Novag Diamond II vs Mephisto Berlin 68000 10 games

[Kasparov111]

It's Novag Diamond II vs Mephisto Berlin 68000...two new boards that I have acquired....Fritz vs Genius..Morsch vs Lang, should be a good match...10 games at tournament time controls...

Game 1 is a Queen's Gambit Accepted: Janowski-Larsen Variation with Mephisto Berlin 68000 as white...interesting opening with Berlin opting not to castle, could be a very open game...

1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 Bg4 5. Bxc4 e6 6. h3 Bh5 7. Nc3 Nbd7 8. g4 Bg6 9. Nh4 Be4 10. Nxe4 Nxe4 11. Qc2 Bb4+ 12. Kf1

[Kasparov111]

The game is very interesting with both sides not castled, it now comes down to who can attack which king first and gain an advantage...that h file looks so open for a rook though, Berlin has to be careful..

Nd6 13. Nf3 h5 14. Kg2 hxg4 15. hxg4 Rxh1 16. Kxh1 c5 17. Bd3 Qa5 18. Qe2 cxd4 19. exd4

[Kasparov111]

Diamond II had to be very precise in a dangerous position and it went the wrong way now it's in big trouble with a lot of weakness around the king...

Nf6 20. g5 Nd5 21. a3 Nc8 22. g6 Nce7 23. gxf7+

[Kasparov111]

Feels like Diamond II is all tied up here with not much room to move, Berlin plays the brilliant 27.axb4!, giving up the rook to stop the black queen from defending around the king...

Kxf7 24. Ng5+ Ke8 25. Qxe6 Qa4 26. Bg6+ Kd8 27. axb4

[Kasparov111]

[/b]Diamond II[/b] declined the rook sac and went into an endgame down a piece and a few pawns which is just too much, the final position is totally winning for Berlin 68000, nice game, Diamond II plays very differently from the other Diamond's, it's very human like...

Qd7 28. b5 Qxe6 29. Nxe6+ Kd7 30. Bf7 Kd6 31. Nxg7 Rh8+ 32. Kg1 Rh4 33. Ne8+ Kd7 34. Rxa7 Rxd4 35. Rxb7+ 1-0

Berlin 68000 Leads the Match: 1-0

Game Replay: https://lichess.org/ZTGlvlEc

[Kasparov111]

Game 2 is a Ruy Lopez: Open Dilworth Variation with Diamond II as white...

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 6. d4 b5 7. Bb3 d5 8. dxe5 Be6 9. c3 Bc5 10. Nbd2

[Kasparov111]

The two computers were both still in book and banging out the moves instantly...

O-O 11. Bc2 Nxf2 12. Rxf2 f6 13. exf6 Bxf2+ 14. Kxf2 Qxf6 15. Nf1 Ne5 16. Be3 Rae8

[Kasparov111]

The game fizzled out into a draw, though the white king is a little exposed its bishops provide a lot of protection...I made an error stating this is Lang vs Morsh or fritz haha, it's not Fritz it's Kittinger for Diamond! Lang vs Kittinger! Fritz is the Atlanta and Master Chess boards...

17. Bc5 Rf7 18. Nd2 Bg4 19. Bd4 Bxf3 20. Nxf3 Qh4+ 21. Kg1 Nxf3+ 22. gxf3 Qg5+ 23. Kh1 Qh5 24. Kg2 Re6 25. Bf2 1/2-1/2

Berlin 68000 Leads the match: 1.5-0.5

Game Replay: https://lichess.org/EfKAafeq#1

[Kasparov111]

Game 3 is an English Opening: Symmetrical Variation with Berlin 68000 as white..

1. c4 c5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. g3 b6 4. Bg2 Bb7 5. O-O g6 6. Nc3 Bg7 7. d3 O-O 8. Bf4 d6 9. Qd2 Qd7

[Kasparov111]

Pretty uneventful game some exchanges later and we have a blocked center and just a drawn game, so I ended the game fairly early....

10. e4 Nc6 11. Bg5 Bc8 12. Rae1 Ne5 13. Nxe5 dxe5 14. Nd5 Ba6 15. Qc3 Nxd5 16. cxd5 h6 17. Be3 Rad8 18. Rd1 Qa4 19. a3 Bb5 20. Rfe1 1/2-1/2

Berlin 68000 Leads the Match: 2-1

Game Replay: https://lichess.org/1vSUyQrd#0

[Kasparov111]

Game 4 is a Ruy Lopez: Closed, Flohr System with Novag Diamond II as white...

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 O-O 9. h3 Bb7 10. d4 Re8 11. Nbd2 Bf8 12. a4

[Kasparov111]

23 moves in and Diamond II is playing well and really pushing the position, it has nice doubled rooks on the a file and is create a lot of pressure on b7...

Qd7 13. d5 Ne7 14. Qe2 Ng6 15. Nf1 Nh5 16. g3 Nf6 17. axb5 axb5 18. Bg5 Be7 19. N1d2 Qxh3 20. Qxb5 Rab8 21. Bxf6 Bxf6 22. Ra7 Qc8 23. Rea1 Be7

[Kasparov111]

Diamond II has the better position but there aren't any clear targets, it has to be careful or the position can turn around fast...

24. Ba4 Rf8 25. Qd7 Qxd7 26. Bxd7 Ra8 27. Nc4 Rfd8 28. Bf5 Rdb8 29. Ne1 Nf8 30. R1a4 g6 31. Bh3 Rxa7 32. Rxa7 Bd8

[Kasparov111]

Diamond II has a nice position but how to stop blacks f g and h pawns? Very tough to play....

33. Ne3 Bg5 34. N1g2 Bf6 35. Nc4 Bc8 36. Bxc8 Rxc8 37. f4 exf4 38. gxf4 h5 39. e5 dxe5 40. fxe5 Bd8 41. Kf2 f5 42. Nf4 h4

[Kasparov111]

And Berlin 68000 turns the position around with excellent play, the black pawns march down the board and look unstoppable...

3. e6 g5 44. Nd3 Ng6 45. Nce5 Nxe5 46. Nxe5 Be7 47. Ra1 Kg7 48. Nc6 Bd6 49. Kf1 Kf6 50. Re1 g4 51. e7 Re8 52. Re6+ Kg5 53. b3 h3