Sjaak managed a draw against Nebiyu, and was very close to a 50-move draw against Spartacus: In a KQBKG end-game Spartacus was not able to make much progress for a long time, but then Sjaak's defenses crumbled, and it was checkmated just 3 moves before the 50-move limit. I ran this 5-men ending through my tablebase generator, and it does seem to be generally won, in a maximum of 33 moves.
So before the decisive games between the two, Nebiyu had gained 0.5 point on Spartacus, but this was not enough to clode the gap entirely. So a 1-1 result would have been enough for Spartacus to secure the title, and Nebiyu needed to win. But it went the other way: Spartacus won both games, each game staying nearly equal for a long time, but being decided in the early end-game. The decisive game (posted below) is a good example of how fatal the possession of a 'bad Bishop' can be, and Spartacus skillfully exploited that.
Code: Select all
Cross table, sorted by score percentage, Buchholz, SB
Spa Neb Sja Fai Obe Che Cat
1. Spartacus 0.23 ### =10 011 =11 10= 111 111
### 111 111 010 1 1 0 75% 22.5 (391.0, 289.8)
2. Nebiyu 1.1 =01 ### 11= 111 111 0=1 111
000 ### 0=1 111 0 0 1 67% 20.0 (406.0, 243.5)
3. Sjaak 92 100 00= ### 1=1 101 001 110
000 1=0 ### 011 1 1 1 52% 15.5 (433.0, 188.5)
4. Fairy-Max 4.8R =00 000 0=0 ### 10= 11= 111
101 000 100 ### 1 1 0 43% 13.0 (448.0, 152.5)
5. Oberon 01= 000 010 01= ### 10= 111
0 1 0 0 ### 1 1 48% 11.5 (338.0, 131.5)
6. ChessV (Spartan) 000 1=0 110 00= 01= ### 100
0 1 0 0 0 ### 0 31% 7.5 (354.0, 110.8)
7. Catalyst 3 000 000 001 000 000 011 ###
1 0 0 1 0 1 ### 25% 6.0 (360.0, 73.5)
Code: Select all
[Event "Thermopylae Marathon 2011"]
[Site "SCHAAKPC"]
[Date "2011.02.12"]
[Round "3.2"]
[White "Nebiyu 1.1"]
[Black "Spartacus 0.23"]
[Result "0-1"]
[TimeControl "40/1440"]
[Variant "spartan"]
[Number "11"]
[Annotator "1. +0.15 1... +2.10"]
1. c4 {+0.15/16 35} Lf6 {+2.10/14 34} 2. b3 {+0.20/16 23} Lc6 {+2.44/14 32}
3. Nf3 {+0.15/18 27} Cd6 {+2.11/14 27} 4. e3 {+0.05/17 20} Hac5
{+1.91/14 27} 5. Nc3 {+0.15/18 24} Hxc4 {+2.02/15 35} 6. bxc4 {+0.05/18 19}
Hc5 {+1.95/15 35} 7. d4 {+0.20/17 37} Hxc4 {+2.00/16 35} 8. Bxc4
{+0.30/16 38} Hbd5 {+1.81/16 35} 9. Ba3 {+0.25/17 37} Ce7 {+1.89/13 35} 10.
h4 {+0.05/15 1:00} Le6 {+1.82/13 34} 11. Bb3 {+0.35/15 21} Ga8
{+1.78/13 35} 12. Bb4 {+0.40/16 35} Gb7 {+1.53/13 33} 13. Bc5 {+0.55/16 30}
Hc4 {+1.71/14 35} 14. Ne2 {+0.25/19 20} Cd5 {+1.65/14 31} 15. Bxe7
{+0.10/18 22} Wxe7 {+1.93/15 36} 16. Nf4 {+0.85/19 38} Wb4+ {+2.00/15 35}
17. Kf1 {+0.90/21 35} Led6 {+2.02/15 32} 18. Nxd5 {+0.90/20 19} Lxd5
{+2.53/14 31} 19. Rc1 {+0.90/19 42} Gb5 {+2.62/14 36} 20. Kg1 {+0.75/19 37}
Wa3 {+2.62/14 37} 21. Rb1 {+0.30/18 39} Gb4 {+2.52/15 30} 22. Ne1
{+0.00/21 25} Gc3 {+2.67/15 37} 23. Rh3 {+0.30/21 40} Le4 {+3.48/15 1:01}
24. f3 {+0.70/21 40} Lxg2 {+4.72/16 34} 25. Nxg2 {+0.70/20 37} Lb4
{+1.30/15 35} 26. Ba4 {+0.40/19 33} Ha5 {+1.96/16 31} 27. Bc6 {+0.20/22 21}
Hd3 {+1.16/15 53} 28. Be4 {+0.95/21 38} Lc4 {+1.38/15 30} 29. Rh2
{+0.15/20 56} Gc2 {+2.57/17 32} 30. Qxc2 {+0.20/24 50} Wxc2 {+2.13/18 37}
31. Rc1 {+0.30/22 30} Wa3 {+2.04/17 37} 32. Rc3 {+0.00/24 41} Wb5
{+1.85/17 37} 33. Rc1 {+0.00/22 42} He2 {+1.71/16 38} 34. Nf4 {+0.30/20 29}
Hc6 {+1.51/15 38} 35. Nxe2 {+0.10/21 42} Lxe2 {+1.34/18 37} 36. Rxc6
{+0.05/24 25} Kd7 {+1.52/18 39} 37. Rc5 {+0.10/24 26} Wa6 {+1.62/17 31} 38.
Bc6 {+0.00/22 49} Kd6 {+1.65/19 38} 39. Bb5 {+0.45/25 36} Wb7 {+2.21/20 56}
40. Bxe2 {+0.95/24 1:55} Kxc5 {-320.00/20 34} 41. dxc5 {+0.35/23 30} Wxc5
{+5.50/20 34} 42. Kh1 {-1.05/23 32} Wxe3 {+7.82/21 35} 43. Bd3
{-1.60/22 34} Wf4 {+8.23/21 26} 44. Bxh7 {-3.55/21 38} Hb4 {+6.12/21 38}
45. Be4 {-4.45/23 44} He5 {+6.70/20 49} 46. Bb7 {-5.55/23 37} Hc3
{+11.44/20 10:12} 47. h5 {-11.60/28 24} Hd2 {+14.16/21 1:31} 48. Rxd2
{-12.70/26 20} Wxd2 {+14.81/21 15} 49. a4 {-14.85/23 19} Hd4 {+15.56/21 15}
50. h6 {-16.20/21 57} Hc3 {+319.92/21 15} 51. h7 {-299.80/23 30} Kg7
{+319.93/21 13} 52. f4 {-299.88/24 22} We3 {+319.94/27 16} 53. Ba6
{-299.90/31 19} Hd2 {+319.95/30 16} 54. Bf1 {-299.92/32 27} He1=W
{+319.96/32 0.5} 55. h8=Q+ {-299.94/96 23} Kxh8 {+319.97/40 0.2} 56. Kh2
{-299.96/96 19} W1f2 {+319.98/39 0.2} 57. Bb5 {-299.98/96 20} Wxf4#
{+319.99/45 20}
{Xboard adjudication: Checkmate} 0-1