Ben's Blog: Spring Spice Cup - Rounds 3 and 4

A very tough day at the office.  Two long draws, and I struggled in each game.

I was slightly worse with black against IM Gergely Antal.  We drifted into time trouble, and I was able to equalize against inexact play. 

Gergely probably had a nice advantage somewhere, but after 33.Qe2? I should be equal or better.  I played badly in mutual time trouble and was lucky to draw.

I played well against IM Dean Ippolito, then made the terrible move 23.Bb2? missing his reply.  After mutual errors in time trouble, I was completely winning, and blew it.  I guess I should be happy I drew!

I play IM Irina Krush tomorrow morning at 9AM and then I play IM Davorin Kuljasevic at 3PM.  I am black in both games.

It looks likely FM Darwin Yang will get at least an IM, and possibly a GM norm! Dean still has chances for a GM norm.  FM Eric Hansen has good chances for his last IM norm, as he was able to win a tough battle against Irina in round 4.

[pgn|pgn=<<<1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 g6 4.Bxc6 bxc6 5.O-O Bg7 6.Re1 Nh6 7.c3 O-O 8.d4 cxd4 9.cxd4 f6 10.Nc3 Nf7 11.Qb3 d6 12.h3 Kh8 13.Be3 Bd7 14.Qc4 Rb8 15.b3 a5 16.Rac1 Rb4 17.Qd3 Qb8 18.Bd2 Ng5 19.Nh4 Ne6 20.Ne2 Rb5 21.d5 Nc5 22.Qe3 e5 23.dxe6 Nxe6 24.Nf3 Re8 25.Ned4 Nxd4 26.Nxd4 Rb6 27.Bxa5 Ra6 28.Qd2 c5 29.Nc2 Qa8 30.Bc3 Rxe4 31.Rxe4 Qxe4 32.Re1 Qa8 33.Qe2 Ra7 34.Qe7 Qf8 35.Qxf8 Bxf8 36.Bxf6 Kg8 37.a4 Kf7 38.Bd8 Be6 39.Bb6 Ra8 40.Rb1 Bf5 41.Rc1 Be6 42.Rb1 Bf5 43.Rc1 Be6 44.Na1 Bg7 45.a5 Bb2 46.Rd1 Bc3 47.Nc2 Bxb3 48.Rd3 Bxc2 49.Rxc3 Be4 50.Re3 Bb7 51.Bc7 Bc6 52.Bxd6 Rxa5 53.Re7 Kg8 54.Rc7 Bd5 55.Be5 c4 56.Rg7 Kf8 57.Rxh7 Bf7 58.Bc3 Rb5 59.Rh8 Ke7 60.Rh4 Rb1 61.Kh2 Bd5 62.Rd4 Ke6 63.Rf4 Rc1 64.Bd4 c3 65.Rf6 Ke7 66.Bxc3 Rxc3 67.Rxg6 Rc2 68.Kg3 Kf7 69.Rd6 Rc3 70.f3 Be6 71.Kh4 Kf6 72.Rd4 Bf5 73.Rb4 Be6 74.Rb6 Ra3 75.Rb2 Bd5 76.Rd2 Be6 77.Kg3 Bf5 78.Kf2 Be6 79.g4 Ra1 80.h4 Ra2 81.Rxa2 Bxa2 82.Ke3 Bb3 83.Kf4 Bd1 84.g5 Kg6 85.Kg4 Be2 86.h5 Kg7 87.Kg3 Bd1 88.Kf2 Kh7 89.Ke3 Kg7 90.Ke4 Kh7 91.h6 Kg6 92.f4 Bc2 93.Ke5 Bd3 94.Ke6 Bf5 95.Ke7 Bg4 96.Kf8 Be6 97.Ke8 Bg4 98.Ke7 Bf5 99.Kd6 Bg4 100.Ke5 Bh3 101.f5 Bxf5 102.h7 Kxh7 103.Kxf5 Kg7 104.g6 Kg8 105.Kf6 Kf8 106.g7 Kg8 107.Kg6 1/2-1/2>>>|white=Gergely Antal|black=Ben Finegold|white_rating=2511 |black_rating= 2534]

[pgn|pgn=<<<1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. c4 e6 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. cxd5 exd5 6. Qb3 c5 7. dxc5 Nc6 8. e3 O-O 9. Be2 Bxc5 10. O-O a6 11. Rd1 Be6 12. Na4 Na5 13. Qd3 Bd6 14. b3 Nc6 15. Bb2 Qe7 16. Rac1 Rad8 17. Qb1 Ng4 18. Qa1 f6 19. h3 Nge5 20. Nd4 Nxd4 21. Bxd4 Nd7 22. Nb6 Nc5 23. Bb2 Bc7 24. Na4 Qd6 25. f4 Nxa4 26. bxa4 Qd7 27. Bf3 Rfe8 28. Bd4 Rc8 29. Qb2 Bd6 30. a5 Kh8 31. Rb1 Rc7 32. Bb6 Rc4 33. Rbc1 Rb4 34. Qd2 Qb5 35. Bxd5 Rb2 36. Qd3 Bxd5 37. Qxd5 Qe2 38. Qf3 Qxf3 39. gxf3 Be7 40. Rd7 Kg8 41. a4 g5 42. Rcc7 Bf8 43. fxg5 fxg5 44. Bd4 Rb1+ 45. Kg2 Rd1 46. Rxh7 Rd2+ 47. Kf1 Rd1+ 48. Kf2 Rd2+ 49. Kg3 Bd6+ 50. Kg4 Rg2+ 51. Kf5 Bxc7 52. Rxc7 Rg3 53. Rg7+ Kf8 54. Rxg5 Rxf3+ 55. Kg4 Rfxe3 56. Rf5+ Kg8 57. Bxe3 Rxe3 58. h4 Re4+ 59. Rf4 Re5 60. Rf5 Re4+ 61. Kg5 Rxa4 62. h5 Rb4 63. Rf6 Rb1 64. Kf5 Kg7 65. Rg6+ Kh7 66. Rb6 Rxb6 67. axb6 Kh6 68. Ke5 a5 69. Kd5 Kxh5 70. Kc5 Kg6 71. Kb5 Kf6 72. Kxa5 Ke6 73. Kb5 Kd5 74. Kb4 Kc6 75. Kc4 Kxb6 76. Kb4 Ka6 77. Ka4 b5+ 1/2-1/2>>>|white=Ben Finegold|black=Dean Ippolito|white_rating= 2534|black_rating= 2466]

Standings after Round 4:

 
1-2. Yang, Becerra 3.0 (+2)
3. Ippolito 2.5 (+1)
4-5. Antal , Papp 2.0 (=)
6. Finegold 1.5 (with 1 game to play) (=)
7-8. Kuljasevic, Hansen 1.5 (-1)
9. Krush 1.0 (with 1 game to play) (-1)
10. Kraai, 1.0 (-2)

Until next time.....  Honey Bee