Hard Times (continued)

It's hard to spot a master a couple of hundred rating points AND the f-pawn and still get the point. Hard, hard times.

	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H

Toulzac, PY. 2231 - Sengupta, D. 2496

0-1 (9th Open,Malakoff FRA) 4/22/2010

[#] 1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.f3 exf3 5.Nxf3 Bg4 6.h3 Bxf3 7.Qxf3 c6 8.Be3 e6 9.Bd3 Nbd7 10.O-O Qc7 11.Ne4 h6 12.c4

[12.Bf4 (or 12.a4) might be better here. Black is going to castle long, since his eleventh move has made the h6 pawn a target (as Anand showed Topalov in the fourth game of their match today).]

12...O-O-O 13.b4 Nxe4 14.Bxe4 f5 15.Bc2 Nb6 16.c5 Nd5 17.Rab1 g5 18.b5 Bg7 19.Bf2 Nf4 20.b6 axb6 21.cxb6 Qd6 22.Rfd1 Qd5 23.Rb3 Qxf3 24.Rxf3 Ne2+ 25.Kf1 Nxd4 26.Ra3 Kb8 27.Bd3 Nb5 28.Rb3 Nc3 29.Rd2 Rd5 [0-1]

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Peter Atzerpay, W.K.P.I., S.A.C.

These days it's rare to hear from my old friend Peter Atzerpay, the well-known private investigator and strong amateur chessplayer. Pete's pretty much retired from active investigations since his glory days on the trail in Little Rock, and from active tournament play as well.

The last I heard from him he was hustling five dollar games at knight odds in a little coffee shop in a dead-end alley off Jackson Square. I reminded him of that when he surprised me with a phone call the other day.

"Long time ago," he said. "B. K."

"B. K.?"

"Before Katrina," he said. "But it was getting harder to get a game even before that. Anyway, these days I just pick up a game now and then down at the shelter."

Before I could respond to that he said, "Get a board. I want to give you a new Blackmar-Diemer."

It goes easier when I don't argue with Pete. I got a board.

"Okay," he said. "Here we go. 1. d4, e5 ..."

"Wait a minute," I said. "I thought it was a BDG?"

"Reversed," Pete said. "I'm playing black. It's a BDG reversed."

"Okay," I said. "In other words, a Soller Gambit?"

"Whatever," Pete said. "Here's the game."

	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H

Anonymous - Atzerpay, Peter

0-1 (unrated blitz match) 4/16/2010

[#] 1.d4 e5 2.dxe5 Nc6 3.Nf3 f6 4.exf6 Nxf6 5.Bg5 d5 6.e3 Bd6 7.Nc3 Be6 8.Be2 O-O 9.O-O Qe8 10.Bxf6 Rxf6 11.Nxd5 Rh6 12.c4 Rd8 13.a3 Qh5 14.g3 Bg4 15.h4 Rf8 16.Nd4 Bxe2 17.Qxe2 Qg6 18.Qc2?

[18.c5 Nxd4 19.exd4 c6 20.Ne3 Bc7± ]

18...Qg4

["Sure," Pete said, "I saw 18...Nxd4 19.Qxg6 Ne2+ but I was counting on mate in a few more moves. With the queens off the board it would take longer."]

19.Qe2 Qh3 20.Nf4??

[20.Nf3 Qg4 21.Nd4 looks about even, Pete.]

20...Bxf4 21.gxf4??

[21.Nf3 Bxg3 22.fxg3 Qxg3+ 23.Qg2 Rg6 24.Ng5 Rxf1+ 25.Rxf1 Qxg2+ 26.Kxg2 h6° ;

21.exf4 Nxd4 22.Qe4 Rxf4 23.Qd5+ Re6 24.Rae1 Nf3+ 25.Qxf3 Rxf3° ]

21...Rg6+ [0-1]

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