3 Mar 2017

A39 Symmetrical English vs ...g6: 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.Nf3 Nf6 6.O-O O-O 7.d4 (1.c4 c5 2.g3 Nc6 3.Bg2 g6 4.Nc3 Bg7 5.Nf3 Nf6 6.d4 cxd4 7.Nxd4 O-O 8.O-O Qb6 9.Nc2 d6 10.b3 Bf5)

A39 Symmetrical English vs ...g6: 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.Nf3 Nf6 6.O-O O-O 7.d4 (1.c4 c5 2.g3 Nc6 3.Bg2 g6 4.Nc3 Bg7 5.Nf3 Nf6 6.d4 cxd4 7.Nxd4 O-O 8.O-O Qb6 9.Nc2 d6 10.b3 Bf5)

Still making some changes to my older posts... Like changing the names of the openings used in the games to correspond the opening classification used by Deep Fritz 14. This game was played in a mini-tournament called "dim_weasel's XIV". There were 5 players playing in this mini-tournament and I was third in the final standings. I was on third place because I had a better tie-break than players who finished on 4th and 5th places. We all were able to gather 2.5 points in 8 games. My opponent and the creator of this mini-tournament, dim_weasel, was 4th in the final standings. A player called jug_head (1971) won the mini-tournament with ease, jug_head won all of his 8 games. The mini-tournament started on January 18th, 2016 and finished on July 9th, 2016.

My position started to go down the drain when I played 17...Bc6 in the position below. I should have played either 17...Rc8 or 17...Qa5 in order to have a chance to play for a draw.

I might have not been lost after my 17th move, but when we reached the position below and I played 24...Rfd8, my position was lost. Dim_weasel did not use his chance and instead lost most of his advantage by playing 25.f4. 25.Rd1 was the best choice for dim_weasel.

The game continued with the moves 25...Qc7 26.Rd1. With my 26th move I made the losing blunder Ne8. The game ended quickly after that as I resigned after seeing the position after 28.Qxb7.

[Event "dim_weasel's XIV"] [Site "http://gameknot.com/chess.pl?"] [Date "2016.05.26"] [Round "?"] [White "dim_weasel"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A39"] [WhiteElo "1863"] [BlackElo "1768"] [Annotator "Stockfish 8 64 POPCNT (30s), TV"] [PlyCount "55"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] 1. c4 c5 2. g3 Nc6 3. Bg2 g6 4. Nc3 Bg7 5. Nf3 Nf6 {English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Full Symmetry Line} 6. d4 (6. O-O O-O 7. b3 {English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Double Fianchetto} (7. d3 {English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Duchamp Variation}) (7. d4 d6 8. d5 Na5 9. Nd2 a6 10. Qc2 Rb8 11. b3 b5 12. Bb2 bxc4 13. bxc4 Bh6 {King's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation, Panno Variation, Donner Line})) 6... cxd4 7. Nxd4 O-O 8. O-O Qb6 9. Nc2 d6 10. b3 Bf5 {A39 Symmetrical English vs ...g6: 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.Nf3 Nf6 6.O-O O-O 7.d4} 11. Rb1 $146 (11. e4 Bg4 12. Qe1 Rae8 (12... Nb4 13. Nxb4 Qxb4 14. Bd2 Qc5 15. h3 Be6 16. Qe2 Rac8 17. Rac1 a6 18. Kh2 Qa3 19. Rc2 Bd7 20. f4 Qc5 21. e5 dxe5 22. fxe5 Nh5 23. Nd5 Rfe8 24. Bb4 Qd4 25. Bc3 Qc5 26. g4 e6 27. Nb4 {Uhlmann,W (2485)-Fronczek,H (2270) Bad Wildbad 1997 1-0 (46)}) (12... Nd7 13. Be3 Qa5 14. Bd2 Nde5 15. Nd5 Qd8 16. f3 Be6 17. Bc3 Bxd5 18. exd5 Qb6+ 19. Kh1 Nb8 20. Qd2 Nbd7 21. Bd4 Qc7 22. Rae1 Nc5 23. f4 Ng4 24. Qe2 Nf6 25. Qxe7 Ncd7 26. Qe2 Rac8 27. Ne3 {Sachs,G-Epstein,E (2150) Moscow 1983 1-0 (54)}) 13. Be3 Qc7 14. Qd2 h5 15. Rac1 Qc8 16. Nd4 Nxd4 17. Bxd4 b6 18. Rfe1 Bh3 19. Nd5 Bxg2 20. Bxf6 Qh3 21. Bxg7 Bf3 22. Nf4 Qg4 23. Bxf8 Rxf8 24. h3 {1-0 (24) Spreng, S-Schmid,E Pang 1983}) (11. Bg5 e6 12. e4 Bg4 13. Qd2 e5 14. Qxd6 Rad8 15. Qa3 Rd3 16. Nd5 Nxd5 17. exd5 Nd8 18. Be3 Qc7 19. Qxa7 {1-0 (19) Leski,M (2425) -Juglard,E (2260) France 1998}) (11. Bb2 Bxc2 12. Qxc2 Rac8 13. Qd2 Ne5 14. Rab1 Rfd8 15. h3 Qa5 16. Bxb7 Rb8 17. Bg2 d5 18. cxd5 e6 19. Qe3 Nxd5 20. Nxd5 exd5 21. Bxe5 d4 22. Bxd4 Bxd4 23. Qf4 Be5 24. Qa4 Qb6 25. e3 Rd3 {Eretova,K (2135)-Muresan,M (2195) Dresden 1990 1/2-1/2 (48)}) 11... Nb4 {Black threatens to win material: Nb4xc2} 12. e4 {White threatens to win material: e4xf5} Bg4 { Black threatens to win material: Bg4xd1} 13. Qd2 Nxc2 14. Qxc2 a6 { Consolidates b5} 15. Be3 Qd8 16. f3 {White threatens to win material: f3xg4} Bd7 17. Rbd1 (17. a4 Qa5 $14) 17... Bc6 (17... Rc8 $5 $11 {has some apparent merit}) 18. e5 Ne8 19. exd6 exd6 20. Nd5 Bxd5 (20... Nf6 21. Nb6 Re8 22. Qc1 $16) 21. Rxd5 (21. cxd5 $6 Rc8 22. Qd3 Qa5 $11) 21... Qe7 (21... Nf6 22. Rd3 $16) 22. Bf2 Nf6 23. Rd3 Rac8 (23... b5 24. Rfd1 bxc4 25. bxc4 $16) 24. Qd2 Rfd8 (24... d5 25. cxd5 Qd6 26. g4 $16) 25. f4 (25. Rd1 Rc6 $18) 25... Qc7 ( 25... b5 26. cxb5 axb5 27. a4 bxa4 28. bxa4 $16) 26. Rd1 (26. f5 $142 d5 27. cxd5 $16) 26... Ne8 $2 (26... Ng4 $142 $16) 27. Qb4 $18 Qe7 $2 (27... b5 28. cxb5 axb5 29. Qxb5 Rb8 $18) 28. Qxb7 (28. Qxb7 Qxb7 29. Bxb7 $18) 1-0

A34 Symmetrical English: 2.Nc3, lines with ...d5 (1.c4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.Nf3 Nf6 6.O-O d5 7.cxd5 Nxd5 8.Ng5)

A34 Symmetrical English: 2.Nc3, lines with ...d5 (1.c4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.Nf3 Nf6 6.O-O d5 7.cxd5 Nxd5 8.Ng5)

The game below was played in the first round of the 2015 October Grand Split Three Seven I 1800+ tournament that is being played at Red Hot Pawn at the moment I type this. I have 35 points which puts me in 7th place, but I can still finish on third place if the remaining games go my way. Admittedly I also require the help of other players in order for that to happen. I am actually also the 7th highest rated player of group 1, so I am pretty much doing as well as can be expected. InvaderOfRome has currently 29 points, which puts him on 9th place, but because he has a better maximum possible score than me, he can still overtake me and many others when more of his games start to finish.

My 10th move b6 in the position below was the first step towards problems. I should have played 10...h6 instead.

The only way for InvaderOfRome to take full advantage of my mistake would have been to reply with the move 11.Qd5. In the game my opponent chose to play 11.Qb3, which allowed me to stay in the game. The game continued rather evenly until I played 16...Be5 in the position you can view below. 16...h6 was the correct way to go, at least according to Stockfish 8 64 POPCNT.

InvaderOfRome answered by playing 17.Qd3 to which I replied with the horrible move 17...Rb7 and I was in quite a hopeless position after that or I would have been, had my opponent found the strongest move. InvaderOfRome played 18.f4, which let me off the hook and I could have fought for the draw with accurate play. The game continued evenly for awhile, but with my 21st move I threw away the game. I played the huge blunder 21...f5 in the position below.

Had I played 21...Rd7, I could have stayed in the game. My final downhill started with my 21st move and after the move 27.Rxc6 I thought I had to accept the loss, so I resigned.

[Event "Grand Split Three Seven"] [Site "http://www.redhotpawn.com"] [Date "2015.12.21"] [Round "1"] [White "InvaderOfRome"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A34"] [WhiteElo "1990"] [BlackElo "1903"] [Annotator "Stockfish 8 64 POPCNT (30s), TV"] [PlyCount "53"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] 1. c4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. Nf3 Nf6 {English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Full Symmetry Line} 6. O-O d5 (6... O-O 7. b3 {English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Double Fianchetto} (7. d3 {English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Duchamp Variation}) (7. d4 d6 8. d5 Na5 9. Nd2 a6 10. Qc2 Rb8 11. b3 b5 12. Bb2 bxc4 13. bxc4 Bh6 {King's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation, Panno Variation, Donner Line})) 7. cxd5 Nxd5 8. Ng5 {A34 Symmetrical English: 2.Nc3, lines with ...d5} Nxc3 (8... e6 9. Nge4 b6 10. d3 O-O 11. Bg5 f6 12. Bd2 Bb7 13. a3 Qd7 14. Rc1 Rad8 15. Nxd5 exd5 16. Nc3 d4 17. Ne4 Ne5 18. Bf4 f5 19. Bxe5 Bxe5 20. Nd2 Bxg2 21. Kxg2 Rfe8 22. b4 Qd5+ 23. Nf3 {Speelman,J (2570)-Van der Wiel,J (2530) Plovdiv 1983 1/2-1/2}) 9. dxc3 Bd7 $146 (9... Qxd1 10. Rxd1 Bg4 11. Bd5 O-O 12. f3 Bf5 13. Be3 Bh6 14. h4 Rac8 15. Bxc5 b6 16. Bf2 Ne5 17. e4 Bxg5 18. exf5 Bf6 19. fxg6 hxg6 20. Kg2 Rfd8 21. f4 Nd7 22. Rd2 Nc5 23. Rad1 e6 24. Bf3 {Cruz,C (2470)-Llanes Hurtado, M (2484) Sabadell 2011 1-0 (49)}) (9... Qc7 10. Qa4 O-O 11. Be3 Bd7 12. Qa3 b6 13. Rad1 Rad8 14. b4 cxb4 15. cxb4 Ne5 16. Bf4 h6 17. Rc1 Qb8 18. Nf3 Nxf3+ 19. Bxf3 e5 20. Be3 Rfe8 21. Bc6 Bf8 22. Qb3 Qd6 23. Rfd1 Qe7 24. b5 {Plischki,S (2418) -Schulze,T (2211) Verden 2009 1/2-1/2 (38)}) (9... O-O 10. Qa4 Bd7 11. Qh4 h5 12. Rd1 Qc7 13. Bf4 e5 14. Be3 b6 15. Qe4 Rac8 16. Qd5 Be8 17. Ne4 Ne7 18. Qd6 Nf5 19. Nf6+ Bxf6 20. Qxf6 Nxe3 21. fxe3 Bb5 22. Bd5 Kh7 23. Rf1 Be8 24. Be4 { Perk,E (1880)-Schuler,G (1845) Bad Zwischenahn 2003 1/2-1/2 (33)}) 10. Be3 (10. Qd5 O-O $16) 10... b6 {Controls c5} (10... h6 11. Nf3 $11) 11. Qb3 {White has a mate threat} (11. Qd5 $5 e6 12. Qd6 $16) 11... O-O $11 12. Rfd1 (12. Bxc6 Bxc6 13. Ne6 Bd5 14. Nxd8 Bxb3 15. axb3 Rfxd8 $11) 12... Qc8 13. Qd5 {White threatens to win material: Qd5xd7} Be8 14. Rd2 (14. Qc4 h6 15. Nf3 Qf5 $11) 14... e6 {Black threatens to win material: e6xd5} (14... h6 15. Nh3 $11) 15. Qd6 Rb8 (15... h6 16. Nf3 $11) 16. Rad1 (16. Ne4 h6 17. Bxh6 Bxh6 18. Nf6+ Kg7 19. Nxe8+ Rxe8 20. Bxc6 Bxd2 21. Bxe8 Qxe8 22. Qxd2 Rd8 $16) 16... Be5 (16... h6 $142 $5 {should be investigated more closely} 17. Nf3 e5 $11) 17. Qd3 $16 Rb7 (17... Bg7 18. Bf4 e5 $16) 18. f4 (18. Qc4 $142 {White has the better game} h6 19. Nf3 $18) 18... Bf6 19. Ne4 {White threatens to win material: Ne4xf6} Be7 20. Nd6 (20. Qa6 Na5 $14) 20... Bxd6 $11 21. Qxd6 f5 $4 (21... Rd7 $142 { would save the game} 22. Qxc6 Qxc6 23. Bxc6 Rxd2 24. Rxd2 Bxc6 $11) 22. b4 $18 cxb4 $4 {sad, but how else could Black save the game?} (22... Rc7 23. bxc5 b5 $18) 23. cxb4 Rc7 (23... Nb8 {doesn't change the outcome of the game} 24. Bxb7 Qxb7 25. Bd4 $18) 24. Rc1 Rff7 25. Rdc2 Rfd7 26. Qxe6+ (26. Rxc6 {is impossible } Rxd6 27. Rxc7 Rd1+ 28. Kf2 Rxc1 29. Rxc1 Qa6 $15) 26... Kf8 (26... Bf7 { otherwise it's curtains at once} 27. Qf6 Qd8 28. Qxd8+ Rxd8 29. Bxc6 Re7 $18) 27. Rxc6 (27. Rxc6 Rxc6 28. Rxc6 (28. Bxc6 $4 Rd1+ 29. Rxd1 Qxe6 $19) (28. Qxc6 $143 Rd1+ 29. Rxd1 Bxc6 $15) 28... Rd1+ 29. Kf2 Qxe6 30. Rxe6 $18) 1-0

B37 Sicilian: Maroczy Bind with 5...Bg7, sidelines (1.c4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Nf3 g6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Bg7 6.Nc2 d6 7.e4 Nf6 8.Be2 O-O 9.O-O b6 10.Be3)

B37 Sicilian: Maroczy Bind with 5...Bg7, sidelines (1.c4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Nf3 g6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Bg7 6.Nc2 d6 7.e4 Nf6 8.Be2 O-O 9.O-O b6 10.Be3)

This is one of the games I have shared before where the name of the opening has been changed. I have also added some commentary and diagrams that were not shared with the game before. The game below was played in atadros's mini-tournament V at GameKnot. This mini-tournament has gone really badly for me, I have only won one game out of the 12 that have already finished. I have drawn 4 games, so luckily that win has not been the only source of points for me. That being said 3 out of 12 is still quite grim result. I am currently on 10th place in this mini-tournament that consists of 11 players. Negotium, the player who I faced in this game, is currently on 6th place with 7.5 points. Negotium is doing much better than I am, he has actually finished one game less than me. I still need to finish eight more games, four of those have not even started yet.

The first move that I had to think a bit longer was my 9th move, up to that moment it seemed like a fairly easy game to play. That being said, I am not sure about the move 6...d6 either, now that I think about it. Maybe I could have played b6 instead. I do like the game continuation and I played 9...b6 because I thought that the bishop would be just in the way of other pieces and or pawns on the diagonal it was on and it would be better placed on the long diagonal or on the a6-f1 diagonal. I ended up playing my bishop to a6 first to pressure the c-pawn. In case of b3 to defend c4, then there might be some tricks on the h8-a1 long diagonal. Actually my 9th move already put me on some trouble. Stockfish 8 64 POPCNT thinks that White should have a clear advantage after 9...b6, or at least quite close to it. Interestingly Deep Fritz 14 still included it into the opening classification. The diagram below shows the position on the board before my 9th move.

After 11...Ne5, my opponent had to play b3 in order to protect the c4-pawn, but as the long diagonal was a bit filled with knights, there was no easy way for me to take advantage of the fact that the knight on c3 would be pinned to the rook if my knights were out of the way and the bishop could eye on that knight. I continued with 12...Bb7 as I could not find anything better to do than bring the bishop to a better square. After that I just tried to maneuver my pieces to better squares because I did not see any clear plan that involved pushing pawns. Basically any pawn move would have just made my position worse in my opinion. The next position seen in the living diagram below has been taken after the move 15.Rac1. I played 15...Nc5, which caused more problems for me. Even though the material was even, I was clearly worse because I had less space and my pieces did not really have good squares to which they could go to. Negotium had the center under control and better squares for his pieces than me, except for the light-squared bishop, which was negotium's worst piece.

I played 16...a5 in response to 16.Nb4 because I wanted to kick the knight away and cover the b4-square, so that my opponent can't play b4 so easily. However, my pawn push makes the b6-pawn quite weak and negotium put immediately pressure to it by playing 17.Nbd5. The good thing about this is that now I can trade some pieces off the board and get more space to maneuver my remaining pieces. Negotium's 17th move was a step into the wrong direction and allowed me to get back into the game. The best option for negotium was to play 17.Nc2. I replied with 17...Nxd5 and negotium continued with 18.Nxd5. At that moment negotium was only slightly better, but then I messed up and played 18...Bxd5.

I think that the move 19.cxd5 is a slight mistake by negotium, because it makes the pawn structure a bit more drawish looking. I would prefer taking with the queen or with the e-pawn, so that there would be better winning chances. Actually taking with the queen is the move I would like the best here. Well, the move 19.cxd5 does give more squares to the light-squared bishop, but it does make winning this game a lot harder in my opinion. I was on the defensive side of the board, so negotium was at least slightly better even after the move I did not like. Actually Stockfish 8 64 POPCNT likes the move 19.cxd5 best, so I might be wrong... To 19.cxd5 I answered with 19...Qd7 and then negotium played the drawish move 20.Bd4.

When negotium played 23.f4, I was somewhat worried that maybe he can win this game, but I also thought that with accurate defense, it should be still close to a draw. Unfortunately I played an awful move in reply, 23...Rac8 and I was in trouble again. Or rather I would have been, had my opponent played 24.f5. Negotium played 24.h3 instead for some reason, I do not really know the purpose behind that one. With my next move, 24...Rc7, I gave negotium another chance to play f5, but again my opponent chose a different plan. Negotium chose to play 25.b4, which gives up most of the advantage away and the position should be rougly even after that.

The game became really exciting to play after 33.f5, my kingside position seemed a lot more insecure than it had been some moves before. After 35.Rb2, I face an important decision, the outcome of the game might have been on the balance. I am not sure, but maybe I could have played 35...bxa2 in order to threaten the rook and also threaten to promote the pawn. It turned out in the after game analysis that 35.Rb2 was a blunder that could have allowed me to get a clear advantage, had I taken on a2 with my pawn.

I ended up playing 35...Rf8, so that my opponent could not so easily invade on my position via the f-file. Then negotium took on b3 and I took back with my knight, which seemed very risky, but I thought that I can hold my position. The next turning point of the game could have been seen in the game when my opponent played 37.Rd3 in the diagram position below. Negotium's 37th move could have lost the game, because I had the very nice option to play 37...Nc1. While the move should not be that hard to see, I completely missed it.

I was able to get out of the pin and it seemed that I am able to get a decent position where I am slightly better. However, negotium found the interesting exchange sacrifice on move 43 and at that point I was not sure at all what would happen. I did not take back with the pawn, because I thought that negotium would play d6 and one of the pawns are likely to promote. I could not take back with the queen because it would have lost to Rxf4, therefore I had to take on f1 first and only after Qxf1 take the rook on c5. That being said, the exchange sacrifice was a horrible idea if replied correctly.

I headed towards a drawn game, but then I took on c5 with my queen and I was on a lost position. In order to keep the position even, I needed to take on c5 with my pawn. Luckily for me, negotium did not find the path to victory and we agreed to a draw after 46.Qf4+.

[Event "atadros's mini-tournament V"] [Site "http://gameknot.com/chess.pl?"] [Date "2016.04.20"] [Round "?"] [White "negotium"] [Black "Vierjoki, Timo"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B37"] [WhiteElo "1813"] [BlackElo "1755"] [Annotator "Stockfish 8 64 POPCNT (30s), TV"] [PlyCount "91"] [EventDate "2016.??.??"] 1. c4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 {English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Two Knights Variation} 3. Nf3 (3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. Nf3 Nf6 6. O-O O-O 7. b3 {English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Double Fianchetto} (7. d3 {English Opening: Symmetrical Variation, Duchamp Variation}) (7. d4 d6 8. d5 Na5 9. Nd2 a6 10. Qc2 Rb8 11. b3 b5 12. Bb2 bxc4 13. bxc4 Bh6 {King's Indian Defense: Fianchetto Variation, Panno Variation, Donner Line})) 3... g6 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 Bg7 6. Nc2 d6 7. e4 Nf6 8. Be2 O-O 9. O-O b6 10. Be3 {B37 Sicilian: Maroczy Bind with 5...Bg7, sidelines} Ba6 11. Qd2 (11. Rc1 Rc8 12. b3 Bb7 13. Qd2 Ne5 14. f3 Ne8 15. Rfd1 Nc7 16. Nd4 Nc6 17. Nc2 f5 18. Bh6 Bxh6 19. Qxh6 e6 20. exf5 Rxf5 21. f4 Qe7 22. Bg4 Rff8 23. Ne3 Rcd8 24. Re1 Nd4 25. Ned5 Qf7 {Hoensch,M (2291) -Pinyol Clapera,D Banyoles 2001 0-1 (34)}) 11... Ne5 12. b3 Bb7 13. f3 Ned7 $146 {Black has a cramped position} (13... Rc8 14. Rfd1 Qc7 15. Rac1 Ba6 16. Kh1 Qb8 17. Bf1 Bb7 18. Nb4 Rfe8 19. Ncd5 Nfd7 20. Bg5 f6 21. Be3 Nc5 22. Bd4 Nf7 23. Qb2 Nd7 24. Nc2 Bh6 25. Rb1 Bg7 26. Nce3 Bh6 27. Re1 Bg7 28. Rbd1 { Salokangas,H (2221) -Pyylampi,S Finland 1999 1/2-1/2 (57)}) 14. Rfd1 Re8 15. Rac1 Nc5 16. Nb4 a5 17. Nbd5 Nxd5 18. Nxd5 Bxd5 (18... Be5 19. Nc3 $14) 19. cxd5 $16 ({Inferior is} 19. Qxd5 Bb2 20. Rb1 Ba3 $11) 19... Qd7 20. Bd4 (20. Rb1 b5 $16) 20... h5 (20... Bxd4+ $5 21. Qxd4 b5 $11) 21. Bxg7 $14 Kxg7 { Black king safety dropped} 22. Qd4+ (22. a3 f6 23. Qe3 b5 $14) 22... Kh7 (22... f6 23. Rc3 $14) 23. f4 (23. Qe3 $16) 23... Rac8 $2 (23... e6 24. dxe6 Rxe6 25. Bf3 $11) 24. h3 (24. f5 Qd8 $16) 24... Rc7 (24... e5 25. dxe6 Nxe6 26. Qe3 $11) 25. b4 (25. f5 $5 Rec8 26. Qe3 $16) 25... axb4 $14 26. Qxb4 Rb8 (26... Rec8 27. Bb5 Qd8 28. Rb1 $14) 27. Bb5 $14 {White threatens to win material: Bb5xd7} Qc8 28. Bc6 {White can be proud of that piece} (28. a4 Qf8 $14) 28... Qa6 29. Rc2 Ra7 30. e5 {This push gains space} Qa3 {Black threatens to win material: Qa3xb4 } 31. Qe1 b5 32. Qe2 (32. exd6 exd6 33. f5 $11) 32... b4 $11 33. f5 b3 34. fxg6+ fxg6 35. Rb2 (35. axb3 Qxb3 36. Qf2 Ne4 37. Qxa7 Qxc2 $11) 35... Rf8 ( 35... bxa2 $5 36. Rxb8 a1=Q 37. Rxa1 Qxa1+ 38. Kh2 Qxe5+ 39. Qxe5 dxe5 $17) 36. axb3 $11 Nxb3 37. Rd3 $4 {a transit from better to worse} (37. Kh2 Nc5 $11) 37... Qa1+ (37... Nc1 $142 {and the rest is a matter of technique} 38. Rxa3 Nxe2+ 39. Rxe2 Rxa3 40. exd6 exd6 $19) 38. Rd1 $11 {White threatens to win material: Rd1xa1} Qa3 {Twofold repetition} 39. Rc2 Nc5 40. e6 {White has a new strong pawn: e6} (40. exd6 exd6 41. Kh2 Rf4 $11) 40... Rf4 41. Rf1 {White threatens to win material: Rf1xf4} Qb4 (41... Qg3 42. Rxf4 Qxf4 43. Qf1 Qd4+ 44. Qf2 Qa1+ 45. Kh2 Qe5+ 46. g3 $17) 42. Kh2 $11 {White king safety improved} Ra3 43. Rxc5 $4 {not a good decision, because now the opponent is right back in the game} (43. Bb5 Qb3 44. Qe1 Rxf1 45. Qxf1 Qg3+ (45... Qxc2 $2 {seems attractive but will lead to severe problems} 46. Qf7+ Kh6 47. Qf8+ Kh7 48. Qxe7+ Kh6 49. Qf8+ Kh7 50. e7 $18) 46. Kg1 Qe3+ 47. Qf2 Kh6 $11) 43... Rxf1 { Black has a mate threat} (43... dxc5 $142 {secures the win} 44. Rd1 Qb8 $19) 44. Qxf1 $11 Qxc5 $4 {overlooking an easy win} (44... dxc5 $142 {this is the best way to fight back} 45. Qf7+ Kh6 46. Qf8+ Kg5 47. Qxe7+ Kh6 48. Qf8+ Kg5 $11) 45. Qf7+ Kh6 46. Qf4+ 1/2-1/2