Mas vs. GM Eugene Torre

Below is Mashafizul game against GM Eugene Torre (photo right) in round 5, Zone 3.3 World Chess Championship 2009, Vietnam. Torre is Asia first GM. Although at 58 he has surely past his prime, Torre still active playing as ever. For the record, he once beat former World Champion - Anatoly Karpov in 1976 !

GM Eugune Torre ( 2560) vs. IM Mashafizul (2391)
Round 5, Zone 3.3 WCC,

Analysed by Hairulov and Fritz 11

1. d4 d5 2. Bf4 Nf6 3. e3 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nd2 Qb6 6. Qb3 e6 7. Ngf3 c4 8. Qc2
Nh5 9. Bg5 h6 10. Bh4 g5 11. Bg3 g4 12. Ng1 Nxg3 13. hxg3 e5 14. Ne2 exd4 15.
Nxd4 Nxd4 16. cxd4 Be6 17. Be2 Rc8 18. O-O Bd6 19. e4 !?

An interesting pawn sacrifiece which give some room for white pieces to breath. Surely Torre can't just sit and wait Mas use his space advantage to a more concrete advantage . 19...Qxd4 20. Rad1 Bb8 21.Qa4+ Kf8 22. Qb4+ White can also try 22. Nxc4 Qxe4 23. Bd3 Qd4 24. Be2 Qc5 25. Ne3 22... Qc5 22... Kg7 !? followed by 23. Qxb7 Qe5 is probably more aggresive. Black can then play h5-h4 to open lines towards black's king. 23. Qxb7 Kg7 24. exd5 Bxd5 25. Qd7 Be6 26. Qa4 Rhd8 27.Ne4 Qe5 27... Qb6 !? followed by - Be5 attacking the b2 pawn is a good alternative 28. Nc3 Rxd1 29.Rxd1 h5 30. Qb5 Qxb5 31. Nxb5 Be5 32. Nd4 32. Nxa7? would be a serious mistake after 32... Ra8 33. Nc6 Bxb2 and black passed pawn on c3 will be very dangerous. 32... Bxd4

Maybe Mas should keep his double bishop with 32..Bd7!? if he want to go for a win.The bishop
pair has a a better prospect in open position with play on both side. 33.Rxd4 c3 34. bxc3 Rxc3 35. f3 Rc2 36. Kf1 Rxa2 slightly better is 36... gxf3 37. Bxf3 Rxa2 38.Bxh5 a5 37. fxg4 hxg4 38. Bxg4 Bxg4 Once again Mas should probably keep his bishop with 38.Bb3!? .Black doesn't have to worry about his f7 being attack as long as his bishop is still alive. 39. Rxg4+ Mas has a slight advantage because of his outside passed pawn, however white's have active rook which made the endgame looks drawish. 1/2-1/2