Georgiev,A. - Schwarzman,A. 1-1 2009.06.16

After the 10th draw in succession the players can start preparing themselves for the tie-break. Today's game was quite interesting. Georgiev engaged once more in a risky surrounding strategy. And yet again it was Schwarzman who gained the advantage. But Georgiev's defensive skills showed no defects, and almost effortlessly he secured the draw.

1.33-29 17-22 2.39-33 11-17 3.44-39 6-11 4.50-44 1-6 5.31-26 16-21 6.32-28 19-23 7.28x19 14x23 8.35-30 10-14 9.30-24 5-10 10.37-31 20-25 11.24-20 15x24 12.29x20 22-27 13.31x22 17x28 14.33x22 18x27 15.26x17 12x21 16.20-15 13-18

diagram 1

Despite some of his earlier attempts almost resulted in a loss, Georgiev again tries to surround the strong black center in this complicated opening. According to the press release he still believes strongly in the white strategy. After the game he has substantiated this with some variants. Of course we are all anxious to learn about these.

17.34-30 25x34 18.39x30 8-13 19.40-34 7-12 20.44-39 11-17 21.30-25 6-11 22.34-30 21-26 23.30-24 14-19 24.45-40 19x30 25.25x34 10-14 26.34-30 14-19 27.38-33 9-14 28.40-34 17-22 29.41-37 2-8 30.43-38 12-17 31.37-31 26x37 32.42x31 23-28 33.49-44 11-16 34.44-40 8-12 35.40-35 17-21 36.31-26 12-17! Schwarzman doesn't allow his opponent to escape with 3-8 37.26x17 12x21 38.36-31 27x36 39.47-41 36x47 40.38-32 47x45 41.32x3.

37.47-42 27-32 38.38x27 21x32 39.33-29 17-21 With this exchange black keeps the position open. This is unpleasant for white, since after this exchange there is hardly any perspective left for white to win the game. Black has a strong defense with the pieces on 3 and 4, and he has almost no weaknesses. The drawback of the exchange is that it removes the weak white corner piece on 26. For white it is now much more attractive to organize the defense with a future 46-41-37. The move 16-21 was an important alternative, since it would leave both players more chances for a victory.

40.26x17 22x11 41.30-25 16-21 42.34-30 11-17 43.46-41

White still has to be very careful. A variant to illustrate this is 21-27 44.39-33 28x39 45.30-24 19x30 46.25x43 13-19! 47.43-39 19-23! (this forces white to make an unpleasant decision on his right wing) 48.29-24 23-28 49.35-30 17-21 50.30-25 18-22 51.41-37 32x41 52.36x47 27-32! and white has big problems to stop the black attack.

21-26 44.39-33 28x39 45.30-24 19x30 46.25x43 17-22 47.35-30 22-28 48.41-37 32x41 49.36x47 18-22 50.42-37 22-27 51.30-25 13-18

diagram 2

52.43-38! Georgiev played very quickly during this phase of the game, as if he wanted to make clear to his opponent that he will never lose a position like this. For the average player it is still quite difficult to defend the white position. A variation to illustrate this is 53.48-42 18-22 54.43-38? 3-8! 55.29-24 8-13 56.47-41 (after the exchange 56.38-33? 28x39 57.37-32 27x38 58.42x44 22-28 the black attack is decisive) 13-18 57.41-36 27-31 58.36x27 22x31 59.25-20 14x25 60.24-19 25-30 61.19-14 30-34 with a very dangerous endgame for white.

3-9 53.48-43 18-22 54.29-24 9-13 55.43-39 13-18 56.38-33! The break-through 57.25-20 14x25 58.24-19 was tempting, but that was still a little dangerous. For example 27-32 59.38x27 22x42 60.47x38 26-31 61.19-14 31-36 and now white has to sacrifice another piece. But after 62.14-9! 4x13 63.15-10 36-41 64.10-4 41-47 65.39-33 66.4-15 47x33 67.15x38 the resulting 4x1 position is a draw.

14-19 57.24x13 18x9 58.25-20 27-31 59.20-14 9x20 60.15x24 31x42 61.47x38 26-31 62.24-19 22-27 63.33x22 27x18 64.38-32 31-36 65.32-28 36-41 66.28-22 18x27 67.19-13