As I reported a couple of weeks ago, my team finished second in the US Amateur Team Championship (Northern Division) with a 4-1 score. We lost our third match, when we drew on boards one and four but lost on boards two and three. Board two was a battle of very talented youngsters, with Michael Chen (2092, age 12) on our side and Alexander Velikanov (2218, age 14) across the table. Here is the position after Velikanov played 23...Rf6-g6:
Chen played 24.Bb3, which looks pretty scary. The threat is quite simple: take on d5, then g7, and then again on d5. A move like 24...Kg8 doesn't help a bit, either. It avoids the immediate check, but White just moves the bishop from d4 (e.g. 25.Bxa7) and the knight's a goner. So White wins and we save the match? Michael clearly thought so, but then Velikanov uncorked 24...f4!! and Chen started thinking...
and thinking...
and thinking. He had a huge time advantage prior to this, but the more he looked the more he realized just how tough the situation was. White is completely lost! Chen finally played the obvious move, 25.Bxd5, and now some of you will be wondering about the line 25...Qxh3 26.Bxe4. Black can regain the piece with 26...f3 27.Bxf3 Qxf3, but after 28.g3 White seems to be okay.
Alas, there are two problems with this assessment of the situation, which was my snap judgment when I first saw 24.Bb3 and was probably Chen's as well as he began his deep thought. Problem #1 is that Black wins here with 28...Rxd4! The point is that the immediate 28...Rh6 fails to 29.Qxh6 Rxd4 30.Qc1, when White is up an exchange and a pawn, winning; but after 28...Rxd4 either recapture is met by 29...Rh6, and White is cooked. (For example 29.cxd4 Rh6 30.Qxh6 gxh6-+.)
The second problem is that Black has an even better move than 25...Qxh3, and that's what Velikanov chose: 25...Rxg2+! - crushing. Taking leads to a speedy mate after 26...f3+, so Chen played 26.Kf1! Now 26...Qxh3 would win quickly, but after 26...Rxd5? 27.Bxg7+! Kxg7? the tables were turning. After 28.Qxd5 Qxh3 we had our last chance:
If Michael had played the calm 29.Qd7! the best Black can do is get a draw, e.g. with 29...Rxf2+ 30.Kxf2 Qf3+ and perpetual. He should avoid the natural 29...Qh1+ 30.Ke2 Qh4 31.Rf1 f3+ 32.Ke3! Kh6 33.Qf5 Bg5+ 34.Kd4
White's king is surprisingly safe, despite its odd location, and he stands better. Unfortunately, returning to this position,
Michael played 29.Qd4+?, and after 29...Kh6 there are no checks and the bishop won't be pinned after 30.Qd7, so Black wins with 30...Qh1+ 31.Ke2 Rxf2+! 32.Kxf2 Bh4+ 33.Ke2 Qg2#. Chen tried 30.Ke1, but the position couldn't be saved and he lost on time after the moves 30...Qf3 31.Kd2 Qxf2+ 32.Qxf2 Rxf2+ 33.Kc1 Bc5 34.Kb1 e3 35.a4 f3 36.Ka2 f3 37.Rh1 Kg5.
Losing the match wasn't fun, but it's hard to begrudge the other team when they find ideas like 24...f4!! and 25...Rxg2+!