|
(1) Aramil,W - Brock,B [B22]
Chicago Open Chicago (3), 26.05.2004
[Brock Bill]
Friendly banter before the game begins: Brock: "Gee, we haven't played each other since the Immortal Seven Queens Game." Aramil: "My first move is going to be 1.d4; in fact, I'm writing it down..." 1.e4
c5
2.c3
d5
3.exd5
Qxd5
4.d4
Nf6
5.Nf3
Bg4
6.dxc5!
Qxc5
[ I remembered a game I'd lost to Robert Loncarevic in the sharp line 6...Qxd1+
7.Kxd1
e5
8.b4
e4
9.h3
and decided that it would be crazy to play this line against William without good preparation.] 7.Na3
a6
8.Be3
Qc7
9.Qa4+
Nc6
10.Nb5
[ William was not satisfied with his opening play, and after the game he suggested the line 10.0-0-0
e6
11.Nb5
Qb8
12.Nbd4
(Rozentalis's recommendation, first played in Rozentalis-Lutz, Bundesliga 2001). This looks scary for Black, as the pressure on the Nc6 will probably lead to an unpleasant endgame.; But there seems to be a more energetic reply for Black: 10.0-0-0
e6
11.Nb5
Qc8!
12.Nbd4
( One point is that the tactic 12.Na7?
backfires after 12...Rxa7!
13.Bxa7
b5
; Maybe White should grab the two Bishops with 12.Nd6+
Bxd6
13.Rxd6
but again 13...b5
looks OK for White.) 12...b5!
and the poor White King is beginning to look misplaced.] 10...Qb8
[ Better 10...Qc8
as in the note above.] 11.Nbd4
Bd7
12.Qb3
e6
13.Nxc6
Bxc6
14.Nd4
Bd7
15.Be2
Qc7
16.0-0
Be7
17.Rfe1
0-0
18.Bf3
Rab8
19.Nf5
Bc5
20.Qc4
Rfc8
21.Bxc5
Qxc5
[ The tempting 21...exf5
looks like fishing for trouble: 22.Re7!
Be6
23.Rxc7
Bxc4
24.Rxc8+
Rxc8
25.Bd4
, and White would have two Bishops and a healthy Queenside pawn majority.] 22.Qxc5
Rxc5
23.Nd4
g5
Strong move or weak move? 24.h3
b5
25.Nb3
Rc7
26.Rad1
b4
27.cxb4
Rxb4
28.Re5
h6
29.Rc5
Diagram # What's Black's best move in this position? 29...Ra7?!
Too passive. [ The game would be fully equal after the active 29...Rc4!
For example, 30.Rxc7
Rxc7
31.Rd6
Rc2
32.Rxa6
Rxb2
33.Nc5
Rc2
34.Nxd7
Nxd7
and Black is OK.] 30.Ra5
Kg7
31.Rd6
Bb5
32.Rd4
Rc4
33.a4
Rxd4
34.Nxd4
Bd3
35.b4
Aramil is making me suffer with solid positional play: each of the three White pieces is more active than its Black counterpart. 35...Rc7
36.Bc6
Nd7
37.b5
axb5
38.axb5
Ne5
I saw the following sacrifice, but couldn't find a better defense in time pressure. [ Fritz suggests 38...e5
, after which I have no clue what's going on.] 39.b6!?
Rxc6
40.Nxc6
Nxc6
41.b7
Diagram # 41...Be4?!
[ I dreamed of trying to set up a fortress with 41...Nxa5
42.b8Q
Nc6
It might take White more than twenty moves to break this formation down, but I don't see any fortress. For example. 43.Qb2+
Kg6
44.f3!
Black would like to get the Bishop to d5, where it is protected by the pawn on e6 and holds the Knight on c6. Together, the two minors control a lot of central squares and (almost) form a Great Wall. But 44.f3! stops this plan. 44...f6
To stop 45.Qh8. ( 44...Bc4??
45.Qc2+
) 45.Qb6
Ne5
46.Qxe6
wins a pawn.] 42.Ra8!?
Diagram # [ An interesting position. Now that time pressure was over, I had plenty of thinking time. After ten minutes, I resigned because I saw no defense to 43.Rc8, 44.Rxc6, and 45.b8=Q. But in fact, there's an elegant defense, which the players and a half-dozen kibitzers overlooked in the post-mortem. Fritz found it immediately and Jon Burgess took ten seconds: 42.Ra8
Bd3!
43.Rc8
Ba6!
44.Rxc6
Bxb7
and the positio n is a dead draw. In this game, I achieved negative immortality by resigning a drawn position; thinking about my next game with William gives me indigestion.] 1-0
|
