I had the honor of playing Tom Keffer three times in
USCF rated play. Our first two encounters have been recently annotated
by me and appear after these comments. Our third rated game took place
at Ramzi's furniture store, and had the distinction of being the last
rated game that Tom ever played. That game appeared in the summer 2004
DK edition, so I have not included it here. I hope you enjoy the
following two games. Both are KID's full of complications.
1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 It is worth noting that this move order avoids the possibility of Black playing the Gruenfeld.
4... d6 5. d4 O-O 6. Be2 e5 7. d5 Although
this move has been employed many times by high-level players, modern
theory dictates that this is not White's best attempt to obtain an
advantage due to the excellent prospects black has after the moves
...a5 and .. .Na6-c5.
7... Nbd7 Nothing wrong with this move; however, Black will have a more difficult time setting up like the previous note.
8. Bg5 Nc5? Inviting White to advance his Q-side pawns. White will do so wilingly.
8... a5 9. a3 a4!? 10. Nxa4 h6 11. Bxf6 (11. Bh4 g5 12. Bg3 Nxe4
)
11... Nxf6 12. Nc3 Nh5 13. O-O Nf4 and it appears that black has some compensation for the a-pawn.
9. b4 Na6 10. a3 c5 The best try to complicate things. Otherwise, Black is playing a normal KID with an out-of-play N and a loss of time.
11. Rb1? 11. dxc6 bxc6 12. Ra2 h6 13. Bh4 Qc7 14. Rd2 Ne8
11... Bd7 12. O-O Rc8 13. b5? If a4-a5-a6, then ...b6 locks up the Q-side for good, and if b6, then ...a6 locks it up.
13... Nb8 14. Qd2 Qe8 15. Ne1 Kh8 16. Nd3 Ng8 17. Rbe1 17. f4 taking advantage of the fact that Black's pieces are very poorly placed at present.
17... f5 18. f3? White
has turned submissive. Although White made the mistake of closing down
the Q-side, he was considerably up in time, which allowed the
non-thematic, but correct f4 thrust. Now it is Black that will take
over the K-side.
18... f4 19. Bh4 Nf6 20. Bf2 g5 21. g4 fxg3 22. hxg3 Bh3? Don't go for the material! Gives up an important piece and a pawn for just a very small material edge.
22... Qg6! Rejecting the material and improving black's position
23. Qxg5 Bxf1 24. Bxf1 Rc7 25. Bh3 Qe7 26. Kg2 Nxd5 27. Qxe7 Nxe7 28. b6! axb6 29. Nb5 Rc6 30. Na7 1n3r1k/Np2n1bp/1prp4/2p1p3/2P1P3/P2N1PPB/5BK1/4R3 b - - 0 30
30... Na6? 30... Rc7 draws and Black should be happy with that.
31. Rb1 Rb8 32. a4 Nc7?? 33. Bd7 d5 34. Nxc6 bxc6 35. cxd5 Rd8 36. dxc6 Nxc6 37. Bxc6 Rxd3 38. Rxb6 Bf8 39. Rb8 Kg7 40. Rb7 Bd6 41. Bxc5 Bxc5 42. Rxc7+ Kh6 43. Bb5 Rd2+ 44. Kh3 Bg1 45. Kg4 Rd6 46. Rc6 Rg6+ 47. Kf5 Bd4 48. f4 Kh5 49. g4+ Kh4 50. Rxg6 hxg6+ 51. Kxg6 exf4 52. Kf5 f3 53. g5 Kh5 54. Be8+ Kh4 55. a5 f2 56. Bb5 Kh5 57. a6 Kh4 58. g6 Kh5 59. a7 Bxa7 60. g7 1-0
[Silas Perry]
Keffer T.
white will defend for a few moves, but black's attack should run out of steam.
)
Game(s) in PGN