2009 Open Classic Round 1

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Round 1 of the 2009 Open Classic

The first round of a Swiss-paired tournament is always brutal for the bottom half of the draw. In an open format like this, the top half of the seeds have to prove they deserve it, so they are paired against the bottom half to start things off. The minimum rating gap is 516 points, and the mismatches go all the way up to 885 points. According to the game room rating formula, that means the favorites each have between 95.1% and 99.4% chance to win. (KJ)

Next Round: 2009 Open Classic Round 2

Contents 1 99of9 vs. Bildstein 2 arimaa_master vs. LevB 3 Tuks vs. chessandgo 4 soldier vs. naveed 5 thefrankinator vs. Adanac 6 Fritzlein vs. woh 7 Sana vs. omar 8 The_Jeh vs. Amina 9 camelback vs. Emaad

99of9 vs. Bildstein

Appropriately enough, Gold opened with the “99of9” opening while Silver opted for a similar setup, but with a rabbit on e8 rather than the customary f8. The gold elephant did not hesitate to pull that e8 rabbit south, though the plan was put on hold when the two players exchanged horses on moves 6s and 7g. Gold’s pursuit of the silver rabbit continued and by the 14th move it was endangered on the h3 square. Silver’s only compensation for the rabbit was a vulnerable gold dog, but it escaped to safety on 15g.

The silver elephant retreated to the northwest to participate in a framing of the other gold dog on c6, while abandoning the rabbit in the southeast. The gold camel threatened to free the dog, but a clever defence by Bildstein held the dog frame while stymieing the camel. By move 26, the silver army had completed a long series of moves to drag and capture a gold rabbit into the f6 trap while also rotating his elephant away from the frame. However, with the elephant absent from c5, 99of9 was able to free the gold dog to b6 on move 28 with the aid of a horse.

A potentially sharp tactical exchange ensued on move 30 whereby a silver cat was trapped on c6 and a gold cat was exposed to capture on c3. Bildstein elected to protect his own trap rather than initiate a further series of captures. Silver lost another cat in the northeast after an unusual blunder on move 31. Gold then advanced a gold rabbit to b6 and slowly put pressure on against the silver position. The rabbit finally broke through on move 42 after some stiff resistance by Bildstein. Despite the 732 point pre-tournament rating disparity the game was tense throughout, and many spectators were impressed with Bildstein’s solid performance in his WC debut. (GM)

arimaa_master vs. LevB

The setup phase was slightly unorthodox as each side placed a dog in the b-file and camel in the c-file. The silver camel advanced aggressively in the west, but it was soon held hostage by the gold elephant. A silver horse also advanced to e3 but had to retreat when it was threatened by the gold camel. LevB attempted to use his dog and horse in the west to free his elephant from the d3 square on move 12s. However, when the gold camel returned to d3, the silver elephant had to return the square. Arimaa_master’s 15th move served a double-purpose as he framed a silver dog on c3 while also threatening a horse in the f3 trap by unfreezing the gold camel.

Beginning with move 16, arimaa_master built a large material advantage. LevB put up a long struggle and held on for another 20 moves. However, arimaa_master was able to create a goal-in-three threat on move 35 to seal the deal. (GM)

Tuks vs. chessandgo

Tuks opened the game with a series of pulls against the silver horse and dog in the northwest. Chessandgo played defensively ensuring that none of his pieces could be dragged into enemy territory. Having safely secured his pieces in the west, the silver horse then pulled the h2 rabbit on move 9s. The gold camel the froze the intruding horse on move 10 but the silver elephant was easily able to counter-threaten the camel as there were no immediate gold threats in the west. Gold missed an opportunity to retreat his camel on move 12 and silver took advantage by slowly dragging the camel north. A gold dog advanced to f6 on the 16th move. Chessandgo could have tried to frame it with a horse on f5 on the 16th move and elephant on g6 on the follow-up move but it would have been a tenuous frame with the silver elephant awkwardly placed on g6. With no dog frame played, Tuks advanced moved his dog to e6 and horse to f5, relieving the gold elephant of guard duty. Chessandgo responded by allowing the gold camel to escape but thereby threatening the vulnerable gold dog on e6. Tuks could have retreated his horse and dog each two steps south on move 18, which would have left an unclear position with both camels awkwardly positioned. Instead he opted to retreat his camel to h4 while scattering the horse to e4 and dog to d6. The e5 square probably would have been better for the dog as the threat to the silver horse in the southeast would have saved the dog from capture. After silver’s 18th move, the gold dog was threatened in both northern traps and the gold cat was threatened at the f3 trap. Once again, Tuks was able to save both of his endangered pieces with his 19th move. Chessandgo’s 19th move was a slight inaccuracy as left his horse vulnerable on the b5 square. The gold elephant pushed the exposed silver horse south and the silver elephant countered by flipping the gold camel to g5. Tuks used his dog to save the camel which led to an exchange of gold dog for silver horse. Though chessandgo had a small material deficit, he was compensated with a strong horse in the southeast and a camel hostage. Tuks wisely relieved the pressure on his position by exchanging his camel for the advanced silver horse on move 25, though the gold elephant would have been better placed on f4.

After the two exchanges the material was about even, with 2 silver horses having been exchanged for the gold dog and camel. However, with the gold elephant slightly out of position, the silver dog and camel worked together to drag a gold cat north. Chessandgo captured the cat on move 29, though Tuks did have time to capture the advanced silver rabbit as partial compensation. The material got even more imbalanced after a silver dog for gold cat exchange on move 31. Chessandgo was able to build a positional advantage a couple of moves later as he had a strong dog in the southeast plus threats against the gold horse on f5. The gold horse escaped, but that gave silver enough time to capture 2 gold rabbits in exchange for only 1 silver rabbit. By move 36, silver had built a powerful material and positional advantage and Tuks lost on time on move 39 facing an impossible situation. (GM)

soldier vs. naveed

Soldier used an all rabbits back setup with cats behind the traps and horses on outside files. Naveed also had all rabbits back but an unbalanced major piece setup. He had a horse and camel on the A and B files and a horse and dog on the G and H files.

In the opening Naveed started an elephant-horse attack against f3. After Soldier brought his elephant back to defend, Naveed then attacked c3 with his camel. Soldier tried to both get a camel hostage with his elephant and grab the horse retreating from f3 with his camel. But this allowed the camel to escape back up the A file and left both cats exposed to capture behind his traps. After capturing both cats Naveed was threatening to capture a dog at c3. Instead of responding to the threatened capture Soldier started to swarm up the G and H file with a camel, horse, dog and rabbit. Soldier started to pull a horse back down the G file, but this allowed Naveed to safe his camel behind the c6 trap and bring his elephant back over to the east side. Soldier advanced a rabbit up to support the camel but only used 3 steps and left a dog exposed to capture. Naveed took the dog and left his elephant threatening to capture a horse in f3.

Instead of responding to the threat at f3 Soldier advanced toward c6 with a elephant horse and rabbit. Before he could start any threat though Naveed brought a rabbit down toward f3. Soldier tried to bring the horse back to stop the goal but Naveed was able to goal on 19s after Soldier missed a goal block. (BH)

thefrankinator vs. Adanac

Adanac won by forfeit when thefrankinator failed to show up.

Fritzlein vs. woh

For the first seven moves, the game was a cautious dual-lone-elephant opening, with neither side able to accomplish anything. Starting on move 8g, Fritzlein began working a horse forward in the west, because woh's camel had decentralized to the east. Woh's elephant dutifully took the advanced horse hostage and tried to play against it, but the eventual result of his maneuvering was to permit the horse to occupy b6 on move 17, a small but tangible advantage to Fritzlein.

A few moves later, with both elephants still sticking to c6, woh allowed his horse to get blocked forward on b5, and Fritzlein threatened it by shifting his camel west. Woh's elephant assisted his horse in evading the threat and retreating to c7, but the strategic result was that by move 22, Fritzlein's advanced horse was even more firmly established on b6, with a small swarm backing it up.

For several moves woh shuffled somewhat aimlessly, three times making a move that Fritzlein could reverse in two steps fewer. Fritzlein meanwhile slowly solidified his control in preparation for flipping out small pieces for capture in his home traps. In desperation to do something active, on move 28 woh pushed his elephant through the c6-trap into b6, pushing Fritzlein's horse back to b5. Unfortunately, this allowed Fritzlein to semi-blockade woh's elephant.

Woh struggled a bit to free his elephant by pulling blockaders forward, but that ultimately only made the semi-blockade more secure. Fritzlein rotated his elephant out of the blockade, methodically captured ten of woh's pieces, and finally reached goal on move 53. Woh's tenacity earned him the distinction of being the first-round player to survive longest.(KJ)

Sana vs. omar

Sana setup a 99of9 style with dogs back center. Omar began with all strong pieces in the back row and rabbits up front. In addition the elephant, camel and one of the horses were all in the east wing. Apparently Omar wanted to make the game a little challenging by giving a bit of a handicap with this setup. However rather than marching forward with the strong pieces and invading the traps, Sana opened with a slow advance of multiple pieces. This gave time for Omar to get the elephant out near the center. On 5w Sana began pulling out Omar's camel and in the following move advanced the eastern horse too close to Omar's elephant. As Sana focused on taking the camel hostage, Omar was able to capture the eastern horse and guard the hostage camel. Sana didn't quite know what to do with the hostage camel and continued pushing it deeper into her side leaving her eastern trap unprotected. Rather than invading it, Omar decided to chase after the western horse which had advanced close to Omar's western trap earlier in the game. Sana then offered to trade her western horse for the camel. Omar accepted the trade and eventually brought his elephant back to Sana's eastern trap to protect a rabbit while freezing Sans's camel. While trying to get the camel away from Omar's Elephant, Sana left her eastern cat vulnerable. Sana then tried to use her camel to pull a rabbit to the eastern trap. A few moves later (14w) Sana left a hole in here defense without realizing it and Omar was able to quickly finish off the game. (OS)

The_Jeh vs. Amina

The_Jeh won by forfeit when Amina failed to show up.

camelback vs. Emaad

Camelback won by forfeit when Emaad failed to show up.