Niro III, Frank A (1700) vs Roland, Jeffrey T (1706)
Meridian Invitational | Meridian, ID | 23 Jun 2012 | Round 3
940213
[Event "Meridian Invitational"]
[Site "Meridian, ID"]
[Date "2012.06.23"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Niro III, Frank A"]
[Black "Roland, Jeffrey T"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "1700"]
[BlackElo "1706"]
[ECO "C68"]
[Opening "Spanish: Exchange, 4...dxc6"]
{(Notes by Jeff Roland)} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Bxc6 {(Frank played
the Exchange Variation against me in the WCCC First Saturday Quads played in
West Chester, Pennsylvania on October 1, 2011! In that game, Frank played
beautifully and won a very pretty and artistic game. In the present game, I
knew that Frank was a connoisseur of this variation and that he has played it
frequently for over 40 years. I was not likely going to catch him make any
opening mistakes, not even in Game/30!)} dxc6 5. Nc3 f6 6. d4 exd4 7. Qxd4
Qxd4 8. Nxd4 Bd7 {(This is where the game deviates from our previous
encounter. There I played 8...Bd6.)} 9. Be3 O-O-O 10. f3 Ne7 11. Kf2 {(Frank
jokingly called this the "Niro Variation". He said he's won about 23 out of
the last 25 games with it! So I knew the challenge was on!)} g6 12. Rad1 Bg7
13. f4 {(This is logical. When Black castles Q-side, White can often win an
endgame where the K-side pawn majority takes advantage of the fact that the
Black K is too far away.)} Rhe8 14. Rhe1 Bg4 {(Black is a little bit cramped
and this move is played to give him some breathing space. However, it is only
a temporary situation, and soon the Bishop is chased back to c8).} 15. Rd2 Kb8
{(I felt that this was needed because I did not want to have to move my Bishop
to d7 when all that would have been accomplished is a strengthening of White's
position and no gain for Black after he doubled on the d-file. I needed to be
able to exchange on the d-file, so needed to be able to tuck my Bishop in to
c8.)} 16. h3 Bc8 17. Red1 c5 18. Nde2 Rxd2 19. Rxd2 b6 20. Nd5 Nc6 {(Well, at
this point, I felt pretty good because my position seemed pretty solid and
well defended and my pieces were poised for counter-attack, even though no
solid outpost presented itself to me. But I still felt that White was slightly
better at this point due to his nice development and well placed Knight on d5.
I couldn't help but think that in an ending, White still has a plus on the
K-side. How can Black get into White's position? I could not yet see how!)}
21. Nec3 f5 22. e5 Be6 23. Kf3 g5 {(Finally I saw a way to make some progress!
The central pawns are blockaded and there is a chance to break in on the
K-side.)} 24. g3 g4+ $1 25. hxg4 fxg4+ 26. Kg2 {(If 26.Ke4, I thought 26...Rf8
and lots of threats based on ...Bf5+! Certainly this position is encouraging
for Black who has until now not seen any chances to create any threats. Now my
mood became stimulated and encouraged, and I felt that now I did have some
counter-play! And white's Q-side pawns are becoming potential targets thanks
to my united Bishops. But reality check...Frank is "in his element" in the
Exchange Ruy Lopez, and he does still have the K-side pawn majority, a
strength that is ever present in my mind and almost always a permanent endgame
advantage! The Black pawn at g4 is nice, however, because it does kind of keep
White's K at bay. And it will be hard for White to ever push f5 given how d4
is so solidly held by Black so White will likely never have a Knight there!)}
Kb7 27. Ne4 Rd8 28. Ndf6 {(This is an important move and decision in the game.
The whole character of the game from here on rides on this move. Black has
weaknesses in his K-side pawns and with Black's K way over on b7, White might
very well have a hey-day over there! And White has some weakness in his Q-side
pawns, or at least that's that it "looks" like. There could be some poison in
those pawns, but pawns are pawns too! After the coming exchange of rooks, the
resulting minor piece ending is critical. The "fine point" is that after Black
puts his Knight on d4 (which happens next move), then f3 is a great outpost
for it! And for the first time in the game, Black will have something that is
in White's territory. Plus, if I put my Bishop on d5 instead of taking the a2
pawn, then there are tactical threats involving the pin of the e4 knight.)}
Rxd2+ 29. Bxd2 Nd4 $1 {(For the first time in the game, Black's knight gets to
a good square!)} 30. c3 Nf3 31. Nxh7 $2 {(I thought at the time that 31.Be3
was absolutely required in light of my threat of ...Bd5 followed by ...Nxd2.
But this was Game/30. Frank told me after the game that he was only looking at
what I could do on the Q-side.)} Bd5 $1 {(Black is now simply winning a
piece.) } 32. Nhg5 Nxd2 {#R} 0-1
0-1
http://chessmicrobase.com/microbases/9760/games/940213?token=1z69knlt