TOO LITTLE TOO FAR

We are behind the current 3rd placing contender by 1.5 point (Price waterhouse) after Round 8 in the 2nd DATCC League. NUSA MAHKOTA tied 2-2 to the EON BANK. The critical board, Samsol Bahrin failed to appear after having trouble with his motorcycle on his way to the board! Muhd Izz secured our point and it were up to me and NM Kamalarifin to decide the final outcome. Having reaching the board, as expected, it was the Blackmar Diemer gambit on the encounter of NM Kamalarifin and the imaginative Norilhamudin. As for me, I had to face my old friend and foe, the solid Aziz Shukor. Interestingly, it was me who had to take the defensive role while absorbing Aziz fearsome assault. I was actually lucky to win only after Aziz commited a blunder by leaving his King to his own defending the indefensible position.

[Event "2nd DATCC League"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2009.12.30"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Rizal A Kamal"]
[Black "Aziz Shukor"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B15 Caro Kann"]
[PlyCount "95"]

1. e4 c6 2. Nc3!?
As planned. I just wanted to add some elements of joke as a small surprise.This did not really affect my opponent.

2...d5 3. d4
Back to the main line business

3...dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nf6!
This, however, was not anticipated by me in my pre game preparation. I had to refer a book in my stock for sale to recall the correct name of this variation.




(For sale - The Dynamic Caro Kann - a very instructive and highly recommended for the Caro Kanners with 4...Nf6 - RM 80.00)








After the correct 4.Nxf6+ it may lead to Bronstein Larsen variation after 4.. gxf6 or the original Caro Kann variation after 4..exf6. Aziz also mentioned about 5.Ng5!? which seemed absurd. But when refering The Dynamic Caro Kann, I discovered that, this is also covered in the book!

I was actually hoping for 4...Bf5 which I had prepared (by reading) the classic book of Gary Kasparov and Shakarov for 7 days




(For sale - in my stock RM 80.00 a very good classic reference for every Caro Kanners (Bf5) )







5. Ng3?!
The good news is that, I had sidestepped my opponent's preparation but the bad news is that, I know nothing myself about 5.Ng3. This was in fact also mentioned specifically in The Dynamic Caro Kann. I did not want to play 5.Nxf6+ as I had 3 personal bad experience (the result was 0-3) in this variation.

5..g6 6. Nf3 Bg4 7. Be2 Bg7 8. c3 O-O 9. h3 Bxf3 10. Bxf3 Nbd7 11. O-O e5!
The important key move in many lines after 5.Ng3

12. Re1 Re8 13. dxe5 Nxe5 14. Be3 Qc7 15. Be2 Nd5 16. Bd2 Rad8 17. Qc1 f5 18. Bg5?!
18.Bh6 may be more to the point

18.. Rd7 19. Qc2 Nf7 20. Bd2 Nf4 21. Bc4 Red8 22. Rad1 Nd5 23. a4 Kh8 24. h4 Ne5 25. Bf1
I was considering between the text and 25.Be2. In the end I choosed the text because I thought I need to mantain the Rook control on the e-file

25..Ng4 26. c4 Ndf6 27. Be2 Qb6 28.c5 Qc7 29. Bf3 Ne5 30. Be2 Nd3
Now I simply could not keep the Bishop pair

31. Bxd3 Rxd3 32. Nf1
We analysed 32.. Ne4 33.Rde1 Nxd2 34.Nxd2 Rxd2 35.Rxd2 Qxd2 36.Re8+ [pointed by Hairulov and stopped here, missing the brilliant 36...Bf8!! when black is better and may be winning as well.

32..Qd7 33. Re2



















32..Bh6?!
Not an outright blunder, but this unnecessary provocation gave me a hope to play on. However, it was very difficult to offer any better advise.

34. Bc3
34..Bxh6 does not win as the Queen may block on d4 thus negating the possibility of "permanent pin" along the a1-h8 diagonal.

34..Rxd1 35. Bxf6+ Bg7
Over the board it was difficult for me to evaluate the potential of 36.Re7, therefore for practical purposes, I opted for the text which keeps at least a draw in hand

36. Bxd8 Qxd8 37. Qb3 Qd7 38. Qe3 Rb1 39. g3 h5 40. Kg2 Qd1!
This turned out to be a very unpleasant surprise. Luckily I could defend my King which looked desperately unsafe.

41. Nh2
The only move

41..Qxa4??
Only this fatal blunder lost. Otherwise, white simply has no dangerous attack whatsoever

42. Qe8+ Kh7 43. Re6
Suddenly white wins out of nothing

43..Qe4+ 44. Rxe4 fxe4 45. Qxe4 Rxb2 46. g4 hxg4 47. h5 Rd2 48. Nxg4 1-0

KARPOV'S SEAL OF APPROVAL: A MUST FOR CARO KANNERS



Karpov's Caro Kann
Advanced & Gambit Variation

Local bookstores: RM 90.90 and RM 95.50
My price : RM 80.00










Karpov's Caro Kann Panov Attack
Local bookstores: RM 90.90 and RM 95.50

My price RM 80.00











I had almost forgotten to advertise these 2 books. These 2 books can be regarded as the final words from its most outstanding exponent, Anatoly Karpov. I had been studying Karpov's game since his classics 4 volumes: OPEN GAMES IN ACTION, SEMI OPEN GAMES IN ACTION, CLOSED GAMES IN ACTION, SEMI CLOSED GAMES IN ACTION. As usual, Karpov's explanation usually easily understood and whatever inside his mind is clearly revealed to the readers. The most notable feature is that the harmony of the pieces in various position in his games. Some may say, he is a boring player. At least that was my first impression and perception about Karpov, not until I had read his books, when I discover that, there are rather abundant of interesting features in his games. He will always be in the same class as Fischer and Kasparov.

As usual I shall present a notable game (or notable games) which in my opinion worth studying, but the game may not be found in the advertised book, instead, it will be taken from my personal database and shall be relevant with the books I advertise to highlight the need of having knowledge through reading.

[Event "Malaysian Chess Festival Blitz"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Rizal A Kamal"]
[Black "Yeoh Chin Seng"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B19"]
[Annotator "Rizal,A"]
[PlyCount "64"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bf5 5. Ng3 Bg6 6. h4 h6 7. Nf3 Nd7 8. h5
Bh7 9. Bd3 Bxd3 10. Qxd3 e6 11. Bf4 Qa5+ 12. Bd2 Qc7 13. O-O-O Ngf6 14. Rh4 Bd6
15. Ne4 Nxe4 16. Qxe4 Nf6 17. Qe2 O-O-O 18. g3 Rhe8 19. Ne5 Bxe5 20. dxe5 Nd5
21. Rg4 f5 22. exf6 Nxf6 23. Rg6 Rd5 24. c4 Rxh5 25. Rxf6 Re5 26. Qxe5 Qxe5 27.
Rf7 g5 28. Bc3 Qe2 29. Rdd7 Qf1+ 30. Kc2 Qxc4 31. Rc7+ Kb8 32. Rxb7+ Kc8
1/2-1/2



[Event "R1, Table 1"]
[Date "2006.03.11"]
[White "Siti Zulaikha"]
[Black "Haslindah Ruslan"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B18 Caro Kann"]
[PlyCount "91"]
[EventDate "2006.03.11"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bf5 5. Ng3 Bg6 6. h4 h6 7. h5 Bh7 8. Nf3
Nf6 9. Bd3 e6 10. Bxh7 Nxh7 11. Qe2 Be7 12. Bd2 Qb6 13. b3 Nd7 14. c4 Nhf6 15.
Rd1 Bb4 16. O-O Bxd2 17. Rxd2 O-O 18. Rfd1 a5 19. Ne5 Qc7 20. f4 Nb6 21. Ne4
Nxe4 22. Qxe4 Qe7 23. f5 exf5 24. Qxf5 a4 25. Rd3 axb3 26. axb3 Ra2 27. Rg3 Qe6
28. Qxe6 fxe6 29. Ng4 Kh7 30. Re1 Rf5 31. Rxe6 Ra1+ 32. Kh2 Rxh5+ 33. Rh3 Rxh3+
34. Kxh3 Rd1 35. Re7 Rd3+ 36. g3 Nc8 37. Rxb7 Rxd4 38. Rc7 Nd6 39. Rxc6 Ne4 40.
Ne5 Ng5+ 41. Kg2 Rd2+ 42. Kf1 Ne4 43. g4 Ng3+ 44. Kg1 Ne2+ 45. Kf1 Ng3+ 46. Kg1
1/2-1/2

The National Age Group 2009 had just ended. I was not involved directly or indirectly - I simply too busy with my personal and family matters. However, I did visit my friend, Wan Ismail Wan Yusof who had travelled all long way from Kota Bharu, just to accompany one of his sons, Wan Muhd Imran who contested in this tournament.

When I met him and his son, it was already at the end of round 4. So we had some beverages refreshment and we proceeded to our main business, that is transaction of some chess books.
Wan Ismail bought "Beating The Caro Kann" wrote by Vassilios Kotroniasbecause he said that, his son has the trouble facing the solid like rock Caro Kann and yet there is so few players in Kelantan who adopts it regularly.

In the end, I sold 3 books to him because he badly needs some books as references for his son, including one of my personal books (not meant for my business) that is Sicilian Accelerated Dragon publlished by Batsford.

After that I helped him to get the bus tickets at the Putra Bus Station for him and his son to return to Kota Bharu the next day. Subsequenytly we returned to his room at the Pearl Hotel. There, while having light meals, I, by off hand, gave free chess consultation to his sons as regards to :-
i)the opening strategy and most common opening traps
ii)my personal pass experience,
iii) knowing the opponent strategy
iv) style of the great players - Karpov, Tal, Fischer, etc.

I stopped at about 11.30 pm when I had to go back to my house and wished him and his son good luck ( I still do not know the achievement of Wan Muhd Imran up to the point I am writing here in this blog)

Below is a part of Wan Muhd Imran's game which we discused briefly:
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e6 7.f3 b5 8.Qd2


Here I explained that, the sharpest is actually 8.g4 whereby black must choose between:-
a) the sharp and quick Queenside counterplay approach by 8..Nfd7 follows by Nb6 and N8d7, Bb7, Rc8 etc; or
b) the temporary stopper 8..h6

In the actual game Wan Muhd Imran played something like 8...Bb7 9.0-0-0 Be7 . (Well I do not remember exactly the move order, but it is something like this, whereby I had to critic the move Be7 as this is normally delayed) The game sontinued (after g4 ) with Nfd7 follows by Nb6, N8d7 and Rc8 without touching the f8 Bishop yet. And now, any act leaving the knight on c3 (example Qf2) is naturally answered by the thematic exchange sacrifice Rxc3 follows by Na4, Qa5(or c7), Ndb6 or Ndc5 , 0-0 follows by Rc8 pressuring white's shattered Queenside. (See for example Movsesian vs Kasparov; Bosna Super GM Sarajevo 2000)

Well, as my explanation was made off hand, therefore, I cannot produce all the details of analysisi here. However, readers who love to play the English attack against Sicilian Najdorf Scheningen or the defender of Najdorf Scheveningen on the blackside may look into the details from the following books:-

1. The English Attack - Sammalvuo Tappani
2. Play The Najdorf Scheveningen Style (EVERYMAN)
3. Kasparov's Greates Games Vol 2 (Igor Stohl) - GAMBIT

Chess video mentioned on
[Letsplaychess.com Chess video forum]

Exchange sacrifice on c3 in Sicilian: Movsesian-Kasparov

Title of book: CARO KANN CLASSICAL 4...Bf5
Author(s): Gary Kasparov, Alexander Shakarov


Who would argue the quality of analysis in abook stamped by the greatest ever chess champion, Gary Kasparov? I do not really know about the co author, Alexander Shakarov. But if someone who plays chess does not even know Kasparov, then his chess world would not be completed.

This is an old book discussing one of the most solid defence system against white's 1.e4. The system begins with 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5.

I have 2 copies of this book, one is for my own reference and one is for sale. My price is RM80.00 nett. I think it is a fair price because the high quality provided by Gary Kasparov and his co-author. In addition, this book is currently out of print and all you can hope to get this book is the second hand (check it yourself at Amazon and ebay). The condition of my copy (for sale one) is like a new book (mint condition) despite of its age.

Even though it is published about 20 years ago, I doubt that the Caro Kanners are already well versed with all the nuances available in the books. In my opinion, this book is a must for Caro Kanners Classical.

As usual, I present one of my successful victory against Jusyeri Ramli (he was once a very promising local junior player and he was responsible to introduce and taught me the correct chess some 25 years ago). Here, this talented opponent and also my former teacher of chess is not escaped from the requierement to have a knowledge and to play the correct move even in the seemingkly slow Caro Kann system. For the old timer, they may know the retired policeman, Ramli Bahari. Well Jusyeri (or Doctor Jusyeri) is one of his sons.

[Event "Sabbaruddin Chik Trophy"]
[Date 1998]
[Round "?"]
[White "Rizal A Kamal"]
[Black "Dr.Mohd Jusyeri"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B19 Caro Kann Classical"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bf5 5. Ng3 Bg6 6. Nf3 Nd7 7. h4 h6 8. h5
Bh7 9. Bd3 Bxd3 10. Qxd3 Ngf6 11. Bd2 e6 12. O-O-O Qc7 13. Kb1 O-O-O 14. Qe2
Bd6 15. Ne4 Nxe4 16. Qxe4 e5 17. Bc3 f6 18. Qg4 exd4 19. Nxd4 1-0