This is one of those games that deserves a spot in Dvoretsky's endgame tragicomedies.
It’s the final round of the Dubai Chess & Culture Club's Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Cup rapid event and most players had left the playing hall, while staff are clearing the area for the day’s main event: Game 10 of the Carlsen-Nepomniachtchi world championship match.
But GM Bassem Amin and GM Bilel Bellahcene were still at it. They weren’t really fighting for anything significant in the standings, except perhaps to scoop up some more rating points as both were seriously bleeding rating points in this event.
Bellahcene was in the driver’s seat at one point with a menacing attack, but could not deliver the fatal blow, allowing Amin to liquidate into a rooks and bishops endgame a pawn up. Amin eventually forced Bellahcene to give up his bishop and defend against a well-known rook-bishop vs rook endgame.
The video features the game just a few moves before the 50-move countdown begins. Bellahcene defends well for more than 40 moves, but then suddenly fumbles and ultimately finds his king in a mating net.
Staring at a one-move mate, Bellahcene pauses to ask the arbiters the obvious question: had they reached the 50-move limit? (A payer can claim a draw if 50 consecutive moves are played without a pawn move or a piece capture.)
To both players’ surprise, deputy chief arbiter Saeed Shakari confirmed that 50 moves had indeed been played just before the forced checkmate appeared on the board.
Amin sportingly accepted the decision and both players shook hands.
Given he had been lost at one point, the draw seemed a fair result for Amin, although he did drop a few more rating points, while the half point allowed Bellahcene to step out of last place in the 24-player tournament.
Though this game provided some drama to spice up the final day of the rapid event, both players had actually performed poorly in the tournament. Nonetheless, this curious game might have just given them a little boost as they went on to finally bring their A-game in the blitz event the next day, where Bellahcene finished solo fourth and Amin secured second place.
The Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Cup was a 24-player event that featured a three-day rapid tournament and a one-day blitz tournament. It was held at the same venue where Magnus Carlsen defended his title against Ian Nepomniachtchi at the Dubai Exhibition Centre, Expo 2020 Dubai.
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Негізгі бет Mate or draw? GM Bassem Amin vs GM Bilel Bellahcene | Sheikh Hamdan Cup Rapid Chess, R9 | Dubai
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