1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.d3 Nf6 6.Nge2 e5 7.0–0 0–0 8.Bg5 h6 9.Bxf6 Fritz agreed with this 9...Bxf6 10.Nd5 Bg7 11.a4 [F suggests 11.Bh3 which looks a little odd to me] 11...d6 12.Qd2 Be6 13.c3 F isn't keen on this and gives black an edge; my idea was to control the d4 square but I guess it restricts the movement of my knights too [13.h4 in hindsight I can see that this would have been a good move] 13...Rc8 14.f4 exf4 [it was apparently better to do 14...Bxd5 15.exd5 Na5 is strong (15...Ne7 16.fxe5 (not 16.c4 exf4 17.Nxf4 Qb6) 16...dxe5 17.c4) 16.Qe3 fork of rook and queen was threatened 16...c4 positional pressure on white 17.f5 may be the best (17.dxc4 Nxc4 18.Qxa7 compicated; 17.fxe5 cxd3 18.Qxd3 Bxe5 not bad for black; 17.Nc1 exf4 18.Rxf4 a6 19.Re4) 17...cxd3 (17...gxf5 18.Rxf5 cxd3 19.Qxd3 Nc4 (or 19...Qb6+ 20.Rf2 Nc4 21.Be4 Nxb2 looks bad for white) ) 18.Qxd3 gxf5 (18...Nb3 19.Ra3 the knight is shooed sraight away 19...Nc5 20.Qe3) 19.Qxf5 Qg5 even position according to F] 15.Nexf4 this is quite pleasant for white [after the game my opponent said I should have played 15.gxf4? quoting a saying "every schoolboy knows you take with the g pawn", but I replied that after Bxd5 exd5 the f pawn is isolated and the position is horrible for white and I think he agreed. 15...Bxd5 16.exd5 Ne7 17.Be4 it isn't an immediate disaster for white but positionally horrible] 15...Bd7 This looks a bit obsessive, that my opponent is worried about losing his 'advantage' of the bishop pair [F prefers 15...Qd7 ] 16.Rf2 [F says 16.Bh3 would have been stronger. It look a bit wrong to trade off my fiachetto bishop but maybe it's good 16...Bxh3 e.g. 17.Nxh3 Ne5 18.Qe3 Qd7 19.Nhf4 F gives white just under half a pawn advantage] 16...Ne5 17.h3 Fritz doesn't like this and now gives black an edge [17.Bh3 better according to F 17...Ng4 (17...Bxh3 18.Nxh3 Ng4 19.Rff1 F still prefers white) 18.Bxg4 Bxg4 19.Ne3 Bd7 20.Nfd5 a very interesting prospect with 2 knights vs 2 bishops] 17...Bc6 An odd looking move and looks a little bit pointless [F: 17...Re8 18.Rff1 Qa5 19.b3] 18.Raf1? ridiculously I leave the a4 pawn en prise. I think I was frustrated around this time in the game as I couldn't really think of a plan [18.Ne3 would be fine] 18...b5? my opponent return the favour and doesn't take it [18...Bxa4 19.Ra1 b5 black can hang onto the pawn but at the cost of putting the bishop out of the game slightly; Fritz gives under half a pawn to black, but still black should be better here; F prefers first to play 18...h5 19.h4 Bxa4 20.Ra1 b5] 19.axb5 Bxb5 20.c4 F is not keen on this [F1 20.Ra1 a5 (after 20...a6 loses the h pawn e.g. 21.c4 Be8 22.Rxa6) 21.b3 h5 22.Qe3 about equal according to F] 20...Bd7 [F prefers 20...Be8 and I'm not sure why exactly] 21.b4 cxb4 [F says 21...a6 is better, e.g. 22.bxc5 dxc5 black has a passed pawn and defence of the d3 pawn is a bit of a liability for white] 22.Nxb4? a mistake, although it is quite hard to see that Qx is the only good move as I was worried about g5 moving the f4 knight and leaving the d3 pawn hanging if I moved the queen. [the threat to the d6 pawn is a major factor 22.Qxb4 Bc6 (e.g. 22...a5 23.Qxd6; 22...g5 the move I was worried about 23.Nh5 Nxd3 24.Qxd6 this is actually perfectly alright. Sometimes it is best to go into variations which are somewhat unclear if you judge them to be the best option based on intuition as well as analysis) ] 22...a5 23.Nbd5 Nc6 [23...Rb8 would have been a lot stronger according to F] 24.Kh2 [F 24.Ne2 looks good, heading to c3 and then maybe b5 and help] 24...a4 [24...Bd4 would be a blunder after 25.Nxg6; or 24...Rb8 ] 25.Qa2 Ne5 26.Qa3 I was happy with this move as it has three clear purposes, 1.blockading the advance of the h pawn, 2.attacking the en prise d6 pawn, 3.adding a defender to the weak d3 pawn [Fritz in typical computer fashion suggests this move with wild possibilities: 26.Rb2 g5 for example 27.Nh5 Nxd3 28.Ndf6+ Bxf6 29.Rxf6 Qe7 (or 29...Nxb2 30.Qxb2 Qe7 31.Rxd6 threatening mate on g7) ] 26...Bc6 27.Rb1 [apparently 27.Nb4 was better 27...Bd7 28.Nbd5 would be repeating moves; the position is fairly equal but maybe black is better because of the passed pawn and white weak d3 pawn] 27...Rb8? this is a mistake and turns the advantage to white; the forcing sequence means the h pawn is lost. I think both players were in moderate time trouble by now [F: 27...Re8 28.Ne3 Nd7 29.Nfd5 Bd4 etc and F gives black half a pawn advantage] 28.Rxb8 Qxb8 29.Ne7+ Kh7 30.Nxc6 Qb6?? Objectively this should lose the game without question, but as will be seen I managed to throw the win, (equally my oppoenent managed to trick me well) [Objectively black had to be prepared to give up the a pawn 30...Nxc6 31.Qxa4 Bd4 32.Rf1 for example; F gives white half a pawn advantage] 31.Nxe5 Qxf2! a very clever trick which enabled me to blunder the game. Now white has to play accurately [31...Bxe5 32.Rf3 makes it too easy for white] 32.Ng4?? Throwing away the win. At first Fritz says white is totally dead, but after processing for longer it drops the evaluation to under half a pawn. The position is so deep due to the passed pawn, threats of Rb8 Rb2 and Bd4 and white's counterplay that it is hard for the comptuer to analyse it; things should have been relatively easy after Qxd6 though by the look of it [32.Qxd6 should win without much trouble; the only definitely good move I can find; 32.Nd7 is muddy; I will try not to get side tracked on it; 32.Nf3 also loses 32...g5 33.Nd5 (33.Nh5 loses 33...Rb8) 33...Rb8 34.Nb4 Qc5 loses a piece] 32...Qe1?? apparently white is winning again after this. (Note that this whole section of the game was in at least moderate time trouble for both players before the time control). 33.Qxa4?? I was happy to remove the threat of the passed pawn, but missed a winning move [33.Qxd6 the main point being the threat of Nf6+ 33...Qa1 e.g. if this then 34.e5 h5 35.Nf6+ Kh8 (35...Bxf6 36.Qxf8) 36.d4 white is very clearly winning] 33...Bd4! I had overlooked this and realised it was bad news; this illustrates well the middle game principle of opposite bishops that attacks can be much more dangerous and harder to stop. Although the position is unclear Fritz initially evaluates only a very slight edge for black 34.h4 correct according to F 34...g5?? evaluation goes from and edge for black to a win for white 35.Nh5 good as well according to Fritz (+3) 35...gxh4 36.Nhf6+?? I'm tempted to give this three question marks as the evaluation goes from +4 to -5! A number of queen moves would win for white, as well as Kh3. Somewhat infuratingly looking at it now, there were lots of moves which would still have kept the win objectively. The main problem appears to stem from white's queen being out of the game at the moment, and the tempo should be spent on getting the queen back in the game, or a similar move [e.g. 36.Qd7 Qa5 37.e5 Bxe5 all of these positions are very sharp and there are plenty of opportunities to blunder 38.Kh3 (38.Nxe5 may give black hopes of drawing after 38...Qxe5 39.Be4+ Kh8 40.Qf5 Qxf5 41.Bxf5 hxg3+ 42.Kxg3 doesn't look very easy for white to win this endgame) 38...Bg7 39.Bd5 Kh8 40.Qf5 Qa2 41.Nhf6 Bxf6 42.Qxf6+ Kg8 43.Nxh6+ Kh7 44.Be4#; 36.Qb5 hxg3+ 37.Kh3 and white threatens Qf5+ 37...f5 38.Ngf6+ a clever tactic 38...Bxf6 39.Qxf5+! Kh8 40.Nxf6 Rf7 41.Qg6; 36.Kh3 Qd2 37.Qd7 with the idea again of going to f5; 36.Qa6 hxg3+ 37.Kh3 f5 38.exf5 Qe8 39.Qxd6; 36.c5 even this wins 36...hxg3+ 37.Kh3 Qa1 38.Qd7; 36.Qc6 hxg3+ 37.Kh3 Qa5 38.e5! letting the queen into the game on e4] 36...Bxf6?? Fritz says it is now a draw. This gives up a key component of black's attack; black's king was in no immediate danger but it was a very sharp position. [36...Kg6 it isn't easy to see this is the only move to win 37.Qd7 e.g. is mate 37...Qxg3+ 38.Kh1 Qe1+ 39.Kh2 Bg1+ 40.Kh1 Be3+ 41.Bf1 (41.Kh2 Bf4+ 42.Kh3 Qg3#) 41...Qxf1+ 42.Kh2 Bf4#] 37.Nxf6+ Kg6 38.Nd5? The evaluation changes from draw to a win for black now. Nd7 would have threatened to take the f8 rook with check which may have saved the game [38.Nd7 is unclear but maybe white can draw 38...Qxg3+ 39.Kh1 Qe1+ (39...h3 black cannot do the same thing as in the game because the f8 rook is en prise 40.Nxf8+ Kg7 41.Qa1+ wherever the king moves the queen comes in to a1; a very nice detail 41...Kxf8 42.Bf1 and white is winning) 40.Kh2] 38...Qxg3+ 39.Kh1 h3 I remember that I knew this was coming but couldn't find anything else when I played Nd5 40.Ne7+ [40.Qa2 was more resourceful, at least with an ending of N vs R, but would be none the less hopeless objectively] 40...Kh7 41.Bxh3 everything loses badly 41...Qxh3+ 42.Kg1 Qg3+ 43.Kf1 Qxd3+ 44.Kg1 Rb8 45.Qd7 Rb1+ In the critical positions in time trouble both sides blundered with evaluation shifting rapidly several times. I had got a better position and would have been a pawn up in an endgame, however my opponent played an unsound but tricky tactical idea which caused serious complications and was ulitmately successful, so it may well have been a good idea by him, (rather than trying to play on hoping to draw a pawn down). 0–1
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