[Event "Match Evgeni Bareev vs HiarcsX"]
[Site "Maastricht, Netherlands"]
[Date "2003.01.28"]
[Round "1"]
[White "HiarcsX"]
[Black "Evgeni Bareev"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C01"]
[Annotator "Jan van Reek"]
[PlyCount "84"]
[EventDate "2003.01.??"]

{Dick Klokgieters from sponsor Duwell opened the match at 1 PM CET. Solid play
is expected from both sides.} 1. e4 1... e6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 3... exd5 {
The opening is solid indeed.} 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. c4 Bb4+ 6. Nc3 O-O 7. Be2 dxc4 8.
Bxc4 Re8+ 9. Be3 Be6 10. Qb3 Bxc4 (10... Nc6 11. Bxe6 11... Rxe6 {
was played in Santos - Thallinger, Sas van Gent NL 1992.}) 11. Qxc4 Nc6 12. O-O
Bxc3 13. bxc3 Qd5 14. Qd3 $5 {
Hiarcs avoids the exchange of queens. He seeks his chances in the middle game.}
14... Na5 $1 {The battle for square c4 begins.} 15. Nd2 15... b5 $1 16. a4 a6
17. axb5 axb5 18. Rfb1 c6 19. f3 19... h5 {A prophylactic struggle develops.
White wants to occupy the centre. Black approaches the centre from the flanks.}
20. Re1 Nc4 21. Nxc4 bxc4 22. Qd1 22... Qf5 $1 {
An exchange of blockaders is staged for square d5.} 23. Bd2 Rxe1+ 24. Bxe1 Rxa1
25. Qxa1 {The exchanges of rooks have led to a slightly better position for
black. The difficulty for White will become his passivity.} 25... Kh7 26. Qa2
Qd3 27. Kf2 Nd5 28. Qd2 Qxd2+ 29. Bxd2 29... Kg6 {Bareev wants to utilise his
distinct advantage in the endgame. His knight blockades the centre. Hiarcs8
misjudges the position. He gives White a plus.} 30. g4 $1 30... f5 31. Kg3 Nf6
({Bareev preferred after the game} 31... hxg4 $1 32. fxg4 Nf6 33. gxf5+ Kxf5
34. Kf3 Ng4 35. Bf4 g5 36. Bc7 {It seems to draw.}) 32. gxh5+ Nxh5+ 33. Kf2 Kf6
34. Kf1 Ke6 35. Kg2 Nf6 36. Kg3 Nd5 37. h4 g6 38. h5 f4+ 39. Kg4 gxh5+ 40. Kxh5
40... Kf5 {Hiarcs has used 1.45 hours and Bareev 2.00 hours.} 41. Kh4 Nc7 42.
Kh3 42... Ne6 {Black has no entry to the White position.} 1/2-1/2

[Event "Match Evgeni Bareev vs HiarcsX"]
[Site "Maastricht, Netherlands"]
[Date "2003.01.29"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Evgeni Bareev"]
[Black "HiarcsX"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A25"]
[Annotator "Jan van Reek"]
[PlyCount "100"]
[EventDate "2003.01.29"]

1. c4 1... e5 {Bareev and his second Igor Glek talked about the English
Defence before the game.} 2. g3 Nc6 3. Nc3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. Rb1 a5 6. a3 d6 7.
b4 axb4 8. axb4 f5 9. b5 Nce7 10. e3 Nf6 11. Nge2 {The moves are identical to
Portisch - Hort, Skara 1980. Bishop g2 has a hypermodern influence on the
center.} 11... Be6 $5 ({The mentioned game continued with} 11... O-O 12. O-O
Be6 13. d3 {Portisch avoids the capture of pawn b7.}) 12. Bxb7 {
Bareev accepts the challenge.} 12... Ra7 13. Bg2 Bxc4 14. d3 14... Be6 {
The position is about equal. Strategic manoeuvres might begin.} 15. Bd2 h5 16.
h4 Qd7 17. Qc2 O-O 18. O-O Rb8 19. Rfc1 {
White moves his pieces to the queenside.} 19... Bf7 20. Rb4 d5 21. d4 21... e4
{Hiarcs has closed the centre. Bareev has the initiative.} 22. Nf4 22... Ng4 $2
{Black moves a knight away from the battlefield.} (22... Nc8 $1 {
and the knight jumps to b6 or d6.}) 23. Bf1 $1 23... Rba8 24. Ra4 Bh6 25. Rca1
Rxa4 26. Rxa4 Rb8 27. Ra6 $1 {White enters the hostile position easily.} 27...
Bxf4 28. exf4 28... Nc8 {Blacks hopes to survive by a passive defence.} 29. Bc1
Nb6 30. Be2 30... Kg7 $1 {The king overprotects weaknesses.} 31. Qa2 31... Nf6
{The idle knight returns.} 32. Ba3 Ne8 33. Bc5 Nd6 34. Qa1 34... Qd8 {
Hiarcs has reorganised his position. The knights establish strongholds in the
bastion.} 35. Qa3 Nbc4 36. Qb4 e3 37. f3 {White keeps the position closed.} ({
The error} 37. fxe3 $2 37... Qe8 $1 {allows a counterattack.}) 37... Nxb5 $5 {
Black opens the game.} 38. Nxb5 Qd7 39. Ra5 Be8 40. Bxc4 40... dxc4 {
Black will gain back the piece, but White has tactical chances in the meantime.
} 41. Qc3 Rxb5 42. Rxb5 ({A trap sets} 42. d5+ 42... Kh7 43. Qe5 $1 43... Qg7 (
{avoids} 43... Rxa5 $4 44. Bd4 Kg8 45. Qh8+ Kf7 46. Qg7#)) 42... Qxb5 43. d5+
Kg8 44. Qxe3 Bf7 45. Qe7 Qb8 46. Bd4 Qe8 47. Qf6 Qe1+ 48. Kg2 Qe2+ 49. Bf2 {
Bareev does not accept perpetual check.} 49... Be8 50. Qe5 Qxe5 1/2-1/2

[Event "Match Evgeni Bareev vs HiarcsX"]
[Site "Maastricht, Netherlands"]
[Date "2003.01.30"]
[Round "3"]
[White "HiarcsX"]
[Black "Evgeni Bareev"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C11"]
[Annotator "Jan van Reek"]
[PlyCount "72"]
[EventDate "2003.??.??"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 dxe4 5. Nxe4 Be7 6. Bxf6 Bxf6 7. Nf3 O-O 8.
Bc4 Nd7 9. Qe2 a6 10. O-O {
Hiarcs has left his book. He continues in his quiet style.} ({
The more aggressive} 10. O-O-O 10... b5 11. Bb3 {
was played in Kindermann - Roth, Vienna 1996 and anand - Radjabov, FIDE 2002.})
10... b5 11. Bd3 Bb7 12. c3 Be7 13. b4 {
White takes the initiative on the queenside.} 13... Bd5 14. a4 c6 15. Ra3 15...
a5 $1 {Bareev solves the slight positional problems.} 16. axb5 cxb5 17. Rxa5
Rxa5 18. bxa5 Qxa5 19. Bxb5 Nf6 (19... Bxe4 $5 20. Bxd7 20... Qd5 $1 21. Ne5
Bxg2 22. Ra1 Bh3 23. Bc6 23... Qb3 {
leads to great complications. Bareev did not like this tactical variation.})
20. Nxf6+ 20... Bxf6 {Black has made a positional sacrifice of a pawn.} 21. Qd3
$5 {Hiarcs keeps the pawn.} (21. Ne5 Bxe5 22. dxe5 22... Qxc3 {draws.}) 21...
Bxf3 22. gxf3 Rc8 23. c4 Rd8 24. d5 exd5 25. cxd5 Qb4 26. Bc4 {
White plays for a win. He evaluates his position as favourable.} 26... Be5 27.
Qe4 Qd6 28. h3 28... Qf6 {
Black stages an attack on the kingside with few means.} 29. Rb1 h5 30. Kg2 Bd6
31. Bd3 g6 32. h4 Kf8 33. Re1 {
Hiarcs can not do anything with his extra pawn, due to the blockade.} 33... Rb8
34. Bc2 Kg7 35. Rb1 {White counters the threat 35...Rb4.} 35... Rc8 36. Rb7
36... Rc7 {Both sides can not make any progress.} 1/2-1/2

[Event "Match Evgeni Bareev vs HiarcsX"]
[Site "Maastricht, Netherlands"]
[Date "2003.01.31"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Evgeni Bareev"]
[Black "HiarcsX"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A20"]
[Annotator "Jan van Reek"]
[PlyCount "90"]
[EventDate "2003.??.??"]

{The annotator stood on a dike, of a Dutch island 50 years ago. Fortunately it
held. Other islands were flooded.} 1. c4 1... e5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 c6 4. d4 exd4
5. Qxd4 d5 6. Nf3 Be7 7. cxd5 cxd5 8. O-O Nc6 9. Qa4 O-O 10. Be3 Be6 11. Nc3
Qd7 12. Rfd1 h6 13. Rac1 Rfd8 (13... a6 {
was played in Kasparov - Hjartarson, Belfort 1988.}) 14. Nd4 {The opening was
English again. Positional play is similar to the Tarrash Defence, as Eric van
Reem noted.} 14... Bh3 15. Bh1 a6 16. Nxc6 16... bxc6 {The position is nearly
equal, although White has distant pressure on the central area.} 17. Nb1 $5
17... Rdc8 18. Nd2 Qb7 19. Nb3 {
Bareev wants to control the strong squares c5 and d4.} 19... Qb5 20. Qxb5 $5
20... axb5 21. a3 21... b4 {
Black has a sufficient counteraction on the queenside.} 22. axb4 Bxb4 23. Nc5
Bf5 24. Bg2 Ra2 25. Nd3 Bd6 ({A pawn seems to win} 25... Bxd3 26. exd3 {but}
26... Rxb2 $6 27. Bd4 Rd2 28. Rxd2 Bxd2 29. Rc2 Bb4 30. Bxf6 gxf6 31. Bxd5 {
brings a plus for white.}) 26. Bd4 Ne4 27. g4 $1 {Subtle centralisation?! The
indirect approach gains control over the central area.} 27... Bd7 28. f3 Ng5
29. f4 $6 29... Ne6 30. Be3 ({Great risk takes} 30. Be5 $6 30... Bxe5 31. Nxe5
Nxf4 32. Nxd7 Nxe2+ 33. Kf1 Nxc1 34. Rxc1 Rxb2 35. Bxd5 Rxh2 36. Rxc6 Rxc6 37.
Bxc6) 30... Re8 31. Bf3 31... Ng5 $1 32. fxg5 Rxe3 33. gxh6 33... g5 $1 {
Black has gained a positional advantage on the kingside.} 34. Ra1 Rxa1 35. Rxa1
Re6 36. Ra8+ Kh7 37. b4 Kxh6 38. b5 $1 {Bareev finds a surprising defence.}
38... cxb5 39. Bxd5 Rf6 ({The first pointe is} 39... Rxe2 $4 40. Ra6) 40. e4
Be6 ({The second point is} 40... Bxg4 $4 41. e5) 41. Kg2 Kg7 42. h3 42... Bf8
$5 43. Rb8 Bxd5 44. exd5 b4 45. Rb7 Bd6 (45... Bd6 46. Nxb4 Bxb4 47. Rxb4 Rd6
48. Rd4 Kf6 49. Kf3 49... Ke5 {draws.}) 1/2-1/2