July CCN Preview: Hansen - Yam (Calgary 2013)

The July CCN heads to Alberta for tournaments and annotators:

• IM Edward Porper on the Calgary International
• FM Vladimir Pechenkin returns with "Canadians Abroad"
• GM Eric Hansen makes two contributions:
• two games from the Calgary International
• four games and a tournament diary from the Edmonton International.

That last point may raise some eyebrows. First, yes Eric did get out of Calgary, dry and on time for round 1 in Edmonton. Second, the EI ends July 1st, so his CCN deadline is July 6, and I expect to have the July CCN emailed by July 8-9. A couple of days later than you're used to, but with up-to-the minute GM annotations: an excellent trade, IMHO.

Below is one of Eric's games from the Calgary International, with his notes. You might notice that this replayable game looks somewhat better than the ones we've been able to post on the CFC Newsfeed. Our webmaster, Shao Hang He gets the credit: he adapted a PGN parser from ChessTempo and we're trying it here for the first time. The parser runs in Javascript, so make sure your browser/phone/tablet has javascript enabled.

Enjoy the game:

[Event "6th Calgary International 2013"]
[Site "Calgary"]
[Date "2013.05.20"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Hansen, Eric"]
[Black "Yam, Alex"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B04"]
[WhiteElo "2577"]
[BlackElo "2283"]
[Annotator "Eric Hansen"]
[PlyCount "63"]
[EventDate "2013.05.14"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "CAN"]
[Source "CFC/John Upper"]
[SourceDate "2013.07.08"]

{Heading into the final round I was needing a victory to finish within the top
3 so I viewed the game as a must-win.} 1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 d6 4. Nf3 dxe5
5. Nxe5 g6 {I didn't expect the Alekhine's defence so I was already out of
book.} 6. Bc4 (6. c4 Nb6 7. Nc3 Bg7 8. Be3 {Is another option}) 6... c6 7. O-O
Bg7 8. Re1 {The e-file is a future battleground} (8. Nc3 Be6) 8... O-O 9. c3 {
I opted for this solid setup. With my bishop on c4 it makes more sense because
I can't play pawn c4 easily anyway without obstructing my bishop. I also want
to play Nd2 and at the moment I can't because of Nb6} Be6 {Black doesn't have
great squares to put his bishop so he goes for the plan of trading it off in
combination with Nc7} (9... Nd7 10. Nf3 N7b6 11. Bb3 Bg4 12. Nbd2 Qc7 13. h3
Bxf3 14. Nxf3 $14) 10. Nd2 Nd7 11. Nef3 $1 {Keeping the pieces on so that I
make my space advantage felt more.} (11. Nxd7 Qxd7 12. Ne4 b6 13. Ng5 Bf5 $11)
11... Nc7 {Black wants to trade off pieces so he can move his pawns without
having pieces in the way. The setup is a bit clumsy right now} (11... b5 $5 12.
Bf1 N7b6) (11... Bg4 12. h3 Bxf3 13. Nxf3 e6 14. a4 Qc7 15. Bg5 Rfe8 16. Qd2
$14 {1/2-1/2 (31) Ivanov,A (2415)-Kengis,E (2475) Pavlodar 1987}) 12. Bf1 {I'm
willing to take extra time to find optimum squares for my pieces. Because of
Black's slow setup I felt I could afford to do this. Now I ask Black what to
do with the bishop on e6.} (12. Bxe6 Nxe6 13. Qb3 Qb6 14. Nc4 Qc7 (14... Qxb3
15. axb3 $14) 15. Bd2 {Should be ok for Black although White retains the more
pleasant,spacious position since Black can't make c5 or e5 work yet. The
knight on e6 is clumsy if it doesn't have a target.}) (12. Qb3 Nb6 13. Bxe6
Nxe6 14. Ne4 Qd5 15. Nfg5 Nxg5 16. Bxg5 Rfe8 17. Bf4 Qxb3 18. axb3 Nd5 19. Bg3
a5 20. Nc5 b6 21. Nd3 Rac8 $11 {1/2-1/2 (21) Rausis,I (2560)-Kishnev,S (2510)
Lublin 1993}) 12... c5 $6 {A standard pawn thrust which attempts to equalize
right away. The game continuation shows that this was too early. However
there's not really any other appealing variations.} 13. Nb3 $1 {Despite the
liberties I took in developing my pieces it seems that Black is already facing
difficulties here.} cxd4 14. Nfxd4 {I chose this knight because I had ideas of
bringing my queen to f3} Bd5 {This is an open position so Black would not want
to concede the bishops.} 15. Bg5 {Some space has cleared and as a result there
is only one logical square for my bishop to develop} (15. c4 {Was my original
intent but I found it harder to evaluate after the ensuing variation:} e5 16.
cxd5 exd4 17. Nxd4 Nb6 18. Nf3 Qxd5 19. Bf4 Ne6 20. Be5 {1/2-1/2 (20) Lau,R 
(2495)-Loeffler,S (2415) Germany 1996}) 15... f6 {This forced move definitely
does not appeal aesthetically. The possible defects in Black's formation are
revealed if he is forced to do this.} (15... Bf6 16. Bxf6 Nxf6 17. c4 Be6 (
17... Bc6 18. Nxc6 bxc6 19. Qxd8 Rfxd8 20. Rxe7 $16) 18. Qf3 Qc8 19. h3 $16) (
15... Re8 16. c4 Be6 17. Qf3 {Black is too passive here.}) 16. Be3 (16. Nb5 e6
17. c4 Bc6 18. Be3 Nxb5 19. cxb5 Bd5 20. Rc1 $14) 16... a6 $6 {After the text
Black finds himself in a big hole. Better was} (16... Bf7 17. Qe2 $5 (17. Nb5
a6 18. Nxc7 Qxc7 $11 {e5 is coming}) (17. Qf3 e5 18. Nb5 Nxb5 19. Bxb5 Qc7 $11)
17... Nd5 (17... e5 18. Nb5 Nxb5 19. Qxb5 Qc7 20. Rad1 Rfd8 21. g3 b6 $11 {
Should be OK for Black}) 18. Rad1) 17. c4 Bf7 18. Na5 $1 {I gained the
necessary time to make my setup work.} Qc8 (18... e5 $2 19. Nxb7 Qb8 20. Nc6
Qxb7 21. Qxd7 Be8 22. Na5 Bxd7 23. Nxb7 Rab8 24. Nc5 $18) 19. b4 {Supporting
my knight and gaining more space. It goes hand in hand with Na5} e5 20. Ndb3
Rd8 21. Qf3 {Where else?} b6 22. Nc6 (22. Nb7 $5 e4 23. Qxe4 Re8 24. Qc6 Ne5
25. Qxb6 {I missed this move and thought my queen would get stuck} Nd7 26. Qd6
$1 Bf8 27. Qd2 Qxb7 28. Qxd7 Rad8 29. Qa4 $16 {Is not easy to see}) 22... Re8
23. Rad1 $14 {I felt very good here. Black can try to gain space but he makes
weaknesses at the same time} Re6 $2 {Black has no coordination and this only
makes it worse. Now the knight is pinned due to Rd8+. Don't forget about the
poor guy on g7.} (23... Bf8 $1 {And now I have to be careful as to not
overextend. Those bishops are quite powerful on f7-f8} 24. Rd2 e4 25. Qh3 Nb8
$1 26. Qxc8 Rxc8 27. Nxb8 Rcxb8 $11 28. Bf4 Rc8) 24. b5 (24. c5 $1 {More
forcing but I was enjoying the position and wanted to take it slow :)} e4 (
24... bxc5 25. Nxc5 Nxc5 26. Rd8+ Qxd8 27. Nxd8 Rxd8 28. Bxc5 $18) 25. Qh3 f5
26. cxb6 Rxc6 (26... Nxb6 27. Rd8+ Qxd8 28. Nxd8 Rxd8 29. Nc5 $16) 27. b7 $1
Qxb7 28. Na5 Qxb4 29. Nxc6 $16) 24... Be8 (24... axb5 25. cxb5 Rxa2 26. Bc4 Re8
27. Bxf7+ Kxf7 28. Nd2 Kg8 29. Nc4 $18 {Too many holes}) 25. a4 {I spent a lot
of time here looking for a killer blow. It was unnecessary and I realized I
should continue doing what I've done all game which is keep improving my
pieces. The hedgehog idea of pushing a5 is also available now} (25. c5 $2 {
Very tempting, yet premature.} axb5 $1 {I trusted my opponent who is a strong
calculator would find this critical variation} (25... bxc5 26. Bc4 $18) (25...
Nxb5 26. Bc4) 26. cxb6 Nxb6 27. Bxb6 Bxc6 $13) 25... Kh8 26. a5 {Trying to get
my second knight into the fray. Black is helpless} axb5 27. cxb5 bxa5 (27... e4
28. Qh3) 28. Nbxa5 {One of the nicest positions I've ever commanded in my
career. Almost everything is coordinated. The resulting moves are not hard to
find} e4 29. Qh3 f5 30. Bc4 Re5 (30... Rf6 31. Bd4 Rf8 32. Ne7 Qb8 33. Nac6 Qb7
34. Nxg6+ Bxg6 35. Bxg7+ Kxg7 36. Rxd7+ $18) 31. Bd4 Rxb5 (31... Nxb5 32. Bxe5
Nxe5 33. Rd8 Nxc4 34. Rxc8 Rxc8 35. Ne7 Rc7 36. Nxc4 Rxe7 $18) (31... Rxb5 32.
Qc3 Ne5 33. Nxe5 Rbxa5 34. Nxg6+ hxg6 35. Qh3#) 32. Qc3 {A nice finish to the
game. Black's position has hardly changed in the last twenty moves as he just
didn't have space. I felt like this was a good positional game that may have
offered a glimpse as to why the Alekhine isn't very popular at the top level
anymore due to the free space advantage offered to White. As a result of this
final round win I snuck into the winners' circle with 6/9 and =2nd place.} 1-0