Game of the Week - Panjwani vs. Nemcova

[Event "3rd Big Slick GM"]
[Site "St. Louis"]
[Date "2013.06.28"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Panjwani, Raja"]
[Black "Nemcova, Katerina"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E05"]
[WhiteElo "2440"]
[BlackElo "2382"]
[Annotator "Louie"]
[PlyCount "83"]
[SourceDate "2013.10.28"]
1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 a6 4. Qa4 Be7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O d5 7. d4 dxc4 8. Qxc4
b5 9. Qc2 Bb7 10. Bd2 Nbd7 11. Ba5 Rc8 12. Nbd2 Qe8 13. b4 Nb8 14. Ne5 $146 {
Up till now, we have been in standard theory, albeit a rather rare choice.
Here, White deviates from the normal a3.} (14. a3 Nc6 15. Nb3 $14 {It's hard
to see what Black can do, without weakening his structures.} Nxa5 16. Nxa5 Be4
17. Qc3 Nd7 18. Rac1 f5 19. Nd2 {is one way of playing it. Though clearly,
White is positionally dominating here.}) 14... Bxg2 15. Kxg2 Bd6 16. Ndf3 {All
natural moves so far. Black is trying to maneuver his pieces to a more
favorable location (his pieces are cluttered together) and White has to be
careful that his bishop on a5 does not become traded off unfavorably. It is
misplaced, but there is little black can do to solve his c7 pawn weakness at
the moment, thus White maintains a tiny edge here.} Nd5 17. a3 Nb6 {Black is
aiming to place his knight on c4. White has an interesting alternative here.}
18. Rfc1 {The computer suggests} (18. Ng5 $5 g6 {The only move.} (18... f5 $2 {
would be positional suicide} 19. Bxb6 cxb6 20. Qb3 Bxe5 21. dxe5 Qc6+ 22. Nf3
$16 {Black's knight has no future and his weak pawn on e6 is difficult to
defend. White is clearly ahead.}) 19. Ngxf7 Rxf7 20. Nxf7 Kxf7 21. Bxb6 cxb6
22. Qd2 Rc4 23. d5 {White has given two pieces up for the rook, but Black is
rather underdevelopped and his knight has no solid squares to go to (plus his
king is not entirely safe). These factors counterweigh each other and White is
minutely better here.}) 18... f6 19. Nd3 Nc4 20. Nd2 {This is a solid
alternative to going Ng5 and preserves a small edge to pressure Black with.}
Nxa5 21. bxa5 e5 $6 {Black lashes out, trying to open the position so that his
pieces gain mobility, but} 22. Qb3+ (22. a4 $5 {Interesting alternative} exd4 (
22... e4 $2 23. Nb2 f5 24. Qb3+ Kh8 25. axb5 axb5 26. a6 $16 {with a stong
passed pawn and a clear advantage for White.}) 23. axb5 Qxb5 24. Qb3+ Qxb3 25.
Nxb3 Rfe8 26. Nxd4 c5 27. Nf5 Bf8 28. Ne3 Nd7 $14 {with a pleasant edge to
White as his knights have plenty of places to settle themselves. Black's c5
pawn is also a target.}) 22... Kh8 23. d5 {Locks the position and Black is
hard pressed to activate his bishop on d6.} f5 $2 {Missing c5! Which would
have yielded a more dynamic position.} 24. Nc5 {Black is now stuck with a weak
c7 pawn and useless bishop on d6. To boot, his knight on b8 is tied to
defending a6. White is comfortably ahead.} Rf6 25. a4 $5 {Immediately putting
pressure on the queenside. White is unafraid of Black's attack on the kingside
as Black is far too slow.} Qh5 26. Qf3 Qf7 $2 {A small mistake, which White
instantly takes advantage of.} 27. axb5 axb5 28. Ne6 Na6 {Here, White makes a
small mistake, overlooking that Black is threatening Nb4 followed by Nxd5.} 29.
Rab1 $2 (29. Qb3 Qe8 (29... Nb4 30. e4 $1 $16) 30. e4 $14) 29... Nb4 30. a6 {
White slyly offers up the passed pawn which previously was the source of his
advantage...} Nxa6 $6 {And Black takes the bait.} 31. Rxb5 $16 {White now
maintains his dominance and secures his pawn on d5. Black had to play c6
instead of Na6.} Nb8 32. Nc4 {Pefect execution from White.} Rg8 33. Rb7 e4 34.
Qb3 Qe8 35. Nxd6 cxd6 36. Rcc7 $18 Na6 37. Re7 Qh5 38. Nxg7 Qxe2 39. Ne8 {Now
it is mate.} Qf3+ 40. Qxf3 exf3+ 41. Kxf3 Rh6 42. Nf6 {White applied constant
pressure on Black, and although there were some instances where he could
liquidate the tension and gain a slight plus in a comfortable endgame, he
rejected it and instead refused to make Black's life easier. As a result,
Black started lashing out and making little inaccuracies. White immediately
jumped on these mistakes and the finish was near picture-perfect.} 1-0