[Event "Maastricht 2007"]
[Site "Maastricht"]
[Date "2007.03.06"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Zappa Reykjavik"]
[Black "L'Ami, Erwin"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[Annotator "Jan van Reek"]
[PlyCount "136"]
[EventDate "2007.03.07"]
[SourceDate "2006.12.17"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Nxd4 5. Qxd4 Qf6 6. e5 Qb6 7. Be3 (7.
Qxb6 $1 axb6 8. Nc3 {gains a plus. (Hebert-Chaivicit, Malta 1980)}) 7... Qxd4
8. Bxd4 Ne7 9. Nc3 Nf5 $5 {
L'Ami has selected a quiet opening.He diverts from the known moves.} (9... Nc6
{was played in Nygaard-Bjelke Norway 1992.}) 10. O-O-O Nxd4 {
We return to the mentioned game.} 11. Rxd4 Bc5 12. Rd2 $5 ({Nygaard played} 12.
Rf4) 12... Bb4 $1 13. Bc4 Bxc3 14. bxc3 Ke7 {Black opens the eighth rank for
the rooks and keeps his king in the central area.} 15. Rd3 Rb8 16. a4 a6 17.
Rhd1 b5 18. axb5 axb5 19. Bd5 {Erwin has slight problems with the development.}
Rd8 20. Rg3 g6 21. Rh3 h5 22. Rf3 Rf8 {Black parries all threads.} 23. Kd2 Bb7
24. Rd3 Rfd8 25. Ke3 Bxd5 26. Rxd5 {
Fritz9, Hiarcs10 and Shredder9 evaluate the position as equal.} b4 27. Kd4 bxc3
28. Kxc3 Rb6 29. Kc4 Rc6+ 30. Rc5 Rxc5+ 31. Kxc5 Ke6 32. f4 Ra8 $1 33. Kb4 Ra6
34. g3 Rb6+ 35. Kc4 Rc6+ 36. Kd3 d6 $1 37. Re1 $1 (37. exd6 $4 Rxd6+ 38. Ke2
Rxd1 39. Kxd1 Kf5 $1 {leads to a won pawn ending for Black.}) 37... Kf5 38. c4
dxe5 39. Rxe5+ Kg4 40. f5 $6 (40. Re7 Kh3 41. Rxf7 Kxh2 42. f5 $1 Kxg3 43. Rg7
$1 Kf4 44. Rxg6 {draws.}) 40... g5 41. Kd4 Rd6+ 42. Ke3 Kh3 $5 {Black attacks.}
({The Sharpest winning attempt gives} 42... f6 43. Re7 Kh3) 43. f6 Kg4 44. Re4+
Kh3 45. Re5 Kg4 46. Re4+ Kf5 47. Re7 Rxf6 48. Rxc7 Kg4 49. Re7 Kh3 50. Re5 Rg6
51. Rf5 (51. c5 $1 Kxh2 52. c6 {draws.}) 51... Kxh2 52. Kf2 h4 53. g4 ({
The pointe is} 53. gxh4 g4 $1) 53... Kh3 $2 ({Right is} 53... h3 $1 54. Rxf7 $1
Ra6 $1 55. Rf5 $1 Ra2+ {Erwin l'Ami, Jaap van den Herik and I regarded this
position as drawn. The correct analyses is} 56. Kf3 $1 (56. Ke3 Kg2 $1 57. Rxg5
h2 58. Rh5 Ra3+ 59. Ke4 Rh3) 56... Kg1 $1 57. Rxg5 h2 58. Rh5 Rc2 $3 59. c5 $5
Rxc5 60. Rxc5 h1=Q+ {and Black has reached a theoretical win.}) 54. Kf3 Rc6 55.
Rxg5 Rxc4 56. Rf5 Rc3+ 57. Kf2 Rc7 58. Kf3 Kh2 59. Rd5 Rc3+ 60. Kf4 Rc2 61. Kf3
h3 62. g5 Rg2 63. Re5 Kh1 64. Rd5 Rg1 65. Kf2 h2 66. Rf5 Rg2+ 67. Kf1 Rg1+ 68.
Kf2 Rg2+ {Zappa played doubtful moves in the rook ending but survived.} 1/2-1/2

[Event "Maastricht 2007"]
[Site "Maastricht"]
[Date "2007.03.07"]
[Round "2"]
[White "L'Ami, Erwin"]
[Black "Zappa Reykjavik"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[Annotator "Jan van Reek"]
[PlyCount "83"]
[EventDate "2007.03.07"]
[SourceDate "2006.12.17"]

1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. cxd5 exd5 5. d4 c6 6. Bg5 Be7 7. e3 Nbd7 8.
Bd3 O-O 9. O-O Re8 10. Qc2 Nf8 11. h3 g6 12. Rab1 Ne6 13. Bh6 Ng7 14. b4 a6 15.
a4 Bf5 16. Bxg7 Bxd3 17. Qxd3 Kxg7 18. b5 cxb5 $5 ({
The theoretical move in the Queens Gambit would have been} 18... axb5 {
(Van Wely - Hjartarson, Akureyri 1995)}) 19. axb5 a5 {These moves have been
mentioned as an alternative in the analyses of the game above.} 20. Na4 Rc8 21.
Rfc1 Bb4 22. b6 $1 {
Erwin plays an unexpected move. Exchange on the c-file would be solid.} Qd7 23.
Nc5 Qc6 24. Qb3 Qxb6 25. Nd3 $1 {White regains the pawn.} Ne4 26. Rxc8 Rxc8 27.
Nxb4 Qxb4 28. Qxb4 axb4 29. Rxb4 {Exchanges have led to an equal engame.} Rc1+
30. Kh2 Nxf2 31. Rxb7 h6 {Black hopes to create a mating net.} 32. Rd7 g5 {
Zappa threatens 33. .. Rh1+ 34. Kg3 Ne4+ 35. Kg4 Nf6+ and he wins a rook.} 33.
g4 $5 {
Erwin does not play the strongest move, but it will be sufficient for a draw.}
Rc2 34. Ne5 Nxg4+ 35. Kg3 Nxe3 36. Rxf7+ Kg8 37. Rf6 Rc1 38. Kh2 Rd1 39. Rxh6
Rd2+ 40. Kh1 Rxd4 41. Rg6+ Kf8 42. Rxg5 {
Erwin l'Ami played well and deserved another draw.} 1/2-1/2

