( Atty. Jong Guevarra Jr and IM Candidate Reggie Olay doing the ceremonial moves ushering the start of the classic chess match between the Davao Young Stars vs. the Davao Experienced Stars held recently in Davao City. Looking on are some of Davao's finest chessplayers and stakeholders)
Considering that today is the birthday of my good friend NM and IM Candidate Edgar Reggie Olay, allow me to pay tribute to him by featuring his epic battle against the Philippines living legend GM Eugene Torre. The game was played during the 2001 Philippine National Championships held in Quezon City. The game started as a quiet Sicilian Defense sideline but became tactical and complicated during the ensuing middle game. The result was a shocker and unexpected.
Enjoy the game! .
[Event "ch-PHI"]
[Site "Quezon City PHI"]
[Date "2001.04.09"]
[EventDate "2001.04.02"]
[Round "8"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[White "Eugenio Torre"]
[Black "Edgar Reggie Olay"]
[ECO "B50"]
[WhiteElo "2546"]
[BlackElo "?"]
[PlyCount "136"]
SICILIAN DEFENSE
Annotations by Caissa's Father
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. c3 Nf6 4. Be2 g6 5. O-O Bg7 6. Bb5+
GM Torre's pet line in the Sicilian. In his book " Beating the
Anti-Sicilians " GM Joe Gallagher has this to say:
" This original move is a specialty of the Filipino grandmaster Torre.
Basically White wants to play d4, but if he continues in normal fashion
with 6 Re1 this will be almost impossible to carry out. The check on
b5 helps him to implement this advance as each of Black's replies
lessens the pressure on d4.
I believe that I became the first victim of this line in the game
Torre- Gallagher, St. John 1988. I was so taken aback by this check
that I conducted the rest of the game in a very miserable manner.
Firstly, I chose 6...Nc6, the weakest of the three plausible ways
to escape the check. Play then continued 7. d4 cxd4 8. cxd4 0-0
9. Nc3 Bg4 10.Be3 Nd7 11. Be2 e5 12. d5 Bxf3 13. dxc6! Bxe2
14. Nxe2 Nf6 15. cxb7 Rb8 16. Nc3 with a clear advantage to White
( 1-0 after 32 moves ).
Now lets go back to the game.
6... Nbd7 7. Re1 O-O 8. d4 a6 9. Bf1 Qc7 10. h3 e6
This is a new move. In the game Toomanian, H vs. Ghaem Maghami,
Iranian Championships, 1998, Black continued with 10... cxd4
11.cxd4 b5 12. e5 Nd5 13. a4 bxa4 14. exd6 exd6 15. Ra3 N7b6
16. Nc3 Bd7 (0-1, 35 moves ). Fritz also prefers the move
10...cxd4
11. Bf4 e5 12. dxe5 dxe5 13. Bg5 h6 14. Bxf6 Nxf6
15. a4 Be6 16. a5 Rfd8 17. Qc2 Ne8 18. c4 Nd6 19. Nfd2 f5
20. Nc3 Rf8 21. Nd5 Qf7 22. Bd3 Rac8 23. Nb6 Rc6 24. Ra3 Kh8
25. Re2 f4?!
Releasing the tension too early. The position is akin to the King's
Indian classical line but here black's pawn storm is not that
effective as the light squares can be controlled by White's bishop
and queen. He should have just consolidated his position by 25...Rc7
and just wait for a favorable time to move his f pawn.
26. Re1 g5 27. Be2 Rg8 28. Qd1 Bf6 29. Nd5 Bd8
30. Bh5 Qg7 31. Qe2 Ne8 32. Rea1 Nd6 33. Rb3 Bf7 34. Rd3 Qf8
35. b4 Qe8 36. Bxf7 Nxf7 37. Qh5?!
Slowly by slowly and through adept maneuvering, GM Torre has
achieved a small but lasting advantage. However, his last move
was a waste of tempo. Best is the immediate 37. bxc5 Rxc5 38. Rb1
with decisive advantage as White' queenside attack crashes
through while Black's kingside attack has not yet taken off.
37...Rcg6?
Black could have swung the tide in his favor by 37... g4!
38.hxg4 Rg5 39. Qh1 cxb4 40.Nxb4 Rcg6! with counter-play.
38. bxc5 Qc6 39. Nb3 R8g7 40. Kf1 Kh7 41. Qg4 Kh8
42. Nb4 Qe8 43. Ke2 Qf8 44. Rd5 f3+ 45. gxf3 Rf6 46. Nd3 Be7
47. Rd7 Nd8 48. Rd1 Qe8 49. Nxe5 Rf4 50. Qg3 Ne6 51. Rxb7 Qa4
52. Ra1?
Moving the wrong rook. 52.Rb8+! Kh7 53. Ra1 and Black's queen
is trapped. After being given a new lease in life, Olay now
started to fight back.
52...Qe8 53. Nd3 Bf6!? 54. Rxg7 Bxg7 55. Rb1 Qa4
56. Nd2 Qc2 57. Rc1?
58. Rb8+ Kh7 59.Rb7 is the only way for White to hold on to the
advantage but the win is already problematic.
57... Qa2 58. c6 Nd4+ 59. Ke1?
59. Ke3 is the only move to stay in the game.
59... Qa3!
A reversal of fortune. Now it is black who is winning!
60. Nb3 Qxb3 61. Nxf4 Qb2?
61... gxf4! would have been an easy win.
62. Ng6+ Kh7 63. Kf1 Qxc1+ 64. Kg2 Ne2 65. Qh2 Kxg6
66. c7
66...Be5?
Olay was probably expecting White to resign after this move as
the bishop cannot be taken due to the obvious Qg1+ mate. Correct
was 66... Qxc4 Qd6+ 67. Kh7 68. Qd7 Nf4 69. Kh2 Qf1! 70.Qf5+ Ng6
71. c8Q Be5! and Black wins.
67. c8=Q!
Unexpectedly, this move saves the game for White. As the saying
goes, " The game ain't over until its over".
67... Bxh2 68. Qe6+ Kh7 1/2-1/2
Draw agreed as Black cannot avoid perpetual check.
Final position.
Replay the exciting game below
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