{"id":5718,"date":"2019-02-20T11:42:39","date_gmt":"2019-02-20T19:42:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.danamackenzie.com\/blog\/?p=5718"},"modified":"2019-02-20T11:44:00","modified_gmt":"2019-02-20T19:44:00","slug":"when-second-feels-like-first","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/danamackenzie.com\/blog\/?p=5718","title":{"rendered":"When Second Feels Like First"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

There are only three words to describe the San\nFrancisco Mechanics\u2019 performance in the PRO Chess League last night:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Danya! Danya! Danya!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But if I were allowed three more words, they would be:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Epic. Unbelievable. Comeback.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Either description is perfect. But first, let me back up and set some context. Going into week 7 (out of 10) of the PRO Chess League, the Mechanics were in seventh place (out of eight) in their division. That\u2019s not good. In fact, it puts us in danger of being \u201crelegated\u201d (i.e., we would have to play a qualifying tournament just to get into the league next year). It\u2019s very important to at least get into sixth place to avoid relegation, and this means that we need to catch one of two teams: the Seattle Sluggers or the San Jose Hackers, who are currently in sixth and fifth places respectively. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This week\u2019s matches were very important because they were conducted in Battle Royale format, which means that instead of playing a match against one team, we played in a round robin against seven other teams. The stakes are higher in a Battle Royale: first place gets you 24 points, second gets you 20 points, etc. Compare that to a regular match, where winning gets you 10 points, and you can see that the Battle Royale gives you an exceptional chance to move forward in the standings \u2013 in essence, you can win two matches in one week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lineup for this week\u2019s Battle Royale looked very challenging. Just take a look at the ratings of the first boards for the eight teams:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Fabiano\nCaruana, St. Louis Arch Bishops (2827)<\/li>
  2. Ding\nLiren, Chengdu Pandas (2804)<\/li>
  3. Hikaru\nNakamura, Seattle Sluggers (2763)<\/li>
  4. Le\nQuang Liem, Webster Windmills (2715)<\/li>
  5. Adhiban\nBaskaran, Mumbai Movers (2668)<\/li>
  6. Ahmed\nAdly, Delhi Dynamite (2630)<\/li>
  7. Daniel\nNaroditsky, San Francisco Mechanics (2615)<\/li>
  8. Anton\nSmirnov, Australia Kangaroos (2549)<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Four super-GMs! Even though Daniel (Danya) Naroditsky has been playing very well for us, he would be the favorite in only one game. Going by the ratings, he would be expected to score 3 out of 7, and even a level score of 3\u00bd-3\u00bd would be quite a good result. So when I tell you that Danya scored 5\u00bd-1\u00bd, the best score of anybody on first board, you can tell that it was a pretty good night for the Mechanics!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    As it turned out, we needed every one of those points,\nbecause this was an incredibly hard-fought Battle Royale, with huge changes in\nthe standings right up to the very end. Here was the situation going into the\nlast round:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    1. St.\nLouis \u2013 15 <\/li>
    2. Chengdu\n\u2013 13<\/li>
    3. Seattle\n\u2013 12.5<\/li>
    4. Webster\n\u2013 12.5<\/li>
    5. Delhi\n\u2013 12.5<\/li>
    6. San\nFrancisco \u2013 12<\/li>
    7. Australia\n\u2013 11.5<\/li>
    8. Mumbai\n\u2013 7 <\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      As you can see, in spite of Danya\u2019s heroics (4\u00bd – 1\u00bd to that point), things were looking kind of bleak. Even though our game score, 12-12, was not awful, we were in sixth place. But the good news was that there were lots of teams bunched up just ahead of us. We were paired against Australia in the last round. Meanwhile, St. Louis would play Chengdu (#1 vs. #2!), Seattle would play Delhi, and Webster would look to pick up some points against tail-ender Mumbai.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      As it turned out, the pairing against Australia would be a lucky one for us, even though they routed us 10-6 in our match in week two. We were both \u201cbalanced\u201d teams, and so each board would be a matchup of roughly equally-rated players. As you can tell from the players listed above, most of the other teams had chosen \u201cstacked\u201d lineups with really strong players on the first one or two boards and a weak player on board four (to bring the average rating under 2500). I always love playing on a balanced team against a stacked team because you can pull off upsets \u2013 BUT it is hard to win by a large margin. You generally have mismatches on all four boards, and you just hope to pull out a draw in one of the games you are supposed to lose and thereby win the match, 2\u00bd-1\u00bd. By contrast (and irony), when you play a team that is rated close to you on all four boards, you expect a very hard-fought match but you also have at least a chance of getting lucky in all four of them and winning by a large margin, 3\u00bd-\u00bd or even 4-0.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      That\u2019s what happened for us against Australia, as\neverything broke in our favor. On board three, Steven Zierk won fairly quickly,\nputting pressure on their other boards. On board four, Andrew Hong\u2019s opponent\nsacrificed a piece but Andrew was able to keep his wits and pull out a draw. On\nboard two, Vinay Bhat sacrificed a rook, most likely unsoundly, but his\nopponent had only seconds left and was not<\/em>\nable to keep his wits. He blundered back the rook and then Vinay had an easily\nwon endgame, for his only win of the night. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      And finally, on board one, Danya had this epic battle\nthat went down to a queen-versus pawn endgame.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \"\"
      Position after 1. Qxa7. Black to move.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

      FEN: 3r2k1\/Q1p2pp1\/2p2nq1\/5bPp\/2B1pP2\/2N4P\/PPP3K1\/4R3 b – – 0 1<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Anton Smirnov, who had sacrificed a pawn in the opening, has just won it back by playing 1. Qxa7, but this move temporarily leaves the kingside unguarded. Danya took advantage by playing the bold piece sacrifice, 1. \u2026 Bxh3+!<\/strong> What impressed me about this move is that it had to be played partially on intuition. The computer (Rybka) says that it is only good enough to equalize, but Danya correctly realizes that it will be White who has to come up with all the difficult moves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      For a while, Smirnov defended accurately. The game\nwent 2. Kh2!<\/strong> (cleverly declining the\nsac but leaving both Black minors en\nprise<\/em>) 2. \u2026 Qf5!<\/strong> (in for a\npenny, in for a pound) 3. gf Qxf4+ 4.\nKxh3 Qg4+ 5. Kh2 Qh4+ 6. Kg2 Qxe1 7. Bxf7+!<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      I have a hunch that Danya might have missed this move,\nbecause you can only analyze so far ahead in a speed game, and there were lots\nof other variations to look at. But Danya kept his wits about him and declined\nthe sham sacrifice with 7. \u2026 Kh7 8. Bxh5\ne3!<\/strong> This move cuts Smirnov\u2019s queen off from the defense, so Smirnov played 9. Qxc7<\/strong>, both defending and threatening\nmate on g2!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      This kind of forced Danya to exchange into the queen\nendgame with 9. \u2026 Rd2+ 10. Be2 Rxe2+ 11.\nNxe2 Qxe2+ 12. Kg3 Qf2+ 13. Kg4 Qg2+ 14. Qg3 Qe4+<\/strong> (diagram)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \"\"
      Position after 14. .. Qe4+. White to move.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

      FEN: 8\/6pk\/2p2P2\/8\/4q1K1\/4p1Q1\/PPP5\/8 w – – 0 14<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      So far Smirnov has defended very well, but in this super-difficult position he missed the only equalizing move (according to Rybka), which is 15. Kg5!! Seriously, how many of us would find such a computer move, with only seconds left on our clock? It looks as if White is marching forward to his doom, but this move strikes a perfect, magical balance between attack and defense. If Black plays aggressively, with (say) 15. \u2026 e2, then White can get a perpetual check with 16. Qh2+. If Black plays for exchanges with 15. \u2026 Qg6+, then White\u2019s king gets back in time to defend the passed pawn with 16. Kf4.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Instead, Smirnov played\nthe reasonable-looking 15. Kh3?<\/strong>, but\nthe trouble is that Danya can simply play 15.\n\u2026 gf<\/strong>, winning back his pawn. The simplest move on the board is also the\nstrongest. The position has clarified, and Danya clearly has great winning\nchances because of his advanced passed pawn. It turns out that the pawn on f6\nalso has an important role to play, as we\u2019ll see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Let\u2019s fast-forward\nseveral moves and see how the game ended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \"\"
      Position after 0. \u2026 Ke4. White to move.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

      FEN: 8\/8\/2p5\/5p2\/4k1q1\/8\/PPP1pQ1K\/8 w – – 0 1<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Here Danya has achieved\nthe holy grail in a Q+P endgame: a position where he cannot be checked. Smirnov\nplayed 1. a4 Qf3 2. Qe1<\/strong> and now\nsomething interesting happened. Danya played 2. \u2026 Qf1? 3. Qb4+ Ke5 4. Qe7+ Kf4<\/strong>, after which the computer says\nthat White can achieve a perpetual check with 5. Qb4+!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      I won\u2019t attempt to go through the reams of analysis that would be necessary to confirm this, but no lengthy analysis is needed to understand why 2. \u2026 Qf1 was premature and an unnecessary risk. Black has two moves that win, both of them humble pawn moves. For people with a Nimzovichian, prophylactic approach to chess, 2. \u2026 c5! is a really nice move, taking away White\u2019s main threat and thereby preparing 3. \u2026 Qf1. And for people who like to attack, 2. \u2026 f4! is also winning, because it threatens 3. \u2026 Qg3+. On 2. Qb4+ Black will play 2. \u2026 Ke3 and his king has two possible routes to find shelter, depending on White\u2019s next move: he will either run his king to d2 (as in the game) or to f2. The lesson here is \u201can ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.\u201d Both 2. \u2026 c5 and 2. \u2026 f4 assist in defending the king from checks, and this assistance is critical so that Black\u2019s queen can go to f1, a great attacking square but not such a good defensive square. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Another lesson here is to\ntake your time! However, we can forgive Danya because \u201ctake your time\u201d is the\nlast thing you think of when you are down to less than 10 seconds on his clock.\nBoth he and Smirnov were blitzing out moves at less than a second a move, and\nunder such circumstances such finesses as 2. \u2026 c5 and 2. \u2026 f4 are the first\nthings to be overlooked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      A final lesson is: All\u2019s\nwell that ends well! Because Smirnov erred with 5. Qh4+?<\/strong>, and this allows Black\u2019s king to make a break for d2 and\neventually c1, where White cannot check him. The game finished 5. \u2026 Ke3 6. Qg5+ f4<\/strong> (yes, 6. \u2026 Qf4+ is\neasier) 7. Qe5+ Kd2 8. Qc3+ Kc1 9. b4\ne1Q 10. Qa1+ Kxc2 11. Qa2+ Kd3 12. Qb3+ Qc3<\/strong> and White resigned<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      The most amazing thing about Danya\u2019s night was that all<\/em> of his wins were like this \u2013 epic, heart-pounding battles. It was truly an MVP performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Our 3\u00bd-\u00bd victory in the\nmatch enabled the Mechanics to leap all the way into a tie for second place. In\nthe other matches, Chengdu beat St. Louis 2\u00bd – 1\u00bd, and Seattle beat Delhi 2\u00bd-1\u00bd,\nand last-place Mumbai salvaged their night by blowing out Webster, 4-0! These\nwere the final standings:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      1. St. Louis \u2013 16.5<\/li>
      2. San Francisco \u2013 15.5<\/li>
      3. Chengdu \u2013 15.5<\/li>
      4. Seattle \u2013 15<\/li>
      5. Delhi \u2013 14<\/li>
      6. Webster \u2013 12.5<\/li>
      7. Australia \u2013 12<\/li>
      8. Mumbai \u2013 11<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

        It was by far the closest and hardest-fought of all the six Battle Royales so far, and St. Louis\u2019s winning score of 16.5 was the lowest winning score yet. For us, aside from the overall good performance, a key point was that we gained ground on Seattle \u2013 not just half a point, but six and a half points, because we get an 18-point bonus (tying for second) while they get only a 12-point bonus for finishing fourth. We did not gain ground on Chengdu, the leader of our division, but that\u2019s not as important because they are too far ahead of us in the standings for us to catch up. The ultimate goal for us is just to make it into fourth place and secure a spot in the playoffs. Also, it doesn\u2019t matter that we finished behind St. Louis, because they are in a different division entirely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Our exact new position in the standings is still uncertain, because there are two more Battle Royales yet to come on Thursday, in which some of our other divisional competitors, notably the Hackers, are playing. But no matter what happens on Thursday, we made very significant progress to our goals of avoiding relegation (i.e., finishing sixth or better in our division) and making the playoffs (i.e., finishing fourth or better in our division). \u0001<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        There are only three words to describe the San Francisco Mechanics\u2019 performance in the PRO Chess League last night: Danya! Danya! Danya! But if I were allowed three more words, they would be: Epic. Unbelievable. Comeback. Either description is perfect. But first, let me back up and set some context. Going into week 7 (out […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":80,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[37,1363,10,11,25,3669],"tags":[4251,4280,4262,4281,749,3405,755,4283,4282,984,1104,1151,1140,1165,4279,237,605],"class_list":["post-5718","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chess-clubs","category-current-news","category-endings","category-games","category-people","category-pro-chess-league","tag-andrew-hong","tag-anton-smirnov","tag-battle-royale","tag-bishop-sacrifce","tag-comeback","tag-computer-move","tag-daniel-naroditsky","tag-mvp","tag-ounce-of-prevention","tag-prophylaxis","tag-queen-and-pawn-endgame","tag-rybka","tag-san-francisco-mechanics","tag-steven-zierk","tag-take-you-time","tag-time-pressure","tag-vinay-bhat"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/danamackenzie.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5718","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/danamackenzie.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/danamackenzie.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/danamackenzie.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/80"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/danamackenzie.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5718"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/danamackenzie.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5718\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5722,"href":"https:\/\/danamackenzie.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5718\/revisions\/5722"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/danamackenzie.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5718"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/danamackenzie.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5718"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/danamackenzie.com\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5718"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}