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1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 d6 4. g3 Be7 4... c5 I thought about playing this but I was weary of the d5 hole, if my f6 knight was ever exchanged. With Be7, I just wanted to castle as quickly as possible. 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O Nc6 7. d3 Bg4 The plan if possible was to eliminate the f3 knight, and reduce the challenge on the d4 square. 8... Be6 9. b3 d5 Bxf3 was perharps a hastly plan that should hae been dicarded for this line which gives more of challenge in the center, and gets to preserve the bishop pair. Preventing Bg5, but I'm not so sure now if white would have been willing to trade one of their bishops. I was feeling good about this position, especially after the d3 weakness I had created for white. Not that my position was better, I felt the position was pretty even at this point with no major breakthroughs yet. 13... Qd8. 14... Nc5 Looking at this position now, I probably would prefer to play this move instead if Ng5 which eventually sent my knight to the rim and was inactive for a good part of the game. I was hoping to get to queen to b5, followed by Nf6 to try and pressure white's d5 and b2 pawns. 16... Nf6 a third move in succession for the knight, but probably better than Qd7 as this would have quickly brought the knight back to affect play. 17. Qb3 but white has played brilliantly so far and sees right through my plan. 17... b6 Not the best move here, as that leaves a backward c-pawn that can be harrassed and will need to be defended by my minor pieces. 17... Rab8 This way was probably best to defend the attacked b-pawn. 18. Rc6 and white promptly proceeds with the problem I had created for myself. 18... Rac8 18... Rfc8. I felt this would be a problematic move the moment I made it. 20... Rce8. This move creates holes on my queenside structure with the b and d pawns very vulnerable. 22. Rxb6 22... Bxh4 if white was going to harrass my queenside, I was going to try and counter harrass on the kingside. But I was feeling more pressure on my queenside at this point. The plan here was to deplete all the pawns on white's kingside, but perhaps retreating back to Bd8 was better, but I didnt like that it would disconnect my rooks. 23... Bd8 This was definitely the more pragmatic move. 24. fxg3 24. Rc4. 24... Qxg3 I had achieved my plan of getting whites king exposed, but I was worried about the pressure on the c-file, and would need to strike fast on the kingside. 26... Qg5. 27... Qxd1 I considered a queen exchange here with the following development 28. Rxd1 fxe4 29. dxe4 Rf4 30. Bxa5 Nf6 but is still clearly winning after this. 27... Qg5. 29... fxe4 opening the f-file for the rook was probably better than f4. 29... Ng5 or long over due bringing the knight back into the game. I thought about possibly re-routing the knight to e8 after, to possibly protect the d6-pawn in case it was attacked. 30... a4 but should have got the a-pawn out of the bishop's gaze. Thinking of simplifying things, I went for a queen trade. This was probably to white's advantage who still had their bishop pair. The knight is on an outpost, but theres really nothing else to pressure white at this point who is gaining an advantage with each passing move. 34... Nf1. 36... Rb8 This was the move I considered first and was way better than the mistake of Rf7. 36... a4 with Rb8 after, giving me a fighting chance. and my position started to collapse here going to into the endgame. 38... Ke7 39. Kf3 Kd7 40. Kxe3 Kc7 41. d4 Kb6 42. a4 and theres no way out here for my king. 42... Kc7 43. Kd3 Kb6 44. Kc4 Ka6 45. dxe5 dxe5 46. Kc5 Kb7 and white consolidates their endgame position. I take solace in that I lost to the eventual winner of the Challengers section Carlos Leal. 1-0 Annotator(s): Vladimir Mabhena. Source(s): Vladimir Mabhena, via Craig DuBose. Event information: Tournament report. |
