The Martinovsky Memorial was held from August 19-23, 2005 at the AmericInn Hotel in Rollingbrook, IL, just outside of Chicago. The tournament was a six player double round robin. Ben Finegold scored six points to earn his final GM Norm. Also playing were GM Yuri Shulman, GM Vladimir Georgiev, GM Nikola Mitkov, IM Stanislav Smetankin, and IM Angelo Young. Below are Ben’s games and all notes belong to him:

Ben Finegold (2649)
Nikola Mitkov (2612)
Queen's Gambit Declined: Ragozin (Moscow), D38
Round 1

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d5 3.c4 e6 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Bg5 h6 7.Bh4 g5 8.Bg3 Ne4 9.Nd2 Nxc3 10.bxc3 Bxc3 11.Rc1 Bb2 12.Bxc7 Qe7 13.Bd6 Qe6 14.Rb1 Bc3 15.Bc5!?N

I prepared this novelty the night before the game. Previously 15.Ba3 was played.

15...b6 16.Rb3 bxc5 17.Rxc3

I looked at this with Fritz 8 the night before. Fritz did not think 15...b6 was a good move, and here it thought Black was worse after 17...cxd4 18.Qa4+ Nd7 (18...Bd7?? 19.Rc8+!) 19.Qxd4 0-0. Instead, Mitkov sacrifices a pawn and gets good compensation.

17...0-0!? 18.Rxc5 Nd7 19.Ra5 Ba6 20.e3 Bxf1 21.Kxf1

21.Nxf1 is probably better, but Black still has good play.

21...Nf6 22.h4 g4 23.g3 Rfc8 24.Kg2 Rab8 25.Nb3 Qe4+ 26.Kh2 Qf5 27.Rf1 Ne4 28.Kg1

28.Rxa7!?

28...Rc7 29.Nc5 Rb2 30.Nxe4 Qxe4 31.Rc5 Rcb7 32.a4 a6 33.Rc8+ Kg7 34.a5 R7b3 35.Qe1 Qf5 36.Rc3 Rb8 37.Qd1 Ra2 38.Qd3 Qxd3 39.Rxd3 Rxa5 40.Rc3 Rab5

Black is probably a little better after 40...Ra2 We looked at this a little after the game with Georgiev.

41.Rc7 a5 42.f3 R8b7 43.Rxb7 Rxb7 44.fxg4 Rb3 45.Kf2 a4 46.Rc1 Rb6 47.Ra1 Ra6 48.Ra3 Kf6 49.Ke2 Ke6 50.Kd3 f5 51.gxf5+ Kxf5 52.g4+ Kxg4 53.e4 Rf6 54.Rxa4 Rf3+ 55.Ke2 dxe4 56.Ra6 Rd3

56...h5 57.Re6 Kf5 58.Rh6 Kf4 59.Rf6+ Kg3 60.Rxf3+ exf3+ 61.Kf1 Kxh4 62.Kf2 Kg4 63.d5. All lines lead to a draw, but maybe this was the most interesting?

57.Rxh6 Rxd4 ½-½

Vladimir Georgiev (2588)
Ben Finegold (2649)
Indian: Trompowsky, A45
Round 2

1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 Ne4 3.Bf4 d5 4.e3 c6

I do not like the system I played at all. When I used to have White in these positions, I would play Nd2 before Bd3. Vladimir's way is much more interesting.

5.Bd3 Qb6 6.Qc1 Nd7 7.Bxe4 dxe4 8.Nd2 c5 9.Ne2 f5 10.0-0 e6 11.c3 Be7 12.f3 exf3 13.Nxf3 0-0 14.Qc2 Qc6 15.Ne5 Nxe5 16.Bxe5 b6 17.Nf4 Bg5

I think this is a poor plan. White is slightly better, but now he has a clear advantage, and Black has little to do.

18.Rf3 Bxf4 19.exf4 Bb7 20.Rg3 Rf7 21.dxc5 Qxc5+ 22.Bd4 Qc4 23.b3 Qc6 24.Re1 Rd8 25.Qf2 Qe8 26.Rh3 Be4 27.Qh4 h6 28.Rg3 Kh7 29.Qh5 Rfd7 30.Qxe8 Rxe8 31.h4 b5?!

I defended well, and Vladimir thinks this is a bad mistake. He thought I could hold after 31...g6 I was not sure which way I should be tied down, and decided to get counterplay, but the text only hastened my demise on the queenside.

32.h5 b4 33.Re2 a5?!

This is bad. I should play 33...Rc8.

34.Be5! bxc3 35.Bxc3 Ra8 36.Rd2! Bd5 37.Rd4! Kg8 38.Ra4 Rda7 39.Bd4 Rd7 40.Be5?

Throwing it all away. White has several good moves, including 40.Rc3 and 40.Bb6.

40...Bc6 41.Rc4 Bb5 42.Rc5 Be2 43.Bc3 a4 44.b4 Bxh5= 45.b5 Rb8 46.Ba5 Be2 47.b6 Rd3 48.Kf2 Rxg3 49.Kxg3 Ba6 50.Rc6 Rb7 51.Rxe6 Bc4 52.Re8+ Kf7 53.Re5 Bxa2 54.Rxf5+ Ke6 55.Re5+ Kd6 56.Re3 Bd5 57.Rc3 Ke6 58.Kf2 Rf7 59.g3 g5 60.Ke3 gxf4+ 61.gxf4 h5 62.Rc8 Rh7 63.Kd4 Bb7 64.Rc7

He offered a draw, but I wanted to make sure, so played a few more moves.

64...Rxc7 65.bxc7 a3 66.f5+ Kxf5 67.Kc3 h4 ½-½

Yuri Shulman (2617)
Ben Finegold (2649)
King's Indian: Classical (Gligoric), E92
Round 3

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 e5 7.Be3 Ng4 8.Bg5 f6 9.Bh4 g5 10.Bg3 Nh6 11.h3

When I prepared this before the game, I looked at only 11.d5. I think the text is equally common, but I missed it when going over Yuri's games, even though he has played both moves previously. Now, 11...Nc6 is the most common move (I looked at it at the board also), and Yuri has faced that move more than once.

11...exd4 12.Nxd4 f5!?

Yuri thought both 12...Nc6 and the text move were normal, although I cannot find any examples of my move in my database. 12...Nc6 has been played many times.

13.exf5 Bxf5!?

13...Nxf5 14.Nxf5 Bxf5 15.Qd5+ Kh8 16.Qxb7 Nd7

14.0-0 Nc6 15.Nxf5

I expected 15.Nxc6, but he thought the text was forced. I guess he does not like the other positions. Fritz 8 agrees the text is best.

15...Nxf5 16.Bg4 Nxg3?!

This is poor. I should have played 16...Ncd4 first. I missed 17.Qd5+.

17.Qd5+ Kh8 18.fxg3 Qe7 19.Rae1 Rxf1+ 20.Rxf1 Rf8 21.Rxf8+ Bxf8

Fritz 8 likes Black after 21...Qxf8 22.Qxg5 Bxc3 23.bxc3 b6. I find that a bit nutty, and prefer White in that line.

22.Ne4 h6 23.Bc8 Bg7 24.Bxb7 Nd4!

I thought I was in a lot of trouble the past 10 moves or so, but now Yuri thought for about 30 minutes, and I started to think I was all right.

25.b4 Qf8!

Now the game is completely equal. I offered a draw, but Yuri played 2 more moves, and returned the offer.

26.Kh2 Be5 27.c5 ½-½

A tough game. I thought I was much worse after 17.Qd5+, but I guess I was OK all along.

Ben Finegold (2649)
Stanislav Smetankin (2538)
Modern Benoni: Classical, A70
Round 4

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e6 4.Nc3 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.e4 g6 7.h3 Bg7 8.Nf3 0-0 9.Bd3 b5 10.Bxb5 Nxe4 11.Nxe4 Qa5+ 12.Nfd2 Qxb5 13.Nxd6 Qd3

I prepared this line before the game. I mainly looked at 13...Qa6 and only gave the text a cursory glance.

14.N2c4 Qxd1+ 15.Kxd1 Ba6 16.Kc2 Nd7 17.Rd1

I looked at a lot of moves here. It seems that 17.Bg5 is more popular, but I rejected that move. In 1992, Kramnik won with my move, so I guess it is not that bad.

17...Nb6 18.Nxb6 axb6 19.Bg5 Ra7

Amazingly, we are still following the Kramnik game. Here he played 20.Kb3 with the idea of Nc4. I did not consider this move.

20.a4N Rd7 21.Nb5 Bb7 22.Nc3 Bxc3 23.Kxc3 Rxd5 24.Rxd5 Bxd5 25.g3

This is easier to play for White, as his king is better, and b6 and c5 need protection.

25...Be6 26.h4 Ra8 27.b3?

I should have played 27.Bf6! I analyzed a line where I thought Black was fine, starting with 27...b5 but now I think White has a large advantage. Oh well.

27...Kg7 28.Be3 Ra6! 29.Rd1 c4 30.b4 Rxa4 31.Bxb6 Ra3+ 32.Kd4 Rb3 33.Kc5 c3 34.Rc1 Kf6 35.Ba5 Ke7 36.b5 Bd7 37.Bb4 Kd8 38.b6 Kc8 39.Bxc3 Rb5+ 40.Kd6 Rxb6+ 41.Ke7 Rc6 42.Kxf7 h5 43.Kg7 Bf5 44.Kh6 Rc4 45.Kg5 Kb7 46.f3 Kc6 47.Kf6 Bd3 48.f4 Rc5 49.Bd2 ½-½

Ben Finegold (2649)
Angelo Young (2470)
Modern, A41
Round 5

1.d4 d6 2.Nf3 c6 3.c4 f5 4.g3 Nf6 5.Bg2 g6 6.0-0 Bg7 7.b3 0-0 8.Bb2 e6 9.Nc3

In my database, this seems new. Five games previously saw 9.Nbd2. Maybe this is still theory by transposition?

9...h6?!

This is very weakening.

10.Qc2 d5 11.Rad1 Nbd7 12.Ba3 Re8 13.Ne5 Kh7 14.Nf7 Qa5 15.Bd6 Kg8 16.Ne5 Nxe5 17.Bxe5

I was pretty happy here. I thought I had the advantage and was ahead about 40 minutes on the clock.

17...Bd7 18.f3 b5 19.e4 Rac8 20.Qd2 b4

I think this is a poor move. Black is worse in any case, but now he has almost no counterplay.

21.Ne2 Kh7 22.a3!

Now, I think White is winning. Angelo only had 7 minutes left to make move

40. 22...dxc4 23.axb4 Qb5 24.bxc4 Qxc4 25.Ra1! Ra8 26.Ra5 fxe4 27.fxe4 Rf8 28.Bd6 Rfc8 29.e5 Nd5 30.Be4 c5 31.Bxc5 Bb5 32.Bxg6+

Not necessary, but I figured it would be nice to win another pawn.

32...Kh8

32...Kxg6 33.Rxb5 Qxb5? 34.Qc2+ Kg5 35.h4+ Kh5 36.Rf5+ Kg4 37.Qe4+ Kh3 38.Qg2+ Kg4 39.Qf3+ Kh3 40.g4+ Kxh4 41.Qg3#

33.Rf2 a6 34.Ra3 Nc7 35.Be4 Rab8 36.Rc3 1-0

Surprisingly, Fritz 8 likes most of my moves.

Nikola Mitkov (2612)
Ben Finegold (2649)
Vienna: Falkbeer (Three Knights), C28
Round 6

1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d3 Nc6 4.Nc3 Na5 5.Nge2 Nxc4 6.dxc4 Bc5 7.0-0

Previously, Mitkov played 7.Qd3 here. I briefly looked at 7.0-0 as well in my pre-game prep, but I looked at a lot of stuff, so it was not easy to remember! Luckily, the position is not too exciting!

7...d6

I offered a draw here, which was more or less accepted. The remainder was just so the scoresheets looked a bit more filled out.

8.Qd3 Be6 9.b3 0-0 10.h3N

White has played 10.Bg5, 10.Na4, and 10.Be3. I cannot find any examples of the text. The whole variation looks innocuous in any case.

10...Nd7 11.Ng3 Bd4 12.Be3 Nc5 13.Qd2 Bxe3 14.Qxe3 f5 15.exf5 Bxf5 16.Nxf5 Rxf5 17.f4 exf4 18.Rxf4 Qg5

This is not as bad as we thought after the game. 18...Re5=

19.Raf1 ½-½

19...c6! (19...Raf8? 20.Nd5 Rxf4 21.Rxf4 Rxf4? (21...Qd8 22.Qe7! h6±) 22.Qe8+! Rf8 23.Ne7+ Qxe7 24.Qxe7+-) 20.R4f3 (20.b4 Raf8! 21.Ne2 Rxf4 22.Rxf4 Rxf4 23.Qxf4 (23.Nxf4 Qe5! 24.Qxe5 dxe5 25.Nd3=) 23...Qxf4 24.Nxf4 Ne4) 20...Qxe3+ 21.Rxe3 Rxf1+ 22.Kxf1 a5=

Ben Finegold (2649)
Yuri Shulman (2617)
Semi-Slav: Meran, D47
Round 7

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 c6 4.e3 Nf6 5.Nf3 Nbd7 6.Bd3 dxc4 7.Bxc4 b5 8.Be2 Bb7 9.a3 a5 10.0-0 Be7 11.b3

Yuri already had this position before, and his opponent, Baginskaite, played 11.e4 The text move was played in 1967(!) in the game Benko-Ciric, which was later drawn. In that game, Ciric played 12...b4, so Yuri's 12...Qb8 is the first new move.

11...0-0 12.Bb2 Qb8 13.h3 Rc8 14.Rc1 Nb6 15.Bd3 b4 16.axb4 Bxb4 17.Ne4 ½-½

17.Ne4 Nxe4 18.Bxe4 Ba6 19.Bd3 Bxd3 20.Qxd3 a4

Angelo Young (2470)
Ben Finegold (2649)
Indian: East Indian (London), A48
Round 8

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.Bf4 Bg7 4.e3 0-0 5.Be2 d6 6.h3 b6 7.0-0 Bb7 8.a4 a5 9.Na3 Nbd7 10.c3 Ne4 11.Qc2 e5 12.dxe5 dxe5 13.Bh2 Ng5 14.Nd2 Qe7 15.Rad1 Nc5 16.Rfe1 Rad8 17.Bf1 h5 18.h4 Nge4 19.Nf3 Nd6 20.Ng5 Nf5 21.Rxd8 Qxd8 22.b4 Na6 23.bxa5 Nxh4 24.Ne4 f5 25.Ng3 Nc5 26.axb6 cxb6 27.Nb5 f4 28.Rd1 Qg5 29.exf4 exf4 30.Qd2 Qg4 31.Nd6 fxg3 32.fxg3 Nf5 33.Be2 Qxa4 34.Bb5 Qa8 35.Bc4+ Kh7 36.Nf7 Ne4 0-1

Stanislav Smetankin (2538)
Ben Finegold (2649)
English: Symmetrical, A30
Round 9

1.c4 b6 2.Nf3 Bb7 3.g3 c5 4.Bg2 g6 5.0-0 Bg7 6.Nc3 Nf6 7.d4 cxd4 8.Qxd4 0-0 9.Qh4 d6 10.Bh6 Nbd7 11.Rac1 Rc8 12.b3 Rc5 13.Bxg7 Kxg7 14.Qd4 Kg8 15.Rfd1 Rh5 16.Qe3 Nc5 17.h3 Ne6 18.b4 Rf5 19.Nd4 Nxd4 20.Bxb7 Ne6 21.Bg2 Qd7 22.Nd5 Rd8 23.a3 Re5 24.Qxe5 dxe5 25.Nxf6+ exf6 26.Rxd7 Rxd7 27.e3 Rd3 28.Ra1 Kf8 29.Kf1 Rd2 30.Ke1 Rc2 31.Bd5 Ng5 32.h4 Nh3 33.f4 Nf2 34.fxe5 fxe5 35.Bf3 e4 36.Be2 Nd3+ 37.Kd1 Rb2 38.Bxd3 exd3 39.c5 bxc5 40.bxc5 Ke7 41.a4 Re2 42.Ra3 Rxe3 43.Kd2 Rxg3 44.Rc3 Kd7 45.a5 Kc6 0-1

Ben Finegold (2649)
Vladimir Georgiev (2588)
Nimzo-Indian: Classical, E32
Round 10

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 0-0 5.Nf3 d6 6.Bg5 Nbd7 7.e3 c5 8.Bd3 Qa5 9.0-0 cxd4 10.exd4 Bxc3 11.bxc3 b6 12.Rab1 Bb7 13.Rb5 Qa6 14.d5

I thought this whole line was terrible for Black, but he said it was played before, and 14.d5!? was not played. I thought I was close to winning here, but I guess I was unjustifiably optimistic!

14...h6 15.Bxf6 Nxf6 16.Nd4 Rac8

I expected this move, but Fritz 8 thinks 16...Bc8 is better, and the position is equal. I thought I had a big advantage here during the game.

17.Rb4

I guess if I am going to play dxe6 at some point, I should do it now, when the queen is stuck on a6.

17...Ba8 18.Nb5 Rc5

I thought this was forced, and missed it when I played 15.Bxf6, but Rdc8 is also OK, when the c8-square is open to the black queen.

19.dxe6!?

19.Nxd6!? b5 20.Nxb5 exd5

19...Qb7 20.exf7+ Qxf7 21.Nxd6?!

I do not like this move. I thought I had Ne4 available in all variations, overlooking that it is just hanging!

21...Qe6 22.Nf5 Nh5!

Black has a very strong kingside attack, and White's extra pawn on the queenside is useless, and his rook on b4 is silly.

23.Nd4 Qe7

I realized things were going badly after 21..Qe6, so I offered a draw now when playing 24.Ne2, but he declined.

24.Ne2?! Rg5 25.Ng3 Nf4 26.Be4 Rxg3 27.hxg3 Bxe4 28.Re1 Bxc2 29.Rxe7 Nd3 30.Rb5 Rf7

The last few moves were forced, and now black has a better ending, as my pawns are all awful.

31.Re2 Ba4 32.Rd5 Nc5

I was disheartened here during the game, as I assumed I was winning around moves 12-17 and that I had blown it. I defend the rest of the game weakly, and get into time trouble twice!

33.Rd8+ Rf8 34.Rd6 Kf7 35.f3 Bd7 36.Kf2 Rc8 37.g4 Be6 38.Rd4 Nd7 39.a3 Nf6 40.Kg3 Bxc4 41.Re5 Be6 42.Rd6 Bd7 43.Re3 Rc5 44.Rd4 Ra5 45.Red3 Be6 46.Rd8 Rxa3 47.Rb8 Nd7 48.Rb7 Ke7 49.f4 g6 50.Rc7 Ra4 51.Rc6 Nc5 52.Rc7+ Bd7 53.Rd4 Ra3 54.f5 gxf5 55.gxf5 Rxc3+ 56.Kh4 Ra3 57.g4 Ra1 58.Kh5

I thought I was fighting back now, but the next move dispels all illusions.

58...Kf6! 59.Kh4 h5 60.Rd6+?

60.Rxc5 bxc5 61.Rxd7 Rh1+ 62.Kg3 Rg1+ 63.Kf3 Rxg4 64.Rxa7 Kxf5-+

60...Ke7 61.Rd4 hxg4 62.Kxg4 a5 63.Rf4 Kf6 64.Kg3 a4 65.Rb4 Ra3+ 66.Kh4 Rb3 67.Rd4 Bxf5 68.Kh5 Rh3+ 69.Rh4 Rxh4+ 70.Kxh4 Bd7 71.Ra7 Ke5 72.Kg3 Kd4 73.Kf2 Kc3 74.Ke1 Kb2 0-1

Vladimir played very well the whole game.