ASEAN Chess Circuit - Round 3 : Mas draw against IM Nathanael Situru

Below are IM Mashafizul Helmi ( right) games in round 3 against Indonesia IM Nathanael Situru at the the 1st ASEAN Chess Circuit at Tarakan, Indonesia.

Round 3

In his game against Indonesian IM Nathanael Situru. As I mentioned in my previous post, Situru is an experienced IM from Indonesia and among his famous victory is against England chess opening expert - GM John Nunn in 1994 Moscow Olympiad. Mas miss a chance to collect his first win after he failed to find the correct defensive move -40. Qg3 and instead he made a mistake by letting Situru to force a perpetual but poor Mas, Situru didin’t see the force perpetual (maybe both player are on time trouble) and made a mistake by playing 42…Nd3?. Should Mas reply with 43.Kg2 he could obtain a a clear advantage and should win the game easily but he play 43.Qb8? and this time Situru didn’t miss his chance to force a draw.

Analyze by Hairulov and Fritz

IM Mashafizul Helmi (2382)- IM Nathanael Situru (2375)
[B84] Round 3, 10.01.2008

* thanks to Kevin Soon - Mas is actualy playing white not black as my original post.

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.Be2 a6 7.0–0 b5 i seldom see this move played too early in the Sicilian Scheveningen

8.Bf3 Ra7 9.Be3 Rc7 last book move according to Fritz opening book. This rook is located in a rather unusual square. Usually this rook control the c file from the more traditional c8 square.

10.Ndxb5!? Mas made an interesting sacrifice to gain the initiative. Theory gave 10.a4 b4 11.Na2 d5 12.Bf4 dxe4 13.Bxc7 Qxc7 14.Be2 Bd6 15.h3 Qc5 16.c3 bxc3 17.Nxc3 Qe5 18.f4 exf3 19.Nxf3 10...axb5 Black get a piece for two pawns. Mas probably hope his queen side pawn majority will compensate for his material deficit. 11.Bb6 Weaker is 11.Nxb5 Rd7 11...Ba6 Black is behind in development. Fritz suggest 11...Bd7 as the correct way to retain the advantage. 12.Be2 12.a4 is an alternative given by Fritz and according to the machine, the position is equal. 12...bxa4 13.Be2 Nfd7 14.Bxc7 Qxc7 15.Bxa6 Nxa6 16.Rxa4 Qc6= How equal - i don't know? 12...b4 12...Nbd7!? 13.Nxb5 Nxb6 14.Nxc7+ Qxc7 15.Bxa6 Nxe4 16.Bb5+ Nd7 13.Nb5 Bxb5 14.Bxb5+ Nbd7 15.a3! A good move by Mas. It open the a file for his rook . 15...Be7 15...b3 16.cxb3 Be7 17.Bxc7 Qxc7 18.Rc1 and white still get the open file for his rook! anyway! 16.axb4 0–0 16...Nxe4? fails because of 17.Ra7 Rxa7 18.Bxd8 Bxd8 19.Qd4+- 17.Bxc7 Qxc7 18.Qe2 Ne5 19.c3 I personally prefer 19.c4 using the queen side pawn majority as soon as possible and prevent black from playing the freeing move...d5 19...Ng6 20.Rfe1 h5 21.g3 h4 22.Qe3 Rb8 23.Ra7 Qd8 24.Be2 d5 25.e5 Ne4 26.Bd3 hxg3 27.hxg3 Nxe5 28.Bxe4 dxe4 29.Qxe4 Bf6 30.Ra5 Nd7 31.Rd1 Qc8 32.Rda1 g6 33.Ra8 Kg7 34.R1a7 34.b5! This pawn march right away would made it more difficult to black. 34...Ne5 35.b5 Rxa8 36.Rxa8 Qc5? A serious mistake by Situru. Probably he didn't realized that Mas can create a mating attack with ..Qh1 and Qh8++!. 36...Qc7 would allow Black to play on 37.Qh1+- Bh4 More or less force and it also close the h file from White mating attack. 38.gxh4 Qc4 39.Qg2 Qe2

40.Kh2?? Mas throw all his winning advantage with this move. He should have played 40.Qg3 with great chance to win the game after 40...Qd1+ 41.Kg2 Qd5+ 42.f3 Qxb5 43.b4 Qe2+ 44.Qf2+- A difficult set of move to calculate in fact. 40...Nf3+= 41.Kh3 Ne1 42.Qg3

42...Nd3?? Situru throwing away his drawing chance. He should have played 42...Qe4 43.Ra7 Qh1+ 44.Kg4 Qe4+ 45.Qf4 Qg2+ 46.Qg3 Qe4+ 47.Qf4 Qg2+ 48.Qg3 Qe4+ a draw is inevitable 43.Qb8?? Unfortunately Mas return the favor with this move. He failed to find his last chance to win the game with 43.Kg2! and White would probably win the game with 43...Qe4+ (43...Ne1+ 44.Kh2 Nf3+ 45.Kh3 Qf1+ 46.Kg4) 44.Kh2 Nxf2 45.Ra1 Ng4+ 46.Kg1+- 43...Qf3+= 44.Kh2 Qxf2+ 45.Kh1 .Qxh4+ 46.Kg2 Qf2+ 47.Kh1 Qf1+ 48.Kh2 Qf2+ 49.Kh1 black are force to make a perpetual cause white is threatening mate on h8 . So ½–½

Mas photo from setiachess.blogspot.com