Our favorite restaurant was booked up, so we went to Romano’s Macaroni Grill where I had a 10 ounce sirloin steak, buttermilk mashed potatoes and sauteed broccolini. Mrs. T had grilled salmon filet with calabrian honey pepper glaze, spinach and sun-dried tomato pasta. 
With so many teams playing and so many strong players you know there had to be some great games. The Best Game Prize went to the almost unknown Zurab Sturua (born june 8, 1959) from Georgia.
In 1991 he lost to IM Alexander Reprintsev in the 4th round of the 2016 World Over-50 Seniors' Championship to tie for second place behind Giorgi Bagaturov. Sturua finished 3rd on tiebreaks.
He is an FIDE Senior Trainer and was Georgian champion in 1975, 1977, 1981, 1984 and 1985. Won the UAE Open Tournament in 2009 and placed 2nd in the Abu Dhabi Masters (United Arab Emirates) in August 2010.
Even though I couldn’t think of anything I decided to take a look at what the USCF has for sale. I have forgotten more about chess than I ever knew and am not interested in improving my chess, just enjoying it, so instructional books, DVDs and videos are of no interest.
Don’t need a chess set...I have one and the last time I actually fondled chess pieces was 3-4 years ago at a family reunion when I played the wife’s cousin. However, if I was going to buy a set, this is the one I would get:
It’s has a 4 inch King and it would be my choice because it because it most resembles those old Russian sets so it would match up with my big antique Russian clock from the 1950s. The set is on sale for $90.
Software programs are of no interest because my old Fritz 12 and Aquarium 2014 programs with Stockfish and Komodo 10 do the job just fine.
That leaves books. Game collections and tournament books are my favorites and here’s are the ones that looked the most interesting.
1958 Interzonal Chess Tournament Portoroz by Alan Russell. It’s a modern reprint in descriptive notation and costs $14.95. The thing is, all of the games are available at Chessgames.com and you can get higher quality annotations with an engine.
On clearance for $10 is the book Australia at the Yerevan Chess Olympiad by Ian Rogers which looks intriguing. The 1996 Olympiad in Yerevan, Armenia, was exceptionally eventful, both on and off the board. Australia was one of 105 countries who battled through 14 rounds of an Olympiad that was run on the Swiss system, while the city around them was thrown into turmoil a by controversial Presidential election followed by a coup d'etat. Sounds interesting!
For game collections I’d consider Soviet Outcast by Grigory Levenfish at $31.95. It’s out of stock with the USCF, but it’s available at a slightly higher price elsewhere. I have the book in Russian and can play over the games, but that’s about all. In the book Levenfish describes the atmosphere of pre- and post-revolutionary Russia, giving first-hand impressions of some famous players like Lasker, Rubinstein, Alekhine and Capablanca. Also, there are descriptions of the hardships endured by players during the Civil War and World War II.
You know The Nemesis, Geller’s Greatest Games by Efim Geller himself has got to be good. Triple Exclam!!! The Life and Games of Emory Tate, Chess Warrior by Daaim Shabazz at $26.95 just has to be good, too. The late IM Emory Tate was an attacking genius, as well as an intriguing writer and speaker. John Donaldson’s The Life and Games of Frank Ross Anderson (cost $39.95, most all chess books seem pricey these days) looks interesting. In the 1950s the little known Anderson (1928-1980) was one of the best Western players and a giant of Canadian chess.
That’s about all I saw, but in the end, there was nothing that I absolutely had to have.
Let’s go back to Yerevan ‘96. Holding the event there was met with skepticism, but the organizers did everything possible to accommodate participants and things ended up running well.
In fact, the event was said to have been one of the better organized in recent memory. Inlaid chess tables, distinguishable pieces, digital clocks, a well lit venue with plenty of space, and high quality printed bulletins were just some of the luxuries available in Yerevan that distinguished it from the previous Olympiad in Moscow!
The Russian team, captained by Professional Chessplayer’s Association world champion Kasparov, won their third consecutive title. Due to a dispute with the national federation, FIDE world champion Anatoly Karpov was not present. Ukraine, led by Ivanchuk, took the silver, and the United States returned to the medal ranks for the first time since the fall of the Iron Curtain, beating England by half a point on tie break.
The Russian team consisted of Kasparov, Kramnik, Dreev, Svidler, Bareev and Rublevsky.
The Ukranian team was Ivanchuk, Malaniuk, Romanishin, Novikov, Onischuk and Savchenko.
The US team, half of whom were born in Eastern Europe, was made up of Boris Gulko, Alex Yermolinsky, Nick De Firmian, Gregory Kaidanov, Joel Benjamin and Larry. Christiansen.
England’s team was Short, Adams, Speelman, Sadler, Hodgson and Conquest.
The prize winning game was played against another virtually unknown player Rolando Kutirov (born January 23, 1962) who at the time was a Yugoslav IM, but is now a GM (awarded the title in 1996). He retired from international chess in 2002 and just plays national league games. He was formerly known as Rolando Redzepagic.
Zurab Sturua (2560) - Rolando Kutirov (2525)
Result: 1-0
Site: Yerevan ARM
Date: 1996.09.18
Queen's Gambit Declined: Semi-Tarrasch
[...] 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.c4 ♘f6 5.♘c3 e6 6.♘f3 ♗e7 7.cxd5 ♘xd5 8.♗d3 ♘c6 9.O-O O-O 10.♖e1 ♘f6 11.a3 b6 12.♗c2 ♗a6 13.♗g5 ♖c8 14.♕d2 Normally in this line black would play the simple and reliable 14...Nd5, but Kutirov is a creative player and he wants to place his B on d5, but there is nothing to be gained by doing so. 14...♗c4 15.♕f4 ♗d5 16.♕h4 White is trying to set up a K-side attack. 16...g6 Instead of this black might have considered 16...h6 which a few commentators rejected as inferior.
16...h6 Against this Sturua intended... 17.♘xd5 ♕xd5 18.♗e3 Correct is 18.Rad1 with equality. 18...♘b4 In his analysis Sturua did not notice this move after which black gains the advantage. 19.axb4 ♖xc2 20.♖xa7 ♗xb4 21.♖d1 ♖xb2
16...h6 17.♗xh6 is inviting but black ends up slightly better after 17...♗xf3 18.♗xg7 ♘h5 19.♕h3 ♔xg7 20.♕xf3 ♖h8
16...h6 17.♗e3 This is the most solid reply. Black has a number of reasonable continuations. Just one example... 17...♘e4 18.♕h5 ♘xc3 19.bxc3 ♗xf3 20.♕xf3
17.♘xd5 ♘xd5 18.♖ad1 Better was 18.Bxe7 18...♕d6 It would have been better to secure his K-side with 18...Bxg5 19,Nxg5 h5! then plan on playing against white's isolated d-Pawn. Instead he leaves the position ripe for an attack by white.
18...♗xg5 19.♘xg5 h5 20.g4 ♘f4 Black is better. Compare this to the position after white plays his B to b3.
19.♗b3 All black has to do to keep things equal is to defend his B with wither 19..,.Rc7 or 19...Re8. 19...f6 Instead he fatally weakens his Ks position.
19...♗xg5 With the B on b3 this exchange is disastrous. 20.♘xg5 h5 21.g4 and black is in serious trouble. 21...♘f4 22.gxh5 ♘xh5 23.♗xe6 Now if 23...fxe6 24.♖xe6 wins immediately.
20.♕g4 ♔f7 21.♗h6 ♖fe8 Black's position looks solid as a rock, but it isn't...it's dead lost. 22.♖xe6 Engines have zero appreciation for beauty and so rate this move only half a good as 22.Qh3 22...♕xe6 23.♖e1 ♕d6 24.♗f4 ♕d8 Losing outright.
24...h5 This is the monkeywrench in the combination beginning with 22. Rxe6. The engine evaluation is that white is only a P better after 25.♕xc8 ♖xc8 26.♗xd6 ♗xd6 27.♗xd5
25.♕e6 ♔g7 26.♗xd5 g5 27.♕f7 Facing mate in 5 Kutirov resigned. Thankfully humans don't play like engines or we would never have games like this to enjoy. (27.♕f7 ♔h6 28.♘xg5 fxg5 29.♖e6 ♗f6 30.♖xf6 ♕xf6 31.♕xf6 ♔h5 32.♕xg5#) Powered by Aquarium
No comments:
Post a Comment