Main Elements of Business Chess

Examples of Business Chess Games

Information published on the site

of the Chess Federation of Moscow(CFM)[1]:

"The leading chess clubs of the capital have met in a business chess match.The business chess match between two teams of the Russian capital – the Chess federation of Moscow team and the City Hall team was held at the T.V. Petrosian chess club on 11 and 12 June 2005. In this, relatively new team game, fighting takes place on several boards at once, and the conventional chess rules are supplemented by certain rules borrowed from business games. As the result, the game assumes a qualitatively new form of a spectacular business team contest. Before the start of the match the inventor of Business Chess Grachya Ovakimyan reminded the participants and the spectators about the rules of the game.

The CFM team was represented by GMs Mikhail Kobalia (2644), Sergey Smagin (2565), Sergey Grigoriants (2553), and Yury Piskov (2452). The City Hall team included Oleg Nikolenko (2527), Vladimir Dobrov (2521), Andrey Devyatkin (2510), Artur Gabrielian (2481), Pavel Dvalishvili (2459), and Vladimir Baikov 92395). In the match, 2 games were played, one game a day. In the second round, the City Hall team made a replacement: Vladimir Baikov replaced his namesake Vladimir Dobrov. TheCFMteam, however, wasnotcomplete.

On the first day the City Hall team won 10:8, but on the second day the CFM team won with the result 13:3. So the final score became 21:13 in favour of the CFM».

The Business Chess Match

Between the Teams of theCity Halland the CFM

FirstGame, Held 11 June 2005

Scheme1showsthetreeofthefirstgame. The detailed record of the moves and ratings of the branches of the first game is given in the Appendix.

The games below are annotated, and commented upon by one of the players, IM Andrei Devyatkin.

In the first day of the match, the City Hall team resorted to branching on the very first move, having adopted, along with the usual opening move 1.е4 (G. Ovakimyan – branch №1), the less common 1.g3 (branch №2). It has become still more interesting on the next move: in reply to the Sicilian 1…c5 adopted by Black, there followed 2.с3 (branch №3) и 2.а3!? (branch №1) – (the favourite move of Vladimir Dobrov) – rather than the usual 2.Cf3. It is possible that it was exactly this choice of the unusual openings that help us, the City Hall team defeat the better versed in theory opponents that day.

The game in which the Sicilian Defence with 2.а3 occurred soon branched into two, both branches being highly interesting. And where, in reply to 1…c5, White continued 2.c3 (branch №3), there arose a relatively simple position with a slight advantage to White. However, it is this game that ended first: the CFM team, apparently too absorbed by the fight on the remaining boards, overlooked a simple blow.

CITY HALL – CFM (branch №3)

1.e4 c5 2.c3 f6 3.e5 d5 4.d4 cd 5.:d4 e6 6.f3 c6 7.e4 d6 8.b5 de 9.:e5 d7 10.:c6 :c6 11.:c6 bc 12.0-0.

Volodya Dobrov here proposed 12.c4!? andif 12...b4 then 13.e2!?, but after the general discussion it was decided to play a more quiet move.

SCHEME1.

Firstgame

(The chess passings are not indicated, but are taken into account)

The rectangles denote branches (№№ 1-5) and their ratings (1-10)

№1

Move №

1. White branching e4 №1 g3 №2

2. White branchinga3 №1 c3 №3

6. Black branching …Bc5 №2 …d4 №4

9. Black branching …b5 №1 …d6 №5

21.Black resigned

Selection - Score 3:0 …Х

31.White resigned

Selection - Score 3:5 Х

47. Black resigned without Selection …Х

Score 7:5

48. Draw- Score8,5:6,5=

51.Draw - Final score10:8 =

12...c7 13.d2 d6 14.f3 0-0 15.d2 ab8 16.c4 f6 17.c2 h6 18.h3 fd8 19.ad1 c5 20.c3.

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20...f4?? 21.e5.Blackresignedor, toputitmoreprecisely, aselectionwasmade, i.e. theratingpiecesfromthatboard(branch№3) were transferred to the board where the position was more advantageous for Black (branch№1).

The rating of this game (G.O., it is more correct to say the rating of branch №3) had by then been equal to three and, therefore, the score became 3:0 in favour of the City Hall team. However, very soon the CFM team was able to fight back: on one of the boards with 1.е4 с5 2.а3 (branch №1) which at that moment had a rating of five, the attack launched by the City Hall came to nothing and the score became 3:5.

CITY HALL – CFM (branch №1)

1.e4 c5 2.a3!? g6 3.h4.ThegameDobrov – Iskusnykh (Dagomys, 2005), endedbythecrushingdefeatofBlack. In that game, Black played 3...d5. Now the opponents proceed more cautiously.

3...h5 4.c3 g7 5.c4 e6 6.d3 c6 7.g5 c7 8.ge2 a6 9.d2 b5 10.a2 b7 11.0-0 ge7 12.ab1 d6 13.b4 c8 14.d1 0-0 15.f4 d7 16.e3 fe8 17.d1 e5.

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18.g4. When intendingtoreachthisposition, weplannedtoplayhere 18.:h5 gh 19.:h5 f6 20.f4 fg 21.fe, but at the last moment the sacrifice appeared to White too risky. It seems we should have made it.

18...hg 19.:g4 :g4 20.:g4 c4!(takingthisverydangerouspieceoutofplay) 21.h5 f6 22.h4 g5 23.g3 gf 24.h6 c6 25.:f4 e7 26.h2 e5 27.:d7 :d7 28.dc d4 29.e3 :h6 30.cb+ h8.Whiteresigned.

Fromtheopeningmove1.g3, twobrancheshaveemerged (branches №2 and№4),Pavel Dvalishvily being the main specialist on the variation in the City Hall team. Inboththesebranches, Whitehadanadvantage. It is the win on one of these boards that ensured the ultimate victory for the City Hall team with the score 10:8, the remaining encounters (branches №4 and №5)ending in a draw.

CITY HALL - CFM (branch №2)

1.g3 d5 2.g2 c6 3.d3 g4 4.h3 h5 5.f4 e6 6.c3 c5 7.f3 :f3 8.:f3 d7 9.e4 e7 10.e2 b6 11.f1 c7 12.g2 a6 13.d2 0-0 14.h4f5 15.a4 de 16.dea7 17.he1 h8 18.ad1 ad8 19.e5 b5 20.c3 b6 21.b3 d7 22.c1 fd8 23.:d7 :d7 24.d1 ed5 25.b1 g8 26.c4 e7 27.:d7 :d7 28.a3 bc 29.bcbc8 30.d2 f7 31.b3 g6 32.f1 h6 33.d2 :d2 34.:d2 g5 35.hghg 36.e2 gf 37.gfe8 38.b3 d7 39.h5 g1 40.f7 b6.

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41.c5 d8 42.d4 d5 43.:e6+ c7 44.:d5 cd 45.:f5 e7 46.d4 f8 (atime – troublemove) 47.e6+.Black resigned.

The Second Game of the CFM–City Hall Match

12 June 2005

Scheme 2 shows the tree of the second game. The detailed record of the moves and ratings of the branches in that game is given in the Appendix.

On the second day of the match the CFM team succeeded in imposing on its opponent the character of play that suited it the most. Opening variations have been adopted which may be called “principled”. Whiteplayed1.е4 (branch №2) and 1.d4 (branch №1). Black replied with the Sicilian Defence (may be, it was a mistake) and the Petroff Defence, while to 1.d4 the City Hall answered with the Slav Defence and the Queen’s Gambit Declined.

Soon the Sicilian branched off into the Rauser Attack and the sharpest Najdorf variation. One of these games (branch №5) ended very fast. In fact the City Hall team was already defeated in the opening, not managing to go beyond it… Thescorebecame 3:0 infavouroftheCFMteam.

The latter continued to put pressure on their opponents, having the advantage both in time (in the middle of the game they had 20 minutes more on their clock) and in the positions. Moreover, they made a judicious distribution of rating indicators, over the boards. In the branch where the quiet variation of the Queen’s Gambit occurred (branch №4), the city Hall team gradually equalized the game and eventually even won. However, the “weight” (rating) of this game (branch) was only 1.

The CFM team also had a slightly inferior position on the board where the Petroff Defence was played(branch №2), and they made a decision … to resign.

CFM – CITY HALL (branch №2)

1.e4 e5 2.f3 f6 3.:e5 d6 4.c4 :e4 5.d4 e7 6.d3 f6 7.e3 0-0 8.0-0 e8 9.c4 c6 10.c3 :d4 11.:h7+ :h7 12.:d4 c6 13.b3 f6 14.d2 e5 15.b2 h4 16.g3 h5 17.f4 f6 18.fe1 h3 19.cd1 ad8 20.f2 :b2 21.:b2 c8 22.d4 b6 23.g2 :e1+ 24.:e1 f6 25.h4 a5 26.e2 c5 27.d2 :d2.

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Resigninginthisposition (insteadofplaying28.:d2) would look at least strange in the normal chess. Here, however, it would only mean the loss of two points, with the transfer of these points (2 rating indicators)to the more promising positions: the Slav Defence game and the Sicilian Defence one (branch №3).

In the “Slav” game, the CFM team has succeede in gradually seizing the initiative and in driving the Black King to the centre, while in the Najdorf the situation on the board seemed to promise a sure win for CFM. However, the City Hall at this moment suddenly “accelerated” and solving the problems on these two boards took almost all time the CFM had at its disposal – the more so that the exploitation of the advantage they had in the Najdorf branch unexpectedly became complicated. At some moment the CFM had less than a minute on their clock against about a minute and a half the City Hall had. The atmosphere suddenly became tense. The actual positions no longer had any significance, the time becoming the decisive factor.

SCHEME2.

Second game

(The chess passings are not indicated, but are taken into account)

The rectangles denote branches (№№ 1-5) and their ratings (1-10)

№1

Move №

1. White branching d4 №1 e4 №2

Black branching …e5 №2 …c5 №3

2. White branching c4 №1 Nf3 №4

5. Black branching…e6 №3 …Nc6 №5

23.Black resigned

Selection - Score 3:0 …Х

28.White resigned

Selection - Score3:2 Х

37. Whiteresigned

Selection - Score3:3 Х

54.Black resigned

without Selection.Score8:3 …Х

67.Black resigned

Finalscore13:3 …Х

At this moment the arbiters added 2 minutes to the CFM team, because the City Hall team captain Oleg Nikolenko started the opponents clock without making his move on the one of the boards. In that situation, it was same as awarding the CFM with a win straight away. The more so that the same again happened in a couple of moves …

So the CFM won both the remaining games (branches), the second being won by time. Here is this brain-racking encounter.

CFM – CITY HALL (branch №3)

1.e4 c5 2.f3 d6 3.d4 cd 4.:d4 f6 5.c3 e6 6.e3 a6 7.f3 b5 8.g4 fd7 9.d2 b6 10.0-0-0 8d7.

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11.g2 b7 12.d3 c8 13.ce2 e5 14.b1 ec4 15.c1 g6 16.h4 e5 17.b3 a5 18.h5 a4 19.hg fg 20.a1 e7 21.f4 a3 22.b3 ef 23.:f4 g5.

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24.bc :f4 25.:f4 f6 26.e5 :e5 27.:g6+ d8 28.e6+:e6 29.:b7 a4 30.g7.

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30...g8 31.f7 :g7 32.:e6 c3+ 33.c1 :d1 34.:d1 b8 35.:d6+ c7 36.d4 e7 37.f5 e1+ 38.d1 :d1+ 39.:d1 bc 40.c3 f8 41.c2 h5... Here Black overstepped the time limit. [5:0].

Move

/ Rating
1 / d4 d5 / Branch №1 / 46
2 / Nf3- Branch Nf6 / 2 - / 47 / /
3 / c4 e6 / - - / 48
4 / Nc3 Be7 / - - / 49
5 / Bf4 O-O / - - / 50
6 / e3 c5 / - - / 51
7 / dc B:c5 / - - / 52
8 / cd N:d5 / - - / 53
9 / N:d5 ed / - - / 54
10 / a3 Nc6 / - - / 55
11 / Bd3 Bd6 / - - / 56
12 / Bg3 Bg4 / - - / 57
13 / B:d6 B:f3 / - - / 58
14 / Q:f3 Q:d6 / - - / 59
15 / Rd1 Ne5 / - - / 60
16 / Qe2 Rfd8 / - - / 61
17 / O-O- Rac8 / - - / 62
18 / Rd2 g6 / - - / 63
19 / Rfd1 Qb6 / - - / 64
20 / h3 Rc5 / - - / 65
21 / Bb1 Nc4 / - - / 66
22 / b4 Rcc8 / - - / 67
23 / Rd3 a5 / - - / 68
24 / ba Q:a5 / 3 2 / 69
25 / Ba2 b5 / - - / 70
26 / h4 h5 / 3 2 / 71
27 / R:d5 R:d5 / - - / 72
28 / R:d5 N:a3 / - - / 73
29 / Qb2 Nc4 / 1 - / 74
30 / B:c4 R:c4 / - - / 75
31 / Qf6 Rc8 / - - / 76
32 / Rd7 Qa2 / - - / 77
33 / Qd4 Qc4 / - - / 78
34 / Rb7 Qc1 + / - - / 79
35 / Kh2 Qc6 / - - / 80
36 / Qb6 Qe4 / - - / 81
37 / X (0:1) / 1 / 82
38 / Selection of Branch №3 / 83
39 / 84
40 / 85
41 / 86
42 / 87
43 / 88
44 / 89
45 / 90

Second Game

Branch №5

White – Black W : B

№ / Move / Rating /

№

Move

/ Rating
1 / e4 c5 / Branch №2 / 46
2 / Kf3 d6 / Branch №3 / 47 / /
3 / d4 cd / 48
4 / N:d4 Nf6 / 49
5 / Nc3 Nc6-Branch / 1 / 50
6 / Bg5 e6 / - - / 51
7 / Qd2 Be7 / - - / 52
8 / O-O-O O-O / - - / 53
9 / f4 h6 / - - / 54
10 / Bh4 e5 / - 2 / 55
11 / Nf5 B:f5 / 1 2 / 56
12 / ef ef / 1 2 / 57
13 / Kb1 d5 / - - / 58
14 / B:f6 B:f6 / - - / 59
15 / N:d5 Be5 / - - / 60
16 / c3 Rb8 / - - / 61
17 / Bc4 b5 / - - / 62
18 / Bb3 a5 / 3 2 / 63
19 / Rhe1 a4 / - - / 64
20 / Bc2 Re8 / - - / 65
21 / f6 b4 / 3 2 / 66
22 / Qd3 g6 / 3 2 / 67
23 / Ne7 + …X (3:0) / 3 3 / 68
24 / Selection of Branches / 69
25 / №№1,2,3 / 70
26 / 71
27 / 72
28 / 73
29 / 74
30 / 75
31 / 76
32 / 77
33 / 78
34 / 79
35 / 80
36 / 81
37 / 82
38 / 83
39 / 84
40 / 85
41 / 86
42 / 87
43 / 88
44 / 89
45 / 90

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