Author: Amir Ban
Date: 03:30:21 06/16/98
The Dov Porat Memorial tournament ended yesterday. Gofshtein won the tournament
with 5.5 points. I was disappointed to see the game Gofshtein-Avrukh concluded
in a quick draw, when Avrukh as black decided to settle for 5 points without
fighting for the title. Possibly Kaspi can tie for 1st place, but he needed to
win against Kantsler and this looked unlikely when I went home.
I thought I would meet Smirin (who twice lost wild King Indians as black), but
the pairing software thought differently and set me up with Vitaly Golod (ELO
2535), who's like Avrukh another young GM from Beersheva.
The game was drawn, a clear miss by Junior who had excellent winning chances in
the endgame. Overall, this game is the best and the most interesting Junior
played in the tournament, to my mind. It was the only one that featured a
tactical battle and a sharp endgame, and it drew the spectators attention. The
game probably needs a deeper analysis than what I can provide now.
Golod opened a closed Sicilian in what looked to me like an anti-computer setup,
with play on opposite flanks in a locked centre. This is the sort of game where
if you run out of play on your flank, you are crushed on the other. When white
decided to break on the king-side, I felt that Junior was positionally and
tactically prepared, and was comfortable defending in the complications that had
some amusing moments. Reaching the endgame with a pawn and positional advantage,
Junior took some wrong turns and had to swallow a draw.
So Junior ended with 4 points (2+ 1- 4=), with 3 GM draws. I enjoyed this
tournament very much. It had excellent playing conditions and organization, and
the computer was well-received. I found the slow once-a-week schedule very
useful, allowing to learn the lessons from each game. I played with 4 different
test versions, and I will probably keep the last one.
[Event "Dov Porat Memorial"]
[Site "Givataim, Israel"]
[Date "15-June-98"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Vitaly Golod"]
[Black "Junior 4.9"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "?"]
1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 e6 3. g3 {black out of book} Nc6 4. Bg2 Nf6 5. f4 d5 6. e5 Nd7
7. Nf3 Be7 8. d3 O-O 9. O-O Qb6 {I was very worried about this move but it
turned out well as white wasted two moves to deal with it before Junior showed
it knows the queen belongs on c7} 10. Kh1 Rd8 11. Rb1 a6 12. Bd2 Qc7 {not
12...c4 13.d4 and Nxd4 is forbidden} 13. Ne2 d4 14. g4 b5 15. Ng3 Bb7 16. Qe2 a5
{I was happy when Junior preferred this move over Rc8. It makes moves like c4
and Nb4 possible, and if necessary the rook can be recruited to defend the
king-side through a6} 17. f5 {g5 was expected} exf5 {Ndxe5 is another unclear
possibility} 18. e6 fxg4 19. Ng5 {exf7+ Kh8 Ng5 was expected} f6 {offering the
exchange for 3 pawns, but white is not interested} 20. exd7 fxg5 21. Qe6 Kh8 22.
Rbe1 {white has a strong attack based on the abandoned f7 square} Rxd7 23. Bxg5
Qd6 {realizing just in time that Re8 doesn't work} 24. Bxe7 {Rf7 looks better}
Qxe6 25. Rxe6 Nxe7 26. Bxb7 Rxb7 27. Rf7 Re8 {Unbelievable and funny ! Black can
play Ng8 now. If you can't get out of a pin, place yourself in another one !}
28. Rf5 {perhaps Ne4, but things are not going white's way anymore} Rc7 29. Rfe5
Kg8 30. Ne4 {it looks serious for black this time, but ...} c4 {I don't know if
this move is hard, but it's a great move anyway. Black calmly continues the
q-side attack, and incidentally shows that the white king has problems as well}
31. dxc4 bxc4 32. Nd6 Rd8 33. Nb5 d3 34. cxd3 cxd3 35. Nxc7 d2 36. Re1 dxe1=Q
37. Rxe1 Nf5 {First slip: Golod pointed out that black wants to keep the rooks
on in view of the bad position of the white king} 38. Re8 Rxe8 39. Nxe8 g3
{Second slip: Junior wants to establish the connected passed pawns, but the
knight and g4-pawn combination is strong and can keep white busy while the black
king takes a free walk anywhere it wants to} 40. hxg3 Kf7 41. Nc7 Nxg3 42. Kg2
Ne2 43. b4 axb4 {black had to try a4 as a last chance} 44. Nd5 Nc3 45. Nxb4 h5
46. a3 g5 47. Nd3 Ke6 48. Nb2 Kd5 49. a4 Ne4 50. a5 Kc6 {the score stops
climbing here, and in the following moves it quickly crashes down to 0} 51. Nc4
g4 52. a6 Kc7 53. Ne5 Kb6 54. Ng6 Ka7 55. Nf4 h4 56. Nd3 Nd2 57. Nf2 1/2-1/2
Amir
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