[Event "GM Third Saturday 271 Novi Sad"] [Site "Novi Sad"] [Date "2022.06.09"] [Round "6.3"] [White "Mamatov, Melis"] [Black "Woodward, Andy"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "2412"] [BlackElo "2389"] [Annotator "Andy Woodward"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "B53"] [Opening "Sicilian Defense: Chekhover Variation"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/stJ20TuJ/ISr36oN7"] [Orientation "black"] { My Kyrgyz opponent is going for GM norms. } { [%evp 0,126,25,18,70,40,89,59,58,62,58,44,44,30,42,30,27,27,20,14,14,16,19,12, 26,34,34,30,17,-23,12,-22,-7,-25,-28,-53,-27,-31,-26,-21,-4,-42,-28,-28,-23, -24,-21,-28,-26,-24,-26,-26,-24,-50,-40,-40,-40,-40,-26,-26,-21,-43,-48,-46, -42,-43,-34,-51,-44,-48,-41,-68,-43,-42,-23,-35,-53,-76,-10,-31,-25,-32,0,-19, -12,-13,-31,-29,0,-102,-102,-112,-112,-112,-112,-134,-136,-167,-41,-41,-26,-33, -26,-141,-169,-169,-169,-160,-160,-168,-188,-188,-188,-188,-188,-531,-462,-553, -531,-330,-203,-203,-203,-1914,-2342,-28607,-29972,-29975,-29976] } 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Qxd4 { I had no idea he was going to go for this because he had no games in this line. } 4... Nf6 5. Bb5+ { I had never seen this move before. From here on I was playing simple developing moves, improving my position to the maximum. } 5... Bd7 6. Bxd7+ Qxd7 7. O-O Nc6 8. Qe3 g6 9. h3 Bg7 10. Nc3 O-O 11. Rd1 Qc7 12. Qe2 Qb6?! { I do not like this move. My plan is to play ... Qb6-a6 and go into a endgame where I have pressure along the b-file and he has to constantly worry about his e4-pawn. But on the other hand he can punish the fact that my queen has moved so many times. } 13. Rb1!? { This move was not the best because it wastes a tempo and gives me time to complete development. } (13. Nd5! { Keeping the tension. } 13... Qa6 { The only move otherwise my position gets very unpleasant. } (13... Nxd5?! 14. exd5 Ne5 15. Nxe5 Bxe5 16. c3 $14 { I will have trouble defending my e7-pawn and keeping my position together. }) 14. Qxa6 bxa6 15. Nxf6+ Bxf6 16. c3 Rab8 17. Kf1 Rfd8 18. Ke2 $13 { This kind of position would arise and it is White who appears to be playing for the advantage. }) 13... Qa6 { Executing my plan. } 14. Re1? (14. Qxa6 { was best because after } 14... bxa6 15. Be3 Rab8 16. Nd4 Nxd4 17. Bxd4 Rb7 18. Bxf6 Bxf6 19. Nd5 { White is equalising. }) 14... Rac8!? { I did not find how to punish 14. Re1 but it turns out that I could have traded queens on e2. } (14... Qxe2 15. Rxe2 Rfc8 16. Nd5 Nd7 17. c3 e6 { kicking the only active white piece away } 18. Ne3 Nc5 { and now White has many problems with completing development and defending the e4-pawn while Black can slowly push on the queenside. }) 15. Bd2 Rfe8 (15... Qxe2 { again the same thing: making White take back and then improving my position to the maximum followed by a strike with ... d6-d5. }) 16. a3 { This was his last chance to punish my waiting moves. He has to play } (16. Qxa6 bxa6 17. Nd5 Nd7 18. c3 { and try to hold the position, but I still prefer Black. }) 16... Qxe2 { I decided now was the right moment to force matters. } 17. Rxe2 Nd7 18. Nd5 e6 19. Nb4 Nc5 20. Nd3 Nxd3 21. cxd3 Nd4 22. Nxd4 Bxd4 { From here on out, White is playing for a draw while Black is improving his pieces to the maximum. } 23. Bf4 Rc6 24. Rc1 Rxc1+ 25. Bxc1 Rc8 26. Bf4 e5 27. Bg5 Kg7 28. Kf1 h6 29. Be3 Bxe3 30. Rxe3 Kf6 31. Re2 Ke6 32. f3 h5!? (32... d5! { This was the moment to push, as now } 33. Kf2 d4 { ties White's position down. Black can continue with ... Rc8-c5 followed by ... Ke6-d6-c6-b5-a4-b3. }) 33. h4 b5 34. Kf2 d5 { Here I decided it was time to break but it was a bit too late. } 35. Rd2 { here was my chance to invade. } 35... d4 (35... Rc1 { My opponent and I both thought that after this move, White could play } 36. d4 dxe4 37. dxe5 Kxe5 38. fxe4 Kxe4 39. Rd7 { but it turns out that Black is theoretically winning after } 39... a5 40. Rxf7 Rc2+ 41. Kg3 Rxb2 $19) 36. Ke2 Kf6 37. Ke1 g5 38. g3 Kg6 39. Rd1 f5?! { Here I decided to go all-in because I really wanted to win. } (39... Rc2 { would have been better } 40. Rd2 Rc6 41. Rd1 g4 42. fxg4 hxg4 43. Rd2 a5 $22 $19 { and now White has to let Black penetrate either through the f-file via ... Rc6-f6-f3 or through the c-file via c2 or c1. }) 40. Kd2 (40. exf5+ { It turns out this could force a draw. } 40... Kxf5 41. hxg5 Kxg5 42. Kd2 { and if I push with } 42... h4 43. gxh4+ Kxh4 44. Re1 { then I have to think about how to draw this position. }) 40... a5 41. Rg1 (41. exf5+ { Once again this is the way to go. } 41... Kxf5 42. hxg5 Kxg5 43. Re1 Kf5 44. Rh1 Kg5 45. Re1) 41... b4 42. axb4 axb4 43. Ra1? (43. exf5+ { With this move, White could have continued to make threats that would stop me from consolidating. } 43... Kxf5 44. hxg5 Kxg5 45. Re1 Kf5 46. Rh1 Kg6 47. Re1 { would have held the draw, but luckily he did not see it. }) 43... Rc6 (43... b3! 44. Ra6+ Kg7 45. Ra7+ Kf8 46. hxg5 Rc2+ 47. Kd1 fxe4 48. dxe4 Rxb2 49. Rb7 Kg8 $22 { when the black king is let into the playing zone. }) 44. exf5+ Kxf5 45. hxg5 b3 46. Ra5 Rc2+ 47. Kd1 Rxb2 (47... Rg2! { I missed this brilliant unexpected move. Both my opponent and I were under severe time pressure at this point so we did not have enough time to cauculate everything, but this move can still be found with seconds on the clock. } 48. f4 Rxg3 49. fxe5 h4 { and the h-pawn is sooner or later going to queen, winning the game. }) 48. f4 Rg2? (48... Rb1+! { This is the only winning move because after } 49. Kd2 Rg1 50. Rxe5+ Kg4 51. Rb5 Kxg3! 52. f5 h4 53. Rxb3 Kf4 54. Rb8 Kxf5 55. Rf8+ Kg6 56. Rg8+ Kh5 57. Rh8+ Kg4 58. g6 Kh3 { Black is winning. } 59. Rh6 Rg4! { [%cal Gh3g2,Gh4h3,Gh3h2,Gh2h1] }) 49. Rxe5+ Kg4 50. g6 Rg1+ 51. Kd2 (51. Ke2!! { This was the only saving move. } 51... Rg2+ 52. Kd1 b2 53. Rb5 Rxg3 54. Kc2 Kxf4 55. Rxh5 Rxg6 56. Kxb2) 51... b2 52. g7 Kf3!! { I barely found this move with seconds on the clock. } 53. Rb5 { The idea is that if } (53. g8=Q? Rg2+! 54. Kd1 b1=Q# { wins the game. }) 53... Rxg3?? (53... Rg2+! { this was the only winning move. } 54. Kd1 Rxg3 55. Rxb2 Rxg7 $19 { The point is that, in the variation beginning with 51. Ke2!!, the trade of f- and h- pawns would deprive Black of winning chances. But here, Black queens first. }) 54. Rg5! { blocking my counterplay, but I did not stop my calculation here. } 54... b1=Q 55. Rxg3+ (55. g8=Q Qb2+ 56. Kd1 Qa1+ 57. Kc2 Qc3+ 58. Kb1 Qxd3+ $19 { is easily winning. }) 55... Kxg3 56. g8=Q+ Kf2 57. Qg5?? { A huge blunder, but there was only one hard-to-find move that saved the game. } (57. Qh7!! { This was his only chance. It is still hard for White to defend, but after } 57... Qb2+ 58. Kd1 Qe2+ 59. Kc1 Ke1 60. Qg6 Qe3+ 61. Kc2 h4 62. f5 h3 63. f6 h2 64. Qg2 Qe2+ 65. Qxe2+ Kxe2 66. f7 h1=Q 67. f8=Q Qd1+ 68. Kb2 Qd2+ 69. Ka1 Qxd3 70. Qe7+ Qe3 71. Qb7 { I cannot prevent him from continuing to check me, so therefore it is a draw. }) (57. Qc4? Qb2+ 58. Qc2 Qa1! 59. Qc4 h4 { and everything is defended so I win. } 60. f5 h3 61. f6 h2 62. f7 Qb2+ 63. Qc2 Qb8 64. Kc1+ (64. Kd1+ Kg3 65. Qc6 Qb3+ 66. Kc1 Qxf7 $19) 64... Kg3 65. Qc6 Qf4+ 66. Kb2 Qxf7 $19) 57... Qe1+ 58. Kc2 Qc3+ 59. Kb1 Qxd3+ 60. Kb2 Qe2+ 61. Kc1 d3 62. Qh4+ Kg2 63. Qg5+ Kf1 { My king hides and I push my pawn to win. This was an interesting game with many missed opportunities by both sides, but the sharp tactics ended up in my favor. A very well played game by my opponent. And now this built up my confidence and I went on to play some more good games. } 0-1