(2) Sherry,Bob (1812) - Moldovan,John (1811) [B28]
5th Checkmate Championship Springfield, NJ (2.2), 25.01.2009
[Moldovan & Rybka 2.3]

G/40+5 B28 Sicilian Defense O'Kelly Variation

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 a6 [I haven't covered this in a while so there'll be many quotes along the way. I'm sure Bob was expecting 2...e6 as in game 1 of our October 2008 match.]

3.d4 [RR3.Nc3 e6 4.Bc4 Nc6 5.b3 (5.d4 cxd4 6.Nxd4 Qc7 B47 Taimanov 7.0-0 Nf6 8.Re1 Mann - Moldovan : G/25+5, Springfield 06/01/2008 8...Nxd4 (or 8...Bd6= ) 9.Qxd4 Bc5= ) 5...Qc7N 6.Bb2 Nf6 7.a4 Be7 8.Qe2 Nd4 9.Nxd4 cxd4 10.Na2 DMAN6995 - Moldovan : G/9, Pogo 03/08/2006 10...Qe5= ; For 3.g3 see my 2006 KST loss to Ed Selling, which also noted 3.c3 & 3.c4.]

3...cxd4 4.Nxd4 [RR4.Qxd4 Nc6 5.Qa4+/= e6 6.Bd3 Qc7N 7.0-0 Nf6 8.h3 acaestamos - Moldovan : G/20, Chess Any Time 08/03/2006 8...Bc5= ]

4...Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Nb3 [This varies from the 6.Nf3 Bb4 7.Bd2 of our 2006 championship contest. (7.Nxe5 Qe7 8.Nc4 Nxe4 9.Qe2[] Nc6 10.Bd2 Bxc3 11.Bxc3 0-0= Zieher - Tatenhorst : Hamburg 1991; & 7.Bg5 d6 8.Bc4 0-0N 9.0-0 Bxc3 10.bxc3 Qc7!? (>=10...h6 11.Bxf6 Qxf6= ) 11.Qe2 (>=11.Bxf6 Qxc4 12.Be7 Re8 13.Qxd6 Qxe4 14.Nxe5 Be6© ) 11...Nbd7= 12.Rfd1? h6 13.Bh4 b5 14.Bb3 Bb7=/+ Sean (or Shawn) X. - Moldovan : G/15, Springfield 06/01/2008 are also worth mentioning.) ; An other option is 6.Nf5 d5 7.Qf3 d4 8.Nd5 Nxd5 9.exd5 Bxf5 10.Qxf5 Qxd5 11.Qc8+ Ke7 (11...Qd8 12.Qxb7 Nd7= Wilsbeck - Flaten : Oslo 1994) 12.Bd2© ]

6...Bb4 Diagram



7.Bd2 [RR7.Bg5 Nc6 8.Be2 h6 9.Bxf6 Qxf6 10.0-0 Bxc3 11.bxc3 d6N 12.Bg4 Bxg4 13.Qxg4 0-0 14.Rad1 Rad8 15.a4 Qe7 16.Rd5 Qc7 17.Rfd1 Ne7 18.R5d3 f5 19.exf5 Nxf5 20.Qb4 Rf6= Ian, the bailbondsman - Moldovan : G/5, Springfield 07/30/2006; 7.Bd3 d6 (>=7...d5 ) 8.Bd2 Nbd7 (>=8...Bg4! 9.f3 Be6= ) 9.0-0 Nc5 10.Nxc5 Bxc5N 11.Bg5 Be6 12.Be2 (>=12.Nd5 Bxd5 13.exd5+/= ) 12...h6 13.Bxf6 Qxf6 14.Nd5 Bxd5 15.Qxd5 0-0 16.Qxb7 Demetrick - Moldovan : G/5, Kenilworth 09/27/2007 16...Rab8 17.Qxa6 Rxb2© ; 7.Qd3 d5 8.exd5 Nxd5 9.Bd2 Be6 10.0-0-0N Mann - Moldovan : quick skittles game, Kenilworth 08/14/2008 10...Bxc3 11.Bxc3 Qc7 12.Bd2 0-0= ]

7...0-0 [Rybka says 7...d5!?N ; & 7...Bxc3N 8.Bxc3 Nxe4!? are = but getting get my K safe & protecting my Bb4 were priorities.]

8.f3 [For 8.Qf3 see my 2006 KST loss to Devin Camenares, where you'll also find analysis of the the aforementioned 7...d5.]

8...Nc6 9.a3? [This gives me the initiative and allows ...d5. 9.Nd5= would have maintained equality.]

9...Bxc3 10.Bxc3 d5 11.Bd3N White offers a draw. [11.exd5 Nxd5 12.Qd2 (12.Bd2 Bf5 13.Be2 Qb6 14.Ba5 Nxa5 15.Qxd5 Nxb3 16.Qxb3 Qxb3 17.cxb3 Rac8-/+ Nobe - Van Noort : Utrecht 2001) 12...Nxc3 13.Qxc3 e4 14.Be2 Qg5 15.g3 exf3 16.Qxf3 Bf5-/+ Van Landeghem - -Jatautis : Istanbul 1998]

11...dxe4?! [>=11...Be6=/+ overprotecting d5 in preparation for ...Qb6.; An immediate 11...Qb6 would've permitted 12.exd5 Nxd5 13.Bxh7+ Kxh7 14.Qxd5+/= ]

12.fxe4? Diagram

[12.Bxe4 Nxe4 13.Qxd8 Rxd8 14.fxe4© was right. Now Black wins a P.]

12...Nxe4! 13.Qh5 [Of course, if 13.Bxe4 then 13...Qh4+ 14.K moves Qxe4.]

13...g6 14.Qh6 Nxc3 15.bxc3 Qf6 [15...e4 was best.]

16.Rf1 [>=16.Nc5-/+ ]

16...Qg7? [16...Qe7-+ ]

17.Qe3 Diagram

[17.Qxg7+ Kxg7 18.Be4 was an alternative & certainly better than what follows.]

17...e4 18.Bc4? [>=18.Bxe4 Re8 19.0-0-0-/+ ]

18...Ne5-+ 19.Qxe4? [19.Bd5 Ng4 20.Qg3 Nf6 21.0-0-0 Nxd5 22.Rxd5 Be6 23.Rd6 ]

19...Bf5 20.Qe2? [>=20.Qd4 ]

20...Nxc4? [20...Rae8! ]

21.Qxc4 Rfe8+ 22.Kf2 Rac8 23.Qd4 Rxc3 24.Qxg7+ Kxg7 25.Nd4 Bxc2 26.Nxc2? [26.Rfc1 Rec8 27.a4 ]

26...Rxc2+ 27.Kf3 Ree2 28.Rg1 Ra2 29.Rab1 b5 30.Rb3 f5 31.Rc3 Rf2+ 32.Kg3 f4+ 33.Kh3 Kh6?! [>=33...h5 ]

34.Rd3 Kh5 35.Rd5+ g5 36.g4+ fxg3?! [>=36...Kg6 37.Rd6+ Kf7 38.Rd7+ Ke6 39.Re1+ Kxd7 40.Rd1+ Kc7 41.Rc1+ Kb6 42.Rc6+ Kxc6 43.a4 Rxh2# ]

37.Kxg3 Rfc2 38.Rd3 Rxh2 39.Re1 Rag2+ 40.Kf3 Rh3+ 41.Kxg2 Rxd3 Diagram

Clock check : Black has 3:54 remaining. White has 16+ minutes.

42.a4 b4 [>=42...bxa4 43.Re6 a3 44.Rxa6 g4 ]

43.Re6 b3? [The first of several time-pressure errors that make Black's conversion unnecessarily problematic. >=43...a5 ]

44.Rxa6 b2? [44...Kg4 /\ 45...Rd2+, 46...b2, ...Rd1 & ...b1Q was still an easy win. Since this is a long game & there are others to annotate, I'm going to skip most of the rest & let the readers tack additional "?s" where they please. ]

45.Rb6 Rd2+ 46.Kg3 Rd3+ 47.Kg2 Ra3 48.Rxb2 Rxa4 49.Rb8 Kg4 50.Rb1 h5 51.Rb8 Ra2+ 52.Kg1 Kg3 53.Rb3+ Kh4 54.Rb1 g4 55.Kh1 g3 56.Rb4+ Kh3 57.Rb1 Rd2 58.Ra1 Rd3 59.Rb1 Kg4 60.Kg2 Rd4 Diagram



61.Ra1 [61.Rd1! /\Rxd1?? stalemate was worth a try.]

61...h4 62.Kg1 h3 63.Rb1 Rf4 64.Ra1 Re4 65.Rb1 Kf3 66.Rf1+ Ke2 67.Ra1 Rd4 68.Ra2+ Rd2 69.Ra1 Rd1+ 70.Rxd1 Kxd1 71.Kh1 Ke1 72.Kg1 Ke2 73.Kh1 Ke1 74.Kg1 g2 75.Kh2 Kf2 76.Kxh3 g1Q White resigns Time left - Sherry 12:56, Moldovan 0:42 Estimated time used - Sherry 33:24, Moldovan 44:38 Avg. per move - Sherry 0:26.37, Moldovan 0:35.24 Longest think by White - 2 minutes (6 times) Longest think by Black - 6 minutes for 18...Ne5 0-1