Damkunst

Samb - Schwarzman 2005

Author: Ben Provoost

15-03-2025

His fifth place at the 2005 World Championship, held in Amsterdam, is the crowning achievement of Samb’s draughts career. In the preliminary round, he finishes tied for second/third place with Alexander Schwartzman, one point behind Alexander Baliakin. A player like Anatoly Gantvarg (fourth) is therefore sent home early. In the final, Samb wins three games and loses two. His victory over Schwartzman is the most notable from a sporting perspective.

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Ndiaga Samb - Alexander Schwarzman (20-10-2005)

1.32-2817-222.28x1712x213.31-267-124.26x1711x225.33-28...White seems to indicate that he is satisfied with a draw. Otherwise, he would have played 5. 37-31 to be able to play 6. 31-26 after 16-21. 5....22x336.39x2819-237.28x1914x238.36-3110-14

9.31-27...White makes his intentions clear. It seems more logical to first bring the pieces on 46 and 50 into play and then decide which central square to occupy. But the move played in the game is, of course, not bad. 9....14-1910.38-332-711.37-325-1012.41-3710-1413.44-396-1114.46-4111-1715.43-3819-24

16.34-3014-1917.49-439-1418.30-25...The journey of piece 34 to 25 (an edge square) can be considered a small success for Black. 18....4-919.37-3117-2220.31-2622x3121.26x37...Black pushes White back a little. The tempo difference has increased to 6 in Black's favor. But there is not much going on; at most, it can be noted that Black has the initiative. 21....12-17

22.41-36...Samb plays a series of waiting moves and then still opts for 32-28x28. A good alternative is to play 22.32-2823x3223.37x28immediately, followed by 40-34.
Playing 22.40-34 right away is also an option. 22....8-12Black wants to keep his short wing as strong as possible, at least for now. A development with 7-12 and 1-7 is also an option. 23.37-311-624.47-416-1125.42-37...The attempt with 25.33-28to take advantage of the temporarily unstable structure Black has adopted with 6-11 amounts to little after the breaking move 25....18-22!25....17-2126.32-2823x3227.37x2821-2628.41-37...

28....24-29?!Black seems to have achieved quite a bit. The gap on 42 is the most serious weakness in White’s position. But how to take advantage of it? According to my digital assistants, the best continuation is 28...18-2329.38-3216-2130.43-3812-1831.31-2711-1732.27x1618-2233.48-4224-2934.33x2422x4435.50x3920x29

Black is clearly better then. At the same time, White should be able to maintain balance with precise moves. 29.33x2420x2930.40-3429x4031.45x34!...White equalizes the tempos again. 31....15-20?!This turns out to be an unfortunate move. Better is 31...11-17However, Black must be cautious after 32.39-33for 32....18-23?

33.25-20!!23x4134.36x4726x3735.43-39!14x2536.38-3237x2837.33x2+-32.34-3011-17Unfortunate for Black is that 32...20-24?is not possible due to 33.28-23!18x2934.37-32!26x2835.39-3328x3936.43x2319x2837.30x6+-33.39-33...

33....18-23?!Black is presumably still playing for a win; the passive move 33...17-2134.30-2420x2935.33x2419x3036.35x24is therefore not an option for him. However, the upcoming exchange seems to offer chances only to White. 34.30-24!23x4135.24x1526x3736.36x4717-2237.25-20!14x2538.15-10...

38....13-18?Not a good move, according to my virtual assistants. They suggest 38...12-18instead. This move is based, among other things, on the following line of play: 39.10-57-1240.5x83x1241.33-28

Doesn't White simply win a piece now? 41....12-1742.38-3237-41!?43.47x3618-2244.50-4422x3345.43-3913-1846.39x2818-2247.48-4322x3348.43-3933-38!?49.32x4316-21!

And the plan 21-27, 17-22, 9-13, 13-18, and 27-31x31 guarantees Black a quick draw. 39.50-44!...After 39.10-5?, Black captures the White king, restoring material equality after 19-24!40.5x4118-2341.41x3025x34
But after the move played in the game, this trap is no longer possible because of 44-39! 39....18-23?Black's last chance for survival lies in transitioning to the hardly reassuring macro endgame with 39...22-2740.10-437-4141.4x3141-4640.44-3919-2441.10-5!...

41....16-21?!Black suddenly gives away four pieces. But since no good alternative is available, this cannot really be considered a mistake. 42.5x28x17x8x30?!...Samb follows Schwarzman’s line of thinking and misses that White can also capture with 42.5x42!42....25x3443.39x30...Black resigns. He is two pieces down, and breaking through is not an option: after 21-27 and 27-31, White can continue with 43-39! and 38-32.

With this victory, Samb moved to plus one. In the remaining three rounds, he drew against the future world champion Alexei Chizhov, lost to Alexander Georgiev, and finished the tournament in style with a win over Sergei Nosevich.

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