PAU BERSAMINA

W: Rhal SOL CRUZ
MERALCO 4-Board Simul
Pasig City

1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 g6 3 d3 Bg7 4 Nc3 Nc6 5 Bd2 Nf6 6 Be2 O-O 7 O-O
MASTERING THE CHESS OPENINGS, "One of the most important guidelines of chess is to protect your K from harm."
 7 ... d5 8 exd5 Nxd5













9 Rb1 (-0.36)
RYBKA recommends 9 Re1 as equal; occupation the semi-open e-file.

9 ... a6 10 Nxd5 Qxd5

d10

11 c4
This move created a positional weakness; a backward d-pawn on an open file. RYBKA rates this with (-0.50).

11 ... Qd6 12 b3 Bf5 13 Qc2 Rad8 14 Rbd1 Bxd3 15 BxBd3 QxBd3 16 QxQd3 RxQd3
Pau won the backward pawn. As Gollum said in The Lord of the Rings, "My precious."













17 Rfe1?
Better is 17 Be3?! in accordance with THE MIDDLE GAME IN CHESS, "In all cases, it is well to unpin the piece in question as quickly as possible, not only to give it back its freedom of action, but also to liberate the masked piece."

17 ... Rfd8 18 Re2 Nd4 19 NxNd4 BxBd4













20 g3?
Better, according to RYBKA, is 20 Rf1.

20 ... Bc3 21 BxBc3 RxRd1+
The pin is mightier than the sword. Pau is quality up.

22 Kg2 R1d3 23 Bb2 Rd2 24 RxRd2 RxRd2
TURNING ADVANTAGE INTO VICTORY, "The logic behind trading pieces is simple; exchanges tip the ratio of the remaining forces further in your favor."

25 Bc3 Rxa2

Result [0-1].
B: Pau BERSAMINA