A Chess Hors d'oeuvre by Slim Bouaziz

 

     The following miniature was served up by Tunsian GM Slim Bouaziz (born April 26, 1950) at the1970 Chess Olympiad in Siegen, at the time in West Germany.

     According to a discussion on one web site when his name is translated his first name is probably “Salim” or “Saleem”. 

     He was awarded the IM title in 1975 and the GM title in 1993. He is also a FIDE Senior Trainer and an International Organizer. 

     He was Arab champion in 1986 and 1991. From 1966 to 2006, Bouaziz was on the Tunisian team at the Chess Olympiad 16 times. 

     He participated in five Interzonals. He finished last Sousse Interzonal in 1967, his single win coming against GM Robert Byrne. 

     At the Riga Interzonal in 1979, he tied with then IM Edmar Mednis for 14th (out of 18), but he held the winner, Mihail Tal to a draw. He also held 3rd place finisher, GM Andras Adorjan, to a draw. 

     At the Las Palmas Interzonal in 1982, he tied for 11th-13th (out of 14) with then IM Jaime Sunye Neto and then IMLars Karlsson. 

     He withdrew from the 1985 Tunis Interzonal after six rounds, having scored only a single draw. In the 1999 World Championship Knockout Tournament he lost in the first round to Vasilios Kotronias. 

     Bouaziz was one of the leading African players, winning the Arab Chess Championships in 1986 and 1991. 

     His opponent in the following game was Orestes Rodriguez Vargas (born July 4, 1943) a Peruvian GM (1978). He has won the Peruvian championship five times.

 

[Event "Siegen Olympiad qual-1"] [Site "Siegen FRG"] [Date "1970.09.09"] [Round "5"] [White "Slim Bouaziz"] [Black "Orestes Rodriguez Vargas"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C84"] [Annotator "Stockfish 16"] [PlyCount "39"] [EventDate "1970.09.05"] [Source "Olimpbase"] {C88: Ruy Lopez} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 {[%mdl 32]} a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. h3 Bb7 9. c3 {The usual book line here is 9.d3. Although the text is rareit can hardly be cpnsidered bad.} d5 10. exd5 Nxd5 11. d4 exd4 12. cxd4 Bf6 13. Nc3 Nxc3 (13... Nce7 14. Bg5 Bxg5 15. Nxg5 h6 16. Nge4 Nxc3 17. bxc3 {is equal. Petukhov,D (2350)-Sawyer,B (2172) chess.com INT 2023}) 14. bxc3 b4 {Apparently yh idea of this move is to give whiye an isolated d-Pawn, but it turns out to be tactically faulty.} (14... Ne7 {was tried in Solovjov,S (2434)-Golovchenko,G (2320) St Petersburg RUS 2003} 15. a4 {Better was 15.Ne5!} Ng6 16. Ba3 Re8 {with an equal position.}) (14... Na5 {Is the best way for black to equalize.} 15. Bc2 Nc4 {Black has fully equalized}) 15. Bb2 Qd6 16. Qd3 (16. Qc2 {worked out well for white in the following game.} Na5 17. Ne5 Nxb3 18. Qxb3 a5 19. cxb4 axb4 20. a3 Bxe5 21. dxe5 Qg6 22. f3 Rad8 23. Rad1 Qb6+ 24. Kh1 Qf2 25. axb4 Rd2 26. Rg1 Rxb2 27. Qd3 Bc8 28. Qd8 Bxh3 29. Qg5 h6 {Black resigbed, Mate in 10 is unavoidablw. Paley,A (2007)-Sargissyan,S (2119) Nizhny Novgorod RUS 2009}) 16... bxc3 17. Bxc3 Rad8 18. Rad1 (18. Bc2 { is ineffective at thispoint because after} g6 19. Rad1 {Black's K-side is solidly defended.}) 18... Nb4 {[%mdl 8192] It's a little surprising, but this seemingly forceful move ends up losing a piece.} (18... Ne7 {offers a tougher. defense.} 19. Bb2 Bxf3 20. Qxf3 Nd5 21. Rc1 {White is better, but far from winning.}) 19. Bxb4 (19. Qd2 {This is probably what black expected after which he has at least equality after} c5 20. Ne5 (20. dxc5 Qxd2 21. Bxd2 (21. Rxd2 Bxc3) 21... Nd3 {equals.}) 20... Bxe5 21. Rxe5 cxd4 22. Bxd4 Nc6 23. Rd5 { and black should be able to hold his own after 23...Qg6}) 19... Qxb4 20. Bc2 { Black resigned. He loses a piece.} (20. Bc2 g6 {Forced.} 21. Rb1 {and the B on v7 ios lost.}) (20. Bc2 Rfe8 21. Qxh7+ Kf8 22. Qh8#) 1-0