Author: Kurt Utzinger
Date: 03:21:35 04/30/01
This time, I activated the option anti-human but the game (notation and comments
below) ended in a draw. So I have played once CT_14 and three times GT_2 on
tournament level and the result is: 2-2 without using any anti computer
strategy. Is it possible that the very clear and positional style of the Tiger's
makes things easier for human beings?
[Event "Gambit Tiger 2 40/40"]
[Site "Switzerland"]
[Date "2001.04.29"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Gambit Tiger 2.0"]
[Black "Utzinger, Kurt"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B22"]
[WhiteElo "2500"]
[BlackElo "1993"]
[Annotator "2001-04-29"]
[PlyCount "121"]
[EventDate "2001.??.??"]
{White: Gambit Tiger 2.0 P_III 800/128, 48 MB hash 4-men and partly 5-men
TB's, cache size 16 MB Book: User Engine book ct.tbk Anti human play:
activated Style: normal Time control: tournament 40/40 + 40/40 Played under
Rebel Tiger II-GUI } 1. e4 c5 {The first two games against Gambit Tiger 2.0
ended with a draw. So I made a trial to play the sharp Sicilian defence.} 2.
Nf3 e6 3. c3 {Having activated Gambit Tiger's option anti-human, I could not
understand that the program played this - in my opinion - rather harmless
continuation.} 3... d5 4. exd5 Qxd5 5. d4 Nf6 6. Na3 a6 {Already being out of
book I decided for this locigal move that prevents Na3-b5 and Bf1-b5.} 7. Nc4
Nbd7 {Forced in view of the threat Nc4-b6.} 8. a4 {In order not to allow b7-b5.
} 8... b6 {Only 20 seconds for this move, but is there another possibility to
avoid White's a4-a5?} 9. Be2 Bb7 10. O-O Be7 11. Bf4 {White last book move}
11... O-O {For the last three moves serving the own development I needed not
more than 80 seconds.} 12. dxc5 Bxc5 13. Qxd5 {Indeed somewhat surprising that
Gambit Tiger is exchanging queens. The anti-human option has obviously too
less influence in this situation. Never had I expected this move.} 13... Nxd5
14. Bg3 {Up to now it was very easy to find good moves. In spite of the
missing queens this middle game position is very tricky. Where are the best
places for the own pieces? What pieces should be kept on the board? And what
about the pawn structure? White has a pawn majority on the queen's side that
can become very dangerous. I knew from experience that only utmost attention
on my part could avoid an unnecessary disaster.} 14... N7f6 {Nearly 10 minutes
went over to form a suitable plan. And in such positions you need a plan. The
strategy "to play from move to move" seldom works. With Nf6 my well posted Nd5
is protected. Furthermore Black looks for Nf6-e4 to obtain the pair of bishops.
And eventually the rooks obtain good perspectives on the squares c8 and d8.}
15. Nfe5 Rfd8 {The line mentioned below is perhaps even stronger. But after 15.
..Nf6-e4 I had no good idea how to anwer 16.Bg3-h4 and so I put the rook to d8
to avoid Ne5-d7.} (15... Ne4 16. Nd7 Nxg3 17. hxg3 Rfd8 18. Nxc5 bxc5 19. Bf3)
16. Bf3 Rac8 {A fast and logical decision.} 17. Rfd1 Ba8 {Now the pin Bf3-b7
is neutralized. In most cases it is a good policy to let have the own pieces
protected.} 18. Kf1 {For me a rather difficult situation. My pieces are
optimally placed and the question is: what to do without weakening the
position?} 18... Kf8 {In the analysis after the game, using the ChessBase-GUI,
Gambit Tiger suggested 18...Nd7 a good move that I had not even considered. I
was about to play 18...a5 when I changed my mind. To centralize the king looks
sound.} ({Gambit Tiger 2.0:} 18... Nd7 19. Nxd7 Rxd7 20. Rd3 Rdd8 21. Rad1 b5
22. axb5 axb5 23. Na5 Bb6 24. Nb3 b4 25. Bh4 {0.28/12}) 19. a5 {That came as a
real surprise, leaving me not much choice. I began to feel uncomfortable.}
19... b5 20. Nb6 Nxb6 21. Rxd8+ (21. axb6 Rxd1+ 22. Bxd1 Bb7 23. Bf3 Bxf3 24.
Nxf3 Bxb6 25. Rxa6 {leads to the position in the game.}) 21... Rxd8 22. axb6
Bxf3 23. Nxf3 Bxb6 24. Rxa6 Nd5 {What else?} 25. Ne5 {Although material is
equal, it seemed to me that White has somewhat improved his position. Anyway,
I was unable to find a clear way to neutralize White's small but sensible
advantage. Fortunately, I had enough time to study the position more deeply.
And this was good because at first glance I wanted to play 25...f6 until I
perceived the strong answer 26.c4.} 25... Bc7 (25... f6 26. c4 bxc4 27. Nxc4
Bd4 28. Rxe6) 26. Ra7 Bxe5 {
The rather passive alternative 26...Rc8 did not find my approval.} 27. Bxe5 f6
28. Bg3 {Again an important moment. White threatens to play Rb7 and my first
idea 28...Rc8 29.Rb7 b4 does not work as White plays 30.Bd6 and not 30.cxb4.
This is a typical example where a computer sees the correct move 28...Ne7 at
once wheras human beings need some time to come to the same conclusion.} 28...
Ne7 {Allows Black's rook to go to d5.} (28... Rc8 29. Rb7 b4 30. cxb4 Rc1+ 31.
Ke2 Rc2+ 32. Kd3 Rxb2) 29. Rb7 Rd5 30. Ke2 e5 {
Makes the enemy B immobile for one move.} 31. f3 {White now threatens Bg3-f2,
followed by b2-b4 and Bf2-c5 when it will no longer be possible for me to
defend the b5-pawn. What can I do against this plan? The question was whether
White's position really was so overwhelming as to yield a win without any
difficulty. Wherein then do Black's chances lie? I came to the conclusion that
only a rook ending may save the game and so the following moves are more or
less forced.} 31... Ng6 32. Ke3 {
Intends to drive away the Rd5. Black has no choice.} (32. b3 Nf4+ 33. Bxf4 exf4
34. c4 bxc4 35. bxc4 Rg5 36. Kf2 Rc5) 32... f5 {
The first threat of Black in this game is f5-f4.} 33. Ke2 Nf4+ {In the analysis
after the game I noticed that GT_2 would have preferred the stronger 33...h5,
again a move that I had overlooked.} ({Gambit Tiger 2.0:} 33... h5 34. h4 Nf4+
35. Bxf4 exf4 36. b4 g6 37. Ra7 Ke8 38. Rc7 Re5+ 39. Kd3 Rd5+ 40. Kc2 Re5 41.
Rb7 Kd8 {0.56/15}) 34. Bxf4 exf4 {So we have - as planned - reached a rook
ending that stands outstandinlgy better for White. The main trump of GT_2 is
the pawn majority on the queen's wing allowing to create a passed pawn. These
were my thoughts during the game. Only afterwards did I realize that the
situation was less worse than imagined.} 35. g3 {Most surprising and
unexpected allowing Black to change the pawn structure in a positive manner.
Before this move a pawn ending would have been an easy win for Gambit Tiger.
This is now no longer the case and so I think it is not wrong to give the move
35.g3 a question mark. This is the more correct as 35.g3? makes White's
f3-pawn rather weak. And as long as White has no passed pawn it will seldom be
possible to give up pawns on the king's side.} (35. b3 Re5+ 36. Kd3 Rd5+ 37.
Kc2 h6 38. c4 bxc4 39. bxc4 Re5 40. Kd3 Re3+ 41. Kd4 Re2 42. Kd5 Rxg2 43. c5
Ke8 44. h4 g5 45. hxg5 hxg5 {
is a possible and unclear but of course not forced variation.}) 35... fxg3 {
I was so happy that I did not find the best reply that consisted in 35...Re5
according to the variation given below.} (35... Re5+ 36. Kf1 {
if 36.Kf2 so Rd5 and White has nothing better than 37.Ke2} 36... fxg3 37. hxg3
f4 {a beautiful pawn sacrifice to get counter chances} 38. gxf4 Rf5 39. Kf2 h5
40. Ke3 (40. Kg3 Kg8 41. Re7 Kh7 42. Re5 Kg6 43. Rxf5 Kxf5) 40... Kg8 41. Ke4
g6 {and I cannot see how White should be able to win this ending.}) 36. hxg3 h6
{Black must set about preparing the advance of pawns to obtain enough counter
chances.} 37. b3 g5 {Perhaps 37...f4 would still have been the correct move.
But I had only 1:30 left on my clock and did not want to go for complications
in this phase.} 38. Ke3 (38. Rh7 Rd6) 38... Kg8 {
So White's rook cannot go to h7.} 39. c4 bxc4 40. bxc4 Rd1 {For me the only
move. Black must not allow the opposite king to support the strong passed
c-pawn.} 41. Rb5 Rc1 42. Kd4 Rd1+ 43. Ke5 {At this moment I was disappointed
because it seemed to me that White should be able to win the ending. So my
only aim was to search for some way in which Black can pose a problem to GT_2.
And eventually I found a solution by giving up a pawn with chances to obtain a
drawn ending.} 43... g4 44. fxg4 (44. f4 Rd3 45. Kxf5 Rxg3 46. Kg6 Kf8 47. f5
Re3 48. Rb8+ Re8 49. Rb3 (49. Rxe8+ Kxe8) 49... Rc8 50. f6 g3 51. Rxg3 Rxc4)
44... fxg4 45. c5 Kf7 {The idea is to give up my pawns on the king's side
against White's strong passed c-pawn.} 46. c6 Ke7 47. Rc5 Kd8 {Just in time.}
48. c7+ Kc8 49. Kf4 Rd4+ 50. Kf5 h5 ({Gambit Tiger 2.0:} 50... Ra4 51. Rc2 h5
52. Kg5 Ra5+ 53. Kh4 Re5 54. Rc6 Rb5 55. Rh6 {1.55/17}) 51. Kg5 Rd3 52. Kh4 Ra3
{This was the position that I had foreseen in the meaning that White should
not succeed in this rook ending. A few moves ago I was not quite sure that
this would work but now I was certain: the game will end in a draw.} 53. Rxh5
Kxc7 54. Rd5 {After 54.Kxg4 Kd6 Black obtains a position in a rook ending that
is known to be draw.} (54. Kxg4 Kd6 55. Rf5 Ke6 56. Rf4 Rd3) 54... Ra4 55. Kh5
Kc6 56. Rd1 Kc7 57. Kg5 Kc6 58. Rd8 Kc7 59. Rd2 Kc6 60. Rd1 Kc7 61. Rd5 1/2-1/2
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