09/07/2006
FM Ralph Zimmer blogs during the Baltimore vs New York match
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by FM Ralph Zimmer
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Baltimore vs New York
1. GM Pawel Blehm (BAL) vs GM
Pascal Charbonneau (NY) 1/2-1/2
2. FM Robert Hess (NY) vs FM
Tegshsuren Enkhbat (BAL) 0-1
3. IM Larry Kaufman (BAL) vs IM Jay
Bonin (NY) 1-0
4. Matthew Herman (NY) vs WGM
Katerina Rohonyan (BAL) 0-1
Your writer: FM Ralph Zimmer here and I’m a
fellow
spectator for the Baltimore
- NY rivalry about to come underway.
Last week I had the honor of playing board 4 for Baltimore
and it
seems to be as exciting watching the matchup from here.
Readers must understand that as a Baltimore
resident and player for the Kingfishers, my
notes will be biased for Baltimore
but don’t hold that against me! Also, a
few good glasses of Chianti and the poker tournament in the background
may make
my notes seem a bit incomprehensible at times, but there’s always the
next
sentence that might make better sense! And, as I’m sending this off
right after
so I can get some sleep and make it to work tomorrow, spelling of
names, etc.
are out the window - players please forgive!
Ok folks here we go:
It’s 7:40
and
finally it appears the Baltimore
games are underway. I was in the
internet world anxiously awaiting so I don’t know what caused the delay
but
here we go folks:
After having
played
with the Kingfishers last week, I know and understand our ambitions and
this is
an important match against NY! After 8
moves on board one, Blehm and Charbonneau are still in book and Blehm
leads
the clock with white by 4 minutes. Of
course at that level, there’s a great deal of preparation and
psychology
involved - I don’t know if these guys faced each other before, but I’m
sure
they know about each other well so especially with Black, you will be
on the
look-out for “home preparation”. Over on
game 2, Enkhbat displays a solid Caro-Kan defense conceding the bishop
pair
early on, in what surprisingly for me, is surely still theory. On board 3, I don’t know this for sure, but
based on Larry’s speed, and the abundance of games played by Jay Bonin
yearly, I would suspect that Larry
is
well prepared for this King’s Indian Defense - and so his time lead
after 9
moves seems to prove this. I really like
Rohonyan’s choice of opening in the Sicilian defense (shveshnikov) and
after 8
moves, I like her position (although it’s surely still book). Board 1 seems to still be in book after 12
moves with Blehm leading with 6 minutes ahead of Charbonneau. Enkhbat’s position on board 2 looks as solid
as a concrete wall despite the bishop for knight trade. Larry
over on board 3 seems to be playing quite quickly with a now 13 minute
lead
over his opponent on move 10 - I think my prediction of his preparation
is
starting to prove accurate. I quite like
his position too! Uh-oh, pieces are
coming off on board 1 and an exchange of queens is likely! Clearly
white’s pawn
structure is better here meaning Baltimore might have its
first
slight edge and its games have only been underway now for ½ hr! Ok, board 1, Charbonneau has done what was
expected, avoided the exchange of queens and continued pressure on the
queenside
so as to minimize effect of worse pawn structure…
Not much change on Larry’s
position…his opponent is thinking away and Larry
actually has a plus time thanks to the increment! Looking
over now at Rohonyan, she also has a
plus time thanks to the increment but only of 6 seconds after 8 moves,
and her
opponent is only at 85 minutes ( in contrast to Bonin who is at 72
minutes and
dwindling). I still like Rohonyan’s
position too!
Ok, Bonin has played 10..Nh5 after a lengthy
thought. I doubt we are still in book, but
what do I
know! Seems to me that Qd2 and g4 are
coming up for white but we’ll see!
8:15:
Ok, let’s take another look: Game 1: I really like Blehm’s position! I think his “blockade” with the knight on a4
and control over c5, sort of stifles black, while his h4 advance seeks
to open
attacking lines! Clearly, both players
are battling hard with opposite castling having already occurred. Enkhbat’s position still seems quite solid,
for those bishop over knight lovers, white clearly has that advantage,
but it’s
significance is questionable in this position, although any chances of
black
pulling out an advantage any time soon is unlikely (after move 10 - but
in how
many openings does black take an advantage that early??)
Now Larry,
he’s going for the throat! He’s conceded
double pawns on the c file, but at the cost of black’s g7 bishop trade
for the
knight at c3, and considering Larry is uncastled and black is kingside
castled,
this could result in a kingside onslaught!
Rohonyan’s position is still quite active with black and I like
it after
move 8 - unfortunately, not more has happened yet…
‘
8:25 - Ok, the only Kingfisher who has yet to
castle is
Larry, but that isn’t surprising as his queenside pawn structure has
been
destroyed and his kingside is busy trying to organize an attack - so
where does
the white king go??? We’ll see - hopefully
somewhere safe! On board 1, things are
heating up - 17. g4 by white forces black to play more actively and e5
as he
played was awaited… OK, white retreated to d2 with his queen - let’s
see what
this means. He’s eyeing h6, prepared for
h5 and hxg6 and he has a tempo on the bishop which has just moved to e6
as
expected…. I suspect h5 is next….
Larry is
confronted
on move 13 with …Ne5. Jay’s vast experience seems to have enabled
him to
place an invincible knight on e5…how to get rid of it - and what a
place to
have a knight!!!! I can’t think of a
more controlling square on the entire board!!!
Since white hasn’t castled, attempting to remove the knight by
f4 will
probably only concede the g pawn after Nxg4! Let’s hope Larry
still has attacking plans that will work out in the long run….
Ok, its 8:35
and I have just realized that Rohonyan’s game has come to a standstill
on time
for both sides!!! I had to bring up the
game again… I hope Katherine
is not
experiencing computer wireless problems again…. Taking a look at the
position
anew reveals a weakness for Rohonyan on d6 and a solid white position…
we’ll
see how this progresses…. So far, black needs to come up with
something….
AH YES, ON board 1, h5 as suspected on move 19. This coupled with black’s 8 minute deficiency
(65 vs. 73) indicates to me that white has the edge…
8:45:
Ok, after 15 moves, I’m worried about Larry…
All I see is his c4 is attacked and he is probably going to have to
play c5
which could lead to an exchange of queens, which in turn would
eliminate his
attack - or at least minimize its effect.
On the other hand, the less I watch the poker channel and the
more I pay
attention to the “details” of Larry’s game, the more I like it… but
since I’m
not playing I’ll let him show me the win and learn some more poker
hands in the
process…I’m also worried after 14 moves of Rohonyan’s game…. Nc8?
Theory? Seems
odd….Was trading the black squared bishops the right way to go? I hope so!
I just don’t see it yet…
Board 1: 8:50: black played 21…Nf4: Uh-oh! Did
white see
this? Looks like pieces are coming
off…. But is it favorable for
white??? I think tables are turning
against Baltimore
on board 1….
8:51: Larry
has
sacrificed a pawn after 15…Bxc4: I have to admit I don’t like it…I just
hope
I’m wrong…
9:03: After 21…Nd4 on board one, I really am
worried about
Blehm’s position… his f3 pawn is as good as gone and uh-oh, white got
disconnected.. have to serve that one up again… hope he’s ok and didn’t
pass
out or anything after seeing black’s move!
9:26; Larry is deep in thought on his only 17th
move… and he is a pawn down and his attack is questionable….but who
knows….my
instinct says there’s something there…
Enkhbat has sacrificed b4 for what may be a
promising attack
on the queenside…
9:36:
If
there’s a Baltimore
board in trouble, it must be board 3 with Larry
a pawn down and only 26 minutes vs. Jay Bonin’s
55 minutes!
9:49:
Board 2: Each player used 60 min. for 15 moves!
What a tough game!
OK, Enkhbat played 16..Reb8 to vacate e8 for
knight if white
plays g5 , and of course to put further pressure on queenside.
10:16: Ok, board 1 is starting to look drawish
after 29…Rdxd3.
Both players seem to be giving their best shot but material is
dwindling
down…and each has 4 pawns…
10:21
it’s late…must go to bed…we’ll see what happened tomorrow…
10:29:
Ok, too exciting… Board 1 draw on repetition as expected with open
white king
against black queen vs. white two rooks…
Rohonyan has a draw offer… so let’s see what’s
going on at
boards 3 and 4…
Larry on
3 is
starting to look really good after 22.fxg6. Lots of kibitzers thought
g5
instead of f5 on 21 would have been it… citing Qxc3 followed by Bd4!
But who
knows… let’s hope this does it too. On
2, Enkhbat is clearly in the driver’s seat after Nxf6 (22…) better time too: 15 vs. 12 min.
10:35, Katherine
is
playing on! Fighting spirit!
10:43 This is as exciting as it gets folks, I got
three Kingfisher
games going on and I’m watching Daniel Negraneu making an important
decision on
poker tour… it doesn’t get better then this!
10:53
Larry looks winning after 25.
Bxg5..
10:54
After 27. Rxh2 it would take a miracle for white not to win! So Baltimore
is looking at the first point!
11:05
With Rohonyan down a pawn, doesn’t look great right now…
11:10
Enkhbat needs to find a way to exchange down pieces and win the ending…
white’s
pawns are scattered everywhere and would then fall more easily….
11:15 ok, Rohonyan’s position isn’t that great,
but Enkhbat
is good and should find a way to convert although both players keep deeping under 1 minute…
11:23
Enkhbat
has done it again after Bb8! Baltimore leads by one
again! -
shortly that is…

(Hess vs Enkhbat, black to play after 49.Kh2)
With both players very low on time, Enkhbat found the
killer blow 49....Bb8, because after 50.Qxb8 Qf2 51.Kh2
Qxe1+ and black is totally winning.
11:45
Oh my goodness, Katherine is
crushing
her opponent in the rook ending… can it be, Baltimore CRUSHES NY!!!!
CONGRAGULATIONS BALTIMORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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