This week's game features two experienced masters battling it out at a weekly event here in Montreal. A seemingly quiet unorthodox opening leads to some interesting middlegame complications. There are some important lessons about pawn structure to be learned from this one.
[Event "Mercredi 2013.08.28 ABCD"]
[Site "Montreal CAN"]
[Date "2013.09.18"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Leveille, Francois"]
[Black "Chabot, Roland"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B07"]
[WhiteElo "2323"]
[BlackElo "2118"]
[Annotator "MacKinnon,Keith"]
[PlyCount "69"]
[EventDate "2013.08.28"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "CAN"]
1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Bd3 {Both players steer the game away from theoretical
channels from the get-go. White certainly can't claim an opening advantage,
but if he understands the resulting positions better than his opponent, the
choice makes good practical sense.} e5 4. Nf3 (4. c3 d5 $5 5. dxe5 Nxe4 6. Nf3
{played surprisingly often at a high level even though the line scores only
50% for White}) 4... Nc6 5. c3 g6 6. O-O Bg7 7. Re1 (7. h3 {so that the bishop
can go to e3 without being harassed by the Black knight} O-O 8. Re1 h6 9. Be3
a6 10. Qd2 Kh7 11. d5 {is one way in which the game could proceed}) 7... O-O 8.
h3 Nh5 {Black shows that he has aggressive intentions!} 9. Bg5 (9. Be3 Nf4 (
9... f5 $6 {is typically a mistake in these positions. It's not terrible here,
but Black generally wants to delay this push until White locks up the centre
with d5} 10. exf5 Bxf5 11. Qb3+ (11. Bxf5 gxf5 12. Na3 (12. Ng5 {looks good,
but possibly too eager} Qe8 13. Qb3+ Kh8 14. Qxb7 exd4 15. cxd4 Nxd4 16. Na3
$14)) 11... Kh8 12. Bxf5 gxf5 13. dxe5 (13. Qxb7 Qd7 14. dxe5 dxe5 15. Na3 Rab8
16. Qa6 e4 {and black is showing resiliency. he even obtains some initiative})
13... Nxe5 14. Nxe5 Bxe5 15. Nd2 {and after Nf3, Rad1, White will have a nice
advantage due to his superior piece placement and better pawn structure}) 10.
Bf1 h6 11. Na3 g5 {and Black's life isn't too difficult}) 9... f6 10. Bc1 (10.
Be3 {The typical idea is to come back to this square after forcing Black to
play ...f6 (which should be somewhat weakening as it opens up the a2-g8
diagonal)}) 10... Qe8 11. Na3 Kh8 12. Nb5 {I can't say I'm a big fan of this
continuation. It just seems a bit unnatural} Qe7 13. c4 Nb4 14. Bf1 c6 $2 {A
seemingly innocuous move, but actually a large strategic mistake as will be
seen over the next few moves.} 15. Nc3 {It seems White just wanted to relocate
his knight to c3. If that was his plan, he succeeded!} Bd7 16. Be3 Na6 $6 17.
b4 (17. c5 $1 {Already here, White could have taken advantage of 14...c6} dxc5
18. dxe5 fxe5 19. Bxa6 bxa6 20. Na4 $16 {and Black's prospects are quite bleak}
) 17... Nc7 (17... Nxb4 18. Rb1 exd4 19. Bxd4 c5 20. Rxb4 $1 cxb4 21. Nd5 $16
Qf7 22. g4 $16 {this may have been Black's best try because of the
complications it creates}) 18. Rb1 (18. dxe5 fxe5 19. c5 Ne8 {when moves like
this are forced, you know that things have gone wrong}) 18... Rfd8 19. b5 cxb5
20. cxb5 b6 21. Rc1 Be8 22. Qb3 Bf8 23. a4 {The last five moves have shown
some maneuvering from both sides without changing the essence of the position
much. It is now very apparent that Black is in serious positional trouble. His
lack of space for one as well as the holes in his position (c6) make his
position depressing to play} Bf7 24. d5 {White has a clear plan to play
Na2-b4-c6 if Black does not do something drastic} f5 {It was necessary to
attempt something. More issues come up though} 25. Bg5 Nf6 (25... Qd7 26. Bxd8
Rxd8) 26. exf5 h6 (26... gxf5 27. Nd4 $1 $18 {now f5 falls and, with it,
Black's position}) 27. fxg6 (27. Bxf6+ {probably a bit cleaner} Qxf6 28. Ne4
Qe7 29. f6) 27... Bxg6 28. Bh4 Qf7 29. Bc4 Nce8 30. Na2 Ng7 (30... Rdc8 {
actually lets Black keep playing for a while longer}) 31. Nxe5 $1 dxe5 32. d6
Qd7 33. Bxf6 Re8 34. Bxe5 Rac8 35. Qg3 (35. Be6 $1 {would have been a very
aesthetic end to the game, but there was no need to be fancy} Rxe6 (35... Rxc1
36. Nxc1 Qb7 37. d7 Rd8 38. Qc4) 36. Rxc8 Qxc8 37. Qxe6 Qxe6 38. Bxg7+ Kxg7 39.
Rxe6) 1-0
