The U2400 section at this year's Canadian Open ended with IM Jean Hebert taking the top spot with 7.5/9 followed closely by Nikita Kraiouchkine in a 3-way tie (with IM Michael Klenburg and Jeff Reeve) for second place with 7/9. Nikita plays enterprising chess which worked out well for him in the tournament overall but not so well in the following game. A mistake in the middlegame after leaving his King exposed is all it took.
[Event "CAN-op U2400"]
[Site "Montreal CAN"]
[Date "2014.07.21"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Itkin, David"]
[Black "Kraiouchkine, Nikita"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C47"]
[WhiteElo "2096"]
[BlackElo "2232"]
[Annotator "MacKinnon,Keith"]
[PlyCount "77"]
[EventDate "2014.07.19"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "CAN"]
[SourceDate "2014.07.19"]
{The following game took place in the fourth round with each player on 2.5/3.
I was sitting one board over, and I couldn't help but watch this wild game
while playing my own.} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 {The Scotch Four Knights is
seldom seen above club level nowadays, but it is a pretty solid (and good)
opening.} Nf6 4. Be2 {A rare choice. I suspect David had some preparation in
this line. Alternatively, he just wanted to get the game into new territory
early on. Bc4 or Bb5 are more principled as the bishop is more active on these
squares.} (4. d4 exd4 5. Nxd4 Bb4 {leads to mountains of theory. I believe
Black is generally doing well though}) 4... g6 $5 {Perhaps Nikita sensed some
home preparation; here, he plays a move quite atypical of such positions.
Standard options included the following:} (4... Bc5 5. Nxe5 Nxe5 6. d4 Bd6 7.
dxe5 Bxe5 $11) (4... Bb4 {and Black scores almost 60%} 5. Nd5 {maybe the most
testing move, but Black has at least equality}) 5. d4 $1 {A good decision. Now
the Nikita commits to finacettoing his dark-squared Bishop, White wants to
bust open the centre. He no longer has to worry about ...Bb4 annoyances} exd4
6. Nxd4 d6 (6... Bg7 7. Nxc6 bxc6 8. e5 Nd5 9. Nxd5 cxd5 10. Qxd5 $13 {I
wouldn't be surprised if Black can find full compensation for the pawn here.})
7. Bg5 Bg7 8. f4 {A very unusual combination of moves. It isn't very common
for White to play Bg5 and then f4 especially considering he hasn't castled and
his attack is seemingly a long way off. Although the move is aggressive, it
can't be considered good.} h6 {Correct - putting the question to the Bishop
immediately.} 9. Bh4 g5 $5 {A bold move. I remember looking over at the game
and wondering if it was possible, but to actually play it is another matter!} (
9... Qd7 $5 {this strange looking move may have been best. The general idea is
something along the lines of ...0-0, ...Re8, and maybe ...Ng4}) 10. Nxc6 (10.
fxg5 Nh7 (10... Nxe4 {looks scary but has no venom after the forcing line} 11.
Nxc6 Nxc3 12. Nxd8 Nxd1 13. Rxd1 hxg5 14. Bxg5 f6 15. O-O $1 $14) 11. Bf2 Nxg5
12. O-O $14 {would have probably been my preference.}) 10... bxc6 11. fxg5 Nh7
12. O-O Nxg5 13. Bc4 $2 {The mistake which should have turned the game in
Black's favour. It instead had the opposite effect, and White soon takes
charge.} ({Better was} 13. Bf2 {planning Bd4 or Bc4 next}) 13... O-O $2 {I do
not recall whether Nikita played this move quickly, but had he spent a bit
more time, he may have realized that there was a much better continuation
leading to a sizable advantage.} (13... Nh3+ $1 14. gxh3 Qxh4 15. Bxf7+ Kd8 $17
{And with the weaknesses around White's King combined with the b-file for
Black's rook, I think that White needs to fight hard to save the game.}) 14.
Qh5 Qe7 15. Bxg5 $6 {It somehow doesn't seem right to trade the Bishop for
that Knight yet it quickly yielded an advantage.} hxg5 $2 {The beginning of
Black's demise} (15... Qxg5 16. Bxf7+ Kh8 $11 {and because of Black's "Dragon"
bishop on g7, he has full equality (if not more) for the lost pawn}) (15...
Bd4+ 16. Kh1 (16. Be3 Bxe3+ 17. Kh1 Qg5 18. Bxf7+ Kg7 $11) 16... Qxg5) 16. e5
$1 {White must jettison the pawn to open the lines to Black's King.} d5 (16...
Bxe5 $2 17. Qg6+ Bg7 18. Rae1 d5 $8 19. Qxc6 Be6 20. Nxd5 $16) (16... Be6 17.
Bd3 f5 18. exf6 Bxf6 19. Rae1 $16) 17. Bd3 Re8 $4 {There was only one move to
save Black, and this was not it.} (17... f5 18. exf6 Bxf6 19. Rae1 Bd4+ {
Because of this check, Black survives.} 20. Kh1 Rxf1+ 21. Rxf1 Bd7 22. Ne2 Bxb2
23. Ng3 Rf8 24. Qh7+ Qxh7 25. Bxh7+ Kg7 26. Nh5+ Kxh7 27. Rxf8 Kg6 {and Black
should hold without too much difficulty. The tricky part of course was seeing
this sequence and determining that Black would be OK}) 18. Bh7+ {There isn't
much to say after this point. David conducts the rest of the game very
precisely and Nikita has no chance to get back into it.} Kf8 19. Bg6 Be6 20.
Rxf7+ $1 Bxf7 21. Rf1 Bxe5 (21... Qc5+ {saves the Queen but leads to even
quicker defeat} 22. Kh1 Re7 (22... Ke7 23. Rxf7+ Kd8 24. Qh3 $18) 23. Bxf7 $18)
22. Rxf7+ Qxf7 23. Bxf7 Re7 24. Bg6 Rb8 25. Qh6+ (25. Nd1 {slightly more
accurate}) 25... Bg7 26. Qxg5 Rxb2 27. Qf5+ Kg8 28. Qc8+ Bf8 29. h4 {Passed
pawns need to be pushed} Rb4 30. h5 Rc4 31. h6 Rf4 32. h7+ Kg7 33. g3 Re1+ 34.
Kg2 Rff1 35. Qxc7+ Kh8 36. Ne2 Rf6 37. Nf4 Re7 38. Qc8 Rg7 39. Ne6 1-0
