Damiano's Defense Declined

Opponents are becoming afraid of my Damiano's Defense. I played it
twice in the Viking 4 County Open in Hackettstown NJ yesterday and
both of my opponents declined to take the pawn. I won the first game
easily. In the second game I played it against a rated master. I
achieved a winning position and I was thinking that I was going to
score my first victory over a master with the Damiano's Defense.
However, he came up with a fantastic queen sacrifice followed by a
bishop sacrifice which worked because my pieces happened to be in
exactly the right spot for a knight fork winning the game.

I cannot take any credit away from my opponent. He came up with
something really good. This should go in one of those White to play
and win problem collections.

After the game, I asked him why he did not take the pawn when I played
Damianos Defense. He said that he has overheard me mention Damianos
Defense in one of my conversations so he knew that I knew what I was
doing. Also, I had won my previous round game with Damianos Defense.
He said that he wanted to win the game, so he decided that he has
better not take that pawn.

He also said that he has see my picture in Chess Life magazine but he
had thought that I was just a chess politico. He had not realized that
I actually play the game too!

Here is the game: The first point of the game is that after 1. e4 e5
2. Nf3 f6 3. Nc3 Bc5 he can no longer take the pawn because when he
checks with the queen I have the f8 square for my king. So, if he
wants to take the pawn he must do it on move three. Otherwise, the
opportunity will be lost forever.

Because of his passive play, I quickly built up an overwhelming
position and won a pawn. I would appreciate it if somebody could run
this game through Fritz because I believe that I had several wins.

I felt that my 35. . . . d4 was a good move because it set up knight
forks. One of the spectators, a master, felt that that was the losing
move however.

For sure, if he had not sacrificed his queen he had a bad position,
possibly losing, because of 38. Kg2 Ne5+ 39. Kh2 Bxb7. Although
material is equal, my threats of knight forks and discovered checks
against his exposed king gives me the advantage.

During the game, I though he could win with a rook sacrifice with 36.
Rxb5. However, after the game he pointed out that he had seen that and
instead I win by responding with a queen sacrifice with 36. Rxb5 Qxb5
!!

Sam Sloan

[Event "Viking 4 County Open"]
[Site "Hackettstown NJ"]
[Date "2005.08.20"]
[Round "04"]
[White "West, James R."]
[Black "Sloan, Sam"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C40"]
[WhiteElo "2206"]
[BlackElo "1941"]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f6 3.Nc3 Bc5 4.Bc4 Ne7 5.d3 c6 6.a4 d5 7.Bb3 Bg4
8.h3 Bh5 9.Qe2 Qd6 10.a5 Nd7 11.Na4 Bb4+ 12.Bd2 b5 13.axb6 axb6
14.g4 Bg6 15.c3 Ba5 16.exd5 cxd5 17.Bc2 b5 18.Nc5 Qxc5 19.b4 Qc7
20.O-O O-O 21.bxa5 Rxa5 22.Rxa5 Qxa5 23.c4 Qc7 24.Bb4 Re8 25.cxb5
Qb6 26.Bxe7 Rxe7 27.Rb1 Nc5 28.Nh4 Be8 29.d4 Ne6 30.Nf5 Rb7
31.dxe5 Bxb5 32.Qd2 Qc5 33.exf6 gxf6 34.Bd3 Ng5 35.Qe3 d4 36.Qg3
Bc6 37.Rxb7 Nf3+ 38.Qxf3 (38. Kg2 Ne5+ 39. Kh2 Bxb7) 38...Bxf3
39.Bc4+ {Black resigns because of Qxc4 40. Rb8+ Kf7 41. Nd6# or 39.
.... Kf8 40. Rb8+ Qc8 41. Qxc8#) 1-0

The Damiano is a forced win for White. 3. Nxe5! wins in every variation. The
fact that neither player took the pawn doesn't mean anything. I'll take it
from you and win 3.5 out of 5 at G/20. Bet you $50.

Who was the other player?

I missed the tournament and thereby lost the title of Sussex County Chess
Champion, which I've held since the last 4 County event 6 years ago. I was
the only Sussex County resident to enter, by the way.



"Sam Sloan" wrote in message
...
Damiano's Defense Declined

Opponents are becoming afraid of my Damiano's Defense. I played it
twice in the Viking 4 County Open in Hackettstown NJ yesterday and
both of my opponents declined to take the pawn. I won the first game
easily. In the second game I played it against a rated master. I
achieved a winning position and I was thinking that I was going to
score my first victory over a master with the Damiano's Defense.
However, he came up with a fantastic queen sacrifice followed by a
bishop sacrifice which worked because my pieces happened to be in
exactly the right spot for a knight fork winning the game.

I cannot take any credit away from my opponent. He came up with
something really good. This should go in one of those White to play
and win problem collections.

After the game, I asked him why he did not take the pawn when I played
Damianos Defense. He said that he has overheard me mention Damianos
Defense in one of my conversations so he knew that I knew what I was
doing. Also, I had won my previous round game with Damianos Defense.
He said that he wanted to win the game, so he decided that he has
better not take that pawn.

He also said that he has see my picture in Chess Life magazine but he
had thought that I was just a chess politico. He had not realized that
I actually play the game too!

Here is the game: The first point of the game is that after 1. e4 e5
2. Nf3 f6 3. Nc3 Bc5 he can no longer take the pawn because when he
checks with the queen I have the f8 square for my king. So, if he
wants to take the pawn he must do it on move three. Otherwise, the
opportunity will be lost forever.

Because of his passive play, I quickly built up an overwhelming
position and won a pawn. I would appreciate it if somebody could run
this game through Fritz because I believe that I had several wins.

I felt that my 35. . . . d4 was a good move because it set up knight
forks. One of the spectators, a master, felt that that was the losing
move however.

For sure, if he had not sacrificed his queen he had a bad position,
possibly losing, because of 38. Kg2 Ne5+ 39. Kh2 Bxb7. Although
material is equal, my threats of knight forks and discovered checks
against his exposed king gives me the advantage.

During the game, I though he could win with a rook sacrifice with 36.
Rxb5. However, after the game he pointed out that he had seen that and
instead I win by responding with a queen sacrifice with 36. Rxb5 Qxb5
!!

Sam Sloan

[Event "Viking 4 County Open"]
[Site "Hackettstown NJ"]
[Date "2005.08.20"]
[Round "04"]
[White "West, James R."]
[Black "Sloan, Sam"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C40"]
[WhiteElo "2206"]
[BlackElo "1941"]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f6 3.Nc3 Bc5 4.Bc4 Ne7 5.d3 c6 6.a4 d5 7.Bb3 Bg4
8.h3 Bh5 9.Qe2 Qd6 10.a5 Nd7 11.Na4 Bb4+ 12.Bd2 b5 13.axb6 axb6
14.g4 Bg6 15.c3 Ba5 16.exd5 cxd5 17.Bc2 b5 18.Nc5 Qxc5 19.b4 Qc7
20.O-O O-O 21.bxa5 Rxa5 22.Rxa5 Qxa5 23.c4 Qc7 24.Bb4 Re8 25.cxb5
Qb6 26.Bxe7 Rxe7 27.Rb1 Nc5 28.Nh4 Be8 29.d4 Ne6 30.Nf5 Rb7
31.dxe5 Bxb5 32.Qd2 Qc5 33.exf6 gxf6 34.Bd3 Ng5 35.Qe3 d4 36.Qg3
Bc6 37.Rxb7 Nf3+ 38.Qxf3 (38. Kg2 Ne5+ 39. Kh2 Bxb7) 38...Bxf3
39.Bc4+ {Black resigns because of Qxc4 40. Rb8+ Kf7 41. Nd6# or 39.
... Kf8 40. Rb8+ Qc8 41. Qxc8#) 1-0

On Mon, 22 Aug 2005 02:20:11 GMT, (Sam Sloan)
wrote:

[Event "Viking 4 County Open"]
[Site "Hackettstown NJ"]
[Date "2005.08.20"]
[Round "04"]
[White "West, James R."]
[Black "Sloan, Sam"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C40"]
[WhiteElo "2206"]
[BlackElo "1941"]

You missed a shot with 37 ... Qc1ch, when the Knight tricks on your
Queen disappear and Fritz gives you a slight edge after 38 Bf1 Nf3ch,
39 Qdxf3 Bxf3.

Earlier 16 ... b5 was better. Fritz gives you a big plus after 17
dxc6 Qdxc6.

But your opponent missed some shots too.

Here's the results of a 50 minute blunder check.

1. e4 e5
2. Nf3 f6 {last book move}
3. Nc3 Bc5
4. Bc4 Ne7
5. d3 c6
6. a4 d5
7. Bb3 Bg4
8. h3 Bh5
9. Qe2 Qd6
10. a5 Nd7
11. Na4 Bb4+
12. Bd2 b5
13. axb6 axb6
14. g4 Bg6
15. c3 Ba5
16. exd5

({-2.31 Fritz 8:} 16. Bc2 b5 17. Nc5 Nxc5 18. b4 Qd8 19. bxc5 Bxc3
{[%eval -112,12]})

16... cxd5

({-0.78 Fritz 8:} 16... b5 17. dxc6 Qxc6 18. O-O Bd8 19. d4 bxa4 20.
Bc4 e4 21. Nh4 Rb8 22. Nxg6 hxg6 {[%eval -231,12]})

17. Bc2 b5
18. Nc5 Qxc5
19. b4 Qc7
20. O-O O-O
21. bxa5 Rxa5
22. Rxa5 Qxa5
23. c4 Qc7
24. Bb4 Re8
25. cxb5 Qb6
26. Bxe7 Rxe7
27. Rb1 Nc5
28. Nh4 Be8
29. d4 Ne6
30. Nf5 Rb7
31. dxe5 Bxb5
32. Qd2 Qc5
33. exf6 gxf6
34. Bd3 Ng5
35. Qe3

({0.69 Fritz 8:} 35. Qa5 Nxh3+ 36. Kh2 Qc7+ 37. Qxc7 Rxc7 38. Rxb5
Nxf2 39. Rxd5 {[%eval 231,11]})

35... d4

({ 2.16 Fritz 8:} 35... Qxe3 36. fxe3 Bc6 37. Rxb7 Bxb7 38. Nd6 Bc6
39. Kh2 Bd7 40. Kg3 h6 41. e4 dxe4 42. Bxe4 Nxe4+ {[%eval 69,14]})

36. Qg3

({0.75 Fritz 8:} 36. Qe2 Bc6 37. Qa2+ Qd5 38. Qa8+ Kf7 39. Rxb7+ Bxb7
40. Qxb7+ Qxb7 41. Nd6+ Ke7 42. Nxb7 Nxh3+ 43. Kf1 Nf4 44. Bxh7
{[%eval 216,12]})

36... Bc6
37. Rxb7 Nf3+

({4.94 Fritz 8:} 37... Qc1+ 38. Bf1 Nf3+ 39. Qxf3 Bxf3 {[%eval
-41,13]})

38. Qxf3 Bxf3
39. Bc4+

The Damiano is a forced win for White. 3. Nxe5! wins in every
variation.

I'd take that bet with the Black pieces. If you made me play 3...fxe5,
it'd be a different story.

Analysis is ChessBase, except for analysis of 9...Qf5 (TN), which is me
noodling around with Fritz. 9...Qe6 has been played more than once,
but IMO it's less logical. Chigorin's 9...Qg6? just loses to 10.Ne5!


[Event "St Petersburg m"]
[Site "St Petersburg"]
[Date "1897.??.??"]
[Round "13"]
[White "Schiffers, Emanuel Stepanovich"]
[Black "Chigorin, Mikhail"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C40"]
[Annotator "ChessBase"]
[PlyCount "68"]
[EventDate "1897.??.??"]
[Source "ChessBase"]
[SourceDate "1998.11.10"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 f6 $2 3. Nxe5 (3. Bc4 $1) 3... Qe7 (3... fxe5 $2 4.
Qh5+ $18)
4. Nf3 d5 5. d3 dxe4 6. dxe4 Qxe4+ 7. Be2 Nc6 8. O-O Bd7 9. Nc3 Qg6 $2
({Brock
} 9... Qf5 $1 10. Bd3 Qh5 $1 (10... Qa5 $6 11. Re1+ Nge7 12. Nd2 $1
O-O-O 13.
Nc4 Qc5 (13... Qb4 14. a3) 14. Be3 $18) 11. Re1+ Nge7 {Brock}) 10. Ne5
Nxe5 11.
Bh5 O-O-O 12. Bxg6 hxg6 13. Qe2 (13. Qe1 {Hierauf geht die 2 verloren,
j})
13... Bd6 14. Ne4 (14. Bf4 $1) 14... Nf3+ 15. gxf3 (15. Qxf3 Bxh2+ 16.
Kh1 Bg3+
17. Kg1 Bh2+ 18. Kh1 Bg3+) 15... Bxh2+ 16. Kg2 Bh3+ 17. Kh1 Be5 18. Kg1
Bh2+
19. Kh1 Be5 20. Qe1 Bg4+ 21. Kg1 Bxf3 22. Ng3 Ne7 23. Qe3 Bc6 24. Qxa7
$2 b6 (
24... Rh1+ $15 25. Nxh1 Bh2+ 26. Kxh2 Rh8+ 27. Kg3 Nf5+ 28. Kf4 Rh4#
$2) 25.
Be3 Nf5 (25... Rh1+ $3 26. Nxh1 Bh2+ 27. Kxh2 Rh8+ 28. Kg3 Nf5+ 29. Kf4
Rh4#)
26. f4 Nxg3 27. fxe5 Rh1+ 28. Kf2 Rh2+ 29. Kxg3 Rdh8 30. Qa6+ Kb8 31.
Bxb6 Rg2+
32. Kf4 Rh4+ 33. Ke3 Rh3+ 34. Kf4 (34. Kd4 Rd2+ (34... Rh4+ 35. Kc3
Rg3+ 36.
Qd3 Rxd3+ 37. Kxd3 cxb6 38. exf6 gxf6 39. Rxf6) 35. Qd3 Rdxd3+ 36. cxd3
cxb6
37. exf6 gxf6 38. Rxf6 {#}) 34... Rh4+ (34... Rh4+ 35. Ke3 Rh3+ 36. Kd4
Rd2+
37. Qd3 fxe5+ 38. Kxe5 Rhxd3 39. cxd3 cxb6) 1/2-1/2

On Mon, 22 Aug 2005 01:53:08 -0400, "Angelo DePalma"
wrote:


The Damiano is a forced win for White. 3. Nxe5! wins in every variation. The
fact that neither player took the pawn doesn't mean anything. I'll take it
from you and win 3.5 out of 5 at G/20. Bet you $50.

OK. I will take that bet. As I understand it, all I have to do is
score 2 out of 5 to win the match. Correct? Let's make it $100.

Where will we play this match? I would prefer game in 30 giving us
time to write down the moves so that we can publish them here.

Who was the other player?


The other player was very weak, the game not worth posting or looking
at. The only thing of note is that after I played 2. .... f6 he
commented, "That is the worst move on the board", but then he did not
take the pawn.

Anyway here is the game, but please do not bother to play it over.

Sam Sloan

[Event "Viking 4 County Open"]
[Site "Hackettstown NJ"]
[Date "2005.08.20"]
[Round "03"]
[White "Mitchell, Calvin"]
[Black "Sloan, Sam"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C40"]


1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f6 3.d3 Nc6 4.Be2 Bc5 5.c3 d5 6.O-O Nge7 7.b4 Bb6
8.a4 a6 9.Na3 Be6 10.Bb2 Qd7 11.exd5 Nxd5 12.b5 axb5 13.axb5 Nce7
14.c4 Nf4 15.Bxe5 fxe5 16.Nxe5 Qd6 17.Nf3 Rxa3 18.Rxa3 Qxa3
19.Qd2 O-O 20.Re1 Ba5 21.Qe3 Bxe1 22.Nxe1 Qa1 23.Kf1 Neg6 24.Bf3
Bf5 25.Bd5+ Nxd5 26.cxd5 Bd7 27.f3 Re8 28.Qd2 Bxb5 29.Kf2 Qd4+
30.Kg3 Qh4# 0-1

Hello again Sam,

I may waste my time because I have experience knowing how you do not
take seriously correct analysis sent for another people to you, but I
will try....

And I can not understand why you do not waste a little amount of time
checking your games and analysis with some engine (there are some for
free who work well) and you waste large amounts of time writing about
your games and analysis with many mistakes of making strange challenges
to some masters like the one you made to Mr Randy Bauer recently.

En/na ha escrit:

Damiano's Defense Declined

Opponents are becoming afraid of my Damiano's Defense. (...)
In the second game I played it against a rated master. I
achieved a winning position and I was thinking that I was going to
score my first victory over a master with the Damiano's Defense.
(...)

After the game, I asked him why he did not take the pawn when I played
Damianos Defense. He said that he has overheard me mention Damianos
Defense in one of my conversations so he knew that I knew what I was
doing. Also, I had won my previous round game with Damianos Defense.
He said that he wanted to win the game, so he decided that he has
better not take that pawn.

He also said that he has see my picture in Chess Life magazine but he
had thought that I was just a chess politico. He had not realized that
I actually play the game too!


I have not see that photo but I have read you "analysis" of Damiano ad
the refutations people has sent to you here and in RGCA. You did not
improve never that refutations sending the same wrong line several
times. Maybe if that master have read all the analysis publised here He
would have win without thinking any move.

In that case I think it's more the question He wanted to play from the
begining and avoid susprises feeling superior that any fear of the
opening. Sure that with another master He would have entered in main
lines without fear.

(...)
Because of his passive play, I quickly built up an overwhelming
position and won a pawn. I would appreciate it if somebody could run
this game through Fritz because I believe that I had several wins.

More than "passive play", He simply made a mistake 11.Na4? and after
some inacuracies from both players in following moves white finally
lost a pawn in move16.
But after many many inacuracies and mistakes Black managed to convert a
won position into a lost one.
- 35.Qa5 is a forced win:
for example: 35.Qa5! Nh3 36.Kh2! Qf2 37.Kh3 Qf3 38.Ng3 Qd3 39.Qa8 and
wins
- 35...d4 is a mistake (it was better to defend an inferior ending with
35...Qxe3)
after 35...d4? white wins with 36.Qe2 main line being:
36.Qe2 Bc6 37.Qa2 d5 38.Qa8 Kf7 39.Rb7 Bb7 40.Qb7 Qb7 41 Nd6 and wins
- Queen sacrifce was not best move neither,
37.Bc4 Qc4 38.Qb8 was an ending with advantage for white
but 37.Rxb7? allowed Qc1! (the move you did not see) 38.Bf1 Nf3 and
black has some advantage.

Conclusion, white treatment of the opening lead to an unclear position
but some mistakes conceded Black a won position in move 17. Later many
mistakes from black leaded to a won position for white.

The last moves annotated could be:35.Qe3?? d4?? 36.Qg3?? Bc6 37.Rxb7?
Nf3+?? 38.Qxf3! Bxf3 39.Bc4+! 1-0

I hope this time you will answer to that analysis or simply you do not
send more messages about Daminao before answering this one.
Antonio Torrecillas
FIDE Master (rated 2396)

I felt that my 35. . . . d4 was a good move because it set up knight
forks. One of the spectators, a master, felt that that was the losing
move however.

For sure, if he had not sacrificed his queen he had a bad position,
possibly losing, because of 38. Kg2 Ne5+ 39. Kh2 Bxb7. Although
material is equal, my threats of knight forks and discovered checks
against his exposed king gives me the advantage.

During the game, I though he could win with a rook sacrifice with 36.
Rxb5. However, after the game he pointed out that he had seen that and
instead I win by responding with a queen sacrifice with 36. Rxb5 Qxb5
!!

Sam Sloan

[Event "Viking 4 County Open"]
[Site "Hackettstown NJ"]
[Date "2005.08.20"]
[Round "04"]
[White "West, James R."]
[Black "Sloan, Sam"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C40"]
[WhiteElo "2206"]
[BlackElo "1941"]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f6 3.Nc3 Bc5 4.Bc4 Ne7 5.d3 c6 6.a4 d5 7.Bb3 Bg4
8.h3 Bh5 9.Qe2 Qd6 10.a5 Nd7 11.Na4 Bb4+ 12.Bd2 b5 13.axb6 axb6
14.g4 Bg6 15.c3 Ba5 16.exd5 cxd5 17.Bc2 b5 18.Nc5 Qxc5 19.b4 Qc7
20.O-O O-O 21.bxa5 Rxa5 22.Rxa5 Qxa5 23.c4 Qc7 24.Bb4 Re8 25.cxb5
Qb6 26.Bxe7 Rxe7 27.Rb1 Nc5 28.Nh4 Be8 29.d4 Ne6 30.Nf5 Rb7
31.dxe5 Bxb5 32.Qd2 Qc5 33.exf6 gxf6 34.Bd3 Ng5 35.Qe3 d4 36.Qg3
Bc6 37.Rxb7 Nf3+ 38.Qxf3 (38. Kg2 Ne5+ 39. Kh2 Bxb7) 38...Bxf3
39.Bc4+ {Black resigns because of Qxc4 40. Rb8+ Kf7 41. Nd6# or 39.
... Kf8 40. Rb8+ Qc8 41. Qxc8#) 1-0

Sam Sloan ha escrito:

On Mon, 22 Aug 2005 01:53:08 -0400, "Angelo DePalma"
wrote:
The Damiano is a forced win for White. 3. Nxe5! wins in every variation. The
fact that neither player took the pawn doesn't mean anything. I'll take it
from you and win 3.5 out of 5 at G/20. Bet you $50.

OK. I will take that bet. As I understand it, all I have to do is
score 2 out of 5 to win the match. Correct? Let's make it $100.

Where will we play this match? I would prefer game in 30 giving us
time to write down the moves so that we can publish them here.

....why noy 200?

please Sam, be serious and do not waste your money in challenges like
this one.

AT

Haha, Calvin Mitchell. No surprise he didn't take the pawn.

I'll gladly make it $100 provided you take on e5 at move 3. In other words,
I want to play from this position: 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f6 3.Nxe5 fe5.

We can play at Ken's if you like. I know it's far for you. I live about 18
miles north of him. If you can suggest somewhere halfway we can do that.

Also, let's make it G/29 or make it unrated.

Deal?

"Sam Sloan" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 22 Aug 2005 01:53:08 -0400, "Angelo DePalma"
wrote:


The Damiano is a forced win for White. 3. Nxe5! wins in every variation.
The
fact that neither player took the pawn doesn't mean anything. I'll take it
from you and win 3.5 out of 5 at G/20. Bet you $50.

OK. I will take that bet. As I understand it, all I have to do is
score 2 out of 5 to win the match. Correct? Let's make it $100.

Where will we play this match? I would prefer game in 30 giving us
time to write down the moves so that we can publish them here.

Who was the other player?


The other player was very weak, the game not worth posting or looking
at. The only thing of note is that after I played 2. .... f6 he
commented, "That is the worst move on the board", but then he did not
take the pawn.

Anyway here is the game, but please do not bother to play it over.

Sam Sloan

[Event "Viking 4 County Open"]
[Site "Hackettstown NJ"]
[Date "2005.08.20"]
[Round "03"]
[White "Mitchell, Calvin"]
[Black "Sloan, Sam"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C40"]


1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f6 3.d3 Nc6 4.Be2 Bc5 5.c3 d5 6.O-O Nge7 7.b4 Bb6
8.a4 a6 9.Na3 Be6 10.Bb2 Qd7 11.exd5 Nxd5 12.b5 axb5 13.axb5 Nce7
14.c4 Nf4 15.Bxe5 fxe5 16.Nxe5 Qd6 17.Nf3 Rxa3 18.Rxa3 Qxa3
19.Qd2 O-O 20.Re1 Ba5 21.Qe3 Bxe1 22.Nxe1 Qa1 23.Kf1 Neg6 24.Bf3
Bf5 25.Bd5+ Nxd5 26.cxd5 Bd7 27.f3 Re8 28.Qd2 Bxb5 29.Kf2 Qd4+
30.Kg3 Qh4# 0-1

Por favor, Tony, no reality check until I have Sam's $100 in my pocket.

Angelo

wrote in message
oups.com...
Hello again Sam,

I may waste my time because I have experience knowing how you do not
take seriously correct analysis sent for another people to you, but I
will try....

And I can not understand why you do not waste a little amount of time
checking your games and analysis with some engine (there are some for
free who work well) and you waste large amounts of time writing about
your games and analysis with many mistakes of making strange challenges
to some masters like the one you made to Mr Randy Bauer recently.

En/na ha escrit:

Damiano's Defense Declined

Opponents are becoming afraid of my Damiano's Defense. (...)
In the second game I played it against a rated master. I
achieved a winning position and I was thinking that I was going to
score my first victory over a master with the Damiano's Defense.
(...)

After the game, I asked him why he did not take the pawn when I played
Damianos Defense. He said that he has overheard me mention Damianos
Defense in one of my conversations so he knew that I knew what I was
doing. Also, I had won my previous round game with Damianos Defense.
He said that he wanted to win the game, so he decided that he has
better not take that pawn.

He also said that he has see my picture in Chess Life magazine but he
had thought that I was just a chess politico. He had not realized that
I actually play the game too!


I have not see that photo but I have read you "analysis" of Damiano ad
the refutations people has sent to you here and in RGCA. You did not
improve never that refutations sending the same wrong line several
times. Maybe if that master have read all the analysis publised here He
would have win without thinking any move.

In that case I think it's more the question He wanted to play from the
begining and avoid susprises feeling superior that any fear of the
opening. Sure that with another master He would have entered in main
lines without fear.

(...)
Because of his passive play, I quickly built up an overwhelming
position and won a pawn. I would appreciate it if somebody could run
this game through Fritz because I believe that I had several wins.

More than "passive play", He simply made a mistake 11.Na4? and after
some inacuracies from both players in following moves white finally
lost a pawn in move16.
But after many many inacuracies and mistakes Black managed to convert a
won position into a lost one.
- 35.Qa5 is a forced win:
for example: 35.Qa5! Nh3 36.Kh2! Qf2 37.Kh3 Qf3 38.Ng3 Qd3 39.Qa8 and
wins
- 35...d4 is a mistake (it was better to defend an inferior ending with
35...Qxe3)
after 35...d4? white wins with 36.Qe2 main line being:
36.Qe2 Bc6 37.Qa2 d5 38.Qa8 Kf7 39.Rb7 Bb7 40.Qb7 Qb7 41 Nd6 and wins
- Queen sacrifce was not best move neither,
37.Bc4 Qc4 38.Qb8 was an ending with advantage for white
but 37.Rxb7? allowed Qc1! (the move you did not see) 38.Bf1 Nf3 and
black has some advantage.

Conclusion, white treatment of the opening lead to an unclear position
but some mistakes conceded Black a won position in move 17. Later many
mistakes from black leaded to a won position for white.

The last moves annotated could be:35.Qe3?? d4?? 36.Qg3?? Bc6 37.Rxb7?
Nf3+?? 38.Qxf3! Bxf3 39.Bc4+! 1-0

I hope this time you will answer to that analysis or simply you do not
send more messages about Daminao before answering this one.
Antonio Torrecillas
FIDE Master (rated 2396)

I felt that my 35. . . . d4 was a good move because it set up knight
forks. One of the spectators, a master, felt that that was the losing
move however.

For sure, if he had not sacrificed his queen he had a bad position,
possibly losing, because of 38. Kg2 Ne5+ 39. Kh2 Bxb7. Although
material is equal, my threats of knight forks and discovered checks
against his exposed king gives me the advantage.

During the game, I though he could win with a rook sacrifice with 36.
Rxb5. However, after the game he pointed out that he had seen that and
instead I win by responding with a queen sacrifice with 36. Rxb5 Qxb5
!!

Sam Sloan

[Event "Viking 4 County Open"]
[Site "Hackettstown NJ"]
[Date "2005.08.20"]
[Round "04"]
[White "West, James R."]
[Black "Sloan, Sam"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C40"]
[WhiteElo "2206"]
[BlackElo "1941"]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f6 3.Nc3 Bc5 4.Bc4 Ne7 5.d3 c6 6.a4 d5 7.Bb3 Bg4
8.h3 Bh5 9.Qe2 Qd6 10.a5 Nd7 11.Na4 Bb4+ 12.Bd2 b5 13.axb6 axb6
14.g4 Bg6 15.c3 Ba5 16.exd5 cxd5 17.Bc2 b5 18.Nc5 Qxc5 19.b4 Qc7
20.O-O O-O 21.bxa5 Rxa5 22.Rxa5 Qxa5 23.c4 Qc7 24.Bb4 Re8 25.cxb5
Qb6 26.Bxe7 Rxe7 27.Rb1 Nc5 28.Nh4 Be8 29.d4 Ne6 30.Nf5 Rb7
31.dxe5 Bxb5 32.Qd2 Qc5 33.exf6 gxf6 34.Bd3 Ng5 35.Qe3 d4 36.Qg3
Bc6 37.Rxb7 Nf3+ 38.Qxf3 (38. Kg2 Ne5+ 39. Kh2 Bxb7) 38...Bxf3
39.Bc4+ {Black resigns because of Qxc4 40. Rb8+ Kf7 41. Nd6# or 39.
... Kf8 40. Rb8+ Qc8 41. Qxc8#) 1-0

On 22 Aug 2005 06:37:16 -0700, wrote:

37.Rxb7? allowed Qc1! (the move you did not see) 38.Bf1 Nf3 and
black has some advantage.

Antonio Torrecillas
FIDE Master (rated 2396)

You are certainly correct that I completely missed the move 37. ....
Qc1+. However, this move leads to more than just "some advantage". It
completely wins the game.

White must reply with 38. Bf1. Otherwise it is mate.

Then, after 38. ... Nf3+ if White moves his king Black wins the queen.
For example 39. Kg2 Nd7+ 40. Kh2 Nf1+ 41. Kg2 Nxg3+or 40. f3 Qxf1+ 41.
Kh2 Nxf3+.

Therefore, White must sacrifice his queen with 39. Qxf3 but then Black
will win with 39. ... Bxf3 40. Rb8+ Kf7 41. Nxd4 Bd5. White tries to
set up a fortress to hold a draw but I believe that Black can
eventually penetrate and win.