Interesting annotated game, Sicilian Rossolimo ...
07 Mar '07 04:21I wasn't expecting any of my early games on this site to be interesting,
but my opponent in this game proved me wrong.
Comments are welcome regarding the game or my analysis.
I have endeavored to make this analysis PGN compliant.
Game 3119020
1. e4 c5 2. Nb1c3 Nb8c6 3. Ng1f3 e6 4. Bf1b5
{GM Joel Benjamin wrote several articles for IM Jeremy Silman's website
recommending this line for White.}
Ng8e7
{Benjamin prefers Nd4, though the text is certainly playable.}
5. Bb5xc6
{White should delay this capture and wait for Black to play a6.}
Ne7xc6 6. O-O Bf8e7 7. d4 cxd4 8. Nf3xd4 d6 9. Nd4xc6 bxc6 10. Qd1g4
{In this position with a7-a6 and Rf1-e1 thrown in, Benjamin indicates that
10...O-O leads to a difficult game for Black after 11. Bh6 Bf6 12. e5 dxe5.
Note that 12...Bxe5 loses to 13. Rxe5. Knowing this, I wondered if White could,
in response to O-O, play 11. e5 first since dxe5 12. Bh6 transposes. Of course,
Black is not obligated to play dxe5, but it wasn't clear to me who was better
in those lines and since I wasn't sure how relevant the placement of White's
rook was to the overall evaluation of the position, I delayed castling.}
Be7f6 11. Bc1e3 Qd8a5 12. Qg4f4
{It is reasonable to put pressure on d6, but better was Qg3 so that Black's
response is not played with tempo.}
e5 13. Qf4g3 Bc8e6 14. Be3g5 Bf6xg5 15. Qg3xg5 O-O 16. h4 Ra8b8 17. h5
{This loses material and the attack will not succeed, but in any case,
Black has a strong queenside initiative.}
f6 18. Qg5g3 Rb8xb2 19. h6 g6 20. Qg3d3 d5 21. exd5 cxd5 22. Ra1b1 Rf8b8
23. Rb1xb2 Rb8xb2 24. Qd3f3 Kg8f7 25. g4 Qa5b4
{Probably not best, but I wanted to squash White's counterplay by exchanging
Queens and generally, my endgame technique is pretty good.}
26. g5 Qb4g4 27. Qf3xg4 Be6xg4 28. Nc3xd5 fxg5 29. c4 Bg4f3 30. Nd5e3 Rb2xa2
31. Rf1c1 g4
{Even if this pawn is eventually lost, it allows Black to eventually pick up
the more important pawn on h6.}
32. c5 Ra2a6 33. Kg1h2 Kf7f6
{I had previously devoted a lot of time looking at 33...g5, which works out
fine after 34. Kg3 Rxh6 35. Nxg4 Bxg4 36. Kxg4 Rc6 37. Kxg5 Ke6 and Black will
win the endgame. Unfortunately, White's problems disappear after 37. Kf5! }
34. Kh2g3 Kf6g5 35. Rc1c4
{Nc4 may put up stiffer resistance and in fact, I had not decided how to
proceed against it.}
Ra6c6 36. Rc4c3 Kg5xh6 37. Kg3h4 g5 38. Kh4g3 Kh6g6 39. Rc3c4 h5 0-1
but my opponent in this game proved me wrong.
Comments are welcome regarding the game or my analysis.
I have endeavored to make this analysis PGN compliant.
Game 3119020
1. e4 c5 2. Nb1c3 Nb8c6 3. Ng1f3 e6 4. Bf1b5
{GM Joel Benjamin wrote several articles for IM Jeremy Silman's website
recommending this line for White.}
Ng8e7
{Benjamin prefers Nd4, though the text is certainly playable.}
5. Bb5xc6
{White should delay this capture and wait for Black to play a6.}
Ne7xc6 6. O-O Bf8e7 7. d4 cxd4 8. Nf3xd4 d6 9. Nd4xc6 bxc6 10. Qd1g4
{In this position with a7-a6 and Rf1-e1 thrown in, Benjamin indicates that
10...O-O leads to a difficult game for Black after 11. Bh6 Bf6 12. e5 dxe5.
Note that 12...Bxe5 loses to 13. Rxe5. Knowing this, I wondered if White could,
in response to O-O, play 11. e5 first since dxe5 12. Bh6 transposes. Of course,
Black is not obligated to play dxe5, but it wasn't clear to me who was better
in those lines and since I wasn't sure how relevant the placement of White's
rook was to the overall evaluation of the position, I delayed castling.}
Be7f6 11. Bc1e3 Qd8a5 12. Qg4f4
{It is reasonable to put pressure on d6, but better was Qg3 so that Black's
response is not played with tempo.}
e5 13. Qf4g3 Bc8e6 14. Be3g5 Bf6xg5 15. Qg3xg5 O-O 16. h4 Ra8b8 17. h5
{This loses material and the attack will not succeed, but in any case,
Black has a strong queenside initiative.}
f6 18. Qg5g3 Rb8xb2 19. h6 g6 20. Qg3d3 d5 21. exd5 cxd5 22. Ra1b1 Rf8b8
23. Rb1xb2 Rb8xb2 24. Qd3f3 Kg8f7 25. g4 Qa5b4
{Probably not best, but I wanted to squash White's counterplay by exchanging
Queens and generally, my endgame technique is pretty good.}
26. g5 Qb4g4 27. Qf3xg4 Be6xg4 28. Nc3xd5 fxg5 29. c4 Bg4f3 30. Nd5e3 Rb2xa2
31. Rf1c1 g4
{Even if this pawn is eventually lost, it allows Black to eventually pick up
the more important pawn on h6.}
32. c5 Ra2a6 33. Kg1h2 Kf7f6
{I had previously devoted a lot of time looking at 33...g5, which works out
fine after 34. Kg3 Rxh6 35. Nxg4 Bxg4 36. Kxg4 Rc6 37. Kxg5 Ke6 and Black will
win the endgame. Unfortunately, White's problems disappear after 37. Kf5! }
34. Kh2g3 Kf6g5 35. Rc1c4
{Nc4 may put up stiffer resistance and in fact, I had not decided how to
proceed against it.}
Ra6c6 36. Rc4c3 Kg5xh6 37. Kg3h4 g5 38. Kh4g3 Kh6g6 39. Rc3c4 h5 0-1