Saturday, October 31, 2009

Mas versus Mok goes into tie-breakers

This is without a doubt the best match in the series. For the first time, we saw a match that ended in a draw after four games. Both players won a game each and drew the other two.

The match now goes into tie-breakers. Two games of rapid chess will be played. If the result is inconclusive e.g one win each or both games drawn, then they play another two games of blitz. If this still cannot produce a winner, than they continue with sudden death blitz games. In sudden death, the first player to win will win the match.

A recap of the games:

Game 1
Mok plays an unusual Modern Defence which seems to catch Mas off-guard. Mas did not handle the resulting position and blundered a pawn and the game. 1-0 to Mok.

Game 2
Mok plays white and surprises with a main line against the Sicilian. He sacrifices pieces fearlessly but did not follow through. His 18.Kb1 is probably a mistake. Mas ends up with an extra rook for a couple of pawns. But just when it looks like Mok is a goner, Mas accepts a draw due to his time trouble. Mok leads 1.5-0.5

Game 3
Mok again surprises everyone with a different type of Modern. He gives up castling to exchange queens. In a critical position, he spends a long time to play a bad move (15...a5). Mas took control of the d-file with his rook and brought home the point.
Both players tie with 1.5 - 1.5 each.

Game 4
Mok returns to his tried and tested repertoire with 3.Bb5 against the Sicilian. However Mas appears the better prepared until he made a mistake with 15...Nh5. Mok capitalized with some tactical blows (17. Nb5, 18. Rc3) and almost looks like he has excellent chances to win. But a wrong move order (20. Nxa8 instead of 20. hxg3)saves Mas.

Both players tied with 2-2

0 comments:

Post a Comment