The McGill Chess Club hosted the McGill Open this past weekend. The tournament was a big success with approximately 110 players. In the last round, I was paired against Qiyu Zhou, a very strong young player from Ottawa. One of her other wins has previously been posted as a GOTW. Anyways, in our game, after a sharp opening, she made an intuitive sacrifice and followed it up with enterprising play. Have a look at a strange but instructive game!
[Event "McGill Open"]
[Site "Montreal"]
[Date "2014.05.04"]
[Round "5"]
[White "MacKinnon, Keith"]
[Black "Zhou, Qiyu"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C45"]
[WhiteElo "2297"]
[BlackElo "2202"]
[Annotator "MacKinnon,Keith"]
[PlyCount "62"]
[EventDate "2014.??.??"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "CAN"]
[SourceDate "2006.01.30"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nxc6 {It probably wasn't a good
idea going into the Scotch (where the theory is very important) without proper
preparation as White can get a losing position quite easily. Since I was
playing an opponent who has been very active whereas I am a bit rusty, it was
a poor choice.} bxc6 6. e5 Qe7 7. Qe2 Nd5 8. c4 Ba6 {It was at this point that
I started to worry about my lack of preparation. Qiyu was playing her moves
quickly and with confidence.} 9. g3 (9. b3 g6 10. g3 Bg7 11. Bb2 O-O 12. Bg2
Rae8 13. O-O Bxe5 14. Qxe5 Qxe5 15. Bxe5 Rxe5 16. cxd5 Bxf1 17. Kxf1 cxd5 {
This was the line I remembered. I didn't think that it offered sufficient
chances to play for a win, however. It's also a well-known line in the Scotch,
so I assumed she would know how to play it}) 9... g6 10. Bg2 {a little unusual.
usually, White tries to defend e5 with his dark-squared Bishop} (10. b3) 10...
Bg7 11. O-O {The idea being that Black won't be able to take on e5 until he
consolidates his position (i.e. castles and moves his Knight)} O-O 12. Re1 {I
knew of one game from this position, so I was obviously really hoping that she
would follow it} Rfe8 {The natural move but not what I liked to see} (12...
Rae8 13. Na3 Nb6 14. Qc2 Qc5 15. Bf4 g5 16. Qf5 Re6 17. Qxg5 Nxc4 18. Nxc4 Bxc4
19. Be4 Bd5 20. Bf5 Qd4 21. b3 Qc3 22. Qh5 Rg6 23. Rac1 Qa5 24. Qe2 Re8 25.
Bxd7 {1-0 Van der Wiel,J (2555)-David,A (2380)/Brussels 1993/CBM 034 ext}) 13.
Na3 Nb6 (13... Bxe5 {might actually be possible. It hasn't been played, but
I'm struggling to suggest a good way for White to continue} 14. Qd1 Nb6 15. Bf4
Qd6 $15) 14. Qc2 Bxe5 (14... Qc5 {would likely have been my preference} 15. Be3
Qxe5 16. Rab1 {and White has some compensation for the pawn, but his position
is highly suspect}) 15. c5 {the only move which makes sense after the loss of
the pawn} Nd5 (15... Nc8 $4 16. Bf4 f6 17. Bxe5 fxe5 18. Qa4 Qxc5 (18... Bb7
19. Qb3+ {picks up the bishop}) 19. Qxa6 $18) 16. Qa4 Bb7 (16... Bd3 $1 17. Qb3
Bf5 18. Nc4 Rab8 19. Rxe5 (19. Qd1 Qf6 $17) 19... Rxb3 20. Rxe7 {I might have
stopped calculating around here thinking that I would be OK in this line..
However, that is not the case.} Rxe7 21. axb3 Re1+ 22. Bf1 Bh3 23. Nd2 Nb4 $17)
17. Qb3 (17. Nc4 {had been my initial idea} f6 18. Qa5 $44) 17... Qxc5 $5 {
came as a bit of a shock. I started to wonder if she was considering this move
due to the length of time she was spending though} (17... Ba6 {I wondered if I
should repeat moves after ...Ba6, but now that I know ...Bd3 would have been
stronger than going back to b7, this wouldn't be wise}) 18. Qxb7 Bd4 (18...
Bxg3 {leads to equality} 19. Rxe8+ Rxe8 20. hxg3 Re2 21. Qb8+ Kg7 22. Bh6+ Kxh6
23. Rf1 $11) 19. Rf1 (19. Be3 Bxe3 20. fxe3 Nxe3 $19) 19... Rab8 (19... Nb4 {
heading for d3 is apparently equal, but it's tough to figure out what's really
going on here}) 20. Qa6 Re1 {If 17...Qxc5 came as a bit of a shock, this came
as a huge shock. Objectively, it's not the best move, but it did the trick in
this game} (20... Rxb2 {was what I was expecting} 21. Bxb2 Bxb2 22. Rae1 Rxe1
23. Rxe1 Bxa3 24. Qc8+ Kg7 25. Qxd7 $13 {both sides have chances, but Black's
bad Queenside pawns will make her position arguably harder to play}) 21. Rxe1
Bxf2+ 22. Kf1 {too risky} (22. Kh1 {The safer choice. I think a bit of
machismo came into play here. I couldn't see why Kf1 was bad, so why not play
it?} Bxe1 23. Bh6 Bf2 24. Rc1 $14) 22... Bxe1 23. Kxe1 $2 (23. Qe2 Bb4 24. Nc2
Ba5 25. Bf3 h5 26. Kg2 Bb6 27. Bg5 $14) 23... Qg1+ 24. Qf1 {a tough decision} (
24. Bf1) 24... Re8+ 25. Kd2 {played to provoke ...Qe3+. I knew that I would be
lost after 25...Qd4+} (25. Kd1) 25... Qe3+ $6 {an inaccuracy which could have
allowed me to survive into an unclear ending} (25... Qd4+ 26. Kc2 Nb4+ 27. Kb1
Re1 $1 28. Qc4 (28. Qf3 Qg1 $19) 28... Nd3 $1 {is what I saw during the game.
White loses after} 29. Kc2 Re2+ 30. Kd1 Qf2) 26. Kc2 Qe2+ $8 {This was my
chance to stave off immediate defeat. It is hard for me to explain why I
didn't immediately take the Queen and instead walked into checkmate} 27. Kb3 $4
{It was just one of those games I guess} (27. Qxe2 Rxe2+ 28. Bd2 Rxg2 29. Rh1
Nb4+ 30. Kc3 $11 c5 (30... Nxa2+ $6 {the Knight will be trapped on a2} 31. Kd3
$14)) (27. Bd2 Ne3+) (27. Kb1 Nc3+ 28. bxc3 Rb8+) 27... Rb8+ 28. Ka4 Qe7 (28...
Rb4+ {slightly more precise} 29. Ka5 Qe7) 29. Bd2 Rb4+ 30. Ka5 Qc5+ 31. Nb5
Rxb5+ {I want to congratulate my opponent on a game well-played. I was
especially surprised by her 17th and 20th moves. Her attacking intuition is
very strong, and I'm sure she will be a positive addition to Canada's Women's
Team at the Olympiad in Norway this summer.} (31... Qb6#) 0-1
