Author: Chuck
Date: 03:21:46 12/03/05
Round 4 and now the Novag Star Diamond (SD) is going to have to step up his game just to salvage some dignity. Down 2.5 - 0.5 with each game showing greater disparity than the last. [White "Mephisto Berlin Pro"] [Black "Novag Star Diamond"] [Round "4"] [ECO "B92"] 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 In this game we revisit the Najdorf, an appropriate choice when your scraping for a win. 6.Be2 e5 7.Nb3 Be7 8.0-0 Be6 9.Qd3 0-0 10.Nd5 Bxd5 11.exd5 e4 The SD doesn't fail to gamble. 12.Qd4 Qc8 13.c4 Nbd7 14.Bf4 Re8 15.Rac1 a5 16.f3 a4 17.Nd2 Nh5 18.fxe4 Nxf4 19.Rxf4 Bf6 20.Qd3 Qc5+ 21.Kh1 Bxb2 22.Rb1 Ne5 The Berlin Pro has played very solidly now and has a nice position with a big center. So what to do with it? [D]r3r1k1/1p3ppp/3p4/2qPn3/p1P1PR2/3Q4/Pb1NB1PP/1R5K w - - 0 23 23.Qg3 Qd4 24.Nf3 Qc3 25.Nxe5 Qxg3 26.hxg3 Bxe5 27.Rf3 Re7 28.Rb4 Bd4 29.Bd3 f6 30.Bc2 a3 31.Rfb3 b6 32.Kh2 Kf7 33.Kh3 Bc5 34.Rb5 Rae8 35.g4 Rxe4 36.Bxe4 Rxe4 37.Rc3 Re2 38.Rxc5 bxc5 39.Rxa3 Rc2 The SD has managed to keep in the game. But from here it seems the Berlin Pro handles the ending slightly better. 40.Ra6 Rxc4 41.Rxd6 Ke7 42.Rc6 Rc3+ 43.Kh2 c4 44.a4 Rd3?! 45.Rxc4 Rxd5 46.Rc7+ [D]8/2R1k1pp/5p2/3r4/P5P1/8/6PK/8 b - - 0 46 Both sides miss the train at this junction. The fact that White can carry on the King side must be too deep for them to see in the time available. In this position, Black must keep the Rooks on to hold the draw. 46..Rd7?? 47.Rc4?? Ra7 48.Kg3 Kd6 49.Kf4 Ra5 50.Ke3 Re5+ 51.Kd3 Re1 52.Rd4+ Kc5 53.Rc4+ Kb6 54.Rb4+ Kc6 55.Rc4+ Kb7 56.Re4 [D]8/1k4pp/5p2/8/P3R1P1/3K4/6P1/4r3 b - - 0 56 This time the SD gets the option to dump the Rooks, and takes it. This is the losing move as after the exchange the SD finds his King cannot hold down both sides of the board. 56..Rxe4?? 57.Kxe4 Kc6 58.Kf5 Kd6 59.a5 Kd5 60.a6 Kc6 61.Ke6 Kb6 62.Kf7 g6 63.Kxf6 h5 64.g5 1-0 This game was fairly even until the big mistake by the SD at move 56. And so, the result of this match is: Mephisto Berlin Pro 3.5 - Novag Star Diamond 0.5 A surprising turn from the Star Diamond - Lyon match. This leaves us looking for the next model from Novag and hopefully they will use some stronger hardware next time which might make all the difference. Cheers, Chuck
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