To the last pawn - Part VI

Lisa was bored with the incessant banter of the broadcasters, as well as frustrated with her inability to see the board. Grasping the crumpled ticket, she remembered the old adage - ‘things that are given for free are usually worth their cost’. She got up from her seat and carried herself to the bar, where a big-screen TV was hanging over the champagne-glasses rack.

Several other people were gathered there, a mix of yuppies and rich businessman, whose interest in the match was marginal. They couldn’t be bothered to mingle with the arena crowd, or maybe they were just waiting for the main event to begin. There was only one free place at the bar, next to a dark-haired woman in a red satin dress. Unlike other denizens of the bar, she was totally absorbed in the match, her margarita forgotten. Lisa immediately sensed a soul mate, and she quickly slipped onto the barstool.

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Dominguez-Favreau, after 12...Be7

Glancing on the screen, she realized she didn’t miss much since the start of the round - only one move was made by each side, 13.b3 by white and 13…Qc5 by black.
“He’s out of shape,” said the woman in red to no one in particular.
“You mean white?” Lisa was never slow to join a conversation, “b3 looks very weakening.”
The woman glared at her with surprise, “You know something about chess?”
“Well, I play sometimes.”
“But not enough, apparently. b3 is an excellent move, to keep the black pieces out of c4. It’s not weakening, because Ne2 supports its friend on c3.”
“Oh.”
“Anyway, I meant Qc5,” Lisa’s newfound friend lectured on, “It’s a pointless move, and the queen will be kicked away soon.”
“Wow, how do you know so much about this stuff?”
“Let’s just say I’ve been around, girl.”

Together, they watched in silence as white played 14.Qd3 and black, after a long deliberation, castled.
“He wanted to go Ng4, but realized too late white has simply Qf3. Like I said, out of shape,” commented the woman, then after 15.Be3 Qc7, gave Lisa the ‘I told you’ look.
Afterwards, 16.h3 Rfd8 17.f5 were played, and the woman shook her head.
“White’s clearly better now,” she said. “All those queen moves lost time. White’s about to storm the kingside.”
On the screen, Favreau, clearly unhappy with his position, thought for quite a long time before playing the only move 17…Bc8. Then followed 18.g4 Bb7 19.g5. As the second hand on the top-right part of the screen neared the end of its path, Favreau picked the knight from f6 in his hand. The woman leaned forward and whispered, “Don’t do it.”
“Don’t do what?” asked Lisa, not understanding.
“Don’t do it. Wait.” The woman spoke not to her, but to the screen. Favreau played 19…Nfd7, and at that very second the gong for the start of the second boxing round sounded.
“What an idiot,” the woman in red muttered.
“But why? Nfd7 seems a good move, or isn’t it?”
“Yes, but he should’ve waited with it. Now white has extra three minutes for thought. He should have stalled and made the move after the boxing round.”
“Oh. You sure know a lot about strategy and stuff. I’m Lisa.” She extended her palm for a handshake.
“Nice to meet you, I’m Debbie. Let’s move over there.” She pointed in the direction of a small corner table.
“But we won’t see the screen from there.”
“Suits me fine. Can’t stand this brutal pummeling.”
“Really? You know what?” Lisa asked in conspiratory whisper once they have settled at their new location, “I hate boxing too. I’m only in it for the chess. But don’t tell anyone, because Tommy DeMarco thinks I am…”
“Don’t worry, I’m taking your secret to the grave, girl.”
“Thanks. Do you know,” Lisa figured it would be a good time to impress Debbie, “That I’m with them?”
“With whom?”
“With them. Vincent Favreau and Enrique Dominguez. We came to Vegas together.”
“Really?” Debbie suddenly seemed interested.
“Yes. We met at this diner, and they gave me endgame lessons. And they were so nice and friendly. Much friendlier than Klichkovsky, who doesn’t even answer my emails.”
“That’s nice. So … ” she hesitated only slightly, “How did Vince … Vincent behave along the way?”
“Like a perfect gentleman!”
“Oh, I don’t mean that. Did he seem focused, concentrated?”
“Well, to tell you honestly, not really. We mostly had fun and talked about stuff.”
“Fun and stuff. That figures. Come on, they’re taking the gloves off again.”

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Dominguez-Favreau, after 19...Nfd7

***

Bruised and battered, the players sat at the chess table again. Dominguez was slightly dizzy, as he took one in the chin toward the end of the round, and Favreau’s kidneys didn’t feel to well either. Sitting at the board, Dominguez mechanically raised his hand to make the planned move – then suddenly realized he forgot what it was. He has such a perfect plan worked out. A very clever piece regrouping, he remembered, followed by an unstoppable kingside attack. But what was it exactly? Seconds passed, time ticked away. Finally, Enrique conceded defeat. He won’t be able to reconstruct his plan. That’s how it is in chess boxing, sometimes you just have to go with what you have, he thought and played 20.Nd5. Favreau was glad to exchange knights and relieve some of the pressure. After 20…Nxd5 21.exd5 he played 21…f6, safeguarding his kingside.

As Dominguez considered his next move, Favreau, for the first time tonight, allowed himself to lean back in his chair, raise his head off the chessboard and smile at the cameras. He knew his opening problems were finally over. Furthermore, black was on the verge of grabbing the initiative. After a long think, Dominguez played 22.h4, not really with the goal of pursuing the kingside storm, but rather safeguarding the g5 pawn. Play continued with 22…Rac8 23.c3 Nc5, and it was white’s turn to retreat with 24.Qd1. Things looked bright for Favreau indeed. After taking a few minutes, he decided the best way for him to develop his initiative was 24…a5, and Dominguez made the ‘mysterious rook move’ 25.Rb1. Well, not so mysterious, since both players knew there was a chance for the b-file to be pried open.

Favreau buried his head in his hands and thought … and thought and thought … so many good options. What should he do? The pain in his abdomen bothered him. I need to get something going on the chessboard, he thought and pushed the a-pawn, 25…a4, and immediately became covered in cold sweat as he realized just how bad this move was. What have I done, he cursed himself. I played directly into white’s hands. Dominguez also understood black’s mistake in no time, and pounced on the black knight with 26.Bxc5.

Favreau slumped down in his chair. His moment of triumph was brief, and he was relegated to defending a bad position once more. At first, he thought of 26…Qxc5 27.axb4 Qxa3, but no, after 28.Rxb5 white’s advantage is too great, and 28.Rxb5 also comes in response to 27…fxg5. He decided to bite the bullet and recapture with the pawn. After 26…dxc5 27.bxa4 bxa4 28.Qxa4, white entered the third boxing round having an extra pawn.

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Dominguez-Favreau, after 28.Qxa4

To be continued …

Posted by Alex Shternshain at March 2, 2004 02:52 PM