Seaport Masters 2012 round 2

Shaibakov - Borghetti 1-1

In this position it is unattractive for white to carry on with 33.40-35 23-28 34.24-19 13x24 35.34-30 25x34 36.39x19 9-14 37.19x10 15x4. Therefore Shaibakov decided to switch to tactical weapons. 33.49-44?! From a positional point of view this move is extremely weak, since white gives up the important formation 38/43/49. However, black cannot take advantage of this. For example 23-28? is prevented by 34.36-31 27x36 35.26-21 17x26 36.34-30 25x45 37.24-20 15x24 38.44-40 45x34 39.39x6, and 9-14? is prevented for similar reasons. And after 11-16 34.26-21 17x26 35.34-30 25x45 36.24-20 15x24 37.44-40 45x34 38.39x17 white is the only player who has chances to win the game. Therefore Borghetti settled for 18-22 34.36-31 27x36 35.26-21 17x26 36.34-30 25x45 37.24-20 15x24 38.44-40 45x34 39.39x19 The resulting 5x5 position is slightly better for white, but the Italian player had no problems to make a draw: 11-17! 40.38-33 7-12 41.43-38 9-13! 42.19x8 12x3 43.33-28 17-21 44.28-23 21-27 45.23-18 3-8 46.37-32 26-31 47.32x21 31-37 48.21-17 37-42 49.38-33 42-48 50.18-12 48-30 51.12x3 30-24 52.33-28 24-19 53.28-22 19-13

Golubeva - Heusdens 2-0

Heusdens played a very radical strategy against Golubeva. But in the end it will turn against him. 41.37-31! And not the logical 41.32-27? because of the combination 12-18! 42.23x12 25-30 43.34x25 2-8 44.12x3 16-21 45.3x29 21x41 B+ 13-18 42.45-40 18x29 43.34x23 16-21!? 44.31-26 12-17 45.23-18! The white attack is gaining strength rapidly, and black can only survive using tactical measures. 14-20! Now after 46.28-23 19x37 47.38-32 37x28 48.33x11 black can already make a draw using 24-29 49.26x17 2-7 50.11x2 20-24 51.2x30 25x45. 46.40-34 24-30? Here 2-7! was much safer. The combination 47.28-23 19x37 48.38-32 37x28 49.33x2 leads to a draw after 24-29 50.34x23 20-24 51.26x17 15-20 52.2x30 25x43 = And 47.44-40 35x44 48.39x50 24-30 49.50-45 30x39 50.33x44 is not dangerous for black, for example 20-24 51.38-33 24-30 52.33-29 15-20 53.29-23 7-12 54.23x14 20x9 55.18x7 17-22 56.26x17 22x2 = 47.18-12! 17x8 48.26x17 19-23(?) This move is definitely losing. But the alternative 2-7 49.32-27 19-24 50.44-40 35x44 51.39x50 30x39 52.33x44 looks hopeless too. 49.28x19 8-12 50.17x8 2x24 51.34-29! 30-34 52.39x19 20-24 53.19x30 25x23 54.32-27 15-20 55.27-21 20-24 56.21-17 23-29 57.17-12 29-34 58.12-7 34-40 59.44-39 40-45 60.7-1 Black can make a king, but it remains trapped on the 'tric trac' lines. 35-40 61.1-6 24-30 62.33-29

Georgiev - N'Diaye 1-1

Georgiev gained a big advantage against N'Diaye, but here he made a miscalculation. 33.33-28? 15-20 34.30-25 Now 20-24? is losing due to 35.34-30! 3-8 (since 12-17? 36.25-20! 24x15 37.30-24 19x30 38.28x8 3x12 39.35x24) 18-23 40.39-33 W+) 36.42-38 and for example 12-17 37.39-34! 17-22 38.28x17 21x12 39.38-33 12-17 40.33-29! 24x33 41.25-20 W+ 3-8! 35.25x14 19x10 36.28x19 13x24 37.27-22!? 18x38 38.42x33 Georgiev tries to wipe out the black left wing, but N'Diaye finds a clever way to defend his position 8-13! 39.34-29 10-15 40.29x20 15x24 41.39-34 13-19!! 42.34-29 and without awaiting 19-23! 43.29x7 1x12 white agreed to a draw.

In the position of the diagram 33.33-29! was practically winning. White threatens to undermine the black center using the exchange 27-22 and for that reason 12-17 and 1-6 are very unattractive for black. For example 1-6? 34.27-22 18x38 35.29x9 3x14 36.42x33 19-23 37.33-29 12-18 38.30-25 15-20 39.35-30 6-11 40.39-33 14-19 (or 11-17 41.37-32! W+) 41.25x14 19x10 42.29-24! and a break through is inevitable. A better alternative seems 1-7. But then white takes the black center in a deadly encirclement using 34.39-33! 15-20 (since 12-17? fails due to 35.30-24 19x28 36.27-22 18x38 37.42x2 23x34 W+) 35.42-38 20-25 36.33-28! etc. The best defense for black is therefore 3-9! (as already noted by Eric van Dusseldorp on the World Draughts Forum) 34.39-33 12-17 35.33-28 1-6 ( 17-22? 36.28x17 21x12 37.42-38! 1-7 38.47-41 7-11 39.41-36! and both 12-17? 40.27-21 16x27 41.32x12 18x7 42.29x18 13x22 43.37-31 26x37 44.48-42 37x48 45.30-25 48x30 46.35x4 as well as 15-20? 40.30-25! and 11-17? 40.37-31 26x28 41.27-22 18x27 42.29x7 are losing for black) 36.48-43 17-22 37.28x17 21x12 38.43-38 6-11 39.38-33 12-17 40.33-28 The situation looks hopeless for black now, but the computer program Kingsrow still sees opportunities for black to make a draw after 26-31! (and not 15-20? because of 41.29-24!! 20x40 42.35x44 W+) 41.27x36 17-21 42.30-24 19x39 43.28x8 9-13 44.8x19 39-43 45.19-14 15-20 46.14x25 43-48 etc.