The Irish Chess Union

[Event "Tromso Olympiad 2014"] [Site "Tromso NOR"] [Date "2014.08.08"] [Round "6.1"] [White "Baburin, Alexander"] [Black "De La Riva Aguado, Oscar"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "2502"] [BlackElo "2523"] [ECO "A81"] [Annotator "Baburin, Alexander"] [ICUid "31700"] [UsedInIcuSite "true"] 1. d4 f5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 g6 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. O-O O-O 6. b4 { This move is very fashionable. White grabs space on the queenside while preparing to fianchetto the c1-bishop, which will make ...e7-e5 more difficult for Black to achieve. However, I do not believe that this line is better than 6.c4 d6 7.Nc3. } 6... c6 7. c4 d6 8. Bb2 Kh8 9. Nbd2 Be6 10. a4 { My home preparation ended around here. While De La Riva used to play mainly the Dutch Defence, in recent years he added other openings to his repertoire and so I could not spend too much time on the Dutch. } (10. Qc2 Nbd7 11. a4 Bg8 12. a5 a6 13. Rfe1 Rc8 14. e3 Qe8 15. Rac1 e5 16. dxe5 dxe5 17. e4 f4 18. c5 fxg3 19. hxg3 Ng4 20. Nc4 $18 { Anand - De la Riva, Villarrobledo 2001. }) 10... Nbd7 11. a5 a6 12. Ne1 { I could not come up with any other plan. Later I found out that this had been played before. Still, 12.Qc2 followed by Rfe1, as played by Anand, might be preferable. } 12... Bg8 13. Nd3 Re8 (13... Ne4 14. Rc1 Ndf6 15. f3 Nxd2 16. Qxd2 d5 17. cxd5 cxd5 18. Rc5 Ne8 19. Rfc1 Nd6 20. Ne5 $16 { Babula-Jakubiec, CZE Extraliga 1999. }) 14. Qc2 e5 15. dxe5 Nxe5 16. Nxe5 dxe5 17. e4 { It's ironic that after spending so much time on getting his light-squared bishop to g8, Black now has problems with the f5-pawn! } 17... f4 (17... fxe4 { was possible, but that would leave Black in a slightly worse position without any real counter play. }) 18. Nf3 ({ Houdini prefers } 18. c5 { but I did not want to move the knight to c4, so played 18.Nf3 without much thinking. }) 18... fxg3 { By trading these pawns Black secures a position for his knight on g4. } ({ The first line of Houdini is } 18... c5 { - something I did not consider at all! }) 19. hxg3 Ng4 20. Rad1 Qe7 21. c5 Rad8 22. Rxd8 Rxd8 23. Rd1 Rf8 $1 ({ Black was wise not to contest the d-file as after } 23... Rxd1+ 24. Qxd1 Qe6 25. Ng5 Qa2 26. Qa1 Qxa1+ 27. Bxa1 { followed by Bg2-h3, Black would be struggling - the b7 pawn might come under attack. }) 24. Qd3 Qe6 $6 (24... Be6 $5 25. Qd6 Qxd6 26. Rxd6 Bc8) 25. Rd2 $1 { I was pleased with this idea - now White threatens to play Qd3-d7 as ...Qb3 won't be possible. Of course, I had to reckon with 25...Bh6 which looks tempting. My opponents spent most of his remaining time and played precisely that! } 25... Bh6 $2 26. Bh3 $1 Bg7 ({ Of course, not } 26... Bxd2 $2 27. Bxg4 Qxg4 28. Bxe5+) 27. Bxg4 Qxg4 28. Nxe5 Qg5 29. Qc3 (29. Nd7 $18) 29... Be6 30. Rd6 Qf6 31. Nxg6+ $1 hxg6 32. Qxf6 Bxf6 33. Bxf6+ Rxf6 34. e5 { Black will be two pawns down in a rook endgame - and without any real chances, so he resigned. } 1-0