5 exd5 26.Be7 Qa5 27.Qe3 Rfb8 28.d7 Qa3 29.Qc1 Qa4 30.d8=Q+ Rxd8 31.Bxd8 Rxd8, the material count may be equal after all of this, but the position surely is not. Black has a big advantage.
Another thing to note is that 16.Be2, connecting the Rooks, is also unplayable as 16...Nc5 then traps the Queen.
16...h6
If there was ever a bad time to castle, it would be now! 16...O-O?? 17.Qxh7 mate!
17.Qh3 Nc5 18.Be2 O-O
Putting the question to the White Knight.
19.Nf3
White should have considered 19.Rhf1 first, making Black put the Knight on a4 rather than e4 while White could still force a Knight trade if Black went to the most desirable square.
19...Bd7 20.g4
Too little, too late. Black's attack is way faster here.
20...Bb5
If there was any piece of little use for Black's attack, it was the light-squared Bishop, and if there was any soft spot around Black's King, it would be the light squares, and so Black decides this is the one piece to eliminate before proceeding on with the mission to kill the White King.
21.Qf1
If White has to make backwards moves in what is a race at the opposite side's King, then he is immediately admitting defeat. Since he doesn't want to open the a-file for Black, a move like 21.Bf1 was necessary, keeping the Queen out there to try to get at the Black King.
21...Bxe2 22.Qxe2 Rfc8 23.Kb1
The Bishop is poisoned. 23.Qxf2?? Nd3+ nets Black the Queen.
23...Ne4 24.Rhf1
24...Rc3!!
A rare tactic known as Alekhine's Block. Black places a piece on the third rank that can't be taken for tactical reasons, and it prevents White from ever advancing the c-pawn. With its advancement, White can guard b2 and a2 with his heavy pieces along the second rank. With the c2-pawn in White's way, it becomes very difficult to defend Black's attack down the b- and a-files.
25.Rxf2
Relatively best was 25.Ne1 Be3 26.Nd3 Bxd2 27.Rxd2 Nxd2+ 28.Qxd2 Rac8 29.Rc1 R3c4, but Black is still in the driver's seat.
25...Nxf2 26.Rf1 Ne4 27.Ne1 Rac8 28.Bc1
28...Ra3!!
The Rook is still poisoned as 29.bxa3 bxa3+ followed by Rb8 and mate can't be stopped. Also note that while this now allows advancement of the c-pawn, it doesn't help White. For example, 29.c3 b3! and the Rook still can't be taken as 30.bxa3 bxa2+ 31.Kc2 Rxc3+ 32.Kd1 Rxc1+ 33.Kxc1 Qb1 is mate while 29.c4 is no improvement as after 29...b3 30.bxa3 bxa2+ 31.Kc2 Rxc4+, White can prolong it by 6 moves if he plays 32.Qxc4, but it's still mate all the same. The move also comes with another major threat, namely Nc3+.
29.Qg2
White saw half of the threat. The fork on the King and Queen. However, he overlooked the mate on a2. The only way to prolong the game was 29.Rf3, but Black will win all the same. Now it's mate in four.
29...Nc3+ 30.bxc3
Or 30.Ka1 Rxa2 mate.
30...bxc3+ 31.Ka1 Rb8 0-1
There is no way to stop mate on the b-file.
And now we go from what was the best game of the entire road trip to what is by far the dullest. The position was equal or close to equal for the entire game with the slight advantages fluctuating between both sides.
Round 4
W: Patrick McCartney (2054)
B: Andrew Rea (2074)
Torre Attack
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bg5 g6 4.Nbd2 Bg7 5.c3 c6 6.e4 Bg4 7.Qc2 Qc7 8.e5
Primarily played to prevent ...e5 by Black.
8...dxe5 9.Nxe5 Be6 10.Be2 Nbd7 11.Nd3 Bf5 12.Qb3 O-O 13.O-O e5
Now the center liquidates and we get a symmetrical pawn structure with equal material.
14.Nxe5 Nxe5 15.dxe5 Qxe5 16.Bxf6
Due to tactical threats, I surrendered the Bishop pair. That said, Black's advantage will be so miniscule that the result is still not in doubt.
16...Bxf6 17.Bf3 Rad8 18.Rfe1 Qc7 19.Nf1 Rd7 20.Rad1 Bd3 1/2-1/2
The draw was agreed upon at this point.
The final round sees a pawn sacrifice by Black followed by brilliant play that leads to a completely winning position from what looked like an inferior position, just to blunder away the win in time trouble and having to resort to a draw.
Round 5
W: Patrick Spain (1907)
B: Patrick McCartney (2054)
French Chigorin
1.e4 e6 2.Qe2
This is known as the Chigorin Variation. The idea behind it is that White wants to disrupt Black's normal flow of development, intending to answer 2...d5 with 3.exd5 where Black can't take back with the pawn due to the pin on the King. It does, however, impede White's light-squared Bishop, virtually forcing the Bishop to fianchetto. What usually arises out of this opening is a strange sort of King's Indian Attack where White plays f4 before developing the Knight.
2...c5
This is the best response to 2.Qe2. It prevents d4 by White, trying to get the big center with Black unable to contest it immediately with the normal d5 push. Black will develop his Knight to c6, his Bishop to e7, and only then play d5, followed by Nf6 and castling, leading to the same structure that French players typically play against the King's Indian Attack.
3.f4 Nc6 4.Nf3 Be7 5.g3 d5 6.d3 Nf6 7.e5 Nd7 8.Bg2 b5
Following the same script as in the normal KIA versus French. White is looking to attack the Black King while Black gains space on the Queenside, trying to force weaknesses.
9.O-O a5 Bh3 Qc7 11.c3 b4 12.c4 dxc4 13.dxc4 Nd4 14.Nxd4 cxd4 15.Bg2
So let's assess what we have here. Black has an isolated pawn on d4, though it is passed, and he has the c5-square as a lauching pad for his minor pieces. In return, he has a lead in development. In the current position, it was probably best to play 15...Bb7, looking to eliminate the light-squared Bishops, but instead, Black played a different move with the idea of getting the Rook active, and to cover e6 in case Black ever does want to break in the center with and f6 push, the e6-pawn would be covered.
15...Ra6 16.Nd2 Bc5 17.Qd3 a4 18.Ne4 f5?
This move is an error. White misses the opportunity here to win a pawn for basically nothing. Instead, after 18...O-O 19.Nxc5 Nxc5 20.Qd4 Rd8 21.Qf2, White is up a pawn, but Black has definite compensation for it. In the game, both sides miss the idea of taking the Bishop on c5.
19.exf6 Nxf6 20.Nxf6+ gxf6 21.Bd2 O-O 22.Rae1 Rd6 23.h3 Qg7 24.Kh2 Kh8 25.Re2 Rg8 26.Rfe1 Ba6 27.b3 axb3 28.axb3 Bc8 29.Ra1 e5 30.Bd5 Be6 31.Bxe6 Rxe6 32.fxe5 fxe5 33.g4
So let's assess the situation. The material is equal. Both Kings are fairly open. Black's biggest problem is that his pawns sit on the same color complex as the Bishops. If Black just sits around and allows White to place a piece on e4, he will have nothing to do but sit back and defend, allowing White to set up his pieces optimally before executing while all Black does is watch. Therefore, a sacrifice is called for here to open up Black's pieces.
33...e4! 34.Rxe4
Ok, before we go any further, let's assess the situation. Black is down a pawn. White has a protected passed pawn on c4. Black has an isolated passer on d4. Let's apply general knowledge of pawn-up endgames to figure out what Black wants to do here.
With maybe a few rare exceptions, any King and Pawn endgame is going to be winning for the player that is a pawn up, and so a King and Pawn ending will win for White pretty easily.
Same color Bishop endings also tend to heavily favor the player with the extra material, and so that is not what Black wants either.
Double Rook endings, like Pawn endings or same color Bishop endings, also tend to favor the player with the extra pawn, and so we don't want this either as Black.
Single Rook endings are often viewed as the best shot at a draw for the player down the pawn, but with the d4-pawn being isolated and advanced, the White King can easily get to it faster than the Black King can assist the pawn, and if the d4-pawn falls, so does Black's position, and so we don't want a Rook ending either.
That leaves the Queen ending. Queen endings, unlike any other endgame, do not favor the player with the extra material, but rather, the player with the farthest advanced passed pawn. Black has a passed pawn that is 3 squares from promotion while White's passed pawn is 4 squares away. In many cases, being down material but having the farthest advanced passed pawn may lead to nothing more than a draw, and both sides have to constantly watch out for perpetual check in Queen endings, but it is 100 percent clear that a Queen ending is specifically what Black is looking for, and White pretty much wants anything in the world but that!
34...Bd6+ 35.Bf4
I think White should prefer moving his King, if nothing else, on the sheer basis that this move allows Black to remove two of the three pieces he wants gone immediately!
35...Rxe4 36.Qxe4 Bxf4+ 37.Qxf4 Rf8!
I spent a long time on the move 33...e4, and while this line was not forced, it was what I anticipated by White, and the move 37...Rf8 is what made me decide to give the pawn sacrifice a shot. I should note that Black does not care to give the discovery with 37...d3 as all it does is weaken the pawn and invite the Rook to come into the game on a more active open file.
38.Qd2
In my opinion, not the best square for the Queen. 38.Qd6 was probably stronger as it keeps the Queen active and at the same time, covers the diagonal his King is on, and Black can't start harassing the King with checks.
38...Qe5+ 39.Kh1 Rf3 40.Qh6
White now threatens 41.Ra8+, winning, but Black's next move both defends a8 and keeps the Queen on an active square and continues to harass the White King. In fact, Black is actually winning here.
40...Qe4 41.Kh2 Qe2+ 42.Kh1 Rf1+!
Mission Accomplished! Black has gotten his desired Queen endgame.
43.Rxf1 Qxf1+ 44.Kh2 Qf2+ 45.Kh1 d3!
The fact that White has no checks makes this idea possible.
46.Qd6
46...Qf3+??
Having spent so much time on moves 33 and 34, I was low on time here, and started to hallucinate things that weren't there. For some reason, I thought that the White Queen had three prongs to work off of, namely d5, f5, and h5, failing to realize that White does not have f5 from where my Queen already was on f2. I played this move to cover d5 and f5, but if I had more time, I'd have figured out that the Black King can wiggle out of check. The winning move is 46...d2!!. The White Queen can't prevent my King from getting into g3. For example, after 47.Qd8+ Kg7 48.Qg5+ Kf7 49.Qd5+ Kg6 50.Qg8+ Kh6 (This also played into my move. Black can't allow White to skewer the Black King to the Queen on the f-file, and so this move is forced, but it works.) White has two options, but neither work. A) 51.g5+ Kh5 52.Qxh7+ Kxg5 53.Qe7+ (53.Qg7+ amounts to the same thing) Kf4 54.Qf8+ Ke3 55.Qc5+ Ke2 56.Qe5+ Qe3 57.Qh2+ Ke1 -+ or B) 51.Qd5 Qe1+ 52.Kh2 d1=Q 53.Qh5+ Kg7 54.Qg5+ Kf7 55.Qh5+ Ke6 56.Qe8+ Kd6 57.Qf8+ Ke5 58.Qg7+ Kf4 59.Qh6+ Kf3 60.Qf6+ Ke2 61.Qe5+ Kf1 -+. The other hallucination was that with the pawn currently on d3 and not d2, and scrambling for time, I had the idea that White has time for one free move, and he doesn't. All moves must be check.
47.Kg1 Kg7 48.Qd4+ Kg6 49.h4!
And here inlies the difference between the pawn being on d3 versus d2. White has time to play a non-checking move that slams the door on the Black King from getting in. Black has nothing better than a perpetual that is available to him.
49...Qg3+ 50.Kh1
White could also go 50.Kf1, but after 50...Qf3+, White has nothing other than going back to g1 as both 51.Ke1?? Qe2# and 51.Qf2?? Qh1+ 52.Qg1 Qxg1+ win for Black.
50...Qh3+ 51.Kg1 Qg3+ 52.Kh1 Qh3+ 53.Kg1 Qg3+ 1/2-1/2
Such a sad ending to what was previously brilliant play by Black given the situation of the position, and he even converted it to a won position just to throw it away on a single move.
So all told, I finished the road trip with 3 wins, 2 losses, and 4 draws, including almost perfect results with the French Defense, an opening you are likely to see in future articles when I cover opening analysis!
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