Belgrade Summary

MY final score at the 34th Belgrade Trophy International of +3*=2-4 saw me lose 17.4 Fide elo.

Full results, games and a few photos can be found at chess-results.com/tnr539344.aspx?lan=1

*My wins included one over an unrated. 

Results: Belgrade Round Nine

FROM chess-results.com: 

Round 9 on 2020/12/02 at 14:00

Bo.	No.			Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg		No.
1	39			Zhapova Yana	1854	5½	0 - 1	6½		Risteski Emil	2213		13
2	3		IM	Rajkovic Mladen	2394	6	1 - 0	6	FM	Tsvetkov Andrey	2395		2
3	5		FM	Damjanovic Vuk	2352	6	1 - 0	5½		Kocyigit Buse Naz	2030		29
4	1		GM	Vukic Milan	2406	5½	½ - ½	5½		Potpara Nikola	2383		4
5	6		GM	Abramovic Bosko	2336	5½	½ - ½	5		Dolsonov Ayusha	2264		9
6	16			Vasic Vladimir	2147	5	0 - 1	5		Novakovic Aleksej	1893		38
7	18			Petrovic Aleksa	2114	5	½ - ½	5		Hart Alexander	1979		32
8	23			Tyurin Artem	2096	4½	+ - -	4½	FM	Milosevic Milos	2300		8
9	11		FM	Bujisic Vlastimir	2233	4½	1 - 0	4½		Stankovic Boris	2088		24
10	19			Dimitrijevic Dusan	2113	4½	1 - 0	4½	AFM	Zlatkov Anton	2032		27
11	25			Petkovic Jovan	2045	4½	½ - ½	4½		Stojkovic Nenad P	2104		21
12	7		FM	Lundin Jan	2326	4	1 - 0	4	IM	Smolovic Mile	2210		14
13	31			Katic Goran	1984	4	½ - ½	4	WGM	Chelushkina Irina	2224		12
14	30			Radojicic Aleksandar M	2015	4	0 - 1	4		Djakovic Todor	1818		42
15	28			Poleksic Dusan	2032	4	½ - ½	3½		Poleksic Petar	2045		26
16	46			Bjeletic Zeljko	1564	3½	½ - ½	3½		Grncarski Jugoslav	1901		37
17	15		FM	Maric Dragan	2159	3½	1 - 0	3		Radosavljevic Vukasin	1921		35
18	33		FM	Petrovic Petar	1956	3	0 - 1	3		Spanton Tim R	1831		41
19	51			Petrovic Teodor	0	3	1 - 0	3		Zubic Aleksandar	1905		36
20	52			Rajlic Irina	0	2½	1 - 0	2½		Ivanovic Strahinja	1338		49
21	47			Rajlic Boris	1564	2½	½ - ½	2		Stankovic Andrea	1534		48
22	44			Radulov Nevena	1734	2	1			bye
23	10			Ivanovic Marko	2264	3½	0			not paired
24	17			Stanic Aleksandar	2120	3	0			not paired
25	20			Nedeljkovic Dragan	2113	3½	0			not paired
26	22			Milanovic Nemanja	2102	2	0			not paired
27	34			Hlebec Darko	1956	2½	0			not paired
28	40			Andjelkovic Milija	1852	0	0			not paired
29	43			Karanovic Djordje	1809	1	0			not paired
30	45			Mitrovic Jovan V	1673	½	0			not paired
31	50			Petkovic Luka	0	½	0			not paired

Belgrade Round Nine

FACED a senior (born 1930) in the last round of the 34th Belgrade Trophy International this afternoon.

Petar Petrović (FM 1956) - Spanton (1831)

English Symmetrical

1.c4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.e3!?

This move is very popular - there are more than 4,800 examples, including games by Kramnik, in ChessBase's 2020 Mega database. But grandmaster Nigel Davies on his English Opening DVD for ChessBase warns White against playing it. He says that after ...

5...Bxc6!?

... it is hard for White to make progress.

This might seem a rather sweeping statement at such an early stage, but this game illustrates some of Black's ideas.

6.bxc3

The analysis engines Stockfish12 and Komodo11.01 do not like Black's last move, and they agree this is the best reply.

6...f5!?

Position after 6...f5!?, another move not much liked by the engines. What is going on?

*****

*****

*****

*****

*****

Other moves have been tried here, but the point of the text is to inhibit e4. Black's plan is to play against White's dark-square bishop by restricting its access to much of the board. If the bishop cannot escape the queenside, Black will effectively be a piece up on the kingside.

7.d4

Edmar Mednis (2450) - Bent Larsen (2545), New York (Watson, Farley, Williams) 1990, saw 7.f4?!, which is almost certainly the wrong idea.

Perhaps best is a move that does not appear in Mega20, namely 7.e4!? After 7...fxe4 8.Bxe4 Nf6 9.Bg2 White has lost a lot of time, but has guaranteed that the dark-square bishop will play a full role in the game. I guess it depends on whether White really is seriously inconvenienced by the dark-square bishop being restricted, at least in the early stages.

7...Nf6 8.Ne2 b6 9.Rb1 Ba6

Komodo11.01 suggests 9...Bb7!?, meeting 10.dxc5 with 10...Qc7, and the further 11.cxb6 with 11.axb6, which both engines reckon is very good for Black despite the (temporary) pawn-minus.

10.Qa4 Qc8

Even stronger seems to be 10...Na5!? After 11.Bxa8?! Qxa8 12.0-0 Qf3 Black has huge compensation for the exchange. I was more concerned about 11.dxc5, but the engines reckon Black is much better after, among other moves, 11...Bxc4.

11.Ba3 Ne4 12.Bxe4?!

The engines strongly dislike this. Its only justification would be if White can follow up by winning a pawn by capturing on c5, but in the game that does not happen.

12...fxe4 13.0-0

Not 13.dxc5? Ne5.

13...0-0 14.Rfe1?!

White is already positionally lost, according to the engines, but it is hard to see how this helps. They give 14.Nf4, but reckon 14...d6 consolidates Black's advantage.

14...d6 15.Nf4 g5 16.Ng2

16.Nd5 is not catastrophic as 16...e6? runs into 17.Qxc6!, although after 17...Qxc6 18.Ne7+ Kf7 19.Nxc6 Rfc8 Black is slightly better, according to the engines. However 16...Rf7 17.Nc7 Qxc7 18.Qxa6 Raf8 leaves Black well on top.

16...Bb7!?

Freeing the queen for more important work than defending a bishop (and there is no rush to capture the weak c4 pawn).

17.Qc2 Rf6!

With a double-threat.

18.Qe2

Not 18.Qxe4? Nxd4. The engines suggest 18.h4 but agree 18...h6 keeps Black massively on top.

18...Qh3

White must lose at least a piece.

The game finished:

19.Qf1 Bc8 20.Nf4 gxf4 21.Qxh3 Bxh3 22.exf4 cxd4 23.Rbd1 Bg4 24.Rd2 dxc3 25.Rd5 Bf3 26.Re3 c2 27.Bb2 Nb4 28.Rd2 Rc8 29.Rc3 Nxa2 30.Rcxc2 Nb4 31.Rc3 Nd3 32.Ba1 Rf5 33.h4 Rfc5 34.Ra3 Rxc4 35.Kh2 Rc1 36.g4 Rh1+ 0-1

Monument to Prince Miloš Obrenović and the Second Serbian Uprising (against the Turks) of 1815 

Pairings: Belgrade Round Nine

THE results from round eight can be seen at chess-results.com/tnr539344.aspx?lan=1&art=2&rd=8&turdet=YES&flag=30 (I cannot publish them here as the format has been switched to one that does not work with the new version of Blogger).

Pairings for the last round are:

Round 9 on 2020/12/02 at 14:00

Bo.	No.			Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg		No.
1	39			Zhapova Yana	1854	5½		6½		Risteski Emil	2213		13
2	3		IM	Rajkovic Mladen	2394	6		6	FM	Tsvetkov Andrey	2395		2
3	5		FM	Damjanovic Vuk	2352	6		5½		Kocyigit Buse Naz	2030		29
4	1		GM	Vukic Milan	2406	5½		5½		Potpara Nikola	2383		4
5	6		GM	Abramovic Bosko	2336	5½		5		Dolsonov Ayusha	2264		9
6	16			Vasic Vladimir	2147	5		5		Novakovic Aleksej	1893		38
7	18			Petrovic Aleksa	2114	5		5		Hart Alexander	1979		32
8	23			Tyurin Artem	2096	4½		4½	FM	Milosevic Milos	2300		8
9	11		FM	Bujisic Vlastimir	2233	4½		4½		Stankovic Boris	2088		24
10	19			Dimitrijevic Dusan	2113	4½		4½	AFM	Zlatkov Anton	2032		27
11	25			Petkovic Jovan	2045	4½		4½		Stojkovic Nenad P	2104		21
12	7		FM	Lundin Jan	2326	4		4	IM	Smolovic Mile	2210		14
13	31			Katic Goran	1984	4		4	WGM	Chelushkina Irina	2224		12
14	30			Radojicic Aleksandar M	2015	4		4		Djakovic Todor	1818		42
15	28			Poleksic Dusan	2032	4		3½		Poleksic Petar	2045		26
16	46			Bjeletic Zeljko	1564	3½		3½		Grncarski Jugoslav	1901		37
17	15		FM	Maric Dragan	2159	3½		3		Radosavljevic Vukasin	1921		35
18	33		FM	Petrovic Petar	1956	3		3		Spanton Tim R	1831		41
19	51			Petrovic Teodor	0	3		3		Zubic Aleksandar	1905		36
20	52			Rajlic Irina	0	2½		2½		Ivanovic Strahinja	1338		49
21	47			Rajlic Boris	1564	2½		2		Stankovic Andrea	1534		48
22	44			Radulov Nevena	1734	2	1			bye
23	10			Ivanovic Marko	2264	3½	0			not paired
24	17			Stanic Aleksandar	2120	3	0			not paired
25	20			Nedeljkovic Dragan	2113	3½	0			not paired
26	22			Milanovic Nemanja	2102	2	0			not paired
27	34			Hlebec Darko	1956	2½	0			not paired
28	40			Andjelkovic Milija	1852	0	0			not paired
29	43			Karanovic Djordje	1809	1	0			not paired
30	45			Mitrovic Jovan V	1673	½	0			not paired
31	50			Petkovic Luka	0	½	0			not paired