From this autumn's RA Fall Open is an educational Shveshnikov Sicilian. Unlike the wild games typically seen resulting from this opening, today's feature is a slower-paced strategic battle. There are many lessons to be learned here! Both players made a number of mistakes, so the fair result was a draw which was agreed on the 58th move.
[Event "RA Fall op"]
[Site "Ottawa CAN"]
[Date "2013.09.15"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Zhou, Qiyu"]
[Black "Gordon, David"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B33"]
[WhiteElo "2102"]
[BlackElo "2278"]
[Annotator "MacKinnon,Keith"]
[PlyCount "116"]
[EventDate "2013.09.13"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "CAN"]
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 {It's been some time
since we've seen a Shveshnikov in GOTW. The opening is very double-edged and
theoretical.} 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Bg5 a6 8. Na3 b5 9. Nd5 Be7 10. Bxf6 Bxf6 11. c4 {
The main alternative to the traditional 11.c3} b4 (11... Nd4 $5 {a very
interesting move which has caused me headaches especially in blitz games.}) 12.
Nc2 O-O 13. g3 (13. Be2 a5 14. O-O Bg5 15. Qd3 Be6 16. Rad1 {is another path
the game could take. Black seems to be doing pretty well in a lot of the lines
here though}) 13... a5 14. Bg2 Bg5 15. h4 Bh6 16. O-O Be6 ({There are few good
games from this position, but I was impressed by the way white pressed in the
following example:} 16... Ne7 17. Nxe7+ Qxe7 18. Qd3 Be6 19. Rfd1 Rfd8 20. b3
Qc7 21. Bf1 g6 22. a3 bxa3 23. Nxa3 f5 24. Nb5 Qb6 25. Bh3 Bf7 26. exf5 d5 27.
fxg6 hxg6 28. Qe2 dxc4 29. bxc4 Qc5 30. Bg2 Rac8 31. Bd5 Bxd5 32. cxd5 e4 33.
Rxa5 e3 34. Ra6 exf2+ 35. Kg2 Kh7 36. Qe6 Qc2 37. Rf1 Re8 38. Qf7+ Bg7 39. Rxf2
Qd3 40. Ra7 Rg8 41. h5 Rc5 42. Nc7 Qe4+ 43. Kh2 Rf8 44. Qxg6+ Qxg6 45. hxg6+
Kxg6 46. Rxf8 Bxf8 47. Ne6 Rc2+ 48. Kh3 Bb4 49. Ra6 Rd2 50. Kg4 Kf6 51. Nf4+
Ke5 52. Re6+ Kd4 53. Kf5 Kc5 54. g4 Rd1 55. g5 Bd2 56. g6 Rf1 57. Re4 Rg1 58.
d6 Kc6 59. d7 {1-0 Horvath,A (2524)-Horvath,P (2469)/Balatonlelle 2008/CBM 125
Extra}) 17. b3 Rb8 {A good prophylactic move which puts indirect pressure on
b3 (in the case that white attempts a3)} 18. Qd3 Qd7 19. Rad1 (19. Rfd1 {would
have been more to my liking. I believe that the queenside rook should stay on
the a-file}) 19... Rbd8 {doesn't make much sense after having already played ..
.Rb8} (19... Rfd8) 20. Qe2 Qa7 21. Rd3 {With the plan of targeting d6} Nb8 {
Slows White's attack on d6 as the Black Knight can head to d7 and c5} 22. g4 {
Not really in the spirit of the position} (22. a3 $1 $14 {Now that Black has
removed his knight from c6, a3 becomes a strong option to get the Knight on c2
to a3 and then b5}) 22... f6 23. Rfd1 Na6 24. Nde3 Bxe3 {This seems to be an
unnecessary concession. The Black Bishop on h6 was actually making White's
life difficult on that diagonal. There was no need to exchange it so willingly.
} (24... Qc7 25. Nf5 Bxf5 26. exf5 {Because White's pawns are on the light
squares, it is better for him to retain his dark-squared Bishop as in this line
} Nc5 27. Rg3 Bf4 28. Rh3 $13) 25. Nxe3 Qb8 26. Qd2 {Now d6 falls} Kf7 27. Rxd6
Ke7 $2 (27... Qxd6 28. Qxd6 Rxd6 29. Rxd6 Nc5 {It is tougher for White to
exploit the pawn-up advantage without the Queens on the board}) 28. Rxd8 Rxd8
29. Qxd8+ $2 {Qiyu was too focused on getting to the ending which is only
marginally better for her.} (29. Nd5+ Bxd5 30. exd5 Qd6 31. g5 $18 {Leads to a
winning position. The game will of course require some technique to win, but
this was the way to continue.}) 29... Qxd8 30. Rxd8 Kxd8 31. Kf1 {This move
and the idea behind it eliminate any advantage White had.} (31. Bf1 Nc5 32. f3
Kc7 33. Nd5+ Kd6 34. Kf2 $14) 31... Nc5 32. Ke2 a4 33. bxa4 Nxa4 34. Kd2 Kc7
35. Kc2 Nc5 36. f3 Kb6 37. Bf1 Ka5 (37... Nb7 $11 {and it almost becomes
easier to play Black}) 38. Nd1 Ka4 39. Kb2 Bc8 40. Ne3 Ne6 41. Nf5 Bd7 42. Be2
Ka5 43. a3 g6 44. Ne3 Nd4 45. Bd1 Ba4 $2 46. axb4+ Kxb4 47. Nd5+ Kxc4 $4 {This
move should lose} (47... Ka5 48. Bxa4 Kxa4 49. Nxf6 h5 $1 $11) 48. Bxa4 Nxf3
49. Nxf6 $6 (49. h5 {would have given Black no real options for saving the game
} gxh5 50. gxh5 h6 51. Be8 f5 (51... Kd4 52. Nxf6 Nd2 53. Bg6 Ke3 54. Ng8 $18)
52. Ne3+ Kd4 53. Nxf5+ Kxe4 54. Nxh6 {and White will win in the B+N ending
that is on the horizon}) 49... h5 50. g5 $2 {Throws away the win} (50. gxh5
gxh5 51. Nxh5 Nxh4 52. Kc2 Kd4 53. Bc6 Ng6 54. Ng7 Nf4 55. Nf5+ Kc5 56. Bb7 {
and White should eventually be able to win the e5 pawn and with it the game})
50... Nxh4 51. Bd1 Kd3 52. Kb3 Kd2 53. Bxh5 gxh5 54. Nxh5 Ke3 55. Nf6 Kf4 56.
Kc4 Kxg5 57. Nd7 Kf4 58. Kd5 Nf3 1/2-1/2
