City of Sydney - Round 6

Calmly, he makes his move, 67...Rb8. As the opponent, the awesome George Xie, sat there shaking his head, Raymond Song gave away a satisfied smile. Raymond knew it was all over. And so did the rest of us. The little kid had taken out another master scalp. What a game! What a struggle!

For a while the finish seemed certain. Any moment now, George Xie will offer a draw. His determined prodding was going nowhere. With just a lonesome Queen, there was no way in to Ray's fortresses - one on both flanks of the board. Finally, the 3-IM norm holder decides to race his own King up along the h-file to join the attack. Waiting for him was a diabolical ambush!


City of Sydney 2006
Xie, George
Song, Raymond
B22

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. c3 d5 4. exd5 Qxd5 5. d4 Nf6 6. Be2 Be7 7. O-O O-O 8. a3 cxd4 9. cxd4 Nc6 10. Nc3 Qd6 11. Nb5 Qd8 12. Bf4 Nd5 13. Bg3 b6 14. Rc1 Bb7 15. Ne5 Nxe5 16. dxe5 a6 17. Nd6 Bxd6 18. exd6 Qf6 19. Qb3 e5 20. d7 Rfd8 21. Bg4 h5 22. Bxh5 Rxd7 23. Bg4 Re7 24. Bf3 e4 25. Be2 b5 26. Rfd1 Qe6 27. Bf1 Rd8 28. a4 bxa4 29. Qxa4 Red7 30. Qa5 Re8 31. Rc5 e3 32. Re1 Qf6 33. fxe3 Rxe3 34. Rd1 Rxg3 35. hxg3 Ne3 36. Re1 Nxf1 37. Re8+ (37. Rxf1?? Qxb2) 37... Kh7 38. Rh5+ Kg6 39. Ree5 Rd5 40. Rhg5+ Qxg5 41. Rxg5+ Kxg5 42. Qc7 Rb5 43. Kxf1 Kg6 44. b4 f6 45. Qe7 Rf5+ 46. Kg1 Rb5 47. g4 Kh7 48. Kf2 Kg6 49. g3 Kh7 50. Qf8 Bd5 51. Qd6 Bb7 52. Ke3 Re5+ 53. Kf2 Rb5 54. Qd3+ Kg8 55. Qg6 Bc6 56. Qc2 Bb7 57. Qc7 Kh7 58. Qe7 Kg8 59. Kf1 Kh7 60. Kg1 Kg8 61. Kh2 Kh7 62. Kh3 Kg6 63. Kh4 Kh6 64. Qe8 Kh7 65. Qe7 Kh6 66. Qf7 Bg2! Now George casually plays 67. Qf8, totally missing Song's fantastic reply

After 67. Qf8

67...Rb8!! 0-1

After last week's loss, WIM Laura Moylan (who has been promoted to board 2 in the Olympiad team after Anastasia Sorokina's withdrawal) gets her campaign back in order by defeating New South Wales champ Andrew Bird. Her opponents should watch out. Laura seems to have this uncanny ability to create a passed d-pawn. She did the same against Raymond Song earlier in the tournament and came very close to winning. This time, the d-pawn passer proved far too troublesome for black.

City of Sydney 2006
Moylan, Laura
Bird, Andrew
D03

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. Bg5 Bg7 4. Nbd2 d5 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Bd3 c5 7. c3 Qb6 8. Qc2 O-O 9. O-O Re8 10. Rfe1 e5 11. Nxe5 Nxe5 12. dxe5 Ng4 13. c4Nxe5 14. cxd5 Nxd3 15. Qxd3 Qxb2 16. d6 Bd7 17. Rab1 Qxa2 18. Rxb7 Qe6 19. Rc1 Rec8 20. Rc7 Be5 21. Ne4 Rxc7 22. dxc7 c4 23. Rxc4 Bc8 (23... Bb5 24. Qd8+ Qe8 25. Qxa8 Qxa8 26. c8=Q+) 24. Bh6 Ba6 (24... Bg7 25. Qd8+) 25. Qd8+ Qe8 26. Nf6+ 1-0


It is very hard sometimes to attend to my own problems while also keeping on eye on all the other mini battles around me. Just as I've made my move, I can't wait to get up again and observe the other games. You know, I get this itch and I can't control it. Sooner or later, something will have to give; I either want to play chess, or just write about it. Today, however, I got lucky. My opponent seemed a little unfamiliar with the situation and walked straight into an attack.

1. e4 is not my first choice. But it does make an appearance when I know that the opposition will respond only in a certain way. My opponent, Aram Sandalciyan, nearly always relies on the Sicilian. No fancy preparation here. Just sit back, relax and wait.

City of Sydney 2006
Rosario, Amiel
Sandalciyan, Aram
B26

1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 d6 3. g3 Nf6 4. Bg2 e5?! 5. d3 Nc6 6. h3 g6 7. Be3 Bg7 8. Qd2 h5 9. Nce2 Qa5 10. c3 Be6 11. f4 Nd7 12. Nf3 Bh6 13. O-O f5 14. Nh4 O-O-O 15. b4!? (Maybe I should have played 15. Nxg6 Rhg8 16. exf5 Bxf5 17. b4 Qc7 necessary because the obvious capture (17... cxb4 runs into 18. cxb4 Qa3 19. b5 Rxg6 20. bxc6 bxc6 21. Rac1 c5 22. Rc3) 18. Nh4 Be6 19. bxc5 dxc5) 15...cxb4 16. cxb4 Qxb4 17. Qc2 Nc5 18. Rab1 Qa4 19. Qd2 Qxa2 20. Rb2 Qa3 (20... Qa5 21. Qxa5 Nxa5 22. Nxg6 Rhe8 (22... Rhg8 23. Ne7+ (23. exf5 Bxf5 24. Ne7+ Kb8 25. Nxf5) 23... Kb8 24. Nxg8)) 21. Nc3 Nb4 22. Nb5 Qxd3?? 23. Rxb4 Qxd2 24. Bxd2 Nd3 25. Nxa7+ Kc7 26. Rbb1 b6 27. Nb5+ Kd7 28. Ra1 exf4 29. Ra7+ Kc6 (29... Ke8 30. Nxg6 Rd7 (30... Bd7 31. Nxd6 mate) 31. Ra8+ Kf7 (31... Rd8 32. Rxd8+ Kxd8 33. Nxh8) 32. Nxh8+) 30. Nd4+ 1-0


City of Sydney 2006
Pickering, Anthony
Wright, Neil
B33

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Bg5 a6 8. Na3 b5 9. Bxf6 gxf6 10. Nd5 f5 11. c3 Bg7 12. exf5 Bxf5 13. Nc2 O-O 14. Nce3 Be6 15. Bd3 f5 16. O-O Ra7 17. a4 bxa4 18. Rxa4 Qg5 19. f4 exf4 20. Nxf4 Be5 21. Qf3 Bd7 22. Nh3 Qh6 23. Bxf5 Kh8 24. Qe4 d5 25. Qd3 Bxf5 26. Rxf5 Rxf5 27. Nxf5 Qc1+ 28. Kf2 Qxb2+ 29. Ke3 Qxg2 30. Rxa6 Qxh3+ 31. Ng3 Bxg3 32. Rxc6 Bf4+ 33. Kd4 Be5+ 0-1


Other results:

Song, A - Rej, .5-.5
Ingram - Hill, 1-0
Bleicher - Bolens, 0-1
Escribano - Zirdum, 0-1
Rachmadi - Barrera, 1-0

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