#541 STC Championship Semis - Round 5

This afternoon in the STC Championship Semi-Finals I drew the top seed, 2036-rated HaimPilosof, to retain a slim half-point lead.

Here's the time-stamped PGN & a few comments :

[Event "STC Championship sf"]
[Site "World Chess Live"]
[Date "2009.08.05"]
[Round "5"]
[White "jpmoldovan"]
[Black "HaimPilosof"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ICCResult "Game drawn by mutual agreement"]
[WhiteElo "1888"]
[BlackElo "2029"]
[Opening "King's Indian: fianchetto, classical variation"]
[ECO "E67"]
[NIC "KI.65"]
[Time "12:35:04"]
[TimeControl "3600+30"]
1. Nf3 {0:59:58} Nf6 {0:59:45} 2. c4 {1:00:22} g6 {0:59:50} 3. Nc3 {1:00:37} Bg7 {1:00:11} 4. d4 {1:00:50} O-O {1:00:35} 5. g3 {1:01:08} d6 {1:00:34} 6. Bg2 {1:01:27} Nbd7 {1:01:00} 7. O-O {1:01:41} e5 {1:01:19} 8. Qc2 {1:01:44} Re8 {1:01:26} 9. Rd1 {1:01:01} e4 {1:01:20} 10. Ng5 {1:01:03} e3 {0:58:55} 11. fxe3 {0:53:11} Ng4 {0:55:01} 12. e4 {0:53:15} c5 {0:53:57} 13. Nf3 {0:48:16} cxd4 {0:50:34} 14. Nxd4 {0:41:34} Qb6 {0:50:38} 15. e3 {0:41:50} Ndf6 {0:50:48} 16. h3 {0:37:17} Ne5 {0:42:20} 17. Nd5 {0:30:56} Nxd5 {0:40:02} 18. exd5 {0:30:51} Nd7 {0:40:26} 19. Qf2 {0:29:57} Nc5 {0:40:00} 20. Rf1 {0:29:38} f5 {0:39:25} 21. Rd1 {0:28:05} Bd7 {0:38:37} 22. Rb1 {0:27:02} Ne4 {0:37:50} 23. Bxe4 {0:26:23} fxe4 {0:38:12} 24. Kh2 {0:25:13} Rac8 {0:35:15} 25. Qe2 {0:24:15} Qd8 {0:28:53} 26. b3 {0:22:50} Be5 {0:24:33} 27. Bb2 {0:21:19} Qg5 {0:23:17} 28. Rg1 {0:19:15} Rf8 {0:22:24} 29. Ne6 {0:17:59} Bxe6 {0:22:34} 30. dxe6 {0:17:53} Rf3 {0:22:47} 31. Bxe5 {0:17:52} Qxe5 {0:23:14} 32. Rbf1 {0:16:34} Rcf8 {0:23:28} 33. e7 {0:12:58} Qxe7 {0:23:50} 34. Rxf3 {0:12:53} exf3 {0:24:07} 35. Qd2 {0:12:38} b6 {0:22:45} 36. Qd5+ {0:11:25} Rf7 {0:22:06} 37. Qd4 {0:09:14} h6 {0:18:55} 38. Rf1 {0:09:23} h5 {0:17:41} 39. e4 {0:07:21} Qe6 {0:15:28} 40. Qe3 {0:05:54} Qf6 {0:13:47} 41. Kg1 {0:05:24} g5 {0:13:53} 42. Qd2 {0:04:29} Qe5 {0:13:36} 43. Kf2 {0:04:36} Kh7 {0:12:13} {Game drawn by mutual agreement} 1/2-1/2

• Black sacked or lost a pawn with 9...e4?! I don't think it was prepared.
• 14...Qb6 was a novelty; varying from the previously tried a6, h5 & Nc5.
• I was better through move 18 but 19.Qf2 allowed equalization & 28.Rg1? made me slightly worse.
• Another mistake on move 41 & time trouble put me in a near-lost position.
• 3 turns later, however, my opponent surprisingly offered to split the point!

On the STC site, you can replay & the download the game.


P.S. - Some additional notes. These are from Mega2008 & Chess Publishing :

• Opinion on 9...e4 varies. Chekov says "?!", Stohl says "!?", Andrew Martin says "!"
• Dautov recommends 11...Nf8!
• Stohl gives my 13.Nf3 an exclam.
• According to Littlewood, the position after 15.e3 is +/-.

There will be more on this contest in a few days.