Tournaments / Chicago Open
Qe3 Bc5 43. Qd2 c3 44. bxc3 b2 45. Rb1 Ba3 46. Ne2 Nxe2+ 47. Bxe2 Qa5 48. c4 Qc3 however, with the seconds winding down, I made a much safer choice as I did not have ample time to calculate this vari- ation (or others) until the end; or 39. ... b4 40. cxb4 Bxb4 41. Rxc4 Bxd2 42. Rxc5 dxc5 43. Nxd2 Nxb2 44. Nxb3 c4 45. Nc1 Kg6 Black has decent winning chances, but White probably can hold.
40. Nh1 Qc8 40. ... f5 41. exf5 Bxf5 was easily win-
ning. Unfortunately, it was move 40 and I just wanted to make time control before proceeding.
41. Ng3 Qc5
Hoping Josh would repeat the position so I could play ... f5. 42. Kg1 Ba5 43. Kh2 Qb6 44. Rb1
(not to mention that the queenside pawns are dangerous). I felt that I played a nice game with few mistakes, offering my oppo- nent few chances to gain an edge. Exchange sacrifices are my favorite, and I was glad to employ one in this game.
English Opening (A11) GM Victor Mikhalevski (2623) GM Alejandro Ramirez (2657) 21st Chicago Open (9), 05.28.2012 Notes by Ramirez
1. c4 c6 2. Nf3 d5 3. g3 Bg4 Black doesn’t want to commit his knight
to f6 just yet, which is the most common alternative.
4. Ne5
This move is not supposed to be good. Although the knight jumps to e5 with a tempo, the knight itself is vulnerable, as will soon become apparent.
4. ... Bf5 5. cxd5 Other tries are 5. Bg2 e6 6. cxd5 exd5
7. d4 Nd7 and 5. Qb3 Nd7 6. Nxd7 Qxd7 7. cxd5 Be4 (Not 7. ... cxd5 8. e4 Qc8 9. Nc3 and White definitely is better.)
5. ... Qxd5 I remember that when I was playing
44. ... Qa7 Not a bad move by any means, but miss-
ing a fantastic continuation. 44. ... Bxc3!! 45. bxc3 b4 46. cxb4 (46. Bxc4 bxc3 47. Qe1 b2) 46. ... c3 47. Qc1 Qxb4 48. Ne1 b2 49. Qd1 Nc5 50. Nd3 Nfxd3 51. Bxd3 Nxd3 52. Qxd3 Qd4 was easily winning. I can’t blame this on anything but being careful and lack of calculation. I did not even bother looking for forced variations, instead relying on my instincts. The posi- tion is great for Black, but sometimes missing these opportunities can come back to hurt you. Thankfully not in this game!
45. Ra1 Bb6 46. Kg1 Qc7 Redirecting the queen to the kingside!!
White cannot manage all his minor pieces, as a breakthrough is inevitable. The once passive bishop on f8 (look back to move 16) is now a monster on the diagonal.
47. Kh2 Nc5 48. Ne1 Qd8 49. Qd1 Na4 50. Qd2 Qf6 51. Rxa4
Desperation. But losing immediately.
51. ... bxa4 52. Bxc4 h5 53. Nf1 Qg6 54. g3 Nxh3, White resigned.
Josh resigned here, as he is down a pawn and more material will soon be lost
32 August 2012 | Chess Life
Only seven moves have passed, but the position is quite interesting. Black has a lot of possibilities in this unusual position. Queen-less middlegames are some of the
this game, we had already used a fair amount of time to get to this position. Some games had finished before we reached this point! There are dangers for both players.
6. Qb3 6. Nf3 already loses. A 2400 fell for this
a few months ago, weirdly enough: 6. ... Bxb1 7. Rxb1 Qxa2 8. Qc2 White would have interesting compensation if not for the next move, 8. ... Na6. And after ... Nb4 and ... Nf6, White won’t be able to defend his trapped rook on b1. 6. d4 is messy, but I won’t get into it.
6. ... Qxb3 7. axb3
11. ... f6 A key move. Without this White would
have sufficient play. 11. ... e6 12. Ra4 and the knight lacks good retreats.
12. Nc4 12. Nf3 e5 13. Ra4 Nxf3+ 14. Bxf3 a6
leaves White struggling for being down a pawn. He has some initiative with his development advantage, but Black is only a few moves away from developing all his pieces.
12. ... e5 13. Ra2 a6 13. ... Be6 14. d3 Bb4 was more exact.
14. d3 0-0-0
rarest but most interesting types of games in my opinion. White threatens to put strong pressure on the queenside with his powerful bishop on g2, and then by pushing the b-pawn, also getting rid of his weakness on the b-file. Black has, for the moment, the superior pawn structure. There are many alternatives here.
7. ... Na6
Creating dangers right away. I did not expect my opponent’s reply. 8. Bg2 8. d3 Nb4 (8. ... f6 9. Nc4 [9. Bg2 is
apparently very strong, which I missed during the game.] 9. ... Nb4 10. Nba3 e5 11. Bg2 Be6 was more along the lines of what I was expecting. The game is unclear.) 9. Ra4 e6 10. Bd2.
8. ... Nc5
This move is easy to overlook, as it seemed like the knight should have gone to b4, where it blockades and it seems most natural. However, tactics prevail in this position, and the pawn on b3 is sur- prisingly defenseless.
9. 0-0 Nxb3 10. Ra3 Nd4 10. ... Nxc1 11. Rxc1 gives White too
much compensation. Black already has to tread lightly to avoid losing. 10. ... Bxb1 11. Rxb3 is already lost for Black, as he cannot keep his queenside alive.
11. Nc3
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