I came across an interesting game from Manitoba back in May. In it, the Black player missed a number of chances to put the game away, but, as so often happens, he was the last one to make a mistake and White seized his chance and won. There are some instructive positional inaccuracies to note as well. I think a lot can be learned from this one.
[Event "May TNT"]
[Site "Winnipeg CAN"]
[Date "2014.05.20"]
[Round "3.4"]
[White "Rutter, Blair"]
[Black "Baron, Gustav"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A21"]
[WhiteElo "1929"]
[BlackElo "1910"]
[Annotator "MacKinnon,Keith"]
[PlyCount "126"]
[EventDate "2014.05.06"]
[EventRounds "4"]
[EventCountry "CAN"]
1. c4 f5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. e3 {White hasn't chosen a very
ambitious setup, and his position almost seems like he is playing Black. The
plan isn't that bad though - it's just that Black gets very easy equality.} e5
6. d3 O-O 7. Rb1 {A little too early. It would make sense to develop the
King's Knight and castle before embarking on a queenside pawn expansion.} a5 8.
Bd2 $6 {Doesn't really fit in this position. Nge2 was preferable} c6 9. Nge2
Na6 10. a3 Nc5 11. Qc2 {Now we see one of the problems with 8.Bd2. d3 is
undefended so Qc2 was required. Had the Bishop been back on c1, White could
have played b4 here with advantage.} d6 (11... a4 {trying to cement the Knight
on c5} 12. d4 exd4 13. exd4 Nb3 $36) 12. b4 axb4 13. axb4 Ne6 14. b5 Qc7 15. f4
$6 {a little too weakening} (15. O-O $11) 15... Bd7 16. O-O exf4 17. Nxf4 Nxf4
18. Rxf4 {e3 becomes a big target now} (18. gxf4) 18... Rae8 (18... Rfe8 {...
Ng4 and maybe ...Bh6 are threats}) 19. bxc6 bxc6 20. Nd1 Ng4 (20... Bh6 21. Rf1
Ng4 $15) 21. h3 (21. c5 $1 d5 22. Rfb4 {a cool maneuver}) 21... Nf6 22. Kh2 (
22. Bc3 {since Black will play ...Nh5 soon, White should at least try and
trade Black's strong Bishop}) 22... Nh5 23. Rf3 Be6 24. d4 $2 (24. Nc3 Rb8 {
White may be able to hold but Black is definitely the one with all the chances
here}) 24... f4 $1 25. gxf4 (25. g4 d5 $1 {and there is no salvation for White}
) 25... Bf5 26. Qc1 Bxb1 27. Qxb1 Nf6 (27... g5 $1 $17 {taking advantage of
the b8-h2 diagonal. White can't take on g5 due to ...d5 and otherwise his
pawns will fall like dominoes}) 28. Rf2 d5 $6 {I can understand Black's
rationale behind this move, as he wants to take control of the e4 square, but
it actually helps White's cause since it gives him an extra point of attack -
namely the d5 pawn} (28... Ra8 $15 {followed by ...Rfb8}) 29. Bb4 $2 Rf7 (29...
Rb8 $17) 30. Rc2 $2 Qd7 (30... Qb8 $17 {and the threat of ...Rb7 with the pin
on the b-file means White is in trouble}) 31. Qb3 Ne4 $6 32. Bxe4 $6 (32. cxd5
{giving Black a weakness on d5 and actually giving White some chances to play
for the win}) 32... Rxe4 33. Nf2 Re8 34. Ng4 Qf5 35. Ra2 h5 36. Ne5 Bxe5 37.
dxe5 (37. fxe5) 37... Qe4 {Black slowly starts to lose his way} (37... Rb8 $17
{There were a number of missed opportunities for Black to take the b-file in
the game.}) 38. cxd5 cxd5 39. Rd2 Rc8 $1 40. Rxd5 $2 (40. Rd4 Qf3 $17) 40... h4
(40... Rc1 {threatening checkmate in a few moves} 41. Rd1 Rxd1 42. Qxd1 Qxb4
$19) 41. Rd2 Kg7 42. e6 (42. Ba3 $13) 42... Rb7 43. Rd7+ $4 (43. Bc3+ Kh6 44.
Qa3 Rbc7 $17) 43... Kh6 $4 {and even though Black had many chances to win, he
made the last mistake} (43... Rxd7 44. exd7 (44. Bc3+ Rd4 $1 $19) 44... Rc2+
$19) 44. Bf8+ $18 Rxf8 45. Qxb7 Qc2+ 46. Qg2 Qxg2+ 47. Kxg2 Re8 48. Rd6 Kg7 49.
e4 Kf6 50. Kf3 g5 51. f5 Rc8 52. Rd3 Rc1 53. Re3 Rg1 54. e5+ Ke7 55. Kf2 Rc1
56. Kf3 Rg1 57. Ke4 g4 58. hxg4 Rxg4+ 59. Kd5 Rg3 60. f6+ Ke8 61. Re4 Rd3+ 62.
Kc4 Ra3 63. Kb4 Rh3 {The Black player had many opportunities to win the game
but missed his chances and was the last to err.} 1-0
