Good morning,
the weather is rainy over Paris, so I had to shorten my usual bike ride...
This match is Mephisto (by Saitek) Maestro Travel vs Novag Chess Champion Chess Partner 2000. With more than 450 CElo points in favor of the Maestro Travel, it was expected to be an easy walk for it.
Things went in a different way.
Not during the first game, where the CP2000 as Black played like a beginner, moving its Queen out very early, letting the Maestro develop itself with tempi.
Few moves later, the Maestro pins the poor Queen and the game is soon over.
The second game deserves watching it. It is the shortest so far in this competition, and the CP2000 was on the verge of a win! As soon as its third move out of book, the Maestro Travel blunders, unaware of the trap it left its Queen in. And CP2000 played the correct refutation move! Was it by chance or complete calculation? I suspect the CP2000 at least smelled the hit...
Too bad for the suspense, shortly later it failed to survive a fork and the lucky Maestro Travel could save the game.
[Event "The 64-cup"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2023.10.29"]
[Round "5-2"]
[White "Mephisto Maestro Travel (lv 15s)"]
[Black "Novag Chess Champion Chess Partner 2000 (lv 2)"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "1561"]
[BlackElo "1102"]
[EventDate "2023.09.26"]
[ECO "A10"]
[PlyCount "37"]
1.c4 d5 {Out of book} 2.cxd5 {Out of book} 2...Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qe5 $6 {CP2000 should step back its Queen to a less exposed position} 4.Nf3 Qc5 5.d4 Qb6 6.e4 e6 7.Be2 Nc6 8.Qc2 Nxd4 9.Nxd4 Qxd4 10.Be3 Qd6 $2 {again too vulnerable} 11.Rd1 Qc6 $4 {what an alignment!} 12.Bb5 Qd7 13.Bxd7+ Bxd7 14.Bf4 O-O-O 15.Bxc7 Kxc7 16.Nd5+ {Maestro Travel announces mate in 4} 16...Kb8 17.Qc7+ Ka8 18.Qxd8+ Bc8 19.Qxc8# 1-0
[Event "The 64-cup"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2023.10.29"]
[Round "5-2"]
[White "Novag Chess Champion Chess Partner 2000 (lv 2)"]
[Black "Mephisto Maestro Travel (lv 15s)"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "1102"]
[BlackElo "1561"]
[EventDate "2023.09.26"]
[ECO "C10"]
[PlyCount "30"]
1.d4 d5 2.Nc3 {Out of book} 2...e6 3.e4 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nf6 5.Nxf6+ Qxf6 6.Be3 Nd7 {Out of book} 7.Bd3 Nb6 8.Nf3 Bd6 $4 {Queen should have moved away from the trap (Qe7 or Qd8) or Black should have opened a door for it (g6 or g5).
h6 to prevent next move was as well an alternative.} 9.Bg5 $1 Bb4+ 10.Ke2 Qxf3+ 11.gxf3 O-O 12.a3 Bd6 13.Ke3 h6 14.Bf4 $6 {Bh4 was much better} 14...Nd5+ $1 15.Ke4 $4 {wrong way. CP2000 should have accepted the loss of this forked Bishop.} 15...f5# 0-1
MfG,
Tibono