I arrived early for this match only to find that Matt had setup even earlier and, to my surprise, Jorge was there as well.  Now this is unusual, I thought, as Jorge tends to appear just before the start of the game or even late.  He was pacing a bit and thinking.  “What’s the plan?”, I asked.  “I’m thinking of playing a Najdorf,” he countered.  Then tentatively added… “Only thing is, I could get mated…”

I didn’t know at the time if this plan of all out aggression was a good or bad thing; but, it seemed catchy… as the players arrived, they all seemed strangely determined and focused.  I wasn’t worried about Jorge’s little joke… he was loose as always.  But, other team members seemed a little tight… even angry… and no joking.

Just before the match was to start, we were all standing outside and Matt offered, “Good luck with Sergey.”… as Jorge opened the playing room door.  “Sergey?” Jorge questioned.  “Yeah, Sergey is his name.”…  Jorge looked incredulously toward the ground as he turned to enter… “Not Sergey” he mumbled.

I wondered… had he prepared for the wrong Erenburg?

Turns out he knew who he was playing alright.  It’s just Matt’s question reminded him that he had lost to a Sergey (Kudrin) the last time he played.  Call it what you want… superstition, luck, but omens are omens… and Sergey’s are tough players.

SM Jorge Sammour-Hasbun  vs.  GM  Sergey Erenburg  –  Board 1

Jorge’s board one game against Baltimore’s very strong and very hot GM Sergey Erenburg began with a deep think before Jorge made his first move in answer to White’s expected  1.e4… Would he change his mind and play less aggressively?  Naahh!  1… c5 setting himself hostage to the Fates… and they were in a particularly nasty mood.

2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 e6

This was the move that Jorge had planned and after which, he knew that he would undergo a furious White attack.

7. Be2 Nc6 8. Qd2 Be7 9. O-O-O O-O 10. f4 Qc7 11. g4 b5 12. g5 Nd7 13. a3 Bb7 14. f5!…

Position after 14.f5!

This move seems to bust Black’s position as, at first, I could find no games that went well from here.  One game of note was Short – Bacrot, 2000 which ended badly for Black after… 14… Nxd4 15.Bxd4 Rfe8 16.f6 Bf8 17.fxg7 Bxg7 18.Bxg7 Kxg7 19.Qxd6 Qxd6 20.Rxd6 Ne5 21.Kd2 Rad8 22.Rxd8 Rxd8+ 23.Ke3 h6 24.gxh6+ Kxh6 White’s extra pawn assures him of victory.

But, for some reason I kept looking around and came up with this correspondence game,  Kovacs – Dorner, 1990, which led me to investigate it’s very strange line…

14… b4 15.axb4 Nxb4 16.fxe6 Nc5 17.exf7+ Kh8

Analysis position after 17…Kh8

I must admit that, at first, I thought this position was a joke… but it was correspondence and it was also two fairly strong players… Now, Black is threatening the e-pawn and has defended d5 fairly well.  He also may have an attack if White doesn’t play carefully.  Fritz considers 18.Kb1… or the paradoxical 19.Rdf1… as best with a half pawn advantage to White… who is currently up two real pawns.  But, White fumbled the ball to what should be an equal game with the natural 19.Rhf1… to protect the Rook from capture should the e-pawn fall.  Black continued in nice attacking style…

18.Rhf1? Qa5 19.Bc4 Nxe4 20.Qe2 Qa1+ 21.Nb1 Rac8 22.c3 Bd5 23.Bxd5 Nxd5 24.Nb3 Nexc3 25.bxc3 Rxc3+ 0-1

Analysis, Final position after 25…Rxc3

I was impressed with this game and it seemed to give Black chances to complicate that were missing in Jorge’s game.  However, why didn’t White just win the b-pawn after…  14… b4 15.Nxc3 Bxc3 16.axb…  This troubled me since, after all, this was correspondence…

Analysis position after 16.axb

I offer a sample line from Fritz to show the complexities here…

16… Rfb8 17.Rhg1 Ne5  18.f6 Bf8 19.fxg7 Kxg7 20.Kb1 Qb7 21.Qd4 Qxb4 22.Qxb4 Rxb4 =

Of course, there are many alternate lines and I ran through a few of them… But, I found that Black was holding on with chances to win for both sides.  Something to think about…  else this line, after White’s 13.a3… seems busted if you look at most over the board games.

Jorge’s game went the losing route of every reasonable OTB game I saw with this line.

14… Nxd4 15.Bxd4 exf5 16. exf5…

Position after  16.exf5!

Don’t buy the hype on 16… Bxh1 in this position.  It is just too weakening of the white squares, especially d5.  Here’s the line Fritz considers best…

16… Bxh1 17.Rxh1 Qd8 18.Rg1 h6 19.Bf3 Rb8 20.Rg4 Re8 21.Bd5+ Kh8 22.Be3 Ne5 23.Rh4 Bf8 and it’s mate in 6…

Mate in 6, analysis after 24…Bf8

The trouble with taking the exchange is that Black must give it back at some point and will be losing.  If he doesn’t, the attack is too strong.  The game continued with the best move…

16… f6 17. Rhe1 Ne5 18. g6 hxg6?!

18…h6 gives White a large advantage in the endgame… 19.Be3 Re8 20.Nd5 Bxd5 21.Qxd5+ Kh8… but at least he makes it to the endgame.

19.fxg6 Nxg6?

Position after 19…Nxg6?

This loses quickly… Black should choose the slower loss, with chances… 19…f5  White is on top, but maybe… 20.Qe3 Bh4 21.Rg1 Qe7 22.Rdf1 f4 White was threatening Rf4 followed by Qh3 and winning.  23.Rxf4 Rxf4 24.Qxf4 Rf8 25.Qd2… and White has won a pawn with a technical struggle ahead.

Analysis position after 25.Qd2

This is not an easy win as 25…Rf6 seems to force 26.Bxe5… to save the pawn and Black has gained the dreaded two Bishops… who knows.

After the game move, GM Erenburg makes it seem easy…

20. Rg1 Ne5 21.Qh6 Rf7 22. Rd3!!…

I don’t want to brag… but I am very proud to say that I predicted this move as I was watching…  really… I have witnesses… I guess if you can’t play this well, you can at least enjoy life vicariously.  Of course, other moves win easily too… but this was pretty and probably fastest.

Position after 22.Rd3!!

Positions like this are why we all play chess… if you’re not on the losing side of course.

22… Bf8 23. Rh3 Re7 24. Qxf6…

White has his pawn back and will mate…  for the record…

24. Qxf6 Qd7 25. Qh6 Qf5 26. Qh8+ Kf7 27. Rf1 Qxf1+ 28. Bxf1 Ng6 29. Qh5 Re1+ 30. Kd2 Rxf1 31. Rg3  1-0

Final position, after 31.Rg3

Boston (0-1)

Well, I can’t say this made us very happy.  But, Congratulations to “Sergey” anyway… just a great, clean, attacking game.  I think I understand what’s going on now… Jorge is allergic to “Sergeys”.  Maybe some Benedryl might be the answer.

Well, most of the time the first game to finish sets the tone for the night… but, not tonight.  I wouldn’t compare this match to the Red Sox comeback from 7-0 with 2 outs in the 7th … maybe the 3rd though.  A loss, especially on board one, can often cause the other boards to press too hard.  It happened in the Philadelphia match… I guess experience is a great teacher.  The team played with great poise on all remaining boards.

I especially liked Denys’s board two game… such a wonderful space advantage.  Quantum physics tells us that from empty space matter can magically appear… In chess, combinations appear.

SM Denys Shmelov  vs.  IM Larry Kaufman  –  Board 2

This was my favorite game of the night.  First, let me say that IM Kaufman is as knowledgeable in the openings as anyone.  Also, I am a big fan of his book “The Chess Advantage in Black and White”.  I taught a class at our local club using it and, Larry, if you happen to read this, please let me know why it went out of print.  My copy is getting old and I would buy several just to have it when I need it.  Ok, enough frustration vented… Denys shows that he is no slouch either… let’s look…

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. f3 d5 5. a3…
Following game 2 of the ongoing World Championship match… Kramnik played 5…Bxc3 here.

5… Be7 6. e4 dxe4 7. fxe4 e5 8. d5 Bc5 9. Nf3…

Position after 9.Nf3

I was surprised to see that the most popular move from this position is the wild 9… Ng4.  Fritz gives Black a nice advantage after this move.  However, experience shows equality after something like… 10.Na4 Bf2+ 11.Ke2 b5 12.h3 bxa 13.hxg4 Bg3 14.Rh3 Bf4 15.Bxf4 exf  16.Qd4 f6 17.Rh4 O-O 18.Kd2… =

Analysis position after 18.Kd2

What a mess… but equal.  There are many other variants off this… I wonder what Denys was planning.  Maybe that’s why IM Kaufman chose the quieter…

9… Bg4 10. Bd3 O-O 11. h3 Bxf3 12. Qxf3 c6 13. Bg5…

The idea of pinning the Knight seems strong, it delays Black’s play and even when it becomes unpinned the Bishop controls key squares.  In Sammour-Hasbun – Gareev, 2008 New England Masters… White never pinned the Knight, playing an early g4 and went on to lose.  So, maybe Denys is on to something.

13… Nbd7 14. O-O-O Rb8

Position after 14…Rb8

I could find no other games with this move.  Lemer – Ivanov, 1990 went 14… a6  15.Rhf1 Qc7  16.Kb1 cxd5  17.exd5 b5 and Black went down in flames.  But, it makes some sense to just blow open White’s King’s position.  IM Kaufman’s move never seems to get off the ground.

15. Bc2 Qc7 16. Qg3 Rfc8 17. Rhf1 Ne8 18. b4…

Position after 18.b4

Black is now faced with a critical choice… both of which seem to lead to a large advantage for White.  On 18… Bd4, Denys told me after the game that he intended 19.Rxd4…   This does, indeed, look crushing.  However, a quick run through Fritz shows equality in this line.  For example,

19… exd4 20.Bf4 Qb6 21.Na4 Qa6 22.Bxb8 Qxc4  and Black has a small edge… so, instead, 22.Qd3 Nc7 23.Bg3… is equal but, Black is still up an exchange.

Analysis position after 22…Qxc4

It seems that best is 23.Qf2 Nef6 24.Bxa7 d3 25.Nb2 Qxc2 26.Qxc2 dxc 27.dxc Rxc6 28.Rf2 Nxe4 29.Rxc2 =

Therefore, best after 18…Bd4 is, again, 19.c5… which forces Black to sacrifice a piece on c5 as in the game.

18… Bf8 19. c5 Nxc5

This is forced as 19… f6 20.d6 Qd8 21.Bb3+ Kh8 22.Qg4… White threatens Qe6… and mate.  So, 22… fxg 23.Qxd7… and all is lost.

Analysis position after 23.Qxd7

The nice point is… 23… Nf6 24.Qe6 Qe8 25.Rxf6…  After the game move…

20. d6 Bxd6 21. bxc5 Bxc5 22. Bb3…

Black cannot defend f7 and the game is lost…

22. Bb3 Qa5 23. Rxf7 Kh8 24. Bh6 Bxa3+ 25. Kc2 g6 26. Rdd7  1-0

Final position after 26.Rdd7

I just thought that this game deserved a diagram for the final position.  A dominating performance by Denys.   I think I’ll start a new tradition,  if you will forgive the oxymoron, and give this game my Game of the Match award.  Congratulations Denys… you’ve won a free ticket to the Boston Blitz Match of your choice.  Boston (1-1)

And now to the most important game of the match.

NM Ilya Krasik  vs.  FM Ralph Zimmer  –  Board 4

It seems that for the Blitz to be assured of a win, our fourth board must score at least a half point.  Consequently, Ilya’s game is always the focus of much attention.  Usually, he has us holding our hands over our eyes, crossing our fingers and toes, and hoping that he knows what he is doing as he plays the sharpest, and sometimes shakiest, lines.  Not so this match.  In fact, I was quite confident about his game as he seemed in control the whole way.  Let’s see what Fritz thinks…

1. d4 d5 2. c4 Nc6 3. cxd5 Qxd5 4. e3 e5 5. Nc3 Bb4 6. Bd2 Bxc3 7. bxc3 Qd6 8. Bd3 Nf6 9. f3 O-O 10. Ne2 Re8 11. O-O e4 12. fxe4 Nxe4 13. Qc2…

The first new move in a rather unambitious opening for Black.

Position after 13.Qc2

In the games I looked at, White usually exchanges the white squared Bishop for the Knight followed by Ng3 and e4.  Ilya wants to win and so avoids Bishops of opposite color… perhaps the correct choice.

13…Nxd2

Fritz prefers 13… Qe7 to force the exchange on e4 else White would be required to move his Queen’s Bishop and interfere with his Rook development.  However, due to White’s space advantage, Fritz rates this position +/-.97… quite a decent opening for White so far.

13… Nxd2 14. Qxd2 Bg4 15. e4 Rad8 16. Nf4 Qh6 17. Rae1 Ne7 18. Qf2 c6 19. Bc4 Rf8 20. Re3 b5 21. Bb3 a5

I find no flaws in the above moves for either player.  White has skillfully built on his control of the center and increased his advantage to the point where Fritz believes he is winning.  Let’s take a look at some Fritz lines.

Position after 21…a5

Analysis by Fritz 9:

1. +-  (1.95): 22.Nd3 Be6 23.Nc5 Bxb3 24.axb3 f5 25.Rf3 b4 26.c4 f4
2. +-  (1.95): 22.Rg3 Bd7 23.Nd3 Be6 24.Nc5 Bxb3 25.axb3 f5 26.Rf3 b4 27.c4 f4
3. +-  (1.58): 22.a4 bxa4 23.Bxa4 c5 24.Rg3 Bc8 25.dxc5 Be6 26.Qe2 Rc8 27.Nh5
4. ±  (1.38): 22.a3 c5 23.dxc5 Nc6 24.Nd5 Ne5 25.Qf4 Qxf4
5. ±  (1.29): 22.h3 Bd7 23.Nd3 Be6 24.Rg3 a4 25.Bxe6 Qxe6 26.Nc5 Qh6 27.a3 f5
6. ±  (1.22): 22.Qg3 Bd7 23.a3 Nc8 24.Nd3 Nd6 25.Nc5 a4 26.Ba2
7. ±  (0.96): 22.Nh3 Be6 23.Rf3 Ng6 24.Nf4 Nxf4 25.Rxf4 a4 26.Bxe6

I kind of like the 22.Rg3 line.  If I had to guess, I would say that Ilya probably missed the fact that after 22… Bd7 23.Nd3…  Black can’t drive the Bishop with 23… a4 due to the check… or maybe he just didn’t want to exchange his nice Bishop.  But, after 23… Be6 24.Nc5 Bxb3 25.axb3…

Analysis position after 25.axb3

White is winning as Black will lose a pawn.  For example, 26… Ng6 allows 27.Rf3… winning the f7 pawn.  And 26…f5 (Black’s best) 27.Rf3 Rf7 28.exf… just loses the f-pawn.

Back to the game…

22.a3…

This is just a wee bit weakening, but White still has a big advantage.

22… Bc8 23. Rf3 Bg4 24. Rg3 Bc8 25. h4 Kh8 26. Rg5 Qd6 27. Nh5 Ng6 28. e5 Qe7 29. Bc2 Be6 30. Ng3 Bc4 31. Nf5 Qxa3 32. Re1 Qxc3?!

Position after 32…Qxc3?!

Well, White has let his advantage slip away.  In fact, Fritz gave Black a pawn advantage after 32… f6.  The move in the game is rated dead equal after…  33.Rg3… as White’s h5 is coming, when  White’s attack on the King is still raging.  Now, Black must play 33… Qb2  but, he panics and…

33… Qb4?? 34. Rb1…

Winning the Queen for Rook and the game.  Ilya slammed his piece on the board,  I wonder if his opponent heard it.

34… f6 35. Rxb4 axb4 36. h5… 1-0

The Knight has nowhere to run. Boston (2-1)

A wonderful game for Ilya and even garnered three Game of the Week points.  Congratulations Ilya on a very nice game.

Meanwhile, my pick for first game to finish in a win for Boston was still going.  Shows what I know.  Marc just crushed his opponents opening and we were all waiting for the early combo that never seemed to come…

FM Ray Kaufman  vs.  SM Marc Esserman  –  Board 3

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Qf3 g6 7. h3 Bg7 8. Be3 O-O 9. O-O-O Bd7 10. Qg3?! Nc6

Right around here I turned to Phillip Nutzman and I joked that Black looks to be three tempi up in a Dragon… Neither of us expected White to last long as Marc is a very aggressive and tactically sharp player.

Position after 10…Nc6

With 10.Qg3?!… White blocked the g-pawn in order to free the f-pawn which, of course, had been blocked by 6.Qf3… Seems to me that 10.g4… was the logical continuation, and here I must admit, I am at a loss… except to say that White really can play anything and still claim some semblance of a game.  Fritz rates the game move equal.

11. Be2 b5 12. a3 Rc8

Fritz rates 12…b4 immediately as best since it slows White’s attack a bit.  Jorge came over, taking a break from his game, and mentioned the following fantastic variation… 13.Nxc6 bxc! 14.Nxd8 cxb2+ 15.Kb1 Nxe4 16.Qf3 Nc3+ 17.Kxb2 Nxe2+

Analysis position after 17…Nxe2+

Jorge had envisioned a mate here somewhere… but, as it turns out there is only an unbalanced equality after… 18.Bd4 Bh6+ 19.Be3 Bg7… with a repetition

or, 18.Kb1 Nc3+ 19.Kc1 Rfxd8 20.Re1 Rab8 21.Bd4 Bh6+ 22.Be3 Bg7 draw

Turns out, Marc saw all this as well and feeling that his opponent would not permit the Queen sacrifice, he preferred the attack after…

12… Rc8! best 13. f4 b4 14. axb4 Nxb4 15. Bf3 Qa5!

Position after 15…Qa5!

Marc came over to me and said that he would not miss any Fritz type moves this time.  His position is overwhelming… up (-3.20) according to Fritz after White’s best 16.Kd2… I went to get a coffee and figured this would be the first game finished.   I didn’t know it at the time, but Marc had a pretty bad cold… and I can only blame what happened next on fatigue.

16.e5?…

Black’s ad zooms to (-3.92)

16… Qa1+

Down to (-3.63)  The killer was 16…Rxc3 17.bxc3 Na2+ 18.Kd2 Nxc3!  Threatening Whites Queen 19.Qe1 Nfd5 20.Nb3 Ne4+ and Black can trade to a won ending or keep the Queens on the board and continue attacking.

17. Nb1 dxe5 18. fxe5 Bf5

Down to (-2.48)  18… Ba4! kept a (-3.31)

19. Kd2 Bxc2 20. exf6 Bxf6 21. Ke2 Qxb2 22.Rd2… (-2.00)

Position after 22.Rd2

Black is still winning, but the ad is way down.  After 22…Qa2 threatening to get the Queen out with check, he is on top.  But…

22… e5? = (0.00) 22. Rd2 e5 23. Nxc2 Nxc2 24. Bd5? Qb5+ Back to ad Black –2.07

24.Be4… was equal… to counter the check with Bd3.

25.Kf2 Qb4?

(-.40) 25… Bd8 kept a win.

26.h4? Nxe3? = (again 26…Bd8)
27. Qxe3 Be7 28. Qxe5?…

White has suicidal tendencies, (-1.44) the Black win is back.

28… Bc5+

(28…Rce8 first prevents Kg3)

29.Kf3?…

(Kg3 is holding) 

29…Rce8 and Black is back on top (-1.47)

Position after 29…Rce8

Black will win the Queen… he will then have a Queen and two pawns for a Knight, Bishop and Rook.  In the endgame Black has enough pressure to win at least one more pawn and after trading the Rooks we reach this strange endgame…

30. Qg5 Re3+ 31. Qxe3 Bxe3 32. Kxe3 Qe7+ 33. Kf2 Rd8 34. Rhd1 Qxh4+ 35. Kg1 Kg7 36. Nc3 Re8 37. Rf2 Re7 38. Bf3 Ra7 39. Ne4 Qf4 40. g3 Qe5 41. Kg2 a5 42. Rd3 h5 43. Rfd2 a4 44. Ra3 f5 45. Nf2 f4 46. Re2 Qc5 47. Rea2 fxg3 48. Kxg3 Qe5+ 49. Kg2 Qg5+ 50. Kf1 Rf7 51. Be4 Qc1+ 52. Kg2 Qg5+ 53. Kf1 h4 54. Rd3 Qc1+ 55. Kg2 Qc4 56. Re2 a3 57. Rdd2 Qc5 58. Bd5 Rf5 59. Ne4 Qb4 60. Ba2 Re5 61. Nf2 Qb7+ 62. Kf1 Rxe2 63. Rxe2 Qf3

Position after 63…Qf3

It only took about 50 moves for Black to get back to (-3.29) winning advantage.  This time even a human won’t miss the wins… White Resigns on move 74.

Well Marc, keep on trying and some day you will never miss Fritz moves.  Great opening though… and great will to win gives Boston the match… I think this is why you got 1 point consideration for Game of the Week… If only  you would have found 16… Rxc3… GOTW was yours and Jorge would sleep better… Boston (3-1)

Good chance we’ll make the playoffs… there just can’t be any more Sergeys out there… can there?  But, really, I don’t believe in jinxes… after all, What’s in a name?