door Marc Ghannoum
Let me start off with the obvious: I got BIG issues with HWP Haarlem. They handed us the proverbial trashing last year at the KNSB; I was paired with the legendary Luke Van Wely on 1st board; despite intense preparation and quite a decent opening, I proceeded to blunder in the worst of ways for to all see, and for a few to secretly mock. That hurt. Let me also candidly admit that they also have a fantastic playing hall, in a beautiful building, with live boards galore, and a cool bar with an espresso machine. They also seem to be genuinely nice guys who appreciate beer and a good joke. And Bart Gijswijt writes funnier reports. There. I said it.
It was therefore fitting that on that fateful April 7th both our teams would collide crossing paths in the middle: us edging upwards towards Masterklass, while they were descending back in 1st class. Revenge and Ego were on the menu and we both had something to prove.
Drama started early for us. Exactly 50 minutes before the game, Take revealed that he had intestinal issues and was forced to back out. Going down 1-0 in a 4 board match isn’t my idea of a good time. But, like a good Hollywood story, an emergency signal was emitted and Batman responded: our own Tex de Wit, several hundred kilometers away (it’s my story), heeded the call and rushed his way through red lights and speed bumps. That’s called dedication. It could be called something else, if you’re not a chess player.
Led by Pascal who’s been invincible in the Netherlands (see previous KNSB and blitz reports), there were decent reasons to feel confident about our chances. I was paired with a prodigy who’s rapidly climbing the latter towards IM. We arrived at the following critical position:
Black is behind development. That much is obvious. It didn’t take you much time to consider e6 followed by an exchange sacrifice. But I was also tempted by: 11.h3!? Bxf3 12.Qxf3 Nxd4 13.Qd3 Ne6?! (13…Nc6 allows 14.e6 but it’s a lesser evil) 14.Nc3 with tremendous play for the pawn. But knowing my comrades were watching the games live, I couldn’t really resist.
11.e6! Bxe6
12.Rxe6 fe
13.Qb3! (strange move but quite strong). If black defends the pawn with 13…Qd7, white plays Nbd2-b3-c5 with decisive effect.
13…b5?! (13…Na5 was a better try. Now white gets some added activity with a potential a4)
14.Nc3 (the engine prefers 14.a4! b4 15.Qc2! but it didn’t even enter my consciousness)
14…Na5
15.Qb4 Nc6
16.Qb3 Na5 (I did entertain slightly a draw, but was denied by my captain)
17.Qc2! Qb6? (the position was difficult but this makes it almost impossible for black to defend)
18.Na4! (threatening to enter c5 and opening lines towards the king. I had considered the less dramatic alternative i.e. 18.b4 Nc4 19.a4 but I’m a sucker for showmanship)
18…bxa4
19.Qxa4 Nc6 (19…Kd8 20.Ne5 +-)
20.Bf4! (the last precise move, black had only expected 20,Ne5 Rc8 21.Be3 Qa5 after which he can still fight)
20…Rc8
21.Rc1 g5
22.Bxa6 Ra8
23.Rxc6 Rxa6 (black is being gracious and is allowing me to show off with a nice flurry)
24.Rc8++ Kf7
25.Qe8 Kg7
27.Qxf8 Kg6
27.Ne5 Kh5
28.Qf7 Kh4
29.Bg3++
On the other boards (see https://view.livechesscloud.com/#a5c90330-7001-47aa-90cb-7aef25199f62), things were also exciting. Tex was working his opponent with the usual oily massage. And at a critical juncture, he missed a nice opportunity to extend his advantage with 26.Rxc8 Rxc8 27.Ra1! followed by Ra7. That one fizzled away and the point was split. Good game by both.
On board 1, Pascal finally met his match. He was facing the super talented Rik Van Rootselaar who also spoiled our party last year defeating Tex. This time, he punished a few sub-par moves from Pascal and gained the full point after very nice technique. He was as impressive in the post-mortem. How come he’s only 2260?! Great game.
Rafael and Bart Gijswijt were left to decide our respective fate on board 3. I won’t try to make sense of that game. But here’s the gist of it:
“Rafael has a great opening”
“Bart is better”
“hmm Bart is much better”
“doesn’t Bart win after 20.Qc2?”
“Maybe Rafael can hold this”
“It’s a sharp game, I don’t know who’s better”
“Wow, Rafael is winning”
“Bart will resign now”
“Hmm Bart might hold now”
“0-1, Rafael won”
Thx for the excitement guys, but next time, I’ll stay home and watch macramé on PBS.
So, there it is, a short victory of 2.5-1.5 against those Haarlem truants. And we’re off to the national for the first time. Thx Batman and co!
