Benjamin-NJ (2644) – Milman-CAR (2502) [B22]
ICC 90 30 u/Internet Chess Club 2008
1. e4 c5 2. c3 Nf6 3. e5 Nd5 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. Bc4 Nb6 6. Bb3 d5
6… c4 can lead to interesting lines that seem inspired by computer analysis: 7. Bc2 Qc7 (7… d6 8. exd6 Qxd6 9. 
)
8. Qe2 g5!? 9. e6!? dxe6 10. Nxg5 Qe5! 11. Ne4 f5 12. Ng3 Bh6
8. d4 cxd4 9. cxd4 Bxd6 10. Nc3
Benjamin has shown a liking for the attacking prospects offered by the isolani, as demonstrated in his interesting loss to Erenburg. Already his Queen is eyeing the potentially weak h7 square, with the idea of Bc2 or Ng5 to initiate an attack.
14… Ned5
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15. Ng5!
15… g6
Black will be forced to weaken his castled position in any event, and no better is 15… Nf6 16. Nce4 Nxe4 17. Qxe4 g6 18. Qh4 h5 19. Bf4!
when White has even better prospects of exploiting the dark squares around Black’s King.
16. Qh3 h5 17. Nge4! Be7 18. Qg3 Bc6
No better is 18… Qc7 which simply gets White to refocus his attack on d5 and f6 by 19. Qf3! Bc6 (19… Kg7 20. Nxd5 Nxd5 21. Bxd5 exd5 22. Nc3 wins the d5 pawn.)
20. Nxd5 Nxd5 21. Bh6 Rfd8 22. Bxd5 exd5 (22… Bxd5 23. Nf6+ Kh8 24. Nxd5
)
23. Nf6+ Kh8 24. Nxh5!
19. Bh6 Re8 20. Qe5! Bf6 21. Nxf6+ Qxf6 22. Ne4! Qxe5 23. dxe5 Rc7
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White has traded his attack for a tremendous positional advantage: he has strong control of the dark squares, including d6 (where his Knight is headed); he has the two Bishops, which present both short term attacking and long term endgame prospects; and he has a tremendous space advantage which helps his pieces find better squares.
24. Rac1 Rec8 25. Nd6 Rd8 26. f3!? a6 27. Bg5 f6 28. Bh4 g5 29. Bf2
Now we see one of the points of 26.f3, which provides a great vantage for the Bishop. Black’s kingside pawns now present a structural weakness to exploit.
White can already swipe a pawn by 30. Bxb6 Nxb6 31. Nxb7! Rxb7 32. Bxe6+ Kf8 33. Rxc6 but Benjamin’s method seems even more decisive.
30… g4 31. Ng5 Re7 32. Rxe5 Bd7
32… Rde8 33. fxg4 hxg4 34. Rce1 Nd7 35. Rxe6 Rxe6 36. Rxe6 Rxe6 37. Nxe6 N7f6 38. Nd8 is also hopeless.
33. fxg4 hxg4 34. Rce1! Rc8 35. Bxd5 Nxd5 36. Rxd5
Black resigns. A great game from Benjamin and practically a textbook illustration of White’s attacking prospects in an isolani position.
1-0Zaikov-CAR (2376) – Molner-NJ (2397) [A58]
ICC 90 30 u/Internet Chess Club 2008
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5 4. cxb5 a6 5. bxa6 g6 6. Nc3 Bxa6 7. Nf3 d6 8. g3 Bg7 9. Bg2 Nbd7 10. Rb1 Qa5 11. Bd2
15. e4?! Ba6! 16. Ne2 Bxe2 17. Qxe2 Rxa2
15… Rfd8!?
Black can already win back his pawn by 15… Nfd7 16. Bb2 (16. Nb5 Qc8 17. Na3 Ra7) 16… Bxc3 17. Bxc3 Rxa2 but surrendering the dark square Bishop is too great a price to pay for it.
16. a4 e6 17. dxe6 fxe6 18. Bxb7 Qxb7
Black appears to have sufficient compensation for his pawn in his control of the center and active pieces.
19. Bd2 Qc6 20. Qc2 d5 21. Nd3 Nbd7 22. Rfe1 Rf8 23. Bf4 Nh5 24. e4 Nxf4 25. gxf4 c4 26. Nb4 cxb3! 27. Rxb3 Qc4
28. exd5?
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28… Nc5!
winning material
29. Rbb1 Qxc3 30. dxe6 Rxa4 31. e7 Re8 32. Qd1
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32… Qc4?!
Black goes wrong in a ridiculously complex position to play in time pressure.
32… Qd4! was probably the best practical move, as 33. Qxd4 Bxd4 34. Nc6 Kf7! gives Black good prospects of rounding up the passed pawn and winning the ending.
33. Nd5 Ne4? 34. Nb6 Qd4 35. Nxa4 Qxf2+ 36. Kh1 Qxf4 37. Qd5+
Black resigns. A hard loss for Molner and the team after his excellent opening play.
1-0Ju-NJ (2292) – Simpson-CAR (2346) [C78]
ICC 90 30 u/Internet Chess Club 2008
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Bc5 5.
19. Nc5 Ng5 20. Nf2 gets the Knights out of danger and might maintain a slight edge after the d4 push.
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20… Nh4!
20… Ne7!? followed by f5 may be safer.
21. Rh5?!
an interesting attempt to maintain material parity or create complications, but White might do best to surrender the Exchange since the Rook is completely out of position here.
21. Qf1 Nxf5 22. Qxf5 f6 23. Nc5 and at least White’s Knights have prospects.
21… f5! 22. Nc5 fxg4 23. Ne6!?
23. Qxg4 Qd6 24. Ne6 Rf7 25. Rxh4 Nf6 26. Qf5 Re8
24… Rxf8 25. Qxg4 Qf2+! 26. Kh2
Trapping the Rook.
28. Rxa6
28. Qh4 Qxb2 is also hopeless.
28… Nf6 29. Rxf6 Rxf6 30. h4? Qe1+ 31. Kh2 Rf1! 32. Qc8+ Kh7 33. Rxh6+ gxh6
White resigns
0-1CraigJones-CAR (2320) – Shen-NJ (2265) [A17]
ICC 90 30 u/Internet Chess Club 2008
1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2
22… c5! 23. Nd5 (23. Bb2 Ra8 24. Ra1 Rxa1+ 25. Bxa1 Qd4!) 23… Nxd5 24. exd5 Bh3=
23. bxc6 Qxc6 24. Qb4 Nd7 25. Nd5 Rb8 26. h4! Qc5+?
26… Bg4 followed by Qe6 might hold.
27. Qxc5 bxc5 28. Rxb8+ Nxb8 29. h5! Nh8 30. Bxe5 Nd7 31. Bb2 h6 32. Kh2 f6 33. Bh3 Bxh3 34. Kxh3 Nf7 35. Ne7+ Kf8 36. Ng6+ Ke8 37. Kg4 Ng5 38. e5 fxe5 39. Bxe5 Ne6 40. Kf5 Kf7 41. g4 Ng5 42. Bc3
Game drawn by mutual agreement. White is still winning, of course, but the team did not need the extra points to win the match.
1/2-1/2
Game(s) in PGN