Wednesday, May 21, 2014

BCC GAME 80: FEATURED GAME // LUIS BAEZ ROSARIO vs FM CHRIS CHASE // R=3 // MAY 17, 2014 //

BCC GAME 80: FEATURED GAME
Luis Baez-Rozario (2087) vs FM Chris Chase (2390)
THE BATTLE FIELD: BO6 MODERN DEFENSE
Baez-Rosario vs FM Chase
A chess game is an event of significant movement over time and space.
It is a choreography, a grand ballet of measured effort, directed
vectors of force controlling key squares on a grid of 8 x 8 squares.
The "perfect" chess game will always end in a draw. Yet for many
reasons, the player of the White or the Black pieces, upsets the
balance of equality to psychologically test the opponent: how to respond?
Chess is not only the display of accurate movement of pieces but also
an opportunity to "speak" to the opponent words of threat, wit, scorn, daring,
deception. [The great BCC impresario Harry Lyman used to say: Chess is an argument
between two players who each assert their point of view in a prevailing struggle of wit
and whim, debating the value of their chosen moves toward victory or equality.] And on
top of this absolute appraisal of what a particular chess game is, there remains the issue
of time: the duration of the game. In reviewing the featured game, keep in mind that the
time control is G80:  80 minutes for each player (80 + 80 = 160 minutes total) and this
game is played in Round 3, so we have 160 x 2 = 320 minutes possible already expended
 in serious cogitation before the Round 3 game even began.  By this time,
the mind is active, yet fatigued, in a delicate state, where one is prone to rush one's
moves or act impetuously, or shyly, or overlook something otherwise obvious.
(Remember the epic struggle between Akiba Rubinstein vs Alexander Alekhine,
Karlsbad, 1911, Round 23 {D15} which went 76 moves, testing the endurance
of both players. Wow! What a brain scorcher!) As you review the game below,
keep in mind that, objectively, White had maintained equality through move 20!
This is against a player rated over 300 points higher than himself--no small
accomplishment in itself. I offer a rather long continuation to equality on Move 10.
[10. exf6 Bxf6 11.dxc5] only to demonstrate an artful and efficacious movement
of pieces, as afforded by the opening sequence in an effort to maintain the creative
balance in the game. Indeed, the purpose of this exposé on the game is to have it serve as
a learning experience for all chess players as they try to improve their own play on the
road to master chess. As you observe the moves below, think of what you might have
done, move after move, confronted with similar chess opportunities and time constraint.
Of course, the final point that you might be keeping in the back of your
mind is: what if White had found 21.Ba6 etc. through 23. . . . Nf6 = (?)
We still have to ask, as the clock ticked down to "time pressure"
what would have been the outcome of the game? Would White have cracked
under the psychological pressure of fatigue and blundered? Would Black have?
Would there have been a draw proposed and agreed to, before the blunder was made?
Well, at this point, we will never know the answer, regarding this
game.  Let us hope that these two players will meet again to test their
chess prowess in yet another struggle of wit and courage in the Royal Game.

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