Bad Wörishofen U2000 Round 7
Sicilian Closed
1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 g6 3.Bc4!?
Only fifth-most popular in ChessBase's 2020 Mega database, but it has been played by grandmasters and has some interesting points.
3...Bg7 4.Qf3 e6 5.Nb5 d6 6.Qg3 e5
Grandmaster Alexander Ivanov has twice played 6...Ke7!?
7.Qb3 Nh6 8.Qd3 Bf8 9.Qf3 Bg7 10.Qd3 Bf8 11.Qg3N Bg7 12.d3 a6 13.Nc3 Nc6 14.Bg5 f6 15.Bxh6!?
Stockfish10 comes to quite like this, but prefers 15.Bd2.
15...Bxh6 16.Nge2 Nd4 17.Nxd4 cxd4 18.Ne2!?
Stockfish10 comes to narrowly prefer this over the more-active 18.Nd5, but Komodo10 rates both moves roughly the same.
18...f5
I felt 18...Qe7 was too slow, but the text is somewhat loosening. Stockfish10 and Komodo10 suggest 18...Kf8!?
19.f4?!
Stockfish10 gives 19.exf5 Bxf5 20.0-0 with a slight edge for White. Komodo10 suggests 19.c3 f4 20.Qf3, but reckons Black is fine after 20...Bd7 21.Rc1 Rc8.
19...Qa5+
Judging by his body language, I suspect BL missed this.
20.c3 dxc3 21.Nxc3 Bxf4 22.Qf2
Black has won a pawn and has the bishop-pair, but where will the black king find safety?
22...Rf8
The engines suggest 22...Bg5!? 23.h4!? Bh6 24.h5 Bd7, slightly preferring Black, but the position is unclear.
23.0-0 fxe4 24.Qh4 Qd8??
I considered 24...h5?, but did not trust the move. The engines continue 25.g3, eg 25...exd3 26.Bxd3 (not 26.gxf4?? Qc5+) Be3+ 27.Kg2 Bf5 28.Bxf5 gxf5 29.Qxh5+ Kd7 30.Rxf5, when White has restored material equality and still has the safer king.
For some reason, 24...h6!? never occurred to me, but best seems to be the engines' 24...Bf5!?, one point being that 25.Qxh7?? loses to 25...0-0-0 as suddenly the black king is much safer than White's.
25.Qxh7 b5!?
Desperation, but now ...Bf5 is easily met by dxe4 as Black no longer has ...Qc5+.
26.Qxg6+ Kd7 27.Be6+ Kc7 28.Nd5+ Kb8 29.Bxc8 Kxc8 30.Qg7
Even stronger is the engines' 30.a4.
30...Kb8 31.Ne7 Qe8
Or 31...Qb6+ 32.Kh1 Re8, when Black is very passive.
32.Nc6+ Qxc6 33.Qxf8+ Ka7 34.Qe7+ Kb6 35.dxe4
Black's exchange sacrifice means the king survives, but White's only real problem is making the move-40 time-control (all games at Bad Wörishofen are 40 moves in 100 minutes, then 30 extra minutes to finish, with a 30-second increment from the start).
35...Qc5+ 36.Kh1 Ra7
Not 36...Bxh2? 37.Rfc1.
37.Qf6 Rh7 38.Rxf4!?
A practical decision, but 38.h3 was perfectly safe.
38...exf4 39.Qxf4 Rc7 40.h3
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| By giving back the exchange, White has reached the time control with a two-pawn edge. However, advancing the g and h pawns will inevitably expose the white king, so the win is not completely straightforward. |
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40...a5
Hoping to somehow create counterplay on the queenside.
41.Rd1 Rc6 42.Rf1 Qd4 43.Qf2!?
This is the engines' choice, but it costs White a pawn.
43...Qxf2 44.Rxf2 Rc1+ 45.Kh2 Re1 46.Kg3?!
White is still winning after this, according to the engines, but it is simpler to start pushing the passed pawns with 46.g4.
46...Rxe4 47.h4 d5 48.h5 Kc5 49.Kh3?!
The engines prefer 49.Kf3, which clears a lane for the g pawn while being well-placed to intercept the black passer.
49...Kd4 50.g4 Ke3 51.Rf5 d4 52.Kg3?!
52.h6 d3 53.h7 Re8 54.Re5+! Rxe5 55.h8Q is one win. Another is 54.g5 d2 55.Rf1 Ke2 56.Ra1 d1Q 57.Rxd1 Kxd1 58.g6 etc. White should also win after 52.Rxb5 d3 53.Rd5 d2 54.h6 Rd4 55.Rxd4 Kxd4 56.h7 d1Q 57.h8Q+.
Even the text is probably good enough, but the win becomes trickier.
52...d3 53.Rf3+ Kd4 54.Rf1?
By now White is down to having only one winning line, namely 54.h6 Re1 55.h7 Rh1 56.Rf7, eg 56...d2 57.Rd7+ Ke3 58.g5 d1Q 59.Rxd1 Rxh7 60.Rd5.
54...d2 55.Rd1 Kd3 56.Kf3??
And now White is lost. Clearly the rook is going to have to be sacrificed, so it makes sense to do it immediately. After 56.Rxd2+ Kxd2, both players have to find only-moves, but the engines reckon the game should end in a draw by 57.g5! Re1! 58.g6! Ke3! 59.Kg2 Re2+ 60.Kg3 Re1 61.Kg2 Re2+.
56...Re1 57.Rxd2+ Kxd2
The tempo lost at move 56 costs White the game. It finished:
58.Kf4 Rf1+ 59.Kg5 Ke3 60.h6 Rh1 61.Kg6 Kf4 62.g5 Rg1 63.h7 Rxg5+ 64.Kh6 Rg2 65.h8Q Rh2+ 66.Kg7 Rxh8 67.Kxh8 Ke4 68.Kg7 Kd3 69.Kf6 Kc2 70.b4 axb4 71.Ke5 Kb2 0-1
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