White to play and win after 29...Qa7On Thursday night, the Kenilworth Chess Club played host to the West Orange Chess Club in a team match on ten boards. The most exciting game of the night must have been that between long rivals Mark Kernighan and Peter Radomskyj, two life masters who have met often in local tournaments. As Mark said, the game was a perfect illustration of their contrasting styles: Peter playing quickly for the attack and searching for the breakthrough while Mark playing more slowly and defensively, waiting for his opponent to over-extend so that he could counter-attack. After Radomskyj missed his best attacking chance (see diagram above), Mark took command. And when Radomskyj blundered later on, Kernighan won the Exchange and, despite having very little time on his clock (only a minute by my estimate for his last 20 moves!) played with flawless technique to bring home the victory. The last five minutes or so of the game attacted a crowd of about 20 observers who gathered around the pit to see the final act of the match (see photos here, here, and here).
Kernighan and Radomskyj in "The Pit"You can view the game online as a java applet or get the PGN below with my notes (based on comments by Stoyko and Kernighan after the game, with some help from Fritz).
[Event "West Orange CC at Kenilworth CC"]
[Site "Kenilworth, NJ USA"]
[Date "2005.09.22"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Radomskyj, Peter"]
[Black "Kernighan, Mark"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D52"]
[Annotator "Goeller,Michael"]
[PlyCount "136"]
[TimeControl "G90"]
1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 c6 5. Bg5 Nbd7 6. e3 Qa5 7. Nd2 dxc4 (7... Bb4 8. Qc2 $14) 8. Bxf6 Nxf6 9. Nxc4 Qc7 10. a3 $6 ({Stoyko says the best plan is} 10. g3 $5 Be7 11. Bg2 O-O 12. O-O $14 ) 10... Be7 11. Be2 O-O 12. Rc1 Rd8 13. b4 Bd7 ({ Black should break out of the bind immediately with} 13... a5 $1 14. Nxa5 e5 $1 $132) 14. O-O Rac8 15. Qb3 (15. Bd3 $5) 15... Be8 16. Rfd1 Nd5 17. g3 (17. e4 Nf4 $11) 17... Nb6 $6 (17... f6 $5 18. Bf3 Bf7 $11) 18. Ne5 Qb8 19. e4 $6 { "Moves like this look good but are not good" remarked Stoyko after the game.} Nd7 $1 20. Nxd7 (20. Nd3 e5 $15) 20... Rxd7 21. Bg4 Rdc7 $5 {The Rook seems misplaced here, but Kernighan felt he needed to oppose on the c-file in case it ever were opened.} 22. e5 Bg5 $5 { Egging White on in typical rope-a-dope fashion.} 23. f4 Be7 {Black's idea was to lure White's pawns forward and thus weaken White's Kingside. Notice that there are now lots of open lines leading to White's King, and this with all of Black's long-range pieces still on the board. However, it is difficult not to favor White's initiative.} 24. Ne4 (24. f5 $5) 24... a5 $6 { An interesting idea, but likely premature. Maybe instead} (24... Rd8) ({or} 24... Kh8) 25. f5 exf5 26. Bxf5 Rd8 27. bxa5 Bd7 28. Bxd7 $6 { This only helps Black.} ({Better} 28. Rf1 $1 Bxf5 (28... Qa7 29. Qb6 $16) 29. Rxf5 Rxd4 (29... Rf8 $5 30. Rcf1 Qa7 31. Qc4 Qxa5 32. Rxf7 Qd5 33. Rxf8+ Bxf8 34. Qxd5+ cxd5 35. Nd6 Bxd6 36. exd6 Rd7 37. Rb1 Kf7 38. Rb6 $16) 30. Rxf7 (30. Rxc6 $5 Bf8 (30... Rxc6 $2 31. Qxf7+ Kh8 32. Qxe7 Rc8 33. Nd6 $18) 31. Ng5 $5 $40) 30... Rd5 31. Rxc6 $3 Qa7+ 32. Rb6 Qxa5 33. Rf1 $16) 28... Rcxd7 29. Rf1 ( 29. a6 $5) 29... Qa7 (29... Rf8 30. e6 Rxd4 31. exf7+ Kh8 $14) 30. Nc5 $2 { Watching the game from the wings I did not understand how White could pass up the opportunity to grab the f-pawn, and analysis reveals that taking with either the Rook or the Queen likely wins.} ({The silicon monster discovers a fascinating win for White that relies upon a skewer, a pin, and an amazing zugzwang:} 30. Rxf7 $3 Qxd4+ (30... Rd5 31. Rxe7 Qxd4+ 32. Nf2) 31. Nf2 $1 Qd5 (31... Kh8 $2 32. Rxe7 $1 (32. e6 $18) 32... Rxe7 33. Rd1 $18) 32. Qxd5 cxd5 33. e6 {and though Black can still create some complications there is no way for him to get out of the awful pin on the Bishop without losing material, yet he must break the pin eventually because otherwise White will be able to bring in his Knight either to pile up on the Bishop or overprotect the Rook at f7. It appears that White gains at least doubled Rooks on the 7th with a killer passed pawn at e6:} d4 34. Nd3 h6 (34... Ra8 $5 35. a6 $1 bxa6 36. exd7 $1 Kxf7 37. Rc8 $18) 35. Ne5 (35. Nf4 $5 d3 36. Nxd3 $1 Rxd3 37. Rxe7 $18) 35... Rd5 36. Rxe7 Rxe5 37. Rcc7 $18) ({Also strong is} 30. Qxf7+ Kh8 31. e6 $16) 30... Rd5 $1 31. Qf3 Rf8 32. Qf2 Qxa5 33. Nxb7 Qa7 $1 34. Nc5 Qxa3 $11 { Now the material balance has been restored and Black has the initiative.} 35. Ne4 Qd3 36. Nd2 $4 {This blunder loses at least the exchange. Kernighan had about three minutes on his clock at this point while Radomskyj had about 30 minutes or so. Kernighan wryly observed afterward that his opponents often get a tremendous time advantage but don't make good use of their time when it counts. Necessary was} (36. Nc3 $1 Ra5 (36... Rdd8 37. Ne2) (36... Rxd4 37. Rfd1) 37. Rfd1 $11 { though White has clearly gone from being the attacker to the defender.}) 36... Bg5 $1 37. Nc4 Bxc1 38. Rxc1 Qxd4 39. Qxd4 Rxd4 40. Na5 Rd5 (40... Ra8 $5 41. Nxc6 Rd2 $19) 41. Nxc6 Kh8 {avoiding fork tricks} 42. Kf2 Rd2+ 43. Ke3 Rxh2 44. Rf1 Rh6 45. Nd4 Re8 46. Rxf7 Rxe5+ 47. Kd3 Rf6 48. Ra7 h5 49. Ra1 Rd6 $1 $19 50. Kc4 Re4 51. Rd1 Kh7 $1 52. Kc5 Rexd4 $1 {An excellent decision, especially considering that Black has less than a minute left on his clock.} 53. Rxd4 Rxd4 54. Kxd4 Kg6 55. Ke4 Kg5 56. Kf3 Kf5 57. Ke3 Kg4 58. Kf2 Kh3 $1 59. Kf3 g5 60. Kf2 g4 61. Kg1 Kxg3 62. Kh1 Kf2 63. Kh2 g3+ 64. Kh3 g2 65. Kh4 g1=Q 66. Kxh5 Qg7 $1 67. Kh4 Qg6 68. Kh3 Qg3# {You must admire Kernighan's cold-blooded technique, especially considering that the last 20 moves of the game, all flawless on Black's part, were made in about a minute in sudden death!} 0-1
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