This week's GOTW comes from the recently concluded Gibraltar Chess Festival in which a number of Canadians competed successfully. GM Eric Hansen was Canada's top scorer at 7.0/10 to tie for 10th place in what was one of his best tournaments to date. In the fifth round, he scored a big win against the famous GM Simen Agdestein (former coach of Magnus Carlsen). The game was full of fireworks, so don't pass this one by.
[Event "Tradewise Gibraltar"]
[Site "Caleta ENG"]
[Date "2014.03.02"]
[Round "6.9"]
[White "Hansen, Eric"]
[Black "Agdestein, Simen"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C12"]
[WhiteElo "2559"]
[BlackElo "2627"]
[Annotator "MacKinnon,Keith"]
[PlyCount "65"]
[EventDate "2014.01.28"]
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Bb4 $5 {The McCutcheon variation is a very
sharp opening rarely seen at grandmaster level.} (4... dxe4 5. Nxe4 Be7 6. Bxf6
gxf6 (6... Bxf6 7. Nf3 O-O) 7. Nf3 f5 8. Nc3) 5. e5 h6 6. Bc1 {A high-scoring
but unpopular choice. I expect that Eric wanted to play something unusual to
counter Simen's preparation} (6. Bd2 {is the main move} Bxc3 7. bxc3 Ne4 8. Qg4
g6 9. Bd3 Nxd2 10. Kxd2 c5 $13) (6. Be3 $5 {in the same vein as the move
played in the game} Ne4 7. Qg4 g6 8. a3 Bxc3+ 9. bxc3 Nxc3 (9... c5 10. Bd3)
10. Bd3) (6. exf6 hxg5 7. fxg7 Rg8 {based on Black's results, he is doing very
well here}) 6... Ne4 7. Qg4 g6 8. Nge2 c5 9. a3 Ba5 (9... Bxc3+ 10. bxc3 cxd4
11. cxd4 $13) 10. dxc5 (10. b4 {the major alternative} Nxc3 11. Nxc3 cxd4 (
11... cxb4 12. Nb5 b3+ 13. c3 {and White will regain the weak b3 pawn. The
weakness on d6 is also of major concern for Black} a6 {The starting move of a
very interesting sequence that Houdini suggests for Black} 14. Nd6+ Qxd6 $1 15.
exd6 Bxc3+ 16. Bd2 Bxa1 17. Qg3 Bxd4 18. Qxb3 Be5 $11 {I am a little bit
skeptical about the idea, but with proper preparation, it should be playable
for Black}) 12. Nb5 Bc7 13. f4 $11) 10... Nc6 11. b4 Nxe5 12. Qh3 Bc7 13. Nxe4
dxe4 14. Nc3 a5 $6 {Agdestein follows Nepomniachtchi's play from Corus C 2007}
15. Bb2 $1 $16 {but here Eric finds a major improvement! I don't think many
players will be playing ...a5 in the future} (15. Rb1 axb4 16. axb4 Bd7 17. Bb2
Bc6 18. Rd1 Qf6 19. Nb5 Bb8 20. Bd4 Qf5 21. Qc3 O-O 22. Nd6 Bxd6 23. cxd6 Nd7
24. b5 Bd5 25. g4 Qxg4 26. Qg3 Qf3 27. Bg2 Qh5 28. O-O f5 29. f4 Rfc8 30. Rd2
Ra2 31. Rc1 g5 32. Bf1 Qf3 33. Rf2 Qxg3+ 34. hxg3 Bc4 35. c3 Ra3 36. Rh2 Kh7
37. Bxc4 Rxc4 38. fxg5 e5 39. Rxh6+ Kg7 40. Bf2 Raxc3 41. Rxc3 Rxc3 42. Re6 e3
43. Re7+ Kg6 44. Be1 Rc1 45. Kf1 Nc5 46. Ke2 f4 47. d7 f3+ 48. Kxf3 Nxd7 49.
Rxd7 Rxe1 50. Rxb7 Kxg5 51. b6 Kf6 52. Rc7 Rb1 53. Rc6+ Kf5 54. g4+ Kg5 55.
Kxe3 Kxg4 {1/2-1/2 Negi,P (2538)-Nepomniachtchi,I (2587)/Wijk aan Zee 2007/CBM
116 ext}) 15... axb4 16. Rd1 (16. Nxe4 $1 {with a serious advantage. The
position gets pretty wild though.} bxa3 (16... Rxa3 17. Bb5+ $1 ({if} 17. Bxa3
{then ...Qd4 and things get a bit complicated}) (17. Rxa3 bxa3 18. Bb5+ {just
transposing into 17.Bb5+}) 17... Kf8 18. Rxa3 bxa3 19. Qxa3) 17. Bb5+ Kf8 (
17... Ke7 18. Bxa3 Ba5+ 19. c3 Bc7 20. Rd1 $16) 18. Rxa3 Rxa3 19. Qxa3 $18 {
and due to White's string pieces and open lines, Black is essentially lost})
16... Qe7 (16... bxc3 {definitely came into consideration (and was most likely
the best option), but it is tough to part with one's Queen so readily} 17.
Rxd8+ Bxd8 18. Bb5+ Bd7 19. Bxd7+ Nxd7 20. Bc1 $14 (20. Bxc3 Rxa3 21. Bxh8 Rxh3
22. gxh3 $11)) 17. axb4 $16 Nc6 18. Nxe4 e5 19. Qf3 (19. Qe3 {was probably
better to keep an eye on h6 and threaten Nd6+ with devastating consequences})
19... Kf8 (19... O-O $2 20. Nf6+ Kg7 21. Nd5 Qd8 22. Nb6) 20. Bc4 Be6 21. Bxe6
Qxe6 22. b5 Ra2 {a good move. It is always important to find counterplay in
tough positions, and Agdestein puts up the most resistance} (22... Nd4 23. Bxd4
exd4 24. O-O {and Rfe1 or Rxd4 follow}) 23. bxc6 Rxb2 24. Qc3 (24. cxb7) 24...
Rb5 $2 (24... Qxc6 $1 25. Qxb2 Qxe4+ 26. Kf1 Kg7 {and Black has reasonable
chances to hold}) 25. cxb7 Qc6 26. Qc4 Rxb7 (26... Kg7 {It was more important
to activate the h8 rook than to take the doomed b7 pawn} 27. O-O Rb8 {There
are a number of different ways to continue here; I'm not sure which one Eric
would have gone with. Qd5 is probably one of the best attempts}) 27. O-O Kg7
28. f4 Rd8 $2 {The losing move.} (28... Re8 {and Black can play on, although
after White's 29.f5, things are looking bleak}) 29. fxe5 Rxd1 30. Qxf7+ Kh8 31.
Qf8+ Kh7 32. Nf6+ Qxf6 33. Qxf6 1-0
