ICCF Game of the Month, January 2001

Game of the Month - January 2001
by the 10th World Correspondence Champion Dr. Vytas (Victor) Palciauskas

Hamarat vs Andersson: A Game of Ecstasy and Agony

This month’s game can best be described with the title "The Ecstasy and the Agony." Tunc Hamarat of Austria battles Ulf Andersson of Sweden on first board in the Olympiad XII final and comes as close as anyone has to date in defeating FIDE GM Andersson in a correspondence game. But, fate intervenes and a draw results.

Picture provided by Tim Harding, ChessMail

Tunc Hamarat was born in Istanbul, Turkey in 1946. He studied at the American University at Ankara and received his B.Sc. degree in 1972. After military service in Turkey he came to Austria, where he now lives and works as an engineer at European Telecom International AG. Hamarat is now an Austrian citizen and plays CC for Austria. He is still unmarried.

When he was about seven years old, Tunc learned the moves of chess from his father. In his early teens he was taken in by a group of Turkish masters who helped develop his game and style. Of special influence was Süer who was played on Turkey’s top board in the 1962 and 1964 FIDE Olympiads. Tunc was three times in the final of the Turkish OTB championship, his best OTB years being around 1972-82. He has many excellent CC performances amongst which are winning theWorld XIV 3/4-final and taking third place in the World XIV Final.

Tunc Hamarat was the focus of a recent extensive article in Chessmail magazine (volume 8/2000) and I strongly recommend the readers to this article for more information about his background, interests, and many more of his games! Tunc challenged the readers of ChessMail to a two game match where the readers moves are polled and selected on a democratic basis, as in the Kasparov vs World match. The games are in progress and can be followed on the Chessmail website.

Tunc Hamarat enjoys playing both sides of the Sicilian. Fear not being one of Tunc’s strong traits, he steps into the lion’s den and plays 7.g4, the attack popularized by Paul Keres, against Andersson. It is well known that FIDE GM Andersson is an expert in this variation having played it successfully on the black side against Karpov amongst others, and he has won an outstanding CC game against Gert Timmerman in this variation. Andersson introduces the new move 14...Ng4, but Hamarat finds a strong continuation that gives him a comfortable advantage in the endgame. Excellent knight play by Tunc ultimately transforms his advantage into two connected passed pawns for white, against none for black, but all four knights still hopping about the board. Black’s defense is based on exchanging his two knights for the two remaining white pawns. Can it be done? (Annotations are by GM Tunc Hamarat; my comments are noted with VVP)

Hamarat, Tunc (Austria) - Andersson, Ulf (Sweden)
XII Olympiad Final, Board 1, B81

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.g4 h6 7.g5

The other major alternative is 7.h4 Nc6 8.Rg1 d5 The critical continuation for the fight in the centre. It forestalls White's threat of g4-g5. 9.Bb5 Bd7 10.exd5 Nxd5 11.Nxd5 exd5 12.Be3 Be7 13.Qd2 0-0! Threatening ...Nxd4. Instead of capturing the h-pawn, Black will sacrifice his own for the initiative. (13...Bxh4?! 14.0-0-0 Bf6 15.Nf5 Karpov-Spassky, Tilburg 1980 [INF 30/440]; 13...Nxd4 14.Bxd7+ Qxd7÷ Marjanovic-Cebalo, Yug Ch 1962 [INF 33/321]) 14.Nf5 d4!N (14...Bf6 15.Nxh6+ gxh6 16.g5 with a decisive attack (Karpov); 14...Bxf5 15.gxf5 Kh7 16.0-0-0± Karpov) 15.Bxh6!? 15...Bb4 16.c3 dxc3 17.bxc3 Ne5 The threat of the fork by the N and the threat on b5 keeps White on the defensive. 18.Be2 (18.Nd4?? Bxb5 19.cxb4 Nd3+) 18...Re8 Renews the threat of ... Nf3+. 19.Kf1 Bf8 For the pawn Black has great piece activity and went on to a nice win. 0-1 Timmerman,G-Andersson,U/cor NPSF-50 1994. (VVP)

7...hxg5 8.Bxg5 Nc6 9.Qd2 Qb6 10.Nb3 a6 11.0-0-0 Be7

11...Bd7 12.Bg2 (12.h4 Rc8?! 13.Rh3 Qc7 14.f4 b5 15.Bg2 b4 Timman-Salov, Amsterdam 1989) 12...Qc7 13.f4 Be7 14.h4 0-0-0 15.Rhe1 Kb8= Karpov-Andersson, Bugojno 1980. (VVP)

12.h4 Bd7 13.f4 0-0-0 14.Bg2

If 14.Be2 d5!

14...Ng4!?

A new move from Andersson.

15.Bxe7 Nxe7 16.Qxd6 Qxd6

If 16...Qe3+ 17.Kb1 Ng6 18.Qb4!!+- Bc6 (18...Nxf4 19.e5 Nxg2 20.Qxg4) 19.Na5

17.Rxd6 Ne3 18.Bf3 Ng6

Black has simplified the game with exchanges and will now recover his pawn. But Tunc finds a very forceful continuation that maintains his advantage. (VVP)

19.Rd3!±

White has a very easy game. On move 20 Andersson exceeded the time limit for the first time, whereas White had used only 18 days.

19...Nc4 20.Rd4 Nb6

20...b5 21.Nc5

21.h5!

This is the correct plan.

21...Nxf4 22.e5!

22...g5

22...Nfd5 23.Ne4 Kc7 24.Nbc5 Bc6 25.Rg1± (VVP)

23.Nc5 Bc6 24.Rxd8+ Kxd8 25.Bxc6 bxc6 26.N3e4 Rxh5

If 26...g4 27.Rf1!+- (27.Ng3 also leads to a big advantage)

27.Rxh5 Nxh5 28.Nxg5 Ke7 29.Nxa6 Nd7 30.Nf3 c5 31.Kd2 f6 32.exf6+ Nhxf6 33.Nc7 Nd5 34.Nb5 c4 35.Nfd4 Kf6 36.Nc6

Even though White has an extra pawn, he must play very accurately. He first brings his knights to their best positions to support the advance of his rook pawn. (VVP)

36...e5 37.Nc3 N5b6 38.Nb4 Ke6 39.a4!

The time has come to push this pawn. After this move, white uses his knights very precisely always moving them to the best squares. It is not possible to give the analysis of each move; I have a book full of analysis!

39...Nc5 40.a5 Na8 41.Nb5 Na4 42.Kc1 e4 43.Na2

A nice move controlling c3. Exchanging pawns with 43.b3 would make black's defensive task simpler. White on the other hand, would like to exchange a pair of knights (VVP)

43...Ke5 44.Nac3 Nc5 45.Kd2 Nb7 46.a6 Nd8 47.Ke3 Nc6 48.Nxe4 Nb4 49.Na3 Nxa6 50.Nxc4+

The game should be a win (in the long run) because of the two connected passed pawns. But, white must watch out for the drawing possibility of a double knight sacrifice, one knight for each pawn.

50...Kd5 51.Na3 Nb6 52.b3 Nb4 53.c4+ Ke5 54.Nc5 Nc6

Up till now, Tunc has played superbly and has achieved a winning position. This is ecstacy! But, fate intervenes and agony follows (VVP)

55.Nb7??

Snatching a draw from the jaws of victory! Tunc laments "This is not a mistake in the normal sense. After 54...Nc6, I analyzed the wrong position placing my king on d3 rather than its true position e3. This is the first time this has occurred in my life! I should have played 55.Kd3 with a winning position (in the long run)". (VVP)

55...Nd4

Now the double knight sacrifice cannot be prevented, so White offered a draw. The continuation could have been 55...Nd4 56.b4 Nxc4+ 57.Nxc4+ Kd5 threat is Nc2+ 58.Kd3 (58.Nb6+ Ke5 59.Kd3 Nc6 etc as in the main line) 58...Nc6 59.b5 Na7 60.b6 Nc8 and as long as Black moves his king between d5 and e5 not allowing the knight on b7 a check, the pawn on b6 will be blocked and eliminated. (VVP)

1/2-1/2

This article originally appeared at the Official ICCF Site

Hamarat vs Andersson: A Game of Ecstasy and Agony
This month’s game can best be described with the title "The Ecstasy and the Agony." Tunc Hamarat of Austria battles Ulf Andersson of Sweden on first board in the Olympiad XII final and comes as close as anyone has to date in defeating FIDE GM Andersson in a correspondence game. But, fate intervenes and a draw results.
Picture provided by Tim Harding, ChessMail

Tunc Hamarat was born in Istanbul, Turkey in 1946. He studied at the American University at Ankara and received his B.Sc. degree in 1972. After military service in Turkey he came to Austria, where he now lives and works as an engineer at European Telecom International AG. Hamarat is now an Austrian citizen and plays CC for Austria. He is still unmarried. When he was about seven years old, Tunc learned the moves of chess from his father. In his early teens he was taken in by a group of Turkish masters who helped develop his game and style. Of special influence was Süer who was played on Turkey’s top board in the 1962 and 1964 FIDE Olympiads. Tunc was three times in the final of the Turkish OTB championship, his best OTB years being around 1972-82. He has many excellent CC performances amongst which are winning theWorld XIV 3/4-final and taking third place in the World XIV Final. Tunc Hamarat was the focus of a recent extensive article in Chessmail magazine (volume 8/2000) and I strongly recommend the readers to this article for more information about his background, interests, and many more of his games! Tunc challenged the readers of ChessMail to a two game match where the readers moves are polled and selected on a democratic basis, as in the Kasparov vs World match. The games are in progress and can be followed on the Chessmail website. Tunc Hamarat enjoys playing both sides of the Sicilian. Fear not being one of Tunc’s strong traits, he steps into the lion’s den and plays 7.g4, the attack popularized by Paul Keres, against Andersson. It is well known that FIDE GM Andersson is an expert in this variation having played it successfully on the black side against Karpov amongst others, and he has won an outstanding CC game against Gert Timmerman in this variation. Andersson introduces the new move 14...Ng4, but Hamarat finds a strong continuation that gives him a comfortable advantage in the endgame. Excellent knight play by Tunc ultimately transforms his advantage into two connected passed pawns for white, against none for black, but all four knights still hopping about the board. Black’s defense is based on exchanging his two knights for the two remaining white pawns. Can it be done? (Annotations are by GM Tunc Hamarat; my comments are noted with VVP)

Hamarat, Tunc (Austria) - Andersson, Ulf (Sweden) XII Olympiad Final, Board 1, B81
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.g4 h6 7.g5
The other major alternative is 7.h4 Nc6 8.Rg1 d5 The critical continuation for the fight in the centre. It forestalls White's threat of g4-g5. 9.Bb5 Bd7 10.exd5 Nxd5 11.Nxd5 exd5 12.Be3 Be7 13.Qd2 0-0! Threatening ...Nxd4. Instead of capturing the h-pawn, Black will sacrifice his own for the initiative. (13...Bxh4?! 14.0-0-0 Bf6 15.Nf5 Karpov-Spassky, Tilburg 1980 [INF 30/440]; 13...Nxd4 14.Bxd7+ Qxd7÷ Marjanovic-Cebalo, Yug Ch 1962 [INF 33/321]) 14.Nf5 d4!N (14...Bf6 15.Nxh6+ gxh6 16.g5 with a decisive attack (Karpov); 14...Bxf5 15.gxf5 Kh7 16.0-0-0± Karpov) 15.Bxh6!? 15...Bb4 16.c3 dxc3 17.bxc3 Ne5 The threat of the fork by the N and the threat on b5 keeps White on the defensive. 18.Be2 (18.Nd4?? Bxb5 19.cxb4 Nd3+) 18...Re8 Renews the threat of ... Nf3+. 19.Kf1 Bf8 For the pawn Black has great piece activity and went on to a nice win. 0-1 Timmerman,G-Andersson,U/cor NPSF-50 1994. (VVP)
7...hxg5 8.Bxg5 Nc6 9.Qd2 Qb6 10.Nb3 a6 11.0-0-0 Be7

11...Bd7 12.Bg2 (12.h4 Rc8?! 13.Rh3 Qc7 14.f4 b5 15.Bg2 b4 Timman-Salov, Amsterdam 1989) 12...Qc7 13.f4 Be7 14.h4 0-0-0 15.Rhe1 Kb8= Karpov-Andersson, Bugojno 1980. (VVP)
12.h4 Bd7 13.f4 0-0-0 14.Bg2
If 14.Be2 d5!
14...Ng4!?
A new move from Andersson.
15.Bxe7 Nxe7 16.Qxd6 Qxd6
If 16...Qe3+ 17.Kb1 Ng6 18.Qb4!!+- Bc6 (18...Nxf4 19.e5 Nxg2 20.Qxg4) 19.Na5
17.Rxd6 Ne3 18.Bf3 Ng6
Black has simplified the game with exchanges and will now recover his pawn. But Tunc finds a very forceful continuation that maintains his advantage. (VVP)
19.Rd3!±
White has a very easy game. On move 20 Andersson exceeded the time limit for the first time, whereas White had used only 18 days.
19...Nc4 20.Rd4 Nb6
20...b5 21.Nc5
21.h5!
This is the correct plan.
21...Nxf4 22.e5!

22...g5
22...Nfd5 23.Ne4 Kc7 24.Nbc5 Bc6 25.Rg1± (VVP)
23.Nc5 Bc6 24.Rxd8+ Kxd8 25.Bxc6 bxc6 26.N3e4 Rxh5
If 26...g4 27.Rf1!+- (27.Ng3 also leads to a big advantage)
27.Rxh5 Nxh5 28.Nxg5 Ke7 29.Nxa6 Nd7 30.Nf3 c5 31.Kd2 f6 32.exf6+ Nhxf6 33.Nc7 Nd5 34.Nb5 c4 35.Nfd4 Kf6 36.Nc6
Even though White has an extra pawn, he must play very accurately. He first brings his knights to their best positions to support the advance of his rook pawn. (VVP)
36...e5 37.Nc3 N5b6 38.Nb4 Ke6 39.a4!

The time has come to push this pawn. After this move, white uses his knights very precisely always moving them to the best squares. It is not possible to give the analysis of each move; I have a book full of analysis!
39...Nc5 40.a5 Na8 41.Nb5 Na4 42.Kc1 e4 43.Na2
A nice move controlling c3. Exchanging pawns with 43.b3 would make black's defensive task simpler. White on the other hand, would like to exchange a pair of knights (VVP)
43...Ke5 44.Nac3 Nc5 45.Kd2 Nb7 46.a6 Nd8 47.Ke3 Nc6 48.Nxe4 Nb4 49.Na3 Nxa6 50.Nxc4+

The game should be a win (in the long run) because of the two connected passed pawns. But, white must watch out for the drawing possibility of a double knight sacrifice, one knight for each pawn.
50...Kd5 51.Na3 Nb6 52.b3 Nb4 53.c4+ Ke5 54.Nc5 Nc6
Up till now, Tunc has played superbly and has achieved a winning position. This is ecstacy! But, fate intervenes and agony follows (VVP)
55.Nb7??
Snatching a draw from the jaws of victory! Tunc laments "This is not a mistake in the normal sense. After 54...Nc6, I analyzed the wrong position placing my king on d3 rather than its true position e3. This is the first time this has occurred in my life! I should have played 55.Kd3 with a winning position (in the long run)". (VVP)
55...Nd4

Now the double knight sacrifice cannot be prevented, so White offered a draw. The continuation could have been 55...Nd4 56.b4 Nxc4+ 57.Nxc4+ Kd5 threat is Nc2+ 58.Kd3 (58.Nb6+ Ke5 59.Kd3 Nc6 etc as in the main line) 58...Nc6 59.b5 Na7 60.b6 Nc8 and as long as Black moves his king between d5 and e5 not allowing the knight on b7 a check, the pawn on b6 will be blocked and eliminated. (VVP)
1/2-1/2 This article originally appeared at the Official ICCF Site