1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.Bd3 c5 6.c3 Nc6 7.Ne2 cxd4 8.cxd4 f6 9.exf6 Nxf6 10.Nf3 Bd6 11.0-0 Qc7 12.h3 0-0 13.Be3 Bd7 14.Re1
Well, we left off here last time.
mn-Z.D.
Ottawa 2017
This time we're in the last round of the same tournament as before, and I really needed a win to tie for first.
14...Rae8
This is probably a better move than my previous opponent's 14...Be8, natural as it may be, which leaves the e6 pawn a bit vulnerable.
15.Rc1 Qb8
This is pretty usual; Black hops off the c-file, and out of the way of Nc3-b5.
16.Nc3 Re7!?
This is a bit odd, but it has a clear point in mind - Black wants to play ...Be8-h5 whilst keeping e6 securely defended. 16...a6 has been the main move in practice.
17.a3
Preparing b2-b4, but also covering the b4 square, so that Nb5 can no longer be met by ...Bb4. The immediate 17.Nb5 is also fine, but after 17...Bb4, the natural 18.Bd2 (White generally wants to exchange these Bishops in this line) gives Black some annoying counterplay after 18...Bxd2 19.Qxd2 Nh5.
17...Be8 18.Nb5 Bf4 19.Qd2 Ne4?!
I'm sort of torn here. The computer initially supports this move, but I was quite surprised to see it, as it looks like after the exchange on e4, the resulting isolated pawn on that square is likely to fall. It probably doesn't equalize fully either, but 19...Nh5 feels somehow safer.
20.Bxe4 dxe4 21.Ng5?!
Maybe swapping twice on f4 is better. e4 is likely to fall, but d4 probably will too, leaving White with the isolated pawn on e6 to play against.
21...Bxe3?!
21...Bxg5 22.Bxg5 Rd7 looks like it gives Black surprisingly strong counterplay.
22.Qxe3 Na5?
Black creates a counter-threat against b5, but White has a few ways to meet this. 22...Rf5 is probably stronger, with ideas such as 23.Nc3 Nxd4! in mind, but after something like 23.Rc5, it feels like sooner or later the e4 pawn will fall off the board.
23.Qxe4
Threatening mate on h7. Incidentally, the blindingly simple 23.Nc3 should also be very strong.
23...Rf5
Note that 23...Bg6 would mean that the b5 Knight is no longer en prise. Now, returning the game move, my original intention was 24.Qh4, threatening h7 once again. This is kind of funny because, while okay, this is probably roughly White's fifth strongest move. Or something like that. After staring at the position for a little while, something kind of obvious dawned on me.
24.Qxf5?!
This is a good move. Well, it kind of depends on what your definition of a good move is. White is winning after this. However, my computer flags up the truly spectacular moves 24.Rc7!! and 24.Rc8!!, both of which it evaluates as over +6. There you go.
24...exf5 25.Rxe7
25...Nc6
The kind of fun point is that after 25...Bxb5 26.Rcc7, White's Rooks and Knight are so active that Black is defenseless against having to give up his Queen to stop mate.
26.Re6?!
According to my computer, pretty much any other Rook move along the e-file that doesn't straight up hang the Rook is better. Fair enough I guess.
26...a6
26...h6 allows Black to escape to a position that's probably lost, but White has two Rooks for a Queen in an otherwise "normal" position, with no knockout impending, as the Knight has to retreat.
27.Rce1!?
27.d5 is also good.
27...Bd7 28.Nd6!?
This I was a little bit proud of. Black can take on e6, but the threat of Re8+ will ensure that Black can't keep his Queen. The computer says that the, once again, blindingly simple 28.Rd6, moving the Rook out of attack while attacking the Bishop on d7, giving the Knight time to retreat, is objectively stronger.
28...Bxe6 29.Rxe6 h6
On 29...Kf8, White can start with 30.Nxh7+, by the way.
30.Re8+ Qxe8 31.Nxe8 hxg5 32.d5
So my reward after all that is a pawn up Knight ending. That's a pretty good result, to be fair, but I was pretty disappointed to learn afterwards that there were several more efficient wins along the way.
32...Nd8 33.Nd6 g6 34.g4 Kg7 35.gxf5 gxf5 36.Nxf5+ Kf6 37.Ne3 Ke5 38.Kg2 b5 39.Kf3 a5 40.Kg4 Nf7 41.Kh5 b4 42.Kg6 Nd6 43.Kxg5 Ne4+ 44.Kg6 Nxf2 45.h4 Nd3 46.h5 Nf4+ 47.Kg5 Ke4 48.h6 Kxe3 49.h7 Nxd5 50.h8=Q Kd3 51.Qc8 Kd4 52.Qc6 1-0
Have you ever played a game that you were really proud about immediately afterwards, but in the cold light of day (partially provided by the computer), it becomes clear that you didn't actually play that well at all. Yeah. That's what happened here. Sad stuff.
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