Author: Andrew Williams
Date: 15:07:34 01/21/03
PostModernist at CCT5 ===================== Game 1 - PolarChess 0-1 PostModernist I didn't know much about PolarChess before this game, except that its rating is quite a bit less than PM's, so I was reasonably confident. Unfortunately, in response to PolarChess's 1.Nf3, PM decided on ...b6?! I had barely recovered from that before PM decided on: Nxf2?! in this position: [D] rn1qk2r/pbpp1ppp/1p2p3/2b1P3/6n1/2P2N2/PP1PBPPP/RNBQ1RK1 b kq - To be honest, this just looks wrong. Against Amateur, PM would later be taught a harsh lesson on the value of RP vs 2 minors, although in that case the position (also involving Nxf2) came out of a book line. Anyhow, PM had a score of -0.29 at this point. PM's score remained negative until PolarChess's 14.Nc4 and then it shot up to over +2 after 20.Bd2. Game 2 - PostModernist 0-1 Comet I was drawn against Comet in game 2. I had slight hopes of a win against this program, the more so when Comet's Queen drifted offside early in the game. She was stuck there for quite a while, but PM doesn't really understand the importance of that. As very often happens when PM doesn't have anything to attack, it drifted around with its pieces. This is emphatically not wise against Comet, which is a *very* smooth operator. The speed at which it unraveled itself and set about forcing PM back was very impressive. A good nice win by Comet. Game 3 - NoonianChess 0-1 PostModernist I played against NoonianChess at the WCCC in Maastricht this year, where I ended up with a slightly lucky draw. In this game, Noonian didn't really get into it at all. Unlike the game against Comet, PM found a position which it could get its teeth into. The game seemed to turn in this position, where PM thought Noonian's cxd4 was a mistake: [D] r1bq1rk1/pp2npbp/2np2p1/2p5/3pP3/2P1BNP1/PP3PBP/RN1Q1RK1 w - - Game 4 - PostModernist 0-1 Searcher I was pretty worried to be drawn against Searcher, which lives up to its name and was outsearching PM by a couple of plies for much of this game. It is a *real* menace and it completely out-foxed PM in the middlegame, emerging an outside-passer to the good. Nevertheless, I entertained hopes of saving the game until PM allowed an exchange of Queens, which looked pretty stupid even to me. Towards the end of this game, I remembered that I hadn't mounted the HD with my (Nalimov) EGTBs on, and I briefly felt that that had cost PM the game. However, a blunder check on the game later suggested that this was not the case. Game 5 - Alarm 0-1 PostModernist Five games, five wins by Black! Alarm is another one which is rated much lower than PM, and he was also handicapped by crappy hardware, a 533MHz machine vs PM's 1200MHz. I said to Benny Antonsson that Alarm deserved better hardware, because although PM was in charge for much of the game, it seemed on the verge of losing its way towards the end. Maybe a possible extra ply of search depth might have helped Alarm wriggle out of this loss. Game 6 - PostModernist 1/2 - 1/2 Monsoon I like games against Monsoon, even though it's probably a bit tough for PM usually. This was a typical fluctuating struggle, with both programs at various points believing they were going to get the upper hand. Eventually, PM offered a draw, but Monsoon declined it. Sure enough, PM's score started to rise, and I think Scott got a bit worried. However, PM's advantage dissipated and the next time PM offered a draw, Monsoon accepted it. An enjoyable game; I've not looked at it in detail, but there didn't look to be any real howlers by PM. Game 7 - Amateur 1-0 PostModernist In general in CCTs, PM has been pretty lucky with the openings it has obtained. Not so here, but this game was characterised by the accuracy of Amateur's play. IM Kim Commons made many interesting comments on this game, and was highly impressed by the way Amateur handled its two minors against PM's R+P. This was probably the best game PM was involved in in CCT5. A fine win by one of PM's oldest rivals. Game 8 - Butcher 1-0 PostModernist Here was another game where PM never got going. Again, not a great opening for PM, again a very smooth performance by PM's opponent. Butcher has come on in leaps and bounds in the last year, it seems. Had the colours been reversed, I would have been ecstatic at this win. Game 9 - PostModernist 1-0 Aristarch I didn't know too much about Aristarch before CCT, other than that it had played in the WBEC leagues run by Leo Dijksman. I was a bit freaked out by the two crappy openings I had just had. But I needn't have worried. This time my opponent had the poor opening, and ended up with his King in the middle of the board, with my Queen, Bishop and two Knights keeping him company. Fairly quickly, PM won the exchange and Aristarch resigned without ever having really got into the game. So, 4.5 points and 24th place for PostModernist. I'll confess to being a bit disappointed, but as always in a CCT, I had a whale of a time. The commentary by IM Schroer (plus IM Kingway for the Amateur game) was excellent and very entertaining. I believe Schroer was "sponsored" by one of the participants, so thanks very much to whoever put up the cash. Biggest thanks are reserved for Volker Richey, who organized the whole event. I REALLY hope he enjoyed it, because then he's more likely to organize CCT6! :-) Andrew PS I've put the PGN for PM's games into a response to this message.
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