[Event "Cork Masters 2011"]
[Site "Cork IRL"]
[Date "2011.04.10"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Lopez, Alex"]
[Black "Collins, Sam"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2415"]
[BlackElo "2450"]
[ECO "A05"]
[Annotator "Lopez, Alex"]
[ICUid "29889"]
{ I have chosen to annotate my game against IM Sam Collins. Be warned that
the game is full of inaccuracies and full-blown mistakes by both players.
But oftentimes, these are the games that offer the most food for thought
and chances to improve, so when I was asked to annotate a game of mine for
the report, I felt that this was the best choice. Hopefully the reader will
agree! } 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4. O-O O-O 5. c4 d6 6. Nc3 (6. d4 { Of
course this is the main, and objectively strongest, move. However, if I go
in for this, we are transposing into the Fianchettoed King's Indian
Defense. The theory on this is endless, with a lot of continuations for
Black. As I am not a 1.d4 player, I didn't want to discuss the theory with
a solid player like Sam. }) 6... e5 7. d3 (7. d4 Nbd7 { would transpose
back into KID lines. }) 7... c6 (7... Nc6 8. Rb1 a5 9. a3 Re8 10. Nd2 {
with standard manoeuvring plans like an English, although I have to admit
that this is pretty unthreatening stuff. Black has pretty much equalised in
my view. }) 8. c5 $5 { I'm not too sure if to award this a question mark,
an exclamation mark, or no comment. The move aims to simply create an
unbalanced position that will force both players to think concretely,
rather than the more typical manoeuvring play. } 8... h6 { Sam avoids the
sharper play arising after dxc5, and sets out to control the g5 square - an
often necessary prophylactic step before advancing f7-f5. } (8... dxc5 9.
Nxe5 Nd5 { this is the critical line, and White has two interesting
continuations in my view. } 10. Nc4 { This was a speculative P sacrifice
that I thought was quite interesting at the time, though it's not an
exciting prospect to find yourself a P down as White on move 11! } (10.
Nxd5 cxd5 11. d4 $1 { Without this move White would be in pretty bad shape.
} 11... cxd4 12. Nd3 { and White has compensation for the sacrificed P. })
10... Nxc3 11. bxc3 Bxc3 12. Rb1 { White has slightly more development, and
a better P structure, in exchange for Black's extra pawn. I would assess
the position as roughly equal, though I think there is somewhat more
pressure on White to prove that he has full compensation. } 12... Bg7 13.
Bf4 Na6 14. Qd2 $13 { and Black's pieces are quite tied down. }) 9. cxd6
Qxd6 { Here, I felt White had achieved a very minor success due to the
exchange of the c-pawn for the d-pawn. } 10. Nd2 Be6 11. Qc2 { It's very
clear that White is going to be playing on the Q-side. This move eyes the
c5-square among other things, such that Nce4-c5 may be a possibility in
some lines. } 11... Nbd7 12. a4 { seizing space on the Q-side, and it also
contains some other ideas. For example a5-a6 can turn the g2-B into a very
strong piece and collapse the black Q-side. Also, White can now play b3 (or
even b4 in some lines) with the idea of Bc1-a3. } 12... Nd5 13. a5 { as it
happens, the loss of control of the b4-square is not critical. } 13... f5
14. Nc4 Qc7 $6 { This is the natural square for the Q, but I feel it's
going to be a little misplaced here. Instead, Qe7 avoids any potential
tactings along the c-file. } 15. Bd2 Kh7 16. Rfc1 { White's last moves have
had a lot of purpose. He has gained space on the Q-side, placed his N on
c4, put his Q and R on the c-file, and developed his c1B to d2, from where
it eyes some important Q-side squares. Black has made natural moves as
well, but his K-side expansion carries less venom than White's Q-side
activity for the time being, in my opinion. Sam and I agreed that in this
position White is a little more comfortable, though it's nothing major. }
16... N7f6 $6 { This natural move allows White to make a favourable
exchange of pieces due to a tactical motif. } 17. Nxd5 $1 cxd5 $2 { The
principled move, but it fails to a tactical stroke. } (17... Nxd5 { Best,
and it leads to a long more or less forced line that is favourable for
White but very difficult to win. } 18. a6 b6 19. Ne3 $1 Nxe3 20. Bxe3 Bd7
21. Bxc6 Rac8 22. Ba4 Qd6 23. Qb3 Rxc1+ 24. Rxc1 f4 25. Bxd7 fxe3 26. Bg4
exf2+ 27. Kf1 Qd4 28. Bf3 Qe3 29. Qd1 b5 30. Rc6 $16 { and Black will have
to show that the position can be held. }) (17... Bxd5 18. e4 $1 { with an
unpleasant position for Black. }) 18. Nxe5 $1 Qd6 (18... Qxe5 19. Bf4 Qd4
20. Ra4 { and the Q cannot escape. }) 19. Nf3 { This position is of course
completely winning, but from here, Sam succeeds in complicating the game,
and what I thought would be an easy win turns into a brand new game with
chances for both sides! } 19... Rf7 20. Bc3 $6 { This looked good at the
time, but in hindsight, blocking the c-file and removing the B from control
of the c1-h6 diagonal does not look so good! } 20... g5 21. Qa4 Re8 22. Be5
(22. e3 { would have been simple and best, avoiding any problems on the
e2-square. }) 22... Qf8 23. Bd4 Bd7 24. Qd1 (24. Qc2 { This is the
alternative, and again would have been a better square for the Q,
especially because it would have hampered Black's main threat of Ng4. }
24... Ng4 25. Bxa7) 24... Ng4 25. Rc7 $6 { Generally, one should not leave
a piece en prise like this! Of course, it does create concrete threats, but
the game suddenly becomes far more double-edged. } (25. Bxa7 Bxb2 { is the
problem with having the Q on d1 instead of c2. On c2 this would not have
been an option!! }) 25... f4 26. Bxg7 $2 { I wanted to simplify the game,
but this only complicates things as Black's coordination is improved and my
defence of the f2-square is suddenly a lot more difficult. } (26. Bc5 Qg8
27. Qd2 { Would have been simplest. It was important to maintain White's
dark-squared B, as it controls key K-side squares like f2. }) 26... Qxg7
27. d4 Bb5 { a strong move which I had underestimated. This makes it
difficult for me to carry out my plan of kicking out the g4-N and playing
Ne5, forcing Black to give up material OR alternatively leaving myself with
an extremely powerful central N. } 28. Qc2+ Kh8 29. Rxf7 $2 (29. Rc8 $1 {
This would still have left White with a comfortable winning position. })
29... Qxf7 30. h3 $2 { Extremely risky. } 30... Nxf2 (30... fxg3 { The move
that worried me the most! } 31. hxg4 (31. fxg3 { Perhaps I would have had
to reluctantly acknowledge that I can't take the N, and enter into this
line instead. } 31... Ne3 32. Qc5 Bxe2 33. Ne5 Qe6 34. Rc1 (34. Re1 Rc8)
34... Bc4 35. g4 { with a highly complicated position. } 35... Qf6 36. Qa3
Nxg2 37. Kxg2 Kg8 38. Qf3 $16 { Material is equal, but White has the
superior minor piece, and so it is only him that can aim for more than a
draw. }) 31... gxf2+ 32. Kxf2 Rxe2+ 33. Qxe2 Bxe2 34. Kxe2 Qf4 { this was
the position that worried me most during the game. The computer gives this
as equal, but for the life of me I could not evaluate the position clearly
during the game. Still now, I'm unsure as to whether this offers any
winning chances at all for White, or whether he will need to try to hold
the draw instead. }) 31. Ne5 Rxe5 32. dxe5 fxg3 33. Qc8+ $2 { A pointless
check, it would have been best to leave the black K on h8 and leave the
possibility of giving the check at a later point. } 33... Kg7 34. Qc5 $2 (
34. Rf1 Bxe2 35. e6 $1 { At this stage, both of us were quite short on
time, and I missed the fact that Bxe2 was not possible due to this strong
advance. } 35... Qf4 36. Qd7+ Kf6 37. Qf7+ Ke5 38. Qxf4+ Kxf4 (38... gxf4
39. Re1 $1) 39. e7 Bb5 40. Bxd5 h5 41. Rc1 { with an easy win despite
Black's menacing K-side activity. }) 34... Bxe2 $6 { This move allows White
to win the extremely unpleasant g3P. } (34... Qf5 35. Qe7+ Kg6 36. Qf6+
Qxf6 37. exf6 h5 38. Ra3 h4 39. Rf3 Kf7 40. Rf5 Bxe2 41. Bxd5+ Kf8 42. Bg2
g4 43. hxg4 Bxg4 44. Rb5 h3 45. Bxh3 Bxh3 46. Rxb7 a6 47. Rg7 Ne4 48. Re7
Nxf6 49. Ra7 Ng4 50. Rxa6 Ne5 51. Rf6+ Ke7 52. Rf4 Kd7 { And this to me
looks like a draw. }) 35. Qe3 Bb5 36. Qxg3 Ne4 37. Bxe4 $2 { Again, my
desire to simplify matters only serves to complicate them! The g2-B was
important for the defence of the K. Nonetheless, the position should still
be winning. } (37. Qe3 $1) 37... dxe4 38. Rc1 Kg6 39. Qf2 Qf4 40. Rc5 (40.
Rc8) 40... a6 $2 (40... Bd7 { offered the greatest resistance. } 41. Rc7
Bxh3 42. a6 bxa6 43. Rc6+ Kh5 44. Qxf4 gxf4 45. e6 e3 46. e7 Bd7 47. Rd6)
41. e6 $1 Kf6 42. e7 Kxe7 43. Qxf4 gxf4 44. Re5+ $6 { This is the last
recorded move, and it's interesting that this is actually a mistake.
Instead, Rf5 would also have won a P, but the difference is that the
remaining central P would have been left on a light square, making Black's
defensive task much more difficult. } 44... Kf6 45. Rxe4 Kf5 46. Re7 Bc6 {
Instead, now, Black's f4-P is a lot harder to target. Nonetheless, this
position is winning, and indeed in the ensuing time scramble I managed to
convert it. } 1-0
