Unfinished symphonies

The final round of the Major Open, as is now a tradition, was a morning start. My history with this is very mixed; in my two most successful years, 2017 in the Major Open and 2018 in the Championship, I had a sorrowful end to a good tournament, but at the last attempt before this in 2019 I won in a massacre.

In this game I had the white pieces against a 1734 junior, Henry Adams. Ostensibly that was as much as I could hope for, as recovering to a positive score would at least be nearly respectable, but that rating was clearly out of date - once his 16 games from Torquay were added in he landed at 1932, and he has kept going since - to say nothing of an empty database.

If round eight showed signs of fatigue taking over, this was more of the same and if anything even worse, as both sides looked punch-drunk throughout. After a rocky opening I started to outplay him in a calm positional game, but somehow I lost my way, and in the end I had to rely on my opponent's nerves even to escape with a draw:

[Event "Major Open"] [Site "?"] [Date "2022.08.21"] [Round "9.20"] [White "Young, Daniel J"] [Black "Adams, Henry"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D33"] [WhiteElo "2020"] [BlackElo "1734"] [Annotator "Young,Daniel J"] [PlyCount "86"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] {My opponent had won the U-1900 tournament, and could have been on an even higher score in the Major Open if he hadn't let a few players off with draws they didn't deserve (and I'd noticed that even before this effort!) As this was the morning round and my opponent had nothing useful in the database besides one Najdorf from earlier in the week, I decided to return to the flank openings.} 1. Nf3 {(1:30)} c5 {(1:30)} 2. c4 Nf6 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. g3 e6 5. Bg2 d5 6. cxd5 exd5 {I have to admit that I've always regarded the Tarrasch as only a semi-correct opening, and not taken it particularly seriously. I was soon regretting it, as I was made to feel very uncomfortable in the opening.} 7. d4 cxd4 {This move appears to be superceding the traditional 7... Be7, which still vastly outnumbers it in the database. I was now on my own.} 8. Nxd4 Bc5 9. Nxc6 {Taken by surprise, I opted to change the structure and play against hanging central pawns instead. And practically this was a good decision, as 9. Nb3 contains pitfalls for the unwary.} (9. Nb3 {The other obvious candidate - especially as it almost wins a pawn by force. From memory I didn't look at this too much, intuitively disliking the passive retreat.} Bb6 (9... Bb4 $6 10. O-O Bxc3 {preserves the d-pawn, but} 11. bxc3 O-O 12. Bg5 $14 {is an improved version of a regular Tarrasch, as White already has two bishops and the one on g2 already has an open diagonal whilst the d-pawn is effectively restrained.}) 10. O-O (10. Nxd5 {gives Black easy play after} Be6 11. Nxb6 {(11. e4 is also tried)} Qxd1+ 12. Kxd1 axb6 13. Nd2 O-O $44 {, when in return for the pawn Black has trapped the white king in the centre and has pressure down the a-file.}) 10... d4 {This pawn is inevitably doomed, but it is going to sell its life dearly.} 11. Na4 O-O 12. Bg5 Re8 13. Re1 h6 {White can now win a pawn by mass exchanges, and indeed it's hard to justify his play otherwise (just what are those knights doing?) however} 14. Nxb6 axb6 15. Bxc6 bxc6 16. Bxf6 Qxf6 17. Qxd4 Qd8 18. Qc3 (18. Qxd8 Rxd8 19. Red1 {gives the pawn back immediately: safe, but no sort of winning try.} Rxd1+ 20. Rxd1 Be6 $11) 18... c5 $44 {With open lines on the a- and d-files plus the long light-squared diagonal, Black's compensation looks compelling to me.}) 9... bxc6 10. O-O { (1:26)} O-O {(1:32)} 11. b3 (11. Na4 $142 Bd6 (11... Bb6 {allows the black queenside to be fixed by} 12. Nxb6 axb6 13. Qc2 Bb7 14. b4 $14) 12. Be3 Re8 13. Rc1 Bd7 14. Nc5 Bxc5 15. Bxc5 $14 {White has gained a foothold on the dark squares and the central pawns have become blockaded. At any rate I think there is a case to answer here.}) 11... Re8 12. Bb2 $6 Ba6 {The pressure on e2 is more annoying than I expected.} 13. Qc2 Rc8 14. Rad1 (14. Rfd1 $143 $4 { White's position is on a tightrope - I went so far as to reach to play this before realising that} Bxf2+ $1 {would be inconvenient, and in fact it wins outright.} 15. Kxf2 Ng4+ 16. Ke1 (16. Kg1 Qb6+ 17. Kh1 Nf2+ $19) 16... Ne3 { What's truly galling is that the knight sneaks out the same way it came in after} 17. Qd2 Nxg2+ 18. Kf2 Ne3 $19 {, when Black wins a pawn and White's king position is destroyed.}) 14... Rc7 $6 {Clumsy. With ...Qb6 cut off for a move, I have time to unpin my e-pawn without allowing ...Bxf2+.} 15. Rfe1 { (1:00)} Rce7 {(1:15)} 16. e3 $14 {Now I started to feel confident in my position.} Bb4 $6 {Only encouraging White to gain time and space.} 17. a3 Ba5 18. b4 Bc7 $2 {From an opening that felt so awkward for me, Black very quickly slips into passive defence.} (18... Bb6 $142 {was essential, so as to be able to meet} 19. Ne2 $6 {with} (19. Na4 $142 Qd6 20. Nxb6 axb6 21. Bd4 Nd7 $16 { leaves Black playing for the wrong two results, but holds everything together for now.}) 19... Bxe3 $1 {and Black gets counterplay along the e-file.} 20. fxe3 Rxe3 21. Rd2 d4 22. Rxd4 Qe7 23. Qd2 Rxe2 24. Rxe2 Bxe2 25. Bxc6 Rc8 $14) 19. Ne2 Bc4 $2 20. Nd4 $6 {(49) I'm not sure why I didn't include the obvious capture on f6 first, although admittedly the text is also quite strong.} (20. Bxf6 $142 gxf6 21. Nd4 Qa8 {Now White has a pleasant choice between} 22. Nf5 ( 22. Bf1 {, or playing to a win a pawn as in the game with much less counterplay to face down.} Bxf1 23. Rxf1 $18) 22... Re5 23. Rd4 $18 {playing for an attack on the weakened black king (whilst the enemy queen is far from the defence)}) 20... Qa8 {(53)} 21. Nf5 Re6 22. Nd4 {The sacrifice on g7 doesn't lead anywhere, so I had to revert to a new plan and unseal the c-file.} R6e7 23. Bf1 {Not played with particular joy, but I reasoned that Black should be too passive to make anything of the weakening of my king.} Bxf1 24. Rxf1 Be5 25. Nxc6 $18 {(27) Fearing no ghosts.} Rc7 {(50)} 26. Bxe5 Rxe5 (26... Rxc6 $144 27. Qb2 $18) 27. Qb2 Rh5 {(Black draw offer) Evidently concluding that an all-out attack is his only remaining hope.} 28. Nd4 Qc8 29. Rc1 Qh3 30. f3 { (19)} Re7 {(37)} 31. Rc3 Rg5 32. b5 h5 {The next stage of the game was frustrating. I was adamant that this slow-motion counterplay should not work, and yet I had no idea how to stop it.} 33. Qg2 Qd7 34. f4 $2 {A step in the wrong direction - this wins material but gives away a lot of squares. Was my knight really worse than the rooks?} (34. Rfc1 $142 {White is ready to start pushing his queenside pawns if given time. Black will presumably play} h4 {but} 35. g4 $18 {keeps lines closed more effectively than I realised:} Nxg4 $2 36. Kh1 {and the knight has only succeeded in pinning itself.}) 34... Rg6 35. Nc6 { (7)} h4 {(32)} 36. Nxe7+ Qxe7 37. f5 Rg5 $2 (37... Rg4 $142 {to cover the fourth rank.}) 38. Rf4 hxg3 39. hxg3 g6 $6 40. fxg6 {(2)} Rxg6 {(30) Now the time scramble was over and I could try to figure this position out. To say the least, I did not make a good job of it.} 41. Qh3 $2 (41. Rc6 $142 $1 {To win, White needs to push through the path of least resistance. I didn't want to give up the only two pawns shielding my king -} Qxe3+ 42. Qf2 Rxg3+ {- but the secret of the position is that as soon as queens come off White's exchange advantage will quickly tell. With the knight hanging, Black cannot now avoid this.} 43. Kh2 Rh3+ 44. Kg2 Ne8 45. Rc8 Qxf2+ 46. Kxf2 Kf8 47. Ra4 $18) 41... Kg7 42. Qh4 $2 Qe5 43. Rd3 $4 {And this should even lose! I felt all at sea in a position where my king is exposed and all of the pieces are lose; I do not like being forced to rely on calculation and that immediately tells here. I was happy that the queen check was survivable, but...} Rh6 {(Black draw offer??) - Originally I'd intended 44. Rg4+, but now it dawned on me that after ...Kh7 I have to lose material. For the second time in this tournament alone I was saved, however, by my opponent being too eager for a draw. I have done the same thing so often myself...} 1/2-1/2

Not for the first time in these nine games, I find myself reflecting that this would look pretty good if I had brought the position from the early middlegame to its logical conclusion. I reacted well to the surprise opening and transformed the game into a favourable hanging central pawns structure, with the pawns fixed. Soon I harvested the c-pawn and seemed to be well on my way to victory.

However, I became much too flustered by Black's desperate attempts at a kingside attack. I was sure it was too slow and my position too secure for it to go anywhere, but I couldn't adequately distract him from it with anything of my own. Even winning the exchange didn't help, as my position lost co-ordination after that. I thought that once I reached the time control at move 40 I could overcome any lingering difficulties, but perhaps that caused me to subconsciously relax. All three of my subsequent moves were lemons, although this also owed something to the nature of the position. A loose, open position dominated by major pieces and airy kings is pretty much my worst nightmare, especially when the nerves of a winning advantage are added in.

So, what to learn from the 2022 Major Open? I was gravely disappointed by my 50% score, which took my ECF rating below 2000 and my FIDE rating below 1900 - that was a barrier I had to work very hard to cross, and until enough games are played to get a post-lockdown recalibration I fear it will be even tougher to return. Several of the games could have been really good but were spoilt by errors, and overall it was a case of what might have been. The openings went well enough, but the preparation knockouts of yesteryear were nowhere to be found, and being less predictable didn't fully make up for blunting what is usually my strongest weapon. I played the sort of exciting middlegames I enjoy, but this wasn't conducive to good results as I was tactically off colour. I've agonised a great deal over whether I should pivot to quieter positions or fix the issues that betray me in the more double-edged stuff, and vacillated often on the answer to this question. I'll discuss this more in the posts to come. Amidst all the gloom, I was pleased by my endgame technique, especially since I had paid some attention to this in the lead-up.

Most of all, my conclusion from analysing the games is disarmingly simple, and more upbeat than it might sound: I was in terrible form at the time. There were an abnormal number of gross oversights and unsteady passages of play, and these can strike even if you feel well prepared for an event; you can never guarantee in advance that things will work out. The flip side of this is that my overall approach was maybe not as doomed as I thought in the immediate aftermath, and in a parallel universe it might have all turned out very differently.

At long last, I am now in a position to jump forward and start analysing some more recent games. Before that, however, I would like to revive an old tradition and cast an eye over the 2021-22 season with some help from an old friend.