This week features a nice game by IM Aman Hambleton against Hong Rui Zhu at the Montreal Open. Aman played a nearly perfect game with the Black pieces, taking advantage of every innaccuracy of his opponent. It didn't take long before White got completely squeezed.
[Event "Montreal op"]
[Site "Montreal CAN"]
[Date "2014.09.05"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Zhu, Hong Rui"]
[Black "Hambleton, Aman"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B20"]
[WhiteElo "2203"]
[BlackElo "2616"]
[Annotator "Doe,John"]
[PlyCount "74"]
[EventDate "2014.09.05"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "CAN"]
[SourceDate "2014.06.26"]
1. e4 c5 2. Ne2 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 dxe4 5. Nbc3 f5 6. d3 {Hong Rui played
exactly the same opening 3 months ago in Laval, and the game was analyzed as
the Game of the Week on the Newsfeed. Perhaps Aman has seen it, either here or
in the database. It turned out that even if Hong Rui won that previous game,
he had made quite a few innaccuracies in the opening.} Nf6 $5 {Thierry
Libersan played exd3 in Laval, obtening a more than decent position.} 7. dxe4
Qxd1+ 8. Kxd1 {Capturing the pawn in e4 is possibility, but the e6 pawn might
end up being weakened.} Nc6 9. h3 $2 {This move doesn't do much, beside
preventing a Ng4 maneuver. Furthermore, the h3 pawn might even end up being
attacked if the diagonal of the c8 bishop gets cleared.} Bd7 10. Be3 $6 (10.
exf5 exf5 11. Be3 {Would have probably been slightly more accurate, as it
prevents Black from playing e5.}) 10... O-O-O 11. Kc1 (11. exf5 {Is
interesting, but Black can play} e5 {with a nice edge}) 11... e5 {Obviously,
Aman doesn't miss such an opportunity to grab the center.} 12. exf5 Bxf5 13.
Bxc6 (13. g4 {Perhaps slightly better was} Bg6 (13... Bd7 14. Rd1) 14. g5 Nd7
15. Bxc6 bxc6 $15) 13... bxc6 14. Na4 $6 (14. b3 {With the idea of preventing
c4 and playing Kb2 would be worth considering.}) 14... Nd5 15. Bg5 $2 (15. Bxc5
Nb4 16. Bxb4 Bxb4 {And Black is much better with its bishops, but White is
still in the game.}) 15... Rd7 16. a3 {Necessary to prevent Nb4.} h6 17. Bd2
Be7 18. Nec3 Rf8 19. b3 Bg6 20. Nd1 {We can see that Black carefully
positionned his pieces so to maximize the pressure on White's position. None
of White pieces are really active at this point!} Rf3 21. Re1 e4 (21... c4 {
White has many options, but one that was also interesting is} 22. bxc4 Bxa3+
23. Nab2 Nb6) 22. c4 Nb6 23. Nac3 Bf6 {Black completely squeezed White and
only has to wait for a mistake from his opponent.} 24. Be3 $2 {And here it is.}
Rxd1+ $1 25. Rxd1 Bxc3 26. Ra2 {It's now over, Black's position is completely
dominant.} Nd7 27. Rd6 Rf6 28. Rxf6 Bxf6 29. Kc2 Bd4 30. Kd2 Ne5 31. Ke2 h5 32.
Kf1 Bf5 33. Kg2 a5 34. a4 Nf3 35. Re2 $2 Bxh3+ $1 36. Kh1 Bf1 37. Rc2 Bg2+ 0-1
