Alex Levitan (2045) – Mike Splane (2205) 8/14/2008
This was a very high-pressure game for me. Alex had beaten me three times this year, and I didn’t want to make it four times. The player with White has won all of our previous games; I wanted to snap that streak. And I needed to win this game to win the tournament, a draw wouldn’t do.
1. d4 Nf6 2.c4
c5 3. e3 e6 4. Nc3 a6 5. Nf3 d5 6. a4 Nc6 7. Be2 cd
In an earlier game against Alex I played 7. … Be7 here and got the inferior position. This time I’ve done my homework.
8. Bc4 Qc7
Chesslab.com shows 4 games with this move, a draw and three wins for Black. With such a small dataset it was hard to get any clear idea of how to play the middlegame, and I made some inaccuracies.
9. 0-0
This is what I was expecting. I don’t think 9. d5 is a problem after 9. … Na5 10. Ba2 c4
9. … Bd6
Perhaps the bishop belongs on e7, keeping the d-file clear for a rook. My plan is to attack on the kingside, so I won’t be castling short, and I wanted the e7 square for my king. I didn’t think it mattered, I expected him to capture on c5. The immediate fianchetto of black’s queen bishop, 9…. b6, led to a quick draw in the only game I was able to find.
10. Bd3
Now we’re out of “book” He is planning a kingside attacking formation with Bb1 and Qd3, but I’m not going to castle kingside. He should play Qe2 and Rd1.
10. … b6 11. Bb1 Bb7 12. h3 Rd8
I only briefly considered 0-0-0, and that might be an improvement because I need both rooks on the kingside. I didn’t want to allow any counterplay, but his bishops are aimed at the wrong side of the board, and they interfere with the rooks moving to the b and c files, so it will take a long time for him to get any attack going.
13. Ne4
This move would be foolish if my bishop had been developed on e7. I’d swap knights and play Bf6 when his center collapses.
13
. …. Be7
I rejected 13 … Ne4 14. Be4 f5 15. Bc6 Bc6 and perhaps this was a bad decision. His pieces are inactive and getting in one another’s way, so I didn’t want to trade anything. On the other hand, I’d be removing his active pieces and I don’t see how he will survive the coming pawn-storm on the king side.
After 13. …. Be7 14. Nf6 Bf6
the d pawn falls.
14. Ng3 h5 15. b3 h4 16. Ne2 Nh5
I couldn’t find a good way to capitalize on my space advantage. If I’d castled on move 12 I could have played 16. … Rdg8 and pushed the g pawn, when his position rapidly collapses.
17. Qe1 Na5 ?
I worried a bit about decentralizing my knight, and I was correct. I thought his forced knight retreat to d2 would open the b7-g2 diagonal for a killing attack, but it gives him an extra tempo to block the diagonal with f3 and e4. A better idea is 17. … Bf6 18 Bb2 Ne7 transferring the knight to f5.
18. Nd2 f5 19. Bb2 Rg8 20. Ba2 Qc6 21. f3 g5 22. Rc1 g4 23. hg fg 24. e4 Qd7 ?
I had to do something about the threat 25. b4, and I’m planning to slide the queen over to the g file. I’d also like to bring the knight back to c6. The plan is too slow and White gets some dangerous activity on the f file. I should have played 24. … gf 25.Rf3 Qd7 to avoid the mate threats on f7 and f8.
25. fg
Rg4 26. Qf2 Bd6
The mate threats give him a temporary initiative.
27. Qf3
I was threatening … h3
27. … Rg5
Of course not 27. … Qg7?? 28. dc
28. b4
Wow, did this scare me. I didn’t see the idea and was sure I was missing something. I looked at 28. … Nc6 but didn’t want his knight coming to c4.
28. … cb 29. d5?
I don’t see any move that causes me any real problems, but closing the center certainly helps me. This move killed all of his minor pieces. Not only that, it opened the c5-g1 diagonal for my bishop. I just need to get my king out of danger and his position on the kingside is hopeless.
29. … e5 30. Kh2
Somehow I knew he would play this.
30 … Ng3 31. Rf2 Qg7
I can’t play 31. … Bc5 32. Rc5 bc 33. Qf8#. He has no counterplay and I need to transfer my queenside pieces onto better squares before taking any drastic action. His king won’t run away.
32. Ng1 Bc8 33. Nh3 Bh3 34. gh Nh5
35. Nc4
I wasn’t expecting 5. Rg2 because Alex hates to trade queens.
35. … Nc4 36. Bc4 Nf4?
Expecting resignation. I thought he would be unable to stop Ke7 and Rdg8, or Rg3 and Rh3#.
37. Qf4
This move stunned me. At first I thought he was throwing away his queen for nothing. Then I saw the pin.
37….
ef 38. Bg7 Rg7 39. Ba6?
This simply loses. In rook and opposite color bishop endings the initiative matters far more than material. He had to play 39. Rf3 to block the discovered check, but then I’ll happily push the a pawn.
39. … f3+ 40. Kh1 Rg3 41. Rh2 Bc5 42. Bb5+
I looked at 42. Bc4 f2 43. Rg2 Rh3+ 44. Rh2 Rc3 45. Rc4 bc and thought this was winning.
42. … Ke7 43. Rc5
The bishop has to be eliminated to stop my threat of doubling rooks on the g file and pushing the f pawn.
43. … bc 44. Bc4 Kd6 45. Ra2
Rh3+ 46. Kg1 Rg8+ 47. Kf1 Rh1+ 48. Kf2
Rh2+ 49. Kf3
Ra2 50. Ba2
h3 51. e5+ Ke5 52. d6 Rf8+
I wasn’t looking for the best move. My only real danger is losing on time, so when I saw that this move won I quickly played it. 52. … Rh8 is better, queening the h-pawn.
53. Kg3 h2
54. Kh2 Rf2+
55. Kg3 Ra2
56. d7 Rd2 0-1