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ANNOTATED GAME
Walking a tightrope
yatsyshin (2099) vs. nyctalop (2065)
Annotated by: nyctalop (2166)
Chess opening: Gruenfeld (D87), exchange, Seville variation
yatsyshin (2099) vs. nyctalop (2065)
Annotated by: nyctalop (2166)
Chess opening: Gruenfeld (D87), exchange, Seville variation
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32... a5 |
The a-pawn was under attack and pushing it was the only way to defended it. | ||||||||
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33. Rc7 |
A very good place to keep the Rook. White was smart to avoid restoring material balance with 33. Nxb5 because after 33...e6! the Ra7 is poorly placed and White must move to King in order to avoid an embarrassing double attack. Now I can't protect the b-pawn by advancing it because that leaves the Knight en-prise. | ||||||||
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33... Ne5 |
Retreating the Knight from the now insecure c4 square and preparing the b4 advance in case White doesn't take on b5 at once. | ||||||||
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34. Kf1 |
An excellent move. My opponent is avoiding all the pitfalls with great skill. The King is brought close to the centre to avoid any back rank tricks and also traps on the dark squares. But why was the very natural looking 34. Nxb5 worse than this move? The reason is that after 34...e6, White can be lured into what seems like a dangerous attack starting with 35. Nd4 exd5 36. Ne6 Bd6 37. Rg7+ Kh8 38. Bh6 Re8 39. exd5 Re7 and the attack has stalled and the a-pawn is looking like it might just queen. | ||||||||
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34... b4 |
The intended and best move. The pawns are pretty advanced now but they are not yet very dangerous because White with his previous move has brought an excellent piece to supervise them, his King. | ||||||||
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35. Ke2 |
Now the pawns don't seem so menacing and White can use his active pieces to either capture them or direct his threats elsewhere. | ||||||||
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35... g5 |
A very ugly move but I was under the impression that f4 followed by Nc6 is very powerful. The problem is that after this move, it will take extraordinary means to activate the lousy Bf8. A much better try was 35...Ra8 and after 36. f4 Nf7 37. Nc6 b3 White can choose between 38. Nxe7 Bxe7 39. Rxe7 a4 40. Ba3 Rb8 41. Bb2 a3 42. Bxa3 b2 43. Bxb2 Rxb2+ 44. Kf3 Rd2 with a very promising endgame and 38. e5 (a much better try) a4 39. Ba3 fxe5 40. fxe5 e6 41. d6 Nd8 42. Nxd8 Rxd8 43. Kd3 Rb8 with a complicated ending. | ||||||||
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36. Ra7 |
Keeping the pressure on my pawns. The only drawback is that it allows me to activate my Rook. | ||||||||
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36... Rc8 |
What to do with the Bishop now? | ||||||||
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37. Be3 |
An active looking move but perhaps 37. Kd1 was slightly better. | ||||||||
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37... Nc4 |
Now I can defend my pawns with tempo. | ||||||||
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38. Bf2 |
Pretty forced. The active looking 38. Nc6 fails to 38...e5 39. Bf2 b3 40. Kd3 Nb2 41. Kc3 Nd1+ 42. Kxb3 Nxf2 43. Rxa5 and I'm sure I could have won this. | ||||||||
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38... h5 |
The point to this move is to prevent White from achieving a favourable pawn structure on the K-side, starting with g4. | ||||||||
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39. h3 |
Inviting me to play 39...h4 and fix the pawn structure on the K-side but after which my Bf8 would effectively be locked in an iron cage. I had something else in mind. | ||||||||
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39... f5 |
A pawn sacrifice meant to activate my awful Bishop. Perhaps 39...h4 wasn't that bad, but I had had enough of playing with only two pieces. | ||||||||
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40. exf5 |
Taking with the Knight leads to an almost forced variation after 40. Nxf5 b3 41. Bd4 a4 42. Rxa4 b2 43. Bxb2 Nxb2 44. Ra2 Rc2+ 45. Kf1 Rd2 46. Ra7 Nc4 47. Nxe7+ Bxe7 48. Rxe7 which is again a very complicated ending that both sides can try to win. | ||||||||
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40... Rc5 |
Over-protecting a5 and getting rid of the White's annoying d-pawn. | ||||||||
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41. Ne6 Rxd5 42. g4 |
Fixing the pawn structure and threatening Ra8 which wasn't very good right now because of 42...Rxf5 43. Kd3 Nb2+ with an immediate draw. White is still bent on winning this. I love fighting chess. | ||||||||
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42... hxg4 |
I exchanged pawns on my weaker flank to lower White's prospects. | ||||||||
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43. fxg4 Bh6 |
An odd looking place for the Bishop, but the g-pawn must not fall. I'm trying to win this, too, and the more natural looking 43...Ng7 would have almost forced White to draw with 44. Ra8+ Kh7 45. Nxg5+ Kh6 46. Nf7+ and so on. | ||||||||
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