Here are the next two rounds of my Crete Games. Please read the first introductory post if you haven’t, followed by part two.

Round Five

Alexandr Velizhanin Rus 1598 – Bob Mitchell NZL 1527

White was the highest rated player in our grade so I had no expectations of a win. However he did have some games that I found online so I was able to prepare for his unusual opening.

1.Nc3 d5 2.e4 d4 3.Ne2 e5 4.Ng3 Nf6 5.d3 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 Bxd2+ 7.Qxd2 00 8.Nf3 Re8 9 Be2 c5 10. 00 Nc6 11 a3 Bg4 12.h3 Bxf3 13. Bxf3 Qa5. Exchanging on f3 has left White with a poor Bishop. I believed I had the better position. 14.Qg5 h6 15.Qc1 Ne7 16. Nh5 Qb6 17.Ng3 a5 18. Bd1 Ra6 19.Ne2 Nh7 20.Rb1 Qc7 21.f4 ef4 22.Nxf4 Qe5 23.Qd2 Rf6  24.Nh5 Rxf1+ 25.Kxf1 b6 26.Qf2 Ng6 27.Ng3 Re6 28.Kg1 Rf6 There was another possibility here.  I spend some time thinking about playing Nh4 instead of 28…Rf6 but without the Rook on f6 the options were limited. 29. Bf3 Ng5  30. Nf5 Nxf3+ 31.Qxf3 Ne7 32. Nxe7+ Qxe7 33.Qe2 Qe5 34.Rf1 Rg6 35.Qf3 Rf6 36.Qe2 Rf4 37.b3 Qf6 38.a4 Rxf1+ 39.Qxf1 Qg5 40.Kh2 Qd2 41.Qf5 Qg5 1/2-1/2    My second draw, but with no losses I was feeling very chipper. With more than half the tournament gone, I started to think I might do rather well. 

Round  Six

Bob Mitchell NZL 1527 – Patrick Sartain Eng. 1592

I decided to rest the London System against an English player who I had not met before.  

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d6 3.g3 g6 So, it looks as if it will be a fianchetto Kings Indian.   I have a pet game played in 1980 in this variation Chiburdanidze – Laubscher and I know it quite well**.** 4.Bg2 c6 5. 00 Bg7 6.c4 00 7.Nc3 Bg4 8.h3 Bd7 9.Re1 Na6 10.e4 Kh8.   White has achieved his opening objectives. Meantime the Na7 could come to b4 though it would probably prefer c7.  I want to play b4 myself soon, so:  11.a3 Nc7 12.Ra2 Qc8 13.Kh2 Re8 14.Ng5 Rf8 15.b4 h6 16.Nf3 a6 17.Rc2 Kh7 18.e5 Ne8 19.d5 cd5 20.Nxd5 Nxd5 21.cd5 Qd8 22.Rc4 e6 23.Rh4 Rh8 24.Ng5+ Kg8 25.Nxf7 Kxf7 26.Qf3+ Kg8 27.Qb3 Qe7 28.ed6 Nxd6 29.de6 Bc6 30.Bxc6 bc6 31.Rf4 Kh7 32 Qc2 Raf8.33.Qxc6 Rxf4 34.Bxf4 Rd8.  White now has a winning advantage and a plus in material.  35.Qxa6 Nf5 36 Qb6 Bd4 37. Qc7 Qxc7 38. Bxc7 Re8 39.Kg2 Kg7 40.b5 Kf6 41.b6 Bxb6 42.Bxb6 Rxe6 43.Rxe6+ Kxe6 44.a4 Kd7 45.a5 Kc6 46.Kf3 Ne7 47.Ke4 Kd6 48.Be3 h5 49.a6 Kc7 50 Ke5 Ng8 51. Ke6 1-0

Next Friday sees the concluding part of my series.

Bob Mitchell