Kammala jumla mai zuwa: Matashi kuma mai buri, George I ya kaddamar da yakin neman sake dawo da gadon sarautar David Kuropalates<unk> zuwa Georgia kuma ya mamaye Tao a 1015<unk>1016. Ya kuma shiga cikin kawance da Fatimid Caliph na Misira, Al-Hakim (996<unk>1021), wanda ya sanya Basil cikin mawuyacin hali, ya tilasta masa ya guji amsa mai tsauri ga farmakin George. Bayan wannan, Byzantines a wancan lokacin suna cikin yaƙi da daular Bulgaria, suna iyakance ayyukansu zuwa yamma. Amma da zaran
Bulgaria ta ci nasara a 1018, kuma Al-Hakim ba ya da rai, Basil ya jagoranci sojojinsa a kan Georgia. Bayan yunƙurin farko da ya gaza, an shirya shirye-shirye don yaƙin neman zaɓe mafi girma a kan Masarautar Georgia, wanda ya fara da sake ƙarfafa Theodosiopolis. A cikin kaka na 1021, Basil, a kan jagorancin babban rundunar soja da Varangian Guards suka karfafa, sun kai hari ga Georgians da abokansu na Armeniya, suka dawo da Phasiane kuma suka tura kan iyakokin Tao zuwa cikin Georgia. Sarki George ya ƙone garin Oltisi don kiyaye shi daga hannun abokan gaba kuma ya koma Kola. An yi gwagwarmayar jini kusa da ƙauyen Shirimni a Lake Palakazio (yanzu Çildir, Turkey) a ranar 11 ga Satumba kuma sarkin ya sami nasara mai tsada, wanda ya tilasta George I ya koma arewa zuwa masarautarsa. Da yake washe ƙasar a kan hanyarsa, Basil ya janye zuwa hunturu a Trebizond.