[Event "Barbados Championship"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2003.08.11"]
[Round "11"]
[White "FM Philip Corbin (BAR)"]
[Black "FM Delisle Warner (BAR)"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A00"]
[WhiteElo "2235"]
[BlackElo "2248"]
[Annotator "Shabazz, Daaim"]
[PlyCount "81"]
[EventDate "2003.??.??"]

{FM Delisle Warner has scored 4.5 in the last five encounters with Corbin
becoming reminiscent of the Tal-Korchnoi rivalry. Warner can clinch the title
with a draw, but of course Corbin needs a win for the tiebreak. Perhaps Corbin
will prepare some "home cooking" to rattle Warner in this high-pressure
situation.} 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 $5 {According to IM Kevin Denny, Corbin
doesn't usually play the Tarrasch, so apparently he is avoiding Warner's home
preparation.} 3... Nf6 4. e5 Ne4 $5 {Well... maybe not! A surprise move by
Warner... apparently the result of his OWN home-preparation. Alas... the
battle begins!} (4... Nfd7 5. f4 (5. Bd3 c5 6. c3 Nc6 7. Ne2 Qb6 8. Ndf3 cxd4
9. cxd4 f6 10. exf6 Nxf6 11. O-O Bd6 {was once popular.}) 5... c5 6. c3 Nc6 7.
Ndf3 Qb6 8. g3 cxd4 9. cxd4 Bb4+ 10. Kf2 g5 $5 {is another popular line.}) 5.
Bd3 (5. Nxe4 dxe4 6. Be3 (6. c3 c5) (6. f3 c5)) 5... Nxd2 6. Bxd2 c5 7. c3 Qb6
$6 {Diagram # Mixing it up right away. Visitors at the Internet Chess Club
stated that this is not the best game for Warner and plays into the hands of
Corbin.} 8. Nf3 c4 9. Bc2 Qxb2 {12-time Barbadian Champion IM Kevin Denny sat out the
tournament, but was following the contest at the ICC. He mentioned: "Corbin likes chaos....while Warner likes pawns...so they should both be happy."} 10. O-O Be7 11. a4 Qb6
12. Ng5 Bxg5 13. Bxg5 $44 {White's bishop is a tower of power, but Fritz 8
evaluates the position as roughly equal.} 13... Nc6 14. Bc1 ({Interesting
choice by Corbin. He decides that the dark-squared bishop is better placed
along the a3-f8 diagonal. Another suggested move at the ICC was} 14. f4 $6 {
but after} 14... h6 15. Bh4 {the bishop appears to be misplaced.}) 14... Qa5
15. Qf3 $5 ({The move everyone wanted to see was} 15. Qg4 $5 {which forces}
15... Kf8 (15... g6 {would make Corbin salivate}) (15... Qxc3 $4 16. Qxg7 Qxa1
17. Qxh8+ Kd7 18. Qxh7 $16)) ({I suggested} 15. Qe1 $5 O-O 16. Ba3 (16. f4 $6
f6) 16... Rd8 {and after} 17. f4 $1 $40 {
white has a nice attacking formation with ideas like Rf3 and Qh4.}) 15... Bd7 {
At this point, Dr. Kumar Areti in Barbados phoned me and mentioned that both
players were taking their time and at this point Warner had 42 minutes left...
Corbin had 46.} 16. Ba3 O-O-O 17. Rfb1 a6 $2 {#}{This move is played to prevent Rb5, but loses material to} 18. Bc5 $1 (18.
Qxf7 $4 {and Black plays "Pac-Man" on the white pawn chain after} 18... Qxc3
19. Ra2 Qxd4 20. Rab2 Nxe5 $19) 18... Qc7 $8 {Will Corbin take the exchange or
go for a direct onslaught on the weakened queenside?} 19. Bb6 Qb8 20. Rb2 ({
Instead of netting the exchange, Corbin prefers to build up the attack on the
dark squares. Perhaps he felt that Warner could establish a fortress in the
closed position after moves like} 20. Bxd8 Nxd8 21. Qg3 (21. Rb6 $6 Qc7 22. Rab1
Bb5 23. Rd6 Bc6 $13) 21... g6) 20... Be8 (20... Rdf8 21. Bc5 {
and doubling the rooks is strong.}) 21. Qg3 {Probing more weaknesses.} 21... g6
22. Rab1 Rd7 23. a5 f5 24. Ba4 (24. exf6 Qxg3 25. fxg3 Rf7 26. Rf1 Nb8 27. g4
g5 $13) 24... Rf7 25. f4 Bd7 {White has cemented his grip on the dark squares
while black's Queen is virtually lifeless on b8. The problem is white has to
find a way in or black may start kingside activity.} 26. Qf2 $2 Nxe5 $1 {
Now the counterattack!} 27. dxe5 Bxa4 28. Ba7 {This game has taken a turn and
at this point Corbin has only 2:16 minutes left on his clock! No longer having
the two bishops, white will have to rely on weaknesses, but black is solid and
merely has to avoid any tricks.} 28... Qc7 29. Rxb7 Qxb7 30. Rxb7 Kxb7 31. Bc5
(31. Qb6+ $4 Ka8 32. Qb4 (32. Qxe6 Rxa7 33. Qxd5+ Rb7 34. Qxc4 Bb5 $19) 32...
Kxa7 33. Qxa4 Rc7 {and Black is better.}) 31... Rc7 32. Bd6 Rc6 {
Strangely enough black's rooks still have no open lines.} 33. Qh4 d4 $1 {
An exclamation point not only because it is a good move, but with Corbin in
serious time pressure, it will certainly require some extra thought. Former Barbados Champion, FM Ron
Buckmire had a different view: "In my gut I think that 33..d4! should still be
winning for white but I think that it may force the draw. If Black gets a pawn
to c3 then all he needs is a tempo to get to c2 and the position is drawn.
What's amazing is that Warner did NOT have that in mind when he played d4, he
just wanted to play d3."  } 34. Qe7+ Ka8 35. Bc5 Rxc5 36. Qxc5 d3 $2 (36...
dxc3 37. Qxc4 c2 38. Qxa6+ Kb8 $11 {when white has to take the perpetual check.
}) 37. Qxc4 Bb5 38. Qd4 ({FM Buckmire recommended Qc7! and Fritz 8 gives the following line:} 38. Qc7 $1 Rb8 39. Kf2 Rb7 40. Qc8+ Rb8
41. Qxe6 Rd8 42. Qf6 Rd5 43. Qf7 Rd8 44. Qc7 Rd7 45. Qc8+ Ka7 46. e6 $18) 38...
Rc8 39. Kf2 Rc7 40. Qd8+ Kb7 41. Ke3 {Diagram # and after making his move
Corbin flagged! Fritz 8 evaluates the position as winning for white, but it
hard to see how white could win this. It appears to be dynamic equality.
Nevertheless, Warner wins the Barbados Championship with a perfect 11-0 score.
Congratulations to FM Delisle Warner, the new Bajan Champion!} 0-1

