Anti-Meran Gambit
First half of the Penang Closed Chess Tournament saw some higher seeded players being upset by their opponent in round 1,2 and 3. Among them were Khai Boon, Kian Meng, Gavin and me. 
The boy that beats me. 
Despite the negative final score, the game, a Botvinnik Semi Slav also known as Anti-Meran Gambit of Semi Slav Defence was very interesting.
 Let’s take a look at the game.
Evan Timothy Capel (1430) - Tan Eu Hong (1680)
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 e6 5.Bg5 dxc4 6.e4 b5 [ 6…h6 7.Bh4 g5 8.Bg3 b5 9.Be2 Nbd7 10.d5 cxd5 11.exd5 Nb6 12.dxe6 Bxe6 13.Nxb5 Bb4+ 14.Kf1 Qxd1+ 15.Rxd1 0-0 16.Nfd4 Nfd5 17.h4 g4 18.h5 ]
7.e5 h6 8.Bh4 g5 9.Nxg5 hxg5 10.Bxg5 Nbd7 11.a4 Qb6[ 11…Bb4 12.Bxf6 Nxf6 13.exf6 Bb7 14.Qg4 Qa5 15.Kd2 0-0-0 16.Be2 Qb6 17.Kc2 Rdg8 18.Qf4 Rxg2 19.axb5 cxb5 20.h4 Bd6 21.Qe3 b4 22.Na4 b3+ 23.Kd1 Qc6 24.Nc3 Rxh4 25.Rxh4 Rg1+ 26.Kd2 Rxa1 27.Rh8+ Kc7 28.Rh7 Qd7 29.Bxc4 Bb4 30.Bxe6 Bxc3+ 31.Qxc3+ Qc6 32.Rxf7+ Kd6 33.Qg3+ Kxe6 34.Re7+ Kxf6 35.Qe5+ Kg6 36.Rg7+ Kh6 1-0 More,GHorvath, P/Sarospatak 1994/EXT 99 ] [ 11…b4 12.Ne4 Qa5 13.Bxf6 b3+ 14.Ke2 Nxf6 15.Nxf6+ Kd8 16.Qd2 Bb4 17.Qg5 Kc7 18.Ne4 Qd5 19.Qe3 Rd8 20.Rd1 Ba6 21.Nc3 Bxc3 22.Qxc3 Qe4+ 23.Kd2 Rxd4+ 24.Kc1 Rxd1+ 25.Kxd1 Qb1+ 26.Ke2 Qe4+ 27.Kd1 Rd8+ 28.Kc1 Rd5 29.h4 Qf4+ 30.Qe3 Qf5 31.Qc3 Qxf2 32.Bxc4 Bxc433.Qxc4 Rc5 0-1 Rmoutil,M-Sodoma,J/Klatovy CZE 2005 ]12.Bxf6?[ 12.exf6 Ba6 ( 12…Bb7 13.Be2 0-0-0 14.Qc2 Bh6 15.Be3 Bxe3 16.fxe3 a6 17.Bf3 Nxf6 18.axb5 axb5 19.0-0 Qc720.g3 Rdg8 21.Ne2 Ng4 22.Bxg4 Rxg4 23.Rf4 Rxf4 24.Nxf4 c5 25.Rd1 Qc6 ½-½ Mol,R-Larzul,G/Avoine 1999/EXT 2000 )13.Be3 b4 14.Ne4 0-0-0 15.Qc1 b3 16.Bxc4 Qb4+ 17.Nd2 Bb7 18.d5 exd5 19.Bxd5 Ne5 20.Bc4 Rg8 21.Qc3 Rxd2 22.Bxd2 Qxc3 23.Be6+ fxe6 24.Bxc3 Nd3+ 25.Ke2 Nf4+ 26.Kf3 Nxg2 27.Ke4 Bd6 28.f3 c5+ 29.Kd3 Bxf3 30.Rhf1 Bh5 ½-½ Wissemborski,H-Bohnhoff,P/Germany 1990/EXT 2001 ]
12…Nxf6 13.exf6 Rh4!
This is the reason why 12.Bxf6 is a blunder.
14.Qf3 Bb7 15.g3 Rxd4 16.Bg2 0-0-0?
Fritz gives following variations:[ 16…b4 17.a5 Qa6 18.Ne4 c5 19.Nd6+ Bxd6 20.Qxb7 Qxb7 21.Bxb7 Rd8-+ ][ 16…bxa4 17.0-0 ( 17.Rxa4 Qxb2-+ ;17.Nxa4 Qa5+ 18.Kf1 c3 19.Qxc3 Qb5+ 20.Kg1 Rxa4-+ ) 17…a3 18.Qe2 Qb3 19.Rfb1 0-0-0 -+ ] 17.axb5 Rd3 18.Qh5 cxb5 19.Bxb7+ Qxb7 20.0-0 a6 21.Rfd1 Rxd1+?![ 21…Bb4 22.Rxd3 cxd3 23.Rd1 Ba5 24.Qc5+ Kb8 25.b4 Bb6 26.Qe5+ Qc7 27.Qxc7+ Kxc7 28.h4 Rd4‘ ]
22.Rxd1 Rxd1+ 23.Qxd1 Qd7?! Starting of a faulty plan to exchange queens. White has more than a few ways to avoid exchangequeens and to place his queen on a better square. Notice Black’s dark squared bishop? It is already endgame and the bishop still sit at home and this cost Black dearly.
[ 23…b4 24.Qa4 bxc3 25.Qe8+ Kc7 26.Qxf7+ Kb6 27.Qxe6+ Qc6 28.Qe3+ Bc5 29.Qxc3 Qe4 30.h4 Qe2 31.Kh2 Qxf2+-+White should be able to improve his play somewhere but Black has high chances of converting this into a win. ]24.Qf3 Qb7 25.Qf4 Kd7 26.Qd4+ Kc7 27.Ne4 Qb6?? I always think that 28.Qe5+ Bd6 29.Qg5 and I get a tempo before White can take my f7 pawn. 28.Qe5+ Bd6??
 
It is still possible to return to defensive by 28.Kd8 and fight for a draw. Black finally develop his bishop and that appear to be a blunder that throw away the game. Pity. 29.Qh5! White wins a pawn and soon later the bishop will have to sacrifies himself in order to take White’s extra queen. Bb4 May be I should just resign here but I played on to see if Evan would make any mistake. Apparently, he played well and deserved the win. The rest does not need any explanation. 30.Qxf7+ Kb8 31.Qe8+ Kb732.Qd7+ Ka8 33.f7 a5 34.Qc8+ Ka7 35.f8Q Bxf8 36.Qxf8 b4 37.Qc8 c3 38.Nxc3?! White avoid “complication” and take the safest route to victory.[ 38.bxc3 b3 39.Qd7+ Ka6 40.Qd3+ Ka7 41.Nd6 Kb8 42.Nc4 Qc7 43.Qe4+- ]38…bxc3 39.Qxc3 Ka6 40.h4 Qd6 41.Qc4+ Kb7 42.Qb3+ Ka6 43.Qf3 Qe5 44.Qd3+ Kb7 45.Qd2 Qf5 46.Qe2 Kb6 47.h5 a4 48.h6 Ka5 49.Qd2+ Kb5 50.Qe2+ Ka5 51.Qd2+ Kb5 52.Qd7+ Ka5 53.Qc7+ Kb5 54.h7 Qb1+ 55.Kh2 Qf5 56.Qb7+ Kc4 57.h8Q Qxf2+ 58.Qg2 Qe3 59.Qc6+ Kb3 60.Qb8+ Ka2 61.Qxa4+ Kb1 62.Qd1+ Ka2 63.Qa8+ Kxb2 64.Qaa1#
I am so eager to wait for next Black game against Evan… 
Finally, a quick view at the standing after 4 rounds means a tough fight is awaiting on second half of the event 1+ weeks from now.
Comments are most welcomed. Evan, if you are reading this, please gives your annotation as well…
Posted in Chess Annotation, Chess Tournament |
One Response to “Anti-Meran Gambit”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
August 7th, 2007 at 4:53 pm
[…] 1 of Penang Closed Chess Tournament was quite interesting since I lost an interesting Anti-Meran Gambit to Evan […]