Mike Splane (2239) – Alex Levitan (2020) 8/2/2007
1. e4
c6
He played 1. … c5
and 1. … e5 in previous games. The player with White
has won all of our games. This one, luckily for me, followed the pattern.
2. d4 d5 3. ed
cd 4. c4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. a3? a6
This is the second time I made
this mistake. White should play 6. Bg5 and answer Be6 or e6 with 7. a3. There
is a crazy gambit line after 6. …Qa5 7. Bf6 ef 8. cd Bb4 9.dc
Bc3+ 10. bc
Qc3+ 11. Ke2 bc which
leads to a perpetual check. White can improve
with 9. Qd2 Bc3 10
bc Qd5 11. Ne2 0-0 12. Nf4 when he is virtually a pawn
up.
7. Be3
I should still play Bg5. The
Bishop is too passively placed on e3.
7. …
e6
I was a bit worried about Ng4, but
I am used to playing IQP positions where I have allowed the piece trade on
e3. Overall the strengthening of White’s
center seems to outweigh the loss of the two bishops.
8. Nf3 Bd6 9. Bd3 h6 10. 0-0 0-0 11. Rc1
I “took a move off” here, making a
move with no goal in mind. I saw he could play … e5 and decided not to analyze
the resulting position. Terrible laziness. I played Rc1 because the veiled threat to his
knight on c6 could be useful if he advances the b pawn. I’m playing for traps,
a bad tendency.
11. … dc
This is more or less forced; he
can’t develop his queen bishop with the pawns on e6 and b7, so he must play …
e5 at some point.
12. Bc4 e5 13. de Ne5 14. Ne5 Be5 15. Qd8 ?
Objectively, this is not the best
move, giving away the d file and helping Black to develop, but I was taking
into consideration my opponent’s skills - he is a better player than I am in
queen and rook endings. With the queens
off I didn’t think he could outplay me. Against another player I would have
looked at 15. Qb3 or 15. h3.
15. … Rd8 16. Rfe1
Passive. Again I’m playing for traps. Perhaps h3 is in order, with
the idea of Bc4-e2-f3. His pressure down the e5 b2 diagonal is annoying and
gives him a slight initiative. Where are my targets? b7 is the weakness, so my bishop belongs on
f3.
16. … Bf5 17. h3
Now I see the right idea, but this
is a move late.
17. … Rac8 18. Bb6 Re8 19. Bb3!
This is the only move, preventing 19… Rc6 because 20. Ba4 Rb6 21. Be8 Ne8 22. Re5 wins the exchange. )
Lots of ways for me to go wrong here:
A) 19. Nd1 looks good, guarding the c4 bishop and getting out of threats on the e5-b2 diagonal, but it loses the exchange to 19. … Bh2+ 20. Kf1 Bd3+ 21. Bd3 Rc1
B) 19. Bf1 is too passive.
C) 19. Be2 Bf4 20. Ra1 Bd2 wins the exchange, and 20. Rd1 Rc6 22. Bd4 Bc2 23. Ra1 Bd2 is also crushing.
D) 19. Bd5 Bc3
E) 19. Nd5 Nd5 20. Bd5 Rc1 21. Rc1 Bb2 wins a pawn. If 22. Rc7 Re1+ 23. Kh2 Be5+
19. … Bg6
A bit passive, now he is playing for traps. He could have played 19. … Bc3 20. Re8+ Re8 21. Rc3 Re2 when I can’t save the b pawn, but I can win the f pawn as compensation after 22. Rc8+ Kh7 23. Bf7 His bishop move strengthens the threat of … Bc3.
20. Re3! Bf4
If 20 … Bc3 21. Rec3 Rc3 22. Rc3 Re2 23. Bd4 with a slight edge for White due to the 2 bishops.
21. Re8+ Re8 22. Rd1 Bh5
I thought this was a mistake - I get to eliminate my back row mate problems with tempo. I was expecting 22. … Ne4 with equality.
23. g4 Bg6 24. Nd5
I wanted to centralize my king and get rid of checks, so I looked at 24. Kg2 Ne4 25. Ne4 Be4+ 26. f3 Bc6 when I and didn’t like the position. Another idea is 24. f3 with the idea of pushing the h pawn, but he can meet this with 24. … h5 when I’ve weakened my second rank for no reason.
24. … Nd5 25. Bd5
25. Rd5? Re1+ 26. Kg2 Be4+
25. … Bc2
The threat to the b pawn forces him into this simplifying line.
26. Rd4 Re1+ 27. Kg2 Be5 28. Rd2
I can’t avoid the exchange of bishops. He has a perpetual check after 28. Rc4 Bd3 29. Rc8+ Kh7 30. Bb7 Bf1+ 31. Kf3 Be2+
28. … Be4+ 29. Be4 Re4 30. Rd8+ Kh7 31. Re8 f6
If 31. … Kg6? 32. f4 Re2+ 33. Bf2
32. Bc7
I have to play this immediately, or he can break the pin with … Kg6 and …Kf7
32. … Re2 33. b4 Ra2 34. Be5 fe
If 34. … Re2 ? 35. Kf3 Re5 36. Re5 fe 37. Ke4 wins.
35. Re5 Ra3 36. Re7 b5 37. Ra7 Ra4 38. Kg3 Rb4 39. Ra6 Rc4!
I was expecting Rb1 followed by advancing the pawn to b2. I planned to post my rook on the b file, and then use my rook, king and pawns to create mating threats or to promote a pawn. This plan may not be winning but White would have a clear advantage. By posting his rook on the side of the pawn he keeps his rook active as a defender, and completely stops my ideas. The position is now a draw.
40. Rb6 b4
41. f4
If 41. h4 g5 with an easy draw. I can never force f3-f4. Around here I thought about offering a draw, but since I didn’t see any way I could lose I didn’t think it would hurt to play a few more moves.
41. … Rc3+
41. … g5 draws, and this does too.
42. Kh4 b3 43. f4 Rf3 ?
After 43. … Rd3 44. Rb7 Rf3 I’m in zuqzwang, with no way to improve my position. I could even blunder with 43. … Rd3 44. f6?? g5+ 45. Kh5 Rh3#.
44. Rb7
Now he is in zugzwang, instead of me. He can move off the rank and surrender the b pawn; the 3 vs 2 R+P ending is a book draw. Instead he allows me a dangerous passed pawn.
44. … Kg8 ? 45. Kh5 Rh3+ 46. Kg6 Kf8 47. Rb8+
If there is a win it is probably around here somewhere that I went wrong. The check helps his king move toward guarding the b3 pawn, after it gets to c4 I can’t win.
47. Rg7 Rg3 48. Rb7 Rg4+ 49. Kf6 Kg8 50. Rb3 Ra4 is a draw. Black’s king is on the short side of the pawn, and his rook is on the long side. The pawn on h6 rules out checkmates along the h file, so his king can safely reside on h7, while his rook checks along the a file.
47. … Ke7 48. Kg7 Rg3 49. f6+ Ke6 50. Rb6+ Ke5 ?
He was worried about 51. Rh6 Rg4+ 52. Rg6 Rf4 53. Rf6, so he played 50. … Ke5 to prevent 53. Rf6, but he can swap rooks and queen his own pawn. He miscounted the tempos. After swapping rooks I queen first but he queens a move later, with a draw. 50. … Kd5! would let him hold onto the b pawn, when I can’t win.
51. f7 Rg4+ 52. Kh6 Rf4 53. Kg6
Wrong way
53. … Rg4+ 54. Kh7 Rh4+ 55. Kg7 Rg4+ 56. Kf8 Kd5 57. Rb3
There may be faster wins, but I was playing it safe. He can’t stop the f pawn from queening.
57. … Rf4 58. Rg3 Ke6 59. Ke8 Ra4 60. Re3+
Kd5 61. f8/Q
I saw Rd3+ allowing me to interpose on d8, but I assumed he would resign when I queened the pawn.
61. … Ra8+
Maybe I’ll play 62. Kd7?
62. Kf7 1-0