Author: Vasik Rajlich
Date: 04:02:45 02/02/04
Go up one level in this thread
On February 01, 2004 at 21:41:10, Anthony Cozzie wrote: >Round 1: Hossa - Zappa 0-1 > >Zappa's first game was against Hossa. Hossa is an engine that can be very >dangerous on any given day, and this day was no exception. The opening featured >Zappa with more rapid development and hossa with the central pawn mass. On move >18 Hossa sacrificed a pawn with h5?! Qxa2 > >[D]2r2rk1/p3ppbp/1p4p1/n2q4/3P1P1P/3BPP2/P7/1RBQK2R w K - 0 18 > >But for some reason it failed to play Rb1-b2-h2 to follow up the attack. Zappa >then sacrificed its a pawn for activity with 27 .. b5!? > >[D]5rk1/4p1bp/1p1q2p1/p1rP4/Q3BP2/3RPP2/5K2/7R b - - 0 27 > >Hossa blundered after b5 Qxa5 Rd2 Kg3?? and lost soon afterward. > >Round 2: Zappa - Frenzee 1-0 > >Zappa played 1.d4 and got a pretty good position. The book said that White had >7 wins and 14 draws at move 10, so I was feeling good. Zappa rapidly built up a >big center, but then decided to give it all away with 18 e5? > >[D]r2bqr1k/1bp3pp/1p1ppp2/p1nPP3/2PQ1P2/2N2NP1/PP4BP/2R2RK1 b - - 0 18 > >It turned out that Frenzee's pieces were better placed, but the position was >still sharp. Around move 40 both agreed that Frenzee was over a pawn up, but >Frenzee blundered with 41. Qc3? and suddenly Zappa had a sharp attack. Zappa >got a rook for two pawns and won soon after. > >Round 3: Hiarcs - Zappa 0-1 > >This was a Sicilian. Hiarcs did not push especially hard for an advantage, and >Schroer commented that 9. Nxc6 probably dissipated White's advantage. Zappa was >able to get the standard Sicilian break d5 in, and it looked equal, when Hiarcs >blundered with 14. Qe2 instead of Rad1. Quite frankly the tactics in this >position are beyond me, but apparently Re8 somehow creates a double threat on >the e3 bishop and the h2 pawn. > >[D]r2r2k1/ppq1bppp/2b1pn2/3P4/2B5/P1NQBP2/1PP3PP/R4RK1 w - - 0 14 > >After 14. Qe2?: > >1... e6xd5 2. Nc3-b5 Bc6xb5 3. Bc4xb5 Be7-c5 4. Be3-f2 Qc7-b6 5. b2-b3 Bc5xf2 6. >Rf1xf2 Qb6-c5 7. b3-b4 Qc5-c3 8. Qe2-e1 Ra8-c8 9. Rf2-d2 > = (0.34) Depth: 15/25 00:08:13.57 418123kN >1 ...e6xd5++ > + (0.59) Depth: 16/28 00:13:11.34 671674709kN >1... e6xd5 2. Nc3-b5 Bc6xb5 3. Bc4xb5 a7-a6 4. Bb5-a4 Be7-d6 5. g2-g3 b7-b5 6. >Ba4-b3 Rd8-e8 7. Ra1-d1 Bd6-c5 8. Rd1-d3 Qc7-e5 9. Rf1-e1 > = (0.87) Depth: 16/27 00:19:23.20 987680kN > >This just shows that more depth is *always* better. Maybe not alot better, but >better. After winning a pawn Zappa never quite lost the thread of the game, and >finally won in a Rook ending in some 80 moves. > >Round 4: Zappa - Crafty 1/2 > >This was simply a nongame. It lasted all of 10 minutes. Zappa played the >Catalan and Crafty took a repetition draw in some 20 moves. > >Round 5: Thinker - Zappa 1-0 > >Zappa played the TMB QGD (where Black plays b6 and Bb7, finachettoing the QG). >The big theme of Zappa in this tournament is not understanding pawn structure, >and here it played c5 c4, making its queenside pawnstructure very weak. Thinker >won a pawn and eventually the game. Sitting through this game took at least 5 >years off my life due to nervous stress. > >Round 6: Zappa - Falcon 1-0 > >This was a Ruy where Zappa came out of book at +0.5 Zappa got a strong passed >e5 pawn, Falcon gave up the exchange for it, and Zappa won. Pretty much a book >win. > >Round 7: Yace - Zappa 1/2 > >Another nailbiter. Not having had enough punishment the first time, zappa again >goes for a TMB. It again pushes the c pawn. It again loses a pawn. I think >Yace blundered with 24 Nxd5, when Bxd5 would have been clearly winning. Zappa >eventually got a RB v RPPP ending which Yace couldn't quite manage to win. >Another 5 years off my life. > >Round 8: Zappa - Searcher 1-0 > >This was my favorite game of the whole tournament, although there are those who >say I am biased :) Zappa played a London opening and made a positional mistake >with fxg3, once again proving it doesn't understand pawnstructure. Searcher won >a pawn, but Zappa was still up in development, and Searcher blundered badly with >22 ... Nd6?? (f5 looks much better) > >[D]r1b2rk1/pp3ppp/3n4/P1qp4/2pN1Q2/2P3PP/1PB3PK/R4R2 w - - 0 23 > >A few moves later Zappa was able to get a tactical win with Re6! > >[D]1rb2rk1/4R1p1/1pqn1pBp/3p4/5Q2/1NP3PP/6PK/4R3 w - - 0 30 > >1. Re1-e6 Bc8xe6 2. Nb3-d4 Qc6-c4 3. Qf4xd6 Be6xh3 4. Kh2xh3 Kg8-h8 5. Nd4-e6 >Rf8-g8 6. Qd6-d7 Qc4-c8 7. Qd7xd5 Rb8-a8 8. Qd5-f5 > = (3.58) Depth: 15/23 00:03:03.90 174729471kN > >Round 9: Zappa - Ruffian 1-0 > >Zappa-Ruffian was a complicated semi-closed game. Ruffian was able to get a >decisive advantage by pushing its Kingside pawns, something Zappa never likes to >do. Once again Zappa's lack of pawn knowledge led to a horrible position: in >the diagram Zappa's bishop on h2 is worthless and Ruffian has two bishops for a >rook and pawn, not to mention its outside passer. > >[D]6k1/1R3b2/p5n1/q2p2b1/2pP1p2/2P5/1QP2PPB/6K1 w - - 0 36 > >Nevertheless, Zappa soldiered on. I'm not sure where Ruffian's advantage >dissipated, at move 90 it played Kg7 with a draw score. Apparently its forward >pruning missed something, because Zappa played g5! and the counterattack began. >(Bxg5 Ra5 Bf6 Ba3 Bxc3 Rxd5, although its better than what ruffian played in the >game). > >[D]8/6k1/R7/2Bb4/2p2pPb/2P2P2/6K1/2n5 w - - 0 91 > >Ruffian's knight proved out of place and Zappa ended up with R for N, which it >converted into the point in some 100 moves. Maybe I shouldn't make fun of Uri >for his long games :) > >Tiebreak games: > >Zappa got two bad booklines vs crafty and was crushed. >Against Hiarcs it managed 1 win and one loss. > >Summary: > >All in all Zappa was very lucky. It had lost positions vs Frenzee, Yace, >Searcher, and Ruffian. But, as IM Schroer said to me last CCT, its better to be >lucky than to be good. > >anthony Congratulations! It would be interesting if you could figure out how Zappa could outcalculate Hiarcs and Ruffian in the critical positions. Does it look like a case of bad pruning? Anyway, good luck with Zappa. Cheers, Vas
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