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French Championship (2015) Played in Saint-Quentin, France, 9-20 August 2015. Bauer was champion after winning a playoff vs Gharamian. Official site: https://saintquentin2015.ffechecs.o....  page 2 of 3; games 26-50 of 66  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 26. M Cornette vs C Bauer   1-0 69 2015 French Championship B30 Sicilian 27. Bacrot vs A Istratescu   ½-½ 69 2015 French Championship D37 Queen's Gambit Declined 28. J Moussard vs J Degraeve   0-1 28 2015 French Championship A46 Queen's Pawn Game 29. A Shchekachev vs M Lagarde   ½-½ 38 2015 French Championship A04 Reti Opening 30. S Maze vs Y Gozzoli   0-1 28 2015 French Championship B30 Sicilian 31. Y Gozzoli vs C Bauer 0-1 61 2015 French Championship A57 Benko Gambit 32. R Edouard vs A Shchekachev   1-0 22 2015 French Championship B42 Sicilian, Kan 33. S Maze vs J Moussard   1-0 40 2015 French Championship B51 Sicilian, Canal-Sokolsky (Rossolimo) Attack 34. A Istratescu vs M Cornette   1-0 42 2015 French Championship E15 Queen's Indian 35. J Degraeve vs T Gharamian   ½-½ 40 2015 French Championship B13 Caro-Kann, Exchange 36. M Lagarde vs Bacrot   ½-½ 34 2015 French Championship C67 Ruy Lopez 37. C Bauer vs A Istratescu 1-0 65 2015 French Championship D90 Grunfeld 38. A Shchekachev vs J Degraeve   ½-½ 79 2015 French Championship A04 Reti Opening 39. T Gharamian vs S Maze   1-0 48 2015 French Championship C67 Ruy Lopez 40. Bacrot vs R Edouard 1-0 53 2015 French Championship A09 Reti Opening 41. M Cornette vs M Lagarde   1-0 35 2015 French Championship B51 Sicilian, Canal-Sokolsky (Rossolimo) Attack 42. J Moussard vs Y Gozzoli   0-1 36 2015 French Championship A09 Reti Opening 43. M Lagarde vs C Bauer   ½-½ 59 2015 French Championship C03 French, Tarrasch 44. S Maze vs A Shchekachev   1-0 31 2015 French Championship B06 Robatsch 45. Y Gozzoli vs A Istratescu   1-0 63 2015 French Championship D31 Queen's Gambit Declined 46. J Moussard vs T Gharamian   ½-½ 41 2015 French Championship A15 English 47. R Edouard vs M Cornette   1-0 34 2015 French Championship A04 Reti Opening 48. J Degraeve vs Bacrot   ½-½ 52 2015 French Championship B01 Scandinavian 49. A Shchekachev vs J Moussard   ½-½ 22 2015 French Championship D02 Queen's Pawn Game 50. A Istratescu vs M Lagarde ½-½ 58 2015 French Championship B63 Sicilian, Richter-Rauzer Attack  page 2 of 3; games 26-50 of 66    REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2)   Aug-17-15    Penguincw: Official site: http://saintquentin2015.ffechecs.or... Round 9 live: https://chess24.com/en/watch/live-t... Aug-17-15    WannaBe: Nice to see a few players play the "French" in the French Champ. =) Aug-21-15    siggemannen: who won? =) Aug-21-15    arnaud1959: Bauer on tie-breaks: 1.5 - 0.5 Aug-23-15    siggemannen: <arnaud1959>: thank you Aug-26-15    DiscoJew: Could chessgames please upload the penultimate game (a 3...Nc6 French) by Bauer by black, It won him the tournament. Thank you. Aug-26-15    Kasparov Fan: where is the penultimate game Aug-28-15    DiscoJew: The final, penultimate game that decided the 2015 French Championship, which saw Bauer essaying his pet 3...Nc6 French line vs 3.Nc3. He is probably the world's foremost expert on the opening, so it was nice for him to win such an important playoff game, and must have been immensely satisfying for him. I have edited the original spelling mistakes. Enjoy [Event "90th ch-FRA TB 2015"] [Site "Saint-Quentin FRA"] [Date "2015.08.20"] [Round "2"] [White "Gharamian, Tigran"] [Black "Bauer, Christian"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C10"] [WhiteElo "2644"] [BlackElo "2618"] [PlyCount "94"] [EventDate "2015.08.20"] (Notes by Albert Silver from Chessbase) 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nc6 Bauer has long been one of the more original theoreticians of opening theory, and also champions 1...b6 like no one else. 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. Bd3 Nb4 6. O-O Other more popular options are 6.Bg5 and 6.e5 ( Here is a game he played a couple of months before in the French top league: 6. e5 Nd7 7. Bg5 Be7 8. h4 h6 9. Bxe7 Qxe7 10. a3 Nxd3+ 11. Qxd3 Nb6 12. a4 Bd7 13. a5 Nc8 14. Rh3 a6 15. Rg3 Qf8 16. Nd2 Ne7 17. h5 Nf5 18. Rh3 c5 19. dxc5 Qxc5 20. Nb3 Qb4 21. Kf1 Rc8 22. Kg1 O-O 23. Rd1 Rc4 24. Rf3 Bc6 25. Rh3 Rc8 26. Rd2 Rg4 27. f3 Rh4 28. Rxh4 Qxh4 29. g4 d4 30. gxf5 dxc3 31. bxc3 Qg3+ 32. Rg2 Qe1+ 33. Qf1 Qxe5 34. fxe6 Qxe6 35. Qf2 Qf6 36. Nd4 Bd7 37. Qd2 Re8 38. Qf2 Re5 39. Qg3 Rxa5 40. Qb8+ Kh7 41. Qxb7 Qh4 42. Qe4+ Qxe4 43. fxe4 Rxh5 44. Kf2 Rh3 45. Rg3 Rxg3 46. Kxg3 a5 0-1 (46) Edouard,♖ (2627)-♗auer,C (2624) Montpellier 2015}) 6... ♗e7 7. ♖e1 O-O 8. a3 This move just doesn't seem right. ♘ot only does it waste a tempo to force ♗lack to take the bishop, but that bishop is a valuable piece for White.(Why not 8. ♗f1 instead? If ♗lack does insist with a followup such as b6 Δ of ♗a6 ♗xa6 ♘xa6 and ...♕c8 ...c5, then White can throw in 9. a3 to spoil the party.) 8... Nxd3 9. cxd3 b6 Black's light-squared bishop is clearly going to be more than a spectator now. 10. e5 Nd7 11. Ne2 c5 {Black's chances are already to be preferred here thanks to the clear plan of action on the queenside, plus the two bishops. 12. Nf4 a5 13. Be3 Ba6 14. g3 Re8 White has delcared his intentions clearly, and ♗lack gets ready to make sure he has room on f8 for one of his minor pieces. The only problem, however samll, is that the rook isn't really adding anything to ♗lack's position from e8. (Therefore it was probably better to instead play 14... Qc7 and then ♖fc8.}) 15. h4 ♖c8 16. ♘h2 ♘f8 17. ♕g4 ♘g6 18. ♘xg6 hxg6 19. ♖ad1 c4 ♗lack has been slowly outplayed by White, and this last move puts his entire position in jeopardy. 20. h5 It is a razor's edge he walks after this shot.} gxh5 It is hard to believe this seemingly obvious move is a blunder, but it is. (The engine's completely incomprehensible line goes: 20... c3 21. bxc3 Rxc3 22. hxg6 Rf8 23. gxf7+ Kxf7 ... but good luck trying to find that over the board.) 21. Qxh5 ♗lack's woes are not hard to see. His pieces are unable to coordinate on the kingside, and White's threats on the g-pawn and h-file with ♔g2 and ♖h1 are on the horizon. f5 22. Nf3 Rf8 23. Qg6 Qe8 ♗lack needs to challenge the queen immediately or go down in flames on the spot. (23... Rc6 for example, falls to 24. Bh6 Rf7 25. Kg2 followed by ♖h1.) 24. Qxe6+ Qf7 In a normal game ♗lack might already have resigned here, but this is not a normal game. This is a rapid game, and on the line is the title for the French Championship. It will be fought to the last breath. 25. Qxb6 Ra8 26. Bf4 Rfb8 27. Qxa5 Qe6 ♗y now, both players were down to less than five minutes on their clocks, with Gharamian working with less than three. As a result, impressions and errors begin to creep in, and the game now heads to a dramatic finish. 28. dxc4 Bxc4 29. Qd2 Rb3 30. Re3 Rab8 31. Rxb3 Rxb3 32. Ng5 Qb6 33. Qc2 Bxg5 34. Bxg5 Qg6 35. Qd2 The moment ♗auer had been hoping for and playing for! Rd3 36. Qc1 Rxd1+ 37. Qxd1 Qxg5 The game is not decided yet thanks to White's numerous extra pawns, but it is obvious that ♗lack is the one in the driver's seat. His bishop and queen make White's defense a difficult one. 38. b3 Ba6 39. Qc2 Qg4 Securing entry for the bishop, now it gets ugly very fast. 40. Qc6 Bd3 41. Qc8+ Kh7 42. Qc1 Be4 43. Kf1 Qf3 44. Ke1 Qxb3 45. Qg5 Qc3+ 46. Kf1 Qd3+ 47. Ke1 Bf3 0-1 Sep-04-15    Everett: <DiscoJew: The final, penultimate game> The dictionary is on fire. Sep-08-15    docbenway: DiscoJew sez- "The final, penultimate game..."Not to be confused with "Last of the Last" immortalized by Komarov commenting on the Nakamura game at the 2014 Dubai Blitz. NOTE: Create an account today to post replies and access other powerful features which are available only to registered users. Becoming a member is free, anonymous, and takes less than 1 minute! If you already have a username, then simply login login under your username now to join the discussion. Please observe our posting guidelines: No obscene, racist, sexist, or profane language. No spamming, advertising, duplicate, or gibberish posts. No vitriolic or systematic personal attacks against other members. Nothing in violation of United States law. No cyberstalking or malicious posting of negative or private information (doxing/doxxing) of members. No trolling. 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