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Round two saw Canada paired down to a beatable Bolivian squad. Although 2.5 was enough to win the match, the result was a near sweep with 3.5-0.5.
Bluvshtein-Zambrana was a highly tactical Semi-Slav. Eschewing the quiet 15.d5, which looks to me like it secures White a slight, stable advantage,Mark instead blew it open with 15.dxe5 then the surprising 18.Qxc5!? when things got rather crazy. Rybka liked Black at that point, and in this sort of position who am I to argue? It pointed out the variation 20...Qxd3 (instead of 20...Bxh2 as played in the game) 21.Bxd3 Bf3! forking the R/d1 and g-P. Nice, and easy to miss. As the game went Zambrana had the advantage due to his two Bs in an open position, but he never looked very close to winning and eventually when the game was drawn he was up a ceremonial pawn but nothing more.
Cueto-Zugic was really weird. White played very passively, albeit solidly. He achieved a completely reasonable position, though definitely nothing special. I figured that shortly after the double minor piece swap on e4, Igor would be angling to play ...d5 and launch some sort of minority attack, but with White not having the required kingside counterplay. It reminded me a bit of those Exchange Caro-Kann positions but with two minor pieces missing from each side, which should be at least very reasonable for Black. Instead, White totally lost his mind and sent his Q into the Black position, a journey from which it never returned. The way in which Igor trapped and won it was nice, but it wasn't hard to see. Not sure what White's miscalculation was, but whatever it was, it was big and it was fatal.
Roussel-Campero had a bit more content. Black's opening looked like he was channelling my pal IM Deen Hergott (...h5,...Nh6, ...Kf8 ...everything happening on the edges of the board). Exactly the sort of things you can never show people who are just learning to play. ;-) Anyway, Campero made the decision to plant his N into g4, and Roussel went to work trapping it and picking it off. Rybka says 20...Ne5 is a mistake and ...f5 (which still loses the piece, but keeps White's pieces out for now) was much better. Certainly as it went, 22.f4! pries Black's position open like a tin can. The finish was pretty brutal.
Luna-Noritsyn was much closer than the above two games. Black achieved a perfectly acceptable position, and proceeded to try to make play on the dark squares in the centre and on the kingside. 26.Bxf4 guaranteed that Black would never be worse, and the excellent jab to weaken White's pawn structure with ...h5-h4 made it even worse (surely White should play h4, no?). Rybka thought that after 35.Qb6, Black should play 35...hxg3!? 36.fxg3 (36.Qxc7 gxf2+ 37.Kxf2 Rxc7 38.Bxa6 Ra8 39.Bxb7 Rxa5 is a bit better for Black) 36...Qxb6+ 37.axb6 Rc2, and Black is better. Me, I am not so sure it's that big a deal. Instead, Nikolay kept the Qs on the board and when White blundered with 45.Be2? White's position, especially with the fast time control, is just hopeless. Black is going to infiltrate on the dark squares sooner - as happened! - or later.
Next round should give Canada a much tougher time. The team's score with Black (+2 =2 -0) must be one of the better ones in this event. If you never lose with Black, you are going to win a lot of matches. ;-)
Bluvshtein-Zambrana was a highly tactical Semi-Slav. Eschewing the quiet 15.d5, which looks to me like it secures White a slight, stable advantage,Mark instead blew it open with 15.dxe5 then the surprising 18.Qxc5!? when things got rather crazy. Rybka liked Black at that point, and in this sort of position who am I to argue? It pointed out the variation 20...Qxd3 (instead of 20...Bxh2 as played in the game) 21.Bxd3 Bf3! forking the R/d1 and g-P. Nice, and easy to miss. As the game went Zambrana had the advantage due to his two Bs in an open position, but he never looked very close to winning and eventually when the game was drawn he was up a ceremonial pawn but nothing more.
Cueto-Zugic was really weird. White played very passively, albeit solidly. He achieved a completely reasonable position, though definitely nothing special. I figured that shortly after the double minor piece swap on e4, Igor would be angling to play ...d5 and launch some sort of minority attack, but with White not having the required kingside counterplay. It reminded me a bit of those Exchange Caro-Kann positions but with two minor pieces missing from each side, which should be at least very reasonable for Black. Instead, White totally lost his mind and sent his Q into the Black position, a journey from which it never returned. The way in which Igor trapped and won it was nice, but it wasn't hard to see. Not sure what White's miscalculation was, but whatever it was, it was big and it was fatal.
Roussel-Campero had a bit more content. Black's opening looked like he was channelling my pal IM Deen Hergott (...h5,...Nh6, ...Kf8 ...everything happening on the edges of the board). Exactly the sort of things you can never show people who are just learning to play. ;-) Anyway, Campero made the decision to plant his N into g4, and Roussel went to work trapping it and picking it off. Rybka says 20...Ne5 is a mistake and ...f5 (which still loses the piece, but keeps White's pieces out for now) was much better. Certainly as it went, 22.f4! pries Black's position open like a tin can. The finish was pretty brutal.
Luna-Noritsyn was much closer than the above two games. Black achieved a perfectly acceptable position, and proceeded to try to make play on the dark squares in the centre and on the kingside. 26.Bxf4 guaranteed that Black would never be worse, and the excellent jab to weaken White's pawn structure with ...h5-h4 made it even worse (surely White should play h4, no?). Rybka thought that after 35.Qb6, Black should play 35...hxg3!? 36.fxg3 (36.Qxc7 gxf2+ 37.Kxf2 Rxc7 38.Bxa6 Ra8 39.Bxb7 Rxa5 is a bit better for Black) 36...Qxb6+ 37.axb6 Rc2, and Black is better. Me, I am not so sure it's that big a deal. Instead, Nikolay kept the Qs on the board and when White blundered with 45.Be2? White's position, especially with the fast time control, is just hopeless. Black is going to infiltrate on the dark squares sooner - as happened! - or later.
Next round should give Canada a much tougher time. The team's score with Black (+2 =2 -0) must be one of the better ones in this event. If you never lose with Black, you are going to win a lot of matches. ;-)
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