chess game #10 - huge payday
I've enjoyed taking my trip down chess-memory lane so far. But when I think back to what I feel are my greatest chess accomplishments, four of them come to mind: Finishing clear second in the Expert Section of the 1988 World Open, reaching a rating of national master, winning the Hawaii State Championship, and achieving a 2200+ FIDE rating. All of these occurred after 10 years of play, and in this chronological memoir, I have only just now reached the first of these milestones.
The 1988 World Open for me was quite an event. I started the tournament with a loss to a strong player from Canada. This got me started on what is frequently referred to as a "Swiss Gambit". In a Swiss system event, you are paired against players with the same score as you, so if you lose in the first round, you are paired against someone else who lost in the first round. Therefore if you play a total of n rounds and win all of your games after the opening round loss, you presumably were paired against weaker players on average than someone who has the same score as you by winning his first n-1 games and losing his nth. Of course, this advantage diminishes as you continue winning, and that was certainly the case for me. Fortunately, my play improved a great deal over the course of the tournament, so I was playing better as my competition got tougher, and I kept reeling off wins. I give a huge amount of credit for my results to two friends, Bob Anderson and David Allard, who attended the tournament with me and kept me loose throughout.
In round 7, I played what I consider to be my best game of the tournament, winning with white against a very strong, very young, future grandmaster named Alexandre LeSeige. Nevertheless, the game I am presenting here is my round 8 encounter. This game was more memorable for me primarily because it was the clincher, but also because the ultimate winning combination was a tad unusual.
White: Stiwich,R (2062)
Black: Weideman,T (2155)
Event: World Open - Under 2200 Section (8)
Date: 1988-07-04
(B03 Alekhine's D, Exchange V)
1 e4 Nf6
While over the years I had a lot of ups and downs with this opening, it turns out that it was involved in virtually all of the most important wins of my life.
2 e5 Nd5
3 d4 d6
4 c4 Nb6
5 exd6 exd6
6 Bd3 Nc6
7 Be3 Be7
8 Nf3 Bg4
9 Nbd2 O-O
10 a3? f5!
White was concerned about Nb4 (a legitimate worry), but found the wrong solution. 10 Qb3 was better. Now black gets a very good game.
11 h3 Bxf3
My computer prefers maintaining the pin with 11... Bh5. I think maybe I just didn't want to give white a second chance to play g3.
12 Nxf3 f4
13 Bd2 Bf6
14 Bc3 Re8+
15 Kd2?!
It's understandable that white would want to avoid sealing-in his king-side rook with 15 Kf1, but I think this move underestimates the attacking possibilities black has in this position.
15... d5
16 c5 Nc4+
17 Kc1 b6
18 b3?
This is a difficult position for white to navigate, but it holds together well after 18 Qa4! The move played weakens the queen side unnecessarily.
18... N4a5
19 b4 Nc4
20 Qb3 b5
Now black's knight has a strong post on c4.
21 a4 a6
22 a5?
Bad on principle. White has a rook on the a-file, but locks it up with this move, shifting all the focus to the e-file, which black controls.
22... Qe7
23 Qc2 g6
This move has the dual purpose of stopping the threat on h7 and clearing space for the Q on g7.
24 Kb1 Qg7
25 Bxc4 bxc4
26 Ka2 Re4
27 Rad1 Rae8
Black has built a fairly substantial advantage at this point.
28 Rd2 Qe7
29 Rhd1 g5
30 Rg1 Na7
Black has a bind on the position, and takes a moment to reposition the knight to a better square.
31 g3 Nb5
32 Bb2 Kh8
33 gxf4 Rxf4
34 Ne5?
White's already in trouble, but this allows a crushing combination. 34 Rg3 holds on longer.
34... Bxe5
35 dxe5 c3!
36 Bxc3 Rc4
37 Rxd5
If white plays 37 Rd3 or Rg3, then 37... d4.
37... Nxc3+
38 Kb3 Nxd5
39 Qxc4 Qxe5
40 c6 Rb8
41 Ka3 Rxb4
42 Qc2 Rb5
43 Qd2 Qd6+ 0-1
I still very vividly recall accepting my opponent's resignation in this game and bouncing my way down the hall to find my friends and give them the news. It turns out that besides the nice $5k payday this game netted me, my results in this tournament put me over the top for the second chess accomplishment listed above - my rating rose into the master ranks.
The 1988 World Open for me was quite an event. I started the tournament with a loss to a strong player from Canada. This got me started on what is frequently referred to as a "Swiss Gambit". In a Swiss system event, you are paired against players with the same score as you, so if you lose in the first round, you are paired against someone else who lost in the first round. Therefore if you play a total of n rounds and win all of your games after the opening round loss, you presumably were paired against weaker players on average than someone who has the same score as you by winning his first n-1 games and losing his nth. Of course, this advantage diminishes as you continue winning, and that was certainly the case for me. Fortunately, my play improved a great deal over the course of the tournament, so I was playing better as my competition got tougher, and I kept reeling off wins. I give a huge amount of credit for my results to two friends, Bob Anderson and David Allard, who attended the tournament with me and kept me loose throughout.
In round 7, I played what I consider to be my best game of the tournament, winning with white against a very strong, very young, future grandmaster named Alexandre LeSeige. Nevertheless, the game I am presenting here is my round 8 encounter. This game was more memorable for me primarily because it was the clincher, but also because the ultimate winning combination was a tad unusual.
White: Stiwich,R (2062)
Black: Weideman,T (2155)
Event: World Open - Under 2200 Section (8)
Date: 1988-07-04
(B03 Alekhine's D, Exchange V)
1 e4 Nf6
While over the years I had a lot of ups and downs with this opening, it turns out that it was involved in virtually all of the most important wins of my life.
2 e5 Nd5
3 d4 d6
4 c4 Nb6
5 exd6 exd6
6 Bd3 Nc6
7 Be3 Be7
8 Nf3 Bg4
9 Nbd2 O-O
10 a3? f5!
White was concerned about Nb4 (a legitimate worry), but found the wrong solution. 10 Qb3 was better. Now black gets a very good game.
11 h3 Bxf3
My computer prefers maintaining the pin with 11... Bh5. I think maybe I just didn't want to give white a second chance to play g3.
12 Nxf3 f4
13 Bd2 Bf6
14 Bc3 Re8+
15 Kd2?!
It's understandable that white would want to avoid sealing-in his king-side rook with 15 Kf1, but I think this move underestimates the attacking possibilities black has in this position.
15... d5
16 c5 Nc4+
17 Kc1 b6
18 b3?
This is a difficult position for white to navigate, but it holds together well after 18 Qa4! The move played weakens the queen side unnecessarily.
18... N4a5
19 b4 Nc4
20 Qb3 b5
Now black's knight has a strong post on c4.
21 a4 a6
22 a5?
Bad on principle. White has a rook on the a-file, but locks it up with this move, shifting all the focus to the e-file, which black controls.
22... Qe7
23 Qc2 g6
This move has the dual purpose of stopping the threat on h7 and clearing space for the Q on g7.
24 Kb1 Qg7
25 Bxc4 bxc4
26 Ka2 Re4
27 Rad1 Rae8
Black has built a fairly substantial advantage at this point.
28 Rd2 Qe7
29 Rhd1 g5
30 Rg1 Na7
Black has a bind on the position, and takes a moment to reposition the knight to a better square.
31 g3 Nb5
32 Bb2 Kh8
33 gxf4 Rxf4
34 Ne5?
White's already in trouble, but this allows a crushing combination. 34 Rg3 holds on longer.
34... Bxe5
35 dxe5 c3!
36 Bxc3 Rc4
37 Rxd5
If white plays 37 Rd3 or Rg3, then 37... d4.
37... Nxc3+
38 Kb3 Nxd5
39 Qxc4 Qxe5
40 c6 Rb8
41 Ka3 Rxb4
42 Qc2 Rb5
43 Qd2 Qd6+ 0-1
I still very vividly recall accepting my opponent's resignation in this game and bouncing my way down the hall to find my friends and give them the news. It turns out that besides the nice $5k payday this game netted me, my results in this tournament put me over the top for the second chess accomplishment listed above - my rating rose into the master ranks.