2006 Apr. Toledo Swiss- R4

Hyslop,N (1648) - Prong,C (1904)
2006 April Toledo Swiss, 4.8.2006
Spanish Opening: Bogolyubov Variation [C91]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 b5 6.Bb3 Be7 7.Re1 0-0 8.c3 d6 9.d4 Bg4 This is the Spanish Bogolyubov variation
10.d5 Na5 11.Bc2 h6
I was out of book at this point. The book move was c6.
12.b3
The aim of the move is to take away c4 from the a5 knight. At the same time though, this seriously cramps the white light squared bishop, which was already bad due to the d4 pawn.
12...Bh5 13.h3 Qc8 14.Kh2 Nb7 15.b4
While this move does hamper the b7 knight, it also creates a weakness on c3.
15...a5 16.a3 axb4 17.cxb4
Black really had no way to get at the c3 pawn immediately, so instead he turned to opening lines for his rook.
17...c5 18.dxc6 Qxc6
The contrast between white's rooks and queen couldn't be any greater. The black queen is active on both an open file and diagonal. Both of whites rooks are defensively postured, meanwhile the black rooks stand ready to fire down the half open a-file or the open c-file.


19.Bb2 Qb6
I considered Bxf3 because the queen cannot recapture on f3. Therefore, the white king's pawn shield would be shattered.
20.Qe2 Nd8 21.Nbd2 Ne6
The once useless knight on a5 has been redeployed and now stands poised to jump to either d4 or f4.
22.g3 Rfc8 23.Bb3 Ng5
This move forces another pawn move in front of the white king.
24.g4 Nxf3+ 25.Qxf3 Bg6 26.Rac1 Nh7
The knight prepares to move forward to g5.
27.h4?
An oversight on the part of the white player. He missed the bishop perched on e7 controlling the h4 square.
27...Bxh4 28.Qg2?
White could have prevented the immediate loss of the f2 pawn with Rxc8+ or Kg2. 28...Bxf2 29.Rf1 Be3 30.Rcd1 Ng5 31.Bd5 Ra7 32.Nf3?
White gives away another pawn. Nb3 or Nb1 would have been better.
32...Bf4+ White has seen enough carnage and resigns. 0-1

2006 Toledo May Swiss

I took a carload of players down to Toledo for the May Swiss, since I can't afford the $70 entry fee that Ed Mandell charged for his 2 day tournament this weekend. The other players with me either had the same complaint about the cost, or they were unavailable for 2 day of chess. Anyhow, the tournament is rated already.

I scored 2/4 with wins against Michiganians Scott Rogers and Loren Schwiebert, winning with white and then black respectively in the first two rounds. I lost games 3 and 4 to Paul Maginley with white and then John Gattinger with black. Incidentally, I missed tactics in both games that allowed me to get checkmated. I will post those games before too long with annotations.

The other guys with me were: Al Foord 2/4 +0, Loren Schwiebert 2/4 -17, and my brother Paul Prong 2/4 +90. My brother played 4 people rated at least 200 points above him in each game and scored magnificently against tough competition. This brings his rating up to 1324, and more in line with his actual skill level.

Finally, it seems my scoresheet is not accurate enough to reconstruct my April game against Nathaniel Bromberg. This is only the 2nd time in 231 USCF rated games that this has happened to me. If I am able to get a hold of his scoresheet, then I will post the game with annotations at a later date.

2006 Apr. Toledo Swiss- R3

Prong,C (1901) - Carter,A (1836)
2006 April Toledo Swiss, 4.8.2006
Caro-Kann Defense: Advance Variation [B12]

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Nf3 e6 5.Be2 Nd7 6.0-0 Ne7 7.c3 c5 8.Be3
Benjamin played 8. dxc5 against Seirawan in the 1991 US Championships. MCO scores that line +-
8...Nc6 9.a3 c4 10.Nbd2 b5 11.b4 a5 12.Re1 a4
I must admit, I really didn't expect Ashley to close off the queenside. However, her plan is now clear. She intends to castle queenside and shelter her king behind that wall of pawns.
13.Nf1 Be7 14.Ng3 Bg6 15.h3 Qc7 16.Qd2 0-0-0 17.Bf4 h6
I was now seeking a plan. Ashley's king was safely locked away on the queenside. I needed to get my rooks into the game, however there were no open files. Therefore, I decided to temprarily move my king to h2, bring the king back to the queenside by hand, and then march my kingside pawns up the board with the rooks behind them. This is a very slow developing plan, but in a closed position like this there is much more time for positional maneuvering than in open games.
18.Kh2 Rdg8 19.Rh1 Bd8 20.Kg1 Ne7
At this point I realize that I have to consider the possibility that the e7 knight is coming to the f5. At that point, I expected that the knights would be traded off. 21.h4 Nf5 22.Kf1 Nxg3+ 23.Bxg3
With the capture by the bishop on g3 I maintained a solid kinside pawn structure, although if my king was more secure, then I probably would have looked to open the f-file.
23...Bh5 24.Ke1 Be7 25.Ng1 Bxe2 26.Kxe2
With the king perched on e2, I finally have room to bring my a1 rook over to the kingside and join in the impending attack. 26...g6 27.Bf4 h5 28.Nf3 Nf8 29.Bg5 Bxg5 30.Nxg5 Qe7?
This loses a pawn. Nh7 would have held.
31.Qf4 Kd7 32.Nxf7 Rh7 33.Nd6 Kc6 34.Rh3 Nd7 35.Qg5
In retrospect, I don't like this idea. After hxg5 there is no place for the white king to penetrate the black position.

Now the white king has no entry point into the black position.
35...Qxg5 36.hxg5 Rhg7 37.Rah1
I think Rg1 was more accurate as it lends support to the pushing and trading of the doubled g2 pawn.
37...Nb6 38.Rf3 Nc8 39.Nxc8 Rxc8 40.Rf6 Kd7 41.Kf3
The king belonged on e3 if I was going to move it as I needed to push both the f-pawn and g-paw. So on f3 it is in the way.
41...Rh8 42.Rh4 Ke7 43.Kf4 Rhg8 44.g4 hxg4 45.Kxg4 Re8 46.Rh2 Reg8 47.Rf3 Kd7 48.Rh6 Ke7 49.Rfh3 Kf7 50.Kg3 Kf8 51.Kh4 Kf7 52.Kg4 Kf8 53.Rf3+ Ke7 54.Rf4 Kd7 55.Kg3 Ke7 56.f3 Kd7 57.Rfh4 Ke7 58.Rh8 Kf7 59.Rf4+ Ke7 60.Rh6 Kd7
I allowed this draw with about 2 minutes left on my clock. However, with time white may still be able to play for a win. The idea would be to play Rf6 and then move the white king off the g-file. Next, white would play f4 and sacrifice the f-pawn on f5. This would open up play for a rook battery for white along the 6th rank.
½-½

2006 Apr. Toledo Swiss- R1

Prong,C (1903) - Amarasinghe,P (1287)
2006 April Toledo Swiss, 4.8.2006
King's Gambit Accepted: Schallop Defense [C34]

1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e5 Nd5
This move deviates from the book line, which is Nh5 (a position deemed equal).
5.Bc4 Nb6 6.Bb3
From b3 the white bishop temporarily dominates the b6 knight.
6...Be7 7.0-0 0-0 8.d4 d5 9.Qd3
White should probably have played Bxf4.
9...c5 10.c4?
White drops a pawn with this line. After dxc5 white can maintain equality.
10...dxc4 11.Bxc4 Nxc4 12.Qxc4 Be6
An excellent idea. Black develops with tempo, and takes a nice lead in development to accompany his lead in material.
13.d5 Qxd5 14.Qxf4 Nc6
Black spots a weakness and piles on attackers against the e5 pawn.
15.Nc3 Qc4 16.Qg3
Black is only a pawn ahead, and I can probably get the pawn back later. Still the old mantra is to trade pawns when you are behind, and pieces when you are ahead. So i decline the exchange of queens.
16...Qg4 17.Qf2 Nd4
An intriguing idea was f6 threatening to unleash a rook down the f-file against the queen.
18.Nxd4 Qxd4 19.Be3
Black is succeeding in trading off pieces, and now he adds another pawn to his lead as I choose to decline another offer to exchange queens. White could have held onto the pawn with either Bf4 or Qe3.
19...Qxe5 20.Rfe1 Rfd8
Black can igonre the potential discovered attack on his queen for now. 21.Rac1 b6 22.b3 Qf6 23.Qe2
The battery Qe2 sets up a potential discovered battery attack down the e-file 23...Qg6 24.Qf3 Rab8 25.Nb5 Bd5 26.Qh3 a6
Black has left a piece unprotected. That signals an alert to look for combinations. 27.Bf4
Black has to calculate carefully now. He can hold his lead with Bg5 or Be6.


27...axb5
However, he could not afford to take the knight on b5. White will not only equalize now, but take a small lead.
28.Bxb8 Be6 29.Qg3 Qxg3 30.Bxg3
White is now up an exchange for a pawn.
30...Rd2 31.Bc7 Rxa2 32.Bxb6 Rb2 33.Bxc5 Bg5 34.Be3 Bxe3+ 35.Rxe3 g6 36.Rc5 Rxb3 37.Rxb3 Bxb3 38.Rxb5
White has miscalculated. He still holds a slight lead, but black will be able to build a fortress. The key in this position is that the bishop will be able to protect the black pawns because they are all on the light squares. Furthermore, the rook has no entry points into the black position.
38...Be6 39.Kf2 h5 40.Ke3 Kg7 41.Kf4 Kf6 42.h3 Bc4 43.Rb6+ Be6 44.Ra6 Kg7 45.Ke5 Bc4 46.Ra7 Bf1 47.Ra2 Bc4 48.Rf2 Bb3 49.Kd6 Bc4 50.Ke7 Be6 51.Rf4 Bd5 52.g3 Be6 53.g4 hxg4 54.hxg4 Bd5 55.g5 Be6 56.Rd4 Bb3 57.Rd6 Bc4 58.Rf6 Bd5 59.Kd6 Bc4 60.Ke7 Bd5 61.Rd6 Bc4 62.Rc6 Bd5 63.Rd6 Bc4 64.Rb6 Bd5 65.Kd6 Be6 66.Ke5 Bc4 ½-½