[Event "Club Championships 2018 A Grade"] [Site "Wellington Chess Club"] [Date "2018.10.11"] [Round "5.1"] [White "Forster, Bill"] [Black "Dive, Russell"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "2011"] [BlackElo "2424"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "E42"] [Opening "Nimzo-Indian Defense: Hübner Variation, Rubinstein Variation"] [Annotator "https://lichess.org/@/hellsorganist"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/7VbNBXru/VbcseKiV"] [Orientation "white"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 (4. Qc2 { Has not been working for me at all - Black's good development is an immediate advantage whereas White's two bishops will only mean anything if he plays very accurately for quite a while - not a good recipe I've found against stronger players }) 4... c5 5. Ne2 cxd4 6. exd4 d5 7. c5 O-O (7... Ne4 8. Bd2! { was my last bit of Book knowledge - acquired in a 30 minute session with John Watson's repertoire book during the afternoon. I didn't understand the exclam when reading the book - but during the game I realised the point of the move is to threaten Nxe4 }) 8. a3 Bxc3+ 9. Nxc3 { This is my first 4.e3 game. In my 1376 game "Dive Database" I see Russell has 28 games with Black in this line and another 18 with White! The first of these games go back to 1987. He has played the aforementioned 7...Ne4 three times and each time 8.Bd2 has been the reply. Basically Russell knows what he is doing here, and is normally playing people who also know what they're doing (definitely not the case today!). This is daunting in retrospect. I was very lucky that play basically went down a path I had studied enough to roll out some book moves and not burn a lot of time. Additionally, especially after Black's next I have lucked into a position where it's not hard to find a decent plan.. } 9... a5? { Played instantly but not really a happy move. Russell has had this exact position before. In the 1991 NZ Correspondence championship against correspondence specialist Michael Freeman he played the much better 9....b6 } 10. Bf4! { Latching onto the d6 square } (10. Bd3 { is natural but then } 10... Nc6 { comes with tempo }) 10... Nc6 11. Bb5 Ne4 12. Nxe4 dxe4 13. Bd6 Ne7 { Black is pretty tied up. I wanted to prevent Bd7 and so Qa4 seemed appropriate, but I wasn't sure whether that was really an effective spot for the Queen. After a long think I came up with } 14. f3 exf3 { I was surprised Russell agrees to this concession, but the computer agrees with his decision } (14... f5 15. O-O Bd7 16. Bxd7 Qxd7 17. fxe4 fxe4 18. Qg4 { but sadly the computer tells me that almost every move in that sequence is nonsense }) (14... Nf5!? { which led to full on panic. I hated } 15. Bxf8 Qh4+ 16. g3 Nxg3 { which seems horrible. I adjourned to the gentlemen's facilities, and whilst indulged there I started thinking about the fact that this pattern arises often in situations where White can defuse it very effectively with Nf3 hitting the Queen and so spoiling the potential discovery. It's a pity I don't have a move to hit the queen. Wait now } 17. Be7!! { I am irrationally proud of this +4.8 (basically I stay a rook up) Stockfish move. Playing it over the board would have been a "career" highlight. Alas it was not to be }) 15. Qxf3 f5 { There don't appear to be any good ways of freeing the pinned and tied up pieces.... } (15... Bd7! { Is a crazy computer line, with something like } 16. Qxb7 Nf5 17. Qxd7 Qh4+ 18. Kf1 Rfd8 19. Qc6 Nxd4 { and even more improbable but apparently balanced complications to come }) 16. O-O Rf6 17. Bc4 a4 18. Rae1 Kh8 19. d5 Bd7 { White's gorgeous position has reached it's peak +2.5 ish according to Stockfish. But unfortunately it requires more manoeuvring and I lose patience } 20. Bxe7 Qxe7 21. d6 Qe8 22. Bd5?? { This looks superficially appealing but it's a disaster } (22. Qxb7! { (my original intention when I played 19.d5) still wins for White as neither of the moves I was worried about work - but only because of complicated tactics. } 22... Bc6 (22... Rb8 23. Qa7 Rxb2 24. Rb1 { is also winning apparently }) 23. Qe7 { is winning apparently }) 22... Qc8! { Every game with Russell seems to feature one of these "Bugger!" moments } 23. Bxb7 Qxc5+ 24. Kh1 Rb8 25. Rc1! { A lucky good move, played for the wrong reasons } 25... Qb6! { Of course } (25... Qxd6? 26. Rfd1 { Was the only line I considered, I knew this would give me comp, but actually it's much better than that (White is just winning) }) 26. Rc7? { I didn't see the clever justification for 25.Rc1 which is } (26. Bc6! { holding the balance }) 26... Qxd6 { Black is winning and I am on tilt. Normally this would only mean one thing in a Forster-Dive game, but surprisingly Russell gives me a reprieve } 27. Rfc1 Rh6? { I was very happy to see this, it forces me to solve my back rank problem and simultaneously inhibits Black doing the same. Russell's idea is to bring the rook to d4 but as he admitted after the game, it's a tempo too slow } 28. h3 Rh4 29. Qc3? (29. Bc8! { immediately works }) 29... Rd4? { Black did have time to address the back rank and retain a winning position, but now } 30. Bc8! { is just 0.00000 Russell used his last 10 minutes here, but then played right down the computer main line having worked everything out. My understanding wasn't so refined but fortunately I don't have any more difficult decisions } 30... Bxc8 31. Rxc8+ Rxc8 32. Qxc8+ Qd8 33. Qxe6 Rd1+ 34. Rxd1 Qxd1+ 35. Kh2 g6 36. Qe8+ Kg7 37. Qe7+ { It would have been nice for him to go into the corner but unfortunately he wasn't that jetlagged } 37... Kh6 38. Qh4+ Kg7 (38... Qh5?? 39. Qxh5+?? gxh5?? { With a pawn ending that I assessed as equal but is actually winning for White? Once I got closer I sorted all these blunders out in my head from last to first - First I had the nasty realisation that Kxh5 was possible and was winning because my queenside majority is crippled. Next I realised that fortunately it didn't matter because Qh5 is impossible because it drops the a4 pawn }) 39. Qe7+ { The fact that Qh4+ forked the a4 pawn if Black interposes with the queen caused a moment of confusion here - Wait I can take the a4 pawn. Damn we are going to be here to 1am as I try to win this thing all over again - No, don't take that pawn and lose your queen, take the perpetual. My mind plays cruel tricks at this time of night } 39... Kh6 40. Qh4+ Kg7 { 1/2-1/2 The game is a draw. } 1/2-1/2