Round 12

Anton van Berkel - Alexander Baliakin 0-2

11-17

Baliakin has only a marginal advantage with black, and one would expect the game to quickly end in a draw. But it turned out that the white position is less easy to handle than it looks at first sight.

38.38-32 9-13 39.36-31 18-23 40.31-27 13-18 41.37-31

An alternative plan was 41.33-28. Then after 24-29? an immediate draw is possible using 42.27-21 16x38 43.39-33 23x41 44.33x11. But after 17-21! white needs to be very careful. For example 42.48-43? 23-29! 43.43-38 18-23 is completely lost due to 44.39-33 29-34 45.49-44 34-39 46.44-40 39-43 47.38x49 23-29. And 42.48-42? is only barely a draw after 23-29 43.49-44 18-23 44.44-40 24-30 45.25x34 29-33!! and now white has to rely on 46.37-31 33x35 47.31-26 23-29 48.34x23 35-40 49.26x17 40-44 50.23-18 44-50 51.27-22.

2-8 42.49-44

Here 42.48-43 was a tactical way to make a draw. After 17-22 white plays 43.39-34! 24-30 (after 8-13 white plays 44.34-29 23x34 45.33-28 22x33 46.43-39 34x43 47.49x9 13x4 =) 44.34-29! 23x34 45.27-21!! 16x29 46.43-39 34x43 47.25x3 with a draw.

8-13! 43.31-26 23-29 44.44-40 29x38 45.32x43 17-22! 46.43-38 22x31 47.26x37 18-22!

White has been pushed back even further and needs to play very precise now.

48.48-42?

This is already losing. The correct defense was 48.38-32 16-21 49.39-33 21-26 50.33-29 24x33 51.32-28 22-27 52.28x39.

19-23 49.39-33 13-19 50.37-31 16-21 51.40-35 21-27 52.31-26 14-20 53.25x14 19x10 54.42-37 23-28 55.38-32 27x29 56.26-21 29-33 57.21-16 33-39 58.16-11 39-43 59.11-7 10-15 60.37-31 15-20 61.31-26 43-49 62.7-1

Roel Boomstra - Bart Terwel 2-0

27.34-30!

In this game Boomstra's strategy was to attack the black left wing, and he was very successful with it.

25x34 28.40x20 15x24 29.45-40 13-19 30.28-22! 18x27 31.31x22 11-16 32.32-28 7-11 33.33-29 24x33 34.38x29

There is little left of black's left wing, and it's clear that Terwel needs to prepare for a long defense.

11-17 35.22x11 6x17 36.42-38 17-22!?

It's tempting for black to take this forward exchange, but it leaves him with another problem: an inactive piece on 16.

37.28x17 12x21 38.35-30! 8-13 39.29-24! 9-14 40.40-35

diagram 1

Boomstra has found a perfect plan. The three white pieces on 24, 30 and 35 keep four black pieces busy. Meanwhile the black formation 16/21/26 is still powerless.

3-8 41.38-33 8-12?

It was absolutely necessary to play 21-27. Then 42.30-25 19x30 43.35x24 is not dangerous for black because of 14-19! and white cannot make a breakthrough with 44.24-20 due to the exchange 27-32 45.37x28 19-23 46.28x19 13x15. And after 42.48-42 8-12 43.42-38 12-17 44.33-28 both 16-21 and 17-21 are still a draw.

42.30-25! 19x30 43.35x24 13-18 44.24-20 14-19 45.20-15 18-22 46.25-20

Jitse Slump - Bhiem Ramdien 2-0

44.30-24! 19x30 45.35x24

Slump was again successful using a flank attack with few pieces left.

9-14 46.43-38 14-19 47.24x13 18x9 48.29-24 7-12 49.48-42 6-11 50.32-28 22x33 51.38x29 12-18 52.37-32! 11-17 53.32-28 9-14?

A draw was still possible for black, but it required some calculation: 9-13 54.42-37 18-22 55.28-23 22-27 56.23-19 13-18 57.19-14 17-22! 58.24-19 15-20 59.14x25 22-28 etc.

54.42-37 17-21 55.28-23 18-22 56.24-19

Wouter Sipma - Andrew Tjon A Ong 1-1

37.27-22! 18x27 38.31x22

Sipma managed to launch a winning attack on the black right wing. It's actually the weak corner pieces on 15, 25 and 35 that cause the black loss.

11-17 39.22x11 16x7 40.36-31 7-12 41.26-21 12-18 42.31-27 24-29 43.33x24 19x30 44.28x19 13x24 45.21-17 18-23 46.38-33 24-29 47.33x24 30x19 48.48-43 15-20 49.39-33?

It was time to focus on a breakthrough using 49.27-21 20-24 50.21-16! 24-29 51.16-11 29x40 52.11-7 8-12 (what else?) 53.7x29 40-44 54.17-12 44x24 55.12-8! 35-40 56.43-39! and white wins.

20-24 50.43-39 8-13 51.17-12 6-11 52.27-21 24-29 53.33x24 19x30 54.21-17 11x22 55.12-7 13-19 56.50-45 19-24 57.7-2 22-28 58.2-7 28x37 59.7x15 37-41 60.15-47 41-46 61.47-33 46-5

Jan Groenendijk - Bhiem Ramdien 2-0

13-19!

Because 7-11 looked dangerous after 38.30-24 29x20 39.34-30 25x34 40.40x7 11x2 41.22-17.

38.44-39! 8-13?

Ramdien becomes the victim of a hidden tactical trap. The position was still a draw after the not so obvious 14-20! 39.38-32 7-11 40.40-35 29x40 41.45x34 8-13.

39.22-18! 13x22 40.38-33!

and black didn't await 29x49 41.31-27 49x24 42.27x9 W+