1.d4 Nf6 In the past I have either played the KID or the Rat against Knut. Knut sometimes plays the Trompowsky - 2.Bg5. Since I play the Pirc also, neither the KID or the Rat require me to play 1...Nf6, and so this could be seen as a signal that I was wanting a Trompowsky. 2.c4 e6 The true reason for 1...Nf6! ;) I had looked at some Nimzo-Indian lines with Lucas Davies prior to the CYCC; I didn't have much time to get ready for this tournament and so I decided to go with the Nimzo since it was fresh in my thoughts. I was also interested in playing the Nimzo because recently I had been mostly playing the Chigorin and I did not want to be too predictable. In a RR tournament it is a safe assumption that your opponents are preparing for you. 3.Nf3 Nc6 This move is a bit eccentric, a sort of a deferred Two Knights' Tango - 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 Nc6 3.Nf3 e6. This is Georgi Orlov's influence. I have been very impressed by the way Georgi has handled the Black side of the Two Knights' Tango. 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.Qc2 We have transposed back into more main stream opening theory. This is now the Classical Variation of the Nimzo-Indian where Nc6 is a fairly common choice. 5...d6 6.a3 [6.Bd2 intending to recapture on c3 with the bishop is the main alternative.] 6...Bxc3+ 7.Qxc3 a5! In my opinion this is a critical move in these lines. Black needs to hold back White's queenside expansion. 8.g3?! I think it is a mistake to allow Black to play ...a4. After ...a4 the b3 and c4 squares become very weak. Playing for e3 is a more ambitious plan than g3, but g3 is also very popular. [8.b3 0–0 9.e3 (9.g3) ] 8...a4 xb3, c4 9.Bg2 0–0?! I think this is a move order mistake. I didn't realize it at the time, but Black needs to achieve ...e5 quickly - particularly because I have spent a tempo on ...a4. [9...Qe7 10.0–0 e5 11.dxe5 dxe5 12.Be3 0–0 13.h3 Ne4 14.Qc2 Nc5 15.Rad1 Nb3 and now the weakness of the b3 and c4 squares show themselves. 16.Qc3 f6 17.Kh2 Be6=+ Evseev-Vlassov, Moscow 1995] 10.0–0 Qe7 [10...Re8!?] 11.Bg5! After this White has the initiative. 11...e5 [After 11...h6 I was worried about 12.d5, but maybe it is not as bad as I thought it was. 12...Ne5 13.Bxf6 Qxf6 (13...Nxf3+!? 14.Qxf3 Qxf6 15.Qxf6 gxf6) 14.Nd4 Qe7 15.f4 Ng4 16.h3 Nf6 17.e4 and Black is extremely passive.] 12.d5 Na5 13.Nd2 Threatening f4. 13...h6 14.Bxf6 Qxf6 15.f4! [With the initiative.] Re8 16.f5 b6 I was worried about losing control of c5. This give White an extra tempo for his assault on the kingside. The benefit of this move is that it is now do or die for White as the weakness on c4 will be there for a long time to come. [16...h5!? Maybe I should have conceded c5 and worried more about my king. 17.Ne4 Qh6 18.f6 g6 19.c5 Nb3 20.cxd6 (20.Rad1 Rd8 21.cxd6 cxd6 22.Qc7 Qe3+ 23.Rf2 Bf5 24.Rd3 Qc1+ 25.Qxc1 Nxc1 26.Rc3 Bxe4 27.Rxc1 Bxg2 28.Kxg2 Rac8 29.Rff1 Kh7 30.h4 g5-/+) 20...Nxa1 21.Rxa1 cxd6 22.Nxd6 Rd8 23.Qxe5 Qf8 24.Nxc8 Raxc8 unclear.] 17.Rac1?! [17.Ne4 Qd8 18.f6 g6 19.Rad1 with the initiative.] 17...h5 After White's mistake on the last move, I decided that my position had improved enough to offer a draw here. Admirably, Knut decided to go for it and turned me down. 18.Qe3 [18.Ne4 Qh6] 18...Kh7
19.g4?! This is too commital. Knut should have been more patient and built up his attack more slowly. Now that the pawn structure is more settled on the kingside White has less flexibility on how to develop his attack. [19.Ne4 Qh6 20.Qd3 Ba6 21.f6 g6 22.h3 Nb3 23.Rc3 Nc5] 19...hxg4 20.h3 [20.Ne4 Qh4 21.f6 g6 22.Ng5+ Kg8 23.Ne6 Ra7 24.Ng7 Rd8] 20...g3 21.Qxg3 Rh8 The open h-file offers some counterplay. 22.Ne4 Qh6 23.f6 g6 24.Ng5+ Kg8 25.Ne6 Bd7! [I have no idea what is happening after 25...fxe6 26.dxe6 but it doesn't matter anyway as I felt that I already was starting to gain the upper hand with normal measures.] 26.Rc3 [26.Nxc7 Rc8] 26...Re8 [26...Qh4] 27.Be4? Knut was starting to get low on time here. The time control was game in 2 hours plus 30 second increments. Some of the players in the tournament were not managing their time carefully enough. With only one time control there is no second chance and so you have to be very careful not to fall behind on the clock. [27.Ng7 Rc8] 27...Bxe6 28.dxe6 Rxe6–+ 29.Bd5 Re8 30.Qg4 Rd8 31.Rg3 Kf8 [31...c6–+] 32.c5 dxc5 33.Qe4 [33.Rd3 Qh4] 33...Qh4 34.Qxe5 Qd4+ 35.Qxd4 cxd4 36.Ba2 Now down a pawn and with a fragmented pawn structure, White is dead lost. It is just a matter of Black solving the problems caused by the pawn on f6. 36...Rh5 37.Rd3 c5 38.Rf4 Re8 39.Kf2 Rhe5 40.Rd2 Re3 41.h4 Nb3 [41...R8e5] 42.Bxb3 axb3 43.h5 gxh5 44.Rf5 R8e5 45.Rxe5 Rxe5 46.Rd3 Re3! This constricts White as exchanging off the rooks results in a simple win for Black. 47.Rd1 [47.Rxe3 dxe3+ 48.Kxe3 h4 49.Kf4 c4] 47...Re6 48.Rd3 Re3 Just adding some increment time to the clock as I figured out what I wanted to do. 49.Rd1 Ke8 [49...h4 50.Rh1 h3] 50.Rh1 Re5 51.Rh3 c4 52.Ke1 d3 [52...c3–+] 0–1
Yoos,J - Lee,V [B06] Spring Sectional A Edmonton (2.2), 02.04.2005
1.e4 g6 I was anticipating a Najdorf Sicilian. 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nc3 c6 4.h3!? A flexible move to anitcipate ...d5. 4...d5 [Since 4.h3 is not a commital move 4...d6 leads to normal Pirc/Modern lines. 5.f4!? (5.Nf3) ] 5.e5 This is the point of my 4th move. I was anticipating my opponent transposing from a Pirc/Modern like position to a form of Caro-Kann. I have avoided playing the inflexible move f4 and 4.Nf3 would have run into 5...Bg4 at this point. 5...f6?! Since I still have the option of f4, this move achieves little and makes weaknesses on the kingside. 6.f4 Nh6 7.Nf3 [7.g4 f5; 7.Bd3 Bf5] 7...Nf5 8.Ne2 h5?! Since Black cannot successfuly blockade the kingside, this move will just open up more lines of attack when I finally do break it open. 9.g3 So that I can always meet ...h4 with g4. 9...b6 Supporting c5 and setting up some tricks with Ba6. I would have preferred to keep open the option of getting my queen out on the a4-d8 diagonal. 10.Rg1 I don't think that the bishop is well suited on a6 and so I considered trying to temp it there with 10.c3 Ba6 11.Rg1; ultimately I decided that there were no guarantees it was going there and c3 did not fit into my development plan. 10...Kf7?! This is asking for it. Once my development is finished, I am almost certainly going to play g4 and crash my kingside pawns forward. I can't imagine that the benefit of locking the queen with the king rook offsets leaving the king stranded on the kingside. 11.Nc3 The knight has served its purpose and now it is just in the way on e2. 11...Nd7 12.g4 I decided to bump the knight off of its square so that I could finish my queenside development. 12...hxg4 13.hxg4 Nh4 14.Be3 b5 Lacking counterplay with the previous pawn structure Black decides to generate some play on the wing. 15.Nxh4 Rxh4 16.Qf3 Nb6 17.Bf2 Rh7 18.Bd3 Qh8 19.0–0–0 Rh3 20.Rg3 I didn't like misplacing my rook like this but I decided I needed the tempo to keep Black from blockading with ...f5. [20.Bg3 f5 21.gxf5 Bxf5] 20...Rh2 [20...Rxg3 21.Bxg3 f5 22.gxf5 Bxf5 23.Bxf5 gxf5 24.Rh1] 21.Bg1 Rh4 22.Re1!± Threatening to sacrifice my e-pawn to open up the e-file. This forces Black to make an unhappy decision. 22...e6 [22...f5 23.e6+] 23.f5 gxf5 24.gxf5 exf5 25.Bxf5 Bxf5 26.Qxf5 Now that I have ripped open the kingside, Black with his weak king is in trouble. 26...Qh7 27.Qf3 Re8 Neccesary to prevent me from playing e6. 28.b3 Re6 29.Be3 I am not sure about this move. I wanted to redevelop my piece, but it does become clumsy here. [29.Kb1] 29...Bf8 [29...Bh6 30.Kb2 Bxe3 31.Qxe3 fxe5 32.dxe5 Rh2 33.Ne2 Ke8 34.Reg1+-; 29...Qh5 30.Ne2 Qxf3 31.Rxf3 Rh2 (31...Re8 32.Bg5) 32.Nf4 Re8 33.e6+ Ke7 34.Ng6+ Kd8 35.Bf4 Rg2 36.Nh4 Rg4 37.Nf5 Bf8 38.c3 b4 39.Kc2 bxc3 40.Kxc3±] 30.Reg1 [30.Ne2 Qe4 31.Nf4 Qxf3 32.Rxf3 Re8 33.e6+ Kg8 34.Rg1+ Bg7 35.Rfg3 Rh7 36.Nh5+-] 30...Rh2 [30...Bh6 31.Kb2 Bxe3 32.Qxe3 Rh1 33.Rxh1 Qxh1 34.Qf2 Qh6 35.Ne2+-] 31.Ne2? in the next several moves both of us underestimated the strength of Black trading off the queens. I should have avoided it and Black should have played for it. [31.Rg6+- This keeps the queen at bay.] 31...Nd7? [31...Qe4 32.Qxe4 dxe4 33.Nf4 Re8 34.exf6 Bh6 unclear.] 32.Bd2? Again, I should have kept the queen out of e4. [32.Rg6 threatening Nf4 32...Rh3 (32...Ke8 33.Qg4 Re7 34.e6) 33.R1g3 Rxg3 34.Rxg3+-] 32...Ke8? [32...Qe4 33.Qxe4 dxe4 34.Nf4 fxe5 35.Nxe6 Kxe6 36.dxe5 Nxe5+=] 33.Nf4+- Ba3+ [33...Re7 34.e6 Nb6 35.Rg8+-] 34.Kb1!? [34.Kd1 Re7 35.e6 Nf8 36.Qc3 c5 37.dxc5 Nxe6 38.Nxd5 Qh5+ 39.Qf3 Qxf3+ 40.Rxf3 Rg7 41.Re1+-] 34...Re7 [34...Rxd2 35.Qc3 Bb4 36.Rg8+ Nf8 37.Rxf8+] 35.Qc3! Opening up another front in the attack. 35...fxe5 36.Rg8+ There were probably more efficient routes to a win, but my opponent had so far proven himself to be fast on the clock and tactically tricky and so I decided to keep it simple. [36.Qxc6 exf4 37.Rg8+ Kf7 38.Qxd5+ Kf6 39.Qg5+ Ke6 40.Rg6++-; 36.dxe5 Nxe5 (36...Rxe5 37.Rg8+ Bf8 38.Rxf8+ Kxf8 39.Ng6+) 37.Nxd5 cxd5 38.Qc8+ Kf7 39.Rf1++-] 36...Kf7 37.R8g7+ [37.Qxc6+-] 37...Qxg7 38.Rxg7+ Kxg7 39.Qg3+ Kf7 40.Qxh2 exf4 41.Qxf4+ Nf6 42.b4! This doesn't win the bishop, but it ensures a further piece exchange and forces Black to loosen up his position to avoid the loss of a piece. 42...Re2 43.Qc7+ Kg6 44.Qg3+ Kf7 45.Qxa3 Rxd2 46.Qxa7+ Ke6 47.Qc7 Rxd4 48.Qxc6+ Ke5 49.Qxb5 Ne4 50.Qe8+ Kf4 51.Qf8+ Ke3 52.Kb2 Nd2 53.b5 Black's pieces were trying to go after my king and so now they are too far down the board to stop the running b-pawn. 53...Ra4 [53...Nc4+ 54.Kc3] 54.b6 Nc4+ 55.Ka1 My king is safe and Black will have to lose a piece to stop the b-pawn from promoting. 1–0
Reeve,J - Yoos,J [B45] Spring Sectional A Edmonton (3.3), 02.04.2005
1.e4 What to play next was actually a hard decision for me. Jeff Reeve is probably by far the most dangerous player in the opening in Western Canada. It is not that he is just very well prepared. In just about every opening Jeff plays the most agressive and ambitious variations. Unfortunately I did not have anything special prepared for him so I decided to try a sideline. 1...c5 2.Nf3 e6 I mostly play three different Sicilians - the Classical, the Dragon and the Sveshnikov. By playing this it indicated I was intending on playing a Sveshnikov. 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Ndb5 Bc5!? An unusual and relatively unexplored move which I think is grossly underestimated. This move has been played quite a bit by GM Juan Bellon in recent years. I was introduced to the idea years ago by Barry Rasmussen. Most common here is 6...d6 7.Bf4 e5 8.Bg5 which is a Sveshnikov Variation.; 6...Bb4 is the main alternative to 6...d6. After 7.a3 Bxc3+ 8.Nxc3 d5 9.exd5 exd5 White has a bit of a plus because of the two bishops. 7.Bf4 [7.Nd6+ Ke7] 7...0–0 8.Bc7! This prevents the Black queen from escaping out by the g8-a5 diagonal. [8.Bd6 Bxd6 9.Qxd6 (9.Nxd6 Ne8 10.Ncb5 Qb6) 9...a6 10.Nd4 Ne8 11.Qc5 d6 12.Nxc6 Qc7 13.Ne7+ Qxe7 14.Qb6 Qd7 15.Rd1 Qc6=+; 8.e5 Ne8 9.Ne4 (9.Nd6? Nxd6 10.exd6 Qb6) 9...Be7 10.Qd2 f6 11.exf6 Bxf6 (11...Nxf6? 12.Nxf6+ Bxf6 13.Bc7 Qe8 14.Bd6+-) 12.c3 d5=+] 8...Qe7 9.Bd6 Bxd6 10.Qxd6 This keeps a grip on d6. Inferior is 10.Nxd6 Ne8 11.Ncb5 a6 12.Nxe8 Qb4+! 13.c3 Qxe4+ 14.Qe2 Qxe2+ 15.Bxe2 axb5 16.Nc7 Ra5 17.Nxb5 d5. 10...Ne8 This puts the knight on e7 which offers a method of counterplay to offset the weak d6 square. [10...Qxd6 11.Nxd6 Ne8 12.Nxe8 Rxe8 13.0–0–0+=] 11.Qxe7 Nxe7 12.0–0–0 f5! This is the key to Black achieving some counterplay. 13.f3 13.e5 Ng6 14.Re1 a6 15.Nd4 b5 and because of his dominance of the light squares Black is not as concerned about his backward d7 pawn. 13...fxe4 14.fxe4 This gives Black the e5 square. [14.Nxe4 d5 15.Ned6 Nxd6 16.Nxd6 e5 unclear (16...Nf5 17.Nxf5 Rxf5 18.c4+=) ] 14...Ng6 15.Be2 Ne5 Now Black has a super knight on e5 holding his position together and White is saddled with a bad bishop. The next moves will be a struggle for Black to maintain the position of this knight. 16.Rhf1?! I think that this is too slow. Black should have immediately run the knight to f3 to contest e5. [16.Nd4 A) 16...Nf6 17.h3 (17.Nf3 Nfg4 18.Rhf1 b6 19.h3 Nxf3 20.Rxf3 Ne5=+) 17...b6 (17...Nf7 18.Nf3 d6 19.e5 dxe5 20.Bc4 with compensation) 18.Nf3 and the position is complicated and imbalanced, but I think Black is doing okay. 18...Ng6 19.e5 (19.Rhe1 Bb7 now e5 can be met with Nd5 20.Bf1 Rac8) 19...Nh5 unclear; B) 16...Rf2?! 17.Rhg1; C) 16...d6 17.Nf3 (17.Ndb5 Nf7 18.Rhf1 a6) 17...Ng4 (17...Nf7) 18.Rhg1 a6 19.h3 Nh6 and Black seems fine.] 16...Rxf1 17.Bxf1 Kf8! The king comes in for support. 18.Be2 [18.Nd4 d6 19.Nf3 Nxf3 20.gxf3 Ke7=+ xf3] 18...Ke7 19.Kd2 a6 20.Nd4 Nd6!=+ The knight is now unassailable on e5. 21.b3 b5 22.Nf3 Ndf7 23.Nxe5 And Black is better, but at two games a day and considering I was already leading the tournament wth 2/2, I decided to conserve energy for the last day. ½–½
Sasata,R - Yoos,J [E40] Spring Sectional A Edmonton (4.1), 03.04.2005
A critical game as Rob and I were tied for the lead with 2.5/3. Rob has played well in these sectionals. The other one we played in together I scored 4/5 and Rob still out paced me by scoring 4.5/5. 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 Nc6 This is probably not a good move against the Rubenstein (4.e3) , but I was not feeling very well prepared and so I wanted to stay away from main lines. 5.Bd3 A good choice. I think it is stronger if white puts the knight on e2 in this line. [5.Nge2!?; 5.Nf3 d6 Since white does not really want to have to take back on c3 with a pawn, this will likely lead to positions similar to my game from round 1 against Knut Neven.] 5...e5!? [5...d5] 6.Nge2 d5 7.cxd5 7.0–0 dxc4 8.Bxc4 0–0 9.a3 Bd6 10.d5 Ne7 and the position is quite similar to some lines of the Chigorin. 7...Nxd5 8.0–0! A strong psychological choice. Rob knows my style of play quite well from back when I lived in Winnipeg. He is guessing that I will feel uncomfortable in an isolated pawn position where he has the initiative. [8.e4 Nb6 9.d5 Ne7] 8...Nde7?! Rob was right. I knew that 8...exd4 was best, but I could not bring myself to play it. [8...Nb6 I saw in my database that this was a popular option. I rejected it because of a move that wasn't in my database - 9.Be4; 8...exd4 9.exd4 0–0 10.Qc2 h6 11.a3 Be7 12.Nxd5 Qxd5 13.Be3 Bd6 unclear.] 9.a3 Bd6 10.d5 Nb8 I have wasted a lot of tempi now. 11.e4 0–0 12.Ng3 a6 13.Be3 Nd7 14.Rc1± Black is very passive here since both of Black's pawn breaks - c6 and f5 are difficult to achieve. 14...Nf6 15.Bg5 Ne8 16.Bb1! h6 17.Be3 Nf6 18.h3 Ng6 19.Nf5 Bxf5 20.exf5 Ne7 21.Qf3 White now has the potential for a big kingside attack starting with g4. 21...c6 I decided to strike back in the centre before it became too late. I was not happy here. 22.dxc6 Nxc6 23.Rfd1 Qe7 24.Ne4 b7 is very weak. White is just threatening to exchange on f6 and play Be4. 24...Nd4!? Trying to generate some piece activity. 25.Bxd4 exd4 26.Nxd6 Qxd6 27.Rc4! Aside from attacking the d4 pawn the rook now has the potential to nestle into b4. 27...Rad8 28.Qd3?! Rob misses his chance to win material. He needed to make some distractions to pry me from the d-pawn. Better was 28.Qxb7 Rb8 29.Qf3 Rxb2 30.Rcxd4± where white has a clear pawn. However, since the extra pawn is the one on f5, Black is not hopeless yet.; 28.Rcxd4 Qxd4 29.Rxd4 Rxd4 and Black is okay since the weakness of the bishop on c1 provides time to protect the b-pawn.] 28...Rfe8 29.Ba2 Qe5 [29...Re4 30.f3 Rh4 xRh4] 30.Rxd4 Rxd4 31.Qxd4 Qxf5 I have managed to maintain material equality, but White's superior minor piece keeps the advantage. 32.Bb1?! The bishop was already on its best square. Placing it here deactivates it and accentuates the vulnerability of the back rank. [32.Qb6] 32...Qa5 Without any posts for my knight in the centre of the board, the queen will do better at supporting it than the rook, so I decided to trade off the rooks. 33.Bd3 Re1+ 34.Rxe1 Qxe1+ 35.Kh2 Qe7 36.g3 g6 37.b4! Rob comes up with a plan to freeze the pawn on b7 and then win it. The White pawns march down the board until there is a pawn on b6 and then the bishop maneuvers to get on the h1–a8 diagonal. 37...Kg7 38.a4 Qd7! Now that White has extended his pawns, with the queens off it will be harder to defend them. With pawns on both sides of the board, the knight is inferior to the bishop. However if I can trade off the queenside pawns I will be fine. 39.Qxd7 Nxd7 40.f4 Nf6 Since he prevented me from going to e5, I decide to go to d5 instead. 41.Bc4 b5! And now the queenside pawns are coming off. 42.axb5 This game was a close shave for me. ½–½
Yoos,J - Huber,G [B96] Spring Sectional A Edmonton (5.3), 03.04.2005
1.e4 c5 Somewhat expected. Greg plays a lot of different openings, but he seems to favour the Sicilian. 2.Nf3 d6 After this I was assuming a Najdorf as the other Sicilian Greg mainly plays is the Kan. 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Qc7 A solid and ambitious line. Qc7 covers e5 and so Black is threatening to play ...b5 while avoiding the wild lines seen in the Polugaevsky Variation. The benefit of playing b5 quickly is that without being fully developed, White will have fewer choices as to how to react to the threat of b4 misplacing the knight from c3. Against Vincente Lee, Greg, as he is know to do, played the infamous Polugaevsky Variation - 7...b5. I had prepared for this a bit before the game, but I didn't really think he would play it since he would know that the wild positions that result from 8.e5 dxe5 9.fxe5 Qc7 suit my tastes. 8.Bxf6! In my opinion this is the drawback of 7...Qc7 and the most principled response. 8...gxf6+= The viability of this pawn structure is central to the whole Rauzer. Black has the two bishops and nothing has been over-extended yet. In return White has space and can play off of Black doubled f-pawns. In countless Rauzer variations this pawn structure can occur and subtle differences in the position can determine the outcome. In general it is considered that committing to this structure very early is favourable for White since he has more options as to how to set-up against it. 9.Qd2 If it is possible, White often prefers to castle kingside, but having played f4 already the dark squares are weakened and so this is now less appealing. 9...Nc6 [9...b5 10.a4] 10.0–0–0 Bd7 Black prepares to castle queenside and with the king out of the centre, Black can prepare for a potential freeing pawn break of ... d5 or ...f5. 11.Kb1 It is useful to tuck the king away so that it won't be used by Black for a tempo later on. 11...h5 This anticipates White's natural plan of attacking the light squares with f5 & Be2-Bh5. It also supports the bishop going to h6. 12.Bc4!? Having lost the square on h5, I decided to put the bishop on a different diagonal. This is risky because it requires two tempi to get the bishop to a stable square and because the g2 square becomes harder to defend. 12.Be2 is the more common move, and has the benefits of putting pressure on the extended h5-pawn and making it easier to defend the g2 square:12...0–0–0 13.Rhf1 Kb8 14.Rf3. 12...0–0–0 13.Nxc6 It is a good idea to get rid of this before playing f5 so that Black doesn't occupy e5. Now that Black has castled I do not have to worry about recapturing on c6 with the pawn. 13...Bxc6 A new move. I had vague memories of the Topalov-Anand game, but since I hadn't looked at it in years, I wasn't sure where we were in relation to it. [13...Qxc6 14.Bb3 Kb8 15.Rhf1 Qc5 16.Qd3 h4 17.Qh3 Be7 18.f5 Qe5 19.Rde1± Topalov-Anand, Dortmund 1997]
14.Qd4? A stupid, clumsy move. I knew I had to address the dangling bishop on c4. This was an attempt to be fancy and protect it with extra features. The move is stupid because the queen is potentially a target here and the g-pawn is now unprotected. White is not yet ready for 14.f5?! Bxe4 15.Bxe6+ fxe6 16.Nxe4 d5; best is the natural move 14.Bb3 and since Black cannot achieve ...d5 or ... f5, Black is just inferior in comparison to Topalov-Anand since the Black queen is less active and the light-squared bishop is no longer defending e6 and f5. 14...Kb8 (14...d5 15.exd5 Bb4 16.Qe2 Bxc3 17.dxc6 Ba5 18.cxb7+ Kxb7 19.f5 e5 20.Rxd8+-) 15.f5±. 14...Rg8! Of course I am not going to take the f-pawn and open the diagonal for the bishop! Now White's last move just looks stupid as Black gets a free tempo off of the g-pawn and White has still not fully addressed the problem of the bishop's vulnerability on c4. 15.Rd2? [15.Rhg1 d5! 16.exd5 Bxd5 17.Bxd5 Bc5 18.Bxb7+ Kb8 19.Qxd8+ Rxd8 20.Rxd8+ Qxd8 21.Rd1 Qb6 22.Bf3 Ba3 23.b3 h4-/+; probably neccesary is to play actively with 15.f5, but it looks like Black is doing quite well anyway. 15...d5 (15...exf5!?) 16.exd5 Rxg2 17.Qe4 Rg4 18.Qe2 exd5 19.Bxd5 Re8 20.Qf3 Bb4 21.Bxc6 Qxc6 22.Nd5 Re5; 15.g3 f5] 15...Rg4? Greg missed his chance. 15...Bh6! is hard to meet because even if I try to protect the f-pawn with a rook, he still takes it. 16.g3 (16.Rf1 Bxf4; 16.Qxf6 Bg7-/+) 16...f5-/+; 15...f5 16.exf5 Bxg2 17.Re1 d5 18.Bd3 Bg7 19.f6 Bh8 20.Qe5 Bf3 unclear] 16.Rf1 h4?! Too slow. Black has to break in the centre now or he will never get it in. [16...Bg7 17.f5 Bxe4 18.Nxe4 d5 19.Rfd1 Rxe4 20.Qxe4 dxe4 21.Rxd8+ Qxd8 22.Rxd8+ Kxd8 23.h4 Ke7 24.Be2 exf5 25.Bxh5+= and a funny position arises where in a opposite-coloured bishop ending Black is up a pawn, but is still worse. Having the potential for an extra passed pawn gives White some advantage, but I think it would be fairly difficult to win. 17.h3 Rg3 18.f5± Now Black will be too constricted to break open the position. 18...e5 18...Bh6 19.Rd3 Rxd3 (19...e5 20.Qf2 Rxd3 21.cxd3) 20.Qxd3. 19.Qa7 Rxc3!? An excellent try for counterplay. I anticipated this, but there wasn't much I could do about it. I have noticed in Greg's games that he is very adept at finding interesting exchange sacrifices. 20.bxc3 Bxe4 At this point during the game I wasn't really sure who was better. In hindsight, I think that White's position is clearly preferable. 21.Bd5 I felt it neccesary to get rid of one of the bishops before they became too active. 21...Bh6! An important tempo. 22.Rdd1 Bxd5 23.Rxd5 Qxc3 24.Rd3 Because of the weakness of Black's king, White gets a big attack. [24.Rf3 Qe1+ 25.Kb2 Qc1+ 26.Kb3 Qb1+ 27.Kc3 e4–+] 24...Qa5?! It was preferable to force the endgame with 24...Qc5, however, at the time I even thought Greg's decision was correct. Both of us underestimated how vulnerable Black's king is with the queen lodged in on a7. 25.Qxc5+ dxc5 26.Rxd8+ Kxd8±] 25.Rb3 I should have waited on this move. Better is 25.Rfd1 so that I can secure the d1 square for my rook before Black takes it away. 25...Rd7 (25...d5 26.Rb3) 26.Qa8+ Kc7 27.Kb2 Rd8 28.Qa7 Rd7 29.Rb3 Kd8 30.Qb8+ Ke7 31.Rxb7. 25...Qd5 Robert Sasata had the same score as me going into the last round. Somewhere around here, Rob took a moment from his game to look at our position so that he could decide whether to take a draw by a repetition of moves. After a brief look Rob went back to his board and deviated from the repetition. This actually gave me a bit of a confidence boost as I had been doubting the soundness of my position. 26.a4! The idea is to give my king some room to clear the b-file for my rooks and for defensive reasons. By moving the pawn to b5, I also take away squares for the Black queen in some situations. 26...e4 [26...Bf4 27.Kb2 Rd7 28.Rd1 Qxd1 29.Qa8+ Kc7 30.Rxb7+ Kc6 31.Rb5+ Kc7 32.Qb8+; 26...Bd2 27.Rd1] 27.Ka1 Qc6 [27...Bd2 28.Rd1 e3 29.Rxe3 Bxe3 30.Qa8+ Kc7 31.Qxd8+ Kxd8 32.Rxd5] 28.Qd4 Kd7 29.Rc3 And thanks to the pawn on a4, the queen is trapped. 1–0
