Mistakes, Technique, and Creativity
The game between Mohamad Farhat and AbdelAziz ElMahmoud was decided too early by the mishandling of the former of his opening. Losing several tempos on the queenside by White was severely punished by AbdelAziz, with his pieces dominating the queenside, netting him a vital central d4-pawn. The rest was a matter of technique.
The Pirc defense was used by Gen. Hassan Jouni against Fasial Khairallah. I don’t know what pushed Gen,Jouni to choose a set up against a player who knows about the fianchetto setup inside-out. Possibly a bad hint was passed to him? Or lack of time to prepare? Anyway, Black’s position disintegrated too soon and was prolonged a little bit just by playing intertie.
I remember Amr, when at age of 15, entered the Lebanese history by winning the Lebanese championship title. And now he is facing the 14 years old Giorgio Kaloust, one year younger than him, who succeeded in qualification to play in the prestigious event. But the difference of level of play and experience is too big and clear. Dear Giorgio, you cannot play the Dragon variation in this manner. It is suicide. Was it psychological debacle? I think your trainer will have a lot of work to do (BTW, do you have a trainer? If not, try to engage one as soon as possible. You have a great potential, dear).
Switching from one opening to another in the same game by transposition og moves was the scenario adopted by Mohamad ElHabash against Mahdi Kaouri. Jumping from a double fianchettos system, to an English opening, then to Sicilian setup with the Maroczy bind must cost Mohamad to much energy, as Mahdi played the classical and normal moves that worked perfectly with this type of middle game. The endgame reached was advantageous to Black due to the isolated white c-pawn, a passive white bishop against a strong black knight, and a dominant black king. Mohamad’s counter play came a little bit short of a tempi. A nice technical win by Kaouri.
It was just pure coincidence that I kept my comments on the most exciting game of a round till the end of the report. And the game between Ahmad Najjar and Tarek Moudallal is not an exception in this, but exception by its beauty, ideas, fighting pirit and creativity. After a tricky transposition of moves (again!)Tarek adopted the Dutch setup against Ahmad’s English opening. The creative offer of a sacrifice of the black c- pawn was still theory, but seems declining it has put Ahmad out of his form. Tarek took the initiative, and with a very creative play, he coordinated his minor pieces in an exemplary manner, resulted in winning the exchange. Ahmad’s attempt to win a couple of black pawns as compensation could fail if Tarek continued his attack on the white king. But entering the endgame phase gave Ahmad some hope to equalize, and he almost succeeded, till making a tactical mistake, by allowing Tarek to return the exchange with winning chances even with 2 pawns down. The 2 connected black pawns on the queen side, supported by an active rook were difficult to hold, even for an endgame expert like Ahmad played the technical phase à la perfection, killing any hope of the generated play on the king side from Ahmad. A very beautiful game, and deserve to be also a candidate for winning the (most beautiful game of the championship) prize.
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Ranking Crosstable after Round 7 | |||||||||||||||||||
Rank | SNo. | Name | Rtg | FED | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | Pts | Res. | Koya | |
1 | 5 | FM | El Jawich Amro | 2243 | LBN | * | ½ | ½ | 1 | + | ½ | 1 | 1 | 5½ | 0 | 3 | |||
2 | 3 | FM | Khairallah Faisal | 2251 | LBN | * | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 3 | ||||
3 | 8 | FM | Najjar Ahmad | 2312 | LBN | ½ | ½ | * | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4½ | 0 | 1½ | |||
4 | 4 | FM | Kassis Antoine | 2136 | LBN | ½ | * | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 4 | ½ | 2½ | ||||
5 | 10 | Kaouri Mahdi | 2113 | LBN | ½ | 0 | ½ | * | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ½ | 1 | |||||
6 | 1 | CM | Abdulaziz Mahmoud | 2126 | LBN | 0 | ½ | ½ | * | ½ | 1 | 1 | 3½ | 0 | 1 | ||||
7 | 9 | Moudallal Tarek | 2026 | LBN | - | 0 | 1 | 0 | * | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | |||||
8 | 7 | Habash Mohamad | 1883 | LBN | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | * | ½ | 0 | 1½ | 0 | 1 | ||||
9 | 2 | Kaloust Giorgio | 1542 | LBN | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | * | 1 | 1½ | 0 | ½ | |||||
10 | 6 | Farhat Mohamed | 1792 | LBN | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | * | 1 | 1½ | 0 | 0 | ||||
11 | 11 | Jouni Hassan | 1792 | LBN | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | * | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Round 1 on 2016/11/23 at 18:30 | ||||||||
SNo. | Name | Rtg | Res. | Name | Rtg | SNo. | ||
1 | CM | Abdulaziz Mahmoud | 2126 | 1 - 0 | Jouni Hassan | 1792 | 11 | |
2 | Kaloust Giorgio | 1542 | 0 - 1 | Kaouri Mahdi | 2113 | 10 | ||
3 | FM | Khairallah Faisal | 2251 | ½ - ½ | FM | Najjar Ahmad | 2312 | 8 |
4 | FM | Kassis Antoine | 2136 | ½ - ½ | Habash Mohamad | 1883 | 7 | |
5 | FM | El Jawich Amro | 2243 | 1 - 0 | Farhat Mohamed | 1792 | 6 | |
9 | Moudallal Tarek | 2026 | Bye | 0 | ||||
Round 2 on 2016/11/24 at 18:30 | ||||||||
SNo. | Name | Rtg | Res. | Name | Rtg | SNo. | ||
11 | Jouni Hassan | 1792 | 0 - 1 | Farhat Mohamed | 1792 | 6 | ||
7 | Habash Mohamad | 1883 | ½ - ½ | FM | El Jawich Amro | 2243 | 5 | |
8 | FM | Najjar Ahmad | 2312 | ½ - ½ | FM | Kassis Antoine | 2136 | 4 |
9 | Moudallal Tarek | 2026 | 0 - 1 | FM | Khairallah Faisal | 2251 | 3 | |
1 | CM | Abdulaziz Mahmoud | 2126 | ½ - ½ | Kaloust Giorgio | 1542 | 2 | |
10 | Kaouri Mahdi | 2113 | Bye | 0 | ||||
Round 3 on 2016/11/25 at 18:30 | ||||||||
SNo. | Name | Rtg | Res. | Name | Rtg | SNo. | ||
2 | Kaloust Giorgio | 1542 | 1 - 0 | Jouni Hassan | 1792 | 11 | ||
3 | FM | Khairallah Faisal | 2251 | 1 - 0 | Kaouri Mahdi | 2113 | 10 | |
4 | FM | Kassis Antoine | 2136 | 1 - 0 | Moudallal Tarek | 2026 | 9 | |
5 | FM | El Jawich Amro | 2243 | ½ - ½ | FM | Najjar Ahmad | 2312 | 8 |
6 | Farhat Mohamed | 1792 | ½ - ½ | Habash Mohamad | 1883 | 7 | ||
1 | CM | Abdulaziz Mahmoud | 2126 | Bye | 0 | |||
Round 4 on 2016/11/27 at 16:00 | ||||||||
SNo. | Name | Rtg | Res. | Name | Rtg | SNo. | ||
11 | Jouni Hassan | 1792 | 1 - 0 | Habash Mohamad | 1883 | 7 | ||
8 | FM | Najjar Ahmad | 2312 | 1 - 0 | Farhat Mohamed | 1792 | 6 | |
9 | Moudallal Tarek | 2026 | - - + | FM | El Jawich Amro | 2243 | 5 | |
10 | Kaouri Mahdi | 2113 | ½ - ½ | FM | Kassis Antoine | 2136 | 4 | |
1 | CM | Abdulaziz Mahmoud | 2126 | ½ - ½ | FM | Khairallah Faisal | 2251 | 3 |
2 | Kaloust Giorgio | 1542 | Bye | 0 | ||||
Round 5 on 2016/11/28 at 18:30 | ||||||||
SNo. | Name | Rtg | Res. | Name | Rtg | SNo. | ||
3 | FM | Khairallah Faisal | 2251 | 1 - 0 | Kaloust Giorgio | 1542 | 2 | |
4 | FM | Kassis Antoine | 2136 | ½ - ½ | CM | Abdulaziz Mahmoud | 2126 | 1 |
5 | FM | El Jawich Amro | 2243 | ½ - ½ | Kaouri Mahdi | 2113 | 10 | |
6 | Farhat Mohamed | 1792 | 0 - 1 | Moudallal Tarek | 2026 | 9 | ||
7 | Habash Mohamad | 1883 | 0 - 1 | FM | Najjar Ahmad | 2312 | 8 | |
11 | Jouni Hassan | 1792 | Bye | 0 | ||||
Round 6 on 2016/11/29 at 18:30 | ||||||||
SNo. | Name | Rtg | Res. | Name | Rtg | SNo. | ||
11 | Jouni Hassan | 1792 | 0 - 1 | FM | Najjar Ahmad | 2312 | 8 | |
9 | Moudallal Tarek | 2026 | 1 - 0 | Habash Mohamad | 1883 | 7 | ||
10 | Kaouri Mahdi | 2113 | 1 - 0 | Farhat Mohamed | 1792 | 6 | ||
1 | CM | Abdulaziz Mahmoud | 2126 | 0 - 1 | FM | El Jawich Amro | 2243 | 5 |
2 | Kaloust Giorgio | 1542 | 0 - 1 | FM | Kassis Antoine | 2136 | 4 | |
3 | FM | Khairallah Faisal | 2251 | Bye | 0 | |||
Round 7 on 2016/11/30 at 18:30 | ||||||||
SNo. | Name | Rtg | Res. | Name | Rtg | SNo. | ||
3 | FM | Khairallah Faisal | 2251 | 1 - 0 | Jouni Hassan | 1792 | 11 | |
5 | FM | El Jawich Amro | 2243 | 1 - 0 | Kaloust Giorgio | 1542 | 2 | |
6 | Farhat Mohamed | 1792 | 0 - 1 | CM | Abdulaziz Mahmoud | 2126 | 1 | |
7 | Habash Mohamad | 1883 | 0 - 1 | Kaouri Mahdi | 2113 | 10 | ||
8 | FM | Najjar Ahmad | 2312 | 0 - 1 | Moudallal Tarek | 2026 | 9 | |
4 | FM | Kassis Antoine | 2136 | Bye | 0 | |||
Round 8 on 2016/12/02 at 18:30 | ||||||||
SNo. | Name | Rtg | Res. | Name | Rtg | SNo. | ||
11 | Jouni Hassan | 1792 | - | Moudallal Tarek | 2026 | 9 | ||
10 | Kaouri Mahdi | 2113 | - | FM | Najjar Ahmad | 2312 | 8 | |
1 | CM | Abdulaziz Mahmoud | 2126 | - | Habash Mohamad | 1883 | 7 | |
2 | Kaloust Giorgio | 1542 | - | Farhat Mohamed | 1792 | 6 | ||
3 | FM | Khairallah Faisal | 2251 | - | FM | Kassis Antoine | 2136 | 4 |
5 | FM | El Jawich Amro | 2243 | Bye | 0 | |||
Round 9 on 2016/12/03 at 18:30 | ||||||||
SNo. | Name | Rtg | Res. | Name | Rtg | SNo. | ||
4 | FM | Kassis Antoine | 2136 | - | Jouni Hassan | 1792 | 11 | |
5 | FM | El Jawich Amro | 2243 | - | FM | Khairallah Faisal | 2251 | 3 |
7 | Habash Mohamad | 1883 | - | Kaloust Giorgio | 1542 | 2 | ||
8 | FM | Najjar Ahmad | 2312 | - | CM | Abdulaziz Mahmoud | 2126 | 1 |
9 | Moudallal Tarek | 2026 | - | Kaouri Mahdi | 2113 | 10 | ||
6 | Farhat Mohamed | 1792 | Bye | 0 | ||||
Round 10 on 2016/12/04 at 16:00 | ||||||||
SNo. | Name | Rtg | Res. | Name | Rtg | SNo. | ||
11 | Jouni Hassan | 1792 | - | Kaouri Mahdi | 2113 | 10 | ||
1 | CM | Abdulaziz Mahmoud | 2126 | - | Moudallal Tarek | 2026 | 9 | |
2 | Kaloust Giorgio | 1542 | - | FM | Najjar Ahmad | 2312 | 8 | |
3 | FM | Khairallah Faisal | 2251 | - | Farhat Mohamed | 1792 | 6 | |
4 | FM | Kassis Antoine | 2136 | - | FM | El Jawich Amro | 2243 | 5 |
7 | Habash Mohamad | 1883 | Bye | 0 | ||||
Round 11 on 2016/12/05 at 18:30 | ||||||||
SNo. | Name | Rtg | Res. | Name | Rtg | SNo. | ||
5 | FM | El Jawich Amro | 2243 | - | Jouni Hassan | 1792 | 11 | |
6 | Farhat Mohamed | 1792 | - | FM | Kassis Antoine | 2136 | 4 | |
7 | Habash Mohamad | 1883 | - | FM | Khairallah Faisal | 2251 | 3 | |
9 | Moudallal Tarek | 2026 | - | Kaloust Giorgio | 1542 | 2 | ||
10 | Kaouri Mahdi | 2113 | - | CM | Abdulaziz Mahmoud | 2126 | 1 | |
8 | FM | Najjar Ahmad | 2312 | Bye | 0 |