Tansel Turgut is one of the state’s strongest chess players. You haven’t heard of him? Well, his professional obligations severely limit his over-the-board chess opportunities, so you will not find on the Top 100 Rating List in the front of the magazine. Tansel hails from Turkey and was our 1998 Michigan Open Champion. Lately, he has been honing his skills with Correspondence Chess, playing the game by mail, one move at a time. He recently earned his International Master (IM) title at Correspondence Chess.

This is the first in a series of articles about Tansel’s correspondence play. A special thank you to Ben Finegold for providing additional annotations and Bob Ciaffone for coordinating the effort.

IM Peter Schuster (2541)
Tansel Turgut (2269)
Petrov: Nimzovich, C42
CCO15S2- Board 2

Notes by Ben Finegold (BF) and Tansel Turgut (TT)

TT: This was my fourth correspondence chess tournament, having won the first three. So the Turkish Olympic delegate gave me second board on the Olympic team (even though he had a higher rating, he himself took the third board). GM Norms are practically only possible in the first two boards, so that was an unselfish sacrifice. I made the best result in the Turkish team with 7.5/10 (5 wins, 5 draws).

It is especially difficult to win with Black in correspondence chess (much more difficult than normal tournament chess). I was able to get 3/5 (4 draws, 1 win) with black and 4.5/5 with white! German IM Schuster had 1 GM norm before this tournament. This was his only loss in this tournament. Germany is leading the group now and will be playing in the finals. It is said that despite the rules not allowing it, the German team analyzes together in difficult positions, so it was especially nice to win this game.

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.Nc3

BF: An unusual sideline, championed by Dutch GM van der Wiel. More common is 5.d4, as seen in many Kasparov-Karpov matches.

5...Nf6!?

BF: Another unusual move. More common is simply 5...Nxc3 with approximate equality. Now White gets a small edge with his lead in development.

TT: This is an extremely dangerous move (despite looking simple), especially for OTB chess. This is why Shirov has had good results with White in this position. Here, I had to think for almost 3 weeks. I believe that I found a very nice way to equalize. I feel that my plan is the best for Black here--the plan with Nxc3 with White's queen-side castling is not very easy to play for Black. New In Chess Yearbook recently had an article about this variation (just before this game started). 5...Nxc3 is not very good for Black, as he cannot equalize. The line I chose (keeping the pawn at d6 and retreating the knight) is the best line.

6.d4 Be7

TT: Black's first inaccuracy. Instead of Be7, 6...Bg4 has to be played. 7.h3 would be strong for White. I knew the dangers, and played Be7, but it was not very accurate. Another alternative is 6...d5.

7.Bd3

TT: Between moves 7 and 15 was extremely dangerous for Black. Despite the simple look, White has excellent attacking chances. I believe that White should score more than 90% practically in this position (the defense is extremely difficult). Black has to find the only moves and walk through a very narrow pathway for 5-6 moves. The attack with g4, h4 etc. is very dangerous. (The analysis shows excellent sacrificial play for White).

7...Bg4 8.h3 Bh5

TT: 8...Bxf3?! 9.Qxf3 Nc6 10.Be3 0–0² (BF)

9.Bf4

TT: 9.g4 Bg6 10.g5 Nfd7 11.h4 Bh5÷ (BF)

9...0–0 10.Qe2!?N

BF: I do not like putting the queen on the open file. No wonder this is a novelty!

10...Nbd7 11.g4

BF: White starts active play on the king-side, although this is risky, as Black is all developed, and White has not yet castled himself.

11...Bg6 12.Bxg6

TT: 12.g5 Nh5 13.Be3 c6 14.0–0–0 d5

12...hxg6

TT: 12...fxg6 13.Ng5 Nb6 14.Qe6+ Kh8 15.Nf7+ Rxf7 16.Qxf7

13.0–0–0 Nb6!?

TT: This move is very interesting. The other plan was to play 13...Re8 and 14...Nf8 protecting the king-side. However, with 13...Nb6, Black tries to generate counterplay with 14...Qd7 and 15...Nbd5.

14.h4

BF: Normally when castling opposite sides, attacking the king is paramount. Here, however, this is too quick, and White has the excellent positional move 14.d5! After which White gathers more space and stops a later Nd5. Instead, White goes directly for the kill.

TT: The move 14.d5 was better for White according to my notes (preventing Black's Nd5 plan), as the regular plan with 13...Re8 and 14...Nf8 was very passive and dangerous.

14...Qd7!

BF: An excellent all-purpose move. Black connects his rooks, improves his queen, and puts pressure on all of the light squares.

15.Rdg1! Qe6

BF: Another strong move. Black gets a nice f-file if White trades queens, and his attack goes down the drain.

16.Qxe6

TT: After the queen exchange, Black has completely equalized.

16...fxe6 17.Ng5!?

BF: Again, White shows what an aggressive player he is, but to no avail.

TT: The text may be aggressive, but it is hard to recommend anything really better.

17...Nfd5

BF: Forced, but it gives Black a good position. White's attack has backfired, and now he must accept a slightly worse endgame. The “all or nothing” strategy often turns into nothing when your opponent plays energetically and correctly.

18.Nxd5 Nxd5 19.Bg3

TT: 19.Be3 Nxe3 20.fxe3 Bxg5 21.hxg5 Rf2 (21...Rf3)

19...Bxg5+

TT: 19...Nf4 20.Bxf4 Rxf4 21.Nxe6 Rxf2 22.h5

20.hxg5 b5!

BF: An excellent move cementing the Nd5 and gaining space on the queen-side.

21.Re1 Kf7 22.Re2 a5 23.Kd2 a4

BF: White is obviously worse, as his bishop plays no role in the game. Still, White has good chances to hold a draw, as the rest of his position is fine.

24.c3

TT: White's plan during moves 22-24 was not the best. It allowed the a3, b4 break, securing the knight's strong position at d5 square. Then Black is slightly better (still in boundaries of a draw).

24...a3 25.b3 b4 26.cxb4 Rab8 27.Kd3 Nxb4+ 28.Ke4 Ke7= 29.f4 Nd5!

TT: This move is very accurate. It prevents the bishop's activation via e1–square. It also allows Rb4, c5 breaks. The tactical plans including a timely Nxa2 and Rxb3 are aborted.

30.Kf3!?³ Rb4= 31.Re4 Nc3 32.Be1?!µ

TT: Correct is 32.Re3 trying for a repetition. Black is still better after 32...Nb5, but playing for a win is risky. This leads to a position where Black has 2 rooks and 6 pawns versus White's 2 rooks, bishop, and 2 pawns (after a Nxb3 sacrifice). But Black also has losing chances, and is chancing three different results if he forces this line.

32...Nxa2!

BF: This excellent “sacrifice” gives Black all the chances. Now the a3 pawn is a monster, and White's rooks do not become active, they simply defend the rest of the game.

33.Bxb4 Nxb4 34.Rh2!?

TT: An original move.

34...Kd7!

BF: Another excellent move from Tansel. Now White has no counterplay, and must simply wait to be executed.

35.Re1 a2 36.Ke4! Ra8 37.Ra1 Ra3 38.Rb2 Kc6

BF: White's rooks are terribly passive, and it is only a matter of time before Black breaks through.

39.Rc1+ Kb5 40.Ra1 d5+

BF: Forcing the White king back, making counterplay with f5 problematical.

41.Ke3 c6

BF: 41...c5 was also strong.

42.Kd2 c5 43.Kc3?

BF: This move gives the game away. White has some chances to draw still with 43.dxc5.

43...c4!–+

BF: Now it is all over.

44.f5 exf5 45.gxf5 gxf5 0–1

White resigns.

TT: A nice technical game where I played very accurately. This game gave me a lot of creative satisfaction. 46.g6 f4

BF: Too many passed pawns. The rooks are helpless.