Mike Skidmore - Lineas Baze
[B31/07] Sicilian: Rossolimo (Fianchetto)
Michigan Class A Championship
USA Grand Rapids, MI, Rd. 3, January 8, 2000
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1.e4 c5
| I am Class A, again, for the first time in about 16 years. This
is undoubtedly due to senility at the age of 41. I have played Mike
around three times, with about an even score, lifetime. This game
was played on my way to a 4.5/5 score, only to tie with one other player
for first, and luckily, to win, on tiebreaks, the trophy. |
| It looks like Mike is trying to mix systems, perhaps in an effort to
confuse me, which he did. |
| We are certainly out of "book". Let's call it an Alapin/Closed
Sicilian. |
| Very over-optimistic. We had both played two 5-hour games, that
day, and were very tired. |
| Black is in trouble. He has not castled, and not developed his
pieces. Also, he has many weak squares. I was very worried. |
| Going for broke. My king is not very safe on e8. |
| My position is in a shambles. |
| Perhaps not so good. Now my "attack" seems a bit more hopeful. |
| Now my cheap attack looks a little dangerous, with a "safe" king. |
| There must have been a better defensive move. Chessmaster recommended
20.Rd1, evaluating it as White down 0.63 of a pawn. |
Luckily for me, the game is starting to take on a Morphyesque look,
with the kingside attack
getting pretty wild. The game will end in mate, eight moves from
now. |
| Another good move is 21...hxg3 followed by 22...Qb6+ and take on b2.
Chessmaster says Black is up 2.45 pawns. |
| Incredibly, White seems to have a lost game. I do not recommend
this opening, for Black, to beginners. |
Dare I give myself two exclams? Why not? Walter Brown, beware.
This decisive move was
not so easy to analyze over the board. My computer found it in
a split second, but we poor humans have to use some intuition, which is
often a detriment. This was a fun move to play, on that late Saturday
night. Good thing we did not have to play an endgame, which could
have gone until 3:30 a.m. |
| Whoops, desperation time. |
| Now it is Black up 99.96 pawns. How is that possible, when there
are only about 39 units of material? |
| There was a forced mate: 27...Qe3 28 Qxe3 Rf1+ 29 Qg1 Nf2+ 30 Kg2 Bxh3#. |
| I went on to win both of my games on Sunday, and it was a very enjoyable,
but exhausting, tournament. Interestingly, a definite camaraderie
developed, within each section, during the weekend. Each section
is basically quarantined, and heaven forbid if you speak to anyone in a
different class. Kudos to Jay Carr who ran, actually, six tournaments,
that weekend --Master/Expert, Classes A-D, and Beginner. |
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