This week's GOTW features a nice win by Canada's newest FM, Michael Song, in a rare opening (1.b3). White (Michael Song) played with great accuracy throughout the game and left his opponent very little opportunity.
[Event "Aurora Fall op"]
[Site "Aurora CAN"]
[Date "2014.10.04"]
[Round "3.2"]
[White "Song, Michael"]
[Black "Dougherty, Michael"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A01"]
[WhiteElo "2271"]
[BlackElo "2132"]
[PlyCount "71"]
[EventDate "2014.10.04"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "CAN"]
1. b3 {Larsen's opening, which is often underestimated} e5 2. Bb2 d6 3. e3 g6
4. d4 ({Also possible would be} 4. f4 Bg7 5. Nf3) 4... Nd7 5. Nf3 ({Another
interesting variation is} 5. dxe5 dxe5 6. Nf3 Bg7 7. Bc4 {Where Black should
play} Nh6 (7... Ngf6 8. Nxe5)) 5... Bg7 6. Be2 ({The most logical (and
frequent) continuation is} 6. c4 Ne7 7. Nc3 O-O 8. Be2 {And although White has
more space, Black has a solid position and the position is roughly equal.})
6... Ne7 7. O-O O-O 8. c4 e4 $6 {Black probably thought that playing Ng5 was
too risky for White.} 9. Ng5 $5 {It's objectively a good move, but White has
too be extremely careful not to lose the knight or have it exchanged in h3
with Black's bishop.} Nf6 10. Nc3 Bf5 11. f3 {White must have seen this plan
when he played Ng5, as else the g5 knight will be chased from its position
before it has the time to do anything useful.} (11. Qc2 Re8 {And it's hard for
White to justify Ng5}) ({In a pretty similar manner, White could have played
g4 right away :} 11. g4 h6 12. gxf5 hxg5 13. fxg6 Nxg6 14. Qc2 Qe7 15. Kh1)
11... d5 $2 {The "logical" move that justifies White playing f3 instead of g4.}
({Although it may seem counterintuitive for Black to give such a strong center
to White, taking in f3 was the best move :} 11... exf3 12. Bxf3 Nc6 13. Re1 Re8
14. Qd2 {And the position is pretty much equal, thanks to Black's active
pieces.}) 12. fxe4 dxe4 13. g4 $1 ({Also worth considering was} 13. Rf4 $5 h6
14. Ngxe4 Nxe4 15. Nxe4 g5 16. Rxf5 Nxf5 17. Qd2 {Where White has a very
strong position, thanks to its central pawns and the pairs of bishops. However,
while this position is promising for White, there is no need to take such a
risk.}) 13... h6 14. gxf5 hxg5 15. fxg6 Nxg6 $6 (15... fxg6 {Leaves Black with
two ugly pawns on the g-file, but at least White cannot easily penetrate
Black's position as it did in the game.}) 16. Rf5 g4 17. Bxg4 {Not a bad move
in itself, but missing a winning move :} (17. Qe1 $1 {With the plan of playing
Qf2 and Rf1. Black has no efficient way of protecting the f-file. It can play
a5 and Ra6, but White's position will be simply overwhelming.}) 17... Bh6 18.
Kh1 Bxe3 19. Nd5 $2 {Effectively removing a defender (the f6 knight) but
losing precious tempi.} (19. Qe2 $1 Bxd4 20. Rd1 c5 21. Nxe4 $18) 19... Nxd5
20. Rxd5 Qh4 21. Qe2 Rad8 22. Rxd8 Rxd8 23. Qxe3 Qxg4 {White is still better,
but some work is definitely needed to win the game. White has a strong
potential diagonal for its bishop (a1-h8) and Black's king is still somewhat
in danger, so White should try to use these two advantages.} 24. Rf1 Rd7 25. d5
f5 $2 {Protecting the e4 pawn, but removing the last pawn protecting the Black
king.} ({An odd move like} 25... Kh7 {Would have been the only way not to lose
the game right away.}) 26. Rg1 Qh5 27. Rg5 {Black has no way to protect
everything and will either lose the knight or the e and f pawns.} Qd1+ (27...
Qh6 28. Qg3 Kh7 29. Rxf5) (27... f4 28. Qxf4 Qd1+ 29. Kg2 Qc2+ 30. Qf2) 28. Kg2
Rh7 29. Rxg6+ Kf7 30. Rf6+ Ke8 31. Re6+ Kd7 32. Be5 Rh4 33. Rf6 Rg4+ 34. Bg3
Qc2+ 35. Qf2 Rxg3+ 36. hxg3 1-0
