From the top board in the 4th round of this year's BC Open is a game between two masters who manage to make an Exchange Slav exciting! A cursory glance might lead you to believe that White led the whole way, and, while true to some extent, Black had an equal position at various points.
[Event "British Columbia op"]
[Site "Richmond CAN"]
[Date "2014.02.09"]
[Round "4.1"]
[White "Sohal, Tanraj"]
[Black "Villavieja, Butch"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D10"]
[WhiteElo "2346"]
[BlackElo "2227"]
[Annotator "MacKinnon,Keith"]
[PlyCount "135"]
[EventDate "2014.02.08"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "CAN"]
[SourceDate "2013.05.03"]
1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. cxd5 cxd5 4. Bf4 Nc6 5. e3 e6 {It's somewhat uncommon for
Black to close his light-squared Bishop in this way.} ({much more common is}
5... Nf6 6. Nc3 a6 (6... Bf5) 7. Nf3 Bg4) 6. Nc3 Bd6 7. Bxd6 Qxd6 {This
position just seems really easy to play as White. Although the position is
relatively equal, it is always White who holds the edge.} 8. Bd3 Nf6 9. f4 {
clamping down on e5. The position can quickly become unpleasant for Black} a6
10. Rc1 Bd7 11. Nf3 Rc8 12. O-O Ng4 $6 {The idea behind this move is to play ..
.f5, but it seems somewhat suspect} 13. Qe1 f5 {Now, the White Knight has the
potential for a strong outpost on e5 since there will be no pawns to disturb it
} 14. Ne5 {Too soon} (14. Na4 {targeting the weak dark-squares. White doesn't
need to rush anything; his position plays itself} O-O 15. Nc5 Rc7 16. h3 Nf6
17. Ne5 {and something like Rf2-c2 will put Black in severe discomfort}) 14...
Ncxe5 15. fxe5 Qe7 16. h3 Nh6 17. Qe2 (17. Ne2 Rxc1 18. Qxc1 Kf7 19. Nf4 $14) (
17. Na4 $5 {probably too risky, but interesting nonetheless} Rxc1 18. Qxc1 Bxa4
19. Qc8+ Qd8 20. Qxe6+ Qe7 (20... Kf8 $4 21. Bxf5 $18) 21. Qc8+ Qd8 22. Qxb7
O-O 23. b4 $13) 17... O-O $11 {Black should have full equality now} 18. a3 Qg5
19. Qf2 Kh8 20. Ne2 Qe7 21. Qe1 Rxc1 22. Nxc1 Ba4 $6 (22... Rc8 {seems more
natural}) 23. Qa5 {White gains a tempo} Bc6 24. Nb3 g5 {Aggressive, but I
don't think this was the right time. White has a clear advantage on the
Queenside, but it's hard for him to make clear headway. By opening up his
Kingside, White may be able to take advantage on both sides of the board.} 25.
Qb4 Qe8 26. Be2 Rg8 27. Qd6 g4 28. h4 Rg6 29. g3 Nf7 30. Qb4 {The position has
closed up on the Kingside, so now White is the only one with any chances} Nd8
31. Nc5 Rg7 32. a4 Kg8 33. b3 Qe7 34. Rc1 h5 $2 {There isn't any reason for
this move. I suspect Black just didn't know what to play. What he may have
missed is that it creates a weakness that can be attacked by White's Knight
going to f4} (34... Be8) 35. Qc3 Qe8 36. Nd3 (36. Qa5 {nearly winning. The
main threat is b4-b5} Qe7 37. b4 $18) 36... Rc7 37. Nf4 Rc8 38. Qa5 Kh7 {A bad
move but there weren't really any good options} 39. Bd3 $2 {Tanraj could have
put the game away, but he instead prolongs the inevitable outcome} (39. b4 {
wins almost immediately}) 39... Kh6 40. Qb6 Nf7 41. Kf2 $2 (41. Qb4 $1 {
threatening Qd2 and possibilities of opening up the c1-h6 diagonal with e4})
41... Nh8 42. b4 Ng6 43. b5 axb5 44. axb5 Nxf4 45. exf4 Bd7 46. Rc5 $1 {
threatening Rxd5} Rxc5 47. dxc5 Qa8 $6 (47... Qc8 48. Bxf5 $2 {although
tempting, this actually lets Black get back into the game} (48. Qa7 $1 Qc7 49.
c6 Bc8 50. Qc5 $18) 48... Qa8 49. Bd3 Qa2+ 50. Be2 d4 51. c6 Bxc6 52. bxc6 d3
53. Qe3 dxe2 54. f5+ Kh7 {and Black has good drawing chances (as in most Queen
endings)}) 48. Qd6 Qa2+ 49. Ke3 $2 {White's advantage just dropped from +3 to 0
} (49. Be2 {Looks like a dangerous move to play at first on account of ...Bxb5,
but White will be able to check on b6 at some point removing the pin} Bxb5 50.
Qxe6+ Kg7 51. Qe7+ {There are a number of different ways to achieve the goal
of checking on b6 now} Kg8 52. Qg5+ Kf7 53. Qxf5+ Ke7 54. Qf6+ Ke8 55. Qg6+ Kf8
56. Qd6+ Kg7 57. Qc7+ Kg6 (57... Kg8 {going to the back rank is certainly
impossible as well} 58. Qc8+ Kg7 59. Qxb7+) 58. Qb6+) 49... Be8 $4 (49... Qa5
$1 $11 {and perpetual check is very hard (if not impossible) to avoid}) 50.
Qf8+ {The rest of the game isn't so interesting as White is up a Bishop. There
are a number of ways for him to avoid the perpetual checks that Black attempts
to find.} Kh7 51. Qxe8 d4+ 52. Kxd4 Qd5+ 53. Ke3 Qf3+ 54. Kd4 Qd5+ 55. Kc3
Qxc5+ 56. Kb3 Qd5+ 57. Bc4 Qd1+ 58. Kb4 Qd2+ 59. Kc5 b6+ 60. Kc6 Qg2+ 61. Kc7
Qf2 62. Qe7+ Kh8 63. Bxe6 Qc2+ 64. Kd8 Qd3+ 65. Bd7 Qd5 66. Qf8+ Kh7 67. Qxf5+
Kh6 68. Qf6+ {An interesting game where White held the advantage in the
opening until a few inaccuracies gave Black equality. Black make some
questionable moves starting around move 18 only to give White his advantage
back. Tanraj then improved his advantage until reaching a winning endgame only
to nearly spoil the win with his 49th move. Thinking that his position was
already hopeless, the Black player missed a draw with 49...Qa5. The lesson:
stay vigilant until the end!} 1-0
