Steve Stoyko at the Judah Ash Memorial

At the Kenilworth Chess Club this evening, Steve Stoyko showed us some of his games from the recent Judah Ash Memorial down in Lawrenceville, where he finished tied for second. It was a very strong Grand Prix event. Steve thought the venue was excellent and that the tournament itself was run wonderfully, which sounds like a good recommendation for playing next year. You can find details of the event online at the USCF site:
http://www.uschess.org/msa/XtblMain.php?200507173161

Here are three of the games, with notes based on comments Steve made while showing them:

[Event "6th Judah Ash Memorial"]
[Site "Lawrenceville, NJ USA"]
[Date "2005.07.16"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Williams, Christopher M."]
[Black "Stoyko, Stephen"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B25"]
[WhiteElo "2057"]
[BlackElo "2300"]
[Annotator "Stoyko"]
[PlyCount "56"]
[TimeControl "50/2'"]

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 c5 4. d3 Nc6 5. O-O Bg7 6. e4 d6 7. Nc3 $6 {This is practically a blunder.} O-O 8. h3 Rb8 9. Be3 e5 10. Qd2 Nd4 $1 11. Ne1 b5 12. f4 $6 b4 13. Nd1 {It's amazing how quickly Black gets a strong initiative. The only problem is how to break through.} exf4 14. gxf4 Nh5 15. c3 bxc3 16. bxc3 Nb5 17. a4 {Trappy} (17. Rb1 $5) 17... Nc7 (17... Qa5 $2 18. Rb1 $1) 18. Nf3 Kh8 $1 {"I am very proud of this move--I think it is extremely strong, because White now is kind of stuck. He has no pawn moves and there are no cross-checks on a2. The move says to White, 'Show me what you can do because I'm going to play f5 and kill you if you do nothing.'"} (18... f5 $5) 19. Nf2 f5 20. Rad1 $6 (20. e5 Nd5 $15) 20... Ne6 $1 21. exf5 Rxf5 22. d4 $2 Nexf4 23. dxc5 Nxg2 24. Kxg2 Bb7 (24... Rxf3 { Fritz}) 25. Ng4 Qh4 26. Qxd6 Rbf8 27. Ngh2 $6 (27. c6 Bxc6 $1) 27... Be5 $1 28. c6 Qg3+ 0-1

[Event "6th Judah Ash Memorial"]
[Site "Lawrenceville, NJ USA"]
[Date "2005.07.17"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Stoyko, Stephen"]
[Black "Ftacnik, Lubomir"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B08"]
[WhiteElo "2600"]
[BlackElo "2300"]
[Annotator "Stoyko"]
[PlyCount "109"]
[TimeControl "50/2'"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. Nc3 { "This takes him out of his Gruenfeld."} Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Be2 O-O 6. O-O c6 { "Karpov (and I) think this sucks." It puts no pressure on the center. The ideal set-up for White is Bd3, Qd2, Rad1, h3, Re1, Bf1, g3, Bg2 and White gets a squeeze since Black has no good ideas.} 7. a4 $1 {Stops all black expansions. } a5 8. h3 Na6 9. Be3 Nb4 {The Knight on this square has no real prospects, but White's problem is that he cannot drive it back comfortably. It's not a good move, but tactically it's playable.} 10. Qd2 (10. Nd2 e5) (10. Qc1 { with the idea of Nd2, Nc4, maybe f4, with lots of possibilities} d5 $5) 10... d5 11. e5 Ne8 12. Na2 $5 {"I knew this was a mediocre move." He played it to "stick it" to the GM, forcing him to think and play something bad. It puts the onus on the higher rated player to find something in a position where he is weaker.} (12. Ne1 $1 f6 13. f4 $14 {but this puts the onus on White to prove that he can attack successfully on the kingside.}) 12... Nxa2 13. Rxa2 { This must favor White since the Black Knight moved three times to be exchanged. White has the better pieces. His Rook and Queen are constrained by the need to protect the a-pawn. The Knight at e8 is his best piece, but it has no good future. The White pieces meanwhile are optimal, but for the Rooks and the Knight at f3, which can easily re-deploy.} f6 14. Bh6 Nc7 15. exf6 (15. Ra3 Ne6 16. Bxg7 Kxg7 17. Re3 c5) 15... exf6 16. Re1 Re8 17. Bxg7 Kxg7 18. Bd3 { This stops Black's Bishop from developing comfortably and again puts the onus on Black.} (18. Ra3 Bf5) 18... Rxe1+ 19. Qxe1 Qd6 $1 20. Ra1 Bd7 21. Qd2 Ne6 22. g3 {Stopping Nf4} (22. Re1) 22... b6 23. c3 c5 { Now White's a-pawn becomes a target--tables turned.} 24. Bf1 Re8 25. Bg2 c4 26. h4 (26. b3 $5) 26... Nc7 27. Nh2 Bf5 28. Nf1 Be4 29. Ne3 {If Black exchanges Bishops then he has the target on d5 and no chances to attack a4.} f5 30. Bxe4 Rxe4 (30... fxe4 31. b3 $5 (31. Ng4 $5) 31... cxb3 32. Qb2 Rf8 33. Qxb3 Rf3) 31. Ng2 Qd7 32. f3 Re8 33. Kf2 Ne6 34. Nf4 Nxf4 35. Qxf4 Qe7 36. Qd2 f4 $1 37. Rf1 $1 {The idea to be able to play Qxf4 or Qf4 and allow the King to drop back to g1-- and if he takes things on the Queenside the Queen on f4 gives counterplay.} fxg3+ 38. Kxg3 {The idea is that if ...Qe2 then Rf2 is an easy draw, because even if he goes after the a-pawn then b3 is White's saving idea.} Qd7 39. Qf4 Qe6 (39... Qxa4 40. Qc7+ $11) 40. Rf2 Re7 41. Kg2 (41. h5 $5 gxh5 42. Rh2 Qe1+ 43. Kh3) 41... Qf6 42. Qxf6+ Kxf6 43. b3 $1 Re3 (43... cxb3 44. Rb2 b5 45. Rxb3 bxa4 46. Ra3 Re3 47. Kf2 Rd3 $4 48. Ke2 $18) 44. bxc4 dxc4 45. Rb2 Rxc3 46. Rxb6+ Kf5 47. Kg3 $1 Rb3 48. Rc6 $11 (48. Ra6 $1) 48... c3 49. Rc5+ Ke6 50. Rxa5 Rb4 51. Rc5 Rxa4 52. Rxc3 Rxd4 53. Rc6+ Kd7 54. Rc3 Rd5 55. Re3 1/2-1/2

[Event "6th Judah Ash Memorial"]
[Site "Lawrenceville, NJ USA"]
[Date "2005.07.17"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Bartell, Thomas"]
[Black "Stoyko, Stephen"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A28"]
[WhiteElo "2360"]
[BlackElo "2300"]
[Annotator "Stoyko"]
[PlyCount "73"]
[TimeControl "50/2'"]

1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. e3 Be7 ( 4... Bb4 5. Qc2 d6) 5. d4 exd4 6. Nxd4 O-O 7. Be2 d5 8. cxd5 Nxd5 9. Nxc6 bxc6 10. Bd2 Bf6 11. O-O Rb8 12. e4 Nxc3 13. Bxc3 Bxc3 14. bxc3 Qxd1 15. Rfxd1 Be6 $132 16. f4 $2 Rb2 17. Kf1 f5 $1 {Gives White a protected passed pawn, but it is well blockaded and meanwhile Black is getting good play.} (17... Rxa2 $2 18. Rxa2 Bxa2 19. Ra1 (19. c4 $5)) (17... Bxa2 18. Rd7) (17... f6 18. f5 Bf7 19. Rd7 $16) (17... Rfb8 $2 18. a4 (18. f5 Bxa2) 18... Rxe2 19. Rab1 (19. Kxe2 Bg4+ 20. Ke3 Bxd1 21. Rxd1 $16 Kf8 22. Rd7 Rc8 23. e5 Ke8 24. e6) 19... Rxb1 20. Rxb1) 18. e5 (18. exf5 Rxf5 $1 19. g3 (19. Rd8+ Kf7 20. Ra8 Rxf4+ 21. Bf3 g5 $1 (21... Bd5 $1 $17) (21... Ra4 $6 22. Bxc6 Raxa2 23. Rxa7 (23. Rxa2 Rxa2 $17) 23... Rxa1+ 24. Rxa1 Ke7 $15) 22. Kg1 (22. h3 Bd5 $17) 22... g4 23. Bxc6 Rc4 24. Be8+ Ke7) 19... g5 (19... Rc5)) 18... Rfb8 19. Ke1 Kf8 (19... Bxa2 20. Rxa2 $1 Rxa2 21. Bc4+) 20. Rd2 Rxd2 21. Kxd2 Rb2+ 22. Ke3 $1 Ke7 (22... Rxa2 $2 23. Rxa2 Bxa2 24. Kd4 a5 25. Kc5 Bd5 26. g3) 23. h3 c5 24. g4 g6 25. a4 { 1/2-1/2 Bartell offered a draw, which Steve accepted due to the complexity of the position and the clock situation. After the game, though, he became convinced that Black was better. Best was:} a5 26. g5 Bd5 $15 27. Kd3 Ke6 (27... Be4+ 28. Ke3 Rc2 29. Ra3) 28. h4 c4+ 29. Ke3 Rc2 30. Ra3 c5 31. h5 Rb2 32. hxg6 hxg6 33. Bd1 $1 Be4 34. Be2 (34. Bf3 $2 Rb3) 34... Kd5 35. Ra1 Bb1 36. Bf3+ Ke6 37. Bc6 $13 1/2-1/2