Snowdrops vs Old Hands 2013
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The Snowdrops are represented by Lithuanian GM Viktorij Cmilyte
(30, from Lithuania, rated 2506), IM Maria Muzychuk (21, Ukraine,
2491) WGM Alina Kashlinskaya (20, Russia, 2422) and WGM Nastassia
Ziaziulkina (18, Belarus, 2350).
The "Old Hands" are GM Iossif Dorfman (61, France, 2580)
GM Boris Gulko (66, USA, 2543), GM Borislav Ivkov (80, Serbia, 2408)
GM Wolfgang Uhlmann (78, Germany, 2334).
The event is taking place at Hotel Zámecek in Podebrady, the rate
of play is 90 minutes for 40 moves, 30 minutes for the rest, with
an increament of 30 seconds per move. |
Round four (reports by GM David Navara)
In our
previous report the Snowdrops' team was leading the Oldhands by three
points (7.5:4.5). In round four the legends had the white pieces on all
boards and were expected to try and change the adverse course of the match.
The game Dorfman-Kashlinskaya followed a hot theoretical dispute. Czech
grandmaster Smejkal revealed that the French GM had been preparing mainly
for the King's Indian Defence, but Alina opted for 1...d5 and a razor sharp
line of the Slav gambit resulted. Dorfman failed to recall the best continuation
on move 16 and Black managed to equalize by means of active play (18...e5!).
The result was a draw in 19 moves.
The game Ivkov-Muzychuk was rather calm: Black managed to execute the important
push d6-d5 in the English Opening and equalize. Then she sharpened the position
by means of a brave advance e5-e4. However, the subsequent complications
resulted in a mass simplification and a subsequent draw agreement.
The encounter Gulko-Cmilyte was filled with interesting ideas. The American
grandmaster opted for a fashionable 5.h4 line in the Gruenfeld Indian. This
allowed him to bring the game to unexplored territory. Black sacrificed
a pawn but did not receive sufficient compensation. White then returned
material in order to achieve the advantage of a bishop pair. Still, the
Lithuanian GM confirmed her strength and saved a dangerous position through
by means of a precise play.
The encounter between Wolfgang Uhlmann and the Belarusian hope Nastassia
Ziaziulkina was the longest one. The German grandmaster soon gained a bishop
pair and gradually eliminated his opponent's lead in development. The subsequently
transformation led into an endgame with a pair of rooks and opposite-squared
bishops on the board. Uhlmann maintained a certain iniciative and increased
it after some inaccuracies of his opponent. He could have played 42.Rb6,
thus winning a pawn without allowing any counterplay. Later on his tiredness
took it toll and White lost his advantage. Uhlmann rejected a draw offer
in an equal position, then lost a pawn and finally also the game.
After the first half of the event the Snowdrops are leading with a score
10:6. It is remarkable that all female players have scored one win and three
draws, which amounts to two and half points.
Round five
It was high time to erase the four point lead of the Snowdrops, but sadly
GM Uhlmann is not in his best form. He had a really good position in the
game with Alina Kashlinskaya, having apparently surprised her with his choice
of opening.
[Event "Vrsanska Uhelna chess match 2013"] [Site "Podebrady"] [Date "2013.12.05"]
[Round "5.2"] [White "Uhlmann, Wolfgang"] [Black "Kashlinskaya, Alina"]
[Result "0-1"] [ECO "A13"] [PlyCount "38"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [WhiteClock
"0:28:31"] [BlackClock "0:23:57"] 1. c4 e6 2. Nc3 d5 3. e3 c6 4. b3 Nf6
5. Nf3 Bd6 6. Bb2 O-O 7. Be2 Nbd7 8. O-O e5 9. cxd5 e4 10. Nd4 cxd5 11.
Nf5 Be5 12. Ba3 Re8 13. d4 $2 {Suicidal!} ({ After} 13. Rc1 {White has
a nice, playable position.}) 13... exd3 14. Qxd3 Qa5 15. Ne7+ Kh8 16.
Nb5 $2 {This simply loses substantial material.} (16. Na4 { would allow
White to fight on.}) 16... Bxa1 17. Rxa1 a6 18. Nd6 Rxe7 19. Nxc8 Qxa3
0-1
GM Boris Ivkov is on antibiotics, so he wasn’t in a good condition
in his game against Victoria Cmylite. He choose a super strong Dutch Defence
and the game ended after 16 moves in a position with lack of chances for
both sides. Draw.
The game of Iossif Dorfman and Anastassiya
Zjazjulkina was very sharp
[Event "Vrsanska Uhelna chess match 2013"] [Site "Podebrady"] [Date "2013.12.05"]
[Round "5.1"] [White "Dorfman, Iossif"] [Black "Ziaziulkina, Nastassia"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D43"] [PlyCount "56"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"]
[WhiteClock "0:10:41"] [BlackClock "0:16:26"] 1. c4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nf3
Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 dxc4 7. e4 g5 8. Bg3 b5 9. h4 $5 {This
probably came as a surprise for Black.} (9. Be2 {is the main move in this
position.}) 9... g4 10. Ne5 Bb7 11. Nxg4 Nxg4 12. Qxg4 Qxd4 13. Rd1 Qf6
14. e5 Qf5 15. Qd4 Be7 16. h5 c5 17. Qd2 Bc6 18. Be2 Qg5 19. Qc2 Nd7 20.
Ne4 Qf5 21. Nd6+ Bxd6 22. Qxf5 exf5 23. Rxd6 Bb7 ({Black should have taken
the pawn.} 23... Bxg2) 24. Bh4 Nf8 25. a4 (25. b3 $1 {This move, proposed
by Petr Boleslav during the analysis of GM Ján Plachetka, gives White
a substantial advantage.}) 25... a6 26. Rb6 Bd5 27. Rd6 Bb7 28. Rb6 {White
has a better position, but the game is essentially drawn.} Bd5 1/2-1/2
Tournament commentator GM Ján Plachetka
In the game Boris Gulko vs Mariya Muzychuk White played a great game and
had a better position. The draw agreement, when Gulko had a better position,
with twenty minutes on his clock vs just five minutes for his opponent,
can as an unpleasant surprise for the spectators. It is possible that GM
Bulko overestimated the power of the black pawns, but still he should have
continued.
US GM Boris Gulko missed a good chance to shorten
the Snowdrops' lead
[Event "Vrsanska Uhelna chess match 2013"] [Site "Podebrady"] [Date "2013.12.05"]
[Round "5.4"] [White "Gulko, Boris F"] [Black "Muzychuk, Mariya"] [Result
"1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D10"] [Annotator "GM Robert Cvek"] [PlyCount "59"] [EventDate
"2013.??.??"] [WhiteClock "0:20:39"] [BlackClock "0:05:11"] 1. d4 d5 2.
c4 c6 3. cxd5 {This is a favorite move of GM Gulko. I remember his old
games where he played exactly the same moves.} cxd5 4. Bf4 Nc6 5. e3 Bf5
6. Nc3 {In positions like this it seems to me that Black has no problems
with compensation, but you need to know this and have to have the temperament
to play such positions. That is not easy at all, especially for the aggressive
Snowdrop.} e6 7. Qb3 Bb4 8. a3 $5 {GM Plachetka proposed this move during
analysis, as a possible improvement for White, and that was exactly what
happened.} Bxc3+ 9. bxc3 ({Taking back with the queen:} 9. Qxc3 {would
just help Black, especially after} Rc8) 9... Qd7 10. Nf3 Nge7 11. a4 $1
{Nice strategic move. To be honest, after a first look at the position
I thought that Black is okay. She would play 11...b6, then move her knight
to a5 with a blockade. However the white bishops would be strong. That
is an instructive strategic lesson.} b6 12. Ba6 $1 {Yes, he took control
of the square c8, so the plan for Black is not that clear anymore.} O-O
13. O-O Na5 14. Qa2 Nec6 15. Nd2 Nb8 16. Bb5 Qb7 17. Rfe1 $1 {This is
a nice move, with an idea of playing e4 after preparing f3. Now, we can
see that the position of White is a bit better.} Rc8 18. Rac1 a6 19. Bf1
b5 20. Qb2 $6 (20. axb5 $1 {recommended by the GM Plachetka, is the key
to lock in the advantage.} axb5 21. Qb2 Nc4 22. Nxc4 dxc4 23. f3 {with
a better game.}) 20... bxa4 {The ending is better for the White, but it
is still is not too clear.} 21. Qxb7 Nxb7 {The pawns on the a file are
complicating life for White.} 22. c4 Nc6 23. Rc3 Nb4 $1 {The correct activity
of the knight.} 24. Ra1 Bc2 $1 25. Rc1 ({It would be good to consider}
25. c5 {[%cal Gb7a5,Ga5c6] but Black has a nice square for the knight
after 25...Na5 and 26...Nac6!}) 25... dxc4 $2 {Unnecessarily complicated.
Black did not have too much time and she thought that the position was
not too good for her. That is why she went for tactic complications. However,
if she moved her bishop back she would be okay.} 26. R3xc2 Nxc2 27. Rxc2
Na5 28. Bd6 c3 29. Ne4 Nb3 30. g4 $1 {This is really good move - it creates
space and also controls the square f5.} ({After} 30. g4 Rc6 31. Rxc3 Rac8
32. Bc5 {White has a clear advantage. But he offered a draw, which Black
gladly accepted.}) 1/2-1/2
After five rounds the Snowdrops are leading by five points (12.5-7.5),
with all four female players scoring better than their male counterparts:
The event ends on Sunday, with the eighth and final round. We will report
on Monday.
