North Carolina Gambit – September 2024
Mark Hoshor - 2024 North Carolina Super Senior Championship
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2024 North Carolina Super Senior Championship - games and pictures by Mark Hoshor
Mark Hoshor (Open Section Winner)
Mike Laughlin (U1300 Winner)
Final round showdown – Dana vs. Hoshor
3-Scorebook Trifecta – door prize booty
Playing Site
2024 Super Senior Ray Hight (U1600 Winner)
Games and notes by Mark Hoshor
Maurice Dana - Mark Hoshor
NC Super Senior Wilson, NC
Prior to the game, Maurice and I chatted about our one prior encounter. Back in the early-mid 1980s we believe we played each other in an event in the Tidewater Virginia region. Maurice was the victor in that game. Forty years later we get rematched.
1.e4 g6 2.d4 d6 3.Nf3 Bg7 4.c4 Bg4 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Be3 e5 This is the Averbach variation of the Modern Defense. Black delays development of the g8 knight to enable immediate dark square pressure against the center
7.dxe5 dxe5 8.Qxd8+ Rxd8 9.Nb5 Rd7 10.Rd1 Nd4 11.Bxd4 exd4 12.Nxa7
I was surprised at the knight’s foray to win the a7 pawn while we’re still in the opening. White’s modest material gain is offset by Black’s superior development and positional pressure. Because Black’s position is easier to play, this also implied that White started to feel time pressure, a definite factor in a 60 minute game.
12…Re7 13.Nb5 Rxe4+ 14.Be2 Bxf3 15.gxf3 Re7 16.b4
Either 16.c5 or 16.f4 were better options to help untangle
16…Nf6 17.Kf1 0–0 18.Nxd4 Nh5 19.Nc2 Nf4
Slightly premature. A better move was 19…Ra8 applying immediate pressure to the a2 pawn before White has the chance to reroute the knight to e3. Black would have a winning position.
20.Ne3 c6
Keeping the knight out of d5. We were both starting to feel time pressure. Black starts to let White move back towards dynamic equality.
21.c5 h5 22.Bc4 Bc3 23.Bb3 Rfe8 24.Rg1 Kh7 25.a3
Black sacs an exchange to create winning chances in mutual time pressure
25…Rxe3 26.fxe3 Rxe3 27.Rg3 h4
28.Rg4 Rxf3+ 29.Kg1 Bd4+
a horrific blunder as our clocks ticked down.
Either 29…g5 or 29…Be5 were better options with dynamic equality
30.Rxd4 Ne2+ 31.Kg2 Nxd4 32.Bxf7
White returns the favor. Correct was 32. Rxh4+ Kg7 33. Bc4 Nf5 34. Kxf3 Nxh4+ 35. Ke4 Kf6 when White has a winning endgame due to the bishop versus knight and the speedy queenside pawns
32…h3+ The decisive move winning the bishop
33.Kh1 Rf1+ 34.Rg1 Rxf7 35.a4 Rf2 0–1
Michael Tedder – Mark Hoshor
NC Super Senior Wilson, NC
1.e4 g6 2.d4 d6 3.Nc3 c6 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Be3 b5 6.Bd3 Nd7 7.0–0 a6 8.Qd2 e5 9.d5 c5 10.a4 b4 11.Ne2 Qc7 12.c4 Ngf6 13.Ng3 Ng4 14.h3 Nxe3 15.Qxe3 0–0 16.Rad1 h6 17.b3 Qd8 18.Be2 Qe7 19.Nh2 f5 20.exf5 gxf5 21.Nh5 Nf6 22.Nxg7 Qxg7
Much better was the intermezzo 22…f4! hitting the queen and achieving a favorable pawn structure by preventing White from playing 23.f4 23.Qg3 23.f4! was correct. The queen trade damages White’s pawn structure which Black exploits 23…Qxg3 24.fxg3 Ne4 25.Rd3 Ra7 26.g4 f4 27.Bf3 Ng3 28.Re1 Re7 29.Be4 h5 (!)
30.Nf3 hxg4 31.hxg4 Bxg4 32.Ng5 Rf6 33.Bf3 Bf5 34.Be4 Nxe4 35.Nxe4 Rg6 36.Rf3 Reg7 37.Rf2 Bxe4 38.Rxe4 Rg3 39.Kf1 Rxb3 40.Ree2 Rgg3 41.Rb2 Rxb2 42.Rxb2 Rc3 0–1
Mark Hoshor – Ken Carberry
NC Super Senior Wilson, NC
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.Qb3 Nxc3 7.bxc3 0–0 8.e3 c6 9.Be2 Nd7 10.0–0 Qc7 11.Bd2 e5 12.Rab1 c5 13.Rfc1 b6 14.e4 Qd6 15.d5 Nf6 16.Qc2 Nxe4 Black trades off two pieces for a rook and pawn. This often doesn’t work, especially in the middle game, due to piece activity. In fairness Black thought they would also pick off the d5 passed pawn but that was not possible due to tactical considerations, most notably the weakness on the light squares 17.Qxe4 Bf5 18.Qc4 Bxb1 19.Rxb1 Rfd8 20.Bg5
if 20…f6 the a2–g8 diagonal is weakened leading to potential pins 20…Rd7 21.Rd1 h6 22.Bc1 Qe7 23.Qb3 Rd6 24.Nd2 Kh7 25.Nc4 Rd7 26.Ne3 Rad8 27.Bb5 Rd6 28.Bc6 Qc7 29.Re1 f6 30.Nc4 Rxc6 31.dxc6 Qxc6 32.Ne3 Rd3 33.Qf7 the incursion of the queen creates king safety challenges for Black 33…Qa4 34.Nd5 Kh8 35.Nxf6 Rd8 36.Bxh6 1–0