Snowdrops vs Old Hands 2013

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.

The oldest grandmaster in hotel Zámecek, however, is Pal Benko, 85, who drew the colour for the first round. He also played a simul against Vlastimil Chládek, organiser Pavel Matocha, Jirí Navrátil and Juraj Ballo. Benko won convincingly with a 3:1 result – only Chládek, the director of company Dopravní stavby Brno, could wrest a point from the GM.

In the first round the Snowdrops had white on all boards. Jossif Dorfman chose a firm Caro-Kann against Nastassia Ziaziulkina, who gained a slight spatial advantage, but the game ended in a draw. Maria Muzychuk vs Boris Gulko also ended in a draw, again with a white advantage for the Ukrainian IM.

Viktorija Cmilyte outplayed the oldest player, Bora Ivkov, step by step

[Event "Vrsanska Uhelna chess match 2013"] [Site "Podebrady"] [Date "2013.11.30"] [Round "1.1"] [White "Cmilyte, Viktorija"] [Black "Ivkov, Borislav"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A40"] [PlyCount "105"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [WhiteClock "0:53:08"] [BlackClock "0:06:05"] 1. d4 e6 2. Nf3 f5 3. g3 Nf6 4. Bg2 d5 5. O-O Bd6 6. c4 c6 7. Nc3 O-O 8. Qc2 Bd7 9. Rb1 Qe7 10. Qb3 Bc8 11. Ne5 Nbd7 12. Bf4 Bxe5 13. dxe5 Nh5 14. cxd5 exd5 15. Bf3 Nxf4 16. gxf4 Kh8 17. e3 Rg8 18. Kh1 Qh4 19. Qc2 Nf8 20. Rg1 Ne6 21. Rg3 Rf8 22. Rbg1 Bd7 23. b4 Rf7 24. Ne2 a6 25. a3 Rg8 26. Qc3 Qe7 27. Rh3 g6 28. Nc1 Rfg7 29. Rhg3 d4 30. Qd2 dxe3 31. fxe3 g5 32. Ne2 g4 33. Bg2 h5 34. e4 h4 35. Rd3 h3 {Viktorija sacrifices a piece for her central pawns that proceed to roll like an unstoppable avalanche into the enemy position.} 36. exf5 hxg2+ 37. Rxg2 Rh7 38. Rxd7 Qxd7 39. Qxd7 Rxd7 40. fxe6 Rd1+ 41. Rg1 Rd3 42. Rg3 Rf3 43. Kg2 Re8 44. Rxg4 Rxa3 45. f5 Rg8 46. Rxg8+ Kxg8 47. f6 Re3 48. Nf4 Rxe5 49. f7+ Kg7 50. f8=Q+ Kxf8 51. Ng6+ Ke8 52. Nxe5 Ke7 53. Nd7 1-0

Second victory of the first day was scored by Alina Kašlinskaja against
Wolgang Uhlmann, who had a better position but lost on time on move 37

Round two

Four draws, but not "boring" – on the contrary: all four games were very dramatic and the results hard fought.

Wolfgang Uhlmann (above) had a slight advantage over Viktorija Cmilyte, but one inaccuracy transferred the advantage to her side. However the advantage of two bishops was not enough to win and the game finished in a draw just before the time control move 40.

Boris Gulko, too, had an advantage against Anastasia Zjazjulkina, but again one careless move led him to lose a pawn and with it almost the game. He managed to complicate the position around the king and, because of the time trouble of Anastasia, the game finished in a draw as well.

Playing against Alina Kashlinskaya, Borislav Ivkov was in time trouble from move 15. He lost two pawns, but was able to organise an attack (mainly the move 27.e6!), and was unfortunate not to find the right path to victory.

[Event "Vrsanska Uhelna chess match 2013"] [Site "Podebrady"] [Date "2013.12.01"] [Round "2.4"] [White "Ivkov, Borislav"] [Black "Kashlinskaya, Alina"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E68"] [PlyCount "69"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [WhiteClock "0:02:07"] [BlackClock "0:02:23"] 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 O-O 5. O-O d6 6. d4 Nbd7 7. Nc3 e5 8. e4 a6 9. Re1 exd4 10. Nxd4 Ng4 11. Qxg4 Bxd4 12. Qd1 Bg7 13. Be3 Ne5 14. c5 Nc4 15. cxd6 cxd6 16. Qe2 Be6 17. Rac1 Qa5 18. Red1 Rac8 19. Nd5 Bxd5 20. Rxd5 Qxa2 21. Bd4 Bxd4 22. Rxd4 Nxb2 23. Rxc8 Rxc8 24. Bf1 Qb1 25. Rxd6 Na4 26. e5 Nc5 27. e6 fxe6 28. Rxe6 Rf8 29. Re5 $2 (29. Re7 {threating Qc4+ and mate to follow, promises victory.}) 29... Nd7 30. Re7 Qf5 31. Qa2+ Kh8 32. Qb2+ Qf6 33. Qxf6+ Nxf6 34. Rxb7 Ne4 35. Bxa6 1/2-1/2

Mariya Muzychuk obtained the advantage from the opening against Iossif Dorfman, but he transferred the position into a rook ending with an extra pawn. But all pawns were on one side of the board and after a long fight Dorfman managed to hold the draw. So after two rounds the Snowdrops were leading 5:3.

Round three

The third round brought a surge by the Snowdrops. Mariya Muzychuk played a very sharp game against Wolfgang Uhlmann, who had winning chances after a piece sacrifice by his opponent, but committed the final mistake that cost him the game.

[Event "Vrsanska Uhelna chess match 2013"] [Site "Podebrady"] [Date "2013.12.02"] [Round "3.4"] [White "Muzychuk, Mariya"] [Black "Uhlmann, Wolfgang"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A45"] [PlyCount "61"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [WhiteClock "0:04:00"] [BlackClock "0:13:12"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5 e6 3. e4 h6 4. Bxf6 Qxf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Qd2 g6 7. O-O-O Bg7 8. f4 O-O 9. Nf3 Qe7 10. h4 h5 11. e5 b6 12. Ne4 Bb7 13. Bd3 Nc6 14. g4 hxg4 15. Nfg5 Nxd4 16. h5 dxe5 17. hxg6 f5 18. Qh2 Rfe8 19. fxe5 fxe4 20. Nxe4 Bxe4 21. Bxe4 Qg5+ 22. Kb1 Rad8 $2 (22... Qxe5 {was good for a win for Black.}) 23. Qh7+ Kf8 24. Rdf1+ Nf5 25. Bxf5 exf5 26. Rh5 Rd1+ 27. Rxd1 Qf4 28. c3 Qe4+ 29. Ka1 Qxe5 30. a3 g3 31. Rf1 1-0

Alina Kashlinskaya also pressured Boris Gulko, whos started the game a bit casually. However his opponent did not continue precisely, pressing forward with her pawns on the queenside and finishing the game with a draw.

Iossif Dorfman lost a lot of time in the opening against Viktorija Cmilyte. On move 16 the Lithuanian GM took on e6, after which her opponent could draw without too many problems. Instead White had several interesting moves with dangerous initiative, for example 16.Re1 or 16.Ne5.

The only one of the Oldhands who had a good position after the opening was Borislav Ivkov against Anastasia Zjazjulkina. He played a smart variant of the French with 6…b6!?. By the way, it is the same as the one he had used to beat Bobby Fischer, and he used it to disconcert his opponent. White did not continue correctly, but still the position was very complicated. In the end the Oldhand ran out of time and agreed to a draw. It is not clear what to do against the plan Kd2 with Na3 and Nb5.

[Event "Vrsanska Uhelna chess match 2013"] [Site "Podebrady"] [Date "2013.12.02"] [Round "3.1"] [White "Ziaziulkina, Nastassia"] [Black "Ivkov, Borislav"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C16"] [PlyCount "49"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [WhiteClock "0:07:02"] [BlackClock "0:09:14"] 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 Ne7 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 b6 7. Qg4 Ng6 8. a4 (8. Bg5 Qd7 9. h4 h6 10. Bd2 h5 11. Qf3 Qa4 12. Bd3 Ba6 13. g4 hxg4 14. Qxg4 Bxd3 15. cxd3 Nc6 16. Qg5 Nce7 17. h5 Nf5 18. Ne2 Nge7 19. Ng3 O-O-O 20. Qg4 Rdf8 21. Rh3 Kb8 22. Bg5 Qc2 23. Rc1 Qb2 24. a4 Qa3 25. Qd1 Nxg3 26. fxg3 Nc6 27. h6 gxh6 28. Bf6 Rhg8 29. Kf2 Rg6 30. Qc2 Rfg8 31. Rb1 Qf8 32. a5 Nxa5 33. Qa4 Ka8 34. Rb5 Qe8 35. c4 Nc6 36. Qa1 dxc4 37. dxc4 Qd7 38. c5 Qxd4+ 39. Qxd4 Nxd4 40. Rb4 Nf5 41. c6 Rg4 42. Rxg4 Rxg4 43. Rh1 a5 44. Rg1 a4 45. Rd1 Rd4 46. Rg1 Rd2+ 47. Kf3 Rd3+ 48. Kf4 Rxg3 49. Rc1 Rd3 50. Kg4 a3 51. Ra1 b5 52. Rb1 a2 {0-1 (52) Fischer,R-Ivkov,B Santiago de Chile 1959}) 8... Ba6 9. Bxa6 Nxa6 10. h4 h5 11. Qe2 Nb8 12. a5 Nc6 13. a6 Qd7 14. Bg5 Rc8 15. Rh3 Nce7 16. Nf3 Nf5 17. Nd2 c5 18. Qd3 Qc6 19. Ra2 Rc7 20. g3 cxd4 21. cxd4 Qc3 22. Qxc3 Rxc3 23. Nb1 Rc6 24. c3 Kd7 25. f3 1/2-1/2

After three rounds the score was 7.5:4.5 in favour of the Snowdrops. More rounds have been played, and a continuation of this report will follow soon.

Links

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