Seaport Masters 2012 round 1

Borghetti - Thijssen 0-2

Borghetti played the aggressive Agafonov opening against Thijssen, and the contours of it are still visible in the position after 27 moves. 20-25 28.39-34?! 13-19 29.23-18?! This attack is very dangerous for white. Perhaps 29.33-28 8-13 30.27-22 3-9 31.32-27 (and not 31.43-39? due to 21-27 32.22x31 14-20 33.23x3 17-21 34.3x17 11x44 B+) 21x32 32.38x27 was a more realistic plan for white. 12x23 30.29x18 2-7!! With this unexpected move Thijssen puts pressure on the white outpost. Note that 31.18-13? is not possible because of 7-12! and black always makes a king, for example 32.13x24 14-20 33.24x15 4-10 34.15x4 26-31 35.37x26 12-18 36.4x22 17x46 37.26x17. 31.43-39 14-20 32.33-29 19-23 33.18-13? With little time left white collapses under the pressure. Here 33.27-22! 17x28 34.30-24 23x12 35.32x23 was a good alternative. 8x19 34.29x18 17-22! 35.18-13 19x8 36.27x18 3-9 37.32-28? Another mistake, but the position was lost for white anyway. 26-31! B+

Zhou - N'Diaye 0-2

The young Chinese player had a slight disadvantage in this position due to the weak corner piece on 16. With 37.49-43? he made a subtle mistake. Here 37.48-43! was more flexible, since it leaves more possibilities open to develop the pieces on the right wing. It is very instructive to see how the African grandmaster N'Diaye takes advantage of this. 9-13 38.42-37 17-21 39.43-39 6-11 40.40-35(?) 11-17 If the white piece on 48 had been on 49 now, then white could develop this piece using 49-44 44-40 etc. In the game black will prevent the development of 48. 41.39-34 21-26 Of course 42.48-43? now fails due to 24-30 43.35x24 19x48 44.28x10 48x50 B+ 42.34-30 7-11! 43.16x7 12x1 And now 44.48-43? is not possible due to the combination 17-22! 45.28x17 23-28 46.32x12 13-18 47.12x23 19x48 48.30x10 48x47 B+ 44.27-21 18-22 45.21x12 22-27 46.32x21 26x8?! Strictly speaking 23x41 47.12-7 1x12 48.33-28 26x17 49.28-23 19x28 50.30x10 might have been more accurate here. But this move gives better practical chances. 47.38-32? Here the not so logical 47.37-32! was a much better defence. 13-18! 48.37-31 8-12 49.31-27? Now it is definitely lost for white. 12-17 50.48-43 3-8? With the Ghestem attack 23-29! black could have decided the game. Then white has no better than 51.28-23 19x48 52.30x10 29-33 53.10-5 1-6 and black will win the game. The plan chosen by black looks winning too, but it leaves white a chance for a narrow escape. 51.43-39 1-7! 52.39-34 8-13! 53.34-29? 23x34 54.30x39 7-11 55.39-34? Zhou doesn't sense the danger. Only with the sacrifice 55.35-30! 24x35 56.33-29 11-16 57.39-34 17-21 58.28-22 he could have defended the position. 24-30!! 56.35x24 19x39 57.33x44 11-16! White is completely defenseless in this innocent looking 5x5 position. 58.44-39 13-19 59.39-33 19-24 60.28-23 18x38 61.32x43 24-29 62.43-38 29-34 63.38-33 34-40 64.33-29 40-44 65.29-24 16-21 66.27x16 44-49

Mbongo - Shaibakov 1-1

In this position Mbongo did not play the logical move 37.36-31, perhaps because he feared the temporary sacrifice 18-22 38.28-23 19x28 39.30x10 15x4 40.32x23 21-26. At first sight it looks like black will capture the piece on 31, followed by a break through on the left white wing. But white can play 41.39-33! 17-21 42.40-34! 21-27 43.23-18! 12x23 44.33-29 27x36 45.29x27 with a draw. 37.40-34(?) 21-26 Here the aggressive move 15-20?! was a good alternative, for example 38.30-25 18-23! 39.36-31 12-18! 40.39-33 18-22! and white is under pressure. 38.45-40? Still 38.36-31 was preferable, even though black can play 14-20 39.30-25 18-23 40.25x3 12-18 41.3x21 16x36. 18-23! 39.36-31 14-20! Now 40.30-25? is no longer possible due to 12-18 41.25x3 18-22 42.3x21 22x42 43.37x48 16x36 B+ Therefore white had to sacrifice a piece with 40.28-22 17x28 41.30-25 9-13(?) With 9-14! 42.31-27 12-18! 43.38-33 26-31 44.33x13 31x42 45.13-8 23-29 46.34x23 19x37 Shaibakov could have decided the game. The plan he chooses in the game looks winning too, but Mbongo manages to escape miraculously. 42.25x14 19x10 43.34-30 24-29 44.31-27 10-14 45.40-34 29x40 46.35x44 15-20 47.30-25 12-18 48.44-40 20-24 49.40-35 24-29? 50.39-34 29x40 51.35x44 28-33 52.38x29 23x34 53.32-28 13-19 54.37-32 19-24 55.28-22 14-19 56.22x13 19x8 57.32-28 8-13 58.28-23 24-30 59.27-22 30-35 60.25-20 26-31 61.20-15 31-37 62.23-18

Schwarzman - Golubeva 2-0

After Golubeva's 12-17? Schwarzman played the strong move 44.38-32! Now 22-27? fails due to 45.35-30 27x38 46.47-42 38x47 47.29-24 47x20 48.15x11 W+ And so black had to weaken her position with 3-9 45.35-30 9-14 46.29-24 21-26 47.24x13 18x9 48.30-24 9-13 49.34-30! Black has problems now, since 17-21? is not possible due to 50.24-20! 4-9 (or 14-19? 51.20-14 19x10 52.47-41 36x47 53.30-24 47x20 54.25x5 W+) 51.30-24 W+ 4-9?! This enables white to prepare a break through on the black left wing, but there was no better alternative. 50.48-43! 17-21 51.43-39! 21-27 Here 22-27 52.15-10 14x5 53.39-33 27x20 54.25x3 23-28 was still a draw, but one can imagine that black did not trust this. 52.32x21 26x17 53.39-34 23-28 54.25-20 14x25 55.15-10 17-21! Since 28-33? fails due to 56.10-5! 33-39 57.34x43 25x34 58.5-23 W+ 56.37-31! 36x27 57.10-5 28-33 58.5-37!! 21-26 59.37-5 33-39 60.34x43 25x34 61.5-23 22-28 62.23x16 34-40 63.16-11 40-45 64.11-50 9-14 65.50-6 26-31? Until now Golubeva has defended her position flawlessly. But the last move was a mistake. It was possible to play 45-50! 66.24-20 14x25 67.43-39 50x33 68.6x39 13-18! with a draw, for example 69.39-34 18-22 70.34-39 22-27 71.39-43 27-31 72.43-34 31-37! 73.34-23 37-42 74.47x38 26-31 etc. 66.6-50 13-18 67.50-28? Apparently this move is not winning, but for humans this is very difficult to see. The winning move was 67.50-6! Then 45-50 68.24-20 14x25 69.43-39 50x28 70.6x39 is lost for black, for example 18-23 71.39-34! 23-28 72.34-39 28-32 73.39-43 32-37 74.43-48 25-30 75.48x25 31-36 76.25-14 W+ 45-50 68.28x5 50-17 69.24-20 17-21 70.43-39 21-17 71.39-34 17-8 72.20-15 8-13 73.5-14 13-2? With 13-8! a draw was still possible, for example 74.15-10 8-3 75.14-25 31-37 76.34-29 3-12 77.29-24 37-42 78.47x38 12-21 79.38-33 21-8 80.25-30 8-17 81.33-29 17-28 82.10-5 18-23 83.29x18 28-33 84.24-19 33-24 = But who would be able to discover such an opportunity with only a couple of minutes time left? 74.15-10 2-7 75.34-30 18-22 76.30-25 22-27 77.10-5 31-36 78.14-46 7-29 79.5-37 29-18 80.37-42 18-4 81.46-10

Silva - Georgiev 0-2

World champion Georgiev won quickly after 32.38-33? 9-13! 33.42-38 20-25! Now white has no decent move to make the exchange, for example 34.49-44? fails due to 25x34 35.39x30 22-28 36.23x32 13-19 37.24x22 17x50 B+ And so he had to play the terrible positional move 34.39-34 17-21 35.43-39 11-16 36.49-44 14-20 37.48-42 22-28 38.33x22 18x27 39.37-32 2-8 40.39-33? A mistake in an already lost position. 13-19! And Silva did not await 41.24x2 3-8 42.2x31 26x50.