ChessBanter - View Single Post - The Man with the Hat beats Grandmaster Smirin at World Open

**Sam Sloan**

On Thu, 06 Jul 2006 21:58:16 GMT, (Sam Sloan)
wrote:

[Event "34th Annual WORLD OPEN"]
[Site "Philadelphia United States"]
[Date "2006.07.02"]
[Round "05"]
[White "Bartholomew, John"]
[Black "Varshavsky, Eugene"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "2452"]
[BlackElo "2200"]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.O-O f6 6.d4 exd4 7.Nxd4
c5 8.Nb3 Qxd1 9.Rxd1 Bg4 10.f3 Bd7 11.Bf4 O-O-O 12.Nc3 c4 13.Na5
Bc5+ 14.Kf1 Ne7 15.Nxc4 Be6 16.Nd2 h5 17.Nb3 Bc4+ 18.Ke1 Bg1
19.Ne2 Bb6 20.Nd2 Bf7 21.Bg3 Be3 22.Nf1 Bc5 23.Bf2 Bd6 24.h4 f5
25.exf5 Nxf5 26.Ne3 Ne7 27.Ng3 Rde8 28.Kf1 Rhf8 29.Kg1 Bg6 30.c3
Nc6 31.Nc4 Be7 32.Nf1 Bf7 33.Nce3 Rg8 34.Nd5 Bd8 35.Nf4 g5
36.hxg5 Bxg5 37.Nh3 Bh6 38.Ng3 Bg6 39.Re1 Ne5 40.Bd4 Nd3 41.Rxe8+
Bxe8 42.Nf5 Bf8 43.Nf2 Nxb2 44.Re1 Bg6 45.Ne7+ Bxe7 46.Rxe7 Re8
47.Rg7 Bb1 48.f4 Re1+ 49.Kh2 b6 50.Be5 c5 51.g4 Nc4 52.gxh5 Nxe5
53.fxe5 Rxe5 54.Rg8+ Kb7 55.Rh8 Bxa2 56.h6 Kc6 57.Nd3 Re7 58.h7
Rc7 59.Ne5+ Kb5 60.Kg3 Bb1 61.c4+ Ka5 0-1

The player who lost the above game has posted the following very
interesting comments on Mig Greengard's Daily Dirt chessninja website:

"In our game, Varshavsky came to the board some 20 minutes
late. He also took a lot of time in the opening ? even on 4. ....
cdxc6. The only strange thing I noticed about his attire was the blue
bucket hat he wore that drooped low around his ears. He wore the same
hat against Adamson in round 4, Kacheishvili in round 6, and Smirin in
round 7 before the TDs made him take it off. Varshavsky sat at the
board the entire time, only getting up briefly after time control was
reached. I never saw his eyes leave the board.

"The game itself was one of the strangest I have ever played.
Varshavsky gave up a pawn on move 14 in a very standard theoretical
position (14?cb5 is almost universally played). After I played
15.Nxc4, I expected to consolidate the extra pawn, trade pieces, and
win in the endgame. However, Varshavsky suddenly put up surprisingly
strong resistance. He began playing fast and I had a difficult time
finding good squares for my pieces. I was particularly struck by the
unpredictability of Varshavsky's moves after move 14. I remember
thinking to myself several times that it felt as though I was playing
against a computer. I did not even consider moves like 26?. ... Ne7,
33?. ... Rg8, 41?. ... Bxe8, and 49?. .... b6 during the game. It was
very frustrating."

http://www.chessninja.com/dailydirt/..._concludes.htm