If you've been following Canadian chess recently, you will have noticed that the Reykjavik Open attracted a large Canadian contingent. The highlight was of course Eric Hansen's second place finish, but another amazing result was achieved in the first round when Daniel Abrahams drew the eventual winner of the tournament GM Li Chao B! What is a great achievement could have been even better had Daniel seen the win late in the game. The encounter is somewhat uneventful until late middlegame, but then some excitement comes out of nowhere. Be sure to have a look!
[Event "N1 Reykjavik Open 2014"]
[Site "Reykjavik, Iceland"]
[Date "2014.03.04"]
[Round "1.2"]
[White "Abrahams, Daniel"]
[Black "Li, Chao b"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B59"]
[WhiteElo "2055"]
[BlackElo "2700"]
[Annotator "MacKinnon,Keith"]
[PlyCount "93"]
[EventDate "2014.03.04"]
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 {why this move order? it is possible that White
actually wanted Black to avoid typical lines and play something like 3...e5} d6
4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 Nf6 6. Be2 e5 7. Nb3 (7. Nf3 {prepares for kingside castling
}) 7... Be7 8. Bg5 (8. O-O O-O 9. Be3 {would be more typical}) 8... O-O 9. Bxf6
Bxf6 10. Nd5 {I can't say I've seen this position before. It's some kind of
Shveshnikov hybrid, but I don't think it's too good for White} Bg5 11. Bg4 Be6
12. O-O Re8 (12... Qd7 {would be my preference}) 13. c3 Ne7 14. Nxe7+ Qxe7 15.
Qf3 Rad8 16. Rfd1 g6 17. Bxe6 fxe6 18. Qe2 {Daniel has survived the somewhat
suspect-looking opening with an equal middlegame. One would expect the
super-GM to now take over, but that is not what happened!} Bh4 {maybe enticing
White to play g3 so that a rook swing from d1-d3-h3 is not possible} 19. g3 Bf6
20. Rd3 Qc7 21. Rad1 Be7 {I don't really understand why Black is playing this
way, but he seems to want to overprotect d6} 22. Qg4 Qc4 23. R1d2 Kg7 24. Na5
Qc8 25. b3 b5 $5 {A strong positional move because the only way to save the
White knight (from ...Qc7 or ...Qa6) is to play b4 making c3 backwards} 26. h4
h5 27. Qe2 Rd7 28. b4 Rc7 29. Rc2 {It's tough to say who is better here. Each
side has his weaknesses. The game does look to be heading towards a draw
however...} Qb8 30. a3 Rcc8 {a sneaky move to activate the e7 Bishop but also
a possible mistake by allowing white to play c4} 31. Rd1 (31. c4 $1 $14 {
ridding himself of the backwards pawn was the way to go here.}) 31... Bd8 32.
Nb3 Bb6 33. Qd3 (33. Kg2 {threatening Qxb5} a6 34. c4 bxc4 35. Rxc4 Rf8 36. f3
$14) 33... d5 {Black had to make this break at some point - it was only a
matter of time.} 34. Kg2 (34. exd5 $2 e4 $17 35. Qxe4 Qxg3+ 36. Qg2 Rxc3 37.
Rxc3 Bxf2+ {and Black has good winning chances} 38. Kh1 Qxc3 39. dxe6 Re7)
34... Rc4 $2 (34... a6 35. Nd2 Qb7 36. Re1 $11) 35. f3 $6 (35. Nd2 {and White
should just be better} Rf8 (35... Rcc8 36. Qxb5 $16) 36. Nxc4 bxc4 37. Qf1 $16)
35... dxe4 {This triggers major simplifications} (35... Rd8 36. Nd2 dxe4 37.
Qe2 exf3+ 38. Nxf3 $11) 36. fxe4 Rd8 37. Qf3 Rxd1 38. Qxd1 Rxe4 39. Qd7+ Kh6 $2
{my computer is telling me that this is nearly a game-losing blunder!} 40. Nc5
$1 Qa8 $1 {offers best chances, but Black should actually be lost here} (40...
Re3 $2 41. Nxe6 Qg8 42. Rf2 $18) (40... Bxc5 $2 41. bxc5 Rg4 (41... Re3 42. c6
e4 43. c7 Qf8 44. Rf2 Rf3 45. Qd4 e5 46. Qe3+ $3 Kg7 47. Rxf3 exf3+ 48. Qxf3
Qc8 49. Qc6 {and White wins}) 42. Rf2 e4 43. Qd2+ e3 (43... Kg7 44. Qd6) 44.
Qxe3+ Kg7 45. c6 $18) 41. Kh2 $1 Bxc5 42. bxc5 Qf8 43. Kg2 $2 {throwing away
the win, but an understandable move especially if time was a factor} (43. c6 $1
{"Passed pawns must be pushed"} Qf3 (43... Rc4 44. c7 {threatening Qd8 and 1-0}
Qc5 45. Qe8 Qxc7 46. Rd2 $1 {and Black will lose his Queen defending his King})
44. Qd2+ Re3 $8 (44... Kg7 45. c7 Rg4 46. Qd7+ Kh6 47. Rg2 $18 {and the pawn
will Queen}) 45. Qg2 Qf7) 43... Rc4 44. Rf2 Qxc5 45. Qd2+ Kg7 46. Qd7+ Kh6 47.
Qd2+ {a great result, but almost an unimaginable one!} 1/2-1/2
