Thursday, December 11, 2008

GM Eduardas Rozentalis


Grandmaster Rozentalis has played many of the top chess players in the world and is still an active chess professional. He will be one of the top seeds for the Queenstown chess classic in January.
I have taken some segments from an interview the full interview is here http://interviews.chessdom.com/eduardas-rozentalis
Grandmaster Eduardas Rozentalis, born on 1963 in Vilnius, is International master since 1987, International Grandmaster since 1991, and for many years the highest rated Lithuanian on the FIDE list. In addition, he has won Lithuanian Champion on 1981 and 2001 and another 25 international tournaments in different countries.
He defended Lithuanian colors on seven Chess Olympiads and five European Team Championships.
Current Rating : 2577

Chessdom: What is your most memorable game?
Eduardas Rozentalis: Probably my game against Ivanchuk from Manila Olympiad 1992. It was a first Olympiad for myself and my country, very inspiring event. It was a memorable victory against such a strong player in spite of the existence of one moment when my play could have been refuted.


Ivanchuk,V (2720) - Rozentalis,E (2585) [C43]Manila ol (Men) Manila, 1992
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.d4 Nxe4 4.Bd3 d5 5.Nxe5 Nd7 6.Nxd7 Bxd7 7.0-0 Qh4 8.c4 0-0-0 9.c5 g6 10.Nc3 Bg7 11.Ne2 Rhe8 12.a4 Ng5 13.Ra3 h6 14.Bc2 Rxe2! 15.Qxe2 Ne6 16.Qd1 Nxd4 17.Bb1 Bg4 18.f3 Bf5 19.Be3 Bxb1 20.Bf2 Qf4 21.Qxb1 Nc6 22.Rd1 a5 23.Qd3 Qc4 24.Rd2 Nb4 25.Qf1 h5 26.g3 Qxf1+ 27.Kxf1 d4 28.Ke2 Rd5 29.h3 Rxc5 30.g4 Re5+ 31.Kd1 c5 32.Re2 Rxe2 33.Kxe2 c4
0-1
For those with chessbase just highlight the game and then hit ctrl c then open a new game board click your mouse in the notation area and hit ctrl v and the game will be loaded ready for easy viewing.


The follwoing position is from Rozentalis - Shirov Keres mem rapid 2004
White to move and win.

Friday, December 5, 2008

A look back

Holdaway,S (1580) - King,M (1823) [A00]Palmerston North Club Championship (8.2), 13.11.2008

The tournament situation at the point of this game was looking good for me, if I could win this game then I was practically assured of winning the club championship because of the tie break system used. In case of a tie whoever finished higher in the qualifying tournament would win and as I had won this event my final game with the top seed J. Davis 2019 would not matter for the tournament standings.

1.g4
Stewart is well known to play the Grob at Club and Correspondence level.
1...d5 2.Bg2 c6
The solid approach. Black wants to grab the center.
3.h3 e5 4.d3 Bd6 5.Nc3 Ne7 6.e4


6... Nd7?!
This knight should not be developed so soon, d4 was simply better. I was hoping my opponent would take on d5 twice and be worse. Hope chess is never a good idea simply play the best move.
6...d4 7.Nce2 Ng6 8.Nf3 0-0 9.0-0 Be6 10.Ng3 Nd7 11.Nf5 Black has a central space advantage and nice development but white has a good square on f5 and possible attacking opportunities on the K-side.
7.exd5 cxd5 8.Nge2
8.Nxd5 Nxd5 9.Bxd5 Qa5+ Winning the piece but white is not so obliging
8...Nb6 9.f4!


White is playing in unusual fashion Stewart has a good feeling for Grob positions.
9...Ng6
With the g pawn sticking out on g4 the knight is better placed on g6 than f6
10.0-0 exf4
Better is 10...0-0 11.f5 I was cncerned with this possibility but a deeper look and I would have realised white's K-side pawn's are not advancing so easily. 11...Nh4 12.Bh1 Re8³ 13.Qe1 Bc5+ 14.Kh2 Be7]
11.Nxf4 Nxf4 12.Bxf4 0-0
My main plan for this game was just to play good solid moves takes my chances where I can and slowly try and grind my opponent down.
13.Qd2 Be6 14.Bxd6 Qxd6 15.Qf4 Qc5+
Trading queens must be avoided
16.Rf2 Rad8 17.Raf1


17... d4?
The reason for the ? is also to do with the fact I hadn't analysed the coming complications correctly and I shouldnt have been in a hurry to play such a forcing move giving up a key square on e4.
17...f6 and white's heavy pieces are simply blunted
18.Ne4 Qe7 19.Qg5!
White is playing good solid moves and putting me in an awkward position at the time I was impatient at not having an advantage yet and this impatience affected my play a bit, remembering winning this game and I would practicallly have won the tournament.
At the time I thought I was forced to trade queens because of Nf6+ possibilities, but this is not the case.
19...Qxg5
19...Qc7?! 20.Nf6+ Kh8 21.Qh4 White's attack is not dangerous for a pc but a human like me has issues allowing this but i also didnt realise how bad things were after Qxg5. 21...h6 22.g5 Qe5 23.Ne4 (23.gxh6 gxf6) 23...Nd5 24.gxh6 g6;
19...Rfe8 20.Qxe7 Rxe7 21.Ng5 h6 22.Nxe6 fxe6=
20.Nxg5 Bd5?!
In my attempts to avoid the drawn KP ending after 20...Nd5 and not realising how good 20...Na4 was I play purposely to lose a pawn just to be able to continue the game! A decision that is very double edged.
20...Na4! I dismissed Na4 too quickly thinking such a move just seemed ridiculious but it is the best move. 21.b3 Nc3 22.Bxb7 h6 23.Nxe6 fxe6 the position is equal but atleast their is still a game going.
20...Nd5 21.Be4! g6 22.Nxe6 fxe6 23.Rxf8+ Rxf8 24.Rxf8+ Kxf8 25.Bxd5 exd5 26.g5 Ke7 27.Kf2 Ke6 28.h4 Ke5 29.Kf3 Kf5 30.Kg3 b5 31.a3 a5 32.Kf3 Ke6 33.Kf4 Kd6 34.Kg4 Ke6 35.h5 a4= Nobody can make progress.
21.Bxd5 Nxd5 22.Rxf7 Rxf7 23.Nxf7
Better is 23.Rxf7 h6 24.Rxg7+ Kxg7 25.Ne6+ A tactic missed by both during the game.
23...Rc8 24.Rf2 Ne3 25.Nd6 Rc6?!
25...Rxc2 26.Rxc2 Nxc2 27.Nxb7 Kf7 Again I want to keep material on as I am hoping my opponent will go wrong soon but playing hope chess is never good.
26.Nc4?!
This throws away all white's advantage.
26.Nxb7 Nxc2 27.Nd8 Rc8 28.Re2 And white is still a healthy pawn up.
26...Nxc4 27.dxc4 Rxc4 28.Rd2

28... Rc6?
This is a bad decision, instead of activating white's rook just to activate my own I should have marched my King towards the d pawn and then activate my rook.
28...Kf7 29.b3 Rc3 30.Rxd4 Ke6 31.Ra4 a6 32.Rb4 b5 33.a4 Rxh3 34.axb5 axb5 35.Rxb5 Rg3+ 36.Kf2 Rc3 = with some play left
29.Rxd4 Rxc2 30.Rd8+ Kf7 31.Rd7+ Kg6
better is 31...Kf6
32.Rxb7 a5 33.Ra7
33.a4 Rc4 34.b3 Rc3 and white has good winning chances
33...Rxb2 34.Rxa5 h6 35.a4 Ra2
At this point I still hadn't realised my opponent wasn't going to make a blunder, the position is now simple enough that even if a blunder comes it won't be decisive. Infact I am just worse with a real chance of blundering myself and losing!
36.Kf1 Rh2 37.Rh5 Ra2 38.a5 Kf7 39.Rb5 Ke6 40.Rb6+ Kd5 41.a6 Kc5 42.Rg6 Kd4 42...Kd5 43.h4 Ke5 44.h5 Ke4 45.Ke1 Ke3 46.Kd1 Kd3 47.Kc1 Kc3 48.Kb1 Ra4 49.Rxg7 Rxa6 43.Rxg7 Rxa6 44.Re7
A great psychological blow my king is now cut but I am still living in denial hoping my one pawn will give me a chance to win.
44...Rg6
better is 44...h5
45.Kf2 Kd5 46.Kg3 Kd6 47.Re2 h5
I now realise, realistically too late, any winning chances are now completely gone and I must struggle on and try not to lose.
48.Kh4 hxg4 49.hxg4
Both players are now heading under 5 mins. I am just playing instantly trying to put my opponent under time pressure and hoping for swindles. Further research is needed to find out exactly where the rook endgame is won and lost for me but J. Davis has written a good article here ( http://web.mac.com/xrissmith/Chess/Learn/EG/secretimprovement.htm ) based around this type of endgame.
49...Rh6+ 50.Kg5 Rh1
Stewart pointed out after the game it's the grob pawn trying to queen!
51.Kg6 Rg1 52.g5 Kd7 53.Rf2 Ke7 54.Rf5 Ke6 55.Rf6+ Ke7 56.Kh6 Rg2 57.Rb6 Rh2+ 58.Kg7 Rg2 59.g6 Rg1 60.Rb7+ Ke8 61.Kh7 Rh1+ 62.Kg8 Rg1 63.Rg7 Rg2 64.Kh8 Rg1 65.Rg8+ Ke7 66.Kg7 Rg2 67.Rb8 Rg1 68.Rb7+ Ke8 69.Rf7 Rg2 70.Rf6 Ke7 71.Rf7+ Ke8 72.Rf8+ Ke7 73.Rf7+
With less than 30 seconds on his clock white repeats the position giving me a lucky escape. The game was well played by my opponent and I am sure if we ended up in this endgame now he would win it easily. Stewart had a good philosophy throughout the game of simplifying the position which worked perfectly against my impatient play.
By drawing this game it gave Justin Davis the chance to win the championship if he could beat me in the final game making the finish of the tournament all the more interesting.
1/2-1/2

Palmerston North Club Championship

B Grade Final Standings

1st J. Van Vuuren 8/10
2nd F. Visser 7/10
3rd J. Young 5/10
4th R. Kim 4.5/5
5th T. Kim 3.5/5
6th D. Kweon 2/10

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Is Chucky on Drugs?


Details here at http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=5048.
In all seriousness Vassily Ivanchuk is one of the greatest players in the history of chess.

UDT Invitatitional

Puchen Wang finished the tournament on 4.5/9 cementing his rating at the strong IM level but not really getting GM norm chances. The winner of the tournament was Julio Becerra who finished on 6.5/9(to be confirmed).
Photo: John Jacobs making the ceremonial move in Ramirez-Wang in round 1 (Wang lost).


Wang,P (2450) - Stopa,J (2461) [C76]UTD Invitational Rnd 2

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 d6 5.c3 Bd7 6.0-0 g6 7.d4 Bg7 8.Bg5 f6 9.Be3 Nge7 10.Nbd2 Qc8 11.Bb3 Nd8 12.Rc1 Ne6 13.d5 Nd8 14.c4 b6 15.a3 a5 16.Ba4 Bxa4 17.Qxa4+ Qd7 18.Qxd7+ Kxd7 19.b4 axb4 20.axb4 f5 21.c5 bxc5 22.bxc5 fxe4 23.Nxe4 Nxd5 24.cxd6 cxd6 25.Rfd1 Ra5 26.Bc5! Bh6 27.Rb1 Ke6 28.Bxd6 Nc6 29.Nc5+ Rxc5 30.Bxc5 Rb8 31.Rxb8 Nxb8 32.Re1 Nd7 33.Ba3 Kf5 34.Bb2 Bg7 35.g3 g5 36.Kg2 Bf6 37.Nd2 h5 38.Ne4 Be7 39.Nd2 Bf6 40.Nc4 Nb4 41.Rd1 Nb8 42.Rd6 N8c6 43.Ne3+ Kg6 44.Bc3 Kf7 45.h3 Be7 46.Rh6 Bf6 47.Rh7+ Kg6 48.Rb7 Nd3 49.Rb6 Ne7 50.Rd6
1-0


Saturday, November 29, 2008

Puchen Wang's GM Norm trail

The annual UT Dallas Grandmaster Invitational tournament gets under way on Wednesday, Nov. 26, with two 10-player sections. Puchen Wang is playing the top section against some strong Grandmasters and a host of other IM's also trying for a possible GM Norm.
You can follow the games live on ICC.
Here's the link with more information http://www.utdallas.edu/news/2008/11/23-001.php

R.I.P Bob Wade

Robert Graham Wade was born April 10th 1921 in Dunedin, New Zealand and died in London, England Saturday 29th November 2008.
It is with sadness that I must report the passing of a New Zealand Legend.
Wade is pictured seated below, he is surrounded by other NZ champions who attended the Queenstown Chess Classic in 2006. Wade was still an active player and was a confirmed entry for the 2009 edition of the Queenstown Chess Classic.



The following game is a great encounter between Chandler and Wade.

Chandler,M (2537) - Wade,R (2171) [C90]Queenstown Classic/113th NZ Chp Queenstown (2.2), 16.01.2006

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0-0 9.d3 Na5 10.Bc2 c5 11.Nbd2 h6 12.Nf1 Nh7 13.Ne3 Ng5 14.h3 Be6 15.Nh2 g6 16.d4 h5 17.Nd5 f6 18.f4 exf4 19.Bxf4 cxd4 20.cxd4 Bxd5 21.exd5 f5 22.Rxe7 Qxe7 23.Qd2 Nxh3+ 24.gxh3 Nc4 25.Qg2 Qf6 26.Nf3 Rfe8 27.Bd3 Ne3 28.Qh2 Nxd5 29.Bxd6 Re3 30.Be5 Qb6 31.Be2 Re8 32.Kh1 f4 33.Rg1 Qe6 34.Bd1 Rc8 35.Qg2 Kf8 36.Bb3 Qf5 37.Bxd5 Rc2 38.Qf1 Ree2 39.Bb3 Rxb2 40.d5



40...Qxe5! 41.Bd1 Qe4 42.Bxe2 Rxe2 43.Rg2 Rxg2
1/2-1/2

Friday, November 28, 2008

Palmerston North Championship


Final Round 10 results

J. Davis 2019 - M. King 1823 0-1
S. Taylor 1605 - S. Holdaway 1580 0-1
J. Kim Unr - D. Davey Unr 0-1


Final Standings

1st M. King 1823 9.5/10

2nd J. Davis 2019 7/9*

3rd S.Holdaway 1580 6.5/10

4th S. Taylor 1605 4/10

5th D. Davey 2/10

6th J. Kim 0/9*

* J. Davis has one game to play against J. Kim to finalise the tournament officially.

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Olympiad Final Standing's

The New Zealand Open team finished in 97th place a rather unfortunate result. Here is a list of some teams NZ defeated and where they finished just to show what can happen with the pairing system and how flawed it can be. Looking at the final result you would think the NZ open team failed badly but the level of teams played was much higher than say Bosnia & Herzego who finished in 30th place!

Pakistan finished in 67th place and was beaten by NZ 3-1 highest Rank team played Latvia 43.

United Arab Emirates finished in 65th place NZ beat them 3-1, Highest Rank team played Spain 12 in round 9.

New Zealand's big achievement was beating Bosnia & Herzego 3-1, especially when the Aussies a round later where not able to match NZ's achievement. Bosnia & Herzego finished 30th, highest ranked team played was Spain.

The NZ Women's team had a good result finishing in 62nd place just ahead of the much higher ranked Aussie girl's. Their best results must be the tie match with the higher ranked Dominican Republic and the last round victory over Wales would also have been a nice way to end the Olympiad.

The Medals
Open

Gold - Armenia
Silver - Israel
Bronze - United States of America

Women


Gold - Georgia
Silver - Ukraine
Bronze - United States of America

Complete list of prize winners http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=5041
Official site http://www.dresden2008.de/site/de/main.htm

Round eleven

Open


Rank 72 New Zealand (NZL) - Rank 58 Brazil (BRA)

1 : 3

GM Chandler Murray G 2515 - GM Lima Darcy 2488 1 : 0

IM Dive Russell John 2357 - GM Sunye Neto Jaime 2488 0 : 1

FM Nokes Roger I 2293 - FM El Debs Felipe De Cresce 2447 0 : 1

FM Lukey Stephen G 2271 - IM Diamant Andre 2412 0 : 1


Women


Rank 77 Wales (WLS) - Rank 76 New Zealand (NZL)

0.5 : 3.5

Blackburn Suzie G 1883 - WFM Milligan Helen 1957 0 : 1

Wilson Julie 1935 - WFM Maroroa Sue 1938 0 : 1

Owens Megan R 1783 - Gao Judy 1896 0 : 1

Van Kemenade Julie - WCM Smith Vivian J 1858 ½ : ½

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Round ten

Open

Rank 50 Turkey (TUR) - Rank 72 New Zealand (NZL)

3.5 : 0.5

IM Can Emre 2464 - GM Chandler Murray G 2515 ½ : ½

IM Erdogdu Mert 2449 - FM Smith Robert W 2316 1 : 0

IM Haznedaroglu Kivanc 2436 - FM Nokes Roger I 2293 1 : 0

FM Yilmaz Mustafa 2387 - FM Lukey Stephen G 2272 1 : 0


Women


Rank 76 New Zealand (NZL) - Rank 110 Libya (LBA)

4 : 0

WFM Maroroa Sue 1938 - Abdulgader Amira 1 : 0

Gao Judy 1896 - Elnami Saffa 1 : 0

WCM Smith Vivian J 1858 - Emhemed Inas 1 : 0

WFM Fairley Natasha 1803 - Elflow Khalood 1 : 0

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Round Nine

Games in progress

Open

Rank 72 New Zealand (NZL) - Rank 17 Georgia (GEO)


GM Chandler Murray G 2515 - GM Jobava Baadur 2664 0 : 1

IM Dive Russell John 2357 - GM Izoria Zviad 2610 0 : 1

FM Nokes Roger I 2293 - GM Mchedlishvili Mikheil 2615 0 : 1

FM Lukey Stephen G 2271 - GM Arutinian David 2584 *


Women

Rank 65 Iceland (ISL) - Rank 76 New Zealand (NZL)


WGM Ptacnikova Lenka 2237- WFM Milligan Helen 1957 1 : 0

Thorsteinsdottir Hallgerdur 1915- WFM Maroroa Sue 1938 *

Fridthjofsdottir Sigurl Regin 1806- WCM Smith Vivian J 1858 *

Kristinardottir Elsa Maria 1776 - WFM Fairley Natasha 1803 *

Friday, November 21, 2008

Olympiad action

New Zealand versus Ukraine on board two


Palmerston North Club Championship

Standing's after 9 rounds

M. King 1823 8.5
J. Davis 2019 7
S. Holdaway 1580 5.5
S. Taylor 1605 4
D. Davey 1
J. Kim 0

Davis has two remaining games. The key encounter is this Thursday where he must beat me to try and retain the Club Champ Title and the Ian Barker Trophy. In case of a tie who ever finished better in the qualifying tournament goes through first.

Congratulations to Johan Van Vuuren who has won the B Grade with 2 rounds to spare.

Round Eight

Rank 2 Ukraine (UKR) - Rank 72 New Zealand (NZL)

4 : 0

GM Ivanchuk Vassily 2786 - GM Chandler Murray G 2515 1 : 0

GM Eljanov Pavel 2720 - IM Dive Russell John 2357 1 : 0

GM Efimenko Zahar 2680 - FM Smith Robert W 2316 1 : 0

GM Volokitin Andrei 2659 - FM Nokes Roger I 2293 1 : 0

Women


Rank 89 Iraq (IRQ) - Rank 76 New Zealand (NZL)

0.5 : 3.5

Al-Omari Dalya 2109 - WFM Milligan Helen 1957 0 : 1

WFM Qane Chnar 1913 - Gao Judy 1896 0 : 1

Jamal Mohmmed Ameen Jwan - WCM Smith Vivian J 1858 0 : 1

Jalaluldeen Kareen - WFM Fairley Natasha 1803 ½ : ½

Thursday, November 20, 2008

NZ Olympiad Standing's


After seven rounds the New Zealand Open team is in an excellent position of 24th place ahead of big name teams like Spain, Hungary and Norway. The Australian team is way back in 62nd place. The NZ Women's team is not doing so well currently in place 88.

Round seven

Open


Rank 72 New Zealand (NZL) - Rank 29 Bosnia & Herze (BIH)

2.5 : 1.5

GM Chandler Murray G 2515 - GM Nikolic Predrag 2669 1 : 0

IM Dive Russell John 2357 - GM Predojevic Borki 2615 0 : 1

FM Nokes Roger I 2293- GM Saric Ibro 2559 ½ : ½

FMLukey Stephen G 2271 - IM Stojanovic Dalibor 2455 1 : 0



Women


Rank 76 New Zealand (NZL) - Rank 41 Luxembourg (LUX)
0.5 : 3.5

WFM Milligan Helen 1957 - WGM Berend Elvira 2328 0 : 1

WFM Maroroa Sue 1938 - WGM Wagener Anna 2246 0 : 1

Gao Judy 1896 - WFM Steil-Antoni Fiona 2166 ½ : ½

WFM Fairley Natasha 1803 - WFM Bakalarz Grazyna 2001 0 : 1

Dresden Tactic

White has just played Nb5 allowing black a stunning finish, can you spot it?



Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Monday, November 17, 2008

Palmy's Latest Chess Expert

Congratulation's to Palmerston North Club Champion Justin Davis on breaking the 2000 barrier and officially becoming an Expert rated chess player.

The following position is taken from the latest Wellington rapid in the game N. Croad vs Davis Black to move


NZCF Active Rating List

This is not a complete list

Rank Code Name Club Std Rap
1 5571 Chandler, Murray G 2542 i
2 3459 Dive, Russell J WE 2412 2343
3 3552 Martin, Benjamin M S OT 2409 i
4 3178 Nokes, Roger I CA 2370 i
5 5268 j Wang, Pu Chen AC 2336 2405
6 3002 Garbett, Paul A NS 2327 2244
7 5083 Croad, Nicholas WE 2326 2273
3383 Ker, Anthony F WE 2326 2333
3088 Smith, Robert W WT 2326 2246
10 3830 Wastney, Scott WE 2322 2214
11 3201 Steadman, Michael V R AC 2287 2203
12 3696 Lukey, Stephen G CA 2275 2241
13 3206 Watson, Bruce R AC 2270 2186
14 3507 Hart, Ralph NS 2237 2132
15 3003 s Sutton, Richard J OT 2230 2201
16 3482 Spain, Graeme A GA 2207 i
17 3314 Mclaren, Leonard J HP 2204 2129
18 5854 j Baider, Daniel WE 2199 2161
19 3617 Van Der Hoorn, Mark W WE 2158 2141
20 3394 Nijman, Brian WE 2141 1935
21 3454 Sutherland, John L OT 2137 1994
22 3148 Dowden, R Anthony OT 2133 i
23 5599 Thomas, Benjamin UH 2127 i
24 6788 Voracek, Mirek OT 2112 * 2158 *
25 6366 Machdoem, Andy CA 2110 1980
26 3632 Johnson, Quentin OT 2109 1964
27 3503 Ker, Charles M WA 2108 2002
28 5349 Han, Daniel AC 2104 2065
29 3291 Barlow, Matthew J NS 2099 2091
4300 Burns, Chris J WA 2099 2004
31 6370 Zhang, John (Peng Li) 2097 i
32 5620 Thornton, Gino A NS 2088 2129
33 3648 Mcdonald, John A WA 2077 2027
34 5816 Mccrone, Jeffrey NS 2051 2006
35 7032 Qi, Chao CA 2050 1846 *
36 6142 j Shen, Daniel AC 2036 1834
37 3391 Van Dijk, Peter WE 2034 i
38 4302 Davis, Justin M WA 2019 1874
39 3272 Weegenaar, David P CA 2018 i
40 3411 Sims, Martin T WE 2017 1746
41 7039 Duneas, John MM 2015 2036
42 3005 s Stuart, Peter W NS 2007 2046
43 5082 Donaldson, Bruce CA 1998 1887
44 5684 j Chen, Andy (Geng Yu) HP 1997 1784
3386 Wheeler, Bruce AC 1997 2041
46 5776 j Krstev, Mario NS 1995 2100
47 4333 Jackson, L Ross WE 1993 1742
3013 Pomeroy, Arthur J WE 1993 i
49 6098 j Cheng, Bobby AC 1987 1776
50 5921 j Watson, Jeremy CA 1986 1777
51 5820 j Wu, Michael (Ming Hua) AC 1984 1926
52 3253 Marner, Gavin WE 1979 1982
53 4451 Nyberg, Michael WE 1974 1910
54 4124 Lim, Benji AC 1968 1900
55 3089 Bennett, Hilton P HA 1965 1900
56 5645 Browne, Jeremy A HA 1960 2006
57 5068 Beach, Paul K AC 1956 i
58 3293 Van Ginkel, John P NE 1954 i
59 7094 Remaneses, Renato CA 1944 1787 *
60 6349 Sellen, Ian WE 1939 1823
61 3673 Mcnally, Ian AC 1937 i
62 5130 Boardman, Jeffrey F WE 1934 i
63 3218 Brimble, Mark T WT 1930 i
64 5104 Krstev, Antonio NS 1925 2066
65 4885 Godfrey, Paul WT 1922 1989
66 5197 Gunn, Neil J NS 1921 1911
67 4691 Latimer, Bryan AC 1919 unr
68 7259 j Gunawan, Boy Reinhard WT 1917 * unr
69 5671 Van Der Lee, Bert MM 1915 * 1912
70 4426 Hill, Martin WE 1913 1967
71 6468 Milligan, Helen NS 1909 1788
6207 j Petreski, Filip NS 1909 1933
73 6784 Benitez, Edgar WE 1907 * unr
3238 Carter, Gerald S UH 1907 unr
75 3111 Yee, Stanley HP 1906 1815
76 3927 Forster, William WE 1904 1894
5817 Thurner, Christoph 1904 1800 *
78 3665 Goodhue, Nathan AC 1902 1997
79 4830 Perry, Roger L AC 1898 i
80 3550 s Vetharaniam, Prince A R WA 1897 1869
81 5517 Mckerras, Ross CA 1896 1880
82 4231 Fuatai, Fuatai NS 1894 2120
83 4508 Stewart, James WA 1893 * i
84 3434 Hurley, Alan UH 1878 unr
85 5518 Fraemohs, Peter CA 1877 1717
7093 Unelius, Rikard CA 1877 * 1939 *
87 6787 Ang, Ferdie WE 1876 1761 *
88 5648 j Maroroa, Sue Y HP 1868 1809
89 3037 Gibbons, Robert E PT 1867 1856
90 5575 Watts, Duncan OT 1862 1893
91 6627 Tanoi, T Edward PT 1861 1819
92 5559 Lambert, Luke OT 1860 i
93 6761 Hothersall, Rik CA 1854 1748 *
94 5748 Marko, Helmut P MM 1847 1892
95 4966 Hall, Craig CA 1846 1826
96 6351 Huang, Jay MM 1845 * i
3162 Spiller, Paul S HP 1845 1817
98 3698 Blaxall, Craig S HP 1839 1809
7117 Wagner, Stefan HA 1839 * 1694 *
100 5815 Gordon, Russel WE 1838 1694
101 3993 Hair, Philip I NS 1837 1833
102 3393 Post, Martin J WA 1834 1872
103 3433 s Davies, Geoff CA 1829 1665 *
104 3412 Aldridge, Alan L WE 1823 1754
6239 King, Mathew J WA 1823 1704
106 7187 Khan, Nazim PT 1821 * unr
4285 Storey, Donald J H OT 1821 1828
108 5931 j Chen, Eachen AC 1820 1743
109 3392 Aimers, Geoffrey OT 1815 1641
110 3339 Taylor, Richard HP 1813 1831
111 3027 s Power, P Wayne NS 1809 1753
112 7103 Stuart, Richard NS 1808 * unr
113 4087 Benson, Christopher CA 1804 1753
114 4683 Storchenegger, Othmar WT 1800 1690
115 6100 j Yip, Edwin HP 1793 1614
116 4148 Easterlow, Neville L WT 1787 i
117 4309 Evans, David J NS 1782 2015
7139 Townsend, Ralph WE 1782 * 1718 *
4196 Ward, Keith AC 1782 unr
120 3032 s Lynn, K William HA 1770 1696
121 6030 Wilkins, Mark WE 1768 1687
122 5708 Paul, David WE 1766 1705
123 3798 Gold, Hamish R OT 1761 1709
124 6762 s Cooper, Nigel CA 1760 1620
125 6800 Batchelor, Oliver CA 1759 * unr
126 6077 j Gao, Judy AC 1756 1576
4367 Rossiter, Philip E HA 1756 unr
128 5902 j Fairley, Natasha NH 1743 1399
3028 s Haase, Graham G OT 1743 1739
130 3232 Rawnsley, Louis D HP 1742 unr
131 5047 Wright, Caleb MM 1738 1671
132 5605 Pritchard, Owen CA 1735 i
133 5765 Book, J Eric WT 1731 1603 *
134 5070 Eade, Don AC 1725 1711
135 3072 s Nijman, Arie J CA 1722 1674
5919 j Wu, Jason AC 1722 1692
137 3064 s Stracy, Don M WE 1718 1797
138 5947 Ward, Simon CA 1717 1470
139 6629 j Huang, Alex WT 1710 1414
140 3955 Roberts, Earl N KP 1703 1709
141 3351 Dolejs, Dan GA 1693 1614
142 6019 Van Den Bergh, Bob NC 1689 1612
143 3038 s Goffin, Peter B AC 1687 unr
144 5618 j Charamova, Evginia NS 1686 1761
145 5867 Frost, Paul F E KP 1685 1625
5192 Smith, Jeremy A PN 1685 * i
147 3117 s Cater, James E PT 1684 1515
148 7245 Semerdzhiev, Iliya MM 1682 * unr
149 6449 Seabrook, Roy KP 1680 1711
150 4239 s Cruden, Neil AC 1671 1592
151 4234 Johns, Daniel P NS 1669 1861
152 5410 Newbould, Alistair R OT 1667 1602
153 5736 Rider, Brett WT 1666 1636 154
5512 Cossey, Aaron PT 1664 i
155 4747 Putt, Garry D CA 1663 unr
156 6789 Litvinov, Dmitri AC 1662 1552 *
157 5642 Lydiate, Christopher OT 1660 1513
158 4150 s Mulligan, Allan W AS 1653 i
159 5979 j Wu, Bill AC 1652 1371
160 4097 Scarf, Rex AS 1650 1576
161 4903 Pakenham, John AC 1648 unr
162 5745 j Zhang, Michael C AC 1646 1693
163 7298 Hamilton, Andrew NE 1644 * unr
164 5836 j Mulinder, Guy CA 1637 1603
165 6251 Bryan, Jason AC 1635 i
166 4202 Holdo, Karl AC 1631 unr
4467 Mistry, Prashant NS 1631 1515
168 3286 Price, Anthony J UH 1629 unr
169 3243 s Capper, David S WE 1626 1654
3180 s Frost, E G A (Ted) WA 1626 1528
171 5878 j Dare, Richard J HA 1625 1566
172 5509 Shatelin, Stanislav NS 1622 1646
173 5604 Churton, Douglas CA 1621 1594
174 4173 Duffield, Terence OT 1620 1686
175 4101 Benson, Jim HP 1619 1522
176 4164 Farrington, Lawrence B WE 1614 1645
177 4527 Mcgowan, Alistair KP 1613 1515
178 7058 Clements, Shannon NE 1610 * unr
179 7268 Roura, Federico CA 1608 * unr
3345 s Smith, Vivian J WT 1608 1582
181 7164 Rabina, Romeo WE 1607 1574 *
182 7059 Hamilton, Paul NE 1606 * unr
183 5272 Harish, Roy WT 1605 1401
4155 Taylor, Stephen WA 1605 1646
185 5353 j Smith, Devon WT 1603 1627
186 4158 Richardson, Nigel J AS 1602 1661
187 3805 Plumpton, David WT 1600 i
188 7270 Bashar, Mohammad CA 1599 * unr
189 4786 Ritchie, Anthony OT 1598 1503
190 3527 O'connor, John A WT 1597 1520
191 7096 Nicholls, Alistair WE 1596 unr
192 7162 s Mulshankar, Joshi WE 1593 * unr
193 3929 s Southgate, Brent OT 1591 1403
194 3168 Bell, David I WA 1590 1531
195 4357 Kingston, Zoe H KP 1589 1587
196 6583 j Alipiev, Atanas A NS 1588 1529
197 5425 Francis, John WT 1587 1266 *
198 3056 s Kay, J Bruce WE 1586 1504
5927 j Watson, Stephen CA 1586 1635
200 7261 j Arora, Manish 1585 * unr
201 3054 Gloistein, Bruce CA 1583 1740
202 6801 Rolph, Charles CA 1582 * unr
203 6238 Holdaway, Stewart WA 1580 1643

Some local players, please note WA is incorrect and only their for technical reason's all are Palmy players

576 7202 White, Damon unr 1533 *
580 7205 j Kim, Teh Gyu WA unr 1473 *
582 7207 j Hill, Ryan WA unr 1463 *
584 7203 j Howe, Matthew WA unr 1453 *
585 7200 Reweti, Savern WA unr 1442 *
588 7214 j Yuan, Daniel WA unr 1405
591 7215 j Yuan, Michael WA unr 1386 *
593 7201 Young, John WA unr 1384 *
597 7211 j Kim, Ju Young WA unr 1358
602 5213 s Davey, Dennis PN unr 1309
617 7210 j Peck, Garth WA unr 1225 *
678 7213 j Lee, Terry WA unr 908 *
682 7212 j Kim, Ricky WA unr 899 *

Dresden Round five

Open

Rank .72 New Zealand (NZL) - Rank 82 United Arab Em (UAE)
3 : 1

GM Chandler Murray G 2515 - IM Salem A R Saleh 2476 ½ : ½

FM Smith Robert W 2316 - IM Hassan Abdullah 2287 ½ : ½

FM Nokes Roger I 2293 - FM Othman A Moussa 2336 1 : 0

FM Lukey Stephen G 2271 - FM AlHuwar Jasem 2230 1 : 0

Women

Rank 51 Philippines (PHI) - Rank 76 New Zealand (NZL)
3.5 : 0.5

Cua Shercila 2154 - WFM Milligan Helen 1957 ½ : ½

Rivera Daisy 2073 - WFM Maroroa Sue 1938 1 : 0

Camacho Chardine Cheradee 2100 - Gao Judy 1896 1 : 0

Bernales Christy Lamiel 1998 - WCM Smith Vivian J 1858 1 : 0

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Dresden Round four

Rank .72 New Zealand (NZL) - Rank 28 Slovenia (SLO)

0 : 4

GM Chandler Murray G 2515 - GM Pavasovic Dusko 2597 0 : 1

IM Dive Russell John 2357 - GM Lenic Luka 2569 0 : 1

FM Smith Robert W 2316 - IM Borisek Jure 2548 - : +

FM Lukey Stephen G 2271 - IM Skoberne Jure 2501 0 : 1





Women
Rank 76 New Zealand (NZL) - Rank 66 Dominican Repu (DOM)

2 : 2

WFM Maroroa Sue 1938 - WFM Perez Eneida 2097 0 : 1

Gao Judy 1896 - WFM De la Cruz Mercedes 2045 1 : 0


WCM Smith Vivian J 1858 - Jose Polanco Kenia 2028 1 : 0

WFM Fairley Natasha 1803 - Munoz Dorisbel 1917 0 : 1

Two NZ women appeared on the chessbase website for the Olympiad here are the photo's and link.
http://www.chessbase.com/





Wellington Rapid

Nic Croad was a lucky but in the end deserved winner of the Wellington Rapid. In a blitz finish with Anthony Ker mid way through the event, Croad, was defending a piece for a pawn down but was able to liquidate all the pawns where Ker's extra piece was useless. After this nobody else was able to catch up.

27 players, 6 Rounds

1st FM Nic Croad 5.5

2nd IM Anthony Ker 5

3rd Edward Lee 4.5

4th= Michael Nyberg 4
Brian Nijman 4
Justin Davis 4
Ross Jackson 4
Ian Sellen 4
Mathew King 4
Lawrence Farrington 4

11th Bill Forster 3.5

12th= Mark Van der Hoorn 3
Stewart Holdaway 3
Andrew Brockway 3
Jeffrey Wu 3
Henry Wylde 3
Anton Reid 3
Savern Reweti 3


Photo's of the event are here http://nzchessevents.myphotoalbum.com/




Saturday, November 15, 2008

Olympiad Women Round two and three

Please note the layout is not in Board colour for both men's and women's teams.


Round 2 Women on 2008/11/14 at 16.00

Rank 76 New Zealand (NZL) - Rank 46 Estonia (EST)
0.5 : 3.5

WFM Milligan Helen 1957 - WIM Tsiganova Monika 2208 ½ : ½

WFM Maroroa Sue 1938 - WFM Gansvind Valeriya I 2212 0 : 1

Gao Judy 1896 - WIM Bashkite Viktoria 2129 0 : 1

WFM Fairley Natasha 1803 - Vahtra Tuuli 1961 0 : 1


Round 3 Women on 2008/11/15 at 15.00

Rank 31 England (ENG) - Rank 76 New Zealand (NZL)
4 : 0

IM Ciuksyte Dagne 2339 - WFM Milligan Helen 1957 1 : 0

WIM Lauterbach Ingrid 2178 - Gao Judy 1896 1 : 0

WFM Grigoryan-Lyell Meri 2076 - WCM Smith Vivian J 1858 1 : 0

Bhatia Kanwal K 2065 - WFM Fairley Natasha 1803 1 : 0

Olympiad Men Round two and Three

Round 2 Open on 2008/11/14 at 16.00

Rank 130 .Macau (MAC) - Rank 72 New Zealand (NZL)
0 : 4

Mak Kei Keng 2017 - GM Chandler Murray G 2515 0 : 1

Ssegirinya Joseph-Mary M. 2013 - IM Dive Russell John 2357 0 : 1

FM Ho Cheng-Fai 2041 - FM Nokes Roger I 2293 0 : 1

Celis Solomon B III 2009 - FM Lukey Stephen G 22710 : 1

Round 3 Open on 2008/11/15 at 15.00

Rank 141 Ethiopia (ETH) - Rank 72 New Zealand (NZL)

1 : 3

Fekadu Desalegn - GM Chandler Murray G 2515 0 : 1

Bezabeh Zelalem - IM Dive Russell John 2357 0 : 1

Mesfin Leykun - FM Smith Robert W 23161 : 0

FM Abera Yimam 2201- FM Nokes Roger I 2293 0 : 1

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Dresden 2008 Round one

Round one and the Open team gets thumped by the lowly rated Trinidad and Tobago 1- 3 . On the plus side the Women's team thrash the lower rated Aruba 4 -0


Open Group


Rank 72 New Zealand (NZL)Rtg - Rank 113 Trinidad & Tob (TRI)
1 : 3

IMDive Russell John 2357- FMHarper Ryan 2233 0 : 1

FMSmith Robert W 2316- FMMerritt Mario 2123 0 : 1

FMNokes Roger I 2293 - FMCave Christo 2250 1 : 0

FMLukey Stephen G 2271 - Singh Ravishen 2084 0 : 1

The position is from the Merritt -Smith game where white was able to execute the nice but obvious blow 26.Nxe5 effectively winning the game. The end of the Dive game is rather unusual and Worth looking up, In the last move of the game Black turns down a forced mate and plays a heavily inferior move but white's position is still resignable. :(



Women's Group


A great start for the Women's team.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Wellington Rapid this Saturday

This is a reminder to those wishing to play in this rapid.
http://www.newzealandchess.co.nz/calendar.html for more deatils

Olympiad changes

At http://susanpolgar.blogspot.com/2008/11/4-major-changes-at-this-olympiad.html four major changes are described. The biggest change has to be the scoring system with individual point's not counting and teams only earning 2 points for a win 1 for a tie and 0 for a loss. In my opinion this is not a good idea with a swiss pairing system. A format of pool play like the rugby and soccer world cup's is best suited to this scoring system.
Another change of a shortened number of rounds could produce a mixed result, at least for all the medal contenders.
It will be interesting to see if these changes bring positive or negative results.

Monday, November 10, 2008

NZ's First Olympiad

New Zealand's first Olympiad was in 1970. I am not a history buff so if I am wrong feel free to correct me. New Zealand finished first in group E, the team consisted of R.Wade, B. Anderson, G. Kerr, E. Green, O. Sarapu. Sarapu won the NZ Championship in 1969/70.


19th Chess Olympiad information
from Wikipedia, the link is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/19th_Chess_Olympiad


The 19th Chess Olympiad, comprising an open team tournament and the Annual Congress of the Fédération Internationale des Échecs, took place between September 5 and September 27, 1970, in the small town of Siegen, Germany.


Tournament report
Held at the Siegerland Hall venue, a total of 64 nations applied to enter the tournament. Unfortunately, space constraints and FIDE 's intended model format meant that only 60 could be accommodated. Rather too conveniently it was then found that 4 teams were to have their applications rejected on the grounds that they had missed the deadline or some such technicality.
The tournament was run as a 2-stage round-robin. Six preliminary Groups determined the composition of five Finals Groups, denoted A to E, the strongest qualifiers ending up as Group A and so on. There were several unsatisfactory aspects of this system however and they manifested themselves in a variety of ways.
Firstly, the pressure was raised to fever pitch at a very early stage in the proceedings. A poor result in the prelims would condemn a team to a low Group. All this proved too much for England's top player, Jonathan Penrose, who in his crucial final prelims match, blundered a piece and fainted from the shock. A nervous player at the best of times, he was retired from the rest of the contest on medical grounds and England ended up adrift in Group C, which they won by a hefty margin.
The Sunday Times reported instances of cheating. For example, in the Indonesia vs. Switzerland prelims match, a player moved his queen next to the opponent's king with check. KxQ was forced and so the player made the move for his opponent, declaring stalemate and shaking hands all in one movement. His dazed opponent ended up signing the scoresheet, before recovering his wits and realising (too late) that it wasn't stalemate at all.
It was possible for strong teams, sitting comfortably in favourable qualification spots, to not try as hard as they might have in other circumstances. Such actions undoubtedly influenced the qualification process below them and as a deliberate ploy, could have assisted in relegating a strong rival to a lower Group.
Then there was the whole question of apartheid. Albania decided to forfeit their game against South Africa as a protest against racial segregation and so lost 4-0. Naturally, this meant that the whole group dynamic was lost and the resulting placings, somewhat distorted. There were some teams and a small number of strong players who did not compete at all.
The teams competed for the Hamilton-Russell Cup. Matches were scored by game points, with match points being used in the event of a tie-break. The Chief Referee was International Arbiter (IA) Harry de Graaf. 360 players took part, including 35 grandmasters and 66 international masters.
As was customary, A FIDE congress was held during the Olympiad and the major news concerned the retirement of President Folke Rogard after 21 years of service. He was to be replaced by former World Champion Max Euwe and this appeared to be a universally popular decision. Another important issue was the presentation of a proposed new system for the award of FIDE Grandmaster and International Master titles; the congress adopted in full the report submitted by a committee comprising Svetozar Gligoric, Professor Arpad Elo and the Vice President, Mr Dorazil.
The tournament was very well attended by the public, particularly on the day that Boris Spassky played Bobby Fischer, with an estimated 3000 spectators turning up ( - Spassky won).

Individual performances
World Champion Boris Spassky took the best score on board one (79.17%) and won a suit as a prize. Bobby Fischer finished a close second with 76.9% and Bent Larsen a close third with 76.5%.
Tigran Petrosian extended his amazing run of unbeaten Olympiad games to 90 (won 58, drawn 32).
Viktor Korchnoi lost only one game - as a result of oversleeping he defaulted to the Spaniard, Diez del Corral. There was no satisfactory explanation as to why team captain Paul Keres or one of Korchnoi's team-mates could not have telephoned his room when noticing he was a few minutes late.
Oscar Panno drew a record 15 games; however this may be partially explained by his accommodation. Siegen is a small place and many competitors were housed in the surrounding area. When Korchnoi asked Panno where he was living, his reply was "in a pure field".


Final Groups B-E
Of the remaining Final Groups, the top 3 finishers were as follows;
Group B ... 1st Israel 2nd Poland 3rd Australia.
Group C ... 1st England 2nd Philippines 3rd Iceland.
Group D ... 1st Switzerland 2nd Albania 3rd Peru.
Group E ... 1st New Zealand 2nd Rhodesia 3rd Turkey.

Saturday, November 8, 2008

Dresden 08

Olympiad Men

New Zealand Rank 72 out of 157 rating average: 2370
Australia rank 52 rating average: 2488

Top 3
Russia rating average: 2756
Ukraine rating average: 2729
China rating average: 2714

Olympiad Women

New Zealand Ranked 76 out of 119 Rating average: 1912,
Australia ranked 54 rating average: 2122 A. Toth is team captain

Top 3
Russia rating average: 2491
Ukraine rating average: 2486
China rating average: 2486

World Blitz Championship


First place and the $68,000 was snapped up by Lenier Dominguez-Perez, a talented young GM from Cuba, who scored 11.5/15 against the big boys. The time control was the classical 5 min with no increment.

The other shock of the tournament was the poor result by Judit Polgar finishing in last place.

Here is the chessbase article with the crosstable.

http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=5005

The Follwing position is from the game Gelfand-Dominguez.

the game continued

19...Nxe4 black could play Qxd5 but white regains the queen and wins material by Nxf6+ and the pin along the e-file stops black from capturing the knight. 20.Rxe4?? and Gelfand resigned probably embarassed having just dropped his Queen for free . One of the great skills blitz helps with is quick board vision and sometimes even the best in the world are also only a half move away from terrible blunders.



Thursday, November 6, 2008

SIM Freeman

SIM Michael Freeman made the Taranaki Daily News on October 4 here is the link to this interesting article.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/4715560a6551.html

Chess Olympiad 12th-25th November

Looking back at the last Olympiad in Italy 2006 New Zealand teams had a mixed result. The Open team was seeded 79th in 149 teams and finished 91st. The women's team was seeded 84th and finished 80th in 108 teams. One highlight was the NZ Open team almost drawing with the strong American team in round one.
Some notable omission's from the open team for this Olympiad are the strong IM's Garbett, Ker and Wang.
The womens's team will have strong chances to improve on their last Olympiad with top board Helen Milligan representing NZ for the first time and Maroroa and Fairley gaining in experience from the previous olympiads, it is probably NZ's strongest women's team in a long time.

The New Zealand teams are confirmed (in board order) as:
Open Team: GM Murray Chandler, IM Russell Dive, FM Robert Smith, FM Roger Nokes, and FM Stephen Lukey. Team Captain: Hilton Bennett.
Women's Team:
WFM Helen Milligan, WFM Sue Maroroa, Judy Gao, WCM Vivian Smith, WFM Natasha Fairley. Team Captain: John McDonald.

Official Website
www.Dresden2008.com

Otago Daily Times

Palmerston North's Club Champion Justin Davis who recently participated in the Kaikoura International Open has had a game of his published in the Otago Daily Times. Here's the link for the online version.
http://otagochess.wikispaces.com/ODT081104

Topalov - Kamsky

Fide in their quest for more money let Kamsky's manager prolong things too long by letting too many deadlines go by. Will the match really be played this month, unlikely. Is Kamsky going to give his spot to Shirov by not accepting certain match conditions, this is a strong possibility.
At least things are moving forward now.

http://www.fide.com/component/content/article/1-fide-news/3489-challenge-match-back-on-track

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Topalov-Kamsky Match


Today is the deadline for Kamsky's Manager to finalise the Bid for the match and avoid having it played in Topalov's home country. Anand's challenger is to come from this match and it is due to begin in less than a month.
Is Kamsky's manager having trouble getting the money or is this a form a pyschological warfare to throw Topalov off, time will tell.
Here's the link

Monday, November 3, 2008

Palmerston North Club Championship

The A and B Grade's are Double Round Robin played at a time control of 90 + 5.
These two games were the critical match-ups for the first cycle as each player going into this game was undefeated.

Van Vuuren,J - Visser,F [C00]Palmerston North B Grade Championship (5.4), 23.10.2008
1.e4 e6 2.Nc3
2.d4 d5 Is a normal french beginning the game continuation is rare
2...a6
This move is unnecessary better is 2...d5
3.Nf3 c5 4.a4
4.d4 Would lead to a Taimanov sicilian
4...Nc6 5.Bc4 Nf6 6.e5?!
Better is normal development with 6.0-0
6...Ng4 7.Qe2 Qc7 8.d3 Ngxe5 9.Nxe5 Nxe5
9...Qxe5This would force a better development for black's pieces
10.0-0 Nxc4 11.dxc4 Be7 12.Qg4 g6 13.Bh6 d6 14.Qf3 Bd7 15.Rad1 Bc6 16.Qh3 0-0-0 17.Bg7
17.Nd5! looks good for white
17...Rhg8 18.Qxh7 Bg5 19.h4 f6
19...Bxh4 keeping the pawn
20.hxg5 Rxg7 21.Qh3 f5 22.Qe3 Qe7 23.Rfe1 Re8 24.b3 Rh7 25.f4 Kb8 26.Rd3 e5 27.fxe5 Qxe5
27...dxe5 Creating a strong central pawn formation to keep a space advantage
28.Qxe5 Rxe5 29.Rxe5 dxe5 30.Rd8+ Kc7 31.Rg8 Kd6
31...Rd7 32.Rxg6 Rd2 Activating the rook and the position is equal
32.Rxg6+ Ke7 33.Nd5+ Bxd5 34.cxd5 e4 [34...Kd7] 35.Rf6 e3 36.Rxf5 Kd6 37.c4

37.... Rh1+?
Black tries a tactical trick which is flawed better is 37...Re7 38.Rf6+ Kd7 39.Kf1 Black's e pawn is not dangerous and White is a safe two pawns up.
38.Kxh1 e2 39.Rf6+
1-0

King,M (1853) - Davis,J (1967) [B01]Palmerston North Championship (5.1), 24.10.2008
1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Nf6 3.d4 Bg4 4.f3 Bf5 5.Bb5+ Nbd7 6.c4 e6 7.dxe6 fxe6
7...Bxe6 8.d5 Bf5 9.Nc3 Bb4 10.Nge2 0-0 11.Bxd7 Nxd7 12.0-0 Qh4 13.Ng3 Bg6 14.Nce4 h6 15.Bd2 Bc5+ 16.Kh1 Bd4 17.Nf5 Bxf5 18.Be1 Qe7 19.Qxd4 Bxe4 20.fxe4 Qe5 21.Bc3 Rae8 22.Qxa7 Qh5 23.Qxb7 Nc5 24.Qxc7 Nxe4 25.Bb4 Re5 26.Rf3 Rfe8 27.d6 Ng5 28.Rff1 Ne4 29.Kg1 Qe2 30.Rae1 Qxb2 31.Qxf7+ Kh7 32.d7 Qd4+ 33.Kh1 Rd8 34.Rd1 Qb6 35.a3 Rg5 36.Be7 Rxd7 37.Rxd7 Rg6 38.Bh4 Qb2 39.Qf3 Qc2 40.Rd4 1-0 Smeets,J-Smerdon,D/Kochin 2004 8.Bxd7+ Qxd7 9.Ne2 0-0-0 10.0-0 Bc5 11.Nbc3


e5??
Dropping a piece and effectively losing the game, but nobody likes resigning on move 11 so black continues out of sheer momentum.
11...Bxd4+ 12.Nxd4 Qxd4+ 13.Qxd4 Rxd4 14.b3 and the position is about equal.
12.dxc5 Qc6 13.Qb3 Qxc5+ 14.Kh1 e4 15.Qb5 Qxb5 16.cxb5 exf3 17.Rxf3 Bg4 18.Rf1 Bxe2 19.Nxe2 Rhe8 20.Nc3 Ne4 21.Nxe4 Rxe4 22.Bg5 Rde8 23.Bd2 R8e5 24.Bc3 Rxb5 25.Rf8+ Kd7 26.Rf7+ Kc6 27.Rxg7 Rf5 28.Rxh7 Re2 29.Rc1 Kb6 30.Bd4+ c5 31.Bc3 Kc6 32.h3 b5 33.Rxa7 b4 34.Bxb4 Kb6 35.Bxc5+ Rxc5 36.Rxc5 Kxc5
Black has regained the piece but is now four pawns down in a rook ending
37.b3 Kb4 38.Ra4+ Kc3 39.h4 Kd3 40.h5 Ke3 41.Kh2 Kf2 42.Rf4+ Ke1 43.a4 Re5 44.g4 Ke2 45.Kg3 Re3+ 46.Kh4 Rxb3 47.h6 Ke3 48.Rf5 Rb6 49.h7 Rb1 50.Kh5 Rh1+ 51.Kg6 Rh4 52.g5 Ke4 53.Rb5 Kf3 54.Kg7 Rxa4 55.h8Q Ra7+ 56.Kg6 Ra6+ 57.Qf6+ Rxf6+ 58.gxf6 Ke4 59.f7 Kd3 60.f8Q Kc4 61.Qc5+ Kd3 62.Rb3+ Kd2 63.Qe3+ Kc2 64.Qd3+
(64.Qd3+ Kc1 65.Rb1#)

1-0

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Palmerston North Club Championship

Round 6

A Grade Results

D. Davey 1309 - M. King 1853 0-1

S. Holdaway 1580 - J. Davis 1967 0-1

S. Taylor 1605 - J.Kim 1358 1-0

Cap d'Agde



Nakamura who has a reputation as an amazingly fast blit player was to take first place at the Cap d'Agde tournament.

The event was a closed rapid chess tournament in two groups, with the winners playing in quarter-finals, semi-finals and then finals. Nakamura defeated Karpov in the semi's and Ivanchuk in the Finals.

Picture is taken from the Magnus Carlsen Blog

http://blog.magnuschess.com/

World Youth Chess Championship's

For full results and Details goto
http://www.newzealandchess.co.nz/results.html


Purenne,B (1869) - Cheng,B (2088) [B84] World Youth Championship open 12 (5), 23.10.2008

Bobby Cheng was not surprisingly the best performing Kiwi at the latest World Youth Championship. Bobby's name has been appearing in alot of Aussie tournaments lately, has NZ lost another talented youngster to this bunch?

1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 e6 3.Nf3 a6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Qc7 6.Be2 Nf6 7.0-0 d6 8.Be3 Be7 9.f4



9... Nbd7
9...0-0 K. Bischoff who was a commentator at the Anand-Kramnik match and will be playing Queenstown 09 has played this opening with some regularity. 10.g4 Nfd7 11.g5 Re8 12.Bh5 g6 13.Bg4 Bd8 14.Qd2 Nc6 15.Rad1 Nxd4 16.Bxd4 b5 17.Qf2 Bb7 18.Rd3 Nf8 19.b4 Qc4 20.a3 Rc8 21.Qh4 h5 22.Bxh5 gxh5 23.Qxh5 Qxd4+ 24.Rxd4 Bb6 25.Ne2 Rxc2 26.Rfd1 e5 27.Kf1 exd4 28.e5 dxe5 29.f5 e4 30.Qh6 d3 31.Ng3 e3 32.Rxd3 e2+ 33.Nxe2 Rexe2 34.Qxb6 Bg2+ 0-1 Xie Jun-Bischoff,K/Baden-Baden 1992/CBM 033 (34);
9...Nc6 Paying Nc6 would lead the game to a more traditional Scheveningen position.
10.Qe1 b5 11.Bf3 Bb7 12.a3 g6
12...0-0 This would be ok for black it does give white an easy plan of attacking on the k-side. 13.Kh1 h5
In Taimanov position's where black plays the e6 a6 Qc7 setup black players usually don't like to castle and will try to avoid Scheveningen setups, preferring to attack on the wing's while keeping the king in the center. Bobby's setup is a little bit of a mixture because he has played d6 which is not part of the Taimanov setup so strictly speaking his position is some sort of Schevenengen Taimanov hybrid.
14.Qg3?!

White is not really paying attention to black's setup and chooses the same attacking formation as if black has castled, losing all his advantage. Better is 14.Rd1
14...h4

14...Nc5 15.e5 Nce4 16.Qe1 dxe5 17.fxe5 Qxe5 White deos have compensation for the pawn the position is dynamically balanced.
15.Qe1 e5 16.Nb3 0-0-0 17.a4 b4
Correctly keeping the position closed.


18 Na4?!
18. Nd5 is a better move
18...d5!
With this move black takes the initiative and now has the better position.
19.exd5 e4! 20.Bd4?
20.Bd1 is the better option
20...exf3 21.Qxe7 fxg2+ 22.Kxg2 Nxd5 23.Qe1 Nxf4+ 24.Kf2


24...Nd3+! 25.cxd3 Qxh2+
0-1
25...Qxh2+ 26.Ke3 Rhe8+ 27.Be5 Rxe5+ 28.Kd4 Nb6#