Sunday, September 23, 2007
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
CHESS PIECE: GM NORM FOR ROLLY
[Bobby Ang]
27th Chess International Festival
Conca della Presolana
Bratto, Italy, 23-31 August 2007
Final Top Standings
1-2 GM Vladimir Burmakin RUS 2581, GM Miso Cebalo CRO 2533, 7.0/9
3-8 GM Vladimir Epishin RUS 2587, IM Rolly Martinez PHI 2428, GM Sergei Tiviakov NED 2648, IM Sebastian Siebrecht GER 2431, IM Jacob Aagaard SCO 2467, 6.5/9
9-20 GM Liuben Spassov BUL 2388, FM Yakup Erturan TUR 2389, GM Igor Khenkin GER 2602, IM Fabio Bruno ITA 2443, GM Csaba Horvath HUN 2558, GM Oleg Romanishin UKR 2546, IM Llambi Qqendro ALB 2386, GM Igor Efimov ITA 2426, IM Luca Shytaj ITA 2451, GM Gyula Sax HUN 2522, FM Daniiyyl Dvirnyy ITA 2365, IM Federico Manca, ITA 2417, 6.0/9
Total of 120 participants
Four players achieved the GM norm. Rolly Martinez of the Philippines, Jacob Aagaard (formerly Denmark but now representing Scotland), Sebastian Siebrect of Germany and Turkey’s FM Erturn Yakup.
I will let Rolly Martinez tell his story:
In July 2004 I left the Philippines with Mark Paragua and Roland Salvador to join Joseph Sanchez in the European chess circuit. Yves Ranola joined us shortly after. That was 3 years ago and I was getting impatient – both Joseph and Roland have GM norms while I had nothing.
The closest I got was in the Genova Open last year, when my score of 7.0/9 was enough to tie for first with Roland ahead of a lot of GMs and IMs. Roland got a GM norm, but there was none for me, since through the luck of the pairing I was only paired against two GMs (minimum requirement for a norm is three).
Anyway, this time in Bratto things went my way – I faced 4 GMs (Epishin, Godena, Burmakin, Tiviakov), defeating two (Godena, Tiviakov) and losing two. Amongst the International Masters I managed to beat the strong German Hoffmann and draw with Fabio Bruno.
This is probably my best game from Bratto.
Hoffmann,Michael (2481) - Martinez,Rolly (2428) [B67]
27 Conca della Presolana Bratto (6), 28.08.2007
[IM Rolly Martinez]
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.Bg5 e6 7.Qd2 a6 8.0–0–0
Two years ago in Genova the Dominican Republic's IM Ramon Mateo tried to surprise me with 8.f4. Fortunately, I had played over all the games of the Short vs Kasparov World Championship Match in 1993 and remembered the position. The game continued 8...Bd7 9.0–0–0 h6 10.Bh4 g5 (forcing White to take on g5 with f pawn, which makes possible the occupation of e5 square with the knight) 11.fxg5 Ng4! This is from the 2nd game of the Short-Kasparov match. Black equalizes easily. IM Mateo vs Martinez 0–1 Genova 2005.
8...Bd7
Playing the bishop to d7 is more accurate than 8...Be7 because then White can capture on f6, as Black doesn't have the option of ...Bh6 anymore. After 9.Bxf6 gxf6 10.f4 takes control over the e5 square, and, at the same time, prepares to attack Black's pawn construction with f4-f5.
9.f3 Be7 10.Kb1 Rc8 11.Nxc6 Bxc6
An idea that has been tried is 11...Rxc6 12.h4 Bc8 making way for his knight to go to d7. However, White has a strong regrouping with 13.Ne2 bringing his knight to either d4 or g3. After 13...h6 14.Be3 d5 15.e5 Nd7 16.Nd4 Rc7 17.f4 White has a strong position. Beshukov,S (2463)-Aseev,K (2577)/ Elista 2001 1–0 (37).
12.Bd3 b5
I thought for a long time trying to decide between the text and 12...Qc7 which aims to push his d-pawn. After the game I analyzed the position some more and concluded that the latter is indeed stronger. A possible continuation would be 13.Ne2 0–0 14.g4 d5! 15.exd5 (15.e5 Ne4! (of course not 15...Qxe5?? which loses the queen to 16.Bf4) ) 15...Bxd5 16.Rhf1 Rfd8 and Black has a good game. White cannot play the "obvious" 17.Nf4? because of 17...Bxf3 18.Rxf3 (18.Bxf6 Bxd1 19.Bxe7 Bxc2+ 20.Qxc2 Qxe7 21.Qg2 Black has the edge) 18...Ne4! winning.
13.h4 0–0 14.Ne2 a5 15.Nd4 b4 16.g4
Hoffmann should have chopped off the bishop, which is soon to render heroic duties. The position is equal after 16.Nxc6 Rxc6 17.Bb5 Rb6 18.Ba4 Nd7 19.Be3 Nc5.
16...Nd7 17.Be3 Nc5 18.h5 Ba4 19.Rc1 Bd7 20.f4?!
A loss of time. 20.g5! is more logical and stronger.
20...a4 21.g5 a3
In such positions 21...b3 is usually stronger. But 22.cxb3 axb3 23.Nxb3 Nxb3 24.axb3 and I couldn't find a way to continue his attack, while white is poised to assault his king on the other side of the board.
22.b3 Qa5 23.g6 Nxd3 24.gxh7+ Kh8 25.cxd3 Bf6 26.h6 g6 27.Ne2
Made with the intention of recapturing on c1 with the knight and thus provide extra support to the weak d3-pawn. If 27.Nf3 then 27...Rxc1+ 28.Rxc1 (28.Qxc1 Rc8 results in an even more favorable version for Black, as white's rook is better placed on g1 than on h1) 28...Rc8 29.Rg1 Rc3 30.Ng5 Bb5 31.Nxf7+ Kxh7 32.e5 (32.Ng5+? Bxg5 33.fxg5 Bxd3+ 34.Ka1 Qe5 game over) 32...Bxd3+ 33.Ka1 dxe5 White's king is caught in a deadly net.
27...Kxh7 28.Bd4 e5 29.fxe5 Bxe5 30.Rhf1 Be6 31.Bxe5 Qxe5 32.Nf4 Rxc1+
Black can already play 32...g5! 33.Rxc8 Rxc8 34.Nxe6 fxe6 35.Rf2 Black can liquidate to a won rook ending with 35...Qb2+ 36.Qxb2 axb2 37.Kxb2 Kxh6 38.Rf6+ Kh5 39.Rxe6 g4 40.Re7 Rg8 41.Rh7+ Kg5 42.Rh1 Kf4 43.Rg1 g3 44.a3 bxa3+ 45.Kxa3 Ke3 etc...
33.Rxc1
White has to constantly watch out for the potential ...Bxb3! strike. For example here if he had played 33.Qxc1 then 33...Bxb3! Black goes into the lead 34.axb3 a2+ 35.Kc2 Rc8+ the end.
33...g5!
Caption: position after 33...g5
I was strongly tempted to go for 33...Bxb3 but it seems that 34.axb3 (34.Nxg6? fxg6 35.axb3 Qd4 wins) 34...a2+ 35.Qxa2 Qxf4 is not yet a clear win.
34.Ne2 Rc8 35.Rf1 Ra8
Apparently planning ...Bxb3 followed by the push of the a pawn, but as of now this is actually only a mirage, as 36...Bxb3 is answered by 37.Rf5. However, Hoffmann was worried with the various threats and decides to eliminate the possibility of the sacrifice once and for all.
36.Nc1
Hoffmann's pieces are too uncoordinated to serious threaten the g-pawn. For example if 36.Rg1 then 36...g4 37.Nc1 (37.Nf4? Bxb3! 38.axb3 a2+) 37...Rg8 Black's king is safe enough behind white's pawn.
36...g4 37.Re1 g3!
Forward, march!
38.d4 Qf6 39.Qxb4
Hoffmann probably knew that no good can come from this move, but probably just wants to be material ahead in exchange for his miserable position.
39...g2 40.Qd2 Rg8 41.Rg1 Qf1 42.Qe3 Rg4 43.d5 Bd7 44.Qa7 Bb5 45.Qd4 Bd3+
Time to bring the curtain down.
46.Qxd3 Qxg1 47.e5+ Kh8 White cannot stop my plan of exchanging queen for knight followed by queening my pawn. 0–1
The cold-blooded march of the g-pawn pleased me very much.
Reader comments/suggestions are urgently solicited. Email address is bangcpa@gmail.com
"This article first appeared in Bobby Ang's column in Businessworld (Philippines) on 17 September 2007"
27th Chess International Festival
Conca della Presolana
Bratto, Italy, 23-31 August 2007
Final Top Standings
1-2 GM Vladimir Burmakin RUS 2581, GM Miso Cebalo CRO 2533, 7.0/9
3-8 GM Vladimir Epishin RUS 2587, IM Rolly Martinez PHI 2428, GM Sergei Tiviakov NED 2648, IM Sebastian Siebrecht GER 2431, IM Jacob Aagaard SCO 2467, 6.5/9
9-20 GM Liuben Spassov BUL 2388, FM Yakup Erturan TUR 2389, GM Igor Khenkin GER 2602, IM Fabio Bruno ITA 2443, GM Csaba Horvath HUN 2558, GM Oleg Romanishin UKR 2546, IM Llambi Qqendro ALB 2386, GM Igor Efimov ITA 2426, IM Luca Shytaj ITA 2451, GM Gyula Sax HUN 2522, FM Daniiyyl Dvirnyy ITA 2365, IM Federico Manca, ITA 2417, 6.0/9
Total of 120 participants
Four players achieved the GM norm. Rolly Martinez of the Philippines, Jacob Aagaard (formerly Denmark but now representing Scotland), Sebastian Siebrect of Germany and Turkey’s FM Erturn Yakup.
I will let Rolly Martinez tell his story:
In July 2004 I left the Philippines with Mark Paragua and Roland Salvador to join Joseph Sanchez in the European chess circuit. Yves Ranola joined us shortly after. That was 3 years ago and I was getting impatient – both Joseph and Roland have GM norms while I had nothing.
The closest I got was in the Genova Open last year, when my score of 7.0/9 was enough to tie for first with Roland ahead of a lot of GMs and IMs. Roland got a GM norm, but there was none for me, since through the luck of the pairing I was only paired against two GMs (minimum requirement for a norm is three).
Anyway, this time in Bratto things went my way – I faced 4 GMs (Epishin, Godena, Burmakin, Tiviakov), defeating two (Godena, Tiviakov) and losing two. Amongst the International Masters I managed to beat the strong German Hoffmann and draw with Fabio Bruno.
This is probably my best game from Bratto.
Hoffmann,Michael (2481) - Martinez,Rolly (2428) [B67]
27 Conca della Presolana Bratto (6), 28.08.2007
[IM Rolly Martinez]
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.Bg5 e6 7.Qd2 a6 8.0–0–0
Two years ago in Genova the Dominican Republic's IM Ramon Mateo tried to surprise me with 8.f4. Fortunately, I had played over all the games of the Short vs Kasparov World Championship Match in 1993 and remembered the position. The game continued 8...Bd7 9.0–0–0 h6 10.Bh4 g5 (forcing White to take on g5 with f pawn, which makes possible the occupation of e5 square with the knight) 11.fxg5 Ng4! This is from the 2nd game of the Short-Kasparov match. Black equalizes easily. IM Mateo vs Martinez 0–1 Genova 2005.
8...Bd7
Playing the bishop to d7 is more accurate than 8...Be7 because then White can capture on f6, as Black doesn't have the option of ...Bh6 anymore. After 9.Bxf6 gxf6 10.f4 takes control over the e5 square, and, at the same time, prepares to attack Black's pawn construction with f4-f5.
9.f3 Be7 10.Kb1 Rc8 11.Nxc6 Bxc6
An idea that has been tried is 11...Rxc6 12.h4 Bc8 making way for his knight to go to d7. However, White has a strong regrouping with 13.Ne2 bringing his knight to either d4 or g3. After 13...h6 14.Be3 d5 15.e5 Nd7 16.Nd4 Rc7 17.f4 White has a strong position. Beshukov,S (2463)-Aseev,K (2577)/ Elista 2001 1–0 (37).
12.Bd3 b5
I thought for a long time trying to decide between the text and 12...Qc7 which aims to push his d-pawn. After the game I analyzed the position some more and concluded that the latter is indeed stronger. A possible continuation would be 13.Ne2 0–0 14.g4 d5! 15.exd5 (15.e5 Ne4! (of course not 15...Qxe5?? which loses the queen to 16.Bf4) ) 15...Bxd5 16.Rhf1 Rfd8 and Black has a good game. White cannot play the "obvious" 17.Nf4? because of 17...Bxf3 18.Rxf3 (18.Bxf6 Bxd1 19.Bxe7 Bxc2+ 20.Qxc2 Qxe7 21.Qg2 Black has the edge) 18...Ne4! winning.
13.h4 0–0 14.Ne2 a5 15.Nd4 b4 16.g4
Hoffmann should have chopped off the bishop, which is soon to render heroic duties. The position is equal after 16.Nxc6 Rxc6 17.Bb5 Rb6 18.Ba4 Nd7 19.Be3 Nc5.
16...Nd7 17.Be3 Nc5 18.h5 Ba4 19.Rc1 Bd7 20.f4?!
A loss of time. 20.g5! is more logical and stronger.
20...a4 21.g5 a3
In such positions 21...b3 is usually stronger. But 22.cxb3 axb3 23.Nxb3 Nxb3 24.axb3 and I couldn't find a way to continue his attack, while white is poised to assault his king on the other side of the board.
22.b3 Qa5 23.g6 Nxd3 24.gxh7+ Kh8 25.cxd3 Bf6 26.h6 g6 27.Ne2
Made with the intention of recapturing on c1 with the knight and thus provide extra support to the weak d3-pawn. If 27.Nf3 then 27...Rxc1+ 28.Rxc1 (28.Qxc1 Rc8 results in an even more favorable version for Black, as white's rook is better placed on g1 than on h1) 28...Rc8 29.Rg1 Rc3 30.Ng5 Bb5 31.Nxf7+ Kxh7 32.e5 (32.Ng5+? Bxg5 33.fxg5 Bxd3+ 34.Ka1 Qe5 game over) 32...Bxd3+ 33.Ka1 dxe5 White's king is caught in a deadly net.
27...Kxh7 28.Bd4 e5 29.fxe5 Bxe5 30.Rhf1 Be6 31.Bxe5 Qxe5 32.Nf4 Rxc1+
Black can already play 32...g5! 33.Rxc8 Rxc8 34.Nxe6 fxe6 35.Rf2 Black can liquidate to a won rook ending with 35...Qb2+ 36.Qxb2 axb2 37.Kxb2 Kxh6 38.Rf6+ Kh5 39.Rxe6 g4 40.Re7 Rg8 41.Rh7+ Kg5 42.Rh1 Kf4 43.Rg1 g3 44.a3 bxa3+ 45.Kxa3 Ke3 etc...
33.Rxc1
White has to constantly watch out for the potential ...Bxb3! strike. For example here if he had played 33.Qxc1 then 33...Bxb3! Black goes into the lead 34.axb3 a2+ 35.Kc2 Rc8+ the end.
33...g5!
Caption: position after 33...g5
I was strongly tempted to go for 33...Bxb3 but it seems that 34.axb3 (34.Nxg6? fxg6 35.axb3 Qd4 wins) 34...a2+ 35.Qxa2 Qxf4 is not yet a clear win.
34.Ne2 Rc8 35.Rf1 Ra8
Apparently planning ...Bxb3 followed by the push of the a pawn, but as of now this is actually only a mirage, as 36...Bxb3 is answered by 37.Rf5. However, Hoffmann was worried with the various threats and decides to eliminate the possibility of the sacrifice once and for all.
36.Nc1
Hoffmann's pieces are too uncoordinated to serious threaten the g-pawn. For example if 36.Rg1 then 36...g4 37.Nc1 (37.Nf4? Bxb3! 38.axb3 a2+) 37...Rg8 Black's king is safe enough behind white's pawn.
36...g4 37.Re1 g3!
Forward, march!
38.d4 Qf6 39.Qxb4
Hoffmann probably knew that no good can come from this move, but probably just wants to be material ahead in exchange for his miserable position.
39...g2 40.Qd2 Rg8 41.Rg1 Qf1 42.Qe3 Rg4 43.d5 Bd7 44.Qa7 Bb5 45.Qd4 Bd3+
Time to bring the curtain down.
46.Qxd3 Qxg1 47.e5+ Kh8 White cannot stop my plan of exchanging queen for knight followed by queening my pawn. 0–1
The cold-blooded march of the g-pawn pleased me very much.
Reader comments/suggestions are urgently solicited. Email address is bangcpa@gmail.com
"This article first appeared in Bobby Ang's column in Businessworld (Philippines) on 17 September 2007"
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