After his 1966 championship appearance he transferred to Algeria for his work and omly played occasionally on his holidays.
His only international appearance came in 1966 at the Le Harve e Chess Festival in which defeating GMs Aleksandar Matanovic and Milko Bobotsov and his performance was good enough to earn him an IM norm. As a result, he was invited to play in the Monaco 1967 tournament along side Bobby Fischer, Vasily Smyslov, Efim Geller and other leading players. Unfortunately, two months before it began he tragically died in an automobile accident on a road in southwestern France.
His opponent in the following game was Sylvan Zinsr (1936-2013, 76 years old), a well-known writer for the French chess magazine Europe Echecs. Chessmetrics estimates Rolland's performance rating for this tournament to have been 2568 and his highest ever rating to have been 2510 in 1967, placing him at #173 in the world.
[Event "Le Havre"]
[Site ""]
[Date "1966.04.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Pierre Rolland"]
[Black "Sylvain Zinser"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C94"]
[Annotator "Stockfish 17.1"]
[PlyCount "57"]
[EventDate "1966.??.??"]
{C94: Closed Ruy Lopez: Breyer Variation} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 {Whenever
I play online lower rated opponents invariably play 3.Bc4, but then sometimes
go to rediculous lengths to attack f7. It's true that for lower rated players
the Giuoco Piano is a good recommendation because it is easier to understand
and learn due to its more straightforward nature. The Ruy Lopez is much more
complex.} a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 {This introduces the Closed Ruy Lopez. Black threatens
to win a P.} 5. O-O Be7 {This is the Closed Ruy Lopez. The main option is the
somewhat risky Open Defense (5...Nxe4) which leads to an entirely different
type of play.} 6. Re1 {White's threat is to play 7.Bxc6 and 8.Nxe5} b5 7. Bb3
d6 {The Marshall Attack (7...d4) is very aggressive, but lines have been
discovered that allow white to neutralize it.} 8. c3 O-O 9. h3 {This prepares
to play d4 without allowing the pin ...Bg4. At this point black has multiple
options.} Nb8 {[%mdl 32] This is the rather quiet Breyer Variation, an old
personal favorite from my correspondence days in the 70s. By returning the N,
the B can now go to b7 attacking the e-Pawn.} 10. d3 {The brash 10.d4 is
equally good.} (10. d4 Nbd7 11. c4 c6 12. Nc3 {with equal chances.}) 10... Nbd7
11. Nbd2 {[%mdl 32] The beginning of a long journey that culminates in an
attack of f7!} Bb7 12. Nf1 Nc5 13. Bc2 Re8 14. Ne3 g6 (14... Bf8 15. b4 Ne6 16.
c4 g6 17. Bb2 Bg7 18. a4 bxc4 19. Nxc4 Nf4 20. Bb3 N6h5 {with equal chances.
Tal,M (2625)-Furman,S (2520) Baku 1972}) 15. Ng4 {Engines suggest that white
should operte on the Q-side, but Rolland is going all out for a K-side attack
which seems quite feasible!} (15. b4 Ne6 16. Bb3 Bf8 17. c4 Nd4 {with full
equality.}) 15... h5 {White's strategy pays immediate dividends as this move
fatally weakens his K's position.} (15... Nxg4 {is correct and leads to equal
chances after} 16. hxg4 Bf8 {White has no prospects on the K-sdie and so is
forced to switch to Q-side operations anyway.} 17. b4 Ne6 18. a4 {and black
can equalize with either 18...Bg7 or 18...c5}) 16. Nh6+ {White has a decisive
advantage as Rolland now flawlessly demonstrates.} Kg7 (16... Kf8 17. Ng5 Kg7
18. Nhxf7 Qc8 19. Qd2 Ng8 20. f4 {Black is going to get his guts ripped out.
Here's Stockfish's top line after 5 minutes...} Ne6 21. fxe5 dxe5 22. Bb3 Nxg5
23. Nxg5 Qd7 24. Qf2 Rf8 25. Ne6+ Qxe6 26. Bxe6 Rxf2 27. Kxf2) 17. Ng5 $1 Rf8
18. b4 Ne6 {Rolland now finishes strongly.} 19. Nhxf7 Qd7 (19... Rxf7 20. Nxe6+
{wins the Q.}) 20. Nxe6+ Qxe6 21. Ng5 Qd7 22. d4 Bc8 23. Bb3 Qe8 24. a4 (24.
Qd2 {is more straightforward.} c6 25. dxe5 dxe5 26. Nf7 {Threatening Qh6+} Ng8
27. Nxe5 {Whote is winning/}) 24... Bd7 25. dxe5 dxe5 26. axb5 axb5 27. Rxa8
Qxa8 28. Qd2 Bd6 29. Nf7 {[%mdl 512] The knockout punch. Black resigned} (29.
Nf7 Ng8 30. Nxd6 cxd6 31. Qxd6 Qc6 32. Qxe5+ {wins easily.}) 1-0
No comments:
Post a Comment