It's been a while since my last GOTW, but exams are now over so I'm back to show you interesting Canadian games! This week, I featured an amateur game played at the Annex Chess Club where a fast-improving player, rated 1000, missed a forced mate against a long-time Toronto chess figure. Have a look, and, if you want a challenge, look for the tactic at move 16.
[Event "Annex CC-ch Reserves"]
[Site "Toronto CAN"]
[Date "2014.02.03"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Pamwar, Manish"]
[Black "Armstrong, Robert J"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B08"]
[WhiteElo "1025"]
[BlackElo "1516"]
[Annotator "MacKinnon,Keith"]
[PlyCount "68"]
[EventDate "2014.01.13"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "CAN"]
1. e4 g6 2. d4 Bg7 3. Nf3 d6 4. Bc4 (4. Nc3 Nf6 5. Be2 O-O 6. O-O {a more
classical continuation}) 4... Nf6 5. Nc3 (5. Qe2 $5 O-O 6. O-O (6. e5 dxe5 7.
dxe5 Nd5 8. h3) 6... Bg4 7. Nbd2 Nc6 8. c3 e5) 5... Nxe4 $5 {A common motif
often seen in club games.} (5... c6 6. Bb3 O-O 7. O-O Bg4) (5... O-O 6. Qe2 {
as above}) 6. Nxe4 d5 7. Bb3 (7. Bd3 dxe4 8. Bxe4 c5 $5 $11) 7... dxe4 8. Ng5
O-O 9. c3 Bf5 {Bishops are almost always awkwardly placed on this square when
there is a pawn on g6 (as they can't retreat along that diagonal if attacked)}
(9... e5 $1 10. dxe5 (10. d5 Nd7 (10... h6 11. Nxe4 Qh4 $5 {Looked interesting
at first, but appears to be a somewhat empty threat} 12. Qe2 Bg4 13. Qe3 Nd7
14. h3 $14 {and White can begin untangling his pieces})) 10... Qxd1+ 11. Bxd1
Bxe5 12. Nxe4 $11) 10. g4 {aggressive play!} (10. f3 {was probably a better
way to play for activity} exf3 $2 11. Qxf3 Qc8 12. Bxf7+ $1 Rxf7 (12... Kh8 13.
h4 $16) 13. Nxf7 Qe6+ (13... Kxf7 14. g4 Qe6+ 15. Kf2 $16) 14. Ne5 Bxe5 15.
dxe5 Qxe5+ 16. Be3 Be4 17. Qf2 Bxg2 18. O-O-O {A neat trick - the rook on h1
is immune due to Black's back weak rank} Nc6 19. Qxg2 Qxe3+ 20. Kb1 $16) 10...
Bd7 11. h4 (11. Nxe4 $11 {Sometimes, the position calls for taking back some
material and not going for an all-out assault on the opponent's King}) 11...
Bc6 (11... c5 $1 {A strong move which tries to bust open White's center. It
underscores the weakness of the White King stuck in the middle of the board})
12. h5 e3 $2 (12... e6 {The a2-g8 diagonal needs to be closed immediately} 13.
Be3 $13) 13. d5 exf2+ $2 (13... Bb5 14. Bxe3 (14. hxg6 exf2+ 15. Kxf2 fxg6+ 16.
Kg2 Qd6 17. Nxh7 Nd7 18. Nxf8 Rxf8 19. c4 Ba6 20. Rf1)) 14. Kxf2 Bd7 (14... Be8
15. hxg6 fxg6+ (15... h6 16. Nh7 Qd6 17. Nxf8 Kxf8 18. Qf3 $18) 16. Kg2 Qd6 17.
Rxh7 $18 {and Black's position has crumbled}) 15. hxg6 hxg6 $2 (15... fxg6+ 16.
Kg1 $18) 16. Rh7 {Still winning, but he could have pushed the rook one square
further!} (16. Rh8+ {A typical clearance sacrifice!} Bxh8 17. Qh1 Kg7 18. Qh7+
Kf6 19. Nf3 {tougher to see, but mates in three} (19. Ne4+ Ke5 20. Qh2+ Kxe4
21. Qf4+ Kd3 22. Qe3#) 19... Bxg4 20. Bg5+ Kf5 21. Bc2#) 16... e5 17. Rxg7+ $4
(17. Qh1 Qf6+ 18. Kg3 Re8 19. Ne4 Qb6 20. Rxg7+ Kxg7 21. Qh6+ Kg8 22. Bg5 {and
Black is getting mated}) 17... Kxg7 18. Qh1 {The idea was there, but the
execution wasn't in the right order.} Rh8 19. Qf3 Qf6 $2 {Black would be
better off keeping the Queens on since White's King is now in more danger than
his own} (19... f6 $19) 20. Qxf6+ Kxf6 21. Kg3 (21. Ne4+ $1 {takes advantage
of the weak f6 square} Kg7 22. Bg5 $1 Bxg4 23. Bf6+ Kg8 24. Bxh8 Kxh8 25. d6
Na6 $15 {and White may be able to hold on}) 21... Na6 $2 (21... Kg7 {with the
idea ...f6 was the right way to go}) 22. Be3 (22. Ne4+ {same idea as last move,
but now it's even better (since g4 is covered) and White can even obtain a
small advantage} Kg7 23. Bg5) 22... Kg7 23. Rf1 f5 24. gxf5 Bxf5 (24... gxf5
$19 {now g6 becomes accessible to the Black king and the pawns remain intact})
25. Ne6+ Bxe6 (25... Kf7 $1 {looks scary, but it ends up OK} 26. d6 Ke8 27.
dxc7 Rh3+ 28. Kf2 Ke7 $17) 26. dxe6 Raf8 27. Rd1 Rd8 28. Rxd8 $2 (28. Rf1 {By
keeping one of the rooks, White has good drawing chances due to his strong
Bishops. Trading a pair of rooks is almost never a good option when down the
exchange in these types of endgames}) 28... Rxd8 29. e7 Re8 30. Bg5 Nc5 31. Bc4
Ne4+ 32. Kg4 Nxg5 33. Kxg5 Rxe7 34. Bd5 e4 0-1
