I can't post the in-thread board..
Game 5259573
An interesting two pawn sac, ambitious and would probably lose against a top player. But possibly drawable for white after saccing the pawns. What it does do is give white a game where he is in complete control, and a pool of ideas to choose from, and black a thin tight rope to walk. white too is on a tightrope but my opponent does walk it well, until he falters at a very unusual and unexpected moment, when the danger was passed and a draw looked certain. Indeed i started playing for the draw, when he went wrong. I hope you like my analysis, i have forgotten 90% of what was going through my head but it should still be an interesting read. Please, add to this analysis if you can.
1. e4 c5 i like playing white against sicilian, but always play 2. e5 as black. I think i'm going to try and pick up the sicilian as black, seems good fun, e5 can be very dull.
2. Nf3 d6
3. d4 cxd4
4. Nxd4 e5 i quite like the sveshnikov (spelling?) and this opening shares the early advanced e5 pawn, im not sure e5 THIS early is something i am as used to but i like the weak d6 pawn. especially at lower levels it can be easily targeted and picked off. If not picked off, the struggle to keep the pawn, for black, can lead to worse position or simply control of the game for white. it's a definite weakness. i hear grandmasters tend to stear clear unless they are experts in the line. If you look at high rated players playing this type of sicilian i would imagine the main pattern emerging would be pressure on the weak d6 pawn or play based on that weakness.
5. Bb5+ I am in database here
5.. Bd7
6. Bxd7 Nxd7
7. Nb3 Nf6
8. Nc3 Qc7 im not bothering with a database right now it all seems fairly typical and obvious right now what moves are okay, so pick one you like!
9. 0-0 Be7 im not an expert on this opening but this all seems ordinary and nothing yet to report.
10. Be3 preparing f4 (defending Kings diagonal)
10.. 0-0
11. f4 b6
12. Nd5 ordinary move- but not for what i have in mind for it. i promise you the following pawn sacs are NOT an accident.
12.. Nxd5 pretty forced.
13. Qxd5!? Qxc2? Seems like he's picking up a pawn here that i've been stupid and left, in fact a more experienced player would have player Nf6!
14. Rac1?! I am sure that you could rip this move to shreds with an engine, but importantly it puts my opponent on a tight rope, and gives me lots of options on how to attack and get my pawns back - or more. Black has to be careful and i am in complete control. I may be techinically losing but is a fun game to embark upon..
14.. Qxb2
15. Rf2 Qa3
Now let's take a look at the position. Black's queen is stranded, he has to be very careful not to get it trapped there, and it is well out of action. i have much more active peices, and much better placed. Black's d7 and e7 peices are ungaurded and the d6 pawn is weak. White now plays to take advantage of these facts, and also pin the rooks where they are to give white maximum advantage in development. please, feel free to wack this through an engine and tel me how we should both have played, but i still think the level of play is very high, in fact i admit i was expecting my opponent to error. which is why i chose to play the sacs. against a higher rated player i would not have played these at all. or maybe i would have, but unwisely!
16. Rc7 attacking both peices. Only one move which really should be played here, which was. This is where black's tightrope begins. In fact this is where we was headed when black accepted my c2 pawn offering.
16.. Nf6! (should have been played much earlier, but right now is the best move.
17. Qc4! Simply threatening Bc1 gaining the queen. There were alternatives but after a lot of delibertion Qb7 b5 or d3 were abandoned.
17.. d5! the only saving move, again i was surpised my opponent was not fooled by my obvious trapping! maybe i had looked into the game so muc the obvious moves didnt seem so obvious anymore.
18. exd5 gaining one pawn back. I should reiterate, in case i did not say it in the first place, i think white was fighting uphill from the pawn sacs but i think they were not LOSING, just difficult to play. a draw would be a fair result i think, depending on this next move.
18.. Bd6?. I'm not sure about this move, it certainly wasn't one i had considered in response. Maybe instead 18.. Qb4! would leave black with a technical win. Not one i would give up on. Here though after Bd6? i think i realise my ideas of a brilliant win are diminishing, and so i choose what i think is a drawing line, but one that once again black has to be careful with.
19. Bc1 Qb4
20. QxQ BxQ
21. fxe5 Nxd5
22. Rd7! If Ne7 a3! and white wins a peice for a pawn. there is only one place the knight can go...
22.. Nc3
23. a3 anyway. Bd2 was considered but i think that black could keep the extra pawn. my plan is to win the pawn back, with some advantage.
23.. Bc5. What else?
24. Nxc5 where bxc5 Rc2 Na4 Be3 would win back the pawn, and i think white has a slight advantage in rook movement. Instead of Rc2 Rd3 could be played hoping for Ne4 Re2 trapping the knight, but i doubt that would happen.. my opponenet has played well so far so no reason to think he will error. but he does.. instead of bxc5 he plays Rac8. I don't understand why, it may be an error or maybe hoping for some sort of tactic with a revealed attack on both the c1 bishop and also the f2 knight with Ne4 but i doubt it?
Anyway the game continues and i win, but these were the exciting moves. I dont think the erst are worth discussing. What do you think?
Random Notes:
I played this sicilian for a little while. Actually after 4...e5 the main weakness for black isn't the d6 pawn, but the 'hole' on d5. The big strategy being keeping a white piece from settling there.
Of course, the main move after 5.Bb5+ being 5...Nb8-d7
7.Nf5 is the move to make to try for an advantage(notice this follows the plan of hitting the d6 pawn and if the knight is chased to d3 you'll be threatening to occupy the hole on d5). After 7.Nb3 Nf6 followed by 8...Ra8-c8 black is probably equalized.
11.f4 is premature ... Black can easily equalize and even try for the initiative.
Sample line (probably not best, but most forcing): 11...e5xf4 white can try 12.Bxf4, when after 12...Ra8-c8 white really has nothing except to play against the isolated Queen pawn(white's King pawn is a bigger pain though), or 12.Rxf4 Nd7-e5 with the Knight heading to c4 but white can play 13.Nb3-d4 and head to f5. This position is dead equal (+.07 depth=14 Rybka 3). Blacks best is probably Nd7-b6, once again headed for c4 or in some lines coming to c8 to defend (also helping to control the 'hole' on d5). I don't understand b6 as far as blacks plan, but its not a blunder.
12.Nd5 Nf6xd5 this is pretty forced actually, black is more than happy to trade this pair of knights.
13.Qxd5 Qxc2 Your right, Qxc2 isn't the best move (Nf6 like you mentioned or even Rc8! followed by Nf6). Still, Qxc2 is perfectly playable.
14. Rac1?! I am currently ripping this move to shreds with an Engine. Your opponent choose the right continuation. (Qe2 is another option)
17.Qb5! was slightly better with queen headed to c6 after a7-a6 or doubling blacks pawns after 17...Ra8-e8 18.Bc1 a7-a6 (you can save the queen here to)
18...Bd6? You are correct about this move, black let all his advantage slip here. Qb4 was better indeed.
After 25. Rd7-d3 Nc3-e4 26.Rf2-e2 f7-f5! saves the knight
and after 26.Be3, you don't in fact win back the pawn...black has 26...Rf8-e8
Though certainly your pieces are more active than black's and black probably has nothing more than a draw even being a pawn up.