This past weekend's Labour Day events are over, but without available games, I have had to choose a game from this summer's Quebec Open Invitational section. But fear not, I found some real excitement in the following grandmaster game. Take a look!
[Event "Quebec op inv."]
[Site "Montreal CAN"]
[Date "2013.07.25"]
[Round "6.8"]
[White "Roussel-Roozmon, Thomas"]
[Black "Arencibia, Walter"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E38"]
[WhiteElo "2476"]
[BlackElo "2526"]
[Annotator "MacKinnon,Keith"]
[PlyCount "46"]
[EventDate "2013.07.21"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "CAN"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 {Classical Nimzo-Indian} c5 5. dxc5 Bxc5 (
5... O-O 6. a3 Bxc5 7. Nf3 {and a fairly even middlegame should ensue} b6 8.
Bf4 Bb7 9. Rd1 Nc6 10. e3 {would be a typical continuation}) 6. Nf3 Qb6 $5 {
This is the reason that Black delays castling. He is able to exert pressure on
f2 and force white to block his dark-squared bishop.} 7. e3 {essentially forced
} Qc7 {now that the Queen has done her job, she can go back to c7 and relax} 8.
b3 b6 9. Bb2 a6 {Some prophylaxis is always good - here it is to avoid pesky
Nb5 excursions by the White knight.} 10. g4 {An aggressive attempt but also a
risky one!} (10. Bd3 Bb7 11. Ne4 Be7 12. O-O d6 13. Nxf6+ Bxf6) (10. Be2 Bb7
11. O-O Be7) 10... Bb7 11. Be2 h6 12. Rg1 Nc6 (12... Bf8 13. h4 h5 14. gxh5
Nxh5 15. Ng5 Nf6 16. O-O-O d6 17. h5 Nc6 18. Kb1 O-O-O 19. Nd5 exd5 20. cxd5
Ne7 21. Qxc7+ Kxc7 22. Nxf7 Rh7 23. h6 Rc8 24. Bd3 gxh6 25. Bxh7 Nxh7 26. Rc1+
Kd7 27. Rxc8 Nxc8 28. e4 Ke8 29. Nxh6 Ne7 30. Ng4 Kf7 31. Ne3 b5 32. a4 Ke8 33.
axb5 axb5 34. Kc2 Bc8 35. Ba3 Nf6 36. Kd3 Kd7 37. Bb4 Bb7 38. Ra1 Kc7 39. f3
Ng6 40. Nf5 Ne5+ 41. Ke3 Nf7 42. Nd4 {and an eventual 1-0 Bareev,E (2701)
-Ismagambetov,A (2420)/Turin 2006/CBM 113 (53)}) 13. h4 {White is fully
committed to his kingside attack. There's no going back now.} d5 {Black tries
to break open the position.} 14. g5 hxg5 15. hxg5 Nb4 16. Qb1 (16. Qc1 {leads
to other problems} dxc4 17. gxf6 gxf6 {and black obtains a very strong
initiative}) 16... Ne4 17. a3 Nxf2 $1 {and Black strikes! f2 is the weakest
square on the chessboard.} 18. Kxf2 Rh2+ 19. Nxh2 (19. Ke1 Bxe3 (19... dxc4 20.
axb4 Bxe3 21. Nd5 $1 Bxd5 22. Be5 Bxf3 23. Bxc7 Rxe2+ 24. Kf1 Rf2+ 25. Ke1 Re2+
$11) 20. Nb5 $1 (20. axb4 Bxg1 21. Nxh2 (21. Nxg1 Qg3+) 21... Qxh2 $17) 20...
axb5 21. Be5 Qxe5 22. Nxe5 Bxg1 23. axb4 Bd4 24. Rxa8+ Bxa8 25. Nf3 Bc3+ 26.
Nd2 {and after this long computer variation, we have equality}) 19... Qxh2+ 20.
Rg2 Bxe3+ 21. Kxe3 d4+ 22. Kd2 Qf4+ (22... dxc3+ 23. Kxc3 Qe5+ 24. Kd2 Qf4+ 25.
Kc3 Rd8 $19 {and white can't avoid losing all his pieces or getting checkmated}
) 23. Ke1 Bxg2 {actually offers white some chance at saving himself with Nd5} (
23... Bxg2 24. Nd5 {and White can fight on for at least a few more moves.}) 0-1
