MT Sustarsic: Win against SIM Gaprindashvili, Paata Amerigovich

Win against SIM Gaprindashvili, Paata Amerigovich of Georgia. He is 48 years old, beekeeper, playing correspondence chess since 1990. He is also author of the books:
a) Imagination in Chess: How to Think Creatively and Avoid Foolish Mistakes
b) Critical Moments in Chess

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 d5 3.Bg2 c5 4.O-O e6 5.d3 Nc6 6.Nbd2 Be7 7.e4 O-O 8.Re1 Qc7 9.e5 Nd7 10.Qe2 b5 11.h4 Bb7 12.Nf1 a5

12....Rac8 is popular, but the ChessOK opening tree shows 60 % White wins and only 15 % Black wins out of 20 games. Hence I chose an offbeat move.

13.Bf4 a4 14.a3 Qb6

14...Nd4 15. Nxd4 cxd4 16. Nh2 Rfc8 17. Rec1 b4 18. Nf3 Qb6 etc 1-0, Jurkovic Ante (CRO) - Podkriznik Gregor (SLO), Bled (Slovenia), 2000 and 14. ... c4 15. Ne3 Qb6 16. Ng4 Kh8 17. Ng5 Nd4 18. Qd1 Nf5 19. Ne3 Bxg5 20. hxg5 Nxe3 21. Bxe3 Qc7 22. d4 c3 etc and 1-0, Herndlbauer Martin (AUT) - Jirovec Alfred (AUT), Austria, 2001 are the two alternatives given by the ChessOK opening tree.

15.N1h2 c4 16.h5 cxd3 17.Qxd3 b4 18.h6 bxa3 19.bxa3 g6 20.Reb1 Qc7 21.Ng4 Ba6 22.Qe3 Bc5 23.Nf6+ Kh8 24.Qc3 Qa7 25.Qd2

25. Be3 might have ended in a quick draw.


25...Nxf6 26.exf6 Rfe8 27.Re1 Kg8 28.Be3 d4 29.Bf4 Rac8 30.Ne5 Nxe5 31.Bxe5 Red8 32.Reb1 d3 33.cxd3 Rxd3 34.Qe1 Qd7 35.Kh2 Qd8 36.Rd1 Bf8 37.Bf1 Rxd1 38.Rxd1 Qb6 39.Bxa6 Qxa6 40.Qe3 Qa5 41.Kg1 Rd8 42.Rxd8

I think this was a wrong decision. Keeping the rooks on board generally increases drawing chances.Even after Black wins the a3 pawn, the ending may not be winnable.

42... Qxd8 43.Bb2 Qd1+ 44.Kg2 Qd5+ 45.Kg1 Qa2 46.Qc1 Qb3 47.g4 e5 48.g5 e4 49.Qd2 Qd3 50.Qc1 Qe2 51.Bd4 Qg4+

After this move, White did not reply, and I claimed the game after he exceeded the time limit. Black will soon win the a3 pawn. The rest is not routine, but... I was lucky this time.

0-1

Here is the crosstable: http://www.iccf-webchess.com/EventCrossTable.aspx?id=22830. Šivic, Jernej is leading the tournament with 9.5 points and has already become an ICCFGM.

MT Sustarsic: Draw against SIM Novak, Jože of Slovenia

Draw against SIM Novak, Jože of Slovenia: http://www.iccf-webchess.com/MakeAMove.aspx?id=297386. He is 58 yrs old, and a mechanical engineer. The game:

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Nf3 b6 5.Qc2 Bb7 6.a3 Bxc3+ 7.Qxc3 O-O 8.e3 d5 9.Be2 Ne4 10.Qc2 dxc4 (Novelty?)

ChessOK Opening Tree gives
 10. ... Nd7 and  A)  11. O-O Rc8 12. b3 f5 13. Bb2 Rf6 14. c5 c6  etc 0-1, Tikovsky Armin - Farsakh Christoph, Germany, 1996
 B) 11. b4 dxc4 12. Bxc4 c5 13. O-O cxb4 14. axb4 Ng5 15. Nxg5 Qxg5 16. e4 Qg6 etc 1-0, Hage Poul - Kiprov Alexander, Munich (Germany), 1936

11.Bxc4 c5 12.O-O Nd7 13.dxc5 Nexc5 14.b4 Rc8 15.Bb2 Na4 16.Qxa4 Rxc4 17.Qb3 Bd5 18.Qd1

Hereabouts Black gets a slight pull, but he is not able to increase it further.


18...Qb8 19.Nd4 Rd8 20.Qe2 Rcc8 21.Rfc1 Ne5 22.f4 Ng6 23.Rxc8 Rxc8 24.Rd1 f6 25.h4 Bc4 26.Qg4 Nf8 27.e4 b5 28.Kh2 Qb7 29.Re1 Qf7 30.h5

Now White offered a draw, which was declined.


30...h6 31.Re3 Rd8 32.Rg3 Nd7 33.Qh3 a6 34.Rg6 Kh7 35.Qf3 Re8 36.Nc6 Rc8 37.Na5 Ba2 38.Qe2 Bb1 39.Qe1 Bc2 40.Nb7 Qe7 41.Rg3 Rc7 42.Rc3 Rxb7 43.Rxc2 Nb6 44.Bd4 Nc4 45.Bc5 Qc7 46.e5 fxe5 47.fxe5 Qf7 48.Qe4+ Kg8 49.g4

And here White once again offered a draw, which was also declined.


49...Rb8 50.Rf2 Qc7 51.Qg6 Qd7 52.Qe4 Kh8 53.a4 Rd8 54.a5 Qc7 55.Bd4 Qe7 56.Bb6 Rg8 57.Bc5 Qg5 58.Qf4 Qh4+ 59.Kg2 Qd8 60.Qd4 Qxd4 61.Bxd4 Rd8 62.Bb6 Ra8 63.Bd4 Kh7 64.Rf7 Rd8 65.Bf2 Rd2 66.Ra7 Nxe5 67.Kg3 Nd3 68.Bc5 Nxc5 69.bxc5 Rc2 70.Rxa6 Rxc5 71.Rxe6 b4

It was now Black's turn to offer the draw which was accepted.

1/2 - 1/2

With this win, I achieved my first ICCFGM norm.