Greetings,

HgMan wrote on 11/25/07 at 00:55:26:

Certainly 19 ..., Rcd8 was a new move - although, as I said earlier, my database isn't up-to-date. It could well reach another game position through transposition.

It's fascinating watching the Game List in SCID - at 17. Bf1, the list became empty due to this move not having been played; yet after 18 ..., Qd6 the two games I mentioned appeared! Obviously, the moves from 17 through 18 beat a new path to that position.

The agreed draw after 18 ..., Qd6 follows;

[Event "TCh-HUN 2005-6"]
[Site "Hungary HUN"]
[Date "2005.11.27"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Almasi, I"]
[Black "Groszpeter, A"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteElo "2440"]
[BlackElo "2518"]
[ECO "D41"]
[EventDate "2005.10.16"]

1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.Nc3 c5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.e4 Nxc3 7.bxc3 cxd4 8.
cxd4 Bb4+ 9.Bd2 Bxd2+ 10.Qxd2 O-O 11.Bc4 b6 12.O-O Bb7 13.Rfe1 Nc6 14.Rad1
Na5 15.Bf1 Rc8 16.d5 exd5 17.exd5 Qd6 1/2-1/2

Actually, you'll note that you arrived at the above position one move later!

And here's the Hole-Solberg game - as you can see, it's just a case of black not appreciating how to play the late middle-/early end-game - offering a exchange of queens which doubles his g-pawns, for example - which contributes to his eventual loss.

You'll also see your comment - about ..., h6 helping white to improve his knight's position - borne out.

[Event "Norwegian Open"]
[Site "Oslo NOR"]
[Date "2005.03.27"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Hole, O"]
[Black "Solberg, J"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2343"]
[BlackElo "2162"]
[ECO "D41"]
[EventDate "2005.03.19"]

1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.Nc3 c5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.e4 Nxc3 7.bxc3 cxd4 8.
cxd4 Bb4+ 9.Bd2 Bxd2+ 10.Qxd2 O-O 11.Bc4 Nc6 12.O-O b6 13.Rad1 Bb7 14.Rfe1
Rc8 15.d5 Na5 16.Bf1 exd5 17.exd5 Qd6 18.Ng5 h6 19.Ne4 Qg6 20.Qf4 Rfd8 21.
d6 Rd7 22.Bd3 Rf8 23.Ng3 Qg5 24.Qxg5 hxg5 25.Nf5 g6 26.Bb5 Rdd8 27.Ne7+ 
Kg7 28.d7 a6 29.Ba4 b5 30.Bc2 Bc6 31.Nxc6 Nxc6 32.Rd6 Nb8 33.Re7 Rh8 34.
Bb3 Rhf8 35.g4 a5 36.Bd5 b4 37.Bb3 1-0

Kindest regards,

Dragan Glas

Greetings,

HgMan
The Bf1 move isn't new - I take that you, like a lot of others, use Chessbase, which doesn't handle transpositions!?

The position after 17..., Qd6 occurred in, at least, two games according to my SCID database - there are probably more but my database isn't up-to-date.

In Almasi, I (2440) - Groszpeter, A (2518), Tch-HUN 2005-6 (4) Hungary, 2005-11-27 (D41), both players agreed a draw at this point.

However, Hole, O (2343) - Solberg, J (2162), Norwegian Open (9), Oslo, 2005-03-27 (D41) ended in a white win after 37 moves.

Lucky for you, your opponent was probably using ChessBase as well!! 

Kindest regards,

Dragan Glas

GMTonyKosten wrote on 08/29/07 at 15:56:53:

Btw I certainly hope the sicilian site is up to date, half my games are Najdorfs and 3 are Poisoned Pawns to boot...

ICCF is the greatest chess corr. organisation with some legendary players :Yakov Estrin have been ICCF
world champion .... and more recently Ulf Andersson,Peter Leko have played some games and now Rafael Leitao

Good luck all the team!

Please excuse my ignorance.

What is this ICCF and Where I can see any information or games ?

I am guessing this is related to ICC but it could be correspondence?

What can stand in the way of the four Gods 

That is the secret of our success.

Even on board 4 there are some very strong opponents; 400 ELO points higher than me. Of course Mr. D.Flude - another opponent of mine - is no slouch either. I haven't progressed any further than move 7 yet.
One thing is clear already: we four have a lot of fun.

HgMan wrote on 08/29/07 at 16:35:08:


Yeah, and I just can't understand how those darn pieces can come up with such good moves!

But seriously Tony, we're all very grateful for your sponsorship.  I don't know if we'll win, but we'll make a very determined effort.