1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e5 3.g3 Nc6 4.Bg2 Be7 5.Nf3 O-O 6.Nd5 d6 7.Nxe7+ Qxe7 8.O-O Be6 9.b3 h6 10.Bb2 Qd7 11.Re1 Bh3 12.Bh1 Rae8 13.a3 d5 14.cxd5 Nxd5 15.Rc1 e4 16.Nh4 g5 17.Ng2 Ne5 18.Rc2 Qf5 19.Ne3 Nxe3 20.dxe3 c6 21.Qd4 Qg6 22.Bxe4 f5 23.Bh1 f4 24.Rc5 Ng4 25.Rxc6 bxc6 26.Bxc6 Nf6 27.exf4 Rd8 28.Qe5 gxf4 29.Qxf4 Bf5 30.e4 Be6 31.Rc1 Ng4 32.Qc7 Qf7 33.Qxf7+ Rxf7 34.f4 Bxb3 35.h3 Ne3 36.Kf2 Nd1+ 37.Rxd1 Rxd1 38.Ke3 Rd8 39.g4 a6 40.f5 Bc4 41.e5 Rc7
a) 41...Bd5 42.Bxd5 Rxd5 43.Ke4 Rc5
42.Be4 Rb8 43.Bd4 Rb3+ 44.Kf4 Rd7 45.Bc5 Bd5 46.e6 Bxe6 47.fxe6 Rd8 48.e7
1.Nf3
g6
I had planned on positionally outplaying my lower rated opponent
2.d4
Bg7
3.Bf4
d6
4.e3
Nf6
5.c3
White's setup might appear harmless, but he can get a dangerous attack with h4-h5. Also, I have difficulties getting centrum control.
5... Nbd7
6.Nbd2
Nh5
Getting the bishop pair, so to at least have something to play for. Trading off the bishop is also the only way to be able to challenge the centre with e.g. e5
7.Bg3
Nxg3
8.hxg3
c5
e5 should have been better. If dxe Nxe NxN BxN white has lost the initiative, and after moves black can either trade pawns or play with ..f5 ..e4 etc
9.Qc2
a nice move. If now cxd then cxd followed by Rc1, and black cannot prevent white from getting control of the c-file.
9... Qc7
again threatening cxd, because now cxd is impossible, and exd will allow black to develop harmonously with Nf6 and put the bishop on f5 or g4, without having to worry about e4
10.Bd3
now, cxd is possible, but then cxd QxQ BxQ and I would not be able to play for a positional advantage but must be content with an equal endgame.
10... d5
threatening c4 and white will be passive. Rash moves now, such as Bb5 a6 BxN BxB would give black the advantage, and I also did not have confidence in e4, because black would then be able to put his pieces in good positions, for example
a) 11.e4 c5 12.12.Be2 e6 13.13.b3 cxb 14.14.Qxb3 Nf6 15. ;
b) 11.e4 c5 12.Be2 e6 13.b3 cxb 14.Qxb3 Nf6 ;
c) 11.11...e4
1) 11...e4 12. 13.c4 14. Be2 15. 16.e6 17. b3 18. cxb 19. 20.Qxb3 21. Nf6
12. 12.c4 13. 14.Be2 15. 13.e6 16. 17.b3 18. 14.cxb 19. 20.Qxb3 21. 15.Nf6 ;
d) 11.e4 c4 12.Be2 e6 13.b3 cxb 14.Qxb3 Nf6 ;
e) 11.e4 c4 12.Be2 e6 13.b3 cxb3 14.Qxb3 Nf6
11... f5 I had hoped for white to castle long or to play rash with Ng5 and Bb5 which will not get him anywhere, and black will be able to develop his knight finely to e4 to get the desired positional advantage.
a) 11...e4 12.c5 Be2 13.e6 b3 14.cxb Qxb3 15.Nf6 ;
b) 11...e4 12.c4 Be2 13.e6 b3 14.cxb Qxb3 15.Nf6
a) 12.Ng5 Nf6 13.Bb5+ Kf8 14.and black 15.will next 16.play h6 17.and a6, 18.followed by 19.Ne4
a) 13...Nf6 14.gxf5 gxf5 15.Bxf5 Bxf5 16.Qxf5 Qxc3 I didn't see this possibility that was made possible because of the exchange on d4
a) 14...hxg6 15.Qxg6+ Kf8 16.Rxh8+ Bxh8 17.Ng5 with # on either e6, f7 or h7;
b) 14...Kf8 15.Ng5 Nf6 might be possible, but out of principle it is bad to move the king into the danger zone
15.Ng5 Ne5 The only move, I think 16.Rxh7
a) 16.dxe5 Qxe5+ 17.Nde4! would have been interesting Now black has two interesting and complicated possibilities. Either Kc7 Nf7 Qe6 Nxh8 and now perhaps best is Bxh8 Rxh7 and in my analysis it seems that black will end up the exchange down, but may have some compensation The other solution is even more spectacular. hxg6 Nf7+ Kc7 Nxe5 Rxh1+ Kd2 Rxa1 and black has two rooks for the queen, with the possibility of getting another knight too.
16... Rxh7 17.Bxh7 Bf6 18.O-O-O Bxg5 19.dxe5 Qxe5 #rial is equal. Black's bishops might give him attacking chances, but his worst problem is the exposed king and rook in the corner 20.Kb2 Bd7 21.Qd3 with the serious threat Nc5 or Ne5 Qd6 22.c4 ?
a) 22.Bf5 I had expected this move, when black probably best sacrifices a pawn. 22... e6 23.Bxg4 Should be 23..Qe7, not Bf6 23... Bf6 Mistyped! should be 23..Qe7 , and the idea is Bf6, when black might just have some attacking chances. Especially considering black had at least 30 minutes more time and there is was no additional time.
22... Bf6+ 23.Kc2 Qa3 24.Rb1 Qxa2+ 25.Kd1 Bg5 26.Qxd5 Qxd2+ 27.Qxd2 Bxd2 28.Kxd2 The endgame is equal, but white has only 15 minutes whereas black has 30 minutes. White also played slowly and I think I have good chances to win. 28... Kc7 29.Ke3 Rf8 30.Rd1 I would have prefered to exchange the pawns with f3. When white starts his attack, he moves his pieces away from the defence. Rf7 31.Bc2 Rf6 32.Rd4 e5 33.Re4 ?
a) 33.Rd5 this is better Bf5 34.Bxf5 Rxf5
a) 33...Bf5 and black would win the exchange
34.c5+ Kxc5 35.Rxe5+ Kb4 36.Rg5 Re6+ 37.Kf4 Re2 38.Bd1 Rxf2+ 39.Kg3 Rb2 40.Rd5 ? but white had only 1-2 minutes left 40... Rxg2+ 41.Kxg2 Bc6 42.Bxg4 Bxd5+ 43.Bf3 Bxf3+ 44.Kxf3 Kxb3 0-1
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Bb4+ The Bogo-Indian is one of my favourite openings. In my opinion, black has almost equalised already. There is little opening theory to it. The disadvantage is that it can take a long time to win a game. 4.Bd2 Qe7 5.g3 Nc6 In our earlier game, we played the same opening. There I played o-o, followed by d5 and c6. This time I wanted to play more according to "theory" 6.a3 Bxd2+ 7.Qxd2 White does not play accurately according to "theory" but in this opening I don't think it matters much 7... d6 In hindsight, I would now prefer a more aggressive setup starting with Ne4 followed by f5, similar to how I had played in our earlier game. Alas, I wanted to setup according to "theory", where black usually plays d6 followed by e5 8.Bg2 e5 9.Nc3 Bg4 Stig spent a lot of time on this and the following moves. I, on the other hand, thought it was rather straight forward. 10.dxe5 dxe5 11.Nd5 Nxd5 12.cxd5 Bxf3 13.exf3 Nd4 Here I assessed the position as good for black thanks to his strong knight and the pressure he can put on the isolani. It's funny how quickly white got the advantage. I had underesti#d the force of Bg2 14.Rd1 For the first time I now spent some time on my move, around 10-15 minutes. It is clear that black must get his king and queen away from the line of e-line, because white want to castle, play Re1 and f4, and then Nd4 will be unhappy. My computer recommends O-O-O and claims a black advantage, but I do not like castling into the path of Bg2 and Rc1. 14... Qf6 15.f4 O-O 16.O-O Nf5 17.fxe5 Qxe5 18.Rfe1 Qf6 Qd6 followed by Ne7->g6, and rook to e8, should have been better 19.Qf4 Nd6 20.Qxf6 gxf6 21.Re7 Ne8 22.Rd4 I believe that black is lost here. During the game, I felt badly... 22... Rd8 23.Rg4+ Kh8 Now white played quickly -- too quickly it turned out. 24.h3 f5 25.Rg5 ? Rf4 and white is all too clearly winning 25... Ng7 Now the rook is captured 26.Rxc7 h6 27.Rxg7 Kxg7 28.Rxb7 Here and in the next moves I spent considerable time to try and save the game. It seemed to me that black must avoid to move rd8 so to not allow d6-d7 and then Bc6. 28... Rfe8 29.Bf3
a) 29.29.Rxa7 Re1+ 30.30.Kh2 Re2 ;
b) 29.Rxa7 Re1+ 30.Kh2 Re2 and now black can shuffle his d8 rook to c2 when he should have chances to give perpetual +
29... Re1+ 30.Kg2 Here I again spent around 15-20 minutes. If Rb1 then white can advance his b-pawn to b4 and I thought that would lose. 30... a5 31.Ra7
a) 31.Rb5 I was worried about this, as it gives white two passed pawns. Rb1
1) 31...a4 my opponent said that black would then play like this 32.Rb4 Rb1 33.Rxa4 Rxb2 and here he evaulated that the a-pawn would drop eventually. However, I disagreed -- I do not think black can capture the a-pawn because he has to watch the d-pawn. My plan was instead to play Rd6, to blockade the a-pawn, and keep the other rook on the a-file, hoping it would suffice for a draw.
31... Rb1 32.Rxa5 Rxb2 33.Ra4 Rd6 34.Rf4 As I said previously, I think the a-pawn is strong and should be kept. But my opponent thought it would drop anyways... so he traded it for my f-pawn. 34... Ra2 35.a4 Ra6 36.Rxf5 R2xa4 37.Bh5 My opponent wanted to restrict my king and my pawns. I didn't think much of it, but it was a reason why he could win (even if the game was theoretically drawn). 37... f6 38.Bd1 Rd4 39.Bf3 Rd6 40.h4 I had read in an Euwe chessbook that R+3p vs R+2p on the same wing are always drawn (Euwe doesn't even bother giving variations), and tried to play for that. 40... Rd8 41.Kh3 Kg6 42.g4 Rd6 43.h5+ Kg7 44.Kg3 Rd8 45.Rf4 R4xd5 46.Bxd5 Rxd5 We both had around 10 minutes left here. I felt confident I would draw. But it turned out that it did require a little technique after all. 47.Ra4 Rd7 48.Kf4 Rb7 1-0 I didn't take note much longer. I sticked to passive defense, moving the rook along the seventh rank. White played something like Ra5 and Kf6, then Ra6 and Ke6. I should probably have prevented it with Kf7, but didn't. He then played Rd6 threatening Rd7+. Anyways, I had to spend some time to try and remedy the situation, and finally lost on time.
1.c4 g6 2.Nc3 Bg7 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Bb7 5.Bg2 d6 6.h4 White plays to disrupt black's plan 6... h5 safest
a) 6...e6 is also playable 7.h5 Ne7 8.d3 Now black will have difficulties with castling
7.d3 White doesn't want to put his pawns on d4 or e4 yet, to avoid black challanging them by c5 or f5. 7... e6 8.O-O Nd7 9.Bg5 again, to disrupt 9... f6 he could also have played Ne7, but after Qc1 he will then have to reckon with Bh6 if he wants to castle short 10.Be3 Nf8 black sets out on a series of moves that turn out to give him a passive position 11.Bh3 f5 without f5 he would always have difficulties with the diagonal 12.Bg5 to make castling more difficult 12... Ne7 13.Bg2 I always think it is funny to compare my moves to the opening rules. Someone might say "you shouldn't move the same piece twice in the opening", but actually you should just move each piece to a good location, and the bishop has served its purpose on h3 13... Bc6 14.Qc2 Qd7 15.b4 a5 16.b5 Bb7 17.d4 with the idea that after o-o-o, c5 can be played, whereafter black's position becomes unstable 17... c5 18.dxc5
a) 18.bxc6 Nxc6 and black has developed his third piece, at last
a) 18...bxc5 is also a possibility.
19.Rad1 Qc7 white has a considerable spatial advantage and development lead, but now he doesn't make use of it in the best way 20.Rd2 I could not find a good strategy.
a) 20.e4 After the game, we believed that white's best strategy (now or in the next few moves) would have been along these lines. Rd8 21.Bf4 e5 22.Bg5 ! and now white threatens to win a pawn by Bxe7 Qxe7 exf5 gxf Qxp. He has also succesfully neutralized the black bishops
20... Rd8 21.Rxd8+ Qxd8 22.e4 Qa8 23.Re1 Rh7 so that the rook will not be en prise after Bxc3 24.Bxe7 Bxc3 ! I hadn't reckoned with this move. Now black suddenly gets activity
a) 24...Kxe7 25.Ng5 Rh8 26.Nd5+ exd5 27.exd5+ Kd7 28.Qe2 Bf6
25.Qxc3 Rxe7 Black has now strangely gotten his most useless piece in play and almost equalized. At this stage, the late hour and the heat started to show in the play of both players 26.Ng5 e5 27.Rd1 The idea of the move is to play the rook to d6 to put pressure on b6 and g6
a) 27.Bf3 this was my original idea with playing Ng5, simply hitting on the h5-pawn. I decided against it due to 27... Ne6 28.exf5
1) 28.Qxe5 Nxg5 29.Qh8+ Kf7 30.Qxa8 Nxf3+
28... Bxf3 and it appeared unclear to me. Black seemed to at least have chances to trade off the pieces most dangerous to him
27... Rd7 It may have been an oversight, but black wins the pawn back anyways. Passive defense would probably be worse
a) 27...fxe4 would be a shot, but something like 28.Bh3 and black's pieces are standing really badly
28.Qxe5+ Re7 29.Qf6 fxe4 A tough position. Black might even have winning chances -- playing for e4-e3 and the diagonal -- if white is not careful. 30.Rd6
a) 30.Qxb6 I discarded this move because I thought 30... e3 31.Bxb7 e2 would give black chances. 32.Bc6+ but this move is strong. I didn't consider this option because black had in my mind still a bishop on b7
34.Qe6+ Kf8 white should win in any case
30... e3 31.Ne6 I had put my hopes to this move, which should give white a better game in all variations. 31... exf2+ 32.Kh2
a) 32.Kxf2 I probably spent 10 minutes of my remaining 30 minutes trying to get this to work 32... Rf7 33.Ng7+
1) 33.Rd8+ Qxd8 34.Qxf7+ Kxf7 35.Nxd8+
33... Rxg7 34.Bxb7 Rxb7 At the last moment I realized that black can just take with his rook! And white loses.
32... Rxe6 33.Rxe6+ Nxe6 34.Qxe6+ Kf8 35.Qf6+ Kg8 36.Qxg6+ Kf8 37.Qf6+ and here my opponent made his mistake: resigning. After Kg8, Qxf2 BxB QxB Qe8/d8 white has a long way to go, and I had only ca 13 minutes to my opponents 27 1-0