Game 3 Beltre-Pumtien As in chess, control of the center allows freedom of movement for the pieces and restricts the opponents pieces. Unlike chess, the advance of the central pawns is rarely premature. Instead, it can lead to enemy weaknesses on a color complex, further leading to strong attacks. Good examples of this from this tournament are Muir-Pumtien and Shernoff-Drake where White's advanced pawn on d5 made the pawn drop on e6 deadly. This kind of attack is called the Raptor and is featured in a previous article by the members of the Rochester club. Another plus for the strong pawn center in bughouse is that it prevents the opponent's king from running around the board too much. After sacking for an attack and waiting for sufficient reinforcements, it is good to be able to mate swiftly. Otherwise, in a close game, bad things can happen on the other board. The pawn center often blocks the opponent's king from running to a safer location. In this game, Beltre sacks his knight on f7, but he needs a knight and queen to drop for mate. Since this happens so early in the game, the material is unobtainable. If he had taken the center, he could have tried to obtain long-term compensation by continuing with a Raptor attack, but instead he had to wait for material. His opponent's partner, Ruiz, used his stalling to creatively build his attack. (3 d3) Better is the more ambitious and common move 3 d4 which gives white control of the center. (6 #Ba3) If he had played 3 d4, he could have continued here with 6 d5 or after 6 #Ng5+ Ke7; 7 d5. He would only need pawns to continue his attack. The sack on f7 fits in well as it destroys the base of black's pawn chain on the light squares. (9... #c5) It would be simpler to play 9... Ke8 to allow the f8-bishop to take part in the king's defence. (12...Qa5) In isolation, 12...Qa5 would have been a mistake giving white the initiative, but the loss of initiative gives his partner the material he needs. %%%%%%%%%%%% Diagram 7: Correct Diagram 8: Hernandez has oxygen to drop. (No Pawns). Diagram 9: Hernandez has one pawn and one bishop in reserve. Also, he has a pawn on g6. Diagram 10: Incorrect diagram Board A: White Bc5 Nc4 Black Pc7 Pf6 (instead of the knight) Gone: Bb4 Bc1 Nf6 Reserves: W, P R B, P R Board B: White Nh5 Pg7 Black Kg8 Gone: Ng4 Rh1 Ph7 Pf6 Kg7 Reserves: W, B B, P P N N B %%%%%%%%%%%% Mauricio Ruiz- Gustavo Hernandez (4 Nf3) More usual is 4 Bb5+. One reason to prefer the French exchange with 3 exd5 over the advance variation with 3 e5 is that it leaves open the e5 square which is the ideal place for a knight. (5...Be6) More aggressive would have been for Gustavo to play 5...Ne4. The sequence 6 Nxf7 Qf6 might have gotten some material for his partner. (7 ...gxf6?) 7 ... Bxf6 was obviously better. It practically forces the trade of the knight while improving his position. He could have used his small time advantage and his opponents reluctance to trade to improve his position. (11 h4!) While Beltre is sitting, Ruiz takes advantage of the chess-like situation to open the h-file. Without any material, Hernandez can't stop the h-pawn without incurring serious weaknesses. The weakness at f2 that white develops by advancing the h-pawn is well-covered by the g4 knight. It tempts black to play ...f5, which would only weaken the black position further. Once the pawn reaches h6, Ruiz will be ready for reinforcements. (17...Nxc5) The decisive mistake. Necessary was 17...Bxc5 to give the king the e7 square. Also, it weakens e5. (18...Rxg7) Since 18...Kf7 is met by 19 #Ne5+ the rook sack is necessary. Thus white has removed a vital defender, a guardian of the last rank. (20 Rxh7+!) An inspired rook sacrifice, the logical conclusion of this well-played game. Once the defenders are gone, white's reserves will quickly trap Black's king. (21... Kg7) 21...Bxf6 can be met by 22 Qh5+, but white would need a straight mover to mate. With a rook for both sides, 22...#Rh6 23 Bxg6+ Kg7; 24 #Rf7+ would lead to mate. If Black has no rook, then either 22...#h6; 23 Qxg6+ Kh8; 24 Qh7mate or 21...Bxf6; 22 Qh5+ Kg7; 23 Qxg6+ Kf8; 24 Rf7+ followed by a mate. This last variation is where he needs the rook. Without it, he might have to settle for 24 #Nh7+ Ke7; 25 Qxf6+ but the king gets away. (25 #Bh7+) Since 25... Kf7; 26 Bdg6 is mate, Hernandez has to stall. (42 #Rg3) After move 23, Pumtien carelessly left this rook near the clock and here Beltre must have thought it was his. This is forgivable since Pumtien's rook on g6 is the one Beltre captured on move 38. Beltre had failed to pick it off the board, and Pumtien had passed it to his partner who passed it back. None of this had any effect on the game's outcome. -------------------------------------------------------- Game 4 Muir-Nash Almost every game on the videotape was either a French or a Two Pawn, ...e6 and ...d6. Rob Drake was playing the ...Nc6 and ...Nf6 system that the LA player R. Hermansen specializes in. This was the only game that began 1 e4 Nf6, the Alhekine's defence. In surprise, Matt Muir announced, "Oh, the Alhekine's!". This led to a discussion of the correct pronounciation, and then to Alhekine's ancestry. Was he Russian or Jewish or what? While bughouse veterans Muir and Graham are used to such banter, it apparently confused their opponents. (4 dxc3) White has a comfortable game with more center control and a cramping pawn on e5. This is why Black players usually prefer 3...d5. (5...Nc6) It would have been better to give his pieces more room with 5...d6. After 5... Nc6, the strength of white's position is seen more easily if he has a couple of reserves, e.g. 6 #f6 gxf6?; 7 exf6 Qxf6; 8 Bg5 Qg6; 9 #Nf6+ Kd8; 10 Nxd7+ Be7; 11 Ne5+. (6... f6?) Of course we all know that pushing the f-pawn is bad, but how does it get punished? Sometimes, ...f6 can give Black the initiative as well as open the f-file for his rook, as in the game Roshal-Hernandez from this tournament. (12... Kf7) While racing Muir for mate, Graham asks him, "Do you think we can print this one?". To which Muir replies, "This one we can print." Anderson-Graham (5 Be3) Sometimes defensive play is a good idea, especially when it is likely that your partner will win. In such a case, it is better to hold the pieces back and to defend the weak spots with pawns. In this game, the course is laid out for Graham's dark square operation. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Diagram 11: Correct Diagram 12: Graham has no bishop on c8. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%% --------------------------------------------------- Game 5 Brett Levin-- Todd Rowland (7... Nxe5) This pawn winning combination is risky because at the end, white can sack on f7. It depends on what is happening on the other board. If it is likely that there will be a queen trade then the sack is very dangerous. In this game, the extra pawn starts Shernoff's attack and it is unlikely for him to be trading queens. These two factors make it a good combination. Moreover, it turns out that a knight would kill Drake. (10 #Bg1?) Now the h1 rook is trapped, making the g2 square juicy. Such defensive measures are only called for in desperate situations. (11... #e2) My opponents' predictament inspired the following dialogue. "I'm going to get queen mated!" - B.L. "Get out of it." - R.D. "I'm getting mated." "So am I. Just work on it." "I'm going to work on getting queen mated!!" (12... exd1=Q+) I thought we were ahead on time, but then decided that we could win with a material advantage and continuing attacks. (29 Kf1?) Here 29 #Ne5+ would win my queen. It would take a little while but at least it would have made it possible for Levin to win if he had more time, which he did not. Leon Shernoff -- Rob Drake (3 Nc3) Here Drake pointed to the infamous sheet, presumably asking Levin for a pawn to drop onto ...b4. Levin told him that he couldn't get it in his usual loquacious manner. "I can't get it! It's not here for you." Together with his gesturing, this prompted Leon to remark, "Bughouse meets HeeHaw." Levin could have played the exchange french since Black likes material in this opening. That is if they had coordinated their openings beforehand. (3... d6) Drake waited too long to play this move, and it brought him trouble in this tournament. Against Ruiz, I played 3... d5 in this position, but now I prefer 3... e5. (5... Bxc6?) The bishop on c6 only provokes the raptor attack. Better would have been 5... bxc6, not only saving a tempo, but also opening the b-file for his rook. (13...Nxe5?) Since the queen trade mates his partner, he had to go for 13...Nxf2. (15 Nd5?) Although 15 Nd5 wins the game, it is a blunder. That is not uncommon. Once Levin gives the green light on a queen trade then Drake can just take the knight on e5. Shernoff had several better alternatives. As Muir points out, 15 #Bd7+ wins the queen since 15... Bxd7; 16 #f7 is mate. Another strong move is 15 #Bf5. (16 Qxd5) Now mate is practically forced. Drake's only chance is to start checking with 16... #d2+, but even if he squirms out of mate he will be faced with a significant material and time disadvantage. %%%%%%%%%%%%%% Diagram 13: Correct Diagram 14: Correct Diagram 15: Reserves: Levin has N B P and Shernoff has Q B P Move Correction -- I don't know what the ...Kxg6 stuff is doing there. Also, Drake played 17... Nxf7 to which Shernoff replied 18 Qxf7mate. %%%%%%%%%%%%%% ----------------------------------------- Game 6 Brett Levin - Jerry Graham The queen is the best defender of the squares around the king. When she is gone,the king is often left to defend those squares by himself. The queen might disappear for a variety of reasons such as an exchange or sacrifice, but usually she goes off on an adventure. Typically, the queen can stir up an attack in compensation for leaving the defence. The natural queen being such a good defender, and the dropped queen being such a good attacker, makes it so that trading or winning the natural queen contributes to the attacks on both boards. The same is true to a lesser extent of rooks. In this game, Graham's queen defends all of his weak squares. Levin's queen joins the attack, leaving his king to fend for himself. His king has plenty of room to run around in though. This is a good example of a classic bughouse situation with both kings under attack. (4... e5) Similar to his game against Ruiz from earlier this tournament, which worked out well for Graham. More consistent with ...Qe7 would have been 4...exd5, forcing white to recapture with a piece on d5, e.g. 5 Qxd5 #e6 and ... d5. (5 Bb5+?) The bishop check forces weaknesses in black's position, but they are easily defended. It turns out to be a loss of time. Better was 5 Nc3. (19... Nxb2+) Instead of this, 19... #Ne3+ would have gotten the queen. (21 Ke2) Graham and Drake were both sitting, waiting for the other to move. Levin's hand was hovering near the clock, which prompted Graham to say, "Don't." "Don't what?" countered Levin. "Just don't." "Don't what? Don't what? What don't I do? You have to be more specific." "Don't do nothing." They waited for awhile. Jerry was scratching his head, and then just before he moved, Brett asked him, "Do you all come from Ohio to play that slow?" (16 Bxf6) At this point, Drake asked his partner if a queen trade is OK. The ever expressive Levin yells back, "Is a queen trade OK, he asks?", and then in a softer voice, "A queen trade is OK." Muir-Drake (12... Nxf2) He is hoping to get a knight and queen. While 12... Qd8; 13 #e7 is ugly, it seems like 12... Qd7 is playable. Perhaps Muir now feared 13 Nxe7 Nxd1; 14 Nxc6 #Qe3+, and so keeps it simple while asking his partner to "sit for a minute." (17... Bh6) Black's harassment has only let Muir build a fortress around his king. (25... Kd8) White could have tried 26 #e7+ or 26 Bc5 Qxc5?; 27 #Nb7mate. %%%%%%%%% Diagram 16: Correct Diagram 17: Correct Diagram 18: Correct %%%%%%%%% ----------------------------------------- Game 7 Beltre-- Dayton (2 Bc4) It is well known that 2 Bc4 is an error, conceding central control and tempos to Black. (5... Qe7) Now the idea of 6 Bxc4 is stopped. Beltre was afraid to trade queens because he mistakenly thought his partner was in danger. (8 e3) For some reason they switched the clock to an analog clock. (9 e4?) Apparently white missed 9 Qxc4. (10... d3!) Beltre is in dire straights. The weak light squares are ripped open. (11 ...cxd3) Black has plenty of other good moves including 11... Nd4 and 11...Nb4, but his partner was screaming for a pawn. Roshal - Hernandez (7... f6!) An enterprising move that takes the initiative and opens the f-file. While his queen is there, his king is safe. It also confuses his opponent. (10... Nh6) More natural would have been 10... Nc6 to answer 11 Qb5 with 11...Ne7. Black's lead in development and control of central squares might have been enough for a win if he had asked his partner to sit. It would have had to be quick since their time advantage could not have been too great. (12 Qe2) It would have been more interesting to try the queen adventure 12 Qc5 Nd7; 13 Qd6. (15...#d5) Now 16 Qxe5 Re8 loses the queen, but it would have been good for Dayton to get the rook. Dayton didn't realize right away that he didn't need another knight, and so he told his partner to retreat. %%%%%%%%%%%%% Correct names of players: Board A: Beltre-Dayton Board B: Roshal- Hernandez Diagram 19: Reserves on board A. Dayton has oxygen. Moves -- On board A, instead of 13 Bb4+ it was 13 Bb5+? On board A, 16 ... Nfd5 is not a check. %%%%%%%%%%%%% --------------------------------------------------------------------- Game 8 Beltre- Rowland Being able to give perpetual check is close to having a win. Usually all that is necessary for mate are a couple of reinforcements. The best kind of situation for a perpetual check is with a power rook on the seventh. This is a rook that can give check indefinitely, usually from the seventh rank. The king's escape is cut off either by the corners or mate threats. What makes this so good, and how does it happen? For one thing it is possible to play the rook checks very fast. Usually, there is a mate, but it might take some creativity to find it. With the perpetual, you have all the time in the world to find the mate. If there is no mate, a minimal amount of reinforcements will lead to mate. Usually a couple of pawns will do. It requires control of the squares on the seventh rank. The trick is the rook's penetration which can be achieved by a combination. In the Rochester tournament in March, I got it against McClelland in a critical game determining which team would go to the finals. In that game, my opponent had placed his pieces overoptimistically. I ended up with my queen on b2 and his king on d1, and ...#Rd2+ lead to total destruction all the way to g2. This game was the most closely contested for me and Leon, except for the game we lost to the Harvard team, Bengston/Martin. We tied with them for first in the tournament after they lost to Buffalo, Levin/Drake. Unfortunately, those games did not make it onto the tape. (18... #Bf3) This move looks good, but it would have been simpler to play 18...Bxg3!. (19 Qxf3) Considering how well his partner was doing, Beltre should have just asked Hernandez to avoid a straight mover trade and then play 19 Nxc7+. (23...Ne2+!) Now I get the power rook on the seventh. (26 Ke1?) More resilient would have been 26 Kg1 avoiding immediate mate. I would have given perpetual until I got a rook or knight, e.g. 26...#Nh3+; 27 Kh1 Rf1+; 28 Bxf1 Ngf2mate. Also, I might have noticed the mate with an extra bishop and pawn with 26... Rg2+; 27 Kf1 fxe2+!!; 28 Kxg2 #Bf1+; 29 Kf3 e1=N+; 30 Kg3 #h4+; 31 Kxh4 Ng2+; 32 Kg3 #h4+; 33 Kf3 #e4mate. If 29 Kg3 then 29...e1=Q+; 30 Kf4 #e5+ leads to mate, and if 28 Ke1 Rg1+!; 29 Kxe2 #Bd1+; also leads to mate. It is interesting that white can survive after 28 Kxg2 e1=N+?; 29 Kh3! Nf2+; 30 Kh4!. (27 Kd1) It is too late, anyway. ( 27 Kf1 #g2+; 28 Kg1 #f2mate). I had to be decisive since Beltre was ready to crush me with the elegant 28 #Re7+ Nxe7; 29 #Rd8mate. There is also the brutal 28 #Rd8+ Nxd8; 29 #Re7+ Kf8; 30 cxd8=Q+. Leon Shernoff -- Gustavo Hernandez (3...c5) Weakening the dark squares like this is dangerous. White can play normally and capitalize on the weaknesses later when more material shows up. I like the idea of 4 dxc5 Bxc5; 5 #d4. (5...Nxd7) As Muir notes, 5...Qxd7 was a better recapture. (11 Nb1-c3) I should have played 11... #Rg6 with idea of gettting a pawn for Leon to play 11 #c7+. This would have allowed further bogosity for Leon. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Correct names of players Board A: Beltre-Rowland Board B: Shernoff-Hernandez Diagram 20: Correct. Moves -- On board B, 16... Nh6 instead of 16 ... #Nh6. Note: Board B, 8... Qc6 is fine since 8...Qa5+ is met by 9 Bd2 Qxb5; 10 #Nc7+. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% --------------------------------------------------------- Game 9 Ruiz - Rowland (2... Nc6) By developing his knights first, Black hopes that his piece activity will overwhelm the white position. White can transpose into positions similar to the Alhekine's, e.g. 3 e5 Ne4; 4 Nc3 or 3 Nc3 d5; 4 exd5 Nxd5; 5 Bc4, the latter being similar to 1 e4 Nf6; 2 Nc3 d5; 3 exd5 Nxd5; 4 Bc4. The most popular move though has been 3 Nc3, as in this game. Then, aside from the mostly transpositional 3... d6 or 3... d5, Black can also play the distinctive 3...e5. After 3... e5, Black is hoping that his dark square bishop will come into the game actively. (9 dxc6?) With a couple of pawns, white could hope for either 9 #e6 fxe6; 10 dxc6 bxc6; 11 Bxc6+ Nxc6; 12 #f7+ Kxf7; 13 #Ng5+ or 9 #f4 Nd7?; 10 #e6 with a light square attack. My intuition told me I might be in danger and I asked my partner to keep trades of diagonal movers low. (10 #b7) The pawn on b7 gives white some tactical possibilities, but it can end up just being tossed away for nothing. (10...Rb8) Now material trades kill his partner. This, combined with quite a bit of double stalling by Ruiz and Beltre, let me take over the initiative. Here I should be content to use the time to complete my development and ask Leon to wait for reinforcements. By not using our time advantage, I rely on a little bit of luck to win this game. (18...#Bh3+) The attempt to win the queen with 18...#Be4 fails to 19 #Bc6+!. Leon - William (3...Nd7) Pumtien's knight manouver is a loss of time allowing white to get his attack going. (7...d7?) More natural would have been 7... Qd7. (9 d3) Leon was about to play something like 9 Bxc4 Nxc4; 10 #g6, but I was afraid of too much material coming over and asked him to play 9 d3. Now Black must play something like 9...Be7 since f7 is such a vital square to let white sack on it. White could then play 10 h4! to get his rook into action and conserve his pawns. (11...Ke7) Pumtien thought much too long about this move. If he had to sack the queen, they would probably lose, anyway. Clearly the only chance for him is to move quickly and count on his partner to avoid queen trades. A knight and a pawn also do the trick for Shernoff; 12 f6+! clears the f5 square for the knight and forces mate. If 12...Kxf6 then 13 Qf3+ Kg6; 14 Qf7+ Kh6; 15 #Nf5mate or more classically 12...gxf6; 13 #Nf5+ Ke8; 14 #f7mate. With such a good position, Leon felt he didn't need to wait, though. (14...Kc7) If 14...Kxc5? then 15 Nge4+ Kb4; 16 a3+ Ka5; 17 b4+ would lead to mate quickly. Once Leon decided to stop moving, Mauricio offered a draw, which was refused. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% Correct names of players Board A: Ruiz- Rowland Board B: Shernoff-Pumtien Diagram 21: Correct Diagram 22: Correct Diagram 23: Correct Diagram 24: Pumtien has a black pawn on d5. Moves -- On board B, 20... d5 instead of 20... #d5. %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%