Quote:
Originally Posted by ganstaman
I hope he will share his thoughts on the game...I suspect it could be instructive to see how differently we viewed some of the same positions...
It was a pretty interesting game (also long, so varied). Here's some payback for delaying the tournament a month.
http://www.chess.com/echess/game?id=61569980
***Opening***
I was following Vigus's Slav book, which gives Van Wely-Sokolov 2004 here for the opening until this point:
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.a4 Bf5 6.e3 e6 7.Bxc4 Bb4 8.0-0 0-0 9.Qe2 Bg4 10.Rd1 Qa5 11.e4 Qh5 12.h3 Bxf3 13.Qxf3 Qxf3 14.gxf3 Nbd7 15.Be3 Rfd8 16.Na2 Be7 17.Nc1 Ne5 18.Be2 Ng6 19.a5 a6
After 20.Nd3
I wouldn't say that I was in love with the position, maybe I would look to deviate around move 14/15 (with ...a5) or something, or much earlier and play mainlines (Qa5 is the repertoire but uncommon).
In either case, my idea here was something like Rc8-c7-d7 which looked solid, with an idea of then Ne8-c7-b5. I don't have notes from this part of the game, but I believe my motivation for this came from 20...Rd7 21.Ne5 and I can't capture the knight, although 21...Rc7 looks OK to me now. Nc5 was the bigger worry.
There was a bigger problem with this idea:
20.Nd3 Rac8 21.b4 Rc7
After 21...Rc7
I didn't even see this possibility; a combination of being focused on that pawn as a support for the knight and considering it blockaded.
***Middlegame***
The next few moves were played well by ganstaman; the idea is just to breakthrough on the queenside before I can coordinate my pieces. Otherwise Black would be OK with the pawn and central control for the exchange.
(Postscript: while checking these lines with a computer, my engine actually thinks Black's OK here -- I'm curious whether other humans agree; it's possible I am underestimating the d4-d3 ideas noted below, or am missing something else important.)
22.d5 cxd5 23.Bb6 Rcd7 24.e5 Nh5 25.Bxd8 Rxd8 26.Rdb1 Nhf4 27.Nxf4 Nxf4
After 28.Bf1 The main choice amounts to timing when to play f6 or whether d4-d3 works at any point. (26...f6 was a little different). 28...d4 was the only important alternative (intending d3 to block the bishop on f1). 29...axb5 is preferable because the b7 pawn is harder for White to round up (he can't use the bishop).
28.Bf1 f6 29.b5 axb5 30.Rxb5 Rd7 31.Rc1 fxe5 32.Rc8+ Kf7 33.Rb8 Rc7 34.R5xb7 Rc1
After 34...Rc1 I had been thinking of resigning for a few moves, but played to this point since there was one last trick; now White blunders here with
I could play 38...Rf1+ directly reaching
(Analysis: after 38...Rf1+/41.Rxa8)
Continuing with the game is similar except for the knight position: 35.a6 Ne2+ 36.Kh2 Rxf1 37.a7 Rxf2+ 38.Kh1 Ng3+ 39.Kg1 Ra2 40.a8Q Rxa8
After 38...Ng3+/41.Rxa8
***Endgame***
An unusual material imbalance has been reached.
My first thought was just to aim for something static and hold a draw, like
but I didn't want to have to play on forever with no chances, so I decided to play a little more aggressively, with the bishop outside of the pawns.
It took me a few additional moves to realize that I had reasonable winning chances, especially once White allowed his king to get separated from the pawns, e.g., Kd2 is hard to understand, as White's king is never going to get around the central pawns, but was doing useful defensive work on the kingside.
I don't have anything in particular to say about this unwinding phase; it seems mostly Black stumbles around with where his pieces belong, but White does more serious damage by mislocating the king.
Skipping ahead:
41.Rxa8 Nf5 42.Ra6 Kf6 43.Rb5 Kf7 44.Kf2 Bh4+ 45.Kg1 Bg5 (45...Nd4!?, intending Bf6) 46.Rb7+ Kf6 47.Rb5 Be3+ 48.Kf1 Ne7 49.Ke2 Bd4 50.Rd6 Ng6 (50...Nxf5 51.Rbxd5=) 51.Rb7 Nf4+ 52.Kd2 h5 53.Rdd7 Kg5 54.Rxg7+
[Aside: if 54...g6 55.f4 exf4 56.Kxd4 h5, what's the evaluation?]
54...Kh4 55.Rg8 Kxh3
After 55...Kxh3 This still looks drawn, but it also looks like Black is making progress. My first idea is to push the pawn to h3, stick a piece on g3, and then get the king out of the way.
This doesn't exactly work, but I am able to trade the e6 pawn for the f3 pawn, which is a big achievement, although I suspect it's still a theoretical draw.
56.Rb1 Kh2 57.Rf1 h4 58.Rg4 h3 59.Rc1 Bf2 60.Rc2 Ng2 61.Rc6 Bg3 62.Rxe6 Nh4 63.Rh6 Nxf3+
After 63...Nxf3+ I threw in a repetition just to show who's boss (as GM games have taught me is necessary to win these sorts of positions)--but more honestly just to reach the weekend, so that I could figure out whether there was any risk of losing by pushing the pawns.
The rest is unwrapping the bishop and just jamming the pawns down the board. I'm pretty sure White can draw this with best play. For example:
64.Ke3 Ne1 65.Ke2 Ng2 66.Kf3 Ne1+ 67.Ke2 Ng2 68.Kf3 e4+ 69.Ke2 Bb8
After 69...Bb8 I think 70.Rh7 (asking what Black is really going to do if Ba7 is prevented) with the ideas of:
70...Bd6 71.Rd7 Bc5 72.Rxd5 Ne3 73.Rdg5 Nxg4 74.Rxg4
70...Be5 71.Re7 Bf4 72.Rxd5 Ne3 73.Rxf4 Nxd5 74.Rxf4
It's not too hard to see these endings are drawn; Black's king is stuck, and the minor piece is too tied down defending the e-pawn to him it escape.
Instead, 70.Rg7 was played. This is still OK, after 70...d4 71.Rgh7 is a draw, via 71...Kg1 72.Rxh3 d3+ 73.Rxd3! Nf4+ 74.Ke3 exd3; 72...Nf4+ 73.Ke1 Nxh3 74.Rxg3 is also a draw, although harder to see. This idea, though, of just doubling on the h-file and playing Rxh3+ works even more simply on subsequent moves.
Instead, what followed was 70.Rg7 d4
71.Kf2 Nf4 72.Rb6 Be5
73.Rg5 d3 74.Rxe5 d2 75.Rd6 Nd3+ 76.Ke2 Nxe5 77.Rxd2 Ng4 and White resigned.
After 77...Ng4 0-1
73.Rg5 may be the losing move; I think 73.Re7 holds. (Postscript: looks like 73...d3 wins there, too. 72.Rb6 may be to blame, then, with 72.Rgh7 possibly drawn, e.g., 72...e3+ 73.Kf3 e2 74.Rxh3+, or 72...Be5 73.Re7 d3 74.Rxe5 d2 75.Rxe4 d1=Q 76.Rxf4=.)