Clerc,R. - Jansen,G. 2-0 (22-03-2003)
In the 7th round of the Dutch championship in Amsterdam I happened to witness the spectacular game between Clerc and Jansen. So far Clerc had produced 6 draws, and so he opens with the very aggressive 1.35-30!
≡ 1.35-30 20-25 2.40-35 15-20 3.45-40 17-22 4.32-28 20-24 5.28x17 12x21 6.33-29 24x33 7.39x28 21-26 8.44-39 16-21 9.49-44 11-17 10.30-24 19x30 11.35x24 10-15 12.38-33 5-10 13.42-38 6-11 14.47-42 8-12 15.38-32 3-8 16.43-38 11-16 17.34-29 1-6 18.28-23
With the next move 18-22! Jansen creates the necessary expansion for his pieces. It also opens up the possibility for a spectacular combination that was demonstrated by Ton Sijbrands. If white plays 19.32-28?!, black can respond with 12-18! 20.23x3 or? 14-20! 21.3x5 13-19 22.5x1 2-7 23.1x27 21x32 24.37x28 20x47 with a winning position for black. Unfortunately, on the 20th move white can also play ≡ 20.23x1 8-12 21.1x27 21x32 22.37x28 26x37 23.41x32 with an equal position. It looks like black can threaten the piece on 24, but that is not really the case: 14-19 24.40-35 19x30 25.35x24 10-14 26.33-29!, and 14-19? is prevented by 27.42-37 19x30 28.29-24 30x19 29.28-22 17x28 30.32x3.
≡ 18-22 19.31-27 22x31 20.36x27 6-11!
Black has to prevent white from playing the central move 21.33-28. That could be achieved by ≡ 7-11, since then 21.33-28? is not possible due to 12-18 22.23x3 13-19 23.24x13 9x18 24.3x20 15x31. But the non standard move ≡ 6-11 is in fact much stronger. Now 21.33-28? is not possible due to the combination 17-22 22.28x6 7-11 23.6x17 13-19 24.24x13 8x28 25.32x23 21x45 26.17x8 2x13. The advantage of 6-11 over 7-11 is that black can make an important exchange on the 21th move.
≡ 21.48-43 17-22 22.27x18 13x22 23.32-28 11-17 24.40-34 14-20
After his next move white gets into trouble. It was probably better to attack the black left wing directly with 25.34-30 25x34 26.39x30 .
25.44-40 21-27 26.37-32 9-13 27.32x21 16x27 28.42-37 10-14 29.50-44
The black position is probably winning now. After the game, the players found the following evidence for that: 13-19! 30.24x13 8x19 31.40-35 (the exchange ≡ 31.37-32 17-21 32.28x8 19x37 33.41x32 2x13 looks indeed very poor for white) ≡ 2-8 32.41-36 4-9 33.34-30 (what else?) 25x34 34.29x40 20-24 35.40-34(?) 24-29! 36.33x11 22x31 37.11x22 27x38 38.36x27, a truly problematic way to win. The move that Jansen chooses is probably still OK. However, from this moment on he gradually loses control over the game.
≡ 13-18 30.37-32 7-11 31.32x21 11-16 32.40-35 16x27 33.34-30 25x34 34.39x30 4-9 35.44-39 9-13 36.24-19 13x24 37.30x10 15x4 38.23-19
Still black has the better position. But as Ndjofang showed, here he should have played 2-7! 39.28-23 7-11. Then black still controls the position, since white can not liberate his right wing with 40.29-24? due to the combination 18x29 41.24x15 12-18 42.33x24 18-23 43.19x28 22x44. After the following exchange white can slowly build towards an ideal attack.
≡ 8-13 39.19x8 2x13 40.39-34 4-10 41.35-30 10-15 42.43-39 20-25 43.30-24 27-31 44.41-37 31x42 45.38x47 22-27 46.28-22 17x28 47.33x31 26x37 48.39-33!
Now 18-22? is not possible due to the elegant 49.47-41 37-42 50.33-28 22x33 51.29x47 W+. And so black must accept a losing endgame.
≡ 12-17 49.33-28 17-21 50.28-23 21-27 51.23x12 13-18 52.12x23 27-32 53.23-18 32-38 54.18-12 38-43 55.12-8 43-49
Here Clerc played very accurately 56. 8-3! The logical move 56.8-2? was not possible, since after 49-16! it is not clear how white should make progress, despite the two pieces more.
≡ 56.8-3 49-35 57.3-26 35x2 58.26x48 15-20 59.48-37*
This move was absolutely necessary to prevent the exchange 20-24 .
So far Clerc has played the endgame perfectly, but the last move is a bit strange. Much more logical was to take the strategic line 2/35 with ≡ 60.37-19. Then black can not force a draw with 7-2 61.19-35 20-24 62.29x20 25x14, because white can simply reply with 63.34-30 14-20 64.47-41! W+
And now it is even a draw after the exchange 20-24 62.29x20 25x14. The white piece on 34 can not move, since the opposition with the piece on 14 must be avoided at all costs. The main problem white is faced with is that as soon as one of the pieces on 46 and 47 crosses the line 16/49, black will get the opportunity to attack piece 34 from the back. It's amazing that both players didn't observe this.
For the second time Jansen misses the opportunity to secure a draw with ≡ 20-24 62.29x20 25x14. There will be no third one...
≡ 64.50-45 19-2 65.29-23 2-13 66.45-50 13-4 67.50-33 4-15 68.33-44 15-4 69.44-35 4-22 70.46-41 22-11 71.35-2 11-50 72.41-36 50-45 73.34-29 45-40
and Jansen resigned. It wasn't a flawless game, but certainly it was one of the most interesting games of the tournament!
© Wieger Wesselink https://10x10.org