City of Sydney - Round 4

Round 4 of the City of Sydney yesterday was possibly the most exciting one so far. The action on the top 3 boards, especially, had me, at least, nearly pissing in my pants. Moylan and Song, on first board, re-debated an opening they played earlier this year and it was Moylan who was first to vary. That little argument ended peacefully but Song may still had chances.

On board 2, Halpin's GP Attack against Bird looked to be crushing. But by the time I left for the evening, Bird appeared to have found enough to defend. We don't have the final scoresheets, sadly, to know exactly what happened. I hope both players can immediately relay us their game as it must be published.

Whereas Song - Bolens on the third board was a nice little miniature, 1-0 to Angela. Bolens arrived some 45 minutes late and immediately set about sharpening the situation. Unfortunately for him, the time dificit plus complications led to too much pressure. He cracked and lost on time.

City of Sydney 2006
Moylan, Laura
Song, Raymond
B40

Laura tells me that this whole line, for black, is a dodgy one. Actually, I think she used the word "retarded". So retarded, in fact, that her only response when she sees it against her is, well - I'm not allowed to repeat it. It's a 4 letter word. 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Bb4 6. e5 Nd5 7. Bd2 Nxc3 8. bxc3 Be7 9. Qg4 O-O 10. Bh6 g6 11. h4 Qa5 12. Qg3 d6 13. Nb5 Nc6 14. h5 Nxe5 15. f4 Bd7 16. fxe5!

After 16. fxe5

(16. Nd4 Rfc8 17. Nb3 Qxc3+ 18. Qxc3 Rxc3 19. fxe5 dxe5 20. Bd3 g5 21. O-O-O Rac8 22. Kb1 Bc6 23. Nd2 f5 24. Rhf1 Bd5 25. Bxf5 exf5 26. Rxf5 Rxc2 27. Bxg5 Ba3 28. Nc4 R2xc4 29. Rxe5 Rb4+ 0-1 Moylan,L (2112)-Song,R (2051)/Brisbane 2006) 16... Bxb5 17. Bxf8 According to my database, this the first new move. (17. Bxb5 Qxb5 18. Bxf8 Rxf8 19. exd6 Bg5 20. Rd1 h6 21. d7 Qf5 22. Rd3 Rd8 23. hxg6 Qe4+ 24. Kf2 f5 25. Qf3 Qa4 26. Qe2 Qf4+ 27. Rf3 Qd6 28. Rd1 Qe7 29. Rfd3 Kg7 30. Re1 Rxd7 31. Rxd7 Qxd7 32. Qxe6 {1-0 Hansen, S (2480) - Kristensen,B (2430)/Taastrup 1998/CBM 065) 17...Bxf8 18. Bxb5 Qxb5 19. exd6 Bg7 20. Rd1 Rd8 21. hxg6 hxg6 22. Rh3 Qc5 23. Qe3 Qc6 24. Qf3 Qc5 25. Qxb7 Bxc3+ 26. Kf1 Bf6 27. Qb3 Kg7 28. Qe3 Qxc2 29. Qh6+ Kg8 30. Rc1 Qxa2 31. Qh7+ Kf8 32. Rc7 After this, the game is destined to be drawn. (32. Rf3 Qd2 33. Rc7 Qd1+ 34. Kf2 Bd4+ 35. Kg3 Qe1+ And White cannot avoid the checks.) 32... Qb1+ 33. Ke2 Qb5+ 34. Rd3 Bg7 35. Kd2 Qg5+ 36. Kd1 Qxg2 37. d7 Qf1+ 38. Kc2 Qe2+ 39. Rd2 Qe4+ 40. Kc1 Qe1+ (Fritz immediately sees 40... Bb2+! 41. Kd1 (41. Kxb2? Qe5+) 41... Qa4+ 42. Ke2 (42. Ke1 Bc3) 42... Qb5+ And I'm pretty sure that one of these rooks will fall. 41. Kc2 Qe4+ 1/2-1/2

A bit of trickery or he just can't make it in time? Johnny Bolens, well-known for his tactical swindles, turned up late. Again.

City of Sydney 2006
Song, Angela
Bolens, Johnny
B01

1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Nf6 3. Bb5+ Bd7 4. Be2 Nxd5 5. c4 Nf4 6. Bf1 Bc6 7. Qg4 e5 8. Nf3 h5 9. Qf5 f6 10. Nc3 Nd7 11. Nh4 Nc5 12. d4 Qxd4 13. Bxf4 Qxf4 14. Qg6+ Ke7 15. Nf5+ Ke6 16. Nd5 Bxd5 17. cxd5+ Kxd5 18. Qf7+ Kc6

After 18. Kc6

Here, Bolens had only about 7 minutes remaining, while Angela had some 30 minutes. She is winning, of course, but how to continue? She sat there thinking away. Bolens now began his usual ritual. He laughs quietly, clasping his hands with glee, as if to say, "I've got this game stitched up". It's quite disconcerting. But the young woman remained calm. 19. Bc4 Qxf5 20. O-O Rd8 21. b4 Ne4 22. Be6 time 1-0

City of Sydney 2006
Chernih, Nicholas
Wright, Neil
C41

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Nf6 4. dxe5 Nxe4 5. Qd5 Nc5 6. Bg5 Be7 7. exd6 cxd6 8. Bb5+ deviating from 8. Nc3 Nc6 9. a3 Be6 10. Qd2 d5 11. O-O-O Ne4 12. Bxe7 Qxe7 13. Nxe4 dxe4 14. Nd4 O-O 15. Nxc6 bxc6 16. Qe3 f5 17. f3 Rad8 18. Be2 Bd5 19. Qc3 Xie,G-Wright,N/City of Sydney 2006 2006, played in round 2 8... Nbd7 9. O-O O-O 10. Bxe7 Qxe7 11. Nc3 Nf6 12. Qd4 a6 13. Bc4 Bg4 14. Rfe1 Qd7 15. Bd5 Ne6 16. Qd2 Rac8 17. Rad1 Rfd8 18. Qe3 Re8 19. Qd2 Nxd5 20. Qxd5 Nf4 21. Qd4 Nxg2!! 22. Rxe8+ Rxe8 23. Kxg2 Bxf3+ 24. Kxf3 Qh3+ 25. Kf4 g5+ 26. Kxg5 Re5+ 27. Qxe5 Forced. 27...h6+ 28. Kf4 Qxh2+ 29. Kg4 dxe5 30. Kf3 Kg7 31. Rd5 Qf4+ 32. Ke2 h5 33. Rd3 h4 34. Nd5 Qg4+ 35. Kf1 e4 0-1

In this game, last week's giant killer, Anthony Pickering, seemed to have missed something. Just an oversight, perhaps?

Anthony Pickering

City of Sydney 2006
Pickering, Anthony
Hvistendahl, Robert
B34

1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Nf3 g6 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 Bg7 6. Be3 Nf6 7. Nxc6 bxc6 8. e5 Ng8 9. f4 d6 10. Bc4 Nh6 11. exd6 (11. Qd2 is the usual) 11... exd6 12. Bd4 Bg4 13. Bxg7?? I could not believe my eyes when I saw this move when I coded the game into Chessbase. Later that night, I spoke to Robert on the ICC to double check. Yep, this did happen! What was Pickering thinking? Bxd1 14. Kxd1 Nf5 15. Bxh8 Ne3+ 16. Kc1 Nxc4 17. Ne4 d5 18. Nf6+ Kf8 19. Re1 Qd6 20. g3 d4 21. Ne4 Qb4 22. Kd1 Re8 23. Bxd4 Rxe4! 0-1

Other results:

Zirdum - Rej, draw
Xie, K - Rachmadi, 1-0
Barrera - Rosario, 0-1

More photos in my flickr account.