Therefore, going to the Marshall has once again become my main test for myself after taking a break from the long commute on the Long Island Rail Road to the club in Manhattan.

With this column I am hoping to improve my own game by subjecting the games to critical self review and also to the eyes of those who would like to see 'real chess' as played by myself - a player not too different in strength or outlook than many of you reading this.  So My Dear Readers, I give you my analysis of many of my games played mostly at the Marshall Chess Club for your pleasure and/or your own analytical scrutiny.

Tamarkin,Larry S (2046) - Paraqua,Marc C (2546) [B98]
4 Rated Games  (1), 15.05.2008

After last weeks tourney where I was paired with GM Rohde in round 1 I was hoping that I would get a weaker opponent at the start this week - No such luck - At least I have white at the start.

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6

I have decided to play mostly 1.e4 and too stick to main-lines; unfortunately I haven't yet sufficiently educated myself in these sharp (but good!) openings to discuss them well with grandmasters.

6.Bg5

I like playing against 6.Be3 but perhaps in the future I'll play that more often as white too.

6...e6 7.f4 Be7 8.Qf3 h6!

Now I'm really in trouble!  Although I knew of this move I didn't yet know the plans and typical positions that White should be playing for.

9.Bh4

So far I play the most often played line...

9...Qc7 10.Bf2

After this Black is already at least equal and has the additional bonus of playing an opponent that doesn't know what their doing.

Here 10.0–0–0 Nbd7 11.Bd3 g5 12.fxg5 Ne5 13.Qe2 Nfg4 14.Nf3 hxg5 15.Bg3 Bd7 or, (15...Nxf3 16.gxf3 Ne5 17.Kb1) 16.h3 Nxf3 17.hxg4 Nh4 18.e5 d5 19.Rdf1  ...is the main 'book position' that is evaluated as very slightly better by the chess engine Rybka.

My plan is to test these types of positions against friends on the ICC - or to learn a lot more about the English Attack.

10...Nbd7 11.0–0–0 Rb8

Seldom played - here, 11...b5!? 12.Bd3 Bb7 13.a3 Nc5 14.Kb1 Rc8 15.Rhe1 0–0 16.f5 e5 17.Nb3 is the main line in the tree and is still about equal.

12.g4 g5 13.f5 Ne5 14.Qe2 b5 15.fxe6 fxe6

16.h4?

After 16.a3!? Nfxg4 17.Bg3 0–0 18.Bh3 h5 19.Bxg4 hxg4 20.h3 gxh3 21.Rxh3 continues a sharp battle where White has his chances.  After the move in the game I am worse and go further down quickly partly because I didn't realize I still had a playable position...

16...b4 17.Na4

[17.Nb1 Nfxg4 18.Be1 Qc5 19.hxg5 Bxg5+ 20.Bd2 Rf8 (20...Qxd4? 21.Bxg5!=) 21.Nb3 Qb6 is also seriously bad for White.

17...Nfxg4 18.Be1 gxh4 19.Bxh4 Bxh4 20.Rxh4 h5

21.Nf3?

21.Kb1!? Qa5 22.b3 Bd7 23.Nb2 Qc5 24.Bh3 Ke7 25.Bxg4 Nxg4 26.Nc4!? Is still equal according to Rybka.  Clearly I need a lot of work to understand these Bg5-Najdorf positions better.

21...Qa5 22.Nxe5 Qxe5 23.Kb1 Bd7?!

23...Ke7!?

24.Qxa6!

I sensed I might be back in the game here but I'm already getting into much more serious time-pressure then GM Parqua.

24...Ne3

25.Rc1??

Already the  losing move - If I could just have been more relaxed perhaps I would have played 25.Qa7! Nxd1 26.Qxb8+ Ke7 27.Qa7 Qg3 28.Bb5 Nf2 29.a3 Qxh4 30.Qxd7+ Kf6 31.Qxd6 Qxe4 32.Bc6 Qg4 after which I am also probably still losing but at least putting up a better fight.  In the game it is just immediately over.

25...Nxf1 26.Rxf1 Qb5!

And that does it - Black wins a piece.

27.Qxb5 Bxb5 28.Rd1 Bxa4 29.b3 Bd7 30.Rxd6 e5 31.c4 bxc3 32.Kc2 Ke7 33.Rg6 Bg4 34.Kxc3 Rbc8+ 35.Kb2 Rhd8 36.a4 Rd4 0–1

O.K. - I didn't play so badly considering my opponents huge rating advantage - 3 more rounds to go I'll get easier opponents and will have a chance at something...
 

Kopiecki,Eddie (1937) - Tamarkin,Larry S (2046) [B97]
4 Rated Games  (2), 15.05.2008

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5

Whenever I'm Black against Eddie I can expect to see this line which I myself still play.

6...e6 7.f4 Qb6

And I have decided to always play the poison-pawn when given the opportunity.  I study this variation whenever I can find some extra time and find that other club players are usually less prepared here then I am.

8.Qd2 Qxb2 9.Rb1 Qa3 10.e5 h6

This is a nuance introduced by the super grandmasters (probably Anand.)  The point is that it gives Black some extra options if White doesn't transpose into the position arising after 11...dxe5.

11.Bh4 dxe5 12.fxe5 Nfd7 13.Ne4

[13.Be2 Be7 14.Bg3 Qa5 (14...Bg5 15.Qd3 Nc5 16.Qf3 0–0 Is an interesting alternative.) 15.Ne4 Qxd2+ 16.Kxd2 Nc5 17.Bf3 Nxe4+ 18.Bxe4 Nd7 19.Bxb7 Is in the chess base opening tree and rated about equal.]

13...Qxa2!

I didn't know this move the previous time that I played Eddie and was luky not to lose that game.

14.Rb3

[14.Rd1!? Qd5 15.Qe3 Qxe5 16.Be2 Bc5 17.Bg3 Bxd4 18.Rxd4 Qa5+ 19.Rd2 0–0 20.Bd6 Nc6! Is the very latest theory in this opening; I don't pretend to understand exactly what is going on! - I am ready to get this in a tournament game and risk a loss to learn more about it though.]

14...Qa1+ 15.Kf2 Qa4 16.Bb5

This move seems to lose even though it is in the opening tree as played in  4 other games.

16...axb5 17.Nxb5 Na6!

[17...Bc5+ 18.Nxc5 Qxh4+ 19.g3 Qd8 20.Nd6+ Kf8 Is another line given in the opening tree which is evaluated as winning for black by the Rybka chess engine.]

18.Nbd6+

Black is winning - even so I played the last part of the game somewhat nervously and was also in time pressure throughout.  Fortunately I don't mess it up.  18.Qf4

18...Bxd6 19.Qxd6 g5 20.Re1 Qc6 21.Qa3 Nc7 22.Nd6+ Kf8 23.Qc1 Qc5+ 24.Kf1 Nxe5 25.Bg3 Ng6 26.Rf3 Rh7 27.Nxc8 Rxc8 28.Bxc7 Qxc7 29.Rxe6 Qc4+ 30.Re2 Nf4 31.Qa3+ Kg8 32.Rxf4 gxf4 33.Qe7 Rg7 34.Qd7 Ra8 0–1

Eddie optimistically thought he missed a win somewhere - This I doubt though over the board I can understand how he could think this.
 

Tamarkin,Larry S (2046) - Rabin,Evan (2064) [B13]
4 Rated Games  (3), 15.05.2008

I was lucky to get white this time against Evan as he beat me in our 3 preivious games with the closed Sicilian in a line that his teacher GM Leonid Yudasin showed him.  I'm so fed up by all those losses I will probably start playing the closed Sicilian myself as white till I learn how to deal with it!

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5

Roman Dzindishichashvili on one of his DVD's recommends the exchange line I play here.  Its actually pretty harmless and I knew it, but it is also a safer way to play to avoid losing - Which was my main priority this time against Evan.

3...cxd5 4.Bd3 Nc6 5.c3 Nf6 6.Bf4 Bg4 7.Qb3

7...Qd7

7...Qc8, so as not to be hit by a later Ne5 move, is the more subtle way to play it but Evans 9th move (which is also a safe system) is fine as well as long as Black doesn't over-extend.

8.Nd2 e6 9.Ngf3 Be7 10.0–0 0–0 11.Rfe1 Bh5 12.Ne5 Nxe5 13.Bxe5 Bg6 14.Bxg6 hxg6 15.h3 Qc6 16.a4 b6 17.Qb5 Rfc8 is Opening Tree 2007.  The position is equal.

8.Nd2 e6 9.Ngf3 Bxf3 10.Nxf3 Bd6 11.Bxd6 Qxd6 12.0–0 0–0 13.Rfe1 Rab8 14.Re2

Out of my opening tree's moves. (Though I didn't know it at the time); 14.a4 a6 15.Ne5 Rfc8 16.f4 g6 is the line in it.

14...b5 15.Rae1

The position is equal - as I have said earlier my young opponent had beat me three times before in the closed Sicilian so I guess he was planning to add another win as Black against the 'old man'.  This makes it possible for me to wind up winning this game later.

15...b4 16.Qa4 bxc3 17.bxc3 Qc7 18.h3 Ne7 19.Qa3 Ng6 20.g3 Rfc8 21.Rc2 Ne8 22.c4 dxc4 23.Rxc4 Qe7 24.Ra4 Qxa3 25.Rxa3 Rc7 26.h4 Ne7 27.Kg2 h6 28.Re5 Nd6 29.Rea5 Ndc8 30.Rc5 Rd7 31.Bb5 Rd6 32.Bd3

All these moves are typical for a 30 minute game and I'm sure far from perfect - my advantage was that I was playing hard not to lose, while my opponent was I think a little obsessed with beating me yet again.  This works out to my advantage as he is finally the one to go most wrong here and lose the game.

32...Rbb6 33.Rc7 Rbc6 34.Rb7 Rb6 35.Rc7 Kf8 36.Rac3 Rd8 37.Rc2 Rbd6 38.g4 a5 39.R7c5 a4 40.Ra5 Nd5 41.Kg3 Ncb6 42.Be4 Nb4 43.Rb2 N4d5 44.Bxd5 Rxd5 45.Ra7 R8d6 46.Rc2 Rd7 47.Ra6 R7d6 48.Rc7

48...Nd7 49.Rxa4 Rb6 50.g5 1–0

The last few moves were not recorded because of time pressure - I understandably felt great finally getting a win against this very talented young player after so many previous losses.  (I also consider Evan a friend.)
 

Sarkis,Again (2108) - Tamarkin,Larry S (2046) [A23]
4 Rated Games  (4), 15.05.2008

This was the 2nd time that I played Sarkis in 1 month - I was a little lucky on the black side of an Alapin Sicilian in the previous game and in past games from more then 2 years ago Sarkis beat me most of the time - However he took some time off from playing (probably busy with school) and has been rusty coming back.

1.c4 e5

As a matter of principle I always play 1...e5 against the English if allowed.

2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 c6

And here I like to keep the d5-square under control with this move which leads to a structure from many openings that makes it a little easier to study as a set-up.

4.Nc3 Bb4 5.Qc2 0–0 6.Nf3 Re8 7.0–0 a5

7...d5 8.cxd5 cxd5 9.d3 h6 10.Nd2 Nc6 11.e4 Nd4 12.Qd1 Bg4 13.f3 Be6 is cited in the opening tree with Black already winning according to Fritz engine 11.  Note White's very bad light-square bishop.

8.d3

8.a3 Bc5 (8...Bf8 9.d3 Na6 10.Bd2 h6 is how I was intending to play this position when I felt good about any resulting positions that might occur.) 9.d3 h6 10.Rb1 Na6 11.Na4 Qe7 12.Bd2 b6 13.Bc3 e4 14.Nh4 is given in Opening Tree 2007 with White having some advantage here.

8...h6 9.b3

The beginning of a misguided plan.

9...Na6 10.Bb2 Bf8 11.a3 d5!

Black is now ideally placed for this space-gaining move.

12.cxd5 cxd5 13.e4

Of course I was happy about white playing this move as his light-squared bishop becomes completely blocked in after it.

13...d4 14.Ne2 Bg4 15.Rfc1 Qb6

16.Nxe5!?

White was understandably feeling some desperation about his position and lashes out with this speculative sacrifice - He was probably concerned about a line like the following, which is indeed quite bad for him. [16.h3!? Rac8 17.Qd1 Rxc1! (17...Be6 18.Rxc8 Rxc8 19.Nxe5 Bxb3 20.Qb1 Bc2 21.Qa2! Is exactly what white wants.) 18.Rxc1 Bxf3 19.Bxf3 Nc5 20.b4 axb4 21.axb4 Qxb4 22.Rb1 Qa4 23.Qxa4 Nxa4 24.Bc1 Nc5 and white can pretty much resign.]

16...Rxe5 17.Bxd4 Rc5! 18.Bxc5 Bxc5 19.Nf4

If white had found the line-opening series of moves suggested by Rybka 2.2 then he would have been in excellent shape after, [19.d4! Bxd4 20.Nxd4 Qxd4 21.Qc3 Qb6 22.e5! Nd7 23.b4 axb4 24.axb4 Re8 25.Ra5!= and with many threats and all his pieces activated anything can still happen.]

19...Bd4

Now Black gets complete domination of the position and proceeds to tie White down move by move.

20.Rab1 Bd7 21.Qd2 Bc6 22.Rf1 Rd8 23.b4 axb4 24.axb4 Bb5 25.Rb3 Nc7 26.h3 Be5

27.Rd1?

Up too here Black still had to do considerable work to win the game but after this I win more material and it should be trivial.

27...Ba4! 28.Rdb1 Bxb3 29.Rxb3 Nb5 30.Ne2 Bd4 31.Nxd4 Nxd4 32.Rb2 Qb5 33.Qe3 Qa4 34.Bf1 Qa1 35.Rd2 Qc1 36.Kg2 Nb3 37.Re2 Qxe3

37...Qc6 38.b5 Qd7 39.e5 Nd5 40.Qa7 Nc3 41.Rc2 Nxb5 is fine too of course.

38.Rxe3 Rd4 39.e5 Nd5 40.Re4 Nxb4 41.f4 Kf8 42.Kf2

42...Ke7

I didn't see the straightforward, [42...Nxd3+ 43.Ke3 (43.Bxd3 Rxd3 44.Rb4 Nc5) 43...Rxe4+ 44.Kxe4 Nd2+ 45.Kxd3 Nxf1 46.g4 Ke7 winning easily.]

43.g4 Ke6 44.h4 g5!?

This is ok but still I would have preferred another move if I had seen whites 46th move in advance.

45.fxg5 hxg5 46.h5!

In mutual time-pressure this is an excellent try.

46...Ke7 47.Ke2 Nc6 48.Ke3 Rxe4+ 49.Kxe4 Nbd4 50.Ke3 b5 51.Kd2 b4 52.Kc1 b3 53.Kb2 Nxe5 54.Bh3 Kf8 55.Kc3 Nef3 56.Kc4 b2 0–1

Fortunately I kept my act together and finished up ok, wining a share of 2nd and U-2200 in this week's event.  My opponent is another of New York's young talented players who may easily gain hundreds of rating points in the months ahead because of his youth.

A New York Chess Player

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