Rounds 4-6

Round 4

I was paired against IM Panesso Rivera, rated 2351 in this round. Once again, the evening round gave no opportunity for preparation and the round started 20min late. It was the last time that the round did not start on time. This time the lateness was announced along with the pairings. This was the only round that I was out of the roped up top 8 board zone. I was on the 9th board.

[Event “?”]
[Site “?”]
[Date “2011.04.21”]
[Round “?”]
[White “Panesso”]
[Black “Bluvshtein”]
[Result “0-1”]
[ECO “A00”]
[PlyCount “102”]
[EventDate “2011.04.19”]
[SourceDate “2011.04.21”]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. e3 c5 4. Bd3 Nc6 5. O-O d5 6. b3 Be7 7. Bb2 O-O 8. Nbd2
b6 9. c4 cxd4 10. exd4 Bb7 11. Rc1 dxc4 12. bxc4 Qd6 13. Re1 Rfd8 14. Qe2 Rac8
15. Ne4 Nxe4 16. Qxe4 g6 17. d5 exd5 18. cxd5 Qxd5 19. Qxd5 Rxd5 20. Be4 Rb5
21. Ba1 Bf8 22. h4 Rc5 23. Rcd1 Na5 24. Ng5 R5c7 25. Be5 Re7 26. Bf6 Ree8 27.
Bd3 Bg7 28. Rxe8+ Rxe8 29. Bb5 Bc6 30. Bxc6 Nxc6 31. Bxg7 Kxg7 32. Rc1 Rc8 33.
Rc3 h6 34. Ne4 Ne7 35. Ra3 Rc7 36. Nd6 Rd7 37. Ne8+ Kf8 38. Nf6 Rd6 39. Ng4 h5
40. Ne3 Nc6 41. g3 Rd2 42. Rc3 Ne5 43. Ra3 a5 44. Ra4 Rb2 45. Ra3 Ke7 46. Kg2
Kd6 47. Nd1 Rd2 48. Nc3 f5 49. Rb3 Kc6 50. Na4 b5 51. Re3 Nc4 0-1

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. e3 c5 4. Bd3 Nc6 5. O-O d5 6. b3 Be7 7. Bb2 O-O 8. Nbd2 b6 9. c4 cxd4 10. exd4 Bb7 11. Rc1 dxc4 12. bxc4 Qd6 13. Re1 Rfd8 14. Qe2 Rac8 15. Ne4 Nxe4 16. Qxe4 g6 

White does not have a clear plan except for playing d5 and sacrificing the pawn. Black’s Bishop will be coming into f6 soon to add some pressure to White’s center. White did not think much about the pawn sacrifice. 17. d5? Objectively wrong but this pawn sacrifice makes White’s play easy while Black attempts to consolidate. 17… exd5 18. cxd5 Qxd5 19. Qxd5 Rxd5 20. Be4 Rb5
21. Ba1 Bf8 Preparing to play Bg7 at the right time. 22. h4 Rc5 23. Rcd1 Na5 24. Ng5

24… R5c7? 24…Rc4 with the idea of getting the rook away from being attacked when White plays Ne4 is better than the text. White maintains some compensation nonetheless. My move runs into other problems. 25. Be5 Re7 26. Bf6? White needed to change gears and try to regain the pawn with 26.Bd6!, after which a White rook enters the 7th rank or Black has to drop the h7 pawn. The text does not give Black many problems. 26… Ree8 27. Bd3 Bg7 28. Rxe8+ Rxe8 29. Bb5 Bc6 30. Bxc6 Nxc6 31. Bxg7 Kxg7 32. Rc1 Rc8 Neutralizing the White rook and preparing to kick the White Knight back with h6. 33. Rc3 h6 34. Ne4 Ne7 35. Ra3 Rc7 36. Nd6 Rd7 37. Ne8+ Kf8 38. Nf6 Rd6 39. Ng4 h5 40. Ne3 The Knight was forced to a less active position. 40… Nc6 41. g3

A crucial moment in the endgame. Black has been able to extinguish White’s initiative, but it is not clear how to make progress. 41… Rd2 An important move that makes White nervous. Black changes gears from passive to active play and White starts making mistakes. 42. Rc3 Ne5 43. Ra3 a5 44. Ra4 White if fishing without a clear plan. 44… Rb2 45. Ra3 Ke7 46. Kg2 Kd6 Within the last five moves, all of Black’s pieces have gained active posts. 47. Nd1 Rd2 48. Nc3 f5 Controlling the important e4 square. 49. Rb3 Kc6 50. Na4 b5 White is getting squeezed 51. Re3 Nc4 0-1 White resigned as he cannot avoid the loss of a piece.

Pretty good game. Always tough to keep a high level of energy for the evening round. I felt like I played the end of the game quite well. My opponent’s incorrect pawn sacrifice provided me with help in the middle game.

Round 5

I was paired against GM Abreu Delgado, rated 2485.

[Event “?”]
[Site “?”]
[Date “2011.04.22”]
[Round “?”]
[White “Bluvshtein”]
[Black “Abreu Delgado, Aryam”]
[Result “1/2-1/2”]
[ECO “A00”]
[PlyCount “57”]
[EventDate “2011.04.19”]
[SourceDate “2011.04.22”]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Qb3 dxc4 5. Qxc4 Bg7 6. e4 O-O 7. Nf3 a6 8. e5
b5 9. Qb3 Nfd7 10. e6 fxe6 11. Be3 Nf6 12. a4 b4 13. Qxb4 Nc6 14. Qa3 Rb8 15.
Bc4 Na5 16. Ba2 Nd5 17. Nxd5 exd5 18. O-O Nc4 19. Bxc4 dxc4 20. Bg5 Bf6 21. Bh6
Re8 22. Rfe1 Qd5 23. Rac1 Bf5 24. Qc3 Bd3 25. b4 Qd6 26. Bd2 Rbd8 27. Be3 Rb8
28. Bd2 Rbd8 29. Be3 1/2-1/2
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Qb3 dxc4 5. Qxc4 Bg7 6. e4 O-O 7. Nf3 a6 8. e5 b5 9. Qb3 Nfd7 10. e6 fxe6 11. Be3 Nf6 12. a4 b4 13. Qxb4 Nc6 14. Qa3 Rb8 15. Bc4

All of this has been played before in Kozul-Nedev. My opponent comes up with a new idea. 15… Na5!? A novelty. 16. Ba2 Nd5 17. Nxd5 exd5 18. O-O? 18.Qc3 or 18.Ne5 would have offered White chances for an advantage.  18… Nc4! I underestimated the strength of this move. Black will have a weak pawn structure but it will be fully compensated for with the weakness of the b2 pawn and the strength of Black’s two Bishops. 19. Bxc4 dxc4 20. Bg5 Bf6

White should focus on equalizing the position at this point. 21. Bh6?! A dynamic continuation. The more peaceful 21.Bxf6 exf6 22.Qc3 Qd5 23.Nd2, accepting equality, would have been more in agreement with the position. 21… Re8 22. Rfe1 Qd5 23. Rac1 Bf5 24. Qc3 Bd3 Black prepares to squeeze White after playing 25…Rb3

25. b4! Eliminating the weakness of the b2 pawn at once and now threatening to get a lot of play with Ne5 next. 25… Qd6 Black could have tried to play for a win with 25…a5 26.b5 c5 27.bxc6 Rb3 28.Qd2 Qxc6 29.Qxa5, but the position would be risky for all those involved. 26. Bd2 Rbd8 27. Be3 Rb8l 28. Bd2 Rbd8 29. Be3 1/2-1/2 Neither side has a good way to avoid repetition.

A discouraging game. For the second game in a row with White, I was unable to put much pressure on my opponent and had to split the point. This would have to change if I hoped to finish the tournament well.

Round 6

Another evening game. My morning game did not finish all that fast but I was still able to get some good rest. The pairings came up right before the start of the game so I had no preparation for this game either. I was to play IM Martin Del Campo, rated 2415.

[Event “?”]
[Site “?”]
[Date “2011.04.22”]
[Round “?”]
[White “Martin Del Campo”]
[Black “Bluvshtein”]
[Result “0-1”]
[ECO “A00”]
[PlyCount “42”]
[EventDate “2011.04.19”]
[SourceDate “2011.04.22”]

1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. f4 Bg7 5. Nf3 O-O 6. e5 Nfd7 7. h4 c5 8. h5
cxd4 9. Qxd4 dxe5 10. Qf2 Nf6 11. hxg6 fxg6 12. fxe5 Nh5 13. Qh4 Nc6 14. Be2
Nxe5 15. Ng5 h6 16. Nge4 Bf5 17. g4 Bxe4 18. Nxe4 Nf4 19. Bxf4 Rxf4 20. Nd2 Qd4
21. c3 Qe3 0-1

1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. f4 Bg7 5. Nf3 O-O 6. e5 Nfd7 7. h4 c5 8. h5 cxd4 9. Qxd4 dxe5 10. Qf2

10… Nf6 Forces the issue but is not one of Black’s main options in the position. 11. hxg6 fxg6 12. fxe5?! 12…Bc4+! gave White an advantage after 13.Kh8 14.Ng5 Nh5 15.Nf7+ Rxf7 16.Bxf7, but the position would remain quite unclear. 12… Nh5 13. Qh4 Nc6 14. Be2? 14.Bc4+ was needed once again to develop the Bishop with a tempo.

14… Nxe5! Scary at first but the opening of the h-file is not something to fear when White has little resources. 15.Nxe5 Bxe5 16.Bxh5 gxh5 17.Qg5+ Bg7 18.Qxh5 Bf5 gives Black a clear advantage. 15. Ng5 h6 16. Nge4 Bf5! Black prepares to rid himself of the rather useless Bishop. 17. g4? The losing move. 17… Bxe4 18. Nxe4 Nf4! The move my opponent missed. Suddenly White has no attack but his own King is very vulnerable 19. Bxf4 Rxf4 20. Nd2

White resigned as he cannot stop a big loss of material in the near future.

I felt good about this game. I played a very clean game after my 10th move. I spent a long time in the middle game. It is important to pick the spots where to spend time, especially with critical positions.

At 5/6 I was half a point behind the lead with three rounds remaining.